Quotable

“We both come from the same country and we both have the same goals. You play for the Reds, your family, but also for that Cuban flag where you come from. The U.S. provides all the opportunity and it’s unbelievable, but your home country represents your roots. That’s where we bond, over the Cuban blood in our veins.”

— Cincinnatti Reds first baseman Yonder Alonso speaking about his new teammate Aroldis Chapman, quoted in this story on MLB.com

Migration talks end (Updated)

Reuters: The State Department says the U.S. delegation called for the release of jailed USAID contractor Alan Gross during talks that took place in Havana today. The talks reviewed the migration accords that have been in force since the Clinton Administration and provide for twice-yearly consultations to examine how they are working.

A public relations campaign directed at U.S. media was undertaken this week on Mr. Gross’ behalf; more on that later.

Cuba’s statement at the end of the talks is here at the Havana Note.

When the State Department’s statement referenced in the Reuters story appears on the web, I’ll post it.

Update

The State Department’s statement is here.

The U.S. delegation apparently met a group of dissidents on Friday after the talks ended, drawing a sharp complaint from the Cuban foreign ministry (LA Times story here). Later, National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told EFE that Cuba’s complaint doesn’t mean that Cuba wants to stop talks on migration or other matters.

Migration talks (corrected)

The State Department spokesman’s announcement:

“Today, U.S. and Cuban representatives will meet in Havana to discuss implementation of the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords. The discussions will focus on how best to promote safe, legal, and orderly migration between Cuba and the United States. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Craig Kelly will lead the U.S. delegation, which includes representatives of the agencies involved in managing migration issues.”

Correction: The State Department corrected the announcement to reflect the fact that talks will take place Friday, not today.

Quotable

“I believe that these economic restrictions − an ‘embargo’ to some and a ‘blockade’ to others − represent a blunder in American policy toward Cuba. Far from suffocating the ruling class of the Island, these trade restrictions create material difficulties for the population and feed the radicalization of the ideological discourse inside Cuba. The embargo has been an argument to justify the unproductive and inefficient state-run economy, including the total ruin of various sectors. Worse than that, it has been used to support the maxim, ‘in a country under siege, dissent is treason,’ which contributes to the lack of freedoms for my fellow citizens.

“In its nearly 50 years, the ‘blockade’ has done nothing to limit the material arsenal of our authorities, not one of them has ceased to enjoy their privileges. An example is the issue of Internet access. They have always blamed the restrictions on Internet access on the fact that the United States has not allowed Cuba to connect to its underwater cable. The victims of these restrictions are ordinary Cubans; we have had to postpone our enjoyment of the World Wide Web, while the police, the censors and the official media seize the few kilobytes of access available to the whole country.

“When Barack Obama authorized American telecommunications companies to negotiate with their Cuban counterparts, this alibi for limiting the use of the Internet fell apart. Unfortunately, the government of Raul Castro has ignored his proposal and we continue to be the ‘Island of the Disconnected.’ But on this issue, at least, it is obvious to all that the responsibility does not rest entirely on external forces, but also on internal political will.

“…[W]e have to put aside the idea that relations between peoples are shaped in the halls of governments and the corridors of foreign ministries. Between the United States and Cuba there is a shared history, kinship and culture that do not depend on agreements between our respective administrations. For example, a linguistic detail illustrates the Island’s sympathy with our neighbors to the north; we never use the word ‘gringos’ with all its negative connotations, rather we use the word ‘yumas’ which is much more friendly.

“Our nation is no longer contained within a single territory; there are Cubans in every part of the world, and especially on the other side of the Florida Straits. As a result, our destiny is indissolubly tied to the United States. With due respect for our sovereignty, with more collaboration, more cultural exchanges, more citizen solidarity and fluidity of communications, both peoples would benefit. For this reason I support an immediate opening to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba, the end of the ‘blockade,’ the end of the damaging hostilities of the Cold War, and in particular the complete elimination of anything that limits contact between the citizens of both countries.”

– Yoani Sanchez, interviewed by fellow blogger Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo; interview published at allvoices.com; h/t El Yuma

Odds and ends

• Veteran New York Timesman Stephen Kinzer writes about returning to “a different Cuba” after 25 years, where people complain out in the open

• AFP: Cuba and Spain will continue talks on human rights on Thursday in Madrid.

• The Toronto Star takes a long look at Cuban baseball’s talent drain. In passing, it cites this report that a Boston Red Sox executive was in Cuba.

• It’s good to have a reporter in the neighborhood; Tracey Eaton digs up the details on the Key West-Havana windsurfer story. Nothing to do with Cuba, but this sea journey is a lot more interesting.

• From the Philadephia Inquirer, an interview with clarinet/saxophone virtuoso Paquito D’Rivera.

Obama and engagement

This New York Times news analysis is a rare instance of Cuba policy being discussed as part of the mainstream of foreign policy. In this instance, it has to do with its place in the Obama Administration’s approach to engagement.

The quotes from White House officials are all blind, but the Administration’s view seems to be that it has reached out to Cuba, Cuba hasn’t reciprocated, and the Administration deserves credit.

Also, this assertion, which seems based a bit on wishful thinking: “…White House officials insist that at least Mr. Obama has not given Cuban leaders the opportunity to hold up the United States as a convenient target.”

Comments, please

Ok, we’re back in the comment business.

I’ll do what I said I didn’t want to do, which is to moderate comments as they come in. That means that reader comments will be published with a delay.

If you don’t like the idea that I’m going to be the arbiter, well I don’t like it either. But among the alternatives – zero comments, free-for-all with insults and more, or moderated comments, I’ve settled on this one.

“The passions and the hatreds have to end”

That’s a quote from retiring Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart in this Herald column by Myriam Marquez. You figure it out.

Meanwhile, here are two views of his decision not to seek re-election and his brother Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart’s decision to switch districts in the 2010 election: from the Herald’s political writer Beth Reinhard, and from Rui Ferreira writing in Spain’s El Mundo.

19th century regulation vs. 21st century technology

Returning to the U.S. government’s blocking of open source software sites and instant messaging applications to people in Cuba, here are two items:

• An explanation from open-source software site SourceForge.net of why it has to comply with U.S. law.

• A comment from Computerworld magazine editor Sharon Machlis that notes the impossibility of these sanctions achieving their intent. She points out that people in sanctioned countries have long been barred from contributing to open-source sites, and now they are barred from downloading from them too.

There is something quaint about the U.S. bureaucracy issuing orders like this, as if it were banning the export of a specific commodity from a small territory with three easily controlled points of entry and exit, each with a little customs house checking every wagon or cart that goes by.

The Internet is a little different. If governments in sanctioned countries want something that’s on the web, a U.S. government order that blocks IP addresses in those countries is not going to stop them from getting it. They have embassies all over the world, right?

The blocking of IP addresses will affect individuals with no connection to the government.

This, at a time when the Secretary of State has made a speech on Internet freedom declaring that the United States stands for a “single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas.”

And consider this: USAID pays contractors to go to Cuba to provide satellite Internet service to Cubans, but for those Cubans who have access already, U.S. sanctions tell them they can’t get Microsoft Instant Messenger or open-source software.

We’ll give it to you, but if you want to help yourselves, forget it.

Odds and ends

• How the Cuba trade issue is playing in this year’s Kansas GOP Senate primary.

• Omara Portuondo concerts canceled in Washington and Miami Beach.

• Reuters: The Bolshoi performs in Havana for the first time in 30 years.

• Things look very different from a distance: As the Russian foreign minister visits Havana, here are Russian views of Cuba’s place in the world, and Moscow’s and Washington’s relations with Cuba.

• Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez says that an open and secure Internet can “help lead the world from these troubled times into a new age of peace and prosperity.” He also says that detained USAID contractor Alan Gross was assisting “Jewish nonprofits in setting up Internet access for [Cuba’s] Jewish community.”

• The New York Times reviews “A Little Bit of Cuba,” a restaurant in Freehold, New Jersey.

• Cuban Colada takes us through an article in Granma that explains how recent bread shortages coincided with a period of increased bread production. With a link to the original.

• Granma: U.S. sanctions thwart a French windsurfer’s plan for a Key West-Havana trip. English version here.

Good morning

Who benefits?

What impact will the departure of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart have on the Cuba debate in Congress? He has been an effective, hard-working advocate for his hard-line views on Cuba policy, and he has gained seniority in the House. As a result his departure will definitely be felt, although others will continue to advocate for the positions he holds, and in terms of votes on Cuba policy in the House, the numbers won’t change.

Or will they?

This would be a straightforward story of a resignation in a safe GOP district were it not for the decision of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart to leave his district and run in the one Lincoln is vacating.

Former Democratic campaign operative Giancarlo Sopo says that Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart is “being run out of the district because it's changing.” Democrats say their registered voters now outnumber Republicans in Mario’s District 25 (see the numbers at the Herald’s politics blog). Mambi Watch notes Mario’s declining share of the vote in that district: 65% in 2002, 58% in 2006, and 53% in 2008. Newsweek wraps these developments into trends that favor Florida Democrats in a year that isn’t shaping up to be favorable for Democrats nationwide. And the domain name JoeGarcia2010.com has been registered, Miami New Times reports.

So far, Democrats seem happy to have the open seat in District 25 rather than 21, and Republicans aren’t saying a whole lot, which leads to the guess that they may be less happy.

Now back to the impact on the Cuba debate and a big, big hypothetical.

If the Democratic candidate were to be Joe Garcia, and if he were to win the election, it’s important to note that Garcia, formerly with the Cuban American National Foundation, is not an advocate of lifting the embargo. To my knowledge he does not advocate ending travel restrictions on Americans. What he did support in last year’s campaign was the measures that President Obama has now implemented with regard to Cuban American visits and remittances. Were he to be elected, the numbers might not change on major votes, but the Cuban American delegation in Congress would change; its consistent unity on all aspects of Cuba policy would probably end. There would be one member who embraces the younger generation that travels to Cuba and connects with Cuba, and is willing to look critically and practically at policies that have been in place for decades. That might be more important than a change in the numbers.

The Diaz-Balarts: one moves out, one moves over (Updated)

Politico reports that Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart will announce this afternoon that he will not seek re-election this year.

More interesting, CongressDaily reports that his brother Mario, the incumbent Congressman in a neighboring Miami district, will leave his district and seek re-election in Lincoln’s district.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart won his 2008 race in District 21 by a 58-42 percent margin over former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez, while Mario Diaz-Balart won a 53-47 percent victory over former Miami-Dade Democratic Party chair Joe Garcia in District 25.

Senator McCain carried both districts in 2008; the margins were 51-49 in District 21 and 50-49 in District 25.

Update: The Sun-Sentinel has the full statements of both Congressmen, confirming that Mario will run in Lincoln’s district. It’s too early to handicap a District 25 race between, say, Joe Garcia and state legislator David Rivera, but the resignation/switcheroo creates an open seat in a district slightly less favorable to Republicans.

The Cuban threat

I looked at the Director of National Intelligence’s “Annual Threat Assessment” (pdf) to see how Cuba is described, and this headline jumped out at me: “Venezuela: Leading Anti-US Regional Force.”

I wonder how Fidel Castro feels about that.

Regarding Cuba, there is no discussion at all of Cuba as a military or terrorism threat.

The Cuba section assesses the chances of a “sudden Cuban mass migration attempt” – they are “low” – and says Cuban intelligence watches “U.S. activities for insight into our operations and intentions globally.” Also: “Cuba maintains intelligence liaison relationships with a number of US adversaries and competitors.”

Odds and ends

• Foreign Policy magazine’s The Cable blog: Cuba policy “continues to be managed, but not radically rethought inside the administration.”

• AP: Cuba’s imports of food from the United States were down 26 percent last year.

• Europa Press: 200 graduates of Cuba’s Latin American Medical School from 24 countries assemble in Havana and deploy to Haiti.

• AP: Radio Marti and the Voice of America are sharing resources in Miami and beginning joint production of a half-hour news program.

• From the Guardian, a look at Cuba’s ballet dancers, their “world-class” training and technique, and the limitation that “cultural isolation” places on their development.

50 flights a week

ABC News has this report on Cuban American family visits, and the approximately 50 flights per week from Miami to Havana. These flights are filled with the constituents of the legislators who are fighting to prevent Americans in general from having the right that Cuban Americans now have, to travel without restriction to Cuba. God bless America.

Recess time

Granma can't resist

All countries that provide foreign assistance deserve political credit for it, and Cuba and the United States are two that certainly seek credit for it. Nothing wrong with that.

In the Haiti context, I was struck by this article in Granma last weekend that leaped at the opportunity to take a cheap shot at the United States because medical evacuation flights were suspended for a few days. (There were questions about cost and the capacity of Florida hospitals, they were resolved, and the flights resumed.) The final paragraph questions why cost is not an issue in the deployment of thousands of troops to Haiti. Earlier, Fidel Castro had expressed alarm that U.S. troops had “occupied the territory of Haiti.”

I think that people around the world recognize the great contribution of Cuban doctors in Haiti. I also think that Cuban propagandists diminish Cuba’s contribution when they show that for them, Haiti relief efforts are part of a political competition with the United States.

Odds and ends

• Import substitution marches ahead: A factory in Ciego de Avila is doubling its toothbrush output to 11 million this year.

• Former Polish President Lech Walesa came to Miami to raise money for the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba and for his own foundation. Earlier, he was in Illinois endorsing a losing candidate in the GOP Senate primary. In Miami, he spoke about his conviction that change is coming to Cuba, and about the importance of values in foreign policy, according to these reports from AP and the Herald. Neither these nor other reports say what he recommended that governments actually do with regard to Cuba policy. I guess you had to be there.

• Make your own joke: Ramiro Valdes, former interior minister and now a Cuban Vice President and Minister of Information Technology and Communications, arrived in Caracas to lead a special group working on Venezuela’s electricity woes. Opposition parties are getting “fired up,” Reuters reports.

• Radio Marti: The State Department confirms that migration talks will take place in Havana February 19.

• From the Havana Note, more on Cuba’s medical efforts in Haiti.

• Tracey Eaton has posted an eight-minute video of last year’s July 26 rally in Holguin.

• If you’re tired of your usual vacation, you can go to North Korea at any time, “not just during the Arirang Mass Games in August and September,” according to the tour operator that offers the service. North Korea is not on the United States’ list of “state sponsors of terror,” but even when it was on that list, it was on the list of Nice Communist Countries to which Americans are permitted to travel.

Quotable

“Cuba’s past is our present.”

– Maria Luisa Morales, one of the demonstrators outside Miami’s Versailles restaurant Sunday night before the Los Van Van concert, quoted in Miami New Times.

Cuba in the Obama budget

The Voice of America is going to eliminate its Croatian and Greek language broadcasts, according to the document listing program terminations and reductions in President Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2011.

But there’s not a word about TV Marti, the U.S. government station that has been on the air nearly twenty years and has no audience in Cuba. Even President Bush’s director of Radio and TV Marti, Salvador Lew, has said that TV Marti “is not seen” in Cuba. I could find no specific numbers for the Radio/TV Marti budget in the White House budget documents because it is folded into a bigger account for international broadcast operations (see here, pdf, page 1224).

Meanwhile, it appears that the President is asking Congress to provide $20 million for USAID’s Cuba democracy program next year (see here, pdf, page 70).

Odds and ends

• Los Van Van’s concert went off without a hitch last night. The Herald’s Jordan Levin reviews it here. EFE reports on the scene where 200 protestors were outside including “a group of Hondurans.” The Herald says 350-400 were protesting. In El Nuevo Herald, clarinet and saxophone virtuoso Paquito D’Rivera explains why he stayed away from a concert by a band that “has had nothing bad to say about a government that since 1959 has crushed all types of liberties.”

• Along the Malecon: The prosecution adds detail to its perjury case against Luis Posada Carriles.

• Canada’s Globe and Mail on American, Cuban, and Venezuelan aid efforts in Haiti: “All wave the flag while delivering assistance.”

• Diario de Cuba reports that a University of Havana student was expelled because of a Fecebook group he created, either because the group generated debate that went out of bounds, or because it reported on discussions in a Communist Party youth meeting.

• Granma: National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon closed the “Meeting of Cubans Residing Abroad Against the Blockade, in Defense of National Sovereignty.” In other words, the anti-exilio.