HAYANA, Cuba: Singapore and Cuba have pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation following Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's two-day visit to the island country in the Caribbean.
Mr Lee's last visit to Cuba was some 30 years ago, as a student under the Kennedy School's Mason Programme. This time, he returned to Havana as part of Singapore's ongoing efforts to explore new markets in Latin America.
During his visit, he met several Cuban leaders, including President Raul Castro, who shared his perspective of the Caribbean.
Mr Lee described relations between both countries as friendly.
Singapore-Cuba trade links amount to just S$5 million a year due largely to trade sanctions imposed by the US.
"The embargo comes up from time to time in the UN for a vote and we have voted against the embargo in the UN because we do not consider it the right thing to do," said Mr Lee.
PM Lee noted that although Cuba has picked itself up after the fall of the Soviet Union, the country still has considerable challenges ahead.
"This government has decided they want to persist in their model of the economy," Mr Lee explained. "They don't want to follow the Chinese or the Vietnamese.
"They are looking to boost their agricultural production - to boost rice production particularly, because rice is one of their staple foods - and try to become more self sufficient and save on current exchange."
Mr Lee added that the Cubans are "very serious-minded, talented people", and that they will find a way to make a living for themselves.
Mr Castro has requested for PSA to be involved in Cuba's project to move its port from Havana to Marial.
PM Lee said: "The Cubans are moving their port from Havana, the old city... and build a bigger port at Marial. I think they would like PSA to be involved in the project, so this is something we would look at."
The Cuban president has also accepted an invitation from Mr Lee to visit Singapore.
Although there are no strong economic links between Singapore and Cuba, both sides have quite an established partnership in science and technology, such as the area of dengue research.
Singapore's National Environment Agency is collaborating with the Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kouri" on research into vector control and monitoring.
Source: channelnewsasia.com/
Cuba Twitter,this blog offers users news social, economic, political, sports and cultural developments that take place in Cuba and in third world nations,Cuba Twitter
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Colombia says Venezuela imposes Cuba-like embargo
Deported miners' case stokes diplomatic tensions (Recasts with Uribe; changes byline, dateline, pvs CARACAS)
By Patrick Markey
BOGOTA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Venezuela on Wednesday of imposing an illegal trade blockade similar to the U.S. embargo on Cuba after his Andean neighbor said Colombia was engaged in "psychological war."
The criticism was Uribe's strongest yet since Venezuela and Colombia began sparring several months ago in a dispute that has damaged their $7 billion a year in bilateral trade and heightened fears of a violent clash along their frontier.
Chavez, a fierce U.S. critic allied with Cuba, has ordered Colombian imports cut as his government protests Uribe's plan to allow U.S. troops more access to bases for joint initiatives against cocaine lords and leftist rebels.
OPEC-member Venezuela relies heavily on Colombian food products, but Chavez is seeking alternative imports from Brazil and Argentina.
"In Venezuela, there is an embargo against the Colombian economy. It is an illegal, unjust embargo," Uribe told local radio. "People criticize the embargo against Cuba, well now there is a Venezuelan blockade against Colombia."
Uribe said other nations were taking advantage of the crisis to replace Colombian market share. Exports to Venezuela fell 56 percent in October compared with a year earlier.
The latest exchange to test ties between the feuding South American nations came when Colombia said this week that Venezuelan troops had deported more than 400 illegal Colombian and Brazilian miners from makeshift gold camps.
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
Colombia called it a violation of rights. But Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said on Wednesday the miners were damaging the Yapacana national park of Amazonas state.
Illegal gold mining is common in Venezuela and Colombia, where miners use water jets and mercury to filter gold, leaving behind deforested areas and polluted waterways and rivers.
"It is senseless that a routine activity in this country like the expulsion of illegal miners, people who are destroying the environment, be used as part of a media and psychological war, intimidation and threat to our nation," Carrizalez said.
The two nations' dispute centers around a decision by Colombia to allow U.S. troops more access to military bases. Uribe says the deal is an extension of U.S. aid to help end his country's long guerrilla war and fight the cocaine business.
That, says Chavez, sets the stage for potential U.S. aggression against socialist-run Venezuela from Colombia, one of the firmest Washington allies in the region.
There have been a series of mysterious killings on the border -- where Colombian rebels and paramilitaries, plus drug-trafficking and smuggling bands operate -- and accusations of spying. Chavez has told his army to prepare for conflict.
Few expect a major war, but fears of violence are growing.
"The risk of a military clash between Colombia and Venezuela has risen in recent weeks from low to moderate, and is increasing," Jane's Intelligence Weekly said recently.
"A small incident, most likely on the border, could yet spark wider conflict, with Colombia now considering counter measures to address Venezuela's military superiority. International mediation would nevertheless be likely to forestall any descent towards all-out war." (Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas) ((For factbox on tensions see [ID:nN023254])) ((andrew.cawthorne@thomsonreuters.com; +58 212 277 2700; Reuters Messaging: andrew.cawthorne.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Source: reuters.com/
By Patrick Markey
BOGOTA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Venezuela on Wednesday of imposing an illegal trade blockade similar to the U.S. embargo on Cuba after his Andean neighbor said Colombia was engaged in "psychological war."
The criticism was Uribe's strongest yet since Venezuela and Colombia began sparring several months ago in a dispute that has damaged their $7 billion a year in bilateral trade and heightened fears of a violent clash along their frontier.
Chavez, a fierce U.S. critic allied with Cuba, has ordered Colombian imports cut as his government protests Uribe's plan to allow U.S. troops more access to bases for joint initiatives against cocaine lords and leftist rebels.
OPEC-member Venezuela relies heavily on Colombian food products, but Chavez is seeking alternative imports from Brazil and Argentina.
"In Venezuela, there is an embargo against the Colombian economy. It is an illegal, unjust embargo," Uribe told local radio. "People criticize the embargo against Cuba, well now there is a Venezuelan blockade against Colombia."
Uribe said other nations were taking advantage of the crisis to replace Colombian market share. Exports to Venezuela fell 56 percent in October compared with a year earlier.
The latest exchange to test ties between the feuding South American nations came when Colombia said this week that Venezuelan troops had deported more than 400 illegal Colombian and Brazilian miners from makeshift gold camps.
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
Colombia called it a violation of rights. But Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said on Wednesday the miners were damaging the Yapacana national park of Amazonas state.
Illegal gold mining is common in Venezuela and Colombia, where miners use water jets and mercury to filter gold, leaving behind deforested areas and polluted waterways and rivers.
"It is senseless that a routine activity in this country like the expulsion of illegal miners, people who are destroying the environment, be used as part of a media and psychological war, intimidation and threat to our nation," Carrizalez said.
The two nations' dispute centers around a decision by Colombia to allow U.S. troops more access to military bases. Uribe says the deal is an extension of U.S. aid to help end his country's long guerrilla war and fight the cocaine business.
That, says Chavez, sets the stage for potential U.S. aggression against socialist-run Venezuela from Colombia, one of the firmest Washington allies in the region.
There have been a series of mysterious killings on the border -- where Colombian rebels and paramilitaries, plus drug-trafficking and smuggling bands operate -- and accusations of spying. Chavez has told his army to prepare for conflict.
Few expect a major war, but fears of violence are growing.
"The risk of a military clash between Colombia and Venezuela has risen in recent weeks from low to moderate, and is increasing," Jane's Intelligence Weekly said recently.
"A small incident, most likely on the border, could yet spark wider conflict, with Colombia now considering counter measures to address Venezuela's military superiority. International mediation would nevertheless be likely to forestall any descent towards all-out war." (Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas) ((For factbox on tensions see [ID:nN023254])) ((andrew.cawthorne@thomsonreuters.com; +58 212 277 2700; Reuters Messaging: andrew.cawthorne.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Source: reuters.com/
Cuba: Tireless Fighter Against AIDS
More than 33 million people in the world suffer from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS. And although the number of new cases of infection has decreased by 17 percent over the past eight years, AIDS is still a serious health problem worldwide.
A report issued by the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) states that despite the encouraging results achieved in recent years, people can't be overly confident because almost three million people became infected with the virus last year, and about two million died because of this disease.
In Cuba, the number of people infected has slowly decreased thanks to the preventive programs implemented on the island. United Nations experts have acknowledged the work that Cuba has carried out to prevent and fight HIV/AIDS, its initiatives, strategies and the development of programs to reduce the impact of the disease.
Ana Maria Navarro, UNAIDS representative for Cuba and the Dominican Republic, noted that the island is an example in the region due to its low infection rate. The expert also pointed out the value of culture and its contribution to the prevention of the disease.
For his part, Roberto Galvez, United Nations representative in Cuba, highlighted the work of the Cuban government and health authorities from the beginning of the outbreak of the epidemic in the 1980's.
He praised the national strategy "ITS-VIH-SIDA Plan" based on four basic concepts: epidemiological vigilance, education for health, medical attention and research.
Cuban health authorities don't neglect epidemiological vigilance, because although the island registers the lowest rate of HIV prevalence of the Caribbean and is among the 22 less-affected countries of the world, the disease grows in a sustainable way.
On Tuesday, December 1st, the world will be celebrating the World Day Against AIDS. Cuba prepares new actions to contribute to the education and information of its people, with the aim of further reducing the number of people infected with the disease.
Taken from Radio Havana Cuba
Source: periodico26.cu/
A report issued by the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) states that despite the encouraging results achieved in recent years, people can't be overly confident because almost three million people became infected with the virus last year, and about two million died because of this disease.
In Cuba, the number of people infected has slowly decreased thanks to the preventive programs implemented on the island. United Nations experts have acknowledged the work that Cuba has carried out to prevent and fight HIV/AIDS, its initiatives, strategies and the development of programs to reduce the impact of the disease.
Ana Maria Navarro, UNAIDS representative for Cuba and the Dominican Republic, noted that the island is an example in the region due to its low infection rate. The expert also pointed out the value of culture and its contribution to the prevention of the disease.
For his part, Roberto Galvez, United Nations representative in Cuba, highlighted the work of the Cuban government and health authorities from the beginning of the outbreak of the epidemic in the 1980's.
He praised the national strategy "ITS-VIH-SIDA Plan" based on four basic concepts: epidemiological vigilance, education for health, medical attention and research.
Cuban health authorities don't neglect epidemiological vigilance, because although the island registers the lowest rate of HIV prevalence of the Caribbean and is among the 22 less-affected countries of the world, the disease grows in a sustainable way.
On Tuesday, December 1st, the world will be celebrating the World Day Against AIDS. Cuba prepares new actions to contribute to the education and information of its people, with the aim of further reducing the number of people infected with the disease.
Taken from Radio Havana Cuba
Source: periodico26.cu/
Cracking Cuba
Political and civil rights abuses committed by the Cuban government have continued unabated in the three years since Raul Castro took over from his older brother, Fidel. U.S. travel and trade bans, therefore, must be lifted.
Although these conclusions -- both included in the recent Human Rights Watch report, "New Castro, Same Cuba" -- may seem incongruous, they are not. Rather, they illustrate that the economic pressure that failed to yield either regime change or human rights reforms over more than four decades of Fidel Castro's rule is just as ineffective today as it has always been. Instead of continuing a failed policy, the Obama administration should craft a new one of incentives for Cuba to improve its human rights record.
Those who had hoped that the younger Castro's ascent would bring an era of political liberalization have been disappointed. According to Human Rights Watch, only the government's tactics have changed. Raul Castro continues to stifle political dissent, most notably using an Orwellian provision of the criminal code that allows for arrest and sentencing before a crime has been committed. The government has imprisoned more than 40 people under this "dangerousness" offense for violating Cuban socialist norms, such as failing to join party organizations or attend pro-government rallies. Scores of other prisoners are being held for writing articles critical of the government or pushing for labor rights, including 53 people still held from a 2003 crackdown by Fidel Castro, the report says. Activists "are subjected to systematic due process violations, including abusive interrogations, the denial of legal counsel and sham trials." Even Cuba's most famous blogger, Yoani Sanchez, was beaten and prohibited from leaving the country to accept an award last month.
The Obama administration, to its credit, has relaxed travel restrictions on Cuban Americans, lifted limits on remittances and resumed limited negotiations on issues such as migration, but the engagement stopped there. Meanwhile, the Spanish government, which takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January, has indicated that it is seeking gestures from the Cuban government that would allow for normalization of relations with the EU.
It would be best if the U.S. and the EU forged a common policy pushing for the release of political prisoners and other human rights improvements, while making clear they do not seek re- gime change. Frequent contact between peoples and the free flow of goods and ideas are the best means to create pressure for change. As Human Rights Watch notes, the U.S. embargo has too long served the Castros as a pretext for cracking down on dissidents. Try something else.
Source: latimes.com/
Although these conclusions -- both included in the recent Human Rights Watch report, "New Castro, Same Cuba" -- may seem incongruous, they are not. Rather, they illustrate that the economic pressure that failed to yield either regime change or human rights reforms over more than four decades of Fidel Castro's rule is just as ineffective today as it has always been. Instead of continuing a failed policy, the Obama administration should craft a new one of incentives for Cuba to improve its human rights record.
Those who had hoped that the younger Castro's ascent would bring an era of political liberalization have been disappointed. According to Human Rights Watch, only the government's tactics have changed. Raul Castro continues to stifle political dissent, most notably using an Orwellian provision of the criminal code that allows for arrest and sentencing before a crime has been committed. The government has imprisoned more than 40 people under this "dangerousness" offense for violating Cuban socialist norms, such as failing to join party organizations or attend pro-government rallies. Scores of other prisoners are being held for writing articles critical of the government or pushing for labor rights, including 53 people still held from a 2003 crackdown by Fidel Castro, the report says. Activists "are subjected to systematic due process violations, including abusive interrogations, the denial of legal counsel and sham trials." Even Cuba's most famous blogger, Yoani Sanchez, was beaten and prohibited from leaving the country to accept an award last month.
The Obama administration, to its credit, has relaxed travel restrictions on Cuban Americans, lifted limits on remittances and resumed limited negotiations on issues such as migration, but the engagement stopped there. Meanwhile, the Spanish government, which takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January, has indicated that it is seeking gestures from the Cuban government that would allow for normalization of relations with the EU.
It would be best if the U.S. and the EU forged a common policy pushing for the release of political prisoners and other human rights improvements, while making clear they do not seek re- gime change. Frequent contact between peoples and the free flow of goods and ideas are the best means to create pressure for change. As Human Rights Watch notes, the U.S. embargo has too long served the Castros as a pretext for cracking down on dissidents. Try something else.
Source: latimes.com/
Ugandan president visits Cuba
HAVANA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Invited by Cuban Leader Raul Castro, Ugandan President General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni arrived in Cuba Monday for an official visit.
Museveni was received at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana by Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Rigoberto Sierra Diaz, along with other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During his stay in the Greater Antilles, which will last three days, the Ugandan president will hold official talks with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro and pay tribute to Cuban national hero Jose Marti.
Source: xinhuanet.com/
Museveni was received at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana by Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Rigoberto Sierra Diaz, along with other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During his stay in the Greater Antilles, which will last three days, the Ugandan president will hold official talks with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro and pay tribute to Cuban national hero Jose Marti.
Source: xinhuanet.com/
Florida International University concert features songs about Cuba
Classically Cuban: The World Sings to Cuba,' is the title of the upcoming Christmas concert sponsored by the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.
BY PARADISE AFSHAR
pafshar@MiamiHerald.com
Emilio Cueto has a deep passion for history, especially when it comes to his native Cuba.
``I collect and research things about Cuba and, among the things I collect is music that foreigners have written about Cuba,'' said Cueto, 65, a Washington, D.C., attorney.
For the second year in a row, he is sharing some of the music he has collected with music students at Florida International University. The music is part of the Cuban Research Institute's annual Christmas concert on Saturday evening.
Last year's theme focused on war; this year's concert, titled Classically Cuban: The World Sings to Cuba, has a more international flair.
``I am very excited about it because it is a way to share with people what we are about,'' said Cueto. ``There is so much more that we don't know [about Cuban culture] and the university is a manifest setting to explore it.''
The concert will include songs from 22 countries, four continents and seven languages that were written during the 19th and 20th centuries.
``Cuban music is well known and well researched and that's all well, but fewer people know that foreigners have written songs about it,'' said Cueto.
``They have been inspired by the country's women, palm trees or by taking poems from Cuban poets,'' he said.
Japan, Australia, Germany and Brazil are among the nations that will be represented. Performers such as vocalist Ernesto TresPalacios are happy to see that the concert will have such an international flair.
``I welcome everyone to come and take part. It's a concert that will warm the heart of anyone who has a love for the Cuban people and Cuban culture,'' said TresPalacios, 38, of Coral Gables.
TresPalacios is a classically trained opera singer who will be singing several songs in English, French, Italian, Spanish. Although the Cuban-American has never been to the island, he sees the allure.
``It's a very laid back culture. They don't even say their R's and S's because they don't have the time and it's too hot,'' he jokes.
FIU music professor Armando Tranquilino is the director of the show. He will perform as well.
``It's amazing that so many counties have written about this tiny island,'' said Tranquilino. ``A lot of this music hasn't been played in God knows how long.''
This is the second year that Tranquilino and Cueto have collaborated on the concert.
Cueto contacted the CRI last year because he had found songs about the Cuban war of independence. FIU then connected him with Tranquilino.
With the number of countries represented, Tranquilino said it was only fair that they play the music in alphabetical order by country, so no bias is shown.
The last song played will be I'll See You In C-U-B-A, by U.S. composer Irving Berlin.
``The song was written in the '20s during [the U.S. Prohibition era]. If you wanted to have a good time, you'd go to Cuba,'' said Tranquilino, who noted there will be a ``nice surprise'' at the end of that song.
``The topic is Cuba. The people of Cuban origin who come will be gratified to hear others sing songs about the country, and people from other counties will be gratified to know that their country sang to Cuba.''
Source: miamiherald.com/
BY PARADISE AFSHAR
pafshar@MiamiHerald.com
Emilio Cueto has a deep passion for history, especially when it comes to his native Cuba.
``I collect and research things about Cuba and, among the things I collect is music that foreigners have written about Cuba,'' said Cueto, 65, a Washington, D.C., attorney.
For the second year in a row, he is sharing some of the music he has collected with music students at Florida International University. The music is part of the Cuban Research Institute's annual Christmas concert on Saturday evening.
Last year's theme focused on war; this year's concert, titled Classically Cuban: The World Sings to Cuba, has a more international flair.
``I am very excited about it because it is a way to share with people what we are about,'' said Cueto. ``There is so much more that we don't know [about Cuban culture] and the university is a manifest setting to explore it.''
The concert will include songs from 22 countries, four continents and seven languages that were written during the 19th and 20th centuries.
``Cuban music is well known and well researched and that's all well, but fewer people know that foreigners have written songs about it,'' said Cueto.
``They have been inspired by the country's women, palm trees or by taking poems from Cuban poets,'' he said.
Japan, Australia, Germany and Brazil are among the nations that will be represented. Performers such as vocalist Ernesto TresPalacios are happy to see that the concert will have such an international flair.
``I welcome everyone to come and take part. It's a concert that will warm the heart of anyone who has a love for the Cuban people and Cuban culture,'' said TresPalacios, 38, of Coral Gables.
TresPalacios is a classically trained opera singer who will be singing several songs in English, French, Italian, Spanish. Although the Cuban-American has never been to the island, he sees the allure.
``It's a very laid back culture. They don't even say their R's and S's because they don't have the time and it's too hot,'' he jokes.
FIU music professor Armando Tranquilino is the director of the show. He will perform as well.
``It's amazing that so many counties have written about this tiny island,'' said Tranquilino. ``A lot of this music hasn't been played in God knows how long.''
This is the second year that Tranquilino and Cueto have collaborated on the concert.
Cueto contacted the CRI last year because he had found songs about the Cuban war of independence. FIU then connected him with Tranquilino.
With the number of countries represented, Tranquilino said it was only fair that they play the music in alphabetical order by country, so no bias is shown.
The last song played will be I'll See You In C-U-B-A, by U.S. composer Irving Berlin.
``The song was written in the '20s during [the U.S. Prohibition era]. If you wanted to have a good time, you'd go to Cuba,'' said Tranquilino, who noted there will be a ``nice surprise'' at the end of that song.
``The topic is Cuba. The people of Cuban origin who come will be gratified to hear others sing songs about the country, and people from other counties will be gratified to know that their country sang to Cuba.''
Source: miamiherald.com/
Cuba arrests son of late revolutionary leader
WASHINGTON - Cuba has arrested the son of the late revolutionary leader Juan Almeida on his way to a protest march, a clandestine human rights group said Sunday demanding that he be released at once for medical reasons.
The Cuban Committee on Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHDRN) said Almeida was arrested Friday, adding: "According to our preliminary investigations, he committed no crime."
The group asked that Almeida, 43, be set free immediately "taking into account that he suffers from a dangerous degenerative disease that could worsen under subhuman conditions of confinement."
Almeida's arrest follows a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month about the continued harassment and arrest of dissidents under President Raul Castro.
Titled "New Castro, Same Cuba," the report documents 40 arrests of dissidents since Raul took over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro in July 2006.
Almeida is one of nine children of commander Juan Almeida Bosque, who along with Fidel and Raul Castro formed the triumvirate of power after the 1959 revolution that ushered in Castro's communist dictatorship.
Juan Almeida was previously arrested in May when he attempted to join his wife in Miami, Florida. Two months ago he published a book in Spain on his experience with Cuban leadership.
He was arrested on Friday as he was walking to a public square in Havana to protest his trampled civil rights, the CCHDRN said, adding it did not known if any charges have been filed against him.
Source: asiaone.com/
The Cuban Committee on Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHDRN) said Almeida was arrested Friday, adding: "According to our preliminary investigations, he committed no crime."
The group asked that Almeida, 43, be set free immediately "taking into account that he suffers from a dangerous degenerative disease that could worsen under subhuman conditions of confinement."
Almeida's arrest follows a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month about the continued harassment and arrest of dissidents under President Raul Castro.
Titled "New Castro, Same Cuba," the report documents 40 arrests of dissidents since Raul took over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro in July 2006.
Almeida is one of nine children of commander Juan Almeida Bosque, who along with Fidel and Raul Castro formed the triumvirate of power after the 1959 revolution that ushered in Castro's communist dictatorship.
Juan Almeida was previously arrested in May when he attempted to join his wife in Miami, Florida. Two months ago he published a book in Spain on his experience with Cuban leadership.
He was arrested on Friday as he was walking to a public square in Havana to protest his trampled civil rights, the CCHDRN said, adding it did not known if any charges have been filed against him.
Source: asiaone.com/
Cuba–ALBA Let Down Sri Lanka Tamils
HAVANA TIMES, Dec. 1 - “Those who are exploited are our compatriots all over the world; and the exploiters all over the world are our enemies… Our country is really the whole world, and all the revolutionaries of the world are our brothers,” President Fidel Castro told writer-photographer Lee Lockwood, “Castro’s Cuba, Cuba’s Fidel”, Macmillan, 1967.
I think that the governments of Cuba, Bolivia, and Nicaragua let down the entire Tamil population in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as well as the “exploited…all over the world”, by extending unconditional political support to Sri Lanka’s racist government.
Cuba did so-along with the Bolivian and Nicaraguan governments of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America-on May 27, 2009 when signing UN Human Rights Council Resolution S-11/1, which praises the government of Sri Lanka for “the promotion and protection of human rights”, while only condemning for terrorism the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which fought the government in a civil war since 1983 until their defeat on May 19, 2009.
During the last year of war the Sri Lankan government illegally and brutally interned nearly half-a-million Tamil civilians in several “welfare centers”. Half-a-year later, more than half remain entrapped. Their conditions are the opposite of “promotion and protection of human rights”. Hundreds have died and are dying for lack of food, water, basic health care. Scores have been murdered and hundreds brutally raped by Sri Lanka’s military.
In this five-part series, I present the case that Sri Lanka’s governments practice genocide. I also speculate about why the three ALBA countries on the UN Human Rights Council have decided to ignore this reality, why they disallowed an investigation into abuse of human rights, and why they support such a cruel, chauvinistic regime. I also sketch the history of the Sinhalese and Tamils; outline the right and necessity for Tamil nationhood; delineate their struggles for equal rights; and show the geo-political power game being played out between the west and its’ sometimes antagonistic counterpart regimes in China and Iran; and conclude with the present state of affairs for Tamils.
Is it possible that the developing countries, which back Sri Lanka’s racist regime against the Tamil population, do so out of economic reasons? China and Iran provide needed investments and technology and thus one must not criticize them politically when they back such rogue states as Sri Lanka. Is that the case? Is this consistent with our humanitarian principles and socialist ideology? Cannot one be a trading partner without cowing politically?
ALBA countries condemned the Tigers for using terrorism in their struggle for liberation but then they support the more brutal terrorist state. This contradiction does not hold. I find that most if not all armed movements commit acts of atrocities, even acts of terror in the long course of warfare.
Cuba’s struggle for liberation was different, exceptionally so, but only lasted two years. FARC and PFLP have sometimes used terror in their 40+ years of struggle. But I support them in their righteous struggle. They are up against, as was the more brutal LTTE, much greater military and economic forces that practice state terror endemically. The ANC, in South Africa’s war for liberation, acted much the same.
*Other articles by Ron Ridenour about Cuba include: Freedom of Expression and Socialism in Cuba and Fifty
Source: havanatimes.org/
I think that the governments of Cuba, Bolivia, and Nicaragua let down the entire Tamil population in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as well as the “exploited…all over the world”, by extending unconditional political support to Sri Lanka’s racist government.
Cuba did so-along with the Bolivian and Nicaraguan governments of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America-on May 27, 2009 when signing UN Human Rights Council Resolution S-11/1, which praises the government of Sri Lanka for “the promotion and protection of human rights”, while only condemning for terrorism the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which fought the government in a civil war since 1983 until their defeat on May 19, 2009.
During the last year of war the Sri Lankan government illegally and brutally interned nearly half-a-million Tamil civilians in several “welfare centers”. Half-a-year later, more than half remain entrapped. Their conditions are the opposite of “promotion and protection of human rights”. Hundreds have died and are dying for lack of food, water, basic health care. Scores have been murdered and hundreds brutally raped by Sri Lanka’s military.
In this five-part series, I present the case that Sri Lanka’s governments practice genocide. I also speculate about why the three ALBA countries on the UN Human Rights Council have decided to ignore this reality, why they disallowed an investigation into abuse of human rights, and why they support such a cruel, chauvinistic regime. I also sketch the history of the Sinhalese and Tamils; outline the right and necessity for Tamil nationhood; delineate their struggles for equal rights; and show the geo-political power game being played out between the west and its’ sometimes antagonistic counterpart regimes in China and Iran; and conclude with the present state of affairs for Tamils.
Is it possible that the developing countries, which back Sri Lanka’s racist regime against the Tamil population, do so out of economic reasons? China and Iran provide needed investments and technology and thus one must not criticize them politically when they back such rogue states as Sri Lanka. Is that the case? Is this consistent with our humanitarian principles and socialist ideology? Cannot one be a trading partner without cowing politically?
ALBA countries condemned the Tigers for using terrorism in their struggle for liberation but then they support the more brutal terrorist state. This contradiction does not hold. I find that most if not all armed movements commit acts of atrocities, even acts of terror in the long course of warfare.
Cuba’s struggle for liberation was different, exceptionally so, but only lasted two years. FARC and PFLP have sometimes used terror in their 40+ years of struggle. But I support them in their righteous struggle. They are up against, as was the more brutal LTTE, much greater military and economic forces that practice state terror endemically. The ANC, in South Africa’s war for liberation, acted much the same.
*Other articles by Ron Ridenour about Cuba include: Freedom of Expression and Socialism in Cuba and Fifty
Source: havanatimes.org/
XV MITM Americas Was Held in Havana, Cuba
The fifteenth edition of MITM Americas, Meetings and Incentive Travel Market, was successfully held in the Melia Cohiba Hotel in Havana, Cuba, November 18th and 19th.
For MITM, held since 15 years ago throughout Europe, North Africa and South, Central and North America, the success of this edition in Havana was not a surprise, attracting important users and buyers of incentive travel, conferences, congresses and events from all Europe and the United States, forcing to close the visitors’ registration 3 months before MITM’s dates, proving that Cuba is an attractive destination for congresses, events and incentive travel.
In MITM in Havana there were congresses, conferences, events and incentive travel organizers from 16 countries: in Europe plus the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
MITM received more than 200 congresses and events organizers’ requests to visit MITM in Havana – so a good number of them could not attend because there was no more space.
Under visitors and exhibitors’ requests, MITM programmed 2,620 one-to-one encounters between all the exhibitors and visitors.
The near 100 Latin American and Caribbean exhibitors present in MITM have shown their vision by putting effort in seeking the profitable MICE niche of business travel, particularly in the moment tourism is in a deep crisis and many countries and companies have suppressed or cut off promotional expenses, exactly at the least appropriate time
Source: etbmice.com/
For MITM, held since 15 years ago throughout Europe, North Africa and South, Central and North America, the success of this edition in Havana was not a surprise, attracting important users and buyers of incentive travel, conferences, congresses and events from all Europe and the United States, forcing to close the visitors’ registration 3 months before MITM’s dates, proving that Cuba is an attractive destination for congresses, events and incentive travel.
In MITM in Havana there were congresses, conferences, events and incentive travel organizers from 16 countries: in Europe plus the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
MITM received more than 200 congresses and events organizers’ requests to visit MITM in Havana – so a good number of them could not attend because there was no more space.
Under visitors and exhibitors’ requests, MITM programmed 2,620 one-to-one encounters between all the exhibitors and visitors.
The near 100 Latin American and Caribbean exhibitors present in MITM have shown their vision by putting effort in seeking the profitable MICE niche of business travel, particularly in the moment tourism is in a deep crisis and many countries and companies have suppressed or cut off promotional expenses, exactly at the least appropriate time
Source: etbmice.com/
Condor opening up Middle East to Cuba and the Caribbean
The non-stop flights operate three times weekly from Bahrain to Frankfurt, with two flights weekly servicing the Frankfurt - Bahrain leg.
Says Condor's Florian Paulus, Manager International Sales; "Our scheduled flights have provided greater choice and a new family focused alternative for travel to Europe for those living in Bahrain and the wider Middle East."
Condor's family and leisure traveler services include free transport of baby carriages, cribs and child car seats for those travelling with infants. Additionally, for the sports enthusiasts' golf equipment up to 15kg per person will be transported free and special discount rates for other sports equipment, including diving equipment, are also available.
Through Condor's extensive network of direct flights from Frankfurt to Cuba and numerous other Caribbean island destinations, travelers from the Middle East are now able to conveniently access "new" destinations that have been difficult to access from the Middle East up until now.
Says Paulus;
"We have been working very closely with leading travel agents throughout the G.C.C. and expect to see within the month the launch of new holiday packages to such exotic and exciting places as Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad and St. Lucia. We are also expecting to see increased demand for travel from the Middle East to the Caribbean once the 2010 International Cricket Council World Twenty20 championships will be held in the West Indies in May 2010."
Source: ameinfo.com/
Dr. Sergei Khrushchev Endorses Cuba at a Crossroads, the New American Strategy by Independent Author Daniel Bruno Sanz
Cuba at a Crossroads reflects Daniel Bruno Sanz's uncommon vision of Cuban development. His book is the first complete and detailed analysis available on the counterproductive and futile U.S. embargo on Cuba." -- Dr. Sergei Khrushchev Cuba at a Crossroads reflects Daniel Bruno Sanz's uncommon vision of Cuban development. His book is the first complete and detailed analysis available on the counterproductive and futile U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Cuba at a Crossroads reflects Daniel Bruno Sanz's uncommon vision of Cuban development. His book is the first complete and detailed analysis available on the counterproductive and futile U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 3, 2009 -- Cuba at a Crossroads, The New American Strategy, is the most detailed account of Cuba-U.S. relations to date. The index has over 500 entries. The book states that the U.S. embargo assists the Castros by creating a permanent state of emergency that links dissent to foreign interference and the embargo encourages the dissaffected to abandon Cuba. The book chronicles the influence of the Mafia and the military's role today. A must read for scholars and policy makers.
"Cuba at a Crossroads reflects Daniel Bruno Sanz's uncommon vision of Cuban development. His book is the first complete and detailed analysis available on the counterproductive and futile U.S. embargo on Cuba." -- Dr. Sergei Khrushchev
Dr. Sergei Khrushchev is the son of the late Nikita Khrushchev, whose assistance was key to the consolidation of the Cuban Revolution and the rule of Fidel Castro after 1959.
Dr. Khrushchev lectures on Russian economic and political reforms, U.S.-Soviet relations, the Soviet space program and Nikita Khrushchev's economic, political and security reforms.
He is profiled in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in the United States, Who's Who of Contemporary Achievements, International Authors and Writers, International Who's Who of Intellectuals and Contemporary Authors Gala Research. He received the Lenin Prize for scientific research, the Prize of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R., The Hammer and Sickle Gold Star as well as several awards for achievements in space and computer research. He is a full member of the International Academy of Information (1993), the Russian Space Academy (1994), the Russian Society of Informatics (1990), and the Russian Engineering Society (1970).
Today he is a U.S. citizen and teaches at Brown University and the Naval War College in Newport, RI.
Daniel Bruno Sanz writes about economic and political affairs. His work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the History News Network and numerous foreign language newspapers. He is the author of Why Obama Will Win in 2008 & 2012.
Source: prweb.com/
Cuba at a Crossroads reflects Daniel Bruno Sanz's uncommon vision of Cuban development. His book is the first complete and detailed analysis available on the counterproductive and futile U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 3, 2009 -- Cuba at a Crossroads, The New American Strategy, is the most detailed account of Cuba-U.S. relations to date. The index has over 500 entries. The book states that the U.S. embargo assists the Castros by creating a permanent state of emergency that links dissent to foreign interference and the embargo encourages the dissaffected to abandon Cuba. The book chronicles the influence of the Mafia and the military's role today. A must read for scholars and policy makers.
"Cuba at a Crossroads reflects Daniel Bruno Sanz's uncommon vision of Cuban development. His book is the first complete and detailed analysis available on the counterproductive and futile U.S. embargo on Cuba." -- Dr. Sergei Khrushchev
Dr. Sergei Khrushchev is the son of the late Nikita Khrushchev, whose assistance was key to the consolidation of the Cuban Revolution and the rule of Fidel Castro after 1959.
Dr. Khrushchev lectures on Russian economic and political reforms, U.S.-Soviet relations, the Soviet space program and Nikita Khrushchev's economic, political and security reforms.
He is profiled in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in the United States, Who's Who of Contemporary Achievements, International Authors and Writers, International Who's Who of Intellectuals and Contemporary Authors Gala Research. He received the Lenin Prize for scientific research, the Prize of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R., The Hammer and Sickle Gold Star as well as several awards for achievements in space and computer research. He is a full member of the International Academy of Information (1993), the Russian Space Academy (1994), the Russian Society of Informatics (1990), and the Russian Engineering Society (1970).
Today he is a U.S. citizen and teaches at Brown University and the Naval War College in Newport, RI.
Daniel Bruno Sanz writes about economic and political affairs. His work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the History News Network and numerous foreign language newspapers. He is the author of Why Obama Will Win in 2008 & 2012.
Source: prweb.com/
Cuba and Singapore Examine Possibilities for Trade
HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 2 (acn) The possibility of implementing a solid commercial exchange between Cuba and Singapore was demonstrated on Tuesday in this city, at the end of a business forum held between entrepreneurs from the two nations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cuban News Agency
On the occasion of the visit to Havana of Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Long, the Cuban Chamber of Commerce organized the meeting at the Cuban capital’s Hotel Nacional, in order to know more about potentialities for mutual exchange.
The president of that institution, Pedro Alvarez, pointed out the possibilities offered by the Caribbean island in terms of products recognized at world level, like rum, tobacco, medicine and biotechnology, besides specialized goods and services and direct investment.
In addition, he explained the behavior of the Cuban economy and how it deals with the difficulties derived from the world crisis and the blockade imposed by the United States for almost five decades now.
He put special emphasis on the reduction of imports, achieved not only by way of national production but also by way of trading with partners offering quality products and competitive prices.
Chong Lit Cheong, executive from International Enterprise Singapore, said that interest is increasing in his country for trading with Latin America and especially with Cuba, with which this type of bond already exists, mainly in the tourist sector.
He highlighted several productive lines that could be of interest for the island, like the production of machinery, the petrochemical industry, operations in the port and the production of computer accessories.
He also expressed his country’s interest in cooperating in the area of scientific research and in tourism, a sector in which it has excellent results, since his nation receives some 10 million visitors every year.
Source: cubaweb.cu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cuban News Agency
On the occasion of the visit to Havana of Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Long, the Cuban Chamber of Commerce organized the meeting at the Cuban capital’s Hotel Nacional, in order to know more about potentialities for mutual exchange.
The president of that institution, Pedro Alvarez, pointed out the possibilities offered by the Caribbean island in terms of products recognized at world level, like rum, tobacco, medicine and biotechnology, besides specialized goods and services and direct investment.
In addition, he explained the behavior of the Cuban economy and how it deals with the difficulties derived from the world crisis and the blockade imposed by the United States for almost five decades now.
He put special emphasis on the reduction of imports, achieved not only by way of national production but also by way of trading with partners offering quality products and competitive prices.
Chong Lit Cheong, executive from International Enterprise Singapore, said that interest is increasing in his country for trading with Latin America and especially with Cuba, with which this type of bond already exists, mainly in the tourist sector.
He highlighted several productive lines that could be of interest for the island, like the production of machinery, the petrochemical industry, operations in the port and the production of computer accessories.
He also expressed his country’s interest in cooperating in the area of scientific research and in tourism, a sector in which it has excellent results, since his nation receives some 10 million visitors every year.
Source: cubaweb.cu
Cuba repels mock US attacks in major war games
HAVANA — Cuban President Raul Castro ordered his troops to "never give up" on Friday as his Caribbean island nation carried out war games designed to train for the possibility of a US attack.
"Never give up the battle, regardless of the situation, even if you don't have any information. Fight and fight until you wear down the enemy and you defeat them," said Castro.
"The objective is to never surrender, never to abandon the fight," local media quoted the Cuban leader as saying.
Castro, who has served as head of Cuba Revolutionary Armed Forces since the country's 1959 revolution, assumed the presidency from his ailing brother Fidel in 2008.
On Friday, he met with other high-ranking members of the military command to supervise the maneuvers.
"When you lose contact with your military superior, each and every one of you must be converted into a commander in chief, a division general or a sergeant or soldier, carrying out the mission of each," the Cuban leader said in statements played on local television.
The "Bastion 2009" exercises are the biggest war games here since 2004, but they have been subject to austerity measures in keeping with the country's economic crisis.
The games began Thursday across the island with the goal of "boosting deterrent capacity to avoid a military confrontation" with the United States.
The exercises conclude Saturday, but Sunday has been designated a "National Day of Defense."
The day will include exercises involving the four million members of the military reserve -- all Cubans over 36 years old -- as well as some million men and women who belong to the Territorial Troops Militia.
Since US President Barack Obama took office he has toned down US rhetoric against Cuba and ordered policy changes.
But Cuba's government said the measures, which include the end of travel restrictions for US citizens with Cuban family, fall short and demand the full lifting of sanctions and restoration of diplomatic relations severed in 1961.
Obama has said fully-restored ties depend on Cuba improving its human rights record and moving towards democracy.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jxh00-Y_CWJC29I9z4NHfuiAhJxQ
Cubans fear hard times ahead, impatient for change
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans are bracing for hard times in 2010 as President Raul Castro slashes imports and cuts government spending to get Cuba out of crisis -- and they are growing impatient with the slow pace of economic reform.
Hurricanes, the global recession, U.S. sanctions and the inability of the communist-run island's command economy to maneuver have put an end to recovery from the 1990s crisis that followed the Soviet Union's demise.
Local economists agree there will be little if any growth this year for the first time in more than a decade as Cuba battles a cash crunch that has forced it to stop paying bills and freeze bank accounts of some foreign companies in Cuba.
Castro, trying to balance books overflowing with red ink, has reduced imports this year by a third, or some $5 billion, and cut local budgets and energy consumption.
Cuba is dependent on imports, including food and fuel, of which about 70 percent of what it consumes comes from abroad.
The communist government gets moral and economic support from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other leftist leaders in Latin America, as well as China, but Cuba's income from tourism and exports of nickel, petroleum derivatives, cigars and shellfish has fallen sharply this year.
The austerity moves were necessary after Cuba's trade deficit soared 65 percent and its current account, which measures the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, went from a $500 million surplus in 2007 to an estimated shortfall of nearly $2 billion last year, said the economists, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on talking to foreign media.
Castro's budget-cutting will put the current account into the black this year and "he intends to keep it that way in 2010," said one economist, indicating the belt-tightening will not end soon.
Castro, who took over as president from his ailing brother Fidel in 2008, makes no bones about dismantling the paternalistic economic and social model he inherited.
"Let's not deceive ourselves," he told the National Assembly a year ago. "If there is no pressure, if the people do not need to work in order to cover their necessities, and if we continue to give things for free here and there, we shall lose our voice calling people to work."
BUREAUCRACY UNDER FIRE
Castro, who served as defense minister for decades, in March replaced most of the economic cabinet he inherited, filling key posts with former and active military officers.
He has implemented reforms in agriculture, wage structures and some other areas but the changes have so far been small and reached few of the island's 11 million people.
Cubans say that if Castro wants to do away with things like their monthly food ration and free workplace lunches, he will need to give them some way to raise incomes that now average less than $20 a month.
There has been speculation he would take measures such as allowing small businesses to operate and putting some of the retail sector in the hands of semi-private cooperatives but, so far, nothing like that has materialized
Source: reuters.com/
Cuba wraps up military maneuvers aimed at preventing U.S. invasion
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuba is wrapping up its biggest military exercises in five years, saying it wants to be prepared in the event of a U.S. invasion.
Under the watchful eye of Cuban President Raul Castro, the armed forces is ending four days of extensive maneuvers, war-room strategy sessions and military parades across the island.
"This is a necessity of the first order," Gen. Leonardo Andollo Valdez said on state television.
"The political, military situation, which characterizes the confrontation between our country and the empire, can go from a relatively normal situation to a much more urgent, confrontational, aggressive one in a month, a week, or even in a night," he added.
Cuban television broadcast images of camouflaged troops firing from trenches and fighter aircraft dropping bombs. Many of the images are from exercises in previous years.
The exercises come amid a slight thaw in relations between the Cold War enemies.
President Obama has lifted restrictions on Cuban-American travel and remittances, and the two countries have resumed immigration talks. Obama recently said the United States has no intention of invading the communist island just 90 miles off its coast.
But the fear of an attack has been a constant concern here, and not without reason. In 1961, Washington backed an invasion by Cuban exiles bent on overthrowing Fidel Castro, the brother of Raul Castro and former president of Cuba.
They were defeated at the Bay of Pigs, but the United States has maintained an economic embargo, and Fidel Castro has survived numerous attempts on his life.
The massive military exercises began in 1980 and have been repeated every few years. The latest maneuvers, called "Bastion 2009," are the first since Raul Castro succeeded his brother and Obama assumed the White House.
Preparations for the exercises began in 2004, before either was in office. The exercises end Saturday, and on Sunday, Cuba will celebrate Day of Defense.
Source: cnn.com/
Mexico - Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa to make an official visit to cuba
The Foreign Ministry reports that Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa will make an official visit to Cuba on December 10-11. During her visit, she and her Cuban counterpart will co-chair the fourth regular Mexico-Cuba meeting for political consultations and information. This bilateral mechanism allows both governments to strengthen the political dialog and to progress with the topics that are most important for the relationship.
Foreign Secretary Espinosa’s program will include meetings with high-level Cuban government officials and a review of the bilateral, regional and multilateral agenda with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. They will also study the possibility of increasing educational, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation and of strengthening the bilateral legal framework. In addition, they will discuss bilateral trade and investment and the possibility of expanding these two areas.
The fifth Mexico-Cuba bilateral working meeting on consular and migratory affairs will be held prior to Foreign Secretary Espinosa’s visit.
As regards cultural affairs, Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa will inaugurate an exposition of the works of Mexican painter Cordelia Urueta in the Casa Benito Juárez in Old Havana.
Source: isria.com/
Foreign Secretary Espinosa’s program will include meetings with high-level Cuban government officials and a review of the bilateral, regional and multilateral agenda with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. They will also study the possibility of increasing educational, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation and of strengthening the bilateral legal framework. In addition, they will discuss bilateral trade and investment and the possibility of expanding these two areas.
The fifth Mexico-Cuba bilateral working meeting on consular and migratory affairs will be held prior to Foreign Secretary Espinosa’s visit.
As regards cultural affairs, Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa will inaugurate an exposition of the works of Mexican painter Cordelia Urueta in the Casa Benito Juárez in Old Havana.
Source: isria.com/
Cuba Conducts Military Exercises
Cuba has begun its biggest military maneuvers in five years, saying they are designed to guard against a U.S. invasion.
The exercises, dubbed "Bastion 2009," began Thursday and are expected to last through Saturday. The exact number of troops involved is not known.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said the United States has no intention of using military force in Cuba. He issued the comment in response to questions submitted by dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez.
President Obama said he is prepared to have his administration engage with Cuba on issues of mutual interest. But, he said it is up to Cuba to act if it wants normal relations with the U.S.
The United States and Cuba do not have bilateral relations and an embargo against the communist-led island has been in place since the early 1960s.
In April, President Obama eased restrictions on travel and financial transfers by Cuban Americans to relatives still living on the island. The president, however, said the long-standing U.S. embargo against Cuba would remain in place until Havana takes steps toward democratic reforms.
Source: voanews.com/
Professor: Cuba's 'golden exiles' welcomed more than most newcomers
Unlike other waves of immigrants, those who left Cuba after the rise of Castro were generally well received in the U.S.
By MARTIN SURRIDGE
for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
COLLEGE PLACE -- Immigration was the topic of discussion on Tuesday afternoon at Walla Walla University, as sociology professor Cheris Current shared her research with staff and students in Kretschmar Hall.
The presentation, which was entitled "Cultural Capital and Cultural Citizenship: The Case of the Cuban 'Golden Exiles,'" was part of the school's weekly "Brown Bag" lectures, designed to give professors an opportunity to present their research in a casual setting.
Current, who received her Ph.D in sociology from Washington State University in 2007, examined the story of Cuban immigrants who fled their country for the United States, shortly after the rise of Castro and the establishment of communism in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Much of the presentation focused on the positive relationship between the American public and the "golden exiles," and the impact that Cubans had on America -- particularly the educational system.
"The arrival of Cuban immigrants coincided with wide-scale teaching of Spanish in the public high school system," Current said. "It was believed that high school students should learn another language."
Current explained that unlike many other immigrant groups throughout American history, the early waves of Cuban refugees were supported through government assistance and were well received by the public.
"Traditionally, immigrants aren't looked upon positively, at least upon entering the U.S.," she said.
"But the first waves of Cuban immigrants were educated and middle class. They were also white, which was something that was seen as palatable."
Cuba's previous status as an American territory enabled ease of transition for many immigrants, "Cubans knew a lot about the U.S.," Current explained.
"They celebrated Thanksgiving, they sent their kids to American colleges, and they sang 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.'"
However, the primary reason for the hospitality shown to the "golden exiles," Current argued, was an opportunity for the American government to undermine the Cuban regime -- a trend that continued with other communist nations as well.
"Having a political reason is the primary reason we have accepted refugees over time.
More than 90 percent of political refugees entering the US since 1945 have been from Communist countries."
Current expressed her frustration with how some immigrant groups are viewed differently than others -- especially when the acceptance of refugees is used as a political tool.
"I'm bothered by exceptionalism when it comes to immigration," she said. "I'm concerned that there are other groups that have needs that aren't being met. Even after the Cold War we have maintained policies that favor Cuban immigrants when Haitian immigrants are accepted in very few numbers. Our policies may need to be looked at."
Source: union-bulletin.com/
By MARTIN SURRIDGE
for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
COLLEGE PLACE -- Immigration was the topic of discussion on Tuesday afternoon at Walla Walla University, as sociology professor Cheris Current shared her research with staff and students in Kretschmar Hall.
The presentation, which was entitled "Cultural Capital and Cultural Citizenship: The Case of the Cuban 'Golden Exiles,'" was part of the school's weekly "Brown Bag" lectures, designed to give professors an opportunity to present their research in a casual setting.
Current, who received her Ph.D in sociology from Washington State University in 2007, examined the story of Cuban immigrants who fled their country for the United States, shortly after the rise of Castro and the establishment of communism in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Much of the presentation focused on the positive relationship between the American public and the "golden exiles," and the impact that Cubans had on America -- particularly the educational system.
"The arrival of Cuban immigrants coincided with wide-scale teaching of Spanish in the public high school system," Current said. "It was believed that high school students should learn another language."
Current explained that unlike many other immigrant groups throughout American history, the early waves of Cuban refugees were supported through government assistance and were well received by the public.
"Traditionally, immigrants aren't looked upon positively, at least upon entering the U.S.," she said.
"But the first waves of Cuban immigrants were educated and middle class. They were also white, which was something that was seen as palatable."
Cuba's previous status as an American territory enabled ease of transition for many immigrants, "Cubans knew a lot about the U.S.," Current explained.
"They celebrated Thanksgiving, they sent their kids to American colleges, and they sang 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.'"
However, the primary reason for the hospitality shown to the "golden exiles," Current argued, was an opportunity for the American government to undermine the Cuban regime -- a trend that continued with other communist nations as well.
"Having a political reason is the primary reason we have accepted refugees over time.
More than 90 percent of political refugees entering the US since 1945 have been from Communist countries."
Current expressed her frustration with how some immigrant groups are viewed differently than others -- especially when the acceptance of refugees is used as a political tool.
"I'm bothered by exceptionalism when it comes to immigration," she said. "I'm concerned that there are other groups that have needs that aren't being met. Even after the Cold War we have maintained policies that favor Cuban immigrants when Haitian immigrants are accepted in very few numbers. Our policies may need to be looked at."
Source: union-bulletin.com/
Seasonal Flu Vaccination Campaign Concludes in Cuba
More than 895, 500 Cubans were immunized against the seasonal flu during the recently concluded vaccination campaign that covered 99.5 percent of vulnerable cases.
All those vulnerable groups will be vaccinated again next year.
“Very few people presented side effects and in those cases they were minor effects, nothing serious,” Dr. Maria Josefa Llanes Cordero, coordinator for the Acute Respiratory Infections Group of the Public Health Ministry, told Granma newspaper.
The doctor extolled the work carried out by the health experts with the vaccination centers across the country and noted that they were very careful in handling the expensive vaccine. The campaign was aimed at people over 75 years old, youngsters between 20 and 24 years old who suffer from severe asthma, diabetics or chronic renal insufficiency under dialysis or hemodialysis treatment.
Also those living in nursing homes for the elderly and physically disabled received the shot as well as workers in poultry and pig farms. All those vulnerable groups will be vaccinated again next year before the beginning of the winter season in Cuba.
Source: escambray.cu/
Cuba’s Brisas Trinidad del Mar Ready for High Season
Cuban four-star-all-inclusive Hotel Brisas Trinidad del Mar is ready to welcome the high season period after a restoration process in which the improvement of the air conditioning systems and the comfort of rooms were top priority.
Brisas Trinidad del Mar Hotel is located a few miles away from Trinidad city.
Even though the world economic crisis and the A (H1N1) flu have influenced the tendencies of international tourism, this hotel has continued working and is prepared to welcome more visitors during the upcoming months.
Brisas Trinidad del Mar Hotel is located a few miles away from Trinidad city, in central Cuba, and near Ancon beach and the Escambray mountains. It is a historic enclave enriched by its cultural values.
The 240-room hotel offers some facilities like several facilities like car rental, sport areas, bar, Jacuzzi, karaoke, e-mail and fax services, medical care and snack bar among others. Its location near The Holy Village of Trinidad, is an added bonus due to the fact that the city was founded in 1514 and is placed among the first seven founded by the Spaniards in Cuba.
The Museum City, as it is also known, is privileged due to its colonial status and because it is regarded as one of the best preserved architectural jewels within the American continent which resulted in the city being declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
There are other hotels in the region such as Costasur, a symbol of sun and beach tourism which comprises 140 rooms, some of them located in colonial bungalows; Las Cuevas, named after the caverns found on the hill where it was built more than 4 decades ago; Ancon, located in the peninsula named the same way and villa Maria Dolores where the habits and entertainments of local farmers are featured.
Source: escambray.cu
New Years Eve 2009/2010 in Cuba
New Years Eve is the best occasion to feel the real atmosphere of Cuba. In the streets music, colourful fireworks, icy cocktails, fine dinner and Carnival feeling welcomes New Year. It is an unforgettable memory: clink under the palm trees on
the beach. Don’t miss it! Spend the New Years Eve in Cuba this year!
New Years Eve is the best occasion to feel the real atmosphere of Cuba. In the streets music, colourful fireworks, icy cocktails, fine dinner and Carnival feeling welcomes New Year. It is an unforgettable memory: clink under the palm trees on
the beach. Don’t miss it! Spend the New Years Eve in Cuba this year!
Cuba New Years Eve: party, dinner
1. New Years Eve party in Cuba
New Years Eve party in Cuba
New Years Eve party in Cuba
Say goodbye to 2009 and welcome 2010 with conga drums, Cuban music, colourful cocktails and Caribbean atmosphere in Havana at Cathedral Square!
120 EUR/pax
2. New Years Eve dinner in Hotel Nacional De Cuba New Years Eve dinner in Cuba
New Years Eve dinner at salon of Hotel Nacional De Cuba
5 star New Years Eve entertainment. Delicious crab cocktail, sea crayfish, tropical fruits, Cuban music and colourful fireworks for your pleasure!
100 EUR/pax
New Years Eve round trip in Cuba
New Years Eve round trip in Cuba
From 26 December 2009 to 05 January 2010. 11 days/9 nights with interesting sights and unforgettable New Years Eve party in Varadero ...
1290 EUR/pax
Cuba New Years Eve: Havana - Varadero vacation, 4 star hotels
1. Havana - Varadero vacation /3 + 6 nights/
Havana - Varadero vacation 01
Hotel Plaza **** + Hotel Aguas Azules ****
Havana: breakfast, Varadero: all inclusive board. Transfers, 1 coupon for discount on price of 1 excursion and New Years Eve party are included
731 EUR/pax
2. Havana - Varadero vacation /3 + 6 nights/ Havana - Varadero vacation 02
Hotel Ambos Mundos **** + Hotel Sol Elite Palmeras ****
Havana: breakfast, Varadero: all inclusive board. Transfers, 1 coupon for discount on price of 1 excursion and New Years Eve party are included 1038 EUR/pax
Cuba New Years Eve: Havana - Varadero vacation, 5 star hotels
3. Havana - Varadero vacation /3 + 6 nights/
Havana - Varadero vacation 03
Hotel Melia Habana ***** + Hotel Melia Varadero *****
Havana: breakfast, Varadero: all inclusive board. Transfers, coupons for discount on price of 2 excursions and New Years Eve party are included
1050 EUR/pax
4. Havana - Varadero vacation /3 + 6 nights/
Havana - Varadero vacation 04
Hotel Melia Cohiba ***** + Hotel Tryp Peninsula Varadero *****
Havana: breakfast, Varadero: all inclusive board. Transfers, coupons for discount on price of 2 excursions and New Years Eve party are included
1095 EUR/pax
Cuba New Years Eve: Havana - Cayo Coco vacation, 4 and 5 star hotels
1. Havana - Cayo Coco vacation /3 + 6 nights/
Havana - Cayo Coco vacation 01
Hotel Tryp Habana Libre ***** + Hotel Tryp Cayo Coco ****
Havana: breakfast, Cayo Coco: all inclusive board. Transfers and New Years Eve dinner are included 1119 EUR/pax 2. Havana - Cayo Coco vacation /3 + 6 nights/
Havana - Cayo Coco vacation 02
Hotel Melia Cohiba ***** + Hotel Melia Cayo Coco *****
Havana: breakfast, Cayo Coco: all inclusive board. Transfers and New Years Eve dinner are included 1236 EUR/pax
New Years Eve information and booking: CubaFiesta : +44 20 3239 2420 booking@cubafiesta.net
Source: cubaheadlines.com/
Rant Concern Over New North Korean Currency
It's an old trick that is used periodically in communist countries. Now It is North Korea's turn to expropriate the accumulated wealth of the weary masses of North Korea. This week, the North Korean government is phasing in a new currency. They are making the population exchange their old bills at a rate of 10,000 old Won for one new Won. The Economist explains as follows the significance of the move.
"Rather, the moves represent confiscation on a massive scale. By this coming Sunday, the state says, all existing currency must be replaced by a brand new won, with old 10,000 won bills swapped for new 10 won bills. So far so fine. The state wants to fight inflation, and plenty of other countries have resorted to the expedient of a new currency.
But the state also wants to crack down further on North Korea's myriad private markets. The currency moves are all of a piece, for the maximum amount of old currency that may be converted into new is 100,000 won. For rich traders doing business with China, this matters little. Their wealth will already be in Chinese yuan or dollars. Ditto for the elite. For North Korea's poorest, the new currency is also neither here nor there, for they have no cash at all. But for the broad middle struggling to cope, this is a disaster. Responding to popular fury, North Korea appears to have raised the limit this week to 150,000 won."
The move will leave millions of people with worthless banknotes in their possession. It is a common way for the state to essentially confiscate the wealth of those engaging in private enterprise. Despite misgivings, North Korea has been forced to tolerate private industry. Many factories can no longer operate because the oil that once kept them moving is no longer given to North Korea at "friendship prices" by the former Soviet Union. An estimated 2 million people have died because of famine that is essentially caused by bad economics.
A logical way to alleviate North Korea's economic problems would be to vastly expand investment in the country from abroad. South Korea would be best able to aid in economic development by expanding on the existing model of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is a large industrial park on the border between North and South Korea. Jobs in the complex have been considered lucrative. Unfortunately, it does not seem that an expansion of the Kaesong Industrial Complex is likely. Amazingly enough, the North Korean government is reportedly considering closing the venture, which brings in about 33 million dollars a year. Chosun Ibo, a South Korean paper reports as follows on the plan to shutter a rare oasis in the North Korean economic desert.
"North Korea earns some US$33.52 million a year from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, making the inter-Korean joint venture a significant cash cow for the impoverished country.
If, as seems increasingly likely, the industrial park is closed, the simple economic loss from stopping operations is not the only blow the North will suffer. Experts speculate the closure could also cause social and political problems following an explosion of discontent by North Koreans who lose their jobs at a time when they are already suffering a food shortage.
About 38,000 North Korean workers and their families would be immediately affected. "Assuming each North Korean worker has about four family members, roughly 150,000 North Koreans are living off the industrial park. That figure isn't negligible," a south Korean official said Sunday."
The cumulative effect of shutting down foreign enterprises and voiding a large chunk of North Korea's currency could be explosive in terms of unrest and economic turmoil. The only logical explanation would be a desire to preserve North Korea's communist character and posssibly a dogged adherence to "Ju Che" which is the ruling Communist Party's philosophy of self reliance.
There are alternatives to trashing its existing currency. Cuba has two parallel currencies. One is a regular Peso that circulates across the island. The other is a special Peso that is backed by hard currency. There are special stores that will only take the hard currency Peso. While Cuba is tottering on the brink, it has done far better than North Korea. Unfortunately, it has developed an underbelly of prostitution to its tourism trade that has evokes memories of pre revolutionary Cuba.
If North Korea were to institute a second hard currency Won in North Korea, it could get a cut of the action, pulling in Chinese, American and North Korean money into a state run investment bank. Unfortunately,the actions of the North Korean government defy all logic. The people of North Korea could be facing another round of hunger. That would truly be a pity. Because it can be avoided.
Reprinted with permission from Rudistettner.com
Source: rantrave.com/
"Rather, the moves represent confiscation on a massive scale. By this coming Sunday, the state says, all existing currency must be replaced by a brand new won, with old 10,000 won bills swapped for new 10 won bills. So far so fine. The state wants to fight inflation, and plenty of other countries have resorted to the expedient of a new currency.
But the state also wants to crack down further on North Korea's myriad private markets. The currency moves are all of a piece, for the maximum amount of old currency that may be converted into new is 100,000 won. For rich traders doing business with China, this matters little. Their wealth will already be in Chinese yuan or dollars. Ditto for the elite. For North Korea's poorest, the new currency is also neither here nor there, for they have no cash at all. But for the broad middle struggling to cope, this is a disaster. Responding to popular fury, North Korea appears to have raised the limit this week to 150,000 won."
The move will leave millions of people with worthless banknotes in their possession. It is a common way for the state to essentially confiscate the wealth of those engaging in private enterprise. Despite misgivings, North Korea has been forced to tolerate private industry. Many factories can no longer operate because the oil that once kept them moving is no longer given to North Korea at "friendship prices" by the former Soviet Union. An estimated 2 million people have died because of famine that is essentially caused by bad economics.
A logical way to alleviate North Korea's economic problems would be to vastly expand investment in the country from abroad. South Korea would be best able to aid in economic development by expanding on the existing model of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is a large industrial park on the border between North and South Korea. Jobs in the complex have been considered lucrative. Unfortunately, it does not seem that an expansion of the Kaesong Industrial Complex is likely. Amazingly enough, the North Korean government is reportedly considering closing the venture, which brings in about 33 million dollars a year. Chosun Ibo, a South Korean paper reports as follows on the plan to shutter a rare oasis in the North Korean economic desert.
"North Korea earns some US$33.52 million a year from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, making the inter-Korean joint venture a significant cash cow for the impoverished country.
If, as seems increasingly likely, the industrial park is closed, the simple economic loss from stopping operations is not the only blow the North will suffer. Experts speculate the closure could also cause social and political problems following an explosion of discontent by North Koreans who lose their jobs at a time when they are already suffering a food shortage.
About 38,000 North Korean workers and their families would be immediately affected. "Assuming each North Korean worker has about four family members, roughly 150,000 North Koreans are living off the industrial park. That figure isn't negligible," a south Korean official said Sunday."
The cumulative effect of shutting down foreign enterprises and voiding a large chunk of North Korea's currency could be explosive in terms of unrest and economic turmoil. The only logical explanation would be a desire to preserve North Korea's communist character and posssibly a dogged adherence to "Ju Che" which is the ruling Communist Party's philosophy of self reliance.
There are alternatives to trashing its existing currency. Cuba has two parallel currencies. One is a regular Peso that circulates across the island. The other is a special Peso that is backed by hard currency. There are special stores that will only take the hard currency Peso. While Cuba is tottering on the brink, it has done far better than North Korea. Unfortunately, it has developed an underbelly of prostitution to its tourism trade that has evokes memories of pre revolutionary Cuba.
If North Korea were to institute a second hard currency Won in North Korea, it could get a cut of the action, pulling in Chinese, American and North Korean money into a state run investment bank. Unfortunately,the actions of the North Korean government defy all logic. The people of North Korea could be facing another round of hunger. That would truly be a pity. Because it can be avoided.
Reprinted with permission from Rudistettner.com
Source: rantrave.com/
Cubans face up to life without free lunches
London, England (CNN) -- Since it was created in 1962 the ration book has been an integral part of life for millions of Cubans giving them access to cheap food basics which they would otherwise be unable to afford.
But in recent weeks, Cubans who rely on the ration book to provide themselves and their families with basic provisions like rice, chicken, beans and sugar have become fearful that its days may be numbered.
In a recent speech President Raul Castro announced the elimination of free services, with the exception of those established by the Constitution, and unnecessary subsidies.
In September, nearly free lunches were eliminated from some state-cafeterias which provided cheap hot meals and helped supplement meager salaries of around $20 per month.
Worse was to follow when the Communist Party's Granma newspaper declared: "The ration book was a necessity at one time, but it has become an impediment to the collective decisions the nation must take."
And in November, peas and potatoes were taken off the list of rationed foods.
The government hope that the changes imposed will encourage more productivity and help relieve some of the burden currently shouldered by the state -- they currently cough up more than a billion dollars a year for food subsidies alone.
Government subsidies are handed out for many of the basic services including healthcare, housing, transportation and education.
Despite its isolation, Cuba hasn't been immune to the effects of the global economic crisis and the government is feeling the pinch.
But so are the citizens of Cuba. Pedro Guerrero has used the ration book to buy food since its inception. Now that he has retired, the ration book provides him and his wife with most of their food.
"It's enough to survive for about one month. To survive, not grow a belly," Guerrero told CNN's Shasta Darlington.
Despite the recent cut backs, Guerrero trusts the state to make sure that those who depend on the ration book to survive will be taken care of.
But the removal of peas and potatoes from the ration book may signal the start of wider changes to life in Cuba.
Source: cnn.com/
But in recent weeks, Cubans who rely on the ration book to provide themselves and their families with basic provisions like rice, chicken, beans and sugar have become fearful that its days may be numbered.
In a recent speech President Raul Castro announced the elimination of free services, with the exception of those established by the Constitution, and unnecessary subsidies.
In September, nearly free lunches were eliminated from some state-cafeterias which provided cheap hot meals and helped supplement meager salaries of around $20 per month.
Worse was to follow when the Communist Party's Granma newspaper declared: "The ration book was a necessity at one time, but it has become an impediment to the collective decisions the nation must take."
And in November, peas and potatoes were taken off the list of rationed foods.
The government hope that the changes imposed will encourage more productivity and help relieve some of the burden currently shouldered by the state -- they currently cough up more than a billion dollars a year for food subsidies alone.
Government subsidies are handed out for many of the basic services including healthcare, housing, transportation and education.
Despite its isolation, Cuba hasn't been immune to the effects of the global economic crisis and the government is feeling the pinch.
But so are the citizens of Cuba. Pedro Guerrero has used the ration book to buy food since its inception. Now that he has retired, the ration book provides him and his wife with most of their food.
"It's enough to survive for about one month. To survive, not grow a belly," Guerrero told CNN's Shasta Darlington.
Despite the recent cut backs, Guerrero trusts the state to make sure that those who depend on the ration book to survive will be taken care of.
But the removal of peas and potatoes from the ration book may signal the start of wider changes to life in Cuba.
Source: cnn.com/
Cuba the Next Contact Center Hub?
Could Cuba become, down the road, the hottest new outsourced contact center location? That is the speculation in an intriguing exclusive Nearshore Americas guest post by Peter Ryan who is the lead analyst – BPO and Contact Center Outsourcing & Services at OVUM titled,” Is Cuba Poised to Become a Call Center Hub?”
Click to learn the importance of data management in creating availability solutions including clarification of availability terminology.
Cost containment for communications vendors and their carrier customers can be achieved on two fronts. Click here to find out what they are and how to streamline the development and maintenance costs associated with building the product.
Click Here to Learn How You Can Evaluate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Applications
Over the past decade, consumer debt has surged at an alarming pace. The likelihood of recovering debt, however, decreases with each passing day. Click here to learn how to maximize revenue.
Ryan reports that the interest is out there about Cuba. The change driver may be Fidel Castro’s relinquishment of power to his brother which many believe may lead to more liberal policies in that country.
There may be strong motivation for a Cuban government to liberalize with attracting contact centers as a core strategy: opportunity and necessity. Cuba has the fundamentals to draw contact centers report other observers: namely an available, smart workforce. The CIA World Factbook reports that Cuba, with 11.4 million people, is one of the largest Caribbean nations. It also has a well-educated potential employee base; Cuba has a high literacy rate.
Yet Cuba’s economy is in rough shape, with one of the factors being stringent political control over the marketplace. The World Factbook reports that the average living standard is lower than that before the 1990s downturn. Cuba’s people have become one of its exports. It has been obtaining oil from Venezuela in exchange in part for Cuba personnel including healthcare professionals.
“Clearly, there are many interesting reasons why investors may shudder to imagine housing a customer care operation in that country,” writes Ryan. “However, from an objective standpoint, it is worth considering why contact center players may wish to consider this location for delivery in the long-term, should a significant shift in economic and business ideology overtake Cuba, in a similar fashion to Central and Eastern Europe 20 years ago.”
Here is the evidence Ryan provides:
-- High proportion of the country’s population, estimated at 11.4 million whose labor force that works in services, which at 61 percent reports the CIA World Factbook is roughly the same as Chile and Mexico and only somewhat smaller than Argentina.
“However, the most intriguing thing about the Cuban services workforce is the growing proportion that works in international tourism,” says Ryan. “This has led many individuals to take on significant training by foreign hotel operators and tour companies in order to bring their service skills to western standards. Such a segment of the Cuban workforce would be an ideal pool to draw from when recruiting for nearshore delivery contact centers.”
-- Niche markets. Ryan cites two of them. The first and lowest-hanging fruit are the Canadian ‘snowbirds’ who flock to Cuba in droves each year; Canada remains a significant trade partner for the island. This means, he says, that a large number of Cubans working in the tourism sector will already have some cultural and commercial familiarity with Canadian products, vernacular and lifestyles. Helping this sector take flight is that Canada’s economy has been weathering the financial storm better than the U.S. report other observers, leaving more disposable income for travel.
The second, larger but more problematic sector for Cuba is the growing U.S. Hispanic market, based in Florida, where a great number of Cuban-Americans reside. Cuban contact center agents would be, he writes, an immediate advantage for U.S. firms looking to court this end-user base, due to accent familiarity, similar use of Spanish.
“However, it is clear that tapping this U.S. demographic would not be feasible until the current American embargo has been at least relaxed,” reports Ryan.
-- Transparency. Among Latin American countries (which have historically fared poorly on corruption perceptions), Cuba ranks ahead of both Mexico and Argentina, two leading nearshore delivery locations.
Peter Ryan is realistic though about the very stiff challenges that lie ahead before Cuba can become a viable outsourced contact center location. This is a long-term play that depends on political changes before it can happen.
The first obstacle he identifies in the Nearshore Americas post is the customer service orientation among the broader Cuban public, which would need to be tapped long-term for agent recruitment.
“Many wonder how decades of communism have impacted the average Cuban in terms of customer service orientation and the willingness to go the extra mile to get the job done for a caller,” says Ryan. “It is not to say that a customer-care mindset cannot be developed once the current regime leaves office, but certainly it could take some time.”
The second is developing a liberalized economy. Currently, according to The Heritage Foundation’s economic freedom rankings, Cuba places only ahead of Zimbabwe and North Korea in terms of ease of doing business.
“Under present circumstances, it is tough to imagine that investors would want to risk significant amounts of capital on that country when many countries in Latin America fare particularly better in this regard,” reports Ryan.
Lastly is telco/Internet accessibility. While Cuba’s government has made some progress in improving the infrastructure of the wireline and wireless networks, it still lags other Latin locations. Plus, the significant limits that have been placed on Cubans in terms of internet usage are sure to be a short-term limitation on multichannel support contracts.
“It is not unconscionable to imagine Cuba as a Nearshore outsourcing delivery site 10-15 years from now, should that country experience a change in political and economic approach,” concludes Ryan.
“Two decades ago, the Berlin Wall fell and within a few years, Central and Eastern Europe became some of the hottest nearshore delivery locations in the world, and remain known for quality and professionalism. However, for Cuba to emerge as a Nearshore delivery location of choice, significant philosophical changes will be necessary in terms of developing open democracy and a market economy, which are the precursors to high quality service delivery.”
Source: tmcnet.com/
Click to learn the importance of data management in creating availability solutions including clarification of availability terminology.
Cost containment for communications vendors and their carrier customers can be achieved on two fronts. Click here to find out what they are and how to streamline the development and maintenance costs associated with building the product.
Click Here to Learn How You Can Evaluate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Applications
Over the past decade, consumer debt has surged at an alarming pace. The likelihood of recovering debt, however, decreases with each passing day. Click here to learn how to maximize revenue.
Ryan reports that the interest is out there about Cuba. The change driver may be Fidel Castro’s relinquishment of power to his brother which many believe may lead to more liberal policies in that country.
There may be strong motivation for a Cuban government to liberalize with attracting contact centers as a core strategy: opportunity and necessity. Cuba has the fundamentals to draw contact centers report other observers: namely an available, smart workforce. The CIA World Factbook reports that Cuba, with 11.4 million people, is one of the largest Caribbean nations. It also has a well-educated potential employee base; Cuba has a high literacy rate.
Yet Cuba’s economy is in rough shape, with one of the factors being stringent political control over the marketplace. The World Factbook reports that the average living standard is lower than that before the 1990s downturn. Cuba’s people have become one of its exports. It has been obtaining oil from Venezuela in exchange in part for Cuba personnel including healthcare professionals.
“Clearly, there are many interesting reasons why investors may shudder to imagine housing a customer care operation in that country,” writes Ryan. “However, from an objective standpoint, it is worth considering why contact center players may wish to consider this location for delivery in the long-term, should a significant shift in economic and business ideology overtake Cuba, in a similar fashion to Central and Eastern Europe 20 years ago.”
Here is the evidence Ryan provides:
-- High proportion of the country’s population, estimated at 11.4 million whose labor force that works in services, which at 61 percent reports the CIA World Factbook is roughly the same as Chile and Mexico and only somewhat smaller than Argentina.
“However, the most intriguing thing about the Cuban services workforce is the growing proportion that works in international tourism,” says Ryan. “This has led many individuals to take on significant training by foreign hotel operators and tour companies in order to bring their service skills to western standards. Such a segment of the Cuban workforce would be an ideal pool to draw from when recruiting for nearshore delivery contact centers.”
-- Niche markets. Ryan cites two of them. The first and lowest-hanging fruit are the Canadian ‘snowbirds’ who flock to Cuba in droves each year; Canada remains a significant trade partner for the island. This means, he says, that a large number of Cubans working in the tourism sector will already have some cultural and commercial familiarity with Canadian products, vernacular and lifestyles. Helping this sector take flight is that Canada’s economy has been weathering the financial storm better than the U.S. report other observers, leaving more disposable income for travel.
The second, larger but more problematic sector for Cuba is the growing U.S. Hispanic market, based in Florida, where a great number of Cuban-Americans reside. Cuban contact center agents would be, he writes, an immediate advantage for U.S. firms looking to court this end-user base, due to accent familiarity, similar use of Spanish.
“However, it is clear that tapping this U.S. demographic would not be feasible until the current American embargo has been at least relaxed,” reports Ryan.
-- Transparency. Among Latin American countries (which have historically fared poorly on corruption perceptions), Cuba ranks ahead of both Mexico and Argentina, two leading nearshore delivery locations.
Peter Ryan is realistic though about the very stiff challenges that lie ahead before Cuba can become a viable outsourced contact center location. This is a long-term play that depends on political changes before it can happen.
The first obstacle he identifies in the Nearshore Americas post is the customer service orientation among the broader Cuban public, which would need to be tapped long-term for agent recruitment.
“Many wonder how decades of communism have impacted the average Cuban in terms of customer service orientation and the willingness to go the extra mile to get the job done for a caller,” says Ryan. “It is not to say that a customer-care mindset cannot be developed once the current regime leaves office, but certainly it could take some time.”
The second is developing a liberalized economy. Currently, according to The Heritage Foundation’s economic freedom rankings, Cuba places only ahead of Zimbabwe and North Korea in terms of ease of doing business.
“Under present circumstances, it is tough to imagine that investors would want to risk significant amounts of capital on that country when many countries in Latin America fare particularly better in this regard,” reports Ryan.
Lastly is telco/Internet accessibility. While Cuba’s government has made some progress in improving the infrastructure of the wireline and wireless networks, it still lags other Latin locations. Plus, the significant limits that have been placed on Cubans in terms of internet usage are sure to be a short-term limitation on multichannel support contracts.
“It is not unconscionable to imagine Cuba as a Nearshore outsourcing delivery site 10-15 years from now, should that country experience a change in political and economic approach,” concludes Ryan.
“Two decades ago, the Berlin Wall fell and within a few years, Central and Eastern Europe became some of the hottest nearshore delivery locations in the world, and remain known for quality and professionalism. However, for Cuba to emerge as a Nearshore delivery location of choice, significant philosophical changes will be necessary in terms of developing open democracy and a market economy, which are the precursors to high quality service delivery.”
Source: tmcnet.com/
Cuba: Controversial policies play their part in low prevalence of HIV
Pinned to a wall in central Havana, where several dozen local people of all ages have gathered to dance the salsa, listen to speakers and wander between stalls offering information on health, a poster shows a young man holding out a condom in front of him, beneath the words: “Your future is in your hands.”
It is part of a prevention programme in Cuba that official data suggests has helped keep HIV prevalence at 0.1 per cent of the adult population: one of the lowest levels not only in the Caribbean, but around the world.
Prof Jorge Perez, deputy director of the Pedro Kourie Institute, Cuba’s tropical medicine agency, remembers the start of the HIV epidemic in Cuba. In 1985, he diagnosed the first known patient in the country: a heterosexual Cuban man returning from work in Mozambique, suffering from conditions including anaemia and an enlarged spleen.
That case, and others which followed, soon led to the imposition by Cuba of a move adopted by other countries including the US: the requirement for an HIV test for visitors. Those already in the country who tested positive were allowed to finish their studies before being sent home.
But Prof Perez went further, arguing along with colleagues for an initiative that sparked greater controversy, but which he still defends today. He proposed that all patients with HIV should be quarantined in a state sanatorium.
“We were at the beginning of a new disease,” he says, speaking in his large office, dominated by a vast wooden meeting table. “No one knew much about Aids, we had no treatment and this would allow us to learn the natural history of the disease, try to avoid its spread, and offer the best medical attention.”
Over almost a decade, Cuba looked after nearly 2,000 patients in a network of a dozen such centres across the country. They were treated well, and offered medical assistance, rooms with air-conditioning and television, and high-protein diets.
That was no trivial provision, especially during the economically troubled “special period” of the early 1990s. Even today, some 200 patients remain.
But Prof Perez stresses that the policy ended once the disease was better understood and treatment became available: “Life is not food and colour TV but freedom, family and social activities,” he says.
Those patients also became advocates and educators, returning to the community to advise others, helping distribute condoms and reinforcing Cuba’s already strong emphasis on preventive care. Widespread testing and treatment was also launched, although the US embargo means that Prof Perez has had to use a network of contacts and sometimes even purchase drugs himself while abroad to bring back for his patients.
One measure applied more assertively in Cuba than many other countries has been “contact tracing”, to actively identify sexual and drug-sharing contacts and offer them tests. “It works for syphilis, TB and gonorrhoea,” he says. “Why not for HIV?”
Financial support from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, and domestic production of anti-retroviral therapy, has helped strengthen Cuba’s response in recent years, and Prof Perez’s institute is also researching new approaches to treatment.
But in spite of Cuba’s distinctive approach, it shares many of the challenges other countries face. There are some signs that infection is increasing, and it is having to extend and refresh policies continually in order to encourage a reduction in risky behaviours.
Source: ft.com/
It is part of a prevention programme in Cuba that official data suggests has helped keep HIV prevalence at 0.1 per cent of the adult population: one of the lowest levels not only in the Caribbean, but around the world.
Prof Jorge Perez, deputy director of the Pedro Kourie Institute, Cuba’s tropical medicine agency, remembers the start of the HIV epidemic in Cuba. In 1985, he diagnosed the first known patient in the country: a heterosexual Cuban man returning from work in Mozambique, suffering from conditions including anaemia and an enlarged spleen.
That case, and others which followed, soon led to the imposition by Cuba of a move adopted by other countries including the US: the requirement for an HIV test for visitors. Those already in the country who tested positive were allowed to finish their studies before being sent home.
But Prof Perez went further, arguing along with colleagues for an initiative that sparked greater controversy, but which he still defends today. He proposed that all patients with HIV should be quarantined in a state sanatorium.
“We were at the beginning of a new disease,” he says, speaking in his large office, dominated by a vast wooden meeting table. “No one knew much about Aids, we had no treatment and this would allow us to learn the natural history of the disease, try to avoid its spread, and offer the best medical attention.”
Over almost a decade, Cuba looked after nearly 2,000 patients in a network of a dozen such centres across the country. They were treated well, and offered medical assistance, rooms with air-conditioning and television, and high-protein diets.
That was no trivial provision, especially during the economically troubled “special period” of the early 1990s. Even today, some 200 patients remain.
But Prof Perez stresses that the policy ended once the disease was better understood and treatment became available: “Life is not food and colour TV but freedom, family and social activities,” he says.
Those patients also became advocates and educators, returning to the community to advise others, helping distribute condoms and reinforcing Cuba’s already strong emphasis on preventive care. Widespread testing and treatment was also launched, although the US embargo means that Prof Perez has had to use a network of contacts and sometimes even purchase drugs himself while abroad to bring back for his patients.
One measure applied more assertively in Cuba than many other countries has been “contact tracing”, to actively identify sexual and drug-sharing contacts and offer them tests. “It works for syphilis, TB and gonorrhoea,” he says. “Why not for HIV?”
Financial support from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, and domestic production of anti-retroviral therapy, has helped strengthen Cuba’s response in recent years, and Prof Perez’s institute is also researching new approaches to treatment.
But in spite of Cuba’s distinctive approach, it shares many of the challenges other countries face. There are some signs that infection is increasing, and it is having to extend and refresh policies continually in order to encourage a reduction in risky behaviours.
Source: ft.com/
Impassioned debate on Cuba travel ban
At a tempestuous hearing Thursday, one House member after another criticized a growing campaign to lift the ban on American tourists traveling to Cuba. The move would reward a regime that oppresses its own people, lawmakers declared, pointing to the recent assault on Yoani Sánchez, a Cuban blogger and government critic, by suspected state security agents.
The beating showed that "the Cuban regime has not unclenched its fist," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Now is not the time to change policy and start appeasing and funding the Castro clan," said Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), citing Sánchez's case.
There was just one problem with making Sánchez the poster child for the travel ban: She opposes it.
Halfway through the hearing, the committee's chairman, Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), produced a letter he had received from the prominent blogger. "An opening of travel for Americans could bring more results in the democratization of Cuba than the indecisive performance of Raúl Castro," she wrote, referring to Cuba's president.
With Cuba having receded as a Cold War security threat, the country's human rights record is now at the center of U.S. policy toward the island. But as Thursday's hearing showed, lawmakers and even Cuban dissidents appear sharply divided on how to bring about change in the hemisphere's oldest dictatorship.
Supporters of lifting the travel ban think the move would loosen the communist government's grip by bringing in a flood of American tourists spreading democratic ideas. That argument was advanced Thursday by a prominent supporter of Cuban political prisoners, Miriam Leiva, testifying from Havana.
"Many thousands of Americans visiting Cuba would benefit our society," Leiva said, her face appearing on two video screens that loomed over the room in the Rayburn House Office Building. "Firstly, through the free flow of ideas, and further, by pressing the government to open up self-employment to provide goods and services, such as renting rooms, because the capacities in the hotels would be surpassed."
In the audience, a group of older men, wearing fist-size white buttons showing how many years they had spent in Cuban prisons, shook their heads and muttered. Berta Antúnez, the sister of a longtime Cuban political prisoner, rejected Leiva's arguments.
"For years, European, Canadian and Latin American tourists have traveled to Cuba without having any impact on the Cuban reality" but still filling government coffers, said Antúnez, who testified in person. She sat at a table with witnesses including James Cason, a former chief of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba who favors the ban, and retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a Clinton administration anti-drug official who wants it scrapped.
Berman says those who support lifting the ban have their best chance in years to get rid of it, thanks to Democratic control of the White House and Congress and backing from a wide range of business, agricultural and other groups. He says the House may act on legislation by the spring.
But many lawmakers -- including Democrats -- say they fear such a change could help prop up the Castro brothers, Raúl and his predecessor, Fidel.
Source: washingtonpost.com/
The beating showed that "the Cuban regime has not unclenched its fist," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Now is not the time to change policy and start appeasing and funding the Castro clan," said Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), citing Sánchez's case.
There was just one problem with making Sánchez the poster child for the travel ban: She opposes it.
Halfway through the hearing, the committee's chairman, Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), produced a letter he had received from the prominent blogger. "An opening of travel for Americans could bring more results in the democratization of Cuba than the indecisive performance of Raúl Castro," she wrote, referring to Cuba's president.
With Cuba having receded as a Cold War security threat, the country's human rights record is now at the center of U.S. policy toward the island. But as Thursday's hearing showed, lawmakers and even Cuban dissidents appear sharply divided on how to bring about change in the hemisphere's oldest dictatorship.
Supporters of lifting the travel ban think the move would loosen the communist government's grip by bringing in a flood of American tourists spreading democratic ideas. That argument was advanced Thursday by a prominent supporter of Cuban political prisoners, Miriam Leiva, testifying from Havana.
"Many thousands of Americans visiting Cuba would benefit our society," Leiva said, her face appearing on two video screens that loomed over the room in the Rayburn House Office Building. "Firstly, through the free flow of ideas, and further, by pressing the government to open up self-employment to provide goods and services, such as renting rooms, because the capacities in the hotels would be surpassed."
In the audience, a group of older men, wearing fist-size white buttons showing how many years they had spent in Cuban prisons, shook their heads and muttered. Berta Antúnez, the sister of a longtime Cuban political prisoner, rejected Leiva's arguments.
"For years, European, Canadian and Latin American tourists have traveled to Cuba without having any impact on the Cuban reality" but still filling government coffers, said Antúnez, who testified in person. She sat at a table with witnesses including James Cason, a former chief of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba who favors the ban, and retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a Clinton administration anti-drug official who wants it scrapped.
Berman says those who support lifting the ban have their best chance in years to get rid of it, thanks to Democratic control of the White House and Congress and backing from a wide range of business, agricultural and other groups. He says the House may act on legislation by the spring.
But many lawmakers -- including Democrats -- say they fear such a change could help prop up the Castro brothers, Raúl and his predecessor, Fidel.
Source: washingtonpost.com/
Engaging Cuba on Human Rights
Normalization of U.S. relations with Cuba was widely seen as exactly the kind of high-value, low-hanging fruit that would be ideal for a president elected under the banner of "change." But a scathing new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, "New Castro, Same Cuba," will make lifting sanctions against the Castro regime—on travel, remittances, trade—more difficult for President Obama.
Sadly, the human-rights situation on the island remains dismal, despite new leadership. According to HRW, the Raúl Castro government has harassed and imprisoned dissidents using an Orwellian provision of the Cuban Criminal Code that punishes "dangerousness." Authorities can lock up individuals on the suspicion that they may commit a crime in the future, or for engaging in behavior that is "antisocial" or contrary to "socialist morality."
Among the activities the government has deemed "dangerous" are: handing out copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, failing to attend pro-government rallies, or simply being unemployed. In its report, based on more than 60 interviews carried out in Cuba without official permission or by phone from abroad, HRW documented more than 40 cases of dissidents who have been sentenced for "dangerousness."
Cuban law is replete with laws like the "dangerousness" provision that may be used to punish anyone seen as critical of the government. Human-rights defenders, journalists, political activists and others charged with breaking such laws find themselves at the mercy of a system that violates virtually every due process right.
Political detainees are denied access to legal counsel and family visits. They are subjected to abusive interrogations, and they may be detained for months or even years without being charged. Trials are pure theater, mostly conducted behind closed doors and finished in minutes.
Once in prison, abuse is commonplace. On Dec. 10, 2008—Human Rights Day—a political prisoner tried to read aloud to fellow prisoners from a book his wife had brought him called "Your Rights." In response, a guard came into his cell and told him to eat the book. When the prisoner refused, he was beaten and later sentenced to six more years in prison for "disrespecting authority."
Dissidents are subjected to public "acts of repudiation," in which crowds gather outside of their homes, throwing stones, shouting threats, and sometimes physically assaulting them. Those labeled "counterrevolutionaries" are fired from their jobs, monitored, threatened and prevented from traveling. The beating of dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez by two men she says were Cuban agents in civilian clothes in Havana just two weeks ago is further proof of this regrettable state of affairs.
Without outside pressure, the human-rights situation in Cuba will not improve. But outside pressure—sadly absent today, in the case of Europe or Latin America—has proved insufficient. At the same time, the U.S. embargo policy has been a unmitigated failure.
The logical route to follow is the one HRW and others have suggested: The U.S. should shift from a policy of regime change to a policy of human-rights promotion. The Obama administration should approach the European Union and the Latin American democracies and offer to lift the embargo on the condition that these countries join the U.S. in pressuring Cuba on a single demand: the release of all political prisoners, including those incarcerated for "dangerousness."
Once the U.S. government has secured this commitment and a multilateral coalition is in place, the U.S. should end its failed embargo policy. Cuba should be given a brief and specified period—the report recommends six months—to release all of its political prisoners.
If the government of Raúl Castro complies, it will set in motion a process whose ultimate goal is the full normalization of relations with the U.S. and the EU, as well as compliance with the democratic standards of the Organization of American States. If it does not, this multilateral coalition should enact targeted sanctions directed at the leadership of the Castro government.
The Castro brothers know that nothing would be more threatening to their half-century monopoly on power than the end of the U.S. embargo, which they use as a justification for their ongoing abuses. Indeed, they appear to be deliberately sabotaging normalization by making the human-rights situation worse.
This is why a multilateral approach is crucial. According to the Spanish daily El País, President Obama asked Spanish Prime Minister Rodríguez Zapatero three weeks ago to "Tell the Cubans we are taking steps, but if they don't take them too, it will be very difficult for us to continue." The Obama administration gets it. Now, if only we could get more Latin American countries to stop countenancing Cuba's human-rights violations and play a constructive role.
Mr. Castaneda, a professor at New York University and fellow at the New America Foundation, was Mexico's foreign minister from 2000 to 2003.
Source: wsj.com/
Sadly, the human-rights situation on the island remains dismal, despite new leadership. According to HRW, the Raúl Castro government has harassed and imprisoned dissidents using an Orwellian provision of the Cuban Criminal Code that punishes "dangerousness." Authorities can lock up individuals on the suspicion that they may commit a crime in the future, or for engaging in behavior that is "antisocial" or contrary to "socialist morality."
Among the activities the government has deemed "dangerous" are: handing out copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, failing to attend pro-government rallies, or simply being unemployed. In its report, based on more than 60 interviews carried out in Cuba without official permission or by phone from abroad, HRW documented more than 40 cases of dissidents who have been sentenced for "dangerousness."
Cuban law is replete with laws like the "dangerousness" provision that may be used to punish anyone seen as critical of the government. Human-rights defenders, journalists, political activists and others charged with breaking such laws find themselves at the mercy of a system that violates virtually every due process right.
Political detainees are denied access to legal counsel and family visits. They are subjected to abusive interrogations, and they may be detained for months or even years without being charged. Trials are pure theater, mostly conducted behind closed doors and finished in minutes.
Once in prison, abuse is commonplace. On Dec. 10, 2008—Human Rights Day—a political prisoner tried to read aloud to fellow prisoners from a book his wife had brought him called "Your Rights." In response, a guard came into his cell and told him to eat the book. When the prisoner refused, he was beaten and later sentenced to six more years in prison for "disrespecting authority."
Dissidents are subjected to public "acts of repudiation," in which crowds gather outside of their homes, throwing stones, shouting threats, and sometimes physically assaulting them. Those labeled "counterrevolutionaries" are fired from their jobs, monitored, threatened and prevented from traveling. The beating of dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez by two men she says were Cuban agents in civilian clothes in Havana just two weeks ago is further proof of this regrettable state of affairs.
Without outside pressure, the human-rights situation in Cuba will not improve. But outside pressure—sadly absent today, in the case of Europe or Latin America—has proved insufficient. At the same time, the U.S. embargo policy has been a unmitigated failure.
The logical route to follow is the one HRW and others have suggested: The U.S. should shift from a policy of regime change to a policy of human-rights promotion. The Obama administration should approach the European Union and the Latin American democracies and offer to lift the embargo on the condition that these countries join the U.S. in pressuring Cuba on a single demand: the release of all political prisoners, including those incarcerated for "dangerousness."
Once the U.S. government has secured this commitment and a multilateral coalition is in place, the U.S. should end its failed embargo policy. Cuba should be given a brief and specified period—the report recommends six months—to release all of its political prisoners.
If the government of Raúl Castro complies, it will set in motion a process whose ultimate goal is the full normalization of relations with the U.S. and the EU, as well as compliance with the democratic standards of the Organization of American States. If it does not, this multilateral coalition should enact targeted sanctions directed at the leadership of the Castro government.
The Castro brothers know that nothing would be more threatening to their half-century monopoly on power than the end of the U.S. embargo, which they use as a justification for their ongoing abuses. Indeed, they appear to be deliberately sabotaging normalization by making the human-rights situation worse.
This is why a multilateral approach is crucial. According to the Spanish daily El País, President Obama asked Spanish Prime Minister Rodríguez Zapatero three weeks ago to "Tell the Cubans we are taking steps, but if they don't take them too, it will be very difficult for us to continue." The Obama administration gets it. Now, if only we could get more Latin American countries to stop countenancing Cuba's human-rights violations and play a constructive role.
Mr. Castaneda, a professor at New York University and fellow at the New America Foundation, was Mexico's foreign minister from 2000 to 2003.
Source: wsj.com/
Cuba film institute founder looks back on 50 years
HAVANA — Fidel Castro was 32 and building his new government on the fly.
He nationalized Cuba's U.S.-run telephone company, tapped Che Guevara as head of the National Bank and claimed he was no communist to every interviewer — later maintaining he hid his true political convictions to keep from antagonizing Washington too soon.
And he created a state-run film industry, founding the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematography on March 24, 1959 — just 82 days after his bearded rebels' revolution.
As the institute celebrates its 50th anniversary during the Havana film festival beginning Dec. 3, its founder, Alfredo Guevara, a college friend of Castro's, provided written answers to questions from The Associated Press.
"Cinema was the great communicator and Fidel knew it. We were inspired protagonists and accomplices in the urgency of the revolution," said Guevara, who is not related to Che.
Guevara, 82, stepped down as institute head in 2000, but remains one of the government's behind-the-scenes power-brokers. He was a communist who went into exile in the 1940s but returned to Cuba in 1951 and became a public face of the party long before Castro did.
Castro grasped that movies, especially quality ones with mass appeal, could be his government's best public-relations weapon. He turned to Guevara, who had written screenplays but was more of an intellectual than movie buff, and was willing to defend the revolution at all cost — even when it meant advocating state censorship.
"I'm not a rebel, or at least not a professional rebel," Guevara said, "I'm a revolutionary."
But Guevara says the film institute is not in the propaganda business.
"We have a mission, an end we always work toward," he said. "It's not ideology, it's idealism."
The institute has produced more than 300 films, winning international acclaim and helping keep the Castro government hip in intellectual circles — despite its bans on free speech, expression, assembly and press.
In 1961, Castro defined free expression as "within the Revolution, everything; outside the Revolution, nothing." Many intellectuals and artists were imprisoned or hounded into exile. Censorship closed all nongovernment media and halted publication and promotion of literature, academic work and art.
Then, between 1971 and 1976, the so-called "five gray years," many artists and writers were fired or fled Cuba as "counterrevolutionaries."
Despite those obstacles, the institute produced powerful, unfiltered looks at Cuban reality — especially the work of late director Tomas Gutierrez Alea, whose films include the fall-over funny satire of crippling Cuban bureaucracy, 1966's "La Muerte de un Burocrata," or "Death of a Bureaucrat," and "Memories of Underdevelopment," "Memorias del Subdesarollo," a story of post-revolutionary disillusionment.
"There is a level at which most Cuban films, or at least the pinnacle of accomplishment, were always operating on some sort of allegorical level. I think there is a balance between what is implicitly stated and what is actually stated," said Mariana Johnson, a professor of film studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, who is writing a book on contemporary Cuban cinema. "There's a double-voice in a way that does not go unnoticed to a Cuban audience."
Just as he has at times argued in favor of nipping anti-government expression in the bud, Guevara also has sometimes used his stature within the government to protect brilliant but critical films.
"The socialist revolution gave me authenticity at any price," Guevara said.
Still, films sometimes got a little too authentic for the government's liking.
"Alicia en el Pueblo de las Maravillas," or "Alice in Wondertown" used fantasy to satirize the incompetence of Cuba's government and its top officials' exploitation of ordinary islanders. It debuted to huge crowds in 1991, but was yanked from theaters after four days. Guevara later publicly "forgave" the film, but it was not widely rereleased.
Movies are one of the many things Cuba's government subsidizes and are shown in crumbling, 1950s theaters for less than an American dime.
In 1996, "Guantanamera," Gutierrez Alea's comedy about a corpse that travels from one end of Cuba to the other amid prohibitions on hearses crossing state lines, prompted this rebuke from Castro during a speech: "Transmitting the notion that the revolution and all socialism is bureaucracy and poverty tarnishes the ideas of the country."
Cuba's film institute also coped with economic hardships — especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of its annual subsidies to the island.
In 1993, the institute produced just two full-length features, one a classic about repression and friendship, Gutierrez Alea's "Fresa y Chocolate," or "Strawberry and Chocolate." Guevara also noted that Washington's 47-year-old trade embargo sparks shortages of everything from high-intensity light bulbs to movie projectors.
"Looking back, its a miracle we still exist," he said.
Still, from the 1990s on, many Cuban filmmakers know their work may never get completed without securing extra financing from Europe.
"They have to think less about the Cuban government and more about what is going to play to foreign investors," Johnson said.
More recent frank films include Suite Habana, a 2003 documentary that follows the lives of 13 Havana residents, including a 79-year-old retiree who supplements her tiny pension selling peanuts on the street. "Broken Gods," "Los Dioses Rotos," retells the tale of a famous Havana pimp from a bygone era — but uses modern-day "jineteras," or young Cuban women who sell their bodies to rich tourists.
Today, young Cuban filmmakers are producing shorts for the Internet, bypassing Guevara's institute altogether.
"You see much more critical voices coming out of those short films," Johnson said. "They don't have to worry about getting it out in wide distribution. They just put it online."
After a half century, Guevara said he is satisfied with the institute's work, but acknowledged it may be losing touch with young Cubans.
"If we succeeded in being better and learning to listen to (young people) it would be an achievement," he said. "In some areas, we haven't made it out of grade school."
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hrmZWovxIvrTz6PYT69UGLtcIqxwD9C535UO5
He nationalized Cuba's U.S.-run telephone company, tapped Che Guevara as head of the National Bank and claimed he was no communist to every interviewer — later maintaining he hid his true political convictions to keep from antagonizing Washington too soon.
And he created a state-run film industry, founding the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematography on March 24, 1959 — just 82 days after his bearded rebels' revolution.
As the institute celebrates its 50th anniversary during the Havana film festival beginning Dec. 3, its founder, Alfredo Guevara, a college friend of Castro's, provided written answers to questions from The Associated Press.
"Cinema was the great communicator and Fidel knew it. We were inspired protagonists and accomplices in the urgency of the revolution," said Guevara, who is not related to Che.
Guevara, 82, stepped down as institute head in 2000, but remains one of the government's behind-the-scenes power-brokers. He was a communist who went into exile in the 1940s but returned to Cuba in 1951 and became a public face of the party long before Castro did.
Castro grasped that movies, especially quality ones with mass appeal, could be his government's best public-relations weapon. He turned to Guevara, who had written screenplays but was more of an intellectual than movie buff, and was willing to defend the revolution at all cost — even when it meant advocating state censorship.
"I'm not a rebel, or at least not a professional rebel," Guevara said, "I'm a revolutionary."
But Guevara says the film institute is not in the propaganda business.
"We have a mission, an end we always work toward," he said. "It's not ideology, it's idealism."
The institute has produced more than 300 films, winning international acclaim and helping keep the Castro government hip in intellectual circles — despite its bans on free speech, expression, assembly and press.
In 1961, Castro defined free expression as "within the Revolution, everything; outside the Revolution, nothing." Many intellectuals and artists were imprisoned or hounded into exile. Censorship closed all nongovernment media and halted publication and promotion of literature, academic work and art.
Then, between 1971 and 1976, the so-called "five gray years," many artists and writers were fired or fled Cuba as "counterrevolutionaries."
Despite those obstacles, the institute produced powerful, unfiltered looks at Cuban reality — especially the work of late director Tomas Gutierrez Alea, whose films include the fall-over funny satire of crippling Cuban bureaucracy, 1966's "La Muerte de un Burocrata," or "Death of a Bureaucrat," and "Memories of Underdevelopment," "Memorias del Subdesarollo," a story of post-revolutionary disillusionment.
"There is a level at which most Cuban films, or at least the pinnacle of accomplishment, were always operating on some sort of allegorical level. I think there is a balance between what is implicitly stated and what is actually stated," said Mariana Johnson, a professor of film studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, who is writing a book on contemporary Cuban cinema. "There's a double-voice in a way that does not go unnoticed to a Cuban audience."
Just as he has at times argued in favor of nipping anti-government expression in the bud, Guevara also has sometimes used his stature within the government to protect brilliant but critical films.
"The socialist revolution gave me authenticity at any price," Guevara said.
Still, films sometimes got a little too authentic for the government's liking.
"Alicia en el Pueblo de las Maravillas," or "Alice in Wondertown" used fantasy to satirize the incompetence of Cuba's government and its top officials' exploitation of ordinary islanders. It debuted to huge crowds in 1991, but was yanked from theaters after four days. Guevara later publicly "forgave" the film, but it was not widely rereleased.
Movies are one of the many things Cuba's government subsidizes and are shown in crumbling, 1950s theaters for less than an American dime.
In 1996, "Guantanamera," Gutierrez Alea's comedy about a corpse that travels from one end of Cuba to the other amid prohibitions on hearses crossing state lines, prompted this rebuke from Castro during a speech: "Transmitting the notion that the revolution and all socialism is bureaucracy and poverty tarnishes the ideas of the country."
Cuba's film institute also coped with economic hardships — especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of its annual subsidies to the island.
In 1993, the institute produced just two full-length features, one a classic about repression and friendship, Gutierrez Alea's "Fresa y Chocolate," or "Strawberry and Chocolate." Guevara also noted that Washington's 47-year-old trade embargo sparks shortages of everything from high-intensity light bulbs to movie projectors.
"Looking back, its a miracle we still exist," he said.
Still, from the 1990s on, many Cuban filmmakers know their work may never get completed without securing extra financing from Europe.
"They have to think less about the Cuban government and more about what is going to play to foreign investors," Johnson said.
More recent frank films include Suite Habana, a 2003 documentary that follows the lives of 13 Havana residents, including a 79-year-old retiree who supplements her tiny pension selling peanuts on the street. "Broken Gods," "Los Dioses Rotos," retells the tale of a famous Havana pimp from a bygone era — but uses modern-day "jineteras," or young Cuban women who sell their bodies to rich tourists.
Today, young Cuban filmmakers are producing shorts for the Internet, bypassing Guevara's institute altogether.
"You see much more critical voices coming out of those short films," Johnson said. "They don't have to worry about getting it out in wide distribution. They just put it online."
After a half century, Guevara said he is satisfied with the institute's work, but acknowledged it may be losing touch with young Cubans.
"If we succeeded in being better and learning to listen to (young people) it would be an achievement," he said. "In some areas, we haven't made it out of grade school."
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hrmZWovxIvrTz6PYT69UGLtcIqxwD9C535UO5
CUBA: World Class Pharma that Puts People First
HAVANA, Dec 1 (IPS) - Cuban biotechnology and pharmaceutical products are already among the country's major exports, and the industry is on course to continue developing while maintaining a firm focus on making a real difference to the health of all Cubans and of people in the numerous countries where Cuba provides medical assistance.
The existence of market forces is a reality that has to be reckoned with because of production costs, but health decisions cannot be governed by business considerations alone, said Agustín Lage, head of the Centre for Molecular Immunology (CIM), whose anti-cancer product Nimotuzumab is currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States.
Lage and other Cuban scientists presented the strategy and results obtained by Cuba's biotechnology industry at the Global Forum for Health Research, held mid-November in Havana. The biotech industry, which began to develop in Cuba in the 1980s, now holds some 1,200 international patents.
Cuban pharmaceutical research centres had to adopt policies on intellectual property and protect their inventions with patents in order to generate export revenues, as otherwise a high-tech sector like this could not exist, Lage explained. "At the CIM, about 60 percent of the patents are used commercially in some way," he added.
According to official reports delivered at parliamentary sessions in late 2008, biotech export sales increased by 20 percent last year compared with 2007.
Export sales totalled 340 million dollars in 2008, according to estimates by academics.
Luis Herrera, head of the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), said the development and sustainability of the industry is based on its "closed circle" approach, which deals with the full life cycle of its products, from research to production and marketing. "Without this approach, we would not have got the same results," he said.
Another key element is cooperation and exchange between all the institutions. "From the start we realised that we were too poor to indulge in competition with each other," said Herrera, who added that as well as integration, the industry is characterised by a "vocation" for applied research in line with national interests. "A result is not a result until it has a positive impact on the health system," he said.
The CIGB, the leading institution of Cuba's biotech industry, founded over 20 years ago, has recently produced a vaccine against hepatitis B, a synthetic vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type B, and Heberprot-P, regarded as the only effective treatment in the world for diabetic foot ulcers.
CIGB scientists take pride in showing how all Cubans have benefited from their research, one way or another. Eight years after the hepatitis B vaccine came into use, there has not been a single case of the illness in children under five on the island, Herrera said.
When this Caribbean island nation plunged into economic crisis in 1990, triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European socialist bloc, the government decided to carry on developing the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, creating new facilities in what is known as the West Havana Scientific Pole.
The Carlos J. Finlay Institute for vaccine development opened in 1991, the National Biopreparations Centre, which ramps up production for the biotech institutions, in 1992, and in 1994 the CIM was established, for research and development and production of monoclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are produced in laboratories and bind to specific target molecules (like proteins) on the surface of, for instance, cancer cells.
Each monoclonal antibody preparation recognises only one target protein or antigen.
Later on, biotech research spread throughout the country and at present 12 provinces have so-called "scientific poles", which integrate the efforts of researchers, university professors, business experts and innovators, among others, according to Cuban academics Betsy Anaya Cruz and Mariana Martín Fernández.
A study by the two authors underlines that vaccine development has led to the eradication of diseases like polio, diphtheria, measles, German measles and mumps in Cuba, and drastic reductions in the incidence of meningococcal meningitis type B and hepatitis B, thanks to the mass vaccination programme for children.
"This scientific development is due to political will, and is an expression of a conception of human rights in which resources and investment are devoted to the welfare of the country's people as well as that of other countries," Concepción Campa, the head of the Finlay Institute, told IPS.
VAMENGOC-BC, the only vaccine in the world effective against meningitis caused by type B meningococci, was developed in the Finlay Institute's laboratories. A production plant opened in partnership with Brazil in 2007 is making 50 million doses of the vaccine this year to fight meningitis in over a score of African countries, Campa said.
The joint Cuban-Brazilian production of the vaccine supplies the needs of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which says 400 million people in 21 African countries are at risk from meningitis. "The incidence is more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 population during outbreaks," Campa said.
The plant has been enlarged for future production of other vaccines, such as the anti-pneumococcal vaccine which will undergo clinical trials in 2010.
Pneumococcus is a disease organism that affects humans nearly exclusively, causing infections such as pneumonia, sinusitis and peritonitis as well as severe invasive processes like pneumococcal meningitis and septicaemia.
Among CIM's most recent products is a vaccine for therapeutic treatment of advanced lung cancer. Registered in 2008, it has proved effective in prolonging patient survival and improving quality of life.
In mid-2009, the Canada-based drug development company YM Biosciences obtained a licence for clinical trials in the United States of the monoclonal antibody Nimotuzumab (CIMAher), for the treatment of advanced tumours of the head, neck and brain, another achievement of Cuban biotechnology.
YM Biosciences owns 80 percent of CIMYM, the company holding the rights to Nimotuzumab in North America, Europe, Japan and other regions. The remaining 20 percent is owned by CIM, as developers of the vaccine. Trials are expected to last three or four years.
If the drug trials are successful, changes will be needed to the U.S. embargo, which bans all trade with Cuba, before it can be sold in the United States. Previously, pharmaceutical companies SmithKline Beecham and CancerVax obtained licences for experimental trials of the vaccines against meningitis and for treating lung cancer, although they decided not to continue with clinical trials.
Political stumbling blocks aside, Cuba's biotech industry has proved to be a resounding success in every way: by generating new products, and due to their impact on public health, the number of patents registered, the volume of exports and the returns on investments, according to Cruz and Martín Fernández.
The industry is presently enjoying steady growth, and even higher economic returns are to be expected in future, the study says. (END/2009)
Source: ipsnews.net/
The existence of market forces is a reality that has to be reckoned with because of production costs, but health decisions cannot be governed by business considerations alone, said Agustín Lage, head of the Centre for Molecular Immunology (CIM), whose anti-cancer product Nimotuzumab is currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States.
Lage and other Cuban scientists presented the strategy and results obtained by Cuba's biotechnology industry at the Global Forum for Health Research, held mid-November in Havana. The biotech industry, which began to develop in Cuba in the 1980s, now holds some 1,200 international patents.
Cuban pharmaceutical research centres had to adopt policies on intellectual property and protect their inventions with patents in order to generate export revenues, as otherwise a high-tech sector like this could not exist, Lage explained. "At the CIM, about 60 percent of the patents are used commercially in some way," he added.
According to official reports delivered at parliamentary sessions in late 2008, biotech export sales increased by 20 percent last year compared with 2007.
Export sales totalled 340 million dollars in 2008, according to estimates by academics.
Luis Herrera, head of the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), said the development and sustainability of the industry is based on its "closed circle" approach, which deals with the full life cycle of its products, from research to production and marketing. "Without this approach, we would not have got the same results," he said.
Another key element is cooperation and exchange between all the institutions. "From the start we realised that we were too poor to indulge in competition with each other," said Herrera, who added that as well as integration, the industry is characterised by a "vocation" for applied research in line with national interests. "A result is not a result until it has a positive impact on the health system," he said.
The CIGB, the leading institution of Cuba's biotech industry, founded over 20 years ago, has recently produced a vaccine against hepatitis B, a synthetic vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type B, and Heberprot-P, regarded as the only effective treatment in the world for diabetic foot ulcers.
CIGB scientists take pride in showing how all Cubans have benefited from their research, one way or another. Eight years after the hepatitis B vaccine came into use, there has not been a single case of the illness in children under five on the island, Herrera said.
When this Caribbean island nation plunged into economic crisis in 1990, triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European socialist bloc, the government decided to carry on developing the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, creating new facilities in what is known as the West Havana Scientific Pole.
The Carlos J. Finlay Institute for vaccine development opened in 1991, the National Biopreparations Centre, which ramps up production for the biotech institutions, in 1992, and in 1994 the CIM was established, for research and development and production of monoclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are produced in laboratories and bind to specific target molecules (like proteins) on the surface of, for instance, cancer cells.
Each monoclonal antibody preparation recognises only one target protein or antigen.
Later on, biotech research spread throughout the country and at present 12 provinces have so-called "scientific poles", which integrate the efforts of researchers, university professors, business experts and innovators, among others, according to Cuban academics Betsy Anaya Cruz and Mariana Martín Fernández.
A study by the two authors underlines that vaccine development has led to the eradication of diseases like polio, diphtheria, measles, German measles and mumps in Cuba, and drastic reductions in the incidence of meningococcal meningitis type B and hepatitis B, thanks to the mass vaccination programme for children.
"This scientific development is due to political will, and is an expression of a conception of human rights in which resources and investment are devoted to the welfare of the country's people as well as that of other countries," Concepción Campa, the head of the Finlay Institute, told IPS.
VAMENGOC-BC, the only vaccine in the world effective against meningitis caused by type B meningococci, was developed in the Finlay Institute's laboratories. A production plant opened in partnership with Brazil in 2007 is making 50 million doses of the vaccine this year to fight meningitis in over a score of African countries, Campa said.
The joint Cuban-Brazilian production of the vaccine supplies the needs of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which says 400 million people in 21 African countries are at risk from meningitis. "The incidence is more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 population during outbreaks," Campa said.
The plant has been enlarged for future production of other vaccines, such as the anti-pneumococcal vaccine which will undergo clinical trials in 2010.
Pneumococcus is a disease organism that affects humans nearly exclusively, causing infections such as pneumonia, sinusitis and peritonitis as well as severe invasive processes like pneumococcal meningitis and septicaemia.
Among CIM's most recent products is a vaccine for therapeutic treatment of advanced lung cancer. Registered in 2008, it has proved effective in prolonging patient survival and improving quality of life.
In mid-2009, the Canada-based drug development company YM Biosciences obtained a licence for clinical trials in the United States of the monoclonal antibody Nimotuzumab (CIMAher), for the treatment of advanced tumours of the head, neck and brain, another achievement of Cuban biotechnology.
YM Biosciences owns 80 percent of CIMYM, the company holding the rights to Nimotuzumab in North America, Europe, Japan and other regions. The remaining 20 percent is owned by CIM, as developers of the vaccine. Trials are expected to last three or four years.
If the drug trials are successful, changes will be needed to the U.S. embargo, which bans all trade with Cuba, before it can be sold in the United States. Previously, pharmaceutical companies SmithKline Beecham and CancerVax obtained licences for experimental trials of the vaccines against meningitis and for treating lung cancer, although they decided not to continue with clinical trials.
Political stumbling blocks aside, Cuba's biotech industry has proved to be a resounding success in every way: by generating new products, and due to their impact on public health, the number of patents registered, the volume of exports and the returns on investments, according to Cruz and Martín Fernández.
The industry is presently enjoying steady growth, and even higher economic returns are to be expected in future, the study says. (END/2009)
Source: ipsnews.net/
Cuba Calls for Humanist Development
HAVANA TIMES, Dec. 1 - The solution to the global economic crisis is not “to continue applying the failed neoliberal recipes, but rather to apply focuses that have human beings as their raison d’etre and centre of development, according to the Millennium Development Goals,” affirmed Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment when speaking during the seventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) being held in Geneva.
Source: havanatimes.org/
Source: havanatimes.org/
Chill Grill brings taste of Cuba to Lincolnville
Luis Peral and Gilberto Perdemo told Historic City News that they are bringing a taste of Cuba to Lincolnville.
“Our goal is the serve our community with affordable meals” Peral said. “I spent years in Miami in the midst of all the hustle and bustle and I wanted a place where I could chill.”
The Chill Grill features a combination of Latino and Italian American cuisine. From Grilled Pork Tenderloin to baked or fried chicken, all meals are served with tasty sides such as black beans and rice, mashed potatoes, yucca and sweet plantains.
The Chill Grill, which is located at 102 Bridge Street in Lincolnville, also has down home favorites such as deep fried chicken livers and gizzards, ox tail and fish, chicken and beef empanadas.
Roger Jolley sent a message to Historic City News, and the members of the Lincolnville & West Augustine neighborhood, reporting that The Chill Grill will offer live music today at 6:00 p.m.
Jolley, who describes the cuisine as “Urban Latin Soul Food”, says that he believes The Chill Grill will be a success since it is close to dorms, apartments and they offer delivery. Jolley portrayed The Chill Grill as “great food by good people.”
Source: historiccity.com/
Alex Cuba, libre
Alex Cuba is making curious inroads into the Canadian music scene.
The Cuban expat now living in a remote corner of British Columbia recently covered a Blue Rodeo song in Spanish – with help from Blue Rodeo.
He also co-wrote most of Nelly Furtado's new Spanish-language disc and sings with her on the title track, "Mi Plan (My Plan)."
On Monday, he won a major industry award for world music. This upcoming Monday he opens for U.S.-born Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto at the Sound Academy.
After two Juno-winning solo albums, he has released a third CD, Alex Cuba, on his own label for distribution in Canada and the United States by EMI. "My best to date because of its simplicity," he says of his latest work in his charming low-key way. "In the beginning, I tended to make music that was complicated, but I have managed to become a better songwriter because of how I live in Canada – simply."
Cuba wears his hair in a retro Afro, and grows sideburns all the way to his mouth. His singing voice possesses a luxurious quality and his guitar playing incorporates jazz, pop and other styles into a recognizably Cuban sound – "a natural progression to everything I've done," he says.
Thirty-five years ago, he was born Alexis Puentes in Artemisa, an hour west of Havana. His father Valentin Puentes was a guitarist specializing in a popular '60s style called "filin," meaning "feeling," a ballad form influenced by blues and jazz.
From an early age, with fraternal twin Adonis, Cuba practiced guitar and other instruments, and in 1995 he travelled with his father's band to play a Cuban solidarity concert at Simon Fraser University. Anthropology student Sarah Goodacre helped organize the event. Within months she and Cuba were married and living in Cuba.
In 1999 they resettled in Canada, first in Victoria, then in Goodacre's hometown of Smithers, B.C., population 5,000, on the road between Prince George and Prince Rupert. The nearest city, Vancouver or Edmonton, is a 14-hour drive away.
"People think that to make a musical career you have to live in the city," Cuba explained by phone recently from a tour stop in Cranbrook, B.C.
"But from early in my time in Canada, I saw that in cities, especially for Latin musicians, you were going to end up playing at the same place every Friday and Saturday.
"You would be fine for about three months," he says. "Then people will get tired of you and you end up finding a daytime job because music will not pay your livelihood."
Living in Smithers – "a beautiful community of musicians and artists" – avoids such dead ends, he says.
The couple has three children. Goodacre serves as business manager and runs their label Caracol Records. Two or three times a year, Cuba plays to a full house at the local 300-seat Della Herman Theatre, and at other times tours with a bass player and drummer as the Alex Cuba Band.
In 2006 and 2008, he won Junos for World Music Album of the Year. At the second ceremony, he was sitting with fellow musician Serena Ryder at a songwriting workshop when he thought he spotted Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy in the audience.
"Yes, that's him," Ryder confirmed.
When his turn came, Cuba sang the Toronto band's 1993 song "Bad Timing" in Spanish. Later, at the band's Toronto studios, Cuddy dug out the original master tracks and sang harmony for Cuba on a Spanish-language single of "Bad Timing."
Cuba met pop star Nelly Furtado through connections in Victoria, where Furtado grew up and where Cuba based himself for a while when he and brother Adonis performed as the Puentes Brothers.
Wishing to record in Spanish, Furtado wrote nine songs with Cuba. Seven ended up on Mi Plan, released in September.
"I put my vocal on the title track as a demo," Cuba says. "She told me, `If it's okay, I'm going to keep your voice in there – I love it.'"
Source: thestar.com/
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