News

Former Bush administration official Felipe Sixto pleaded guilty Friday to skimming off US $600,000 from a government program that funds Cuban “dissidents” to carry out their actions against the Cuban government. Working for the “Center for a Free Cuba”, one of several front organizations funded by Washington to destabilize Cuba, Sixto resigned his job as a special assistant to the president back in March.

Sixto allegedly used the now familiar tactic, -often employed by Pentagon suppliers-, of overcharging for simple items, like radios and flashlights in this case, under the guise of “promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Cuba.”

When he takes office on January 20, President-elect Barack Obama will face the decision of whether to continue using hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s funds to try and create an internal opposition in Cuba or take the route of moving towards more friendly relations with the neighboring country.

Cuban President Raul Castro said in statements to the press in Brazil that the island does not have to make gestures to the United States to begin bilateral talks because Cuba is the attacked country. “Unilateral gestures are over,” affirmed Castro, who reiterated his willingness to talk with President-elect Barack Obama on an equal footing.

Cuban publishing houses will bring out more than 6,000 new titles for the 18th International Book Fair to be held February 12-March 8, reported the local press. Chile will be the event’s guest of honor and tribute will be paid to intellectuals Fina Garcia Marruz and Jorge Ibarra. The highly popular yearly event begins in Havana and then spreads both east and west of the capital to all provincial capitals and many municipalities.

During his first trip abroad since taking office in February, Raul Castro told the press in Brazil that he was willing to free dozens of prisoners that Washington calls “dissidents” in return for the release of the Cuban Five, who have spent over 10 years in US prisons. “We’ll send them with their families and everything. Give us back our five heroes. That is a gesture on both parts,” said Mr. Castro.

President Raul Castro has offered to swap dozens of prisoners in Cuba that Washington calls “dissidents” for the Cuban Five, held in the United States, which Havana considers “heroes.” In his first concrete move to break the ice with the soon to be Obama administration, Castro said “Let’s do gesture for gesture,” reported the BBC from Brazil.

For a detailed story on what such a swap might mean for the US and Cuba read this 2007 article from HT editor Circles Robinson. http://circlesonline.blogspot.com/2007/03/cuba-us-perfect-prisoner-swap.html or http://www.cubanlibrariessolidaritygroup.org.uk/articles.asp?ID=338

Latin American leaders meeting Wednesday in Brazil have issued a special declaration demanding the United States drop its nearly half century blockade against Cuba. Cuban President Raul Castro, on his first trip abroad since taking office in February, thanked the Presidents and top officials of 33 countries from Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean for their support.

Cuba does not expect “big change” when Barack Obama takes office on January 20, said Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban parliament, in statements to Mexico’s La Jornada newspaper. Alarcon said dialogue with the Obama administration would be possible if it shows an inclination for multilateralism and adopts a more modest and peaceful approach, reported IPS.

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) made a request to President-elect Barack Obama to eliminate restrictions on US citizens wanting to travel to Cuba. The letter notes: “ASTA believes Americans would best be served by an elimination of current restrictions on travel to Cuba.” Under the existing travel ban, US citizens face stiff punishment if they visit Cuba without difficult to obtain special permission from the Treasury Dept.

The Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development is still underway in Brazil, but one of the side results so far of having 33 heads of state gathered in the same place is that several important leaders have said they want to visit Cuba in 2009. These include Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, Mexico’s Felipe Calderon and Crisitina Fernandez of Argentina.

Cuba’s President Raul Castro repeated Monday his willingness to hold talks with US President-elect Barack Obama to try and improve US-Cuban relations. The Cuban leader had made an initial overture in an interview by Sean Penn shortly before Obama was elected. Numerous US business groups are calling for a new Congress and administration to drop the travel ban on US citizens wanting to visit Cuba and to allow for normalized trade between the two neighboring countries. Obama takes office on January 20, 2009.