Cuba Aviation & Biotech Execs Off to Prison

At least ten executives in Cuba’s government controlled airline and pharmaceutical industries were sentenced to 3 to 13 prison terms for corruption, announced official sources on Friday.

The accused “received cash and other benefits to favor foreign companies in business transactions” with the Cuban firms they represented, found the court, which also ordered the confiscation of money and goods obtained by the executives in their criminal activity.

Among those punished was Jose Heriberto Prieto, the director of the cargo division of Cubana de Aviación who got 13 years. Jair Rodríguez Martin, former head of exports for the Herber Biotec S.A. Biotech and Pharmaceutical products was given 10 years.

Nonetheless, the deposed president of the Institute of Civil Aeronautics, General Rogelio Acevedo, was not mentioned in the case. He was also absent from sentencing of other officials under his command earlier this year.

Cuba’s President Raul Castro has repeatedly warned that corruption will not be tolerated under his government, struggling to kick-start the country’s depressed economy.

In a recent meeting of the Council of Ministers, Castro said: “Whoever commits a violation, whatever it is, will be brought to task, and to do so our courts, judges and prosecutors will begin to play a more decisive role.”

Cuban political analyst Esteban Morales told IPS that corruption represents an “extraordinary danger” to the country and that “its corrosive power” makes it a matter “of national security.”

By Circles Robinson

Source: Havana Times 

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Guevara shouldn't be revered

Criminals and murderers like Guevara shouldn't be revered

On Oct. 9, people around the world and students on this campus will recognize the anniversary of Che Guevara’s death. People honor him on a regular basis by wearing a cool looking shirt with his face on it. If you do not know who he is, you have certainly seen this T-shirt (probably on this campus). In today’s world, Che is idolized. Yet, Che Guevara was an international terrorist and mass murderer much along the lines of Lenin, Stalin and Mao. He maintained an inhuman campaign to impose communism on Latin American countries. He trained and motivated Fidel Castro’s firing squads who were responsible for the execution of thousands of men, women and children.

We do not glorify and idolize murderers like Stalin because we know about their evil deeds. Che’s life is more ambiguous — he is praised as a hero and his cult of violence is largely ignored. This is a man who is quoted as saying, “I’d like to confess, at that moment, I discovered that I really like killing.” Does he still seem like such a great hero who should be praised, who should be an icon for students, who should have his face printed on shirts all over America? Maybe we should use the anniversary of Che’s death to learn the truth about this vicious murderer.

From: The Daily Collegian 

To read:

Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him

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Wanted Americans still hiding in Cuba don't need changes

Like Fidel Castro, who will lose his enemy, they are not very interested in an improvement on the relations between USA and Cuba.

For years they provided political support, and in some cases money, to Castro's regime. Recent changes on the island could pose a danger for them. Together with other criminal refugees from Europe and the Americas they are believe to have some influence - although difficult to say to what extent - on the Cuban politics related to their respective countries.

This is an FBI report from last year:

There are believed to be dozens of other Americans living in Cuba beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Most of them have been holed in Cuba for decades, with many living casually in plain sight. Others, however, are taking no chances and living deep underground.
The best known American fugitive still hiding out in Cuba is JoanneChesimard, 62, also known as Assata Shakur.
Chesimard, a member of the radical activist organization the Black Liberation Army, was found guilty of first degree murder in the shooting death of a New Jersey state trooper in 1977. She escaped from prison in 1979 and was last seen in Cuba in 1984. She is widely believed to still be living underground in Cuba. …
Among the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives — a list that includes Osama bin Laden — is Victor Manuel Gerena. Gerena has been on the lam since 1984 after being accused of stealing $7 million in the heist of the Wells Fargo armored car depot in Connecticut to finance a Puerto Rican separatist group.

Joanne Chesimard is wanted for escaping from prison in Clinton, New Jersey, while serving a life sentence for murder. On May 2, 1973, Chesimard, who was part of a revolutionary activist organization known as the Black Liberation Army, and two accomplices were stopped for a motor vehicle violation on the New Jersey Turnpike by two troopers with the New Jersey State Police.

JoanneChesimard, AKA Assata Shakur

At the time, Chesimard was wanted for her involvement in several felonies, including bank robbery. Chesimard and her accomplices opened fire on the troopers, seemingly without provocation. One trooper was wounded and the other was shot and killed execution-style at point-blank range.

Chesimard fled the scene, but was subsequently apprehended. One of her accomplices was killed in the shoot-out and the other was also apprehended and remains in jail.In 1977, Chesimard was found guilty of first degree murder, assault and battery of a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, and armed robbery. She was sentenced to life in prison.

She escaped in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she lives openly, in defiance of US authorities who want her returned to prison.

In fact, as one might guess, the fugitives suspected of living in Cuba comprise a who’s-who of radical leftist politics in the 1960s and 1970s.  Fidel Castro certainly offered his hospitality to those who hated the US and didn’t mind using violence to show it.  Oddly, though, one prominent rogue capitalist is also on the list: Robert Vesco, who stole as much as $200 million from investors before being discovered in 1982, and who also contributed illegally to the re-election campaign of … Richard Nixon.

Maybe Castro likes having Vesco there as an example.  Or, perhaps, Castro liked Vesco’s money more than his politics.

If the US wants to pursue normal relations with Cuba, these fugitives should be part of the transaction.  The Castros need to quit sheltering those who killed and maimed here in the US if they want access to American markets and American consumers.

Sources: FBI, HotAir

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