Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez to visit Congress

@PatriciaMazzei

Yoani Sánchez, the dissident Cuban blogger who since last month has been on an international tour after being granted a passport, will meet with U.S. senators and representatives on March 19, Sen. Bill Nelson's office announced Monday.

Nelson, of Florida, and Miami Rep. Joe Garcia, both Democrats, invited Sánchez to visit. She plans to spend a couple of days in Washington D.C., and she is scheduled to stop in Miami in April.

"I look forward to this meeting and her unique view of the realities of life in Cuba," Nelson said in a statement.

Read the full statement after the jump.

Raul Castro: I'll leave Cuba presidency in 2018

Reuters:

Cuban leader Raul Castro announced on Sunday he would step down from power after his second term as president ends in 2018.

Castro made the announcement in a nationally broadcast speech shortly after the Cuban National Assembly elected him to a second five-year term in the opening session of the new parliament.

In a surprise move, the new parliament named a rising young star as his first vice president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52, a member of the political bureau who rose through the party ranks in the provinces to become the most visible possible successor to Castro. Diaz-Canel would succeed Castro if he cannot serve his full term.

More here

The swanky W South Beach hotel offends Cuban-Americans with giant Che Guevara-like photo

@MarcACaputo

Gus Exposito couldn't believe what he saw in the marble walls of South Beach's W Hotel: a larger-than-life framed photograph of what looked like Cuban communist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

"He was a mass murderer, killed thousands of Cubans execution-style," Exposito, 51, wrote in an email, comparing the long-dead Fidel Castro pal to Adolf Hitler or the KKK. "I spoke to the manager and he referred to it as art!"

Turns out, it's probably not Che. It's another artist's rendering of the revolutionary. But Exposito says it's offensive nonetheless, raising the question: Is an image of an offensive image offensive? Is it art? Both?

The W isn't waiting around for answers, a hotel employee said. She said complaints started almost as soon as the photo, which could exceed seven feet in height, was posted about a week ago. It's supposed to come down.

"We've received feedback," she said. "Complaints."

The man in the photo looks a little different than the Che Guevara in iconic image taken by Alberto Díaz “Korda” Gutiérrez in 1959. Is this a younger Che, someone dressed like Che? There's a good chance that the photo is post-modern self portrait of artist Gavin Turk.

In The Guardian, Turk says he made a photo of himself posed as Che to advertise an exhibition: "It was quite a degraded, grainy image, so I could photograph myself in such a way that you wouldn't recognise that it was me and not, in fact, Che. You only need key elements of the photo - the beret, the long hair, the position of the eyes (as with classical icons, looking up and to the right), a bit of beard - to make it function as a symbol."

But it sure looks enough like Che. And if the hotel doesn't take it down, it might get ripped down, said one person who does business with the hotel.

"I can't believe no one has smashed a glass against it," he said, adding that it was part of the private art collection of one of the owners.

"Dude, it's Che Guevara. This is Miami. You don't do stuff like this. When you go to college in New York state, then it's cool at the time to have poster up. But down here, he's looked at a terrorist. He killed people," he said.

Cuban perks under review during immigration-reform overhaul

(Reuters):

All Ana Soto had to do to gain entry to the United States at the Texas-Mexico border in 2008 was show her Cuban identity card and birth certificate.

Soto has since brought her husband from Cuba, reunited with her parents in Miami and got an accounting job - building a dream life thanks to one of the most generous U.S. immigration laws: the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.

"I had no future in Cuba. My life, and my entire family's life has changed for the better thanks to the Adjustment Act," said Soto, 24.

Those who follow in Soto's footsteps may not be so fortunate. As the U.S. Congress takes up immigration reform, the special status of Cuban emigres is being called into question by critics who say the CAA is a costly and anachronistic Cold War relic that should be abolished.

The issue has gained urgency after a relaxing of travel restrictions by both Cuba and the United States that has led to a dramatic increase in the number of Cubans traveling between the two countries. Soto herself has returned to Cuba a dozen times, on the last occasion to visit her dying grandmother.

Last month Cuba ended its practice of requiring an exit permit to leave the island, and said all Cubans could obtain a passport, potentially increasing the exodus.

More here

With new group against Hagel, will his Cuba policies draw more fire?

A new conservative group, Americans for Strong Defense, has been formed to take on Chuck Hagel's defense secretary nomination by President Obama.

While most of the attention against the former Republican Nebraska senator has centered on his positions regarding Israel and (to a lesser degree) gays in the military, Hagel's stances on Cuba could get more attention. A prominent anti-Castro activist, Maurico Claver-Carone, sits on Americans for Strong Defense's board and recently his Capitol Hill Cubans blog  featured an editorial bashing Hagel. Rep. Ileans Ros-Lehtinen has expressed concern with Hagel. Sen. Marco Rubio has as well.

Americans for a Strong Defense is running ads targeting senators in five states (Florida isn't one of them). The ads, however, don't mention Cuba and instead focus on the threats of Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Here's the press release:

Americans for a Strong Defense will make the case to voters and elected officials that Senator Hagel holds out-of-the-mainstream views that send a dangerous message to our adversaries and weaken our ability to defend ourselves.  While ASD lauds Hagel’s service to our nation both in uniform and public office, his record on a range of foreign policy and defense issues is deeply troubling.

The former Nebraska Senator supports massive defense cuts and the elimination of our nation’s nuclear weapons, which would result in huge job losses, invite challenges from our rivals and weaken America.  Furthermore, Hagel’s stances – his opposition to sanctions, his belief that America is too powerful and plays too prominent a role in the world, his view that America can convince rogue states to disarm only if we disarm first – send a dangerous signal to nations such as Iran and North Korea.

“Senator Hagel isn’t the right choice for the Pentagon.  We can do better.  His views on our national defense and key foreign policy issues are deeply troubling, and they send the wrong signal to America’s allies and adversaries,” said Brian Hook, board member for Americans for a Strong Defense (ASD).

Mauricio Claver-Carone, a board member for Americans for a Strong Defense (ASD) stated, “Senator Hagel’s views are clearly outside the mainstream and will only serve to embolden America’s foes throughout the world.  Americans for a Strong Defense will work to ensure that Senators understand a vote for Hagel will weaken America’s strong stance against terrorists and tyrants.”

The ad (Louisiana version):

Hispanic Caucus chastises Florida Chamber for opposing anti-Cuba law in court

The Florida Chamber of Commerce has filed a court brief opposing a new state law prohibiting governments from hiring firms tied to Cuba. And the Hispanic Caucus is not happy about it.

Sen. René Garcia, the Hialeah Republican who co-sponsored the legislation and chairs the caucus, fired off a letter Thursday to the chamber's chairman, Anthony J. Connelly, saying the caucus was "appalled" by the chamber's decision.

"We fail to comprehend why the Florida Chamber of Commerce is so adamantly attempting to block legislation which condemns political and economic oppression in other countries, especially with a country 90 miles away from our borders," Garcia wrote. "We find it hypocritical that the Florida Chamber of Commerce would condone the economic and political legitimacy of countries that fight against the principles in which this country and your organization were founded upon."

A Miami federal judge blocked the implementation of the law in June. Gov. Rick Scott's administration appealed the decision a month later. The chamber filed a brief with the appeals court opposing the law, which also prohibits the state and local governments from awarding contracts to companies with business ties to Syria.

The chamber's formal opposition is not unexpected. The chamber, which had lobbied behind the scenes to get the governor to veto the bill or the attorney general to declare it unconstitutional, had previously raised concerns -- echoed by Florida's largest trading partners, Brazil and Canada -- that the law could chill foreign investment in the state.

The chamber's president has said he agrees that companies should not work in countries like Cuba, but passing laws restricting government hiring could spook businesses from working in Florida.

Odebrecht Construction, the Coral Gables-based subsidiary of the Brazilian engineering and construction conglomerate, sued the state, arguing the law is unconstitutional because it conflicts with the federal government's power to set foreign policy.

The untold story of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Fidel's secret nukes

The Cuban Missile Crisis had just ended, with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s promise to President John F. Kennedy on Oct. 28 1962 that he was withdrawing his strategic nuclear weapons from the island.

But nearly 100 smaller Soviet nuclear warheads were also in Cuba, unknown to the U.S. government at the time and for decades into the future.

Fidel Castro wanted desperately to keep them.

Had Castro prevailed, Cuba would have become a nuclear power. And if Kennedy had known that Khrushchev had all but lied on Oct. 28, the hawks in Washington might have won their push for an all-out U.S. invasion of the island.

Instead, Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Anastas Mikoyan, sensing that the “hothead” Castro could not be trusted with any nuclear weapons, got them out of Cuba after telling him that Soviet law did not permit the transfer of nuclear weapons to other countries. More from Juan Tamayo here.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/13/3049063/secret-nukes-the-untold-story.html#storylink=cpy

Fidel Castro is dead. On Twitter. Again.

Fidel Castro has died. On Twitter. Again.

It was only a matter of time before the rumors and whispers kicked up again on Twitter, which thrives off rumor and whisper.

Not only is the dictator 86 and in poor health and out of the public eye -- he failed to congratulate strongman-protege Hugo Chavez after his re-election in Venezuela. Not a peep from Castro. Not a Tweet. Yes, Castro's on Twitter, but the 140-character limit doesn't suit the windbag who once gave speeches for hours.

Still, the silence was a deafening vacuum, which Twitter abhors.

"I thought somebody in the Cuban government would at least write up some fake congratulations to Chavez but then again, NO ONE speaks for Fidel," wrote Rob Sequin in a smart Havana Journal post. "That would be a life threatening mistake."

The silence and innuendo shouldn't be a surprise. Cuba is a dictatorship of government-controlled media and lies. It literally shoots (or simply imprisons) the messenger.

“El Comandante is well, following his daily routine, reading, exercising,” Alex Castro said, according to pro-Castro blogger Yohandry Fontana. (What are the chances the government wants to leak this news on the cusp of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile crisis?)

We've been through this drill before. For decades. But now we have Twitter. It can happen endlessly.

In January and then August, folks were atwitter with Castro's death. But he seemingly remained alive. Perhaps he died earlier but is propped up like a Weekend at Bernie's dictator. Perhaps he's as satanic, as many exiles say, and will therefore live forever.

But now that he gave up ostensible power to his brother and traded in the army fatigues, Castro is more likely these days to be compared to more comical figures, especially South Park's mythical cartoon child, Kenny, who dies every episode.

"Fidel Castro has died more times than South Park Kenny," Tweeted the AP's Terry Spencer. "(Another unfounded rumor today. When he does croak, no one will believe it)."

And that's something you can believe on Twitter when it comes to Fidel.

Here's our latest story

Marco Rubio got quid-pro-quo deal on Cuba travel with President Obama

AP reports that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio forced President Obama to the negotiating table over eased travel restrictions with Cuba:

"This is nothing more than tourism. This is tourism for Americans that, at best, are curious about Cuba and, at worst, sympathize with the Cuban regime," Rubio said.

It is not clear how many Americans have taken advantage of the people-to-people exchanges, but the number is certainly in the thousands.

For months, Rubio held up Senate confirmation of a key diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobsen, until the White House took action on people-to-people. Alex Conant, a spokesman for Rubio, acknowledged a quid pro quo was reached in March, leading to Jacobsen's confirmation and toughened Treasury guidelines that he called "an overdue and welcome step."

Tour operators say Rubio's claims are unfair and will hurt ordinary Cubans, including new entrepreneurs who have taken advantage of a limited free market opening under President Raul Castro to set up private restaurants and other small businesses.

More here

Pro-Cuba travel sentiment at the Democratic National Convention

Here's something you don't see at the Republican National Convention: An activist holding up a sign calling for more travel to Cuba. President Obama loosened travel and monetary-remittance restrictions to Cuba. But under Helms-Burton, travel to Cuba isn't free and easy (and, of course, once you're in Cuba you're subject to the whims of the dictatorship).

Public opinion surveys indicate that support for Cuba restrictions is thawing. But the Republican base in Miami-Dade County, where 72 percent of the GOP is Hispanic and overwhelmingly Cuban, still favors a hardline stance.