Former Deputy Minister of Sugar Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for
Corruption / 14ymedio
Posted on September 29, 2014
14ymedio, 29 September 2014 – Fourteen Cubans have been sentenced to
between 6 and 20 years in prison in the corruption case known as
"Tokmakjian." Nelson Labrada, the Sugar deputy minister and Ernesto
Gomex, former director of the state mining company Ferro, are among the
group and have been sentenced to 20 years and 12 years in prison,
respectively.
The case, which raised great concern among investors in Cuban
businesses, tried several Cuban and foreign businessmen for the crimes
of bribery, forgery of bank documents, fraud, trafficking in hard
currency and tax evasion associated tih the Tokmakjian Group. The
Canadian company had businesses in Cuba for for more than twenty years,
particularly in sales of transportation equipment, mining and construction.
Last Saturday the conviction of Cy Tokmakjian, age 74 and founder of
group, was sentenced to 15 years, of which he has already served three
since his arrest. Claudio Vetere, company spokesperson, and Chief
Financial Officer Marco Puche, were sentenced to 12 and 8 years in
prison respectively. Cuba also seized about $ 100 million in company assets.
Source: Former Deputy Minister of Sugar Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
for Corruption / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/former-deputy-minister-of-sugar-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-for-corruption-14ymedio/
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
The Fragrance of Sacred Symbols
The Fragrance of Sacred Symbols / 14ymedio
Posted on September 29, 2014
14ymedio, Havana, N. Mell – 29 September 2014 – Since an official
statement published in the newspaper Granma last Saturday, rejecting the
planned marketing by the Cuban company Labiofam of perfumes named after
Ernest Guevara and Hugo Chavez, the controversy about who is really
responsible for this "grave error" continues to animate conversations.
The omissions in the statement from the Council of Ministers are very
significant. For example, there is no mention that this business group,
responsible for the production of biopharmaceuticals and chemicals, is
under the Ministry of Agriculture. Instead, it is treated as an organism
of the central state administration. More surprising is the hiding of
the fact that this isn't the first time they have announced the creation
of perfumes named after personalities connected to the Revolutionary epic.
In its previous Congress, held in September 2012, Labiofam recalled that
"with the objective of diversifying its production and satisfying the
demands of the market," they had created, in 1994, "the colognes
Alejandro*, Celia and Havana." The company statement added, without
beating around the bush, "The first two are products with the
allegorical names of figures of the Revolution" (Fidel Castro and Celia
Sanchez). Years later, Labiofam created another cologne named Lina, in
honor of the former president's mother, Lina Ruz, who was also the
grandmother of Jose Antonio Fraga Castro, CEO of Labiofam.
Fidel and Raul Castro's nephew has ruled the company with the same
voluntarism that his uncles have ruled the island. There is nothing in
the company that hasn't been thought up, or at least approved, by him,
including the weekly menu in the workers' cafeteria. And, even though
the company has fallen short of its planned performance for the last
five years, it has been presented as a model institution of modern times
and its hierarchy as untouchable beings.
It hasn't been disclosed if the disciplinary measures announced by the
Council of Ministers Executive Committee will seek a scapegoat to save
the reputation of the CEO, or if the flames will reach the top of the
pyramid. There are many threads behind the intrigue, each one pulling in
a different direction.
The ideological and emotional argument that "symbols are sacred"
convinces almost no one, especially in a country where the face of Che
Guevara himself appears tarnishing the national flag in ashtrays where
cigarettes are crushed to extinction. Maybe Labiofam believed that an
independent company is governed more by the rules of marketing than by
the designs of the Party, or maybe the time has come to end a feud over
whose "remains" new interests already have their eyes on.
*Translator's note: Fidel's middle name is Alejandro
Source: The Fragrance of Sacred Symbols / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-fragrance-of-sacred-symbols-14ymedio/
Posted on September 29, 2014
14ymedio, Havana, N. Mell – 29 September 2014 – Since an official
statement published in the newspaper Granma last Saturday, rejecting the
planned marketing by the Cuban company Labiofam of perfumes named after
Ernest Guevara and Hugo Chavez, the controversy about who is really
responsible for this "grave error" continues to animate conversations.
The omissions in the statement from the Council of Ministers are very
significant. For example, there is no mention that this business group,
responsible for the production of biopharmaceuticals and chemicals, is
under the Ministry of Agriculture. Instead, it is treated as an organism
of the central state administration. More surprising is the hiding of
the fact that this isn't the first time they have announced the creation
of perfumes named after personalities connected to the Revolutionary epic.
In its previous Congress, held in September 2012, Labiofam recalled that
"with the objective of diversifying its production and satisfying the
demands of the market," they had created, in 1994, "the colognes
Alejandro*, Celia and Havana." The company statement added, without
beating around the bush, "The first two are products with the
allegorical names of figures of the Revolution" (Fidel Castro and Celia
Sanchez). Years later, Labiofam created another cologne named Lina, in
honor of the former president's mother, Lina Ruz, who was also the
grandmother of Jose Antonio Fraga Castro, CEO of Labiofam.
Fidel and Raul Castro's nephew has ruled the company with the same
voluntarism that his uncles have ruled the island. There is nothing in
the company that hasn't been thought up, or at least approved, by him,
including the weekly menu in the workers' cafeteria. And, even though
the company has fallen short of its planned performance for the last
five years, it has been presented as a model institution of modern times
and its hierarchy as untouchable beings.
It hasn't been disclosed if the disciplinary measures announced by the
Council of Ministers Executive Committee will seek a scapegoat to save
the reputation of the CEO, or if the flames will reach the top of the
pyramid. There are many threads behind the intrigue, each one pulling in
a different direction.
The ideological and emotional argument that "symbols are sacred"
convinces almost no one, especially in a country where the face of Che
Guevara himself appears tarnishing the national flag in ashtrays where
cigarettes are crushed to extinction. Maybe Labiofam believed that an
independent company is governed more by the rules of marketing than by
the designs of the Party, or maybe the time has come to end a feud over
whose "remains" new interests already have their eyes on.
*Translator's note: Fidel's middle name is Alejandro
Source: The Fragrance of Sacred Symbols / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-fragrance-of-sacred-symbols-14ymedio/
Qué cambia en la economía cubana con el regreso de Murillo?
¿Qué cambia en la economía cubana con el regreso de Murillo?
Posted on 29 septiembre, 2014
Por Emilio Morales*
¿Qué significa la vuelta de Marino Murillo Jorge a dirigir el Ministerio
de Economía y Planificación? ¿Hay razones para pensar en un cambio de
ruta económica o es pura cosmetología en las esferas de poder?
El reciente nombramiento de Murillo como titular de Economía y
Planificación ha despertado tanto interés como duda entre los expertos y
los medios internacionales de prensa, pero en la práctica -me atrevo a
esbozar una hipótesis rápida- no creo que signifique mucho. El problema
de la economía cubana no está en quién sea la persona que dirija el
Ministerio de Economía, o si es Murillo u otro economista el designado
por el Consejo de Estado, sino en la concepción estructural de las
reformas y su proyección estratégica para un cambio real del modelo.
Hasta el momento las reformas implementadas por Raúl Castro no han
mostrado un resultado de despegue y, por el contrario, el estancamiento
de la economía resulta persistente.
Crecimiento detenido
Desde que se inició el reajuste del modelo la economía prácticamente no
ha crecido, sino que más bien se ha mantenido en estado estacionario,
con un pronóstico muy discreto del 1.4% para este año. Las medidas
aplicadas hasta hoy para extender el sector privado han llegado a un
punto de saturación, sin que el número de trabajadores por cuenta propia
haya podido pasar la barrera de las 500,000 personas. El límite del
trabajo privado a solo 201 modalidades reduce el umbral de las
oportunidades y limita el crecimiento del sector.
A la vez, han pasado cuatro años y todavía el mercado mayorista
anunciado para satisfacer las necesidades de insumos del sector privado
no ha nacido todavía.
Aunque los cambios en marcha han resultado más abarcadores que los
realizados 20 años atrás, lo cierto es que no tienen la profundidad que
la situación actual requiere. Las fuerzas productivas no han sido
liberadas ni están debidamente estimuladas por las oportunidades, lo que
las convierte, de hecho, en el eslabón perdido de las reformas.
El resultado más palpable de que los cambios raulistas no han arrojado
la efectividad esperada es el crecimiento acelerado de la emigración
cubana en los últimos cuatro años. Claramente es una señal donde se
mezcla la inconformidad y la decepción, lo cual debería ser una
referencia directa para que el gobierno reevalúe su estrategia y haga
los ajustes necesarios que permitan un cambio en la dinámica del cambio
de modelo.
Un problema generacional
Evidentemente algo ha fallado en la estrategia y no creo que Murillo
pueda por sí solo cambiar el panorama económico nacional. Se trata de un
problema conceptual muy difícil de revertir en una generación que lleva
56 años aplicando las mismas concepciones para manejar el país. El
gobierno ha tenido una tendencia a realizar escaramuzas y cambiar la
forma de su proyección en la esfera económica, pero en realidad el
contenido es el mismo que escuchamos en los años noventa, en medio del
fin de la era soviética.
Si bien las oportunidades para el capital foráneo, activadas tanto por
la sombrilla de la nueva Ley de Inversión Extranjera como por la Zona
Especial del Mariel son viables y oportunas, la estrategia parece estar
enfocada en el desarrollo de la macroeconomía del país y no a su
microeconomía, lo cual hace que las reformas queden, en su conjunto,
mediatizadas.
Son muchas las oportunidades - al menos en el papel- para los
inversionistas extranjeros y muy pocas para los cubanos que viven dentro
y fuera de la isla. Esto trae como consecuencia un estancamiento en el
mercado interno, lo que va a dificultar en un nivel muy alto el plan
para eliminar la dualidad monetaria, prevista para finales de año o
comienzos del 2015, con efectos adversos para el estímulo de las
inversiones extranjeras.
El desarrollo del mercado interno tiene que montarse en la misma
estrategia que el gobierno ha diseñado para estimular la inversión
extranjera. Transformarse en dos carriles paralelos de un mismo
engranaje, con el desarrollo clave de un tejido empresarial privado. El
Estado no tiene otra alternativa realista que ceder espacio a la empresa
privada para poder estimular las fuerzas productivas del país.
De lo contrario, el cambio del modelo económico resultará una vuelta a
la noria y los resultados siempre estarán por llegar. Con Murillo o con
el que venga detrás, si es que todavía queda economía cubana para
experimentar con el recurso de la inercia,
*Economista cubano. Ex jefe de planeación estratégica de mercadotecnia
en la corporación CIMEX y autor de los libros Cuba: ¿tránsito silencioso
al capitalismo? y Marketing without Advertising, Brand Preference and
Consumer Choice in Cuba. Es presidente de The Havana Consulting Group,
en Miami.
Source: ¿Qué cambia en la economía cubana con el regreso de Murillo? |
Café Fuerte -
http://cafefuerte.com/cuba/18221-que-cambia-en-la-economia-cubana-con-el-regreso-de-murillo/
Posted on 29 septiembre, 2014
Por Emilio Morales*
¿Qué significa la vuelta de Marino Murillo Jorge a dirigir el Ministerio
de Economía y Planificación? ¿Hay razones para pensar en un cambio de
ruta económica o es pura cosmetología en las esferas de poder?
El reciente nombramiento de Murillo como titular de Economía y
Planificación ha despertado tanto interés como duda entre los expertos y
los medios internacionales de prensa, pero en la práctica -me atrevo a
esbozar una hipótesis rápida- no creo que signifique mucho. El problema
de la economía cubana no está en quién sea la persona que dirija el
Ministerio de Economía, o si es Murillo u otro economista el designado
por el Consejo de Estado, sino en la concepción estructural de las
reformas y su proyección estratégica para un cambio real del modelo.
Hasta el momento las reformas implementadas por Raúl Castro no han
mostrado un resultado de despegue y, por el contrario, el estancamiento
de la economía resulta persistente.
Crecimiento detenido
Desde que se inició el reajuste del modelo la economía prácticamente no
ha crecido, sino que más bien se ha mantenido en estado estacionario,
con un pronóstico muy discreto del 1.4% para este año. Las medidas
aplicadas hasta hoy para extender el sector privado han llegado a un
punto de saturación, sin que el número de trabajadores por cuenta propia
haya podido pasar la barrera de las 500,000 personas. El límite del
trabajo privado a solo 201 modalidades reduce el umbral de las
oportunidades y limita el crecimiento del sector.
A la vez, han pasado cuatro años y todavía el mercado mayorista
anunciado para satisfacer las necesidades de insumos del sector privado
no ha nacido todavía.
Aunque los cambios en marcha han resultado más abarcadores que los
realizados 20 años atrás, lo cierto es que no tienen la profundidad que
la situación actual requiere. Las fuerzas productivas no han sido
liberadas ni están debidamente estimuladas por las oportunidades, lo que
las convierte, de hecho, en el eslabón perdido de las reformas.
El resultado más palpable de que los cambios raulistas no han arrojado
la efectividad esperada es el crecimiento acelerado de la emigración
cubana en los últimos cuatro años. Claramente es una señal donde se
mezcla la inconformidad y la decepción, lo cual debería ser una
referencia directa para que el gobierno reevalúe su estrategia y haga
los ajustes necesarios que permitan un cambio en la dinámica del cambio
de modelo.
Un problema generacional
Evidentemente algo ha fallado en la estrategia y no creo que Murillo
pueda por sí solo cambiar el panorama económico nacional. Se trata de un
problema conceptual muy difícil de revertir en una generación que lleva
56 años aplicando las mismas concepciones para manejar el país. El
gobierno ha tenido una tendencia a realizar escaramuzas y cambiar la
forma de su proyección en la esfera económica, pero en realidad el
contenido es el mismo que escuchamos en los años noventa, en medio del
fin de la era soviética.
Si bien las oportunidades para el capital foráneo, activadas tanto por
la sombrilla de la nueva Ley de Inversión Extranjera como por la Zona
Especial del Mariel son viables y oportunas, la estrategia parece estar
enfocada en el desarrollo de la macroeconomía del país y no a su
microeconomía, lo cual hace que las reformas queden, en su conjunto,
mediatizadas.
Son muchas las oportunidades - al menos en el papel- para los
inversionistas extranjeros y muy pocas para los cubanos que viven dentro
y fuera de la isla. Esto trae como consecuencia un estancamiento en el
mercado interno, lo que va a dificultar en un nivel muy alto el plan
para eliminar la dualidad monetaria, prevista para finales de año o
comienzos del 2015, con efectos adversos para el estímulo de las
inversiones extranjeras.
El desarrollo del mercado interno tiene que montarse en la misma
estrategia que el gobierno ha diseñado para estimular la inversión
extranjera. Transformarse en dos carriles paralelos de un mismo
engranaje, con el desarrollo clave de un tejido empresarial privado. El
Estado no tiene otra alternativa realista que ceder espacio a la empresa
privada para poder estimular las fuerzas productivas del país.
De lo contrario, el cambio del modelo económico resultará una vuelta a
la noria y los resultados siempre estarán por llegar. Con Murillo o con
el que venga detrás, si es que todavía queda economía cubana para
experimentar con el recurso de la inercia,
*Economista cubano. Ex jefe de planeación estratégica de mercadotecnia
en la corporación CIMEX y autor de los libros Cuba: ¿tránsito silencioso
al capitalismo? y Marketing without Advertising, Brand Preference and
Consumer Choice in Cuba. Es presidente de The Havana Consulting Group,
en Miami.
Source: ¿Qué cambia en la economía cubana con el regreso de Murillo? |
Café Fuerte -
http://cafefuerte.com/cuba/18221-que-cambia-en-la-economia-cubana-con-el-regreso-de-murillo/
Doctor recalls fleeing Cuba to the U.S.
Doctor recalls fleeing Cuba to the U.S.
By Natassia Bonyanpour
Sept. 28, 2014 at 9:24 p.m.
Updated Sept. 29, 2014 at 7:10 a.m.
Six weeks before his 15th birthday, Felix Regueira made a decision that
would change his life.
He left everything he had ever known - his home, country and parents.
Regueira fled Cuba in 1966, seven years after Fidel Castro overthrew the
Fulgencio Batista dictatorship and created a communist country.
Regueira, now 62, practices pediatrics in Victoria and has done so for
more than 30 years. He came to the Crossroads in 1979 because of the
need he saw for pediatricians at a time when only three served the
entire city.
Regueira said he never become what he wanted to be without making the
bold move to leave.
He did it all so he could achieve his dreams.
"I am very lucky," Regueira said. "Fidel Castro made it so that males
that were 15- to 40-years-old could not leave the country for military
purposes."
Regueira said he had beautiful memories of his country before Castro
took power. He said Cuba had a flourishing economy and radiated in culture.
Although he was young, he said, he felt the harsh turn of government. He
turned to his grandfather to explain the meaning of communism.
"He said (communism) is what they have in Russia," Regueira said. "That
means we're going to lose everything we have ever owned. Everything is
going to be state-owned."
As years passed, Regueira said, Castro sequestered all of what Cuba's
economy thrived on. He said the government took over international
companies, then Cuban industries and finally prevailed over community
businesses - like his father's grocery store.
"My father, who worked so hard at his store, became an employee of his
own business." he said. "I told my parents, there is no future here. I
had to leave."
Regueira said saying goodbye to his parents and brother without knowing
if he would ever see them again was incredibly difficult.
Nevertheless, he said, he remained strong and boarded a plane to Spain,
eventually landing in Miami.
"I knew with a system like that there is no freedom of choice," Regueria
said. "The government dictates everything you will be. I was able to
become what I wanted, and I gave my kids a chance at a future."
Regueria's parents and brother made it to the United States a few years
later. Regueria said his mother worked as a seamstress and father as a
butcher to put him and his brother through medical school.
Regueria's wife, Norma, also fled Cuba during the beginning of Fidel
Castro's reign. Leaving was not easy - her father was imprisoned for two
years under false accusation, slowing down the process.
The couple, who have been married for 42 years, both said they are
living examples of immigrants working hard and prospering in America.
"We have to realize that there is poverty on the other side," Norma
Regueira said. "I fully understand that there needs to be a land of law
and order. We have to see that people from other countries have a lot to
offer. We have to make the process of applying for citizenship more
friendly so we don't continue to have desperation leading to breaking laws."
She said her husband encompasses great love for the work he does helping
children.
"My husband is just a passionate man about what he does," she said.
"Medicine is what drives him; it's his passion. I would not have it any
other way."
The doctor, who built his own practice, said he could never see himself
doing anything else.
"One thing I like about pediatrics is how children get better." he said.
"They come in sick one day and the next day they are better. That
stimulates my mind and body-that I'm doing something so fast and so good."
With all his success, Regueira always sticks close to his roots, and
often reflects at the sacrifice his parents made for him and his brother.
"My parents are a great example of how to lose everything and start all
over again," Regueira said. "They have never gone out of Miami, never
went to a movie, never traveled. All they did was work all the time to
help my brother and I. They made the ultimate sacrifice for us."
Source: Doctor recalls fleeing Cuba to the U.S.Victoria Advocate -
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2014/sep/28/doctor-recalls-fleeing-cuba-support-of-his-parents/
By Natassia Bonyanpour
Sept. 28, 2014 at 9:24 p.m.
Updated Sept. 29, 2014 at 7:10 a.m.
Six weeks before his 15th birthday, Felix Regueira made a decision that
would change his life.
He left everything he had ever known - his home, country and parents.
Regueira fled Cuba in 1966, seven years after Fidel Castro overthrew the
Fulgencio Batista dictatorship and created a communist country.
Regueira, now 62, practices pediatrics in Victoria and has done so for
more than 30 years. He came to the Crossroads in 1979 because of the
need he saw for pediatricians at a time when only three served the
entire city.
Regueira said he never become what he wanted to be without making the
bold move to leave.
He did it all so he could achieve his dreams.
"I am very lucky," Regueira said. "Fidel Castro made it so that males
that were 15- to 40-years-old could not leave the country for military
purposes."
Regueira said he had beautiful memories of his country before Castro
took power. He said Cuba had a flourishing economy and radiated in culture.
Although he was young, he said, he felt the harsh turn of government. He
turned to his grandfather to explain the meaning of communism.
"He said (communism) is what they have in Russia," Regueira said. "That
means we're going to lose everything we have ever owned. Everything is
going to be state-owned."
As years passed, Regueira said, Castro sequestered all of what Cuba's
economy thrived on. He said the government took over international
companies, then Cuban industries and finally prevailed over community
businesses - like his father's grocery store.
"My father, who worked so hard at his store, became an employee of his
own business." he said. "I told my parents, there is no future here. I
had to leave."
Regueira said saying goodbye to his parents and brother without knowing
if he would ever see them again was incredibly difficult.
Nevertheless, he said, he remained strong and boarded a plane to Spain,
eventually landing in Miami.
"I knew with a system like that there is no freedom of choice," Regueria
said. "The government dictates everything you will be. I was able to
become what I wanted, and I gave my kids a chance at a future."
Regueria's parents and brother made it to the United States a few years
later. Regueria said his mother worked as a seamstress and father as a
butcher to put him and his brother through medical school.
Regueria's wife, Norma, also fled Cuba during the beginning of Fidel
Castro's reign. Leaving was not easy - her father was imprisoned for two
years under false accusation, slowing down the process.
The couple, who have been married for 42 years, both said they are
living examples of immigrants working hard and prospering in America.
"We have to realize that there is poverty on the other side," Norma
Regueira said. "I fully understand that there needs to be a land of law
and order. We have to see that people from other countries have a lot to
offer. We have to make the process of applying for citizenship more
friendly so we don't continue to have desperation leading to breaking laws."
She said her husband encompasses great love for the work he does helping
children.
"My husband is just a passionate man about what he does," she said.
"Medicine is what drives him; it's his passion. I would not have it any
other way."
The doctor, who built his own practice, said he could never see himself
doing anything else.
"One thing I like about pediatrics is how children get better." he said.
"They come in sick one day and the next day they are better. That
stimulates my mind and body-that I'm doing something so fast and so good."
With all his success, Regueira always sticks close to his roots, and
often reflects at the sacrifice his parents made for him and his brother.
"My parents are a great example of how to lose everything and start all
over again," Regueira said. "They have never gone out of Miami, never
went to a movie, never traveled. All they did was work all the time to
help my brother and I. They made the ultimate sacrifice for us."
Source: Doctor recalls fleeing Cuba to the U.S.Victoria Advocate -
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2014/sep/28/doctor-recalls-fleeing-cuba-support-of-his-parents/
Canada agency helped finance deals for exec jailed in Cuba
Canada agency helped finance deals for exec jailed in Cuba
Source: Reuters - Mon, 29 Sep 2014 22:46 GMT
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A little-known Canadian federal agency
helped put in place C$155.7 million ($139 million) worth of deals for
firms in Cuba over a three-year period including some for Cy Tokmakjian,
the businessman jailed for corruption in Havana last week.
The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) acts as Canada's international
contracting and procurement agency, helping Canadian firms bid for
procurement contracts with foreign governments.
When acting as a prime contractor the CCC helps mitigate risks by
signing a contract with a foreign government and then a separate
contract with a Canadian supplier. This ensures that a company does not
need to worry about being paid as long as it fulfils the term of the
contract.
In Cuba, the CCC helped Canadian businessmen like Tokmakjian by
providing trade financing to Cuban government buyers.
In 2010, the agency opened a Latin American office in Havana but in 2013
it stopped arranging trade financing deals with Cuba and handed
responsibility for the file to Export Development Canada.
EDC officials said this was because EDC was more familiar with trade
financing than the CCC. A spokesman for the EDC said the corporation had
had no dealings with the Tokmakjian Group.
The CCC arranged deals for the firm in the sugar industry as well as in
the tourism sector, the Tokmakjian Group's vice-president of finance,
Lee Hacker, told Reuters on Monday. Hacker did not give details of
individual deals.
Cy Tokmakjian, the Ontario company's founder, has been sentenced to 15
years in prison on charges that include bribery, fraud, tax evasion, and
falsifying bank documents. His company called the case a "show trial"
and a "travesty of justice."
"We would give invoices to Canadian Commercial Corporation. (They) would
then give certain financing to the Cubans whether it would be one year,
two years or longer, depending, and we would get paid by CCC," said Hacker.
CCC did not immediately respond to a request for details on the value of
those contracts. The CCC lists a total of C$155.7 million in Cuban
contracts for fiscal years 2010/11 to 2012/13.
The CCC says all of its contracts with Canadian suppliers include a
clause specifically forbidding bribery of foreign government officials.
"Should a Canadian supplier be found bribing a government official while
under a CCC contract, the corporation reserves the right to impose
various sanctions," the CCC says on its website.
($1=$1.11 Canadian) (Additional reporting by Allison Martell in Toronto,
editing by Ross Colvin)
Source: Canada agency helped finance deals for exec jailed in Cuba -
http://www.trust.org/item/20140929212653-nv9fj
Source: Reuters - Mon, 29 Sep 2014 22:46 GMT
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A little-known Canadian federal agency
helped put in place C$155.7 million ($139 million) worth of deals for
firms in Cuba over a three-year period including some for Cy Tokmakjian,
the businessman jailed for corruption in Havana last week.
The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) acts as Canada's international
contracting and procurement agency, helping Canadian firms bid for
procurement contracts with foreign governments.
When acting as a prime contractor the CCC helps mitigate risks by
signing a contract with a foreign government and then a separate
contract with a Canadian supplier. This ensures that a company does not
need to worry about being paid as long as it fulfils the term of the
contract.
In Cuba, the CCC helped Canadian businessmen like Tokmakjian by
providing trade financing to Cuban government buyers.
In 2010, the agency opened a Latin American office in Havana but in 2013
it stopped arranging trade financing deals with Cuba and handed
responsibility for the file to Export Development Canada.
EDC officials said this was because EDC was more familiar with trade
financing than the CCC. A spokesman for the EDC said the corporation had
had no dealings with the Tokmakjian Group.
The CCC arranged deals for the firm in the sugar industry as well as in
the tourism sector, the Tokmakjian Group's vice-president of finance,
Lee Hacker, told Reuters on Monday. Hacker did not give details of
individual deals.
Cy Tokmakjian, the Ontario company's founder, has been sentenced to 15
years in prison on charges that include bribery, fraud, tax evasion, and
falsifying bank documents. His company called the case a "show trial"
and a "travesty of justice."
"We would give invoices to Canadian Commercial Corporation. (They) would
then give certain financing to the Cubans whether it would be one year,
two years or longer, depending, and we would get paid by CCC," said Hacker.
CCC did not immediately respond to a request for details on the value of
those contracts. The CCC lists a total of C$155.7 million in Cuban
contracts for fiscal years 2010/11 to 2012/13.
The CCC says all of its contracts with Canadian suppliers include a
clause specifically forbidding bribery of foreign government officials.
"Should a Canadian supplier be found bribing a government official while
under a CCC contract, the corporation reserves the right to impose
various sanctions," the CCC says on its website.
($1=$1.11 Canadian) (Additional reporting by Allison Martell in Toronto,
editing by Ross Colvin)
Source: Canada agency helped finance deals for exec jailed in Cuba -
http://www.trust.org/item/20140929212653-nv9fj
Cy Tokmakjian's family disputes Cuba charges after Canadian sentenced
Cy Tokmakjian's family disputes Cuba charges after Canadian sentenced
Businessman's wife pleads for husband to be reunited with his family
back in Canada
CBC News Posted: Sep 29, 2014 9:12 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 29, 2014 9:31
PM ET
The family of Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian is calling on Cuba to
release him days after he was sentenced to prison, citing his innocence
on corruption-related charges and a desire for the 74-year-old to be
reunited with his loved ones.
"I want my husband and my children's father and my grandkids'
grandfather to be home as soon as possible," the businessman's wife,
Helen Tokmakjian, said Monday.
Speaking to media alongside her children, Tokmakjian said "he's innocent."
Cy Tokmakjian's 15-year sentence 'outrageous,' Peter Kent says
Cuba hands Canadian businessman 15-year sentence on corruption charges
Cy Tokmakjian, who owns the Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group, was one of
several foreign executives swept up in a Cuban campaign against
corruption in 2011. He was handed a 15-year sentence on Friday.
During an emotional news conference in Vaughan, Ont., on Monday morning,
Raffi Tokmakjian said his father is innocent and determined to fight for
his freedom.
He hasn't seen his father in three years, but described him as a proud
man with "the utmost integrity."
"Every time he calls he reminds us, he says, 'I've done nothing, you
know that. Everybody knows that. You cannot stop fighting for what's
right,'" Raffi Tokmakjian said.
"'They've already taken three years of my life, but I will not admit to
anything I have not done.'"
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five countries, as well as government officials and dozens of
Cuban employees at key state-run companies.
Tokmakjian, who has a home in Havana, was arrested in September of that
year along with two other company executives and charged with
corruption, conducting unauthorized financial transactions and illegally
taking large amounts of money out of the country.
'Not an isolated event'
Circumstances for Tokmakjian and other foreigners doing business in Cuba
changed in 2011 when Cuba's Communist Party elected Raul Castro to
succeed older brother Fidel Castro as president.
Havana-based freelance reporter Abel Gonzales said companies like
Tokmakjian's were raided and shut down, and their owners were arrested.
"It was not an isolated event. It also happened with other foreign
companies. It was part of the initiative of Raul Castro to fight
corruption in high levels of the government," Gonzales said.
Foreign Affairs said consular services are being provided, and officials
are in contact with authorities in Havana and continue to monitor the
case closely.
Cuba's judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed
doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little
about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the
Tokmakjian Group's operating licence had been rescinded due to
unspecified actions.
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and
eight-year sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker
told The Associated Press.
'Gross miscarriage of justice'
Conservative MP Peter Kent, whose Thornhill, Ont., riding includes the
company's headquarters, visited Tokmakjian in prison last year.
"He disproved every specific allegation. They simply couldn't find any
hard evidence against him."
Tokmakjian was given the 15 years without the benefit of a sentencing
hearing, Kent said.
"Which is, I suppose, the ultimate chapter in this gross miscarriage of
justice."
Kent said Tokmakjian's best chance could be a transfer to a Canadian
prison to serve out the rest of his sentence, or the Cuban government
could simply expel him.
Meanwhile, Tokmakjian's company has launched legal action against Cuba's
government over an estimated $100 million in assets it seized.
Source: Cy Tokmakjian's family disputes Cuba charges after Canadian
sentenced - Toronto - CBC News -
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/cy-tokmakjian-s-family-disputes-cuba-charges-after-canadian-sentenced-1.2781041
Businessman's wife pleads for husband to be reunited with his family
back in Canada
CBC News Posted: Sep 29, 2014 9:12 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 29, 2014 9:31
PM ET
The family of Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian is calling on Cuba to
release him days after he was sentenced to prison, citing his innocence
on corruption-related charges and a desire for the 74-year-old to be
reunited with his loved ones.
"I want my husband and my children's father and my grandkids'
grandfather to be home as soon as possible," the businessman's wife,
Helen Tokmakjian, said Monday.
Speaking to media alongside her children, Tokmakjian said "he's innocent."
Cy Tokmakjian's 15-year sentence 'outrageous,' Peter Kent says
Cuba hands Canadian businessman 15-year sentence on corruption charges
Cy Tokmakjian, who owns the Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group, was one of
several foreign executives swept up in a Cuban campaign against
corruption in 2011. He was handed a 15-year sentence on Friday.
During an emotional news conference in Vaughan, Ont., on Monday morning,
Raffi Tokmakjian said his father is innocent and determined to fight for
his freedom.
He hasn't seen his father in three years, but described him as a proud
man with "the utmost integrity."
"Every time he calls he reminds us, he says, 'I've done nothing, you
know that. Everybody knows that. You cannot stop fighting for what's
right,'" Raffi Tokmakjian said.
"'They've already taken three years of my life, but I will not admit to
anything I have not done.'"
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five countries, as well as government officials and dozens of
Cuban employees at key state-run companies.
Tokmakjian, who has a home in Havana, was arrested in September of that
year along with two other company executives and charged with
corruption, conducting unauthorized financial transactions and illegally
taking large amounts of money out of the country.
'Not an isolated event'
Circumstances for Tokmakjian and other foreigners doing business in Cuba
changed in 2011 when Cuba's Communist Party elected Raul Castro to
succeed older brother Fidel Castro as president.
Havana-based freelance reporter Abel Gonzales said companies like
Tokmakjian's were raided and shut down, and their owners were arrested.
"It was not an isolated event. It also happened with other foreign
companies. It was part of the initiative of Raul Castro to fight
corruption in high levels of the government," Gonzales said.
Foreign Affairs said consular services are being provided, and officials
are in contact with authorities in Havana and continue to monitor the
case closely.
Cuba's judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed
doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little
about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the
Tokmakjian Group's operating licence had been rescinded due to
unspecified actions.
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and
eight-year sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker
told The Associated Press.
'Gross miscarriage of justice'
Conservative MP Peter Kent, whose Thornhill, Ont., riding includes the
company's headquarters, visited Tokmakjian in prison last year.
"He disproved every specific allegation. They simply couldn't find any
hard evidence against him."
Tokmakjian was given the 15 years without the benefit of a sentencing
hearing, Kent said.
"Which is, I suppose, the ultimate chapter in this gross miscarriage of
justice."
Kent said Tokmakjian's best chance could be a transfer to a Canadian
prison to serve out the rest of his sentence, or the Cuban government
could simply expel him.
Meanwhile, Tokmakjian's company has launched legal action against Cuba's
government over an estimated $100 million in assets it seized.
Source: Cy Tokmakjian's family disputes Cuba charges after Canadian
sentenced - Toronto - CBC News -
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/cy-tokmakjian-s-family-disputes-cuba-charges-after-canadian-sentenced-1.2781041
How the Cuban Government Uses Health Worker
How the Cuban Government Uses Health Workers
September 30, 2014
Yenisel Rodríguez Perez
HAVANA TIMES – Health problems begin to spread across Cuba as the
government begins to lose the firm hand of the Committees for the
Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) to impose its epidemic-control methods
and procedures on the population.
Historically, the Castro regime has relied on its authoritarian
potential to hasten the administration and management of social
processes. The urgency of the problems it has faced (outbreaks of dengue
and cholera, for instance), and the impact these could have on the
regime's international prestige, are the factors that have established
the limits of civil liberties on the island.
To fill the void left by the CDRs at the neighborhood level, the
government turns to Public Health institutions with resolve in order to
exercise control over the population. Accordingly, medical personnel
have taken to the streets to grab the bull by the horns, coupling
medical attention with authoritarian control over patients.
They pressure, threaten and go as far as accusing people of political
misdeeds when they refuse to be hospitalized following the detection of
symptoms that fuel the paranoia of doctors and bureaucrats.
The most shameful thing is that the will of citizens should be ignored,
and that the situation a person may find themselves in at the time of
the examination should be trivialized, taking the government's disregard
towards self-determination to unimaginable extremes.
This way, the regime substitutes the militant work previously carried
out by the CDRs with the work of public health professionals, deploying
outdated by still-effective authoritarian mechanisms.
In the prestige that the medical establishment still enjoys in Cuban
society, the regime discovers an exchange capital that affords it a
fifth column, one sustained by contractual agreements and not the kind
of political indoctrination that is disappearing next to revolutionary
folklore.
The generalized impoverishment and extreme depolitization of Cuba's
working class – of healthcare personnel, in this case – is, ultimately,
what allows the regime to carry out this corporate turn and replace
demagogues with technocrats.
Recently, it consolidated the maneuver by approving a salary raise for
healthcare workers, making it next to impossible for the sector to
ignore this fifth-columnist "call."
On May 1st this year, thousands of public health workers took part in
the rallies organized in celebration of Workers' Day. The sea of white
medical gowns made clear the central role that technocracy is to play in
the establishment of the island's "socialist" market capitalism.
Source: How the Cuban Government Uses Health Workers - Havana Times.org
- http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106448
September 30, 2014
Yenisel Rodríguez Perez
HAVANA TIMES – Health problems begin to spread across Cuba as the
government begins to lose the firm hand of the Committees for the
Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) to impose its epidemic-control methods
and procedures on the population.
Historically, the Castro regime has relied on its authoritarian
potential to hasten the administration and management of social
processes. The urgency of the problems it has faced (outbreaks of dengue
and cholera, for instance), and the impact these could have on the
regime's international prestige, are the factors that have established
the limits of civil liberties on the island.
To fill the void left by the CDRs at the neighborhood level, the
government turns to Public Health institutions with resolve in order to
exercise control over the population. Accordingly, medical personnel
have taken to the streets to grab the bull by the horns, coupling
medical attention with authoritarian control over patients.
They pressure, threaten and go as far as accusing people of political
misdeeds when they refuse to be hospitalized following the detection of
symptoms that fuel the paranoia of doctors and bureaucrats.
The most shameful thing is that the will of citizens should be ignored,
and that the situation a person may find themselves in at the time of
the examination should be trivialized, taking the government's disregard
towards self-determination to unimaginable extremes.
This way, the regime substitutes the militant work previously carried
out by the CDRs with the work of public health professionals, deploying
outdated by still-effective authoritarian mechanisms.
In the prestige that the medical establishment still enjoys in Cuban
society, the regime discovers an exchange capital that affords it a
fifth column, one sustained by contractual agreements and not the kind
of political indoctrination that is disappearing next to revolutionary
folklore.
The generalized impoverishment and extreme depolitization of Cuba's
working class – of healthcare personnel, in this case – is, ultimately,
what allows the regime to carry out this corporate turn and replace
demagogues with technocrats.
Recently, it consolidated the maneuver by approving a salary raise for
healthcare workers, making it next to impossible for the sector to
ignore this fifth-columnist "call."
On May 1st this year, thousands of public health workers took part in
the rallies organized in celebration of Workers' Day. The sea of white
medical gowns made clear the central role that technocracy is to play in
the establishment of the island's "socialist" market capitalism.
Source: How the Cuban Government Uses Health Workers - Havana Times.org
- http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106448
False Image of Cuba in France
False Image of Cuba in France
September 29, 2014
Carlos Fraguela
HAVANA TIMES – A Cuban friend of mine was recently in France. While
there, he dropped in to check out a festival that the French Communist
Party holds every year featuring exhibits from the Communist Parties of
the world and their affiliates. My friend told me that he enjoyed some
of the concerts that were part of the event, but that in other ways he
was disappointed.
According to my friend, there were stalls with representatives from each
country, as well as national food or drinks. Of course there were some
exhibits where Cuba should have been represented, but there were no
Cubans there, only many Cuban flags. Instead of Cubans, there were only
French at the stalls. Except for the Cuban exhibit, all of the countries
were represented by natives.
"They sold the worst revolutionary mojito in the world, and supposedly
the most authentic Cuban beer in history: "Cubanero", 100 percent Cuban;
with a label that was identical to our local Bucanero beer, but with the
name changed to read "Cubanero."
My friend asked one of the French attendants who offered it to him where
it was from, and he responded proudly that it originated in Cuba and was
exported by the Cubans themselves. To this, my friend replied ironically
that he was a Cuban and had never seen it in his life.
The Frenchman responded with great embarrassment that he knew nothing
about it. There were a lot of people there with Che pullovers, young
people smoking cigars without the least idea of how. The only Cubans
there were Rene Gonzales (one of two released Cuban Five members), who
was speaking, and two salsa groups that no one in Cuba knows of. The
emblematic image of Che from the Cuban photographer Korda, was being
used as a background for the prices at the Bar, revealing a discordant
mixture of ideology and marketing, or perhaps just the ignorance of the
person in charge.
It was a huge disillusionment for my friend, because he felt that the
image of Cuba that they used was completely false and that they were
making money off of it. In the end, the only events of interest were the
very good concerts that he saw.
Source: False Image of Cuba in France - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106426
September 29, 2014
Carlos Fraguela
HAVANA TIMES – A Cuban friend of mine was recently in France. While
there, he dropped in to check out a festival that the French Communist
Party holds every year featuring exhibits from the Communist Parties of
the world and their affiliates. My friend told me that he enjoyed some
of the concerts that were part of the event, but that in other ways he
was disappointed.
According to my friend, there were stalls with representatives from each
country, as well as national food or drinks. Of course there were some
exhibits where Cuba should have been represented, but there were no
Cubans there, only many Cuban flags. Instead of Cubans, there were only
French at the stalls. Except for the Cuban exhibit, all of the countries
were represented by natives.
"They sold the worst revolutionary mojito in the world, and supposedly
the most authentic Cuban beer in history: "Cubanero", 100 percent Cuban;
with a label that was identical to our local Bucanero beer, but with the
name changed to read "Cubanero."
My friend asked one of the French attendants who offered it to him where
it was from, and he responded proudly that it originated in Cuba and was
exported by the Cubans themselves. To this, my friend replied ironically
that he was a Cuban and had never seen it in his life.
The Frenchman responded with great embarrassment that he knew nothing
about it. There were a lot of people there with Che pullovers, young
people smoking cigars without the least idea of how. The only Cubans
there were Rene Gonzales (one of two released Cuban Five members), who
was speaking, and two salsa groups that no one in Cuba knows of. The
emblematic image of Che from the Cuban photographer Korda, was being
used as a background for the prices at the Bar, revealing a discordant
mixture of ideology and marketing, or perhaps just the ignorance of the
person in charge.
It was a huge disillusionment for my friend, because he felt that the
image of Cuba that they used was completely false and that they were
making money off of it. In the end, the only events of interest were the
very good concerts that he saw.
Source: False Image of Cuba in France - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106426
Cuba pidió rescate de $55 millones por empresario canadiense
Cuba pidió rescate de $55 millones por empresario canadiense
El vicepresidente financiero de Tokmakjian Group, Lee Hacker, dijo el
lunes que las autoridades cubanas formularon su pedido tras detener a Cy
Tokmakjian
Agencias, Madrid | 30/09/2014 10:04 am
Tokmakjian Group, la compañía del canadiense Cy Tokmakjian, quien fue
condenado la semana pasada a 15 años de prisión en Cuba por corrupción,
dijo el lunes que las autoridades cubanas le pidieron a la empresa "$55
millones" por su liberación, además de confiscar "todos sus activos",
informa la agencia Efe.
El vicepresidente financiero de Tokmakjian Group, Lee Hacker, dijo el
lunes durante una rueda de prensa que las autoridades cubanas señalaron
tras la detención del empresario que estaban "confiscando todos sus
activos y además van a tener que mandar $55 millones para que Cy sea
liberado".
Hacker calificó que las acusaciones de soborno de "ridículas" pero
reconoció que la compañía pagaba "incentivos", "como todas las demás
compañías en Cuba".
"Todo lo que hicimos en Cuba era normal", añadió el ejecutivo canadiense.
Rafi Tokmakjian, hijo del empresario, declaró también el lunes al
periódico The Toronto Star que su padre le ha dicho por teléfono que
todas las acusaciones "son falsas".
Tokmakjian, de 74 años y propietario de una empresa de transporte que
opera en varios países, fue detenido en Cuba en septiembre de 2011 junto
con los también empresarios canadienses Marco Vinicio Puche Rodríguez y
Claudio Franco Vetere.
Los detenidos fueron acusados de "cohecho, actos en perjuicio de la
actividad económica o de la contratación, falsificación de documentos
bancarios y de comercio, estafa, tráfico de divisas y evasión fiscal".
Además de la condena contra Tokmakjian, los tribunales cubanos también
condenaron a Vetere y Puche Rodríguez a 12 y 8 años de cárcel,
respectivamente, dijeron este lunes medios de comunicación canadienses.
Pero la familia y la empresa de Tokmakjian insistieron en que todos son
inocentes.
El Gobierno canadiense no ha hecho comentarios públicos sobre la condena
de Tokmakjian.
Source: Cuba pidió rescate de $55 millones por empresario canadiense -
Noticias - Cuba - Cuba Encuentro -
http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/noticias/cuba-pidio-rescate-de-55-millones-por-empresario-canadiense-320369
El vicepresidente financiero de Tokmakjian Group, Lee Hacker, dijo el
lunes que las autoridades cubanas formularon su pedido tras detener a Cy
Tokmakjian
Agencias, Madrid | 30/09/2014 10:04 am
Tokmakjian Group, la compañía del canadiense Cy Tokmakjian, quien fue
condenado la semana pasada a 15 años de prisión en Cuba por corrupción,
dijo el lunes que las autoridades cubanas le pidieron a la empresa "$55
millones" por su liberación, además de confiscar "todos sus activos",
informa la agencia Efe.
El vicepresidente financiero de Tokmakjian Group, Lee Hacker, dijo el
lunes durante una rueda de prensa que las autoridades cubanas señalaron
tras la detención del empresario que estaban "confiscando todos sus
activos y además van a tener que mandar $55 millones para que Cy sea
liberado".
Hacker calificó que las acusaciones de soborno de "ridículas" pero
reconoció que la compañía pagaba "incentivos", "como todas las demás
compañías en Cuba".
"Todo lo que hicimos en Cuba era normal", añadió el ejecutivo canadiense.
Rafi Tokmakjian, hijo del empresario, declaró también el lunes al
periódico The Toronto Star que su padre le ha dicho por teléfono que
todas las acusaciones "son falsas".
Tokmakjian, de 74 años y propietario de una empresa de transporte que
opera en varios países, fue detenido en Cuba en septiembre de 2011 junto
con los también empresarios canadienses Marco Vinicio Puche Rodríguez y
Claudio Franco Vetere.
Los detenidos fueron acusados de "cohecho, actos en perjuicio de la
actividad económica o de la contratación, falsificación de documentos
bancarios y de comercio, estafa, tráfico de divisas y evasión fiscal".
Además de la condena contra Tokmakjian, los tribunales cubanos también
condenaron a Vetere y Puche Rodríguez a 12 y 8 años de cárcel,
respectivamente, dijeron este lunes medios de comunicación canadienses.
Pero la familia y la empresa de Tokmakjian insistieron en que todos son
inocentes.
El Gobierno canadiense no ha hecho comentarios públicos sobre la condena
de Tokmakjian.
Source: Cuba pidió rescate de $55 millones por empresario canadiense -
Noticias - Cuba - Cuba Encuentro -
http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/noticias/cuba-pidio-rescate-de-55-millones-por-empresario-canadiense-320369
GTA businessman jailed in Cuba maintains his innocence
GTA businessman jailed in Cuba maintains his innocence
Now facing 15-year-sentence, Cy Tokmakjian, head of Ontario-based
Tokmakjian Group, tells son Rafi claims against him completely false
By: The Canadian Press Published on Mon Sep 29 2014
VAUGHAN, ONT.—The son of a Canadian businessman jailed in Cuba on
corruption-related charges says his father maintains he's innocent and
is determined to fight for his freedom.
Rafi Tokmakjian says the claims against his father Cy, who has been
sentenced to 15 years in prison, are completely false.
He says he's spoken to his father over the phone and he insists he's
done nothing wrong.
Tokmakjian says his father — who owns the Ontario-based transportation
company Tokmakjian Group — has done business for 40 years both in Canada
and abroad without any problem.
He says his father ran his business appropriately and in accordance with
every single law in those jurisdictions.
The company said its lawyers were notified Friday that Tokmakjian, 74,
was convicted and sentences on a variety of charges that Cuban officials
call part of a widespread campaign against graft.
He was held for more than two years before being tried in June.
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban
employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free
meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of
doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out
rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges.
Tokmakjian Group issued a statement earlier this year saying Tokmakjian
did nothing wrong and suggested he didn't get a fair trial.
Toronto-area MP Peter Kent has called the conviction "a travesty of
justice," and is calling for Tokmakjian to be sent back to Canada.
Source: GTA businessman jailed in Cuba maintains his innocence | Toronto
Star -
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/09/29/son_says_gta_businessman_jailed_in_cuba_maintains_his_innocence.html
Now facing 15-year-sentence, Cy Tokmakjian, head of Ontario-based
Tokmakjian Group, tells son Rafi claims against him completely false
By: The Canadian Press Published on Mon Sep 29 2014
VAUGHAN, ONT.—The son of a Canadian businessman jailed in Cuba on
corruption-related charges says his father maintains he's innocent and
is determined to fight for his freedom.
Rafi Tokmakjian says the claims against his father Cy, who has been
sentenced to 15 years in prison, are completely false.
He says he's spoken to his father over the phone and he insists he's
done nothing wrong.
Tokmakjian says his father — who owns the Ontario-based transportation
company Tokmakjian Group — has done business for 40 years both in Canada
and abroad without any problem.
He says his father ran his business appropriately and in accordance with
every single law in those jurisdictions.
The company said its lawyers were notified Friday that Tokmakjian, 74,
was convicted and sentences on a variety of charges that Cuban officials
call part of a widespread campaign against graft.
He was held for more than two years before being tried in June.
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban
employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free
meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of
doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out
rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges.
Tokmakjian Group issued a statement earlier this year saying Tokmakjian
did nothing wrong and suggested he didn't get a fair trial.
Toronto-area MP Peter Kent has called the conviction "a travesty of
justice," and is calling for Tokmakjian to be sent back to Canada.
Source: GTA businessman jailed in Cuba maintains his innocence | Toronto
Star -
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/09/29/son_says_gta_businessman_jailed_in_cuba_maintains_his_innocence.html
Monday, September 29, 2014
Cuba asked for $55-million, assets to release Canadian CEO, company says
Cuba asked for $55-million, assets to release Canadian CEO, company says
ALLISON MARTELL AND DANIEL TROTTA
TORONTO/HAVANA — Reuters
Published Monday, Sep. 29 2014, 2:25 PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Sep. 29 2014, 6:47 PM EDT
Cuba offered to free jailed Canadian executive Cy Tokmakjian in return
for $55-million and company assets, his company said on Monday, but the
deal fell through because the firm didn't have the money and the
businessman wanted to clear his name.
Tokmakjian, 74, founder and chief executive of transportation firm
Tokmakjian Group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday after
being convicted of bribery and other economic charges in a case that
lawyers and diplomats called a chilling development for potential
foreign investors.
Source: Cuba asked for $55-million, assets to release Canadian CEO,
company says - The Globe and Mail -
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/cuba-asked-for-55-million-assets-to-release-canadian-ceo-company-says/article20834467/
ALLISON MARTELL AND DANIEL TROTTA
TORONTO/HAVANA — Reuters
Published Monday, Sep. 29 2014, 2:25 PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Sep. 29 2014, 6:47 PM EDT
Cuba offered to free jailed Canadian executive Cy Tokmakjian in return
for $55-million and company assets, his company said on Monday, but the
deal fell through because the firm didn't have the money and the
businessman wanted to clear his name.
Tokmakjian, 74, founder and chief executive of transportation firm
Tokmakjian Group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday after
being convicted of bribery and other economic charges in a case that
lawyers and diplomats called a chilling development for potential
foreign investors.
Source: Cuba asked for $55-million, assets to release Canadian CEO,
company says - The Globe and Mail -
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/cuba-asked-for-55-million-assets-to-release-canadian-ceo-company-says/article20834467/
Street people
Street people / Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on September 28, 2014
In the two photos that I compare here I am not intending to insinuate
that it's the same in Buenos Aires as in Havana, because there will
always be people sleeping on the street.
The Havanan (or maybe he is from another province) who sleeps shirtless
in the full sun on the centrally-located Avenue of the Presidents at the
corner of 23rd, in the heart of El Vedado, has left his shoes in reach
of anyone who might steal them, figuring, perhaps, that there's no one
more poor than he. The pants he is wearing are tied with something that
clearly isn't a belt, and one could wager that he has ingested a goodly
dose of alcohol. In the background, a reminder of the World Cup, the
Argentine flag flies accompanied by one from Germany and another from
Brazil.
The Argentine (probably an immigrant) protects himself from a slight
chill with perhaps too many clothes and has something like a briefcase
for a pillow. His image could illustrate the drama of many unemployed,
people who have seen their lives shattered with the latest crisis.
Behind him are more or less luxurious cars, contrasting with his misery.
On the walls are the libertarian slogans of some graffiti artists that
nobody has bothered to paint over. The street looks clean and everyone
who passes by ignores him.
If they are sleeping they are dreaming of different, but equally
unattainable, things.
28 September 2014
Source: Street people / Reinaldo Escobar | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/street-people-reinaldo-escobar/
Posted on September 28, 2014
In the two photos that I compare here I am not intending to insinuate
that it's the same in Buenos Aires as in Havana, because there will
always be people sleeping on the street.
The Havanan (or maybe he is from another province) who sleeps shirtless
in the full sun on the centrally-located Avenue of the Presidents at the
corner of 23rd, in the heart of El Vedado, has left his shoes in reach
of anyone who might steal them, figuring, perhaps, that there's no one
more poor than he. The pants he is wearing are tied with something that
clearly isn't a belt, and one could wager that he has ingested a goodly
dose of alcohol. In the background, a reminder of the World Cup, the
Argentine flag flies accompanied by one from Germany and another from
Brazil.
The Argentine (probably an immigrant) protects himself from a slight
chill with perhaps too many clothes and has something like a briefcase
for a pillow. His image could illustrate the drama of many unemployed,
people who have seen their lives shattered with the latest crisis.
Behind him are more or less luxurious cars, contrasting with his misery.
On the walls are the libertarian slogans of some graffiti artists that
nobody has bothered to paint over. The street looks clean and everyone
who passes by ignores him.
If they are sleeping they are dreaming of different, but equally
unattainable, things.
28 September 2014
Source: Street people / Reinaldo Escobar | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/street-people-reinaldo-escobar/
The High Cost of the Five
The High Cost of the Five / Fernando Damaso
Posted on September 28, 2014
The trial in which the five Cuban spies were found guilty and sentenced
to prison — a place where they enjoy internet access, regular phone
calls, the means to entertain themselves (painting supplies, tools for
writing poetry, etc.), sanitary living conditions, comfortable jail
cells, medical care, nutritious food, gym facilities, a wardrobe and
other comforts — has cost and continues to cost the American taxpayer a
tidy sum of money.
However, it has undoubtedly cost the Cuban people even more. We are the
ones paying the high salaries of their lawyers. Through our embassies
overseas we pay to support the various solidarity groups seeking their
release, the members of which are also invited as political tourists on
all-expense-paid visits to Cuba.
As though that were not enough, there are also the round-trip airline
tickets for all their extended family members, who routinely visit them
in prison and proselytize on their behalf. There are also the costs
associated with providing these family members with wardrobes, spending
money, food and lodging. Add to this the expenses for the spies who have
already been released and who now serve as international spokespersons.
There is the ongoing expense of demonstrations of support in Cuban
schools, factories and businesses. There are the marches, rallies and
concerts in their honor, the art exhibitions, the books dedicated to
them, and many other such commemorations.
Considering all the people held in detention, it is fortunate that only
these five — members of the so-called Wasp Network — have agreed to
become heroes by decree. Otherwise, the costs for both the American and
Cuban taxpayer would be exponentially greater.
25 September 2014
Source: The High Cost of the Five / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-high-cost-of-the-five-fernando-damaso/
Posted on September 28, 2014
The trial in which the five Cuban spies were found guilty and sentenced
to prison — a place where they enjoy internet access, regular phone
calls, the means to entertain themselves (painting supplies, tools for
writing poetry, etc.), sanitary living conditions, comfortable jail
cells, medical care, nutritious food, gym facilities, a wardrobe and
other comforts — has cost and continues to cost the American taxpayer a
tidy sum of money.
However, it has undoubtedly cost the Cuban people even more. We are the
ones paying the high salaries of their lawyers. Through our embassies
overseas we pay to support the various solidarity groups seeking their
release, the members of which are also invited as political tourists on
all-expense-paid visits to Cuba.
As though that were not enough, there are also the round-trip airline
tickets for all their extended family members, who routinely visit them
in prison and proselytize on their behalf. There are also the costs
associated with providing these family members with wardrobes, spending
money, food and lodging. Add to this the expenses for the spies who have
already been released and who now serve as international spokespersons.
There is the ongoing expense of demonstrations of support in Cuban
schools, factories and businesses. There are the marches, rallies and
concerts in their honor, the art exhibitions, the books dedicated to
them, and many other such commemorations.
Considering all the people held in detention, it is fortunate that only
these five — members of the so-called Wasp Network — have agreed to
become heroes by decree. Otherwise, the costs for both the American and
Cuban taxpayer would be exponentially greater.
25 September 2014
Source: The High Cost of the Five / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-high-cost-of-the-five-fernando-damaso/
Brazil Presidential Candidate Marina Silva Vows to Promote Democracy in Cuba if Elected
Brazil Presidential Candidate Marina Silva Vows to Promote Democracy in
Cuba if Elected
NEWSROOM 28 SEPTEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014
Brazilian resident Dilma Rousseff's main foreign affairs' advisor Marco
Aurelio Garcia denied Brazil has any "imperial intentions" in reply to
claims relative to Cuba from presidential opposition candidate Marina
Silva.
"Brazil has no imperial calling or intentions; it's not a certifying
agency which distributes definitions referred to other countries. We
respect Cuba, as we do with the United States, France or China, to name
some examples," said García.
The foreign affairs advisor who has held the job since 2003 when Lula da
Silva first became Brazilian president, objected to statements from
Marina Silva, Rousseff's main challenger for her re-election bid on
October 5, referred to Cuba and the huge investments Brazil has made in
the Castro brothers' island.
Silva was quoted saying that "the best way to help the Cuban people was
to understand that they can make the transition from the current regime
to democracy, and that we (Brazil) don't need to cut diplomatic relations".
The candidate pledged that if elected she would help through diplomacy
to defend values such as human rights and promote democracy in the island.
Brazil has invested heavily in Cuba helping to build a free zone area
and a harbor where the Cuban government is planning to set up an
industrial free zone area to attract foreign investors, following the
Chinese development model, and with all the guarantees from Havana of
low wages and no labor conflicts.
Garcia argued that any attempt to make statements or be involved in
another country's internal affairs is contrary to the standing position
by Brazilian diplomacy.
"We don't have any position in support of intervention in any country in
the world, and we respect the principle of self determination. This has
been paramount in our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean.
The course of action of the Cuban state is something which belongs
strictly to the Cubans", underlined García.
However despite this strong statement, Garcia was one of the promoters
in June 2012 of suspending Paraguay from Mercosur in punishment for
having removed then president Fernando Lugo. This despite the fact that
Lugo was overwhelmingly voted out, even by members of his ruling
coalition, following impeachment.
At the time he was quoted saying that the incorporation of Venezuela to
Mercosur was "a stone decision" and this must be accepted by Paraguay.
The Paraguayan Senate repeatedly warned it would vote against having
Venezuela as full member of Mercosur because of its repeated violations
of human rights and persecution of members from the opposition.
Mercopress
Source: Brazil Presidential Candidate Marina Silva Vows to Promote
Democracy in Cuba if Elected -
http://www.brazzil.com/info/138-september-2014/23904-brazil-presidential-candidate-marina-silva-vows-to-promote-democracy-in-cuba-if-elected
Cuba if Elected
NEWSROOM 28 SEPTEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014
Brazilian resident Dilma Rousseff's main foreign affairs' advisor Marco
Aurelio Garcia denied Brazil has any "imperial intentions" in reply to
claims relative to Cuba from presidential opposition candidate Marina
Silva.
"Brazil has no imperial calling or intentions; it's not a certifying
agency which distributes definitions referred to other countries. We
respect Cuba, as we do with the United States, France or China, to name
some examples," said García.
The foreign affairs advisor who has held the job since 2003 when Lula da
Silva first became Brazilian president, objected to statements from
Marina Silva, Rousseff's main challenger for her re-election bid on
October 5, referred to Cuba and the huge investments Brazil has made in
the Castro brothers' island.
Silva was quoted saying that "the best way to help the Cuban people was
to understand that they can make the transition from the current regime
to democracy, and that we (Brazil) don't need to cut diplomatic relations".
The candidate pledged that if elected she would help through diplomacy
to defend values such as human rights and promote democracy in the island.
Brazil has invested heavily in Cuba helping to build a free zone area
and a harbor where the Cuban government is planning to set up an
industrial free zone area to attract foreign investors, following the
Chinese development model, and with all the guarantees from Havana of
low wages and no labor conflicts.
Garcia argued that any attempt to make statements or be involved in
another country's internal affairs is contrary to the standing position
by Brazilian diplomacy.
"We don't have any position in support of intervention in any country in
the world, and we respect the principle of self determination. This has
been paramount in our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean.
The course of action of the Cuban state is something which belongs
strictly to the Cubans", underlined García.
However despite this strong statement, Garcia was one of the promoters
in June 2012 of suspending Paraguay from Mercosur in punishment for
having removed then president Fernando Lugo. This despite the fact that
Lugo was overwhelmingly voted out, even by members of his ruling
coalition, following impeachment.
At the time he was quoted saying that the incorporation of Venezuela to
Mercosur was "a stone decision" and this must be accepted by Paraguay.
The Paraguayan Senate repeatedly warned it would vote against having
Venezuela as full member of Mercosur because of its repeated violations
of human rights and persecution of members from the opposition.
Mercopress
Source: Brazil Presidential Candidate Marina Silva Vows to Promote
Democracy in Cuba if Elected -
http://www.brazzil.com/info/138-september-2014/23904-brazil-presidential-candidate-marina-silva-vows-to-promote-democracy-in-cuba-if-elected
Cubans convicted along with Canadians in corruption case
Cubans convicted along with Canadians in corruption case
BY DANIEL TROTTA
HAVANA Sun Sep 28, 2014 6:21pm EDT
(Reuters) - Fourteen Cubans, including two high-ranking officials, were
convicted and sentenced to jail terms ranging from 6 to 20 years in a
corruption case that also condemned three Canadian executives, the
Canadian company said on Sunday.
The case has come under deep skepticism from Western diplomats who have
considered the evidence weak and say it threatens to scare off foreign
investors at a time when Cuba is actively seeking business partners from
abroad. It has also strained Cuba's relationship with Canada.
All 17 suspects who went on trial were convicted in a case that brought
a host of charges including bribery, fraud, tax evasion, and falsifying
bank documents surrounding the Tokmakjian Group.
The Concord, Ontario-based company had been doing business in Cuba for
more than 20 years, mainly selling transportation, mining and
construction equipment with annual sales of about $80 million a year.
The conviction of Canadian executive Cy Tokmakjian, founder of the
Tokmakjian Group, and two others was reported on Saturday. Tokmakjian,
74, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and has already served three
since his arrest.
His company called the case a "show trial" and a "travesty of justice."
Cuba also seized about $100 million worth of the Tokmakjian Group's assets.
Fellow Tokmakjian executives Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche were
sentenced to 12 and 8 years each, respectively, said Lee Hacker, the
company's spokesman and vice president for finance.
Hacker also provided the sentences for the Cuban suspects, who included
Nelson Labrada, the former deputy minister of the defunct Sugar
Ministry, sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ernesto Gomez, former director of the state nickel company, Ferroniquel
Minera S.A., received a 12-year sentence.
The Tokmakjian Group and the Cubans were caught up in an investigation
of Cuba's international trading sector as part of a crackdown on
corruption by President Raul Castro.
Cuba has been touting a new foreign investment law that took effect this
year, part of an overt campaign to attract foreign direct investment
that is crucially needed for development. The main feature of the law is
to lower taxes. But many foreign companies have said they are more
interested in the general business climate, transparency and the rule of
law, especially in light of this case.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Source: Cubans convicted along with Canadians in corruption case |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/28/us-cuba-corruption-idUSKCN0HN0Z720140928
BY DANIEL TROTTA
HAVANA Sun Sep 28, 2014 6:21pm EDT
(Reuters) - Fourteen Cubans, including two high-ranking officials, were
convicted and sentenced to jail terms ranging from 6 to 20 years in a
corruption case that also condemned three Canadian executives, the
Canadian company said on Sunday.
The case has come under deep skepticism from Western diplomats who have
considered the evidence weak and say it threatens to scare off foreign
investors at a time when Cuba is actively seeking business partners from
abroad. It has also strained Cuba's relationship with Canada.
All 17 suspects who went on trial were convicted in a case that brought
a host of charges including bribery, fraud, tax evasion, and falsifying
bank documents surrounding the Tokmakjian Group.
The Concord, Ontario-based company had been doing business in Cuba for
more than 20 years, mainly selling transportation, mining and
construction equipment with annual sales of about $80 million a year.
The conviction of Canadian executive Cy Tokmakjian, founder of the
Tokmakjian Group, and two others was reported on Saturday. Tokmakjian,
74, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and has already served three
since his arrest.
His company called the case a "show trial" and a "travesty of justice."
Cuba also seized about $100 million worth of the Tokmakjian Group's assets.
Fellow Tokmakjian executives Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche were
sentenced to 12 and 8 years each, respectively, said Lee Hacker, the
company's spokesman and vice president for finance.
Hacker also provided the sentences for the Cuban suspects, who included
Nelson Labrada, the former deputy minister of the defunct Sugar
Ministry, sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ernesto Gomez, former director of the state nickel company, Ferroniquel
Minera S.A., received a 12-year sentence.
The Tokmakjian Group and the Cubans were caught up in an investigation
of Cuba's international trading sector as part of a crackdown on
corruption by President Raul Castro.
Cuba has been touting a new foreign investment law that took effect this
year, part of an overt campaign to attract foreign direct investment
that is crucially needed for development. The main feature of the law is
to lower taxes. But many foreign companies have said they are more
interested in the general business climate, transparency and the rule of
law, especially in light of this case.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Source: Cubans convicted along with Canadians in corruption case |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/28/us-cuba-corruption-idUSKCN0HN0Z720140928
Canadian held in Cuba should be sent back - MP
Canadian held in Cuba should be sent back: MP
By Staff The Canadian Press
A Canadian businessman sentenced in Cuba to 15 years in prison on
corruption-related charges should be sent back home, said a Toronto-area
MP who called the conviction a "travesty of justice."
Cy Tokmakjian, who owns of the Ontario-based automotive company
Tokmakjian Group, could be expelled from the Caribbean country or
transferred to a Canadian facility instead of serving out his sentence
there, Peter Kent said Sunday.
"It's obvious an appeal is a waste of time given the Cuban justice
system," Kent said.
But "it's not over yet," he stressed.
The company said its lawyers were notified Friday that Tokmakjian, 74,
was convicted and sentences on a variety of charges that Cuban officials
call part of a widespread campaign against graft.
He was held for more than two years before being tried in June.
Kent, whose Thornhill riding includes the company's headquarters, said
the sentence is "outrageous," but not entirely unexpected.
Tokmakjian's family "hasn't given up hope" but worries because he is in
poor health, said the MP, who has known them for years.
"We want to get him home as soon as possible," he said.
Kent said the case is "a very strong reminder that international
investors should beware" when dealing with Cuba.
Foreign Affairs says consular services are being provided and officials
are in contact with authorities in Havana.
The company issued a statement earlier this year saying Tokmakjian did
nothing wrong and suggested he didn't get a fair trial.
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban
employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free
meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of
doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out
rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges.
More than 150 foreign business people and dozens of small South American
and European companies have been kicked out of the country under the
anti-graft drive. Several dozen defendants have ended up in jail,
including a few foreigners and high government officials accused of
influence-peddling and taking bribes.
Such cases, and questions about their fairness, have chilled many
current and potential investors in Cuba, which is trying to attract
foreign capital to jumpstart the stagnant economy.
Cuba's judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed
doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little
about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the
Tokmakjian Group's operating license had been rescinded due to
unspecified actions.
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and 8-year
sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker told The
Associated Press.
The company's website lists its head office in Concord, Ont.
The website says it provides both transportation services and engine
repairs.
Source: Canadian held in Cuba should be sent back: MP - National |
Globalnews.ca -
http://globalnews.ca/news/1587217/canadian-held-in-cuba-should-be-sent-back-mp/
By Staff The Canadian Press
A Canadian businessman sentenced in Cuba to 15 years in prison on
corruption-related charges should be sent back home, said a Toronto-area
MP who called the conviction a "travesty of justice."
Cy Tokmakjian, who owns of the Ontario-based automotive company
Tokmakjian Group, could be expelled from the Caribbean country or
transferred to a Canadian facility instead of serving out his sentence
there, Peter Kent said Sunday.
"It's obvious an appeal is a waste of time given the Cuban justice
system," Kent said.
But "it's not over yet," he stressed.
The company said its lawyers were notified Friday that Tokmakjian, 74,
was convicted and sentences on a variety of charges that Cuban officials
call part of a widespread campaign against graft.
He was held for more than two years before being tried in June.
Kent, whose Thornhill riding includes the company's headquarters, said
the sentence is "outrageous," but not entirely unexpected.
Tokmakjian's family "hasn't given up hope" but worries because he is in
poor health, said the MP, who has known them for years.
"We want to get him home as soon as possible," he said.
Kent said the case is "a very strong reminder that international
investors should beware" when dealing with Cuba.
Foreign Affairs says consular services are being provided and officials
are in contact with authorities in Havana.
The company issued a statement earlier this year saying Tokmakjian did
nothing wrong and suggested he didn't get a fair trial.
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban
employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free
meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of
doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out
rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges.
More than 150 foreign business people and dozens of small South American
and European companies have been kicked out of the country under the
anti-graft drive. Several dozen defendants have ended up in jail,
including a few foreigners and high government officials accused of
influence-peddling and taking bribes.
Such cases, and questions about their fairness, have chilled many
current and potential investors in Cuba, which is trying to attract
foreign capital to jumpstart the stagnant economy.
Cuba's judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed
doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little
about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the
Tokmakjian Group's operating license had been rescinded due to
unspecified actions.
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and 8-year
sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker told The
Associated Press.
The company's website lists its head office in Concord, Ont.
The website says it provides both transportation services and engine
repairs.
Source: Canadian held in Cuba should be sent back: MP - National |
Globalnews.ca -
http://globalnews.ca/news/1587217/canadian-held-in-cuba-should-be-sent-back-mp/
'Che,' Chavez perfumes a no-go in Cuba
'Che,' Chavez perfumes a no-go in Cuba
Perfume plans disrespected 'sacred symbols,' government says
Author: By Patrick Oppmann CNN
Published On: Sep 27 2014 04:04:56 PM CDT Updated On: Sep 28 2014
07:36:55 AM CDT
HAVANA (CNN) -
The revolution, apparently, will not have its own perfume line.
Fragrances dedicated to leftist guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara
and deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, have been canceled for
disrespecting "sacred symbols," according to a government statement
published Saturday in the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma.
A day after the revolutionary-themed fragrances -- called "Ernesto" and
"Hugo" -- were announced, the island's top leadership criticized a
Cuban-state company for trying to cash in on the men's images.
"Appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken for this grave error, "
read the statement from the executive committee of the Cuban government
Council of Ministers. "Initiatives of this type will never be accepted
by the people or the revolutionary government."
After fighting along side Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution, Guevara,
a native of Argentina, was killed in 1967 while trying to foment another
leftist uprising in Bolivia.
Cuban government officials have previously criticized international
companies' efforts to capitalize on Guevara's famous visage, which has
been used to market everything from rock bands to luxury automobiles.
Chavez was a key ally to the Cuban government, supplying the island with
millions of barrels of oil and adopting a brand of socialism similar to
the Cuban revolution's in his native Venezuela. He died in 2013 from cancer.
According to the Cuban government statement, neither of the men's
families approved the use of their names for the perfumes.
Source: 'Che,' Chavez perfumes a no-go in Cuba | News - Home -
http://www.click2houston.com/news/che-chavez-perfumes-a-nogo-in-cuba/28286988
Perfume plans disrespected 'sacred symbols,' government says
Author: By Patrick Oppmann CNN
Published On: Sep 27 2014 04:04:56 PM CDT Updated On: Sep 28 2014
07:36:55 AM CDT
HAVANA (CNN) -
The revolution, apparently, will not have its own perfume line.
Fragrances dedicated to leftist guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara
and deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, have been canceled for
disrespecting "sacred symbols," according to a government statement
published Saturday in the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma.
A day after the revolutionary-themed fragrances -- called "Ernesto" and
"Hugo" -- were announced, the island's top leadership criticized a
Cuban-state company for trying to cash in on the men's images.
"Appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken for this grave error, "
read the statement from the executive committee of the Cuban government
Council of Ministers. "Initiatives of this type will never be accepted
by the people or the revolutionary government."
After fighting along side Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution, Guevara,
a native of Argentina, was killed in 1967 while trying to foment another
leftist uprising in Bolivia.
Cuban government officials have previously criticized international
companies' efforts to capitalize on Guevara's famous visage, which has
been used to market everything from rock bands to luxury automobiles.
Chavez was a key ally to the Cuban government, supplying the island with
millions of barrels of oil and adopting a brand of socialism similar to
the Cuban revolution's in his native Venezuela. He died in 2013 from cancer.
According to the Cuban government statement, neither of the men's
families approved the use of their names for the perfumes.
Source: 'Che,' Chavez perfumes a no-go in Cuba | News - Home -
http://www.click2houston.com/news/che-chavez-perfumes-a-nogo-in-cuba/28286988
Cuba Perfume Scandal Takes New Turn
Cuba Perfume Scandal Takes New Turn
September 27, 2014
HAVANA TIMES — The work of the alternative online media had a strong
impact at the highest levels of the Cuban government with the news about
the new perfumes "Ernesto" (for Che Guevara) and "Hugo" (for Hugo Chavez) .
On Saturday the official Granma newspaper published a press release in
which the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers confirmed the
facts and promised to punish those who devised the marketing "tribute"
to Che and Hugo Chavez.
The following is the message from the Council of Ministers.
The Symbols Are Sacred
Foto: progresosemanal.com
The Congress recently organized by LABIOFAM included the presentation of
two perfumes that, according to statements to the international press
from executives of that company, would carry as brands the names of
"Ernesto" and "Hugo," in an alleged "homage" to Comandantes Ernesto
"Che" Guevara and Hugo Chávez Frías.
The details of this irresponsible act were analyzed in depth last night,
Friday, September 26, with the director of the company and the staff who
had presented the product, still in the development phase and therefore
not yet produced commercially, much less registered.
It was learned that it isn't true that the relatives of "Che" and Chávez
approved such utilization of their names, as one of the company
executives had told the United States news agency Associated Press.
Because of this grave error, the appropriate disciplinary measures will
be taken.
Initiatives of this nature will never be accepted by our people or the
Revolutionary Government.
The symbols of yesterday, today and forever are sacred.
Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers
Source: Cuba Perfume Scandal Takes New Turn - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106396
September 27, 2014
HAVANA TIMES — The work of the alternative online media had a strong
impact at the highest levels of the Cuban government with the news about
the new perfumes "Ernesto" (for Che Guevara) and "Hugo" (for Hugo Chavez) .
On Saturday the official Granma newspaper published a press release in
which the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers confirmed the
facts and promised to punish those who devised the marketing "tribute"
to Che and Hugo Chavez.
The following is the message from the Council of Ministers.
The Symbols Are Sacred
Foto: progresosemanal.com
The Congress recently organized by LABIOFAM included the presentation of
two perfumes that, according to statements to the international press
from executives of that company, would carry as brands the names of
"Ernesto" and "Hugo," in an alleged "homage" to Comandantes Ernesto
"Che" Guevara and Hugo Chávez Frías.
The details of this irresponsible act were analyzed in depth last night,
Friday, September 26, with the director of the company and the staff who
had presented the product, still in the development phase and therefore
not yet produced commercially, much less registered.
It was learned that it isn't true that the relatives of "Che" and Chávez
approved such utilization of their names, as one of the company
executives had told the United States news agency Associated Press.
Because of this grave error, the appropriate disciplinary measures will
be taken.
Initiatives of this nature will never be accepted by our people or the
Revolutionary Government.
The symbols of yesterday, today and forever are sacred.
Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers
Source: Cuba Perfume Scandal Takes New Turn - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106396
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Opositores cubanos promueven frente a la ONU campaña ciudadana Por Otra Cuba
Opositores cubanos promueven frente a la ONU campaña ciudadana Por Otra Cuba
Martinoticias.com
septiembre 27, 2014
Los promotores de la campaña ideada por Estado de Sats, junto a
activistas del Grupo de Apoyo a Opositores en Cuba Zona Norte,
protestaron frente a la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York el día
27 de septiembre para exigir que el gobierno cubano ratifique los Pactos
de Derechos Humanos de la ONU.
En declaraciones a Radio Martí, Antonio Rodiles, propulsor de la
campaña, afirmó que el objetivo es que "se visibilice una demanda en la
que se pide que Cuba ratifique unas herramientas internacionales de
derechos humanos". "Todo lo que se haga desde la sociedad civil en ese
sentido es muy importante y acciones como éstas son parte de la
estrategia", recalcó.
Source: Opositores cubanos promueven frente a la ONU campaña ciudadana
Por Otra Cuba -
http://www.martinoticias.com/content/opositores-cubanos-promueven-en-la-onu-campana-ciudadana-por-otra-cuba/75935.html
Martinoticias.com
septiembre 27, 2014
Los promotores de la campaña ideada por Estado de Sats, junto a
activistas del Grupo de Apoyo a Opositores en Cuba Zona Norte,
protestaron frente a la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York el día
27 de septiembre para exigir que el gobierno cubano ratifique los Pactos
de Derechos Humanos de la ONU.
En declaraciones a Radio Martí, Antonio Rodiles, propulsor de la
campaña, afirmó que el objetivo es que "se visibilice una demanda en la
que se pide que Cuba ratifique unas herramientas internacionales de
derechos humanos". "Todo lo que se haga desde la sociedad civil en ese
sentido es muy importante y acciones como éstas son parte de la
estrategia", recalcó.
Source: Opositores cubanos promueven frente a la ONU campaña ciudadana
Por Otra Cuba -
http://www.martinoticias.com/content/opositores-cubanos-promueven-en-la-onu-campana-ciudadana-por-otra-cuba/75935.html
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Throw them to the sharks! Brave diver finds new way to control rising numbers of poisonous lionfish off the coast of Cuba
Throw them to the sharks! Brave diver finds new way to control rising
numbers of poisonous lionfish off the coast of Cuba
Marine biologist recommends regulating lionfish by feeding them to sharks
Local guides 'teaching' reef sharks to consume the venomous fish
This spearing experiment has been in practice since 2011
New video suggests success, sharks now eating lionfish without prompt
By KATIE AMEY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:51 GMT, 27 September 2014 | UPDATED: 14:06 GMT, 27
September 2014
A diver has found a new way to control rising numbers of lionfish off
the coast of Cuba - by feeding the venomous species to Caribbean reef
sharks.
Lionfish, which are beautiful but deadly, possess venom in their fin
rays, which makes them excellent predators and a threat to fishermen and
divers.
The capture and delivery of the lionfish was photographed by French
marine biologist Mathieu Foulquie during a trip to the Gardens of the
Queen National Marine Park, a popular tourist destination in Cuba.
Lionfish are venomous fish found off the coast of Cuba and are
considered a threat to predators and divers
'The pictures show the hunt for lionfish, and demonstrate how local
guides are trying to control the invasive species by training sharks to
eat them,' said 40-year-old Mathieu.
'My diving instructor, Andres Jimenez, who is also a marine biologist,
shot a lionfish with his pole spear and presented it to the Caribbean
reef sharks swimming around us.'
'One of the sharks swam directly towards him to catch the lionfish.'
'The lionfish is an invasive species in the Caribbean, but native
Caribbean predators like sharks, or grouper fish don't eat them.'
If the sharks can be taught to consume them, however, they will
naturally regulate them.
It is believed that if sharks can learn to consume them without prompt,
it will help regulate the lionfish species
'Only specialists in shark behaviour can try this kind of experiment,'
warns Mathieu
Swimming at a depth of twenty five metres, Mathieu watched as Andres
carefully caught the lionfish and fed it to the Caribbean reef shark, an
experiment which has been in practice since 2011.
Mathieu said: 'Only specialists in shark behaviour can try this kind of
experiment, and ordinary divers and photographers should never try to
feed them.'
'As long as you stay humble and keep in mind you're just a guest, you
can enjoy the dive without any danger.'
'From a scientific point of view, we don't know how successful the
project is. But, apparently, recent videos show native top predators are
starting to eat lionfish without them being previously speared by divers.'
Source: Brave diver finds new way to control rising numbers of poisonous
lionfish off the coast of Cuba | Daily Mail Online -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2770954/Brave-diver-finds-new-way-control-rising-numbers-poisonous-lionfish-coast-Cuba.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
numbers of poisonous lionfish off the coast of Cuba
Marine biologist recommends regulating lionfish by feeding them to sharks
Local guides 'teaching' reef sharks to consume the venomous fish
This spearing experiment has been in practice since 2011
New video suggests success, sharks now eating lionfish without prompt
By KATIE AMEY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:51 GMT, 27 September 2014 | UPDATED: 14:06 GMT, 27
September 2014
A diver has found a new way to control rising numbers of lionfish off
the coast of Cuba - by feeding the venomous species to Caribbean reef
sharks.
Lionfish, which are beautiful but deadly, possess venom in their fin
rays, which makes them excellent predators and a threat to fishermen and
divers.
The capture and delivery of the lionfish was photographed by French
marine biologist Mathieu Foulquie during a trip to the Gardens of the
Queen National Marine Park, a popular tourist destination in Cuba.
Lionfish are venomous fish found off the coast of Cuba and are
considered a threat to predators and divers
'The pictures show the hunt for lionfish, and demonstrate how local
guides are trying to control the invasive species by training sharks to
eat them,' said 40-year-old Mathieu.
'My diving instructor, Andres Jimenez, who is also a marine biologist,
shot a lionfish with his pole spear and presented it to the Caribbean
reef sharks swimming around us.'
'One of the sharks swam directly towards him to catch the lionfish.'
'The lionfish is an invasive species in the Caribbean, but native
Caribbean predators like sharks, or grouper fish don't eat them.'
If the sharks can be taught to consume them, however, they will
naturally regulate them.
It is believed that if sharks can learn to consume them without prompt,
it will help regulate the lionfish species
'Only specialists in shark behaviour can try this kind of experiment,'
warns Mathieu
Swimming at a depth of twenty five metres, Mathieu watched as Andres
carefully caught the lionfish and fed it to the Caribbean reef shark, an
experiment which has been in practice since 2011.
Mathieu said: 'Only specialists in shark behaviour can try this kind of
experiment, and ordinary divers and photographers should never try to
feed them.'
'As long as you stay humble and keep in mind you're just a guest, you
can enjoy the dive without any danger.'
'From a scientific point of view, we don't know how successful the
project is. But, apparently, recent videos show native top predators are
starting to eat lionfish without them being previously speared by divers.'
Source: Brave diver finds new way to control rising numbers of poisonous
lionfish off the coast of Cuba | Daily Mail Online -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2770954/Brave-diver-finds-new-way-control-rising-numbers-poisonous-lionfish-coast-Cuba.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Tropical disease prevalence in Latin America presents opportunity for US
Tropical disease prevalence in Latin America presents opportunity for US
Date: September 25, 2014
Source: Rice University
Summary:
Recently published prevalence estimates of neglected tropical diseases
(NTDs) in five Latin American countries -- Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela -- could suggest a new direction for United
States foreign policy in the region, according to a tropical-disease expert.
Recently published prevalence estimates of neglected tropical diseases
(NTDs) in five Latin American countries -- Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela -- could suggest a new direction for United
States foreign policy in the region, according to a tropical-disease
expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Dr. Peter Hotez, the fellow in disease and poverty at the Baker
Institute, outlined his insights in a new editorial, "The NTDs and
Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America: Opportunities for United States
Foreign Policy," published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected
Tropical Diseases.
"NTDs are commonly found wherever poverty is pervasive and the Latin
American and Caribbean region's major NTDs -- Chagas disease, cutaneous
leishmaniasis, dengue, intestinal helminth infections and malaria
(mostly vivax malaria) -- are highly endemic in Bolivia, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela, while dengue is also an important NTD in Cuba,"
Hotez said. "Approximately 14-15 percent of the cases of these NTDs
occur in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, despite the fact
that these countries only comprise about 10 percent of the region's
population."
Hotez said such high numbers of people affected by NTDs afford potential
opportunities for the U.S. to work with these countries in programs of
science and global health diplomacy. "These programs might include
bilateral cooperative efforts to implement disease control and
elimination programs for the major NTDs, potentially relying on shared
expertise between the U.S. and the disease-endemic countries," he said.
There may also be specific opportunities for "vaccine diplomacy," a form
of science diplomacy focused on "joint development of lifesaving
vaccines and related technologies" conducted by scientists from "nations
that often disagree ideologically" or even those "actively engaged in
hostile actions," Hotez said. Both the U.S. and Cuba stand out for their
programs of vaccine research and development, with Cuba's Instituto
Finlay, for example, belonging to the Developing Countries Vaccine
Manufacturers Network. "Joint U.S.-Cuba programs in NTD vaccines,
possibly including scientists from Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua or
Venezuela, offer additional mechanisms on this front," Hotez said.
Journal Reference:
Peter J. Hotez. The NTDs and Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America:
Opportunities for United States Foreign Policy. PLoS Neglected Tropical
Diseases, 2014; 8 (9): e2922 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002922
Source: Tropical disease prevalence in Latin America presents
opportunity for US -- ScienceDaily -
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140925182751.htm
Date: September 25, 2014
Source: Rice University
Summary:
Recently published prevalence estimates of neglected tropical diseases
(NTDs) in five Latin American countries -- Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela -- could suggest a new direction for United
States foreign policy in the region, according to a tropical-disease expert.
Recently published prevalence estimates of neglected tropical diseases
(NTDs) in five Latin American countries -- Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela -- could suggest a new direction for United
States foreign policy in the region, according to a tropical-disease
expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Dr. Peter Hotez, the fellow in disease and poverty at the Baker
Institute, outlined his insights in a new editorial, "The NTDs and
Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America: Opportunities for United States
Foreign Policy," published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected
Tropical Diseases.
"NTDs are commonly found wherever poverty is pervasive and the Latin
American and Caribbean region's major NTDs -- Chagas disease, cutaneous
leishmaniasis, dengue, intestinal helminth infections and malaria
(mostly vivax malaria) -- are highly endemic in Bolivia, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela, while dengue is also an important NTD in Cuba,"
Hotez said. "Approximately 14-15 percent of the cases of these NTDs
occur in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, despite the fact
that these countries only comprise about 10 percent of the region's
population."
Hotez said such high numbers of people affected by NTDs afford potential
opportunities for the U.S. to work with these countries in programs of
science and global health diplomacy. "These programs might include
bilateral cooperative efforts to implement disease control and
elimination programs for the major NTDs, potentially relying on shared
expertise between the U.S. and the disease-endemic countries," he said.
There may also be specific opportunities for "vaccine diplomacy," a form
of science diplomacy focused on "joint development of lifesaving
vaccines and related technologies" conducted by scientists from "nations
that often disagree ideologically" or even those "actively engaged in
hostile actions," Hotez said. Both the U.S. and Cuba stand out for their
programs of vaccine research and development, with Cuba's Instituto
Finlay, for example, belonging to the Developing Countries Vaccine
Manufacturers Network. "Joint U.S.-Cuba programs in NTD vaccines,
possibly including scientists from Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua or
Venezuela, offer additional mechanisms on this front," Hotez said.
Journal Reference:
Peter J. Hotez. The NTDs and Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America:
Opportunities for United States Foreign Policy. PLoS Neglected Tropical
Diseases, 2014; 8 (9): e2922 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002922
Source: Tropical disease prevalence in Latin America presents
opportunity for US -- ScienceDaily -
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140925182751.htm
Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian, gets 15-year prison sentence in Cuba
Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian, gets 15-year prison sentence in Cuba
A Canadian automobile executive has been sentenced to 15 years in Cuban
prison on corruption-related charges.
Cy Tokmakjian, 73, has been in detained by Cuban authorities since Sept
2011.
By: Michael Weissenstein Associated Press, Published on Sat Sep 27 2014
HAVANA— A Canadian automobile executive has been sentenced to 15 years
in Cuban prison on corruption-related charges that officials here call
part of a broad campaign against graft, his company said Saturday.
Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group said the charges against its president,
Cy Tokmakjian, 74, were concocted as an excuse to seize the automotive
firm's $100 million in assets in Cuba. The company described the case
Saturday as "absurd" and a "travesty of justice."
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban
employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free
meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of
doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out
rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges.
More than 150 foreign business people and dozens of small South American
and European companies have been kicked out of the country under the
anti-graft drive. Several dozen defendants have ended up in jail,
including a few foreigners and high government officials accused of
influence-peddling and taking bribes.
Such cases, and questions about their fairness, have chilled many
current and potential investors in Cuba, which is trying to attract
foreign capital to jumpstart the stagnant economy.
Cuba's judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed
doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little
about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the
Tokmakjian Group's operating license had been rescinded due to
unspecified actions "that are contrary to the principles and ethics that
should characterize commercial activity, and contravene Cuban judicial
order."
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and 8-year
sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker told The
Associated Press. He said the company's lawyers were notified of the
sentences on Friday.
The Canadian company said its president had been allowed to call only
four of the 18 expert witnesses he wanted to testify.
"The deception taking place in Cuba is beyond imagination," the company
said. "Lack of due process doesn't begin to describe the travesty of
justice."
The company's website lists its head office in Concord, Ont.
The website says it provides both transportation services and engine
repairs.
Source: Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian, gets 15-year prison sentence
in Cuba | Toronto Star -
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/27/canadian_businessman_charged_with_corruption_in_cuba_given_15year_prison_sentence.html
A Canadian automobile executive has been sentenced to 15 years in Cuban
prison on corruption-related charges.
Cy Tokmakjian, 73, has been in detained by Cuban authorities since Sept
2011.
By: Michael Weissenstein Associated Press, Published on Sat Sep 27 2014
HAVANA— A Canadian automobile executive has been sentenced to 15 years
in Cuban prison on corruption-related charges that officials here call
part of a broad campaign against graft, his company said Saturday.
Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group said the charges against its president,
Cy Tokmakjian, 74, were concocted as an excuse to seize the automotive
firm's $100 million in assets in Cuba. The company described the case
Saturday as "absurd" and a "travesty of justice."
The company's Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as Cuba launched an
anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at
least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban
employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free
meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of
doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out
rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges.
More than 150 foreign business people and dozens of small South American
and European companies have been kicked out of the country under the
anti-graft drive. Several dozen defendants have ended up in jail,
including a few foreigners and high government officials accused of
influence-peddling and taking bribes.
Such cases, and questions about their fairness, have chilled many
current and potential investors in Cuba, which is trying to attract
foreign capital to jumpstart the stagnant economy.
Cuba's judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed
doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little
about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the
Tokmakjian Group's operating license had been rescinded due to
unspecified actions "that are contrary to the principles and ethics that
should characterize commercial activity, and contravene Cuban judicial
order."
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and 8-year
sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker told The
Associated Press. He said the company's lawyers were notified of the
sentences on Friday.
The Canadian company said its president had been allowed to call only
four of the 18 expert witnesses he wanted to testify.
"The deception taking place in Cuba is beyond imagination," the company
said. "Lack of due process doesn't begin to describe the travesty of
justice."
The company's website lists its head office in Concord, Ont.
The website says it provides both transportation services and engine
repairs.
Source: Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian, gets 15-year prison sentence
in Cuba | Toronto Star -
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/27/canadian_businessman_charged_with_corruption_in_cuba_given_15year_prison_sentence.html
Cuba bans Che Guevara and Hugo Chavez perfumes
Cuba bans Che Guevara and Hugo Chavez perfumes
27 September 2014 Last updated at 18:10 GMT
The Cuban government denied that the families had been consulted over
the use of the names
The Cuban government has said it will take disciplinary action against a
state pharmaceutical company that created perfumes named Ernesto Che
Guevara and Hugo Chavez.
In a statement in the official Granma newspaper, the government
described the project as "a serious error".
"The symbols of the Revolution are and will always be sacred," it read.
The colognes - Ernesto and Hugo - were unveiled on Thursday by state a
laboratory in the capital, Havana.
Labiofam said Ernesto, the cologne named after the Argentine-born
revolutionary who help Fidel Castro take over in Cuba in 1959, would be
a woodsy and refreshing citric scent with notes of talcum powder.
Hugo, named after the late Venezuelan president, would offer a softer,
fruitier fragrance with hints of mango and papaya.
"They will be very attractive colognes, but the names also mean a lot to
us," said Isabel Gonzalez, vice-president for research and development
for Labiofam during the launch.
But the project was mocked in the social networks and criticised by
supporters of the Cuban Revolution, who considered it disrespectful.
'Irresponsible action'
Labiofam had been in the process of developing stylised bottles and
labels for the products before putting them on sale in Cuba and overseas.
"We didn't want to create propaganda, but rather pay homage to them and
help their names endure," said on Thursday Cuban biochemist Mario
Valdes, who led the scent design team.
The company said it had obtained the agreement of the families of Che
Guevara and Hugo Chavez to use their names in the colognes. But that has
now been denied by the Cuban government.
"The details of this irresponsible action were discussed in detail on
Friday with the company's director and the employees who presented the
products, which were still being developed," read the statement of the
Executive Committee of the Ministers' Council, headed by Cuban President
Raul Castro.
"The appropriate measures will be taken to deal with this serious error.
"Such initiatives will never be accepted either by our people or by the
Revolutionary Government."
Source: BBC News - Cuba bans Che Guevara and Hugo Chavez perfumes -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29396873
27 September 2014 Last updated at 18:10 GMT
The Cuban government denied that the families had been consulted over
the use of the names
The Cuban government has said it will take disciplinary action against a
state pharmaceutical company that created perfumes named Ernesto Che
Guevara and Hugo Chavez.
In a statement in the official Granma newspaper, the government
described the project as "a serious error".
"The symbols of the Revolution are and will always be sacred," it read.
The colognes - Ernesto and Hugo - were unveiled on Thursday by state a
laboratory in the capital, Havana.
Labiofam said Ernesto, the cologne named after the Argentine-born
revolutionary who help Fidel Castro take over in Cuba in 1959, would be
a woodsy and refreshing citric scent with notes of talcum powder.
Hugo, named after the late Venezuelan president, would offer a softer,
fruitier fragrance with hints of mango and papaya.
"They will be very attractive colognes, but the names also mean a lot to
us," said Isabel Gonzalez, vice-president for research and development
for Labiofam during the launch.
But the project was mocked in the social networks and criticised by
supporters of the Cuban Revolution, who considered it disrespectful.
'Irresponsible action'
Labiofam had been in the process of developing stylised bottles and
labels for the products before putting them on sale in Cuba and overseas.
"We didn't want to create propaganda, but rather pay homage to them and
help their names endure," said on Thursday Cuban biochemist Mario
Valdes, who led the scent design team.
The company said it had obtained the agreement of the families of Che
Guevara and Hugo Chavez to use their names in the colognes. But that has
now been denied by the Cuban government.
"The details of this irresponsible action were discussed in detail on
Friday with the company's director and the employees who presented the
products, which were still being developed," read the statement of the
Executive Committee of the Ministers' Council, headed by Cuban President
Raul Castro.
"The appropriate measures will be taken to deal with this serious error.
"Such initiatives will never be accepted either by our people or by the
Revolutionary Government."
Source: BBC News - Cuba bans Che Guevara and Hugo Chavez perfumes -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29396873
Miami publication creates new Cuba economic index
Miami publication creates new Cuba economic index
BY NORA GAMEZ TORRESNGAMEZTORRES@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
09/27/2014 2:19 PM 09/27/2014 6:35 PM
A Miami-based publication says it is launching a new effort to measure
Cuba's economic pulse.
The Cuba Standard Economic Trend Index, compiled by a team of Cuba-born
economists, will offer a monthly outlook on Cuba's economy by using an
"independent measurement," according to a statement released last week.
Organizers say the index will fill the "information gap" for potential
investors, academics and others with an interest in Cuba's economy, for
which there are few accurate reports available. The only official data
on the island's GDP and economic development are released twice a year
during sessions of Cuba's National Assembly, or through partial reports
issued by the National Information and Statistics Institute (ONEI),
which are almost always months late.
The index measures five main categories: imports, exports, terms of
trade, external funding and dependence on Venezuela.
Related Stories
There's no prosperity without economic freedom
According to preliminary calculations of the five main categories
included in the index, the only one that shows improvement in 2014 are
the terms of trade, mainly because of a 35 percent rise in the price of
nickel, and a 4 percent rise in the price of sugar since the end of
2013. Cuba's likely GDP growth for this year is estimated at 0.8
percent, according to the publication's September report.
The calculations for the monthly index will be based on publicly
available data, such as prices of goods and commodities in the
international market, the transactions reported by Cuba's trading
partners and statistics from international organizations.
"Cuba is quite a special place to do business," said Johannes Werner, a
Cuba Standard editor. "In almost every country there are measurements
for how the economy is doing because there is timely information
available. We are putting together information through unusual channels
in order to make the forecast."
Because all data used by CSETI come from outside sources — except the
arrival of tourists to Cuba, the only monthly figures regularly reported
by the ONEI — currencies such as dollars or euros are used, so the dual
currency in Cuba does not affect the calculations, "which is an
advantage," said Pavel Vidal, who leads the CSETI's economic team. He
worked for Cuba's Central Bank and now teaches at the Javeriana
University in Colombia.
However, Werner said the index is less accurate than similar measures in
other countries because no data can be obtained on agriculture,
manufacturing or investments other than through Cuban agencies. "We will
try to overcome these gaps and make the index as reliable as possible
despite the lack of information," he said.
The new index has already attracted the interest of some investors,
Werner said.
In a telephone interview from Colombia, Vidal explained that although
some variables are not available, indirect estimates can be made from
other key performance indicators, which if known, will capture trends.
The general terms of financing that Cuba receives through foreign banks
can be obtained from an analysis of the LIBOR (the acronym for the
London Interbank Offered Rate, a benchmark rate that some of the world's
leading banks charge each other for short-term loans) and the country
risk rate imposed on Cuba — that is, the premium you must pay to borrow
on markets — Vidal said.
But information about preferential agreements with partners such as
China, Russia and Venezuela is restricted, although it is possible to
know the volume of trade with these countries. "If there are more
imports than exports, one can assume that Cuba is getting some sort of
financing," he said.
"Creating this index takes a fairly complex statistical process usually
performed by the central banks of the countries and the Federal Reserve
in the United States," Vidal said. "The ONEI would be better at building
an index like this. It has all the data but does not handle it publicly."
Follow Nora Gámez Torres on Twitter @ngameztorres.
Source: Miami publication creates new Cuba economic index | The Miami
Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article2273640.html
BY NORA GAMEZ TORRESNGAMEZTORRES@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
09/27/2014 2:19 PM 09/27/2014 6:35 PM
A Miami-based publication says it is launching a new effort to measure
Cuba's economic pulse.
The Cuba Standard Economic Trend Index, compiled by a team of Cuba-born
economists, will offer a monthly outlook on Cuba's economy by using an
"independent measurement," according to a statement released last week.
Organizers say the index will fill the "information gap" for potential
investors, academics and others with an interest in Cuba's economy, for
which there are few accurate reports available. The only official data
on the island's GDP and economic development are released twice a year
during sessions of Cuba's National Assembly, or through partial reports
issued by the National Information and Statistics Institute (ONEI),
which are almost always months late.
The index measures five main categories: imports, exports, terms of
trade, external funding and dependence on Venezuela.
Related Stories
There's no prosperity without economic freedom
According to preliminary calculations of the five main categories
included in the index, the only one that shows improvement in 2014 are
the terms of trade, mainly because of a 35 percent rise in the price of
nickel, and a 4 percent rise in the price of sugar since the end of
2013. Cuba's likely GDP growth for this year is estimated at 0.8
percent, according to the publication's September report.
The calculations for the monthly index will be based on publicly
available data, such as prices of goods and commodities in the
international market, the transactions reported by Cuba's trading
partners and statistics from international organizations.
"Cuba is quite a special place to do business," said Johannes Werner, a
Cuba Standard editor. "In almost every country there are measurements
for how the economy is doing because there is timely information
available. We are putting together information through unusual channels
in order to make the forecast."
Because all data used by CSETI come from outside sources — except the
arrival of tourists to Cuba, the only monthly figures regularly reported
by the ONEI — currencies such as dollars or euros are used, so the dual
currency in Cuba does not affect the calculations, "which is an
advantage," said Pavel Vidal, who leads the CSETI's economic team. He
worked for Cuba's Central Bank and now teaches at the Javeriana
University in Colombia.
However, Werner said the index is less accurate than similar measures in
other countries because no data can be obtained on agriculture,
manufacturing or investments other than through Cuban agencies. "We will
try to overcome these gaps and make the index as reliable as possible
despite the lack of information," he said.
The new index has already attracted the interest of some investors,
Werner said.
In a telephone interview from Colombia, Vidal explained that although
some variables are not available, indirect estimates can be made from
other key performance indicators, which if known, will capture trends.
The general terms of financing that Cuba receives through foreign banks
can be obtained from an analysis of the LIBOR (the acronym for the
London Interbank Offered Rate, a benchmark rate that some of the world's
leading banks charge each other for short-term loans) and the country
risk rate imposed on Cuba — that is, the premium you must pay to borrow
on markets — Vidal said.
But information about preferential agreements with partners such as
China, Russia and Venezuela is restricted, although it is possible to
know the volume of trade with these countries. "If there are more
imports than exports, one can assume that Cuba is getting some sort of
financing," he said.
"Creating this index takes a fairly complex statistical process usually
performed by the central banks of the countries and the Federal Reserve
in the United States," Vidal said. "The ONEI would be better at building
an index like this. It has all the data but does not handle it publicly."
Follow Nora Gámez Torres on Twitter @ngameztorres.
Source: Miami publication creates new Cuba economic index | The Miami
Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article2273640.html
Almagro - Cuba should attend summit
Almagro: Cuba should attend summit
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMERAOPPENHEIMER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
09/27/2014 10:43 PM 09/27/2014 10:43 PM
Uruguay, Peru and Guatemala have nominated candidates to replace Jose
Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the 34-country Organization of
American States. In the first of a three-part occasional series leading
up to January's vote, columnist Andres Oppenheimer interviews the
candidates. Today, he asked Foreign Minister Luis Almagro of Uruguay
five questions about his plans for the OAS and attacks from critics.
Excerpts:
Which specific changes would you make at the OAS if elected Secretary
General?
The OAS must regain credibility and relevance, and become a political
convergence mechanism that complements and articulates other (regional)
integration processes. In that context, it's key that the strengthening
of democracy and its institutions goes hand-in-hand with an unrestricted
defense of human rights and inter-American (human rights) mechanisms,
and that their independence be respected by all....
At the same time, it would have to address issues of this century, such
as the lack of security among citizens and the sustainability of
development plans that are threatened by climate change and natural
disasters.
Upon this premise and in line with the reforms led by Mexico and
approved by the OAS, I will promote an internal re-engineering process
so that, with the support of member states, a results-based budget be
established, with periodical accountability on the progress made in
areas that are key to that strategic vision.
Panamá has invited Cuba to the Summit of the Americas to be held in that
country in 2015. The United States opposes Cuba's participation, saying
that under Summit of the Americas and OAS rules, only democratic
countries can participate in these summits. Venezuela and its allies, on
the other hand, say that if Cuba is not invited, they will not attend.
Who is right?
I believe the situation assumes a dichotomy that doesn't exist. The
Latin American countries without exception formulated in the last Summit
held in Cartagena that Cuba should be part of the 2015 Summit. Panamá
has welcomed this desire and I believe that the invitation sent to Cuba
is good news for the inter-American family.
Considering that many of us regard the OAS Human Rights Commission and
the OAS Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression as
the OAS' most valuable agencies, what is your opinion of the efforts of
Ecuador, Venezuela and their allies to make changes in both of those
agencies?
We were emphatic in the Extraordinary General Assembly in March 2013 in
valuing further strengthening the inter-American human rights system, as
well as a positive dialogue between member nations and the Human Rights
Commission, without double standards.
The autonomy and independence of the Human Rights Commission and the
Inter-American Human Rights Court are unalterable principles. As
government leaders we must defend the victims' perspective of human
rights violations and become leaders in the outrage over this issue.
This does not contradict national and popular sovereignty.
Your political opponents say that you, in your efforts to win the votes
of Venezuela and its allies, have looked the other way from the 43 dead
and hundreds of wounded during the student protests in Venezuela early
this year. What is your response?
I was part of the UNASUR [Union of South American Nations] delegation of
Foreign Ministers that visited Venezuela to find paths to dialogue and
peace. My action in that respect has been consistent. At the OAS, I
pushed a statement approved by the majority of member nations that
called for limiting the tension and polarization. I simultaneously
insisted on the need to respect and defend freedom of expression and the
right to protest peacefully.
When we moved to seek paths to dialogue and peace, we talked to all the
parties, taking into account the need to include all the players that,
moved by democratic intentions, seek to oppose a legitimately elected
government. I have been a valid interlocutor of all sectors and on the
issues of human rights and democracy, I consider my principles more
unflagging than ever.
Your political opponents also say that you, again in your efforts to win
the votes of Venezuela and its allies, abstained from supporting a
United Nations declaration condemning the annexation of Crimea, and that
you recently denounced Israel for the conflict with Gaza. They also say
that you had your photo taken wearing the Palestinian scarf while
failing to denounce Hamas for shooting missiles from schools and
hospitals. Your response?
I would say that it is not an accurate analysis, and that it misses the
context and the principles upon which Uruguay's foreign policy has been
based in recent years. First of all, there is a temporary inconsistency:
When the Crimea vote was taken, the government of Uruguay had not yet
announced (it did so three months later) the launching of my candidacy
to the OAS. Likewise, in its explanation of the vote, it ratified its
support to territorial integrity and inviolability of nations.
Regarding Israel and Palestine, Uruguay began by condemning, in the most
vigorous manner, the murder of the three Israeli youths. Later we
deplored the use of violence regardless of which party was using it.
And, consistent with our principles, we condemned, in the strongest
terms, the lack of proportionality in the Israeli response, especially
the death of children and civilians, something we will never stop
deploring if we have any respect at all of human rights.
My meeting with the Palestinian community in Uruguay must be seen under
the same logic as my meeting with the Jewish organizations in Uruguay.
And I don't see why they should be read differently from the time when I
wore the yarmulke and prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Please
note that we have always supported Israel when we understand that they
are right.
Source: Almagro: Cuba should attend summit | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/issues-ideas/article2279661.html
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMERAOPPENHEIMER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
09/27/2014 10:43 PM 09/27/2014 10:43 PM
Uruguay, Peru and Guatemala have nominated candidates to replace Jose
Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the 34-country Organization of
American States. In the first of a three-part occasional series leading
up to January's vote, columnist Andres Oppenheimer interviews the
candidates. Today, he asked Foreign Minister Luis Almagro of Uruguay
five questions about his plans for the OAS and attacks from critics.
Excerpts:
Which specific changes would you make at the OAS if elected Secretary
General?
The OAS must regain credibility and relevance, and become a political
convergence mechanism that complements and articulates other (regional)
integration processes. In that context, it's key that the strengthening
of democracy and its institutions goes hand-in-hand with an unrestricted
defense of human rights and inter-American (human rights) mechanisms,
and that their independence be respected by all....
At the same time, it would have to address issues of this century, such
as the lack of security among citizens and the sustainability of
development plans that are threatened by climate change and natural
disasters.
Upon this premise and in line with the reforms led by Mexico and
approved by the OAS, I will promote an internal re-engineering process
so that, with the support of member states, a results-based budget be
established, with periodical accountability on the progress made in
areas that are key to that strategic vision.
Panamá has invited Cuba to the Summit of the Americas to be held in that
country in 2015. The United States opposes Cuba's participation, saying
that under Summit of the Americas and OAS rules, only democratic
countries can participate in these summits. Venezuela and its allies, on
the other hand, say that if Cuba is not invited, they will not attend.
Who is right?
I believe the situation assumes a dichotomy that doesn't exist. The
Latin American countries without exception formulated in the last Summit
held in Cartagena that Cuba should be part of the 2015 Summit. Panamá
has welcomed this desire and I believe that the invitation sent to Cuba
is good news for the inter-American family.
Considering that many of us regard the OAS Human Rights Commission and
the OAS Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression as
the OAS' most valuable agencies, what is your opinion of the efforts of
Ecuador, Venezuela and their allies to make changes in both of those
agencies?
We were emphatic in the Extraordinary General Assembly in March 2013 in
valuing further strengthening the inter-American human rights system, as
well as a positive dialogue between member nations and the Human Rights
Commission, without double standards.
The autonomy and independence of the Human Rights Commission and the
Inter-American Human Rights Court are unalterable principles. As
government leaders we must defend the victims' perspective of human
rights violations and become leaders in the outrage over this issue.
This does not contradict national and popular sovereignty.
Your political opponents say that you, in your efforts to win the votes
of Venezuela and its allies, have looked the other way from the 43 dead
and hundreds of wounded during the student protests in Venezuela early
this year. What is your response?
I was part of the UNASUR [Union of South American Nations] delegation of
Foreign Ministers that visited Venezuela to find paths to dialogue and
peace. My action in that respect has been consistent. At the OAS, I
pushed a statement approved by the majority of member nations that
called for limiting the tension and polarization. I simultaneously
insisted on the need to respect and defend freedom of expression and the
right to protest peacefully.
When we moved to seek paths to dialogue and peace, we talked to all the
parties, taking into account the need to include all the players that,
moved by democratic intentions, seek to oppose a legitimately elected
government. I have been a valid interlocutor of all sectors and on the
issues of human rights and democracy, I consider my principles more
unflagging than ever.
Your political opponents also say that you, again in your efforts to win
the votes of Venezuela and its allies, abstained from supporting a
United Nations declaration condemning the annexation of Crimea, and that
you recently denounced Israel for the conflict with Gaza. They also say
that you had your photo taken wearing the Palestinian scarf while
failing to denounce Hamas for shooting missiles from schools and
hospitals. Your response?
I would say that it is not an accurate analysis, and that it misses the
context and the principles upon which Uruguay's foreign policy has been
based in recent years. First of all, there is a temporary inconsistency:
When the Crimea vote was taken, the government of Uruguay had not yet
announced (it did so three months later) the launching of my candidacy
to the OAS. Likewise, in its explanation of the vote, it ratified its
support to territorial integrity and inviolability of nations.
Regarding Israel and Palestine, Uruguay began by condemning, in the most
vigorous manner, the murder of the three Israeli youths. Later we
deplored the use of violence regardless of which party was using it.
And, consistent with our principles, we condemned, in the strongest
terms, the lack of proportionality in the Israeli response, especially
the death of children and civilians, something we will never stop
deploring if we have any respect at all of human rights.
My meeting with the Palestinian community in Uruguay must be seen under
the same logic as my meeting with the Jewish organizations in Uruguay.
And I don't see why they should be read differently from the time when I
wore the yarmulke and prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Please
note that we have always supported Israel when we understand that they
are right.
Source: Almagro: Cuba should attend summit | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/issues-ideas/article2279661.html
Top-secret plan to invade Cuba declassified
Top-secret plan to invade Cuba declassified
BY WILLIAM E. BURROWSWEBURROWS@AOL.COM
09/27/2014 3:00 PM 09/27/2014 7:00 PM
The most popular analogy used to describe Fidel Castro's turning Cuba
into communism's only bastion in the Western Hemisphere in 1959 was
"cancer." And the fear, to carry the analogy further, was that it would
metastasize elsewhere in Latin America.
The CIA, therefore, decided that invasive surgery was needed and
launched the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. Lacking air cover, all
1,400 anti-Castro paramilitaries were killed or captured as they waded
ashore. That was taken to mean that the Castro regime posed a potential
military as well as a political threat to the area. It was decided that
the best way to excise the malignancy was to cut it out.
A recently declassified top-secret memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of
Staff to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, dated March 13, 1962
and titled "Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba,"
suggested an invasion. The document made the reason for the invasion
explicit: "U.S. military intervention will result from a period of
heightened U.S.-Cuban tensions which place the United States in the
position of suffering justifiable grievances.
"World opinion, and the United Nations forum, should be favorably
affected by developing the international image of the Cuban government
as rash and irresponsible, and as an alarming and unpredictable threat
to the peace of the Western Hemisphere."
The memorandum goes on to list possible staged provocations (as Cold War
jargon had it) that would justify attacking and conquering Cuba: "A
series of well-coordinated incidents will be planned to take place in
and around Guantánamo to give genuine appearance of being done by
hostile Cuban forces."
The U.S. Navy opened a base at Guantánamo Bay in 1903 and maintains it
in spite of strong protests by the Castro regime that it violates Cuban
sovereignty.
One scenario called for sending friendly Cubans in their nation's
military uniform "over the fence" to stage what appeared to be an attack
on the base, while another would have had them captured as saboteurs
inside the base and a third had them rioting near the main gate.
But that was tame compared to what followed: "Blow up ammunition inside
the base; start fires," the memo continued. "Burn aircraft on air base
(sabotage) … Lob mortar shells from outside of base into base. Some
damage to installations … Capture assault teams approaching from the sea
… Capture militia group which storms the base … Sabotage ship in harbor;
large fires … Sink ship near harbor entrance. Conduct funerals for mock
victims …"
Blowing up a U.S. ship in a "Remember the Maine" incident was suggested,
as was developing a Communist Cuban terror group in the Miami area or
Washington, sinking a boatload of Cubans trying to get to Florida, using
an F-86 Sabrejet fighter disguised as a MIG to harass U.S. civilian
aircraft and attack ships, faking the shootdown of a chartered airliner
over the Caribbean, staging an incident "which will make it appear that
Communist Cuban MIGs have destroyed a USAF aircraft over international
waters in an unprovoked attack," and more.
The Cuba Project, as the plan was unofficially called, was eventually
shelved, most likely because the United States did not want to appear to
be the kind of aggressor it was accusing the USSR of being.
Eighteen months later, Soviet transport ships were spotted carrying
nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to Cuba that could reach Washington.
The Cuban missile crisis was on.
WILLIAM E. BURROWS, A VETERAN JOURNALIST, HAS TWO DEGREES IN
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FROM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
Source: Top-secret plan to invade Cuba declassified | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article2263338.html
BY WILLIAM E. BURROWSWEBURROWS@AOL.COM
09/27/2014 3:00 PM 09/27/2014 7:00 PM
The most popular analogy used to describe Fidel Castro's turning Cuba
into communism's only bastion in the Western Hemisphere in 1959 was
"cancer." And the fear, to carry the analogy further, was that it would
metastasize elsewhere in Latin America.
The CIA, therefore, decided that invasive surgery was needed and
launched the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. Lacking air cover, all
1,400 anti-Castro paramilitaries were killed or captured as they waded
ashore. That was taken to mean that the Castro regime posed a potential
military as well as a political threat to the area. It was decided that
the best way to excise the malignancy was to cut it out.
A recently declassified top-secret memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of
Staff to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, dated March 13, 1962
and titled "Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba,"
suggested an invasion. The document made the reason for the invasion
explicit: "U.S. military intervention will result from a period of
heightened U.S.-Cuban tensions which place the United States in the
position of suffering justifiable grievances.
"World opinion, and the United Nations forum, should be favorably
affected by developing the international image of the Cuban government
as rash and irresponsible, and as an alarming and unpredictable threat
to the peace of the Western Hemisphere."
The memorandum goes on to list possible staged provocations (as Cold War
jargon had it) that would justify attacking and conquering Cuba: "A
series of well-coordinated incidents will be planned to take place in
and around Guantánamo to give genuine appearance of being done by
hostile Cuban forces."
The U.S. Navy opened a base at Guantánamo Bay in 1903 and maintains it
in spite of strong protests by the Castro regime that it violates Cuban
sovereignty.
One scenario called for sending friendly Cubans in their nation's
military uniform "over the fence" to stage what appeared to be an attack
on the base, while another would have had them captured as saboteurs
inside the base and a third had them rioting near the main gate.
But that was tame compared to what followed: "Blow up ammunition inside
the base; start fires," the memo continued. "Burn aircraft on air base
(sabotage) … Lob mortar shells from outside of base into base. Some
damage to installations … Capture assault teams approaching from the sea
… Capture militia group which storms the base … Sabotage ship in harbor;
large fires … Sink ship near harbor entrance. Conduct funerals for mock
victims …"
Blowing up a U.S. ship in a "Remember the Maine" incident was suggested,
as was developing a Communist Cuban terror group in the Miami area or
Washington, sinking a boatload of Cubans trying to get to Florida, using
an F-86 Sabrejet fighter disguised as a MIG to harass U.S. civilian
aircraft and attack ships, faking the shootdown of a chartered airliner
over the Caribbean, staging an incident "which will make it appear that
Communist Cuban MIGs have destroyed a USAF aircraft over international
waters in an unprovoked attack," and more.
The Cuba Project, as the plan was unofficially called, was eventually
shelved, most likely because the United States did not want to appear to
be the kind of aggressor it was accusing the USSR of being.
Eighteen months later, Soviet transport ships were spotted carrying
nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to Cuba that could reach Washington.
The Cuban missile crisis was on.
WILLIAM E. BURROWS, A VETERAN JOURNALIST, HAS TWO DEGREES IN
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FROM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
Source: Top-secret plan to invade Cuba declassified | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article2263338.html
Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne
Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne
AFP SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 2:31AM
THE Cuban government today denounced a state-run company for using the
"sacred" names of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and legendary
Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara for new fragrances, saying
those responsible will be disciplined.
Company officials had told reporters the "Ernesto" and "Hugo" colognes,
still under development, aimed to honour the figures, but a statement by
Cuba's Council of Ministers said that the men were "symbols, sacred
yesterday, today and always".
"Initiatives of this nature will never be accepted by our people and by
the revolutionary government," the council said in a statement,
published in Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma.
"Because of this serious error, appropriate disciplinary measures will
be taken," the body, chaired by President Raul Castro, added, noting it
was "not true that the 'Che' and Chavez families approved such use of
their names."
Late leftist firebrand Chavez led close Cuba ally Venezuela for 14
years. He died of cancer on March 5 last year at the age of 58, leaving
behind a country sharply divided by his oil-funded socialist revolution.
Guevara, a leader of the Cuban revolution, left the island in the 1960s
to foment revolutions in Africa and Latin America before his death in
Bolivia in 1967.
The company behind the scents, Grupo Empresarial Labiofam, is Cuba's
largest laboratory, responsible for research and production of
veterinary and health products, which the island nation exports.
AFP
Source: Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne | The
Australian -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/cuban-government-kicks-up-stink-over-che-cologne/story-e6frg6so-1227072828871?nk=c0b49a04099035f9f2f48527a12404cf
AFP SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 2:31AM
THE Cuban government today denounced a state-run company for using the
"sacred" names of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and legendary
Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara for new fragrances, saying
those responsible will be disciplined.
Company officials had told reporters the "Ernesto" and "Hugo" colognes,
still under development, aimed to honour the figures, but a statement by
Cuba's Council of Ministers said that the men were "symbols, sacred
yesterday, today and always".
"Initiatives of this nature will never be accepted by our people and by
the revolutionary government," the council said in a statement,
published in Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma.
"Because of this serious error, appropriate disciplinary measures will
be taken," the body, chaired by President Raul Castro, added, noting it
was "not true that the 'Che' and Chavez families approved such use of
their names."
Late leftist firebrand Chavez led close Cuba ally Venezuela for 14
years. He died of cancer on March 5 last year at the age of 58, leaving
behind a country sharply divided by his oil-funded socialist revolution.
Guevara, a leader of the Cuban revolution, left the island in the 1960s
to foment revolutions in Africa and Latin America before his death in
Bolivia in 1967.
The company behind the scents, Grupo Empresarial Labiofam, is Cuba's
largest laboratory, responsible for research and production of
veterinary and health products, which the island nation exports.
AFP
Source: Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne | The
Australian -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/cuban-government-kicks-up-stink-over-che-cologne/story-e6frg6so-1227072828871?nk=c0b49a04099035f9f2f48527a12404cf
“J’Accuse” from a High Position
"J'Accuse" from a High Position / 14ymedio
Posted on September 27, 2014
An official with the Housing Institute denounces corruption and
privileges, as well as reprisals taken against his family.
14ymedio, September 24, 2014 – Before leaving Cuba in October, 2013, the
author of this accusation occupied an important post at the Housing
Institute and, as a jurist, saw firsthand the intrigues perpetrated by
high-level officers of the agency to illegally grant properties to
elites and friends. As is shown in the accompanying photos, Juan Carlos
Gálvez Migueles was an active participant in the political life of the
Island. On December 14, 2008, Gálvez was elected to the national
secretariat of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, and
ratified as a member of the executive committee of that organization.
A lawyer by profession, Gálvez worked as a counterintelligence officer
following his studies at the Eliseo Reyes Rodríguez "Capitán San Luis"
Advanced Institute of the Interior Ministry. His problems started when
he refused to collaborate in the legalization of mansions belonging to
the children of ex-President Fidel Castro.
"I was disappointed in many things about the system that were drummed
into me and that I was taught to defend. The blindfold fell from my eyes
when I saw the problems of daily life in the real world of the average
Cuban," Gálvez told 14ymedio in an email exchange. "That system is not
made for honest, sincere, hardworking people like me, where the more
corrupt one is, the better."
My Duty is to Denounce – I Am Not Afraid
by: Juan Carlos Gálvez Migueles
By these presents I wish to make a public statement about the violation
being committed by officials of the Cuban State who represent the
Provincial Housing Administration of Havana, against three women and a
girl of just one year of age, with the intent of evicting them from the
property located on 3rd Street, Building 15022, Apt. 10, between 7th and
N streets, Altahabana neighborhood, Boyeros municipality. These women
are: Sara Elvira Migueles Velo, 47-years-old; Rosaima Rodríguez
Migueles, 17-years-old; Marinelvis Martínez Migueles, 24-year-old,
mother of a one-year-old girl, named Aynoa. They are, respectively, my
mother, sisters and niece.
The property from which the authorities want to remove them was acquired
by this writer in May, 2012, when I was appointed Principal Specialist
of the Havana Provincial Housing legal division, while in process of
being named assistant legal director of this agency.
In August of 2013, I was accepted to participate in an advanced public
administration course at the University of Extremadura, Spain. However,
the Spanish embassy did not grant me a visa because I missed the
deadline to submit some required original documents. At that point I
decided to leave Cuba for good, due to various reasons that at present I
don't believe it opportune to divulge.
To facilitate my departure I took advantage of the opportunity provided
by this course and requested authorizaton by the Provincial Housing
Director, Liudmila Mejias Ocaña, to approve my attending this course. In
reality, I was leaving for another country but I could not say where I
was going, because right away my family's home would be taken away, as
is happening right now. Besides, I also could not disclose what I was up
to, because I had been a member of the Interior Ministry and had ties to
high-level officials stemming from the duties I carried out.
In October, 2013, I left Cuba, keeping my new home base a secret, until
January, 2014, when it becomes known. It was then, in a gesture of
cruelty and bad faith, that the Provincial Director of Housing and
Assistant Legal Director, Marbelis Velázquez Reyes, imposed a
disciplinary measure on me of final separation from the agency for
unjustified absences. This is a measure that violates Decree 302 of
October 11, 2012, which in turn modifies Law No. 1312, "Migration," of
September 20, 1976, given that what should have been applied in my case
was a leave of absence from my position.
But her objective was to take revenge because I had already been
selected as assistant provincial legal director. Therefore, she had to
attack my family, declaring them illegal occupants without right to
relocation, knowing that they had no place of origin. Then, where will
they be taken to live? On the street, to a temporary community shelter?
I don't believe this is just or honorable.
Therefore, I am bound to make this accusation:
I was asked to work on the legalization of the houses owned by the
children of ex-President Fidel Castro Ruz, all homes that consisted of
more than 500 square meters of living space, comprising more than 1000
meters of total lot space, surrounded by hundreds of meters of addition
land. I refused to do this, based on it being in violation of the
current General Housing Law No. 65, which only recognizes properties up
to 800 meters in size.
I was asked to work on the legalization of the houses owned by the
children of ex-President Fidel Castro Ruz, all homes that consisted of
more than 500 square meters of living space.
These individuals, by virtue of being offspring of a leader, have more
rights to a good home than my family. I ask: What do they contribute to
society that I haven't? In what war did they serve? What have they done
that is special? Why do these citizens have to have an interior ministry
official representing them in their legalization proceedings?
Are they different from other Cubans? Can they not go to the municipal
housing administration like other citizens? Could it be that they cannot
wait in line? Can they not observe the waiting period established by
law? Are they subject to a different law that I was not taught at the
Advanced Institute of the Interior Ministry, when I was pursuing my
degree in law and operative investigation of counterintelligence? Where
is the equality that we so proclaim to the world?
Another case is that of Marino Murillo Jorge, vice-president of the
Council of Ministers, to whom was granted a grand residence – or rather,
a mansion in the Playa district, in return for an apartment he owned in
Cerro municipality. But the irony is that the property Murillo was
granted was assigned to the Ministry of Education and, with supposedly
just the authorization of Raúl Castro Ruz, it was transferred to the
ownership of this citizen without any disentailment process and, hence,
no discussion.
Perhaps this citizen, for occupying a high post in the Cuban government,
has more right to a dignified home than my family? What merits does he
have that hundreds of thousands of Cubans, as educated as he or more so,
do not?
I can also speak to the favors granted to officials of the National
Housing Institute such as the house that was exchanged for the president
of this agency, Oris Silvia Fernández Hernández, a grand property, which
originated in a confiscation. Could it be that she has more rights than
my family? Does the legal director of the National Housing Institute
also have more rights than my family, a corrupt individual who has been
sanctioned and yet remains in his post? I could go on naming any number
of high State officials.
The granting of housing is decided in the office of the Provincial
Director in favor of individuals who pay up to 5000 CUCs.
I denounce how thousands of families live in unhealthy conditions in
temporary community shelters. They are not granted public housing, this
being a responsibility of the Provincial Housing Director, Liudmila
Mejías Ocaña, who does not control the administration of the Provincial
Housing Commission. The granting of housing is decided in the office of
the Provincial Director in favor of individuals who pay up to 5000 CUCs,
friends who give gifts, as well as high-level officials, and relatives
and lovers of high-level officials. All of this is public knowledge and
has been condemned on various occasions but, as there is so much
intrigue that involves high-level officials, nothing happens.
I denounce how legal documents are worked up in the Provincial Housing
Office to favor these same people, all under the Thirteenth Special
Ruling on Law No. 65 (General Housing Law), being concluded in record
time, while the documents in other cases go to eternal rest. Those
responsible are the Provincial Director, and the Assistant Legal
Director, Marbelis Velazquez Reyes. The latter owns a fine house that
was disentailed to her after seven years, very well furnished and
equipped, while she earns a monthly salary of only 500 Cuban pesos.
I denounce how my family, on September 17, asked to be seen at the
Council of State of the Republic of Cuba to present their case and were
refused attention, the officials alleging that only letters are accepted
at that location and nobody is seen in-person – an unheard-of and
ill-intentioned assertion. This is not the democracy promised by our
rule of law.
In similar fashion, they went before the Provincial Party Committee of
Havana and the officials who saw them during a public hearing told them
to go before the Municipal Administrative Council of Boyeros and, if
their problem was not resolved there, they should go before the
Provincial Administrative Council of Havana. As we would say in Cuban,
it was a ball game, back and forth.
I should ask, why not lease the property to my family? For whom is this
property being reserved? It could be that this apartment is already
sold, or is being set aside for a friend.
Surely when this accusation comes to light, they will begin to question
me about where I obtained the money to leave Cuba. Well, it was from the
sale of the deplorable house that my mother owned and a landline
telephone that I had in my name, money that I supplemented with funds
from a friend who was my older sister's boyfriend.
I ask that the right of my family to live in a decent home be respected,
that events will not be repeated like those we endured when for more
than 10 years we lived in a wooden building that was falling apart,
where we would bathe in the kitchen, and defecate in nylon bags because
we had no toilet. At that time I was a delegate to the Municipal
Assembly of Popular Power of San Nicolás de Bari, today Mayabeque province.
My neighbors there and those who voted me in can attest to this. That
was also the time that I served as Municipal Housing Director and never
did I take even one concrete block for my house – a fact that my
employees can corroborate. What did I gain from being so humble, so
honest, that now my family should be treated in this manner. For all of
this I decided to leave my homeland.
I declare that today I fear for the lives of my family in Cuba, for
possible reprisals against them, resulting from this accusation and
others that I may be forced to make to defend our rights. By the same
token I fear for my life in this country where I reside, for having
information about officials, for having been myself a member of the
Cuban counterintelligence and someone who knows the methods they employ.
Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison
Source: "J'Accuse" from a High Position / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/jaccuse-from-a-high-position-14ymedio/
Posted on September 27, 2014
An official with the Housing Institute denounces corruption and
privileges, as well as reprisals taken against his family.
14ymedio, September 24, 2014 – Before leaving Cuba in October, 2013, the
author of this accusation occupied an important post at the Housing
Institute and, as a jurist, saw firsthand the intrigues perpetrated by
high-level officers of the agency to illegally grant properties to
elites and friends. As is shown in the accompanying photos, Juan Carlos
Gálvez Migueles was an active participant in the political life of the
Island. On December 14, 2008, Gálvez was elected to the national
secretariat of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, and
ratified as a member of the executive committee of that organization.
A lawyer by profession, Gálvez worked as a counterintelligence officer
following his studies at the Eliseo Reyes Rodríguez "Capitán San Luis"
Advanced Institute of the Interior Ministry. His problems started when
he refused to collaborate in the legalization of mansions belonging to
the children of ex-President Fidel Castro.
"I was disappointed in many things about the system that were drummed
into me and that I was taught to defend. The blindfold fell from my eyes
when I saw the problems of daily life in the real world of the average
Cuban," Gálvez told 14ymedio in an email exchange. "That system is not
made for honest, sincere, hardworking people like me, where the more
corrupt one is, the better."
My Duty is to Denounce – I Am Not Afraid
by: Juan Carlos Gálvez Migueles
By these presents I wish to make a public statement about the violation
being committed by officials of the Cuban State who represent the
Provincial Housing Administration of Havana, against three women and a
girl of just one year of age, with the intent of evicting them from the
property located on 3rd Street, Building 15022, Apt. 10, between 7th and
N streets, Altahabana neighborhood, Boyeros municipality. These women
are: Sara Elvira Migueles Velo, 47-years-old; Rosaima Rodríguez
Migueles, 17-years-old; Marinelvis Martínez Migueles, 24-year-old,
mother of a one-year-old girl, named Aynoa. They are, respectively, my
mother, sisters and niece.
The property from which the authorities want to remove them was acquired
by this writer in May, 2012, when I was appointed Principal Specialist
of the Havana Provincial Housing legal division, while in process of
being named assistant legal director of this agency.
In August of 2013, I was accepted to participate in an advanced public
administration course at the University of Extremadura, Spain. However,
the Spanish embassy did not grant me a visa because I missed the
deadline to submit some required original documents. At that point I
decided to leave Cuba for good, due to various reasons that at present I
don't believe it opportune to divulge.
To facilitate my departure I took advantage of the opportunity provided
by this course and requested authorizaton by the Provincial Housing
Director, Liudmila Mejias Ocaña, to approve my attending this course. In
reality, I was leaving for another country but I could not say where I
was going, because right away my family's home would be taken away, as
is happening right now. Besides, I also could not disclose what I was up
to, because I had been a member of the Interior Ministry and had ties to
high-level officials stemming from the duties I carried out.
In October, 2013, I left Cuba, keeping my new home base a secret, until
January, 2014, when it becomes known. It was then, in a gesture of
cruelty and bad faith, that the Provincial Director of Housing and
Assistant Legal Director, Marbelis Velázquez Reyes, imposed a
disciplinary measure on me of final separation from the agency for
unjustified absences. This is a measure that violates Decree 302 of
October 11, 2012, which in turn modifies Law No. 1312, "Migration," of
September 20, 1976, given that what should have been applied in my case
was a leave of absence from my position.
But her objective was to take revenge because I had already been
selected as assistant provincial legal director. Therefore, she had to
attack my family, declaring them illegal occupants without right to
relocation, knowing that they had no place of origin. Then, where will
they be taken to live? On the street, to a temporary community shelter?
I don't believe this is just or honorable.
Therefore, I am bound to make this accusation:
I was asked to work on the legalization of the houses owned by the
children of ex-President Fidel Castro Ruz, all homes that consisted of
more than 500 square meters of living space, comprising more than 1000
meters of total lot space, surrounded by hundreds of meters of addition
land. I refused to do this, based on it being in violation of the
current General Housing Law No. 65, which only recognizes properties up
to 800 meters in size.
I was asked to work on the legalization of the houses owned by the
children of ex-President Fidel Castro Ruz, all homes that consisted of
more than 500 square meters of living space.
These individuals, by virtue of being offspring of a leader, have more
rights to a good home than my family. I ask: What do they contribute to
society that I haven't? In what war did they serve? What have they done
that is special? Why do these citizens have to have an interior ministry
official representing them in their legalization proceedings?
Are they different from other Cubans? Can they not go to the municipal
housing administration like other citizens? Could it be that they cannot
wait in line? Can they not observe the waiting period established by
law? Are they subject to a different law that I was not taught at the
Advanced Institute of the Interior Ministry, when I was pursuing my
degree in law and operative investigation of counterintelligence? Where
is the equality that we so proclaim to the world?
Another case is that of Marino Murillo Jorge, vice-president of the
Council of Ministers, to whom was granted a grand residence – or rather,
a mansion in the Playa district, in return for an apartment he owned in
Cerro municipality. But the irony is that the property Murillo was
granted was assigned to the Ministry of Education and, with supposedly
just the authorization of Raúl Castro Ruz, it was transferred to the
ownership of this citizen without any disentailment process and, hence,
no discussion.
Perhaps this citizen, for occupying a high post in the Cuban government,
has more right to a dignified home than my family? What merits does he
have that hundreds of thousands of Cubans, as educated as he or more so,
do not?
I can also speak to the favors granted to officials of the National
Housing Institute such as the house that was exchanged for the president
of this agency, Oris Silvia Fernández Hernández, a grand property, which
originated in a confiscation. Could it be that she has more rights than
my family? Does the legal director of the National Housing Institute
also have more rights than my family, a corrupt individual who has been
sanctioned and yet remains in his post? I could go on naming any number
of high State officials.
The granting of housing is decided in the office of the Provincial
Director in favor of individuals who pay up to 5000 CUCs.
I denounce how thousands of families live in unhealthy conditions in
temporary community shelters. They are not granted public housing, this
being a responsibility of the Provincial Housing Director, Liudmila
Mejías Ocaña, who does not control the administration of the Provincial
Housing Commission. The granting of housing is decided in the office of
the Provincial Director in favor of individuals who pay up to 5000 CUCs,
friends who give gifts, as well as high-level officials, and relatives
and lovers of high-level officials. All of this is public knowledge and
has been condemned on various occasions but, as there is so much
intrigue that involves high-level officials, nothing happens.
I denounce how legal documents are worked up in the Provincial Housing
Office to favor these same people, all under the Thirteenth Special
Ruling on Law No. 65 (General Housing Law), being concluded in record
time, while the documents in other cases go to eternal rest. Those
responsible are the Provincial Director, and the Assistant Legal
Director, Marbelis Velazquez Reyes. The latter owns a fine house that
was disentailed to her after seven years, very well furnished and
equipped, while she earns a monthly salary of only 500 Cuban pesos.
I denounce how my family, on September 17, asked to be seen at the
Council of State of the Republic of Cuba to present their case and were
refused attention, the officials alleging that only letters are accepted
at that location and nobody is seen in-person – an unheard-of and
ill-intentioned assertion. This is not the democracy promised by our
rule of law.
In similar fashion, they went before the Provincial Party Committee of
Havana and the officials who saw them during a public hearing told them
to go before the Municipal Administrative Council of Boyeros and, if
their problem was not resolved there, they should go before the
Provincial Administrative Council of Havana. As we would say in Cuban,
it was a ball game, back and forth.
I should ask, why not lease the property to my family? For whom is this
property being reserved? It could be that this apartment is already
sold, or is being set aside for a friend.
Surely when this accusation comes to light, they will begin to question
me about where I obtained the money to leave Cuba. Well, it was from the
sale of the deplorable house that my mother owned and a landline
telephone that I had in my name, money that I supplemented with funds
from a friend who was my older sister's boyfriend.
I ask that the right of my family to live in a decent home be respected,
that events will not be repeated like those we endured when for more
than 10 years we lived in a wooden building that was falling apart,
where we would bathe in the kitchen, and defecate in nylon bags because
we had no toilet. At that time I was a delegate to the Municipal
Assembly of Popular Power of San Nicolás de Bari, today Mayabeque province.
My neighbors there and those who voted me in can attest to this. That
was also the time that I served as Municipal Housing Director and never
did I take even one concrete block for my house – a fact that my
employees can corroborate. What did I gain from being so humble, so
honest, that now my family should be treated in this manner. For all of
this I decided to leave my homeland.
I declare that today I fear for the lives of my family in Cuba, for
possible reprisals against them, resulting from this accusation and
others that I may be forced to make to defend our rights. By the same
token I fear for my life in this country where I reside, for having
information about officials, for having been myself a member of the
Cuban counterintelligence and someone who knows the methods they employ.
Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison
Source: "J'Accuse" from a High Position / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/jaccuse-from-a-high-position-14ymedio/
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