Cuba's rafters 20 years on: Photographer catches up with emigrants who fled the Communist island two decades ago to find success in America

Daily Mail Online

Two decades since Cuba lifted restrictions on rafters and opened the flood gates for anyone who wanted to leave the communist-led island, Reuters photographer Enrique de la Osa photographs some of those who made the journey. 

Some 31,000 Cubans were detained at sea by U.S. ships in the summer of 1994 in one of the biggest mass departures of Cuban rafters that changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and reshaped U.S.-Cuba relations.

It also reshaped the lives of the Cuban rafters. Many have gone on to gain success beyond not just what could have been in Cuba, but also beyond what some Americans born into more privileged lives have accomplished.

de la Osa's subjects include an Emmy winner, a Democratic political operative, a mechanic, hairstylist and more. It's a fitting exercise since crossings from Cuba are at a 5-year high.

Perhaps by looking at what the rafters of 1994 became, Americans might rethink how they perceive these daredevil immigrants.

Making something of themselves: Former Cuban rafter Luis Soler, 53, poses with the two Emmy awards he won as creative director at the Univision TV network, in Miami, Soler said he spent five days adrift with other migrants in 1994 before being picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard

Success story: Former Cuban rafter Tomas Curbelo, 51, poses in the headquarters of his electrical contracting company in Miami, September 18, 2014. Curbelo said he was jailed in Cuba for being a member of the opposition Democratic Solidarity Party

Built a better future: Gricel Gonzalez, 37, poses at the campaign headquarters of Democratic candidate for the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, where she works as a communications director in Miami. Gonzalez was 16 when she boarded a boat in Cuba with her sister, mother and stepfather to try and reach the Guantanamo Base during the 1994 Cuban Exodus. She said that at night they heard a man crying for help for a pregnant woman, but they never saw them

Inspiring: Former Cuban rafter Sergio Lastres, 49, poses at an exhibition of his work based on the 1994 Cuban raft exodus in Miami, September 19, 2014. Lastres and his wife were among 15 migrants rescued when their raft filled with water in 1994. They were taken to Guantanamo Base where he painted his first work about rafters, he said

Studied: Faustino Jose, 60, poses in his jewelery store in Miami. Faustino, who was an industrial engineer in Cuba, said he studied all of Thor Heyerdahl's books about rafting before building his own and leaving Cuba in 1994

Dangerous: Rafter Pedro Brea, 50, poses while working as a municipal garbage collector in Miami. Brea said he spent three days clinging to a sinking raft in the middle of a storm when a U.S. Navy frigate picked him up from the sea in 1994

Taking off: Carlos Hernandez, 45, poses in his workshop in Miami. Hernandez said he was a youth baseball star in Cuba when he decided to climb into a catamaran in 1994 and head for the U.S. after Cuba lifted restrictions on rafters in 1994, opening the flood gates for anyone who wanted to leave the communist-led island

Caution to the wind: Jose Ramon Velazquez, 60, poses in one of his optical stores in Miami. Velazquez said he was a radiologist when he decided to climb into a makeshift boat with 22 other migrants in 1994

Nightmare: Former Cuban rafter Moraima Alfonso, 51, poses in the America TV dressing room where she works as a makeup artist in Miami. She spent ten days at sea and was suffering hallucinations when she was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1994

Rafter Hanoi Lopez, 39, poses in the yard where he works as mechanic at a public school bus company in Miami, September 15, 2014. Some 31,000 Cubans were detained at sea by U.S. ships that summer in the largest exodus since the 1980 Mariel boatlift, which brought 120,000 Cubans to Miami. The 1994 crisis led to a major shift in U.S.-Cuba policy and an accord under which Washington agreed to grant visas to 20,000 Cuban migrants a year. Rafters have kept coming in smaller numbers, though these days they make few political or media waves

Twenty years on: People put the finishing touches to a makeshift boat on a rooftop before lowering it onto a truck and launching it into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban raft exodus in Havana, in this September 13, 1994

Hopeful: A makeshift boat is lowered from a roof where it was constructed by would-be emigrants, as they take it to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban raft exodus in Havana

Big day: A man gestures as a makeshift boat filled with truck inner tubes is lowered from a roof where it was constructed by would-be emigrants, as they take it to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S.

Cubans watch as a makeshift boat is carried by would-be emigrants through the city to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S., on the last day of the 1994 Cuban raft exodus in Havana, in this September 13, 1994 file photo

IN 1994, between Aug. 12 and Sept. 13, some 31,000 Cubans were detained at sea by U.S. ships. It was the largest exodus since the 1980 Mariel boatlift that brought 120,000 Cubans to Miami

People prepare to launch a makeshift boat into the Straits of Florida towards the U.S. Since 1995, more than 600,000 Cubans have emigrated to the United States, the largest flow since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution

Shoving off: The 1994 crisis led to a major shift in U.S.-Cuba policy and an accord under which Washington agreed to grant visas to 20,000 Cuban migrants a year

Journey: Rafters have kept coming in smaller numbers, though these days they make few political or media waves. Two decades since Cuba lifted restrictions on rafters and opened the flood gates for anyone who wanted to leave the communist-led island, Reuters photographer Enrique de la Osa photographs some of those who made the journey

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2830675/Cuba-s-rafters-20-years-Photographer-catches-emigrants-fled-Communist-island-two-decades-ago-success-America.html#ixzz3InkkvXIX

Cuba-EEUU: La hoja de ruta del levantamiento del embargo del neocastrismo sucesor

dado lo avanzado de la maduracion para una accion unilateral de la administracion democrata de obama en el tema del descongelamiento de las relaciones cuba-estados unidos particularmente en materia del embargo comercial, cubadebate expone mediante la firma de un abogado  norteamericano lobbista por el levantamiento del embargo y por consiguiente declarado colaborador y agente de influencias Robert Muse*, el cual se desempena bajo fachada de experto en relaciones legales entre cuba y estados unidos, la "interpretacion" del regimen de la habana del proceso. como no comparto el optimismo reinante del exilio miamense luego del triunfo republicano en las midterm elections, espero cualquier "trastada" obamista en los dos anos que permanecera en el salon oval respecto al tema cuba. 

como es costumbre, el regimen boca en boca de otro lo que quiere decir no solo para demostrar la "opinion publica internacional", sino ante todo para reservarse la ultima palabra que sea preciso modificar o anadir a lo expuesto por el leguleyo.

el articulo puede ser consultado integramente en cubadebate
se articula tomando partido por los intereses de la habana de la siguiente manera:

1. Normalizacion: Como hacerlo [a]
2. Poner fin a las medidas punitivas aplicadas a Cuba
3. Normalizacion de las relaciones
4. Dirigirse hacia la completa normalizacion de las relaciones
5. Conclusion

 llamo la atencion a los miembros del congreso y el senado cubano-americanos, cubanologos, kubichelogos, disidentes, opositores y demas interesados, pues estamos en presencia del borrador de la hoja de ruta del neocastrismo sucesor.

-------------------------

*de acuerdo con la resena de Peter Sanchez, Robert L. Muse is a Washington, D.C., lawyer with experience in U.S. laws relating  to Cuba. He provides legal counsel to a number of U.S. not-for-profits operating in Cuba,  including the Environmental Defense Fund, the New York Botanical Garden, the Social  Science Research Council, and the Council of the Americas, as well as to the Association of Latin American Studies and universities seeking to establish academic programs in Cuba. He has testified on legal issues involving Cuba before the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate, the Trade Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and many other governmental entities in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Muse has delivered papers on the Helms-Burton Act and other U.S. laws pertaining to Cuba at symposiums sponsored by organizations including the National Policy Association, The Economist, the Brookings Institution, and other foundations worldwide.

un ejemplo del tipo de actividades que realiza el sr. muse lo encontramos  aqui >>

"Autorizan" a dos músicos del grupo Moncada a escapar hacia los Estados Unidos

de acuerdo con el reporte, el tracatran culturoso de siempre y miembro de la asamblea nacional de focas amaestradas jorge gomez, "autorizo" la desercion de los dos musicos del grupo. quien no recuerda al jorge gomez "tronao" del depto de filosofia de la universidad de la habana en la razzia organizada por raul castro en tiempos de la revista pensamiento critico, que se reinvento en la decada de los 70 con la creacion del grupo moncada tocando musica folklorica latinoamericana y "revolucionaria". y abelito el "peluo" asesor del general de despachos que opina.
------------------
martinoticias

Grupo Moncada/ verbiclara.wordpress.com

Dos músicos de la popular agrupación cubana Moncada llegaron este fin de semana a Estados Unidos, tras terminar una gira artística por Canadá.

El vocalista principal de la agrupación, Tony Luis González, y el guitarrista Leonardo Ignacio Hernández Remedio se encuentran desde el domingo en New Jersey.

“Estas son cosas que uno piensa muchas veces, pero la decisión se toma en un momento muy rápido”, dijo González a Martí Noticias a solo horas de su llegada a New Jersey.

Ambos músicos se mantuvieron de gira por Canadá desde el 22 de agosto hasta el 6 de septiembre, fecha en que decidieron separarse del resto de los miembros.

"Yo siempre me quise ir de Cuba -- dijo Hernández Remedio -- pero fue el momento oportuno de hacerlo, de buscar una vida nueva, en un país donde pueda explorar cosas nuevas, decir lo que pienso sin que nadie lo censure, sin que nadie te ponga un pero".

Tony Luis González/
www.cubadebate.cu

Contrario a lo usual en estos casos, en que los cubanos esperan un descuido de sus superiores para escabullirse, González y Hernández informaron de su decisión al director del grupo, Jorge Gómez, quien es miembro de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular.

“Hicimos las cosas como pensamos que se debe hacer”, dijo Hernández Remedio. “Le dijimos que decidimos quedarnos y que no íbamos a regresar a Cuba bajo ningún concepto.”

Uno de los detonantes de su decisión, según González, fueron los meses que pasaron sin su salario, antes de la gira por Canadá, a causa de la reestructuración del Ministerio de Cultura y las nuevas leyes de pago.

“Nosotros pasamos mucho trabajo en Cuba los últimos tres meses que estuvimos. Estuvimos sin cobrar aproximadamente tres meses”, detalló el cantante.  

La agrupación Moncada, exponente del movimiento de la Nueva Trova, fue fundada por un grupo de universitarios cubanos a inicios de los años 70. 

14-plus years for Cuban ballplayer smuggler

usatoday

Curt Anderson

MIAMI (AP) — The convicted ringleader of a smuggling organization that brought more than 1,000 Cubans into the U.S., some of them baseball players including Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin, was sentenced Monday to more than 14 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard rejected a request for leniency by Eliezer Lazo, whom she noted was paid $22,000 a month through the scheme — not counting the percentages of any professional baseball contracts the players signed. Prosecutors say Martin paid the Lazo group $1.2 million after signing with the Rangers in 2011.

"That's a lot of money," Lenard said.

Lazo, 41, will begin serving the sentence after finishing an unrelated five-year prison term for money laundering in a Medicare fraud case. In the smuggling case, he pleaded guilty in August to extortion conspiracy.

The Lazo organization smuggled Cubans by boat to Mexico for $10,000 each, more for the baseball players, according to court documents. They would then usually travel to the U.S. border crossing at Laredo, Texas, and ask to be permitted to stay in the U.S.

Under the U.S. "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the U.S. are generally allowed to remain while those intercepted at sea are returned to the communist island. Lazo's attorney, William Clay, said many of Lazo's customers were overjoyed to make it to the U.S. despite the costs.

"They had gotten what they bargained for," Clay said.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Davidson said migrants who couldn't pay were held for ransom by armed guards, often threatened and sometimes beaten. Although Lazo himself did not participate in any violence, Davidson said he was well aware it was going on.

"This man is not a freedom fighter," Davidson said.

The case also provided a glimpse into how Mexican drug cartels get their cut of the migrant smuggling business. Court documents show that in the Cancun area, the Zetas cartel charges Cuban smugglers $10,000 per boat and up to $3,000 per migrant to allow them to pass through their territory and assist in paying bribes to local officials.

No evidence surfaced in the case that Martin or any of the other valuable Cuban ballplayers were mistreated. Only Martin has been identified by name in the Lazo case, but other Cuban stars such as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig have also been smuggled through Mexico.

Aside from being free from Cuba, baseball players from that country have an incentive to go to a third country such as Mexico before signing MLB contracts. If they came directly to the U.S., they would be subject to the MLB draft and likely sign a less lucrative deal. Going to Mexico first makes them free agents looking for the highest bidder.

Martin, a speedy outfielder, signed a five-year, $15.5 million contract with the Rangers in 2011. Last year he batted .274 and stole 31 bases.

Clay indicated he may appeal Lazo's sentence, calling it "unreasonable" because Lazo offered to cooperate with investigators before he was indicted and had only a limited role in the extortion. For his part, Lazo apologized for his crimes through a Spanish interpreter.

"I am very repentant and remorseful for the crimes I have committed," Lazo said. "I am so sorry I got involved in these issues."

From The White House: On Alan Gross

capitolhillcubans

From The White House's Press Briefing with Press Secretary, Josh Earnest:

Q. Recently, there have been editorials in The New York Times about cooperation with Cuba. Is the President, in the last two years, more open to starting a dialogue with Cuba -- perhaps a prisoner exchange involving the prisoners here in the United States and Alan Gross in Cuba?

MR. EARNEST: Well, as a general matter, Jim, let me just say that the United States believes that Mr. Gross should be released immediately; that his detention is certainly not appropriate, it’s not justified, and it’s time for him to be reunited with his family here at home. He is, after all, a development worker, and it’s time for him to come home.

We have also indicated that his continued detention is an obstacle in the relationship between the United States and Cuba and certainly would interfere with any effort along the lines of what you’re talking about.

So the President has been pretty clear that it’s -- as he said in the past, that it’s worth reconsidering our policy as it relates to Cuba, reflecting, however, the significant concerns the United States retains about their human rights record, their failure to observe basic human rights, as it relates to not just the illegitimate detention of Mr. Gross, but as it relates to the basic rights to free speech and political expression of the people of Cuba. And we continue to have concerns about that.

But again, I think the bottom line here is that Cuba’s failure to release Mr. Gross is hurting the relationship between the United States and Cuba.

Q. And is the United States open to any negotiations with Cuba about Mr. Gross and whether or not the three Miami -- the three people in Miami who are being held -- in Florida, I should say, not Miami -- who are Cuban -- is there any negotiations there? Are they open to any negotiations?

MR. EARNEST: Well, Jim, I don’t have any negotiations to talk about from here other than to say that both publicly and privately the United States has been clear that Mr. Gross should be released.

El Coco Fariñas continua revolviendo las heces fecales sin descargar el inodoro

el canal tuvo el tino de emplear a una entrevistadora profesional e imparcial no cubana - colombiana por el acento- al darle la oportunidad al coco de aclarar su posicion. lo que no se aclara por el desequilibrado o agenton farinas, es la genesis de su proceder en miami o en la cuba. pero algo es definitivo: la ingenuidad politica de los disidentes y opositores cubanos que aun no remontan la etapa del pataleo y se erigen en "politicos" profesionales aunque cobren como tales.  

AmericaTeVeCanal41

una buena recopilacion de las incongruencias del coco se puede encontrar en "Por qué me agrada tanto el camarada Fariñas" de Arnaldo M. Fernández

The New York Times Rests Our Case

capitolhillcubans

There's an old saying in Spanish: "por la boca muere el pez" ("fish die through their mouths").

Over the last two weeks, The New York Times' newest editorial writer, Ernesto Londoño, has (obsessively) written a half-dozen editorials and commentaries on U.S. policy towards Cuba.

As we've documented, these have been full of glaring contradictions, misrepresentations and omissions.

The more Londoño writes, the more desperate and shameless (and clearly uneducated) his attacks.

And today, he drove off the policy cliff.

He's penned an editorial calling for President Obama to commute the sentences of three Cuban spies (part of the "Wasp Network"), duly convicted by a federal jury in the United States, and exchange them for an American development worker, who was taken hostage by the Castro dictatorship precisely as a tool of coercion.

Like his previous editorials, which have been praised by Fidel Castro himself, today's piece is already being circulated by Cuba's embassies worldwide and the regime's state security bloggers (cyber-warriors).

After all, it's not every day that a major American newspaper echoes the ransom demands (and talking points) of a brutal, anti-American, totalitarian dictatorship. Not to mention, one considered a "state-sponsor of terrorism" by the U.S. government.

The good news is that serious policymakers know this is a highly irresponsible proposition, which would set a very dangerous precedent. It has also left quite evident the agenda and resounding inexperience of its author.

Londoño -- on behalf of The New York Times' Editorial Board -- argues that the United States should succumb to Castro's coercion, mainly for two reasons:

1. Because a unilateral and unconditional rapprochement with Castro's dictatorship merits it.

Of course, he omits that the American development worker, Alan Gross, was taken hostage just a few months after Obama's first attempt at a unilateral and unconditional rapprochement with Castro's dictatorship in 2009.

Thus, this rationale is utterly senseless (at best).

More >>

EE UU declara su orgullo por trabajar con Cuba contra el ébola

Vicente Jiménez

www.vanityfair.com

La embajadora de Estados Unidos ante Naciones Unidas, Samantha Power, elogió este viernes la ayuda desplegada por Cuba en la lucha contra la epidemia del ébola en África Occidental, un asunto que ha provocado cierto deshielo en las relaciones entre los dos países. Power, que regresó el jueves de un viaje de cuatro días por Guinea, Liberia, y Sierra Leona, se declaró “orgullosa” del trabajo que están desplegando en la región “médicos americanos, europeos y cubanos, metidos tantas horas en esos trajes que son como hornos”. La diplomática, durante un encuentro organizado por la agencia Reuters este viernes en Nueva York, hizo otras menciones significativas a la isla. “Estamos muy agradecidos a Cuba, que ya tiene a 265 médicos en la zona, a los que sumará otros 200. Aunque no es un esfuerzo integrado, estamos trabajando hombro con hombro”. El régimen de La Habana es uno de los pocos países que, en opinión de Power, hacen mucho, en contraste con muchos otros que, denunció, hacen muy poco. En La Habana, el viceministro de Asuntos Exteriores británico, Hugo Swire, elogió también el esfuerzo del régimen castrista en la primera visita de alto nivel a la isla del Reino Unido en una década.

Continuar leyendo en elpais >>

House Republican blasts U.S. attendance at Ebola meeting in Cuba

TheHill

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) on Thursday said the U.S. should not have sent representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to an Ebola conference in Cuba.

The meeting was organized by ALBA (Aliazna Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América), a socialist-affiliated group, in Havana.

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Two U.S. officials, including Nelson Arboleda, the CDC's director for Central America, were in attendance and expressed support for Cuba sending doctors to West Africa to help treat the Ebola outbreak. 

But Diaz-Balart said the Cuban medical forces were likely forced labor and that the U.S. shouldn't ally itself with a group like ALBA.

"It is a disgrace that the United States sent a representative to an ALBA meeting in Havana and praised the Cuban dictatorship for sending forced medical labor to Western Africa," Diaz-Balart said. "That the U.S. would send a representative to such a meeting is by itself ludicrous."

The Florida Republican, who represents a Miami-area district, said the Cuban doctors were not ideal international partners to combat Ebola.

"Cuban doctors are hastily trained, poorly equipped, and forced to work in dangerous conditions while most of their pay is siphoned to the Castro dictatorship. That a U.S. official would condone their overt exploitation is outrageous," Diaz-Balart said

33 Cuban migrants rescued off Boca Raton

The Miami Herald

Thirty-three Cuban men were rescued from the water by U.S. Coast Guard crews Wednesday morning after they threw themselves off a boat that was taking on water off Boca Raton in southern Palm Beach County.

A Coast Guard spokesman said the incident occurred about seven miles east of Boca Raton in the Atlantic Ocean.

The rescue came two days after 13 Cuban rafters attempted to reach Miami in a makeshift boat that broke apart near the Turkey Point nuclear power plant. Eleven of the migrants were rescued or made it safely to land and two were still missing Wednesday.

“Upon our assets arriving on scene, the suspected migrants were taken aboard a Coast Guard boat and safely transferred to a Coast Guard Cutter for basic medical attention if needed,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

A boat suspected of carrying 33 migrants floats seven miles east of Boca Inlet. The boat apparently took on water and the migrants jumped into the ocean where they were rescued. | Coast Guard

Related Stories

News of the 33 migrants in the water off Boca Inlet immediately raised questions about whether this was the second group of Cuban migrants said to be traveling to Miami from Mariel, a Cuban port west of Havana.

Ramón Saúl Sánchez, leader of Miami-based Democracy Movement, said he was contacted by a member of the Cuban exile community Tuesday asking for information about a boat carrying 23 Cuban migrants that left nine days ago from Mariel.

Coast Guard officials said they did not know if the boat had left from Mariel.

The 13 Cubans who attempted to reach Miami Monday departed more than 10 days ago from Cojimar in Cuba.

Five of those Cubans were held aboard a Coast Guard cutter and likely will be returned to the island. The six others who reached land or were brought ashore likely will be allowed to stay.

Under the so-called wet foot/dry foot policy, Cuban migrants interdicted at sea are generally returned to the island while those who reach U.S. soil get to stay.

Sánchez and relatives of some of the rafters who arrived Monday were on two boats in Biscayne Bay conducting their own search for the two missing Cubans. By telephone from his boat, Sánchez said they were searching in waters where the rafters’ boat broke apart Sunday near the Turkey Point nuclear plant in South Miami-Dade.

All of the 33 migrants plucked from the water off Boca on Wednesday never reached land. They were all being held on a Coast Guard vessel Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

A Coast Guard statement said the 33 migrants “jumped in the water from their grossly overloaded vessel 7 miles east of Boca Inlet.”

The migrants in the water were initially spotted by the crew of a Coast Guard C-130 who were searching for the two missing Cubans from Monday’s arrival.

The Coast Guard dispatched the cutters Shrike and Robert Yered as well as search and rescue boats from bases in Fort Lauderdale and Lake Worth Inlet.

Also:

Bodies of four victims found off Hollywood Beach identified as Cuban migrants

Coast Guard still searching for 2 missing Cuban rafters; another group at sea

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article3438485.html#storylink=cpy

Debate: Cuba y EE.UU. se tiran besitos

AmericaTeVeCanal41

Obama Could Lift Sanctions Against Cuba After Next Week’s Election, Says Congressman

cubaconfidential

By Michael E. Miller, Miami New Times

President Obama and Raul Castro

The Cuban expression "mañana, mañana." is often interpreted by Anglos as an excuse for laziness. In fact, the saying speaks volumes about its island of origin. In a country that has been led by one Castro or another for more than half a century, what hope can there be that tomorrow will be any different from today?

Earlier this month, that question brought several dozen experts, academics, and journalists to Columbia Journalism School in Manhattan. Optimism was evident in the conference's title -- Covering Cuba in an Era of Change -- as well as in the presentations, which included strong hints that the embargo's days are numbered.

Gregory Craig, former White House counsel under Barack Obama, said the president already has the legal power to lift most of the sanctions that have crippled Cuba since the fall of the Soviet Union. Although Congress probably would refuse to officially overturn the embargo, Obama could -- and should -- instantly normalize diplomatic relations and allow Americans to travel to the island, Craig said.

Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern outlined a six-month window in which Obama is most likely to make a move, beginning after next week's midterm elections and concluding with the Summit of the Americas in late April.

If Obama and Raúl Castro both attend as predicted, it will be the first official meeting between two countries' leaders since Raúl and Fidel swept down from the Sierra Maestra.

"We are reassured [by the White House] that people are working on it," McGovern said of a U.S.-Cuba policy change. "The stars seem to be aligned."

Many roadblocks remain, however. McGovern warned that any rapprochement would require dealing with both Alan Gross -- the USAID contractor imprisoned in Cuba since 2011 for distributing satellite phones without a permit -- and the three surviving members of the "Cuban Five," the Castro agents who spied on Miami's exile community.

Easing the embargo would also cost Obama politically. "I think part of the reluctance is that [the administration] will get some pushback from people who are in pretty serious positions," McGovern said, including Miami's hard-line Cubans.

Perhaps the most concrete evidence that things are already changing on the island was the presence of three Cuban journalists at the conference. Miriam Celaya, Elaine Díaz, and Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo have all been allowed to leave under recently relaxed travel restrictions. Celaya is scheduled to return to Havana this week, while Díaz and Pardo are on yearlong academic fellowships.

But Celaya and Pardo hardly painted a promising picture of their homeland. Celaya said she had been blocked from entering the library because of her journalism. Other reporters had been beaten and imprisoned, Pardo said. Both described having to share articles via paquetes, or troves of documents on flash drives. And Pardo said Cuba's infamous state security apparatus remained intact despite the growth of internet on the island.

"Our own [Edward] Snowden would not survive, would not escape," he warned. "Our own Snowden would be shot on the spot."

Ultimately, despite the talk of Obama ending the embargo and ushering in change in Cuba, Pardo feared that the solution was still, as it has been for 50 years, "biological."

In other words: when the Castros kick the bucket.

Rubio to Kerry: U.S. Must Defend Summit's Democracy Clause

capitolhillcubans

October 21, 2014

The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Kerry:

With the Seventh Summit of the Americas quickly approaching, I am deeply concerned that the Administration has sent mixed messages to the Panamanian government regarding the participation of undemocratic countries. During the 2001 Summit in Quebec City, the United States made a formal commitment that a democratic system is an “essential condition of our presence at this and future Summits”. Thus, as a non-democracy, Cuba should remain excluded from the Summit.

Just last month, State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, stated: “[O]ur view is that at the 2001 Summit of the Americas, all participating governments agreed to consensus that ‘The maintenance and strengthening of the rule of law and strict respect for the democratic system are at the same time a goal and a shared commitment and are an essential condition of our presence at this and future summits.’ So we should not undermine commitments previously made, but should instead encourage – and this is certainly our effort – the democratic changes necessary for Cuba to meet the basic qualifications.”

Then, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta Jacobson, emphasized: “I think we have made clear that we believe the Summit process is committed to democratic governance and we think that the governments that are sitting at that table ought to be committed to the Summit principles, which include democratic governance.”

Those words will stand hollow if our country fails to stand by these principles. Furthermore, allowing a country that is a habitual violator of human rights and has not allowed a free election in over 50 years would damage everything that the Summit wishes to accomplish. Cuba should not be allowed to undermine the commitment to democracy made by the remaining nations of the Western Hemisphere during the Summit process.  Moreover, the United States should not stand idly by if Panama does indeed intend to invite Cuba to the Summit.

Unfortunately, that seems to be precisely the mixed message sent recently by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, John Feeley, who told the Panamanian media that "it’s not so important the guests at the table but the meal that’s served."

I urge you to reaffirm the United States’ position that Cuba should only be welcome to participate in the Summit when the Castro regime abandons its repression of the island’s population and to ensure that the nations of the Western Hemisphere are left with no doubt that the United States will stand firmly behind the formal commitment it made at the Quebec Summit.

Sincerely,

Marco Rubio
United States Senator

Implications of Ending the Cuban Embargo

capitolhillcubans

By Dr. Jaime Suchlicki of The University of Miami:

Implications of Ending the Cuban Embargo

If the U.S. were to end the embargo and lift the travel ban without major reforms in Cuba, there would be significant implications:

- Money from American tourists would flow into businesses owned by the Castro government thus strengthening state enterprises. The tourist industry is controlled by the military and General Raul Castro.

- Tourist dollars would be spent on products, i.e., rum, tobacco, etc., produced by state enterprises, and tourists would stay in hotels owned partially or wholly by the Cuban government. The principal airline shuffling tourists around the island, Gaviota, is owned and operated by the Cuban military.

- American tourists will have limited contact with Cubans. Most Cuban resorts are built in isolated areas, are off limits to the average Cuban, and are controlled by Cuba’s efficient security apparatus. Most Americans don’t speak Spanish, have but limited contact with ordinary Cubans, and are not interested in visiting the island to subvert its regime. Law 88 enacted in 1999 prohibits Cubans from receiving publications from tourists. Penalties include jail terms.

- While providing the Castro government with much needed dollars, the economic impact of tourism on the Cuban population would be limited. Dollars will trickle down to the Cuban poor in only small quantities, while state and foreign enterprises will benefit most.

- The assumption that the Cuban leadership would allow U.S. tourists or businesses to subvert the revolution and influence internal developments is at best naïve. As we have seen in other circumstances, U.S. travelers to Cuba could be subject to harassment and imprisonment.

- Over the past decades hundred of thousands of Canadian, European and Latin American tourists have visited the island. Cuba is not more democratic today. If anything, Cuba is more totalitarian, with the state and its control apparatus having been strengthened as a result of the influx of tourist dollars.

- As occurred in the mid-1990s, an infusion of American tourist dollars will provide the regime with a further disincentive to adopt deeper economic reforms. Cuba’s limited economic reforms were enacted in the early 1990s, when the island’s economic contraction was at its worst. Once the economy began to stabilize by 1996 as a result of foreign tourism and investments, and exile remittances, the earlier reforms were halted or rescinded by Castro.

- Lifting the embargo and the travel ban without major concessions from Cuba would send the wrong message “to the enemies of the United States”: that a foreign leader can seize U.S. properties without compensation; allow the use of his territory for the introduction of nuclear missiles aimed at the United States; espouse terrorism and anti-U.S. causes throughout the world; and eventually the United States will “forget and forgive,” and reward him with tourism, investments and economic aid.

- Since the Ford/Carter era, U.S. policy toward Latin America has emphasized democracy, human rights and constitutional government. Under President Reagan the U.S. intervened in Grenada, under President Bush, Sr. the U.S. intervened in Panama and under President Clinton the U.S. landed marines in Haiti, all to restore democracy to those countries. The U.S. has prevented military coups in the region and supported the will of the people in free elections. U.S. policy has not been uniformly applied throughout the world, yet it is U.S. policy in the region. Cuba is part of Latin America. While no one is advocating military intervention, normalization of relations with a military dictatorship in Cuba will send the wrong message to the rest of the continent.

- Once American tourists begin to visit Cuba, Castro would probably restrict travel by Cuban-Americans. For the Castro regime, Cuban-Americans represent a far more subversive group because of their ability to speak to friends and relatives on the island, and to influence their views on the Castro regime and on the United States. Indeed, the return of Cuban exiles in 1979-80 precipitated the mass exodus of Cubans from Mariel in 1980.

- A large influx of American tourists into Cuba would have a dislocating effect on the economies of smaller Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and even Florida, highly dependent on tourism for their well-being. Careful planning must take place, lest we create significant hardships and social problems in these countries.

If the embargo is lifted, limited trade with, and investments in Cuba would develop. Yet there are significant implications.

Trade

- All trade with Cuba is done with state owned businesses. Since Cuba has very little credit and is a major debtor nation, the U.S. and its businesses would have to provide credits to Cuban enterprises. There is a long history of Cuba defaulting on loans.

- Cuba is not likely to buy a substantial amount of products in the U.S. In the past few years, Cuba purchased several hundred million dollars of food in the U.S. That amount is now down to $170 million per year. Cuba can buy in any other country and it is not likely to abandon its relationship with China, Russia, Venezuela, and Iran to become a major trading partner of the U.S.

- Cuba has very little to sell in the U.S. Nickel, one of Cuba's major exports, is controlled by the Canadians and exported primarily to Canada. Cuba has decimated its sugar industry and there is no appetite in the U.S. for more sugar. Cigars and rum are important Cuban exports. Yet, cigar production is mostly committed to the European market. Cuban rum could become an important export, competing with Puerto Rican and other Caribbean rums.

Investments

- In Cuba, foreign investors cannot partner with private Cuban citizens. They can only invest in the island through minority joint ventures with the government and its state enterprises.

- The dominant enterprise in the Cuban economy is the Grupo GAESA, controlled by the Cuban military. Most investments are done through or with GAESA. Therefore, American companies willing to invest in Cuba will have to partner mostly with the Cuban military.

- Cuba ranks 176 out of 177 countries in the world in terms of economic freedom. Outshined only by North Korea. It ranks as one of the most unattractive investments next to Iran, Zimbabwe, Libya, Mali, etc.

- Foreign investors cannot hire, fire, or pay workers directly. They must go through the Cuban government employment agency which selects the workers. Investors pay the government in dollars or euros and the government pays the workers a meager 10% in Cuban pesos.

- Corruption is pervasive, undermining equity and respect for the rule of law.

- Cuba does not have an independent/transparent legal system. All judges are appointed by the State and all lawyers are licensed by the State. In the last few years, European investors have had over $1 billion arbitrarily frozen by the government and several investments have been confiscated. Cuba's Law 77 allows the State to expropriate foreign-invested assets for reason of "public utility" or "social interest." In the last year, the CEOs of three companies with extensive dealings with the Cuban government were arrested without charges.

Conclusions

- If the travel ban is lifted unilaterally now or the embargo is ended by the U.S., what will the U.S. government have to negotiate with a future regime in Cuba and to encourage changes in the island? These policies could be an important bargaining chip with a future regime willing to provide concessions in the area of political and economic freedoms.

- The travel ban and the embargo should be lifted as a result of negotiations between the U.S. and a Cuban government willing to provide meaningful and irreversible political and economic concessions or when there is a democratic government in place in the island.

EEUU saluda "oportunidad de colaborar" con Cuba contra el ébola

Yahoo Noticias

El gobierno de Estados Unidos saluda la posibilidad de trabajar lado a lado con Cuba en las operaciones de combate a la epidemia del ébola, dijo este martes a la AFP una fuente del Departamento de Estado.

"Damos la bienvenida a la oportunidad de colaborar con Cuba en el enfrentamiento a la epidemia de ébola. Cuba está haciendo una significativa contribución al enviar centenas de trabajadores de salud a África", dijo la fuente, quien solicitó el anonimato.

El llamado formulado por el Secretario estadounidense de Estado, John Kerry, a todos los países a sumarse a la lucha contra el ébola, y el reconocimiento a los esfuerzos desplegados por Cuba habían generado cuestionamientos sobre la disponibilidad de Washington por trabajar conjuntamente con La Habana.

"Con ese espíritu, el Departamento de Estado está en comunicación con todos los miembros de la comunidad internacional, inclusive Cuba, envueltos en este esfuerzo global, ya sea a través de canales multilaterales (...) o por informaciones diplomáticas", añadió la fuente.

El presidente de Cuba, Raúl Castro, abrió el lunes en La Habana una reunión de alto nivel, con presencia de jefes de Estado, para analizar el esfuerzo internacional contra el ébola, y dejó abierta una puerta a trabajar en conjunto con Estados Unidos.

Inclusive el expresidente Fidel Castro, eterno crítico del poderoso vecino del Norte, declaró que "gustosamente cooperaremos con el personal norteamericano" en la lucha contra el ébola, en un artículo titulado "La hora del deber".

Sin embargo, en su contacto con la AFP, la fuente del Departamento de Estado dejó claro este martes que si bien Washington daba las bienvenidas a una cooperación con Cuba ante el ébola, una normalización general de las relaciones bilaterales aún está lejos.

"Continuaremos trabajando en busca de relaciones más constructivas entre Estados Unidos y Cuba, en acuerdo con nuestros intereses nacionales, pero hay asuntos importantes que aún permanecen pendientes entre los dos países", expresó.

En ese sentido, añadió, Washington continuará "intercambios francos y respetuosos con el gobierno de Cuba; y esperamos por el día en que los cubanos puedan disfrutar de derechos humanos y libertades fundamentales".

La misma fuente recordó que el propio presidente Barack Obama "dijo que Estados Unidos deber ser creativo en buscar formas de promover un cambio positivo en Cuba".

El esfuerzo cubano en el combate al ébola consiguió el lunes un aliado inusitado, el diario New York Times, que publicó un editorial donde aplaudió la "impresionante contribución" antillana en la lucha contra el ébola.

Cuba y Estados Unidos carecen de relaciones diplomáticas formales desde hace medio siglo y apenas mantienen "Oficinas de Interés" recíprocas en Washington y La Habana.

A pesar de la antigua desconfianza entre las partes, Washington y La Habana mantienen contactos regulares para tratar de temas bilaterales, como la cooperación en la lucha contra el narcotráfico, viajes y cuestiones de distribución de correspondencia.

varela blog: EN LA LUCHA SOMOS MUCHAS

en un reciente post varela lista el presupuesto que national endowment for democracy asigna a un grupo de organizaciones opositoras al regimen de la habana. el listado que me resulta incompleto puede apreciarse aqui >>

US Government Brought Fidel Castro to Power (Full Documentary)

USAHavana

A rare detailed account of the Communist takeover of Cuba and America's role in the takeover. The jaw dropping account is exposed by the former US Ambassador to Cuba, Earl T. Smith, an eyewitness to the State Department's role in aiding Fidel Castro's communist takeover of Cuba. Smith details this collusion in "The Fourth Floor", a curiously hard to find book he wrote "as a footnote to history and to the science of government". He added "I am convinced that my experience as the United States Ambassador to Cuba was unusual in the sense that I lived through the Castro Communist Revolution, and I feel that I owe it to the American people to try to establish the fact that the Castro Communist Revolution need never have occurred. From this experience, i learned not only that our techniques of relations with Cuba were faulty but that the modus operandi for the determination of policy is not only inadequate but dangerous to the defense of our country.

Cifras de la estampida: 134,758 cubanos llegaron por vías ilegales a EEUU en la última década

Café Fuerte

Por Wilfredo Cancio Isla

Un total de 134,758 cubanos llegaron por vías ilegales a Estados Unidos para acogerse al estatus de refugiado durante la última década, el 67 por ciento de ellos a través de frontera mexicana, según estadísticas oficiales.

El análisis de las cifras proporcionadas por el Departamento de Seguridad Territorial (DHS) al término del año fiscal 2014 –concluido el pasado 30 de septiembre- confirma que el éxodo masivo y silencioso de cubanos de los últimos años se ha producido por tierra a través de los puntos fronterizos de México y Canadá, con menor afluencia de viajes martímos por el Estrecho de la Florida.

El mapa de la estampida cubana a Estados Unidos entre 2005 y 2014 lo conforman 118,997 que llegaron por puntos fronterizos de México y Canadá, así como los que entraron por aeropuertos con nacionalidad de un tercer país y solicitaron refugio politico, y 15,761 que arribaron en travesías marítimas y lograron tocar tierra firme. En ese mismo periodo 17,503 cubanos fueron interceptados en el Estrecho de la Florida y repatriados a la isla.

Pasadizos incontrolables

Sólo en el pasado período fiscal, unos 9,700 cubanos llegaron al Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami (MIA)  con pasaporte español u otra nacionalidad europea y pidieron luego acogerse como refugiados en virtud de la Ley de Ajuste Cubano (CAA).

De manera que desde el 2005 a la fecha, el flujo ilegal de cubanos supera ampliamente los picos migratorios del éxodo del Mariel de 1980, cuando 125,000 personas abandonaron el país, y de la crisis de los balseros de 1994, que marcó la partida de 35,000. Una evidencia que comienza a movilizar la atención de politicos y expertos sobre el carácter incontrolable del arribo de cubanos a territorio estadounidense, a pesar de las medidas implementadas por Washington para facilitar una inmigración legal y ordenada.

Las alarmas se han disparado especialmente con las cifras de los últimos dos años, coincidiendo con la implementación de la reforma migratoria del gobierno de Raúl Castro, la cual eliminó los permisos de salida y flexibilizó las alternativas para abandonar el país.

Aunque Estados Unidos ha cumplido anualmente con la entrega de 20,000 visas de inmigrante para cubanos, según los acuerdos migratorios de 1994 y 1995, y la Sección de Intereses (USINT) en La Habana ha entregado dsde el 2013 más de 65,000 visas para visitas familiares, intercambios culturales y viajes de negocios, en su mayoría válidas por cinco años, la intensidad del éxodo cubano se ha multiplicado.

El mar, segunda opción

En este período fiscal las aventuras marítimas en embarcaciones rústicas y operaciones de contrabando han tenido un alza notable, aunque sin llegar al volumen que experimentaron entre 2003 y 2008. En reportes recientes se ha mencionado que al término del 2014, se registraron 3,722 cubanos en intentos de llegar a las costas de la Florida, afirmándose erróneamente que es el mayor flujo de la década.

Es importante aclarar que la cifra de 3,722 incluye tanto los cubanos interceptados en el Estrecho de la Florida (2,059) como a aquellos involucrados en otras operaciones marítimas hacia Bahamas, Islas Cayman, Islas Vírgenes y otros destinos en  el mar Caribe y el Océano Atlántico que no eran considerados en las evaluaciones de años precedentes. Las tablas oficiales del Servicio Guardacostas registran exclusivamente a los capturados en el Estrecho de la Florida.

Por lo tanto, la cifra mayor de interceptaciones de cubanos en los últimos años en viajes hacia Florida siguen siendo las del 2007 y 2008, cuando los guardacostas estadounidenses detuvieron en el mar a 2,868 y 2,216, respectivamente, aunque la referencia general a los flujos migratorios en el Caribe pueda dar una dimensión más completa del fenómeno cubano.

La muralla contra el flujo migratorio ilegal desde Cuba se fortificó con las medidas de seguridad puestas en marcha tras los atentados terroristas del 11 de septiembre del 2001, y logró frenar las operaciones de tráfico humano. La preocupación por las fronteras marítimas derivó en un aumento de las embarcaciones y los agentes patrulleros, mayor equipamiento tecnológico de los guardacostas y uso de información de inteligencia.

Pensando en la Ley de Ajuste

Esa relativa contención de lancheros y balseros desde el noroeste cubano incentivó a la búsqueda de itinerarios alternativos desde la isla con destino a México y Centroamérica.

El panorama migratorio cubano hacia Estados Unidos  muestra un desplazamiento de la opción maritima que prevaleció en los años 80 y 90 del pasado siglo por la entrada ilegal a través de estaciones y puntos fronterizos. De hecho, la avalancha por la vía terrestre y aeropuertos está planteando serias preocupaciones en términos de gastos federales, pues quienes solicitan refugio son beneficiados con una ayuda monetaria, cupones de alimentos y beneficios de salud por al menos ocho meses.

Y esta permeabilidad de la frontera estadounidense respecto a los cubanos pudiera ser un factor de reconsideración de las provisiones de elegibilidad que se fueron añadiendo a la CAA a partir de 1999, aun cuando se mantenga intacto el cuerpo de la ley.

Fue a partir del memorando “Clarificación de Elegibilidad para la Residencia Permanente bajo la Ley de Ajuste Cubano”, emitido por el Servicio de INmigración y Naturalización el 26 de abril de 1999, que los cubanos que arribaban por cualquier punto de Estados Unidos, una estación migratoria, puerto o aeropuerto establecido, tuvieron luz verde para recibir un parole y ser elegible para ajustar su estatus como residente legal por la CAA, pues hasta ese momento miles se encontraban en un limbo migratorio.

Recientes casos de detenciones y juicios de inmigración a cubanos llegados por la frontera pudieran ser indicios de futuros reajustes en la aplicación de una ley que se aproxima a cumplir 50 años en circunstancias muy distintas a las que la generaron en 1966.

ESTADISTICAS DE INMIGRACION ILEGAL DESDE CUBA (2005-2014)*
Entradas por puntos fronterizos
2005- 11,524 (7,267 por la frontera mexicana)
2006- 13,405 (8,639)
2007- 13,840 (9,566)
2008- 11,146 (10,030)
2009-  7,803 (5,893)
2010-  6,286 (5,570)
2011-  7,051 (5,973)
2012-  9,191 (8,273)
2013-  16,184 (13,664)
2014-  22,567 (16,247)
Total: 118,997 (91,122)
Interceptados en el mar
2000- 1,000
2001-  777
2002-  666
2003- 1,555
2004- 1,225
2005- 2,712
2006- 2,810
2007- 2,868
2008- 2,216
2009-  799
2010-  422
2011-  985
2012- 1,275
2013- 1,357
2014- 2,059
Total (desde 2005) – 17,503
Arribos marítimos en el Sur de la Florida
2000- 1,820
2001- 2,406
2002- 1,335
2003- 1,072
2004-  995
2005- 2,530
2006- 3,075
2007- 3,914
2008- 2,915
2009-  637
2010-  409
2011-  685
2012-  354
2013-  427
2014-  815
Total (desde 2005) – 15,761
* Compilación de CaféFuerte a partir de cifras entregadas por CBP, Patrulla Fronteriza y USCG. Las estadísticas reflejan el año fiscal.

The Castros Are Responsible for Cuba's Failures, Not the U.S. - NYTimes.com

NYTimes.com

Jorge Benitez is the director of NATOSource and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. 

Let's avoid all the rhetoric about Cuba and focus on the facts. The first relevant fact is that Cuba trades with 99 percent of the world. Thus, the poor health of the Cuban economy is due to the disastrous policies of the Castro government and not because it is deprived of trade.

This is not the fault of the United States, because we have the right to prefer to trade with other countries that do not oppress their people. The poverty in Cuba is also not the fault of the Cuban people because the Castro regime has robbed them of the power to make economic decisions.

The government keeps most of the foreign money and hands out only pennies to the Cuban people. Lifting U.S. sanctions would only add our dollars to this corrupt trade.

It is the Castro regime that is totally responsible for the misery in Cuba. The most overlooked fact in this debate is that every euro, ruble, peso or Canadian dollar invested in Cuba goes directly to Castro and his cronies. Foreign businesses are not allowed to pay wages to their Cuban employees. Instead, they are required to turn the money over to the state. The Castro government keeps most of the foreign money and hands out only pennies to the Cuban people. Lifting U.S. sanctions would only add our dollars to this corrupt trade.

Another relevant fact is that since John F. Kennedy imposed sanctions on the dictator in Havana in 1962, every U.S. president and every Congress, as well as the majority of the American public have supported sanctions against the Castro government. Therefore, critics of the sanctions need to stop their racist campaign of blaming a small ethnic group for controlling U.S. policy on this issue.

The time to end U.S. sanctions is after Cuba has a democratically elected government that allows fair trade. Until then, changing U.S. policy to subsidize the Castro regime’s exploitation of 11 million Cubans will remain unpopular with the American people and against our national interests.

Contradictions, Misrepresentations and Omissions: The New York Times' Latest Cuba Editorial

capitolhillcubans

Today, The New York Times published another one of its periodic editorials asking President Obama to "End the Embargo on Cuba."

The editorial begins by highlighting President Obama's many foreign policy crises -- or as they put it, "the dismal state of troubled bilateral relations" throughout the world.

Yet ironically, many of these crises (Syria, Russia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, etc.) have transpired -- or been aggravated -- precisely due to foreign policies that the NYT has long advocated.

Now, as regards Cuba, the NYT claims to really know what it's talking about.

Except, clearly it doesn't.

This latest editorial was primarily penned by Ernesto Londoño [photo], a new young member of the NYT's Editorial Board, who was a fine field reporter in Afghanistan and Iraq, but whose

knowledge of Cuba policy is limited to regurgitating what his "sources" selectively told him this week.

Such inexperience on this topic leads to contradictions, omissions and misrepresentations.

Let's begin with a glaring contradiction.

The editorial itself recognizes that, "in recent years, a devastated economy has forced Cuba to make reforms."

That's right.

So why stop forcing it?

History has proven that Castro only pursues "reforms" out of necessity -- never voluntarily or out of "good-will."

So how exactly would replacing billions in former Soviet and now Venezuelan subsidies, and in plummeting European and Canadian investments, with U.S. trade and investments, further "reforms"?

It wouldn't.

As a matter of fact, many observers argue that the reason why Castro refuses to tackle major reforms is because he's hopeful that the U.S. will lift the embargo and bail-out his regime. This NYT editorial only adds to Castro's (false) sense of hope.

Now let's look at the laundry list of misrepresentations and omissions.

First, the editorial purports that lifting the U.S. embargo would "help a population that has suffered enormously since Washington ended diplomatic relations in 1961."

The Cuban population hasn't suffered enormously "since Washington ended diplomatic relations in 1961." It has "suffered enormously" since Castro installed a repressive, totalitarian dictatorship, which let's not forget -- the NYT's infamous reporter, Herbert Matthews, white-washed for years.

Moreover, it fails to explain how lifting the embargo would actually help the Cuban population.

In the last five decades, every single "foreign trade and investment" transaction with Cuba has been with a state entity, or individual acting on behalf of the state. The state's exclusivity regarding trade and investment was enshrined in Article 18 of Castro's 1976 Constitution.

Thus, how would allowing U.S. companies and tourists to transact business with Castro's monopolies help the Cuban people?

Better yet -- how have the billions in foreign trade and investment that countries throughout the world have conducted with Castro's monopolies benefited the Cuban people?

Needless to say, the NYT editorial eludes this key point.

Instead, it talks about Cuba's "new" foreign investment law.

But omits how it violates international labor law, or the dozens of foreign businessmen who have been arbitrarily imprisoned in recent years and had their companies confiscated by Castro. These include some of Castro's (now former) biggest foreign business partners, e.g. Britan's Coral Capital and Canada's Tokmakjian Group.

It talks about the new Port of Mariel.

But omits the most significant cargo to have gone through this new port: 240 tons of Cuban weapons destined for North Korea, which was found in blatant violation of international sanctions.

(Note that the editorial contains absolutely no mention whatsoever of this major Cuban arms trafficking scandal, despite it being the largest weapons shipment to North Korea ever interdicted and the first time a nation in the Americas was found in violation of international sanctions.)

It minimizes how Cuba's regime "still harasses and detains dissidents."

But omits that political arrests are at historic highs. Already this year, there have been over 7,599 documented political arrests -- quadrupling the year-long tally of 2,074 political arrests in 2010.

It lauds how "in recent years officials have released political prisoners who had been held for years."

But omits any mention of all those who are still serving long prison terms, as well as new political prisoners who have been arrested in recent years and remain arbitrarily imprisoned, e.g. The Ladies in White's Sonia Garro, rapper Angel Yunier Remon, labor leader Ulises Gonzalez Moreno and activist Ivan Fernandez Depestre.

It praises Cuba's "constructive role" in the long and inconclusive Colombian peace negotiations.

But omits how Cuba's regime has effectively undermined Venezuela's democratic institutions; wrested political and operational control of its government; and led direct a campaign of repression that has resulted in the arrest, torture and murder of innocent student protesters

It focuses on the Castro regime preparing for a "post-embargo" Cuba.

But omits any mention of a democratic transition, nor of Cuba's courageous opposition groups, including The Ladies in White, the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), the National Resistance Front, the Estado de Sats project, or The Emilia Project -- all of whom oppose the U.S. lifting the embargo.

It alleges normalizing diplomatic relations will somehow lead to a "breakthrough" in the case of Alan Gross.

But omits that the Castro regime is holding Gross hostage in order to extort the United States into releasing five (now three) spies convicted in federal courts of targeting military installations and conspiracy to murder three American citizens and a permanent resident of the U.S.

It then discusses the upcoming Summit of the Americas, suggesting Cuba has been "traditionally excluded at the insistence of Washington."

This is a complete misrepresentation.

Cuba remains excluded due to a formal commitment made at the 2001 Quebec Summit that held democracy was an "essential condition" for participation in the Summit. Surely, the U.S. should not take its formal commitments lightly.

And last -- but not least -- it wouldn't be a NYT editorial without mention of its long-standing "generational shift" argument that young Cuban-Americans hold "softer views" regarding relations with Cuba's regime.

Yet, it fails to disclose that the NYT has been pitching this "generational shift" argument since December 5th, 1965, when it first gleefully suggested that:

“The very active anti-Castro groups in Miami have faded into virtual obscurity.”

Then again, on October 10, 1974:

“Virtually all of several dozen Cubans interviewed would like to visit Cuba either to see their relatives or just their country, which they have not seen for 10 years or more; and some segments of the exile community, especially young refugees brought up and educated here, are not interested in the Cuban issues.”

And on March 23, 1975:

“For the first time significant number of exiles are beginning to temper their emotion with hardnosed geopolitical realism.”

And on August 31, 1975:

“A majority of the persons interviewed — especially the young, who make up more than half of the 450,000 exiles here — are looking forward to the time when it will be possible for them to travel to Cuba. Even businessmen, who represent a more conservative group than the young, are thinking about trading with Cuba once the embargo is totally lifted.”

And on July 4, 1976:

“A new generation of professionals between 25 and 35 years of age has replaced the older exile leadership.”

Et al.

So much for credibility.