Everybody's a critic

“…secret U.S. documents, many very recent, that reveal imperial diplomacy, full of arrogance, of judgments about our nations and leaders, of disdain for international law, of cynicism and hypocrisy, where its true intentions become apparent, where diplomacy is confused with operations of intelligence and subversion, and political influence with crude intervention in our internal affairs.”

– Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez commenting yesterday on U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks at an Ibero-American summit in Argentina

Odds and ends

· AP: “The leaders of Cuba’s two main Jewish groups both denied having worked with a jailed American contractor whose family says he was on the island to hand out communication equipment to Jewish organizations.” The Herald reviews the Alan Gross case and interviews his wife. Mr. Gross’ attorney in the United States released a statement calling his year-long detention without charges a “travesty” that “violates every international standard of justice and due process.”

· Juventud Rebelde: As part of the “reordering of foreign trade activity,” a number of state enterprises are losing their authority to make their own decisions on import and export transactions.

· The Florida company Olympusat announces that it will launch “a new network featuring 100% Cuban-produced television programming” for the U.S. market.

· EFE: A Spanish Partido Popular official comes to Washington, huddles with legislators, and all express opposition to any change in EU policy toward Cuba. Meantime, France signed an agreement renewing its official cooperation with Cuba, but with no specifics about future assistance or projects (EFE). And a Spanish government aid program is assisting a new Cuban university wireless communications laboratory (Granma).

Wikileaks: Indispensable Fidel

In early August 2006, Fidel Castro had just taken ill and delegated his executive powers. President Bush declared that an “effort to build a transitional government” was under way in Cuba and that he would “take note of those, in the current Cuban regime, who obstruct your desire for a free Cuba.” The month before, the Administration had issued the second part of its Cuba plan – here’s the cover page of the classified part of that plan, with a section promoting “TRANSITION NOT SUCCESSION.”

In that spirit, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas wrote to the State Department on August 10, 2006 to request instructions to tell Hugo Chavez that the United States want him to keep his nose out of Cuba’s affairs: “Embassy believes this would be an apt moment to warn the BRV [the Chavez government] against intervening in Cuba during its transition.”

The bulk of the analytical cable, however, is about the Cuba-Venezuela relationship and the possible impact of Fidel Castro’s death. The Embassy saw particular value in “Castro’s steady hand” during crises in Caracas and recounted cases where his interventions literally saved Chavez:

“[Chavez’s] military colleagues were willing to fight on in 1992 when he was holed up in the Military Museum, but he surrendered them all. In 2002, a weepy Chavez was reportedly ready to sign the letter of resignation and flee to Cuba. Castro has proved his worth to Chavez as a proxy crisis manager. It was Castro who told Chavez to fight on in 2002, and it was Castro who worked the phones to reassemble a pro-Chavez consensus in the armed forces. In 2004, as the recall referendum approached, it was Castro who conceived and executed the "misiones" plan to buck up Chavez' popularity. In Cuba, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to Mariel to the Maleconazo to the Special Period, Fidel Castro has proven himself to be a superb crisis manager. Should Chavez confront a thorny crisis, especially a domestic crisis, he may suffer significantly from the loss of Castro's steady hand at his back. This, in turn, could be an advantage for us in our efforts to urge a return to full democracy in Venezuela.”

More on Wikileaks

I think Secretary Clinton deserves the first word on this subject: “There have been examples in history in which official conduct has been made public in the name of exposing wrongdoings or misdeeds. This is not one of those cases.” Her full statement, well worth reading, is here.

But the cables are coming out whether any of us likes it or not. “Currently released so far… 485 / 251,287,” the Wikileaks page says today.

Some will be released by Wikileaks, others by the newspapers that also have the full trove. If you want to stay on top of releases about Cuba or any other topic, you will have to check Wikileaks plus the The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, and Le Monde.

If this single cable (about Venezuelan health care, with minor mention of Cuba) is a guide, Wikileaks is exercising some discretion in those it is releasing itself, blanking out the names of sources.

The first cable from Havana, cited in the post below, came from El Pais.

Tracey Eaton, in a post at Along the Malecon, reckons that 509 cables originate at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana and about 2,000 relate to Cuba. Of the 509, there are about 150 from the Obama Administration, about 350 from the Bush Administration, and a handful stretching back to 1987.

This link shows the cables released by Wikileaks that have the State Department’s filing “tag” for Cuba. It now shows four cables from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.

Depending on the cables selected – and the selection criteria are unknown – we may learn about U.S. policy, instructions from Washington, reporting about issues and personalities from embassies, and more.

Cuban media are already paying attention to these “revelations about imperial diplomacy.” As the cables come out, it will be interesting to see if their coverage will be full or selective.

Here’s a Herald story on the impact in the Americas so far.

Straight from Wichita...

..."Our Delight" brand frozen rolls of "mechanically separated turkey with natural flavoring added." In a store in Sancti Spiritus, next to Brazilian chickens.