Am I imagining this?

Did President Bush mention Cuba and/or fidel in his State of the Union speech? He mentioned lots of other dictatorships, including North Korea, but I did not hear one mention of Cuba.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Holy Dewey Decimals!

Micheal Gorman, head of the American Library Association, took a licking the other day from Romanian born author Andre Codrescu. It seems Gorman is still a little rattled as he allowed himself to show his true colors, in a response to Robert Kent of the Friends of Cuban Libraries.

Cuban American Pundits has the whole exellent story.

The poo-poo hitting the fan

I weighed in rather perfunctorily on the Google/China debacle last week and I have felt rather bad about it since. Val's and Steve's actions were, I thought, the equivalent of using a spoon to bale the Titanic. But on further reflection, I have come closer to their solution. Dean's brilliant, angry and completely on-point post this morning crytallized my decision. I've decided kill my Gmail accounts.

As someone in the technology sector who admires the guts behind these offerings, I was not happy to do it. Gmail is a superb product that beats the competition hands down. (Yahoo!'s future release looks better, however.) Regardless, I killed my Universal Spectator Gmail account last week and plan to kill the rest of them this week. I do it sadly but willingly to show the folks at Google that, even though they produce a superb product, some of us will not beat a path to their door when their behavior vis-a-vis China (or Cuba, or any other country living under a dictatorship) is so reprehensible.

I urge the other technology giants who censor in these countries to take the right stance, not the expedient one.

P.S., This just in, and on a related note, TheStreet.com is reporting that Google's fourth-quarter profits well below Wall Street's estimates.

Too bad, so sad.

Flagpoles!!!

George of The Real Cuba does it again. Behold fidel's new flagpoles:

As I've stated before, that sure looks like a lot of concrete, wood, welded wire mesh and steel reinforcing that could be used to restore some Cubans' homes instead of being wasted in a failed attempt at blinding the Cuban people.

The only things missing...

..are the horns and the pinchfork.

Arguably the best political cartoonists around, Cox and Forkum give us a great caricature of the devil of the Caribbean:

Hopefully the next one will show the bearded bastard in a casket.

Unreasonable?

Nope. I think Dean is spot on.

Freedom made what you do for a living possible, Google, and now you crap all over that? Go to Hell.

Life in Cuba?

Here are three brief glimpses:

Telephone company refuses service to independent journalist

HAVANA, January 30 ( Roberto Pérez, Agencia Patria / www.cubanet.org) - Independent journalist Antonio Femenías Hechemendia thought he'd finally obtain a telephone when the ETECSA, the national telephone company, assigned numbers to those living in the historical center of the city of Ciego de Ávila.

However, when his wife, Irsy Adelina Rodríguez Pérez, went to the company to sign a contract for the telephone, she was told that service could not be connected and she would get an explanation from the government's Popular Power organization.

There she was told that "the benefits of the Revolution" were not available to dissidents. Then, officers of the political police visited Antonio Femenías Hechemendia and accused him of trying to enlist people to become independent journalists.

Finally, employees of the telephone went to the Femenías Hechemendia home and removed the telephone cable that had been installed.

Popular Power advised the block committee in the historic center that a telephone had mistakenly been assigned to Femenías Hechemendia.

*

Some 400 books seized from independent library

HAVANA, January 30 (Roberto Santana Rodríguez / www.cubanet.org) - Caridad González López, director of the Frank País independent library, said a State Security agent seized some 400 books from the library last week.

González López said the agent, named Rolando, was accompanied by a member of the Communist party. She said they arrived at the library at 7 a.m. with a search warrant.

"The warrant had as its objective to scare me into not continuing to work at the library and in the dissidency," she said, "but I will redouble my efforts. "

*

Dissident sentenced to year for failing to pay fine

HAVANA, January 30 (Roberto Santana Rodríguez / www.cubanet.org) - Rolando Aguirre Patterson, a member of the Cuban Liberal Movement, has been sentenced to a year in jail for failing to pay 10 fines for illegally operating a pedicab.

Aguirre Patterson, 26, had been operating a pedicab for four years, mainly in the historic tourist area.

"I didn't have a lawyer to defend me," Aguirre Patterson said. "There were two judges and the prosecutor in the courtroom. They only let my wife in."

Aguirre Patterson was accused of not possessing a government license and fined 4,580 pesos, the equivalent of two years' wages for an average worker.

Wanna make a difference?

Go here, right now, and let your voice be heard.

And tell all your friends as well.

Have I ever mentioned...

...that I love the Czechs?

Lots of bloggers covered this last week, but here's the beautiful new delicious outcome:

Top model to exhibit photos of Cuba she hid in bra during arrest

PRAGUE- Czech top model Helena Houdova, who was arrested in Cuba last week while taking photographs of Havana's slums, told journalist that she will display the pictures she took at an exhibition portraying the island not only as a tourist paradise but also as a land of political oppression.
Houdova, Miss Czech Republic 1999, spoke to journalists today after returning from Cuba.

"The revolution's watchmen rose up because I was taking pictures of something they do not like," said the top model, referring to the fact that the Communist regime of Fidel Castro denies the existence of slums on the island.

Houdova was arrested along with psychologist and fellow model Mariana Kroftova. The two women spent 11 hours in police custody.

They were not allowed to contact the Czech embassy throughout their arrest and could not communicate with their jailers in English. They in vain requested medical attention.

Upon their release, the women were requested to sign a statement saying they would not travel beyond Havana. They remained under police surveillance until their departure from the island.

The women received the support of locals, as well as of Czech embassy employees.

The Cuban police confiscated the roll of film that was in the Czech women's camera. However, Houdova managed to conceal the memory card of her digital camera inside her brassiere.

The pictures she thus saved will be included in an exhibition Houdova plans to organise together with People in Need (PINF), a Czech non-governmental humanitarian relief organisation with a track record of supporting Cuba's pro-democracy opposition.

Houdova said the exhibition should portray Cuba not only as a country with beautiful nature, interesting architecture and a captivating atmosphere but also as a state where people are imprisoned for their beliefs.

Houdova said her meetings with dissidents, the wives of political prisoners, as well as with ordinary Cubans during her ten-day stay in Cuba made her recollect her childhood in Communist Czechoslovakia.

"I am not an expert on the political situation in Cuba but I think some kind of change is necessary there," she said.

Houdova went to Cuba to find out whether her Sunflower foundation could assist the local children - orphans, the handicapped or those afflicted with AIDS. She pointed out that it is almost impossible to provide any assistance through official means because the Communist authorities refuse to admit anything in their country does not work.

However, Houdova personally ascertained the pathetic situation in several Cuban hospitals.

Although Houdova admitted she cannot predict how long Fidel Castro will manage to maintain his totalitarian regime on the island, she said she believes Cubans will soon live to experience liberty as have Czechs.

For the past two years, Houdova has been living mostly in New York and Los Angeles where she works as a model. At the same time, she tries to raise funds to help physically or socially handicapped children in different countries around the world.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has summoned the Cuban charge d'affairs in Prague to explain the conduct of the Cuban authorities in arresting the two Czech women.

The case provides additional evidence of the frosty nature of official Czech-Cuban political relations. Cuban officials have in the past described the Czech Republic as a lackey of the United States.

The News Ticker

Via Sirimba, here's just a few of the slogans being run on the news ticker at the US Interests Section in Havana:

PALESTINOS PARTICIPAN EN PRIMERAS ELECCIONES LEGISLATIVAS DESDE HACE 10 ANOS.

ONG REPORTEROS SIN FRONTERAS ACUSA A LA JUSTICIA VENEZOLANA DE CENSURA A LA PRENSA.

A SOLICITUD DE CHILE, EEUU DETUVO A HIJA MAYOR DE PINOCHET.

ESTADOS UNIDOS OTORGO PERMISO AL EQUIPO CUBANO PARA
PARTICIPAR EN EL CLASICO MUNDIAL DE BEISBOL.
PRIMER PARTIDO DE CUBA SERIA MARZO 8 EN PUERTO RICO.

SEGUN LA OEA, EN HAITI TODAS LAS GARANTIAS ESTAN DADAS PARA QUE SE REALICEN ELECCIONES FEBRERO 7.

LEA LO QUE QUIERA, DIGA LO QUE PIENSA, HAGA LO QUE LE PAREZCA CORRECTO.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: NINGUN HOMBRE ES LO SUFICIENTEMENTE BUENO
PARA GOBERNAR A OTRO HOMBRE SIN EL ACUERDO DE ESE OTRO.

INDIRA GANDHI: EL PODER DE CUESTIONAR ES EL BASE DE TODO DEL PROGRESO HUMANO.

VOLTAIRE: EL HOMBRE ES LIBRE EN EL MOMENTO QUE LO DESEA SER.

PRESIDENTE GEORGE W. BUSH: EL OBJETIVO DE EEUU ES AYUDAR A LOS DEMAS A ENCONTRAR SU PROPIA VOZ, LOGRAR SU PROPIA LIBERTAD, Y ABRIR SU PROPIO CAMINO.

WINSTON CHURCHILL: LA DEMOCRACIA ES LA PEOR FORMA DE GOBIERNO MENOS TODAS LAS DEMAS.

PORQUE LOS CUBANOS NO SE PUEDEN HOSPEDAR EN LOS HOTELES DE LUJO?

Looks like Michael Parmly understands the truth cant be beat in la Batalla de las Ideas.

A simple observation

I mentioned this earlier today at KillCastro, but, has anyone else noticed how last week, right after the US Interests Section in Havana put up the news ticker and fidel castro went absolutely ape shit and began the construction of whatever it was he was building that had to absolutely be finished by this past Saturday and wasnt finished in time, the MSM was all over the story?

And how today, the Monday after the much heralded construction didnt get finished so fidel is playing it low key there isnt even a mention, not so much as a tiny little iota of a peep about it in the MSM?

Nada. Zero. Zilch. Nicojones.

Does anyone else think that it's because if fidel castro doesnt open his mouth the MSM couldnt care less about Cuba?

I do.

If you must have proof, let's just wait til the damn thing is built and fidel castro needs the publicity. Then we'll see the gallant members of the MSM coming out of the woodwork and reporting the story, ad nauseum.

castro's 'doctors' killing off their patients

It sounded too good to be true. Free medical care, courtesy of fidel castro in all his dictatorial benevolence. castro, after all, unlike the evil capitalists, manufactures doctors by the bushel. He turns them out, he is a regular doctor-making machine. In fact, anyone can be a Cuban doctor. Never mind that there are no bandages to train doctors with, or working machinery or medical tools. Somehow, socialism in all its good intentions overcomes all of those minor training matters. And free medical care is meant to flow from Pakistan to Bolivia to Katrina New Orleans. All because of fidel's benevolence.

We did focus on how Cubans themselves were denied medical care because all of castro's doctors were in Venezuela. For all we know, they dodged a bullet.

It sounded too good to be true because it was too good to be true. Turns out castro's doctors are killing people. Another death from routine - routine! - castroite cataract surgery was reported in Zulia state in Venezuela. And Venezuelans are outraged. The item is here.

When medical care is "free" you get what you pay for.

I hate Mondays open thread

I get to the office this morning and all hell's broken loose at one of my jobsites. Ill probably be dodging bullets while putting out fires for most of the day so consider this an open thread for your comments or links.

If youve read something interesting of have a blog post youd like to present, please drop a link in the comments section.

Depressed from all the bad news?

Cindy Sheehan cozies up to hugo chavez and declares herself a candidate for Senate.

chavez wins the UNESCO award for some such thing.

Journalists with barely a peripheral knowledge of Cuba calling for an end to the embargo so that Americans can travel to Cuba and experience just how quaint it is.

The American Library Association just keeps shitting on Cuba's independent librarians.

The Iranians and Cuba are cozying up even further since fidel may want some Iranian nukes in Matanzas.

Kennedy and Kerry call for a filibuster of Alito.

Hamas wins an election.

Sheesh. I've been sitting here trying to get a grip and write on all these stories - and many more - and I cant get passed the f-bombs. It's hard some days to maintain one's sanity. Makes you want to stay in bed all day. Never leave the house, never turn on the news, never read a damn blog post.

But on days like today, when it seems like there is nothing but depressing news story upon depressing news story, when I just want to f bomb after f bomb, when the world seems to be going backwards, I know there's one thing for sure that always makes me happy. There's one thing for sure that's true and pure and good. There's one thing for sure I can count on.

This guy loves me:

Anonymous Voices Speak The Truth

I ran across an interesting article in El Nuevo Herald's Sunday edition regarding anonymous e-mails sent by Cubans to journalist Pablo Alfonso. The accounts and revelations of the messengers aren't surprising to those of us that know the reality of life in Cuba, but they are worth repeating for all to see.

Allow me to daydream a little on this Sunday afternoon...

Imagine if the ticker at the U.S. Interests Section could be used to display messages from frustrated Cubans. They could walk up to the Interests Section, leave their message, and it would be displayed on the ticker.

If this were to ever become a reality, some of what would be displayed would likely look a lot like what Alfonso writes in his article, which I have translated as closely as possible and appears below (emphasis is mine).

This article is proof that Cubans know what's going on in their ruined country, embargo or no embargo, sanctions or no sanctions. The article is written in a bit of a disjointed style that may be hard to grasp at first, but the general idea comes across nevertheless.

For the original article in Spanish, click here.

The Commander-in-Chief Indeed Has Those Who Can Write To Him

PABLO ALFONSO palfonso@herald.com

In the past few weeks I have received an unusual number of e-mail messages from Cuba. Some of these with commentaries, analysis, information and explanations. As I feel the obligation to respond to the desire of these readers, I have decided to gather as many as I can in this article.

I should let you know that the quotes included are mixed. In other words, they belong to two or more authors who gave an opinion on the same subject. However, I know that each one of the authors will recognize his part. The anonymity, of course, is essential.

These are some statistics I received on the subject of health, public health and corruption in the upper levels of the regime:

- The index of alcoholism in Cuba in those between the ages of 18 and 48 is at alarming levels, between 38 and 45 percent, the government is aware of this but prefers to keep it quiet.

- Heart attacks may not even be the leading cause of death anymore? [... ]. And
even things that were believed to have disappeared from the country: tuberculosis, leprosy, pneumonia, dengue, and so much more, are making waves, despite the lack of official statistics that reveal their existence.

- Cuba is very far from having a system of health at the level the government claims. The Maternal Hospital of Santa Clara, for example: dirty, floor, walls, no sheets, nor antiseptics for basic cleaning. The family doctors offices: horrible, an old chair, tables missing legs; broken and ancient instruments.

- While many sick Cubans wait for an operating room to become available, Venezuelans, Panamanians and now Bolivians can be attended due to political agreements. The Cuban people pay for the priorities of their "island dreamer".

The corruption begins at the military hierarchy; they have access to all the places that are forbidden to the average person: hotels, rural retreats, hunting reserves, etc. As far as technological equipment is concerned: telephones, videocameras, music, karaokes, DVDs. In addition, they have access to exported Cubita coffee, beef, lobster, imported hams and cheeses, shrimp, canned foods, concentrated juice, liquor, whisky, rum of the highest quality, all brands of beer, as well as imported clothing.

I would like it if one of the journalists that supposedly took a picture of Marta Beatriz Roque's refrigerator also took a picture of the refrigerators of Abelardo Colomé Ibarra (minister of the Interior), General Milián, General Gondín and even Raul Castro, just to mention of few.

- Years ago, general Julio Casas "assigned'' an apartment to his son Julito in the building which was the first choice for the generals (in the Kohly neighborhood). He still lives there. His daughter Beatriz also had an apartment in that building, but she later moved to a better one.

In a luxury building, meters from the hotel El Bosque, also in the Kohly neighborhood, currently live his two daughters Beatriz (who works for the Gaviota Tourism Group) and the other whose name I can't recall (who works in TECUN), whose husband "deserted'' recently to the Dominican Republic. These buildings were once used for Russian advisers.

The procedure through which the apartment is given to Beatriz is very "congenial" and I'll give a little history on this: Beatriz Casas Rodriguez's husband is Juan Antonio Reyes who's approximately 45 years old, was Major of FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces) and manager of systems and automatization of the Gaviota Tourism Group until 1999.

That same year, he requested to be discharged from FAR and receives his retirement. Months before retiring from FAR, he begins to negotiate with a Portuguese company (INFORMARCA) that installs computer information systems in hotels, and spends two months in Portugal.

Immediately after retiring he begins work as a manager when the company, "by chance", starts its representation in the Free Trade Zone after signing a contract to computerize all the hotels in the group, which meant hundreds of thousands of dollars for that company. That caught the attention of the employees of the group, but it was "understood" because he was the owner's son-in-law.

Julio Cazas is known within the military, even from high-ranking officials, as an extremist who has destroyed the careers of prestigious military officers for what he considered "violations". Nevertheless, Cazas, as sacred cow of the government, is untouchable.

- The Control Syndrome is taking the revolution, which in its beginnings appeared to be full of hope, to the precipice of its self-destruction.

This syndrome of "compañero" Fidel has been getting worse through the years. As this control is exerted over politics and ideology, its effects do not become apparent; therein lies that formidable invention of the double standard, that formidable membrane that make us see red and green on the outside without revealing the true colors.

The bad thing about this syndrome is that it is not limited to the individual or to certain sectors of society, it extends to the riches and natural resources (renewable or not) of the country. As a "bonus'', the invasion of this control in the economy kills whatever enterpreneureal initiative that could exist.

(castro) wants to control everything, from human thought (which is fortunately uncontrollable), to what is good to cook, in wanting to tame the economy through pure idealogy, he is leading us toward disaster.

Cuban towns seem like Western ghost towns, those of which dust is its only visible inhabitant; dirty, sad faces, without teeth, potholes in the streets, streams of dirty water. Discolored houses without paint, there is no town that can be said that has been maintained or taken care of.

- I am a 31-year-old biologist, white, and belong to the "lost generation"[...] yes, because many of my contemporaries have emigrated. It would be great if someday Cuba returned to what it was before, or at least, how my parents recall it. I wish to request peace for all the children (present and absent) and that in the not too distant future Cuba leaves this lethargy of two consecutive dictatorships.

In the end, now that I don't care about the revolucion of which I will receive few personal benefits, nor the battle of the "billboards", I say, now is the time of the "illuminated". And much less this system that crumbles step by step because the same people that in public say are helping are actually hurting people all over the place.

- Everything is suspended in time. Cuba is an old museum directed by an old man that looks for international recognition by imposing a system full of human misery.

THAT IS THE LEGACY OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

I didnt forget

Psst

Is it quiet in here today or what?

For masochists only...

Straight from The Drudge Report:

Janet Reno Sings 'Respect' At Fundraiser; Karaoke Performance Caught On Tape. (Video)

CIA plot to separate fidel from his honey

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is very upset about a new plot to "sully" him, saying that rumors of a romance between him and a sultry soap opera star are nothing more than the nefarious workings of the CIA. This, even though she is an attractive woman.

"I don't think this is innocent fun," the Venezuelan thug whimpered, breaking into every TV program in the nation to say it.

Now, this being Venezuela, the business of catching an attractive trophy wife is pretty much the national preoccupation. No one among the Venezuelans is going to lower their opinion of Chavez over a romance with a soap opera star. This is partly because they cannot lower their opinons any further already. But still, if they can lower their opinons of him, it's not going to be over this.

The only person who could possibly be upset by such a catch would be Hugo's authentic true love ... fidel castro. (Warning: Open that link with caution.) If he finds out that Chavez is carrying on with a non-Sheehan-lookalike, it certainly will indeed sully his image with the bearded beast.

The whole ridiculous story and its inevitable gross conclusion is here:

Chavez: Rumors of romance with soap star a plot to sully image

Caracas, Jan 27 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that rumors about his plans to wed a soap-opera star were an attempt to tarnish his image ahead of the December presidential vote, when he plans to seek re-election.

After denying any romantic relationship with Venezuelan actress Ruddy Rodriguez, Chavez postulated that the U.S. "empire" and its Venezuelan "lackeys" were behind what he called a disinformation campaign.

Chavez, a self-styled "revolutionary" who is a staunch ally of Cuba's fidel castro, regularly criticizes the United States for having an "imperialist and interventionist" position toward Venezuela.

"The campaign has already begun to tarnish my image, that's what this Ruddy business is about; I can't explain it because there's been nothing to spark (these rumors). I don't think this is innocent fun," Chavez said in a national television and radio broadcast.

Rodriguez, who has been married for more than 10 years to attorney Rodolfo Pizani, has also denied rumors about a supposed wedding with Chavez. But tabloids and other media outlets in Venezuela have kept the story alive.

The actress, who is currently a cast member of the Colombian soap opera "La Ex," produced by Caracol Television, is known for starring roles in several other soap operas, as well as for her appearance in the 1987 James Bond film "The Living Daylights." Presidential elections in Venezuela are scheduled for Dec. 3. EFE gf/mc

Flags for Obstruction

ABC News is confirming what we wrote about yesterday regarding the construction in front of the US Interests Section in Havana:

Castro Retaliates With Flags

U.S. Mission in Cuba Becomes Lightning Rod for Bilateral Tensions

By MARC FRANK

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 27, 2006 — Always-simmering tension between the United States and Cuba has burst out into the open over a news ticker mounted on the U.S. diplomatic mission that beams human rights and democracy messages in big crimson letters into the Havana night.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, after marching more than a million people by the building earlier this week, has ordered construction workers to extend an open-air stage in front of the mission right up to within yards of the gate. He plans to mount huge flags on the stage to block the ticker from view, a construction ministry source said.

The stage is called the anti-imperialist tribunal and was built during the tug of war between the United States and Cuba to have shipwreck victim Elian Gonzalez returned to his father from Miami. The venue is currently used for political and cultural events.

Cuba plans for the flags to fly by Saturday, the birthday of the country's founding father, Jose Marti, leader of the Caribbean island's independence war against Spain.

"We have five days to do this job, working 24 hours a day," a construction worker said on Tuesday when Cuban flag-sporting bulldozers and other heavy construction equipment began ripping up half of the U.S. diplomatic mission's parking lot.

Castro has waxed furious over the electronic sign, which he charges is a gross provocation aimed at torpedoing already fragile bilateral relations.

The sign has featured statements by famous U.S. figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, but also by those who helped bring down European communism such as former Polish President Lech Walesa.

The United States broke diplomatic relations and imposed economic sanctions on Cuba soon after Castro came to power in a 1959 revolution. Consular-level Interests Sections were established in 1977 to handle visa and other administrative matters. An immigration agreement was signed in 1994 and a few years later the two countries began cooperating to interdict drug smugglers.

Since 2001 Cuba has purchased U.S. food for cash under an exception to the embargo passed in 2000.

"It is clear when they decided to do this outrageous act & they could not have had in mind anything but a provocation to destroy fragile relations," Castro said Wednesday while visiting the construction site.

Castro charged the Bush administration had turned the Interests Section into a command post to "organize and direct the counterrevolution" and funnel money and supplies to his opponents.

President Bush has made no secret of his close political ties with the hard-line Cuban-American establishment in Florida, which advocates an end to all contact with Cuba and a regime change.

However, Michael Parmly, the top U.S. diplomat in Havana, held a news conference on Thursday to say he found it strange that Cuba was upset by the ticker and to deny the United States was trying to provoke a rupture in relations.

"I see no reason to change what we are doing & we are simply trying to communicate with the Cuban people," he said.

Parmly said it would be a loss for both the Cuban and American people if all ties were ended.

"But we are going to keep trying to communicate with the Cuban people by any means we can," Parmly said, when asked what the United States would do if the electronic sign was blocked.

When it rains in Havana, they have what are called "derrumbes" - collapses - caused by the complete and total lack of maintenance and structural disprepair of buildings. Centuries old architectural treasures in Havana stand dilapidated and crumbling. Most are still occupied. These buildings are presently in the condition theyre in because of the lack of capital and building materials needed for their revitalization.

Photo from The Real Cuba

fidel castro has just proven to the world and, more importantly, his people - especially those that are relegated to living in squallid conditions within structurally unsafe buildings - that the censoring of information, by whatever means, even a ridiculously obvious and monstrous architectural structure, is more important than the lives, safety and living conditions of the Cuban People.

Update:The flag poles are up!

Related:

Times Square in Havana
Because truth can't be refuted
The Great Wall of Havana
More on the Havana Wall
The News Ticker, Flags and One Pissed Off Dictator

Journalistic integrity?

I have no love lost for The Miami Herald. I try never to read it, I never buy it, and I don't subscribe to it. My wife has occasionaly subscribed to the weekend edition against my wishes to get the sale info and, of course, the ubiquitous coupons. I read it (online) only when I absolutely have to and only when necessary for me to get a first-hand account that I want to comment on. I have told telemarketers and the young folks coming to my door selling it that I do not own a bird so I have no need for the Herald. If that doesn't work, I just tell them I'll buy it when they stop lying.

In that spirit, I present for our readers an exchange of emails between Antonio de la Cova, Ph.D, who is a professor of Latino Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. I publish them with his permission so that our readers can see a first-hand example of the Herald's editorial posture. (For a little background, go here.)

Continued below the fold.

Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:58:31 -0500
From: delacova@indiana.edu
Reply-To: delacova@indiana.edu
Subject: Ana Veciana Suarez
To: jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

Mr. Weaver,

Your article in today's Herald regarding reporter Ana Veciana Suarez, who lied under oath during voir dire, stated that her father Antonio Veciana was "convicted in 1974 in New York of conspiring to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to seven years."

Your information omitted that he was also convicted in the same case of "distribution of approximately seven kilograms of cocaine."
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/veciana-pomares.pdf)

After being released from jail, Veciana was slightly wounded by a bullet to the head in 1979, in what authorities estimated could have been motivated by "possible drug related relationships."
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/veciana-shooting.htm)

Veciana blamed "people who work for or have worked for the FBI" for the assassination attempt.
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/veciana-fbi.htm)

In 2004, as treasurer of Maurice Ferre's political campaign "Veciana received $17,500 that he used to make cash payments to poll workers and to reimburse expenses -- payments that exceed limits set in state law."
(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/exile/veciana-ferre.htm)

Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

---

Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 7:08 PM
From: delacova@indiana.edu [mailto:delacova@indiana.edu]
To: Fiedler, Tom
Subject: Fwd: Ana Veciana Suarez

Mr. Fiedler:

Here is yet another example of the Herald omitting important facts from a story.

Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

---

Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:18:59 -0500
From: "Fiedler, Tom"
To: delacova@indiana.edu
Cc: "Weaver, Jay"
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Dear Professor de la Cova,

Thank you for this information. However, the article was not about Antonio Veciana, where it would have been relevant to go into more detail, but about his daughter and our colleague, Ana Veciana Suarez.

Regards,
Tom Fiedler

---

Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 4:38 PM
From: delacova@indiana.edu [mailto:delacova@indiana.edu]
To: Fiedler, Tom
Cc: Weaver, Jay
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Dear Mr. Fiedler,

Thank you for your response. You apparently missed my point. I brought this issue to the Herald's attention because the paper did not mention the full extent of what its reporter Ana Veciana-Suarez had concealed under oath in court. It only cited her father's conspiracy charge, neglecting the more substantial and despicable concurrent conviction of distributing seven kilos of cocaine. That omission gave the impression that the Herald was being lenient or partly covering up for its own colleague. As a former journalist, I was aware that the focus of the story was on Ms. Ana Veciana-Suarez, not her father. It is unfortunate that when Ms. Veciana-Suarez was pooled for the jury, she did not privately excuse herself with the prosecutor's office. She has been a journalist for more than twenty-five years and should have known that questions regarding a possible felony record of a juror or their relatives is generally asked during voir dire.

This is not the first time that Ms. Veciana-Suarez publicly tries to whitewash her father's criminal past. After he got nicked in the head by a bullet during a mysterious shooting, for which he blamed FBI agents, she wrote the article, "My family lives with danger - and pride," in the Miami News, Sept. 27, 1979, page 1. Ms. Veciana-Suarez knowingly did not report that he had served years in prison for drug trafficking and instead portrayed him as a Cuban patriot. She also neglected to address the issue raised in the Cuban community at the time that her father's drug money had probably helped finance her college education as a journalist.

It is regretful that you now have to make the decision whether to keep on your staff an admitted liar and convicted perjurer if she does not resign.

Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

---

Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:12:52 -0500
From: "Fiedler, Tom"
To: delacova@indiana.edu
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Professor de la Cova,

Your vindictiveness on this subject astonishes and appalls me, although given your reputation I shouldn't be surprised. Ana Veciana-Suarez has admitted making an error in judgment during voir dire - a petty misdemeanor. She is not guilty of the crimes of her father and I will not stand for her to be smeared by you or others in that way.

Tom Fiedler
Executive Editor

---

Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 4:20 PM
From: delacova@indiana.edu [mailto:delacova@indiana.edu]
To: Fiedler, Tom
Subject: RE: Ana Veciana Suarez

Dear Mr. Fiedler,

Your reply is fraught with anger and misconception. I have not declared your reporter Ana Veciana-Suarez "guilty of the crimes of her father," nor have I smeared her, as you erroneously surmise. I cited the complete facts of her case to indicate yet another example of how the Herald, under your stewardship, provides only part of the story, especially when one of its reporters transcends the law.

Last summer I was privy to the fact that Ms. Veciana-Suarez would be accused of having lied under oath. When Toledo Blade reporter Mike Sallah informed me in July that he was going to work for the Herald, in the midst of the Jim DeFede scandal, I told him that a bigger embarrassment was brewing because a Herald reporter would soon be charged with perjury. I had no intention of smearing Ms. Veciana-Suarez then or now and never revealed her name.

Contrary to your opinion, my personal and professional reputation is solid in the Cuban exile community, where I am a frequent guest on Spanish-language radio and TV programs. However, if you inquire about me with those who sympathize or deal with Fidel Castro, like accused Castro agents Bernardo Benes and your editorial contributor Marifeli Perez-Stable, you will note that they hold me in the same contempt as you do. Ironically, the Herald previously had no qualms with what you now deride as my "reputation," when my academic expertise was sought after and quoted by three of your reporters.

You malign as "vindictiveness" my bid for complete journalistic disclosure of facts. In contrast, you never expressed similar disdain toward former Herald columnist Jim DeFede for his repeated offensive articles that prompted protests from the Cuban exile community.

Will the Herald report the full scope of what Ms. Veciana-Suarez tried to cover up in court after she is sentenced tomorrow? After reading your response, I seriously doubt it. You will then have a difficult decision to make regarding her future employment. It appears that, just like with the DeFede debacle, no matter what course you take, you will be criticized and the Herald's credibility will be further tarnished.

Best wishes,

Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

It's simple, really

Do you know why dissidents in Cuba continue to fight for what they believe? Because to them, they're alreaDy in prison. Only difference is the size of the cell.

Three dissidents imprisoned with no charges

HAVANA, January 26 (Juan Carlos Linares Balmaseda / www.cubanet.org) - Miguel López Santos, Raúl Martínez Prieto and Francisco Moure Saladriga, dissidents who had been held for six months in the Acosta jail with no charges leveled against them, were transferred to prisons last week.

The trio was detained when they supported an anti-government demonstration in front of the French embassy.

López Santos was sent to the psychiatric ward of a military hospital for prisoners, Martínez Prieto was taken to the Santa Clara provincial prison while Moure Saladriga was placed in the Melena II correctional institute in Havana province.

The Roster

For you fantasy baseball players out there, Scott's got the Cuban Baseball team roster for the World Baseball Classic up at JSB.

I say "fantasy" baseball because I truly believe that's the only way you'll get to "see" them play. I'm pretty certain the commissioner of everything in Cuba will find some excuse to not allow their leaving the island.

I could be wrong, of course. Pero lo dudo.

Perhaps we should start a pool on whether or not they'll show up?

The News Ticker, Flags and One Pissed Off Dictator (UPDATED)

There's much speculation as to what, exactly, it is that fidel castro is building in front of the US Interests Section in Havana. Obviously, whatever the finished product, it is meant to shield the messages being displayed by the news ticker. Cuba's totalitarian despot simply cannot allow his people access to outside information much less the liberty of thought it may lead to.

Being that the news ticker is a few stories up, it would be structurally almost impossible, and certainly impractical, to erect a free standing wall high enough to block the ticker from being seen.

Sources for The Real Cuba - and we probably will not be able to confirm this as fidel himself has boasted "If we tell you it would ruin the surprise" - are informing us that the work currently underway may be the structural base, platforms, for a series of very tall and tightly fit flagpoles which will fly numerous flags in the hopes that they will ultimately shield the news ticker from view.

Such is the nature of a totalitarian regime. Prefering to expend all its remaining resources on erecting a huge blinder as opposed to repairing the crumbling infrastructure of its country.

The Revolution: Evolution in reverse.

UPDATE: Via Charlie Bravo at KillCastro, here's a photo from the adjacent building the Someillan:

Charlie Bravo also has a report from sources in Havana on the extent of the construction activities. Apparently, the construction and equipment are taking up parts of the US Interests Section parking lot and are now but a mere few feet away from the ground's perimeter fence.

UPDATE: The Real Cuba sources cited in the original of this post were correct as ABC News has just confirmed:

Castro Retaliates With Flags

Cuban President Fidel Castro, after marching more than a million people by the building earlier this week, has ordered construction workers to extend an open-air stage in front of the mission right up to within yards of the gate. He plans to mount huge flags on the stage to block the ticker from view, a construction ministry source said.

Update January 31, 2006:The flag poles are up!

Pa' jode' na' mas

Hungry?

How about a pan con lechon?

Life in Miami

I ordered a Cuban sandwich for lunch yesterday from one of my favorite Cuban joints near the office. It was a busy day so I decided to pick it up and have lunch at my desk instead of enjoying the ambiance of a typical Cuban cafeteria.

As I waited at the counter with the aroma of Cafe Cubano wafting all around me, one of the waitresses comes in from the street out of uniform and carrying a big bag. She sits down at the counter across from me, says hello to her fellow waitresses and hands the bag over to one of them.

The woman takes the bag to the back and the waiting waitress sitting across from me makes idle chit chat with the others all the while almost nervously keeping her eyes on the door to the back where the woman with the bag disappeared into.

A few short minutes later, the door in the back opens and the woman comes out bag in hand. This time I can see the bag clearly. It's a Payless Shoe bag with what appears to be a few pairs of shoes inside.

"Four point three," the woman with the bag says to the waiting waitress.

"That can't be" the waitress responds. She takes the bag from the woman and ruffles around inside the bag. There was something in there that wasnt supposed to be so she takes it out and hands it back to the woman.

The woman dutifully takes the bag and heads to the back once again.

The one waitress that's still working in the place asks the one sitting at the counter "How do you get it over to..."

"I have a friend," the girl interrupts.

The door to the back opens once again and the Payless Shoe Bag carrying woman comes out.

"Four point one," she says.

The waiting waitress lets out a whispered "Coño" and takes the bag, opens it and starts taking out its contents and placing the shoes on the counter.

There's a pair of sneakers, two pairs of chancletas, flip flops, and one pair of nurse type shoes in black.

The waiting waitress picks up one of the pair of filp flops and takes the tags off, uses a knife to cut the little plastic tie and places the flip flops one by one in the bag. She goes on to do this for the other pairs of shoes.

Once she's done she hands the bag to the woman who heads to the back yet again.

The woman comes out a few seconds later "The same. Four point one."

The waiting waitress stands up, reaches into the bag that the woman is now holding open and pulls out one of the sneakers.

She takes the laces off and tosses it back in the bag. Pulls out the other sneaker and removes the laces. She then does the same for the nurse type shoes.

Once all the laces are removed, the woman takes the bag to the back and a moment later comes out smiling.

"Four point zero," she says. The waiting waitress smiles.

My sandwich finally arrives as the waiting waitress takes the bag, thanks all the girls with waved kisses and heads out the door.

I pay my bill. "Gracias, Irela," I say to my waitress and head out the door Cuban sandwich in hand.

As I get to my truck, I see the waiting waitress talking to a guy next to a van. The guy slides open the side door of the van, takes the Payless Shoes bag from the waiting waitress and tosses it on a scale he has sitting in the van.

I see the guy nod and as I'm driving out of the parking lot the waiting waitress hands the guy with the van some cash, kisses him on the cheek and walks away.

Someone somewhere in Cuba is about to get a package with two pairs of chancletas and a pair of sneakers and nurse shoes without shoelaces.

castrofication of Venezuelan health care UPDATED

...now that they've got all the Cuban doctors, they've also got the castro-style health care. This photo from a Venezuelan bulletin board says it all.

It's something worthy of The Real Cuba.

UPDATE: The unwashed socialist hippies from the World Social Forum in Caracas needed something to do and just happened upon a familiar sight in Caracas, that of angry striking medical professionals in Venezuela who are being bossed and bullied around by their Cuban masters. Given who they are, they actually did a pretty good job covering the story - they missed some details but I am happy they did it. Even socialists from the West occasionally get things right - especially when they see workers on strike. The story is here.

More on the Havana Wall (Updated)

This time, from the BBC:

Cuba 'blocking' American messages

By Stephen Gibbs
BBC News, Havana

Cuban bulldozers are digging up an area in front of the US interests section in the capital, Havana.

US diplomats say the move is designed to obscure the illuminated messages, mainly on human rights themes, that are being displayed on the building.

President Fidel Castro has described the scrolling messages as a gross provocation, saying he believes the US wants to sever all relations with Cuba.

The two countries have not had diplomatic links for 45 years.

Surprise

What was once the car park of the US mission in Havana is rapidly turning into a major construction site.

Huge cranes have been brought in and teams of builders are working there non-stop.

But no-one will say what is being built, not even President Castro.

On Wednesday night, his black Mercedes drew up to the site. He emerged to give the workers a pep talk.

American envoys in Havana, he said, were cockroaches.

Asked what was being built, he said he did not want to ruin the surprise.

As he spoke, the huge US electronic billboard scrolled out its illuminated messages across the building behind him.

One gave news that Palestinians had been voting for the first time in 10 years.

Another declared that President Bush believed people had the right to choose how they lived their lives.

The propaganda war between the US and Cuba is nothing new - but this is an escalation.

Already Cuba has put up scores of posters in the capital caricaturing President Bush as both a fascist and a vampire.

Where this will all end is not clear.

President Castro says he believes the US is intending to break off all relations with Cuba. He also says he does not believe Cuba would lose much if that happened.

Cuban-American Pundits has more.

Update:Fausta has an excellent round up here.

The Great Wall of Havana (Updated)

The news ticker at the US Interests Section in Havana has so infuriated fidel castro that they are now clearing the adjacent site and preparing it for the construction of the Great Wall of Havana.

In a country where even paint is hard to come by, where centuries old buildings crumble for lack of materials and maintenance, where there are even gas shortages for vehicles, much less construction equipment, the government is using what little resources it has to keep the population from reading the UN Declaration of Human Rights on a news ticker.

Photo from The Real Cuba

The only way a totalitarian state like fidel castro's can maintain it's grip on power is by keeping its people in the dark.

Update: Much more here, from the heart of the story. Warning: The language is much like mine when I get passionate about something.

Update January 31, 2006:The flag poles are up!

Hold your lunches...

... for this stream of photo footage documenting castro-worshippers in action among all the smelly hippies odoring up Caracas at the World Social Forum.

I'm not exaggerating.

I got nauseous.

This did it.

Such nice people

As Miguel likes to put it, 'such nice people.'

Read the new story of how the accused Alvarez spies targetted their 'good friend' the president of Florida International University, who attended their bail hearing, probably unwitting of their activities against him. He probably shouldn't have been so naive, but that's castroite ethics.

The Miami Herald reports that the FBI got hold of the Alvarez's home computers, which were accessible to office files, and reported to their Cuban handlers about the FIU chief's invitation to the White House, as well as all the student records they could get their hands on. There's a lot on the people-to-people exchange the Alvarezes ran, and how Cuban agents targetted the students - with the Alvarez's help. The Herald's story with all the sick details is here.

Defection watch

At the World Social Forum, the left's biggest hippiefest, some 800 Cuban delegates have arrived. But unlike the shiftless Sandalistas, who are scattered all over Caracas, making nuisances of themselves and leaving a lot of litter, these Cubans are being coocooned at a military base. The El Universal story is here:

Cuban delegation boards in Caracas major military base


The Cuban delegation, one of the largest groups attending the Fourth World Social Forum in Caracas -it comprises almost 800 people-, is staying at Fuerte Tiuna military base, southwest Caracas.

Alarcón talked about terror and said the United States should urgently release the so-called Five of Cuba, a group of prisoners comprising René González, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañino, accused of spying.

Even as pictures like these spatter Caracas (scroll down to Alek's 'Words Fail Me' post), the real deal in Caracas is that Cubans are taking every chance they can to defect, to flee, to run for their lives, even in Chavez's Venezuela. And the government knows it.

Decision prediction

In the next couple of days, remember the following quote that was all over the news vis a vis the Cuban baseball team being allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic:

It's not about politics! It's about baseball!

We heard or read that particular quote from every single proponent of allowing Cuba to travel to the US to play in the WBC.

Lock it into memory.

Because I hereby predict that fidel castro will use the World Baseball Classic and his National Baseball Team, along with all his media monkeys as leverage against the US Interests Section's news ticker.

Time it. I guarantee it will happen. And get ready for the media blitz.

Synchronize your watches, folks. Pretty soon we'll get to hear the media backspin on how fidel castro is, in fact, allowed to turn the baseball event into a political issue.

Google is gone

Ive removed the Google ads from the sidebar of this blog in protest of Google's recent decision to censor searches in China. I cannot and will not be an accomplice to the censoring of information.

I will also, like Steve, no longer use Google as my search engine. The dissemination of information should not be curtailed in the name of profit.

And the dumbass headline award goes to....

The New York Times Sports Section for the following falling off the turnip truck title:

Security Is an Issue for the Cuban Team

Gee, ya think?

When Cuba goes to San Juan, P.R., to participate in the World Baseball Classic in March, the team will have a scaled-back traveling party. A 45-person limit is part of the license that the Treasury Department issued to Cuba last Friday and to the other federations in the 16-team tournament.

It is a delicate issue for Cuba because its team normally travels to international competitions with as many security officials as players to help prevent the possibility of defections.

The Cubans will have 30 players and will presumably have a five- or six-man coaching staff, a few club executives, at least one trainer, a doctor and a traveling secretary. That seemingly leaves few slots for security personnel.

"They'll have the same number in their traveling party as everyone else," said Paul Archey, baseball's senior vice president for international matters. "People outside of that will be limited, not restricted."

Joe Kehoskie, an agent who has represented 15 Cubans in the last seven years, said he had attended tournaments in which there had been 25 security officials surrounding Cuba's dugout and several more guarding the team bus.

"They had 15 or 20 security for a mediocre team in Italy three years ago," Kehoskie said. "To think they were going to step on U.S. soil with anything less than that, I can't imagine it."

Archey refused to discuss the possibility of defections yesterday, but he has said tournament organizers could not give the Cubans a guarantee that none would occur. If a Cuban player defects during the tournament, it may generate more news-media coverage than the games.

"We need to provide security for the entire tournament," Archey said. "It's an international tournament. We think we have one of the best security forces in all of sports."

Archey said Cuba submitted its provisional 60-man roster last weekend, soon after the Treasury Department reversed itself and granted the license. Archey would not discuss who was on the roster and said he was uncertain when it would be released to the news media. The other 15 teams delivered rosters on Jan. 17, and those were publicized the next day.

A report by Reuters yesterday said that the news of Cuba's receiving a license to participate in the Classic had still not been reported in the Cuban news media.

So, fidel hasnt announced to his people that the evil, cockroach infested, led by a terrorist murderer United States of America has allowed his baseball slaves to enter the states to play ball at the World Basebal Classic?

Is anyone really surprised by this? Will anyone really be surprised if Cuba all of a sudden decides not to participate in the tourney?

Of course fidel is worried about defections. Of course he's worried that his security contingent is greatly reduced. But he's not losing sleep over it. Any one of those "trainers" or "coaches" or other non-players could very well be an actual security or G2 agent.

Not to mention the fact that fidel castro still has a few aces up his sleeve: human collateral. The baseball player's families who must remain on the island. They're the security deposit the players make to be allowed to leave Cuba. Who do you think would be punished if a player defects?

They're aces up fidel's sleeves alright, and fidel castro has proven time and again he's more than happy and willing to play them.

Today's Cuban Healthcare Post

Earlier this week, fidel castro offered to bring as many as 150,000 under-privileged Americans to the island prison for eye surgery. Yet another magnanimous gesture by the dictator aimed at showing just what a great guy he is.

But here's just a couple snapshots of the reality:

Operations suspended for lack of blood

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, January 24 (Guillermo Fariñas, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Various patients awaiting surgery in local hospitals were told to return home as the operations could not be done because of a lack of blood for transfusions.

Provincial radio station CMHW issued an appeal to listeners to donate blood to replenish the hospital supply.

Sources at ministry of health told Ismel Iglesias Martínez, vice president of the Independent Medical College of Villa Clara, that the shortage resulted from the supply of blood which accompanied Cuban doctors sent to Pakistan to treat earthquake victims.

But wait, there's more:

Blood given in exchange for breakfast

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, January 24 (Feliberto Pérez, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Edrey Fleites and Ortendo Rodríguez decided to donate blood when they learned donors were given breakfast as well as time off from work.

"Real objective was to eat something that day and get permission to miss two days work without pay," Rodríguez said.

"I just accompanied Ortendo, but one of the technicians at the blood bank asked me if I also wanted to donate and I replied that for two pieces of bread and some ham I'd fill a 500 milliliter flask," said Fleites.

After eating breakfast, they asked when they could return and donate more blood in exchange for a meal. They were told in two weeks.

And there you have it. fidel castro uses his "doctors" as human bargaining chips in the hopes of garnering sympathy and support and trying to remain a high rolling player on the world stage.

The Cuban people, meanwhile, get screwed. Not only do they pay the price - with their health and well being, among other things - for castro's need to remain in the limelight, but their own government suppresses any information that proves just how dire their circumstances are.

Cuba. An island full of people willing to donate their blood for a meal.

Because truth cant be refuted (Updated)

So, today's planned march is underway. Thousands of fidel castro's slaves marching in Havana in front of the US Interests Section in protest of the news ticker recently installed that runs the UN Declaration of Human Rights for all Cubans to see.

Of course, castro countered with the protest and calls for...wait for it... wait for it...Posada Carriles to be brought to justice. Because, you know, when you cant win an argument with truth, you try to direct attention away from it. Thus, Posada Carrilles, the new castro crutch.

And then there's this beautiful thing:

The sign was activated as Castro began speaking in front of the building Tuesday morning, relaying global news and quotes including Abraham Lincoln's: "No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."

Castro glanced up at the building, saying, "They already turned on the little sign -- the cockroaches are brave," before starting his speech.

I absolutley freaken LOVE IT. Parmly and company waiting until fidel castro began his speech to turn on the news ticker. And fidel, of course, gracious and eloquent as ever. Subjected to calling the Americans, the very same people he buys over 75% of his food from, the very same people he wants and prays come to visit Cuba as tourists, cockroaches.

Got that my anglo friends? fidel castro says you are all cockroaches. As proud gusanos, worms, we exiled Cubans welcome you to the insect world.

MORE: Here's another beautiful tidbit from ABC News:

Even as Castro spoke, the ticker sprang to life with news interspersed between messages such as, "only in totalitarian societies do governments talk at their people and never listen."

BWUHAHAHAHA!!!!! OH MAN I ABSOLUTELY FREAKEN LOVE IT!!!!

MORE: From the Miami Herald:

The U.S. Interest Section says it only makes sense: ''if the point is to reach people, why not turn it on when a million people are cruising by?'' a U.S. official said.

Are the folks at the US Interests Section kicking some serious ass down there or what?

UPDATE: Of course, as with everything Cuba related, the good feelings are short lived. Mary Murray, Havana Bureau producer for NBC News, writes an entire article on the protests sparked by the news ticker and only in the very last paragraph does she mention the news ticker itself. the rest is a simple foillowing of the master's voice: Posada Carriles, ad nauseum. I wont quote the piece, but here's the link.

I took the liberty of shooting off the following email to Ms. Murray:

Ms. Murray,

As usual and in keeping with the mainstream media's penchant to coddle the dictator of Cuba for over forty years, you allowed yourself to be manipulated into missing the point of today's protest in Havana altogether. The gathering was called - a forced gathering as you very well know if you live in Havana and have taken the time to speak to Cubans - to protest the US Interests Section's recently installed news ticker. Of course, being that the news ticker runs mainly news and quotes from such figures a Walessa and Havel and MLK and Lincoln, along with the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the castro government cannot retort, thus, it focuses on Posada Carriles. A simple ploy of distraction and you fell for it.

You devoted a good ninety percent of your piece to fidel castro's remarks and Posada Carriles, a story we have heard ad nauseum and ad infintum for months. And only in the very last paragraph did you get to the reality of the story, but only scratching the surface. the truth is that Cubans with access to real news from the outside, with access to the UN declaration of Human Rights, with the support of esteemed leaders such as Walessa and Havel, is a bad thing for fidel castro. That is the real story here. And you missed it. Or ignored it. Whatever the case may be.

Instead, we got to read yet another recycled and trumped up non-story.

Par for the course, I suppose, fidel castro grinds the organ, and his media monkeys jump through the hoops.

Thanks,

Val Prieto
www.babablublog.com

UPDATE January 26, 12:40 PM: All of a sudden, there's a new "construction project" that work crews are getting ready to build. And it's...you guessed it... smack dab right in front of the news ticker.

From EFE News:

Cuba enlarging anti-U.S. rally venue across from mission

Havana, Jan 25 (EFE).- A day after U.S. authorities flashed pro-democracy messages to a huge crowd gathered outside its diplomatic mission here, dozens of construction workers began Wednesday the enlargement of the "anti-imperialist" forum installed in the plaza across from the building.

BWUHAHAHAHA!!! I just cant stop myself from laughing at the extent fidel castro will go to keep his people in the dark. How incredibly pathetic is that?

More here.

Update January 31, 2006:The flag poles are up!

I sounded nasally

Babalu Ace Reporter Julio Zangroniz just sent me a cassette with our Radio Mambi interview from the other day.

To be honest, when youre sitting in that little studio with all those microphones and the window looking into the sound engineer and being asked questions, you tend to get a bit nervous at first and to forget everything you said on the air.

What stuck me the most was how nasally I sounded. As if someone was standing there holding my noise when I spoke.

Still, I think we did OK for our first radio appearance and I will pick up the digital version of the radio show as soon as I get a chance and post it.

A huge thanks to Julio, my brother from another mother, for taking the time to record the show and dupe a tape for me. Gracias, Julio.

More and more repression

Stefania of Free Thought reports on the latest wave of actos de repudio, acts of revenge against Cuban dissidents over at Publius Pundit:

On last Saturday, Tania Nicolás Bernardo , member of the Femenine Movement “Martha Abreu” was savagely beaten by a terrorist mob made up with plainclothes agents of the Castroite militias. It occurred in a public street in Santa Clara, following a peaceful march of Tania alongside other activists, who were distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, brochures with the word “Change” and other dissident material, to the people. Yesterday, other activists of such movement marched peacefully in Villa Clara in solidarity with the new victims of this wave of terror. The women reitered their pledge to keep fighting and said that no major force will be able to stop the brave women. Listen to the report from independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas Hernández in Santa Clara.

Yesterday, 50 members of governamental militias held an ‘act of repudiation’ against the Matanzas spokesman for the “Alternative Option Movement”. ” About 50 oppressors started shouting obscenities at me , such as ‘terrorist’, ‘mercenary’ plus other insults and threats, such as that of making my life harder by monitoring everything I do and organizing daily acts of public disorder against me. Despite all this, I’ll continue to denounce what’s going on in Cuba and attending dissident meetings”. Listen to his report from Matanzas.

On last Sunday, december 22, fascist mobs led by the political police held an ‘act of repudiation’ against peaceful opponents members of the “Alternative Option Movement”. The communist party and state security agents recruited employees, students and workers and forced them to sign a document in which they wrote that they’d participate in this terrorist act. The document stated that, in case they wouldn’t have participated, they’re going to loose their job and the students might be expelled from their universities.

The mob started shouted insults and obscenities at the freedom fighters,such as “dogs”, “murderers”, “negros” ( “blacks”, a racist insult shouted by people belonging to a regime the Western leftists claim is ‘anti-racist’ ..) and bad words about the Bible and the Gospel. Later, they issued death threats against Juan Sigler Amaya and her elder mother, who was hospitalized. Neighbors and citizens who seen such aggression were seen angry at the mob and some even advised the dissidents to take arms against the fascists.

Read the whole linked filled post here.

Alone again, naturally

Cuba's independent journalists - those that do not write or report for the state sponsored entities - have brass ones. Not only do they report on what the Cuban government does and conceals, but they do so at great risk to themselves and their families. And they also go at it alone, as their MSM comrades go to great lengths to ignore their plight.

Google news search Oscar Mario González and you'll find not one single mention of the man who languishes in prison for being a journalist.

Independent journalist Oscar Mario González moved to prison

HAVANA, January 23 (Lucas Garve, Fundación por la Libertad de Expresión / www.cubanet.org) - Independent journalist Oscar Mario González, who has been held since July 22, 2005 without being charged with any crime, was transferred last week to the San Miguel del Padrón Prison No. 1580, according to his wife, Mirta Wong.

Wong said she visited her husband for half an hour and found him to be in good spirits, although he is suffering from an ulcer.

González, who reported for the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, had been held in Havana since his arrest.

González won a journalism prize in 2004 at the first awards sponsored by the Fundación por la Libertad de Expresión.

Or this man:

Jailed independent journalist lacks medical assistance

CAIBARIÉN, Cuba, January 23 (Juan Carlos Parrado Crespo, Villa Blanca Press / www.cubanet.org) - Normando Hernández González, an independent journalist imprisoned at the Kilo 5 ½ prison in Pinar del Río province, hasn't been receiving any medical assistance, according to his wife.

Yaraí Reyes Marín said he is in "a deplorable state of health" and that prison guards refuse to allow him any medicine brought in from the outside.

"At my last family visit, I found him very weak," she said, adding that he has lost 20pounds.

She said he complains of stomach aches and has stropped eating prison food.

These are just two of dozens of independent journalists in Cuba whose stories go unseen and unheard by many because of a lack of interest from the world's media.

B-b-b-b-but they have free health care!

Didn't matter. The Canadians threw out their leftwing government anyway.

Just as the AARP announced that it could supply prescription drugs at a cheaper price than even socialist, subsidized Canada - so much for that socialist panacea!

Fortunately, Canadians are seeing a little bit more than they like in all that socialism (was it too many trips like this to Cuba?) and have decided, with their un-Cuban, completely free votes, to try something different.

Instapundit has the most complete roundup of the big Canadian election that ended 12 years of Liberal rule and brought in the Conservatives here.

UPDATE: The American Thinker has several high-grade links here.