Californian Students Learn About Case of Cuban Five
April 16 (acn) Students at the San Francisco State University in California, United States, learned on Tuesday details about the case of Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez – internationally known as the Cuban Five -, who remain unjustly held in US prisons since 1998 for infiltrating anti-Cuba terrorist groups in South Florida. According to the website www.cubadebate.cu, a lecture on the case was given by Arnold August, member of the International Commission for the Right to Family Visits recently created by the Free the Five International Committee.The lecture was the first of seven included in a tour around the North and South of California this week to spread the truth about the case.During his presentation, August recalled the disinformation campaign led by the US Government against Cuba and the silence kept by the mainstream media and the US official circles on the case.“They are imprisoned in the United States for fighting terrorist actions against their country,” August stressed.He added that elections and democracy are terms used by the White House as a pretext to justify 50 years of economic blockade, provocations, interference and threats against the Caribbean nation.Also participating in the event was Alicia Jrapko, a member of the Free the Five International Committee and one of the organizers of the tour.
Cuba says reforms not an open door to U.S. subversion
(Reuters) - Cuba said on Wednesday that a series of reforms ordered by new President Raul Castro will strengthen socialism and it will not tolerate attempts by the United States and local dissidents to subvert it."There is no space for the dreams of adversaries, internal mercenaries and fifth columnists," an editorial in the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma said."There will be a more perfect socialism sustained and defended by a united people led by Fidel, Raul and the party's leadership," it said.Cuba brands opponents to the one-party socialist state as mercenaries on the payroll of its ideological enemy, the United States, and frequently imprisons them.There has been a marked increase in public debate and criticism under Raul Castro, who first temporarily stepped in as acting president in 2006 when his brother Fidel Castro underwent surgery from which he never fully recovered.Since officially taking over in February as Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century, Raul Castro has lifted restrictions on Cubans using cellular telephones, staying at hotels and buying computers and DVD players.He has also begun to decentralize agriculture to provide incentives to private farmers, and lift wage caps, among other measures.A number of dissident organizations have condemned the moves as too little and too late, and are demanding freedom for political prisoners, a market-based economy and multi-party democracy.The Granma editorial blasted a recent meeting in Miami of anti-Castro exiles, attended by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and some east European diplomats, to discuss increasing support for dissidents in Cuba.U.S. President George W. Bush recently said change was more important than stability in Cuba and some Florida politicians urged Cuban dissidents to hold street demonstrations, the newspaper noted.The U.S. government doubled funding this year for Cuba's small and fractious dissident groups, which are illegal but tolerated to a certain degree.
Declaración del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
El próximo día 8 de mayo, se cumplirá el primer año de la liberación definitiva del terrorista Luis Posada Carriles en los Estados Unidos. En aquella ocasión, la jueza Kathleen Cardone así lo dispuso, desestimando los cargos que el gobierno de los EE.UU. había interpuesto en contra de Posada. El terrorista solo había sido acusado de cometer fraude y mentir al Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas para obtener su naturalización en dicho país. La jueza dijo entonces: "El centro de este caso no es el terrorismo. Es el fraude migratorio. El terrorismo y la decisión de si un individuo debe ser o no clasificado como terrorista, descansa en la discreción de la rama ejecutiva".El gobierno de los Estados Unidos no ha acusado a Posada por sus actos terroristas, a pesar de que dispone de todas las pruebas que se derivan de su vieja relación con él y de las que Cuba le ha suministrado desde el año 1998........
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2008/04/17/nacional/artic01.html,
New Subversive US Plan vs. Cuba
Havana, Apr 16 (Prensa Latina) A report published in Gramma, number one daily circulating in the island, denounced that anti-revolutionary people met at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami on April 8, 2008 to discuss the execution of new actions against Cuba.The official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, denounced the subversive plans against the stability of the country, conceived in the US as part of one more plan, which is predicted to fail.Concerning the plan, Granma mentions a round table in which US officials invited embassies and consulates accredited to Washington calling on them to combine efforts and "involve themselves more with domestic opposition".The report adds "there will be no space for subversion in Cuba", in coincidence with the 47th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist character of Cuban Revolution.President Fidel Castro has already affirmed it on his Reflection posted on June 17, 2007: "I assure you, they will never have Cuba".US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and the ambassador of the Czech Republic in the US, Petr Kolar participated in that meeting that took place in Miami.
Gobierno de EE.UU. continúa maridaje con mafia anticubana
(AIN) El añejo maridaje entre el Gobierno de EE.UU. y la mafia terrorista anticubana asentada en Miami, renueva planes contra la Isla, destacó hoy la Mesa Redonda Informativa de la televisión y la radio cubanas.Este miércoles, el Presidente George W. Bush reiteró su política anticubana, durante la visita del Papa Benedicto XVI a Estados Unidos, indicó el moderador Randy Alonso.http://www.ain.cu/2008/abril/16edmesa.htm,
Cuban off-shore oil drilling put off until 2009
(Reuters) - Cuba's minister of basic industry said plans by a consortium of companies to drill in Cuba's Gulf of Mexico waters this year have been rescheduled for 2009, the country's state-run media said on Wednesday."In the Gulf of Mexico we are doing seismic studies and our perspective is we should resume drilling in the area next year," Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia was quoted by the official Juventud Rebelde newspaper as stating.Garcia said last year that drilling by a consortium led by Repsol-YPF (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) of Spain would begin in 2008, if a rig could be rented.Interest in Cuba's Gulf of Mexico blocks picked up after Repsol discovered a small deposit of light oil in 2004 that was not commercially viable.Repsol has since joined forces with Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) and ONGC Videsh (ONGC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) of India.Seven foreign companies have signed exploration agreements with Cuban state oil company CUPET for 28 of the 59 blocks available in the deep Gulf of Mexico waters of Cuba's economic exclusion zone fronting the United States.The director of exploration for CUPET said this week activity was picking up in Cuba's deep waters."Right now seismic studies are under way on 2,300 square kilometers and very soon three-dimensional studies will begin on 4,500 square kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico," Rafael Tenreyro said.The Repsol well was the first to be drilled in the area since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba basin could contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil, with a high-end potential of 9.3 billion barrels, and close to 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.Garcia said U.S. companies were interested in exploration, but were barred under trade sanctions enforced in 1962 against the island's Communist government."There have been meetings with businessmen asking questions and looking for information ... They have had an interest in acting in Cuba," she said.In addition to Repsol-YPF, ONGC and Nordsk Hydro, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, Vietnam state oil and gas group Petrovietnam, Malaysia's state-run Petronas [PETR.UL] and Canada's Sherritt International (S.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) have taken blocks in the area. Brazil's Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) said in January it was considering taking out blocks in Cuban deep water.Cuba produces the equivalent in oil and gas of 75,000 barrels per day, around 50 percent of its energy needs, importing the remainder from oil-rich ally Venezuela on preferential terms in exchange for health, education and other services.
Incrementan recursos para mejorar condiciones laborales
Dilbert Reyes Rodríguez - Granma - BAYAMO.— Salvador Valdés Mesa, secretario general de la Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), dijo hoy en esta ciudad oriental, que el país aumentó este año los recursos financieros para mejorar las condiciones laborales.Según reporta la Agencia de Información Nacional en la reunión de evaluación del funcionamiento de la CTC en la provincia de Granma durante el 2007, el también miembro del Consejo de Estado precisó que el Gobierno cubano dedicó 152 millones de pesos convertibles (CUC), solo para ropa y calzado destinados a los obreros.El dirigente sindical explicó que esta cifra resulta insuficiente para beneficiar en el 2008 a todos los trabajadores de la nación, pero sí asegura la entrega de los recursos mencionados al personal vinculado a la producción, como los de la agricultura, la construcción y la industria.De manera paulatina, afirmó, tales beneficios llegarán en igual medida a los sectores presupuestados, entre estos la salud, educación y administración pública.Valdés aseveró que la alimentación obrera también recibió un financiamiento mayor, equivalente a 121 millones de CUC, un 20% superior al fondo empleado en el 2007, para ampliar la variedad alimentaria y mejorar las condiciones de los comedores.Refirió que los avances en la atención integral al trabajador incluyen una mayor disponibilidad de instrumentos de labor y la garantía —por las entidades estatales— de todos los medios de protección y seguridad.
Cuestión de leyes
Celulares en la vía
La Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), acaba de dar a conocer que, a partir del proceso inversionista actual, está en condiciones de ofrecer a la población de manera extendida el servicio de telefonía celular. Sin duda, esta constituye una herramienta útil en la comunicación, pero muy peligrosa para quien conduce un transporte automotor.http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2008/04/17/nacional/artic04.html,
Cuba’s “New Freedoms”
http://www.ahora.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8013,
Pope John Paul's attack on Cuba embargo should be recalled this week
It was more than a decade ago that Pope John Paul II capped his historic visit to Cuba with a harsh condemnation of the U.S. embargo against the island.The economic sanctions were "oppressive, unjust and ethically unacceptable," John Paul told President Bill Clinton back then. Today, with a different U.S. President and a new Pope, those sanctions are still in place, and very little has changed in Washington's policy toward Cuba. In fact, even stronger economic measures exist now, and Benedict, who is visiting the U.S. for the first time, is expected to raise the issue again with President Bush. "Oppressive, unjust and ethically unacceptable." John Paul's words were as accurate in defining the moral dimension of the mistreatment of undocumented workers and their families as they were in describing the Cuban embargo. - NYdailynews.com,
Cuba: Will Washington’s Blindness Continue to Prevent it from Registering the Fundamental Changes Now Taking Place in Havana? http://www.coha.org/2008/04/15/cuba-will-washington%e2%80%99s-blindness-continue-to-prevent-it-from-seeing-the-fundamental-changes-now-taking-place-in-havana/?utm_source=prml&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cuba-will-washington%e2%80%99s-blindness-continue-to-prevent-it-from-seeing-the-fundamental-changes-now-taking-place-in-havana,
U.S. mistaken to demonize Fidel Castro, Gorbachev says
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbgorby0417sbapr17,0,5854831.story,
Cuba Warns Foes That Recent Reforms Strengthen, Not Weaken, Socialism
By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service -Thursday, April 17 -- Cuba's government said Wednesday that recent reforms applauded by democracy advocates will actually strengthen socialism on the island, rather than undermine it."There is no space for the dreams of adversaries," a strongly worded editorial in the Communist Party daily Granma stated. "There will be a more perfect socialism sustained and by a united people led by Fidel, Raúl and the party's leadership."Since being named president in February, Raúl Castro has legalized ownership of cellphones and computers, lifted a ban on Cubans staying in top tourist hotels and allowed farmers to buy some supplies from private providers instead of the state. Castro, who succeeded his ailing older brother Fidel, has also clarified property laws to ensure that Cubans can live long-term in their state-owned apartments and pass along the dwellings to their relatives after death.The reforms have been widely hailed as possible signs of larger changes to come, including private property ownership and even democratic elections. But Wednesday's editorial asserted that "the genuine, and only, strategic change took place in Cuba on the first of January in 1959 with the victory of an authentic revolution."Manuel Cuesta, a Cuban dissident, said in a phone interview from Havana that the editorial's message was clear: "It's a way of saying that 'We're still in charge even though there have been some changes.' "The editorial seemed to have been provoked by the "Cuban Democracy Roundtable," a day-long conference held April 8 in the exile stronghold of Coral Gables, Fla., and hosted by U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Martinez, the first Cuban U.S. senator, was quoted by the Miami Herald as saying the international community should be prepared to react if Cuban dissidents "take to the streets" in protest.The Granma editorial scoffed at the conference as the work of "mafiosos" and alleged it was an attempt to subvert the Cuban government. "The Cuban Revolution is not a castle made of cards," the editorial stated, "but an impregnable fortress."As the Cuban and U.S. governments have traded barbs in recent days, Cubans have seemed to be adapting quickly to some of their new freedoms. Huge lines formed this week when cellphones and calling plans went on sale for the first time, a development that Cuesta and other dissidents say will "empower" the population.
Dutch pondering closer Cuba ties
by Saskia van Reenen -16-04-2008 - On Wednesday, the Lower House is debating with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on whether the Netherlands should resume a political dialogue with Cuba. Raul Castro, who recently took over power from his brother Fidel, has introduced a number of economic reforms. This has given rise to cautious optimism. The European Union is considering lifting diplomatic sanctions, which were introduced in 2003 after the arrest of 75 dissidents. http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/southamerica/080416-cuba-dutch,
The Trillion Dollar Crisis
Bankers Saved, Human Rights Sacrificed
By ERIC TOUSSAINT and DAMIEN MILLET
The randomness of numbers sometimes throws up some striking coincidences. Behind the shadow plays conjured up by the zealous servants of neoliberal globalisation, the brutal backstage reality revealed itself this week, through the publication of two international statistics.http://counterpunch.com/toussaint04162008.html,
A Maoist SweepElectoral Revolution in Nepal
http://counterpunch.com/leupp04162008.html,
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