Even with Democrats Running Congress, Cuba-Related Legislation

Vol. 15, No. 6 June 2007

www.cubanews.com

In the News Even with Democrats running Congress, Cuba-related legislation goes nowhere Fidel’s back: What next? BY ANA RADELAT With Castro solidly on the mend, analysts years — also want to press their legislative priorities, such as energy and tax reforms. ask what will happen now ...... Page 2 dvocates of easing U.S. sanctions against Cuba initially saw the Republican Party’s “We have a very full legislative agenda,” said A loss of power in Congress as an opportu- Mark Forest, press secretary to Rep. Bill Sherritt’s gamble nity — but even under Democratic leadership Delahunt, (D-MA), a leader of the House Cuba Canadian mining and oil conglomerate to there’s been no action on Capitol Hill. Working Group. Delahunt is the main sponsor of a bill that invest $1.25 billion in Cuba ...... Page 3 More than a dozen bills relating to U.S. policy toward Cuba have been introduced in the 110th would ease Cuban-American travel to the island, Congress, yet none of them have moved out of which was restricted by President Bush in 2004 Selling to Alimport committee, much less to the floor of the House in an attempt to deny the Castro government U.S. agribusiness firms win $118 million or Senate. hard currency. Since it was introduced in January, Dela- in Alimport food contracts ...... Page 6 There also hasn’t been a single hearing on any of the bills. hunt’s legislation has attracted the support of 27 Several factors might explain this. One is that co-sponsors, as well as several exile leaders who Consumer trends Cuba is seen as a low priority by Democrats, had previously opposed openings to Cuba. Puerto Rican, Dominican firms team up to who have their hands full battling the White Another House bill supported by Delahunt, and sponsored by Reps. Charles Rangel (D-NY) conduct much-anticipated consumer mar- House over the war in Iraq, budget issues and the firing of U.S. attorney generals by the and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) that would lift all restric- keting surveys in Cuba ...... Page 7 Justice Department. tions on travel to Cuba, has attracted 110 co- Democrats who seized control of Congress in sponsors. That works out to more than 25% of all Newsmakers last November’s elections — especially those in members of the House of Representatives. Miami radio commentator Max Lesnik is the House who’d been out of power for a dozen See Democrats, page 2 focus of daughter’s controversial new film “Man of Two Havanas” ...... Page 8 OFAC goes after Cuba-bound travelers, Business briefs ITC concludes study on U.S. food exports; buyers of banned Cuban cigars online Cuba invests $180m in ports ...... Page 9 BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA Moore questioned the timing of OFAC’s obody — from high-school students to investigation, since his film had just premiered Give Gitmo back affluent cigar-smokers and even promi- at the Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled for Council on Hemispheric Affairs says U.S. Nnent filmmakers — is above the law when a U.S. theatrical release on Jun. 29. “I’m the one who’s personally being investi- must return base to Cuba ...... Page 10 it comes to buying Cuban products or traveling to the forbidden island without express govern- gated and I’m the one who’s personally liable for ment permission. potential fines or jail, so I don’t take it lightly,” Provinces: Sancti Spíritus That’s the message the Bush administration Moore told reporters at the Cannes screening. Colonial charm of Trinidad not enough to wants to get out, via the new hardline regula- The director of the highly acclaimed documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” — never lacking a keep people from leaving ...... Page 12 tions now being enforced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. flair for the dramatic — told CNN that he hid a The latest victim of OFAC’s tough new policy copy of his film in a “safe house” outside the Cashing in on santería is Michael Moore, who took a group of sick U.S. to shield it from government interference. Cuba’s Afro-Caribbean religion has huge 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba to receive medical In its RFI letter, OFAC acknowledged that it treatment earlier this year. had received an application from Moore last potential as tourist draw ...... Page 15 The February 2007 trip was part of an upcom- October to visit Cuba as a journalist, but that it ing documentary Moore made on America’s still hadn’t issued a response when Moore took CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monthly troubled health-care system entitled “SiCKO.” it upon himself to bring the 9/11 group to Cuba by Luxner News Inc. © 2007. All rights reserved. On May 2, OFAC sent Moore a “Request for without the necessary permission. Subscriptions: $429 for one year, $800 for two years. That letter is also asking for the names and For editorial inquires, please call (301) 452-1105 Further Information” (RFI) letter, asking for or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. details on his trip to check for possible viola- addresses of those who accompanied him, the tions of the travel ban. See OFAC, page 4 2 CubaNews ❖ June 2007 POLITICS Fidel’s return to spotlight begs question: what’s next? BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI tive and lasting distribution of power posi- Assembly. Both should take place under o the disappointment of scores of tions, meaning the roles of Comandante en Fidel’s emblematic chairmanship, despite the experts, some U.S. officials and opposi- Jefe, President of Council of State, President degree of fait accompli in which the changes T tion activists in Miami and Havana, of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister), may take place behind closed doors. Fidel Castro is back from the dead. and First Secretary of the Communist Party. This would be aimed at ensuring discus- Regardless of his illness, the fact remains Granted, this idea is not entirely new. sion and approval at various levels, just as that since July 31, he was — and remains — Between 1989 and 1991, just before the hold- when the Constitution was prepared, dis- very much in control over key policy deci- ing of the IV Congress of the Cuban Commu- cussed, and approved between 1975 and 1976. sions. However, unlike the past, Fidel is no nist Party, such a distribution was very much By law, such changes require amending the longer involved in the smallest details. considered and in fact gained considerable above mentioned constitution. His recovery is a fact, but the 80-year-old ground among those involved in the prepara- The position of comandante en jefe will revolutionary must still improve his physical tion of that event and among the political class remain in Fidel’s hands and won’t be abol- image so he won’t come across in public like at large. ished until after his passing. an old creep (a la Adenauer, Mao or Balaguer, At that time, different names were consid- The other positions and the key portfolios not to mention others). ered for different positions, but the resulting of Interior (MININT) and Defense (MINFAR) This is crucial to Fidel’s psychological tensions and conflicts related to local and will be in the hands of the interim team led by attributes, the profile of the Spartan hero, the international crises led — contrary to what Raúl Castro, Ricardo Alarcón, Carlos Lage, victorious guerrillero, that is, the need for a was expected by many — to a reinforcement Felipe Pérez Roque and others, followed by public, positive image and not a living corpse. of the highly centralized structure in and growing numbers of younger leaders current- Regardless of his looks, Fidel will have to around the personality of Fidel Castro. ly in their late 30s and 40s. make some sort of formal comeback, just like This proves that the notion of a distribution This may very well be the unfolding sce- he did when the July 31 announcement was of power positions followed by a greater nario over the next three to five years. made. This is not far away in the future, given process of institutional decentralization was Once Fidel is gone, one wonders how much recent media coverage. already on the minds of many key players as legitimacy and continuity will remain in the And his latest short articles and comments early as the late 1980s. hands of the leadership, especially younger — and their increased frequency — tend to Then it was an excellent idea; right now is a leaders. They’ll have to decide in what differ- confirm the proximity of such an event. must at the very top of the political agenda. ent directions the system must be reformed, After this is done — and it may take place Such an institutional rearrangement will re- change, adjusted or modified, including what in various forms — there will be relatively quire validation by a Party Congress (already deserves to be preserved from the past while short period aimed at preparing a more effec- posponed for 10 years now) and the National recreating the present and the future.

Robert Muse, a Washington-based attorney Reid’s opposition. Democrats — FROM PAGE 1 who has followed Cuba legislation for years, “The committees and the leadership didn’t But a busy House agenda isn’t the only told CubaNews that a different approach — help us as much as we would have liked,” said thing stalling action on Cuba legislation. one that stressed liberalization of agricultural Geoff Thale, policy director at the Washing- While a Democratic-controlled Congress is sales and the possibility of constitutional vio- ton Office on Latin America, a group that widely considered more sympathetic to lations in travel restrictions — may have been opposes the embargo. “But we’re not dead in efforts to ease the embargo, there are still a wiser choice this year. Muse said those who the water.” some Democrats who support the embargo in wanted to ease sanctions should have steered NEW BAUCUS BILL SEEKS TO OPEN FARM TRADE key positions. They have the authority to legislation to agricultural and judiciary committees headed by Democrats who are more Even so, there may be a flurry of attention approve hearings and hold votes on Cuba leg- on Cuba on Capitol Hill this summer. islation — but aren’t inclined to do so. likely to take action on Cuba bills. “But instead, legislation shuffled around Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Like Delahunt’s legislation on Cuban- Senate Finance Committee, is expected to American travel, the Rangel-Flake bill was hostile committees,” Muse told us. “So far, proponents of the embargo reform have been introduce a long-awaited bill in the next few referred to House Foreign Affairs Commit- weeks. Baucus’ office declined to provide tee, headed by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). more interested in symbolic legislation than instrumental legislation that can demonstrate details of the bill, but an aide said it’s likely to A Holocaust survivor, Lantos is a strong real constituent support and also receive the focus on liberalizing agricultural trade — anti-Communist who is suspicious of the support of key committee chairmen.” much like a bill Baucus introduced last year. Cuban government. DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE SENATE But the new legislation would also ease travel Also in a key position on that panel is Rep. restrictions, the aide said. Eliot Engel (D-NY), who often sides with In the Senate, other dynamics may be slow- ing action. Nevertheless, it’s hard to gauge support for Cuban-American embargo hardliners like Baucus’ bill, especially in GOP ranks, since Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Díaz- The Senate is closely divided between 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two indepen- the legislation hasn’t been introduced yet. Balart and Mario Díaz-Balart (all Florida There will also be attempts this summer to Republicans ) on Cuba issues. dents who vote with Democrats. Since 60 votes are needed in the Senate to unblock leg- attach on appropriations bills provisions that MUSE: ANTI-EMBARGO LOBBY ON WRONG TRACK islation, supporters of easing sanctions must would ease, or outright eliminate, the embar- The window for Congress to change U.S.- count on Republican votes, especially since go. While many of these efforts have drawn Cuba policy is closing. The upcoming presi- there are a few Democrats who don’t want to majority support in previous years, they have dential election, which always results in a bat- end sanctions, including Senate Majority not survived the legislative process and have tle for Florida’s votes and political homage to Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. never been included in a final bill. the state’s anti-Castro exiles, will make it dif- But partisan distrust has prevented the GOP opposition always derailed the effort, ficult for Congress to move on Cuba legisla- emergence of a groundswell of support to and Reid’s tough-line on Cuba may produce tion next year. ease Cuba sanctions in the Senate — as has the same results this time as well. June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 3 POLITICS WASHINGTON BRIEFS OFAC DROPS FINE AGAINST BAPTIST CHURCH Judge to hear academic travel suit Treasury Department officials have dropped the threat of a $34,000 fine against BY ANA RADELAT is expected to soon rule on Treasury’s the Alliance of Baptists over “forbidden eco- federal judge in Washington will soon request that the case be dismissed. nomic activities” during recent trips to Cuba decide whether to allow a case to move One argument made by the academics and by some of its members, the Associated A forward against the Bush administra- students is that the Bush administration does Baptist Press reported May 17. tion over its policy of restricting academic not have authority to make changes in U.S. The Office of Foreign Assets Control had travel to Cuba. travel policy regarding Cuba. alleged that five Alliance churches that sent In June 2004, the White House imposed They say a series of acts of Congress codi- mission teams to Cuba under the organiza- tough restrictions on such travel, reversing a fied the embargo, so that any changes require tion’s travel license had misused the license to policy to encourage the exchanges fostered congressional action.They also argue the trav- visit Cuban tourist sites. The churches were by the Clinton administration. Academic travel policy is unconstitutional. from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, el was restricted to college students enrolled “[OFAC’s] actions violated plaintiff’s First Tennessee and Washington, D.C. in a degree program and full-time employees and Fifth Amendment rights to travel abroad But a letter received by the group’s attorney of a college or university. in exercise of academic freedom and they did said OFAC had decided to withdraw the fine In addition, travel to Cuba could only be for so egregiously,” the suit claimed. after concluding that none of the five church- three purposes: to attend a structured pro- But in its filings, OFAC maintains that the es had engaged in forbidden activity under gram offered as part of a course in a Cuban academics and students who brought the suit terms of the license, according to Stan Hastey, school, to take formal courses at a Cuban have not been harmed by the new restrictions the Alliance’s minister of ecumenical relations institution or to teach at a Cuban school. The and have no basis to sue. and mission partnerships. specific program must last at least 10 weeks. It says the Bush administration changed However, the letter also contained a warn- The Bush administration also reversed Clinton’s “people-to-people” policy — which ing on future travel. Clinton’s decision to give institutions two- aimed to foster greater contacts between “It is important for the Alliance to note that year licenses to travel to Cuba. Now institu- Americans and Cubans — because a report any transaction on the part of the Alliance, or tions that qualify for the licenses must apply by the Commission for Assistance to a Free on the part of persons who travel to Cuba un- for them every year. Cuba “emphasized the extreme importance of der a travel license issued by OFAC which in- The restrictions prompted a lawsuit last tourism revenues to the Castro regime.” volves a violation of the Cuba embargo admi- summer against the Treasury Department’s The commission was a panel appointed by nistered by OFAC, may result in the imposi- Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Bush White House to suggest changes to tion of criminal and/or civil penalties,” it said. which polices the embargo and grants travel U.S.-Cuba policy. Hastey, in a memorandum to the organiza- licenses to certain categories of Americans. The report also said academic travel was tions board, reminded them that the Alliance These include journalists, athletes and other often thinly disguised tourism, claiming that “no longer has a license to travel to Cuba, the classes of people as well as academics. academic travel allowed the Castro regime to result not only of the suspension of our previ- But most Americans don’t fit into any of “use the visits by U.S. education groups to ous license but [also] of a new OFAC policy those categories and are prohibited from cultivate the appearance of international legit- denying such licenses to national and regional spending money on travel to Cuba. imacy and openness to exchange of ideas.” religious bodies generally.” The lawsuit against OFAC was filed by It’s very difficult to win a lawsuit against he He added: “In my judgment, this result is Wayne Smith, a former U.S. diplomat who federal government. But, if it’s not dismissed about the best we could have hoped for.” once headed the U.S. Interests Section in this summer by Huvelle, the case may even- The Alliance, a fellowship of about 120 pro- Havana. He now runs a Cuban exchange pro- tually be overtaken by events. gressive Baptist congregations and a budget gram at Johns Hopkins University, whose stu- A growing number of lawmakers are cham- of $443,000, has a longstanding missions part- dents say the policy change has harmed their pioning legislation that would end all travel nership with the Fraternity of Baptist ability to finish course work. restrictions — or at least make it impossible Churches in Cuba, which pairs local Alliance U.S. District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle for Treasury Department to enforce. congregations with Cuban churches. Canada’s Sherritt to invest $1.25 billion in Cuba projects anada’s Sherritt International Corp. Corp. is completed as planned — giving it With nickel at $50,000 a ton, Sherritt now plans to invest US$1.25 billion in Cuba control of the coveted Ambatovy nickel lat- expects to complete the first phase of expan- Cover the next two years, thanks to erite project in Madagascar. sion at its Moa mine in eastern Holguín record-high prices for nickel, now ranked as “Our company is in terrific shape these province by the end of the year, raising output the island’s top source of foreign exchange. days. We have lots on the go,” Delaney said. to 37,000 tons of nickel and cobalt in 2008. “Cuba is one of our favorite places to work,” Added Sherritt’s CEO, Jowdat Waheed: “Pri- Another 9,000 tons is to be added by 2009, Sherritt President Ian Delaney said during an ces for commodities are substantially higher with further expansion planned for 2012. event marking the expansion of the Energas than last year, and are poised for another Delaney told Reuters that its efforts in natural gas plant, 30 miles east of Havana, record year in 2007.” Cuba will be further expanded if oil is discov- Delaney told reporters he sees business ered in deep-sea waters of the Gulf of Mexico. which his company manages jointly with running smoothly under acting President He said Sherritt was doing additional seis- state-owned Cubapetroleo (Cupet). Raúl Castro, and that there’s been no negative mic studies and would decide by year’s end Delaney didn’t specify what the new invest- impact on the business climate since Fidel on whether to drill in the four blocks it signed ments will be used for, saying only they will Castro fell ill last July and handed power over up for five years ago. go toward a variety of projects. Sherritt is to his younger brother. According to Reuters, Sherritt last year ex- among the largest foreign investors in Cuba. “Raúl is a very good and crisp decision- ported some of the heavy crude it extracts According to the Toronto Star, Sherritt will maker, so there certainly has been no adverse from coastal fields and is now looking to mar- triple annual nickel production in the next five change,” Delaney told Reuters in a phone ket more by building a processing facility to years with expanded output from its Cuban interview. “For us things have continued to be desalt the oil and lower its flash point, which operations and also if its buyout of Dynatec good. He is a very good administrator.” is too high for international shipping. 4 CubaNews ❖ June 2007

front page of the New York Post in April, and — who happens to be actress Meryl Streep’s OFAC — FROM PAGE 1 other local papers covered the controversy as brother — was stopped by U.S. Customs in reason for that trip and an itinerary, as well as well. The group is also under investigation by Houston when he and his students returned the exact travel dates and point of departure. local school officials. from a May 2001 trip to Cuba, and was warned “As is our policy, we do not confirm or deny When CubaNews phoned the school for not to violate the travel ban again. the existence of a designation,” said Treasury comment, principal Ruth Lacey curtly said White says OFAC can act against the Bea- spokeswoman Molly Millerwise, responding “I’m not discussing it” and hung up on us. con School for previous trips because “there’s to a CubaNews inquiry by e-mail. No one’s disputing that the high-schoolers a 3-year statute of limitations” which would Not to be dissuaded, Moore and the com- and their teacher made an unlicensed trip to certainly cover the school’s 2005 Cuba visit. pany that’s distributing his SiCKO film, the Cuba. The problem is that any educational CIGAR CRIMINALS Weinstein Co., are swinging back at OFAC. exemptions to the Cuba travel ban are for uni- OFAC is also cracking down on illicit U.S. High-powered attorney David Boies has versity students only — not high-school kids. purchases of Cuban cigars. already sent OFAC a Freedom of Information That said, it appears OFAC wants to make Marvin Shanken, publisher of Cigar Aficio- Act request for whatever documents it has an example out of the Beacon Schol by impos- nado, commented recently that some of his regarding its investigation on Moore. ing hefty fines. readers and visitors to the magazine’s website have been receiving RFI letters from OFAC. These letters demand information about selected purchases from cigar shops overseas — outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law — to see “How did OFAC get the information, and did they get it lawfully? if the purchases involved Cuban cigars. As Shanken noted, the letters are rather Was the Patriot Act involved in getting such [credit-card] records?” intimidating, with penalties including up to 10 — ATTORNEY ROBERT S. WHITE years in prison, $1 million in corporate fines or $250,000 in individual fines. Along with that, civil fines of $65,000 per violation can also be imposed. This is apparently a new tactic to discourage Boies was the lawyer who conducted oral However, some question the severity of U.S. consumption of Cuban cigars. arguments for Democratic presidential candi- such penalties. Up until recently, recipients of RFI letters date Al Gore in front of the Supreme Court “I think that’s egregious,” said attorney were usually individuals and groups suspected during the ballot recount battle after the 2000 Robert White of Bourgeois Dresser & White of conducting unlicensed travel to Cuba. presidential elections. in Worcester, Mass., “given that the fines nor- We asked Gordon Mott, executive editor of Cigar Aficionado, whether OFAC’s anti-Cuba Moore’s spokeswoman, Lisa Cohen, e- mally threatened by OFAC run between mailed CubaNews the following statement dragnet was singling out specific cigar shops. from SiCKO producer Meghan O’Hara “In the letter I saw, there was no specific regarding the latest snafu: mention of the store,” Mott told CubaNews in “The New York Post indicated that the Bush an e-mail. “What I can tell you is that given the administration is investigating the 9/11 work- context of that letter, which in so many words ers featured in ‘SiCKO’ for getting medical asked the target to explain why he had made attention,” she told us. “While we have known purchases of cigars at a Hong Kong retail out- since receiving the Treasury Department’s let in 2006, I can’t explain any other enforce- letter notifying us that Michael Moore and the ment tactic other than perusal of credit-card film were being investigated, this is the first receipts. time that we are aware of the Bush adminis- “And, again, based on my assumptions, that tration indicating that they are specifically tar- would only take place if there was some coor- geting the 9/11 workers. dination under the Patriot Act, giving the gov- “If what the Post reported is accurate — the ernment access to that kind of information. But Treasury refused to confirm or deny such Bush administration’s investigation of these Filmmaker Michael Moore: OFAC’s latest target a tactic, saying simply they were not at liberty 9/11 heroes for being treated for serious to discuss any investigative techniques.” injuries incurred at Ground Zero after the $7,500 and $10,000.” Mott added: “I am still considering an FOI administration had abandoned these very Treasury’s Millerwise, who wouldn’t com- request to track it down, but haven’t gotten same workers — it shocks the conscience.” ment on the Michael Moore case, won’t com- around to it yet.” O’Hara continued: “Given that these 9/11 ment on the Beacon School either. However, Asked how OFAC gained access to informa- workers traveled to Cuba as an essential com- OFAC may very well extend its investigation tion on alleged U.S. purchases of Cuban cigars ponent of the SiCKO documentary filmmak- of the school, whose own website contains abroad, such as credit-card records, Miller- ing process, the reported investigation of photos of a 2005 trip that Beacon School stu- wise would only tell us “we do not discuss law- these workers makes clear for all to see that enforcement techniques.” the Bush administration is abusing the inves- dents took to Havana. tigative powers of the federal government for WARNING TO SCHOOL: DON’T DO IT AGAIN WHITE: HOW DID OFAC GET ITS INFORMATION? political purposes.” The pictures show the kids attending a pro- But Robert White doesn’t mind discussing OFAC GOES AFTER N.Y. HISTORY CLASS government rally at Havana’s Plaza de la Revo- these things. In addition to representing Americans scru- In addition to OFAC’s pursuit of Moore and lución, visiting the Latin American School of Medicine and stopping over at the airport in tinized for unlicensed travel to Cuba, the the rescue workers, a New York history Worcester, Mass., lawyer has also defended teacher and 12 students have also found them- Cancún, Mexico. According to a New York Times story, one of U.S. cigar smokers investigated by OFAC. selves being targeted by OFAC. During a recent phone interview with Nathan Turner of the Beacon School and the students participating in the 2005 trip was CubaNews, White insisted OFAC is going too his students made an unlicensed trip to Cuba Ashley Dennis, the stepdaughter of current far in cracking down on U.S. consumption of earlier this year, and were later hit with threat- New York Lt. Gov. David Patterson. Cuban cigars. ening penalty letters. In addition, the New York Sun noted that the The school’s run-in with OFAC made the school’s assistant principal, Harry Streep III See OFAC, page 6 June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 5 POLITICAL BRIEFS

UN HUMAN RIGHTS CUBA EXPERT WANTS TO QUIT In their own words … Catherine Chanet, the UN’s human rights expert on Cuba, says her attempts to probe the “On Cuba, I am not sure that we see eye to eye. I don’t see how democracy is advanced by simply dealing with the current regime — a regime that seems situation in Cuba have reached an impasse to be setting itself up for a non-democratic succession when the transition because of Havana’s refusal to cooperate. takes place in Cuba, and doing that at the expense of contacts with the very French news agency AFP reported Jun. 12 that nascent and fragile democratic opposition that is beginning to arise in Cuba.” Chanet delivered a report to the UN’s 47-member Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Human Rights Council criticizing political repres- — , on the eve of her Jun. 1 meeting in Madrid sion and arbitrary detention in Cuba and high- with Spain’s foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, and other officials. lighting the plight of 59 people arrested in 2003. However, after five years in the post, she sug- “I wish someday there will be a democratic transition in the United States, gested that the council should end her mandate that there will be a regime change in your country, a change from war to because of the Castro regime’s intransigence. peace, a change from arrogance and this interfering in everybody’s affairs.” “I have never been able to be in touch with — Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba’s National Assembly, reacting to Rice’s call Cuban authorities,” Chanet told the council’s lat- for “democratic transition” in Cuba (see above). est session in Geneva. Chanet urged the council not to reward a gov- “Bush is hungry for love.” ernment for its refusal to cooperate, and hoped — Fidel Castro, commenting on the president’s recent trip to Albania, in a Jun. that Cuba would come under greater scrutiny, 12 editorial in Granma entitled “The Tyrant Visits Tirana.” thanks to a new policy to regularly review the human rights situation in every UN member state. “I don’t think he’s the one writing them. They sound like the stuff coming In response, Juan Antonio Fernández Palacios, out of the mouths of the energy analysts I met last time I was there.” Cuba’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, said: Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado “The farce is about to end.” — , Cuba expert at the University of Nebraska, commenting to the Miami Herald about Fidel’s latest articles on global energy issues. EU MAY SOON END FREEZE ON CONTACTS WITH CUBA The European Union may soon end a freeze on “Stop wasting our time and money chasing cigar smokers.” contacts imposed on Cuba after a crackdown on — Editorial in the June 2007 issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine. dissidents in 2002, Reuters reported Jun. 11. Spain sent its foreign minister to Cuba in April “I believe we should lift the restrictions and change the economic equation in a possible first step to thawing ties, but a num- between our nations. If we do not act, we are going to lose our competitive ber of EU states are wary of ending the freeze advantage to China, Venezuela, Vietnam and many [nations] in Europe.” given persistent reports of human rights abuses — Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), part of a five-member bipartisan Congressional and because it would irk the United States. delegation that visited Cuba in late May, in comments to reporters. “The EU would be ready to resume a comprehensive and open political dialogue with the “I don’t have time now for films and photos, which require me to constantly Cuban authorities in all topics of mutual interest trim my hair, my beard, my moustache, and to dress up all the time.” with the aim of improving relations between the — Fidel Castro, in a May 23 article published in Granma. EU and Cuba,” according to a draft EU statement that will be put to EU member states for debate in coming days. “Castro has tilted Cuba toward the failed model that exists today, and we’ll “The EU is ready to definitely lift the measures have to wait and see if the future is better when he is no longer around.” adopted in 2003 in the perspective that such a — Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutiérrez, speaking to Reuters on Jun. 3. His com- comprehensive, open and fruitful political dia- ments mark a dramatic shift from just a few months ago, when Gutiérrez said logue will be established,” concluded the draft. Cuba was at a “critical juncture” in his history and was poised for change. Diplomats, however, say it’s too early to tell if all 27 EU member states would agree. “There’s no doubt that a documentary by someone of Michael Moore’s stature will help the world see the deeply humane principles of Cuban society.” CUBA WITHDRAWS WELCOME FOR U.S. FUGITIVES — José Ramón Balaguer, Cuba’s health minister, commenting on Moore’s film The Castro regime says it’ll no longer provide “SiCKO.” The U.S. Treasury Department has threatened Moore with a hefty fine safe haven to U.S. fugitives who enter Cuba — a for making an unauthorized trip to Cuba in connection with his documentary. promise Havana has met twice since September. The promise and deportations amount to a rare “The whole concept that for 45 years we believe that an embargo on the Cu- sign of cooperation by the regime, according to ban government will cause people to overthrow Castro just defies intelligence.” an Apr. 30 article in the Miami Herald. Some 70 — Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means U.S. fugitives are believed to be living in Cuba, Committee, speaking Jun. 16 at a Washington event hosed by the Cato Institute. including Joanne Chesimard, convicted in the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper. “Why is our government telling us where we can and can’t go?” Cuba has refused to return them, generally arguing that the U.S. charges against them are — Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), speaking at the same event (see above). political. The refusals were among the reasons the State Department used for including Cuba in “This places Cuba at the vanguard of legislation that acknowledges the its list of nations that support global terrorism. rights of transvestities, transsexuals and transgendered in Latin America.” But a brief passage in the State Department’s — Cuban newsletter Diversidad, praising a recent decision by Cuba’s voluminous 2005 and 2006 Country Reports on National Assembly to make sex-change operations free of cost to all trans- Terrorism that went largely unnoticed until now sexuals on the island who request it. The Assembly is also said to be dis- said Cuba “has stated that it will no longer pro- cussing legislative recognition of same-sex unions. vide safe haven to new U.S. fugitives.” 6 CubaNews ❖ June 2007 US/CUBA TRADE Alimport contracts for $118m in U.S. food purchases BY LARRY LUXNER American business community makes us were no contracts signed for any additional he largest gathering of U.S. food very happy,” said Alvarez, whose entity organ- rice sales,” according to Jim Guinn of the USA exporters in Cuba since Raúl Castro ized the latest round of negotiations with U.S. Rice Federation in Arlington, Va. T took the reigns of power last year came farm producers. “What we’re hearing is that the Cubans off without a hitch — and resulted in $118 mil- Cuban Commerce Minister Raul de la Nuez think U.S. rice prices are too high, and that lion worth of new food deals with Alimport, said most of the food would be sold at heavily they think prices will possibly decline in the Cuba’s state food purchasing agency. subsidized prices, on the government’s food relatively near future,” Guinn told CubaNews. Further negotiations following the May 28- ration and at public schools and workplace “Our price has been fairly high compared to 30 event in Havana could bring the total to dining rooms. Vietnam. Along with that, Vietnam was offer- nearly $150 million, say news reports. “This will help feed our people,” he said. ing credit to Cuba, which the U.S. can’t do, “The sales this week went beyond all of our The event also attracted a delegation of five even though freight from Vietnam to Cuba is expectations,” Jim Sumner of the U.S. Poultry U.S. lawmakers headed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro. obviously much higher [than from the U.S.].” and Egg Export Council told AP. Sumner was “We are a diverse group geographically and Guinn acknowledged that Cuba had pretty one of more than 200 Americans from 25 in our politics toward Cuba,” the Connecticut much stopped buying U.S. rice in July 2006 states who visited Havana for talks with Alim- Democrat said. “But we view this as an oppor- after the presence of genetically modified port officials. “When the embargo is lifted, tunity to learn, to create dialogue about issues (GMO) rice was discovered in U.S. rice ship- which we hope will be very soon, these deals of mutual concern.” ments worldwide. Cuba began resuming rice will be much greater.” Joining DeLauro in Cuba were Democratic imports from the United States in April. Under a loophole known as the Trade Reps. Marion Berry of Arkansas and Bob He said Cuba has been importing an aver- Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Etheridge of North Carolina, as well as age 157,000 metric tons of U.S. per year. Act (TSRA), U.S. agricultural commodities Republican lawmakers Rodney Alexander of “I don’t know if there was ever really a may be shipped to Cuba on a cash-only basis. Louisiana and Jack Kingston of Georgia. All GMO issue,” Guinn said. “They may have Since 2001, Cuba says it’s used TSRA to buy were making their first trips to the island, been trying to make a political statement that more than $2.2 billion on U.S. farm products except Berry who visited Cuba in 2000. yes, Cuba is a good market for the U.S., but if and related expenses — including $570 mil- Last year, Alimport claimed it spent $570 things don’t change as far as U.S. policy is lion in 2006 alone. million on U.S. food and agricultural prod- concerned, we can always go elsewhere for Alimport Chairman Pedro Alvarez said ucts, including wooden utility poles that fall products. I don’t believe GMO was a valid Americans are finally “recovering the market” under the “allowed” category of exports to reason for them not to purchase U.S. rice.” they lost in the 1960s with the imposition of Cuba, according to TSRA. Indeed, during the negotiating round, the embargo. Yet to the disappointment of U.S. rice Alvarez complained about the numerous “The active and massive participation of the exporters, “during the last trade round, there obstacles that increase the price of imports to Cuba, including the prohibition of public and private financing that added an additional cost 11 USEFUL TIPS ON DOING BUSINESS WITH ALIMPORT: of $21.8 million to products imported from the United States in 2006. The following is sound advice from Victor Cannon, vice-president of Texana Rice Inc. in He added that these restrictions force Louise, Tex. Cannon was one of several speakers at the recent “Doing Business in Cuba” semi- Alimport to pay for merchandise 10 to 15 days nar in Dallas, which was sponsored by the Texas-Cuba Trade Alliance. before receiving it. 1. Go to Cuba. This is imperative and the best way is to travel with a trade delegation. As Another significant barrier is having to a member of the delegation you will have credibility and will quickly be introduced to the make payments in funds other than U.S. dol- person you will need to communicate with in order to sell. lars to 3rd-country banks, which Alimport 2. Establish communications with that person. The Cubans prefer to use email. Do not says cost it an extra $30 million in 2006. offer gifts. “It’s legal to sell agricultural and food prod- 3. Take samples of your product so they can be approved by Cuban import authorities. ucts to Cuba,” says Kirby Jones, president of 4. Obtain an export license from the U.S. Department of Commerce. the US-Cuba Trade Association in Washing- 5. Obtain a travel license for yourself and anyone else in your company who you may want ton. TSRA was approved by Congress and by to travel there from the U.S. Treasury Department. the U.S. president; nevertheless, in practical 6. Find out what port or ports you will have to ship from and investigate the freight costs. terms, the government makes the application 7. You will be contacted and asked for an offer. Do not offer below cost in the hope on of the law as difficult as possible.” Yet even states that have opened the door gaining favor — offer competetively with normal margins. to Cuba aren’t always happy with the results. 8. If your offer is accepted, you will receive a contract. Read carefully and do not be afraid Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter visited Cuba to negotiate a clause you disagree with. The Cubans may or may not agree and then it is your in April — generating lots of hype — but his choice as to what to do. state had only peanuts to show for the visit. 9. You will receive a letter of credit. Read very carefully. It is best to use a freight for- According to the Idaho Business Review, warder with experience in Cuba to handle your documentation. “the trip cost taxpayers $17,550, but the only 10. The Cubans will appoint an independent inspector to supervise loading. This is at trade deals the state got were a $100,000 con- your cost so find out charges before making offer. The inspection certificate is not required tract to ship pork to Cuba and an agreement in the letter of credit but could cause problems if it is not favorable. Some of these inspec- to donate medical supplies.” tors do not know what they are doing, so work closely with them. The paper added: “There was some discus- 11. After shipment, you will get the shipping documents as required by the letter of cred- sion of opening the Cuban market to Idaho it and fax copies to the bank. Keep the originals until you are paid. If there is a discrepancy, potatoes, but no agreements were finalized.” immediately ask the Cubans to contact the bank and waive discrepancies. Following the first North Dakota, meanwhile, won a contract shipment, things get easier. to sell 100 tons of potatoes and 10,000 tons of wheat to Cuba. June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 7 MARKETING PR-DR duo to conduct Cuba consumer market surveys BY LARRY LUXNER “We knew that Horwath had been doing market for American products. Puerto Rico-based market research some research, we decided why not come up With salaries averaging only $15 a month, firm has teamed up with a Dominican with a syndicated study, something very families must rely on ration books to buy A partner to conduct consumer surveys basic, since there’s not much data about the basics such as rice and beans at heavily sub- in Cuba four times a year. Cuban consumer,” Castro told us. sidized prices at state bodegas. Other govern- Gaither International, headquartered in “We cannot [conduct research in Cuba] ment stores offer branded toothpaste, beer San Juan, and Horwath Consulting of Santo because Puerto Rico is part of the U.S., but and other items at U.S. prices, high by Cuban Domingo, will offer the detailed data gleaned they can,” he said, referring to Horwath’s standards. from its surveys to U.S. firms eager to trade Dominican subsidiary. As a result, most Cubans must turn to the with Cuba. It was unclear, however, exactly how Hor- black market to make ends meet, sometimes The project will begin later this month, with wath is allowed to conduct its field work in bartering goods stolen from the state. initial results ready sometime in August, Cuba, given that its parent company, Horwath According to the Sun-Sentinel, “many old- according to Gaither International’s president International, is headquartered in New York. timers recall U.S. products popular before and CEO, Oscar Castro. U.S. MULTINATIONALS EAGER FOR CUBA DATA Cuba’s 1959 revolution, such as Chevrolet cars and Uncle Ben’s rice, known as “Tio “We absolutely trust the data because one At any rate, Castro said that Horwath’s D.R. of the key issues, prior to making the decision Ben.” And youth recognize brands worn by office employs University of Havana students tourists, featured in U.S. movies shown in to go ahead with this study, was the experi- to conduct actual interviews, in cooperation ence Horwath has in Cuba with these re- Cuba or sent from relatives abroad.” searchers,” Castro told CubaNews in a phone with the Cuban government. Despite those who question the value of interview from San Juan. “They’ve been doing “Once they finish the field work, they send consumer studies in a place like Cuba, where research in Cuba for many years now, and the the completed questionnaires to the Domini- people cannot speak freely, Gaither’s top Cuban market is more sophisticated than can Republic,” he said, estimating the pro- executive said the study offers a starting what many people think.” ject’s initial cost at no more than $100,000. point to understand a nearby market that According to Castro, the survey initially “Horwath will be responsible for the field could be worth billions of dollars a year for will focus on four areas: Ownership of house- work and the collection of data, and we will be U.S. companies someday. hold items like refrigerators, cars and doing the marketing of the study in the “Once the economy opens,” Castro said, phones; awareness and use of products in 50 United States,” he said. “Cubans are going to buy.” categories such as shampoos, detergents and Castro declined to identify actual clients, pasta; buying habits, such as frequency of though he hinted that likely purchasers of the Details: Oscar Castro, President, Gaither In- shopping trips, and brand awareness. study would include Fortune 500 companies ternational, PO Box 70211, San Juan, Puerto Castro said Gaither has been working with in personal care and consumer goods. Rico 00936-8211. Tel: (787) 728-5757. Horwath for over 10 years on regional “With this study, many U.S. companies will E-mail: [email protected]. accounts such as Exxon-Mobil Latin America. be able for the first time to attain a basic Sarah Aguirre, Horwath Consulting, Max The idea for this unusual collaboration, he understanding of the average Cuban family,” Henríquez Ureña 37, Ensache Plantini, Santo said, came about after Gaither received re- Castro told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tel: (809) quests from some long-term clients about the noting that in the 1950s, Cuba relied on the 541-6565. E-mail: [email protected]. potential for entering the Cuban market. U.S. for most imports and served as a key test

Vietnam to drill for Gulf oil OFAC inquiry, FinestCuban-Cigars.com, OFAC— FROM PAGE 13 whose front page proudly declares that it Vietnam’s state-run oil and gas consor- “Like those who have received RFI letters ships Cuban cigars “from tax-free Hong tium has become the sixth petroleum over travel to Cuba, there’s a Fifth Amend- Kong.” company to sign risk contracts to explore ment defense, demanding that the recipients That site, though, also sells non-Cuban Cuba's promising Gulf of Mexico waters, of these letters incriminate themselves in a products, such as humidors, fancy light-ers, Reuters reported Jun. 3. short period,” said White, referring to the 20- and $420 ashtrays that are costlier than some Petrovietnam signed contracts for day response time given to RFI recipients. of the cigars on that site, not to mention a blocks 31, 42 and 43 in the deep waters of White doubts overseas cigar shops would Dupont humidor for $2,200. Cuba’s economic exclusion zone where voluntarily submit credit-card or other infor- White said OFAC has managed to scare up non-commercial quantities of light oil mation on transactions involving Cuban settlement payments from smokers who have have been discovered. cigars bought by U.S. smokers. received RFI letters but failed to secure com- The prospecting, drilling and produc- “How did they get the information, and did petent legal assistance. tion contracts were signed with Cuban they get it lawfully?” he asks. “There’s also “There are some cases where these indi- state oil company Cupet during a visit to the Fourth Amendment issue that relates to viduals have settled,” he told us. “One did for Havana by Vietnam’s Communist Party credit card records. Was it done legally? Was $6,000, another for $800.” White said other leader, Nong Duc Manh. the Patriot Act involved in getting such cigar-smokers who have received such letters Petrovietnam also signed a risk con- records?” have handled the problem differently. tract for onshore blocks 16, 17 and 18, a White suggested that OFAC is in fact rely- “People have refused to reply. Some have Cuban government statement said. ing on credit-card records involving U.S. thrown them away,” he said. “Some have The overseas arm of India’s Oil and point-of-sale purchases from overseas cigar taken the full constitutional approach.” Natural Gas Corp.’s (ONGC) signed up shops and transactions with PayPal and vari- Yet according to White, the number of two blocks in September and is conduct- ous online foreign vendors known to carry Americans who’ve gotten RFI letters over ing seismic work. Its representative in Cuban cigars. Cuban cigar purchases is still limited. Havana, RS Pandey, said a first well could White’s clients are being scrutinized over “I’d be surprised if it’s in excess of 100,” he be sunk in late 2008 or early 2009. purchases made from late 2002 to early 2004. said. “It would be pretty difficult for OFAC to He mentions one overseas vendor cited by an prosecute 20,000 Americans.” 8 CubaNews ❖ June 2007 NEWSMAKERS Radio commentator Max Lesnik: ‘Man of Two Havanas’ BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA with former classmate Fidel Castro. During bombing campaign against Lesnik, which ttendees at the recent Tribeca Film that time, the young Jewish revolutionary was started in 1974. Festival in New York were pleasantly in charge of the movement’s clandestine radio “There were 11 bombings,” Lesnik told us. A surprised by the screening of a moving broadcasts against the Batista dictatorship; at “The last time was around 1989, by Omega 7, documentary, “Man of Two Havanas.” one point, he protected Fidel during a student the last terrorist group operating in Miami.” The film portrays Cuban-born Miami radio uprising by sheltering him in his house. Lesnik, who miraculously escaped those commentator Max Lesnik, whose life takes However, after Castro took power, Lesnik explosions, finally left the magazine business. various twists and turns from his years as a had a falling-out with his old university friend, “I retired, since it was impossible for me to student activist in Havana during the early because of Castro’s alignment with the Soviet start a new business,” he said. 1950s, to taking up arms with Fidel Castro, to Union by the early 1960s. That forced Lesnik These days, Lesnik is a political commenta- his latter years in Miami in the city’s Cuban and his family to flee to Miami in 1961. tor on WOCN — also known as Radio Miami exile community. During a recent phone interview with — broadcasting at 1450 on the AM dial. Lesnik’s daughter uses her father’s run-ins with Cuban-American extremists to detail the rise of fanatics like Orlando Bosch and Luís Posada Carilles, who were implicated in the 1976 explosion of a Cubana Airlines commercial jet, which killed 73 passengers, including the Cuban Olympic fencing team. Vivien also interviews former New York Times reporter Ann Louise Bardach, who played an audiotape of her 1998 interview PHOTO COURTESY VIVIEN LESNIK with Posada in which he revealed his ties with the Cuban American National Foundation and a wave of 1997 hotel bombings in Havana. Posada later recanted his statements to the Times. THE ‘DIALOGUE OF 75’ Mentioning Posada in this film couldn’t have been timelier. Last month, federal authorities failed to prosecute the 79-year-old Posada on immigration fraud charges, freeing him to live in Miami with his wife. Vivien later recalled that during the Carter administration in the late 1970s, her father — along with another prominent moderate Miami Cuban exile, Bernardo Benes — were Max Lesnik, Vivien Lesnik Weisman and Sen. Maria Cantwell (R-WA) at Tribeca film screening, New York. approached by Castro to start talks between Havana and the Miami exile community. All of it is vividly captured by Max’s daugh- CubaNews, Lesnik, an ultra-nationalist, ex- This series of meetings known as the ter, first-time documentary maker Vivien plained that he was far more upset with see- “Dialogue of 75” resulted in the freeing of Lesnik Weisman, Max’s daughter. ing Cuba turn into a Soviet satellite than he numerous political prisoners and the easing At the late April screening in New York, the was with Castro’s socialist agenda. of travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans documentary received a standing ovation “This was the main problem, not the social wishing to visit their relatives on the island. from Tribeca audience members — which advance of the revolution,” says Lesnik, 76. “I Lesnik’s insistence on maintaining his included Sen. Maria Cantwell (R-WA), singer realized at the time that my exile would be for friendship with Fidel led to another visit to and activist Harry Belafonte, and Rodrigo a long time.” Cuba again in the 1990s. One of those visits Malmierca Díaz, Cuba’s ambassador to the Lesnik, his wife and two daughters had a turned into a face-to-face meeting with Castro, United Nations. rough time settling in Miami, because they who asked Lesnik: “Why did you leave Cuba?” “Man of Two Havanas” will also be shown were associated with Castro, in a community During the late 1990s, Lesnik’s connections Wednesday, Jun. 20, at Landmark’s E Street of what he called “batistianos” — former with Vatican diplomats helped lead to Pope Cinema in Washington, in the presence of var- members and associates of the ousted Batista John Paul II’s historic visit to Cuba in 1998. ious lawmakers, journalists and activists. regime. What made living in Miami harder for FINALLY UNDERSTANDING DAD MAX’S OBSESSION WITH CUBA Lesnik and his family was his vocal support This rich layer of contemporary Cuban his- The premise of Vivien’s film is that of a for dialogue with Castro and the Cuban gov- tory in the film is still told within the context young Americanized Miami Cuban resident ernment, something unacceptable to many of Vivien’s bumpy relationship with her who for years knew or cared little about Cuba, Cuban exiles at the time. father, which remains the driving force mainly as a backlash against her father’s RASH OF BOMBINGS COULDN’T SHUT HIM UP behind this documentary. obsession with Cuban politics, and how in Lesnik went into the publishing business in “I realized that I couldn’t understand him more recent years, she decided to visit Cuba the late 1960s, launching a Spanish-language unless I went to Cuba. That’s how we connect- ed — me getting to know my country, and Réplica to see first-hand the source of her father’s pas- variety magazine, . However, Lesnik’s what being Cuban is all about,” she told us. sion for his country. use of the magazine as his political soapbox Vivien refers to a trip to Havana that she Vivien’s documentary covers her father’s cost him dearly. Local news reports and even years as a student activist who later joined up CBS’s “60 Minutes” documented a relentless See Lesnik, page 9 June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 9 La Estopa shipping Channel, the main sea- signed for a Chinese bus maker; exported BUSINESS BRIEFS way between the Isla de la Juventud, vehicles include city and school buses, as well Cienfuegos and the Cayo Largo tourist resort, as special vehicles for the disabled. CUBA TO INVEST $180m TO UPGRADE SEAPORTS are also slated for a complete renovation. The company began shipping buses and Cuba plans to invest $180 million over the Ponce Ríos also spoke of the specialization coaches to Cuba in 2005. So far, 1,200 vehicles next three years to revamp the island’s ports, of ports, with an aim towards more opera- have been manufactured for export to the is- according to a Jun. 1 article in the Communist tional efficiency. As an example, he cited bulk land, accounting for 99% of Cuba’s bus newspaper Granma. sugar terminals in Matanzas, Carupano and imports. Cuba is now one of eight strategic The introduction of new technology and Guayabal in Las Tunas, Palo Alto in Ciego de markets in the world for Chinese-made public cargo handling equipment will help increase Avila and La Tricontinental in Cienfuegos. transport vehicles. daily unloading capacity to more than 5,000 tons of containerized cargo and 7,000 tons of HYDROELECTRIC PLANT IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA POLICE RAID COUNTERFEIT CIGAR FACTORIES bulk cargo. A Japanese-financed hydroelectric plant is Cuban police have raided and shut down The investment includes the provision of being built in Rio Grande, in a mountainous several clandestine Havana factories illegally backup facilities and workshops, the dredging zone of Santiago de Cuba province. making and selling cigars and cigar products. of several sports, the rebuilding of wharfs and The 7-kw facility will provide power to 52 The weekly Tribuna, quoting local authori- equipment, and the installation of cargo-han- dwellings — 20 more than scheduled because ties, reported Jun. 10 that the underground dling equipment such as forklifts and silos. of the rationalization of the project and ampli- tobacco dealers would be put on trial. Separate financing will be made to upgrade fication of electric networks. Among those nabbed was a shopowner who container terminals at the ports of Mariel, With this project, the number of hydroelec- stockpiled empty boxes of well-known Havana Santiago de Cuba and Nipe. tric plants in Cuba’s eastern mountain zone export cigars — including Partagas, Cohiba Gilberto Ponce Ríos, Cuba’s deputy minister will increase to 18. and Romeo y Julieta — and sold them to ille- of transportation, upgrades will first take place Specialist Angel Luis Ricardo said the neigh- gal tobacco vendors, according to the paper. at the ports of Havana, Santiago de Cuba, bors in Río Grande are taking charge of the The man, who “had been fined before, main- Cienfuegos, Mariel, Nuevitas and Carupano. construction with the supervision of experts. tained a high standard of living and had a Ponce Río said some equipment has already The investment includes a 27,000-liter tank salaried worker,” was charged with engaging arrived, such as two 100-ton cranes from for water distribution. Electric service is un- in “illicit economic activity.” China. He said the dredging of ports is one of stable in Rio Grande, and low voltage leads to Tribuna also reported that “in other parts of project’s top priorities since this activity came equipment failures and other difficulties. the capital, operations were carried out ... in to a virtual standstill over the past 10 years, as which clandestine factories dedicated to the a result of the so-called Special Period. CHINA’S YUTONG WINS $370m BUS CONTRACT illicit manufacturing and sale of tobacco prod- Granma reported that Batabano, the mar- Yutong Group, a leading coach and bus ucts were raided and large quantities of the itime link with the Isla de la Juventud, was the manufacturer based in Zhengzhou, Henan product were seized.” first port to begin dredging operations, with province, has signed a $370 million contract to Authorities have intensified their offensive depths of 3-5 meters. Over the next few provide buses to Cuba. against the producers and sellers of fake top- months, the ports of Havana and Santiago de Yutong will manufacture 5,384 vehicles for grade cigars. Brands most often copied by the Cuba will begin dredging operations, with the Cuba by 2009, under the contract’s terms, re- illegal tobacco dealers are Cohiba, Montec- rest of Cuba’s ports to follow. ports online news service China Knowledge. risto and Partagas, and the prices charged The deal is reportedly the largest ever fluctuate between $20 and $30 per box. Lesnik — FROM PAGE 8 took with her father in 2005, which helped her ITC studies embargo’s impact on food sales understand why he put Cuban politics before his family. This included their personal safety, he U.S. International Trade Commis- zens may have had or currently have on when their Little Havana home fell victim to a sion will soon complete its investiga- Cuban purchases of U.S. farm products. number of drive-by shootings by presumed T tion of the effect of Washington’s 45- It will also estimate U.S. sales of those right-wing extremists. year-old trade embargo on U.S. exports of products under three scenarios: (i) restric- The film is capped off by a scathing critique agricultural commodities to Cuba. tions affecting agricultural exports are of the Bush administration’s draconian travel The investigation, “U.S. Agricultural removed; (ii) U.S. restrictions on travel to restrictions against Cuban-Americans wish- Sales to Cuba: Certain Economic Effects of Cuba by U.S. citizens are lifted; and (iii) ing to visit their relatives on the island. U.S. Restrictions,” was requested by the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on Mar. both trade and travel restrictions are lifted. The film also breaks down the antagonism Among those who have testified before between Fidel and Cuban-American lawmak- 16. The ITC is to submit its finished report ers Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart as a family to the committee on Jun. 29. the ITC concerning its latest study: Roger feud that got out of hand, given that Castro In its request letter, the committee noted Johnson, North Dakota’s agriculture com- was once married to Mirta Díaz-Balart back that it wished to gain a better understand- missioner; Rubén Bonilla, chairman of the in 1948, which makes Lincoln and Mario his ing of the economic effects on U.S. agricul- Port Authority of Corpus Christi, Tex.; nephews by marriage. tural sales to Cuba of statutory and admin- William Messina, professor at the Univer- “I’m taking the film on the film festival istrative restrictions related to trade with sity of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agri- route,” says Vivien. “What I’m looking for is and travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. cultural Sciences; Kirby Jones, president of obviously national and worldwide distribu- As requested, the ITC, an independent, the US-Cuba Trade Association, and Bill J. tion, and it will not be playing in Miami until it nonpartisan federal agency, will provide an Reed, vice-president of Riceland Foods Inc. overview of recent and current trends in opens in theaters.” Also testifying were officials of the She adds: “We’re not planning any public Cuban purchases of agricultural, fish and forestry products, including identification American Society of Travel Agents and the screenings before the movie opens in thea- of major supplying countries, products, and North American Export Grain Association. ters. I’m really, really anxious to take it to market segments; analyze the effects that Details: John Reeder, ITC, 500 E Street Miami, though, because there are a lot of U.S. restrictions relating to export financ- SW, Washington, DC 20436. Tel: (202) Cuban-Americans like me that want to have ing terms and travel to Cuba by U.S. citi- 205-3319. E-mail: [email protected]. their voice represented by my generation, a kind of a silent majority, if you will.” 10 CubaNews ❖ June 2007 POLITICAL ANALYSIS COHA: Time for Washington to give Gitmo back to Cuba BY LARRY BIRNS troversial speech given at the recent 43rd states, and that such pacts are terminated he Bush administration has made sev- Munich Conference on Security Policy, by when a new sovereign government takes of- eral declarations expressing its willing- Russian President Vladimir Putin: “In Russia, fice that is fundamentally opposed to the allia- T ness to help Cuba make a smooth tran- we are constantly being taught about democ- nce. Similarly the physical presence by treaty sition to a Washington-approved democracy, racy. But for some reason those who teach us right of a hostile nation on Cuban territory is achieved through a “soft landing.” This tran- do not want to learn themselves.” contrary to modern conceptions of sovereign- sition would take effect upon Fidel Castro’s This was a barely concealed — if not a nom- ty and of the sovereign equality of states. death or complete incapacitation. inally indirect — message targeted at the Indeed, as Dr. de Zayas argued in a 2003 However, one complex issue that is only Bush administration. lecture, it is an anomaly that the country now being raised is the judicial basis for the U.S.-occupied naval base at Guantánamo. The facility, which fell under a U.S. lease- hold for more than a century, has again returned to the headlines with the confession made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that he LARRY LUXNER was the al-Qaeda operative in command of the Sept. 11, 2001 operations. But even more ominous is the concern being voiced by at least one analyst close to the Bush White House, that as result of statements by relatively pro-U.S. Latin American leaders, Washington could face mounting demands throughout the hemisphere that Guantanamo — the symbol of 19th-century gunboat diplomacy — be returned to Cuba. The Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, located on the southeastern tip of Cuba, reached a peak of notoriety after it was discovered that it was being used as a detention center and torture facility. Individuals suspected of being terrorists The Northeast Gate — the only crossing between Cuban territory and the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo. were detained at Guantánamo, and were sub- jected to various forms of harsh treatment. A similar statement could be made about which has imposed an embargo on Cuba for Many detainees were imprisoned for years Washington’s self-glorification of its respect of more than 40 years insists that it has a right to and were denied the protection granted by freedom, sovereignty and international law, remain on its sovereign territory. habeas corpus, if their alleged crimes had while it, historically, holds on to a colonial Moreover, the Guantánamo lease is now been committed in the United States. relic like Guantánamo instead of returning it 104 years old, which makes it only logical that PERSISTENT LEGAL QUESTIONS to Cuba. it should be due for reconsideration by both In the beginning of 2007, with a change of Around the globe, in the aftermath of World governments. regime in Cuba seemingly at least possible in War II, there has been a steady devolution of A 1967 article entitled “International Law the next year or so, it would be useful to ques- former colonies and other dependencies to and Guantánamo" (Gary L. Maris, The Jour- tion the continued presence of the American local control — the decolonization of Africa in nal of Politics, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 263) de- military on the island, and whether or not it the 1950s and 1960s; Britain’s return of Hong clared that the legal term “release” was not a would be wiser for Washington to systemati- Kong to China in 1997; even the reversion of disguise for the actual cession of Gitmo to the cally consider the orderly reversion of authority over the Panama Canal to Panama U.S., but a relinquishing of jurisdiction over Guantánamo Bay to the present — or succes- in 1977. Guantánamo is one of those few ter- the area with the legal possibility of eventual sor — government in Havana. ritories that continue to exist in the world recovery if the parties so desired or if condi- It is important to keep in mind that the from a time when imperial societies imposed tions of the lease were not met. United States has never questioned that resid- their will on weaker states. This makes it all the more necessary for ual sovereignty over the bay always has rest- INVALIDITY OF THE TREATY Washington and Havana to discuss the base’s ed with Cuba. future. In fact, State Department legal experts are The Cuban government could use the 1969 De Zayas also explained that according to reviewing their international law books in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Article 60 of the Vienna Convention, a treaty now-almost certainty that a serious move- (specifically Articles 60 and 62) to make a is voidable by virtue of a material breach of its ment arises throughout the hemisphere ques- cogent case for the devolution of its territory provisions. According to the terms of Articles tioning Washington’s legitimacy in occupying back to the Cuban nation. The fundamental 1 and 2 of the 1903 Lease Agreement, the use Guantánamo under the present arrangement change of circumstances, otherwise known of the Guantánamo Bay territory was limited and whether or not it has been exhausted by as the clausula rebus sic stantibus, can be in- to coaling and naval purposes only, and for no the passage of time and the dramatic change voked to challenge the validity of treaties and other purpose. of circumstances. lead to their termination. Hence, the repeated use of Gitmo as an in- At the very least, now we have a sharply According to Dr. Alfred de Zayas, professor ternment camp for Haitian and Cuban refu- anomalous situation where Cuba is “paid” a of international law at the Geneva School for gees or as a detention and interrogation cen- trifling annual rent from its most lethal enemy Diplomacy, one could argue that the lease of a ter and POW camp and torture center is to occupy the facility. military base in a foreign country is condi- Attention also should be given to the con- tioned on the friendly relations between those See Gitmo, page 9 June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 11

Gitmo — FROM PAGE 10 the attributes of a full-fledged U.S. protecto- counterattack. Also, it is a near certainty that rate, akin to Britain’s relationship with post- the Cuban military does not possess any mis- incompatible with the purpose of the treaty. Ottoman Empire satrapies. One of the three siles with which to launch such an attack, let Such actions by the U.S. would arguably Cuban signatories on the new lease was the alone the nuclear warheads to arm their bring about a material breach of the agree- island’s future dictator, Fulgencio Batista. weapons. ment justifying unilateral termination by Article III of the 1934 treaty explains that: In any future military scenario, the U.S. is Cuba in accordance with Article 60 of the So long as the United States of America shall far more likely to be attacked by one of its Vienna Convention. not abandon the said naval station of Guantá- main trading partners and renowned human DOES McDONALD’S VIOLATE THE ACCORD? namo or the two Governments shall not agree rights violator, China — which recently tested The United States has also broken the to a modification of its present limits, the sta- a missile that destroyed a satellite in space — agreement through another, though perhaps tion shall continue to have territorial area that than by Cuba’s increasingly hapless armed less forceful, issue: the presence of commer- it now has.” forces, whose strained economic conditions cial enterprises at Guantánamo, including a UNCASHED CHECKS IN FIDEL’S DRAWER has demoted it to third-rate status. McDonald’s outlet. It is all but unthinkable to believe that the GITMO: ‘KEY PLATFORM’ IN WAR ON TERROR This constitutes a breach of the terms of U.S. will be in the mood to voluntarily pack its Lately, another justification for the contin- Article III of the supplemental July 1903 ac- troops and equipment from Guantánamo and ued retention of Gitmo has been its use as a cord between Washington and Havana over redeploy them, just as it would be a long detention facility for suspected terrorists, Guantánamo, which stipulates that “the Uni- stretch to believe that any American adminis- such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and ted States of America agrees that no person, tration (Democrat or Republican), at the insis- before that, would-be Haitian and Cuban partnership, or corporation shall be permitted tence of Castro, would return the base to refugees hoping to enter the United States. to establish or maintain a commercial, indus- Havana’s sovereignty, no matter how redun- The prison at Gitmo recently opened a new trial or other enterprise within said areas.” dant its continued use might be. wing, called Camp 6, constructed by Halibur- The U.S. obtained control of Guantánamo Nevertheless, some parallel exists with the ton Co., at a cost of $30 million. These devel- as the result of the 1898 Spanish-American manner in which Washington transferred its opments indicated that Washington policy- war. In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt, using the authority over the Panama Canal back to makers apparently had no plans to relocate Platt Amendment passed by the U.S. Senate, Panama or Great Britain’s return of the Suez the facility anytime soon. pressured the weak Cuban government Canal to Egypt in 1956. What is certain is that Charles Stimson deputy U.S. assistant secr- (which the U.S. had placed in power) to lease Guantánamo irredenta might become Latin tary of defense for detainee affairs, told C- Guantánamo Bay to the United States in what America’s war cry against the United States. SPAN: “It’s important during a time of war to essentially appears to be “in perpetuity.” Today, Gitmo houses around 6,000 mem- have a place where, number one, you can take This was no great task as Cuba was, at that bers of the U.S. armed forces and occupies people off the battlefield and not allow them time, an entirely dependent regime largely 117 sq kms of Cuban soil. For this huge piece to go back to the battlefield, but also, exploit being ruled from Washington. of land Washington pays an annual rent to intelligence that they may possess. Guantána- The then-Cuban president was an Ameri- Havana of $4,085, the same figure which it mo today remains the key strategic intelli- can citizen named Tomás Estrada Palma, who has paid since 1934. gence platform in the war on terror.” was persuaded to grant a lease of 117 sq kms An August 2004 article by the Armed of Cuban territory surrounding Guantánamo Forces Press Service says the State Depart- ALTERNATIVES TO GUANTÁNAMO Bay to the U.S. on Feb. 23, 1903. Construction ment sends a check to the Cuban government But if the facility has proven to be useful, it of a military base immediately proceeded in every July to pay for the base’s rent. However, also has turned out to be immensely contro- order to eventually house a contingent of Castro has only cashed one of the checks — versial as well as symbolic of some of American troops and a naval flotilla. in 1959, the year when he took power. Washington’s worst mistakes, and the center FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE Washington has used this one payment where the most egregious human rights vio- From its inception, Guantánamo was during the entire Castro era as the legal basis lations have occurred under U.S. auspices. viewed as the first line of defense against any to say that Castro, by accepting the check, In fact, the Bush White House could be cor- attack on the Panama Canal, over which the had agreed to the continuation of the lease. rect in arguing that Cuba may be the scene of U.S. also had obtained jurisdiction from a After Cuba had accepted that one and only major human rights violations, they are just comparable act of legal legendemare. check, Washington has continued to dutifully not committed by Cubans — as Bush asserts The move to integrate Guantánamo into the send the rent checks every year since, which — but rather by Americans at Gitmo. chain of U.S.-dominated military facilities was the Castro government never again cashed. Despite whatever important intelligence mainly inspired by the canal, and was driven DOES THE U.S. REALLY NEED GITMO? data may have been gained from using by a security perspective. Gitmo’s strategic importance increased unorthodox means of questioning prisoners How the U.S. obtained this base is a prime during the Cold War, reaching its peak during at Guantánamo Bay, it remains unproven if example of an imperial power taking whatev- the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when it was the same “effectiveness” in obtaining this in- er it coveted as a fruit of war. The negotiations feared that Cuba would be used as a staging formation could not have been achieved by that ended in Washington gaining de facto area for an attempted Soviet invasion of the detaining the prisoners in another maximum control of areas former under Spanish control U.S. or the launching point for a surprise mis- security facility, located on U.S. territory, like in the Pacific as well as the Caribbean, were sile attack against the American heartland. a renovated Roosevelt Roads naval base in not so much the results of deliberations However, as geostrategically important as Puerto Rico (closed since 2004) or some other between two equal independent nations, but the island may have been in the past, advance- less provocative site on the mainland. rather negotiations between a relative super- ments in military technology and the current Larry Birns is COHA’s executive direc- power and its proxy state. status of global geopolitics makes Gitmo tor. Part II will appear next month. In 1934, as part of a movement to multilat- somewhat irrelevant in today’s political envi- eralize the application of the Monroe Doc- ronment. The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, trine under the Pan American Union — which In comparison, today there is no bona fide founded in 1975, is an independent, nonprof- was undertaken by President Roosevelt threat to U.S. security coming from Cuba. it, non-partisan, tax-exempt research organ- under his “Good Neighbor” policy — Cuba Furthermore, a possible missile attack, akin ization. The opinions expressed in this article was allowed to expunge the Platt Amendment to the one posed by the missile crisis of 1962, do not necessarily reflect those of CubaNews from its constitution but was persuaded to is similarly beyond the realm of possibility. or its publisher. Details: COHA, Washington. negotiate a new lease regarding Guantánamo If launched from Cuba, such an attack Tel: (202)223-4975. Fax: (202) 223-4979. Bay with Washington. would be suicidal due to the overwhelming Email: [email protected]. The Cuban government at the time had all force available to the U.S. to stage a massive 12 CubaNews ❖ June 2007 PROVINCES Sancti Spíritus: Colonial charm not enough to keep people

This is the 10th in a series of monthly articles on Cuba’s 14 provinces by geographer Armando H. Portela, who has a Ph.D. in geography from the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Portela currently resides in Miami.

BY ARMANDO H. PORTELA sq km (178.2 per sq mile), Sancti Spíritus is less ocated in central Cuba, Sancti Spíritus province densely settled than the national average of 102.3 has existed since 1976, when the old province of inhabitants per sq km. L Las Villas was split into three new jurisdictions: Roughly half of the population lives along the Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos. Central Road and the Central Railroad, where to- Covering 6,737 sq kms (2,602 sq miles), Sancti bacco and sugarcane have traditionally been Spíriitus ranks as Cuba’s seventh-largest province, grown, leaving relatively large areas depopulated; accounting for 6.1% of the island’s land area. these areas are used for cattle and rice production. Roughly 81% of the territory consists of plains and Annual population growth among the espiritu- valleys, with crops and grazing lands where most peo- anos, as natives of this province are known, has ple live. The remaining 19% consists of sparsely popu- slowed to only 0.3% between 1996 and 2006; during lated mountains and hills, typically covered with dense 2005 the province saw a net loss of 73 people. forests and coffee groves. As we anticipated four years ago (see CubaNews, Sancti Spíritus has the largest man-made water reser- July 2003, page 14), the collapse of the sugar voir in Cuba. The Zaza Dam can hold 1.02 billion cubic industry — the province’s largest employer — has meters (270 billion gallons) of water. Through an intri- had a negative impact on population growth; by cate system of canals and culverts, the dam is used not contrast, Sanctí Spiritus saw annual growth of 1.2% just to irrigate local rice and sugar crops but also to during the 1970s and 0.9% during the 1980s. deliver water to neighboring Ciego de Avila. With 98,611 dwellers, (21% of the province’s pop- Along with other reservoirs, the province has a total ulation), the capital is also called Sancti Spíritus, capacity of 1.3 billion cubic meters (345 billion gallons). and it ranks as Cuba’s 12th-largest city. It has seen POPULATION its population drop by 0.5% annually since 1997. The province’s population is currently estimated at Both the province’s capital and its second city, 463,758, or 4.1% of all Cubans. With 68.8 inhabitants per Trinidad (population 41,293), were founded by

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7 DE NOVIEMBRE H June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 13 Diego Velázquez in the 16th century. The two architectural gems are among the earliest Spanish set- Trinidad’s old sugar mills fascinate visitors tlements in the Americas. Their relative isolation and slow pace of growth have helped preserve the colonial appeal of these towns, BY DOREEN HEMLOCK boosting their tourist potential. n its heyday in the early 1800s, when sugar was king in the Other important cities and towns in the province are Cabaiguán (30,135); Jatibonico (22,962); Fomento (17,000); Guayos and Caribbean, the sugar mill valley in central Cuba boomed with Yaguajay (10,000); Taguasco (8,000); Zaza del Medio, Meneses and Iwealth, dazzling visitors with sprawling hacienda homes and even a Mayajigua (7,000); and Casilda and La Sierpe (5,000). watchtower rising nearly 15 stories high. But Cuba’s wars of independence in the late 1800s ruined local busi- ECONOMY ness, shifting sugar production to other regions and leaving the adja- The economy of Sancti Spíritus is based on farming, with limited cent town of Trinidad stuck in a colonial time warp, with its cobble- industrial activity. The end of Soviet subsidies crippled the stone streets, courtyard homes and impressive Baroque churches. province, whose economy depended on large inputs of energy, machinery and raw materials. Croplands and industries suffered Now, Cuba’s communist government seeks to revive the once sugar- from prolonged paralysis and are now abandoned, with little hope rich zone through tourism, capitalizing on the UN’s designation in of a rapid comeback. 1998 of the valley and town as World Heritage Sites. Roughly three-quarters of the land, some 4,879 sq kms (1,885 sq Locals feel proud that their former backwater now draws a steady miles) is agricultural, though 51% of this portion is unused. “Spon- stream of foreign visitors, helping homeowners who rent rooms to taneous pastures,” a euphemism often used to describe vacant, tourists, residents who find jobs in restaurants and shops, plus artisans overgrown tracts of land, cover nearly 30% of the territory; forests who make paintings, tablecloths, drums, pottery and other souvenirs. cover another 13%. And officials cheer that income from tourism helps restore cultural Sugarcane plantations, grazing ranches and tobacco farms are treasures, from decaying hacienda homes to colonial art — two things common in the high plains, while large rice paddies cover the low- that have languished for lack of cash. lands south of the towns of La Sierpe and El Jíbaro. Coffee grows in the Escambray Mountains, but production has fallen sharply in the last few decades to under 5% of national output. The downsizing of the sugar industry left Sancti Spíritus with three out of nine mills producing sugar; another two mills produce only molasses. Another two mills produce only molasses. This has LUXNER LARRY slashed daily grinding capacity to only 60% of the 25,900-ton-a-day installed capacity the province boasted until 2002, when it accounted for 7% of national sugar production. At its peak in the 1980s, sugar plantations covered 122,000 ha (300,000 acres) of Sancti Spíritus. Yet with 60,000 ha (148,300 acres), sugar cane is still king here, even after abandoning or con- verting to other uses some 36,000 ha (89,000 acres) of land. The dismantled mills, which employed 8,000 people, are Rem- berto Abad (formerly La Vega); Simón Bolívar (Victoria); Siete de Noviembre (Natividad) and Aracelio Iglesias (Nela). The Obdulio Morales (Narcisa) and FNTA (Trinidad) mills now produce only molasses. All these mills were built between 1863 and 1915 in low- lands; nevertheless, records show they enjoyed an excellent per- formance and combined production of 160,000 tons 50 years ago. View of colonial Trinidad from top of Convento de San Francisco de Asís. In 1999, Sancti Spíritus produced roughly 257,000 tons of sugar, worth around $40 million at prevailing world prices — a far cry Yet there’s a long way to a boom here, with tourist income still too from the 500,000 tons produced in 1989 and valued in excess of little to revive the flagging region. And many residents also worry that $275 million at the preferential prices paid by the Soviets. tourism is stoking inflation and social tensions. Inefficiency and soft market prices put recovery beyond the Only two hacienda homes in the sugar mill valley have been reach of the sugar industry. With daily grinding capacity of 11,340 restored for tour groups to date, with work slowly under way on a cou- tons, the Uruguay sugar mill (Jatibonico) is one of Cuba’s most ple more, said Victor Echenagusía, 62, a painter and museum special- important mills, accounting for 75% of the sugar produced by the ist at the Office to Conserve the City. province. A refinery at the Ramón Ponciano (Santa Isabel) mill near “We have the will, politically and technically, but sometimes what Fomento can produce 42,000 metric tons a year. delays us is economics,” said Echenagusía. Meanwhile, an alcohol distillery at the Melanio Hernández Cuba now produces a fraction of the sugar it once did — perhaps 1.5 (Tuinicú) mill produces 300 cases per day of 22 different brands of million tons this past harvest, down from about 8 million tons a year in rum, and 60,000 liters per day of alcohol. In addition, torula yeast the 1970s. Over the last 10 years, tourism surpassed sugar as a source and press bagasse boards were produced at the recently disman- of foreign currency, and dozens of old and inefficient sugar mills were tled Aracelio Iglesias and Simón Bolívar mills. permanently closed. But in Trinidad, the former riches from sugar and INDUSTRY the potential for tourism merge, with the nearly 15-story watchtower The Siguaney cement plant, opened in 1972 with Czech technol- at the former Manaca Iznaga plantation as a visitor magnet. ogy, accounted for 15% of Cuba’s total cement production. Built for Decried by some in its day as ostentatious, the tower stood as a a capacity of 600,000 tons of cement a year, in 1989, it produced lookout for the Iznaga family. Originally from Spain’s Basque region, 573,000 tons and two years later was adapted to burn domestic the Iznagas could climb to the top and see the vast sugar lands and crude. It reportedly enjoys the lowest production costs on the some 15 of the valley’s 57 mills, said Ramon Conrado, a bartender and island. resident historian at the family’s former estate. One production line was refurbished in the late ‘80s with Japa- From atop the tower, visitors still can see the undulating hills of the nese technology to make white cement; in 2002 it proudced 22,000 valley, some planted in sugar and other crops, some with cattle. Below tons — far from its nominal capacity of 100,000 tons a year. Some 10,000 tons of white cement are currently exported. stand former warehouses and slave quarters. See Sugar mill page 15 See Sancti Spíritus, page 14 14 CubaNews ❖ June 2007

TOURISM Sancti Spíritus — FROM PAGE 13 The Sergio Soto Alba oil refinery in Cabaiguán opened in December 1947 when Catering to tourists in Sancti Spíritus the nearby oilfields at Jatibonico began to be BY LARRY LUXNER developed. After 1961, the refinery switched that order. They generally stay for one night to burning imported Soviet oil but returned to he colonial town of Trinidad, on Cuba’s on their way to the much more famous domestic crude in 1996 after a period of near- south-central coast, is one of the Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. paralysis. T island’s most-visited historic attractions. For those wanting something a little more The facility currently blends the local light But few relatively few tourists pass through upscale than a casa particular, there’s the crude — now pumped from oilfields at Ciego Sancti Spíritus, capital of the province of the Hotel Plaza, a two-star lodging right on the de Avila — with the heavy sour produced in same name in which Trinidad is located. main square operated by state tourism Varadero. In 2002, the facility refined 750 bar- Perhaps that’s why casas particulares — or agency Islazul. There’s also the Hotel Rancho rels a day of domestic crude. The refinery private homes for rent to foreigners — are so Hatuey, 3 kms from the center of town. also produces industrial oils, lubricants, cheap here. But the best place to stay in Sancti Spíritus kerosene, regular gasoline, PCV for electric transformers and other byproducts. A paper mill at Jatibonico produces half of all notebooks used by Cuba’s school system. A fish plant capable of processing 15 tons a

LARRY LUXNER day was opened at Tunas de Zaza after Hurri- cane Michelle in 2001 destroyed the existing factory. Some 7,000 tons of lobsters are caught annually, while in 2001, the province’s shrimp farms yielded 500 tons and shrimping on the open seas netted another 186 tons. Spain’s PescaFina Antartida sells $2 million worth of local shrimp in Europe, according to reports. INFRASTRUCTURE The old two-lane Central Highway and the Central Railroad link Sancti Spíritus to the rest of the island. The six-lane National Highway (with only two to four lanes in service here) ends at the village of Taguasco, serving only as a westbound link. A network of secondary roads and railroad branches reaches all settlements and economic hubs. Both roads and railroads are reportedly in Local cowboy enjoys a popsicle in downtown Sancti Spíritus; Convent of San Francisco de Asís, Trinidad. poor condition. Construction of the National Highway in For only $15 a night, you can stay in a clean is the Hostal del Rijo, a charming establish- the late 1970s cut driving time from Havana to room on the second floor of a building right ment opened five years ago and run by Cuba- the city of Sancti Spíritus from six and a half off the main square of Sancti Spíritus. The nacan. It has 76 rooms and rates are only $35 hours to four hours. Yet without adequate sig- place is owned by the Rodríguez family. for a single, $40 for a double and $60 for a naling, services or protection, the condition of Ricardo, 67, is a retired taxi driver who’s suite. It’s located in front of a lively shoe mar- this route for fast traffic is deplorable. been doing this for 11 years; he has one room ket that’s strictly for locals. Port activity is limited to Casilda, with two and his son, Ricardo Jr., rents out the other. Sancti Spíritus has a long and interesting berths along the south coast. Casilda handles “I started off renting to Cubans, but one day past, but don’t expect to get much help from some cargo, mainly cement, fuels, sugar and a foreigner came, and since then, I’m renting seafood. A civil airport at Sancti Spíritus local officials if you need any information. offers limited domestic service, while the to tourists,” explained the older Rodríguez. María de los Angeles Jiménez, sales agent “I have to pay the state $100 a month per domestic airport at Trinidad was recently for Havanatur in Sancti Spíritus, offered us a lengthened to serve medium-size passenger room in taxes. This gives me enough to live few pamphlets on area hotels, referring all on. At the end of the year, we also have to pay jets. Two minor airfields near San Pedro questions to the Ministry of Tourism office (south) and Mayajigua (north) serve local a 10% income tax,” he said. “We live well down the street, next to the Hostal del Rijo. thanks to the casa particular.” tourist spots. That turned out to be a waste of time. The His only other major expense is the $10 a month he pays the government for a large ministry’s local delegate in Sancti Spíritus, sign out front that says “Rooms for Rent” in Eloy R. Guerra, refused to give CubaNews the English. most basic of statistics — like how many hotel Rodríguez’s wife, Hilda Rosa, is a 63-year- rooms the city has, or how many tourists visit LARRY LUXNER old retired schoolteacher who makes sure per year. her guests have enough to eat. For a measly When pressed for information, Guerra said $3.00, Hilda Rosa will cook up a delicious he was preoccupied at the moment with more breakfast consisting of fried eggs, bread, a urgent matters and in any case was not tomato-and-cucumber salad, french fries, authorized to give out confidential statistics. sweet bananas, papayas, fresh-squeezed He instructed us to e-mail him with any spe- orange juice and coffee. cific questions we might have, promising he In Sancti Spíritus, there are 13 such casas would eventually get back to us. particulares, and their guests come mainly We did. Three years later, we’re still waiting from Spain, Italy, Germany and Canada, in for an answer. Sign along the Central Highway in Sancti Spíritus. June 2007 ❖ CubaNews 15 TOURISM Cuba’s santería culture offers great tourist potential BY DOUGLASS NORVELL triate with marketing savvy. The two offer experience are otherwise serious profession- et ready, Cuba: Here come the neopa- “shamanic experiences,” where tourists come als who might well look on a Cuban santería gans (New Age religion devotees) and to Iquitos, travel to a remote jungle camp and experience favorably. Git will soon be time to cash in. spend a few days in altered consciousness. Cuban santería has a potential wonderful Already inundating the Peruvian Amazon, One such operation is the Blue Morpho, appeal to neopagans. A mixture of Catholi- neopagans trip on the drug ayahuasca, swim owned by an American that charges $1,640 cism and Yoruba magic that came to Cuba in piranha-infested waters, and run naked per person for eight days’ and nights’ lodging with the slaves who worked the cane fields, through the jungle communing with nature. and five ceremonies. Blue Morpho picks the tenets are as follows: Soon, neopagans seeking santería experi- God is an unknown mysterious force called ences will show up in Cuba and spread some Olorun backed up by eight assistant gods serious money around. called orishas. The best-known is Chango. In a May 7 story carried by Reuters, Cathe- Chango is not to be messed with; repre- rine Bremer reported on santería parish- LARRY LUXNER senting thunder, lightning, fire, drums and ioners in Regla, a small town across the bay dance, his colors are red and white, and his from downtown Havana, finding that they are numbers are 4 and 6. Chango’s female side- already tuned into providing religious servic- kicks are Oya, the mother of nine, whose col- es to neopagans, but only receiving handfuls ors are nine shades of brown, and Oshun, — rather than hordes — of visitors. who governs rivers and hills. One babalawo (priest) reports receiving 7-8 Otabala, the chief orisha, is good, pure and foreign visitors a week, who provide a nice compassionate, so much so as to be enabled income that thrusts many santería praction- to take on physical characteristics of both ers into the Cuban affluent class — those with sexes. What other religion offers supplicants cell phones and cash in their pocket. Drummers perform at a santería ritual in Trinidad. a sex-shifting god? However, Cuba is way behind Peru’s Upper Santería ceremonies may need a little refin- Amazon Basin, where planeloads of tourists guests up at the airport, lest they be tempted ing down the road. Some involve being beat- arrive in Iquitos each day and head off into by offers from the 50 or so other ayahuasca en with herbal plants and sprayed with warm the rainforest in search of ayahuasca and camps nearby. Even Heliconia, a luxury lodge animal blood. Older readers will recall that enlightenment. owned by the prestigious Acosta family hotel most ducks and geese disappeared from Ayahuasca is the “soul vine,” a psychotrop- business, has a little hut on its property where Miami’s public parks after the Caribbean ic drug administered by shamans. Allen Gins- guests can take ayahuasca, perhaps sparing immigration took hold. berg, the beat poet, traveled to Iquitos in the their traditional customers like missionaries One missing ingredient in the Cuban san- 1950s to do ayahuasca, then came home on a and naturalists the sight of a wild-eyed engi- tería appeal may be an easily identifiable psy- jet plane with a 70-lb sack to share with his neer from Akron, Ohio, caught in a trance chotropic drug. But surely within the 800 or friends. Except for its size, landlocked Iquitos chanting Amazon ditties learned yesterday. so potions used in the ceremonies, some mix has changed little since the ‘50s. Most customers who plunk down the three will give supplicants a nice buzz — after all, Typically a shaman hooks up with an expa- or four thousand dollars for an ayahuasca there’s lots of money on the table.

Sugar mills — FROM PAGE 13 Cuba to spend $185m to upgrade tourism facilities Some days, over 1,000 people stop at the aced with a slumping tourism industry against Cancún or the Dominican Republic, Iznaga plantation, most of them Europeans and increasing competition from near- especially since 2005, when the government and Canadians. A few Americans visit, though F by Caribbean vacation destinations, revalued the Cuban peso by 8%. Cuba is now most are banned because of the embargo. Cuba announced plans in mid-May to spend perceived to be an expensive destination. Conrado likes that foreigners come to expe- $185 million to improve tourist facilities. Last year, tourism generated $2.4 billion rience his homeland and learn its history, but The three-year plan was detailed in the and is generally Cuba’s top source of foreign he worries about the influx, too. He said state newspaper Opciones following a tour- exchange, though in 2007 nickel exports will Castro would never have embraced tourism ism fair headed by Tourism Minister Manuel likely exceed tourism in importance. were it not for the demise of the Soviet Union Marrero and closed to international media. Opciones didn’t say how many tourists and the end of Soviet subsidies that sent The bulk of that money, $162 million, will have visited Cuba so far this year, but Mar- rero predicts that “in 2007, for the fourth con- Cuba’s economy crashing a decade ago. be earmarked for improving 200 non-hotel facilities such as golf courses, marinas, yacht secutive year, the number will be greater Yet residents of this colonial area of rough- clubs and theme parks. than 2 million visitors.” ly 75,000 people see no return to the heyday The remaining $23 million will go to build Also at the fair, aviation officials unveiled of sugar centuries back. 50 boutique inns around the island — in addi- plans to improve airports in Havana and four “Sugar is expensive to make. In tourism, tion to 10 already under construction — and other cities. Heriberto Prieto, first vice-presi- you invest less and gain more,” said Juan Al- improve Cuba’s highways. dent of Cuba’s Civil Aviation Institute, said berto Santander, 49, one of a well-known fam- Last year, 2.3 million tourists visited the nearly a dozen new planes were being added ily of artisans in Trinidad who have benefited island, down from 2.3 million in 2005. The to the island's passenger fleet from the tourist surge. “And at least here, we 3.6% drop in arrivals was the first drop since In Holguín, Frank País International Air- have sugar history as a visitor draw.” 9/11, which Cuban officials attributed to a port has doubled capacity and can now han- relatively warm winter in Europe and other dle 1,200 passengers an hour. Doreen Hemlock, a reporter for the South Flor- miscellaneous factors. Airport Director David Benítez said this ida Sun-Sentinel, was the newspaper’s Havana But European and Canadian tour opera- increase in capacity will prevent congestion bureau chief in 2006 and still covers Cuba regular- tors complain that Cuba just can’t compete during peak season, October to March. ly. This article first appeared in the Sun-Sentinel. 16 CubaNews ❖ June 2007 INDEX OF NEWSMAKER PROFILES: 2002-2007 CARIBBEAN UPDATE Here’s a complete listing of the 43 newsmaker profiles that have appeared in CubaNews since You already know what’s going in Cuba, June 2002, when we began running this feature. All profiles start on Page 8 of the issue indicated. thanks to CubaNews. Now find out what’s Alarcón, Ricardo, president of Cuba’s National Assembly (May 2004) happening in the rest of this diverse and Alvarez, Pedro, chairman of Cuba’s state-run food purchasing agency Alimport (April 2004) fast-growing region. Blanco, Kathleen, governor of the State of Louisiana (May 2005) Subscribe to Caribbean UPDATE, a Calzón, Frank, director of Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba (November 2004) monthly newsletter founded in 1985. Cor- Cason, James, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana (February 2004) porate and government executives, as well Colás, Ramón Humberto, founder of Cuba’s independent library movement (September 2003) as scholars and journalists, depend on this Cowal, Sally Grooms, president of the Cuba Policy Foundation (September 2002) publication for its insightful, timely cover- Delahunt, Rep. Bill A. (D-MA), co-chairman of the House Cuba Working Group (April 2003) age of the 30-plus nations and territories of the Caribbean and Central America. Flake, Jeff (R-AZ), co-chairman of the House Cuba Working Group (December 2003) When you receive your first issue, you Fox, Albert J., president of the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy (March 2003) have two options: (a) pay the accompany- García, Joe, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation (October 2003) ing invoice and your subscription will be Gibadlo, Brent, director of Association of Travel Related Industry Professionals (August 2003) processed; (b) if you’re not satisfied, just Hays, Dennis, executive vice-president of the Cuban American National Foundation (July 2002) write “cancel” on the invoice and return it. Huddleston, Vicki, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana (July 2005) There is no further obligation on your part. Jones, Kirby, Washington consultant, founder of the US-Cuba Trade Association (December 2004) The cost of a subscription to Caribbean Kühn von Burgsdorff, Sven, European Union representative in Havana (January 2004) UPDATE is $267 per year. A special rate of Leal, Eusebio, chairman of Habaguanex S.A. and Havana’s official historian (August 2004) $134 is available to academics, non-profit Latell, Brian, former CIA analyst and noted expert on the Castro brothers (March 2007) organizations and additional subscriptions Lazo, Sgt. Carlos, Iraq War veteran and activist for Cuban-American family travel (April 2007) mailed to the same address. Lesnik, Max, longtime Miami radio commentator and political activist (June 2007) To order, contact Caribbean UPDATE at Marshall, Steve, Havana-based real-estate and Internet entrepreneur (March 2004) 116 Myrtle Ave., Millburn, NJ 07041, call us McCarry, Caleb, Cuba transition coordinator, U.S. State Department (October 2005) at (973) 376-2314, visit our new website at Mesa, Alfredo, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation (August 2005) www.caribbeanupdate.org or send an Montenegro, Marcelo, Cuba representative of Leisure Canada Inc. (January 2003) e-mail to [email protected]. We accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Muse, Robert, Washington attorney and Cuba claims expert (December 2005) Oltuski, Enrique, Cuban revolutionary and deputy minister of fisheries (November 2002) Payá, Oswaldo, leading Cuban dissident and founder of the Varela Project (May 2003) Peters, Phil, vice-president of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute (November 2006) Reinsch, Bill, president of the National Foreign Trade Council (September 2004) Roca, Vladimiro, veteran Cuban dissident (April 2005) Rodríguez, Dagoberto, chief of Cuban Interests Section in Washington (August 2002, June 2003) Sánchez, Elizardo, human-rights activist and dean of Cuba’s dissident movement (July 2003) Schwag, Rick, founder of Vermont-based Caribbean Medical Transport (June 2006) Editor & Publisher Smith, Wayne, senior fellow at Washington’s Center for International Policy (June 2002) ■ LARRY LUXNER ■ Sparks, Ron, Alabama commissioner of agriculture (January 2007) Suchlicki, Jaime, director of the University of Miami’s Cuba Transition Project (February 2003) Washington correspondent Tamargo, Mauricio, chief of the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (February 2005) ■ ANA RADELAT ■ Thomas, Cynthia, founding president of the Texas-Cuba Trade Alliance (May 2007) Political analyst Tokmakjian, Cy, Canadian investor and Cuba’s biggest new-car importer (December 2002) ■ DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI ■ Villand, Michel, French businessman, founder of Cuban pastry chain Pain de Paris (October 2002) Feature writers (January 2005) Werner, Robert W., director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control ■ VITO ECHEVARRÍA ■ Whitaker, Kevin, coordinator of State Department’s Office of Cuban Affairs (November 2003) ■ HELEN J. SIMON ■ Wright, John Parke, Florida cattle rancher and owner of J.P. Wright & Co. (July 2004) Cartographer ■ ARMANDO H. PORTELA ■

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