Chronicle on Cuba - Septiembre 2009

US-Cuba Relations

September 1: Talks aimed at resuming direct postal service between the United States and Cuba, which has been suspended for decades, are set to be held in mid-September in another sign of thawing US-Cuba relations, Western diplomats said. Officials from the US State Department and US Postal Service were expected to attend the discussions in Havana, the diplomats, who asked not to be named, said. No further details were immediately available and there was no immediate confirmation from the Cuban government (Reuters, 9/1/09).

September 1: The Cuban foreign minister in Beijing defended the Havana regime as one that is "indigenous and viable" and said that the advent of the Barack Obama administration has not brought "a change in US policy toward Cuba." Speaking to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bruno Rodriguez emphasized the good relations between the Chinese and Cuban governments, contrasting this state of affairs with "the policy of blockade, aggression, internal subversion and international isolation of the United States against Cuba," that, he said, "has failed." Rodriguez, on the first day of his three-day official visit to China, said that a US military attack on Cuba is more and more unviable with each day that goes by (EFE, 1/9/09).

Septiembre 2: El gobernador del Estado de Nuevo México, Bill Richardson, afirmó que "ahora es el mejor momento para discutir el levantamiento del embargo" que Estados Unidos ha mantenido sobre Cuba durante casi medio siglo. En una entrevista con la cadena CNN de televisión Richardson, un ex embajador de EEUU ante las Naciones Unidas y ex aspirante a la candidatura presidencial por el Partido Demócrata, sostuvo que "muchos cubano-estadounidenses piensan que el embargo no ha dado resultados". Richardson opinó que "dentro de un año estaremos en negociaciones serias sobre el levantamiento del embargo", pero agregó que antes "los cubanos deben reciprocar" a los gestos de apertura de diálogo hechos por la Administración Obama. "Es posible la eliminación de algunas prohibiciones de viajes", añadió. "Es posible que se permitan más visitas de académicos estadounidenses a Cuba" (CNN, 2/9/09).

September 2: A federal judge ordered the Cuban government and the ruling Communist Party to pay $27.5 million in damages to the mother of a journalist jailed since a 2003 crackdown on dissent. US District Judge Alan S. Gold ruled in the case of Omar Rodriguez Saludes, who is serving a 27-year sentence in Cuban prisons that the judge described as "deplorable and degrading" in his 13-page order. "During his imprisonment, he has been beaten, starved, given poor food, placed in solitary confinement and deprived of medical treatment," Gold wrote, quoting from allegations in the lawsuit. "I have no doubt that the acts of the Cuban government are intended to oppress those in Cuba who seek to freely voice their opinions." The judge said the family deserved to be compensated for "the intentional infliction of emotional distress" it has endured because of the son's mistreatment by Cuba. The lawsuit was filed under the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows non-US citizens access to courts to challenge violations of international laws or treaties (AP, 3/9/09).

September 3: The new rules regulating what gifts and how much cash can be sent to Cuba announced by the White House almost five months ago finally became official. In April, President Barack Obama lifted caps on Cuban American travel to the island and the money that can be sent to relatives. But the official regulations that make those changes possible had not been published until now (The Miami Herald, 3/9/09).

September 3: Fidel Castro discussed the political "errors and horrors" of former US president George W. Bush with filmaker Oliver Stone, the Cuban leader wrote. Castro, 83, in an editorial carried in official media, said he had a long talk with Oliver Stone about his film "W" about the Bush presidency. Slamming Bush for dragging the United States to war in Iraq and failing to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, Fidel Castro said he told Stone "my point of view about Bush's responsibility" for those and other political missteps. The former Cuban president, who stepped aside three years ago during a health crisis, did not give a date for his conversation with Stone (The End Does Not Justify The Means; AFP, 3/9/09).

September 4: Cuban students who were supposed to travel to the States to study courtesy of US-funded scholarships have been denied visa requests. A total of about 30 students from the island were to be part of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs scholarship program, which is available to students around the world who are interested in studying at an American university. Agricultural science, business management, and journalism were just a few of the fields students were encouraged to explore at the one-year community colleges they were supposed to attend, which were located in Arizona, Tennessee and Idaho. Instead, many students were not only denied access to the US, they were subsequently reprimanded in Cuba. "I've been told that I have been expelled from the university and that I have a hearing pending with the Communist Youth, where I am to receive a temporary sanction due to the fact that, in self-criticism, I acknowledged having applied for the scholarship,'' wrote a student selected for a leadership program in the United States who requested to remain anonymous (NBC, 4/9/09).

September 6: The US government is once again preventing its scientists from traveling to Cuba to participate in the 20th International Congress of Orthopedics and Traumatology, scheduled for September 21 to 26 in Bayama, Granma province. Dr. Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras, president of the Cuban Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology, stated that he has been informed by the doctors that they have been unable to get permission to travel from the State Department or the Treasury Department. Dr. Alvarez Cambras, likewise director of the Frank País Orthopedic Hospital, said that the absence of these colleagues interested in attending an important scientific meeting is deplorable, but highlighted the attendance of some 400 physicians from approximately 150 countries, including Mexico, Spain, Canada, Japan, Argentina, Russia, France, Guatemala, Germany, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Yemen and Honduras (Granma International, 6/9/09).

September 9: Money transfer agent The Western Union Co. said it will implement new rules on sending money to Cuba. The new rules allow people in the US to send money to "close relatives" in Cuba, including aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins who are Cuban nationals. The rules also remove the limit on the total amount and frequency of money sent to Cuba. The Englewood, Colo.-based company said the rules were issued by the US Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control. Western Union has been providing money transfer services from the US to Cuba since 1999, in accordance with OFAC laws. Western Union currently has 3,000 locations authorized to send Western Union money transfers from the US to Cuba, and more than 100 Agent locations in Cuba (AP, 9/9/09).

September 10: US-based journalist watchdog group called for an end to what it described as "systemic harassment" of bloggers and independent journalists in Cuba, and urged the international community to step up its lobbying on the bloggers' behalf. The Committee to Protect Journalists said a surprisingly vibrant blogging community has sprung up on the communist-run island, despite government intimidation, official barriers and the high cost of going online. Cuba has the lowest rate of Internet use in the Americas. "The bloggers, mainly young adults from a variety of professions, have opened a new space for free expression in Cuba, while offering a fresh glimmer of hope for the rebirth of independent ideas in Cuba's closed system," the group said in a report. The New York-based CPJ also called on Cuba to unconditionally free imprisoned independent journalists and to honor international commitments that the country has signed that should in theory allow all journalists to report freely without fear of reprisal. The Cuban government had no immediate reaction to the report, but it routinely dismisses international watchdog groups including the CPJ as agents of the US government (AP, 11/9/09).

Septiembre 12: El gobierno de Cuba pidió nuevamente al presidente estadounidense, Barack Obama, que libere a sus cinco agentes presos en Estados Unidos por espionaje. "Tenemos que hacerlo ahora porque hay una persona decente, porque el hombre que ocupa hoy la presidencia no tiene nada que ver con la infamia cometida con nuestros compañeros, pero él (Obama) sí tiene la autoridad, la capacidad para hacer justicia", afirmó Ricardo Alarcón, presidente de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular, al cerrar una vigilia y jornada artística por los cinco espías. Al referirse al ex presidente Bush en el acto la Tribuna Antiimperialista —popularmente conocida como protestódromo—, frente a la Sección de Intereses de Washington en La Habana, Alarcón dijo que "jamás" hizo un pedido así "cuando había un bandido en la Casa Blanca" (AFP, 13/9/09).

Septiembre 14: El gobierno de Barack Obama dio un nuevo paso hacia el relajamiento de las sanciones a Cuba, al autorizar el envío en paquetes a la isla de una amplia gama de productos electrónicos que incluyen softwares, modems, memorias e impresoras. La directiva, emitida por el Departamento del Comercio con fecha del 8 de septiembre, incrementa además el valor permitido de los paquetes a Cuba de 400 a 800 dólares mensuales y estipula que cualquier cubano puede enviar un paquete al mes a diferentes hogares en la isla (exceptuando los de altos miembros del gobierno o del Partido Comunista y centros bajo control estatal). También elimina el requisito de que el donante deba ser familiar cercano de los beneficiarios.  Entre los artículos oficialmente autorizados ahora se encuentran ropa, productos de higiene personal, semillas, medicinas y suministros veterinarios, avíos de pesca y equipos para fabricar jabón (El Nuevo Herald, 14/9/09).

September 14: President Barack Obama has extended the US trade embargo on Cuba for one year, the White House said in a statement. The extension was expected and has been the practice of all US presidents dating to the 1970s under a section of the so-called "Trading With the Enemy Act." Obama extended the embargo even though he has made reaching out to old US foes a key plank in his foreign policy. In signing the extension, Obama was taking a symbolic step because existing law, the Helms-Burton Act, requires Congress to take action specifically ending the embargo (AP, 15/9/09).

Septiembre 15: El gobernador de Nuevo México, Bill Richardson, quien se opone al embargo de Estados Unidos contra Cuba, hizo un llamado a los dos países para que desarrollen la confianza mutua mejorando los aspectos humanitarios. Richardson habló en la Universidad de Nuevo México sobre su viaje a Cuba el mes pasado. El gobernador demócrata señaló que quiere ver que se autorice en Estados Unidos la compra de biotecnología y productos médicos cubanos y que los productos agrícolas estadounidense sean vendidos en la isla. Richardson agregó que debían levantarse restricciones de visa y otros obstáculos burocráticos, para permitir que más ciudadanos estadounidenses viajen a Cuba por intercambios culturales. Asimismo, pidió a La Habana que a cambio permita que sus ciudadanos viajen con mayor libertad (AP, 16/9/09).

September 16: The United States and Cuba will discuss the possible resumption of long-suspended direct postal service in another small step toward seeking better relations after 50 years of hostilities. Experts say that, like most things between the longtime ideological foes, there are potential obstacles and the outcome is uncertain. The US delegation to the talks will be led by Bisa Williams, assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, and the most senior US official to visit Cuba from President Barack Obama's administration. The delegation will include representatives of the US Postal Service. "These are really exploratory talks and they are very technical in nature (…) We see it as a potential avenue for improving the communication between our two countries," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington (Reuters, 16/9/09).

September 16: Cuba will not make any political or policy concessions to improve relations with the US - no matter how small, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said, snubbing Washington's suggestions that some reforms could lead to better ties. He told a news conference that the United States must lift its 47-year-old trade embargo without waiting for anything in return. Rodriguez said US trade sanctions have cost the island $96 billion in economic damage since they took their current form in February 1962 as part of the Trading with the Enemy Act. "The policy is unilateral and should be lifted unilaterally," Rodriguez said. He called President Obama "well-intentioned and intelligent" and said that his administration has adopted a "modern, less aggressive" stance toward the island. But Rodriguez shrugged off the White House's April decision to lift restrictions on Cuban-Americans who want to visit or send money to relatives in this country, saying those changes simply undid a tightening of the embargo imposed by President George W. Bush. "Obama was a president elected on a platform of change. Where are the changes in the blockade against Cuba?" Rodriguez asked (AP, 17/9/09).

September 17: Cuba and the United States sat down for rare talks aimed at re-establishing direct mail service, a modest step toward cooperation that caps a bitter week of recriminations over the extension of Washington's trade embargo against the communist-run island. The Cuban government said the two countries discussed technical obstacles to restart the service - suspended in 1963 - like how mail would be transported, methods of payment and postal security. "We are satisfied with developments in this first meeting," said Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, director of the Foreign Ministry's North American Department, who led Cuba's delegation. She described the talks as "wide-ranging and useful." The government said both sides agreed on the need to hold more discussions in coming months, but did not give any details on where or when such talks would be held. The US delegation was led by Bisa Williams, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. It was the first time State Department officials have traveled to Cuba for talks since late 2002, Gloria Berbena, a spokeswoman for the US Interests Section said. Representatives of the US and Cuban postal services were also present. Direct mail service between the United States and Cuba was suspended in August 1963, the year after Washington imposed its embargo. Letters sent currently between the two nations will arrive - eventually, and with a bit of luck - but must pass through a third country first (Declaración del MINREX; AP, 18/9/09).

September 20: US President Barack Obama told US Spanish language network Univision that Juanes’ Concert for Peace at Revolution Square in Havana, could help improve ties with Cuba. Juanes had previously met with Obama administration officials, and being a 17-time Latin Grammy winner who has become a kind of roving diplomat in Latin America, he got to see Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She gave her blessing to his participation in the concert. "We asked what they thought, and they said, 'Go ahead.' She was very positive," he said. "Me, I am Colombian, so I didn't need to ask permission. But we did need permission for all our staff, and they said sure." "My understanding is that he's a terrific musician. He puts on a very good concert," Obama told the station. "I certainly don't think it hurts US-Cuban relations, these kinds of cultural exchanges," he added. But he warned there was a limit to what cultural exchanges could achieve. "I wouldn't overstate the degree that it helps," Obama said. "What I'd really like to see is Cuba starting to show that it wants to move away from some of the anti-democratic practices of the past" (AFP, 20/9/09; The Washington Post, 21/9/09).

September 21: El número de patentes solicitadas por el gobierno cubano en Estados Unidos ha aumentado desde el año 2000 hasta el momento, debido al desarrollo de su industria biotecnológica. Según el abogado Werner Stemer, el número es bajo en comparación con otros países, "una pizca por debajo de Corea del Norte", pero las solicitudes se encuentran en una "curva creciente" desde el 2000. El también letrado principal de patentes de la firma Lerner Greenberg Stemer, radicada en Hollywood, explicó que La Habana solicita patentes en Washington porque las patentes sólo protegen a los inventores en el país donde se presenta. Desde 1975, cuando se digitalizaron sus archivos, los archivos de la Oficina de Patentes y Marcas Registradas de Estados Unidos (PTO) muestran que los cubanos han recibido 74 patentes. La Habana ha conservado el derecho de solicitar patentes y marcas registradas en Estados Unidos porque el presidente John F. Kennedy eximió la propiedad intelectual cuando reforzó el embargo (El Nuevo Herald, 21/9/09).

Septiembre 22: Científicos estadounidenses y cubanos consideran que la colaboración entre ambos países en ciencias marinas es crucial, ya que las especies migran en las aguas que los separan y enfrentan amenazas diversas. "La ciencia no puede operar de forma efectiva con ellos (los cubanos) haciendo lo suyo, y nosotros haciendo lo nuestro, en básicamente la misma masa de agua", dijo Robert Hueter, director del Centro de Investigación de Tiburones en el Laboratorio Mote Marine de Sarasota, Florida. "Compartimos esa agua ahí afuera", dijo Hueter, sentado frente a una mesa con vista a la bahía que da al Golfo de México. "Parte de ella, al menos, podría acabar en las costas de Cuba. Y ciertamente, algunos de los peces podrían acabar en Cuba". Algunos de los desafíos a los que se enfrentan las especies marinas en la zona son la contaminación, la muerte de los corales y las especies invasoras. Debido a ello, cuatro científicos cubanos viajaron a Estados Unidos, haciendo escala en Washington para reunirse con el Fondo de Defensa del Medio Ambiente (Environmental Defense Fund, en inglés), que facilitó su visita, y con científicos del Laboratorio Mote Marine (AP, 22/9/09).

Septiembre 22: El líder cubano Fidel Castro elogió la valentía del presidente Barack Obama por admitir que los países ricos son los principales culpables del cambio climático, pero lo criticó por creer que puede resolverse en el capitalismo. “El presidente de Estados Unidos admitió que las naciones desarrolladas han causado la mayor parte del daño y deben asumir la responsabilidad. Fue sin dudas un gesto valiente'', afirmó Castro sobre el discurso de Obama en Nueva York en la reunión especial sobre el cambio climático previa a la Asamblea General de la ONU. “Sería justo reconocer también que ningún otro presidente de Estados Unidos habría tenido el valor de decir lo que él dijo'', señaló el líder comunista. No obstante, el ex gobernante señaló que “el problema ahora es que todo lo que afirma está en contradicción con lo que Estados Unidos viene haciendo desde hace 150 años''. Castro citó al presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, cuando calificó a Obama de un “gran enigma''. “No sería justo culpar al Obama serio del mencionado enigma por lo ocurrido hasta hoy, pero es menos justo todavía que el otro Obama nos hiciera creer que la humanidad pueda preservarse bajo las normas que hoy prevalecen en la economía mundial'', aseguró Castro (El Obama serio; AP, 24/9/09).

Septiembre 23: Western Union, una de las compañías más grandes del mundo en el renglón de remesas, lanzó una campaña comercial sobre sus ampliados servicios de remesas a Cuba bajo nuevos reglamentos de la administración del presidente Barack Obama, que liberalizó el envío de dinero a familiares. Liz Alicea-Vélez, vicepresidenta ejecutiva para América Latina y el Caribe, dijo a la prensa que la campaña de promoción por televisión, radio e Internet está dirigida no sólo a atraer clientes sino a aclarar cierta confusión que aún existe entre algunos miembros de la comunidad sobre los nuevos reglamentos. "Lo que hemos visto es clientes que nos llaman preguntando: ¿‘Cambiaron las regulaciones?' '', dijo Alicea-Vélez. "Le decimos a la gente que pueden enviar más dinero, con más frecuencia y a más seres queridos. Eso es básicamente nuestro mensaje (...) porque los consumidores están aún un poco confundidos'' (El Nuevo Herald, 23/9/09).

Septiembre 23: El gobierno estadounidense negó a 30 especialistas en ortopedia el permiso para viajar a Cuba a participar en un congreso internacional, afirmaron los organizadores. "Recibí una carta de ellos que decía que sentían su corazón muy triste, porque, cuando todo estaba preparado, el Departamento de Estado y el Departamento del Tesoro les prohibieron la ida a Cuba", dijo el cirujano ortopeda Rodrigo Álvarez Cambras, citado por la Agencia de Información Nacional (AIN). El congreso reúne en la ciudad de Bayamo a 400 científicos —150 extranjeros de 14 países—, precisó Álvarez Cambras, presidente del comité organizador y director del Hospital Ortopédico Frank País, de La Habana. Washington y La Habana continúan acusándose de obstaculizar los intercambios académicos, culturales y científicos, aunque éstos, casi nulos bajo el gobierno de George W. Bush, han aumentado con Barack Obama. Estados Unidos concedió visa al cantautor cubano Pablo Milanés. En mayo le fue negada a Silvio Rodríguez, invitado a un homenaje al músico Pete Seeger (AFP, 23/9/09).

Septiembre 28: Durante el período de 12 meses entre el primero de octubre del 2007 y el 30 de septiembre del 2008 --el llamado año fiscal federal-- casi 2,200 cubanos fueron interceptados en el Estrecho de la Florida y casi 3,000 llegaron a playas locales. Pero con sólo dos semanas más en el año fiscal corriente, menos de 1,000 cubanos han sido interceptados en el estrecho y menos de 600 han arribado a playas de la zona. Incluso el número de cubanos que llegan a puestos fronterizos, aún la ruta más popular, ha disminuido considerablemente en comparación con el año fiscal anterior: 5,621 contra 10,030. Nadie parece saber a ciencia cierta por qué el número de refugiados cubanos ha bajado considerablemente. Pero funcionarios federales, expertos en asuntos cubanos, así como cubanos llegados recientemente y algunos dirigentes comunitarios mencionaron posibles factores, desde la crisis económica en Estados Unidos; tácticas más agresivas por parte del Servicio Guardacostas; más encausamientos formales contra sospechosos de contrabando de inmigrantes; un endurecimiento de la política mexicana contra inmigrantes cubanos indocumentados a un relajamiento de la política norteamericana hacia Cuba (El Nuevo Herald, 28/9/09).

September 28: President Barack Obama has not fulfilled his promises to change US foreign policy and may not be fully in control of the government, Cuba's foreign minister told the United Nations. In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Bruno Rodriguez said Obama had done little to mend US-Cuba relations and had taken other steps that were at odds with his promises to break with the policies of predecessor George W. Bush. "The most serious and dangerous aspect about this new situation is uncertainty about the real capacity of current authorities in Washington to overcome political and ideological currents that, under the previous administration, threatened the world," he said. "The neoconservative forces that took George Bush to the presidency (...) have very quickly regrouped and still have the reins of power and considerable influence, contrary to the announced change," Rodriguez said. The Cuban minister pointed to the June 28 military coup in Honduras, saying that while Obama had said ousted President Manuel Zelaya must be returned to office, "the American fascist right, represented by (former Vice President Dick) Cheney, openly supports and sustains the coup." The Minister also said that the communist regime is ready to normalize relations with the United States and will work with Washington in the meantime on other issues such as fighting drug smuggling. Taking a conciliatory tone, Rodriguez told the UN General Assembly that Cuba had approached the American government with "a set of essential topics" it considers imperative to improving bilateral ties, including doing away with the so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" immigration policy, which allows nearly all Cubans who reach US soil to stay while deporting those captured on the ocean en route (Speech by Bruno Rodriguez; Reuters, AP, 28/9/09).

September 29: A senior American diplomat has held unannounced, high-level talks in Havana with the Cuban government, three State Department officials told the press, raising hopes for a thaw in long-icy relations. The talks were the first of their kind in years between representatives of the US and Cuban governments. Bisa Williams, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Dagoberto Rodriguez, visited an area affected by hurricanes in the Western province of Pinar del Rio and toured a government agricultural facility during a six-day trip to Cuba this month. The meetings came on the heels of September 17 talks on the possibility of restarting direct mail service between the countries, suspended since 1963. Those discussions had been public, but neither country had previously revealed that Williams remained in Havana for five extra days. One US official described the talks as "respectful" and said they were more significant for having taken place, than for any substantive breakthroughs between the two sides. "We were going over ground we haven't gone over for a long time," said the official. "Each side was taking advantage of the opportunity to size each other up." The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of Williams' visit and spoke on condition of anonymity. The spokeswoman said Williams met with Cuban officials and with members of Cuba's "civil society," and went to the western province of Pinar del Rio to tour facilities there. She would not confirm reports that Williams also met with Cuban dissidents. The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment (AP, Reuters, 30/9/09).

September 30: A defamation lawsuit filed by a Cuban American anti-embargo activist against a US counterintelligence expert who branded her a Havana “agent'' has been settled, both sides say. “The case of Silvia Wilhelm vs. Chris Simmons has been settled. The terms of the resolution are confidential,'' the two sides said in identical statements. Wilhelm's Fort Lauderdale lawyer, Bruce Rogow, declined comment on the settlement. “The language of the announcement speaks for itself.'' But he denied media reports that she had dropped the lawsuit. Court documents show that on September 2 Rogow filed an “Agreed Notice of Resolution,'' reporting that on August 26, “the parties resolved this dispute, with one aspect of the resolution to be completed by September 25.'' Simmons, a retired Cuba counter-intelligence expert with the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), also declined further comment (El Nuevo Herald, 30/9/09).

September 30: A senior US diplomat who traveled to Havana for the highest-level talks with Cuban officials in decades also met with opposition activists to discuss their political views, three dissidents and a State Department official said. Bisa Williams, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with 15 prominent dissidents during a September 21 lunch at the US Interests Section, America's diplomatic mission in Cuba, three of them told the press. Elizardo Sanchez, Martha Beatriz Roque and Vladimiro Roca all have spent time in jail for their political views.
Williams asked the dissidents about US-Cuba relations, and pressed for details of their lives in a country with one political party and a history of intolerance toward dissent, they said. "She asked about popular support for the opposition," Roque said in a telephone interview. "I explained to her that such support was difficult because those who are part of the opposition are sent to jail." State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley later confirmed in Washington that Williams met with "human rights advocates, members of civil society (and) dissidents, talking about a variety of issues both economic and political" (AP, 1/10/09).

September 30: Activists lobbied on Capitol Hill for a bill that would remove restrictions on travel to Cuba for all Americans, arguing it would be in keeping with President Barack Obama’s pledge to change US policy toward the communist-ruled island. During a meeting at the House of Representatives’ Rayburn House Office Building, several congressional leaders and more than 70 activists from a dozen states said the travel ban violates Americans’ basic rights. Supporters of the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, including Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel and Bill Delahunt and Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, say Washington has tried for more than four decades to isolate Cuba economically and diplomatically without achieving the desired result. They added that now is the time to try something different and that the bill has enough support in the House and Senate to be approved before year’s end. The measure, submitted in March, would allow all Americans to travel to the island, not only Cuban-Americans with family members living there. Only in the event of war or imminent danger to Americans could travel to Cuba be disallowed. While hearings on the legislation could begin next month, the proposal faces opposition from Republicans and Cuban exiles, who denounce the continued violation of human rights on the island (EFE, 1/10/09).

Septiembre 30: Disidentes cubanos declararon estar complacidos de que una funcionaria estadounidense de visita en la isla se hubiera reunido con ellos, pero expresaron cierta molestia al conocer que a un coctel diplomático celebrado por representantes de Estados Unidos sólo se invitó a cubanos simpatizantes del gobierno. Un portavoz de la misión afirmó que la lista de invitados "no favorecía a un grupo sobre otro'. "Ellos dicen que fue un encuentro con el mundo de la cultura, con la intelectualidad, y en este caso con la intelectualidad que es aceptada por el gobierno'', dijo el presidente de la Comisión Cubana de Reconciliación y Derechos Humanos, Elizardo Sánchez. "Nosotros tenemos también intelectuales. Yo no sé por qué esos no fueron invitados''. Con una asistencia de unos 200 cubanos, la recepción fue concebida como un "encuentro cultural'' para presentar a la nueva funcionaria de asuntos culturales de la Sección de Intereses, Gloria Berbena, y a su vice, Molly Koscina, ambas recién llegadas a La Habana (BBC Mundo, 1/10/09).