Chronicle on Cuba - January 2005

Exile Community

January 4: Mel Martinez was sworn in as Florida's newest senator, and fielded questions from Telemundo as from The Washington Post, toggling freely between the languages of Cuba, his homeland and his adopted country as Miami-Dade leaders have done for 30 years. His comfort with two languages in front of cameras in Washington is a testament not only to the rising political clout of Hispanics across the United States, but to the multicultural society that allowed a young immigrant to rise to the national political stage. To many of the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who also fled their homeland, he personifies the accomplishment of El Exilio. ''I think it's a historic event for our community,'' said Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, who celebrated with Martinez at a reception in the Capitol. (The Miami Herald, 4/1/05)

January 5: Antonio Benítez-Rojo, an award-winning author and Spanish professor at Amherst College, died after a brief illness. He was 73. He died at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, the college said in a prepared statement. Benítez-Rojo, a native of Cuba who came to the United States in 1980, won one of Latin America's most prestigious literary awards, the Casa de las Americas Prize, in 1967 for his collection of short stories, ``Tute de Reyes.'' ``Sea of Lentils,'' the English translation of his novel ``El mar de las lentejas,'' was selected by the New York Times as one of the Notable Books of 1992. His 1998 book ``La isla que se repite'' was the co-winner of the 1993 Modern Language Association Katherine Singer Kovacs prize for an outstanding book in the field of Latin American and Spanish literature. The novelist, short-story writer and essayist has had his work translated into nine languages. (The New York Times, 7/1/05)

January 10: For more than two and a half hours, the saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Paquito D'Rivera opened up the atlas of his musical life at Carnegie Hall in celebration of his 50 years on stage. The biggest treat of the evening was the appearance of three imposing figures from Cuban music: the pianist Bebo Valdes, the bassist Israel (Cachao) Lopez and the conga player Candido Camero, who are all in their mid-80's. All had room to solo, and Mr. D'Rivera joined the band on clarinet. Quietly, they worked up a roomy, airy groove and moved the audience to its feet. (The New York Times, 12/1/05)

January 12: Cuban-Americans in South Florida were outraged with statements by Pope John Paul II criticizing the embargo. Telephone lines for Spanish-language radio programs lit up as upset callers aimed to vent their frustration with the pope. "It's nothing different than the same attitude that the pope has had in regards to Cuba, which is really sad because it's not the same attitude he had toward Poland or toward communism [in other countries]," said Cuban exile activist Ninoska Perez Castellon. "It's really disappointing." Alfredo Mesa, executive director of the Cuban-American National Foundation, another staunch supporter of the embargo, said his organization respectfully disagrees with the pope's position. However, Mesa said the pope has been helpful on Cuba. He cited the pontiff's 1998 visit to Cuba, a trip that made the Catholic Church on the island important for the dissident movement, as an example. For some, the pope's message struck a chord. Silvia Wilhelm, a Cuban-American anti-embargo activist in Miami, said his comments were on target. "I think, once again, the pope is looking at this issue from a humanitarian perspective," Wilhelm said. "[The embargo] is immoral." But on Spanish-language radio in South Florida, the pope's comments sparked a firestorm. Some callers had strong words for the Catholic Church and some said they might stop attending church altogether. (Sun Sentinel, 12/1/05)

January 13: Jorge Mas Santos, Chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, will meet with Spain's Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, to discuss issues regarding Cuba. The meeting will take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Madrid, Spain. The timing of this visit is significant due to the meeting of the European Union Committee on Latin America that is taking place in Brussels. (CANF Press Release, 13/1/05)

January 15: The chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation criticized the Spanish Foreign Minister for inviting the organization to a meeting in Madrid to discuss Cuba -- then canceling at the last minute. The reason for the cancellation, says director Jorge Mas Santos, is pressure from the Cuban government, which has been lobbying the European Union to normalize relations with the island nation after tensions mounted over the arrest of scores of dissidents in 2003. ''Any government is free to advance its own agenda, but it's important to listen to our point of view,'' said Mas Santos, who spent more than eight hours on the flight from Miami to Madrid. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Maratinos was supposed to meet with Mas Santos and two other CANF members. (CANF Press Release, 13/1/05)

January 19: Donning tuxedos and determination, 24 board members of the Cuban American National Foundation waltzed into an inaugural-eve gala for which the group's offer of sponsorship had been rejected. In the face of the snub, board members said they decided to buy individual tickets to the event held at the fabled Willard Inter-Continental Hotel just two blocks from the White House. ''Did you ever doubt we'd be here? We're here to celebrate democracy,'' said foundation President Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernandez, who flew in from Miami. "We believe that there should be all kinds of opinions represented here.'' Eight board members had initially planned to attend the event as sponsors. Their rejection spurred the group to show up in greater force. The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, chaired by US Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, had rejected the foundation's offer to sponsor a table at the gala with a $25,000 contribution. The foundation said it was told that the institute could not accept money from nonprofit organizations. But the foundation has come under criticism from some Cuban Americans, and Diaz-Balart said its participation was not welcome. (The Miami Herald, 19/1/05)

January 21: A US federal judge ordered Cuba to pay $1.75 million to a Miami pilot who survived a midair attack by Cuban MiGs over the Florida Straits in 1996. The pilot, Jose Basulto, evaded the jets and was able to fly home, but was traumatized by the knowledge that two other planes operated by the group Brothers to the Rescue had been downed, killing the four people aboard, said US District Judge Kenneth A. Marra. "He has suffered greatly. And perhaps the judgment will help ease the pain a bit," said Larry Klayman, the lawyer who filed the suit. Basulto did not immediately return calls seeking comment. (AP, 21/1/05)

January 21: A US federal judge has set a trial for the claims of a dozen people who said they were wrongly assaulted by federal officers during the raid that removed Elian Gonzalez from his family's home. The plaintiffs say they were innocent bystanders who were gassed and beaten outside the home during the early morning raid on April 22, 2000. "I think the public's going to be surprised that elderly people were gassed while praying the rosary," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which represents 11 of the plaintiffs. (AP, 21/1/05)

January 24: Thirteen people living near the Little Havana house, Miami, from which US government agents seized Cuban "rafter child" Elián González in 2000, accused the police of using excessive force during the operation at the beginning of the civil trial on the matter. Maria Riera, the trial's first witness, told US District Judge K. Michael Moore that she believed she would choke to death after police sprayed her from close range with tear gas in her driveway. Eduardo Rodriguez, Riera's former husband and another plaintiff in the case, testified that the gas used by police caused him to develop chronic eye problems, which recently forced him to undergo an operation for cataracts. The 13 plaintiffs are asking for compensation from the government of up to $250,000 each. A total of 108 people filed lawsuits over the raid, but Judge Moore excluded from the case those people who were on the Gonzalez family property and were inside police barricades. (EFE, 24/1/05)

January 28: Cuban authorities organizing Havana's annual international book fair declined to invite, for the first time, a Puerto Rican publishing company owned by the daughter of a moderate Cuban dissident. Maria Mederos, the director of the organizing committee, confirmed that Plaza Mayor, owned by Patricia Gutierrez-Menoyo, would not be attending this year's event, despite participation in several previous fairs. In an e-mail response to a query by the press, Gutierrez-Menoyo said organizers told her she was not welcome due to her activities at last year's fair, when she read statements - some of which were critical of the island's communist government - from Cuban authors not allowed to attend. "It's not my place to censor," she said. "My place is to bring together quality works by Cuban authors in one collection." Plaza Mayor, based in San Juan, publishes a broad variety of books, including several works written by Cuban authors living both on the island and abroad. (AP, 28/1/05)