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State Department Asks Vatican to Lobby For Vol. 20, No. 3 March 2012 In the News ‘Mules’ handle growing volume of cargo Vatican and Cuba as MIA dominates Cuba-bound air traffic On eve of Pope BenedicT XVI’s visiT, ‘con- BY DOREEN HEMLOCK more than 80% since 2009, when newly inaugu- sTrucTive engagemenT’ aT work .....Page 2 he business of sending U.S. goods to Cuba rated President Barack Obama issued a decree is changing: More gift packages are going letting Cuban-Americans travel to the island whenever they want and send more gifts. OFAC nixes ferry Tto individuals, and less commercial freight to Cuba’s cash-strapped government. The company’s president, Mercedes Costa, Agency says ‘no’ To proposals for Fla.-Cuba The shift comes from policy changes in both says much of her former business now moves passenger ferry service ................Page 3 Washington and Havana. In 2009, the Obama through “mules” — Cuban-Americans who trav- el to the island hauling everything from food to administration eased rules on sending gifts to clothes to flat-screen TVs. In return, the mules P2P takes off individuals on the island. receive a free round-trip ticket, valued up to Since relaxaTion of OFAC rules, ‘people-To- And now that Cuban authorities encourage $500, and sometimes a small stipend too. private business, many locals have begun to rely people’ Travel skyrockeTs ...............Page 4 Caribbean DirecT’s volumes plunged from on their relatives in the States to send down sup- roughly 40,000 lbs a month in 2008 to 4,500 plies and other basics. lb/month in 2011, she said, as mules took over Special report: Cement Likewise, Cuban state entity Alimport is buy- the growing gift-parcel business. Cuba aTTempTs To revive iTs Troubled cem- ing less food and medicine from U.S. companies “Mules are stocking whole stores in Cuba” — no longer hopeful that its purchases from enT manufacTuring secTor ..............Page 6 for private entrepreneurs, Costa told CubaNews. various states will speed an end to Washington’s “It’s a huge business down there. Some mules 50-year-old embargo against the island. go every weekend to bring things to the island, Newsmakers However, the shift has hurt some traditional even bicycles.” Bill Hauf, known for building playgrounds freight companies serving Cuba. The “mule” business works like this: Scores Miami-based Caribbean Direct International in Cuba, hopes To inauguraTe BWI-Havana of U.S. offices accepT goods for delivery in Cuba, saw volumes on its all-cargo flights to Cuba drop Freight, flighTs as early as This fall ............Page 10 See page 9 Weak demand State Department asks Vatican to lobby U.S. charTer firms sTruggle wiTh limiTed demand for Cuba flighTs ..............Page 11 for release of subcontractor Alan Gross MINTUR: We play fair BY ANA RADELAT He Traveled five Times To Cuba coverTly as a Agency denies charges of discriminaTory STaTe DeparTmenT official said The VaTican subconTracTor for BeThesda-based DevelopmenT AlTernaTives Inc. DAI has received millions of pricing againsT U.S. TourisTs ........Page 12 ambassador in WashingTon has been lob- Abied To ask Pope BenedicT XVI To seek The dollars for a USAID program aimed aT desTabi- lizing The CasTro governmenT. release of Alan Gross from a Havana jail. The 62-year-old man’s arresT has puT U.S.- Retiring to Cuba BenedicT XVI plans To visiT Cuba Mar. 26-28. How does Cuba sTack up againsT oTher Cuba relaTions inTo a deep freeze. BuT Cuba has BuT a spokeswoman for The office of Papal Nun- adamanTly refused To release Gross, despiTe sev- poTenTial reTiremenT havens? ......Page 13 cio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò said she eral pleas from The STaTe DeparTmenT. had no commenT on wheTher The pope will help A number of surrogaTes have pleaded for his Gross, a U.S. Agency for InTernaTional Develop- freedom, including former New Mexico Gov. Business briefs menT subconTracTor who’s been imprisoned in SherriTT sees drop in nickel, oil producTion; Bill Richardson, who was rebuffed by The Cuba for more Than Two years. Cubans lasT year. More recenTly, a delegaTion of Cuban coffee harvesT up 24% ......Page 15 “Hopefully The pope raises The issue,” said a visiTing lawmakers ThaT included Sens. Dick STaTe DeparTmenT official who asked To remain Durbin (D-IL) and PaTrick Leahy (D-VT) asked anonymous. “The pope’s visiT gives The Cubans for The same — and were also Turned down. CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monThly by CUBANEWS LLC. © 2012. All righTs reserved. an opporTuniTy To do The righT Thing.” The laTesT appeal for Gross’ release came Annual subscripTion: $398. NonprofiT organizaTions: Gross is serving a 15-year senTence following from a prominenT New York rabbi, ArThur $198. PrinTed ediTion is $100 exTra. For ediTorial in- his convicTion of crimes againsT The Cuban sTaTe Schneier, who also meT wiTh The imprisoned quires, please call (305) 393-8760, fax your requesT for smuggling saTelliTe phones and oTher high- subconTracTor. When he returned To The UniTed To (305) 670-2229 or email [email protected]. Tech equipmenT inTo The island. See Gross, page 3 2 CubaNews v March 2012 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS The Vatican and Cuba: Constructive engagement at work BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI named charge d’affaires and chief of mission cessions, while social services and charities ope John Paul II made his groundbreak- at the Papal Nuncio in Havana. He worked multiplied. The appointment of Jaime Lucas ing journey to Cuba in 1998. Later this hard to open new areas of cooperation, espe- Ortega y Alamino — a critic of both commu- Pmonth, Pope Benedict XVI will also visit cially with regard to charities, social work and nism and capiTalism — as archbishop of the island — but why? the recruitment of local Cubans as priests. Havana in 1981, and later cardinal, helped iso- The answer dates back to the early 1960s, Zacchi himself led many of these seminar- late the remaining conservative attitudes rep- right after Vatican II and Pope John XXIII, istas to work in the fields cutting sugar cane; resented by Pedro Meurice, the archbishop when the Holy See decided to revise its antag- Fidel repeatedly praised Zacchi, who by then of Santiago de Cuba. Finally, the Fourth Party Congress in 1991 onistic policy toward Cuba — not just vis-à-vis had become a close personal friend. As recog- the communist government but toward the nition for Zacchi’s accomplishments, the pope put to rest, once and for all, any “atheist” poli- local Catholic Church as well. ordained him bishop in 1967. cies and opened the Communist Party’s ranks Its new policy of constructive engagement It was an entirely new way to approach de- to believers. was enTirely differenT approach Than ThaT velopments in Cuba. By the end of the 1960s, Changes were becoming irreversible and employed by The VaTican Toward Russia, the levels of understanding and cooperation Eastern Europe or Asia. between the Catholic Church and the Cuban The reason? Obviously enough, the Vatican government increased significantly. reasoned that in Cuba, it was facing some- It was in this new context that Fidel Castro thing beyond the conventional stereotypes of met John Paul II and a number of cardinals at communism and the Cold War. The VaTican in November 1996, and The It saw that the process taking place in Cuba groundwork for the January 1998 papal was involved much-needed changes in many dif- finally implemented. ferent areas — regardless of ideological con- So, in a much improved atmosphere, Bene- siderations and global alliances — and that REUTERS / ENRIQUE DE OSA LA dict XVI will now visit Cuba. In the meantime, the degree of popular support and legitimacy Cuba has been visited by many cardinals rep- toward the revolution was extremely high. resenting the Vatican and other important At the same time, the Vatican’s perception dioceses, from Krakow to Boston to Miami. of the Cuban Catholic Church — despite its Notable visitors include Miami Archbishop once-powerful resources and connections — Thomas Wenski and Tarcisio Bertone, whom was that it was quite weak compared to the European media consider to be the Vatican’s siTuaTion in oTher LaTin American and most influential politician. Caribbean nations. There were very few local “It will be a watershed moment for the priests and little appeal for priestly devotion, Cuban church as was the visit of John Paul II especially among blacks and mulattos. in 1998,” Wenski recently told reporters. “The ImporTanT facTs cannoT be overlooked, pope goes on a mission of hope and as he has among them: said many times, ‘A world without God is a world without hope, without a future,’ I think n The Catholic Church’s refusal to recog- nize the mulatta Virgin of Charity for more he comes to announce a future of hope for the than 300 years (it took a lot of fighting and island of Cuba.” pressure from local patriots to achieve this). A poster welcomes Pope Benedict XVI to Havana. n The existence of a segregated order or DESPITE AGE, ORTEGA REMAINS ON THE JOB nuns (the Oblatas), and church documents for the first time officially Meanwhile, the Cuban Catholic Church has n The church’s hostility toward the role of characterized the revolution as an act of social continued to expand its network of journals, African religions and their syncretic expres- justice that improved the lives of Cuba’s peo- publications and newsletters. It recently inau- sions during Sunday Mass, even today. ple. In the 1970s, Fidel held dialogues with gurated a new seminary while enlarging char- ChrisTian churches acTive in social move- ities and social services (including religious VATICAN ENVOY ZACCHI WAS EXEMPLARY menTs in Chile, Jamaica, Colombia and services within the penal system).
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