Havana, Dec 20 (EFE).- Several high-profile members of Cuba's dissident movement blasted U.S. legislators for ignoring the pro-democracy activists during their visit to the island, while others said they understood the omission and did not take it as a slight.

"The result of the visit is deplorable. They gave up the chance to meet with the opposition and lobby for the release of political prisoners in the hopes of a meeting with Raul Castro, and they didn't even get that," said Miriam Leiva, a member of the Women in White human rights organization hailed internationally for its work on behalf of those persecuted by the Communist regime.

A 10-person bi-partisan U.S. Congressional delegation came to Cuba last Friday - the biggest such party to visit the island in nearly a half-century - and spent three days meeting with high-ranking Communist officials.

The group also met with Roman Catholic prelates, but saw their explicit request for a meeting with provisional President Raul Castro, the younger brother of the ailing Fidel, denied.

"The legislators left not only with empty hands, but with dirty hands," said Marta Beatriz Roque, of the Assembly for Promoting Civil Society.

"Nothing positive" emerged from the encounters, she said.

"It would have been positive if, in the first place, they would have spoken with the opposition and thus been able to take back to their country the issue of human rights, of the release of political prisoners, of the repression here. But they did not do that," she said.

Rights activist Oscar Espinosa described the omission as "a bit inexplicable," noting that in the past other U.S. lawmakers have met even with Fidel Castro and the opposition during the same visit.

"It was too much of a concession (to the regime)," he opined.

For his part, Manuel Cuesta Morua of the Arco Progresista (Progressive Arc) told EFE: "Looking at it realistically, I don't think it's bad that they didn't meet with the opposition."

"Taking into account 48 years without political dialogue and of confrontation ... taking into account the importance that some dialogue between the two countries has for making the climate less tense, I think the first step should not be jeopardized over a symbolic act" he said.

Cuesta Morua said a meeting with the dissidents would have served only to provide "an exchange of opinions already well known."

Elizardo Sanchez, president of the not-officially-recognized Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said the lawmakers' decision not to meet with dissidents was "understandable."

"There is much more closeness between us - between the congressmen and the opposition - than there is between them and the government of Cuba," he said, implying that seeking to bridge the broader gap makes sense.

Wrapping up their trip, the lawmakers said Sunday that their visit was the beginning of a new and promising phase in the ever-difficult bilateral relationship even if Havana, in light of Fidel Castro's illness, is not ready to acknowledge that yet.

Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, who headed the delegation, insinuated that it was perhaps out of respect for the ailing "maximum leader" that those currently running the country declined to herald any sort of watershed moment in the relationship with Washington.

The absence of a meeting with Raul "is interpreted by us that the Cuban government is not ready to concede the new era or that a new era has begun," he told a press conference.

"But the dialogue has begun, with this the biggest (congressional) delegation in a half-century," said Flake. "And there will be more visits and more dialogue."

Authorities of the 48-year-old Communist regime have treated Fidel Castro's ailment as a "state secret." The 80-year-old leader has not been seen in public since shortly before the July 31 announcement of his intestinal surgery and the "temporary" transfer of power to Raul, the longtime defense minister and Fidel's desginated heir.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Cuban parliament was quoted Wednesday as saying there was little possibility of any significant change in U.S. policy towards Cuba while George W. Bush is president.

"We shouldn't believe that there will be any important changes while Bush is president and as long as the current political balance exists in the United States," Ricardo Alarcon told a session of the legislature.

Alarcon, quoted by the Prensa Latina official news agency, said Cuba is quite far down the list of priorities for American politicians at the moment because their attention is focused on other problems, such as the war in Iraq. EFE jlp/dgm

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U.S. Delegation Probes Cuba for Hints of the Future

19 December 2006

NPR: Morning Edition

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I’m Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And I’m Steve Inskeep, good morning.

Coming up, we’ll report on two Latin-American leaders. One is a U.S. ally who faces a corruption scandal. Then there’s a U.S. opponent, who’s making his nation a little more like Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

MONTAGNE: We don’t know how much longer it will be Fidel Castro’s Cuba. And it’s at this uncertain moment that a congressional delegation visited Havana. It was an effort to open a dialogue, now that the ailing president has ceded day-to-day authority to his brother Raul.

As it turned out, the lawmakers met neither Castro, as NPR’s Michele Kelemen reports.

MICHELE KELEMEN: The official line members of Congress say they were given in Havana, was that Fidel Castro doesn’t have cancer and plans to appear in public soon. He’s been out of public view since late July, when he temporarily handed power to his brother Raul. Congressman Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, expressed some disappointment that Raul Castro didn’t meet the delegation from Washington.

Representative JEFF FLAKE (Republican, Arizona): Disappointed, but not surprised. The Cuban government doesn’t seem to be ready to move beyond the Fidel era. And to have a meeting with Raul would have suggested that that era is done.

KELEMEN: Flake and nine other members of Congress did meet with Cuba’s foreign minister, a top communist party official, and with the head of the National Assembly.

Rep. FLAKE: They seemed to be a lot more guarded in talking about what changes might come to the economy or politically. They didn’t to say anything that would, perhaps, put them out of favor with those who might come in later.

KELEMEN: Still, Flake came away with some advice for U.S. policy makers. He says if Washington wants to promote a transition to democracy, it should ease travel restrictions, especially for students and for Cuban-Americans.

He’d also like to see Washington test Raul Castro’s recent calls to open negotiations with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon has ruled out a dialogue with Raul Castro, saying the offer was nothing new.

Assistant Secretary THOMAS SHANNON (U.S. State Department): I mean, we’re getting all kinds of advice in terms of what we should be doing with Cuba. And there’s, you know, kind of genuine, kind of honest disagreement about how you best approach a regime like this.

KELEMEN: For now, the Bush administration has decided on a wait-and-see approach. Shannon told reporters last week that the Cuban regime is becoming harder and more orthodox as it gets closer to Fidel Castro’s end. And he sees no reformers emerging.

Mr. SHANNON: It has been evident to us for over a year that as Fidel Castro got older, as he got more infirmed, as he approach his health crisis, that this was a regime that was locking down and was preparing for this moment of succession.

KELEMEN: But Congressman Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, came away with a different impression from his weekend with the congressional delegation in Cuba.

Representative GREGORY MEEKS (Democrat, New York): We’ve just about met with everyone else that we wanted to meet with, with the exception of Raul. They were very accessible and very available and wiling to talk.

KELEMEN: They talked, Meeks said, about business opportunities.

Rep. MEEKS: They are willing to open up the opportunities for the American Tourism Industry to come and work in Cuba and open up those gates. So there’s opportunities on both sides, and we need to change the direction in which we’re going in. And I think that we’re going to explore that in Washington in the coming months ahead.

KELEMEN: Meeks, who’s on the House International Relations Committee, predicts lots of hearings and some legislative moves to try to chip away at the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Congressman Flake would also like to see the embargo ease, though he doesn’t really believe the Cubans want too many American tourists.

Rep. FLAKE: Let them deal with spring break a few times and see how it is. If somebody is going to restrict travel, I think it ought to be a communist government - not our government.

KELEMEN: The Bush administration, though, has tightened the travel restrictions in recent years and tightened the embargo to try to undermine the communist party’s grip on power.

Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

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Analysis: "Subversive" media at the end of Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba

20 December 2006

BBC Monitoring Media

Analysis by George Ballantine of BBC Monitoring on 20 December

Fifty years since the start of the December 1956 revolution, ailing leader Fidel Castro is not in power any more. But his legacy is still present in communist Cuba's renewal fight against "anti-revolutionary" and "subversive" media, either domestic or foreign.

Cuba, considered to be the most media repressive country in the world after China, is under rigorous scrutiny from media organizations. Since Fidel Castro's relinquishing of power to his brother Raul, international watchdogs have intensified their condemnation of human rights abuses, the lack of media freedom and the jailed journalists' conditions of detention.

While broadcast media remain under strict governmental control, print media and especially the internet are now the focus of increased surveillance from Castro's inheritor.

Unjust jailing of journalists

There are more than 70 Cuban writers, independent journalists and opposition party leaders who have received sentences of between 18 and 25 years from Cuban courts in recent years. According to CubaNet.org, the harassment, intimidation and brutality towards the independent press have not in any way diminished during Raul Castro's interim four months in power. Journalists left at liberty in Cuba are kept under surveillance, while measures to control the internet have increased.

The Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations has deplored the lack of press freedoms in Cuba and what the organization termed the "unjust jailing of journalists" throughout the island. In a resolution adopted at its meeting in Rio de Janeiro on 21 November, the committee called for the "immediate" and "unconditional" release of all imprisoned journalists in Cuba and an end to government reprisals against the media. The committee also demanded that the Cuban government "end its selective policy regarding the issuance of visas to foreign journalists".

The Global Committee also called on the Cuban government "to respect international standards concerning the necessary mobility of journalists and to permit imprisoned journalists who already have visas to emigrate for health reasons to leave the country". It also demanded that the internet in Cuba "be accessible by all Cuban citizens without restriction".

The committee's resolution said many of the 23 journalists being held in Cuban jails are suffering from serious health problems. The prisoners are held in conditions of "unhealthiness and overcrowding", which are "made worse by poor diet, lack of medical treatment, abuse of the inmates and forced sharing of cells with highly dangerous common prisoners", said the resolution.

Watchdog demonstrates in support of jailed journalists

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) "considers Cuba one of the top worst countries for journalists, and that in addition to 23 jailed journalists, over 330 prisoners of conscience continue to languish in Cuban prisons". In solidarity with the 23 journalists imprisoned in Cuba, RSF demonstrated at the human rights square in Paris on 1 December 2006, the eve of the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution.

Twenty-three cages were placed in Trocadero Square, each holding a masked inmate, clad in prison dress. Each cage bore the journalist's name, media, sentence and the reasons for their imprisonment. The demonstration was attended by Cuban exiles, including dissident journalists, and drew journalists from the French and foreign press.

"Twenty-three journalists are paying with their freedom for having tried to inform the public, outside the control of the state. The Cuban government would earn respect by releasing them," RSF said. Twenty of the 27 journalists who were arrested in the March 2003 crackdown are still being held in prison, including RSF'correspondent Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso. Mostly accused of being "mercenaries in the service of a foreign power", they received sentences ranging from 14 to 27 years in prison.

The internet under surveillance

With less than 2 per cent of the population online, Cuba is one of the world's most backward countries as regards internet usage. It is no surprise that Raul Castro, who has for years fought to prevent "counter revolutionary" talk in his country, wants to maintain the same kind of grip on the Cuban internet.

According to RSF, Cuba has more or less banned private internet connections. To visit websites or check their email, Cubans have to use public access points such as internet cafes, universities and youth computing centres where it is easier to monitor their activity. The Cuban police have installed software on all computers in internet cafes and big hotels that triggers an alert message when "subversive" key-words are noticed.

The regime also ensures that there is no internet access for its political opponents and independent journalists, for whom reaching news media abroad is an ordeal. Moreover, in a country where even buying a computer requires government approval, very few Cubans even bother to try anything.

"In Cuba, you can get a 20-year prison sentence for writing a few 'counter-revolutionary' articles for foreign websites," says RSF, "and a five-year one just for connecting with the internet in an illegal manner. Few people dare to defy the state censorship and take such a risk."

In order to draw attention to the lack of media freedom in Cuba, RSF honoured the independent journalist Guillermo Farinas Hernandez with a "cyber-dissident" award on 12 December. Hernandez, director of the independent news agency Cubanacan Press, has been on 20 hunger strikes since 1995 to protest against the government's decision not to allow him home internet access, a privilege denied to almost all Cubans. Farinas was also honoured on 10 December with the human rights prize by the German city of Weimar for his commitment to freedom of expression and of the press.

RSF's findings are confirmed by others who have studied Cuba's internet censorship. Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor Boas in their book, "Open Networks, Closed Regimes", published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "Cuban authorities have carefully planned out the diffusion of the internet, controlling the medium's pace of development and the sectors in which internet access is granted. Cuban authorities seek control over the internet not through a massive, centralized censorship mechanism but rather by denying internet access where it could be potentially subversive."

Internet restrictions blamed on USA

The Cuban authorities attribute all the responsibility for the poor bandwidth of Cuba's link to the internet to the US government, which is said to be blocking all attempts in the island to connect to high-speed links. The general argument is that, as the overall connection speed of Cuba is not sufficient to serve the entire country, the government has to control this scarce resource in order to use it optimally for the benefit of everyone, albeit indirectly.

"This may indeed explain the slowness of the Cuban internet and the endless lines outside internet cafes," RSF says in a report on Cuba, "but in no way does it justify the system of control and surveillance that has been put in place by the authorities. In a country where the media are under the government's thumb, preventing independent reports and information from circulating online has naturally become a priority."

Still, given the crush of new communication technologies hitting the market every year, this head-in-the-sand approach may not work for Cuba much longer. Better connection options, long-distance WiFi, and other new choices may soon open up the island in ways that the government can't control.

usinfo.state.gov/

www.cubanet.org/

www.rsf.org

www.cpj.org/

Source: BBC Monitoring research 20 Dec 06

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Bush considering more troops in Iraq, Rice says; Secretary: U.S. will not engage Castro's brother

By Warren P. Strobel

McClatchy Newspapers

20 December 2006

Centre Daily Times

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that President Bush is considering a surge of additional U.S. troops into Iraq to help secure Baghdad -- despite strong reservations by some U.S. military leaders and the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

"The president has to decide whether he thinks some adjustments in American troop levels and what American troops would do is necessitated by current circumstances," Rice said.

"Anything he considers will certainly look at what can be done about the security of Baghdad," Rice said, describing sectarian violence in the capital as the main stumbling block to a more peaceful Iraq.

Rice said Bush, who's due to announce his new tactics in early January, wouldn't decide before further consultations with new Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and military commanders.

But a number of active and retired generals already have expressed serious doubts about sending more troops to Iraq, saying there's little likelihood that the 20,000 to 30,000 troops under discussion would make a difference.

Rice's predecessor as secretary of state, retired Gen. Colin Powell, said Sunday that sending more troops would strain the overstretched U.S. Army and wouldn't necessarily do much good.

"What mission is it these troops are to accomplish? Is it to secure Baghdad? In which case, the American Army isn't large enough to secure Baghdad, and we should not use our troops as policemen," Powell told CBS News.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., incoming chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, told reporters Tuesday that sending more troops probably wouldn't stop the violence and "could actually exacerbate the situation even further."

The White House sought to play down reports of a rift over Iraq strategy with the uniformed military.

"I think people are trying to create a fight between the president and the Joint Chiefs where one does not exist," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. He confirmed that the president is considering more troops but emphasized that Bush has made no final decisions.

Rice's comments on Iraq came during an hour-long interview with McClatchy Newspapers and other papers, much of which she spent defending U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and elsewhere from rising public criticism.

On another topic, Cuba, Rice reiterated that should ailing leader Fidel Castro die, the United States won't try to engage his brother, Raul, who's temporarily in charge and is Fidel's presumed successor.

Giving an impression of American outreach "from one dictator to another" would be "the worst betrayal" of Cubans, she said.

With Iraq in near chaos, Palestinian factions fighting in the streets of Gaza, and Iran flexing its muscle throughout the Middle East, Rice's stewardship of foreign policy has come under increasing criticism.

In an implicit rebuke two weeks ago, the Iraq Study Group called on the administration to open talks with Iran and Syria, a move Bush and Rice almost immediately rejected.

Rice dismissed the idea that the administration might back off pushing for democracy in the Middle East, a course that critics say has added to instability and increased the strength of Islamists.

Asked what would be new about U.S. foreign policy in 2007, Rice replied: "Let's talk first about what is constant."

The Middle East, Rice argued, is at a "clarifying moment," with extremists on one side and moderate forces on the other. In the first camp she put Iran and Syria; in the second, mainstream states such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

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Posted on Wed, Dec. 20, 2006

BROADCASTING
Radio, TV Martí facing a congressional probe
A congressional investigation of TV and Radio Martí is slated for early 2007, a Massachusetts Democrat said.
BY CHRISTINA HOAG AND OSCAR CORRAL
choag@MiamiHerald.com

Congress early next year will investigate allegations of mismanagement and political cronyism at taxpayer-funded Radio and TV Martí, a ranking Democrat said Tuesday.

Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass. -- slated to chair the oversight and investigations subcommittee for the House International Relations Committee -- said he will move to hold hearings on the Martís in late January or early February. His comments came a day after Radio Mambí, WAQI-AM (710), and Azteca América, WPMF-TV 38, each began carrying an hour of Martí programming daily for payment.

''This will be a priority,'' said Delahunt, who was in Cuba this week as part of a congressional delegation. ``There's mismanagement . . . that really demands a thorough review.''

Government-funded media such as the Martís cannot broadcast on U.S. airwaves because their mission is to present the U.S. viewpoint to foreign audiences. However, there are loopholes in the law: Time on an AM transmitter can be leased to circumvent signal-jamming, and TV Martí can be ''inadvertently'' picked up by U.S. viewers as long as it reaches Cuba.

The Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees the Martí operation, portrays the contracts as just another way to reach Cubans on the island. Radio Mambí's signal can reach Cuba under certain circumstances, and WPMF-TV is carried on DirecTV, which some Cubans can receive via a pirated signal.

Delahunt said the U.S. government is essentially hiring the stations to reach mostly local audiences, funded with taxpayer money. The six-month contracts call for Mambí to be paid $182,500 and WPMF $195,000. WPMF general manager Enrique Landín said Channel 38 also will sell commercials during the Martí newscasts -- which enraged Delahunt.

''Now we're subsidizing private commercial stations,'' said Delahunt, who called the Martís politically motivated boondoggles. The Martís will receive $37 million this year. ``This is outrageous.''

The criticisms didn't surprise U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, who earmarks funds for the Martí operation.

''I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Delahunt . . . to stop trying to help the Cuban dictatorship,'' Díaz-Balart said through his chief of staff, Ana Carbonell.

Larry Hart, a spokesman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the government arm that oversees the Martís, said the charges of political patronage were ``ridiculous.''

Both Radio Mambí and WPMF-TV were selected after a media market survey, Hart said. Although many government contracts are awarded through competitive bidding, the law allows some vendor contracts to be issued as ''sole source'' -- without bidding -- under circumstances such as urgency or a unique service. In this case, Hart said, time was of the essence after Cuban leader Fidel Castro transferred power to his brother Raúl in July.

''We have been redoubling efforts to get through,'' Hart said.

Two other South Florida stations were approached, WSBS-TV 22 and WJAN-TV 41, but neither was willing to lease the blocks of time Martí was seeking. Representatives at WSBS-TV had no comment, and calls to WJAN were not returned.

HIGHLY RATED

Radio Mambí is one of the highest-rated radio stations in South Florida and is known for its strong anti-Castro stance. Popular Mambí commentator Ninoska Pérez-Castellon is also a board member and spokeswoman for the hard-line Cuban Liberty Council.

Mambí is the only Spanish-language AM station that carries a 50,000-watt signal through the night and is able to reach Cuba, Hart said.

Most AM stations reduce their signal at night when there are fewer listeners.

Hart acknowledged that the Cuban government's Radio Rebelde transmits on the same frequency as Mambí -- 710 AM. But he said the jamming does not block Mambí in all locations or at all times, and that the signal gets through, particularly on the northern coast.

Representatives at Univisión, Mambí's corporate owner, had no comment.

WPMF-TV is a small, low-power TV affiliate of the Azteca América network, owned by Mexico's TV Azteca. The station is carried on local cable systems, as well as DirecTV and over the air. It was selected because it is carried on DirecTV Latin America, which is pirated in Cuba, Hart said.

Landín and Jorge De Cárdenas, a marketing consultant to the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, are former business partners. State corporate records show De Cárdenas and Landín were partners in Creative Developers, a real estate investment company that dissolved in 1980. They also had a 30-year business relationship, De Cárdenas said, when Landín sold radio time to De Cárdenas, then an advertising executive, to place ads for his clients.

De Cárdenas said a 2003 consultant report for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting recommended using radio stations around the Caribbean to transmit Radio and TV Martí. That never happened, but the idea remained.

Calls to Pedro Roig, director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, weren't returned Tuesday.

VIOLATION OF LAW

Former Director Herminio San Roman, who ran the operation from 1997 to 2001, said the Martís transmitted via a Miami station, WCMQ, in the late 1980s for several months. But an attorney for the U.S. Information Agency found such transmissions violated the law, he said. He could not provide a copy of the opinion.

This is not the first time the U.S. government has contracted U.S.-based radio stations to air its propaganda, said John Nichols, associate dean of Pennsylvania State University's College of Communications.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the government leased time on private radio stations in South Florida and as far away as New Orleans to beam Voice of America into Cuba.

And in September 1987, Radio Mambí and WQBA-AM La Cubanísima rebroadcast a Martí interview with Cuban defector Florentino Azpillaga Lombard after U.S. officials did not make him available to U.S. media.

Nichols noted that using the Miami stations to broadcast overseas violates international law because they are licensed to serve only U.S. audiences. Cuba has long complained to international telecommunications authorities about the Martís.

''This gives more fuel to the Cuban government's position,'' he said.

The hearings are almost certain to be politically charged. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, a longtime critic of the Martís, said Tuesday that the transmissions over the Miami stations appeared to be legally fuzzy.

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TV Marti buys space on private radio, TV to elude Cuba jamming

Miami, Dec 19 (EFE).- In a new attempt to get around jamming by the Havana government, Washington-funded Radio and Television Marti is paying to have its programming aired on private broadcasting outlets whose signals can, in theory, be received in Cuba.

This is "an effort to penetrate Havana's interference barrier," Joseph O'Connell, spokesperson for the U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting, told Efe Tuesday.

TV Marti began transmissions Monday via Miami's WPMF-38 television, an Azteca America affiliate owned by TVC Broadcasting, while some Radio Marti content began going out over Radio Mambi.

OCB is hoping that the WPMF signal, which is carried on satellite provider DirecTV, will reach between 10,000 and 30,000 Cubans who have "hidden satellite antennas," O'Connell said.

The 30-minute televised transmissions will go out daily at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) and 11:30 p.m. (0400 GMT).

O'Connell said that they have "trustworthy information" that Cubans with satellite dishes "will be able to see the news live on TV Marti."

OCB is spending a total of $377,500 for the contracts with WPMF and Radio Mambi.

The initiative, according to OCB, has "the full legal authority" bestowed by the approval of U.S. congressional committees and by government attorneys.

Radio and Television Marti was created through the U.S. Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act of 1983 during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and Radio Marti began to transmit in May 1985 from Washington.

TV Marti began its daily television transmissions to Cuba at the beginning of August from a C-130 aircraft, and by way of a trial, beamed a message from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Cuban people with assurances that they can count on the unconditional support of Washington in the struggle for democracy.

Last October, TV Marti obtained a new aircraft from the U.S. government with which it planned, according to OCB director Pedro Roig, to "break through the information blockade of the Cuban dictatorship." EFE

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RADIO, TV MARTI SEAL DEAL IN S. FLORIDA; NEWS REPORTS SEEN AS WAY TO BOOST CUBAN AUDIENCE

By Vanessa Bauzá and Madeline Baró Diaz Staff Writers

20 December 2006

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Federally funded Radio and TV Martí have struck six-month deals with two commercial South Florida stations to broadcast news reports to Cuba in the latest attempt to circumvent jamming of their anti-Castro programming.

U.S. law prohibits the use of public airwaves for propaganda aimed at foreign audiences, such as Radio and TV Martí and Voice of America. However, Tish King a spokeswoman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Cuba broadcasting programs, said the law that created Radio Martí allows U.S. stations to carry the programming if signals to Cuba are jammed.

After consulting with a congressional oversight committee, the board decided similar rules could be applied to TV Martí, King said. The agreements represent the first time private stations are allowed to carry programming from Radio and TV Martí. The broadcasts began Monday.

The agreements, worth $377,500 combined, are an attempt to boost Radio and TV Martí's Cuban audience at a critical time. In Havana, it is unclear whether Fidel Castro will ever return to the presidency, while in Washington anti-embargo legislators are increasingly criticizing the administration's hard line against the island nation.

A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation visited Havana last week and plans to hold hearings on legislation to ease travel restrictions to Cuba. They will also examine federally funded programs that have mismanaged millions of dollars for Cuban dissidents, according to a government oversight board, and they question the effectiveness of spending millions on broadcasts that are rarely seen or heard.

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who led the 10-member delegation, called the decision to air Radio and TV Martí on local commercial stations a politically motivated maneuver meant to appease South Florida's Cuban American community.

"It's always been a show in search of an audience and I think now they are simply removing the charade that this is intended for Cuba," Flake said of Radio Martí.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, said he supported "all available technologies and broadcasting methods for TV and Radio Martí to break through the information blockade imposed on the Cuban people."

According to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Radio Mambi, one of the top Spanish language stations in South Florida, will receive $182,500 to broadcast Radio Martí between midnight and 1a.m. on weekdays. In a similar contract worth $195,000, half hour newscasts of TV Martí will be aired twice daily on WPMF-TV, Channel 38, a Miami-based affiliate of the Spanish-language Azteca Americas network picked up by DirecTV.

Authorities on life in Cuba estimate Cuba has 10,000 black market DirecTV dishes, which are regularly confiscated by the Cuban government.

Hans de Salas del Valle, a research associate at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuba and Cuban American Studies, said Cubans' access to DirecTV is too limited to make an impact.

"It seems again that the Cuban government has been able to anticipate the tough measures that the administration has taken over the years," de Salas del Valle said. "They seem to be a step ahead in terms of knowing where their vulnerabilities are and taking steps to prepare. I don't think this will have a major impact."

Enrique Landin, general manager of WPMF-TV, said he did not think the programming would affect South Florida viewers.

"This is something that we are doing for the benefit of Cubans," said Landin, who was born in Cuba.

Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vbauza@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4514.

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Cuban expects no change in U.S. policy while Bush is president

Havana, Dec 19 (EFE).- The speaker of the Cuban parliament said there was little possibility of any changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba while George W. Bush is president.

"We shouldn't believe that there will be any important changes while Bush is president and as long as the current political balance exists in the United States," Ricardo Alarcon said during a session of the legislature.

According to the state-run news agency Prensa Latina, Alarcon answered lawmakers' questions about the recent Havana visit of a delegation of 10 U.S. congressmen to talk with high-ranking members of the Cuban government about bilateral relations.

Alarcon said that Cuba is quite far down the list of priorities for American politicians at the moment because their attention is focused on other problems, like the war in Iraq.

Nonetheless, he said that while a majority in the U.S. Congress might conceivably vote to modify or eliminate restrictions on trips to the island, it would not get the two-thirds necessary to override a presidential veto.

"This is a matter that, regardless of the existing situation between the two countries, is destined to be eliminated because it affects many people and violates the U.S. Constitution itself," he said, referring specifically to the travel restrictions.

He said that the U.S. Congress "has ahead of it the reality of not knowing what to do with regard to Iraq" because U.S. soldiers can neither remain there nor get out and that is going to take all the legislature's attention and efforts at this time.

He also said that congressmen should attend to internal problems such as health care, the economy and employment, among others.

In his view it is not likely that "the (economic) embargo and the elimination of restrictions will be fundamental issues during 2007."

He also expressed the opinion that as 2008 approaches, the year of the presidential election in the United States, "everything will revolve around that event, making it even more difficult to consider other business."

The island's official daily Granma reported Monday that the U.S. congressional delegation was the biggest of its kind to visit Cuba in almost half a century.

The U.S. legislators themselves said before leaving the island that their trip was the beginning of a new and promising phase in the ever-difficult bilateral relationship even if Havana, in light of Fidel Castro's illness, is not ready to acknowledge that yet. EFE

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Castro's absence to dominate national assembly meeting

HAVANA, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) -

Raul Castro's status as Cuba's leader in the absence of his ailing brother, longtime President Fidel Castro, could become clearer as the communist Caribbean nation's legislature meets Friday.

It will be only the second time in its 30-year history that Fidel Castro will miss a session of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP). The meeting takes place with the veteran leader unseen in public for more than four months and questions about the country's future looming.

Since its creation in December 1976, the ANPP has always been Fidel Castro's venue for laying out in detail the country's direction. His long speeches dominated debates and usually led to unanimous votes backing his views.

But since Fidel Castro, 80, handed over power for the first time in late July, deputising his brother Raul as leader while he recuperates from intestinal surgery, the country has been in a de facto political transition, but in what direction, and under whom, remains a huge question.

With a more conservative, quieter style, Raul Castro will preside over the second of the two annual ANPP sessions.

In the days ahead of the meeting, there has been no indication that he will break from the normal routine. The deputies will review, for instance, the state housing construction program and the "revolutionary" program to protect the environment, themes already discussed Monday and Tuesday by ANPP committees.

Even so, all attention will be focused on any signal about Fidel Castro's health and Raul Castro's future.

The last time Fidel Castro missed an ANPP session, in December 2002, it was attributed to complications from a mosquito bite. But this time, even in the absence of a clear explanation, it is clearly more grave.

With facts about his health a state secret, Fidel Castro's absence at a December 2 military parade held to honor his 80th birthday stunned people and sparked a wave of speculation.

He has not been seen in public since July 26 -- just before he handed over power to his brother. And although he has since then appeared in pictures and on film from what appeared to be a hospital bed, no images have been issued since October 28.

"We cannot exclude the possibility that Fidel will choose this moment to make important announcements through his brother, such as laying down the formal process for a transition," said a diplomat from a friendly Latin American country.

The diplomat said Fidel Castro's "political wisdom" could inspire an announcement.

However, he cautioned, "His temperament as a fierce fighter doesn't suggest that he would announce his withdrawal from politics prematurely."

With a personal appearance generally ruled out, the country must hold its breath in wait for a surprise move.

With 609 members, the ANPP gives some hints at the future leadership. It is presided over by one of the leading figures of the regime, Ricardo Alarcon, 69, Cuba's former representative to the United Nations.

The legislature comprises now three generations of Cuban leaders, all bound together by "Fidelism" -- from the old guard who rose up behind Fidel Castro in the 1959 revolution, to the newest generation of 30-40 year-olds.

In between are rising figures like Carlos Lage, 54, vice president and an economic specialist; Felipe Perez Roque, 41, Cuba's top diplomat; and Francisco Soberon, 61, president of the central bank.

All were named by Fidel Castro to back his brother in the interim.

With no official news about the health of their leader of over four decades, Cubans have had to turn to statements from ally Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president. The official Cuban press reported last Friday Chavez's statement that he had spoken by telephone with Castro.

But Cuban media avoided mentioning statements by the 10 US legislators who visited Havana over the weekend. They told a press conference they had been assured that Castro, contrary to rumors, did not suffer from cancer and was not terminally ill. ple/pmh/mac/ddl/rl

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Fake money prompts issue of new bills; In a mission to combat fake currency, Cuba has introduced a new line of peso bills with tougher security measures. CUBA

By MIAMI HERALD STAFF

cuba@MiamiHerald.com

19 December 2006

The Miami Herald

HAVANA

In line at a Havana currency exchange house recently, 62-year-old Carlos suddenly saw the customer in front of him dash out at top speed as he heard the teller shout, ``Stop, chico ! This is a fake!''

''The guy took off running,'' said Carlos, a newspaper vendor whose last name was withheld by The Miami Herald for fear of reprisals. ``The guards went after him and probably wherever he got the counterfeits from.

`SHARP AS A KNIFE'

``No one passes fake bills off on me. I'm as sharp as a knife with that.''

Responding to increasing reports of false convertible peso bills in Cuba, the Central Bank on Monday announced a new series of bills with enhanced security features. The bills are worthless anywhere else in the world, but are the main tender used for most shopping on the island.

The new bills will include the denomination in the watermark, adding the value next to the hidden image of patriot José Martí.

The back of each bill will also have a new picture, depending on its value. For example, the one-peso bill will show a picture of Martí's combat death; the three-peso bill, a picture of the 1958 battle of Santa Clara, in which rebels scored a victory over Batista's regime; the five-peso bill, a picture of the protest at Baragua in the struggle for independence from Spain.

`FATHERLAND OR DEATH!'

The bills maintain the security thread that reads ``Fatherland or death! We shall overcome!''

The Cuban government first introduced the convertible peso in 1994, shortly after legalizing the U.S. dollar. The greenback was pulled off the market in 2004, making the so-called ''cuc'' the most widely used legal tender on the island and the only way to buy most consumer goods.

It is worth $1.08 but cannot be exchanged anywhere but in Cuba.

The Cuban government has denounced the use of fake bills as an exile-driven plot to destroy the Cuban economy. During a 1999 terrorism trial in Cuba, a self-proclaimed spy for the Cuban government testified that a Cuban American National Foundation board member gave him thousands of fake pesos to dump on the Cuban economy.

Some stores in Cuba keep a log of shoppers' names and ID numbers in case a 50-peso or 100-peso bill turns up fake.

''I saw a fake five cuc once given to a vendor last year,'' said Lorenzo, who works in a bookstore. ``But that is really, really rare. You're more likely to see a fake $100 American bill. Our bills are hard to copy.''

But several waiters, taxi drivers and currency exchange tellers in Havana said although counterfeits are uncommon, they pop up sporadically.

`CUBANS KNOW'

''We have gotten fakes, mostly from tourists who don't know any better,'' said Damián, a waiter. ``Cubans know what to look for.''

The new bills will circulate alongside the old ones until the older bills are gradually withdrawn, Cuba's daily paper Granma reported.

The Miami Herald withheld the name of the correspondent who filed this report because the author lacked the Cuban journalist visa required to work on the island.

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Cuban Sugar Crop Expected to Beat Last Year’s Tally

Luis Carlos Niño

20 December 2006

Global Insight Daily Analysis

The 2006/2007 Cuban sugar harvest begins today in the eastern province of Santiago. Authorities expect this crop to yield more than 1.3 million tons of sugar, as 31,000 additional hectares have boosted the production of sugar cane by 25% and nine more refineries are set to begin operations. These new facilities and supplementary resources, in addition to extra inflows that the government is pumping into the sector, are part of a recovery plan for the sugar industry in Cuba, and authorities are expecting that production will triple within two years. The current local demand is estimated at 700,000 tonnes. Significance: In the 1990s, the Cuban government decided not to concentrate its resources in the production of a single commodity, instead seeking to expand and diversify production generally. Under this scheme, 60% of the land originally given over to sugar production was used for other goods and 100,000 workers were given training in other sectors.

These new announcements indicate a change in strategy, which is based on the assumption that international prices of sugar will remain high. Although such initiatives may seem as a sensible alternative to increased production and revenues, there is also a significant associated risk as the prices of this commodity are volatile and fluctuate easily.

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HONDURAS: Border agreement with Cuba.

20 December 2006

Latinnews Daily

The foreign minister, Milton Jiménez, travelled to Havana on 19 December to meet his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Pérez Roque.

The meeting is being held to discuss Honduras's maritime borders with other countries in the Caribbean, including Belize, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Guatemala, Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Honduras has been at the centre of several maritime border disputes, including an intractable feud with El Salvador and Nicaragua over the Gulf of Fonseca. The dispute was taken before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) eight years ago, and a ruling is expected on the case in late 2007.

Honduran relations with Cuba are, however, more friendly and Jiménez said that he expected an agreement on maritime boundaries between the two countries would be signed by the end of 2007. The two countries reinstated diplomatic relations in 2002.

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EDITORIAL: ... while congressional trip to Cuba is signal of change closer to home

The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

McClatchy-Tribune Business News

20 December 2006

The Morning Call (MCT)

Distributed by McClatchy - Tribune Information Services.

Dec. 20--It isn't just contrarian nations in the Middle East that bedevil U.S. foreign policy. There's one notable nation closer to home -- just 90 miles away, in fact -- that has been a diplomatic thorn for the White House and Congress for nearly half a century. It's none other than Cuba.

While various senators were embarking for Syria, a number of other members of Congress flew to Havana last weekend. Some sense that it might be time to start thawing diplomatic relations with communist Cuba, especially since dictator Fidel Castro's mysterious, lingering illness, which began last summer. The thinking is that it might be time to prepare for the post-Fidel era even though the official Cuban line is to deny that he is suffering from a terminal illness.

At any rate, Mr. Castro turned 80 earlier this year. He hasn't been seen in public since July, and even missed a postponed birthday party earlier this month. However, he has communicated with people, including Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, by phone. Also, since the summer he has turned over the day-to-day operations of the country to his brother, Raul, who has twice called for normalized relations with the United States. Both times, the Bush administration rebuffed offers to talk to Cuban officials, saying the island nation first must hold free elections and release political detainees. Rather than easing policies toward Cuba, the Bush administration has tightened the U.S. trade embargo and other prohibitions.