Castro's Death: A 'Herald' Waiting Game/Headache

By Joe Strupp
Editor & Publisher
February 04, 2009 1:00 PM ET

NEW YORK: Is The Miami Herald just waiting for Fidel Castro to die? Well, according to at least one top editor, the ongoing waiting game has become a true, well, deathwatch. "At Miami Herald Media Company, Fidel Castro is the journalistic equivalent of a kidney stone -- a constant pain who never seems to go away, and you pray that he passes, soon," Manny Garcia, the paper's senior editor/news, writes in an online column today about the 82-year-old Cuban leader. "Castro is part of our collective newsroom psyche, even outside One Herald Plaza. You could be on an African safari when Fidel dies and you gotta come home. Publisher's orders."Adds Garcia in the blog posting, "Everywhere I travel, I take 'the Cuba plan,' a three-ring binder with every possible scenario for when Fidel dies. Calling-tree diagrams. Bank accounts. Satellite phones. Fixers. Fast boats."And Garcia is not alone. Editor Anders Gyllenhaal admits the plans are in place and bigger than for any other death-in-waiting: "There is no other story like this. What happened in Cuba, in many ways, built Miami."Gyllenhaal declined to offer too many specifics for the plan, other than to say a special section is likely and possibly an extra edition: "depending on when the news comes out." One of the reasons for such in-depth preparation, in addition to Castro's prominence locally, is the fact that the story will come out of a country that is difficult to cover. "We are not able to be in Cuba, so trying to cover that country - to move in and out - is a big part of it."Two former Herald editors also acknowledged to E&P the significance of the Castro preparation.Tom Fiedler, who edited the paper from 2001 to 2007, and now serves as dean of the college of communication at Boston University, said, "we had plans for Castro's death going back to the 90s. It was truly exhaustive, maybe more detailed than the Pentagon's plan to invade Iraq. We made sure we had laptops on the ground in Cuba that we could get to and people there who agreed to help us -- journalists and non-journalists."Martin Baron, currently editor of the Boston Globe who ran the Herald newsroom in 2000 and part of 2001, said, "sitting on my desk was a prototype of what the pages would look like, even a headline that said 'Castro Dies' or something to that effect."He adds: "It was clearly going to be a death beyond all other deaths in the way we covered it."Also involved is El Nuevo Herald, the paper's Spanish-language sister, which circulates in Cuba.Garcia notes in his column: "You've gotta understand that the Cadaver-in-Chief is our story and biggest challenge. The Cuban government will not give us a journalist's visa to report from there, claiming we are the exile's lapdogs, which is garbage. Meanwhile, some exiles call us Granma North."Probably not too surprising. Most newspapers who have a major figure in their news sphere who is, well, getting older, likely make contingency plans for such events. A few years ago, The Asheville (N.C.) Citizen, the closest daily paper to evangelist Billy Graham's hometown, revealed it had a 20-page special section ready to go when he passed on.Of course, Castro's impact is probably a bit more severe, given Miami's proximity to Cuba and its local Cuban-American community."We sit in meetings, long meetings, going over possible stories." Garcia writes. "Phrasing. Tone. Length. We got at least five different versions of Fidel's obit, pegged to the time of day or night he dies. We built a Web page for the big day -- dubbed the `Holy (bleep)' page."

Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.

Transición Social en Cuba

Por Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello

Ciudad de La Habana, 2 de febrero de 2009.

Algunos cubanólogos no quieren aceptar que desde hace muchos años, en Cuba se vive una transición social. Muy lenta, pero visible en muchos sectores o actividades de la sociedad. Los ejemplos sobran, pero la religión -de forma general- es una de las más significativas, pues se hace palpable en las iglesias y en particular en la católica.Desde 1960 comenzó la confrontación entre el gobierno y los representantes de esta iglesia, cuando en el mes de agosto la Conferencia Episcopal Cubana hizo pública una Carta Pastoral, denunciando la desviación hacia el marxismo de la recién inaugurada Revolución. En aquel entonces Monseñor Eduardo Boza Masvidal era el Obispo Auxiliar de La Habana.La “contundente” respuesta del régimen recién estrenado, no se hizo esperar. De unos 700 clérigos que había en el país, se redujeron a 200. Para lo cual, deportaron sacerdotes y monjas extranjeros y cubanos. El 17 de setiembre de 1961, después de haber detenido a un grupo de ellos, entre los que se encontraba Monseñor Agustín Román, los expulsaron del país, en el buque Covadonga, con destino a España.La iglesia comenzó todo un período de decadencia. Los “revolucionarios” no podían profesar ninguna religión. Llegó al extremo de plasmarse en la Constitución. Historias hay muchas, pero la realidad fue que quedaron vacíos los templos. La gente lo pensaba dos veces antes de asistir a misa, porque manchaba su expediente y lo hacía persona no confiable para ocupar diferentes puestos de trabajo. Ciertamente, cuando se escriba la verdadera historia de este país, llevará más de un capítulo lo referido a la fe religiosa.La visita a Cuba del Papa Juan Pablo II dio un giro bastante grande al comportamiento social para exteriorizar su deseo de estar en presencia de Dios. El poder totalitario tuvo que también hacer lo suyo, les permitió a los militantes del Partido Comunista, profesar cualquier religión. Al principio la gente fue muy cautelosa, pero poco a poco se fue perdiendo el miedo. Ese miedo que tiene el cubano inyectado en sus venas, y que lo limita a hacer esto y lo otro, sin siquiera tenérselo que decir.Sin embargo, la alta jerarquía católica no quiere enfrentarse al gobierno, no solo dentro del país, pero también los que están en Roma. Prueba de ello fue que durante la visita del Cardenal Bertone a Cuba (Secretario de Estado del Vaticano), numerosos disidentes le solicitaron entrevistas y él no accedió a ninguna, ni tan siquiera contestó las cartas que se le enviaron.Esta política les ha permitido algunas limosnas del régimen, por ejemplo les concedieron la posibilidad de efectuar misas en algunas prisiones el pasado 25 de diciembre. El propio Cardenal Jaime Ortega y Alamino ofició ese día. ¡Hay que alegrarse de ello por los presos!Ya se ven algunas procesiones el día de la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, Patrona de Cuba y de otros santos muy populares en el pueblo, a la que asisten bastantes fieles, no solo practicantes católicos, sino también personas que usan el sincretismo con religiones africanas y convierten a los santos en deidades de sus cultos.Todos estos son cambios sociales, son pequeños pasos que ha estado dando la sociedad abriéndose caminos. Un ejemplo reciente puede constatarse en la Iglesia de San Juan Bosco, sita en la calle Santa Catalina y Goss, en la barriada de Santos Suárez, del municipio de 10 de Octubre, Ciudad de La Habana. El día 31 de enero se celebró la fiesta de su santo patrono y ofició la misa, su Eminencia Monseñor Luigi Bonazzi, nuncio apostólico en Cuba.San Juan Bosco se caracterizó durante su vida, entre otras cosas, por su vinculación a los jóvenes y a los niños. El trabajo de la catequesis de la iglesia, permite contar unos 150 niños (cifra aproximada) en diferentes grupos. Además asisten allí a las celebraciones litúrgicas, un gran número de jóvenes, los que integran una comunidad que conjuntamente con la acción de fe, practica otros ejercicios y actividades culturales y sociales, de las que está tan necesitada la juventud cubana.A pesar de que, dentro de la población, San Juan Bosco no es un santo tan popular, como lo es la Virgen María, en su condición de: la Caridad del Cobre, las Mercedes, Regla; o el propio San Lázaro, el templo estaba totalmente lleno, en una noche invernal. La misa duró más de una hora y nadie se movió de su puesto. Incluso al final, el párroco de la Iglesia, padre Narciso, (español de Zamora), invitó a los fieles a dirigirse al patio lateral, que iba a ser inaugurado por la ocasión. Fueron muy pocos los que decidieron marcharse, a pesar del intenso frío el patio se vio lleno y el Nuncio Apostólico, agasajado.Esto es una variación total del panorama eclesiástico de hace 10 años atrás, que ratifica la acepción de transición: “Acción y efecto de pasar de un modo de ser o estar a otro distinto”.
Publicado por Martha Beatriz Info en 9:10:00 AM

Cuba to keep Internet limits after fiber optic cable

February 7, 2008
Agence France Press

HAVANA (AFP) — Cuba will continue to limit Internet access even after a fiber optic cable linking the island with Venezuela comes online in 2010, a top official said.
The new cable is 1,550 kilometers (960 miles) long and will dramatically increase the island's level of connectivity, according to officials. "We believe that the most responsible policy is to privilege collective access" to the Internet, said Boris Moreno, deputy minister of computer science and communication. Nevertheless, there is a desire for "larger number of citizens to have Internet access," technical and economic conditions allowing, Moreno told the daily Juventud Rebelde. But he warned that the new fiber optic cable "will not necessarily decrease the price the country pays for connection to international networks." Because of the US trade embargo, Cuba connects to the Internet via satellite. The government says the limited bandwidth forces them to "prioritize" Internet access for "social use" purposes, with universities, companies and research centers prioritized.

The US embargo bans Cuban access to underwater Internet cables, the closest of which runs from Miami to Cancun, Mexico, a mere 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Havana. Dissidents say the government's true goal is to control access to information. Moreno said Cuba, with a population of around 11.4 million, has 1.4 million Internet users, and that by the end of 2008 there were 630,000 computers, a 23 percent increase over 2007. In July, the head of the US interest section in Havana, Michael Parmly, said that Washington would allow US companies to connect Cuba to their underwater cables. "The only thing that is missing is for the Cuban government to lift its restrictions, loose its fear and begin to trust its own people," he said.

Spain issues Cuba's first "grandchildren" passport

Fri Feb 6, 2009

By Esteban Israel

HAVANA (Reuters) - Spain issued on Thursday the first of a projected 200,000 passports for Cubans who qualify for Spanish citizenship under the country's "historical memory" law. The first recipient, 38-year-old cardiologist Norberto Luis Diaz, said he already had his bags packed for a flight on Sunday to Spain, retracing in reverse the journey his grandfather made when he emigrated to Cuba in 1916. "It's the most important day of my life. I am happy," he said upon receiving his purple-colored passport in the office of Spain's consul general.

The Law of Historical Memory makes grandchildren of Spanish immigrants eligible for citizenship, and Spain has estimated 1 million people around the world, including 200,000 Cubans, could apply. There are special provisions for descendants of exiles who had to flee the country and renounce their citizenship due to the Spanish civil war. The Spanish consulate in Havana has received more than 25,000 applications since the law took effect on December 29. A Spanish passport will allow Cubans to emigrate legally to Spain or, if they stay in Cuba, make it easier for them to travel abroad. "This passport will allow them to travel, but our evaluation is that this in no way signifies an exodus of Cubans," Consul General Pablo Barrios told reporters. Cuba, battered by economic crisis for more than 15 years, could have the second highest number of people qualifying for Spanish citizenship, following only Argentina. Diplomats at the Havana consulate did not know if other "historic memory" passports already have been issued in other countries.

While a smiling Diaz received his passport, dozens of other Cubans waited in line outside the consulate to make their applications. Some arrived from the farthest corners of the island, including Reymundo Puentes, who came from Puerto Padre, more than 435 miles east of Havana. "I have always had the desire to know my ancestors' roots. If they have given us this opportunity -- OK, it's good," said the 58-year-old evangelical preacher. An estimated 1 million Spaniards emigrated to Cuba at the beginning of the 20th century, including the father of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro. "I don't feel like I'm going to a strange country. I return to my ancestors," said the cardiologist Diaz, who said he has a work offer waiting for him in the Spanish city of Valencia. "Long live Spain," he shouted.

(Reporting by Esteban Israel; editing by Jeff Franks and Cynthia Osterman)

Bruzón Wins Cuba's National Chess Championship

Grand Master (GM) Lázaro Bruzón won Cuba's National Chess Championship for the fourth time, an event attended by the island nation's top ten players. After the ninth and last round, Bruzón equalized with GM Neuris Delgado and FIDE Masters Lelys Martínez (Santiago de Cuba) and Yusnel Bacallao, all of whom had scored 5.5 points. However, as Bruzón was the only undefeated player, he benefited from the tiebreak system. That way, Bruzón repeated his performance in previous championships in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Delgado, Martínez and Bacallao finished second, third and fourth, respectively, with a score of 5.5 points. They were followed by GM Yuniesky Quesada, Fidel Corrales and Holden Hernández, with 4.5 points. The national championship is the toughest chess tournament held in Cuba, as participants have an average ELO score of 2,529 points and has a FIDE category of XII. (ACN)

The Cuban Revolution at 50: Wall Street Journal Video

Disenchanted With Castro's Revolution

JANUARY 28, 2009

By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter

On Jan. 8, 1959, 50 years ago this month, Fidel Castro rode into Havana on a column of tanks to mark the triumph of the Cuban revolution, cheered on by throngs of flag-waving Cubans and heralding what many hoped would be a new dawn for the island, the hemisphere and the world. It was a day that would forever mark Carmen Vallejo's life. The story of Carmen Vallejo and her family is, in many ways, the story of the revolution itself and its legacy over the past half century. Like many other Cubans, the Vallejo family strongly supported the revolution that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista and brought Mr. Castro to power. But the ensuing years brought disillusionment, disappointment and despair. Fifty years after the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro is infirm and the regime he has controlled since 1959 may be headed for a massive change.

Today, Ms. Vallejo, 56, feels trapped by the events of 1959. She can't travel outside Cuba or hold a prominent job, the result of a failed attempt to defect in 1981. Desperate to find meaning in their lives outside of politics, she and her husband, Rey, have dedicated the past 19 years to helping Cuban children with cancer. But even that mission is met with hostility from a government that never forgives those who question it. "Having a totalitarian system means total control. They don't like it when someone else tries to resolve problems for people," she says.
Such talk is rare in Cuba, where most people are afraid of getting jailed for speaking out against the government. But Ms. Vallejo has spent her life coming to terms with her country, her family's role in helping the revolution, and her fate. Her favorite poet is Anna Akhmatova, a Russian who lived under Stalin and wrote about the despair of totalitarianism. Ms. Vallejo has underlined the following lines from one of the poems: "I am not one of those who leave my country. I am, unfortunately, where my people are doomed to be. "Ms. Vallejo's family had an unusually distinguished revolutionary pedigree. Her father was a prominent Cuban physician named Rene Vallejo, who served with the Third U.S. Army in postwar Germany, running a hospital that cared for the sick and war wounded. There, he met a Ukrainian nurse who had been in a Nazi forced labor camp and passed herself off as Polish to avoid being sent to the USSR. The couple married before returning to Cuba.

After about a decade in Cuba, Mr. Vallejo left a successful medical practice and took his two brothers to join Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra mountains to topple the Batista regime. Later, he rose to the rank of commander and became Mr. Castro's personal doctor, aide de camp and close friend. Mr. Vallejo's wife, Maria Witowska, also helped the cause, using her home to hide rebels and send supplies to Mr. Castro during the revolution. After the revolution, she became his personal secretary. A picture of her taken by Alberto Korda, the photographer who took the iconic portrait of Che Guevara, still hangs in Carmen Vallejo's Havana apartment.

Children with cancer celebrated a patient's birthday at the library of Havana's main oncology hospital. Ms. Vallejo and her husband, Rey, visit a couple times a week to organize parties and cheer up the patients.

During the first few years after the revolution, Mr. Castro remained so close to Rene Vallejo that the comandante often spent the night at Mr. Vallejo's home, staying up for hours discussing politics. "I never liked Fidel because every time he would come to our house, I was rushed by my father into a bedroom and told to be quiet," says Carmen. But the Vallejo family slowly fell out of favor with the revolution. Her father, having spent time with the Americans in World War II, encouraged Mr. Castro to make amends with Washington. He was heavily involved in a then-secret attempt to re-establish U.S.-Cuban ties in 1963, according to Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the Washington-based National Security Archive, a nongovernmental research institution. That effort, which had President Kennedy's blessing, ended with the president's assassination. Ms. Vallejo thinks her father simply ended up being too much of a free spirit for Mr. Castro to fully trust. "He had respect for every person, for every individual, and the regime does not care about individuals," she says. Whatever the cause, after Mr. Vallejo's death in 1969, he was largely airbrushed out of Cuban history, and today few Cubans know of his role in the revolution.

Ms. Vallejo's mother, Maria, meanwhile, became suspect for her Catholic beliefs. She gave her daughter a first communion ceremony in 1960, raising eyebrows among Communist Party officials. Soon, she was demoted from Mr. Castro's personal secretary to translator. She grew increasingly disillusioned about having survived Stalin and the Nazis only to end up with another totalitarian regime. Before her death in 1990, Maria Vallejo wrote a letter to her dead mother: "My life is wrecked. I ask myself: What am I doing in this land? .... What sentence do I have to pay and why? Why do I have to suffer like this? …. Must I always, always have to suffer? Will they keep humiliating me? Why? What did I do that was so wrong? …. Mother, come, don't leave me alone. Why didn't you tell me the world and its men were so cruel?"

Carmen Vallejo suffered the privations of ordinary Cubans, despite her family's prominence in the revolution. A lack of vitamins during her college years left her with damage to her left eye.
In 1981, with the blessing of her husband, Ms. Vallejo used an opportunity of a trip to Finland to get eye treatment to take a ferry to Sweden to try to defect. But Sweden's then-socialist government of Olaf Palme handed her back to the Cubans, who swiftly exacted revenge. Her husband and mother both lost their jobs, and they began to be constantly harassed by party officials. On the door of their family home, someone spray-painted "Gusanos," or "Worms," the Cuban words for counterrevolutionaries. When Ms. Vallejo would run across teachers at the university, they would spit in her path. Ms. Vallejo and her husband sank into a depression that lasted until 1988, when Mother Teresa visited Cuba to open up one of her charity's missions.

Because Ms. Vallejo was active in the Catholic church, she served as Mother Teresa's interpreter. During the visit, the late sister befriended Ms. Vallejo and told her God had a mission for her: To care for Cuban children with cancer. "After our first visit to the children's ward (in Havana's main oncology hospital), I cried and prayed to God that I wouldn't have to do this," says Ms. Vallejo. "But, somehow, Mother Teresa knew exactly what we needed."

For the next 15 years, Ms. Vallejo and her husband visited the children in the cancer ward several times a week, organizing parties, bringing presents and trying to cheer them up.
Children with cancer in Cuba get free treatment courtesy of the state, but they also face additional horrors in addition to their disease, including a lack of the latest treatments, clean sheets, air conditioning and even basic food. Aimee Linares's son Nelson, 7, had a malignant tumor in his intestines. During bouts of chemotherapy, the only food the boy seemed able to digest was apples, which the hospital couldn't provide. His mother would walk the streets until her feet blistered looking for a single apple for sale.

Ms. Vallejo and her husband's group began attracting attention from foreign diplomats stationed in Havana, and soon got donations from abroad, mostly from Europe and the U.S. A hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., began a program to send chemotherapy medications that were unavailable in Cuba, and bringing Cuban cancer specialists for monthlong stays to learn the latest treatments. But in 2003, during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Cuba arrested scores of dissidents and threw them in jail. The European Union broke diplomatic relations. The following week, the children's ward ended visiting hours, making it impossible for Ms. Vallejo to carry on her work. Ms. Vallejo says she learned from the hospital staff that party officials were punishing the group for their contact with foreign enemies. The couple convinced a local priest to let them organize a cancer support group at the church held every Saturday. Parents with children at the oncology hospital come and meet with former patients who survived or children who still have cancer but are living at home. During a recent Saturday, the children were busy drawing with crayons (a luxury in Cuba) while the adults talked with Sergio Davila about his four-year-old son Brian, who has leukemia.

"I feel like crying when I see him, but I know the thing he needs most is for me to be strong, and smile," said Mr. Davila, 47, who is from another city and has been living in Havana since his son entered the hospital. He sleeps in the hospital corridors. Despite the altruistic nature of the group's work, the Cuban state still interferes, throwing up bureaucratic obstacles and harassing the children's mothers. Recently, some Western diplomats were going to throw a Christmas party for the kids, many of whom had never seen a Santa Claus. Secret police turned up at the homes of several parents and told them not to send their kids to the party because it was being held by the enemy. "I told them that I didn't care what country someone was from as long as they could put a smile on my little boy's face," says Ms. Linares. Ms. Vallejo says the group has given her life meaning again after she lost all hope of ever leaving Cuba and building a normal life. Looking back on 50 years of the revolution and her family's role in it, she has only one thing to say: "No more revolutions, please. My life has taught me that change should be gradual. No more revolution. Never again."

5K tons of beans head for Cuba

Local port was first to sign trade deal with nation

By Fanny S. Chirinos
The Corpus Christi Caller, January 27, 2009

Sean Register (from left), president of Register International, Michael Perez, Port of Corpus Christi director of business development, and Port of Corpus Christi chairman Ruben Bonilla watch as beans are loaded into a ship.

Beans by WestStar Foods headed to Cuba are loaded into a ship at Wharf 15 at the Port of Corpus Christi on Monday. This is the first shipment of the beans. WestStar Foods worked with Register International to service the movement aboard the MCP Famagusta.

Trucks park alongside a ship at the port to unload beans bound for Cuba. The four-day trip to the island will mark the 92nd charter to Cuba for Register International, said its president, Sean Register.

CORPUS CHRISTI — About 5,000 tons of pinto beans will leave the Port of Corpus Christi this evening and arrive in the Port of Santiago de Cuba by Saturday evening. The shipment is the first to head for Cuba this year.

Corpus Christi-based WestStar Foods began loading the sacks of beans on Monday aboard the MCP Famagusta, a vessel chartered by Register International. Pat Walleson, WestStar's managing partner, said he expects to ship an additional 5,000 to 15,000 tons to Cuba this year.

"We would love to ship smaller tonnages of packaged beans," said Walleson, as he oversaw the loading of the 100-pound bags at the dock.

The four-day trip to the island will mark the 92nd charter to Cuba for Register International, said its president, Sean Register. The Corpus Christi port in 2003 became the first U.S. port to sign a trade agreement with Cuba.

"This is not only good for the Port of Corpus Christi but for America," Register said after receiving a "first-call" plaque from port officials. "We're here because of the port's marketing efforts. (The Cubans) trust (Register and the Port of Corpus Christi) and that means a lot when doing business with them."

Michael Perez, the port's director of business development, said Cuban officials always are looking at getting the best product at lower prices. Having a good history with them helps, he added.

"The more we'll buy, the more we'll ship," Perez said. "We hope to do at least 5,000 tons a quarter, about a $4 million load."

Port officials welcomed officials from WestStar, Register and guests during a ceremony Monday morning. Attending the event were port commissioners Judy Hawley, Francis Gandy and Richard Borchard and port chairman Ruben Bonilla.

Contact Fanny S. Chirinos at 886-3759 or chirinosf@caller.com

Experts outline business benefits if relationship with Cuba thaws

Friday, January 23, 2009
South Florida Business Journal

by Bill Frogameni

With Fidel Castro rumored to be near death and President Barack Obama assuming power, South Florida businesses stand to gain mightily from warmer trade relations with Cuba.
After 50 years of tension and an embargo that hardened under former President George W. Bush, it’s unclear how much or how fast the chilly relations between Cuba and the U.S. will thaw. But, if the two countries return to the free trade they enjoyed before Castro, South Florida would see big benefits, experts say.
In the immediate term, there’s wide agreement that Obama will lift Bush-era restrictions on travel and cash remittances, as promised during the campaign. The biggest impact in the tri-county area will be on the agencies that service the area’s many Cuban-American travelers, said Uva de Aragón, associate director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University (FIU).
Obama has promised unlimited travel for Cuban-Americans visiting family on the island, but, under the rules imposed by Bush, “you can travel only every three years, no matter what,” de Aragón explained. This has resulted in lots of illegal travel through third countries and a siphoning of business away from South Florida, she noted.
Armando Garcia, co-owner of Miami-based Marazul Charters, said he expects his 30-year-old niche travel business to grow once the rules are lifted. In 2004, when Bush instituted the current rules, Marazul suffered a dramatic decline, Garcia said.
“We used to have 110 employees,” he said. “Within a month, we went down to 27 employees.”
The company now has 32 employees. It facilitated about 15,000 visits to Cuba last year, but that figure was closer to 40,000 in 2003, Garcia said.
Under Obama’s rule changes, he predicted that South Florida travel agencies will see a return to 2003 numbers within a year, and would benefit even more, should relations be normalized.
Given normalization, South Florida’s larger travel industry would benefit, too, said Dario Moreno, an FIU professor who studies Cuban-American politics. He envisioned full ships owned by South Florida-based cruise lines leaving local ports and heading across the straits. That scenario would also mean a boost for local hotels, restaurants and airports servicing the additional cruise passengers.
If a regime change happens or Cuba pursues Chinese-style market reforms, South Florida’s development and construction firms could also prosper, thanks to close geographical proximity and cultural ties, Moreno said.
“One of the great needs in Cuba is infrastructure development, so those kinds of firms would benefit in particular,” he said, mentioning Lennar Corp., James A. Cummings Inc. and the Related Group.
Huge growth potential looms
Exporting and warehousing have huge growth potential, too. While Obama probably won’t radically alter export policies at first, he may take incremental steps toward liberalization – depending on how Cuba behaves, FIU economist Jorge Salazar-Carrillo said. One Bush-era rule Obama may roll back is the requirement that shipments bound for Cuba be paid for in cash prior to departing. Bush made it so third-country banks couldn’t guarantee payment through letters of credit and extended terms, which makes shipping food and medical supplies – the only exports currently allowed – all the more prohibitive, he added.
“If [the credit restriction] is removed, I think U.S. exports will increase maybe 5 to 10 percent,” Salazar-Carrillo said.
But, since Cuba doesn’t buy much of the sugar or vegetables that South Florida produces, farmers and ports farther north would get the biggest windfall, he noted. Where local seaports and airports stand to benefit most is under normalization. That’s when South Florida would see a spike of goods moving to Cuba to feed a fast-growing economy, he said.
“You have the possibility of establishing here what I like to call the twin cities,” Salazar-Carrillo said. “It would be like Miami and Havana being the twin poles of a relationship that would be really important to South Florida.”
Jay Brickman, a shipping executive with Crowley Liner Services, agreed that the potential for exports to Cuba is huge. Every week, Brickman oversees the shipment of about 40 cargo containers carrying food bound for the island from Crowley’s Port Everglades operations. The load isn’t very significant relative to Crowley’s total operations – and it has to be delivered on a ship with goods bound for other Caribbean countries – but Brickman said Crowley is looking to Cuba’s future.
“It’s a market that has incredible pent-up desire,” he said.
But, sweeping changes in U.S.-Cuba relations will hinge mostly on whatever steps Cuba takes, said Carlos Saladrigas, co-chairman of the Washington D.C.-based Cuba Study Group, which advocates for more moderate relations. Saladrigas, who also sits on the board of Advance Auto Parts and Progress Energy, said it’s hard to know how much Raul Castro may embrace the U.S. since the communist regime has sustained itself largely by demonizing the embargo.
Yet, if normalization does happen, Saladrigas is bullish about South Florida’s economic prospects.
“I think it could really be a bonanza, in terms of creating a host of opportunities,” he said. “Imagine a market of 11 million people opening up.”
bfrogameni@bizjournals.com (954) 949-7511

Blog entry about Yoani Sanchez, written by her husband Reinaldo Escobar

El año de Yoani

31 de Diciembre, 2008

Aunque fue en abril de 2007 cuando Yoani Sánchez inició su blog Generación Y, el momento en que su nombre pasó del anonimato a la popularidad fue el año 2008. Quizás todo comenzó un poco antes, cuando en octubre de 2007 el corresponsal de la agencia Reuters lanzó un despacho que luego se publicó en varios periódicos del mundo. Eso llamó la atención de The Wall Street Journal, que el 22 de diciembre dedicó una página completa con un llamado en primera plana sobre esta insignificante ciudadana. Le siguió el periódico español El País el 3 de enero de este año con una de esas entrevistas colocadas en la contraportada titulada con una frase de la entrevistada: “La vida no está en otra parte, está en otra Cuba.”

Durante los días 23 y 24 de febrero, cuando se realizaba en Cuba el proceso para elegir al nuevo Presidente de los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros, La Habana se llenó de reporteros de los más importantes medios de prensa del mundo. Como si se tratara de una meca caribeña, la mayoría de ellos peregrinó hasta el piso 14 del edificio donde vive la bloggera. Literalmente, hubo que hacer cola para entrevistarla. The New York Times, The Zeit, Newsweek, Washington Post, Reporteros sin Fronteras, la televisión alemana, la española, Aljazira y muchos otros quisieron hacerle saber a sus diferentes públicos en qué consistía este nuevo fenómeno. En el mes de marzo, el portal desdecuba.com, donde se aloja junto a otros el blog Generación Y , fue bloqueado por las autoridades cubanas y desde entonces no es posible acceder a él desde Cuba. Gracias a muy buenos amigos que viven fuera de la isla, es posible actualizar la bitácora y en la actualidad, gracias a otros amigos, es posible leerla en 12 lenguas.

En abril, Yoani supo que había ganado el premio Ortega y Gasset de Periodismo Digital y en mayo la revista Time la ubicó entre las 100 personas más influyentes del mundo en la categoría “héroes y pioneros”. El gobierno cubano le negó entonces el permiso para salir del país a recoger en España el premio que había recibido. En la ceremonia, la cubana brilló por su ausencia y otro cubano, también blogger, Ernesto Hernández Bustos, recogió en su nombre el diploma. La solidaridad que despertó la prohibición fue tan gratificante como el viaje frustrado.
Un mes después, vio la luz un libro sobre Bolivia. El prologuista era Fidel Castro y, sin mencionar directamente su nombre, hizo alusión a esta joven que recibía “uno de los tantos premios que propicia el imperialismo para mover las aguas de su molino”. Yoani decidió no contestarle, entre otras cosas porque desde que empezó su trabajo eligió la política de no responder ataques. Entonces, me pidió que fuera yo quien ripostara. Hubo quienes no entendieron su broma de invocar el principio machista de que “cuando un hombre ofende a una mujer debe ser el marido quien saque la cara”; son personas que quizás debieran pasar por el Centro Nacional del Humor a recibir una terapia o simplemente a que les expliquen el chiste.

A finales de agosto, Gorki Águila, líder de una banda de rock, fue detenido por la policía. Sobre él pesaba una acusación que podía costarle cuatro años de cárcel. Yoani, junto a otros amigos fue a la llamada Tribuna Antiimperialista José Martí -donde el famoso cantautor Pablo Milanés daba un mega concierto- para pedir, pancarta en mano, la libertad del rockero. El pequeño grupo fue disuelto a golpes, pero al otro día, frente al tribunal donde se celebraba el juicio, todos estuvieron presentes y coreando el nombre de Gorki cuando lo vieron salir libre, apenas con una multa.
El 4 de septiembre Yoani cumplió 33 años, pero el regalo no le llegaría hasta veinte días más tarde cuando, por segunda vez, el gobierno le negara el permiso para salir de la isla, esta vez a cumplir una invitación a un festival de periodismo en Ferrara, Italia.

En noviembre, Yoani ganó el premio del jurado en el concurso español Bitácoras.com y apenas una semana después conoció que en el concurso The BOBs, que incluye a más de 12 mil participantes de todo el mundo, había recibido también el premio en la categoría Mejor Weblog.
A principios de diciembre, un grupo de bloger junto a los colectivos de la revista Convivencia y del portal Desde Cuba organizaron un encuentro para intercambiar conocimientos. La policía política, conociendo que Yoani ha trabajado como nadie en el propósito de extender la blogósfera cubana, la citó para decirle que la actividad no podría realizarse. Cuando se negaron a confirmarlo por escrito, ella les dijo que no se atrevían a hacerlo porque eran unos cobardes. La revista semanal del periódico El País publicó en su edición del 30 de noviembre la selección que hizo ese diario de los 100 hispanoamericanos más notables del año; la revista Foreign Policy eligió en diciembre los 10 intelectuales más importantes del año y otro tanto hizo la prestigiosa revista mexicana Gato Pardo. Yoani Sánchez aparece en todas esas enumeraciones y es la única persona que se repite en más de una lista.

Todos estos sucesos sólo han servido para llamar más aún la atención sobre el blog Generación Y, que mensualmente promedia una decena de millones de hits y cuyos post reciben cada uno entre 3 y 7 mil comentarios. De hecho, esto ha convertido este espacio en una auténtica plaza pública virtual donde miles de personas acuden a debatir los textos que Yoani escribe y los comentarios que colocan los visitantes. Hay una regla no escrita que postula que la popularidad atrae enemigos. A lo largo de estos meses las hostilidades han venido desde dos extremos: el primero y el más lógico, aquellos fundamentalistas que no aceptan ni la más mínima crítica al gobierno. Ellos la llaman asalariada del imperio, agente de la CIA o, en los casos más benignos, una persona confundida que no sabe lo malo que anda el mundo por allá afuera; el segundo extremo son los otros fundamentalistas, aquellos que creen que todo aquel que puede poner sus dedos sobre el teclado de una computadora tiene que ser necesariamente un agente de la Seguridad del Estado. Entre ellos se encuentran algunos que obtuvieron un asilo argumentando una persecución que nunca sufrieron y que ahora dicen no entender cómo es posible que la bloggera no esté en la cárcel ni abandona la isla. Hay muchos que no aceptan que a ella le den premios y reconocimientos en lugar de dárselos a otros periodistas independientes que han sufrido golpizas o que cumplen largas condenas. Puedo asegurar que ninguno de los galardones recibidos, incluyendo la mención del referido prologuista, ha sido gestionado por Yoani.

Por suerte sobran los amigos. A diferencia de quienes la denigran, ellos sí muestran la cara y dicen sus nombres. Son muchos –y de eso soy testigo privilegiado– que la paran en la calle para decirle que la leen y la apoyan. Entre ellos pueden encontrarse algunas figuras públicas, cubanos que viven en el exterior, gente de aquí adentro que la conoce a través de las antenas parabólicas o de discos que circulan gratuitamente, jóvenes y viejos, hombres y mujeres que no saben que esta mujer es una de las personas más tímidas del mundo, al extremo que entre sus íntimos se ha dicho siempre que posee el don de la invisibilidad, por lo mucho que evade ser el centro de atención de los demás.

Disfruto el infinito placer de compartir mi vida con Yoani. Somos una pareja desde julio de 1993, cuando ella todavía no había matriculado en el Instituto Pedagógico ni soñaba con cambiarse de escuela para terminar siendo filóloga. Tenemos un hijo de 13 años, una pecera con goldfish y una perra sin raza. Tengo derecho a decir que nadie la conoce como yo. Sus peores defectos personales constituyen un secreto para sus más encarnizados enemigos y sus mejores virtudes aun no han sido descubiertas por sus más fervientes admiradores. A causa de que mi profesión es la de periodista, no ha faltado quien diga que realmente soy yo quien escribe sus textos. Basta con dar una vuelta por mi blog (¡que casi nadie visita!) para comprobar la diferencia en los estilos. Eso sí, no renuncio a la parte de mérito que me corresponde, porque si yo, con mi emblemático delantal de florecitas, no fregara los platos, limpiara la casa y le echara agua a las plantas de la terraza, Yoani no tendría tiempo para su blog. Ella es tan generosa que me permite leer sus trabajos antes de publicarlos para que yo me haga la ilusión de que los reviso.

Sin dudas 2008 ha sido el año de Yoani. Lo que no sabe nadie es que su número de la suerte es el 9.

Cubans can now build own houses

Jan. 5, 2009

HAVANA, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Another sign of change has cropped up in communist Cuba with President Raul Castro's announcement that Cubans can build their own homes with their own money. Castro's housing edict Sunday is the latest in a series of reforms since he took over from his ailing brother Fidel on an acting basis in July 2006 and permanently in February 2008.
With demand by Cuba's 11 million citizens overcoming supply, Castro said the policy change will allow for quicker construction of hundreds of thousands of new homes, Mercopress reported Monday. Cubans will be told "OK, here you can build. I've given you this amount of space, that amount of room for a street, and that amount for a sidewalk. Now build your little home with whatever you can," said Castro on a local television program as he visited a new neighborhood of Venezuela-built homes. Mercopress said the Cuban government has reached just roughly half its annual goal of 100,000 new homes per year, and the situation worsened after the island nation was hit by three hurricanes in 2008 that destroyed about a half million homes. Under Castro, Cuba also has transferred vacant farmland into private ownership, given farm workers raises and moved taxi drivers and other jobs over to the private sector. The government also has allowed Cubans to own cell phones and computers and to rent cars and stay at hotels. Many of the perks are out of reach for the average Cuban, who earns about 17 dollars a month.
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

UM's Gomez: Cuba calling up special forces

Miami Herald, Cuban Colada, January 19, 2009

The Cuban government has called up its special forces to protect the upper echelon of power, says the University of Miami's Andy Gomez, who serves as an advisor to the U.S. Task Force on Cuba.Gomez said the word comes from “high level sources” in Washington, D.C. He stressed that troop movements on the streets of Cuba have not been detected, but that the Ministry of Interior had called in special units to protect the inner circle “just in case.”Miami has been awash in rumors that Fidel Castro is on his last legs. He hasn't written any articles lately, and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez had some rather bleak comments about him recently.The Cuban Armed Forces has several special forces units, including the “black berets” - charged with the security detail of the top members of government. They tend to be more defensive than offensive, experts say.They were not mobilized when Fidel Castro took sick July 2006, although about 200,000 reservists were.U.S. State Department officials said they had no knowledge of any special forces deployment. “It doesn’t ring true,’’ said U.S. Interests Section spokesman Greg Adams. “What is interesting is that these rumors happen from time to time and they usually trot out a picture of Fidel meeting with somebody or a video to make everyone look like idiots. That has not happened this time.”Adams pointed out however that the Cuban paper Granma ran a curious article Wednesday saying that extra police would be on major roadways in the coming days to prevent car accidents. That, Adams said, did not ring true either.Gomez, a senior fellow at UM's Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies, is on a task force which is an arm of the Brookings Institution think tank comprised of academics and former diplomats.- Frances Robles