From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CubaNews summary for Sept. 5, 2001 ================================= Coverage of the Durban gathering took so much space that it has been separated out into a separate report which will follow after this report. ================================= SMUGGLING CONTINUES GROWING The total of smuggled Cubans is now up to 107 in the past three days, Reuters reports. AP reported that the 107 were all who made it out of 200 who tried to come. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2001/sep/05/090500192.html http://www.iwon.com/home/news/news_article/0,11746,160855|top|09-04-2001::17 :06|reuters,00.html ================================= MIAMI CORRUPTION INVESTIGATIONS Today's Miami Herald reports: "Miami-Dade County police and federal housing officials have been quietly conducting an investigation into the possible overbilling of low-income tenants living in rental properties co-owned by County Commissioner Miriam Alonso and her husband. Foremost on investigators' minds, tenants said, is whether the Alonsos are charging rents in excess of the amount authorized under the federal rent-subsidy program commonly known as Section 8. Police ``asked whether the Alonsos are doing the same thing as Demetrio Pérez,'' said Gloria Fonseca, 70. She was referring to former Miami-Dade School Board member Demetrio Pérez Jr., who was removed from office in June after being indicted for allegedly defrauding Section 8 tenants. http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/dade/digdocs/086003.htm ===================================== HONDURAN INTERESTS SECTION SOON Honduras will open an interests section next week in Havana, a further expansion of Cuba's diplomatic diplomatic status. Forty years ago the US succeeded in bludgeoning all Latin American countries except Mexico to break relations with the island. Now virtually all have re-established ties of one kind or another. Cuba opened its office in Tegucigalpa in 1999. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=sfl%2D94hondu ras ======================================== NEXT MIAMI SPY TRIAL TO BEGIN The Orlando Sentinel reports that these two people, accused of no acts of violence, "appeared briefly in court Tuesday, bound in leg and arm shackles and wearing red jail jumpsuits." They waived detention hearings in Orlando where they'd been arrested and will be transported to Miami for trial. How even any pretense of fairness for these folks could be maintained holding such a trial in South Florida is never asked by reporters who cover these stories... http://www.orlandosentinel.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=orl%2Dlocv spy05090501sep05 ======================================= ALLEGED TORTURER MAY LOSE CITIZENSHIP Alfonso Chardy reports this in today's Miami Herald: "Federal immigration agents on Tuesday arrested Miami resident Eriberto Mederos, an alleged human rights violator, on charges he lied about torturing Cuban political prisoners with electroshock treatment at the Havana Psychiatric Hospital years ago. "Aloyma Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Miami, said Mederos, 78, was in federal custody charged with ``illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship'' because he failed to disclose the allegations when he sought that citizenship in 1992." Of course, electoshock treatment, which is widely understood today to be inappropriate, was widely accepted as a psychtric technique throughout the world in the 1940s when Mederos began working as a psychiatric technician. Mederos says he was operating under physicians instructions. Anyone who has seen the movie FRANCES, based on the life of the actress Frances Farmer, can observe how such techniques were used during that time period. It's also worth Mederos' story began to come to public view in a book called The Politics of Psychiatry in Revolutionary Cuba, published by Freedom House in 1992. This outfit is a leading conduit for CIA-funded operations against Cuba. It's most recently revealed activity was sending those two Czechs to Cuba with money and computer supplies for the opponents of the Cuban government. They were released and left Cuba after admitting publicly what they had done. http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/dade/digdocs/008106.htm http://www.sun-sentinel.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=sfl%2Dcmedero s05sep05 ============================================= FORGOTTEN TREASURES IN HAVANA "Cuba's Re-opened Arts Museum: "So Much More than Expected..." >From Reuters correspondent Isabel Garcia-Zarza in Havana PHOTO FROM THE NEW MUSEUM: http://news.lycos.com/news/photo.asp?section=SearchResults&photoId=amdf46066 &q=Cuba ========================================= AND NOW, CUBAN CULTURE AT MIAMI U. What kind of Cuban culture will be shown at the U of M? "The flurry of cultural events culminates with the dedication on Oct. 10 of what will be known as Casa Bacardi, a state-of-the-art, interactive, Cuban cultural center at UM. The Bush administration's most visible Cuban American, HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, and UM President Donna Shalala will attend. "Scheduled to open May 20, the 100th anniversary of Cuban independence, Casa Bacardi will house an exhibition hall, a small cinema, a conference center for lectures and an interactive learning center featuring an electronic Cuba data base and a music station where fans can listen to a century's worth of Cuban tunes. "The project is being launched with a $1 million donation from the Bacardi Foundation." After all, how many visitors to this museum will learn that artists like Wilfredo Lam returned to Cuba and supported the Cuban Revolution until their dying day. Readers in Miami, will hopefully go to see this institution and write about it for readers here. http://www.miami.com/herald/content/features/digdocs/075250.htm ============================================= ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS CUBAN GRAPEFRUIT BEATS US FRUIT TO MARKET Cuba is one of the worlds largest exporters of grapefruit the island is looking for an extra economic bump as its crop is heading to market ahead of the US. Note these paragraphs: "The orchard produced a record 500,000 tonnes of citrus fruit in 2000-01, of which over 200,000 tonnes was grapefruit, and most of the remainder oranges. Managers at the orchard declined to comment on export plans, or tonnage shipped in 2000-01. "Israeli investors, operating as the BM Group, which finances and jointly operates facilities at Jaguey Grande and on the Isla de Juventud, reported exporting over 30,000 tonnes of fresh grapefruit, oranges, and limes in 1999-2000, but have not commented on exports since then." http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-subs/Caribbean/Cuban_grapefruit_to_market_b efore_U.S._crop SUGAR CROP UP 11-15% This would be significant progress over last year's harvest, which was one of the lowest in many years. Both the government analyst to whom Marc Frank spoke, and yet another anonymous economist, seemed to agree that agricultural workers, who are paid in the 3-400 peso range (relatively high in peso terms) are not well-enough paid for their work. http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-subs/Caribbean/Cuba's_Sugar_Crop_Seen_Up_by _11-15_Percent MANY NEW ARTICLES AT CUBASI WEBSITE Too many articles to summarize, but you may want to take a look at this web address. Note that this site takes a long time to open. http://www.cubasi.cu/eng_index.htm IMAGINATIVE TRANSIT SOLUTION - Pedicabs These are often called "bicitaxis" on the island. For a country rich in labor power and for whom gasoline is extremely expensive, these cheap but pracitical inventions have become quite widespread. Given the poor condition of streets in Havana, a ride on one of these can be quite rough, despite the price saving in comparison to the cost of gasoline-driven taxis. http://www.cubasi.cu/n_speciali.asp?lng=eng&id=346 CUBAN AIRPORTS READY FOR 8 MILLION VISITORS The island's ten international airports are now ready to handle eight million visitors per year. Havana and Veradero are expected to handle 5 million visitors alone this year. http://www.granma.cu/ingles/agosto3/34airport-i.html ========================================== _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
