There are 12 messages in this issue.
pedro martori
There are 12 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Cuba: Prisoners of conscience must be released - Amnesty International
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
2. Exiles worry they help Castro by sending cash to Cuban relatives
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
3. Remesas alivian las penurias de los cubanos
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
4. Once scorned, tattoos are now the rage
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
5. Hijacker's mom wants to come to U.S.
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
6. Las parejas en Cuba tienen peleas por el béisbol y las novelas
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
7. Cuba compra más vacas a ganaderos de Estados Unidos
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
8. México cierra banco de comercio exterior en Cuba
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
9. Honduras presenta en ONU moción sobre derechos humanos en Cuba
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
10. Cuba recupera niveles cosecha cítricos y crecen exportaciones
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
11. Caso de Cuba divide a Comisión de Derechos Humanos de ONU
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
12. Dissident in a coma after hunger strike
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:01:55 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Cuba: Prisoners of conscience must be released - Amnesty International
Cuba: Prisoners of conscience must be released
Wednesday, 17 March 2004, 11:40 am
Press Release: Amnesty International
Cuba: Government must release prisoners of conscience immediately
A new report by Amnesty International reveals the current state of 75
prisoners of conscience arrested during the March 2003 crackdown when scores
of dissidents were detained in a series of targeted sweeps. Some were
subsequently released, but many were subjected to hasty and manifestly
unfair trials and sentenced to long prison terms. (For a copy of the report
Cuba: One year too many : prisoners of conscience from the March 2003
crackdown please see:
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maab2TWaa5cjDbb0hPub/)
"After a detailed review of the legal cases against them, it is clear that
they are prisoners of conscience -- detained for the peaceful expression of
their beliefs. They should be released immediately and unconditionally,"
Amnesty International said.
Cuba: One year too many : prisoners of conscience from the March 2003
crackdownprovides details of the current status of the majority of the
dissidents. The dissidents were accused of activities such as publishing
articles critical of economic, social or human rights issues in Cuba; being
involved in unofficial groups considered by the authorities to be
counter-revolutionary or having contacts with individuals viewed as hostile
to Cuba's interests.
The report also details the conditions in which the detainees are held.
Amnesty International has received some allegations of ill-treatment by
prison guards or by other prisoners with the complicity of prison guards. In
one case, Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona was reportedly taken from his cell
and beaten by three prison guards on 31 December 2003.
There have also been allegations that prisoners have been held in solitary
confinement for extended periods and that prisoners have received inadequate
access to medical care.
In particular Amnesty International denounces the practice of deliberately
incarcerating these prisoners of conscience at extreme distances from their
homes and families. This practice contravenes United Nations principles and
can be construed as an additional penalty imposed upon the prisoners and
their families.
Written and telephone communications between many prisoners and their
families have also been restricted, reportedly as a form of harassment by
prison officials.
"The Cuban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all
prisoners of conscience. In addition we call upon the authorities to comply
with the principles laid out in international human rights standards for the
treatment of prisoners," the organization concluded.
Amnesty International has recorded a total of 88 prisoners of conscience
in Cuba.
For a copy of the report Cuba: One year too many : prisoners of conscience
from the March 2003 crackdown please see:
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maab2TWaa5cjDbb0hPub/
View all documents on Cuba at
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maab2TWaa5cjEbb0hPub/
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0403/S00235.htm
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:09:37 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Exiles worry they help Castro by sending cash to Cuban relatives
Exiles worry they help Castro by sending cash to Cuban relatives
By Vanessá Bauzá
And Diana Marrero Staff Writers
March 31, 2004
América Puig does not own a home or expensive clothing, and the closest
thing she has ever come to a vacation is a weekend road trip across
Alligator Alley.
The daycare worker, 52, saves every extra penny for something closer to her
heart: sending cash and gifts to her twin sister in Havana, Rita María, whom
she has not seen in seven years.
Maybe América Puig and her husband, who works two part-time jobs, could
afford to visit Disney World were it not for her family back in Cuba. Maybe
they wouldn't be renting an apartment near Miami's International Airport,
where planes roar overhead day and night. But she quickly dismisses these
daydreams while looking at a picture of her sister.
"Her woes are my woes," América Puig says.
Her dilemma is shared by hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans who want
to see an end to Castro's communist system but send money that ultimately
helps keep Cuba's ailing economy afloat. Along with the tourism industry,
remittances are Cuba's biggest moneymaker.
In a recent poll conducted for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and WTVJ
Channel 6 by Florida International University, 54 percent of Cuban-Americans
surveyed in Miami-Dade and Broward counties said they send money to Cuba.
According to the survey, the average amount sent per household in 2003 was
$387 for an estimated total of about $100 million annually from South
Florida.
In central Havana, Rita María Puig lives with her sons, daughter-in-law and
granddaughter in the same tidy little apartment where she and her sister
grew up. She makes $20 a month at the Ministry of Education and buys used
clothing, which she sometimes mends on a pedal-powered Singer sewing machine
that is older than she.
The $50 or $100 remittances that are delivered occasionally by friends of
América Puig help Rita María Puig buy essentials such as soap, detergents
and shampoo.
When she buys a bottle of oil, she shares a cup or two with a longtime
neighbor who doesn't receive money from abroad.
"Here on my block it is the minority which receives remittances. The
remittances undoubtedly help me, but I don't totally depend on them," Rita
María Puig said, adding that she and her two sons pool their salaries to
make ends meet.
Family, not politics
Ask América Puig what she thinks about remittances in the abstract and she
will tell you she is against them.
But it's more complicated than that.
"It's not because I think it keeps Fidel Castro in power, but because these
remittances help keep the people from revolting in the streets," she said.
"But she is my sister. I can't abandon her."
While FIU has surveyed Cuban-Americans' attitudes towards the trade embargo
and other U.S. policies seven times since 1991, the recent poll marks the
first time respondents were asked how much money they send to Cuba.
Respondents answered conservatively, yielding a figure on the low end of
remittance estimates, said Guillermo Grenier, a FIU sociology professor who
wrote the poll.
Some experts have estimated that remittances could total $1 billion a year,
but that figure is widely thought to be too high.
About 21 percent of respondents declined to say how much cash they sent
relatives in Cuba last year, perhaps reflecting the controversy within the
Cuban-American community over whether remittances help families or Castro.
Other respondents may have told surveyors they send less money than they do
due to Treasury Department rules, which restrict annual remittances to no
more than $1,200 a year. Also, Grenier said the poll may not reflect a
substantial amount of money taken to Cuba by visiting émigrés or by an
underground network of couriers which, for a fee, send money to Cuba through
third countries.
"It is a question that really brings to light a lot of the contradictions of
being Cuban-American," Grenier said. "On the one hand you've committed
yourself to leaving Cuba and establishing a new life. But part of your
identity is that of being an exile. Sending money back is a measure of how
much of your identity is still tied to the island and the island's future."
An emotional decision
The survey of 1,807 Cuban-Americans found that sending money to Cuba is not
an economic decision but rather an emotional one. Cuban-Americans who
arrived in South Florida after 1985 were more than twice as likely to send
money than their more financially secure counterparts who arrived between
1959 and 1964.
Most of those who send money, or about 16 percent, sent $300 or less last
year while 8.2 percent sent between $300 and $500 and 8.8 percent sent more
than $1,000. In addition, 58 percent of all respondents said they send
medicines and vitamins.
The new U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, chaired by Secretary
of State Colin Powell, may recommend limiting family remittances when it
releases its findings this spring. The move would be unpopular, especially
among more recent and moderate Cuban-Americans. However, it would be
consistent with other Bush administration efforts to close Cuba trade and
travel loopholes.
In Cuba, where salaries average about $10 a month, rent and electricity are
government subsidized. Ration cards offer low prices on some food staples
such as rice, beans, coffee and sugar. But those rations only last about two
weeks. Many household necessities such as cooking oil, meat and detergents
are available only in dollars, at prices that are often more expensive than
in U.S. stores. This is a source of frustration for many Cubans who say they
barely get by on their wages at the current exchange rate of 26 pesos to $1.
Most Cubans interviewed in Havana said they use remittances strictly for
food. Along with the increase in coveted tourism jobs, remittances have
helped create new class divisions between those who have and don't have
families abroad.
On a recent afternoon María Elena González, 58, walked to an Old Havana
Western Union office on her lunch break to pick up $300 sent by her father,
a retired truck driver in Miami.
"It's an extraordinary help for my entire family," said González, an
economist who earns the equivalent of $15 a month. "There are some things
that are only sold in dollars. What the government gives you is not enough."
González said she does not understand that some Cuban-Americans choose not
to send money because of political reasons.
"Remittances are a family thing, I think everyone who is there [in Miami]
makes a sacrifice for family above everything," she said.
Carlos García, who left Cuba about a dozen years ago, said he sends about
$100 a month to his family.
He is the only one in his family in South Florida and as such carries a
heavy financial burden caring for his retired parents, a 16-year-old son and
two siblings in Cuba.
"If it wasn't for me, they would have a hard time scraping together enough
money for food," said García, who lives in Kendall.
Deep-seated Resentment
Some Cuban-Americans say their hatred for the Cuban government runs so deep
that they refuse to send money to relatives.
"I don't want anything to do with Cuba," said Irma Vega, who will send her
cousins medicine if they need it, but not cash. "I don't want to do anything
to help the government economically."
Vega, who left Cuba at the age of 17 in 1959, might feel differently if her
two sons or close relatives remained on the island, experts say.
"Most people who argue against remittances are people who no longer have
relatives in Cuba," said FIU sociology professor Lisandro Pérez.
Ninoska Pérez Castellón, a prominent exile activist and conservative radio
talk show host, said she has no problem with people sending money to their
relatives when the money is for food or medicine.
But she finds it offensive when people send money for weddings or quinces,
the Hispanic version of a Sweet 16 celebration, but which is celebrated at
age 15."When it becomes frivolous, all it does is help the economy of Fidel
Castro," she said. "In this case, it's an economy that helps repress the
Cuban people."
Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vmba...@yahoo.com. Diana Marrero can be
reached at dmar...@sun-sentinel.com.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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Message: 3
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:10:28 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Remesas alivian las penurias de los cubanos
Remesas alivian las penurias de los cubanos
April 3, 2004
Las remesas son un asunto con dos caras. Como las monedas. Casi todos los
cubanos exiliados hablan de estar en contra porque, supuestamente, la ayuda
favorece al gobierno de Fidel Castro. Pero muchos en ocasiones dan hasta lo
que tienen para enviar unos dolarcitos. Que en verdad alivian penurias, por
decir el hambre, de muchos cubanos en la isla. Una economía que, junto con
el turismo y algunas inversiones extranjeras, inyecta vida y disminuye las
necesidades bajo un gobierno a espaldas de la historia y la modernidad.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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Message: 4
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:11:08 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Once scorned, tattoos are now the rage
Once scorned, tattoos are now the rage
Vanessa Bauza
April 4, 2004
HAVANA · When Che Alejandro got his first tattoo with a sewing needle 12
years ago his parents were so angry they threw him out of the house. Ink on
skin was synonymous with prison life and "anti-social" behavior; too much
rock 'n' roll, too little revolution.
The former carpenter is now one of Havana's most sought-after tattoo
artists, seeing clients at his small "TAT-2" home studio by appointment
only. What's more, his father, a devout communist, now also sports a
permanent portrait on his shoulder: a young, cigar-chomping Fidel Castro.
Like skaters, rappers and heavy metal rockers, Cuba's tattoo artists have
carved out a niche for themselves over the past decade despite being seen by
some as outcasts in a society that prizes uniformity.
Many work with homemade tattooing machines assembled from tape recorder
motors, sewing machine pedals and disposable acupuncture needles. Tattooing
supplies are not available in Cuba, so artists rely on networks of friends
abroad, often trading their work for bottles of brightly colored dyes,
magazines featuring the latest trends or even a coveted factory-made
machine.
Tucked away discretely in homes and often without any signs to summon
potential customers, studios exist in a gray area of Cuba's laws, which
tightly regulate private enterprise. They are not licensed, taxed or
inspected, but are officially tolerated.
Near Havana's outskirts, in his parents' fourth-floor apartment overlooking
a sea of drab buildings, tattoo artist Renier Rodriguez, 25, sees a steady
stream of clients in his tiny bedroom where the green walls are decorated
with posters and postcards of 1980s heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden and
Pantera.
On a recent afternoon Rodriguez's ex-wife Yudelis Melchor winced at the hot
sting of his humming, homemade tattoo machine. As he etched a red-haired
Viking vixen onto Melchor's back, their 4-year-old son, Elvis, jumped on the
bed to the beat of Bob Marley's reggae tunes.
Rodriguez, a former high school art teacher, quit his day job a year ago to
tattoo full time. Like others, he charges about $15 for a medium-sized
tattoo, a fraction of the going rate in the United States. Still he earns
more than doctors or lawyers, who make the equivalent of about $25 a month.
But he says it's not about the money.
"I like this more than painting. You can't erase, you have to be prepared,"
said Rodriguez, who has the word "FEARLESS" tattooed across his belly as
well as a tangle of thunderbolts, skulls and demons down both shoulders.
"People come here for zodiac signs, Aztec designs. They get Marilyn Manson
or Che [tattoos]," Rodriguez said. "Women my age have come to get tattoos on
their ankles," added Rodriguez's mother Concepcion Ruiz, 54, as she lingered
at his bedroom door. "I don't know whether this is a fad or not, but a lot
of people are getting it done."
Young women tend to get inked with tribal designs across their lower backs
or flowers and vines like the ones covering Melchor's Caesarean section
scar. The most cutting-edge designs are influenced by American skate
companies' logos or a U.S. trend known as "new school" -- fresh
interpretations of 1940s and '50s tattoo designs.
For now, tattoo artists are using official channels to gain a wider audience
and skirt restrictive laws on self-employment. Last week they hosted a
Tattoo Expo at Havana's Hermanos Sainz center for young artists, sponsored
by the Ministry of Culture. Earlier this year tattoo aficionados held their
first conference in Havana's National Library, discussing everything from
tattoo history and techniques to recent trends.
"There are people within the Ministry of Culture who see this as an art
form, as something to promote," Alejandro, 31, said.
"Others don't see it that way. In a country like ours . you have to belong
to a cultural institution to support you. That's how you're able to keep
working."
At the expo, artists took turns showing off their skills with live
demonstrations at four tattooing stations while the music of AC/DC and Quiet
Riot blared in the background.
"There are some taboos here; tattoos are seen as marginal," said Marsden
Castellanos, 23, a painter turned tattoo artist who attended the expo. "We
try to break those barriers and show that art can be made with tattoos. This
is a new movement in Cuba, there are still some prejudices."
Another tattoo artist at the expo, Deinni Alonso, 23, said his body art puts
some people off.
"My girlfriend's father thinks I'm a delinquent," said Alonso, who has a
Betty Boop cartoon tattoo on his calf. "Some people don't relate to people
like me. They lived in other times, we live in ours."
Vanessa Bauzá
can be reached at vmba...@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-abauza04apr04,0,5203965.column?coll=sfla-news-cuba
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:12:32 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Hijacker's mom wants to come to U.S.
Hijacker's mom wants to come to U.S.
By Andrea Rodriguez
The Associated Press
April 10, 2004
HAVANA · One year after a firing squad executed her son and two other
ferryboat hijackers, Ramona Copello says there is nothing left for her in
Cuba.
Her 31-year-old son, Lorenzo Enrique Copello, was among a group of armed men
who seized a ferry full of passengers on April 2, 2003, and tried to force
it to sail to the United States.
"I keep asking myself why they executed him," Copello told The Associated
Press Thursday night. "I want to leave this country."
But she wants to exit legally, as a political refugee to the United States.
Her paperwork was submitted months ago, and now she awaits final word from
American officials.
Her son seized the ferry during a series of attempted and successful
hijackings of planes and boats that raised fears on both sides of the
Florida straits of a brewing migration crisis.
Coming just as Fidel Castro's government was handing down prison sentences
to 75 activists on charges of being U.S. mercenaries, the April 11, 2003,
executions by firing squad were condemned around the world.
Although the hijackers were armed, and some had threatened to harm
passengers, none of the estimated 50 people aboard the ferry was hurt.
The executions were the first on the island in several years.
Although there have been several isolated hijacking attempts since then, the
executions that shocked the world stopped a frenzied string of hijackings
that alarmed communist officials.
Cuban authorities justified the executions as a painful measure necessary to
prevent a mass exodus and possible retaliation by the United States.
"The government panicked," dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua said recently of
the decision to send the men to the firing squad.
The head of Cuba's Moderate Opposition Reflection Group, Cuesta Morua is now
overseeing a signature gathering effort to eliminate capital punishment on
the island.
"The sentences imposed by the tribunals and upheld by the Council of State
had to be applied without wavering to the hijackers of the ferry," Castro
said in April 2003 speech.
All other would-be hijackers "should know that they will undergo extremely
quick trials in the appropriate courts," Castro said in that speech.
Two weeks after the executions, Castro said U.S. officials and exile leaders
were hoping for a mass exodus "that could serve as a pretext for military
aggression against Cuba."
The last such exodus was in 1994, when Castro told Cubans they were free to
go and more than 30,000 took to the sea in rickety boats and rafts.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-acuba10apr10,0,4648579.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba
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Message: 6
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:13:11 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Las parejas en Cuba tienen peleas por el béisbol y las novelas
Las parejas en Cuba tienen peleas por el béisbol y las novelas
Por Eduardo Yero
Agencia efe
April 10, 2004
La Habana · Las mujeres cubanas, que gozan de una marcada igualdad social en
la isla, se declararon "al borde de un ataque de nervios", pues los partidos
de béisbol se trasmiten por televisión en un horario que coincide con sus
telenovelas de preferencia.
Aunque "la sangre no ha llegado al río" como reza el viejo adagio, no es
menos cierto que en los hogares cubanos dicha liguilla y las telenovelas
provoca no pocos enfrentamientos entre las féminas, amantes a ultranza de
los culebrones y los hombres, acérrimos defensores de la pelota.
Estas escaramuzas, siempre verbales, se producen generalmente en los días
intermedios de la semana, lo que obliga a alguna de las dos partes
contendientes a replegarse en pos de defender sus propios interese
televisivos.
Se da el hecho, en el caso de los hombres, de que cuando la intransigencia
femenina llega a su clímax en su intención de ver la telenovela, ya sea la
brasileña o cubana que disfrutan por estos días, los varones se ven
obligados a irse en busca de lugares donde puedan disfrutar su partido de
béisbol.
Para evitar males mayores, muchos hombres buscan su consuelo en algún otro
vecino con dotes un poco más machistas y que a capa y espada defienden su
derecho a disfrutar de la pelota por la televisión.
"¡Qué batazo!", "¡tremenda jugada!", "¡se ponchó en hora buena!", suelen ser
algunas de las frases más escuchadas en las tertulias masculinas que logran
vencer el apetito novelesco de sus cónyuges.
Otros, los menos, afortunados, no les quedan más remedio que resignarse a
escuchar el partido por la radio hasta que termine la telenovela de ocasión,
y salen despavoridos ante la idílica frase de "viejo, ya puedes ver la
pelota", que esperan con ansias y que les suena como una verdadera pócima
que calma su más agudo dolor.
El béisbol, más que una pasión, es un elemento indispensable de la cultura
cubana, por lo que resulta más fácil ver en cualquier cuna de los infantes
un guante y una pelota, útiles imprescindibles de este deporte, que otro
tipo de juguete para atraer su atención.
Risas y alegrías por las victorias, llanto y frustración por las derrotas,
son los denominadores comunes que predominan entre la mayoría de los
fanáticos cubanos a la pelota.
Por tanto, las "peleas" entre hombres y mujeres, en el mejor sentido de la
palabra, podrían convertirse en algo cotidiano en los hogares cubanos, donde
unas claman por sus culebrones, y los otros, por su pasatiempo nacional.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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Message: 7
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:15:06 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Cuba compra más vacas a ganaderos de Estados Unidos
CUBA-EEUU
Cuba compra más vacas a ganaderos de Estados Unidos
Fecha: 27/3/2004 Fuente : EFE
La Habana, 26 mar (EFECOM).- Cuba firmó hoy un nuevo contrato para
comprar ganado a una compañía de EEUU y consideró que de no existir el
embargo económico impuesto por Washington a la isla esas importaciones
podrían llegar a 100.000 cabezas de ganado anuales.
El trato para la compra de 50 cabezas de ganado lechero fue sellado
este viernes en La Habana por el director de la empresa cubana Alimport,
Pedro Alvarez, y el ranchero estadounidense John Parke Wright, presidente de
la compañía del mismo nombre del estado de la Florida.
El pasado octubre, la compañía norteamericana se convirtió en la
primera empresa ganadera de Florida en suministrar ganado a la isla con una
operación de venta de 250 cabezas de tres variedades para la producción de
carne.
"Lo que ha sucedido hoy va más allá de la venta de unas cuantas
cabezas de ganado, se trata de la apertura de las relaciones comerciales en
la esfera de la agricultura y la ganadería", declaró en rueda de prensa el
empresario estadounidense.
"Esta no es una compra con ribetes políticos, por el contrario, se
trata de establecer vínculos de amistad y nos complace ser los primeros
ganaderos de la Florida en ser invitados a participar en la Feria
Internacional Agropecuaria" de La Habana.
Las compañía agropecuaria de John Parke Wright participa con una
muestra de sus productos en la feria comercial cubana que se celebra esta
semana en La Habana junto a firmas y empresas de 12 países.
El empresario norteamericano consideró "importante que se establezca
la amistad a través de las relaciones económicas" y se manifestó esperanzado
en que en un futuro exista la posibilidad de convertirse en un importador de
productos cubanos como el café, los puros y helados.
"El puente nunca se rompió sólo que las puertas estuvieron cerradas,
pero en estos momentos las verjas de los ranchos vuelven a abrirse y
nosotros marchamos a través de esas puertas a la velocidad mayor posible
montando en nuestros caballos", dijo.
Por su parte, Pedro Alvarez señaló que este contrato "sigue marcando
la pauta del interés de Cuba de seguir importando ganado de los EEUU".
El ejecutivo de Alimport indicó que en este momento están ya en Cuba
más de 400 cabezas de ganado importadas de EEUU, una parte de ellas
suministradas por J. P Wright y en total han comprado más de 500 cabezas.
Explicó que Cuba está interesada en ver qué ganado norteamericano
ofrece mayores posibilidades de adaptación a la isla con el objetivo de
alcanzar compras que podrían llegar a las 100.000 cabezas.
Además recalcó que el "mal de las vacas locas" no ha provocado la
cancelación de los contratos sino que están firmado nuevos y que su país
mantiene "la confianza en ganaderos y científicos norteamericanos".
Desde diciembre de 2001, cuando empresas y productores agropecuarios
norteamericanos fueron autorizados por el gobierno de EEUU a vender a Cuba
en operaciones comerciales pagadas al contado, la isla ha comprometido
compras por un valor superior a los 631 millones de dólares. EFECOM
rmo/mar/chg/ap
http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1042808
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Message: 8
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:15:53 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: México cierra banco de comercio exterior en Cuba
Zonas - Latinoamérica - México
México cierra banco de comercio exterior en Cuba
Fecha: 30/3/2004 Fuente : Reuters
Por Marc Frank
LA HABANA, mar 30 (Reuters) - El representante de la unidad en Cuba
del banco de comercio exterior de México, Bancomext, dijo el martes que la
institución cerraría su representación en La Habana en abril, en lo que
podría verse como el más reciente enfriamiento en las relaciones entre ambos
países.
"Nuestro personal ya ha partido, la oficina cierra a mediados de abril
y yo parto en 20 días", dijo César Lajud Desentis, a cargo de las
operaciones en Cuba del Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior.
Bancomext ha funcionado como intermediario de más de 200 firmas
mexicanas que hacen negocios en Cuba y durante la última década luchó sin
éxito para recuperar deudas vencidas por unos 400 millones de dólares.
"No hay duda de que la salida de Bancomext tiene tintes políticos y
económicos, así que no son buenas noticias para Cuba", dijo un diplomático
latinoamericano, cuya embajada ha contratado a algunos de los empleados de
Bancomext.
Algunas compañías mexicanas han urgido a Bancomext a que reconsidere
el cierre de la oficina establecida en 1975, la más grande de entre un total
de 14 que el banco dice cerrará debido a problemas presupuestales.
"Es cierto que las compañías mexicanas quedarán sin un asesor
invaluable en un mercado único y complejo", dijo Lajud.
Durante la administración del presidente Vicente Fox, México, que
alguna vez fue el aliado latinoamericano más cercano al gobierno comunista
de Cuba, se ha enfrentado a Cuba por la situación de los derechos humanos en
la isla.
Castro canceló unilateralmente un acuerdo de reestructuración de deuda
con Bancomext en el 2002, durante un roce político con Fox. El pacto había
sido firmado apenas unos meses antes, tras años de negociaciones.
El acuerdo de reestructuración contemplaba que Cuba pagaría la deuda
en un plazo de 10 años y fue garantizado por los ingresos del monopolio
estatal de telecomunicaciones Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba
SA (Etecsa), en el que Telecom Italia S.p.A. tiene un 29,29% de
participación.
Bancomext ha llevado a los tenedores de acciones de Etecsa a juicio en
Europa para recuperar 70 millones de dólares de la deuda, dijo Lajud, quien
admitió que recuperar el resto será más complicado después de que cierre la
oficina de Bancomext.
((Mesa de edición en español +1 305 810 2625)) REUTERS GM RM LEA/
http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1044552
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Message: 9
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:16:38 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Honduras presenta en ONU moción sobre derechos humanos en Cuba
Zonas - Latinoamérica - Perú
Honduras presenta en ONU moción sobre derechos humanos en
Cuba
Fecha: 7/4/2004 Fuente : Reuters
GINEBRA, abr 6 (Reuters) - Honduras presentó el martes
ante la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas una moción en la
que insta al gobierno de Cuba a garantizar la libertad de expresión y de
religión en la isla caribeña.
El texto de la moción pide también a las autoridades del
país de gobierno comunista que lleven a cabo "un diálogo fructífero" con los
diferentes grupos políticos y sectores de la sociedad para impulsar el
desarrollo de las instituciones democráticas y las libertades civiles.
El documento apoya el derecho de los ciudadanos cubanos a
tener juicios justos e imparciales, y deplora las duras condenas aplicadas
hace un año a 75 disidentes y opositores, pero no pide su liberación.
Perú, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Australia y la República
Checa se unieron a Honduras como patrocinadores oficiales de la moción.
Diplomáticos opinaron que aunque Estados Unidos no ha
firmado como copatrocinador de la moción, ha dejado en claro que la apoya,
conjuntamente con los Estados de la Unión Europea que son miembros de la
comisión.
La Comisión de Derechos Humanos, integrada por 53 países y
que realiza su sesión anual de seis semanas para examinar las violaciones de
los derechos humanos en el mundo, tiene previsto comenzar la semana próxima
las votaciones sobre las propuestas presentadas.
La moción hondureña insta a Cuba a cooperar con la
relatora de la ONU, la magistrada Christine Chanet, para investigar las
presuntas violaciones de los derechos humanos en Cuba.
Chanet, quien nunca ha recibido permiso del gobierno del
presidente Fidel Castro para visitar Cuba, dijo en su primer informe -dado a
conocer en enero- sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en la isla, que
decenas de disidentes son mantenidos en condiciones alarmantes, celdas de
aislamiento o instalaciones congestionadas y compartidas con "delincuentes
comunes".
La Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la ONU aprobó el año
pasado una resolución presentada por cuatro naciones latinoamericanas: Costa
Rica, Uruguay, Perú y Nicaragua, en la que se instó a Cuba a aceptar la
investigación de las Naciones Unidas.
Sin embargo, el gobierno de La Habana acusó a los países
que presentaron la moción de ser "lacayos" de Estados Unidos y dijo que la
Comisión debería enfocar su atención en la base naval de Guantánamo, donde
Washington mantiene detenidos a cientos de supuestos miembros del movimiento
Talibán y de la red islámica radical Al Qaeda, de Osama bin Laden.
Cuba recibió una fuerte condena internacional en abril del
2003, cuando condenó a 75 opositores, algunos mayores de 60 años, a penas
carcelarias que oscilaron entre seis y 28 años, acusándolos de "conspirar
con Estados Unidos" para derrocar al gobierno de la isla.
Cuba permitió la semana pasada que periodistas extranjeros
visitaran instalaciones médicas en dos prisiones, por primera vez en 18
años, en un intento por calmar las críticas de que los opositores están
siendo maltratados.
La Comisión aprobó el año pasado una resolución más
estricta, presentada por Costa Rica y apoyada por Estados Unidos y la Unión
Europea, en la que demandaban la liberación de los disidentes presos.
((Por Stephanie Nebehay. Reuters Messaging:
stephanie.nebe...@reuters.net. Mesa de edición en español +1 305
810 2625))
REUTERS JRP hmp/
http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1048924
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Message: 10
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:17:21 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Cuba recupera niveles cosecha cítricos y crecen exportaciones
CUBA-CITRICOS
Cuba recupera niveles cosecha cítricos y crecen exportaciones
Fecha: 9/4/2004 Fuente : EFE
La Habana, 9 abr (EFECOM).- Cuba está recuperando los niveles de
cosecha de cítricos y las exportaciones de ese rubro han crecido en un 21%,
tras los daños ocasionados a sus plantaciones por el azote de tres huracanes
en 2001-2002, dijo hoy la prensa local.
La cosecha en 2003 llegó a 673.000 toneladas, luego de que la
recolección había descendido a 414.200 en el 2002, indica el más reciente
número del semanario "Granma Internacional".
La mejor cosecha de cítricos reportada en la isla data del 2000 cuando
llegó a 858.200 toneladas y el 70% de la producción de cítricos cubanos
pertenece a la naranja.
De acuerdo con el director del grupo empresarial frutícola de Cuba,
Percy Ruiz, los mayores clientes de los cítricos cubanos ya no son sólo de
Europa, sino también países del Caribe y el Japón.
Explicó que durante el pasado año se realizaron las primeras
exportaciones de jugo congelado de naranjas y señaló que las inversiones
agrícolas han permitido duplicar los rendimientos en los últimos años que
hoy muestran un promedio de 20 toneladas por hectárea.
La mayor empresa de cítricos de Cuba se encuentra en la provincia
occidental de Matanzas, y es la productora de la mitad de las naranjas y
toronjas que exporta la isla. EFECOM rmo/bg
http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1050160
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Message: 11
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:18:42 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Caso de Cuba divide a Comisión de Derechos Humanos de ONU
Zonas - Latinoamérica - Perú
Caso de Cuba divide a Comisión de Derechos Humanos de ONU
Fecha: 26/3/2004 Fuente : Reuters
Por Anthony Boadle
LA HABANA, mar 26 (Reuters) - Estados Unidos busca un país
latinoamericano que auspicie una resolución de condena a Cuba en la Comisión
de los Derechos Humanos de la ONU, que sesiona en Ginebra, dijeron el
viernes fuentes diplomáticas.
Seguramente un país centroamericano, posiblemente Costa Rica, será el
que presente la resolución contra el gobierno comunista del presidente Fidel
Castro, indicaron diplomáticos en La Habana, que pronostican una votación
reñida.
El canciller cubano, Felipe Pérez Roque, entregó el jueves un borrador
de la resolución que --afirmó-- fue redactado por el Departamento de Estado
y entregado el miércoles a un "grupo selecto" de países miembros de la
comisión de la ONU con la intención de que uno de ellos lo presente.
Pérez Roque denunció que el borrador era el inicio de una "maniobra"
anual de Estados Unidos para justificar el embargo económico que mantiene
contra Cuba desde hace más de cuatro décadas.
El texto fue considerado "muy moderado" por diplomáticos consultados
por Reuters, lo cual ayudaría a conseguir apoyo latinoamericano.
"Tiene que ser lo suficiente crítico para lograr un quórum en Ginebra,
y suficiente moderado para obtener el apoyo de América Latina", dijo un
diplomático europeo.
De los 53 miembros de la Comisión, 11 son latinoamericanos (Argentina,
Brasil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, República Dominicana, Guatemala, Honduras,
México, Paraguay y Perú) y sus votos o abstenciones son cruciales en una
votación reñida.
El borrador no menciona al encarcelamiento de 75 disidentes hace un
año, ni el fusilamiento sumario de tres hombres que secuestraron un ferry de
La Habana para intentar llegar a Florida.
El texto insta a Cuba a tomar pasos para facilitar una transición
hacia un diálogo entre todos los grupos políticos y corrientes de
pensamiento en la isla, con el fin de promover el desarrollo pleno de
instituciones democráticas y las libertades civiles.
También pide a Cuba cooperar con la jueza francesa Christine Chanet,
designada el año pasado representante personal del Alto Comisionado de la
ONU para los Derechos Humanos.
Cuba le ha negado el ingreso a la isla y rechazó su informe que
critica las condiciones "alarmantes" de los disidentes encarcelados en
prisiones alejadas de sus familias y hacinados en celdas con presos comunes.
La resolución del 2003, que fue patrocinada por Costa Rica, Perú y
Uruguay, y que nombró a un enviado especial de derechos humanos para Cuba,
fue aprobada por 24 votos a favor, con 20 en contra y nueve abstenciones,
entre estas Argentina y Brasil.
Chile, pese a tener un gobierno socialista, votó a favor de la
resolución contra La Habana, al igual que Costa Rica, Guatemala, México,
Paraguay, Perú y Uruguay.
Venezuela, el único aliado latinoamericano de Cuba el año pasado, ya
no está en la Comisión.
Fuentes diplomáticas estiman que las cancillerías de Brasil y
Argentina mantengan ahora su posición de abstenerse, pese a que sus
gobiernos son cercanos a La Habana.
Países africanos y árabes votarán con Cuba, dijeron fuentes
diplomáticas.
"Hay una doble moral internacional cuando se trata de Cuba", dijo un
embajador árabe, quien señaló indignado que la Unión Europea vota en contra
de Cuba pero se abstuvo de condenar a Israel el miércoles por la muerte del
dirigente de Hamas, Ahmed Yassin.
"Es grotesco cuando el primer ministro de un país se vanagloria de
haber ordenado que disparen misiles contra un viejo en silla de ruedas. La
abstención europea le quita credibilidad a la Comisión de Derechos Humanos",
dijo el embajador.
((Redacción La Habana 537-833-3145 anthony...@reuters.com, Mesa de
Edición en Español, 1 305 810 2625))
REUTERS AB NAB ILM
http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1042689
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Message: 12
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:20:37 +0200
From: "PL" <p...@pandora.be>
Subject: Dissident in a coma after hunger strike
Posted on Thu, Apr. 08, 2004
CUBA
Dissident in a coma after hunger strike
BY KARL ROSS
kr...@herald.com
A Cuban human rights activist, jailed for hatching plans to honor the
late Brothers to the Rescue fliers, has lapsed into a coma after a prolonged
hunger strike, according to sources monitoring his health.
Sources described as ''delicate'' the condition of Leonardo Miguel
Bruzón Avila, imprisoned without trial since Feb. 23, 2002, the eve of a
protest he was organizing to commemorate the death of the four Miami exiles
in 1996.
'He said he was going to start an indefinite hunger strike called
`Liberty or Death,' '' journalist María del Carmen Carro said in a telephone
interview Wednesday from Havana. ``Other prisoners joined him, but they gave
up.''
Carro said Bruzón Avila, who began his hunger strike on Oct. 10,
lapsed into a coma on Tuesday. He decided to refuse even liquids in
February, the second anniversary of his arrest. His mother told sources
Bruzón had lost teeth due to malnutrition.
''He wanted to have his day in court or be liberated,'' Carro said.
Bruzón Avila, 48, has staged numerous hunger strikes in the past,
causing outcry from Amnesty International and Cuban exile groups. This is
the first time he has lost consciousness, sources said.
Carro said she received word from Bruzón Avila's family early Tuesday
that he had fallen into a coma at the Salvador Allende Hospital in Havana.
She said she was told his blood pressure was low and his vital signs
weak.
Ninoska Pérez-Castellón, spokeswoman for the Miami-based Cuban Liberty
Council, said Cuban authorities frequently neglect political prisoners.
''We've denounced this so many times,'' she said. ``All they had to do
was make sure he gets real medical attention, and they denied him that.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/8384045.htm
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