Thread: Cuban president to visit Russia, alliance grows

Cuban president to visit Russia, alliance grows
Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:13am EST

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro will visit Russia next year, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, in a new sign that Moscow is reviving a Cold War-era trade and military alliance.

Moscow also repeated calls for Washington to lift the economic embargo imposed on the Caribbean island in 1962 when Castro's brother, Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro, was in power.

"Next year we await ... Raul Castro in our country and this will be yet another contribution to the development of ties," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in Moscow.

"Your visit is yet more evidence that relations between Cuba and Russia are developing in a very dynamic way," NTV television showed Medvedev saying.

Russia has been trying to restore its Cold War-era alliance with Cuba by expanding trade and military ties.

Its efforts are intended partly to show displeasure with the United States, accused by Medvedev last week of implementing unilateral policies that have destabilized the world.

"Cooperation between Russia and Cuba in the military- technical sphere is developing normally ... and every country has the right to define with whom it will develop such cooperation," Perez Roque said after talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"Cuba will not ask permission from any other country and will not explain it to anyone. Cooperation between Russia and Cuba in this area will always be directed to widening the defense capabilities of Cuba," said Perez Roque, who also had talks on Monday with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov said Russia's military cooperation with Cuba was "an important component of our close partnership."

Moscow was Havana's main benefactor during the Cold War but the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 dealt a heavy blow to Cuba's economy. Relations soured in the 1990s.

Medvedev said the two countries had "overcome that pause" and contacts were now intense. Perez Roque handed Medvedev an invitation to visit Cuba, NTV television said.

United Nations member states voted in record numbers last month to urge the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba.

Asked by a reporter whether he would advise U.S. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to scrap the embargo, Lavrov said: "We hope that the voice of the international community which has been heard in the United Nations yet again will of course be taken into account."

Moscow has been taking a greater interest in Latin America, a strategy that political analysts and diplomats say has more to do with selling arms to the region than with flexing its muscles under the nose of the United States.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)

"Cuba will not ask permission from any other country and will not explain it to anyone. Cooperation between Russia and Cuba in this area will always be directed to widening the defense capabilities of Cuba," said Perez Roque,

???

who the fark wants to invade Cuba??? The damn Cubans don't want to invade Cuba and they are forced to live there!

I think that's a ruse...Mother Russia wants the cold war back...and she wants to be not even 100 miles off the coast of the US!

F*cking Russia, we need to watch the f*ck out for them.

Cuba's Castro: I quit as party chief 5 years ago
Paul Haven, Associated Press – Tue Mar 22, 4:48 pm ET

HAVANA – Fidel Castro's surprise announcement that he stepped down as head of the Communist Party five years ago — despite widespread belief he remained in charge — marks the bizarre end of an era for a nation, and a man, whose fates have been intertwined for more than half a century.

The 84-year-old revolutionary icon made the revelation Tuesday — with word of the resignation thrown in as an aside halfway through an opinion piece that otherwise focused on President Barack Obama.

The declaration raises fundamental questions about just how much power Fidel has been wielding behind the scenes since his 2006 illness, and to what extent his 79-year-old brother has had freedom to make his own decisions as he pushed the country to enact sweeping economic reforms.

It also gives the Castros an opportunity to tap a possible future successor with their naming of a new party No. 2 — one without their famous last name.

They might select from a cadre of younger leaders who could carry the fiscal changes forward, and perhaps even reboot relations with the United States. Alternatively, the brothers could look to the past by promoting a loyal-but-weathered veteran of the revolution that brought them to power in 1959.

The answer will likely become apparent through a high-level game of musical chairs that Fidel's departure will engender in the upper reaches of the Communist Party hierarchy during a crucial Communist Party Congress next month.

In Tuesday's opinion piece, Castro said that when he got sick in 2006, "I resigned without hesitation from my state and political positions, including first secretary of the party ... and I never tried to exercise those roles again."

He said that even when his health began to improve, he stayed out of state and party affairs "even though everyone, affectionately, continued to refer to me by the same titles."

In the opinion piece, Fidel indicated that, with or without formal titles, he will always be an intellectual force in the revolution, a refrain he has uttered several times in recent years.

"I remain and will remain as I have promised: a soldier of ideas, as long as I can think and breathe," he writes.

The article, which was published on the state-run Cubadebate website overnight and in newspapers Tuesday morning, caught many people by surprise.

"It's incredible. Nobody can believe it," said Magaly Delgado, a 72-year-old Havana retiree who was clutching a copy of Granma, the Communist Party daily. "I always thought he was still in charge. ... He never said he had resigned."

The Cuban government had no immediate comment on the revelation, which appeared to tweak history. Fidel stepped down in 2006 due to a serious illness that almost killed him. In an official proclamation released on July 31, 2006, he provisionally delegated most of his official duties to his brother — including the presidency and head of the party.

In February 2008 he announced he was officially stepping down as president, and Raul Castro was formally picked to succeed him by the country's parliament a few days later. But no reference was made to Fidel leaving his party post, and Cuban officials and ordinary people have referred to him as the party leader ever since.

Even after the announcement, the Communist Party website on Tuesday listed Fidel as first secretary, with Raul as second secretary.

It is widely expected that Raul will formally be named to the top spot at the April congress, and analysts say the choice of second secretary will say a lot about how the brothers envision a transition to an eventual post-Castro era.

"They could send a startling message by picking somebody young or out of the party, or somebody whose name is not easily recognized," said Robert Pastor, a professor at American University and longtime adviser on hemispheric affairs. "Most people would guess, however, that they will pick ... an octogenarian who fought in the revolution."

While the government historically has focused on the day-to-day running of the country, the party is tasked with guiding the Cuban people on their path to communism. In practice, no major policy can be passed without the party first agreeing.

There are a scattering of young leaders including Lazaro Exposito, the fast-charging Communist Party chief in Santiago de Cuba, and Lazara Lopez Acea, the 47-year-old top party leader for Havana, as well as Bruno Rodriguez, the 53-year-old foreign minister, and Marino Murillo, the 50-year-old economy minister.

But none appears ready to step into such a high-profile role, and neither Fidel nor Raul has ever indicated publicly that one is favored over the others. Since taking office, Raul has also elevated a number of generals to high-ranking jobs at state-run entities, but they are technocrats largely unknown to the public.

Some young politicians might be reluctant to step into such a senior position, conscious that the career path of those who have flown too high, too fast, has usually been short. In 2009, Raul suddenly fired two of the island's rising political stars: Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, then 43, and Vice President Carlos Lage, who at 57 was relatively youthful given the advanced ages of most government officials. Both were captured on a secret video tape drinking whiskey and joking about the country's old leaders.

"The truth is Raul's experience with young leaders hasn't been very good these past few years, so I think he will name a historic figure," said Eduardo Bueno, a professor of international relations at Mexico's Iberoamerican University. "That said, if the younger generation could take a step forward it would be a great signal, including for Raul, that things are finally moving and the country's long paralysis is over."

The safest choice for the No. 2 party spot would probably be Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, a strict disciplinarian of unquestioned loyalty who has been with the Castros since their guerrilla days in the Sierra Maestra mountains and once extracted a bullet from Argentine revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara's foot.

Machado Ventura, 80, is already Raul Castro's first vice president and holds several other key posts in the government.

Another old-timer who could get the nod is Ramiro Valdes, 78, who is vice president of Cuba's supreme governing body, the Council of State, and oversees the crucial ministries of telecommunications and construction from a new position carved out for him in January.

But neither choice is likely to shake things up politically, or result in improved relations with the United States, which has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba for 48 years.

Bilateral ties have plunged into a deep freeze recently due to the conviction earlier this month of U.S. contractor Alan Gross, who received a 15-year prison sentence for bringing satellite equipment into the country illegally.

A congressional staffer involved in U.S.-Cuba relations said Fidel's official departure from the party will not lead, at least in the short term, to improved relations with Washington.

"It will not have much of a political impact on bilateral relations because Raul has the same last name," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. He said it would take the death of one or both of the two brothers to change perceptions in the United States.

"His stepping down will be a watershed on the island, for sure, and it will be seen as such by most in Washington," he said. "But some people will still say Fidel is calling the shots, whether or not it is really the truth anymore."

However the party shake-up plays out, it is likely to leave Raul with more room to transform the island's ever-weak economy.

The Communist Party Congress at which Fidel's successor is likely to be picked has been called to set a new economic path for the country, one which Raul has been pushing since he took office.

Many of the changes Raul has already embraced, like allowing Cubans to go into business for themselves, rent homes and even hire employees, have long been anathema to his brother.

There has been speculation — impossible to confirm in Cuba's hermetically sealed political culture — that Raul Castro would have moved the reforms along faster if not for his older brother's larger-than-life presence and continued influence behind the scenes.

Tomas Bilbao, the executive director of the Washington-based nonprofit Cuba Study Group, which supports increasing economic and academic exchanges with the island, said the impact of Fidel's resignation cannot be overstated.

"I think it's significant because if nothing else it's Fidel Castro sending a clear message that his brother is in charge of the country," he said. "It's a big boost in credibility for Raul and the reforms he's trying to push."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110322/...Jhc2Nhc3Ryb2k-

Double Post

Jimmy Carter to meet Castro, religious leaders in Cuba
Jailed U.S. man likely focus of Carter Cuba trip
Jeff Franks – Sun Mar 27, 4:28 pm ET

HAVANA (Reuters) – Former President Jimmy Carter will begin a three-day visit to Cuba on Monday for what is described as a "private, non-governmental mission" where the main topic may be the fate of a U.S. aid contractor jailed for setting up illegal Internet service. The timing, coming shortly after contractor Alan Gross was sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison, and Carter's past as an unofficial diplomatic troubleshooter suggest he will intervene on Gross's behalf, although no one has said so publicly.

The Carter Center said Cuba invited him down to "learn about new economic policies and the upcoming (Communist) Party congress and to discuss ways to improve U.S.-Cuba relations."

Gross is a major stumbling block for the longtime ideological enemies because the United States has said relations, which warmed modestly before his arrest, are on hold until he is free. After arrival with wife Rosalynn, Carter's first public event will be with Havana's Jewish community, supposedly the recipient of Gross's help in setting up Internet service under a U.S.-funded program outlawed in Cuba. Then he will see Cuban Catholic leader Cardinal Jaime Ortega, whose talks with President Raul Castro last year resulted in the release of most of the island's political prisoners.

On Tuesday, Carter, 86, will converse with Castro, 79, before a Wednesday press conference and his departure.

Castro is in the midst of preparing for a Communist Party congress in April where reforms to Cuba's Soviet-style economy are expected to be approved. Neither Gross nor former leader Fidel Castro were on the schedule issued by the Cuban government, but Carter seems likely to meet with them and perhaps Cuban dissidents as well. He has played a mediating role in other international problems, including last August when he went to North Korea to secure the release of an American imprisoned there.

RESPECTED BY THE CASTROS

There has been no indication he is coming to Cuba at the behest of President Barack Obama, so it is not clear what he can offer the Cubans, but he is respected by the Castros. In a 2002 visit he called for an end to the longstanding U.S. trade embargo against the island, but also said Cuba needed democracy and better human rights, and gave dissidents a boost by publicly mentioning their movement.

While in the White House, he took steps such as lifting a general ban on U.S. travel to Cuba and remains the only U.S. president, in or out of office, to visit the island since the 1959 revolution that turned it into a communist state. What Carter could do, said John McAuliff of the New York-based Fund for Reconciliation and Development, is act as an intermediary between the U.S. and Cuban governments. "Hopefully, Carter can close the gap, not only by facilitating a humanitarian resolution of the Alan Gross case, but also by encouraging a positive response from Washington," said McAuliff, who advocates improved U.S.-Cuba relations.

Obama has eased U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba and restarted talks on migration and postal issues, but McAuliff said more steps, such as removing the island from the list of terrorist-sponsoring countries, are needed.

Gross, 61, was in Cuba working under a U.S. program promoting political change on the island, which Cuba views as subversive. A Cuban court this month found he committed "acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state" and gave him a 15-year sentence. The U.S. has said he was in Cuba only to provide Internet access to Jewish groups and committed no crime. It has demanded his release, which many think Cuba is willing to do because it made its point about displeasure with the U.S. pro-democracy programs and because of humanitarian concerns.

Gross's 26-year-old daughter and 88-year-old mother have been diagnosed with cancer since his arrest in December 2009. Wife Judy Gross said on Saturday the family was "desperate for his return home."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_cuba_usa_carter

Congressman Rivera: Today Jimmy Carter Sided with Tyranny over Freedom
By Alberto de la Cruz, on March 30, 2011, at 7:30 pm

“All that is left for President Carter to do is register as a foreign agent for the Cuban government in the U.S. so he can continue to do their bidding once he leaves the captive island for a life of freedom in America.”

Washington, DC- Former President Jimmy Carter called for the release of the Cuban Five espionage network and the lifting of the United States embargo against Cuba today as he wrapped up a three day visit to the island.

Carter is visiting Cuba just weeks after the Castro dictatorship sentenced American citizen Alan Gross to a 15-year prison sentence on charges of subversion for distributing communications equipment to Jewish groups on the island. Gross has been imprisoned since December of 2009, and last month an Obama administration official agreed that Gross is a hostage of the Castro regime.

“Former President Carter has a long history of appeasing dictators like the Castro brothers and promoting unilateral concessions to dictatorial regimes. The results of these concessions have always been a complete failure in terms of promoting democratic reforms.” said Congressman David Rivera (FL-25). “Today Carter continued his tradition of appeasing dictators by acting as a propaganda tool of the regime in calling for further unilateral concessions to the Castro dictatorship. All that is left for President Carter to do is register as a foreign agent for the Cuban government in the U.S. so he can continue to do their bidding once he leaves the captive island for a life of freedom in America.”

“The fact is the Castro regime continues to maintain a totalitarian dictatorship in Cuba, denying political freedoms and civil rights, including labor and press rights, to their citizens. By calling for concessions to the Castro dictatorship, President Carter shows his lack of concern for the decades-long denial of rights that led to the arrest of Gross, and the imprisonment of Cuban dissidents all over the island whose only crime was expressing disagreement with the dictatorship."

“Just as Alan Gross is a hostage of the Castro regime, the entire nation of Cuba is held hostage by the Castro brothers. All efforts should focus not only on liberating an American citizen who is being unjustly imprisoned, but also on liberating the Cuban people. Unfortunately, I know that that is not former President Carter’s priority."

“Today Jimmy Carter showed he is on the side of tyranny rather than freedom. His call for the release of the Cuban Five spies -- co-conspirators in the murder of American citizens and agents of the Castro dictatorship -- and for the ultimate unilateral concession of lifting the embargo on the regime is nothing short of shameful."

"Just as the Obama administration’s recent lifting of sanctions will not result in democratic concessions from the Castro dictatorship, Carter-style unilateral concessions have not worked to bring democracy to the island in the past and will not help liberate Alan Gross or the Cuban people in the future."

http://babalublog.com/2011/03/congre...-over-freedom/