>from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: Cuba Press release Aug 18. A sinister story of emigres >PRESS RELEASE FOR ALL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS. > HAVANA, FRIDAY ,18 AUGUST, 2000 RPM > >HAVANA.- A panel of Cuban foreign policy experts yesterday continued >the T.V. debate on the U.S. Democratic Party Convention, called "the >other face of the same imperialist vision" together with the >Republican Party Convention. Journalists, experts and commentators >expressed their opinions on the theme to national and international >public opinion, as part of a battle of ideas which began in Cuba with >the return of Cuban child Elian Gonzalez, and to uncover the true >plans towards the Island. During a previous debate, panelists agreed >in calling both conventions "electoral bluster, a fund raising >machine, lies and vice presidents for the occasion". > >HAVANA.- A special tabloid on the impact of the U.S. blockade on Cuba >is on sale in all Cuban newsstands. The paper, entitled "Abajo el >bloqueo" (Down with the Blockade), includes opinions given on the >theme by Cuban journalists, experts and government leaders during >seven T.V. programs, simultaneously broadcast by national radio >station Radio Rebelde and Radio Habana Cuba International. The 32 >page tabloid includes a historical sketch of the U.S. policy of >hostility on Cuba since the Triumph of the Revolution, 1959, and its >formal implantation in 1962. > >WASHINGTON.- A U.S. journalist discovered documents and belongings >f Fulgencio Batista in a rubbish bin in Miami, Florida, demonstrating >the opulent life-style-in-exile of the tyrant after he fled Cuba in >1959, according to local press on Wednesday. Freelance reporter >Robert "Bob" Calvert found cheques, letters and a shoe of Batista, >who ran away from the Cuban Revolution with millions of dollars of >public funds. > >HAVANA.- A momument to the memory of late Chilean President Salvador >Allende is currently being erected at the central Avenida de los >Presidentes, in Havana. The sculpture will perpetuate the memory of >the politician murdered by military forces commanded by General >Augusto Pinochet on September 11, 1973, whilst defending the Palacio >de la Moneda, a responsibility for which the Chilean people had >elected him during the November 1970 elections. The bronze memorial >statue shows the late Popular Unity President as orator. > >CIEGO DE AVILA, CUBA.- The trail from Jucaro to Moron - called the >largest Spanish military fortification of the 19th century in Cuba >and Latin America - will be restored, according to experts from Ciego >de Avila's Heritage Centre on Wednesday. During the current stage, 11 >kilometers including various fortresses and installations (small >fort, sentry boxes, wire fence, fortified houses) are planned for >restoration. This will be followed by the building of a memorial. The >fortified line, built in 1871 and 1872, was 68 kilometers long from >Jucaro (in the south) to Moron (in the north) in the current province >of Ciego de Avila. > >HAVANA.- Brazilian Minister for Security and Social Assistance >Waldeck Vieira Ornelas arrived in Havana yesterday on a three day >official visit accompanied by a wide delegation from his Ministry. >The visitor said that firstly he has come to learn about Cuban social >security and assistance experience, carry out exchanges with experts >and achieve a larger rapprochement between both Ministries. "We will >also analyze a very important comprehensive program of mutual >cooperation", explained Vieira Ornelas. > >RIO DE JANEIRO.- Rio de Janeiro state Governor Anthony Garaotinho >signed a cooperation agreement in diverse areas of mutual interest >with Cuban Ambassador to Brazil Jorge Lezcano Perez. The document >comprises proposals of scientific-technical, economic and trade >exchange in health, agriculture and sports. The signing, attended by >administration officials from the Brazilian state - the second >largest in importance in the Union - plus numerous media >representatives, took place at government headquarters Guanbara >Palace. > >BEIJING.- The second shipment of equipment for the 2000-01 academic >year has left the port of Tianjin bound for Cuba, after bilateral >friendship and cooperation links were highlighted in an act. Cuban >Embassy Trade Advisor Roberto Torres attended the event, whilst >Harbin Import and Export Business group general manager Yao Jinsong >and Zhang Youwang, chairman of education materials factory headed the >Chinese representatives. Goods for educational purposes, school >materials, tools and accessories for school maintenance are on their >way to Cuba in 10 containers. > >MADRID.- Cuban National Sports Institute (INDER) Vice President >Alberto Juantorena yesterday said his country's position in the case >of athlete Niurka Montalvo is in accordance with Olympic Charter >Norms and follows principles, ethics and morals. During a press >conference in Madrid, Juantorena stated that these principles >should be defended worldwide because headhunting and mercenary acts >are phenomenon that increasingly affecting countries with less >resources. He explained that Cuba's veto on Montalvo's participation >in Sydney 2000 representing Spain is neither a reaction against >Spanish people nor the country. > >MONTECARLO.- The so called prince of heights, Cuban Javier Sotomayor >will participate in the fifth event of the Gold Athletics League >taking place in Monte Carlo's Luis II stadium. Three days after his >official return to competition, and the sanction for alleged drug >abuse was lifted, the outdoors world long jump record holder >with 2.45m. and indoors with 2.43m. wants to try his strength to the >maximum, with less than a month left for his third and last Olympic >Games participation. > >MADRID.- Spanish press printed the results of Wednesday's meeting >between Spanish and Cuban sports authorities in Madrid, and Cuba's >unyielding position in Niurka Montalvo's case. El Pais and El Mundo, >two dailies with top level circulation, are limiting the theme to the >sports pages, and published the statement by Secretary of State for >Sports Juan Antonio Gomez-Angulo, made after a meeting in Barajas >airport with Cuba's INDER president Humberto Rodriguez. Both dailies >focus on Cuba's unyielding position of refusing to lift the veto that >could prevent Niurka Montalvo and water polo athlete Ivan Perez from >competing in Sydney 2000 representing Spain. > > ********** > >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Cuba-Another shady and sinister story >Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 -From Cuba direct > >ANOTHER SHADY AND SINISTER STORY > > The behavior of the U.S. authorities is becoming increasingly sly >and shadowy with regard to the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act. >They refuse to offer any news whatsoever concerning Cuban citizens who >lose their lives, suffer accidents, are kidnapped or disappear without a >trace as a consequence of this monstrous abomination. Not a single word >has yet been said about the little girl who was taken unconscious to a >Florida hospital after suffering several days of hunger and thirst on a >small island of the Bahamas, together with another 36 Cuban citizens who >were abandoned there by immigrant smugglers. Nor has there been any >news about the pregnant woman taken to shore in a delicate state of >health; although both of these cases were reported weeks ago. > > As a rule, all of these criminal adventures involve a considerable >number of children. They are always taken illegally, sometimes by just one >of their parents, with absolutely no proof of consent from the other, nor >the slightest possibility of a judge in the corrupt Miami justice system >accepting any kind of claim made by the parent remaining in Cuba. There >is a diabolical policy at work, involving the total concealment >of information and figures, reiterated disregard and violation of Cuban >laws, and flagrant breach of the immigration agreements signed between >the two countries. With ever growing frequency and brazenness, >speedboats head out from the United States with total impunity towards a >previously designated point on our extensive coastline and pick up human >cargo at a cost of thousands of dollars a head. > > While a few months ago some information did arrive through >the wire services, the rigid controls recently imposed by the U.S. >authorities have reduced all relevant news to a minimum. It is only by >chance that the wire services bring occasional news, in the case of >scandalous or tragic events that are difficult to conceal. They are ever >more fearful of the whip of Cuba's denunciations and the righteous anger >of our people. A strange incident recently took place, which we >have been piecing together bit by bit through scattered reports issued by >the wire services. > > On Thursday, August 10, an AP dispatch from Miami reported: > > "Today authorities recovered the decomposing corpse of a Hispanic >male in the Atlantic, and said that another corpse was dragged off by a >shark in an area commonly used by Cubans trying to raft to the >United States. "Several fishermen informed the Coast Guard that >they had seen the corpses some 30 kilometers from the Florida keys, said >Vicki Neblock of the Coast Guard Service. > > "One of them was attacked by a shark that dragged him to the depths, >said Becky Herrin, a Monroe County Police Department spokesperson. >"The witness saw how a shark got hold of one of the corpses and pulled it >beneath the surface, said Herrin. > "There were no immediate assumptions as to how the corpses got into >the water. We found no trace of a boat in the area, said Herrin." > On Friday, August 11, a dispatch from the EFE news agency, >also issued from Miami, reported: > > "The United States Coast Guard Service has called off the search for >two bodies presumably sighted off the coasts of Key West, after recovering >the remains of what could be two Cuban rafters. > "The recovered corpses, both decomposed and bitten by sharks, were >taken to the Miami-Dade County Coroners Office, where the >respective autopsies were scheduled. > "One of the mutilated corpses was that of a Hispanic male wearing a >brand of running shoes made in China and sold in Cuba, the Coast Guard >told the local press." > > Four days then passed with no news whatsoever, neither public nor >through official channels, until the EFE news agency reported on Tuesday, >August 15: "The human remains found floating off Key West >(Florida) are those of two Cuban brothers who were attempting to reach >the U.S. coast clandestinely, police confirmed today. "The >corpses, >discovered last week in an advanced state of decomposition and with shark >bite marks, are those of Juan Carlos, 23, and Alexander Rodr�guez Bueno, 20, >according to a spokesman from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office." > > That same day, an AP dispatch stated: > > "It was confirmed that two corpses found last week in the Florida >keys were two Cuban brothers who were trying to reach the United States >by boat. "The shark-bitten corpse of Juan Carlos Rodr�guez Bueno, >23, was identified by relatives from the Miami area, the police said. > >"The Coast Guard Service was unable to recover the other corpse because it >was submerged by a shark. However, it is believed to be Alex Rodr�guez >Bueno, 20." > > At the same time, the ANSA agency reported the following: > > "The two 'rafters' whose corpses were torn apart by sharks >and whose remains appeared last week on the Florida coasts were two >young Cuban brothers attempting to illegally enter the United States. > >"This announcement was made by the sheriff of Monroe County, after >Carlos Rodr�guez recognized the body of his son, Juan Carlos >Rodr�guez Bueno, 23, through a photograph. "The father managed to >identify his son's remains thanks to part of his teeth and an earring in his >left ear. > "The other body could not be rescued because sharks dragged >it out to >sea before the Coast Guard agents could pick it up." Also on >August >15, the Nuevo Herald published, among other details, that a brother of the >two deceased, Omar Rodr�guez, a resident of Hialeah, Florida, declared, >"'This is very painful, because 22 years ago I lost my brother Carlos (17) >the same way... I have no brothers left in Cuba. ' > > "The family tragedy deeply moved the Cuban community in >Miami, which immediately offered the Rodr�guez family its cooperation. > >"The body of Juan Carlos Rodr�guez will be laid out today beginning at 7:00 >p.m. at the Graceland funeral home. The burial will take place on >Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., in the Radio Mamb� Cuban mausoleum. >"Armando Guti�rrez [the Miami relatives' spokesman in the Eli�n case], >president of Creative Ideas, attorney Manny D�az [one of the >lawyers representing the kidnapper L�zaro Gonz�lez], Radio Mamb�, and >the 'Humanism Without Borders' Foundation have offered contributions for >the funeral services." > > As can be seen, the Miami Cuban-American mob, defenders at >any cost of the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act, immediately took over >the mutilated corpse of one of the many victims of the criminal Act, so as >to gleefully wallow in the swamp of politicking and demonstrate how pious >their sentiments are. > > There have been reports out of Miami about two >survivors hospitalized in Florida who mention the death of 10 Cubans in an >immigrant smuggling operation. The theory currently circulating is that >the speedboat they were on collided with a boat belonging to the U.S. >authorities or got into a similar accident with another boat. > > Investigations carried out in Cuba have revealed that the >two young >men lived in the city of Col�n, in the province of Matanzas. They have no >known criminal records. Their father was on a temporary visit to >Miami, where he has a son who arrived in the United States 20 years ago, >and another named Eduardo, who emigrated there illegally from Villa Clara >in 1998; both were taken in under the Cuban Adjustment Act. The first took >part in organizing the smuggling operation that led to the two brothers' >tragic deaths. > > What really happened is still a mystery. It is impossible >that the two >young men were traveling alone. In smuggling operations like these, the >boats are always overcrowded; they normally involve more than 10 >people, and sometimes more than 15 or 20. The U.S. authorities know >exactly what happened, but they have not said a single word to either the >Cuban authorities or the press. > Why don't they explain how and for what reasons these two young >men were torn apart and devoured by sharks near the coasts of the United >States? > > Are there or are there not survivors? > Were they the only ones traveling? > If not, how many people actually died? > Why don't they tell the whole truth? > Why do they refuse to provide any information whatsoever to our > country and to their own public? > This is yet another shady and sinister story about the >consequences of the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act and the criminal and >increasingly unsustainable U.S. policy against Cuba. > >(Editorial published in Granma on August 18, 2000.) " JC > > > _______________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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