Vol. 16, No. 2 February 2008

www.cubanews.com

In the News Cubans follow the rules, vote for a new

Dems nix Cuba bills National Assembly — and wait for Fidel Fear of Bush veto keeps measures to relax BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI whatever way they wish,” the minister actually told journalists at a Havana press conference. restrictions out of omnibus bill ....Page 2 ew people were surprised when voters in Jan. 20 elections for the National Assembly Nonsense, most Americans would counter — GAO blasts Treasury Felected all 614 nominated candidates to and so would some outspoken Cubans as well. new five-year terms — including President “Never before has such an intense, dispropor- Report criticizes OFAC for wasting resour- Fidel Castro, who in July 2006 turned over all tionate and at the same time disloyal campaign ces on enforcing the embargo ...... Page 2 responsibilities to his younger brother Raúl. been carried out,” complained leading dissident “The 614 parliamentary candidates [for the Oswaldo Payá of the Christian Liberation Move- Lula to the rescue National Assembly of Popular Power] and 1,201 ment (see box, page 4). “All of the media paid for delegates to the provincial assemblies” were by the people has been used to promote a vote Brazil’s popular president offers Cuba food elected, said the president of Cuba’s National that is definitely not an election.” credits, oil exploration help ...... Page 3 Electoral Commission, María Esther Reus, with- Yet the notion that these elections are simply out mentioning any particular names. “more of the same” and that they “do little to Nickel needs Reus, who’s also Cuba’s minister of justice, clarify the ultimate outcome,” as suggested in a said that if preliminary figures are confirmed, recent Christian Science Monitor article, don’t Cuba fails to exploit sky-high nickel prices 94.74% of those eligible voted. Of those, 95.24% seem to match Cuba’s political dynamics. These in time to make a difference ...... Page 7 of votes for parliament were valid, 3.73% were elections were eloquent in a number of ways. blank votes and 1.04% were annulled. For one thing, 91% of voters followed the offi- Port of Cienfuegos The existence of blank and spoiled ballots cial slogan of “voto unido” and supported the was seen by Reus as evidence of democracy. government’s full slate of candidates. And that Its importance to Cuba has fallen, but the “Our electors have the freedom and the op- happened in spite of widespread discontent potential is definitely there ...... Page 8 portunity to exercise their legal right to vote in See Elections, page 4 Newsmakers Venezuela’s Chávez opens oil refinery Sandra Levinson, executive director of the Center for Cuban Studies, says ‘59 revolu- in major boost to Cienfuegos economy tion transformed her life ...... Page 10 BY OUR HAVANA CORRESPONDENT Built from 1985 to 1991 on a 930-acre tract of Business briefs or years, the Camilo Cienfuegos oil refin- mangrove swamps and shrubby lowlands front- U.S. still Cuba’s top food source; Havana ery epitomized the Soviet Union’s outdated ing the Bay of Cienfuegos, the refinery only worked sporadically until the sudden disappear- Club rum exports on the rise ....Page 12 Fand hopeless investments in Cuba, seem- ingly condemned to rust under the torrid tropi- ance of Soviet technical support, parts and oil cal after the fall of the communist bloc. supplies forced it to halt operations. Bookshelf That is, until a twist of fate and the deep pock- Its reliance on hopelessly outdated technolo- gy and lack of funds left the Castro regime no Protestantism, proletarianism under Fidel ets of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came to the rescue, turning it into the most modern other choice but to abandon the facility in 1995. and pre-1959 high society ...... Page 14 and efficient of Cuba’s four oil refineries. Ten years later, as the island struggled to be- “Oil doesn’t have to be about domination. It come more self-sufficient in energy, a capital OFAC: No to cricket can be our liberation,” Chávez declared Dec. 21 refurbishment begun following formation of a joint venture between Cuba’s state-owned Cupet Tournament organizer denied chance to in- on the final day of the IV PetroCaribe Summit, in the presence of Raúl Castro and the leaders of (51%) and Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA (49%). clude Cuba in Antigua match ...... Page 15 Haiti, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Other foreign companies including Mexico’s The festive event — for which the south-coast Pemex SA, Spain’s Repsol-YPF SA and Brazil’s CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monthly port city of Cienfuegos received a major over- Petrobras SA had previously shown interest in by Luxner News Inc. © 2008. All rights reserved. haul — also marked the reopening of the refin- the project but abandoned it as impractical. Subscriptions: $429 for one year, $800 for two years. ery, which is now reportedly processing 65,000 “This isn’t the first time the Venezuelan gov- For editorial inquiries, please call (301) 452-1105 ernment evaluates refining heavy oil in Cuba,” a or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. barrels a day of Venezuelan crude for the Cuban market and 14 other Caribbean countries. See Cienfuegos, page 3 2 CubaNews ❖ February 2008 POLITICS Democratic leaders reject Cuba measures in Congress BY ANA RADELAT But both provisions were scrapped when a who don’t,” Falkenburger told CubaNews. emocratic leaders ended their first year final bill was negotiated in December between It’s unlikely the New Year will bring any in power by doing exactly what their Democratic leaders and the White House. changes on Cuba policy from Capitol Hill as DGOP predecessors did: preventing The final bill was approved by the House and lawmakers tend to steer clear of controversy Congress from easing sanctions on Cuba. Senate just before Congress adjourned in in an election year. Because the White House vehemently ob- December for a month-long holiday break. But a new president, and expected gains by jected to the provisions — and Senate Major- Stripping measures that would ease the Democrats in the House and Senate in the ity Leader Harry Reid of Nevada also opposed embargo out of final bills is nothing new in fall, may finally break the ice on Cuba policy. them — Democratic negotiators in December Congress. For years, the House and Senate The retirement of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) stripped two measures from a $555 billion approved legislation that would ease travel at the end of the 2008 congressional session spending bill that would have made it easier and trade, but it was always eliminated from could certainly help. Lantos, chairman of the for U.S. farmers to do business with Cuba. final bills by Republican leaders. House Foreign Relations Committee, is leav- ing Congress because he’s been diagnosed The massive spending bill, which set the BUSH’S VETO THREAT KEPT DEMOCRATS QUIET budgets for dozens of government agencies with esophagus cancer. in 2008, at one point contained a provision Those who sought new openings to Cuba Nearly all embargo-easing legislation intro- sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) that hoped the Democratic takeover of Congress duced in the House in 2007 was referred to would have allowed American farmers to trav- in November 2006 elections would better Lantos’ committee, where the Hungarian-born el to Cuba under a general license. their chances. But White House threats to lawmaker, a staunch anti-Communist who Approval of Baucus’ legislation would have veto any legislation that would weaken the backs the embargo, allowed it to languish. exempted U.S. farmers from current regula- embargo — and it’s low priority even among But if Democrats retain control of the tions forcing them to seek permission from lawmakers that oppose the sanctions — has House after November’s elections, Rep. How- the Treasury Department every time they kept the status quo in place. ard Berman (D-CA) would likely be the com- wanted to travel to the island. Elsa Falkenburger, an analyst at the Wash- mittee’s new chairman. In 1993, Berman be- The omnibus spending bill also once con- ington Office on Latin America, said the came one of the first lawmakers to introduce tained an amendment sponsored by Rep. embargo-easing measures were stripped a bill to ease travel restrictions on Cuba. He is Jerry Moran (R-KS) that was approved by the from the final omnibus bill “because those also a member of the House Cuba Working House on a voice vote last spring. who want to make sure nothing changes in Group, which is composed of lawmakers who It would have blocked Treasury from Cuba are willing to trade anything to make banded together to ease sanctions. enforcing a Bush administration rule that sure provisions to ease travel or trade don’t If Republicans were by some miracle to re- requires payments for U.S. goods to be made make it to a final bill.” gain control of the House, Cuban-American before a ship leaves port. Moran said the “The majority of Senators and representa- Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), one of the restriction is “disruptive” to U.S. trade and tives still want a new U.S. policy toward Cuba, embargo’s fiercest defenders, would likely hurts this country’s reputation as an exporter. but they aren’t willing to fight as hard as those head the key Foreign Relations Committee. ❑ GAO report lashes out at U.S. enforcement of Cuba travel sanctions Government Accountability Office report released to the trade by the Commerce Department, the GAO report said embargo public Dec. 18 says the Bush administration’s Cuba policy is violations resulted in about $50,000 in fines during the period stud- A straining homeland security resources through overzealous ied — November 2007 to December 2008 — while violations of inspections of American travelers to Cuba and has prompted an illic- other U.S. economic sanctions brought $30 million in fines. it new trade in forged travel licenses. Severe restrictions on cash remittances, along Although Cuba is only one of 20 sanctions pro- with a crackdown on Cuban-American travel — in grams handled by the Treasury Department’s Office 2004 Bush limited family travel to Cuba from once of Foreign Assets Control, the GAO said Cuba embar- a year to every three years — have resulted in go violations accounted for 70% of the office’s total thousands of fraudulent travel licenses and the penalties from 2000 to 2005, dropping to 29% in 2006, growth of money laundering schemes. the year Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother Raúl. “Treasury licenses and other documents can be The 96-page report, available online at http://www.- easily duplicated,” the report said, adding that lack gao.gov/new.items/d0880.pdf, also found that federal of foreign support for the embargo, divided public agents inspected 20% of travelers from Cuba to Miami opinion and changing rules and regulations also International Airport, but only 3% of other internation- made enforcement of the embargo difficult. al arrivals, suggesting the uneven inspections “may Supporters of tougher sanctions against Cuba strain Custom and Border Protection’s ability to carry have attacked the GAO report by questioning the out the mission of keeping terrorists, criminals and motives of the two Democratic representatives other inadmissible aliens from entering the country.” who requested the study, Charlie Rangel of New The GAO report said President Bush’s move in York and Barbara Lee of California. 2004 to eliminate the $100 worth of personal items “This GAO report is yet another example that licensed travelers could bring back from Cuba result- the embargo is not working and highlights just ed in 1,500 seizures of small amounts of tobacco, alcohol and phar- how backwards and out of touch the Bush administration’s national maceuticals during a six-month period beginning in October 2006. security priorities really are,” said Lee. “Diverting vital resources By contrast, CBP agents made 465 seizures from passengers ar- away from investigating cases of illegal arms and terrorist financing riving on other Miami-bound flights, confiscating 211 kilograms of calls into question the relevance of the Cuba embargo.” drugs and $2.4 million in cash. Despite vigorous policing of Cuba – ANA RADELAT February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 3 FOREIGN TRADE INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS 4 LEFTIST ALLIES FORM ALBA BANK IN CARACAS Brazil’s Lula offers Cuba food credits Representatives of the Venezuelan, Cuban, razil’s president, visiting Cuba in mid- Lula traveled to Havana with four cabinet Nicaraguan and Bolivian governments aim to January for the second time since tak- members and the head of Petrobras, José Ser- form a Bank of the Bolivarian Alternative for Bing office in 2003, met with Fidel Castro gio Gabrielli, who formalized plans for explo- the Americas (ALBA) during the 6th summit ratory deep-water drilling for crude oil in gulf of this regional cooperation bloc in Caracas. — but not before offering Cuba substantial The Caracas-based ALBA Bank is to serve credits for food and infrastructure, and inking waters off Cuba, and for a lubricants factory. Fidel Rivero, president of Cuba’s state oil as an instrument to boost productive integra- a deal allowing Brazilian state entity Petro- tion and the replacement of imports. The bras to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. company CUPET, said Petrobras has already invested heavily in Cuba, but that the new bank’s initial capital will be around $1 billion. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, an old The bank will direct its efforts towards the friend of Castro, signed 10 accords extending accord allows it to explore in the gulf for the first time. “Important potential exists in this development of social programs and the sup- Cuba credits for food imports, pharmaceuti- port of national projects in the framework of cals, roads and hotel repairs, and strengthen- zone, and the idea is to study it,” he said. Lula’s highly publicized visit was a setback the ALBA cooperation agreement. ing ties between Brasilia and Havana. While In related news, the tiny Caribbean island of exact numbers were hard to come by, Foreign to Washington’s determined efforts to punish the Castro regime with trade sanctions. Dominica — population 75,000 — has joined Ministry officials hinted that Brazil’s food ALBA. The English-speaking country’s acces- credits alone totaled $100 million. “We believe that isolation is not the way for- ward. It’s not constructive,” said Antonio de sion to the bloc was announced Jan. 10 by “Lula decided this was not going to be a Aguiar Patriota, Brazil’s ambassador to the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. farewell visit to Fidel. It’s a vote of confidence United States, in an interview with CubaNews. CUBA, MONACO ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC TIES to Raúl,” Phil Peters, a Cuba analyst at the “The UN resolution condemning the U.S. em- Lexington Institute, told AP. “Brazil is going bargo [overwhelmingly approved last Octo- Cuba and the Principality of Monaco estab- out of its way not just to make a visit that con- ber by a vote of 184-4] speaks for itself.” lished diplomatic ties at a ceremony in Paris. veys political support, but to put substantial During Lula’s visit to Cuba, Brazil’s Financ- Cuba’s ambassador to France, Rogelio Sán- economic resources on the table.” ing and Export Guarantee Committee ap- chez Levis, and his counterpart, Jacques Between 2002 and 2006, Brazil’s exports to proved lending for Cuban food purchases, the Boisson, officiated at the Paris event Dec. 19. Cuba increased fivefold, reaching $343.8 bil- expansion of a nickel plant in Holguín and the Wealthy Monaco, whose 35,000 people are lion, or 0.2% of total Brazilian exports. Brazil’s purchase of Cuban fish-farming equipment. crammed into one sq kilometer of territory, main shipments to Cuba consist of electrical The agency also agreed to look at a series of enjoys a GDP of $4.6 billion — which trans- equipment, sugar and meat products. projects from hotels to pharmaceuticals. ❑ lates into per-capita income of $67,000 a year.

total economic sense today, because in 2015, if a market economy ever comes to Cienfuegos — FROM PAGE 1 Venezuela is already delivering refined prod- the island. ucts to Cuba for which it’s not getting paid.” For now, the final project envisions the refi- Caracas attorney who’s done extensive con- Piñón said those pushing for regime nery as the heart of an industrial complex in sulting for PDVSA told CubaNews last month. change in Cuba shouldn’t be too worried. Cienfuegos, including a plastic industry, a “PDVSA officials visited that refinery in 1991, renewed fertilizer factory (the existing one 1994 and 1998, and the numbers showed it was shut down a number of years ago) and a wasn’t feasible. But now with Chávez, you plant to process Venezuelan liquefied gas. have ideology on top of numbers.” Once fully operational, the newly renovated To bring output to its current 65,000 bpd — refinery — insured by Japan’s Yokohama — from which the refinery will produce fuel oil, will employ 1,200 workers. According to infor- diesel, naphtha, turbo oil and gasoline — mation obtained by CubaNews, the refinery PDVSA poured $136 million into the facility. will produce 15,000 bpd of gasoline, 14,000 A second stage foresees spending $1.3 bpd of diesel fuel, 7,000 bpd of jet fuel and billion to boost output to 109,000 bpd by 1,000 bpd of liquid petroleum gas, among 2012. The refinery is expected to feed the other things. development of related petrochemical in- dustries as plans to turn Cienfuegos into PDVSA’S TOTAL OVERHAUL an industrial center are dusted off after 15 years (see story on Port of Cienfuegos, page The Venezuelan-funded renovation in- 8 of this issue). cluded replacement of the fractional distil- lation systems (four towers), catalytic REFINERY PROJECT MAKES SENSE TODAY cracking, furnaces, boilers, vacuum distilla- tion and hydrogen compressors. Also Venezuela currently ships 92,000 bpd of oil replaced were electric power substations and and petroleum products to Cuba in exchange other industrial services. for Cuban doctors and other in-kind services. The managing system was changed from Yet Cuban-born energy expert Jorge Piñon pneumatic semi-manual to electronic. A new tells us that “of the 92,000 barrels Venezuela unit for the production of jet fuel was added to is delivering to Cuba every day, about 45,000 the project. In addition, a new 30-inch-diame- bpd is in the form of high-value, refined prod- Once Cuba can refine its own oil, he recent- ter water supply line was brought from sour- ucts that they’d get a much better return for if ly told the New York Times, it’ll ultimately be ces lying 11 miles north and provides 2,380 they were exporting that to the U.S. Gulf less dependent on Venezuela, which would be gallons per minute to the facility. Coast for cash instead.” good news for Washington if and when it In an indication of this project’s impact on Piñón, former president of Amoco Oil Latin opted to engage with the Cuban leadership. other industries, the INPUD factory, which America, told CubaNews that while it may not Piñón cites a Rice University study predict- produces domestic appliances in Santa Clara, have made sense to sink money into the ing that Cuba’s energy needs will nearly dou- Cienfuegos refinery in the past, “it makes ble, from 179,000 bpd in 1998 to 349,000 bpd See Cienfuegos, page 9 4 CubaNews ❖ February 2008

harsh line of the Bush administration over the According to Cuba’s National Electoral Elections — FROM PAGE 1 last eight years. Whatever their beliefs, one Commission, 63.29% of the members of the fact remains indisputable: the vast majority of National Assembly were replaced in this elec- which is clearly reflected during the tens of Cubans on the island don’t buy into it. tion. Women occupy 43.16% of the seats, and thousands of public debates held during the Another key factor is the predominating the average age of members of parliament is last three months of 2007. atmosphere of unspecified change on the 49. In addition, 28% of its members are work- It also took place despite of hundreds of island that will substantially reshape the ers and small farmers, and 99.2% have com- hostile hours of weekly radio and TV trans- Cuban political system. This is a direct result pleted secondary or higher education. missions from Miami, in spite of half a dozen of Fidel’s long illness, his announced readi- The National Assembly will convene on dissident groups calling for a boycott of the ness to relinquish his institutional powers, Feb. 24 to elect the 31-member Council of elections, and in spite of the uncertainty sur- and Raúl’s well-known desire to see a younger State — as well as the Cuban president, the rounding Fidel Castro’s prolonged illness and generation take power in Cuba. first vice-president, five further vice-presi- by Raúl’s announcement that changes of “con- Even the Catholic Church has expressed dents and a secretary. The president is elect- cepts and institutions” would be adopted. its confidence in the promise of change, ed by secret ballot. Secondly, the levels of what one could In the view of local analysts, after several define as a “voto de castigo” (punishment vote) though it insists that changes should and must be gradual. months of uncertainty, all indications are that didn’t surpass the levels of 2003. Those who Castro will again be designated president of were betting on higher percentages of blank “It is true that we do not have to wait for sudden and radical solutions,” said the re- the Council of State, a post he has held since and annulled votes and other forms of absten- the current institutional model was imple- tion were sorely disappointed. spected Catholic publication Palabra Nueva. “Graduality is more convenient.” mented in 1976, while Raúl will be re-elected Marta Beatríz Roque, a dissident leader first vice-president. known to be close to the U.S. Interests Sec- FIDEL’S FUTURE TO BE DETERMINED FEB. 24 Without any doubt, when the newly elected tion in Havana, went so far as to state that “not 614 diputados meet next month, Cuba will be all from that 10% respond nor follow the oppo- But changes in leadership shouldn’t sug- gest that Fidel is — nor will be — out of the witnessing not only a significant redistribu- sition; many of them respond to their own tion of power, but also the first major political conscience, their tiresomeness, and the dis- picture overnight. Indeed, many top experts on Cuban affairs have now come to the con- change on the long road to socialist transition gust in which we live.” by Cuba’s newly elected parliament. Its role clusion that while he won’t resume his previ- ❑ FACTORS BEHIND LACK OF DISSENT ous responsibilities, Fidel will stay on as a should not be underestimated. How then to explain this outcome? Is the major player “behind the throne” for several Former Cuban intelligence officer Domingo government forcing more than 90% of Cuba’s more years to come. Amuchastegui has lived in Miami since 1994. voters to take a vote, and vote for it alone? “It seems clear,” said Spanish journalist He writes regularly for CubaNews about politics Are they committing some kind of gross Mauricio Vicent, “that whether he is re-elect- in Cuba and the South Florida exile community. manipulation of the numbers? Only fire- ed or not, Fidel Castro will exert a decisive Inter Press Service also contributed to this story. eaters, those out of touch with Cuban reali- influence until the last day.” ties, and professional manipulators of the Indeed, having Fidel at the head of state is Cuba issue — mainly in South Florida — seen by the government as important to guar- Payá: Jan. 20 election a ‘joke’ would put forth such hypotheses. antee continuity at a time when the country faces big changes, requested by a large pro- Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, found- Foreign observers, diplomats and journal- er of the Christian Liberation Movement, ists stationed in Havana may have other portion of its 11.2 million people. A package of measures, mostly economic, denounced the country’s Jan. 20 elections explanations, but not “el pucherazo o la brava” for National Assembly as illegitimate. (a pre-1959 expression meaning to steal an may be expected in March or April, an econo- mist at a government institution told Inter “For many years, we have called for election). changes in the laws to ensure greater re- The following factors must be taken into Press Service. “People have been waiting for measures of this kind, but nothing was going spect for the rights of citizens,” Payá said account in order to understand the positive in a statement carried by the Catholic response the Castro regime was able to elicit. to happen before the elections,” he said. One of the most important is the lack of sig- The new parliament must face “complex News Agency. “We have especially insist- nificant or attractive alternatives from the dis- times” and take “great decisions,” Raúl told ed on a new electoral law, because it is sident community, Miami exiles and the the press shortly after he voted. fundamental for people’s exercise of their sovereignty.” Payá said the electoral process in Cuba CUBA’S ELECTION FOR PARLIAMENT BY THE NUMBERS* is flawed from the outset because only official government bodies can nominate 11,237,154 — Cuba’s estimated total population as of Dec. 31, 2007** candidates. “Those who can be elected 8,687,229 — number of Cuban citizens on the official electoral register are not average Cuban citizens but rather 8,230,832 — number of Cubans who actually voted only those designated by these Candidacy Commissions,” he said, calling Cuba’s 95.24 — percentage of Cubans whose votes for parliament were valid electoral process a “joke” and a violation 3.73 — percentage of Cubans who submitted blank votes of the Constitution. 1.04 — percentage of Cubans whose votes were annulled “Politically speaking, it is a grave viola- 91.00 — percentage of Cubans who voted for all 614 candidates on the ballot tion of popular sovereignty, and in terms of ethics it harms the dignity of persons 90.88 — percentage of Cubans who did that in the 2003 elections and right of our people to define their 491 — number of university graduates among the 614 new members of parliament lives and their future,” he added. 265 — number of women among the 614 new members of parliament The Christian Liberation Movement 219 — number of blacks and mestizos among the 614 new members of parliament has sent a proposal to the government “supported by more than 25,000 voters” 63.29 — percentage of lawmakers who were replaced in this election calling for a referendum and new election 49 — average age of National Assembly lawmakers laws, “which will allow citizens to nomi- 99.2 — percentage of lawmakers who have completed secondary or higher education nate and elect their congressmen and other representatives at all levels.” *Source: Cuban National Electoral Commission **Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas 2007 February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 5 POLITICAL BRIEFS FEWER POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUBAN JAILS In their own words … The number of Cubans jailed for political crimes dropped in 2007, but the Castro regime continues “When I fell seriously ill the night of July 26th and early the 27th, I thought to arrest people arbitrarily and deny basic civil it was the end. While the doctors fought for my life, the Council of State’s chief rights, Cuba’s main rights watchdog said Jan. 16. of staff read out the text at my request and I dictated the necessary changes.” Elizardo Sánchez, founder of the Cuban Com- — Fidel Castro, revealing in an essay published Jan. 24 by Cuba’s state media mission for Human Rights and National Reconcili- how his dying wish was to dictate final changes to the first edition of his memoirs. ation, said there were 234 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of 2007, down from 283 a year “Oil doesn’t have to be about domination. It can be our liberation.” earlier. However, it reported no improvement in — Hugo Chávez, at the opening of a Venezuelan-Cuban oil refinery in Cienfuegos. Cuba’s human-rights record since ailing leader Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother “You can package it any way you want. The simple reality is he defected to Raúl due to illness in July 2006. the enemy during the Cold War. He did everything he could to endanger his “This sort of provisional government has done colleagues and fellow American citizens.” nothing to change the very bad situation of civil, — Retired CIA officer Frank Anderson, speaking to the New York Times about dis- political and economic rights that has existed in graced spy Philip Agee, who died Jan. 10 in Havana at the age of 72. Cuba for more than four decades,” the commis- sion said, adding that authorities still deny free- dom of expression, assembly and travel. “When Raúl spoke about [improving relations with Washington], he was not Sánchez’s group — the only source of independ- referring to the present administration [but] after the U.S. elections. That is ent information on arrests in Cuba — said there when Cuba would be ready to dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, without were at least 325 political arrests in Cuba last the arrogance that has always colored the U.S. position.” year, and that most of the detainees were let go — Jorge A. Bolaños, new chief of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, after a few hours or days without charges. in a Jan. 17 interview with the Associated Press. “Through its enormous repressive apparatus, the Cuban government continues to silence dissi- “Once you’re in politics, there’s always that little bichito inside.” dent voices and employs all forms of intimidation — Former Hialeah mayor Raúl Martínez, in a Jan. 22 interview with the Miami against militant opponents or ordinary citizens Herald on announcing he’d run for Congress against Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart. who speak out,” the group said in a statement. BUSH SIGNS HELMS-BURTON LAWSUIT WAIVER “We’ve seen a change in how they use ambassador-spies ... They feel com- pelled to work against every major U.S. military operation for their own inter- President Bush has extended for another six est and because it is vital to their allies.” months a measure banning lawsuits by U.S. citi- — Chris Simmons, former counterintelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence zens whose property in Cuba was taken by the Agency, suggesting in a Jan. 18 briefing on Capitol Hill that Cuba has established Castro regime. Bush told key lawmakers in a Jan. four new “regional intelligence centers” in Iran, India, Pakistan and Turkey. 17 letter that his action “is necessary to the national interests of the United States and will “Someday, he won’t be there physically, but his heritage and his contribution expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba.” to our nation is so big that, with great pride, we can say that he will stay forev- Under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, Americans er. Why? Because he has been not only our leader, he has been one of us.” may sue any individual, investor or business using — Ernesto Senti Darias, Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, in a Jan. 19 speech about property seized on or after Jan. 1, 1959, though Fidel to students and foreign diplomats at the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa. the law also gives U.S. presidents the power to block all such lawsuits for six-month periods. “Finally, the Cuban elections are interesting. Before, everyone knew what JUDGE: NYC CAN PROBE HIGH-SCHOOL TRIP TO CUBA was going to happen. This time, there is quite a bit of uncertainty about whether [Fidel] will retain his post as president.” New York City’s Department of Education may investigate whether field trips to Cuba by high- — Paolo Spadoni, associate professor of political science at Florida’s Rollins school students and the department’s employees College, quoted Jan. 20 in a Los Angeles Times article about Fidel Castro. violated any local laws, a state judge has ruled. AP reported Jan. 22 that State Supreme Court “What irony! Mexico’s center-right President Felipe Calderón, a man who Justice Judith Gische refused to quash subpoenas made his political life fighting for democracy, may become his country’s first that education investigators had served on a non- leader in 15 years to improve ties with Cuba’s dictatorship and to turn his back profit group that may have organized a trip to on the island’s peaceful opposition.” Cuba during spring break in April 2007. — Political commentator Andrés Oppenheimer, chastising Calderón in a Jan. 24 Richard J. Condon, the Education Department’s Miami Herald column for instructing his foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa, not commissioner of investigation, issued the subpoe- to meet with Oswaldo Payá and other dissidents during her March trip to Cuba. nas after he learned that a teacher at the Beacon School had escorted students to the island. “Olodumare says he is the one that should be there, so he is untouchable.” Condon said he wanted to learn whether school — Antonio Castañeda, the first santería priest to be elected to Cuba’s National employees engaged in misconduct by planning, Assembly, explaining why he believes Yoruba gods protect Fidel from witchcraft. taking part in and approving the trip. City law gives Condon’s office subpoena authority. “You have your system and we have ours. I prefer our system. We don’t The group that organized the Cuba trip, the have mortgages and so we’re not facing foreclosure like so many of you are.” Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Alejandra Organization Inc., tried to have the subpoenas — , a Havana resident who wouldn’t give her last name, quoted quashed. The foundation said the investigation in a New York Times article about Cuba’s black market in real-estate. was outside the city’s authority because only the federal government can regulate overseas travel. 6 CubaNews ❖ February 2008 TOURISM TOURISM BRIEFS NEW HOTELS PLANNED IN FACE OF SLOWDOWN Leal defends Old Havana restoration Cuba plans to build 30 new hotels starting this year in order to add over 10,000 hotel usebio Leal, the man in charge of pre- In related news, the Triolet Pharmaceutical rooms to the island’s tourism infrastructure. serving Havana’s charming but decay- Museum in Matanzas has been declared a Ramón Zamora, an official of the Cuban Eing colonial center, says government re- Cuban national landmark for its originality, Ministry of Tourism, told state-run business storation efforts have created 7,000 new dwel- preservation and 125-year history. magazine Opciones that almost 1,000 of the lings and 11,000 jobs during a decade of work. The colonial building, known as La Botica new rooms would be in Havana, which along Havana’s official historian, who was profiled Francesa (the French pharmacy), is located with Varadero accounts for 70% of Cuba’s by CubaNews four years ago (see our August across from Parque La Libertad Park. tourism revenues. 2004 issue, page 8), wouldn’t say how many Plans for developing tourism through 2010 buildings have been restored and at what cost. call for building new facilities, promoting the But in a Dec. 9 story by Associated Press new Hoteles E chain and investing in activities writer Will Weissert, Leal bristled at sugges- like scuba diving, boating and golf. At the end tions that work in Old Havana only serves to LARRY LUXNER of 2007, said Zamora, Cuba had 46,000 rooms impress foreign tourists and furnish state offi- in 307 properties, 23% of them in Havana. cials with new homes or offices, while ordi- In 2007, Cuba received just over 2 million nary Cubans remain packed into decrepit and tourists, with tourism revenues down 10-12% overcrowded apartments a few blocks away. from 2006 levels, according to Cuban officials. Leal said nobody’s been displaced by res- Tourism brings the island revenues of about toration efforts without being offered an equi- $2 billion a year and accounts for 300,000 jobs. valent home, most in the Old City itself. But Cuba’s advantages have been offset in “The priority has been homes, it has been recent years by a lack of investment in hotel places for the elderly, which we have already refurbishment and maintenance, and by an built a lot of in Old Havana,” he said. La Botica Francesa pharmacy in Matanzas. unfavorable exchange policy toward the U.S. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in dollar that has hurt Canadian visitor arrivals. 1982, Old Havana dates to the 1500s and was Founded by Ernesto Triolet in 1883, the farmacia was turned into a museum in 1964 Ariel Terrero, a commentator on the TV once ringed by a 17th-century wall. Its nar- program “Buenos Días,” complained that local row, cobblestone streets are crammed with featuring not only drugmaking equipment but also furniture crafted from precious Cuban tourism authorities have been slow to act art galleries, churches, museums, hotels and compared to Cuba’s Caribbean neighbors. restaurants, as well as quaint alleyways. woods, marble and porcelain. The museum But humidity from the sea air and coastal attracts around 1,000 visitors a month. VARADERO SANDALS WINS TOURISM AWARD flooding has taken its toll on colonial build- Among the most interesting pieces in its ings, many of which are falling to pieces after collection are the Apothecary Eyes, which are The Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort & Spa, a decades of neglect. Outside the restored ornamental recipients made out of bohemia 404-room hotel located in Varadero, has been zone, the basic infrastructure remains little glass and designed exclusively for the Botica named Cuba’s leading resort by the 2007 improved since before the 1959 revolution. Francesa. Also in the exhibit are glass and World Travel Awards. Havana’s venerable old Leal acknowledged those complaints only china demijohns, porcelain pots and glass bot- Hotel Nacional was voted Cuba’s best hotel. briefly, saying “our dilemma is very large, but tles containing syrups, unguents and capsules The awards were bestowed last December we confront it with a sense of justice.” created by 19th-century Cuban doctors. ❑ during the 14th Annual World Gala Ceremony in the Turks & Caicos Islands. World Travel Awards, 12-16 Laystall Street, London EC1R 4PF, England. Tel: +44 207 925-0000. www.worldtravelawards.com. DUBAI FIRM BUYS INTO CUBA HOTEL GROUP Dubai’s Profile Investments Group, which has substantial interests in the United Arab Emirates, India, Cape Verde and North Africa, will acquire a 46% stake in Leisure Canada Inc., and has agreed to invest $5 million in LCI’s subsidiary, Wilton Properties Ltd. Miami event to commemorate ‘Castro’s victims’ LCI is a leading developer of luxury resorts in Cuba, with 4,200 rooms in four properties he Sixth Cuban Memorial will take prison, at sea or in the air over international planned across the island, though so far, after place Feb. 15-17 at Tamiami Park, west waters as were the four Brothers to the Res- years of planning, nothing has been built. Tof Miami. Organizer Renato Gómez cue — will attend and lay flowers and offer “With almost $20 million in new capital, and said the principal event will be held Feb. 16 prayers for their loved ones.” with further capital injections planned in the at 6 p.m., and will be broadcast live via radio, A separate group, Cuba Archive, provides near future, Leisure Canada will be very well TV and the Internet. the Organizing Committee of the Cuban positioned to complete existing projects and “Once again, the Cuban Memorial will re- Memorial with the list of victims’ names, and acquire new assets in Cuba,” said Profile inforce its commitment to denounce the hor- also takes testimony from relatives of victims Group’s founder and chairman, Hanif Patel. rible crimes committed by Fidel Castro’s re- or witnesses to the events. Last month, CubaNews reported that Dubai gime,” said a press statement. “Over 10,000 Details: Emilio Solernou, Memorial Cuba- Ports World would invest $250 million in reno- crosses bearing the verified names of Cas- no, Miami. Tel: (786) 621-7505 or 346-5141. vating the deteriorating Cuban port of Mariel. tro’s victims since Jan. 1, 1959, will be dis- Or Maria Werlau, Executive Director, Cuba Details: J.J. Jennex, Investor Relations Dir., played. Family members and friends of vic- Archive, PO Box 529, Summit, NJ 07902. Tel: LCI, 311 W. First St., N. Vancouver, BC V7M tims — who have died by firing squad, in (973) 701-0520. URL: www.cubaarchive.org. 1B5, Canada. Tel: (888) 600-8687. Fax: (604) 990-9584. Email: [email protected]. February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 7 COMMODITIES Cuba fails to capitalize on record-high world nickel prices BY OUR HAVANA CORRESPONDENT (equivalent to half the income at the joint-ven- Yet all this hasn’t been enough to push for- uba set a record in 2007 for nickel pro- ture Pedro Soto Alba refinery in Holguín), ward delayed expansion plans that only a few duction, but high world commodity pri- Cuba took in $2.2 billion. years ago envisioned 2007 as the year Cuba ces did little to boost capacity in an in- This makes nickel by far the most impor- would reach the 100,000-ton production mark. C tant source of hard currency in Cuba, double dustry that now ranks as Cuba’s chief source Ironically, most of the island’s expansion the value of all other exported goods. By com- and modernization in nickel took place during of foreign exchange, even ahead of tourism. parison, in 2006, the combined value of sugar, the worst part of the economic crisis, between A surge in early May drove nickel prices to tobacco, coffee, citrus, pharmaceuticals and 1993 and 1998. a breathtaking high of $51,700 per ton seafood exports came to $1.42 billion, accord- Since then, Cuba has little to show for all its ($23.45/lb), largely due to extraordinarily ing to Cuba’s Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas. efforts to capitalize on high nickel prices, strong demand for stainless steel and a grow- Nickel emerged as the island’s leading other than a handful of agreements and let- ing Chinese economy (see chart below). export in 2000, surpassing the traditional but ters of intent dating back to 2003 with China, Assuming an annual average 2007 price of ailing sugar industry that year. Official fig- Brazil and Venezuela. The one exception is $37,230/ton ($16.88/lb), the market value of ures show an income of $1.33 billion in 2006 the launch in April 2006 — after three years of Cuba’s 76,000 metric tons of nickel produc- for all mining exports — most of which con- delays — of the first-phase expansion project tion came to $2.816 billion. After deducting sist of nickel — up from $994 million in 2005 at Petro Soto Alba, which is a joint venture Sherritt International’s share of this total and $620 million in 2003. between state-run Cubaniquel and Sherritt. The delays in signing up foreign partners to improve the nickel sector have cost Cuba over $900 million in nickel that wasn’t pro- duced last year. Now, with world prices falling fast, any expansion now will be less lucrative. Experts warn that a recession in the U.S. would hurt other countries, possibly slowing the voracious Chinese economy and resulting in a temporary glut on the world nickel mar- ket, keeping prices down in the short term. CUBA LIKELY TO HIT 80,000-TON MARK IN 2008 Cuba now projects boosting nickel produc- tion to 120,000 tons in five years, a 60% jump over current capacity. These plans include a $1.3 billion project to develop the unexploited San Felipe reserves in Camagüey province, which could reach 50,000 tons a year. “There are plans to increase production at Pedro Soto Alba by 4,000 tons, an investment that began some time ago and which should come online beginning this year,” TV econo- mic commentator Ariel Terrero said Jan. 15. Terrero confirmed that unrefined nickel plus cobalt production should reach a record 80,000 tons this year. Sherritt reportedly plans to add 16,000 tons to PSA’s capacity: 4,000 tons in 1008., another 9,000 tons in 2009 and a final 3,000 tons in 2011. Sherritt’s partner, Cubaniquel, operates two older plants in eastern Holguín province where the joint venture is located. In addition, Cuba hopes to complete the un- finished, Soviet-begun Las Camariocas refin- ery, with Chinese help; that facility would pro- duce 22,500 tons of nickel annually. Cuba ranks among the world’s largest nick- el producers and supplies 10% of the world’s cobalt. According to Cuba’s National Miner- als Resource Center, Holguín province alone contains 34% of the world’s known nickel re- serves, or some 800 million tons of proven nickel plus cobalt, and another 2.2 billion tons of probable reserves, with lesser reserves in other parts of Cuba. Nickel is essential for production of stain- less steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys. Cobalt is critical in the production of super alloys used for aircraft engines. ❑ 8 CubaNews ❖ February 2008 INFRASTRUCTURE Port of Cienfuegos has declined, but potential is there BY OUR HAVANA CORRESPONDENT ing of the sugar industry, which gradually cement, citrus fruit, and cereals for the pro- ienfuegos is the third-largest port in ended all sugar exports after 2002. duction of flour and animal fodder. It also Cuba after Santiago and Havana. It be- At its peak in 1986, Cienfuegos handled 548 takes general cargo, oil and oil by-products. Ccame crucial in the 20th century as a ships totaling 4.43 million tons of cargo, inclu- Several industries of national significance shipping port for sugar. As the major port for ding 2.05 million tons of exports. The port are located here, most of them created in the central Cuba, its importance can only grow in ranked No. 1 in sugar exports in the 1980s, 1970s and ‘80s. The Cementos Cienfuegos SA the future as the island’s economy recovers when it handled one-third of Cuba’s sugar via (formerly Karl Marx) plant, not shown on the from its prolonged and deep slump. its bulk sugar terminal, which had a ware- map, accounts for half of all Cuban cement. The port is located in a superb natural, 31- house capacity of 90,000 tons. At that time, 50 Nearby is the 10 de Octubre thermoelectric sq-mile landlocked harbor with an average sugar mills used to send their production to plant, with a nominal capacity of 400 MW. depth of 30-50 feet. It is a sheltered bay sur- Cienfuegos for shipping abroad. PORT HAS RUSTING SUB BASE, NUCLEAR PLANT rounded by low hills and marshes, connected It was also the largest port for citrus fruit to the open sea by a narrow 3.5-mile-long and juice export, serving the extensive citrus A fertilizer plant built in the 1970s has been canal with a maximum depth of 200 feet at the orchards in the nearby province of Matanzas. paralyzed in the last few years and has been entrance. The size of the harbor and the nar- By 2007, the port had dwindled dramatical- partially reconverted into a warehouse and row, deep canal entry create strong tidal cur- ly in importance, handling only 150 vessels packing plant for the pharmaceutical indus- rents that can make entering and leaving the with 1.02 million tons of cargo — 27% the vol- try. The newly renovated Camilo Cienfuegos port dangerous. ume of 1986. Last year, the port shipped some oil refinery (see details and map, facing page) Operations at the port of Cienfuegos de- 120,000 tons of sugar, a far cry from the aver- is key in a vast program to create a regional clined abruptly after the collapse of the Soviet age of 2 million tons recorded in the 1980s. Caribbean oil network under the auspices of bloc in the early 1990s and with the downsiz- The port of Cienfuegos ships bulk sugar, Venezuela’s PetroCaribe. Cienfuegos also bears the prints of the Cold War. A Soviet nuclear submarine base, now abandoned, lies in the southern portion of the bay with three concrete piers, sev- eral buildings and good roads link- ing it to the outside world. Also nearby is the rest of the unfinished Juraguá nuclear power plant, abandoned when its first reactor was 80% finished and only two years from completion. Jura- guá is also linked to the national grid by good roads and has a satel- lite town that was specially built for plant personnel. However, port activity and industrial development in the area came at a high environmental price. In line with loose operation- al practices common across the island, factories around the Bay of Cienfuegos continue to be big sources of water pollution. The worst acci- dents were the 2001 spillage of over three tons of arsenic into the bay from a fertilizer plant (see CubaNews, Sep- tember 2002, page 3) and a little-known oil spill in the mid-1980s. Once an excellent fishing ground, authorities worried about contamination now limit the catch and consump- tion of seafood in the bay, especially oysters from the northern shallows, but these controls aren’t generally enforced. By sea, Cienfuegos is 445 nautical miles from Havana, 433 nm from Mariel and 337 nm from Santiago de Cuba. ❑ February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 9 Yet Piñón doesn’t see the newly renovated rent units will have to be destroyed, and a Cienfuegos — FROM PAGE 3 refinery lasting very long, especially if big oil brand new refinery built onsite” at a cost of provided hundreds of steel condensation is discovered off Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico coast several billion dollars, Piñon said. plates needed for the refinery’s fractional dis- and the U.S. embargo is still in place. “If they ever find oil off the north coast of tillation towers. “Even today, any oil company “Cienfuegos is critical to Cuba’s long-term Cuba, they’re going to need a big refinery,” looking at that refinery will only put value on oil strategy. It is a key component, but it’ll he told CubaNews, “because they’re going to its logistical assets,” the Cuban-born Piñón have to be a different Cienfuegos. The cur- have to take that crude somewhere.” ❑ said. “It has a very good tank farm, good docks and an excellent pipeline connection to Matanzas. The problem is the refinery itself uses old Soviet technology and isn’t efficient.” Fourteen storage tanks were partially rebuilt, including five steel floating-roof tanks for crude oil each with a capacity of 13.2 mil- lion gallons; this increased by 1 million gal- lons the capacity of each tank and extended their previous five-year maintenance period to 10 years. A large part of the dozens of miles of pipelines were replaced along with all valves in the pipeline system. The refinery’s overall storage capacity is now 28 million gallons of crude oil and by-products. Piñón told CubaNews that “in the next six months, we’ll know if that refinery is really running at full blast.” The reactivation of the Cienfuegos refinery will help cover Cuba’s internal gasoline de- mand and will allow the country, which now produces around 70,000 bpd of high-sulfur crude oil, to export 9,000 bpd of gasoline. The final project visualizes revamping the idle Amistad pipeline joining the supertanker oil base 100 miles northwest at Matanzas Bay to the Cienfuegos refinery. In a significant departure from the old style of industrial construction and management, this project apparently doesn’t neglect the environment. Press reports mention — for the first time in Cuba — the use of sifting nets to block silt while dredging the loading piers, with later removal of sediments to a safe area to mini- mize the spreading of contaminants. In addi- tion, replacement of the storage tank roofs reportedly brings to zero the possibility of gas leaks into the atmosphere, compared to the old floating-roof tanks. 10 CubaNews ❖ February 2008 NEWSMAKERS Sandra Levinson keeps Center for Cuban Studies going BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA been away from home. I felt like I had fallen kids did a performance of the massacre at iewers of the 1999 science-fiction film into a country where the whole country was Cassinga [Angola]. The Cuban teachers told “The Matrix” will remember a cheerful, like me. They worked really hard and played me that they actually had them do that as a Vdisarming elderly woman named the really hard. They couldn’t get any sleep. And way of psychologically coping, because al- Oracle, who was a key character in that movie it was just great. I felt very much at home.” most all the kids had been orphaned by the hero’s quest to overcome an assortment of Levinson’s cautious father, worried about massacre. Gregory Peck was crying. Harry obstacles to free humanity from enslavement her politics and Cuba-related activities, once Belafonte was crying. Everyone was crying.” by a race of machines. wrote to her, saying “My daughter, I too sit on These and other liberal-minded celebrities Just as the humans in that film counted on the Oracle for guidance, a loyal following of Americans turn to a similar figure to cut through Washington’s usual Cold War-era rhetoric and learn about Cuba on their own. That woman is Sandra Levinson, who in VITO ECHEVARRÍA 1972 founded New York’s Center for Cuban Studies (CCS) to help students, academics, journalists and others by not only providing access to a library full of Cuba-related books and other materials, but also by arranging educational tours to an island that has long been off-limits to most Americans. Given that Cuba is a socialist state which runs on its own logic for survival, Levinson’s role in offering travelers a portal to that “trop- ical matrix” should not be taken for granted. AN IOWA JEW IN HAVANA Last month, as she was scrambling to find a new home for her non-profit group, the trans- planted New Yorker talked about growing up Jewish and leftist in Mason City, Iowa. “First of all, we were raised to be radicals within our society compared to everyone else,” she told CubaNews. “I was the only Jew Sandra Levinson (far right), with some of her volunteers at the nonprofit Center for Cuban Studies. in my high-school graduating class of 269 people. The next-door neighbors would throw the left side of the bench, but I feel that you’re and writers, including the likes of Danny out garbage on our lawn because we were sitting so close to the edge that you’ll fall off Glover and Norman Mailer, would eventually Jews, and my brother would be beaten up on and hurt yourself, and that would hurt your form CCS’ Artists and Writers Committee, the way home from school because he was mother and me very much.” dedicated to ending the cultural embargo Jewish. There were only 40 Jewish families in against Cuba and pushing for normalized Mason City and all of the surrounding towns. UNABASHED LEFTIST INCURRED EXILE WRATH relations between Washington and Havana. It makes you identify with the underdog, with Indeed, Cuba’s then-strong ties to the “One of the things about Cuba that turns people who are trying to get out from under.” people on is that it reaches into people’s souls Describing herself as having come from “a Soviet Union, and its agenda of exporting Marxist revolution in Latin America and in a way other countries don’t,” says Levin- poor family with middle-class aspirations,” son. “You find a whole population that’s well- Levinson said “we did all the things that nice Africa, instantly made Levinson’s office an instant target for anti-Castro zealots. In 1973, educated. Whether or not they have money or Jewish families are supposed to do, except their parents were educated, everybody goes have money. When you grow up Jewish in a the CCS was bombed by a small far right- wing Cuban exile group. to school. They’ve got brains in their heads. small town in Iowa, you grow up with a radi- They learn from the master — Fidel.” cal perspective, because you’re an outsider.” Undaunted by the attacks, Levinson, who’s Levinson majored in history and humani- regularly called a fidelista, continued offering LEGAL VICTORY OPENED DOOR TO IMPORTS ties at the University of Iowa, and was on a Cuba-themed educational trips, attracting not Fulbright scholarship at Britain’s University only members of the American intelligentsia, CCS has been on the forefront on expand- of Manchester in 1958-59 when the Cuban but celebrities as well — which helped miti- ing the legally limited options imposed by the revolution erupted. She became a teacher in gate some of the negative images the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign New York during the late ‘60s, but her long- media had previously projected of Cuba. Assets Control on U.S. travel to Cuba, aca- demics and university students being among time curiosity about the revolution eventually Levinson took note of a group of Hollywood the few groups allowed to go there. led her to Havana. figures who visited Cuba some years after Aside from catering to Cuba-bound travel- “I was fascinated by Cuba. I loved it,” she South Africa’s 1978 massacre of Namibian refugees in an Angolan refugee camp. ers, CCS became known for its legal battle to mused. “My first trip there, it was a little bit make available informational materials from like being in my first year in college, when “I visited Cuba with Gregory Peck and his wife, Sydney Pollack and his wife, Harry Bela- Cuba, including copies of the Castro regime’s you had these wonderful arguments at night Granma fonte — all these celebrities,” she recalled. daily newspaper, , as well as contem- about politics and religion and sex. porary Cuban artwork, which generated valu- “You could talk about anything with your “We went to the Namibian school on the Isle roommates, and it was the first time you’ve of Youth, and it was so moving, because the See Levinson, page 11 February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 11

— FROM PAGE 10 “The one thing I feel very badly about is that Levinson the cutback in these trips has seriously affect- RELIGION BRIEFS able exposure for Levinson in both the main- ed their ability to sell their art and stay at VATICAN: BERTONE TO VISIT CUBA FEB. 20-26 stream U.S. media as well as in the art world. home in Cuba.” The fruit of such efforts was the passage of Despite receiving sporadic funding from Pope Benedict XVI’s right-hand man, Cardi- the Berman Amendment in 1989, which organizations like the Christopher Reynolds nal Tarcisio Bertone, will pay a visit to Cuba allowed the importation of printed materials Foundation, the CCS — whose annual budget Feb. 20-26, during which time he plans to cel- from Cuba, including reproductions of Cuban is $500,000 — finds itself in a perennial strug- ebrate Mass in a Havana cathedral and visit art, posters and photographs. However, gle to raise money. the city of Santa Clara, where Bertone will OFAC still did not allow original Cuban art- However, Levinson’s biggest challenge late- inaugurate a monument in memory of Pope work into the country. It took a subsequent ly has simply been keeping a roof over CCS’s John Paul II, who visited Cuba 10 years ago. lawsuit by Levinson, won four years later, to head. Recently, the landlord of her brown- According to French news agency AFP, the cardinal is also planning visits to the shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Santiago de Cuba and the eastern city of Guantánamo, where Bishop Wilfredo Pino Estevez has invited him to lead “One of the things about Cuba that turns people on is that it a special prayer service. Feb. 25 and 26 will be set aside for “high- reaches into people’s souls in a way other countries don’t.” level” talks with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro, though for now there are no plans for — SANDRA LEVINSON, FOUNDER OF NEW YORK’S CENTER FOR CUBAN STUDIES Bertone to meet the ailing Fidel. The two men did meet in October 2005, when Bertone was the archbishop of Genoa. DISSIDENT PAYÁ DEFENDS CATHOLIC CHURCH include such paintings. stone building in Manhattan’s Chelsea sec- “That’s why we were able to set up a tion told her he would sell the building along Leading Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, gallery, and that’s why other galleries can go with an adjoining structure, so that a new president of the Christian Liberation Move- down and buy Cuban art, and that’s why peo- landlord could tear them down and build ment, says that outside of Cuba, the true work ple who run galleries can get a specific pricey condos. the Catholic Church does for the Cuban peo- license to travel to Cuba for the right to spend Having survived a bomb attack and legal ple is largely unknown. money in order to buy art to show in their gal- conflicts with the Reagan and Bush adminis- “The Church is playing a key role in the leries,” she said, commenting on the impact trations, it would have been ironic had the evangelization and in aid to the poor, not only of those legal decisions. CCS been brought down by the unforgiving economically but also in a human and moral New York real-estate market. plane as well,” he told Italian daily L’Opinione. CCS FINDS NEW MANHATTAN HOME In late January, Levinson announced that “As a Catholic, I can only speak of the Church In 1999, CCS opened its Cuban Art Space the CCS had at last found a new home six in third person. Our local Church has suf- gallery, perhaps its best-known and most pop- blocks north, on West 29th Street. Long-term, fered persecutions and de-Christianization in ular program — offering regular exhibits by she has no interest in moving her organiza- very difficult circumstances, but she has various contemporary Cuban artists, as well tion to Brooklyn or the Bronx, even though always been faithful to the Gospel, to the as sending Cuban exhibits throughout the far those boroughs are far less expensive. Church and to the Cuban people. This is a corners of the United States. “We’re not contemplating moving outside reality that is often ignored by international Levinson estimates her office is crammed of Manhattan, because we have evening pro- public opinion.” grams,” she said. “We depend a lot on being with 3,500 pieces of Cuban artwork, 5,000 BISHOP: CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS IMPROVING posters and about 2,500 photographs. near transportation, and we have older mem- Before George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election, bers who would find it difficult.” ❑ Juan de Diós Hernández Ruíz, general sec- which resulted in the tightening of most U.S. retary of the Bishops’ Conference of Cuba, travel restrictions, Levinson was able to Details: Sandra Levinson, Executive Direc- said that 10 years after Pope John Paul II’s observe the interaction between Cuban tor, Center for Cuban Studies, 231 West 29th visit to Cuba, the Catholic Church seeks more artists and American visitors. Street, Suite #401, New York, NY 10001- opportunities for evangelizing. “It’s very interesting to see, since I started 5510. Tel: (212) 242-0559. Fax: (212) 242- Hernández told Spanish news agency EFE working with all these artists. The Americans 1937. Email: [email protected]. that the pope’s visit allowed Cubans to know are the ones who buy the most art,” she said. URL: www.cubaupdate.org. for certain that the Church “was alive,” but he pointed out that there’s still a long way to go. “Since the papal visit, church-state relations Montreal museum hosts exhibit of art from Cuba have experienced difficult moments but things have moved ahead slowly with both he Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is New York’s MoMA and other museums. sides increasingly seeking out improvement. showcasing Cuban art for the first The exhibit consists of five sections: De- “In this gradual process, even though our Ttime, in an exhibit running until Jun. 8. picting Cuba: Finding Ways to Express a counterparts do not have the gift of faith, I The show, entitled “Cuba: Art and History Nation (1868-1927); Arte Nuevo: The Avant- have seen an effort to understand the from 1868 to Today,” brings together 400 garde and the Recreation of Identity (1927- Church’s essence and activity,” he added. works of art. This includes 100 paintings — 1938); Cubanness: Affirming a Cuban Style “There remains the greatest challenge, how- (1938-1959); Within the Revolution, Every- among them a huge collective mural pro- ever, that of evangelization, of being able to thing, Against the Revolution, Nothing carry out our mission more widely, to bring duced in 1967 by many artists — 200 photo- (1959-1979), and The Revolution and Me: graphs and documents, about 100 works on the gospel to distinct areas of society,” which The Individual Within History (1980-2007). implies, among other things, greater access to paper (in particular, two collections of pre- Sponsors of the exhibit include Sun Life and post-1959 revolutionary posters). Cuba’s state-controlled media. Financial and METRO, as well as Cubana de During the interview, Hernández under- The exhibit involved help from Havana’s Aviación, media partners La Presse and The scored that he didn’t intend to “romanticize” Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and Foto- Gazette, and Quebec’s Ministère de la or “idealize” the current state of church-state teca de Cuba, as well as the collaboration of Culture et des Communications. relations in Cuba, noting “that would certainly be dishonest and insincere.” 12 CubaNews ❖ February 2008 challenged the registration of the brand name Nacional reported Jan. 22. BUSINESS BRIEFS by General Cigar and sued the firm in court. Dr. Concepción Campa Huergo, director of The suit was resolved in Habanos’ favor in Havana’s Carlos J. Finlay Pharmaceutical CUBA TO SPEND $2 BILLION IN TRANSPORT FIXES court, but a federal appeals court and, ulti- Institute, said the Va-Mengoc-BC vaccine is Cuba will invest more than $2 billion over mately, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the only one in the world used to counteract five years to upgrade its dilapidated public the Cuban firm. the effects of all type of brain and spinal-cord transportation system, Communist Party “The judicial proceedings are not over,” he meningitis, a highly deadly disease that devel- newspaper Granma reported Dec. 15. said. “I’m not talking just about the judicial ops in the form of rashes. Jorge Luís Sierra, Cuba’s transport minister, proceedings but also those before the U.S. Campa Huergo discussed the vaccine with said 1,500 Chinese-made buses would be Patent Office, which froze the cancellation 900 experts at a Jan. 23 conference at added to the public fleet. Other plans include process of the General Cigar registration.” Havana’s Calixto García University Hospital. extensive repairs to main highways across Details: Adargelio Garrido, Habanos SA, In 1991, the vaccine was included in Cuba’s Cuba, and the addition of more than 1,000 Calle 3ra #2006, e/20 y 22, La Habana. Tel: national program for immunization of three- taxicabs to urban streets in 2008. +53 7 204-0528. Email: [email protected]. and-a-half-month-old infants, with a second Vice Minister Joel Beltran Archer said the dose given at five and a half months. Thanks government has poured more than $1 billion MENINGITIS VACCINE, ESCOZUL VERY POPULAR to this action, meningitis was eradicated in into Cuba’s public transportation system in the More than 51 million doses of a Cuban vac- Cuba and has been under control ever since. past three years. Acting President Raúl Castro cine against brain and spinal meningitis have In addition, Campa Huergo said the first has made improving that system a key priority. been applied in dozens of countries since its human vaccine against leptospyrosis (Weil’s HAVANA’S EXPOCUBA REOPENS discovery by Cuban doctors nearly 20 years Disease) was developed in Cuba with the col- ago, Cuba’s state-run Agencia de Información laboration of the Pedro Kouri Tropical Havana’s Expocuba exhibition area re- opened its doors to the public Jan. 12 with the permanent exposition “Pathways to Victories” and presentations of the popular children’s Alimport: U.S. still Cuba’s top food supplier dance and theater troupe Bebe Compañía. said. “Some of us arguably might be late Last year, the center was visited by 809,568 he United States remained Cuba’s main supplier of food and agricultural getting here, but we’re here.” people, the highest number of visitors since products in 2007, selling state-run Meanwhile, Cuba may accept more for- 1991. Of those, some 651,000 were to the per- T Alimport over $600 million in agricultural eign investment in agriculture to try to manent exposition and 158,000 to the Havana exports under the Trade Sanctions Reform reduce food imports and revive state lands International Fair, according to Granma. and Export Enhancement Act (TSRA). that have fallen into disuse, Reuters report- The standing exposition, which showcases Pedro Alvarez, chairman of Alimport, Cuba's economic and social achievements, is ed Dec. 20. said Cuba imported roughly the same “We are analyzing how to increase dedicated to the commemoration of the 50th amount of agricultural products as it did in anniversary of decisive battles in 1958 that led investment in the sector with the goal of 2006, but rising production and transporta- substituting imports,” said Anaiza Rodrí- to the final defeat of the Batista dictatorship. tion costs forced it to spend $30 million Details: ExpoCuba, Carretera del Rico, Km. guez, director of the Department of Invest- more than the $570 million it paid two ment Project Evaluation and Management, 3.5, Arroyo Naranjo, La Habana. Tel: +53 7 years ago for the same goods. 66-4396. Email: [email protected]. a division of Cuba’s Foreign Investment The official’s comments, quoted by AP, and Cooperation Ministry. HABANOS SUES U.S. FIRM OVER GUANTANAMERA came during a Jan. 21 news conference Acting President Raúl Castro said in July with California’s secretary of food and agri- that the state of the government-dominated Cigarmaker Habanos S.A., jointly owned by culture, A.G. Kawamura, who was leading the Cuban government and Altadis, is pursu- farm sector was unacceptable. the state’s first trade mission to Cuba. Up to 50% of arable land lays fallow even ing a lawsuit in the United States over the California, which produces $32 billion “Guantanamera” brand name. as the cash-strapped country imports some worth of food crops annually, is the nation’s $2 billion in food products a year. The legal director of Habanos SA, Adargelio top food-producing state; it hopes to sell up Garrido, told the daily Juventud Rebelde about At that time, Raúl said agriculture should to $180 million in farm exports to Cuba, up be restructured and new concepts applied the lawsuit regarding Guantanamera, a brand from $735,000 in 2006 food shipments. name launched in 2002. but he did not elaborate. “California finally is getting off the dime Cuba has been reluctant to open agricul- “A U.S. firm based in Miami asked to regis- and into trade with Cuba,” said Greg Este- ter it and we had to start legal action against vane, whose firm Global Strategies has sold ture up to foreign investment; at present, them,” Garrido said, declining to name the California wine and tomato paste to Cuba. only one of 233 joint ventures is in the agri- Florida company. Since TSRA’s passage in 2000, said Alva- cultural sector: a rice-growing cooperative Garrido said that this “is one more exam- rez, Cuba has spent more than $2.7 billion project with Vietnam. ple” of the problems caused for Cuban tobac- on U.S. farm products, as well as the relat- “This is a different moment,” Rodríguez co brands by prohibiting access to the U.S. ed shipping and banking expenses factored said when asked if policy was changing and market in accord with Washington’s 45-year- into import totals. agriculture would become more investor- old economic embargo against the island. U.S. companies in 35 states ship around friendly. “Food is our biggest import and “The problem is that, although the regula- 1,600 types of agricultural products to the we have to produce it here,” she said, tions of the embargo — as well as its limita- island, he told reporters, though he would pointing to Raúl’s July speech. tions — permit you to register and renew not say which state is Cuba’s top supplier. Cuba imports hundreds of thousands of brand names, the fact of not being present in California produces 400 types of farm tons of rice, soy products, wheat, corn and the market is one more obstacle because you products, including wheat, wine, fruits, veg- other bulk foods annually, around 25% of it have to be there to defend yourself,” he said. etables and nuts; Kawamura said it exports from the United States under TSRA. Regarding a separate lawsuit that Habanos about 25% of that produce. Rodríguez said the ministry was looking is pursing against U.S.-based General Cigar Agricultural secretaries from 19 states at proposals from Argentina, Venezuela and over the brand name Cohiba, Garrido said have visited Cuba, although Kawamura is other Latin American as well as European “Cuba has not been standing idly by. We will the first from California to do so. countries to grow soy and other grains and continue fighting until we have no more “The door’s already been opened. There cereals in Cuba, but would not say when means to do so.” is plenty of business being done here,” he agreements might be signed. That lawsuit began in 1997, when Habanos February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 13 Medicine Institute. EMBARGO ENSNARES CANADIANS USING PLASTIC outfit including nurses who decide the con- He said the vaccine causes an immune Canadians visiting Cuba have been facing tents of each suitcase and doctors who over- response that lasts longer than preceding vac- big problems using MasterCard plastic issued see each bag and sign a letter in English and cines obtained in other countries. by credit unions, partly because Bank of Spanish verifying its contents as humanitarian In related news, Cuban state entity Labio- America purchased the MasterCard business aid complying with Canadian and Cuban law. fam has produced 110 millimeters of blue of Regina-based CUETS Financial last year. Tourists fill out a form on the website; when scorpion toxin — highly effective in cancer MasterCards issued by the Bank of Montreal they deliver the supplies to one of the more treatments — every month since last August can still be used, however. than 200 Cuban clinics and hospitals involved in the eastern province of Las Tunas. Betty Riess, a corporate spokeswoman for in the project, a doctor there gives them a sig- Technicians at an scorpion farm are able to North Carolina-based Bank of America, said nature and official stamp to take back to milk the venom, also known as Escozul, from she doesn’t know how extensive the problem Canada to verify that it was received. some 800 scorpions using electrodes. This is but the company has received inquiries “Maybe one official in a year confiscates a technique is applied in other Cuban cities, and about Canadian visitors in Cuba being unable bag,” says Howes. “Most know us by now.” there are scorpion farms run by Labiofam in to use their credit cards. Details: Not Just Tourists Toronto, 38 Denver each of the island’s 14 provinces. CUETS is a major producer of MasterCard Crescent, Toronto, Ont. M2J 1G8 Canada. Tel: Escozul has proven harmless to the human credit cards in Canada, as it provides that (416) 234-9658. URL: www.njttoronto.ca. body and highly successful in the treatment of service for credit unions across the country. tumors and illnesses related to the central With that CUETS MasterCard business now 2007 INFANT MORTALITY AT 5.3 PER 1,000 nervous system. Likewise, scorpion toxin has owned by the Bank of America, Riess said Health Ministry officials said that 21 munici- analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, those MasterCard transactions are being and is prescribed for patients suffering from palities in Cuba ended 2007 without a single processed in the United States. infant mortality, while overall infant mortality lung, uterus, prostate and pancreas ailments. “That puts us under U.S. law to disallow Details: Labiofam SA, Ave. Independencia, came to 5.3 per 1,000 babies born alive. transactions from sanctioned countries, which The list includes the eastern municipality of Km. 16.5, Boyeros, Ciudad de La Habana. Tel: would include Cuba,” she told the Winnipeg +53 7 33-4757. Email: [email protected]. Free Press. Cauto Cristo, with 21,000 inhabitants, and the Randa Stewart, vice-president of marketing western municipalities of Minas de Mataham- Havana Club keeps growing and brand management at Assiniboine Credit bre, Candelaria Bauta, central Cifuentes and Union, said she advises its Cuba-bound mem- Yaguauay, and eastern El Salvador and Imias. Some 2.8 million cases of Havana Club bers to use other credit cards in their wallets, GREENS PRAISE CUBAN BAN ON TURTLE HUNTING rum were sold last year, up from 300,000 if they’ve got them, or travelers’ cheques. cases when the French-Cuban joint ven- “We’ve let CUETS know we’re not happy Cuba has banned the hunting of marine tur- ture first began in 1993. about this,” she said. “The worrisome part is tles endangered by the illegal trade in shells That’s the word from Mark Orr, vice- people traveling to Cuba who aren’t aware of used to make combs, a government official president of North American Affairs for this change and they’re caught off guard.” told Reuters Jan. 22. The decision was applauded by the World Pernod Ricard USA, a division of the CANADIAN MEDICAL AID PROGRAM IN TROUBLE famous French drinks conglomerate. Wildlife Fund as a lifeline to all turtle species “Our brand has done very well, and It’s the simplest of ideas — have tourists hatching on beaches throughout the Carib- bean, but above all the critically endangered without the U.S. market, which everybody take used suitcases full of donated medical supplies to clinics and hospitals in Cuba hawksbill turtle. sees as one of the biggest and most excit- where they’re desperately needed. And it has The ban will remain in effect “until it is sci- ing in the world,” Orr told CubaNews been a huge success. Until now. entifically proven that the species is recover- recently. “When it’s finally possible to sell Last year, according to a Jan. 11 story in the ing,” said Elisa García, director of regulations Havana Club in the United States, we Toronto Star, Canadian tourists delivered at the Cuban Fisheries Ministry. think we’ll do very well with it. And I sus- 4,237 kgs of everything from medicine and IV “This far-sighted decision represents an out- pect our competitors realize that as well.” kits to masks left over from the SARS crisis. standing outcome for Cuba, for the wider Bacardi in 2006 sold 19.3 million cases, But next month, Not Just Tourists Toronto, Caribbean and for conservation,” said WWF’s a 0.5% drop from the 19.5 million cases the small nonprofit organization that makes it species program director, Susan Lieberman. sold the year before, but a 1.1% gain in the all happen, will shut down unless some suit- For many years, Cuba had a legal fishery preceding five years. Bacardi now able free space is found for their operation. quota of 500 hawksbills a year to keep up its accounts for 59% of the world’s rum mar- “It would be devastating,” says co-founder export of turtle shells, but has finally acted on ket, according to Impact Databank. Bill Howes, noting that fundraising “would the pleas of conservationists. Havana Club — a 50-50 venture with change the whole nature of the organization.” Two fishing communities that still hunted the Cuban government — is Pernod For the past two years, Not Just Tourists turtles, Nuevitas in Camagüey province and Ricard’s 10th-selling spirit brand, with Toronto has operated out of free space in the Cocodrilo on the Isle of Youth, will get fund- basement of the Steelworkers Union building. sales of 2.6 million cases in 2006, repre- ing from the Canadian International A new long-term tenant is taking over and senting a 12.5% gain over the 2.3 million renovating the entire premises in mid- Development Agency (CIDA) to find alterna- cases it sold in 2005. February — peak season for the charity. tive sources of income and modernize their This also makes Havana Club the Not Just Tourists was started when Ken fishing fleets. Fishermen will be retrained and fourth fastest-growing of Pernod Ricard’s Taylor, a Canadian physician, took some pock- engaged in the protection of turtles and their 22 brands worldwide, with 11.6% average et thermometers on a bicycle trip to Cuba. nests, the WWF said in a statement. annual compound growth between 2000 Doctors there were so grateful that he and The turtles are threatened by the loss of and 2005. Only Imperial Blue (Indian his wife decided to collect spare medicine nesting and feeding habitats, egg collection, whiskey), Royal Stag (Indian whiskey) from hospitals and clinics to send along with entanglement in fishing gear, as well as cli- and 100 Pipers (Scotch whiskey) grew other tourists. mate change and pollution. But the main faster than Havana Club. Similar organizations exist in other Ontario threat comes from the continuing illegal trade Details: Marc Beuve-Méry, Director-Gen- cities, as well as Vancouver and Montreal. Not in tortoise shells. eral, HCI, Pernod Ricard Europe, 2 rue de Just Tourists Toronto started in 2004 and still Details: CIDA Information Centre, 200 Pro- Solferino, 75007 Paris. Tel: +33 1 4411- operates on the $5,000 seed money it got then menade du Portage #842, Gatineau, Québec 7720. Email: [email protected]. from Toronto labor organizations. K1A 0G4, Canada. Tel: (819) 997-6215. Fax: About 50 volunteers work for the Toronto (819) 953-8132. Email: [email protected]. 14 CubaNews ❖ February 2008 BOOKSHELF Protestantism, proletarianism and pre-1959 society in Cuba eriodically, CubaNews offers glimpses FIDEL CASTRO READER members and friends — who they married, and reviews of books we think will inter- The “Fidel Castro Reader” opens with the their offspring, political relations, their home P est our readers. This month, we present revolutionary’s famous courtroom defense addresses and even the social clubs they three books: one analyzes the Protestant ex- speech following the Moncada attack in 1953 belonged to. perience under communism, one chronicles and includes more than five decades of Fidel’s Jiménez himself was born in 1936, attended all of Fidel Castro’s speeches and the last (in speeches — right up to his recent reflections a religious school in Havana’s Guanabacoa Spanish) offers a glimpse of Cuban high soci- on prospects for the Cuban revolution after district and later studied journalism and law ety in the days before the revolution. his passing. at the University of Havana. As a student leader, he took part in the PROTESTANTS, REVOLUTION & CUBA-U.S. BOND The book’s promoters call this “the most comprehensive selection of the speeches of armed struggle against the Batista dictator- “Protestants, Revolution and the Cuba-U.S. one of history’s greatest orators and one of ship and in April 1957 formed the Revolutio- Bond” is a rare look at one aspect of civil soci- the most incisive, if controversial, political fig- nary Directorate. Later he took part in the ety in communist ures in the world today.” guerrilla group Cuba — the Edited by David Deutschmann and Debo- deployed in the Protestant expe- rah Shnookal, the book (ISBN 978-1-920888- mountains of rience — and at 88-6, price $19.95) central Cuba. continuing links features a fore- By late 1958, between the word by Cuba’s Jiménez was United States and eloquent foreign already comman- Cuba that do not minister, Felipe der of the rebel focus on diplo- Pérez Roque. army. Under the matic issues. Its 525 pages new revolution- The 208-page are an essential ary government, book (ISBN 978- resource for scho- he served in key 0-8130-3158-3, lars, researchers positions in the $59.95 hardcov- and general read- army and the er) is written by ers. The book is Ministry of Inter- Theron Corse, made even more ior, besides be- assistant professor of Latin American history valuable by its ing editor-in- at Tennessee State University. extensive chrono- chief of the evening newspaper Combate. Jason M. Yaremko of the University of logy of the Cuban One of the most interesting features of the Winnipeg calls it “an incisive, thorough and revolution and 24 book is the way Jiménez classifies owners into engaging study of the dynamic of Cuban pages of photos. five groups, according to the magnitude of Protestantism, the influence of the United Details: Consortium Book Sales and Distri- their wealth and also the origin of their assets. States, and Protestants’ struggles with Cuba’s bution, 34 Thirteenth Avenue NE, Suite #101, The book includes a general index of own- revolution ... a major contribution to the study Minneapolis, MN 55413-1007. Tel: (800) ers, executives of enterprises, their economic of religion and revolution.” 351-5073. Fax: (612) 746-2606. Email: importance, those who were foreign-born After the 1959 revolution, Protestant [email protected]. URL: www.cbsd.com. owners — including 25 American citizens — churches in Cuba suffered the repression, owners according to their professions, economic hardship and isolation that the rest LOS PROPETARIOS DE CUBA 1958 founders, war veterans, military, enterprises, of the island experienced. On a hot and sticky afternoon last August, autonomists and other related information. Even so — and contrary to conventional “Los Propietarios de Cuba 1958” (Owners of The bibliography includes 48 testimonies thought about the U.S.-Cuba relationship — Cuba 1958) was launched by Cuban state pub- of people, some of whom are relatives of Cuban Protestant churches continued to lishing house Ciencias Sociales in the pres- selected owners, like Julio Lobo’s daughter, maintain most of their ties with U.S. churches ence of author Guillermo Jiménez Soler. María Luísa Lobo Montalvo, and others who and have preserved a high degree of inde- This is the second of a four-volume collec- were friends of owners or studied with them. pendence from the Cuban government. tion. The first was “Las Empresas de Cuba Of the 25 Americans listed, five are in the By 1961, most U.S. missionaries had left 1958” (Enterprises of Cuba 1958), and it will top category: Walter J. Amoss, Bernardo Cuba, and throughout the decade many be followed by “La Burguesia en Cuba” Braga Rionda, Irene Dupont de Nemours, young Cuban pastors and seminarians were (Bourgeoisie in Cuba) and “El Capitalismo en Vivian Joseph Gianelloni, Dayton Hedges and conscripted into semi-military work brigades. Cuba” (Capitalism in Cuba). Philip Rosenberg. Among the 551 listed own- Despite these events, most Protestants The current book’s launch was followed by ers, 109 were lawyers, 50 were politicians, 49 have sought to maintain their pre-revolution distribution of over 3,000 copies one month were architects or engineers and 20 were identity, which included a rejection of atheis- later. It was sold out within a few days, despite medical doctors. tic Marxism. its price of 30 Cuban pesos in bookshops. Re- The author warns readers of all faiths and In addition, economic and political changes sellers offered it for as high as 10 convertible political affiliations that his work “is free of in Cuba since the fall of the Soviet Union have pesos (around $12.50). ideological prejudices, involuntary subjec- brought about a renewal of bonds between After a thorough investigation involving tivism, ethical appraisal, revealed or non-con- the two countries in many denominations. clusive truths, doctrinary adjectives and per- data collected from state institutions and pri- ❑ The author follows church-state relations to vate persons living in and outside Cuba, sonal judgments.” the present, including the explosive growth of Jiménez selected 551 of the most influential “Bookshelf” is an occasional feature of Pentecostalism since the 1990s. and powerful members of Cuba’s upper class Details: Stephanie Williams, Publicity and CubaNews. If you would like your book, at the time of the revolution. report, novel or scholarly publication to be Promotions Mgr., University Press of Florida, For each, Jiménez describes their proper- 15 NW 15th Street, Gainesville, FL 32611. Tel: featured in an upcoming issue, please email ties, the executive posts they occupied, and a press release to [email protected]. (800) 680-1955. URL: www.upf.com. biographical data, including that of family February 2008 ❖ CubaNews 15 CARIBBEAN OFAC nixes Cuban participation in Antigua cricket match BY VITO ECHEVARRIA mainland locations and Puerto Rico, initially Trinidad & Tobago received $500,000. There uba will not be playing in this month’s ran into problems when game organizers were also awards of $25,000 for “Man of the 2008 Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tourna- from Major League Baseball wanted to invite Match,” rising to $100,000 for the final, and Cment in Antigua, despite the efforts of Cuba’s national baseball team to play. $10,000 for “Play of the Match.” Texas billionaire Allen Stanford to include a Worried that the But money wasn’t the only thing motivating Cuban team in his annual tournament. team might actually the Cubans, who had their own diplomatic making money from Stanford, who made a fortune through his and cultural reasons for participating. Fidel participating in the Castro and other officials want to move ordi- Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, has games, OFAC pro- nary Cubans away from the U.S.-centric sport both U.S. and Antiguan citizenship. When the hibited its entry into of baseball. According to London’s Guardian, Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign the United States. Cuba was on the verge of embracing cricket Assets Control (OFAC) found out Stanford’s However, OFAC as a national sport — a move that would have plans, it barred him from including the Cuban reversed its ban brought the island closer to cricket-playing team under threat of heavy financial penal- after WBC officials Commonwealth countries like Jamaica, South ties. Despite the fact that the Cuban team isn’t worked out a com- Africa, India and Pakistan. playing on U.S. soil, the embargo forbids U.S. promise with the “There was a memo of understanding with citizens from conducting business with Cuba. Bush administration Cuba to collaborate on sports [with the U.K.],” “We have been anxious to include the en- under which the Allen Stanford Tom Rodwell, spokesman at the London Com- tire Caribbean in the Stanford 20/20 Cricket Cuban team agreed munity Cricket Association, told the Guardian Tournament and I am extremely disappointed to donate all of its game proceeds toward last month. “They would help us with athlet- that Cuba will not be able to play,” Stanford, Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. ics, basketball and boxing — which they are who’s also part-owner of the Caribbean airline very good at — and they were scouting LIAT, told CubaNews in an email. CRICKET ISN’T BASEBALL around for a sport we could help with, and “At this point, I can confirm that Stanford Although cricket doesn’t get much press in came up with cricket. Some of the Cubans are 20/20 has reapplied to OFAC for Cuba’s par- the United States, it’s a major sport in Great turning out to be very good bowlers, although ticipation and we await that response,” said Britain and former British possessions, espe- the batting was not so hot.” Rhonda Kelley, director of the event, set for cially in the Caribbean. To show how serious baseball-crazy Cuba Jan. 26 to Feb. 24 at the Stanford Cricket For that reason, Stanford spent around $32 was starting to take cricket, former Indian all- Ground near Antigua’s international airport. million on the 20/20 tournament in 2007. rounder Robin Singh was reported as plan- During that event, 19 individual teams partic- ning to coach on the island. Former West SHADES OF 2006 WBC CONTROVERSY ipated, each of them receiving a $100,000 Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh — in icon The saga is reminiscent of the fiasco that development grant. of the cricket world who’s visited Cuba sever- erupted in March 2006 over the World Base- Last year’s champion, Guyana, won the first al times — told Reuters last summer that ball Classic. The WBC, staged at various U.S. prize of $1 million, while second-place “there is very good talent there.” ❑ New wave of Cuba-centric websites available for online shoppers ack in the late 1990s, a small and ded- americanas ELA S.L., runs the online shop- in Cuba’s gastronomic offerings, and Exce- icated group of foreign entrepreneurs ping mall MallHabana.com. There, overseas lencias del Motor, whose website carries ads Bstarted up various e-commerce ven- buyers can order a variety of merchandise for foreign car dealerships in Cuba like tures in Cuba, ranging from portals such as for their loved ones in Cuba, including food, Mercedes-Benz, Nisson and Peugeot. Canadian businessman Robert Sajo’s Cuba- cosmetics, sanitary products, paint, mat- Excelencia’s bilingual magazine Diploma- Web.cu to online tourism booking sites like tresses and furniture, and even music CDs tic covers diplomatic activities in Cuba, and is Steve Marshall’s GoCubaPlus.com to and movies on DVD. distributed at embassies, offices of interna- CubaLinda.com, which was founded by ex- The firm, headed by Spanish tourism tional organizations and Cuban state agen- CIA spy Philip Agee, who died last month. mogul José Carlos de Santiago, also runs e- cies. The same firm also owns the online Another Canadian businessman, Enzo commerce operations for Cuban appliance CaribbeanNewsDigital.com, which is aimed Ruberto, who bought out Sajo’s Cuban oper- retailer ElectroDita.com, whose bricks-and- at travel professionals working in the region. ations several years ago, pulled out of his mortar chain in Cuba, Dita SA, is a unit of Separately, a Canadian citizen is behind online Cuban supermarket initiative, the Cuban holding company Cubalse. the 2007 opening of an online Cuban super- PreciosFijos.com, some years ago. Grupo Excelencias also handles online market called Plaza Carlos III. That shopping These days, the Cuban government con- reservations for Cuba’s cross-island bus site, at www.carlostercero.ca, is connected to trols CubaWeb.cu and its affiliate sites, and service Viazul (www.viazul.com) as well as the Plaza Carlos III chain of 39 retail stores Sajo has relocated to the Dominican Repub- flower deliveries to Havana residents throughout Cuba, and delivers to recipients lic to pursue other tourism-related ventures through www.florhabana.com. across the island within 72 hours of receiving there. Meanwhile, Marshall has shut down Since its inception in 1997, Grupo Exce- an order at its website. his sites due in part to legal hassles with the lencias has handled online bookings to des- Electrical appliances, juices, drinks, U.S. Treasury Department (see CubaNews, tinations in Cuba and elsewhere in the canned food, cosmetics and computer acces- December 2007, page 14). Caribbean. The company, with offices in the sories are all available on this site, though its Nevertheless, websurfers interested in Netherlands and Cuba, also prints 15 bi- owner — Toronto-based Vladimir Graveran Cuba can now find a slew of e-commerce monthly and quarterly magazines in seven — declined to talk to CubaNews about him- operations covering the island. For exam- languages, distributed at tourism trade self or his relationship with state-owned ple, Madrid-based Grupo Excelencias, oper- shows around the world. Titles include Cimex, the parent of Plaza Carlos III. ating under the name Exclusivas Latino- Excelencias Gourmet for tourists interested – VITO ECHEVARRÍA 16 CubaNews ❖ February 2008

CALENDAR OF EVENTS CARIBBEAN UPDATE If your organization is sponsoring an upcoming event, please let our readers know! You already know what’s going in Cuba, Fax details to CubaNews at (301) 949-0065 or send e-mail to [email protected]. thanks to CubaNews. Now find out what’s happening in the rest of this diverse and Jan. 31: “200 Years of Cuban Children’s Books.” University of Miami exhibition opening fast-growing region. with a presentation in Spanish by children’s literature expert Antonio Orlando Rodríguez. Subscribe to Caribbean UPDATE, a monthly newsletter founded in 1985. Cor- No charge. Details: Otto G. Richter Library, 1300 Memorial Drive, 2nd Floor, Coral Gables, porate and government executives, as well FL 33134. Tel: (305) 284-4008. Email: [email protected]. URL: http://library.miami.edu/chc/. as scholars and journalists, depend on this publication for its insightful, timely cover- Feb. 2: Paquito D’Rivera Jazz Quintet, Gusman Center, Miami. Tickets: $52, $32, $27. Part age of the 30-plus nations and territories of of Miami-Dade College Cultura del Lobo 2007-08 Performance Series. Details: Gusman Cen- the Caribbean and Central America. ter, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami, FL 33131. Tel: (305) 237-3010. URL: www.mdc.edu/culture. When you receive your first issue, you have two options: (a) pay the accompany- Feb. 5-6: “Cuba After Fidel Castro: A New Era in Havana.” Brookings Institution, Washing- ing invoice and your subscription will be ton. Confirmed speakers: Vicki Huddleston, Jaime Suchlicki, Mark Falcoff, Ann Bardach, processed; (b) if you’re not satisfied, just write “cancel” on the invoice and return it. Francisco Hernández, Julia Sweig, Daniel Erikson, William Leogrande, Riordan Roett, Peter There is no further obligation on your part. Hakim, Carlos Saladrigas, Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Marifeli Pérez Stable, Andrés Gómez, Jorge The cost of a subscription to Caribbean Piñón, Phil Peters, Kirby Jones. Cost: $1,875. Details: Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachu- UPDATE is $277 per year. A special rate of setts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: (800) 925-5730. Email: [email protected]. $139 is available to academics, non-profit organizations and additional subscriptions Feb. 6: “The Chávez Connection: Analyzing the Bolivarian Revolution,” London. Speaker: mailed to the same address. Emily Morris, Economist Intelligence Unit, and Julia Buxton, Center for International Coope- To order, contact Caribbean UPDATE at 116 Myrtle Ave., Millburn, NJ 07041, call us ration and Security, University of Bradford. Part of “Revolution in Flux” series. No charge. at (973) 376-2314, visit our new website at Details: International Institute for the Study of Cuba, London Metropolitan University, 166- www.caribbeanupdate.org or send an 220 Holloway Rd, London N7 8DB. Tel: +44 20 7133-2405. Email: [email protected]. email to [email protected]. We accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Feb. 20-22: “Cuba 2008: Counterpoints of Continuity and Change,” Florida International University, Miami. Panels focus on politics, economy, social issues, arts and culture, and the Cuban diaspora. Special activities include viewing of the documentary “East of Havana” and a plenary discussion with Harvard University’s Robert Putnam. Cost: $150 (students $25). Details: Dolores Quintero, Cuban Research Institute, FIU, University Park, DM 363, Miami, FL 33199. Tel: (305) 348-1991. Email: [email protected]. URL: www.cri.fiu.edu.

Mar. 12: “The Gaze Atrás: Screen Memories in Cuban Cinema,” London. Speaker: Prof. Editor & Publisher Michael Chanan, Roehampton University. Part of “Revolution in Flux” series. No charge. ■ LARRY LUXNER ■ Details: International Institute for the Study of Cuba, London Metropolitan University, 166- Washington correspondent 220 Holloway Rd, London N7 8DB. Tel: +44 20 7133-2405. Email: [email protected]. ■ ANA RADELAT ■ Political analyst Mar. 13-15: “A Changing Cuba in A Changing World,” Bildner Center, New York. One ■ DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI ■ of the largest Cuba-related academic conferences held outside Cuba, this event will fea- Feature writers ture 35 panels bringing together over 100 experts. No charge. Details: Bildner Center for ■ VITO ECHEVARRÍA ■ Western Hemisphere Studies, 365 Fifth Ave., #5209, New York, NY 10016-4309. Tel: (212) ■ HELEN J. SIMON ■ 817-2096. Fax: (212) 817-1540. Email: [email protected]. URL: www.bildner.org. Cartographer ■ ARMANDO H. PORTELA ■

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