Brazilian authorities seize cocaine
Updated: 08:28, Tuesday April 1, 2014
Brazilian police have seized 3.7 tonnes of cocaine and arrested 23
people in a major anti-drug operation.
The dismantled racket used containers to export the drugs from the port
of Santos, in the state of Sao Paulo, to Europe, Cuba and Africa, they
said on Monday.
Officers also seized 10 vehicles, a boat, 21 firearms including two
rifles, and 230,000 euros ($A345,000) in cash.
The gang, which had been under investigation since last year, bought the
drugs in Bolivia and transferred them to Brazil through the Paraguayan
border.
Once in Santos, they were put into rucksacks and bags and hidden inside
the containers, without their owners knowing.
Source: Brazilian authorities seize cocaine | Sky News Australia -
http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=963078
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Travel restrictions may hamper Tampa’s air service to Cuba
Travel restrictions may hamper Tampa's air service to Cuba
By Paul Guzzo | Tribune Staff
Published: March 31, 2014
TAMPA — For U.S. tourists, there are three Cubas.
There is the Cuba they are allowed to experience — the history, culture
and people of its cities.
There is the Cuba they can see but cannot touch — its beach side resorts.
Then there is the socialist Cuba — the reason Americans are forbidden
from enjoying the tropical locales.
Flights to Cuba from the Tampa International Airport rose from 44,711 in
2012 to 51,594 in 2013.
But some worry that unless all restrictions placed on U.S. travelers
wishing to visit the island nation are abolished, Americans may lose
their interest in what narrow portions they can visit and Tampa's
service to Cuba could suffer.
"The travel industry from Tampa to Cuba may have peaked," said Al Fox,
president of the Tampa-based president of the Alliance for a Responsible
Cuba Policy Foundation, which lobbies for open relations with Cuba.
It may not be lobbying by pro-embargo interests that poses the greatest
threat to more travel between the U.S. and Cuba, Fox said.
Rather, it could be a "been there, done that" attitude among American
tourists.
Currently, American tourists without family or official business in Cuba
can only travel to the island under people-to-people licenses, for trips
restricted to culture and history rather than mojitos and tanning.
Under guidelines set by the Treasury Department, these visitors must
work through certified travel agents and follow strict itineraries
approved by the U.S. government.
American tourists spend days shuttled throughout the country via bus,
visiting museums and universities and attending lectures. They get to
see the countryside and beach but not for long.
Breaking the itinerary for a day at the beach or an evening in a resort
is against U.S. law.
"It is ironic," said Fox. "Those in favor of the embargo claim that
Americans never see the real Cuba because its government controls what
the tourists see. The fact is, it is America that controls its own
tourists."
That is not to say any visit to the island isn't enjoyable, said
Johannes Werner, editor of CubaStandard.com, an online economic
publication. Most Americans he knows who find any trip there
fascinating, providing a firsthand look at a lush, historic nation just
90 miles off Florida shores that was once considered taboo.
But it's not a visit the typical tourist will make again and again,
Werner said.
"After going through these regimented trips where everything is planned,
they are ready to go on to the next stage and go out on their own, which
is forbidden under current U.S. restrictions," he said.
If these tourists are to continue traveling to Cuba, he said, they would
need access to resorts such as Cuba's Xanadu Mansion — a beach side golf
center with breathtaking views and rooms starting at around $150.
The resort serves as a reminder of what's behind the rift between the
U.S. and Cuba.
It was built and owned by wealthy U.S. industrialist Irenee Dupont and
later nationalized under socialist rule.
Then there is the price of a people-to-people trip — anywhere from
$2,500-$5,000 because of the red tape and bureaucracy that travel agents
must negotiate and the government fees on visas and licenses.
"It is a market limited to those with a lot of money," Werner said. "For
the money they pay they can travel through Europe and these are the
types of people who will."
Three Tampa carriers offer flights to Cuba — Island Travel & Tours, ABC
Charters and Cuba Travel Services.
Bill Hauf's Island Travel also provides the service out of Miami.
Hauf agrees it is only a matter of time before the people-to-people
market dries up, yet because of business among families he doesn't worry
about keeping his planes from Miami full.
Tampa is another story.
Miami's Cuban American population of close to 1 million dwarfs Tampa's,
which is around 80,000. And Miami's is a newer generation, with more
immediate family living in Cuba.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, just over 2,000
Cubans became legal U.S. citizens and settled in Tampa during 2012
compared to 22,000 in Miami.
Much of Tampa's Cuban population, said the Alliance's Fox, relocated to
Tampa in the late-1800s for the cigar industry. Family remaining on the
island nation are often distant cousins — nice to reconnect with but
maybe not every year, he said.
"Tampa's Cubans went to visit their cousins twice removed they haven't
seen in 50 years," said Fox. "Fine, they have done that and most will
not want to do it again. These are not relatives they are close with.
They are strangers tied to them by blood."
Currently, because it cannot find a bank to service its account, the
Cuban Interests Section in Washington D.C. has ceased issuing the
necessary paperwork to travel the island nation.
Enough pre-approved visas have been issued that flights to Cuba are not
immediately affected, but if a solution is not found soon, Fox said, the
air carriers will feel the effects.
And if a new bank is found, it still will not turn around what Fox, Hauf
and Werner believe could be a dwindling Tampa market.
Only abolishing all travel restrictions will accomplish that, they said,
and such a move faces considerable opposition. Pro-embargo hardliners
believe any tourist money spent in Cuba supports an oppressive regime.
"They don't want to anger those few pro-embargo Cuban American leaders,"
Fox said.
If the travel ban were lifted, Fox said, it might prove an ironic death
knell for Tampa's current charter services.
The reason: Major airlines would be drawn to serve the new market.
Hauf thinks it would take at least a decade before that happens.
Cuba would seek permission for its own national airline to serve the new
market, Hauf said, and that would raise other issues — chiefly, lawsuits
pending against Cuba in the U.S.
In one case, three Cuban planes were hijacked in 2003 and piloted to Key
West. Rather than returning to Cuba, the planes were sold in the U.S. to
satisfy part of a $27 million judgment won by a Cuban-American who
unknowingly married a Cuban spy in Miami.
"Cuba would not approve of major U.S. airlines landing in their country
unless the U.S. allowed them to do the same," said Hauf. "Until these
judgments are resolved, Cuba knows any plane that lands in the U.S. will
be immediately seized."
Even if this roadblock were removed, Cuba's infrastructure couldn't
support a wave of U.S. tourists.
"Cuba would limit the number of visas," Hauf said. "So I think the major
airlines would still stay away."
Given a chance, though, U.S. tourists would not, he added.
"Cuba has beautiful beaches and resorts, it's a unique destination and
it's a short flight. Americans would enjoy it."
pguzzo@tampatrib.com
Source: Travel restrictions may hamper Tampa's air service to Cuba -
http://tbo.com/news/politics/travel-restrictions-may-hamper-tampas-air-service-to-cuba-20140331/
By Paul Guzzo | Tribune Staff
Published: March 31, 2014
TAMPA — For U.S. tourists, there are three Cubas.
There is the Cuba they are allowed to experience — the history, culture
and people of its cities.
There is the Cuba they can see but cannot touch — its beach side resorts.
Then there is the socialist Cuba — the reason Americans are forbidden
from enjoying the tropical locales.
Flights to Cuba from the Tampa International Airport rose from 44,711 in
2012 to 51,594 in 2013.
But some worry that unless all restrictions placed on U.S. travelers
wishing to visit the island nation are abolished, Americans may lose
their interest in what narrow portions they can visit and Tampa's
service to Cuba could suffer.
"The travel industry from Tampa to Cuba may have peaked," said Al Fox,
president of the Tampa-based president of the Alliance for a Responsible
Cuba Policy Foundation, which lobbies for open relations with Cuba.
It may not be lobbying by pro-embargo interests that poses the greatest
threat to more travel between the U.S. and Cuba, Fox said.
Rather, it could be a "been there, done that" attitude among American
tourists.
Currently, American tourists without family or official business in Cuba
can only travel to the island under people-to-people licenses, for trips
restricted to culture and history rather than mojitos and tanning.
Under guidelines set by the Treasury Department, these visitors must
work through certified travel agents and follow strict itineraries
approved by the U.S. government.
American tourists spend days shuttled throughout the country via bus,
visiting museums and universities and attending lectures. They get to
see the countryside and beach but not for long.
Breaking the itinerary for a day at the beach or an evening in a resort
is against U.S. law.
"It is ironic," said Fox. "Those in favor of the embargo claim that
Americans never see the real Cuba because its government controls what
the tourists see. The fact is, it is America that controls its own
tourists."
That is not to say any visit to the island isn't enjoyable, said
Johannes Werner, editor of CubaStandard.com, an online economic
publication. Most Americans he knows who find any trip there
fascinating, providing a firsthand look at a lush, historic nation just
90 miles off Florida shores that was once considered taboo.
But it's not a visit the typical tourist will make again and again,
Werner said.
"After going through these regimented trips where everything is planned,
they are ready to go on to the next stage and go out on their own, which
is forbidden under current U.S. restrictions," he said.
If these tourists are to continue traveling to Cuba, he said, they would
need access to resorts such as Cuba's Xanadu Mansion — a beach side golf
center with breathtaking views and rooms starting at around $150.
The resort serves as a reminder of what's behind the rift between the
U.S. and Cuba.
It was built and owned by wealthy U.S. industrialist Irenee Dupont and
later nationalized under socialist rule.
Then there is the price of a people-to-people trip — anywhere from
$2,500-$5,000 because of the red tape and bureaucracy that travel agents
must negotiate and the government fees on visas and licenses.
"It is a market limited to those with a lot of money," Werner said. "For
the money they pay they can travel through Europe and these are the
types of people who will."
Three Tampa carriers offer flights to Cuba — Island Travel & Tours, ABC
Charters and Cuba Travel Services.
Bill Hauf's Island Travel also provides the service out of Miami.
Hauf agrees it is only a matter of time before the people-to-people
market dries up, yet because of business among families he doesn't worry
about keeping his planes from Miami full.
Tampa is another story.
Miami's Cuban American population of close to 1 million dwarfs Tampa's,
which is around 80,000. And Miami's is a newer generation, with more
immediate family living in Cuba.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, just over 2,000
Cubans became legal U.S. citizens and settled in Tampa during 2012
compared to 22,000 in Miami.
Much of Tampa's Cuban population, said the Alliance's Fox, relocated to
Tampa in the late-1800s for the cigar industry. Family remaining on the
island nation are often distant cousins — nice to reconnect with but
maybe not every year, he said.
"Tampa's Cubans went to visit their cousins twice removed they haven't
seen in 50 years," said Fox. "Fine, they have done that and most will
not want to do it again. These are not relatives they are close with.
They are strangers tied to them by blood."
Currently, because it cannot find a bank to service its account, the
Cuban Interests Section in Washington D.C. has ceased issuing the
necessary paperwork to travel the island nation.
Enough pre-approved visas have been issued that flights to Cuba are not
immediately affected, but if a solution is not found soon, Fox said, the
air carriers will feel the effects.
And if a new bank is found, it still will not turn around what Fox, Hauf
and Werner believe could be a dwindling Tampa market.
Only abolishing all travel restrictions will accomplish that, they said,
and such a move faces considerable opposition. Pro-embargo hardliners
believe any tourist money spent in Cuba supports an oppressive regime.
"They don't want to anger those few pro-embargo Cuban American leaders,"
Fox said.
If the travel ban were lifted, Fox said, it might prove an ironic death
knell for Tampa's current charter services.
The reason: Major airlines would be drawn to serve the new market.
Hauf thinks it would take at least a decade before that happens.
Cuba would seek permission for its own national airline to serve the new
market, Hauf said, and that would raise other issues — chiefly, lawsuits
pending against Cuba in the U.S.
In one case, three Cuban planes were hijacked in 2003 and piloted to Key
West. Rather than returning to Cuba, the planes were sold in the U.S. to
satisfy part of a $27 million judgment won by a Cuban-American who
unknowingly married a Cuban spy in Miami.
"Cuba would not approve of major U.S. airlines landing in their country
unless the U.S. allowed them to do the same," said Hauf. "Until these
judgments are resolved, Cuba knows any plane that lands in the U.S. will
be immediately seized."
Even if this roadblock were removed, Cuba's infrastructure couldn't
support a wave of U.S. tourists.
"Cuba would limit the number of visas," Hauf said. "So I think the major
airlines would still stay away."
Given a chance, though, U.S. tourists would not, he added.
"Cuba has beautiful beaches and resorts, it's a unique destination and
it's a short flight. Americans would enjoy it."
pguzzo@tampatrib.com
Source: Travel restrictions may hamper Tampa's air service to Cuba -
http://tbo.com/news/politics/travel-restrictions-may-hamper-tampas-air-service-to-cuba-20140331/
Students can travel to Cuba for research
Students can travel to Cuba for research
Posted on Mar 31, 2014by Whitney Lynn
Students will have the opportunity to attend class in Cuba during the
inaugural expedition this summer.
Though the United States currently has a travel embargo on Cuba,
participants in the study-abroad program will be granted access to the
country on a general license for taking classes while on the trip.
Assistant professor of history Devyn Benson will lead a group of
students during the month-long trip as they learn the history and
culture of the nation.
Benson said the program will offer insight into the politics and customs
of Cuba while providing a look into a country starkly different from the
United States.
The two courses offered for the program are History 2195: Special Topics
in History- Cuban History and Honors 3025: Contemporary Cuban Culture
and Society. Benson said they will be looking into Cuba's past,
including the revolution and relations with the United States and the
culture of a socialist country.
Though only 106 miles from the United States, Cuba has developed a
different economy and political system from its one-time ally. Benson
said Cuba still has relics of the U.S. such as cars from the 1950s and a
major emphasis on baseball.
The 25 participants will not only see the capital of Havana; they will
tour colonial parts of Cuba, historical monuments such as the Plaza de
la Revolución and meet with natives in public schools and health
clinics, according to an informational flyer.
Benson said the students will do research projects in conjunction with
the Juan Marinello Cuban Research Institute, which is sponsoring the
University's trip. The institute will provide graduate students on the
trip with research visas so they can continue their work after the
program is finished. Students will meet with representatives associated
with their research projects while abroad.
Benson said she hopes the University and the institute can sign a
memorandum to maintain the program and research opportunities for students.
The program will run from May 28 to June 28 and is open to all students
of any major.
"The more Americans learn about Cuba and the more Cubans learn about
America, the more diplomatic relations can occur," Benson said.
Source: Students can travel to Cuba for research - lsureveille.com: News
-
http://www.lsureveille.com/news/students-can-travel-to-cuba-for-research/article_e66d8db2-b927-11e3-8de6-0017a43b2370.html
Posted on Mar 31, 2014by Whitney Lynn
Students will have the opportunity to attend class in Cuba during the
inaugural expedition this summer.
Though the United States currently has a travel embargo on Cuba,
participants in the study-abroad program will be granted access to the
country on a general license for taking classes while on the trip.
Assistant professor of history Devyn Benson will lead a group of
students during the month-long trip as they learn the history and
culture of the nation.
Benson said the program will offer insight into the politics and customs
of Cuba while providing a look into a country starkly different from the
United States.
The two courses offered for the program are History 2195: Special Topics
in History- Cuban History and Honors 3025: Contemporary Cuban Culture
and Society. Benson said they will be looking into Cuba's past,
including the revolution and relations with the United States and the
culture of a socialist country.
Though only 106 miles from the United States, Cuba has developed a
different economy and political system from its one-time ally. Benson
said Cuba still has relics of the U.S. such as cars from the 1950s and a
major emphasis on baseball.
The 25 participants will not only see the capital of Havana; they will
tour colonial parts of Cuba, historical monuments such as the Plaza de
la Revolución and meet with natives in public schools and health
clinics, according to an informational flyer.
Benson said the students will do research projects in conjunction with
the Juan Marinello Cuban Research Institute, which is sponsoring the
University's trip. The institute will provide graduate students on the
trip with research visas so they can continue their work after the
program is finished. Students will meet with representatives associated
with their research projects while abroad.
Benson said she hopes the University and the institute can sign a
memorandum to maintain the program and research opportunities for students.
The program will run from May 28 to June 28 and is open to all students
of any major.
"The more Americans learn about Cuba and the more Cubans learn about
America, the more diplomatic relations can occur," Benson said.
Source: Students can travel to Cuba for research - lsureveille.com: News
-
http://www.lsureveille.com/news/students-can-travel-to-cuba-for-research/article_e66d8db2-b927-11e3-8de6-0017a43b2370.html
Cuba's athletes get pay raises
Cuba's athletes get pay raises
Published March 31, 2014
EFE
Cuba reported on Monday the entry into force of the announced salary
hikes for athletes, coaches and specialists in the sector, whose incomes
will depend on the results and awards they obtain.
Athletes' income has been structured into six categories, with base pay
that varies from around $18 a month for second-string baseball players
to roughly $60 a month for Olympic medalists.
In addition to those base salaries, athletes are also eligible to
receive bonuses for outstanding results in competitions.
Players in Cuba's top baseball league will also vie for premiums based
on runs scored, pitching wins and stolen bases, among other categories.
The squad that wins the league championship will share the equivalent of
$2,600, with bonuses of $1,800 and $1,200 for the second- and
third-place teams, respectively.
In another change, prize money won in international competitions will be
paid out entirely to athletes, coaches and specialists involved in those
events. A total of 80 percent will go to the athletes and 15 percent and
5 percent, respectively, to the coaches and specialists.
The Cuban government announced last September the pay raises for the
sports sector and also said that Cuban athletes could be hired abroad.
However, the information published by Communist Party daily Granma on
Monday says that "the implementation of the hiring system abroad"
remains under study.
The entry into force of the new salaries comes just days after salary
increases that will take effect in June were announced for health
professionals.
In Cuba, the average monthly salary is about $20.
EFE
Source: Cuba's athletes get pay raises | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2014/03/31/cuba-athletes-get-pay-raises/
Published March 31, 2014
EFE
Cuba reported on Monday the entry into force of the announced salary
hikes for athletes, coaches and specialists in the sector, whose incomes
will depend on the results and awards they obtain.
Athletes' income has been structured into six categories, with base pay
that varies from around $18 a month for second-string baseball players
to roughly $60 a month for Olympic medalists.
In addition to those base salaries, athletes are also eligible to
receive bonuses for outstanding results in competitions.
Players in Cuba's top baseball league will also vie for premiums based
on runs scored, pitching wins and stolen bases, among other categories.
The squad that wins the league championship will share the equivalent of
$2,600, with bonuses of $1,800 and $1,200 for the second- and
third-place teams, respectively.
In another change, prize money won in international competitions will be
paid out entirely to athletes, coaches and specialists involved in those
events. A total of 80 percent will go to the athletes and 15 percent and
5 percent, respectively, to the coaches and specialists.
The Cuban government announced last September the pay raises for the
sports sector and also said that Cuban athletes could be hired abroad.
However, the information published by Communist Party daily Granma on
Monday says that "the implementation of the hiring system abroad"
remains under study.
The entry into force of the new salaries comes just days after salary
increases that will take effect in June were announced for health
professionals.
In Cuba, the average monthly salary is about $20.
EFE
Source: Cuba's athletes get pay raises | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2014/03/31/cuba-athletes-get-pay-raises/
Wickham - Cuba economic reforms a signal for Obama
Wickham: Cuba economic reforms a signal for Obama
DeWayne Wickham, USATODAY 4:46 p.m. EDT March 31, 2014
With positive steps from Raul Castro, it's time for U.S. to warm relations.
You've got to wonder whether anyone in the Obama administration hears
the pinging of Cuba's economic reforms.
The most recent sound came on Saturday, when its national assembly
adopted a measure that moves the communist country closer to the
mainstream of international business. This new law offers major
financial incentives for foreign businesses to enter into joint ventures
with Cuban companies and, for the first time, permits foreign investors
to own up to 100% of a businesson the embattled Caribbean island. This
new law also exempts most investors from paying a tax on their profits
for eight years.
These pinging sounds started shortly after Raul Castro succeeded his
brother, Fidel, as president in 2008. Since taking office, Raul Castro
has overseen reforms that increased economic opportunities for Cubans by
expanding private ownership of businesses, permitting the sale of homes
and cars among Cubans, and by eliminating the need for Cubans who want
to travel abroad to get an exit visa. He has also made it easier (though
not less costly) for Cubans to own smartphones and access the Internet.
Sure, the big hurdle that many Cubans can't scale is the price tag of
these things. Their salaries still lag far behind the cost of the new
freedoms. The pessimist would say these reforms are the free-market
window dressing of an unyielding communist system. But the optimist
might argue that Cuba has started down a path from which there is no
retreat, forcing the government ultimately to boost the buying power of
its people.
I think the pinging sounds coming out of Havana these past few years
indicate that the communist state is undergoing a dramatic change – one
that the Obama administration ought to encourage. In fact, Cuba could
use a lot of encouragement. Too many of the country's aging leaders have
a bunker mentality. Their memories of the USA's many schemes to topple
Fidel Castro are vivid. Their confidence in this country's sincerity in
saying it wants to improve relations with is Cuba is awful low.
As the president of the protagonist nation in the long-running rift
between the U.S. and Cuba, Barack Obama inherits the responsibility to
initiate a sincere effort to bring this lingering standoff to an end.
Just as he ended U.S. involvement in Iraq and shut down America's
longest war in Afghanistan, Obama should be just as aggressive in
seeking to halt this nation's longest Cold War conflict.
Anyone who knows the bloody costs China made American forces pay in the
Korean War, or that the Vietnamese exacted from U.S. troops in the
Vietnam War, should understand this nation's ability to overcome the
divisions such warring among nations create.
If this nation could mend its wounds with Vietnam and China – two
communist countries with which the United States now has normal
diplomatic and economic relations – it ought to be able to make peace
with Cuba.
At stake here is not just the lives of 11 million Cubans, who are
hostages of the financial blockade that was imposed to undermine their
country's economy, but also the legitimacy of our nation's claim to
moral leadership.
The Obama administration can't expect to rally worldwide support for its
condemnation of Russia's intrusion into the affairs of Ukraine while it
continues this nation's effort to destroy Cuba's economy. It can argue
its reasons for doing so, but it will not escape the label of hypocrite.
Instead, President Obama should accept the pinging sounds of economic
reform coming out of Havana as the opening he needs to end this
country's attempt to topple Cuba's government.
DeWayne Wickham, dean of Morgan State University's School of Global
Journalism and Communication, writes on Tuesdays for USA TODAY.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions
from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more
columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter
@USATopinion or Facebook.
Source: Wickham: Cuba economic reforms a signal for Obama -
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/03/31/cuba-economic-reforms-obama-dewayne-wickham-column/7083343/
DeWayne Wickham, USATODAY 4:46 p.m. EDT March 31, 2014
With positive steps from Raul Castro, it's time for U.S. to warm relations.
You've got to wonder whether anyone in the Obama administration hears
the pinging of Cuba's economic reforms.
The most recent sound came on Saturday, when its national assembly
adopted a measure that moves the communist country closer to the
mainstream of international business. This new law offers major
financial incentives for foreign businesses to enter into joint ventures
with Cuban companies and, for the first time, permits foreign investors
to own up to 100% of a businesson the embattled Caribbean island. This
new law also exempts most investors from paying a tax on their profits
for eight years.
These pinging sounds started shortly after Raul Castro succeeded his
brother, Fidel, as president in 2008. Since taking office, Raul Castro
has overseen reforms that increased economic opportunities for Cubans by
expanding private ownership of businesses, permitting the sale of homes
and cars among Cubans, and by eliminating the need for Cubans who want
to travel abroad to get an exit visa. He has also made it easier (though
not less costly) for Cubans to own smartphones and access the Internet.
Sure, the big hurdle that many Cubans can't scale is the price tag of
these things. Their salaries still lag far behind the cost of the new
freedoms. The pessimist would say these reforms are the free-market
window dressing of an unyielding communist system. But the optimist
might argue that Cuba has started down a path from which there is no
retreat, forcing the government ultimately to boost the buying power of
its people.
I think the pinging sounds coming out of Havana these past few years
indicate that the communist state is undergoing a dramatic change – one
that the Obama administration ought to encourage. In fact, Cuba could
use a lot of encouragement. Too many of the country's aging leaders have
a bunker mentality. Their memories of the USA's many schemes to topple
Fidel Castro are vivid. Their confidence in this country's sincerity in
saying it wants to improve relations with is Cuba is awful low.
As the president of the protagonist nation in the long-running rift
between the U.S. and Cuba, Barack Obama inherits the responsibility to
initiate a sincere effort to bring this lingering standoff to an end.
Just as he ended U.S. involvement in Iraq and shut down America's
longest war in Afghanistan, Obama should be just as aggressive in
seeking to halt this nation's longest Cold War conflict.
Anyone who knows the bloody costs China made American forces pay in the
Korean War, or that the Vietnamese exacted from U.S. troops in the
Vietnam War, should understand this nation's ability to overcome the
divisions such warring among nations create.
If this nation could mend its wounds with Vietnam and China – two
communist countries with which the United States now has normal
diplomatic and economic relations – it ought to be able to make peace
with Cuba.
At stake here is not just the lives of 11 million Cubans, who are
hostages of the financial blockade that was imposed to undermine their
country's economy, but also the legitimacy of our nation's claim to
moral leadership.
The Obama administration can't expect to rally worldwide support for its
condemnation of Russia's intrusion into the affairs of Ukraine while it
continues this nation's effort to destroy Cuba's economy. It can argue
its reasons for doing so, but it will not escape the label of hypocrite.
Instead, President Obama should accept the pinging sounds of economic
reform coming out of Havana as the opening he needs to end this
country's attempt to topple Cuba's government.
DeWayne Wickham, dean of Morgan State University's School of Global
Journalism and Communication, writes on Tuesdays for USA TODAY.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions
from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more
columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter
@USATopinion or Facebook.
Source: Wickham: Cuba economic reforms a signal for Obama -
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/03/31/cuba-economic-reforms-obama-dewayne-wickham-column/7083343/
Cuban blogger Sanchez to address Latino event
Posted on Tuesday, 04.01.14
Cuban blogger Sanchez to address Latino event
BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez is scheduled to address a mix of
fellow journalists, filmmakers and corporate PR execs at this year's
annual Hispanicize conference in Miami.
Sanchez's blog Generation Y focuses on slices of life in Cuba,
highlighting government dysfunction. Hispanicize organizers said they
asked her to speak Tuesday because of her powerful use of social media
to break through the Cuban government's strict control over public
discourse on the island.
Now in its fifth year, Hispanicize is dedicated to creating space for
Latino bloggers, artists and journalists, as well as to connecting
companies with the nation's fast-growing Hispanic markets. In 2013,
Sanchez toured the U.S. and Europe. Internationally, she is one of the
island's most recognized activists, boasting 600,000 Twitter followers.
Back home, though she is less well-known.
Source: MIAMI: Cuban blogger Sanchez to address Latino event - Florida
Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/01/4031946/cuban-blogger-sanchez-to-address.html
Cuban blogger Sanchez to address Latino event
BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez is scheduled to address a mix of
fellow journalists, filmmakers and corporate PR execs at this year's
annual Hispanicize conference in Miami.
Sanchez's blog Generation Y focuses on slices of life in Cuba,
highlighting government dysfunction. Hispanicize organizers said they
asked her to speak Tuesday because of her powerful use of social media
to break through the Cuban government's strict control over public
discourse on the island.
Now in its fifth year, Hispanicize is dedicated to creating space for
Latino bloggers, artists and journalists, as well as to connecting
companies with the nation's fast-growing Hispanic markets. In 2013,
Sanchez toured the U.S. and Europe. Internationally, she is one of the
island's most recognized activists, boasting 600,000 Twitter followers.
Back home, though she is less well-known.
Source: MIAMI: Cuban blogger Sanchez to address Latino event - Florida
Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/01/4031946/cuban-blogger-sanchez-to-address.html
Adolfo Suárez and the dream of a free Cuba
Posted on Monday, 03.31.14
Adolfo Suárez and the dream of a free Cuba
BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER
ELBLOGDEMONTANER.COM
In 1990, I asked Adolfo Suárez for help. At the time, I had made a
political calculation that the former prime minister could be useful to
Cuba's democratization and was a generous person.
In Spain, his political flow had been exhausted but he had gained
immense international prestige because he successfully engineered
Spain's peaceful transformation in barely four years.
Not long before, the Berlin Wall had been brought down and Europe's
communist dictatorships collapsed, while Marxism was relegated to the
ridiculous category of a dusty theoretical absurdity.
On the other hand, Suárez headed the Liberal International, one of the
world's great ideological federations, an organization that brought
together some 80 parties of that political family, including the Cuban
Liberal Union that we had founded. I was led into his office by Prof.
Raúl Morodo, his strategist and a great political manager in the Liberal
International. Morodo had been extremely supportive of the Cuban democrats.
In summer of 1990, we liberals, along with other exiles associated with
the Christian Democratic and Social Democratic movements, forged in
Madrid the Cuban Democratic Platform. We were trying to start in Cuba a
political transition to freedom and democracy similar to the one Spain
went through under Suárez's extraordinary guidance.
We thought, no doubt naively, that Fidel Castro would admit the
uselessness of sustaining a failed, collectivist, one-party dictatorship
against the sense of history and would seek a way to peacefully bury his
bloody experiment, creating the conditions for his supporters to evolve
toward other forms of militancy, as had happened in the so-called
Eastern Bloc.
Common sense told us that Castro and his entourage would feel safer if
the dismantling of their tyranny were done at a table guaranteed by a
rainbow of major democratic political formations from all over the world.
The procedure would be similar to Spain's: Go "from law to law." Change
the rules of the single party, release the political prisoners, respect
the right to free expression of people's thoughts and broaden the
margins of electoral participation so Cubans might bury communism in a
democratic ballot box, as the Spaniards had done with Francoism.
What better guarantee of an operation of that nature, I told Suárez,
than having as referee the man who built the Spanish transition?
If Castro were the least interested in finding an honorable way out for
the dictatorship, we could land in Havana 90 days later with 100 or so
political and economic leaders from the free world, with the promise of
abundant aid from Europe and the United States so that Cuba's
transformation could be swift and painless.
We called it "the shock of hope."
Suárez listened to us with great interest and offered us his support,
but appeared skeptical about the results. He was grateful to Castro, he
told us, for taking in some ETA activists [Basque separatists] that he
wanted out of Spain.
Although he sympathized with our ideas, he said, his intention was not
to serve the opposition or the power but to extend a hand to all Cubans,
so they might overcome the communist dictatorship.
But when Suárez and Morodo went to Havana and spoke with Fidel, they ran
into a man indifferent to reality who repeated two colossal barbarities
as if they were mantras.
First, that "Cuba would sink into the sea before it abandoned
Marxism-Leninism." Second, that the island would remain as a kind of
vivarium, a Marxist-Leninist Jurassic Park. Once mankind regained reason
and returned to the communist essence, it would have a practical model
to organize societies in accordance with the Cuban experience.
Almost a quarter of a century later, Fidel is a mad old man who
bequeathed a destroyed nation to his brother Raúl. The heir, faithful to
the legacy, futilely tries to create a hybrid and impossible
totalitarian system that exhibits the worst of both worlds — socialism
without subsidies and capitalism that prohibits growth and the
accumulation of capital.
If Fidel had not been dogmatic and inflexible, and if he had gone along
with Suárez, Cuba would have made its transition in time and today would
be at the head of Latin America. There was enough human and economic
capital to accomplish that.
In a criminal way, we have lost another 25 years.
Source: Adolfo Suárez and the dream of a free Cuba - Other Views -
MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/31/4030941/adolfo-suarez-and-the-dream-of.html
Adolfo Suárez and the dream of a free Cuba
BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER
ELBLOGDEMONTANER.COM
In 1990, I asked Adolfo Suárez for help. At the time, I had made a
political calculation that the former prime minister could be useful to
Cuba's democratization and was a generous person.
In Spain, his political flow had been exhausted but he had gained
immense international prestige because he successfully engineered
Spain's peaceful transformation in barely four years.
Not long before, the Berlin Wall had been brought down and Europe's
communist dictatorships collapsed, while Marxism was relegated to the
ridiculous category of a dusty theoretical absurdity.
On the other hand, Suárez headed the Liberal International, one of the
world's great ideological federations, an organization that brought
together some 80 parties of that political family, including the Cuban
Liberal Union that we had founded. I was led into his office by Prof.
Raúl Morodo, his strategist and a great political manager in the Liberal
International. Morodo had been extremely supportive of the Cuban democrats.
In summer of 1990, we liberals, along with other exiles associated with
the Christian Democratic and Social Democratic movements, forged in
Madrid the Cuban Democratic Platform. We were trying to start in Cuba a
political transition to freedom and democracy similar to the one Spain
went through under Suárez's extraordinary guidance.
We thought, no doubt naively, that Fidel Castro would admit the
uselessness of sustaining a failed, collectivist, one-party dictatorship
against the sense of history and would seek a way to peacefully bury his
bloody experiment, creating the conditions for his supporters to evolve
toward other forms of militancy, as had happened in the so-called
Eastern Bloc.
Common sense told us that Castro and his entourage would feel safer if
the dismantling of their tyranny were done at a table guaranteed by a
rainbow of major democratic political formations from all over the world.
The procedure would be similar to Spain's: Go "from law to law." Change
the rules of the single party, release the political prisoners, respect
the right to free expression of people's thoughts and broaden the
margins of electoral participation so Cubans might bury communism in a
democratic ballot box, as the Spaniards had done with Francoism.
What better guarantee of an operation of that nature, I told Suárez,
than having as referee the man who built the Spanish transition?
If Castro were the least interested in finding an honorable way out for
the dictatorship, we could land in Havana 90 days later with 100 or so
political and economic leaders from the free world, with the promise of
abundant aid from Europe and the United States so that Cuba's
transformation could be swift and painless.
We called it "the shock of hope."
Suárez listened to us with great interest and offered us his support,
but appeared skeptical about the results. He was grateful to Castro, he
told us, for taking in some ETA activists [Basque separatists] that he
wanted out of Spain.
Although he sympathized with our ideas, he said, his intention was not
to serve the opposition or the power but to extend a hand to all Cubans,
so they might overcome the communist dictatorship.
But when Suárez and Morodo went to Havana and spoke with Fidel, they ran
into a man indifferent to reality who repeated two colossal barbarities
as if they were mantras.
First, that "Cuba would sink into the sea before it abandoned
Marxism-Leninism." Second, that the island would remain as a kind of
vivarium, a Marxist-Leninist Jurassic Park. Once mankind regained reason
and returned to the communist essence, it would have a practical model
to organize societies in accordance with the Cuban experience.
Almost a quarter of a century later, Fidel is a mad old man who
bequeathed a destroyed nation to his brother Raúl. The heir, faithful to
the legacy, futilely tries to create a hybrid and impossible
totalitarian system that exhibits the worst of both worlds — socialism
without subsidies and capitalism that prohibits growth and the
accumulation of capital.
If Fidel had not been dogmatic and inflexible, and if he had gone along
with Suárez, Cuba would have made its transition in time and today would
be at the head of Latin America. There was enough human and economic
capital to accomplish that.
In a criminal way, we have lost another 25 years.
Source: Adolfo Suárez and the dream of a free Cuba - Other Views -
MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/31/4030941/adolfo-suarez-and-the-dream-of.html
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