CUBA
NEWSTRACK
By: Teo A. Babun, Jr.
Cuba-Caribbean Development Co., Ltd.
A Division of T. Babun Group, Inc.
All rights reserved
1999
12/31 U.S. Church Group Tries To Return Cuba Boy
Reuters-Miami-A leading U.S. church organization said on Friday that it was to have been an intermediary in an agreement to return to Cuba a 6-year-old Cuban boy at the centre of an international custody dispute.
A spokeswoman for the U.s. National Council of Churches said the deal to return the boy, Elian Gonzalez, fell apart for unexplained reasons in mid-December. But the council will send two representatives to Cuba on Sunday to meet with Elian’s father and grandparents and with U.S. and Cuban government officials, in hopes of securing the boy’s return, council spokeswoman Carol Fouke said.
12/29 Cuba Propaganda Battle Heats Up
Associated Press-Havana- The Communist Party of Cuba lashed out Wednesday at a Cuban—American lawmaker, calling her a “ferocious wolf” whose actions threatened to damage the image of the United States.
The editorial in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, which criticizes U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, is part of the government’s campaign to have a 6-year-old boy returned to his father in Cuba.
12/28 Cuba Broadcasts Radio China to Americas
Reuters- Havana- Cuba, the target of the U.S.-funded radio and TV programs hostile to its one-party political system, is retransmitting Chinese radio programs to the American continent, Communications Minister Silvano Colas said on Tuesday. The programs- -in Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and English—are captured by satellite and rebroadcast via short wave, the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina quoted Colas as saying.
12/22 Cuba Budgets 70 Pct. For Services
Associated Press-Havana- Cuba will set aside about 70 percent of its 2000 budget for social services like education, health care, public assistance, and housing, the communist government said.
The $9.1 billion budget was approved by Cuba’s National Assembly during its final session of the year, Cuba’s Pensa Latina news agency reported Tuesday.
12/22 Havana Paralyzed by Massive “Free Elian!” March
Reuters-Havana- Tens of thousands of Cubans, obeying Fidel Castro’s rallying cry, on Wednesday staged a vast “People’s March” past the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana to demand the return of a 6-year-old boy. Columns of children, strudents and workers, all wearing T-shirts with a portrait of Elian Gonzalez, filed military-style down Havana’s sea-front Malecon boulevard, chanting “Free Elian!” as they passed the imposing U.S. Interests Section.
Wednesday’s march was meticulously organised, with classes of schoolchildren and groups of students and workers marching in disciplined blocs. Many held Cuban flags or banners showing Elian’s seemingly saddened face behing bars.
Still, some Cuban have begun to grumble in private, saying that while they support the campaign to bring Elian home, they are starting to tire of the daily mobilisations.
Cuban’s famous sense of humour has produced a slew of street jokes, mainly variations on the slogans being chanted at rallies:”Ellian, my friend, we are with you!” has become:”Elian, my friend, take us with you!” in one such joke doing the rounds in Havana, where most have U.S. –based relatives.
12/21 Cuba Sends 423 Medical Staff to Flood-Hit Venezuela
Reuters-Havana-Cuba said on Tuesday it has sent 423 medical personnel to disaster-stricken Venezuela in recent days, and was prepared to send another 400 to help Caracas cope with the aftermath of deadly floods and mudslides. Venezuelan authorities said the death toll caused by last week’s torrential rains could be as high as 30,000.
12/21 At Least Five Dead in Guatemala Plane Accident
Reuters-Guatemala City- At least five people were killed on Tuesday when a Cuban DC-10 airliner carrying 240 Guatemalan medical students skidded off the runway and into houses while landing at Guatemala City’s airport, officials said. Peter Zimeri, director of Guatemala’s Civil Aviation, told Reuters the plane chartered by state-owned Cubana de Aviacion slammed into neighbouring houses after the pilot miscalculated the landing shortly after 10 a.m. (1600 GMT)
12/20 Make Cuban Boy a U.S. Citizen, Senators Urge
Reuters-Miami-U.S. Senate Republican leaders proposed on Monday that Congress grant American citizenship to a 6-year-old Cuban boy at the centre of a politically charged custody dispute. U.S. citizenship would allow the boy, Elian Gonzalez, to return to the United States some day if he goes home to his father in Cuba. It would also bar the U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) from forcibly returning him to Cuba, five Republican senators said in a letter to President Clinton.
12/20 Cuba Rekindles Anti-U.S. Protests Over Boat Boy
Reuters-Havana-President Fidel Castro called on the Cuban people on Monday to the streets for a second wave of Mass protests aimed at pressuring the United States to return a 6-year-old boy at the centre of a custody dispute. In a concerted effort to rekindle a patriotic campaign for the return of shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez to Cuba, the National Assembly later dedicated its biannual session to denunciations of the alleged U.S. “kidnap” of the boy.
12/16 Buchanan Says He’d Lift Sanctions
The Associated Press-Washington-Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan said today that oone ofo his first acts as president would be to end U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Cuba and others to allow the free flow of American food, medicine and “goods essential to a decent life.”
12/16 Reno Expects Decision About Cuban Boy by Year’s End
Reuters-Washington-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said on Thursday that she hoped for a decision soon in the case of a 6-year-old Cuban boy who has been at the centre of an international tug of war. “I think everybody wants to see it resolved as quickly as possible. Christmas is coming.” She said of the case of Elian Gonzalez, a shipwreck survivor now living with relatives in Florida.
12/16 Castro Rules Out Allowingn New Sea Exodus to U.S.
Reuters-Havana- Cuban leader Fidel Castro ruled out, in comments published on Thursday, opening the island’s sea borders to allow a mass exodus of would-be U.S. immigrants in response to the custody dispute over a 6-year-old shipwrecked boy. “I don’t think that’s an option, because we are handling the matter with a lot of seriousness,” he said, when asked about U.S. fears he may resort to such tactics again in the latest flare-up in bilateral relations. The comment came in an interview with U.S. network NBC earlier this week, an extract of which was published by ruling Communist Party daily Granma’s Thursday edition.
12/15 Cuban Foreign Minister Said to Cancel Europe Trip
Reuters-Havana-Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque cancelled a planned trip to Europe to concentrate on his country’s custody dispute with the United States over a 6-year-old shipwreck survivor, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. Perez was to have been on a visit this week to the Vatican, Italy and some northern European countries, the sources said. They could not give precise dates or a full list of nations on the minister’s provisional agenda.
12/14 Cuba Says Ready for Y2K After $100mln Investment
Reuters-Havana- The Cuban government, which keeps tight controls on the national economy, said on Tuesday it is ready for the Y2K computer glitch after a three-year preparation program costing $100 million.
12/11 U.S. Team in Cuba for Crucial Migration Talks
Reuters-Havana- With a custody dispute still raging over a 6-year-old Cuban boy rescued at sea, a high-level U.S. delegation arrived in Havana on Saturday for crucial migration talks with President Fidel Castro’s government. The emotion-charged case of Elian Gonzalez, which has brought the worst bilateral flare-up in years between the decades-old political foes, was sure to dominate the talks. Heading the 10-member U.S. delegation was William Brownfield, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Western hemisphere affairs.”We are looking forward to meeting with them (the Cuban delegation) again on Monday to discuss the full range of migration-related events,” he said in brief arrival comments at the Jose Marti international airport.
12/10 Asylum Petition Filed For Cuban Boy
The Associated Press-Miami- Lawyers for the 6-year-old Cuban boy at the center of an international custody dispute filed a petition Friday for political asylum in the United States, which could extend his stay with his Miami relatives for at least 60 days. The lawyers for Elian Gonzalez said they were worried that he might be sent out of the country if the application was not filed.
12/10 Cuba Cracks Down On Right Protests-Dissidents
Reuters-Havana- Cuba has arrested at least 20 opposition activists this week to prevent planned protests against President Fidel Castro’s communist government, dissident groups said on Friday. Ten of the 20 activists who were detained still were being held on Friday afternoon, including five in the capital Havana and five in the neighbouring province of Matanzas, Sanchez added.
12/10 Delegacion de EU Lista Para Viajar a la Isla
El Nuevo Herald- A pesar de la crisis politica creada en torno al futuro del nino balsero Elian Gonzalez, Washington se apresta a enviar a La Habana este fin de semana una delegacion para participar en la ronda de conversaciones migratorias entre ambos paises prevista para comenzar el lunes. La delegacion norteamericana a las conversaciones en La Habana estara encabezada por el Subsecretario Asistente William Brownfield. “es posible” que en esta occasion integre tambien la delegacion el jefe de la Oficina de Asuntos Cubanos del Departamento de Estado,Charles Shapiro, quien usualmente no participa en estas conversaciones.
12/9 Havana Rally Demanding Boy’s Return Draws 300,000
Reuters- Havana- Hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched past the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana on Thursday during the largest anti-American protest yet in the custody dispute over a shipwrecked 6-year-old boy, Elian Gonzalez. In an extraordinary show of mobilisation by Cuba’s ruling Communist Party, the mass of demonstrators stretched the length of Havana 5-mile (8-km) seafront Malecon boulevard, filing past the fortified U.S. compound chanting:”\We want Elian!”.
12/9
New Tobacco Co Altadis in $500-mlnReuters-Madrid-New European tobacco giant Altadis said on
Thursday it would consolidate its leading position in the world’s cigar market
by buying half of
12/9
Analysis-Boat Boy Case Throws Lifeline to Castro
Reuters-Havana-A decade after the collapse of Soviet
communism cast him adrift in a capitalist world, Cuba’s President, Fidel Castro
is using the case of a shipwrecked Cuban boy to try to refloat his 40-year”anti-imperialist”crusade.
The ever-larger daily demonstrations staged this week outside the U.S. Interests
Section in
12/9
The Associated Press-Washington-U.S. immigration officials
have written to the father of a 6-year-old Cuban boy seeking a meeting to hear
his demand that the child be returned to him in
12/8 5 Acquitted in Alleged Castro Pilot
The Associated Press-San Juan, Puerto Rico-A federal jury
acquitted five Cuban exiles on Wednesday of charges that they plotted to assassinate
Fidel Castro, quashing the first U.S. attempt to convict anyone for trying to
kill Cuba’s communist leader. The jury of eight women and four men delivered
its verdict midway into its second day of deliberations. Afterwards, one juror
said prosecutors failed to prove their allegation: that the defendants
conspired to kill Castro during a 1997 summit on
12/8
The Associated Press-Washington- President Clinton said
today he hopes
12/7
Reuters- Tensions between the
A group of Cubans armed with knives overpowered and injured
two tourist industry workers off the northern coast of
12/6
Reuters-Havana-Escalating a custody row into a major
political squall with the
12/6
Reuters-Washington-The
12/6 Ultimatum de Castro a EU
El
Nuevo Herald-Dijo un visiblemente furioso Castro.Asistio a la reunion de la
Organizacion Mundial del Comercio en Seattle, dijo que la retencion del nino en
Florida suponia un incumplimieno de los acuerdos migratorios entre la Habana y
Washington, lo que podria tener serias consecuencias. Poco despues del ultimatum
de Castro, unos 2,000 jovenes cubanos se concentraron ante la Oficina de
Intereses de Estados Unidos en La Habana para exigir la devolucion del pequeno.
12/6 Castro Demands Boy Be Returned Within 72 Hours
The Miami Herald-At best, the dispute could force the
cancellation of talks set for Dec. 13 on progress in implementing the accords.
At worst,
12/6 CASTRO ULTIMATUM – Return Boy in 72 Hours or
Migration Talks at Risk
“I hope that
12/5
Reuters-Havana – About 2,000 angry Cubans marched Sunday on
the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, chanting anti-American slogans and
backing President Fidal Castro ‘s demand for the return within 72 hours of a
child in a custody battle.The noisy demonstration, organised by various
Communist organisations, was the first in daily protests planned outside the
U.S. diplomatic headquarters and elsewhere over Elian, who is currently with
relatives in Florida. Speakers at the rally, including various children, gave
virtriolic denunciations of “Yankee imperialism” and proclaimed that
12/5
Castro Says Seattle Police “Worse than Pinochet”
Reuters-Havana- Cuban President, Fidel Castro, on Sunday
branded
12/4 Cuban Opposition Holds Rate March in
Reuters-Havana-About 30 opponents of President Fidel Castro’s
Communist government staged a peaceful and highly unusual protest march on
Saturday through a
12/4 Visa Alters Site, Puts
The Miami Herald-Visa, the California-based credit card,
said Friday it will remove from part of its website. An article that appears to encourage American travel to
12/3 N.Y-Cuba Flight Service Inaugurated
The Associated Press-New York-A private charter company is set tonight to start regular, direct flights between New York and Havana for the first time since the early 1960s – yet another indication increasing flexibility in U.S.-Cuban relations.
12/3 Pope Urges More Human Rights for Cubans
The Miami Herald-Pope John Paul II, in his most detailed comments on Cuba since his visit last year, urged the government on Thursday to respect human rights and said his church is still awaits a “more generous opening” by Havana.
12/3
Refuta la Iglesia Los Ataques Contra
Meurice
La
Habana-La publicacion de la arquidiocesis de Santiago de Cuba Iglesia en Marcha, en su numero 81 del
mes de noviembre , rechaza las acusaciones del gobierno de Cuba contra Monsenor
Pedro Meurice. Destaca la revista:”Una vez mas, la iglesia Catolica ha sido
acusada, y en esta oportunidad en la persona del Obispo de esa ciudad primada,
del que se enjuicia su labor como pastor al dejar entrever conexiones de este
con la disidencia para desestabilizar al gobierno de la isla.”
12/3
Miami Herald-The
Cuban government warned Thursday that Cuba-U.S. relations will go from bad to worse if federal
authorities don’t return 5-year-old rafter survior Elian Gonzalez from Miami to his father on the island.
12/2 Cuba Pedira Derogar La Ley de Ajuste
El Nuevo Herald-Aprovechando la tensa disputa por la custodia del nino Elian Gonzalez, sobreviviente de un naufragio frente a las costas de la Florida. Cuba reclamara a Estados Unidos que derogue los privillegios legales para los balseros que llegan a este pais, en occasion de las proximas conversaciones Bilaterales sobre temas migratorios.
12/2
Castro Denuncia un Presunto Complot de
Exiliados Cubanos Para Asesinar a Chavez
El Nuevo Herald-El gobernante
Fidel Castro retomo la tradicional ofensiva acusatoria contra “la mafia terrorista de Miami”, implicando
esta vez a los exiliados cubanos en un plan de magnicidio contra el Mandatario
Venezolano, Hugo Chavez. Durante una rueda de prensa de mas de cuatro hooras en
el Consejo de Estado, Castro nombro como osupuestos conspiradores a Arnaldo
Monzon Plasencia, directivo de la Fundacion Cubano Americana (CANF), y los ex
prisioneros politicos Rene Cruz, Mario Chanes de Armas, Eusebio Penalver, y
Ernesto Diaz, y dio la direccion telefono del lugar en Miami donde, segun sus revelacione, se efectuo la
reunion se efeftuo ooa recunion para
planificar el atento, que se efecuaria en diciembre.