June 29

June 28

June 27

CUBAN COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT UNABLE TO FIND SOLUTION TO THE SUGAR CRISIS

     HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuba's 2006 sugar production is not expected to improve significantly over this year's estimated output due to drought damage and poor management by the government, industry sources said this week. This year's estimated production of 1.3 million tonnes of raw sugar would be the lowest since 1908.

    Cuba is importing around 15,000 tonnes of low-grade whites from Colombia each month to make up for this year's disastrous performance and meet both contracts and domestic consumption of 700,000 tonnes. The imports from Columbia are expected to continue at a similar pace at least through November.

    Cuba has begun a top-level review of its once-powerful sugar industry after a 2002 restructuring failed to halt its decline and improve efficiency. The Communist country shut down 71 of 156 mills and relegated 60 percent of sugar cane plantation lands to other uses in the 2002 restructuring. Cuban sugar output peaked at 8.1 million tonnes in 1989, just as its main market at subsidized prices, the Soviet Union, started to crumble.

HUGO CHAVEZ ANNOUNCES PLAN TO BUILD THOUSANDS OF PLASTIC HOMES FOR POOR

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.-  Hugo Chavez toured a house made of plastic and promised to build thousands more like it for Venezuela's poor as he marked the creation of a national petrochemical company. Stepping through a model home with plastic walls built on the factory grounds, he touted it as an economical solution. He said such homes cost about 35 percent less than those built with cinderblocks.

    Officials on Saturday also signed a series of agreements for petrochemical projects, including one to begin producing the plastic houses. Officials said they will be able to produce 1,300 plastic homes this year, and as many as 30,000 next year.

    "Save me one for around 2021," said Chavez, who has said he will retire around that year once his social "revolution" for the poor has made its mark. "Venezuela will never again be anyone's colony," said Chavez, a harsh critic of the U.S. government, which he says has exacerbated poverty through "imperialist" policies.

June 26, 2005

MILITARY INSTITUTIONAL FRONT MARCHED THROUGH THE CUBAN EMBASSY IN CARACAS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- The Military Institutional Front (FIM) Friday marched through the Cuban Embassy in Caracas to protest what its leaders call the "silent invasion" from the Caribbean island. No incident was reported. "We are here to protest against this transition to communism by Chávez; our President controls all the State powers, and following (dictator Fidel) Castro example, (he would) be restraining freedoms and violating human rights," said Antonio Luján, 51, an unemployed engineer who took part in the protest, AP reported.

    The demonstrators protested several blocks from the Cuban Embassy in Caracas, burning an effigy of Fidel Castro and saying they rejected Cuba's growing influence in the Venezuelan government. Dozens of police halted the marchers with barricades one block from the embassy, where the crowd stood chanting "No to communism!" and "Get out, Fidel!" The demonstration eventually broke up peacefully.

    Meanwhile, at the Venezuela Military Academy, wearing fatigues and a red beret, Chavez pinned awards on soldiers and announced a pay raise for the troops of between 50-60 percent. He warned that any foreign attackers "would have to face the counteroffensive to throw them off this land, whatever it costs us, no matter how many years it takes, and no matter how much blood is spilled."  "That's how we would face an invasion by the most powerful army in the world," he told the soldiers lined up next to tanks at a military fort.

RESIDENTS PROTEST GOVERNMENT INSPECTORS' ABUSE OF POWER

     PINAR DEL RIO, CUBA.- Residents of the Hermanos Cruz district in Pinar del Río are protesting that government inspectors whose job it is to monitor irregularities at the retail level and services to the population are the first to abuse their power to secure advantages for themselves. The incident that prompted the latest protest involved a group of inspectors who jumped a queue at a butcher shop and acquired what some bystanders thought was more than their allotted rations of meat.

    "Government inspectors are a sort of sacred cow, but they are the first to steal and get food, sometimes without paying. They take advantage of the fear store employees have toward them. Most store employees steal and pilfer products for their own enrichment, and so they reach an accommodation with inspectors," said one young woman who said she was a student.

    A man who said he was retired said: "Inspectors show up whenever good products come on the market. Today, there was fish, and there they are. When there is beef, they show up to take their share. All in agreement with the store's employees. Everybody else gets strictly what they have coming by the ration book, but inspectors don't even show their ration booklet; they get whatever they want. They are in charge of detecting irregularities, but they are the ones who promote them."

EL SALVADOR PRESIDENT SAYS HIS COUNTRY'S TROOPS WILL STAY IN IRAQ

     PARIS, FRANCE.- The president of the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq said Friday he will not pull them out until democracy is in place there. "Why should we leave Iraq now when the basic conditions have not been met?" El Salvador's President Tony Saca said in Paris, where he met with President Jacques Chirac at the end of a three-nation European tour.

    Saca said a president, a constitution and a public police force need to be in place in Iraq before his troops will leave. "I believe that what we begin, we have to finish correctly," Saca said. "The elections are not enough, democratic processes take time.

VENEZUELANS IN POSSESSION OF MORE THAN $20,000 MAY GO TO JAIL

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- The President of the National Assembly subcommittee monitoring Foreign Exchange Management Committee (Cadivi) activities, Elvis Amoroso, Thursday said that one of the subcommittee proposals for the amendment of the Foreign Exchange Criminal Law includes prison terms of 2-6 years for people having more than USD 20,000.

    Amoroso explained that a fine of up to three times the amount of money for those in possession of USD 10,000-20,000 would be proposed, reported official news agency ABN. The law is expected to be passed by July.

June 25, 2005

RADIO AND TV MARTI A PRIORITY, STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL SAYS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. military aircraft broadcasting TV and Radio Martí's signals to Cuba will not be diverted to Iraq, at least until a replacement plane is bought and equipped, a senior State Department official said Thursday.

    ''The president has made the decision that we would do what we could to break through the information blockade imposed by the Castro regime,'' the official said after El Nuevo Herald and The Herald reported concerns raised by Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen that the Pentagon's C-130 Commando Solo plane could be sent to the Middle East. ''As far as we know . . . until the permanent platform is available, the C-130 is flying,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity surrounding the issue.

The official added that negotiations are under way with legislators to win approval for President Bush's $10 million budget request for the purchase of the plane. ''No one presumed that the battle for the $10 million was going to be a slam-dunk,'' the senior official said.

CUBA TO PURCHASE LESS FROM U.S.

     HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuba will spend less money it had planned to invest in American farm goods this year because of increased U.S. restrictions, Cuba's top import official said Thursday. The communist-run island had planned to purchase up to US$800 million (euro663 million) in goods this year from the United States, according to Pedro Alvarez, the chairman of Cuba's  Alimport.

    But a new rule that forces Cuba to make full payment for goods before the cargo leaves U.S. ports has complicated commerce and forced the island to turn to other markets, Alvarez said. As a result, Cuba is now aiming just to match the amount it spent last year on U.S. products - about US$475 million (euro394 million).

    "Not only have the recent measures made American exports more expensive, they've also introduced a lot of uncertainty," Alvarez said during a visit to the island by members of a U.S. trade association pushing for normalized trade with Cuba. The U.S. Treasury Department rule was implemented earlier this year.

CARIBBEAN LEADERS TO VISIT  VENEZUELA FOR TALKS ON OIL DEAL

     GEORGETOWN, GUAYANA.- Caribbean leaders will visit Venezuela next week for negotiations on an agreement to receive cheaper oil. Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo, Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and Trinidadian Prime Minister Patrick Manning are expected to meet with Hugo Chavez on June 29 in the Venezuela oil town of Puerto La Cruz.

    The energy ministers from Venezuela and several Caribbean countries will meet in Puerto la Cruz on June 28, the secretariat said. Talks are expected to center on Venezuela's proposal to create a regional company to offset high oil prices by distributing crude and refined oil products to the Caribbean at lower prices than other dealers in the area.

    Caribbean and Venezuela oil officials agreed during an August meeting in Jamaica to create the company, called PetroCaribe. Although Trinidad is rich in oil and gas, other Caribbean countries import most of their energy and have struggled to cope with the spike in oil prices, which topped $59 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

FISHMONGER ESCAPES AS POLICE SHOOT AT HIM

     HAVANA, CUBA.- A fishmonger jumped over the railing of a bridge into the river 12 feet below to escape as police shot at him from above. The man finally made his getaway downstream after he climbed the bank of the Bélico river and disappeared into a marginal settlement known locally as El Chambery.

    The man, who had been selling fish from his bicycle, abandoned both fish and bicycle on the bridge as he fled. The sale of fish by a private citizen is illegal in Cuba. As the man crossed the bridge over the river, police intercepted him and the man abandoned his bicycle and jumped into the stream. Police at first shouted at him to stop, and then fired pistol shots at him.

    The shots riled local residents who had congregated to watch. "Let the man sell what the government cannot offer the people," yelled one woman. Another yelled: "You should think he's trying to survive and provide for his family." Police collected the bicycle and the fish.

June 24, 2005

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DONALD RUMSFELD WANTS RADIO MARTI'S C-130 REASSIGNED TO IRAQ  ++++  SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE FIGHTS TO KEEP THE PLANE SENDING SIGNALS TO CUBA

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- A yearlong delay in the purchase of an airplane to broadcast TV and Radio Martí's signals to Cuba has stoked concern on Capitol Hill that the C-130 currently being used may be reassigned to Iraq by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  In letters to Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush, Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen cited “grave concerns about reports that the C-130 Commando Solo airborne platform transmission currently dedicated to Cuba-related activities may be reassigned.''  The purchase and equipping of a new plane specifically dedicated to Cuba broadcasts was part of a long list of initiatives against Cuba launched by the White House last year.

    President Bush also ordered tightened restrictions on travel and cash transfers to the island, committed additional support for the dissident movement on the island and promised to name a ''transition coordinator'' to implement the new measures. The tightening of the restrictions was implemented swiftly, but the administration has yet to seal a deal on the plane purchase or appoint a transition coordinator.

    ''Mr. President, as a mother whose stepson will soon be deployed to Iraq, I fully appreciate the Administration's desire to use all available tools to provide for the safety of our troops and the security of our nation,'' Ros-Lehtinen wrote in a letter to the White House this week. “However, we cannot and should not forget about the threats posed by the Castro dictatorship in our own sphere of influence.  ''The Castro regime in Cuba must continue to be a focal point . . . for your global strategies to promote freedom and democracy as antidotes to extremism and terrorism,'' the letter said. “The C-130 plane being used for transmissions of Radio and TV Martí is a critical instrument for the implementation of this agenda.''

CANCELED BASEBALL GAME LATEST IN HISTORY OF HARASSMENT FOR CUBAN DISSIDENT FAMILY

     HAVANA, CUBA.- It was supposed to be a friendly baseball game. But hours before a neighborhood youth group was to play a team from the U.S. mission in Havana, Cuban security agents allegedly charged into the home of activist Marcos de Miranda and confiscated his baseballs, bats and mitts. The action, de Miranda says, is the latest and among the most bizarre in a long history of harassment targeting his family, made up of dissidents clamoring for change in communist Cuba.

The game was to include many non-dissidents from de Miranda's neighborhood, one of the city's poorest. The game, against a team mainly made up of U.S. Marines attached to the U.S. Interests Section, had been advertised around the seaside diplomatic offices. With U.S. policy toward Cuba increasingly rigid, relations between the government and the Interests Section are tense. Cuban dissidents who contact American officials are accused of receiving U.S. financial aid and opening themselves to manipulation. The baseball equipment had been sent to de Miranda from an exile group in Florida.

VENEZUELAN DOCTORS REPORT DISCRIMINATION BY HUGO CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- The Venezuelan Medical Association (FMV) Tuesday held a special meeting to address topics such as collective bargaining agreement, trade union elections, and "discrimination" by President Hugo Chávez' government, said FMV president Douglas León Natera.

He argued that "the government has refused to discuss the collective bargaining agreement with us for 30 months." León Natera added that Venezuelan doctors' wage has been "frozen" for the last five years. In this connection, he claimed they have unsuccessfully reported their situation to the Labour Inspector's Office. He added that Chávez' administration has preferred to appoint Cuban doctors as directors of popular healthcare program Barrio Adentro rather than Venezuelan physicians.

June 23, 2005

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APPROVED BILL TO PROTECT FLAG

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- The House on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag, a measure that for the first time stands a chance of passing the Senate as well. By a 286-130 vote - eight more than needed - House members approved the amendment after a debate over whether such a ban would uphold or run afoul of the Constitution's free-speech protections.

    Approval of two-thirds of the lawmakers present was required to send the bill on to the Senate, where activists on both sides say it stands the best chance of passage in years. If the amendment is approved in that chamber by a two-thirds vote, it would then move to the states for ratification. Supporters said the measure reflected patriotism that deepened after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and they accused detractors of being out of touch with public sentiment. "Ask the men and women who stood on top of the (World) Trade Center,'' said Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif. "Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment.''

    The measure was designed to overturn a 1989 decision by the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 that flag burning was a protected free-speech right. That ruling threw out a 1968 federal statute and flag-protection laws in 48 states. The law was a response to anti-Vietnam war protesters setting fire to the American flag at their demonstrations. The proposed one-line amendment to the Constitution reads, "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.'' For the language to be added to the Constitution, it must be approved not only by two-thirds of each chamber but also by 38 states within seven years. 

AMERICANS, CUBANS TO DISCUSS BUSINESS DEALS

     HAVANA, CUBA.- A group of Americans pushing for normalized commercial relations with Cuba were to arrive to Havana Wednesday to discuss future business possibilities with their Cuban counterparts. The visit by delegates from the Washington-based U.S.-Cuba Trade Association comes as members of Congress consider amending a new U.S. Treasury Department rule that forces Cuba to make full payment for American farm goods before the cargo leaves U.S. ports.

    A 2000 law that created an exception to long-standing U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba allowed American farm goods to be sold directly to the island on a cash-only basis. Since first taking advantage of the exception in 2001, Cuba has contracted to buy more than US$1 billion (euro830 million) in goods. But sales are down this year due to the new U.S. restriction, implemented in February.

     According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sales to Cuba from the first four months of 2005 are down 26 % compared to the same period last year.

VENEZUELA TO SELL 30,000 BDP OF FUEL TO CHINA

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela has signed a deal to supply China with 30,000 barrels per day of fuel oil as part of the OPEC nation's efforts to expand trade with the Asian economic giant, state oil firm PDVSA said on Saturday. "The first shipment of 1.8 million barrels sailed for China on Friday, June 17," PDVSA said in a statement.

    Venezuela and China signed a memorandum of understanding in January to promote energy and trade relations. Venezuela also has sold cargoes of heavy crude for asphalt production to China in recent months. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced this year Chinese firms were considering building computer and electrical appliance plants in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

    Chavez has sought to tap China's growing oil demand as a fresh market for Venezuela's crude as part of a plan to diversify PDVSA's sales. PDVSA currently ships most of its crude and products to the giant U.S. market, which relies on Venezuela for about 15 percent of its oil imports.

THE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT OF CUBA INCREASES THE PRESSURE AGAINST PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS

     HAVANA, CUBA.- Communist authorities in Havana have shut down hundreds of private entrepreneurs in a drive to reorganize the tiny private sector and ensure the businesses obey the law, the capital's official weekly said Sunday. "The process has included personal interviews, the checking of self-employed skills and study of where raw materials come from ... up to now the licenses of 2,000 have been revoked," the weekly Tribuna said.

    The paper quoted a local labor official as stating the businesses would be checked every two years and would have to abide by the law, health standards and urban norms. Far from stimulating small businesses, Cuban law states only family members may work in them, all materials must be bought at state retail outlets where markups are usually 240 percent or more, and only 10 percent may be deducted from taxes as costs.

    "I have invested $5,000 in these sculptures and now they say I cannot sell them," said a man hawking wooden sculptures to tourists at an artisans' fair along Havana's seaside drive. Precious woods are not available to most artisans and are usually reserved for those willing to sell their work through state-run galleries. "They told me after this week I could use coconut shells," the man said.

LUIS POSADA CARRILES' CASE WILL REMAIN IN EL PASO, TEXAS

     EL PASO, TEXAS.- Immigration proceedings for a Cuban exile accused of planning the deadly bombing of an airliner in 1976 will remain in El Paso, a judge ruled. Lawyers for Luis Posada Carriles asked that the case be moved to Florida, where Posada was staying before his arrest and where his lawyer lives. Posada is charged with entering the country illegally in a case that has sparked an international battle.

    U.S. Immigration Judge William L. Abbott issued a written ruling to lawyers in the case Thursday, but details weren't released Monday, said Greg Gagne, a spokesman for for Immigration Review in Washington. The 77-year-old Posada is not charged with a crime in the United States but could be deported.

    Posada was acquitted by Venezuelan military court of charges related to the bombing that killed 73 people when the Cuban airliner crashed off the coast of Barbados. An appeals court later nullified that case, ruling that Posada should have been tried in a civilian court. He escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985. Posada was arrested in Miami last month and has been held in a federal detention center in El Paso since then. He has claimed that he sneaked into the country from Mexico in mid-March. Last week, Venezuela formally requested the extradition of Posada.

CUBAN-BORN U.S. RESIDENT BACK IN EE.UU. AFTER FAILED IDENTITY SWITCH

     HAVANA,  CUBA.- After months of being stuck in Cuba after an identity switch with his lookalike brother went awry, U.S. resident Bernardo Heredia is back in the United States, reunited with his wife, 2-year-old daughter and brother. Heredia, who had loaned his younger brother his U.S. residency documents to help him flee communist Cuba back in March, said he couldn't be happier.

    "I feel free again," Heredia told The Associated Press, speaking by telephone Monday from his Las Vegas, Nevada home. "It feels incredible." He spent months back on the island, unemployed and thinking about his family and job driving a taxi back in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, his brother was working a night shift cleaning a casino, and living in Heredia's house with his wife and daughter - the latter of which sometimes confused her uncle for her dad.

    But shortly after a flurry of international news stories were published about his predicament, Heredia was contacted by Cuban officials and told he would be allowed to leave. Several days passed, and he thought it was a cruel joke. But then early Sunday, he was put on a plane and flown out of Havana. Upon arrival to Tijuana, Mexico, he crossed the border on foot, ate at McDonald's in San Diego, then flew home to Las Vegas, surprising his family in time to celebrate Father's Day.

June 21, 2005

DEMOCRATS BLOCKED ATTEMPT TO CONFIRM JOHN BOLTON AS U.N. AMBASSADOR

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senate Democrats blocked John Bolton's confirmation as U.N. ambassador for the second time Monday and President Bush left open the possibility of bypassing lawmakers and appointing the former State Department official on his own. The vote was 54-38, six shy of the total needed to force a final vote on Bolton. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who voted in May to advance the nomination, switched positions and urged Bush to consider another candidate.

    The setback left President Bush facing stark choices - most of which could leave him appearing weak at a time he is facing sagging poll numbers and fighting lame-duck status six months into his final term. Only three Democrats voted to end debate on the nomination. One of them, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., asked whether Bush should exercise his power to give Bolton a temporary appointment without confirmation, said, "I would prefer it not happen, but it is the president's prerogative."  The President has the power to install Bolton during the Senate's upcoming July 4 recess. The appointment would only last through the next one-year session of Congress - in Bolton's case until January 2007.

VENEZUELAN MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR INSISTS THAT A POSSIBLE PLOT TO KILL CHAVEZ IS GATHERING MOMENTUM

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- The Venezuelan government has evidence that several meetings have been held in Colombia to plan Chávez' assassination. Minister of the Interior and Justice Jesse Chácon Monday insisted that a possible plot by Venezuelan opposition players to assassinate President Hugo Chávez  "is gaining strength."  Chávez' foes are already anticipating a defeat in the 2006 presidential elections, while the Venezuelan President has a 70 percent popularity, Chacón said. "This shows that there is no way to defeat President Chávez."

    The official said that the Venezuelan government has evidence that several meetings have been held in Colombia to plan a magnicidio. "We have pieces of information from Colombia about (these) meetings. We have photos and video footages," he said. Chacón claimed that "opposition players" have been in touch with Colombian paramilitary troops operating at Norte de Santander department and have taken advantage of the Colombian government demobilization process to plan Chávez' assassination.

FOUR CUBANS ON TAXI-BOAT MAY STAY IN THE UNITED STATES

     MIAMI, FLORIDA.- Four of the 14 Cubans intercepted at sea aboard a vintage taxi converted into a boat will be allowed to stay in the United States because they have valid immigration documents, but the other 10 will be sent back to Cuba. Homeland Security Department officials concluded they have no reasonable fear of being persecuted or tortured if they are repatriated to Cuba. Rafael Diaz Rey, the mechanic who built the blue, 1948 Mercury taxi-boat, and his wife and their two children appear to have legitimate documents that would permit them to stay in this country, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Miami. Diaz and his family last year won the documents in an annual lottery in Cuba for legal travel to the United States. But the communist government of Cuba refused to let the family leave.

     according to documents filed in federal court. Lawyers representing the Cubans, who were intercepted Tuesday about 14 miles south of Key West, have asked District Judge K. Michael Moore to intervene and allow the entire group to stay. Moore did not immediately issue a ruling. Under the U.S. ''wet foot-dry foot'' policy, Cubans intercepted at sea are generally returned to Cuba.

VENEZUELAN DIPLOMAT LASHES OUT AT COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- The Colombian government Monday said it is analyzing whether or not to reply to a diatribe against President Álvaro Uribe launched into by an official of the Venezuelan embassy to Australia who described the Colombian President as "paramilitary" and "arsonist," a source from the Colombian Foreign Ministry stated. "The (Colombian) government has not taken any steps regarding this issue. We are analyzing the situation and will make a decision in a short time," a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said

    Neurilis Petit, a diplomat at the Venezuelan embassy to Australia, ensured there is a plot to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. "Should anything happen to President Chávez, the Colombian paramilitary President Álvaro Uribe will be liable," Petit said as quoted in press releases. According to such press versions, Petit described Uribe as a "paramilitary chief," "perverse" and "devil of the evil" during a meeting of the so-called Bolivarian circles that back Chávez. "Uribe is a roman arsonist who threatens to ignite the region. He is involved in a CIA-lead conspiracy against the Venezuelan popular leader," she said.

AGAIN, CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SELLS STEAMERS AND PRESSURE COOKERS ON CUBAN STATE TELEVISION

     HAVANA, CUBA.-  Wearing his military uniform and surrounded by his ministers, Fidel Castro seemed more like a TV game show host than an aging dictator as he showed millions of Cubans across the island how to use new energy-saving rice steamers and pressure cookers. In one of his increasingly frequent live appearances on state television, Castro joked Thursday night as he demonstrated the kitchen appliances Cuba has begun distributing .

    He assured Cubans that those who did not have them yet, would have them soon. The energy-saving cookers, light bulbs, electric fans and other domestic appliances are designed to use less energy and help prevent the blackouts common here in summer when Cuba's aging electrical grid is overtaxed. Castro announced in March that 100,000 new pressure cookers would be made available to Cubans each month, saying the appliances will use half the energy of the homemade ones they replace at about the same price. In another recent TV appearance, the dictator stood up to lecture around a display of unique old Cuban appliances which he said are hazardous and use too much electricity.

VENEZUELAN STUDENTS HEAD TO CUBA FOR UNIVERSITY STUDIES

     HAVANA, CUBA.- Five hundred young Venezuelans are expected to arrive in Cuba starting in September to start a five-year course leading to an engineering degree in agronomy. One of the Cuban professors told this reporter that upon their return to Venezuelan they will be responsible for seeing that fresh fruits and vegetables reach urban markets.

As well, as engineering students, Cuba is expected to receive students who will study medicine so that they can replace Cuban doctors currently in Venezuela. The influx of Venezuelans is causing some discontent among Cubans who fear that there will be no room for their children in some of the universities.

June 19, 2005

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PASSED BILL TO SLASH FUNDS TO THE UNITED NATIONS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- The House voted Friday to issue an ultimatum to the United Nations: reform or lose U.S. financial support. Lawmakers also made clear to the White House that its more diplomatic approach wouldn't do. Led by Republicans, the House voted 221-184 for a bill that would withhold one half of assessed U.S. dues, currently around $440 million a year, if the U.N. doesn't accomplish nearly four dozen steps to improve its accountability and root out corruption. Failure to comply would also result in U.S. refusal to support expanded and new peacekeeping missions.

    "History shows that when Congress stands tough, when it says that if you don't reform we are not going to pay, then change occurs," said House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., author of the legislation. The Bush administration, while applauding the House for pressing for changes at the U.N., said the automatic withholding of payments could "detract from and undermine our efforts" to work with U.N. members to improve the organization.

    "Far from promoting justice and respect for international law, the United Nations has become one of the world's greatest apologists for tyranny and terror," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "The U.N.'s corruption is so breathtaking in its scope as to be almost universal." Over two days of debate, speakers slammed the U.N. for what they said was its wasteful bureaucracy, its anti-America, anti-Israel biases, its seating of tyrannical governments on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and scandals involving the sexual misconduct of peacekeepers and alleged corruption in the oil-for-food program for Iraq.

June 18, 2005

June 17, 2005

DEFEAT OF FLAKE AMENDMENT DEMONSTRATES CASTRO DAILY LOSING GROUND IN U.S. CONGRESS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) today lauded the defeat of Congressman Jeff Flake's (R-AZ) amendment concerning the enforcement of parcels to Cuba. The Amendment was defeated 216 to 210.  There is a growing trend in Congress in support of U.S. sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship.  Just one year ago, a similar amendment was introduced by Flake and it won, 221 to 194 votes. Today's vote demonstrates a clear shift against the dictatorship.

    "The defeat of the Flake Amendment sends a clear message that the Castro tyranny has no future. The regime is condemned to trash can of history," stated Lincoln Diaz-Balart. In addition, an amendment offered by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) would have prohibited the Justice Department from prosecuting those who illegally travel to Cuba. Also facing defeat, the amendment was withdrawn by McDermott.

    Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart concluded, "The defeat of these amendments sends a clear signal that until all political prisoners are liberated; all political parties, labor unions and the press are legalized; and free elections are scheduled in Cuba, normalization of relations with the United States will not occur."

DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD H. RUMSFELD SAYS GUANTÁNAMO DETENTION CENTER WILL BE NEEDED FOR YEARS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- The military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be needed for years to come, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested, saying there is no alternative location to hold and interrogate the suspected terrorists held there. "I don't know any place where we have infrastructure that's appropriate for that sizable group of people," Rumsfeld said during a Pentagon news conference Tuesday.

    "The United States government, let alone the U.S. military, does not want to be in the position of holding suspected terrorists any longer than is absolutely necessary," he said, "but as long as there remains a need to keep terrorists from striking again, a facility will continue to be needed."

    Secretary Rumsfeld said Guantanamo's operations have been more open to scrutiny than any military detention facility in history. He said valuable information has been extracted from the detainees, most of whom are threats to U.S. security. He said the prisoners include terrorist trainers, bomb makers, extremist recruiters and financiers, bodyguards for Osama bin Laden and would-be suicide bombers. "They're not common car thieves. They're believed to be determined killers," he said.

OPERATORS OF HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES FINED AND HARASSED BY THE CUBAN POLICE

     SANTA CLARA, CUBA.-  The operators of the horse-drawn carriages that transport the larger part of the population in this provincial capital complain they are being harassed by police. "They have it in for us. They think we are millionaires, and don't know what we earn is to feed our families," said one of them, Idalberto Sánchez. In recent days, about a dozen of them were called thieves and fined during a police dragnet around the hospital zone of the city.

    "They fined us up to 250 pesos, and in some cases, they threatened to take us to court," said Sánchez, explaining that the accusation is receiving stolen merchandise. If they were to be tried, he added, they could be facing from six months to a year in jail. The carriages, mostly home-built, usually sport accessories such as rear-view mirrors, portable radios and cassette recorders, and plastic seats, and these are the items that police allege are stolen, says Sánchez.

June 16, 2005

MEMO SUGGESTS OIL-FOR-FOOD LINK TO UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN

     UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK.- The committee probing the U.N. oil-for-food program announced Tuesday it will again investigate Secretary-General Kofi Annan after two e-mails suggested he may have known more than he claimed about a multimillion-dollar U.N. contract awarded to the company that employed his son. One e-mail described an encounter between Annan and officials from Cotecna Inspections S.A. in late 1998 during which the Swiss company's bid for the contract was raised. The second from the same Cotecna executive expressed his confidence that the company would get the bid because of "effective but quiet lobbying" in New York diplomatic circles.

    If accurate, the new details would cast doubt on a major finding the U.N.-backed Independent Inquiry Committee made in March - that there wasn't enough evidence to show that Annan knew about efforts by Cotecna, which employed his son Kojo, to win the Iraq oil-for-food contract. The Associated Press obtained the e-mails Tuesday. Through his spokesman, Annan said he didn't remember the late 1998 meeting. He repeatedly has insisted that he didn't know Cotecna was pursuing a contract with the oil-for-food program.

    The $64 billion oil-for-food program was aimed at helping ordinary Iraqis suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, but it has become the target of several corruption investigations since the Iraqi leader was ousted. Annan appointed the Independent Inquiry Committee, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, in an effort to settle the issue for good. In a statement, the committee said it was "urgently reviewing" the two e-mails, which it received from Cotecna on Monday night. "Does this raise a question? Sure," said Reid Morden, executive director of the probe.

CUBAN OFFICIALS WILL VISIT THE UNITED STATES TO BUY VERMONT COWS

     PUTNEY, VERMONT.- Some Vermont cows are finally going to Cuba. Seven months after signing a contract to buy Vermont cows, Cuban officials will visit the state next week to select more than 100 cattle for export to the communist island nation. The three Cuban officials are scheduled to arrive in Brattleboro on Saturday as part of a five-state swing to purchase 500 head of cattle, according to John Parke Wright IV, a Florida rancher who is brokering the Vermont sale.

    The Cuban officials - a veterinarian, a cattle selector and the business manager for Alimport will spend four days next week inspecting and selecting more than 100 Holsteins and Jerseys. Wright said the Holstein Association in Brattleboro is coordinating the selection process under the direction of Dr. Quaassdorff. "He's selecting cattle as we speak," Wright said Tuesday. "There's a pre-selection process." The three Cuban officials are also visiting Florida, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

VENEZUELA OIL MINISTER: PRODUCTION QUOTA ESTABLISHED BY OPEC SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- The production quota established by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should not be changed at the cartel's meeting this week, Venezuela's oil minister said Monday. OPEC, which churns out 40 percent of the world's daily oil production, is expected to approve a 500,000 barrel-a-day increase to make its official quota 28 million barrels a day when it meets on Wednesday. "We don't see the need to increase our production ceiling by 500,000" barrels a day, said Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez. Ramirez said that Venezuela would seek to "defend its price" for oil.

    OPEC is already pumping roughly 30 million barrels, meaning the proposed move to boost output would be largely symbolic and unlikely to bring down high prices. Since Hugo Chavez took office in 1999, Venezuela has become a leading price hawk within OPEC. Chavez frequently says he thinks US$40 a barrel is a "fair" price for oil.

June 15, 2005

SOUTHERN COMMAND COMMANDER: VENEZUELA 'IS CREATING A DESTABILIZING SITUATION' IN THE HEMISPHERE

     MIAMI, FLORIDA.- Venezuela "is creating a destabilizing situation" in the hemisphere, said General Bantz John Craddock, Commander of the United States Southern Command, as quoted by El Nuevo Herald daily on its Monday edition.

    General Craddock, who is in charge of the US military and intelligence operations in Latin America, also referred himself to the "excellent" relations between the Southern Command and the armies of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, reported DPA. "I think there is a threat to democracy in Venezuela because traditional democratic institutions, as we know them, are being changed in order to kill independence of powers," the general said.

VENEZUELA'S DEFENSE MINISTER: NG TROOPS INVESTIGATED FOR INSUBORDINATION

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela's defense minister said Monday a group of National Guardsmen have been placed under investigation for alleged insubordination, but denied there was widespread discontent within the military.

    Defense Minister Gen. Jorge Garcia Carniero said that Hugo Chavez decided to place an undisclosed number of troops at a NG outpost in Bolivar state under investigation. He also said soldiers from the army were being deployed in Bolivar state to assume tasks normally reserved for the National Guardsmen under investigation. Last month, Chavez accused Washington of backing attempts within the military to "create divisions and cause rifts" but did not elaborate.

ECUADOR GOVERNMENT EXPRESSES REGRETS FOR OFFICIAL'S CRITICISM OF VENEZUELA

     QUITO, ECUADOR.- Ecuador's foreign minister expressed regret Monday over a presidential aide's recent comment that described Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's "Bolivarian" revolution as "horrible," "diabolic" and a threat to stability of the region. Foreign Minister Antonio Parra told Channel 2 television that Friday's comments by Luis Herreria', a secretary of Ecuador's President Alfredo Palacio, made in a televised interview "were strictly personal and do not represent the thinking of the government or of the foreign ministry." Venezuela on Sunday registered a diplomatic protest to Herreria's "unacceptable insolence."

    "The Venezuelan reaction was logical," Parra said, adding that "I feel secure that this will be solved as it should between two brother nations." Chavez espouses a leftist ideology based loosely on the writings of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar. Herreria said that Chavez's Bolivarian revolution "is a horrible project" that has spread from Venezuela to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, destabilizing democratic institutions, and could "be the detonator that ignites the region." He suggested Chavez's influence "culminated" in Bolivia, where massive protests last week forced Bolivian President Carlos Mesa to resign.

June 14, 2005

EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN MINISTERS EXPECTED TO DEMAND CUBA RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS

     LUXEMBOURG.- European Union foreign ministers on Monday were expected to demand Cuba remain open to dialogue on improving human rights or face another freeze in relations with the bloc. The European Union ministers condemned as "unacceptable" the recent efforts of Cuban authorities in Havana to silence opposition to the rule of Fidel Castro. They also slammed last month's expulsions from the Caribbean nation of several European politicians and journalists who wanted to attend an opposition rally.

    The EU ministers, in a draft statement expected to be endorsed later Monday, called on Havana "to abstain (in the) future (from) similar actions which could derail normal relations between Cuba and the European Union." They also said that although there was "no satisfactory progress concerning human rights in Cuba," the bloc was unlikely to re-impose political sanctions against the country.

    The ministers said they were open to continuing talks on human rights with Cuba's communist authorities. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU presidency, has warned Havana's actions could have negative effects on EU-Cuba ties. The EU lifted political sanctions meant to isolate Cuban authorities in January, as a sign of good will over the release of political prisoners. Cuba-EU ties have been strained for several years, primarily over the issue of human rights and political freedoms.

VENEZUELA MISSED $64 MILLION PAYMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT U.S. OIL PRODUCER  

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Independent U.S. oil producer Harvest Natural Resources Monday said Venezuelan state energy company PDVSA had missed a $64 million payment to Harvest for oil and gas deliveries. "We are disappointed with the delay, particularly in the face of repeated assurances from senior PDVSA executives," Harvest President Peter J. Hill said. Harvest has been awaiting payment for the oil it pumped for PDVSA during the first quarter of 2005 through an operating contract. The payment was due on May 31, the company said.

    Harvest, based in Houston, announced earlier this month that PDVSA had delayed the payment but added the Venezuelan state company had given assurances it would pay by the week ending June 10. Other companies were facing similar delays, the Harvest statement said. Harvest pumps around 23,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in the OPEC nation through the operating contract signed in the 1990s before President Hugo Chavez first won office in 1998.

    Chavez says 32 operating contracts, including Harvest's, signed by previous governments are "robbing" Venezuela by giving companies access to the oil reserves under preferential terms. The government announced earlier this year that companies would have to migrate the deals to joint venture terms offered under a nationalistic 2001 hydrocarbons law passed by the president. Harvest had to suspend drilling operations in January after the government did not give it the needed permits.

 ARMY PARADE CALLED OFF FOR SECURITY REASONS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- "In view of a potential plot to assassinate the president," the usual army parade on June 24th in Carabobo Battlefield was called off, Defense Minister Jorge Luis García Carneiro conceded. Based on intelligence reports, President Hugo Chávez should restrict public activities as much as possible, the minister added. According to army chief of staff and second commander, Major General Wilfredo Silva, "that same day, an award ceremony will take place in the honor yard at the military academy," instead of the parade.

    Silva was surprised when queried about the action, as he expected that army commander Raúl Isaías Baduel would make the official announcement over the next few days. Last Wednesday, members of the National Assembly Defense Committee received the invitations for the parade, but the day after they were apprised of the cancellation.

    On Thursday, Baduel denied the version and claimed that he had not received any related notice. For the second time, a parade on June 24th is called off. The first time was in 1983, under the administration of President Luis Herrera Campíns. Then, the government resolved to adjourn it until July 24 to coincide with Libertador Simón Bolívar's 200th anniversary.

June 13, 2005

NEW PRESIDENT OF BOLIVIA, EDUARDO RODRÍGUEZ, PROMISES EARLY ELECTIONS

     SUCRE, BOLIVIA.- Bolivia's new president began his first day on the job Friday by pledging to call early elections and take steps to calm protesters who have paralyzed the country for nearly a month with street marches, road blockades and oil-field takeovers. Eduardo Rodriguez automatically became president, after Congress accepted President Carlos Mesa's resignation late Thursday and two congressional leaders first in line for the post declined the job.

    A 49-year-old Supreme Court chief justice, Rodriguez was sworn in to replace Mesa, whose 19-month-old U.S.-backed free-market government crumbled this week in the face of the mounting violence in the streets. Hoping to quell the fury of tens of the protesting indigenous poor, students, miners, coca leaf farmers and labor activists, Rodriguez declared he would work with lawmakers on key reforms to heal growing rifts in Bolivia.

    "I'm convinced that one of my tasks will be to begin an electoral process to renew and continue building a democratic system that is more just.'' Under Bolivia's constitution, Rodriguez must call presidential elections within 180 days. Evo Morales, an outspoken critic of the United States who has been a key figure in the opposition protests that brought down Mesa this week, said early national elections are key to defusing the country's political and social crisis. Such a vote could boost the presidential aspirations of the leftist Indian leader, who ran unsuccessfully once before in an attempt to join some seven leftists chosen at the ballot box in recent years across Latin America.

HUGO CHAVEZ BLAMES PRESIDENT BUSH FOR BOLIVIA CRISIS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez blamed President Bush Sunday for Bolivia's crisis and said Bush's "poisoned medicine" of free-market democracy was being rejected by Latin America. The left-wing Venezuelan leader said the protests that shook the Andean nation this week were triggered by popular opposition to capitalist free-trade policies advocated by Bush.

    Chavez condemned as "poisoned medicine" a speech given by Bush to the Organization of American States last week in which he recommended a mix of representative democracy, integration of world markets and individual freedoms. "That is what is killing the peoples of Latin America. ... This is the path of destabilization, of violence, of war between brothers, Chavez said, speaking on his "Hello President" weekly television and radio show.

    The Venezuelan leader is a fierce critic of U.S. policies although his country, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, sells billions of dollars worth of oil to the United States each year. Chavez rejected charges by some U.S. officials that he and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro were directing the Bolivian miners, rural peasants and labor groups who are demanding the nationalization of their country's rich gas resources. "What's the cause? Is Fidel? Is it Chavez? No, Bush is the cause ... and what he represents," he said. Addressing Bush in broken English and calling him "Mr. Danger," he added, "We, the people of Latin America are saying 'No Sir, Mr. Danger,' your poisoned medicine has failed."

LOCAL OFFICIAL DENIES WATER SERVICE TO DISSIDENT

     HAVANA, CUBA.- A dissident here charged he had to bribe municipal workers to supply his home with water after an official ordered he be denied water deliveries because he does not cooperate with official organizations and is a well-known counterrevolutionary. Juan Nelson Baliño said he paid 20 pesos to the men delivering water to the town of Cifuentes, where he lives, May 27, for them to fill his home's water tank.

    The day before, the president of the local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, Julio Rangel, issued the order forbidding tanker drivers to supply water to his home, Baliño said. Rangel reportedly told municipal water workers that Baliño didn't deserve the water because of his opposition to the government. Baliño belongs to a dissident organization and has been under house arrest since 2002.  The tank trucks are operated by municipal services and deliver water to the population.

June 12, 2005

CUBAN DISSIDENT MANUEL VÁZQUEZ PORTAL, A WELL-KNOWN JOUNALIST AND POET, ARRIVES IN MIAMI

     MIAMI, FLORIDA.- A growing number of Cubans who don't belong to dissident groups are rejecting Fidel Castro's government, says the first member of the so-called Group of 75 to arrive in the United States. ''There is a strong underground social dissidence that has many ways of confronting the regime -- people who look for independent spaces . . . and whose rejection is shown in indifference to the political discourse,'' dissident Manuel Vazquez Portal told El Nuevo Herald after arriving in Miami this week.

    Vazquez Portal, 54, was among 75 independent journalists and political dissidents who were arrested in March 2003, provoking an international outcry. Accused of collaborating with U.S. diplomats in Havana, they were convicted of treason and sentenced to prison terms averaging 20 years in the largest crackdown on dissident in recent history. Vazquez Portal was sentenced to 18 years but was among 14 prisoners released on medical parole last year (he suffers from emphysema). He arrived in the United States on Tuesday night with his wife and their 11-year-old son.

     Independent journalist and poet Raul Rivero, among the most prominent of the prisoners, left Cuba for Spain in April. ''The departure of Vazquez Portal leaves everyone here more unprotected,'' said Laura Pollan, head of the Women in White movement, an organization of spouses of political prisoners that itself has become a dissident group. She is the wife of political prisoner Hector Maseda. Vazquez Portal, she said, “just left and I already feel that I am missing him.''

June 11, 2005

VENEZUELA SIGNS ACCORD TO BUY FIVE ATTACK HELICOPTERS FROM RUSSIA

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela signed an agreement Friday to buy five attack helicopters from Russia, formalizing the latest in a series of arms deals between the two countries. The Mi-17 helicopters, which can be mounted with up to 48 rockets and airlift eight armed troops, will cost US$81 million (66.2 million) and begin arriving in December, said Venezuelan Defense Minister Jorge Garcia Carneiro. He signed the accord with Sergei Ladygin, the regional chief of Russia's state arms agency Rosoboronexport.

    Venezuela has been making deals to boost its military capacity as Hugo Chavez, a self-styled "revolutionary," moves to increase the size of the military reserve to more than 1 million troops. According to top army commanders, approximately 90,000 reservists are currently registered in the military.

    In March, Russia sold Venezuela ten helicopters, including Mi-17s, Mi-35s and one Mi-26, for US$120 million (98.1 million). Venezuela has also agreed to purchase 100,000 AK-103 Russian-built assault rifles. Garcia Carneiro said new technology and technical aid from Russia would also allow Venezuela to start manufacturing 25,000 AK-103 rifles annually. Chavez has said the military's old FAL rifles will be handed over to the growing military reserve as the new assault weapons become available.

FOUR CUBANS ON TAXI-BOAT MAY STAY IN THE UNITED STATES

     MIAMI, FLORIDA.- Four of the 14 Cubans intercepted at sea aboard a vintage taxi converted into a boat will be allowed to stay in the United States because they have valid immigration documents, but the others will be sent back to Cuba, U.S. officials said Thursday. Rafael Diaz Rey, the mechanic who built the blue, 1948 Mercury taxi-boat, and his wife and their two children appear to have legitimate documents that would permit them to stay in this country, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Miami.

    An attorney for Democracy Movement, a Cuban exile group in Miami, said Diaz and his family last year won the documents in an annual lottery in Cuba for legal travel to the United States. But the communist government of President Fidel Castro refused to let the family leave, said attorney Wilfredo Allen. “They had to act before the documents expired,'' Allen said.

     After interviewing the remaining 10 migrants, Homeland Security Department officials concluded they have no reasonable fear of being persecuted or tortured if they are repatriated to Cuba, according to documents filed in federal court. Lawyers representing the Cubans, who were intercepted Tuesday about 14 miles south of Key West, have asked District Judge K. Michael Moore to intervene and allow the entire group to stay. Moore did not immediately issue a ruling.

EXPLOSION NEAR SPANISH AIRPORT 

     MADRID, SPAIN.- An explosion shook an area near an airport in the Spanish city of Zaragoza on Friday following a warning call in the name of armed Basque separatist group ETA, officials said. Police found three rocket launchers outside the airport, two of them empty. A third contained a grenade, a government spokesman in Zaragoza said. No one was injured. Authorities evacuated the nearly empty airport before the blast, the spokesman said. Witnesses reported hearing two whistling noises that sounded like rockets being fired, but there was only one explosion, the spokesman said. he blast followed a warning call in the name of ETA to the Basque newspaper.

 OVER 50,000 VENEZUELAN RESERVISTS WILL TRAINED UP TO DECEMBER

     MARACAY, VENEZUELA.- More than 50,000 thousand civilians will be trained as reservists during the second half of this year, Thursday said Major General Julio Quintero Viloria, during the seventh mobile cabinet held in north-central Aragua state. The high-ranking officer claimed that the training process will take place in a 20-week period including four military and occupational training education programs aimed at civilians. In this regard, he invited people to enrol in the military training programs through the Military Reserve units in each municipality to be part of the Reserve General Command.

June 10, 2005

BOLIVIA MILITARY COULD INTERVENE IN CRISIS

     LA PAZ, BOLIVIA.- The chief of Bolivia's armed forces warned Thursday that the military could intervene in a grave political crisis as lawmakers gathered to name a new president. Meanwhile, the near month-long crisis claimed its first life when a protesting miner was killed in the country's south.

    Navy Adm. Luis Aranda Granados went on national television to urge the lawmakers to remain within the bounds of the constitution and hear the "will of the people" in their work to choose a new leader. But he rejected an assessment by outgoing President Carlos Mesa that the country was on the brink of a civil war. "It's evident that there does exist a risk of confrontation between Bolivians, but I would say the term 'civil war' is too extreme," Granados said. "Confrontation between Bolivians is the greatest risk."

    Leftist opposition leader Evo Morales lashed out late Wednesday at Vaca Diez, saying he was a wealthy landowner and another discredited member of the "mafia of the oligarchy" that has ruled Bolivia for decades. "We will wage a campaign of civil disobedience" against any Vaca Diez presidency, warned Morales, a leader of poor coca leaf-farmers and a House deputy who heads a leftist party, the Movement Toward Socialism.

NORTH KOREA BOASTS IT HAS MORE NUCLEAR BOMBS 

     SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA.- North Korea boasted it was building more nuclear bombs and had the ability to arm them on missiles, and South Korea's leader headed Thursday to Washington to discuss deadlocked efforts to get the communist state to disarm. North Korea is widely believed to have enough weapons-grade plutonium for a half-dozen nuclear bombs. Asked by ABC News if it was building more, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan said: ''Yes.''

    ''As for specifically how many we have, that is a secret,'' he said. Kim also implied the North was able to mount nuclear warheads on its missiles which, if true, would be a potentially significant advance for the communist state. ''Our scientists have the knowledge, comparable to other scientists around the world,'' he said.

    Renewed questions about North Korea's capabilities came amid stepped up diplomatic efforts aimed at persuading it to resume six-nation talks on its nuclear program. Pyongyang has stayed away for nearly a year, citing ''hostile'' U.S. policies. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun traveled to Washington on a one-day trip to meet President Bush amid signs of strain in the U.S.-South Korean alliance over the nuclear standoff.

June 09, 2005

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT URGES AMERICANS NO TO TRAVEL TO BOLIVIA

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- The State Department authorized its embassy in Bolivia on Tuesday to begin sending nonemergency employees and family members to safer locations and urged Americans not to travel to that country. Continuing political unrest, which caused the president to resign last October and his successor to offer to quit Tuesday for the second time since March, has made La Paz a dangerous place, the State Department said in a travel warning.

    Despite President Carlos Mesa's offered resignation, tens of thousands of people were on the streets in the Bolivian capital demanding new elections. "The focus of the protests is the capital city of La Paz and the surrounding Altiplano," the State Department said. "The La Paz airport remains open, but some flights have been canceled and others diverted. Travel from the airport to La Paz is subject to sporadic blockades."

     It said the department had authorized nonemergency embassy employees and eligible family members to leave Bolivia, was asking U.S. citizens not to go there, and cautioned Americans already there to be careful and to consider leaving as well.

ALBERTO COLL, CHAIRMAN OF THE STRATEGIC RESEARCH DEPARTMENT AT THE U.S. NAVAL COLLEGE, SENTENCED TO PROBATION

     PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.- A naval professor was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation for lying about a visit to Cuba to see his mistress. Alberto Coll, the Cuban-born chairman of the Strategic Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, pleaded guilty in March to lying about the purpose of the visit in 2004. Coll told federal authorities he was visiting an ailing aunt.

    U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux also fined Coll $5,000, calling the crime an aberration and an "error in judgment." Coll, 49, apologized Tuesday to his wife and his college-age son. "Through my conduct, I have set a bad example for him - and I am sorry for that," Coll said. "He deserves better."

    U.S. trade restrictions against Cuba require those planning a visit to apply for permission. The State Department lists a limited number of reasons for which trips to Cuba may be allowed - including visits to immediate family members. The real reason for the trip came out during a standard debriefing at the Naval War College, according to Coll's lawyer. As part of his plea bargain, Coll agreed not to seek any job that would involve access to classified information. He remains employed by the college.

CUBA'S VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE REJECTS US PROPOSAL TO MONITOR DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- A proposal by the United States to monitor democracy in Latin America through the Organization of American States is a bid to weaken the authority of governments in the region, Cuba's vice president said Tuesday. Carlos Lage, secretary of Cuba's Council of Ministers, or parliament, said the U.S. proposal before the OAS was meant to "disregard the authority of governments and democratic institutions in our region." Cuba was expelled from the OAS in 1962.

    The United States has submitted a draft proposal calling on the OAS secretary general to issue a report outlining a "plan of action" for strengthening the democratic charter so the organization can deal more effectively with countries struggling with threats to democratic rule. Other OAS-member states have submitted alternate proposals, and the delegates hoped to agree on a compromise in time for the conclusion of the conference on Tuesday.

    During a speech at the OAS conference in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Bush said nations in the region needed to choose between two visions for their future: one of hope or one of rolling back "the democratic progress of the past two decades." Lage, a sharp critic of U.S. foreign policy, responded Tuesday after meeting with Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel in Caracas. "Freedom and democracy arrived in Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959, with the triumph of the revolution and they arrived to stay," said Lage. Cuban leader Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.

 A CUBAN FAMILY'S "TAXICAB" BOAT INTERCEPTED AT SEA BY THE COAST GUARD

     KEY WEST, FLORIDA.- A blue, 1948 Mercury automobile loaded with Cuban migrants made it within 25 miles of the Keys late Tuesday before being stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard. The unusual, homemade 'boat' -- described by federal officials as possibly a 'taxicab' and sporting a white top -- was stopped south of Summerland Key in the Lower Keys. It was the third time in nearly two years that Cuban migrants have tried to make it to the United States using trucks or cars specially rigged to operate as boats.

   One of the men aboard the Mercury tried to make the voyage in February 2004 in a Buick but was sent back to Cuba, according to Luis Grass -- the brainchild behind similar attempts who made his way to Miami this year. Television footage from NBC 6 in Miami on Tuesday night showed Coast Guard officers boarding the vehicle, which appeared to have been modified with a boat prow in front. As many as 12 Cubans voluntarily left the car late Tuesday and moved onto a Coast Guard cutter, according to numerous federal sources.

    ''A U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft detected it just before 8 p.m.,'' said a customs spokesman. "According to our guys, it looked like a floating taxi.'' Citing U.S. policy, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said she could not immediately comment on the incident or whether the migrants would be returned to Cuba, a process that could take several days. Under the U.S. wet-foot, dry-foot immigration policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are almost always allowed to remain in the country.

June 08, 2005

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH PREDICTS DEMOCRACY IN CUBA

     FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA.- President Bush on Monday urged nations of the Western Hemisphere to strengthen their democracies by embracing free-market economies and cracking down on corruption, while pointedly predicting that Cuba will ultimately be swept up in the tide of liberty that has engulfed other countries in the hemisphere. "Democracy is the rule rather than the exception among nations in the Americas,"

    President Bush told foreign ministers and diplomats from 34 countries gathered here for the general assembly of the Organization of American States, but "only one country in this hemisphere sits outside this society of democratic nations -- and one day, the tide of freedom will reach Cuba's shores as well." Bush, who since becoming president has increased pressure on the government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, quoted the 19th-century Cuban writer and revolutionary Jose Marti in calling liberty a birthright. "La libertad no es negociable," Bush said.

    Bush's 13-minute speech also had some thinly veiled words for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Castro who has become a hero in parts of Latin America by casting the United States as an imperialist power and who has stoked U.S. ire by nationalizing some businesses and stifling political dissent. Bush said countries of the OAS have a stark choice between two competing visions: one that includes representative government, integration into world markets and a faith in freedom, and another that seeks to roll back democratic progress by "playing to fear, pitting neighbor against neighbor and blaming others for their own failures to provide for their people."

PRESIDENT CARLOS MESA SUBMITS HIS RESIGNATION AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA

     LA PAZ, BOLIVIA.- Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has announced his resignation after weeks of demonstrations against his government that have threatened to paralyze the landlocked South American country. In a televised address, Mesa said he would leave office once Bolivia's Congress, which must approve his resignation, chooses a successor.

    "I'm here to say, I can't go any further. It is my decision to present my resignation as the president of the Republic of Bolivia. It is a resignation that has one objective and that objective is to let the Bolivian people know that this is genuine," Mesa said. Mesa had offered his resignation to lawmakers in March, but they refused to accept it at that time. The move appeared to be a gambit to bring out popular support for his government.

    The protesters are calling for the nationalization of the country's gas and oil industries and for a more even distribution of wealth. Bolivia, with a population of 9 million, has long been one of South America's poorest countries and a major recipient of international aid. Mesa took office in October 2003 when a bloody popular revolt over free-market economic policies forced his predecessor to flee the country.  Mesa, a historian and journalist turned politician, is an independent without a political party supporting him in Congress.

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA HOUNDED BY ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION 

     BRAZILIA, BRAZIL.- Jittery investors sent Brazilian stocks plunging Tuesday for the second day in a row over concerns about South America's largest economy as the governing party struggled to deal with its first major corruption scandal. Shares on Sao Paulo's Bovespa exchange opened nearly 2 percent lower after falling 3 percent Monday. Brazil's currency, the real, fell again against the U.S. dollar.

    President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva so far has not spoken out on allegations that his Workers Party paid monthly bribes to congressional allies to maintain a delicate political coalition, but Silva was scheduled to open a U.N. conference on corruption in the Brazilian capital Tuesday evening. "It is still too early to anticipate the magnitude of this political scandal, but we think it probable that it will constitute the main focus of media headlines in coming days and perhaps weeks," UBS analysts said in a research note to clients.

    News of the scandal broke Monday when Brazil's largest newspaper published an interview with the leader of the Brazilian Labor Party alleging Silva's Workers Party paid monthly "allowances" of more than US$12,000 (10,000) per month to unnamed congressional representatives. Congressman Roberto Jefferson also said he first told top Silva advisers about the practice last year, but that the payments stopped only after he personally informed Silva this year, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported.

June 07, 2005

SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE PRODS OAS ON DEMOCRACY PROMOTION

     FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA.- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday night the Organization of American States must act to strengthen weak democracies to protect them against the possibility of a return to authoritarian rule. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rejected the proposal as an attempt by the United States to dominate Latin American countries through the OAS. Rice, here for a meeting of OAS foreign ministers, said there is a consensus among the 34 nations in the OAS for a stronger presence in Latin America to deal with various challenges.

    In a welcoming address to delegates Sunday evening, Rice said the "right to democracy" of hemispheric countries is enshrined in an OAS democratic charter ratified four years ago. "We must act on this pledge," she said, citing Bolivia, Ecuador and Haiti as countries where the institutions of democracy are weak and need help. "Wherever a free society is in retreat, a fear society is on the offensive," she said. "And the weapon of choice for every authoritarian regime is the organized cruelty of the police state."

    President Bush will address the gathering on Monday. Chavez, a foe of the Bush administration whose chief ally is Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, said in his weekly radio program that he sees Rice's effort as an intrusion on the sovereignty of hemispheric nations. "The times in which the OAS was an instrument of the government in Washington are gone," Chavez said. "Are they going to try, through the OAS, to monitor the Venezuelan government? ... Those who think they can put the peoples of Latin America in a corral are mistaken."

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES WON'T BE US MOUTHPIECE

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Washington was wrong to believe it would be able to use the Organization of American States to monitor Latin American governments. Representatives of President George W. Bush's administration were expected to discuss a proposal on how the OAS can help monitor democratic performance in the region during Sunday's opening session of the annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

    Chavez, one of the region's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy, said his government "would be watching" when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses representatives from 34 countries in the region, and predicted that the proposal would not pass. "The times in which the OAS was an instrument of the government in Washington are gone," said Chavez, speaking during his weekly radio and television program "Hello President."

    "Are they going to try, through the OAS, to monitor the Venezuelan government?" said Chavez. "Those who think they can put the peoples of Latin America in a corral are mistaken." Chavez, a self-proclaimed "revolutionary," has repeatedly accused the Bush administration of attempting to isolate Venezuela from its Latin American neighbors. U.S. officials have expressed concern regarding the health of Venezuela's democracy under left-leaning Chavez and his increasingly close ties with Cuban President Fidel Castro. But they have also said that Rice does not plan to use the OAS meeting as a platform to air their differences with Chavez's government.

VENEZUELA AUTHORITIES SEIZE FIVE MISSILES ALLEGEDLY BOUND FOR ISRAEL 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Five missiles allegedly being shipped to Israel were seized by Venezuelan authorities from a private airport hangar, the attorney general's office said Monday. The missiles apparently arrived in Venezuela from neighboring Colombia late last month and "were destined for Tel Aviv, Israel," according to the statement issued by prosecutors.

They were discovered Saturday at Simon Bolivar International Airport, 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Caracas, inside a hangar belonging to the German-owned Lufthansa airline. The manager of the hangar was arrested, according to the statement. Lufthansa representatives in Venezuela could not be reached for comment. It was not immediately clear what type of missiles were seized, but the attorney general's statement said they are usually mounted on F-16 or Mirage combat jets. The statement said they are used by the Colombian armed forces.

June 06,  2005

June 5,  2005

JUDGE SAYS SADDAM'S MORALE HAS PLUMMETED

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ.-  Saddam Hussein's morale has plummeted as the gravity of the war crimes charges he faces sinks in, the judge who will oversee his trial said, and an Iraqi regarded as a top terror leader was arrested Saturday in northern Iraq. Iraqi and U.S. soldiers also kept up their pressure against suspected insurgents south of Baghdad, with more than 800 troops, mainly Iraqis, cordoning off districts in Latifiyah, a city in an especially violent region dubbed the Triangle of Death.

    The judge in Saddam's trial, Raid Juhi, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in an interview that the ousted president and some of the 11 other detained former regime figures are facing "12 cases" carrying punishments from life in jail to the death penalty. "The ousted president has suffered a collapse in his morale because he understands the extent of the charges against him and because he's certain that he will stand trial before an impartial court," Juhi was quoted as saying.

    Saddam, who is being held in a U.S.-run detention facility in Baghdad, was captured in December 2003 and faces charges including killing rival politicians during his 30-year rule, gassing Kurds, invading Kuwait in 1990 and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings the next year. No date has been set for the start of his trial, but Juhi said the former dictator was expected to face the tribunal within two months. Juhi said Saddam will be tried alone in some cases and alongside other detainees in others.

THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY LOOKS TO GET CLOSER TO THE UNITED STATES

     Nassau, Bahamas.- Caribbean foreign ministers will stress ''rekindling the links'' between their region and the United States when they meet with Bush administration officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at the Organization of American States' General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale. The Caribbean Community leaders will seek improved relations with the hemisphere's major power during a scheduled half-hour audience with Rice on Monday. Relations have been strained because of differences over the war in Iraq and the political crisis in Haiti.

    The officials concluded Caribbean bloc talks Thursday before traveling to Fort Lauderdale today and Saturday. 'The most important aspect of our strategy will be to lay the groundwork for what we are calling the resumption of structured and regular meetings,'' said Edwin Carrington, secretary general for the 15-member Caribbean Community regional bloc known as CARICOM.

    Speaking at the gathering of 14 Caribbean foreign affairs ministers in the Bahamas Wednesday and Thursday, he said the lack of regular meetings “has led to gaps between our thinking on a number of issues.'' Two years ago, Caribbean leaders joined others in the international community in opposing the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And last year, following the February 2004 ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, CARICOM leaders called for an international investigation into Aristide's allegations that he had been kidnapped by the United States. The U.S. State Department vehemently denied the allegations.

June 4,  2005

VENEZUELA URGES US TO STOP MEDDLING AND MOVE TO IMPROVE RELATIONS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Tense relations between the Caracas and Washington could be brought back to normal if the United States halts its meddling in Venezuela's domestic affairs, Venezuela's foreign minister said Friday. Ali Rodriguez called on U.S. officials to create "the minimum conditions" required "to normalize" relations between the two countries and stressed that President Hugo Chavez has no intentions of breaking off relations. "We have clearly shown our intention to improve relations," he said.

    Rodriguez told reporters the government is scrambling to formally request the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile that Venezuela is seeking to try in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban plane that killed 73 people. Posada, a naturalized Venezuelan, allegedly plotted the bombing in Caracas. He was acquitted twice and escaped from prison in 1985 while his case was on appeal.

    Posada, who had denied wrongdoing, is due to have an immigration hearing in the United States on June 13. Rodriguez said U.S. authorities have not legally notified Venezuela of Posada's arrest in the US meaning that Chavez's administration still has 60 days to file the pending extradition request. Rodriguez said that Venezuela is willing to improve ties with Washington, but added that repairing relations "does not depend on us."

WORKERS FROM VENEZUELA'S OIL COMPANY GET MILITARY TRAINING

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Employees from Venezuela's state-run oil company who have joined the army reserve will be trained to use anti-aircraft rocket launchers, a top general announced Friday. In statements broadcast by state-run television, Army Div. Gen. Wilfredo Silva said "a numerous group" of workers from Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, are already busy repairing military weapon systems that required maintenance.

    Silva said the oil workers, along with other members of Venezuela's growing army reserve, would join soldiers from other branches of the military for an anti-aircraft and anti-tank combat training session on June 9. According to top generals commanding reserve battalions in Caracas, there are roughly 90,000 part-time troops in the reserve corps.

    The training comes as the United States has increasingly expressed concerns about President Hugo Chavez's close ties to Cuba's Fidel Castro and his purchase of helicopters and 100,000 assault rifles from Russia, plus planes and boats from Spain. Reservists are not issued weapons, and Chavez has said the rifles are for the roughly 100,000 regular troops. He has brushed aside the U.S. criticism and accused Washington of being behind the coup that briefly unseated him in 2002.

THE GOVERNOR ACKNOWLEDGES COLOMBIAN GUERRILLA ACTIVITIES IN VENEZUELA

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- State governor Ronald Blanco La Cruz said that guerrilla groups operate in the Junín municipality, on the Colombian border. During a meeting held in the Military Club of San Cristóbal, the governor disclosed that some of the detainees claimed to be Chávez followers.

    "We are aware of guerrilla activities in Táchira state, particularly in San Vicente de la Revancha and the area of Junín, where 700 Venezuelan troops were deployed," Blanco La Cruz said. He made reference to the murder of a Venezuelan soldier near San Vicente de la Revancha. "There was a clash and the guerrillas killed the boy."

HUGO CHAVEZ FEELS LIKE A PRISONER BECAUSE OF DEATH THREATS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chávez Thursday claimed he felt captive because he had to be very careful as there are many people who are determined to kill him.

    "There are people who are determined to kill me. Though I am taking care, sometimes I feel like a prisoner. I would like to go out, but I have to be very careful," Chávez said at Miraflores Presidential Palace before a meeting of people participating in Misión Vuelvan Caras. The Venezuelan President has reported alleged plots to kill him. He has even put the blame on US President George W. Bush should anyone try to assassinate him.

June 3,  2005

NORTH KOREA CALLS VICE-PRESIDENT CHENEY A 'BLOODTHIRSTY BEAST' AND SAYS HIS COMMENTS IMPEDE RESUMPTION OF TALKS

     SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA.- North Korea called U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney a "bloodthirsty beast" on Thursday, in response to Cheney saying the North's leader Kim Jong-il was irresponsible and ran a police state. "Cheney is hated as the most cruel monster and bloodthirsty beast, as he has drenched various parts of the world in blood," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency.

    Washington and North Korea have been in the midst of a war of words in recent weeks, with U.S. President Bush calling the North's Kim a tyrant. Pyongyang has shot back calling Bush a half-baked man and a philistine. Cheney said in a TV interview with CNN aired on Monday that Kim was "one of the world's more irresponsible leaders." "He runs a police state. He's got one of the most heavily militarised societies in the world," Cheney said. "He doesn't take care of his people at all. And he obviously wants to throw his weight around and become a nuclear power."

    The North Korean spokesman said Cheney's comments showed that the United States wanted to scuttle six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for security guarantees and economic assistance."What Cheney uttered at a time when the issue of the six-party talks is high on the agenda is little short of telling the DPRK not to come out for the talks," the North's spokesman said. DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. On Wednesday, South Korea's foreign minister said distrust between Washington and Pyongyang was impeding resumption of the six-party talks, adding he was not overly concerned about the heated rhetoric between the two.

HUGO CHAVEZ ALLEGES OPPONENTS STILL PLOTTING HIS ASSASSINATION

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- President Hugo Chavez warned Thursday that his opponents are allegedly plotting his assassination and urged supporters to implement "revolutionary" changes in Venezuela if they succeed. During a speech at Miraflores Presidential Palace, Chavez told a group of Venezuelans participating in government-organized employment programs that "there are still plans to kill me."

    Chavez was short on details, and he did not say who was behind the purported assassination plot on Thursday. In the past, he has accused the United States government of being behind plots to kill him. "I put myself in God's hands and, besides, we are working hard so that they don't kill me," said Chavez, whose presidential guard boosted security measures in March in response to an alleged assassination plot.

    "If this ever happens, God forbid, you must not lose your cool ... take power and intensify the revolution," Chavez added. Chavez, who survived a short-lived 2002 coup, has demanded that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" who he claims are training in Florida to execute him. The former paratroop commander-turned-president has also accused "fascist" adversaries in Venezuela of plotting his assassination. Officials in Washington have repeatedly denied the U.S. involvement in such an alleged plot to kill Chavez.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY HOUSE IN CUBA, CALLED 'FINCA LA VIGIA,' FALLING APART

     HAVANA, CUBA.-Tropical fruit trees and manicured gardens greet visitors driving through Ernest Hemingway's sprawling estate on the outskirts of Havana, but the wooden home where the famed American novelist lived more than 20 years is falling apart. Scaffolding covers the molding house, where much of the furniture has been removed due to moisture damage and to make room for restoration work. Americans in Havana for a forum on the late writer this week were surprised at the sight.

    ''It's not like what you see in the photographs,'' University of Pennsylvania professor Paul Hendrickson said as he peered through the windows of Hemingway's study, where a leopard skin still stretched across a couch but several other items were covered with plastic tarps. ``This is really in a more fragile state than I had guessed.''

    Erosion, tropical humidity and botched repairs are threatening the house where Hemingway spent some of his happiest years and wrote the prize-winning classic The Old Man and the Sea. A group of American preservationists were denied a license to travel to Cuba last year. The Bush administration has steadily tightened long-standing trade and travel restrictions against the communist-run island.

June 2,  2005

CUBA SUGAR CROP SLUMPS TO 1.3 MILLION TONNES 

     HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuba has ended the worst sugar harvest in a century with output down more than 40 percent from the previous harvest at around 1.3 million tonnes, sources close to the industry said over the weekend. "Only one of 13 sugar-producing provinces, Villa Clara, met its plan," a local expert said, adding one or two mills could still be open somewhere in the country, but for all intents and purposes the season was over.

    Local experts said next year's output could be a bit better, though it would still fall well short of 2 million tonnes. Drought slowed planting last year and destroyed some freshly seeded plantations. "There will be little cane available for the next harvest," Cuba's top sugar reporter and virtual voice of the Sugar Ministry, Juan Varela, recently said during one of his daily radio spots. May rains have improved growing conditions in the drought-stricken central and eastern parts of the country.

    Cuba is importing more fertilizer than in previous years to nurture what little standing cane there is. Cuba's sugar harvest runs from December into May, though yields drop rapidly in the latter part of April, and May rains make harvesting costly. Cuba hoped to produce 1.5 million to 1.7 million tonnes of sugar, compared with 2.52 million tonnes last year, but a persistent drought and other problems dashed even those expectations.

PRESIDENT BUSH MEETS WITH VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER MARÍA CORINA MACHADO AT THE WHITE HOUSE

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- The NGO leader arrived in the US in order to take part in the upcoming Organization of American States General Assembly, to be held from June 5 to 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a representative of the Venezuelan civil society. The United States President George W. Bush Tuesday met with María Corina Machado, founder and executive director of NGO Súmate, in the Oval Office of the White House.

    Machado briefed Bush on the alleged antidemocratic tendency of Hugo Chávez' government, reported DPA. "In the last month we have seen a very worsened tendency on the part of the government to violate principles of democracy, such as the rule of law, such as respect for basic and human rights, and the possibility of having free and just elections," Machado told reporters after the meeting.

    Machado ensured that she did not request US funds or a Bush's government intervention to overthrow Chávez, because "that's clearly something that would be against promoting democracy." The Súmate leader arrived in the US in order to take part in the upcoming Organization of American States General Assembly, to be held from June 5 to 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a representative of the Venezuelan civil society.

VENEZUELA'S OIL MINISTER SAYS OPEC SHOULD CUT OR MAINTAIN OUTPUT PRESENT LEVEL 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- OPEC should cut its official oil production quota or leave it unchanged at the group's next meeting, Venezuela's oil minister said Tuesday. Rafael Ramirez said Venezuela, which has become a price hawk within the 11-member organization, would back either the possible proposals at OPEC's June 15 meeting in Vienna.

"Our position within OPEC is that (production) should be maintained or cut," said Ramirez, speaking to reporters at a government-organized event in Caracas. Last week, President Hugo Chavez said he thinks US$40 a barrel is a "fair" price for oil. Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 67 cents on Tuesday to US$51.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which was closed Monday for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. Venezuela's typically heavy crude oil fetches less on the international market than light crude. Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporting country, a founding member of OPEC and steady supplier of fuel to the United States.

June 1st.,  2005

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