Chronicle on Cuba - April 2008

Exile Community

April 1: In Miami, the Cuban Democratic Directory criticized a statement released in Costa Rica by the Christian Democrat Organization of America (ODCA) last March, which advocates for dialogue with the government of Raúl Castro. In a communiqué, the exiles organization laments ODCA’s “position which is contrary to the international consensus of denying legitimacy to that dictatorship (the Cuban government)”. At the end of March, ODCA sent the Cuban embassy in Mexico a request to meet with the Cuban government to promote change on the island. (EFE, 1/4/08)

April 6: Hundreds of former Cuban prisoners of conscience now in exile, leaders of anti-Castro organizations and members of Congress met at the House of the Political Prisoner, in Little Havana, Miami, to honour those who have lost their freedom in the name of democracy. The first time José Martí was sent to prison was remembered on International Prisoner’s Day, April 5th. (El Nuevo Herald, 7/4/08)

April 13: The Christian Democratic Party of Cuba (PDC) elected sociologist Andrés Hernández as the new president of the organization, during its 10th Congress, taking over for Marcelino Miyares, who led the PDC for seven years. Miyares will be in charge of International Relations. He was a promoter of several initiatives in support of transition, democracy and conciliation, such as Cuban Consensus and the Costa Rica Declaration. (EER, 14/4/08)

April 24: Frank Calzon, one of Washington's highest-profile exiled opponents of Fidel Castro who once was knocked out cold by a two-fisted blow to the head by a Cuban diplomat, considered his 20-something former chief of staff a model employee. Felipe Sixto took care of the day-to-day workings of his Center for a Free Cuba as Calzon pursued his anti-Castro activism, urging foreign governments to take a tough stance on Havana and sending materials to dissidents on the island. But nothing prepared Calzon for the realization that Sixto may have illegally pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in US taxpayer money intended for efforts to propel democratic changes in Cuba. Calzon, who says he felt a ''personal betrayal,'' expressed his outrage in a series of interviews with Miami Spanish-language radio stations and with The Miami Herald editorial board. He also embarked on what would become a successful effort to recover the money. The amount of money involved in the alleged fraud has not been made public although government officials say it involves several hundred thousand dollars. Now, Calzon and others in the exile community are wondering how the mild-mannered Sixto, known as a can-do individual dealing with the tragedy of his wife's battle with cancer, went astray. Calzon, whom Havana has accused of being a CIA agent, realized something was wrong back in January. Calzon is looking to pick up the pieces. His lawyer, Filiberto Agusti, says the Center is presenting USAID with a report of what happened. Agusti says Sixto has returned most of the money, with the remainder to be paid over "the next year or so.'' (The Miami Herald, 24/4/08)

April 28: Almost 100 members of associations of Cuban residents in Barcelona reiterated their commitment to the defense of the Cuban Revolution. In a meeting held in Barcelona with the presence of the Cuban Ambassador to Madrid, Alberto Velazco, participants approved an action plan to mobilize and organize Cuban residents in Spain. The initiative aims at taking steps against the US economic blockade against the Caribbean nation and in favor of the release of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1998. The event in Barcelona was attended by Cuban residents from the Spanish communities of Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands as well as from the principality of Andorra. (ACN, 28/4/08)

April 28: Older Cubans who came to the US in the early 1960s after the Castro revolution are mostly committed to a hard-line policy. Meanwhile, the number of younger Cuban-Americans who vote more on economic issues is growing. That may signal a shift away from a reliable Republican bloc in Florida, where, in the hotly contested 2000 election, overwhelming support for George W. Bush by the Cuban community helped him win the state and the presidency. In a focus group of 18-to-40-year-old Cuban-Americans before Florida's January primary, no one raised Cuba when asked their top 10 issues of importance, says Sergio Bendixen, president of Bendixen & Associates, the public-opinion research and consulting firm that conducted the session. Asked if they care about the Cuba issue, one respondent replied, "Only for the sake of my grandmother.'' Even some of the older immigrants now are calling for new tactics. "Raul doesn't have the same ability to maintain control over the system as Fidel Castro had,'' says Francisco Hernandez, the 71-year-old head of the Cuban American National Foundation, an advocacy group in Miami. "Things are going to change. We should somehow help those changes to take place.'' (Bloomberg, 29/4/08)