posted on February 6, 2004 07:53:34 PM new
I don't doubt that Cuban musicians are denied airplay in their own Communist homeland, Max, but should we, as the premiere democracy of the world deny those very same musicians entry into our country to pick up an award? Doesn't that strike you as being every bit as oppressive as Castro's banning of Celia Cruz?
Come on, we're better than that. We're above that petty sh!t.
posted on February 7, 2004 03:33:59 AM new
Camel indeed - it's a double humper.
But a fifth wheel trailer don't look like it will make a very good submarine.
I'm going to Sanibel in another two weeks. I'd go to Cuba in a heart beat if the damn governments were not for all practical purposes at a state of war. It is as petty as can be. How can the government tell a 'free' people where they can go in the world? It is as basically wrong as when they wouldn't let citizens buy gold. They overreach.
posted on February 7, 2004 05:08:08 PM new
Cubans, Idahoans Agree on Hemingway Research, Food
Sat Feb 7, 4:23 PM ET
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba, where Ernest Hemingway lived for two decades, and a foundation in the U.S. state in which he died agreed on Saturday to swap information contained in books and documents the American writer left behind.
Two Idaho Republicans, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter, signed a memorandum of understanding on Saturday under which Cuba's communist government committed itself to buying at least $10 million in farm products, including 5,000 tonnes of potatoes and 10,000 tonnes of beans.
Craig, who last year co-sponsored a measure to end travel restrictions on Americans wanting to visit Cuba, said it was time to start a fresh relationship with Havana.
posted on February 7, 2004 09:31:36 PM new
Pat "denied airplay" is not right. it's Contraband, a jailable offense. ( Can you believe that Lobster is also considered contraband)
The government did not deny their awards only denied their entrance, I'm sure micheal greene will mail it to castro.
Besides the process being political it is also offensive to us. You must understand that the coumminity is not here "to make money" but is here to be able to live free. These people have lost their country, way of life, Families (through executions, imprisonment or just basic government forced family seperations), Homes, ancesteral lands, everything and end up in a different culture with a different language unrestrictedly hostile at times towards them.
You seriously cant believe it would be acceptable for the same promoters that have cost the coumminity everything come here and propagandize their lies and filth. If
so, then we can bring the N#gger, Sp#c and any other so called offensible terms, publicly back into our dictionaries and vocabulary, as it is no different from what is trying to be done .
Your rational is based on freedom, so it will be fairly hard to understand. EVERYTHING is a political arm with these systems. Its only Art, its only music, its only sports, its only science, ect., is what they want you to believe. All the while perversing it with propaganda since all of it will leave an impression on you.
As far as it being as oppresive, Nope, i like it that our current government is looking after the well being of its people.
posted on February 7, 2004 09:40:36 PM new
These are some of the jailable reasons that could be used. These people were some of the ones rounded up sometime around the beginning of last year.
A Partial List of Charges Brought Against Cuban Dissidents
Buying toys for disadvantaged children with money from a Miami group; accepting the Hellman/Hammett Award from the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch. Victor Arroyo, 52, journalist, 26 years in prison.
Maintaining ties to the international non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders; visiting prisoners and their families. Marcelo Cano Rodriguez, 38, medical doctor, 18 years in prison.
Forming the "illegal" and independent Teachers College of Cuba and criticizing the Cuban education system. Juan Roberto de Miranda Hernandez, 57, 20 years in prison.
Speaking on a radio program about the Cuban economy. Oscar Espinosa Chepe, 62, journalist, 20 years in prison.
Being paid for articles on Cuba and the Cuban system. Ricardo Severino Gonzalez Alfonso, 53, journalist and correspondent for Reporters Without Borders, 20 years in prison.
Associating with Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations. Marcelo Manuel Lopez Banobre, 39, tugboat captain, 15 years in prison.
Associating with the International University of Florida; having a typewriter, fax, and books in his home. Hector Fernando Maseda Gutierrez, 60, engineer and physicist, 20 years in prison.
Having "subversive" labor-related books and magazines in his home. Nelson Molinet Espino, 38, independent trade unionist, 25 years in prison.
Having "aggressive and corrosive" leaflets and literature in his home, putting pro-democracy posters on the street, not paying dues to the official union, having an issue of the Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald at his workplace. Felix Navarro Rodriguez, 49, journalist and educator, 25 years in prison.
"...he directs an opposition group of so-called 'human rights,' carrying out activities and meetings, using our national flag and showing posters asking for freedom for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, in a frank challenge to the judicial, political, and social system." --Eduardo Diaz Fleitas, 51, farmer and activist, sentenced to 21 years in prison. Sentence 1/2003, Tribunal Provincial Popular, Pinar del Rio, April 5, 2003
"Informing others objectively and professionally and writing my opinions about the society in which I live cannot be a very serious crime.... No one, no law will make me believe that I have become a gangster or a delinquent just because I report the arrest of a dissident, or list the prices of staple foods in Cuba...."
--Raul Rivero Castaneda, Miami Herald, February 25, 1999. Sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mandatory exit permits restrict the travel of citizens; denial of such permits is used to punish human rights and political activists, and even ordinary citizens seeking lawful emigration. The government stifles possible emigration or asylum claims from medical mission "volunteers" sent abroad by holding their families hostage in Cuba.
posted on February 7, 2004 10:06:28 PM new
Gravid you can go. But know this, you will be contributing to an apartheid system.
You will Eat what they Cant or do not have to eat ( lobster, red meat basically real food), You will go to where they cannot go (beaches, hotels , tourist only stores, restaurants, bars, ect.) You will do what they cannot do ( leave and be free ).
Also, be ready to pay a nice couple thousand dollar donation to the state department on your return trip. So you see Your Free to Go Just not $Free$ to come back.
....."Even those Cubans fortunate enough to work in the tourist industry or for a foreign company are allowed to keep only 5 to 10 percent of their earnings. The rest is appropriated by the government, in clear contravention of international standards. Those who displease the authorities - perhaps through voicing dissent, or through attempts at immigration, or by publishing accurate economic statistics - face the loss of their jobs and even access to food and basic services. Those who dare to organize independent unions outside the government's control suffer retaliation. The workers' paradise is a paradise lost"......
posted on February 7, 2004 10:25:20 PM new
Yes lets Keep on selling to him, it is good for our economy to sell him all he wants the way it is NOW ( CIA; cash in advance, also, his favorite acronym).
Pay attention to the political games : The politicians are trading money for their constituancy for "Support" of what castro wants. They know know that their support Dont Mean Sh!t in the end. They are milking this POS Pig for all he's worth. Got It.
Excerpt....
The logical question becomes: If the embargo is lifted, how will Castro use the credits or funds the United States provides? Not much imagination is needed to concluded that he will use them for the same purposes he squandered billions from the Soviet block. And with more reason now that his situation has worsened by the loss of the Soviet subsidy, and his 44 years of dictatorship and economic failure suffocate even those who previously supported him because the privileges they previously enjoyed have all but disappeared.
The embargo seeks, fundamentally, to impede that Castro obtains more funds or credits to continue financing the repressive apparatus that keeps him in power, and that simultaneously increases Cuba' debt without benefit to the people. Let us recall that since 1992, Castro does not pay the country's foreign debt and as a consequence he finds it increasingly difficult to obtain credits. There is only one country that Castro does not owe to and could provide him with the credit he needs: The United States. For that reason, all of his effort is concentrated on obtaining the lifting of the embargo and gaining access to new credit sources with which he can continue to finance his grip on power.......
Now what is not told here is that CREDITS are BACKED BY U.S. TAX DOLLARS.
FOREIGN DEBT SNAPSHOT
(All amounts are converted to U.S. dollars.)
EUROPE: $10.9 billion. Paris Club creditors (Source: Banco Central de Cuba.) In 1986, Cuba suspended payments of the debt. Despite on-going negotiations, Cuba has yet to service its debt to the Club since issuing a moratorium in 1987.
Eastern Europe: $2.2 billion.
Russia: Estimated at roughly $20 billion.
Canada: $73 million (Excludes short and medium-term commercial debts to Canadian suppliers.)
ASIA
Japan: $1.7 billion (Japan is Cuba’s principal creditor, excluding the former Soviet Union.)
China: $400 million.
LATIN AMERICA
Argentina: $1.58 billion. (Cuba’s second largest creditor behind Japan.)
Mexico: $380 million.
Chile: $20 million.
Venezuela: $266 million. (Mostly in unpaid petroleum purchases, even under highly favorable terms.)
posted on February 7, 2004 10:27:42 PM new
UPDATE ON DEBT TO VENEZUELA
Cuba owes $891 million to Venezuela
MARIANNA PARRAGA | EL UNIVERSAL | www.eluniversal.com
Data show that the island nation made no payment in 2003
Five oil shipments had not been registered on Pdvsa's books by December
The 2000 Cuba-Venezuela Integral Cooperation Agreement, which establishes preferential conditions for the sale of oil to the island nation, continues to feed the debate. Oil experts have said that the raison behind the controversy is Cuba's bad reputation as a client.
Many of the finance employees that the state-owned oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) fired during the December 2002-January 2003 general strike have insisted that Cuba has been delaying payments since day one of the agreement. This almost caused the suspension of supplies in 2002, shortly before Pdvsa accepted to restructure the debt under the condition that Cuba will make all payments on time.
Comments | Read more...
By December 2002, Cuba was paying 20 to 30 billion dollars monthly and had reduced its debt with Venezuela by 140 to 160 billion dollars, as shown by documents of the Venezuelan oil company. But the strike in Venezuela resulted in the removal of most Pdvsa managers who had engineered the restructuring.
Nearly one year after the end of the strike, Cuba's debt reaches 891 million dollars. Information obtained by El Universal shows that the debt includes a 240-million-dollar long-term fraction - due in December last year - that must be paid with promissory notes from the National Bank of Cuba, and a 651-million-dollar short-term fraction, of which 475 million are due and 35 million are delay interest.
An evaluation of the long-lasting Cuban debt reveals the island nation made almost no payment to Pdvsa in 2003, nor did it redeem long-term debits due last month.
Cuba has delayed the payment of $62 million for more than 300 days, $121 million for more than 200 days, and $122 million for more that 100 days.
Moreover, Venezuela has received no more than 20 of the 92 promissory notes should have filed for shipments made January 2003 and March 2004.
This causes an accounting disorder that might explain the financial imbalances Pdvsa is exhibiting lately. For instance, of the 651-million-dollar short-term debt, $48.6 million resulted from the five last shipments already delivered that, by December, were still to be registered on Pdvsa's books.
Industry sources say that this accounting disorder has reduced the firm's cash flow, caused an abnormal use of the Fund of Investment for Macro-Economic Stabilization (FIEM) and deteriorated Pdvsa's position in the international financial markets.
However, Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez has said that the Cuba-Venezuela agreement "has been stabilized" after the imbalance caused by the strike.
Ramirez added that the long-term debt is being dealt with by the Ministry of Finance.
"There is no problem with Pdvsa regarding Cuba's debt or payment delays," he said.
posted on February 9, 2004 02:06:59 PM new
Heads up, Gravid:
U.S. Announces Crackdown on Companies Selling Trips to Cuba
By Adrian Sainz Associated Press Writer
Published: Feb 9, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - The United States will freeze the bank accounts of companies it believes are controlled by the Cuban government or Cuban nationals and sell Americans illegal travel packages to the communist island, officials said Monday.
The Treasury Department's action marks the latest development emerging from President Bush's call for more stringent enforcement of provisions that forbid most travel to Cuba. Exceptions to the travel ban include humanitarian travelers, relatives of Cubans and journalists.
The crackdown also affects travel agents. Any agency that uses these tourism companies or provides Cuban travel packages without a license from the Treasury Department would face civil and criminal penalties, said Juan Zarate, Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing.
By identifying the companies, the U.S. government is warning unlicensed travel agencies and Americans who use them to travel to Cuba without authorization that they can be punished.
posted on February 9, 2004 02:20:42 PM new
Yes I know.
I won't go - just saying it is wrong.
It is no more my governments business to tell me I am not free to travel anywhere than it is Castro's business to tell his people where they may travel.
Exactly how does it promote freedom for The US to copy the same errors the Cubans make?
You condemn it when the Cubans do it but when our government does it that's OK?
None of their business how much money I take out of the country either.
Basically I am free or I am not. Looks like not to me.
If they have the power to can tell me I can't go to Cuba they can tell me I can't go anywhere.
Tell me that isn't true...............
posted on February 9, 2004 03:25:01 PM new
I wish I could...
On the flipside of that same idea, one gets a true sense of just how vulnerable Americans are when travelling abroad. The State Department's travel warnings list grows longer every month, and some countries seem to be on it in perpetuity. 'Course, maybe I'm not reading it right... maybe I'm missing the whole point -- what better way for a FREE government to keep its citizens at home than by issuing reports to scare them out of leaving.
You can go to Cuba anytime you wish for a visit. I know for a fact that people do go no matter what the treasury department says.
Most take direct flights via Mexico city or Toronto and Montreal canada once they get there.
This whole deal about Cuba is just plain stupid. Since the U.S. deals with the red chinese and a horde of dictators all over the world why so much focus on one old fart who will be dead soon.
posted on February 9, 2004 05:42:17 PM new
Yes but they can turn a blind eye to the Chinese because they have decided they need the business.
Cuba doesn't have anything they can't live without.
And if you come back with your passport stamped they will fine the crap outa you. No way to know ahead of time if they will stamp it or not. Sometimes they do - sometimes not.
I sorta figured some people are too dense to offer a bribe as is expected in most of these other countries.
posted on February 11, 2004 01:24:12 PM newCuban Family Caught in Boat-Car Sent to Guantanamo
By Catherine Wilson Associated Press Writer
Published: Feb 11, 2004
MIAMI (AP) - The Cuban family that twice tried to reach the United States on vintage vehicles converted into boats received a reprieve from the Bush administration on Wednesday and will be sent to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
The Department of Homeland Security decided the family has a credible fear of persecution if they are sent home and plans "a detailed examination."
The decision means Luis Grass Rodriguez, his wife and 4-year-old son will be safe from any retribution from the island's communist government.
"Thank God," family attorney William Sanchez said.
Grass and his family were picked up at sea on a 1959 Buick along with eight others last week. The eight were repatriated Tuesday.
With the Guantanamo decision in hand, the family's attorneys asked to drop their court challenge to the federal wet foot-dry foot policy allowing most Cubans to stay when they set foot on U.S. soil but repatriating most who are caught at sea.
But U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno ruled against the family in a six-page order after a Homeland Security refugee officer acted.
"It is difficult to imagine a more creative way to escape the dictatorial regime that is Cuba," the judge wrote. But he said federal judges had no "authority to admit aliens, even imaginative, hardworking, brave individuals."
The family was treated differently from the others on the Buick because Grass filed a visa request after he was scooped off a floating Chevrolet pickup last July, about 40 miles off U.S. soil.
In cases with less fanfare, the United States has returned other people three times.
The federal policy was adopted by the Clinton administration in 1995 following a mass exodus of Cuban rafters. The Bush administration follows it despite criticism from Miami's politically pivotal Cuban-American community.
Ramon Saul Sanchez, leader of the Miami-based Democracy Movement for nonviolent political change in Cuba, thanked the Bush administration for opening up the door to U.S. asylum and called it "a positive first step."
"We don't feel 100 percent satisfied because they were not brought to reunite with the family in the United States," he said.
Meanwhile, Cuban police in Havana inspected a house and several auto repair shops Wednesday in a neighborhood where residents were involved in the two vehicle-to-boat schemes.
Police said they were looking for a red 1951 Ford pickup belonging to the family of Marcial Basanta, one of the refugees returned to Cuba on Tuesday, according to Basanta's father, also named Marcial.
Authorities left without seizing the vehicle, which was parked in an adjacent garage.
