Chronicle on Cuba - June 2005

Exile Community

June 1: Cuban dissident exiles living in Europe attended a seminar on the current Cuban situation, organized in Brussels by European Parliament (EP) political groups. In the event, called “La Isla de la Libertad” (The Island of Freedom), participated among others Cuban author Raúl Rivero, the representative of the Ladies in White, Blanca Reyes, as well as Julio Hernández, who attended on behalf of Oswaldo Payá, leader of the Varela Project. (Notimex, 1/6/05)

June 2: A young Cuban journalist who had repeatedly demanded the release of all Cuban prisoners of conscience and denounced Fidel Castro’s regime in scathing articles published by US newspapers in 2003, has arrived in Miami. Claudia Márquez Linares, 27, and her son Cristian, 8, were admitted into the United States under political refugee status. (El Nuevo Herald, 12/6/05)

June 2: With a review of this year's EU-Cuba thaw coming up, Cuban dissidents spoke out at a hearing of the European Parliament about what they think the bloc's relations with the 46-year-old Communist regime in Havana should be. "We're in favor of reimposing the sanctions (suspended in February), because there has been only a partial liberation of 14 of the 75 dissidents who were in jail, while dozens more have ended up in prison," said Carlos Albert Montaner, Madrid-based president of the centrist Cuban Liberal Union. As for the correct approach to take toward Fidel Castro, Javier de Cespedes, leader of the center-right Cuban Democratic Directorate, said that "Europe must not fall into the worst of its political traditions: appeasement." Poet, novelist and screenwriter Zoe Valdes, insisted that her homeland's "future depends solely and exclusively on support for the democratic opposition." All three spoke at a hearing of the European Parliament in Brussels organized by the centrist and conservative coalitions within the European Union's legislative body. Also present was Blanca Reyes, wife of journalist and former political prisoner Raul Rivero. The most prominent member of Cuba's internal opposition, Oswaldo Paya, recipient of the European Parliament's 2003 Sakharov Award for human rights, was represented by colleague Julio Hernandez. (EFE, 2/6/05)

June 6: At the OAS General Assembly, a score of political leaders of the Cuban exile community asked the US government to continue to promote policies aimed at isolating Fidel Castro’s government and encouraged the rest of the Americas to assist in bringing democracy to Cuba. In a meeting behind closed doors with US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, representatives of anti-Castro organizations and Cuban-American legislators also denounced attempts by some Latin American nations and members of the US business community to establish closer ties with Cuba. (AP, 6/6/05)

June 9: Cuban poet and journalist Raúl Rivero met in Strasbourg with the European Council Secretary General, Terry Davis, and with the president of the European Court of Human Rights, Luzius Wildhaber, to whom he spoke about the situation of Cuban political prisoners, particularly incarcerated independent journalists. (Encuentro en la Red, 9/6/05)

June 11: Producers of Havana Night Club, the Las Vegas show featuring a cast of Cuban defectors, have yanked a CD of the show's music because it riled a West Kendall woman who said a video on it promotes tourism to Cuba. The CD, titled “Energy & Passion”, also provided a link to a website that led to information on hotel bargains in Cuba and how to circumvent US travel restrictions to the island. The episode evoked memories of past South Florida disputes involving performers whose independence from the Cuban government was questioned in the exile community. (The Miami Herald, 11/6/05)

June 13: Cuban exiles are split along generational lines in their opinions about Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles, a recent poll shows. Older Cuban exiles tend to feel strongly that Posada is a patriot who should be given asylum in the United States. Younger exiles are much more likely to think Posada is a terrorist and have a negative opinion of him. The poll, conducted by Coral Gables-based Bendixen & Associates, gives an idea of where sentiments on Posada lie in the politically sensitive Cuban-American community. Sergio Bendixen said he funded the poll. ''Cuban exiles feel that when Posada was committing all of these acts of violence, that was the strategy then and he was following orders from the CIA,'' Bendixen said. "And they don't think it's fair to punish him now because the strategy has changed.'' According to the poll, 65 percent of Cuban exiles have a positive opinion of Posada. Exiles over 50 are much more likely to feel that way. Less than half of exiles under 50, or about 47 percent, have a positive opinion of Posada; 75 percent of exiles 50 or older view him in a positive light. Altogether, 61 percent of exiles feel that he is a patriot instead of a terrorist. Bendixen questioned 300 Cuban exiles living in Miami-Dade and Broward from May 12-23. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points. (The Miami Herald, 13/6/05)

June 20: The man who tried three times to reach the US in vintage vehicles converted into boats finally arrived in Florida with his family. Rafael Diaz Rey, his wife, Nivia Valdez, and sons Pablo Alonso and David looked tired but relieved after their flight from the US base at Guantanamo Bay. They were taken there after being picked up 14 miles south of Key West on June 7 in a bright blue, 1948 Mercury taxi that Diaz converted into a boat. The US normally returns Cubans picked up at sea to Cuba, but Diaz caught a break because he and one of his sons already had won the right to emigrate in a Cuban government lottery. His wife, a doctor, and a second son had been denied Cuban exit visas. (New York Daily News, 20/6/05)

June 27: Cuban author Reinaldo Bragado Bretana, a pioneer of the human rights movement in Cuba passed away in Miami. He was 52. Bragado was a political prisoner on the island in 1977. As a member of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights (CCDH), he was in charge of the arts department and promoted independent artistic expression. (El Nuevo Herald, 28/6/05)