Migration in the Americas: US retirees flock to Nicaragua

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/ Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen

Beverly Gene Marte, 74: "Everybody calls me BJ here. I came 10 years ago and I am from Walminton, Calif. I came on a yacht. It was a long trip from Florida, via Cuba, Cayman Islands, Panama Canal. In Costa Rica the yacht nearly sank, it took two years to fix it. In the end I made it to Nicaragua. I don't want to live in the US anymore. Obama ruins the country. Now I have my monkey, Cindy. Years ago I was photo model and I also worked for the US coast guard. The sea is in my blood."

"In the US, money and beauty are the power, but I am looking for something else," said Kathy Aley, originally from Newport Beach, Calif., who moved to Nicaragua in 2001. "I left because of the greed and the selfishness in that country. I worked as an aerobics instructor for the school district, but I tore my muscles. I have two daughters in the US … they are 40 and 32 years old. I live here with my eight dogs, 10 cats and my parrot. Every morning, I jog the beach up and down with my dogs and parrot. They need the exercise."

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#Boxing - Miguel Cotto replaces trainer Steward with Cuban trainer Pedro Luis Diaz

 Cuban trainer Pedro Luis Diaz with heminghway boxer Odlanier Solis

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com

The two-fight union between junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto and Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward is over.
Cotto announced on his website Tuesday that Pedro Luis Diaz of Cuba has replaced Steward and is training him for his rematch against Antonio Margarito on Dec. 3 (HBO PPV) at New York's Madison Square Garden.
"I met Pedro Luis as an amateur several years ago and had the opportunity to share time with him in several international competitions," Cotto said in a statement. "I was instantly amazed as to the vast boxing technique and conditioning knowledge that he transmitted to his fighters. I feel that together with (strength and conditioning coach) Phil (Landman), Pedro Luis is a perfect fit to bring my best potential for my next fight in December and lead me to victory."
Diaz used to work as a trainer for the powerhouse Cuban national team and has worked with fighters such as former world champion Joel Casamayor and three-time Olympic champion Felix Savon.
"It's kind of surprising. Everything had been in place for me to train him," Steward told ESPN.com.
Cotto was trained for most of his career by his uncle, Evangelista Cotto, before a nasty split. He promoted assistant trainer Joe Santiago to helm his corner, which lasted for two fights. After Cotto was knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in the 12th round in November 2009, he hired Steward to train him.
In their first fight together, Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs) moved up to junior middleweight and stopped Yuri Foreman in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium to win a world title, the third weight class in which he won a belt.
Steward was also in Cotto's corner for his first defense on March 12, a 12th-round knockout of former titlist Ricardo Mayorga.
Cotto will be seeking to avenge an 11th-round knockout loss to Margarito in a 2008 welterweight title fight.
"I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted gratitude to Emanuel Steward, who I consider a friend and mentor," Cotto said in his statement. "Because of calendar conflicts and other matters, we were unable to work together for this next fight. He is one of the best trainers I have ever met in boxing and I will be forever appreciative for the two fights we worked together. We have both kept the doors open to maybe join forces in the future if the circumstances and timing are adequate.
"Now I will focus on my training camp. I feel happy and thrilled as ever to commence preparing for December. I will be ready and will win the fight for all of (my fans)."
This is the second high-profile fighter to replace Steward in recent weeks. Former light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson, unwilling to train in Steward's Detroit gym for what would have been their second fight together, replaced him with one of his former trainers, John Scully, as he prepares for his Oct. 15 challenge of champion Bernard Hopkins.
Although Dawson made the switch, he also has spoken highly of Steward in recent interviews and television appearances.
"Naturally, I thought about that," Steward told ESPN.com, when asked about losing two top fighters in such a short period of time. "But each case is an individual case. Dawson wanted to stay closer to home and that was the last thing I was going to deal with. So he got somebody else he was comfortable with. In this case, Miguel wanted to start training already and wanted me there for longer than our unusual five or six weeks together."
Steward said he had planned to go to Cotto's Orlando, Fla., training camp this weekend and that Top Rank, Cotto's promoter, had already purchased his airline ticket.
Steward said he had been in regular touch with Landman to get updates on Cotto's conditioning.
"Phil said to me, 'Give me two weeks to get his body in shape' and then I was going to come in for the regular camp of boxing training. I was going this weekend," Steward said.
Steward said he was surprised by the switch because he had already agreed to train Cotto for the fight and had received a contract from Cotto's attorney, Gabriel Peñagaricano.
Steward said the first sign there was an issue came last Wednesday when he was in New York attending a news conference promoting last Saturday's fight between middleweight Andy Lee -- Steward's fighter -- against Brian Vera, which Lee won on the Sergio Martinez-Darren Barker undercard.
Steward said Peñagaricano texted him during the news conference to tell him he had emailed the contract and needed to have it signed and returned. Steward said he told Peñagaricano that he wanted to have it reviewed by his representative and that he would "deal with it when I get home from Andy's fight on Sunday."
Steward said on Sunday he received another text from Peñagaricano saying that "it was taking too long and that we decided to move on."
"Andy Lee's fight was important and I got the feeling that they just wanted me to drop it and be in camp already," said Steward, who added he had no financial dispute with Cotto. "But you can't just drop it. It was almost like they thought I should just drop everything. They really wanted me in camp two weeks ago. But I never go in that early anyway. Even if Andy hadn't fought last week, I wouldn't have gone there two weeks ago.
"So they move on. Things happen. I don't even worry about it. I got a call from Gaby (on Monday). He called up and said, 'We want to make sure we're still friends, we may want to use you in the future.' I said, 'Fine, talk to you later buddy.' I have no hostility toward these guys."
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum disputed Steward's claim that money was not an issue.
"It was all economic as I understand it," Arum told ESPN.com. "I think Manny clicked with Miguel as a trainer and Miguel liked Emanuel as a trainer and the results were very good. But as I understand it from Gaby, it was that Emanuel was overreaching in his financial demands. If a trainer, according to the fighter, is asking for what the fighter thinks is too much money, it's the fighter's prerogative not to use that trainer. But all things being equal, Manny is the best trainer for Miguel, no question about it."
Although Steward, who still trains Lee and heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, won't be in Cotto's corner Dec. 3 -- or in Dawson's for the fight next week -- he will be ringside serving in his role as HBO's expert analyst for the pay-per-view telecasts. Had he been training the fighters, HBO would have had its "Boxing After Dark" expert commentator, Roy Jones Jr., fill in.
Dan Rafael is the senior boxing writer for ESPN.com.

Tony Perez: Luis Tiant, Minnie Miñoso should be in Hall of Fame too

NEW YORK -- Hall of Famer Tony Perez thinks there should be at least a couple more Cuban players enshrined in Cooperstown.
"Including some that are sitting here today," Perez said Saturday at a congress on Cuban baseball history at Fordham University School of Law.

CAPTION

By Cesar Brioso, USA TODAY

No doubt the first baseman of the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine of the 1970s was referring to pitcher Luis Tiant and outfielder Orestes "Minnie" Miñoso, who also attended Saturday's event, organized by the Cuban Cultural Center of New York.The other former Cuban major-leaguers who attended were Cookie Rojas, Jose Cardenal and Julio Becquer.

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Pelota Cubana: De la Barrera Racial a la Barrera Politica Castrista/ Andrés Pascual

Andrés Pascual

       La cantidad de jugadores negros privados de jugar en Grandes Ligas por la barrera racial impuesta por el Pacto de Caballeros hasta 1947, no es ni remotamente comparable con la otra que le impide  al cubano el acceso al beisbol mayor.

       A la hora de razonar sobre la tremendísima cantera que perdió el Beisbol Organizado en la Isla, se habla de entre 500 y 1000 ó más peloteros que dejaron de actuar aquí en más de medio siglo; porque, si República Dominicana, con menos producción histórica en tiempos normales, ha colocado más de 400 desde mediados de los 80’s, ¿Cuántos cubanos han dejado de jugar en 49 años de criminal barrera política? Nadie sabrá nunca el número exacto del desperdicio de talento producto del muro castrista; tal vez 1000 sea una cantidad conservadora, teniendo en cuenta la posibilidad real que hubo de establecer una franquicia de Liga Grande en La Habana.

       Nadie se explica la razón por la que no tratan esa prohibición de la tiranía  castro-comunista contra el pelotero cubano igual que al Muro Racial en las agencias de prensa americanas e hispanas; incluso en las oficinas del Beisbol Organizado… ¿Acaso existen diferencias en cuanto a abuso de poder entre una y otra? ¿Por qué estos “hermanos” nuestros de América Latina, desde sus posiciones en la crónica de gran alcance como la de ESPN Deportes, en vez de alabar aquella pelota mala y destruida, no se solidarizan con el pelotero cubano y establecen un capítulo que acuse, sostenidamente, a los responsables de tamaño crimen? Que también recuerde, anualmente, que en Cuba no se permite que un jugador utilice su derecho como individuo a jugar en el beisbol que crea más conveniente, o más ventajoso, por caprichos ideológicos impuestos criminalmente ¿Cuáles son los momentos en que debemos sentir aprecio por esa “hermandad”? Tal vez, creo yo, la solución a la tragedia cubana, con respecto al Beisbol Organizado, podría hacer peligrar el negocio de otros países del Caribe.

      Aceptar el hecho de la situación cubana que afecta al beisbol como algo natural y, posiblemente, ejemplarizante desde una perspectiva de “buen gobierno revolucionario”,  coloca en plano hipócrita la campaña por el retiro del número de Clemente, incluso el de Jackie Robinson.

      La Barrera Castrocomunista contra el pelotero nacional es más criminal e injusta que la que bloqueó al jugador negro hasta 1947; porque el jugador sepia americano podía irse a jugar por dinero a cualquier país que lo contratara, sin tener que enfrentar absurdas y maliciosas acusaciones de traición a la patria y sin ser convertidos en “no persona”; pero la mayor diferencia fue que tampoco se les prohibió construir su propia pelota profesional a través de las Ligas Negras.

     Nadie de la prensa hispana ni de la americana ni de las instancias superiores del Beisbol Organizado, han hecho nunca ni denuncias que los comprometan solidariamente con el problema del jugador cubano, porque tal compromiso encierra una denuncia directa a la tiranía y estos elementos, que aplican como les da la gana el precepto “lo político no mezcla con el deporte”, tienen a mano la mejor justificación para no apoyar ni al beisbol ni, mucho menos, al ciudadano de la Isla en sentido general

     ¿Porqué razón? Para que no peligre su presencia en la pelota americana a través de una fuente que no les pertenece, adquirida de forma oportunista por la tragedia de Cuba; así de sencillo.

      En igual posición se encuentran las Grandes Ligas, solo que, en este caso, hay secretos que no conviene que se sepan por nadie ajenos al asunto.

       A fin de cuentas, el pelotero cubano, desde los últimos 48 años, carece de cualquier tipo de apoyo moral que garantice, por lo menos, una revisión de la política de injusticia y segregación más grande que el deporte haya conocido en América; a pesar de la barrera racial…

Kubiche emigrado contra el embargo

Apodaca209

After stealing boat, can Cubans return?

---

Jose Diaz, 52, a Tampa cabinet-maker, is concerned for his nephew, cousin and two others who stole a Cuban patrol boat. His sister in Cuba “is crying all the time,’’ he said.
	[Kenneth L. Hawkins Jr. | Times]

By STEPHEN NOHLGREN/  nohlgrensptimes.com

TAMPA -- Four Cuban men who fled the island in a military patrol boat could lose their lives if they are sent home, says a Tampa lawyer who wants to represent them.
The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the boat in international waters several weeks ago and took the men to Guantánamo Bay naval base, where their fate is uncertain.
Ralph Fernandez, who often deals with Cuban immigration issues, said Friday he fears that Cuban authorities will claim the men are terrorists and demand their return, or that U.S. authorities will ship them out to a third country, “which will not be safe because of the long reach of Cuban intelligence” services.
Fernandez was contacted late last month by Jose Diaz, a Tampa cabinetmaker who immigrated to the United States in 1994 and is the uncle of one of the men and cousin of another.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/18/2272842/after-stealing-boat-can-cubans.html#ixzz1PeY7hJjl

Pelota Cubana: #Contreras es el nuevo cerrador de los Philis

Servicios de El Nuevo Herald

José Ariel Contreras tiene toda la confianza del mánager de los Filis de Filadelfia Charlie Manuel, que una vez más no duda en acudir al brazo del serpentinero cubano para establecer su estrategia.

Continuar leyendo Aqui

Pelota: La lenta recuperacion de #Kendry Morales

By pepincuba


Sciocsia on Kendry Morales by pepincuba

Are you kidding me? - Association Study Cuban Economy [ASCE]

 Omnibus Leyland [60's]

Arch Ritter ha considerado oportuno publicar los enlaces a los trabajos presentados en el Papers and Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Meeting of ASCE.[2010]

took so long to see the papers, almost a year. 

mr. ritter evalua como  “excellent papers… and essays include valuable, original and ground-breaking analys”. 

i am sorry but i could not find anyone. may be i am blind or moron but nothing looks new to me. the real issue here is mr. saladrigas was in havana to move foward with his financial plans to support the regime.

by the way, with the ASCE's budget from taxpayers money and the generosity of uncle sam, they can hire somebody like professor krugman, dr. yunus or the colbert report. 

one of the essays was about "British Policy-Making and Our Leyland in Havana (1963–1964)", are you kidding me?

Yunesky Maya's new strike zone

After his penultimate start of last season, his first in America, Yunesky Maya said through Livan Hernandez, "I'm going to be much [better] next year." This winter, he pitched in winter ball, got into shape and, after one appearance yesterday, Maya was much better.
The most significant difference for Maya this year, even more so than an increased comfort with the culture outside of baseball, is the most basic. Maya will have a better understanding of the strike zone as drawn by MLB umpires, the concept that governs every pitch of every game.
When Maya arrived last year, he thought of himself as aggressive pitcher. What he knew as aggression in Cuba was lost in translation. Umpires allowed a larger strike zone there, and hitters were much more free-swinging, more willing to swing at a close breaking ball early in the count. Maya brought his style to America, throwing offspeed pitchers on or just off the corners. Hitters had always swung at those pitches, or else umpires had called them strikes. Now, they were balls.

This winter, the Nationals told Maya to trust his sinking fastball, to throw it inside and over the plate. It was only one day, but yesterday, Maya complied, and it made an enormous difference. He threw 18 strikes in 28 pitches, making the Marlins swing and miss a half-dozen times. Last year, he threw 17 pitches per inning. Of 92 qualifying starters last year, only four threw more.


More
Yunesky Maya's new strike zone
Washington Post

EL SCOUT JUAN IGNACIO HERNANDEZ 15 ANOS PRISIONERO DE FIDEL/ VIDEO

Fue el prisionero personal de Fidel Castro, durante 15 años.

15 anos preso en Cuba por llevar a las grandes ligas a los peloteros cubanos

Regresa promotor deportivo que paso casi 10 anos preso en cuba por intentar ayudar a peloteros de la isla a llegar a las grandes ligas.

Freedom flotilla goes terribly wrong

Neil Curry reports on the tragic story of a failed attempt by some Tunisians to flee the country's economic despair.

Akademia Kubiche: Alguien sabe a que se refiere el profesor?

Red Avispa: Infortunio de las conspiraciones (Parte IV-FINAL)/ Arnaldo M. Fernández

Red Avispa: Infortunio de las conspiraciones (Parte IV-FINAL) | Emilio Ichikawa


Parte I, Parte II y Parte III


Desde el sitio de Ichikawa

Solis se prepara para la pelea previa ante ir por los Klitschkos/ Video

Desde Baseball por Siempre



Si derrota a Ray Austin [ver video a continuacion] iria el 17 de marzo del 2011 -con solo 3 meses entre ambas peleas-, por el titulo mundial de peso pesado contra Vitali Klitschko.

Wikileaks: Colombia preocupada por inmigración de cubanos

A Colombia le preocupaba inmigración de cubanos, según cable de Wikileaks

PELOTA CUBANA: Alexei Ramirez mejor torpedero de Grandes Ligas

PELOTA CUBANA: Alexei Ramirez mejor torpedero de Grandes Ligas

Africanos de Darfur, huyen de los nuevos esclavistas negreros, los islamistas hacia Israel

Desde Eurabia

Africanos de Darfur, huyen de los nuevos esclavistas negreros, los islamistas hacia Israel

Email a Los Miquis

"Me indigna ver como se reprende a un periodista porque expresa que los emigrantes cubanos no debían de ser cuestionados. Si me preguntan qué motivos me hicieron venir a esta tierra, podría enumerar tantos que mis 33 años de vida en Cuba no me alcanzarían, pero no diría lo que quieren oír. Nací en 1970 y crecí en medio de “sueños con aviones y hombres nuevos”. Me eduqué en una escuela con la mas cariñosa y dedicada de las maestras, que me hablaron de la bandera y de los héroes. Y lo que me enseñaban no era malo. Mi generación nació, se educo y vivió sin conocer otra cosa que Revolución y esos «valores» guiaron nuestras vidas por mucho tiempo. Solo que aprendimos a aprender y a pensar; comenzaron las discordias: “si tu piensas así, entonces no eres revolucionario, y la universidad es para los revolucionarios”. Amigos, buenos estudiantes, quedaron atrás por no cumplir con la norma, pero no recibimos jamás bayonetazos, a no ser cuando nos dieron las bayonetas para usarlas obligatoriamente en defensa de la Patria, que era lo mismo que Partido, Gobierno y Revolución. No podíamos tener otra idea ni otra opción. De lo contrario perdías no solo la universidad, sino también la patria y hasta los empleos y beneficios. Comenzaron a juzgarnos porque no estábamos de acuerdo o decíamos que Dios era bueno y no veíamos nada mal en su enseñanza. Para descubrir a Dios tuvimos que entrar en la iglesia a pesar del que dirán de los demás. Cuanto agradezco la carta pastoral “El amor todo lo espera”, que de tanto ser criticada por el oficialismo me hizo entrar a la iglesia a leerla y comprobar que decía la verdad. Cuando las cosas empeoraron, tras el derrumbe del bloque soviético, empezamos a “inventar y luchar”, que ahora significaban buscar el sustento de la familia donde no lo había. Vinieron las campanas anti “macetas” y anti-corrupción, que no se encaminaban a eliminar lo uno ni lo otro, sino que estaba bien definida contra los luchadores por la subsistencia: desde el vendedor de cucuruchos de maní hasta el que hacía dulces para venderlos en la esquina de mi casa. Así nacieron mis hijos y les enseñé que Fidel era el coco que les quitaba la luz y el pan; ellos lo repetían como un chiste, pero tuvieron que ir a la escuela y allí le dijeron que no era un coco, sino un héroe, y empezaron a cuestionarme. ¿Qué podía decirles? ¿Que enfrentaran a sus maestros y a los amiguitos? Comencé a tragar mentiras, a omitir verdades, a decirles que quizás no eran tan malos, que algunas cosas habían salido mal… Y todavía tengo que oír que vinimos por motivos económicos, mientras que otros llegaron antes porque eran perseguidos.¿Qué nos esperaba? La estructura industrial y económica desaparecía, mis estudios universitarios se ahogaban en una pequeña fábrica mientras las mejores oportunidades de empleo florecían en los cayos y otros campos del turismo, pero había que ser militante activo y no estaba dispuesto. Para mis hijos, otra vida llena de ilusiones y al final mentiras, en medio de una sociedad donde la hija de Josefa había triunfado porque se la llevó un gallego… y jovencito. Los estudios de preuniversitario solo podían hacerlos becados en régimen de estudio y trabajo, mal alimentados y sin persona adecuada para aconsejarte, bajo adoctrinamiento que te separaban de la familia y de Dios. “Ay Cará”, como decía el abuelito Orlando, y tener que justificar ahora si vinimos por motivos económicos o políticos, argumentar que no nos persiguieron ni nos dieron bayonetazos ni nos encerraron en una cárcel ni nos fusilaron a nadie. Tener que justificar si queremos ir a ver a nuestros padres. No entiende que pasaron dos o tres generaciones, que a nosotros nos dieron un país como está hoy, que no conocimos otra cosa ni tuvimos con qué comparar. Al llegar a los Estados Unidos, un amigo me dijo: cuando pasen los años te darás cuenta del daño más grande que nos hicieron: nos deformaron el cerebro, nos quitaron la iniciativa, el derecho y el instinto de supervivir, de superarnos por nosotros mismos; nos quitaron las comparaciones y los objetivos. Ahí esté el problema, y no en que si odio a los guardias (que a la vez eran mis amigos de estudio y de barrio) o a los militantes del Partido, entre ellos mi papá, o si oigo canciones de Silvio o que si Rosita es comunista y Carlos Otero, de la Seguridad del Estado.Esa es mi realidad, mi patria que dejé atrás y que lamentablemente nada tiene que ver con la que le arrebataron a otros medio siglo atrás. Parafraseando a Agustín Tamargo, si alguien no se convence con mis argumentos y aún insiste en preguntarme: y tú, ¿por qué viniste?, entonces respondo con voz firme y cabeza erguida: porque me dio la gana".