DR. OSCAR ELÍAS BISCET ACCUSED OF INSULTING THE CUBAN DICTATOR 

    The wife of dissident Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González says her husband, currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, has been accused of insulting Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. According to Elsa Morejón Hernández, prison official Ramón Beune said Biscet joined other prisoners in shouting "Down with the Castro-Communist dictatorship" during a recent act of civil disobedience at the Kilo 8 prison in Pinar del Rio. He said charges were pending against Biscet, president of the Lawton Human Rights Foundation.

    His wife said he continues to ref use to wear a prison uniform or to stand up when a count of prisoners is conducted. Biscet was sentenced in April following the arrest of 75 dissidents accused of acts against the government. He was removed January 15 from two months of solitary confinement and taken to a cell he shares with 12 common criminals.

    FOUR MORE CUBANS ARE PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

    Amnesty International on Wednesday added four more Cubans to its list of ''prisoners of conscience,'' reinforcing Cuba's status as the country with the highest number of such prisoners in the Western Hemisphere. ''At least in terms of prisoners, it's not getting any better in Cuba,'' Eric Olson, Amnesty's Americas advocacy director, said in a telephone interview from Washington.

    The move brought to 84 the number of ''prisoners of conscience'' in Cuban jails. That includes all 75 government opponents convicted in summary trials during an island wide sweep last spring. ''The arrest of these four dissidents for their peaceful participation in nonviolent protests flies in the face of international human rights protections,'' Dr. William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.

    Amnesty identified the four new ''prisoners of conscience'' as Rolando Jiménez Posada, Rafael Millet Leyva, Miguel Sigler Amaya and Orlando Zapata Tamayo. The number of all political prisoners in Cuba has been estimated at more than 300 by human rights activists on the island.

    THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS ELIMINATED THE SO-CALLED "PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLEî LICENSES CREATED BY CLINTON IN 1999

    The Bush administration has eliminated cultural exchange licenses that allowed just about any American to travel to Cuba, which has been subject to a U.S. trade embargo for more than four decades since Fidel Castro seized power. These so-called "people-to-people" licenses, introduced in 1999 by the Clinton administration, were intended to let Cubans and Americans learn about each other through educational trips.

    About 160,000 Americans visited Cuba legally in 2002, the last year for which statistics are available, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Many others travel there illegally by departing from airports outside America, without having their passports stamped by Cuba. Bob Guild, program director for travel service provider Marazul Charters Inc., said the number of Americans traveling to Cuba should be much lower in 2004. His company sent 2,500 people to Cuba in January 2003. This year, Guild said, the numbers are off by 50 percent.

    Both houses of Congress voted last year in favor of lifting the Cuba travel ban. But the language of the bill was changed at the last minute because President Bush threatened to use his veto power if the bill was passed with those provisions. The Treasury Department, which stopped issuing people-to-people licenses, argued that Americans weren't using the cultural exchange program for what it was intended, but rather were just going to vacation on the Caribbean island, according to spokeswoman Tara Bradshaw. "Tourist travel puts hard currency in the hands of Castro and his cronies and does very little to help the Cuban people," said Bradshaw.

    OUR BELOVED FATHER FRANCISCO SANTANA DIES OF LUNG CANCER

    Father Francisco Santana, a leading Cuban exile activist and cherished priest at the Ermita de la Caridad shrine, died of lung cancer Wednesday at Mercy Hospital. Santana, 62, was right-hand man to Auxiliary Bishop Agustín Román -- the two lived and worked together at the Coconut Grove mission to the Virgin of Charity, Cuba's patron saint. In recent years, Santana had taken on some of Román's social projects and public roles because the aging bishop has been in poor health.

    ''He was a very charitable priest -- very concerned with the poor, the needy and especially the Cubans,'' Román said. ``Nobody has done more for Cubans on the island.'' Santana headed the Faith in Action program, which collects medicines, first-aid supplies and other humanitarian gifts and ships them to families and Catholic churches in Cuba. Santana was also deeply involved in Cuban exile politics. He spoke in favor of a commercial embargo, but thought food and medicine shipments should not be restricted.

    Santana was educated at Havana's El Buen Pastor Seminary and ordained in 1968 in Honduras. He joined the Miami archdiocese in the early 1970s and worked at several parishes. In March 1992, he was named associate director of La Ermita -- the shrine of Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba. He also worked as a chaplain for Mercy Hospital next door. On Friday morning, Archbishop John Clement Favalora will officiate at the funeral Mass in one of Santana's former parishes, St. John Bosco in Little Havana. Román will also be there -- to deliver the eulogy for his longtime friend.

    IMPORTANT VICTORY FOR PRESIDENT BUSH: LIBYA BEGINS SHIPMENTS OF NUKE COMPONENTS TO U.S.

    Libya has begun shipping components of its nuclear arms and missile programs to the United States as part of the pledge made by its dictator, Moammar Al Gaddafi, to abandon weapons of mass destruction programs, the White House said Tuesday. A U.S. transport plane left Tripoli on Monday and arrived Tuesday at McGhee Tyson airport outside Knoxville, Tennessee, carrying about 25 tons of equipment and sensitive documentation related to Libya's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capability, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

    The shipment included centrifuge parts which are used to enrich uranium and ballistic missile guidance sets for longer-range missiles, which Libya has voluntarily agreed to eliminate, he said. Prior to the shipment, another plane last week brought out the "most sensitive documentation" associated with the Libyan nuclear weapons program, the spokesman said.

    "While these shipments are only the beginning of the elimination of Libya's weapons, these shipments, as well as the close cooperation on the ground in Libya, reflect real progress in Libya meeting its commitments," McClellan said. After months of talks with the U.S. and Britain, Libya, in a major policy shift, agreed in December to voluntarily abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and accept unconditional international inspections.

    CARTER: CHÁVEZ TO HONOR REFERENDO

    Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told him that he would step down if a recall referendum is held and he loses. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was wrapping up a three-day visit to observe the election council's verification process of more than 3.4 million signatures collected by the opposition to demand the recall. If the signatures are determined to be valid, a vote could be held in May.

    Chavez insists thousands of signatures are false or duplicates, and opponents fear he won't accept a referendum. But Carter said Chavez had promised in meetings to respect the result if a vote is held. "If the decision is for a referendum, then he (Chavez) will participate in the referendum in accordance with the law," Carter told a news conference. "If the referendum goes against him, then he will step down from his office as required by the law."

    Chavez, opposition leaders and even one elections council director have questioned the verification process, while the OAS released a statement Monday complaining its officials were not being allowed into areas where elections officials discuss criteria for accepting or rejecting signatures. Carter said Tuesday that elections officials agreed to allow OAS observers to be present at all aspects of the signature verification process.

    IN SPITE OF THE "CRIMINAL ECONOMIC BLOCKADE", U.S. IS NOW THE CUBAN DICTATORçS  SEVENTH TRADING PARTNER

    "In spite of the criminal economic blockade, the United States jumped to seventh place among Cuba's commercial partners in 2003, as the food trade increased due to a loosening of the four-decade-old U.S. blockade in 2000," the island's Foreign Trade Minister, Raul de la Nuez, said on Monday. "The list of the 10 countries that accounted for 72 percent of our trade last year are Venezuela, Spain, China, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United States, Mexico, France and Russia," de la Nuez said.

    In 2000, the U.S. Congress loosened the U.S. trade embargo imposed after President Fidel Castro's 1959 communist revolution to allow the sale of agricultural products for cash. By 2002 the United States was Cuba's 10th trading partner. De la Nuez said Cuba imported more than 300 different U.S. agricultural products in 2003, valued at $343.9 million. "Last year Cuba ranked in the top 30 of 224 worldwide markets for agricultural products from the United States," he added. Cuba's trade increased 13.2 percent last year from $5.5 billion, de la Nuez said, with imports up 11.6 percent over 2002's $4.1 billion, and exports up 18 percent from $1.4 billion.

    The United States ranked 5th on the list of countries from which Cuba imports, behind Venezuela, Spain, China and Italy, but ahead of Havana's long-time trading partners Canada, Mexico and France. "It is rather astonishing that in a mere 26 months, the United States has moved from nothing to Cuba's largest single source of agricultural and food products; fifth-largest source of imports; and seventh-largest overall trading partner," said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which monitors American business with the Caribbean island.

       CUBAN DICTATOR KISSED BY ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whose communist Cuba was officially atheist until the fall of the Soviet Union, on Sunday gave the key for a new Byzantine cathedral to the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians but that in Cuba are less than 2,000, must of them Russians that didn't go back their country at the end of the communism there.

    Consecrating the new St. Nicholas cathedral, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in turn honored Castro with his church's Cross of St. Andrew the Apostle, which is given to supporters of the Orthodox faith. American officials here were disappointed when the patriarch failed to show at a Saturday night reception, organized in his honor, at the home of U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason, whose guests also included a number of vocal Castro opponents.

    Shortly before the gift exchange, the patriarch spoke out against the U.S. trade embargo of more than four decades against Cuba. îThe blockade (using the word that Castro uses and not "embargo") of peoples and countries is a historic error,'' the patriarch said in Greek, which was then translated into Spanish. Problems between people and nations, he said "are resolved through dialogue and communication.''  The patriarch was very careful in not mentioning that Castro's tyranny is already 45 years old.

    VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: "DIRECT THREATS REQUIRE DECISIVE ACTIONî

    Switzerland.  Democratic nations must join together to fight terrorism and the spread of the world's most dangerous weapons, but if diplomacy fails, they must be prepared to use force, Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday.

    In remarks at the World Economic Forum, Cheney defended the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, yet struck a conciliatory tone to ease trans-Atlantic relations strained by the war. ''We must act with all urgency this danger demands,'' Cheney said. Ideologies of violence must be confronted at the source by nurturing democracy throughout the Middle East and beyond, Cheney said at the forum held in this Swiss alpine resort. Cooperation among governments and international institutions is even more important today than in the past, he added.

    Cheney, in his address, requested much of the European community. He asked Europe to stand with the United States in supporting democratic reforms in Iran and made a pitch for Turkey's entrance into the European Union. The vice president insisted that if diplomatic efforts aren't enough to defeat terrorism and stop the proliferation of weapons, America and other nations must be prepared to use force. ''Direct threats require decisive action,'' Cheney told the more than 1,500 world political, corporate and opinion leaders who gathered here in eastern Switzerland to discuss security, economic and other global issues.

    POLITICS COMPLICATES ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHçS VISIT

    Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I's schedule was thrown into disarray Friday amid disorganization and rival political forces tugging at the visit here by the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christians. A previously planned meeting with Cuba's Roman Catholic cardinal was suspended abruptly Friday morning for unexplained reasons, then rapidly rescheduled.

    U.S. diplomats scrambled to arrange a reception today for the Orthodox patriarch expected to include dissidents, people the communist government characterizes as "mercenaries.'' Meanwhile, a reception that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was to give Bartholomew on Friday night was called off at mutual agreement and replaced with a dinner between the patriarch and Greek Orthodox church leaders, said Benjamin Leavenworth, the visit spokesman.

    There was no official word from Bartholomew's delegation about what was occurring, but behind-the-scenes maneuvering was clearly threatening to politicize what was initially intended as a purely pastoral visit. Bartholomew is leader of the Greek Orthodox faith and first among equals of 14 patriarchs representing Russian, Ukrainian and other Orthodox congregations the world over. He arrived Wednesday night at the invitation of the Cuban dictator, whose communist government built the new cathedral that he will consecrate Sunday.

   U.S. CALLS FOR UNBIASED VENEZUELA REFERENDUM RULING

    The United States told supporters and foes of President Hugo Chavez Thursday they should allow electoral authorities to decide without pressure or bias whether the leftist leader must face a recall referendum this year. Throwing Washington's diplomatic weight behind the referendum process, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Peter DeShazo said in Caracas the United States backed an electoral solution to the long-running political crisis in Venezuela.

    Facing intense pressure from both Chavez and his foes, the National Electoral Council is evaluating a pro-referendum petition handed in by the opposition in December. It is due to announce in mid-February whether or not to hold a vote in May on Chavez's presidency of the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

    "We're confident the National Electoral Council will be able to work in an autonomous and independent way. ... It's important that it should," DeShazo, who deals with Western Hemisphere Affairs, told an audience of businessmen. Addressing the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce, DeShazo said it was "crucial" that both the government and the opposition respected the electoral authority's decisions.

    PERU WARNS OF THREAT OF BOLIVIA-STYLE PROTEST

    Peru's Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi warned Wednesday that unnamed troublemakers could use a coca growers conference next month to spark a violent uprising like the one which toppled the government in neighboring Bolivia last year. "There are people who are trying to jump on the bandwagon and manipulate coca producers' organizations with different aims. They are without doubt trying to provoke violence," he told cable TV channel, Canal N, without identifying them.

    "There are people going up and down those (coca) valleys trying to rally people, saying we have to imitate Bolivia," he added. Tabloid Correo on Wednesday quoted off-the-record comments by the minister at a lunch on Tuesday, saying police had learned of plans for marches, road blocks and a national strike during a Feb. 18-20 convention of coca growers in Lima.

    "We don't know whether or not there will be a 'Bolivianazo'," Correo quoted Rospigliosi as saying, using the Spanish nickname for the uprising in Bolivia in October that sent unpopular President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada packing. "But we're worried," he said.

    CUBAN GOVERNMENT REDOUBLES EFFORTS TO JAM RADIO MARTÍ

    At the same time the Cuban government protested the U. S. government's decision not to continue migratory talks, it was redoubling its efforts to jam U. S. broadcasts through Radio Martí short-wave frequencies into the island nation.

    "With the new noises, I can't hear it any more," said Esther, a Havana housewife who said she used to listen to Radio Martí through her old Soviet-era VEF radio. Broadcasts from the U. S. on the AM band are blocked by stronger signals from nearby Cuban stations, but when these go off the air for repairs or maintenance, the Radio Martí signal comes in loud and clear, according to listeners' reports.

    Listeners who own newer radios can sometimes pick up the broadcasts at favorable times on certain bands. The Cuban government has implicitly recognized that Cubans listen to Radio Martí, and often blame it for any manifestation against the government. At the trials of the 75 dissidents and independent journalists in April, 2003, one of the principal pieces of evidence introduced was possession of a short-wave radio.

    THE UNITED STATES WILL CONTINUE ITS WAR AGAINST TERRORISM

    President Bush described a nation at peril Tuesday in a State of the Union speech that focused on the threat of terrorism, the challenges in Iraq and the need for more economic growth.

    In a nationally televised address, President Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq and warned Americans that the nation remains vulnerable to terrorists. Borrowing a page from Abraham Lincoln, who urged voters during the Civil War to avoid "changing horses in midstream," Bush called on Americans to stick with him as he confronts terrorism, Iraq and economic problems.

    "We have faced serious challenges together and now we face a choice. We can go forward with confidence and resolve, or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us," he told a joint session of Congress. "We have not come all this way - through tragedy and trial and war - only to falter and leave our work unfinished. Although president Bush highlighted U.S. accomplishments in Iraq and in the war on terrorism, he said much more needs to be done. He urged Americans to avoid being lulled by the absence of attacks on the homeland since Sept. 11, 2001.

    REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS DENOUNCES IMPRISONMENT OF JOURNALISTS IN CUBA

    Reporters Without Borders demonstrated against the imprisonment of 30 journalists in Cuba, at an art exhibition at a major Paris landmark attended by the Cuban Culture Minister. Demonstrators made their protest at the Great Arch of La Defense on 20 January as the Cuban minister and the Cuban ambassador to Paris visited the rooftop opening of a major exhibition of contemporary Cuban art.

    The international press freedom organization was protesting against Cuba's jailing of 30 journalists, 27 of whom were arrested in an unprecedented crackdown in March 2003. Cuba has become the world's biggest prison for journalists, they said. More than 75 dissidents were arrested between 18 and 20 March, among them 27 independent journalists. They were sentenced, after summary trials, to jail terms running from six to 28 years. They were then sent to prisons, generally at considerable distance from their homes, making visits from their families extremely difficult.

    Reporters Without Borders has expressed its concern on several occasions about the safety and hygiene conditions under which the journalists live. Several of them are suffering from chronic medical conditions that require special treatment, which the authorities have regularly denied them. 

    FARC ASKED CHAVEZ TO SELL THEM WEAPONS

    The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) asked the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to sell them weapons for their war against the Colombian State, said Guillermo Fernández de Soto, former foreign minister of that country. "I want you to know that the FARC have asked me to sell them weapons, and I have not done it," Chávez said to then Colombian President Andrés Pastrana during a meeting in the Mexico Inter-Continental Hotel the day before the inauguration of the Mexican President Vicente Fox.  The conversation, held on November 30, 2000.

    "For us, it was not surprising but quite a clear sign of the relation between Chávez and the guerrilla and the FARC's wish, in the middle of the peace process, to become more armed," Fernández de Soto commented to Colombia's Radio Cadena Nacional radio station.

But this was not the only case that showed the links between Chávez and the FARC. Days before the Mexico meeting, then Venezuelan Foreign Minister José Vicente Rangel issued visas for FARC delegates to a forum on the Plan Colombia partially sponsored by the United States and held in the Congress of Venezuela, the diplomat said.

CARACAS, January 21

    NEW VENEZUELAN DEFENSE MINISTER SWEARS UNCONDITIONAL LOYALTY TO CHAVEZ

    Venezuela's newly appointed defense minister on Monday vowed to crush any coup attempts against President Hugo Chavez and demanded unswerving military loyalty for the leftist leader as he confronts a referendum challenge. Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro helped Chavez defeat a short-lived coup in 2002.

    "We will not allow disobedience ... we want no more treason against the people of Venezuela," Garcia, an army general, said as he took over as defense minister in Caracas. Garcia, who was warmly applauded by Chavez at the handover ceremony, said he would enforce strict obedience in the armed forces to the president, who is commander-in-chief. "I will not allow coup-plotting or terrorist military officers to attack democracy and constitutional rule ... they will face a severe and effective response," Garcia said.

    His remarks were clearly aimed at more than 100 dissident officers, including several generals and admirals, who were fired after supporting the bungled April 2002 coup against Chavez. The president has accused these military opponents of plotting another uprising. Garcia, who also helped Chavez to beat an opposition general strike last year, was named defense minister this month.

    CONTRERAS: "THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT BARRED MY FAMILY FROM LEAVING CUBA "

    On Monday, New York Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras says his family was barred from leaving Cuba. Contreras said that Cuban officials had twice refused permission for his wife Miriam Murillo to go to Nicaragua and that she would have to wait four years before applying again. He said that Nicaragua had given a visa to his wife and daughters Naylan, 11, and Naylenis, 3, but it expired.

    Contreras was a star with the Cuban national baseball team before defecting and signing with the Yankees in December 2002. He has legal residence in Nicaragua, though he also has a house in Tampa, Fla.  "While they call me a traitor, I don't feel that I'm a traitor," Contreras said. "I have not committed any offense, any crime. I took the decision to leave the island. It was a personal decision, and my daughters and my wife should not have to pay any price. They aren't guilty of anything, even if any guilt exists." "For eight years, I gave my best for my country and now they treat me this way. I'm not a politician. I'm a sportsman, and if my country had treated me better, I would not be here, I'd be in Cuba."

    U.S. ACTIONS AGAINST CUBA WORRY CUBAN ENVOY

    Dabogerto Rodriguez, Cuba's top diplomat in Washington, spends his days looking for hints about what the Bush administration has in mind for his country. He doesn't like what he sees. Is "regime change" in the cards in this election year, he wonders. That possibility can't be ruled out, he says, because the administration "has proved a tendency in the past to solve problems through violent means." President Bush White House has never outlined such an objective. It has, however, expressed an interest in hastening a transition to democratic rule in communist-run Cuba.

    Rodriguez is not sure what that means. He said Cuba's suspicions have been heightened by what he sees as several "provocative" U.S. actions in recent days. To Rodriguez, the most inexplicable and troubling development has been the recent U.S. allegation of Cuban meddling in Latin America, sometimes in collaboration with the country's main South American ally, Venezuela. As the administration sees it, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is, at age 77, reviving his efforts to generate unrest in the region.

    Rodriguez listed several potential U.S. options for punishing Cuba: suspending food sales, cutting off dollar transfers from Cuban-Americans to family members on the island or sharply reducing U.S. air links to Cuba. None of these is likely to be adopted, he said, because of legal and political constraints on the administration. He suggested the answers may come in early may when President Bush receives a report from an official panel on Cuba that he set up last October. The panel, designated "The Commission for a Free Cuba," is headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell and is due to complete its report in early May.

   IN SPITE OF RECENT TOUGH TALKS AGAINST THE CUBAN DICTATOR, PRESIDENT BUSH EXTENDS AGAIN SUSPENSION OF HELMS-BURTON LAW'S TITLE III 

    Following the lead of former President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush on Friday suspended for six months Title III of Helms-Burton law that allows Americans  to sue foreign companies using Cuban property confiscated after the 1959 communist takeover of the Caribbean island.

    In an open letter sent to key members of Congress, President Bush said (as he stated last year and the year before) extending the suspension "is necessary to the national interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba,î The letter does not say what everyone knows, that extending the suspension of Title III allows the United States to avoid potential disputes with European Union nations whose firms have big investments in a communist nation that exploits slavery work.

    The President last extended the waiver July 2003. The 1996 law, written by now retired Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., gives Americans and Cuban-Americanas the right to sue any individual, investor or business using property seized after Castro took power in 1959. The law, passed in the aftermath of the downing of two small civilian planes by Cuban air force fighters, gives the president authority to waive enforcement of the ban at six-month intervals. President Clinton (a democrat) exercises his authority ten times after the law took effect, and President Bush (a republican) has now decided six times.

    RUMORS OF CASTROçS DEATH SWEEP MIAMI

    Uncorroborated rumors that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro had died buzzed around Miami on Friday, with anxious callers inundating police departments, media outlets and exile groups, specially the office of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association. ''We've gotten hundreds of calls, mostly from the media, but also from our own officers and some members of the public,'' said Miami-Dade police spokesman Randy Rossman. "At this point, we are not mobilizing anyone for anything special at this time.''

    A foreign correspondent in Havana took a precautionary drive past Castro's offices in the Palace of the Revolution Friday afternoon and reported that all seemed normal.

    U.S OFFICIALS SEE AID AFTER CASTROçS DEATH

    The United States would quickly deploy aid to Cuba after the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to prevent mass migration into the cities or toward Florida, U.S. officials said on Friday. Roger Noriega, the State Department's top diplomat for Latin America, who is coordinating a task force on a post-Castro Cuba, said Washington views preparations as an urgent matter.

    "Castro will not live forever and there will be democratic change and a democratic government in Cuba," Noriega said. "The stakes are very high for us." As reported by CAMCO, concerns about the dictatorçs health resurfaced on Wednesday when Bogota Mayor Luis Garzon said the 77-year-old Cuban leader looked "very ill" and had trouble speaking.

    President Bush announced the creation of the post-Castro commission in October, vowing to toughen a four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo. The group is to present recommendations to President Bush on May 1. Castro last month called the committee a "group of idiots" and said Cuba's communist party would survive his death. Noriega said the report will have recommendations on democracy and the rule of law, the creation of core institutions of free enterprise, improving infrastructure, providing health, and improving housing and urban services.

    THIEVES DRESSED AS POLICEMEN CARRY OUT ROBBERIES IN CUBA 

    A group of thieves dressed as policemen has been carrying out home robberies in the municipality of Antilla in Holguín province.

    During the past three weeks, at least five homes have been targeted while the residents were present and five television sets, among other items, taken. One of the victims was Blas Evora Martínez, a former political prisoner, who was roused at 4 a.m. on January 7 by two men posing as police officers. "So far, the police have not apprehended anyone," said Roberto Sardiñas Sánchez, delegate of the dissident pro Human Rights Party in Holguín province.

    FAMILIES OF CUBAN PRISONERS TOLD TO BRING CLEANING SUPPLIES

    Families of prisoners at La Lima jail in Guanabacoa have been told to bring cleaning supplies to clean the cells of their loved ones.

    An official addressed family members in the visiting room on January 8, according to María de los Angeles Borrego, wife of political prisoner Jesús Adolfo Reyes Sánchez. "We need you to bring light bulbs, mops, floor cleaner and air cleanser," he told them.

    VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT TRAVELS TO CUBA TO SEE HIS "FRIEND" FIDEL CASTRO

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez flew to Cuba Wednesday, after the Americas Summit in Mexico, to meet with friend and political ally Fidel Castro, state television reported Wednesday night. The short report offered no details about the encounter and it was unclear how long Chavez planned to stay on the island. Communist-led Cuba was the only country in the Western Hemisphere not invited to the 34-nation special Summit of the Americas in the northern city of Monterrey.

    On Monday, Chavez refused to attend the summit's official dinner and called the gathering of regional leaders a "waste of time." He said he missed the lunch Tuesday because he was on the phone with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi planning a summit between Latin American and African nations.

    CASTROçS HEALTH IS DETERIORATING VERY FAST

    Weeks after meeting with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during a vacation in Cuba, Bogota's mayor said Wednesday the 77-year-old Cuban leader's health appeared to be deteriorating. îHe seemed very sick to me,'' Luis Eduardo Garzon, a former communist union organizer, told Caracol Radio. "You could tell he had physical limitations, especially in his speech.''  Rumors about Castro's health circulate regularly, especially in the Cuban exile community.

    Garzon, who met with Castro in December before taking office Jan. 1, said that he was disappointed with the Cuban revolution. îOne expects debate ... but in Cuba, everything is driven and controlled by one party,'' Garzon said. "That's not right. I have always said there should be no dictatorships, neither from the left nor the right.''

    RIGHTS GROUP CRITICIZES CUBA INTERNET ACCESS RESTRICTIONS

    Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday criticized Cuba's decision to further restrict access to the Internet by its citizens as a violation of freedom of expression on the communist-run island. The state telephone monopoly said on Friday it will limit access to the Internet over phone lines paid for in local currency to users authorized by the government as of Jan. 24. Ordinary Cubans will only be allowed to send e-mail and surf the Internet by paying for phone services in dollars, a prohibitive cost for most.

    "The new measures, which limit and impede unofficial Internet use, constitute yet another attempt to cut off Cubans' access to alternative views and a space for discussing them," Amnesty said in a statement. "Amnesty International fears that the new measures are intended to prevent human rights monitoring by restricting the flow of information out of Cuba," the London-based group said.

    Cuba, like China, maintains strict state control over Internet servers and only Cubans working for government agencies and universities have access to e-mail accounts. Cubans cannot buy computers and many Cubans can only access the Internet through borrowed or shared accounts and passwords bought on the black market. The decree ordered the state telephone company ETECSA to "detect and impede access to Internet surfing" on low-cost telephone lines paid for in pesos, the Cuban currency. Internet users will have to buy dollar telephone cards or have a line paid for in dollars, a service offered to foreigners living in Cuba, a circular issued by ETECSA's Internet unit E-net.

    CASTRO, TRAITOR TO HIS OWN REVOLUTION (By Archie Kielly)

     How can Castro face the Cuban people and still speak of revolution?  In 1959, his communist imaginings sounded great to the fringe domestic and international left intelligentsia.  As an ingénue in real world economics, he was willing to destroy the economic system and the sugar industry that made Cuba the top sugar producer in the world and the third wealthiest country in Latin America, after Argentina and Venezuela, to experiment with communist doctrine in industrial manufacturing and breeding a super cow.  Today, all his communist dreams have evaporated and Cubaçs economy is now ranked along sides the poorest African nations.  Castro has been forced to rescue his dictatorship by embracing some of the worst tools available to him: SEX TOURISM, JOINT VENTURE TOURISM, and PETROLEUM GIFTS FROM VENEZUELA. 

   Click here    and read the complete article 

    PRISON GUARDS BRUTALLY BEAT JAILED JOURNALIST

    Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona was taken from his cell by three prison guards on 31 December and dragged to room where they beat him about the face and body. They also deliberately shut his leg in a door. He told his wife Elsa González Padrón in a telephone call on 7 January that he was still suffering from the after effects of the attack.

    It is the second time in a month that a jailed journalist has been attacked. The journalist was attacked after complaining about being transferred to Building 4B of the prison where 235 common-law prisoners are locked up in appalling conditions. Common-law prisoners are often made use of by the authorities to harass political prisoners.

    The journalist's wife said she was also very concerned about the state of health of her husband who suffers from heart and liver problems and whose blood pressure is unstable. He was put in solitary confinement during the summer of 2003 for protesting against ill treatment meted out to another prisoner. Arroyo Carmona was arrested with 26 other independent journalists and 50 other dissidents in an unprecedented crackdown in March 2003. They were sentenced to terms from six to 28 years in prison.

     PRESIDENT BUSH WISHES A SPEEDY DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN CUBA

     U.S. President George W. Bush wasted little time on Monday at a Summit of the Americas in calling for the end of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's leadership in Cuba and a swift move to democracy there. He told Latin American leaders that they had a "God-given right" to freedom in a sharp attack on the dictator and other rivals in a region where anti-U.S. sentiment is rising. One of the main points the president wanted to make at this week's summit was that the only country in the hemisphere that is not a democracy is the Caribbean island off the coast of Florida.

    "Through our democratic example, we must continue to stand with the brave people of Cuba, who for nearly half a century have endured the tyrannies and repression," Bush said at the inaugural ceremony of the summit. He added: "Dictatorship has no place in the Americas. We must all work for a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba."     

    YOUNG PEOPLE REQUEST SOLIDARITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS IN CUBA

    "Los Ismaelillos," the juvenile chapter of the Coalition of Cuban-American Women, a group of children and young people from different ethnic backgrounds that work together to bring moral support and economic aid to the sons and daughters of human rights activists and political prisoners in Cuban jails, hereby inform of the physical and mental torture inflicted upon our good friend Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet by the police of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior. Dr. Biscet is a leader in the peaceful human rights movement and a doctor who defends the right to life.

    We are petitioning all children and youth of the world to come forth and join us in requesting the immediate liberation of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello, together with all those unjustly serving long prison sentences for promoting human rights for all Cubans.

    Children and youth of the world you can help by telephoning or writing the Cuban embassy in your own country, and let them know your concern for the health and well being of these brave men and women, demanding their immediate release from prison.

    AS EXPECTED, CUBA REJECTS US CHARGES OF DESTABILIZING LATIN AMERICA 

    Communist-run Cuba on Friday rejected U.S. accusations that it was seeking to destabilize democratic governments in Latin America with the help of Venezuela's populist president Hugo Chavez. A front-page editorial in the Communist Party newspaper Granma defended the presence of 20,000 Cuban doctors, teachers, sports trainers, social workers and military personnel supporting Chavez's social programs in oil-rich Venezuela. "Noriega's statements are shameless lies, as usual," said the editorial headlined "Lies, fear and stupidities of the empire."

    Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirmed Roger Noriegaçs views on Thursday, saying "Cuba has been trying to do everything it could to destabilize parts of the region" for decades. Bush administration officials have expressed increasing concern that the leftist leaders of Cuba and Venezuela are encouraging anti-American political sentiment in the region, especially since protests led by coca-growing peasants forced the resignation of Bolivia's U.S.-educated president in October. 

    ROBERT DUVALL SLAMS SPIELBERG FOR HIS TRIP TO CUBA

    The renowned actor Robert Duvall sharply criticized filmmaker and DreamWorks SKG studio co-founder Steven Spielberg for visiting Cuba in November 2002. "Spielberg went down there recently and said, 'The best seven hours I ever spent was actually with Fidel Castro.' Now, what I want to ask him, ... 'Would you consider building a little annex on the Holocaust museum, or at least across the street, to honor the dead Cubans that Castro killed.' That's very presumptuous of him to go there," Duvall told Charlie Rose, according to excerpts of the interview released by CBS.

    The actor, who won an Academy Award for his role in the 1983 film "Tender Mercies," added, "I'll never work at DreamWorks again, but I don't care about working there anyway." Spielberg's spokesman, Marvin Levy, responded by issuing a statement saying the remark Duvall attributed to the director about his meeting with Castro is "totally false." "He never said it, or anything like it," Levy said, adding Spielberg's trip to the Communist-ruled island had been authorized as a cultural exchange by the U.S. government.

    Spielberg spent four days in Cuba, launching a showcase of eight of his movies, meeting with Cuban filmmakers and paying visits to Havana's largest synagogue and a memorial to Holocaust victims at the city's Jewish cemetery. The Oscar-winning director of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" also dined with Fidel Castro, spending about eight hours with the Cuban leader discussing art, politics and history. During his trip, Spielberg made headlines by calling for an end to the 40-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

    CUBA TIGHTENS ITS  CONTROL OVER INTERNET, PROHIBIT TELEPHONIC ACCESS

    Cuba tightened its controls over the Internet on Friday, prohibiting access over the low-cost government phone service most ordinary citizens have at home. The move could affect hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Cubans who illegally access the Internet from their homes, using computers and Internet accounts they have borrowed or purchased on the black market.

    Cuba's communist government already heavily controls access to the Internet. Cubans must have government permission to use the Web legally and most don't, although many can access international e-mail and a more limited government-controlled intranet at government jobs and schools. Now Cubans will need additional approval to access via the nation's regular phone service. Since few Cubans are authorized to use the Internet from home - only some doctors and key government officials - the new law amounts to a crackdown on illegal users.

   As for foreign firms and individuals, most are authorized to use the Internet in Cuba, usually via a more expensive telephone service charged in American dollars and already off limits to most Cubans. E-net, the Internet service of the Cuban telephone company Etecsa, told customers in a letter Friday the new law would take effect late Saturday. It affects all other Internet service providers in Cuba as well.|

    ARGENTINA JOINS CUBA-VENEZUELA AXIS AGAINST WASHINGTON

    Diplomatic relations between Argentina and the United States deteriorated into mudslinging on Wednesday after Washington said the left-leaning government was too soft on Communist-run Cuba. Roger Noriega, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told reporters on Tuesday he was "disappointed" officials visiting Cuba failed to meet dissidents, a reference to Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa's recent trip.

    Argentina, which last year restored full diplomatic ties with Cuba under new President Nestor Kirchner, responded on Wednesday. "We consider the declarations aggressive ... and inopportune, and the foreign minister has expressed this in the name of the Argentina government," Vice Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana told local radio.

    This week's clash ratcheted up tension between the United States and Argentina, which under Kirchner has established closer ties with Washington's main political enemies in Latin America, from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to Venezuela's maverick leftist President Hugo Chavez. The disagreement between Argentina and the United States is in contrast to the 1990s, when then-President Carlos Menem's relationship with Washington was so close it was famously described as "carnal." Argentina was the only South American nation to send troops to the Gulf War in 1991.

    CUBA:  U.S. TRYING TO SCUTTLE MIGRATION ACCORDS

    Cuba said on Tuesday U.S. officials canceled biannual migration talks and accused an "aggressive" President Bush Administration of seeking to scuttle migration agreements between the two countries. Washington has criticized the lack of progress at the migration talks, citing Cuban refusal to discuss a list of 200 Cubans, mostly professionals such as doctors, who Havana will not allow to leave even though they have U.S. visas.

    U.S. officials also complain they have been allowed few visits since last March to the interior of Cuba to check on the well-being of boat people who the United States has returned to the island. The migration accords of 1994 and 1995 are aimed at avoiding a repeat mass exodus from Communist-run Cuba to the United States by Cuban rafters. Migration meetings every six months are the only area where the two long-time ideological foes have regular conversations.

    But Washington has put off the latest round of talks until Havana agrees to discuss issues on the U.S. agenda, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday night. Cuba had wanted to hold the talks on Thursday, it said. "The government of the United States is entirely responsible for the cancellation of this round of migration talks," the statement said. "These are merely new pretexts to aggravate tensions between the two countries," the foreign ministry said. Opponents of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro criticize the migration accords under which the U.S. Coast Guard began to return Cuban boat people to the island when they were intercepted at sea trying to reach Florida.

    ROGER NORIEGA: CUBAN DICTATOR 'PLAYING WITH FIRE' 

    Roger Noriega, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs accused Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Tuesday of promoting "provocative'' policies to destabilize democratic governments and warned the Cuban communist leader he was "playing with fire.'' Noriega also singled out Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling on him to observe the rule of law in the run-up to a possible referendum on his presidency.  President Chavez makes no secret that "he considers Castro a mentor and a partner," said Noriega. "I think that's disturbing when you look at the legacy of Fidel Castro."

    Speaking at a news conference following a speech at the Council of the Americas, Noriega accused Castro, whom he called "a broken-down, old dictator who doesn't cast much of a shadow,'' of sowing unrest in some countries in the region. He did not identify the countries. îIt should be very clear to Fidel Castro that his actions have caught the attention of Latin America leaders and that his actions to destabilize Latin America are increasingly provocative to the inter-American community,'' Noriega said.

    Noriega warned that Castro "needs to be mindful that his actions are being carefully monitored by his neighbors in Latin America, including the United States." We have sources of information that paint a disturbing picture of Cuban involvement in supporting elements in various countries that seek to destabilize democratically elected governments," he said. îThose that continue in destabilizing democratically elected governments, interfering in the internal affairs of other governments, are playing with fire,'' he said.

    PRESIDENT BUSH BOLDLY REOPENS DEBATE ON IMMIGRATION REFORM 

    Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) today applauded the announcement by President Bush of core concepts which the President supports for immigration reform. After September 11, 2001, the debate on immigration reform in the U.S. was, for all practical purposes, suspended. With his bold policy announcement of January 7, 2004, President Bush has, in effect, reopened the debate on immigration reform in the U.S.

    "President Bush has once again demonstrated leadership with his bold announcement on immigration reform. The debate on immigration reform was suspended for all practical purposes after September 11, 2001. President Bush has boldly reopened the national debate on that key policy issue. He is to be commended for his leadership," said Diaz-Balart.

    "It is important for hard working immigrants  who have come to America often to do the jobs that no one else is willing to do, to be treated with respect and to be given the opportunity to legalize their status in the United States. Millions of immigrants from Latin America are contributing to the economic prosperity of  the United States and to the stability of their homelands by sending billions of dollars in remittances to their families. The hard work of the millions of immigrants in the United States should be recognized and lauded. President Bush has taken a key step in that direction with his bold proposals."  "I look forward to working with the President and the Congressional leadership to convert needed immigration reforms into law," continued Diaz-Balart.

    U.S. DECRIES VENEZUELAçS TIES TO CUBA

    Venezuela's neighbors are bothered by close ties between the Venezuelan and Cuban governments and their potential dangers to democracy, the State Department said Monday.  Department spokesman Adam Ereli also said Cuba remains an antidemocratic force in the region but stopped just short of implicating Venezuela in antidemocratic activities.

    Privately, however, administration officials say Cuba and Venezuela are working together to oppose pro-American, democratic governments in the region with money, political indoctrination and training. Ereli criticized any action that "might impede free and fair democratic processes" in the hemisphere and said Cuba has a long history of attempting to undermine elected governments in the region. "For that reason the close ties between the government of Venezuela and the government of Cuba raise concerns among Venezuela's democratic neighbors," Ereli said.

    THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ASKS THE VENEZUELA PEOPLE TO CLOSE RANK  AGAINST CHAVEZ

    Monsignor Baltazar Porras urged the Venezuelans to reject every ideology that makes the use of force its law and the degradation of its opponent its political action. His declarations were produced at the opening session of the 81 Plenary Ordinary Assembly of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference.

    "The political messiahs, according to the Pope, often lead to the worst tyrannies," the nuncio said. He asked the Venezuelan bishops not to fall into the temptation of venerating ideological or political projects, since they change, lack a definite value and cannot offer all that men desire. In order to overcome social tensions in Venezuela, he suggested the political leaders to open a dialogue aimed at recovering people's confidence.

    U.S. CONCERNED OVER CASTRO-CHAVEZ 'RELATIONSHIP'

    President Bush administration is becoming increasingly concerned about what it sees as a joint effort by Cuba and Venezuela to nurture anti-American sentiment in Latin America with money, political indoctrination and training. As U.S. officials see it, the alliance combines Cuban President Fidel Castro's political savvy with surplus cash that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez obtains from oil exports.

    Venezuelan resources may have been decisive in the ouster of Bolivia's elected, pro-American president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. A key recipient of Venezuelan help has been Evo Morales, a charismatic Bolivian legislator who has broad support among his country's indigenous population. He is an avowed opponent of the capitalist system. Before Sanchez de Lozada was deposed, one official said, Venezuela's military attaché in Bolivia was expelled for giving money to Morales, and Morales received money from Venezuelan officials in a visit to Caracas.

    Despite Venezuelan denials, they said, Chavez has supported Colombia's FARC and ELN rebels, allowing use of territory in western Venezuela as a springboard for attacks inside Colombia. Castro, meanwhile, was said to be providing training, advice and logistical support to leftist groups in the region, a sign of re-engagement after relative inactivity in the 1990s. Roger Noriega, Secretary of State Colin Powell's top aide for Latin America, said Friday that the 77-year-old Castro, in his "final days,'' appears to be "nostalgic for destabilizing elected governments.

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    THE CUBAN DICTATOR CRITICIZED THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS AS "UNSUSTAINABLEî

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro thanked several thousand members of Cuba's political elite for their support over the decades as they gathered to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the revolutionary triumph that made this Caribbean island a communist country stronghold. îI congratulate the Cuban people for all they have done over the years, for their loyalty and revolutionary spirit,'' Castro said late Saturday in a 45-minute prepared speech at the Karl Marx theater.

    The Cuban dictator criticized the 34-country, hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas, saying it would steal the independence of poor nations and economically annex them to the United States. Wearing the olive-green dress uniform with gold- and red-trimmed epaulets reserved for special occasions, Castro stood on the theater's stage before a carved mahogany podium and surrounded by bright green ferns.

    Castro today is the world's longest-ruling head of government - the only socialist system in the Western Hemisphere. His leadership over this Caribbean nation of 11.2 million people remains unchallenged. Castro has ruled during the administrations of 10 different American presidents, successfully defying their attempts to force him to change his socialist system.

    IN DANGER LIFE OF INCARCERATED CUBAN PHYSICIAN DR. OSCAR ELIAS BISCET

    "My husband is unrecognizable since I last saw him four months ago; he is so thin, pale and ill looking", declared Elsa Morejon, wife of the Cuban civic leader, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez, " these punishments are destroying him and if he continues where he is he will dieŸ" Cuban prisoner of conscience, Dr. Oscar E. Biscet Gonzalez, who is serving a 25 year prison sentence, continues confined with a common criminal in a cell with no windows or light which he described as a "dungeon", for refusing to stand up to acknowledge the presence of prison guards and officials during the recount of prisoners. His punishment prohibits family visits, food supplies, toiletries, clothing, receiving or sending any correspondence, and going out in the sun.

    Dr. Biscet informed his wife that all he asks is that his status as a political prisoner be respected by prison authorities who force him to follow disciplinary measures imposed upon common prisoners. He reiterated to his family that "the punishments imposed upon me are of a psychological nature and I am doing all in my power to endure themŸ" The Prison Director at Prison Kilo 8 informed Elsa Morejon that her husband "has no manners" since when he was forced by guards to stand during the prisoners' recount he cried out loud "down with the dictatorship".

    Elsa Morejon makes the Cuban government responsible for the physical and mental well-being of her husband and urgently appeals to heads of states, leaders of political, civic, religious and professional organizations, the press, and all men and women of good will worldwide to demand before the Cuban government the unconditional and immediate freedom of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and all those prisoners whose only crime is to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their own country.

    TOP COLOMBIAN REBEL LEADERS CAPTURED IN ECUADOR

    Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Saturday praised the capture of top rebel leader Simon Trinidad as evidence that the country's four-decade leftist insurgency can be defeated on the battlefield. Trinidad, one of the seven members of the ruling secretariat of the 16,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was arrested late Friday during a routine document check on a street in the neighboring Ecuadorian capital of Quito, police said. He was swiftly extradited to Colombia.

    The 54-year-old rebel, whose real name is Ricardo Ovidio Palmera Pineda, was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued to Interpol, the international police agency, by Colombian prosecutors.  "Countrymen: The capture of a FARC leader shows that terrorism will never triumph," Uribe told reporters. He also urged the group's fighters to desert en masse. "It would be good if all of you left the guerrillas, which only serves to kidnap, murder and sustain a drug empire that only enriches its leaders," he said.

    Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said the United States also played a part in Trinidad's capture, but declined to give details. Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez said he personally informed a jubilant Uribe about the capture and Trinidad's swift extradition to Colombia. "I think this really helps maintain excellent relations between our two countries and improves regional security," said Gutierrez.

    STATE DEPARTMENT EXPELS CUBAN DIPLOMAT

    The State Department has expelled a Cuban diplomat, accusing him of associating with criminal elements, U.S. officials said. The expulsion of Roberto Socorro Garcia, a third secretary at the Cuban mission in Washington, was carried out last month without announcement.

    Cuba has announced no retaliatory measures in response to the expulsion, said the U.S. officials, asking not to be identified. The officials said that about 20 Cuban diplomats have been expelled since late 2002. In May, the administration ordered home seven Cuban diplomats in Washington and seven more from the United Nations, charging that all were engaged inappropriate activities. Four others were expelled in the fall of 2002.

    Saturday was the 43rd anniversary of the break in U.S. diplomatic relations with Cuba, an event triggered by Cuba dictator Fidel Castro's order to expel 76 U.S. diplomats, accusing them of spy activities. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by severing diplomatic ties. Relations have never been restored, but since 1977 the two countries have operated diplomatic missions in each other's capital. Unlike embassies, these missions are not headed by ambassadors.

    POWELL OUTLINES GOALS FOR WASHINGTON IN 2004

    Secretary of State Colin Powell says the Bush administration will continue to focus on building democratic societies in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2004, but is "resolved as well to turn the president's goal of a free and democratic Middle East into a reality."

    "This struggle will not be confined to the Middle East," Powell wrote. "We are working for the advent of a free Cuba, and toward democratic reform in other countries whose people are denied liberty." "The war on terrorism remains our first priority," he said, "but success in that war depends on constructive ties among the world's major powers. These we pursue without respite."

    UNBELIEVABLE!  CUBA OFFERS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

    Cuba, which this year became the U.S. cattle industry's newest customer, on Wednesday expressed sympathy for American ranchers dealing with their first case of mad cow disease and hopes that the situation is resolved soon. "Our sympathy goes out to U.S. ranchers and the meat industry and we hope the situation is cleared up quickly in their interest, ours and the world's," Pedro Alvarez, chairman of the state company that is Communist Cuba's only importer of U.S. farm products, said in a telephone interview.

    Alvarez also said his company, Alimport, was ready to help the U.S. probe into the mad cow incident, although the Caribbean nation had no experience with the disease.  He said Cuba had background fighting other animal and plant epidemics. "Alimport is ready to put our technicians and scientists at the disposition of the investigation," Alvarez said. Alimport said on Tuesday contracts signed to import 450 head of cattle in 2004 were on hold until the probe was concluded.

    HAVANA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PREDICT THE FALL OF THE CUBAN DICTATOR

    "SOON ALL DICTATORS WILL FALL, AND WE WILL BE FREEî --  this inscription was written by someone on the 15 December in one of the faculty of law lecture theatres of the Havana University.

    After the inscription had been found by the university authorities all studies were immediately cancelled. The dean of the university, Juan Vela, accompanied by ten member of the state security service visited auditorium 234 A, where the slogan had appeared. The members of the state security service conducted an investigation in an attempt to find the inscriptionçs author. Technicians have been interrogated by members of the university security service.

   CUBAN DICTATOR APPEARS AS ADOLF HITLER ON GRANMA'S FRONT PAGE

    The Cuban communist authorities have launched an inquiry into how the official newspaper of the Communist party ran a front page photograph of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro which appeared to have been doctored to make him look like Adolf Hitler. When the edition of Granma hit the streets this month party officials began to retrieve as many copies as they could, an operation which appears to have deterred foreign journalists based on the island from reporting the story.

    The picture appeared above a story which reported President Fidel Castro's meeting with North American students. Close examination of the photograph shows that the image of the Cuban leader has been subtly altered to make him look like the Nazi leader. Underneath banners proclaiming Cuba's opposition to war and terrorism, President Castro is seen in full military uniform, but the world's most famous beard has been replaced by history's most striking moustache, while his gray hair now has the faint hint of a black comb-over.

    Although details of what happened remain unclear, what is known is that someone or some group at the newspaper appears to have risked all in the name of political satire. Yesterday a spokesman for the newspaper confirmed that an investigation was under way, but that the photographer who took the picture was not responsible.  Some say that those seated in the background of the photograph, which was published on December 4, have had their glasses darkened, to make them look like Mafiosi, or that they have had white lines superimposed on their lips, suggesting that they dare not speak out against dictator Castro's wishes.