Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Odds and ends



·         Alan Gross’ new lawyer, Jared Genser, appeals to a UN body to declare that Gross is victim of “arbitrary detention.”

·         Responding to objections by Senators who are opposed to the people-to-people travel program itself, the Administration is tightening standards for approving license applications and the process is slowing down.  See stories in Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Herald.

·         Herald: To protest government harassment of dissidents, 13 are starting a hunger strike.

·         Reuters on Cuba’s failure to attract new foreign investment.

·         The key link in the scheme whereby Rep. David Rivera allegedly funded a political nobody to run in the Democratic primary and attack Joe Garcia, who won and is now the nominee, is Republican campaign consultant Anna Alliegro.  Through her lawyer she agreed to an FBI interview but she didn’t show up and is now missing.  Herald story here.  More here on Rivera’s handling of the matter with the media, and here’s an op-ed in El Nuevo asking when Republican leaders and voters will walk away from Rivera.

·         Herald: Recent Cuban defectors prefer Tampa over Miami.

·         NPR on plans to refurbish the ballet school in western Havana.

1 comment:

Antonio said...

Interesting story on the defectors. The desire to avoid Miami is fairly common, even among regular emigrants who left Cuba legally in the time since the special period.

I hope the move by V-P Marino Murillo'a daughter Glenda will be a non issue for his career. After all, Fidel's daughter not only lives in Miami, she has earned a paycheck through one of the USAID programs.