Biscet 'o8

Beginning of the End for the Wet Foot/ Dry Foot Policy?

Well maybe, but not the way you may prefer.

On Wednesday 101 Haitian Migrants who fled troubled and impoverished Haiti, landed on a South Florida beach. They were quickly rounded up and taken into custody. The immigrants had been at sea for nearly three weeks in a small dilapidated boat that was reportedly un-seaworthy and overloaded. One passenger died.

Immigration authorities will process the migrants and likely repatriate them back to Haiti.

According to the Sun Sentinel, this isn’t sitting well with Haitian community activists who claim that Cubans are given preferential treatment under the wet foot/ dry foot policy in which if a Cuban caught at sea he is a migrant who is sent back to Cuba, and if he makes it to land, he magically becomes a refugee protected under the Cuban adjustment act and is granted political asylum.

Creole radio host Yeye Boul was less diplomatic, taking direct aim at the so-called wet foot-dry foot policy that fast-tracks Cubans to a green card application if they set foot on U.S. soil. He said it's unfair to give special treatment to one group of refugees because they come from a communist island, then turn away Haitians who endure deep economic hardship and rampant violence.

Will these protests bring about the inclusion of Haitian under the wet foot/dry foot policy? Not a chance. What it might eventually do, however, is end the dry foot part of the wet/foot dry foot equation so that the US’s immigration policy brings equal misery to all those seeking freedom and opportunity be they Cuban, Haitian, or Dominican.

The Sun Sentinel, always quick to jump on the anti-Cuban exile bandwagon, of course conveniently fails to set the record straight and doesn’t mention the that Cuba has been suffering under a totalitarian communist dictatorship for 48years and that everyone in Cuba is politically persecuted and oppressed.

Haiti, on the other hand, has had multiple elections, UN interventions, government restorations and US marine invasions during the same time period and nothing has changed. Haitians citizens can get on a plane or boat and go anywhere, if they have the money. If Haitian leaders want to help Haitians, they should concentrate their efforts on rebuilding Haiti and leave Cubans out of it.

Had Cuba had the same international help, there would now be Americans trying to move Cuba from the US.

What are Cuban American leaders doing about it?:

The Cuban-American Brothers to the Rescue group, along with the Haitian Women of Miami grass-roots organization, will offer a Mass in support of the Haitians in Miami on Sunday, followed by a blank cannon blast to "awaken our community."

Blank my ass. That's a fully loaded cannon shot aimed right at every raft or craft trying to reach freedom.

Political correctness in South Florida is a one way road leading away from the exile community and we're helping them built it.

¿ Por Que No?

Why Not?

Men without hope, resigned to despair and oppression, do not make revolutions. It is when expectation replaces submission, when despair is touched with the awareness of possibility, that the forces of human desire and the passion for justice are unloosed.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?

RFK

Dr. Elias Biscet for President of Cuba 2008

The Church of Mother Earth

Back on March 10, when the phrase “carbon footprint” was flying around faster than W was flying in and out of Latin American capitals with Chavez hissing behind him like a deranged Bolivarian venomous serpent, I marveled that the left was more interested in denouncing Bush than in embracing a milestone ethanol deal with Lula. The protesting against the US-Brazilian pact reminded me of a quote I had read from Czech President Vaclav Klaus :

"Environmentalism should belong in the social sciences," much like the idea of communism or other "-isms" such as feminism, Klaus said, adding that environmentalism is a religion" that seeks to reorganize the world order as well as social behavior and value systems worldwide.

In light of yesterday’s “editorial” by Castro, it is becoming increasingly obvious that “environmentalism” is the new “ism” whose purpose is to suppress individual freedom and institute a collective world-wide tyranny in the name of Mother Earth.

A New Religion:

The new high priests of the Church of Mother Earth, like Castro, wrap their sermons in euphemistic “for the common good” platitudes. They offer no real solutions other than return to the simpler times of communal living. And yet, you never see any of them joining the ranks of the Amish. In the new religion of environmentalism, the rugged individualism and the independent freedom of that uniquely American world-view are considered the new Satan. And the church’s vision of hell is a global warmed planet with rising seas and failing crops caused by the greed of the consumer economies of the west, especially America.

They preach a hell on Earth. Castro the high priest, has already created one.

The cardinal sins of the new religion are individual freedom, free markets, solutions and progress. Salvation lies in collective misery, hopelessness and despair. No wonder leftists view Cuba as a paradise!

If the Church of Mother Earth really believed what it preaches, it would be happy that the US is looking towards renewable and more Earth-friendly energy solutions. But no, they denounce those efforts. These efforts by the US, will keep Americans leading free and productive lives and that is progress. It would also free the US from the oil-based tyranny of the Iranians, Venezuelans, Saudis and Russians. Where would the money come then to fund all the enemies of civilization?

Make no mistake, the goal of the Church of Mother Earth, is not to save the planet, but to destroy the West, freedom and progress and set up earthly “paradises” like the one in Cuba.

End of an Error

After Fidel recuperates enough from his "state secret" illness, He discovers his reign of terror is about to end...............

¿ Elecciones?
¿Que Elecciones?
¿A que Comemierda se le ocurrió hablar de elecciones?

Carlos on Ernesto

There's ignorance. There's arrogance and there's complicity.

Carlos Santana, who has made a career out of looking like a human gargajo and shamelessly "sampling" riffs and rhythms from other artists and who was only able to resurrect his carreer after appearing as a guest artist with a bunch of other musical acts on his own CD, is perhaps more ignorant than most, either because of genetic shortcomings or chemical ingestion. Who knows, who cares.

From his "apology" after donning a shirt with Gevara's infamous likeness during an Academy Awards program we know his ignorance is fueled with arrogance. So arrogant, that his "apology" was a shameful exercise in self indulgent dismissiveness towards the people he offended. The kind of statement, that coming from a better bred person would be snobbish , but coming from someone who fell into a small fortune with a little talent and a lot of luck is shameful.

The image was not intended to project a single note of the hatred, anger or revolutionary ruthlessness displayed when Che Guevara was a revolutionary leader in Cuba. It was worn to honor the soulful young man portrayed in the movie, who awoke to the struggle of the disenfranchised and who had a profound political epiphany during a journey across South America. The image was not meant to be an endorsement about a man who helped to establish the Castro dictatorship in Cuba.

Now, the image on Santana's shirt was the now famous Korda image of Guevara wearing a members only - like effeminate jacket. The image was later cropped and mass-marketed. The picture was taken in 1960, well after Guevara had " helped to establish the Castro dictatorship in Cuba." and butchered hundreds of Cubans at la Cabana. So to say that the shirt was worn to "honor the soulful young man portrayed in the movie" is a condescending and bogus insult to the intelligence of the Cuban-American community. Had he wanted to honor the "young" Guevara post ephinany and pre-revolutionary butchery, he could have had a shirt made with the appropriate Guevara. Not that Santana' s excuse of giving Guevara a split personality makes any logical since in the first place.

Original Uncropped Korda picture shows Guevara in a "Michael Jackson Thriller Era " sissy jacket

Obviously, Santana, knows exactly what he's doing. Through his willful ignorance he arrogantly chose to be complicit in the suffering of the Cuban people.

Ese cuento que se hagan a otro.

Why any Cuban would want to associate or collaborate with such a gargajo, is beyond me. You should avoid stepping on such slime lest you ruin your shoes.

.

If you feel the same way, here's a link to a petition to let the Estefans know how you feel.

Hope on the Horizon

What Geniuses!

You don't have to be a genius to know its not cool to invite Satana to play on your record.

Remind Gloria Here

Tremendo Arroz con Cuervo!

New Suckers Wanted

Pedro Alvarez, director of Cuba's food import company, Alimport said :

that if the embargo were lifted, U.S.-Cuba trade in goods and services -- including tourism -- could swell to $21 billion in the first five years.

WOW! $21Billion!

Sounds enticing doesn't it?

But wait, we're talking trade here not, investments, so really no wealth is being created in Cuba to pay for all these goods and services. They are just offering the US a piece of the already existing pie.

These goods and services must be coming from some place else now.

Let's see what Mr Alvarez's thoughts, err I mean Castro's thoughts are on this, since independent thought is outside revolutionary bounds....

He said U.S. powdered milk and other perishables had spoiled on ships in Cuban ports because American authorities held up cash payments sent from the island.

Cash.

The problem is that if they didn't have to pay cash, then they would buy way more stuff from us.

They need credit....

A credit card, guaranteed by the American taxpayer.

We'll buy $21 Billion in stuff from you and we'll gladly pay you tuesday.

¿ Pa’ Tras Ni Pa' Cojer Impulso?

¿ Pa’ Tras Ni Pa' Cojer Impulso?

The slogan used by the “revolution” to let everyone know there was no turning back, ever.

It was repeated constantly and used ad nauseum on TV, schools, work, rallies, you name it.

Cubans, used to the empty slogans and false promises of La Cosa Nostra-Castro, wish this is one promise the regime would have kept.

Now the people in Cuba are being threatened with going back. Of getting back something they thought they would never have to deal with again. A nightmare they thought had ended 7 months ago:




A “B” horror movie for sure.

Rations Courtesy of Uncle Sam

According to this, the meager rations that Cubans can buy with pesos under the rationing card system of enslavement comes from Cuba's number one food trading partner, the US.

Its main exports to Cuba include chicken, wheat, corn, rice and soybeans -much of it doled out to Cubans on the government ration.

Doled out?!? No, In Cuba you have to pay the slave master for your meager rations from your $12 from your month salary. Ration means that you can only buy a limited amount because there is a limited supply. Not that you are "given" anything. The only thing the Castro regime gives for free is misery and repression.



Apparently, the US exports are also used for the tourist industry since the article claims that Cuba also imports:

brand-name cola, mayonnaise, hot sauce and candy bars, as well as dairy cows.

things definitely not on the "libreta".


Some "embargo"!

Biscet 'o8

Cuba is at an important historical crossroad. The Cuban people must choose which path to take. The time is now.

Cuba will be holding an "election" to decide on a National Assembly which will in turn elect a new "President" in 2008.

The members of the National Assembly of People's Power can chart a new path to freedom and democracy in 2008 by refusing to vote for the establishment candidates.

There is an alternative. The World will listen and support you.

"There is only one way to accomplish a just political balance: by fully implementing man's dignity to oppose evil."

Visit http://biscetforpresident.blogspot.com/

Swedish Row

Next time you see me tooling around la Saguesera in my S-40 Viking mobile, don't any of you Miami Mafia Made Men tell me to " take my tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Broward, where it belongs," or we are going to have words.





What's there not to like about the Swedes?

There's Swedish Fish, Volvos, Saabs, Ikea and Her...

..and what was my point....?.... Oh yeah ... and this

The Swedes, who are apearently not all too pleased with Cuba's attempt to derail the so-called U.N. Human Rights Council by stripping it of its independent investigative powers, pointed out the Castro regime's atrocious human rights record. That prompted

The Cuban representative Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios accused Sweden of
hypocrisy and said that the "not-so-glorious days of Swedish imperialism filled
their neighboring countries with blood and pain".

Bwahahaha That's like saying "Oh yeah!, Well Eric the Red was worse than Fidel, so shut up!"

Gorki for President

From Penultimos Dias comes this great idea. Since they're having "elections" in Cuba next year........

GORKI FOR PRESIDENT '08

Campaign Video Here

Some Cubans

Some Cubans don't need Santana to be on their records.

Some Cubans seek out ways to Help the cause, not make excuses.

Some Cubans try to help their brethren unjustly jailed by an illegitimate and repressive regime, not be politically correct.

Some Cubans mean it when they shout "Hasta Cuando" when they sing of Mi Tierra.

Some Cubans re-mix their one of their hits for Primavera Negra TV, rather and speak in retreaded cliches.

Reinery Diaz, Rey El Vikingo, is one of those Cubans.

http://tvprimaveranegra.blogspot.com/2007/03/hasta-cuando-salsa.html

http://www.reyelvikingo.com/

http://myspace.com/reyelvikingo

A big Thanks to Rey El Vikingo for his help during the Primavera Negra Commemoration

To Che Or Not To Che?

Tomb of the Unknown Che in Santa Clara, Cuba

The controversy over revolutionary fraud and t-shirt icon, Ernesto Guevara, continues.

It seems that yet another ex-CIA agent Cuban Exile, (I have to admit a little jealousy here since it seems I’m the only Cuban exile never to have been a CIA agent), has come forward to claim that the body buried in Guevara’s grave is not Guevara’s.

The exile, Gustavo Villoldo says he secretly buried the body Guevara’s body along with two fellow rebels in 1967.

When the body which the Cuba regime claims to be Guevara was found, it was in a common grave with 6 other rebels.

"We buried three men that night -- Che and two of his fellow rebels,'' Villoldo said. ``Thirty years later, they start digging and find seven men buried? Dead bodies don't reproduce, they don't multiply.''

According to the Miami Herald, “unclassified CIA documents and Che biographies confirm Villoldo's involvement in the case.”

Villoldo says that he has a lock of the argentine’s hair which could be used to prove whether the body buried in “The Tomb of the Unknown Che” is Guevara or not. In order for DNA tests to be conducted, the Cuban regime would have to agree to an exhumation.

Even if Guevara’s family wanted to have the matter cleared up, and agreed to the exhumation, it would never happen because the revolution even owns your corpse and would never agree to exhuming the body because it would prove the theory that “finding” Guevara’s body and burying it with revolutionary fanfare in the land of his crimes against humanity was a Castroite propaganda event.

Not that it matters. To true revolutionaries, if Fidel says Guevara is buried in that grave, he is. The truth and scientific evidence are just things that a true revolutionary must overcome to remain a member of the Cult of the Absurd that is Castrism.

Villoldo, now 71 and retired says he wants Guevara’s family to know coordinates of Guevara’s real resting place.

“I will give them the coordinates, but only to them, not Castro,'' he said. ``It's only right, I think.''

Touché

Actually, he should go to Bolivia and exhume Guevara’s body himself and bring it to Miami, prove that it is him and bury it in a conveniently located spot where we could all go piss on the bastard’s grave.

Some people are just too classy.

Classy Che Barber/Burrier / CIA agent /Exile/ Retired Farmer Villoldo

Home By The Sea

Creeping up the blind side,

shinning up the wall

stealing thru the dark of night

Climbing thru a window,

stepping to the floor

checking to the left and the right

Picking up the pieces,

putting them away

something doesn't feel quite right

Help me someone,

let me out of here

then out of the dark was suddenly heard

welcome to the Home by the Sea

Coming out the woodwork,

thru the open door

pushing from above and below

shadows without substance,

in the shape of men

round and down and sideways they goad

rift without direction,

eyes that hold despair

then as one they sign and they moan

Help us someone,

let us out of here

living here so long undisturbed

dreaming of the time we were free

so many years ago

before the time when we first heard

welcome to the Home by the Sea

Sit down Sit down
as we relive out lives in what we tell you

Images of sorrow,

pictures of delight

things that go to make up a life

endless days of summer longer nights of gloom

waiting for the morning light

scenes of unimportance

like photos in a frame

things that go to make up a life

Help us someone,

let us out of here

living here so long undisturbed

dreaming of the time we were free

so many years ago

before the time when we first heard

welcome to the Home by the Sea

Sit down Sit down

as we relive out lives in what we tell you

let us relive out lives in what we tell you

Sit down sit down

cos you won't get away

so with us you will stay

for the rest of your days.

So sit down

As we relive out lives in what we tell you

Let us relive out lives in what we tell you

Trouble in Paradise?

When the Castro organized crime family seized control of Cuba, one of the first things it did was drive away the tourists.

After it bankrupted the old USSR in the late 80’s –early 90’s, it was forced to find new victims to fleece and swindle. So they re-introduced the tourism industry via joint ventures with foreign companies and set up a separate society especially for tourists.

These willing victims became the Spanish, French, German, English, Canadian tourists among others.

Now, even these victims are starting to stay away.

In the first 2 months of 2007 tourism to the Island Prison is down 9.73% over last year.

In February, tourism from Spain had the largest drop at 45%. Germany followed with a 20% drop, Italy with 17%, France with 15% and the UK with a little over 4%. (according to EFE.com)

This unprecedented drop in tourism has forced the Cuban government to predict that the Cuban “economy” will only grow at 10% down 2.5% from last year.

They did not have any statistics or predictions on the Cuban “economy’s” largest sector, the black market.

The excuses ..err.. I mean reasons for the decline in visits to the quaint little island prison….You guessed it , the US “embargo” and global warming.

The Crumbling City

Havana is crumbling.

The beautiful colonial city is succumbing to the salty Caribbean air and 48 years of neglect.

You wouldn’t know it by reading this piece of propagandist fantasy disguised as journalism in the Miami Herald, (of all places):

Tourism is restoring the buildings of Old Havana

The unique part of Cuba's plan has been its strategy of restoring old hotels,
restaurants and buildings to attract tourists and then using tourism revenue to fund more restoration, along with social programs and housing renovation, one of Cuba's most pressing problems.

So check this out:

The unique part of Cuba’s “restoration” project is to attract tourism and then reinvest some of the profits back into the tourism business. How is that unique or creative? Why, because the Government is restoring its own property? That's what all property owners do.

What’s unique about Havana’s shameful neglect and decline is that it was caused by the same inefficient system that is now trying to “restore” it. Cuba’s communist government, when it confiscated all private property, became the only landlord on the island.

As the sole landlord, it did not upkeep and maintain any of its buildings and basically became the world’s biggest slumlord, forcing its tenants, the Cuban population, to live in subhuman conditions, filth and squalor.

And then to add insult to injury, it forces the tenants to work as indentured servants where their wages are taxed at about 96% in order to provide funds to restore the tourist venues that they aren’t allowed to enjoy. (but they get free healthcare and indoctrination)

Unique indeed.

The author even goes as far as to blame the pre-Castro rich for Havana’s destruction:

But Old Havana -- the city's district next to its port -- began a long decline as the rich built mansions on the city's outskirts and new business districts cropped up.

Restoration efforts date back to the 1930s, but the work was poorly funded. Even after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, Cuba's focus was on developing agriculture and raising living standards for the rural poor. Old Havana continued to deteriorate, despite the efforts of the Office of the Havana Historian.

I emphasized that. Did you get that?

Even after Saint Fidel came, who like some Bizarro World Saint Patrick, brought the snakes back into the island from the sea, the city continued to deteriorate. Really? Buildings did not crumble to the ground in the 50’s when they were only 450 years old. If you stop maintaining your 450 yr old buildings…Surprise! Some don’t make it to 500!

Oh and just as an aside…. That focus “on developing agriculture and raising living standards for the rural poor” that kindda crumbled too. Fidel is also like a King Midas from the Bizarro World, everything he touches, crumbles.

Suspended Animation

In two words, Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere summed up Cuba’s past 48 years when he said in an interview yesterday that Cuba remained in "suspended animation".

As Castro prepares for his upcoming 2008 presidential campaign, the US Government, whose, intelligence chief, John Negroponte, assured us late last year that Castro wasn’t long for this world, is now telling us that he is still the “controlling political presence” in Cuba.

State of suspended animation indeed.

Suspended Human Rights...
Suspended Elections...
Suspended Salaries...
Suspended Food...
Suspended Lives...

BUT NEVER, EVER THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF THE CUBAN PEOPLE.

Absurd News

The latest and greatest "news" about Fidel Castro is that he is set to return to power by next month.

Evo Morales, Bolivian president, hinted that he expected Castro to make his triumphant return on April 28 to commemorate the third anniversary of the alternative trade bloc known as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.

Last week, Ricardo Alarcon, said that Fidel Castro is in such great shape that he would nominate him again from president in the 2008 elections.

Elections…..

My Gusano mind gets pictures ... of Cuban “elections”

Can you imagine … Castro running for president?

What would a Castro campaign be like?

Carrying the corpse around in a wheelbarrow to give inaudible four minute speeches in his now trademark Adidas suit?

A “camello” tour of the country?

Would he ask people to give him four more decades to fix the food, housing, transportation and economic problems of the island?

Give me another 40 years to get the country back to the way it was 48 years ago;Vote for me!

I brought you food rationing, repression and apartheid!

Only in a country with such an absurd system of government could an 80 year old on death’s door be “elected” president.

And even more absurd for the press to report these ridiculous statements as if they were “news” without pointing out their obvious absurdity.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

Whenever allegations are made against the malicious actions of Cuba’s communist regime, the Heralds are always quick to find someone in the long a queue of experts to enlighten and rebuff those of us who have experienced the regime’s nefarious deeds firsthand.

Recently a FAR defector, Roberto Ortega, has claimed that Cuba is weaponizing biological agents at secret facilities.

Never mind, that Ortega names names, places and times; those are just eyewitness, first-hand accounts. Never mind that Cuba is the Hemisphere’s only military dictatorship. Never mind that Cuba has spread instability and revolution throughout the world. Never mind that the Cuban regime trains and abets terrorists. Those are mere facts, folks. You know, the kind of things that are stand up in court.

Experts don’t need no stinking facts. Not when there’s conjecture. Not when you can put two and two together and get zero.

According to Phil Peters in the Nuevo Herald, we should not worry about Cuba’s WMD threat because:

The US government doesn’t seem worried about the Cuban WMD program.

Besides, US intelligence was wrong about Iraq’s WMD program.

So the same intelligence geniuses that thought the Iraqui WMD’s were a slam dunk, aren’t concerned about Cuba’s WMD program. Let’s see, if A=B, and B=C, then A=…holy crap! Go get some duct tape and sheet plastic! Because logic dictates they’re wrong.

Another reason not to worry is because Cuba didn’t make it to the “Axis of Evil”. Based, of course, on the afore-mentioned intelligence geniuses, If a=b, and…never mind …unless you’re a Cuba expert, you get it by now.

According to Peters, yet another reason not to worry is because Ana Montes said so. Since the US government hasn’t publicly refuted any of Cuban spy Ana Montes’ Cuban threat assessments, she must have been telling the truth about Havana while spying for them. Stay with the expert here, it’s tricky…if A≠B and B≠C, then A ………….is a sieve that doesn't hold any water.

There’s also the wet/foot dry/foot policy, where wet footed “migrants” turn into dry footed “refugees” once they make it to land. Peters argues that if Cuba were actually a threat the US,the US would not give Cubans special privileges that it doesn’t give other immigrants trying to sneak into the US. I agree with Peters on this one. Never, ever, would Border Patrol Agents in , lets say, the southern border with Mexico be allowed to water cannon, pepper spray and shoot machine guns at immigrants like it is customarily done in the waters of the Land of the Free and the Home of Brave.

The last reason why we shouldn’t worry about the Cuban biological weapon threat is too good of a sarcastic and cynical dig at Bush’s foreign policy to refute:

No negotiations. In return for a promise to cap its nuclear program, North Korea will receive fuel oil and direct talks with Washington that could lead to normalized relations. Similarly, Iran has been offered rewards for ending its nuclear ambitions. In the Cuban case, the administration seeks no talks and does not pursue Ortega's recommendation that international inspectors go to Cuba. Apparently, the administration sees nothing to talk about.

That’s funny.

But all these allegations about Cuban WMD's starting surfacing out after the North Korean Deal. Like Cuban blogger Killcastro pointed out, maybe Raul is setting the stage for negotiations.....


Folks, I ain’t no "expert", but I do know the Castro regime has no bounds and no respect for human life. They have the capability, technology and the will to manufacture and weaponize biological weapons. They will do whatever it takes. This is the same crowd that was willing to sacrifice all of Cuba in a nuclear confrontation. I know that was back before many of you were born, but, remember, things in Cuba haven't changed much since 1962. They are committed and they play for keeps. And that is always something to worry about.

Cuba Ruffles Feathers at UN "Human Rights" Council Henhouse

This interesting article from New Zeland:

Cuba rattles powers of UN rights body

With this this gem of a paragraph:

Cuba is leading a bid by a number of countries to strip the Human Rights Council of its power to investigate and condemn violations, a move some activists warn could jeopardise the whole UN's credibility.

That’s hysterical. Didn’t the “activists” realize that giving Cuba a seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council took all credibility away from the council in the first place? Actually it’s Pathetic. It’s like saying that having unprotected sex with a pregnant woman might make her “pregnanter”.

Since the Cuban Fox is already guarding the UN’s Human Rights Henhouse, it is leading the raid into the henhouse to silence the UN cackling Hens by getting rid of 13 special “rapporteurs” that probe Human Rights abuses.

Cuba doesn’t want to allow “rapporteur” to report on Cuba’s Human Rights issues, instead:

Cuba and its allies argue that countries should submit their own reports on their domestic records and that there is no need for intrusive rapporteurs.

Pretzel Logic Boy, Felipe Perez Roque, Cuban Foreign Minister, doesn’t want to hear any confrontational cackling:

"The perpetuation of country-specific mandates, imposed by force and blackmail,
would maintain the spiralling confrontation that did away with the authority and
credibility of the defunct Commission on Human Rights,"

Cuba continues to lose European support for its regime:

The European Union (EU) says that it is fighting to preserve the special procedures, as well as the forum's ability to adopt resolutions condemning countries for the worst violations.

As Prague continues its crusade to hold the Cuban regime accountable for its human rights abuses and lack of democracy at the EU’s Parliament, the whining from Havana gets more shrill and desperate with almost daily attacks on the Czechs in Granma.

And Spain sits quietly by the sidelines urging more "constructive dialogue" which by the way, has had less effect than the so called "embargo" while it sticks it to the Spanish taxpayer.

LLevatela Viento de Agua..........

Forgotten Spring?

Is it me or is the MSM going out of its way to ignore the commemoration of “Black Spring”?

People in Paris and Prague demonstrated for the release of Cuba’s prisoners of conscience. In Havana, there were Italian tourists, one of them a EU Parliament Member, Marco Cappato, protesting with the Ladies in white……………and ………silence.

But Spanish director Pedro Almadovar did protest for the closing of a Cuban prison saying it “is a disgrace for civilisation” He was referring to the facility where terrorists are being held in Guantanamo, not Kilo 8. That was everywhere.

And......The Miami Herald, who didn’t see fit to carry the AP’s article about The Ladies in White’s protest on Saturday, did see it fit to carry a story about hitchicking in Cuba.

Because we learn from the story that even though transportation on the island is chaotic and non-existant, the benevolent socialist government forces government vehicles to pick up hitchhickers:

“On the capital's outskirts, government inspectors wave down government vehicles. Those with empty seats must take hitchhikers, a law that results in 68 million free rides a year, according to the Communist Party newspaper Granma.”

It’s not just the government that does it. The socialist worker in solidarity with his fellow worker considers it a civic duty to pick up hitchhickers:

Most drivers believe it's their civic duty to give free rides, but sometimes a hitchhiker will hop in uninvited. Janeth González, 20, who climbed into a car stopped at a light, told the stranger at the wheel that she was headed to her home in downtown Havana. No big deal -- ''Even the police do it,'' she said.

If only we can learn form those unselfish and carbon-neutral example of egalitarian bliss!

Playing Ostrich

Today, on the 4th anniversary of Cuba’s Black Spring, I expected to be able to post several articles from the American press commemorating the unjust and arbitrary incarceration of 20 of their brother journalist in Cuba by Castro’s totalitarian repression machine.

Not that I have any illusions that the American press gives a fig about the plight of journalists in Cuba, they’re more concerned about their infatuation with socialism and command economies.

But being a self absorbed and self centered bunch, I believed that they would have some coverage of the solemn anniversary just so they could remind us how brave , indispensable and important they like to believe journalists are.

But as of 10:00 this morning, all I found was an AP article, from yesterday afternoon, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer. And this after doing a few news searches using different keywords and names. A similar article was posted in “The Nuevo Herald” in Spanish.

The American press has decided to stick their head in the sand, to be kind, play ostrich and ignore the anniversary.

In South Florida were there are over 800,000 Cuban-Americans, the three major English newspapers have decided not to mention the milestone.(at least in their online editions) Not even print the AP piece.

The Sun Sentinel, whose parent company, The Tribune Co., just had their ace journalist Gray Marx, in Cuba expelled for telling a truth or two, closed it’s Cuban Notebook this week saying it would return on April 1st.

This is what was not worth carrying in the local papers of Cubandom:

Gathering at dawn for a 12-hour protest, the women erected metal bars under a staircase and stood in the fake prison cell one at a time in half-hour shifts. They sipped coffee and chatted quietly while going without food. On the opposite wall, they hung a Cuban flag scrawled with the names of their jailed loved ones.

They did this even after being warned not to:

She said Communist Party officials and others have visited leading activists in recent days, attempting to dissuade them from holding public acts to mark the anniversary of the crackdown."They told us the country was living through difficult moments and that we shouldn't upset public order because the people could attack us," she said.

That’s courage. Most people would have just closed their notebook and stuck their head in the sand.

PRIMAVERANEGRA TV

Successful Cuban Tourism Exhibit

Cuba's Official Propaganda Agency, Prensa Latina, reports that its new campaign to attract European tourists to the island prison got off to a great start with the successful introduction of it's new slogan:"Viva Cuba".

In attendance at the Cuban Booth at the 32nd Annual International Tourism fair in Paris were Cuban Ambassador Rogelio Sanchez Levis and Cuban Tourism Ministry delegate Carmen Casal.

According to the official report, "Visitors and tour operators went to the Cuban pavilion and enjoyed Cuban typical drinks and the good music during the inauguration."

Casals added that "the stand (was) quite visited and that Cuba has reached positive results in other editions."

We at La Contra Revolucion could not be happier with all the traffic at the Cuban booth since some 30 Reporters Without Borders activists unveiled their new slogan for Cuba: "Viva Cuba Libre" by demonstrating "in front of Cuba’s stand at the tourism fair in Paris, unfurling banners, putting up posters and demanding the release of the 25 journalists detained in Cuba. Wearing black T-shirts with the words “Cuba = prison,” they covered the stand with adhesive black stripes symbolising the bars of a prison. "

Successful indeed!

NUMB

Today I'm Cuban - Irish.

Cubish, if you will.

And I present to you a song that's near and dear to my heart. It is a song from The Ambassadors of IRISHNESS: U2.

What can I say...it reminds me of a little Island, no, not Irie, another Island where I used to live.

Don’t move
Don’t talk out of time
Don’t think
Don’t worry
Everything’s just fine
Just fine

Don’t grab
Don’t clutch
Don’t hope for too much
Don’t breath
Don’t achieve
Or grieve without leave
Don’t check
Just balance on the fence
Don’t answer
Don’t ask
Don’t try and make sense
Don’t whisper
Don’t talk
Don’t run if you can walk
Don’t cheat
Compete
Don’t miss the one beat
Don’t travel by train
Don’t eat
Don’t spill
Don’t piss in the drain
Don’t make a will
Don’t fill out any forms
Don’t compensate
Don’t cower
Don’t crawl
Don’t come around late
Don’t hover at the gate
Don’t take it on board
Don’t fall on your sword
Just play another chord
If you feel you’re getting bored

I feel numb
(Gimme some more)
Don't be unhappy
Don't be unkind
(Gimme some more of that stuff)

It's not that hard
I feel numb
Just try and unwind
(Gimme some more
Too much is not enough)
I feel numb
(Gimme some more)
Don’t change your brand
Don’t listen to the band
Gimme what I don’t get
Don’t gape
Don’t ape
Don’t change your shape

I feel numb
(Gimme some more)
Have another grape
(Too much is not enough )
I feel numb
(Gimme some more
A piece of me
Gimme some more
Gimme some more of that stuff)
A piece of me
Yeah, yeah

I feel numb
Don’t plead
Don’t bridle
I feel numb
Don’t shackle
Don’t grind
Don’t curve
Don’t swerve
I feel numb
Don’t lie
Die
Serve

I feel numb
Don’t theorize
Realise
Polarise
Chance
Dance
Dismiss
Apologise

I feel numb
I feel numb
Don’t spy
Don’t lie
Don’t try
I feel numb

Imply
Detain
Explain
Start again

I feel numb

I feel numb

I feel numb
Don’t triumph
Don’t coax
Don’t cling
Don’t hoax
I feel numb
Don’t freak
Peak
Don’t leak
Don’t speak
I feel numb

I feel numb
I feel numb
Don’t project
Don’t connect
Protect
Don’t expect
Suggest

I feel numb
Don’t project
Don’t connect
Protect
Don’t expect
Suggest
I feel numb

(Gimme some more)
Don’t struggle
Don’t jerk
Don’t collar
Don’t work
(Gimme some more of that stuff, )
love
Don’t wish
Don’t fish
I feel numb
Don’t teach
Don’t reach
(Gimme some more
Too much is not enough)
I feel numb
(Gimme some more)

Don’t borrow
Don’t break
Don’t fence
Don’t steal
(Gimme what I don’t take )
Don’t pass
Don’t press
I feel numb
Don’t try
Don’t feel

(Gimme some more)
I feel numb
Don’t touch
Don’t dive
Don’t suffer
Don’t rhyme
Don’t fantasize
Don’t rise
Don’t lie

I feel numb
Don’t project
Don’t connect
Protect
I feel numb
Don’t expect
Suggest
I feel numb
Don’t project
Don’t connect
Protect
I feel numb
Don’t expect
Suggest
I feel numb
I feel numb

Wonder Why?

RSF Commemorates "Black Spring"

Reporters Without Borders continues its tireless fight to call attention to the repression and brutality of the hard-line communist regime in Havana.

Cuba has the highest number of reporters imprisoned, per capita. Some 25 languish in Castro's gulags just for trying to tell a story. Many,20 to be exact, where rounded up between March 18, 2003 and March 21, 2003; what we now call "Black Spring" and solemnly commemorate this weekend.

Spring just as sombre for independent press four years after Black Spring crackdown

Four years after the March 2003 crackdown, Cuba still has 270 prisoners of conscience including 25 journalists, which makes the island the world’s second biggest prisoner for the press after China, Reporters Without Borders said today, after staging a protest at Cuba’s stand in the international tourism fair in Paris.

Some 30 Reporters Without Borders activists demonstrated today in front of Cuba’s stand at the tourism fair in Paris, unfurling banners, putting up posters and demanding the release of the 25 journalists detained in Cuba. Wearing black T-shirts with the words “Cuba = prison,” they covered the stand with adhesive black stripes symbolising the bars of a prison. Reporters Without Borders also demonstrated in front of the Tunisian and Egyptian stands.

Unfortunately, as RSF, reminds us, Cuba's "Black Spring" has been a perpetual one. Even journalists that are not jailed are not safe from the regime's viciousness and vindictiveness. Their brutal attempts to silence the voice of the Cuban people knows no bounds. Repression and brutality rule.

Whether or not they are imprisoned, Cuba’s independent journalists have been having a particularly trying March. Twenty of them, who have been held ever since the March 2003 “Black Spring” and who are serving jail terms ranging from 14 to 27 years, continue to be mistreated by their guards and their health has suffered.

Examples of the horrific treatment that Cuban independent journalist must endure here

Ricardo Alarcon is having homo-erotic fantasies about his master again. Yesterday he stated that Fidel is in "perfect shape" and that he would dominate...I mean "nominate him" for "president" in Cuba's parrot parliament.

But hmmmm.... Today we find out that Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, got a security
briefing

detailing the state's plans when Cuban leader Fidel Castro dies. It was delivered in person by Maj. Gen. Douglas Burnett, adjutant general of the Florida National Guard, who on his way in, quipped he had asked military chaplains to work on two prayers - no hurricanes and to "keep Castro alive a little longer."

Say what?!? alive a little longer?

Now this is where it gets good:

Crist, it turns out, was not supposed to be in Tallahassee today. He was supposed to be in Sanibel, (I wish I was in Sanibel), giving a "keynote" address on homeland secutrity which was cancelled because he had to deal "with another homeland security matter."

The other security matter was the briefing from Gen. Burnett. HMMMM????

When asked about Gov. Crist's briefing from Gen. Burnett, Carter Johnson, deputy director of legislative affairs for the Department of Military Affairs said "There's always new developments. He's getting better intel than there was three weeks ago,"

Pal Carajo.

What was THAT all about?

The 1.4 Billion Dollar Man UPDATED

Last year when Forbes magazine estimated Fidel Castro’s net worth to be $900,000,000, the tyrant bust a gut, claiming he had no personal possessions; kind of like a Franciscan that had taken a vow of poverty. He might have taken a vow of poverty, a vow to keep the Cuban people in poverty and misery.

One ex-Cuban official, Jesús Marzo Fernández, on local Mega TV’s Polos Opuestos, claims that when Forbes compiled the list, it was too conservative in its calculations.

Marzo, who has testified before congress on the matter told Maria Elvira Salazar, that he estimates Castro to be worth more like $1,400,000,000.

According to Marzo, the wealth is accumulated by skimming from the myriad of “state-owned” companies that are run by Cuban officials.

Nuevo Accion has the list of what all the top criminals are worth here

Now, this is just the cash that he's been able to syphon away. The list doesn't include the wealth stolen from its rightful owners or the real-state value of the lands also stolen by the "robolucion"

Since some where having problems finding the list at Nuevo Accion, I copied it for your reading displeasure:

Raúl Castro Ruz – $400,000,000 Chairman del Grupo de Administración Empresarial (GAESA).

Ramiro Váldes Menéndez - 100,000,000. Comandante de la Revolución , Presidente de Electrónica
COPEXTEL y actualmente nombrado Ministro de Comunicaciones y Cibernética

The $50,000,000 Club:

Vilma Espin, Presidenta de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC); Raul’s wife and Cuba’s unoffical “First Lady”
Orlando Rodriguez Romay, ex - Ministro del Instituto Nacional de la Pesca;
Osmany Cienfuegos Gorriarán, ex - Ministro del Turismo, del Ministerio de la onstrucción.

The $20,000,000 Club:

Familiares de José Abrantes Fernández, ex – Ministro del Interior;
Abraham Caciques, Presidente-Fundador de Cubanacán, S. A.;
José Luis Padrón, Presidente del CIMEX (ex – coronel y Ayudante personal de José Abrantes);
Marcos Portal, ex – Ministro de la Industria Básica (casado con una hija de Raúl Castro);
Julio Casas Regueiro, General de División /Vice – Ministro Primero del Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (F.A.R.);
Eusebio Leal Spengler, Director de HABAGUANEX (empresa turística) y Director del Casco Histórico;
Guillermo García Frías, Comándate de la Revolución y Director de Flora y Fauna;
Abelardo Colome Ibarra, General de Ejercito y Ministro del Interior.

The $10,000,000 Club:

Eduardo Bencomo Zurdo, Presidente del Banco Financiero Internacional;
Emilio Aragonés Navarro, Coordinador del M-26-7, ex – Ministro de la Pesca, ex – Embajador en Argentina y ex – Presidente del Banco Financiero Internacional;
Roberto Robaina, ex – Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores – y su esposa Marilena García, ex – Directora
de Relaciones Internacionales de Corporación Rumbos,
Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, ex – Ministro de Comercio Exterior.
Familiares de Manuel “Barba Roja” Pineiro, ex – Vice – Ministro del Interior;
Familiares de Aldo Santamaría Cuadrado, ex – Vice – Ministro de la Marina de Guerra;
Ramón Díaz Vallina, Vice – Ministro de Salud Publica;
Orlando Perez Rodriguez, ex – Presidente del Banco Nacional de Cuba y Financiero del CIMEX;
Hector Rodriguez Llompart, ex Ministro-Presidente del Comité Estatal de Colaboración Economica (C.E.C.E.);
Alicia Alonso, Directora del Ballet Nacional de Cuba;
Miguel Brugueras del Valle, ex – Embajador de Cuba en Panama;
Silvio Rodriguez Domínguez, Canto-autor;

Armando Hart Davalos, ex – Ministro de Cultura;
Alfredo Guevara Valdes, ex – Presidente del ICAIC (Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematografica);
Lucindo Del Rosal, - principal negociante en Venta de Armas (yerno de Ramiro Valdes);
Rogelio Acevedo, Presidente del Instituto Internacionl de Aeronáutica Civil (IIAC);

Diocles Torralba, ex – Ministro de Transporte;
Juan Almeida Bosque, Comandante de la Revolución, recibió un aporte directamente del
Comandante en Jefe de 10 MILLONES DE DOLARES;
Jesús Perez Otán, Ministro de la Industria Ligera;
Ulises Rosales delToro, Ministro de la Industria Azucarera.

The 5,000,000 Club:

Francisco Portela, Director de CUBATABACO;
Javier Ardizones, ex – Embajador en Italia y ex Presidente de Turística Gran Caribe;
Ramón Cuenca, Representante de la ANDRE, firma suiza;
Ramón Martínez Noa, Negociador de Equipos y Materiales;
Jorge Lezcano Pérez, Embajador en Brasil;
Carlos Pérez, ex – Ministro de la Agricultura y Director del Grupo Nacional de Cítricos;
Tomas Benítez Martínez, General de Brigada, ex – Director de Turística Gaviota y Director de
CUBAPETROLEO (CUPET);
Fernando Fernández Cossio, ex – Embajador en México y Presidente del Grupo Hotelero Horizontes;
Enrique Luzón Battle, General de Brigada, ex – Ministro de Transporte;
Gumersindo González, ex – Vice – Ministro de Transporte y Director del Banco para el Financiamiento del Turismo (FINTUR);
Silvino Colas Sánchez, General de Brigada, ex – Ministro de Comunicaciones;
Juan José Vega, Presidente de CUBANACAN;
Conrado Martínez Corona, Presidente del Poder Popular de Ciudad de la Habana;
Pablo Milanes, Canto-autor;

Raúl Fraga, (sobrino de Fidel Castro);

Manuel Vila Sosa, Presidente de Rumbos, S. A., ex – Ministro de Comercio Interior;
Alberto Cárdenas, ex – Vice – Presidente de CUBANACAN y sociedad con el panameño Víctor Arraz;
José Ramón Fernández, Vice – Presidente del Consejo de Ministros;
Francisco J. Soberon, Presidente del Banco Central de Cuba

y otros cientos de beneficiarios, de los cuales no tenemos todavía la información.

B A N C A R R O T A

Un corto mensaje al Presidente de la Republica Bolivariana Socialista de Venezuela:

Distinguido Hugo Chávez:

Una Palabra:

B A N C A R R O T A

Pregúntele a la antigua Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas que quiere decir eso.

Cuba's tourism trade cooling off

Alguien tiene que pagar la cuenta.

Pig

This pig has two Cuban connections. He currently resides on the island, courtesy of Uncle Sam.


The other is more disturbing.

pig

"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head,"




Daniel Pearl (l) was married to Marianne Pearl (r) who was 7 months pregnat when he was murdered by the pig above.


Marianne's mother is Cuban. She married a Marianne's Dutch father and left Cuba in 1965. Marianne was raised in Paris.

She returned to Cuba in June of 2006 and wrote on article on The Ladies in White for Glamour magazine.

El Museo del Resolver

Cuando se caiga Fidel…….bueno ya se cayó y se reventó y sigue la tragedia…

Empiezo de nuevo:

Cuando Cuba sea libre, Libre con L mayúscula, tenemos que construir un Museo. Un tributo al cubano.

El Museo del Resolver.

En este Museo se exhibirían todos los inventos habidos y por haber que el cubano ha tenido que inventar, para poder sobrevivir, resolver.

Inventos mecánicos, culinarios y hasta gramáticos.





Un testimonio a un pueblo que mientras más tratan de romperle el espíritu, mas rebelde es.

Un pueblo que mientras más le quitan, más crea e inventa.

Un pueblo que mientras mas mentiras le dicen, mas busca la verdad, hasta que un día hasta la misma libertad se resolverá.

Oil Wars.....

A short , short time from now.......
In an ocean close by.......

Oil Wars.......

Yesterday, the Senators in league with the Sith introduced a bill allowing the Federation to help what's left of the empire drill for Dillithium Crystals...wait wrong sci-fi movie...i mean oil in Cuban waters.

Today we learn from the Sun Sentinel, that freshman Jedi, Mel Martinez, exiled from the Cuban Sith by the emperor, has introduced a competing legislation to punish those that do business with the Sith........

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mel Martinez introduced a bill Wednesday that would punish
foreign companies and investors who help Cuba drill for oil and natural gas near the shores of Key West.

Martinez, a Republican, and Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, are trying to fend off another bill also introduced Wednesday that would allow oil rigs as close as 45 miles from the Florida coast and ease the U.S. embargo so that American companies can drill in Cuban waters

``This bill sends a clear message that any attempt to develop Cuba's oil exploration
program will be met with strong sanctions,'' Martinez said. ``Supporting the Castro regime in the development of its petroleum is detrimental to U.S. policy and our national security.''

Set you light sabers on stun.....

Slick ?

Florida lawmakers are against a proposed bill that could allow energy firms to drill close to Florida's coast and duck the Cuba embargo.

WASHINGTON --Florida's two senators expressed alarm Tuesday over a proposal they said would put oil rigs just 45 miles from the Florida coast -- and skirt the embargo against Cuba by allowing U.S. firms to explore for oil and gas in Cuban waters.

Plans to introduce Senate legislation today come as gasoline prices are rising and just months after Florida lawmakers labored to keep oil exploration as far as 325 miles from the Florida coast.

That's classic.

"Protect our coasts at all costs." "No drilling." " Never." " Ever." " The environment comes first. Always."

"What's that you say?"

"We can help the Castro government and chip at the embargo at the same time?"

"Lets Drill!" " What are we waiting for?"

"Let's Drill those Cubans!"

.... or is a case of Ecoterroristic blackmail?

"Give us money to drill or we'll do it ourselves with our crack team of oil spillers err drillers"

Blogger's Blues

You get up early. It's now pitch black at 5:45. The dogs look puzzled and yawn as they wag their tails. At least somebody is happy to see you.

The news services all have the usual crap. Castro the "Comeback Kid". Maybe he''ll join Bill Clinton and Bush 41 in raising money for some yet to happen catastrophe? Then there's the mandatory daily dose of Cuban-Exile name calling and blaming from some Podunk foreign policy whiz living in a landlocked State. It's like a daily dose of "Aceite De Higado De Bacalao"; it's supposed to make you strong but it takes like , well you know.....There's also some story about the regime commemorating the failed assault on Cuba's Presidential Palace 50 years ago yesterday and how in typical Stalinist fashion history has been rewritten to protect the guilty and yet the names remain the same. Nothing exciting to report. You face a glowing LCD as empty as your head.

So anyway.., you stumble into the bathroom to tell your wife about how you have nothing to post on the blog. "Sho Don't", she says through a mouth full of "super whitening Crest". (she's talented).

But... there's like 50 people who expect SOMETHING.

And so you pack up the laptop and head to the office in your 1985 RX-7 ,(if it starts), all the way thinking, obsessing about what to post.

And then you realize that if nothing exciting is happening in Cuba, as inconvenient as that may be for you, imagine what it means to those 11 million people stuck in a stagnant cesspool of misery, hopelessness and corruption. another day of the same.

and you go out and look some more only you're not looking for excitement or Earth shattering news, just a little hope.

Cuba's Repressive Wave

Cubans in the island, especially dissidents, are in the grip of an unprecedented wave of repression.

The acts of repudiation, jailings and harassments have all increased.

Guillermo Fariñas was beaten, not by “civilians”, but by government security agents.

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas’ organization, Movimiento Cristiano Liberación, has been warned to cease and desist its pro “Proyecto Varela” activities or else.

The internet connections at the US Interests Section, which the internal dissidence uses to connect with the “real” world, are sporadic at best, supposedly as a result of Ramiro Valdes’ “colt taming” activities. The information Minister also has his cyber warriors out there cancelling dissident’s e-mail accounts.
The regime has mounted search and destroy missions on TV antennas and satellite dishes to further isolate the Cuban population.

In a few weeks, April 1, new workplace regulations go into effect. The regulations are aimed at increasing productivity and reducing graft in Cuba’s notoriously inefficient command economy.

Raul Castro continues to make the rounds to Cuban military installations and presiding over military exercises, pictures of which are obediently broadcast on state TV, to make sure that the populace is aware of the military’s preparedness, loyalty and deadly force which can be unleashed at a second’s notice to brutally crush any rebellion or protest. The Cuban army has been at a state of readiness since Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, fell ill. The military exercises are code-named “Operation Caguairán”.


Meanwhile, with the fourth anniversary of the “Black Spring” coming up, the Ladies in White have asked the UN’s Council on Human Rights to intervene in the release of the 59 ,out of the original 75, political prisoners that were incarcerated on trumped – up charges back in 2003 that are still being detained.

No doubt their plea will fall on deaf ears since Cuba along with China, two of the worse Human Rights violating countries on the planet, have seats on the “Council”. How absurd.

As a matter of fact, Felipe Perez Roque, the Cuban Foreign Minister, is in Europe to attend the Council’s annual session.