Chronicle on Cuba - September 2008

Exile Community

September 2: As a matter of urgency, a Miami-based exiles' group asked President George W. Bush for a temporary lift of sanctions against Cuba to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the victims of hurricane Gustav. The proposal coincided with an initiative by the Cuban Feminist Network in Miami to collect civil society donations, as well as with a series of international community appeals from the island’s domestic dissident movement to help the hurricane victims. The Democracy Movement asked for an emergency exception or a 30-60 day moratorium on the restrictions that regulate cash remittances and care package shipments to the island, as well as travel and luggage weight limitations. "This hurricane has been devastating and the government of Cuba is today less capable of meeting the needs of the population. Therefore it becomes imperative that the Cuban exile community reacts in a humanitarian way and, above all, within the law," stressed Ramón Saúl Sánchez, president of the Democracy Movement (El Nuevo Herald, 2/9/08).

September 3: A group of Cuban-Americans are trying to get aid to the island after Cuba suffered catastrophic damage when Gustav hit as a Category 4. “This will give them at least a little bit of start at life to have a towel, to have a toothbrush, to have soap,” Food for the Poor's Angel Aloma said. Some families in Cuba are still waiting for help, recovering from the aftermath of devastating hurricane Gustav (NBC6.Net, 3/9/08).

September 5: Efforts to aid the Cuban victims of hurricane Gustav were engulfed in controversy as Cuban exile community leaders split on how to help. Two Cuban-American Democrats running for Congress, Raul Martinez and Joe Garcia, as well as De-mocracy Movement head Ramón Saúl Sánchez, urged President Bush to temporarily lift restrictions that limit exiles to visiting Cuba once a year and sending up to $300 every three months to close relatives. Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, endorsed the appeals for lifting restrictions but reaffirmed his support for the US embargo on Cuba. The four Florida Republican Cuban-Americans in Congress – Representatives Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Senator Mel Martinez -- opposed lifting the restrictions and said in a joint statement that the US government should instead directly help hurricane victims. The Republican Cuban-Americans were joined in the statement by several Democrats, including Senator Bill Nelson of Florida (The Miami Herald, 5/9/08).

September 5: The group Consenso Cubano, which brings together more than twenty exile organizations in the United States, offered its "generous and unconditional solidarity" to the Cuban people, "in the face of the devastation caused by hurricane Gustav and the possibility that the situation may grow even worse during the present hurricane season." In declarations made in Miami, the group, who believe that "no one should attempt to politicize the relief effort," proclaimed its “unconditional support for the initiatives to request” that the US government “suspend, at least temporarily, all current (…) restrictions that could hinder these humanitarian efforts or make it difficult for the affected families to communicate with and support one other." The same was requested of Havana (Declaration of Consenso Cubano; Cubaencuentro, 7/9/08).

September 7: Our Lady of Charity, patron saint of Cuba, has a new stylized statue in Miami -- outdoors and by the bay. The 4 ½-foot-tall bronze sculpture, standing on a polished black granite pedestal, was unveiled in the gardens surrounding the Ermita de la Caridad Church in Coconut Grove. The faithful will be able to reach the new icon via a small path built with slabs of coral. The unveiling of the work of art came on the eve of the annual day -- September 8 -- of Our Lady of Charity, known in Spanish as La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. Created by Cuban sculptor Antuán Rodríguez, the figure of the virgin faces Biscayne Bay, just over a wall where people pray or throw the ashes of a cremated loved one who died in exile while yearning to return home. ''I wanted to place it as close as possible to the sea, because that is its natural habitat,'' the 36-year-old artist said. ``I realized that many people of faith who come to pray to the virgin do so in front of the bay” (The Miami Herald, 8/9/08).

September 11: Cuban-Americans in Miami, Florida are collecting donations and aid supplies for people in Cuba who have been affected by Hurricane Ike and other recent storms. Community leaders are asking US and Cuban officials to relax restrictions between the countries to facilitate the relief efforts. Cuban-Americans are boxing up canned food and other supplies, and some Miami churches are setting aside space for donations to be sent to hurricane survivors in Cuba in coming days.  The relief effort by Miami's Cuban community is a common response to hurricane damage on the Communist-ruled island.  This time, however, Cuban exiles are against US restrictions that limit Cuban-Americans to sending only $300 to family members in Cuba every three months. In response to the hurricane, the Cuban American National Foundation has reached an agreement with US officials to temporarily relax the limits, enabling families to send up to one thousand dollars. Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Santos says the group is helping to process wire transfers of up to $250,000 during the next three months.  "We have an agreement with Western Union who has assured us the money will be delivered directly to family members in Cuba within the next 24 hours. It is our hope that in the next 48-to-72 hours, we can provide $100 to 1,000 families," he said. CANF already holds a license to spend up to $100,000 to help civil society groups and dissidents in Cuba. The new license allows up to $250,000 in aid to hurricane victims  (VOA, The Miami Herald, 11/9/08).

September 11: The US government offered $100,000 and an inspection team after Hurricane Gustav hit western Cuba on August 30. Jorge Mas Santos, president of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), called the US offer ``insulting.'' ''Although the Cuban government has declined the offer of a humanitarian assessment team, we remain willing to send one,'' State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke said. ``We are evaluating how best to provide additional humanitarian relief for Cuban victims of this disaster.'' She added that the US government increased existing authorizations for US-based aid groups to provide more cash to help storm victims. CANF got such authorization, and the line grew quickly. ''We had over 400 people come fill out 600 applications,'' said CANF spokeswoman Sandy Acosta Cox. ``We were holding people in the parking area. It was like that all day.'' Miami-based business consultant Teo Babún, of Babún Group Consulting, said information coming from the island shows widespread devastation. According to his organization's report, more than half a million homes were damaged and almost 350 bridges wiped out. He said 600 municipal water wells were damaged and some 500 miles of telephone and power poles are down. At least 150,000 people remain in shelters. ''I would say the situation in Cuba is similar to what we saw during Andrew in South Florida,'' Babún said. ``It's very, very bad.'' ''I think the Cuban government first of all hasn't done a full assessment and is trying to double-check with their assessment teams,'' he said. ``Cuba is a military regime, so they are very concerned about providing information they consider secret or detrimental to the state. That is information they are not accustomed to giving out.'' ''The Cuban government isn't accepting the US donations; they only accept those from Russia and other friendly countries,'' said Diego Suarez of the Cuban Liberty Council. ``For them it is more important to not accept the US donations than to help the people'' (The Miami Herald, 11/9/08)

September 15: A US Treasury-issued license authorizing the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) to arrange cash remittances to hurricane victims in the island has been used up and the organization has applied for a new one. "Due to the extraordinary response to our call to assist the victims of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, we have exhausted (…) in just two days (September 11 and 12) the $ 250,000 license the US Treasury granted us", indicated the organization. Omar López Montenegro, CANF director for Human Rights, described the humanitarian response of the community as "extraordinary" (Cubaencuentro, 15/9/08).

September 17: A Spanish-language television station has raised about $200,000 in a telethon for hurricane victims in Cuba. América TeVé (WJAN-Channel 41), located in Hialeah Gardens, organized the drive after hurricanes Gustav and Ike dealt consecutive blows to the island nation, causing deaths and widespread flooding and destruction. Religious leaders and business owners encouraged South Florida residents to give, and Cuban music stars Isaac Delgado and Roberto Torres delivered on-air performances. In addition to cash donations, residents brought canned food and other supplies to the station (The Miami Herald, 17/9/08).

September 18:  Huber Matos, a former Commander of the Cuban Revolution, called upon the Cuban military to set up a Government Board responsible for launching a political transition and adopting measures to overcome the emergency situation created by two hurricanes in the span of ten days. "Cubans in the Armed Forces and the Department of the Interior, there is only one sensible and dignified way to answer the enormous challenge before our community: an alliance with the people," said Matos in an open letter. With such a compact, he said, we could avoid even more tragic consequences "like the epidemics, famine and widespread chaos that will follow in the wake of the present hardships." According to Matos, the Board, made up of representatives from the military and civil society, with the support of the Cuban exiles, "would be responsible for implementing the political transition and emergency measures required to tackle the severe situation currently affecting the Cuban family" (EFE, 18/9/08).

September 18: The powerful Cuban American National Foundation began a political campaign to get the US Congress to approve a temporary suspension on travel restrictions and sending remittances to Cuba. The several-month moratorium that CANF and other Cuban exile groups are asking for is aimed at facilitating funneling aid directly to relatives and other people who sustained property damage on the island during the passage of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Francisco "Pepe" Hernandez met in Washington with several members of the House Foreign Relations Committee to explain the need to modify the current restrictions. As a CANF spokesman said in Miami, Hernandez explained the current difficulties in sending direct aid to relatives and others since the two hurricanes hit Cuba within the space of 10 days. The CANF said earlier that it had obtained a license from the US Treasury Department, which enforces the 46-year-old embargo against Cuba, allowing the Miami-based group to send up to $250,000 in aid to hurricane victims. But the CANF initiative reached that limit within two days, and the foundation is now seeking an expansion of the license. Groups like the Democracy Movement and Agenda Cuba also supported the proposal for a temporary lifting of the restrictions (EFE, 18/9/08).

September 18: Humanitarian groups and scores of Cuban-Americans are pressuring President Bush and Congress to suspend the US embargo of Cuba to aid hurricane victims. A group of more than 800, including many Cuban-Americans in Florida, have signed a letter to the president and congressional leaders urging a 90-day suspension of licensing requirements for sending money and traveling to the island. Some signers added individual notes citing hardships faced by their families in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and other storms. ``As a Cuban-American, I urge you to please let us help those in need,’’ wrote Agustin Fernandez of Florida. ``The embargo can wait 90 days. Who knows, this could be the opportunity to really get the people to disconnect with their government and see the good of these United States” (Sun Sentinel, 18/9/08).

September 22: Brothers to the Rescue founder and president Jose Basulto wants to sell its only remaining plane -- the last symbol of its organization -- to raise money for hurricane relief efforts in Cuba. ''It's all we have left, our only asset,'' Basulto said, a day before he planned to announce the sale publicly. ''What we are doing is responding to a need for which Brothers to the Rescue was created, which was to serve brothers in need,'' Basulto said. Brothers to the Rescue stopped flying over the Straits in 2003 as a result of the wet foot/dry foot policy, which requires U.S. authorities to return Cubans caught at sea, but to allow those who make it to land to stay. The plane, now parked at the Opa-locka airport, was flown only once a year – February 24 -- to ''marker's point'' where floral wreaths are thrown into the sea in memory of four fallen Brothers. But back-to-back hurricanes Gustav and Ike gave the plane -- appraised at between $95,000 and $100,000 -- a new mission, Basulto said. ''The one in danger now is the biggest raft of all, the island,'' he said (The Miami Herald, 23/9/08).

September 23: Women For Human Rights International (Mujeres Pro Derechos Humanos) is urging South Florida women to join in the relief drive and humanitarian activities to benefit the victims of Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike in Cuba and Haiti. The non-profit is fully backing Catholic Charities and directing monetary donations to the Catholic NGO, which will ensure the right aid reaches both islands. In addition, Women for Human Rights International is now conducting a canned food drive to help the Daughters of Charity in its relief work for Cuba and Haiti. The nuns' organization - in the island - provides full care to elderly shelters, a hospital outside Havana (Hospital de San Lazaro) and a center for children with physical and mental disabilities. WHRI is a participating member of Consenso Cubano, which unites over 28 Cuban-American organizations in South Florida and has drafted a humanitarian agenda that calls for suspending US travel restrictions to Cuba so that families can more effectively help their own in the island (WHRI Press Release, 23/9/08).

September 26: The Cuban American National Foundation, which sent $250,000 in aid to people in Cuba after hurricanes hit the island, said the US federal government has imposed strict restrictions on further aid. A license granted September 10 allowed up to $250,000 to individuals or hard-hit areas without restriction to family connections. The group reached the license's maximum within two days and reapplied for another license. But the license granted most recently does not allow Cuban Americans to send aid to specific persons such as relatives. The new license stipulates that ''the person giving a donation cannot determine who it goes to specifically on the island because that would be a remittance and the license is not for remittances, it's for humanitarian assistance,'' said Sandy Acosta Cox, a foundation spokeswoman. ``It's very difficult to understand why, in a moment of crisis, you can't help your cousin or your aunt.'' ''We're in the process of appealing it and seeing if we can get the restrictions removed,'' Acosta Cox said (The Miami Herald, 27/9/08).