Cuban American Alliance
Restore Your Right to Travel to Cuba -- Call 202-224-3121 to be connected to House and Senate offices Versión en Español
  Home
  About Us
  Help Us
  News Articles
  Press Releases
  Legislative Updates
  Events
  Readers Letters
  Books
  Art Gallery
  Links
 

La Alborada
Washington, D.C.
nuevas@earthlink.net
Dawn -- Our hope for a new era in U.S./Cuba Relations
Cuban American Alliance Education Fund


NEWS SUMMARY // RESUMEN DE NOTICIAS
[For previous articles click on News Articles]

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

  • Raúl Castro busca respaldo parlamentario para "el salto" agrícola de Cuba
    AFP - 13 de mayo

    LA HABANA (AFP) — El presidente Raúl Castro, quien aplica reformas para dar "el salto" en la producción de alimentos de Cuba, involucró al Parlamento en este "asunto de máxima seguridad nacional", para el cual los especialistas reclaman tiempo y recursos.

    CUBA: ‘Green’ Farming Techniques to Boost Production
    Denuncian en Cuba consecuencias del neoliberalismo en agricultura

  • Cuban Ecological Sugar Thrives
    Radio Nuevitas - May 13

    Havana, May 13 -The Cuban sugar mill Carlos Balino, the only producer of ecological sugar in Cuba, made 3,500 tons of that product, fulfilling its commitment for the 2008 sugar harvest in 32 days of work.

  • Dairy Farmers in Camagüey Engaged in Increasing Milk Supply
    Radio Cadena Agramonte - May 13

    Camagüey, May 13.- Even when the rainy season has not begun yet in Cuba, the dairy farmers in the province of Camaguey are currently delivering 200 thousand litres of milk per day to the industry.

    Trabajan en Camagüey por incremento de ganado bufalino

  • Texas trade trip to Cuba headed by agriculture commissioner
    Marshall News Messenger, TX - May 14

    Staples poised to lead first high-level visit from Texas since embargo of 1962

    By W. Gardner Selby / AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF / wgselby@statsman.com, 445-3644

    Todd Staples, the state agriculture commissioner, will soon become Texas' first statewide elected official to visit Cuba since the United States imposed an embargo against the Communist nation in 1962.

  • Baracoa: New Aqueduct in Construction
    Solvisión - May 13

    By Singh Castillo / singhcastillo@solvision.icrt.cu

    Guantanamo, May 13 (Solvision) The construction actions of the new aqueduct of Baracoa, 1,160 kilometers east Havana, began with the rehabilitation of the urban water pipe network in the referred locality.

  • Sherritt to begin Boca expansion procurement this quarter
    Business News Americas, Chile - May 12

    Toronto-based Sherritt (TSX: S) expects to begin procurement this quarter of the major components of a 150MW expansion at the Boca de Jaruco thermo plant in Cuba, company CFO Dean Chambers said in a webcast.

  • First microwaves go on sale in Cuba
    WFIE-TV, IN - May 13

    Cuba's Communist government has allowed microwave ovens to go on sale to the general public for the first time ever.

  • Cuba: Painting Exhibition by Antonio Guerrero in Sancti Spíritus
    Escambray - May 13

    By Manuel Echevarría Gómez

    A watercolor exhibition by Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters held in US prisons, was opened in the island’s central province of Sancti Spiritus as part of the environmental festival organized here.

    BREVES INTERNACIONALES

  • Firman Cuba y Antigua y Barbuda Memorando de Entendimiento
    Agencia Cubana de Noticias -13 de mayo

    Por Iris de Armas Padrino

    La Habana, 13 may (AIN) Cuba y Antigua y Barbuda firmaron hoy un Memorando de Entendimiento, el cual dará marco legal al funcionamiento bilateral de la Misión Milagro, que ha beneficiado a mil 182 pacientes de la vecina nación.

    Baldwin Spencer Says Meeting with Raul Castro Was Excellent

  • Honran memoria de último periodista asesinado en Cuba
    Radio Habana Cuba - 13 de mayo

    La Habana, 13 may (RHC-AIN) La Unión de Periodistas de Cuba realizó este martes una peregrinación a la tumba del periodista ecuatoriano Carlos Bastidas, en el aniversario 50 de su asesinato por fuerzas de la tiranía de Fulgencio Batista en 1958.

  • UNESCO funds coffee tourist trail in Cuba
    Gilkatho, Australia - May 14

    If you want to make like Wayne and travel the coffee-lovin' world, Eastern Cuba may be a tantalising destination.

  • Presentan en Ankara filme “El viaje de Nazim Hikmet a Cuba”
    Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores Cubano - 13 de mayo

    TURQUÍA, 13 de mayo de 2008. La amplia sala del céntrico cine Buyulu Fener en la capital turca, resultó pequeña ayer para acoger a las muchas personas que asistieron a la premier en esta ciudad del largometraje documental "El Viaje de Nazim Hikmet a Cuba", cual narra la visita del poeta turco a La Habana en 1961. Una parte del público no pudo entrar, mientras que otros se acomodaban en los pasillos de la sala para presenciar el emotivo material que fue cerrado con una ovación.


    OPINIONS

    Submit comments or opinions to nuevas@earthlink.net or caaef@hughes.net

    [For previous opinion articles click HERE]

  • Mysteries of the Cuban Adjustment Act
    La Alborada - May 13

    The Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) is unlike any other part of the legislation on immigration of the US. It grants permanent residence in the US to practically any Cuban who enters the country, legally or illegally, and creates a fast track to citizenship for the new residents.

    It does not fit into the overall policy on Cuba. The intent of that policy, especially since the extra-territorial 1992 Torricelli law, the 1996 Helms-Burton Law, and the 2004 Bush administrative rules, is to create in Cuba such misery through economic strangulation as to provoke the people into a general uprising. But the CAA stimulates the departure of those who are or may become disaffected. It changes the goal of their putative induced behavior from rebellion to emigration. Who will ltake part in the uprising?

    In comparison, the practice of the US in granting or denying visas is more in line with the policy. By formal agreement with Cuba, and in order to prevent uncontrolled waves of immigrants such as those of Mariel in 1980, the US committed to grant 20,000 visas a year. But that number has been reached rarely. The denial of visas is consistent with keeping people in a blockaded Cuba so that they will cause civil disorder. But that approach is voided by the CAA: even applicants who are rejected by the US consulate in Havana for failure to qualify for a visa can be accepted if they arrive in Miami or at the Mexican border after an illegal departure and an illegal entry.

    The combination of the economic pressure brought against the island, the lack of compliance by the US with the visa agreement, and the siren songs of the CAA lead many to risk their lives crossing the Florida Straits or the Yucatan Channel. And here is another curiosity: the CAA is now interpreted under the "dry-foot/wet-foot" policy. That means that if you touch shore, you are welcome to stay, but if the Coast Guard intercepts you at sea, you are returned to Cuba. The traffickers who illegally but predictably run speedboats from Cuba to the US, when detected, typically try to escape at high speed, and the results can be deadly.

    So if you are unhappy with life in an underdeveloped island under blockade, and want to try your luck in the consumer-friendly North, here are the rules: Apply at the US consulate, or not: if you are rejected or ignored you can still attempt a sea crossing on your own. If you are detected at sea, you are not welcome, but if you make it to land, you are welcome and privileged. It does not matter much if the consulate previously rejected you, for once you are in Miami it's hard to be excluded. That is, if you are Cuban. If you are from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, or any other underdeveloped island, you're out of luck. If you are Mexican, you are especially out of luck, although, granted, Mexico is not an island.

    Some of the mystery may be explained by the fact that the law was passed in 1996, when the collapse of the Cuban government was considered imminent and the law ensured the political support of those already in Miami. Forty-two years later, such a collapse is not imminent, but the law continues to garner political support.

    This all came to mind because of a strange opinion column in the Miami Herald of yesterday, written by a Mandfred Rosenow, an immigration attorney who surely makes a good living from assisting Cuban immigrants. The column is entitled "Long Live the Cuban Adjustment Act!"

    Rosenow explains the unusual benefits of the law, calling it the most generous chapter of all of the immigration laws and "this gift." He notes that criminals may not be granted residence, but "not even for the delinquent Cuban will deportation take effect," because Cuba will not take them back. Thus, he enthuses, while those who commit very grave crimes will be imprisoned indefinitely, others are simply released into the general population, virtually all with work permits.

    This being an election year, the attorney congratulates Representatives Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balart brothers, and late-comer Senator Mel Martinez, for fighting off all atempts to void the law.

    Apparently, Rosenow does not expect the Cuban government to fall any time soon, as called for by US policy. At the beginning of his column he predicts that the law will continue in effect "for many years," and he concludes the column with a !Viva!: "May it have a long and healthy life!"

    MANFRED ROSENOW: Viva la ley de ajuste cubano

  • Disponible video sobre conversaciones de Bush con mercenarios cubanos
    Juventud Rebelde - 12 de mayo

    El material muestra evidencias de las acciones concretas del gobierno de Bush en contra de la Isla (Ver Video)

    George W. Bush se comunicó con la Oficina de Intereses (SINA), en La Habana a través de una videoconferencia el pasado 6 de mayo para dar orientaciones y conocer sobre la evolución del llamado Plan Bush para la transición en Cuba, hecho que coincidió con el cuarto aniversario del mencionado plan.

    Desde la Casa Blanca y acompañado de la secretaria de Estado Condoleezza Rice, el cubanoamericano Carlos Gutiérrez, titular de Comercio y otros miembros del gabinete; el más impopular de los presidentes de Estados Unidos dedicó 45 minutos a alentar a la dirección de los grupos mercenarios de la Isla, presentes en el encuentro.

    «Para nosotros fue muy buena esta conversación que tuvimos con el señor presidente Bush (...) Nos felicitó y nos dijo que somos muy valientes por conversar con él. Le agradecimos la ayuda que nos dan los exiliados cubanos, pero no nos alcanza», subrayó una de las contrarrevolucionarias en declaraciones a Reuters.

    Así de rápido salió a relucir el tema dinero durante el diálogo, hecho que demuestra el servilismo interesado de los mercenarios con los que cuenta el presidente estadounidense en La Habana, quien «no oculta su desespero ante el avance de la Revolución Cubana y su impotencia por no poder destruirla», dijo un reporte del noticiero estelar de la televisión cubana.

    El material disponible aquí muestra fotografías y videos que apoyan la denuncia cubana ante tal encuentro y hace públicos fragmentos de declaraciones a una radio de Miami de uno de los participantes en la videoconferencia, en la que asegura que el gobierno norteamericano es de gran ayuda para sus planes. Igualmente se ve a un mensajero de la SINA cuando entregaba paquetes a una mercenaria.

    Un cable de PL asegura que las videoconferencias son un novedoso método del gobierno norteamericano y su Oficina de Intereses en La Habana para dar indicaciones a los grupos contrarrevolucionarios sobre cómo desarrollar sus actividades subversivas en la isla.


    EVENTS // ACTIVIDADES

    For events click on EVENTS

  • Conference in Washington on Posada Carriles
    The Center for International Policy invites you to:

    Escaping Justice: The Story of an Exile Terrorist

    Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
    9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
    The University of California, Washington Center
    1608 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
    Washington, D.C.

    The case of Luis Posada Carriles calls attention anew to the disturbing pattern of tolerance of exile terrorists and terrorist acts in Miami. Posada is one of those responsible for the downing of the Cubana Flight 455 in 1976 which resulted in the loss of 73 innocent lives, and for directing the bombing of tourist hotels in Havana. Today, he not only walks the streets of Miami a free man, but is honored by his hard-line exile friends at gala dinners and parties, attended by all three Cuban-American congressional representatives from South Florida. In August of 2004, Posada was released from prison in Panama where he was being held on charges stemming from his intention to assassinate Fidel Castro during the latter's visit there. Posada, along with three other exile terrorists, was pardoned by the outgoing President of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, at the specific request of Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

    Returning to the U.S. in 2005, Posada was arrested and held on a trumped-up charge of illegal entry. This was, in time, dismissed and he is now a free man. As Jose Pertierra explains, "Rather than extraditing Posada to Venezuela - to face 73 charges of first-degree murder in relation to the downing of the Cubana flight - the U.S. has stonewalled Venezuela's extradition request and instead allows Posada to live freely in Miami along with other leading terrorists of Cuban origin such as Orlando Bosch." Peter Kornbluh agrees, noting that "It is impossible for the United States to convince the international community that it is serious about fighting terrorism when one of the world's most renowned international terrorists is being openly wined and dined in Miami for committing the very types of acts the U.S. condemns!"

    Conference Schedule

    Introductory Remarks: Wayne S. Smith , senior fellow, Center for International Policy

    Speaker Roseanne Nenninger, naturopathic doctor; sister of Raymond Persaud, victim of the bombing of Cubana Flight 455. We often think of the victims of terrorism simply as disembodied names; but, Roseanne explains the tragedy - the hopes with which her brother got on the plane that morning and his needless death.

    Speaker Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst, The National Security Archive, The George Washington University. Kornbluh has compiled declassified CIA and FBI documents on Luis Posada Carriles and is the most conversant on the enormity of the man's crimes.

    Speaker José Pertierra, attorney-at-law, Pertierra & Toro, P.C.; represents the Venezuelan government in the extradition case against Luis Posada Carriles.

    Please RSVP to Jennifer Schuett at (202) 232-3317 or jennifer@ciponline.org


    DEPORTES (TITULARES)

  • Cuba se llevó el panamericano
  • Panamá y Cuba se preparan para certamen eliminatorio de CONCACAF
  • Lucha libre y grecorromana: juventud y experiencia en Cuba


    ENLACES
  • Longest Rumba in the World Comes Home. HAVANA, Cuba, May 13 (acn) The “longest Rumba in the World”, cultural event touring Cuban provinces since it departed from eastern Holguin city on May 3, arrives today in Matanzas, home of the rhythm for over two decades. Locals of the town of Colon in Matanzas will welcome the drumming, singing and dancing arriving from the neighboring province of Cienfuegos, performed by professional and amateur artists linked to the Cubadisco 2008 Music Festival, this year devoted to Africa and its Diaspora.

  • La Torre, “una corona en la que el coro de los Naturalistas escribirá su nombre”. Carlos de la Torre y la Huerta fue uno de los naturalistas cubanos más reconocidos de su tiempo. Heredero de la labor del sabio Felipe Poey, encauzó sus investigaciones hacia la historia natural con estudios sobre moluscos, especímenes vivos y fósiles. Conocedor de la flora y fauna cubana y caribeña, instó a muchos colegas para que viniesen a la región a estudiarlas. Todo naturalista que visitara el país tenía entre sus prioridades el contacto con el sabio cubano. La personalidad y obra del eminente hombre de ciencias serán evocadas el próximo 16 de mayo a las tres de la tarde, en ocasión de los 150 años de su natalicio (Matanzas, 1858-La Habana, 1950). La Casa Alejandro de Humboldt, el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, junto a otras instituciones inaugurarán una muestra que patentiza la vasta obra científica de quien fuera fundador de la Sociedad Cubana de Historia Natural Felipe Poey, y uno de los investigadores más sobresalientes en temas malacológicos. No dejemos que sus palabras caigan en el olvido

  • Comienza hoy un cine club diferente. Una nueva propuesta cultural y educativa está a punto de iniciar su andadura. En ella unen esfuerzos el CENESEX, la UJC, el Ministerio de Cultura, el ICAIC, la Fundación Ludwig de Cuba, la Facultad de Cine del ISA, la UNEAC, el Centro Provincial de Cine de Ciudad de La Habana, el Centro Nacional de Prevención (CNP), la Mediateca André Bazin (EICTV) y otras instituciones, para conocer, analizar y debatir propuestas fílmicas de todo el mundo, que legitiman, como su nombre indica, la (s) diferencia (s) en las orientaciones sexuales.


    EFEMÉRIDES

    1869 - Muere Marcos Maceo
    Marcos Maceo, simiente de la estirpe de guerreros heroicos en favor de la libertad y uno de los hombres más vigilados por las fuerzas represivas de la Jurisdicción de Cuba (Santiago), cae en el sangriento aunque victorioso asalto y captura de la guarnición y las defensas de San Agustín. En el instante de su desaparición física ostentaba el grado de sargento a las órdenes de su hijo, el teniente coronel Antonio Maceo.

    1912 - Nace Eduardo Saborit en Campechuela
    Entre los los compositores del patio más interpretados en la segunda mitad del siglo XX se encuentra, sin lugar a dudas, Eduardo Saborit, por sus exitosas ¡Qué linda es Cuba!, Tengo miedo de ti, La Guayabera y Conozca a Cuba primero. Saborit integró los tríos Clave Azul y Ensueño. Fue promotor de música campesina, que no desdeñó nunca y, por el contrario, supo llevarla al pentagrama con alto vuelo y fidelidad expresiva.

    1931 - Se inicia la publicación del periódico Línea
    Organo oficial del Ala Izquierda Estudiantil, el Periódico Línea comenzó a salir bajo la dirección de Gabriel Barceló. En las distintas épocas de su publicación mantuvo, como en sus inicios, una postura antimperialista y contraria a la dictadura machadista. En sus páginas escribieron, entre otros, Raúl Roa, Pablo de la Torriente Brau, Jorge Quintana, Pelegrín Torras y Carlos Rafael Rodríguez.
    cuba.cu

  • Take Action!
    Sights and Sounds: Cuba, Naturally
    Subscribe
    Home About Us Help Us News Articles Press Releases Legislative Updates Events Readers Letters Books Art Gallery Links