Link to Herald Article
I'm curious to to hear everyone's opinion on where the line should be drawn as to who can and cannot travel to Cuba.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Pictures Are Worth Thousands of Words....
Before the trial...
After the trial...
Look at that smile! After 5 days in custody, one concert in protest (which the police interrupted with beatings and arrests) and a massive international call for his release, Gorki is free! He was fined 600 pesos cubanos and his charge was changed from "pre-delinquent dangerousness" to "disobedience".
The sad thing is that while normally I would be jumping with happiness about this victory, I can't help but wonder with sadness at what's next. Although i'm glad they let him go, he still isn't "free" per say. He won't be locked in a cell for now but he still lives imprisoned by restrictions on his most basic human rights. He will be imprisoned for something that most of us take for granted without realizing that an entire country 90-miles off our shores is suffering.
The Cuban regime has violated, currently violates and will continue to violate every single article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (I'll get into that at a later date because it's something that I have a huge problem with and all the violations they commit deserve their own post in itself.) Hopefully, the international attention from organizations, groups and media that has surrounded this story will scare off the regime from doing anything to them for now. Pero si no son ellos, son otros...
This won't be the last time we'll hear from Gorki or Porno Para Ricardo. They're the kind of guys that will stand for their beliefs no matter the cost, and for that they deserve our respect.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Gorki Arrested
Naturally, independent artistry in Cuba is only rewarded with persecutions, search orders and arrests by the regime's police. Gorki Aguila, lead singer and guitarist of the punk-rock group "Porno para Ricardo" was arrested on Monday while recording songs from their new album. With lyrics such as "Raul, Raul, a ti no hay nadie que te aguante" and my personal favorite, "pues yo me abstengo y me abstengo, de seguir en su juego de mentira y de miedo, y siempre yo, Yo! Yo! Yo! por encima de todos ellos!" it is no surprise that they have caught the attention of the repressive regime. There's already international attention about this arrest and even a Facebook group called "Free Gorki". Their sound is catchy, their lyrics are powerful. They attract students and adults alike. Everytime I listen to them, I sit in awe. I'm consumed by their powerful lyrics which screams "We want change!". These guys are obviously not afraid to stand up for their rights and should be supported by all of us. They are indeed rebels WITH a cause.
Below is the CNN article about the arrest.
_________________________________________________________________
Cuba arrests dissident rocker, band says
Morgan Neill, CNN
Musician Gorki Aguila has been accused of "dangerousness," his band mates say- Aguila, 39, is an outspoken critic of Cuba's government- Police reportedly say Aguila faces sentence of one to four years in jail- Aguila's punk rock band, Porno para Ricardo, recording album at time of arrestHAVANA, Cuba (Morgan Neill, CNN) -- Cuban police have arrested dissident musician Gorki Aguila on a charge of "dangerousness," fellow band members said Tuesday.
Hebert Dominguez, the bass player in Aguila's punk rock band, Porno para Ricardo, said police detained Aguila at his home at 10 a.m. Monday.
Aguila, the lead singer, was arrested as he was about to record the final songs of the band's next record, according to a statement on the band's Web site.
"This new episode of harassment and persecution is occurring just as Porno para Ricardo is in the middle of recording its new record, which eliminates any possibility that this repressive escalation could be described as a 'coincidence,' " the statement said. "In Cuba, the voice of the brave is silenced by the regime, which doesn't hesitate to use intimidation and force."
An official at the state-run press office said Cuba had no comment on the arrest.
Aguila, 39, is an outspoken critic of Cuba's government. " Communism is a failure," he said in a 2007 interview with CNN. "A total failure. Please. Leftists of the world -- improve your capitalism."
Dominguez said authorities said Aguila's trial will take place Thursday. Police told the group's guitarist, Ciro Diaz, that Aguila faced a possible sentence of one to four years in jail.
The statement on the band's Web site said Aguila wasn't feeling well -- that he had inflammation in his lungs and was short of breath.
Hebert Dominguez, the bass player in Aguila's punk rock band, Porno para Ricardo, said police detained Aguila at his home at 10 a.m. Monday.
Aguila, the lead singer, was arrested as he was about to record the final songs of the band's next record, according to a statement on the band's Web site.
"This new episode of harassment and persecution is occurring just as Porno para Ricardo is in the middle of recording its new record, which eliminates any possibility that this repressive escalation could be described as a 'coincidence,' " the statement said. "In Cuba, the voice of the brave is silenced by the regime, which doesn't hesitate to use intimidation and force."
An official at the state-run press office said Cuba had no comment on the arrest.
Aguila, 39, is an outspoken critic of Cuba's government. " Communism is a failure," he said in a 2007 interview with CNN. "A total failure. Please. Leftists of the world -- improve your capitalism."
Dominguez said authorities said Aguila's trial will take place Thursday. Police told the group's guitarist, Ciro Diaz, that Aguila faced a possible sentence of one to four years in jail.
The statement on the band's Web site said Aguila wasn't feeling well -- that he had inflammation in his lungs and was short of breath.
Cuba uses the charge of "dangerousness" to prosecute those whom authorities believe are likely to commit crimes. Under Cuba's penal code, habitual drunkenness and anti-social behavior are signs of a "state of dangerousness."
In its early years, Porno para Ricardo was featured on Cuban television, but as Aguila's lyrics grew bolder, the group was banned from playing in public. With the help of a friend outside the country, the band put its songs on the Internet. Its CDs are distributed only by hand in Cuba.
In 2003, Aguila was jailed on drug charges in what he said was an attempt to silence him. He said a woman working for police posed as a fan and baited him into giving her amphetamines.
He admitted to CNN that he gave her two pills, but he called it entrapment.
Following his time in jail, Aguila's lyrics grew more political. In one song, he sings, "I've lost my fear, I've already been a prisoner I've only got a few bones left, from up here the tyrant is watching you, you're playing his game so that he'll oppress us."
In its early years, Porno para Ricardo was featured on Cuban television, but as Aguila's lyrics grew bolder, the group was banned from playing in public. With the help of a friend outside the country, the band put its songs on the Internet. Its CDs are distributed only by hand in Cuba.
In 2003, Aguila was jailed on drug charges in what he said was an attempt to silence him. He said a woman working for police posed as a fan and baited him into giving her amphetamines.
He admitted to CNN that he gave her two pills, but he called it entrapment.
Following his time in jail, Aguila's lyrics grew more political. In one song, he sings, "I've lost my fear, I've already been a prisoner I've only got a few bones left, from up here the tyrant is watching you, you're playing his game so that he'll oppress us."
Take a look at the music video for their song "El General se hizo Comandante".
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Cuba's economic problems worsen
Short article on how Cuba is having difficulty making payments on its debt. You have to wonder how long Cuba is willing to continue hurting its citizens for the sake of a failed ideology and the well being of those on top of the socio-economic pyramid (i.e., the communist party).
----------------------------------------------
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20080820TDY08302.htm
Cuba defaults on debts owed to Japanese firms
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The National Bank of Cuba told Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) on Aug. 11 that the bank would not be able to pay for imports into Cuba in due terms as the country is short of funds, the independent administrative institution said Monday.
Observers say more of Cuba's debts may become uncollectible in the near future as it has been seriously affected by soaring oil and food prices.
Though the extent to which Cuba is short of settlement funds is unclear as it is not a member of the International Monetary Fund, observers say the influence of the country's financial situation on the global economy will be limited as its economy has been cut off from international financing.
Meiwa Corp., a midsize trading house, said Monday that 872 million yen worth of its accounts receivable for medical instruments and other items may be uncollectible.
The company said it would not be seriously affected by the situation as 97.5 percent of the bad debts are covered by NEXI.
Exports from Japan to Cuba, mainly comprising medical and other precision instruments, were worth about 20.9 billion yen in 2007. Most of this amount was insured.
NEXI said it had already covered losses several companies have incurred on their exports to Cuba, but has not made the details public.
NEXI was established in 2001 to provide foreign trade and investment insurance services.
(Aug. 20, 2008)
----------------------------------------------
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20080820TDY08302.htm
Cuba defaults on debts owed to Japanese firms
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The National Bank of Cuba told Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) on Aug. 11 that the bank would not be able to pay for imports into Cuba in due terms as the country is short of funds, the independent administrative institution said Monday.
Observers say more of Cuba's debts may become uncollectible in the near future as it has been seriously affected by soaring oil and food prices.
Though the extent to which Cuba is short of settlement funds is unclear as it is not a member of the International Monetary Fund, observers say the influence of the country's financial situation on the global economy will be limited as its economy has been cut off from international financing.
Meiwa Corp., a midsize trading house, said Monday that 872 million yen worth of its accounts receivable for medical instruments and other items may be uncollectible.
The company said it would not be seriously affected by the situation as 97.5 percent of the bad debts are covered by NEXI.
Exports from Japan to Cuba, mainly comprising medical and other precision instruments, were worth about 20.9 billion yen in 2007. Most of this amount was insured.
NEXI said it had already covered losses several companies have incurred on their exports to Cuba, but has not made the details public.
NEXI was established in 2001 to provide foreign trade and investment insurance services.
(Aug. 20, 2008)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Cuba's Athletic Potential
As I sat in Miami International Airport's Customs gate waiting area awaiting the arrival of a beloved family member who I hadn’t seen in almost two decades I had plenty of time to think. For 5 hours I stared at entire families pressing their faces against the glass security divider hoping for a glimpse of their loved ones. After hours of waiting, one by one that glimpse would come, followed by tears, screams, and a mad dash for the opening at the exit of the gate and a happy hug and tear-filled reunion.
As I witnessed family reunion after reunion my initial emotion was of sadness for all of the families that have been torn apart by the Castro regimes stubborn policies and lack of compassion for the Cuban people. But when I would see a young Cuban walk through the gate I couldn’t help but smile. There stood one of my countrymen whose potential would no longer be limited by an oppressive government. He or she now stood on U.S. soil and their futures and their prospects would now more than ever be a result of their talents, determination and diligence.
The Cuban system shackles its people’s potential in an effort to control and manage the populace. Nowhere is this more evident than in its athletes. World class baseball players, boxers, volleyball players and track & field athletes are one of the islands greatest resources. In reasonable countries such talent is developed, nurtured and set free to reach its highest potential. Often leading to riches and fame for the athlete, and just as often and in the true spirit of capitalism, resulting in that athlete giving back both through charity, re-investment and by serving as a role model and inspiration to his/her people. Heck, even China released Yao Ming to reach his full potential by allowing him to come to the NBA and play against the greatest competition his sport has to offer.
Yes, Yao has become monstrously rich and famous. But, in doing so he has aided his country in ways he otherwise couldn’t of. He’s given back financially. He’s served as a great inspiration to his people, evidence by his prominence in the recent Olympic Opening Ceremonies. And when his country was devastated by disaster his fame, money and love for his countrymen lead the efforts in raising aid from all around the world to assist.
Cuba, in contrast shackles its athletes. It’s become more and more evident especially in this years Olympics. The Cuban teams have been depleted by defections and more athletes where not allowed to compete for fear of the same:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/sl_price/08/14/us.cuba/index.html
It’s a microcosm of what the Cuban Government does to its entire people. For it’s not just those with the potential for world class fame and riches that try to escape and realize those dreams. Those are Cuban mechanics, gardeners and teachers who walk up to the beaches of Cuba and dive into the perilous waters of the Caribbean and Florida Straits in search of a land that will allow them to realize their potential. Those are Cuban carpenters, nurses and students who walk through the security gate at Miami International Airport to hug the families they’ve been torn apart from, in many cases for decades.
I long for the days when the shackles are removed from the Cuban people so that the world can be witness to their true, unrealized potential. The day when the traffic in the Florida Straits is reversed and instead of rafters risking their lives to come north, the exiled sons and daughters of Cuba are headed south. To re-invest, to donate, and to serve as capitalist role models during Cuba’s resurgence.
As I witnessed family reunion after reunion my initial emotion was of sadness for all of the families that have been torn apart by the Castro regimes stubborn policies and lack of compassion for the Cuban people. But when I would see a young Cuban walk through the gate I couldn’t help but smile. There stood one of my countrymen whose potential would no longer be limited by an oppressive government. He or she now stood on U.S. soil and their futures and their prospects would now more than ever be a result of their talents, determination and diligence.
The Cuban system shackles its people’s potential in an effort to control and manage the populace. Nowhere is this more evident than in its athletes. World class baseball players, boxers, volleyball players and track & field athletes are one of the islands greatest resources. In reasonable countries such talent is developed, nurtured and set free to reach its highest potential. Often leading to riches and fame for the athlete, and just as often and in the true spirit of capitalism, resulting in that athlete giving back both through charity, re-investment and by serving as a role model and inspiration to his/her people. Heck, even China released Yao Ming to reach his full potential by allowing him to come to the NBA and play against the greatest competition his sport has to offer.
Yes, Yao has become monstrously rich and famous. But, in doing so he has aided his country in ways he otherwise couldn’t of. He’s given back financially. He’s served as a great inspiration to his people, evidence by his prominence in the recent Olympic Opening Ceremonies. And when his country was devastated by disaster his fame, money and love for his countrymen lead the efforts in raising aid from all around the world to assist.
Cuba, in contrast shackles its athletes. It’s become more and more evident especially in this years Olympics. The Cuban teams have been depleted by defections and more athletes where not allowed to compete for fear of the same:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/sl_price/08/14/us.cuba/index.html
It’s a microcosm of what the Cuban Government does to its entire people. For it’s not just those with the potential for world class fame and riches that try to escape and realize those dreams. Those are Cuban mechanics, gardeners and teachers who walk up to the beaches of Cuba and dive into the perilous waters of the Caribbean and Florida Straits in search of a land that will allow them to realize their potential. Those are Cuban carpenters, nurses and students who walk through the security gate at Miami International Airport to hug the families they’ve been torn apart from, in many cases for decades.
I long for the days when the shackles are removed from the Cuban people so that the world can be witness to their true, unrealized potential. The day when the traffic in the Florida Straits is reversed and instead of rafters risking their lives to come north, the exiled sons and daughters of Cuba are headed south. To re-invest, to donate, and to serve as capitalist role models during Cuba’s resurgence.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Iran & Select Middle Eastern Muslim Countries - Cuba's Burgeoning Trade Partner
Perhaps at no other time like today has the subject of the Cuban regime's stability and the diversification of the risk of economic collapse been more discussed. What many know is that Venezuela, China, Canada and the European Union are among Cuba's top trade partners. What arguably less know is that Iran and certain select Muslim nation-states in the region are positioning themselves as Cuba's next great trade partner - a relationship that has been in the making since the "Special Period" of the 1990s. This piece -- the first of a two part series published by ICAAS' Cuba Transition Project -- provides an interesting overview of these two geographically distanced, but apparently not so unlikely trade partners.
Islamic Investment in Cuba*
After decades of expending military, financial, and human resources in support of a variety of Arab dictators, Islamic fundamentalist movements, and anti-Israeli terrorist organizations (1), in recent years Havana has begun to reap substantial returns on its long-term investment in the Middle East. From Dubai to Tehran and via OPEC in Vienna, the political and ideological ties cultivated by Fidel Castro's pro-Islamic foreign policy are now generating tangible benefits for the successor regime of brother Raul. In the process of receiving nearly US$1.5 billion (Table I) in foreign direct investment, financing, and aid from autocratic Muslim states, Cuba is emerging as a strategic ally and outpost in the Western Hemisphere for a wide range of Islamic regimes. For Cuba, the infusion of Islamic capital strengthens the regime's stability and diversifies the risk of economic collapse by adding a fourth financial pillar alongside oil from Venezuela, bilateral trade credit from China, and corporate capital from Canada and the European Union. As Cuba and its Islamic partners forge a trans-Atlantic alliance of their own, what are the implications of the increasingly free flow of trade and capital from the Persian Gulf to the Caribbean?
Iran
Communist Cuba's alliance with the Iran of the Ayatollahs dates to 1979 when Fidel Castro became one of the first heads of state to recognize the Islamic Republic's radical clerics. Addressing then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, Castro insisted that there was "no contradiction between revolution and religion," an ecumenical principle that has guided Cuba's relations with Iran and other Islamic regimes.(2) Over the next two decades, Castro fostered a unique relationship between a secular Cuba and theocratic Iran united by a common hatred of the United States and the liberal democratic West.
In the early 1990s, Havana started to export biopharmaceutical products for the Iranian healthcare system. By the late 1990s, Cuba moved beyond pharmaceutical exports to transferring (licensing) both its medical biotechnologies and, along with the technical know-how, implicit capabilities to develop and manufacture industrial quantities of biological weapons.(3) In addition to training Iranian scientists in Cuba and sending Cuban scientists and technicians to Iran's research centers, the Cuban state-run Center for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering established a joint venture biotechnology production plant near Tehran at a cost of US$60 million (Cuba provided the intellectual capital and technology, and Iran the financing). With this facility, Iran is believed to possess "the most modern of its type in the Middle East." (4)
Geographically, Cuba's strategic location enabled Iran on at least one occasion to clandestinely engage in electronic attacks against U.S. telecommunications that posed a threat to the Islamic regime's control and censorship. In the summer of 2003, Tehran blocked signals from a U.S. satellite broadcasting uncensored Farsi-language news into Iran at a time of rising unrest. Based on the location of the satellite over the Atlantic, it would have been impossible for Iranian-based transmissions to affect the satellite's signals. Ultimately, the jamming was traced to a compound in the outskirts of Havana that had been equipped with the advanced telecommunications technology capable of disrupting the Los Angeles-based broadcaster's programming across the Atlantic. It is well known that Cuba has continuously upgraded its ability to block U.S. broadcasts to the island, and hence conceivably to jam international communications in general. Although the Cuban government would later claim that Iranian diplomatic staff had operated out of the compound without its consent, given that Cuba "[is] a fully police state," as an Iran expert has noted, "it is difficult to believe the Iranians had introduced the sophisticated jamming equipment into Cuba without the knowledge of the Cuban authorities," much less utilized against U.S. targets without the knowledge of the Castro regime. (5)
For its solidarity and services to the Islamic Republic, Iran began compensating the Cuban government directly. During the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), Tehran offered Havana an initial 20-million euro annual credit line.(6) Yet following the election of current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, the island has emerged as a major beneficiary of Tehran's foreign policy. Consequently, Iranian financing for Cuba expanded exponentially from a modest 20 million euros in 2005 to 200 million euros for bilateral trade and investment projects in 2007. (7) And with Havana spearheading a campaign within the Non-Aligned Movement (Cuba currently holds the NAM's rotating presidency) to legitimize Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program as an "inalienable right" of all developing nations, (8) in June 2008 Ahmadinejad approved a record 500-million euro credit for the Castro regime. From Iran's perspective, Cuba deserves to be rewarded for its "similarity in outlooks on international issues." (9)
In total, since 2005 Cuba has received the equivalent of approximately US$1.118 billion in credit from Tehran. With Islamic Republic financing, Cuba is undertaking critical investments in an effort to rehabilitate its dilapidated Soviet-era infrastructure. Iran is funding some 60 projects ranging from the acquisition of 750 Iranian-made rail wagons to the construction of power plants, dams, and highways. (10) Access to Iranian credit has in turn driven annual bilateral trade from less than US$20 million in 2001 to US$327 million in 2007 and led to the founding in May 2008 of a secure Tehran-Havana-Caracas shipping line connecting Iran to Venezuela via Cuba. In the view of Iran's finance minister, the investment in the joint Cuban-Iranian maritime freight venture benefits "[the three countries'] important business ties." (11) Moreover, with Havana as a growing financial and logistics center for Islamic interests in the region, the new line "may contribute to the expansion of trade between Iran and other Latin American nations." (12)
Table I. Select Investments in Cuba by Islamic States, 2008
Country/Organization
Investment*
Sectors
Iran (13)
$1.118 billion
Transportation; energy; agriculture
OPEC Fund (14)
$50 million
Agriculture; infrastructure (electricity and water)
Qatar (15)
$70 million
Tourism
United Arab Emirates - Dubai (16)
$250 million
Infrastructure (port)
*Committed or realized as of July 2008. Includes grants and bilateral government-to-government trade credits ("soft loans") as well as direct investments, typically in the form of joint ventures.
_________________________________________________
*First of a two-part series.
Notes
1. Cf. D. Amuchastegui, "Cuba in the Middle East: A Brief Chronology," (Coral Gables, FL: Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, Univ. of Miami, June 1999), http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/14745.htm (accessed August 2008).
2. Fidel Castro cited in Damian J. Fernandez, Cuba's Foreign Policy in the Middle East (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988), p. 86.
3. Cf. Jose de la Fuente, "Wine into vinegar: the fall of Cuba's biotechnology," Nature Biotechnology, October 2001 (Vol. 19, Num. 11).
4. See Cuba Transition Project, "Cuban Foreign Policy in the Middle East: A Cuba-Iran Axis?", Cuba Focus (Issue 55), June 7, 2004, Note 12, http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FOCUS_Web/Issue55.htm (accessed August 2008).
5. Safa Saeri, "Cuba blows the whistle on Iranian jamming," Asia Times (Hong Kong), August 22, 2003, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH22Ak03.html (accessed August 2008).
6. Raisa Pages, "Iran Grants Cuba 20-million Euro Creidt," Granma Internacional (Cuba), January 17, 2005, http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20050117/012103.html (accessed August 2008).
7. IRNA, “Iran, Cuba sign investment, trade MoU,” Tehran, April 24, 2006.
8. Cf. "NAM backs Iran's right to nuclear technology," Tehran Times, August 2, 2008,http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=174294 (accessed August 2008).
9. Fars News Agency, "Iran, Cuba Sign Trade MoU," Tehran, June 20, 2008, http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8703310656 (accessed August 2008).
10. IRNA, "Envoy: Arak Pars Wagon has big share in Iran-Cuba exchanges," Arak, Iran, August 15, 2007.
11. Press TV [Iran], "Iran, Cuba to launch shipping venture," November 5, 2007, http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=29859§ionid=3510213(accessed August 2008).
12. Ibid. See also IRNA, "Iran, Cuba agree to set up shippng company," Tehran, November 5, 2007.
13. Total known credit provided by Iran from 2005 to 2008.
14. See OPEC Fund, "Cuba," http://www.ofid.org/projects_operations/country_profiles_latin_am.aspx (accessed August 2008).
15. Amy Glass, "Qatar to build $70mn Cuba resort," Arabian Business, 29 April 2008,http://www.arabianbusiness.com/517917-qatar-investment-authority-signed-70mln-deal-with-cuban-republic (accessed August 2008).
16. Reuters, "Dubai Ports studies building Cuba container terminal," Havana, October 19, 2007.
Islamic Investment in Cuba*
After decades of expending military, financial, and human resources in support of a variety of Arab dictators, Islamic fundamentalist movements, and anti-Israeli terrorist organizations (1), in recent years Havana has begun to reap substantial returns on its long-term investment in the Middle East. From Dubai to Tehran and via OPEC in Vienna, the political and ideological ties cultivated by Fidel Castro's pro-Islamic foreign policy are now generating tangible benefits for the successor regime of brother Raul. In the process of receiving nearly US$1.5 billion (Table I) in foreign direct investment, financing, and aid from autocratic Muslim states, Cuba is emerging as a strategic ally and outpost in the Western Hemisphere for a wide range of Islamic regimes. For Cuba, the infusion of Islamic capital strengthens the regime's stability and diversifies the risk of economic collapse by adding a fourth financial pillar alongside oil from Venezuela, bilateral trade credit from China, and corporate capital from Canada and the European Union. As Cuba and its Islamic partners forge a trans-Atlantic alliance of their own, what are the implications of the increasingly free flow of trade and capital from the Persian Gulf to the Caribbean?
Iran
Communist Cuba's alliance with the Iran of the Ayatollahs dates to 1979 when Fidel Castro became one of the first heads of state to recognize the Islamic Republic's radical clerics. Addressing then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, Castro insisted that there was "no contradiction between revolution and religion," an ecumenical principle that has guided Cuba's relations with Iran and other Islamic regimes.(2) Over the next two decades, Castro fostered a unique relationship between a secular Cuba and theocratic Iran united by a common hatred of the United States and the liberal democratic West.
In the early 1990s, Havana started to export biopharmaceutical products for the Iranian healthcare system. By the late 1990s, Cuba moved beyond pharmaceutical exports to transferring (licensing) both its medical biotechnologies and, along with the technical know-how, implicit capabilities to develop and manufacture industrial quantities of biological weapons.(3) In addition to training Iranian scientists in Cuba and sending Cuban scientists and technicians to Iran's research centers, the Cuban state-run Center for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering established a joint venture biotechnology production plant near Tehran at a cost of US$60 million (Cuba provided the intellectual capital and technology, and Iran the financing). With this facility, Iran is believed to possess "the most modern of its type in the Middle East." (4)
Geographically, Cuba's strategic location enabled Iran on at least one occasion to clandestinely engage in electronic attacks against U.S. telecommunications that posed a threat to the Islamic regime's control and censorship. In the summer of 2003, Tehran blocked signals from a U.S. satellite broadcasting uncensored Farsi-language news into Iran at a time of rising unrest. Based on the location of the satellite over the Atlantic, it would have been impossible for Iranian-based transmissions to affect the satellite's signals. Ultimately, the jamming was traced to a compound in the outskirts of Havana that had been equipped with the advanced telecommunications technology capable of disrupting the Los Angeles-based broadcaster's programming across the Atlantic. It is well known that Cuba has continuously upgraded its ability to block U.S. broadcasts to the island, and hence conceivably to jam international communications in general. Although the Cuban government would later claim that Iranian diplomatic staff had operated out of the compound without its consent, given that Cuba "[is] a fully police state," as an Iran expert has noted, "it is difficult to believe the Iranians had introduced the sophisticated jamming equipment into Cuba without the knowledge of the Cuban authorities," much less utilized against U.S. targets without the knowledge of the Castro regime. (5)
For its solidarity and services to the Islamic Republic, Iran began compensating the Cuban government directly. During the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), Tehran offered Havana an initial 20-million euro annual credit line.(6) Yet following the election of current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, the island has emerged as a major beneficiary of Tehran's foreign policy. Consequently, Iranian financing for Cuba expanded exponentially from a modest 20 million euros in 2005 to 200 million euros for bilateral trade and investment projects in 2007. (7) And with Havana spearheading a campaign within the Non-Aligned Movement (Cuba currently holds the NAM's rotating presidency) to legitimize Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program as an "inalienable right" of all developing nations, (8) in June 2008 Ahmadinejad approved a record 500-million euro credit for the Castro regime. From Iran's perspective, Cuba deserves to be rewarded for its "similarity in outlooks on international issues." (9)
In total, since 2005 Cuba has received the equivalent of approximately US$1.118 billion in credit from Tehran. With Islamic Republic financing, Cuba is undertaking critical investments in an effort to rehabilitate its dilapidated Soviet-era infrastructure. Iran is funding some 60 projects ranging from the acquisition of 750 Iranian-made rail wagons to the construction of power plants, dams, and highways. (10) Access to Iranian credit has in turn driven annual bilateral trade from less than US$20 million in 2001 to US$327 million in 2007 and led to the founding in May 2008 of a secure Tehran-Havana-Caracas shipping line connecting Iran to Venezuela via Cuba. In the view of Iran's finance minister, the investment in the joint Cuban-Iranian maritime freight venture benefits "[the three countries'] important business ties." (11) Moreover, with Havana as a growing financial and logistics center for Islamic interests in the region, the new line "may contribute to the expansion of trade between Iran and other Latin American nations." (12)
Table I. Select Investments in Cuba by Islamic States, 2008
Country/Organization
Investment*
Sectors
Iran (13)
$1.118 billion
Transportation; energy; agriculture
OPEC Fund (14)
$50 million
Agriculture; infrastructure (electricity and water)
Qatar (15)
$70 million
Tourism
United Arab Emirates - Dubai (16)
$250 million
Infrastructure (port)
*Committed or realized as of July 2008. Includes grants and bilateral government-to-government trade credits ("soft loans") as well as direct investments, typically in the form of joint ventures.
_________________________________________________
*First of a two-part series.
Notes
1. Cf. D. Amuchastegui, "Cuba in the Middle East: A Brief Chronology," (Coral Gables, FL: Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, Univ. of Miami, June 1999), http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/14745.htm (accessed August 2008).
2. Fidel Castro cited in Damian J. Fernandez, Cuba's Foreign Policy in the Middle East (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988), p. 86.
3. Cf. Jose de la Fuente, "Wine into vinegar: the fall of Cuba's biotechnology," Nature Biotechnology, October 2001 (Vol. 19, Num. 11).
4. See Cuba Transition Project, "Cuban Foreign Policy in the Middle East: A Cuba-Iran Axis?", Cuba Focus (Issue 55), June 7, 2004, Note 12, http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FOCUS_Web/Issue55.htm (accessed August 2008).
5. Safa Saeri, "Cuba blows the whistle on Iranian jamming," Asia Times (Hong Kong), August 22, 2003, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH22Ak03.html (accessed August 2008).
6. Raisa Pages, "Iran Grants Cuba 20-million Euro Creidt," Granma Internacional (Cuba), January 17, 2005, http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20050117/012103.html (accessed August 2008).
7. IRNA, “Iran, Cuba sign investment, trade MoU,” Tehran, April 24, 2006.
8. Cf. "NAM backs Iran's right to nuclear technology," Tehran Times, August 2, 2008,http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=174294 (accessed August 2008).
9. Fars News Agency, "Iran, Cuba Sign Trade MoU," Tehran, June 20, 2008, http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8703310656 (accessed August 2008).
10. IRNA, "Envoy: Arak Pars Wagon has big share in Iran-Cuba exchanges," Arak, Iran, August 15, 2007.
11. Press TV [Iran], "Iran, Cuba to launch shipping venture," November 5, 2007, http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=29859§ionid=3510213(accessed August 2008).
12. Ibid. See also IRNA, "Iran, Cuba agree to set up shippng company," Tehran, November 5, 2007.
13. Total known credit provided by Iran from 2005 to 2008.
14. See OPEC Fund, "Cuba," http://www.ofid.org/projects_operations/country_profiles_latin_am.aspx (accessed August 2008).
15. Amy Glass, "Qatar to build $70mn Cuba resort," Arabian Business, 29 April 2008,http://www.arabianbusiness.com/517917-qatar-investment-authority-signed-70mln-deal-with-cuban-republic (accessed August 2008).
16. Reuters, "Dubai Ports studies building Cuba container terminal," Havana, October 19, 2007.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Cuba's "List of Shame"
This blog has had no shortage of discussion about the recent ballyhoo generated by the meager economic reforms introduced by Raul Castro earlier this year. I have argued that the upshot of these changes has been in line in line with the catch-phrase "what is new is old and what is old is new." The "list of shame" below - prepared by the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies - serves as a stark reminder that not much has in fact changed in Cuba since Raul took power (*with the exception of one pre-Raul prohibition that has no substantive effect on the overwhelming part of Cuban population).
Cubans can not:
• Travel abroad without government permission.
• Change jobs without government permission.
• Change residence without government permission.
• Access the Internet without government permission (the Internet is closely monitored and controlled by the government. Only 1.67% of the population has access to the Internet).
• Send their children to a private or religious school (all schools are government run; there are no religious schools in Cuba).
• Watch independent or private radio or TV stations (all TV and radio stations are owned and run by the government). Cubans illegally watch/listen to foreign broadcasts.
• Read books, magazines or newspapers, unless approved/published by the government (all books, magazines and newspapers are published by the government).
• Receive publications from abroad or from visitors (punishable by jail terms under Law 88).
• Visit or stay in tourist hotels, restaurants, and resorts. (*exception)
• Seek employment with foreign companies on the island, unless approved by the government.
• Run for public office unless approved by Cuba’s Communist Party.
• Own businesses, unless they are very small and approved by the government and pay onerous taxes.
• Join an independent labor union (there is only one, government controlled labor union and no individual or collective bargaining is allowed; neither are strikes or protests).
• Retain a lawyer, unless approved by the government.
• Choose a physician or hospital. Both are assigned by the government.
• Refuse to participate in mass rallies and demonstrations organized by the Cuban Communist Party.
• Criticize the Castro regime or the Cuban Communist Party, the only party allowed in Cuba.
Cubans can not:
• Travel abroad without government permission.
• Change jobs without government permission.
• Change residence without government permission.
• Access the Internet without government permission (the Internet is closely monitored and controlled by the government. Only 1.67% of the population has access to the Internet).
• Send their children to a private or religious school (all schools are government run; there are no religious schools in Cuba).
• Watch independent or private radio or TV stations (all TV and radio stations are owned and run by the government). Cubans illegally watch/listen to foreign broadcasts.
• Read books, magazines or newspapers, unless approved/published by the government (all books, magazines and newspapers are published by the government).
• Receive publications from abroad or from visitors (punishable by jail terms under Law 88).
• Visit or stay in tourist hotels, restaurants, and resorts. (*exception)
• Seek employment with foreign companies on the island, unless approved by the government.
• Run for public office unless approved by Cuba’s Communist Party.
• Own businesses, unless they are very small and approved by the government and pay onerous taxes.
• Join an independent labor union (there is only one, government controlled labor union and no individual or collective bargaining is allowed; neither are strikes or protests).
• Retain a lawyer, unless approved by the government.
• Choose a physician or hospital. Both are assigned by the government.
• Refuse to participate in mass rallies and demonstrations organized by the Cuban Communist Party.
• Criticize the Castro regime or the Cuban Communist Party, the only party allowed in Cuba.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
This Guy Gets It
Although this video dispatch (and other vlogs) from a disillusioned, progressive Argentinian in Cuba is in Spanish, they're particularly instructive even if you can't follow the commentary.
The footage is pretty sad though. La Habana looks less functional and vibrant than your average city in war-torn Africa. The video was shot while walking around the Capitolio and the surrounding neighborhood; the juxtaposition of that white building (which is, coincidentally, modeled after another building that stands for everything that the regime doesn't) with all the surrounding decay and poverty is strikingly poignant.
The footage is pretty sad though. La Habana looks less functional and vibrant than your average city in war-torn Africa. The video was shot while walking around the Capitolio and the surrounding neighborhood; the juxtaposition of that white building (which is, coincidentally, modeled after another building that stands for everything that the regime doesn't) with all the surrounding decay and poverty is strikingly poignant.
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