Articles of Cuba

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Murder in Paradise

Families of victims

Bridgetown, Barbados. It was a peaceful Wednesday afternoon in Barbados 35 years ago. Dalton Guiller had just finished a round of waterskiing and was refueling his boat on shore when a roar in the sky startled him. A low-flying and apparently damaged airliner was fast approaching from the west toward the beach. “It didn’t look right. It was too low. I then saw the plane rise slightly, bank to the right and crash into the water: nose and wing first,” said Guiller.

Opinions »

Statement from the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five on the Release from Prison of René González

René González and his two daughters

René González, one of the five men known as the Cuban Five, today will walk out of Federal Prison in Marianna, Florida. He will walk out with his head held high after more than 13 years in prison, having served his utterly unjust sentence with complete dignity. He has been a model prisoner, even while suffering the indignity of being inhumanely deprived visits from his wife for more than 11 years.

Opinions »

Welcome to America’s war on terrorism (fighters)… continued

René González and his daughter Irma Gonzalez

On Friday, October 7, René González will become the first member of the Cuban Five to be released from an American prison. In 2001, the Five were convicted in Miami of spying for Cuba. Cuba insists they were—justifiably—trying to prevent anti-Castro exiles from launching terrorist attacks against their homeland. The Five have since become heroes in Cuba, and their case has sparked international controversy—as has González’s pending release. Last week, the same Florida judge who originally sentenced him decided González must remain in Florida during his parole rather than granting his request to return home to his family in Havana. Why?

News »

Ricardo Alarcon: Obama Has Chance to Show a Change

Cuba

U.S. President Barack Obama has the opportunity to keep on doing the same as his predecessor George W. Bush did or show that he represents a change, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon stated. It is supposed that Cuban antiterrorist Rene Gonzalez is released from prison on Oct. 7, and this fact will prove Obama’s real willingness, Alarcon told press.

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Emotional visit to Barbados for son of pilot of bombed Cubana plane

Blowing up a Cuban plane

Wilfredo Pérez Jr has mixed feelings about his trip to Barbados – on one hand he feels genuine sympathy and acceptance but on the other, the pain of reliving the worst day of his life. If the name sounds familiar to those who have first-hand knowledge of the events of October 6, 1976, then that is no coincidence. Pérez shares his name with the pilot of that fateful plane trip now known as the Cubana air disaster. He is in fact the son of that pilot, and he is here to take part in a week of activities in commemoration of that tragedy.

Reflections by Fidel »

Obama’s Supervised Shame

Obama’s Supervised Shame

After a cruel and undeserved 13-year prison sentence, the United States government – that gave birth to monsters such as Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch who, as CIA agents had a hand in the exploding of a Cuban airliner full of passengers in mid-flight – forces René to remain in that nation, where he shall be at the mercy of unpunished murderers for three long years, under a regime described as supervised “freedom”. Still unfairly and vengefully imprisoned for long terms of confinement, are another three Cuban heroes, and another one sentenced to two life terms. That is how the empire responds to the growing world clamour for the freedom of these men.

Reflections by Fidel »

Chávez, Evo and Obama (Part Two – Final)

Chávez, Evo and Obama  (Part Two - Final)

If our Nobel laureate is deluding himself, something that is still to be proven, perhaps that explains the incredible contradictions in his thinking and the confusion sown among his listeners. There is not one shred of ethics, and not even of politics, in his attempt to justify his announced decision to veto any resolution to recognize Palestine as an independent State and member of the United Nations. Even politicians, who in no way share socialist philosophy and lead parties that were closely allied with Augusto Pinochet, are proclaiming Palestine’s right to be a member of the UN.

Reflections by Fidel »

Chavez, Evo and Obama (Part One)

Chavez, Evo and Obama (Part One)

I take a break from the tasks that are occupying all of my time these days to dedicate a few words to the unique opportunity presented by the political science of the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly. The yearly event demands singular effort from those taking on the greatest of political responsibilities in many countries. For them, it constitutes a tough test; for the fans of that art, and there are many since it vitally affects everybody, it is difficult to remove oneself from the temptation of observing the interminable but educational show.

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Post-war intelligence service recruited mass-murdering Nazi

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Walther Rauff was a senior SS man who had led the working group which developed the mobile gas chamber – converted trucks which killed the people in the back with engine exhaust fumes. They were taken to concentration camps through Germany, Poland and Ukraine. The newly created Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), West Germany’s federal intelligence service hired him in 1958, even though he never made a secret of his past, according to the documents seen by Der Spiegel magazine.

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Persevering

Diana Nyasa swim from U.S. to Cuba

It’s a little after 10am and Diana is swimming strongly. We are 67 nautical miles from Cuba. She has a strong heart rate of 85 and is persevering. The challenge will be the prospect of crossing the Gulf Stream to reach land. Every professional aboard the flotilla, whether they be physicians or international marathon swimming hall of fame representatives, is astounded at this achievement, even to this point.