CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Dollar-store prices go up

A government document showed prices at Cuba's dollar stores set to increase by 10 to 30 percent.

By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press. Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004

HAVANA - Cuban officials have asked managers of dollar-only stores to mark up the price of their products -- including such staples as cooking oil, milk and pasta -- by 10 to 30 percent, according to a document obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The government, blaming new U.S. measures aimed at squeezing the island's economy, abruptly closed the stores early last week.

Identical ''Closed for inventory'' signs went up at shops selling clothes, furniture and toys, while long lines of customers waited at other stores to buy food and personal-hygiene products -- about the only items still being sold for dollars.

Government officials have said the stores would reopen, with higher prices, but have given no date. Gasoline prices will also rise, they've warned.

Cuba implemented liberal reforms in the early 1990s to cope with the loss of Soviet aid and trade. The possession of dollars was legalized in 1993 to draw hard currency from growing tourism and family purchases at the state stores. The government has steadily offered more and more goods in U.S. currency, while the ration book of items available in pesos has withered.

The document, dated May 17, issued by the Domestic Trade Ministry and directed to managers at stores that only accept dollars, provides a detailed list of price increases: baby food, cereal, cooking oil, meat, pasta, soup, dairy products (excluding milk), up 10 percent; condiments, dried fruit, olives, film, office supplies, up 15 percent.

Detergent will cost 12 to 20 percent more, hand soap 13 to 25 percent more. Clothes, electrical goods, furniture and shoes will go up by 10 to 15 percent, building materials by 10 percent, as will deodorant, shampoo and shaving cream.

Some steep increases will hit leather goods (20 percent), imported cigarettes (20 percent), alcohol (25 percent) and local handicrafts and souvenirs (30 percent). As for cigarettes, those produced locally will go up by about 10 percent, as will national brands of alcohol, excluding Havana Club.

The new prices are to go into effect once the dollar-only stores reopen.

The government circulated a similar document two years ago but did not shut down the dollar-only stores. After customers complained, the prices some items were reduced.

For many, rations now cover eight eggs, a pound of chicken, about a pint of cooking oil, six pounds of rice, a half-pound of a ground meat-soy mixture and a few other goods monthly. The rest must be bought at far higher prices either in pesos or dollars.

The dollar-only shops have been associated with social inequalities. The elite, with access to greenbacks, can easily buy everyday goods that a doctor cannot on a salary equivalent to $25 a month.

The U.S. proposals aim to reduce hard currency on the island by limiting how often Cuban Americans may visit, how much they may spend and how many money transfers may involve government officials and Communist Party members.

CANF: Cuba's liberty lies with activists

On the 102nd anniversary of Cuba's independence from Spain, the key to political change on the island rests with its dissidents, the chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation has said.

By Luisa Yanez. lyanez@herald.com. Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004

It will be Cuba's dissidents who spark significant political change on the island, not White House policies or South Florida exiles, the chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation told about 700 people at a luncheon Thursday marking Cuba's Independence Day.

''Today, we have to help Cubans help themselves. . . . That's where our focus will be,'' Jorge Mas Santos said in speech showcasing a shift in the influential group's philosophy.

CANF's leadership now believes that Fidel Castro's reign will end through homegrown pressures, not external ones.

Mas added that in November, exiles should vote for the presidential candidate who includes the plight ''of the dissidents and a free Cuba'' in his platform. His statement illustrated CANF's growing political independence in an election year when the Cuban exile vote will be heavily courted.

''In the past, CANF has been aligned to a political party. We're independent and nonpartisan in our ideology,'' Mas said to loud cheers, on the day that Cubans celebrate their 1902 independence from Spanish rule. "CANF represents only the best interests of the Cuban people.''

A Cuba without Castro remains the organization's goal -- 45 years after the dictator took power.

But expecting an international power -- namely the United States -- to rescue the island is a fruitless exercise, he said.

''This falls upon the shoulders of Cubans,'' Mas told the group of men and women, many sporting traditional unisex guayabera shirts and outfits at the event at the JW Marriott on Brickell Avenue.

THE NEW SANCTIONS

Off the stage, Mas said the new Bush administration restrictions on travel to Cuba, a tightening of the U.S. embargo, is likely to have mixed results. Mas said he supports a component that calls for beefing up the TV Martí signal by having a military plane broadcast the signal over international waters near Cuba.

With special equipment, the plane will try to beam U.S.-produced TV Martí into Cuban homes and circumvent the Cuban government's jamming of the frequency. Although it's not flying regularly yet, Thursday was to be a fly day for the military plane.

''It's not important that they do it today, on Cuban Independence Day. We went them to get it going and do it consistently,'' he said.

RECRUITING ALLIES

Another goal is further ''internationalizing the struggle for a free Cuba,'' Mas said. To that end, the Miami-based consuls general of 11 countries that cast votes in favor of a United Nations resolution denouncing Cuba's human rights abuses were honored at the luncheon.

''Our message to the world is that our country is not free, and we won't rest until it is,'' Mas said.

As is tradition with Cuban exiles on a day like Vente de Mayo (May 20), there was a promise of a Cuba Libre one day soon. Mas said he sees changes on the horizon.

''I'm totally convinced that the next few months will bring many changes to Cuba,'' Mas said to a standing ovation.

I'll keep heat on Castro, president says

President Bush marks Cuban Independence Day with little pomp, reaffirming his commitment to rid Cuba of Fidel Castro.

By Lesley Clark And Frank Davies. clark@herald.com. Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004.

President Bush marked Cuban Independence Day on Thursday by pledging to ratchet up restrictions against Fidel Castro amid signs that his hard-line policy could cost him points among Cuban Americans with relatives on the island.

Bush chose an uncharacteristically low-key approach to note the Cuban holiday, in sharp contrast to the fiery speech he gave in Miami six months before his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, faced reelection in 2002.

President Bush, who marked the holiday last year with a radio address denouncing Fidel Castro and a private meeting with former political prisoners, instead issued a brief statement from the White House, vowing to speed up Castro's departure by carrying out the changes he announced two weeks ago.

''We stand firmly with the 11 million Cuban people who still suffer under the repressive Castro dictatorship,'' Bush said in the statement, promising to ''vigorously implement'' the findings of a Cuba study panel that recommended more aid for island dissidents, less travel to Cuba and greater restrictions on cash and gifts to people on the island.

Bush went to the Capitol on Thursday morning to rally congressional Republicans worried about the continuing violence in Iraq, and campaign officials said the lack of Cuba sizzle was no reflection on the president's commitment to a key political base that Republicans view as critical to his reelection. At least eight in 10 of Florida's nearly half-million Cuban-American voters backed Bush in 2000, when he won the state by 537 votes.

NEW RESTRICTIONS

Observers suggested, though, that the new restrictions represent a double-edged sword for Bush, who has sought to woo back Cuban Americans disenchanted with his administration's progress on ridding Cuba of Castro.

The new restrictions that Bush announced will cut back family visits to Cuba by Cuban Americans from once a year to once every three years and tighten the list of those on the island who can receive cash remittances and packages from the United States.

By coming down hard on travel and cash, the president risks alienating some moderate Cuban Americans.

''People with family members see it as a punishment for the families, not Castro,'' said Esteban Bovo, a Hialeah City Council member and one of two dozen elected officials who this week sent a letter to the White House in support of the recommendations. "But there has to be a bitter pill to swallow if we're ever going to see democracy in Cuba.''

Supporters warn that Bush must now deliver on the promises or risk more disappointment within the community.

Some said Thursday that they were worried that there were delays in the launch of an airplane that is to be enlisted to better fight Cuba's jamming of Radio and TV Marti.

PLANE COMING 'SOON'

A spokesman for the State Department said the plane was not scheduled to be launched on Thursday, but will ''soon'' be deployed.

''There's always been a lot of talk, talk, talk,'' said Manuel Cereijo, who voted for Bush in 2000 and ''so far'' plans to vote for him for reelection.

Democrats sought to exploit the situation, with U.S. Rep. Bob Menendez of New Jersey blasting the administration for "400 pages of words . . . after over 1,000 days of inaction.''

Bush campaign officials waved off suggestions that Bush's Cuban-American support will flag.

''The president is going to retain the support of the entire Cuban community, first because his policies have been consistent and strong and second because the awful choice is Sen. Kerry, who has been weak and inconsistent on Castro,'' said Bush-Cheney spokesman Reed Dickens.

John Kerry, who has met with Cuban Americans in South Florida to develop a Cuba policy, issued a Cuban Independence Day declaration as well, saying he was "committed to working with Cuban Americans, our allies in the region and the Cuban people to promote liberty and freedom on the island.''

Citing ties to Cuba, U.S. bars resort execs

The top officers of the resort chain Superclubs have been told that they will be denied entry into the United States.

By George Gedda, Associated Press. Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has notified a Jamaica-based resort firm that its top officers will be denied entry to the United States because of investments the company has made on property confiscated from Americans in Cuba.

Letters were sent to officers of Superclubs, a resort chain with properties throughout the Caribbean, including several in Cuba, according to a senior U.S. official who asked not to be identified.

Visas would be denied to top executives and shareholders and to their spouses and minor children starting 45 days after the date on the letters. It was not clear how many people would be affected.

Efforts to reach a Superclubs spokeswoman in Jamaica on Thursday were unsuccessful.

The authority for canceling visas is contained in legislation approved in 1996. One expressed purpose of the law, sponsored by former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., is to discourage foreign companies from investing in Cuba on properties confiscated from Americans. Such seizures were common in the early years of the Cuban revolution.

The 45-day grace period will enable Superclubs to reconsider its investment in Cuba, the official said. It is not clear whether the U.S. action applies to more than one Superclubs property there.

The Title IV provision of the Helms-Burton law has been invoked only on rare occasion over the years. Shortly after the legislation was signed by President Clinton in 1996, it was imposed against Sherritt International Corp., a Canadian mining firm.

Two weeks ago, the Bush administration vowed to aggressively pursue enforcement of Title IV as part of a series of measures aimed at weakening Fidel Castro's government. The new policy also calls for the deployment of additional personnel to strengthen that enforcement.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American Republican from South Florida, has strongly supported enforcing Title IV as a means of discouraging foreign companies from investing in Cuba. She said that she had not been notified of the action against Superclubs but that it did not come as a surprise.

''If true, this is great news,'' she said in an interview.

Robert Muse, an international lawyer and expert on Cuban affairs, said the administration probably pursued a Jamaica-based target because Jamaica lacks strategic importance compared to some European Union countries that could be subject to Title IV action. The most prominent potential EU target would be the Spanish-based Sol Melia hotel chain, which has numerous properties in Cuba.

The EU regards Title IV as a violation of World Trade Organization rules, Muse said, but it has said it will not file a complaint as long as no EU company is targeted.

PRINTER FRIENDLY