U.N. EXPERT ON HUMAN RIGHTS REQUESTS PARDON FOR DISSIDENTS

    The United NationsÍ Special Commissioned for human rights in Cuba said Friday she has written to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro asking him to pardon 50 dissidents sentenced to long prison terms. Christine Chanet appealed to Castro to use his right of pardon to free the group of opposition party members, independent journalists and other dissidents sentenced in a crackdown this spring. She did not disclose the reasons she gave Castro for making the appeal.

    The 50 are among 75 Cuban activists Fidel Castro's government accused of being mercenaries who worked with U.S. officials to undermine the socialist government. The American government and the dissidents denied the charges. Local human rights groups in recent days announced that Cuba's court of last resort, the Supreme Popular Tribunal, had upheld the long sentences on the group. The appeals of the other 25 are still pending. The sentences have been criticized by the international community.

    VENEZUELA POLICE, SOLDIERS CLASH IN CARACAS

    Venezuelan metropolitan police officers clashed late on Friday with a group of soldiers in a Caracas police station in the latest incident between rival armed forces in the capital, officials said. Gunfire erupted in the center of Caracas when about 40 military police officers briefly overran the station and tried to force out a commander who a day earlier had arrested an army lieutenant. "The metropolitan police faced off with them and rescued the commander," he said.

    Friday's clash came seven months after President Hugo Chavez ordered the military to temporarily take over the metropolitan police run by anti-Chavez mayor Alfredo Pena. Populist Chavez recently threatened to take over control of the 9,000-strong autonomous metropolitan force for the second time after they clashed with his radical supporters during a violent street protest. Chavez ordered the Metropolitan Police force to submit to military control last November. The Supreme Court overturned the takeover five weeks later but the Caracas force is still "policed" by army detachments in some of their major stations.  

    RETURNED RAFTER FEELS HARASSED

    Anti-government activist and returned rafter Armando Veitía says the Cuban government has repeatedly threatened to annul the license with which he earns a living. Veitía says June 19 he was accused of "possession of trade materials without legal justification" and fined 200 pesos. At the same time, he was threatened with the loss of his self-employment license. Veitía has a one-man bicycle repair shop in Santa Clara.

    Veitía was returned to Cuba May 19 by U. S. authorities after a failed attempt to reach the Florida coast. Since that time, he says, he has been harassed by Cuban authorities.

    CUBA ACCUSES A MIAMI COUPLE OF ESPIONAGE

    A Cuban-American family torn apart by Cuba's cryptic accusations of espionage is appealing to the media and the American government for help in freeing their imprisoned relatives on the island. Three months ago, Maria Cardoso and her husband Arcel took their two daughters, Lizandra Fernandez, 15, and Ashley Cardoso, 7, on a two-week trip to CamagÙey to visit relatives. By the end of their vacation, Maria, Arcel and other member of the family, Omelio Angulo, de 42 años, were in Cuban custody and their daughters were under house arrest in CamagÙey. The two girls were eventually sent back to Miami, where they are living with an uncle in Southwest Miami-Dade.

    Cuba has accused the three Cubans of espionage, a charge linked to an anti-Castro letter that security agents found in Maria's bra as she tried to board her flight back to Miami in April. Miami relatives say the accusations are a complete fabrication. They say Cuba's government has refused to let them send a lawyer or get any information on the charges. Until now, the U.S. government has not given the family much hope.

    A State Department official who asked not to be identified said the United States could not get involved directly in the case because the couple, although U.S. residents, are not U.S. citizens. But at least one congressional representative, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said she would continue to press the U.S. government and appeal to international human rights agencies to help the couple. ''If these people went to Cuba using formal legal procedures, I think it would be the moral thing for the U.S. government to help out,'' said Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami. 

    ANTI-GOVERNMENT SIGN POSTED INSIDE MILITARY HOSPITAL

    Someone posted an anti-government sign on the wall of a military hospital's operating room a few days back in Santa Clara. The sign, which read "Down with Fidel, Murderer," was put up in the No. 4 operating room of the Manuel Fajardo Jiménez military hospital, next to a photograph of Fidel Castro which, presumably the same person or persons, took down and damaged. The political police obliterated the sign and restored the photograph, but not before several patients and hospital personnel saw them.

     CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY REPLACES  IDEOLOGIST

     Esteban Lazo, the head of the Communist Party in Cuba's capital, has replaced one of the party's founders in a key national post overseeing ideology. Lazo, 59, replaces Jose Ramon Balaguer, 71, a fellow member of the party's governing politburo, as head of the department dedicated to preserving and promoting communist principles.

     Both Lazo and Balaguer are seen as orthodox party leaders intensely loyal to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. A former Cuban ambassador to the Soviet Union, Balaguer in particular has long wielded much influence inside the party, which is technically separate from the government but populated by the same players. Balaguer and Lazo also both serve inside Cuba's government on the nation's supreme governing body, the Council of State, which Castro heads as president. Lazo is also a first vice president on that council.

     As the party's first secretary for Havana for nearly a decade, Lazo has been heavily involved in the government's ñbattle of ideas.î Balaguer served in the rebel army that fought in the revolution that brought Castro to power in January 1959. He represents an older generation of leaders known as ñhistoricosî for their role in Cuba's revolutionary history. He will continue to oversee the party's department of international relations. A medical doctor and former deputy health minister, Balaguer will also now oversee the party's public health department.

    CUBA SAYS MORE SPIES INFILTRATED DISSIDENTS

    Communist Cuba stepped up its campaign against dissidents on Tuesday, launching a book about the activities of 12 spies who infiltrated their ranks and issuing a warning that many more were still working undercover. Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said the book, "The Dissidents," based on interviews with the spies, "proved that so-called dissident groups were a creation of the United States."

    Perez Roque called the spies, whose testimony helped send 75 democracy activists, independent journalists and others to prison in April, "heroes and heroines," saying, "the enemy (the United States) should know that there are many more still at work." The book by Cuban journalists Luis Baez and Rosa Miriam Elizande was quickly put together after the dissidents' trials, which lasted just one day but at which they were given long prison terms for conspiring with the United States to bring down the government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

    Oswaldo Paya, one of Cuba's best known dissidents who led a campaign for a referendum on democratic reforms, called the book, "227 pages of lies," in a June 19 article published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais. "The book is a desperate attempt by the regime to justify this crime, these decades-long sentences of innocent people," Paya wrote.

      AT LAST, BELGIUM CHANGES ITS WAR CRIMES LAW

    Belgium introduced changes Monday on a war crimes law used to target President Bush and other U.S. leaders. The law allows war crimes charges to be brought in Belgian courts regardless of where alleged offenses took place.

    The law had been used against several U.S. leaders figures, including President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Those cases infuriated Washington, and Belgium agreed Sunday to change the law by limiting its scope to cases where Belgians or Belgian residents are directly involved as victims or suspects. Other safeguards were to be introduced to prevent politically inspired cases, officials said.

     CUBA UPHOLDS SENTENCES FOR JOURNALIST

    Cuba's high court has upheld the 20-year sentence of independent journalist Raul Rivero, who was among 75 Cubans sentenced to prison in a crackdown on the opposition this year. Rivero's wife, Blanca Reyes, said on Monday that her husband's defense attorney told her Monday that her husband's appeal had been rejected by the Supreme Tribunal, the island's court of last resort. ñI always thought that this would be the unfair decision,'' Reyes said.

    The tribunal also upheld the 20-year sentence of fellow independent journalist Ricardo Gonzalez, who was tried with Rivero. Fifty of the sentences have now been upheld, said Carlos Menendez of the non-governmental Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. Cuban prosecutors accused the independent journalists, opposition party leaders, democracy activists and other dissidents of working with and receiving money from the U.S. government to undermine Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's communist government. The activists and American officials have denied the charges.

    During their trial, prosecutors insisted that Rivero and Gonzalez were being financed by the Washington through the U.S. Interests Section, the American mission here. Gonzalez was the editor of an independent magazine that published only two monthly issues. Reyes said she last visited her husband on July 11 at the prison in the central province of Ciego de Avila. ñHe has maintained a positive attitude and is trying to look at the bright side of things,'' she said.    

    CUBA NAMED NEW MINISTERS OF TRANSPORTATION AND FINANCE

    Cuba's government announced Saturday it had replaced the transportation and Finance and Prices ministers. A relatively unknown Communist Party official was named to the key post overseeing the island's public transportation system. Outgoing transportation minister Alvaro Perez Morales ñwill be assigned to other duties,'' a short story reported in the libel Granma. It identified the new minister as Manuel Pozo Torrado, a 40-year-old engineer who oversaw construction, transportation and communications for the party.

    A brief communiqué gave no reason for the naming of 39- year-old Central Bank Vice President Georgina Barreiro Fajardo as Finance and Prices minister, replacing 69-year-old Manuel Millares.  Cuba fired four of six deputy ministers at the Economy and Planning Ministry in March, sparking speculation that Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez would also be forced out. Rodriguez is still on the job, although he has been dropped from the Council of State, and local analysts still believe he will be replaced.

    CASTRO REPLIES WITH INSULTS TO A MIAMI RADIO PRANK  

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro fell for a trap laid by Miami radio pranksters on Tuesday, thinking he was talking on the phone to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and abusing the callers when he realized he was being duped. The radio station, Spanish-language station El Zol 95.7, delightedly and repeatedly broadcast the recording from its popular program "El Vacilon de la Mañana" (Morning Joker) in a city that is home to many anti-Castro exiles.

    The Vacilon hosts, Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero, used the same technique they used in January to catch Chavez on the program, when they cobbled together real phrases spoken by Castro to make the Venezuelan leader think he was talking to his Cuban ally. This time, they used phrases spoken in a speech by Chavez. A presenter posing as a Chavez aide wound his way through a series of Cuban official switchboards -- receptive because Chavez is a strong Castro admirer -- with a story that Chavez needed to speak to Castro because he had lost a suitcase with sensitive documents on a recent trip both leaders made to Argentina.

    Finally, Castro came on the line and listened to the story of the suitcase, apparently taken in by the brief "Fidel's and "How are you?"s from Chavez, and thinking the connection was too bad to hear much more from the Venezuelan leader. The Chavez "aide" asked Castro if he agreed to help by getting his security detail hunt down the suitcase and the Cuban leader said, "I absolutely agree." "Do you agree with the shit on the island (Cuba), killer?" the Chavez "aide" asked, quickly adding, "You fell for it" and announcing he was on the Miami radio program. "What did I fall for, you shit?" said Castro. "What did I fall for, bastard?," he said. He added a few more words of strong abuse before hanging up, as whoops of joy erupted at the Miami end of the call.

     ñTHE DISSIDENT MOVEMENT MUST DIE NOW,î JOURNALIST TOLD

     Five independent journalists in Morón, Ciego de Ávila province, were summoned June 10 by a captain Zamora of the Department of State Security, who told them "the dissident movement must die now" and warned them to stop practicing journalism, according to one of the journalists, Tico Morales, who works with the APLA agency.

    "They want to shut down APLA and they are trying to intimidate us all, but the greatest pressure has been put on the agency's director, José Manuel Caraballo. They picked him up in an official car and took him in for interrogation. They want us to sign a document, committing to abandon independent journalism, but we refused. They also threatened me with the loss of my job at a store," said Morales. Two of the journalists, Jesús Álvarez and Abel Escobar, of the CubaPress agency, were taken to the provincial capital city to be charged.

     EUROPEAN UNION SHIFTS STRATEGY ON USE OF FORCE

    The European Union, in a significant shift towards U.S. thinking, said on Monday use of force might be necessary where diplomacy failed to address threats from weapons of mass destruction. EU foreign ministers adopted a strategy to combat the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons for the first time, including a reference to possible military action as a last resort against states or "terrorists" that acquired such arms.

    The EU also demanded that Iran, accused by Washington of trying to develop atomic arms, accept tougher U.N. inspections of its nuclear program immediately and unconditionally if it wants a trade deal with the 15-nation bloc. The EU said preventive measures such as treaties, dialogue and inspections should be the first line of defense against the proliferation of the world's most dangerous weapons.

    CUBA TRADE SHOW LICENSES DENIED

     With U.S.-Cuban relations in a particularly difficult time, the Bush administration has denied the request of a U.S. firm to stage a second American farm products trade show in communist Cuba. The Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control denied the request by PWN Exhibicon International LLC, of Westport, Conn., on June 2. The company hoped to stage its second agribusiness fair in the Cuban capital in January.

     Washington also denied the company's request for a license to hold its second American health care trade fair in Cuba, also planned for January. The Office of Foreign Assets Control grants licenses ñbased on foreign policy guidance from the Department of State.'' Treasury Department spokesman Taylor Griffin said he had no specifics about the action, but said the Bush administration ñis committed to the full and fair enforcement of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.î ñAs President Bush has said, 'without meaningful reform, trade with Cuba would do nothing more than line the pockets of Fidel Castro and his cronies,''' said Griffin.

    HARSHER TERMS ANNOUNCED FOR PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

    The director of Cuban prisons told several prisoners of conscience that they would be subject to harsher terms from now on. The director, General Rafael Tamayo, made the announcement during a visit on May 18 to the maximum security prison at AgÙica, in Matanzas province. The prisoners affected by the order, all confined at AgÙica, are Miguel Galbán Gutiérrez, Alexis Rodríguez Fernández, Manuel Ubaldo González, Pablo Pacheco Ávila, and Roberto de Miranda.

    The new confinement terms provide that the prisoners will kept in isolation for two years, up from one year previously. They will also be entitled to receive visits once every four months as opposed to once every three months; they will be limited to a three-minute phone call a month, will have to wear the prison uniform (which most prisoners of conscience refuse to wear) and will be limited to 10 pounds in food packages from home, as opposed to the previous 40 pounds.

    The prisoners let out word that they will persist in their rebellious attitude until there is a political change in the country, and announced their intention to engage in hunger strikes, one next July 13, in commemoration of the tugboat sunk by Cuban border guards on that date, and another on August 5, remembering a popular uprising in Havana.

    CUBA STRIPS SPAIN OF HAVANA CULTURAL CENTER

    Cuba said on Friday it would annul an agreement for a Spanish cultural center open since 1997, expressing its rage at the island's former colonial ruler for backing U.S. criticism of a crackdown on dissidents. Cuban dictador Fidel Castro had hinted he would take over the center in speeches this week in which he vilified Spain, Italy and the European Union, alleging they had allied with Washington after the arrest of 75 dissidents in April. "The Foreign Ministry told us verbally today that the agreement to operate the center was annulled," a Spanish diplomat said. . "The (cultural) center has been used for everything except Spanish culture," Castro said on Wednesday, charging Spain was helping the United States subvert his government.

    Cuban authorities have always viewed the center with suspicion, and had vetoed some of its planned cultural events in recent months, a Spanish diplomat said. "The Cubans want the center to only deal with Spanish culture, but we can't accept cultural censorship. We do not want the center to be a place of only Spanish culture, but to work with Cuban institutions as well," the diplomat said. Castro, in a nationally broadcast speech on Wednesday, blamed Spain and Italy for the EU's recent decision to end high-level visits to the island, reduce cultural exchanges and invite Castro opponents to embassy receptions.  

     CRITICAL TIME FOR THREE CUBAN GENERALS  (By Arch Kielly)

     This is the most critical time in the history of the Cuban Armed Forces.  By all indications, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is going to pass away, soon.  The Cuban military will face the most important decision in the lives of all the Cuban people, living on the island and abroad.  The military will have to decide whether to support Raul Castro and his closest cronies when they attempt to continue the dictatorship of his brother after Fidel Castro passes away or to return Cuba back to the free and democratic world. This power lies mostly in the hands of three Cuban Generals:  Polo Cinta Frias, Ramon Espinosa Martin and Joaquin Quinta Sola.  They command CubaÍs Regional Armies.  They have been loyal to Fidel in the past, but they are also faithful to active and retired members of the Cuban Armed Forces.  If they decide not to prop up Raul Castro, they will have a lot of support from the armed forces because they are fed up with Raul CastroÍs abuses against the military institution and the Cuban people.

     Despite the Cuban Center for Information Studies, the free world finds Raul not acceptable to govern Cuba.  If Raul takes over the government, he will be isolated and able to exercise power only if he has the support of the Cuban Army, Air Force and the Navy.  Unfortunately for Raul, he does not have the skills or the ability to govern.  Without FidelÍs charisma, civil war will soon break out as an outcome of the chaotic economic conditions that will ensue.  Also, Raul will have to increase the suppression of the people in order to retain power.   The likely outcome are impossible to contemplate: the killings committed by opposing forces, the destruction of property, the hatreds and the devastation of Cuba for years to come.  However, in the end, some form of democracy will emerge and peace will follow.

     These three generals should not delay the inevitable.   They should support the people and not Raul Castro when Raul attempts to replace his brother after Fidel passes away.  They have the opportunity to become true Cuban heroes.  Few men like they, have the power and the opportunity to write their own history.  They can either be idolized by a grateful nation or be condemned in the pages of Cuban History.  What is at stake is the welfare of the Cuban people for years to come.  A Poem:  The zunzun flies high next to the eagle.  Storm clouds appear near the horizon.  Let the vultures alone in the sky.  Follow the gulls to the trees.  VIVA CUBA LIBRE!

    THE CASTRO BROTHERS LEAD ANTI-EUROPE MARCHES

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro led hundreds of thousands of people Thursday in a march past the Spanish Embassy to protest European support of U.S. policies that nurture pro-democracy activism on the communist island. Demonstrators held pictures of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, with a slogan reading "Aznar - the little fuehrer." Meantime, around the Italian embassy called the premier ñBenito Berlusconi,î a reference to fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Surrounded by security men and close aides, the 76-year-old bearded leader marched in his trademark olive green fatigues for about 10 minutes during a demonstration that lasted for more than two hours.

    His brother and designated successor, 72-year-old Defense Minister Gen. Raul Castro, led a march past the Italian Embassy in the upscale district of Miramar.. ñDown with fascism!î a government announcer chanted over a public broadcast system on the Malecon coastal highway in Old Havana.

    Castro's new Europe bashing underscores his growing anger over European and U.S. support of his most vocal critics on the island, and what he says are increased American efforts to control the world with its ñneofascist policies.î Still shaken by the U.S. government's decision to launch military action in Iraq without broad international support, Castro seems especially upset by what he believes is Europe's alignment with U.S. policies aimed at encouraging a transition to democracy in the Caribbean nation. The Cuban dictator repeatedly has expressed concerns about a U.S.-led war on his country, despite numerous assurances from Washington that no military action is contemplated.

    URGENT APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY FROM CUBA ¿ HONEST MEN AND WOMEN OF THE WORLD DO NOT LEAVE MARTHA BEATRIZ TO DIE IN PRISON, PLEASE, HELP HER!

    A group of Cuban women from different provinces have joined together to appeal for international solidarity with Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello. They state: ñWe, the undersigned Cuban women ask all the People of good will in the World, to unite in one voice and use all means at their disposal to pressure the Cuban authorities into releasing Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello from prison.

    ñMartha Beatriz, 58 years old, recently declared a prisoner of conscience, was unjustly sentenced to 20 years in prison.  She is the only woman among the 75 oppositionist, intellectuals and independent journalist, who were tried and sentenced in summary processes in Cuba last April. All of them are being held in isolated punishment cells in less than humane conditions.

    "Martha Beatriz has not received the medical assistance she needs for her rheumatic and ulcer condition since last April.  In addition, she presently has an uncontrollable arterial hypertension and the left side of her body is numb.  She has lost more than 30 pounds in less than three months. Honest men and women of the World do not leave Martha Beatriz to die in prison, help Her! Martha Beatriz can be your mother, your daughter, your sister, your friend.  Defend her!  Make a strong appeal for the freedom of this woman who languishes in one of Castro's cells. Save the life of Martha Beatriz.  Please, do as much as you can do for her today.  Tomorrow, it might be too late."

    CUBA ACCUSES THE EUROPEAN UNION OF MEDDLING IN ITS INTERNAL AFFAIRS

    In an escalating dispute with the communist-ruled island's main commercial partner, the government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said it would organize big marches in front of the Italian and Spanish embassies in Havana on Thursday. "Cuba calmly but firmly issues a warning to the European embassies and to local U.S. government mercenaries (dissidents) that it will not tolerate provocations or blackmail," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said, referring to the EU sanctions.

    "European embassies should be conscious of the fact that they will be failing to meet their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations if they allow themselves to be used for subversion against Cuba," Perez Roque added in a statement broadcast live to the nation. Perez Roque accused the EU, and in particular Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, of joining U.S. efforts to topple the government. Relations with the EU have deteriorated rapidly since Havana imprisoned 75 activists in April and put to death three ferry hijackers who had tried to make it to the United States.

    "The mercenaries who try to turn the European embassies in Havana into centers for conspiring against the revolution should be aware that the Cuban people will be quite capable of demanding that our laws be vigorously enforced," Perez Roque said, implying they could soon be behind bars too. "Mr. Aznar ... now a minor ally of the Yankee imperial government ... today is the man mainly responsible for its (the EU) treacherous escalation in aggression," Perez Roque said. He also expressed concern other countries might follow Italy's recent decision to cut 40 million euros ($47 million) in aid and credit to Cuba.

    CRACKS STRAIN CHAVEZ MAJORITY IN VENEZUELA ASSEMBLY

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez faced a struggle on Wednesday to pass media and anti-terrorism laws in the National Assembly after an inconclusive vote revealed cracks in the leftist leader's slim majority. In a rowdy debate in the 165-member assembly late Tuesday, lawmakers loyal to the president failed to obtain the 83 votes needed to ratify the measures approved at a controversial outdoor parliament session held in a Caracas park Friday.

    Jubilant opposition deputies hailed the government's failure to impose its majority. It was the first parliamentary defeat suffered by Chavez in his more than four years of rule in the world's No. 5 oil exporter. "Mr. President, your majority is dying," opposition deputy Alejandro Arzola said. Opposition deputies, who mustered 79 votes, had boycotted Friday's bizarre, one-sided parliament session in El Calvario park when procedural reforms to speed up the passage of government-sponsored draft laws were approved.

    These included an anti-terrorism bill and a law to regulate radio and television that the opposition fears will be used to muzzle critics and restrict public protests. The government side said Tuesday's vote, in which three pro-Chavez deputies abstained, was a one-time event. They insisted they would impose their majority when another vote on the procedural reforms was taken Thursday. Since Chavez won a landslide election in late 1998, he used a solid majority in the National Assembly to push through left-wing reforms aimed at consolidating his self-styled "revolution" in the oil-rich nation.

    SECRETARY POWELL SEEKS LATIN AMERICAN SUPPORT AGAINST CUBA

    Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Western Hemisphere nations Monday to help ''hasten the inevitable democratic transition in Cuba'' and protest a recent wave of arrests and executions by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's government. Powell, raising the Cuba issue in a forum long reluctant to debate it, told the 34-nation Organization of American States: ñThe people of Cuba increasingly look to the OAS (and the United States) for help in defending their fundamental freedoms against the depredations of our hemisphere's only dictatorship.'' "My government looks forward to working with partners in the OAS to find ways to hasten the inevitable democratic transition in Cuba. ... Dictatorships cannot withstand the force of freedom," he added.

    Secretary Powell reminded the gathering of its past commitments to democracy, including the 2001 Inter-American Democratic Charter. That document 'declares that ïthe people of the Americas have a right to democracy.' It does not say that the peoples of the Americas, except Cubans, have a right to democracy,'' he said. ''I think Castro made a very big mistake,'' said a senior OAS official. The European Union, which has advocated engagement with Havana, announced last week that it would cut back on high-level visits to Cuba and invite dissidents to EU functions.

    At a news conference in Santiago later, Secretary Powell rejected the argument that it was not for the OAS to criticize Cuba. "If we would call ourselves the community of democracies, it is our obligation to speak out. That's what I did today and that's what the United States will continue to do," he said. "We have come too far (in democratization in the Americas) not to continue the journey and help the people of Cuba ultimately achieve a democratic system," he added.

    UNITED STATES MAY JOIN EUROPEAN UNION IN COMMON CUBA STRATEGY

    Secretary of State Colin Powell, in Santiago, Chile, for a meeting of foreign ministers from the western hemisphere, says the United States may join with the European Union in adopting a common strategy toward Cuba.  Powell told reporters while en route to Chile that he planned to highlight  the Cuba issue ñrather directly'' when he speaks to a meeting of Organization of American States foreign ministers on Monday.

   ñThe rest of the world is now starting to take note of Castro's increasingly poor human rights behavior,'' Powell said. ñWe will not shrink from pointing this out.'' The European Union (EU) and the United States both have reacted sharply to the crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Cuba earlier this spring.  Seventy-five dissidents were sentenced to long prison terms. The EU has said it is cutting back on high-level visits to Cuba and reducing ties in other areas.

    The Cuban government insists that the activists were subversives who collaborated with the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. The government staged an anti-American rally in the Cuban capital on Saturday. The principal theme of the Organization of American States meeting is the strengthening of democracy in the hemisphere. The Bush administration has taken no concrete steps in response to the moves by Cuban authorities against the dissidents.

    CASTRO'S THREATS AFTER EUROPEAN SANCTIONS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro did not speak at a political rally Saturday protesting U.S. policies toward his communist island, but told reporters afterward he would have plenty to say in the coming days about recent events. The 76-year-old dictator said after a government-organized rally in a Havana neighborhood, ñIn these days, there will have to be a lot of talking, and the unmasking of many.'' Apparently referring to the European Union's recent announcement it was reviewing its policies toward Cuba, Castro said, ñWe are wondering why we got the first word from the news cables.''

    The European Union said Thursday it was beginning a review of its relations with Cuba after the Castro government's recent crackdown on dissidents on the island - sentencing 75 people to prison terms of up to 28 years - and the firing-squad executions of three convicted hijackers of a ferry. The 15-nation bloc said it was ñdeeply concerned about the continuing flagrant violation of human rights and of fundamental freedoms of members of the Cuban opposition and of independent journalists.'' EU members unanimously agreed to cut down on high-level governmental visits and review relations overall.

    CASTRO LASHES OUT AGAINST EUROPEÍS DIPLOMATIC SANCTIONS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro accused the European Union on Saturday of joining Washington in ganging up on Cuba after the EU cut back diplomatic and political ties in response to a crackdown on dissidents. "We must all remain calm, because a gang, a mafia, has joined the Yankee imperialists ... disgracefully serving the Nazi-fascist government of the United States," he told some 7,000 people in a rally in a working-class suburb of Havana.

    While Castro did not name the EU, the comments clearly referred to the EU's decision on Thursday to put diplomatic sanctions on Cuba. That decision was made after the Cuban government put to death three ferry hijackers who were trying to make it to the United States and gave 75 dissidents and journalists jail terms of up to 28 years. They had been accused of working with Washington to undermine the government of Castro, who has been in power since a 1959 revolution.

    Diego Ojeda, spokesman for European External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, denied that the EU had been influenced by Washington. "The decision-making process is completely autonomous," he said. "When we sense a marked deterioration of the situation, we react accordingly." On Castro's language, Ojeda said: "Those words speak for themselves." The crackdown on Castro's opponents and the execution of three men who hijacked a ferry came days after the EU opened an embassy in Havana.

    FIRST CUBAN-AMERICAN TO COMMAND A COAST GUARD CUTTER

    U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jorge Martinez, now 31, made history Thursday when he became the first Cuban American to be given command of a Coast Guard cutter. ''It's an honor for me and my parents,'' Martinez said after taking command of the 110-foot Maui, based at the agency's Miami Beach station. ñThe mission is difficult and dangerous, but it's one I believe in and I'm eager to start.''

    Part of that mission will be to intercept and repatriate Cubans who flee the island and try to enter the United States illegally; something Martinez -- who still has relatives in Cuba -- says gives him mixed feelings. ñIt tugs at the heart strings a little bit, but it's a mandate and it's part of my mission,î he said. ñI understand and empathize with what they are trying to do. But there are legal ways of coming to this country.'' Martinez said he has to carry out his job. ñOur primary concern is the safety of lives at sea and our first priority is to get them out of the water,î he said, referring to all migrants. ñI'm a professional, and that's how I look at the mission. They are human beings, and I have to treat them with respect, but I also have to perform my mission.''

    CUBA SAYS EUROPEAN UNION SANCTIONS CAVE IN TO UNITED STATES PRESSURE

    Communist Cuba on Friday rejected European diplomatic sanctions over political repression on the island and said the European Union was bowing to pressure from the United States, Cuba's archenemy. "It is sad but there is no question that the European Union has been unable to formulate its own policy on Cuba," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters. "It has given in under pressure to the aggressive U.S. policy against Cuba," Pérez said.

    EUROPEAN UNION CUTS BACK CUBA TIES AFTER EXECUTIONS, JAILING

    The European Union (EU) launched a range of diplomatic sanctions against Cuba Thursday after three hijackers were executed and 75 dissidents and independent journalists were jailed on the communist-run island. The limited measures by the EU, Cuba's largest trading partner and foreign investor, come after the European Commission froze Cuba's request to join the Cotonou Agreement aid accord.

    The EU said it was taking the steps after the "recent deplorable actions of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro aiming not only at violating fundamental freedoms in Cuba, but also at depriving civilians of the ultimate human right, that of life." Current EU president Greece said in a statement the 15-nation bloc had decided unanimously to limit bilateral high-level government visits and to reduce the profile of member states' participation in cultural events.

    It would also invite Cuban dissidents to celebrations of EU national days and review its relations with Cuba. The EU said it had sent a diplomatic demarche to Havana, expressing deep concern about the "continuing flagrant violation of human rights" and of fundamental freedoms of members of the Cuban opposition and of independent journalists. It repeated its call to the Cuban authorities to release immediately all political prisoners. "The EU, mindful of increasing reports about poor detention conditions of prisoners with serious health problems, appeals to the Cuban authorities that, in the meantime, the prisoners do not suffer unduly and are not exposed to inhumane treatment."

    DIARY OF A JAILED CUBAN DISSIDENT JOURNALIST

    Dissident journalist Manuel Vázquez Portal tells of rats, bad food and a tiny cell in a diary smuggled out of prison by his wife, Yolanda Huerga, providing a rare look at life behind bars in Cuba. Vázquez described his cell's furnishings as a rickety cot, a dirty mattress without sheets and pillow, a fetid toilet bowl. Rats scurry across the floor and water drips down the walls, he wrote.

     ñThe cell is a space of 1 1/2 meters wide by 3 meters long (about 5 feet by 10 feet),'' Vázquez wrote in one entry. ñA barred door partially covered by a plate of steel. A barred window, through which enters the sun's rays, the rain, the insects.'' While Vázquez said he gets three meals a day, he said the food is so bad it is ñindescribable.'' The independent journalist, who was sentenced to 18 years, said he is allowed to go out in the sunshine once a day. Vázquez was among 75 activists arrested in March during an island crackdown on dissidents that drew widespread international criticism.

    The independent journalists, operators of non-state libraries, opposition party leaders and others were tried in April on charges of working with U.S. officials to undermine Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's government and received sentences ranging from six to 28 years. Some relatives say medical care in the jails is inadequate and others say their loved ones have been shut away in solitary confinement.  ñIf for the simple act of practicing journalism they condemned me to 18 years without freedom, then nothing else can be unjust or extreme,'' Vázquez wrote in one entry.

     CUBAÍS POPULAR SUPREME COURT RATIFIES DISSIDENTS' JAIL TERMS

    Cuba's highest court has ratified harsh prison sentences for dissidents jailed earlier this year in the worst political repression on the Communist-ruled island in decades. Ignoring international calls for clemency, the court began hearing appeals cases this week and confirming sentences of up to 28 years received in April by 75 opponents of President Fidel Castro arrested for conspiring against him.

    Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Human rights Commission, said he did not expect the  Popular Supreme Court to reduce any sentences because it lacked independence. "It would be a miracle if the highest Cuban court changed the sentences, because of the political nature of the trials and the vertical structure of the judicial system under a totalitarian government," Sanchez said.

    On Wednesday Cuba's highest court heard appeals for leading dissident Hector Palacios, jailed for 25 years, and independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who received 20 years. The U.S. government on Monday said it was concerned about Espinosa Chepe's deteriorating health and demanded that Cuba transfer him to a hospital that could provide adequate medical attention.

       U.S. DEMANDS BETTER HEALTH CARE FOR CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS 

     "The United States demands that the Cuban government provide Oscar Espinosa Chepe with adequate health care and transfer him to a hospital where he can receive the level of care commensurate with his illness," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said. Espinosa's wife, Miriam Leiva, said last week that his health was deteriorating alarmingly and that holding him in eastern Cuba was tantamount to a "more or less immediate death sentence." Espinosa has cirrhosis of the liver. Espinosa is one of 75 dissidents sentenced in April to long terms of imprisonment for their activities. He has been serving a 20-year sentence in the eastern town of Guantanamo

    "The United States is also concerned by reports that political prisoners Raul Rivero, Martha Beatriz Roque, Jorge Olivera and Roberto de Miranda are also ill. All should be given immediate access to adequate health care," Reeker said in a statement. He also said they and others among the group of 75 political prisoners were being held in inhumane conditions, with very poor sanitation, contaminated water and nearly inedible food.  "The Cuban government appears to be going out of its way to treat these prisoners inhumanely. It should immediately cease this practice and, at the minimum, allow the appropriate humanitarian organizations to monitor the treatment of its political prisoners," the spokesman added.

    LEADERS PLEDGE ACTION AT MIDLEAST SUMMIT

    At a summit in Jordan, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that the armed intifada must end, while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon backed the formation of a Palestinian state and pledged his country will begin to remove unauthorized settlements. The two prime ministers, President Bush and Jordanian King Abdullah II issued statements after talks in the resort town of Aqaba. Standing at podiums near the Red Sea, the men spoke to diplomats and reporters and shook hands following the event.

    "In regard to the unauthorized outposts," Sharon said. "I want to reiterate that Israel is a society governed by the rule of law. Thus we will immediately begin to remove unauthorized outposts. "Permanent security requires peace." He said Israel strongly supports President Bush's vision of two states living side by side in peace and security and welcomes the chance to resume negotiations with the Palestinians. "It is in Israel's interest not to govern the Palestinians, but for the Palestinians to govern themselves," Sharon said.

    President Bush reiterated his approval of the removal of unauthorized settlements and the cessation of terrorism. The Holy Land must be shared between the states of Palestine and Israel, Bush said. "The issue of settlements must be addressed for peace to be achieved," added Bush, who also called for an end to terrorist attacks. Egyptian, Saudi, Jordanian, Bahraini and Palestinians leaders vowed Tuesday to cut off funding for terrorist groups.

    AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO

    Amnesty International on Tuesday condemned Cuba's crackdown on dissent as an "alarming step backwards," saying all 75 people imprisoned in a roundup of government opponents were prisoners of conscience. In a report on the crackdown, which it called the most severe since the early years after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro took power in 1959, the London-based human rights group also condemned the execution in April of three men who tried to hijack a ferry to the United States.

    "Giving interviews to U.S.-based media or sending information to organizations like Amnesty International was mentioned in some of the verdicts as arguments for the conviction of the dissidents," the report said. "Those activities clearly fall within the parameters of the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and association and should not be punished by imprisonment." "Amnesty International considers that the 75 dissidents are prisoners of conscience and asks for their immediate and unconditional release," the organization said. Amnesty had identified 15 prisoners of conscience in Cuba before the March.

    PRESIDENTS BUSH AND PUTIN TRY TO BURY THEIR DIFFERENCES

    President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to put aside differences over Iraq on Sunday and focus instead on cooperation in thwarting the spread of illicit weapons in Iran and North Korea. Even so, the two leaders remained at least partly at odds over Russia's technology assistance to Iran. The Bush administration claims that Russian technology sales are allowing Tehran to speed development of nuclear weapons although Iran says its nuclear program is strictly for meeting energy needs.

    Putin said he needed no convincing that nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction must be ñchecked and prevented throughout the world.'' But he added: ñWe are against using the pretext of a nuclear weapons program of Iran ... as an instrument of unfair competition against us.'' It was a clear reference to U.S. sanctions, and the threat of additional sanctions, against certain Russian companies that have business dealings with Iran. ñBaseless pretensions were made toward Russian companies about their cooperation with Iran,'' Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said later. ñWe do speak out against such dishonorable competition and we will continue to speak out against it.î

    THE CUBAN ARMED FORCES FACE A DILEMMA  (By Arch Kielly)

    Despite the differences between the Western code of military ethics and those of the former Soviet Union, where the Cuban armed forces trained, several of the basic doctrines are the same. This explains why modern professional military persons from different countries are in many ways alike.  Members of any armed force require many years of training, experience and discipline.   Also, they possess a rigid code of ethics that, according to the Greeks, is the study of excellence or virtue of character.

    We in CAMCO, respect our brothers in the Cuban military.  We know that they are a professionally trained force supported by a strong code of ethics.  And that is why the Cuban armed forces will face a dilemma in the near future. They will have to decide whether to support the existing Communist regime or not. We understand their concerns for their careers and the welfare of their families.  However, their code of ethics will not allow them to support another government that favors a handful of communist party officials while it continues to enslave the Cuban people.

    The Cuban military ethics and love for Cuba will not permit them to continue the dictatorship of Communism in a new government after the departure of the Castro brothers.  They know that their actions will directly lead Cuba to freedom again.  CAMCO can help those in the armed forces who choose to stay in the military and support a transition into democracy.  CAMCO also can help those who move to the civilian economy to compete in free markets. A Poem:  The Zunzun flock stays close to the nest.   Some zunzuns will take to the air.  The parrots fly together and form a green that looks blue.  Clouds do not threaten. ¡VIVA CUBA LIBRE!

    CARDINAL JAIME ARTEAGA: "CATHOLIC CHURCH WILL NOT SUPPORT THE OPPOSITION"

    Cuba's Roman Catholic cardinal, Jaime Arteaga, defended the Catholic church's pastoral role on the island and rejected outside calls for increased support of the political opposition. Cardinal Ortega also called for reconciliation among Cuban believers during a Thursday night conference attended by hundreds of people. In the audience was U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason, a frequent target of criticism by the communist government. Foreign diplomats, opposition members and well-known cultural figures tied to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's government, also attended the conference.

    ''The church's mission is not to be on the side of the opposition,'' said Ortega, the Archbishop of Havana and the island's only Roman Catholic cardinal. Ortega's comments came a week after Vaclav Maly, a Czech bishop and former anti-communist dissident, criticized the church in Cuba for not supporting the Cuban opposition movement. Ortega complained that his Czech colleague did not visit him during a recent stay in Cuba.

    "'The church leadership is very reserved toward the opposition movement,'' Bishop Maly told reporters on May 21, hours after he returned from a 10-day visit to Cuba. ''From my point of view, it's a big mistake,'' Maly said. The Bishop noted that while a church should not engage in politics, ñin a dictatorship, it's always good when people of goodwill unite.'' Maly traveled to Cuba after 75 government opponents were sentenced to long prison terms and three men were executed after quick trials for trying to hijack a ferry. Maly, 52, was jailed numerous times by the former Czechoslovakian communist regime.