Posted on Sun, Oct. 01, 2006

CUBA
Human rights still under siege
OUR OPINION: U.N. OBSERVER'S REPORT CONDEMNS GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

The Cuban government is nothing if not consistent. Faced once again with a report in the U.N. Human Rights Council condemning the way Cuba treats its citizens, the government responded by denouncing Christine Chanet, the French lawyer who prepared the report. This is a pathetic but typical response by a regime that has once again had its dirty laundry aired before the human-rights community.

The 13-page report prepared by Ms. Chanet and presented for the first time to the Human Rights Council in Geneva last week describes a host of violations: Arbitrary arrests; the suppression of free speech and free association; restricting common liberties, such as the freedom to travel.

None of this will come as news to anyone familiar with life in Cuba, but it is important for reports such as this to be presented to international organizations that command attention. It robs Cuba of any pretense to claim good standing in the community of nations that respect the basic rights of their own citizens.

Just as important, it undermines the notion that the people of Cuba really do support their government and have any allegiance to Fidel Castro. The practices described in the report can have only one purpose, and that is to maintain the citizenry in a state of perpetual fear, the fundamental objective of any police state.

It is not likely that the government will take this report seriously. Not as long as Fidel Castro is still around, anyway. But if a post-Castro government should ever want to signal that it is interested in changing direction, it could implement at least some of the recommendations offered by Ms. Chanet.

The first and most important of these is to halt the prosecution of citizens who are exercising rights guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And, while it's at it, the government should release detained persons who, in the words of the report, ''have not committed acts of violence against individuals and property.'' Among them are the 60 jailed individuals named in the report who were arrested in March-April of 2003 in the crackdown on human rights.

Cuba's human-rights record has been the target of condemnation for decades, and the record includes previous reports by official U.N. observers. ''The situation doesn't seem today to be anything that could be described as improved, and I'm putting it mildly,'' Ms. Chanet said last week.

This may discourage those who would like to believe that pressure from the world community will oblige the government to soften its grip on the people of Cuba. But the report and others like it provide comfort to the courageous dissidents inside Cuba. They need to know that they are not alone in condemning the injustice and lack of freedom that prevail in Fidel Castro's Cuba.

Exile group says it will stage ''maritime demonstration'' off Cuba during summit

By LUISA YANEZ
Posted to the Miami Herald on Tuesday, September 12, 2006

A Miami exile leader on Tuesday announced plans for a symbolic demonstration in the waters off Cuba this weekend.

The reason: to get the group's call for democracy on the island heard by the 116 foreign leaders attending a weeklong summit in Havana.

''We are asking for free elections in Cuba, not a succession of power from brother to brother as if Cuba were a dynasty,'' said Rámon Saúl Sánchez, head of the Democracy Movement.

The group is staging its ''maritime demonstration'' to attract the attention of leaders from mostly developing nations attending this week's 14th annual summit of the Nonaligned Movement, which ends Saturday night. Among the countries represented are:Venezuela, Iran, Bolivia, Yugoslavia and Malaysia.

At a morning press conference, Sánchez said the group's yacht, the 39-foot Democracia, will leave from Key West's Municipal Marina after midnight Friday and head toward the 12-mile limit of what Cuba considers its territorial waters.

The Democracia, which would arrive at its destination by around 10 a.m. Saturday, will ferry electoral ballots, fly a white flag, display giant posters of Cuba's political prisoners and drop white roses on the water. Mirrors will be flashed toward the island. About 20 people will be onboard.

Sánchez said each leader attending the summit will receive a document containing the group's demands for Cuba's future, on behalf of both Miami's exile community and Cuba's dissident movement. He would not elaborate on how the documents would be delivered.

Among the demands:

Free elections, the release of all political prisoners, government legalization of the opposition movement and the reunification of families, which includes allowing all Cubans to visit their homeland.

Sánchez said he hopes the U.S. government will not try to stop the ''one-boat flotilla'' this Saturday.

Presidential Proclamation 6867 of 1996 requires small, private vessels to obtain a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard if they intend to leave Florida headed for Cuban waters. Violators face incarceration, fines or the confiscation of vessels. ''We hope President Bush does not try to stop the activities we are announcing here today,'' Sánchez said. ``It is our duty to encourage elements of change inside Cuba.''

Sánchez, who staged his first flotilla in 1995, said this time they are only taking one vessel for two reasons: to discourage the Cuban government from committing ''a barbaric act'' against the communist-run island by claiming vessels from the U.S. were approaching the coastline.

''One boat, flying a white flag, is not very offensive,'' he said.

Also, in the event the State Department asks the U.S. Coast Guard to stop the group, only the Democracia would be seized.

Sánchez said he has notified local Coast Guard officials of the group's plan.

''We can't speculate of what was said at a press conference,'' said Coast Guard Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson. ``All we can say it that we encourage anyone taking a long trip to file a float plan and carry proper emergency and safety equipment.''

The summit in Cuba is being held two months after President Fidel Castro, 80, announced he had undergone emergency surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment and provisionally handed over power to his younger brother, Defense Minister Raúl Castro.

It's still unclear whether Fidel Castro would host a dinner for all the foreign leaders on Friday. If he does, it will mark his first public appearance since July 31.

Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006 in the Miami Herald

CASTRO HEALTH CRISIS
Cubans get an eyeful of Castro recuperating
Cubans tried to decipher the meaning behind new photos and a videotape of ailing leader Fidel Castro.

Miami Herald Staff Report

HAVANA - Cubans crowded newsstands Monday for a closer look at a new and more downbeat batch of photos of ailing leader Fidel Castro -- this time showing him confined to a bed even as he greets friend and ally Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

The seven new photos published in Cuba's leading Granma newspaper and a video of Castro came one day after the smaller Juventud Rebelde on Sunday ran the first photos of Castro since his intestinal surgery, apparently sitting on a chair.

But Monday's images showed Castro lying in a hospital bed, looking tired and with sheets covering him to his torso. The government later released a 10-minute video of the Chávez meeting, dousing speculation about the photos' veracity.

For many Cubans, the latest images confirmed that the man who has ruled them for 47 years was still alive, but did little to ease their anxiety over a future without him.

On Sunday, a foreboding message from Castro cautioned that while he was continuing to recover, risks remained and Cubans should be ready for ``adverse news.''

''A lot of people were surprised to see [the photos] because they thought he was dead,'' a young man named Alexi told The Miami Herald, adding that he would ''adapt'' to whatever comes. ``Nobody is eternal.''

''He's getting better, that's good,'' said a store clerk named Yanine. ``But a lot of people wish he'd die.''

MEANING OF PHOTOS

Given the careful cultivation of Castro's image throughout his rule, it remained unclear whether the new pictures of the bedridden leader meant that his health had weakened after the the first batch was taken, or he's exaggerating his ailment in order to stage a more triumphant comeback.

Castro, who turned 80 on Sunday, is recovering from surgery for intestinal bleeding due to undisclosed causes. U.S. specialists have said such bleeding could be the result of a half-dozen ailments, including an ulcer or cancer.

The pictures released Sunday and Monday offered no medical clues: There was no evidence of Castro connected to any tubes or other devices, such as intravenous bags.

The new set of photos appeared to have been shot in the same white room as the previous set, although Castro now lay in a hospital-type bed to the right of the normal bed shown in Sunday's photos. The two-bed arrangement is usual for Cubans who like to sleep next to their loved ones in hospitals.

LOCATION UNKNOWN

A wall outlet similar to those seen in hospitals for oxygen and other hookups can be seen in one of the photos. Heavy tree branches showing through a window indicate the room is not a ground-floor room. The Cuban government has never identified Castro's hospital.

All the photos show Castro with a bedsheet covering him from around mid-torso down. He wears a bright red shirt, Chávez's signature color, emblazoned with the Venezuelan and Cuban flags and the words ''Venezuela-Cuba.'' Chávez, the Venezuelan president, also wears a red shirt. Also in some of the photos is Defense Minister Raúl Castro, the younger brother who Castro anointed as his temporary replacement two weeks ago.

Oddly, on a nightstand to the left of the hospital bed are a pair of foot-high dolls of Castro and Chávez, similar to bobble-heads.

MOOD OF THE PEOPLE

Throughout Castro's convalescence, the government appears to have been operating normally, though the population's mood has been described by foreigners as dark, confused and anxious over the future.

Raúl Castro's appearance in the photographs -- also a first since he assumed control -- may signal that he will assume a more active and visible role.

Whether Castro resumes control or Raúl remains in power, some Cubans said they don't expect much to change, while others expressed fears of the reputedly heavy-handed Raúl. But it's difficult to decipher real sentiments in a country where criticizing the government can land people in jail.

''People are afraid about the future,'' a baker named Denis told The Miami Herald. ``They don't know what will happen next. People are afraid of change.

''The people chant revolutionary slogans on the street, but they complain in private at home,'' he added.

Fernando, who was buying a lunch of rice, beans and a piece of meat, said it is a delicate time for Cuba. ''The American government will try to take advantage of any weakness, pushed by the Cubans in Miami,'' he said. ``We must be careful.''

Copies of Monday's edition of Granma were selling quickly, as Cubans swarmed newsstands. On Sunday, few people seemed to be aware of the photos published by Juventud Rebelde.

In an article accompanying the photographs under the headline An Unforgettable Afternoon Among Brothers, Granma reported that Castro and Chávez shared ``more than three hours of emotional exchange, anecdotes, laughs, photos, gifts, a frugal snack and the happiness of close friendship.''

The video of the encounter, which aired on Cuban television Monday night, showed Chávez and Raúl doing most of the talking, but Castro is heard in the background laughing and saying a few hard-to-decipher words.

PRAISE FROM CHAVEZ

Granma quoted Chávez, Castro's closest political ally and economic supporter, as expressing wonderment over Castro's toughness in the face of his health crisis.

''What kind of human being is this?'' Chávez reportedly asked. ``What material is it made of?''

Granma's lead front-page photo showed Chávez and Raúl standing at Castro's bedside. All three smiled as Chávez and Castro held the edges of a large portrait of the Cuban leader. The newspaper said it was a gift from Raúl to Chávez.

The newspaper described the visit as ``unforgettable, shared by brothers linked by blood and cause, which brought renewed strength and encouragement to the Comandante, bloodied in a thousand battles and seeking a new victory for life.''

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow sidestepped a question about whether ''adverse news for Cuba'' would be ``good news for the White House.''

''We'll have to find out. I mean, heaven knows,'' Snow said.

Drew Blakeney, spokesman for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, said the Cubans' reaction to the photographs fell into three main categories:

''One being fear of and uncertainty about a future without the leader,'' Blakeney told The Miami Herald via e-mail. ``After all, most have known nothing else, and all their lives have been deprived of information about the outside world. Their fears have been shaped and stoked by a lifetime of propaganda.

''Another common reaction is frustration that the long nightmare continues,'' Blakeney said. ``Finally, some people feel genuine affection and sympathy for the leader.''

This report came from Miami Herald staff writers in Havana; Lesley Clark in Washington; Juan O. Tamayo in Miami, and translator Renato Pérez. It was written by Nancy San Martin in Miami.

Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 in the MiamiHerald.com

Speculation swirls in Miami, Havana

The Cuban government said Fidel Castro is on the mend. In Miami, exile leaders pushed Cuban dissidents to launch a nationwide movement.

BY OSCAR CORRAL, PABLO BACHELET AND MARTIN MERZER

mmerzer@MiamiHerald.com

CUBAVISION VIA AP TELEVISION NEWS

This image from a broadcast on Cuban television station Cubavision shows a reporter announcing that Cuban President Fidel Castro's is in stable condition and in "good spirits" after surgery, Tuesday, Aug. 1. Castro said Tuesday that his health was stable after surgery, according to a statement read on state television, as the Communist government tried to impose a sense of normalcy on the island's first day in 47 years without Castro in charge.

An ambiguous, somewhat cryptic statement issued Tuesday night in Fidel Castro's name said his health was ''stable'' and ''my spirit is perfectly fine.'' But it also contained clues that a complete recovery might not be certain.

''A real evolution of the state of one's health requires the passing of time,'' the statement said. ``The most I could say is that the situation will remain stable for many days before a verdict can be delivered.''

That left Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits still in limbo today, seeking answers to two basic yet monumental questions:

Can Castro stage a full recovery from the unspecified intestinal bleeding that required an emergency operation? Is Cuba finally on the cusp of change after 47 years of repression?

National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón said the ''final moment is still very far away.'' U.S. officials said they believed Castro is still alive.

But no new pictures surfaced, no other proof was offered -- not even what hospital he's in -- and Castro's brother and the inheritor of his power, Raúl, also remained out of sight. Fidel Castro is 79; his brother, 75.

''It's really serious, because otherwise he would speak,'' a Havana resident named Jesus, who asked that his last name be withheld, said by telephone about Fidel Castro.

In Miami, meanwhile, new street celebrations flared with benign jubilation Tuesday night, especially outside the Versailles restaurant. Hundreds of cars drove along Calle Ocho, music blaring from radios, passengers hanging out the windows handing out miniature Cuban flags.

Earlier in the day, top Cuban exile leaders urged Cuban dissidents to ignite a nationwide movement of civil disobedience to protest the temporary transfer of power from Castro to his brother.

''It's time for the military not to shoot'' at those who mount peaceful protests, said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart. Travelers returning to Miami from Havana said they noticed a substantially enhanced police presence in many areas Tuesday.

Castro's regime is ''historically dead,'' Díaz-Balart said, and Castro is ''rotting'' even if he is still alive.

Cuba's uncharacteristically detailed announcement Monday night of Castro's serious illness, his major surgery for ''sustained'' intestinal bleeding and his ceding of power to his brother triggered speculation and anticipation in Miami and Havana.

Alarcón called the surgery a ''delicate operation,'' but no other details -- including the precise nature of the ailment -- were shared. Specialists in the United States said the symptoms could describe cancer, peptic ulcers or a variety of other problems.

''I cannot invent good news, because that wouldn't be ethical,'' Castro supposedly said in the statement read on Cuba's Mesa Redonda, Round Table, broadcast. ``And if the news were bad, the only one to benefit is the enemy.''

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the administration believed that Castro is still alive -- and added that Raúl Castro was no improvement.

''The fact that you have an autocrat handing power off to his brother does not mark an end to autocracy,'' Snow said.

And so, in workplaces, on local broadcasts and elsewhere around South Florida, speculation swirled around Castro's true condition.

''I hope to God he's dead,'' said Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose ''Pepe'' Diaz. ``But I think he might still be alive.

''Either way, this will be the start of the demise of the regime,'' Diaz said. ``It's history because this is the first time that Castro relinquished power.''

But financier Raúl Mas Canosa, younger brother of late exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa, said it's ``a little bit premature to sort of celebrate.''

''Fidel Castro's been around for much longer than any of us care to remember, and I think he's a very wily, very conniving individual,'' he said. ``It wouldn't surprise me if this was just sort of a test run to sort of figure out how people are going to react to his eventual transfer of power.''

In other developments:

• Snow said that the temporary transfer of power would not generate an immediate change in U.S. policy toward Cuba. ''There are no plans to reach out,'' he said, calling Castro's brother his ``prison keeper.''

The State Department reiterated its policy that the United States would only act if a transitional government moved toward democracy.

In that case ''the United States and the American people will do everything that we can to stand by the Cuban people in their aspirations for a democracy,'' said Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman.

• Get-well messages poured in to Havana. Some came from the governments of Spain, Italy, Nicaragua and, in South America, President Evo Morales of Bolivia and President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, both close to Castro.

Chile's ambassador to Cuba, Jaime Toha, said there was complete calm across the island despite the ''strong and surprising'' news.

• Some activist leaders in Miami began mapping plans to join any opposition campaigns that might be launched by Cuban dissidents.

''We want to get there and help with whatever we can . . . ,'' said Ramón Saúl Sánchez, leader of the Democracy Movement. ``We are talking with our attorneys to see what we can do legally.''

At the same time, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, who is Cuban American, warned about the dangers of any action that could encourage mass migration, which could endanger lives.

''I think people need to keep their emotions in check, difficult as it is,'' Martinez said.

State and federal authorities said they would block any efforts to reach Cuba by boat from Florida.

''Don't attempt to leave,'' said Amos Rojas, regional director for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. ``If there is a problem on the island, the Coast Guard will blockade it, and we're not going to let people go from here.''

• Police officers in South Florida praised Cuban exiles for remaining orderly during street celebrations -- and urged them to keep it that way.

''We cannot block streets, and the reason is public safety,'' said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez.

Said Miami-Dade spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta: ``As long as everybody celebrates in a peaceful way, which is what's happened so far, we're fine with it. We don't want to interfere with their joy.''

Archbishop John Favalora asked Cuban Catholics to remain calm and pray that any power shift in Cuba is peaceful and benefits all Cuban people.

''The archbishop has asked that we all pray, that we have tranquility and peace so that we are in deep communion with the people of Cuba,'' said the Rev. Fernando Hería, pastor of St. Brendan Catholic Church and a native of Cuba who left the island at age 11.

Speaking during a news conference in his Miami office, Díaz-Balart said that Cuba's dissident community has been appealing to exiles in South Florida and elsewhere to serve as its mouthpiece to promote passive resistance.

Now, Díaz-Balart said, it boils down to this: People inside Cuba must demand change.

He and the other Miami-based Cuban-American members of Congress seized the opportunity to rally behind a campaign launched last week by exile organizations to promote civil disobedience and passive resistance in Cuba.

Díaz-Balart said that the U.S. government had obtained a list of 56 Cubans who have participated in violent ''actos de repudio,'' acts of repudiation, against dissidents and pro-democracy activists on the island.

He said that all people who participate in such activities from now on would be identified and brought to justice. He emphasized that the military should allow peaceful protests and restrain themselves from harming fellow Cubans seeking change.

''It's time for the military not to shoot,'' Díaz-Balart said. ``They either stand with the Cuban people, or their names will be on a list of infamy.''

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a member of the House International Relations Committee, said the United States has no interest in talking with Raúl Castro.

''We have nothing to say to Raúl Castro,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``He is part of the problem, not part of the solution. He's an assassin. He's a liar. . . . The U.S. is not fooled by him.''

Posted on Fri, Jun. 30, 2006 in the MiamiHerald.com

Report urges funding Castro foes

A new U.S. government report recommended creating an $80 million fund to boost opposition in Cuba and zeroes in on Cuba's close ties with Venezuela.

BY PABLO BACHELET

pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON - The commission that steers Bush administration policy on Cuba is recommending creating an $80 million fund to boost opposition to Cuban leader Fidel Castro and tightening economic sanctions on the island, The Miami Herald has learned.

A draft of the commission's report also recommends a major diplomatic effort to offset the ''Venezuela-Cuba axis'' and identifies President Hugo Chávez as a key player whose oil wealth could help extend the communist system after Castro's death.

The report summarizes the work of more than 100 officials from 17 government departments and agencies on behalf of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, co-chaired by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, a Cuban American.

The recommendations must be approved by President Bush, although he approved virtually all the items on the commission's first report in May 2004. That led to tighter restrictions on travel to Cuba, especially by Cuban exiles.

Unlike the 2004 report, the current set of recommendations include an annex that will remain classified ''for reasons of national security and effective implementation,'' according to the text. There was no immediate indication of what the annex might contain.

No major changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba are recommended, and the text repeatedly underscores that it is the Cubans, and not the U.S. government, who will decide the future course of their transition.

Government officials confirmed that the copy of the draft obtained by The Miami Herald is legitimate, but cautioned that some of its figures could change before the final text is presented to Bush. A formal unveiling is planned for next week.

The new report focuses on U.S. actions in the months that will follow the death or incapacitation of Castro, and calls for the creation of a two-year $80 million ``Cuba Fund for a Democratic Future.''

The money is to ``increase support for Cuban civil society, expand international awareness, break the regime's information blockade, and continue developing assistance initiatives to help Cuban civil society realize a democratic transition.''

After the initial two years, the commission recommends adding at least $20 million annually to the fund ``until the dictatorship ceases to exist.''

The draft recommends using $31 million of the fund to support ''civil society on the island''; $10 million to finance academic exchanges and a new scholarship program for Cubans to study abroad; $24 million to break the Castro government's ''information blockade'' by financing the transmission of anti-Castro broadcasts via satellite and distributing equipment on the island to receive international broadcasts; and $15 million to support international efforts to aid the opposition and plan for a post-Castro transition to democracy.

The report does not specify if the money is on top of the aid the U.S. government already provides for anti-Castro programs. Radio and TV Martí already get $35 million for their broadcasts to the island in 2006.

The draft also takes a conciliatory approach on hot-button issues such as the return of Castro-confiscated properties to their previous owners, many of whom live in the United States. The Cuban government criticized the 2004 report as a blatant disregard for Cuba's sovereignty.

''It is a change in tone more than a change in substance,'' said Phil Peters, a Cuba analyst with the Lexington Institute who has read the draft copy. Saying that the previous report suggested people would be evicted, Peters added, ``This report tries to reverse the political damage by placing property decisions in the hands of the Cuban government and urging Cubans to consider property claims in the context of national reconciliation.''

However, the text recommends ''vigorously'' enforcing Title IV of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which gives U.S. officials the power to recall or deny U.S. visas to company managers whose firms invest in confiscated properties -- a sanction that has been used only cautiously so far.

Companies investing in industries that provide the Cuban government with hard currencies like oil, tourism, nickel, tobacco and rum and will be especially targeted for sanctions, the report said.

The report also says there is growing evidence that ''senior elements of the regime'' are hiding their financial assets overseas, including properties and bank accounts. It recommends tracking down these assets and returning them ``for the benefit of a Free Cuba Government.''

According to the text, Castro and his inner circle ''have begun a gradual but intrinsically unstable process of succession'' working with ``like-minded governments, particularly Venezuela, to build a network of political and financial support designed to forestall any external pressure to change.''

Venezuela provides more than $1 billion a year in energy subsidies to the island, it said, and there are indications that Cuba is using money from Venezuelan President Chávez to ``reactivate its networks in the hemisphere to subvert democratic governments.''