Australians pack your bags

Because you are going to the communist paradise, where you will tour the best sites the revolution has to offer, and learn new dances like "Dengue Fever." So don't complain about some stupid blockade that is hardly enforced, and besides it does not apply to you. Ah, don't forget to visit Luis M. Garcia's blog, he will be happy to educate you before going and deprogram you after your return.

Is China too progressive for Cuba?

The question has been posed many times and the answer has been that Cuba (the castro brothers) will not allow for the China style economic model to develop on the island. Is the Chinese model too advanced, too progressive for Cuba? This story should tell you something about that exemplary Chinese system; it is still brutal! A leopard cannot change its spots, they just come in different sizes.

Pro-democracy Journalist Sentenced in China
By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews
October 26, 2006, 6:14 PM

Freelance journalist Li Jianping, who made his pro-democracy viewpoints known to the world from his Internet-based post inside China, was sentenced today in a court in Shandong province to a three-year prison term for "incitement to subvert state power."

As a participant in the 1989 demonstrations at Tiananmen Square -- an event which much of the world has forgotten in the wake of China's economic expansion -- Li became the unfortunate subject of a government campaign to quash dissident opinion.
The timing of Li's sentencing was suspect, as the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) pointed out today. Li's trial began and ended last April, though under Chinese law, the court should have about 45 days to make a decision. Instead, it waited until the very day of a state visit by French President Jacques Chirac.

The group Reporters Without Borders, which has also campaigned actively in the past for the release of journalists held hostage in Iraq, stated, "This is a slap in the face for French diplomacy, which claims to be engaged in a 'constructive' dialogue on human rights, despite the lack of concrete results."

According to reports, the objection from the Chinese government does not seem to be that Li made reports to people within his own country, but instead that his pro-democracy views were accessible via the Internet, outside China's borders.

Meanwhile, just a few days earlier, Yang Xiaoqing, another Chinese reporter arrested last January after he alleged in a Chinese business publication that a state-owned enterprise had been corrupted, was convicted on a similar count as Li, but sentenced to time served and released. "Guilty but free," wrote Reporters Without Borders. "This decision is a half-measure that fails to cover up the fact that he was imprisoned for no reason."

According to IFEX, Li is the eighth Chinese Internet correspondent to receive a prison sentence this year.

Castrogula's video

Lets not waste time and question the veracity of video showing the walking dead.

Despite the photo, Castro lives on

Observer foreign staff
Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer

After the days, weeks and months of rumours - each one turning out to be unfounded - that Cuba's leader of half a century had died, then came the picture. It was grainy, oddly sourced, but the real question was: What does it show? Castro, 80, dead from his battle with stomach cancer? Or just another piece of fakery in the slow departure of Fidel?

The face, at least, was right. The skin lesions, more visible on the right side of his face in recent months, were there. So was the beard and thinning hair. Last weekend South America's media was full of rumours that Fidel had died. As the week wore on, Brazil's President Lula da Silva spoke of him in the past tense. But last night, a defiant Castro appeared on Cuban state television for the first time in over a month denouncing the recent rumours as 'ridiculous'.

Questions are still being raised, however, about the source of the picture with the latest speculation alleging it came from a security source in Venezuela. In the photograph the border of the ribbon around Castro's neck looks strangely blurred on one side, while on the other it appears too visible through the beard, suggesting, perhaps, a head put on another body using the Photoshop image manipulation software. The face bears an uncanny resemblance to a picture of Castro taken sitting on a rocking chair released last month. Speaking defiantly on Cuban television, Castro said: 'Let's see what they say now.'

Sunday Fu Fú for two

The more time passes the more it seems like the peliroja and myself and the only two around for dinner. My son is a college junior, and my daughter is now applying, soon it will just be the two of us. The "Sunday Feast" as my soon used to call them have been reduced to a snack break. Yes, I am exaggerating a little, but I do miss having my whole family around me. Here is one of my Sunday's specials for two.

Start with a couple of good steaks. I prefer NY cut, but a tri-tip cut like the ones below will do just fine. Season with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

A little fresh minced garlic.

Mash a couple of boiled green plantains into the minced fresh garlic, and extra virgin olive oil.

Garnish with cut ripe tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, olive oil and season to taste.

Oh, I forgot the steaks. SMOTHER THEM WITH ONIONS!



Bon Appétit.

Castro's walking cadaver appears on Cuban tele

Le zumba el mango y le ronca los cojones, the old fossil appeared on video on Cuban television today wearing an Adidas tracksuit embroidered with “F. CASTRO.” I think that the “F” stands for “FUCK.” For about 7 minutes the ghostly castro read the national Cuban toilet paper (Granma), babbled a bunch of nonsense, walked, and even “used” the telephone; the telephone that he uses several times a day, according to him to talk to his "compañeros." He looks no better than he did 40 days ago, and makes less sense than ever.

They can show a thousand feet of video reel of the senile son of a bitch moving and talking, but as far as things go, he is as good as DEAD!

Check out the video by clicking [here].

H/T Abajo Fidel, Castrianism, Contactocuba

Cuba exports slave labor

What does castro, inc. do with 11 million slaves at their disposal, and don’t have enough for them to do in Cuba’s decrepit economy. They export them, and make them do the worst and most dangerous jobs, with all the money going to castro’s coffers.

''We started work at 3 in the afternoon and kept working until 7 a.m. the following day,'' plaintiff Alberto Justo Rodríguez told The Miami Herald. ``We worked in the worst, most uncomfortable parts of the ship. Where nobody wanted to go -- that's where they sent the Cubans.''

112 HOURS A WEEK

According to the suit, the men often worked 112 hours a week.

Their wage amounted to 3 ½ cents an hour. Read the whole story [here].

Su mente no le pertenece a el

Su mente le pertenece a la revolución…su cuerpo, y su alma. Si no lo cree, pregúntele a la Dr. Hilda Molina. This dispatch from his Cuban owners.

Cuban Whiz to Mental Math World Cup

Havana, Oct 27 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban young male owner of two mental arithmetic Guiness records, Yusnier Viera Romero, will travel to Germany Friday to attend the second world cup of this subject.

The event will take place in Giessen city November 2-5 and be attended by 40 world guests, while the Cuban and a Peruvian are the first Latin Americans to participate in such a contest.

The 24 year-old Viera Romero is computer science graduate and works as arithmetic professor in Havana University.

The Guiness records recently introduced were seeking for dates of the calendar, a 19.8 second search breaking the previous record of 24.96 seconds and another for the best quantity of correct answers in a minute.

The well-known Cuban mental calculator told AIN he has systematically trained for this competition and he will do his best to boost Cuba´s reputation.

El commimierda Brown for attorney general

When people refer to California as the “left” coast; some simply nod yes in some type of agreement. I believe that it is more moderate than leftist (notice I said leftist and not liberal), because what we do have here are some nut jobs that give us that leftist reputation, such much so, that some parts of the eastern US would not miss it if it fell into the ocean when the Big one hits. It would certainly put Colorado closer to the Pacific Ocean. After all we are the state that has produced some of the biggest commimierdas and sent them to the nation’s and state capitals; Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and who was that ex-governor of the State?

Jerry Brown of singer Linda Ronstadt (who?) fame is now running for attorney general for the State of California, after a not so illustrious career as mayor of Oakland, CA (sister city Santiago de Cuba). Now you know where this is headed. Brown once had a dinner meeting that lasted 8-hours with the coma-andante, and he is still drooling. This guy (Brown) has been totally enamored with the Cuban dictators, and assassins like ché, people that have absolutely no concept or reality of justice, people that like to implement their own sanguine rule, these are people that Brown looks up to. Yes, go ahead and elect Brown…we will deserve no less than the Big one.

The Red Side of Brown
A look at Jerry Brown's very radical friends.
by Kevan Blanche
10/27/2006

JERRY BROWN has been an unabashed and stalwart devotee of left-wing politics throughout his career, but in recent years he has led many to believe that he has joined the political mainstream. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and as mayor of Oakland, Brown has once again reaffirmed his longtime sympathies for leftist causes, while consistently working to undermine U.S. foreign policy with regard to Cuba's communist regime.
Read the rest [here].

Funeral of epic proportions

Check it out: Babalu has a great post on the planned funeral for a prince of communism. Sainthood will shortly follow.

How the times are a changing

Remember when communists were just content to kiss...

and now they must show the world their love toys...

Hugo Chavez Political Roundup

This just in, the coma-andante fidel castro is still in a coma? dead? Well, he wasn't there at Hugo's SNL gathering of The Killers. His (fidel) appearance is promised for next week.

Por la izquierda mi hermano

At the grocery store when asked, paper or plastic, I always choose plastic. Plastic is stronger, reusable and durable. I tend to use the bag one more time after the groceries are unloaded; picking up the poop the left behind by my Rat Terrier (Tanner T. Rex).

In Cuba, plastic grocery bags are considered contraband and are illegal except “in state-run stores.” The bags are a key element in the daily survival of Cubans, as these are a must have should a black market deal come up and the opportunity of providing a sustentative meal for the family.

The Washington Post has a story of a thriving black market in Cuba. Making a deal in the black market for rice and beans in Cuba is reminiscent of an illicit drug deal elsewhere in the world, and you can end up in prison just the same.

In Cuba, 'On the Left' Means A Flourishing Black Market
Guile and Caution Employed to Counter Chronic Shortages
By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Sunday, October 22, 2006; A14

HAVANA -- Most mornings a woman with darting brown eyes lingers here in the sticky hot corner of an open-air vegetable market.

She effects a casual stance, elbow propped nonchalantly against a cigar stand, waiting for the regulars. If she nods, her customers follow her to a side street.
A few quick, nervous glances and the woman reaches inside her blouse. From her bra, she removes her contraband -- neatly folded plastic grocery sacks, illegal except in state-run stores.

Five for one cent.

Read the rest of story [here].

44 years; little result

On October 22nd, 1962, President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.

The planes are gone, the navy is not there, and the missiles are gone too.

The oppressive castro monarchy remains. Resigned is the world that change will only come with the "natural" death of the bearded king.

Chillin' the champagne, por si acaso

I have had a bottle of champagne chilling in my refrigerator since God knows when. I do rotate the bottle to keep it fresh, remember champagne does not age well like wine. The bottle has been there for the day when Cuba’s sumo hijo de puta draws his last breath. Oh, please do not be offended, I am not celebrating “someone’s” death; I am celebrating a people’s prospect freedom.

This morning the bottle is still in my refrigerator chilling at a constant 40 degrees F, perfect for champagne.

According El Café Cubano and Killcastro, and the rumors coming out of Venezuela, I may have to pop that baby open before the day is over.

Raúl makes second change in Cuban government

Raúl “el todo poderoso” castro makes his second change in Cuba’s government since inheriting the island from his brother fidel. The new Minister of Transportation is now José Luis Sierra Cruz, sacked is Carlos Manuel Pazos Torrado. At 45 years old, Sierra Cruz is a member of the Political Bureau and of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). Raúl’s first change was when he made Ramiro Valdés Menendez the Minister of Informatics and Communications.

Castro is in a coma?

Contacto Magazine reports that two distinct sources have provided information that the dictator’s health has deteriorated significantly in recent days and that he is in a coma. Even dough raúl and other Cuban officials were going about touting the dictator's miraculous recuperation.

The crisis (going into coma)happened in a matter of hours. Contacto states that the sources preferred to remain anonymous (no kidding!).

Just a couple of days ago the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula referred to castro in a speech as if he were already DEAD. Was this a slip of the oratory organ or not?

Bloggers have superpowers

Coño, did you know that you [the bloggers] were so powerful. Well, apparently you are, at least according to the following...

Bloggers Stop Military Aircraft Sale to Chavez
Posted on : Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:08:00 GMT | Author : Institute of World Politics
News Category : PressRelease

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloggers have been credited with stopping the sale of European-made military aircraft to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

After Spain brokered the deal with Chavez last year, bloggers targeted the state-owned aircraft company, EADS-CASA, for violating the U.S. arms embargo against Venezuela. This week, online activists generated hundreds of letters and calls into key congressional offices to demand that EADS-CASA be disqualified from U.S. contracts. The effort followed questions that were raised about the deal by U.S. Senators in a letter to President Bush. Today, Spain announced that the sale was off. Read the rest [here].

Chávez suffers another setback

The devil-fighting dictator Hugo Chávez has spent billions of dollars in his effort to secure a seat on the UN Security Council, but all he has gotten is a couple of kicks in the culo. It looks like Chávez will not have its seat on the UNSC, much to the dismay of his Cuban managers. In the open it appears that he has plenty of supporters, and they are easy to spot, they are the ones with their hand extended waiting for the hand-outs. When it comes to the secret vote, the number of “friends” dwindle. And what about this other setback?

Deal to Sell Planes to Venezuela Off
Oct. 18, 2006, 6:48AM

MADRID, Spain — A Spanish company has dropped a U.S.-opposed, multimillion-dollar plan to sell 12 military transport planes to Venezuela, the Spanish foreign minister said Wednesday.

EADS-Casa, an affiliate of a European aerospace consortium, had been trying to get around U.S. objections to including American-made technology in the aircraft by substituting these parts with ones available on the international market.
But the expense made the idea commercially unfeasible, Miguel Angel Moratinos told a breakfast meeting of politicians and journalists.

"The financial effort needed to adapt to the technological requirements of the United States was not worth it," Moratinos said.

The planes were part of a broader package of military sales to Venezuela that the U.S. government has opposed as part of its opposition to President Hugo Chavez, whom it has called a destabilizing force in Latin America.

Caracas and Madrid agreed in November on the sale, which also calls for eight patrol boats to be built for Venezuela.

The total price tag was originally estimated at more than $2.2 billion making it Spain's largest-ever defense deal.

The plane component of the deal was estimated at $630 million. The aircraft in question were 10 C295 transport planes and two C2-195 patrol planes.

The U.S. government, which has repeatedly clashed with the leftist Chavez, had said it would not permit the sale if the planes included American parts _ forcing EADS-Casa to search on the international market for replacements.

Reading excellent anti-castro blogs

This guy has been reading Killcastro.

US population reaches 300 million

One day when Cuba becomes a free democratic society and Cubans start to move back to the island, will they have to start counting again?

In Queens, the nation’s most diverse county, Emanuel Plata weighed in at 6 pounds 15 ounces at Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was all but indistinguishable from the 4,400 other infants born there each year except for a tiny white cap, provided by hospital officials, that proclaimed in blue letters, “America’s 300 millionth baby.”

His mother, Gricelda Plata, 22, was draped in an oversized T-shirt that announced, “I delivered America’s 300 millionth baby.” She and the boy’s father, Armando Jimenez, 25, a cook who works in Forest Hills, are immigrants from Puebla, Mexico, and live in East New York, Brooklyn.

Read carefully, this is a clear description of the next 100 million.

Christmas comes early for some Venezuelans

El burro dictator of Venezuela must be very worried about his upcoming election in December…so much so, that he has authorized an early purchase of votes.

Chavez Says He'll Move Up Christmas Bonuses, Nacional Reports
By Guillermo Parra-Bernal

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, who faces re-election on Dec. 3, said he plans to move up the payment of year-end bonuses to civil servants, El Nacional reported on its online edition.

Chavez said he was told by Finance Minister Nelson Merentes that the necessary funds are available for the bonuses, which justify paying out the so-called Christmas bonuses earlier than usual, the newspaper reported.

Usually the government pays out the Christmas bonuses to government workers in mid-December, Universal reported. The paper didn't say how much the government would spend in bonuses.

Last week, Chavez supporters such as Deputy Ricardo Sanguino said congress, where his coalition holds all 167 seats, will help pass any presidential requests for additional budget funding before the election. Chavez is leading his opponents by more than 20 percentage points, according to recent polls, the newspaper said.

The longest ride

The Sun Devils went home back to Arizona defeated by the Trojans (28-21). We ran into the Devil's bus at In-N-Out Burger (simply the best) and you could see the weight of their defeat painted on their faces. And they still had a 7-hours ride back to Phoenix and ponder their lost. It was a highly contested battle for undefeated USC, but as in every great battle a hero emerged to safe the day.

I heard it was snowing in some parts East

My drive to work this morning. Cell phone picture through a dirty windshield.

Chávez: No more Polar

Hugo “el Burro” Chávez is prone to giving long drawn out speeches, but with much less eloquence than his Cuban homologue (not raúl, but the dying one). It seems that beer is one of the drinks of choice while listening to a Chávez speech. It is the anesthetic of choice to dull the mind and the numb the senses while the man on the podium tirades against the Devil and Mr. Danger. That is to be no more! Now Venezuelans, and specially the poor ones, must be sober when the tyrant speaks. The sale of beer right from the trucks that carry them will be forbidden in poor neighborhoods. So it shall be written, so it shall be done, says the Taliban leader of Venezuela.

Chavez's new No. 1 enemy? Beer
Oct. 11, 2006. 08:37 AM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's president has a new public enemy: beer trucks.
President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday he is fed up with seeing beer trucks sell alcohol directly on the streets of poor neighbourhoods.

"It's the degeneration of society. It's one of the causes of public drunkenness in the slums," he said as he declared he was putting a ban on the beer runs.

"As of today, I want the National Guard to stop the beer trucks and take them to the nearest command post. No more trucks," he said in a televised speech.

Chavez was speaking before participants in a state program aimed at helping alcoholics, the homeless and street children. The crowd had cheered him enthusiastically earlier in his speech, but his beer decree was met with a lukewarm response and scattered applause.
Chavez assured his audience he was not banning the consumption of alcohol.

The leader's order apparently was aimed at trucks that sell beer directly on the streets of poor neighbourhoods, rather than those delivering to liquor stores or other established businesses. Selling alcohol requires a licence.

Although drinking alcohol in public areas is illegal in Venezuela, bottles of beer are often downed on street corners, and it's a preferred thirst-quencher at public rallies — including during some of Chavez's long-running speeches.

Todo sigue igual

Así es, el estiércol en las aguas de saneamiento corren por las calles, el deterioro de la infraestructura y viviendas no se detiene, y la falta de esperanza aplasta el alma, pero todo anda bien, “todo sigue igual”. Para Alicia Alonso, primera jinetera de Cuba esto es aceptable. Ella hace ya tiempo se vendió al tirano (su proxeneta) para conseguir la fama haciendo el grande plié en la espalda de los cubanos.

Cuba.- Alicia Alonso asegura que la situación en Cuba es "de normalidad completa, absoluta y total"
ALICANTE, 10 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

La directora general del Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Alicia Alonso, aseguró hoy que la situación en Cuba "es de normalidad completa, absoluta y total", tras la información publicada en la revista estadounidense 'Time', según la cual el líder cubano Fidel Castro podría estar enfermo de cáncer y su estado podría ser "terminal".

Alonso, quien hoy presentó las representaciones 'Giselle' y sus 'Grandes Coreografías' en el Teatro Principal de Alicante, a preguntas de los periodistas comentó que pese a la retirada de Fidel Castro del primer plano de la política "todo sigue igual", y la "normalidad es completa, absoluta y total".

Al respecto, añadió que "seguimos adelante y seguimos creando, el país sigue adelante con toda su fuerza, tuvo la Cumbre, siguió adelante la cumbre --la XIV Cumbre de Países No Alineados (NOAL)--, se reunieron y todo pasó".

La directora general del Ballet Nacional de Cuba indicó que ha vivido la enfermedad del dirigente "primero con la misma preocupación que cuando nos enteramos que lo habían operado". No obstante, "después con tranquilidad, cuando todos vimos que se estaba recuperando y seguimos tranquilos porque se sigue recuperando".

Alicia Alonso puntualizó además que no hay que olvidar que "es un ser humano con mucha inteligencia, pero es un ser humano, y su organismo reacciona igual que todos nosotros y se está recuperando".

Casi por nada se me olvida incluir una foto de esta dama de renombre, y al mirar la foto más de cerca se ve necesitada de una buena urgente intervención de cirugía estética. ¿O será que ya la tuvo?

There is a dengue fever epidemic in Cuba too!

NRI (Non-Resident Indians) are canceling their trips to their homeland due to an outbreak of dengue fever. Indians are advised by family members to postpone their visits. This is the same fever that is affecting Cuba, where many have been infected and many have died. Not until recently did the Cuban regime finally admit it had a problem on its hands; however, it has not published any figures. IT’S A STATE SECRET!

Travelers to Cuba should be warned, but who to call to verify the intensity of the dengue fever epidemic? Cuban government agencies will tell you “aquí no tenemos ningún problema, todo está bajo control.” All is well, even the dead are using the telephone and continue to rule. NRC (Non-Resident Cubans) to use the same lingo used in the article, cannot simply e-mail tío Pepe and ask. If tío Pepe has e-mail he is going to be very careful in his response (remember STATE SECRET), and most likely tío Pepe is in the dark as most Cubans are to news of this kind.

I direct this message at our Canuck friends from the North that like to travel and holiday in the communist paradise. It is best to take precautions, or you will find yourself enveloped in a cloud of insecticide, and who knows how carcinogenic (cancer causing) it is. This warning does not apply to Hollywood lefties or Venezuelan dictators!

News of Dengue Fever Dampens Holiday Season Travel Plans to India

Anti-Semitic Cuba gets a pass

Is like the saying in Spanish, “dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres,” which simply translated means, “you are known by the company you keep.” Mamoud Ahmadinejad (Iran), Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Hezbollah, and dead terrorists like Yasser Arafat would love for nothing more than the complete obliteration of the state of Israel, and of every Jew from the Middle East. As visible and as boisterous as the Cuban regime has been with these “friends,” why has Cuba been given a pass? This is the question asked by writer Myles Kantor, addressed directly at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Perhaps ignorance explains the Wiesenthal Center’s silence, though the Castro regime has flagrantly demonized Israel for decades and supported its enemies. One would think an organization that monitors Latin America might have noticed this. Read the rest [here].

While Israel receives its strongest support from the American right, the majority of Jews in America are of the left leaning persuasion, which may account for the blinders when it comes to governments of similar ilk.

France to end smoking in public

Bathing and deodorant use remain optional. Story [here].

Little bro claims that big bro is not dying

Raúl castro wants you to know that the Time magazine article that reported that the fossil fidel has terminal cancer, is not true, that his big bro is not dying. I just think that it is somewhat funny that regardless of what publication reports it, it always blamed on the Miami press. Did the Miami Herald (ext. Granma) fail Havana? Dammit you guys, he is going to live to 100.

"He is not dying like some of the press in Miami is saying," Raul Castro told a youth congress in Havana. "He is constantly getting better."

Go [here] for the rest of the story.

Worshiping mass murderers

Columnist Paul Jackson has a problem with the cult worship of mass murderers like che and Mao. I know that you erudite people have heard it all before, but the only way to learn the lesson is by repetition.

Seeing red over Che togs
Cult 'hero' cold-blooded executioner
By PAUL JACKSON

I walk into a store on Stephen Avenue Mall and start browsing through the various knickknacks on display.

Then I stalked -- not walked -- out.

Prominently on display were Che Guevara sweatshirts and caps. Seething, I head to the nearest bar. And just as quickly, head out again.

The fellow be-hind the bar was wearing a Mao Zedong sweatshirt.

Why my disgust?

Well, to the uninitiated -- to the uneducated -- Che Guevara and Mao were two of the most evil mass murderers of the 20th century.

Guevara was named as "Fidel Castro's executioner" by Cuban writer Humberto Fontova, and it is estimated Mao slaughtered as many as 80 million of his own people.

This is why a Victims of Communism Memorial is necessary.

Read more of Jackson’s column [here].

Castro has cancer…duh!

Ok boys keep up. The train has left the station and Time is now catching up.

Castro Is Reported to Have Cancer

U.S. intelligence reports now say the Cuban leader's condition appears terminal, government officials tell TIME

By TIMOTHY J. BURGER AND SALLY B. DONNELLY/WASHINGTON
Posted Friday, Oct. 06, 2006

Ever since President Fidel Castro was sidelined for what was said to be abdominal surgery last July, Cuban officials have maintained that the country's leader will return to his post. ''We will again have him leading the revolution,'' said Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque just two days ago, speaking at an outdoor rally to protest the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, according to the Communist Party daily newspaper Granma.

But U.S. officials tell TIME that many in the U.S. government are now convinced that Castro, 80, has terminal cancer and will never return to power. "Certainly we have heard this, that this guy has terminal cancer," said one U.S. official.
Of course, such intelligence reports could be wrong, and one official cautioned that definitive proof is nearly impossible for the U.S. to come by. Yet the fact that the Cuban government removed Castro from the public stage before his death could suggest that Castro and his would-be successors were aware of a terminal condition and wanted to gauge public reaction to his absence. "They got to see how people would react," says one U.S. official. "They have had a chance to see how things might work without out him functioning day-to-day."

The U.S. government has been preparing for Castro's departure for half a century. But this time, the Bush Administration has set up an interagency group to coordinate policy once the inevitable happens.

That doesn't mean that things will change much. Fidel's brother Raul, 75, has been acting president since Fidel went into the hospital and has given no indication that he will change the policies of the isolated Communist government that has tormented the U.S. since taking power in 1959. Though he has until recently kept a very low profile, Raul Castro — not Fidel — was feted as the host of the non-aligned nations' summit on Sept. 15. Then Raul called a high profile meeting of the country's local, provincial and national leadership at what he called "this historic moment in our country's history." In another sign of his increasing prominence, two weeks ago Raul delivered his first televised national speech at the close of a trade union federation congress.

H/T: Killcastro

If Fiedler had a favorite music

Today, I had to go to Bakersfield, CA on business of course. Why else would I want to drive 450 miles round trip? Being in that dusty city I was reminded of two sisters who are singers from the Bakersfield area and whose brand of music reigns supreme with a certain sector of the population. Then, I thought that if Tom Fiedler had a favorite brand of music these sisters would certainly fill his bill. Take your time and browse through their website and blog, and you shall be enlightened.

Payá volando bajito

Next month (November) a group will meet in Mexico to discuss a transition in Cuba. Who is the group, well none other than the Movimiento Critiano Liberación (MCL) – Owaldo Payá’s baby, and the father of the Varela Project. What is unique about this meeting is that is taking place in Mexico, where a very “strong” Cuban community exists. This Cuban community typically vacations in Cuba and travels back and forth without remorse (emphasis mine). Are there other reasons why this meeting is taking place in Mexico?

“Queremos presentar el proyecto Todos Cubanos para que se inicie un diálogo sobre el tema de la transición cubana”, dice Kerstin Vonbremen, coordinadora del evento en la fundación Konrad Adenauer. El objetivo es “ofrecer una plataforma de diálogo” sobre el tema de la transición en la isla, agregó.

La fundación Adenauer eligió a México “porque siempre ha sido un vecino importante para Cuba. Se ve al nivel de la migración de los cubanos en México, por ejemplo”, detalla Vonbremen.

Al evento serán invitados “medios de comunicación, representantes de diferentes partidos políticos mexicanos, estudiantes y las personas que se interesan en el tema de la transición en Cuba”, explica.

El evento tiene además otro objetivo: “Presentar lo que pasa ahora en Cuba”, un país donde “la gente tiene hambre y tiene miedo de decir su opinión”, dice Vonbremen.

OK, here is the part that Cuban-Americans will not like.

La fundación Adenauer aboga para que el diálogo sobre la transición se quede entre los cubanos: “No queremos un cambio que venga de fuera. El MCL tiene la misma idea”, dijo Vonbremer.

“Ni los exiliados o la Unión Europea deben de decir a Cuba lo que debe hacer. Son los cubanos los que tienen que decidir, hacer una asamblea, un debate sobre su Constitución”, agregó la representante de la fundación alemana.

En el mismo sentido, Hernández, del MCL, afirmó que “queda claro que el cambio lo tenemos que hacer los cubanos y no pedimos ni permitimos intervención de ningún Estado extranjero”.

POW! Right in the kisser. Cuban exiles…NOT WELCOMED! Cuban exiles are not Cubans.

Read more about the chameleonic effort [here] and [here]. Both are in Spanish with no apologies

Cuban police help Cuban-Canuck loose her children

In a nut shell:

-Dunia Garcia (25) travels with her daughter Amanda to Cuba to visit relatives.

-At checkpoint Cuban police want to see travel documents, and accuses of being false.

-Dunia gets angry a lo cubano
-Dunia takes picture of policeman – a definite NO NO; policeman reacts angrily
-Dunia calls policeman stupid – eres un estúpido
-Dunia spits at policeman

Dunia has a miscarriage – 5 month old pregnancy
Dunia gets to go back home to cold Canada, but not with Amanda

Cuban government keeps Amanda as collateral.

Cuban government loves and protects the family and pregnant women.

Cuento in full [here].

Welcome El Güinero

Hace ya varios días vengo leyendo la siguiente bitácora: El Güinero. Iván su redactor, escribe acerca de los asuntos y noticias del momento relacionados con Cuba. Escribe sobre la realidad cubana con un humor único, que es uno de los factores que me mantiene visitándole.

Aunque todavía queda por aclarar, tal parece que Iván publica desde Cuba, y si es así imaginasen el riesgo que está tomando. Visitémosle y ofrezcámosle una gran bienvenida a la lucha en contra la mentira y el odio.

Un abrazo Iván, and welcome.

Cuban Churro Salesmen

Because I am swamped with work, and my capitalist bosses want me to bring in millions (and reward me in the process) I do not have much time to dedicate to the blog. Therefore, here is my post for this morning, on the cheap.



Read this article about the churro guys.

Status quo for the Catholic Church in Cuba

For 47 years the Church has kept silent in Cuba , just like it did while the Nazis were in power, and plans to continue to follow that same dogma in light of the passing (not dead, but his time has passed) of the dictator fidel castro. Other dictators will come, and Church will continue the same attitude of inaction. No wonder the Church is permitted to exist, but only as eunuchs in the kingdom of the castros.

Church has no political role in Cuba with Castro sick, say Catholic leaders
By Agostino Bono10/2/2006
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Cuban church's role in national life after President Fidel Castro relinquished power is not to be political but to accompany the people wherever the future leads, said two Cuban Catholic leaders.

"I don't think the people see the church as a political player. Nor has the church presented itself as a political player," said Orlando Marquez Hidalgo, spokesman for the Cuban bishops' conference.

Father Rene Ruiz Reyes, Havana archdiocesan delegate to the bishops' National Commission for Priests, said that "the mission of the church is to accompany the people along the road" at a time when no one in the Caribbean island country can predict the future. More [here].

Same Ol’ Same Ol’ dengue fever

Estancia Cubana reports that Cuba has finally admitted that they have a dengue fever problem on their hand. Read the following article, and by the way it was written in 2002, the last time that Cuba entered into the battle of the vectors. Has anything changed? With the exception of a couple of names this story could have been written today.

Cuba fights worst dengue fever outbreak in decades
By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News

HAVANA – Thousands of Cubans have taken to the streets to combat dengue fever, which has killed at least two people and infected hundreds of others in the worst outbreak the capital has seen in more than two decades.

Mosquitoes are blamed for spreading the tropical disease, which has seen explosive growth in the Americas in recent years, reaching as far north as Texas. In Cuba, President Fidel Castro has vowed to stop the outbreak in its tracks, hunting down every last mosquito "even if it's one by one." "The mosquito has no possible chance of escape. We've got the entire populace fighting the epidemic," he told reporters earlier this month.

A 1981 epidemic killed 158 Cubans, including 51 children, in what was later called the worst single outbreak of dengue fever. Mr. Castro blamed the United States for that episode. He accused covert agents of introducing the virus as part of a biological warfare campaign, an accusation the U.S. denied.

This time around, Mr. Castro blames a black mosquito known as the Aedes aegypti, a dime-size bug that bites during the day. The mosquito thrives in crowded cities and breeds in stagnant water. The female requires blood for its eggs to mature – and humans are a convenient target.

In January, Cuban authorities dispatched the first of 11,000 workers to fumigate every home and building in Havana, the eastern city of Guantánamo and the western town of Pinar del Rio. Workers carry what they call "bazookas," a shoulder-held device that resembles a leaf blower and fills the air with white plumes of insecticide.

Residents who refuse to let the workers fumigate face fines and possible jail time. But the anti-mosquito campaign has broad public support and very few people interfere. "We have to help for everyone's well-being," said Ana Rosa Menendez, a 57-year-old retiree. "The fumigation doesn't bother me at all because it kills cockroaches, too," said another resident, Yamila Chanfrau Santos, 39, a secretary.

American officials refused to let workers fumigate the residence of Vicki Huddleston, the chief U.S. diplomat in Cuba. An official explained that there was some concern about the insecticide used. "We don't know what's in it," he said.

Marta Beatriz Roque, a dissident and economist who has served jail time for her opposition to the socialist regime, also had concerns. The first fumigation of her house made her sick, she said. So when workers returned a second time, she refused to let them in. She said she was detained in what turned out to be the first of four arrests for failure to comply. Authorities also fined her 600 Cuban pesos, or about $23, which is about what a surgeon on the island earns in one month. Before workers fumigated for the third time, she said, about 15 policemen surrounded her house. "It seemed like they came to arrest a terrorist or a murderer," she said. "They took me to the command post for mosquito control. They took away my key, came back to the house and fumigated." She said she was also arrested when workers returned for the fourth and fifth sprayings and she was strip-searched each time by female security agents who were ostensibly looking for her house key. A female friend who was in her house when the workers arrived also was taken away and strip-searched, Ms. Roque said. "They do it to humiliate you," she said.

Government authorities deny mistreating dissidents. Mosquito control officials did not respond to an interview request.

Dengue fever has been around for at least several hundred years. Philadelphia doctor Benjamin Rush called it "breakbone fever" in 1780 because of the terrible joint and muscle pain it can cause.

Dengue outbreaks have traditionally hit Africa and Asia, but cases in the Americas have been rising over the last two decades, stretching into Mexico and southern Texas. Some 2.5 billion people are at risk, and more than a million cases are reported every year, the World Health Organization says.

According to state-run media in Cuba, the current outbreak had as of the end of November infected more than 1,600 people in 96 of the country's 169 municipalities.
Roof-top water tanks are one of the insect's favorite homes in Havana. They often are found in spiritual water, too. Many Cubans leave out glasses of water for Afro-Cuban gods or Catholic saints. Authorities are now warning people to change their spiritual water every two days or risk infestation.

As part of the campaign, workers have also picked up thousands of tons of trash where mosquitoes might be breeding and hiding out. They are spending $25 million to repair or replace thousands of leaky water pipes. And they are distributing free covers for residents' outdoor water tanks.

"It's an aggressive and effective campaign," said Bacilio Hernandez, 41, a Havana taxi driver who recently recovered from dengue. "I don't think there will be a single mosquito left in Cuba after this offensive against dengue."

But that won't be the end of it. After the mosquitoes are gone, Mr. Castro said, he plans to go after another disease-spreading creature:

The rat.

The rat is still alive; although no pictures have been shown in the last several days.

Aznar le pega duro

Ex-president of the Spanish government is in Peru accepting an honorary degree from the Perevian University of Applied Sciences (U.P.C. by its Spanish acronym). In his speech, Aznar warned about islamofacism in Latin America, and compared it to nationalism and communism. In his speech he classified the regime of Cuban fidel castro as “and old sanguine tyranny,” and called for continued support for the Cuban dissidence.

Bravo for Aznar and his courage to call it like it is.

20MINUTOS.ES/EFE 02.10.2006 - 23:21h
Aznar advierte de la amenaza del "islamofascismo en Latinoamérica (Foto: Efe)

El ex presidente del Gobierno español José María Aznar advirtió el lunes en Lima de la amenaza del "islamofascismo", término de nuevo cuño que usó para definir al terrorismo islámico, y afirmó que el régimen cubano es "una tiranía caduca y sanguinaria".

Ha surgido una izquierda sin utopía, sin ideales (...) que abraza las causas más radicales
Tras ser investido Profesor Honorario por la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Aznar, en un discurso, dijo que ha surgido "una cierta izquierda sin utopía, sin ideales, que decide emprender sin complejo el camino del relativismo, excusa para socavar los cimientos de las sociedades libres y abrazar las causas más radicales".

Según Aznar, el terrorismo islámico "no es ajeno al nacionalsocialismo y al comunismo", planteamiento que le valió para definir este fenómeno como "islamofascismo" y arremeter contra el comunismo que, a su juicio, "sigue siendo cortejado por intelectuales de izquierda".

"Haríamos bien en tomar en cuenta esas nuevas amenazas, lo vemos en el resurgir de las utopías comunistas, es más que inquietante que en esta región (Latinoamérica) se empeñen en construir el socialismo del siglo XXI cuando vemos las desgracias que ocasionó en el siglo XX", matizó.

"Esto ha ocurrido en este continente", agregó el dirigente conservador en una nueva referencia a América Latina, al alertar de que "los enemigos de la sociedad abierta han visto una oportunidad que podrían aprovechar ante la ofensiva del islamofascismo".

Aznar destacó que seguidores de Hizbulá enarbolaran pancartas de Hugo Chávez
El dir

Harvard can go to Cuba

Harvard University is giddy with excitement for being granted permission by the U.S. Treasury Department to conduct a “one-year exchange” academic program with Cuba . It is not clear if this means that Cubans will be permitted to study here at Haaarvarrrd; although, I doubt it. I have absolutely no problem with academic exchanges, my own son has participated in them, and I believe that he benefited greatly from it. However, I cannot help it, but I find the following paragraph a little irksome, actually it pisses me off.

From the Harvard Crimson:

DRCLAS and OIP officials expressed enthusiasm about the program. OIP Acting Director Leslie M. Hill wrote in an e-mail, “This is a unique intellectual opportunity for a small group of Harvard College students to study at an outstanding Latin American university, live in a dramatically different social, political, and economic landscape, view the world from a Cuban vantage point, and hear some of the world’s greatest music—live!”

It sounds like Director Hill is ready to party to “live” Cuban music, in Cuba, because anywhere else is not as good. Please send the Director her beret.

Lunch?

Go ahead, move your nose closer to the screen. Can you smell the aroma rising with the steam?

Hugo's fight with the devil

“If the devil goes funny I shall lodge this in his ribs,” Chavez said, as he swung a baseball bat which he said he got as a gift from a well-known Venezuelan player. More [here].

Miguel Cabrera is that your bat or are you just happy to see Hugo? Marlins fans take note.

The Simpson's Cuba

Turtle soup for the Cuban soul

This post is directed at the Cubans currently on the island and that are protein deficient. More specifically, it is for those Cubans that live in Western Cuba, near the Guanahacabibes Peninsula in Pinar del Rio. EC offers the following recipe, selected because it seems simple, the ingredients are easy to get, and it is an authentic Cuban recipe. Therefore, instead of just going out into the streets blindly “para resolver,” just go directly to where an abundant supply of food is available, and I don’t mean the hotels for tourists, you wouldn’t be allowed to enter them anyway.

This recipe is the same recipe that appeared in the book “Delicias de la Mesa – Manual de Cocina y Repostería” by Marí Antonieta Reyes Gavilán y Moenck, edited in Havana, Cuba in 1925, and since Cuba is actually going back in time this recipe is just as good today.

First make a good turtle broth from the turtle meat, once the meat is very tender put it through a grinder and add to the broth. Add one cup of white wine (Chilean), which can be purchased at the diplotienda, in foreign currency. Add salt, minced clove of garlic, minced onions, pepper and give it a little color with roasted saffron. Instead of saffron, which I am sure will cost you a couple of month’s wages, use the Bijol sent by your cousin in Miami. Let it boil for a while, place in a soup to urine, I mean soup tourine, slices of hard-boiled eggs; I think that we should refresh your memory right here. The egg, well you probably would not recognize it, so lets just skip the egg, and use some soybean substitute. To the tourine add fried bread and cover with the soup brooth and turtle meat. It may take you a couple of months to gather the ingredients, but tremenda sopa, and it will keep you busy. Busy people don’t have time for counterrevolution.

Well, I’ll take it back. This simple recipe is not as easy as I thought. After all this is Cuba, we are talking about. Y las cosas no son tan fácil. At least the main ingredient you can get now. Right [here].

Sunday morning - Pensamiento

Los malos triunfan sino cuando los buenos son indiferentes. -J.M.

Evil triumphs when the rightous are indiferent.