Cuba NEWSTRACK
By: Teo A. Babun, Jr.
Cuba-Caribbean Development Co., Ltd.
A Division of T. Babun Group, Inc.
All rights reserved
2001
01/05/2001 RAUL CASTRO TO U.S.: NORMALIZE TIES
The Associated Press-Havana- The United States should normalize relations with Cuba while Fidel Castro is still alive, his brother and designated successor said, because it will get “more difficult” later on. Gen. Raul Castro, Cuba’s defense minister, did not elaborate during the internview on state television about why negotiations could get harder. However, Raul is generally considered more of a hard-liner than his older brother.
01/06/2001 RAUL CASTRO LLAMA A E.U. A NEGOCIAR
La Habana-La revolucion cubana encara los nuevos tiempos abrazada al socialismo aunque le esperan “anos de lucha muy dificiles” segun el “numero dos” del regimen, general Raul Casto, para quien “al imperialismo le convendria mas tratar de normalizar las relaciones en vida de Fidel que en el futuro.” El general de ejercito quien ostenta el maximo grado militar en Cuba tras el de Comandante en Jefe, senalo que “a nuestra edad, ya no tenemos 25 anos, se piensa en el futuro” y afirmo que los combatientes de su generacion no aspiran a honores. Raul Castro manifesto que “tenemos que tener las instituciones de la revolucion, en primer lugar el Partido (Comunista) funcionando con una eficacia tal que se pedan detectar a tiempo los primeros pasos negativos”.
01/06/2001 DISTRIBUCION DE ALIMENTOS PONE EN TELA DE JUICIO EL OPTIMISMO OFICIAL
Santiago de Cuba- Las cantidades de alimentos que el gobierno vendio a traves de la libreta de racionamiento a la poblacion de Santiago de Cuba durante el ano 2000, pone en tela de juicio la bonanza economica que se anuncia en los discursos oficiales de este fin de ano.
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DISTRIBUCION DE ALIMENTOS-ANO 2000 v Arroz, 72 libras (6 libras/mes) v Azucar, 72 libras (6 libras/mes) v Frijoles, 15 libras (20 onzas/mes) v Sal, 9 libras (0.75 libra/mes) v Café mezclado,3 libras (4onzas/mes) v Pastas, 6 libras (0.5 libra/mes) v Aceite, 2 libras (0.5 libras en feb, abr, ago y dic) v Huevos, 24 unidades (6 huevos en sep, oct, nov y dic) v Picadillo de soya, 8, 10 libras v Mortadella, 3, 6 libras v Pescado enlatado, 5 latas de 325 gramos c/u v Pescado congelado, 11 onzas (diciembre) v Pollo, 20 onzas (6 onzas en jun y ago; 8 onzas en dic) v Gallina, 12 onzas (6 onzas en enero y marzo) v Papas. R8 libras v Jabon de lavar, 5 pastillas v Jabon de bano, 5 pastillas v Pasta dentifiza, 7 tubos v Detergente, 3 litros
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01/07/2001 FUERTE ATAQUE CONTRA LA PRENSA EXTRANJERA
El Nuevo Herald- El diario oficial Granma arremetio ayer contra corresponsales extranjeros acreditados en Cuba, acusandolos de no informar objetivamente sobre la participacion de los cubanos en los festejos celebrados por el gobierno para conmemorar el 42do. Aniversario de la revolucion. Las criticas mas fuertes fueron dirigidas contra el corresponsal Pascal Fletcher, colaborador de la agencia inglesa de noticias Reuters y del diario Financial Times, asi como contra “un reportero anonimo “ de la agencia estadounidense Associated Press.
01/07/2001 CUBAN MEDIA MOCKS EPIPHANY PARADE
Reuters- Havana-An Epiphany parade organized by Spain’s embassy in communist-ruled Cuba was criticized on Sunday by Cuba media, which said the vent was an imported capitalist show dangerous for local children. Cuban state television and an official newspaper slammed as “scarecrows”, “clowns” and “insulting types” the Spanish diplomats and businessmen who dressed up to represent the Magi tp throw sweets to children in downtown Havana on Saturday.
01/07/2001 SUN-SENTINEL WILL REPORT FULL TIME FROM HAVANA
The Sun-Sentinel this week will open its first full-time foreign bureau in Havana, Cuba. The new office will be located in Old Havana off of Plaza San Francisco and represents the only permanent presence of any newspaper in South Florida.
01/08/2001 CUBAN REFUGEES ARRIVE IN COSTA RICA
The Associated Press-San Jose, Costa Rica-A boat packed with 22 Cubans seeking political asylum in Costa Rica has arrived at the Central American nation, the first to come here from the communist country in four years. Officials said the group-between the ages of 14 to 60-came ashore late Saturday on a stretch of Caribbean coast near Limon, 60 miles east of San Jose, the capital. Police discovered the refugees on Sunday.
01/09/2001 Cuba MINISTER URGES BUSH NEGOTIATION
The Associated Press-Havana-Cuba’s foreign minister urged President-elect Bush to negotiate with 74-year-old Fidel Castro soon, saying Tuesday that resuming ties between The Cold War-era foes could prove more difficult after the communist leader dies.
01/09/2001 ALBRIGHT: CASTRO SHOULD MOVE ON
The Associated Press-Washington-Last week, Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright said one of her main regrets as she is about to leave office is that Fidel Castro is still running Cuba.
01/09/2001 DOCTORS FORBIDDEN TO WRITE PRESCRIPTIONS FOR MEDICINE DONATED BY CATHOLIC CHARITY
Cienfuegos-The Ministry of Public Health in Aguada de Pasajeros, near the southern city of Cienfuegos, has forbidden doctors to write prescriptions for patients so that they can obtain medicines donated by the Catholic Church.
01/11/2001 ATACAN A ESPANA Y A UN REPORTERO BRITANICO
El Nuevo Herald-La Habana-La television cubana lanzo elmartes en la noche duras criticas contra un corresponsal britanico en la isla, al que acusa de ser “un fiel servidor” de Washington y de haber ppublicado datos confidenciales de la economia cubana. Durante una “mesa redonda televisada” programa cotidiano creado durante el caso del nino balsero Elian Gonzalez y que reune a comentaristas y periodistas cubanos para tratar diversos temas-el corresponosal del diario britanico Financial Times y tambien colaborador de la agencia Reuters, Pascal Fletcher, fue criticado por “su actitud provocadora”, “tendenciosa” y “perfida”.
01/11/2001 Cuba SEEKS AID IN ENDING EMBARGO
The Associated Press-Havana-Cuba’s top diplomat flew to Africa and the Middle East this week to recruit international help in the country’s fight to topple the four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo. Overwhelming condemnations of the embargo by U.N. member states have been the norm for several years. Now, Cuba says, anti-embargo sentiment is growing inside the United States as well.
01/12/2001 CUBANS WHO DIED IN BRITISH JET WERE ARMY CADETS
Reuters-Havana-Cuba said Thursday that two cuban youths who died last month after stowing away in the undercarriage of a London-bound British Airways jet were military cadets who dreamed of living in the United States. In the first official Cuban report of the deaths, Cuba state TV said the two, Alberto Vazquez Rodriguez, 17 and Michael Fonseca, 16, hid themselves in the wheel well of the Boeing 777 just before it took off from Havana airport in the early hours of Christmas Eve.
01/14/2001 CZECH LAWMAKER DETAINED IN Cuba
The Associated Press-Prague-Czech Republic-Two Czech politicians have been detained in Cuba while on a private visit., the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
01/15/2001 Cuba SAYS U.S. RELATIONS WILL NOT IMPROVE UNDER BUSH
Reuters-Athens-Cuba said on Monday relations between the Caribbean island and the United States will not improve under incoming prpesident George W. Bush. Roque said right-wing Cubans in Florida were to blame for Cuba’s isolation.
01/16/2001 ARRESTED CZECHS TO BE TRIED IN Cuba
The Associated Press-Havana-Two Czech citizens-including a former finance minister-will be tried for allegedly acting as agents for ani-communist Cuban-American exiles, the government said Tuesday.The men were arrested after meeting with two Cuban government opponents. The disidents were questioned and released, but the Czechs were transferred to Havana where they remain in jail.
01/16/2001 CUBAN DETENTIONS OPEN BITTER DIVIDE
PRAGUE DEMANDS RELEASE OF VISITORS HELD BY Havana
The bitter political differences between Cuba and the Czech Republic intensified Monday as Czech Deputy Foreign Minister, Hynek Kmonicek presented a protest note to Cuba’s top diplomat in Prague demanding the immediate release of two prominent Czech citizens detained in Cuba and an explanation for their arrest.
01/17/2001 CLINTON BARS SUIT AGAINST Cuba
Washington-President Clinton suspended for another six months a law that would let Americans sue people using U.S. property confiscated after Fidel Castro took power in 1959.The right for American companies and citizens to sue in U.S. courts is in a law Congress approved in 1996, but the legislation gave the president authority to waive or enforce the provision at six-month intervals.
01/17/2001 DISIDENTES PIDEN FRENO A LA REPRESION EN Cuba
MAS DE 70 MIEMBROS DE LAS PRINCIPALES ORGANIZACIONES OPOSITORAS FIRMARON EL DOCUMENTO
El Nuevo Herald-En un abierto reto al regimen castrista, mas de 70 reconocidos disidentes internos hicieron ayer un llamamiento a la comunidad internacional “para que contribuya a detener la ola represiva desatada por el gobierno de Cuba desde noviembre de 19999.”
01/18/2001 EL CORTE TELEFONICO NO IMPIDE LAS LLAMADAS DESDE EU
Un mes despues del corte telefonico con Estados Unidos, decretado por la dictadura castrista el pasado 15 de diciembre, los cubanos de ambas orillas del Estrecho de la Florida, han logrado romper el silencio que el regimen de Fidel Castro se propuso imponer. A pesar de los inconvenientes causados por el corte telefonico con Estados Unidos, las comunicaciones continuan. No han podido ser suprimidas totalmente.
01/17/2001 Cuba BURIES STOWAWAYS, SCHEDULES ANTI-U.S. PROTEST
Reuters-Havana-Cuba, burying two stowaways who died in midair while hiding in the wheel carriage of a British Airways jet, called on Thursday for a mass protest against the United States, which it blames for their deaths. President Fidel Castro-visibly stirred by the case of the two young military cadets who died on Dec. 24-led the attack on U.S. immigration policies, which he says stimulte such desperate bids to leave the Caribbean island.
01/18/2001 UNDIPLOMATIC BEHAVIOR
The Miami Herald-An ominous question has surfaced about Mexian President, Vicente Fox’s short but noticeable record on democratic issues. His administration’s ambassador to Cuba, Ricardo Pascoe, announced at a recent press conferecne that the ambassador’s doors will be closed to Cuban dissidents during his tenure in the Havana embassy.
01/18/2001 CASTRO ATTACKS FOREIGN PRESS
The Associated Press-Havana-Contending some foreign media based in Cuba lack objectivity, President Fidel Castro raised the possibility that entire news organizations as well as individual journalists could be expelled from the island.
01/18/2001 CZECHS ENLIST EU, OTHERS TO PRESSURE Cuba
Reuters-Prague-The Czech Republic said on Thursday it had asked the European Union and several nations with closer ties to Cuba to pressure Havana to free two prominent Czechs being held for meeting anti-Castro dissidents.
01/19/2001 FRANCE AND Cuba FAIL TO AGREE NEW FOOD BARTER DEAL
Reuters-Paris-French wheat exports to Cuba could fail by half this season as Paris and Havana have yet to reach agreement on the renewal of their food-for-sugar barter deal, banking sources said on Friday. The agreement is traditionally renewed at this time of year, but talks have stumbled on a delay in payment owed by the Cuban government under the deal, they said.
01/19/2001 CUBANS PROTEST U.S. IMMIGRATION LAWS
The Associated Press-Havana-President Fidel Castro led thousands of people in a march past the U.S. mission here Friday to protest American immigration policies Havana says lure Cubans to their deaths trying to reach the United States. The rally was called after the burial Thursday of two military cadets who died trying to leave the country as stowaways in a jetliner’s wheel well-deaths the Cuban government blamed on the U.S. policies.
01/19/2001 CASTRO LEADS 1 MILLION CUBANS IN ANTI-U.S. MARCH
Reuters-Havana-A stern-faced President Fidel Castro led more than one million Cubans in a march on Friday on the U.S. diplomatic mission to protest immigration policies blamed for the deaths of two young airline stowaways. Combining white tennis-shoes with his olive-green military uniform, and flanked by student leaders, Castro waved a Cuban flag, chanted “Down With the Murderous Law!” and glared at the imposing U.S. building as he led the marchers past.
01/20/2001 EL SALVADOR ACCEPTS CUBAN DOCTORS
The Associated Press-Comapala, El Salvador- A team of Cuban doctors has arrived in El Salvador to help control diseases following its earthquake, just weeks after the two countries exchanged bitter accusations. The 50 Cubans –who included pediatricians, gynecologists, epidemiologists and nurses-arrived Friday at the Comapala airport, just outside San Salvador, aboard a Cubana airlines flight from Havana.
01/21/2001 BERLIN DEMANDA LA LIBERACION DE LOS CHECOS
EL EMBAJADOR CUBANO FUE LLAMADO A LA CANCILLERIA GERMANA
El Nuevo Herald-Berlin-El embajador de Cuba en Alemania, Marcelino Medina, fue convocado ayer al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de la nacion germana, donde le comunicaron la exigencia de Berlin de que sean liberados los dos politicos checos encarcelados en La Habana, informo esa instancia de gobierno.
01/21/2001 CUBAN DOCTORS TO TREAT VENEZUELANS FREE-CHAVEZ
Caracas, Venezuela-Cuba will provide free medical care to Venezuelans, scrapping plans to tally the cost of the treatment as payment in kind for oil imports from the South American nation, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday. Chavez’s left-leaning government began sending patients for treatment in Havana late last year as part of Cuba’s payment for the 53,000 barrels of oil per day that petroleum-rich Venezuela ships to the Caribbean island nation.
01/21/2001 CANADA, CARIBBEAN DIVIDED ON Cuba
Montego Bay, Jamaica-Leaders of Canada and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ended a meeting in Jamaica divided over whether communist Cuba should take part in the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada. Canada’s Prime Minister Jean Chretien, speaking at a press conference late Friday, made it clear that Cuba would not be invited to the summit set for April 20-22.
01/22/2001 IRAN, Cuba DISCUSS COOPERATION
The Associated Press- Cairo, Egypt-Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and his
Cuban counterpart met Monday and called for boosting cooperation between their countries, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
01/22/2001 LA HABANA REPLICA A ALEMANIA Y PRESENTA CARGOS CONTRA CHECOS
El Nuevo Herald-Berlin- Cuba respondio ayer a Alemania senalando que rechaza toda injerencia, presion o intimidacion externa para poner en libertad a los dos ciudadanos checos detenidos el 12 de enero, y afirmo que ambos seran sometidos a la justicia para violar leyes cubanas.
01/24/2001 Cuba SEES “HONORABLE SOLUTION” FOR JAILED CZECHS
Reuters-Havana-President Fidel Castro’s government has proposed an “honrable solution” for two prominent Czechs jailed in Havana if Prague admits they were wrong to meet dissidents and appeal to Cuban “generosity” .
01/24/2001 LET U.S. FINANCE FOOD SALES TO Cuba-SENATORS
Reuters-Washington-Cash-short Cuba would gain access to U.S. export credits and bank loans for purchases of American food under legislation filed by two wheat-state senators on Wednesday. The bill also would allow tourist-related travel to Cuba, which now generally is banned. Both steps would relax the U.S. trade embargo dating from 1962.
01/24/2001 LOTT SAYS REFORM OF U.S. TRADE SANCTIONS NEEDED
Reuters-Washington-Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott told a business group on Wednesday he expected Congress to act on trade sanctions reform this year, with help from high echelons in the Bush administration. Despite his interest in reforming trade sanctions, Bush is not expected to lift the general embargo on Cuba.
01/24/2001 ANALYSIS-HARDLINERS PRESSURE BUSH TO SQUEEZE Cuba
Reuters-Washington-Republican hardliners and Cuban exiles in Florida are looking to President George W. Bush to put the squeeze on Cuban leader Fidel Castro and enforce the toughest provisions of a decades-old U.S. trade embargo. But with the new president under competing commercial and political pressures over how to deal with the Communist state, few analysts believe he will dramatically change U.S. policy, which was slowly opening under his predecessor, Bill Clinton.
01/24/2001 HISTERIA CASTRISTA CONTRA EL EXILIO
A los signos de irritabilidad que en las ultimas semanas ha mostrado la dictadura cubana, se suma ahora una inquietante senal de histeria en la prensa oficial castrista. Los trabajadores ideologicos del regimen han comenzado a alertar sobre supuestos planes del exilio cubano, tan hipoteticos como descabellados, encaminados a crear un serio incidente con Washington.
Su maximo exponente es un articulo el lunes en Granma de Nicanor Leon Cotayo y titulado Orejas de la Provocacion. "La intencion, de acuerdo a distintas fuentes, seria fabricar un incidente donde mezclen artificialmente a la Isla, y al mismo tiempo presionar a Bush para que reaccione con gran fuerza ante el hecho.”
01/25/2001 EU’S PRODI WRITES HAVAL OVER CZECHS HELD IN CUBA
Reuters-Brussels-European Commission President Romano Prodi has written a letter to Czech President Vaclav Havel pledging EU suipporot for efforts to release two prominent Czechs detained in CCuba the Commission said on Thursday.
01/26/2001 Cuba, FRANCIA Y EL TRIGO
En un despacho de la agencia noticiosa Reuters se indica que este ano las exportaciones de trigo de Francia a Cuba se vean reducidas de 600,000 toneladas a unas 400,000 o quizas todavia menos. Cuba adquiere en Francia el 70% del trigo que importa ya que despues de la caida de la URSS, esta dejo de suministrale el cereal que a su vez adquiria a precios subsidiados de los Estados Unidos.
01/26/2001 US DIMISSES CUBAN CLAIMS ON CZECHS
The Associated Press-Washington-The State Department rejected claims by Cuba that two pro-democracy activists from the Czech Republic were engaging in subversive activities when they met with Cuban dissidents early this month.
01/27/2001 Cuba WON’T CAST FIRST STONE AT BUSH-CASTRO
Reuters-Havana-Communist-run Cuba,.in conflict with the United States for more than four decades, will not “cast the first stone” against new U.S. President George W. Bush, President Fidel Castro told a mass rally on Saturday. “Although we do not expect any rectification from this administration, we will not rush to judge iit beforehand.” Castro told more than 300,000 Cubans gathered for a pro-government political rally in a small town outside Havana.
01/28/2001 Cuba’S ALARCON CALLS BUSH “ILLEGITIMATE PRESIDENT”
Reuters-Porto Alegre, Brazil-The president of Cuba’s National Assembly considered to be the country’s third highest official, delivered a scathing speech on Sunday slamming U.S. President George W. Bush and the election that brought him to power. “The superstate is being governed by an illegitimate president.” Alarcon said during a panel at the World Social Forum, an “anti-Davos” meeting in southern Brazil that coincides with the gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
01/28/2001 U.S. Cuba SANCTIONS TO CONTINUE WITH CASTRO-CHENEY
Washington-U.S. sanctions against Cuba will remain in place as long as President Fidel Castro is in power, Vice President Richard Cheney said on Sunday, calling recent comments from the Communist leader “ a little sour”. But Cheney said that the United States and Cuba could establish a friendly relationship if Castro’s presidency were to come to an end.
01/28/2001 APOCALIPTICO DISCURSO SOBRE EU Y EL FUTURO MUNDIAL
El Nuevo Herald-En un discurso sobre el destino economico del mundo ante decenas de miles de personas en el pueblo de San Jose de las Lajas, en la provincia de La Habana , Fidel Castro afirmo ayer que el presidente George W. Bush pudiera ser alentado por sectores extremistas a agredir economica y politicamente o en “cualquier otro terreno” a Cuba. Castro aseguro que su pais no sera quien lance la “primera piedra”, pero que esta preparado para repeler cualquier embate, ya sea en el terreno politico y economico”como en cualquier otro:.
01/28/2001 CASTRO PIDE A SUS DIPLOMATICOS QUE SE INMOLEN
La Habana-Fidel Castro instruyo a sus diplomaticos en Praga para que esten listos a entregar sus vidas para defender la embajada de su pais, en caso de que el conflicto originado por el arresto en Cuba de dos ciudadanos checos acusados de subversion, se torne violento, informo la television cubana el viernes. “Ustedes estan reprpesentando alli a Cuba. Estamos en el nuevo milenio y en este nuevo mileno hay que entrar con espiritu decidido y firme”, declaro el presidente cubano en conversacion telefonica la semana pasada con el encargado de negocios cubano en Praga, David P. Escalona, segun el documento leido durante una mesa redonda televisada.
01/29/2001 CUBAN EMBARGO FIGHT PUTS PRESIDENT IN BIND
Sun Sentinel-Just months after Congress allowed the limited sale of food and medicine to Cuba, the battle between those who want to loosen the four-decade embargo and those who want to tighten it has resumed. And with bothsides counting loyal supporters of President Bush among their ranks, the new president may be in a political bind.
01/30/2001 NO PREVEN CAMBIOS INMEDIATOS EN LA POLITICA HACIA Cuba
POR ESO CASTRO NO TITUBEO EN INSULTAR AL PRESIDENTE, CREE WAYNE SMITH
Washington-El presidente norteamericano, George W. Bush, mantendra sin mayores cambios la politica de embargo hacia Cuba, que no se convertira en prioridad de su politica exterior a pesar de que su hermano es gobernador de Florida donde esta radicada la mayor parte del exilio anticastrista, segun analistas.
01/30/2001 CZECH SENATE PRESIDENT IN Cuba
The Associated Press-Havana-Saying he hopes to ease tensions between Havana and Prague, the president of the Czech senate arrived in Cuba for talks with Fidel Castro about the arrest of two prominent Czechs who were jailed after meeting with Cuban dissidents.
FEBRUARY
02/01/2001 SOUTH AFRICA’S MBEKI TO VISIT Cuba THIS YEAR
Reuters-Havana-South African President, Thabo Mbeki will visit Cuba this year for a trip underlining his nation’s gratitude to President Fidel Castro’s government for support during the anti-apartheid struggle, officials said on Thursday.
02/01/2001 ALARCON LANZA FUERTES CRITICAS CONTRA GEORGE W. BUSH
Brasilia-El presidente de la Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular de Cuba, Ricardo Alarcon declaro ayer que la disposicion del presidente de Estados Unidos, George Bush, de impulsar el Sistema de Defensa Estrategica “constituye una amenaza y provocara una nueva carrera armamentitsta.”
02/02/2001 UNA DEUDA MILLONARIA CON PANAMA
Agence France Presse-Panama-El Gobierno de Cuba mantiene deudas millonarias con empresas panamenas en la Zona Libre de Colon, que podrian llegar a los $40 millones, revelo ayer un informe publicado por el diario El Panama America, citando fuentes oficiales y empresariales.
02/02/2001 SOUTH AFRICA RAPS Cuba EMBARGO, SEEKS CONGO SUMMIT
Reuters-Havana-South African Foreign Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, whose nation forged strong ties with Cuba during the anti-apartheid struggle, on Friday urged an end to the U.S. economic embargo on the communist-ruled island.
02/03/2001 U.S. ENTERTAINER CLEARED TO MAKE MUSIC IN Cuba.
Washington-By Cooder, the musician who was once fined by the U.S. Government for traveling to Cuba without permission to collaborate with the acclaimed musicians known as the Buena Vista Social Club, is back in Cuba recording music. And this time, thanks to last-minute intervention from top Clinton administration officials, he’s legal.
02/03/2001 Cuba SEEKS APOLOGY IN CASE OF DETAINED CZECHS
Reuters-Havana-Cuba can prove two prominent Czechs arrested after meeting anti-Castro dissidents on the island broke Cuban laws, and it wants an apology,President Fidel Castro said. The Czech government is seeking the release of former Finance Minister, Ivan Philip and ex-student leader, Jan Bubenik, arrested January 12 in central Cuba and accused of “subversive contacts” with opposition activists.
02/03/2001 CASTRO: NO “LITTLE WARS” WITH POWELL
The Associated Press-Havana-President Fidel Castro, saying he didn’t want any “little wars” with the Bush administration, predicted that Secretary of State, Colin Powell, would in time learn the art of diplomacy-despite some “little darts” already fired at Havana. Castro’s comments were an apparent response to Powell’s recent statement that the Cuban president is “an aging starlet who will not change in this lifetime”. Commenting last week on the long-standing U.S. trade embargo, Powell added:”It is President Bush’s intention to keep the sanctions in place.”
02/04/2001 ACUSA A ARGENTINA DE “LAMER LA BOTA YANQUI”
Associated Press-La Habana-El gobernante cubano, Fidel Castro, afirmo que Argentina “lame la bota yanqui”, al anunciar esta semana que apoyara en Naciones Unidas una condena a Cuba por su record de derechos humanos.
02/05/2001 ARGENTINA REVIEWS Cuba TIES AFTER CASTRO ATTACK
Reuters-Washington-Argentina said on Monday it had recalled its ambassador in Cuba and was taking a close look at its ties with Havana after Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, accused it of “licking the boot” of the United States. Argentine Minister, Adalberto Giavarini, leaving his first meeting with U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, called Castro’s comment “irrational.”
02/05/2001 ARGENTINA REVIEWS Cuba TIES AFTER ATTACK BY CASTRO
Reuters-Washington-Argentina said on Monday it had recalled its ambassador from Cuba and canceled a trade mission to Havana after Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, accused it of “licking the boot” of the United States.
02/05/2001 DONACION
Espana dono 215.8 toneladas de leche en polvo, destinadas a pacientes de hospitales y hogares, maternos, informo el diario “Granma”.
02/05/2001 ARANCELES
Los gobiernos de Libano y Cuba firmaron ayer un acuerdo para evitar la doble imposicion de aranceles entre ambos paises. El acuerdo fue firmado por el ministro para Asuntos Economicos, Ricardo Cabrisas, y el titular de Hacienda libanes, Fuad Siniora.
02/05/2001 HONDA IRRITACION EN ARGENTINA POR OFENSAS DE CASTRO
El Nuevo Herald-Buenos Aires-El gobierno argentino anuncio ayer que habia convocado a su embajador en CCubay expreso su “malestar” por las criticas que hizo el gobernante Fidel Castro a las que califico de ofensivas. Las palabras de Castro son una ofensa no solo para el gobierno sino para el pueblo argentino” dijo el canciller Adalberto Rodriguez Giavarini.
02/05/2001 Cuba RELEASES CZECHS AFTER CONFESSION IN HAVANA
Reuters-Havana-Two prominent Czechs jailed in Cuba after meeting anti-Castro dissidents were freed oon Mondya after giving a public confession, ending a case that has further embittered ties between the two former Socialist allies.
02/06/2001 CUBAN RAW SUGAR PRODUCTION FAR BEHIND SCHEDULE
Reuters-Havana-Cuba entered the peak sugar harvesting months of February and March with raw production far behind schedule, and some foreign observers predict there is little hope of meeting this year’s 3.7 million tonne plan.
02/06/2001 ANTI-CASTRO CUBANS OPEN “EMBASSY” IN WASHINGTON
Reuters-Washington-Cuban exiles opened a “Free Cuba embassy” in the U.S. capital on Tuesday in a drive to recover political ground lost in 2000 in the U.S. Congress and among the American public. Two 100-year-old row houses in Washington’s diplomatic district will house offices and exhibition rooms of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), the most influential and deep-pocketed lobby dedicated to ousting Cuban President Fidel Castro.
02/09/2001 MEXICO AFIRMA QUE NO CAMBIARA SU POLITICA HACIA Cuba
El Nuevo Herald-La Habana-No hay ningun cambio en la politica de Mexico hacia Cuba, afirmo ayer el embajador mexicano en La Habana, Ricardo Pascoe, cuyo pais siempre se ha abstenido en votos de censura contra Cuba por el tema de los derechos humanos. Ratifico ademas que el gobierno mexicano busca solventar el deterioro sufrido en las relaciones bilaterales en los ultimos anos y elevar el volumen del intercambio comercial.
02/07/2001 FUERTE PROTESTA ARGENTINA A CASTRO
Agence France Presse-Buenos Aires-El gobierno argentino entrego ayer una nota formal de protesta al embajador de Cuba en este pais, Alejandro Gonzalez Galiano, por “los agravios vertidos por el presidente Fidel Castro”, informo la cancilleria a traves de un comunicado de prensa.
02/07/2001 ASEGURA Cuba QUE LIMITA ACCESO A INTERNET POR CAUSAS ECONOMICAS
Notimex-La Habana-Cuba afirmo hoy que su condicion de “pais pobre y bloqueado economicamente” por Estados Unidos le impide extender el uso de internet a todos los ciudadanos de la isla.
02/07/2001 COOKIES TO COWS LIKELY ON U.S. SALES LIST TO CUBA
Reuters-Washington-From cows to cookies, a wide variety of U.S. food and medicine will be eligible for sale to Cuba when a law easing the U.S. embargo on the communist island is translated into federal regulation at the end of February, farm groups said on Wednesday. Proponents expect an expansive set of rules that would encourage long-forbidden sales and argue it will be to Havana’s advantage to make purchases as a way of winning further relaxation of economic sanctions dating back to 1962.
02/08/2001 Cuba LANZA NUEVA ACUSACION CONTRA ARGENTINA
El Nuevo Herald-La crisis diplomatica entre Argentina y Cuba alcanzo ayer proporciones de sainete cuando el embajador castrista en Buenos Aires, Alejandro Gomez, acuso al canciller argentino, Adalberto Rodriguez Giavarini, de ser el artifice de “una nueva traicion al pueblo cubano.”
02/08/2001 U.S. AID AGAINST CASTRO SOUGHT
Launching a new offensive on the Capitol, Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Santos on Wednesday urged a technological and financial invasion of the island funded by U.S. aid to topple Fidel Castro’s regime. Arm anti-Castro Cubans with cellphones and computer printers, fax machines and Internet access through special U.S. funding to private organizations and individuals, said Mas, in his first major address since taking over the influential lobby.
02/08/2001 CASTRO IRA A TEHERAN
El Nuevo Herald-La Habana-El gobernante cubano Fidel Castro viajara a Iran este ano, segun el embajador de Iran en la isla, Seyed D. Mohseni Salehi.
02/08/2001 MEXICO CONSIDERA UNA RESOLUCION CONTRA Cuba
El Nuevo Herald-El gobierno de Mexico estudia la posibilidad de presentar este ano en Ginebra una resolucion que condena la situacion de los derechos humanos en Cuba, en una movida que daria un vuelco radical a la tradicional politica del pais azteca hacia el regimen de Fidel Castro.
02/08/2001 SENATE BILL EASES U.S. EXPORTS TO Cuba
Washington-A bill that seeks to reverse key provisions of current legislation governing the U.S. export of agricultural and medical products to Cuba has been introduced in the Senate under bipartisan sponsorship. The bill, labeled the Cuba Food and Medicine Access Act 2001 and introduced by Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. And Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Seeks to enable American farmers, ranchers and pharmaceutical companies to do business more easily with Cuba.
02/08/2001 SE MARCHA UN REPORTERO ATACADO POR CASTRO
El Nuevo Herald-Apenas un mes despues de que el gobernante Fidel Castro amenazara a las agencias internacionales que desde La Habana “transmiten insultos y mentiras contra la revolucion”, el periodista britanico Pascal Fletcher esta haciendo las maletas para abandonar
Cuba junto a su familia.
02/09/2001 Cuba BLAMES ARGENTINA FOR “BOOT-LICKING” DISPUTE
Reuters- Havana-Cuba blamed Argentina on Friday for this week’s escalation of a diplomatic dispute over comments by President Fidel Castro that the Argentines were “licking the boot of the Yankees” in return for economic aid. But amid speculation of a possible rupture in diplomatic ties, Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque said Cuba would not recall its ambassador to Buenos Aires in response to Argentina’s withdrawal last week of its ambassador in La Havana. Castro’s remarks have caused the biggest rift in Cuban-Argentine relations in three decades. The dispute deepened when Argentina canceled a trade mission to Cuba, and foreign AdalbertoRodriguez Giavarini, visiting Washington, criticized Castro earlier this week for “almost a fit of irrationality.”
02/10/2001 TRAVEL TO FROM Cuba INCREASES
In 1999, the last year available, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Americans traveled to Cuba, up from fewer than 40,000 in 1998, according to the Council on Foreign Relations’ latest task force report on Cuba. Likewise, 40,000 Cubans visited the United States in 1999 the year before.
02/10/2001 CZECH ENVOY VOWS TO CONTINUE PRESSURE ON Cuba
Despite speculation to the contrary, the Czech Republic announced Friday that it would once again this year sponsor a resolution condemning Cuba’s human rights record at the annual meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in April.
02/10/2001 Cuba PUBLICA LISTA DE SUPUESTOS CONTRABANDISTAS
El Nuevo Herald-Cuba revelo ayer una lista con los nombres y la localizacion de una docena de supuestos contrabandistas que operan desde el sur de la Florida y emplazo a las autoridades estadounidenses “a detener la matanza” de ciudadanos cubanos en el mar. De acuerdo con una informacion aparecida en el diario oficial Granma y transmitida la vispera por la television nacional, Estados Unidos “no ha movido un solo dedo” para detener las operaciones de contrabando humano al “dejar impunes a los contrabandistas y a quienes les pagan”.
02/11/2001 FIRE DESTROYS U.S. NEWS AGENCY BUREAU IN Havana
Reuters-Havana- A fire apparently caused by an electrical malfunction gutted the Havana bureau of the U.S. news agency The Associated Press (AP) on Sunday, an agency reporter said. AP returned to Havana in 1999 after a 30-year absence. Cuba’s communist government had forced it to close its offices in 1969 after expelling its last permanent correspondent.
02/12/2001 CUBAN OIL REFINERIES INCREASE OUTPUT AFTER ENERGY CRISIS
Reuters-Havana-Cuba’s two major oil refineries, returning to normal operations after a decade-long energy crisis, will process 2.8 million tonnes of crude in 2001, up from 2.1 million tonnes in 2000 and 1.0 million in 1999. Humberto Betancourt, director of strategic planning for CubaPetroleo (CUPET), the state oil monopoly, credited the dramatic jump to increased domestic oil production and new technologies for treating Cuba’s sulfur-heavey crude. Betancourt, in an interview published at the weekend in the official business weekly Opciones, also said 2000 oil production rose to a record 2.695 million tonnes from 2.1 million in 1999. He said production would reach 5 million tonnes in 2003, while other officials have set a 2005 date to reach the mark.
02/13/2001 U.S. DIPLOMAT HOUNDED OUT OF CUBAN DOG CLUB
Reuters-Havana-In a bizarre twist to four decades of political dogfighting, a Cuban canine club has expellled the senior U.S, envoy to Cuba-and her dog “Havana”- due to her “hostility” toward the island. A stern letter from the National Association of Afghan Honds, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, told Viki Huddleston, head of the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba, that her behavior was “incompatilbe” with the “morals” of the club.
02/14/2001 MIAMI FAMILIES AWARDED CUBAN ASSETS
The Associated Press-The families of three Miami men killed when their planes were shot down by Cuban fighter jets in 1996 will get $96.7 million in frozen Cuban assets Friday, one of their lawyers said Wednesday.
02/15/2001 Cuba SLAMS U.S. FROZEN CASH PAYOUT TO PILOTS’KIN
Reuters-Havana-Havana on Thursday condemned as arbitrary and aggressive the U.S. government’s transfer of about $90 million in frozen Cuban funds as compensation to the families of three Miami pilots downed by a Cuban MIG in 1996.In the government’s first public response to this week’s payment, Ricardo Alarcon, head of Cuba’s National Assembly and President Fidel Castro’s point man on U.S. affairs, also said that Havana would “respond” in due course to the measure.
02/15/2001 INAUGURAN EN LA HABANA UN LABORATORIO ANTIDOPAJE
La Habana-El gobernante cubano, Fidel Castro, inauguro ayer en La Habana el primer laboratorio antidopaje construido en la isla, que servira de apoyo a los paises de America Latina y el Caribe que no dispongan de este tipo de instalaciones.
02/16/2001 EMBARGO’S IMPACT SLIGHT, REPORT SAYS
Associated Press-Washington-U.S. sanctions on Cuba have cost Americans less than $1billion a year in exports and have had a similarly minimal impact oon the communist island, according to the most comprehensive federal study ever of the embargo’s impact. The International Trade Commission report, sent Thursday to the House Ways and Means Committee but not released publicly, could provide fodder to those on both sides of the debate over lifting the 39-year-old trade embargo. An executive summary was obtained by the Associated Press.
02/16/2001 Cuba SEEN AS TINY MARKET WITHOUT US EMBARGO
Reuters-Washington-If long-standing U.S. trade sactins against Cuba were lifted, the Caribbean nation would represent only a tiny market for U.S. exports with annual purchases of less than $1 billion in American services, food and manufactured goods, a trade panel told Congress on Friday. “U.S. exports to Cuba in the absence of the sanctions, based on average 1996-98 trade data, would have been approximately $652 million to $990 million annually,” or about a quarter of all Cuban imports, the report said.
02/16/2001 Cuba WITHDRAWS INVITATION TO GERMAN MINISTER
Reuters-Berlin-Deputy German Foreign Minister Ludger Volmer said on Friday Cuba had withdrawn an invitation for him to visit the country after comments construed as critical of President Fidel Castro’s governmen. Volmer was reported to have said this week he would be frank in raising human rights issues with Cuba and that he would have cancelled the trip had Havana not earlier this month released two prominent Czechs jailed for meeting anti-Castro dissidents.
02/16/2001 CUBAN DIPLOMAT SHOT IN MEXICO CITY
The Associated Press-Mexico City-A Cuban government official was shot to death in Mexico City on Thursday, apparently after resisting a robbery attempt, the Mexico City prosecutor’s office said. The victim-identified as Boris Valdez Lopez, 36, by the Cuban government news agency Prensa Latina-was shot to death shorty after leaving the Cuban Embassy in the Polanco neighborhood at about 1 a.m. Mexican officials said.
02/17/2001 DISCORDIA CON BERLIN POR CRITICA DE MINISTRO ALEMAN
Agence France Presse-Berlin-Las relaciones entre la Alemania del canciller social democrata Gerhard Schroeder y la Cuba de Fidel Castro conocieron la discordia ayer tras la decision de las autoridades cubanas de anular la visita que un ministro aleman debia efectuar a La Habana, acusandolo de haber formulado “declaraciones criticas “ sobre los derechos humanos.
02/17/2001 DESTITUYEN AL JEFE DE SEGURIDAD DEL AEROPUERTO TRAS LA FUGA DE DOS CADETES
El Nuevo Herald-La destitucion de un oficial de la contrainteligencia cubana responsabilizado con la seguridad del aeropuerto internacional de La Habana parece estar vinculada a la reciente fuga de dos jovenes que murieron cuando intentaban escapar de la isla en el tren de aterrizaje de un Boeing 777.
02/17/2001 Cuba BLASTS ATTACKS AGAINST IRAQ
The Associated Press-Havana-Cuba- Cuba blasted the “Yankee-British” air attack against Iraq as a “criminal” act Saturday, and one newspaper in the country depicted President Bush as a gunslinging cowboy.
02/18/2001 U.S. POLICY EXPERTS ENCOURAGED BY TALKS IN Cuba
Reuters-Havana-American foreign policy experts who produced a report recommending
closer U.S.-Cuban ties said on Sunday they were encouraged by the Cuban government’s private response to the proposals despite an initial public rejection. The report drawn up by a task force sponsored by the nonpartisan U.S. Council on Foreign Relations was originally released in late November and Cuban President, Fidel Castro’s government was quick to criticize it heavily in public.
02/18/2001 DENUNCIAN QUE CASTRO REVENDE PARTE DEL PETROLEO VENEZOLANO
Agence France Presse-Caracas-Parlamentarios opositores venezolanos denunciaron que parte del petroleo suministrado por Venezuela a Cuba en cumplimiento de un acuerdo de cooperacion firmado por ambas naciones en octubre en Caracas, es revendido a Estados Unidos, informo el sabado el diario caraqueno El Nacional. Segun el diario, parlamentarios de las toldas Copei (socialcristiana), la obrerista Causa R y el movimiento Primero Justicia, aseguraron que parte de los 53,000 barriles de crudo diario que entrega la estatal Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) a Cuba son enviados hacia Bahamas y luego licitados en Puerto Rico.
02/19/2001 DONACION/
El gobierno japones entrego una donacion a entidades cubanas valorada en unos $115,000, como parte de un programa comenzado en 1997, indico la embajada de ese pais.
02/19/2001 VISITA VENEZOLANA
Un grupo de industriales azucareros venezolano viajo el sabado a Cuba para estudiar las posibilidades de cooperacion de tecnicos cubanos en la reactivacion de ese sector en Venezuela, informo Ana Maria Benaiges, coordinadora por Venezuela del Acuerdo Integral firmado entre Cuba y el pais suramericano. Benaiges, indico ademas al diario El Nacional que en dos semanas viajaran a Caracas dos especialistas del Ministerio del Azucar de Cuba, para realizar un diagnostico y precisar las actividades a realizar para la reactivacion del sector.
02/19/2001 ENERGIA
Cuba, con apoyo de la ONU e inversionistas extranjeros, construira una central electrica que utilizara como combustible la biomasa verde de la cana de azucar, informaron fuentes del organismo internacional. Se trata de una experiencia “que tiene implicaciones muy alentadoras para los paises productores de cana de azucar y para combatir el calentamiento global de la atmosfera” dijo Alberto Perez, oficial de informacion de la ONU en Cuba.
02/19/2001 GRUPO DE EXPERTOS DE EU ALENTADO POR LAS CONVERSACIONES CON Cuba
Reuters-La Habana-Expertos estadounidenses de politica exterior, que produjeron un informe recomendado lazos mas cercanos con Cuba, dijeron ayer sentirse alentados por la respuesta privada del gobierno cubano a sus propuestas, a pesar del rechazo publico inicial.
02/19/2001 ROCKEFELLER SE REUNE CON CASTRO Y DISIDENTES
Agence France Presse-La Habana-El gobernante Fidel Castro y el magnate David Rockefeller, acompanado de otras personalidades estadounidenses, sostuvieron la noche del sabado en La Habana un “encuentro muy interesante” de cinco horas y media en el que hablaron sobre la actual situacion de Cuba, informo el proprio banquero al concluir ayer su visita a la isla.
02/19/2001 ALELRTAN SOBRE AMENAZA DE ATAQUE CIBERNETICO PROVENIENTE DE Cuba
El Nuevo Herald-El regimen de Fidel Castro representa una seria amenaza para Estados Unidos porque el gobernante cubano se ha caracterizado siempre por su hostilidad contra este pais y ha desarrollado en la isla instalacines tecnologicas que pueden utilizarse en la guerra cibernetica, opinaron expertos en asuntos cubanos.
02/19/2001 Cuba CON CAPACIDAD DE AMENAZA CIBERNETICA
El Nuevo Herald-Cuba tiene la capacidad de interferir las comunicaciones de las fuerzas militares norteamericanas en la region, atacando los sistemas de computacion de Estados Unidos, con tacticas de guerra asimetrica, revelo en Washington D.C. un alto oficial de inteligencia del Pentagono.
02/20/2001 EMPRESAS CHECAS DENUNCIAN REPRESALIAS
Praga-Cuba castiga con medidas economicas a la Republica Checa por el reciente conflicto con dos ciudadanos checos que fueron detenidos en la isla caribena por presuntas actividades subversivas , segun un consorcio de seis empresas checas encabezado por Skodaexport. Cuba decidio hace unos dias conceder el contrato para la reconstruccion de la central electrica de Santa Cruz del Norte, por un valor de $23 millones, a la empresa eslovaca SES Tlmace en lugar del citado consorcio checo.
02/20/2001 Cuba SAYS CASTRO TO VISIT MALAYSIA THIS YEAR
Reuters-Kuala Lumpur-Cuban President, Fidel Castro, will visit Malaysia this year, Cuba Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, said on Tuesday during a two-day visit to Kuala Lumpur.
02/20/2001 CONFISCAN CASAS EN SANTA FE
Agence France Presse-La Habana-Las autoridades cubanas emitieron orden de confiscacion contra 21 viviendas en el barrio de Santa Fe en el oeste de La Habana. , todas vinculadas con procesos ilegales de compra venta o construccion, informa ayer la television local. Una de las casas confiscadas, ahora dedicada a Casa Pedadodo de ese barrio costero, fue vendida por un cubano a un extranjero en $74,000.Otra casa confiscada fue construida ilegalmenteen terrenos estatales con financiamiento de un extranjero, que no se identifico. En cuyo fundo se construyo un muelle para embarcaciones menores por un costo de $20,000. Aunque a mediados de los anos 80 se aprobo legalmente la compra-venta de viviendas despues se congelo debido al deficit. Despues se congelo debio al deficit habitacional en el pais, fundamentalmente en la capital.
02/20/2001 TRABAJADORES SOCIALES, NUEVO ESTILO DE CONTROL
El Nuevo Herald-La proliferacion de contingentes de trabajadores sociales en todo el pais pudiera convertirse en un nuevo mecanismo de control del gobierno cubano pra enfrentar las crecientes expresiones de descontento popular, expecialmente entre jovenes, opinaron expertos. La pasada semana Fidel Castro presidio el acto de graduacion de los primeros 513 egresados de la Escuela para Trabajadores Sociales, ubicada en el poblado habanero de Cjimar, y anunio la proxima creacin de instituciones similares en Santiago y VillaClara. Castro manifesto que la formacin de estos profesionales forma parte de la batalla de ideas que comenzo en la isla con el caso deel nino Elian Gonmalez, y pronostico que Cuba contara pronto con “un ejercito de trabajadores sociales.”
02/21/2001 Cuba ARRESTS EXILE “AGENT” OVER THREAT TO MEXICO
Reuters-Havana-Havana-Havana said on Wednesday it had arrested a Cuban man who allegedly worked for the paramilitary Cuban-American exile group pha 66 and sent threats to the Mexican embassy and various news organizations on the island. A rare satement from Cuba’s Interior Ministry said that Elizardo San Pedro Marin had confessed to sending the vaguely worded messages, which caused consternation among Havana’s diplomatic community earlier this month.
02/21/2001 INICIAN CAMPANA PARA EVITAR SANCION EN GINEBRA
Agence France Presse-La Habana-La cancilleria cubana inicio ayer la batalla por ganar el voto sobre Derechos Humanos en Ginebra, al publicar en su pagina de la internet seis documentos sobre el tema, donde fija su posicion sobre ese sensible asunto y critica al Norte por pretender erigirse en juez del Sur. El canciller cubano, Felipe Perez Roque, acuso a los exiliados de entorpecer las relaciones con Washington.
02/22/2001 HOPES DIM FOR BIG PETROBRAS OIL FIND IN CUBA
Reuters-Havana-Energy-poor Cuba’s hopes that a wildcat well being drilled by foreign firms off the north-central coast will be a gusher are dimming, with drilling going deeper and dragging on longer than expected. The risky project is being carried out by the Brazilian state oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, in conjunction with Canada’s Sherritt International Corp.
02/22/2001 Cuba SAYS LOST $16 BILLION FROM U.S. TOURIST BAN
Reuters-Geneva-The U.S. ban on its citizens visiting Cuba has cost the island nearly $16 billion in lost tourist revenue over the past four decades, a government adviser said on Thursday. But the adviser, Miguel Alejandro Figueras, told a symposium on the tourism industry at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), that the number of U.S. visitors ignoring the veto and potential prosecution was steadily growing. Figueras said, tourists from other countries were flocking in, their numbers soaring to close on 1.8 million last year—well over double that of the mid-1990s—and foreign investment in the sector was soaring.
02/22/2001 ANTI-CASTRO GROUP WANTS BUSH LOOK AT US-Cuba TRADE
Reuters-Washington-The Bush administration needs to decide if new rules allowing U.S. food and medicine sales to Cuba contradict the president’s opposition to relaxing sanctions dating from 1962, and anti-Castro group said on Thursday. The Commerce Department plans to issue the rules, allowing sale of goods ranging from cows to cookies, on Monday. Congress voted last October to allow the sales, the most significant easing in the U.S. embargo in several years. Analysts familiar with the pending regulations say they are broadly written, allowing a long list of items to be sold. One analyst said exporters would not have to obtain a license unless they wanted to sell goods not on the permitted list or wanted to deal with buyers not on the approved list. A Treasury Department permit would be required allowing transfer of money to pay for a purchase, however. “To have them go to two places, they are going to make it so people don’t want to do it,” said an analyst who asked not to be named.
02/22/2001 ALBRIGHT: BUSH CAN’T CHANGE POLICY
Associated Press-Washington-Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, says President Bush would be unable to respond to creative change in Cuba because U.S. law prevents him from doing anything:”until a near perfect democracy was in place.” Her remarks were directed at congressional action in recent years that prevents the executive branch from making changes in the U.S. embargo against Cuba or altering the rules governing travel by Americans to Cuba.
02/23/2001 U.S., Cuba, INVITED TO COLOMBIAN PEACE TALKS
Reuters-Bogota, Colombia-Colombia’s government and largest guerrilla force said on Friday they have invited ideological opposites the United States and Cuba to join a group of “friendly nations” assisting peace talks next month.
02/23/2001 POBRE RENDIMIENTO REDUCE LA SIEMBRA DE TABACO
Agence France Presse-La Habana-El area dedicada a la siembra de tabaco en Vuelta Abajo, donde se obtiene la mejor hoja de Cuba, disminuira a partir de la presente cosecha debido a los bajos rendimientos de algunos cultivadores informo ayer el diario Juventud Rebelde.Un total de 1,940 hectareas hasta ahora dedicadas al tabaco se usaran en otros cultivos, debido a que sus rendimientos eran menores de 9.2 toneladas por caballeria La determinacion afecta a 683 cultivadores, de los cuales 264 eran usufructuarios a quienes se les cerro el contrato de posesion de la tierra, mientras que 247 campesinos son pequenos proprietarios, a los cuales se les conmino a dedicarse a otros cultivos. El diario no precisa sobre el resto.