Tropical strorm IDA
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Tropical Strom IDA is approaching Cuba
November 7, 2009Juanes Concert in Havana Paz Sin Fronteras
September 21, 2009
Russian strategic bombers could use Cuban & Venezuelan airfields
March 15, 2009Cubapolidata.com:
Maj. General Anatoly Zhikharev, Chief of Staff of the Russian Air Force has told Interfax-AVN military news agency that Russia could use air bases for its strategic bombers in Cuba and Venezuela.
He said: “There are four or five airfields in Cuba with 4,000-meter-long runways, which absolutely suit us.”
San Antonio de Los Baños airfield , Southwest of Havana, would most likely be one of the airfields used.
Zhikharev also said Russian bombers would be prepared to use airfields on Cuba if the political leadership of the two countries allowed the use of Cuban bases.
President Hugo Chavez has offered a military airfield on La Orchila island as a temporary base for Russian strategic bombers.
In September 2008 two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack
multi-mission strategic bombers arrived in Venezuela after a 13-hour flight over the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
Russia has nothing to gain strategically from basing long-range craft within relatively short range of US shores, independent military analyst Alexander Golts said, calling the military statement a retaliatory gesture aimed at hitting back after US ships patrolled Black Sea waters near Georgia.
Among DoD’s priority countries
March 2, 2009CUBAPOLIDATA.com:
USS TARAWA at SEA (Aug. 14, 2008) A 32-ship armada led by the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1), manuever off the Panamanian Coast as part of the multi-national training exercise Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX 2008. Image: U.S. Navy
The Joint Forces Quarterly 2nd Quarter 2009 issue is now available and focuses on a strategic global outlook thematic. The journal is published by the National Defense University Press for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is the Chairman’s flagship joint military and security studies journal.
One of the articles in this issue titled, “Time to Improve U.S. Defense Structure for the Western Hemisphere,” is written by Dr. Craig A. Deare, Professor of National Security Affairs at the National Defense University, which addresses “U.S. defense policy toward the region as it seeks to explain the primary structural shortcomings associated with both the formulation and execution of policy.”
The article gives a snapshot of concerns for the Department of Defense (DoD) such as transnational threats including terrorism, insurgency and drug trafficking in the hemisphere.
A series of priority countries, e.q. Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil are mentioned in the article including Cuba.
Dr. Deare summarizes Cuba as:
“The question of what happens when the Castro brothers disappear from the scene remains open. This land, the size of Pennsylvania and with 11 million people, is at what the National Security Strategy would describe as a “strategic crossroads.” DOD’s stability operations mission has serious implications when matters begin to unravel. Conversely, should the Obama administration decide to engage the government of Cuba, and understanding the preeminent role of the Cuban armed forces, the policy implications for DOD could be significant.” p. 36
He provides suggestions on how to address such challenges, i.e. structural changes that “DOD can adopt to fundamentally improve the nature of the defense relationship between the United States and the countries of the region.”
The article merits a read in its entirety for what DoD priorities should be for the Western Hemisphere.
Cuban Five: Wrong Guys in Jail
March 2, 2009HAVANATIMES:
All photos by Bill Hackwell except where credited otherwise
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This is one of those stories that leaves you with your mouth open saying: How can that be?
Five Cubans have been in jail in the United States for over ten years for what would have earned them a presidential medal if they had been working for the US government.
They infiltrated terrorist groups to gather information on their next attacks and they warned their government so it could be on the alert.
The fact is for the last five decades Cuba has been the target of right wing extremist organizations, allowed to train and operate out of Southern Florida with the support of the old guard exile community. Their record includes plane and hotel bombings and assassinations in Cuba, the US and other countries.
Havana Times asked Bill Hackwell -a documentary photographer who has followed the Cuban Five case and the people involved for the last eight years- to tell the story with his photographs.
For those of you who wish to read in-depth articles and interviews about the case we recommend the following:
- Cuban 5 Case to US Supreme Court
- The Cuban Five
- The Cuban Five and US Terrorism
- Cuban Exiles Wage War of Terror
- The Singular Story of the Cuban Five
- Justice for the Cuban Five
If you are looking for a way to help right a colossal wrong, check out: http://www.thecuban5.org
U.S. Congress set to open Cuban exiles’ passage to island
February 28, 2009Miami Herald: A huge spending bill being debated by Congress would effectively lift the restrictions on Cuban-American families’ travel to the island.
WASHINGTON — The 1,128-page budget bill that will begin to work its way through Congress this week contains key paragraphs that alter the shape of U.S.-Cuba policy and ease Cuba family travel restrictions by not funding enforcement.
The provisions were written when the bill was drafted last year — and faced the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush. But Washington’s new White House resident, President Barack Obama, campaigned promising to lift the family restrictions, so the proposed changes are unlikely to meet much resistance by the administration, which is conducting its own review of Cuba policy.
The bill, which is expected to be voted on by the House on Wednesday, already has Cuban-American lawmakers balking.
The 2009 budget bill would:
• Prevent the U.S. government from spending any of its budget enforcing 2004 rules that keep Cuban Americans from visiting their homeland more than once every three years.
• Create a general travel license for Americans who sell food and medical supplies to Cuba.
• Let Cuba pay for the American produce it buys when the products arrive in Havana. Current law forces Cuba to pay up front before products leave U.S. ports.
• Require the U.S. Treasury Department to issue a report showing how much of its staff and funding is spent on enforcing the ban on travel to Cuba.
CUTTING SPENDING
Amendments were added by Rep. José E. Serrano, a New York Democrat who chairs the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. That means he controls the Treasury Department’s purse strings — and it’s the Treasury that investigates people who violate the Cuba travel ban.
”I have been working on this issue for a very, very, very long time,” Serrano said. “Now I am chairman of a committee that appropriates those dollars, and I can do something about it.”
But his measures are bound to meet stiff opposition. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, who backs the current restrictions, said she believes the travel measure wouldn’t pass on its own because most Republicans and about 80 Democrats are opposed.
Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez has informed Senate leadership that he will oppose any legislation that would change U.S.-Cuba policy — a move that could make it more difficult, if not impossible, for the legislation to clear the Senate.
”Modifying our nation’s policies at this point would be counterproductive and reward a repressive, authoritarian regime that has shown little concern for the security or well-being of its citizens,” Martinez said.
If Obama does not make his own policy change, most of the new measures expire Sept. 30.
POLITICAL VIEWS
The restrictions were imposed in 2004 by Bush, who created a rule that tightened Cuban-American visits to see immediate relatives every three years for two weeks. If that goes unenforced, then Cubans living here would be allowed to visit a wider array of relatives once a year, and they could spend up to $179 a day on the island.
”The American people do not see Cuba as a threat,” Serrano said, “and they can’t figure out why we do not deal with them.”
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart said he had enough votes to oppose the measures, but House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi would not allow votes on specific amendments.
”That’s blatantly undemocratic,” he said.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, said she was disappointed that the regulations would be relaxed without a concession from the Castro government.
She was particularly disappointed that House budget writers didn’t include any money in the House bill for dissidents in Cuba, she said.
”Not to get any concessions from the Castro regime,” she said, “the Castro brothers will be very happy.”
Brookings Institute Asks for Cuba Policy Review
February 28, 2009HAVANA TIMES, Feb. 27 – The United States should allow more academics and artists to travel to Cuba, eliminate the restrictions on remittances and humanitarian aid sent to the island and, in general, review its policy of hostility toward Cuba, states a report by the Brookings Institute presented in Miami. The document was released a few days after a report by Republican Senator Richard Lugar recommending to President Barack Obama that he make changes in Washington’s policy on Cuba.
Dominican President to Travel to Cuba
February 28, 2009HAVANA TIMES, Feb. 27 – Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez will travel to Cuba on March 2 to attend the 11th International Meeting of Economists, Globalization and Development Problems, announced Carlos Morales, that Caribbean country’s foreign minister. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will also participate in the event. With their visits eight Latin American presidents will have travelled to the island this year, note IPS.
www.particularcuba.com
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Cuban Humidor Auction for Healthcare System
February 28, 2009HAVANA TIMES, Feb. 28 – While it may seem contradictory to some, Cuba’s healthcare system will benefit with over 1.2 million USD collected by the auction Friday of beautifully hand crafted wooden humidors with Cuban Premium cigars. The sale took place during the closing day of the 11th Havana Cigar Festival in the Cuban capital on Friday.
www.particularcuba.com
Havana festival kicks off
February 23, 2009HAVANA TIMES – The 21st Havana Cigar Festival opened today in the Cuban capital, reported sources from the Habanos S.A. joint venture. The participants will have the opportunity until February 27 to taste new products, visit factories and tobacco plantations, and finally attend the gala supper, where the Havana Cigar of the Year Prize will be announced.
The official festival site is: http://www.festivaldelhabano.com
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