Race-Hoax Debunked: 225 Bigger Oscar Snubs Than 'Selma'

Breitbart

by John Nolte

Producer Oprah Winfrey’s Selma won two Oscar nominations Thursday morning: Best Picture and Best Song. Because the Civil Rights drama failed to win nominations for its director, star or script, people are claiming it was snubbed (it was — the Best Pic nod is an also-ran) and crying racism.

I thought some context might help.

Before he won an Oscar at age 64, Martin Scorsese directed Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, King Comedy, Color of Money, and The Age of Innocence.

The Associated Press

Selma is only director Ana DuVernay’s third feature film. She is just 42 years old.

Before he won an Oscar at age 61 , Paul Newman starred in The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Long Hot Summer, Verdict, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cat On Hot Tin Roof, Sting, and Slap Shot.

David Oyelwo’s first big starring role is in Selma. He is just 38 years old.

As far as the racism charge, 10% of the acting nominations over the last 5 years have gone to black actors, which is almost perfectly in line with the 12.6% (on average over the last 5 years) population of ratio of blacks in America. Moreover, 7 films focusing on race and racism have been nominated for Best Picture in the last 5 years. Last year “12 Years a Slave” won Best Picture.

Yes, the cry of racism around Selma is, like Selma itself, just another in a long line of race-hoaxes dumped on the American people this year (Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Oprah’s Swiss purse lie).

Selma’s real problem is that it just isn’t a very good movie.

While the left crybabies over Oscar’s snub of Selma, here are 225 bigger Oscar snubs; a list of people who have never won a competitive Oscar, and a list of movies better than Selma that not only failed to win an Oscar, but were never even nominated! (Source.)

1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Michael Mann
3. Orson Welles
4. Christopher Nolan
5. Jean Simmons
6. Annette Bening
7. Glenn Close
8. Agnes Morehead
9. Judy Davis
10. Gena Rowlands
11. Mia Farrow
12. Greta Garbo
13. Marilyn Monroe
14. Myrna Loy
15. Marlene Dietrich
16. Jean Harlowe
17. Carol Lombard
18. Lauren Bacall
19. Irene Dunne
20. Maureen O’Hara
21. Rosalind Russell
22. Martin Sheen
23. Steve McQueen
24. James Caan
25. Harvey Keitel
26. James Mason
27. Montgomery Clift
28. Eli Wallach
29. Bruce Dern
30. Gary Oldmam
31. Judy Garland
32. John Malkovich
33. Ed Harris
34. Donald Sutherland
35. Richard Harris
36. Peter Sellers
37. Cary Grant
38. Albert Finney
39. Deborah Kerr
40. Richard Burton
41. Fred Astaire
42. Kirk Douglas
43. Barbara Stanwyck
44. Edward G. Robinson
45. Peter O’Toole
46. Jean Simmons
47. Ridley Scott
48. Buster Keaton
49. Howard Hawks
50. Robert Altman
51. Sam Peckinpah
52. John Cassavetes
53. Sidney Lumet
54. Brian DePalma
55. David Lynch
56. Spike Lee
57. Lillian Gish
58. Errol Flynn
59. Joseph Cotton
60. Maurice Chevalier
61. Peter Lorre
62. Charlie Chaplin (except for a score award)
63. Stanley Kubrick (except for a special effects award)
64. George Lucas
65. Ernst Lubitsch
66. King Vidor
67. Arthur Penn
68. Fritz Lang
69. Akira Kurosawa
70. D.W. Griffith
71. Cecil B. DeMille
72. Ava Gardner
73. Rita Hayworth
74. Boris Karloff
75. Robert Mitchum
76. Thelma Ritter
77. Joan Allen
78. Sigourney Weaver
79. Dana Andrews
80. Lew Ayers
81. John Barrymore
82. Ralph Bellamy
83. Roddy MacDowall
84. Charles Boyer
85. Lee J. Cobb
86. Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
87. W. C. Fields
88. James Garner
89. John Garfield
90. Elliott Gould
91. Dennis Hopper
92. James Earl Jones
93. Gene Kelly
94. Arthur Kennedy
95. Anthony Perkins
96. William Powell
97. Tyrone Power
98. Walter Pidgeon
99. Claude Rains
100. Basil Rathbone
101. Will Rogers
102. Mickey Rooney
103. Robert Shaw
104. Richard Widmark
105. Clifton Webb
106. Jean Arthur
107. Ida Lupino
108. Jacqueline Bisset
109. Madeline Kahn
110. Bette Midler
111. Kim Novak
112. Michelle Pfeiffer
113. Lana Turner
114. Gloria Swanson
115. Margaretr Sullavan
116. Elsa Lanchester
117. Julie Harris
118. Blake Edwards
119. Richard Brooks
120. Tim Burton
121. William Wellman
122. Josef von Strernberg
123. Otto Preminger
124. W.S. Van Dyke
125. F.W. Murnau
126. Alan J. Pakula
127. Mervyn LeRoy
128. Stanley Kramer
129. John Frankenheimer
130. Stanley Donen
131. Advise and Consent (1962)
132. Bananas (1971)
133. Beat the Devil (1954)
134. The Big Clock (1948)
135. The Big Heat (1953)
136. The Big Sleep (1946)
137. Blood Simple (1984)
138. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
139. Brute Force (1947)
140. City Lights (1931)
141. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
142. Destry Rides Again (1939)
143. Dinner at Eight (1933)
144. Dirty Harry (1971)
145. Don’t Look Now (1973)
146. Dracula (1931)
147. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
148. Duck Soup
149. A Face in the Crowd (1957)
150. Fail-Safe (1964)
151. Farewell My Lovely (1944)
152. Fort Apache (1948)
153. Frankenstein (1931)
154. Freaks (1933)
155. The Front Page (1975)
156. Gilda (1946)
157. Gun Crazy (1949)
158. Hard-Boiled (1992)
159. Heat (1995)
160. High Sierra (1941)
161. His Girl Friday (1940)
162. In a Lonely Place (1950)
163. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
164. The Invisible Man (1933)
165. It’s a Gift (1934)
166. The Killing (1956)
167. The Parallax View (1974)
168. King Kong (1933)
169. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
170. The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
171. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
172. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
173. Lonely are the Brave (1962)
174. The Long Goodbye (1973)
175. The Long Riders (1980)
176. M (1931)
177. Mean Streets (1973)
178. Medium Cool (1969)
179. Metropolis (1927)
180. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
181. The Misfits (1961)
182. Modern Times (1936)
183. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
184. The Mummy (1933)
185. Murder, My Sweet (1944)
186. My Darling Clementine (1946)
187. A Night at the Opera (1934)
188. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
189. Nightmare Alley (1947)
190. Nothing Sacred (1937)
191. Oliver Twist (1948)
192. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
193. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
194. Out of the Past (1947)
195. Paths of Glory (1957)
196. Play It Again, Sam (1972)
197. Point Blank (1967)
198. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
199. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
200. Ride the High Country (1962)
201. Rio Bravo (1959)
202. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
203. Scarface (1932)
204. Scarlet Street (1945)
205. The Searchers (1956)
206. The Shining (1980)
207. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
208. A Shot in the Dark (1964)
209. Sid and Nancy (1986)
210. State of the Union (1948)
211. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
212. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
213. They Live By Night (1949)
214. The Thing (1951)
215. Things to Come (1936)
216. The 39 Steps (1935)
217. This Gun for Hire (1942)
218. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
219. To Have and Have Not (1944)
220. Touch Of Evil (1958)
221. A Walk in the Sun (1946)
222. The Wild One (1953)
223. Winchester ’73 (1950)
224. The Women (1939)
225. The Wrong Man (1957)

—
Cry me a river, Selma…

Neocastrismo: Yumas, disidencia y multipartidismo

se anuncia que luego de conversar con el regimen, la jefa de la delegacion estadounidense mrs. jacobson, ha reservado un espacio antes de retornar a su pais para atender a representantes de la sociedad civil cubana. recordemos cuando el excelentisimo ministro de exteriores de canada mr. baird, se reunio en febrero del 2013 con representantes de la sociedad civil en las personas de los akademicos organicos del regimen, rafael hernandez y omar everleny.
muy interesante sera apreciar como y quienes seran los "escogidos" [mas apropiado: son, porque en conspiradera de realpolitik, el casting de los primeros actores, figurantes, espectadores y sin entrada a la comedia humana en que se putrefacta el destino de una nacion, ha sido tarea disenada y ejecutada largo tiempo atras], para representar a la sociedad civil que se autodefine como independiente, para distinguirse -supongo- de la que agrupa el sistema de organizaciones politicas y de masas controladas por el partido + las crecientes masas de indiferentes de siempre. una buena cantera estaria en el Espacio Abierto de la Sociedad Civil Cubana  que tiene como anfitriones a los ocupantes del piso 14 de loma y tupilan; luego que el gaznaton de rodiles a dagoberto valdes -dice que por chiva- le costara al primero el pasaporte y posiblemente el protagonismo politico frente a los norteamericanos, no por la violencia del hecho, sino por el desenmascaramiento del laico verborreico [observese la agil y fluida colaboracion entre las agencias a ambos lados del estrecho]; aunque es de reconocer que rodiles reacciona con prontitud para recuperar espacios lanzando su  Foro por los derechos y libertades. 
lo notable en el diseno integrador de la pretendida busqueda de consensos de Espacio Abierto, reside en que no participan organizaciones sino representantes de estas, personas que pertenecen a varias e incluso individuos a titulo personal, la cual es la formula mas factible para conducir un cafe literario a orillas del sena en un rascacielos de arquitectura sovietica en el tropico de biran.   
ya por algo ichikawa proponia que yoani formara un partido, el que seria reconocido por los norteamericanos y tolerado por el regimen, como hasta ahora ha sido la propia bloguera ahora directora de periodico. si al partido 14ymedio.com le anadimos el tan tolerante y comprensivo grupito socialdemocrata de cuesta morua que eufemisticamente denomina Partido Arco Progresista, conjuntamente con la omnipresencia del partido en el poder, pues ya tendriamos en facha un espectro politico "plural" que permitiria unas elecciones multipartidistas como reclama una de las clausulas de la «Ley para la Libertad Cubana y la Solidaridad Democrática» del congreso norteamericano.

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Martí Noticias

Envio de equipos de telecomunicaciones vs leyes aduanales cubanas

el dpto del tesoro "autoriza" el envio a cuba sin licencia de equipos de telecomunicaciones, en lo que no mas que desregularizar lo que la gente venia haciendo desde hace mucho tiempo. computadoras, discos duros, camaras, radios, monitores, etc., que ahora se autorizan, disfrutan de un amplio mercado abierto, tolerado y hasta promocionado por diversos sitios webs en la isla con origen mayoritario en "jayalia". el pollo del arroz con pollo no reside ahi a pesar de lo que digan los yumas, sino en la reaccion de 'labana' ante el posible incremento de estas "importaciones" respecto a lo que normas las actuales regulaciones aduanales. alguien me esta tomando el pelo y sospecho que son los dos?

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Martí Noticias

House Call in Hell: World's Worst Prison

Pulitzer Center

This video, from May 2008, takes you inside the walls of one of the worst prisons in the Western hemisphere. It's not the toughest prison in the world, but overcrowding, poor sanitation, and a general lack of funding in Haiti's National Penitentiary have led to exorbitant HIV and Tuberculosis rates. Reporter Antigone Barton and videographer Stephen Sapienza take a first-hand look at these conditions and an American doctor working to correct them. After this video was taken, USAID authorized $110,000 in emergency funding for health and sanitation improvements.

Obama to Meet With Cuban Dictator Raul Castro in Panama

townhall - Katie Pavlich

www.telemundoboston.com

It's been just one short month since the announcement of "normalization" between the United States and Cuba. Although a trip directly to Cuba isn't first on the list, President Obama will reportedly meet directly with Dictator Raul Castro during an April trip to Panama. 

President of Cuba Raul Castro Ruz will meet President of US Barak Obama on April 11 in Panama.
— Presidencia de Cuba (@PresidenciaCuba) January 13, 2015

This announcement comes shortly after the State Department confirmed 53 Cuba dissidents were finally released by the communist regime after weeks of being unable to confirm where they were located. As Fox News Latino reports, the status of those dissidents is still very unclear and serious questions remain about whether the Castro brothers have really changed.

The release of 53 political prisoners continues to be shrouded in secrecy even after the Obama administration confirmed they had all been set free.

Neither the U.S. or Cuban governments have released names of the political prisoners nor have they disclosed their whereabouts after their release. The Cuban government said it released the prisoners as part of last month's historic deal between the United States and Cuba.

"We welcome this very positive development and are pleased that the Cuban Government followed through on this commitment. Our Interests Section in Havana was able to verify these releases,” said a senior Obama official. “These political prisoners were individuals who had been cited by various human rights organizations as being imprisoned by the Cuban government for exercising internationally protected freedoms or for their promotion of political and social reforms in Cuba.

Most of the released dissidents belong to the Patriotic Union of Cuba, an anti-government group based in far eastern Cuba. The group’s spokesman told Fox News Latino that even though the political prisoners were sprung, the move is purely “cosmetic.”

Republicans like Senator Marco Rubio have vowed to stop Obama's normalization until further concessions from the Cuban regime are made. President Obama has been criticized on both sides of the aisle for normalizing relations with Cuba without preconditions.

Cuban Refugees Fled to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay a Half Century Ago—and Never Left - WSJ

WSJ

By Michael M. Phillips 

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba—In 1961, Ramon Baudin got wind that Fidel Castro ’s security forces were looking for him. He hid in a bus headed to this U.S. military base, sneaked past a police checkpoint, then pleaded with the American sentry: “Hey, buddy, I’m running away. Open the gate.”

Mr. Baudin has been here ever since, part of a small group of Cuban exiles who, in a hot moment of the Cold War, won permission from the U.S. government to stay at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base until Cuba was free.

For more than 50 years, the exiles have waited out Mr. Castro, circumscribed by a 17-mile razor-wire fence that separates their present from their past. They have married and divorced, had jobs and children. They have danced at base clubs and drunk at base bars. They play dominoes and listen to singer Celia Cruz. They have also seen their adopted home become synonymous with prisoner abuse since the U.S. housed nearly 800 terror suspects here.

Ramon Baudin, 92 years old, is one of the oldest of the 23 Cuban exiles living at the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. Brandon Thibodeaux for The Wall Street Journal

The ill are treated at the Navy hospital, and the dead buried by the beach in the base cemetery, alongside sailors and Marines who perished in the tropics 100 years ago.

“I thought I was only going to be here for six months,” said Mr. Baudin’s neighbor Noel West, 81 years old.

With few exceptions, they have never returned home. Many have made their way to the U.S. But a core group chose to stay, even though they acquired U.S. citizenship or residency. The U.S. Navy provides them free housing, utilities and medical care, along with subsidized meals at base mess halls.

“At the time, the Navy offered them safe haven, and we said, ‘Hey, you’re welcome to stay here until this gets resolved,’ ” said the base commander, Navy Capt. John Nettleton. “And here we are half a century later, and they’re still here.”

Now, the two-dozen remaining exiles are aging at a pace that is outstripping the Navy’s ability to care for them. The Navy flies the seriously ill to military hospitals in the U.S. Navy personnel have converted former nurses’ quarters at the base hospital into a 24-hour assisted-living facility. Government drivers transport the Cuban exiles to doctor appointments, exercise classes, McDonald’s and the all-in-one base store, the Navy Exchange.

U.S. troops landed at Guantanamo Bay during the Spanish-American War of 1898, and in their victory over Spain signed a perpetual lease that can only be canceled by mutual agreement between Havana and Washington.

Thousands of Cubans once commuted to base jobs. But relations with the U.S. soured quickly after Mr. Castro seized power in 1959, with the countries severing diplomatic ties in 1961.

The Guantanamo Cubans have been buffeted by the long conflict between the U.S. and Cuba, as well as the personal decisions they made long ago. When Washington and Havana were inches from war in the 1960s, the exiles found shelter on the base but gave up their homes and families.

Now that President Barack Obama has decided to normalize relations with Cuba, their fate is again up in the air. The Navy is unsure whether the easing of tensions means the exiles will have to move out.

For now, the Guantanamo Cubans are staying put, accustomed to the narrow but easy life on the military base, and skeptical that warmer ties with the U.S. means the Cuban regime would treat them well if they returned home.

“It’s kind of early,” said exile Ramon Romero, who took refuge on the base in 1960, at age 17. “You can never trust Castro because he can say one thing and turn around and do another thing.”

At 92, Mr. Baudin is one of the oldest of the 23 Cubans—known officially as special category residents—remaining on the base.

He says he isn’t homesick. But every day after the sun comes up, he settles into a white plastic chair under the roof of his carport and switches on a portable radio. Despite a broken antenna, it picks up a station from Caimanera, a town just outside of the barbed wire. Between news broadcasts and fast-paced guarachas, he listens for obituaries of long-lost friends.

“I can’t go there anymore,” he said of Caimanera, drawing a finger across his throat. “They’d kill me.”

A Cuban government spokesman in Washington didn’t return calls or emails seeking comment on whether the exiles would face legal or political peril if they returned home.

Mr. Baudin took refuge on the base when Cold War tension was aggravated by the botched 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis a year later.

Mr. Baudin was engaged to a woman in Caimanera when he learned that regime security men were after him. He never had a chance to explain his disappearance. He heard she married a milkman.

For work, Mr. Baudin was a caddie on the base golf course, then spent decades pressing uniforms in the laundry. He remembers good times with his Cuban friends here, fishing in the bay and drinking rum on the beach.
Most of them are dead now. Mr. Baudin wakes at about 3:30 each morning and meditates. Then, before dawn, he walks the streets, talking, he says, with the ghosts of his fellow exiles: He sees Gustaff Polica, who raised two children on Guantanamo and whose body is buried in the hills. He spots a woman in white who went home to Cuba to die with her family after decades at Guantanamo.
“I pray for my dead friends,” Mr. Baudin said. “They’re by my side. They watch over me.”
Most of the Cubans live in a neighborhood of flat-roofed concrete houses built in 1960, their pastel blues and greens faded by the sun. From his window across the way, Mr. Romero often watches Mr. Baudin pass under a streetlight on his predawn walk.
As a boy, Mr. Romero accompanied his grandfather on a 30-foot banana boat, steering it along the shore. They stopped at the base each day to sell fruits and vegetables.
By 1960, the family’s standing with the Castro government had become precarious. Two of Mr. Romero’s cousins had been killed, and another was languishing in prison, he said.

A home in the neighborhood where most of the 23 remaining Cuban exiles live. Brandon Thibodeaux for The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Romero’s grandfather, who cared for the boy, sent Mr. Romero to live on the base. “My grandfather said, ‘Stay here, otherwise you’ll be in jail or dead,’ ” Mr. Romero, now 71, recalled. “So I’ve been here ever since.”
Mr. Romero at first cried himself to sleep on the boat’s wooden seats. He eventually lived with a teacher from the base school, and then with the man who ran the lighthouse. Over the years, Mr. Romero worked as a janitor, firefighter and heavy-equipment operator. His favorite job was running and fixing the projector at the open-air base theater, the Lyceum. He retired with a small pension in 1998.

He built a dock among the mangroves behind his house and spends hours on a pontoon boat fishing for mackerel and downing cans of Miller Lite. He shies away from other exiles, wary of gossip. “I like to be by myself,” he said.

Capt. Nettleton worries what will become of the Cubans as they grow infirm. One exile was flown to the U.S. for dialysis. “I don’t envision us forcing them to go and leave the island, because of the commitment we previously made to them,” the captain said. “But it may come to that.”

Navy officials can’t find the documents that laid out the Kennedy administration’s original promise. The broad outlines have been passed down from one base commander to the next, reinforced by a 2006 law authorizing the Navy to “provide for the general welfare, including subsistence, housing, and health care” of the Cuban residents.

Exile Phillip Gayle has married three times since moving to the base in 1965. He buried one wife and divorced another. He now shares a room with his third wife in the assisted-living facility the Navy built to care for the aging Cubans.

His wife, Felicita Gayle, is 95 years old. Her health troubles require round-the-clock aides. “She put light back in my life when my life was dim,” said Mr. Gayle, who is 80.

He works off his stress at Zumba classes in the base gym. An energetic Spanish-speaking instructor leads the exiles—one of them is in a wheelchair—in dance moves to the song, “I’m Sexy and I Know It.”

Mr. Gayle thinks often of the 3-year-old son he left behind when he fled Cuba. His son later joined the Cuban army and fought in Angola when Mr. Castro intervened to support the leftist government there.

“If Cuba is free and I die here, bury me over there,” Mr. Gayle said. “As long as Cuba isn’t free, bury me here.”

The Naval cemetery is set amid underground ammunition bunkers. Among the hundreds of white-marble gravestones are 21 with the words “Cuban Exile” engraved beneath the names.

The U.S. continues to write the Cuban government an annual rent check of $4,085 for use of the base, a figure set in 1934. Each year, Havana signals its disapproval of the U.S. presence by refusing to cash it.

At one point in the 1960s, the Castro regime planted a wall of prickly plants to stop Cubans from seeking refuge on the base. The Americans dubbed it the Cactus Curtain.

In 1964, the Castro regime cut off water and power to the base. In response, President Lyndon B. Johnson dismissed most of the Cubans who commuted onto the facility. By that time, hundreds of Cubans—opponents of the Castro government—had already secured the Navy’s permission to live on the base indefinitely.

By 1987, the number of Cuban exiles on the base had dropped to 80. Today, there are 28 special category residents, including five Jamaicans who had won the status through marriage to exiled Cubans.

Capt. Nettleton estimates the Navy spends about $200,000 a year on salaries for civilian aides who assist the elderly Cubans. The Navy said it had no estimate of the cost of providing housing, utilities, medical care and other services for the exiles.

Cuban exiles gather for a prayer inside the Cuban Community Center on the base. Brandon Thibodeaux for The Wall Street Journal

Gloria Martinez, an 81-year-old cancer survivor, said she has stayed on the base in part because of the promise of lifetime care. Her late husband was a Cuban army sergeant in the 1950s who fought against insurgents led by Raúl Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother and now Cuba’s president.

In 1959, Ms. Martinez’s husband, Eduardo Martinez, got a job helping build the base bowling alley. Each night he returned to the Cuban side of the fence.

As the Castro regime cracked down on opponents, the couple’s house was repeatedly searched, Ms. Martinez recalled. She kept two hand grenades hidden in the house and said she had planned to use them if her husband ever faced a firing squad. She sealed her husband’s army medals in a jar and buried them under the patio.

“I told my husband they were looking for him, and he was never to come back to our home,” Ms. Martinez said.

One day in 1961, Mr. Martinez went to work on the base—and stayed. Ms. Martinez remained behind for a short time before making her own move. She glued her photo onto someone else’s ID card and headed to the base, repeating her fake name to herself: Jorgelina, Jorgelina. Jorgelina.

At a checkpoint, she recalled, the Cuban guard asked her name. Her mind went blank and she held up the ID card. “Ah, Jorgelina,” the guard said.

That was the last time she set foot on the Cuban side, she said. On the base she worked giving haircuts to Marines.

Their two children, now in their 40s and living in the U.S., were born on the base. Her husband died in 1988. When she fell ill with kidney cancer the following year, she was treated at a U.S. military hospital in Washington, D.C.

At the time, she worried if she moved to the U.S. she would lose her subsidized health care. Mostly, she said, she doesn’t want to leave Cuba, whose mountains are visible from her window. She has sisters living in Guantanamo City, an hour’s drive from her house, if such a drive were ever permitted.

“I’m close to my family here,” she said, “even though I don’t see them.”

Irritado? Inbox a cero

microsiervos
1. Seleccionar todos los correos
2. Marcar como leídos
3. Archivar
4. Borrar
5. Eliminar cuenta
6. Tirar el ordenador por la ventana

– @porras

China Arrests 60,000 in 'Unprecedented' 100-Day Drug Crackdown

NBC News.com

BEIJING — Chinese police have arrested more than 60,000 people and seized more than 11 tons of drugs in a three-month nationwide crackdown, according to officials. The "100-day campaign" from September to Decmber was part of intensified crime-fighting operations ahead of next month's Chinese Lunar New Year.

China's top anti-drug official said the mass arrests had "sown terror" among drug criminals, according to a report Thursday in China's state-run newspaper Legal Daily. Liu Yuejin told the newspaper that he had called on China's police officers to use "unprecedented strength" and "extraordinary measures" in the operation. Legal Daily is controlled by China's Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs. The raids were also reported by China's state-run news agency Xinhua.

The widespread arrests come after a Beijing court handed down a six-month prison sentence to Jaycee Chan, the son of kung-fu movie star Jackie Chan, for providing a venue to drug users. Jackie Chan is China's anti-drug ambassador.

Cine cubano: Censura y G-20

Diario de Cuba

Antonio José Ponte 

Después de que censuraran el filme Regreso a Ítaca, del francés Laurent Cantet, en el Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana, un grupo de cineastas cubanos hizo público un comunicado. Firmado por una docena de guionistas, directores y productores, apareció encabezado como "Declaración del G-20" y, puede leerse allí que el G-20 es un comité que representa a los cineastas cubanos, elegido por cineastas cubanos en asamblea pública y abierta.

Arturo Arango/
www.cubarte-francais.cult.cu

Sus firmantes aguardaron a que pasara el Festival de Cine ("para no interferir con su exitoso desarrollo") y dejaron pasar también unos días por respeto a acontecimientos que, en frase deudora de la retórica de Granma, resumieron del modo siguiente: "el regreso de los tres héroes injustamente encarcelados que faltaban por recuperar su libertad, y cuyo arribo a la patria nos ha llenado de felicidad a todos, y la noticia del restablecimiento de las relaciones entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos, hecho que abre una etapa en el país particularmente compleja en el campo del arte y las ideas".

Transcurridas las fiestas del cine y la política, llegó la hora de denunciar la censura, y la declaración del G-20 apuntó a unos responsables: "las máximas autoridades del Ministerio de Cultura y el ICAIC", que obligaron a la dirección del Festival a retirar el filme después de haberlo programado. Los firmantes del documento incluyeron  a la Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) como cómplice, y rechazaron la prohibición en nombre del "espíritu cultural de la nación cubana", al que consideran completamente ajeno a los actos de censura.

Más allá de lo que pueda ser tal espíritu, resulta difícil imaginar una cultura completamente ajena a la censura política, aunque habrá que suponerle cierto sentido utópico a todos esos firmantes, utopismo imprescindible a la hora de apelar a las autoridades en Cuba. El G-20 impulsa una Ley de Cine que, entre otros puntos, procura replantear el ICAIC, suprimiéndole al instituto oficial la potestad de producir o censurar películas.

Al pie de la declaración a favor de Regreso a Ítaca pueden leerse los nombres del guionista Arturo Arango y del realizador Enrique Álvarez, directores de cátedra en la Escuela Internacional de Cine (EICTV). Tal como se supo, ellos dos formaron parte de la reunión donde se decidió expulsar de ese centro de estudios a Boris González Arenas, coordinador de la Cátedra de Asignaturas Téoricas Integral Cultural. Y, tanto Arturo Arango como Enrique Álvarez, no mostraron desacuerdo con aquella medida.

Enrique Alvarez/
www.eictv.org

Boris González Arenas, colaborador de este diario, fue detenido a fines de año en la Plaza de la Revolución. La policía cargó con él porque había esperado a que Tania Bruguera hiciera su performance. Es decir, fue detenido porque tal vez se proponía decir algo allí, no porque lo dijera. Por su parte, las autoridades de la EICTV reconocen en una resolución  haberlo expulsado por publicar "artículos que se oponen al Estado cubano lo cual no son solo la simple expresión de un disenso crítico cuyo derecho a existir la EICTV defiende y defendería hasta sus últimas consecuencias, sino que constituyen ataques frontales a valores humanistas que la escuela comparte y apoya, y contra instituciones y líderes de esta nación que la acoge y a los que respetamos".

En su blog, Enrique del Risco ha examinado los artículos publicados por González Arenas para arribar a estas conclusiones: "¿Ataca Boris a alguna minoría oprimida, exalta la mentira o convoca al asesinato? Un repaso a los artículos del profesor expulsado nos hace ver puntos de vista que pasarían por bastante humanistas en el resto del planeta: reclamo de mayores espacios de expresión, crítica a la corrupción y el nepotismo y la ineficacia económica del Estado Cubano (…), denuncia de la represión de disidentes y asuntos por el estilo".

Como se desprende de la resolución oficial, los valores humanistas defendidos por la EICTV coinciden con los valores humanistas del clan Castro. De manera que cualquiera que denuncie la represión legitimadora de ese clan, ofende en sus principios a la escuela.  Por descontado, una institución como la EICTV está en su derecho de prescindir de cualquier empleado que atente contra sus valores, pero habrá que aceptar también que, al castigar las opiniones de ese empleado, ejerce contra él un veto político.

Por lo cual, Arturo Arango, jefe de Cátedra de Guión, y Enrique Álvarez, jefe de Cátedra de Dirección, supieron desempeñarse como censores. En tanto miembros del G-20, ambos han denunciado al Ministerio de Cultura, el ICAIC y la UNEAC por la prohibición de una película, e intentan despojar al instituto cinematográfico de su facultad de censurar, mientras reservan esa facultad para sus cátedras. Ellos, que encontraron repudiables los artículos de Boris González Arenas, se muestran reacios a que otros comisarios aún más altos la hayan emprendido contra una película.

Habría que averiguar qué piensan acerca de esto los restantes miembros del G-20. Porque si van a justificarlos con el rejuego del adentro de la Revolución y del contra la Revolución que inaugurara Fidel Castro en "Palabras a los intelectuales" (Cantet y Padura estarían dentro, González Arenas en contra), ¿qué garantías tienen de que el Ministerio de Cultura y el ICAIC no respondan a sus peticiones con idéntico argumento?

Y en caso de acogerse al razonamiento de que no pesa lo mismo una película hecha por artistas reconocidos que el puñado de artículos de alguien sin nombre, convendría entonces cuestionarse si el G-20 aboga por unos principios para todos o por ciertos privilegios de capilla. ¿Tienen algo que decir al respecto todos esos realizadores y guionistas y productores?  ¿O van a desentenderse, sin más?

En cuanto a Arturo Arango y Enrique Álvarez, que parecen sufrir la censura y resultan capaces de censurar, ambos han eligido ser como esos reclusos que, por gozar de unas prebendas dentro de su falta de libertad, no tienen inconveniente en arremeter contra otros reclusos, haciéndoles la vida un suplicio. Kapos, los llaman.

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Videovidentevivo 

Vivan los Yumas! Entusiasmo x aumento de las remesas

AmericaTeVeCanal41

The U.S's new policy shift on trade with Cuba and the impact on U.S. businesses - WSJ

Aclaraciones del Dpto del Tesoro s/ las nuevas medidas de la Casa Blanca respecto a Cuba

Leer en Ingles Aqui [pdf] >>

The reason the Obama admin will not define the Islamic Jihad

Statement on Obama's New Cuba Regulations

capitolhillcubans

Today, the Obama Administration has released regulations implementing the limited sanctions relief the United States offered to Cuba's Castro dictatorship, pursuant to a one-sided deal announced on December 17th.

It is the third time in his Presidency that Obama eases sanctions towards Cuba, with the first two being on April 2009 and January 2011.  It's also the third time that Obama does so in return for no guarantees or improvements on political freedoms, human rights and democratic reforms for the Cuban people. To the contrary, since the first set of sanctions were eased, yearly political arrests in Cuba have more than quadrupled from 2,074 political arrests in 2010 to 8,899 in 2014.

Moreover, since Obama's policy of appeasement began in 2009, the Castro dictatorship has felt further emboldened to take an American hostage to (now) successfully coerce the United States into further concessions; to traffic heavy weapons to North Korea in violation of international law; to obstruct investigations into the mysterious deaths of renowned democracy leaders Laura Pollan, of The Ladies in White, and Oswaldo Paya, of the Christian Liberation Movement; to subvert democratic institutions and direct violence against peaceful student protesters in Venezuela; and to mobilize its diplomatic arsenal in support of Assad's genocide in Syria, North Korea's crimes against humanity, a nuclear Iran, Vladimir Putin's illegal annexation of the Crimea and of the violent actions by Russian separatists in the Ukraine.

Furthermore, the lack of transparency and accountability by the Obama Administration in its handling of the list of the 53 Cuban political prisoners, which it had negotiated for release, also raises concerns. Upon the list being leaked, pursuant to weeks of Congressional and media pressure, it was revealed that 14 of the political prisoners listed had been released before the December 17th announcement. Some up to 6-8 months ago, and one over one-year ago. At least three, had already completed their sentences. Such secrecy only leads to further distrust of the Obama Administration in pursuing this policy.

Finally, the new regulations announced by the Treasury and Commerce Departments raise questions regarding the legal authority under which President Obama has implemented some of the changes.  It also raises questions whether some of the newly-authorized transactions towards Cuba are in violation of statutory prohibitions. These are issues Congress should look closely into during the coming weeks. 

Senators Question Legality of Cuba Regulatory Changes

capitolhillcubans

With today's changes in Treasury and Commerce regulations to implement President Obama's Cuba deal with dictator Raul Castro, the following questions raised by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Dan Coats (R-IN) are particularly important:

January 14, 2015

The Honorable Jacob J. Lew
Secretary of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury

Dear Secretary Lew:

We are deeply concerned that several aspects of the President Obama’s new approach to Cuba, especially those related to unilaterally easing U.S. sanctions, violate the letter and spirit of several U.S. laws, and increase the moral and financial risk to the American taxpayer and financial system of doing business through Cuba’s government-controlled financial system.  We ask that you explain in detail how the Treasury Department plans to implement the President’s announcement under current law.

On December 17, the President announced that “U.S. institutions will be permitted to open correspondent accounts at Cuban financial institutions to facilitate the processing of authorized transactions.”

As you know, Section 7207 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act (TSREEA) explicitly prohibits U.S. assistance and financing to Cuba. Moreover, it contains no Presidential waiver. Also, Section 103 of the LIBERTAD Act prohibits any financing of transactions involving confiscated property belonging to U.S. nationals.

Given these stark differences between the letter of the law and the Administration’s announcement, we ask that you provide clear answers to the following questions:

• What legal authority does the Administration have to allow establishment of correspondent accounts in Cuba, and the use of U.S. credit and debit cards by travelers to Cuba?
• How would the opening of correspondent accounts and the use of U.S.-backed credit cards expose U.S. financial institutions and affect legal action from Americans who have outstanding judgments rendered against the Cuban government by U.S. courts?
• How would these regulatory changes impact U.S. obligations to protect U.S. trademark holders, namely those who had their intellectual property confiscated?
• Less than three years ago, Cuba blocked access to the Cuba-based correspondent bank accounts of its European trading partners and confiscated their cash.  Can the Administration ensure that this will not happen to U.S. accounts?

The President also announced that “Telecommunications providers will be allowed to establish the necessary mechanisms, including infrastructure, in Cuba to provide commercial telecommunications and internet services.”

• While Congress has authorized certain transactions to improve telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba, U.S. law prohibits U.S. investments in Cuba’s domestic telecom infrastructure.

Specifically, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (22 USC 6004) includes a direct prohibition on “investment in domestic telecommunications services.”  Moreover, it states that an “investment” in the domestic telecommunications network within Cuba “includes the contribution (including by donation) of funds or anything of value to or for, and the making of loans to or for, such network.”  The LIBERTAD Act subsequently reinforced this “no investment” in telecom prohibition (22 USC 6032(g)).

• What legal authority does the Administration have to allow U.S. investments in Cuba’s telecommunications infrastructure?
• How would such investments affect legal action from Americans who have outstanding judgments rendered against the Cuban government by U.S. courts?

Also, as part of the President’s announcement, general licenses will be issued for all 12 categories of authorized travel in the existing categories.  However, TSREEA codified the ban on tourist activities, which are defined as any activity not expressly authorized in the 12 categories of travel set forth in the regulations. It further specified, “as such regulations were in effect on June 1, 2000.”  At the time of codification, non-academic educational travel (“people-to-people”) was only permitted via specific license.

• Under what authority will the President license travel beyond the June 1, 2000 levels?

Under the travel codification, trips related to activities that are primarily tourist-oriented -- including self-directed educational activities intended only for personal enrichment -- are illegal.

• How will Treasury enforce violations of travel for self-directed educational activities and by groups that sponsor people-to-people trips, which seek to engage primarily in tourist activities?
• How do certain travel activities, including staying at confiscated properties by U.S. travelers, not violate the ban on trafficking, and “indirect financing,” of confiscated property in LIBERTAD?

The fact that the Administration has been unable to answer these and many other questions almost a month after the President’s announcement, raises serious concerns about the process which preceded it.  We thus would like to know whether the Treasury Department was even consulted regarding these significant policy changes regarding Cuba, and if so, on what date.

We appreciate your prompt answers to these questions.

Sincerely,

Marco Rubio
Daniel Coats

El billetazo hervido

no hay "corre-corre" ni improvisacion en el proceso de introduccion de billetes de alta denominacion como senalan algunos analistas, sino solamente es una accion prevista en la esfera de la circulacion, para dotar de la masa de dinero necesaria que exige la inminente unificacion monetaria tanto en cantidad como en la estructura requerida. cualquiera que haya tenido que pagar una nomina o dar una cambio, sabe perfectamente que no basta con una cantidad de dinero "x" para realizar la operacion, sino que este requiere un "desglose" [tantos billetes de $100, $50,  $20, $10, $5; mas cuantas monedas de $1, $0.25, $0.10, de $0.05 y $0.01, de tal manera que la sumatoria de todos los valores fraccionarios coincida con el valor total de la nomina]. pero sucede que la mayoria de nuestros analistas que lograron estudiar macro y microeconomia, no han tenido la oportunidad de laborar en una de esas pequenas y medianas companias que constituyen del 85 al 95% del tejido empresarial incluso de los paises del primer mundo, por lo que tienen una aproximacion al tema desde los manuales universitarios.

que el banco central imprima una cantidad adicional de billetes con un valor total "y" sin respaldo financiero, explica no solo la impunidad con que opera el sistema economico-financiero cubano sin referencias al par convertible, sino ademas que se desatara una espiral inflacionaria que afectara aun mas a la mayoria de la poblacion, la que tendra que movilizar sus dos fuentes de recursos fundamentales: la "fe" y el "invento". asimismo, la medida que se reduce a la esfera monetario-mercantil, no mejora el poder adquisitivo de la poblacion sino que este se degradara, sin perseguir el objetivo crear las bases del relanzamiento de la economia nacional como se ha argumentado por los propagandistas del regimen, sino captar las reservas financieras atesoradas por la poblacion y de incentivar tradicionales y nuevas. si ud. le envia $100 usd mensuales a su padre con una ulcera en cuba para que no le escasee la malanga, la leche y el pollo, proximamente debera duplicar esa cifra para mantenerle el equilibrio de la dieta imprescindible. o por que sera que los cubanos proclaman vivan los yumas, al conocer el incremento del limite autorizado a las remesas.
de hecho la oportunidad de soslayar las cadecas para obtener cuc con vistas a adquirir buena parte de los productos que la poblacion demanda [no olvidar que una necesidad por perentoria y vital que sea no constituye una demanda sino se acompana con la capacidad financiera para solventarla], y que se concreta en la aceptacion en las cadenas de tiendas -eufemisticamente denominadas recuperadoras de divisas- de pesos cubanos a la tasa leonina pero oficial de cadeca de 25 x 1, y que tiene su antecedente en el propio reconocimiento entre la poblacion en sus transacciones particulares del rate entre ambas monedas, ha marchado a paso de rana hervida en una experiencia suficiente de un ano para que la mayoria de la poblacion que sufre el Síndrome del Neocastrismo, acepte aliviada que no tenga que acudir con una carretilla de pesos cubanos para comprarse el refrigerador.
las tasas de cambio de 25-1 a la venta y 24-1 a la compra, se reduciran a poco menos de un 50%, lo que significa que los tenedores de cuc [previamente usd u otras divisas extranjeras] sufriran una degradacion proporcional del valor que poseen. a ello se anade que la unificacion monetaria contempla una reelaboracion de los precios de los bienes y servicios, con lo cual el sorpresivo cambio de moneda del 5 de agosto/61 que desbanco el poder economico de la poblacion cubana, resultara un ejercicio de principiantes robo-ilusionarios. 

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el reporte original del granma Granma >> 
otras opiniones aqui >>  y  aqui >>

EEUU implanta nuevas medidas que facilitan los viajes a Cuba

NBC News.com

Decades of U.S. trade and travel restrictions on Cuba will come to an end on Friday, the government announced in the first tangible step towards restoring diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana.

New rules will allow Americans to travel to the country without a license - as long as they go for approved reasons - and use their U.S. credit or debit cards, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Treasury said in a statement.

Cubans living in the U.S. will also have their quarterly remittances increased from $500 to $2,000 per quarter, allowing them to send home more money.

Officials said approved reasons for travel include business or family visits, and that tourism from the U.S. to Cuba was still prohibited by Congress.

Travel agents and airlines will be authorized to provide services without needing a specific permit under the new rules. That means U.S. airlines could soon be free to launch normal scheduled flights to Cuba.

"Today's announcement takes us one step closer to replacing out of date policies that were not working and puts in place a policy that helps promote political and economic freedom for the Cuban people," Treasury secretary Jacob Lew said in a news release.

"Cuba has real potential for economic growth and by increasing travel, commerce, communications, and private business development between the United States and Cuba, the United States can help the Cuban people determine their own future."

However, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) called the new rules "a windfall for the Castro regime" and said the recent deal "is enriching a tyrant and his regime at the expense of U.S. national interests and the Cuban people."

Cuba: Entrevista al prisionero politico Rolando R. Rabanal "liberado" condicionalmente

HablemosPress

Grandes Ligas: Yoan López firma con los Diamondbacks de Arizona

Café Fuerte

El lanzador pinero Yoan López

Por Eric Reynoso

El lanzador pinero Yoan López acaba de firmar un contrato con los Diamondbacks de Arizona por una cifra récord para un jugador internacional con menos de cinco temporadas jugadas en la pelota de su país: $8.27 millones.

La bonificación de López, de 21 años, fue confirmada por el gerente general de la franquicia, Dave Stewart, quien dijo que el contrato solo espera por un examen físico al atleta. Es el mayor acuerdo financiero con un pelotero cubano bajo las nuevas directrices para contratación de figuras internacionales.

Los Diamondbacks ganaron en la porfía entre otros cuatro equipos que buscaban los servicios de López, una de las gemas en bruto de la pelota cubana. Los Yankees, los Dodgers, los Padres y los Rojos entraron en la carrera final por el lanzador cubano, que escapó rumbo a Haití y se radicó en República Dominicana el pasado año. Una ruta ya más que conocida por sus compatriotas del béisbol y las fugas.

El Convenio Colectivo de Trabajo de Grandes Ligas estipula que cada equipo tiene $700,000 dólares y un bono basado en el registro del equipo durante la temporada anterior, que de rebasarlo está sujeto a un  impuesto del 100 por ciento.

Una transición suave

Sin embargo, todo indica que López rechazó un bono de $9 millones con los Yankees, considerando que Arizona sería un mejor lugar para hacer su transición más sosegada, con menos presiones y exigencias.

Al parecer fueron decisivas las gestiones de Stewart y de Tony La Russa, jefe de los asesores técnicos del equipo de Arizona. Los D-balcks han contratado al entrenador y ex lanzador cubano Ariel Prieto para ayudar en la preparación y los ajustes de López, que estará en el entramiento de primavera con la opción de ganarse un puesto en la nómina.

Para los D-backs se trataba de asegurar el  negocio, pues están urgidos a toda costa de lanzadores para la venidera temporada, considerando que dos de sus astros de la lomita,  Patrick Corbin y el semicubano Bronson Arroyo están en rehabilitación con cirugía del codo desde el pasado verano y sus respectivos regresos al equipo están bajo una incógnita.

Es como tener dos selecciones de primera ronda en el mismo año”, dijo Stewart, en referencia a la anterior inversión cubana de los Diamondbacks, que firmaron al toletero Yasmani Tomás por $68.5 millones a fines del 2014.

López, un espigado pitcher de 6.4 pies, tira una recta cortada y un buen cambio, tiene una curva muy efectiva y domina un slider que debe perfeccionar todavía, pero su mejor recurso es una bola rápida de 95 a 100 millas.

Caldo cubano en ebullición

El caldo cubano en Grandes Ligas sigue en ebullición. La pasada semana los Angelinos de Los Angeles confirmaron la entrega de un bono de $8 millones a Roberto Baldoquín, un prometedor jugador de 20 años que jugó tres temporadas con Las Tunas pero que tiene todavía todo por demostrar en la pelota de altos quilates. Y a finales de diciembre, el jardinero villaclareño Dian Toscano, de 25, recibió un contrato de $6 millones por cuatro años con los Bravos de Atlanta, con la opción de extenderlo a cinco años por $1.5 millones más.

Son buenas noticias para sus coterráneos de Isla de la Juventud, el segunda base Andy Ibánez, de 21 años, y el lanzador Jorge Despaigne, de 23, que aguardan aún por firmar con un equipo después de ser declarados agentes libres. También para el cienfueguero Yoan Moncada, de 19, tal vez el prospecto más codiciado entre todos en el mercado.

Lo cierto es que los cazatalentos están urgando a fondo en la pelota cubana, pero centrados no tanto en las figuras establecidas de la selección nacional como en los novísimos que puedan representar jugadores de éxito a mediano y largo plazos.

Unos 70 jugadores cubanos aguardan aún con el permiso de la Oficina de Control de Bienes Extranjeros (OFAC) del Departamentov del Tesoro, o esperan por su otorgamiento para entrar al ruedo de las Grandes Ligas.

Ya vienen llegando

A estos habrá que sumar pronto al lanzador Yunieski García Viera, de 23 años, quien escapó recientemente de la isla, dejando colgada su participación con Artemisa en la actual 54 Serie Nacional.  Y los también ex miembros de la preselección nacional, el lanzador Julio Alfredo Martínez, de 23, y el catcher Lorenzo Quintana, de 25, quienes fueron sancionados por pedir la baja del equipo Pinar del Río en medio de la contienda por el campeonato.

Martínez y Quintana están sujetos a restricciones migratorias, pero se cae de la mata que abandonarán la isla en la primera oportunidad, igual que el matancero Guillermo Heredia, a quien la Comisión Nacional de Béisbol lo ha suspendido por cuatro años. Heredia, de 23, es uno de los 15 mejores prospectos residentes en Cuba que han fichado los cazatalentos estadounidenses y su aparición en la pelota estadounidense parece ser solo una cuestión de tomar el camino recorrido por los demás.

La pasada semana, el flamante Comisionado de Béisbol, Heriberto Suárez acaba de afirmar en efectivamente el “fenómeno migratorio” ha golpeado a la pelota cubana, pero que los campeonatos nacionales no dejarán de tener brillo. La tarea, señor Suárez, será cuesta arriba y no creo que haya mucho que hacer para componer una batea que hace agua hace rato.

Hoy 14 de enero, hace 53 años, se estaban inaugurando las series nacionales, con Fidel Castro bate en mano, prometiendo el fin del profesionalismo y tejiendo un sueño que se ha convertido en pesadilla para la dirigencia deportiva y pasado imperfecto para las jóvenes generaciones de jugadores.

Son las leyes del mercado y del sentido común. Si no, pregúntele a Yoan López.

Presentan proyecto de ley para levantar el embargo

martinoticias

El pasado 12 de enero el representante demócrata por Illinois Bobby L. Rush presentó un proyecto de Ley que propone levantar el embargo estadounidense a Cuba.

La propuesta titulada "H.R. 274: To lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and for other purposes" (HR.274 Para levantar el embargo a Cuba y otros propósitos) fue presentada ante un comité congresional que deberá evaluarla para considerar si pasa al pleno de la Cámara. Hasta ahora no ha sido copatrocinada por nadie, de acuerdo a la información oficial.

El congresista demócrata ha sido partidario del mejoramiento de las relaciones de Estados Unidos con la isla y, desde 2009, ha trabajado en iniciativas para la normalización del comercio entre ambos países.

En abril de ese año visitó la isla junto a otros seis legisladores demócratas  y fueron recibidos por el gobernante cubano Raúl Castro.

Crimenes y desapariciones cometidos por guardafronteras cubanos en Guantanamo

PalenqueVision

Senator Menendez Floor Remarks on US-Cuba Relations

SenatorMenendezNJ

Ford, GM & American Automakers salivate over 'oasis' Cuba

but where is the purchasing power that supports the demand for cars in a country where the average wage is $20 USD?

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Daily Mail Online

The world's most prominent automakers are hungrily eyeing up Cuba after its rapprochement deal with the United States.

December 19, 2014 ©Yamil Lage (AFP/File)

But trade restrictions that are still in place for Americans and a litany of concerns about Havana's policies means they are unlikely to dive in any time soon.

Washington and communist Cuba in December began the painstaking process of restoring diplomatic relations and easing the five-decade-old trade embargo.

President Barack Obama declared that the United States was ready for a "new chapter" in relations.

It still needs Congress to fully lift the embargo -- and if that happens it could take some time -- but businessmen are already looking for ways to establish an early position in a country they expect could surge economically with a bit more liberalization.

Automakers at the Detroit auto show were not talking out loud about the mouthwatering possibilities, but the potential for the largest island in the Caribbean, with a population of 11 million, was on the minds of many.

"We're very encouraged by the news that the countries intend to normalize relations. We will certainly evaluate any opportunities that may present themselves," said Patrick Morrissey, a General Motors spokesman.

"We are studying the eventual opportunities for GM in Cuba."

Christine Becker, a spokeswoman for Ford, said they also were keeping an interested eye on Cuba.

"We will review that initiative in order to determine its potential impact for the industry. We have to better understand it. We don't rule anything out for now," she said.

South Korea's Kia, which produces some of the lowest-priced cars on the US market, said it welcomed the change in policy toward Cuba, but told AFP it too had no tangible plans for the island's market.

- 'Cuba an oasis' -

Experts identify a number of hurdles automakers are going to have to overcome in Cuba, which is famous for the decades-old classic American cars that ply its dusty and unforgiving roads.

The US embargo and other economic isolation forced by the communist economy has denied car parts for those rich enough to have them, forcing skilled Cuban mechanics to keep them alive for decades.

Akshay Anand, an analyst at the industry specialist Kelley Blue Book, told AFP: "No doubt there's a potential growth. Cubans love American cars, the demand is there.

"You can look at it and say Cuba is an oasis for the automakers."

The buying power of Cubans remains low, but with investment slowly beginning to flow in to a range of businesses from agriculture to tourism, a surge in demand for modern vehicles is seen as inevitable.

But the current limited US opening leaves most investment and sales by Americans tightly restricted.

It allows Americans to sell farm equipment to support Cuban farmers; it is not clear if that will extend, for instance, to pickup trucks.

In the attractive shape of the vintage cars on Cuba's roads, Detroit has an indelible history in the island's motoring sector, readily visible to visitors.

Sometimes flashy and often crudely patched and rickety Pontiacs, Plymouths, Dodges and Chevrolets make up the island's 70,000 "almendrones," cars affectionately called large almonds for their rounded shape.

There are also Peugeots, Skodas, Ladas and Chinese models that entered the country between the 1960s and 1990s.

They too depend on the skills of Cuban craftsmen-mechanics to keep them chugging along in the absence of replacement parts.

Pablo Milanés: "Fui enviado a un campo de concentracion stalinista"

Pablo Milanes que en los ultimos anos ha tenido momentos de incompletas criticas al regimen de los hermanos Castro, ahora confiesa muy tardiamente en entrevista al diario LA TERCERA de Chile lo que siempre fue conocido:

 

-Claudia Vergara [periodista]: Usted sigue muy identificado con la Revolución y la Nueva Trova. ¿No le aburre esa etiqueta?

-Milanes: Con todo respeto, estoy cansado de que me pregunten por la Nueva Trova y verme obligado a responder durante años, como si fuera un “fundador” de ella. Yo vengo de una generación anterior que realizó una nueva canción muchos años antes que le pusieran sello oficial y que interrumpí porque fui enviado a un campo de concentración stalinista. Cuando la llamada “Nueva Trova” se oficializó, yo hace 10 años que ya cantaba y componía.

Entrevista completa Aqui >>

Three things you need to know about Cuba - MarketWatch

MarketWatch

By Barry Wood

This car in Havana is perfectly preserved from the 1950s, but Cuba itself is in ruins/ Barry Wood

HAVANA, Cuba (MarketWatch) — In light of the historic thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations announced on Dec. 17, three items stand out from a four-day visit to Havana: 1) Cuba’s economy is a disaster in desperate need of reform. 2) The Communist Party retains its tight grip and political change is a long way off. 3) It is likely to be months before normalized bilateral relations produce real change.

The economy

Havana is a ruin, a surreal time warp, exemplified by ancient cars and trucks from before the 1959 revolution. For 50 years there have been no imports of cars for private use. Houses and apartment buildings are run down, with their occupants not having cash for needed repairs.

Amazingly, most Cubans subsist on salaries of $20 per month. Those with more are Communist bureaucrats, workers in tourism with access to hard currency, and those receiving remittances from abroad.

Cuba’s economy is dead in the water with barely any advance in gross domestic product. The country is nearly bankrupt with no access to credit. There are frequent power outages. Unemployment is kept low because jobs are provided in a bloated and inefficient public sector, where four out of five Cubans work. Inflation is suppressed. There are chronic shortages. Basic foodstuffs are rationed. Ninety percent of Cubans don’t own a car.

Despite the negatives, reforms unveiled in 2011 by President Raul Castro have allowed a small but growing private sector to take hold. The reforms permit Cubans to buy and sell their apartments, 84% of which are privately owned. But while an incipient real-estate market exists, it is stymied by an absence of mortgage credit.

Similarly, Cubans can buy and sell their privately owned vehicles. But contrary to expectations, liberalization has boosted car prices. Unbelievably, the asking price on the refurbished 1956 Chevrolet pictured below is well over $100,000. Classic cars can’t be exported, meaning that U.S.-based collectors won’t be able to import these treasures anytime soon.

Cuba’s economy is further distorted by there being two currencies, both of which circulate. The government says unifying the exchange rate is a priority but that is unlikely to occur until Cuba obtains access to hard currency. Look for early moves for Havana to rejoin the International Monetary Fund.

A closed political system

Cuba remains a one-party Communist state with little prospect of liberalization. The media is tightly controlled and state-owned newspapers are mostly propaganda. English-language newspapers from abroad are banned.

This past week Cuba released more of the 53 political prisoners it promised to liberate as part of the December accord between Presidents Obama and Castro. Thirty-six are now free, a move the White House calls “a tangible sign that Cuba is keeping its word.”

As part of the 2011 reforms Cubans can have cell phones, stay in hotels previously reserved for tourists, use the Internet, and travel abroad. But because most people don’t have disposable income, the new freedoms mainly help the better off.

Contrary to what many outsiders want to believe, Fidel, his brother Raul and the revolution remain popular, although independent surveys don’t exist. Cubans are proud of their country’s achievements in education and in health care, which is free to all.

Change from normalization may be slow

Every Cuban of the two dozen or so I spoke with favors normalization. Some were deeply emotional, saying they can’t wait for Americans to arrive in significant numbers. The lives of ordinary people are bound to improve with the lifting of the embargo.

But while Cubans and Americans are eager for visits, important restrictions remain.

Despite President Barack Obama’s announcement, it is still not possible to use U.S.-issued credit cards in Cuba. Likewise getting email on dial-up Internet servers can be difficult. I was unable to access my Google and Yahoo email accounts, getting instead a prompt saying, “access is denied in the country you’re in.” There is disagreement whether these measures can be lifted by executive order or must await congressional action.

Bob Corker, the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said last week that the embargo has been ineffective, a clear sign that he may favor its repeal. Both the Chamber of Commerce and leading agricultural organizations favor normalization. Congressional hearings are already planned and a top State Department official is visiting Havana this month to advance the normalization process.

A Cuban businessman, who declined to be identified, told me that Cuba urgently requires reform. “We’ve created a system,” he said, “that we can’t control.” The only way for us to have any prospect of economic improvement, he continued, is to open up and build a market economy.

Last May Washington’s Peterson Institute for International Economics released a study on the Cuban economy. In it researcher Gary Hufbauer concluded “that once the tectonic plates shift” there will clear benefits for both Cuba and the United States. The tectonic plates have shifted and from my perspective Hufbauer is spot on.

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Barry D. Wood writes often about economic transitions. He last visited Cuba 11 years ago.

Cuba paraiso de delincuentes: Cubanos roban en EEUU y escapan a la isla

AmericaTeVeCanal41

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Ver tambien: 

http://cubaindependiente.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-cuban-criminal-pipeline-part-i_10.html

http://cubaindependiente.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-cuban-criminal-pipeline-part-ii.html