Cuba NEWSTRACK

 

By: Teo A. Babun, Jr.
Cuba-Caribbean Development Co., Ltd.
A Division of T. Babun Group, Inc.
All rights reserved

2000

 

 JANUARY

 

1/1        PLANE DROPS ANTI-COMMUNIST LEAFLETS OVER HAVANA
Reuters- Havana-A light plane piloted by an American buzzed Havana early on Saturday, dropping scores of anti-communist leaflets that called President Fidel Castro an “old dinosaur” and urged Cubans to revolt against his “tyrannical regime”, witnesses and U.S. authorities said.
The U.S. Customs Services said the single-engine Cessna 172 was flown to Havana from south Florida by a Vietnamese-born, 51-year-old “strident and anti-communist” who had no apparent ties to Castro’s exiled foes in Miami.

 

1/2        THREE KINGS RETURN TO Cuba

Associated Press-Havana-The traditional Three Kings returned to Cuba on Sunday after slowly disappearing decades ago as the annual sugar harvest and Karl Marx took precedence over centuries-old church festivals.

Several hundred Cuban Catholics applauded as three Puerto Rican men wrapped in the brocaded robes and capes of Melchior, Baltazar and Gaspar rose the steps of Havana’s towering cathedral for a Mass celebrated by Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega.

 

1/3          HAVANA REACTS WITH FURY TO PILOT’S LEAFLET DROP
Reuters-Havana- Havana issued a furious condemnation on Monday of a U.S. pilot’s weekend invasion of Cuban airspace to drop anti-communist pamphlets that called President Fidel Castro’s “an old dinosaur” and urged a popular revolt. In a lengthy and vitriolic statement, the government portrayed the incident as the latest “counter-revolutionary” provocation, tolerated by its “imperialist” neighbor and probably aided by Cuban-Americans exiles in Florida.

 

1/4          WITNESSES LINK CASTO,  DRUGS
Herald-Pounding away at allegations that Cuba abets drug traffickers, a U.S. congressional committee came to Sweewater on Monday to hear from a Cuban intelligence defector and the daughter of a general executed on drug charges.

 

1/4          CULPAN A ESTADOS UNIDOS POR LA VIOLACION DEL ESPACIO AEREO

El Nuevo Herald- El régimen de Fidel Castro culpo a Estados Unidos de la incursión aérea que un piloto estadounidense, de origen vietnamita, realizo el pasado sábado sobre la Habana para lanzar miles de volantes y llamar a la rebelión al pueblo cubano.

 

1/4          REVERANDA NORTEAMERICANA SE REUNE CON FAMILIARES DE ELIAN EN LA ISLA

Agence France Presse-La Havana-La dirigente religiosa norteamericana, Joan Brown Campbell, visito el lunes en Cárdenas a la familia del niño cubano, Elián González, retenido en Estados Unidos y centro de un diferendo entre los dos países , indicaron medios locales de prensa.

Brown, secretaria general saliente del Consejo Nacional de Iglesias de Cristo de Estados Unidos –que cuenta con 53 millones de fieles-dijo al termino de la entrevista de una hora con el padre del menor que “muchos norteamericanos abogan por el derecho de paternidad” de Juan Miguel González.

 

1/4          CUBA LODGES $121 BLN ANTI-U.S. DAMAGES LAWSUIT

Reuters-Havana-Cuba said on Tuesday it had lodged a $121 billion damages’claim against the U.S. Government with a Havana tribunal to compensate economic losses alledgedly caused by four decades of hostility from Washington. The case was presented on Monday at the Havana People’s Tribunal by grass-roots groups, representing the Cuban people against the U.S. authorities, an official communique said. Analysts add that the cases may also be part of a strategy of preparation for a post-Castro era, when competing legal claims from both sides of the Florida Straits will be an important factor in an uncertain political scenario.

 

1/4          U.S. MAKES OFFER ON CUBAN BOY
Associated Press-Washington-The Clinton administration has asked Cuba to let Elian Gonzalez’s father escort him back to the island if U.S. officials decide the boy should return to Cuba, a U.S. official said Tuesday. The official said the request is a contingency plan and does not signal a decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to resolve the politically charged issue by sending Elian back to his homeland. The official, asking not to be identified, said Cuba is considering the request.

 

1/5          ELIAN DEBE VOLVER A Cuba CON SU PADRE, DICE INS
El Nuevo Herald-El niño Elián González, de 6 años, podría regresar a Cuba en menos de dos semanas, después que el Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización (INS) decidió el miércoles que su padre, quien vive en la isla, es su representante legal.

 

1/5          FUTURE UNCLEAR, ELIAN STARTS SCHOOL

USA Today-Miami- Six-year-old Elian Gonzalez started his first day at school Tuesday as high-level officials maneuvered to speed a decision on his future.

 

1/5          POR LOS DEL FONDO DEL MAR

Diario Las Américas-Los Evangelistas en Cuba, piden la devolución del niñito Elián a la ergástula comunista. Los psicólogos del régimen se preocupan por la personalidad del niño. Sánchez Santa Cruz y otros disidentes claman porque el niño sea retornado a su pupitre. La Iglesia Católica, nuestra Iglesia, para que no se olvide, con los obispos a la cabeza afirman que el niño debe volver porque la patria potestad pertenece al padre.

 

1/6          MIAMI PROTEST OVER BOAT BOY ESCALATES, 80 ARRESTED

Reuters-Miami- Cuban exiles jammed downtown roads, disrupts traffic and blockaded Miami’s port on Thursday in angry but peaceful protests against a U.S. government decision to send a 6-year-old shipwreck survivor back to communist Cuba. Helmeted riot police with truncheons confronted dozens of protesters who marched to Miami’s busy seaport and sat down on the pavement at entrance and exit roads, snarling traffic. About 80 people were arrested, police officials said.

 

1/6          GORE SPLITS WITH ADMINISTRATION ON CUBAN BOY

Reuters-Manchester-N.H-Vice President, Al Gore, split with his own administration on Thursday in the case of 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez, saying he hoped the boy’s fate would be decided in the courts based on “what is in the best interest of the child.” A day after the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled the boy should be returned to his father in communist Cuba, Gore said he would like to see the case appealed to the U.S. courts.

 

1/6          EXILIO CUBANO CONVOCA PROTESTA CIVICA Y AMENAZA CON PARALIZAR MIAMI

El Nuevo Herald-Las principales organizaciones del exilio cubano anunciaron el miércoles por la noche, en una declaración conjunta, que piensan paralizar Miami en protesta por la decisión del gobierno de Estados Unidos de devolver al niño Elián González a Cuba.

 

1/6          LIDERES LANZAN DURAS CRITICAS AL GOBIERNO DE CLINTON

El Nuevo Herald-Miembros del Congreso norteamericano y otras figuras políticas del país criticaron severamente a la administración del presidente Bill Clinton cuando el Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización (INS) declaro ayer su intención de repatriar al niño cubano Elián González, de 6 años, a la isla. Inclusive políticos demócratas se manifestaron contra la decisión. “El INS no debería tener el poder de interferir con los procedimientos de la ley de la Florida que requieren que el padre venga a la Florida y se presente para garantizar el bienestar del niño.”dijo el senador Robert Torricelli, demócrata por New Jersey.

 

1/6          Cuba DEMANDS RETURN OF BOY

Associated Press-Cardenas- In Cuba’s most emotional demonstration since an international custody battle  broke out over 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, tens of thousands of people from the boy’s hometown rallied in a seaside plaza Friday night to demand his returnn from Miami.

 

1/6          PARALIZADA MIAMI

A la hora de cerrar esta edición del DIARIO LAS Américas  miles de protestantes paralizaron el centro de la ciudad de Miami y penetraron en el edificio Claude Pepper del Tribunal Federal, y se dirigían a la Torre de la Liberad, obstaculizando todo el trafico vehicular y forzando el cierre de los comercios.

 

1/7          CONGRESS PANEL SUBPOENA CUBAN BOY

Reuters-Washington- A U.S. congressional committee subpoenaed 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez on Friday in a move aimed at preventing the boy from leaving the United States at least temporarily.

 

1/7          NUEVO YACIMIENTO PETROLEO DESCUBIERTO EN Cuba

La Habana-La compania canadiense Pebercan, presidida por el industrial frances Gerard Bourgoin, descubrio un nuevo yacimiento de petroleo en Cuba, informo este viernes un comunicado de la compania. El pozo descubierto es una perforacion de una longitud total de 3.100 metros. Segun la compania, las primeras cantidades producidas por los pozos son superiores a los 2.500 barriles por dia. La produccion sera comercializada en el mercado local.

 

1/7          PADRE DE ELIAN PIDIO A EEUU ENTREGAR EL NINO A CONSEJO DE IGLESIAS

Washington- El padre de Elian Gonzalez pidio al gobierno de Estados Unidos que su hijo le sea devuelto en Cuba a traves del Consejo Nacional de Iglesias, confirmo el jueves el Servicio de Immigracioon y Naturalizacion (SIN). El Consejo Nacional de Iglesias agrupa a numerosas iglesias cristianas de Estados Unidos, con excepcion de la Iglesia catolica.

 

1/7          CUBAN BOY’S MIAMI KIN ASK COURT FOR CUSTODY

Reuters-Miami-The Miami relatives of Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez asked a Florida court for custody of the 6-year-old boy on Friday and Cuba exiles planned to cripple Miami’s airport in protest against a U.S. decision to send him back to his father in communist Cuba.

Following a day of raucous protests by Cuban exiles in Miami, U.S. President Bill Clinton said people wanting to keep Elian in the United States should mount a court challenge rather than break the law with unruly street demonstrations.

 

1/8          SUBPOENA TO KEEP ELIAN IN U.S. ANOTHER MONTH

Associated Press-Miami- Six-year-old Elian Gonzalez was subpoenaed Friday to appear before a U.S. House of Representatives committee Feb. 10, putting off any chance the child will be sent back to his father in Cuba until at least next month.

 

1/8          POLITICS ASIDE, CUBAN BOY SHOULD BE WITH HIS FATHER

Florida Today-More than a month after 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez was plucked from the sea, the United States has finally announced it will do the right thing: He will be sent back to live with his surviving parent in Cuba.

 

1/9          BURTON WOULD RETREAT IF COURT SENT CUBAN BOY HOME

Reuters-Miami-A U.S. congressman whose committee issued a subpoena to bar 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez from being returned to his father in Cuba said on Sunday it would back down if courts rule the boy must go home. A poll, meanwhile, showed Americans by a wide margin favour sending Elian back to Cuba, as the White House has sought and as Elian’s father and Cuban President Fidel Castro have angrily demanded.

 

1/9          EXILE LEADERS CANCEL WEEKEND ELIAN PROTESTS

Associated Press-Miami- Cuban-American leaders, encouraged by a law-maker’s bid to keep Elian Gonzalez in the United States while a judge considers his case, said Saturday they would temporarily halt protests against plans to return the child to Cuba.

 

1/10        CONGRESS’ SUBPOENA OF CUBAN BOY INVALID – EXPERTS

Reuters-Miami-A Congressional subpoena issued to forestall the return of a 6-year-old Cuban boy to his homeland was improperly served and is not legally binding, legal experts said on Monday.

 

1/10        JUDGE TO HEAR Cuba BOY ARGUMENTS

Associated Press-Miami-A judge said Monday that her court has jurisdiction over the case of a 6-year-old Cuban boy and issued a temporary protective order, allowing his Miami relatives to fight for custody of him. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Rosa Rodriguez said she will listen to arguments filed by the attorneys on behalf of Elian Gonzalez, an apparent positive first step for the relatives to have their appeal for custody of the boy heard in a U.S. court.

 

1/10        EXPERTS CAST DOUBT ON ELIAN MANEUVERS

El Nuevo Herald-As Justice Department lawyers tried to sort out whether last week’s legal maneuveurs had derailed Elian Gonzalez’s return to Cuba, legal experts said Sunday the government can still reunite him with his father on Friday. Phil Schiliro, chief of staff to California Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking Democrat on Burton’s committee, said Sunday that his staff had consulted lawyers and the House parliamentarian and learned that a congressional subpoena does not prevent someone from going to abroad. “It doesn’t keep people from traveling. It doesn’t prevent them from leaving the country while they are waiting for the subpoena to take place”, said Schiliro, adding,”It’s a good stunt , but it shouldn’t have any legal effect on the proceedings.” Committee staffers scoured congressional records and found no evidence that a child had ever been subpoenaed before, Schiliro said.

 

1/10        MANIA OVER ELIAN RISING

The Herald-He has become an icon. A child idol. A symbol of sorts. Elian Gonzalez – the little boy rafter rescued on Thanksgiving Day dangling by one hand from an inner tube, then thrust into the middle of a politically tinged custody dispute between his family here and a father in Cuba – is the latest shining star of Cubans on both sides of the Florida straits.

 

1/10        CUSTODY ISSUE STIRS PRESIDENTIAL RACE

The Herald-The plight of a 6-year-old Cuban boy has provided fiery political fodder for an American presidential campaign, as some Republican candidates accuse the Clinton administration of appeasing Fidel Castro with last week’s decision to return Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba.

 

1/10        CONGRESS MOVES ON CUBAN BOY CASE

Associated Press-Washington-Members of Congress are moving on various fronts to block Elian Gonzalez from being returned to his father in Cuba. One such tactic-subpoenaing the 6-year-old  boy to testify before a House committee-was being reviewed Monday by government lawyers.

In Miami a family court judge was expected to announce her ruling late Monday afternoon on a petition for custody issued by the boy’s great-uncle. That would allow him to seek political asylum for Elian.

Lawyers of the Justice Department and the Immigration & Naturalization Service were evaluating the subpoena issued by Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House Government  Reform Committee, in an effort to delay Elian’s departure.

 

1/10        ANALYSIS-BATTLE OVER BOY SHOWS MIAMI’S RIFTS

Reuters-Miami-The passionately fought international custody battle over a 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor has revealed deep divisions in Miami, both among Cuban-Americans and between the city’s different communities. In letters to newspapers, calls to radio and television shows, and commentaries, it is clear that for all those who believe it would be a travesty of justice to send the youngster back to a communist country, many others believe he should be with his father in Cuba and are appalled by the way he was seized on as a symbol of the anti-Castro cause.

 

1/11        N.Y. PROTEST SEEKS CUBAN BOY’S RETURN, 11 ARRESTED

Reuters-New York-Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark on Tuesday accused anti-Castro activists in Miami of kidnapping as he led about 50 people in a protest calling for the return of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. Eleven members of the group were arrested when they blocked the entrance to the Immigration and Naturalization Services building after Clark had left the protest.

1//11      INS WON’T REMOVE CUBAN BOY WHILE REVIEWING RULING
Reuters-Miami- The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said on Tuesday it would not immediately move to send shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba following a judge’s controversial ruling he should stay for now with relatives in Miami, but it did not rule out the possibility in due course.

1/11        LA HABANA DICE QUE LA ZAFRA AZUCARERA MARCHA BIEN
Reuters-La Habana-Cuba afirmo que la cosecha  azucarera de la temporada 1999-2000 comenzo bien en su primer mes, con la industria luchando para reducir costos y ser rentable frente a los bajos precios mundiales. El gobierno cubano confia en obtener este ano al menos 300,000 toneladas mas que la cosecha del ano pasado, cuando se lograron 3.78 millones de toneladas.

1/11        Cuba CONDENA EL FALLO DE LA JUEZA SOBRE ELIAN
Reuters-La Habana-Cuba critico durantemente ayer la decision de una jueza del estado de la Florida de retener al nino Elio Gonzalez en Estados Unidos, impidiendo su regreso a la isla caribena.

1/11        JUDGE, ELIAN’S FAMILY LINKED
Associated Press-Miami-A spokesman for Elian Gonzalez’s Miami relatives worked as a paid political consultant for the judge who granted temporary custody of boy to his great-uncle in defiance of an immigration ruling that the boy be returned to his father in Cuba.
Armando Gutierrez, who has spoken on behalf of the 6-year-old boy’s relatives, said Tuesday he was paid $10,000 by the judge, Rosa Rodriguez, during her 1998 election campaign. Gutierrez said the judge’s campaign also paid his wife, Maritza, for services provided by her advertising agency, though he did not know how much. His wife’s business has not participated in the effort to keep Elian in the United States, he said. Bernard Perimutter, director of the University of Miami’s Children and Youth Law Clinic, said the judge should have disclosed her relationship with Gutierrez and recused herself from the case.

 1/11        INS WON’T FORCE CUBAN BOY HOME
Associated Press-Miami- The Immigration and Naturalization Service said today it has no plans to force the immediate return of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to Cuba in the wake of a state judge’s decision to grant emergency custody of the child to his great-uncle in Miami. INS officials had last week ordered Elian-who was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Florida on Thanksgiving Day –to be returned to his father in Cuba, giving a target date of Friday, Jan. 14. That ruling was endorsed by President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno.
The INS’s action followed a ruling Monday by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Rosa Rodriguez enabling the child to remain with his U.S. relatives until March 6 so the court can hear arguments from his Lazaro Gonzales, his great-uncle who is seeking temporary custody.

1/11        Cuba BOAT BOY RULING RAISES LEGAL QUANDRY
Reuters-Miami-Legal confusion surrounded the future of Elian Gonzalez on Tuesday after a Florida judge said the young Cuban shipwreck survivor should stay in Miami for now, a ruling that legal scholars said she had no authority to make. Bernard Perimutter, director of the University of Miami’s Children and Youth Law Clinic, said the ruling also violates Florida law, which says child custody rests with the natural parent unless there is clear proof the parent is unfit. 

1//12      EX-REAGAN CABINET OFFICIAL BACKS TRADE WITH CUBA
Reuters-Havana-Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary John Block added his voice Wednesday to growing calls by American farm groups and companies for Washington to end its long-running trade sanctions against communist-ruled Cuba. The visit was the most recent by representatives of U.S. farm businesses and organizations, which have increasingly  sent fact-finding teams to Cuba to explore sales opportunities after modifications last year to the U.S. embargo against Havana.

1/12        RENO SAYS CUBAN BOY MUST GO, MIAMI KIN TO FIGHT
Reuters-Miami- Miami relatives of a 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor will never voluntarily surrender the child and will ask a federal court to block his return to his father in Cuba, their lawyer said on Wednesday. Lawyers for the boy ‘s Cuban exile relatives would file a federal lawsuit in Miami, probably on Wednesday, seeking to compel the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (SIN) to grant Elian a political asylum hearing, said Garcia-Pedrosa.

1/12        RENO SAYS Florida COURT CANNOT RULE ON CUBAN BOY
Reuters-Washington-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said on Wednesday a Florida state court had no right to intervene in the tug of war over a 6-year-old Cuban boy and made clear plans were continuing to return him to his father in Cuba. Cuban exiles celebrated that decision by Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Rosa Rodriguez, but Reno said it had no standing.

1/12        MARCHA DE MADRES PROTESTARA P0R ELIAN
Agence France Presse-Cien Mil madres cubanas fueron convocadas para desfilar el viernes frente a la representacion de Estados Unidos en La Habana., en respuesta a las acciones legales emprendidas en Miami por la custodia del nino naufrago Elian Gonzales.

1/13        FEDS LIKELY TO GET CUBAN BOY CASE
Associated Press- Washington-Attorney General Janet Reno implored those battling for custody of Elian Gonzalez to return the 6-year-old boy to his Cuban father, but the protracted dispute appeared headed for federal court first. An attorney for Elian’s Florida relatives, who are caring for him now, said they would go to federal court next week to challenge the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s ruling that he must be returned to his father in Cuba, who wants him back.

1/13        CUBA & THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SIGN INVESTMENT AGREEMENT
The Governments of the Dominican Republic and Cuba have signed an agreement on the promotion and protection of investments, designed to safeguard the fragile economies of the Caribbean region.

1/13        MRS. CLINTON: RESOLVE CUBAN CASE
Associated Press-New York—Hillary Rodham Clinton says there should be a quick but “careful weighing “of what is in the best interest of Elian Gonzalez, including consideration of the boy’s  `apparently close relationship with his father. Mrs. Clinton said that the boy’s relationship with his father, who still lives in Cuba, ought to be considered, as should the death of his mother while trying to flee to the United States from Cuba last year.

 1/13        CUBA CREATES NEW INFORMATION MINISTRY
Reuters-Havana-Cuba said on Thursday it was creating a new information and communications ministry to promote technology. The new ministry would merge the existing communications ministry with the information and electronics divisions of the steel, metallurgy and electronics ministry, an official statement from the ruling Communist Party said. Former Steel, Metallurgy and Electronics Minister Ignacio Gonzalez Planas will head the new ministry. He was replaced by his deputy Fernando Acosta Santa.

1/14        INICIARAN EN Cuba EVANGELICOS MEDIDAS PARA REPATRIAR A ELIAN GONZALEZ
NTX-La Habana-El Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba iniciara a partir de manana miercoles una serie de acciones para respaldar la demanda del gobierno y pueblo cubano de que regrese el nino Elian Gonzalez a la isla, informaron hoy fuentes religiosas. Encabezados por le pastor Pablo Oden Marichal, la comunidad evangelica exigira el cumplimiento de la decision del Servicio de Immigracion y Naturalizacion (SIN) estadunindense para que el menor sea devuelto a su hogar en la provincia occidental de Matanzas.

1/14        CUBA TO SEND MORE DOCTORS TO HAITI UNDER AID PACT
Reuters-Port-au-Prince- Cuba will send 260 more healthcare workers to Haiti and create a boat-building programme for Haitian fishermen under a new agreement to provide technical assistance to its impoverished Caribbean neighbour, an Haitian official said. The document signed by Dessources and the Cuban Minister of Fishing, Orlando Rodriguez Romay, allowed for an increase in the number of Cuban health professionals working in Haiti from the present 540 to 800 by March.

1/14        CUBA MOTHERS MARCH ON U.S. MISSION IN ELIAN PROTEST
Reuters-Havana-Some 100,000 Cuban mothers paraded noisily past the U.S. diplomatic mission on Friday as President Fidel Castro’s government promised “a new stage” in its fight to reclaim 6-year-old shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez. Both Elian’s grandmothers, hundreds of pregnant women, thousands of children, and Castro’s sister-in-law, took part in the government-organized march along Havana’s pituresque seafront Malecon boulevard.

1/14        FATHER  OF CUBAN BOY SPEAKS OUT
Associated Press-Washington-Expressing growing anger and frustration at his son’s extended stay in Miami, the father of Elian Gonzalez says the Cuban boy’s U.S. relatives lack “any feelings” toward a youngster caught in an international tug of war.

1/15        REANUDARAN VUELOS ENTRE Cuba Y CALIFORNIA
Agence France Presse-Los Angeles-Despues de casi cuatro decadas, los vuelos entre Los Angeles y La Habana podrian reanudarse el proximo mes de abril, segun la emprpesa organizadora. Un portavoz de Cuba Travel Service, Joe Ortiz,, preciso el viernes que estaban a la espera de una decision de las autoridades federales pertinentes, pero que deberian poder anunciar sus planes el proximo lunes.

1/15        SIDA
Mas de 500 especialistas en sida de diversos paises, entre ellos el afamado medico frances, Luc Montagnier, se reuniran la proxima semana en Cuba, donde el virus infecto el ano pasado a 493 personas, informo el doctor Jorge Perez Avila, director del Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Cuba.

1/15        OPOSITORES
Mas de 100 opositores al regimen de Fidel Castro permanecieron frente a la sede del Tribunal Popular Municipal de Pinar del Rio en solidaridad con Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, un periodista independiente acusado por la policia politica de “acaparar” juguetes.

1/15        RUIDOSA MANIFESTACION DE MADRES
Reuters-Cien mil madres cubanas desfilaron el viernes ante la mision diplomatica de Estados Unidos en la isla en el mas reciente episodio de la campana conscienzudamente organizada por el gobierno de La Habana para exigir el regreso del nino Elian Gonzalez.

1/15        CLINTON SUSPENDS PART OF Cuba LAW AGAIN
Reuters-Washington-The White House said on Saturday that President Bill Clinton has extended a suspension of the right of U.S. firms to sue companies doing business in Cuba. Clinton suspended a provision in the 1996 Helms-Burton act that allows U.S. firms to sue companies dealing in properties seized after Cuban leader Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Clinton has regularly used his authority to suspend the right to sue to avoid angering Europe countries and Canada. They have sharply condemned the lawsuit provision as an example of excessive reach in U.S. Power.

1//15      EL PAPA RECIBIRA AL CANCILLER CUBANO
Agence France Presse-Roma- El cancilller cubano, Felipe Perez Roque, sera recibido el lunes en audiencia privada por el Papa  Juan Pablo II en El Vaticano, informaron el viernes fuentes diplomaticas cubanas. El mismo lunes, Perez Roque sera recibido en horas de la tarde por el primer ministro italiano Massimo d”Alema, en la sede gobierno Palazzo Chigi, despues de haber almorzado con su homologuo, Lamberto Dini, en Villa Madama.

1/16        UNOS 150,000 MARCHAN POR EL REGRESO DE ELIAN.
Reuters-La Habana-Unos 150,000 cubanos tomaron el sabado el control de una historica zona de La Habana para continuar la campana de protestas por el retorno del nino Elian Gonzalez, rescatado en el mar cerca de la Florida. Los manifestantes, que agitaron con fervor banderas cubanas, fueron convocados por la Union de Jovenes Comunistas para la centrica esquina de 23 y 12, en el barrio del Vedado. 

1/16        CUBA TAKES BATTLE FOR ELIAN TO INTERNATIONAL ARENA
Reuters-Havana- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque began a 10-day tour of Europe on Sunday, carrying into the arena of international diplomacy his country’s fight for the return of six-year-old shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez. He was due to visit Italy, Denmark, Russia and San Marino and also hold talks at the Vatican. He said he expected he would “very probably” be received by Pope Paul II.

1/17        POPE SAYS VATICAN WANTS MORE FREEDOM IN CUBA
Reuters-Vatican City-Pope John Paul on Monday told Cuba’s foreign minister that the Vatican still wanted to see greater religious freedom on the communist-run island. Felipe Perez Roque held separate meetings with the Pope and with his top two diplomats, Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano and Foreign Minister Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran. The Pope’s comments last month were some of his most forceful since he made his landmark visit. The clear wording of the Pope’s speech last month indicated that the Vatican felt that not much had changed on the predominantly Catholic island in two years.

1/18        CUBA DISSIDENT SAID CONVICTED OF “HOARDING” TOYS
Reuters-Havana- A provincial Cuban court has handed a six-month prison sentence to a dissident journalist after he was charged with “hoarding” scores of toys he was seeking to give to poor childen , activists said on Tuesday.

1/18        GROUPS URGE ELIAN’S RETURN TO CUBA
Associated Press- Washington- Leaders of several Cuban-American and religious groups that want Elian Gonzalez returned to his father in Cuba said Tuesday they were pepared to call for protests and acts of civil disobedience if the child is not sent back soon. They urged Janet Reno to enforce the decision of the Immigration and Naturalization Service eand release the boy to his father’s custody in Cuba before Congress or the courts become any more involved.

1/18        FERIA DE LA HABANA ATRAE A 80 FIRMAS FARMACEUTICAS DE E.U.
El Nuevo Herald-Unas 80 empresas farmaceuticas de Estados Unidos participaran a fines de enero en una importante feria comercial en La Habana. Entre las empresas que exhibiran sus productos en Pabexpo, del 25 al 29 de enero, figuran entre otras, la Medtronic Latin American, fabricante de equipos y medicamentos para enfermedades cardiovasculares; Elli Lilly and Co., productora de insulinas, y la Smith Kline Beecham, de antibioticos, afirmo Alfonso Sanchez Diaz, director gerente de MediCuba. Una delegacion de 20 miembros del San Francisco Global Trade Council. Integrada por empresarios, profesionales de la salud y la educacion y otros especialistas, obtuvieron licencia del Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos para viajar a la isla. Asimismo otra delegacion norteamericana de empresarios agricolas visito La Habana para “explorar las posibilidades de negocios en la agricultura cubana, incluido el comercio”, segun indico John Costello, presidente de la Red Ciudadana para Asuntos Extranjeros. Costello viajo a Cuba acompanado entre otros por John Block, presidente de Food Distributor Internacional y ex secretario de Agricultura de Estados Unidos bajo la administracion de Ronald Reagan.

1/19        COUNTY VIOLATED Cuba-TRADE ORDINANCE, MARINELLO SAYS
The Herald-Former County Commission hopeful Henry Marinello on Tuesday charged that Miami-Dade politicians violated  a county ordinance banning contract awards to companies that do business in Cuba-when Sumitomo Corp. of America and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries landed a contract to build a people-mover system at Miami International Airport.

1/19        ELIAN’S RELATIVES FILE FED LAWSUIT
Associated Press-Miami-Attorneys for the great-uncle of Elian Gonzalez filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s ruling that the 6-year-old boy must be returned to his father in Cuba. The lawsuit, called Elian Gonzalez vs. Janet Reno, seeks to overturn the INS decision.

1/20        SAN DIEGO, HAVANA UNIVERSITIES PREPARE EXCHANGE DEAL
San Diego-A U.S. university president is leading a delegation to Havana this week to sign a student exchange accord with the University of Havana. San Diego State University President, Stephen Weber and other college officials making the trip say they do not expect to be swept up in the Elian controversy.

1/20        DISCUTEN SOBRE SIDA EN LA HABANA
Agence France Presse-La Habana- La IV Conferencia Internacional sobre el VIH/Sida en Cuba, Centroamerica y el Caribe se inaugura el jueves en La Habana con la presencia de mas de 500 especialistas mundiales, entre ellos el profesor frances, Luc Montagnier, codescubridor del virus.

1/20        CUBAN ENVOY CALLS HELMS ‘ REMARKS “SLANDEROUS”
Reuters-United Nations-Cuba’s U.N. envoy on Thursday dismissed as “unacceptable and slanderous” U.S. Senator Jesse Helms’ criticism of his country in a speech to Security Council members. Ambassador Bruno Rodriguez shouted his remarks across the council chamber as members were leaving after listening to Helms, the staunchly conservative chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

1/20        CUBA LOOKS TO WOO FRENCH INVESTORS AND TOURISTS
Reuters-Paris-Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, trying to woo French investors, said on Thursday Cuba planned to triple its tourist hotel rooms to 100,000 from the current 33,000. Perez Roque, addressing the association of French employers MEDEF, said the increase in hotel capacity should be carried out as soon as possible. He gaves no dates.

1/20        CUBA APPEALS TO CLINTON TO RETURN BOAT BOY ELIAN
Reuters-Havana-Cuba said on Thursday that the U.S. government had “tied its own hands” in the custody battle over 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez and that President Clinton should salvage his own honour and prestige by sending the boy home to his father. 

1/20        US ISSUES VISAS TO ELIAN’S GRANDMAS
Associated Press- Washington-The Clinton administration has issued visas to the grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez, enabling them to come to the United States to make their case for the 6-year-old’s return to Cuba, U.S. officials said today. The visas were issued as representatives of the National Council of Churches were flying to Cuba to meet with the grandmothers and with Cuban government officials. The council strongly supports the Cuban government’s position that the boy should be reunited with his father on the island. The two women were expected to travel to New York because they believe the atmosphere there will be friendlier than Miami, where there is powerful support among  Cuban-Americans for allowing the boy to remain in the United States.

1/21        ELIAN’S GRANDMOTHERS COMING TO N.Y.
Associated Press-The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez were flying to New York today along with a U.S. church group to press for the 6-year-old boy to Cuba, a church leader said.
The women are taking the trip to “make an appeal to the American people “said Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Councilc of Churches. Edgar said there would be no further comment until the grandmothers arrive in New York this afternoon.

1/21        OTORGAN VISAS A LAS ABUELAS DEL NIÑO
El Nuevo Herald-En un gesto rapido y sorpresivo, el Departamento de Estado entrego a media tarde del jueves dos visas de caracter temporal a las abuelas del nino cubano, Elian Gonzalez, quien ha estado en el vortice de una controversia legal sobre si debe o no permanecer en Estados Unidos. La decision fue anunciada horas despues que tanto el presidente Bill Clinton como la secretaria de Justicia, Janet Reno, abogaran firmemente por el retorno del menor a la isla.

1/21        U.S. WEIGHING ANSWER TO LAWSUIT
The Herald-Washington-The Clinton administration remained firm Thursday that Elian Gonzalez should be united with his family in Cuba and pledged to respond next week to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Miami. Both Attorney General Janet Reno in her weekly news conference and President Clinton in a newspaper interview made it clear they were not having second thoughts about the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service that only Elian.’s  father  in Cuba can speak for the boy.

1//21      UNA EMPRESA JAPONESA INTENSIFICA EL DEBATE SOBRE COMERCIO  CON CUBA
El Nuevo Herald-Las operaciones de una empresa japonesa  que se dedica  a la comercializacion internacional  del café cubano, podrian intensificar la controversia sobre la supuesta violacion de una ordenanza condal que prohibe contratar a firmas con negocios en la  isla. De acuerdo con el abogado Henry Marinello, la compania, Meiwa-filial de Mitsubishi-ocupa propriedades confiscadas por el gobierno castrista en La Habana, y obtiene grandes ganancias mediante la distribucion de café cubano en Japon bajo la marca Crystal Mountain Coffee.

1/21        Cuba HALTS GENEVA – Havana FLIGHT AFTER TWO MONTHS.
Reuters- GENEVA- Cuba’s state airline Cubana de Aviacion has dropped  a once- weekly flight between Geneva and Havana after only two months of operation, airport officials said on Friday. Airlines sources said the decision was taken because Cubana did not have an aircraft available to run effectively on the route following the crash of a leased DC-10 at Guatemala City’s airport on December 21.

1/21        ELIAN’S GRANDMOTHERS LAND IN NYC
Associated Press-New York- Elian Gonzalez’s grandmothers arrived today in New York, where they plan to press for the 6-year-old boy’s return to Cuba. A plane carrying the women and a delegation of U.S church officials arrived at Kennedy International Airport, and a news conference was planned. A small welcoming committee was allowed to greet the group.

1/22        LA IGLESIA CATOLICA PIDE MAS ESPACIOS
Reuters-La Habana-La Iglesia Catolica en Cuba entrego el viernes un mensaje a tenor del segundo aniversario de la historica visita del Papa Juan Pablo II a la isla en el que evalua la situacion de la nacion caribena y pide mas espacios.

1/22        FRANCIA CRITICA LA VIOLACION DE DERECHOS EN Cuba
Agence France Press- Las violaciones de los derechos humanos en Cuba fueron criticadas por el gobierno frances y por organizacionoes humanitarias  durante la visita oficial a Francia del canciller cubano, Felipe Perez Roque quien, en cambio, fue calidamente agasajado por los empresarios privados.

1/22        CUBAN GRANDMOTHERS MEET RENO TO  ASK FOR ELIAN’S RETURN
Reuters-Washington-The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez met with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno on Saturday to plead for the return of the 6-year-old shipwreck survivor to his Cuban homeland. Almost immediately on arriving in Washington from New York, the grandmothers went to the Justice Department to confer behind closed doors with Reno and immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Commissioner, Doris Meissner, who has ruled the boy belongs with his father in Cuba.

1/23        VISITA
Reuters-Dos miembros democratas del Congreso estadounidense representantes del estado de California llegaron el Sabado a Santiago de Cuba, Indico la agencia cubana AIN. Maxine Waters y Barbara Lee acompanadas de una delegacion de politicos y funcionarios estadounidenses, fueron recibidas por Juan Carlos Robison, miembro de la oficina politica y primera secretaria del partido de la provincia.

1/24        ELIAN’S GRANDMOTHERS LAND IN MIAMI
Associated Press- Miami- The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez arrived in Miami today in hopes or meeting with the 6-year-old boy before they return to Cuba.

1/25        ELIAN’S GRANDMOTHERS MEET LAWMAKERS
Associated Press-Washington-As support grew for legislation to grant U.S. citizenship to Elian Gonzalez,  the 6-year-old boy’s grandmothers met with lawmakers today to press for his return to Cuba. Their first stop was at the offices of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who said she hoped the House would not take up legislation granting citizenship or permanent residency to Elian. “What we are doing is politicizing it by taking away the federal jurisdiction” Jackson Lee said. The meeting had been delayed by a January snowstorm that shut down much of the capital.

1/25        INDIGNANT Cuba HAILS “ HERO”  GRANDMOTHERS OF ELIAN
Reuters-Havana-Smarting at a failed attempt by the Cuban grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez to see the six-year-old boy in Miami, Havana on Tuesday praised the women as heroines and lambasted his U.S. relatives as “evil cowards”.

1/25        INS ORDERS NEUTRAL ELIAN MEETING
Associated Press-Washington-The U.S. Immigration service today ordered Elian Gonzalez’s Florida relatives to make him available Wednesday for a meeting with his grandmothers at a neutral site.

1/25        MINNESOTA CONGRESSMAN VISITS Cuba
Associated Press-A Minnesota congressman plans to push for an agricultural trade mission to Cuba this year with an eye toward ultimately lifting the U.S. trade embargo against the communist country. Rep. Dave Minge made a one-day trip to Cuba last weekend and met with commerce and foreign ministries officials.

1/25        CUBAN DISSIDENTS HELD BEFORE MEETING.
Associated Press-Havana-Police detained two of Cuba’s best-known opposition leaders Tuesday morning, hours before they were to hold a meeting of dissidents, a leading human rights activist said. Osvaldo Paya Sardinas and Hector Palacios were taken from their homes at around 6 a.m., said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and Reconciliation. Sanchez said he had been among those invited to a meeting of 20 dissident figures scheduled for that afternoon at Palacios’home.

1/26        RECLAMAN A LA ONU POR VUELO DE TONG
Naciones Unidas-Cuba denuncio ante las autoridades internacionales de aviacion el sobrevuelo de su territorio por un piloto de Nueva Orleans que arrojo volantes con expresiones anticomunistas, segun Cuba, “creando peligro para personas y propriedades”.

1/26        CONGRESISTA DE EU INAUGURA MUESTRA
Agence France Presse-La congresista norteamericana Maxime Water inauguro ayer la primera exhibicion en 40 anos de productos farmaco-medicos norteamericanos en Cuba, que dedico “a todos los ninos, sobre todo a Elian” Gonzalez.

1/26        GRANDMAS FIND A FEW D.C. SUPPORTERS
The Herald-Washington-Elian Gonzalez’s grandmothers campaigned in a blizzard-paralyzed Congress Tuesday and won outspoken support from five senators and a handful of House members against  making their grandson a U.S. citizen.

1/26        FRANCE SAYS CUBAN BOAT BOY BELONGS WITH FATHER
Reuters-Paris-France said on Wednesday that six-year old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez, caught in a tug-of-war between Havana and anti-Castro groups in Miami, should be returned to his father in Cuba.

1/27        HUGS, PAIN MARK BRIEF MEETING IN MIAMI BEACH
The Herald-Two months after they last embraced in Cuba, Elian Gonzalez’s two grandmothers conducted a tense but emotional visit with their 6-year-old grandson Wednesday in the private and neutral setting of a Miami Beach waterfront mansion, attended by all the pomp and security of a presidential tour.

1/27        CUBAN BOY SIDES LOBBY CONGRESS
Associated Press-Miami Beach-Elian Gonzalez’s Cuban and American relatives took custody fight to Congress today, and the nun who was host of the boy’s tense reunion with his grandmothers said she now favors letting him stay. Sister O’Laughlin, who is to meet with Attorney General Janet Reno on Friday afternoon, said she would tell officials in Washington “the truth as I experienced it. I don’t represent pro-Castro, anti-Castro or INS. I only have the sense that I felt when I blessed that boy when he was leaving here.”

1/27        U.S. SEEKS DISMISSAL OF LAWSUIT OVER CUBAN BOY
Reuters-Washington-The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge on Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit by the Miami relatives of Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez that seeks to force the U.S. government to allow him to stay in the United States.

1/27        CHINA, Cuba SIGN DEAL ON CHINA’S ENTRY TO WTO
Reuters-Beijing-China and Cuba have signed a bilateral agreement on China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the official Xinhua New Agency said on Thursday. The agreement was signed by China’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng and Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, the agency said.

1/28        CONCILIO DE IGLESIAS SE RETIRA DEL CASO DE ELIAN
El Nuevo Herald-El resto de la estancia de las abuelas del pequeno Elian Gonzalez en Estados Unidos estara a cargo de la Seccion de Intereses de Cuba en Washington, luego de que el Consejo Nacional de Iglesias (CIN) anuncio que se “retira” de la organizacion de la celebre visita.

1/28        LA BATALLA SE ALARGA HASTA MARZO
El Nuevo Herald-La batalla por el futuro de Elian Gonzalez se prolongara hasta marzo, luego que los abogados de su familia en Miami consiguieron el jueves que se extienda el plazo para responder al recurso que presento la fiscalia federal para desestimar la demanda formulada contra el Servicio de Immigracion y Naturalizacion por presuntamente violar los derechos del niño.

1/28        LA ISLA ABRE LAS PUERTAS A IGLESIA ORTODOXA RUSA
Agence France Presse-El gobernante cubano Fidel Castro hizo ayer un llamado al patriarca Alexis II de todas las Rusias para que desarolle la actividad de la Iglesia Ortodoxa rusa en Cuba, en un mensaje transmitido por el canciller cubano Felipe Perez Roque, que efectua una visita oficial a Moscu.

1/28        CASTRO SE VUELVE DEFENSOR DE LA FAMILIA
El Nuevo Herald-Torres lamento, sin embargo, que el exilio cubano de Miami se haya dejado arrastrar por la politizacion del caso y, segun ella, perder legitimidad en su defensa de los valores humanos.

1/28        U.S JUDGE SETS FEB. 22 HEARING IN ELIAN CASE
Reuters-Miami-A U.S. judge on Friday scheduled a hearing for Feb. 22 on a lawsuit filed by the Miami relatives of the 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor at the heart of an international custody fight. U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler’s decision moved ahead by two weeks the first court hearing on the lawsuit. It was unlikely that Elian Gonzalez would be sent back to Cuba before Hoeveler decided the case.

1/29        CASTRO SAYS Cuba LIVES FREE OF IMF “EXECUTIONER”
Reuters-Havana-Socialist Cuba has survived U.S. pressure and recession because it stands apart from “chaotic” global capitalism and thus escaped the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “executioner”, President Fidel Castro said. Castro said that Cuba’s freedom from the IMF meant that it could endure 40 years of hostility from the United States, including a trade embargo and a severe economic crisis triggered by the collapse of the Soviet bloc after 1990.

1/29        RESPALDO
El canciller cubano, Felipe Perez Roque, concluyo el viernes su gira por Europa en Espana, que expreso su respaldo a las exigencias de Cuba de la repatriacion del nino Elian Gonzalez.

1/29        SENTENCIADO ESPIA CUBANO A 7 AÑOS
Reuters-Uno de los miembros de una red de espionaje que trato de infiltrarse en instalaciones militares estadounidenses en el sur de la Florida en nombre del gobierno cubano fue sentenciado el viernes a siete anos de prision.

1/29        CUBAN TRADE SHOW SAID A SUCCESS
Associated Press-Havana-The first American trade show in communist Cuba in four decades wrapped on Saturday with organizers saying that several manufacturers of U.S medical products expected to make sales to government hospitals and clinics in coming months. Seveal of the 97 American companies that participated are expected to apply for licenses from the U.S. Treasury Department to sell products to Cuban medical institutions, Nathan said. He did not provide specifics.

1/30        Cuba WELCOMES ELIAN’S GRANDMOTHERS
Associated Press-Havana-Elian Gonzalez’s grandmothers arrived back to Cuba on Sunday without the child they had hoped to bring home, but they were greeted as heroes nonetheless  with an enormous government-organized parade through the streets of the Cuban capital.

1/30        JAPAN AGREES TO NEGOTIATE Cuba’S SHORT-TERM DEBT
Japan has reached an agreement to negotiate Cuba’s short-term debt of some US$117 million in an operation that would allow the reumption of export insurance coverage, officials said, reports AngencIAA EFE *Novembe 25, 1999”

1/30        ACTOS A FAVOR Y EN CONTRA DE QUE ELIAN SE QUEDE
El Nuevo Herald-En un espacio geografico cercano pero con puntos de vista completamente opuestos, se desarrollaron ayer en Miami actos publicos a favor y en contra de la repatriacion del nino Elian Gonzalez a Cuba.

1/30        PORTUGUESE – French HOTEL VENTURE.
The Portuguese company Amorim, said that it planned to invest US 25,000 nillion to build hotels in Cuba ion association with French hotel giant Accor. Portuguese news agency Lusa that the firm’s investments on the island could reach U.S.$100 million”

1/30        PAPER PRODUCTS JOINT VENTURE
Tembee Inc. of Montreal, Canada, has established a joint venture with the state–operated Paper Union of the Ministry of Basic Industry (reported ‘s eventual capital investment of US$40,000 million) to modernize and operate three existing paper mills.

1/30        MEXICAN BANK OPENS IN Havana
Mexico’s state-operated Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior (Bancomext) has opened its own offices in Havana.

1/30        WATERWORKS PROJECT
Aguas de Barcelona S.A. the largest privately held water company in Spain, has established an association with the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources to modernize the waterworks in eight of 16 areas of the city of Havana.

1/30        CANADIAN FEED CORN EXPORTS
Canada exported 8,000 tons of feed corn to Cuba during September-October, 1999, vs. none in September-October 1998, reports the Canadian Grain Commission.

1/30        REPLACEMENT OF GAS WITH KEROSENE
A US$25 million program to provide 300,000 homes in Havana and 100,000 in Santiago de Cuba with liquid gas in place of kerosene is underway, says Pedro Fernandez, director of domestic fuels of Cuba Petroleo. The Havana program is a joint venture with Transfigura Co. of London, and the one in Santiago de Cuba is with France’s Elf Aquitaine.

1/30        FRANCE SELLS USED RAILWAY COACHES
France’s National Railways has signed a US$6 million contract with the Railway Union here to sell 44 used railway cars from Trans-Europe Express.

1/30        BASQUE CREDIT LINE
Spain’s Autonomous Basque Region has granted Cuba a 10-year, interest-free credit of US$76 million to purchase energy efficient equipment for Cuba’s state-operated hospitals, agriculture facilities, light and heavy industry.

1/31        TWO POLES HURT, THREE MISSING IN Cuba TANKER BLAST
Reuters-Havana-Three Polish crew members were missing after an explosion that “partially” sank a Cuban-operated oil tanker outside a port on Cuba’s north coast on Sunday, the Transport Ministry said on Monday.
A ministry statement said two other members of the 24-person Polish crew were injured in the blast aboard the Liberia-registered Sletreal as it was manoeuvring to take on a cargo of crude oil in Cardenas, about 85 miles (140 km) east of Havana.

1/31        BOY’S FUTURE A TOUGH CALL FOR LAWMAKERS
The Herald-Washington-Now sidelined in the House and uncertain of passage in the Senate, Florida Republican Sen. Connie Mack’s effort to bestow American citizenship on Elian Gonzalez stirred an ideological dilemma last week for congressional conservatives.

1/31        LA FUNDACION BUSCA APOYO DEMOCRATA PARA ELIAN
Miami Herald-La Fundacion Para la Libertad Jorge Mas Canosa esta estableciendo contactos mas alla de sus aliados conservadores tradicionales para bloquear el regreso a Cuba del nino de 6 anos Elian Gonzalez. Hay un grupo de democratas, incluso democratas liberales de la familia Kennedy, que estan surgiendo comoo aliados de la antes llamada Fundacion Nacional Cubano Americana (FNCA) despues de que esta cultivara el contacto con ellos durante anos.

FEBRUARY

 

2/1          DISPUTE DELAYS U.S. VISAS IN HAVANA

Associated Press-Havana-Cubans applying for U.S. visitor visas in Havana will have to wait up to 15 days because of a dispute with the Cuban government, the U.S. Interests Section announced Tuesday.

2//1         YOUNGER EXILES SEEK TO APPEAL TO MAINSTREAM
The Herald-A new Cuban exile group born in Miami Jan 6-Three Kings Day-says it will get better results through an informational campaign aimed at mainstream American rather than the hard-line tactics tradi-tionally used by the older set. NG Cuba (New Generation Cuba) is made up of architects, university professors, computer consultants, and other professionals-many in their late 20s and 30s. They are the children and grandchildren of the Cubans who left the island 41 years ago and the recent arrivals who know firsthand what it’s like to live in Cuba today.

2/1          Cuba HACE DISTINCION ENTRE “LOS GUSANOS” Y OTROS CUBANOS EN EU

Agence France Presse-Los medios de comunicacion del gobierno cubano concentraron el lunes sus ataques en el exilio conservador cubano de Miami, al culparlo del “secuestro” del nino naufrago Elian Gonzalez y de intentar usar el caso para crear una nueva crisis entre los gobiernos de Washington y La Habana.

 

2/2          SENATE SAID SUPPORTING ELIAN RETURN

Associated Press-Washington-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle suggested Wednesday that sentiment is growing in both parties in the Senate for allowing 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez to return to his father in Cuba.

 

2/2          ACP STATES BACK Cuba JOINING NEW TRADE PACT WITH EU

Reuters-Brussels- A group of 71 developing countries said on Wednesday it supported Cuba joining a new trade and aid agreement which is negotiating with the European Union. The council of ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group voted unanimously at a meeting on Tuesday evening to back Cuba becoming a signatory to the agreement which will replace the Lome Convention, ACP officials said.

 

2/3          Cuba IMPIDE ENTREGA DE JUGUETES

El Nuevo Herald-La entrega de 1,000 juguetes eviados por ninos americanos a ninos cubanos que participaron en un concurso de Radio Marti, fue bloqueada por el regimen de la isla porque eran enviados por organizaciones del exilio.

 

2/3          RESPALDAN INGRESO A ACUERDO DE COOPERACION

Bruselas-Cuba recibio el miercoles el respaldo unanime del grupo de paises del Africa, Caribe, y Pacifico (ACP) para su adhesion al Acuerdo de Cooperacion que negocian con la Union Europea (UE) y que sustituira al Convenio de Lome.

 

2/3          ELIAN CASE TAKES BITTER TURN OVER PHYSICAL CONTACT

Reuters- Miami-A war of words over Cuban boatwreck survivor Elian 2.Gonzalez took a bitter turn on Thursday as his Miami relatives reacted angrily to a grandmother’s account of how she bit the boy’s tongue and looked at his private parts during their meeting last week.

 

2/4          JAL VIAJA A Cuba

Airlines (JAL) ha llegado a un acuerdo basico con la empresa cubana de turismo Cubanacan para realizar vuelos “charter” entre Japaon y el pais caribeno en el mes de agosto, informaron hoy, jueves, fuentes de la firma nipona.

 

2/4          BLOQUEAN AYUDA

Toneladas de ayuda humanitaria destinadas a Cuba seguian bloqueadas este jueves en el puerto de Dunkerque (norte de Francia) puesto que el barco cubano que debe zarpar hacia la Habana esta inmovilizado a pedido de acreedores  del armador panameno de la nave.

 

2/4          Cuba DICE QUE ACEPTA CONDICIONES DE LA UE

Bruselas-El Gobierno de Cuba no tiene ningun problema de orden politico para aceptar lo establecido en el nuevo Acuerdo de Cooperacion UE-ACP, aseguro ayer el embajador cubano en Bruselas, Rene Mujica.

El Acuerdo, cuya negociacion finalizo ayer en Bruselas, tiene como principios politicos basicos el respeto.

De todos los derechos humanos y libertades fundamentales, la democracia basada en el estado de derecho y una gestion transparente y responssable de los asuntos publicos.

 

2/5          STATUS OF CUBANS AT GUANTANAMO SOUGHT

Miami Herald-U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lethinen is seeking information on the status of 52 Cubans detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base – and she wants responses to reports that people are mistreated and children are held there without receiving proper education.

 

2/6          ELIAN

Reuters-Unas 150,000 personas segun calculos oficiales, exigieron ayer en la ciudad de Sancti Spiritus, en el centro de Cuba, el regreso del nino balsero Elian Gonzalez, que permanece en Miami desde finales de noviembre pasado.

 

2/6          BACARDI WINS ROUND IN TRADEMARK DISPUTE WITH Cuba

Miami Herald-In the latest round of the trademark dispute between Cuba and liquor industry giant Bacardi, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a ruling that would allow Bacardi to sell Havana Club rum in the U.S. market.

 

2/7          Havana G-77 SUMMIT AIMS TO FORGE ECONOMIC PLATFORM

Reuters-Havana- A summit meeting in Cuba in April of the world’s developing states will strive to improve their economic cooperation and forge a stronger bargaining position for talks with richer nations, a leading organiser said Monday. The largest ever gathering of heads of state or government ofo the 133-member Group of 77 (G-77), the main Third World coalition in the United Nations, will take place on the communist-ruled Caribbean island April 10-14.

 

2/7          TWO CUBAN DOCTORS SEEK ASYLUM IN VENEZUELA

Reuters-Caracas- Two Cuban doctors in Venezuela as part of a medical task force in the wake of December’s deadly floods said on Monday they wanted President Hugo Chavez’s pro-Castro government to grant them asylum. The two men, identified by local media as Heberto Navarro, 38, and Reinaldo Colebrook, 34, were part of a humanitarian team of more than 400 doctors sent by Cuban President Fidel Castro to aid rescue work after the floods, which may have killed up to 30,000 people.

 

2/9          Cuba TO HOST THIRD WORLD SUMMIT

Associated Press-United Nations- Cuba will host a Third World summit in April, a gathering aimed at helping put developing nations in the mainstream of the global economy and the technology revolution.

Nigeria’s U.N. Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo said Wednesday that more than 70 heads of state or government are expected to attend the summit in Havana on  April 10-14.

 

2/9          U.S. COURT BACKS BACARDI IN DISPUTE OVER CUBAN RUM

Reuters-Washington- A. U.S. appeals court upheld liquor firm Bacardi & Co. Ltd’s right to use Cuba’s world-famous rum label, Havana Club, in the United States, in a decision that could increase U.S.-Cuba tensions.

Bacardi said a U.S. Court of Appeals in New York affirmed an April 1999 ruling in favour of the Bermuda-based company. It found that a Cuban-French joint venture had no rights to the trademark in the United States, and that Bacardi could sell rum in the U.S. under the Havana Club name.

 

2/9          ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS ON ELIAN CASE

Associated Press-Havana-Cuba’s Roman Catholic leader said Wednesday that some Cubans are using the campaign to bring 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez back from the United States as a pretense to attack the church.

 

2/9          VENEZUELA DENIES ASYLUM TO CUBANS

Associated Press-Caracas- Venezuela on Wednesday rejected a request from two Cuban doctors for political asylum but said it will allow them to remain in the country temporarily. The doctors’ request had presented a dilemma for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is close friends with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and often praises Castro’s four-decade-old communist revolution.

 

2/9          “PRAY FOR ELIAN”, URGES Cuba’S CATHOLIC CHURCH

Reuters-Havana-Cuba’s Roman Catholic Church exhorted believers on Wednesday to pray for the return of 6-year-old shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez from Miami, and berated some protesters for “impolite” mentions of the Pope during the custody dispute.

In an open message to Cuban Catholics, church leader Cardinal Jaime Ortega proclaimed his support in principle for Havana’s two-month-old-battle with anti-Castro Cuban-Americans to have Elian returned to his father here.

 

2/9          EMPRENDERAN IGLESIAS EN EU CAMPANA A FAVOR DE REPATRIAR A NINO CUBANO

La Habana-El Consejo de Iglesias Metodistas de Chicago informo hoy aqui que emprender an una campana de concientizacion en Estados Unidos sobre la necesidad de que el nino cubano Elian Gonzalea sea reatriado, y regrese con su padre.

 

2/10        U.S. Cuba CHURCH LEADERS PLAN TALKS

Associated Press-Havana-A delegation of American religious leaders wrapped up a three-day visit to Cuba this week, calling for increase exchanges between the two countries’ religious communities. Schneier said that before returning to New York late Wednesday, the group agreed to put together a postgraduate study program for Cuban clergy in the United States.

2/11        MEXICAN EX-PRESIDENT SALINAS MOVES TO Cuba
Reuters-Mexico City-Carlos Salinas, Mexico’s reviled former president who fled into self-imposed exile in 1995, has moved to Cuba from Ireland, the Mexican newspaper la Jornada said on Friday.

2/11        LEADERS ASK FOR ELIAN’S RETURN
Associated Press-Havana-Religious leaders visiting from Illinois called Friday for 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez be returned to his father in Cuba.
The group also asked for an end to U.S trade sanctions against the communist island, which they said cause unnecessary suffering for the Cuban people.

2/11        Cuba SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS NO BLOCK TO TRADE PACT
Reuters-Brasilia- A top Cuban official on Friday said Havana would sign a multilateral trade and aid pact with Europe but would reject any European Union effort to interfere in its internal affairs.
In June 1998, the European Union agreed to let Cuba observe the negotiations with the ACP countries on the new pact. But it said Havana would have to improve its human rights record if it wanted to join the group.

2/14        CUBANS LINE UP FOR US VISAS
Associated Press-Havana-Hundred of Cubans lined up outside the U.S. mission in Havana on Monday to apply for visas under a new system that promises to eliminate months of waiting for some Cubans. The new system took effect Monday. About 700 Cubans-most of whom meet visa requirements because they want to visit relatives or take part in cultural or academic events-appeared at the U.S. Interests Section to drop off their passports and pick up application forms.

2/15        Cuba SAYS REACHED $125 MLN DEBT DEAL WITH JAPAN
Reuters-Havana-Cuba has signed a $125 million, short-term debt restructuring agreement with Japan, leading to new export credits from Tokyo that should help promote investments here, Central Bank President Francisco Soberon said. Soberon said the agreement was the most important progress on Cuba’s total of roughly $2 billion debt with Tokyo—its biggest single creditor-since a March 1998 rescheduling of $750 million commercial debt with Japanese businesses.

2/15        FRANCE’S BNP BECOMES 17^TH FOREIGN BANK IN CUBA
Reuters-Cuba has authorised France’s Banque Nationale de paris (BNPP.PA) to open an office in Havana, bringing to 17 the number of foreign banks on the island, Central Bank President Francisco Soberon said.
The 17 foreign banks now operating in Cuba—including major institutions like Dutch group ING (ING. AS) and Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA.MC)—have primarily loan, advisory and promotion functions. But most would like to expand that role eventually.

2/16        EVANGELIST: ELIAN’S FATHER WANTS BOY IN US
Miami Herald-Evangelist K.A. Paul had never been to Cuba. His missionary work is more associated with Africa and Asia then with Latin America. But he said he went because he wanted to help Elian Gonzalez return to his father-until Cuban officials would not let him meet with the father alone. Kilari Anan Paul, 36, founder of Gospel to the Unreached Millions, said Tuesday in Miami that Elian’s father is being pressured by Cuban officials and secretly wants the boy to remain free in the United States.

2/16        Cuba REESTRUCTURA LA DEUDA CON JAPON
Reuters-Cuba firmo un acuerdo de reestructuracion de la deuda a corto plazo con Japon por valor de $125 millones, lo que permitira obtener nuevos creditos de Tokio a las exportaciones, dijo el Presidente del Banco Nacional de Cuba, Francisco Soberon.
Soberon dijo que este acuerdo era el progreso mas importante en la deuda de Cuba con Tokio, su principal acreedor, desde la renegociacion en 1998 de la deuda comercial por valor de $750 millones con empresas japonesas. Cuba espera que este nuevo acuerdo ayude a reactivar la inversion y el comercio de Japon con la isla caribena, afirmo Soberon.  Soberon tambien anuncio que Cuba ha concedido licencia al banco frances Banque National de Paris para que abra una oficina representativa en La Habana, con lo que ya son 17 las instituciones financieras extranjera en la isla.

2/16        U.S SAYS ELIAN CASE MAY HURT ABDUCTED AMERICANS
Reuters-Washington-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Wednesday that failure to return a 6-year-old boy to his father in Cuba could affect the fate of thousands of American children caught in international abduction cases. Albright said the United States would expect foreign governments to return an American child who was in a similar situation to Elian Gonzalez, at the centre of a rancorous 11-week custody battle between his father and Cuban exiles in Miami.

2/17        WATCHDOGS ASSAIL CASTRO CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT
A Cuban government crackdown on dissent has grown so harsh-including brief kidnappings, secret jails and a threatened clandestine execution-that human rights activists are calling it the worst in a decade. Police briefly detained 304 dissidents, restricted the movements of another 201 and have been holding 22 more for possible trials since early November, Cuba’s foremost human rights monitor, Elizardo Sanchez said Wednesday.

2/17        ELIAN’S DAD WANTS ENVOYS TO VISIT BOY
In his third letter in 12 days, the father  of Elian Gonzalez said Wednesday that he wants Cuban diplomats in the United States to visit with the 6-year-old boy in his Miami home.

2/17        THIRD CUBAN DOCTOR IN BRIGADE SEEKS ASYLUM IN VENEZUELA
Caracas-The third Cuban doctor to seek asylum in Venezuela this month came forward Wednesday and said she was emboldened when two of her colleagues were granted residence visas last week. The doctor, Gliselia Alonso Palmero, came to Venezuela as part of a Cuban medical brigade after disastrous flooding and rock slides Dec. 15-17 that left more than 6,000 people dead.

2/17        ELIAN STALEMATE FRUSTRATES LAWMAKER
Associated Presse-Washington- Supporters of sending Elian back to Cuba criticized the Clinton Administration and the Miami exile community today for the stalemate that has kept the 6-year-old In South Florida almost three months after he was rescued at sea.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. Said the Immigration and Naturalization Service had botched the case by not implementing its ruling requiring that the boy be returned to his father in Cuba.

2/17        Havana AGAIN FILLED WITH CARS
Associated Presse- Havana- Most Cubans can’t even think of buying a car in a county where a tank of gas cost months of wages. Yet the street of Havana are clogged these days with smoke-belching traffic; a testament to Cuban  inventiveness and economic improvement.

2/17        VENEZUELA, Cuba TO STUDY JOINT OIL VENTURES
Reuters-Caracas-Venezuela and Cuba said Thursday they would study joint oil ventures, including the possibility of reactivating an idled Soviet-built Cuban refinery. According to a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries, various technical committees now have one month to present reports on the feasibility of the joint ventures. The memorandum also referred to Venezuela supplying crude and refined products to the communist-run island as well as exploiting other markets in the Caribbean.

2/18        FBI: OFFICIAL IN INS SPIED FOR Cuba
A high-ranking Miami official with the Immigration and Naturalization Service was arrested by FBI agents Thursday for allegedly spying for the Cuban government. Mariano Faget, 54, is employed at the agency as a supervisory district adjudication officer, or acting district deputy director for examinations, and holds a “secret” security clearance at INS, according to a statement by the FBI.

2/19        CANADIAN AMBASSADOR IN Cuba CRITICIZES US EMBARGO
Reuters-Havana-Canada’s ambassador to Cuba has criticized a U.S. economic embargo against the Caribbean island as antiquated and unworkable and announced a significant private Canadian investment in the Cuban paper industry.

2/20        WASHINGTON EXPULSA A UN DIPLOMATICO CUBANO
El Nuevo Herald-El gobierno de Estados Unidos demando la retira en un plazo de siete dias de un diplomatico cubano acreditado en Washington y vinculado, al parecer, con el ex funcionario de immigracion, Mariano Faget, acusado de espiar para La Habana. Segun un vocero del Departamento de Estado, el diplomatico cubano cuya identidad no ha sido revelada, fue instado a salir del pais en una semana, por “actividades incompatibles con sus funciones”, un eufemismo linguistico heredado de la Guerra Fria que usualmente significa espionaje.

2/20        CUBAN DIPLOMAT EXPELLED OVER SPY LINK
The Miami Herald- The U.S. State Department on Saturday ordered the expulsion of a Cuban diplomat in Washington identified as one of two intelligence agents who met with alleged spy Mariano Faget in Miami last year.

2/21        FRANCE RENEWS SWAP DEAL WITH Cuba FOR WHEAT, FLOUR
Reuters-Paris-France has renewed a deal with Cuba to supply it with $180 million worth of wheat and flour in exchange for other produce, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

2/21        Cuba CALLS MARCH ON U.S. MISSION OVER SPY SCANDAL
Reuters-Havana- President Fidel Castro’s government called on Monday for a march on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana to protest against Washington’s bid to expel a Cuban diplomat from the United States over a spy scandal.

2/21        CUBANS MARCH ON U.S. MISSION OVER SPY CASE, ELIAN
Reuters-Havana-Tens of thousands of Cubans marched on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana on Monday in a state-organized protest against Washington’s bid to expel a Cuban diplomat from the United States over a spy scandal.

The march, stretching along the picturesque seafront Malecon boulevard, was also intended to keep up the pressure on the United States in a nearly three-month-long custody dispute over 6-year-old boat wreck survivor Elian Gonzalez.

 

2/21        NUEVA OFENSIVA DE Cuba CONTRA EU

La Habana-Cuba lanzo ayer una nueva salva de acusaciones contra Estados Unidos tras la decision de Washington de declarar persona non grata a un diplomatico cubano acusado de espionaje, complicando aun mas el caso del nino cubano Elian Gonzalez, que esta semana entra en una etapa decisiva. Desafiando a las autoridades norteamericanas, Cuba tacho de “maniobra espectacular y desesperada” la decision de Washington de expulsar a un diplomatico cubano-acusado de haber desarrollado”actividades incompatibles “ –y advirtio que ninguno de sus funcionarios sera retirado  “cualesquiera  sean las consequencias”.

 

2//21      Cuba DUPLICARA CAPACIDAD HOTELERA EN PROXIMOS ANOS

Reuters-La Habana-Cuba planea duplicar su capacidad hotelera en los proximos anos, especialmente en los exoticos cayos de playas virgenes al norte de la isla, para convertirse en una potencia turistica del Caribe y sanear su maltrecha economica. Actualmente la exuberante isla caribena tine 32,000 habitaciones, concentradas principalmente en La Habana y en el balneario de Vara dero. En 1999 mas de 1.600.000 turistas visitaron Cuba, lo que supuso un incremento del 16,5 por ciento respecto del ano anterior, y el gobierno busca este ano alcanzar alrededor de dos millones de turistas. Actualmente, el turismo representa mas de la mitad de los ingresos en divisas del pais, segun cifras oficiales, superando de lejos a los sectores tradicionales como la cana de azucar.

 

2/22        INICIARAN CONSTRUCCION DE RUTA HO CHI MINH NORTE-SUR CON ASESORIA CUBANA

Radio Rebelde-El asesoramiento y supervision tecnica de Cuba en la construccion de la carretera norte-sur de Viet Nam, por la ruta Ho Chi Minh, a iniciarse el proximo mes en una primera fase, fue destacado en la capital vietnamita por autoridad del Ministerio de Transporte.

El vicetitular de esa carretera, Pham Guang Tuyen, afirmo que Viet Nam aprecia altamente las experiencias de los constructores cubanos en la ejecucion de esta via de dos sendas y de mas de mil 600 kilometros de extension. Recordo que los cubanos trabajaron en la otra ruta Ho Chi Minh para el suministro militar estrategico Norte-Sur, en medio de la agresion norteamericana al territorio vietnamita, hasta su derrota en la ex Saigon have ahora un cuarto de siglo.

 

2/22        MAYOR INTERCAMBIO ENTRE Cuba Y EL CENTRO MUNDIAL DE COMERCIO

Radio Rebelde-El profesor Nelson Pilosof, coordinador regional para America Latina del World Trade Center Association (WTCA por sus siglas en ingles), puso fin este domingo a una visita de trabajo de casi una semana a la insula, invitado por el Centro de Comercio Havana, creado en el ano 1981, la Camara de Comercio de Cuba y los ministerios de Comercio Exterior y de Turismo.

 

2/23        Cuba: DIPLOMATS DIDN’T EXCHANGE SECRETS WITH INS  OFFICIAL

Miami Herald-Cuba confirmed Tuesday that two of its diplomats had met with accused spy Mariano Faget, but denied they were intelligence agents and claimed that President Fidel Castri had personally banned everyone in Havana’s diplomatic mission in Washington from spying.

 

2/24        Cuba ROUNDS UP ACTIVISTS ON EVE OF DISSIDENT TRIAL

Reuters-Havana-Cuba on Thursday was holding at least nine opposition activists in an apparent move to prevent trouble ahead of the island’s most significant dissident trial in nearly a year, opposition sources said.

 

2/24        Cuba HOPES TO BOOST CIGAR SALES WITH EUROPEAN LINK

Reuters-Havana-A joint venture between Cuba and European tobacco firm Altadis (ALDS.PA)(ALT.MC) will help the island boost exports of its famous hand-made cigars and start up production of machine-made mini-cigars, a Cuban executive said on Thursday.

Habanos S.A., the Cuban state cigar selling company which sold a 50 percent stake to Altadis in December, began operating in its new format as a joint venture company on Feb. 8, Habanos Vice President Manuel Garcia told a news conference.

 

2/24        CIA WHISTLE-BLOWER LAUNCHES Cuba INTERNET SERVICE

Reuters-Havana-Former CIA whistle blower Philip Agee, whose crusade to expose agents made him a hero of the left in the 1970s but won him many ennemies in Washington, has launched a new Web site in Havana  promoting tourism to communist –run Cuba. Agee, founder and directoro of the venture, described it as the first independent, Ameriucan-owned business established on the Caribbean island under communist rule, and therefore an open act of defiance of Washington’s long-standing economic embargo on Havana.  

 

2/25        CHILEAN RIGHTISTS TO FILE SUIT AGAINST CASTRO

Reuters-Santiago- Chilean lawyers who support ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet will file on Friday a civil lawsuit against Fidel Castro accusing the Cuban president of being behind  a rebel attack that killed an army general and two bodyguards.

Lawyer Monica Madariaga, a former Pinochet minister, said the plan was to have a lawsuit pending against Castro in Chile in case the Cuban leader accepted an invitation to attend the March 11 swearing-in of Socialist President-elect Ricardo Lagos. 

 

2/27        FBI AGENTS EXPEL DEFIANT CUBAN ENVOY DIPLOMAT WHO HAD REFUSED TO LEAVE FLOWN TO CANADA

Washington- FBI agents deported a Cuban diplomat Saturday night just hours after he surrendered his immunity in an unprecedented attempt to defy a U.S. expulsion order and defend himself and a Miami man from spying charges.

 

2/27        Cuba SAYS-DIPLOMATS WILL FIGHT SPY CHARGES

Havana-A day before today’s deadline to recall an accused Cuban spy from the United States, the Cuban government said the official is willing to surrender his diplomatic immunity tofight the allegatins against him in  U.S. Courts.

In addition, a second Cuban diplomat is prepared to return to the United States from Cuba to disprove spying allegations against him,. Cuban authorities said.

 

2/28        CLINTON, VENTURA MULL Cuba TRADE

Washington-Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura urged President Clinton to increase funding for special education and questioned why the United States doesn’ establish normal trade relatins with Cuba during a visit to the White House Monday.

 

2/8          Cuba FESTIVAL LURES CIGAR LOVERS

Associated Press – Havana – Cuba’s world-famous tobacco lured hundreds of cigar aficionados from around the globe this week for the island’s secoond annual cigar festival. Cuba exported 148 million cigars last year, of which 128 million were hand-rolled and 20 million were machine-rolled, Manuel Garcia, vice president of Habanos S.A. told a news conference last week.

He said that western Europe is the largest market for Cuban cigars-accounting for 90 million cigars, or 65.5 percent of the total. Within Europe, the biggest consumers in 1999 were Spain, consuming 43 million cigars, and France, which bought 17.8 million. The next largest regional maarket is the Americas and the Caribbean, which accounted for 18.1 million cigars last year. That total included cigars sold at duty free shops sin Cuba and airports throughout the region. Garcia estimated that six million Cuban cigars enter the United States each year as contraband.

 

2/29        Cuba OPENS $121 BLN DAMAGES’ TRIAL AGAINST U.S

Reuter- Canada ordered a Cuban diplomat accused by the United States of spying to immediately leave the Ottowa embassy on Tueday, saying he was violating Canadian law by overstaying  his transit visa.

The refusal by Cuban authorities to ensure the diplomat, Jose Imperatoty, leaves Canada has infuriated Ottawa and sparked tension between the two countries who have long had close ties.

 2/29        CANADA ORDERS CUBAN ENVOY BACK HOME
Miami Herald-An angry Canadian government ordered a Cuban diplomat, forcibly deported from Washington on spying charges, to leave Canada by Monday evening and end his “publibity seeking” attempt to remain in Ottawa.

MARCH

3/2          CUBAN DIPLOMAT ACCUSED OF ESPIONAGE
Associated Press-Havana- A cuban diplomat who took refuge in the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa after being expelled from the United States over espionage suspicions returned home Thursday to a hero’s welcome after five days of uncertainty.

3/2          CUBAN DIPLOMAT LEAVES EMBASSY

AP-A Cuban diplomat who went into hiding at the Cuban Embassy in Canada after being expelled from the United States left the compound Thursday escorted by Canadian police.

 

3/3          Cuba ATRAE INVERSIONES DE FIRMAS PETROLERAS

Havana- El gobierno de Cuba invito ayer a las companias petroleras extranjeras a participar con sus inversiones en proyectos conjuntos en 59 areas de prospeccion petrolera de la zona economica exclusiva cubana ubicada en aguas profundas del Golfo de Mexico.

La totalidad de esos lotes de prospeccion se encuentran en un area de 112,000 kilometros cuadrados en el Golfo de Mexico, frente a la costa noroccidental de la isla caribena.

El funcionario cubano senalo que esa zona economica exclusiva es la mas grande del  mundo aledana a un pais aun sin explotar, y que cuenta con grandes posibilidades de nuevos yacimintos de petroleo, aunque no con objectivos de produccion inmediatos.

 

3/4          EXILES’ SUIT AGAINST FIRMS IN Cuba IS DISMISSED

Miami Herald- A state court judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by Cuban exiles against 40 multinational corporations that do business in Cuba.

 

3/6          AFTER CASTRO, Cuba MAY BE IN CHAOS

Miami Herald-The chances for chaos in Cuba once President Fidel Castro leaves power are “better than 50-50: if he continues to block significant reforms, says Michael Kozak, the former top U.S. diplomat in Havana.

 

3/6          BUSCANDO VIAS PARA INVERTIR EN LA ISLA

New York Times-Con la batalla por la custodia del pequeno Elian Gonzalez en las noticias casi todos los dias , la cuestion de Cuba esta de nuevo en la mente de muchos.incluidos algunos inversionistas norteamericanos frustrados por ver como se les escapan las opportunidades de negocios.

 

3/6          VIENEN DE CUBA MAS DE CIEN ACADEMICOS

El Nuevo Herald-La tolerencia del exilio cubano en Miami y su capacidad para el debate democratrico, que han sido cuestionados fuertemente en el pasado, seran puestos a prueba nuevamente la proxima semana cuando arriben a la ciudad mas de un centenar de especialistas y profesores procedentes de Cuba. Un total de 112 expecialistas en representacion de 35 organismos e instituciones de Cuba tienen previsto participar en el XXII Congreso de la Asociacion de Estudios Latino Americanos (LASA), que tendra como sede a esta ciudad del 16 al 18 de marzo.

 3/15         RECONOCEN LA IMPORTANCIA DE LAS REMESAS FAMILIARES
La emigracion y las remesas familiares tienen hoy un protagonismo economico y social sin paralelo en la historia reciente de la nacion” afirmo el economista Pedro Monreal del Centro de Investigaciones de la Economia Mundial en La Habana. “El volumen actual de las remesas que llegan a Cuba equivale-cuando se calcula a la tasa de cambio del mercado-a una cifra varias veces superior a todos los salarios pagados en el pais.”

 3/16        Cuba SAYS IT NOT MOVING TO ALLOW MIGRANT EXODUS

Reuters-La Havana- Cuba moved to calm fears in the United States that it clear the way for another seaborne exodus of Cuban migrants bound for Florida, saying it had not taken any steps to allow this to happen. But in an editorial published by the Communist Party daily Granma, President Fidel Castro’s government said it was facing daily growing calls from inside the island to open its sea borders to migrants wishing to leave for the United States.  In an earlier published statement Tuesday, Havana had said that “tens of thousands” of Cubans might risk their lives crossing to Florida if U.S. immigration authorities did not change a current policy of automatically accepting illegal migrants from Cuba who physically reached U.S. shores.

 

3/16        Cuba SAYS NO PLANS TO OPEN BORDERS

Associated Press-La Havana-The communist government denied Thursday that it intended to open its borders to allow a mass exodus of Cubans to the United States to show its anger at U.S. Immigration policies. Foreign media had speculated about such a move after the Communist Party daily Granma in an editorial Tuesday slammed the U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act, a 1966 law that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to apply for U.S residency.

 3/17        Cuba SQUEEZED BY  HIGH OIL, LOW SUGAR PRICES
Cuba’s leaders have called for fuel