CUBA POLITICS SECTION - Havana Journal
I have to admit I was extremely disappointed with the selection of Vice Presidents under Raul Castro. It gave the me and the world a very strong impression that Cuban politics would remain the same since Raul surrounded himself with comrades from La Revolucion.
I have remained skeptical about change in Cuba (as we all should) but I must admit that I am surprised by the rapid fire announcements of new or eased policies in Cuba since Raul became President. All the reforms listed below have been announced in the past 30 days. I have to admit I…
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Several Havana Cuba book reviews
Havana Nocturne
Here is a summary from the book as posted in the Wall Street Journal. I have my copy sitting here ready to be read. The titles of the chapters are intriguing… The Mob’s Playground, Gambler’s Paradise, A Bullet for El Presidente, Carnival of Flesh and Get The Money.
It’s just under 400 pages detailing the dreams, real estate development and control of Cuba by the mob and Fidel Castro’s July 26 movement. There’s even the allegation that John F Kennedy has a crazy orgy with…
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Reuters
A key United Nations human rights body on Monday appointed as its chairman for the next three years a Cuban law professor who has been a senior diplomat for the Havana government and spokesman for its foreign ministry.
The 73-year-old Miguel Alfonso Martinez, currently acting president of the Cuban Society for International Law, was elected to preside over its deliberations by the new 18-member Advisory Committee to the UN’s Human Rights Council.
Chosen as one of his two vice-presidents was a Russian law expert, Vladimir Kartashkin, who served in the foreign ministry of…
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In April 2007 the Cuba Transition Project published Cuba Facts, “What Cubans Can Not Do.”
For the past two years that General Raul Castro has been in power, only one prohibition has been lifted. All others remain. See below.
Cubans can not:
• Travel abroad without government permission.
• Change jobs without government permission.
• Change residence without government permission.
• Access the Internet without government permission (the Internet is closely monitored and controlled by the government. Only 1.67% of the population has access to the Internet).
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The Wall Street Journal | By MARY ANASTASIA O’GRADY
On a muggy Friday evening in New York City last month, some 70 people gathered in a midtown office building to hear former Cuban political prisoner Hector Palacios talk Cuban politics.
Dressed in a neatly pressed white guayabera shirt and khaki trousers, Mr. Palacios could pass for your average Cuban exile. But he has set himself apart from the rest of his refugee community by declaring his intention to return to his homeland next month.
To anyone familiar with his story of torture at the…
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If you read our recent post about Minxia getting fined $1.2million for Cuba sanctions violations then you might wonder how companies like Ask.com and Kayak.com can openly advertise Cuba travel services.
I found these two advertisements today in Google.
AND
I am not suggesting that they are doing anything wrong.
I’m sure their legal departments have reviewed the Cuban Assets Control Regulations and have decided that they are in compliance with the regulations…
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US Treasury
Minxia Non-Ferrous Metals, Inc. Settles Cuban Assets Control Regulations Allegations: Minxia Non-Ferrous Metals, Inc., Columbia, Maryland 21044, (“Minxia”), remitted $1,198,000.00 to settle allegations of violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations occurring between approximately May 2003 and October 2006. OFAC alleged that Minxia acted without an OFAC license or outside the scope of its license by purchasing or otherwise dealing in Cuban metals. Minxia did not voluntarily disclose this matter to OFAC.
Gate Gourmet, Inc. Settles Cuban Assets Control Regulations Allegations: Gate Gourmet, Inc. (“Gate Gourmet”), has agreed to remit $581,901.54 to settle allegations…
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By KIMBERLY HEFLING | Associated Press
Sen. Arlen Specter said Wednesday he hopes to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a trip to Latin America in August.
“I’m a firm believer in dialogue,” the Pennsylvania Republican told reporters.
His announcement evoked memories of Campaign 2008 arguments earlier this year over when and under what circumstances a president should sit down with adversaries. Hillary Rodman Clinton for a time accused rival Barack Obama of embracing too-lenient a stance on such face-to-face meetings, a charge that Obama, now the nominee…
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Christian Science Monitor
In the past year, Nereida Rodriguez Rivero says she has been punched in the mouth, almost thrown from a moving bus, and stabbed on the street in her otherwise sleepy rural hometown.
In May, government agents took all the books out of the independent library that she continues to restock and run out of her humble home.
But – as is often the case in Cuba – the punishment for her dissent isn’t limited to her alone.
Her feisty daughter Yuricel Perez Rodriguez was summarily fired from her position…
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CBS (Original title: No Reforms On Cuba’s Revolution Day)
President Raul Castro warned Washington that Cuba would stay focused on defense regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, but broke no new ground in his Revolution Day address Saturday night, reports CBS News producer Portia Siegelbaum.
In his 48-minute speech, Castro he said that, like Americans, Cubans are facing the global crisis of rising food and fuel costs. Unlike Americans, though, Cubans have been benefiting from many government subsidies, particularly for foodstuffs.
But Castro said Saturday that there are difficulties and…
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