1er Resultado de los Acuerdos Obama-Castro: Guardacostas cubano hunde embarcacion de balseros

es solo el primero. el gobierno norteamericano no se ha pronunciado al respecto y posiblemente sea una de las clausulas secretas que cuba impida la emigracion ilegal por cualquier medio incluyendo el de la fuerza bruta. duras jornadas aguardan a los disidentes y opositores de la isla, pues la represion del regimen cuenta con carta blanca.

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Cuban Coast Guard rammed vessel of Cubans tried to flee the island - A Man Missing

there is a new issue that we have to look at.

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CBS Miami

Lauren Pastrana

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – On the eve of the landmark announcement signaling a policy shift between the U.S. and Cuba, a group of Cubans tried to flee the communist island.

That group never made it to America.

In fact, one man may be lost at sea.

“Still nothing,” a relative of Diosbel Diaz Beoto says on the phone from Cuba. She says she hasn’t heard anything about whether the 32-year-old man is dead or alive.

According to Ramon Saul Sanchez with the Democracy Movement, Diaz Beoto was among more than two dozen people on the speedboat Tuesday when it started sinking.

“The vessel was broken into two and (Diosbel) disappeared,” Sanchez said at a press conference Friday. “They don’t know where he is. They don’t know if he drowned or if he’s floating in the ocean.

Sanchez claims the Cuban government may have played a role in the sinking.

“Cuban Coast Guard rammed the vessel from the back,” Sanchez said.

The U.S. Coast Guard told CBS4 News “There is no evidence to support the claim that is being made by the Democracy Movement and Mr. Sanchez.”

The agency says it received a request to assist at the scene of a sinking boat in Cuban territorial waters, but was then told Cuban authorities responded.

Sanchez said whether the boat was in Cuban waters remains unclear.

A spokesperson for the Coast Guard said the agency “was told that all reported people on the vessel were safely recovered by the Cuban Boarder Guard… (and) that the master of the vessel was being held in Cuba on accusations that he was trying to smuggle people from Cuba to the U.S.”

“At a moment like this, one wonders what really has changed in Cuba,” Sanchez said.

In his final press conference of the year, President Obama emphasized change would not happen overnight.

“I share the concern of dissidents there and human rights activists. This is still a regime that represses its people,” Mr. Obama said. “But what I know deep in my bones is that if you’ve done the same thing for 50 years and nothing’s changed, you should try something different.

President Obama also touched on the embargo, saying he cannot “unilaterally” end it.

He says he hopes Congress will re-examine it and make changes.

Comienzan a desmoronarse beneficios a cubanos que intentan llegar a Estados Unidos

Maria Elvira Salazar

Uno de los hombres que sacó a Puig de Cuba se declaró culpable

agencias

Acusado Gilberto Suarez/
cafefuerte.com

Un empresario del sur de Florida se declararó culpable por las acusaciones de ayudar a financiar el contrabando del estelar pelotero de los Dodgers de Los Ángeles, Yasiel Puig, fuera de Cuba.

El juez de distrito de Estados Unidos, Robert Scola, fijó el martes una audiencia de declaración de culpabilidad para Gilberto Suárez, de 40 años, quien previamente se había declarado inocente del cargo de contrabando y conspiración. La pena máxima para este delito conlleva una sentencia a 10 años en prisión.

La sentencia se dará a conocer el próximo 6 de marzo.

Los investigadores dicen que Suárez fue uno de los contrabandistas, ubicados en Miami, que en 2012 ayudaron a Puig a salir en una embarcación desde Cuba hacia México. Los contrabandistas iban a recibir una porción del contrato que firmaría más tarde Puig con los Dodgers por siete campañas y $42 millones.

Se trata de la primera vez que la Fiscalía menciona directamente el nombre del pelotero cubano en la demanda junto al de Aledmys Díaz Serrano, campocorto de los Cardinales de St. Louis, quien jugó para las Naranjas de Villa Clara entre 2007 y 2012.

En la audencia se conoció que Suárez recibió $2.5 millones como pago por la operación.

Los fiscales quieren confiscar cualquier dinero que Puig haya pagado a Suárez por la firma de su contrato, además de una casa, un apartamento, un Porsche y un Mercedes Benz.

Cubanos se quejan del pesimo servicio de paqueteria internacional

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Cuban woman's message in a bottle washes up in U.S.

wusa9

Chris Bonanno

Photo: Chris Bonanno / FLORIDA TODAY)

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Melbourne Beach's Shannon Johnson was walking on the beach on the morning of Dec. 3 when she noticed something that stood out.

"It was right before low tide, perfect timing, about 9:30, 10 and just looked down. I was picking up some trash and looked down and there it was."

"It" was a small medicine bottle that contained some rocks and other small particles … and a letter.

"I was afraid to open it at first like some crazy pirate put something toxic in it."

But eventually Johnson did open it and when she did she found a note in several pieces from a woman in Cuba inside of it. The letter, written in Spanish, detailed the woman's desire to come to America and better her and her family's life.

Johnson felt as though this was a story that needed to be shared, so to spread the message, Johnson shared the photo of the bottle and letter with her close friend Brittany Blanc of Melbourne. Blanc posted it to her Facebook profile, which drew interest from her friends.

One of those friends, Jason Schreiber, sent a message over Facebook to "three or four" of the woman's friends along with the woman herself.

"I dug deeper than anybody else," Schreiber said.

Eventually he made contact with the woman who sent the bottle.

"I sent her a picture of her bottle and I sent her a picture of her letter and I said, 'Is this you?' and she said, 'Oh my god, yes, yes that's me.'"

Shannon Johnson of Melbourne Beach found this bottle with a letter inside from a Cuban woman.(Photo: Chris Bonanno)

Schreiber discovered that she sent the bottle more than two months ago. He also found that she was a well-educated woman who wasn't poor, but simply wanted a better opportunity for herself and her family and seemed frustrated that she couldn't come to the United States.

The woman also wished not to be identified in any published story.

"I actually thought it was just a beautiful letter, and I don't think she even meant for anyone to find it," said Blanc, after reading the translated version of the letter.

The distance the bottle traveled differs depending upon how you calculate the distance from the northern coast of Cuba to the Space Coast, but the bottle traveled at least 300 miles before it washed ashore.

Schreiber shared the sentiment that Johnson and Blanc had of wanting to meet the woman in the United States, but he was unsure of what he could realistically do.

"I mean if there's any way I can get her over here to better her life or anything that'd be awesome."

The woman's frustration is likely due to the steep odds she faces in coming to this country.

According to David Stoller, certified immigration attorney, a Cuban citizen's path to coming to the United States rests with either having family here or winning one of two lotteries: the United States' Diversity Visa Lottery, or a second lottery offered in Cuba, only to Cubans. He said a Cuban national cannot be deported if they step foot in the U.S., which leads to some coming over in rafts and through other means.

"That's the way it works for everyone around the world. Your chances are slim and none unless you fit into some category in our system of either family, employment base, or a special program for people of certain countries like we have for the diversity visa process or a special set-up for Cubans," said Stoller.

Alex Morales - Escaping Cuba On A Windsurfer

Boards Windsurfing

Amy Carter

Alex Morales journeyed from Cuba to America… by windsurfer. This is the story of his brave journey across the ocean and to becoming a respected board shaper. 

Images and words by Timothy Venn.

 

Like many of Miami’s population, Alex Morales’s life started in the Communist dictatorship of Cuba – but his journey since has been unlike any other. Fascinated by his first sight of a windsurfer as an eight year-old boy, he knew he was bitten by the windsurfing bug that was sweeping the world. However, with no windsurfing opportunities for kids, he had to make do with sailing dinghies and begging the local windsurfers for a try on their boards.

This is when young Alex showed the first signs of his improvisational, ‘get-it-done’ attitude when he started to build his own kid’s windsurfer. “I started building Styrofoam boards and bamboo masts and booms. It was jury-rigged gear like a typical third-world kid – but it was the only gear I could get for my size.” Finally, a few years later, he was able graduate to real boards, and his dedication and persistence paid off when he won the 1987 Youth Event and was selected to be in the Cuban Olympic windsurfing team in 1989.

For many windsurfers and Cubans alike, this might have been a dream come true – being paid (albeit a modest stipend) to windsurf. However, the life of a state sponsored windsurfer had limited appeal to Alex, who was acutely aware of the artificial bubble he was living in – limited to state events with other communist countries. “You might be in the best shape – but if you don’t compete internationally, you can never be your best technically.” Word was flooding in from the US and Europe through windsurfing magazines, TV and radio of the exciting developments in equipment and competitions. “My biggest influence back then was the windsurfing magazines that made windsurfing look so colorful and hardcore.”

Alex Morales Windsurfing Cuban Olympic Team 1992

Alex knew what he had to do – but leaving Cuba freely was not an option, so he plotted his departure with the only option left – as a ‘Balsero’, making the 90 mile journey to Florida and freedom by raft. Even as an expert windsurfer, he realized that windsurfing to Florida would be physically exhausting and dangerous, so he tried leaving twice with home-made rafts powered by outboard engines. After both attempts failed, he finally turned to his last and least favored option – by windsurfer. “The windsurfing option was always in the back of my mind, but I knew that it would be exhausting – perhaps beyond my limits.”

In order for this highly risky enterprise to succeed he knew it would take some luck and careful planning, so over the next 18 months he studied the weather, the ocean conditions and currents to figure out the optimal time of year to make his attempt. April 25th 1994 was picked for the consistent east winds, ocean current and moderate weather. Making precise calculations of the wind speed and currents, they set their heading to hit the Florida peninsula precisely in the center of the Florida Keys – avoiding the potentially fatal mistake of going out too far east out into the Atlantic Ocean or west into the Gulf of Mexico. Failing to make landfall in South Florida would have meant that there would have been little chance of completing the journey before exhaustion and dehydration would have taken its toll. He also carefully selected his board – the relatively wide and floaty Bic Reggae with a retractable dagger-board that allowed him to also easily sail upwind in light winds. Added to that, a custom sail that he made out of a 7.0 and smaller wave sail gave him low end power – but would still be manageable in the gusts.

Alex and two fellow windsurfers sailed from Cuba, avoiding the Cuban Coast Guard – taking over eighteen hours to reach US coastal waters where they were picked up by the Governor of Florida’s boat that was coming back from a fishing trip. Exhausted but elated on successfully making the trip, Alex got a call from Eugene (Eugenio Roman, who windsurfed out of Cuba on a last minute whim) to go windsurfing with him in Miami that same day. Alex couldn’t believe it! “I said like “!@#$ you, that’s the last thing I want to do right now! We did actually go windsurfing with him a couple of days later.”

“Windsurfing in Miami was like coming home” says Alex, “Maybe because I had so many friends and family here – I felt like Cuba had become a foreign country and Miami was where I was meant to be all my life.” However, beyond getting to Florida, Alex had no specific plans. Just being free was enough for him for that moment – but that did not mean he stayed idle and he worked hard to assimilate himself into the American culture, as well as becoming a licensed electrical contractor.

Alex’s involvement for the remainder of the 1990’s was minimal. “The US windsurfing media and industry became focused on wave sailing in the late 1990’s – which was something we cannot do here in South Florida, so I was not involved in windsurfing then. It was only when Formula windsurfing became big in the 2003 onwards did I get more involved again. I saw pros like Micah Buzianis and Antoine Albeau on Formula boards – and realized that it allowed windsurfing events to happen in all conditions – giving windsurfing a new life”

 

Local competitions started up again and Alex got back into competing at event after event. “Everything came back when I realized that the events were not so wind dependent on Formula and I was fired up – this is amazing – this is what I was made to do. Then I thought, let’s make so more events and took the ball and started running with it.” Soon he had some big names like Micah Buzianis and Jimmy Diaz putting Miami on the windsurfing competition map. Getting sponsorship was tough – so Alex was forced to front most of the costs himself in the hope that the event generated enough revenue to cover them. “If I had to put the money out of my pocket and possibly lose or win, I still did it – the most important thing is that windsurfing is still alive and Miami is on the map.”

Alex then branched out into spreading the word by creating websites, Windsurfingtour.com and Miamiwindsurfing.com. “Facebook and social media websites have become the go-to platform now for this, replacing websites. Nowadays you have 15 seconds to catch someone’s attention and social media does that” Undeterred with his inability to get sponsorship for his events, Alex launched into a new venture – becoming a board and fin manufacturer himself. And thus, the Tillo International brand (http://tillo-international.com) was born. Alex has created a line of custom Formula, Slalom and SUP boards – hand shaped in his own workshop. Drawing customers from South Florida windsurfing community and his website, Alex’s brand is working on building a significant fan base.

 

With many industry players decrying the demise of windsurfing, Alex is not ready to give up the fight. Even when windsurfing as an Olympic event was threatened in favor of kiteboarding, Alex joined a grass-roots effort to have it re-established, resulting in a surprising 180-degree turnaround by the ISAF committee to overturn their original decision. “It’s all about participation, whether it is at the international level or by the local communities. It’s hard at the local level, as amateurs feel insecure about their ability to compete – but keeping these events going keeps the incentive for the amateur windsurfer to get involved and keep windsurfing and buying gear. Windsurfing dies when people don’t put their time and resources into it. The water sports industry’s attention has shifted to kite boarding and SUP – but that will decline in the future too, if the long-term focus is not there.”

“Miami is one of the best cities in the US for these kinds of events right now. Our Slalom event had 53 competitors, including Micah Buzanis which is amazing – considering a PWA event can only have 40+ participants.” Building on this success, Alex has organized his next Slalom Event on November 4th 2014 in Virginia Key in Miami. He is also confident about the future. “Another exciting development is the new generation of kids with the Bic Techno Class having the biggest sailing fleet ever (with more participation than any sailing class) of over 400 kids in the last World Championship. These kids will go onto RSX and Slalom and carry on the flag of windsurfing. Also, new developments with boards and gear have made the sport faster and more exciting, which can now also be captured by low cost technology such as GoPro and drones – so there is no reason why more people cannot be turned on to this incredible sport.”

Read more at http://boards.mpora.com/features/alex-morales-escaping-cuba-on-a-windsurfer.html#vvyZLIjBMcS1Ficc.99

Braves sign Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano

Yahoo Sports

By Mike Oz 

This is The Stew's running list of trades and signings that happen during baseball's Winter Meetings. We'll keep updating this post as the news happens. For more chatter and rumors, be sure to check out our Winter Meetings tracker.

MONDAY
Braves sign Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano
The Atlanta Braves added another outfielder to their roster in Dian Toscano, a 25-year-old international free agent from Cuba who could be a left field option down the road. Toscano isn't one of the big-name Cuban imports — i.e., he's not the Yasmany Tomas consolulation prize.

Ben Badler at Baseball America has more on Toscano:

Toscano, who is around 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, is a lefthanded hitter with good bat control and strike-zone awareness. He never played on the Cuban national team, so he wasn’t a player scouts saw much of before he left the island.

Playing for Villa Clara in Serie Nacional, Toscano batted .356/.400/.452 in 86 plate appearances with eight walks and eight strikeouts in 2012-13, his last season in Cuba. The year before, Toscano hit .287/.438/.380 with 35 walks and 16 strikeouts. He hit just three home runs that year and never showed much power in Cuba, though he’s in significantly better shape and has increased his strength since leaving Cuba.

BLS Take: Naturally, when you hear "Cuban outfielder" these days, excitement and intrigue are not reactions, but Toscano doesn't have nearly as much hype as the high-profile Cubans we've seen land in MLB the last few years. As Badler writes, less is known about Toscano because he didn't play on the Cuban national team, so there's a chance the Braves found a diamond in the rough. But based on what we know, you shouldn't expect Toscano to be an Opening Day starter or anything.

‘Bag man’ pleads to massive Medicare laundering scam, might turn on fugitive Cuban brother

The Miami Herald

By Jay Weaver

www.cubaenmiami.com

When Cuban immigrant Eduardo Perez de Morales arrived a decade ago in Miami, he could not have imagined the good life that awaited him.

He helped his older brother operate a lucrative remittance company, and then diversified into fine art and other business ventures himself. He and his fiancée began breeding more than a dozen Andalusian horses at his future mother-in-law’s Miami-Dade home.

But just a couple of months before he was to be married at the legendary Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables this summer, the 27-year-old U.S. citizen was busted for being his big brother’s “bag man,” authorities say. Perez, who once tooled around in a Maserati, faces up to six years in prison at his sentencing in January after pleading guilty last month to conspiring with his now-fugitive brother.

They are accused of shifting $238 million in stolen taxpayer-funded Medicare proceeds through shell companies in Canada and then into Cuba’s secret banking system. The byzantine scheme, described as a “massive money laundering operation” by a federal prosecutor, is unprecedented because it marks the first U.S. case connecting South Florida’s Medicare rackets to Cuba’s national bank.

“Eduardo Perez de Morales served as the middle man,” Assistant U.S. Attorney H. Ron Davidson wrote in a factual statement signed by the defendant in his plea agreement. “He knowingly delivered large amounts of cash to [Medicare fraud offenders] whom the defendant knew were engaging in illegal activities.”

Needless to say, Eduardo Perez’s swank July wedding — paid for by his prospective mother-in-law, who made a $25,000 down payment to the Biltmore — was canceled. That’s because, after repeated requests, Perez’s defense lawyers could not persuade federal judges to let him out on bond after his arrest in May because he was viewed as a “flight risk” to his native Cuba, where his 50-year-old brother, Jorge Emilio Perez de Morales Sante, may still reside.

“We’re talking about $238 million in fraudulent transfers, which is a staggering amount of money,” Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow said at a bond hearing earlier this year. “This defendant has frequent foreign travel, strong ties to Cuba, and every incentive to flee based on the magnitude of the fraud.

“I don’t know where his brother is, but it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that this defendant might have an ability to join the brother.”

Although the U.S. Attorney’s Office has said there is no evidence showing the Castro government’s involvement, Davidson has repeatedly highlighted the Cuba connection established through the scheme’s alleged mastermind, Perez’s older brother, Jorge Perez.

Jorge Perez, a half-brother, is accused of directing the money-laundering operation through his Cuba-licensed remittance company, Caribbean Transfers, from 2005 to 2011. He owns a seaside home in Havana but could be in Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Spain, according to the FBI. Davidson called Jorge Perez’s remittance company, which closed after his indictment in 2012, an offshore Western Union.

Caribbean Transfers provided clean cash — amassed from Cuban exiles sending money to relatives on the island — to corrupt healthcare operators in Florida, Michigan, Tennessee and New York, according to an indictment.

Jorge Perez’s role was uncovered after a convicted Naples check-cashing store owner, Oscar L. Sanchez, fingered him as the man who bankrolled his Florida business and other remittance agencies. The prosecutor said those stateside businesses cashed checks or wired money for Medicare-fraud offenders — then transferred their dirty dollars through Jorge Perez’s shell companies in Canada via Trinidad to Cuba.

At first, investigators estimated that Sanchez laundered more than $30 million on behalf of 70 corrupt Medicare-licensed businesses. But the estimated total grew almost eightfold, as they discovered that Caribbean Transfers financed other check-cashing and remittance businesses involved in the alleged money-laundering scheme.

The money could have been disbursed as remittances to Cuban families or to others living on the island. “The location of hundreds of millions of dollars is unknown, and a vast fortune is likely sitting in a Communist country,” Davidson wrote in court papers.

Because the FBI has been unable to locate Jorge Perez, the younger brother’s former defense attorney suggested in federal court that he was being indicted solely to lure the accused fugitive ringleader to the United States.

Eduardo Perez’s original attorney, Douglas Williams, called the case “a zealous indictment of a younger brother that may to some extent be part of a calculation ... to suggest to his older brother that ... he’s going to be creating problems for baby brother. ... That’s what this case is all about.”

Now the baby brother, with his plea agreement to cooperate with U.S. Attorney’s Office, could turn on his older brother. Eduardo Perez’s deal holds him responsible for laundering only between $1 million and $2.5 million, a range that would limit his prison time to a maximum six years. He had faced up to 20 years in prison on the single money-laundering conspiracy plea.

But as part of the deal, Eduardo Perez has agreed to testify before a grand jury or at trial, if the prosecutor asks. That means that if his older brother, Jorge Perez, is ever captured and brought to court in Miami, the younger brother could be a key witness against him.

Eduardo Perez’s current defense attorney, Gustavo Lage, said his testimony is a possibility, but noted that the deal does not specifically require his taking the witness stand against the older brother.

“The cooperation agreement is standard boilerplate language, so that may or may not come to pass depending on what happens between now and even after his sentencing [in January],” Lage said Friday. “So far, no request has been made.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article4329041.html#storylink=cpy

Liván y "El Duque": "Hermanos en el exilio" [Documental completo]

Urbano Gonzalez 

La vida de las estrellas de beisbol Liván y Orlando "El Duque" Hernández, y su proceso de adaptación en tierras norteamericanas tras emigrar de su Cuba natal durante la década de los años 90.

'Split Decision' Shows Boxers' Tough Choices About Leaving Cuba

Read at NBC >>

Balseros graban su fuga de Cuba

AmericaTeVeCanal41

Video: Protest at Funeral of Repatriated Young Cuban Rafter

capitolhillcubans
NoticiasCubanet Cuba

Cuban teen in the military returned to a certain death

The Miami Herald

La esposa y la hija de Dayro Andino León. Foto cortesía de Alejandro Tur Valladares

Like most other 18-year-olds, Dayro Andino Leon was determined to find his own way in the world. For Dayro, that meant leaving his home and country. Living in Cuba’s police state was not what he envisioned for his family, especially his young wife and their 1-month-old daughter.

So he did what so many others do: He joined a group of neighbors who got on a makeshift boat that was barely seaworthy and headed toward the United States. If they were afraid of the turbulent, shark-infested waters, they did not tell their families. They almost made it. But they were intercepted by the Coast Guard, just 25 miles off the U.S. coast.

Cubans intercepted at sea are supposedly interviewed by a member of the Coast Guard to determine if they qualify for special consideration for asylum to enter into the United States. Dayro had a good claim: He was a military deserter. The return of any Cuban deserter guarantees imprisonment under brutal circumstances. Incredibly, Dayro was returned to Cuba with the other refugees and, sure enough, was taken by State Security thugs while the others were allowed to go free.

At no time was he allowed to speak to or see his family. He was transferred to the Red Beret Military Unit in Cienfuegos province. His cell mates said that he was behaving erratically and informed the guards, according to independent journalist Alejandro Tur Valladares on the radio show Cuba Today. Dayro was not known for that type of behavior. Could he have been drugged? What we do know is that the 18-year-old was found dead in his cell, hanging from a bed sheet.

It has been called a suicide, but was it? We may never know. What we need to know is why the Coast Guard repatriated this young man when they had to know that his fate was sealed upon return to the Communist island.

Perhaps the Coast Guard official who interviewed Dayro thought he was evading military service rather than deserting. A mistake can be made if the interviewer does not speak Spanish well. Someone who has worked closely with members of the Coast Guard tells me that this is often the case. If so, the interviews leave much to be desired.

Unfortunately, the mission isn’t to find asylum seekers; the goal for the Coast Guard is to return all Cuban rafters to the island. If Dayro had known that, would he have embarked on that treacherous journey? Would he still be alive? His tragic death is one of many thousands.

The number of Cuban rafters has increased dramatically over the past few years. In 2014, 2,059 Cuban rafters were intercepted in the Florida Straits. On Oct. 9, the Associated Press reported the gruesome finding of four Cubans who had drowned at sea. They were said to have been bitten by sharks, their faces unrecognizable. These four are not unique, South Florida morgues are full of drowned Cuban rafters yet to be identified. Experts believe one in four die in attempts to leave Cuba by water.

One of the worst cases on record occurred in August when 34 migrants were stranded for one month on the high seas before they were found by Mexican fishermen. Just 15 were found alive, and two died later.

Only the most desperate flee Cuba this way. Others have crossed the Mexican border, while more than 22,000 have arrived from a third country this year requesting asylum. They leave for political and economic freedom, the common denominator being freedom.

Too many young men and women risk it all coming to our shores. Dayro Andino Leon had a better chance than most because he was picked up by the Coast Guard. But something went terribly wrong, and he was returned to Cuba where he died under suspicious circumstances.

He was picked up but sadly was not rescued; that is something that ought to make us all bow our heads in shame.
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Desde España la mama y la tia de Dayro Andino Leon

Ana Grandia

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article4189482.html#storylink=cpy

Ascienden a 82 los cubanos detenidos en Honduras esta semana

martinoticias

Mediante un operativo efectuado por la Dirección Nacional de Investigación Criminal (DNIC) y la Dirección Nacional de Servicios Especiales de Investigación (DNSEI), fueron requeridos 21 ciudadanos de nacionalidad cubana, por transitar sin la documentación requerida en el territorio hondureño, con los que suman 82 en la presente semana.

El diario hondureño Proceso digital informa este sábado que los cubanos detenidos viajaban en dos unidades de transporte interurbano, uno con ruta Tegucigalpa-Agua Caliente y otro en la empresa Congolón.

Los cubanos que se conducían en el bus de ruta Tegucigalpa-Agua Caliente, responden a los nombres de: Yassel Mieres Sánchez, Yudit Espinoza Hirtado, Arliam Bravo Lazo, Javier Roberto Martínez Bretau, Víctor Manuel González Guerra, Juan Carlos Padilla, Yunior Rodríguez Pérez, Alexis Aguilar Lau, Alberto Mesa León, Frank Martínez Álvarez y Adiel Rodríguez Pérez.

"Dos horas más tarde fueron requeridos otros 10 caribeños que se conducían en un bus de la empresa Congolón", dijo Proceso digital.

Estos extranjeros fueron identificados como Dora Emilia Reyes Merseron, Aleyda Cardosa Batista, Jenisel Bárbara Castillo Martínez, Yaima Torres Bernal, Sara Agullel López, Ramón Emilio Santi Alonso, Reglu Díaz Grabera, Ernesto Cruz Graberan, Vicente Corrales Cruzado y Joan Borges Yera.

Luego de ser requeridos, los extranjeros fueron trasladados a la Dirección de Migración para verificar su estatus migratorio.

De acuerdo a datos proporcionados por la DNIC, con estas 21 personas, sólo en lo que va de esta semana se han requerido a 82 ciudadanos de nacionalidad cubana, los que pretenden cruzar el territorio nacional sin la documentación requerida.

En lo que va del presente año, alrededor de dos mil ciudadanos cubanos han sido retenidos por autoridades hondureñas en el territorio nacional.

"Habla el General" Rafael del Pino [13 y final]: Cuando Ronald Reagan recibió al General Rafael del Pino

Maria Elvira Salazar

Escapan cuatro luchadores cubanos. La cifra de fugas asciende a ocho

Diario de Cuba

Cuatro luchadores cubanos escaparon de los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe que se celebran en Veracruz, informaron medios mexicanos.

Una fuente de la Organización Centroamericana y del Caribe (Odecabe) confirmó que los luchadores no se presentaron a la competencia programada para el martes.

Con este grupo de cuatro, ya son ocho atletas los que se han fugado de los Juegos para viajar hacia Estados Unidos, recogen otros medios, sin precisar la lista de nombres.

Tomás Carrillo, delegado del Instituto Nacional de Migración en Veracruz, expresó que, en tanto los cubanos cuenten con su permiso vigente para su estadía en el país, siguen siendo legales.

En días anteriores, María Luisa Fernández Eguilaz, cónsul general de Cuba en Veracruz, dijo que no existe preocupación en el cuerpo diplomático o gubernamental sobre el escape de atletas, "ya que se encuentran en plena libertad de ejercer su derecho de viajar por donde ellos así lo prefieran".

"Habla el General" Rafael del Pino [12.c]: General del Pino recibido en Boca Chica por altos oficiales americanos

Maria Elvira Salazar

"Habla el General" Rafael del Pino [12.b]: El plan de escape de Cuba

Maria Elvira Salazar

Cuba: ¿Quién responde por la muerte del balsero repatriado Dairo Andino León?

Café Fuerte

Dairo Andino León, recluta del Servicio Militar que fue retornado a Cuba. Foto: Alejandro Tur

Por Nancy Pérez Crespo

Otra vez ha sucedido y me pregunto ¿cuántos más tienen que morir? ¿Hasta cuándo se repetirá la tragedia de balseros muertos en la travesía en el Estrecho de la Florida y qué siniestras intenciones pueden estar detrás de la repatriación de un joven que el pasado 18 de noviembre terminó ahocándose en el calabozo de una prisión cubana?

Esta es la desgarradora historia del joven Dairo Andino León, de 18 años, la más reciente víctima del espanto cubano. A mediados del pasado octubre, aprovechando un pase de la unidad militar donde cumplía el Servicio Militar Obligatorio (ahora denominado Servicio Militar Activo), este recluta se sube a una precaria embarcación y junto a otros cubanos huyen de la Isla y a riesgo de sus vidas, buscan la libertad.

El joven, natural de Cienfuegos, que emprendió la aventura junto a dos amigos y más de una docena de desconocidos para afrontar una travesía llena de dificultades debido a las condiciones del tiempo, lo endeble de la embarcación y la pesada carga.

Ya se encontraban a punto de naufragar cuando llegó el recate: el Servicio Guardacostas de Estados Unidos.

Un rescate que los salvaría de morir, quizás ahogados o devorados por los tiburones, pero que obligatoriamente los devolvería al mismo lugar de donde huían, siguiendo el patrón de “pies secos, pies mojados” que quedó establecido para los inmigrantes cubanos desde 1995.

Caso de excepción

Pero el caso de este joven era diferente y era la excepción que las autoridades estadounidenses debieron considerar.

Dairo Andino León era padre de una bebé y esposo de Roxana González, una jovencita de 15 años. No solo había quemado las naves -vendió hasta su motocicleta Karpaty para asegurar su viaje- sino que también era un soldado desertor y si lo regresaban a Cuba, tendría que enfrentar sabe Dios cuántos castigos.

Pero no, a él no lo podían devolver a Cuba, porque se estarían violando los derechos humanos del recluta y, al mismo tiempo, los acuerdos migratorios que firmó el presidente Bill Clinton con el régimen cubano en 1994 y 1995.

Desafortunadamente sucedió. El joven fue entregado a los gendarmes de Raúl Castro junto a sus compañeros de aventura, pero él fue al único que tras unos días en el Hospital Naval de La Habana, «fue trasladado en condición de detenido hasta la sede provincial de la Seguridad del Estado en Cienfuegos», según el reporte del periodista independiente Alejandro Tur Valladares.

Luego de siete días de encierro al fin le permitieron ver al padre, que estaba acompañado de su esposa y su bebé de mes y medio de nacido. En el momento del encuentro la esperanza le acompañaba: “Si Dios quiere pasado mañana estaré suelto”, les dijo.

Desajustes de conducta

Tres días después, las autoridades lo trasladaron a Prevención, como se conoce la Unidad Militar de la Tropas Especiales, los llamados Boinas Rojas, en Cienfuegos.

Los guardias de la prisión fueron alertados por un compañero de celda de los desajustes en la conducta de Andino León, pero nadie lo escuchó.  Andino León fue descubierto en su celda, muerto por asfixia, tras colgarse del cuello con una sábana.

¿Cuál no sería la desesperación de este pobre muchacho pensando en lo que le esperaba? ¿En su hijita recién nacida, su joven esposa, su familia, su madre en España y su abuela Clara Alicia? También lo atormentarían las presiones, las amenazas por su deserción y las torturas de todo tipo a las que seguramente fue sometido. Todo parece haber conspirado para que el joven traumatizado tomara la fatal decisión.

Tras una tragedia de semejantes implicaciones -y responsabilidades no definidas, como es el caso- tenemos la obligación de hacer un llamado urgente a representantes y senadores, autoridades locales, alcaldes y comisionados, a las instituciones que de una forma u otra representan al exilio cubano para actuar ante los desatinos de una práctica migratoria y meditar sobre cuál es la mejor manera de evitar casos similares.

Acuerdos fallidos

Definitivamente, los acuerdos que pactara Bill Clinton con el régimen cubano tras la crisis de los balseros de 1994, son fallidos.

En primer término, todos sabemos que los convenios que se hacen con el gobierno cubano son papel mojado. Desde un principio, el inmoral trato de «pies secos y pies mojados» ha sido objeto de numerosas denuncias de las violaciones que el régimen cubano ha cometido contra los repatriados.

Cuando los balseros son interceptados por el Servicio Guardacostas o rescatados de un naufragio, los que están en condiciones físicas de emergencia deben enviarse a hospitales en tierra firme, y los refugiados que se mantengan en el escampavías tienen que ser entrevistados por un funcionario de Inmigración; la entrevista es para darle la oportunidad al balsero de pedir asilo político y probar que su seguridad está comprometida de ser retornado a la isla. El funcionario tiene que cerciorarse de que ninguno de los repatriados será una potencial víctima de represalias por el régimen, ya se trate de un perseguido por razones políticas o un desertor de las fuerzas militares.

En ese nefasto pacto se especifica que los refugiados devueltos no pueden ser sometidos a interrogatorios y mucho menos a persecución. Le serán devueltas sus pertenencias y su trabajo, y no podrán tomar ningún tipo de represalias contra ellos. La Sección de Intereses de Estados Unidos (USINT) en La Habana tiene la obligación  de monitorear a los balseros repatriados y visitarlos con regularidad para comprobar que se están cumpliendo los acuerdos, además de darles preferencia para la emigración legal.

Un error con trazas de muerte

Habrá que preguntarse seriamente si este catálogo de acuerdos se está cumpliendo al pie de la letra, tanto en alta mar como a la llegada de los repatriados a Cuba. Hay múltiples críticas sobre el trabajo de los funcionarios de inmigración designados para hacer las entrevistas a los interceptados, pues pocas veces se toman el trabajo de verificar si los «pies mojados» pertenecen a organizaciones de derechos humanos o son realmente en potencial peligro a su regreso.

Si alguna decisión ha sido improcedente es la que determinó el retorno de este joven, que ha pagado con su vida el error de un funcionario que quizás tampoco escuchó.

Sobre la conciencia de «alguien» pesará la muerte Dairo Andino León, la orfandad de una recién nacida, la viudez de Roxana y la destrucción de una familia cubana.

Los reportes llegados desde Cienfuegos indican que durante el sepelio, los familiares y personas allegadas pasearon el féretro frente a la Dirección Provincial del Ministerio del Interior y se escucharon gritos de “¡Asesinos, ustedes lo mataron!”

Lo menos que pudiera pedirse en memoria de Dairo Andino León es una investigación interna que abarque las entidades y funcionarios relacionados con su caso.