Reflexión de Fidel Castro Reflexión sobre duras y evidentes realidades Es obvia la preocupación que siempre ha tenido la Revolución cubana por la educación del pueblo. Juzgando mi propia experiencia, llegué pronto a la idea de que únicamente la conciencia podía prevalecer sobre los instintos que nos rigen(Versiones en: Español, Inglés, Portugués, Francés, Italiano, Alemán, Arabe, Ruso)http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/reflexiones/esp-039.html,



En el lenguaje del enemigo

Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Versión de las palabras de Ricardo Alarcón, presidente de la Asamblea del Poder Popular de Cuba, en el panel “La Democracia y el socialismo del Siglo XXI”, de la VI Cumbre Social por la Unión Latinoamericana y Caribeña, el 1 de agosto de 2007, en Caracas, Venezuela. http://www.cubadebate.cu/index.php?tpl=design/especiales.tpl.html&newsid_obj_id=9626,


El ALBA llega a las telecomunicacionesAlberto Rodríguez Arufe http://www.cubadebate.cu/index.php?tpl=design/opiniones.tpl.html&newsid_obj_id=9664,

Hugo Chávez
Ignacio Ramonet - Le Monde Diplomatiquehttp://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=54501,


Propone Cuba eliminar el consumo irracional de energía en Suramérica
Caracas, - «Tenemos que ir a un modelo de sociedad diferente, que no se base en esos patrones irracionales de producción y consumo energéticos», afirmó el viceministro de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente de Cuba, José Antonio Díaz Duque.
Así lo expuso durante su participación en el foro denominado Hacia un desarrollo sustentable según los principios de la Cumbre de Río de Janeiro, realizado en la tercera jornada de la VI Cumbre Social por la Unión Latinoamericana y Caribeña.
El consumo de energía en Estados Unidos al año es de 13 mil kw por habitante», mientras que en el mundo es de 2 mil 429 kw, «y en América Latina, aun cuando hay ciudades que consumen mucha energía, es de mil 600 kw», señaló el titular cubano, citado por ABN.
Explicó que en el cambio climático uno de los objetivos es la mitigación, que es la reducción efectiva de las emisiones de los gases por efecto invernadero, de los cuales las estadísticas evidencian que EE.UU. emite más de 30%, mientras que América Latina aporta 4% de estos gases.
Reflexionó también sobre la necesidad de pensar que en África, mientras en el mundo se habla de la expansión de las telecomunicaciones, casi 50% de la población jamás ha hecho una llamada telefónica en su vida.
Con respecto a la producción de biocombustibles por parte de EEUU, aseguró que todas «las tierras agrícolas de la Unión Europea no darían más que para el 30% del consumo de sus biocombustibles, en Estados Unidos tampoco alcanzaría para sus necesidades, por tanto su mirada de nuevo es aterradora hacia el Sur.
Los países de América Latina «debemos seguir una línea energética basada en el ahorro y en la eficiencia», afirmó al tiempo que resaltó la demostración de Venezuela «con el cambio de 54 millones de bombillos que ahorran energía en todo el país, por ahí va el modelo que en esta materia se debe seguir», finalizó el representante cubano al foro.

Elecciones en Cuba
Será en septiembre nominación de candidatos La Comisión Electoral Nacional aprobó la creación de 50 635 áreas de nominación en todo el país. Foto: Franklin Reyes. Con resultados positivos concluyeron este jueves los seminarios de capacitación a los integrantes de las 15 236 comisiones electores de circunscripción que funcionarán en el actual proceso de elecciones generales. Las asambleas de nominación de candidatos se realizarán entre el 1ro. y el 26 del mes próximo. Se crearán de 50 635 áreas de nominación en todo el paísPor: Agnerys Rodríguez Gavilán - Correo: digital@jrebelde.cip.cu
Con resultados positivos concluyeron este jueves los seminarios de capacitación a los integrantes de las 15 236 comisiones electorales de circunscripción que funcionarán en el actual proceso de elecciones generales

El primero de septiembre próximo debe comenzar en el país la nominación de candidatos a delegados a las asambleas municipales del Poder Popular, uno de los momentos más importantes del actual proceso de elecciones generales.

Tomás Amarán Díaz, secretario de la Comisión Electoral Nacional (CEN), dijo este jueves a JR que según el cronograma «las asambleas de nominación de candidatos se realizarán entre el 1ro. y el 26 del mes próximo, y para ello se ha previsto la creación de 50 635 áreas de nominación en todo el país, 9 029 áreas más que en el proceso de 2005».

Con ello, abundó la autoridad electoral, el pueblo tiene mayores posibilidades de nominar a más de uno o dos compañeros con méritos y condiciones para representarlo ante los órganos del Poder Popular y, por consiguiente, será mayor la cantera de candidatos para elegir de entre ellos a los delegados a la Asamblea Municipal del Poder Popular de su territorio de residencia.

Como parte de la preparación de los comicios generales, este jueves concluyeron los seminarios de capacitación a todos los integrantes de las comisiones electorales de circunscripción, personas clave en la convocatoria, organización y celebración de las 50 635 asambleas de nominación que se realizarán en septiembre, y con todo el proceso en general.

«Los más de 76 000 ciudadanos integrantes de las 15 236 comisiones electorales de circunscripción recibieron una información amplia sobre la Ley Electoral; el Decreto-Ley 248 del Sistema de Identificación y del Registro de Electores; así como también de todos los aspectos relacionados con el Registro de Electores, la nominación de candidatos a delegados a las asambleas municipales del Poder Popular, y los principios y normas de carácter ético que rigen el proceso electoral cubano».

La Comisión Electoral Nacional evalúa de positivos a estos seminarios —abundó Amarán—, toda vez que en poco tiempo se cumplió el objetivo de «capacitar a amas de casa, trabajadores, obreros, intelectuales, jóvenes, jubilados, miembros de nuestras Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias; ciudadanos de todos los sectores de la sociedad, edad y sexo, sin cuya participación voluntaria, apoyo y sentido de responsabilidad es imposible organizar las elecciones».

Están creadas las condiciones, precisó, para que la organización del proceso marche de manera satisfactoria como hasta hoy, luego de la convocatoria librada por el Consejo de Estado el pasado 9 de julio.

Por último, Gisela Bell Heredia, vocal de la CEN, dijo que la Comisión trabaja en la elaboración de las reglas complementarias para el actual proceso de comicios generales, cuya primera etapa concluye el 21 de octubre próximo con la elección de los delegados a las asambleas municipales del Poder Popular.



Cuba contributing technical personnel to the FAO for cooperation in various countries• Francisco Arias Milla, the FAO representative in Cuba, concludes nearly five years’ work on the island by expressing his thanks for its government’s solid support
BY GUSTAVO BECERRA
CUBA is not only receiving the benefits of the UN Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) but also has become a close collaborator of that international agency in aid to other nations.
Francisco Arias Milla, the FAO representative in Havana, informed Granma International that, as one example of that cooperation, there is an agreement with the Cuban authorities giving the agency up to 200 technical personnel from the island for its diverse projects, principally in Africa, South America and the Caribbean, and that there is an interest in increasing that figure to 300.
Currently, some 40 specialists are on FAO missions. "They are not only taking their technological knowledge, but also their discipline and work ethics," Arias Milla added.
Just before the end of four-and-a-half years as representative in Cuba of that UN agency, Arias expressed his thanks to the government "for the solid support that it has offered us." There is a strong institutional relation between the two parties that Jacques Diouf, its director general is interested in maintaining and developing, he said.
In recent years, the FAO has undertaken various initiatives on the island directed at supporting the authorities’ efforts to achieve food security, confront drought and develop an ecologically sustainable agriculture, among others.
In a brief overview, Arias recalled that Cuba is a founding member of the FAO and that cooperation between the two became closer after the triumph of the Revolution with the initiation of joint projects in areas like fishing and forestry, particularly in the creation of research centers.
A Salvadoran and agronomist by profession, Francisco Aria Milla has 34 years of experience in 27 international institutions, via which he has worked in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burundi, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, India, Malaysia, Italy and the Dominican Republic.
His next destination is Venezuela, where part of his mission is to support that nation’s joint initiatives with Cuba in the framework of that grand integrationist project called the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), he explained.
Speaking of his fruitful stay in Cuba, he affirmed: "The only thing that I regret is not having come earlier."

Cuba advierte de pérdida de diversidad biológica en la isla
(EFE).- Las autoridades cubanas han advertido de la pérdida de diversidad biológica en su territorio como uno de los principales problemas ambientales del país, informa hoy la prensa oficial.
El diario Granma, órgano oficial del Partido Comunista de Cuba, señala que las causas para la pérdida de especies de flora y fauna van desde la destrucción del hábitat y ecosistemas al comercio ilícito de especies amenazadas, aunque no precisa cifras sobre su impacto.

Además, cita elementos como la introducción de especies exóticas que perjudican a las autóctonas y la insuficiencia de mecanismos de regulación y de control para prevenir y sancionar la caza y pesca furtivas.

Todos estos problemas aparecen diagnosticados en la Estrategia Ambiental Nacional para el periodo 2007-2010 del Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología y Medioambiente (Citma), en el que también se mencionan otros factores que influyen en la pérdida de biodiversidad.

Entre ellos, la degradación y contaminación de los suelos y la sobreexplotación de recursos pesqueros y forestales.

Por otra parte, señala que "el proceso de evaluación de impacto ambiental y las decisiones sobre planificación territorial derivadas del mismo no siempre han considerado en su justa medida los valores intrínsecos y de uso de la diversidad biológica".

Señala que "se carece de indicadores efectivos y de los procesos e instrumentos de monitoreo necesarios para su desarrollo e implementación" y que "en muchos casos" no se dispone de líneas base adecuadas como puntos de partida para "la determinación de las tendencias de la pérdida de diversidad".

En el informe, el Citma apunta otros problemas ambientales como la contaminación por la concentración de instalaciones industriales en áreas urbanas, con la consiguiente afectación a las corrientes superficiales, la insuficiente inversión en este terreno y la falta de prácticas de "producción más limpia".

También apunta problemas relacionados con la degradación de los suelos, derivados de la falta de rotación de campos dedicados al cultivo de caña de azúcar, el mal manejo agrotécnico y las insuficientes medidas de protección de la fertilidad.

Según el Citma, los procesos erosivos afectan a 2,5 millones de hectáreas en el país, y señala que alrededor de 3,4 millones de hectáreas tienen altos niveles de acidez y hay mas de un millón con alto grado de salinidad.

Estos problemas, junto a otros factores, afectan al 60 por ciento de la superficie del país, que es de 110.922 kilómetros cuadrados.



Mariela Castro dice que Cuba está preparada para transformaciones con y sin Fidel
(EFE).- Cuba está preparada para un proceso de "transformaciones necesarias", con su líder histórico, Fidel Castro, o cuando éste desaparezca, y sin caer en el caos, según Mariela Castro, sobrina del jefe de la revolución e hija del presidente cubano en funciones, Raúl Castro.

En una entrevista con Efe, Mariela Castro (La Habana, 1962), psicóloga, directora del Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (Cenesex) y artífice de la lucha por los derechos de los homosexuales en Cuba, defiende la necesidad de impulsar el debate interno y enriquecer la revolución de cara al futuro.

Un año después de que Fidel Castro, que el próximo día 13 cumplirá 81 años, delegara el poder en su hermano Raúl, de 76, por una grave enfermedad intestinal, Mariela Castro reconoce que "la preocupación que todos teníamos de perder a nuestro líder, ahora la tenemos más cerca".

"Estamos aprendiendo a vivir con nuestro líder envejeciendo, y las personas cuando envejecen tienen que dejarse cuidar, que es lo que nunca dejó Fidel. Fidel se dedicó siempre a cuidarnos", afirma.

"Por primera vez, el pueblo está asimilando el proceso de su envejecimiento, el proceso de que la revolución tiene que continuar sin él, ya sea con mi padre o con otros líderes que vengan, con los que surgirán, porque a veces los líderes aparecen cuando menos te lo imaginas", añade.

Asegura que "hay capacidad en Cuba para que no se arme un caos" y que "la sociedad cubana está preparada para un proceso de transformaciones necesarias para sostener el proceso revolucionario, con y sin Fidel".

Entre esas "transformaciones necesarias" incluye medidas económicas, mejoras sociales y perfeccionamiento de los mecanismos de gobernabilidad para hacerlos "más funcionales", con el objetivo de "hacernos responsables de nuestra realidad, de nuestro proceso revolucionario, aun cuando no estén los líderes históricos".

Mariela Castro está convencida de que la sociedad cubana es madura y está preparada para el debate, aunque admite que quizá no todos tengan el mismo grado de preparación para asumir este proceso.

"Cuba es un país que necesita debate permanente porque hay un alto nivel cultural y de instrucción y la gente necesita participar. Esto está diseñado para la participación, pero el problema es que no todos los dirigentes saben encaminar los procesos participativos, y es una lástima", reconoce en la entrevista mantenida con Efe en la sede del Cenesex, en La Habana.

La mayoría de los cubanos, señala, apuestan por que la revolución "siga enriqueciéndose como proceso socioeconómico justo" y rechazan "esa transición ridícula que están planteando los norteamericanos muy oportunistamente y la gusanera".

Apunta que en eso trabaja su padre desde que asumió el poder hace un año, como, en su opinión, demuestra el mensaje del 26 de julio, cuando, aprovechando la fecha más importante de la revolución, Raúl Castro pronunció un discurso autocrítico en el que se refirió a los problemas que lastran la economía y a la necesidad de cambios estructurales.

"Cuando se lleva un mensaje de ese tipo al 26 de julio quiere decir que ésta es la línea política, y es un paso de avance fundamental, quiere decir que ya se está trabajando en ese sentido y que se va a seguir trabajando", señala.

Raúl Castro, dice, es un hombre con "sentido práctico" y un "estratega" que prepara "las condiciones necesarias" antes de presentar una propuesta, y ése, supone Mariela, es el mecanismo que precedió a su discurso del 26 de julio.

"Cuando hace una propuesta la trabaja durante mucho tiempo y crea las condiciones para el consenso", explica.

Mariela asegura que, en contra de la imagen de "duro" y ortodoxo atribuida a su padre, es dialogante, le gusta el trabajo colectivo y es "muy flexible, muy sensible a los problemas de la gente y quiere de verdad resolverlos".

Reconoce que es posible que "no todo el mundo" piense lo mismo sobre el estilo de Raúl Castro, pero sostiene que lo importante es que "las cosas se deciden colectivamente" y con "mucho respeto" entre los dirigentes del país.

Fidel Castro, según su sobrina, también trabaja con esta fórmula, aunque su "autoridad moral es tan grande y sus planteamientos tan bien argumentados, que se tienden a asumir. Resulta difícil pensar en otras alternativas".

De cara al futuro, Mariela Castro confía en un proyecto revolucionario "de todos y para el bien de todos".

"Si no confiara en que va a ser así, no tendría sentimiento de pertenencia a la revolución. Si la revolución, como proclamara José Martí, es con todos y para el bien de todos, es mi proyecto, y yo confío, porque sé que ésta es la voluntad de la dirección de la revolución", asegura.
En diez años, se imagina una Cuba inmersa en un "proceso de participación democrática fortalecida" que, subraya, debe impulsarse desde ahora mismo.


Cuba takes delivery of first Russian-made cargo airplane Russia's Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP has delivered the first of four Tu-204SE transport airplanes it is building for Cuba's flagship carrier, Cubana de Aviacion, the company said Friday.
The second plane will be transferred to the Cuban airline later in August, while the remaining two, including one passenger jet, will be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year.
The Tu-204SE is a modernized version of the Tu-204 medium-haul airliner. It features a higher lifting capacity - five metric tons more than its predecessors - and fully meets Russian and international aviation standards.
Last year, the Cuban carrier bought two Il-96-300's, powered by PS90A engines, as part of a contract between the Russian leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. and Cuba's state-owned Aviaimport SA.
The new planes were equipped with an explosion localization system, which can absorb the explosive force of 0.4-0.5 kilograms of TNT equivalent on board the aircraft. - RIA Novosti


Post-Fidel Plans for U.S.-Cuba Relations, Migration Policy washingtonpost.com Mark Falcoff: Good morning, readers. I am happy to be with you.Severn, Md.: I visited Cuba for a month in 1996. I spoke to political and economic leaders and befriended a diplomat in their "state department." I also took the time to have dinner with poor families in the "projects" and hear about their lives and their families. The one thing I noticed is that the government intentially limits the amount of wealth a person can accumulate by limiting access and limiting the size of independently owned businesses. In fact the government limits the wallets of the people. It would seem to me that if the people had more stake in the economy, and greater access to money, they would demand greater rights. Right now they have little stake in anything because they own nothing. If the U.S. were to lift trade and travel restrictions to Cuba, this would benefit "the people" by providing them more access to cash. Once they had a greater stake, they would demand more from the government to preserve their interests. I believe that U.S. actions assist Cuba remaining communist by making the population in Cuba poorer than they should be.Mark Falcoff: I think you are half right. The legalization of the holding of dollars in the 90s created a whole new class of Cubans who owed nothing to the government. This was because they received remittances from relatives abroad. They could buy items in dollar stores and get enough to eat, for example.However, they were not allowed to start businesses or engage in any kind of independent economic activity. This is the nub of the matter. Lifting the travel ban would not necessarily change this state of affairs. There might be other reasons to do so, but it does not follow automatically that giving Cubans more access to the U.S. dollar would enhance their economic independence, given the way the society and polity are structured. . . .Click here to view the full text of this discussion.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/07/30/DI2007073000955.html,Mark Falcoff is a resident scholar emeritus at AEI.

PROPAGANDA HIDES CUBAN SUFFERING ?http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14851,



Cuban Economy, The

Skinner, CurtisRitter, Archibald R. M. (ed.). The Cuban Economy. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004. 248 pp. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200604/ai_n17179223/print,



CO-DIRECTOR DE FRESA Y CHOCOLATE VUELVE AL SETPOR LAURA MENDOZA (WORLD DATA SERVICE).- El cineasta Juan Carlos Tabío, codirector de Fresa y chocolate, la única película cubana nominada a los Oscar, volverá al set en noviembre próximo para rodar su sexto largometraje en solitario: El cuerno de la abundancia. Según fuentes del Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC), productor de la cinta junto a la empresa española Tornasol y con apoyo de Ibermedia, el realizador se alió al escritor cubano Arturo Arango, autor del argumento, para escribir el guión de esta comedia basada en una leyenda que se remonta al siglo XVIII. La trama gira en torno a una fabulosa herencia colectiva, supuestamente depositada en un banco británico, la cual beneficiaría a cientos de cubanos. Las tres hijas monjas del matrimonio de Bartolomé Manso de Contreras, adinerado súbdito de la corona española, y Josefa de Loyola y Monteagudo, descendiente de terratenientes, habrían confiado en 1776 a un banco británico la custodia del legado familiar. El tesoro, oro y joyas, según comentarios no corroborados, estuvo oculto en el Convento de Santa Clara, en La Habana, donde las hermanas estaban recluidas, pero por temor a los asaltos de piratas y corsarios, tan frecuentes en la época, las religiosas optarían por ponerlo a buen recaudo. De acuerdo con la leyenda, las monjas nombraron herederos a sus tíos, pero nadie de la familia reclamó la herencia entonces, la cual, supuestamente ascendería actualmente a miles de millones de dólares. La historia sobre la hipotética fortuna movilizó hace unos años a cientos de cubanos de dentro y fuera de la Isla que comenzaron a hacer trámites y averiguaciones para acceder a la herencia. Los posibles enredos, expectativas y situaciones derivados de esta búsqueda son el núcleo de El cuerno de la abundancia, que estará estelarizada por Jorge Perugorría, Mirta Ibarra, Raúl Pomares, Enrique Molina y Patricio Wood, entre otros. Rodada en locaciones de las dos provincias habaneras, la cinta, ambientada en la Cuba actual, está en proceso de pre filmación. Tabío (1943) debuta en el largometraje de ficción en 1983 con Se permuta. Anteriormente había dirigido unos 30 documentales e inscrito su nombre en los créditos de varias películas como Hasta cierto punto, de Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, en cuyo guión colaboró. Con Gutiérrez Alea, el más paradigmático de los cineastas cubanos, dirigió en 1993 Fresa y Chocolate y en 1995 Guantanamera, poco antes de morir el director de Memorias del subdesarrollo. Su filmografía la integran además, Plaff o Demasiado miedo a la vida (1988), El elefante y la bicicleta (1994), Lista de espera (1999) y Aunque estés lejos (2003). Ha impartido clases en la Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión de San Antonio de los Baños y en centros mexicanos, panameños, y costarricenses.------------------------------------------------------------DETIENEN A DESERTORES CUBANOS EN RÍO DE JANEIROPOR FRANK MARTIN WORLD DATA SERVICE .- Dos boxeadores desertores de la delegación de Cuba ante los recientes XV Juegos Panamericanos en Río de Janeiro, Guillermo Rigondeaux y Erislandy Lara, fueron detenidos por la policía brasileña, y serán deportados a Cuba por sus propias voluntades, informaron hoy fuentes policiales en Río. En sus declaraciones ante la Policía Federal, los dos boxeadores dijeron que están arrepentidos y desean regresar a Cuba, y rechazaron la ayuda de dos abogados que se presentaron en la sede de la Policía Federal y que insistieron en representarlos, dijo la agencia española EFE desde la ciudad brasileña. En declaraciones a la prensa local, el inspector de la policía federal Felicio Laterca dijo que ambos cubanos declinaron ser representados por los abogados de los empresarios alemanes que buscaban contratarlos para el boxeo profesional. Ambos fueron detenidos en una playa cercana a Río. Fuentes policiales brasileñas dijeron a la prensa que "el acento de los deportistas y los dientes de oro de Erislandy llamaron la atención" de los vecinos de Araruama, a 108 kilómetros de Río de Janeiro. "El 25 batallón de la Policía Militar confirmó que los dos boxeadores cubanos fueron detenidos y llevados a la Policía Federal en Niteroi", una ciudad vecina a Río de Janeiro, dijo un portavoz policial. A raíz de las deserciones, en La Habana, en uno de los artículos de una serie que viene publicando desde marzo pasado, el líder cubano, Fidel Castro, subrayó que la traición por dinero es una de las armas predilectas de Estados Unidos en su lucha por desestabilizar la Isla. En aquella ocasión el dirigente informó que el domingo 22 de julio, "en horas del mediodía, se recibió la triste noticia de que dos de los más destacados atletas de boxeo, Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz y Erislandy Lara Santoya, no se presentaron al pesaje. Sencillamente los noquearon con un golpe directo al mentón, facturado con billetes norteamericanos. No hizo falta conteo alguno de protección". El presidente cubano también se refirió a otra deserción en Río, la de uno de los jugadores cubanos de balonmano. Sobre los casos en específico de Rigondeaux y Lara, agregó que "en Alemania existe una mafia que se dedica a seleccionar, comprar y promover boxeadores cubanos en las competencias deportivas internacionales. Usa métodos psicológicos refinados y muchos millones de dólares" En su comentario, el dirigente expuso que "no existe justificación alguna para solicitar asilo político. Si no es Brasil su mercado definitivo, poco les importa. Hay países ricos del primer mundo que pagan mucho más. Las autoridades brasileñas han declarado que los que deserten deberán probar la necesidad real de asilo. Es imposible demostrar lo contrario. De antemano se conoce su destino final como atletas mercenarios en una sociedad de consumo. Pienso que han ofendido a Brasil utilizando los Panamericanos como pretexto para autopromoverse".



Para que Ulises se sienta satisfecho
Audacia y realismo, ¿la fórmula cubana?, un artículo de Luis Sextohttp://www.insurgente.org/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=10642,



Cuba embraces migration to free and open source software

cubaheadlines.comCuba's government is trying to shake off the yoke of at least one capitalist empire —Microsoft— by joining with socialist Venezuela in a program to convert its computers to open-source "free" software.

Both governments say they are trying to wean state agencies from using Microsoft's proprietary Windows to the open-source Linux operating system, which is developed by a global community of programmers who freely share their code.

The Ministery of Informatics and Comunications is organizing a migration to free and open source software. The announcement was made during a free software workshop organized at the "Convención Internacional Informática 2005" by the director of the state office of information technology, Roberto del Puerto.

The plan is to use the Linux operating system as a base, though the administration currently uses Microsoft Windows. The transition is planned to be slow and involves organizational changes, development and creating a legal framework.

The Linux user base in Cuba is around 1,500 people and has its own Linux distribution. Cuba also has some free software developers and the University of Information Science, with over 6,000 students, has committed one department for the development of programs for Linux which is a good move towards open source

"It's basically a problem of technological sovereignty, a problem of ideology," said Hector Rodriguez, who oversees a Cuban university department of 1,000 students dedicated to developing open-source programs.

Other countries have tried similar moves. China, Brazil and Norway have encouraged the development of Linux for a variety of reasons: Microsoft's near-monopoly over operating systems, the high cost of proprietary software and security problems.

Cuban officials, ever focused on U.S. threats, also see it as a matter of national security. Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes, raised suspicions about Microsoft's cooperation with U.S. military and intelligence agencies as he opened a technology conference this week.

He called the world's information systems a "battlefield" where Cuba is fighting against imperialism.

He also noted that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates once described copyright reformers — including people who want to do away with proprietary software — as "some new modern-day sort of communists" — which is a badge of honor from the Cuban perspective.

Valdes is a hard-liner who favors uniforms and military haircuts, but the biggest splash at the conference was made by a paunchy, wild-haired man in a T-shirt: Richard Stallman, whose Free Software Foundation created the license used by many open-source programs, including Linux.

Middle-aged communist bureaucrats and ponytailed young Cuban programmers applauded as the computer scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology insisted that copyright laws violate basic morality; he compared them to laws that would threaten people with jail for sharing or modifying kitchen recipes.

Stallman also warned that proprietary software is a security threat because without being able to examine the code, users can't know what it's doing or what "backdoor" holes developers might have left open for future entry. "A private program is never trustworthy," he said.

Cuba also has trouble keeping proprietary software current. Its sluggish satellite link to the outside world makes downloads of updates agonizingly slow. And U.S. companies, apparently worried about American laws restricting trade with Cuba, are increasingly blocking downloads to the island.

Cubans try to get around the problem by putting software updates on a server located on the island. But many computers wind up unpatched and vulnerable.

Cuba's Cabinet also has urged a shift from proprietary software. The customs service has gone to Linux and the ministries of culture, higher education and communications are planning to do so, Rodriguez said.

And students in his own department are cooking up a version of Linux called Nova, based on Gentoo distribution of the operating system. The ministry of higher education is developing its own.

Rodriguez's department accounts for 1,000 of the 10,000 students within the University of Information Sciences, a five-year-old school that tries to combine software development with education.

Cuba is also training tens of thousands of other software and hardware engineers across the country, though few have computers at home. Most Cubans have to depend on the slow links at government internet cafes or schools.

Rodriguez shied away from saying how long it would take for Cuba to get most of its systems on Linux: "It would be tough for me to say that we would migrate half the public administration in three years."

But he said Linux use was growing rapidly.

"Two years ago, the Cuban free-software community did not number more than 600 people ... In the last two years, that number has gone well beyond 3,000 users of free software and its a figure that is growing exponentially."


Boxers who defected now longing for CubaBY JORGE EBRO - Miami Herald

Two star Cuban boxers who apparently defected in Brazil but were later captured were quoted Friday as saying they now ''regret'' their actions and are ready to go home -- where one trainer says that ``as boxers, they are dead.''Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara, who went to Brazil for the recently completed Pan American Games, were being held by police in a hotel in Rio de Janeiro. News reports say the Brazilian government plans to return them to Cuba.

Their failure to turn up for weigh-ins during the Pan American games last month shook the amateur boxing world because of their star status. The bantan-weight Rigondeaux, 26, was Olympic champion in 2000 and 2004, and Lara, 24, was a promising welterweight.

An article in the Brazilian daily O Globo said the two boxers claimed to have been duped by German-Turkish promoter Ahmet Oner and his aides, who -- the boxers said -- drugged them and removed them from the Pan American Village.

But just days after the boxers disappeared, Oner stated publicly that he had signed the pair for five years and was keeping them in a protected place. Oner, who heads Arena Box Promotions, added that he had spent about $500,000 to assist in the Cubans' escape.

The defection enraged Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who wrote in a newspaper column that the two boxers ``very simply . . . were knocked out by a punch to the chin, paid with American dollars. No countdown was needed.''

Oner's statements also angered Miami lawyer Tony González, who participated in an operation that allowed three other Cuban Olympic champions to defect in December and sign up with the German promoter.

`HOW CAN HE BOAST?'

''He is interested only in publicity. . . . How can he boast about it in public,'' González asked, ``when the boxers were without papers, in plain sight, and from what I read, not in the best circumstances?''

Oner's Arena Box Promotions already has the services of Olympic champions Odlanier Solís, Yan Barthelemy and Yuriorkis Gamboa, who defected in Venezuela while training in December for the Pan American Games.

Cuban boxing trainer Roberto Quesada, who coaches Gamboa, said the Cuban boxing careers of Rigondeaux and Lara are ruined.

''I very much doubt that they'll ever climb in a ring again if they return to Cuba,'' he said.

''From experience, I know that they will be treated like soldiers who deserted from the army in the middle of a battle,'' Quesada said. ``They may not realize it, but as boxers they are dead.''

Rigondeaux's wife, Farah Colina, told reporters Friday in Havana that authorities had taken away the car given to him for his sports achievements, but she hoped there would be no further reprisals.

''Maybe he made a mistake, but he didn't kill anyone. He didn't set off any bombs, he's not a terrorist,'' she told the Spanish EFE news agency.

In a statement made public Friday, Oner said, ``We are in contact with the Brazilian authorities. There may still be a possibility that Rigondeaux and Lara will come with us. That's what I wish for both boys, who only want to be free and make money.''

Rigondeaux and Lara were found in a hotel in a resort town close to Rio de Janeiro. According to Brazilian media reports, they had been celebrating and had run up a large bill.

The reports added that both fighters expressed remorse to the authorities at the time of their detention and said they were willing to return to Cuba, apparently hoping they could resume their sports careers.

González, who said he had signed a contract with Rigondeaux before the boxer turned to Oner, said he believes the Cuban government may use the two boxers for propaganda.

''They could go to prison, or [authorities] could organize in Cuba a spectacle with the two, as a lesson for younger boxers who want to become professionals,'' González said.

SOUGHT HELP FROM U.S.

The Miami attorney said he had made some last-minute contacts with U.S. government figures to ask them to intercede on behalf of the boxers and prevent their deportation, but his effort apparently came too late.

He said the two boxers ``have been the victims of irresponsible people, and now they're the only ones who will pay. . . . They are in a third country, without documents and under police custody, so nothing can be done.''

''If it weren't so tragic, one might say this was a comedy of errors,'' he added. ``Rigondeaux and Lara had a future ahead of them. Now they have nothing.''

The American Comandante

William Morgan became a hero, and a victim, of Cuba's revolution. Reviewed by Tom MillerSunday, August 5, 2007; Washington Post

THE AMERICANOFighting With Castro for Cuba's FreedomBy Aran Shetterly - Algonquin. 300 pp. $24.95

Presidents have term limits; dictators don't. This only partly explains why Fidel Castro has outmaneuvered, outfoxed and outlasted every American president for almost half a century. But it's safe to say he's in his final decade now, and every publishing house wants to have a fresh Cuba book out the day he dies.

For many years, Cuba books were sweeping accounts of the country and its novel system. Some of the cracks have been filled by recent titles, including The Man Who Invented Fidel, about Herbert Matthews, the New York Times reporter who interviewed Castro in the Sierra Maestra mountains, and The Boys From Dolores, a look at Cuba through the eyes of Castro's classmates from his Jesuit youth.

The Americano, the latest entry in the Fidel sweepstakes, tells the story of a shiftless Ohioan who was so intrigued with the notion of a guerrilla war for freedom that he abandoned Toledo for Havana and joined one of the three major forces seeking to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista. His name was William Morgan, and, inspired by Matthews's romantic accounts of the revolution and his own misery at home, he arrived in the Caribbean's Sin City in early 1958, just shy of 30. His rise and fall over the next three years mirrored the larger trajectory of the Cuban revolution: nearly universal enchantment, followed by festering disillusionment.

The son of an electric company executive, Morgan was a cut-up as a youth. His classmates thought him mischievous and restless. Biographer Aran Shetterly calls him simply "a teenage thug." After dropping out of high school, he became a Merchant Marine deckhand, then enlisted in the Army, which shipped him to Japan. He spent most of his time in the brig for twice going AWOL and once beating up a guard. At 22, dishonorably discharged, he returned to Ohio a failure.

Morgan was a drifter for much of the '50s, taking odd jobs and working for lowlifes. In Florida he met anti-Batista Cubans and took part in supplying weapons to rebels on the island. He married, but this didn't affect his thuggery or wanderlust, two qualities he took with him to Cuba.

Midway through the 1957-59 revolution, three major forces were battling Batista's military. The mainly middle-class Revolutionary Student Directorate was based in Havana. Castro's 26th of July Movement occupied the eastern mountains. And the Second National Front of the Escambray (SFNE), called "semi-gangsters" by Cuba historian Hugh Thomas, dominated the island's midsection.

Tethered neither to ideology nor to any particular strategy, Morgan ended up with the semi-gangsters, and the Americano's very gringo appearance, coupled with his attempted Spanish and his sense of humor, endeared him to his compañeros. The fact that he could handle a submachine gun helped. He rose to the rank of comandante, trained incoming recruits, married again -- this time to a comrade in arms -- and headed his own SFNE military column, the Tigers of the Jungle.

The Americano's strength lies in explaining how the three anti-Batista forces constantly jockeyed for supremacy and influence; Castro eventually beat out the others by dint of both strategy and force of personality.

Morgan was far from the only U.S. citizen fighting Batista on the island. As many as 25 North Americans, including a few sailors from the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, signed on with the revolution during its final years. In Cuba, Morgan "found a place where he could flourish," writes Shetterly. "He had reinvented himself as a Cuban hero."

Once Castro took over, the Americano was awarded a retinue of bodyguards and a P.R. man, and he lived in a fancy house abandoned by a wealthy family. His daily wardrobe usually included four weapons. Working undercover for Fidel, he faked counter-revolutionary sentiments to flush out anti-Castro sympathizers, a successful operation for which he was admired by the public in general and by Fidel in particular. His chosen job in the new government was raising bullfrogs in the Escambray, which -- ever a dreamer -- he saw destined for restaurants, gift shops and cattle troughs. Soon, fearful of the anti-democratic drift of Castro's government, he became a genuine counterrevolutionary, a commitment for which he was jailed. His Caribbean adrenalin rush ended March 11, 1961, when he was executed by firing squad.

Shetterly nicely weaves FBI, CIA and State Department files on Morgan into his narrative. He should have been as careful with other material. In his most egregious error, he misreports the circumstances and date of the celebrated photograph of Che Guevara, then bases a theory about Che and Morgan on his mistaken story.

As for Morgan, his story has spilled over into the 21st century. Back in the '50s, the State Department stripped him of U.S. citizenship for signing on with a foreign army. Four months ago, at the urging of his since-remarried Cuban widow, who now lives in the United States, that citizenship was posthumously restored. ·

Tom Miller is the author of "Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro's Cuba." His 10th book, "How I Learned English: 55 Accomplished Latinos Recall Lessons in Language and Life," will be published later this month.

AFP News briefCuban-American group proposes fund to help private enterprise in Cubaby Juan Castro Olivera Send by e-mail Save Print Cuban-American business leaders on Friday called for the creation of a 300 million dollar fund to help build private enterprise in Cuba once the communist-run state adopts what they called "inevitable" reforms.

The proposal, presented at a conference in Miami, is based on the Enterprise Funds that invested US grants in small and medium sized corporations in eastern European countries when they emerged from communism in the 1990s.

The Cuba Study Group, an organization made up of Cuban-American business and community leaders, suggested that the US government, the European Union and private companies should each provide 100 million dollars for the "Cuban Enterprise Fund."

The group made it clear the money would only be available once Cuba adopts reforms. US laws currently would not allow for the funds to be sent to the island, and Cuban legislation prohibits such private investments.

But the group said the transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his younger brother Raul "represents a genuine window of opportunity" and called for the fund to be set up "in anticipation of the inevitable change that will occur in Cuba."

It said the proposal will be sent to members of the US Congress.

Cuba currently has a tiny private sector made up of entrepreneurs running small restaurants, stores repair shops or other small businesses.

The businesses were first allowed to operate after Cuba lost billions of dollars in subsidies following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

As Cuba slowly recovered from the post-Soviet crisis that crippled its economy, authorities have cut back on the number of business licenses they hand out.

But with ailing president Fidel Castro looking increasingly unlikely to return to power, there are rising expectations of gradual economic reforms.

The 80-year-old veteran revolutionary leader handed power to his brother Raul, 76, on July 31, 2006 after undergoing gastro-intestinal surgery.

"Fidel Castro doesn't consider the economy a priority, but Raul does," said political analyst Marifeli Perez-Stable, of the Inter-American think-tank.

"Opinion polls we receive from the island, and that the Cuban government also has, show there is a strong expectation of economic changes. The economy is a priority for the majority of Cubans, and there is strong pressure on Raul Castro in this sense," she told AFP during a three-day conference of Cuba experts.

Most Cuba-watchers believe change will be slow and gradual at best and that major reforms are unlikely as long as the older Castro still has a say in government affairs.

Even though he has been convalescing in seclusion, Fidel Castro said in a article published by Cuban state media this week that he is still consulted on every major government decision.