For Communist Cuba, more Internet, greater risk

For Communist Cuba, more Internet, greater risk
Isabel Sanchez
February 9, 2011 - 4:05AM

For years, Cuba has blamed US sanctions for its costly, limited Internet
access. But as a massive cable rolls ashore Tuesday from Venezuela
bringing better connections, average Cubans' still will have limited
access to the web.

And with the development coming just as Egypt struggles with the
revolutionary impact of social media on political stability, the
Americas' only one-party Communist regime could find itself in suddenly
stormier seas.

A French ship will arrive in Siboney beach, Santiago de Cuba province,
870 km (540 miles) southeast of Havana, having run the cable 1,600
kilometers (994 miles) since January 22 from Camuri, in northern Venezuela.
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Socialist oil-rich Venezuela is the key political and economic ally for
isolated and cash-strapped Cuba. Havana controls media and almost all of
the economy on the Portugal-sized island of 11 million.

The soon-to-arrive cable has been called one of the most ambitious
bilateral projects between the government of President Raul Castro and
his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez.

When it is switched on in July, it is supposed to allow a connection of
up to 640 gigabytes a second. That means download speeds 3,000 faster
than what Cuba has now, thanks to a cable being hailed as a boon for
telephone and Internet service in the Caribbean nation.

Since the dawn of the Internet, Havana has claimed US sanctions meant
that Cuba only could get Internet service by satellite, resulting in
costly and limited service.

Critics who charged that argument was just a tool for political control
are now outraged anew. That's because, as Cuba seems to be at its dawn
of a new Internet age, the government as ever is warning access will be
restricted.

Deputy Information Technology Minister Jose Luis Perdomo, however,
denied there was any political element to access, even as he said social
media would continue to be used -- as now -- only in academic settings
and some professional areas such as by journalists and doctors.

"There is no political obstacle," he insisted.

The cable is not a "magic wand," Perdomo said, arguing that the
government needs to invest in infrastructure before opening unlimited
Internet access to all Cubans at some unspecified point in the future.

Some Cuban dissidents and other critics of the Communist government
charge that Havana is censoring with its Internet policies and
controlling access to information and restricting it to social media
which could be used against it.

Indeed in recent years, Cuba has become a battleground for blogging
dissidents and counter-blogging pro-government detractors.

Just in the past few days, a 50-minute video was posted in which a
purported Interior Ministry official is seen charging the United States
with fomenting Internet- and social media-based based dissent.

"A network of Internet mercenaries is being set up who are not the
traditional counterrevolutionaries," the official is heard to say,
citing as one example international award-winning blogger Yoani Sanchez,
a tough government critic whether blogging or tweeting.

The official is heard to warn that "the Internet psychology is just the
same with Cuban Internet users," insofar as their acceptance (for those
who have access) of and use of Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

The government says that 1.6 million Cubans have access to the Internet
out of 11.2 million. While they can surf at hotels with cards paid for
in hard currency, it is not an option for many at seven US dollars an
hour. Cubans make an average 20 US dollars a month.

"It would be logical for this cable to give high speed service and make
service cheaper for all Cubans, because we cannot afford it," explained
construction worker Yenier Garcia, 36, standing in line at a government
Internet use site to send an email to a friend in Sweden.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/for-communist-cuba-more-internet-greater-risk-20110209-1alvs.html

The Alan Gross Case: A Blow to Obama's Soft Cuba Policy

The Alan Gross Case: A Blow to Obama's Soft Cuba Policy
Posted February 7th, 2011 at 3:00pm in American Leadership

On February 4, the Cuban government announced it will demand a 20-year
prison sentence for U.S. citizen Alan Gross. The 61-year-old Maryland
resident was arrested in December 2009 in Havana after visiting Cuba to
distribute satellite phones to Jewish and other civil society groups.
Although details of his activities remain sketchy, Gross was employed by
Development Alternatives, Inc., a U.S. State Department contractor,
rendering democracy support work in the field. Gross was helping deliver
technologies of freedom that Cuba's leaders greatly fear.

After over a year in jail, Gross, who is in declining health, is now
formally charged with the commission of acts against "the integrity and
independence" of Cuba. A Havana show trial will soon follow.

The case is of high importance to the Obama Administration. Assistant
Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Arturo Valenzuela noted on
January 11 that the Obama Administration "made it clear to the Cuban
authorities that it's very difficult to move to greater engagement in
the context where they have continued to hold Alan Gross." Cuban
readiness to prosecute and condemn Gross to a slow death in a Havana
prison is a heavy blow to the Administration's soft policy of enhanced
engagement.

Over the past two years, the Obama Administration has sought to improve
ties with Cuba by using executive authority to lift restrictions on
travel and the dispatch of remittances to the island. The last round of
liberalization measures were introduced in early January. It has also
conducted several rounds of immigration talks with senior Cuban officials.

The underlying assumption of this policy is that greater access to the
island by Cuban–Americans, more "people-to-people" exchanges, respectful
dialogue on issues of mutual interest, and easier transfers of
remittances will build shared confidence and closer ties. Since 2009,
the Obama Administration has distanced itself from the tough,
pro-democracy stance of the Bush Administration, frequently derided as a
strategy of "regime change." Obama has embraced a strategy aimed at
dialogue, tension reductions, and readiness to engineer a "soft landing"
as the Castro brothers fade from the political scene and a succession
crisis looms on the horizon.

Yet, not unexpectedly, Cuban behavior in the Gross case is consistent
with previous responses to U.S. openings. Once more the open hand of the
Obama Administration encounters the clenched fist of Cuban tyranny.
While less tragic, the Gross case is reminiscent of events such as the
cold-blooded murder of four Cuban-Americans belonging to the Brothers to
the Rescue in 1996. This brutal act torpedoed a budding effort by the
Clinton Administration to improve relations with the Castro regime.

Cuba's message is clear: At the political core of the regime are its
rejection of open dissent, pluralism, and genuine democracy and a
reaffirmation of the principles of democratic centralism and political
conformity so central to the Marxist–Leninist regime. It is also a
reflection of deeply rooted anti-Americanism and "siege-mentality"
situated at the core of the regime's ideology.

In Cuba, where all justice is political, there are still avenues open to
Raul Castro. He can magnanimously pardon Gross after a conviction. At
the back of Raul's mind may be further pressure on the U.S. to pardon or
release the so-called Cuban Five, who are charged with spying for Cuba
in the 1990s. Many in the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress
are hoping the Gross case will be just a speed bump on the way to better
relations with the Castros. In the interim, Gross faces a bleak and
unjust incarceration.

When the world's eyes are focused on Egypt and growing demands for real
democracy there, Cuba—90 miles from the U.S.—remains a bastion of
anti-democracy ruled by the Castro brothers for more than 50 years.
Standing up for democracy in Egypt should not be matched by silence on Cuba.

Tags: Alan Gross, cuba

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/02/07/the-alan-gross-case-a-blow-to-obamas-soft-cuba-policy/

Cuba to have first telecommunications law

Cuba to have first telecommunications law

HAVANA, Feb 07, 2011 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Cuba will have this year its
first law to rule the telecommunications sector, Informatics and
Telecommunications Vice Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo said here on Monday.

At the opening of the Informatics International Convention and Fair 2011
in Havana, Perdomo said that after two years of work on the project, it
was passed to the Justice Ministry and the Executive Committee of the
Council of Ministers for consideration.

"We still have a long way" before it is approved by the Parliament, he
said because it should be consulted first by all the other government
agencies involved in the project.

The official said that the "law shall determine the sovereignty over the
radio spectrum, the social role of telecommunications, its prospects and
the rights of the operators, whether public or private, among the
proposed provisions." The Informatics International Convention and Fair
2011 will be held from Monday to Friday, attended by over 2,000 experts
from 35 countries.

The event includes 14 conferences, seminars and workshops, as well as a
Business Forum and a Trade Fair opened here on Monday.

The Business Forum will be attended by 34 Cuban and 38 foreign companies.

The invited guests include the secretary general of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), Hamadoun Toure, and telecommunications
ministers of several nations."

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2011/02/07/5295393.htm

Cuba urged to release jailed activists

Cuba urged to release jailed activists
7 February 2011

Amnesty International has urged the Cuban authorities to release
immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience, following
the release of a human rights activist who refused to go to exile in Spain.

Guido Sigler Amaya was freed on Friday. He had been held since 2003 and
was among 52 prisoners of conscience the authorities agreed to release
last July as a result of talks between the Roman Catholic Church and
Cuban President Raul Castro.

Since the releases were announced in July, 40 prisoners of conscience
have been freed and gone into exile in Spain. Only Arnaldo Ramos
Lauzerique, released in November 2010 has been allowed to stay in Cuba.
Ten prisoners of conscience remain detained by the authorities.

"The release of Guido Sigler is great news. The Cuban authorities must
now ensure that the ten remaining prisoners of conscience, arrested for
the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and
assembly, are released immediately," said Javier Zuñiga, special adviser
at Amnesty International.

"Once they are free, these activists should be allowed to carry out
their legitimate work without fear of reprisals."

Guido Sigler was among 75 people arrested in March 2003 as part of a
mass government crackdown on opposition figures and activists.

Most were subjected to hasty and unfair trials in early April and
quickly sentenced to long prison terms.

Guido Sigler was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "counter
revolutionary activities", which included demanding the release of
political prisoners.

Guido Sigler is a member of the opposition group the Alternative Option
Movement (Movimiento Opción Alternativa) in Matanzas Province,
north-west Cuba. He was arrested along with his brothers Ariel and
Miguel. They were released in June 2010 and January 2005 respectively.

The ten remaining activists in prison are: Pedro Arguelles Moran; Oscar
Elias Biscet Gonzalez; Eduardo Diaz Fleitas; Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia;
Diosdado Gonzalez Marrero; Ivan Hernandez Carrillo; Librado Ricardo
Linares Garcia; Hector Fernando Maseda Gutierrez; Angel Moya Acosta and
Felix Navarro Rodriguez.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/cuba-urged-release-jailed-activists-2011-02-07

Cuba says nickel industry recovering from bad year

Cuba says nickel industry recovering from bad year
Mon Feb 7, 2011 1:59pm GMT

*Cubaniquel reports January production 4 percent above plan
*2010 output seen as lowest in a decade

HAVANA Feb 7 (Reuters) - Cuba's production of unrefined nickel plus
cobalt bounced back in January, official media reported Monday, after
perhaps the industry's worst performance in a decade last year when,
Reuters estimated, output fell to well below 70,000 tonnes.

Alberto Panton Graham, general director of state monopoly Cubaniquel,
was quoted by Eastern Holguin province's Communist party weekly as
telling visiting officials that output in January was 4 percent above plan.

The 2011 plan has not been announced by the industry or government,
which consider nickel a strategic sector and target of U.S. sanctions.

Economy Minister Marino Murillo said as 2010 drew to a close that the
nickel industry had failed to complete its production and export plan by
6,700 tonnes, costing the country $120 million, but provided no further
information.

The government's goal for the state-run industry in 2010 was never made
public after 2009 output weighed in at 70,100 tonnes. Cuba produced
70,400 tonnes of unrefined nickel and cobalt in 2008, after averaging
between 74,000 and 75,000 tonnes during much of the decade.

Cubaniquel operates three processing plants in Holguin. Two are wholly
owned by the company while the third is a joint venture with Canadian
mining company Sherritt International (S.TO: Quote).

Unrefined nickel plus cobalt is by far Cuba's leading export, almost all
production going to Canada and China.

The Caribbean island is one of the world's largest nickel producers and
supplies 10 percent of the world's cobalt, according to the Basic
Industry Ministry.

The Cuban nickel industry was the subject of a number of investigations
last year, resulting in the arrest of some plant managers and officials
at the ministry.

Minister Yadira Garca Vera was fired in October for failure to
adequately manage investments and resources.

A new minister has yet to be appointed as Communist authorities consider
dividing the ministry into separate energy and mining ministries,
according to ministry sources.

Nickel is essential in the production of stainless steel and other
corrosion-resistant alloys. Cobalt is critical in production of super
alloys used for such products as aircraft engines.

Cuban nickel is considered to be Class II, with an average 90 percent
nickel content.

Cuba's National Minerals Resource Center reported that eastern Holguin
province accounted for more than 30 percent of the world's known nickel
reserves, with lesser reserves in other parts of the country. (Reporting
by Marc Frank; Editing by John Picinich)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFN078255420110207?sp=true

Internet critic is identified in Cuba

Posted on Monday, 02.07.11

Internet critic is identified in Cuba

In Cuba, the Internet is used to reveal the identity of the man who
called it a threat to the revolution.
By JUAN TAMAYO
jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com

The lecturer in a Cuban government video on the dangers of the Internet
has been identified — on the Internet — as a 38-year-old
counter-intelligence official who follows blogger Yoani Sánchez on
Twitter. Eduardo Fontes Suárez's Facebook page is now down.

But photos of him as a teenager and details on his education and the
Havana neighborhood where he lives have been appearing in blogs about Cuba.

The video, which began getting attention Thursday on the Internet,
showed an unidentified lecturer speaking to an audience of Interior
Ministry officers about the dangers that the Web presents to the Cuban
government.

"The Internet is a field of battle," the lecturer declares as he argues
that the U.S. government has tried at least since 2008 to use the Web to
subvert the Cuban revolution.

Popular bloggers like Sánchez - she regularly criticizes the Cuban
government — and even groups of young Cuban-Americans that reach out to
their counterparts on the island are part of a covert U.S. campaign
against the island, he adds.

By Friday night, the lecturer had been identified by readers of
Penultimos Dias, a Spain-based blog about Cuba issues. Other blogs,
including the Miami-based Café Fuerte, fleshed out his identity in the
following days.

Fontes Suárez is a 38-year-old computer engineer who joined the Interior
Ministry's counter-intelligence section after he graduated in 1990 or
1991 from Havana's Vladimir Ilich Lenin high school, which is reserved
for the children of Cuba's ruling elites, according to comments posted
by visitors to the blogs.

He is the son of a lieutenant colonel in the Interior Ministry's State
Security Directorate — in charge of domestic security — and now lives in
the Havana municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, according to the posts.

He's married to Beatriz Basabe, a biochemist who works for the Nutrition
and Food Hygiene Institute in Havana, where she carries out nutritional
studies, according to another comment.

By Monday, Penultimos Dias had published three photos of Fontes Suárez
as a teenager, but attempts to view his Facebook page were answered with
the message, "This content is currently unavailable."

"I don't know how they are going to fight in the 'cyberwar against Cuba'
if they withdraw from Facebook. With those opponents, we've already
won," wrote one visitor to Penultimos Dias.

Other comments on the blog identified him as the holder of the Twitter
account "Tatofontes" — Tato is a common nickname for Eduardo. The last
Twitter he posted came near midnight on Dec. 15 - "Buanas (si, mal
escrito) Noches La Habana — Good Night Havana.

The Tatofontes account shows he is "followed" by 92 other persons on
Twitter and that he in turn "follows" 112 others. Among those he follows
are Yoany Sánchez, pro-government singer Silvio Rodriguez andthe El
Nuevo Herald newspaper.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/07/2055415/internet-critic-is-identified.html

As Cuban economy sputters, evangelicals rise

As Cuban economy sputters, evangelicals rise
By Shasta Darlington, CNN

Havana (CNN) – For decades, Cuba's evangelicals met behind closed doors,
holding services in living rooms and converted garages.

But as the country confronts hard times, followers have come out of the
shadows, turning to religion to meet both economic and spiritual needs.

On a recent Sunday morning, worshipers packed a Pentecostal church set
up on the second floor of an apartment building in a working class
suburb of Havana.

They swayed back and forth to the raucous music amid shouts of "amen!"
and "hallelujah!"

The Rev. Marcial Miguel Hernandez is the church's pastor and the
president of Cuba's National Council of Churches.

"The crisis is an opportunity for faith," he told CNN. "Crisis is God's
opportunity for the church to show its solidarity and love for our
neighbor."

Faced with a mounting budget deficit, Cuban President Raul Castro
announced last year that the state needs to eliminate more than one
million jobs, or about one-tenth of the workforce.

He also gave the green light for more private businesses, in an effort
to help hire the unemployed.

But many people are also looking to God for help to fill the void.

"You can't be romantic about the situation," Hernandez said. "There are
going to be a million people, maybe more, who will be unemployed. The
church is getting ready for this."

He said attendance at evangelical churches had jumped in recent months.

Rita Suarez, a television worker who frequents Hernandez's Free
Evangelical Church, said many people were seeking spiritual guidance.

"When we have faith, we find the strength to make things work in this
new scenario," she said.

Maria Elisa Ramon found financial support from the church when the
government granted her a license to open a private restaurant in her home.

"My pastor has been a big help," she said. "He lent me money and
encouraged me when I wanted to give up. He told me God was on my side."

After decades of hostility, Fidel Castro began to mend relations with
the country's many churches in the 1980s, as churches showed their
willingness to work with the state. That process accelerated after the
fall of the Soviet Union, as the Cuban government searched for new allies.

The government's efforts have been focused largely on the Catholic
Church, which claims the biggest share of adherents in Cuba. The program
was helped by Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998.

Since the 1980s, the number of evangelicals in Cuba has more than
tripled to one million, according to the National Council of Churches.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/06/as-cuban-economy-sputters-evangelicals-rise/

Will Cuba be the next Egypt?

Wall Street Journal:
Will Cuba be the next Egypt?
6. February 2011 22:38
Feb. 7 - Article by Mary Anastasia O'Grady on Monday's Wall Street Journal.

The most striking difference between the two countries is Internet access.

Developments in Egypt over the last two weeks brought Cuba to my mind.
Why does a similar rebellion against five decades of repression there
still appear to be a far-off dream? Part of the answer is in the
relationship between the Castro brothers—Fidel and Raúl—and the
generals. The rest is explained by the regime's significantly more
repressive model. In the art of dictatorship, Hosni Mubarak is a piker.
That so many Egyptians have raised their voices in Tahrir Square is a
testament to the universal human yearning for liberty. But it is a
mistake to ignore the pivotal role of the military. I'd wager that when
the history of the uprising is written, we will learn that Egypt's top
brass did not approve of the old man's succession plan to anoint his son
in the next election.
Castro has bought loyalty from the secret police and military by giving
them control of the three most profitable sectors of the economy—retail,
travel and services. Hundreds of millions of dollars flow to them every
year. If the system collapses, so does that income. Of course the
Egyptian military also owns businesses. But it doesn't depend on a
purely state-owned economy. And as a recipient of significant U.S. aid
and training for many years, the Egyptian military has cultivated a
culture of professionalism and commitment to the nation over any single
individual.

In Cuba there are no opposition political parties or nonstate media;
rapid response brigades enforce the party line. Travel outside the
country is not allowed without state approval. If peaceful dissidents
with leadership skills can't be broken, they are eventually exiled. Or
they are murdered.
The most striking difference between Cuba and Egypt is access to the
Internet. In a March 2009 Freedom House report on Internet and digital
media censorship world-wide, Egypt scored a 45 (out of 100), slightly
worse than Turkey but better than Russia. Cuba scored a 90, making it
more Net-censored than even Iran, China and Tunisia. Cellphone service
is too expensive for most Cubans.
Yet technology does somehow seep into Cuba. When Fidel took the life of
prisoner of conscience Pedro Boitel in 1972 by denying him water during
a hunger strike, the world hardly noticed. By contrast, news of the
regime's 2010 murder of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo hit
the Internet almost immediately and was met with worldwide condemnation.
The military dictatorship was helpless to contain the bad publicity.
In a similar fashion, when the Ladies in White—a group of wives, sisters
and mothers of political prisoners—walking peacefully in Havana were
roughed up by state security last year, the images were captured on
cellphones and immediately showed up on the Web. It was more bad PR for
the Castro brothers and their friends like Mexican President Felipe
Calderón and Spanish President José Luis Zapatero.
Technology-induced international pressure is making the regime
increasingly reluctant to flatten critics the old-fashioned way. In an
interview in Argentina's Ambito Financiero on Jan. 27, internationally
recognized Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez said the "style" of state
repression has shifted from aggressive arrests and long sentences to
targeted attempts at defamation and isolation. Ms. Sanchez also said
that uniformed police are "distancing themselves from the political
theme, not by orders from above, but because they no longer want to be
associated with the repression." Now, she said, the intimidation and
arbitrary arrests are largely carried out by the secret police in
civilian clothes.

A little more space has emboldened the population. Ms. Sánchez also said
in the interview that she is "optimistic about the slow and irreversible
process of interior change in Cubans. In that the citizen critic will
grow, will have less fear, and will feel that the mask is increasingly
unnecessary and that it doesn't any longer translate into privileges and
subsidies."

Last week a leaked video of a Cuban military seminar on how to combat
technology hit the Internet. It demonstrates the dictatorship's
preoccupation with the Web. The lecturer warns about the dangers of
young people with an appealing discourse sharing information through
technology and trying to organize. Real-time chat, Twitter and the
emergence of young leaders in cyberspace—aka "a permanent
battlefield"—are perils outlined in the hour-long talk. The lecturer
also shares his concerns about U.S. government programs that try to
increase Internet access outside of officialdom on the island.

On Friday, the regime further displayed its paranoia by charging U.S.
Agency for International Development contractor Alan Gross with spying.
Mr. Gross has been in jail for 14 months for giving Cuban Jews computer
equipment so they could connect with the diaspora.

With very limited access, Cubans are already using the Internet to share
what has until now been kept in their heads: counterrevolutionary
thoughts. If those go viral, even a well-fed military will not be able
to save the regime. But for now, Cubans can only dream about the
freedoms Egyptians enjoy as they voice their grievances.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704709304576124591746057376.html

Florida airports preparing for higher demand for flights to Cuba

Florida airports preparing for higher demand for flights to Cuba
By William E. Gibson and Doreen Hemlock, Sun Sentinel
9:49 p.m. EST, February 6, 2011
WASHINGTON —

Airport officials in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Key West and possibly
Orlando plan to seek federal permission to establish direct flights to
Cuba under new travel rules implemented last month by the Obama
administration to reach out to the Cuban people.

They hope to tap a growing market of Cuban-Americans and members of
religious, educational and cultural groups who can now travel more
freely to the island.

Their main goal, however, is to prepare for a major surge of traffic if
the two nations remove all travel barriers for American tourists. The
United States first imposed partial trade and travel restrictions in
1960 — and made it a near-total embargo in 1962 — in hopes of
undercutting the Fidel Castro regime.

"If relations change between the two countries, we'd certainly like to
be well-positioned to take advantage," said Doug Webster, director of
administration and strategic planning for the Broward County Aviation
Department. "If we ever get to that point, the potential is big."

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Tampa international airports already have
told the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency they would like to
host direct flights. Key West International Airport is preparing an
application, and Orlando International Airport is considering applying.

"We're looking toward the future, and there's a possibility of regime
change in Cuba," said Phil Brown, executive director of the Greater
Orlando Aviation Authority. "What we've seen over the years is that once
these changes occur there's a rapid need, and you're better off to be
prepared rather than scramble after the fact to get ready."

President Barack Obama's decision in 2009 to remove restrictions on
Cuban-American travel has roughly doubled passenger trips on authorized
charter flights to Cuba. The latest rules change, which took effect on
Jan. 28, will increase the flow by easing limits on religious groups and
some other travelers with a special reason to go to Cuba.

In the short run, tourism expert say, these changes will have relatively
little impact on Florida's huge travel industry. Nevertheless, charter
companies predict that the increased flow of students, researchers,
artists and missionaries — combined with more frequent Cuban-American
visits — could create hundreds of jobs.

Perhaps more important, greater exposure to Cuba for some Americans may
stoke public demands on Congress to remove the U.S. ban on tourist
travel. That would lead to hundreds of thousands of American visits each
year, said Abraham Pizam, dean of tourism management at the University
of Central Florida.

"It will be a mass market," Pizam predicted. "Everybody is curious. And
unless the prices change, Cuba is a big bargain."

Ramping up

An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people took U.S. charter flights to Cuba
last year, more than 90 percent of them Cuban-Americans. That's up from
roughly 200,000 in 2009, when Obama allowed unrestricted Cuban-American
travel to the island.

To the dismay of embargo advocates, Obama removed restrictions imposed
by President George W. Bush that limited Cuban-Americans to one trip
every three years. Now they can go as often as they want to visit family
members.

Last month, Obama again loosened the rules, this time to allow
universities and religious groups to sponsor trips on a general license,
which means they don't have to seek permission for each trip. The latest
rules also make it easier for cultural groups and some other travelers
to get a special license to go to Cuba. And more airports can seek
permission to service direct flights, beyond the current three in New
York, Miami and Los Angeles.

Tom Cooper, president of Fort Lauderdale-based Gulfstream Air Charter,
said traffic on his flights between Miami and Havana roughly doubled in
the past year.

During the Bush years, his company used a 19-seat airplane and flew two
flights daily. He now operates one flight daily between Miami and Havana
using a 737 jet that can hold 146 passengers.

He books fewer passengers than the capacity on the way down — or adds an
extra small plane just for cargo — to accommodate all the toiletries,
food, clothes, shoes and other goods that Cuban-Americans take to their
families.

If the latest rule change creates enough demand, Cooper would consider
adding flights from Tampa.

"I don't think it will be a landslide of people," he said. "And it will
take a while to ramp up."

Political hurdles

Would-be travelers from Florida's university community face special
restrictions because the state Legislature in 2006 banned the use of
state funds to travel to federally designated "terrorist states," such
as Cuba and Iran.

Such limits are strongly backed by some Cuban-American leaders and other
embargo proponents, who fear that American travel puts money in the
hands of the Castro regime.

"The travel money that goes to Cuba delays the day when this [Castro]
government or any other will have to really open up and say to Cubans,
'You can buy and sell and engage in trade just like any other normal
society,' " said Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a
Free Cuba, based in Arlington, Va. "These measures have emboldened the
regime."

Administration officials say the new rules will encourage
people-to-people contacts and spread information to Cuba, empowering
those who push for democratic reforms.

Charter carriers say they just want to meet the demand from many
Americans who yearn to go to Cuba and do not want to break the law by
traveling through third countries.

"The passengers have increased just because we have more flights, and
it's more convenient to travel there. The process is streamlined," said
Michael Zuccato, general manager of Cuba Travel Services, which operates
charters from Los Angeles and Miami. "Before, we had to check how much
money they took, herd them into special areas, put them through more
security. Now they are treated like regular passengers, just like
anybody else."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-cuba-travel-expands-20110206,0,4784210.story

Cuban opposition leader urges end to hunger strike

Posted on Sunday, 02.06.11

Cuban opposition leader urges end to hunger strike
By ANNE-MARIE GARCIA
Associated Press

HAVANA -- A leader of Cuba's Ladies in White opposition group said
Sunday that she will urge a colleague to end a 10-day old hunger strike
she launched to demand freedom for her jailed husband, saying the
protest could be counterproductive.

Laura Pollan told The Associated Press she plans to travel to the home
of Alejandrina Garcia, near the central city of Matanzas, to deliver the
message personally.

The Cuban government on Friday released one of 11 political prisoners
still held following a 2003 crackdown on dissent that swept up 75
dissidents, and the Catholic church announced another release is imminent.

Garcia has been on a hunger strike since January 28 to demand freedom
for her husband, Diosdado Gonzalez, another of the remaining 2003
prisoners. Gonzalez and another political prisoner joined the protest
from behind bars on Tuesday.

"We will talk to her about putting aside the strike," Pollan said Sunday
before a protest march by the Ladies in White, which is comprised of the
wives and mothers of some of the jailed political prisoners. She added
that if the government felt boxed into a corner, it would be less likely
to make good on its promise to release the dissidents.

Garcia's son, Reymar Gonzalez, said his mother was in good spirits 10
days into the strike, but that she is weak and suffering from abdominal
pains.

Some of the prisoners had been released for medical or other reasons and
in July, Cuban President Raul Castro agreed in July to free all 52 who
remained after a meeting with Cardinal Jaime Ortega. At the time, Ortega
said the deal called for the men to be out within four months, or by
November.

Authorities quickly released 41 of the men, sending all but one of them
into exile in Spain. But the process ground to a halt as those who
remained behind bars refused to leave Cuba, a direct challenge to the
government.

A break in the impasse came Friday, when Cuba freed Guido Sigler and the
church announced the imminent release of Angel Moya. While Sigler has
indicated a desire to go to the United States, Moya had made clear he
would remain in Cuba.

Two days after the announcement, however, Moya is still in jail.

His wife, Bertha Soler, says her husband is refusing to leave prison,
insisting that other dissidents who are in poor health be freed first.
The Cuban government has had no comment. It considers the dissidents to
be common criminal, and accuses Washington of funding them in an effort
to stir up trouble on the island.

Associated Press writer Paul Haven contributed to this report.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/06/2053734/cuban-opposition-leader-urges.html

Venezuela-Cuba Submarine Cable Junction Box Installed

Venezuela-Cuba Submarine Cable Junction Box Installed

Caracas - The process of installation of the submarine optical fiber
cable from Venezuela to Cuba is successfully moving ahead after the
installation of a junction box under the Caribbean Sea, assured Friday
the Venezuelan Science and Technology Ministry.

In a statement, the Science and Technology Minister Ricardo Menendez
said the junction will allow to make connections with other Caribbean
countries such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic in a second stage.

This point is at a distance of 507 miles from the beach of Camuri,
Venezuelan state of Vargas, where the installation of the submarine
cable started.

Regarding the work of a total distance of 994 miles that will reach the
eastern coast of Cuba next week, Menendez highlighted its potential to
increase telecommunications between both countries.

The submarine cable valued in 70 million dollars will also include Jamaica.

http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2011/february/05/latinamerica11020402.htm

Oman, Cuba explore co-operation in health

Oman, Cuba explore co-operation in health

Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, received at his
office here yesterday a delegation from the Cuban Health Ministry
currently visiting the Sultanate. The meeting explored areas of
co-operation in promoting the health services and benefiting from the
Cuban expertise medical fields. The meeting was attended by Dr Mohammed
bin Saif al Hosni, Under-Secretary of the Health Ministry for Health Affairs

http://www.omanet.om/english/0news/viewdetails.asp?id=20170

Cuba 'fears Internet, social media'

Cuba 'fears Internet, social media'
February 6 2011 at 12:45pm
By Esteban Israel

Havana - Cuba fears the United States is encouraging dissent through
social media such as Facebook and Twitter with the goal of toppling the
government, according to the video of what appears a meeting of Cuban
officials posted on websites this week.

The 50-minute video apparently is a presentation given by an Internet
expert to officials of Cuba's Interior Ministry last June.

A link to the video at http://vimeo.com/19402730 was posted on several
blogs, including that of Cuban anti-government blogger Yoani Sanchez,
and on the website of the Miami Herald. It is not known how the video
was obtained.

The expert, whose identity is not disclosed, told the officials the
United States is promoting use of Facebook and Twitter to foment dissent
similar to ways it was used in insurrections in the Ukraine in 2004 and
in Iran in 2010.

He also said the US government is financing the introduction into Cuba
of satellite communications equipment to create secret points of WiFi
access.

In communist-led Cuba, Internet access is limited and content largely
controlled by the government.

The lecturer mentioned US aid contractor Alan Gross, who has been
detained since December 2009 on suspicions he illegally supplied
satellite phones to Jewish groups for Internet access. Gross is
described in the video as a "mercenary."

"The idea is to create a technological platform away from control of
Cuban authorities that permits the free flow of communication between
Cuban citizens selected by (Cuban enemies) and the world," he said.

Cuba said on Friday that Gross, 61, will face trial soon on charges of
crimes against the security of the state and that prosecutors would seek
a 20-year sentence in the case that has been a stumbling block for
US-Cuba relations.

The lecturer said the US-supplied satellite equipment seeks to spread
the voice of a new wave of anti-government bloggers such as Sanchez.

"A virtual network of mercenaries is organizing that are not the
traditional counter-revolution. We are talking about young people,
people who can have an attractive discourse, young people who hang out
with our children and our brothers," the expert said.

He said the United States is dedicating more money to finance "cyber
dissidents" than to the island's traditional opponents.

According to a US State Department cable obtained by WikiLeaks and
published in December, Washington is losing confidence in the older
dissidents and giving more credence to bloggers and intellectuals.

In the video, the expert said Cuba should try to neutralise the
dissident bloggers by countering with its own.

"Being a blogger is not bad. They have their bloggers and we have ours.
We're going to fight to see which of the two turns out stronger," he
said. - Reuters

http://www.pretorianews.co.za/cuba-fears-internet-social-media-1.1022018

Cuba likely to get influx of American tourists

Cuba likely to get influx of American tourists
Arthur Frommer
Sunday, February 6, 2011

Havana could become a mecca for U.S. visitors now that travel
restrictions have been eased.

The announcement by the Obama administration last month that it will
reinstate policies of the Clinton administration to permit travel to
Cuba for religious or educational reasons reminded me of two trips to
Cuba that I made during the time of the Clinton administration.

I went there under an exemption permitting travel to Cuba by
journalists. I traveled there legally, in other words, possessing papers
from the Treasury Department confirming my right to do so. I flew to
Kingston, Jamaica, and there boarded a short Air Jamaica flight to Havana.

The plane was jammed with young Americans, not one of whom was legally
authorized to make the trip. These were backpackers who were simply
making the trip in open defiance of U.S. regulations. On landing in
Cuba, their passports were not stamped by Cuban customs officials, and
no evidence existed that they had made the trip. Nearly all of them, as
far I could see, then took buses into Havana and proceeded to find
private-home accommodations where they could stay. (The Cubans permit
private families to set aside a room in their homes to accommodate
paying tourists.)

In other words, more important than the formal exemptions under the
regulations was a general lack of interest on the part of the Clinton
administration in enforcing the embargo against American travel to Cuba.
Our government had simply decided not to waste money or manpower on it.

And this, to my mind, is the probable atmosphere that the new exemptions
for religious and educational travel will reinstate. There will be
dozens of charter flights to Havana by religious organizations, but few
of the religious organizers will really be paying close attention to the
beliefs of the people joining those flights; anyone wanting to do so
will probably be permitted to join the trip for "religious" reasons.

And because there will be such a heavy number of American "religious
tourists" to Havana, there also will be a large number of Americans
traveling there without joining a religious charter. They will simply
take a flight to the Bahamas, Jamaica or Cancun, and then board a short
connecting flight to Cuba. They will risk such trips in the belief that
our American government will be less than fervent in its enforcement of
the travel embargo. I am not recommending such illegal conduct, but
simply predicting that attempted avoidance of the embargo will be
widespread.

All of this highlights the absurdity (and counterproductive nature) of
that embargo. When you visit Havana, you find - as I did - that the
streets are filled with tourists from all over the world: Canadian
tourists, British tourists, French tourists, German tourists, Japanese
tourists, tourists from all over. In particular, Canadians booking
air-and-land packages from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa to Cuba are
currently flooding into Cuba and enjoying the low costs of high-rise
Cuban resorts in Varadero Beach, in Holguin, Cayo Coco and elsewhere.

Many such flights leave Canadian cities every week. The fact that
Americans cannot join them is heavily resented by many Cubans, even
those who do not support the Castro regime; in fact, numerous observers
claim that America's embargo is a factor in keeping the Castro regime in
power.

There is hope that Congress will ultimately put an end to this
counterproductive policy.

Arthur Frommer is a syndicated columnist. E-mail comments to
travel@sfchronicle.com.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/06/TRHI1HC4IT.DTL

White House Condemns Prosecution of American Alan Gross in Cuba

White House Condemns Prosecution of American Alan Gross in Cuba

Hope for improved relations between the U.S. and Cuba suffered a setback
this week as the White House condemned the island nation's plan to
prosecute an American contractor, apparently suspected of being a spy by
the Cubans.

Alan Gross, 61, was arrested in late 2009 in Cuba while working as a
contractor for the U.S. government. He was said to involved in the
distribution of satellite phones and computer equipment to Jewish people
so they could communicate with Jews in other countries. On Friday, Cuban
prosecutors said they would charge Gross with "acts against the
integrity and independence" of their country, and seek a 20-year sentence.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the decision "compounded
an injustice suffered by a man helping to increase the free flow of
information to, from, and among the Cuban people." Gross has been
"unjustly detained and deprived of his liberty and freedom for the last
14 months," President Obama's spokeman said. He should be released "so
he can come home to his wife and family," Gibbs insisted.

Gross' work in Cuba was part of a U.S. Agency for International
Development democracy-promotion program that grew under former President
George W. Bush. according to the Washington Post.

His lawyer, Peter J. Kahn, told the Post that Gross was "caught in the
middle of a long-standing dispute between Cuba and the United States."
His family lives in Potomac, Md.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/05/white-house-condemns-prosecution-of-american-alan-gross-in-cuba/

Cuba to free two more political prisoners

Cuba to free two more political prisoners
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA | Fri Feb 4, 2011 9:28am EST

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba will free two of 11 political prisoners who have
remained behind bars despite President Raul Castro's promise last summer
to release them, the Catholic Church said on Friday.

They were among 52 jailed dissidents Castro agreed to let go in a
landmark agreement with the Church that began what has become a broader
release of political prisoners on the communist-led island.

One of the men, Angel Juan Moya Acosta, will be allowed to stay in Cuba
and the other, Guido Sigler Amaya, has said he wants to go to the United
States, according to a Church statement.

Only one of the previous 41 released has stayed in Cuba, while most have
gone to Spain, which has agreed to take them in.

The Cuban government, seeking to remove opponents it views as
mercenaries of its arch-enemy the United States, has pushed the
prisoners to leave the country, but some have refused.

Moya and Sigler were among 75 dissidents jailed in a 2003 government
crackdown that damaged Cuba's international relations.

Of those, 52 were still in jail when Castro agreed in July to let them go.

The Church said at the time the process of freeing them would take three
to four months, but it has now stretched out to almost seven months.

In the past few days, two of the prisoners and one of their wives began
hunger strikes demanding their release.

At the same time, Cuba has freed or promised to free another 19
political prisoners not connected to the 2003 crackdown and, according
to the Church, the government plans to release all jailed dissidents to
end one of its most intractable international problems.

Cuba has been criticized for years for putting its opponents behind bars.

Castro's agreement with the Church followed international condemnation
for the death last year of an imprisoned dissident hunger striker and of
harassment of the "Ladies in White" opposition group.

Moya is the husband of Bertha Soler, one of the leaders of the "Ladies
in White," who have staged silent protest marches weekly in Havana since
2003 seeking the release of their loved ones.

She said she was glad her husband would be freed, but would continue
pressing for the release of the remaining prisoners.

"I want my man at home, but the others also have to get out of jail,"
Soler told Reuters. "I'm going to continue my activities for the freedom
of all of them."

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes; Editing by Vicki Allen)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/us-cuba-prisoners-idUSTRE7133E920110204

D/FW Airport could add charter flights to Cuba

D/FW Airport could add charter flights to Cuba
By ERIC TORBENSON / Staff Writer
etorbenson@dallasnews.com
Published 03 February 2011 08:09 PM

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is in talks with government
officials and airlines to become a designated gateway to Cuba.

Only airports in Miami, Los Angeles and New York have the designation to
allow some flights to Cuba, which still faces a variety of trade
restrictions. The Obama administration has loosened some of the rules,
opening the chance for more airports to serve as gateways to Cuba.

The move wouldn't mean commercial service initially; only
government-approved, educational and religious groups can charter the
flights from approved gateways. Most tourists access Cuba by flying
first to Mexico and then flying from there.

The initial talks about the gateway designation, aided by Fort
Worth-based American Airlines Inc., could help some of the estimated
190,000 Cuban-Americans living in North Texas get to Cuba.

If the charter flying is allowed and becomes successful, it could pave
the way for commercial flying down the road, D/FW staff told the board
Thursday.

Also Thursday, the airport nominated and elected Francisco Hernandez of
Fort Worth as chairman of the board. Hernandez, a lawyer, was previously
the vice chair to Ben Muro, whose term as chairman expired. D/FW Airport
is owned by the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20110203-dfw-airport-could-add-charter-flights-to-cuba.ece

Cuba to free four more political prisoners

Cuba to free four more political prisoners
HAVANA | Wed Feb 2, 2011 5:29pm EST

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba will soon free four more political prisoners and
send them to Spain as it continues to clear jailed opponents from its
prisons, the Roman Catholic Church said on Wednesday.

The releases will raise to 60 the number of prisoners freed since last
summer in a deal the church brokered with President Raul Castro.

In July, Castro agreed to free 52 political prisoners still behind bars
from a 2003 crackdown on opposition.

The move was widely viewed as a response to international condemnation
that followed the death of a jailed dissident after an 85-day hunger
strike for improved prison conditions.

For unknown reasons, 11 of the 52 remain in jail, while others not
included in the original agreement have been freed. The four latest
prisoners scheduled for release were also not among the 52 whom Castro
promised to release.

"It continues to be disturbing that the government keeps 11 political
prisoners in prisons under inhumane conditions," said Elizardo Sanchez
of the independent Cuban Commission of Human Rights.

With one exception, all the prisoners have agreed to go to Spain as a
condition of their release.

Cuba views them as mercenaries working for the arch-enemy United States
and wants them out of the country.

Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega has said the government intends to free
all political prisoners but that there is disagreement on who qualifies.

(Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Jeff Franks and Peter Cooney)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/02/us-cuba-prisoners-idUSTRE7119BQ20110202

Cuba says sugar harvest off to good start

Cuba says sugar harvest off to good start
Thu Feb 3, 2011 11:10am EST
* All 39 mills scheduled for harvest now open
* Yields, raw sugar output up over 2010 at this time
By Marc Frank

HAVANA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Cuba's sugar harvest got off to a good start
in January with all 39 mills scheduled to open now grinding and yields
higher than expected, state-run radio said on Thursday, as the country
strains to top a million tonnes of raw sugar by May.

"January was very important. Many mills opened early leading to the
production of more sugar than at this time during the previous harvest,"
Juan Varela Perez, the country's top sugar reporter, said during his
regular spot on national radio on Thursday.

"Yields were higher than the plan and way above last year at this time,"
he said.

Varela said on Tuesday yields averaged 10.43 percent the previous day.

Cuba has said there is less cane available than last year when the
harvest came in at a record low 1.1 million tonnes, but it hopes
improved yields and industrial efficiency will make up for part of the
shortfall.

"Raw sugar production (in 2011) will be slightly less than this year due
to a lack of cane," Economy Minister Marino Murillo, who is reportedly
presiding over monthly industry meetings, said in late December.

A tour of western Havana and Matanzas provinces, as well as central
Cienfuegos province, found harvesting in full gear, often with
relatively new Brazilian sugar-cutting machines, Chinese trucks and
support equipment from Holland.

Murillo, during a back and forth with National Assembly deputies in
December, said a reorganization of the industry would begin when the
harvest ends with an eye to obtaining reasonable results by 2015, which
industry insiders said would be around 2.5 million tonnes.

Traders told Reuters that the Cuban sugar industry has no plans to
import sugar nor export more than the approximately 400,000 tonnes it
sends each year to China and minor amounts it sells elsewhere.

Cuba consumes an average 700,000 tonnes annually, however last year
consumption was around 600,000 tonnes due to a reduction in the ration
to the population and other measures.

Cuba, where sugar once was king, accounting for 90 percent of export
earnings compared with under 5 percent today, has drawn up plans to
reorganize the industry and allow foreign investment for the first time
since mills were nationalized in the 1960s.

But the reorganization has yet to begin and negotiations with at least
two foreign companies to jointly share administration of mills and share
production for a limited number of years have dragged on and continue
without results, foreign business sources said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/03/idUKN0326967520110203

Time to support Cubans in their fight for freedom

Time to support Cubans in their fight for freedom

I am responding to your request for comments about "The Cuba Time Warp"
feature in the Sun Sentinel's Outlook section of Jan. 30.

Both James Cason and Ted Piccone give us facts. In both cases, they are
facts that are verifiable, even when some support one view and others
support the opposing view. So what happens?

The key issue about facts is that some have more weight than others,
some are more relevant, some have greater long-term impact. I give more
importance to the fact that "Cuba poses little to no security threat to
the United States," as expressed by Piccone, as compared to the fact
that the Cuban government "will use the new-found dollars [from U.S.
remittances and tourists] to end whatever minor economic reforms [it]
had under consideration," which is Cason's point. Notice the recognition
Cason makes that the economic reforms would be minor in any case.

I am not impressed by an eye-for-an-eye policy, steps that even Cason
admits are not "earth shaking." I am more impacted by the dismal
prospect that Cuba could become a failed state. Visions of well-known
failed states in the present day are enough to scare anyone. With that
in mind, I believe that the U.S. government should reconsider past
unproductive policies and just deal with Cuba and its government as we
do with others that we accept on their own terms. Let us show that we
are on the side of the Cuban people in their wishes for individual
freedoms, civil rights and prosperity.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/fl-cuba-time-warp-letter-20110205,0,1247510.story

Cuba jails 13 in grisly hospital abuse case

Cuba jails 13 in grisly hospital abuse case
(AFP)

HAVANA — Cuba handed lengthy prison terms to 13 workers at a mental
hospital where 26 patients died in a cold snap a year ago that
embarrassed a government that prides itself on its health care.

The Havana Provincial Court slapped the longest sentence, 15 years, on
the director of the hospital, Wilfredo Castillo, for "misappropriation"
and "dereliction of duty," an official statement read out on the state
news broadcast said. The other sentences ranged from 5 to 15 years.

The court said prosecutors proved their case but regretted that the case
resulted in "several people dying," the text said in part.

According to the official account, 26 patients died when temperatures on
the tropical island plunged to 3.9 degrees Celsius (39 degrees
Fahrenheit) beginning on January 9, 2010.

Cuba's outlawed human rights commission has estimated that more than 30
patients died because others perished later at other hospitals and were
not included in the official toll.

Hospital employees told the press at the time that the patients were
undernourished and had no blankets because the hospital's supplies had
been stolen by people who worked there.

Clinical evaluations of the victims found signs of malnutrition, a high
incidence of anemia and vitamin deficiencies, according to the official
report, which said the hospital received enough food for 2,458 patients
when there were only 1,484 patients, the official report said.

It added that an absence of controls "favored the misappropriation of
resources destined fundamentally for the nourishment of the patients, as
well as for clothing and bedding for their protection."

Health and education are free and available to all in Cuba, but the
government has acknowledged that the system has deteriorated in recent
years due to internal economic problems and the US trade embargo.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g4qKoKRT4RY1kfd9wFHBvxYyjfAQ?docId=CNG.a3b609ec2d35c1028acc4b940e0a441d.61

Archbishop underscores essential role of Church in Cuba

Archbishop underscores essential role of Church in Cuba
February 4, 2011

Havana, Cuba, (CNA).- Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the apostolic nuncio to
Cuba, recently stressed that the Catholic Church "plays a very important
role" in the country.

Archbishop Becciu underscored the commitment of the bishops and priests
to help Cubans amid the difficulties they face. His comments came in an
interview published Jan. 29 by the Cuban bishops' conference.

He also referred to the pilgrimage site, the statue of Our Lady of
Charity. "Mary can help Cubans feel that they are one family," he said,
adding that after many years in which pilgrimages were prohibited, it is
"amazing to see such a huge response from the people."

"This has been a unique experience for me," he said.

In the 1960s the Cuban government began outlawing processions and other
religious acts outside of churches. Such prohibitions began to be rolled
back after Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998 and the government
reinstated Christmas as a holiday.

The devotion to Our Lady of Charity in Cuba dates back to 1612, when
three young men found the statue in Nipe Bay. The statue bore the
inscription, "I am the Virgin of Charity."

Devotion to Our Lady of Charity quickly spread throughout the country,
and years later the statue was taken to an area called Cobre, where
there were numerous copper mines.

John Paul II crowned the statue as Queen and Patroness of Cuba on Jan.
24, 1998, during a Mass in Santiago

http://www.dfwcatholic.org/archbishop-underscores-essential-role-of-church-in-cuba12283/.html

Inside Cuba, small businesses ramp up tourism offer

Inside Cuba, small businesses ramp up tourism offer
By Marc Frank
CIENFUEGOS, Cuba | Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:51am EST

Communist Cuba's recent easing of red tape for private enterprise is
improving services for tourists in provincial towns on the Caribbean
island, with hundreds of new restaurants and lodgings opening up.

"Mom-and-pop" small businesses have begun to boom in Cuban cities and
towns following reforms by President Raul Castro to boost private
enterprise and lay off state workers to improve efficiency in one of the
world's last Soviet-style economies.

In the quaint south coast port city of Cienfuegos, the number of private
restaurants has jumped from two to 16 in just a few months. There are
now more than 100 home-based 'bed and breakfast' lodgings, local
entrepreneurs say.

That is a welcome relief for visitors to the town, nestled between the
foothills of the Escambray mountains and a palm-lined bay. Both
foreigners and locals have grumbled in the past about the poor food and
accommodation on offer in the Cuban interior, away from the capital and
main tourist resorts.

Cienfuegos' 400,000 residents and wandering tourists, who last year
struggled to find refreshment in the often sweltering city, can now
choose between dozens of home-based snack outlets serving pizza,
pastries, coffee and soft drinks.

"Competition means you have to improve your service and that's a good
thing, everyone gains, you, the tourists and the country," said Orestes
Toledo, owner of the Perla Hostal, a two-room bed and breakfast.

"Now even the state will have to shape up," he added, sipping coffee on
his roof-top terrace overlooking the bay.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro nationalized all small
businesses in 1968 and only after the collapse of longtime benefactor
the Soviet Union in 1991 begrudgingly allowed their return under tight
regulation.

But after a few years, his government stopped issuing new private
self-employment licenses that underpinned small business. Many small
businesses were strangled by red tape.

Fidel's brother, Raul Castro, became president in 2008 and has now
struck out in a different direction with plans to turn much of the
retail sector over to leasing arrangements, cooperatives and private
entrepreneurs.

Cienfuegos is 150 miles (240 km) east of Havana, near the restored
colonial town of Trinidad and a few hours from the popular Varadero
beach resort. Foreign visitors to the city usually pass through for a
day or two.

HIGH HOPES

Cienfuegos' new private entrepreneurs believe their businesses will now
steadily improve and seem to relish the challenge of more joining their
ranks.

"I think a lot of people are going to open restaurants. I calculate you
might eventually see 40 or 50 and a lot of cafes," said Tony Azorlin, a
strapping former forest ranger.

Azorlin and his wife doted over clients last week at the Ache 'paladar',
or home-based restaurant.

"I think there is a market for that many, as long as tourism holds up,"
he said. Azorlin added the sky would be the limit for local private
business if the United States lifted its ban on most Americans visiting
the island.

This ban persists under the decades-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba,
which U.S. President Barack Obama slightly eased earlier this month, to
allow more trips by American professors and students, artists and church
groups.

Some 2.5 million foreign tourists visited Cuba last year, the government
reported.

The Ache was one of 18 'paladares' that opened in Cienfuegos in the
1990s when small family businesses were first allowed. All but two
closed over the years under ensuing over-regulation imposed by a state
loath to allow competition.

Azorlin said under rules introduced in the last few months, his taxes
were now lower. He also could have more seats, hire employees and serve
what he pleased, with beef, shrimp, lobster and potatoes no longer
banned from private restaurant menus.

At a government office in Cienfuegos issuing private business permits,
Arlina Rodriguez estimated she and colleagues had issued more than 200
licenses since Castro lifted restrictions in October, proclaiming small
business vital to the country's future.

"It hasn't stopped and doesn't appear it will any time soon," said
Rodriguez, busy dealing with eight people seeking licenses at her poorly
lit hole-in-the-wall office.

Nationwide, the government reports more than 75,000 self-employment
licenses have been granted so far.

The Ache is a quaint, upscale eatery, but right next door neighbor
Carlos Alberto is of a more ambitious breed. He has just opened the Casa
de Chango restaurant and bar, a splashier and lower-priced
establishment, operating around the clock.

Carlos Alberto said he wanted to take full advantage of new regulations
allowing him to hire labor and rent space.

"I have decided to expand and open a second Casa de Chango, and
eventually will have three, four or five," he said, insisting local
authorities and Chango, the most powerful deity in the Afro-Cuban
Santeria religion, would bless his ambition to found the first private
restaurant chain in the country. (Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and
Pascal Fletcher)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/25/uk-cuba-economy-reforms-idUSLNE70O04G20110125

Castro as intelligence asset?

Posted on Saturday, 02.05.11

Castro as intelligence asset?
BY JOE CARDONA
jccigar@aol.com

For over five decades Fidel Castro has been viewed by U.S. presidents
and policymakers as an archenemy of American interests and values. The
bearded ``villain'' has been linked to every adverse conspiracy theory
imaginable -- including the murder of President John Kennedy.

During the nearly half century of his rule, the Cuban dictator became an
instrumental ally of the Soviet Union. He armed, trained and financed
dozens of guerrilla movements throughout the world, aided and abetted
every subversive terrorist movement that advocated violence against the
United States, and staunchly supported any world leader that so much as
uttered a syllable of anti-American rhetoric.

Does Fidel Castro match the classic profile of an enemy of state or is
he perhaps nothing more than a cleverly crafted foe? A formidably
designed ruse to lure the Soviets -- the Cold War's Trojan horse?

Throughout my career as a documentary filmmaker, I have conducted
hundreds of interviews with experts and participants of the Cuban
polemic. I have pondered Cuba with former Castro comandantes, ministers
and diplomats. I have analyzed strategies and tactics with
representatives of every opposition movement or faction since the
inception of Cuba's totalitarian regime and dissected strategies with
many significant U.S. policymakers ranging from former secretaries of
state, influential elected officials and key policy shapers. Not to
mention the dozens of distinguished authors and journalists I have
conversed with regarding the enemy island.

Without fail, every conversation leads to countless logic-defying dead ends.

I recognize that politics (whether governing or diplomacy) is an inexact
science susceptible to erroneous intelligence information which can lead
to flawed interpretations, and myopic strategies (including inexplicable
wars like the one we are presently fighting in Iraq).

However, when it comes to analyzing the unusual development of the Cuban
revolution -- given that it hailed mostly from the middle and upper
classes and was not the typical peasant uprising -- and the incredulous
legend of uber Fidel, extolled by many history books as a messianic
leader, one has to question the flawless construction and mystification
of this Third World revolutionary character.

Castro's ascension to power is lined with coincidence, wrought with good
fortune and supported by the superhuman guile he is credited with. The
whole tale seems lifted from an early James Bond film.

Less than two years after coming to power in January of 1959, Castro
overtly allied himself with the Soviet Union and we are to believe that
the American intelligence apparatus was stunned by the move. This, after
Castro had included noted communists, like Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara among
his comandante ranks.

It's hard to fathom that the same superpower that strong-armed and
toppled leaders throughout the Western Hemisphere would so readily
accept an ally of the ``evil empire'' to install himself a scant 90
miles from U.S. shores.

The same American government that has consistently kowtowed to the
Castro regime, sent U.S. soldiers to Panama, clearly violating that
country's sovereignty, arrested its leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega, and
transported him back to the United States where he stood trial and was
jailed.

In light of recent Wikileaks revelations of American intelligence assets
such as former Honduran President Mel Zelaya, is it so far-fetched to
think that Castro was a plan hatched and designed by the budding Central
Intelligence Agency in the late 1940s?

Immediately after World War II, the American political and military
brain trust understood that the new enemy was the Soviet Union. The
ensuing Cold War was a period of proxy wars, political jostling, high
stakes espionage and nuclear weapons build up. What better way to defeat
the Soviets than to have a permanent presence in their fold?

Far more useful than a spy, Cuba and Fidel Castro may have served as the
conduit to drain the Soviet bloc of all of its economic, military and
political resources. And drain Castro did.

Far-fetched theory? An illusion of perception based on a series of
conveniently coincidental tidbits of information?

As I probed deeper into my conspiracy and was reaching the point where
it all began to make sense, I shared my theory with someone whose
opinion on Cuba I respect very much, Jose Azel, a senior research
associate at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies. Dr. Azel promptly and steadfastly blew holes
into my assertions, pointing out that ``a theory of this magnitude
presupposes a mastermind behind the plan that has the vision to see into
the future. There are also too many variables to control.''

Both great points that are difficult to refute. But what if the plan to
utilize Castro as an intelligence asset was a long process filled with
coincidental twists that snowballed into the secret weapon he may have
become?

If you closely examine Castro's political trajectory you will find that
most of what he has touched or been a part of has been destroyed,
including the Soviet Union.

Who knows? One day Julian Assange's Wikileaks might reveal Fidel Castro
as the great Trojan Horse.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/05/2051679/castro-as-intelligence-asset.html

Cuban dissident who refused exile released

Posted on Saturday, 02.05.11

Cuban dissident who refused exile released

Guido Sigler Amaya was released from prison Friday after refusing to be
exiled to Spain as a condition of his freedom.
BY JUAN CARLOS CHAVES
jcchaves@ElNuevoHerald.com

Guido Sigler Amaya, the first of two political prisoners among a group
of 11 dissidents who reject being exiled to Spain, was freed Friday from
the Aguica prison in Matanzas.

``He is very pale, but very upbeat,'' opponent Oscar Sánchez told the
AFP news agency.

``He is now with his family and a few of his fellow fighters,'' he said.

Earlier the Cuban Catholic Church had announced Sigler would be released
``soon'' together with government opponent Angel Juan Moya Acosta.

At the last minute, however, Moya rejected the offer of release, arguing
that all the ill political prisoners should be freed first, according to
information by the Miami-based Cuban Democratic Directory.

The developments took place at a time in which two other political
prisoners from the so-called Group of 75 -- Diosdado González Marrero,
48, and Pedro Arguelles Morán, 64 -- launched a hunger strike demanding
their immediate release and that of nine other conscientious prisoners.

On January 28, Blanca Alejandrina García de la Riva, González's wife,
also decided to begin a period of fasting in demand of her husband's
release.

In Havana, Moya's wife, Berta Soler, spokeswoman for the Ladies in White
dissident group, said she would respect her husband's decision.

``Yes, I want my man at home, but there are always requests for those
who are ill,'' she said.

On Friday, Soler and Laura Pollán, leader of the Ladies in White,
delivered a letter to the office of the Archbishop in Havana. It was
addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and asked him to intercede for the
release of González.

``I request your attention to what is happening to us, ask for your
prayers, and that you intercede in this process that is lacking
transparency,'' the letter said.

Moya is serving a 20-year sentence in the Combinado del Este prison in
Havana. Sigler received a similar sentence.

Sigler was the vice president of the illegal Alternative Option
Independent Movement, which he founded with his brothers Ariel, a
paraplegic released in June, and Miguel, released in 2005 due to poor
health.

Elizardo Sánchez, president of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and
National Reconciliation, said the release of Sigler and potential
release of Moya weren't related to the hunger strikes of Arguelles,
González and García de la Riva.

``In any case this is a manipulation by the regime, which continues to
trickle out people's releases in order to stretch the news impact,''
Sánchez said.

The possibility of Sigler's release without forced exile to Spain caught
the attention of his brother Ariel, one of the 75 dissidents jailed
during the raids and summary trials of peaceful opponents and
independent journalists in 2003.

``These releases come too late and are not motivated by the goodwill of
the regime,'' he said. ``They are the result of pressure from the
international community and all the recent developments on the island.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/05/2051670/dissident-who-refused-exile-released.html