Viewing from April 2004

US Treasury devotes more resources to Cuba than terror suspects

Campaign News | Friday, 30 April 2004

Only four agents track Bin laden money while two dozen enforce the travel ban on CubaFriday April 30: A US Treasury Department report acknowledging that it has only four employees chasing Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein's money and nearly two dozen chasing Cuba embargo violators brought withering criticism on ... read more

Bush mentions plan for a ‘Free Cuba’ at Florida fundraiser

Campaign News | Friday, 30 April 2004

Raucous crowd pays up to $25,000 to attendCORAL GABLES, Fla. - George W Bush addressing a small crowd of supporters at a fund-raiser in Coral Gables, Fla., last week. outlined his future policy on Cuba with two words, "Cuba Libre" [Free Cuba], drawing raucous applause and chants of "Viva Bush" ... read more

Cuba accuses US radio stations of inciting terrorism

Campaign News | Thursday, 29 April 2004

310 hours of propaganda per weekUnited Nations, Apr 28 (Prensa Latina)Cuba has declared that it will defend its sovereignty and independence adopting every measure possible to repel US electronic warfare.Cuban diplomat, Rodney Lopez, addressed the UN Information Committee to denounce over 310 hours of illegal radio and TV broadcasts per ... read more

Massive turnout expected for May Day

Campaign News | Thursday, 29 April 2004

Delegation from TUC in Havana for celebrationsHavana, Apr 28 (Prensa Latina)The enthusiastic preparations for International Workers? Day, May 1, is growing in every part of Cuba to demonstrate Cubans? response to Washington that the "transition" taking place in Cuba is to "more and better socialism," Pedro Ross Leal, head of ... read more

Cuba warns that US resolution could facilitate unilateral force

Campaign News | Wednesday, 28 April 2004

UN Security Council move seen as dangerousUnited Nations, Apr 27 (Prensa Latina) Cuba warned Tuesday of the danger that a US resolution on non-proliferation of weapons for mass destruction may be used as an instrument for unilateral and abusive use of force against certain countries.Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations, ... read more

Massive investment upgrades TV and radio services

Campaign News | Tuesday, 27 April 2004

Fourth TV channel now on airBY LILLIAM RIERA of Granma InternationalA thoroughgoing process of renovation and modernization for radio and television transmission has allowed for the initiation of Cuba’s fourth national television channel (Education Channel 2), which entered a trial phase with the airing of the 2nd Olympiad of Cuban ... read more

How Cuba is helping strife-torn Haiti

Campaign News | Sunday, 25 April 2004

South Carolina newspaper reports positivelyBy William Stief of The State newspaper, South CarolinaPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -Killings and chaos have been the main news out of this poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere in recent months.But something positive is happening. The problem is its source - Cuba, which turns off many folks ... read more

Cuba to keep alive topic of US rights abuse at Guantanamo

Campaign News | Friday, 23 April 2004

Foreign Minister accuses US of sabotaging motion at GenevaApril 22: Cuba has promised it will keep alive the issue of US human rights abuses at the Guantanamo base and defended its right to bring it forward at any international fora it deems convenient to do so.Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations, ... read more

Bush administration may stop families sending money to relatives in Cuba

Campaign News | Friday, 23 April 2004

Malicious and cynical move might backfireApril 23: The Bush administration is considering stepping up the blocakde by making significant cuts in the amount of money Americans are allowed to send to family and others in Cuba.Sources familiar with the discussions of the president's Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba ... read more

Cuba criticises sentences on assassins

Campaign News | Wednesday, 21 April 2004

Posada Carriles should have been extraditedApril 21: The Cuban government has criticised as too lenient sentences imposed on six men convicted of trying to assassinate Fidel Castro.A Panama court sentenced them to terms of four to eight years in jail.The five Cubans and one Panamanian were found guilty of threatening ... read more

Cuban resolution poses moral dilemma for the EU

Campaign News | Wednesday, 21 April 2004

Vote will be on April 22BY MIREYA CASTAÑEDA of Granma InternationalApril 20: FELIPE Pérez Roque, the Cuban foreign minister, affirmed in Havana on April 20 that the resolution "Question of the arbitrary detentions in the area of the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo" is a unique opportunity for a group ... read more

Bush campaign against Cuban tourism begins

Campaign News | Wednesday, 21 April 2004

Jamaican hotel owner told he may lose his US visaWASHINGTON May 21 - The Bush administration has told a jamiacan businessman that his top directors will be denied entry into the United States because of investments the company made on property confiscated from Americans in Cuba.John Issa's SuperClubs hotel chain ... read more

Fidel blasts Guantanamo concentration camp

Campaign News | Tuesday, 20 April 2004

Britain and Europe have to decide whether to vote against BushApril 19: Cuba's leader Fidel Castro has lashed out at the US for building a concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay.Mr Castro said European nations that voted against Cuba last week at the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) are now faced ... read more

FBI takes on Cuban 'godfather'

Campaign News | Monday, 19 April 2004

Bay of Pigs veteran charged with corruption in FloridaA former Batista policeman, veteran of the Bay of Pigs and a member of the present-day Cuban-American 'establishment' in Miami is facing trial in Florida accused of heading a multi-million dollar organised crime network known as The Corporation.The full story is told ... read more

Cuba explains why its diplomat punched a CIA agent

Campaign News | Sunday, 18 April 2004

What really happened to Frank CalzonApril 17: The US media and the worldwide web have been awash with stories of a "violent and unprovoked attack" by a Cuban diplomat on a representative of a US NGO in Geneva.The incident in question took place during in the corridor of the UN ... read more

Cuba says US has won a pyhrric victory in Geneva

Campaign News | Saturday, 17 April 2004

US motion is passed by just one voteGENEVA April 16 - Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque told a news conference in Havana that the vote at the UN criticising Cuba was "a pyrrhic victory" for Washington."The resolution 'does not use the words `condemn Cuba,' it does not use the ... read more

Cuba requests UN probe of Human Rights violations at Guantanamo

Campaign News | Saturday, 17 April 2004

Resolution tabled at GenevaHavana, Apr 15 (Prensa Latina) Cuba has demanded that the UN Human Rights Commission investigate the conditions of prisoners at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo.Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told a press conference in Havana that a draft resolution presented by Cuba at the commission ... read more

Cuba's answer to the US motion

Campaign News | Saturday, 17 April 2004

Full text of delegate's speech at GenevaSTATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DELEGATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE 60th SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, H.E. MR. JUAN ANTONIO FERNANDEZ PALACIOS, IN EXPLAINING THE VOTE ON THE ANTI-CUBAN DRAFT RESOLUTION, CONTAINED IN DOCUMENT E/CN.4/2004/L.13Geneva, 15 April ... read more

Analysis: Taste of triumph for Cuba in Geneva

Campaign News | Friday, 16 April 2004

Cuban representative wins applauseGeneva, Apr 15 (Prensa Latina) A vote pitting allies of the United States against Cuba left the Caribbean island with the taste of triumph in one of the most important moments of the UN Human Rights Commission.The resounding applause given to the speech by Cuba?s delegation chief, ... read more

US admits pressure to impose anti-Cuban resolution

Campaign News | Thursday, 15 April 2004

Vote to take place on Thursday April 15April 14: The United States has admitted that it is putting pressure on governments to impose an anti-Cuban resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which will go to the vote on Thursday, April 15.Assistant Secretary of State for Western ... read more

Regional HIV/AIDS prevention centre opens in Santa Clara

Campaign News | Wednesday, 14 April 2004

Project financed by Japan through the UN Development ProgrammeA new Regional Centre for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS has been inaugurated in the central city of Santa Clara.The centre, installed in a beautiful mansion, was remodeled and equipped as part of a support project for the ... read more

Drought threatens cattle

Campaign News | Wednesday, 14 April 2004

Some 3,400 water sources for cattle exhaustedBY RAISA PAGES - Granma International staff writerApril 14: THE ongoing drought in Cuba’s eastern region has caused 3,400 water sources for cattle to dry up, 3,368 of them in areas ranging from Camagüey province to Guantánamo in the extreme eastern end of the ... read more

Bacardi's smooth image soured by charges of death plots and terror

Campaign News | Tuesday, 13 April 2004

BBC airs documentary revealing rum dynasty's anti-Cuba campaignApril 13: The BBC3 cable channel aired a documantary on April 12 that exposed the activities of the Bacardi family in attempting to destroy the Cuban revolution.The programme, part of a series on wealthy dynasties called 'Outrageous Fortunes' was made with the help ... read more

Nearly 14,000 foreign students on scholarships in Cuban universities

Campaign News | Saturday, 10 April 2004

Free education offered to developing countriesApril 10: CUBAN universities have this year so far welcomed more than 13,945 foreign students from 113 countries, via a cooperation programme that is systematically growing.This programme, which is free of cost to the students, began in 1961 and increased during the 1970s in response ... read more

Worst drought in 40 years reported in eastern Cuba

Campaign News | Saturday, 10 April 2004

Fear for water supplies in long termHavana, April 10 (Prensa Latina) The drought affecting eastern Cuba since May 2003 is among the worst in the last 40 years, the Granma newspaper reporterd o0n April 10th.Statistics from the Centro del Clima of the Cuban Weather Institute show a rain deficit of ... read more

How Bush is tightening the noose around Cuba’s neck

Campaign News | Thursday, 8 April 2004

Mavis Anderson and Philip Schmidt of Progreso Weekly summarise the rising animosity of the Bush administrationWe have been witnessing a year of “...efforts by the Bush Administration to raise the intensity of its crackdown on travel by Americans to Cuba.”At times, the policy has been laughable: The administration recently barred ... read more

In Geneva: U.S. seeks condemnation of Cuba

Campaign News | Thursday, 8 April 2004

W. T. Whitney Jr. of the People's Weekly World newspaper reportsApril 4: The April meeting in Geneva of the UN Human Rights Commission has become a ritualized battle between Cuba and a U.S. government that aggressively lobbies and cajoles member nations to denounce Cuba for alleged human rights violations.Last year, ... read more

What should we do? Fold our arms and allow the US to do what it likes?

Campaign News | Wednesday, 7 April 2004

President of Cuban Parliament defends the arrest of the so-called dissidentsApril 6: The President of Cuba?s Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, met Monday 6th April with a delegation of managing editors from the Associated Press who are on a visit to Cuba.He answered their questions with a straightforward honesty on any subject ... read more

US backs off from banning publication of Cuban articles

Campaign News | Wednesday, 7 April 2004

Office of Foreign Assets Control contradicts its earlier rulingWASHINGTON April 5: The US government appears to have backed off in its attempt to stop US publishers from printing articles by experts from Cuba, Iran and other states subject to embargoes.The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces ... read more

Comment: US Congressman calls for Castro's assassination

Campaign News | Tuesday, 6 April 2004

By Wayne Smith, former head of the US Interests section in HavanaMarch 31: As is well known, back in the 1960s, the CIA mounted a number of assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, at one point even involving the Mafia. The attempts all failed and over the years such tactics came ... read more

Cuban women applauded in Geneva

Campaign News | Monday, 5 April 2004

Delegate walks out when US terrorist interrupts herGeneva, Apr 5: A Cuban delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission was applauded for her analysis of the problems of women in the world, saying "we speak of the feminization of poverty in the world, but in Cuba we can say there ... read more

Washington's poodles line up in Geneva

Campaign News | Sunday, 4 April 2004

El Salvador, Peru, Nicaragua and Australia join latest US ploy against CubaGeneva, Switzerland April 4: El Salvador, Peru and Nicaragua succumbed to US pressure and joined Honduras as proxy nations co-sponsoring a resolution to condemn Cuba at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.Reliable sources told the Cuban news agency ... read more

Background: How the US subverts the Human Rights Commission

Campaign News | Sunday, 4 April 2004

The history of an iniquitous campaignTHE INIQUITOUS CAMPAIGN MOUNTED BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST CUBA AT THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTSThe 1980s witnessed the assumption to office, in the United States, of conservative ultra-right forces. With respect to Cuba, the Santa Fé Document, which served as an electoral and political ... read more

UN rights body turns deaf ear to Miami Five relatives

Campaign News | Saturday, 3 April 2004

Commission has not even acknowledged receipt of their complaintApril 1: Calling their treatment "cold, inhumane and hypocritical", the families of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States complained of the lack of response from the UN Human Rights Commission totheir complaints.In interviews transmitted by the Roundtable broadcast in Cuba, Olga ... read more

Cuba to strengthen relations with EU

Campaign News | Saturday, 3 April 2004

Foreign Minister talks to Japanese newspaperBy Keiichi Honma of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaperCuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, 39, said during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday April 30 at the Cuban Foreign Ministry that there was "no possibility" for dialogue with the administration of U.S. President George ... read more

Honduras is morally incompetent to condemn Cuba

Campaign News | Friday, 2 April 2004

Statement by the Relatives of the Detained/Disappeared in Honduras CommitteeAS such, the government of President Ricardo Maduro is legally incompetent to promote internationally what it is incapable of doing in its own country.The Relatives of the Detained/Disappeared in Honduras Committee (COFADEH) informs local public and the peoples of the world ... read more

Cuba allows reporters into prison hospitals

Campaign News | Thursday, 1 April 2004

Island displays breadth of care availableHAVANA April 1st: The Cuban government on April 1st offered foreign reporters a visit to see the medical services in Havana’s prisons.Cuba vehemently rejects reports that alleged ‘dissidents’ and other inmates are mistreated, underfed and housed in unsanitary cells plagued by insects.The tours of the ... read more

Cuba rejects US bioweapons charge

Campaign News | Thursday, 1 April 2004

They are looking for a pretext to invade, says Foreign MinisterHAVANA April 1st: Cuba has rejected a renewed accusation by a senior US official that it is developing biological weapons and said the charges were an attempt to seek a pretext to invade the island.Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque ... read more