Online travel sites jump on the U.S.-Cuba bandwagon, report rise in demand
By Elizabeth Llorente Published March 03, 2015Fox News Latino
With the island beckoning the likes of Conan and Paris and others famous
enough not to need last names, it was only a matter of time before a
U.S. online travel booking site offered trips to Havana.
CheapAir.com now makes it possible to book flights between various U.S.
cities and Havana.
It is just one of the latest stirrings of the recently awakened
"sleeping giant" of U.S.-Cuba relations – dormant for more than half a
century – after President Barack Obama and Cuba President Raul Castro
announced in December the restoration of diplomatic relations between
the long sworn enemies.
"Since the rule change, we have seen a surge in search volumes for
travel to Cuba," CheapAir.com CEO Jeff Klee said in a statement quoted
by USA Today. "Arranging flights to Cuba is a little complicated, but
it's the kind of thing we're good at and our technology platform is
flexible enough to make it possible."
"Our team did a great job building it out in just a few weeks' time."
Earlier this year, travel search site Kayak.com showed a variety of
choices for flights and hotels to Cuba, but its users cannot book trips
through it.
Cheapflights.com, another search site, noticed a spike in interest in
Cuba immediately after Obama announced an easing of travel and trade
restrictions.
For a few days after the announcement in December, Cuba was the fourth
most searched site for Caribbean travel on Cheapflights.com, the company
said in a press release.
It became a popular search item again in mid-January, after the
administration released details about new trade and travel regulations,
which included expanding to 12 the categories of Americans who could
visit the island. It jumped to number four in the most searched
Caribbean destinations, behind Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and
Jamaica.
It has remained near the top since then, Cheapflights.com said.
"There's an ongoing and growing interest in Cuba," said Emily Fisher,
the head of North American Communications for Cheapflights.com, to Fox
News Latino. "The people who are interested in going are interested in
getting a snapshot of Cuba before it changes."
"It's like friends of mine who went to East Berlin when the wall first
came down," Fisher said, "before it became integrated with the rest of
the world, when it was untouched, unwestern culture, with no chain
restaurants. To some extent, it was Communist tourism -- we went through
a Cold War, and tourists could see what it was like behind the Cold War.
There's a lot of that feeling with Cuba right now."
But while Americans are getting an appetite for traveling to the
long-forbidden fruit that Cuba has been for a whole generation in the
United States, the U.S. tourism industry is not quite ready to
facilitate trips there, experts say.
Many trips offered still have travelers going to third countries and
taking connect fights, and fares often are expensive – in the four digits.
Indeed, CheapAir.com notes on its website that many restrictions remain
to traveling to Cuba, even with the many dramatic changes that are
taking place.
"Travel to Cuba from the U.S.A. is only legally permitted for 12
approved reasons, and (unfortunately) hitting the beach isn't one of
them," CheapAir.com says on its site.
Travelers no longer need a special license from the U.S. Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. But their objective for
traveling to Cuba must fall within one of the categories, which include
religious, cultural, educational and humanitarian.
People who have relatives in Cuba were allowed to travel there before
the change in U.S.-Cuba policy, and many take charter flights from the
United States.
Experts on Cuba travel generally expect that it will get easier, and
less expensive, to plan trips there as demand grows and the U.S. travel
industry accommodates it.
"We've been talking to our partners," Fisher said, "airlines and travel
agencies say it's going to be an opportunity for them. It's a momentous
change."
Elizabeth Llorente can be reached at
elizabeth.llorente@foxnewslatino.com. Follow her on
https://twitter.com/Liz_Llorente
Source: Online travel sites jump on the U.S.-Cuba bandwagon, report rise
in demand | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2015/03/03/online-travel-sites-jump-on-us-cuba-bandwagon-report-rise-in-demand/
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Cuba looks north to US farmers for help with food crisis
Cuba looks north to US farmers for help with food crisis
BY MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/04/2015 3:08 AM 03/04/2015 3:09 AM
GUIRA DE MELENA, CUBA
The rust-red fields stretched for miles in the Cuban sun, garlic shoots
and beetroot leaves waving gently in the spring breeze.
Pink piglets nosed for scraps under the admiring gaze of former
President Ronald Reagan's first secretary of agriculture and about a
dozen other U.S. farmers and trade officials who may represent Cuba's
best hope for ending the half-century-old trade embargo it blames for
most of its economic troubles.
On Wednesday, their delegation of about 90 representatives of U.S.
agriculture will wrap up three days of meetings with Cuban officials and
farmers as part of a lobbying campaign for the elimination of the embargo.
"It's a matter of time," former Agriculture Secretary John Block, who is
an Illinois hog farmer and Washington lawyer, said as he toured the
247-member cooperative farm outside Havana. "It'll be lifted and we'll
have normal relations. We should have done it a long time ago."
President Barack Obama's loosening of the embargo unleashed a flurry of
moves from U.S. companies trying to stake out positions in an untapped
market. Significant trade growth appears likely to come fastest in
agriculture, the sector of the Cuban economy that has the deepest ties
to the United States and has been undergoing market-oriented reforms
longer than any other on the island.
A bipartisan group of senators who introduced a bill last month to drop
the embargo says farm and business backing is essential.
Cuba spends roughly $2 billion a year to import about 80 percent of its
food and a long-standing humanitarian exception to the trade embargo
allows U.S. farmers to fill some of that demand. After years of
declining sales, mostly Republican states sold nearly $300 million of
food to the island last year, primarily frozen chicken and soybean
products. American trade officials and farmers are dreaming of
dominating a food import market that could grow to $3 billion in coming
years if Cuba's economy improves.
"We've been here and we want to stay here," said Stephanie Robinson,
marketing and development director for the Virginia Department of
Agriculture.
Obama's changes appear to allow exports of U.S. farm equipment to
hundreds of thousands of Cuban farmers who belong to member-run
businesses like the May First Credit and Service Cooperative farm
outside Havana.
Imports and advice from the U.S. could help Cuba ramp up production
levels that have been slumping for years. The island once exported
sugar, tobacco and citrus to the United States and imported lots of U.S.
rice and other goods. After more than 50 years of central planning and
embargo, the island's agricultural production has drastically fallen and
the resulting high price of food is the primary source of
dissatisfaction for many Cubans.
A year after assuming power from his brother Fidel in 2006, President
Raul Castro launched a series of reforms to loosen near-total state
control of agriculture, giving long-term loans of fallow land to private
farmers and allowing them to sell surplus crops on the private market.
Agriculture today is in a state of halfway transformation. Cooperatives
like May First sell roughly 30 percent of their crops at urban farm
stands at market prices. They must sell the rest to the state for 30
percent to 50 percent below the market price.
Payments from the government are often late and the Ministry of
Agriculture controls the sale of supplies like seeds and machinery,
which are often in short supply or show up too late. Productivity is
low. A cow living at May First produces about one-eighth the milk that a
cow in the U.S. turns out a day.
Food prices, particularly for meat, are stunningly high for a country
where the average salary is about $20 a month. U.S. and Cuban farmers
comparing prices during Tuesday's stop at the cooperative found that
pork and chicken are two to three times pricier in Cuba than in the U.S.
Retired hotel chef Eudelia Gonzalez bought four beets and a pork bone
stripped of its meat at the farm stand run by the May First coop in
Havana's Kohly neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon. The stew ingredients
cost a dollar, or about a tenth of her monthly pension. Still, she said,
"at least there are things to eat."
"Sometimes there are no onions, but now there are a lot of them around,"
she said. "You can also find potatoes for sale."
Potatoes are state-controlled goods and almost never in stock, with
touts selling them outside farmers markets as if they were drugs,
beckoning customers with a hissed whisper of "Potatoes!"
Detente has Cuban farmers dreaming of exporting pricey goods like
seafood, tobacco and honey to the U.S. and raising productivity with
modern seeds, fertilizer and equipment bought on credit. That's all
currently impossible under the embargo.
"If the two countries succeed in drawing closer, it could be really good
for both sides," said Jose Miguel Gonzalez Garcia, president of the May
First cooperative. "There's a lot of optimism that things are really
going to change."
Source: Cuba looks north to US farmers for help with food crisis | Miami
Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article12398795.html
BY MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/04/2015 3:08 AM 03/04/2015 3:09 AM
GUIRA DE MELENA, CUBA
The rust-red fields stretched for miles in the Cuban sun, garlic shoots
and beetroot leaves waving gently in the spring breeze.
Pink piglets nosed for scraps under the admiring gaze of former
President Ronald Reagan's first secretary of agriculture and about a
dozen other U.S. farmers and trade officials who may represent Cuba's
best hope for ending the half-century-old trade embargo it blames for
most of its economic troubles.
On Wednesday, their delegation of about 90 representatives of U.S.
agriculture will wrap up three days of meetings with Cuban officials and
farmers as part of a lobbying campaign for the elimination of the embargo.
"It's a matter of time," former Agriculture Secretary John Block, who is
an Illinois hog farmer and Washington lawyer, said as he toured the
247-member cooperative farm outside Havana. "It'll be lifted and we'll
have normal relations. We should have done it a long time ago."
President Barack Obama's loosening of the embargo unleashed a flurry of
moves from U.S. companies trying to stake out positions in an untapped
market. Significant trade growth appears likely to come fastest in
agriculture, the sector of the Cuban economy that has the deepest ties
to the United States and has been undergoing market-oriented reforms
longer than any other on the island.
A bipartisan group of senators who introduced a bill last month to drop
the embargo says farm and business backing is essential.
Cuba spends roughly $2 billion a year to import about 80 percent of its
food and a long-standing humanitarian exception to the trade embargo
allows U.S. farmers to fill some of that demand. After years of
declining sales, mostly Republican states sold nearly $300 million of
food to the island last year, primarily frozen chicken and soybean
products. American trade officials and farmers are dreaming of
dominating a food import market that could grow to $3 billion in coming
years if Cuba's economy improves.
"We've been here and we want to stay here," said Stephanie Robinson,
marketing and development director for the Virginia Department of
Agriculture.
Obama's changes appear to allow exports of U.S. farm equipment to
hundreds of thousands of Cuban farmers who belong to member-run
businesses like the May First Credit and Service Cooperative farm
outside Havana.
Imports and advice from the U.S. could help Cuba ramp up production
levels that have been slumping for years. The island once exported
sugar, tobacco and citrus to the United States and imported lots of U.S.
rice and other goods. After more than 50 years of central planning and
embargo, the island's agricultural production has drastically fallen and
the resulting high price of food is the primary source of
dissatisfaction for many Cubans.
A year after assuming power from his brother Fidel in 2006, President
Raul Castro launched a series of reforms to loosen near-total state
control of agriculture, giving long-term loans of fallow land to private
farmers and allowing them to sell surplus crops on the private market.
Agriculture today is in a state of halfway transformation. Cooperatives
like May First sell roughly 30 percent of their crops at urban farm
stands at market prices. They must sell the rest to the state for 30
percent to 50 percent below the market price.
Payments from the government are often late and the Ministry of
Agriculture controls the sale of supplies like seeds and machinery,
which are often in short supply or show up too late. Productivity is
low. A cow living at May First produces about one-eighth the milk that a
cow in the U.S. turns out a day.
Food prices, particularly for meat, are stunningly high for a country
where the average salary is about $20 a month. U.S. and Cuban farmers
comparing prices during Tuesday's stop at the cooperative found that
pork and chicken are two to three times pricier in Cuba than in the U.S.
Retired hotel chef Eudelia Gonzalez bought four beets and a pork bone
stripped of its meat at the farm stand run by the May First coop in
Havana's Kohly neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon. The stew ingredients
cost a dollar, or about a tenth of her monthly pension. Still, she said,
"at least there are things to eat."
"Sometimes there are no onions, but now there are a lot of them around,"
she said. "You can also find potatoes for sale."
Potatoes are state-controlled goods and almost never in stock, with
touts selling them outside farmers markets as if they were drugs,
beckoning customers with a hissed whisper of "Potatoes!"
Detente has Cuban farmers dreaming of exporting pricey goods like
seafood, tobacco and honey to the U.S. and raising productivity with
modern seeds, fertilizer and equipment bought on credit. That's all
currently impossible under the embargo.
"If the two countries succeed in drawing closer, it could be really good
for both sides," said Jose Miguel Gonzalez Garcia, president of the May
First cooperative. "There's a lot of optimism that things are really
going to change."
Source: Cuba looks north to US farmers for help with food crisis | Miami
Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article12398795.html
Bill would boost marketing of agriculture exports to Cuba
Bill would boost marketing of agriculture exports to Cuba
BY BRIAN BAKST ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/03/2015 8:54 PM 03/03/2015 8:54 PM
ST. PAUL, MINN.
Seeking to fan agriculture exports to Cuba, a Minnesota House panel took
initial steps Tuesday to spend state money on promoting the shipment of
goods to the island nation amid improving relations with the United States.
The bipartisan bill that the House Agriculture Finance Committee kept in
the budget mix would designate $100,000 to promote marketing exports to
Cuba. Its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jack Considine of Mankato, said he
envisions half of the appropriation being used to defray costs of
setting up a high-level trip to develop contacts on the ground.
Then-Gov. Jesse Ventura led a delegation there in 2002.
Considine said improving U.S. relations with Cuba make it an ideal time
for Minnesota producers to explore opportunities.
"I would like to see us get down there first and expand the markets,"
Considine said.
In December, U.S. officials announced steps to begin normalizing
relations with the communist island nation after decades of hostility.
It triggered high expectations that an eased trade embargo was not far
off. But diplomatic talks between the two governments have moved at a
measured pace.
There are humanitarian exemptions to the embargo for some agricultural
and medical products. Minnesota producers have shipped a modest amount
of goods to Cuba in recent years.
According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development, Cuba
ranked 170th on the state's list of export markets in 2014, with a mere
$166,700 shipment of medical goods there. Exports neared $52 million
because of the high value of corn exports in 2008 but have tapered off
more recently.
The agency helps scope out sites for potential trade missions, with the
destinations selected by the governor. Department spokeswoman Madeline
Koch said there were no plans for a trip to Cuba at this time.
Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Margaret Hart said nothing is in
the planning stages for her agency but a mission would be considered if
the bill passes.
Dayton spokesman Matt Swenson said Cuba "will certainly be one of the
countries considered" for future trade trips the governor leads. He
heads to Mexico this summer.
The Cuba measure could wind up in an agricultural budget bill now taking
shape in the committee.
Ralph Kaehler, a cattle farmer from St. Charles who was on the Ventura
trade mission, testified about Minnesota's advantage of being able to
move farm goods down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico.
His son, Cliff Kaehler, joined his father on that and other trips to
Cuba. He told committee members that Cuba remains a largely untapped market.
"It's not a question of if Cuba is going to be a big market," Cliff
Kaehler said, "but how are we going to capitalize?"
Source: Bill would boost marketing of agriculture exports to Cuba |
Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article12053990.html
BY BRIAN BAKST ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/03/2015 8:54 PM 03/03/2015 8:54 PM
ST. PAUL, MINN.
Seeking to fan agriculture exports to Cuba, a Minnesota House panel took
initial steps Tuesday to spend state money on promoting the shipment of
goods to the island nation amid improving relations with the United States.
The bipartisan bill that the House Agriculture Finance Committee kept in
the budget mix would designate $100,000 to promote marketing exports to
Cuba. Its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jack Considine of Mankato, said he
envisions half of the appropriation being used to defray costs of
setting up a high-level trip to develop contacts on the ground.
Then-Gov. Jesse Ventura led a delegation there in 2002.
Considine said improving U.S. relations with Cuba make it an ideal time
for Minnesota producers to explore opportunities.
"I would like to see us get down there first and expand the markets,"
Considine said.
In December, U.S. officials announced steps to begin normalizing
relations with the communist island nation after decades of hostility.
It triggered high expectations that an eased trade embargo was not far
off. But diplomatic talks between the two governments have moved at a
measured pace.
There are humanitarian exemptions to the embargo for some agricultural
and medical products. Minnesota producers have shipped a modest amount
of goods to Cuba in recent years.
According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development, Cuba
ranked 170th on the state's list of export markets in 2014, with a mere
$166,700 shipment of medical goods there. Exports neared $52 million
because of the high value of corn exports in 2008 but have tapered off
more recently.
The agency helps scope out sites for potential trade missions, with the
destinations selected by the governor. Department spokeswoman Madeline
Koch said there were no plans for a trip to Cuba at this time.
Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Margaret Hart said nothing is in
the planning stages for her agency but a mission would be considered if
the bill passes.
Dayton spokesman Matt Swenson said Cuba "will certainly be one of the
countries considered" for future trade trips the governor leads. He
heads to Mexico this summer.
The Cuba measure could wind up in an agricultural budget bill now taking
shape in the committee.
Ralph Kaehler, a cattle farmer from St. Charles who was on the Ventura
trade mission, testified about Minnesota's advantage of being able to
move farm goods down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico.
His son, Cliff Kaehler, joined his father on that and other trips to
Cuba. He told committee members that Cuba remains a largely untapped market.
"It's not a question of if Cuba is going to be a big market," Cliff
Kaehler said, "but how are we going to capitalize?"
Source: Bill would boost marketing of agriculture exports to Cuba |
Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article12053990.html
Cuba and the new normal
Cuba and the new normal
BY MICHAEL PUTNEYMPUTNEY@WPLG.COM
03/03/2015 6:22 PM 03/03/2015 6:22 PM
There is deep ambivalence in our community over normalizing relations
with Cuba. For the first wave of Cubans, those relations will never be
normal. Not when their homes, stores, factories, farms and fincas are in
the hands of Cuban communists who essentially stole them. The most
important thing the first wave lost, of course, was their country.
President Obama seems determined to give it back to them, what's left
anyway, even if it's almost unrecognizable. Most of all, President Obama
seems determined to give Cubans on the island a chance to build a civil
society, a better life that's not dependent on their government. Therein
lies the challenge: Can a civil society develop in Cuba, with U.S. help,
under a repressive, totalitarian regime? The Obama administration thinks
it can and is trying an end-run around the Castros. To do so the
administration has given up a lot — I would say too much — just to get a
dialogue started.
The dialogue had barely begun in January when Raúl Castro popped off at
the CELAC meeting in Costa Rica to say the revolution would never change
and no accommodation would be made to the U.S. on human rights or
anything else. Oh, yes, he also said the price of renewed relations
would be compensating Cuba more than $100 billion for damages done by
the embargo, which must be lifted, and taking Radio and TV Martí off the
air, as well as giving back Gitmo. Some of that, no doubt, was posturing
to mollify hard-liners back home. But Castro's list of demands can't be
ignored.
If you listened carefully to what Cuban negotiator Josefina Vidal said
last Friday in Washington after the second round of talks (I was in the
State Department auditorium), she also made it clear that in key areas
Cuba will not compromise or make concessions.
U.S. authorities want back cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, or any other
felon who's been given sanctuary? Forget it, Forget it, she said,
because Cuba is a sovereign country. As for human rights, sure, the
Cubans will talk about it, but will likely bring up the Eric Garner
incident in New York; the death-by-cop shooting of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri or, possibly, Trayvon Martin.
Our skirts are not entirely clean, to be sure, but we have a
Constitution that guarantees equal rights and due process and a judicial
system to enforce it. That's a crap shoot in Cuba.
Several foreign businessmen who invested millions in "joint ventures" in
Cuba — the government's normal 51-percent interest consists of letting
the deal go through — have been arrested on what look like spurious
charges. Two British men whose company pumped millions into renovating
the Hotel Saratoga in Havana, hard by the Capitolio, were arrested and
spent two years behind bars before being released. The boutique hotel,
which looks charming from its web site photos, is the favored choice of
U.S. congressional delegations, despite the fact that it was stolen,
twice, by the Castro regime.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her entourage stayed at the
Saratoga recently on a visit during which they studiously avoided
meeting with prominent human-rights and pro-democracy activists. That
apparently was a condition set by the Castro government after Sen.
Patrick Leahy and his group met a few months ago with leading dissidents
and made a big deal about what they had suffered.
Pelosi said her trip was all about furthering travel and trade; guess it
was just coincidence that she was there during some of the worst winter
storms Washington has seen in years.
But back to our ambivalence. While many Cuban Americans denounce the
president for trying to establish diplomatic relations with the devil,
others are preparing to do business with him. Virtually every large law
firm in Miami has Cuba specialists advising clients on how to navigate
the new policy as determined by regulations issued by Treasury,
Commerce, ICE and other federal agencies.
Some investment firms have created venture capital funds for Cuba. Teo
Babun, who has encyclopedic knowledge of Cuba's port and transportation
infrastructure and has directed religious missions to Cuba, has resigned
to go to work for Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors of Miami Beach. Babun says
they're creating a $500-million investment fund for those willing to
take big risks to reap big rewards.
Given its checkered history with foreign investors, I don't see how
anyone in their right mind could invest in Cuba now. There appears to be
no reliable remedy for civil disputes in Cuban courts, and the
government can capriciously bring criminal charges. This is, after all,
a country where "dangerousness" is a crime.
Vidal, on the other hand, is charming. And almost persuasive. The head
of Cuba's Foreign Ministry for North America, she says Cuba is open to
full and frank discussions of disputed issues in the hope of
establishing diplomatic ties with the United States. Vidal pronounced
last week's second round of talks "good" and "productive."
Her U.S. counterpart, the redoubtable Roberta Jacobson, also called the
talks "productive" and "surprising in their frankness." She says they're
already far enough along that full-fledged embassies could be open in
Havana and Washington in time for the Summit of the Americas in Panama
in April. That's extremely optimistic, but it's possible a target date
for opening the embassies could be announced by the start of the meeting.
When the embassies eventually open, look for Secretary of State John
Kerry to be in Havana to cut the ribbon, or whatever diplomats do. And
before December 2016, expect President Obama to fly to Havana to shake
hands with Raúl Castro to cement the new era in U.S.-Cuba relations.
Many in our community will be heartsick to see it. Others will quietly
rejoice and look for ways to profit. In fact, they already are.
Source: Cuba and the new normal | Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article12308339.html
BY MICHAEL PUTNEYMPUTNEY@WPLG.COM
03/03/2015 6:22 PM 03/03/2015 6:22 PM
There is deep ambivalence in our community over normalizing relations
with Cuba. For the first wave of Cubans, those relations will never be
normal. Not when their homes, stores, factories, farms and fincas are in
the hands of Cuban communists who essentially stole them. The most
important thing the first wave lost, of course, was their country.
President Obama seems determined to give it back to them, what's left
anyway, even if it's almost unrecognizable. Most of all, President Obama
seems determined to give Cubans on the island a chance to build a civil
society, a better life that's not dependent on their government. Therein
lies the challenge: Can a civil society develop in Cuba, with U.S. help,
under a repressive, totalitarian regime? The Obama administration thinks
it can and is trying an end-run around the Castros. To do so the
administration has given up a lot — I would say too much — just to get a
dialogue started.
The dialogue had barely begun in January when Raúl Castro popped off at
the CELAC meeting in Costa Rica to say the revolution would never change
and no accommodation would be made to the U.S. on human rights or
anything else. Oh, yes, he also said the price of renewed relations
would be compensating Cuba more than $100 billion for damages done by
the embargo, which must be lifted, and taking Radio and TV Martí off the
air, as well as giving back Gitmo. Some of that, no doubt, was posturing
to mollify hard-liners back home. But Castro's list of demands can't be
ignored.
If you listened carefully to what Cuban negotiator Josefina Vidal said
last Friday in Washington after the second round of talks (I was in the
State Department auditorium), she also made it clear that in key areas
Cuba will not compromise or make concessions.
U.S. authorities want back cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, or any other
felon who's been given sanctuary? Forget it, Forget it, she said,
because Cuba is a sovereign country. As for human rights, sure, the
Cubans will talk about it, but will likely bring up the Eric Garner
incident in New York; the death-by-cop shooting of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri or, possibly, Trayvon Martin.
Our skirts are not entirely clean, to be sure, but we have a
Constitution that guarantees equal rights and due process and a judicial
system to enforce it. That's a crap shoot in Cuba.
Several foreign businessmen who invested millions in "joint ventures" in
Cuba — the government's normal 51-percent interest consists of letting
the deal go through — have been arrested on what look like spurious
charges. Two British men whose company pumped millions into renovating
the Hotel Saratoga in Havana, hard by the Capitolio, were arrested and
spent two years behind bars before being released. The boutique hotel,
which looks charming from its web site photos, is the favored choice of
U.S. congressional delegations, despite the fact that it was stolen,
twice, by the Castro regime.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her entourage stayed at the
Saratoga recently on a visit during which they studiously avoided
meeting with prominent human-rights and pro-democracy activists. That
apparently was a condition set by the Castro government after Sen.
Patrick Leahy and his group met a few months ago with leading dissidents
and made a big deal about what they had suffered.
Pelosi said her trip was all about furthering travel and trade; guess it
was just coincidence that she was there during some of the worst winter
storms Washington has seen in years.
But back to our ambivalence. While many Cuban Americans denounce the
president for trying to establish diplomatic relations with the devil,
others are preparing to do business with him. Virtually every large law
firm in Miami has Cuba specialists advising clients on how to navigate
the new policy as determined by regulations issued by Treasury,
Commerce, ICE and other federal agencies.
Some investment firms have created venture capital funds for Cuba. Teo
Babun, who has encyclopedic knowledge of Cuba's port and transportation
infrastructure and has directed religious missions to Cuba, has resigned
to go to work for Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors of Miami Beach. Babun says
they're creating a $500-million investment fund for those willing to
take big risks to reap big rewards.
Given its checkered history with foreign investors, I don't see how
anyone in their right mind could invest in Cuba now. There appears to be
no reliable remedy for civil disputes in Cuban courts, and the
government can capriciously bring criminal charges. This is, after all,
a country where "dangerousness" is a crime.
Vidal, on the other hand, is charming. And almost persuasive. The head
of Cuba's Foreign Ministry for North America, she says Cuba is open to
full and frank discussions of disputed issues in the hope of
establishing diplomatic ties with the United States. Vidal pronounced
last week's second round of talks "good" and "productive."
Her U.S. counterpart, the redoubtable Roberta Jacobson, also called the
talks "productive" and "surprising in their frankness." She says they're
already far enough along that full-fledged embassies could be open in
Havana and Washington in time for the Summit of the Americas in Panama
in April. That's extremely optimistic, but it's possible a target date
for opening the embassies could be announced by the start of the meeting.
When the embassies eventually open, look for Secretary of State John
Kerry to be in Havana to cut the ribbon, or whatever diplomats do. And
before December 2016, expect President Obama to fly to Havana to shake
hands with Raúl Castro to cement the new era in U.S.-Cuba relations.
Many in our community will be heartsick to see it. Others will quietly
rejoice and look for ways to profit. In fact, they already are.
Source: Cuba and the new normal | Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article12308339.html
'Ship to Cuba' option shows up on Amazon.com amid diplomatic talks
'Ship to Cuba' option shows up on Amazon.com amid diplomatic talks
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Less than three months after U.S. and Cuban
officials agreed to restore diplomatic ties, Amazon.com Inc appears to
be laying the groundwork to ship packages to Cuba.
Related Stories
U.S., Cuba say progress made in talks; no date for diplomatic ties Reuters
Cuba, US at odds on ending Havana's terror blacklist AFP
US, Cuba resume normalization talks in Washington AFP
U.S., Cuba say progress made in talks; no date for diplomatic ties Reuters
US could reopen embassy in Cuba within weeks AFP
A "ship to Cuba" button was seen on Monday on Amazon's website by
Reuters correspondents in Havana. But the option does not appear to work
and reporters got an error message when they tried to order an item and
ship it to Cuba.
"Due to export controls and economic sanctions laws and regulations, we
are unable to process transactions from your current location," Amazon
said in the message.
There was no such option available on Amazon's site in a U.S.-based
search from San Francisco.
It is unclear how quickly Amazon, the largest U.S. online retailer,
could start shipping items to Cuba. Amazon did not immediately respond
to requests for comment.
But logistics experts said the appearance of the option suggested the
company was working on it.
"It probably does mean they are testing," said Rob Howard, chief
executive officer of San Francisco-based logistics firm Grand Junction.
Amazon often launches new services without much fanfare, preferring to
first work out the kinks with a small pool of eligible users, he said.
U.S. and Cuban officials have held two rounds of talks following the
Dec. 17 announcement that they would work toward restoring diplomatic
ties severed more than 50 years ago. Cuba has also signaled its
readiness for faster progress.
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has family ties to Cuba. His adoptive
father Miguel Bezos was born there and came to the United States at the
age of 15.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco and Daniel Trotta in
Havana, Cuba; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Source: 'Ship to Cuba' option shows up on Amazon.com amid diplomatic
talks - Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/ship-cuba-option-shows-amazon-com-amid-diplomatic-223941189--finance.html;_ylt=AwrBEiGXhfVU4lAAjo3QtDMD
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Less than three months after U.S. and Cuban
officials agreed to restore diplomatic ties, Amazon.com Inc appears to
be laying the groundwork to ship packages to Cuba.
Related Stories
U.S., Cuba say progress made in talks; no date for diplomatic ties Reuters
Cuba, US at odds on ending Havana's terror blacklist AFP
US, Cuba resume normalization talks in Washington AFP
U.S., Cuba say progress made in talks; no date for diplomatic ties Reuters
US could reopen embassy in Cuba within weeks AFP
A "ship to Cuba" button was seen on Monday on Amazon's website by
Reuters correspondents in Havana. But the option does not appear to work
and reporters got an error message when they tried to order an item and
ship it to Cuba.
"Due to export controls and economic sanctions laws and regulations, we
are unable to process transactions from your current location," Amazon
said in the message.
There was no such option available on Amazon's site in a U.S.-based
search from San Francisco.
It is unclear how quickly Amazon, the largest U.S. online retailer,
could start shipping items to Cuba. Amazon did not immediately respond
to requests for comment.
But logistics experts said the appearance of the option suggested the
company was working on it.
"It probably does mean they are testing," said Rob Howard, chief
executive officer of San Francisco-based logistics firm Grand Junction.
Amazon often launches new services without much fanfare, preferring to
first work out the kinks with a small pool of eligible users, he said.
U.S. and Cuban officials have held two rounds of talks following the
Dec. 17 announcement that they would work toward restoring diplomatic
ties severed more than 50 years ago. Cuba has also signaled its
readiness for faster progress.
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has family ties to Cuba. His adoptive
father Miguel Bezos was born there and came to the United States at the
age of 15.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco and Daniel Trotta in
Havana, Cuba; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Source: 'Ship to Cuba' option shows up on Amazon.com amid diplomatic
talks - Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/ship-cuba-option-shows-amazon-com-amid-diplomatic-223941189--finance.html;_ylt=AwrBEiGXhfVU4lAAjo3QtDMD
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Angel Santiesteban Included in the Defending Freedoms Project
Angel Santiesteban Included in the Defending Freedoms Project
Posted on March 2, 2015
24 February 2015 — In December 2012, the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission, together with the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom and Amnesty International, U.S., created the Defending Freedoms
Project, with the objective of supporting human rights and religious
freedom worldwide, with a particular focus on prisoners of conscience.
Specifically, the members of Congress who "adopt" prisoners of
conscience, in solidarity with those brave men and women throughout the
world, pledge to plead publicly for their freedom.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats and the journalist José Antonio Torres, both
Cuban political prisoners, have recently been included on the list.
This new recognition of Ángel Santiesteban-Prats is added to what he
recently received on behalf of the German Eurodeputy, Dr. Christian
Ehlerquien, who assumed the political sponsorship of the imprisoned
Cuban writer.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: Angel Santiesteban Included in the Defending Freedoms Project |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/angel-santiesteban-included-in-the-defending-freedoms-project/
Posted on March 2, 2015
24 February 2015 — In December 2012, the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission, together with the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom and Amnesty International, U.S., created the Defending Freedoms
Project, with the objective of supporting human rights and religious
freedom worldwide, with a particular focus on prisoners of conscience.
Specifically, the members of Congress who "adopt" prisoners of
conscience, in solidarity with those brave men and women throughout the
world, pledge to plead publicly for their freedom.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats and the journalist José Antonio Torres, both
Cuban political prisoners, have recently been included on the list.
This new recognition of Ángel Santiesteban-Prats is added to what he
recently received on behalf of the German Eurodeputy, Dr. Christian
Ehlerquien, who assumed the political sponsorship of the imprisoned
Cuban writer.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: Angel Santiesteban Included in the Defending Freedoms Project |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/angel-santiesteban-included-in-the-defending-freedoms-project/
Lettuces of Lead
Lettuces of Lead / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez
Posted on March 2, 2015
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana, 1 March 2015 – The raised bed exhibits its
curly lettuces a few meters from the rough concrete building. There is
an hour to go before the urban organic garden near Hidalgo Street in the
Plaza township begins its sale, but already customers are thronging to
get fresh vegetables and lower prices. None of them knows that the
products they will buy here are neither organic nor very safe for their
health.
Urban agriculture is a phenomenon that dawned in the nineties with the
rigors of the Special Period. In the words of a humorist, "We Havanans
turned ourselves into peasants and planted leeks even on balconies." The
economic crisis and the inefficiency of state farms required taking
advantage of empty lots in order to cultivate greens and vegetables.
The initiative helped all these years to alleviate shortages and has
many defenders who emphasize their community character, so different
from the mechanization of modern agriculture. Nevertheless, together
with the undeniable merits are hidden serious problems that point to the
contamination of the crops with wastes characteristic of urban areas.
Nationwide, about 40,000 people work in urban agriculture projects on
some 83,000 acres (130 square miles) that are divided into 145,000
parcels, 385,000 patios*, 6,400 intensive gardens and 4,000 urban
organic gardens. These last under the leadership of the Ministry of
Agriculture, although with some autonomy for crop management.
With these lands planted in populated areas, it has been the goal to
reduce food insecurity, offer greater access to fresh produce and to
expand green spaces in urban zones.
Havana has 97 high yield urban organic gardens. One of the best known is
located in the Alamar neighborhood and is currently managed by a
cooperative of 180 members. The capital also has 318 intensive gardens,
with crops sown directly in the ground, in addition to 38 crops that are
semi-protected and in enriched soil.
The soil enrichment uses a technique known as vermicomposting, which
consists of transforming solid wastes by the action of earthworms and
micro-organisms. The problem is that many of the urban wastes that serve
as a basis for the process are gotten from residential trash and carry a
big load of heavy metals that with time accumulate in greens and vegetables.
A study carried out in 2012 by several researchers from the Institute of
Soils and that included samples from urban organic gardens in Havana and
Guantanamo brought to light that "the compost obtained from the urban
solid wastes originating in household trash extracted from landfills
without prior sorting, and the subsoils prepared from them, contain
heavy metals, especially cadmium and lead, above the maximum permissible
levels."
The lack of an effective system of trash sorting and processing works
against us, because much of the waste used for compost in the urban
organic gardens has had previous contact with materials like cans,
paints, and batteries, thrown indiscriminately into landfills all over
the country.
Furthermore, the process to achieve compost often is not carried out
properly, so that the pathogens contained in the wastes are not
destroyed. Although part of the material used in this process comes from
the garden itself, trash from nearby settlements, market wastes and
agro-industrial refuse are also added.
Family gardens account for close to 90% of the greens consumed by the
population, so ingestion of high doses of heavy metals could be
affecting a great number of Cubans.
Irrigation of the urban organic gardens aggravates the problem because
the water comes from the population's supply network and affects the
amount of water available for human consumption, besides also being
unsuitable for crops because of the high content of chlorine and other
purifying products.
The proximity of streets and avenues to the crops worsens the pollution
because heavy metals also arrive through the ground and the air. Add to
that the use of pesticides and fungicides for control of pests in the
urban organic gardens. An un-confessed but widespread practice.
Most alarming is that the Ministry of Agriculture keeps silent about
this matter and does not promote research into the presence of chemical
agents harmful to health in produce that consumers imagine fresh and
organic. Complicity or apathy? No one knows, but there are many reasons
to distrust that bunch of lettuce with its attractive green leaves.
*Translator's note: "Patios" in this context refers to home gardens
producing food primarily for family consumption.
Translated by MLK
Source: Lettuces of Lead / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/lettuces-of-lead-14ymedio-rosa-lopez/
Posted on March 2, 2015
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana, 1 March 2015 – The raised bed exhibits its
curly lettuces a few meters from the rough concrete building. There is
an hour to go before the urban organic garden near Hidalgo Street in the
Plaza township begins its sale, but already customers are thronging to
get fresh vegetables and lower prices. None of them knows that the
products they will buy here are neither organic nor very safe for their
health.
Urban agriculture is a phenomenon that dawned in the nineties with the
rigors of the Special Period. In the words of a humorist, "We Havanans
turned ourselves into peasants and planted leeks even on balconies." The
economic crisis and the inefficiency of state farms required taking
advantage of empty lots in order to cultivate greens and vegetables.
The initiative helped all these years to alleviate shortages and has
many defenders who emphasize their community character, so different
from the mechanization of modern agriculture. Nevertheless, together
with the undeniable merits are hidden serious problems that point to the
contamination of the crops with wastes characteristic of urban areas.
Nationwide, about 40,000 people work in urban agriculture projects on
some 83,000 acres (130 square miles) that are divided into 145,000
parcels, 385,000 patios*, 6,400 intensive gardens and 4,000 urban
organic gardens. These last under the leadership of the Ministry of
Agriculture, although with some autonomy for crop management.
With these lands planted in populated areas, it has been the goal to
reduce food insecurity, offer greater access to fresh produce and to
expand green spaces in urban zones.
Havana has 97 high yield urban organic gardens. One of the best known is
located in the Alamar neighborhood and is currently managed by a
cooperative of 180 members. The capital also has 318 intensive gardens,
with crops sown directly in the ground, in addition to 38 crops that are
semi-protected and in enriched soil.
The soil enrichment uses a technique known as vermicomposting, which
consists of transforming solid wastes by the action of earthworms and
micro-organisms. The problem is that many of the urban wastes that serve
as a basis for the process are gotten from residential trash and carry a
big load of heavy metals that with time accumulate in greens and vegetables.
A study carried out in 2012 by several researchers from the Institute of
Soils and that included samples from urban organic gardens in Havana and
Guantanamo brought to light that "the compost obtained from the urban
solid wastes originating in household trash extracted from landfills
without prior sorting, and the subsoils prepared from them, contain
heavy metals, especially cadmium and lead, above the maximum permissible
levels."
The lack of an effective system of trash sorting and processing works
against us, because much of the waste used for compost in the urban
organic gardens has had previous contact with materials like cans,
paints, and batteries, thrown indiscriminately into landfills all over
the country.
Furthermore, the process to achieve compost often is not carried out
properly, so that the pathogens contained in the wastes are not
destroyed. Although part of the material used in this process comes from
the garden itself, trash from nearby settlements, market wastes and
agro-industrial refuse are also added.
Family gardens account for close to 90% of the greens consumed by the
population, so ingestion of high doses of heavy metals could be
affecting a great number of Cubans.
Irrigation of the urban organic gardens aggravates the problem because
the water comes from the population's supply network and affects the
amount of water available for human consumption, besides also being
unsuitable for crops because of the high content of chlorine and other
purifying products.
The proximity of streets and avenues to the crops worsens the pollution
because heavy metals also arrive through the ground and the air. Add to
that the use of pesticides and fungicides for control of pests in the
urban organic gardens. An un-confessed but widespread practice.
Most alarming is that the Ministry of Agriculture keeps silent about
this matter and does not promote research into the presence of chemical
agents harmful to health in produce that consumers imagine fresh and
organic. Complicity or apathy? No one knows, but there are many reasons
to distrust that bunch of lettuce with its attractive green leaves.
*Translator's note: "Patios" in this context refers to home gardens
producing food primarily for family consumption.
Translated by MLK
Source: Lettuces of Lead / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/lettuces-of-lead-14ymedio-rosa-lopez/
Cuba, Uruguay aim to increase trade and investments
Cuba, Uruguay aim to increase trade and investments
Published March 02, 2015 EFE
Uruguay's newly sworn-in President Tabare Vazquez met here Monday with
Cuba's Raul Castro and the two leaders agreed on "the importance and
necessity" of strengthening bilateral economic ties, according to a
joint statement.
The men met in private for about an hour and were then joined by members
of their respective Cabinets.
The talks contributed to continued progress on "an ever-wider and more
dynamic bilateral agenda," the joint statement said.
The two presidents reviewed successes of previous cooperation between
their countries and identified new goals in areas such as training and
education, health services, social development and science and
technology, according to the statement.
Vazquez and Castro also exchanged opinions on regional and multilateral
issues.
Castro traveled to Montevideo for the inauguration of Vazquez, who
previously governed Uruguay in 2005-2010. EFE
Source: Cuba, Uruguay aim to increase trade and investments | Fox News
Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/03/02/cuba-uruguay-aim-to-increase-trade-and-investments/
Published March 02, 2015 EFE
Uruguay's newly sworn-in President Tabare Vazquez met here Monday with
Cuba's Raul Castro and the two leaders agreed on "the importance and
necessity" of strengthening bilateral economic ties, according to a
joint statement.
The men met in private for about an hour and were then joined by members
of their respective Cabinets.
The talks contributed to continued progress on "an ever-wider and more
dynamic bilateral agenda," the joint statement said.
The two presidents reviewed successes of previous cooperation between
their countries and identified new goals in areas such as training and
education, health services, social development and science and
technology, according to the statement.
Vazquez and Castro also exchanged opinions on regional and multilateral
issues.
Castro traveled to Montevideo for the inauguration of Vazquez, who
previously governed Uruguay in 2005-2010. EFE
Source: Cuba, Uruguay aim to increase trade and investments | Fox News
Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/03/02/cuba-uruguay-aim-to-increase-trade-and-investments/
Family Code - Socialism’s Straight Jacket
Family Code: Socialism's Straight Jacket / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya
Posted on March 2, 2015
The newspaper Granma insists that "it's a code for the rights of women".
But in 1919, as many women proportionally graduated from the University
of Havana as graduated from universities as in the U.S. And with the
Revolution, Cuban women are forced to raise their children under the
mores mores of socialism, with the slogan "We will become like Che."
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 28 February 2015 — In an extensive
full-page article published on February 14th, the newspaper Granma ("Un
Código de Amor para la Familia"), is full of praise for the 40th
anniversary of the Cuban Family Code, which – in the words of Dr. Olga
Mesa Castillo, president of the Cuban Civil Rights Society and of the
Family of the National Syndicate of Attorneys, and faculty professor of
and consultant to the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana — "is a
code about the love and the rights of women."
Paradoxically, not even the most politically correct academic discourse
of a second-hand law officer can hide certain flaws that reveal the
passive role of Cuban women since, with the arrival of F. Castro to
power, their autonomy was appropriated and, along with it, their ability
to freely associate to defend their gender interests, issues relating to
the family, the right to choose their children's education, etc. In
fact, it can be argued that the Revolution of 1959 put to rest even the
last vestiges of the Cuban feminist movement.
That explains why, when Dr. Mesa refers to "those who conceived and were
involved in [the code's] drafting," she mentioned ten people's names and
only one of them was a woman, which means that the Family Code, which
"enabled Cuban women to fly" was – just like the Revolution itself and
all of its laws — essentially conceived and drafted by men, though by
then 16 long years had elapsed under a system of supposed gender equality.
Nevertheless, we must be aware that this law, de jure, benefited the
interests of minor children born in or outside marriage, it favored the
allowing of divorce, and constituted a guarantee for families based on
informal (or consensual) marriages, and for the right of children born
from those unions. Another question would be to determine how effective
the law has been in practice, if it has been applied extensively, and
how the subject of civil law would be justified at a preset ideology,
when sanctioning the obligation to establish a family and raise children
"according to socialist standards."
Cleaning up history
So, beyond the official vice of collecting calendar anniversaries for
whatever reason, the issue moves us to question and to calling to mind,
not just because of the usual compliments to justice and female equity,
achieved thanks to the Revolution, or because of the monumental
tackiness of adopting the law on Valentine's day, but for the perversity
of intentionally misrepresenting the role of women in Cuban history,
omitting the unquestionable legal gains made by the women's movement
during the Republican period.
An in-depth historical analysis of the role of women since the Cuban
wars for independence in the nineteenth-century would be extensive, but
it is essential to recall the Republican period because it was then that
the foundations of legal conquests were seated, from a women's movement
that — while not claiming the participation of women in politics, as was
happening in developed countries, such as the US — at least was
struggling for a larger share, employment opportunities, and social
protection connected with maternity and family.
Thus, as early as 1914, discussions began about the relevance to
legislating divorce. In 1916, a legal bill was presented guaranteeing
married women self-management of their assets – managed by their
husbands, fathers or guardians until then – which was approved in May,
1918. That same year the divorce bill was passed.
As for educational and cultural strides, by 1919 Cuban women had reached
the same level of literacy as men and in the decade of the '20s
proportionately as many women graduated from the Cuban University as did
from American universities. [1]
Between 1923 and 1940, Cuban feminist groups influenced the political
forces in support of legislation for women's rights and founded several
associations and media publications to defend women's interests. There
were also women's associations that promoted class actions, such as the
Women's Labor Union, an organization that placed the issue of working
class women ahead of women's suffrage rights. [2]
At the same time, there was an increase in women's activism aimed at
influencing legislative decisions, partnerships were established with
various influential political and economic groups – entirely controlled
by men — there were street demonstrations, ideas about women's rights
were published in newspapers and the radio, obstetric clinics were
built, night schools for women were organized, women's health programs
were developed and contacts with feminist groups abroad were
established. [3]
It is true that women just took part in legislative debates, but the
demonstrations organized by activists and the first feminist groups of
the time were instrumental in modifying civil and property rights that
changed the rules of property management — a distinctly masculine role
until then — and along with them, of women within the family, thus
taking a significant step forward for women's rights compared to other
countries in the region over the same period.
New laws favored citizenship status of women, establishing their
autonomy and rights, which proved a decisive factor for the development
of women's movements in the following years.
In 1923, with the participation of 31 associations, the first women's
national congress was held; the second one in 1925, saw the
participation of 71 associations.
In 1933, a strong feminine campaign claimed the right to vote (which had
been proposed by Ana Betancourt since the previous century), which was
formally acknowledged in the
Interim Constitution of 1934
In 1939, the Third National Congress of Women was held, whose final
resolutions demanded "a constitutional guarantee for women's equal
rights," a demand which was discussed in the Constituent Assembly and
finally recognized in Article 97 of the 1940 Constitution: "Universal,
equal, and secret suffrage is established for all Cuban citizens as
their right, duty, and function." [4]
Thus, in spite of the traditionalist nature of the feminist movement in
Cuba, of the shortage of legal mechanisms and limitations of our
ancestral culture and idiosyncrasies, Cuban women could vote and be
legally elected to public office even before many suffragists in more
developed countries.
To summarize, important legal strides were attained during the Republic,
as important as the right to vote, full capacity to make decisions about
property, the paid maternity law (though that did not include domestic
or agricultural workers), recognition of the rights of "illegitimate"
children and a gradual increase in protection of the rights of women
workers. In fact, those gains during the Republican era were influential
in a notable increase in the incorporation of women into paid jobs,
especially in urban areas, a process that was becoming stronger in the
years before the arrival of the Castro regime.
Two readings of the same Code
Now the official press and its cohorts of useful shysters, in the style
of Dr. Olga Mesa, aim to score for "the Revolution" of 1959 what were
legal conquests of Cubans many decades before. While it is true that
those female fighters of the Republic did not free themselves of
patriarchal subjection – cultural patrimony that even today has not been
totally overcome — or participate actively in national politics, they
launched a new feminine social model and created favorable conditions to
advance to higher levels of emancipation, compared to many countries in
the world.
In the years following 1959, the ideology that hijacked the power
quickly appropriated all spheres of socio-economic and political life of
the nation, including domestic areas. Thus, the full potential and
aspirations of feminine equality became subordinate to the service of
regime.
The rich tradition of the struggle of Cuban women was finally limited to
"a present" on Valentine's Day of this outdated and anachronistic law
called "Family Code," mechanically repeated in every marriage ceremony…
as long as the ceremony takes place between Cubans.
I was able to evidence this these last few days, when I had the
opportunity to attend the wedding in Cuba of a young Cuban woman,
residing abroad for more than a decade, and her Spanish boyfriend. So,
here is where "the Family Code" which — microphone in hand — was read by
the celebrant before the spouses and guests, had been mutilated in its
essence: the legal imposition of "educating children on the principles
of socialist morality." Since this was the case of spouses who do not
reside in Cuba, they were released from such a legal aberration.
As an additional detail, there was no Cuban flag or Cuban coat or arms
presiding over the ceremony. Perhaps what happens in these cases is that
the services are paid for in foreign currency, and we already know that
socialism takes a step back in the face of capital. Or perhaps it is
just that, in family matters, capitalism really is "clueless."
[1] K. LYNN STONER. De la casa a la calle, p. 184
[2] CASTELLANOS, DIMAS CECILIO. Desentrañando claves (inédito), Havana, 2011
[3] CASTELLANOS, DIMAS CECILIO. Desentrañando claves (inédito), Havana, 2011
[4] PICHARDO, HORTENSIA. Documentos para la historia de Cuba. Volume IV,
Part 2, p.349
Translated by Norma Whiting
Source: Family Code: Socialism's Straight Jacket / Cubanet, Miriam
Celaya | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/family-code-socialisms-straight-jacket-cubanet-miriam-celaya/
Posted on March 2, 2015
The newspaper Granma insists that "it's a code for the rights of women".
But in 1919, as many women proportionally graduated from the University
of Havana as graduated from universities as in the U.S. And with the
Revolution, Cuban women are forced to raise their children under the
mores mores of socialism, with the slogan "We will become like Che."
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 28 February 2015 — In an extensive
full-page article published on February 14th, the newspaper Granma ("Un
Código de Amor para la Familia"), is full of praise for the 40th
anniversary of the Cuban Family Code, which – in the words of Dr. Olga
Mesa Castillo, president of the Cuban Civil Rights Society and of the
Family of the National Syndicate of Attorneys, and faculty professor of
and consultant to the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana — "is a
code about the love and the rights of women."
Paradoxically, not even the most politically correct academic discourse
of a second-hand law officer can hide certain flaws that reveal the
passive role of Cuban women since, with the arrival of F. Castro to
power, their autonomy was appropriated and, along with it, their ability
to freely associate to defend their gender interests, issues relating to
the family, the right to choose their children's education, etc. In
fact, it can be argued that the Revolution of 1959 put to rest even the
last vestiges of the Cuban feminist movement.
That explains why, when Dr. Mesa refers to "those who conceived and were
involved in [the code's] drafting," she mentioned ten people's names and
only one of them was a woman, which means that the Family Code, which
"enabled Cuban women to fly" was – just like the Revolution itself and
all of its laws — essentially conceived and drafted by men, though by
then 16 long years had elapsed under a system of supposed gender equality.
Nevertheless, we must be aware that this law, de jure, benefited the
interests of minor children born in or outside marriage, it favored the
allowing of divorce, and constituted a guarantee for families based on
informal (or consensual) marriages, and for the right of children born
from those unions. Another question would be to determine how effective
the law has been in practice, if it has been applied extensively, and
how the subject of civil law would be justified at a preset ideology,
when sanctioning the obligation to establish a family and raise children
"according to socialist standards."
Cleaning up history
So, beyond the official vice of collecting calendar anniversaries for
whatever reason, the issue moves us to question and to calling to mind,
not just because of the usual compliments to justice and female equity,
achieved thanks to the Revolution, or because of the monumental
tackiness of adopting the law on Valentine's day, but for the perversity
of intentionally misrepresenting the role of women in Cuban history,
omitting the unquestionable legal gains made by the women's movement
during the Republican period.
An in-depth historical analysis of the role of women since the Cuban
wars for independence in the nineteenth-century would be extensive, but
it is essential to recall the Republican period because it was then that
the foundations of legal conquests were seated, from a women's movement
that — while not claiming the participation of women in politics, as was
happening in developed countries, such as the US — at least was
struggling for a larger share, employment opportunities, and social
protection connected with maternity and family.
Thus, as early as 1914, discussions began about the relevance to
legislating divorce. In 1916, a legal bill was presented guaranteeing
married women self-management of their assets – managed by their
husbands, fathers or guardians until then – which was approved in May,
1918. That same year the divorce bill was passed.
As for educational and cultural strides, by 1919 Cuban women had reached
the same level of literacy as men and in the decade of the '20s
proportionately as many women graduated from the Cuban University as did
from American universities. [1]
Between 1923 and 1940, Cuban feminist groups influenced the political
forces in support of legislation for women's rights and founded several
associations and media publications to defend women's interests. There
were also women's associations that promoted class actions, such as the
Women's Labor Union, an organization that placed the issue of working
class women ahead of women's suffrage rights. [2]
At the same time, there was an increase in women's activism aimed at
influencing legislative decisions, partnerships were established with
various influential political and economic groups – entirely controlled
by men — there were street demonstrations, ideas about women's rights
were published in newspapers and the radio, obstetric clinics were
built, night schools for women were organized, women's health programs
were developed and contacts with feminist groups abroad were
established. [3]
It is true that women just took part in legislative debates, but the
demonstrations organized by activists and the first feminist groups of
the time were instrumental in modifying civil and property rights that
changed the rules of property management — a distinctly masculine role
until then — and along with them, of women within the family, thus
taking a significant step forward for women's rights compared to other
countries in the region over the same period.
New laws favored citizenship status of women, establishing their
autonomy and rights, which proved a decisive factor for the development
of women's movements in the following years.
In 1923, with the participation of 31 associations, the first women's
national congress was held; the second one in 1925, saw the
participation of 71 associations.
In 1933, a strong feminine campaign claimed the right to vote (which had
been proposed by Ana Betancourt since the previous century), which was
formally acknowledged in the
Interim Constitution of 1934
In 1939, the Third National Congress of Women was held, whose final
resolutions demanded "a constitutional guarantee for women's equal
rights," a demand which was discussed in the Constituent Assembly and
finally recognized in Article 97 of the 1940 Constitution: "Universal,
equal, and secret suffrage is established for all Cuban citizens as
their right, duty, and function." [4]
Thus, in spite of the traditionalist nature of the feminist movement in
Cuba, of the shortage of legal mechanisms and limitations of our
ancestral culture and idiosyncrasies, Cuban women could vote and be
legally elected to public office even before many suffragists in more
developed countries.
To summarize, important legal strides were attained during the Republic,
as important as the right to vote, full capacity to make decisions about
property, the paid maternity law (though that did not include domestic
or agricultural workers), recognition of the rights of "illegitimate"
children and a gradual increase in protection of the rights of women
workers. In fact, those gains during the Republican era were influential
in a notable increase in the incorporation of women into paid jobs,
especially in urban areas, a process that was becoming stronger in the
years before the arrival of the Castro regime.
Two readings of the same Code
Now the official press and its cohorts of useful shysters, in the style
of Dr. Olga Mesa, aim to score for "the Revolution" of 1959 what were
legal conquests of Cubans many decades before. While it is true that
those female fighters of the Republic did not free themselves of
patriarchal subjection – cultural patrimony that even today has not been
totally overcome — or participate actively in national politics, they
launched a new feminine social model and created favorable conditions to
advance to higher levels of emancipation, compared to many countries in
the world.
In the years following 1959, the ideology that hijacked the power
quickly appropriated all spheres of socio-economic and political life of
the nation, including domestic areas. Thus, the full potential and
aspirations of feminine equality became subordinate to the service of
regime.
The rich tradition of the struggle of Cuban women was finally limited to
"a present" on Valentine's Day of this outdated and anachronistic law
called "Family Code," mechanically repeated in every marriage ceremony…
as long as the ceremony takes place between Cubans.
I was able to evidence this these last few days, when I had the
opportunity to attend the wedding in Cuba of a young Cuban woman,
residing abroad for more than a decade, and her Spanish boyfriend. So,
here is where "the Family Code" which — microphone in hand — was read by
the celebrant before the spouses and guests, had been mutilated in its
essence: the legal imposition of "educating children on the principles
of socialist morality." Since this was the case of spouses who do not
reside in Cuba, they were released from such a legal aberration.
As an additional detail, there was no Cuban flag or Cuban coat or arms
presiding over the ceremony. Perhaps what happens in these cases is that
the services are paid for in foreign currency, and we already know that
socialism takes a step back in the face of capital. Or perhaps it is
just that, in family matters, capitalism really is "clueless."
[1] K. LYNN STONER. De la casa a la calle, p. 184
[2] CASTELLANOS, DIMAS CECILIO. Desentrañando claves (inédito), Havana, 2011
[3] CASTELLANOS, DIMAS CECILIO. Desentrañando claves (inédito), Havana, 2011
[4] PICHARDO, HORTENSIA. Documentos para la historia de Cuba. Volume IV,
Part 2, p.349
Translated by Norma Whiting
Source: Family Code: Socialism's Straight Jacket / Cubanet, Miriam
Celaya | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/family-code-socialisms-straight-jacket-cubanet-miriam-celaya/
Radio Marti - The Voice of Cuban Dissidents
Radio Marti: The Voice of Cuban Dissidents / Ivan Garcia
Posted on March 2, 2015
Iván García, 24 February 2015 — One summer during a stay in Camaguey — a
province 340 miles east of Havana — the owner of a house where I was
staying listened from early morning to Radio Marti, a network created in
1985 under the administration of Ronald Reagan with the goal of
providing Cubans with information uncensored or manipulated by the
Castro government.
The woman told me that since 1985 she has been listening to radio soap
operas, news and a morning program geared to a rural audience. When I
travelled to other provinces, nearly all the people with whom I spoke
said they got their information from or followed big league baseball on
Radio Marti, which is probably heard more in the countryside than in the
capital.
There is a logical explanation: the regime jams the station's broadcasts
less here. In Varadero, located on the Hicacos Peninsula and along the
northern coast of Cuba, Radio Marti's programming can be clearly heard.
Given the new geo-political dynamic between Cuba and the United States —
two Cold War adversaries — various voices within the U.S. Congress are
questioning the effectiveness and impact of the "Martis," as they refer
to an entity that includes a radio station, a television channel and a
website.
Among the conditions for normalizing relations with the United States,
Raul Castro asked that the media conglomerate be dismantled. Since the
first broadcast in 1985 the government in Havana has used electronic
jamming to block its radio and television signals. And readers cannot
access the Marti Noticias website from Cuba.
Using the radio as a vehicle for informing citizens in totalitarian
countries, where news, films and books are controlled by a dictatorship,
is nothing new. During the Soviet era, the United States created Radio
Free Europe and Radio Liberty, broadcasters which disseminated
information the Kremlin was trying to suppress.
The so-called "asymmetrical war," which according to the regime is an
attempt by the United States to destabilize Cuba, is something of an
exaggeration.
With Fidel Castro's arrival in power in January 1959, revolutionary
propaganda became a powerful instrument of social control. One year
earlier, in February 1958, Radio Rebelde (Rebel Radio) had already begun
broadcasting from the Sierra Maestre, which contributed to the
dissemination of the insurgents' message.
A few months after becoming president, Fidel Castro completely did away
with a free press, nationalizing newspapers and magazines, and
establishing Prensa Latina and Radio Havana Cuba — media outlets that
would later have the task of selling the world on the alleged benefits
of the Cuban system, alternating between true and false propaganda.
Official radio networks in the United States, the United Kingdom, France
and Spain often make use of these tools to their advantage too, but the
storyline is different. In spite of being government entities, Voice of
America, BBC, Radio France International and Radio Exterior de España
air dissenting opinions.
I speak from personal experience. I have been a regular contributor to
Radio Marti since 1996. I have been a guest on its radio shows and have
had articles published in which I criticized both Cuban dissidents and
the government of the United States without any form of censorship.
If Radio Marti were shut down, dissidents and independent journalists
would not have a feedback channel to reach those living in Cuba. If the
government allowed dissident voices to be heard in the media, the
station nestled in Florida would lose its reason for being.
Before returning home after attending a workshop on investigative
journalism in San Diego in November 2014, I spent a few days in Miami.
There I met producers, directors and journalists who work for the Martis.
I have had frank conversations with Karen Caballero, a presenter on TV
Marti. I have debated with Alvaro Alba, Ofelia Oviedo, Hector Carrillo,
Amado Gil, Jose Luis Ramos, Rolando Cartaya, Margarita Rojo, Omar
Montenegro, Luis Felipe Rojas and Juan Juan Almeida about the future of
network.
I had a very productive meeting with Carlos Garcia Perez, director of
both Radio Marti and Television Marti, and with officials Humberto
Castello and Natalia Crujeiras. I argued that this broadcaster's radio
programs are crucial in providing a platform for the opposition and an
outlet for articles by Cuba's independent journalists.
It is a shame that jamming by the regime prevents TV Marti from being
seen on the island. Ideally, it should have a wider audience. We all
know the power of images.
In my opinion any reorganization that the Martis might go through should
be for the better. Giving a broader platform to independent journalists
and alternative bloggers is something that should be considered.
Programs on leisure and recreation could be improved. International news
programs could be made more attractive, especially in regards to
Venezuela, a country of great interest to some sectors within Cuba.
Thousands of housewives are regular listeners of soap operas. The
variety of programming could be increased to offer more shows for women.
Sports shows always gets high ratings so it should be given more air time.
Independent journalists in Cuba surely have entertaining stories. This
is the 21st century. Never before have humans had access to so many
sources of information as today. To reach them means having to be
innovative.
The government of Raul Castro prohibits the free flow of news and
information. It fears Radio Marti. That's why it is censored.
Travel Notebook VIII
Photo: Cuba Day, a Radio Marti news show that airs Monday through Friday
from 3 to 4 PM. Produced by Ofelia Oviedo, it is directed by Tomás
Cardoso, Omar Lopez Montenegro and journalist Cary Roque. Freelance
journalist Iván García is often invited to report from Havana. In his
last appearance on Friday, February 6, he talked about what Cubans can
expect from talks between Cuba and the United States (TQ).
Source: Radio Marti: The Voice of Cuban Dissidents / Ivan Garcia |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/radio-marti-the-voice-of-cuban-dissidents-ivan-garcia/
Posted on March 2, 2015
Iván García, 24 February 2015 — One summer during a stay in Camaguey — a
province 340 miles east of Havana — the owner of a house where I was
staying listened from early morning to Radio Marti, a network created in
1985 under the administration of Ronald Reagan with the goal of
providing Cubans with information uncensored or manipulated by the
Castro government.
The woman told me that since 1985 she has been listening to radio soap
operas, news and a morning program geared to a rural audience. When I
travelled to other provinces, nearly all the people with whom I spoke
said they got their information from or followed big league baseball on
Radio Marti, which is probably heard more in the countryside than in the
capital.
There is a logical explanation: the regime jams the station's broadcasts
less here. In Varadero, located on the Hicacos Peninsula and along the
northern coast of Cuba, Radio Marti's programming can be clearly heard.
Given the new geo-political dynamic between Cuba and the United States —
two Cold War adversaries — various voices within the U.S. Congress are
questioning the effectiveness and impact of the "Martis," as they refer
to an entity that includes a radio station, a television channel and a
website.
Among the conditions for normalizing relations with the United States,
Raul Castro asked that the media conglomerate be dismantled. Since the
first broadcast in 1985 the government in Havana has used electronic
jamming to block its radio and television signals. And readers cannot
access the Marti Noticias website from Cuba.
Using the radio as a vehicle for informing citizens in totalitarian
countries, where news, films and books are controlled by a dictatorship,
is nothing new. During the Soviet era, the United States created Radio
Free Europe and Radio Liberty, broadcasters which disseminated
information the Kremlin was trying to suppress.
The so-called "asymmetrical war," which according to the regime is an
attempt by the United States to destabilize Cuba, is something of an
exaggeration.
With Fidel Castro's arrival in power in January 1959, revolutionary
propaganda became a powerful instrument of social control. One year
earlier, in February 1958, Radio Rebelde (Rebel Radio) had already begun
broadcasting from the Sierra Maestre, which contributed to the
dissemination of the insurgents' message.
A few months after becoming president, Fidel Castro completely did away
with a free press, nationalizing newspapers and magazines, and
establishing Prensa Latina and Radio Havana Cuba — media outlets that
would later have the task of selling the world on the alleged benefits
of the Cuban system, alternating between true and false propaganda.
Official radio networks in the United States, the United Kingdom, France
and Spain often make use of these tools to their advantage too, but the
storyline is different. In spite of being government entities, Voice of
America, BBC, Radio France International and Radio Exterior de España
air dissenting opinions.
I speak from personal experience. I have been a regular contributor to
Radio Marti since 1996. I have been a guest on its radio shows and have
had articles published in which I criticized both Cuban dissidents and
the government of the United States without any form of censorship.
If Radio Marti were shut down, dissidents and independent journalists
would not have a feedback channel to reach those living in Cuba. If the
government allowed dissident voices to be heard in the media, the
station nestled in Florida would lose its reason for being.
Before returning home after attending a workshop on investigative
journalism in San Diego in November 2014, I spent a few days in Miami.
There I met producers, directors and journalists who work for the Martis.
I have had frank conversations with Karen Caballero, a presenter on TV
Marti. I have debated with Alvaro Alba, Ofelia Oviedo, Hector Carrillo,
Amado Gil, Jose Luis Ramos, Rolando Cartaya, Margarita Rojo, Omar
Montenegro, Luis Felipe Rojas and Juan Juan Almeida about the future of
network.
I had a very productive meeting with Carlos Garcia Perez, director of
both Radio Marti and Television Marti, and with officials Humberto
Castello and Natalia Crujeiras. I argued that this broadcaster's radio
programs are crucial in providing a platform for the opposition and an
outlet for articles by Cuba's independent journalists.
It is a shame that jamming by the regime prevents TV Marti from being
seen on the island. Ideally, it should have a wider audience. We all
know the power of images.
In my opinion any reorganization that the Martis might go through should
be for the better. Giving a broader platform to independent journalists
and alternative bloggers is something that should be considered.
Programs on leisure and recreation could be improved. International news
programs could be made more attractive, especially in regards to
Venezuela, a country of great interest to some sectors within Cuba.
Thousands of housewives are regular listeners of soap operas. The
variety of programming could be increased to offer more shows for women.
Sports shows always gets high ratings so it should be given more air time.
Independent journalists in Cuba surely have entertaining stories. This
is the 21st century. Never before have humans had access to so many
sources of information as today. To reach them means having to be
innovative.
The government of Raul Castro prohibits the free flow of news and
information. It fears Radio Marti. That's why it is censored.
Travel Notebook VIII
Photo: Cuba Day, a Radio Marti news show that airs Monday through Friday
from 3 to 4 PM. Produced by Ofelia Oviedo, it is directed by Tomás
Cardoso, Omar Lopez Montenegro and journalist Cary Roque. Freelance
journalist Iván García is often invited to report from Havana. In his
last appearance on Friday, February 6, he talked about what Cubans can
expect from talks between Cuba and the United States (TQ).
Source: Radio Marti: The Voice of Cuban Dissidents / Ivan Garcia |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/radio-marti-the-voice-of-cuban-dissidents-ivan-garcia/
Musings of a Blind Man (3)
Musings of a Blind Man (3) / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on March 2, 2015
At this point in the historic events that have taken place in recent
days between Cuba and the United States, it is not worthwhile to have
regrets, but rather to understand the reasons for these events, and try
to find a positive view of them.
I dare say that President Obama has passed the ball to the Cuban rulers.
Now they have in their court what they have been long been clamoring
for. We shall see what they are capable of doing with it. Most likely,
the Castro brothers will not know what to do with the new possibility
that can only lead to the path of liberty and democracy. This is
something that they are unwilling to concede, albeit knowing of the
great chance that the Republicans will assume power in the next U.S.
elections and will revoke a good part or all that Obama has given them –
which as a policy matter is never possible.
Barack Obama knows that he can play with these possibilities for another
year and, in a certain way, it is his personal vengeance against the
opposition party. Although in his speech he mentioned relations with
China and Vietnam, the question is whether the U.S. is willing to
tolerate human rights violations in a country so historically and
geographically close. I do not accord to Cuba the same status as those
other two communist countries. I am of the view that Cuba will
demonstrate to the world its inability to allow individual freedoms,
even though the Castro brothers will be unable to return to power – the
older one due to physical limitations, the younger because of the very
legislation that he himself approved.
Of course, we are all more than certain that the president who will be
installed will be no more than a puppet whose strings will be in the
hands of the Castro family if, by then, one of their own offspring is
not put in power so that the cycle of history can repeat itself.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
December, 2014. Jaimanitas Border Patrol Prison Unit, Havana.
Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison
Source: Musings of a Blind Man (3) / Angel Santiesteban | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/musings-of-a-blind-man-3-angel-santiesteban/
Posted on March 2, 2015
At this point in the historic events that have taken place in recent
days between Cuba and the United States, it is not worthwhile to have
regrets, but rather to understand the reasons for these events, and try
to find a positive view of them.
I dare say that President Obama has passed the ball to the Cuban rulers.
Now they have in their court what they have been long been clamoring
for. We shall see what they are capable of doing with it. Most likely,
the Castro brothers will not know what to do with the new possibility
that can only lead to the path of liberty and democracy. This is
something that they are unwilling to concede, albeit knowing of the
great chance that the Republicans will assume power in the next U.S.
elections and will revoke a good part or all that Obama has given them –
which as a policy matter is never possible.
Barack Obama knows that he can play with these possibilities for another
year and, in a certain way, it is his personal vengeance against the
opposition party. Although in his speech he mentioned relations with
China and Vietnam, the question is whether the U.S. is willing to
tolerate human rights violations in a country so historically and
geographically close. I do not accord to Cuba the same status as those
other two communist countries. I am of the view that Cuba will
demonstrate to the world its inability to allow individual freedoms,
even though the Castro brothers will be unable to return to power – the
older one due to physical limitations, the younger because of the very
legislation that he himself approved.
Of course, we are all more than certain that the president who will be
installed will be no more than a puppet whose strings will be in the
hands of the Castro family if, by then, one of their own offspring is
not put in power so that the cycle of history can repeat itself.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
December, 2014. Jaimanitas Border Patrol Prison Unit, Havana.
Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison
Source: Musings of a Blind Man (3) / Angel Santiesteban | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/musings-of-a-blind-man-3-angel-santiesteban/
Spain asks US to press Cuba for return of Eta fugitives in talks on terror blacklist
Spain asks US to press Cuba for return of Eta fugitives in talks on
terror blacklist
- Cuba hosts Basque separatists José Ángel Urtiaga and José Ignacio Etxarte
- Former Spain prime minister wants Cuba off terror list without conditions
Associated Press in Madrid
Monday 2 March 2015 21.05 GMT
Spain has asked the United States to use its talks on taking Cuba off
the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism to help obtain the
extradition of two members of the armed Basque group Eta from the
communist country.
The foreign minister, José Manuel García Margallo, said on Monday that
the government has been in talks with the US in the hope of getting Cuba
to extradite José Ángel Urtiaga and José Ignacio Etxarte to Spain.
US and Cuba hold second round of talks in bid to normalise diplomatic
relations
Read more
They have been wanted since 2010 in an investigation into alleged links
between Venezuela, Eta and Colombian rebel group Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia ( Farc).
Cuba's 33-year status on the terrorism list stems from its support
decades ago for Eta and Farc.
The list is a major hurdle in US-Cuban negotiations to end a
half-century diplomatic freeze.
Margallo said the extraditions have since been made more difficult by
the former socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who
last week called on the US to take Cuba off the list immediately and
without conditions.
Zapatero's comments in Havana after meeting the Cuban president, Raúl
Castro, during a private visit greatly angered the conservative Madrid
government.
Margallo said Zapatero had not informed the government of the meeting
with Castro and should have contacted the ministry before making such
statements.
Urtiaga and Etxarte are believed to have been in Cuba since the
mid-1980s. Spain's national court said the two sought permission from
Eta to carry out grenade- and mortar-launching tests in Venezuela in
cooperation with Farc.
Eta killed some 830 people in a four-decade-long campaign for a Basque
homeland. It declared a permanent ceasefire in 2011 but has yet to disband.
Source: Spain asks US to press Cuba for return of Eta fugitives in talks
on terror blacklist | World news | The Guardian -
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/spain-us-cuba-return-eta-fugitives-terror-blacklist
terror blacklist
- Cuba hosts Basque separatists José Ángel Urtiaga and José Ignacio Etxarte
- Former Spain prime minister wants Cuba off terror list without conditions
Associated Press in Madrid
Monday 2 March 2015 21.05 GMT
Spain has asked the United States to use its talks on taking Cuba off
the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism to help obtain the
extradition of two members of the armed Basque group Eta from the
communist country.
The foreign minister, José Manuel García Margallo, said on Monday that
the government has been in talks with the US in the hope of getting Cuba
to extradite José Ángel Urtiaga and José Ignacio Etxarte to Spain.
US and Cuba hold second round of talks in bid to normalise diplomatic
relations
Read more
They have been wanted since 2010 in an investigation into alleged links
between Venezuela, Eta and Colombian rebel group Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia ( Farc).
Cuba's 33-year status on the terrorism list stems from its support
decades ago for Eta and Farc.
The list is a major hurdle in US-Cuban negotiations to end a
half-century diplomatic freeze.
Margallo said the extraditions have since been made more difficult by
the former socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who
last week called on the US to take Cuba off the list immediately and
without conditions.
Zapatero's comments in Havana after meeting the Cuban president, Raúl
Castro, during a private visit greatly angered the conservative Madrid
government.
Margallo said Zapatero had not informed the government of the meeting
with Castro and should have contacted the ministry before making such
statements.
Urtiaga and Etxarte are believed to have been in Cuba since the
mid-1980s. Spain's national court said the two sought permission from
Eta to carry out grenade- and mortar-launching tests in Venezuela in
cooperation with Farc.
Eta killed some 830 people in a four-decade-long campaign for a Basque
homeland. It declared a permanent ceasefire in 2011 but has yet to disband.
Source: Spain asks US to press Cuba for return of Eta fugitives in talks
on terror blacklist | World news | The Guardian -
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/spain-us-cuba-return-eta-fugitives-terror-blacklist
U.S. agriculture delegation visits Cuba, protests embargo
U.S. agriculture delegation visits Cuba, protests embargo
BY MARC FRANK AND DANIEL TROTTA
HAVANA Mon Mar 2, 2015 6:14pm EST
(Reuters) - The most important U.S. agricultural delegation to visit
Cuba in more than a decade began three days of meetings on Monday,
hoping to find potential business partners, while urging the U.S.
Congress to lift the U.S. embargo on trade with the island.
Two former agriculture secretaries, a number of state agriculture
officials and representatives of various state farm bureaus are among
the 95 people making the trip, which was organized by the U.S.
Agriculture Coalition for Cuba. That group was formed after the Dec. 17
announcement the United States and Communist-run Cuba would restore
diplomatic relations.
"The message we hope will get back to Washington is that we are a
unifying voice that would like to see Congress act in 2015 and end the
embargo," Cargill executive Devry Boughner Vorwerk, chairwoman of the
coalition, said in an interview.
The coalition says U.S. farmers are hungry for a $2 billion market so
close to home and frustrated by U.S. restrictions.
The United States created an embargo exception in 2000 to allow food
sales, but it still denies Cuba credit, forcing it to pay cash up front.
U.S. food sales to Cuba fell in 2014 to $291 million, from a peak of
$710 million peak in 2008. The coalition wants U.S. exports to top $1
billion, about half the value of Cuba's food imports today.
U.S. farmers can renew corn, wheat and rice exports to Cuba, which have
fallen sharply, while importers want to explore Cuban seafood, winter
vegetables, citrus and tobacco, coalition members said. There was
particular interest in high-margin organic products from Cuba.
While President Barack Obama has loosened some trade and travel
restrictions, most of the embargo remains in place and can only be ended
by Congress, now in Republican control.
Vorwerk said a majority in Congress supports lifting the embargo but
legislation has been blocked by the Republican leadership, which the
coalition will target.
"As we continue to have this conversation we will be able to change
minds," Vorwerk told a news conference.
Republicans traditionally support Cuba sanctions to punish the Communist
government, which stifles dissent and controls the media.
Coalition member Gary Heathcott, a Republican campaign consultant from
Arkansas, said promoting business and farming should be easy for
Republicans to support."At the end of the day, Republicans are about
business," Heathcott said. "It doesn't get any more grass roots and
Middle America than the farm industry."
(Reporting by Marc Frank and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and
Steve Orlofsky)
Source: U.S. agriculture delegation visits Cuba, protests embargo |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/us-cuba-usa-food-idUSKBN0LY1KQ20150302
BY MARC FRANK AND DANIEL TROTTA
HAVANA Mon Mar 2, 2015 6:14pm EST
(Reuters) - The most important U.S. agricultural delegation to visit
Cuba in more than a decade began three days of meetings on Monday,
hoping to find potential business partners, while urging the U.S.
Congress to lift the U.S. embargo on trade with the island.
Two former agriculture secretaries, a number of state agriculture
officials and representatives of various state farm bureaus are among
the 95 people making the trip, which was organized by the U.S.
Agriculture Coalition for Cuba. That group was formed after the Dec. 17
announcement the United States and Communist-run Cuba would restore
diplomatic relations.
"The message we hope will get back to Washington is that we are a
unifying voice that would like to see Congress act in 2015 and end the
embargo," Cargill executive Devry Boughner Vorwerk, chairwoman of the
coalition, said in an interview.
The coalition says U.S. farmers are hungry for a $2 billion market so
close to home and frustrated by U.S. restrictions.
The United States created an embargo exception in 2000 to allow food
sales, but it still denies Cuba credit, forcing it to pay cash up front.
U.S. food sales to Cuba fell in 2014 to $291 million, from a peak of
$710 million peak in 2008. The coalition wants U.S. exports to top $1
billion, about half the value of Cuba's food imports today.
U.S. farmers can renew corn, wheat and rice exports to Cuba, which have
fallen sharply, while importers want to explore Cuban seafood, winter
vegetables, citrus and tobacco, coalition members said. There was
particular interest in high-margin organic products from Cuba.
While President Barack Obama has loosened some trade and travel
restrictions, most of the embargo remains in place and can only be ended
by Congress, now in Republican control.
Vorwerk said a majority in Congress supports lifting the embargo but
legislation has been blocked by the Republican leadership, which the
coalition will target.
"As we continue to have this conversation we will be able to change
minds," Vorwerk told a news conference.
Republicans traditionally support Cuba sanctions to punish the Communist
government, which stifles dissent and controls the media.
Coalition member Gary Heathcott, a Republican campaign consultant from
Arkansas, said promoting business and farming should be easy for
Republicans to support."At the end of the day, Republicans are about
business," Heathcott said. "It doesn't get any more grass roots and
Middle America than the farm industry."
(Reporting by Marc Frank and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and
Steve Orlofsky)
Source: U.S. agriculture delegation visits Cuba, protests embargo |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/us-cuba-usa-food-idUSKBN0LY1KQ20150302
Travel to Cuba Got a Lot Easier Last Week. Here's How.
Travel to Cuba Got a Lot Easier Last Week. Here's How.
Posted: 03/02/2015 10:40 am EST Updated: 03/02/2015 10:59 am EST
Scott Norvell editor, Cubanotes.com
ach week now, the gates that have kept U.S. travelers from visiting Cuba
are creaking open just a little more. If Paris Hilton -- who popped up
in Havana last week unexpectedly -- can get there now, anyone can. Right?
Perhaps the most important development of the week was the announcement
that as of March 1, MasterCard has removed the block on use of
U.S.-issued credit cards in Cuba. The need to carry cash to cover all
your expenses while in Cuba has long been one of the biggest pains about
traveling there.
Stepping off the curb at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with
large sums of U.S. or Canadian dollars (or euros or pounds sterling)
always made me a little queasy. If anything happened, there was no
safety net; there was no easy way to get enough cash to get home.
MasterCard's announcement (American Express has said it will follow suit
as soon as possible) will give travelers some peace of mind, though the
company has asked customers to check with their bank before departure to
be absolutely certain.
A solution to another inconvenience to Cuba travel came from a website
named Cheapair.com, which said Friday that it could now sell tickets all
the way to Havana online with a single transaction. Visitors still need
to go through a third country like Mexico, Canada or the Bahamas, but
Cheapair lets users check a box saying they are going for one of the 12
categories of travel now permitted without a special license
(professional research or meetings, education activities, religious
activities, support for the Cuban people, etc.) and the entire itinerary
can be ticketed in one go.
The company warned on its website that traveling to Cuba is still not
for the faint of heart and said it still couldn't help with hotels on
the island, but other online travel agents are sure to follow suit, so a
solution to that problem is probably not far off.
One last announcement last week that could serve as an interim solution
to anyone still leery of the logistics of traveling there came from a
Canadian cruise company, which said that it could now sell tickets to
Americans on its around-the-island cruises to Cuba.
Calgary-based Cuba Cruise's ship departs from either Havana or Montego
Bay in Jamaica and calls on Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Cienfuegos and
the Isle of Youth. The people-to-people trip, offered in partnership
with the nonprofit Fund for Reconciliation and Development, qualifies as
an educational opportunity under the new travel rules.
On Friday, a second round of diplomatic talks between the U.S. State
Department and their Cuban counterparts concluded in Washington with
smiles all around. It now seems likely that President Obama will seek to
remove Cuba from the list of nations that sponsor international terror,
one of the Cubans' main gripes at the moment, and the two sides will
agree to open embassies before the April Summit of the Americas in Panama.
The part of the process of interest to potential travelers is that the
two nations will in the next few weeks exchange contingents of technical
experts in a number of categories, among them civil aviation. Hopefully,
those talks will proceed at a rapid pace and day is not far off when we
can travel from Miami to Havana as easily as we can from Miami to Mexico
City or Madrid.
Source: Travel to Cuba Got a Lot Easier Last Week. Here's How. | Scott
Norvell -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-norvell/travel-to-cuba-got-a-lot-easier_b_6776384.html
Posted: 03/02/2015 10:40 am EST Updated: 03/02/2015 10:59 am EST
Scott Norvell editor, Cubanotes.com
ach week now, the gates that have kept U.S. travelers from visiting Cuba
are creaking open just a little more. If Paris Hilton -- who popped up
in Havana last week unexpectedly -- can get there now, anyone can. Right?
Perhaps the most important development of the week was the announcement
that as of March 1, MasterCard has removed the block on use of
U.S.-issued credit cards in Cuba. The need to carry cash to cover all
your expenses while in Cuba has long been one of the biggest pains about
traveling there.
Stepping off the curb at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with
large sums of U.S. or Canadian dollars (or euros or pounds sterling)
always made me a little queasy. If anything happened, there was no
safety net; there was no easy way to get enough cash to get home.
MasterCard's announcement (American Express has said it will follow suit
as soon as possible) will give travelers some peace of mind, though the
company has asked customers to check with their bank before departure to
be absolutely certain.
A solution to another inconvenience to Cuba travel came from a website
named Cheapair.com, which said Friday that it could now sell tickets all
the way to Havana online with a single transaction. Visitors still need
to go through a third country like Mexico, Canada or the Bahamas, but
Cheapair lets users check a box saying they are going for one of the 12
categories of travel now permitted without a special license
(professional research or meetings, education activities, religious
activities, support for the Cuban people, etc.) and the entire itinerary
can be ticketed in one go.
The company warned on its website that traveling to Cuba is still not
for the faint of heart and said it still couldn't help with hotels on
the island, but other online travel agents are sure to follow suit, so a
solution to that problem is probably not far off.
One last announcement last week that could serve as an interim solution
to anyone still leery of the logistics of traveling there came from a
Canadian cruise company, which said that it could now sell tickets to
Americans on its around-the-island cruises to Cuba.
Calgary-based Cuba Cruise's ship departs from either Havana or Montego
Bay in Jamaica and calls on Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Cienfuegos and
the Isle of Youth. The people-to-people trip, offered in partnership
with the nonprofit Fund for Reconciliation and Development, qualifies as
an educational opportunity under the new travel rules.
On Friday, a second round of diplomatic talks between the U.S. State
Department and their Cuban counterparts concluded in Washington with
smiles all around. It now seems likely that President Obama will seek to
remove Cuba from the list of nations that sponsor international terror,
one of the Cubans' main gripes at the moment, and the two sides will
agree to open embassies before the April Summit of the Americas in Panama.
The part of the process of interest to potential travelers is that the
two nations will in the next few weeks exchange contingents of technical
experts in a number of categories, among them civil aviation. Hopefully,
those talks will proceed at a rapid pace and day is not far off when we
can travel from Miami to Havana as easily as we can from Miami to Mexico
City or Madrid.
Source: Travel to Cuba Got a Lot Easier Last Week. Here's How. | Scott
Norvell -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-norvell/travel-to-cuba-got-a-lot-easier_b_6776384.html
Obama hopes for U.S. embassy in Cuba before April summit in Panama
Exclusive: Obama hopes for U.S. embassy in Cuba before April summit in
Panama
BY JEFF MASON
WASHINGTON Mon Mar 2, 2015 6:05pm EST
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that he hopes the
United States will open an embassy in Cuba by the time of a Western
Hemisphere summit in Panama in mid-April.
In an interview with Reuters, Obama also cautioned that it will take
more time to fully establish normal relations with Cuba after more than
a half-century rupture.
"My hope is that we will be able to open an embassy, and that some of
the initial groundwork will have been laid" before the April 10-11
Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Obama said.
"Keep in mind that our expectation has never been that we would achieve
full normal relations immediately. There's a lot of work that still has
to be done," he said.
Washington and Havana announced on Dec. 17 that they planned to restore
diplomatic relations following 18 months of secret face-to-face talks.
While critics, including some members of Congress, have called the end
of U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba a gift to the authoritarian Cuban
government, Obama said there are already signs it is prompting Havana to
liberalize.
"We are going down a path in which we can open up our relations to Cuba
in a way that ultimately will prompt more change in Cuba. And we're
already seeing it," the U.S. president said.
"The very fact that, since our announcement, the Cuban government has
begun to discuss ways in which they are going to reorganize their
economy to accommodate for possible foreign investment, that's already
forcing a series of changes that promises to open up more opportunities
for entrepreneurs, more transparency in terms of what's happening in
their economy," he said.
"And that's always been the premise of this policy; that, after 50 years
of a policy that didn't work, we need to try something new that
encourages and ultimately I think forces the Cuban government to engage
in a modern economy. And that will create more space for freedom for the
Cuban people," Obama said.
U.S. and Cuban negotiating teams held a second round of talks in
Washington on Friday on normalizing ties. Both sides said they had made
progress, although they did not set a date for formal renewal of
diplomatic relations that the United States severed 54 years ago.
Josefina Vidal, head of the United States division of the Cuban Foreign
Ministry, told state media on Sunday that Cuba is willing to restore
diplomatic relations as soon as the Obama administration declares its
intent to take Cuba off a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
It was the first time Cuba has said publicly that it is willing to
restore relations before it is removed from the list.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Warren Strobel; Editing by Howard
Goller)
Source: Exclusive: Obama hopes for U.S. embassy in Cuba before April
summit in Panama | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/us-usa-obama-cuba-idUSKBN0LY2IL20150302
Panama
BY JEFF MASON
WASHINGTON Mon Mar 2, 2015 6:05pm EST
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that he hopes the
United States will open an embassy in Cuba by the time of a Western
Hemisphere summit in Panama in mid-April.
In an interview with Reuters, Obama also cautioned that it will take
more time to fully establish normal relations with Cuba after more than
a half-century rupture.
"My hope is that we will be able to open an embassy, and that some of
the initial groundwork will have been laid" before the April 10-11
Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Obama said.
"Keep in mind that our expectation has never been that we would achieve
full normal relations immediately. There's a lot of work that still has
to be done," he said.
Washington and Havana announced on Dec. 17 that they planned to restore
diplomatic relations following 18 months of secret face-to-face talks.
While critics, including some members of Congress, have called the end
of U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba a gift to the authoritarian Cuban
government, Obama said there are already signs it is prompting Havana to
liberalize.
"We are going down a path in which we can open up our relations to Cuba
in a way that ultimately will prompt more change in Cuba. And we're
already seeing it," the U.S. president said.
"The very fact that, since our announcement, the Cuban government has
begun to discuss ways in which they are going to reorganize their
economy to accommodate for possible foreign investment, that's already
forcing a series of changes that promises to open up more opportunities
for entrepreneurs, more transparency in terms of what's happening in
their economy," he said.
"And that's always been the premise of this policy; that, after 50 years
of a policy that didn't work, we need to try something new that
encourages and ultimately I think forces the Cuban government to engage
in a modern economy. And that will create more space for freedom for the
Cuban people," Obama said.
U.S. and Cuban negotiating teams held a second round of talks in
Washington on Friday on normalizing ties. Both sides said they had made
progress, although they did not set a date for formal renewal of
diplomatic relations that the United States severed 54 years ago.
Josefina Vidal, head of the United States division of the Cuban Foreign
Ministry, told state media on Sunday that Cuba is willing to restore
diplomatic relations as soon as the Obama administration declares its
intent to take Cuba off a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
It was the first time Cuba has said publicly that it is willing to
restore relations before it is removed from the list.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Warren Strobel; Editing by Howard
Goller)
Source: Exclusive: Obama hopes for U.S. embassy in Cuba before April
summit in Panama | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/us-usa-obama-cuba-idUSKBN0LY2IL20150302
Cuba signals readiness to fast-track U.S. diplomatic ties
Cuba signals readiness to fast-track U.S. diplomatic ties
BY DAVID ADAMS AND DANIEL TROTTA
MIAMI/HAVANA Mon Mar 2, 2015 5:57pm EST
(Reuters) - Cuba is willing to restore diplomatic relations with the
United States as soon as the Obama administration declares its intent to
take the country off a list of state sponsors of terrorism, according to
a senior Cuban official.
That could take place before both sides are ready to open embassies,
Josefina Vidal, the head of the United States division at the Cuban
Foreign Ministry told state media.
It is the first time Cuba has said publicly it is willing to restore
relations before it is removed from the list.
Delinking the opening of embassies could make it easier for diplomatic
relations - broken 54 years ago - to be renewed prior to a regional
heads of state summit in Panama on April 10-11.
"In our view it's not necessary to put it all in one package because if,
for example, in a few weeks we receive some satisfactory notification in
regards to the matter of Cuba's removal from terrorist list, I think we
will be ready to then begin talking about how to formalize the
re-establishing of relations," Vidal said in an interview published on
Sunday in Cubadebate.
Asked if he expected to have relations with Cuba restored before the
summit, president Obama told Reuters in an exclusive interview on
Monday: "My hope is that we will be able to open an embassy and that
some of the initial groundwork will have been laid."
A state department representative said: "We believe re-establishment of
diplomatic relations and opening of embassies should be done together.
With will on both sides, we can get them done before the Summit."
The White House wants to restore relations before the Panama summit to
strengthen Obama's hand with other Latin American countries who have
been critical of the U.S. policy for decades.
U.S. and Cuban officials have held two rounds of talks since the Dec. 17
announcement they would work toward normalizing relations.
At talks on Friday, Cuba said removal from the list was a "priority" not
a pre-condition for re-establishing relations. Cuba also raised a
logistical issue - the lack of a bank willing to accept its account
because of U.S. sanctions on banks that do business with countries on
the list.
The Obama administration is nearing completion of its review of Cuba's
place on the list, which must be submitted to Congress before the
country can be removed after a 45-day wait period, U.S. officials say.
Friday's talks ended on a positive note. Although no date for the
renewal of relations - or the next round of talks - was announced, the
head of the U.S. delegation, Assistant Secretary of State Roberta
Jacobson, said she was "optimistic" about the renewal of relations
before the Panama summit.
Vidal told Cubadebate that, if Cuba got word the Obama administration
was recommending the removal from the terrorism list, diplomatic ties
could go forward without a prior resolution of the banking issue.
"We could say: 'OK, let's re-establish relations' and the opening of the
embassies are deferred until a later time, when there are appropriate
conditions," Vidal said.
Cuba was added to the terrorism sponsors list in 1982 when it backed
insurgencies during the Cold War.
(Writing by David Adams. Reporting by David Adams in Miami, Daniel
Trotta in Havana and Jeff Mason in Washington. Editing by Andre Grenon)
Source: Cuba signals readiness to fast-track U.S. diplomatic ties |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0LY2F120150302
BY DAVID ADAMS AND DANIEL TROTTA
MIAMI/HAVANA Mon Mar 2, 2015 5:57pm EST
(Reuters) - Cuba is willing to restore diplomatic relations with the
United States as soon as the Obama administration declares its intent to
take the country off a list of state sponsors of terrorism, according to
a senior Cuban official.
That could take place before both sides are ready to open embassies,
Josefina Vidal, the head of the United States division at the Cuban
Foreign Ministry told state media.
It is the first time Cuba has said publicly it is willing to restore
relations before it is removed from the list.
Delinking the opening of embassies could make it easier for diplomatic
relations - broken 54 years ago - to be renewed prior to a regional
heads of state summit in Panama on April 10-11.
"In our view it's not necessary to put it all in one package because if,
for example, in a few weeks we receive some satisfactory notification in
regards to the matter of Cuba's removal from terrorist list, I think we
will be ready to then begin talking about how to formalize the
re-establishing of relations," Vidal said in an interview published on
Sunday in Cubadebate.
Asked if he expected to have relations with Cuba restored before the
summit, president Obama told Reuters in an exclusive interview on
Monday: "My hope is that we will be able to open an embassy and that
some of the initial groundwork will have been laid."
A state department representative said: "We believe re-establishment of
diplomatic relations and opening of embassies should be done together.
With will on both sides, we can get them done before the Summit."
The White House wants to restore relations before the Panama summit to
strengthen Obama's hand with other Latin American countries who have
been critical of the U.S. policy for decades.
U.S. and Cuban officials have held two rounds of talks since the Dec. 17
announcement they would work toward normalizing relations.
At talks on Friday, Cuba said removal from the list was a "priority" not
a pre-condition for re-establishing relations. Cuba also raised a
logistical issue - the lack of a bank willing to accept its account
because of U.S. sanctions on banks that do business with countries on
the list.
The Obama administration is nearing completion of its review of Cuba's
place on the list, which must be submitted to Congress before the
country can be removed after a 45-day wait period, U.S. officials say.
Friday's talks ended on a positive note. Although no date for the
renewal of relations - or the next round of talks - was announced, the
head of the U.S. delegation, Assistant Secretary of State Roberta
Jacobson, said she was "optimistic" about the renewal of relations
before the Panama summit.
Vidal told Cubadebate that, if Cuba got word the Obama administration
was recommending the removal from the terrorism list, diplomatic ties
could go forward without a prior resolution of the banking issue.
"We could say: 'OK, let's re-establish relations' and the opening of the
embassies are deferred until a later time, when there are appropriate
conditions," Vidal said.
Cuba was added to the terrorism sponsors list in 1982 when it backed
insurgencies during the Cold War.
(Writing by David Adams. Reporting by David Adams in Miami, Daniel
Trotta in Havana and Jeff Mason in Washington. Editing by Andre Grenon)
Source: Cuba signals readiness to fast-track U.S. diplomatic ties |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/02/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0LY2F120150302
What would Cuba do?
What would Cuba do?
[02-03-2015 12:46:08]
José Azel
Investigador, Universidad de Miami
(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Editor's note: José Azel presented his
original testimony, "What Would Cuba Do?" to the US House Committee on
Foreign Affairs on February 26. Watch the full video of the hearing at
the bottom of this article, with Azel at 27:58.
Mr. chairman, ranking member, distinguished members of the committee, I
am honored to have this opportunity to share my analysis on the US
national security implications of the administration's new Cuba policy,
and I commend you on calling this hearing on what is often a
misunderstood threat to our national interests.
Last year, when the New York Times editorial board and others
intensified their campaign for a unilateral-unconditional change in
US-Cuba policy, I published an essay titled: WWCD; that is, What Would
Castro Do if the United States were to unilaterally and unconditionally
end economic sanctions?
I argued then that not probing how Castro would respond was an
irresponsible omission, since the formulation of US foreign policy is
often compared to a chess game in which every prospective move is
analyzed with an eye to what the adversary's counter move would be. A
foreign policy move always seeks reciprocity.
General Raul Castro has now provided a comprehensive answer to my "What
Would Castro Do" question.
On January 28, 2015, speaking in Costa Rica and addressing the III
Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC),
General Castro set his demands. Before the two nations can re-establish
normal relations the United States must:
Unconditionally eliminate all economic sanctions.
Return to Cuba the Guantanamo US naval base.
Stop all the transmissions of Radio-TV Martí.
Compensate Cuba for the supposed damages caused by the embargo — which
Cuba estimates at US$116 billion and growing.
Eliminate Cuba from the US "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list.
The general declared that "If these problems aren't resolved, this
diplomatic rapprochement wouldn't make any sense." And that "It would
not be ethical or acceptable to ask Cuba for anything in return… Cuba
will not negotiate on these internal matters which are absolutely
sovereign."
With the general's impossible preconditions now known, advocates of
unconditional concessions to the Castro regime will likely double down
and begin spinning all sorts of dangerous arguments as to why we should
stay the new course.
We will hear that: General Castro was just laying out a starting
negotiating position or that, since we tried economic sanctions for so
long, should we not give this new policy some time?
And more troubling, we may even begin to hear arguments that Cuba may
indeed be entitled to compensation from US taxpayers, or that the naval
base in Guantanamo is an unnecessary and expensive relic of the Cold War.
Distinguished members, when you hear these arguments, just consider for
a moment how Mr. Putin and the Russian navy would love to have a
warm-water port in the Caribbean of the quality of our Guantanamo naval
base.
Consider also that if we further remove travel restrictions, thousands
of small private vessels from South Florida will begin visiting Cuba on
a regular basis and may return with hidden cargo. We can all use our
imagination as to the nature of the cargo, whether drugs, contraband
goods, or human trafficking. Our overstretched Coast Guard would not be
able to effectively monitor thousands of private vessels traveling
regularly between South Florida and Cuba.
Given the long-standing and close links between Cuba and Iran, this
ocean travel possibility exposes our border security to new and serious
vulnerabilities to terrorism and contraband.
Moreover, the president's new measures will enrich primarily the Cuban
military, and will not impede General Castro's close alliance with Iran,
Russia, or Venezuela. It is hard to discern how fortifying a
totalitarian government promotes democracy.
The new Cuba policy has legitimized the Cuban military regime in the
eyes of the world. By sanctioning an oppressive regime that violates
human rights with abandon, the president has reversed our long standing
support for democratic governance in Latin America.
Since the 1970s, US policy toward Latin America has emphasized
democracy, human rights, and constitutional government. Arguably, US
policy in defense of democratic governance has not been uniform
throughout the world. But until recently, defending democratic values
was our long-established policy in Latin America. The gratuitous
normalization of relations with an oppressive military dictatorship
sends the wrong message to the continent.
Every Latin-American would-be dictator now realizes that suppressing
civil liberties in his country is not an impediment to having a good
diplomatic and commercial relationship with the United States.
Contrary to the argument of some that the new policy will help improve
relations with Latin America, our implicit seal of approval of a
military dictatorship further weakens US influence and prestige in the
region. It encourages anti-US leaders everywhere to take positions
inimical to US interests, as Cuba has done for decades. One unfortunate
visual the new policy has conveyed is that taking US hostages can be
very rewarding.
Finally, General Castro, in order to secure whatever advantages he may
be pursuing, may promise some minor concessions. But before embracing
his military dictatorship, we should understand the general has made it
clear that Cuba will not change its ways.
Source: What would Cuba do? - Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/54f44d803a682e1644f34375#.VPWBXfnF9HE
[02-03-2015 12:46:08]
José Azel
Investigador, Universidad de Miami
(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Editor's note: José Azel presented his
original testimony, "What Would Cuba Do?" to the US House Committee on
Foreign Affairs on February 26. Watch the full video of the hearing at
the bottom of this article, with Azel at 27:58.
Mr. chairman, ranking member, distinguished members of the committee, I
am honored to have this opportunity to share my analysis on the US
national security implications of the administration's new Cuba policy,
and I commend you on calling this hearing on what is often a
misunderstood threat to our national interests.
Last year, when the New York Times editorial board and others
intensified their campaign for a unilateral-unconditional change in
US-Cuba policy, I published an essay titled: WWCD; that is, What Would
Castro Do if the United States were to unilaterally and unconditionally
end economic sanctions?
I argued then that not probing how Castro would respond was an
irresponsible omission, since the formulation of US foreign policy is
often compared to a chess game in which every prospective move is
analyzed with an eye to what the adversary's counter move would be. A
foreign policy move always seeks reciprocity.
General Raul Castro has now provided a comprehensive answer to my "What
Would Castro Do" question.
On January 28, 2015, speaking in Costa Rica and addressing the III
Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC),
General Castro set his demands. Before the two nations can re-establish
normal relations the United States must:
Unconditionally eliminate all economic sanctions.
Return to Cuba the Guantanamo US naval base.
Stop all the transmissions of Radio-TV Martí.
Compensate Cuba for the supposed damages caused by the embargo — which
Cuba estimates at US$116 billion and growing.
Eliminate Cuba from the US "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list.
The general declared that "If these problems aren't resolved, this
diplomatic rapprochement wouldn't make any sense." And that "It would
not be ethical or acceptable to ask Cuba for anything in return… Cuba
will not negotiate on these internal matters which are absolutely
sovereign."
With the general's impossible preconditions now known, advocates of
unconditional concessions to the Castro regime will likely double down
and begin spinning all sorts of dangerous arguments as to why we should
stay the new course.
We will hear that: General Castro was just laying out a starting
negotiating position or that, since we tried economic sanctions for so
long, should we not give this new policy some time?
And more troubling, we may even begin to hear arguments that Cuba may
indeed be entitled to compensation from US taxpayers, or that the naval
base in Guantanamo is an unnecessary and expensive relic of the Cold War.
Distinguished members, when you hear these arguments, just consider for
a moment how Mr. Putin and the Russian navy would love to have a
warm-water port in the Caribbean of the quality of our Guantanamo naval
base.
Consider also that if we further remove travel restrictions, thousands
of small private vessels from South Florida will begin visiting Cuba on
a regular basis and may return with hidden cargo. We can all use our
imagination as to the nature of the cargo, whether drugs, contraband
goods, or human trafficking. Our overstretched Coast Guard would not be
able to effectively monitor thousands of private vessels traveling
regularly between South Florida and Cuba.
Given the long-standing and close links between Cuba and Iran, this
ocean travel possibility exposes our border security to new and serious
vulnerabilities to terrorism and contraband.
Moreover, the president's new measures will enrich primarily the Cuban
military, and will not impede General Castro's close alliance with Iran,
Russia, or Venezuela. It is hard to discern how fortifying a
totalitarian government promotes democracy.
The new Cuba policy has legitimized the Cuban military regime in the
eyes of the world. By sanctioning an oppressive regime that violates
human rights with abandon, the president has reversed our long standing
support for democratic governance in Latin America.
Since the 1970s, US policy toward Latin America has emphasized
democracy, human rights, and constitutional government. Arguably, US
policy in defense of democratic governance has not been uniform
throughout the world. But until recently, defending democratic values
was our long-established policy in Latin America. The gratuitous
normalization of relations with an oppressive military dictatorship
sends the wrong message to the continent.
Every Latin-American would-be dictator now realizes that suppressing
civil liberties in his country is not an impediment to having a good
diplomatic and commercial relationship with the United States.
Contrary to the argument of some that the new policy will help improve
relations with Latin America, our implicit seal of approval of a
military dictatorship further weakens US influence and prestige in the
region. It encourages anti-US leaders everywhere to take positions
inimical to US interests, as Cuba has done for decades. One unfortunate
visual the new policy has conveyed is that taking US hostages can be
very rewarding.
Finally, General Castro, in order to secure whatever advantages he may
be pursuing, may promise some minor concessions. But before embracing
his military dictatorship, we should understand the general has made it
clear that Cuba will not change its ways.
Source: What would Cuba do? - Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/54f44d803a682e1644f34375#.VPWBXfnF9HE
Monday, March 2, 2015
SA engineers condemn hiring of Cubans for water projects
SA engineers condemn hiring of Cubans for water projects
BY PAUL VECCHIATTO, 02 MARCH 2015, 06:30
THE employment of 34 Cuban engineers by the Department of Water Affairs
and Sanitation has caused an uproar in local engineering circles and now
the Democratic Alliance (DA) is posing parliamentary questions over the
matter.
The estimated cost of employing the Cuban engineers, who arrived in SA
on February 17, is about R50m a year. SA has hundreds of unemployed
engineers, according to the DA.
Earlier this month Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister Nomvula
Mokonyane welcomed the Cubans to SA to work on a number of projects to
refurbish crumbling water infrastructure.
However, the South African Institute of Civil Engineers has slammed the
recruitment of the Cubans, saying local engineers would have applied for
the jobs if they had been offered the same incentives as the Cubans in
rural communities, national and provincial infrastructure departments
and local authorities.
"The money spent on establishing and accommodating these engineers in SA
could possibly be better spent relooking at current salaries and working
environments in these areas to the benefit of civil engineering
professionals, a number of whom are unemployed, thereby creating
sustainable jobs within SA," the institute said.
Consulting Engineers SA (Cesa) president Abe Thela said his association
was appalled by the department's action.
The Cubans' arrival follows a bilateral agreement that SA and Cuba
concluded last year for co-operation in water resources management and
supply.
Mr Thela warned that the recruitment was worrying since Cuban
engineering skills were not recognised by the Engineering Council of SA,
because Cuba was not a party to the Washington Accord, which governs
international engineering qualifications.
"Our member firms are currently only being 60% utilised and have 40%
spare capacity, while they are waiting for the government to bring
projects on stream," Mr Thela said.
DA MP Leon Basson said he had asked the chairman of the portfolio
committee on water and sanitation, Mlungisi Johnson, to summon Ms
Mokonyane to the next committee meeting to explain why she had bypassed
unemployed South African engineers.
Mr Basson said the same amount of money could have been spent to employ
more than 60 local engineers. There were an estimated 500 unemployed
engineers in SA, making it nonsensical for Ms Mokonyane to look abroad
to fill contractual positions in her department.
He said the DA supported the South African Institution of Civil
Engineering (SAICE) view that Ms Mokonyane's decision acted as a
disincentive to local graduates.
"It is also counter to healthy levels of cooperation between the
government and the private sector. By tapping into the local pool of
unemployed engineers, unnecessary problems such as language barriers and
a lack of familiarity with South African design codes and practice can
be avoided," Mr Basson said.
The DA will also request the portfolio committee to invite the SAICE and
the Engineering Council of SA to deliver a presentation to the committee
on how they could help solve SA's water and sanitation crises.
Source: SA engineers condemn hiring of Cubans for water projects |
National | BDlive -
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2015/03/02/sa-engineers-condemn-hiring-of-cubans-for-water-projects
BY PAUL VECCHIATTO, 02 MARCH 2015, 06:30
THE employment of 34 Cuban engineers by the Department of Water Affairs
and Sanitation has caused an uproar in local engineering circles and now
the Democratic Alliance (DA) is posing parliamentary questions over the
matter.
The estimated cost of employing the Cuban engineers, who arrived in SA
on February 17, is about R50m a year. SA has hundreds of unemployed
engineers, according to the DA.
Earlier this month Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister Nomvula
Mokonyane welcomed the Cubans to SA to work on a number of projects to
refurbish crumbling water infrastructure.
However, the South African Institute of Civil Engineers has slammed the
recruitment of the Cubans, saying local engineers would have applied for
the jobs if they had been offered the same incentives as the Cubans in
rural communities, national and provincial infrastructure departments
and local authorities.
"The money spent on establishing and accommodating these engineers in SA
could possibly be better spent relooking at current salaries and working
environments in these areas to the benefit of civil engineering
professionals, a number of whom are unemployed, thereby creating
sustainable jobs within SA," the institute said.
Consulting Engineers SA (Cesa) president Abe Thela said his association
was appalled by the department's action.
The Cubans' arrival follows a bilateral agreement that SA and Cuba
concluded last year for co-operation in water resources management and
supply.
Mr Thela warned that the recruitment was worrying since Cuban
engineering skills were not recognised by the Engineering Council of SA,
because Cuba was not a party to the Washington Accord, which governs
international engineering qualifications.
"Our member firms are currently only being 60% utilised and have 40%
spare capacity, while they are waiting for the government to bring
projects on stream," Mr Thela said.
DA MP Leon Basson said he had asked the chairman of the portfolio
committee on water and sanitation, Mlungisi Johnson, to summon Ms
Mokonyane to the next committee meeting to explain why she had bypassed
unemployed South African engineers.
Mr Basson said the same amount of money could have been spent to employ
more than 60 local engineers. There were an estimated 500 unemployed
engineers in SA, making it nonsensical for Ms Mokonyane to look abroad
to fill contractual positions in her department.
He said the DA supported the South African Institution of Civil
Engineering (SAICE) view that Ms Mokonyane's decision acted as a
disincentive to local graduates.
"It is also counter to healthy levels of cooperation between the
government and the private sector. By tapping into the local pool of
unemployed engineers, unnecessary problems such as language barriers and
a lack of familiarity with South African design codes and practice can
be avoided," Mr Basson said.
The DA will also request the portfolio committee to invite the SAICE and
the Engineering Council of SA to deliver a presentation to the committee
on how they could help solve SA's water and sanitation crises.
Source: SA engineers condemn hiring of Cubans for water projects |
National | BDlive -
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2015/03/02/sa-engineers-condemn-hiring-of-cubans-for-water-projects
With Raul Castro, Are the Poor Poorer?
With Raul Castro, Are the Poor Poorer? / Ivan Garcia
Posted on March 2, 2015
Iván García, 26 February 2015 — José lives with his wife and five kids,
crammed into a nine by twelve foot space with a wooden platform, in a
shack in Santos Suárez, a slum south of Havana.
The tenement is a precarious spot where the electric cables hang from
the roof, water runs down the narrow central passage from the plumbing
leaks, and a disgusting smell of sewage hangs in your nose for hours.
That shack forms part of a group of ramshackle settlements where more
than 90 thousand Havanans live, according to Joel, a housing official in
the 10 de Octubre municipality.
There are worse places. On the outskirts of the capital, shantytowns are
spreading like the invasive marabou weed. There are more than 50 of
them. Houses made of sections of aluminium and cardboard, without any
sanitation, where the occupants get their electricity supply by
"informal" means.
But, going back to Santos Suárez. José says he is forty, but his sickly
pale skin and his face puffed up from excessive drink, not enough to eat
and poor quality of life make him look like an old man.
José is in that part of the population which doesn't receive remittances
and can't get convertible pesos. He works at anything. Looking after
flowerbeds, carrying debris, or ice cubes. On a good day, he makes 70
pesos, about $3. "All of it goes on food. And the rest on alcohol", he says.
His family's typical diet consists of two spoons of white rice, and a
large spoon of stew once a week, a boiled egg and a quarter chicken or
chopped beef mixed with soya which is distributed once a month via his
ration book. "I just have a coffee for breakfast. My bread from the
ration book I give to my kids."
Ten years ago, he was imprisoned for stealing light bulbs and armchairs
from houses in his area. "I stole from pure necessity. I sold the light
bulbs or daylight colour tubes for 30 pesos. The iron chairs went for 10
CUC. I once got 25 chavitos (CUC) for a wooden chair. I was able to buy
a cot for my daughter with that money", José remembers, sitting in the
doorway of a pharmacy in Serrano Street.
When you ask him about Raúl Castro's economic reforms, or what he hopes
for from the new diplomatic change of direction between Cuba and the
United States, he puts on a poker face.
"What changes? With Raúl we poor people are even poorer. Here anyone who
hasn't any connections with the system or a family in Miami is in a
difficult situation. I don't even want to talk about the old people.
There are a lot of things wrong about Fidel, but when he was in charge,
the social services and what you could get through your ration book
allowed you to live better. Not now. Every day Cubans like me get less
from the government. Many people are happy to be on better terms with
the Americans, but what can Obama do? He isn't the president of Cuba,"
he points out, while he takes a long swig of the worst possible alcohol
out of a plastic bottle.
The streets of Havana swarm with hundreds of people like José asking for
change, pulling out scraps from rubbish bins, or sleeping on cardboard
boxes in uninhabitable buildings.
In the entrance of a building in Carmen Street, on the corner of 10th of
October, about 10 people are there selling second-hand books, old shoes
and junk. Nelson, a gay man about 60 years old, suffers from chronic
diabetes. He sells old magazines. As far as he is concerned, the
revolution can be summed up in a word: "shit".
"It's all just speeches. They said it was a revolution of humble people
and for humble people, but it was a lie. Poor people were always badly
off, but now we are more fucked than ever. What Raúl has brought us has
been capitalism, of the worst kind. Fidel didn't tolerate many things,
including the homosexuals, but we lived a little better. The poor will
always be poor, in a dictatorship or in a democracy", asserts Nelson.
Like in the film Goodbye Lenin, directed by Wolfgang Becker, where the
East Germans feel nostalgic about the Communist era, in Cuba, those
whose lives are stuck in a tale of poverty, feel longing for the decade
from 1970 to 1980, when the state gave you every nine days a pound of
beef per person, through your ration book, a can of condensed milk cost
20 centavos and the shelves in the stores were full of Russian jams.
For Havanans like Nelson and José, you can't eat democracy.
Photo: The conditions Yumila Lora Castillo, who is 8 years old and has a
malignant tumor, is living in. Marelis Castillo, her mother, told Jorge
Bello Domínguez, from the Cuban Community Communicators Network (who
took the photo), that they haven't even authorised the diet of meat and
milk that people with cancer in Cuba are entitled to. A mother of two
other children, Marelis lives in this inhuman situation in El Gabriel,
in the municipality of Güira de Melena, Artemisa province, some 85
kilometers southwest of Havana.
Translated by GH
Source: With Raul Castro, Are the Poor Poorer? / Ivan Garcia |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/with-ral-castro-are-the-poor-poorer-ivan-garcia/
Posted on March 2, 2015
Iván García, 26 February 2015 — José lives with his wife and five kids,
crammed into a nine by twelve foot space with a wooden platform, in a
shack in Santos Suárez, a slum south of Havana.
The tenement is a precarious spot where the electric cables hang from
the roof, water runs down the narrow central passage from the plumbing
leaks, and a disgusting smell of sewage hangs in your nose for hours.
That shack forms part of a group of ramshackle settlements where more
than 90 thousand Havanans live, according to Joel, a housing official in
the 10 de Octubre municipality.
There are worse places. On the outskirts of the capital, shantytowns are
spreading like the invasive marabou weed. There are more than 50 of
them. Houses made of sections of aluminium and cardboard, without any
sanitation, where the occupants get their electricity supply by
"informal" means.
But, going back to Santos Suárez. José says he is forty, but his sickly
pale skin and his face puffed up from excessive drink, not enough to eat
and poor quality of life make him look like an old man.
José is in that part of the population which doesn't receive remittances
and can't get convertible pesos. He works at anything. Looking after
flowerbeds, carrying debris, or ice cubes. On a good day, he makes 70
pesos, about $3. "All of it goes on food. And the rest on alcohol", he says.
His family's typical diet consists of two spoons of white rice, and a
large spoon of stew once a week, a boiled egg and a quarter chicken or
chopped beef mixed with soya which is distributed once a month via his
ration book. "I just have a coffee for breakfast. My bread from the
ration book I give to my kids."
Ten years ago, he was imprisoned for stealing light bulbs and armchairs
from houses in his area. "I stole from pure necessity. I sold the light
bulbs or daylight colour tubes for 30 pesos. The iron chairs went for 10
CUC. I once got 25 chavitos (CUC) for a wooden chair. I was able to buy
a cot for my daughter with that money", José remembers, sitting in the
doorway of a pharmacy in Serrano Street.
When you ask him about Raúl Castro's economic reforms, or what he hopes
for from the new diplomatic change of direction between Cuba and the
United States, he puts on a poker face.
"What changes? With Raúl we poor people are even poorer. Here anyone who
hasn't any connections with the system or a family in Miami is in a
difficult situation. I don't even want to talk about the old people.
There are a lot of things wrong about Fidel, but when he was in charge,
the social services and what you could get through your ration book
allowed you to live better. Not now. Every day Cubans like me get less
from the government. Many people are happy to be on better terms with
the Americans, but what can Obama do? He isn't the president of Cuba,"
he points out, while he takes a long swig of the worst possible alcohol
out of a plastic bottle.
The streets of Havana swarm with hundreds of people like José asking for
change, pulling out scraps from rubbish bins, or sleeping on cardboard
boxes in uninhabitable buildings.
In the entrance of a building in Carmen Street, on the corner of 10th of
October, about 10 people are there selling second-hand books, old shoes
and junk. Nelson, a gay man about 60 years old, suffers from chronic
diabetes. He sells old magazines. As far as he is concerned, the
revolution can be summed up in a word: "shit".
"It's all just speeches. They said it was a revolution of humble people
and for humble people, but it was a lie. Poor people were always badly
off, but now we are more fucked than ever. What Raúl has brought us has
been capitalism, of the worst kind. Fidel didn't tolerate many things,
including the homosexuals, but we lived a little better. The poor will
always be poor, in a dictatorship or in a democracy", asserts Nelson.
Like in the film Goodbye Lenin, directed by Wolfgang Becker, where the
East Germans feel nostalgic about the Communist era, in Cuba, those
whose lives are stuck in a tale of poverty, feel longing for the decade
from 1970 to 1980, when the state gave you every nine days a pound of
beef per person, through your ration book, a can of condensed milk cost
20 centavos and the shelves in the stores were full of Russian jams.
For Havanans like Nelson and José, you can't eat democracy.
Photo: The conditions Yumila Lora Castillo, who is 8 years old and has a
malignant tumor, is living in. Marelis Castillo, her mother, told Jorge
Bello Domínguez, from the Cuban Community Communicators Network (who
took the photo), that they haven't even authorised the diet of meat and
milk that people with cancer in Cuba are entitled to. A mother of two
other children, Marelis lives in this inhuman situation in El Gabriel,
in the municipality of Güira de Melena, Artemisa province, some 85
kilometers southwest of Havana.
Translated by GH
Source: With Raul Castro, Are the Poor Poorer? / Ivan Garcia |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/with-ral-castro-are-the-poor-poorer-ivan-garcia/
OLPL in “A New U.S.-Cuba Policy: Did Cuba Win?”
OLPL in "A New U.S.-Cuba Policy: Did Cuba Win?"
Posted on March 1, 2015
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsIssX8X0iU
Fifty-plus years of US diplomatic stalemate and economic sanctions have
failed to bring freedom to the Cuban people because they were not
designed to bring freedom to the Cuban people, but to penalize a regime
that started by sequestering Cuban sovereignty by violent and
anti-democratic procedures (reestablishment of death penalty, radical
hatred speech, citizen apartheid), by the illegalization of civil
society and all forms of property (both private and public, including
the press), and by tyrannizing every institutional power into a despotic
State, plus the militarization of the nation to the point of demanding a
nuclear attack against the United States from Cuban territory.
The 50-plus years to come of US diplomatic relations and capitalist
engagement with Cuba can neither guarantee the advance of fundamental
freedoms in my country, nor our liberation from the successive Castro
generations, because a market economy is not a redemptive formula and it
has already been implemented by authoritarian systems as a tool for
tyrannical control of all basic rights. And this is a wicked word that
President Obama, Pope Francis and General Castro have secretly agreed to
postpone: the rights of the Cuban people.
As the pro-democracy leader Oswaldo Payá stated many times until he was
extrajudicially executed in Cuba on July 22nd 2012: Why not the
recognition of all our rights now? What is good for Americans since the
18th century is still not good enough for Cubans in the 21st century?
Is this about US interference, as in the hegemonic past times when the
capitol of DC was the capital of the continent? Or this is only about
insulting the intellectual capacity of my people, wise enough to escape
in a pedestrian's plebiscite in search for a real "normalization" of
their lives far from an abnormal socialism?
Democracies seem guilty of their duty to foster democracy worldwide, but
Castroism has been more than proud to Castrify democratic countries
(Venezuela is the most tragic example today), as the recently liberated
5 Cuban spies in US have declared when ordered as National Heroes back
on the Island: we are ready to commit our crimes again if we are ordered
to do so. Sic semper tyrannis.
Why not the effective solidarity and the pressure of the international
community, so that the legal claims that have already mobilized tens of
thousands of Cubans be respected by our non-elected authorities? Why not
take advantage of these US-Cuba negotiations to seat in the same table
the historical gerontocracy with the alternative civil leaders, after we
have risked so much to conquer freedom of speech and to raise awareness
on human rights violations and the anthropological damage in Cuba?
In moral terms, the unpopularity of US policies given the popularity of
the Cuban Revolution worldwide should be less important than the
unpopularity of the retrograde regime within the Island, if a true
transition is to take place in Cuba today. Unless, of course, advancing
American interests in the Western Hemisphere now means advancing
American interests in Western Union.
Did Cuba win?
Cuba cannot win because perpetuation in power is always a failure and
the best approach to endure a fossil past, despite the faith in the
future expressed by Nancy Pelosi, as the US executive branch enforces
resolution after resolution, involving exclusively those congressmen and
NGOs and think-tanks and press magnates and corporations' tycoons that
hurry to shake Raul Castro's hand without asking him a single
uncomfortable question, thus legitimizing he who abolished the Cuban
Congress and Cuban Chamber of Commerce and Cuban think-tanks and Cuban
NGOs, as well as the exercise of free press. By the way, convenient
Cuban dissidents are also called into play, not for the rule of law, but
for the rule of loyalty.
The rationale seems to be that, as it is impossible to hold the Cuban
government accountable, the appeasement of the dictatorship into a
dictatorcracy is now the lesser evil, mentioning "Cuban civil society"
only for political correctness in presidential speeches, while in fact
excluding us from the new status quo.
I am not sure about "what everybody needs to know about Cuba" (as in
Julia Sweig's book) but I am certain of what nobody dares to know about
Cuba. Milan Kundera, maybe the best of Cuban novelists who is a Czech
who writes in French and lives in Switzerland (a perfect mixture for
freedom), knew that "the old dead make way for the young dead" for "the
struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting".
Therefore, even if this is a small step for democracy, it's also a giant
leap against independency. And decency. The Cuban policy of the US is
the ironic victory of The End of History: from our War against Spain to
the anti-Imperialist Revolution, the growing "Common Marketization" of
international relations is what really counts.
That's why for the first time in the history of our hemiplegic
hemisphere it's paradoxically in a Communist country where the cry of
"Yankees, come home" echoes. In fact, you are more than welcome to try
to fool our terminal tyrant with US dollars. But having dwelt in the
entrails of said terminal tyranny during never-ending decades, my only
remaining resistance is a sour skepticism to soothe our soul.
(Original in English)
Source: OLPL in "A New U.S.-Cuba Policy: Did Cuba Win?" | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/olpl-in-a-new-u-s-cuba-policy-did-cuba-win/
Posted on March 1, 2015
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsIssX8X0iU
Fifty-plus years of US diplomatic stalemate and economic sanctions have
failed to bring freedom to the Cuban people because they were not
designed to bring freedom to the Cuban people, but to penalize a regime
that started by sequestering Cuban sovereignty by violent and
anti-democratic procedures (reestablishment of death penalty, radical
hatred speech, citizen apartheid), by the illegalization of civil
society and all forms of property (both private and public, including
the press), and by tyrannizing every institutional power into a despotic
State, plus the militarization of the nation to the point of demanding a
nuclear attack against the United States from Cuban territory.
The 50-plus years to come of US diplomatic relations and capitalist
engagement with Cuba can neither guarantee the advance of fundamental
freedoms in my country, nor our liberation from the successive Castro
generations, because a market economy is not a redemptive formula and it
has already been implemented by authoritarian systems as a tool for
tyrannical control of all basic rights. And this is a wicked word that
President Obama, Pope Francis and General Castro have secretly agreed to
postpone: the rights of the Cuban people.
As the pro-democracy leader Oswaldo Payá stated many times until he was
extrajudicially executed in Cuba on July 22nd 2012: Why not the
recognition of all our rights now? What is good for Americans since the
18th century is still not good enough for Cubans in the 21st century?
Is this about US interference, as in the hegemonic past times when the
capitol of DC was the capital of the continent? Or this is only about
insulting the intellectual capacity of my people, wise enough to escape
in a pedestrian's plebiscite in search for a real "normalization" of
their lives far from an abnormal socialism?
Democracies seem guilty of their duty to foster democracy worldwide, but
Castroism has been more than proud to Castrify democratic countries
(Venezuela is the most tragic example today), as the recently liberated
5 Cuban spies in US have declared when ordered as National Heroes back
on the Island: we are ready to commit our crimes again if we are ordered
to do so. Sic semper tyrannis.
Why not the effective solidarity and the pressure of the international
community, so that the legal claims that have already mobilized tens of
thousands of Cubans be respected by our non-elected authorities? Why not
take advantage of these US-Cuba negotiations to seat in the same table
the historical gerontocracy with the alternative civil leaders, after we
have risked so much to conquer freedom of speech and to raise awareness
on human rights violations and the anthropological damage in Cuba?
In moral terms, the unpopularity of US policies given the popularity of
the Cuban Revolution worldwide should be less important than the
unpopularity of the retrograde regime within the Island, if a true
transition is to take place in Cuba today. Unless, of course, advancing
American interests in the Western Hemisphere now means advancing
American interests in Western Union.
Did Cuba win?
Cuba cannot win because perpetuation in power is always a failure and
the best approach to endure a fossil past, despite the faith in the
future expressed by Nancy Pelosi, as the US executive branch enforces
resolution after resolution, involving exclusively those congressmen and
NGOs and think-tanks and press magnates and corporations' tycoons that
hurry to shake Raul Castro's hand without asking him a single
uncomfortable question, thus legitimizing he who abolished the Cuban
Congress and Cuban Chamber of Commerce and Cuban think-tanks and Cuban
NGOs, as well as the exercise of free press. By the way, convenient
Cuban dissidents are also called into play, not for the rule of law, but
for the rule of loyalty.
The rationale seems to be that, as it is impossible to hold the Cuban
government accountable, the appeasement of the dictatorship into a
dictatorcracy is now the lesser evil, mentioning "Cuban civil society"
only for political correctness in presidential speeches, while in fact
excluding us from the new status quo.
I am not sure about "what everybody needs to know about Cuba" (as in
Julia Sweig's book) but I am certain of what nobody dares to know about
Cuba. Milan Kundera, maybe the best of Cuban novelists who is a Czech
who writes in French and lives in Switzerland (a perfect mixture for
freedom), knew that "the old dead make way for the young dead" for "the
struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting".
Therefore, even if this is a small step for democracy, it's also a giant
leap against independency. And decency. The Cuban policy of the US is
the ironic victory of The End of History: from our War against Spain to
the anti-Imperialist Revolution, the growing "Common Marketization" of
international relations is what really counts.
That's why for the first time in the history of our hemiplegic
hemisphere it's paradoxically in a Communist country where the cry of
"Yankees, come home" echoes. In fact, you are more than welcome to try
to fool our terminal tyrant with US dollars. But having dwelt in the
entrails of said terminal tyranny during never-ending decades, my only
remaining resistance is a sour skepticism to soothe our soul.
(Original in English)
Source: OLPL in "A New U.S.-Cuba Policy: Did Cuba Win?" | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/olpl-in-a-new-u-s-cuba-policy-did-cuba-win/
Seven Steps to Kill Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Seven Steps to Kill Orlando Zapata Tamayo / Luis Felipe Rojas
Posted on March 1, 2015
Luis Felipe Rojas — I published this post a few days after that needless
death. Now I again denounce the death and express the same ideas about
it. It's my homage to my brother, Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
I am still experiencing the pain caused by that avoidable death, and I
feel impotent because I didn't attend the funeral honoring him due to
political impediments, but that hasn't stopped me from saying that in
any case, what I present here seem to be the seven final steps that
advanced the repressive machinery used to kill Zapata.
1. Setting up that para-judicial theater that imposed a sentence of 63
years on him for contempt.
2. The continuous beatings accompanied by obscene words and insults
about his race and the region where he lived (shitty negro, shitty peasant).
3. Putting him in prisons that were located far away from his mother's
home (Prison Kilo Cinco y Medio in Pinar del Rio, Prison Kilo 8 in
Camaguey).
4. The beatings in November 2009 in the Holguin jail when they knocked
him down smashing his leg with a steel bar, on his knee cap, and that
his mother saw again when she opened the coffin in her house in Banes
and also discovered that there were other marks of the beating with
clubs that he surely received months before.
5. The forced removal to Camaguey and the robbery of his belongings on
December 3 when they confiscated the only food he was eating in prison.
This was the fact that made in declare a hunger strike.
6. Taking away water for the 18 days in the middle of the strike even
when he had said that he was declaring a hunger strike but would drink
small amounts of water.
7. The maneuver of taking him to a hospital for prisoners in Camaguey,
west of Havana, and putting him in a room that was not set up for
treating prisoners in a grave condition.
I lack the power of analysis in this case, but please don't keep saying
that the government didn't have a hand in his death. The execution order
was given from the office of General Raul Castro Ruz.
Translated by Regina Anavy
23 February 2015
Source: Seven Steps to Kill Orlando Zapata Tamayo / Luis Felipe Rojas |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/seven-steps-to-kill-orlando-zapata-tamayo-luis-felipe-rojas/
Posted on March 1, 2015
Luis Felipe Rojas — I published this post a few days after that needless
death. Now I again denounce the death and express the same ideas about
it. It's my homage to my brother, Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
I am still experiencing the pain caused by that avoidable death, and I
feel impotent because I didn't attend the funeral honoring him due to
political impediments, but that hasn't stopped me from saying that in
any case, what I present here seem to be the seven final steps that
advanced the repressive machinery used to kill Zapata.
1. Setting up that para-judicial theater that imposed a sentence of 63
years on him for contempt.
2. The continuous beatings accompanied by obscene words and insults
about his race and the region where he lived (shitty negro, shitty peasant).
3. Putting him in prisons that were located far away from his mother's
home (Prison Kilo Cinco y Medio in Pinar del Rio, Prison Kilo 8 in
Camaguey).
4. The beatings in November 2009 in the Holguin jail when they knocked
him down smashing his leg with a steel bar, on his knee cap, and that
his mother saw again when she opened the coffin in her house in Banes
and also discovered that there were other marks of the beating with
clubs that he surely received months before.
5. The forced removal to Camaguey and the robbery of his belongings on
December 3 when they confiscated the only food he was eating in prison.
This was the fact that made in declare a hunger strike.
6. Taking away water for the 18 days in the middle of the strike even
when he had said that he was declaring a hunger strike but would drink
small amounts of water.
7. The maneuver of taking him to a hospital for prisoners in Camaguey,
west of Havana, and putting him in a room that was not set up for
treating prisoners in a grave condition.
I lack the power of analysis in this case, but please don't keep saying
that the government didn't have a hand in his death. The execution order
was given from the office of General Raul Castro Ruz.
Translated by Regina Anavy
23 February 2015
Source: Seven Steps to Kill Orlando Zapata Tamayo / Luis Felipe Rojas |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/seven-steps-to-kill-orlando-zapata-tamayo-luis-felipe-rojas/
Cuban Civil Society Open Forum Holds Third Meeting
Cuban Civil Society Open Forum Holds Third Meeting / 14ymedio
Posted on March 1, 2015
14ymedio, Havana, 25 February 2015 – The Cuban Civil Society Open Forum
held its third meeting this Wednesday with 25 people attending, among
them activists, opponents and members of civic groups. The first point
on the agenda was the approval of a document titled "Ethical Path for
Cuban Civil Society," which lays out the basic principles that should be
supported. Also under discussion were internal organizational issues
relative to the inclusion and representation of the participants.
A motion of solidarity with Venezuela (see below) was passed during the
day and important agreements were made with regards to the attendance of
Cuban civil society at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, to be held
this coming April 10-11. Finally, those present were invited to make
proposals about the elements and improvements that should be included in
the next Elections Act, announced last Monday in an official note after
the Tenth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
On this occasion there were new faces around the table, while other
activists weren't present as they were participating events abroad or
for other reasons. As has already been seen, a characteristic of the
Open Forum is that discussion are of a frank character, marked by
precise arguments and a thorough knowledge of the national reality.
Among those attending (see below), the idea prevailed that Open Forum is
emerging as a good opportunity for civil society to find new points of
consensus, but without the intention of becoming a political coalition.
The horizontality in which everyone keeps their own individual
personality is one of the most notable strengths of this organization,
which resists being considered a group to which people belong, because
it prefers to define itself as a place where people participate.
The participants confirmed that the Open Forum is "without hierarchies,
or party discipline, but moved by a common denominator, love of Cuba and
the stubborn will to seek solutions to the problems of the country."
Motion of Solidarity with Venezuela
The independent Cuban Civil Society Open Forum meeting in Havana on 25
February 2015, has a approved a motion of solidarity with Venezuelan
civil society and opposition victims of the repression unleashed by the
government of that nation.
We emphasize our support for the former member of the National Assembly
María Corina Machado; opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has already
served a year in prison; and Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, elected by
the popular will, recently imprisoned.
Attendees
José Díaz Silva (UNPACU)
José Daniel Ferrer García (UNPACU)
José Conrado Rodríguez (Diócesis de Cienfuegos)
José A. Fornaris (Asociación por la Libertad de Prensa)
Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (FANTU)
Fernando Palacio Nogar (Partido Solidaridad Liberal Cubano)
Félix Navarro Rodríguez (Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel)
Ernesto García Pérez(Unión Social Comunitaria Cubana)
Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz (CCDHRN)
Eliécer Lázaro Ávila Cicilia (Somos +)
Eduardo Díaz Fleitas (UNPACU)
Dagoberto Valdés Hernández (Director de Convivencia)
Belkis Cantillo (CXD) Ciudadanas por la Democracia)
Karina Gálvez Chiu (Proyecto Convivencia)
Laritza Diversent Cámbara (Cubalex)
Lázaro Báez (Movimiento ONR)
Librado Linares García (Movimiento Cubano Reflexión)
Mario Félix Lleonart (Instituto Patmos)
Miriam Celaya González (Periodista Independiente)
Pedro Campos Santos (Boletín SPD)
Reinaldo Escobar Casas (periodista)
René Gómez Manzano (Corriente Agramontista de Abogados Independientes)
Saúl Raúl Quiala Velázquez (PSC-Fundación Sucesores)
Yoaxis Macheco Suárez (Instituto Patmos)
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera (Periodista independiente)
Source: Cuban Civil Society Open Forum Holds Third Meeting / 14ymedio |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-civil-society-open-forum-holds-third-meeting-14ymedio/
Posted on March 1, 2015
14ymedio, Havana, 25 February 2015 – The Cuban Civil Society Open Forum
held its third meeting this Wednesday with 25 people attending, among
them activists, opponents and members of civic groups. The first point
on the agenda was the approval of a document titled "Ethical Path for
Cuban Civil Society," which lays out the basic principles that should be
supported. Also under discussion were internal organizational issues
relative to the inclusion and representation of the participants.
A motion of solidarity with Venezuela (see below) was passed during the
day and important agreements were made with regards to the attendance of
Cuban civil society at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, to be held
this coming April 10-11. Finally, those present were invited to make
proposals about the elements and improvements that should be included in
the next Elections Act, announced last Monday in an official note after
the Tenth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
On this occasion there were new faces around the table, while other
activists weren't present as they were participating events abroad or
for other reasons. As has already been seen, a characteristic of the
Open Forum is that discussion are of a frank character, marked by
precise arguments and a thorough knowledge of the national reality.
Among those attending (see below), the idea prevailed that Open Forum is
emerging as a good opportunity for civil society to find new points of
consensus, but without the intention of becoming a political coalition.
The horizontality in which everyone keeps their own individual
personality is one of the most notable strengths of this organization,
which resists being considered a group to which people belong, because
it prefers to define itself as a place where people participate.
The participants confirmed that the Open Forum is "without hierarchies,
or party discipline, but moved by a common denominator, love of Cuba and
the stubborn will to seek solutions to the problems of the country."
Motion of Solidarity with Venezuela
The independent Cuban Civil Society Open Forum meeting in Havana on 25
February 2015, has a approved a motion of solidarity with Venezuelan
civil society and opposition victims of the repression unleashed by the
government of that nation.
We emphasize our support for the former member of the National Assembly
María Corina Machado; opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has already
served a year in prison; and Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, elected by
the popular will, recently imprisoned.
Attendees
José Díaz Silva (UNPACU)
José Daniel Ferrer García (UNPACU)
José Conrado Rodríguez (Diócesis de Cienfuegos)
José A. Fornaris (Asociación por la Libertad de Prensa)
Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (FANTU)
Fernando Palacio Nogar (Partido Solidaridad Liberal Cubano)
Félix Navarro Rodríguez (Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel)
Ernesto García Pérez(Unión Social Comunitaria Cubana)
Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz (CCDHRN)
Eliécer Lázaro Ávila Cicilia (Somos +)
Eduardo Díaz Fleitas (UNPACU)
Dagoberto Valdés Hernández (Director de Convivencia)
Belkis Cantillo (CXD) Ciudadanas por la Democracia)
Karina Gálvez Chiu (Proyecto Convivencia)
Laritza Diversent Cámbara (Cubalex)
Lázaro Báez (Movimiento ONR)
Librado Linares García (Movimiento Cubano Reflexión)
Mario Félix Lleonart (Instituto Patmos)
Miriam Celaya González (Periodista Independiente)
Pedro Campos Santos (Boletín SPD)
Reinaldo Escobar Casas (periodista)
René Gómez Manzano (Corriente Agramontista de Abogados Independientes)
Saúl Raúl Quiala Velázquez (PSC-Fundación Sucesores)
Yoaxis Macheco Suárez (Instituto Patmos)
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera (Periodista independiente)
Source: Cuban Civil Society Open Forum Holds Third Meeting / 14ymedio |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-civil-society-open-forum-holds-third-meeting-14ymedio/
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