US gears up for post-Castro era in Cuba

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should act fast to boost a transitional government in Cuba when President Fidel Castro's rule ends and get advisors on the ground within weeks, a U.S. government report recommends.

The report, which was ordered by President George W. Bush and is due to be released next week, also recommends a new U.S. "democracy fund" for communist-run Cuba worth $80 million over two years to boost opposition to Castro.

In addition, the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, suggested yearly funding for Cuban democracy programs of $20 million until Castro's "dictatorship ceases."

The report, obtained by Reuters on Friday, was bound to irritate Castro, who has been in power since 1959 and has long accused Washington of meddling in Cuban affairs.
...
The report accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of giving funds to subvert democracy in Cuba. Chavez, a firm Castro ally, has helped Cuba economically through oil import deals.

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=12709369&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

[roody]

1. I cannot resist posting a plug for Pastors for Peace.

I will be with 100 + or - caravanistas breaking the embargo July 6 - 17. Please follow our progress and make calls to those in power if necessary. Information at http://www.ifconews.org.

[Rose Siding]

2. Take lots of pictures

and share 'em! please :hi:

[Vidar]

14. All the best to you and your compatriots.

[Terran1212]

3. Good luck!

[IndianaGreen]

4. Keep plugging away!

Pastors for Peace are one of the few religious groups that I fully support.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Although there are some DU'ers who have gone on past caravans,

you have the distinction of being the VERY FIRST DU'ER who has gone on this important trip WHILE being in touch with other DU'ERS.

I hope you will find a LOT of answers for the questions you've had building over the years, and that the trip is safe and SUCCESSFUL this time.

If there's anything you want to tell us, believe me, WE'RE ALL EARS! (Or eyes, as the case may be!) One just can't get enough REAL information on this subject, although it's a snap to get more than you can take of complete baloney.

[ngant17]

5. transition has essentially been put into place

I doubt it if there will be any 'transitional government' that would make Herr Shrubbery & Co. feel any better. The Cuban Communist Party will still be in charge. The Cuban constitution will hardly be in transition.

There are a lot of new and younger Cubans who are already in position of power now.

The only big noise will be coming from Miami, but in my opinion, they still have a long,long wait. It wouldn't surprise me if Fidel lived to be 100 years old or more.

[robcon]

7. The idea that a 'transition has been in place...'

but that it isn't publicly known is a sign of the trouble that Cuba will have when Casto dies or is disabled.

Many people believe Castro wants his brother to follow him... i.e., a dynasty like Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong-Il without any public input. I hope, and I believe, that's a 'transition' that's unlikely to succeed.

[ngant17]

23. Cuba in for trouble?

A lot of you-know-who's predicted the collapse of Cuban socialism after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 90's.

The story will be repeated again. And they will be wrong again. Cuba has lived through its special period and the worst is over.

[Judi Lynn]

18. They wouldn't have worked so long and hard protecting their country

from 1959 onward only to give it up to the very same people they threw out in the first place. Wouldn't make sense, would it?

[bemildred]

8. Cuba gears up for post-imperial era in USA. nt

[struggle4progress]

9. "I can't invade Iran? I'll invade Cuba when Castro dies!" - The Decider

[IndianaGreen]

10. Abortion will become illegal, as well as birth control

LGBTs will be persecuted, and women will lose all their rights gained under the Revolution.

Free universal health care will be replaced by an American-style HMO.

That's just for staters!

People in the US, together with the MSM, will be trumpeting the new "freedom and democracy" that Cuba is enjoying under Uncle Sam's tutelage.

The Pope will be happy that non-Christian religions will once again be pushed back into the closet.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Not TOO arrogant there

:eyes:

[Hardrada]

12. They have more war crimes in mind??

We are keeping score. They will one day be tried, I hope.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Yet one more medical milestone for Cuba....

Cuba makes medical breakthrough

Havana, Cuba, June 30, 2006 - Cuba has made a scientific breakthrough in creating a "plantibody" for the production of the hepatitis B vaccine.

The Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) dubbed it a "plantibody" which is actually a monoclonal antibody from transgenic plants - tobacco.

Deputy Director of CICB, Carlos Borroto, told a news conference in Havana that the plantibody was approved on April 11 for human use and production is well underway. So far 145 million doses were used in trials without single problem being reported he said.

The plantibody was created from a non-commercial version of the ancestral tobacco plant which is grown with thicker leaves in an inert environment without soil.

Up to this point, antibodies were derived from lab mice which was a time consuming and costly method.
(snip/...)

http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Caribbean/Stories/2006/06/30/NEWS0000003137.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday June 25, 02:14 PM
Cuba registers antibody for Hepatitis B vaccine
By Prensa Latina

Havana, June 25 (Prensa Latina) A genetic engineering institute in Cuba has registered an antibody that can be used in the production of an anti-hepatitis B vaccine.

This breakthrough in vaccine production was achieved by the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) here. CIGB Deputy Director General Carlos Borroto described it as a world scientific breakthrough at a press conference here.

Borroto said that the antibody, called CB-Hep.1, made of plants would contribute greatly to the increased production of the anti-hepatitis B vaccine. He added that it would also lower the cost.
(snip/...)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060625/43/65dj1.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cuba Ailing? Not Its Biomedical Industry

Tom Fawthrop
The Straits Times, 26 January 2004

MENTION faraway Cuba and most people think of a Caribbean island best known for Havana cigars, rum and the revolutionary exploits of Che Guevara. They probably don't associate it with cutting edge medical research.

Yet Cuban biotechnology is now, among other things, leading the way in the development of a new generation of anti-cancer therapies expected to be available to the European market by 2008.

Given Cuba's cash-strapped economy, its scientific achievements are all the more surprising. It has long been battered by the United States trade embargo, imposed in the 1960s and still in force today. After the Cold War ended, Washington tightened the economic screws further with resulting shortages of consumer goods.

When Marxist revolutionary Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, most of Cuba's resources were ploughed into developing education and health systems. In the mid-1980s, with aid from the Soviet Union, Cuba started to invest heavily in science and biotechnology.

Although it is a small country with only 11 million people, it now boasts 52 scientific research institutes in the capital and more than 12,000 scientists on the whole island.
(snip/...)

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=3193

[Vidar]

15. Castro will outlast our precious little pissant.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

16. Castro has many flaws, but the Ciuban people will never

just accept it as the U.S. tries to reinstate the Miami rightwing Batista leftovers to power

[PerceptionManagement]

17. Well, I am looking forward to hitting the beaches. Aren't you?

[roody]

19. Don't wait!! Go through Mexico and don't tell.

[ngant17]

22. Why wait?

Havana is expensive, and it probably won't get any less cheaper after Fidel is gone from the political scene. If anything, the prices will go up, communism or not.

[roody]

20. Sad to say that when the embargo ends, the Cubanos

will flock to McDonalds etc.

[Vogon_Glory]

21. They'll Go Elsewhere After the Novelty Wears Off

I suspect that Cubans will visit Mickey D's a few times after some open up in Cuba, but that they'll dine elsewhere after the novelty wears off.

Me, I'm betting on Pollo Campero (A Central American competitor of KFC). I shouldn't be surprised to see Pollo Campero setting up shop even BEFORE Mickey D's gets across the Florida Straits.

Incidentally, Pollo Campero has already started setting up franchises in the US.

[Eugene]

24. Irritated? Ricardo Alarcon: "...should be read as an act of war..."

Last Updated: Saturday, 1 July 2006, 14:48 GMT 15:48 UK

Cuba concern over US Castro plans
By Emilio San Pedro
BBC News

A senior Cuban official has sharply criticised a US report on the future of Cuba
after Fidel Castro leaves office.

<snip>

However, the president of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, feels there is cause
for anger and even concern.

Mr Alarcon describes the report as nothing short of an aberration which should be read
as an act of war, as it publicly contemplates how to bring the government of a sovereign
foreign nation to an end.

<snip>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5136736.stm