WIKICUBA: UK ON CUBA, IRAN AND OTHER ISSUES AT THE JUNE GAERC

Passed to the Telegraph by WikiLeaks 9:07PM GMT 04 Feb 2011

Ref ID: 08LONDON1623

Date: 6/13/2008 13:06

Origin: Embassy London

Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

Destination: 08STATE62450

Header: VZCZCXRO8727PP RUEHAG RUEHROVDE RUEHLO #1623/01 1651306ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 131306Z JUN 08FM AMEMBASSY LONDONTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8928INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITYRUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITYRUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0100RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 2672RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO PRIORITY 0114RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE PRIORITY 0150RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA PRIORITY 0265RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB PRIORITY 0185RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1207
Tags: PREL,PHUM,PGOV,ETRD,EAID,ZL,ZK,IR,IZ,IS,CU,SU,CD,CT,UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 001623 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/ERA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2018 TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, ETRD, EAID, ZL, ZK, IR, IZ, IS, CU, SU, CD, CT, UK SUBJECT: UK ON CUBA, IRAN AND OTHER ISSUES AT THE JUNE GAERC REF: STATE 62450 Classified By: Political Counselor Richard Mills for reasons 1.4 (B) an d (D). Foreign Office officials provided to Poloffs on June 12 the responses below to ref points on key GAERC agenda items, as well as a general readout of UK expectations for the June GAERC meeting. Cuba ----
2. (C) The UK supports lifting the EU's Restrictive Measures on Cuba at the June 16 GAERC and initiating a human rights dialogue with Cuba, because other EU Members have agreed to review the dialogue's progress within a year, Paul Williams, the Foreign Office's new EU Corespondent, told Polcouns on June 12. Dean and Williams both agreed with ref points that the goal of an EU-dialogue with Cuba had to be release of political prisoners, free access to information and freedom for the EU to pursue "Track Two" engagement with civil society, but that other EU Members believed listing these specific benchmarks in the GAERC conclusions was counter productive. The UK, Williams said, might have agreed to list specific benchmarks in the GAERC conclusions, but there was "not enough support" for this among other EU members. Williams and Dean confirmed that the EU's two-track policy remains in place.
3. (C) In a separate conversation the same day, Matthew Forbes, the Foreign Office's Caribbean Office Chief, told Poloff the UK had scored "quite a victory" by achieving agreement in the EU that to continue the dialogue after one year would require an affirmative consensus of all EU Members, rather than the dialogue with Havana continuing unless a consensus of all states acted to end it. According to Forbes this affirmative approach gives each individual EU Member state much more leverage with the Cubans; the UK could act alone to stop the dialogue in a year, if the Cubans interfere with the UK outreach to Cuban dissidents or refuse to engage with London. Under current EU policy, as Forbes explained it, EU Members like the UK who reach out to the opposition are isolated, leaving the discussions with the regime on human rights to EU Members such as Spain. Forbes told Poloff that the agreement on mechanics of the one-year renewal would not be spelled out in the GAERC conclusions, but be the subject of a confidential side agreement among Members. Havana would learn about the mechanics in any case, as the Spanish leak information to them on all developments inside the COLAT, Forbes added. Forbes echoed his EU colleagues and said that the EU's twin-track policy is still in effect. Forbes said that the GAERC conclusions, although not containing benchmarks for a dialogue, would make reference to human rights, which would itself irritate Cuba and might delay the start of the dialogue. Iran ----
4. (C) EU Correspondent Williams said the UK wanted action taken at the June GAERC on designation of Bank Melli and other individuals associated with Iran's nuclear programs and was pressing hard "to do it now," but German objections made it "increasingly uncertain" that the designations would be taken at next week's GAERC. According to Williams, the Germans want to wait "several weeks" after EU Commission Solana presents the P5 1 enhanced incentives package to Tehran, before moving forward with the designations. Williams said Foreign Political Director Mark Lyall Grant was pressing his German counterpart to let the designations move forward for June 16; as a fall back the determinations might be authorized at a June 23 EU meeting, Williams said, but he was not certain that the Germans would agree to this. He described the timing of the designations as still an open question which may not be resolved until the June 14-15 weekend. (Embassy note. FCO's Coordination Office separately followed up with Embassy on June 13, telling Poloff that the Melli designation will not be on the June 16 GAERC agenda, but is now firmly on the agenda for the June 23 Agriculture and Fisheries session. End note).
5. (C) Williams said that there would be no action on LONDON 00001623 002 OF 002 adopting UNSCR 1803 "goldplating" into EU policy at the June GAERC. Most EU Members wanted to wait further to see how Tehran would react to the new P5 1 proposals and wanted to hear from Solana, who will brief the GAERC immediately upon his return from Tehran. Kosovo ------
6. (C) The UK does not expect any language on Kosovo in the GAERC conclusions or much general discussion, but will use the GAERC to lobby EU Members that have not yet recognized Kosovo independence. Williams said that FS Miliband plans to target his Portuguese and Maltese counterparts on the GAERC margins. Western Balkans ---------------
7. (C) The UK is pleased that the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Bosnia will be signed. The UK will make a statement urging rapid implementation in order to make clear the EU's commitment to Bosnia's future in Europe. Williams said that Greece was pressing for a GAERC conclusion on Macedonia's accession that would address the name issue; the UK is opposed to raising the name dispute in this context, joined by the Slovenian Presidency and "most" other Members, according to Williams. Williams said the issue may not be resolved until early on June 16 as Greece is refusing to drop the matter. Williams said that there would be no other statements and little discussion on the Western Balkans, other than perhaps a statement of welcome for the recent handing over a wanted war criminal to the ICTY. African Issues ---------------
8. (C) Sudan, the Great Lakes region, and Somalia will be discussed at the GAERC, Williams told Polcouns, but there will not be any formal conclusions. Zimbabwe is the most important African issue for the UK at the June GAERC. Williams said the UK is nearing agreement on a "strong text" that will express the EU's deep concern over the situation in Zimbabwe and recognize that the violence and intimidation thus far are cause for fears about how the election will be carried out. The UK wants the GAERC conclusions and discussion to set the stage for the June 18-19 European Council meeting shortly after at which the UK will press for discussion of post-election EU actions should the poll be as unfair as now appears. Ground Work for European Council Meeting ---------------------------------------
9. (C) Williams and Dean agreed that for the UK the most important aspect of this June GAERC is laying the groundwork for the subsequent European Council a few days later. Prime Minister Brown wants to focus the Council meeting on several of his economic and development priorities: coordinated actions in response to rising oil and food prices, encouraging progress on the Millennium Development Goals, and reforming international institutions like the Bretton Woods institutions. Brown, according to Williams, also wants to press the EU to move forward on Doha round negotiations. The UK goal for the GAERC is to lay the ground work for high-level action at the European Council meeting. Visit London's Classified Website: XXXXXXXXXXXX TUTTLE

WIKICUBA: EXPECTS LITTLE IMMINENT CHANGE IN CUBA BUT REMAINS ENGAGED LONDON

Passed to the Telegraph by WikiLeaks 9:06PM GMT 04 Feb 2011

Ref ID: 08LONDON1157

Date: 4/24/2008 10:12

Origin: Embassy London

Classification: CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN

Destination:

Header: VZCZCXRO6728PP RUEHAG RUEHROVDE RUEHLO #1157/01 1151012ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 241012Z APR 08FM AMEMBASSY LONDONTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8360INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITYRUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
Tags: PREL,PHUM,KDEM,UK,CU,EUN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 001157 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2018 TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KDEM, UK, CU, EUN SUBJECT: HMG EXPECTS LITTLE IMMINENT CHANGE IN CUBA BUT REMAINS ENGAGED LONDON 00001157 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: PolCouns Richard Mills, Jr., reason 1.4, b/d.
1.(C/NF) Summary. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials told Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry they detected little real change since Raul Castro assumed power, but they firmly believed the only means of exploiting any possible openings with the regime was to remain engaged. They were wary of "lecturing" the regime, which seemed to make Cuban officials dig in their heels, but were attempting to discern what the EU could get (e.g. release of political prisoners) in exchange for lifting the suspended 2003 Restrictive Measures at its June meeting on the Cuba Common Policy. They could not envision supporting a lifting of the measures without getting something in return because to do so would send the wrong signal. In another meeting, a local academic at the International Institute for the Study of Cuba told McCarry the U.S. should swallow its pride and let the regime think it has won, at least briefly, because Havana will not be swayed by the types of pressure historically employed. End Summary.
FCO: Constructive Engagement Over Isolation -------------------------------------------
2.(C/NF) HMG agrees that there has been little real change in Cuba since Fidel Castro began handing the reigns of power to his brother Raul, but London remains hopeful that small changes instigated by Raul will provide openings for constructive engagement. FCO Director for the Americas Chris Wood told Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry and EUR's Nicole Otallah April 15 that the press was overly optimistic about change when Fidel fell ill and later resigned. HMG agreed that most of the changes proposed by Raul primarily benefit Cuba's "nomenklatura." Wood noted that in a recent meeting with Cuban Vice Minister Caballero, FCO Minister Meg Munn told the Cuban that HMG would like to engage Havana but needs a signal from the regime to do so, particularly on human rights. Caballero was adamant that lecturing Cuba would not foment change; he cited the removal of Cuba from the Human Rights Council agenda as a positive step that allowed the regime to sign the UN Covenant on Human Rights.
3.(C/NF) In the meantime, HMG was thinking about what it could get out of the regime before June when the EU discusses the EU Common Policy on Cuba and whether to lift the suspended 2003 Restrictive Measures. Wood said HMG continued to believe the 2003 Measures did not accomplish anything but is reluctant to lift them without getting something in exchange, e.g. release of political prisoners. Although the UK embassy in Havana has fairly good access to the regime, such conversations were difficult because the regime does not admit to having political prisoners. In addition, the regime wants something in exchange for signing the UN Covenant on Human Rights, which is meaningless without implementation. McCarry noted that regime thugs had beat up Cubans who were distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights two days after the Cubans signed the Covenant, sending a strong signal to the Cuban people. Matthew Forbes, FCO Head of the Caribbean Team said the regime is already in breach of the Covenant because it refuses to take back from the UK former Cuban prisoners; but HMG cannot press these issues without a dialogue with the regime.
4.(C/NF) McCarry said the USG supported the UK and others having a dialogue with the regime to press issues of human rights and the need for democratic change, but the USG also emphasized the importance, at this time, of EU outreach to the opposition and Cuban civil society. McCarry emphasized that it is essential the regime begin to give up some of the control it has over every aspect of Cubans' lives by ending the practice of jailing people for disagreeing with their government. He pressed HMG to include something in the U.S.-EU Summit Communique that calls for "democracy, human rights, and the release of political prisoners in Cuba." Otallah pressed for UK support of the Political Prisoner Initiative with the EU. HMG was very supportive of the initiative but was concerned that the timing of it could complicate the discussion of the Common Policy in June; it should be sometime later.
5.(C/NF) Asked about the transition fund for Cuba, McCarry noted the USG was still working on the details of the fund. He added that the USG, including DoD, is also making contingency plans for a transition in Cuba to deal with humanitarian and infrastructure issues, refugees, democracy assistance, etc., in the event of a transition to democracy. McCarry noted these plans were close-hold because cynics would easily jump to the conclusion that the U.S. was LONDON 00001157 002.2 OF 002 planning for regime change, which was certainly not the case.
Academia: Call Their Bluff --------------------------
6.(U) In a separate meeting, Assistant Director of the International Institute for the Study of Cuba Dr. Stephen Wilkenson shared his insights from his many visits to the island. He argued that the regime is impervious to the kinds of pressure heretofore applied by "the West." Stephenson asserted that the desire for "consumption is unrestrainable," with Cubans increasingly wanting and expecting electronics and modern conveniences. This consumerism would propel change in the regime if the West "swallowed its pride" and let Havana think it had won. He believed the regime would accept "social democracy" if it were assured that health care remained universal. Visit London's Classified Website: XXXXXXXXXXXX TUTTLE

WikiLeaks, Whistleblowing and the Future of Journalism?

Sang Tan, AP

WikiLeaks, Whistleblowing and the Future of Journalism

By Delia Lloyd

As Julian Assange's extradition hearing nears, questions about his fate are shadowed by another issue: Have WikiLeaks and its ilk forever altered modern journalism -- and even negated the need for journalists?

Full Story »

WIKICUBA: "Enemy Campaigns and the Policy of Confronting Counter-revolutionary Elements"

From El Yuma



La ciber policia en Cuba from Coral Negro on Vimeo.

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Wikileaks: 3 previously undisclosed members of 9/11 plot

By Peter Finn and Julie Tate

Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 1, 2011; 8:50 PM

A newly released U.S. diplomatic cable discloses the existence of previously undisclosed participants in the Sept. 11, 2001, plot: a group of Qatari men who conducted surveillance of targets in New York and the Washington area before leaving the United States on the eve of the attacks.

The three men flew into the United States on Aug. 15, 2001, and "visited the World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty, the White House, and various areas in Virginia" before flying on to Los Angeles, according to the cable, part of the cache of documents obtained by the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks.
But a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to comment on classified material made public by WikiLeaks, said that the three men were "looked at" within days of the attacks and that investigators concluded they could not be charged.

"There is no manhunt," said the official, playing down a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper that disclosed the contents of the cable. "There is no active case. They were looked at, but it washed out."

The cable, sent on Feb. 11, 2010, from the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, to various agencies in Washington, including the FBI and the CIA, recommended that an individual named Mohamed al-Mansoori be added to a government watch list. The cable said he was a threat to civil aviation in the United States and abroad.
The cable goes on to explain that Mansoori assisted the group of three Qataris - identified as Meshal Alhajri, Fahad Abdulla and Ali Alfehaid - while they were in the United States.
Mansoori, from the United Arab Emirates, lived in Long Beach, Calif., in September 2001. "He is suspected of aiding people who entered the U.S. before the attacks to conduct surveillance of possible targets and providing other support to the hijackers," the cable states.

The existence of a surveillance team supporting the 19 hijackers led by Mohammed Atta appears to add a new element to the narrative of the plot's execution. There is no direct mention in the 9/11 Commission report of such a team.
Two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, first landed in Los Angeles, and the report says it is likely they would have had some "friendly contacts" in California. Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, denied that al-Qaeda had any operatives in the state, according to the commission's report.
The report also notes that there was evidence that a second wave of attacks was being prepared. Philip Zelikow, a member of the commission, said that this group of Qataris might have figured in such a plan. He noted that by the time the Qataris reached the United States in August 2001, the 9/11 plan was largely in place, so surveillance by such late arrivals appears odd.
"Not everything is in the report, and my memory of the details has dulled with time so I can't say if we had some trace of this group," Zelikow said. "They might have been seen by us as a group that was part of a second wave, and if that was the case, we wouldn't have named them for obvious reasons."
The three Qataris are part of a 2002 FBI list of individuals whom the government wanted to interview about the Sept. 11 attacks.
After leaving the East Coast, the three men stayed at a hotel near the airport in Los Angeles. The cable says the hotel rooms and the men's plane tickets were paid for by a convicted terrorist, who was not named in the document. The three men also spent a week traveling around California with Mansoori.
Hotel staff later told investigators that the men had "pilot-type" uniforms and computer printouts listing pilot names, airlines, flight numbers and flight times.
The men were scheduled to fly to Washington on Sept. 10, 2001, on the Boeing plane that was hijacked the next day and flown into the Pentagon. Instead, the men flew to London and then on to Qatar on Sept. 13.
Mansoori's visa was later revoked and he was apparently able to leave the United States unhindered.
The CIA and the FBI declined to comment on the cable.

Wikileaks: Zelaya fue doble agente de EE.UU

Zelaya fue doble agente de EE.UU., revela Wikileaks

AFP | TEGUCIGALPA

 

TEGUCIGALPA. Un partidario del ex presidente hondureño Manuel Zelaya pide su retorno.

El ex presidente hondureño Manuel Zelaya actuó como doble agente, de Estados Unidos y la Alternativa Bolivariana de las Américas (ALBA) de Venezuela y Cuba, poco antes del golpe de Estado del 28 de junio del 2009, según revelaciones de Wikileaks publicadas el domingo en el diario español El País.

Según las filtraciones de un cable del Departamento de Estado elaborado por la embajada de EE.UU. en Honduras, Zelaya logró el apoyo del líder cubano Fidel Castro y del presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez, y de los demás líderes del Alba, a una propuesta para el regreso de Cuba a la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), sin que supieran que el borrador era elaborado por EE.UU.

El depuesto mandatario hondureño reconoció ayer que el patrocinio de la resolución para permitir el regreso de Cuba a la OEA fue compartido por otros países, pero descartó que haya actuado en ese tema como un doble agente de Washington.

Según resume El País, de acuerdo con el cable 210866 del 23 de junio del 2009, divulgado por Wikileaks, los países del Alba presentaron en la reunión realizada a comienzos de ese mes en San Pedro Sula, Honduras, un borrador para lograr la admisión de Cuba en la OEA.

La secretaria de Estado norteamericana, Hillary Clinton, presentó una contrapropuesta: levantar la prohibición a Cuba siempre y cuando La Habana admitiera adherirse a los principios de la OEA.

Zelaya, según el cable, medió entre EE.UU. y los países duros de la ALBA e informó a Washington de sus dificultades para convencer a sus nuevos socios, a los que amenazó con retirarse de la ALBA y llegó a telefonear a Fidel Castro para que diera su conformidad al texto.

Eso revela que el borrador que aceptaron Castro, Chávez y Ortega era el redactado por EE.UU. De esa manera, Zelaya empezó a jugar en el bando de Chávez y de los presidentes de Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; Ecuador, Rafael Correa; y Bolivia, Evo Morales, entre otros, mientras mantenía vínculos estrechos con EE.UU., según el cable citado.

También dice que Zelaya se había metido en enero del 2008 en un laberinto político cuando firmó un acuerdo comercial con Venezuela a través de Petrocaribe y que EE.UU. sospechó desde el inicio que tenía “un precio político” para el entonces presidente hondureño: darle liquidez para sus dos últimos años de mandato y mejorar sus posibilidades de reelección, si lograba los cambios legales necesarios o de su candidata, Patricia Rodas.

Leaks show Palestinians giving much ground to Israel

The Dome of the Rock is seen during sunset in Jerusalem's Old City January 12, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner

By Crispian Balmer and Tom Perry

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian negotiators secretly told Israel it could keep swathes of occupied East Jerusalem, according to leaked documents that show Palestinians offering much bigger peace concessions than previously revealed.
The documents, obtained by the Al Jazeera television channel, could undermine the position of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose public declarations about Jerusalem are at odds with what his officials were promising in private.
Equally sobering for the Palestinian people, who want to create a state on land Israel seized in a 1967 war, is the fact that Israel offered nothing in return for the concessions and turned down their offer, saying it did not go far enough.
The leaked minutes of a 2008 meeting between Palestinian, U.S. and Israeli officials showed a senior Palestinian proposing that Israel annex all but one of its major Jerusalem settlements as part of a broad deal to end their decades-old conflict.
Al Jazeera said Sunday it had other documents that it would publish shortly showing the Palestinians were also ready to make other massive concessions on the hugely sensitive issue of the right to return for Palestinian refugees.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat went on the defensive, dismissing the documents as "a bunch of lies" during an appearance on Al Jazeera shortly after they were released.
In a heated exchange, Erekat was confronted by critics including Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based al -Quds al-Arabi newspaper, who asked him who had authorized him or the Palestinian leadership "to give up Islamic holy sites."
One document quoted Erekat as telling an Israeli official: "It is no secret that ...we are offering you the biggest Yerushalayim in history." He used the Hebrew word for Jerusalem.
Ahmed Qurie, the lead Palestinian negotiator in 2008, was quoted as proposing that Israel annex all Jewish settlements in Jerusalem except Har Homa. He also said Israel could keep control of a part of the Old City of Jerusalem.
"This is the first time in history that we make such a proposition," the document quoted Ahmed Qurie as saying.
He added that the Palestinians had refused to make such a concession during negotiations led by the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 2000.
HAMAS INDIGNANT
Hamas, the Islamist group which governs the Gaza Strip, said the documents revealed the Palestinian Authority's role in "attempting to liquidate the Palestinian cause."
"This exposes the Palestinian leadership, putting it in a position where it will be impossible to win the confidence of the people," said Zakaria al-Qaq, Palestinian commentator.
However, another Palestinian commentator said the reaction would be limited.

WIKICUBA: EEUU afirma que "mafias" administran sectores del Estado cubano

EEUU afirma que "mafias" administran sectores del Estado cubano (WikiLeaks)

(AFP)

MADRID — La corrupción en Cuba es "generalizada" y algunos sectores del Estado están administrados por "mafias", según cables de la misión diplomática de Estados Unidos en La Habana, revelados por WikiLeaks y publicados en el diario El País de España este sábado.
"La corrupción en Cuba ha avanzado hasta tal punto que se ha convertido en un fenómeno generalizado que alcanza a altos funcionarios, miembros del Partido Comunista Cubano y profesionales sin adscripción política", citó El País sobre cables de 2006 y 2007 de la Sección de Intereses de Washington en Cuba (SINA), cuyo jefe era entonces Michael Parmly,
Según los cables, las prácticas corruptas incluyen "soborno", "malversación de los recursos estatales", trampas contables y "comisiones ilegales cobradas por funcionarios a cambio de concesiones y cuyo monto es depositado en cuentas abiertas, a su nombre o al de personas interpuestas, en bancos extranjeros".
"Hay instalaciones del Estado que son administradas, de hecho, por mafias (en sectores como el turismo y la construcción) Como en cualquier lugar en el mundo, un contrato de un millón de dólares supone (para el comisionista cubano) 100.000 dólares en el banco", dicen los reportes.
El periódico agrega que de acuerdo con los cables esos dirigentes corruptos no son tanto de la cúpula revolucionaria sino funcionarios "pragmáticos que se han hecho un espacio dentro de un rígido sistema comunista".
La información enviada al Departamento de Estado por la SINA señala que en Cuba, donde el Estado controla más del 90% de la economía, el robo y la corrupción -para nutrir el mercado negro- "son un mecanismo de supervivencia", debido a los bajos salarios.
"Las autoridades toleran las corruptelas de supervivencia hasta cierto punto, pero cuando saben de desvíos importantes actúan con severidad", añadieron los reportes.
Señalan que muchos de los puestos potencialmente más rentables suelen ser asignados sobornando al funcionario que decide y que los policías "son famosos por aceptar sobornos".
El gobierno de Raúl Castro lleva a cabo una ofensiva contra la corrupción y el robo de recursos al Estado, y creó una poderosa Contraloría General.

WIKICUBA: Corrupcion

Cable en el que se describen algunas forma de corrupción en Cuba

"El embajador español Alonso dice que todos necesitan la corrupción para sobrevivir. En la mayoría de los países latinoamericanos un escándalo de corrupción es que una persona robe 11 millones de dólares; en Cuba, que 11 millones de cubanos roben un dólar cada uno" 

EE UU retrata la corrupción en Cuba

WIKICUBA: Distancia entre la Iglesia y los disidentes católicos

Cable sobre la distancia entre la Iglesia y los disidentes católicos · ELPAÍS.com

WIKILEAKS: Bradley Manning presenta demanda por sus condiciones detención

WASHINGTON.- El soldado estadounidense sospechoso de haber facilitado cables diplomáticos de Estados Unidos al sitio Wikileaks presentó una demanda en contra de las condiciones de su detención, aislamiento y vigilancia constante de los guardias, anunció su abogado este viernes.

David Coombs, abogado de Bradley Manning, presentó la demanda ante el comandante de la base militar de Quantico (Virginia, este) -donde se encuentra la prisión- con el fin de que éste lleve a cabo una investigación en virtud de la ley marcial.

Coombs solicita que su cliente sea colocado en unas condiciones de encarcelamiento menos drásticas, que sea retirado de su celda de aislamiento y deje de estar bajo "vigilancia anti-suicidio" y "vigilancia para prevenir heridas".

En la demanda, presentada el miércoles pero cuya existencia se conoció este viernes a través del blog de Coombs, el abogado explica que varios expertos psiquiátricos recomiendan que Manning no esté encerrado en condiciones de seguridad máxima.

Bradley Manning fue arrestado en julio de 2010 y es la única persona procesada en Estados Unidos debido a las revelaciones hechas por WikiLeaks, fundado por el australiano Julian Assange.

Según su abogado, Manning debe permanecer en su celda 23 horas al día, no tiene derecho a sábanas ni cojín y un guardia le pregunta sobre su estado de ánimo "cada cinco minutos".

© ČTK

Former Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda (left) with then-US Ambassador William Cabaniss

Wikileaks: Czechs blocked US attempt to buy Russian missiles from Belarus

Leaked US Embassy cables suggest US desire for Russian missile technology took priority over human rights concerns in Belarus

Foreign Affairs

Tom Jones | 19.01.2011 - 23:02

The independent Belarusian Internet news server www.naviny.by has published three diplomatic cables sent from the US Embassy in Prague in March and April 2005, according to which the US wanted to purchase Russian missiles from Belarus via the Ukraine and Czech Republic. The cables, published Jan 19, were passed to the news site by Israel Shamir, Wikileaks’ partner for Russia.
From the three communiqués sent by then-US ambassador William J. Cabaniss Jr, it transpires that the US Navy wanted to purchase 23 Kh-31 Russian sea-skimming missiles via an unnamed Czech arms dealer. “Is the Navy’s need for these missiles strong enough to overcome US objections to military purchases, even indirectly involving Belarus?” Cabaniss wrote in a March 9, 1995 cable, requesting guidance on how to proceed.

According to the same cable, the US was attempting to buy Kh-31 missiles from Belarus through middlemen because the Russians refused to sell the missiles to a Czech arms dealer or Ukraine. ‘Is the Navy’s need for these missiles strong enough to overcome US objections to military purchases, even indirectly involving Belarus?’
“The US Navy has for some time been planning an open commercial purchase of 23 KH-31 (or MA-31) Russian sea-skimming missiles from a Czech arms dealer,” Cabaniss wrote. “It has come to our attention that the missiles are coming from Belarus, via a series of complicated transactions. This arrangement is reportedly necessary because the Russians themselves refused to sell the missiles to the Czech arms dealer.”
Documents from the US Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, show that in 1995 the US Navy struck a deal with Russia to deliver modified Kh-31 missiles as target drones. The Russian military enterprise Zvezda-Strela delivered the missiles without electronics, which were then adapted by US aerospace group Boeing and named as the Boeing/Zvezda Strela MA-31, which was first tested in 1996. The US Navy evaluated the MA-31 as being superior to the rival Sea Snake developed partly by Honeywell.
In 1999, the US navy placed an order with Zvezda-Strela for the production of 34 MA-31s which according to an article at the time by Russian military analyst Dmitry Litovkin, the MA-31s were not only superior, but were half the price of the Sea Snake. Litovkin speculates in his report that the US Navy may also have been interested in Kh-31 technology for the development of an Anti-Missile Defense system (AMD) to defend ships against the Russian Moskit missile (classified by NATO as a sunburn-type missile), which he says is in many ways similar to the Kh-31, only much more powerful. Both were designed by the constructor Yakovlev Sergei, though the Moskit was developed at the Raduga military design bureau and enterprise.
At the time of Litovkin’s article, the Moskit could reach 2,800 kilometers per hour at very low altitudes (air to sea, or sea to sea) and according to the author, detection was only possible three to four seconds before impact, i.e. not nearly enough time to react.
In 1999, however, Russia blocked the US Navy order for the MA-31s. Though the first Kh-31 type missiles were developed in the 1980s, it is probable that development continues to this day.
Indeed in 2005, the US Navy was attempting to acquire the later versions of Kh-31: “23 of the KH-31 missiles are currently in Belarus, where they have been for as long as three decades. The propsed sale of these missiles to the US Navy would begin with a transaction between the Russian Army and the Belarus Army, under which 23 newer missiles would be sent from Russia to Belarus,” Cabaniss’ March 9 communiqué states.
A day later, Cabaniss sent another communiqué regarding the perspective missile purchase reporting reservations on the side of the Czechs: “The Czech government has been very critical of the Lukashenko regime, and some in the MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs], particularly those responsible for the promotion of human rights and democracy, have voiced objection to the deal. The matter has now been passed to ХХХХХХХХХХХХХХ,” the communiqué dated March 10, 2005 says.
On April 1, 2005, Cabaniss reported that the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed at the time by Cyril Svoboda (Christian Democrats, KDU-ČSL) had blocked the deal, despite the fact that Belarus had taken delivery of the new Kh-31’s sought by the US Navy.
“The Czech government has formally denied the license request of a Czech arms dealer to broker the sale of Russian KH-31 missiles, now in the possession of a state-run firm in Belarus, to the U.S. Navy. Poloff [US Embassy Political Officer] was told April 1st that the MFA licensing office had on March 31 sent a formal letter to the office within the Ministry of Industry and Trade which is responsible for arms sales, informing it of the MFA's decision.”

WikiCuba: Brasil cree que régimen de Cuba es "insostenible"

WikiLeaks: Brasil cree que régimen de Cuba es "insostenible"

Al gobierno de Lula le preocupaba la fragilidad

Brasilia.- Pese a que la política oficial de Brasil ha sido de apoyo total a Cuba, en esecial hacia el régimen comunista, la realidad, lo que se vive tras bastidores sería distinto.

Documentos oficiales difundidos por Wikileaks revelaron que el ex gobierno del presidente Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva le expresó a EE UU su preocupación por la situación en la isla que considera “insostenible”.

“En los últimos 40 años, Cuba ha tenido un sistema fundado sobre una única figura carismática. Eso no es sostenible”, afirmó el ex asesor especial de la Presidencia para Asuntos Internacionales, Marco Aurelio Garcia, al diplomático norteamericano Clifford Sobel.

El encuentro ocurrió en Brasilia en el  2007, un año después de que Fidel Castro pasara el testigo a su hermano Raúl por problemas de salud.

Capital's war against #WikiLeaks

When your Swiss banker throws you overboard, you know you've made some very powerful enemies.
Long famed for hiding money for everyone from Nazis and drug lords to spies and dictators, the Swiss government's banking arm has decided that WikiLeaks and Julian Assange are just too hot even for it to handle.
And so the PostFinance, which runs the country's banks, declared in early December that it had "ended its business relationship with WikiLeaks founder Julian Paul Assange" after accusing Mr. Assange of - gasp! - providing false information about his place of residence.
This move followed similar moves by credit card companies MasterCard and Visa, as well as PayPal and Amazon.com, to no longer process WikiLeaks payments and, in Amazon.com's case, to cease hosting its data.
As I write this, Bank of America has joined the crescendo of corporations taking aim at WikiLeaks, refusing to process payments for it any longer because of "our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments."
And soon after, none other than Apple joined the chorus, pulling the plug on a WikiLeaks app only days after it went on sale on its iTunes website. Every sector of the corporate economy, it seems, is out to get WikiLeaks.
Zeroing in on "neocorporatism"
Should CIA agents, mafia bosses and other fellow Swiss banking customers who have likely been even less than forthright in their personal representations than Assange is alleged to have been also worry about the loyalty and discretion of their Swiss bankers?
Probably not. And that's because the world's criminals, autocrats and spooks are very much part of the global political economic system, even if sometimes on opposite sides.
But WikiLeaks both operates outside the system, seeking "Matrix"-style, to use technology - the internet - to "destroy" it by prying it open to public scrutiny, exposing the constant conspiracies of the powerful against the rest of society.
This task, Assange argues, is the most important way to help free the system's millions of often complicit - if not quite willing - victims and in so doing, "change or remove... government and neocorporatist behaviour".
As a political theorist, Assange leaves something to be desired. "Neocorporatism" describes a system in which capital and labour are enmeshed in an integrated but ultimately dependent relationship with a powerful and autonomous state apparatus - an update of the triangular relationship that enabled unprecedented economic growth and gains for the working class in the West in the decades after World War II.
Ideologically, this kind of close working relationship between government, big business and organised labour is the antithesis of the neoliberal system WikiLeaks seeks to combat.
But Assange is right that there is something "neo", if not exactly new, in the way the corporate sector is behaving today and its relationship with government. It lies in the embrace - or better, re-embrace - of finance capitalism and militaristic empire and the military industrial complex that sustains it.
Whether preying on unwitting consumers in middle America or preying on suspected insurgents in the Middle East, these are two of the most secretive sectors of the American economy. They depend on the public knowing as little as possible about their inner workings to secure the greatest possible freedom of action, power and profits.
The power of secrecy
Assage's abandonment by the Swiss banking system and its American corporate cousins is thus not surprising. Few industries have used secrecy and lack of disclosure more effectively than the banking, financial services and credit card industries.
Indeed, their secretive business practises are central to their constant ability to rake in enormous profits at the expense of working and middle class Americans through monopolising trading systems, charging morally usurious interest rates and fees, and engaging in other practises that would make even the most cold-hearted lone shark blush.
If the grand bargain between workers, capitalists and governments enabled the first two post-World War II generations to move from high school right into the middle class, this road was irreparably damaged by the 1980s, when the neoliberal Right first came to power.
As the United States entered its long and painful era of deindustrialization American foreign policy became more aggressively militaristic; and so joining the military as opposed to GM or Ford became one of the few routes to secure any kind of stable economic future (as long as you stayed in the military).
Not surprisingly, profits from the financial sector surpassed that of manufacturing in the early 1990s and haven't dropped since. But these profits and the economic growth they generated have relied disproportionately on government and consumer debt and a hollowing out of the manufacturing sector, which together helped make the US the "sick man of the globe", as one senior corporate economist.
For their part, GM, Ford and Chrysler simultaneously focused most of their energies on producing comparatively profitable gas-guzzlers like SUVs while establishing financial services arms that quickly became responsible for a substantial share of their profits (in some years upwards of 90 percent of profits are so derived).
Their lending practises, it's worth noting, included the kinds of "liar" home loans, given out with little concern over the ability of borrowers to pay them, that precipitated the global economic crisis of 2007 till today.
Financialisation and history
None of these practises would have withstood the light of public scrutiny, and it was only the corporatisation - in good measure, financialization - of American politics that allowed them to flourish in the last thirty years. Few enterprises threaten that secrecy as much as WikiLeaks and its laser-like focus on openness, which is why its actions are viewed in Washington as "striking at the very heart of the global economy".
The "financialisation" of the economy represents the increasing dominance of the financial industries in the overall economy, taking over "the dominant economic, cultural, and political role in a national economy".
Crucially, this process isn't unique to the United States; it also happened to previous empires, like the Hapsburg's, Dutch and British empires, at precisely the eras they lost their dominant global position. In all cases, financialism and militarism went hand in hand, as first pointed out by the British historian John Hobson's famous 1902 book Imperialism: A Study.
In it, Hobson argued that the monopolisation of the financial sector created a new oligarchy that linked together the large banks and industrial firms together with "war mongers and speculators" which encouraged imperialism to secure markets for the surplus products produced by corporations.
America's rise to global dominance came after the end of the imperial era and so it couldn't blatantly conquer territory to create new markets. But at the moment of its rise policy makers called on the government to use high military spending to ensure overall robust economic growth.
This coincided with rapid expansion of easily obtainable credit, creating two "giant black holes" (in the words of Israeli economists Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan) whose potential for expansion was limited only by the willingness of citizens to support the policies that enabled them, despite the long term harm to the economic and political well-being of their societies.
During the first thirty years of the Cold War era, the propensity towards militarism was balanced by the robust manufacturing economy and the tripartite business-labour-government relationship that secured it.
This began to change in the 1970s, when the hugely expensive, and profitable, Vietnam War began to wind down.
As Nitzan and Bichler describe in their hugely important book, The Global Political Economy of Israel, beginning in this period "there was a growing convergence of interests between the world's leading petroleum and armament corporations. The politicisation of oil, together with the parallel commercialisation of arms exports, helped shape an uneasy weapondollar-petrodollar coalition between these companies."
What is most crucial about Nitzan and Bichler's analysis is that one of the most important ways that the arms and oil industries were able to earn a disproportionate (as they describe it, "differential") level of profits was through the regular eruption of Middle Eastern energy conflicts, which ensured both relative high oil prices and arms purchases.
McDonald's and McDonnell Douglas
As this process developed, the authors explain that "the lines separating state from capital, foreign policy from corporate strategy, and territorial conquest from differential profit, no longer seem very solid."
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman puts it more colourfully: "The hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fist. McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas - and the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies to flourish is called the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps."
This is the "neocorporatism" that Assange and his WikiLeaks comrades have zeroed in on, although today, more than a decade after Friedman wrote the above words, Master Card is more relevant than McDonald's.
The problem is that WikiLeaks alone cannot turn the tide in this conflict.
Assange might well be a "high tech terrorist," as US Vice President Joseph Biden recently called him, given how much terror his actions have struck in the heart of the American political system.
But the US is ultimately only one of a group of powerful countries and corporations whose leaders all share a fundamental commitment to securing as much profit and power as possible for themselves, however much their methods and politics differ.
Indeed, a sober look at the relevant data reveals that the profit share of the financial sectors outside the US has almost always been significantly higher than in the US, meaning that the rest of the world has long been more "financialised" than has the US economy.
As always, capitalism and power have never been as conveniently centred in one country or region as people imagine.
To really have an impact, WikiLeaks needs to inspire a whole generation of leakers in other countries and cultures, who are as willing to risk their freedom as Assange and the other people behind WikiLeaks. The leak culture has started to take root, however only time will tell if it resists the forces working against it's development.
If this doesn't happen - if Assange and his comrades are successfully made into examples by their corporate and political enemies that scare off those who might be inspired by their example - Capital will likely win the world's first "cyber-war", much as it's won most every war before it during modernity's long, bloody and unimaginably profitable history.
Mark Levine is a professional musician and professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of California, Irvine.

Banking secrets handed to WikiLeaks [Hum!]

A former Swiss banker has passed on documents allegedly detailing tax evasion attempts by hundreds of business leaders, politicians and celebrities to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
Rudolf Elmer, an ex-employee of Swiss-based private bank Julius Baer, handed over two CDs containing the data to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, at a press conference in London on Monday.
The disks are thought to contain details of 2,000 individuals.
Elmer has said the information includes details on politicians, multinational companies and financial institutions from the United States, Europe and Asia, all secretly avoiding paying tax.
"I do think as a banker I have the right to stand up if something is wrong," Elmer said, addressing reporters at London's Frontline Club, alongside Assange.
"I am against the system. I know how the system works and I know the day-to-day business. From that point of view, I wanted to let society know what I know. It is damaging our society."
Assange promised "full revelation" of the data, but said it would be weeks before any of the information could be checked and published by the WikiLeaks website.
Vetting will be done by Wikileaks, media organisations and other partners in order to protect sources, Assange said.
Banker accused
Elmer, who once headed Julius Baer's offices in the Cayman Islands, previously offered files to WikiLeaks on offshore financial activities in 2007, leading to tax evasion prosecutions in several countries.
He faces a court hearing in Zurich on Wednesday to answer charges of coercion and violating Switzerland's strict banking secrecy laws.
He has said he wants to call attention to offshore financial abuses and promote WikiLeaks as a mechanism for other whistleblowers to air their stories.
But his former employer has hit back, claiming Elmer, who the bank fired in 2002, has other motives.
"After his demands [including financial compensation] in connection with the dismissal could not be satisfied, Mr Elmer embarked in 2004 on a personal intimidation campaign and vendetta against Julius Baer," the bank said in a statement.
"The aim of his activities was and is to discredit Julius Baer as well as clients in the eyes of the public."
Assange, whose website has angered Washington by releasing thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables, is on bail in Britain awaiting Swedish attempts to extradite him for questioning on sexual assault allegations.
Under his bail conditions, the WikiLeaks founder must live at the mansion home of Vaughan Smith, the owner of the Frontline Club.
He has promised the flow of leaked documents will be stepped up.

Swiss banker held over WikiLeaks

Rudolf Elmer arrested over the passing of tax evader details to website, hours after being convicted in separate case.

Elmer was taken into custody on Wednesday evening, having been found guilty by a Zürich court of sharing private client data and of threatening an employee at Julius Baer, his former firm, earlier in the day.
He was arrested on fresh charges of breaching secrecy laws.
"The state prosecutor's office is checking to see whether Rudolf Elmer has violated Swiss banking law by handing the CD over to Wikileaks," the Zürich cantonal (state) police and state prosecutor said in a joint statement.
At a news conference on Monday, Elmer handed data on hundreds of offshore bank accounts to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder.

Prosecutors allege that he stole the information after being fired from his job.

Elmer previously helped to bring WikiLeaks to prominence three years ago when he handed over secret client information to the website.

'Murky oases'
At Wednesday's trial, Elmer admitted sending confidential bank data to tax authorities, but he denied charges of blackmail and a bomb threat against Julius Baer, as alleged by prosecutors.
He also denied taking payments in return for the secret data.

Elmer said he wanted to expose widespread tax evasion by rich businesspeople and politicians when he sent confidential banking files to tax authorities, media and later to WikiLeaks.
"I am a critic of the system and want to tell society what happens in these murky oases," Elmer, who ran the Cayman Islands branch of the Swiss bank, told a news conference before the verdict.

Judge Sebastian Aeppli rejected prosecution demands to give Elmer an eight-month prison sentence for breaching the bank secrecy laws and instead the court sentenced him to a fine of 7,200 Swiss francs ($7,505), suspended for two years
The trial drew broad media attention and about a dozen protesters gathered in front of the court building.
"We think those who expose the distasteful side of Swiss finance need our support," Walter Angst, one of the protesters, said.
Several Swiss banks including UBS, AG and Credit Suisse Group have suffered embarrassing data leaks in recent years, some at the hands of disgruntled employees.