Odds and ends

• The European Parliament voted 509-30 to adopt a resolution that “condemns the avoidable and cruel death of the dissident political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo after a hunger strike of 85 days.” Cuba’s National Assembly shot back with a statement (English text here) asserting, among many other arguments, that Zapata had “refused to eat despite all warnings and the intervention of Cuban medical specialists.” El Pais has a story on the making of the European resolution.

• EFE: Cuban human rights monitor Elizardo Sanchez says that contrary to government assertions, his organization’s research shows that there are “hundreds of political and common prisoners” whose state of health justifies release from prison as stipulated in Cuban law.

• Sugar production is down (AP) and nickel production up (Reuters).

• Europeans have their own debates about policy toward Cuba, but what passes for the “hard-line” sector there is quite different than ours, and has never shown interest in cutting off trade, travel, or investment. The latest reminder is this interview with Jorge Moragas of Spain’s opposition Partido Popular, which regularly gives the Spanish government grief over its Cuba policies. Moragas praises Spain’s investors in Cuba and says: “This presence of foreign companies, and especially Spanish investment, can play an interesting role when the country starts a framework of a constitutional process and transition to democracy.”

• South Florida Daily Blog, a great resource for news and culture in that region, led me to this new trove of information on the “City of Progress” and a capital of so much cubanía – Sweet Home Hialeah.