tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58511633702585949992024-02-19T11:58:39.074-05:00The Cuban TriangleHavana-Miami-Washington events and arguments and their impact on CubaPhil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.comBlogger2335125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-53629735531603780372019-02-21T12:23:00.001-05:002019-02-21T12:23:26.248-05:00Cuentapropistas in court
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cuba’s
Supreme Court issued a decision about court cases involving entrepreneurs, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trabajadores por cuenta propia, </i>that
clarifies how their cases should be handled. <br />
<br />
It can be found in the <i>Gaceta Oficial</i>, the January 23 issue, decision number
GOC-2019-89-O2. There is also an explanatory <a href="http://www.tsp.gob.cu/es/los-trabajadores-por-cuenta-propia-en-los-litigios-judiciales-de-la-jurisdiccion-economica">article</a>
on the court’s website (didn’t know they did these) written by Liliana
Hernández Díaz, the chief judge of the court’s division that handles economic
matters <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Presidenta de la Sala de lo
Económico).</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
decision is procedural. Apparently there have been many cases involving
disputes between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cuentapropistas,</i> and
between them and clients and creditors. The decision clarifies that these cases
should be heard and where they should be assigned. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It also
says that in contract disputes, as the judge puts it in her article, that when
it comes to contract disputes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cuentapropistas
</i>“litigate under equal conditions and respect for rights and procedural
guarantees as state enterprises and other legal entities and economic actors.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So while
they remain – for now – individuals with licenses as opposed to legally
constituted businesses with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personalidad jurídica</i>,
they have standing in court when it comes to contract disputes.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-127161542020817212019-02-19T12:41:00.000-05:002019-02-19T12:41:01.642-05:00Pep-rally Venezuela policy
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The thrust
of President Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-venezuelan-american-community/">Venezuela
speech</a> wasn’t a surprise, but it was still jarring to see him talk about
freedom abroad as if he had never spoken about his “America First” disinterest
in how other countries govern themselves, about being “in love” with Kim Jong
Un, about the money Saudi Arabia invests here (when asked about a Saudi murder
of a U.S. resident journalist), about Putin’s poll ratings and leadership
qualities, about his warm personal relations with a Chinese premier who deals
with the Uighur minority through mass jailing and re-education.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But as
ever with President Trump, he has a way of telling you what is foremost on his
mind, and yesterday it was the electoral benefit of his outrage about
Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. Votes, votes, and votes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the
only non-partisan reference of the day, he thanked FIU President Mark Rosenberg
for hosting his partisan event. Democratic elected officials were excluded,
including the Congresswoman in whose district the speech occurred. Supportive
elected officials were praised, all Republicans. Senator Scott used his remarks
idiotically to bash Democrats for wanting to bring socialism to America. The
President hailed Venezuelan Doral, Nicaraguan Sweetwater, and Cuban Miami. The
format was that of hundreds of Trump campaign rallies, right down to the
recessional, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The crowd
went nuts, so he got the politics right. But does the Administration’s
Venezuela effort work as a foreign policy strategy?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If the
first test of strategy is to set a clear objective, it passes with flying
colors: Maduro must go. The agreement of 50 other governments on Trump’s
central contention – that Maduro’s electoral and constitutional shenanigans
forfeit his legitimacy – is a plus. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From there,
things get murky. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
starters, there is no visible alignment of ends and means. For Maduro to go,
the military has to flip. To achieve that, we have exhortations (patriotism)
and threats (military leaders are “risking their lives” by sticking with Maduro
and stand to “lose everything”).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To force
the issue, we have the most novel use of emergency assistance ever devised: tons
of aid dangled at the border to inspire Venezuelan citizens and military
officers to depose their government. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As the aid
piles up, Senator Rubio and Administration officials (especially those
appearing in Spanish-language media) declare daily that it will absolutely
enter Venezuela next Saturday. They do not say how, but interim Venezuelan
President Juan Guaidó now tweets that on that day, Venezuelans will bring it in
and distribute it in “every province” of a country the size of Texas and
Oklahoma combined. His ends and means are not aligned either, but he has an
action plan and we will see on Saturday if it works.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And indeed
it might. Aided by Maduro, Venezuela’s opposition is united and enjoys massive
support. If the military command flips, it would not be the first Latin
American military institution to determine that its national defense duty lies
in facilitating a change in political leadership. Foreign intelligence agencies
may have inducements.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But so
much could go wrong. No significant military element has switched allegiance –
and unless that changes, Saturday is set up to be a day of confrontation. There
could be a simple standoff at the border, but if there is violence there will
be calls for military intervention. Guaidó has all but called for it and the
Venezuelan Supreme Court (operating from abroad) has authorized it explicitly.
Those who cheered yesterday’s speech would surely welcome a “humanitarian
corridor” protected by U.S. troops. President Trump has warned against any harm
to Guaidó or his political allies. Legal foundations for military action have
been set, and Saturday could provide the political impetus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With or
without foreign troops, success for Guaidó will require the military command,
the rank and file, and all police and irregular forces at once to turn away
from Maduro. Some may disband; the rest must all work effectively and
immediately to preserve order. If you don’t like the odds of such a neat,
seamless change, then you don’t want to imagine the implications for U.S. troops
operating amid scarcity, latent violence, and a crisis of authority.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
February 23 passes with Maduro still standing and no military action, the
Administration will be left with its maximalist objectives supported by the
same threats and exhortations that have not worked so far. Venezuelan officers
seem not to be convinced by the assurances coming from Guaidó and Trump,
perhaps because no one can offer to drop all U.S. drug trafficking charges. Conditions
inside Venezuela will worsen, and the increasing bite of U.S. sanctions will
start to give Washington a share of responsibility that President Trump and
Senator Rubio will neither recognize nor accept. As time passes, governments
now allied with the Trump effort will lose their stomach for tactics that add
to Venezuelans’ woes, and they will look for negotiated solutions that
Washington opposes. Floridians whose votes matter to the President will press
for stronger action, and neither they nor the President’s advisors will be
troubled by extended economic sanctions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In sum, a
long waiting game would be hell for Maduro and difficult for Trump too, as it
becomes clear that endless sanctions are bad strategy and bad politics. The
only way to bridge the gap between ends and means will be escalation, but those
options are likely to be distasteful to a President who decried “foolish wars”
to a national audience weeks ago. In time, Venezuela could generate national
media coverage that would make him less happy about great headlines in
Miami-Dade. Long-haul strategies are great if you are in a position of
strength, time is on your side, and your leader’s commitment is true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One prays
for a good, fast outcome for Venezuela, but it is hard to imagine such an
outcome except in prayer. Which leads to a final point on strategy: given the
challenges, the President’s partisan approach is a strategic blunder. The White
House did more than exclude Democrats from yesterday’s rally – it made clear
that it wants no part of them in the Venezuela policy, and it tries to paint them
as would-be Maduros to win votes (presumably because of their ideas about
providing health care to poor people). Foreign publics will see a campaign
ploy, not a genuine foreign policy effort. Allies will be more inclined to peel
away. If G.I.’s are deployed, they will know that their country is divided at
the outset. And future difficulties or failures will be Trump’s alone. Apparently
there is no one in the White House to argue that bipartisan foreign policy is at
once a positive value and a source of political strength.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What does
this mean for Cuba? The writing is already on the wall with regard to new
sanctions, and yesterday’s speech shows that politics will be the guide. New
U.S. actions will have no international support, and will have nothing to do
with the views of a President who was exploring for Cuba business opportunities
not long ago. Wait for the next rally at FIU.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-58321276120877492552019-02-11T15:52:00.002-05:002019-02-11T15:52:47.605-05:00CubazuelaA <a href="https://www.cubastandard.com/?p=20761">column</a> of mine on the Administration's approach to Venezuela and Cuba, and Cuba's options.Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-89492720065073472532019-01-21T14:45:00.002-05:002019-01-21T14:45:26.090-05:00Why Radio/TV Marti is a joke
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">How is the U.S.
government broadcast to Cuba covering the announcement about Title III of the
Helms-Burton law? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/eeuu-suspende-45-dias-titulo-3-helms-burton-revision-cuidadosa-/225962.html">this
story</a>, TV Marti reporter Tomas Regalado explains the State Department
statement and presents some reaction: from Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, from Miami
radio powerhouse Ninoska Perez, and from a guy who would like to file a lawsuit
based on his property claim. Regalado did not indicate that alternative points
of view exist, much less say what they are or show anyone espousing them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/programa-tv-noticiero-televisi%C3%B3n-mart%C3%AD-16-1-2019-cuba/226001.html">evening
newscast</a>, they brought out reporter Pablo Alfonso to explain the news, and
in addition to explaining the issue of lawsuits, he proceeded to describe an
aspect of the legislation that doesn’t exist. He said that Title III “prohibits
subsidiaries of foreign businesses, who have subsidiaries in the United States,
from doing business with Cuba” (see 3:00). That is nonsense, but it’s not hard
to guess why he said it. Someone probably told him, accurately, that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">desired effect</i> of the law is to induce
companies doing business here to stop doing business there. Rather than doing
actual reporting, it appears he went with that and garbled it. (Note also at
4:25 that after referring to the Cuban “government” he quickly corrects himself
and says “regime.”)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the Radio/TV
Marti website, there’s a <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/diaz-balart-elogia-revisi%C3%B3n-de-ley-sobre-reclamo-de-propiedades-confiscadas-en-cuba/226168.html">story</a>
about Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart supporting the implementation of Title III,
and <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/reportajetc-marti-disidentes-cubanos-apoyo-a-suspensi%C3%B3n-del-t%C3%ADtulo-iii-de-la-helms-burton-cuba/226074.html">another</a>
about dissidents in Cuba with the same point of view.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is not the
first time Radio/TV Marti covers a story by providing information and a single
point of view, as if it aspires to be a mirror image of Granma. You get the
impression that if you were to read the Voice of America’s charter to it
management (VOA represents “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">America, not any single segment of
American society,” and presents “a balanced and comprehensive projection of
significant American thought and institutions”), they would look at you as if
you were speaking Chinese.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Obviously the funding for Radio/TV Marti will go on forever,
so I repeat my suggestion: call it Radio Exilio and spare Marti and the rest of
us with any association with it.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-85002071322175874242019-01-21T12:54:00.000-05:002019-01-21T12:54:08.477-05:00More on Title III
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It
appears likely from the State Department’s <a href="https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2019/01/288482.htm">announcement</a>
that Title III of the Helms-Burton law will be allowed to go into effect around
March 1. No U.S. President has permitted this: Since enactment in 1996,
Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump have blocked it every six months.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As
a result, those whose properties in Cuba were expropriated and who can identify
a foreign business connected to that property, can sue the foreign business in
U.S. courts – even if the plaintiff was not a U.S. citizen or resident at the
time of the taking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My
opinion on all this is <a href="https://www.cubastandard.com/?p=20583">here</a>.
Some more info on Title III:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
law is presented as protection for claimants who were never compensated. But the
right to sue is limited. Cuban Americans can’t sue for their homes. No one can
sue for a property worth $50,000 or less when it was taken. And the right to
sue expires if Cuba’s socialist government goes away, or if the President
decides to suspend it again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
law also shields two classes of business from Title III lawsuits. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">First
are those engaged in “<span style="color: black;">the delivery of international
telecommunication signals to Cuba.” In other words, companies delivering voice
or data traffic to the Cuban network are protected, while those whose
businesses extend into the Cuban domestic network are not.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Then there are those engaged in </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“<span style="color: black;">transactions and uses of property incident to lawful travel to Cuba, to
the extent that such transactions and uses of property are necessary to the
conduct of such travel.” The House-Senate report accompanying the bill put it
more simply: “any activities related to lawful travel to Cuba” are protected. Those
who want to sue, for example, based on ownership of a port facility, are surely
searching for ways to argue that this language should not apply.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
theory, the damages could be substantial; the law fixes them at three times the
property’s current value, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Finally,
some U.S. businesses who lost property in Cuba were partially compensated
through a tax deduction. In November 1962, the IRS allowed them to deduct Cuba
confiscation losses from their business income.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-45750434616506417312019-01-17T13:07:00.001-05:002019-01-17T13:07:38.210-05:00MLB's good baseball deal
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
opposition to MLB’s deal that will allow Cuban pro ballplayers to sign with big
league clubs without fleeing Cuba and without the need to establish residency
elsewhere, is in part understandable: If you support the embargo, you want to
limit any financial flows to Cuba. <br />
<br />
But I suspect there’s more to it. In Miami, some are surely rubbed the wrong
way at the idea that Cuban players could play here without emigrating, without
effectively breaking with the system, without joining <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">el exilio</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
certainly shows that those who want to block the deal are not interested in
encouraging some positive changes in Cuba that made it possible: the ability
for Cubans to travel and return, and the ability of pro athletes to earn
market-based pay abroad and return to Cuba with those earnings. They are not
being called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">desertores</i> anymore.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How do
Cuban ballplayers see the deal that Senator Rubio wants to block?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Look at
the math from a Cuban player’s point of view. Say he signs a one-year, $2
million deal (half the MLB average).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A “release
fee” of $400,000 goes to Cuban baseball – paid by the club, not the player.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If IRS
applies U.S. tax (30%), that’s $600,000 to Uncle Sam, and the player pockets
$1.4 million. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cuba
decided recently to tax that income at 4%, not the 50% marginal rate applied
to, say, a private restaurant or bed-and-breakfast with taxable income above
$2000. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Senator
Rubio complains about the “new tax” Cuba is imposing (4%), but if it applied
the 50% rate on the books since 1996, the player would pay more than ten times more!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After paying the 4%, the player is left with </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">$1.344
million – more than 2,600 times his salary in the Cuban national league. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">More on all this in this <a href="https://www.cubastandard.com/?p=20662">column</a> in Cuba Standard.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-55137471168372574352018-12-14T14:02:00.000-05:002018-12-14T14:02:22.346-05:00The Helms-Burton threat
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In <a href="https://www.cubastandard.com/?p=20583">Cuba Standard</a>, a column of
mine on the Administration’s consideration of allowing Title III of the
Helms-Burton law to go into effect next February. Spoiler: It’s a bad idea.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-4541119381527857722018-12-13T11:12:00.000-05:002018-12-13T11:12:07.388-05:00Radio/TV Marti in the news
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/probe-of-us-funded-news-network-that-called-george-soros-a-jew-of-flexible-morals-finds-additional-offensive-content/2018/12/12/9cc6bc74-fd56-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html">Washington
Post</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/us/politics/voice-of-america-trump.html">New
York Times</a> have stories today on Radio/TV Marti and, in the Times’ case, on
U.S. international broadcasting in general. Both are worth reading. From them,
some items of note:<br />
<br />
The report on the investigation of the Soros program is “due out in early
January,” according to the Times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The anti-Islam
article on the Radio/TV Marti website (now withdrawn but cached <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:gbDx7ubCk4oJ:https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/judicial-watch-demanda-a-departamento-de-estado-usaid/169915.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us">here</a>),
first reported in El Nuevo Herald, was published in September. Unlike the Soros
content, this was published months after the current director Tomas Regalado
came on board.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Times story
is inaccurate in saying that Judicial Watch was “relied on” for material in the
Soros program. The program gives that impression by mentioning Judicial Watch
repeatedly, but no one from that organization is interviewed, nor are they or
their work cited specifically. The Post interviewed Judicial Watch President
Tom Fitton, who says his organization was not contacted as the program was
being prepared. This, and Regalado’s comment that Judicial Watch is a “good
source,” is one of the strangest aspects of the program.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Neither article
gets at the question of the Soros program’s origin. Maybe someone at Radio/TV
Marti thought it up, but I doubt it.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-45725501613562674372018-12-11T16:33:00.003-05:002018-12-17T12:45:11.614-05:00Radio/TV Marti in action (corrected)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(This was posted 12/13; see correction below, posted 12/17.)<br /><br />Last week I
attended the second public meeting of the State Department’s Cuba Internet Task
Force. I didn’t intend to write about it until I saw the coverage from Radio/TV
Marti.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">At the meeting,
two items of business were accomplished. The task force heard from two
organizations that were charged with developing recommendations: Freedom House
and the Information Technology Industry Council. Then the task force gave the
State Department’s Cuba desk the job of writing its report. The report will
contain recommendations to the Secretary of State based on its views, the ideas
submitted by these organizations, and public comments.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Radio/TV Marti
director Tomas Regalado is a member of the task force, and Radio/TV Marti’s <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/director-de-ocb-tom%C3%A1s-regalado-rechaza-borrador-del-grupo-de-trabajo-de-internet-para-cuba/222683.html">story</a>
on the task force meeting is all about him. I don’t have verbatim notes, but I
think it’s fair to say that he objected to some of the recommendations that
were put forward because they involved dealing with the Cuban government and
enterprises, and could involve commercial activity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">He moved to have
some of these ideas stricken from the report that will go to the Secretary of State,
and he announced portentously that if they were not stricken then he would
resign from the task force, pick up his marbles, and go home. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">He didn’t seem
to understand no such motion could be entertained because no such report had
been written; there was no draft in front of the members that could be amended.
There were two reports from outside groups, that’s all. The deliberation and
drafting is about to begin. This was explained by the State Department’s press
office <a href="https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/12/287929.htm">here</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This never sunk
in with Mr. Regalado, however. Even after the meeting, in the video
accompanying the story (at 1:10), he is talking about report already drafted,
destined for the Secretary of State and the President.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">It’s pretty
obvious that this story was pre-planned. The fact that its premise was wrong didn’t
stop Radio/TV Marti from running it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/embed/player/0/222677.html?type=video" width="640"></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">What does this
say about the journalism that Radio/TV Marti is practicing?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">They didn’t send
a reporter to cover a public meeting that was open to press coverage – and if
they sent a reporter, either that reporter didn’t understand what was going on,
or decided to go with Mr. Regalado’s misrepresentation. The facts were set
aside in favor of the pre-cooked story. Pathetic. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The story
covered only Mr. Regalado – nothing on the statements of the government
officials present, nothing on the representatives of Freedom House and the
Information Technology Industry Council who presented their interesting
reports, nothing on the discussion that ensued. Real journaIism would present
the content of those groups’ presentations, in addition to Mr. Regalado’s
criticism – to say nothing of giving a complete sense of what happened at the
meeting beyond one person’s interventions. This is more like propaganda.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Mr. Regalado is
certainly a qualified commentator. But his personal involvement in a misleading
story like this shows he has no place running a news organization.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The story linked
above is introduced by two anchors and then cuts to a report from a reporter in
the Miami newsroom. The reporter is Mr. Regalado’s son. This isn’t nepotism
because the son was there long before the father was hired. But apparently, Radio/TV
Marti has no editor to point out that it’s wrong to assign a reporter to cover
a story about an immediate family member, in this case his father.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">In the video,
Mr. Regalado says he felt a responsibility to speak as “the only Cuban voice of
the exile community.” It was important to note, he said, that “with the Cuban
government one can’t negotiate, with the Cuban government one can’t talk, that
the Cuban government is the problem, not the solution, and that in the United
States there are brilliant minds, there are people who can design a series of
projects to give free Internet to the Cuban people.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Therein lies the
real story from the meeting that Radio/TV Marti completely blew. Current Trump
Administration regulations provide ample space for American companies to be
involved in Internet and telecommunications, including selling equipment to
businesses and consumers and, should Cuban officials and enterprises agree, to
help extend the network. Mr. Regalado has a different idea: for the U.S.
government to involve itself in “a series of projects” to expand access
independent of Cuban networks. Haven’t we seen that movie before?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Some may think I’m
writing as part of a campaign to bring down Radio and TV Marti. Not quite.
Realistically speaking, I will sooner become President of the United States
than Congress will end this waste. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">But Congress
could do us a favor: divorce them from the Voice of America and call them the
Voice of El Exilio. That would end the association with poor Jose Marti and
diminish the association with us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Correction (12/17):</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact there
were two stories on this meeting. There was the one that centered on Mr.
Regalado, discussed above, which was the front-page story on the Radio/TV Marti
website, and there was another that I missed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/eeuu-celebra-segunda-reuni%C3%B3n-del-grupo-de-trabajo-de-internet-para-cuba/222612.html">other
story</a> is based in part on reporting from the meeting – so I was wrong to
say they didn’t send a reporter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">How did this
story cover the meeting? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It notes that
recommendations were presented at the meeting and it describes some of them,
but for some reason it fails to note that they were presented by
representatives of Freedom House and the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Information Technology Industry
Council. Isn’t it a basic task for a reporter covering a public meeting to
identify who said what?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The story notes
that “some of these recommendations were rejected by the audience” but it fails
to report that some in the audience supported them. What do you call journalism
that reports one point of view and omits its opposite?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The story omitted
other aspects of the discussion. There was a suggestion that current Treasury
regulations should be maintained so as to enable U.S. companies to try to get
involved commercially in expanding the Cuban network, and there was another suggestion
that the United States use technologies that can expand Internet access in Cuba
without any connection to the Cuban network. Neither was mentioned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It does not
report on Mr. Regalado’s confusion, discussed above.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">So that’s the
correction. I stand by the rest of what I wrote.</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Congress will soon vote on the 2018 Farm Bill, which
authorizes agricultural and food assistance programs. The final version,
released yesterday, includes an amendment by outgoing Senator Heitkamp of North
Dakota, to end the prohibition on the use of the Department of Agriculture’s
export promotion programs in Cuba. Her amendment passed the Senate unanimously
after Senator Rubio threatened to remove it, but soon retreated and accepted
it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To my knowledge, Cuba was the only country where our
Department of Agriculture was barred from promoting U.S. exports. By itself, this
move will not add hundreds of millions to U.S. exports, but it is a sensible
step forward and it will help. The text of the bill is <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20181210/CRPT-115hrpt1072.pdf">here</a>;
Heitkamp’s amendment appears on page 130 and the explanation of its meaning is
on page 614.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">President Trump has plenty of grievances with Cuba, and some
make sense. Hopefully he will remember how, as a businessman, he explored Cuba’s
potential for his hotel/resort business, and see the country as a place where
more U.S. economic engagement could benefit both peoples.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-28732805890621988522018-11-27T13:55:00.000-05:002018-11-27T13:55:05.497-05:00An apology to Mr. Soros
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">More reporting
on the TV Marti program on George Soros:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">OnCuba <a href="https://oncubanews.com/mundo/ee-uu/gobierno-federal-se-disculpa-con-george-soros-por-reportaje-de-tv-marti/">reports</a>
that John Lansing, head of the U.S. agency that oversees Radio/TV Marti, has
apologized to George Soros and to the head of his foundation for the program
that he judges to be “utterly offensive in its anti-Semitism and clear bias.”
His letters, embedded in the article, are not your typical U.S. government
statement; they are a strong and complete rejection of the product that TV
Marti purveyed. Here’s hoping that Lansing’s attitude permeates the
investigation. He has ordered Radio/TV Marti to hire a Standards and Practices
Editor, and he is having a third-party contractor conduct an audit of the past
year of Radio/TV Marti’s output. <br />
<br />
El Nuevo Herald <a href="https://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/cuba-es/article221972695.html">reports</a>
that a total of four employees of Radio/TV Marti have been suspended as the
investigation continues, and that the investigation revealed that the Radio/TV
Marti webpage had published “excessive attacks on the Quran,” according to
director Tomas Regalado. Regalado made that statement in a Miami radio
interview last week. The article also mentions a web article based on Judicial
Watch materials that was removed from the Radio/TV Marti site but is cached <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:gbDx7ubCk4oJ:https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/judicial-watch-demanda-a-departamento-de-estado-usaid/169915.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us">here</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-67139223350334997372018-11-05T23:41:00.001-05:002018-11-05T23:41:11.987-05:00TV Marti Soros program, subtitled<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media;
gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HWTiAOuqv28" width="640"></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://youtu.be/HWTiAOuqv28">Here’s</a> a friend’s translation of the TV
Marti program on George Soros. <br />
<br />
Three errata: at 3:50 it should be “Popper’s liberalism” (reference to Karl
Popper); at 9:08 the word “NSA” was omitted from the presentation of Madsen; at
12:08 it should be “exercise of eight months.”</span>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The U.S. Agency
for Global Media (USAGM), Radio/TV Marti which oversees the Office of Cuba
Broadcasting (OCB), is investigating the TV Marti Soros program, and from this <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article220915645.html">Herald
story</a> we learn it’s a 10-day investigation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">While the
investigation proceeds, OCB Director Tomas Regalado has been commenting and
seemingly trying to find safe political ground. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/10/us-government-funded-news-network-ran-a-hit-piece-on-soros-that-called-him-a-multimillionaire-jew/">began</a>
by half-embracing the program, saying that Judicial Watch is a “good source”
but should not have been the only source, and that the program fell short
because it was “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">not precise” and lacked “balance.” As if the program
contained an actual story that was not properly told.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By last Wednesday he was <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article220915645.html">saying</a>
the program “looks like an anti-Semitic report” and he made the ridiculous
suggestion that the Radio/TV Marti staff needs diversity training.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In his <a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/radio-television-marti-statement-by-ocb-director-tomas-regalado/218921.html">statement</a>
yesterday, he flatly called the program anti-Semitic and called for “ethics and
standards training,” which presumably includes the basics of journalism. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I suppose it’s good that Regalado is adapting. The program
was produced and aired before he assumed his duties, but his initial reactions
to it set a terrible example for his newsroom. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He also told the
Herald – again, before the investigation is complete – that two people, and two
people alone, are responsible for this fiasco. They were “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the
only two people who had anything to do with the report coming out on the air,”
he said. That statement strains credulity and looks like an effort to limit and
isolate the damage. Fire two people, case closed, everybody moves on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Regalado also told the Herald another interesting detail. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reporter Isabel Cuervo, he says, did no on-camera
interviews for the program. That means that Cuervo lied on the Levantate Cuba
program when she said that she herself interviewed Lia Fowler, whose comments
appeared to be from a Skype interview. (I would post the clip but TV Marti
removed it from YouTube, and appears to be purging everything on its website
and elsewhere that refers to the Soros program.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile,
Senator Menendez <a href="mailto:https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/menendez-demands-answers-for-anti-semitic-segment-aired-on-tv-marti">wrote</a>
to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to set some expectations for the
investigation and to demand information. Good for him. </span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-47776337580469358292018-11-04T08:40:00.000-05:002018-11-04T08:40:06.266-05:00You're welcome, Vladimir
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was apparent
that some of the video material in the TV Marti Soros program was drawn from
other sources. Some, it turns out, was lifted from an RT program and included
on the TV Marti broadcast, without attribution.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m referring to
comments by Michele Steinberg, editor of a magazine affiliated with Lyndon
LaRouche. She is interviewed extensively in this Spanish-language <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qouVDOROiWM">RT program</a> about Mr.
Soros, titled “Who is George Soros Really?” Part of her interview with RT and
other footage from the RT program appear in the TV Marti program, with the RT
logo erased from the screen. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you want to
see for yourself, the RT footage <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qouVDOROiWM">here</a> at 4:20 was clipped
and used by TV Marti <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6rSSKVh3TU&t=25s">here</a>
at 5:26.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The RT program features
Ms. Steinberg’s discussion of the links between Mr. Soros and the Rothschilds.
So two of three people cited in the TV Marti program turn out to be exponents
of one of the oldest anti-Semitic tropes in the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a friend
points out, the U.S. government used Russian anti-Semitic propaganda to make
American anti-Semitic propaganda for broadcast to Latin America.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-52818969270475344972018-11-04T08:12:00.001-05:002018-11-04T16:54:42.537-05:00"Anti-Semitism and clear bias" at TV Marti...<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">...a
<a href="https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/radio-television-marti-statement-by-ocb-director-tomas-regalado/218921.html">statement</a>
in Spanish and English from the director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting,
Tomas Regalado, on the Radio/TV Marti website.</span></span></div>
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</style> Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-73762334210620165912018-10-29T18:24:00.001-04:002018-11-04T08:40:58.682-05:00"Apparent misconduct" at TV Marti...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">…and an
investigation launched by the body that oversees Radio/TV Marti, the U.S.
Agency for Global Media. A forthright <a href="https://www.usagm.gov/2018/10/29/ceo-statement-on-office-of-cuba-broadcasting-piece-on-george-soros/">statement</a>
from its CEO, John Lansing, was issued today.</span></div>
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</style> Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-57887356252164102552018-10-29T13:01:00.000-04:002018-11-04T08:41:09.999-05:00TV Marti and "balance" (link restored)<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A6AJGuOhKL4" width="576"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Tomas Regalado,
director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting that houses Radio and TV Marti, is
a rare Trump appointee who <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/tomas-regalado-no-support-trump-223109">strongly
opposed</a> President Trump’s candidacy. He was mayor of Miami and before that,
a prominent radio journalist. Recalling a feature of his own radio program, he
has brought a fact-checking feature (Detector de Mentiras) to the Martis’
website.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">When Mother
Jones <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/10/us-government-funded-news-network-ran-a-hit-piece-on-soros-that-called-him-a-multimillionaire-jew/">wrote</a>
last Friday about the TV Marti program that smeared George Soros, Regalado
responded directly: “Judicial Watch is a good source, but having said that, it
should not have been the only source. The two part series was not precise and
did not have on the record sources to balance the story…To be fair and to show
that we in the new administration are committed to journalistic integrity, the
stories have been pulled out of the digital page, not because we want to hide
anything, but because we want to be transparent if we say that the story did
not have the required balance, then it should not be on the air.” By “new
administration” he means his own stewardship because he started in his job
shortly after the Soros program aired.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">It is good that
he responded personally and critically. But while he stands up for
“journalistic integrity,” he whitewashes the problems with the program. A few
things need to be pointed out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“Judicial Watch
is a good source,” Regalado says, but what is he talking about? One of the
strange aspects of the program is that the narrator repeatedly mentions
Judicial Watch but no one from that organization is quoted, none of its work is
cited, none of its people appear on camera. (Fox News, by the way, <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judicial-watch-director-barred-as-fox-news-guest-after-soros-conspiracy">dumped</a>
Judicial Watch’s research director last weekend for statements about Soros’
secret control of the State Department, but the organization is a “good source”
for Radio/TV Marti.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This idea that
the program lacked “balance,” additional sources, or on-the-record statements misses
the mark. What it lacked was truthful information to support its wild
assertions – for example that Soros was the “architect” of the financial crisis
in 2008 and that he is now making money from his political activism. Or, as
persons quoted in the program assert, that he financed Gorbachev, has
destabilized countries, and seeks to undermine democracies and turn Latin
American countries into satellites of Cuba. Reporting a series of blatant
falsehoods is not remedied by “balance.” You don’t have to be a journalist to
realize this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The program was
thoroughly promoted by TV Marti. For example, there’s the Levantate Cuba
morning program, where host Maite Luna interviews Isabel Cuervo, the narrator
of the Soros program who claims to have conducted the “investigation” of the
subject matter. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The passage
beginning at 5:06 <a href="https://youtu.be/A6AJGuOhKL4">here</a> and in the clip above is emblematic. (Sorry for the audio, it's my own recording of the video that was pulled from the government site.) At this point they are running an excerpt
from the Soros program. Over scary sound effects, the narrator explains that
Soros spends millions in “hundreds of countries” and is “accused thus of
influencing, with his fortune, in their political and social destinies, in
order to later take out revenue in the millions.” (Accused by whom, she doesn’t
say.) Lia Fowler then appears very briefly on camera saying it is “much easier
to work with a dictator than in a democracy and an open market.” Then with
Fowler no longer on camera, the narrator attributes to her the idea that
“behind the magnate is a hidden craving for global power.” Then the narrator
mentions Soros’ support for communications media and nongovernmental
organizations on five continents and says: “Latin America does not escape his
spell.” During this, on the screen are images of a wall being spraypainted,
street demonstrations, a burning effigy of President Trump, and a line of
masked demonstrators hurling projectiles. The excerpt ends; back in the studio,
the host Maite Luna says that Soros engages in philanthropy, “but he is also
very dangerous, that he is giving and offering money where it can end up being
a danger – that government – for the society.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This is not
journalism, it is a smear; none of the accusations are supported. No “balance”
can improve it. Worse, it touches on all the themes that have been central to
anti-Semitic screeds throughout history. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I assume that
many of the journalists at Radio/TV Marti are repulsed by this program and the
stain it puts on their organization and U.S. international broadcasting. Neither
Radio/TV Marti nor its governing body have addressed a word to their audience,
to say nothing of Mr. Soros. The silence is deafening.</span></div>
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-->Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-82144215307268860222018-10-26T10:26:00.000-04:002018-11-04T08:41:23.339-05:00“George Soros, the multimillionaire Jew” (video link restored)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1dx8HfJjCCw" width="560"></iframe> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Radio and TV Marti, the U.S. government’s Miami-based broadcast
operation to Cuba, joined the anti-George Soros gang with a series of
broadcasts last June.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A 15-minute program is <a href="https://youtu.be/1dx8HfJjCCw">here</a> (original video was pulled from the government site; this is an inferior recording.) It was edited into two segments and presented on the TV Marti newscast, where the anchor began his lead-in
to Part I with the phrase, “George Soros, the multimillionaire Jew of Hungarian
origin…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The program repeatedly mentions the U.S. organization
Judicial Watch, but it doesn’t clearly cite any of its work. If you search, you
see that Judicial Watch is concerned about U.S. aid agencies funding foreign
organizations that are also supported by Soros, in <a href="https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2018/07/u-s-soros-funded-colombian-group-blasts-jw-for-exposing-ties-to-violent-marxist-guerrillas/">Colombia</a>
and <a href="https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-documents-show-state-department-and-usaid-working-with-soros-group-to-channel-money-to-mercenary-army-of-far-left-activists-in-albania/">elsewhere</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Throughout, the program’s cheesy sound effects are like those
used in horror movies when the villain begins reaching for the knife. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some notes on the 15-minute program:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">0:20 –Narrator Isabel Cuervo makes her first reference to
Judicial Watch: “George Soros has his eye on Latin America. But Judicial Watch,
a legal research group in the United States, has its eye on Soros, and on what
it views as his lethal influence in undermining democracies.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">0:40 – The narrator says that Soros uses his business
profits “to finance anti-system [political] groups that fill his pockets.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1:10 – The narrator makes a reference to Soros’ infamous,
lucrative 1992 bet against the British pound, and continues: “It is said that
Soros made billions of dollars manipulating the fall of Asian currencies in
1997. And he was the architect of the financial collapse of 2008.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1:40 – The narrator calls Soros a “generous philanthropist”
active in more than 100 countries, then cuts to Lia Fowler, described on the
screen as a “former FBI agent,” who says: “And the things that he finances around
the world do nothing more than to destabilize countries, cultures…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2:10 – The narrator calls Soros a “non-practicing Jew of
flexible morals.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">3:30 – The narrator discusses the work of Soros’ Open
Society Foundation, noting that “some” – she doesn’t say who – describe it as
“a façade for investing and looting countries.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">3:50 – The narrator describes some of the principles behind
Soros’ work (human rights, free press, etc.) and notes his “key role” in
movements that ended communist rule in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and other
eastern European countries. However, his work on several continents today, she
says, “raises intense contradictions over what are his true objectives,” and
she goes on to note that his activities in Latin America are being investigated
by Judicial Watch.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">5:20 – Here, a clip from Lia Fowler saying it is
“undeniable” that the impact of Soros’ work in Colombia has amounted to
“legitimizing the narcoterrorists and destroying Colombian institutions.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">5:30 – Soros’ support for drug decriminalization is noted in
a clip that shows comments by Michele Steinberg of Executive Intelligence
Review, a magazine founded and edited by Lyndon LaRouche.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">6:05 – The narrator cites Lia Fowler’s view that the peace
agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC insurgency “hides an
ulterior objective that Soros is also behind.” Then Fowler explains on camera:
“What they want is that Colombia, like Venezuela, like El Salvador, like
Ecuador, be another satellite of Cuba…This has been Cuba’s objective, this is
Soros’ objective.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">8:30 – The narrator notes that Cuba’s government views Soros
as a “reactionary” supporter of movements that seek to “destabilize” the
“progressive” government in Venezuela.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">8:50 – The narrator says that Soros is viewed – again, she
doesn’t say by whom – as </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“maintaining clandestine operations that led to the
dismantling of the Soviet Union.” She continues: “According to Wayne Madsen,
ex-agent of the NSA, declassified CIA documents show that Soros financed
Mikhail Gorbachev to promote perestroika and glasnost, with the sole objective
of accelerating the disappearance of the Soviet Union.” No information from
these documents is presented. [<a href="https://ahtribune.com/us/2016-election/1353-wayne-madsen.html">Elsewhere</a>,
Mr. Madsen can be found calling Soros a “frontman” for the de Rothschild family
and saying they are the “true puppet masters of the world.”] The narrator goes
on to note Soros’ later support for the “color revolutions” in eastern Europe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">13:00 – Lia Fowler returns to allege that there was fraud in
the Venezuelan election of 2004, and Soros was behind it because he knows one
of the directors of the company that makes the electronic voting machines used
there. She goes on to say that Colombia’s election would likely be fraudulent too
because Soros’ foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development
were spending millions on the electoral observation mission with the goal of
“imposing” electronic voting. No evidence, no contrary view is presented. [The
election was held last summer and was won by the right-of-center presidential
candidate.] </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">13:50 – Fowler concludes the program by saying that Cuba
wants Colombia to have a communist government with which it can do business.
After her comments, there is ominous music and a still photo of Soros over background
footage of street violence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What to make of this?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">First, the program presents incendiary allegations about an
American citizen without evidence to support them, and without any expression
of editorial judgment as to whether Radio/TV Marti finds them credible. Nor
does it provide a rebuttal by Soros or his associates, or any indication that
they were offered such an opportunity. That’s a 15-minute smear, not
journalism. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Second, there is no effort to address a glaring incoherence
at the heart of the program. Like Soros or not for his business and political
activities, he is an anti-communist. In part, the program acknowledges this
because it’s unavoidable. But if we are to believe the program, or the series
of people whose statements are presented for us to take at face value, then we
are to believe that Soros promoted democratic movements in the face of
pro-Soviet and, later, pro-Russian opposition in Europe; he supports
Venezuela’s opposition today; and he is working in cahoots with Havana to
foment communist takeovers throughout the Andes. And on top of all that:
pushing 90 with billions in the bank, he’s doing all this because it somehow
makes him money. Ridiculous.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally, the program puts none of its accusations in the
voice of Radio/TV Marti. That’s too cute by half. The words and images make
clear what Radio/TV Marti wants its Cuban and Latin American audience to think
about Soros: that he is a Jew who caused the 2008 financial crisis; that he
talks about democracy and open societies but his real motive is to make money and
to “loot” countries or to pursue other concealed objectives; that he is a man
of “lethal influence” who spreads chaos and instability wherever he works. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Inside the U.S. government, Radio/TV Marti is termed a
“surrogate” broadcaster; its purpose is to demonstrate how a free press would cover
the news in Cuba if it were permitted to exist. Heaven help Cuba if its media
ever emulate the crew in Miami that produced this slime, or the editors who
gave it the green light.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another question is how the idea came about in the first
place, because while the reporters and executives in the Miami newsroom of
Radio/TV Marti executed it, it’s inconceivable that they cooked it up. The idea
surely came from elsewhere, and it had to be carefully taught.</span></div>
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-->Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-18873969901997749752018-08-23T12:06:00.000-04:002018-08-23T12:06:30.217-04:00New Cuba travel advisory
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
State Department has <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Cuba.html">downgraded</a>
its Cuba travel advisory, urging travelers to exercise “increased caution” and
no longer recommending that Americans “reconsider” travel to the island. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the advisory,
the State Department continues to say that “attacks” against U.S. diplomats
took place in Cuba even though officials have arrived at no explanation for the
harms that befell our personnel. Diplomats at multiple posts in China reported similar
symptoms, but no attacks have been alleged there.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-10756883781863153602018-08-15T23:44:00.000-04:002018-08-20T11:46:30.768-04:00A conviction in Havana with "due process" (Updated)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To its credit, the Trump
Administration has maintained law enforcement cooperation with Cuba, holding
regular dialogues and even building on some of the work of its predecessors.
This fits with its border control/homeland security emphasis, and it surely
rubs some of its political supporters the wrong way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We now have details on the most
notable instance of this cooperation, thanks to this Miami Herald <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article216665545.html">story</a>
on the conviction of a defendant for a 2015 murder in Palm Beach. What is
unusual is that while the crime took place here, and local prosecutors amassed
evidence against the accused, the trial took place in a Cuban court, with Cuban
prosecutors presenting evidence gathered in Palm Beach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is apparently due to the fact
that the defendant, a Cuban national, was arrested in Cuba at the request of
the United States through Interpol, but the Cuban government would not turn him
over because of his Cuban nationality. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At some point, Cuba offered and the
United States agreed to “transfer the prosecution” to Cuba, as the Herald puts
it (on this part of the story, no details have emerged). A conviction was
obtained in late May, and the convict is serving 20 years in a Cuban jail.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There has never been a case such as
this, where U.S. authorities provided evidence that allowed Cuban prosecutors
to bring a case in Cuban court for a crime committed outside Cuban territory –
and in so doing, confiding in the Cuban judicial process to render a fair
verdict. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To make it explicit, the Justice
Department told the Herald something you would never expect from a Republican
Administration: “</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The defendant was provided the procedural and
due process rights afforded to criminal defendants under Cuban law, to include
the right to counsel and cross-examination, and to review the evidence against
him.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
U.S.-Cuba <a href="https://cu.usembassy.gov/united-states-cuba-sign-law-enforcement-memorandum-understanding/">Memorandum
of Understanding</a> on law enforcement, signed just days before President
Obama left office, expresses a mutual intention to collaborate in the prosecution
of a list of specific crimes and of “other transnational or serious crimes
under jurisdiction of the Participants” (see Section III.1).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s
hard to imagine a new, full-blown U.S.-Cuba extradition agreement that would
replace the 1904 treaty that has never been abrogated, but has been a dead
letter for six decades. In this case, with its very particular circumstances,
the cooperation arrangements now in place yielded a result.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Which
leads me to wonder if the Administration views this as a special action for
this specific case, or if there is a policy decision that could lead to similar
actions in the future. If it’s the latter, and if Cuba is on board, it could
lead to trials of Medicare scammers who have fled to Cuba.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The State Department’s July 10 <a href="https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/07/283981.htm">statement</a> made
a brief reference to this case, and I wrote about it <a href="http://cubantriangle.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-bilateral-cooperation-in-law.html">here</a>.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Update:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
<br />
The Palm Beach Sherriff’s office issued a <a href="http://www.pbso.org/update-on-jupiter-welfare-check-homicide/">statement</a>
saying that county prosecutors traveled to Cuba to work with Cuban prosecutors,
and one of its detectives testified at the Havana trial. It is the first time
that “<b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a
Cuban citizen was put on trial in Cuba for a murder committed in the United
States,” the statement says. </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And in
another Florida case, this one involving vehicular manslaughter, a Cuban
witness was allowed to provide video testimony from Cuba, where he exculpated
the defendant and inculpated himself (<a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article216837585.html">Herald</a>).
</span></div>
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-->Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-82625759919273333862018-08-03T00:15:00.000-04:002018-08-03T00:15:26.847-04:00"Private property" in the constitution
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Before
and since the proposed new Cuban <a href="http://www.granma.cu/reforma-constitucional/2018-07-30/a-la-venta-tabloide-con-el-proyecto-de-constitucion-de-la-republica-de-cuba-30-07-2018-18-07-43">constitution
(pdf)</a> was released, there has been lots of talk about how it “could permit
owning private property,” as a Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cuba-makes-changes--but-ignores-one-of-the-most-important/2018/07/25/0b42ef2e-8e99-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html">editorial</a>
put it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sure
enough, it deals with private property – but not exactly in that new-dawn-of-private-property
way, which wouldn’t make sense because it is already permissible for Cubans to
own private property, as we use the term. The vast majority of Cuban homes are
owned outright with property titles and since 2011, residential properties are
bought and sold on the open market. Many but not all individual farmers own their
land and homes outright. Cars are owned and traded. Personal effects, of
course, are privately owned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
the new constitution does is to enumerate different kinds of property – and
among these, to draw a distinction between personal property and private
property. (See paragraphs 93 and 94 in the text linked above.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
distinction is immaterial to a capitalist but significant to Marxists, and it
goes like this: “personal property” refers to personal effects that have no
economic purpose, while “private property” is defined as private ownership of
means of production.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hence a
socialist constitution that stresses the state’s predominant economic role will
also enshrine this concept of property, and with it the private sector’s role
in the economy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
narrow way to view this is that the constitution is catching up with reality,
because private entities, both individuals and cooperatives in farming and
other sectors, already own their means of production.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another
way to view it is as a more solid legal foundation for future legislation
governing the private sector, such as the pending laws on enterprises and
cooperatives. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If,
that is, the Cuban government decides to take advantage of it when it comes
time to write those laws. </span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-28962154650781613362018-07-26T13:14:00.000-04:002018-07-26T13:14:40.499-04:00The proposed new constitution
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cuba’s
National Assembly hashed through and approved the draft of a new constitution
last weekend, its discussion guided by Homero Acosta, a sort of Publius-without-the-pseudonym
who chaired the group that researched and studied constitutional issues and
produced the draft. His day job is executive secretary to the Council of State.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Acosta’s
title-by-title discussion of the draft is </span><a href="http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2018-07-23/carta-magna-con-intencionalidad-transformadora-y-sensibilidad-politica-23-07-2018-00-07-01"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">summarized</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> briefly
in Granma and can be seen in two long videos </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/cubadebate/videos/10156108510133515/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/cubadebate/videos/10156108133848515/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
draft has not yet been published, and there are, according to Acosta, more than
50 new “norms” that will have to be legislated to accompany it once it is
approved. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Starting
with the presidency, what’s clear is that with the Castro era ended, the Cuban
leadership has decided that it wants no one older than 60 assuming that office,
it wants no one in it for more than two five-year terms, and it wants executive
functions distributed between a president and newly created prime minister. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These
conditions would have ended Fidel Castro’s presidency in 1986 and prevented
Raul’s altogether.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Beyond
that, not much is clear. Why was it decided in the first place that a prime
minister is needed? Will the president’s power be limited, or will the prime
minister be sort of a minister of the presidency who handles day-to-day
functions such as overseeing executive agencies? Will the prime minister be subordinate
to the president? Perhaps the full text will answer these questions when it is
published. Perhaps they will be answered once a prime minister is in office. Or
perhaps we will be guessing for years, because this is a political system where
very little is known about high-level decisionmaking, and there’s no evidence
that this is likely to change. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the meantime,
note that the incumbent president is second-in-command of the Communist Party
and the prime minister is not; the president nominates the prime minister; the
president can propose legislation and the prime minister cannot; the president
has the power to promote and remove high-ranking military officers and the
prime minister does not; the president has exclusive pardon power; and changes
in the composition of the cabinet are initiated when the prime minister
proposes changes to the president. In addition, there are unspecified powers
that rested with the Council of State that now go to the president. None of
this fits the thesis that the new structure is intended to clip the president’s
wings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>As for
the National Assembly, Acosta explains that it will decide how many members it
will have. For years, the assumption has been that it will down-size, following
Raul Castro’s joking comment that Cuba has more deputies than China, and also
to fit physically into its new chambers in the Capitolio building. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A more
interesting question is not addressed: whether the legislature will actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">legislate</i>. Virtually all the economic
reform laws of the past decade have been decree-laws and ministerial
resolutions. The new constitution retains the Council of State’s power to legislate
during the 50 weeks each year when the legislature is not in session; according
to Acosta these decree-laws will be submitted to the legislature for
ratification. This is important in light of the heavy legislative to-do list,
which includes new laws for cooperatives and enterprises, an electoral law,
changes to the penal code, and much more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Regarding
the economy, Acosta explained, the constitution will make a number of changes
to reflect the ways the country has changed after a decade of economic reforms.
Private property is recognized “because it exists,” he said. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trabajo por cuenta propia</i>
(self-employment) is a “euphemism,” he said, because about 100,000 persons in
this category are employed by others. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He made
an interesting point about property. Whereas mixed property today takes only
one form, ventures between the state and a foreign partner, mixed property
combinations will be possible in the future between all forms of property. That
opens the door to the possibility of public-private partnerships.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Acosta
also engaged in a somewhat confusing discussion in the second video linked
above. He said the government’s objective is to limit concentration of
property, not wealth. He cited examples of athletes, artists, or farmers who
may earn high income, and his point seemed to be that high earners are going to
be inherent in Cuba’s economic model, and their income should be taxed, but the
government’s focus should be on preventing concentration of property. We’ll see
how that translates into legislation. It may explain the prohibition soon to
take effect on entrepreneurs having licenses for more than one business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Acosta
also explained with some enthusiasm the need for more foreign investment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the
area of civil rights, it is clear that legislation is coming to permit same-sex
marriages. One of Acosta’s slides explained that freedom of assembly,
association, and demonstration are to be guaranteed “with lawful and peaceful
purposes, always exercised with respect for public order and the law.” And
under the concept of “effective citizenship,” Cuban citizens are to be treated
as such in their national territory, regardless of any other citizenship they
may have acquired. “Effective citizenship” may be a new term, but it is not
clear that it makes any legal difference. It is already the case that if you
were born in Cuba, you are treated as a Cuban under Cuban law. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
proposed constitution will be published and submitted to public debate for 90
days, concluding November 15, after which it will be subject to approval by
popular referendum. If it is the same process as the one followed for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lineamientos </i>reform proposal in 2011, it
means there will be discussions in workplaces, neighborhoods, party meetings,
etc., followed by a yes-or-no vote in the referendum. Among the many issues –
the changes in government structure, the opening to private property and laws
to consolidate private enterprises and cooperatives, same-sex marriage – which
will matter most to Cubans when they vote?</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-38933100024624390362018-07-19T16:59:00.002-04:002018-07-19T16:59:53.945-04:00 A win for the control freaks
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cuba
has legalized the operation of private bars where a maximum of 50 customers can
enjoy alcoholic beverages “in their natural state or in cocktails,” and there
can be recorded music, or live performances as long as the artists are hired in
full compliance with Ministry of Culture regulations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is
a trivial aspect of Cuba’s new small business regulations, and like many over
the years it legalizes something that has been going on already.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But it makes
you think back to March 1968 when Fidel Castro railed against private bars and
other businesses during his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ofensiva
Revolucionaria</i> (see speeches </span><a href="http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1968/esp/f130368e.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> and </span><a href="http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1968/esp/f150368e.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">). He
professed shock that there were 955 bars in Havana. He disclosed that undercover
investigations found that 72 percent of their patrons “maintain an attitude
contrary to our revolutionary process” and 66 percent “are anti-social
elements.” He didn’t like other private businesses either, nor the people who
ran them. His speeches often included the descriptor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“lumpen.” </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So he
closed virtually all Cuba’s remaining private businesses, tens of thousands of
them, including all the bars, because of a perception that they weren’t needed
and they engendered the wrong kind of thinking. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So if
you root for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">privados,</i> 1968 is
the low point in the Cuban government’s long struggle to figure out how much
private property and private enterprise are to be permitted in the socialist
system. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
1968 is why Cuba had just a few thousand private businesses when it opened up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trabajo por cuenta propia</i> in 1993, and
it’s why when Raul Castro took office a decade later and took a fresh look at
the economy, he noted that the government was unnecessarily and badly running
state enterprises to provide almost every service: repair services of all
kinds, worker cafeterias, beauty and barber shops, etc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No one
ever made a speech that explicitly threw the thinking of 1968 out the window,
but that is what happened when small enterprise regulations were significantly
liberalized in 2010. Individual entrepreneurship has since quadrupled in Cuba,
from about 150,000 to nearly 600,000, now comprising 12 percent of a labor force
where about one in three persons is employed outside the state. These
entrepreneurs are essential sources of job creation, tax revenue, and services.
Their bed-and-breakfasts sustain tourism centers such as Trinidad and Vinales
where hotel capacity is minimal. They are in every city and dusty small town, with
the common characteristic that they improve family income, usually quite a lot.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The new
regulations (linked </span><a href="http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2018-07-09/que-cambia-con-las-nuevas-normas-09-07-2018-21-07-06"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">), a
package of new norms signed by Raul Castro and various ministers between
February and July, are </span><a href="http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2018-07-09/actualizar-corregirfortalecer-el-trabajo-por-cuenta-propia-09-07-2018-20-07-33"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">advertised</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> as “updating,
correcting, and strengthening” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trabajo
por cuenta propia.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Actually,
“controlling” might be a better word.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>On the
positive side, when the regulations take effect in 150 days they will end a
one-year suspension is issuance of new licenses in 27 lines of work, including
restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts. They simplify and consolidate the list of
permitted lines of work. A new category appears: Computer programmers can work
privately and are not restricted from hiring employees.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But overall,
the regulations set new limits. They seem to respond to several impulses: the
party’s declared intention not to permit concentration of wealth, a sense that
parts of the self-employment experiment have gone too far and need to be reined
in, and a desire to protect the state’s predominance in some services. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hence personal
trainers can work privately but can’t give students certificates for work
completed, nor teach students how to play any sport, nor organize competitive
games, so that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">privados</i> will not
grow to overshadow the state’s sport apparatus. Private translators can
translate documents, but not official documents, and they cannot do oral
translations of conversations or presentations at events, thus limiting
competition with the state’s agencies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Various
businesses will be limited to one person, with a prohibition on hiring
employees. This will do away with several modern, successful real estate
agencies. The same applies to those who teach art or foreign languages, and
those who help students cram for university entrance exams.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Restaurants
will be limited to 50 seats, except in Havana’s Chinatown, where different
rules apply.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All
these restrictions will limit growth, and in some cases cause downsizing of businesses
and loss of employment – but none so much as the new prohibition on persons
holding more than one business license. There are 9,657 Cubans in this
category, and they will have 90 days to comply. A Cuban official explains that
the “spirit” of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trabajo por cuenta propia</i>
is that the license represents what its holder does all day. So, for example,
it is now prohibited for a woman who creates a successful salon to hire a
competent manager for that business while she starts another one. This “spirit”
penalizes the resourceful and energetic, not to mention those who would benefit
from the jobs they create.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
regulations do not address this sector’s main problem, one where there is
common ground between the government and the entrepreneurs: the lack of a
wholesale supply system, which causes theft and diversion of state resources.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These
regulations will act as a brake on growth, and perhaps their effect will be
attenuated by evasion. But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trabajo por
cuenta propia</i> and the non-state sector are here to stay if for no other
reason that the government has happily shed about one million jobs from state
payrolls and shows no desire to reverse course. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
grumps won this round, to be sure. But other rounds are coming, particularly
the long-promised enterprise law that could – could – give these small
businesses and the cooperatives a firmer legal status and with it, an ability
to import supplies and carry out other normal business functions. Something to
think about while drinking in the fully legalized private bars, in groups of 50
or less.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-49039881377893760742018-07-12T12:05:00.000-04:002018-07-12T12:05:21.984-04:00“New bilateral cooperation” in law enforcement
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well
this is interesting, and good news: The United States and Cuba held a fourth
set of talks in Washington on law enforcement, after which the State
Department’s <a href="https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/07/283981.htm">statement</a>
mentioned “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">new bilateral
cooperation that resulted in the conviction of a Cuban national who murdered an
American citizen and who had fled prosecution in the United States.” Cuba’s <a href="http://www.minrex.gob.cu/es/sostienen-autoridades-de-cuba-y-estados-unidos-cuarta-reunion-del-dialogo-sobre-aplicacion-y">statement</a>
was less specific, referring to cooperation that has enabled the “prevention of
crime and the prosecution of violators of the law.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For some time there has been discussion in Havana of a
person who fled to Cuba after being accused of committing a murder in Miami.
After talks between the two governments, the story goes, it was decided that
the person would be tried in Havana; he was tried with evidence provided by
U.S. authorities, and was convicted in May. I have found no confirmation of
these details, nor any court documents. But with the U.S. statement, it seems
that the story is starting to come out.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are several points of interest here.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Law enforcement cooperation has been going on for decades,
mainly involving drugs and alien smuggling cases. The Obama Administration
brought greater structure and regularity to these contacts, and the Trump
Administration has continued this process and built on it, noting that “new
bilateral cooperation” made the conviction possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It would be good to get legal records or some official
account of the legal process in Cuba to see how U.S. evidence was employed in
the prosecution, and how the defense functioned. Also, is it possible under
Cuban law for a Cuban to be tried in Cuba for a crime committed abroad, or was it
necessary to bring charges for related crimes committed in Cuban territory?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are many obstacles to establishing functioning
extradition agreements between the United States and Cuba. Among these are U.S.
distrust of Cuba’s court system, and U.S. reluctance to assume a commitment to
send persons to a place where they will not get a fair trial. The obstacles are
not going away soon, so extradition agreements remain a distant prospect. But
in this case, the U.S. side is clearly pleased at a conviction obtained in a
Cuban court. Will this be a precedent, and could it lead to action against
Medicaid scammers and others who have fled charges in the United States?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In related news, deportations to Cuba are up under Trump,
according to <a href="https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/zephyr-aviation-gets-paid-for-deportation-flights-for-miami-to-cuba-10511473">New
Times</a>.</span></div>
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</style>Phil Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06724525896667349935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5851163370258594999.post-78656076221550660552018-05-25T10:47:00.000-04:002018-05-25T10:47:19.070-04:00Luis Posada Carriles, R.I.P.
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He
certainly was one of “a group of fighters who dedicated their best years to
fighting the Fidel Castro regime,” as a Miami television station put it when he
was <a href="http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/article179937626.html">featured</a>
on its recent “Legends of Exile” series. He was also someone willing to put his
life on the line, and to use violence in service of his ideals, and to direct
his violence against civilians – tourists in a hotel at the wrong place at the
wrong time, or young Cuban athletes on a plane returning from an international
competition – which made him a terrorist too. While many scoffed at the Bush
Administration’s failed attempt to nail him on immigration charges, this was more
than any U.S. Administration attempted to do. He lived out his retirement in
Miami, finding social acceptance in a segment of the community consisting
largely of lifelong sedentary revolutionaries who admired a man of action and had
no moral qualms about his tactics. He died last Wednesday. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Coverage
here from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/obituaries/luis-posada-carriles-castro-foe-dies-at-90.html">New
York Times</a>, Granma <a href="http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2018-05-23/murio-impune-el-asesino-luis-posada-carriles-quien-enluto-a-cuba-23-05-2018-15-05-55">here</a>
and <a href="http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2018-05-23/cronologia-del-terror-23-05-2018-22-05-19">here</a>,
the <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article211726514.html">Herald</a>,
and <a href="http://www.14ymedio.com/nacional/Muere-Luis-Posada-Carriles_0_2441755807.html">14yMedio</a>.</span></div>
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