US envoy to UN visits Cuba's UN Mission, a first in decades
BY EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS
Samantha Power made the first visit by an American ambassador to the
United Nations to Cuba's U.N. Mission in over a half-century on Friday.
U.S. Mission spokeswoman Hagar Chemali said Power discussed the
normalization of relations between the two countries and priorities at
the United Nations during her first-ever meeting with Cuba's U.N.
Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez.
Cuba and the United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1961 during
tense Cold War times. After almost 54 years of hostilities, U.S.
President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Dec.
17 that they would negotiate a restoration of ties. That happened on
July 20 when the two countries formally re-established diplomatic relations.
"President Obama reversed 50 years of policy on Cuba because he
believed, as do I, that we can do more to support the Cuban people and
promote our values through engagement," Power said in a statement.
"Isolation has not worked," she said.
Power said ending that isolation whether by restoring diplomatic
relations, Obama's first meeting with Raul Castro, Secretary of State
John Kerry's upcoming visit to Havana, "or the simple act of going down
the street to visit the Cuban U.N. ambassador for the first time in a
half-century — these are the measures that open dialogue and give us the
opportunity to stand up for our values, including human rights and human
dignity."
She said this "will ultimately do more to help the Cuban people than the
outdated policy of the past."
Power has set a personal goal of visiting the U.N. mission of every
country that the U.S. has diplomatic relations with and according to
U.S. officials Cuba was the 127th. There are 193 U.N. member states and
the U.S. has no relations with several including North Korea and Iran.
Source: US envoy to UN visits Cuba's UN Mission, a first in decades |
Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article29709673.html
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Hillary Clinton in Miami - Lift the embargo against Cuba
Hillary Clinton in Miami: Lift the embargo against Cuba
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ AND JENNY LUNA
mvasquez@MiamiHerald.com
Saying "America's approach to Cuba is at a crossroads," Democratic
presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton called for an end to the
53-year-old Cuban trade embargo in Miami on Friday.
The former secretary of state's chosen location of Florida International
University was significant for two reasons: Clinton delivered the
message in the heart of the Cuban exile community, which is divided over
the issue, and did it at a college campus, where the crowd tilted
younger and, according to polls, more likely to support lifting the
controversial measure.
Hillary Clinton delivers a Cuba policy speech at Florida International
University Friday, July 31, 2015. PETER ANDREW BOSCH MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Her position would have elicited public outcry in the Miami of a
not-so-distant past. But times have changed: Protests against Clinton
were contained to a handful of people, many of them with the local
Republican Party, outside the auditorium.
In her remarks, Clinton said her campaign is about bringing prosperity
to the U.S. — but also to the citizens of Cuba, and "for the young
entrepreneur in Little Havana, who dreams of expanding to old Havana."
Though only Congress can lift the embargo, Clinton promised, if elected,
to act on Cuba even if Congress doesn't, by using her executive
authority to loosen travel and other economic restrictions, including on
telecommunications.
The invitation-only crowd of more than 200 greeted Clinton with a
standing ovation, and gave her another as she wrapped up her roughly
30-minute speech.
Clinton's call for Congress to end the embargo comes about a month after
President Barack Obama did the same. But even with the current warming
of relations between Washington and Havana, human-rights violations
continue on the communist island.
Republicans were quick to attack Clinton's position as further enabling
the Castro regime — even before the speech began. Minutes before the
start, former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush took
to Twitter: "It's insulting to many Miami residents for Hillary to come
here to endorse a retreat in Cuba's struggle for democracy."
Cuban-American presidential candidate Marco Rubio tweeted a photo of
Clinton accepting a red button from Vladimir Putin — only Putin had
Cuban leader Raúl Castro's face PhotoShopped on it instead. "After
Clinton's failed 'reset' with Putin, now she wants to do a 'reset' with
Castro," Rubio posted. "She is making another mistake."
In her speech, Clinton said "engagement is not a silver bullet, but
again and again we see that it is more likely to hasten change, not hold
it back."
She also noted that a member of the Ladies in White, a Cuban dissident
group, was in attendance at her event.
Clinton said her feelings on the embargo have evolved since the 1990s,
when former President Bill Clinton signed the Helms-Burton Act, which
further strengthened the Cuban embargo.
She told the FIU crowd that her former support for the embargo was
influenced by the Cuban government's shooting down of two Brothers to
the Rescue aircraft over the Florida Straits in 1996. Cuba's act of
aggression, which killed four, led to Congress passing the Helms-Burton Act.
Regarding her new anti-embargo stance, Clinton said "I did not come to
this position lightly; I well remember what happened to previous
attempts at engagement in the 1990s."
But today, Clinton said the embargo has become "an albatross around our
necks" when it comes to U.S.-Cuba policy. And it wasn't working, she said.
"The Castros were able to blame all of the island's woes on the U.S.
embargo… and delaying their day of reckoning with the Cuban people," she
added.
Clinton said the Obama administration's loosening of travel restrictions
helped convince her it is time for a change in course.
"I remember seeing a CNN report that summer about a Cuban father living
and working in the United States who hadn't seen his baby boy," she
said. "Our reforms made it possible for that father and son to finally
reunite."
"It felt like the start of something important," she said.
The Democratic-leaning crowd, many of them Cuban-Americans, responded
with enthusiasm.
Susy Ribero-Ayala, a criminal defense attorney in Coral Gables, hasn't
been to Cuba since her great uncle — the last democratically elected
president of the country — left the island.
Ribero-Ayala said she went from from "supporter" of Clinton to "major
supporter" after her speech, touting her mention of the need for
human-rights action in Cuba and the ease for American travel to the island.
"It is going to move away from the regime, and they're going to have no
choice but to adapt to the changes," Ribero-Ayala said.
On a patch of grass across from the auditorium, about 40 protesters came
to show just how much they disagree with Clinton's call to lift the
embargo. Students from FIU College Republicans and the Cuban Democratic
Directorate stood outside the auditorium waving flags.
Rey Anthony, a political science and Cuban studies major at FIU called
Clinton's visit "a slap in the face."
"To us it's an insult that Hillary Clinton has come to the heart of our
community at an institution that has opened its doors to so many exiles
to ask us to remove sanctions," Anthony said.
The third-generation Cuban American wants to one day be a professor,
just like the man who taught his Florida Politics course at FIU last
semester: Marco Rubio.
Source: Hillary Clinton in Miami: Lift the embargo against Cuba | Miami
Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/elections-2016/article29656990.html
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ AND JENNY LUNA
mvasquez@MiamiHerald.com
Saying "America's approach to Cuba is at a crossroads," Democratic
presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton called for an end to the
53-year-old Cuban trade embargo in Miami on Friday.
The former secretary of state's chosen location of Florida International
University was significant for two reasons: Clinton delivered the
message in the heart of the Cuban exile community, which is divided over
the issue, and did it at a college campus, where the crowd tilted
younger and, according to polls, more likely to support lifting the
controversial measure.
Hillary Clinton delivers a Cuba policy speech at Florida International
University Friday, July 31, 2015. PETER ANDREW BOSCH MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Her position would have elicited public outcry in the Miami of a
not-so-distant past. But times have changed: Protests against Clinton
were contained to a handful of people, many of them with the local
Republican Party, outside the auditorium.
In her remarks, Clinton said her campaign is about bringing prosperity
to the U.S. — but also to the citizens of Cuba, and "for the young
entrepreneur in Little Havana, who dreams of expanding to old Havana."
Though only Congress can lift the embargo, Clinton promised, if elected,
to act on Cuba even if Congress doesn't, by using her executive
authority to loosen travel and other economic restrictions, including on
telecommunications.
The invitation-only crowd of more than 200 greeted Clinton with a
standing ovation, and gave her another as she wrapped up her roughly
30-minute speech.
Clinton's call for Congress to end the embargo comes about a month after
President Barack Obama did the same. But even with the current warming
of relations between Washington and Havana, human-rights violations
continue on the communist island.
Republicans were quick to attack Clinton's position as further enabling
the Castro regime — even before the speech began. Minutes before the
start, former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush took
to Twitter: "It's insulting to many Miami residents for Hillary to come
here to endorse a retreat in Cuba's struggle for democracy."
Cuban-American presidential candidate Marco Rubio tweeted a photo of
Clinton accepting a red button from Vladimir Putin — only Putin had
Cuban leader Raúl Castro's face PhotoShopped on it instead. "After
Clinton's failed 'reset' with Putin, now she wants to do a 'reset' with
Castro," Rubio posted. "She is making another mistake."
In her speech, Clinton said "engagement is not a silver bullet, but
again and again we see that it is more likely to hasten change, not hold
it back."
She also noted that a member of the Ladies in White, a Cuban dissident
group, was in attendance at her event.
Clinton said her feelings on the embargo have evolved since the 1990s,
when former President Bill Clinton signed the Helms-Burton Act, which
further strengthened the Cuban embargo.
She told the FIU crowd that her former support for the embargo was
influenced by the Cuban government's shooting down of two Brothers to
the Rescue aircraft over the Florida Straits in 1996. Cuba's act of
aggression, which killed four, led to Congress passing the Helms-Burton Act.
Regarding her new anti-embargo stance, Clinton said "I did not come to
this position lightly; I well remember what happened to previous
attempts at engagement in the 1990s."
But today, Clinton said the embargo has become "an albatross around our
necks" when it comes to U.S.-Cuba policy. And it wasn't working, she said.
"The Castros were able to blame all of the island's woes on the U.S.
embargo… and delaying their day of reckoning with the Cuban people," she
added.
Clinton said the Obama administration's loosening of travel restrictions
helped convince her it is time for a change in course.
"I remember seeing a CNN report that summer about a Cuban father living
and working in the United States who hadn't seen his baby boy," she
said. "Our reforms made it possible for that father and son to finally
reunite."
"It felt like the start of something important," she said.
The Democratic-leaning crowd, many of them Cuban-Americans, responded
with enthusiasm.
Susy Ribero-Ayala, a criminal defense attorney in Coral Gables, hasn't
been to Cuba since her great uncle — the last democratically elected
president of the country — left the island.
Ribero-Ayala said she went from from "supporter" of Clinton to "major
supporter" after her speech, touting her mention of the need for
human-rights action in Cuba and the ease for American travel to the island.
"It is going to move away from the regime, and they're going to have no
choice but to adapt to the changes," Ribero-Ayala said.
On a patch of grass across from the auditorium, about 40 protesters came
to show just how much they disagree with Clinton's call to lift the
embargo. Students from FIU College Republicans and the Cuban Democratic
Directorate stood outside the auditorium waving flags.
Rey Anthony, a political science and Cuban studies major at FIU called
Clinton's visit "a slap in the face."
"To us it's an insult that Hillary Clinton has come to the heart of our
community at an institution that has opened its doors to so many exiles
to ask us to remove sanctions," Anthony said.
The third-generation Cuban American wants to one day be a professor,
just like the man who taught his Florida Politics course at FIU last
semester: Marco Rubio.
Source: Hillary Clinton in Miami: Lift the embargo against Cuba | Miami
Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/elections-2016/article29656990.html
Friday, July 31, 2015
A Chavez Supporter Denounces “The Castros’ Deception”
A Chavez Supporter Denounces "The Castros' Deception" / 14ymedio
Posted on July 30, 2015
14ymedio, Havana, 29 July 2015 — On June 30, 2015, the pro-Chávez
website Aporrea posted a disturbing testimonial about the Cuban
healthcare system, with a title that says it all: "Ninety Days in
Havana: You Have to be There to Know The Truth." The Venezuelan Nelson
Jesús Lanz Fuentes, a regular contributor to Aporrea, and a great admire
of Hugo Chávez, narrates the ordeal he went through first in his
country, and later in Havana, where he accompanied his son with the hope
that Cuban doctors could save his leg.
A traffic accident left the son of Lanz Fuentes, a resident of the
Venezuelan city of Guarenas, with severe injuries to one of his legs.
His tibia factured in three places and the doctors from Venezuela's
public health system inserted a plate in his leg to help regenerate the
bone. However, the operation caused an infection resulting in a terrible
diagnosis: infected pseudoartrosis and osteomyelitis of the right tibia,
and a dermoepidermal ulcer with bone exposure. Venezuelan doctors in
private practice recommended a very expensive treatment that did not
guarantee good results.
Lanz Fuentes, who in recent years has been very critical of Nicolás
Maduro's administration (which he accuses of false socialism) posted an
open letter to the President on Aporrea, complaining bitterly how
Venezuela dares call itself a socialist country when his son might lose
his leg "because of commercialized private healthcare and an ineffective
public health system."
In the same missive, he asked the Venezuelan government to give him
permission to exercise his right to travel with his son as stipulated in
the healthcare agreement between his country and Cuba because Lanz
Fuentes sincerely believed that "Cuba is the only country in the world
where the leg could be saved." He was convinced that "socialism only
really exists in Cuba, where every citizen receives free healthcare
regardless of medical condition."
Lanz Fuentes wish came true when on March 30, 2015 he flew to Havana,
after being "fast tracked" with the backing of a bureaucrat for the
Cuban–Venezuelan Healthcare Agreement.
Like all Venezuelans, Lanz Fuentes' son was sent to La Pradera
International Healthcare Center (built as tourist center at the
beginning of the century), which receives patients in accord with the
Cuban–Venezuelan agreement. From there, patients are dispersed to
different medical facilities according to their pathology. Upon being
diagnosed with acute osteomyelitis and infection of the tibia, Lanz
Fuentes's son was transferred to Havana's Frank País Orthopedic Hospital
where he was to undergo emergency surgery as per the Cuban doctors'
recommendation. The diagnosis was completely confirmed at the center,
but the urgency ended there.
Thirty days after being admitted, Lanz Fuentes' son had yet to be
operated on. His treatment was reduced to treating the infection with
antibiotics. The official rational was a lack of a bed in sterilized
room. After complaining for several days and promises broken, Lanz
Fuentes reports that a doctor finally confessed that "the truth is my
son will have to wait between three and five months. Foreigners who pay
in cash and in US dollars get preference."
Disillusioned, Lanz Fuentes admonished the doctor for his response, and
argued that the Venezuelan people already pay the Cuban government with
their oil. So since Cuba has incurred a debt of billions of dollars with
his country, Venezuelans should receive care first. Lanz Fuentes' angry
reaction resulted in his son being transferred to Havana's Fructuoso
Rodríguez Orthopedic Teaching Hospital in El Vedado.
"We spent 45 days locked up in a beautiful resort. We were allowed to
move around freely within the compound, but we could only leave it on
Saturdays, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM, and on Sundays from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
From Monday to Friday we were locked in there," protests Mr. Lanz as he
recalls the days he spent at La Pradera International Healthcare Center.
On top of being confined, Lanz Fuentes had to accept the fact that
patients who paid in cash and in U.S. dollars enjoyed priority over
Venezuelans, since their care was "free of charge."
But with all that, the worse was the "bill." Although he had been
assured in Venezuela that the agreement with Cuba guaranteed free
healthcare, Lanz Fuentes was charged for antibiotics, medications and
vitamins, as well as for all meals and hospitalizations. He was handed
two bills for US$7,800 each his son's expenses, and another one for
US$4,800 for his. Lanz Fuentes states: "What this means is that, for the
stays of all of us who turn to Cuba, the Cuban government is very well
compensated by its principal ally and pimp, our Venezuelan government."
It took just a few months in Cuba for Lanz Fuentes to fully understand
"the absolute truth about the current Cuban reality, all the lies that
the Maduro Government tells us about the Cuban government, and the
fantastic propaganda machine that the Castros use in order to keep
deceiving the rest of the world."
Translated by José Badué
Source: A Chavez Supporter Denounces "The Castros' Deception" / 14ymedio
| Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/a-chavez-supporter-denounces-the-castros-deception-14ymedio/
Posted on July 30, 2015
14ymedio, Havana, 29 July 2015 — On June 30, 2015, the pro-Chávez
website Aporrea posted a disturbing testimonial about the Cuban
healthcare system, with a title that says it all: "Ninety Days in
Havana: You Have to be There to Know The Truth." The Venezuelan Nelson
Jesús Lanz Fuentes, a regular contributor to Aporrea, and a great admire
of Hugo Chávez, narrates the ordeal he went through first in his
country, and later in Havana, where he accompanied his son with the hope
that Cuban doctors could save his leg.
A traffic accident left the son of Lanz Fuentes, a resident of the
Venezuelan city of Guarenas, with severe injuries to one of his legs.
His tibia factured in three places and the doctors from Venezuela's
public health system inserted a plate in his leg to help regenerate the
bone. However, the operation caused an infection resulting in a terrible
diagnosis: infected pseudoartrosis and osteomyelitis of the right tibia,
and a dermoepidermal ulcer with bone exposure. Venezuelan doctors in
private practice recommended a very expensive treatment that did not
guarantee good results.
Lanz Fuentes, who in recent years has been very critical of Nicolás
Maduro's administration (which he accuses of false socialism) posted an
open letter to the President on Aporrea, complaining bitterly how
Venezuela dares call itself a socialist country when his son might lose
his leg "because of commercialized private healthcare and an ineffective
public health system."
In the same missive, he asked the Venezuelan government to give him
permission to exercise his right to travel with his son as stipulated in
the healthcare agreement between his country and Cuba because Lanz
Fuentes sincerely believed that "Cuba is the only country in the world
where the leg could be saved." He was convinced that "socialism only
really exists in Cuba, where every citizen receives free healthcare
regardless of medical condition."
Lanz Fuentes wish came true when on March 30, 2015 he flew to Havana,
after being "fast tracked" with the backing of a bureaucrat for the
Cuban–Venezuelan Healthcare Agreement.
Like all Venezuelans, Lanz Fuentes' son was sent to La Pradera
International Healthcare Center (built as tourist center at the
beginning of the century), which receives patients in accord with the
Cuban–Venezuelan agreement. From there, patients are dispersed to
different medical facilities according to their pathology. Upon being
diagnosed with acute osteomyelitis and infection of the tibia, Lanz
Fuentes's son was transferred to Havana's Frank País Orthopedic Hospital
where he was to undergo emergency surgery as per the Cuban doctors'
recommendation. The diagnosis was completely confirmed at the center,
but the urgency ended there.
Thirty days after being admitted, Lanz Fuentes' son had yet to be
operated on. His treatment was reduced to treating the infection with
antibiotics. The official rational was a lack of a bed in sterilized
room. After complaining for several days and promises broken, Lanz
Fuentes reports that a doctor finally confessed that "the truth is my
son will have to wait between three and five months. Foreigners who pay
in cash and in US dollars get preference."
Disillusioned, Lanz Fuentes admonished the doctor for his response, and
argued that the Venezuelan people already pay the Cuban government with
their oil. So since Cuba has incurred a debt of billions of dollars with
his country, Venezuelans should receive care first. Lanz Fuentes' angry
reaction resulted in his son being transferred to Havana's Fructuoso
Rodríguez Orthopedic Teaching Hospital in El Vedado.
"We spent 45 days locked up in a beautiful resort. We were allowed to
move around freely within the compound, but we could only leave it on
Saturdays, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM, and on Sundays from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
From Monday to Friday we were locked in there," protests Mr. Lanz as he
recalls the days he spent at La Pradera International Healthcare Center.
On top of being confined, Lanz Fuentes had to accept the fact that
patients who paid in cash and in U.S. dollars enjoyed priority over
Venezuelans, since their care was "free of charge."
But with all that, the worse was the "bill." Although he had been
assured in Venezuela that the agreement with Cuba guaranteed free
healthcare, Lanz Fuentes was charged for antibiotics, medications and
vitamins, as well as for all meals and hospitalizations. He was handed
two bills for US$7,800 each his son's expenses, and another one for
US$4,800 for his. Lanz Fuentes states: "What this means is that, for the
stays of all of us who turn to Cuba, the Cuban government is very well
compensated by its principal ally and pimp, our Venezuelan government."
It took just a few months in Cuba for Lanz Fuentes to fully understand
"the absolute truth about the current Cuban reality, all the lies that
the Maduro Government tells us about the Cuban government, and the
fantastic propaganda machine that the Castros use in order to keep
deceiving the rest of the world."
Translated by José Badué
Source: A Chavez Supporter Denounces "The Castros' Deception" / 14ymedio
| Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/a-chavez-supporter-denounces-the-castros-deception-14ymedio/
Examination of the Latest Ministry of Public Health Crusade
Examination of the Latest Ministry of Public Health Crusade / Jeovany
Jimenez Vega
Posted on July 30, 2015
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 3 April 2015 — The gods of Olympus have spoken. In
their eyes we, miserable creatures, must simply obey and resign
ourselves to complying with their divine whims. I will try to translate
into the language of mortals the outrageous coercive measures ordered by
the Cuban government, through the Minister of Public Health, to try to
stem the current exodus of healthcare professionals. In the same order
in which they were set out, it would read something like this:
4. Stop the increase of individual contracts* in Angola: Because the
African country is forever indebted to Cuba since the 1980s war, it goes
without saying that it is obligated to comply with everything that
Havana orders. In other words: Cubans in Angola as cannon fodder, yes;
Cubans in Angola to work honestly, without being exploited by the Cuban
government, never.
5. Confiscate the official passports of all employees upon their arrival
at the airport: Here we have the Ministry of Health taking measures
that, apart from their obvious illegality, really belong under the
jurisdiction of the Directorate of Immigration of the Interior Ministry,
in Cuban Customs. This shows, if anyone still doubted, that in this
little country everything converges in a single, centralized, and
despotic power, which has no qualms about treating all of us, without
distinction, as common criminals.
6. Promote agreements with private clinics: Here we have that
slavery-promoting monster, the Distributor of Medical and Health
Services, trying to wrap its tentacles of control around each private
clinic in every country where Cuban doctors have decided to emancipate
themselves from its networks. This shows how sick and delusional its
obsession is to block the personal success of our professionals.
7. Review the interministerial agreements so they don't allow freedom of
contract: This proposal, which the leaders of Havana hope to establish
in half the world, covering both public and private institutions, is
nothing more than a subconscious reflection of what Cuban medical
missions have always been: a lucrative method of emotional blackmail.
That is, if I provide you with doctors at bargain prices, who are
willing to go into those dreaded favelas (off-limits even to the
police), exposed to dangers that your own doctors would never accept,
you are obligated to comply when I "renegotiate" with you the terms of
the contract.
8. Explicitly reflect the commitment of no individual hiring in the
individual agreement with the employee: This is actually nothing new.
Until now it has always been an uncompromising principle that not only
is individual hiring prohibited, but even something as simple as an
employee in a foreign country just talking with someone who is an actual
or suspected opponent of the "regime friend." Cuban employees will never
be allowed freedom of movement, such that they are prohibited from
leaving their assigned place even for something as nearby and ordinary
as shopping, for example, without the consent of their bosses—meaning
the political hitmen, who are officially and completely in control,
placed there by Cuban State Security.
10. Disqualify those who dare to disobey Caesar from practicing their
profession: The professionals who today work abroad, for wages far more
appropriate than they received in Cuba—including those on official
medical missions—are not willing to be used like toilet paper. It is
ridiculous to claim that there are only 211 cases countrywide of those
who decided to work outside Cuba "without authorization," when in fact
the number is in the thousands.
12. Deem the failure to comply with the requirement of giving advance
notice to terminate the employment relationship as a serious
disciplinary infraction: If there is some reason in this, then common
sense dictates that timely notice should be given of any decision to
abandon a certain place in order to timely look for a substitute. But
that raises the question—why have thousands of professionals refused to
comply with something so basic? Are we Cuban doctors so irresponsible?
Or is it that ultimately we cannot rely at all on the "goodwill" of our
leaders, after being subjected for many decades to all kinds of
arbitrariness, abuse, and despotism, and to our most basic needs being
ignored? Aren't these the same ministerial and governmental authorities
who for more than a decade applied the unprecedented policy that
required us to wait for more than five years if we wanted to travel
abroad, waiting for the "release" from our minister? Finally could it be
that these authorities no longer have any credibility in the eyes of
their workers? Here I recall the old saying of grandfather Liborio: when
there is revenge, there are no grievances.
13. Issue disqualification notices to workers who violate procedures for
leaving the country: Professionals who take the irrevocable personal
decision to work temporarily or permanently abroad, for wages far more
appropriate than those they receive in Cuba including those on official
medical missions—are not willing to be used like toilet paper.
14. Relocate those returning to Cuba after working abroad under an
individual contract to a lower-status position—never to the position
they originally occupied: The punishment, not as a vindicating end, but
as an inviolable fundamental principle, as the cardinal sign that never
fails in the mind of the despots. This section shows that those who
today are exporting as authentic their pretensions of "change" and
sweetened "reforms" remain the same miserable characters as always.
16 and 17. Organize, in conjunction with the Foreign Ministry, meetings
with the relevant foreign ambassadors in Havana, and direct the team
leaders and Cuban ambassadors in their respective countries to
discourage individual contracts: Once again they reveal the long
tentacles of the political mafia of Havana. Here we have the incredible
act of the Cuban government, through its Ministry of Health, taking an
openly interventionist position, dictating measures inside other
countries, trying to impose decisions about their healthcare policies.
It's a good thing that, with evil US imperialism interfering in the
internal politics of other countries, the immaculate Cuban Revolution is
there to stop it! Where would these poor people be without this greatest
Revolution of ours?
*Translator's note: A contract made directly between a host country and
a Cuban doctor, without payment to the Cuban government.
Source: Examination of the Latest Ministry of Public Health Crusade /
Jeovany Jimenez Vega | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/examination-of-the-latest-ministry-of-public-health-crusade-jeovany-jimenez-vega/
Jimenez Vega
Posted on July 30, 2015
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 3 April 2015 — The gods of Olympus have spoken. In
their eyes we, miserable creatures, must simply obey and resign
ourselves to complying with their divine whims. I will try to translate
into the language of mortals the outrageous coercive measures ordered by
the Cuban government, through the Minister of Public Health, to try to
stem the current exodus of healthcare professionals. In the same order
in which they were set out, it would read something like this:
4. Stop the increase of individual contracts* in Angola: Because the
African country is forever indebted to Cuba since the 1980s war, it goes
without saying that it is obligated to comply with everything that
Havana orders. In other words: Cubans in Angola as cannon fodder, yes;
Cubans in Angola to work honestly, without being exploited by the Cuban
government, never.
5. Confiscate the official passports of all employees upon their arrival
at the airport: Here we have the Ministry of Health taking measures
that, apart from their obvious illegality, really belong under the
jurisdiction of the Directorate of Immigration of the Interior Ministry,
in Cuban Customs. This shows, if anyone still doubted, that in this
little country everything converges in a single, centralized, and
despotic power, which has no qualms about treating all of us, without
distinction, as common criminals.
6. Promote agreements with private clinics: Here we have that
slavery-promoting monster, the Distributor of Medical and Health
Services, trying to wrap its tentacles of control around each private
clinic in every country where Cuban doctors have decided to emancipate
themselves from its networks. This shows how sick and delusional its
obsession is to block the personal success of our professionals.
7. Review the interministerial agreements so they don't allow freedom of
contract: This proposal, which the leaders of Havana hope to establish
in half the world, covering both public and private institutions, is
nothing more than a subconscious reflection of what Cuban medical
missions have always been: a lucrative method of emotional blackmail.
That is, if I provide you with doctors at bargain prices, who are
willing to go into those dreaded favelas (off-limits even to the
police), exposed to dangers that your own doctors would never accept,
you are obligated to comply when I "renegotiate" with you the terms of
the contract.
8. Explicitly reflect the commitment of no individual hiring in the
individual agreement with the employee: This is actually nothing new.
Until now it has always been an uncompromising principle that not only
is individual hiring prohibited, but even something as simple as an
employee in a foreign country just talking with someone who is an actual
or suspected opponent of the "regime friend." Cuban employees will never
be allowed freedom of movement, such that they are prohibited from
leaving their assigned place even for something as nearby and ordinary
as shopping, for example, without the consent of their bosses—meaning
the political hitmen, who are officially and completely in control,
placed there by Cuban State Security.
10. Disqualify those who dare to disobey Caesar from practicing their
profession: The professionals who today work abroad, for wages far more
appropriate than they received in Cuba—including those on official
medical missions—are not willing to be used like toilet paper. It is
ridiculous to claim that there are only 211 cases countrywide of those
who decided to work outside Cuba "without authorization," when in fact
the number is in the thousands.
12. Deem the failure to comply with the requirement of giving advance
notice to terminate the employment relationship as a serious
disciplinary infraction: If there is some reason in this, then common
sense dictates that timely notice should be given of any decision to
abandon a certain place in order to timely look for a substitute. But
that raises the question—why have thousands of professionals refused to
comply with something so basic? Are we Cuban doctors so irresponsible?
Or is it that ultimately we cannot rely at all on the "goodwill" of our
leaders, after being subjected for many decades to all kinds of
arbitrariness, abuse, and despotism, and to our most basic needs being
ignored? Aren't these the same ministerial and governmental authorities
who for more than a decade applied the unprecedented policy that
required us to wait for more than five years if we wanted to travel
abroad, waiting for the "release" from our minister? Finally could it be
that these authorities no longer have any credibility in the eyes of
their workers? Here I recall the old saying of grandfather Liborio: when
there is revenge, there are no grievances.
13. Issue disqualification notices to workers who violate procedures for
leaving the country: Professionals who take the irrevocable personal
decision to work temporarily or permanently abroad, for wages far more
appropriate than those they receive in Cuba including those on official
medical missions—are not willing to be used like toilet paper.
14. Relocate those returning to Cuba after working abroad under an
individual contract to a lower-status position—never to the position
they originally occupied: The punishment, not as a vindicating end, but
as an inviolable fundamental principle, as the cardinal sign that never
fails in the mind of the despots. This section shows that those who
today are exporting as authentic their pretensions of "change" and
sweetened "reforms" remain the same miserable characters as always.
16 and 17. Organize, in conjunction with the Foreign Ministry, meetings
with the relevant foreign ambassadors in Havana, and direct the team
leaders and Cuban ambassadors in their respective countries to
discourage individual contracts: Once again they reveal the long
tentacles of the political mafia of Havana. Here we have the incredible
act of the Cuban government, through its Ministry of Health, taking an
openly interventionist position, dictating measures inside other
countries, trying to impose decisions about their healthcare policies.
It's a good thing that, with evil US imperialism interfering in the
internal politics of other countries, the immaculate Cuban Revolution is
there to stop it! Where would these poor people be without this greatest
Revolution of ours?
*Translator's note: A contract made directly between a host country and
a Cuban doctor, without payment to the Cuban government.
Source: Examination of the Latest Ministry of Public Health Crusade /
Jeovany Jimenez Vega | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/examination-of-the-latest-ministry-of-public-health-crusade-jeovany-jimenez-vega/
Cuban migrants reach upscale Florida Keys
Cuban migrants reach upscale Florida Keys: report
AFP
Five Cuban migrants landed in an upscale town in the Florida Keys
earlier this week, after making the treacherous crossing in a rustic
open boat, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.
Alighting in Key Colony Beach before dawn on Tuesday, they accosted a
policeman and were turned over to US Customs and Border Protection for
processing.
"They were probably wet. You pretty much know they just got here,"
police chief Kris diGiovanni told the Herald.
"If they don't speak English and they don't have a car, you can pretty
much guess they're migrants."
Under US law, Cubans who make it to dry land are allowed to stay in the
United States. Those intercepted offshore are sent back to Cuba.
There has been a surge of Cubans attempting the dangerous crossing since
October, driven by fear that the US rapprochement with Havana may spell
the end of the special treatment.
According to the US Coast Guard, about 3,000 Cubans have tried to slip
into the country by sea since October.
The United States and Cuba this month restored full diplomatic relations
after more than 50 years as Cold War foes.
du/jm/dc
Source: Cuban migrants reach upscale Florida Keys: report - Yahoo News
India -
https://in.news.yahoo.com/cuban-migrants-reach-upscale-florida-154704184.html
AFP
Five Cuban migrants landed in an upscale town in the Florida Keys
earlier this week, after making the treacherous crossing in a rustic
open boat, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.
Alighting in Key Colony Beach before dawn on Tuesday, they accosted a
policeman and were turned over to US Customs and Border Protection for
processing.
"They were probably wet. You pretty much know they just got here,"
police chief Kris diGiovanni told the Herald.
"If they don't speak English and they don't have a car, you can pretty
much guess they're migrants."
Under US law, Cubans who make it to dry land are allowed to stay in the
United States. Those intercepted offshore are sent back to Cuba.
There has been a surge of Cubans attempting the dangerous crossing since
October, driven by fear that the US rapprochement with Havana may spell
the end of the special treatment.
According to the US Coast Guard, about 3,000 Cubans have tried to slip
into the country by sea since October.
The United States and Cuba this month restored full diplomatic relations
after more than 50 years as Cold War foes.
du/jm/dc
Source: Cuban migrants reach upscale Florida Keys: report - Yahoo News
India -
https://in.news.yahoo.com/cuban-migrants-reach-upscale-florida-154704184.html
How Will Cuba's Real Estate Market Adjust to a New Era?
How Will Cuba's Real Estate Market Adjust to a New Era?
Thursday, July 30, 2015, by Curbed Staff
"Come on, this is bullshit, this is for show, it can't actually be real."
When travel journalist Nick Watt was told that travelers to Havana's
Paseo del Prado could find not just snack vendors and tourists on the
famous promenade, but a thriving, open-air real estate market where
Cubans buy and sell homes, he was a bit incredulous. But as he
discovered during filming of his Travel Channel show Watt's World, the
promenade plays host to a key part of Cuba's nascent real estate market,
a recently unleashed aspect of capitalism in the socialist country that,
as relations with the United States normalize, opens up a host of
questions and possibilities.
"Consider real estate in the same way people look at classic cars on the
street here," he says. "People like me love Cuba, we think the cars held
together with Band-Aids and the old colonial buildings are amazing. But
once the money comes in, will Cubans want up-to-date buildings? In 20
years, will there be old, dilapidated buildings here?"
Watt's trip to the market provides just a small glimpse at a larger
shift happening in Cuban real estate. In 2011, Raúl Castro allowed his
countrymen to buy and sell real estate for the first time in decades,
revolutionizing a socialist system that previously only allowed citizens
to trade property, like for like. It set off a small boom in home
renovations, as well as interest in acquiring and fixing up potential
hotel properties that could house an influx of new tourists.
The prospect of a more open market, even incrementally so, raises the
possibility of massive foreign investment in prime beachfront real
estate and the country's classic housing stock. Currently, Americans can
invest by sending money to a Cuban relative or associate who acts as a
frontman, but legally the deed remains in the name of the Cuban buyer,
adding a degree of risk. A potentially bigger question around foreign
investment may be the right-of-return issue; Fidel seized all
foreign-owned property in 1962, and the U.S. government currently
estimates that American citizens and corporations may have up to $8
billion in property claims to sort out as relations normalize
So far, Castro has held strong to his decision to limit real estate
sales to Cubans only. Considering that a few years in, the market is
still in a bit of an embryonic stage, that makes sense.
The sea change in property law has also encouraged entrepreneurial activity.
Seizing the opportunity in Raul's policy shift, Sandra Arias Betancourt
decided to become a residential real estate agent in early 2013. Not
surprisingly, she believes Cuba's market is unlike any other. A lack of
regular internet access means information sources American buyers and
sellers use every day are non-existent, and only about half of sellers
feel the need to involve an agent. Most just place handmade signs
outside their property and negotiate themselves, Betancourt says. But
still, she sees a booming market and increased opportunity.
"The market has exploded, especially since the beginning of this year,"
she says. "We have a lot of people buying."
Right now, transactions are 95% cash, she says, and she takes a standard
five percent commission for any sales. To succeed, she says agents have
to understand the people and what they really want. She sees a day
coming soon when Americans will begin to buy more property.
"People have been sniffing around this for years," says Watt. "I was
being asked by my American friends 10 years ago to buy property. People
have been trying to find ways for years."
Tom Miller, author of Trading with the Enemy: A Yankee Travels through
Castro's Cuba and a writer who has made annual trips to Cuba since 1987,
also believes that Cubans are just starting to get a sense of how the
market functions. Its evident in new online property sites, such as
EspacioCuba.com, which are still in their early days (founder Yosuan
Crespo, a computer programmer, launched the site in 2012).
"There's a certain amount of speculation," says Miller, "but you need a
certain amount of funds to do that, and Cuba's not a country where
people have the money for that kind of investment. What people are
mostly talking about is foreign investment. You can buy things with a
frontman, and Cuban-Americans are already doing it, but the whole
phenomena hasn't played out yet."
Miller believes a few serious issues need to be resolved before
Americans are snapping up homes. The mortgage system in Cuba is
currently non-existent—it's all "cash on the barrelhead"—and Cuba needs
to push through planned reforms of its financial system (currently,
prices are listed in CUC, the Cuban Convertible peso unit). Both legally
and financially, it's impossible for foreigners, he says.
"Calling it a potential real estate gold rush is a little too
optimistic," he says. "It's still iffy as far as Cuban immigrants
purchasing land and homes. Maybe in five or ten years, Crespo could be
the man with a Century 21 Blazer."
Castro has said he'll be in office until 2018. Miller believes that with
the right financial and banking reforms, the Cuban market could open up
by then; the country's rate of reform will control the real estate
market. But who knows what happens when Raul leaves office, and if his
successor will follow the same policies? It's another one of the quirks
of business in Cuba.
"What's happened in Cuba since 1959 has never happened anywhere else,
and won't happen again," says Miller. "It's a totally unique situation."
Source: How Will Cuba's Real Estate Market Adjust to a New Era? - Curbed
National - Curbed SF -
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/30/how_will_cubas_real_estate_market_adjust_to_a_new_era.php
Thursday, July 30, 2015, by Curbed Staff
"Come on, this is bullshit, this is for show, it can't actually be real."
When travel journalist Nick Watt was told that travelers to Havana's
Paseo del Prado could find not just snack vendors and tourists on the
famous promenade, but a thriving, open-air real estate market where
Cubans buy and sell homes, he was a bit incredulous. But as he
discovered during filming of his Travel Channel show Watt's World, the
promenade plays host to a key part of Cuba's nascent real estate market,
a recently unleashed aspect of capitalism in the socialist country that,
as relations with the United States normalize, opens up a host of
questions and possibilities.
"Consider real estate in the same way people look at classic cars on the
street here," he says. "People like me love Cuba, we think the cars held
together with Band-Aids and the old colonial buildings are amazing. But
once the money comes in, will Cubans want up-to-date buildings? In 20
years, will there be old, dilapidated buildings here?"
Watt's trip to the market provides just a small glimpse at a larger
shift happening in Cuban real estate. In 2011, Raúl Castro allowed his
countrymen to buy and sell real estate for the first time in decades,
revolutionizing a socialist system that previously only allowed citizens
to trade property, like for like. It set off a small boom in home
renovations, as well as interest in acquiring and fixing up potential
hotel properties that could house an influx of new tourists.
The prospect of a more open market, even incrementally so, raises the
possibility of massive foreign investment in prime beachfront real
estate and the country's classic housing stock. Currently, Americans can
invest by sending money to a Cuban relative or associate who acts as a
frontman, but legally the deed remains in the name of the Cuban buyer,
adding a degree of risk. A potentially bigger question around foreign
investment may be the right-of-return issue; Fidel seized all
foreign-owned property in 1962, and the U.S. government currently
estimates that American citizens and corporations may have up to $8
billion in property claims to sort out as relations normalize
So far, Castro has held strong to his decision to limit real estate
sales to Cubans only. Considering that a few years in, the market is
still in a bit of an embryonic stage, that makes sense.
The sea change in property law has also encouraged entrepreneurial activity.
Seizing the opportunity in Raul's policy shift, Sandra Arias Betancourt
decided to become a residential real estate agent in early 2013. Not
surprisingly, she believes Cuba's market is unlike any other. A lack of
regular internet access means information sources American buyers and
sellers use every day are non-existent, and only about half of sellers
feel the need to involve an agent. Most just place handmade signs
outside their property and negotiate themselves, Betancourt says. But
still, she sees a booming market and increased opportunity.
"The market has exploded, especially since the beginning of this year,"
she says. "We have a lot of people buying."
Right now, transactions are 95% cash, she says, and she takes a standard
five percent commission for any sales. To succeed, she says agents have
to understand the people and what they really want. She sees a day
coming soon when Americans will begin to buy more property.
"People have been sniffing around this for years," says Watt. "I was
being asked by my American friends 10 years ago to buy property. People
have been trying to find ways for years."
Tom Miller, author of Trading with the Enemy: A Yankee Travels through
Castro's Cuba and a writer who has made annual trips to Cuba since 1987,
also believes that Cubans are just starting to get a sense of how the
market functions. Its evident in new online property sites, such as
EspacioCuba.com, which are still in their early days (founder Yosuan
Crespo, a computer programmer, launched the site in 2012).
"There's a certain amount of speculation," says Miller, "but you need a
certain amount of funds to do that, and Cuba's not a country where
people have the money for that kind of investment. What people are
mostly talking about is foreign investment. You can buy things with a
frontman, and Cuban-Americans are already doing it, but the whole
phenomena hasn't played out yet."
Miller believes a few serious issues need to be resolved before
Americans are snapping up homes. The mortgage system in Cuba is
currently non-existent—it's all "cash on the barrelhead"—and Cuba needs
to push through planned reforms of its financial system (currently,
prices are listed in CUC, the Cuban Convertible peso unit). Both legally
and financially, it's impossible for foreigners, he says.
"Calling it a potential real estate gold rush is a little too
optimistic," he says. "It's still iffy as far as Cuban immigrants
purchasing land and homes. Maybe in five or ten years, Crespo could be
the man with a Century 21 Blazer."
Castro has said he'll be in office until 2018. Miller believes that with
the right financial and banking reforms, the Cuban market could open up
by then; the country's rate of reform will control the real estate
market. But who knows what happens when Raul leaves office, and if his
successor will follow the same policies? It's another one of the quirks
of business in Cuba.
"What's happened in Cuba since 1959 has never happened anywhere else,
and won't happen again," says Miller. "It's a totally unique situation."
Source: How Will Cuba's Real Estate Market Adjust to a New Era? - Curbed
National - Curbed SF -
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/30/how_will_cubas_real_estate_market_adjust_to_a_new_era.php
Congressman calls for extradition of alleged murderer Charlie Hill from Cuba
Congressman calls for extradition of alleged murderer Charlie Hill from Cuba
By Candace Hopkins
Published: July 30, 2015, 7:23 pm
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE)- He's accused of killing a New Mexico State Police
Officer, then hijacking a plane from the Sunport and fleeing to Cuba.
Now a California lawmaker, with personal ties to the incident, wants
Charlie Hill back in the U.S.
Hill was granted asylum by the Cuban government in 1971. This past
winter, as relations with that government started to thaw, Governor
Martinez called for his extradition. Now California Congressman Jerry
McNerney is doing the same.
It has been 43 long years but California Congressman and Albuquerque
native, Jerry McNerney, says that November day is one he will never forget.
"They just walked in with guns and took control of the airplane", said
McNerney.
They were Charlie Hill, Michael Finney and Ralph Goodwin. McNerney was
just 20-year-old at the time of the hijacking from Albuquerque's
Sunport. The passengers were flown to Tampa and let off the plane. The
crew was forced to fly the TWA jet to Havana.
McNerney said, "Even though no one was harmed I think the potential for
that mass of people dying was there, so, we don't want to say in any way
shape or form that we would condone or let that sort of thing go."
In the spirit of not letting go, McNerney is the latest leader to call
for Hill's extradition, to face charges for the hijacking and the murder
of State Police Officer Robert Rosenbloom. Suspects Finney and Goodwin
have since died in Cuba. Only Hill remains a fugitive from New Mexico
justice.
Last week, Congressman McNerney wrote Secretary of State John Kerry
urging the administration to compel Cuba to extradite Hill.
"You may or may not consider that terrorist activity but it certainly is
grave criminal behavior that needs to be brought to justice", said McNerney.
McNerney says now that relations have been re-established with Cuba, he
hopes the extradition can finally become reality.
McNerney said, "I think the Secretary of State should make that an
important part of the agenda, that we establish extradition."
Hill's attorney says the Congressman's letter condemns Hill as a "cop
killer" and he says it is inappropriate for McNerney, a witness to the
hijacking, to be speaking out about it before giving testimony.
State Police Chief Pete Kassetas has also called for Hill's extradition.
He even said he would personally pay for his return.
Source: Congressman calls for extradition of alleged murderer Charlie
Hill from Cuba | KRQE News 13 -
http://krqe.com/2015/07/30/congressman-calls-for-extradition-of-alleged-murderer-charlie-hill-from-cuba/
By Candace Hopkins
Published: July 30, 2015, 7:23 pm
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE)- He's accused of killing a New Mexico State Police
Officer, then hijacking a plane from the Sunport and fleeing to Cuba.
Now a California lawmaker, with personal ties to the incident, wants
Charlie Hill back in the U.S.
Hill was granted asylum by the Cuban government in 1971. This past
winter, as relations with that government started to thaw, Governor
Martinez called for his extradition. Now California Congressman Jerry
McNerney is doing the same.
It has been 43 long years but California Congressman and Albuquerque
native, Jerry McNerney, says that November day is one he will never forget.
"They just walked in with guns and took control of the airplane", said
McNerney.
They were Charlie Hill, Michael Finney and Ralph Goodwin. McNerney was
just 20-year-old at the time of the hijacking from Albuquerque's
Sunport. The passengers were flown to Tampa and let off the plane. The
crew was forced to fly the TWA jet to Havana.
McNerney said, "Even though no one was harmed I think the potential for
that mass of people dying was there, so, we don't want to say in any way
shape or form that we would condone or let that sort of thing go."
In the spirit of not letting go, McNerney is the latest leader to call
for Hill's extradition, to face charges for the hijacking and the murder
of State Police Officer Robert Rosenbloom. Suspects Finney and Goodwin
have since died in Cuba. Only Hill remains a fugitive from New Mexico
justice.
Last week, Congressman McNerney wrote Secretary of State John Kerry
urging the administration to compel Cuba to extradite Hill.
"You may or may not consider that terrorist activity but it certainly is
grave criminal behavior that needs to be brought to justice", said McNerney.
McNerney says now that relations have been re-established with Cuba, he
hopes the extradition can finally become reality.
McNerney said, "I think the Secretary of State should make that an
important part of the agenda, that we establish extradition."
Hill's attorney says the Congressman's letter condemns Hill as a "cop
killer" and he says it is inappropriate for McNerney, a witness to the
hijacking, to be speaking out about it before giving testimony.
State Police Chief Pete Kassetas has also called for Hill's extradition.
He even said he would personally pay for his return.
Source: Congressman calls for extradition of alleged murderer Charlie
Hill from Cuba | KRQE News 13 -
http://krqe.com/2015/07/30/congressman-calls-for-extradition-of-alleged-murderer-charlie-hill-from-cuba/
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