Missing Cuban Official Stirs Questions Over Defection, U.S. Food Aid Program

Missing Cuban Official Stirs Questions Over Defection, U.S. Food Aid Program

By Stephen Clark

Published January 22, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Pedro Alvarez, former head of the Cuban state food Company 'Alimport' puts on a cowboy hat during the signing of a cattle shipping agreement in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 1, 2004. (AP)

The disappearance of a top Cuban government trade official with strong ties to influential American lawmakers has elevated speculation of possible corruption and defection to the United States, even as the U.S. government says it has no idea the whereabouts of Pedro Alvarez.

Alvarez, 67, headed Cuba's food importing agency Alimport until 2009. After Congress passed a law in 2000 easing the 50-year-old trade embargo against the island to allow the U.S. cash sales of agricultural products to Cuba for humanitarian reasons, Alvarez was responsible for overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of purchases.

That made Alvarez a powerful liaison between U.S. lawmakers and businesses, and the Cuban government.

"This fellow has many important and interesting things to say since he was the point man when American companies went to Cuba," said Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba.

Alvarez was relieved of his duties in 2009, just as the program took a nosedive in sales and receipts. He quickly bounced back, securing a job leading the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, but that didn't last long, having reportedly been fired last year for alleged corruption.

People make their way in front of the Capitol building early in the morning on a street in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. (AP)

Though few details have been revealed about the accusations against him, Alvarez was repeatedly detained by Cuban officials for questioning -- most recently in November at the same time his wife and 68 others were killed in a plane crash. He allegedly fled the island late last month. 

Calzon, who said he does not know Alvarez, said he wouldn't be surprised if Alvarez was engaged in corruption.

"If they were going to detain Cuban government officials for corruption, they would have to find a very huge jail because corruption is something that happens at all levels," he said."In order to survive in Cuba, everyone has to break the law." 

Cuban officials claim he has defected to the United States. Calzon says he's been informed that Alvarez is in the country and is speaking to U.S. officials although he wouldn't reveal his source. But an official with the State Department told FoxNews.com that it has no information on Alvarez's whereabouts or status.

John Kavulich, a senior policy analyst at the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, told FoxNews.com that he has known Alvarez since 1997 and believes Alvarez is in the United States though he said he has not had any contact with him. 

"Nor do I expect to," he said.

But Kavulich said Alvarez could embarrass several officials, including U.S. lawmakers, if he reveals the lengths that some of them went to win more business on the Caribbean island.

"He could, if he felt like it, and he believed it, he could make some politicians look like buffoons -- the U.S. lawmakers who went down there and was salivating all over them," Kavulich said.

But some U.S. lawmakers who have met Alvarez during visits to Cuba rejected the notion that Alvarez has any dirt on them.

"That's ridiculous," said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., who told FoxNews.com that she met with Alvarez each of the three times she traveled to Cuba with congressional delegations.

Emerson said that no sensitive or specific information was exchanged during meetings between Alvarez and U.S. lawmakers. Members of the delegation simply made clear that they had a good product in the United States to offer, she said. 

Emerson said she was "shocked" to learn about his disappearance.

"He was always gracious and warm to us and to the group that was there," she said, adding that he worked with U.S. agricultural groups even more. "And so he had a lot of conversations and meetings with people from around the United States who were trying to sell to Cuba." 

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz, who met Alvarez when he led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Cuba in 2006, said neither he nor any of his fellow lawmakers have concerns about what Alvarez knows about them.

"I don't know what information he would have that would be sensitive for U.S. officials," he told FoxNews.com. "The trips I've taken, everyone was up-front -- they wanted more exports to Cuba." 

At its peak in 2008, the U.S. exported more than $700 million in U.S. exports of crops, meat and farm products to Cuba, a 60 percent increase from the previous year, which made the U.S. Cuba's largest food provider at the time, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

But exports dropped by 24 percent in 2009 to $528 million, according to a report by the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. They continued to fall last year to $344.3 million through November, compared with $486.7 million for the same period in 2009 -- a 30 percent drop.

Kavulich cited political, economic and commercial reasons for the decline of U.S. exports to Cuba, including the Castro regime's pullback in its attempts to influence the U.S. political process, its lack of a foreign exchange and its trade agreements with other countries such Brazil, Argentina, and the financial assistance it receives from Venezuela and China.

Aides to other members of the 2006 delegation did not respond to requests for comment, including Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., Jane Harman, D-Calif.,  Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.

A spokesman for Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., another member of the 2006 delegation, declined to comment.

"All that we know is what we've seen in the news, so we won't be having any comment at this time," McGovern spokesman Michael Mershon said in an e-mail to FoxNews.com.

An aide to Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee who introduced a bill last year that would have lifted the U.S. ban on travel to the island and ease payment restrictions on agricultural products to Cuba, did not respond to interview requests either. His bill never made it out of committee.

An aide to Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, who has said he knows Alvarez, didn't respond to a request for comment.

At a House Agriculture Committee meeting last March, Boswell told the presidents of the American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union that he spent time with Alvarez in Cuba.

"I spent a lot of time with him," he said. "I spent quite a bit of time with Mr. Castro. Sometimes we would be entertained. I can tell you about that a little bit."

Calzon said he assumes U.S. lawmakers who visited Cuba "behaved honorably and committed no indiscretion at any time that could embarrass them."

"I hope and I pray that every lawmaker who goes to Cuba understands they are being closely watched and the Cuban government is known for taking advantage of indiscretions," he said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/22/missing-cuban-official-stirs-questions-defection-food-aid-program/#ixzz1BmvR0OBI

The Tunisia effect: Algeria democracy rally broken up

[AFP] Algeria democracy rally broken up

Several injured as police disperse 300 people who defied a ban and attempted to demonstrate in the capital, Algiers.

[AFP] Several people have been injured after Algerian police broke up a banned pro-democracy demonstration in Algiers aimed at pressing the government to overturn a law banning public gatherings. At least 300 people defied a ban in an attempt to hold the demonstration on Saturday but were confronted by dozens of police armed with batons, tear gas and plexiglas shields, Said Sadi, the head of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), said. "There are several injured .. and numerous arrests," he said. Among those arrested was the head of the party's parliamentary group, Othmane Amazouz, he said. Sadi said his party's headquarters in the Algerian capital's main avenue had been put under siege by police, describing himself as "a prisoner". "We cannot wage a peaceful campaign when we are under siege," he said, using a megaphone to address the crowd from a first-floor window. 'Violent regime' Ait Hamouda Nordine, an RCD member of parliament, told Al Jazeera: "[Algeria] is a violent regime, it's an anti-democratic regime and it is time for Algeria to attain credible and democratic systems and parties." The government had warned people not to show support for the demonstration in Algiers in a statement issued on the eve of the march, amid fears of popular unrest spreading from neighbouring Tunisia. The government warning, carried by official news agency APS, stated "marches are not allowed in Algiers" and that "all assemblies on public roads are considered a breach of public order". The march was planned "without authorisation", it said. Demonstrations are banned in Algeria because of a state of emergency in place since 1992. Tunisia effect The demonstration in Algiers came as protesters in Tunisia continued to demand the dissolution of the interim government that took charge after the country's authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was forced to flee on January 14 in the face of a popular uprising. Riots erupted in Algeria in early January over rising food costs and unemployment. Five days of clashes between demonstrators and security forces left five people dead and more than 800 wounded. The government responded swiftly by reducing the prices of oil, sugar and other basic necessities which had risen sharply, while buying up a million tonnes of wheat amid assurances that subsidies on essential goods like flour would continue. However, unrest still simmers and within the past two weeks eight people set themselves on fire in Algeria, although some cases were deemed to be linked to mental-health issues. Unemployment, specifically of the young, is a crucial issue in Algeria, a country where according to the authorities 15 million of the 36 million population is under the age of 30.

Johana Tablada: la nueva generación en el poder | Emilio Ichikawa

Johana Tablada: la nueva generación en el poder | Emilio Ichikawa

Mucha razon lleva Ichikawa al concluir que en La Habana no estan improvisando, solo que la Tablada no es el poder que se encuentra a buen recaudo en otro sitio, sino un instrumento del mismo.

#Cuba: Brutal acto repudio/ Video

WHAT drives an ordinary man to burn himself to death?

How a Single Match Can Ignite a Revolution

By ROBERT F. WORTH

Keystone/Getty Images

A Buddhist monk ablaze in Saigon in 1963. The image shocked Americans.

In Prague a tribute to Jan Palach, who burned himself to death in 1969 to protest the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia.

That question has echoed across the Arab world and beyond in the weeks since an unemployed Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, doused himself with paint thinner and lit a match on Dec. 17. His desperate act set off street clashes that ultimately toppled the country’s autocratic ruler, and inspired nearly a dozen other men to set themselves on fire in Egypt, Algeria and Mauritania.
Those serial self-immolations have provoked horror and wonder, with some Arab commentators hailing the men as heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution, even as others denounce them under headlines like “Do Not Burn Your Bodies!”
Yet burning oneself as political protest is not new. Many Americans remember the gruesome images of Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon during the Vietnam War in 1963, his body eerily still and composed amid the flames. Many other monks followed his example as the war intensified. In Europe, Jan Palach, a 20-year-old Czech who burned himself to death in Prague in 1969 a few months after the Soviet invasion of his country, is remembered as a martyr of the struggle against Communism. Less well-known protesters have died in flames in Tibet, India, Turkey and elsewhere. In China, Buddhists have set themselves alight for at least 1,600 years.
Perhaps what is new about the latest self-immolations is their effectiveness. Mr. Bouazizi, a fruit vendor, set himself on fire in front of the local governor’s office after the authorities confiscated his fruit, beat him and refused to return his property. He is now seen as the instigator of a revolution that forced out President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years of authoritarian rule. Mr. Bouazizi’s imitators hope to generate similar revolts in other Arab countries, where corruption and stifling autocracy have led to a similarly vast gulf between rulers and the ruled.
In the past, many people recoiled from such protesters as attention-seeking lunatics. Or the authorities were too powerful. Few people today remember Homa Darabi, the Iranian child psychiatrist who set herself on fire in a crowded Tehran square in 1994. A month earlier, a 16-year-old girl had been shot to death for wearing lipstick, and Darabi — who had lived in the United States and refused to wear the veil — had seen enough. “Death to tyranny, long live liberty, long live Iran!” she shouted, as flames engulfed her. Iran’s official attitudes toward women’s rights have scarcely changed.
One striking feature of the passionate discussion about Mr. Bouazizi and his imitators — at least for Westerners — is the relative absence of religion. Most Americans are used to hearing about Muslim suicide bombers who are impelled in part by the promise of salvation. The recent Arab self-immolators appear to have been motivated more by anger and despair at their social and economic plight.
Even some clerics have kept the debate on a secular level. Yousef al-Qaradawi, for instance, a prominent and influential Egyptian cleric who lives in Qatar and has a TV show on Al Jazeera, spoke sympathetically about Mr. Bouazizi and others who attempted suicide, saying that they were driven to it by social injustice and that the responsibility for their deaths lay with the rulers of their countries.
“People call these men brave, and mostly they don’t use the word ‘suicide’ in describing them,” said Tarik Tlaty, a Moroccan political analyst. “They don’t use the word ‘martyrs’ either. They call them ‘sacrificers,’ and they speak of an ‘uprising.’ It is not a religious language.”
Others, including many clerics, disagree. Al Azhar, the Cairo university that is the oldest and most prestigious center of learning in the Sunni Muslim world, issued a fatwa last week reaffirming that suicide violates Islam even when it is carried out as a social or political protest.
A similar debate has often taken place among Buddhists over self-immolation. Many Buddhist authorities say suicide cannot be reconciled with their religious tradition. But an ascetic strain among Chinese and Korean Buddhists includes gestures of painful self-sacrifice, from the burning of fingers to self-immolation, said Robert Sharf, chairman of the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. The practice is rooted in the Lotus Sutra, a relatively late Buddhist text that speaks of a magic king who douses himself with fragrant oil and allows his body to be burned as a sacrifice.
“Full-body immolation is rarely done solely as a religious practice,” Dr. Sharf said. “It is more typically a form of political protest at the same time. For instance, it has been used repeatedly in Chinese history to protest anti-Buddhist state policies, such as the mass defrocking of priests.”
In Afghanistan, some women burn themselves to death to escape abusive marriages, a practice that seems to be on the rise recently. Although these deaths are not intended as social protests, they are often seen in the West as implicit critiques of Afghan society.
It is often impossible to be sure what really motivates those who burn themselves to death. There is debate, for instance, about how Thich Quang Duc viewed his self-immolation in 1963, a protest that was related to the South Vietnamese government’s treatment of Buddhist monks and may have been at least partly religious in nature. In other cases, politics may be a cover for personal despair or rage against a loved one.
Whatever the motive, suicide sometimes spreads like a disease, especially when heavily covered in the media. David P. Phillips, a sociologist at the University of California at of San Diego, published a 1974 study documenting spikes in the number of suicides after well-publicized cases. He called it “the Werther effect,” after the rash of suicides that followed the 1774 publication of “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” the novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe whose romantic hero kills himself.
“One thing is strongly suggested by the academic studies: People are more likely to copy suicides if they see that they have results, or get wide attention,” Dr. Phillips said.
Tunisia has provided grim evidence for that. And Mr. Bouazizi may yet provoke more fiery deaths across the Middle East if the revolution he helped spark is seen as successful.

Desde Diario de Cuba

El régimen y el cardenal presionan al preso Pedro Argüelles para que se exilie

DDC

'Díganle al cardenal que si no me llama para decirme que me voy libre para mi casa, que no lo haga', reiteró el periodista, condenado a 20 años.

El régimen y el cardenal Jaime Ortega continúan presionando al preso político Pedro Argüelles Morán para que tome el camino del exilio, denunciaron desde La Habana fuentes de la disidencia interna.
Argüelles, preso en la cárcel de Canaleta (Ciego de Ávila), informó a las Damas de Blanco que el jueves fue trasladado a las oficinas del director, quien le avisó de una nueva llamada del cardenal Ortega, arzobispo de La Habana.
En la reunión, donde también estuvieron presentes el reeducador y una psicóloga, el jefe del penal le dijo que "le darían una nueva oportunidad para viajar".
"No se molesten, yo no me voy de mi patria", contestó Morán, según las Damas de Blanco, y el funcionario le respondió que "muchos presos lloran por esa oportunidad".
Argüelles pidió: "Díganle al cardenal que si no me llama para decirme que me voy libre para mi casa, que no lo haga". Y luego abandonó el local.
En Twitter, la bloguera Yoani Sánchez se preguntó, tras conocer los hechos, "¿para qué se está prestando el cardenal cubano?".
Argüelles Morán, preso político del Grupo de los 75, denunció recientemente que el régimen "no tiene la más mínima voluntad" de liberar a los 11 opositores que rechazan exiliarse, según una carta enviada desde la cárcel.
El periodista independiente, condenado a 20 años de prisión en 2003, aseguró que "no hay presión alguna" que le obligue a abandonar el país, ni mucho menos dejar la "enaltecedora y dignificante lucha civilista por el respeto a los derechos y libertades inherentes a la dignidad de la persona humana".

Kidnapped girl finds her way home

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".

Rafael Rojas sobre la EcuRed Kaxtrizta

El Gobierno de Raúl Castro lanzó a fines de 2010 una enciclopedia cubana en Internet, denominada EcuRed (www.ecured.cu) en alusión al término ecúmene, "antes parte habitada de la tierra, y hoy conjunto del mundo y cultura conocidas". Como es sabido, en las antiguas Grecia y Roma el concepto de ecúmene no aludía tanto al conjunto del mundo como al conjunto del mundo conocido por griegos y romanos. En este último sentido, EcuRed, oficialmente presentada como alternativa a Wikipedia, no es una enciclopedia universal o ecuménica, sino una enciclopedia de la visión cubana -"revolucionaria", "socialista", "bolivariana"...- del mundo.

El Gobierno cubano lanza en Internet la enciclopedia EcuRed, su visión sesgada del mundo

EcuRed borra la memoria de los opositores del régimen cubano

La mejor manera de comprobar la falta de universalidad de EcuRed no es repasando la idea del mundo que esta enciclopedia propone, sino leyendo las entradas que la misma dedica a la historia y la literatura cubanas. Que Estados Unidos sea denominado todo el tiempo "el imperio" o que Hugo Chávez sea presentado como reencarnación de Bolívar no es lo fundamental. El carácter excluyente, teleológico y obsesivamente jerarquizador de EcuRed se plasma mejor en las semblanzas de políticos y escritores del pasado cubano y en los escritores y políticos de ese pasado que siguen siendo borrados de la memoria, ahogados por el poder en las aguas de Leteo.
Que dos dictadores como Gerardo Machado y Fulgencio Batista sean llamados dictadores es comprensible, aunque no lo es tanto que sus breves periodos de gobierno solo representen miserias para Cuba. Pero que líderes civiles, democráticamente electos, como Alfredo Zayas, Ramón Grau San Martín y Carlos Prío Socarrás, sean reducidos a "presidentes de la república neocolonial cubana", que promovieron la "corrupción, la injerencia, el soborno y el gansterismo", no es contribuir al conocimiento histórico de un país sino a propagar caricaturas y estereotipos.
La categoría Personajes históricos de Cuba responde a un criterio tan caprichoso y, con frecuencia, tan injusto de selección que ningún historiador medianamente serio podría admitir. ¿Por qué en la misma aparecen José Antonio Saco y Enrique José Varona y no Jorge Mañach o Fernando Ortiz? ¿Por qué se juzga subjetivamente y sin el menor respaldo documental la "falta de tacto", el "oportunismo", "el conservadurismo" o la "confusa actuación" de Manuel Urrutia Lleó, primer jefe de Estado de la Revolución en 1959?
¿Por qué figuras importantes del movimiento autonomista del siglo XIX, como Rafael Montoro y Eliseo Giberga, o del anexionista, como José Ignacio Rodríguez y Néstor Ponce de León, no son "personajes de la historia de Cuba"? ¿Por qué seborran, incluso, líderes de la Revolución de 1959, como los comandantes Huber Matos y Humberto Sorí Marín, del Movimiento 26 de Julio, y Rolando Cubelas, del Directorio Estudiantil Revolucionario? ¿Por qué sigue viviendo en el limbo de la historia oficial una personalidad tan influyente en la vida política cubana entre 1940 y 1959 como Carlos Márquez Sterling, presidente de la Asamblea Constituyente de 1940 y opositor pacífico a la dictadura de Batista?
¿Por qué cuando se lee la exigua entrada dedicada a José Miró Cardona, primer ministro del primer Gobierno revolucionario, en 1959, solo aparecen los datos de que nació en Cuba en 1903 y "se marchó a los Estados Unidos de América"? ¿Por qué la única noticia de la intensa trayectoria pública de ese abogado cubano que da EcuRed es el "vínculo con la CIA" o el "terrorismo de Estado"? ¿Por qué a Dariel Alarcón Ramírez (Benigno), miembro del Ejército Rebelde que derrocó a Batista y de las guerrillas del Che Guevara en Bolivia, que se exilió ¡en 1996!, se le llama "traidor a la Revolución"?
¿Por qué un "héroe de la Revolución", luego fusilado por "traición a la patria", como Arnaldo Ochoa Méndez, no figura entre los casi 1.000 "personajes de la historia de Cuba" que reconoce EcuRed? Ochoa que, en todo caso, sería un personaje histórico por partida doble, como héroe y como traidor. ¿Por qué Eduardo Chibás sí y su histórico rival, Aureliano Sánchez Arango, líder de la Revolución de 1933 y opositor a la dictadura de Batista, no? ¿Por qué se sigue validando, sin pruebas documentales, la acusación de corrupción que el primero hizo al segundo cuando este era ministro de Educación de Carlos Prío Socarrás?
Las respuestas son simples: EcuRed no es una enciclopedia ecuménica ni siquiera para abordar la historia de Cuba. El pasado de la isla sigue siendo imaginado, por esos burócratas electrónicos, como un campo de batalla donde se enfrentan las fuerzas del bien y del mal.
Todos aquellos sujetos con discursos o prácticas discordantes, ya no con la Revolución de 1959, sino con la idea de la misma impuesta por Fidel y Raúl Castro desde hace más de medio siglo, deben ser purgados de la memoria de la ciudadanía y clasificados rígidamente como enemigos, no como constructores de una nación.
Fidel Castro lo deja claro en su reciente libro La contraofensiva estratégica (2010) cuando afirma, a propósito de Gran San Martín, Márquez Sterling y otros opositores pacíficos a la dictadura de Batista, que intervinieron en las elecciones de 1954 o 1958: "Poco tiempo después de la derrota batistiana, en diciembre de 1958, nadie más se acordó de ellos. Las nuevas generaciones no han oído mencionar nunca sus nombres". Como si la tachadura de esos nombres de la historia cubana respondiera a un proceso de selección natural y no se debiera a la compulsiva y paralela fabricación de un panteón para héroes y otro para traidores.
La formidable impugnación intelectual de ese discurso hegemónico que, en las dos últimas décadas, ha hecho la nueva historiografía crítica, en la isla y en la diáspora, llega a reflejarse, incluso, en EcuRed. Aunque el enfoque oficial predomina en los temas históricos, en la literatura las entradas admiten una mayor pluralidad. Varios escritores exiliados, desaparecidos del Diccionario de la literatura cubana (1984), como Carlos Montenegro, Lino Novás Calvo, Lorenzo García Vega o Guillermo Cabrera Infante, son reconocidos sin los habituales epigramas de descalificación. Siguen sin aparecer Reinaldo Arenas, Severo Sarduy y, sobre todo, los exiliados de las últimas décadas, pero es notable el amago de recomponer lo fracturado.
El contradictorio tratamiento de los actores del pasado cultural y político de Cuba es buena muestra de la visión policiaca del recuerdo que predomina entre las élites habaneras. La legitimidad de Lino Novás Calvo o Guillermo Cabrera Infante como "exiliados" cubanos es reconocida en una publicación oficial, pero a Huber Matos o a José Miró Cardona se les sigue presentando como "traidores" y "terroristas". La pluralidad, aun incompleta, está bien para la cultura, pero mal para la política; la nación es culturalmente diversa, pero políticamente homogénea. Esta ambivalencia responde al proyecto deliberado de flexibilizar los controles de la memoria cultural a la vez que se decreta el olvido y silencio de la rica tradición política cubana anterior a 1959 o posterior a ese año, que aún sigue viva, en la oposición o el exilio.

Rafael Rojas es historiador cubano.

Congresista pide se niegue permisos petroleros a Cuba

(Radio Martí, 21/01/11) - Los planes de exploración petrolera profunda del gobierno de Cuba en aguas territoriales del Estrecho de la Florida representan una grave amenaza a los cayos, a la industria del turismo y a la ecología de la península, advierte un legislador federal por la Florida.

En un proyecto de ley presentado el viernes en la Cámara, el representante republicano Vern Buchanan pide al Secretario de Interior federal que niegue los permisos a las empresas que realizan negocios con naciones bajo sanciones de Estados Unidos, como es el caso de Cuba.
El octubre pasado, el represente envió una carta al presidente Barack Obama en la que urge a la Administración colaborar con el gobierno de España para que el proyecto no se inicie.

Se extienden los bonzos por el medio oriente

Un saharaui, acosado por las deudas, intenta quemarse a lo bonzo en Smara

• Se encontraba en mal estado anímico y económico
• Más de una docena de personas se han inmolado en el Magreb

Noticias relacionadas

Un hombre se quema a lo bonzo en Egipto frente al Parlamento

Muere uno de los cuatro egipcios que se han quemado a lo bonzo tras el éxito de Túnez

RTVE.es/ EFE - Rabat 21.01.2011 - 20:11hUn saharaui ha intentado nmolarse a lo bonzo frente a la prefectura provincial de la localidad de Smara, en el Sáhara Occidental, aunque la intervención de agentes de la policía evitó que lograse su propósito, según han informado fuentes oficiales.
El alcalde de la ciudad, Mohamed Yumani, ha explicado que Mohamed Lamín El Mahmudi, casado y con dos hijas, realizó esta tentativa de suicidio al verse acosado por las deudas contraídas en la compraventa de automóviles y al no haber recibido el apoyo de algunos "notables" a quienes había pedido ayuda financiera.
El Mahmudi compró dos bidones de gasolina, se roció con ellos y llegó a prenderse fuego, aunque la rápida intervención de los agentes consiguió que tan sólo sufriese quemaduras superficiales en las manos y los pies, ha explicado Yumani, quien aseguró que el hombre posteriormente comió con él y "ya se encuentra más tranquilo".
Según el alcalde, El Mahmudi había vivido en los campos de refugiados de Tinduf, en Argelia, hasta 2003, cuando decidió regresar al Sáhara Occidental para establecerse allí y ganarse la vida con el negocio de los automóviles.
Sin embargo, ha señalado la fuente, su inexperiencia le hizo participar en operaciones arriesgadas, que acabaron con la pérdida reciente de 120.000 dirham (unos 11.000 euros), en un negocio supuestamente con un ciudadano iraquí.

Delicada situación económica

Asimismo, Yumani ha explicado que el hombre vendió la casa que había recibido del Estado marroquí cuando regresó de Tinduf y que se encuentra en un pésimo momento anímico, aunque considera que el hecho de que decidiese inmolarse tan cerca de los policías "puede querer decir que no pretendía llegar hasta el final".
Por su parte, el delegado de la Asociación Marroquí de Derechos Humanos (AMDH) en Smara, Fekú Buihi, ha corroborado que, según sus informaciones, El Mahmudi intentó prenderse fuego debido a su delicada situación económica.
Buihi también ha señalado que el hombre fue trasladado al hospital por su frágil estado emocional, un extremo que Yumani desmintió, al asegurar que dejó personalmente al herido en su casa después de haberle atendido en la prefectura.
Mientras, el Comité de Defensa de la Autodeterminación del Pueblo del Sáhara Occidental (CODAPSO) difundió un comunicado sobre el suceso en el que denuncian que las autoridades impidieron que El Mahmudi recibiese las atenciones médicas necesarias.

Otros casos en el Magreb

En su nota, CODAPSO vincula la protesta de El Mahmudi con el campamento saharaui que se instaló el pasado octubre en el área de Gdaim Izik, cerca de El Aaiún, en el que miles de saharauis reclamaron mejoras de su situación socioeconómica y que fue desmantelado por la Policía el 8 de noviembre.
Asimismo, afirman que El Mahmudi "había perdido toda esperanza de recibir una respuesta del Estado marroquí a sus peticiones".
Esta tentativa de inmolación es la primera que se produce en el Sáhara Occidental desde que estallara la revuelta en Túnez que acabó con la caída del presidente tunecino, Zine El Abidine Ben Alí, después de que el diplomado en paro Mohamed Bouaziz se prendiese fuego como acto de protesta por la discriminación de las autoridades.
Desde entonces, más de una docena de personas se han quemado a lo bonzo en varios países del Magreb, la mayoría en Egipto y Argelia, e incluso en la ciudad francesa de Marsella.

Fidel Castro's daughter speaks at Weber State University

Jesus Lopez Jr.

OGDEN -- Alina Fernandez is the daughter of the Cuban revolution, almost in a literal sense.
Some of her earliest memories were of late-night visits from a bearded man in military fatigues, sitting behind a cloud of dense blue cigar smoke.
Fernandez, author of the memoir "Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba" (St. Martin's Press, 1998), spoke Thursday in a ballroom of the Shepherd Union Building at Weber State University as part of the Convocation Lecture Series.
The event had to move from the Wildcat Theater, which seats 300 people, to accommodate an overflowing crowd of more than 500.
To help the audience understand her fellow Cubans, Fernandez led them through a series of facts and anecdotes, presented with wit and humor. She said she did not come with an agenda -- she just wanted to share with the audience the importance of freedom, something that she feels is as necessary to life as air is.
Near the beginning of her lecture. Fernandez said, "I come from a country where the revolution is always continuous."
Most revolutions last for a short period of time, Fernandez said, and she asked the crowd how it would be if the French Revolution, with all its guillotining, continued for 50 years.
To keep the mood light, she went straight into the gossip, as she referred to it, discussing the converging paths that led to her mother and Fidel Castro meeting and having an affair.
While still a baby, she was unaware of the rapid changes going on around her, until one day, Uncle Scrooge, his nephew Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse disappeared from her television screen forever. They were replaced by the hairy man, who later made those late-night visits, giving long-winded speeches.
"We have had that bearded man on TV for more than half a century," Fernandez said. She became part of a generation that prayed to the television nightly for the bearded man to stop talking and for the cartoons to return.
Along with the cartoons, Christmas, religion and music were all dismissed as capitalist ideas, she recounted, giving a quick how-to on creating a successful dictatorship. Former military, intellectuals and artists disappeared into the countryside or were executed. The man she believed to be her father and her sister were forced into exile and branded as traitors to the revolution.
"A revolution becomes a dictatorship when it gets involved in your personal life," Fernandez said, and when it becomes a crime to do anything about it.
Things continued to get worse, Fernandez said. After her relationship to Castro was officially acknowledged to the public when she was a pre-teen, people would line up outside the door, petitioning her help -- help she said she was powerless to give.
Cuba itself became a player in world politics. She said Castro and his people tried to spread their influence in many areas of the world, including Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
She tried hard to distance herself from her powerful father, keeping her original name. After four failed marriages, she devoted herself to raising her daughter.
"It's bad when you try to rebel against yourself," Fernandez said. "Guys, don't do that."
In the 1980s she became a dissident, a move that got her branded a traitor. After the Iron Curtain fell and support from the Soviet Union dried up, she saw opportunities in Cuba for her daughter dry up as well. She escaped from the island nation, folllowed by her daughter shortly after, and eventually settled in Miami.
She said she is unsure about the future of her homeland. Castro was president for about 50 years and has handed over power to his brother, Raul, who she believes is a better administrator willing to make certain economic changes to keep himself in power longer, but who has so far done nothing.
In the end, she believes change will come when the Castros leave power.
"It has been run by one family that has run that country like a farm," Fernandez said.

30 years after the Iran hostage crisis, we're still fighting Reagan's war/ Ted Koppel

By Ted Koppel

Friday, January 21, 2011; 1:00 PM

Thirty years ago, 52 American diplomats, intelligence officers and Marines were finally released after being held hostage for nearly 15 months at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Americans saw it as the end of a long national nightmare. Iranians saw it as a successful phase in what the Pentagon would come to call the Long War.

We were wrong; they were right.
On the face of it, the Iranians achieved what they wanted. President Jimmy Carter had labored with key advisers through the last night of his presidency, desperately trying to bring about the hostages' release before Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president. The Iranians, though, were determined to humiliate our 39th president and were not about to free the captives on Carter's watch.
As the television networks began their Inauguration Day coverage, the expected moment of release became the theme. TV screens were split to accommodate parallel images from Washington and Tehran. Just outside the Iranian capital, camera crews were taken to Mehrabad International Airport, where the soon-to-be-former hostages would board their flight to freedom.
At ABC News, where I worked at the time, one of our camera crews had been granted access to the Oval Office the previous night. We had video of Carter, looking grim and exhausted, wearing a cardigan, consulting with his aides until, quite literally, it was time to dress for the inauguration of his successor. Those images and live shots of desperate diplomacy, followed by the stately run-up to the transfer of power in Washington, played on one side of the screen. The preparations for departure from Mehrabad played on the other.
The Iranians stage-managed the drama down to the last second. Precisely at noon, just as Reagan began to recite the oath of office, the planeload of Americans was permitted to take off. The Iranians' message was blunt and unambiguous: Carter and his administration had been punished for America's sins against Iran, and Reagan was being offered a conciliatory gesture in anticipation of improved behavior by Washington.
That was hardly the interpretation that the Reagan administration put on the event. The new president portrayed the hostage release as a long-overdue act by which the Iranians acknowledged the obvious: There was a new sheriff in town. The feckless days of the Carter administration were over, and the Iranian mullahs had bowed to the inevitable. Indeed, the administration seemed to be saying that Iran's greatest concern was now the possibility of U.S. retaliation for the humiliation of the preceding 444 days.

That last point probably was a part of Iran's strategic calculus. Iran was not then, and is not now, any military match for the United States. Without the American hostages in Tehran, Iran was plainly vulnerable to U.S. power.
Further complicating its position, since September 1980, Iran had been fighting a massive invasion by the Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein, the beginnings of a bloody war that would last most of the decade. The United States officially proclaimed neutrality - Henry Kissinger famously observed that it was a shame both nations couldn't lose - but Washington considered Iran the greater threat and covertly assisted Hussein.
Once the hostages were released, however, no reprisal came, and the Iranian leadership offered no evidence of wanting to reconcile.
In their approach to the United States in the decade that followed, the mullahs provided chilling evidence of how closely they had studied the influence of the media and public opinion on U.S. foreign policy. During the hostage crisis, they learned how obsessively engaged our news media becomes when U.S. prisoners are taken. What Americans consider one of our greatest national virtues - concern for the individual - the Iranians recognized as a vulnerability.
We in the American news media have a tendency to obsess over one crisis at a time, often to the exclusion of other important issues. Indeed, I can hardly overlook my own role in this. The title that ABC News gave to its nightly coverage seemed hyperbolic at first, but it proved frighteningly prescient: "America Held Hostage." The story held America's interest so tightly and for so long that our specials on ABC eventually morphed into a nightly fixture - "Nightline."
Iran watched and learned. They realized that the fixations of the American media could lead to shifts in U.S. policy. They observed how the hostage crisis cost Carter a second term, and they would soon learn that what influenced one administration could be applied to another.

On Oct.23, 1983, a truck loaded with explosives was driven into a barracks building in Beirut housing U.S. Marines, who were there as part of an international peacekeeping force. The driver was killed in the suicide attack, as were 241 American military personnel. Eventually, the bomber was identified as a member of an organization called Hezbollah, which was believed to have been funded and trained by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
By the time even that much was established, Reagan had ordered all U.S. military personnel in Lebanon evacuated to ships of the 6th Fleet, off the coast. A brief time later, those ships received fresh orders and sailed off. There had been no great public support for engagement in Lebanon in the first place, so there was little reaction to the abrupt departure. (The U.S. invasion of Grenada, occurring at the same time, consumed much of the public's attention.)
Iran saw how a devastating attack could force America out of Lebanon, with little outcry back home
and no retaliation for the bombing. And just as hostages had proved useful to Iran during the Carter administration, they would be used again to manipulate the Reagan White House. Dozens of Americans and Europeans were kidnapped in Lebanon and held hostage during the early and mid-1980s. Again, Hezbollah was believed responsible, and Iranian patronage was more firmly established.
In relatively short order, these tactics would draw the Reagan administration into one of the more bizarre covert negotiations in recent history. Among those kidnapped in Beirut was the CIA's station chief, William Francis Buckley. He was held and tortured for 15 months, and at one point he was reportedly taken to Iran, and died in captivity. Reagan's distress over Buckley's ordeal in particular, and over the fate of other American captives, was a factor behind the Iran-contra affair.
Far from punishing the Iranians, Washington arranged for Israel to sell weapons to Iran. The Israeli stockpiles would be secretly replenished by the United States, which was legally prohibited from selling directly to Iran. In return, Iran would free some hostages. Finally, Iran's payment for the weapons would be used to buy arms for anti-communist forces in Nicaragua, thereby circumventing a congressional ban on sales to the contras there. That was the icing on the cake.

It was a fiasco. Reagan, whose staunch opposition to communism around the world would lead to the collapse of the Soviet empire, found his administration embroiled in negotiations with the sponsors of Hezbollah. The scheme clearly circumvented U.S. law, and had others in the administration not taken the fall, it could have led to Reagan's impeachment.
What Iran learned in those years - and we're still absorbing the consequences of those lessons today - is that kidnapping and terrorism are useful weapons against the United States. Ultimately,Reagan's broad-shouldered bravado was no more effective in dealing with Tehran than Carter's mild-mannered diplomacy.
We've still not found our way. Instead of taking military action against Iran, the United States has twice invaded Iran's bitterest enemy, Iraq. And what Iran couldn't do for itself, George W. Bush did for it: Saddam Hussein is gone, and Tehran's influence in the Persian Gulf is greatly enhanced.
There was every reason to celebrate the release of those 52 Americans on Jan. 20, 1981. But what Iran learned then and has applied in the decades since has been costly for the United States. Here we are, 30 years after what we thought was the conclusion of a crisis, still wondering if the end will ever be in sight.
Ted Koppel, who was managing editor of ABC's "Nightline" from 1980 to 2005, is a contributing analyst for "BBC World News America."
Read Ted Koppel's essay "Nine years after 9/11, let's stop playing into bin Laden's hands," and more from Outlook.

Zoé Valdés: "De cómo se construyen los pactos entre los artistas bichibobos y el régimen castrista, y de cómo algunos nunca pactaron

Zoe Valdes en una foto tomada por Sonia Perez de aquellos anos tumultuosos cuando nos formamos y se decidieron muchas cosas

De cómo se construyen los pactos entre los artistas bichibobos y el régimen castrista, y de cómo algunos nunca pactaron « Zoé Valdés

Licencia laboral de "dandy" ["profesor de jineteros"]

Favor de no burlarse del infeliz idiota.

Disminuye un 20% el turismo espanol a Cuba

MADRID, 21 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

   La crisis ha pasado factura a la llegada de turistas en 2010 a Cuba, en particular los españoles, que cayeron un 20 por ciento respecto a 2009, según ha indicado el ministro de Turismo de la isla, Manuel Marrero, durante un encuentro con empresarios del sector turístico español aprovechando su estancia en Madrid para asistir a Fitur, a los que agradeció su interés en seguir invirtiendo en su país.
   Según ha explicado Marrero, "2010 ha sido un año difícil para Cuba porque la crisis económica internacional se hizo sentir" en cuanto a la llegada de turistas. El ministro, que no dio cifras concretas de la llegada de turistas el año pasado, sí dijo que Canadá sigue siendo el principal país emisor de turistas hacia la isla, con "casi un millón".
   En el caso de los países europeos, se ha recuperado la llegada de turistas procedentes de países como Francia e Italia, mientras que en el caso de Alemania el número de turistas llegados en 2010 a Cuba se mantuvo similar al del año anterior. "Lamentablemente España fue el mercado que más decreció, con un 20 por ciento menos de turistas", ha señalado Marrero.
   Según los datos que el propio ministro había dado a conocer el pasado mayo en relación con 2009, la llegada de turistas extranjeros había aumentado un 3,5 por ciento ese año, hasta superar los dos millones, siendo el mercado español el que más había aumentado con más de 129.000 visitantes, un 6 por ciento más que en 2008.
   El titular de Turismo cubano ha atribuido el descenso de turistas españoles el año pasado, además de a la "difícil situación económica" que atraviesa España, a la "quiebra de Marsans", empresa muy activa hasta entonces en el turismo cubano, y también a la huelga de controladores aéreos.
   No obstante, se ha mostrado optimista de cara al futuro y ha incidido en que en sus encuentros con motivo de Fitur con responsables de touroperadores, hoteleras y aerolíneas, entre otros, ha podido constatar que "no se han perdido las ganas de vender Cuba" como destino turístico.

MEDIDAS DEL GOBIERNO

   Por su parte, el Gobierno cubano "no está sentado esperando a que pase la crisis" sino que está trabajando para "mejorar el producto turístico cubano" modernizando sus hoteles ya existentes y con la previsión de construir nuevas infraestructuras, que incluyen campos de golf, entre otros.
   Aunque en Cuba son conscientes de que su principal "fortaleza es el turismo de sol y playa", "estamos convencidos de que la apuesta por un turismo diverso" es la mejor opción de futuro, ha reconocido Marrero, resaltando la riqueza cultural y natural que tiene la isla.
   Además, ha explicado el ministro a los asistentes, el Gobierno de Raúl Castro está adoptando una serie de medidas en el plano económico con las que se está "actualizando el modelo económico para poder actualizar el modelo socialista" y que afectan "para bien" al turismo porque "se va a diversificar la oferta".
   En este sentido, ha indicado que la posibilidad de que los cubanos abran negocios propios permitirá la existencia de restaurantes y de casas de alojamiento al margen de las infraestructuras estatales.

#Cuba: Contrato de arrendamiento de viviendas, habitaciones y espacios

Contrato de arrendamiento de viviendas, habitaciones y espacios

El Decreto Ley No.275 de septiembre del 2010, establece que los propietarios podrán arrendar la vivienda, habitaciones —con servicio sanitario propio o sin él— y espacios que sean parte integrante del inmueble, mediante precio libremente concertado, previa autorización de la Dirección Municipal de la Vivienda correspondiente

Entrevista con Mario Balmaseda

Nunca se me ocurrió ser actor

Donald Trump: "China is our enemy"

JFK's legacy: 50 years later

#Cuba suspendió repentinamente el servicio postal hacia EU

En regimen Kaxtrizta suspendió repentinamente el servicio postal hacia EU, en una medida unilateral que solo afecta a la poblacion cubana, a pesar de las recientes medidas de la administracion Obama que amplian la autorizacion de los viajes a la isla por parte de ciudadanos norteamericanos.

Es la tipica posicion de fuerza de responder a concesiones con obstaculos e incremento de la represion. Sucedio cuando la administracion de William Clinton intento un serio acercamiento al Kaxtrizmo con vistas a la normalizacion de las relaciones, cuando respondieron con el salvaje derribo de dos avionetas de Hermanos al Rescate, tripuladas por 4 ciudadanos norteamericanos.

La administracion Clinton hizo en aquel momento lo mismo que esta haciendo la de Obama: NADA! ------------------------------

Desde AFP

El servicio de correo postal de Cuba hacia Estados Unidos fue suspendido repentinamente este jueves, al parecer por las regulaciones de seguridad tomadas a finales del año pasado por el gobierno de Washington, según informó "El Nuevo Herald".

En su versión en línea, el diario destacó que la medida sorpresiva podría ser en protesta por las medidas de la Administración de Seguridad en el Transporte (TSA) ante las amenazas sobre los envíos postales.

Hasta el momento, las autoridades de Estados Unidos y las cubanas se han mantenido herméticas sobre el asunto de la la repentina paralización del correo de la isla hacia la Unión Americana.

El Nuevo Herald destacó que el vocero del servicio postal de EU en el sur de Florida ; Debbie Fetterly aseguró que por el momento no se dará ningún anunció al respecto.

De acuerdo al vocero hay una reunión de las autoridades del Servicio Postal con el Departamento de Estado y aún no hay informes, destacó El Nuevo Herald.

Cuba y Estados Unidos rompieron relaciones diplomáticas, luego del embargo económico y comercial hacia la isla en 1961. Dos años después quedó suspendido el servicio postal directo.

© 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.”

China’s Discovery Boom: Large Oil and Gas Fields Detected Offshore

Grandes implicaciones para el comercio mundial del crudo y para la geopolitica china y mundial.--------------------------- China’s Discovery Boom: Large Oil and Gas Fields Detected Offshore

Chinese geologists have detected "super-thick" oil and gas-bearing stratums in the northern part of the South China Sea and identified 38 offshore oil and gas-bearing basins, a senior official said on Saturday. The outskirts of Songliao Basin in Northeast China, Yin'e Basin in North China and Qiangtang Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have also been found to have rich oil and gas resources, Wang Min, vice-minister of land and resources, said at a national conference in Beijing. In addition, 192.7 billion tons of coal resources have been found in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and four 10,000-ton sandstone-type uranium mines have been located in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, he said. Wang said these latest discoveries, particularly those at sea, have given direction for China's future resource exploration. Conducting more geological inspections at the above regions has been set as one of the ministry's major working tasks this year. Comprehensive geological and environmental inspections will be conducted at key offshore areas such as the southern region of Yellow Sea, the northern part of the South China Sea, East China's Liaodong Bay and regions near South China's Hainan Island, according to the ministry. Wang said the country has also made a breakthrough in locating new energy resources. Natural gas hydrate has been found for the first time in the northern region of the South China Sea and frozen-soil areas at Qilian Mountain. And a 2.46-million-ton lithium carbonate mine has been located in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, which will reduce the cost of lithium production and help with the country's new energy industry. Due to China's rapid economic growth in the past 10 years, the country's energy consumption has been growing rapidly and become more dependent on imports. Right now, China has become the biggest consumer of coal, steel, alumina, copper and cement. More than half of the country's petroleum and iron consumption, about 70 percent of its copper consumption and 64 percent of sylvite consumption now rely on imports, according to figures released by the Ministry of Land and Recourses on Saturday. Wang said thanks to the efforts of the geologists, new resources detected in the past 10 years accounted for about half of all resources found in the past half century, and the amount of new resources found each year has surpassed their annual consumption. For instance, by the end of last year, the available reserves of iron and aluminum increased by 41 percent and 39 percent compared with the levels in 1999. However, China will still experience resource bottlenecks in the future, Wang said. "As a big developing country, we must make more efforts in exploring domestic supplies to ensure our energy security," Wang said. China in the next five years will also have closer international cooperation on geological work and set up a global mining resource information database to help Chinese enterprises better survey and explore overseas resources, the ministry said, without giving more details. By. China Daily

U.S. Colleges look toward Cuba

U.S. Colleges look toward Cuba

Ana Radelat from Washington, DC
CNC News | January 20, 2011

WASHINGTON – Most Americans are barred from traveling to Cuba, but the nation’s college students may soon be packing their bags to visit the island.

President Barack Obama’s recent decision to ease travel restrictions for academics and church groups prompted many of the nation’s colleges to plan new programs for study in Cuba.

Janis Perkins, assistant dean of the University of Iowa’s international studies program, said her school has been waiting for Obama to ease travel rules since the president was sworn into office. “We’re ready to go to Cuba as soon as we can,” Perkins said.

The University of Iowa hopes to sponsor a culture and language program in Havana during the school’s next winter break. There are also discussions about holding an Afro-Cuban drum and dance workshop in Cuba and perhaps a global health program.

“Over time students have asked to go and I’ve had to say ‘no, we can’t do it.’ Now we’re poised and ready,” Perkins said.

The University of Iowa sponsored trips to Cuba under former President Clinton’s “people-to-people” policy that encouraged “purposeful” contacts between Cubans and Americans while keeping a ban on tourism travel. But former President Bush tightened travel rules to Cuba in 2004, and most academic trips to the island stopped.

Indiana’s Butler University sent hundreds of American students to the University of Havana to study advanced Spanish before it was forced to end its program in 2004.

The school is now hoping to start up its Cuba program again.

“It falls within our mission, which is to provide meaningful academic and cultural opportunities abroad,” said Joanna Holvey-Bowles, executive vice president of the university’s study abroad program.

Trevor Nelson, director of the study abroad program at Iowa State University, said Americans should travel to Cuba to learn more about the island.

“There’s a lot of misinformation about the country and it’s just 90 miles away from us,” Nelson said. “We need to know a great deal more about our neighbor.”

Obama seems to agree. On Jan. 14 the White House announced that accredited universities could sponsor trips to Cuba without asking the government’s permission. So could religious organizations.

Other proposed changes include:

-Universities will be able to sponsor workshops and conferences in Cuba

-Non-academic groups will be able to sponsor Cuban conferences, but will have to apply to the Treasury Department for a license to do so.

-Americans will be able to send up to $2,000 a year to Cubans who aren’t government officials

-Airports will be able to apply to host direct charter flights to Cuba. Currently, only airports in New York, Miami and Los Angeles are authorized to do so.

Regulations detailing the White House’s changes to the embargo are expected to be announced in the Federal Register in the next few weeks.

“We see these changes, in combination with the continuation of the embargo, as a way to enhance civil society in Cuba,'' said an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said increased contact between Cubans and Americans would make the Cuban people less dependent on their government.

But Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a Cuban American lawmaker who supports the embargo, said Obama’s changes “will not help foster a pro-democracy environment in Cuba.”

“These changes will not aid in ushering in respect for human rights. And they certainly will not help the Cuban people free themselves from the tyranny that engulfs them,” she said.

Before Obama announced his changes, only certain groups of Americans could freely travel to Cuba. Those include journalists, government officials and farmers seeking sales of food or agricultural products to Cuba. Food sales to Cuba are allowed under a 2000 law.

Ros-Lehtinen Le Entrega Carta A Hu Jintao Expresando Sus Preocupaciones

N O T A  D E  P R E N S A

20 de enero del 2011

Ros-Lehtinen Le Entrega Carta A Hu Jintao Expresando Sus Preocupaciones

Sobre Temas De Seguridad Y La Falta De Derechos Humanos En China; También Le Pide

Que Libere Al Recipiente Del Premio Nobel De La Paz Liu Xiaobo Y A Otros Disidentes

Washington, DC--- La Congresista Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Presidenta del Comité de Asuntos Exteriores, asistió a una reunión bipartidista esta mañana con el Presidente chino Hu Jintao. Ros-Lehtinen le entregó personalmente al Sr. Hu una carta que ella le envió al Presidente Obama destacando sus graves preocupaciones referente al deplorable record del régimen chino en temas de derechos humanos y encarcelación de un ciudadano norteamericano; sus políticas económicas, como la manipulación de su moneda oficial, que están disminuyendo empleos norteamericanos y dañando nuestra economía; y su comportamiento agresivo e irresponsable que amenaza los intereses de seguridad norteamericanos y la estabilidad global. Después de la declaración de la Congresista Ros-Lehtinen, incluimos el texto completo de la carta al Presidente Obama.


Declaración de Ros-Lehtinen:

“Al comienzo de la reunión de hoy, le entregué personalmente al Sr. Hu una copia de la misiva que le envié al Presidente Obama destacando fuertes preocupaciones sobre acciones chinas en temas de seguridad, economía y derechos humanos. Al final de la reunión tuve la oportunidad de exigir al Sr. Hu liberar a Liu Xiaobo, Gao Zhisheng, y otros disidentes encarcelados por el régimen comunista; a que respete los derechos de los pueblo de Tíbet y los Uyghurs; que termine con la fuerte persecución de cristianos y practicantes del Falun Gong, y que concluya la política china de obligar a sus mujeres a practicarse abortos.

De todos los temas con que lo reté, el único que recibió una respuesta del Sr. Hu fue mi declaración pidiendo fin a la política oficial china de abortos mandatorios. Me quedé asombrada cuando él insistió que tal política no existía.

Las acciones y las políticas de China no son las de una nación responsable.

Los Estados Unidos y China no comparten valores y principios como algunos han declarado en estos días. Un régimen que demuestra un flagrante abuso a los más básicos derechos humanos de sus ciudadanos, que facilita la proliferación de actividades de naciones irresponsables como Iran, y representa un obstáculo a los esfuerzos de naciones responsables a resolver las amenazas de Iran, Corea del Norte y otros regímenes peligrosos, no posee nada en común con los Estados Unidos.

Es mi esperanza que en el futuro, Estados Unidos implemente una política hacia China que refleje más firmemente nuestros intereses y valores.”


Desde Pinceladas de Cuba

Chávez a la oposición: ‘Vayan a lavarse ese paltó, yo no voy a devolver la Habilitante’

Muy poco le duro al dictadorsito venezolano su mano extendida a la oposicion. Basto que en esta solicitara en la sesion de hoy de la Asambla Nacional, la derogacion de la Ley Habilitante que le confiere plenos poderes a Chavez, la cual ademas es ilegal, porque la anteior legislatura carece de facultad legal para conceder poderes extraordinarios mas alla de su mandato.


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El mayor arresto de mafiosos en New York

AGENCIAS

La ofensiva contra la «Cosa Nostra» americana ha tenido lugar en Nueva York, Nueva Jersey y Rhode Island

En una de sus mayores operaciones anti-mafia realizadas en su siglo ya cumplido de historia policial, el FBI ha detenido a un total de 127 miembros de diferentes familias mafiosas de Estados Unidos. La ofensiva contra la "Cosa Nostra" americana ha tenido lugar en Nueva York, Nueva Jersey y Rhode Island. Y se ha visto acompañada por procesamientos formales con cargos que abarcan desde juego ilegal al narcotráfico pasando por el asesinato y la extorsión.

Para hacer posible este operación iniciada de madrugada, las autoridades han activado todo un pequeño ejército policial compuesto por 800 agentes federales, estatales y locales. Y de hecho, para poder procesar a la mayoría de todo este significativo número de detenidos se ha utilizado una prisión castrense en Fort Hamilton, unas históricas instalaciones del Ejército de Tierra americano en el suroeste de Brooklyn.

Entre los detenidos puestos ya a disposición judicial se encuentran destacados miembros de las cinco familias mafiosos que tradicionalmente operan en la zona de Nueva York: Genovese, Gambino, Colombo, Luchese y Bonanno. Además se varios miembros la familia DeCavalcante basada en Nueva Jersey y de los Patriarca que operan en la zona de Nueva Inglaterra.

Representantes de sindicatos

En la lista de también figuran diversos asociados secundarios y varios representantes de sindicatos. Ya que la "Cosa Nostra" en Estados Unidos siempre ha tenido una especial inclinación por introducirse y explotar a su favor organizaciones sindicales, en sectores como la construcción o los transportes.

El titular del Departamento de Justicia, Erick Holder, se ha trasladado hasta Nueva York para presentar esta excepcional ofensiva contra el crimen organizado. Según ha insistido el fiscal general, "se trata de una de las operaciones de un día más grandes en la historia del FBI, tanto en términos de sospechosos detenidos y procesados como por el tamaño de toda su presunta actividad delictiva".

Con varias décadas de delitos que incluyen desde múltiples ejecuciones de rivales hasta un mortal tiroteo originado por una bebida derramada en un bar.

A pesar de que el FBI ha venido centrando desde el 11-S una buena parte de su personal y recursos en casos de terrorismo, la lucha contra la mafia americana permanece entre las prioridades de los agentes federales. A juicio de Robert Mueller, director del FBI, no hay que creerse que se trata de "una cosa del pasado". Mientras que el fiscal general Holder ha insistido en que "la batalla contra las entidades de crimen organizado en Estados Unidos está todavía lejos de acabarse".

Pierde Cuba litigio de marca en Europa

Litigio marcario por habanos cubanos Cohiba en Europa