A Last, Lonely Dissident -- (Re: Independent Cuban Journalists)

[HuckleB]

A Last, Lonely Dissident

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/magazine/07ENCOUNTER.html

"As she strolls through Old Havana, wearing two-tone Jennifer Lopez-style sunglasses, Claudia Márquez Linares seems like a member of Cuba's tiny elite. And in many ways she is. At 27, she is already regarded as one of the country's leading independent journalists. For her efforts, she has lost friends, effectively her husband and, perhaps soon, her homeland.

Officially, there is only one type of media in Cuba: state-owned. Journalists writing elsewhere -- in foreign publications and underground magazines or on the Internet -- have long lived in a sort of gray zone, often tolerated but usually harassed. In the 1990's, though, the state temporarily relaxed its grip as it sought to open its economy and survive the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Márquez was introduced to the Cuban opposition by her husband, Osvaldo Alfonso Valdes, an aspiring politician. ''He taught me the word 'dissident,''' she says. Like many independent journalists, she came to reject the ossified polemics that have become the signature of Castro and his hard-line foes in the United States. ''I don't like communism,'' she says. ''But nor do I like extremist thinking of any ideology.'' Instead, she explored the gritty side of Cuban life ignored by the official press.

...

Such critiques and jabs were heard often from opposition writers. But on March 18, 2003, Castro cracked down. With the world fixated on the impending invasion of Iraq, which would take place the next day, the Cuban government rounded up almost 80 dissidents. Márquez herself wasn't arrested, probably because of her sex. (Only one of the 75 eventually sentenced was a woman.) In the ensuing show trials, only one dissident apparently ''confessed'' or expressed remorse: Márquez's husband.

..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/magazine/07ENCOUNTER.html

[pinerow]

1. I'll start believing this nonsense when I see a "dissident" movement

independent of U.S dollars and Miami interference.

[Say_What]

26. The only one who comes close is Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo

who moved back to the island a year or so back. His recent quote, however, about the election is interesting. Frankly I can't see Bush becoming more flexible re Cuba.

President Bush is more likely to pay attention now to calls for a more flexible stance towards Cuba, said Gutiérrez Menoyo, a former rebel commander who fought in the Cuban revolution but fell out with Castro and spent 22 years in prison for armed insubordination against the government.

He went into exile in 1986 but returned last year and is still awaiting permission from the government to reside here permanently.

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=26150

Peace!!
SW

[Mika]

29. Wow! 17 of 45. We're turnin' the corner

From the article that Say_What posted,

Of the 45 bills involving Cuba that have been introduced in the U.S. Congress this year, 17 were aimed at partially or totally lifting the four-decade economic embargo against Cuba.

-

"In the past, only bills against Cuba were introduced in the U.S. Congress, but today it is no longer completely anti-Cuban, and it has also become an instrument of debate on U.S. policy towards Cuba," analyst Esteban Morales commented to IPS.

So.. 30 bills in the last year were anti Cuba? Gawd, is this one sick country or what?



The Labyrinth Of The Minotaur

[Mika]

2. Independent, my ass

It would be like calling an Al Queda funded network of "journalists" operating in the US & seeking to overthrow the US government "independent".


Covering and Not Covering Cuba
http://www.canadiandimension.mb.ca/v37/v37_4lh.htm

{Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez}Roque held an open press conference in Havana shortly after the much condemned trial of the ¯dissidents and independent journalists˜ in early April. A respectable number of the 157 foreign correspondents operating freely in Cuba were there, but few found the testimony of one Nestor Sanchez Galarraga Baguer of any interest.

Sr. Baguer was Chairman of the Cuban Independent Press Association, an organization home to several dissident journalists revered by Canadian media.

It turns out that Sr. Baguer was recruited by the US Interests Section of Havana (the compound that houses American foreign service personnel) to create and/or distort information to feed to American sponsored counter-revolutionary Radio Marti, and to several other journalistic fronts as necessary.

A special open pass gave him 24 hour access to the US facilities including an Internet room where a couple of dozen other phoney ¯independents˜ worked. Sr. Baguer explained that they were told what to write about and paid generously in cash with money smuggled in through couriers. Among his assorted colleagues in disinformation was the alleged exiled poet Raul Rivero, also ¯connected˜ as a writer for the ultra-conservative newspaper, the Miami Herald.

Fortunately for the US Interests Section, Nestor Baguer was a real journalist who knew how to make phoney stories look good. Unfortunately, he was also a double agent for Cuban intelligence(codename Octavio) whoˆd been operating undercover successfully since 1960. Should have been a helluva story, but for all the attention he got, Sr. Baguer could have saved his breath. Not only are North American media not interested in the truth about Cuba; when we find it, we kill it.

[Mika]

3. Independent my ass 2

BUSH WINS LANDSLIDE IN MOCK ELECTION (FOR 100 "DISSIDENTS")
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/10095599.htm

HAVANA -- About 100 Cuban dissidents invited to the home of the top U.S. diplomat in Havana voted in a symbolic ''U.S. election'' and picked President Bush by a broad margin. Bush got 83 percent of the vote, while Sen. John Kerry received 16 percent in a paper-ballot election held Tuesday night at the home of James Cason, head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

Along with the choice of president, the ballot also asked what kind of political party they would favor in a post-Castro Cuba. Sixty-eight people favored a Christian Democratic Party, traditionally seen as center-right in Latin America. Eleven favored a Communist Party.

The announcement that 11 voters had chosen a Communist Party was greeted by booing.

[pinerow]

4. If it wasn't so sad, it would be damn funny...

nt

[Judi Lynn]

8. Gee, Mika. Why is it we never hear of Nestor Sanchez Galarraga Baguer

of the Cuban Independent Press Association? He was such a tremendous writer, wasn't he?

Your article is STUPENDOUS! Thanks for the look behind the propaganda.

[Mika]

9. Cubanet is funded by Moonies

Remember this thread that connected Cubanet w/the Rev Moon organization?

I guess it might explain why the "dissidents" funded by Cubanet support the Cristofascist party.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1108892

[Judi Lynn]

11. Odd, isn't it? Gary Jarmin, among the right-wing looney tunes

who favor dropping the embargo against Cuba is with the group which wants to get in there and grab the island for the American right-wing extremists, AGAIN, it would seem.

Now that would surely be a big step backwards. Too many Cubans fought hard and long go get rid of those guys and their filthy, vicious control of their country.

[HuckleB]

5. I suppose the response here means Jacobo Timerman's view...

was just pure hogwash.

Here's Molly Ivins' eulogy to this great man:

http://www.mollyivins.com/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=191

"One of the great heroes is gone. Jacobo Timerman, the Argentine journalist and great warrior for human rights, has died. With awe and reverence, I report that Timerman at one time or another ticked off practically everybody. He was of the Saul Alinsky school when it came to popularity -- Alinsky, the great Chicago radical, was once given some award and afterward said to his organizers, "Don't worry, boys, we'll weather this storm of approval and come out as hated as ever."

...

Timerman's devotion to human rights, unlike that of some Americans, was never swayed by his political perspective. He often attacked the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro. His book, Cuba: A Journey, contains, among other things, a brilliant attack on Gabriel García Marquez, the respected left-wing writer who has been notably uncritical of Castro.

..."


I will note that Gabo remains my favorite author.



"A man does not show his greatness by being at one extremity, but rather by touching both at once." -Pascal

Salud, and good day...

[Mika]

7. Castro this Castro that

Castro is not the Cuban government. Gabriel García Marquez has been critical of communism, and Castro does not = the Cuban communist party. Maybe she recognizes that the overly concentrated focus on Castro (as done by the US and the US funded "independent journalists") isn't very useful for creating positive changes in Cuba. Cubans in Cuba, by and large, revere the still living leader of the revolution that wrested their independence and sovereignty from Uncle Sam.

[HuckleB]

10. Sorry, but that's not what I heard and saw when I was there.

Castro is lived with, would be far more accurate a description. "Revered" does not come close to how any Cuban I met there looked upon the man. Nevermind that your post does not address the matter of Timerman, a most respected observer of the world. Are you going to say that he was a part of some RW-funded underground?

In the end, what I would love to see is a justification for the imprisonment of the people in question. What crimes did they actually commit?

[Judi Lynn]

12. You only have to spend a little of your time trying to read a bit

to see an answer to your question was already provided.

From my own post:

However, under the United States Code, similar "outreach" by
a foreign diplomat in the United States could result in
criminal prosecution and a 10-year prison sentence for
anyone "who agrees to operate within the United States
subject to the direction or control of a foreign government
or official (Title 18, section 951 of the United States
Code).
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/sandels04262003.html

[HuckleB]

14. That's one of many.

What did the rest of them do?

[Judi Lynn]

15. Rather than trying to bait people, why don't you explain it, yourself?

You probably should explain what the charges were against all the dissidents.

If you want to do the research, go ahead. I believe this should be YOUR obligation in your thread.

[HuckleB]

30. That's interesting.

It would appear that you are accusing me of doing exactly what you have done here. I have not baited anyone. I have simply asked you to offer justification for the imprisonment of these people. You chose to find one story about one person. That's not showing me anything.

Thank you.

[Billy Burnett]

32. Read the Helms-Burton Act - it codifies the overthrow of Cuba's gov

And then there's the US's Libertad Act. Also the Support for Cuban Dissidents Act.

All are US laws codifying the US overthrow of the gov of Cuba.


Aiding and abeting the foreign (US) enemy seeking to overthrow the Cuban government is treason. The 75 were convicted of treason, sedition, and giving aid/working with the avowed enemy of Cuba.

[HuckleB]

34. What makes you think that I haven't?

You are simply diverting from the realities of the story at hand. No one here can connect this with these arrests. No one here can actually justify these arrests. No one here can justify the sentences. All you guys can do is offer the same repeated off-topic message.

Blind defense of anyone leads to no good, in the end. And, yes, that includes Castro.

Please read Cuba: A Journey by Jacobo Timerman, as a start to getting a more holistic view of Cuba.

Thanks.

[Billy Burnett]

36. OK, I will read it.

:hi:

I shouldn't have assumed that you didn't. My bad. Sorry.


Although, I think that there is validity to the charges that the so called independent journalists were on the US payroll (working with and receiving payment from the enemy of Cuba).

[Mika]

16. Aiding and abeting the enemy of Cuba - the US gov

The US gov has openly stated that the goal of supporting the US financed "dissidents" is to overthrow the government of Cuba.

Working with foreign entities to overthrow the government is as illegal in Cuba as it is here.

-

I did address the Timmerman matter. He was critical of Gabriel García Marquez for not condemning Castro. She lives there and knows that criticizing Castro isn't helpful to Cuba's progress, because it simply isn't a popular view in Cuba.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Here's something else to consider....

If Fidel Castro had NOT been beloved by the Cuban people, why would the CIA have devised plans as stupid as the one which they hoped would cause his beard to fall out, rendering him less attractive to the Cuban people? Unbelievable, isn't it, that anyone here was that dumb?

From a very S-I-M-P-L-E source so those among us who haven't grasped the simple truth might give more thought to this subject:

Sidney Gottlieb of the CIA Technical Services Division was asked to come up with proposals that would undermine Castro's popularity with the Cuban people. Plans included a scheme to spray a television studio in which he was about to appear with an hallucinogenic drug and contaminating his shoes with thallium which they believed would cause the hair in his beard to fall out.
(snip/...)

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmongoose.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For anyone interested in looking at Operation Mongoose plans, here's a chance to see just how hard certain groups in our gummint plotted against the new Cuban government:

Under the auspices of Brig. Gen. Edward Lansdale,
covert ops:



http://www.parascope.com/ds/articles/mongooseDoc1.htm
http://www.parascope.com/ds/articles/mongoosePSYOP.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just when you think the federal government doesn't have a sense of humor, along come those wild and wacky guys at the Pentagon clowning it up and making you laugh ... until you cry.

The latest Laugh-A-Rama comes courtesy of old memos just released from the Defense Department -- 1,500 pages from 1962, written at the highest level of the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All of these memos were part of a covert scheme to "Provoke, Harass or Disrupt Cuba" -- a scheme code-named "Operation Mongoose."

"Goosey" would be a more accurate description. We are talking sophomoric pranks that would embarrass the most drunken college fraternity. The Joint Chiefs even gave sub-code-names to each of their hare brained schemes, which were meant to depose Fidel Castro.

There was "Operation Bingo". The idea here was to fake an attack on our own military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The memo reads, and I quote, "We could blow-up a U.S. warship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," thus providing a rationale for launching an all-out U.S. military attack on Fidel's fiefdom. If that didn't work, the memo suggested killing some Cuban refugees and blaming Castro: "We could sink a boatload of Cubans en route to Florida."

Is this fun, or what?

So, check out another Pentagon plot called "Operation Dirty Trick." This involved the 1962 launch of Astronaut John Glenn into space, the first American to orbit Earth. But what if that launch went wrong and maybe Glenn died? Hey, said our Pentagon geniuses, blame Castro! Cuba's just 90 miles from Cape Canaveral, so let's claim Castro killed Glenn and then nuke him.
(snip/...)

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/4197/

[HuckleB]

31. What?

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a he, and he doesn't live in Cuba. He is quite chummy with Castro, and, if you knew anything about Timerman (please spell it right next time, you'd know that there is much more to his critique of Cuba than his dismay with Marquez for ignoring the human rights abuses there).

It's amazing how many folks here try to tell me that I'm uninformed while they show exactly how uninformed they are on this matter.

Thank goodness for the Timerman's of this world. Without them, I would have no hope for humanity.

For more read: Cuba: A Journey by Jacobo Timerman

Good day.

[Judi Lynn]

6. The author needs to study the subject a little more thoroughly

Americans who were watching US-Cuba relations were very aware that _Bush had conducted a program of increasing pressure on Cuba, heightening tension, creating problems through his resources available in Radio/TV Marti, communication and financing shuttled through to dissidents via various Cuban "exile" enterprises in Florida long BEFORE the dissidents were rounded up, following years and years of surveillance.

Immediately preceding this event, multiple hijackings were taking place in which Cubans commandeered airplanes and boats by violent threat, got them to the U.S. By the way, the vehicles were eventually sold in the U.S., and the proceeds forwarded to people in Florida who had claims against the Cuban government, one of them being a woman who had freely married a Cuban spy who was in Florida to discover what the Cuban "exile" terrorists had in mind for their next raids and attacks on Cuba.

Your source doesn't include any of this material as the immediate background to his article.

Found a quick reference which might assist:

04/25/03-
Cuba-L Analysis-
Cuba Crackdown: A Revolt Against
the National Security Strategy
By Robert Sandels

Since becoming principal officer at the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana in September 2002, James Cason has
increased official U.S. connections with Cuban dissidents.
Entering directly into Cuba domestic politics, Cason helped
launch the youth wing of the dissident Partido Liberal
Cubano. Nowhere in the world, said Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque, would it be legal for a foreigner to
participate in the formation of a political party.

In October 2002, Cason invited a group of dissidents to meet
with U.S. newspaper editors at his residence in Havana.
Although it has become routine for heads of the U.S. mission
to seek out dissidents, it was unusual to meet them at home.

Feb. 24 of this year, he participated in a meeting of the
dissident Assembly for the Promotion of Civil Society at the
home of prominent dissident Marta Beatriz Roque. Also
present at the meeting were several reporters to whom Cason
repeated his criticisms of President Fidel Castro's
government and reaffirmed U.S. support for dissidents.

Cason organized two other such meetings at his residence in
March even after receiving a formal complaint from the
Foreign Ministry.

In a recent television interview in Miami, Cason said the
help he gave dissidents was "moral and spiritual" in nature.
But, according to the testimony of several Cuban security
agents who infiltrated the organizations that received U.S.
support, the Interests Section became a general headquarters
and office space for dissidents. Some of them, including
Marta Beatriz Roque, had passes signed by Cason that allowed
them free access to the Interests Section where they could
use computers, telephones, and office machines.

The State Department calls these activities "outreach."
However, under the United States Code, similar "outreach" by
a foreign diplomat in the United States could result in
criminal prosecution and a 10-year prison sentence for
anyone "who agrees to operate within the United States
subject to the direction or control of a foreign government
or official (Title 18, section 951 of the United States
Code).
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/sandels04262003.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cuba had been subjected to serious acts of terrorism, including numerous attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro, in the past 40 years. Most of these plots were hatched in the U.S. After September 11, the Cuban authorities unilaterally handed over to the Bush administration intelligence files relating to terrorist activities affecting the U.S. Cuban Intelligence has been able to amass a wealth of information about the activities of Latin American drug cartels and terrorist groups. However, the Bush administration, after acting on the basis of some of the information, publicly stated that the intelligence data provided by Havana were of no use. For obvious reasons, the Bush administration was not interested in cooperating with Cuba to fight terrorism.

IT was clear from the beginning that Cason was a man with a mission. Since his arrival in Havana last August, the diplomat has frequently entertained so-called dissident intellectuals, journalists and anti-government activists at his residence. He has gone to the extent of allowing dissident journalists to use his residence for training sessions and organising seminars. He appeared at public meetings with these counter-revolutionaries. Cason has been the only foreign diplomat to attend a public meeting of the dissidents. He hailed their efforts to "organise a transition to democracy" - a catch phrase for counter-revolutionary activities. Cuban officials say that the dissidents number only a few hundred people.

Among those sentenced now is "independent economist" Oscar Espinoza, a regular correspondent of the Central Intelligence Agency-funded Radio Marti, which broadcasts from Miami. The dissidents have floated various groups, all financed by Washington. Cuban agents had penetrated the highest echelons of these groups. They also have videotapes and other incriminating material showing the so-called dissidents accepting cash, fax machines and food from the American Interest Section.
(snip/...)

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2009/stories/20030509001605400.htm


_Bush's ambassador Cason at the ball game in Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

13. This looks like the place to post this article:

A Cancer Drug's Long Journey From Cuba
What It Took to Bring a Promising Lung Cancer Drug to U.S.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2004 -- When the president of a small California biotech firm heard of a promising new treatment for lung cancer, he was intrigued.

"It stimulates a very strong immune response in patients," said David Hale, CEO of CancerVax Corp.

There was just one hitch — the drug, referred to as SAI-EGF — is made in Cuba as part of Fidel Castro's $1 billion biotech program. Still, Hale was determined to bring the drug to the United States.

"I had no idea what an overwhelming task this was going to be," he said.

In early testing, SAI-EGF prolonged the lives of those with advanced lung cancer by as much as eight months. The drug triggers the body's own immune system to fight the tumor and slow its growth. Scientists hope it may also be effective in treating breast and other cancers.

Cuban scientists were willing to help Americans gain access to the drug.

"There is no reason why scientists here and there cannot cooperate," said Dr. Augustin Lage, director of the Center of Molecular Immunology in Havana, which developed the drug.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=230387

[Gloria]

18. Cuba has also offered other vaccines (not flu)--also rejected. I listen

to Radio Havana nearly everyday. It's really one of the best shortwave stations to listen to. Very interesting science and tech programs and cultural stuff as well. The music is fantastic!! Innovative environmental things going on. They are not wealthy, but they are smart and are dealing with the important things as well as they can. The international news they report, such as the news about from Iraq, is STRAIGHT news, too..They sent journalists to the Conventions, I listened to live reports as they interviewed American office holders, for example, in Philadelphia as the reporter worked his way around the country. They also have phone interviews with American scientists, etc. They hold international conferences on many scientific subjects and also literature and the arts. We ignore them but the world doesn't. They lead the way for much of South America in many areas.

I've learned a whole lot about American policy toward Cuba...they literally opened the 400 page document on it and started to read it every day...They have a right to be pissed. It is the PNAC we know and love. The plan is to basically turn the island over to corporations. Take over there very good health system and privatize it. 11 million people will just lose their identity as a country. The Radio Havana people say the Cuban people will resist this...and I hope they do!!!

[Mika]

23. What a nice post, Gloria.

:thumbsup:

Most Americans just do not understand that Cuba & Cubans (including Mr Fidel Castro) are loved the world over by the people who have had contact with Cuba's representatives, doctors, medicines, ethical doctrines, educators, and researchers.

Since my first time there I have had a burning love for the place and the people there. I dearly hope to be able go to Cuba again - soon.



Viva Cuba!

[Mika]

25. On Cuba's post revolution health care system

This is a long paper. Too many points to summarize. But, it does reveal some of the magnificent works of the Cuban government and doctors and med schools as well as the Cuban people, who worked together in creating something amazing.. real health care for all families. (As of 1997, when this paper was written. Things are leaps and bounds beyond that time period, because Cuba has had much more tourism resources to expend on their infrastructure.) Their priorities are in order.



PRIMARY CARE IN CUBA: LOW- AND HIGH-TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS PERTINENT TO FAMILY MEDICINE
http://www.cubasolidarity.net/waitzkin.html

Here's a snip that echoes one of Gloria's comments -

Cuba's accomplishments in primary care, while controversial, include several developments pertinent to family medicine. These accomplishments involve low-technology and organizational innovations such as neighborhood-based family medicine as the focus of primary care; regionalized systems of hospital services and professional training; innovative public health initiatives and epidemiologic surveillance; universal access to services without substantial barriers related to race, social class, gender, and age; and active programs in alternative or traditional treatments such as "green medicine" and "thermalism." High-technology achievements include innovations in pharmacology and biotechnology, surgical procedures, and care of patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Limited access to Cuban publications, impediments to presentations by Cuban health-care professionals at professional meetings, and the prohibition on importing products of Cuban biotechnology to the United States inhibit a detached, scientific appraisal of Cuba's accomplishments. Cuba's isolation from the U.S. clinical and research communities has prevented interchanges that would improve primary care services in both countries.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Cuban dissidents speak out against Bush's plans for Cuba.....

Updated: Monday, 10 May, 2004, 23:19 GMT 00:19 UK


Cuban dissidents attack Bush plan


A group of Cuban dissidents has sharply criticised the US for measures aimed at speeding up the end of Fidel Castro's communist rule.
Leading dissident Oswaldo Paya said it was up to Cubans, not the US, to bring about change in the country.

US President George W Bush on Thursday endorsed new sanctions and a $36m plan to promote change in Cuba.

Two other Cuban dissidents handed in a protest letter at the US diplomatic mission in Havana.

One of the authors, Manuel Cuesta, said the US had "no right to set the pace of a transition in Cuba".

The other, fellow dissident Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, said: "This is a total interference that does not benefit the building of democracy in Cuba."
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3702431.stm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right wing Cuban extremist "exiles" in Florida absolutely abhor the plans of Cuban dissidents to effect change in the Cuban government, as they want to overthrow it altogether and get the U.S. to return them to the choke-hold they had on Cuba originally.

[Gloria]

19. Exactly,JudiLyn--see my post above. The Bush plans extend far

beyond getting rid of Castro. It's a total plan to completely annex Cuba.
By the way, Cuba has offshore oil......I'm sure they will never get a chance to use it for their own benefit.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Sad, isn't it? The main Republican working publicly to drop the travel ban

Jeff Flake always has tons of real estate developers on board in his elections, and he has been bringing up amendments to drop the travel ban on Cuba twice a year for years now, with it being shot down in committee after _Bush was selected, to save _Bush the embarrassment of formally vetoing the entire bill to keep the travel ban in place.

I looked up Flake's contributions a couple of years ago and saw he gets a lot of backing from real estate developers, Del Webb among them. At that point, everything fell into place, as I realized these guys are the ones prompting him to help open Cuba back up to American interests. Sad, isn't it?

Here are a few sources:

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:uqwea3ZPfygJ:opengov.media.mit.edu/EX/0000/000/400/134/%3FPRINT+Jeff+Flake+%2B+Del+Webb+contribution&hl=en

http://www.campaignmoney.com/candidate.asp?id=H0AZ01184&cycle=04&yr=04

http://www.opensecrets.org/races/contrib.asp?ID=AZ06&cycle=2002&special=N
(2002 campaign)

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00009573&cycle=2004
(2003-2004)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On edit: If there's anyone who doesn't recognize Del Webb's name, you might see just why a company like his could be interested in getting into Cuba, NINETY MILES FROM FLORIDA, HOME OF OTHER RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES OUT THE KEISTER:

Corporation
100 Bloomfield Hills Pkwy., Ste. 300
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 (Map)
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Toll Free: 800-777-8583

http://www.delwebb.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Del Webb Corporation Company Profile


Del Webb spins a web of retirement communities across the US. A leading developer of master-planned communities designed for active people age 55 and over, Del Webb builds and operates age-restricted communities that offer such highly amenitized products as golf courses, recreational centers, and educational classes. It operates Del Webb and Sun City communities, country club communities, and family communities in 13 states. Del Webb is a subsidiary of Pulte Homes, which in 2001 became the US's largest homebuilder when it acquired the company. (Pulte has since been displaced from the top spot.)

http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/10/10445.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Plain to see what certain kinds of REPUBLICANS see in Cuba,right?

[Judi Lynn]

22. It just struck me that this "dissident" works for a US taxpayer-supported

publication. Oh, my gosh! Yeah, there she sits, toiling away, cranking out propaganda on demand, real boilerplate assigned her by people in Miami who are disbursing OUR MONEY to these people in Cuba they have sent phones, computers, fax machines, and mad money to crank out this material which is read by ignorant rightwing rubes in the U.S.

The AID web site cites $12 million spent for Cuba programs during 1996-2001, but for 2002 the budget jumped to $5 million plus unobligated funds of $3 million from 2001. AID's 2003 budget for Cuba is $6 million showing a tripling of annual funds since the George Bush junta seized power. No surprise given the number of Miami Cubans Bush has appointed to high office in his administration.

From 1996 to 2001, AID disbursed the $12 million to 22 NGOs, all apparently based in the US, mostly in Miami. By 2002, the number of front-line NGOs had shrunk to 12 — the University of Miami, Center for a Free Cuba, Pan-American Development Foundation, Florida International University, Freedom House, Grupo de Apoyo a la Disidencia, Cuba On-Line, CubaNet, National Policy Association, Accion Democratica Cubana and Carta de Cuba.

In addition, the International Republican Institute received AID money for a sub-grantee, the Directorio Revolucionario Democr tico Cubano, also based in Miami.

These NGOs have a double purpose, one directed to their counterpart groups in Cuba and one directed to the world, mainly through web sites. Whereas, on the one hand, they channel funds and equipment into Cuba, on the other they disseminate to the world the activities of the groups in Cuba. Cubanet in Miami, for example, publishes the writings of the “independent journalists” of the Independent Press Association of Cuba, based in Havana, and channels money to the writers.

Interestingly, AID claims on its web site that its “grantees are not authorised to use grant funds to provide cash assistance to any person or organisation in Cuba”. It's hard to believe that claim, but if it's true, all those millions are only going to support the US-based NGO infrastructure, a subsidised anti-Castro cottage industry of a sort, except for what can be delivered in Cuba in kind — computers, faxes, copy machines, cell phones, radios, TVS and VCRs, books, magazines and the like.

On its web site, AID lists purposes for the money: solidarity with human rights activists; dissemination of the work of independent journalists; development of independent NGOs; promoting workers' rights; outreach to the Cuban people; planning for future assistance to a transition government; and evaluation of the program. Anyone who wants to see which NGOs are getting how much can visit <http://www.usaid.gov/regions/lac/cu/upd-cub.htm>.
(snip/...)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4332.htm

On edit:

Newpaper magazine feature stories never live up to the "standards" of the paper, but this IS ridiculous. Someone really poured on the disinformation.

She's the last, lonely "dissident?" What about Oswaldo Payá, who is known internationally? He's still flapping around. He's also hated in Miami, and by our right-wingers, as he thinks Cubans should determine their OWN future. He DOESN'T WANT THEM BUTTING IN.

[robcon]

24. It's sad to read this on DEMOCRACY Underground

The support shown on this board for the dictator Castro and his gulag is deplorable, IMO.

[Mika]

27. Ditto for the pro wingnut posts relating to this subject

The support for reichwingnut policy against Cuba is deplorable (especially considering that the gulag in Cuba is run by the US PNACers). IMO.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Yup, when coming without material, without links, without facts

to a conversation, a limited person will resort to calling people "Castro humpers."

You almost feel sorry for someone who struggles so to participate without resources to serve as a foundation.

Personal attacks just never do it, do they? I'm sure you can't count the number of times this has happened. A lot of the character assailants simply faaaade away after a while.

You're right. The Gulag's at the east end.

[HuckleB]

33. Thanks for arguing with cardboard, imaginary posters.

You came here with no material, no facts. Just one anecdote and nothing more. And yet you run around accusing the NY Times reporter of lying and not getting the facts, and of me of who knows what for sharing this piece.

Excuse me if I find that approach wanting.

Again, I will say this: THANK GOODNESS for the Jacobo Timerman's of this world, may he rest in peace. He never turned a blind eye to human rights issues, regardless of his political beliefs (which were quite sympathetic to the stated cause of Cuba, by the way). And I will not do so either.

[HuckleB]

35. Where are these imaginary posts?

[Vogon_Glory]

37. Some of Us Democrats DO Believe in Democracy

Some of us Democrats do want democracy and free elections in Cuba, Robcon, and the more thoughtful and honest of us see the Cuban government for what it is--a dictatorship over the people, not by the people.

It is tragic that so many people are angrily trashing dissidents the same way FReepers trash anyone who disagrees with the Boosh regime and its Banana Republican supporters. Dictatorships can brook no dissent.

I expect that when the day comes that Cuba is free, the Cubans will have harsh and searching questions not just for the right-wing gringos who supported the decades of the American trade embargo and the misery it caused, but also for those on the left who failed to speak out for free speech.

[Judi Lynn]

38. There's a difference between free speech, and boilerplate

written expressly to satisfy the demands of U.S. propaganda outlets.

There are Cuban dissidents who are not on the U.S. gravy train who resent U.S. meddling in Cuba.