Priceline pays fine for breaking Cuba sanctions

The Associated Press November 4, 2008, 2:14PM ET
Priceline pays fine for breaking Cuba sanctions
NEW YORK

Priceline.com Inc. has become at least the second online travel company
to get slapped with a fine from the federal government for violating
U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

Priceline, based in Norwalk, Conn., agreed to pay $12,250 after an
internal audit revealed one of its foreign subsidiaries provided
"limited travel services to Cuban nationals," company spokesman Brian Ek
said Tuesday. Ek said he could not reveal where the Cubans were
traveling to or from.

He said the company reported the violation voluntarily.

A statement from the Treasury Department said a subsidiary of Priceline
"provided travel-related services in which Cuba or Cuban nationals had
an interest."

Treasury Department spokesman Andrew DeSouza would not comment on why
Priceline's settlement was so much less than the $182,750 paid by
Travelocity.com LP in a similar case last year.

In that case, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said
Travelocity violated the sanctions on Cuba nearly 1,500 times between
January 1998 and April 2004, a first for an online travel agency.

The department said Priceline violated regulations on Cuba between
September 2004 and November 2007 but did not say in how many instance

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9489VU00.htm

After three hurricanes, 'no hay' in Cuba

Posted on Friday, 11.14.08
After three hurricanes, 'no hay' in Cuba
BY MIAMI HERALD STAFF REPORT
cuba@MiamiHerald.com

HAVANA -- Even before Hurricane Paloma unleashed more than 140-mile per
hour winds along Cuba's Southeastern coast, many Cubans joked that they
already knew the sequence of the storms that battered the island in the
past three months -- first came Gustav, then Ike and now No Hay, Spanish
for ``there isn't any.''

No hay plantains.

No hay pineapples.

No hay sufficient amount of construction supplies to dole out for all
those looking to rebuild and repair their homes.

So what exactly is left?

''We still have our sense of humor,'' quipped Carlos Humberto, a silver
haired man in his 60s who rents rooms to tourists.

Despite the good-natured attitude, the lack of basic staples is no
laughing matter. Cuba is struggling with an estimated $10 billion in
damages in the aftermath of three storms in the span of three months.

Adding to what was already a housing crisis: more than 500,000 homes
have been destroyed across the island since August. Thousands of
families still find themselves housed at night in school halls and
classrooms in more affected provinces like Camagüey in central Cuba and
Holguín in the northeastern region.

Nightly television news reports from the University of Camagüey show
some 1,000 people still sheltered at the school following Paloma's path
of destruction along the beachside town of Santa Cruz del Sur.

''We will rebuild, but logically we will not build so close to the
water,'' Raúl Castro told the afflicted residents during a recent visit
to the university. ``What's the point of rebuilding next to the water if
we're going to have to rebuild with the next storm?''

Still, promises of reconstruction are hampered by limited supplies of
wood and metal sheets for roofs. Building supplies have been in such
high demand, that government officials have called on the population to
report anyone found to be purchasing more supplies than deemed
necessary, several residents told The Miami Herald.

''It's a good thing,'' said Maria Luz, who makes extra money by braiding
hair for tourists in Old Havana. ``It protects us from people who want
to buy up all the supplies to resell it for higher prices.''

After Hurricanes Gustav and Ike swept the country in August and
September, flatbed trucks stacked with with green plantains were
dispatched to bring food to storm-ravaged residents. At the time,
residents joked that they would be eating platanos for weeks.

Now, with nearly one third of the country's crops destroyed during the
first two storms, plantains are hard to find. Even tourists hoping to
score plantain dishes from restaurants are told to choose another dish
on the menu.

''We're able to get malanga but plantains are hard to come by,'' said
Duniel, 23, who shuttles tourists around on a bicycle taxi throughout
the Old Havana neighborhood. ``If you get some, they are all black,
overripe?''

Also hard to come by are various kinds of fruits, especially pineapples.
Many of the agricultural fields where they grow, also were destroyed by
the storm. Carlos Humberto, the man who rents rooms to tourists, is used
to providing his guests with fruit salad for breakfast each morning.
Now, he laments having to apologize for having only a few slices of
pineapple to offer.

''Even to get the pineapple, I had to ride my bike from market to
market,'' Carlos Humberto said.

Even though the United States has offered as much as $6 million in aid
on five separate occasions following the storms, Cuban officials have
rejected the money, stating the economic embargo should be lifted, instead.

On the streets of Havana, many Cubans still are hopeful for eventual
U.S. assistance -- energized by the news of Barack Obama's election to
presidency.

''We are hopeful that he will change relations with Cuba,'' said
Francisco Mora Garcia, 43, sitting on the steps of Havana's aging and
mold-ridden Capitolio building. ``Isn't he known among Americans as a
man of change? We hope so.''

Mora Garcia, who said he fled the island during the 1980 Mariel boat
exodus and once lived in California before he was deported six years ago
following an arrest for a violation he called minor, also was looking
for change on the streets of Havana.

He begged for spare change, shampoo, soap or any else tourists were
willing to hand over.

''Its a hard life here and its not getting easier,'' he said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/breaking-news/story/771604.html

WFP Helps Cuba's Hurricane-Affected Communities

WFP Helps Cuba's Hurricane-Affected Communities
By VOA News
28 October 2008

The U.N. World Food Program is giving emergency assistance to the Cuban
government.

The WFP announced Tuesday that it will help feed about two million
people at a cost of nearly $6 million.

The aid package is intended to help Cuba recover from last month's
devastation from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

During the next six months, WFP will provide food rations, including
rice, beans, vegetable oil, canned fish and more.

The WFP will also supply temporary food storage warehouses and liquid
gas stoves to people who lost their cooking facilities in the storms.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-10-28-voa18.cfm

Cuba says its national economy grew 6 per cent in the first half of this year

Cuba says its national economy grew 6 per cent in the first half of this
year

Nov 1, 2008

HAVANA — Cuba's says its economy grew by six per cent in the first half
of 2008, but won't maintain that pace because of damage caused by
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez says the rise in gross domestic
product in the year's final six months won't match the results of the
first, which finished with six per cent growth.

Hurricane Gustav hit western Cuba on Aug. 30 and Ike slammed into the
country's eastern flank barely a week later, then raked most of the island.

The government says the storms caused the greatest storm damage in
Cuba's hurricane-battered history, killing seven people, damaging nearly
450,000 homes and crippling food production and infrastructure.

Rodriquez says the principal challenge is the reconstruction of the
country, whose losses were initially calculated at $5 billion but which
today are seen as far higher.

He offered no new estimates.

However, Civil Defence Chief Ramon Pardo Guerra told visiting Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that collective damage from the
storms had reached nearly 8.7 billion convertible pesos, or about $9.4
billion.

That makes them nearly twice as costly as officials originally believed.

Cuba's measurement of GDP includes spending on free health care,
education through college and monthly food rations provided by the
communist system - an uncommon methodology that critics say inflates
growth figures.

Officially, the economy expanded by 7.5 per cent last year and posted a
12.5 per cent growth rate in 2006.

Rodriguez projected last year that the economy would grow eight per cent
in 2008, but he and other officials began warning in July, even before
the hurricanes hit, that rising global food and oil prices would cause
"inevitable adjustments and restrictions."

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jq9fzBRHy-oIPHF4ZvT7cHBb0XBQ

Malawi to export beans to Cuba

Malawi to export beans to Cuba

Malawi is slowly gaining ground in the business of exports as it will
soon start exporting beans to Cuba. The Southern African country is said
to have secured an outright order of 15,000 metric tons of red beans to
Cuba. Malawi is one of the countries that grow the best beans which have
won the heart of many.

The country's minister of Industry and Trade Henry Mussa said the deal
had come about after Cuba experienced hurricanes which destroyed its
crops. "We have been given an outright deal to export to Cuba about
15,000 metric tons of red beans, which is translated to nearly
US$12million (K1.9bn)," said the minister on his arrival from Cuba's
26th International Trade Fair.

Mussa was quoted in a local newspaper, Daily Times, that apart from the
beans export the two countries had also made an agreement on Cuba
assisting with expertise and knowledge to process fruits. According to
reports from the country's ministry of trade officials, experts from
Cuba are expected in Malawi to select a variety of their choice.

Malawi is said to have showcased several agricultural commodities which
included groundnuts, tea, and coffee at the fair. Statistics from the
country indicate that it produces about 34,000 metric tonnes of beans
annually. Early this year the country also announced that it was to
export some of its products to China. China and Malawi tied its
friendship last year.

Source: africanews.com

Publication date: 11/17/2008

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=33218

Orinda child sex tourist and pornographer sentenced to 15 years

Orinda child sex tourist and pornographer sentenced to 15 years
By Paul Thissen
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 11/14/2008 04:59:16 PM PST

A 61-year-old Orinda real estate executive and former St. Mary's College
professor was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for producing child
pornography in a case stemming from his travels to Costa Rica to have
sex with a 12-year-old girl.

Leonard Auerbach was sentenced under a plea agreement he made in August,
according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Auerbach was also ordered to pay a $200,000 fine and forfeit an
additional $270,000 from the sale of a Costa Rican beach house where he
committed the crimes. In addition, he must pay $178,000 in restitution:
$78,000 to the girl and $100,000 to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children.

Auerbach pleaded guilty to the charges in August.

In April, Auerbach fled the country after charges were filed. After
being named a "most wanted" fugitive by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, he was arrested in Cuba by local authorities in May and
extradited back to the United States in June. Cuba and the United States
do not have an extradition treaty; Cuba expelled him because of the
"grave" nature of his crimes, according to U.S. immigration officials.

From 2003 to 2007, Auerbach traveled about 40 times to a house he owned
in Costa Rica. Images found at his Orinda home in August 2007 included
child pornography taken in Costa Rica in 2004, when the girl in the
images was 12, according to the indictment and an ICE news release.

Auerbach also referred to her as his "girlfriend," admitted her age and
said in a secretly recorded conversation in July 2007 that he had sex
with her, according to immigration officials.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_10987085

Storm-Wracked Cuba Has Huge Housing Deficit

Storm-Wracked Cuba Has Huge Housing Deficit
Castro says 3 hurricanes wiped out 500,000 homes, causing $10 billion in
destruction

HAVANA -- The province of Pinar del Rio, affected by two of the three
hurricanes that battered Cuba in recent months, has already repaired
damage to more than 14,200 houses and provided temporary accommodations
for 14,000 families, but still has a deficit of 98,560 homes, the
Communist Party daily Granma reported Monday.

"That means that half of the population of Pinar del Rio today is
without permanent homes," the paper said in its report of a recent
meeting of local leaders in that western province of 730,000 inhabitants.

Damage caused by hurricanes dating back to 2002 in that part of the
island have contributed to the housing deficit, Granma reported.

The daily said the damage to buildings in Pinar del Rio "includes 28,818
total collapses" caused by Hurricane Gustav, which devastated Cuba's
extreme west on Aug. 30, and Hurricane Ike, which crossed the island
from east to west between Sept. 7-9.

However, among those people who lost their houses only a little more
than 200 are still living in shelters, according to provincial Communist
Party leaders, who have urged local inhabitants to trust that resources
will go where they are most needed.

Hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma, which swept over the eastern part of
the island on Nov. 8, totally or partially destroyed more than a
half-million homes and - according to estimates provided last week by
President Raul Castro - caused roughly $10 billion in damage. EFE

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=320778&CategoryId=14510

USDA Exports: Corn, Soybeans, & Wheat Up, Beef Sales To Canada

11/20/2008 7:44:00 AM

USDA Exports: Corn, Soybeans, & Wheat Up, Beef Sales To Canada

Wheat: Net sales of 511,000 metric tons were up two and one-tenth times
from the previous week and 40 percent from the prior 4-week average.
Increases reported for Japan (103,400 MT), South Korea (89,200 MT),
Egypt (56,900 MT), unknown destinations (54,800 MT), Nigeria (48,000
MT), Thailand (39,600 MT), Costa Rica (29,900 MT, including 3,700 MT
switched from Guatemala), and Cuba (27,500 MT), were partially offset by
decreases for Guatemala (3,700 MT), Mexico (2,800 MT), and Colombia
(1,100 MT). Exports of 452,300 MT were up 1 percent from the previous
week, but down 7 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary
destinations were Nigeria (73,900 MT), Iran (66,000 MT), Egypt (64,900
MT), Japan (57,000 MT), the Philippines (50,400 MT), Cuba (27,500 MT),
Portugal (18,000 MT), and Costa Rica (15,300 MT).

Corn: Net sales of 433,800 MT were up 22 percent from the previous
week, but down 15 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases
reported for Cuba (125,200 MT), Japan (90,600 MT), Taiwan (87,300 MT),
Syria (50,400 MT, previously reported as Egypt), Ecuador (30,000 MT),
and Mexico (27,300 MT), were partially offset by decreases for Colombia
(33,200 MT) and Guatemala (23,300 MT). Exports of 755,900 MT were down
7 percent from the previous week, but up 9 percent from the prior 4-week
average. The primary destinations were Japan (300,000 MT), Mexico
(106,200 MT), Taiwan (87,400 MT), South Korea (85,200 MT), Syria (50,400
MT), Colombia (28,000 MT), Honduras (25,300 MT), and Cuba (25,200 MT).
Note: Accumulated exports were adjusted down 50,400 MT for Egypt.

Barley: There were no sales reported during the week. Exports of 2,900
MT were to Canada (2,400 MT) and Taiwan (500 MT).

Sorghum: Net sales of 4,100 MT were for Mexico. Exports of 23,400 MT
were down 39 percent from the previous week and 61 percent from the
prior 4-week average. The destination was Mexico.

Rice: Net sales of 118,900 MT--a marketing-year high--were up two and
one-fifth times from the previous week and two and seven-tenths times
from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Costa Rica
(62,800 MT), Venezuela (30,700 MT), Mexico (10,800 MT), and Honduras
(7,000 MT). Exports of 83,800 MT were up two and three-tenths times
from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior 4-week average. The
primary destinations were Venezuela (30,700 MT), Mexico (23,200 MT),
Honduras (7,400 MT), Haiti (6,200 MT), Canada (5,400 MT), and South
Korea (2,000 MT).

Soybeans: Net sales of 790,900 MT were up 65 percent from the previous
week, but down 11 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases
reported for China (469,200 MT, including 122,000 MT switched from
unknown destinations and decreases of 128,200 MT), Mexico (122,200 MT),
Germany (76,600 MT, including 75,000 MT switched from unknown
destinations), Taiwan (75,800 MT, including 58,000 MT switched from
unknown destinations), the Netherlands (59,700 MT, switched from unknown
destinations), and Japan (25,800 MT), were partially offset by decreases
for Egypt (35,400 MT) and unknown destinations (17,500 MT). Exports of
1,067,500 MT were up 2 percent from the previous week, but down 13
percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were
China (581,500 MT), Taiwan (104,200 MT), Germany (76,600 MT), Japan
(66,100 MT), the Netherlands (59,700 MT), and South Korea (57,800 MT).

Soybean Cake and Meal: Net sales of 92,300 MT were down 26 percent from
the previous week and 41 percent from the prior 4-week average.
Increases reported for Cuba (40,000 MT), Mexico (26,600 MT), Canada
(9,300 MT), the United Arab Emirates (7,000 MT), and Honduras (6,600 MT
switched from Guatemala), were partially offset by decreases for
Guatemala (6,600 MT), Japan (4,600 MT), and Nicaragua (2,000 MT).
Exports of 116,500 MT were down 20 percent from the previous week, but
unchanged from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were
Mexico (37,000 MT), Ecuador (27,500 MT), and Canada (24,300 MT).

Soybean Oil: Net sales of 7,900 MT were primarily for Jamaica (3,200
MT), Costa Rica (1,500 MT), Nicaragua (1,300 MT), and Guatemala (1,200
MT). Decreases were reported for Saudi Arabia (200 MT). Exports of
1,900 MT were up 6 percent from the previous week, but down 79 percent
from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were mainly to Mexico
(800 MT), Canada (400 MT), and the United Arab Emirates (100 MT).

Cotton: Net Upland sales of 202,400 running bales were up 51 percent
from the previous week and 8 percent from the prior 4-week average.
Increases reported for China (39,700 RB), Turkey (36,900 RB), Mexico
(23,900 RB), Peru (14,200 RB), Bangladesh (13,300 RB), and Thailand
(11,200 RB), were partially offset by decreases for unknown destinations
(400 RB). Exports of 239,000 RB were up 8 percent from the previous
week and from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were
China (87,200 RB), Turkey (48,200 RB), Mexico (32,900 RB), and Indonesia
(11,100 RB). Net American Pima sales of 700 RB were mainly for Japan
(300 MT) and Thailand (300 MT). Exports of 1,900 RB were down 14
percent from the previous week and 40 percent from the prior 4-week
average. The primary destinations were Germany (900 RB) and Indonesia
(700 RB).

Hides and Skins: Net sales of 516,600 pieces were up 7 percent from the
previous week and 41 percent from the prior 4-week average. Whole
cattle hide sales of 493,000 pieces resulted as increases for China
(234,100 pieces), South Korea (177,100 pieces, including 49,500 pieces
previously reported as Japan), Taiwan (72,300 pieces), and Thailand
(31,900 pieces), were partially offset by decreases for Japan (52,300
pieces). Exports of 655,400 pieces were up 15 percent from the previous
week and 20 percent from the prior 4-week average. Whole cattle hide
exports of 637,000 pieces were primarily to China (299,000 pieces),
South Korea (207,700 pieces), Taiwan (33,900 pieces), Japan (29,800
pieces), Hong Kong (28,100 pieces), and Thailand (11,000 pieces).

Net sales of 89,300 wet blues were up 27 percent from the previous week,
but down 11 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were
mainly for China (19,400 grain splits), the Dominican Republic (9,600
unsplit and 4,600 grain splits), South Korea (13,900 unsplit), Mexico
(10,800 grain splits and 1,700 unsplit), and Indonesia (11,400 unsplit).
Exports of 73,800 hides were up 36 percent from the previous week, but
down 5 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations
were China (20,600 unsplit and 1,600 grain splits), Hong Kong (12,200
unsplit), Taiwan (11,100 unsplit), and South Korea (8,200 unsplit). Net
sales of splits totaling 1,705,400 pounds were for Hong Kong (907,400
pounds), China (528,000 pounds), and South Korea (270,000 pounds).
Exports of 502,400 pounds were down 37 percent from the previous week
and 48 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were
Hong Kong (367,400 pounds) and South Korea (135,000 pounds).

Beef: Net sales of 4,200 MT were primarily for Canada (1,400 MT),
Mexico (1,400 MT), South Korea (500 MT), and Japan (400 MT). Net Sales
of 500 MT for delivery in 2009 were primarily for Japan (200 MT) and
Taiwan (200 MT). Exports of 8,300 MT were mainly to Mexico (3,200 MT),
Canada (1,600 MT), South Korea (1,500 MT), Japan (900 MT), Vietnam (300
MT), and Taiwan (300 MT).

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=270338

Wagon Pars targets €25m exports to Cuba, China

Wagon Pars targets €25m exports to Cuba, China
Tehran Times Economic Desk

TEHRAN – Iran's Wagon Pars Company has planned to export €25 million
worth of wagons to Cuba and China by the end of the current Iranian year
(March 20, 2009), the company managing director Gholamreza Razzazi said
here on Monday.

The company's exports to Cuba and China reached €19 million last
(Iranian) year, he said. This is while in the first half of the current
year, the exports hit a high of €16 million, he added.

The company has so far exported 1500 cargo wagons to Syria, Sudan, Cuba,
67 passenger wagons to Bangladesh, and 160 passenger wagon bogies to
China, Razzazi noted, Iscanews news agency reported.

He boasted that the company's products compete with those of China,
Russia, Ukraine and other target markets.

The Wagon Pars Company has the capacity to produce 80 percent of the
country's required cargo wagons and 70 percent of passenger wagons, he added

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=182229

Cuba names new foreign investment minister

Cuba names new foreign investment minister
www.chinaview.cn 2008-11-14 10:22:07

HAVANA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cuban leader Raul Castro has named
Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz as the new Minister for Foreign Investment and
Economic Collaboration, replacing Marta Lomas Morales, state media
reported Thursday.

Malmierca, 52, recently completed his mission as Cuban ambassador
to the United Nations, official daily "Granma" reported.

The report did not reveal the reasons for the change, nor the new
post Lomas will take up.

Malmierca has served as vice minister, director and in other
positions in the Foreign Investment Ministry.

The ministry oversees the Cuban government's joint venture projects
with foreign companies, as well as the operation of non-governmental
organizations in the country.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/14/content_10357000.htm

US case highlights Cuban 'slaves' in Curaçao

US case highlights Cuban 'slaves' in Curaçao
A federal judge in Miami last month ordered a shipping firm to pay $80
million for conspiring with Cuba to abuse workers.
By Colin Woodard | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the November 18, 2008 edition

Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles - Olivia Ocampo well remembers the
night the two Cuban workers came to her house in January 2005.

Exhausted and afraid, they had escaped from the premises of the nearby
Curaçao Drydock Company, where they said they and some 100 other Cubans
had been forced to work 112 hours a week fixing ships for three cents an
hour.

Ms. Ocampo approached the police and government authorities in
Willemstad, the capital of the Netherlands Antilles, a Dutch dependency
in the southern Caribbean, but "they just wanted to push all the trash
under the carpet and say that everything is fine," she said.

But last month, a federal judge in Miami ordered the shipyard to pay the
workers and one of their colleagues a total of $80 million in damages,
after finding it had conspired with the government of Cuba to force them
into what was, in effect, slave labor.

The case has focused a spotlight on the shadowy corners of the global
economy, where capital moves freely across borders and laborers are
sometimes forced to follow in bondage. While most cases involve abuses
committed in developing nations with poor human rights records, this
took place within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, home to the
International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

"These types of violations are not out of the ordinary for the Cuban
government," says Tomas Bilbao of the Cuba Study Group in Washington,
which helped the workers bring their suit. "What's surprising is that it
happened in a dependency of the Netherlands, a country known for its
interest in human rights."

The three men testified that they had been sent to Curaçao to work off
Cuba's multimillion-dollar debt to the Curaçao Drydock Company, a
private company whose largest shareholder is the government of the
Netherlands Antilles. Their passports were seized at the airport and
they were rarely allowed to leave the shipyard complex, and only in
groups with a minder. They typically worked 15 days in a row and when
off-duty had to watch Fidel Castro's videotaped speeches.

Working conditions were perilous, they testified. One of the men,
Fernando Alonso, burned his hand while welding steel without proper
safety gear. Another, Alberto Rodriguez-Licea, broke his foot and ankle
when a rope he was dangling from snapped. The third, Luis Casanova, was
ordered to work in water and says he was shocked so severely that
electricity shot from his tongue.

"They faced the worst choice you can imagine: to continue being slaves
not knowing if they would live or die because they were being treated so
badly or to try to escape, knowing that even if they were successful it
would be horrific for their families in Cuba," says Miami-based attorney
Seth Miles, who represented the men. "Their kids have been kicked out of
school, their relatives have lost their jobs, and neighborhood gangs
harass their families."

Mr. Castro's nephew, Manuel Bequer, was a senior manager of the shipyard
at the time. He is still listed as the production manager on the
company's website.

The company has denied many of the allegations, though they admitted
that the Cuban workers' passports were seized and that their unpaid
wages were deducted from the debt Havana owed the company. After failing
to get the case thrown out on technical grounds, the firm fired their
attorneys and abandoned the case.

Reached by telephone on Oct. 20 and informed of the judge's ruling,
company spokesman Lennox Rhodes said to "call in an hour" for comment.
He did not subsequently answer his telephone or respond to frequent
phone and e-mail messages.

The company has also refused to respond to local media requests,
according to Mike Willemse, editor of the Antilliaans Dagblad newspaper.
"We understand that they will in no way pay the [damages] because they
don't have it," he said. "It's simply not there."

A spokesperson for the Netherlands Ministry of Kingdom Affairs, Mireille
Beentjes, said her government "has been concerned about the labor
circumstances" at the shipyard and had "on several occasions expressed
these concerns" to the Netherlands Antilles government.

Mr. Alonso and Mr. Casanova eventually received visas to seek justice in
US courts. All three escapees now live in Tampa, Fla.

Theirs is one of dozens of human rights cases tried in recent years
under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows foreign citizens to sue
foreign officials and companies in US courts for serious violations of
international law.

If the Curaçao Drydock Company ignores the judgment, they will find it
hard to do business with US firms or the Miami-based cruise ship lines,
Mr. Miles says. "Good corporate citizens generally don't do business
with bad actors," he says. "They would not want to be associated with a
company that not only employs slave labor, but ignores US court judgments."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1118/p07s01-wogn.html

Fidel spills frijoles on FARC

Fidel spills frijoles on FARC
Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 04:08.

On Nov. 12 Cuba released La Paz en Colombia (Peace in Colombia), a
265-page book by former president Fidel Castro giving new information
about the Cuban government's relations with Colombia's leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In the book, which Castro
says took 400 hours of work, the former president repeats criticisms he
made last July of the FARC's treatment of prisoners of war and "the
capture and holding of civilians not involved in the war." In the book
he also notes that holding "prisoners and hostages deprived the
combatants of the ability to maneuver."

Castro says he tried to convince former FARC leader Manuel Marulanda
Vélez, who died in March of this year, that he could make a peace
agreement with then-president Andres Pastrana during negotiations in
1999, but that Marulanda didn't negotiate seriously because he thought
the US was planning an intervention that would lead to a prolonged war
and possibly a "continental struggle." The Cubans told him that "the
international situation was entirely different from the way he saw it."
Castro says he admired Marulanda's "revolutionary firmness" but felt
that armed struggle was no longer viable, noting that Cuba aided the
rebels in Nicaragua in the 1970s and in El Salvador in the 1980s. Castro
mocks the US insistence that the rebels are terrorists; in 1999, Castro
says, a US representative met with the FARC's chief negotiator, the late
Raúl Reyes, in Costa Rica to discuss cooperation on an anti-narcotics
program. (Granma, Cuba, Nov. 15; La Jornada, Nov. 13, 14, 15)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Nov. 16

http://ww4report.com/node/6347

Lifting of Cuba ban could hit rest of Caribbean

Lifting of Cuba ban could hit rest of Caribbean
By Benedict Mander in Caracas
Published: November 10 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 10 2008 02:00

Fears are growing that the tourism industry in many Caribbean nations
could suffer if Barack Obama, US president-elect, decides to weaken or
lift the long-standing US embargo on Cuba.

US passport holders are now banned from going to the island. But if
American tourists - the Caribbean's biggest group of visitors - were
granted unrestricted access to what is potentially the region's largest
tourism destination, a "seismic shift" could hit the Caribbean, said
Rafael Romeu, an International Monetary Fund economist who has studied
the issue.

What exactly an Obama administration will do on Cuba remains unclear.

But any shift allowing US travel to the Caribbean's largest island could
represent the single most significant change in US policy towards the
region and its economies.

While Cuba has suffered from strict trade barriers for the past
half-century, the rest of the region has benefited as a result. Now,
however, they will need to act quickly to prepare themselves for this
large loss in what amount to implicit trade preferences - or suffer the
consequences, said Mr Romeu.

Destinations most vulnerable are those that depend heavily on US
tourists, such as the Bahamas and Cancún. Others that have a higher
proportion of European visitors, such as the Dominican Republic and
Barbados, will be less affected.

Mr Romeu expects a net increase of more than 10 per cent in the region's
visitors as costs of visiting fall.

About 1.4m people visit Cuba each year. But the island is expected to
receive up to 3.5m Americans alone if the US changes its policy

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d9a80eb0-aec7-11dd-b621-000077b07658.html

Weekly grain and oilseed exports inside estimates

Weekly grain and oilseed exports inside estimates
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 12:13 PM

by John Perkins

The United States Department of Agriculture reports that corn, soybean,
soybean product and wheat export sales, for the week ending November 13,
were within expectations.

Wheat came out at 511,000 tons (18.8 million bushels), up sharply from
the previous week and 40% higher than the four week average. Before the
report, estimates ranged from 350,000 to 550,000 tons. The main
purchasers were Japan (103,400 tons), South Korea (89,200 tons) and
Egypt (56,900 tons). For the 2008/09 marketing year to date, wheat sales
are 733.8 million bushels, compared to 1.010 billion this time last year.

Corn was reported at 433,800 tons (17.1 million bushels), 22% above the
week ending November 6, but 15% below the four week average. Analysts
were expecting sales of 350,000 to 550,000 tons. The primary buyers were
Cuba (125,200 tons), Japan (90,600 tons) and Taiwan (87,300 tons). At
week 10 of the current marketing year, corn sales are 703.4 million
bushels, compared to 1.281 billion at this point in 2007/08.

Soybeans were placed at 790,900 tons (29.1 million bushels), 65% more
than the prior week but 11% less than the four week average. Pre-report
estimates ranged from 450,000 to 800,000 tons. The main buyers were
China (469,200 tons), Mexico (122,200 tons) and Germany (76,600 tons).
So far this marketing year, soybean sales are 603.0 million bushels,
compared to 596.7 million a year ago.

Soybean meal came out at 92,300 tons, down 26% from the week before and
41% lower than the four week average. Expectations were for sales
between 75,000 and 130,000 tons. The primary purchasers were Cuba
(40,000 tons), Mexico (26,600 tons) and Canada (9,300 tons). Cumulative
sales for the current marketing year are 2,666,600 tons, compared to
2,973,000 last year at this time.

Soybean meal was pegged at 7,900 tons, towards the high end of the 0 to
10,000 ton range of estimates. The listed buyers were Jamaica (3,200
tons), Costa Rica (1,500 tons), Nicaragua (1,300 tons) and Guatemala
(1,200 tons); Saudi Arabia canceled on 200 tons.

Net beef sales totaled 4,200 tons. The reported purchasers were Canada
(1,400 tons), Mexico (1,400 tons), South Korea (500 tons) and Japan (400
tons). Sales of 500 tons for 2009 delivery were mainly to Japan (200
tons) and Taiwan (200 tons).

Related Links:
U.S. Export Sales
http://www.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/esrd1.html

http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=BB1A902C-5056-B82A-D005C48BA91774F5

Cuba owes Sherritt $393 million

Posted on Friday, 10.31.08
Cuba owes Sherritt $393 million
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
El Nuevo Herald

Cuba owes Sherritt $393 million

The $392.8 million owed by the Cuban government to Sherritt
International could jeopardize petroleum drilling operations conducted
by the Canadian company in Cuba, as soon as next year.

According to the company's third trimester report (July-September) for
2008, pending accounts with the Cuban government represent an ''exposed
credit risk'' and compromise agreed plans for expanding operations in 2009.

Though the report acknowledges that the Cuban government has expressed
intentions to meet its financial obligations to the company ''despite
the negative impact of two hurricanes and the deplorable conditions of
the global economy,'' Sherritt executives warned that they will take a
closer look at future drilling projects with the island-nation.

According to the report, made public on Wednesday, the company expects
to establish a framework for payment and will restructure investments
before initiating drilling operations scheduled for 2009 in Cuba.

The Toronto-based company also indicated that it would hold off on plans
to build a refinery in Canada that was conceived as a partnership with
the Cuban government.

In July, Sherritt announced it would abandon plans to drill in the deep
waters of Cuba's so-called Economic Exclusion Zone in the Gulf of
Mexico, restructuring petroleum operations toward land-based operations.
Sherritt operates two rigs on land in conjunction with Canadian
oil-company Pebercan and has acquired an additional area in the southern
region of Havana province.

According to the bilateral agreement, petroleum extracted by Sherritt is
purchased by the state oil company Cuba Petroleo (CUPET), though on
occasions it has served to compensate payments by the Cuban government
due to Sherritt's share of nickel and cobalt mining operations on the
island.

The company report notes, however, that recent drops in the price of
nickel and cobalt have negatively impacted the amount of available
Cubanfunds, preventing Sherritt from negotiating debt under previous
market prices.

The dilemma faced by Sherritt -- a pioneer of foreign investments in the
island -- is now shared by Pebercan, as the Cuban government has failed
to make payments to that company since April. By the end of this year,
CUPET will owe $118.9 million to Pebercan, having only paid $2 million
thus far, according to a recent report by the Montreal-based oil company.

The company reports coincide with the announcement of agreements between
the Cuban government and Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, a
main topic during Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's recent
visit to the island-nation.

Earlier this month, CUPET stated that deep-water petroleum reserves
could reach 20 billion barrels. But analysts warn that the Sherritt
report spells bad news for investors.

''Just as Cuba is trying to attract foreign investment for drilling . .
. the revelations of nonpayment to one of its main petroleum partners
doesn't sound encouraging,'' said former petroleum executive Jorge R.
Piñón, currently a researcher with the University of Miami.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/750294.html

PM seeks information on safety of students in Cuba

PM seeks information on safety of students in Cuba
Tuesday November 11 2008

St. Kitts/Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has expressed his
concern on the safety of the Federation's students studying in Cuba
following the passage of Hurricane Paloma.

He has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek information from
the Cuban Embassy here on the safety of the students following the
latest pounding by Hurricane Paloma last Saturday.

Crashing waves and a powerful sea surge from Hurricane Paloma destroyed
hundreds of homes in Cuba.

Cuba, still reeling from the destruction of two recent hurricanes, early
damage reports were limited, but state media said the late-season storm
toppled a major communications tower, interrupted electricity and phone
service and sent sea water almost a mile inland, ravaging a coastal
community near where it made landfall. No storm-related deaths were
immediately reported.

The Associated Press reports Vicente de la O of Cuba's national power
company as telling state television that damage to the power grid was
far less than that caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike in late August
and early September.

Paloma roared ashore near Santa Cruz del Sur late Saturday as an
extremely dangerous category four hurricane but quickly lost strength,
according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. Forecasters said
the Cuban and Bahamian governments discontinued all warnings associated
with Paloma by Sunday morning.

Waves more than 10 feet high levelled about 50 modest houses along the
coast of Santa Cruz del Sur. Civil Defense authorities said altogether
435 homes in the community were destroyed.

Touring Santa Cruz del Sur on Sunday, Vice President Jose Ramon Machado
Ventura said the area was among the hardest-hit nationwide.

Paloma steadily lost strength as it meandered across Cuba on Sunday and
was expected to reach the central Bahamas as a weak area of low pressure
yesterday morning. The storm was expected to unravel and not threaten
the southern tip of Florida.

Across central and eastern Cuba, more than 500,000 people were evacuated
from low-lying areas as Paloma approached. Cuba regularly moves people
en masse to higher ground before tropical storms and hurricanes,
preventing major loss of life.

http://sunstkitts.com/paper/?asknw=view&asknw=view&sun=494418078207132005&an=345125039211112008&ac=Local

Washington fines companies for violating Cuba blockade

Washington fines companies for violating Cuba blockade
Published on Thursday, November 13, 2008

HAVANA, Cuba,(ACN): Three US companies were recently fined more than
US$43,000 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US
Treasury Department for violating the US economic, trade and financial
blockade of Cuba, which was overwhelmingly condemned by the UN General
Assembly last month.

According to Notimex news agency, one of the firms is Myers Industries,
one of the biggest distributors of tools and supplies for repairing
tires, which agreed to pay $16,250, according to the first OFAC report
for the fiscal year that began in October.

The firm, with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, voluntarily made the
case public and admitted that in 2004 one of its foreign subsidiaries
sold products to Cuba or people related to the Caribbean nation without
the required OFAC license.

Another company, Priceline.com, which sells airplane tickets and makes
hotel reservations through the Internet, was fined $12,250.

Likewise, the Center for Intercultural Studies in Amherst,
Massachusetts, was fined $15,000.

Last year, Travelocity, another Internet travel agency, received one of
the highest fines for violating the blockade, $182,750, while this year
Spirit Airlines was forced to pay $100,000.

Estimates show that during the 2008 fiscal year OFAC fines totaled over
$2 million, the highest amount since President George W. Bush stiffened
the blockade in 2004 with further restrictions on travels and
remittances to Cuba.

Last October, 185 countries of the UN General Assembly condemned the US
blockade of Cuba when they supported a resolution presented by the Cuban
delegation there. Only the United States, Israel and Palau were against
the resolution while Micronesia and Marshall Islands abstained.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-12157--5-5--.html

Cuba to triple oil refining with Venezuelan ally

Cuba to triple oil refining with Venezuelan ally

HAVANA, Oct 28 - Revolutionary allies Cuba and Venezuela will pour
billions of dollars into downstream oil projects in Cuba with the goal
of tripling its refining capacity to 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) by
2013, Cuban state-run radio said on Tuesday, citing the country's Basic
Industry Minister.

Minister Yadira Garcia's announcement came despite falling oil prices
which are expected to slow Venezuela's plans to build around a dozen
refineries in the region.

But oil-rich Venezuela is expected to prioritize Cuban investments in
Cuba, which currently has the capacity to refine 130,000 bpd, local
experts said.

Garcia said the two countries planned to build a new refinery in central
Matanzas province in addition to expanding a joint venture refinery in
central Cienfuegos province and doubling the capacity of a refinery in
eastern Santiago de Cuba.

The Cienfuegos refinery, opened a year ago, is producing 65,000 bpd,
with plans to eventually produce 150,000 bpd and feed a series of joint
venture petrochemical industries at a coast of $3.6 billion.

Investment in the refinery expansion in Eastern Cuba, begun earlier this
year with the goal of reaching 50,000 bpd, was recently put at $850
million by Venezuela.

Garcia's announcement of plans to build a refinery in Matanzas was the
first made in Cuba, though it was previously announced in Venezuela with
a capacity of 150,000 bpd and price tag of $4.3 billion.

Cuba consumes a minimum 150,000 bpd of petroleum products, of which up
to 92,000 bpd comes from Venezuela. The rest is pumped from the
northwest coast along with natural gas for power generation.

Under President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has become a close ally of Cuba
which is an enthusiastic supporter of Chavez's regional integration
proposal, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, aimed at
countering U.S. influence in the region.

As part of bilateral integration efforts, Venezuela is revitalizing
Cuba's downstream operations and plans to use the island as a bridge to
supply the Caribbean with crude and derivatives with preferential financing.

The increased refining capacity would also be in place to process
increased Cuban production if drilling in its Gulf of Mexico waters,
scheduled to begin next year, proves fruitful.

In addition to the Cienfuegos refinery, the two countries have formed
joint ventures to operate a Soviet-built supertanker port on the
northern coast, a cross-country pipeline from the port to the refinery,
and a joint tanker company to move petroleum products in the Caribbean.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4e402dec-a51e-11dd-b4f5-000077b07658.html

Tens Of Thousands Of Cubans Seeking Farm Land

REFORM/AGRICULTURE
Tens Of Thousands Of Cubans Seeking Farm Land
Cuba has around 250,000 family farms and 1,100 private cooperatives, but
they till less than one third of the land.
Tens Of Thousands Of Cubans Seeking Farm Land

Published: November 17, 2008 20:24h
Cubans are applying for land by the tens of thousands for the first time
since the 1960s as part of the Communist government's reform of the
state-dominated agriculture sector, a top farm leader said.

The president of the National Association of Small Farmers, Orlando Lugo
Fonte, told members at a meeting in eastern Guantanamo province that
some 80,000 land requests have been made by workers, private farmers,
cooperatives and state companies since applications began in September.

Lugo's comment, reported in state-run media on Sunday, was the first to
give any national data for the land lease program, though he did not say
how much land had been requested, how much had been leased so far or to
whom it had been given.

The land is supposed to be granted from 45 to 100 days after
application, but three hurricanes and the Caribbean island's state
bureaucracy have slowed the process, according to sources.

Cuba has not handed out land on such a large scale since shortly after
the 1959 revolution when large landholdings were nationalized and some
of the acreage given to small farmers.

The current program is part of President Raul Castro's agricultural
reform aimed at increasing domestic food production and decreasing
reliance on imports.

It allows private farmers who have been productive to lease up to 99
acres (40 hectares) of land for 10 years, with the possibility of
renewing for another 10.

Cooperatives and state farms also can request unspecified amounts of
additional land to work for 25 years, with the possibility of renewing
for another 25.

Cuba has around 250,000 family farms and 1,100 private cooperatives, but
they till less than one third of the land.

The remainder of the land is owned by the state, and half of that lies
fallow.

http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=204699

Raul Castro says Cuban storm losses near 6 billion pounds

Raul Castro says Cuban storm losses near 6 billion pounds
Reuters
Published: November 12, 2008
By Jeff Franks

Cuba has suffered almost $10 billion (6 billion pounds) in damages from
the three hurricanes that struck the island this year, President Raul
Castro said in a report aired on Tuesday on state-run television.

He made his comments during a visit on Monday to Camaguey province,
where officials said 8,000 homes were damaged when Hurricane Paloma
struck over the weekend, the report said.

"We're almost getting to $10 billion in losses in the last three months,
that's how the economy is," Castro said.

Paloma followed hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which struck 10 days apart in
late August and early September and caused destruction across much of
the island. Officials said almost 450,000 homes were damaged by the storms.

Initial damage estimates from the first two storms totalled $5 billion
but officials have been raising the number in recent days.

Former leader Fidel Castro, who led Cuba for 49 years before his brother
Raul replaced him as president in February, wrote in a column on Friday
there were $8 billion in damages from Gustav and Ike.

Raul Castro, dressed in military clothes, went to Camaguey a day after
Paloma spun itself out over Cuba after coming ashore on Saturday with
120 mile per hour (195 km per hour) winds.

The lengthy television report showed Raul Castro talking with storm
victims and promising to rebuild their homes, most of which were built
of wood near the sea.

"Everything you lost we're going to replace, maybe not tomorrow but
quickly," he said.

One of the towns he visited, Santa Cruz del Sur, was the hardest hit by
Paloma, which struck almost 76 years to the day after a November 9, 1932
hurricane killed 3,000 people in the same town.

The government has reported no Paloma-related deaths, but a dissident
group said Tuesday one person died in the storm.

Castro said 1.2 million people were moved to safety for Paloma and it
was "hard to imagine" how bad things would have been had they not been.

After the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power, the government
began conducting widespread, compulsory evacuations, which it touts as
one of the advantages of Cuba's socialist system.

"You have the revolution you deserve because as Fidel said in a recent
(column) 'what would have happened if there hadn't been a revolution?'"
Castro said to applause.

"And in countries so rich as the United States, look what happened," he
said referring to the dozens of deaths in Texas, which was struck by Ike
after the storm crossed Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico and where
evacuations are voluntary.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/11/12/america/OUKWD-UK-CUBA-CASTRO-HURRICANE.php

Cuba says hurricanes took 9pc of sugar crop

Cuba says hurricanes took 9pc of sugar crop
(11-11 23:53)

Hurricanes Ike and Gustav destroyed 9 percent of Cuba's sugar crop
scheduled for harvesting in the coming months, while damage from Paloma
was being evaluated, a high ranking sugar ministry official said.

Cuba had planned for raw sugar output to increase 20 percent to 30
percent over the 1.5 million tonnes produced during the previous
December to June season.

Cuba harvested 330,000 hectares of cane during the 2007-2008 harvest.

There are 700,000 hectares devoted to sugar cane in the country.

Cuba consumes a minimum 700,000 tonnes of sugar per year, and 400,000
tonnes are destined for China

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=9427&icid=1&d_str=20081111

Cultural Prejudice Still Lingers

CUBA:
Cultural Prejudice Still Lingers
By Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Nov 7 (IPS) - Political convenience, generation gap or Stalinist
influence? Nearly 50 years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, it
is still hard to discern why this country decided that rock, fashion,
long hair for men and homosexuality were counter-revolutionary.

Although the worst times are over, and no one is now expelled from a
university because of their sexual orientation, or because listening to
the Beatles is regarded as a symptom of "ideological diversionism,"
waves of intolerance come and go and prejudice still reigns in many
circles of power.

"In spite of slightly more open attitudes to rock music and
homosexuality in Cuba, and the fact that previous clear-cut outrages are
a thing of the past, the situation has not yet been fully resolved,"
journalist Ernesto Juan Castellanos, author of the book "El sargento
Pimienta vino a Cuba en un submarino amarillo" (literally, Sergeant
Pepper Came to Cuba in a Yellow Submarine), published in 2000, told IPS.

"There are still people, young and old, in leadership positions who have
the same prejudiced, excluding mentality that prevailed in the 1960s,"
Castellanos said in an e-mail interview.

"El diversionismo ideológico del rock, la moda y los enfermitos" (The
ideological diversionism of rock, fashion and "sick" effeminate men) is
the title of a lecture by Castellanos, delivered and debated at the
non-governmental Criterios Theoretical-Cultural Centre on Oct. 31, as
part of a cycle of lectures on "La política cultural del período
revolucionario: memoria y reflexión" (roughly, Cultural Policies in the
Revolutionary Period: Memory and Reflection).

The cycle is a direct result of the "e-mail war", as a debate among
intellectuals last year was dubbed. Its aims are to analyse past events,
draw parallels with the present and, above all, counteract certain
tendencies to maintain, or return to, misguided social and cultural
policies.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro's phrase "within the Revolution,
everything; against the Revolution, nothing," defined the country's
cultural policy in 1961, and in a later speech he laid the foundations
of a social policy that "lumped together homosexuals, criminals,
'lumpens' (riff-raff), layabouts, 'elvispreslianos' (Elvis Presley
fans), bourgeois and counter-revolutionaries," Castellanos said.

In that Mar. 13, 1963 speech, Castro openly criticised "long-haired
layabouts, the children of bourgeois families," roaming the streets
wearing "trousers that are too tight," carrying guitars to look like
Elvis Presley, who took "their licentious behaviour to the extreme" of
organising "effeminate shows" in public places.

"They should not confuse the Revolution's serenity and tranquillity with
weaknesses in the Revolution. Our society cannot accept these
degeneracies," Castro said, having also lashed out at certain religious
practices, among other "vile habits" and "vices" of the past.

Because of his worries, "Fidel proposed a programme of labour as social
prophylaxis, as a policy decision targeting sectors that were not
necessarily counter-revolutionary, but were susceptible to being used by
the enemy, or to falling under the influence of elements that rejected
the Revolution," Castellanos said.

In a way, the socialist revolution's strategy to defend itself against
U.S. aggression turned inwards, and reached the extreme of regarding any
song in English as "a weapon of the enemy," and rock music as a symptom
of "capitalist alienation."

So "Cuban rock music lovers, who were not necessarily Elvis Presley fans
or effeminate, and weren't even called 'rockeros' then, were tarred with
the same brush as homosexuals and 'lumpens' of all levels," said the
journalist.

"And many of them received the same invective, incomprehension and
proscription, ranging from social rejection and purges in the
universities to internment in the UMAP (Military Units to Support
Production) rehabilitation camps," he said.

Castellanos' lecture reviewed in detail a number of official documents
and Cuban press articles from the 1960s and 1970s that embody the
ideological platform of a policy that began to fade in the 1980s, and
plunged into full-blown crisis with the break-up of the Soviet Union and
the East European socialist bloc in the early 1990s.

In recent years, Cuban bands have organised events in honour of former
Beatle John Lennon, who was murdered in New York in 1980, and a statue
of him was erected in a Havana park, while rock groups have begun to
appear on television. But only from within can one know what prejudice,
discrimination and arbitrary measures still exist.

"What became of María's Patio?" wondered writer José Miguel Sánchez,
whose pseudonym is Yoss, at the debate sponsored by the Criterios
centre. María's Patio, a meeting place that cultural promoter María
Gattorno ran for 17 years in a community cultural centre, closed in 2003
for what in public was called "reconstruction."

However, the "reconstruction" has turned into the permanent closure of
the Patio, where young people with long hair, tight black clothing,
ear-rings and other garb disapproved of by Cuba's "machista" culture
used to gather. As so often in the past, Gattorno has been unwilling to
talk about what happened, even after several years.

A number of other participants in the debate remarked that even today,
it is difficult for rock bands to gain space on TV, radio stations still
limit broadcasts of songs in English as a matter of policy, and the
police are prejudiced against men wearing their hair long.

Although the revolution "no longer excludes anyone in principle, at the
base of the pyramid, 'rockeros' and homosexuals are excluded and
mistreated on a daily basis. The forces of law and order forcibly eject
them from their meeting places on the streets of Havana, as if they were
contemptible objects," Castellanos told IPS.

In his view, "it is easy to understand why the police behave as they do,
because it is society, first of all, that holds these prejudices. The
media are also partly to blame, because they have never made the effort
to integrate 'rockeros' or homosexuals into society.

"In some frequently broadcast TV ads, the 'bad kids', drug addicts and
antisocial people have long hair, and a rock song is played as
background music. It's a vicious circle that never seems to end, and it
is emotionally hurtful to part of the population," he concluded.

Seeking the causes of these policies in what was politically convenient
at the time would be "simplistic and ahistorical," said Desiderio
Navarro, the head of the Criterios centre. In his view, it is necessary
to ask where the decisions came from, what generation promoted them and,
above all, to look for the rise of Stalinist thought within the national
culture.

After the passage of so much time, "the pluricultural nature of Cuban
society has still not been fully accepted," he said. (END/2008)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44617

Without embargo, Cuba's leaders lose leverage

Without embargo, Cuba's leaders lose leverage
Leaders would have to look elsewhere to place blame
November 23, 2008

Havana - For nearly half a century, the punishing American trade embargo
served Cuba's communist state in the propaganda war.

There are ubiquitous roadside billboards denouncing it. Almost every
official speech and publication included references to how the tiny
Caribbean nation has stood up to the empire's "genocidal blockade."

Now, though, Barack Obama's campaign pledge to ease restrictions on
remittances and family travel to Cuba could set the stage for the
removal of harsher sanctions, including the nearly 47-year-old embargo,
leaving Cuba's leaders without the perennial scapegoat for the island's
woes. And Cuban officials are fretting over it, in a surprisingly public
way.

"We have before us the immense challenge of how to face a new chapter in
the cultural struggle against the enemy," Armando Hart, a 78-year-old
Communist Party ideologue, wrote recently in the party newspaper Granma.

Allowing Cuban-Americans to visit more frequently and send more money to
relatives on the island would signal "a new chapter in the ideological
war between the Cuban revolution and imperialism," Hart wrote.

Obama has vowed to work toward thawing the ice with Cuba and infuriated
hard-line exiles in South Florida by offering to meet with Raul Castro
without preconditions. Critics of the Castro government want to continue
to isolate Cuba until political prisoners are freed and multiparty
elections scheduled.

Analysts differ on how much the next administration can improve
relations, because the harsh sanctions were written into law a dozen
years ago and require acts of Congress to change. But many agree that a
softening of the American position threatens the state's tight control
over Cuban society.

"Anything an Obama administration does that allows greater contact
between the U.S. and Cuba is going to cut away at one of the central
political strategies that has kept the government in power," said Daniel
Erikson, a Cuba expert at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington and
author of The Cuba Wars.

The influx of Cuban- American visitors and their cash on the island
could augur more substantial political change.

"A key question is, will the freedom to travel to Cuba be extended to
all American citizens?" Rafael Hernandez, a political scientist and
editor of the quarterly Temas, asked. "That question could unleash a
process of change that won't stop until the blockade is finished."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flbnotebook1123sbnov23,0,2724119.story

Russia to renew Cuba's oil industry

Russia to renew Cuba's oil industry
Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:09:55 GMT
Russia has announced plans to invest in Cuba's oil and nickel
industries, ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's upcoming visit to the
Island.

Moscow is considering a number of deals, which require certain Russian
firms to explore Cuba's coastal waters for offshore oil in the Gulf of
Mexico, Russia's Ambassador to Havana Mikhail Kamynin said Saturday, AFP
reported.

Cuba is already in talks with firms from Spain, Norway, India, Canada,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Venezuela and Brazil to explore prospects of offshore
drilling.

Should Moscow and Havana ink the deals, Russian firms would be
responsible for developing crude oil and oil derivative storage
facilities as well as modernizing the Island's oil pipelines, Kamynin said.

The planned deals include one between Russia's NorNickel and Cubaniquel
to build a plant in Holguin province.

In October, Cuban officials said the Island's crude reserves were almost
twice what they had predicted to be, claiming that the Caribbean nation
had a crude reserve of 21 billion barrels.

The Russian president, who embarked on his Latin American tour on
Saturday, is expected to arrive in Havana on Thursday, after making
stops in Peru, Brazil and Venezuela.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=76285&sectionid=351020702

Two Cubans banned for planning defections

Two Cubans banned for planning defections
5:06 PM, November 21, 2008

Former Cuban national team stars Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez have been
dropped from their Cuban league teams and been banned from playing
baseball on the island for "committing a grave act of indiscipline,"
according to a terse one-sentence note in Friday's edition of Granma,
the Communist Party paper.

Close observers of Cuban baseball believe the two, who were kicked off
the Havana-based Industriales team just a week before the league's
season opener, were caught planning to defect. The length of the ban was
not announced but in the past, Cuban players caught planning a defection
were banned from ever playing in Cuba. As a result many of those players
-- including major league pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez -- wound
up defecting anyway. So there's a good chance Marti and Gomez will be
here for the start of spring training.

Marti, a 29-year-old right-hander, was named to the all-tournament team
in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 after pitching 12 2/3
scoreless innings in four appearances, helping Cuba to a second-place
finish. Gomez. a 28-year-old outfielder, hit .394 in Cuban league play
in 2007. He was a member of Cuba's silver-medal team in the 2000
Olympics but did make the WBC team. Neither player made the Cuban team
for last summer's Beijing Olympics.

Ironically, Friday's announcement came a day after Cuban all-star
infielder Dayan Viciedo, who defected last May, agreed to an $11-million
contract with the Chicago White Sox.

-- Kevin Baxter

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2008/11/two-cubans-bann.html

Obama, use carrot and stick in Cuba

Obama, use carrot and stick in Cuba
By Frank Calzon
November 23, 2008

The spoils of victory are fine; meeting the challenges that come with it
converts a winning candidacy into a successful presidency. Just like
Franklin Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor, all post-9-11 presidents must
make security, not recession or depression, the No. 1 priority. Faced
with a mortal threat to the American nation, they cannot do otherwise,
even if, inevitably, mistakes are made along the way.

Responding to Japanese aggression, President Roosevelt mobilized the
nation. He also took regrettable measures, including the internment of
Japanese Americans.

In the aftermath of 9-11, the Bush administration also committed
outrages. But the debate triggered by the long detention of "enemy
combatants," and by the practice of "renditions," has been vigorous and
open. Indeed, Sen. John McCain led the congressional effort to ban the
use of torture. Fittingly, he was gracious in defeat, urging "all
Americans to join [him] in … find[ing] ways to come together."

They will: President-elect Obama already has sent the world a message of
American strength and resolve: "To those who would tear this world down
— we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security — we support
you."

Terrorism brings to mind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the openly
menacing rulers of Iran and North Korea. Less attention is paid to the
subversive activities in Latin America sponsored by Caracas and Havana.
After 50 years of support for communist insurgencies, fomenting
anti-American violence around the world and providing safe haven to
terrorists, Cuba remains on the State Department's list of terrorist states.

Many American voters found it appealing when candidate Obama pledged to
talk to U.S. adversaries. The U.S. government and the Castro regime have
been talking for years, however. Change, to use a fashionable word,
depends on the willingness of the Cuban communists to renounce tyranny.

Trade and travel restrictions are among the few peaceful sanctions the
United States can use to influence Havana's behavior. Raul Castro,
Cuba's president, knows how to improve relations with Washington:
release political prisoners, halt repression, move toward the rule of
law and re-introduce a market-based economy. There has been no
indication that any such steps are even contemplated. Rather, there has
been an increase in political repression.

If restoring Cuban democracy is worth talking about, surely it is also
worth employing all of diplomacy's quid-pro-quo tools — including the
use of sanctions and incentives.

Frank Calzon is executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-cuba23forumpnnov23,0,4746572.story

Scenes of despair, devastation and hope after Hurricane Paloma slams Cuba

Scenes of despair, devastation and hope after Hurricane Paloma slams Cuba

Ray Sanchez/Direct from Havana | Direct from Havana
November 11, 2008

During every major story, there are things a reporter sees that don't
make it into the daily updates. Ray Sanchez, the Sun Sentinel's Havana
bureau chief, was among the first foreign journalists to reach the town
where Hurricane Paloma made landfall.

These are some of those scenes from a hurricane in Cuba:

A day after Hurricane Paloma smashed into Santa Cruz del Sur with 145
mph winds, more than 800 people evacuated from the town gathered in the
courtyard of the government shelter where they were being kept to hear
when they could return to their homes.

As they waited, Hotel California by the Eagles blared over large speakers:

"You can check out any time you like," they sang. "But you can never leave."

Among the evacuees were nearly a dozen who had been in the shelter since
September, when Hurricane Ike came through.

***

In the town where Paloma came ashore, 435 homes were torn to shreds. The
sea swept more than a mile inland. The wind and waves left wooden houses
in splinters, topped with seaweed. Two of the two-story concrete walls
of a factory crumbled into piles of rubble, smashing 57 wooden fishing
boats stored inside for safekeeping.

But in Cuba nothing goes to waste. Four men found a pig that drowned in
the storm. They made a fire with wood from the broken boats and roasted
the pig.

Gilberto Legano, 43, a fisherman, was in the group. He lost his boat.
Part of his house was demolished. "At least we'll have a feast," he said.

***

A two-mile stretch of Santa Cruz del Sur looks like it was hit by a
giant wrecking ball.

What were once houses now look like piles of matchsticks. A coating of
mud 6 inches thick covers the streets. Ripped clothing, tattered papers
and pieces of smashed furniture lay scattered like confetti.

Only the sturdiest pieces stood their ground. At one house, all the
walls are gone. So is all the furniture. Even the refrigerator and the
kitchen sink. Only a toilet remains, planted firmly in the center of
where the house had been.

***

While the soggy remnants of Paloma still meandered over Cuba's eastern
end, some of the townspeople began returning.

Reynaldo Alfaro, 56, stood looking over the tattered pieces that had
been the walls and metal roof of his home. Behind him, someone commented
that he had heard on the radio that this storm wasn't so bad.

Alfaro turned to face him.

"What do you mean, it wasn't so bad?" he asked. "This is 50 years of
sacrifice, gone."

Then, with tears in his eyes, Alfaro began pointing out broken parts of
the house. "I can salvage some bricks. I can save some of that wood. And
I can start to rebuild. But I don't know where to start."

A neighbor wandered over and put his hand on Alfaro's shoulder. "Don't
worry, my friend. We'll get through this."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbcubanotebook1111sbnov11,0,1167385.column

Rusia negocia fuertes inversiones en la isla

Posted on Sunday, 11.23.08
Rusia negocia fuertes inversiones en la isla
By AFP
LA HABANA

DMITRY SATAKHOV / EFE

Rusia anunció ayer que negocia fuertes inversiones en petróleo y níquel
cubanos, a sólo cinco días de la visita que realizará a la isla el
presidente ruso, Dimitri Medvédev.

El embajador ruso en Cuba, Mijail Kamynin, dijo al semanario Opciones
que ya hay proyectos concretos con empresas petroleras rusas en la
búsqueda de hidrocarburos en aguas profundas de la zona exclusiva cubana
del Golfo de México.

En esa zona, bajo acuerdo de riesgo con Cuba, trabajan empresas de
España, Noruega, India, Canadá, Vietnam, Malasia, Venezuela y Brasil.

Kamynin añadió que otras entidades rusas participarán en la construcción
de tanques de almacenamiento de crudos y sus derivados, así como en la
modernización de gasoductos.

''Esperamos que Cuba también sea un puente para que Rusia participe en
otros países del Caribe y de Centroamérica. Moscú está dispuesta a
colaborar en la expansión que realiza la isla con Petróleos de Venezuela
(PDVSA) mediante el ALBA en la refinería de Cienfuegos'', dijo el
diplomático.

Opinó que ``esta es una buena oportunidad para impulsar nuestras
relaciones en los países que conforman la Alternativa Bolivariana para
las Américas (ALBA)y hacia otros de la región''.

Kamynin indicó que hay planes de cooperación entre la empresa rusa
Norníquel y Cubaníquel para la creación de una fábrica de ferroníquel en
la provincia de Holguín (este) y contactos entre los ministerios de la
Informática y las Comunicaciones, y el Transporte.

http://www.miamiherald.com/1321/story/783891.html

Cuba propuso a China 37 proyectos por $1,500 millones

Posted on Saturday, 11.22.08
Cuba propuso a China 37 proyectos por $1,500 millones
By AFP
LA HABANA

Cuba propuso esta semana a empresarios chinos 37 proyectos de inversión
conjunta por 1.500 millones de dólares durante la visita del presidente
Ju Hintao, reveló este sábado el semanario Opciones.

"Esta propuesta, bien acogida por su contraparte, se dio a conocer en la
inauguración del Foro de Negocios Cuba-China'', dijo el semanario.

El presidente del Consejo Chino para el Fomento del Comercio
Internacional, Wan Jifei, consideró que ahora se presentan "amplias
perspectivas'' en los negocios conjuntos en energías renovables y las
industrias minera, petrolera y turística, entre otras.

Los 37 proyectos son de minería, petróleo, energía, industria química,
vidrio, turismo y ecoturismo, comunicaciones, electrónica, derivados de
la industria azucarera e industria ligera.

En minería se planteó un contrato a riesgo para la prospección geológica
en la Sierra Maestra (sudeste), donde se han definido potencialidades
para encontrar oro, plata, cobre, zinc y plomo, dijo Opciones.

También la construcción de una mini-refinería para sulfuros de níquel y
cobalto, con capacidad anual de 3.500 toneladas de níquel y 1.500
toneladas de cobalto, así como la utilización de los desechos sólidos de
otras plantas -las colas rojas-, para ser usadas en la fabricación de acero.

En el sector de petróleo las ofertas son básicamente los contratos de
exploración a riesgo en la Zona Económica Exclusiva de Cuba en el Golfo
de México.

En energía se incluyen instalación y mantenimiento de pequeños
aerogeneradores; construcción de 250 pequeñas hidroeléctricas e
instalación de no menos de 100 megawatt de generadores eólicos.

Producción y comercialización de ámpulas y bulbos de vidrio, fabricación
de neumáticos y de pulpa de madera, modernización y puesta en operación
de una fábrica de cartón y cartulina y la modernización de fábricas de
papel de pulpa.

Se identifican más de diez proyectos asociados a la construcción de
hoteles, campos de golf y marinas.

Actualmente funcionan 10 negocios conjuntos -cinco en Cuba y cinco en
China-, dedicados al cultivo y comercialización del arroz, calzado y
confecciones, modernización de las telecomunicaciones y la industria
electrónica cubana, construcción de hoteles en la isla

En China se trabaja en conjunto en la producción de anticuerpos
monoclonales y de interferón, comercialización de medicamentos y
materias primas), así como dos hospitales oftalmológicos en
funcionamiento y uno en construcción.

http://www.miamiherald.com/1321/story/783884.html

Castro y Chávez reciben las peores calificaciones en reciente encuesta

Posted on Saturday, 11.22.08
Castro y Chávez reciben las peores calificaciones en reciente encuesta
By EFE
PARIS

Los gobernantes de Cuba, Fidel Castro, y de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez,
recogen una mayoría de opiniones desfavorables en una encuesta entre
nacionales de seis países occidentales, mientras que el brasileño Lula
da Silva y el español José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero tienen una mejor imagen.

La cadena francesa de noticias France24 ha emitido una encuesta
encargada al instituto Harris Interactive a nacionales de España,
Alemania, Francia, EEUU, Italia y el Reino Unido en la primera quincena
de octubre y que, entre otros asuntos, mide la valoración de algunos
líderes.

El más veterano, el cubano Castro, obtiene una mala imagen en los seis
países, en especial en EEUU, donde sólo el ocho por ciento tiene buena
opinión de él y alcanza su mejor resultado en Italia, con el
veinticuatro por ciento de respuestas favorables.

El venezolano Chávez tampoco se salva y en los seis países hay mayoría
de los que tienen una desfavorable imagen suya, que llega a su punto
culminante entre los encuestados españoles, que en un 76 por ciento
responden tener mala opinión.

Del brasileño Lula da Silva las opiniones buenas se imponen a las malas
en Francia, Italia, España y EEUU, frente a la imagen negativa que gana
en Alemania y el Reino Unido, aunque hay amplios porcentajes de personas
que no se pronuncian.

Otro líder incluido en la encuesta es el español Rodríguez Zapatero,
cuya imagen favorable se impone a la negativa en los seis países.

El líder peor valorado es el presidente de Irán, Mahmud Ahmadineyad, que
en el mejor de los casos llega al siete por ciento en buena opinión,
mientras que en el extremo opuesto se sitúa la canciller alemana Angela
Merkel, que en cuatro de los seis países supera el 67 por ciento de
opiniones favorables.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/783117.html

2 players thrown off Cuba baseball team for `indiscipline

Posted on Saturday, 11.22.08
2 players thrown off Cuba baseball team for `indiscipline'
Associated Press

HAVANA -- Cuba said Friday that right-hander Yadel Martí, who was named
top pitcher at the inaugural World Baseball Classic, and hard-hitting
outfielder Yasser Gómez had been thrown off the island's top team,
Havana's Industriales, for committing ``a grave act of indiscipline.''

The one-sentence announcement in the Communist Party newspaper Granma
offered no further details, but two people close to the team said the
action came after the pair was caught trying to defect to the United
States. They did not elaborate or wish to be quoted by name, fearing it
could lead to problems with Industriales.

Martí was 1-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA in four games during the 2006 WBC,
when Cuba finished second, losing in the finals to Japan. The team was
welcomed home as heroes, climbing aboard a convoy of green military
jeeps and parading through Havana's streets.

Martí talked publicly about how Cuba would seek revenge during the 2009
WBC and he was expected to again be one of the national team's stars.
But Friday's announcement virtually guarantees neither he nor Gomez will
play baseball for Cuba again in any capacity.

Marti, 29, began his career with the island's top baseball league in
1999 with the Metropolitanos of Havana, the capital's second-tier squad.
He was a short, thin prospect who scouts thought did not have the
physical stature to become a star, but his excellent control and
craftiness on the mound helped him win a spot on Industriales in 2002.

The 28-year-old Gómez is a left-hander who batted in the key third slot
in the Industriales lineup and posted a .394 average in 2007. He began
playing in Cuba's top league as a teenager and was part of the Olympic
team at the Sydney Games in 2000, which took the silver medal. He was
left off Cuba's 2006 WBC squad.

Both Gómez and Martí failed to secure spots on the Cuban team that
finished second at the Olympic Games in Beijing, absences that surprised
many in baseball circles.

Gómez had lived in a Havana apartment building adjacent to the aging
stadium where the Industriales play. The building is full of players and
their families and painted in the colors of Industriales, blue and
white, with a script 'I' logo. He moved to a new apartment in the
capital's Vedado district sometime ago, however.

Martí has a home in another part of the city, but did not answer his
home or cellphones Friday. The Industriales refused to comment.

Like many elite Cuban athletes, baseball players draw small salaries and
often travel by bus, but have some perks the general population does
not, including the use of a state-owned car or the right to purchase
their own vehicle. The government does not consider its baseball players
professionals, but the island's National Baseball League is far-and-away
the most-followed in this baseball-mad country.

Industriales is the class of the league and the closest thing Cuba has
to the New York Yankees. The team wears pinstripes, has first choice of
the top baseball talent born in and around Havana and vies with
Santiago, the island's second-largest city, for possessing the largest
and most-devoted fan base.

It was the team of Orlando ''El Duque'' Hernández, who was the
most-famous player on Industriales and in Cuba when he defected to the
United States, eventually winning a World Series with the New York
Yankees in 1998. Livan Hernández, World Series MVP for the Florida
Marlins, was also a star of the team before fleeing the island. Rey
Ordonez was an Industriales backup shortstop before becoming a
three-time gold-glover with the New York Mets.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/782171.html

Cuba won't let our kids leave, medical workers say

Posted on Tuesday, 11.18.08
CUBA
Cuba won't let our kids leave, medical workers say
Former Cuban doctors are contemplating taking their quest to get their
kids out of Cuba to an international court.
By FRANCES ROBLES AND CASEY WOODS
cwoods@MiamiHerald.com

Inside her bedroom on Cuba's Isle of Youth, 7-year-old Daviana González
prays to be reunited with her mother after more than five years,
relatives say. In Camagüey, Marta Daniela Batista, another little girl
separated from her parents, is said to suffer from mental health problems.

The girls are children of Cuban medical professionals living in Miami
who deserted their posts in various nations where the Cuban government
sent them to help spread ideology and earn income for their cash-starved
homeland.

But the price for desertion was higher than the families believed
possible: The Cuban government is denying the little ones permission to
leave, even though they have U.S. visas that would allow them to come here.

''Marta isn't to blame for what her parents did, and yet they punish
her,'' said her mother, Melvis Mesa, 42. ``She's just a child, and
children have a right to be with their parents. What the Cuban
government is doing is a terrible abuse.''

Mesa and Daviana's mother -- Yaisis González -- are among more than a
dozen Cuban health workers working with the Cuban American National
Foundation, or CANF, on a campaign to get their children back. CANF
representatives plan to file complaints against the Cuban government
with international organizations, such as the Organization of American
States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations.

A press conference is planned for Tuesday morning to call for other
Cuban medical professionals in the same situation to come forward and
join their cause.

The Cuban government is ''holding the children hostage'' to punish those
who leave official missions, López said.

AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT

Many Cuban medical professionals who have deserted their posts over the
years and are struggling to be reunited with their children have
remained silent until now in fear that speaking out would further
jeopardize their children's release.

''It's the normal mindset to stay quiet. But after a while, when they
realize they're not getting anywhere with that attitude, they figure if
they make a lot of noise, they might get results,'' said Omar López,
CANF's human rights director. ``With the Cuban government, contrary to
what most people believe, the more you talk, the more chance you have of
getting results.''

González, 34, is a nurse who came to Miami in January 2007 after working
three years in Qatar. She compared her separation from her daughter
Daviana to the 1999-2000 case involving Elián González [no relation],
the Cuban migrant boy returned to his father despite a protracted
attempt by his extended family in Miami to prevent it.

''It's basic human right that parents should be with their children,''
she said. ``My child is my child.''

A 2005 report by Human Rights Watch said the Cuban government regularly
denies exit visas to medical professionals, children of defectors and
relatives of Cubans living abroad legally. Cuba uses the exit visas as a
tool for revenge against the disloyal and as leverage to force the
return of Cubans who have government permission to live abroad
temporarily, the report said.

The report blasted both Cuba and Washington for violating people's
``freedom of movement.''

Experts say taking the issue to an international court would be at best
a legal long shot, but would be worth it -- if just for sometimes
helpful international publicity.

`MORAL FORCE'

''There's tremendous symbolic value in proceeding before international
tribunals, because of the moral force that such proceedings can
create,'' said former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, who was part of the
legal team that represented the Miami family in the Elián case.

''And moral force combined with consensus of support throughout the
hemisphere could be meaningful, but ultimately it would be a verdict
that could not be enforced by a judge's gavel,'' Coffey said.
``Ultimately the question is: What tribunal can enforce an order against
the Castro government if the Castro government refuses to comply?''

José Cohen, a former Cuban intelligence agent who in 1994 began his
fight to get his three children off the island, said he went to Geneva,
to U.S. members of Congress opposed to the embargo and everywhere else
he could think of, to no avail.

''I never took it to an international court, because I did not have the
money, and Cuba does not respect international laws anyway,'' said
Cohen, who now lives in Miami Beach. ``But at least it's a public
denouncement. They should do it. They should struggle every way they can.''

Cohen's youngest son still lives in Cuba; his daughters, now 20 and 24,
left the island on a fast boat to Mexico this year and now live in Miami.

González said she has learned to parent by phone. Her daughter lives
with her grandmother on the Isle of Youth.

''She already thinks she's a little woman,'' González said, adding that
Daviana often asks for shoes and stylish tops as gifts from the United
States.

In their daily conversations, Daviana recites math equations --
''two-plus-two-equals-four!'' -- and reads passages out of her text
books to show her mother the progress she's making in class.

''She does it to show me that she deserves all the gifts she's asking
for,'' said González. ``Anything she asks me for, I give her, because
it's the only thing I can do for her.''

Mesa, 42, often weeps when she speaks of her daughter in Camagüey.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS

Mesa and her husband, both physical therapists, said the couple deserted
from a medical mission in Venezuela last March and came to the United
States through Colombia a short time later.

Doctors in Cuba say their daughter Marta's mental health is suffering
because of the separation from her parents.

Sensitive and intelligent -- she's at the top of her elementary class --
Marta cries constantly for her family.

'Sometimes it's hard to even speak on the phone, because she says over
and over, `Mama, when are we going to be together?' '' Mesa said. ``It
tears up your heart.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/v-fullstory/story/776284.html

Cuban activists say they have 20,000 signatures

Posted on Thursday, 11.20.08
Cuban activists say they have 20,000 signatures
Associated Press

HAVANA -- -- A women's group presented thousands of signatures Thursday
petitioning Cuba's parliament to close the gap in the communist
country's dual economy, which pays state workers in Cuban pesos but
offers basics like toilet paper in another currency that few can afford.

Four women wearing white "With the Same Money" T-shirts gathered outside
the legislature and attempted to turn in proof of 10,000 new signatures
which they said complemented 10,837 signatures they gave lawmakers a
year ago.

Their leader, Belinda Sales, said legislative clerks refused to receive
the new signatures, saying lawmakers were still studying last year's
petition.

She said more than a thousand members of her Latin American Foundation
of Rural Women collected signatures across Cuba over the past two years,
and found wide support even though authorities repeatedly seized petitions.

"Because it does not include anything political, people aren't afraid to
sign," she said. "Everyone who lives in Cuba wants to be paid in one
currency and have that same currency meet all their needs."

The group has not provided hard copies of the collected signatures, but
Salas said legislative authorities are free to check their authenticity.
She said her organization receives no funding from dissident
organizations in the United States, surviving solely on donations from
supporters inside Cuba.

Parliament meets just two weekends a year and unanimously approves
proposals offered by the communist leadership. Still, Salas said she is
confident that government officials are working on how to merge the two
currencies.

"I really think they are doing some economic experiments on this," she said.

The group's petition seeks the right to use regular Cuban pesos - the
currency of state salaries in a country where the government controls
well over 90 percent of the economy - in upscale stores, restaurants and
hotels that only accept the convertible Cuban peso, worth 24 times more.

The average monthly government salary is 408 pesos, or 17 convertible
pesos, though most Cubans live rent-free and their ordinary pesos pay
for for heavily subsidized electricity, food rations and transportation
provided by the communist system. Convertible peso stores were created
for tourists, but offer essentials like cooking oil and toilet paper not
sold in other stores.

Those who can't afford convertible-peso prices have to turn to the black
market, though most Cubans have access to at least some convertible
pesos, either by exchanging foreign currency sent by relatives in the
U.S., or by working for foreign firms or jobs in tourism.

President Raul Castro has said this dual economy is one of Cuba's
most-pressing problems. But state economists say a sudden boost of the
peso against its convertible counterpart would drive Cubans to buy
expensive, imported goods at drastically reduced prices - leaving state
stores with little income to restock shelves.

Salas countered, however, that Cuba could look to the reunification of
Germany and other European examples when governments spent cash reserves
to successfully merge two currencies.

"We are not economists," she said. "But a solution must be sought."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/780784.html

Cuban man's family kept on island, despite U.S. visas

SOUTH FLORIDA
Cuban man's family kept on island, despite U.S. visas
By JUAN CARLOS CHAVEZ
El Nuevo Herald

A Cuban man who lost both of his arms -- after he tried to escape from
prison following a failed attempt to reach Florida -- denounced the
Cuban government Wednesday for keeping his family on the island even
though they have been issued visas to join him in the United States.

In March 2007 Jorge Albart Rodriguez detailed how he injected petroleum
into his own arms during the 1980s in an attempt to escape from a Cuban
prison.

''All of the frustration and pain I felt while locked up does not
compare to the suffering of not having my family reunited,'' he said
Wednesday. ``They should already be in Miami, but the Cuban government
has delayed the authorization for their exit without offering an
explanation.''

He said he suspected that the publicity given to his ordeal never sat
well with Cuban authorities who have blocked the departure of his wife,
Judith, and their sons Jury, 9, and Jorge, 19. His family had been due
to arrive to the United States in September.

''The nightmare is not over and I don't know what else I can do,''
Albart said.

This was not Albart's first tangle with the Cuban government. He was
arrested at age 16 for trying to reach Florida aboard a precarious
vessel. He said he was sentenced to four years in prison, and kept in
isolation.

The conditions he was subjected to prompted Albart to take risky actions
without thinking of the consequences. He injected petroleum into his
arms so he would be taken to the emergency room -- hoping he would be
able to escape from there.

He did not count on the jailers not believing him, and denying him
immediate medical attention. The result was a serious infection and the
subsequent amputation of his arms.

Years later, Albart tried twice to flee Cuba, but did not succeed. He
finally paid smugglers to take him to Mexico, though they robbed him of
what little he had just before he crossed the border into the United States.

''It was nearly a month long voyage in search of a better future, for
the idea of one day being happy with my family. Despite everything, I
haven't lost hope of seeing them,'' said Albart, who earns a living by
selling avocados and flowers on the street.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/779532.html