Dick Durbin Does Havana (for Caterpillar)

Last week, it was reported that U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was on a humanitarian mission in Havana seeking the release of American hostage Alan Gross.

Yet, sadly, it appears it wasn't really a humanitarian mission.

It was to foment relations for the Illinois Farm Bureau and the Caterpillar corporation.

Durbin was apparently more interested in selling tractors to Castro than securing Alan Gross's release.

From Peoria Journal Star:

Fresh off his first trip to Cuba, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is calling for more constructive engagement with the nation that has been under an American trade embargo for more than half a century - something that could bring big benefits to Illinois agriculture and manufacturing [...]

[Durbin] said that increased engagement in communications and trade would give ordinary Cubans "a chance to see what life in the West and life in America is all about."

That, in turn, means "an economic benefit here as we increase trade to Cuba," from grain to machines produced by companies like Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc.

"Caterpillar does very well all around the world... I have no doubt if the market were open" the company would be able to expand into Cuba and see solid sales there, Durbin said.

Durbin's impressions match up with the interests of the Illinois Farm Bureau, which has long seen the potential of increased trade with Cuba and supports the resumption of normal trading with Cuba.

"Just because of its proximity to the United States, it offers a lot of opportunity," said Chris Magnuson, the group's executive director for operations, news and communications.

Cuba's Lackluster Healthcare System

A must-read.

In Moon Travel Guides:

A few weeks ago while escorting a National Geographic Expeditions’ 10-day “Cuba: Discover its Culture & People” trip, one of the participants fell ill with a serious dental problem.

I accompanied her to the Clínica Internacional—the foreigners-only International Clinic— Cienfuegos. Cuba’s best medical services are reserved for foreign tourists paying hard currency. This was no exception. An English-speaking doctor saw us immediately.

She identified an abcess and recommended we visit the dental ward at Cienfuegos Hospital. We were transferred in a low-tech ambulance.

The hospital’s broken windows and screens were an ill omen of worse to come: The black ring (caused by a million grubby hands) around the door handle to the dental ward, suggested it hadn’t been cleaned since the revolution.

We were admitted immediately to the ward and seated at one of a dozen stations. The first image took my breath away. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Dental instruments were sitting in a tray that hadn’t been cleaned—not even wiped!—in ages. Literally, my best guess is in months, if not years! A microscopic study might well have revealed every known bacteria under the sun. In Europe or North America, the hospital would be instantly closed as a health hazard. The travelers looked up at me with a mix of revulsion and near-panic.

Fortunately, the female dentist didn’t need to place any instrument in her mouth. Instead, she looked into her mouth and instantly confirmed the abcess, then wrote a prescription for antibiotics, which the international clinic had in stock.

The next day, while walking along Cienfuegos’ main shopping street (El Búlevar), the group paused to peruse the local pharmacy that serves local Cubans. I counted barely a handful of drugs (all locally produced) for sale on the sparsely stocked shelves.

What a study in contrasts!

The barebones Cubans-only pharmacies. And the foreigners-only pharmacies fully stocked with imported drugs, reminding me of President Jimmy Carter’s admonition (presented live on Cuban TV during his visit to Cuba in January 2001) that Cuba can buy all the drugs its needs from Mexico, Brazil, etc. at prices well below those charged in the United States.

The Cuban government disingenuously tells Cubans that the U.S. embargo is to blame for the critical shortage of basic medicines. How, then, to explain the fully-stocked pharmacies serving tourists, which Cubans never get to see? Clearly, a political decision has been made to not stock the Cuban pharmacies.

Why? I can think of only one plausible reason: It’s great politics in Fidel Castro’s pathological demonization of Uncle Sam. Let’s hope things will soon change under his younger brother, Raúl.

Meanwhile, and more worrying, is the disparity between Cuba’s claims about the excellence of its health-care system and the shocking revelation that it doesn’t even apply standards of basic hygiene.

Copyright © Christopher P. Baker

Cuba Near Bottom in Press Freedom

The Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders has just released its 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index.

Castro's Cuba was ranked 167 out of 179 countries evaluated -- one notch down from 2010.

Moreover, it was the least free country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere.

Needless to say, Raul's so-called "reforms" don't apply to journalists either.

Romney White Paper on Cuba & Latin America

Governor Mitt Romney on Cuba & Latin America

Mitt Romney will adopt a clear policy toward the Cuban regime: no accommodation, no appeasement. The United States should not relent until the day when the Castros’ regime meets its end and their history is written among the world's most reviled despots, tyrants, and frauds. The North Star that guides Mitt Romney’s policy toward the island is the realizable dream of a free Cuba.

Unfortunately, President Obama has adopted a strategy of appeasement toward the Castro regime. He unilaterally relaxed sanctions without making any demands of the regime. Predictably, the Castros responded to these naïve concessions by tightening their grip on the island and by taking an American, Alan Gross, as a political prisoner. Now, increased travel and remittances to Cuba prop up a regime desperate for foreign currency.

Mitt Romney will break sharply with President Obama’s appeasement strategy. Mitt Romney believes unilateral concessions to a dictatorial regime are counterproductive, helping to secure a succession of power and greater repression instead of a transition to freedom. Mitt Romney will send a strong message to both the regime and the Cuban people that the United States stands with the courageous pro-democracy movement on the island, and that our support will never waver. Mitt Romney’s policy toward Cuba will include:

· Reinstating Travel & Remittance Restrictions. Mitt Romney will reinstate the 2004 travel and remittance restrictions that President Obama naively lifted.

· Adhering to the Helms-Burton Act. Mitt Romney will strictly adhere to the Helms-Burton Act, including Title III, to place maximum pressure on the Cuban regime.

· Demanding Release of Alan Gross. Mitt Romney will demand the immediate release of Alan Gross.

· Democracy Promotion Programs. Mitt Romney will fully fund and effectively implement democracy promotion programs to support Cuba’s brave pro-democracy movement.

· Breaking the Information Blockade. Mitt Romney will commit to breaking the information blockade the Castro regime places on the Cuban people. He will order effective use of Radio and TV Marti’s broadcasts to the island and employ robust Internet, social media, and other innovative steps to bring information to the Cuban people and help them send information out.

· Publicly Naming Oppressors. Mitt Romney will publicly identify by name those police officers, prison officials, judges, state security personnel, and regime officials who mistreat, torture, and oppress the Cuban people so they know they will be held individually accountable.


· Holding the Castros Accountable for the Brothers to the Rescue Shoot Down. Mitt Romney will explore all avenues — including criminal indictment — to ensure that Fidel and Raul Castro are held accountable for the killing of four Americans in the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue airplanes.

Mitt Romney recognizes the wider threat to freedom posed by the anti-American Bolivarian movement across Latin America that is led by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers. This movement threatens the principles enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and poses a serious national security threat to U.S. regional allies and the U.S. homeland in the form of an enhanced drug-terror nexus. Mitt Romney will pursue a resolute policy toward Latin America that will include:

· Bolstering the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter will form the cornerstone of U.S. policy in the hemisphere. There will never be a Cuban exception to the Charter.

· Campaign for Economic Opportunity in Latin America. In his first 100 days, Mitt Romney will launch a vigorous public diplomacy and trade promotion effort in the region — the Campaign for Economic Opportunity in Latin America (CEOLA) — to extol the virtues of democracy and free trade and contrast them with the ills of the model offered by Cuba and Venezuela.

· Hemispheric Joint Task Force on Crime & Terrorism. Mitt Romney will form a unified Hemispheric Joint Task Force on Crime and Terrorism to coordinate intelligence and law enforcement among our allies against regional terrorist groups and criminal networks.

· Enhancing Cooperation With Mexico on Drugs & Crime. Mitt Romney will take immediate action together with Mexico to enhance the current Merida program and deal with violent drug cartels operating across our shared border.

Senate Resolution Honors Wilman Villar

Senator Menendez, Rubio and Bill Nelson Condemn Cuban Regime; Honor Cuban Dissident and Democracy Activist Wilman Villar Mendoza

WASHINGTON – United States Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced a Senate resolution today condemning the Cuban regime and honoring the life of Cuban dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza, who passed away in Cuban custody on January 19th following a 56-day hunger strike in the horrific Aguadores prison near Santiago de Cuba.

“The responsibility for Mr. Mendoza’s death rests squarely with the Castro brothers, whose regime has arrested more than 4000 activists last year alone and continues to repress the human rights of all Cubans,” said Menendez. “Wilman Villar Mendoza was merely exercising his freedom of expression when he was arrested, convicted in a sham trial that lasted an hour, and sentenced to 4 years in one of Cuba’s most inhumane prisons. Now the Cuban security forces are harassing his wife, a member of the Ladies in White, and are threatening to take away their children.” Menendez added, “The incredible sacrifice made by Mr. Mendoza on the behalf of all Cubans will never be forgotten. I urge the international community to speak out about the death of Mr. Mendoza and relentless abuses of human rights in Cuba”

Senator Rubio said, "I join the Cuban people in mourning the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza, and I offer my condolences and prayers to his wife and children. The Cuban regime is a callous band of murderers that once again has blood on its hands for unjustly imprisoning this man and allowing him to die from a hunger strike. "Once again, we are reminded of the unintended but negative consequences of this administration's loosened travel and remittance policies. They help deliver more hard currency to the Castro regime, making it easier for them to brutalize and even murder the Cuban people," Rubio stated.

“We should never forget Mr. Mendoza’s fight against tyranny,” said Senator Nelson. “And, we will continue to apply constant and unrelenting pressure until the Cuban people enjoy the freedom they deserve.”

The resolution in its entirety:

Title: Honoring the life of dissident and democracy activist Wilman Villar Mendoza and condemning the Castro regime for the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza.

Whereas, on Thursday, January 19, 2012, 31-year-old Cuban dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza died, following a 56-day hunger strike to highlight his arbitrary arrest and the repression of basic human and civil rights in Cuba by the Castro regime;

Whereas, on November 2, 2011, Wilman Villar Mendoza was detained by security forces of the Government of Cuba for participating in a peaceful demonstration in Cuba calling for greater political freedom and respect for human rights;

Whereas Wilman Villar Mendoza was sentenced to 4 years in prison after a hearing that lasted less than 1 hour and during which Wilman Villar Mendoza was neither represented by counsel nor given the opportunity to speak in his defense;

Whereas, on November 25, 2011, Wilman Villar Mendoza was placed in solitary confinement after initiating a hunger strike to protest his unjust trial and imprisonment;

Whereas Wilman Villar Mendoza was a member of the Unio1n Patrio1tica de Cuba, a dissident group the Cuban regime considers illegitimate because members express views critical of the regime;

Whereas security forces of the Government of Cuba have harassed Maritza Pelegrino Cabrales, the wife of Villar Mendoza and a member of the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco), and have threatened to take away her children if she continues to work with the Ladies in White;

Whereas Human Rights Watch, which documented the case of Wilman Villar Mendoza, stated, “Arbitrary arrests, sham trials, inhumane imprisonment, and harassment of dissidents’ families—these are the tactics used to silence critics.”;

Whereas Amnesty International stated, “The responsibility for Wilman Villar Mendoza’s death in custody lies squarely with the Cuban authorities, who summarily judged and jailed him for exercising his right to freedom of expression.”;

Whereas Orlando Zapata Tamayo, another prisoner of conscience jailed after the “Black Spring” crackdown on opposition groups in March 2003, died in prison on February 23, 2010, after a 90-day hunger strike;

Whereas, according to the Cuban Commission on Human Rights, the unrelenting tyranny of the Castro regime has led to more than 4,000 political detentions and arrests in 2011; and

Whereas Cuba is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council despite numerous documented violations of human rights every year in Cuba: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) condemns the Cuban regime for the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza on January 19, 2011, following a hunger strike to protest his incarceration for participating in a peaceful protest and to highlight the plight of the Cuban people;

(2) condemns the repression of basic human and civil rights by the Castro regime in Cuba that resulted in more than 4,000 detentions and arrests of activists in 2011;

(3) honors the life of Wilman Villar Mendoza and his sacrifice on behalf of the cause of freedom in Cuba;

(4) extends condolences to Maritza Pelegrino Cabrales, the wife of Wilman Villar Mendoza, and their children;

(5) urges the United Nations Human Rights Council to suspend Cuba from its position on the Council;

(6) urges the General Assembly of the United Nations to vote to suspend the rights of membership of Cuba to the Human Rights Council;

(7) urges the international community to condemn the harassment and repression of peaceful activists by the Cuban regime; and

(8) calls on the governments of all democratic countries to insist on the release of all political prisoners and the cessation of violence, arbitrary arrests, and threats against peaceful demonstrators in Cuba, including threats against Maritza Pelegrino Cabrales and members of the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco).

Bill Delahunt's Selective Spending

Former U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) was one of Congress's staunchest critics of USAID's Cuba democracy programs.

Actually, he was a critic of any measure aimed at pressuring the Castro dictatorship.

But during his brief Chairmanship of the House Foreign Affair's Subcommittee on Oversight, Delahunt specifically targeted Cuba democracy programs, which he deemed to be flawed and wasteful spending.

Apparently, Delahunt believes his pockets are a better cause.

From The New York Times:

Soon after he retired last year as one of the leading liberals in Congress, former Representative William D. Delahunt of Massachusetts started his own lobbying firm with an office on the 16th floor of a Boston skyscraper. One of his first clients was a small coastal town that has agreed to pay him $15,000 a month for help in developing a wind energy project.

Amid the revolving door of congressmen-turned-lobbyists, there is nothing particularly remarkable about Mr. Delahunt’s transition, except for one thing. While in Congress, he personally earmarked $1.7 million for the same energy project.

Today on "From Washington al Mundo"

Should there be "regime change" in Iran?

Tune in today to "From Washington al Mundo," where guest Shahriar Etminani of the Iran Democratic Union makes a compelling case.

"From Washington al Mundo" is broadcast live on Sirus-XM's Cristina Radio (Channel 146) from 4-5 p.m. (EST).

Shed Light on Castro's Cruelty

By Frank Calzon in Sun-Sentinel:

Shed light on cruelty in Cuba

Another Cuban, Wilmar Villar, just died in a hunger strike protesting the abuses of the Castro's regime. His wife was not permitted to see his body.

Yoani Sanchez, the internationally recognized Cuban blogger who is not allowed to travel abroad, reported his death on the Internet.

Cuban exiles had called on governments and human rights organizations for help. We do not know if Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who has access to Raul Castro, interceded on behalf of Villar, who is the father of two girls, or if the Cardinal, who participated on the arrangement to release Cuban political prisoners and banish most of them and their families abroad, alerted the Holy See about Villar's impending death.

Havana can no longer murder in secrecy. It fears the Internet and the Cubans who are willing to die for human rights. But the regime enjoys international impunity for its crimes.

The economic openings sponsored by the Obama administration have emboldened the regime, which is engaged in a widespread crackdown while Sen. Richard Durbin (D – Ill.) visited Havana, presumably to discuss further accommodations to the dictatorship.

A Cuban gay man was beaten to death by Cuban police earlier. A group of mothers, wives and daughters of political prisoners who defiantly attend mass dressed in white, were detained by police when they tried to attend a meeting.

The leader of the group, Laura Pollan, who had been beaten and harassed by the police, died under unclear circumstances in a Cuban hospital last year. All of this happens while the eyes of the world focus elsewhere.

May the assassins be brought to justice in a free Cuba. And may all the victims rest in peace.