Alan Gross pide a Obama un pacto con Cuba: ¿canje por Los Cinco?

Cubainformación TV

Cato Institute Cites Spy-Authored Assessment in Call For Embargo’s End

Chris Simmons

Time to End the Cuba Embargo

contrainjerencia.com

by Doug Bandow, Cato Institute

The U.S. government has waged economic war against the Castro regime for half a century. The policy may have been worth a try during the Cold War, but the embargo has failed to liberate the Cuban people. It is time to end sanctions against Havana.

Decades ago the Castro brothers lead a revolt against a nasty authoritarian, Fulgencio Batista. After coming to power in 1959, they created a police state, targeted U.S. commerce, nationalized American assets, and allied with the Soviet Union. Although Cuba was but a small island nation, the Cold War magnified its perceived importance.

Washington reduced Cuban sugar import quotas in July 1960. Subsequently U.S. exports were limited, diplomatic ties were severed, travel was restricted, Cuban imports were banned, Havana’s American assets were frozen, and almost all travel to Cuba was banned. Washington also pressed its allies to impose sanctions.

These various measures had no evident effect, other than to intensify Cuba’s reliance on the Soviet Union. Yet the collapse of the latter nation had no impact on U.S. policy. In 1992, Congress banned American subsidiaries from doing business in Cuba and in 1996, it penalized foreign firms that trafficked in expropriated U.S. property. Executives from such companies even were banned from traveling to America.

On occasion Washington relaxed one aspect or another of the embargo, but in general continued to tighten restrictions, even over Cuban Americans. Enforcement is not easy, but Uncle Sam tries his best. For instance, according to the Government Accountability Office, Customs and Border Protection increased its secondary inspection of passengers arriving from Cuba to reflect an increased risk of embargo violations after the 2004 rule changes, which, among other things, eliminated the allowance for travelers to import a small amount of Cuban products for personal consumption.

Three years ago, President Barack Obama loosened regulations on Cuban Americans, as well as telecommunications between the United States and Cuba. However, the law sharply constrains the president's discretion. Moreover, UN Ambassador Susan Rice said that the embargo will continue until Cuba is free.

It is far past time to end the embargo.

During the Cold War, Cuba offered a potential advanced military outpost for the Soviet Union. Indeed, that role led to the Cuban missile crisis. With the failure of the U.S.-supported Bay of Pigs invasion, economic pressure appeared to be Washington’s best strategy for ousting the Castro dictatorship.

However, the end of the Cold War left Cuba strategically irrelevant. It is a poor country with little ability to harm the United States. In 1998, the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that “Cuba does not pose a significant military threat to the U.S. or to other countries in the region. Cuba has little motivation to engage in military activity beyond defense of its territory and political system.” The Castro regime might still encourage unrest, but its survival has no measurable impact on any important U.S. interest.(emphasis added)

Editor’s Note:  Convicted spy Ana Belen Montes was the primary architect of the 1998 DIA assessment referenced above. Amazingly, 11 years into her prison sentence, Montes continues to influence think tanks and the US government. Are there any real “Cuba experts” left?    

Read entire Cato document here:  http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/time-end-cuba-embargo

Castro Admits Alan Gross is a Hostage

Capitol Hill Cubans

The Castro regime has replied to a letter by over 40 U.S. Senators asking for the humanitarian release of American development worker, Alan Gross, held in a Cuban prison since December 2009.

In its response, the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., Jose Ramon Cabanas, states:

To demand from and hope for the Cuban Government to take the unilateral decision of releasing Mr. Gross without giving any consideration whatsoever to the legitimate concerns of our country is not a realistic approach... 

And what are the regime's "legitimate" concerns?

...[E]nclosed is a summary information on the case of the Five Cubans who remain unjustly imprisoned or retained in the United States, in respect of whom Cuba has legitimate humanitarian concerns.

Alan Gross is the person seized or held as security.

The so-called Cuban Five are the condition for his release.

That is a hostage-taking.

Judy Gross, wife of the Castro regime's American hostage Alan Gross, National Press Club, 11/30/12

December 3rd, three days from now, marks the three year anniversary of Alan's wrongful imprisonment in Cuba. December 3rd, 2009 is when Alan was arrested in Cuba. He was then held in prison for 14 months without charges and then later convicted for undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cuba. December 3rd, 2009 was the day my family's world began to fall apart... As Alan's wife, I continue to fear that his life is in jeopardy. I plead with the Cuban government to allow his condition to be properly evaluated by an independent doctor of his choosing. I cannot and I will not allow my husband to die in a Cuban prison. I urge the government of Cuba to release Alan on humanitarian grounds.

Spy games: Is there a US-Cuban spy swap in the works?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Cuba Plans 'Announcement' on Alan Gross

Forward
Cuban officials have put U.S. media on alert that an announcement is imminent on the plight of Alan Gross, a Jewish contractor held in a Cuban jail for almost three years. The announcement is expected to be made the morning of November 28.  More >>

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James L. Berenthal/Associated Press - In this photo provided by James L. Berenthal, jailed American Alan Gross poses for a photo during a visit by Rabbi Elie Abadie and U.S. lawyer James L. Berenthal at Finlay military hospital in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. T

Cuba Hints at Swapping US Contractor for Cuban Spies

Chris Simmons

By JUAN TAMAYO — The Miami Herald

One week after President Barack Obama won re-election, Havana offered a "draft agenda" for U.S.-Cuba negotiations that largely repeats its years-old positions but almost directly offers to swap American Alan Gross for five Cuban spies. The statement by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla Lopez to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday received little initial media attention. It was disseminated more broadly Wednesday by his ministry and Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington.

Obama has lifted nearly all limits on Cuban-American travel and remittances to the island, allowed educational visits by other U.S. residents, and restarted - and then stopped again - bilateral talks on migration issues. But his administration has repeatedly said that more significant improvements in bilateral relations can come only after Cuba frees Gross, a U.S. Agency for International Development subcontractor serving a 15-year prison sentence.

Wayne Smith, a former chief U.S. diplomat in Havana and now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, said Rodriguez laid out a list of issues that Havana has long said it wanted to discuss in any bilateral talks. "He simply reiterated their position. I don't see anything new there," Smith said. "This is a nonstarter. Same demands as in the past. No offers of major concessions on human rights, etc.," Jaime Suchlicki, head of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami, wrote in an email.

Arturo Lopez-Levy, a former Cuban government analyst now lecturing at the University of Denver, called Rodriguez's speech "a list of maximum demands that shows the bilateral conflict can be handled better but not solved" during Obama's next term. But he added that the foreign minister's words evoked Obama's offer of a "new start" in relations with Cuba shortly after he won the White House in 2008. The U.S. State Department said it had no comment on the Rodriguez proposal.

"Today, here and now, I am again submitting to the U.S. government a draft agenda for a bilateral dialogue aimed at moving towards the normalization of relations," Rodriguez said. His agenda items included lifting all U.S. sanctions; removing Cuba from the U.S. list of countries with links to international terrorism; and ending the Cuban Adjustment Act and the wet-foot, dry-foot policies, which Havana complains unfairly lure Cuban migrants to the United States.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/11/15/2769003/cuba-hints-at-swapping-us-contractor.html#storylink=cpy

Special evening in Vancouver for the Cuban Spies

 

SPECIAL EVENING IN VANCOUVER FOR THE CUBAN FIVE.

Vancouver, November 2, 2012. As a prelude to the 5th International Annual Che Guevara Conference, convened by the organization "Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba", a special evening was held in this city for the release of the five Cuban heroes imprisoned in U.S. jails. The event was attended by Aleida Guevara, daughter of legendary heroic guerrilla fighter and Antonio Guerrero Cabrera, son of one of the five antiterrorists
Verses of Nicolas Guillen, Bob Marley’s songs and poems of Antonio Guerrero, among other cultural performances, graced the message of peace and justice sent to the US government by those present, with the demand of immediate freedom for our Five Heroes.
Prominent Canadian lawyer, social activist and former City Counsellor, Tom Louis gave those present a comprehensive and emotional overview of the case of the Five and unmasked its true political essence to expose an important group of violations occurred during the legal process.
During the evening were projected greeting video messages sent from the U.S. by the leaders of the National and International Committees to Free the Five in that country, Gloria la Riva and Alicia Jartko, respectively.
Alberto Prieto, CCPCC’s official, Javier Domokos Ruiz, Consul General of Cuba in Toronto and Manuel Yepe, journalist and university professor were present as part of the Cuban delegation.

Wife of American jailed in Cuba pins hopes on Obama's re-election

By Tom Brown

MIAMI (Reuters) – The wife of Alan Gross, the U.S. contractor jailed in Cuba for crimes against the state, said she hopes President Barack Obama’s re-election will soon help lead to her ailing husband’s release from the communist-ruled country. More >>

Cuban Spy Rene Gonzalez Visits Washington (Video in Spanish)

Cuba Confidential 
An excellent feature by Univision: Video >>

“Cuban 5” Propaganda Film Wins Award

Desde “Cuba Confidential
30 de octubre de 2012
especial a freethefive.orgl

"The Cuban Wives" por Alberto Antonio Dandolo ganó el Premio Malvinas en el 27º Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de Trieste. El Premio Malvinas destinado a promover la convivencia entre los pueblos y el Derecho Internacional, ha sido concedido por un jurado compuesto por el escritor argentino Juan Octavio Prenz, el escritor y periodista italiano Massimiliano Cocozza y Héctor Sommerkamp (Perú) Profesor de la Universidad de Trieste, por las siguientes razones:

"Debido a la sensibilidad y la atención a la cuestión de la justicia como fundamento de una sociedad mejor. Una historia enternecedora y objetiva sobre las pruebas de nuestros tiempos."

artículo continúa aquí:  http://www.freethefive.org/updates/Wives/WivesFilmAward103012.htm

The [Roque] Spy's Wife: Beyond Betrayal. Video presentation

Allan Tépper & TecnoTur LLC

The Spy's Wife: Beyond Betrayal. Video presentation. from Allan Tépper & TecnoTur LLC on Vimeo.

Canada prohibe la entrada a agitador de los espias cubanos

lo informa prensa latina. el conocido agitador y propagandista norteamericano Stansfield Smith quien pretendia ingresar a canada para participar en el show mediatico, propagadistico y manipulador que constituye el "tribunal" en favor de los cinco espias cubanos, que es organizado por los servicios de inteligengia cubanos y en el que participan "bien-vividos" e idiotas de este mundo, le fue prohibida su entrada al pais nordico con accion vetante por ano y medio. 

similar proceder debe ser extendido a todos los agentes y colaboradores de la dictadura cubana que pretendan amparados en la libertad de expresion prohibida en cuba, realizar actividades de propaganda y manipulacion de la opinion publica. agentes: go home!!! 

la frustracion Aqui >>

Toronto: Espia cubana participa en “People’s Tribunal” [The Cuban 5 spies]

By Chris Simmons

Adriana Perez al centro

The Cuban News Agency (ACN) and Prensa Latina (PRELA) have reported that Adriana Perez and Elizabeth Palmeiro, wives of Gerardo Hernandez and Ramon Labañino, participated in last weekend’s People’s Tribunal & Assembly in Toronto.  According to ACN, the two women denounced the US for incarcerating their spy-husbands and “thanked participants and organizers for their solidarity.”

Cuban media failed to mention that, following the arrests of 10 members of the Wasp Network, Adriana Pérez O’Connor was identified as a Cuban intelligence agent.  Her mission was to courier messages and material between Havana and Miami.  Still in training as a Directorate of Intelligence (DI) asset when the spy ring was beheaded in September 1998, she and her children were deported and permanently banned re-entry visas.

Toronto: Nobody pays attention to the court of "The 5 Cuban spies"

From  Chris Simmon

The 5 propaganda logo

One cannot help but laugh at the hypocrisy of the Canadian Comedy Club, also known as the “Peoples’ Tribunal & Assembly | Justice for the Five.”  The following extractfrom theirwebsite (http://canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/tribunal/index.html) demanded comment: 

“How will the Tribunal be run?

The tribunal will take place on September 22nd. During the proceedings lawyers from Canada, Cuba and the US will provide details of the areas where there was the greatest miscarriage of justice in the courts of south Florida. The Tribunal will hear from impact witnesses and also experts from Europe, Canada, the US and Cuba. The families of the Cuban Five will bear testimony to their hardships concerning the barriers to prisoner rights and denial of visits imposed on them.  [Emphasis added by Cuba Confidential]”

Webster’s dictionary defines tribunal as “a court or forum of justice.”  However, yesterday’s tribunal offered neither an open forum nor justice.  As noted above, the tribunal only heard evidence AGAINST the United States.  This unjust panel featured a de facto prosecuting team, but made no allowance for a defense team or even an unbiased fact-checker.  Based on the arbitrary and prejudicial standards emplaced, it is safe to say that this tribunal, given the chance, would have convicted a squirrel of stealing acorns.

The People’s Tribunal was not only blatantly biased, but it also made for very poor propaganda, as evidenced by the lack of media coverage.  But then again, perhaps that was the greatest justice of all……

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

just see who are involved [source de cuba-canada propaganda machine: http://canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/tribunal/index.html]

Attending:

• Family members of the "Cuban Five" • Livio Di Celmo, Victim of Terror, Montréal, Québec • Danny Glover, Actor U.S.A. • Saul Landau, Award Winning Film Maker and Author • Gloria La Riva, Free The Five, National Committee - U.S.A. • Cindy Sheehan, Anti–War activist- U.S.A. • Tony Woodley, UNITE the UNION, UK • José Pertierra, Lawyer, Washington, D.C. • Denis Lemelin, National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers • Isaac Saney, Professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax • Arnold August, Writer, Montréal, Québec • Raymundo Navarro, Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) • Julian Rivas, Journalist, Venezuela • Wes Elliott, Grand River Territory • Keith Bolender, Freelance Journalist and Author Based in Toronto • Richard Klugh, Lawyer for the Cuban Five, USA • Ken Neumann, National Director for Canada, United Steelworkers • Stephen Kimber, Professor of Journalism, University of Kings College, Halifax • Alicia Jrapko, International Committee to Free the Cuban Five, U.S.A. • William Sloan, Civil Rights Lawyer, Montréal, Québec • Naveen Mehta, Labour Lawyer, United Food and Commercial Workers • Marie Clarke Walker, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists • Lee Maracle, First Nations Writer, Poet and Performing Artist • Reverend Chris Levan, Minister, United Church of Canada • Abelardo Paisan Reyes, National Union of Education Workers (SNTECD), Cuba • Miguel Barnet, Writer and Novelist, Cuba 

Sponsors:

• United Food and Commercial Workers • United Steelworkers, Canada • Canadian Union of Postal Workers • Canadian Network on Cuba • International Council of Latin American and Caribbean Women - LATIN@S • The Worker to Worker, Canada-Cuba Labour Solidarity Network • Carranza LLP • Canadian Cuban Friendship Association - Toronto • Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network • Canadian Union of Public Employees • Tim Louis, Tim Louis & Co, Vancouver Lawyer and Vancouver City Councillor 1999 - 2005 • Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 4400 • Ontario Federation of Labour

Endorsers:

• International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five, USA • National Network on Cuba, U.S.A. • Toronto Forum on Cuba • Communist League/Ligue communiste • International Festival of Poetry of Resistance • Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association of Kingston • Dr. James Cockcroft, Montréal, Québec • Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba • Canadian Cuban Friendship Association - Vancouver • Free the Cuban 5 Committee Vancouver • La Asociación de Cubanos Juan Gualberto Gómez • Socialist Action • The United Jewish People's Order • Association United Ukranian Canadians Toronto Branch • Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee • Don Currie, Chair of Canada for Peace and Socialism and associate member of the Canadian Peace Congress • Brian Gordon Sinclair, Hemingway On Stage • The North Simcoe and Muskoka Labour Council • NDP Socialist Caucus • Associazione Nazionale di Amicizia Italia-Cuba • Jim Neill, Deputy Mayor, City of Kingston, Ontario • Northstar Compass • Libby Davies, NDP-MP, Vancouver East • The Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees (NUMGE) • Toronto Haiti Action Committee • Toronto and York Region Labour Council • Barrio Nuevo • "DISCUSSION" Wednesday evening public affairs program, Vancouver Co-Op Radio, 102.7 FM (100.5 FM September 10th) • The Young Communist League of Canada • UNITE the UNION, United Kingdom (U.K.) • Latin American Trade Unionist Coalition (LATUC) • Communist Party of Canada • Walter Lippmann, Editor, CubaNews newsgroup • Chicago Committee to free the Cuban Five • Law Union of Ontario • Toronto Bolivia Solidarity • Krittibas Literary Group of Toronto • Solidarity with Iran - SI • House of Latin America (HOLA) • Common Frontiers • International Socialists • Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba • Canadian Lawyers' Committee in Support of the Anti-Terrorist Cuban Five • Ryerson Students' Union Local 24 – Canadian Federation of Students • Sea of Red Open Collective [SoR(..)C]

Toronto's Mayor quick response on the Cuba Five at City Hall

Rob Ford Toronto's Mayor

following Message to Toronto's Mayor and the Cuban Five
------------------
Dear Lazaro,

Thank you for your email of September 21st 2012, regarding your concerns about the Cuban Five at City Hall. I feel it is important to listen and understand the issues most important to you. I will be sure to share your thoughts with my policy team during the upcoming months of deliberation and discussion.

I will continue to work on behalf of the taxpayers to make sure you get the respect you deserve.

Thank you again for taking the time to write me and taking an active role in transforming our city for the better because we're all in this together. Please feel free to contact my office again at any time.

Yours truly,

Mayor Rob Ford

City of Toronto

Message to Toronto's Mayor and the Cuban Five

Message sent to Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto for the celebration in the city hall of Canada’s “True Believers” Begin Kangaroo Court Regarding Cuban Five

Dear Mr. Rob Ford,

As a faithful follower of you and as a Cuban-Canadian who suffered for 48 years the cruel dictatorship of the Castro brothers, I am very upset by the realization of Peoples' Court and Assembly seeks justice for the Cuban Five in the hall of our city.

It clear that the Cuban Five were Castro spies who confessed their crimes and were punished in accordance of U.S. laws. Also be clear that the organizers of the event are agents and agitators linked to Cuban secret services.
These opportunists take advantage of freedom of expression in our society that it is punishable by long prison in Cuba, to make propaganda and agitation in favor of a 54 years brutal dictatorship.

Respectfully,

Lazaro Gonzalez

Canada’s “True Believers” Begin Kangaroo Court Regarding Cuban Five

Chris Simmons

This weekend, the Toronto City Hall is hosting an International Peoples' Tribunal and Assembly, which supporters claim will be "a public gathering aimed at raising awareness of the case and initiating an international call for justice."  However, with a logo in which the Cuban flag, a gold star, and number 5 are superimposed on the scales of justice, it’s hard to imagine that this self-proclaimed “People’s Tribunal” has justice on its mind.  Or maybe it’s their slogan:  “People’s Tribunal & Assembly – Breaking the Silence – Justice for the Five.”   Call me a cynic, but I’m thinking their minds are already made up.

Among the predictable collection of Castro apologists schedule to “testify” at the tribunal are filmmaker Saul Landau; Keith Bolender, author of Voices from the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba; and Stephen Kimber, author of What Lies Across the Water.  As many readers may recall, Kimber squandered his academic credibility with his implausible statement “there was no credible evidence to connect the Five to the …shooting down of the Brothers to the Rescue planes.”

According to the announcement by University of Toronto graduate student Jeannine M. Pitas:  “For Kimber, the issue of the Five is separate from that of solidarity with Cuba. "You can disagree with the actions of the Cuban government in shooting down the Brothers to the Rescue planes -- I do -- and still believe that the case against the Five is a travesty of justice," he states.

As for those who would seek to point to human rights abuses within Cuba itself, Kimber firmly believes that this issue must be viewed on its own terms. "But it's too easy to use that as an excuse to ignore what is clearly also a human rights abuse in the case of the Five."

Kimber's goal for the Tribunal? "I really hope we can reach beyond the converted," he says. "This is a story that needs to get out there. I believe if people understood the case better, they would see this as a cause worth fighting for."

Read Pitas’ original article here, at “Rabble.ca;”  http://rabble.ca/news/2012/09/peoples-tribunal-and-assembly-seeks-justice-cuban-five

Today in History: Castro Spy Ana Belen Montes Arrested

By Chris Simmons

September 21, 2001:  On this Friday morning, Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Ana B. Montes was told to report to the Inspector General’s (IG) office.  She believed the IG was finally ready to close out a lingering inquiry regarding her unsanctioned interaction with Soldier of Fortune magazine.  She entered the IG’s Office to discover it had been a ruse – waiting FBI agents arrested her and discreetly exited her from the building. 

Her last contact with Havana had been just five days earlier – on Sunday, September 16^th.

'Useful' Canadians to Host “People’s Tribunal” on the Cuban 5

by Chris Simmons

Breaking the Silence | Peoples' Tribunal & Assembly | Justice for the Five
Toronto City Hall, September 21^st — 23^rd, 2012

Several pro-Castro groups and allied trade unions from across Canada have announced “a Peoples' Tribunal & Assembly” from September 21-23 in Toronto.  The self-professed goals of the tribunal are too highlight the case of the Cuban 5 and attempt to build support for their release.

According to their website (http://canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/tribunal/), the Peoples' Tribunal & Assembly aims to:

• “to act as a forum for education and for launching an appeal to get justice for the Cuban Five;
• to break the silence of the mainstream media about this case; and
• to map out the next steps of a broad and united campaign on the Cuban Five in Québec and across the rest of Canada.”

Composed of prominent Canadian and regime-supported witnesses, the Assembly will hear from “expert witnesses” before rendering a ruling.   No witnesses will testify on behalf of Americans killed by the Castro regime.  Instead, testimony is limited to “the suffering caused to the Cuban people and to others as a result of all the terrorist attacks against Cuba and Cuban interests.”  The Tribunal has no legal authority, but hopes its’ inherently-biased message inspires and resonates with like-minded supporters.

Attending:
• Family members of the "Cuban Five" • Livio Di Celmo, Victim of Terror, Montréal, Québec • Danny Glover, Actor U.S.A. • Gloria La Riva, Free The Five, National Committee - U.S.A. • Cindy Sheehan, Anti –War activist- U.S.A. • Libby Davies, NDP-MP, Vancouver East • Tony Woodley, UNITE the UNION, UK • José Pertierra, Lawyer, Washington, D.C. • Denis Lemelin, National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers • Marie Clarke Walker, Canadian Labour Congress • Isaac Saney, Professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax • Arnold August, Writer, Montréal, Québec • Raymundo Navarro, Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) • Bernie Dwyer, Documentary Film Producer, Ireland • Dra. Digna Castañeda, Cuba • Julian Rivas, Journalist, Venezuela • Wes Elliott, Grand River Territory • Keith Bolender, Freelance Journalist and Author Based in Toronto • Richard Klugh, Lawyer for the Cuban Five, USA • Ken Neumann, National Director for Canada, United Steelworkers • Stephen Kimber, Professor of Journalism, University of Kings College, Halifax • Alicia Jrapko, International Committee to Free the Cuban Five, U.S.A. • William Sloan, Civil Rights Lawyer, Montréal, Québec •

Sponsors:

• United Food and Commercial Workers • United Steelworkers, Canada • Canadian Union of Postal Workers • Canadian Network on Cuba • International Council of Latin American and Caribbean Women - LATIN@S • The Worker to Worker, Canada-Cuba Labour Solidarity Network • Carranza LLP • Canadian Cuban Friendship Association - Toronto • Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network • Canadian Union of Public Employees •

Endorsers:

• International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five, USA • National Network on Cuba, U.S.A. • Toronto Forum on Cuba • Communist League/Ligue communiste • International Festival of Poetry of Resistance •

How Embarrassing! Only 80 People Showed At Miami Conference on “Cuban 5”

By Chris Simmons

In yet another demonstration that Prensa Latina (PRELA) needs to institute mandatory drug testing, the Cuban news service hailed Sunday’s “Cuban 5” conference “as a great success.”   PRELA went on to proclaim that “more than 80 people” attended the session, including well-known Castro apologists Max Lesnik, director of Radio Miami, and Andrés Gómez, coordinator of the Antonio Maceo Brigade and editor of the magazine Areito digital. The news release contained no other relevant facts.

Editor’s Note:   The Antonio Maceo Brigade and Areito magazine have long and distinguished histories of collaboration with Cuban Intelligence.   Additional background on both entities can be found in previous "Cuba Confidential" postings.  Please use the "search" feature to find the related posts.

Read the original PRELA article here: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=526340&Itemid=1