Chronicle on Cuba - January 2007

Exile Community

January 9: From Hialeah to Westchester, Cuban Americans wonder what the recent changes in leadership -- in both Havana and Washington -- will mean for the communist island. Some hold out hope for a thaw in Cold War-era US-Cuba relations. Democrats took the leadership posts in Congress for the first time in more than a decade -- just five months after Fidel Castro temporarily ceded authority to his brother, Raúl Castro. In Hialeah, the local political beachhead for Cubans who have recently arrived from the island, many new arrivals think Democrats should lift tight restrictions on travel and remittances, which prohibit visits to family in Cuba more than once every three years and to send more than $100 a month to close relatives, such as a parent or spouse. Those restrictions were imposed by the Bush administration in 2004, just a few months before the president's reelection. But older, more established exiles, who arrived decades ago, are more likely to be registered to vote and believe the restrictions help strangle the Castro government. Many of them don't have close family left in Cuba -- or when they did, the Cuban government didn't allow travel there. Most vote Republican. Alberto González, a retired truck driver shopping for groceries at a Winn-Dixie in West Miami-Dade, mistrusts Democrats. ''We will never forget what Kennedy did with the Bay of Pigs invasion, with the October crisis with the Russians and with Elián González,'' said González, 67. ``Those are three stabs in the back that the Democrats did to my generation of Cubans, and we will never forget that. The younger generations might feel differently.'' (The Miami Herald, 9/1/07)

January 11: The Cuban Committee for Human Rights criticized the increased harassment of dissidents. In Miami, the president of the organization, Ricardo Bofill, said that this condemnation is part of the extensive annual report on the situation on the island issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. "What is happening (...) is a rise in violence sanctioned by the government undertaken by citizens (...) who take justice into their own hands", said Bofill. He also added that he fully agrees with the report issued by the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN). (EER, 11/1/07)

January 16: Cuban exiles in Paris conducted a peaceful protest in front of the Cuban embassy, organized by the French Colectivo Solidaridad Cuba Libre presided over by Lorenzo Muller. The objective of the protest was to denounce the constant violation of human rights on the island and to demand the freedom of political prisoners.
 (OCB, 16/1/07)

January 21: Demonstrators who clashed with others in Little Havana over Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles said they intend to press charges against people they said attacked them during the rally. On January 19 a fracas unfolded when about 100 people gathered at the Bay of Pigs memorial at Southwest Eighth Street and 13th Avenue to show support for Posada, charged in El Paso with lying about how he sneaked into the United States in 2005. Michael Martinez, 24, of the Bolívarian Youth group, said he and three other friends showed up with a four-foot-long banner that read, ''Terrorists to Jail,'' referring to Posada. Martinez said Miguel Saavedra, leader of the Cuban exile group Vigilia Mambisa, and other pro-Posada demonstrators attacked anti-Posada protesters. Saavedra said he is going to wait to see what -- if any -- charges are filed before commenting. (The Miami Herald, 22/1/07)

January 21: The Cuban exile community has evolved, says Joe García, a member of the Board of Directors of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) and director of the Hispanic Strategy Center of the New Democrat Network (NDN). “A significant number of Cuban American leaders in the United States are more inclined toward dialogue”. When Fidel Castro dies, García believes there will be gradual changes in the short and long term, “because extremist elements on both sides are not physically able to do anything”. Extremes do exist, but according to García the Cuban American community must decide whether it fights the struggle of years gone by or the current one, which is in the hands “of a generation who has lived through the failures of an exile community” that has tried to impose policies detached from the Cuban reality. (La Opinión, 22/1/07)

January 23: Six months after Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raul, the parties planned by exiled Cubans in anticipation of the regime's collapse have been shelved, as the younger Castro consolidates power, experts said. Initial euphoria upon hearing of Castro's illness, including celebrations for what was believed his imminent death, have waned over the past half-year among anti-Castro Cuban-Americans, heavily concentrated in southern Florida and the Miami area.  Ramon Saul Sanchez, leader of the anti-Castro Democratic Movement (MD), said the tension is palpable. "We never thought that this uncertainty would drag out so long," he said. "We often do not have time to sleep. I always keep the phone by my bed." "Every report about what is going on in Cuba pricks a lot of interest," Sanchez said. However, experts and exile groups have accepted that Raul, 75, is in charge, and that Fidel, 80, will probably not return to power. Jaime Suchlicki, of the Cuba Transition Project at the University of Miami, said that, for all intents and purposes, "Fidel died, but everyone is afraid to tell." Alfredo Mesa, director of the Cuban-American National Foundation, the most strident of the Cuban exile groups, admitted that the transition of power "has been accomplished," and that Fidel "is history." "Whether Fidel is alive or dead does not change the fact that the people deserve change," Mesa said. "Whether change that comes from those (now) in charge is something that remains to be seen," he said. (AFP, 23/1/07)

January 29: The city of Miami is planning an official celebration at the Orange Bowl whenever Fidel Castro dies. Discussions by a committee appointed earlier in January by the city commission to plan the event have even covered issues such as a theme to be printed on T-shirts, what musicians would perform, the cost and how long the celebration would last. Such a gathering has long been part of the city's plan for Castro's death, but firming up the specifics has been more urgent since Castro became ill last summer and turned over power to his brother, Raul. City Commissioner Tomas Regalado, a Cuban American, came up with the idea of using the Orange Bowl, noting the stadium was the site of a speech by President Kennedy in 1961 promising a free Cuba. In the 1980s the Orange Bowl served as a camp for refugees from the Mariel boatlift from Cuba, he added. "Basically, the only thing we're trying to do is have a venue, a giant venue ready for people, if they wish, to speak to the media, to show their emotions. It's not that we're doing an official death party," Regalado said. (AP, 29/1/07) 

January 30: Responding to an international media blitz and outrage from some members of the Cuban-American community, Miami city leaders vowed to tone down a proposed large-scale, city-organized public event in the Orange Bowl when Fidel Castro dies. And despite preliminary plans that included the possibility of musical acts and themed T-shirts, the city stressed that it had never -- ever -- intended to respond to a man's death by holding a party. The goal was to provide a place for an informal, friendly get-together, officials said. ''Our past experience has shown us that the local community has strong emotions tied to any significant issues relating to Fidel Castro,'' the city's Office of Communications wrote in an official statement on the subject. ``The Orange Bowl has been designated by the county, as well as the city of Miami, as a possible site for people and community leaders to gather peacefully, if necessary. (The Miami Herald, 31/1/07)

January 31: The news that Miami city officials are planning on throwing a big bash to dance on Fidel Castro’s grave went over like a lead balloon in Havana. The idea of reserving the Orange Bowl, selling souvenir tee shirts and dancing to salsa bands is being construed as both inappropriate and insensitive. And no matter how hard Miami officials insist the Orange Bowl event is meant to ensure people’s safety and won’t be a party, Cubans don’t believe it. Lester Ramos, a cab driver, listens to Miami disc jockeys that bleed onto Cuba’s AM dial. That’s where he learned his near-perfect English. "The guy’s not even dead," said Ramos, shaking his head. "It’s unbelievable." For historian Tomas Diaz the news reinforces all his prejudices against the city of Miami, home to tens of thousands of Cuban exiles. "It’s inhuman to celebrate someone’s death, but what can you expect? That’s Miami politics — an exercise in bad taste!" Miriam Leyva, a leading dissident and one of Fidel Castro’s fiercest critics, found the idea of a party "inappropriate," cautioning that it will drive a further wedge between Cubans and the diaspora in the United States. "Death is not something to celebrate. You can understand that some people will feel good about the news, but we should be working on reconciliation between all Cubans living on and off the island. The time to hold a party is when there’s democracy in Cuba." Reverend Juan Ramon de la Paz, who presides over the Episcopal Cathedral in Havana, agreed. "To organize these parties is anti-Christian, anti-Evangelical, and anti-religious. There is no religion that celebrates someone’s death, even your enemy’s death." (NBC, 31/1/07