Havana Journal: Cuba Politics
Cuba Politics news
http://havanajournal.com/politics/
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:38:43 +0000
| 01/19/2012 03:40 PM |
| New push to get Alan Gross released from Cuban prison |
| Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
US Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin apparently went to Cuba for a short trip to talk to the Cuban government and others about Cuba’s oil drilling and Alan Gross.
According to a statement from the Senator’s office, “The trip has focused on changes in Cuba—including Cuba’s substantial offshore drilling proposal—as well as discussions on improved relations between the US and the island nation”.
I was unable to find the statement at Senator Durbin’s official website.
The AFP article says that Durbin, the second-highest ranking member of the Senate and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, met with “Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez; National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon; Archbishop Jamie Ortega; members of the international diplomatic community, the staff of the US Interests Section and Cuban reformers”.
WOW. That’s a pretty large and diverse group of people.
So, a very high ranking Senator, from President Obama’s home state, flies to Cuba unannounced and meets with Rodriguez, Alarcon, Archbishop Ortega, “members of the international diplomatic community” and “Cuban reformers”???
I would LOVE to know more about these “Cuban reformers” that Durbin met with this week and why now? Did President Obama ask him to go? Does oil have anything to do with this?
New campaign to release the Cuban Five
I’m sure it is no coincidence that just yesterday there is now a new “international campaign for the release of the Cuban Five” launched by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five that will feature a “postcard and poster campaign” that will be distributed in the United States.
The campaign expects to print 50,000 postcards and 10,000 posters. Also the campaign also hopes to put up billboards, banners and big signs in public spaces and has plans for a number of projects that will include conferences and other marketing opportunities.
What do I think?
I have not followed the Cuban Five case closely but I do get the sense the trials may have been somewhat unfair but all the appeals have been denied. So, I say they are guilty… perhaps the prison sentences were too harsh but the appeals process is done and they are in jail to serve their sentences. Should Obama release the Cuban Five for Alan Gross? Absolutely not.
Is Alan Gross guilty? Yes. He is guilty of stupidity AND crimes against the sovereignty of Cuba. Should the Cuban government release Alan Gross? Yes for humanitarian reasons but Alan Gross will not be free until Fidel Castro allows it or until Fidel Castro dies… and Fidel Castro will not allow it.
Here is a cartoon I had made back when Secretary Clinton tried to get Alan Gross released:
What do you think? |
| 01/17/2012 11:02 PM |
| OFAC 2012 Financial Industry Symposium |
| If you are involved in any Cuba related financial transactions, you may want to consider attending the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is hosting a special Financial Industry Symposium from 8:00am to 5:00pm on March 20, 2012 in Washington DC.
The Financial Symposium will feature presentations by, and discussions with, key OFAC personnel on topics such as:
Compliance with U.S. economic and trade sanctions
Licensing procedures and guidance
Enforcement guidelines and enforcement actions
Recent sanctions changes and challenges faced by the financial community
Updates and guidance with regard to new Iran legislation
In addition to formal presentations, OFAC staff will be available throughout the day for individual questions and ad hoc roundtable discussions on issues unique to the financial industry.
The event is free but advance registration is required. If you wish to attend, you must pre-register for this OFAC symposium and be selected to attend. Online registration does not automatically confirm your attendance. Within one week, a separate email will be sent to you by OFAC containing your registration status. You are asked to restrict your attendance to two persons per institution.
Registration will close Friday, January 20th and this event is closed to the press.
Interest Level Survey
The registration process asks potential attendees to register their interest level in the following:
CISADA/New Iran Legislation
Breakout Session on Securities Industry Compliance with OFAC Regulations
Best Practices for Responding to the Implementation of a New Sanctions Program
Best Practices to Assure Compliance with OFAC Regulations
OFAC Enforcement Case Studies
A Town Hall with OFAC
Location
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place NW
Washington, DC 20001 |
| 12/24/2011 03:29 PM |
| 2900 Cuban prisoners can go free but not 11m Cuban citizens |
| Summary of AP and CNN news stories
2900 Cuban prisoners will be freed
Cuba will pardon more than 2,900 prisoners, the government said Friday, though U.S. subcontractor Alan Gross is not among those who will be freed.
The decision to release the prisoners follows “numerous requests” from their family members and religious institutions, and is a humanitarian gesture, said Cuban President Raul Castro.
Among those who might be freed are prisoners over the age of 60, along with those who are sick, female or young with no previous criminal record. With some exceptions, prisoners convicted of spying, terrorism, murder and drug trafficking will not be released.
Those who will be freed have already served a “important” part of their sentences and exhibited good behavior, according to an official statement published on the state-run website Cubadebate.
The jailed American, Gross, will not be among those pardoned, the Cuban Interests Section in Washington said.
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE by Dana Ford of CNN
but 11,000,000 Cuban citizens must remain on island prison
President Raul Castro on Friday put on ice highly-anticipated plans to ease travel restrictions on Cubans, telling lawmakers the nation would not be pressured into moving too fast and citing continued aggression from the United States as the reason for his cautious approach.
Cuba has been awash in speculation the much-hated regulations, which prevent most Cubans from leaving the island, might be lifted during Friday’s session of the National Assembly. But Castro said the time still wasn’t right, despite a year of free-market reforms that has seen the Communist government legalize a real estate market and greatly increase private business ownership.
“Some have been pressuring us to take the step ... as if we were talking about something insignificant, and not the destiny of the revolution,” Castro said, adding that those calling for an end to the travel restrictions “are forgetting the exceptional circumstances under which Cuba lives, encircled by the hostile policy ... of the U.S. government.”
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE by Paul Haven of AP
——————————Havana Journal Comments——————————
It is VERY clear that Fidel still has a hand in big picture Cuban affairs. It is VERY clear that Fidel is holding Alan Gross. Raul is making a HUGE gesture to the Church, the world and to the US by releasing such a large amount of Cuban prisoners with VERY clear emphasis and a slap in the face to the US that Alan Gross will not be among the freed.
With regards to keeping Cuban citizens locked down in Cuba, I don’t really understand this one. Raul said gave the people hope that they would be have freedom to travel in his own words but takes this away from them two days before Christmas?
Merry Christmas from Raul to the Cuban prisoners but no Christmas present for Alan Gross or the Cuban people. Maybe next year. |
| 12/07/2011 04:30 PM |
| US to participate in Caribbean oil drilling forum, shhhh don’t mention Cuba |
| From the US Department of State comes the release below.
With an oil drilling rig on its way to Cuban waters as I write this, I find it interesting that the US State Department puts out a release to announce a Forum and it can’t come to use the word Cuba even once in the release below.
I’ve inserted the word CUBA where it is obvious what they are talking about…
Regional Forum to Discuss Offshore Oil Drilling Safety in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
U.S. Department of State and other government officials will participate in a preparedness and response seminar in Nassau, The Bahamas, December 7-9, hosted by the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean (REMPEITC-Caribe).
Government representatives from the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States will discuss topics related to the offshore energy sector CUBA, including preventive regulatory frameworks, safety standards for floating production units, and best practices in oil spill containment CUBA. The goal of the meeting is to increase regional cooperation CUBA and joint planning on responses related to offshore units CUBA and marine pollution preparedness. U.S. participants will represent the United States Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of State.
REMPEITC-Caribe is a regional activity center to help countries in the Wider Caribbean and Latin America CUBA prevent and respond to major pollution incidents in the marine environment. It receives support from the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations Environmental Programme, and participating governments, including the United States.
As new offshore oil drilling sites begin activities CUBA, the United States protects U.S. waters and shorelines by promoting safe drilling and response preparedness in areas close to our exclusive economic zone CUBA. The United States will continue to engage multilaterally to advance regional collaboration CUBA and to ensure responsible stewardship of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. |
| 11/30/2011 02:36 AM |
| Commerzbank agrees to pay $175,000 to settle CACR violations |
| Commerzbank AG, the second largest bank in Germany, has agreed to pay more than $175,000 to settle violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations from 2005.
The official Civil Penalties Release states that the New York Branch has settled Cuban Assets Control Regulations allegations by remitting $175,500 for apparent violations that occurred in September 2005.
The agreement covers allegations that Commerzbank, acting as an advising and confirming bank in connection with a letter of credit, presented four sets of trade documents, in which a Cuban Specially Designated National (“SDN”) had an interest, to the Miami branch of the foreign bank that issued the letter of credit, for payment in favor of a Canadian company. The aggregate value of the trade documents was $884,157.
Commerzbank did not voluntarily self-disclose the matter, and the alleged violations constituted a non-egregious case.
The base penalty amount for the alleged violations totaled $260,000. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s consideration of the following facts and circumstances, pursuant to the General Factors under OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines: Commerzbank should have been aware of the prohibited Cuban interest, given that the trade documents contained repeated references to the SDN and its vessels; Commerzbank has undertaken remedial measures to strengthen its OFAC compliance program to ensure that such apparent violations do not recur in the future; and Commerzbank cooperated with OFAC’s investigation, including by agreeing to toll the statute of limitations. |
| 11/27/2011 05:46 PM |
| Website publishes addresses and phone numbers of Cuban government officials |
| Excerpts from article by Juan O. Tamayo | Miami Herald
Cuba al Descubierto (Cuba Uncovered) has published addresses and phone numbers of high ranking Cuban government officials and myriad other details on the private lives of top Cuban officials, saying it wants to warn “the darlings of the dictatorship” that they will face a dark future if the government collapses.
Also obtained from inside Cuba are digital lists of the cell phone numbers for tens of thousands of security and intelligence officers, and the street addresses of virtually every single military base on the island, contributors to the site say.
The leak of such personal details, out of a communist-ruled country where secrecy has long been paramount, reflects the Castro government’s growing inability to control the flow of information in the age of the Internet.
“Technology is going to destroy them,” said one post on the website where the details are being posted by FUEGO, or “fire,” a group that claims to be made up of Cubans in Cuba and on the outside.
It also published the address and home phone of Castro’s daughter Deborah and her husband, Luis Alberto Rodriguez López Callejas, an army colonel who runs military-owned businesses that account for an estimated 60 percent of the island’s economy.
The addresses and phone numbers for Angela and Agustina Castro Ruz, sisters to Raúl and Fidel Castro, and for Sonia and Jose Alejandro Espin, sister and brother of Raúl Castro’s late wife, Vilma Espin, also appeared on the page.
El Nuevo Herald could not confirm all of the details published, but its calls to eight of the phone numbers confirmed that five were correct. One was confirmed by a female relative and two by housemaids. Three others did not answer, including Valdes’ purported cell.
Percy Alvarado, identified by the Cuban government in the late 1990s as one of its intelligence operatives, told El Nuevo Herald that he received a threatening call on his cellular phone earlier this month from people who identified themselves as members of FUEGO.
He called the publication of the addresses and phone numbers a “flagrant violation of the right to privacy and international laws.”
Miami blogger Aldo Rosado Tuero, a member of FUEGO and publisher of the blog Nuevo Acción, said publishing the details about the Cuban officials and relatives was designed to “send some of them the message that they are known, that we know where they live.”
“We also want to try to push these people to ease the repression [against dissidents] in Cuba, and we believe there should be some record for the future, so that crimes do not go unpunished,” Rosado added. “We’re talking about justice, not vengeance.”
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE
——————————Havana Journal Comments——————————
I believe in freedom of the press but I also believe in the right to privacy. So, even though I do not agree with the posting of private information, I do think this article is newsworthy mostly due to the nature of obtaining the information more so than the information itself. Apparently there is a MAJOR leak in the Cuban government’s security apparatus so one could expect more information to come… some of it perhaps damaging rather than just personal. |
| 11/21/2011 11:59 PM |
| Conference to remove Cuba from state sponsor of terrorism list |
| The Latin America Working Group and The Center for International Policy
Conference calling for Cuba’s removal from the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism
Thursday December 1, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Zinger Room of the |
| 11/09/2011 03:23 PM |
| Cuban military will run Cuba after Raul and Fidel - Georgetown Journal |
| Interesting insight into the current state of the Cuban military and future thoughts about the Cuban government post Castro. From the Georgetown Journal:
It is a common American view that the death of Fidel Castro will be followed by democratic transition in Cuba. Much of the literature on transition, especially that which was written before Fidel turned power over to his brother Raúl, begins with the premise that a democratic transition—or at least an attempt thereat—is unavoidable. Americans expect that Raul will lead as his brother did for some time, but that ultimately, he, either acting independently or under domestic pressure, will user in economic and political liberalization. This view is optimistic, chauvinistic and to some extent naive.
The first underlying assumption is that Fidel’s passing will be the coup de grace of the regime. Rather, Raúl has been the designated heir since 1959. He was as much a revolutionary and guerrilla as his brother, and his recent assumption of authority from an infirm Fidel has highlighted the stability of his rule in the short term. For the past four and a half decades, Raúl has been the Minister of Defense, the longest serving defense minister in the world.
This brings into play the second assumption. Since the ongoing Cuban Revolution is professedly Marxist-Leninist in orientation, the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) is the principle governing instrument of the regime, as it is in all other Communist regimes. Logically, one would conclude that with the passing of strong leadership– and thus the entire regime–Cuba would become defunct just as Communist parties in Mongolia, Ethiopia, Albania, the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia and elsewhere became defunct.
The difference in Cuba is that the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) has been the primary pillar of state authority throughout the revolution. The Castros formed the FAR from the remains of their revolutionary armies in 1959 at the inception of the regime. So while the PCC may immediately lose the confidence of the Cuban people–and it probably already has–the same is not true of the FAR.
For the duration of the regime, the FAR has been the most respected of Cuba’s government institutions. Obligatory military service has insured that a large proportion of Cubans have been uniformed for some substantial period, and the Cuban military has been covering itself in glory since the 1970s. The FAR has been described as probably the best trained and equipped small military in the world during the Soviet years, and it fought winning conflicts in Angola, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau and Nicaragua.
After the loss of Soviet subsidies, Fidel tasked the FAR to make-up for budgetary shortfalls through its own commercial enterprise under the Sistema de Perfeccionamiento Empresarial. FAR officers were sent to Western nations and to China to study Capitalist and free-market economics and were then brought back to manage a variety of business projects in Cuba. Raúl’s position as the head of the FAR gave these officers the umbrella of protection they needed to grow and experiment. The FAR now generates more than half of its own budget.
This is the organization that will be Raúl’s vanguard in Fidel’s passing. Raúl has already begun re-arranging the Politburo, a necessary move even if the Party does less on the ground than the FAR. He has done this by reducing the number of Politburo members from twenty-five to fifteen and replacing eight of the remaining fidelistas with loyal members of the FAR.
The military is the only part of the Cuban government with a body of technocrats trained in modern economics and trade. It is also Cuba’s most disciplined and loyal institution. By using the FAR, Raúl has the chance to follow the Chinese model of a gradual economic liberalization while maintaining the stability and continuity of the regime.
But the one point on which RaĂşl, even with the help of the FAR, cannot emulate the Chinese is repression. RaĂşl can maintain the types of restrictions on expression that are already in place, but he cannot bring to bear the level of violence committed by the Chinese Communist Party. While swift and brutal military action saved the regime in Beijing from suffering an Eastern-bloc-style collapse at Tiananmen, RaĂşl has said that similar behavior must not be repeated in Cuba. In any case, it is widely believed that Cuban officers would refuse to heed orders to fire on their own people.
Writing about regime change in Cuba is always a guessing game, no matter the degree of nuance to the discussion. But to assume that there will be an immediate Cuban popular appeal to enter the Capitalist world system is to misunderstand Cuban feelings and the relatively strong prospects for limited reform under the FAR and dedicated raulistas after Fidel has passed.
Jon Coumes is an editorial assistant of the Georgetown Journal Online and a junior in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. |
| 11/09/2011 04:45 AM |
| Leopoldo Cintra Frias, 70, new second in command in Cuba |
| Reuters
General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, who joined Fidel Castro’s rebel army in 1957 and is in the Communist Party’s top leadership, has been named Cuba’s minister of defense, the government said on Tuesday.
The 70-year-old Cintra, a career military officer who has been serving as first vice defense minister, replaces Julio Casas Regueiro, who died of a heart attack on September 4.
The appointment of Cintra follows a well-trodden path by President Raul Castro, who has spoken of bringing new blood into the government but mostly appointed fellow veterans of the revolution to top positions.
Still, Cintra is a decade younger than most of his bosses—Raul Castro is 80 and first vice president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 81. Fidel Castro, who no longer holds a leadership position but remains a power behind the scenes, is 85.
The post of defense minister is particularly important to Raul Castro because he held the job for 49 years until he succeeded his brother as president in 2008.
He has placed military men in a number of high positions, entrusting them to carry out wide-ranging economic reforms he has proposed to strengthen Cuban communism for the future. Military businesses control a wide swath of Cuba’s Soviet-style economy.
President Castro also views military personnel as less prone to the wide-spread corruption he is now on a mission to eradicate.
The two-month delay in announcing a replacement for Casas raised questions about whether Castro wanted Cintra for the job, despite their long association and Cintra’s presence on the powerful Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party.
But his appointment follows the weekend interment of Casas’ ashes at a monument to fighters in the revolution, suggesting Castro may have been waiting for the conclusion of that tribute to make the announcement.
Before taking a place in the government, Cintra held several high commands in the military and led troops in Cuba’s long military involvement in Angola.
He fought under Fidel Castro during the revolution that ended when the rebels toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959.
The government said General Alvaro Lopez Miera, 68, would replace Cintra as first vice defense minister while keeping his position as chief of staff of the armed forces.
—————————————- Havana Journal Comments—————————————-
Fidel Castro is 85. President Raul Castro is 80. VP Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 81. At 70, Mr. Cintra is the young new face of Cuba. It’s clear that the Castro brothers DO NOT want any fresh faces in leadership positions. They will stay the course until they are dead. |
| 10/21/2011 02:57 PM |
| Cuban children performers La Colmenita exploited for political purposes |
| Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
I don’t like extremists from the right of the left and I call propaganda when I see it.
The original title of this article from WUSA9 is “Cuban Children Perform Despite Tensions”.
You have to take a few minutes to read the article and watch the video to understand that these children are being used as a propaganda tool by the Cuban government.
This is why I needed to title this article “Cuban children performers La Colmenita exploited for political purposes”.
Text of WUSA9 article
See my comments in bold.
A group of Cuban children brought down the house with a music and theater act at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts on Wednesday following one Florida congresswoman’s outspoken views against their visit.
The young performers, ages 6-15, are touring the United States to inspire better relations between the two countries as well as raise awareness about the Cuban 5 - five intelligence officers imprisoned in the United States for spying. The author offers a fair assessment for the reason why the kids are in the US.
On Thursday U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla) sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the State Department is “funding educational and cultural exchange programs with the Cuban regime that undermine U.S. foreign policy priorities and national security interests.” About as far right wing as you can get, of course she has to make a statement.
The director of the children’s group known as “La Colmenita,” or “Little Beehive”, fired back with a response.
“I am shocked that a U.S. politician would try and prevent a group of children from performing their art,” said Carlos “Tim"Alberto Cremata, founder and director of La Colmenita, which means “The Little Beehive” in English. “She is treating us as if we were terrorists when the facts are quite the opposite. It is a small segment of the Cuban exile community who has used threats and violence to keep Americans and Cubans apart. We are simply Cuban artists who are coming to the U.S. with a message of social justice, peace and understanding.” About as far left wing as you can get. The kids are being used for the main purpose of “educating” their US audience about the Cuban Five. Their audience being kids of their own age. How many 6 to 15 year old kids care about the Cuban Five. A truly shameful response from a Cuban government propagandist.
Despite the controversy, the 22 young performers stormed the Duke Ellington stage with boundless energy that rivaled any Mickey Mouse Club group. They sang, danced and presented theatrical acts for two hours straight. In the midst of their show, they presented a Cuban 5 educational film featuring Danny Glover. There you have it. What the HELL does a Cuban kid’s group have to do with the Cuban Five. This is disgusting Cuban propaganda.
“Its very interesting because the Cuban 5 is a controversial issue,” said Duke Ellington’s Dean of the Arts Tia Powell Harris. “Its very charged for Americans and Cubans but I couldn’t help identify with those activists in our history that share a similar path. The story reminded me of Malcolm X of Martin Luther King Jr. and a whole host of men and women who fought for the rights of others. So that element of the story is what engaged me and made me want to hear more.” Wow. Comparing the Cuban Five to Malcom X. I am just shaking my head. Did she really say that? What a nut.
For group member Analaura Escalona, visiting Duke Ellington was an emotional experience. She said meeting other kids her age whose passion is the performing arts breaks down any walls constructed by political tensions.
“I feel a great connection with them,” she said. “To see children singing and dancing like us…it was just wonderful really.” Did she enjoy the Cuban Five movie?
I have to apologize for the idiot in the advertisement before the video but that’s how it comes through with the html code. The ad is only 11 seconds.
The video clip is just over two minutes.
I like how the graphics behind the video anchor say “Political Pawns?”. Yes. That would be correct.
The narrator says the kids are touring the US to bring the two countries together through the arts. Really? That’s why they are here?
Then some idiot is interviewed and says that the Cuban Five is a “controversial issue”. A controversial issue? These guys were arrested and convicted for spying for Cuba in the US and they had their appeal go all the way up to the Supreme Court. Doesn’t seem too controversial to me.
She goes on to say by being “enlighten” by this saga that we’ll have a “choice whether we will become involved or not”. What a nut. She wraps up the interview by saying that it is important to “hear the stories of humanity”. The Cuban Five are convicted spies. How is that a story of humanity?
When the video comes back to the anchorwoman she says that the group will travel to New York City, then San Francisco finishing with a private performance to the United Nations…ON THE SAME DAY THAT THE UN WILL VOTE ON THE BLOCKADE ON CUBA.
I congratulate WUSA9 for adding this last piece of information because now we all know for a FACT that these Cuban kids are just another propaganda tool of the Cuban government.
Shameful.
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