Cuba's efforts to control capitalism won't end well
Bloomberg
This has been a year of new possibilities for Cuba. Even with the U.S.
embargo still in place, the restoration of diplomatic ties has injected
the socialist redoubt of Fidel and Raul Castro with energy and hope --
not to mention tourists bearing dollars and euros. As things stand,
though, hopes for a Cuban economic miracle are likely to remain just that.
True, the economy grew by almost 5 percent in the first half of this
year, a big improvement over last year's 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, U.S.
companies are prospecting. As the shadow of U.S. sanctions recedes,
investors from Asia, Latin America, and old and new Europe are looking, too.
The trouble is, here's what they find: a state that ring- fences the
choicest investment opportunities; frowns on majority ownership; is slow
to approve new ventures; controls the hiring, firing, and payment of
workers and the distribution of agricultural and other goods; and
reserves the right to expropriate businesses as it sees fit. Recent
reforms have allowed some Cubans to start certain kinds of small
businesses - - a dramatic change by the island's impressive standards of
economic repression. But the Cuban state has hardly gone pro-
enterprise. Or pro-freedom, for that matter: Its political repression
continues mostly unchecked.
Could there be such a thing as "capitalism with Cuban characteristics"?
That might be the hope of Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas, the
Cuban army general who runs the state-owned conglomerate controlling
more than half of Cuba's economy, from hotels and gas stations to rental
car fleets and container ports. If you're hoping to do business in Cuba,
he's likely to be your partner, as an article in this month's Bloomberg
Markets makes clear. Yet the general is mistaken. In the end, you can
have capitalism or Cuban characteristics, but not both.
No doubt, the lifting of the U.S. embargo would help to liberalize the
economy, partly by making the gains of liberalization bigger, and faster
to arrive. But real change depends on a sudden access of wisdom on the
part of a vacillating and sclerotic one-party state facing a major
leadership transition when Raul Castro steps down in 2018.
Without radical reform, Cuba will struggle to avoid further stagnation.
Its state-owned enterprises are uncompetitive and burdened with bloated
payrolls. To make things worse, a demographic challenge looms: Cuba's
population is the second- oldest in the hemisphere. Cigars, beaches, and
charming old Chevrolets won't suffice to lure $2.5 billion a year in
foreign investment -- Cuba's stated goal, and a small fraction, by the
way, of what it really needs.
The full reform agenda is daunting, but Cuba could do one smart thing
quickly. The government should finally abandon the country's dual
currency system, which forces its best and brightest to moonlight as
taxi drivers to earn hard currency, cloaks the inefficiency of state
enterprises, and makes it harder for foreign investors to do business.
The regime has repeatedly punted on its time frame for unifying the
peso. Will Raul Castro fulfill a pledge to do so before next spring's
big party congress? If he does, a tentative Cuba libre would be in order.
For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view
Source: Cuba's efforts to control capitalism won't end well - Chicago
Tribune -
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-bg-editorial-cuba-74e18f3e-676f-11e5-bdb6-6861f4521205-20150930-story.html
Thursday, October 1, 2015
U.S. welfare flows to Cuba
U.S. welfare flows to Cuba
"They're taking benefits from the American taxpayer to subsidize their
life in another country."
By Sally Kestin, Megan O'Matz and John Maines with Tracey Eaton in Cuba
Cuban immigrants are cashing in on U.S. welfare and returning to the
island, making a mockery of the decades-old premise that they are
refugees fleeing persecution at home.
Some stay for months at a time — and the U.S. government keeps paying.
Cubans' unique access to food stamps, disability money and other welfare
is meant to help them build new lives in America. Yet these days, it's
helping some finance their lives on the communist island.
America's open-ended generosity has grown into an entitlement that
exceeds $680 million a year and is exploited with ease. No agency tracks
the scope of the abuse, but a Sun Sentinel investigation found evidence
suggesting it is widespread.
Fed-up Floridians are reporting their neighbors and relatives for
accepting government aid while shuttling back and forth to the island,
selling goods in Cuba, and leaving their benefit cards in the U.S. for
others to use while they are away.
Some don't come back at all. The U.S. has continued to deposit welfare
checks for as long as two years after the recipients moved back to Cuba
for good, federal officials confirmed.
Regulations prohibit welfare recipients from collecting or using U.S.
benefits in another country. But on the streets of Hialeah, the first
stop for many new arrivals, shopkeepers like Miguel Veloso hear about it
all the time.
Veloso, a barber who has been in the U.S. three years, said recent
immigrants on welfare talk of spending considerable time in Cuba — six
months there, two months here. "You come and go before benefits expire,"
he said.
State Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah says it's a "slap in the face" to
Americans for Cubans to collect aid as refugees then return to the island.
State Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah hears it too, from constituents in
his heavily Cuban-American district, who tell of flaunting their aid
money on visits to the island. The money, he said, "is definitely not to
be used … to go have a great old time back in the country that was
supposed to be oppressing you."
The sense of entitlement is so ingrained that Cubans routinely
complained to their local congressman about the challenge of accessing
U.S. aid — from Cuba.
"A family member would come into our office and say another family
member isn't receiving his benefits," said Javier Correoso, aide to
former Miami Rep. David Rivera. "We'd say, 'Where is he?' They'd say,
'He's in Cuba and isn't coming back for six months.'"
"They're taking benefits from the American taxpayer to subsidize their
life in another country.'"
One woman told Miami immigration attorney Grisel Ybarra that her
grandmother and two great aunts came to Florida, got approved for
benefits, opened bank accounts and returned to Cuba. Month after month,
the woman cashed their government checks — about $2,400 each time —
sending half to the women in Cuba and keeping the rest.
When a welfare agency questioned the elderly ladies' whereabouts this
summer, the woman turned to Ybarra, a Cuban American. She told Ybarra
her grandmother refused to come back, saying: "With the money you sent
me, I bought a home and am really happy in Cuba."
Cubans on the island, Ybarra said, have a name for U.S. aid.
They call it "la ayuda." The help.
Special status abused
Increasing openness and travel between the two countries have made the
welfare entitlement harder to justify and easier to abuse. But few
charges have been brought, and Congress and the Obama Administration
have failed to address the problem even as the United States moves
toward détente with Cuba.
Cubans' extraordinary access to U.S. welfare rests on two pillars of
special treatment: the ease with which they are admitted to the country,
and America's generosity in granting them public support.
Cubans are allowed into the U.S. even if they arrive without permission
and are quickly granted permanent residency under the 1966 Cuban
Adjustment Act. They're assumed to be refugees without having to prove
persecution.
They're immediately eligible for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and
Supplemental Security Income or SSI, cash assistance for impoverished
seniors and disabled younger people.
Most other immigrants are barred from collecting aid for their first
five years. Those here illegally are not eligible at all.
The Sun Sentinel analyzed state and federal data to determine the annual
cost of taxpayer support for Cuban immigrants: at least $680 million. In
Florida alone, costs for welfare, food stamps and refugee cash have
increased 23 percent since 2011, the last year data was available.
Not all Cubans receive government help. Those arriving on visas are
ineligible, and some rely on family support. And many who receive aid do
so for just a short time until they settle in, as the U.S. intended.
Cubans over time have become one of the most successful immigrant groups
in America.
"They come to the U.S. to work and make a living for their family," said
Jose Alvarez, a Cuba native and city commissioner in Kissimmee. "I don't
believe that they come thinking the government will support them."
But some take advantage of the easy money — and then go back and forth
to Cuba.
A public housing tenant in Hialeah, who was receiving food stamps and
SSI payments for a disabled son, frequently traveled to Cuba to sell
food there, records show. She admitted to a city housing investigator in
2012 that she "makes $700 in two months just in the sales to Cuba."
Another man receiving food stamps admitted to state officials "that he
was living in Cuba much of 2015."
A recent arrival with a chronic illness got Medicaid coverage and turned
to attorney David Batchelder of Miami to help him get SSI as well. But
the man was "going back and forth to Cuba" so much that Batchelder
eventually dropped the case. "It was just another benefit he was
applying for."
Concerns about Cubans exploiting the aid are especially troubling to
exiles who came to this country decades ago and built new lives and
careers here.
Dr. Noel Fernandez recalls the assistance his family received from
friends and the U.S. government when they immigrated 20 years ago, help
that enabled him to find work as a landscaper, learn English and
complete his medical studies. Now medical director of Citrus Health
Network in Hialeah, Fernandez sees Cuban immigrants collecting benefits
and going back, including three elderly patients who recently left the
U.S. for good.
"They got Medicaid, they got everything, and they returned to Cuba," he
said. "I see people that said they were refugees [from] Cuba and they
return the next year."
State officials have received complaints about Cubans collecting aid
while repeatedly going to Cuba or working as mules ferrying cash and
goods, a common way of financing travel to the island.
Another way of paying for the trips: cheating. Like other welfare
recipients, some Cubans work under the table or put assets in others'
names to appear poor enough to meet the programs' income limits,
according to records and interviews. Some married couples qualify for
more money as single people by concealing marriages performed in Cuba,
where the U.S. can't access records.
"Stop the fraud please!" one person urged in a complaint to the state.
Another pleaded with authorities to check airport departure records for
a woman suspected of hiding income. "It would show how many times she
has traveled to Cuba."
Florida officials typically dismissed the complaints for lack of
information, because names didn't match their records or because the
allegations didn't involve violations of eligibility rules. Travel
abroad is not expressly prohibited, but benefits are supposed to be used
for basic necessities within the U.S.
"Our congressional folks should be looking at this," said Miami-Dade
County Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr., a Cuban American. "There could be
millions and millions of dollars in fraud going on here."
Money to Cuba
Accessing benefits from Cuba typically requires a U.S. bank account and
a willing relative or friend stateside. Food stamps and welfare are
issued monthly through a debit-type card, and SSI payments are deposited
into a bank account or onto a MasterCard.
A joint account holder with a PIN number can withdraw the money and wire
it to Cuba. Another option: entrust the money to a friend traveling to Cuba.
Roberto Pizano of Tampa, a political prisoner in Cuba for 18 years, said
he worked two jobs when he arrived in the U.S. in 1979 and never
accepted government help. He now sees immigrants "abusing the system."
"I know people who come to the U.S., apply for SSI and never worked in
the USA," he said. They "move back to Cuba and are living off of the
hard-earned taxpayer dollars."
He said family friend Gilberto Reyno got disability money from the U.S.
and renovated a house in Cuba. The Sun Sentinel found Reyno living in
that house in Camaguey, Cuba. He said he was no longer receiving
disability, but Pizano and another person familiar with the situation
said the payments continue to be deposited into a U.S. bank account. The
Social Security Administration would not comment, citing privacy
concerns, but is investigating.
Federal investigators have found the same scenario in other cases.
A 2012 complaint alleged a 75-year-old woman had moved to Camaguey two
years earlier and a relative was withdrawing her SSI money from a bank
account and sending it to her. Social Security stopped payments, but not
before nearly $16,000 had been deposited into her account.
Another recipient went to Cuba on vacation and stayed, leaving his debit
card with a relative. Social Security continued his SSI payments for
another six months — $4,000 total — before an anonymous caller reported
he had gone back to Cuba.
One woman reportedly moved to Cuba in 2010 and died three years later,
while still receiving SSI and food stamps, according to a 2014 tip to
Florida welfare fraud investigators. A state official couldn't find her
at her Hialeah home, cut off the food stamps and alerted the federal
government.
Former congressman Rivera tried to curb abuses with a bill that would
have revoked the legal status of Cubans who returned to the island
before they became citizens.
"Public assistance is meant to help Cuban refugees settle in the U.S.,"
Mauricio Claver-Carone of Cuba Democracy Advocates testified in a 2012
hearing on the bill. "However, many non-refugee Cubans currently use
these benefits, which can average more than $1,000 per month, to
immediately travel back to the island, where the average income is $20
per month, and comfortably reside there for months at a time on the
taxpayer's dime."
Rivera recently told the Sun Sentinel that he interviewed welfare
workers, Cubans in Miami and passengers waiting for charter flights to
Havana. He said he found overwhelming evidence of benefits money going
back, especially after the U.S. eased travel restrictions in 2009.
The back and forth undermines the rationale that Cubans are refugees
fleeing an oppressive government, Rivera said. And when they return for
visits, they boast of the money that's available in the U.S., he said.
"They all say, 'It's great. I got free housing. I got free food. I get
my medicine.' "
Five Cubans interviewed by the Sun Sentinel in Havana said they were
aware of the assistance and knew of Cubans who had gone to America and
quickly began sending money back. Two said they believed it was U.S.
government aid.
"I don't think it's correct, but everyone does it for the well-being of
their family," said one woman, Susana, who declined to give her last name.
Outside welfare offices in Hialeah, the Sun Sentinel found Cuban
immigrants who had arrived as recently as three days earlier, applying
for benefits. They said family and friends told them about the aid
before they left Cuba.
"Back in the '60s, when you came in, they told you the factory that was
hiring," said Nidia Diaz of Miami, a former bail bondswoman who was born
in Cuba. "Now, they tell you the closest Department of Children and
Families [office] so you can go and apply."
Crooks collect in Cuba
Miami bail bondswoman Barbara Pozo said many of her Cuban clients talk
openly about living in Cuba and collecting monthly disability checks,
courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.
"They just come here to pick up the money," Pozo said. "They pretend
they're disabled. They just pretend they're crazy."
SSI payments, for those who cannot work due to mental or physical
disabilities, go up to $733 a month for an individual. Most other new
immigrants are ineligible until they become U.S. citizens.
Some Cubans try to build a case for SSI by claiming trauma from their
life under an oppressive government or the 90-mile crossing to Florida.
Diaz, the former bondswoman, said she has heard Cuban clients talk about
qualifying: "'Tell them that you have emotional problems. How did you
get these problems? Well, trying to get here from Cuba.'"
Antonio Comin collected disability while organizing missions to smuggle
Cubans to Florida, including one launched from a house in the Keys,
federal prosecutors said. Comin claimed he rented the home to celebrate
his birthday — after receiving his government check.
Casimiro Martinez was receiving a monthly check for a mental disability
— but his mind was sound enough to launder more than $1 million stolen
from Medicare. Martinez was arrested at Miami International Airport
after returning from a trip to Cuba.
Government disability programs are vulnerable to fraud, particularly
SSI, with applicants faking or exaggerating symptoms. Some view SSI as
"money waiting to be taken," said John Webb, a federal prosecutor in
Tennessee who has handled fraud cases.
While benefits are supposed to be suspended for recipients who leave the
United States for more than 30 days, the government relies on people to
self-report those absences, and federal audits have found widespread
violations.
The government could significantly reduce abuses by matching
international travel records to SSI payments, auditors have recommended
since 2003. The Social Security Administration and Department of
Homeland Security are still trying to work out a data sharing agreement
— 12 years later.
Jose Caragol, a Hialeah city councilman and Havana native, said aid for
Cubans "was meant to assist those who were persecuted and want a new
life. The bleeding has to stop."
El Sentinel staff writer Aurelio Moreno and photojournalist Taimy
Alvarez contributed to this report.
Design and development by Yiran Zhu.
To reach reporter Sally Kestin, email skestin@tribpub.com or call
954-356-4510.
To reach reporter Megan O'Matz, email momatz@tribpub.com or call
954-356-4518.
Source: U.S. welfare flows to Cuba - Sun Sentinel -
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/us-cuba-welfare-benefits/sfl-us-cuba-welfare-benefits-part-1-htmlstory.html
"They're taking benefits from the American taxpayer to subsidize their
life in another country."
By Sally Kestin, Megan O'Matz and John Maines with Tracey Eaton in Cuba
Cuban immigrants are cashing in on U.S. welfare and returning to the
island, making a mockery of the decades-old premise that they are
refugees fleeing persecution at home.
Some stay for months at a time — and the U.S. government keeps paying.
Cubans' unique access to food stamps, disability money and other welfare
is meant to help them build new lives in America. Yet these days, it's
helping some finance their lives on the communist island.
America's open-ended generosity has grown into an entitlement that
exceeds $680 million a year and is exploited with ease. No agency tracks
the scope of the abuse, but a Sun Sentinel investigation found evidence
suggesting it is widespread.
Fed-up Floridians are reporting their neighbors and relatives for
accepting government aid while shuttling back and forth to the island,
selling goods in Cuba, and leaving their benefit cards in the U.S. for
others to use while they are away.
Some don't come back at all. The U.S. has continued to deposit welfare
checks for as long as two years after the recipients moved back to Cuba
for good, federal officials confirmed.
Regulations prohibit welfare recipients from collecting or using U.S.
benefits in another country. But on the streets of Hialeah, the first
stop for many new arrivals, shopkeepers like Miguel Veloso hear about it
all the time.
Veloso, a barber who has been in the U.S. three years, said recent
immigrants on welfare talk of spending considerable time in Cuba — six
months there, two months here. "You come and go before benefits expire,"
he said.
State Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah says it's a "slap in the face" to
Americans for Cubans to collect aid as refugees then return to the island.
State Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah hears it too, from constituents in
his heavily Cuban-American district, who tell of flaunting their aid
money on visits to the island. The money, he said, "is definitely not to
be used … to go have a great old time back in the country that was
supposed to be oppressing you."
The sense of entitlement is so ingrained that Cubans routinely
complained to their local congressman about the challenge of accessing
U.S. aid — from Cuba.
"A family member would come into our office and say another family
member isn't receiving his benefits," said Javier Correoso, aide to
former Miami Rep. David Rivera. "We'd say, 'Where is he?' They'd say,
'He's in Cuba and isn't coming back for six months.'"
"They're taking benefits from the American taxpayer to subsidize their
life in another country.'"
One woman told Miami immigration attorney Grisel Ybarra that her
grandmother and two great aunts came to Florida, got approved for
benefits, opened bank accounts and returned to Cuba. Month after month,
the woman cashed their government checks — about $2,400 each time —
sending half to the women in Cuba and keeping the rest.
When a welfare agency questioned the elderly ladies' whereabouts this
summer, the woman turned to Ybarra, a Cuban American. She told Ybarra
her grandmother refused to come back, saying: "With the money you sent
me, I bought a home and am really happy in Cuba."
Cubans on the island, Ybarra said, have a name for U.S. aid.
They call it "la ayuda." The help.
Special status abused
Increasing openness and travel between the two countries have made the
welfare entitlement harder to justify and easier to abuse. But few
charges have been brought, and Congress and the Obama Administration
have failed to address the problem even as the United States moves
toward détente with Cuba.
Cubans' extraordinary access to U.S. welfare rests on two pillars of
special treatment: the ease with which they are admitted to the country,
and America's generosity in granting them public support.
Cubans are allowed into the U.S. even if they arrive without permission
and are quickly granted permanent residency under the 1966 Cuban
Adjustment Act. They're assumed to be refugees without having to prove
persecution.
They're immediately eligible for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and
Supplemental Security Income or SSI, cash assistance for impoverished
seniors and disabled younger people.
Most other immigrants are barred from collecting aid for their first
five years. Those here illegally are not eligible at all.
The Sun Sentinel analyzed state and federal data to determine the annual
cost of taxpayer support for Cuban immigrants: at least $680 million. In
Florida alone, costs for welfare, food stamps and refugee cash have
increased 23 percent since 2011, the last year data was available.
Not all Cubans receive government help. Those arriving on visas are
ineligible, and some rely on family support. And many who receive aid do
so for just a short time until they settle in, as the U.S. intended.
Cubans over time have become one of the most successful immigrant groups
in America.
"They come to the U.S. to work and make a living for their family," said
Jose Alvarez, a Cuba native and city commissioner in Kissimmee. "I don't
believe that they come thinking the government will support them."
But some take advantage of the easy money — and then go back and forth
to Cuba.
A public housing tenant in Hialeah, who was receiving food stamps and
SSI payments for a disabled son, frequently traveled to Cuba to sell
food there, records show. She admitted to a city housing investigator in
2012 that she "makes $700 in two months just in the sales to Cuba."
Another man receiving food stamps admitted to state officials "that he
was living in Cuba much of 2015."
A recent arrival with a chronic illness got Medicaid coverage and turned
to attorney David Batchelder of Miami to help him get SSI as well. But
the man was "going back and forth to Cuba" so much that Batchelder
eventually dropped the case. "It was just another benefit he was
applying for."
Concerns about Cubans exploiting the aid are especially troubling to
exiles who came to this country decades ago and built new lives and
careers here.
Dr. Noel Fernandez recalls the assistance his family received from
friends and the U.S. government when they immigrated 20 years ago, help
that enabled him to find work as a landscaper, learn English and
complete his medical studies. Now medical director of Citrus Health
Network in Hialeah, Fernandez sees Cuban immigrants collecting benefits
and going back, including three elderly patients who recently left the
U.S. for good.
"They got Medicaid, they got everything, and they returned to Cuba," he
said. "I see people that said they were refugees [from] Cuba and they
return the next year."
State officials have received complaints about Cubans collecting aid
while repeatedly going to Cuba or working as mules ferrying cash and
goods, a common way of financing travel to the island.
Another way of paying for the trips: cheating. Like other welfare
recipients, some Cubans work under the table or put assets in others'
names to appear poor enough to meet the programs' income limits,
according to records and interviews. Some married couples qualify for
more money as single people by concealing marriages performed in Cuba,
where the U.S. can't access records.
"Stop the fraud please!" one person urged in a complaint to the state.
Another pleaded with authorities to check airport departure records for
a woman suspected of hiding income. "It would show how many times she
has traveled to Cuba."
Florida officials typically dismissed the complaints for lack of
information, because names didn't match their records or because the
allegations didn't involve violations of eligibility rules. Travel
abroad is not expressly prohibited, but benefits are supposed to be used
for basic necessities within the U.S.
"Our congressional folks should be looking at this," said Miami-Dade
County Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr., a Cuban American. "There could be
millions and millions of dollars in fraud going on here."
Money to Cuba
Accessing benefits from Cuba typically requires a U.S. bank account and
a willing relative or friend stateside. Food stamps and welfare are
issued monthly through a debit-type card, and SSI payments are deposited
into a bank account or onto a MasterCard.
A joint account holder with a PIN number can withdraw the money and wire
it to Cuba. Another option: entrust the money to a friend traveling to Cuba.
Roberto Pizano of Tampa, a political prisoner in Cuba for 18 years, said
he worked two jobs when he arrived in the U.S. in 1979 and never
accepted government help. He now sees immigrants "abusing the system."
"I know people who come to the U.S., apply for SSI and never worked in
the USA," he said. They "move back to Cuba and are living off of the
hard-earned taxpayer dollars."
He said family friend Gilberto Reyno got disability money from the U.S.
and renovated a house in Cuba. The Sun Sentinel found Reyno living in
that house in Camaguey, Cuba. He said he was no longer receiving
disability, but Pizano and another person familiar with the situation
said the payments continue to be deposited into a U.S. bank account. The
Social Security Administration would not comment, citing privacy
concerns, but is investigating.
Federal investigators have found the same scenario in other cases.
A 2012 complaint alleged a 75-year-old woman had moved to Camaguey two
years earlier and a relative was withdrawing her SSI money from a bank
account and sending it to her. Social Security stopped payments, but not
before nearly $16,000 had been deposited into her account.
Another recipient went to Cuba on vacation and stayed, leaving his debit
card with a relative. Social Security continued his SSI payments for
another six months — $4,000 total — before an anonymous caller reported
he had gone back to Cuba.
One woman reportedly moved to Cuba in 2010 and died three years later,
while still receiving SSI and food stamps, according to a 2014 tip to
Florida welfare fraud investigators. A state official couldn't find her
at her Hialeah home, cut off the food stamps and alerted the federal
government.
Former congressman Rivera tried to curb abuses with a bill that would
have revoked the legal status of Cubans who returned to the island
before they became citizens.
"Public assistance is meant to help Cuban refugees settle in the U.S.,"
Mauricio Claver-Carone of Cuba Democracy Advocates testified in a 2012
hearing on the bill. "However, many non-refugee Cubans currently use
these benefits, which can average more than $1,000 per month, to
immediately travel back to the island, where the average income is $20
per month, and comfortably reside there for months at a time on the
taxpayer's dime."
Rivera recently told the Sun Sentinel that he interviewed welfare
workers, Cubans in Miami and passengers waiting for charter flights to
Havana. He said he found overwhelming evidence of benefits money going
back, especially after the U.S. eased travel restrictions in 2009.
The back and forth undermines the rationale that Cubans are refugees
fleeing an oppressive government, Rivera said. And when they return for
visits, they boast of the money that's available in the U.S., he said.
"They all say, 'It's great. I got free housing. I got free food. I get
my medicine.' "
Five Cubans interviewed by the Sun Sentinel in Havana said they were
aware of the assistance and knew of Cubans who had gone to America and
quickly began sending money back. Two said they believed it was U.S.
government aid.
"I don't think it's correct, but everyone does it for the well-being of
their family," said one woman, Susana, who declined to give her last name.
Outside welfare offices in Hialeah, the Sun Sentinel found Cuban
immigrants who had arrived as recently as three days earlier, applying
for benefits. They said family and friends told them about the aid
before they left Cuba.
"Back in the '60s, when you came in, they told you the factory that was
hiring," said Nidia Diaz of Miami, a former bail bondswoman who was born
in Cuba. "Now, they tell you the closest Department of Children and
Families [office] so you can go and apply."
Crooks collect in Cuba
Miami bail bondswoman Barbara Pozo said many of her Cuban clients talk
openly about living in Cuba and collecting monthly disability checks,
courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.
"They just come here to pick up the money," Pozo said. "They pretend
they're disabled. They just pretend they're crazy."
SSI payments, for those who cannot work due to mental or physical
disabilities, go up to $733 a month for an individual. Most other new
immigrants are ineligible until they become U.S. citizens.
Some Cubans try to build a case for SSI by claiming trauma from their
life under an oppressive government or the 90-mile crossing to Florida.
Diaz, the former bondswoman, said she has heard Cuban clients talk about
qualifying: "'Tell them that you have emotional problems. How did you
get these problems? Well, trying to get here from Cuba.'"
Antonio Comin collected disability while organizing missions to smuggle
Cubans to Florida, including one launched from a house in the Keys,
federal prosecutors said. Comin claimed he rented the home to celebrate
his birthday — after receiving his government check.
Casimiro Martinez was receiving a monthly check for a mental disability
— but his mind was sound enough to launder more than $1 million stolen
from Medicare. Martinez was arrested at Miami International Airport
after returning from a trip to Cuba.
Government disability programs are vulnerable to fraud, particularly
SSI, with applicants faking or exaggerating symptoms. Some view SSI as
"money waiting to be taken," said John Webb, a federal prosecutor in
Tennessee who has handled fraud cases.
While benefits are supposed to be suspended for recipients who leave the
United States for more than 30 days, the government relies on people to
self-report those absences, and federal audits have found widespread
violations.
The government could significantly reduce abuses by matching
international travel records to SSI payments, auditors have recommended
since 2003. The Social Security Administration and Department of
Homeland Security are still trying to work out a data sharing agreement
— 12 years later.
Jose Caragol, a Hialeah city councilman and Havana native, said aid for
Cubans "was meant to assist those who were persecuted and want a new
life. The bleeding has to stop."
El Sentinel staff writer Aurelio Moreno and photojournalist Taimy
Alvarez contributed to this report.
Design and development by Yiran Zhu.
To reach reporter Sally Kestin, email skestin@tribpub.com or call
954-356-4510.
To reach reporter Megan O'Matz, email momatz@tribpub.com or call
954-356-4518.
Source: U.S. welfare flows to Cuba - Sun Sentinel -
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/us-cuba-welfare-benefits/sfl-us-cuba-welfare-benefits-part-1-htmlstory.html
Cuban tobacco farmers relate well with NC agriculture officials
Cuban tobacco farmers relate well with NC agriculture officials
Updated 8:27 p.m. yesterday
VINALES, CUBA — When conversations happen in different languages, things
can often get lost in translation.
But in a chat between farmers from Cuba and North Carolina, tobacco is a
word that crosses linguistic boundaries.
And while the word may be the same, there are major differences between
how tobacco is produced in North Carolina and Cuba. North Carolina's
agriculture delegation, which has been exploring new trade opportunities
in Cuba this week, noticed the differences right away.
In Cuba, many of the tobacco farmers sell most of their crop to the
government. Ivan Hernandez, a farmer in Vinales, sells about 90 percent
of his crop to Cuba. He can keep or sell the rest of it.
Beth Farrell, with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, said
the differences extend well beyond how Cuban farmers sell their products.
"Their crop management production systems are so different than our
large-scale production in North Carolina," she said. "Hand labor versus
equipment, we've seen very few tractors that weren't moving people."
Gaining a better understanding of the crops and operations of
agriculture in Cuba is a big part of the process as North Carolina
officials explore possible trade options.
"No matter where you are in the world, farmers are trying to do the same
thing," Farrell said. "They're trying to feed their communities."
Twenty-eight agricultural leaders from North Carolina spent three days
in Cuba, and they've already invited their Cuban counterparts to visit
the Tar Heel State.
Source: Cuban tobacco farmers relate well with NC agriculture officials
:: WRAL.com -
http://www.wral.com/cuban-tobacco-farmers-relate-well-with-nc-agriculture-officials/14938386/
Updated 8:27 p.m. yesterday
VINALES, CUBA — When conversations happen in different languages, things
can often get lost in translation.
But in a chat between farmers from Cuba and North Carolina, tobacco is a
word that crosses linguistic boundaries.
And while the word may be the same, there are major differences between
how tobacco is produced in North Carolina and Cuba. North Carolina's
agriculture delegation, which has been exploring new trade opportunities
in Cuba this week, noticed the differences right away.
In Cuba, many of the tobacco farmers sell most of their crop to the
government. Ivan Hernandez, a farmer in Vinales, sells about 90 percent
of his crop to Cuba. He can keep or sell the rest of it.
Beth Farrell, with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, said
the differences extend well beyond how Cuban farmers sell their products.
"Their crop management production systems are so different than our
large-scale production in North Carolina," she said. "Hand labor versus
equipment, we've seen very few tractors that weren't moving people."
Gaining a better understanding of the crops and operations of
agriculture in Cuba is a big part of the process as North Carolina
officials explore possible trade options.
"No matter where you are in the world, farmers are trying to do the same
thing," Farrell said. "They're trying to feed their communities."
Twenty-eight agricultural leaders from North Carolina spent three days
in Cuba, and they've already invited their Cuban counterparts to visit
the Tar Heel State.
Source: Cuban tobacco farmers relate well with NC agriculture officials
:: WRAL.com -
http://www.wral.com/cuban-tobacco-farmers-relate-well-with-nc-agriculture-officials/14938386/
Cuba is making friends with Venezuela’s enemies
Cuba is making friends with Venezuela's enemies
Christopher Woody
For more than 50 years, tensions between the US and Cuba have influenced
relationships throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Since the late 1990s, Venezuela has been solidly in Cuba's camp, joining
with the isolated island nation to push back against American influence
in the region.
However, that may start to change now that Cuba is repairing its
long-strained relationship with the US.
Recently, Cuba has started making friends with Venezuela's enemies — a
development that could create a rift between the former friends.
Regional solidarity
After Hugo Chavez rose to power in Venezuela in 1999 on a wave of
popular favor, his socialist government soon linked with the socialist
Fidel Castro government in Cuba.
The two countries cooperated on a number issues, with Cuba becoming an
important member of Venezuela's oil-sharing efforts. As part of those
efforts, Venezuela supplied oil to Cuba in return for assistance on a
number of social, military, and economic programs.
The camaraderie between Chavez and Fidel Castro was well known, and the
assistance Venezuela granted Cuba was extensive.
The elder Castro brother has remained friendly with Chavez's successor,
Nicolas Maduro.
New friends
In one of the most dramatic developments in Cuban-American relations
since Fidel Castro seized Havana in the late 1950s, US President Barack
Obama announced on December 17, 2014, that the US was "changing its
relationship with the people of Cuba."
In the months since, US-Cuban relations have quickly thawed.
American journalists have traveled to and reported from Cuba. Airlines
and cruise ships have increased their operations there, and tourist
visits to Cuba increased 36% in the first five months of this year.
The US embassy in Havana, shuttered since the 1950s, has reopened, and
high-ranking US officials have visited the island for further talks.
Meanwhile, Venezuela's relations with the US have remained strained, if
not outright antagonistic. Over the past year, the US leveled sanctions
against the Venezuelan government. Maduro's administration responded
with fiery rhetoric and public demonstrations.
The "insolent Yankees … already know where they need to put the
sanctions," Maduro said in December 2014, just a few days before Obama's
announcement about Cuba.
The US is not the only Venezuelan foe Cuba has warmed up to.
The island nation has played an important role in the ongoing, and
increasingly successful, negotiations between the government of Colombia
and the country's left-wing rebels, the FARC.
In recent days, current Cuban President Raúl Castro presided over a
historic agreement between the two sides: An accord on transitional
justice that also helped set an official date for a peace deal to end
Colombia's more than 50-year civil conflict.
"It is our duty" to continue contributing to the peace process, Castro said.
This agreement came as relations between Venezuela and Colombia remain
on uncertain ground — particularly on their shared border, parts of
which have been closed and which has been the site of a recent massive
dislocation of people.
Most recently, Castro had a cordial meeting with the president of
Guyana, David Granger.
An English-speaking country of less than a million people, Guyana is not
a power player in the region, but it has been clashing with Venezuela
over a large and long-disputed territory in eastern Guyana.
Maduro may be playing up the dispute with Guyana due to his need to win
popular support ahead of crucial elections. As The Washington Post noted
in a headline this summer, "Taking land from Guyana might be the one
thing all Venezuelans can agree on."
While the Venezuelan and Guyanese leaders met on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly this week, Granger said his only interest was in a
legal resolution to the dispute.
"Venezuela has not introduced any new evidence [for its claim], and I'm
not interested in a photo opportunity," Granger said. "I'm interested in
(the) Venezuelan removal of its claim …"
When it came time for Granger to meet with Cuba's Castro, his feelings
were evidently different:
CUBAONU @CUBAONU
9/27 .@RaulCastroR held cordial bilateral meeting w/ #DavidGranger,
President of Guyana .@CubaMINREX
5:48 PM - 28 Sep 2015
A single meeting at a large international forum does not necessarily
signal that Cuba and Guyana have ascended to a new stage of
international friendship.
However, observers in Caracas have likely noticed it as the latest
development in a unsettling trend: A vital ally may be drifting away
from the revolutionary Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Source: Cuba is making friends with Venezuela's enemies - Business
Insider -
http://uk.businessinsider.com/cuba-making-friends-venezuela-enemies?r=US&IR=T
Christopher Woody
For more than 50 years, tensions between the US and Cuba have influenced
relationships throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Since the late 1990s, Venezuela has been solidly in Cuba's camp, joining
with the isolated island nation to push back against American influence
in the region.
However, that may start to change now that Cuba is repairing its
long-strained relationship with the US.
Recently, Cuba has started making friends with Venezuela's enemies — a
development that could create a rift between the former friends.
Regional solidarity
After Hugo Chavez rose to power in Venezuela in 1999 on a wave of
popular favor, his socialist government soon linked with the socialist
Fidel Castro government in Cuba.
The two countries cooperated on a number issues, with Cuba becoming an
important member of Venezuela's oil-sharing efforts. As part of those
efforts, Venezuela supplied oil to Cuba in return for assistance on a
number of social, military, and economic programs.
The camaraderie between Chavez and Fidel Castro was well known, and the
assistance Venezuela granted Cuba was extensive.
The elder Castro brother has remained friendly with Chavez's successor,
Nicolas Maduro.
New friends
In one of the most dramatic developments in Cuban-American relations
since Fidel Castro seized Havana in the late 1950s, US President Barack
Obama announced on December 17, 2014, that the US was "changing its
relationship with the people of Cuba."
In the months since, US-Cuban relations have quickly thawed.
American journalists have traveled to and reported from Cuba. Airlines
and cruise ships have increased their operations there, and tourist
visits to Cuba increased 36% in the first five months of this year.
The US embassy in Havana, shuttered since the 1950s, has reopened, and
high-ranking US officials have visited the island for further talks.
Meanwhile, Venezuela's relations with the US have remained strained, if
not outright antagonistic. Over the past year, the US leveled sanctions
against the Venezuelan government. Maduro's administration responded
with fiery rhetoric and public demonstrations.
The "insolent Yankees … already know where they need to put the
sanctions," Maduro said in December 2014, just a few days before Obama's
announcement about Cuba.
The US is not the only Venezuelan foe Cuba has warmed up to.
The island nation has played an important role in the ongoing, and
increasingly successful, negotiations between the government of Colombia
and the country's left-wing rebels, the FARC.
In recent days, current Cuban President Raúl Castro presided over a
historic agreement between the two sides: An accord on transitional
justice that also helped set an official date for a peace deal to end
Colombia's more than 50-year civil conflict.
"It is our duty" to continue contributing to the peace process, Castro said.
This agreement came as relations between Venezuela and Colombia remain
on uncertain ground — particularly on their shared border, parts of
which have been closed and which has been the site of a recent massive
dislocation of people.
Most recently, Castro had a cordial meeting with the president of
Guyana, David Granger.
An English-speaking country of less than a million people, Guyana is not
a power player in the region, but it has been clashing with Venezuela
over a large and long-disputed territory in eastern Guyana.
Maduro may be playing up the dispute with Guyana due to his need to win
popular support ahead of crucial elections. As The Washington Post noted
in a headline this summer, "Taking land from Guyana might be the one
thing all Venezuelans can agree on."
While the Venezuelan and Guyanese leaders met on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly this week, Granger said his only interest was in a
legal resolution to the dispute.
"Venezuela has not introduced any new evidence [for its claim], and I'm
not interested in a photo opportunity," Granger said. "I'm interested in
(the) Venezuelan removal of its claim …"
When it came time for Granger to meet with Cuba's Castro, his feelings
were evidently different:
CUBAONU @CUBAONU
9/27 .@RaulCastroR held cordial bilateral meeting w/ #DavidGranger,
President of Guyana .@CubaMINREX
5:48 PM - 28 Sep 2015
A single meeting at a large international forum does not necessarily
signal that Cuba and Guyana have ascended to a new stage of
international friendship.
However, observers in Caracas have likely noticed it as the latest
development in a unsettling trend: A vital ally may be drifting away
from the revolutionary Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Source: Cuba is making friends with Venezuela's enemies - Business
Insider -
http://uk.businessinsider.com/cuba-making-friends-venezuela-enemies?r=US&IR=T
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Obama presses Cuban president to respond to U.S. moves
Obama presses Cuban president to respond to U.S. moves
By Karen DeYoung September 29 at 12:27 PM
UNITED NATIONS — With two rounds of regulatory reform since December,
President Obama has expanded opportunities for Americans to travel,
spend money and set up businesses in Cuba. So far, Cuba seems to have
done little beyond reopening its Washington embassy.
In a meeting here Tuesday with Cuban President Raúl Castro, held on the
margins of the U.N. General Assembly, Obama pressed for a more energetic
Cuban response. "The President welcomed the progress made in
establishing diplomatic relations," a White House statement said after
the meeting, "and underscored that continued reforms in Cuba would
increase the impact of U.S. regulatory changes."
Prior to the meeting, which began with a smiling handshake and included
top national security aides on both sides, senior administration
officials were more direct in their description of Obama's message,
saying that if Cuba wants progress on its demand that Congress lift the
long-standing U.S. embargo, it must demonstrate that it is prepared to
take steps opening its economy and respecting human and political rights.
Lawmakers who are supporting bills against the embargo, which the
Republican leadership has thus far declined to bring to the floor, "are
desperate for gestures" from Cuba, "and they aren't getting those
gestures," said one official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
discuss administration thinking. "There's been no real give at all" from
Havana.
"At the beginning, we were saying, 'You don't have forever' to make
progress," the official said. While the Cubans may think they are on a
schedule pegged to Castro's stated intention to depart from office in
2018, "they're really on a schedule for Obama's stepping down" in
January 2017.
Opponents of the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement, first announced by Obama and
Castro on Dec. 17, have repeatedly noted that Cuba's detentions of
political dissidents have only increased since the announcement. Some
dissidents' attempts to see Pope Francis during his recent visit there
were blocked.
While most detentions do not result in arrest and dissidents are usually
released within hours, many have been roughed up by security forces with
the aim of disrupting any bid at political assembly or public expression.
Another way to demonstrate human rights progress, the official said,
would be to allow access to the International Committee of the Red
Cross, which has never been permitted to visit Cuban prisons.
Although the 1961 trade embargo and other subsequent legislation
restrict most direct U.S. exports to Cuba, prohibit credit transactions
and most interactions with the U.S. financial system, and ban U.S.
tourism, Obama has pushed through regulatory changes that broadened the
number of Americans who can travel there for specific purposes, allow
correspondent banking in Cuba, and permit U.S. businesses in certain
sectors to set up offices and hire workers in Cuba.
Bilateral dialogues are underway on civil aviation, telecommunications
and other potential areas of interaction.
In an assessment distributed Friday of what has happened since December,
the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council described the
U.S. measures as "chum" that Cuba is using to attract investment and
cooperation from other countries that may fear losing out to U.S.
businesses.
On the plus side, the council noted that while Cuban agricultural
imports from the United States have decreased significantly this year,
health-care product purchases have increased. Both items are largely
exempt from the embargo. Direct telephone service between the United
States and Cuba has resumed, and Cuba has authorized a wireless-device
roaming agreement with Verizon. Limited postal service between the two
countries has resumed, and Cuba has allowed the lodging Web site Airbnb
to operate there.
But despite significant outreach from U.S. Internet providers and other
telecommunications companies, Cuba has not taken up any offers. No new
U.S. companies have been allowed to establish a presence in Cuba or to
hire Cuban workers.
"Visits to the Republic of Cuba by Members of Congress, Governors, trade
organization members, advocacy group supporters, company
representatives, and sole proprietors increased," the council said in
its assessment. "None have resulted in payments by the Republic of Cuba
for any of the newly-authorized exports from the United States."
In his speech Monday to the U.N. General Assembly, Castro briefly
mentioned the opening to the United States, repeating his demand that
the embargo be lifted and offering a litany of long-standing Cuban
foreign policy positions, including independence for Puerto Rico.
Karen DeYoung is associate editor and senior national security
correspondent for the Washington Post.
Source: Obama presses Cuban president to respond to U.S. moves - The
Washington Post -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-presses-cuban-president-to-respond-to-us-moves/2015/09/29/b75a2a94-66c3-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html
By Karen DeYoung September 29 at 12:27 PM
UNITED NATIONS — With two rounds of regulatory reform since December,
President Obama has expanded opportunities for Americans to travel,
spend money and set up businesses in Cuba. So far, Cuba seems to have
done little beyond reopening its Washington embassy.
In a meeting here Tuesday with Cuban President Raúl Castro, held on the
margins of the U.N. General Assembly, Obama pressed for a more energetic
Cuban response. "The President welcomed the progress made in
establishing diplomatic relations," a White House statement said after
the meeting, "and underscored that continued reforms in Cuba would
increase the impact of U.S. regulatory changes."
Prior to the meeting, which began with a smiling handshake and included
top national security aides on both sides, senior administration
officials were more direct in their description of Obama's message,
saying that if Cuba wants progress on its demand that Congress lift the
long-standing U.S. embargo, it must demonstrate that it is prepared to
take steps opening its economy and respecting human and political rights.
Lawmakers who are supporting bills against the embargo, which the
Republican leadership has thus far declined to bring to the floor, "are
desperate for gestures" from Cuba, "and they aren't getting those
gestures," said one official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
discuss administration thinking. "There's been no real give at all" from
Havana.
"At the beginning, we were saying, 'You don't have forever' to make
progress," the official said. While the Cubans may think they are on a
schedule pegged to Castro's stated intention to depart from office in
2018, "they're really on a schedule for Obama's stepping down" in
January 2017.
Opponents of the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement, first announced by Obama and
Castro on Dec. 17, have repeatedly noted that Cuba's detentions of
political dissidents have only increased since the announcement. Some
dissidents' attempts to see Pope Francis during his recent visit there
were blocked.
While most detentions do not result in arrest and dissidents are usually
released within hours, many have been roughed up by security forces with
the aim of disrupting any bid at political assembly or public expression.
Another way to demonstrate human rights progress, the official said,
would be to allow access to the International Committee of the Red
Cross, which has never been permitted to visit Cuban prisons.
Although the 1961 trade embargo and other subsequent legislation
restrict most direct U.S. exports to Cuba, prohibit credit transactions
and most interactions with the U.S. financial system, and ban U.S.
tourism, Obama has pushed through regulatory changes that broadened the
number of Americans who can travel there for specific purposes, allow
correspondent banking in Cuba, and permit U.S. businesses in certain
sectors to set up offices and hire workers in Cuba.
Bilateral dialogues are underway on civil aviation, telecommunications
and other potential areas of interaction.
In an assessment distributed Friday of what has happened since December,
the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council described the
U.S. measures as "chum" that Cuba is using to attract investment and
cooperation from other countries that may fear losing out to U.S.
businesses.
On the plus side, the council noted that while Cuban agricultural
imports from the United States have decreased significantly this year,
health-care product purchases have increased. Both items are largely
exempt from the embargo. Direct telephone service between the United
States and Cuba has resumed, and Cuba has authorized a wireless-device
roaming agreement with Verizon. Limited postal service between the two
countries has resumed, and Cuba has allowed the lodging Web site Airbnb
to operate there.
But despite significant outreach from U.S. Internet providers and other
telecommunications companies, Cuba has not taken up any offers. No new
U.S. companies have been allowed to establish a presence in Cuba or to
hire Cuban workers.
"Visits to the Republic of Cuba by Members of Congress, Governors, trade
organization members, advocacy group supporters, company
representatives, and sole proprietors increased," the council said in
its assessment. "None have resulted in payments by the Republic of Cuba
for any of the newly-authorized exports from the United States."
In his speech Monday to the U.N. General Assembly, Castro briefly
mentioned the opening to the United States, repeating his demand that
the embargo be lifted and offering a litany of long-standing Cuban
foreign policy positions, including independence for Puerto Rico.
Karen DeYoung is associate editor and senior national security
correspondent for the Washington Post.
Source: Obama presses Cuban president to respond to U.S. moves - The
Washington Post -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-presses-cuban-president-to-respond-to-us-moves/2015/09/29/b75a2a94-66c3-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html
U.S.-Cuban aviation deal possible this year, official says
U.S.-Cuban aviation deal possible this year, official says
By Daniel Trotta
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba and the United States advanced toward restoring
scheduled airline service during two days of talks that concluded in
Havana on Tuesday, with the potential to reach a deal this year, a U.S.
official said.
"One more meeting might be enough to finalize an arrangement. I can't be
sure," said the U.S. official, who was familiar with the talks and spoke
on the condition of anonymity.
The two sides planned to meet again, possibly before the end of this
year and most likely in Washington, the official told Reuters.
Scheduled commercial airline service has been suspended for decades as a
result of Cold War animosity, but both sides quickly made resumption a
priority upon detente last December.
Charter flights have long connected the United States and Cuba. Then
Washington initiated new rules in January that more easily permit U.S.
airlines to fly to Cuba.
However, U.S. and Cuban officials first need to negotiate a new
arrangement before restarting scheduled service in which customers could
book travel directly with airlines.
After that informal deal is reached, the two sides have agreed to work
on updating a 1953 civil aviation agreement that is still valid but
obsolete.
Officials from six U.S. government agencies met with counterparts from
the Cuban Foreign Ministry and the Cuban Institute of Civil Aviation on
Monday and Tuesday, the official said.
Safety and security cooperation was well advanced, largely because
existing charter flights already meet U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA)
standards, the official said.
General U.S. tourism to Cuba is banned by the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba
but certain Americans are allowed to go on specially sanctioned travel.
U.S. President Barack Obama has relaxed those restrictions, leading to a
boom in U.S. citizen travel to Cuba, which is up more than 60 percent
this year with 106,607 Americans arriving as of Sept. 20.
The market would grow further if the U.S. Congress were to lift either
the tourism ban or the embargo.
"We don't have a deadline. We're eager. Our carriers are eager," the
U.S. official said about reaching a deal. "Both sides see it as positive
in and of itself but positive also as a signal of progress in the
broader relationship."Major U.S. airlines including JetBlue Airways
Corp, American Airlines Group Inc, Delta Air Lines Inc and United Air
Lines have all expressed interest in scheduled service to Cuba.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Source: U.S.-Cuban aviation deal possible this year, official says -
Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/u-cuban-aviation-deal-possible-official-says-015955363--finance.html
By Daniel Trotta
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba and the United States advanced toward restoring
scheduled airline service during two days of talks that concluded in
Havana on Tuesday, with the potential to reach a deal this year, a U.S.
official said.
"One more meeting might be enough to finalize an arrangement. I can't be
sure," said the U.S. official, who was familiar with the talks and spoke
on the condition of anonymity.
The two sides planned to meet again, possibly before the end of this
year and most likely in Washington, the official told Reuters.
Scheduled commercial airline service has been suspended for decades as a
result of Cold War animosity, but both sides quickly made resumption a
priority upon detente last December.
Charter flights have long connected the United States and Cuba. Then
Washington initiated new rules in January that more easily permit U.S.
airlines to fly to Cuba.
However, U.S. and Cuban officials first need to negotiate a new
arrangement before restarting scheduled service in which customers could
book travel directly with airlines.
After that informal deal is reached, the two sides have agreed to work
on updating a 1953 civil aviation agreement that is still valid but
obsolete.
Officials from six U.S. government agencies met with counterparts from
the Cuban Foreign Ministry and the Cuban Institute of Civil Aviation on
Monday and Tuesday, the official said.
Safety and security cooperation was well advanced, largely because
existing charter flights already meet U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA)
standards, the official said.
General U.S. tourism to Cuba is banned by the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba
but certain Americans are allowed to go on specially sanctioned travel.
U.S. President Barack Obama has relaxed those restrictions, leading to a
boom in U.S. citizen travel to Cuba, which is up more than 60 percent
this year with 106,607 Americans arriving as of Sept. 20.
The market would grow further if the U.S. Congress were to lift either
the tourism ban or the embargo.
"We don't have a deadline. We're eager. Our carriers are eager," the
U.S. official said about reaching a deal. "Both sides see it as positive
in and of itself but positive also as a signal of progress in the
broader relationship."Major U.S. airlines including JetBlue Airways
Corp, American Airlines Group Inc, Delta Air Lines Inc and United Air
Lines have all expressed interest in scheduled service to Cuba.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Source: U.S.-Cuban aviation deal possible this year, official says -
Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/u-cuban-aviation-deal-possible-official-says-015955363--finance.html
Amnesty International declares Cuba graffiti artist a prisoner of conscience
Amnesty International declares Cuba graffiti artist a prisoner of conscience
By Daniel Trotta
HAVANA (Reuters) - Amnesty International on Tuesday declared a Cuban
graffiti artist as the country's only prisoner of conscience, demanding
the release of a man held for "disrespect of the leaders of the
revolution" over a satire of Fidel and Raul Castro.
Danilo Maldonado, 32 and known as "El Sexto," has been held since
December for painting "Fidel" and "Raul" on the backs of a pair of pigs
in apparent reference to former leader Fidel Castro and his brother and
current president, Raul Castro, Amnesty said in a statement.
"We are declaring him a prisoner of conscience. At the moment, he is the
only prisoner of conscience in Cuba. However, we are evaluating a number
of other cases," said Josefina Salomon, a spokeswoman for the human
rights group.
The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. Officially, the government maintains it does not have any
political prisoners, and characterizes Cuba's small but vocal dissident
community as mercenaries paid by U.S. interests to destabilize the
government.
In conjunction with detente reached with the United States last Dec. 17,
Cuba released 53 prisoners that the U.S. government had considered
political.
But Maldonado was detained eight days later when police discovered the
animals in the trunk of his taxi before he intended to display them in a
Christmas Day art show, Amnesty said.
He has been on a hunger strike since Sept. 8, Amnesty said.
"He has been held for a long time in a high security prison, without
formal charges and without trial," said Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the
dissident Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
The commission estimates there are about 60 political prisoners in Cuba,
including some two dozen held for peaceful political protest.
Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama surprised the world last
December by announcing the two former Cold War foes would seek to
restore diplomatic ties, which happened eight months later.
Castro and Obama shook hands on Tuesday during a rare one-on-one-meeting
at the United Nations.
"To jail an artist for painting a name on a pig is ludicrous. Cuban
authorities are using any cowardly excuse to silence Danilo and send a
message to others that any criticism of the government and its officials
will not be tolerated," Carolina Jimenez, Americas Deputy Director for
Research at Amnesty International, said in the statement.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Chris Reese, Bernard Orr)
Source: Amnesty International declares Cuba graffiti artist a prisoner
of conscience - Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-declares-cuban-artist-prisoner-conscience-210449760.html
By Daniel Trotta
HAVANA (Reuters) - Amnesty International on Tuesday declared a Cuban
graffiti artist as the country's only prisoner of conscience, demanding
the release of a man held for "disrespect of the leaders of the
revolution" over a satire of Fidel and Raul Castro.
Danilo Maldonado, 32 and known as "El Sexto," has been held since
December for painting "Fidel" and "Raul" on the backs of a pair of pigs
in apparent reference to former leader Fidel Castro and his brother and
current president, Raul Castro, Amnesty said in a statement.
"We are declaring him a prisoner of conscience. At the moment, he is the
only prisoner of conscience in Cuba. However, we are evaluating a number
of other cases," said Josefina Salomon, a spokeswoman for the human
rights group.
The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. Officially, the government maintains it does not have any
political prisoners, and characterizes Cuba's small but vocal dissident
community as mercenaries paid by U.S. interests to destabilize the
government.
In conjunction with detente reached with the United States last Dec. 17,
Cuba released 53 prisoners that the U.S. government had considered
political.
But Maldonado was detained eight days later when police discovered the
animals in the trunk of his taxi before he intended to display them in a
Christmas Day art show, Amnesty said.
He has been on a hunger strike since Sept. 8, Amnesty said.
"He has been held for a long time in a high security prison, without
formal charges and without trial," said Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the
dissident Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
The commission estimates there are about 60 political prisoners in Cuba,
including some two dozen held for peaceful political protest.
Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama surprised the world last
December by announcing the two former Cold War foes would seek to
restore diplomatic ties, which happened eight months later.
Castro and Obama shook hands on Tuesday during a rare one-on-one-meeting
at the United Nations.
"To jail an artist for painting a name on a pig is ludicrous. Cuban
authorities are using any cowardly excuse to silence Danilo and send a
message to others that any criticism of the government and its officials
will not be tolerated," Carolina Jimenez, Americas Deputy Director for
Research at Amnesty International, said in the statement.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Chris Reese, Bernard Orr)
Source: Amnesty International declares Cuba graffiti artist a prisoner
of conscience - Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-declares-cuban-artist-prisoner-conscience-210449760.html
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