Vol. 20, No. 10 October 2012

In the News OFAC lets up a bit on P2P Cuba licenses,

Tourists keep coming but U.S. regulations still frustrate TSPs Canadian arrivals up, though eurozone ills BY LARRY LUXNER Cubans living abroad — up from 375,431 in 2010 dissuade Spaniards, Italians ...... Page 2 he 50-year-old U.S. travel ban against and 296,064 in 2009. Most of them are believed Cuba, along with Europe’s crippling eco- to be Cuban-Americans. Tnomic crisis — which has denied thou- Add to that the thousands of Americans not of Viera Linares speaks sands of would-be vacationers the chance to Cuban origin who visited the island, and it’s Retired Cuban diplomat tells N.Y. audience visit the island — has nevertheless failed to put entirely possible — despite all the restrictions corrupt foreign investors offered local offi- a dent in Cuba’s tourism industry. imposed by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — that U.S. citizens are now the most cials kickbacks, fake contracts .....Page 4 In fact, thanks to a steady stream of freezing common foreigners in Cuba after Canadians. Canadians flocking south in search of sun, sand “The only solution is to get OFAC out of it and salsa, the numbers are up rather than down entirely,” said anti-embargo activist John Mc- October 1962 in maps (see related story, page 2). Graphics explain in detail how the Cuban Auliff, executive director of the New York-based At the same time, more Cuban-Americans are Fund for Reconciliation and Development. Missile Crisis unfolded ...... Page 6 visiting the island of their birth than ever “There’s a general travel license for Cuban- before, thanks to U.S. regulations that encour- Americans. Nobody asks if they ever see their age such trips even while making them difficult family when they’re in Cuba. Nobody asks to Bolaños steps down for Americans who lack family ties to Cuba. José Cabañas replaces Jorge Bolaños as prove that they actually have a cousin in Cuba,” Worldwide, the top sources of tourism to he complained. “It’s a trust situation — a calcu- chief of Cuban mission in D.C...... Page 7 Cuba, said the Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas lation that if 5% are cheating, the other 95% are (ONE), are Canada, Great Britain, Italy, France, to our benefit. Any university can send students, Provinces: Ciego de Avila Argentina, Germany, Russia, Spain and Mexico. and any religious organization can send people Yet according to the latest government statistics without any bureaucracy.” Obscure sugar-producing province hopes from Havana, the island was visited by 397,886 See OFAC, page 2 tourism will save economy ...... Page 8 What’s with the cable? Cuba, eager for overseas remittances, Videoconference renews talk about Cuba- Venezuela-Cuba fiberoptic link ...Page 11 drops draconian exit visa requirement BY LARRY LUXNER and repressive travel policy that has aptly been Sandy’s legacy compared to a paper version of the Berlin Wall,” Hurricane leaves 65 dead, including 11 in inally, after two years of speculation and pronouncements that came to nothing, the said the Los Angeles Times. “The announcement Cuba, before heading north ...... Page 11 Fgovernment of President Raúl Castro has that [Cuba] plans to end this inhumane system was long overdue and more than welcome.” enacted a new migration law in hopes of receiv- Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state Hope for UBPCs ing more remittance money from abroad. for Western Hemisphere affairs, was enthusias- New decree breathes life into troubled The new law replaces a series of abusive and tic yet chose her words carefully when address- cooperative movement ...... Page 12 useless migration laws from 1961, 1976 and ing the subject at an Oct. 18 press briefing. 1978, along with other regulations and restric- “We don’t yet know how those changes that tions involving letters of invitation, confiscation were announced are going to be implemented,” Cuba’s lakes of property and the like. she said. “It is, of course, of great interest to … Island’s freshwater lakes offer huge poten- “These measures are truly substantial and policymakers at the State Department and else- tial for U.S. boating industry ...... Page 13 profound,” said Col. Lamberto Fraga, Cuba’s where throughout the U.S. government what No. 2 immigration official, in a Havana press the change means, how it will be implemented, conference following the announcement. “What and what we may need to do to respond to that.” CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monthly by CUBANEWS LLC. © 2012. All rights reserved. we are doing is not just cosmetic.” Jacobson, profiled by CubaNews in September, Annual subscription: $398. Nonprofit organizations: Reaction from the United States was swift and said it’s too early to determine if the U.S. Inte- $198. Printed edition is $100 extra. For editorial in- generally favorable, though cautious. rests Section in Havana will need additional per- quires, please call (305) 393-8760, fax your request “For 50 years, Cubans have been prevented sonnel to handle increases in visa applications. to (305) 670-2229 or email [email protected]. from leaving their country by an anachronistic See Migration, page 14 2 CubaNews v October 2012

TOURISM OFAC — FROM PAGE 1 And while Washington does everything it can to discourage American tourists from Arrivals up despite eurozone troubles lolling on Cuban beaches, “people-to-people” exchanges are something different. BY ARMANDO H. PORTELA believed to be Cuban-Americans, as well as Shortly after President Barack Obama took xactly 2,021,649 foreigners landed on U.S. citizens not of Cuban origin who are office, he reversed policies imposed by the Cuban soil during the first eight months either traveling illegally to the island — or Bush administration which had restricted Eof 2012 — a 5.2% rise over the same peri- legally as participants in people-to-people ex- Cuban-Americans to visiting their families in od in 2011 — despite the savage European changes, humanitarian missions and the like. Cuba to just once every three years. financial crisis which has made a Caribbean Therefore, despite all the travel restrictions Now, those with family on the island can vacation impossible for thousands of Span- imposed by Washington’s 50-year-old embar- visit as often and for as long as they wish. iards, Italians, Greeks and others. go against Havana, Americans may very well People-to-people travel to Cuba has also be the most common foreign- That’s largely thanks to opened up, allowing Americans without fami- Canada, which has sent more ers in Cuba after Canadians. It’s no surprise that tourist ly connections the possibility of visiting the than 800,000 of its citizens to island as long as they’re engaged in “pur- Cuba so far this year. arrivals closely track the mag- nitude of problems back home. poseful travel” rather than outright tourism. In fact, since 2007, arrivals “The president, the secretary of state and from Canada have gone up by While British, French and 10.3% annually. At that rate, more German visitors keep coming than two million Canadians will (and those three countries en- be visiting the Caribbean’s lar- joy the strongest economies in gest island every year by 2018. Western Europe), tourist arri- In second place was the 27- vals from Spain and Italy have LUXNER LARRY member European Union. EU dropped off dramatically. nations sent a combined 425,000 In Spain’s case, arrivals in vacationers to Cuba between the first eights months of 2012 January and August 2012 — a 5% tumbled by a whopping 23%. drop from the year-ago period. Spain now accounts for only Worldwide, the top sources of 2.8% of all visitors to the island tourism to Cuba, said the govern- — a figure that hardly corre- ment’s Oficina Nacional de Esta- sponds to the stereotype of the dísticas, are Canada, Great Brit- typical foreign tourist in Cuba: Signs guide tourists to 3 popular hotels in Havana. ain, Italy, France, Argentina, Ger- a middle-aged Spaniard male many, Russia, Spain and Mexico traveling alone or in a group. myself obviously feel really strongly that peo- — with fewer numbers coming Similarly, arrivals from Italy ple-to-people is the right thing to do — for from the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. have fallen 5% this year. But U.S. citizens to be able to interact with Cuban No one knows for sure how many Cuban- the Italians, unlike their Spanish counter- citizens,” Roberta Jacobson, assistant secre- Americans visit the island, because ONE does parts, have been traveling to Cuba in lesser tary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, not mention figures or separate this group by numbers since 2005 and today represent only told CubaNews an interview last month. origin. Rather, it lumps exiles in the “other” 3.8% of all tourists coming to Cuba. “What we all want is a free and democratic category, which shows 504,407 visitors in the Greece, Ireland and Portugal — three Cuba. It is not subversion and it is not regime first eight months of 2012, up 4.9% from the other EU members whose economies are in change, but an effort to open Cuba to the 480,985 visitors in the year-ago period. huge trouble — were never big sources of world and try very hard to engage the people Yet a big chunk of these “others” — a cate- tourism to Cuba, and ONE doesn’t break out of Cuba, because our engagement with the gory that comprises 25% of all visitors — are data from those three countries. q government of Cuba is fairly unproductive.” RUBIO: TOUR OPERATORS ABUSE THE LAW Yet Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have demanded that OFAC get tough with tour operators. “This is tourism for Americans that, at best, are curious about Cuba and, at worst, sympa- thize with the Cuban regime,” Rubio recently told Fox News Latino. Specifically, these lawmakers want the agency to crack down on companies that fly Americans down to Cuba not to spread demo- cracy or learn history, but mainly to lounge on Varadero Beach, enjoy Havana’s spectacu- lar nightlife and spend dollars in the island’s state-controlled economy “There is no doubt there’s been some abuse of that opening,” said Jacobson. “OFAC has sanctioned organizations and will contin- ue to sanction others if they are found to be promoting straight tourism to Cuba,” she pro- mised. “I know Sens. Rubio and Menendez get upset about that, and we do too. We make See OFAC, page 2 October 2012 v CubaNews 3 in four- and five-start hotels in the northern OFAC — FROM PAGE 2 keys of Villa Clara, Ciego de Avila and a very clear distinction between purposeful Camagüey provinces. And that’s just part of travel and tourism.” an ambitious development plan to include In fact, it was Rubio — a staunchly pro- more than 45,800 hotel rooms throughout the embargo Republican from Florida — who northern coast by 2030.” threatened to derail Jacobson’s confirmation in the Senate until the White House promised CUBA IN HOTEL-BUILDING FRENZY to get tough with companies that were using Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero, speak- their privileged Cuba travel licenses to bring ing at the recent 32nd annual Feria Interna- Americans to Cuba for what he said were cional de Turismo in Havana, said the island “questionable” purposes. now has 58,626 rooms, of which 63% are in In May 2012, at the senator’s urging, OFAC four- and five-star hotels. Of that total, 71% are tightened requirements for people-to-people dedicated to sun-and-beach tourism, 23% to licenses and renewals by making applicants city tourism and 2% to ecotourism. submit an onerous explanation and itinerary More and more of those hotel rooms are of activities for their planned visits to Cuba. being filled by locals. Government statistics Some of these applications ran over 100 report 579,924 domestic tourists in 2011, up a pages. In one extreme case, Joe Scarpaci, whopping 111% from 439,581 the year before. director of the Virginia-based Center for the But there’s little doubt that the current Study of Cuban Culture and Economy, origi- hotel expansions taking place are aimed at a nally submitted to OFAC a 17,000-word appli- soon-to-be massive flow of U.S. tourists. cation for a license renewal, and had to file a In fact, a recent study by IMF expert Rafael renewal license and plans more than 100 de- Romeu indicates that “if restrictions on travel 25,000-word revision before receiving his partures for the remainder of 2012 and 2013. approval last summer. were removed, perhaps 3.5 to 5 million U.S. The New Rochelle, N.Y., tour operator had residents would visit Cuba annually.” Before Rubio’s intervention, a six-page brought about 3,000 Americans to Cuba be- application for such licenses — consisting of a Yet of far more immediate concern is the tween August 2011 and June 2012, said presi- November elections. sample itinerary and abbreviated explanation dent Tom Popper, but eventually cancelled of trip activities — was sufficient. Mindful of Florida’ 29 electoral votes and its 150 trips and laid off 22 staffers when its perennial importance in national elections, OFAC license lapsed. few presidential candidates dare to advocate CENTER FOR CUBAN STUDIES ‘ALMOST BROKE’ In addition, several other companies have Two months before OFAC’s stricter licens- lifting — or even easing — the embargo while received OFAC’s blessing to extend or inau- campaigning in the Sunshine States. But after ing requirements went into effect, the New gurate Cuba tours, including Friendly Planet, York Times Travel Show became a showcase the elections are over, President Obama — Grand Circle Foundation, Geographic Expe- assuming he’s re-elected — could decide to of the people-to-people policy, with agencies ditions and MotoDiscovery. like Insight Cuba and C&T Charters promot- relax the regulations further, allowing more Canadians face no obstacles from their own and more Americans to travel there. ing their Cuba travel services to eager would- government when attempting to visit Cuba, be customers. The Republicans, on the other hand, specif- which is why planeloads full of tourists keep ically oppose easing U.S. travel restrictions as “We’re basically broke right now,” said landing in Havana and Varadero on daily non- Sandra Levinson, director of the New York- long as the Castro family remains in power. stop flights from Toronto, Montreal, Vancou- “Mitt Romney has committed himself to the based Center for Cuban Studies, which has ver, Calgary and Winnipeg. led educational trips to the island for decades. hardest-line [embargo] people in Miami,” said It also helps that the Canadian economy is McAuliff, “If Romney wins, it’s a disaster.” “We had 36 trips from November 2011 until relatively strong, with the country’s GDP like- q June 2012. We can’t take any money until we ly to finish 2012 with growth around 4%. get a new license.” Larry Luxner is longtime editor of CubaNews. To keep pace with increasing tourism, the New York-based freelance journalist Vito Eche- Levinson’s office is now forced to conduct Cuban government plans to add 5,500 rooms fund-raising drives to keep the lights on in her varria contributed significantly to this article. office until OFAC eases its licensing policy. “A handful of new or renewed people-to- people licenses were issued at the beginning of June, and then a freeze went into effect for OFAC catches heat over tourist card rule the months of July and August,” said Bob he delay by Treasury’s Office of For- the Cuban Interests Section in Washington Guild, vice-president of Marazul Charters eign Assets Control in granting or re- and apply for the tourist card.” Inc., a New Jersey-based company that since Tnewing people-to-people licenses was Such a solution is “impossible,” the tour 1979 has operated direct charter flights to frustrating enough. operator told us, because the Cuban mis- Havana from both Miami and New York. But one travel service provider (TSP) sion in D.C. “is not equipped to deal with “After the situation became publicized at who sends many Americans to Cuba told the public — let alone gringos. They do not the end of August, another handful of re- CubaNews that a much bigger problem has answer any emails nor their public phone newed licenses was issued.” received virtually no attention in the press: number. By this step, OFAC is truly crip- that of tourist cards. pling legal travel of Americans to Cuba.” OFAC LIGHTENS UP IN RECENT WEEKS “By raising the P2P issue, they [OFAC] He continued that OFAC “is using this Guild added: “It is a day-to-day situation for are diverting attention from a much more bureaucratic administrative step to virtually the dozens of organizations with pending severe step relating to the TSP and charter cut U.S. traffic to Cuba, and there is no log- license applications. Each week we are forced companies’ ability to provide legal passen- ical reason for it.” to release hotel and flight space for groups gers with a blank tourist card — which is a Neither OFAC nor Cuban diplomats in which have not yet received their licenses 60 visa we purchase from the Cuban Interests Washington could be reached for this story, days prior to their scheduled arrival in Cuba. Section in Washington,” said the TSP, who though CubaNews can vouch for the fact that Hundreds of travelers have had their trips declined to be identified. the Cuban Interests Section rarely answers cancelled as a result.” “As of now, this is forbidden, and OFAC its switchboard at (202) 797-8518 and It now seems that OFAC has lightened up. wants each passenger to personally contact almost never returns our messages. q In late September, Insight Cuba received its 4 CubaNews v October 2012 POLITICS Viera: Corrupt investors offered kickbacks, fake contracts BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA Reuters correspondent Marc Frank wrote ple, traffic violations or a murder.” ne of Cuba’s most seasoned diplomats Oct. 9 that Cy Tokmakjian, chief of Tokmak- Viera Linares, meanwhile, says his govern- was the guest of honor at a recent event jian, and Sarkis Yacoubian, CEO of Tri-Star, ment is trying to improve the foreign invest- Oat New York’s CUNY Graduate Center. were arrested and confined to safe houses ment climate by increasing transparency. José Raúl Viera Linares was Cuba’s first when their businesses were closed, but earlier Raúl, he said, “works by the book” — in deputy minister of foreign affairs from 1981 to this year both were transferred to La Conde- contrast to his larger-than-life brother Fidel, 1990, and counselor at the Cuban Mission to sa, a prison for foreigners just outside Havana. who treated his own word as law. This the United Nations in the late 1960s. explains why, for example, Chilean investor Max Marambio never encountered any legal Cuban officials who have landed in jail as a issues in Cuba as long as his good friend Fidel result of President Raúl Castro’s anti-corrup- was running the country. tion drive “have been taking kickbacks,” said However, when Raúl assumed power in the former diplomat. 2008, his “by the book” approach resulted in “Sometimes they have even gone further, an anti-corruption probe against Marambio. and they have signed phony contracts,” he That led the Chilean — who was off-island told his audience Sep. 27. “They had two dif- CENTER CUNY GRADUATE at the time — to abandon his stake in two ferent sets of books in not reporting the exact lucrative Cuban ventures in order to avoid jail: earnings of [these] enterprises.” the Sol y Son tourism agency, and the Alimen- Viera dismissed any suggestions that the tos Río Zaza fruit juice business. foreign investors and Cubans awaiting trial on In late August, three former vice ministers corruption charges committed low-level Ex-diplomat José Viera Linares speaks in New York. in Cuba’s Basic Industry Ministry and nine offenses, such as paying workers an extra nickel industry executives were sentenced to $100 a month as incentive bonuses (which is Coral Capital’s Fakhre was recently trans- long prison terms for corruption. illegal in Cuba). ferred to a military hospital when he fell ill The officials and a former head of negotia- Police closed the Havana offices of the Bri- after months in prison. His company’s chief tions for state nickel entity Cubaniquel got tish investment and trading firm Coral Capital operating officer, British citizen Stephen sentences of 6-12 years for “crimes associated Group Ltd. last October — more than a year Purvis, was arrested in April and is in with corruption during the negotiation, con- ago — and arrested chief executive Amado Havana’s Villa Marista prison, sources said. tracting and execution of the expansion of the Fakhre, a Lebanese-born British citizen. Asked at a Havana penal conference when Pedro Soto Alba plant,” in eastern Cuba, said A month earlier authorities shut down one charges might be filed against the business- Communist Party newspaper Granma. of the biggest Western trading companies in men, Cuban Attorney General Dario Delgado The Holguín facility is a joint venture be- Cuba, Toronto-based Tokmakjian Group, told Reuters the investigation had not con- tween the government and Sherritt Interna- after doing the same in July 2011 to another cluded because of the complicated nature of tional Corp. The three vice ministers included Canadian trading firm, Nova Scotia-based Tri- the alleged crimes. Alfredo Rafael Zayas Lopez, who served in Star Caribbean. “The cases are in the investigative stage that capacity from 2004 to 2007, Ricardo Gon- Reuters reported that their ongoing legal and still have not been presented to the court, zález Sánchez (2001-04) and Antonio Orizon limbo “has put a behind-the-scenes strain on but I can guarantee they are proceeding de Los Reyes Bermudez (1980-99). Cuba’s relations with their home countries — according to Cuban law,” he said. “There isn’t Respectively, they received sentences of 12 Canada and Great Britain — where the legal the slightest reason for concern. These cases, years, 10 years and eight years. The Cubani- process protects suspects from lengthy incar- which involve economic crimes, are very quel executive, Cristobal Saavedra Montero, ceration without charges.” complicated. They do not involve, for exam- was sentenced to six years in prison. q Judy Gross lobbies for release of husband jailed in Cuba BY ANA RADELAT rights and legal organization. But Gensler said Cuba has made no offer to udy Gross, the wife of an American im- She and Gensler met with Sen. Jerry Moran consider releasing the Potomac, Md., resi- in a Senate building hallway, asking the dent since it tendered an exchange for the prisoned in Cuba, was on Capitol Hill Sep. “Cuban Five,” who were convicted and impris- J19 to pressure the Obama administration Republican from Kansas to support a letter to the State Department asking for direct talks oned in the United States for espionage. The to hold direct talks with Cuba in order to free with Havana over Alan Gross’ case. Obama administration rejected that deal. her husband. “If the U.S. government doesn’t directly “What we really want is for the Cuban gov- “He worked for the U.S. government, so talk to them, how are they going to get Alan ernment to put an offer on the table,” Gensler they should do more to get him out,” she told out of prison?” Gensler asked. said. “They’ve been asked and asked what CubaNews. Moran, who supported easing the embargo else other than the Cuban Five and they’ve Alan Gross, 63, was a subcontractor for a to allow Cuba to buy food from the United said nothing.” U.S. Agency for International Development States, was sympathetic, saying “no American While Judy Gross can count on Moran’s program aimed at destabilizing the Castro should be abandoned by their government.” help, other lawmakers have turned her down, regime. He is serving a 15-year prison sen- Judy Gross and Gensler are also frustrated including two Cuban-American senators: Bob tence for smuggling into Cuba sophisticated by the official attitude in Havana. Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL). communications equipment that could help Last week, Cuban Foreign Ministry official Both men oppose all diplomatic talks between the island’s dissidents. Josefina Vidal said in a statement that “Cuba Washington and Havana. Judy Gross was accompanied on Capitol reiterates its willingness to talk with the Aides to Menendez and Rubio didn’t return Hill by Jared Genser, the managing director United States government to find a solution in calls seeking comment. Gensler said he isn’t of Perseus Strategies, a Washington-based the case of Mr. Gross and continues to await concerned the two are withholding support company that bills itself as a lobbying, human an answer.” See Gross, page 6 October 2012 v CubaNews 5 POLITICAL BRIEFS FLORIDA BUSINESS GROUP OPPOSES LAW ON CUBA In their own words … The Florida Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal appeals court to continue blocking a law “I like to write. I like to study. There is much to do in the area of knowledge. that prevents state and local governments from Never, for example, have the sciences advanced at such a stunning speed ... I’ve contracting with firms that have business links to stopped publishing my reflections because it’s clearly not my place to occupy the Cuba or Syria, reports the Fort Myers News-Press. pages of our press, dedicated as it is to other tasks the country requires.” The chamber filed a brief Oct. 22 in the 11th — Fidel Castro, explaining in an Oct. 22 article that he plans on receding further from U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that says the law — the limelight. The article was accompanied by a photo showing Fidel — rumored to passed this year by the Florida Legislature and be near death — examining vegetation on a farm with the aid of a walking stick. signed by Gov. Rick Scott — would have “far- reaching implications and unintended conse- “This move is incredibly significant. Taking a further step back from public quences that will irreparably harm Florida busi- life Fidel reinforces for Cubans — wherever they may live — that his days of nesses and the state’s economy.” forming even a slice of the public consciousness are ending.” The state is appealing a Miami federal judge's — decision in June that granted a preliminary Julia Sweig, director of Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. injunction against the law, which the judge said likely violated the U.S. constitution. “The reflections were useful, but apparently he is not going to continue them. Odebrecht Construction Inc. filed the suit be- We will have to get used to not knowing what he is doing every day.” cause its Brazilian parent company has another — Héctor Casamayor, a Havana transportation worker, quoted Oct. 26 by Reuters. subsidiary involved in the expansion of the Cuban port of Mariel — an affiliation that, under “We are facing something new, a positive step in that doors have been opened the new law, would prevent Odebrecht from bid- in terms of job training and job formation for the Cuban labor force. The poten- ding on government jobs in Florida. tial for migration is going to increase, but in an optimal scenario for Cuban poli- In the brief, the chamber said the law would cy, without reaching destabilizing levels.” discourage foreign investment in the state and — Arturo López-Levy, a Cuban economist who lectures at the University of Denver, strain relations with Brazil and Canada. commenting Oct. 21 to the Washington Post about Cuba’s new migration law. “If the Cuba Amendment is enforced, its impact will reverberate far beyond the borders of the “I reiterate that we will have news from Cuba in the next few days. The delay Sunshine State,” the brief said. “Democratic for- is not my fault. I am sorry.” eign governments and their businesses will be — Nelson Bocaranda, columnist for Venezuela’s El Universal, in an Oct. 15 Twitter reluctant to do business in Florida. These are the post. That followed an earlier tweet in which the famously plugged-in gossip colum- very foreign companies that Florida has worked nist claimed that “in 72 hours will we know of the death of Fidel Castro? I think so.” so hard to attract.” “In the Caribbean, [Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez] has all this collection CUBA TO HOST COLOMBIA PEACE TALKS ON NOV. 15 of little countries who are not important in terms of the economy ... they survive Colombian and FARC rebel negotiators will because of these subsidies from Chávez. But guess what they also do: They vote meet in Cuba in mid-November to start substan- with Chavez when it comes to an important U.N. vote, and Chávez knows that.” tive peace talks to end almost half a century of — bloody conflict, according to Reuters, quoting a Eduardo Gamarra, Latin American studies professor at Florida International Uni- joint declaration issued in Norway on Oct. 18. versity, on how crucial Venezuelan petroleum is to Cuba and its Caribbean neighbors. The talks, which move to Cuba on Nov. 15, are the latest in a long history of attempts to resolve “I have to submit a humanitarian request so that someone can decide whether the war which has left tens of thousands dead to allow me to return to where I was born? ... Big deal!” and millions displaced from their homes since — Juan Antonio Blanco, former analyst with the Cuban Communist Party now living in the establishment of the Revolutionary Armed Florida, commenting Oct. 26 to the Miami Herald about Cuba’s new migration law. Forces of Colombia in 1964. “The peace process will be successful if it’s “I don’t think it will make that much difference. It won’t change much for me serious, realistic and efficient,” top negotiator or my family. Now I'm considered a traitor. What I would like to see is for people Humberto de la Calle said in Norway. “The pro- like me to be allowed to go back to Cuba to visit.” cess that starts today is different from the past.” — Dr. Lisset Oropesa, who arrived in the U.S. in 2008 after studying in Belgium.

CASH-STRAPPED CUBA CLOSES HOSPITALS, CLINICS “It is time to do justice to the poorest of the migrants, the rafters, even if this Cuba shut hundreds of medical facilities in 2011 will generate tens of millions for the government in passport and other fees.” — including 54 hospitals — as the island reorga- — Pedro González Munne, a Miami businessman who monitors travel to Cuba. nizes its health-care sector, AP reported Oct. 10. The number of medical installations nationwide “Last week, this newspaper criticized my opposition to enriching the regime fell from 13,203 in 2010 to 12,738 last year, a 3.5% with U.S. tourism dollars while reiterating your unconscionable position of sup- drop, according to Cuba’s Oficina Nacional de porting an Obama administration policy that helps fund the regime’s repressive Estadísticas (ONE). The reductions include ev- machine. It was an editorial the tyrants in Cuba surely delighted in reading.” erything from general hospitals to family clinics. — Health care budgets have been shrinking in Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), in an Oct. 28 opinion piece published in Tampabay.com. recent years under Raul Castro, though authori- ties exhort doctors to do more with less amid “It used to be that a university education, in one form or another, was almost a promises there will be no elimination of services. sure thing. Now you have to struggle. I understand it was impossible to maintain ONE says the number of doctors in Cuba rose everyone studying, but I still want to see my son go to the university.” from 76,500 in 2010 to nearly 78,700 in 2012. — Havana architect Alejandro Padrón, on Cuba’s cutbacks to education. Over the same period, technicians and support staff dropped sharply, from 87,600 to 76,000. 6 CubaNews v October 2012 HISTORY The Cuban Missile Crisis: October 1962 his month has been a busy one for to 18 days — was to be preceded by massive Cuba-watchers. Perhaps half a dozen air strikes over SSM and SAM sites. Tconferences have been held in Miami The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and Washington marking the 50th anniver- were also to capture Cuban airports; other sary of the Cuban Missile Crisis — a fright- major units would have followed suit, moving ening chapter of contemporary history that in to take over the Soviet missile bases. October 1962 brought the United States and Havana was to be isolated but not seized. Soviet Union to the brink of World War III. And once the U.S. forces were in control of eastern Cuba, all resistance would have to be Largely ignoring the Soviet deployment of wiped out. nearly 100 tactical warheads on FKR-1 and The plan did not consider the presence of Luna missiles deployed throughout Cuba, tactical nuclear weapons in Soviet hands and President John F. Kennedy planned a full- the commitment to use them in case of an scale conventional raid to seize the IRBM and U.S. invasion. It anticipated 1,000 American MRBM sites at San Cristóbal, Guanajay, casualties per day — which in retrospect was Sagua la Grande and Remedios. a gross understatement had the Soviets used The air campaign and invasion beginning their two and 14-kiloton nuclear warheads to with Seal teams landings to disable radars and repel the invasion. communications — and expected to last eight – ARMANDO H. PORTELA

arrest, has lost 105 pounds and is suffering Gross — FROM PAGE 4 from degenerative arthritis. “I found him a because Havana considers them political ene- human skeleton,” she told us. mies. “But, he said, “I would hope the Cuban Maryland radiologist Alan Cohen looked at government would care about people who the CT and ultrasound scans of Gross’s shoul- have done a lot with Cuba like Sen. Moran.” der that were sent from Havana to the U.S. Judy Gross aims to win the support of at government and concluded that he “has a po- least 50 senators for her campaign. tentially life-threatening medical problem.” q She visited her husband, who is held in a Washington-based journalist Ana Radelat has military hospital, last month. Alan Gross, who been covering Cuba-related issues on Capitol Hill was obese at the time of his December 2009 for CubaNews since the newsletter’s birth in 1993. October 2012 v CubaNews 7 US-CUBA RELATIONS Cabañas replaces Bolaños at Cuba’s Washington mission BY LARRY LUXNER “Whatever one may think about that gov- diplomatic post to protest the Reagan admin- orge Alberto Bolaños Suárez, Cuba’s top ernment, it is a government brought to power istration’s policies on Cuba, said a Nov. 6 vic- diplomat in the United States, has left his by its people,” said Early — expressing a sen- tory by GOP candidate Mitt Romney will send Jpost after four years and nine months on timent that is clearly not shared by the major- U.S.-Cuba relations back to the dark ages. the job. He’s being replaced by José R. Caba- ity of Cuban exiles. “The American people are In fact, the pro-embargo Romney has al- ñas Rodríguez, an official at Cuba’s Ministry beginning to recognize that we do not have ready vowed that if elected, he’ll rescind peo- the right to tell the Cuban people what kind of of Foreign Affairs about whom little is known. ple-to-people travel and make it more difficult Bolaños, 75, was feted at an Oct. 10 recep- life they want to lead.” Not much is known about José Cabañas, even for Cuban-Americans to visit the island. tion on Capitol Hill. The low-key event was “If Mr. Romney wins, I don’t know what attended by 30 anti-embargo activists, acade- the man who’s replacing Bolaños effective mics and friends of the departing chief of the Nov. 1 — other than that he’s about 50 years we’ll do,” said Smith. “Fortunately, Mr. Cuban Interests Section in Washington. old, that he graduated from Havana’s Instituto Bolaños doesn’t have to worry about that.” q The farewell party — coming amidst per- sistent rumors of Fidel Castro’s impending demise — was co-sponsored by three organi- zations opposed to U.S. policy on Cuba: the Center for International Policy (CIP), Latin America Working Group (LAWG) and Center LUXNER LARRY for Democracy in the Americas (CDA). No U.S. officials or foreign diplomats were invited to the party for Bolaños — a media- shy diplomat compared to his predecessor, Dagoberto Rodríguez, who maintained a much higher profile during his 2001-07 post- ing in Washington. “Jorge Bolaños is one of Cuba’s most dis- tinguished diplomats,” declared CIP’s Wayne Smith, who used to head the U.S. Interests Section in Havana more than 30 years ago. “We all thought when he was assigned here that it was a tremendous sign, shortly after President Obama’s inauguration, that there would be a change in U.S. policy. But we have not seen the dramatic change we hoped for.” Jorge Bolaños (right) talks with Maryland businessman Gabriel Ruíz as LAWG’s Mavis Anderson looks on. BOLAÑOS REGRETS POOR STATE OF RELATIONS LAWG co-sponsored an Oct. 10 farewell party for Bolaños, departing chief of the Cuban Interests Section. Bolaños himself acknowledged that he was unable to change the course of U.S.-Cuba ties. Superior de Relaciones Internacionales, and “I came here with goodwill. I always say that he was Cuba’s ambassador to Austria. U.S. diplomats urge ‘freedom’ that ambassadors are for building relations, In 1984, Cabañas wrote a book entitled More than a dozen former U.S. ambas- not destroying them,” the diplomat said. “Radio Martí: Una nueva agresión,” about the sadors and foreign policy makers with a “The United States and Cuba, only 90 miles U.S. government’s attempts to turn average background in Latin American affairs apart, have many common interests. The his- Cubans against the Castro regime through have announced their endorsement of the tory of U.S.-Cuba relations is full of chapters, propaganda radio broadcasts from Miami. document entitled “Commitment to Free- some good and some not so good. We think it dom,” rejecting business ties with Cuba is time for both peoples to understand each NO MENTION OF ALAN GROSS AT RECEPTION while the Castro regime is in power. other. I cannot be happy if this is delayed.” Washington lawyer Robert Muse, who spe- The petition was signed last month by Mavis Anderson of LAWG said she counts cializes in Cuba-related issues, met Cabañas diplomats, Cuban-American leaders and Bolaños among her friends. in 1998. At that time, he was Bolaños’ deputy former Fortune 500 executives ranging “The ambassador was here at a time which at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex). from Bacardi to Pepsico. It warns against many people felt could have been seminal in “Under difficult conditions, he [Bolaños] “the Castro regime’s deceptive campaign U.S.-Cuba relations. He was here at a time of left U.S.-Cuba relations better than he found to secure U.S. capital and bank credits.” expectations,” Anderson told us. them in areas like supporting environmental The letter, highlighting Cuba’s support “President Obama opened up family travel, cooperation and scientific exchanges,” Muse of the “Caracas-Tehran axis,” also urges which was very important, as well as educa- told CubaNews. “The relations between our more funding for pro-democracy efforts tional, religious and people-to-people travel. two governments may be strained, but NGOs rapidly spreading throughout the island. But that wasn’t as much as we had hoped. have never been stronger, and people-to-peo- Among those signing the letter: Lew Now we will need to defend that so we go for- ple travel has helped in that way, too.” Aselem, John Bolton, Ted Briggs, Ludlow wards, not backwards.” Neither Bolaños nor any of the other speak- Flower, Tony Garza, Lino Gutiérrez, Otto Another admirer of Bolaños is James Early, ers mentioned Alan Gross, the Maryland man Reich, George Landau, Philip Hughes, Jim chief of cultural heritage at the Smithsonian’s who was arrested in December 2009 and sen- Cason, Mike Skol and José Sorzano. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. tenced to 15 years in jail for subversion. His Details: Americas Forum for Freedom & “It’s an honor to have Cuba’s main diplomat detention has blocked efforts at improving Prosperity, 1350 I St. NW, Washington, DC in the United States here in this room, repre- relations between Washington and Havana. 20005. Email: [email protected]. senting the people of Cuba,” he said. Smith, who in 1981 resigned his Havana 8 CubaNews v October 2012 GEOGRAPHY Obscure Ciego de Avila hopes tourism will save economy ly used to irrigate sugarcane, citrus and other BY ARMANDO H. PORTELA This is the second in a series of monthly arti- he province of Ciego de Avila was born cles on Cuba’s 15 provinces by cartographer crops. Water for irrigation is brought from the in 1976, when the government Armando H. Portela, who has a Ph.D. in geo- Zaza reservoir at Sancti Spíritus province and T replaced Cuba’s original six provinces graphy from the Soviet Academy of Sciences. from Camagüey through canals. with 14 new administrative divisions. Ciego de Avila covers 6,783 square kilome- ration to make them fit for agricultural use. POPULATION ters (2,620 sq miles), including 589 sq km Brown argillaceous soils are restricted to the Ciego de Avila is one of the least densely (204.5 sq miles) of adjacent keys — or 6.2% of foothills and valleys. populated provinces in Cuba, with only 61.2 Cuba’s total land area. Consistent with the abundance of karstic inhabitants per sq km. In 2011, estimated pop- The province is made up almost entirely of limestone in the plains, Ciego de Avila has an ulation was 426,738, with 38.3% of that con- flatlands less than 50 meters (164 feet) high, adequate supply of groundwater, but con- centrated in two cities: Ciego de Avila, the with the exception of scattered step hills to the north, rising to an altitude of 442 meters (1,450 feet) near Florencia to the west, and 315 meters (1,033 feet) at Cunagua. Most of the land is composed of Miocene limestone and Quaternary marine and alluvial LUXNER LARRY deposits gently sloping toward the sea. Some singular geological features have drawn spe- cialist to the area in search of hydrocarbons but with limited success. To the southwest, along the border with Sancti Spíritus province, a Tertiary tectonic basin filled with more than 6,500 feet of sedi- ment holds some deposits of light oil, some of which have been producing for 40 years. Although the reserves are depleted and its production represents only a fraction of the national output, this oil is sent to a refinery in Sancti Spíritus, where industrial oils, pesti- cide components and other derivatives are produced. An oilfield near Pina, exploited Billboard welcomes motorists to Ciego de Avila along the Carretera Central that spans the length of Cuba. since 1990, is the province’s main producer. To the inland, the plains are covered with cerns about saltwater intrusions limit the use capital (109,761) and Morón (53,551 in 2002). deep red ferralitic soils, ranking among the of aquifers. Over 77,000 hectares (190,271 Ciro Redondo (formerly Pina) has 14,400 most productive in Cuba, though the low acres) of lowlands, or 11% of the territory, suf- people. The towns of Chambas, Primero de coastal plains have poorly drained soils, usu- fer some degree of saline intrusion into the Enero (formerly Violeta) and Venezuela (for- ally heavy and partially saline, needing melio- groundwater and soils. Groundwater is most- merly Stewart) have 11,000 each, and fewer than 9,000 people live in the province’s small- er settlements, which are normally associated with nearby sugar mills. Population growth in Ciego de Avila aver- aged 1.5% annually in the ‘80s, but fell to 0.2% in 1995 as a result of Cuba’s economic crisis. Over the past five years, growth has stagnat- ed at 0.3% a year. Nevertheless, even that flat growth remains above the national average.. AGRICULTURE Ciego de Avila stopped releasing informa- tion on the sugar industry after 2002, when the once-powerful sector was reduced to a third of its original size and national output shrank to only 15% of its former levels. Before the closure of most of its mills and sugar plantations, Ciego de Avila accounted for 9-10% of Cuba’s total sugar production, a ratio that seems to have stabilized in recent years. Last year, Ciego de Avila ranked as Cuba’s second-highest sugar producer, trail- Measuring 370 sq kms (143 sq miles), Cayo Coco boasts 20 ing only Villa Clara. km (12 miles) of white-sand beaches. It is covered by a In 2012, the province’s three active sugar dense, semi-deciduous coastal forest that shelters a rich mills produced 135,000 tons of sugar, worth local fauna and many migratory birds. Much smaller Cayo $70 million at prevailing prices. That was up Guillermo covers barely 13 sq km (5 sq miles) but has a superb sand beach and some spectacular underwater sites. See Ciego de Avila,page 9 October 2012 v CubaNews 9

Bicyclists pedal down a quiet street in Ciego de Avila.

Ciego de Avila— FROM PAGE 8 from 111,000 tons in 2011, but a far cry from the 800,000 tons or more being produced annually in the 1980s, when the crop was worth $350 million thanks to preferential prices paid by the Soviet bloc. In 2002 — the last harvest before the downsizing — Ciego de Avila’s nine sugar mills produced 335,567 tons of raw sugar, up from 320,000 tons in 2001. Three of the province’s nine mills were dismantled in 2002, after which Ciego de Avila’s nominal daily grinding capacity fell to 40,000 to 45,000 tons. But years later, the industry made further cuts in an effort to limit losses. The Patria o Muerte (formerly Patria) and Máximo Gómez (former- ly Punta Alegre) mills, which both date to 1915, and Bolivia (formerly Cunagua) which was founded in 1917, were all dismantled in 2002. All were located in lowlands where soaked soils posed an insurmountable obstacle to profitable operations. The Patria o Muerte mill near Morón has been a museum for foreign tourists since 2001, and reportedly raked in $230,000 from 4,200 visi- ha (370,000 acres) of caña were harvested annually. tors in its first year of operation. The Venezuela mill, dating from 1906, Citrus fruits are grown on 2,200 ha (about 5,430 acres) at farms in was also shut after being retooled to produce only molasses. Ceballos and Morón. In 1997, the province produced a record harvest The most recent sugar harvest in Ciego de Avila was carried out by of 117,000 tons, or 14% of the island’s total for that year. three mills that rank among Cuba’s largest. This includes the Ecuador But production then shrank by 94% to 6,884 tons in 2010 largely due (formerly Baraguá) mill, which has a daily grinding capacity of 10,200 to neglect, lack of export markets, loss of qualified personnel and a tons. This particular mill has the only sugar refinery in Ciego de Avila, deadly plague that devastated the orchards. with a capacity of 95,000 tons a year. The Ciro Redondo (Morón) and Oranges make up 70% of all citrus orchards in Ciego de Avila. Al- E.J. Varona (formerly Adelaida) mills remained active this year. though low by global standards, yields have traditionally been among Roughly 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of sugarcane were harvest- the highest in Cuba, reaching 12 tons per hectare in the late 1980s. ed this season, with an average yield of 45 tons/ha, according to offi- By 2010, however, yields had fallen to 6.3 tons/ha. A citrus pro- cial media. That’s down from the late 1980s, when more than 150,000 See Ciego de Avila, page 10 10 CubaNews v October 2012

INFRASTRUCTURE portation costs from $65 to $27 per ton. Ciego de Avila— FROM PAGE 9 The Central Railroad and the old two-lane Casasa may handle small passenger cruise cessing plant built in 1985 at Ceballos, with Central Highway link Ciego de Avila with the ships in the future. capacity to process 40 tons of fruit per hour, rest of the island, and a network of secondary Cayo Largo’s Jardines del Rey International has been mothballed. Pineapple cultivation paved roads and railroad branches reaches all Airport serves the resort. It replaced Máximo epitomizes Ciego de Avila, but production is settlements and tourist hubs. Highways and Gómez Airport, 12 miles north of Ciego de highly volatile and not very profitable lately. railroads other than those that serve tourists Avila, in 2001. It was built in a densely forest- The collapsing output was viewed as cata- are said to be in very poor shape. ed area of Cayo Coco — cutting travel time to strophic as it dipped from 30,232 tons in 1991 The province’s only port is located at the keys but severely hurting the island’s lim- Júcaro, on the southern coast, and handles a to barely 331 tons in 2007. ited natural resources. However, the decision to free up private ini- limited volume of sugar and refined products. tiative in the countryside — as well as the Most sugar production is shipped through The Cuban government invested $30 mil- lion and 45 million pesos to build the airport, introduction of a new variety of piña — has the bigger ports of Cienfuegos, Nuevitas and may bring good results. Guayabal. A small port was recently opened which boasts a 10,000-foot runway and a ter- In 2011, output came to nearly 4,000 tons. at Casasa on Cayo Coco to handle supplies for minal capable of handling up to 20 flights a Tourism and private industry may help bring teh resort, and has managed to cut trans- week and 1.2 million passengers a year. q the pineapple industry back to its feet. Ciego de Avila also produces 16% of Cuba’s potato crop, harvesting an average 36,380 tons annually over the past five years. Never- theless, this is well below the 55,000 tons per year recorded a decade earlier. Finally, with an average 180,000 head of cat- tle, Ciego de Avila’s herd accounts for 4.3% of

Cuba’s national cattle herd. Milk production GOOGLE MAPS/LANDSAT has grown from 9.8 million liters in 2005 to 23.5 million liters (55 liters per capita) in 2010. TOURISM As the sugar industry crumbled, Ciego de Avila turned to tourism in hopes of saving its economy. As a consequence, some disman- tled sugar mills were converted into muse- ums for tourists; neglected railroads and cen- tury-old engines offer trips through the sug- arcane plantations; abandoned pineapple fields are being revived to feed hungry hotel guests, and new roads have been built. The Jardines del Rey tourist hub, centered on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, now ranks MARABÚ SLOWLY DEVOURS CIEGO DE AVILA’S FARMLAND third in Cuba after Havana and Varadero. glance at the above false-color satel- It has 4,660 rooms — or about 7.2% of lite mosaic of central Cuba shows Cuba’s entire hotel capacity — and hosts Acroplands in a checkerboard, tex- about 200,000 visitors per year, up from tured pattern of green and red hues corre- 150,000 in 2000. Those figures fell short of the sponding largely with sugarcane fields, cit- the goal to have 20,000 rooms by 2005 — a rus orchards (around Ceballos) and other year in which 340,000 visitors were expected. crops to the north, east and southwest cor- And although 6,000 people, or 5.4% of the ner of the picture. province’s work force, are employed in the There’s also a large homogenous green tourism sector, the industry has brought with it serious problems. At $500 to $600, average patch extending from the west and north- The weed was kept at bay by private revenue per tourist is not particularly high. west part of the image to engulf the city of farmers using patience and hard work, but And construction of an 11-mile causeway Ciego de Avila. This likely corresponds to as most lands passed to state rule, machin- linking Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo to the pasturelands that are partially infested with ery, fuel and chemicals did the bulk of the mainland has led to serious environmental marabú, an invasive thorny bush that forms eradication job. problems. By interrupting natural tidal and impenetrable thickets and renders farm- Things got much worse after the onset of marine currents within Los Perros Bay, this land unusable in a matter of a few years. the Special Period in 1990, when heavy The detail above shows how the plant causeway has annihilated marine life and all machinery, fuel and chemicals to keep mar- but eliminated commercial fishing. invades grazing land and makes it disap- abú under control vanished overnight. And pear under an thorny blanket, impenetra- after the sugar industry was downsized in ble to people and cattle alike. 2002, the government abandoned one mil- Marabú infestation is one of the most ur- lion hectares of sugarcane that were rapid- gent problems facing agriculture in Cuba. ly claimed by bushes. Estimates of the infested area range from Today marabú spreads at a rate of 43,000 850,000 to 2 million hectares (2.1 4.9 mil- hectares (106,000 acres) per year — way lion acres). That’s equivalent to 13% to 30% beyond what can be cleared under current of Cuba’s total agricultural land. conditions. Pasturelands are preferred by Marabú (Dichrostachys cinerea ) is an this nightmarish plant as cattle spread the African plant, imported in the late 19th cen- seeds in their feces and germination tury as an ornamental. It was soon spread occurs in a matter of weeks or months. by cattle to all farmland. – ARMANDO H. PORTELA Old billboard welcomes motorists to Ciego de Avila. October 2012 v CubaNews 11 AGRICULTURE UN videoconference renews debate about fiberoptic cable BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA nications between the two countries.” about the cable. In fact, he said, it’s been oper- n late September, Cuban Foreign Minister The Sep. 20 videoconference has ignited a ating for more than a year. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla told reporters in debate on the fiberoptic cable’s functionality. “At the early stages, there were some trou- INew York via videoconference of his gov- California State University professor Larry ble with inland infrastructure not being in- ernment’s upcoming draft resolution at the Press, who writes a blog about the Internet in stalled, because some funcionários had divert- Cuba, says the conference could have been United Nations, condemning the U.S. trade ed the funds for their own use,” said Cereijo. conducted through satellite links that Cuba embargo against Cuba. “Currently, it is only used by military and se- has been using with the outside world. lected members of the Cuban government.” While that in itself was hardly news — the “They have three satellite providers: Tata, same resolution comes up year after year — It’s not clear why the Castro regime would Intelsat and NewCom,” said Press. “They pro- opt out of providing up-to-date Internet con- what caught the attention of reporters in New vide Cuba with regular, persistent, internatio- nections for local residents, who hunger not York was the amazingly good visual and audio nal Internet connectivity. Any Internet video- only for the wealth of information that Google quality of the video link from Havana. conference would go over those links, and, and other web sources provide, but also for This raised speculation about the fate of a yes, they could support a teleconference. the chance to videoconference with relatives 1,000-mile fiberoptic cable connecting Cuba “Anything a Cuban user with international and friends overseas, via services like Skype. to Venezuela. connectivity does goes through one of these Press offers a technical explanation. Its inauguration was announced with fan- three Etecsa links. However, the capacity of “Even if the [Cuban government] wanted to fare in February 2011, but the Castro regime the three [satellite] links together is much allow free access to all Cubans, there is no never mentioned it again — even though In- less than the [Cuba-Venezuela] cable.” modern domestic infrastructure to provide ternet service for both locals and foreign visi- that — no backbone network connecting cit- tors remains painstakingly slow to this day. SOME OBSERVERS SMELL CORRUPTION ies, no ‘middle mile’ connectivity within cities, Back in May, Venezuela’s science and tech- Press may be technically correct about Cu- no ‘last mile’ connectivity to homes and busi- nology minister, Jorge Arreaza, told the ba’s Internet satellite connectivity. However, nesses,” he said. “I do not know what is going Miami Herald that the $70 million cable was this doesn’t mean the cable isn’t up and run- on with the cable, but there is no way for it to “in full operation.” He noted that it was up to ning. One functionary at the Cuban mission overnight make a widespread difference. the Cuban government how it would be used. in New York insisted that the recent video That would require political will, significant José Remón, a former official of the Cuban chat was not conducted via satellite. foreign investment and time.” phone monopoly Etecsa now living in Miami, Manuel Cereijo, a Cuban-American acade- told the paper that “the cable is working, but mic who has lectured on electrical and com- CUBAN INTERNET ACCESS: A LONG WAY TO GO limited to service between certain Cuban and puter engineering at the University of Miami, Press added: “If they connected Etecsa Venezuelan state entities or strategic commu- confirmed Arreaza’s and Remón’s comments tomorrow, the cable would be a strong link in a very weak chain as far as the majority of the HURRICANE SANDY LEAVES 11 DEAD ACROSS EASTERN CUBA people were concerned. It would allow them, if they wished, to open international connec- tivity up to more people at lower prices, but they would still be using dial-up modems, and there would be congestion and as demand increased, congestion would appear at inter- mediate points.” Even if the regime wanted to keep offering web access exclusively to foreigners and those within the Cuban government, the island’s Internet backbone would still have to meet 21st-century standards. “I would not pay for Internet access at hotels in Cuba because quite simply, the con- nections are poor and not worth the money,” said Tony Martínez, a New York attorney who has long advocated improved telecom links between Cuba and the United States. Given the role of social media in over- throwing authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, it’s no surprise why the Cuban government would limit such access for locals. Hurricane Sandy made landfall Thursday morning, Oct. 25, just west of Santiago de Cuba as a Category 2 “It makes sense that they would use it to storm with 115 mph winds. By the time it reached open waters en route to the Bahamas, the storm had their convenience and political survival,” said left 11 people dead — and that was just in Cuba. That pales in comparison to Haiti, where Sandy killed Martínez, though he said this poses a moral 51 inhabitants, though by Cuban standards 11 is quite high. State-run media reported that 137,000 homes dilemma for the regime. “What are the values in Santiago de Cuba were damaged, including 43,000 that lost their roofs and at least 15,000 that col- of a government that derives its power from lapsed. Government estimates pegged losses at 2.1 billion pesos. In Holguín province where Sandy exit- the people, but censors information for the ed Cuba, 17,000 homes sustained damage; the municipalities of Mayarí, Banes, Antilla, Rafael Freyre, purposes of political control and survival?” q Baguano, Urbano Noris, Sagua de Tanamo and Cueto were among the hardest hit. At press time, Sandy was on track to make U.S. landfall near Atlantic City, N.J., where this once-in-a-generation “frankenstorm” Vito Echevarria, a New York-based freelance has already spawned dangerously high winds, downed power lines, flooding and massive blackouts, para- journalist, writes regularly for CubaNews about lyzing life for 50 million Americans throughout the eastern United States from North Carolina to Maine. business, e-commerce, the arts and entertainment. 12 CubaNews v October 2012 AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE BRIEFS HURRICANE SANDY DEVASTATES COFFEE CROP New decree gives UBPCs hope at last Hurricane Sandy decimated the Cuban cof- longing to MINAG had racked up 2.1 billion fee crop and delivered a major setback to ren- BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI ovation of old plantations when it tore across n Sept. 10, the Cuban government pesos in net losses. At last count, only 540 UBPCs (428 associ- eastern Cuba, Reuters reported Oct. 29. adopted new regulations that dramati- The storm left 20-30% of the crop on the Ocally liberalize the Unidades Básicas de ated with MINAG and 112 with MINAZ) have met minimum standards of efficiency and sol- ground, damaged processing centers and Producción Cooperativa (UBPCs) and Cuban roads and felled thousands of trees upon plan- agriculture in general. vency. A second group consisting of 1,122 UBPCs (57% of the total) are in critical shape, tations as it pummeled the Sierra Maestra The story of the UBPCs over the last 20 but still capable of recovery. Mountains, where 92% of the crop is grown. years is a clear example of the state betraying The final group, made up of some 300 The coffee harvest runs from September to its own laws. Under Law Decree #142, passed UBPCs, will either merge with more success- January, but peaks in October and November. in 1993, the UBPCs were to be real, effective ful ones or be completely dissolved. This is Coffee production was already expected to cooperatives — putting an end to state farms the legacy of continued state mismanagement weigh in at some 5,300 tons of semiprocessed that had controlled 70% of Cuba’s farmland. and violation of its own laws. beans, compared with 7,100 tons in the previ- What happened instead? The new law enacted Sep. 10 fully restores ous season and an initial plan of 8,500 tons. Right after this 1993 law was enacted, the the 1993 decree and mandates that: Reuters now estimates output will be below UBPCs were put back under state control, fol- n The UBPCs will fully manage their own 4,000 tons, the lowest in more than a century. lowed by incidents of mismanagement and affairs and make their own decisions. The official Granma newspaper reported abuse as well as bureaucratic distortions and n They will allocate only 5% of their income Oct. 29 that Guantánamo province — the economic and political blunders. to refinance debts, defaults and whatever country’s second producer after Santiago de UBPCs members started to realize that the loans they may get from the state budget Cuba — “lost 174,475 cans of beans” and that autonomy granted by the law was a mere fic- starting in 2013.. “47 processing centers were damaged.” tion. Even the supposedly elected bodies to n Payments of their bank credits will be re- Cuba often reports coffee output in cans, run the UBPCs were appointed by the state. scheduled over 25 years. Loans and credits with 525 cans equal to one ton. All of this violated the 1993 law, but no one will be given to well-performing UBPCs. Still-to-be-quantified losses were also report- spoke about it. n For the next five years, UBPCs will pay ed in the eastern provinces of Granma and Now, for the first time, you can “read all no taxes, and pending debts over the last 20 Holguín, Cuba’s third and fourth producers. about it” in the Cuban press.” years will be forgiven for those UBPCs in the The devastation was far worse in Santiago, first two groups. which took the brunt of the storm and where BRAND NEW ERA FOR UBPCs n UBPCs will decide for themselves how to losses were still being tallied. At the time that law was passed nearly two distribute their proceeds. If they are facing “Songo-La Maya is an agricultural munici- decades ago, there were 2,519 UBPCs — arrears, the distribution of proceeds will be pality. The initial figures for coffee, its main almost all of them belonging to the Ministry limited to 50%. crop, indicate a loss of 84,000 cans, while of Agriculture (MINAG) and the former n State institutions will interact with 4,500 hectares of plantations and another 650 Ministry of the Sugar Industry (MINAZ). UBPCs only by way of supervising the imple- in development are damaged due to the trees Today there are 1,989 UBPCs, mostly mentation of technical norms related to culti- that fell on them,” reported the provincial under the control of MINAG. They own in vation, and by way of sales contracts based on newspaper Sierra Maestra. usufruct 1,770,000 hectares, representing 28% free prices. Everything else not included in of best farmland — but currently 23% of this the government contracts may be sold at AZCUBA: SUGAR HARVEST LIKELY TO GROW 20% land remains idle. Some 21% of these UBPCs whatever price the UBPC wishes. Cuban raw sugar production will increase reported net losses in 2010. These new regulations will eventually be some 20% during the coming sugar harvest or Meanwhile, to cover-up their mismanege- extended to other farmers’ cooperatives, such to 1.68 million tons, Reuters reported Sep. 24. ment, the state graciously continued to ex- as Cooperativas de Producción Agropecuaria Orlando Celso García, president of the tend credits year after year worth 3.3 billion (CPAs) and Cooperativas de Crédito y Servi- Sugar Company Group (AZCUBA), made the pesos, an enormous debt that could not be cio (CSSs), that have been in place rather suc- announcement while speaking to sugar coop- repaid. Additionally, by 2010, the UBPCs be- cessfully for more than 40 years. q eratives in eastern Granma province. The harvest runs from December through April. This year, however, a handful of mills will open in late November; 50 mills will grind Dissident Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo dies at 77 during the season, four more than last season. loy Gutiérrez Menoyo, a rebel leader The Sugar Ministry was closed late last year who fought alongside Fidel Castro, and replaced by AZCUBA, with subsidiaries in Ethen later turned against him and was each province. The company hopes to reverse sent to prison for 22 years after having his a long decline in output from 8 million tons in

1964 death sentence commuted, died Oct. LUXNER LARRY 1990, and produce 2.4 million tons by 2015. 26 of a heart attack in a Havana hospital. García’s optimistic projection was based on Gutiérrez Menoyo, interviewed and pho- the just-concluded September cane estimate tographed by CubaNews in 2004 (see right), used to begin negotiating export contracts. had come to Havana on vacation the year Ample rainfall over the last six months should before but then shocked his friends and Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo at his Havana apartment. help the coming crop as only 10% is irrigated. family in Miami by announcing he would Some in the South Florida exile commu- At the same time, plans to produce 19% stay in Cuba to work for reconciliation. nity considered him to be soft on Castro. more sugar in 2011-12 came up short by 3% In 1992, the dissident founded Cambio “He felt he was Cuban,” Miami exile and due to problems with harvesting equipment Cubano, a Miami-based centrist organiza- former rebel Jorge Castellón told the Los and mills. That harvest came to 1.4 million tion that promotes peaceful dialogue with Angeles Times. “He fought for Cuba, and his tons, of which 600,000-700,000 went to domes- the Castro regime. wish was to be buried in Cuba.” tic consumption, 400,000 to an export deal with China and the rest to other destinations. October 2012 v CubaNews 13 TOURISM Cuba’s many lakes offer potential for U.S. boating industry BY DOUGLASS G. NORVELL once the embargo is lifted. ramps, modern marinas or boat and motor With free trade restored, U.S. boat manu- ention boating in Cuba, and most peo- dealers. Boat ramps will require engineering facturers can look forward to brisk business services, marinas will require floating docks ple think Hemingway, big-game fish- in imported smaller boats suitable for lake Ming and lolling about on yachts. Only a from America’s 30-odd dock building compa- and coastal waters. nies, and boat and motor dealers will sell alu- handful recognize that Cuba also has alpine While Cubans have limited cash income lakes, oceanfront lagoons and a series of minum skiffs and small motors. that will constrain sales, there is strong poten- Fishing tackle sellers will also profit, as Soviet-built reservoirs that cover the country- tial demand. At present, Cuban inshore com- side from Havana to Santiago de Cuba. Cuba’s only tackle market is a three-block mercial fishermen build small boats from dis- informal market along Havana’s Malecón. While no Cuban lives more than 50 miles carded construction materials ranging from Could a more underserved market for re- from the sea, very few live more than 10 miles corrugated iron to Styrofoam scraps. from a freshwater lake. Once the U.S. trade In the longer run, U.S. businesses can ex- creational marine products exist anywhere? q embargo is over, investments to supply inland pect to supply Cuba with a full range of boat- boating products may well be among the fast- Illinois-based Douglass G. Norvell writes occa- ing products. Presently, Cuban lakes lack boat sionally for CubaNews about the boating industry. est growing industries, given the huge gap be- tween present supply and potential demand. Cuba’s Soviet-built lakes are everywhere in the country and just large enough to support family boating.

For example, a dozen reservoirs dot the 30 LUXNER LARRY miles separating San Cristobal and Consola- ción del Sur in Pinar del Río, one of which is four miles long. In that area, no one lives more than a couple of miles from a nice-sized lake. All told, Cuba has about 100 reservoirs large enough to support motorized boating, as well as a number of natural lakes in coastal areas, called “lagoons” in Cuba. Laguna la Redonda and Laguna de la Leche (so named because mineral deposits cloud the water) near Camagüey are examples of such lagoons. La Redonda is brackish and has a concentration of largemouth bass introduced long ago, not to mention a small marina and canal connecting it to Bahia de los Perros. So-called “top predator” largemouth bass eat every aquatic animal they see, and flourish in tropical lakes. Fishermen throughout Pinar del Río often bicycle to nearby reservoirs in the morning, then return at the end of the day to sell their catch to friends and neighbors.

LONG-TERM POTENTIAL FOR U.S. BUSINESSES? Sustained activity, like these small-business commercial fishermen, requires a large bass population. Laguna de la Leche, also near Camagüey, has a flourishing population of largemouth bass, snook, tarpon and other pre- dominantly saltwater species that came into the lake when it was connected to the ocean by a since-closed channel. Pinar del Río’s Las Terrazas is one of many lakeside resorts that could one day lure U.S. tourists to Cuba. A game preserve — one of a handful in Cuba — also awaits hunters willing to pay. Boaters can rent rowboats at Laguna de la LATEST CHANGES IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY LEADERSHIP Leche, but will find fewer facilities at similar n late September, several key changes took n First Secretary of the Unión de Jóvenes low-lying lakes west of Pinar de Río. place within the leadership of the Commu- Comunistas (UJC). Liudmila Alamo Dueñas, West of Pinar del Río city, in the sparsely Inist Party of Cuba, as follows: 38, university graduate in chemistry, was populated Huanahacabibes Peninsula, sit a n First Secretary, Las Tunas: Teresa Ama- apparently dismissed and replaced by history number of lakes including Laguna Pesquero, relles Boué was replaced by Ariel Santana, 43: professor Yuniasky Crespo Baquero, 35.. Laguna El Sabalo, Laguna La Lisa and others n First Secretary, Camagüey: Julio César n Also, Yolanda Ferrer Gómez, 66, was re- that are seldom visited, with few facilities. García Rodríguez was replaced by Jorge Luís placed as head of the Federación de Mujeres Another hunting lodge can be found at La Tapia Fonseca, 49, an economist. He previ- Cubanas (Cuban Women’s Federation) by Cubana rice plantation at Maspaton, 62 kms ously held a similar post in Ciego de Avila. Teresa Amarelles Boué, 48, a social studies east of Pinar del Río — complete with its own n First Secretary, Ciego de Avila. Tapia teacher and first secretary of the party in Las small lakes. Again, all of these facilities are Fonseca (see above) was replaced by Félix Tunas before this transfer. Ferrer Gómez had mostly rustic and will require new equipment Duarte Ortega, 38, an engineer. been an official at the FMC since 1964. q 14 CubaNews v October 2012 During this same period, according to gov- ways under control, and then they come home Migration — FROM PAGE 1 ernment statistics, 941,953 people traveled for with a little money,” said former government Under the decree, which was published personal reasons, and 120,275 of them (12.8%) economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, now a dis- Oct. 24 and which takes effect Jan. 14, 2013: did not come back. Of those traveling, 156,068 sident. “Those who do come back, I don’t n Any Cuban citizen will have access to an were university graduates, only 10.9% of think they’ll bring much with them.” ordinary passport and may travel without fur- which did not return. University of Havana historian and sociolo- ther restrictions for personal or family rea- “Still, the process of obtaining travel per- gist Antonio Aja Díaz, an expert on migration sons, or become a temporary or permanent mission was onerous and expensive, with an issues, said professionals now make up 12% of resident in another country. exit permit costing the equivalent of $170 — Cuba’s outward flow. Remittances sent by Cu- n Traveling abroad will depend entirely on more than eight times the average monthly bans living overseas, mostly in South Florida, the financial status of the person who wishes state salary,” wrote GlobalPost correspondent now come to nearly $2.3 billion a year, said the to travel, as well as the visa requirements and Nick Miroff. “And there’s no guarantee that Virginia-based Havana Consulting Group. im-migration laws of the receiving countries. the permit would ultimately be granted by It’s unclear what effect, if any, Cuba’s new n Permanent migrants and residents immigration authorities. The exit visa require- migration policy will have on U.S. laws such as abroad may visit Cuba at their discretion for ment became a hated symbol of the commu- the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which periods of 90 or 180 days (before it was limit- nist government’s Kafkaesque bureaucracy grants preferential visa status to Cuban citi- ed to 30 days). This can be extended. and Orwellian controls on personal freedom.” zens, or the “wet foot-dry foot” policy — a n Cubans traveling for personal or family 1995 revision to the 1966 law which lets any reasons may reside abroad without interrup- THE REMITTANCE FACTOR Cuban citizen who manages to make it to U.S. tion for 24 months (before it was 11 months); Cuba’s new policy has been met with skep- soil to pursue residency in the United States extensions to be granted if fully substantiated. ticism — even hostility — by many in the one year later. n Cuban citizens classified as permanent South Florida exile community. The Associated Press says the move has migrants may ask to return to Cuba as per- Columnist Fabiola Santiago of the been a public relations boost for the govern- Miami ment, giving it another piece of ammunition manent residents. Relatives will provide for Herald says the regime is “vying to unleash their support if the resident does not have suf- another mass exodus” on the United States. against critics of its human rights record. ficient income and housing (over the last few “Providing an escape route to the growing Omar Valino, vice-president of Cuba’s writ- years, hundreds have been returning every opposition and the discontented has been a ers’ and artists’ union, told the daily state-run month). Petitions of this type will be superb survival strategy for more than five newspaper Juventud Rebelde: “It is a transcen- answered in less than 90 days. decades of totalitarian rule,” wrote Santiago, dental measure that destroys false symbols n Cubans traveling abroad will not lose comparing the latest announcement to the that have been used against us.” q their homes. In addition, homes and other Mariel exodus of 1980 and the rafter crisis Former Cuban intelligence officer Domingo property may be transferred to other relatives that ensued 14 years later. Amuchastegui contributed to this story. Amuchas- or sold. Those traveling temporarily will con- But it may not be enough to keep the trou- tegui writes regularly for CubaNews on the Com- tinue to collect their social security pensions.. bled Cuban economy afloat. munist Party, Cuba’s internal politics, economic n Any Cuban citizen will be classified as a “You let them go for a couple of years, al- reform and South Florida’s large exile community. migrant when he/she remains abroad for more than 24 months without permission or a legal extension. n Administrative and executive personnel will also have the right to travel on ordinary ONE: State retail sales fell 17% since 2009 passports for personal or family reasons prior etail sales by Cuban state-run busines- schemes to move clothing, personal to approval by their superiors. ses have declined significantly over hygiene and other products to the island Rthe last two years as privately import- for sale through informal networks of door- n Those who have migrated illegally since 1994, and after eight years have elapsed, may ed goods and a growing “non-state” sector to-door distributors and the mom-and-pop return temporarily. Doctors, health workers took their toll, Reuters reported Sep. 17. businesses that have sprung up. technicians and athletes who also left illegally The news service said the report, “which Until September, when import duties after 1990 — including those who defected would be shocking in any other economy were drastically increased at airports, ports while on excursions abroad — will be granted as it would signal a drastic fall in consumer and post offices, presumably to slow the the right to return, with only one exception: spending, in the case of Cuba reveals the decline in retail sales, the informally those who stayed at the U.S. Naval Base at difficult balancing act of Cuba’s communist imported goods were cheaper and often of Guantánamo Bay. leaders as they attempt to reduce the state better quality than those at the state-run bureaucracy and encourage private sector stores, chipping away at sales. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE growth in a major transformation of its cen- As part of an overall reform of Cuba’s The new law doesn’t apply to everybody, trally planned economy.” Soviet-style economy, the Communist however. Citizens involved in legal cases may Retail sales fell 17%, from 11 billion pesos Party loosened regulations on small, retail not leave, nor may minors without parental in 2009 to 9.3 billion last year, said Cuba’s service-related businesses in 2010 and authorization — or men who have not fulfilled Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE). began moving thousands of state-run out- their military service. The biggest drop came in durable goods, lets into the “non-state” sector. In addition, university graduates necessary from 1.2 billion pesos in 2009 to 266 million This resulted in a boom of private cafete- for Cuba’s well-being must wait five years last year, as Cuban-Americans brought flat- rias and restaurants, presumably responsi- while they train their replacements; special- screen TVs, video game and DVD players ble for a fall in state food service revenues ized technicians will have to wait three years. and other domestic appliances for relatives from 14.1 billion pesos in 2010 to 12.7 bil- It’s clear why a revamp of the law was so and sale after Washington lifted all restric- lion pesos last year, according to the report. urgent. Out of a population of 11.2 million, 11% tions on interaction with their homeland. Cuba is gradually moving state-run retail of Cubans have emigrated. This means that Hygiene and cleaning products fell from services like barber shops, appliance and one out of every four Cubans has a relative in 920 million pesos in 2010 to 338 million in repair shops and small cafeterias, into a another country, temporarily or permanently. 2011 as the exiles joined thousands of Cu-- new system where employees rent the Each year, 35,000 to 37,000 Cubans leave bans who took advantage of lax visa regula- premises, set their own prices, pay taxes the island. And in the past 12 years, 99.4% of tions to move to Ecuador in recent years. and compete with small, privately owned those who asked for permission to leave were There, some have set up trading businesses, Reuters reported. allowed to; only 0.6% were denied an exit visa. October 2012 v CubaNews 15 ARTS & CULTURE POLITICAL BRIEFS SÁNCHEZ ASKS RIGHTS PANEL TO PROTECT HER Charity to restore Havana ballet school Prominent Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez is petitioning the Inter-American Commission of BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA to transform the lives of young people in Cuba Human Rights to protect her rights. ast month, we profiled the 86-minute doc- by harnessing the power of dance,” he said. Sánchez, represented by Aparicio Arp Scha- umentary “Unfinished Spaces,” which Tang’s involvement in the project stems is mis & Associates, says she’s been subjected Lchronicles the ups and down of the for- hardly surprising. The Hong Kong-born busi- to arrest, arbitrary detention and physical vio- mer Havana golf club that became Cuba’s nessman owns Pacific Cigar Company Ltd., lence, and that Cuban authorities limit her Instituto Superior de Arte (see CubaNews, the exclusive distributor of Cuban cigars in movement and free speech. September 2012, page 15). Canada, Asia, Australia and the South Pacific. In addition, said Jaime Aparicio, Sánchez’s At least some efforts to secure funding to phone calls have been intercepted, she’s pro- finish restoration of one these schools are hibited from accessing public places, and her starting to bear fruit. blog is censored by the Castro regime. On Sep. 19, a group of high-profile British “Her integrity and safety are in danger,” and foreign donors staged a dinner and ballet said Aparicio, Bolivia’s former ambassador to performance at London’s Royal Opera House the United States and former president of the benefit Havana’s School of Ballet, designed by Inter-American Juridical Committee. Italian architect Vittorio Garatti. Aparicio said these actions by the Castro re- Organized by entrepreneur Sir David Tang, gime violate the OAS Charter as well as the attendees included actors Michael Caine and American Declaration of the Rights and Dut- Jude Law, as well as royalty such as the Duch- ies of Man — both of which Cuba has ratified. ess of York (Sarah Ferguson), Princess Bea- Sánchez, 37, is internationally acclaimed for trice, Princess Eugenie, Serena Armstrong- her blog Generación Y, which was launched Jones and Lady Helen Taylor. David Tang helps raise funds for Cuba ballet school. in 2007 and which portrays daily life in Cuba. Also in attendance: British TV personality Since then, she’s won accolades from Tang, who once called Fidel Castro “one of Time Michael Parkinson, rocker Jamie Hince, fash- magazine, CNN, Foreign Policy and Spain’s El ion photographer Mario Testino, artist Tra- the politest men I have ever met,” happens to País; she also received a well-publicized letter cey Emin and Elena Ochoa Foster, wife of Sir be Cuba’s honorary consul in Hong Kong. in November 2009 from President Obama. Norman Foster. Regarding the ballet school charity, he said: “I “We urge the commission to act quickly to The guest of honor was Carlos Acosta — hope to play a part in lending my full support protect the rights, safety and life of Ms. Sán- Cuba’s most prominent ballet dancer and cur- to this project, for this is not only for Cuba, chez,” said lawyer Héctor Schamis. rently principal guest artist of the Royal but for the world.” In the blogger’s own words: “Internet was Ballet. Acosta was also that night’s main per- Acosta’s plan for the ballet school’s restora- the only possibility of expression in a country former, along with Roberta Márquez. tion includes a 530-seat auditorium, a rehears- where, I know, will never give me a couple of Tang, raising an undisclosed amount for al studio and areas to accommodate visitors, minutes in the press … and then this has also the school, co-founded along with Acosta and dancers and teachers. been subject to censorship and punishment, British attorney Rupert Rohan the Carlos Details: Rupert Rohan, The Carlos Acosta In- including several detentions, kidnappings and Acosta International Dance Foundation. ternational Dance Foundation, Aviation House, verbal and physical intimidation.” Foster, an architect, will assist in the ballet 1-7 Sussex Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex Details: Jaime Aparicio, Partner, Aparicio Arp school’s restoration. “I am pleased to be able RH16 4DZ, England. Tel: +44 1444 450901. Schamis & Associates, Washington. Tel: (202) to help Carlos Acosta in his ambitious project Email: [email protected]. 368-1952. Email: [email protected]. Rolando Almirante seeks financing for Cuba dance movie uban filmmaker Rolando Almirante cians in 1940s New York). “We would love to finish it in time for the recently visited Berlin to seek German “The film will be about a young Cuban Havana Film Festival screening in December Cfunding for a dance-driven film entitled artist overcoming the obstacles in his life to 2013, but if not, then during the Berlin Bien- “Daniel’s Saga” which is scheduled for pro- becoming famous,” Almirante said. “The film nial [in February 2014],” said Almirante. duction in Havana next year. will show how Cuban artists — salsa and con- “We will have a marketing strategy in the Almirante, known internationally for “The temporary dancers — struggle nowadays.” United States and elsewhere. We would love Trial” — his 2009 documentary narrated by The filmmaker, who has extensive produc- to get it into the Tribeca Film Festival, as well Danny Glover about the five convicted Cuban tion experience with Cubavisión and various as Sundance.” spies imprisoned in the United States — has international TV projects, says that the dance Meanwhile, Lizra is unabashedly excited chosen Israeli-Canadian dance instructor and film will be full of kinetic energy, whose use of about working with Almirante. author Chen Lizra to take part in the movie. at least 60 dancers will play a major role in its “We are both talking to a big publisher in “I will star in the film, as will Danza Con- marketing. the U.S., for Rolo to potentially release a book temporanea de Cuba, one of the most famous “There will be people physically dancing, to go with the movie, and for me a deal for contemporary dance groups,” Lizra told us by lots of physical activity,” he said. “It will not be three more books,” she told CubaNews. phone from Vancouver, her adopted home. a CGI Hollywood production.” “When I was in Cuba earlier this year, Rolo Last year, Lizra published “My Seductive Aside from mentioning Lizra’s participation introduced me to Antonia Fernández, the Cuba,” a 328-page travel book on the island’s in the film, Almirante chose not to reveal granddaughter of [Cuban singer and actress] vibrant salsa and dance scene (see “Israeli which other actors are involved. “We will have Rita Montaner. Antonia is supposed to train dancer pours passion for Cuba into new travel a lot of big names, but we are still casting,” he me in acting. I could not be more thrilled,” guide,” CubaNews, October 2011, page 15). noted. “They must act, sing and dance.” Lizra continued. “And working with Danza “Daniel’s Saga” will be the latest in a string Almirante, who’s also turning to Canada for Contemporanea de Cuba is a big deal. They of movies featuring Cuba’s cultural heritage, funds, looks forward to choosing his film’s are one of the best dance groups in the world. from “Habana Blues” (present-day roqueros) musical score, as well as completing casting This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime.” to “Chico and Rita” (Afro-Cuban jazz musi- and production. – VITO ECHEVARRÍA 16 CubaNews v October 2012

CALENDAR OF EVENTS CARIBBEAN UPDATE If your organization is sponsoring an upcoming event, please let our readers know! You already know what’s going in Cuba, Fax details to CubaNews at (301) 949-0065 or send e-mail to [email protected]. thanks to CubaNews. Now find out what’s happening in the rest of this diverse and Oct. 3 0: “The United States and Latin America After Nov. 6,” Coral Gables Museum. Panel fast-growing region. discussion with three journalists: David Adams (Reuters); Tim Padgett (Time Magazine) and Subscribe to Caribbean UPDATE, a Mimi Whitefield (Miami Herald). Moderators: Ariel Armony and Marifeli Pérez-Stable. Event monthly newsletter founded in 1985. Cor- porate and government executives, as well is sponsored by the Miami Consortium for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. No charge as scholars and journalists, depend on this through RSVP is requested. Light breakfast will be served. Details: Latin American and Carib- publication for its insightful, timely cover- bean Center, Florida International University, Miami. Tel: (305) 348-2894. Email: [email protected]. age of the 30-plus nations and territories of the Caribbean and Central America. Nov. 2 : “Raúl Castro’s Socio-Economic Reforms in Cuba: Evaluation of Results,” Bildner Cen- When you receive your first issue, you ter, New York. Keynote speaker: Carmelo Mesa-Lago, distinguished professor emeritus of eco- have two options: (a) pay the accompany- nomics and Latin American studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Moderator: Mauricio Font. ing invoice and your subscription will be No charge. Details: Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, 365 Fifth Ave., Suite #5209, processed; (b) if you’re not satisfied, just write “cancel” on the invoice and return it. New York, NY 10016. Tel: (212) 817-2096. Fax: (212) 817-1540. Email: [email protected]. There is no further obligation on your part. Nov. 10-17: Cuba Discovery Tour. Lodging at Havana’s Hotel Telégrafo, breakfast buffets, The cost of a subscription to Caribbean is $281 per year. A special rate of four lunches and three dinners, guided, air-conditioned coach tours of Havana, live music and UPDATE $142 is available to academics, non-profit dance lessons with the Afro-Cuban Grupo Dulce María, and much more. Cost: $1,549 (exclud- organizations and additional subscriptions ing airfare). Details: Zunzun Education Services Ltd., 2278 East 24th Ave., Vancouver, BC V5N 2V2. mailed to the same address. Tel: (888) 965-5647. Fax: (604) 874-9041. Email: [email protected]. URL: www.cubafun.org. To order, contact Caribbean UPDATE at 116 Myrtle Ave., Millburn, NJ 07041, call us Nov. 21-30: Ten-day tour of Cuba led by Chen Lizra, author of bestselling travel guide “My at (973) 376-2314, visit our new website at Seductive Cuba.” Get a glimpse of Cuban culture from the inside. Explore Cuba’s colonial www.caribbeanupdate.org or send an architecture, unique nightlife and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Take advantage of Chen’s deep con- email to [email protected]. We accept nections to Havana’s music and dance scene; meet and mingle with local celebrities. Travel Visa, MasterCard and American Express. through the countryside in an comfortable air-conditioned van with a tour guide who will make Cuba feel as familiars as if you lived there. Cost: $2,000 (excluding airfare). Details: Chen Lizra, Vancouver, BC. Tel: (604) 708-2170. URL: http://myseductivecuba.com/cuban-tours. Nov. 28-30: 36th Annual Conference on the Caribbean & Central America, InterContinental Hotel, New Orleans. This event attracts business leaders from across the region. Cost: $575. Details: Gwen Rodríguez, Caribbean-Central American Action, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, #700, Washington, DC 20004. Tel: (202) 204-3050. Fax: (202) 789-7349. Email: [email protected]. Editor n LARRY LUXNER n Dec. 9 : “Classically Cuban Concert: Music for Martí,” FIU, Miami. Program to be presented by Emilio Cueto under the direction of Armando Tranquilino; features compositions inspired Washington correspondent n ANA RADELAT n by José Martí. Details: Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., DM 353, Miami, FL 33199. Tel: (305) 348-1991. Fax: (305) 348-3593. URL: www.cri.fiu.edu. Political analyst n DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI n Dec. 12-19: 28th Havana International Jazz Festival. For nearly 30 years, the big names of Feature writers world jazz have performed on Havana stages during this celebration. Visit with this licensed n VITO ECHEVARRÍA n Cuba travel agency. Details: Adolfo Nodal, Cuba Tours & Travel, 320 Pine Ave. #503, Long Beach, n DOREEN HEMLOCK n CA 90802. Tel: (888) 225-6439 x802. Fax: (562) 684-0174. Email: [email protected]. Cartographer n ARMANDO H. PORTELA n

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