MARADONA Magic Creates An ARGENTINA in Our Heart as Only FOOTBALL Resists AMERICANISM !

MARADONA Magic Creates An ARGENTINA in Our Heart as Only FOOTBALL Resists AMERICANISM !


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 119

Palash Biswas

Kolkata is speaking the language of the ‘God’ of football.

The Spanish term for saying welcome is painted all across the City, which swelled in enthusiasm to receive one of most admired deities in the sport’s pantheon Diego Maradona.

Diego Armando Maradona Born on October 30, 1960 in the poor slums of Villa Fiorito in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Diego grew up with soccer. Diego Armando Maradona has been the greatest football player ever!

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit - his first to West Bengal after the Mumbai terror strikes - receded to the background on popularity count, as Kolkatans gave a rousing welcome to "God of football" Diego Maradona during his two-day visit on Saturday.Singh's visit to Santiniketan and Malda, that coincides with that of the Argentinian soccer legend, has failed to evoke much popular curiosity, with the denizens making a mad scramble for entry passes to the series of programmes Maradona is scheduled to attend. Maradona, the most high-profile non-political visitor to the country after last week's terror attacks stunned the nation, arrived in the city of Joy in the wee hours Saturday! Maradona’s visit had to be a nostalgic journey down the memory lane. From Lev Yashin to Pele to Maradona to Oliver Kahn, Kolkata has played host to soccer legends, which includes Bobby Moore, Eusebio, Gerd Muller, Rummiegie, Zico and Carlos Alberto. Over 100,000 people gave a rousing farewell to Kahn at the Salt Lake Stadium a few months back. Over 80,000 people attended Pele’s match at the Eden Gardens in the monsoon of 1977 and Yashin treated the Kolkatans to his immaculate saving skills some 50 years ago at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.

The organisers, led by Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty, have already ordered a fibre-glass vehicle so thousands of football lovers, who will gather on both sides of the road can get to see Maradona, the soccer maestro, on his way to the hotel from the airport,.


Only FOOTBALL resists Americanism! See all over Latin America and even the AFRICA, Football remains the best GENRE to reveal People`s power and Talent dismissing unilateral American supremacy. Thus, MARADONA Magic created an ARGENTINA in KOLKATA, ! Overshadowed by the MUMBAI ATTACK against Shining FREEsenSEX Five Star INDIA and the War Against Terror and War Call against PAKISTAN, India saw a rare gesture of Creativity and Talent touching the GRASS ROOT! MARADONA is our MAN who could befriend FIDEL CASTRO! Who could defeat DRUGS and DEATH. WHO COULD CALL the GENERATION NEXT to get out of DEPRESSION and PERSONALITY Disorder, drug Addiction and RAV parties! We all know his PASSIONATE involvement with Football. We see him anywhere where Team Argentina plays Foot BALL. We all know his background. He is a MAN with whom the poor, starving, displaced indigenous, aboriginal, black untouchable and minorities all over the world could identify themselves. He enhances the Game of Football from entertainment and marketing, from skill and talent, from individual sparks and team game, to the highest level of Humanity where we may create the Strongest Ever Stage of Resistance against MANUSMRITI as well as APARTHEID, Fascism as well as Imperialism!

It is football that overlaps Corporate Imperialism!

It is just for the shake of MARADONA and FOOTBALL that Kolkata remained in Kolkata. No Politics. No Economics! No War. No Civil War. No Terror. It was PURE Kolkata which was always meant for MARADONA and Football!Soccer superstar Diego Maradona said on Saturday he was greatly touched by the frenzy over his brief visit and promised to come back to India. Diego Maradona accepts his fans' adulation at Maheshtala in West Bengal.
But infighting within Left Front and the ruling party CPIM is also EXPOSED as though Maradona is scheduled to meet former chief minister Jyoti Basu mentor to both the chief minister and Subhas Chakraborty no meeting has been scheduled between Maradona and Bhattacharjee. In fact, the CM will leave for Bagdogra to address a public meeting on the day Kolkata swayed to the Maradona magic!Maradona is also slated to visit the global headquarters of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity order on Sunday during his two-day trip.
Personally, I always supported BRAZIL.I had also a fan of PELE. Pele is also a LEGEND. But he is limited in his Football SKILLS only. It is never the FOTBALL only why I love MARADONA so much. I regard him as me, MYSELF! His world and mine, are the same! His Concerns and Mine , are the SAME. I love him because he loves Fidel CASTRO! I love because Past is never Past for him! i love Mradona because he is always ready to pay the RETURN to Society and Humanity. Thus, he could speak so passionately on Terrorism as well as Indian Football. I love because he Loves his PEOPLE, the POOR Starving People worldwide. He is not a man associated with Globalisation, Liberalisation or Privatisation! HE has not learnt English. English and UNITED STATES of AMERICA are irrelevant for our MARADONA! he speaks Spanish. but he has the capacity to touch the heart of the Millions who never learnt spanish!
Indian Prime Minister was in Shantiniketan. He also landed in DUMDUM AIR PORT! But no one was waiting for the US SUPER SLAVE. Even TV Channels overlooked the Indian Prime Minister!Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced Rs 95 crore grant for the development of Visva Bharati as a centre of excellence and the restoration of its pre-eminence nationally and internationally.
How United states of America has taken over Indian subcontinent, it is well expressed by the WAR CRY against Pakistan from the Ruling Affluent Class and Indian Media. Prabhash Joshi has rightly criticised the Blind Nationalism covered and packed with Americanism in his recent article in DAINIK JANSATTA!

The chaos which nearly threatened to upset Diego Maradona's felicitation programme at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan left India captain Baichung Bhutia disappointed.
Bhutia, who led the External Affairs XI side against the Chief Ministers XI in an exhibition match, was thrilled to have come close to the legend, was however, unhappy with the way things were handled by the organisers, the state government and the celebrity management company.

"Things could have been better handled. There were too many people around with the cops and media getting into the way of things. That Maradona will be visiting Kolkata was known before hand, but the organisation left a lot to be desired," said the India and Mohun Bagan skipper told PTI.

However, the Sikkimese snipper was thrilled with the experience.

"It was great to come close to the legend. There was a lot of excitement and it was nice that such a legend visited the city." Bhutia's team won the match 1-0, courtesy an own goal. Maradona is scheduled to visit Mohun Bagan club tomorrow for a clinic with under-12 boys of the club but Bhutia said he won't be there.

"I know a lot of players would be going but I am not going there," he said.

Dream TV date as Maradona interviews his hero Castro



« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 29 October 2005
By RHIANNON EDWARD
JOINING his friend Fidel Castro on Cuban television, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona said he had interviewed the communist leader for his own popular programme.
Maradona said the interview would air on Monday on his show La Noche del 10 - Spanish for "The Night of 10", an allusion to the star's shirt number.

Maradona - much slimmer than on previous stays in Cuba after having his stomach stapled - said interviewing Castro was his dream since before he joined Argentina's Canal 13.

He considered the Cuban president "the greatest of all who decide things in the world."

The men have known each other for more than a decade, and Maradona has received treatment for drug addiction during several stays in Cuba. He bears a tattoo of Castro's face on one leg.

Maradona promised he would be at the front of a march protesting against US president George Bush in Argentina next week.

"I promised the Comandante I would do it and I will," Maradona said, referring to Castro

http://news.scotsman.com/maradona/Dream-TV-date-as-Maradona.2673592.jp
Maradona the Original
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=3tCoMtPuL3Q



Diego Maradona came, saw and conquered a city that poured out in multitudes to see and honour him. Thousands of soccer-crazy fans thronged Maheshtala, in the southern fringes of the city, to watch the Argentinian legend lay the foundation stone of the Indian Football School. The 48-year-old newly appointed coach of Argentina was accompanied by his girlfiend Veronica.

Clad in denims, Maradona seemed in high spirits, as he clapped, threw flying kisses and waved at the crowd, who waited anxiously for 40 minutes as the soccer great was late in leaving the hotel for the venue.

He was flown in from the hotel in a chopper to a helipad a few kilometeres from the venue at Batanagar and then was carried in a specially designed bus, with large fibre-glass windows, to enable people to gave a glimpse of their “god” and for Maradona to see this packed and pulsating city which he is visiting for the first time.

Maradona spent 30 minutes at the complex, which houses the academy. The complex is also named after Maradona.

One hundred children displayed ball juggling skills and sang songs to welcome the football genius, who passionately reached out to his fans by coming down the dais and shaking hands with some of them.

“If football is religion, then you are its God,” the band sang in praise of him.

Seeming to enjoy every minute of the festive spirit, Maradona unveiled the foundation stone with a press of a button and then touched it, much to the joy of the large number of lensmen.

“Best wishes. India is far off from my country. But I had no idea I have so many fans here,” Maradona said in a brief speech towards the end of the programme.

“I had no idea that such beautiful football is played here, people love football so much. Long live India,” said Maradona, as the crowd lapped up every word of the man who led his nation to World Cup glory in 1986.

Maradona was showered with gifts — small silver replica of the Taj Mahal, a sketch of his idol Che Guevara were among the presents handed over to him. Teenage artist Rajasrhee Chatterjee presented him Che’s potrait and a joyous Maradona embraced the young boy.

“I come from a country which is close to Fidel Castro and Che Guevara,” said Maradona, famous for his ‘Hand of the God’ goal against England in the 1986 World Cup.

He also gave an imprint of his famous left foot, which will be preserved. He kicked a ball, and mingled with the crowd for a few minutes before leaving the venue.

Maradona’s presence left the crowd in awe.

“This was a lifetime opportuntiy for me to see Maradona. He is the world’s best footballer,” Shankar Maitro, a local, said.

A septuagenarian who came with his grandson to have a glipmse of the footballer, said: “I used to play football but left it long back in 1960, the year this little genius was born. I wanted to see him once in my life. I am happy that my wish is fulfilled today,” he said.

An estimated 30,000 people thronged the airport at 1.15 a.m. to receive Maradona who appeared quite nonplussed yet pleased by the rousing midnight welcome.

Maradona to Interview Fidel Castro on TVThe former soccer star is back on track By Simona Gherman, Entertainment Editor

27th of October 2005, 13:40 GMT

Adjust text size:



In his new career as a TV showman, former football player Diego Armando Maradona seems to have obtained a great achievement.
He is to interview the Cuban President Fidel Castro on one edition of his weekly show at the Argentine television.

Maradona had lived for four years at a health retreat in Havana, fighting with his cocaine addiction.
The man who was once the captain of Argentina's team (in 1986), leading it to winning the World Cup, is finally back on track. In March this year, he underwent an operation in Colombia to staple his stomach and reduce his weight.
So, Maradona now "[...] looks like a young boy, he is so thin", according to an employee from the health retreat in Havana.

Maradona considers Castro a friend, calling him a father figure who helped him kick drugs. So the interview has all the premises to be a warm and revealing one.

The first guest of the show was Pele, on August 15, opening the "La Noche del 10". The name, "The Night of the Number 10", is a reference to Maradona's shirt number on Argentina's national team.
Pele, who is considered the greatest soccer player of all time, also wore the number 10 shirt.

Maradona is planning to invite other famous people in his show, such as soccer players Zidane and Ronaldo, as well as basketballer Michael Jordan and golfer Tiger Woods.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Maradona-To-Interview-Fidel-Castro-On-TV-11164.shtml

The week that was: Terror strikes
(02:24) Report
Dec. 5 - Here is a wrap of this week's top news stories, including:

Terror strikes in Mumbai claim over 170 lives.
Condoleezza Rice rushes to India and Pakistan.
Markets react to terror.
England's cricket tour to resume.
Madhu Soman reports.


For Maradona, two persons who have influenced most in his life was the 1986 World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo and the former Cuban president Fidel Castro. Communist Bengal is happy. Football legend Diego Maradona, on a two-day visit to Kolkata, did not mince words while pointing out US follies. He said American President George Bush was somewhat of an assassin and he appreciated the change in the US leadership. He said he had great respect for Barack Obama and expected big things from him.


"Both have contributed a lot in my life. Carlos was with me in my bad times. Even Fidel Castro also contributed a lot in my life. I have shared a lot of cigars with Castro, we have talked about a lot, on everything, politics and football."


Cuba has said it will watch "practical actions" by the incoming U.S. administration of Barack Obama before reconciliation talks could begin, EFE reported on Saturday.

"We can't say anything yet, practical actions must be seen by the Obama administration after it takes office on Jan 20," Felipe Perez Roque told reporters when questioned about Havana's future relationship with Washington.

Roque's statement came in the wake of remarks by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a signed article published Friday that Cuba is ready to open transparent and sincere negotiations with the U.S.

"We're not attacking the United States, we're not the ones carrying out a blockade, it's the United States who should take the decisions to rectify the current situation," Roque said, referring to Washington's 46-year-old economic embargo on the Caribbean island nation.

"We hope, and we're ready, to normalise relations one day, we've always said so, between the United States and Cuba on the basis of respect for our rights as a people," Perez Roque.

When asked about Obama saying he was in favour of eliminating the additional restrictions the Bush administration imposed on travel and remittances to Cuba, the foreign minister said that "if he does so, it will be a first positive step."

"Our people have the right to hope that, at last, our right to choose our own way will be respected, and that they will eliminate all the restrictions and aggressions they have made us suffer for five decades and that have cost our country more than $90 billion," he said.

In a signed article posted on the Cubadebate website former president Fidel Castro has said the communist government of the island can open talks with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, but the "carrot and stick approach" will not work.
Maradona, known for his left leanings, also touched upon terrorism, his close relationship with Fidel Castro, his regrets in life, current breed of Argentinean footballers, world football leagues and India's chances in world football during an interaction with the media here.


Maradona said he had heard a lot about India and Kolkata in particular and when he received this invitation he was eager to accept as he had keen interest in visiting the Missionaries of Charity headquarters, Mother House, in Kolkata and see first hand the work of done by Mother Teresa.


The football great himself has heroes of his own. Aside from Mother Teresa, Maradona made special mention of Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro. He said he had shared a lot of Havana cigars with Fidel Castro and discussed everything from football to politics with him. The Argentina coach also said both Fidel Castro and Carlos Billardo were important in his life as both of them had supported him during his bad time in life. He said his lament was that he had been unable to spend quality time with his two daughters. Maradona said he hoped to make up for it in future.


On the game itself, the football legend said the Spanish football league was the best in the world because a lot of talent came on display and there was always tremendous competition during the matches.


Conscious that India had recently been the target of a major terror attack, Maradona made it a point to respond on terrorism. The great footballer said taking of innocent lives was barbaric. He said the common people are helpless against this kind of barbarism which needed to be condemned.


Commenting on Indian football, Maradona said footballers needed lot of attention, love and infrastructure to develop into star players. He said Indian football still had a long way to go. Maradona said he wished success to Indian footballers from the bottom of his heart.


Maradona said he was here to serve the sport so in that way if people call him God of football then he can be so. "God is only one in this world. They considered me as the God. But God is in this world to help others. I am here to help football. I am not God. But, maybe I am the God of football," said the Argentine legend.

Maradona, however, regretted for not having spent more time with his two daughters Dalma Nerea and Giannina Dinorah. "I have a lot to lament in my life. I could not spend much time with my two daughters. I had a very bad time in my life for which I could not dedicate much time to them. That is one thing I will always regret. But I think there are times I can recover for which I could not do much."

He said to become happy one has to lead a good personal life and the greatest happiness is the company of one's children.

"To stay healthy you have to be happy. Better to be calm to stay healthy. The greatest happiness when you wake up in the morning is to see your daughters. That is the greatest joy. It's the piece of mind that makes somebody healthy," he said.


"I thought there were no more surprises left in life but my visit to Kolkata has changed that," Maradona told a news conference after arriving in the eastern city, India's soccer hub, for a two-day visit.

"I didn't know people loved soccer so much in this part of the world," added Maradona through an interpreter, after organisers took his footprint for a soccer archive.

Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup triumph and took charge as national coach last month, told the news conference he was confident his team would shine in the 2010 finals in South Africa.

"We have a great team which has all the quality to be successful in the next World Cup. Argentina can be one of the best four teams," he said.

Diego Maradona refused to be drawn into any debate over who is the greatest, Pele or himself, with the Argentine jocularly saying that he's the best ever as his mother Armando used to think the same way.

In fact, not so long ago, former German captain Karl-Heinz Rummenigge during his visit to city had also said that Maradona was better than the Brazilian legend Pele.

Asked what he thinks about the comparison, the 48-year-old said, "It's his (Rummenigge's) personal view. But my mother considered me to be the greatest footballer in the world and I think if my mother considers it then surely I am the greatest footballer in the world."

India has not quite got over the TRAUMA of MUMBAI CARNAGE!Amid strains in bilateral ties following the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has expressed its readiness to work closely with India to "expose the hidden hands" behind the strikes and said it did not want terrorists to derail the peace process. A top security analyst has warned against the appointment of a Kashmir-specific envoy by the incoming Obama-led administration, saying it would undermine the great potential in the US-India relationship.


International terror network al-Qaeda would target certain installations in tourist hotspot Goa, warns a Goa cabinet note circulated to ministers in Panaji. This is the first time that Goa government has admitted that the state was on the al-Qaeda radar, something it had been publicly denying so far.

"Today, Goa faces serious threat from terrorists and there were specific inputs that al-Qaeda would target certain installations in Goa. Goa has a coastline of 105 km, major sea ports and beaches," the cabinet note signed by Chief Secretary J P Singh reads.

Unwilling to formally point the finger at who was responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks, the Bush administration has said it will let the intelligence experts talk about any "linkages".
".... I will let the assessments about what took place just last week in terms of the terrorist attack in Mumbai -- I'll let the experts in the intelligence community talk about those linkages," Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel said.

"We want to see cooperation by all the parties involved to make sure that we understand what happened last week," Stanzel said adding US intelligence agency was working with its partners in India and Pakistan to let the investigation go properly.

"It is important to understand everything that occurred, and to investigate fully what happened," he said.

" ... the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been traveling in the region to express our solidarity with the people of India who have been victims of this attack," he added.

In an effort to expedite measures to gear up security and intelligence systems, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday held a series of meetings with top government officials, including National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar.

Chidambaram, who visited Mumbai yesterday, discussed with the officials various aspects related to security and ways to fine tune it so that recurrence of terror attacks is prevented.

Steps to make the intelligence system effective were also discussed during the meetings which were attended by Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, Law Secretary T K Vishwanathan, Special Secretary (Internal Security) Raman Srivastava, IB chief P C Haldar besides Narayanan and Chandrashekhar.

The meetings are understood to have discussed issues related to the proposed Federal Investigative Agency and tightening laws to deal with terrorism effectively.

With Parliament slated resume its session on December 10, Bills in this regard could be introduced.

A Bill to amend the CISF Act to bring private installations under the purview of the central force is also under consideration of the government.

Less than a week after taking over as the Home Minister, Chidambaram yesterday admitted to failure of intelligence and security systems leading to the Mumbai attacks and promised to take urgent steps to correct the situation.

Almost all the senior officials of the Home Ministry were in office today, despite Saturday being a holiday, on the directions of the new Home Minister, who has made clear the urgency with he wants to correct the security machinery.

The NSA also held a separate meeting with the Cabinet Secretary, the Home Secretary, and heads of IB and RAW. Top brass of the three services were also present in the meeting, sources said.


Maradonna - Life is Life
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ2976_rR_s


Argentina and India, both the countries, where from Maradona comes from and the country we live in, have been made to share the US Destiny in War and Peace thanks to Globalisation and the Galxy Order of PHoenix claiming the lives of Millions daily! For his two-day tour of Kolkata, Diego Maradona is going to be given Rs 5.30 crores ($ 1.6 million), which, according to sources close to the organisers of a so-called grand felicitation, is "peanuts" compared with his customary takings on such occasions. This, of course, does not alter the fact that India happens to be a country where young footballers consider a post-match diet of bread-with-alurdam a sumptuous fare which their clubs cannot afford always. Though the organisers have not got as many sponsors as they expected, the project's expenses are "more or less" taken care of, said the sources, insisting on anonymity as they were not authorised to speak. If Mr Subhas Chakraborty is the Godfather of those stitching the show up, ahead of Maradona's arrival, the deplorable condition of city's transport infrastructure was once again exposed as a special bus, made by Calcutta State Transport Corporation, that was to have taken Maradona to his hotel from the airport, had to be discarded.

Less than a month after taking over billions of dollars in private pension funds, the Argentine government said it would use some of the nationalized assets to help farmers and industry weather the global economic downturn afflicting one of Latin America’s most vulnerable economies.

The government on Thursday announced a $3.8 billion stimulus package that will grant low-cost loans to farmers, automakers and other exporters, who have struggled as the slowing world economy has trimmed demand.

The move is the latest attempt by the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to restore flagging confidence in her handling of the economy.

Argentina has a history of creating its own economic crises, and Argentines are skeptical when its leaders try to blame others, as Mrs. Kirchner did again in a speech on Thursday.

“Perhaps we Argentines are going to have to suffer a part of this tragedy,” she said, addressing banking, automotive and industrial leaders.

Business leaders and analysts reacted cautiously to the new stimulus package, saying that it was a step in the right direction but that bolder moves would be needed to head off a major devaluation of currency or a default in the country, which economists have said could happen by 2010.

“These measures are really poorly designed and ineffectual,” said Daniel Kerner, an analyst with Eurasia Group, a risk consulting firm. “Unless you really solve the issue of lack of confidence in policy and in the government, almost nothing is going to be effective. This is like giving aspirin to a person that has cancer.”

Foreign investment has slowed severely, and Argentines continue to pull their money out of the banking system at a rapid clip, which has conjured memories of the country’s crippling 2001 loan default and 2002 currency devaluation. In October, $4 billion left the banking system, and Mr. Kerner said the total for 2008 would top $25 billion.

Economists have criticized Argentina for reacting more slowly than neighboring Chile and Brazil in trying to contain the fallout from the global economic crisis.

Argentina faces a more complex domestic political situation than its neighbors. A prolonged battle with farmers over proposed export taxes, which ended in defeat for Mrs. Kirchner in July, led to a sharp fall in her approval rating. Recent moves to nationalize Aerolíneas Argentinas and the pension funds have stoked concern both at home and among foreign investors that the government is desperate to avoid an economic crisis next year, when some $22 billion in loans and other payments will come due.

In recent days the government has announced a series of quick-fix measures, like raising gasoline prices and lowering subsidies on electricity usage, to save money. But also, last week the president sent a bill to Congress that would offer tax breaks to stimulate local investment and encourage companies to keep workers on the payroll. She also announced a $21 billion public works program, the details of which are still pending.

The Argentine economy grew by at least 8 percent a year from 2003 to 2007, but economists expect growth to fall to 7 percent this year and much lower next year.

Argentines have been reluctant to give Mrs. Kirchner credit for her efforts to steady the ship. Her approval rating has hovered around 30 percent. That contrasts with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, whose approval rating was at 70 percent according to a poll that was published this week in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

Mr. da Silva’s approval ratings remain high as Brazil struggles with credit concerns and layoffs at major companies. A slowdown in Brazil, Argentina’s biggest trading partner, would affect Argentina more than any other economy in the region, economists said.

Most of Argentina’s $3.8 billion in loans will come from state-run banks and from assets that the government pulled in from last month’s takeover of the country’s 10 largest private pension funds, Mrs. Kirchner said Thursday.

Argentine soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona is all set to conduct a football clinic at the Mohun Bagan groundin Kolkata for under-12 boys Dec 7 as part of his two-day trip to the city. The clinic would begin at 3 p.m., when the sub-junior sides of the Mohun Bagan academy and Bhowanipore Academy would play a brief match that Maradona will watch. This will be yet another honour for the 119-year-old city outfit, which raised nationalist spirits during the freedom struggle against British rule by becoming the first ever Indian club to win the IFA Shield in 1911. In May, Bagan played an exhibition match with German giants FC Bayern Munich. Over 120,000 spectators turned up for the game, which was the last international outing for legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.


Latin American stocks fell Friday, tracking a recoil in world equities on concerns the U.S. economy is sliding downhill faster than expected.

Brazil's Ibovespa index dropped 1.1 percent to 34,740 in late trading. The nation's currency, the real, slid to 2.6 against the dollar after hitting a new three-year low during the previous session.

Mexico, the region's second-largest economy, watched its benchmark IPC index fall 1.7 percent to 19,577 in midday trading. The Mexican peso slipped, trading at 13.8 to the dollar.

Chile's IPSA dropped 1 percent to 2,279, Argentina's Merval dove 3.2 percent to 965 and Colombia's IGBC fell 1.1 percent to 7,344.

The U.S. Labor Department said employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, far beyond most analysts' expectations, sparking fears the economic downturn is gathering pace. The fall was the largest since 1974.

Latin American economies rely heavily on exports to developed nations that have descended into recessions under a global financial crisis.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan put its forces on high alert after a hoax caller pretending to be India's foreign minister spoke to President Asif Ali Zardari in a threatening manner on Nov. 28, two days after the attacks on Mumbai began, ‘Dawn’ newspaper reported on Saturday.

"It's true," a diplomat with knowledge of the exchanges said when asked whether the newspaper report was correct.

Throughout the next 24 hours Pakistan's air force was put on "highest alert" as the military watched anxiously for any sign of Indian aggression.

Dawn reported that the caller, posing as Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also tried to telephone U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, but due to specific checks by US officials the call was not put through.

The episode triggered intense international diplomacy, with some world leaders fearing that Indian and Pakistan could slip into an accidental war, the newspaper said sourcing its report to unnamed diplomatic, political and security officials.


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told Pakistan that there is ‘irrefutable evidence’ of involvement of elements in this country in the Mumbai terror attacks and it had no option but to act urgently and effectively to avert a strong international response.
Rice ‘pushed’ the Pakistani leaders to move against the perpetrators of the terror strikes warning that ‘otherwise, the US will act,’ the 'Dawn' reported on Saturday.

The clear message was conveyed to Pakistan's top leadership by Rice during her brief stopover in Islamabad on Thursday, diplomatic sources said, giving credence to the report.

Rice said that there was ‘irrefutable evidence’ of the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai attacks, the sources said.

She travelled to Pakistan after a visit to India, where she was shown the extensive evidence gathered by investigators to prove the linkages between the Mumbai attackers and Pakistan-based elements, especially the banned Lashker-e-Toiba terror group, the sources said.

They said Rice, during her interactions with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, made it clear that Pakistan needs to act effectively to bring the perpetrators to justice.

But it has been all over MARADONA and MARADONA since he landed in Kolkata!

"It has been beyond my imagination," a visibly moved Maradona said through an interpreter.

"I did not know that I had so many fans in India and people of the country loved football so much," he said after laying the foundation stone for a football academy on the outskirts of the city.

"India lacks the infrastructure for football but the players should also work hard for their success."

The Indians rank a lowly 144th in world football with cricket being the most popular sport.

Maradona, on his first-ever visit to the country, rated his 'Hand of God' goal in the 1986 World Cup as his best moment of his life.

The Argentinean famously punched the ball into the net for the opening goal of a 2-1 quarterfinal victory against England, leading to his instant glory back home and villification by English fans.

Maradona, recently appointed as coach of Argentina, said he was already looking forward to visiting India again.

"I have a contract with Argentina's national football team and once it's over I will think of coming to India."

Star Argentine striker Lionel Messi has already earned himself enough laurels to be in the big league of world football, but compatriot soccer legend Diego Maradona feels the Barcelona forward has enough time in his hand to further finetune his skills. He also hoped that Messi will be the star attraction of 2010 World Cup in South Africa, just like he was during the 1986 Mexico World Cup.
Maradona, who played in four consecutive World Cup, starting from 1982 to 1994, was of the view it was unfair to compare Messi with Brazilian star Ronaldinho as the latter has already achieved many things in his career, whereas the former has plenty of time in his side.

"Ronaldhinho has earned a lot of distinction in his life. He has achieved many things in life, but Messi has a long way to go.

"Messi would be having a lot of time, about 10 years, to improve himself. It's a lot of time to improve oneself. I think he will do well in South Africa. I hope, he will be able to play like me," Maradona who is on a two-day visit to the city told reporters on Saturday.

Maradona, 48, arrived in this football-mad eastern Indian city early on Saturday to a rousing welcome by some 50,000 fans, desperate to catch a glimpse of the legend.

The fans jostled and almost ran over the barricades at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport as the 5,000-strong security team tried to control the surging crowd.

"Long Live India! We want you to play in the World Cup," Maradona, flanked by his girlfriend Veronica, shouted back to the delirious fans.


Living Soccer legend Diego Maradona on Saturday described terrorism as barbaric and said common people shy away from protesting as they fear for their life.Thousands of torches and lamps dispelled the darkness of the night, as Kolkatans welcomed football legend Diego Armando Maradona to the city in a carnival atmosphere early on Saturday. Accompanied by girlfriend Veronica, the Argentinian soccer genius touched down at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 1.25 a.m. on a two-day trip to the city, as 50,000 people lined the roads and uncountable more sat glued to their television sets to catch the first glimpse of the football wizard on their home turf. The diminutive new Argentina soccer coach, in great spirits despite the fatigue of a 48-hour flight, was welcomed at the tarmac by West Bengal sports minister Subhas Chakraborty and the organizers with flowers.

Suspended Congress leader Narayan Rane on Saturday hit out at his rivals within the party, saying some Indian political leaders were supporting external forces and financing terror activities in the country.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan put its forces on alert when its president received a threatening call from someone posing as Indian Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee following last week's Mumbai attacks, a media report said Saturday.

English cricket team is quite reluctant to visit India. Champions Trophy was cancelled. Chinese travellers who flock tourist destinations across the world during the Chinese New Year in January are expected to skip India owing to the scare caused by the Mumbai attack. US, UK, AUSSI, CANADIAN citizens are advised to avoid India. Even the Ministry of Tourism holds back Incredible India Campaign due to Mumbai carnage!

Doubts were cast over Maradona's visit following the recent devastating Mumbai attacks that killed 163 people including 26 foreigners.

"It's barbaric. We can't event think of something like this in a civilized society," Maradona said of the Mumbai carnage.


MARADONA did not cancel his Kolkata Visit. He was aware of the MUMBAI developments. Rather he promised the KOLKATA audiences that he would like to revisit Kolkata. No wonder that now, England's cricketers are keen to return to India for a two-test series after their tour was suspended following last week's attacks in Mumbai, coach Peter Moores said on Saturday.

"Some groups are taking lives of others. I think such acts are barbaric," Maradona told mediapersons when asked about his message against terrorism.

"I think common people cannot protest against act of terrorism as it is life-threatening," said the 48-year-old soccer great, who is on his first visit to India.

"They (terrorists) shouldn't do it," Maradona said.

The Argentine soccer coach's comments came 10 days after the devastating terrorist strike on India's commercial capital Mumbai left 172 people killed and the entire world shell-shocked.
The Kolkata police on Saturday arrested one Tausif Rehman suspected of facilitating the November 26 Mumbai terrorists by providing SIM cards to the operatives.


Rehman had reportedly supplied 22 SIM cards to one Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh -- reportedly a Kashmiri policeman who worked as an auto-rickshaw driver in Kolkata. Sheikh has also been arrested.

According to sources, one of the SIM card supplied by Rehman was used in the Mumbai terror attacks.

He will be produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Kolkata in a short while.

"We are questioning them about procurement of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards used in Mumbai," Jawed Shamim, the deputy commissioner of detectives in Kolkata, told a news agency.

If the men are proved to be involved, it would be further evidence of Indian complicity in the three-day rampage New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan.

In February police arrested Fahim Ansari, who was carrying maps of Mumbai that highlighted several of the targets later hit in the attack.

At least 217 people were killed in the attacks last week in which 10 gunmen struck two luxury hotels and other landmarks across India's financial capital.

Airports in New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai remained on high alert for a fourth day on Saturday, with extra security personnel deployed after the civil aviation authority said it had received intelligence that attacks could be planned.

Meanwhile,Buoyed by easing inflation, the RBI on Saturday announced further measures, including a one percentage point cut in the short term rates at which it lends and borrows from banks, in a clear signal to ease interest rates. Besides, the apex bank also pumped in Rs 11,000 crore in Small Industries Development Bank of India and National Housing Bank to give a fillip to realty and small and medium sectors. The short-term lending rate (repo) will fall to 6.5 per cent and borrowing (reverse repo) rate to 5 per cent with effect from December 8.Both public and private sector banks have cheered the Reserve Bank’s cut in the repo and reverse repo by 1% each. Most banks had not responded to earlier RBI cuts. meanwhile,AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Saturday demanded an immediate rollback of the prices of petroleum products to the level that existed in 2004, when UPA government took over!The country's largest carrier, Jet Airways, and its subsidiary JetLite, have reduced fuel surcharge by Rs 400 and Rs 300 per ticket, respectively, following a dip in aviation fuel prices.

It made no difference that Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and finance minister Asim Dasgupta would not loosen the purse strings, not even for the man with the hand of god. They flatly turned down sports minister Subhas Chakraborty's demand for "Rs 4-5 crore" to meet the expenses of Diego Maradona's visit. Chakraborty is reportedly upset that even someone like Maradona was not considered important enough for the state to ease up on the self-imposed austerity measures. His argument that it would encourage sports in a soccer-crazy state cut no ice.

Bhattacharjee and Dasgupta told the sports minister that the funds could be raised through sponsorship.


According to a sports department official: "We were told that the CM is not against it, but since a lot of funds are being raised through sponsorship, the expenses of Maradona's visit can be covered without dipping into the state kitty."
While the soccer legend's trip is being funded by a celebrity management group, the sports department plans an official welcome at the airport and a felicitation for him at Salt Lake stadium. It is here that funds would be necessary, and the initial estimate was a whopping Rs 13 crore. "We have tied up with several companies and the final estimate can be done only later," said sports secretary RPS Kahlon.
Soccer legend Diego Maradona on Saturday said he is open to helping India develop the game once his tenure as Argentina's coach ends.
"I am now on contract as coach of Argentina. Once the contract ends I would like to come to India and help improve the soccer infrastructure in this country," Maradona said during a 45-minute freewheeling media conference.
The 'God of soccer', who received a tumultuous welcome from thousands of fans since his arrival early Saturday, said he was touched by the affection of Kolkatans and would love to return to India.
"The affection I have received here has added to my will to return," he said.
The 48-year-old Maradona who in the morning laid the foundation stone of the Indian Football School at Maheshtala, said: "We are discussing some projects, and if these discussions are fruitful I will come back."
Asked how India should proceed to get its own Maradona, the hero of Argentina's 1986 World Cup victory said: "I think a lot of attention and affection must be given to young players who are doing well. There is lot of competition in the world and India has a lot to achieve."
Expressing his "whole-hearted" support to Indian football, he said: "I think stress should be given on infrastructural development."
Maradona said he was moved by the love and affection showered on him here. "I really feel very emotional. I thought I have gone through enough experiences in this life. But after coming here I think there are more to come."
When a scribe asked Maradona, whether he felt scared on seeing thousands of passionate soccer buffs here, he promptly replied: "No, I have never been scared in my life. On the contrary, I was very much surprised and pleased to see all those waiting for me."
Maradona said one his reason to come to India was to visit the Mother House here. "I wanted to see what Mother Teresa has done in this city. So I want to utilise this trip to visit Mother House."
Soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday said he was surprised by the response of the crazy fans who thronged in thousands to have a glimpse of him as he laid the foundation stone of a football school at Maheshtala in South 24 Parganas district.
Blowing kisses in the air and waving to the crowd, the 48-year-old Argentine, dressed in a grey shirt and matching trouser, said he had not anticipated that his two-day visit would evoke such a huge response.
"I had no idea that football enjoyed so much fan following in this part of the world far from my home in South America," the soccer star said.
"My country is far from here, but I never knew I have so many fans here," he said as the crowd kept shouting 'Diego, Diego'.
The the soccer icon spoke to reporters for just two minutes in Spanish with the help of an interpreter.
The Indian Football School is being developed by the Maheshtala Municipality in collaboration with a private company.
Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup triumph in 1986, had flown into the eastern metropolis in the wee hours today to a tumultuous welcome.
In a cheerful mood, with girl friend Veronica by his side, the legend signed autographs for children and shook hands with fans.

From the airport, Maradona and Vernonica were put into a specially designed bus that had transparent windows to enable the soccer buffs have a momentary glance of the player, whose heroic performance enabled Argentina win the World Cup in 1986.
Three major airports across the country are on high alert in view of the heightened security threat on the 16th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition on Saturday. In fact, the airports at New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai have been put on a hijack alert.
The alert, issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation, comes in the wake of an e-mail received by a local Gujarati TV channel earlier this week, warning of a hijack attempt at the above mentioned airports. The terror mail was ascribed to Deccan Mujahiddeen.


In order to facilitate thorough security checks, passengers have been asked to report three hours in advance.
CISF and NSG commandos have been deployed at all three airports to handle any eventuality.
Following the mayhem created by terrorists in Mumbai and the government’s acceptance of an intelligences failure, the authorities are leaving no stone unturned to thwart the nefarious designs of terrorists.
Admitting the failure of the government, Home Minister P Chidambaram said yesterday, “There have been lapses, and these are being looked into.”
Addressing a press conference shortly after arriving in Mumbai and visiting all the places affected by the terror attacks last week, he said that “some security forces” may have failed but pointed out that hundreds more could have been killed in the city if the security personnel had not taken on the terrorists.
“We will address the causes that led to those lapses,” he added.

It made no difference to MARADONA`s arrival!
Two more men, Tausif Rehman and Mukhtar Ahmed, have been arrested in connection with the deadly terror attacks that rocked Mumbai killing more than 180 people. Tausif was arrested from West Bengal, while Mukhtar, a Jammu Kashmir police constable, was hand picked up by the Kolkata police, according to a Times Now report. The duo were arrested by the special task force of the Kolkata police. Both Tausif and Mukhtar are believed to be associated with the SIM cards used by the Mumbai terrorists.


Earlier, intelligence sources said they had intercepted conversations between Muzammil, Muzaffarabad chief of LeT operations, and a certain Yahya in Bangladesh.
Yahya reportedly arranged SIM cards, fake id-cards primarily from western countries like Mauritius, UK, US, Australia. A Mauritian identity card was found on one of the terrorists shot down.
it did not cahnge maradona`s MOOD!
Lalgarh Insurrection continues. The STANDOFF was sidelined as Maradona happens to be in Kolkata. The Marxists and Brahmins Ruling Bengal know well the Grass ROOT level impact of Maradona Charishma. The arranged the Maradona Show and captured Maradona! Even Indian Football legends like PK Bannerjee, CHUNI Goswami, Arun GHOSH and Current Foot Ball Star Baichung Bhutia were sidelined. The State Finance Minister ashim dasgupta was sitting beside Varonika. Somnath Chatterjee, Pranab Mukherjee and subhash Chakrabarti made the circle while KOLKATA Mayor Bikash Ranjan could not interact with Maradona.Kolkata`s Number One Icon Saurabh ganguli was not invited at all. We know well that no one is going to pronounce SINGUR, NANDIGRAM or lalgarh before MARADONA. He is known to be unpredicatable. Any comment Maradona
could spoil the show!
But the fact remains as The Lalgargh crisis deepened on Wednesday when Maoist-led tribals kidnapped two top West Midnapore district officials and held them hostage in forests, just 5 km from Jhargram town. This comes only a day after the Left Front won the Jhargram municipal polls. The tribals arm-twisted the administration into freeing four agitators detained by police earlier in the day before they released the officials in exchange.
The stand-off began in the afternoon after police rounded up four Adivasis trying to block the state highway at Kalabani, between Lodhasuli and Jhargram. In retaliation, members of the Maoist-led Committee Against Police Atrocities started felling trees to block the highway. When SDO Tanmoy Chakrabarty and SDPO Arnab Biswas reached the spot, under written instructions from district magistrate N S Nigam to clear the blockade, some agitators provoked them to the wayside where they found themselves surrounded by men with bows and arrows.
A huge police force was sent to Kalabani in the evening to rescue the two officers, but they decided not to provoke a confrontation with the armed tribals. It was after additional DM (general) Raja Aron Israel intervened that the hostages were released in exchange for the four detained Adivasis.
The incident is enough indication of the simmering tension in Jangalkhand. Soon after winning the tribal wards in Jhargram town, the local CPM became proactive, leading to a confrontation between Left-backed traders and the motorbike brigade of the Chhatra Kurmi Sangram Committee that was trying to enforce its bandh call in the morning. Traders bashed up some bandh supporters. Emboldened, the administration decided to take on the tribals in their jungle turf, only to land in the Maoist trap.
The move boomeranged because it is the tribals who got what they wanted. The message has reached far-flung hamlets in Jangalkhand. Upbeat with the "victory", the Committee against Police Atrocities has called a meeting in Narcha village near Lalgarh on Thursday, spokesperson Chhatradhar Mahato said, hinting that they would step up the ante against the government after the meeting.
The situation might reach a flashpoint any day, but it's a situation that chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is desperately trying to avoid. The tension is palpable, as the CPM's youth wing DYFI is organizing a public gathering at Chandrakona in West Midnapore. CPM minister Susanta Ghosh, who is on the Maoist hit-list, will address the meeting.
Annoyed with Wednesday's fracas, the CM wants to go slow on the Lalgarh front. He is sympathetic to the Adivasi cause. "The situation in Lalgarh is serious. Most of the tribals are innocent. A few are masterminding the trouble but what will they gain by felling trees and digging up roads?" Bhattacharjee said on Wednesday.
Prodded by the CM, state home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti met the district magistrates of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia to chalk out ways to improve the living conditions in Jangalkhand.
To pacify the tribals, the government plans to lay out a huge bounty in the form of employment, scholarships, hostel repairs, hostel scholarships, pension for the aged and other development projects like drinking water.
It was decided that apart from the various schemes on at the moment, a token amount from the CM's relief fund would be released for use in the area, possibly for drinking water facilities. Ways to utilize more funds were discussed and more funds will be released, sources said. The home secretary has already directed backward classes welfare secretary R D Meena to conduct an inquiry into the complaints of torture in Lalgarh.

People, wearing Argentine jerseys and carrying Maradona's cutouts and posters welcoming him in multiple languages - English, Hindi, Bengali and Spanish - ran alongside the bus, as it hit the streets on the way to the hotel.
Maradona fans waved flags of India and Argentina and danced to the tune of foot-tapping Latin American music, besides raising slogans eulogising the football legend who would spend the next two days in the city laying the foundation stone of a soccer academy, visiting Mother House - the global headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity - and attending a charity dinner.
The unbridled enthusiasm of the soccer aficionados proved infectious, and Maradona rose from his seat in the bus to wave back at the crowd, as two thousand people held aloft lighted torches on both sides of the road.
Giving more Indian traditional touches to the welcome, there were saree-clad women with well-lit earthen lamps and those blowing conch shells to usher in the prince of football, who rose from a shanty town - Villa Fiorito - on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires to reach the zenith of fame and fortune.
Passions ran high in Kolkata, cricket crazy India's soccer crazy hub, as old infirm men waited side by side with children not yet in their teens, able bodied youths and housewives for Maradona.
"I have been waiting for more than an hour.. I am a great fan of Maradona," said housewife Ratna Sen, who had travelled 25 kms to be a part of the occasion.
Colourful processions also came from various districts, and blue-white balloons resembling the colours of the Argentina jersey were released.
"Maradona is a phenomenon. This is a momentous occasion. It's the raw passion for soccer which has brought so many people on the roads," said former India international footballer and Arjuna awardee Prasun Banerjee, waiting on a city street.
More than 5000 policemen, including the Rapid Action Force and crack commandos were deployed on the entire route of Maradona's convoy to prevent any breach of peace.
A couple of over-enthusiastic teenagers were seen climbing lamp posts near the airports to hoist Argentine flags, forcing the security personnel to step in and bring them down.

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
******
PM ADDRESSES THE ANNUAL CONVOCATION OF VISVA BHARATI UNIVERSITY

Made in the epic style of films like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, CHE was shot in two parts that will be presented together during an exclusive week-long engagement in New York and LA beginning on December 12th. This "Special Roadshow Edition,” complete with a program guide and intermission, will be a unique opportunity to see the film in its entirety. Directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (TRAFFIC, ERIN BROKOVICH), this incredible story of revolution is particularly astonishing when watched from start to finish. It will also be released as two separate films nationwide on January 9th: CHE PART ONE and CHE PART TWO.
Producer Laura Bickford described the rigorous research that went into making this film as an enormous living history project. The filmmakers spent many years interviewing people from every side of the story and all of those first-hand accounts have been faithfully incorporated into the movie.

Here is a link to the trailer: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808403435/video/10924831
You can find out more information about the movie on the IFC Entertainment website: http://www.ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=1236
CHE - SPECIAL ROADSHOW EDITION SCREENINGS - DECEMBER 12TH-18TH 2008:
THE ZIEGFELD THEATER - NY
Address: 141 West 54th Street , New York , NY 10019
Showtimes: 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM daily
**Steven Soderbergh will do a Q&A after the 7:00 PM show opening day - 12/12.
***For group sales of 25 people or more please contact our Special Events Department at (908) 918-2001.
THE LANDMARK THEATER - LA
Address: 10850 West Pico at Westwood Blvd. , Los Angeles , CA 90064
Showtimes: 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM daily
**Benicio Del Toro & Laura Bickford will do a Q&A after the 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM show Saturday - 12/13.

Fidel Castro says Cuba could talk with Obama
Fri Dec 5, 2008
By Patrick Markey
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro said on Thursday his country could talk to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, in Havana's latest overture to the incoming Democratic administration in Washington.
His remarks followed comments from his brother, President Raul Castro, who told a U.S. magazine he could meet Obama in a "neutral place" to try to end the Communist-run island's four-decade conflict with the United States.
"With Obama, talks could happen anywhere he wants," Fidel Castro, America's longtime Cold War enemy, wrote in the latest of a series of columns he has published in state-run media since falling ill in 2006.
"He should remember the carrot-and-stick approach will not work with our country," Castro wrote of Obama. "The sovereign rights of the Cuban people are not negotiable."
Fidel Castro, who took power nearly 50 years ago after an armed revolution, has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery for an undisclosed illness in July 2006. But he has met several state leaders and appeared in photographs.
Obama, who takes office on January 20, has raised hopes of improved U.S.-Cuba ties by saying he was open to talks with the Cuban government and has favored easing some U.S. sanctions.
He has said he will reverse the U.S. administration's policies restricting Cuban Americans from visiting Cuba and sending cash to their families. He is willing to talk to Castro but would keep the four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo as leverage to influence changes in the one-party state.
Raul Castro formally took over the Cuban presidency in February and has said several times Havana is willing to talk to the United States.
Before the U.S. presidential election last month, Fidel Castro praised Obama as intelligent and humanitarian in the columns that have become his main form of communication.
Raul suggested in the interview he could meet Obama in Guantanamo Bay, where the United States maintains a naval base, which Cuba considers a violation of its sovereignty.
(Reporting by Patrick Markey; editing by Todd Eastham)
Cuba's economy tops 4pc growth
The Australian, Australia - December 5

Agence France-Presse

CUBA'S economic growth topped more than 4 per cent in 2008, despite a year of crises for the island.
“The Cuban economy grew by just over four per cent in 2008,” said Finance Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez, quoted by the official AIN news agency.

Mr Rodriguez, who also serves as Cuba's vice-president, stressed that 2008 will “go down in history as a difficult year for Cuba.”

The island felt the effects of the global financial crisis, the ongoing US trade embargo and the trauma of the island's devastating hurricane season, he said.

The period, he added, tested the country's resilience, “the flexibility of its economy and its ability to redirect central planning efforts to deal with phenomena that are not in our control”.

Mr Rodriguez emphasised that in addition to the hurricane season that cost the island some $US10 billion ($15.4 billion) in damages, Cuba had been severely affected by the 53 per cent increase in fuel prices, and the rising cost of imported food.

All told, he said, the 2008 fuel and food price increases “will cost more than $US800 million”.

The Communist nation, which has laboured under a US trade embargo for almost half a century, also faced the effects of the “global crisis in the capitalist economy,” he added.

The turmoil has impacted the island's exports, notably its nickel, Mr Rodriguez said.

The metal's worth topped $US51,000 per tonne in May last year, and is worth at the moment between $US9000 and $US10,000,” he said.

For the last four years, Cuba - which grew by 7.5 per cent in 2007 - has included public spending and national subsidies in measuring its gross domestic product, unlike the method used by the Economic Commission for Latin America.

According to the Cuban government, the US trade embargo, in place since 1962, has cost the island some $US93 billion.

Prioriza Cienfuegos producción y comercialización de alimentos
Listos para la zafra centrales cienfuegueros
Crece ritmo de recuperación en agricultura tabacalera cubana
Buscan en Cuba que el salario incentive cada vez más la producción


Brazil opens business center in Havana to promote trade with Cuba
Granma International - December 4

• Presidents of the two nations attend inauguration of the first APEX commercial office in Latin America

Por Sundred Suzarte Medina

• THE establishment of a Latin American business office of the Brazilian Exports and Investments Promotion Agency (APEX) in Havana could open the way for the South American giant to become Cuba’s first trading partner, highlighted Caio Cordeiro de Resende, coordinator for this organization in Latin America and the Caribbean, during the inauguration ceremony last October 31.

According to Cordeiro de Resende, the agreement signed by Presidents Raúl Castro of Cuba and Luis Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has the fundamental objective of facilitating business exchange between the two countries. This is the first time that APEX will be working not just on promoting Brazilian exports to the island, but also Cuban exports to the South American giant.

"APEX’s idea was to have a representation here in Havana because the agency has been working hard for the last two years on exports and imports in this country. In the past 12 months, our exports to the island have grown by 74%. The idea of Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and the Agency is to ensure they increase by 100%, and that Brazil becomes Cuba’s primary trading partner. We are currently in sixth place."

Brazil signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Department of Administration and Evaluation of Projects at the Ministry of Inversion and Economic Cooperation, as well as with the Cuban Exports Promotion Center. According to the APEX representative, "thanks to these links, we are going to work together to promote investment and exports from Cuba to Brazil, and vice versa."

Cordeiro de Resende, who is also a regional markets project analyst, highlighted the active participation in these agreements of Raúl de la Nuez, Cuban minister of Foreign Trade, as well as the interest of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation.

Thirty Brazilian enterprises were represented at the 26th Havana Trade Fair of a total of 70 that intended to participate.

At the close of the third quarter of 2008, commercial exchange between the two countries reached $482 million, representing a 56% rise in relation to the same period last year. During President Lula da Silva’s visit to Cuba last January, 10 agreements were signed in the sectors of the economy, oil extraction, road construction, as well as the renovation and extension of credits for the purchase of food products. They also include a cooperation project for soy production and the development of the tourism, sugar and biotechnology industries.

Cuba inaugura moderna planta para producir vacunas con apoyo de Brasil
Ministro defensa de Brasil recomienda a EEEUU acercarse a Cuba


Cuba consolidated as Caribbean destination
Granma International - December 4

• The island is hoping to receive in excess of 2.34 million tourists this year

• FOR the fifth consecutive year, Cuba has already surpassed the two-million foreign visitors mark for this year, announced the Ministry of Tourism in a statement in which it highlighted the fact that on this particular occasion, the important target was reached on November 14, much earlier than in previous years.

These two million visitors have secured Cuba’s position as the preferred Caribbean destination and this reaffirm the recognition on the part of tourists who come to the island of its friendliness and delights and its people, including its culture, history, healthcare services, nature, safety, hospitality and quality.

This figure is even more relevant in a year in which the country has been lashed by three fierce hurricanes, testing Cuba’s organizational and response capacities in the face of such situations in order to guarantee the safety of every individual. In a short space of time, the island has managed to get back on its feet and reopen all the affected tourist resorts.

Tourism in Cuba has witnessed an accumulated growth of 10.7% compared to the same period last year, added the Ministry statement.

On celebrating the arrival of the two millionth tourist, we are also at the start of the 2008-2009 winter season and Cuba now has more rooms than ever available, with a greater level of comfort, guaranteed supplies and the same friendly treatment as always.

Destination Cuba maintains the challenge of continuing to elevate its standards of quality, prioritizing diversification of tourist options, continuing to work on the integration of culture and tourism and demonstrating to the world the potential of a destination that also possesses nature and wildlife, cities noted for their heritage, cultural and historical values and a hospitable population.

The Ministry of Tourism is confident of exceeding the figure of 2.34 million visitors by the end of 2008. (Lilliam Riera)


Recuperadas en Cuba unas 100 mil toneladas de materia prima
Granma - 4 de diciembre

Por Yamile Castro Ibarra

El rescate de cerca de 109 mil toneladas de materias primas contenidas en los equipos electrodomésticos sustituidos en Cuba por otros más eficientes, permitió al país ahorrar considerable cantidad de dinero.

Julio Sardiña, especialista de la Unión de Empresas de Recuperación de Materias Primas, presente en la XIV Convención Científica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, dijo a la AIN que con el acero obtenido, más de 86 mil toneladas, se ahorraron unos 45 millones de pesos cubanos convertibles.

En aluminio y cobre se extrajeron seis mil y cuatro mil toneladas respectivamente, agregó.

Añadió que la red nacional de organizaciones relacionadas con el reciclaje acometió la tarea que posibilitó además recuperar 13 mil toneladas de plástico.

La Empresa de Desmantelamiento de Buques y la Conformadora de Metales, además de las procesadoras de Residuos Sólidos pertenecientes a las provincias de Ciego de Ávila y Holguín, también participaron en la misión, destacó Sardiña.

El especialista aseguró que la chatarra obtenida se emplea en la producción de barras de acero, conductores eléctricos, utensilios de cocina, tuberías plásticas, suelas de calzados, entre otros artículos de vital importancia para la economía del país.

Explicó que se aprovecharon al máximo los más de cuatro millones 137 mil 380 refrigeradores, aires acondicionados, televisores y bombas de agua repuestos hasta el momento en la Isla.

La Unión muestra sus logros relacionados con la Revolución Energética en la cita que concluye hoy en el Palacio de Convenciones de La Habana.


Fidel Castro says Cuba open to talks with Obama
Reuters - December 5

By Patrick Markey

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro said on Thursday his country could talk to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, in Havana's latest overture to the incoming Democratic administration in Washington.

His remarks followed comments from his brother, President Raul Castro, who told a U.S. magazine he could meet Obama in a "neutral place" to try to end the Communist-run island's four-decade conflict with the United States.

"With Obama, talks could happen anywhere he wants," Fidel Castro, America's longtime Cold War enemy, wrote in the latest of a series of columns he has published in state-run media since falling ill in 2006.

"He should remember the carrot-and-stick approach will not work with our country," Castro wrote of Obama. "The sovereign rights of the Cuban people are not negotiable."

Fidel Castro, who took power nearly 50 years ago after an armed revolution, has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery for an undisclosed illness in July 2006. But he has met several state leaders and appeared in photographs.

Obama, who takes office on January 20, has raised hopes of improved U.S.-Cuba ties by saying he was open to talks with the Cuban government and has favored easing some U.S. sanctions.

He has said he will reverse the U.S. administration's policies restricting Cuban Americans from visiting Cuba and sending cash to their families. He is willing to talk to Castro but would keep the four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo as leverage to influence changes in the one-party state.

Raul Castro formally took over the Cuban presidency in February and has said several times Havana is willing to talk to the United States.

Before the U.S. presidential election last month, Fidel Castro praised Obama as intelligent and humanitarian in the columns that have become his main form of communication.

Raul suggested in the interview he could meet Obama in Guantanamo Bay, where the United States maintains a naval base, which Cuba considers a violation of its sovereignty.

(Reporting by Patrick Markey; editing by Todd Eastham)
Navegar contra la marea - Reflexiones


Cerca de 200 cirujanas generales laboran en Cuba
Cuba Headlines - 5 de diciembre

La cifra trascendió en las sesiones del X Congreso Cubano de Cirugía, que tiene lugar en el capitalino Palacio de Convenciones

Alrededor de 200 mujeres laboran actualmente bisturí en ristre en los quirófanos de hospitales generales del país, se conoció en el X Congreso Cubano de Cirugía, que junto a la Reunión Regional de la Federación Latinoamericana de esta especialidad, sesionan en el Palacio de Convenciones de la capital.

En esos eventos se evidenció admiración por el aporte que realiza a esta rama de la salud pública la mujer cirujana. Un total de 74, de las 125 de estas especialistas participantes han presentado interesantes y documentados trabajos científicos sobre diferentes temas.

«La cirugía siempre estuvo vinculada al sangramiento profuso, al accidente grave, a la urgencia o a la emergencia médica, y fue generalmente privativa del sexo masculino, como toda la Medicina en general», explicó en la sesión de la mañana de este jueves, el doctor y profesor José Miguel Goderich Lalán, presidente del congreso y de la Sociedad Cubana de Cirugía.

Dijo que antes del triunfo revolucionario de 1959, apenas había mujeres dedicadas a la cirugía general, que tal vez se contaran con los dedos de una mano y que el hecho de que, entre los 1 300 cirujanos, existan en el país en estos momentos una cifra cercana a las 200, era una obra exclusiva de la Revolución que cumple medio siglo.

«Incluso la mayoría de los profesionales de la cirugía que son hoy especialistas de segundo grado, son del sexo femenino y han puesto de manifiesto que son bravas, audaces, inteligentes, creadoras, responsables y puntuales en su cotidiano quehacer en los salones de operaciones», comentó.

«No podemos decir, por ejemplo, cuáles son las tres o las cinco mujeres cirujanas más sobresalientes de Cuba, pero sí podemos decir que compiten con los mejores cirujanos hombres en activo hoy», aseguró.

La joven cirujana Cristina de la Caridad Martín Blanco, del Hospital Provincial Docente Antonio Luaces Iraola, de Ciego de Ávila, dijo que en todos estos años la bloqueada y asediada Cuba ha enseñado a las mujeres a salir adelante en la inmensa mayoría de las profesiones y tareas.

Eso no significa que los cirujanos se queden atrás. Un solo ejemplo entre centenares: el doctor Eduardo Molina Fernández, cirujano general, quien dirige la Sección de Hernias y pared abdominal de la Sociedad Cubana de Cirugía, ha sido el único latino en obtener el Premio Frudchaud, otorgado en 2001 por la Sociedad Americana de Hernia.

(Juventud Rebelde)


Education for the Disabled Guaranteed in Cuba
Radio Cadena Agramonte - December 4

Havana, Dec 3.- Cuba celebrates December 3, the International Day of the Disabled, with more than 400 special education schools for tens of thousands of students with various types of disabilities.

These centers use specialized materials and technologies, such as those used by the blind for the Braille reading-writing system and by the staff trained as interpreters of sign language for the deaf.

Other students of these schools are the physically or motor disabled, those with learning difficulties, and the deaf and blind, who require teachers trained in different communication skills, according to the hearing or visual limitation of their disciples.

Thanks to this support, the number of disabled people with access to university and technical studies is growing, despite the difficulties posed by the unjust US blockade against Cuba to purchase equipment and materials necessary for their education. (RHC-ACN)


BREVES INTERNACIONALES

Cuba Donates More than Five Million Vaccines to Africa
Cuba News - December 4

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 4 (acn) Cuba has donated 5.2 million doses of anti- meningococcal vaccine to African countries as an expression of its solidarity and disinterested assistance to people suffering from meningitis – a disease that causes a lot of deaths in Africa.

Concepcion Campa, member of the Politburo of the Cuban Communist Party, explained that in order to increase its cooperation with the World and the Pan American Health organizations and also to contribute to the prevention and eradication of meningitis, Cuba inaugurated on Wednesday a modern plant that has the capacity to produce 100 million doses of active components of diverse vaccines.

Campa, who is also the Director of the Finlay Institute in Havana, announced the inauguration of other facilities linked to Cuban biotechnology that will be at the service of the health of Cubans and many people around the world.

Among other products, these facilities will produce vaccines and monoclonal products to fight cancer.

For his part, Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer praised the work of Cuban doctors, nurses and other health professionals who make their contribution in Africa where they have helped these nations reduce their mortality rates.


CARICOM Nations Back Cuba
Prensa Latina - December 5

By Javier Rodriguez Roque

Havana, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries maintain firm support for Cuba in fighting the US economic, trade and financial blockade on the Island. That support has been present in several international forums and, very especially, within the UN General Assembly, where the vote of those states has repudiated the punitive measure.

Prior to the Third Cuba-CARICOM Summit to be run in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba Monday, regional countries also demand the end of the blockade expressed by the Caribbean environment.

The independent States of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Montserrat island, an independent territory of Great Britain, are currently CARICOM members.

As observers are Anguilla, Caiman Islands, Mexico, Venezuela, Aruba, Colombia, Netherlands Antilles, Bermudas, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands as associated member.

All CARICOM independent States are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement and have active participation in the framework of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), another entity of the area.

The support and friendship of the CARICOM nations for Cuba is reciprocated by 1,362 Cuban collaborators currently working in those territories.

Cuba, Caricom to strengthen ties

Opera swindler flight risk - feds
New York Daily News, NY - December 4

By Thomas Zambito / Daily News Staff Writer

Convicted swindler Alberto Vilar concocted a fictional tale about fleeing Castro's Cuba and ducked jury duty during a life marked by lies big and small, Manhattan federal prosecutors say.

In court papers filed Thursday, prosecutors urged Judge Richard Sullivan to throw the opera-loving financier in jail while he awaits a March sentencing.

Vilar, 67, faces more than 20 years in prison and remains free on a $10 million bond.

He was convicted Nov. 19 of stealing millions from longtime investors, including Lily Cates, the mother of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" star Phoebe Cates.

Prosecutors painted Vilar as a "pathological" liar who can't be trusted to remain in New York.

They say Vilar was born in New Jersey despite repeated claims in published accounts that his family fled Cuba.

"It appears that Mr. Vilar likely never spent a day of his life in Cuba," prosecutors wrote.


Mexico sends Cubans home under new accord
The Associated Press - December 4

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is sending illegal Cuban migrants home for the first time under a new immigration accord.

A Mexican immigration official says authorities are preparing to send the Cubans back to the communist island after they were caught in Mexico.

The official is not releasing additional information.

Cuban immigrants trying to reach the United States have turned to Mexico in recent years after it became harder to enter through Miami. Almost all were given temporary visas in Mexico and continued on to the U.S.

In October, Mexico agreed to send the Cubans home. An Associated Press photographer in Cancun saw about 60 immigrants being loaded on to buses early Thursday, and some said they were being sent to Cuba.

A Cuban Embassy official had no information.


WIlhelm Sues Simmons for Defamation
La Alborada - December 5

Silvia Wilhelm, the Executive Director of Puentes Cubanos, Inc. and of the Cuban American Commission for Family Rights today sued Chris Simmons who appeared on Channel 41 talk show “A Mano Limpia” on October 8, 2008 and falsely and maliciously described Ms. Wilhelm as an agent of the Cuban intelligence service.

The Complaint seeks substantial damages and Ms. Wilhelm is committed to putting an end to the false and defamatory statements that disserve both the truth and the efforts of dedicated and patriotic Cuban-Americans who strive to achieve reconciliation of the Cuban family.

Not only did Mr. Simmons misstate facts, but the host, Oscar Haza, misidentified Ms. Wilhelm’s husband as a “high ranking military [officer] of the United States.” The truth is that Ms. Wilhelm’s husband is a doctor and is not in the military. So the host and Mr. Simmons both got their facts wrong, but Mr. Simmons’ allegations are the basis of the Complaint because his statements disparage Ms. Wilhelm’s reputation as a law abiding citizen of this country who seeks to improve the lives of Cuban and Cuban-American families.

For any further information contact Ms. Wilhelm’s lawyer, Bruce Rogow, at 954-767-8909 or brogow@rogowlaw.com


ENLACES

Prensa cubana aplaude a Benicio del Toro por filme sobre el Che. LA HABANA (Reuters) - Cuba aplaudió el viernes al actor estadounidense Benicio del Toro por su interpretación del guerrillero Ernesto "Che" Guevara, pero criticó el retrato del convaleciente líder Fidel Castro en una película del realizador Steven Soderbergh. Del Toro presentará el sábado en La Habana el filme sobre Guevara, un médico argentino que combatió junto a Castro en la revolución de 1959 y es considerado un héroe nacional en Cuba.


EFEMERIDES

1956 - Sucesos de Alegría de Pío
En la madrugada de este día, los expedicionarios del Yate Granma fueron sorprendidos por las tropas de la dictadura batistiana. Venían extenuados, hambrientos y algunos de ellos enfermos después de haber desembarcado el pasado 2 de diciembre. Las balas enemigas alcanzaron a muchos combatientes. Los sobrevivientes caminaron hasta que la noche les impidió avanzar y resolvieron dormir todos juntos, amontonados, atacados por los mosquitos, amenazados por la sed y el hambre. Así fue su bautismo de fuego, en las cercanías de Niquero. Así se inició la forja de lo que sería el Ejército Rebelde.
cuba.cu
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PRESENTS


CHE

A Film by Steven Soderbergh








FILM FESTIVALS & AWARDS
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2008 – WINNER BEST ACTOR/BENICIO DEL TORO
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2008
NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2008
AFI FILM FESTIVAL 2008


PART 1 - 129 MINUTES – 2.35/ PART 2 – 128 MINUTES – 1.85 – COLOR– US/FRANCE/SPAIN 2008
SPANISH with SUBTITLES & ENGLISH

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DIRECTORS STATEMENT

I was drawn to Che as a subject for a movie (or two) not only because his life reads like an adventure story, but because I am fascinated by the technical challenges that go along with implementing any large-scale political idea. I wanted to detail the mental and physical demands these two campaigns required, and illustrate the process by which a man born with an unshakable will discovers his own ability to inspire and lead others.

- STEVEN SODERBERGH
































CHE – PART 1

SYNOPSIS

On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sails to Cuba with eighty rebels. One of those rebels is Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine doctor who shares a common goal with Fidel Castro - to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Che proves indispensable as a fighter, and quickly grasps the art of guerrilla warfare. As he throws himself into the struggle, Che is embraced by his comrades and the Cuban people. The argentine tracks Che’s rise in the Cuban Revolution, from doctor to commander to revolutionary hero.


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In 1952, General Fulgencio Batista orchestrated a coup in Cuba, took control of the presidency, and suspended free elections. Although his corrupt dictatorship was backed
by a 40,000-man army, a young lawyer named Fidel Castro tried to incite a popular rebellion by attacking the Moncada barracks on July 26, 1953. The attack failed, and Castro spent two years in prison before going into exile in Mexico.

Meanwhile, a young Argentine idealist named Ernesto Guevara had become involved in political activity in Guatemala. In 1954, when the elected government of Jacobo Árbenz was overthrown in a CIA-organized military operation, Guevara escaped to Mexico. Following up a contact made in Guatemala, he sought out a group of exiled Cuban revolutionaries.

July 13, 1955 marked a quiet yet momentous event in the history of the Cuban Revolution. In a modest apartment in Mexico City, Ernesto Guevara was introduced to Fidel Castro by Fidel’s younger brother, Raul. Guevara immediately enlisted in a guerrilla mission to overthrow the Cuban dictator. The Cubans nicknamed the young
rebel ‘Che’, a popular form of address in Argentina.

On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sailed to Cuba with eighty rebels – only twelve of them survived. One of these was Che, who had joined the group as company doctor.
Che quickly grasped the art of guerrilla warfare and proved indispensable as a fighter. As he threw himself into the struggle, he was embraced by his comrades
and by the Cuban people.

CHE - PART 1 tracks Che’s rise in the Cuban Revolution, from doctor to Rebel Army Commander to revolutionary hero.



ABOUT THE FILM

“Forty years after his death, there are many reasons why Che remains a potent symbol today,” explains Laura Bickford, one of the producers of Steven Soderbergh’s CHE-PART 1. “He’s clearly an image of youthful rebellion and idealism and I think those two things are eternal, timeless. We aren’t interested in the current politics in Cuba. We’re filmmakers making a movie about a specific period of time seen from Che’s point of view.

“We’ve talked to everybody on every side and all of our research went into the script. We’ll never make everybody happy. It’s impossible to get every detail exact. We spent three years researching what eventually became CHE - PART 2. The original idea was that we would explore one part of Che’s life in great detail. What we found was that by just doing PART 2, you didn’t understand the context in which he made the decision to go to Bolivia.

“When we decided to add Cuba and New York and began working on the structure, it just kept getting bigger and bigger. That’s when we realized we needed to make two movies.”

“When Benicio and I first became interested in Che and were approaching various writers, Peter Buchman, who had written ALEXANDER, was recommended to us. Peter spent a year reading all of the books in preparation for writing the screenplay. When producing TRAFFIC became a reality, we were sidetracked for a few years. When we came back to the project, Steven had agreed to direct the film. It was Steven who wanted to look at Cuba and New York and re-examine Bolivia.

“One of the biggest difficulties for Steven and Benicio in terms of the screenplay was that we had so much information and we’d met so many people who had told us their amazing stories,” continues Bickford. “How to condense things yet still tell this sweeping story and make it feel real was extremely challenging.”

“Every writer in town wanted to help Steven write his version but it would have taken them at least a year to get up to speed. Then Peter called to remind me that he had already done all the research. I was very grateful. He was absolutely brilliant in helping us to structure the movie.”

Recalls Buchman: “I remember that when I called Laura five years or so after I had done the research, I told her that if they just wanted a writer to sit in a room with Steven and brainstorm I’d be happy to have him use me as a sounding board. That was two and a half years ago. I flew to New York and met with him and Benicio. My biggest issue with doing just Bolivia was that it presents a tragic ending to a story that I wanted to know more about. I felt it didn’t have enough of a sense of loss because we didn’t really know what came before.

“I went away and wrote a single script with three storylines: Che’s life and the Cuban revolution in one, his fall in another and in between, the trip to New York to speak at the United Nations.

“The one disadvantage of doing a single movie with that much story is that whenever you have to condense time you start distorting history. We all knew there was a lot at stake with the material. I always try to stay true to the spirit of history but in this case there are so many people on both sides of the fence who are still passionate about this subject.

“Steven thought we weren’t doing each major story justice in a single script and said he had an idea for two movies. Because the United Nations was about to undergo a major renovation, we went ahead and shot the scenes of Che speaking to the General Assembly in 1964. Laura turned to me and said, “Isn’t this a celebratory moment?” and I said I’d have thought it was a great moment too - if I didn’t have to go home now and write two screenplays!

“I had to rethink the whole structure of the Cuban story because initially I had written such a condensed version of it. I had to go back to the history and this was a process
that Steven and Benicio and Laura were very involved with.”

























7 YEARS OF RESEARCH

“The process of playing Che was very different for me than other movies I have made,” allows producer and star Benicio Del Toro. “In this case, as a real person, you start with the man himself and what he wrote. This led us to seven years of research into what other people wrote
about him. Even so, I always returned to what he had written himself.”

“Over the past seven years,” says Bickford, “we’ve gone to Cuba and Bolivia and Paris and Miami - pretty much everywhere there was somebody on either side of the story who had something to tell us. One of the amazing things about making a story about the Cuban Revolution is that so many people are still alive who fought in it. If you do a story about the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Mexican Revolution, there’s nobody left
to talk to.

“There’s a huge amount of documentation and photos. The rebels were pretty good at documenting their experience.

“There are three men who met Che during the Cuban Revolution who followed him to Bolivia and survived: Pombo, Urbano and Benigno. All three are in both PART 1 and PART 2. We’ve interviewed them individually and occasionally Pombo and Urbano together about what happened to them in Cuba and Bolivia. Urbano was an advisor in Spain. What that did for us, and what it did for the actors, was infuse them with a sense of reality that you can only get from someone who was there. The truth is you could make an entire film about each of them; each one has his own story.

“The information the actors needed from them was very specific. Details like: how would they hold their guns in a certain situation? How did they know how to get from here to there? Would they have deployed a leapfrog formation or would they have gone through the bushes? Very specific tactical information, and it really energized the cast. In our group of actors portraying this piece of the Cuban Revolution and this piece of Che’s life, we have the whole political spectrum. Every single political perspective on the Cuban issue is represented by somebody on this movie.”
ABOUT THE FILMING

“I don’t think we could have made these two movies with the amount of money we had had he (Soderbergh) not been directing. The speed with which we needed to move was a big challenge every day for the cast and crew,” says Bickford.

It was always Soderbergh’s intention to film as much as possible using only natural light. Most of the action of both films takes place outdoors. In the end, lamps were used only very occasionally.

One way that the production was able to cut down on time was through Soderbergh’s use of an innovative new camera: the RED. Initially they had hoped to be able to use it, but the camera wasn’t available on time. Recalls Bickford, “We had a very happy accident because our Spanish work papers and visas hadn’t come through on schedule. Steven and Benicio and I were grounded in Los Angeles for a week and that week they called to say the prototype was ready.”

The RED camera is a high performance digital cine camera with the quality of 35mm film and convenience of pure digital. The body was designed for flexibility and functionality. It’s a streamlined package and weighs around 9 lbs.

“Shooting with RED is like hearing The Beatles for the first time,” says Soderbergh. “RED sees the way I see. Someday I hope to find out exactly how they made something so technologically advanced seem so organic, so beautifully attuned to that most natural of phenomena - light. But for now I’m just glad I’ve got my hands on it because it actually made the films better.”
CHE – PART 2

SYNOPSIS

After the Cuban Revolution, Che is at the height of his fame and power. Then he disappears, re-emerging incognito in Bolivia, where he organizes a small group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to start the great Latin American Revolution.

The story of the Bolivian campaign is a tale of tenacity, sacrifice, idealism, and of guerrilla warfare that ultimately fails, bringing Che to his death. Through this story, we come to understand how Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.



HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

CHE - PART 2 finds Che at the height of his fame and power after the Cuban Revolution. More than a soldier, Che is a glamorous figure on the world stage. Suddenly, he disappears, seemingly off the face of the earth. Why has he left Cuba? Where has he gone? Is he even alive?

Che re-emerges incognito in Bolivia, unrecognizable and operating entirely underground. He organizes a small group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to begin the great Latin American Revolution.

Che’s Bolivian campaign is a tale of tenacity, sacrifice, idealism, and guerrilla warfare that ultimately fails, bringing Che to his death. Through this story, we come to understand how Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.













ABOUT THE STORY

Discussing CHE - PART 1 and CHE - PART 2, producer Laura Bickford says, PART 2 is more of a thriller, while PART 1 is more of an action film with big battle scenes.

“This is a project that Benicio, Laura and Steven have been working on for ten years,” relates screenwriter Peter Buchman. “Benicio has been intimately involved with the development of the screenplay from the beginning and because his focus was initially on the Bolivian side of the story, he’s been an invaluable resource for me.”

“I’ve never been to Bolivia,” adds Buchman, “so I had to get what background and information I could from Che’s diaries and from Benicio and Laura who had been there and done interviews before I was involved in the project. I read sources from just about every side of the issue, including some declassified documents from the State Department about Che’s trip to New York, and memos from the time he was in Bolivia. We needed to track what the United States knew and when - about Che’s involvement in Bolivia.”

“We talked to everybody on every side of the political spectrum,” says Bickford. “We met the Bolivian captain who captured Che as well as the three Cubans (Urbano, Benigno and Pombo) who went with him to Bolivia and escaped back home after his execution. Urbano, who lives in Cuba came to Spain as an advisor.”

Adds Buchman, “There were already different rebel groups operating in several Latin American countries. Che’s idea was to go to Bolivia, the center of the continent, and establish an umbrella organization, a training ground for these groups. They would train in Bolivia for six months to a year and then determine when to initiate hostilities. They didn’t expect to be discovered as soon as they were.”

“Che didn’t pick Bolivia, Fidel did,” explains Jon Lee Anderson, author of the definitive biography of Che Guevara and the man responsible for finding Che’s remains in Bolivia and returning them to Cuba.

“It was possible that the Foco Theory, the theory of a small group of men beginning a guerrilla front, fighting and securing some liberated territory and training other internationalists from surrounding countries, would work there. The front would radiate outwards to Peru, to Argentina, to Chile, Brazil and so on.

“The Peruvian guerrilla group, which had been backed by the Cubans, had just failed, the Argentine Foco led by Jorge Masetti had failed a year and a half earlier and its members been routed, and the Venezuelans did not want him to come there. Fidel sent word to Che that he had spoken with Mario Monje, the head of the Bolivian Communist Party and that he agreed to Che going there. On the basis of that agreement, Che secretly returned to Cuba to organize and select men to take with him to Bolivia.”

“Che arrived in Bolivia as a Uruguayan businessman, with a fake passport and his hairline completely changed. But his clandestine arrival turned out not to be such a secret after all,” continues Anderson. “It was beginning to be an open secret that he was in Bolivia. When Regis Debray, a recognized international leftist close to Fidel Castro, was arrested in Bolivia it became clear that he had been with Che.”

One of the first problems Che encountered in Bolivia was that Mario Monje withdrew the promised support of the Bolivian Communist Party. According to Anderson, “Monje was aligned with Moscow and opposed to what he saw as splinter radicals, possibly pro-Chinese, who were aided and abetted by Cuba to bring revolution to his country. He broke with Che at their meeting and demanded that those Bolivians who were with
him leave the party. Historically, the great shame of the Bolivian Communist Party is that it did not provide them with its urban support network, which was extensive and
nation-wide. Suddenly, Che and his group were on their own.

“Without real warning, they were forced to engage in battle much earlier than they had planned and without the Bolivians they had thought would be joining them. They had lost the urban network that was supposed to supply them with food and recruits if necessary. Adding to their difficulty was the fact that they were in an area that was much tougher and more isolated than they had anticipated. It was beastly hot in the summer and miserable with cold and wet in the winter.

“I’ve been there and the inhospitable terrain is made up of great sloping vistas with treeless expanses where you can see people from miles away,” continues Anderson. “It was very difficult to hide. There were very few inhabitants and those few had very little political consciousness. The people who were more politically minded were the miners but they were in a different part of the country.”

“It didn’t help,” adds Buchman “that when President Barrientos found out Che’s army was made up mostly of Cubans, he called it an invasion of Cuban Communists, a part of the international Communist movement. This was frightening news to the locals on whose support they had counted. The people had fled from the villages and they were going through one ambush after the other, betrayed by the locals.

“They were forced to go on the run before training was completed, before they had a chance to build up a support network,” relates Anderson.

“Also, Che had severe asthma and guerrilla life exacerbated it dreadfully. There were times when he was terribly weak and had to be carried. His body had wasted away; by the end he was really emaciated.

“Once the rear guard was wiped out, only one column remained. From then on, their only option was hooking up with the miners in the Andes and getting out of Bolivia. They were hanging on by a very slim thread.

“By the time they had arrived at La Higuera and the Yuro Ravine they were demoralized. They had been watching their comrades and close friends being killed in front of them day after day, week after week. It was Che’s incredible willpower that kept them going a lot of the time.”


BOUT THE FILMMAKERS

STEVEN SODERBERGH (DIRECTOR)
Director Steven Soderbergh won an Academy Award® for Best Director for his 2000 ensemble drama TRAFFIC. He had earned dual Best Director Oscar® nominations that year,also receiving one for ERIN BROCKOVICH, starring Julia Roberts in her Oscar®-winning performance. Soderbergh had earlier garnered an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay for SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE, his feature film directorial debut, which also won the Palme d’Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.

CHE - PART 1 is Soderbergh’s eighteenth film, following, amongst others, OCEAN’S THIRTEEN, THE GOOD GERMAN, BUBBLE, OCEAN’S TWELVE, SOLARIS, FULL FRONTAL, OCEAN’S ELEVEN, THE LIMEY, OUT OF SIGHT, GRAY’S ANATOMY, SCHIZOPOLIS, THE UNDERNEATH, “KING OF THE HILL and KAFKA.

In addition, Soderbergh has produced or executive produced a wide range of features, including Todd Haynes’ I’M NOT THERE, Tony Gilroy’s MICHAEL CLAYTON and Marina Zenovich’s documentary ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED. Further producer or executive producer credits include Gregory Jacobs’ WIND CHILL and CRIMINAL, George Clooney’s GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, RichardLinklater’s A SCANNER DARKLY, Rob Reiner’s RUMOR HAS IT, Stephen Gaghan’s SYRIANA, Lodge Kerrigan’s KEANE, Todd Haynes’ FAR FROM HEAVEN, Christopher Nolan’s INSOMNIA, Anthony and Joseph Russo’s WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD, Gary Ross’ PLEASANTVILLE and Greg Mottola’s THE DAYTRIPPERS.

BENICIO DEL TORO (PRODUCER, CHE)
Benecio Del Toro has earned critical acclaim for his poignant and powerful performances throughout his career. Winning an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor in Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC, his performance also garnered him Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA, New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics Association, and Silver Bear [Berlin International Film Festival] awards.

Del Toro also earned an Academy Award® nomination for his role in Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu’s 21 GRAMS, for which he also won the Audience Award for Best Actor at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival. He has also received two Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Actor: for Bryan Singer's THE USUAL SUSPECTS and Julian Schnabel's BASQUIAT. He has most recently appeared in Susanne Bier’s THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE and Robert Rodriguez’s SIN CITY.

Del Toro made his motion picture debut in John Glen's LICENCE TO KILL, opposite Timothy Dalton as James Bond. Subsequent films include Peter Weir's FEARLESS, George Huang's SWIMMING WITH SHARKS, Abel Ferrara's THEFUNERAL, Marco Brambilla's EXCESS BAGGAGE, Terry Gilliam's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, Christopher McQuarrie's THE WAY OF THE GUN, Guy Ritchie's SNATCH, William Friedkin's THE HUNTED and THE INDIAN
RUNNER and THE PLEDGE, both directed by Sean Penn.


Born in Puerto Rico, Del Toro grew up in Pennsylvania. He attended the University of California at San Diego and studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory under the tutelage of Arthur Mendoza. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

LAURA BICKFORD (PRODUCER)
Laura Bickford is the Academy Award® nominated producer of the critically-acclaimed TRAFFIC, her first collaboration with Soderbergh and Del Toro. The film earned four out of five Oscars® for which it was nominated.

One of the film industry’s leading producers, Laura Bickford Productions was merged with River Road Entertainment for two years during which time they financed Ang Lee’s multi-award-winning BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, StevenShainberg’s FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE
ARBUS, starring Nicole Kidman, and Robert Altman’s swansong A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.

Bickford made her producing debut in 1995 with CITIZEN X for HBO Pictures. Based on the true story of Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatila, the film was written and directed by Chris Gerolmo. CITIZEN X received a Cable Ace Award forBest Picture and earned multiple Emmy and Golden GlobeAward nominations.

JON LEE ANDERSON (CONSULTANT)
Jon Lee Anderson has been writing for theNew Yorker since 1998, covering conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistanand Lebanon. He has also reported from Liberia, Angola,Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, and written numerousprofiles of political leaders including Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Augusto Pinochet, King Juan Carlos, Saddam Hussein,Hamid Karzai and Jalal Talabani.

Anderson is also the author of several books, including “Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life”, “The Lion’s Grave: Dispatches From Afghanistan”, “Guerrillas: Journeys in the InsurgentWorld” and, most recently, “The Fall of Baghdad”.

His biography of Ernesto Che Guevara was the result of five years’ research, three of which he spent in Havana. For the book, Anderson also traveled to Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, Sweden, the US and Russia. In 1995, he broke the story, in the The New York Times, of the whereabouts of Guevara’s secretly buried remains in Bolivia. “Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life” was first published by Grove Press, New York, and has since been translated into many languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, German, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, and Farsi.

Anderson reported on Central America’s civil wars for Time magazine during the 1980s and went on to cover the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Uganda, Western Sahara, Sri Lanka, Burma, Israel and Bosnia. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Harper’s, The Financial Times, The Guardian, El Pais and other journals.
Most Cuban republicans have dabbled in cocaine trade, FEW survey shows
By Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
My friend Dr. Rolando Bravo called recently to inform me he was opening a research center dedicated to measuring opinions of the exile community. He told me of his just completed survey of Cuban-Americans living in South Florida who have become rich via the drug trade.
“I named it the FEW Center,” he told me. “Some people may read it quickly and think it has something to do with Pew.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I told him. “No, no,” he insisted. “Perception is half the battle. The other half is how you word the survey questions, and who you ask,” he continued, “…Then you have to sell your results.”
Let me back up for a second. I have done polling in the past. It’s a very exact science. And when a survey is conducted correctly, it is amazing how accurate they can be. It’s why I wondered about Dr. Bravo’s crazy idea. And the fact that Rolando is a medical doctor -- not a pollster. He also happens to loathe republicans -- especially fanatical Cuban exile republicans.
“So, what were your results?” I asked.
“You won’t believe them,” he answered.
It turns out that over a four day period, my friend Dr. Bravo had made more than 400 telephone calls here in Miami. The results were shocking. The persons he called believed that more than 65% of Cubans who owned successful businesses in Miami before 1990 had been involved in the drug trade. And they were also of the opinion that 85% of Cuban republicans had dabbled in the cocaine trade at some point in their lives.
Stunned? You should be. It’s not true. Or at least, the study was never conducted. There is no Dr. Bravo -- at least not this Dr. Bravo.
What’s my point?
Well, for once I wanted to emulate The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald and practice irresponsible journalism. Some of the finest columns ever written for Progreso Weekly have dealt with manipulated Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald stories. At one time we used to run a weekly B.S. Detector that described this bilingual scam which offered differing information from the same article by way of the translation and omission of key paragraphs. It demonstrated how Miami’s only newspaper massaged the news to please certain segments of our South Florida population. Over time the practice has helped to deteriorate the prestige of what used to be considered an excellent newspaper.
That prestige took another giant step downward this past week when El Nuevo Herald published a front page story (The Miami Herald had it on page 6A) whose headline read “Differences about race found in Cuban survey.” The story deals with a Cuban dissident (not identified as such in The Herald article), a medical doctor (they just referred to him as Dr. in the article), by the name of Darsi Ferrer. It was based on the Ferrer study conducted by an “independent academic project known as Cubabarometro” which came to conclusions based on what Cubans “believe” and what they “observed.” (Was there a plus/minus margin of error?) The conclusion reached by the survey, according to The Herald story, is that “despite 50 years of the revolution, racism continues to exist…”
How scientific was this survey? I wonder. Who were the 425 people surveyed? And how did Dr. Ferrer choose them? Finally, if you check out the questions, they can easily be applied right here in the U.S.
I tested my theory on Jason, an African-American friend from Miami. I offered several of the conclusions reached by the Cubarometro study, but without telling him it had anything to do with Cuba. They included:
Blacks believe that whites benefit most from the most competitive jobs.
Blacks believe that whites usually end up with jobs that offer the best economic opportunities.
A great majority of blacks believe that whites predominate in the movies and television.
A large majority also believe that police raids and harassment are racially motivated toward black people.
“So what’s so interesting about what we already know?” asked Jason. I then told him the truth, where the survey came from and its peculiarities. He smiled.
Jason holds a position of power here in Miami. He knows how politics is played here. We’ve known each other for a long time.
“It’s a set up,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Cubans in Miami never give up,” he told me. “And Obama’s a black president.”
La mayoría de los cubanos republicanos han chapoteado en el tráfico de cocaína, según encuesta de FEW
Por Álvaro F. Fernández
alfernandez@the-beach.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mi amigo el Dr. Rolando Bravo me llamó recientemente para informarme que iba a abrir un centro de investigación dedicado a medir opiniones de la comunidad exiliada. Me habló acerca de su encuesta recién terminada entre cubano-americanos que viven en el Sur de la Florida y que se han hecho ricos por medio del tráfico de drogas.
“El nombre que le puse es Centro FEW”, me dijo. “Puede que algunas personas lo lean rápidamente y piensen que tiene algo que ver con Pew.
“¿Estás bromeando?”, le pregunté. “No, no”, insistió él. “La percepción gana la mitad de la batalla. La otra mitad es cómo se redactan las preguntas de la encuesta y a quién se le pregunta”, continuó. “Luego tienes que vender los resultados”.
Permítanme una pausa. Yo he realizado encuestas. Es una ciencia muy exacta. Y cuando una encuesta se hace correctamente, es sorprendente cuán precisa puede ser. Por eso me extrañó la loca idea del Dr. Bravo. Y el hecho de que Rolando es médico --no un encuestador. También sucede que aborrece a los republicanos --especialmente a los republicanos fanáticos exiliados cubanos.
“¿Y cuáles fueron tus resultados?”, pregunté.
“No lo vas a creer”, respondió.
Sucede que durante un periodo de cuatro días mi amigo el Dr. Bravo hizo más de 400 llamadas telefónicas aquí en Miami. Los resultados fueron escandalosos. Las personas que él llamó cree que más del 65% de los cubanos que poseen negocios exitosos en Miami anteriores a 1990 han estado implicados en el tráfico de drogas. Y también tienen la opinión de que 85% de los cubanos republicanos han chapoteado en el tráfico de cocaína en algún momento de su vida.
¿Sorprendidos? No es de extrañar. No es cierto. O al menos, el estudio nunca se realizó. No existe ningún Dr. Bravo --al menos este Dr. Bravo.
¿Y para qué cuento esto?
Bueno, por una vez en mi vida quise emular a The Miami Herald y a El Nuevo Herald y hacer periodismo irresponsable. Algunas de las mejores columnas escritas para Progreso Semanal/Weekly han tenido que ver con noticias manipuladas por The Miami Herald y El Nuevo Herald. En una época publicábamos la columna “Detector de Tretas” que describía esta trampa bilingüe que ofrecía información diferente de un mismo artículo por medio de la traducción y omisión de párrafos clave. Demostraba cómo el único periódico de Miami masajeaba la noticia para complacer a ciertos segmentos de nuestra población del Sur de la Florida. Durante años la práctica ha ayudado a deteriorar el prestigio de lo que una vez fue considerado un excelente periódico.
Ese prestigio dio otro gigantesco paso en descenso la semana pasada, cuando El Nuevo Herald publicó una noticia en primera plana (The Miami Herald la puso en la página 6A) cuyo titular decía: “Los Negros en Cuba: Marginados y distantes del poder”. La noticia se refería a un disidente cubano (a quien no se identifica como tal en el artículo de The Herald), un médico (solo se le menciona como “doctor” en el artículo), llamado Darsi Ferrer. Se basaba en el estudio de Ferrer realizado por un “proyecto académico independiente conocido como Cubarómetro” que llegó a conclusiones basándose en lo que los cubanos “creen” y lo que ellos “observaron”. (¿Había un margen de error en el estudio?) La conclusión a la que llegaron por medio de la encuesta, según el artículo de The Herald, es que “a pesar de 50 años de revolución, el racismo continúa existiendo”.
¿Qué nivel científico tiene esta encuesta?, me pregunto. ¿Quiénes fueron las 425 personas encuestadas? ¿Cómo las seleccionó el Dr. Ferrer? Por ultimo, si se revisan las preguntas se verá que pueden ser aplicadas aquí mismo en EEUU.
Probé mi teoría con Jason, un amigo afro-norteamericano de Miami. Le mostré varias de las conclusiones a las que llegó el estudio de Cubarómetro, pero sin decirle que tenían algo que ver con Cuba. Estas incluían:
Los negros creen que los blancos se benefician más de los empleos más competitivos.
Los negros creen que los blancos generalmente se quedan con los empleos que ofrecen las mejores oportunidades económicas.
Una gran mayoría de los negros cree que los blancos predominan en el cine y la televisión.
Una gran mayoría también cree que los ataques y hostigamiento de la policía están motivados racialmente hacia las personas negras.
“¿Y qué es tan interesante si ya lo sabemos?”, preguntó Jason. Le dije entonces la verdad, de dónde venía la encuesta y sus peculiaridades. Sonrió.
Jason tiene un cargo de poder aquí en Miami. Él sabe cómo se juega a la política aquí. Nos conocemos desde hace mucho tiempo.
“Es un engaño”, dijo.
“¿Qué quieres decir?”, pregunté.
“Los cubanos en Miami nunca se rinden”, me dijo. “Y Obama es un presidente negro”.

I can't actually count the number of times over the years that I have titled or commented on something about Cuba with the old phrase "pot calling the kettle black" or "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". US cynicism and hypocrisy know no bounds. All of the "outrages" and "indignities" cited in this "news" (?) article are not only a mirror of how the US has consistently treated Cuban diplomats in the US (even those at the UN, who should not be treated prejudicially because of bilateral relations between the US and Cuba, but are) -- the reality is, if anyone bothers to check the facts, that the nasty practices were initiated by the US, and are generally far worse than Cuba's responses have been.

MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Friday, 12.05.08
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Cuba must respect U.S. diplomats
BY EVERETT ELLIS BRIGGS
snigdom@sbcglobal.net
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/800182.html
Those hoping the new Obama administration will move swiftly to ''normalize'' our relations with Cuba might first want to take a look at how U.S. diplomats fare at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana (USINT) -- our existing diplomatic establishment on the island.
The Cuban government systematically ignores international practice by interfering with USINT operations and harassing our people, a situation that has gotten worse over time. This seriously impedes USINT's ability to do its work and undermines morale. Examples abound.
• Delivery of diplomatic pouches is delayed, and other official shipments are subjected to improper scrutiny.
• Items such as printed matter intended for local distribution are no longer being allowed in, seriously hindering USINT's outreach to the dissident community.
• The regime controls visits by consular officers to imprisoned U.S. citizens by limiting their frequency and dictating who on the staff can perform this duty.
• The regime limits the number of temporary duty personnel sent out from Washington to perform maintenance on USINT equipment, undermining the mission's security and communications systems.
• The Cuban government vets all local hires, giving it direct access to what goes on inside our diplomatic mission and in the homes of our personnel; and it dictates which houses are available for our staff to rent -- posing obvious security risks for USINT and staff alike.
• Cuban police control all access to USINT, supposedly for its protection. In fact, this is how the regime seeks to intimidate and keep tabs on anyone visiting our mission.
• Perhaps most galling from the standpoint of daily living in Cuba, foreign officials are barred from shopping anywhere except at one of Cuba's ''dollar'' stores, where they are required to pay a 250 percent sales tax on consumer items.
What's really wrong with this picture is the complete lack of reciprocity. Unaccountably, the State Department simply lets Cuba get away with violating international diplomatic norms with impunity, while back in Washington, the diplomatic immunity of Cuban diplomats is scrupulously respected, and they are afforded all the privileges granted to other foreign representatives.
Washington seems to have forgotten the lessons of the Cold War. Back then, bad behavior toward our people abroad begat parallel treatment of officials from offending states assigned to the United States, usually leading to swift corrective action in foreign capitals and a return of comity here.
In addition to a tit-for-tat response to the several examples of Cuban abuses cited, the State Department should be able to think up additional ways to level the playing field, until the Cuban regime adopts a more civilized stance. Why, for example, should Cuban diplomats in the United States (including at the United Nations) be exempt from paying sales taxes? This privilege could easily be suspended until such time as Cuba's larcenous 250 percent sales tax is lifted.
Why should Cubans in this country be allowed to travel freely, frequent public recreational areas or rent space outside official premises for special events, when such activity is denied to USINT's staff? A serious morale issue at our mission in Havana is the frequent and often prolonged denial of water and electric power to the thoroughly ''bugged'' homes, not because of communist mismanagement but as a deliberate policy of harassment. Even more demoralizing are the occasional home break-ins, sometimes with damage to personal property, that go uninvestigated and unsanctioned.
Such outrages deserve swift countermeasures by imaginative U.S. technicians and agents in Washington. Those at State charged with the ''care and feeding'' of foreign diplomats will strongly object, both out of bureaucratic lethargy and because of a misguided sense of diplomatic decorum. But this should not be allowed to get in the way of unambiguous reciprocal measures, which, given time, will produce the desired results, as past experience with other communist dictatorships has demonstrated.
As long as the Cubans are allowed to get away with it, there is a risk Cuba's acolytes -- Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua come to mind -- will be tempted adopt a similar approach to los gringos. (To some degree, Bolivia already has gone one step further by sanctioning an attack on our La Paz embassy and seconding a threat by coca producers to kill our personnel.)
How diplomatic relations are carried out is of necessity something of a balancing act. There is little balance in the way U.S.Cuban relations are conducted. It's past time to correct this, and it should be taken care of before any serious discussion of ''normalization'' is even considered.
Everett Ellis Briggs, a Cuban-born, retired U.S. diplomat, was ambassador to Panama, Honduras and Portugal. He served as special assistant to the first President Bush for national security.

Even anti-Castro HERALD readers see the problem with this argument:

ohnrbomar wrote on 12/05/2008

The author states exactly the plight of the US Cuban mission:
"bad behavior toward our people begat parallel treatment of
officials." Inadvertently, he unveils the root cause of his
distress: the past and present abuse of US diplomatic license
to foment sedition inside Cuba. Even for we who do not support
the Castro brothers or their police state it is quite evident
that past US collusion with Cuban dissidents is a really stupid
and self-defeating practice. It plays right into the hands of
the communist propagandists who would conflate home-grown dissent
with US efforts to overthrow the government of Cuba. Ask yourself,
if any foreign diplomatic mission in the US worked actively to
finance and support malcontents within our population, would this
be permitted without opposition? Of course not. We would raise a
hue and cry of outraged indignation. This piece reminds me of the
parable of noting the straw in your neighbor's eye while ignoring
the beam in your own.

Freedom Rider: Mumbai and American Terror
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"Empathy for terror victims in Mumbai is sadly not extended to the victims of the American government."

The day before Thanksgiving, Americans learned that a group of no more than ten men in Mumbai, India attacked hotels, cafes, a train station, a hospital and a Jewish center. The coordinated attack with guns and hand grenades resulted in an estimated death toll of more than 180 people. The group that claimed responsibility, Deccan Mujahideen, was previously unknown to intelligence agencies around the world, but the reasons for their anger aren't difficult to understand.

The attackers specifically targeted American and British citizens in the two luxury hotels that were under assault. They also killed residents of a Jewish center. The continued occupation of Iraq, which was spearheaded by the United States and the United Kingdom, continues after five long years and will last at least another three. Israel's occupation of Palestine and theft of its land also continues unchecked with the full support of western nations. India's Muslim population has been victimized by orchestrated mob violence. Relations between mostly Hindu India and mostly Muslim Pakistan are always strained.

So we know why the terrorists are mad and with whom. The need to ask "Why?" is understandable but ultimately useless and dishonest. Terror is usually the result of unacknowledged grievance. Muslims are mad at the United States, Great Britain and the Indian government, and those who are angry enough to commit acts of violence would obviously choose India's financial capital to inflict maximum damage and gain world wide attention in the process.

"Terror is usually the result of unacknowledged grievance."

The scenes of dead bodies and bloody streets were painful but necessary to see. In five years of the Iraq occupation American television networks have not seen fit to broadcast images of dead and maimed Iraqis. That absence of vital information is shameful and keeps the country in a state of blissful ignorance. It makes already incurious and uninformed Americans more susceptible to propaganda from the government and the media.
The reaction to the Mumbai terror attacks is all too predictable. People are shocked at first, then saddened and frightened. Muslims feel compelled to apologize for their violent coreligionists. Christians and Jews are exempt from guilt by association, however. They are even permitted and encouraged to embrace the violent acts committed by individuals among them.

As always, Americans never see a connection between themselves, the acts of terror committed by their own government and anger directed at them around the globe. Empathy for terror victims in Mumbai is sadly not extended to the victims of the American government.

Warfare is the ultimate act of terror. It kills not just scores of people, but many thousands, or in the case of the Congo, millions. War is given a pass by religious groups, by politicians and by the media. It is considered an acceptable form of murder. The victims in Mumbai will be mourned by Americans, as they should be. The victims of the United States government in Iraq and Afghanistan are not.

"The dead victims of our government are even said to be helped by America's aggression."

They are considered "collateral damage" of worthy acts. Americans are told that some good will come from the deaths committed in their names. The dead victims of our government are even said to be helped by America's aggression. We have to save Iraqis from Saddam and Afghans from the Taliban. If they are killed by America's helpfulness so be it. If survivors complain they are called ungrateful and stupid or crazed fanatics who don't know a good thing when they see it.

As Americans watch the news coverage from Mumbai and feel revulsion at the sight of so much suffering, they ought to ask themselves about their own involvement in bringing suffering to the rest of the world. Victims of violence should be mourned and killers should be condemned. The terrorists who attacked Mumbai should be condemned along with soldiers from many countries who kill in even larger numbers. The Mumbai toll is shocking but less than that created by bombs that fall from airplanes or missiles and rockets that come from tanks.

It is especially important now to remember how our country creates so much suffering. The new president will have a honeymoon, a pass to start his own evil doing. It won't even be called evil doing. After all, change has come. George W. Bush, the wicked witch, is dead. All must be right with the country, even if it continues to do wrong.

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=913&Itemid=1

A vote for either John McCain or Barack Obama is—at best—an act of criminal negligence.
Mickey Z.

Former U.S. Interrogator: Torture Policy Has Led to More Deaths than
9/11 Attacks
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/109792/
"How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me,"
says the author of How to Break a Terrorist. , a former
special intelligence operations officer, who led an interrogations
team in Iraq two years ago, has written a stunning op-ed in the
Washington Post called "I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq." In
it, he details his direct experience with torture practices put into
effect in Iraq in 2006. He conducted more than 300 interrogations and
supervised more than a thousand and was awarded a Bronze Star for his
achievements in Iraq.
In the article, he says torture techniques used in Iraq consistently
failed to produce actionable intelligence and that methods outlined
in
the U.S. Army Field Manual, which rest on confidence building,
consistently worked and gave the interrogators access to critical
information.

He writes: "My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one

of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-
Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq and the mastermind of the
campaign of suicide bombings that had helped plunge Iraq into civil
war. But instead of celebrating our success, my mind was consumed
with
the unfinished business of our mission: fixing the deeply flawed,
ineffective and un-American way the U.S. military conducts
interrogations in Iraq. I'm still alarmed about that today."
He goes on to say that the number of Americans killed in Iraq because
of the U.S. military's use of torture is more than 3,000. He writes:
"It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and
casualties in [Iraq] have come at the hands of foreigners who joined
the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S.
soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be
definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the
number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that
torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count
American soldiers as Americans."

Well, the former interrogator has just written a book. It's called
How
to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not
Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq. The publication
date for the book was delayed for six weeks due to the Pentagon's
vetting of it. The soldier is writing under a pseudonym for security
reasons. He joins us now in our firehouse studio in one of his first
national broadcast interviews.

We welcome you to Democracy Now!

Matthew Alexander: Thanks for having me.

AG: It's good to have you with us. Why don't you want to use your
name?

MA: It's just basic security concerns. You know, al-Qaida has
promised
reprisals for the killing of Zarqawi. So it's just to protect myself
and my family. But, you know, after the death of Zarqawi, the
response
was actually, I thought, quite limited. It was less than what I would
expect. And I think it goes to show how much even people within his
own organization disliked him.

AG: Why was it so hard to get your book out of the Pentagon? I mean,
you've got the book. You have to hand it in to be vetted, but they
wouldn't release it.

MA: Yeah, you know, I turned it in in the middle of July, and they're
supposed to do the review within 30 days, and they didn't do that. I
missed the first printing date. When they finally did come back with
a
review of the book after two months, they had extracted an
extraordinary amount of material. There was 93 redactions made. I
sued
-- you know, I sued the Department of Defense first to review the
book
and then to argue the redactions, because they had redacted obvious
unclassified material, things that I had taken straight out of the
unclassified field manual and also some items that were directly off
the Army's own Web site. So, eventually they acquiesced on 80 of the
93 redactions. And if you -- when you read the book, you'll see that
the redactions within -- some of the redactions are still in the
book,
because we had to go to print before we had the results of the
appeal.

AG: So why don't you talk about your time in Iraq? You were a chief
interrogator. Explain how it works. And what is a " 'gator"?

MA: A 'gator, an interrogator, I mean, their job within the mission
is
to extract information from detainees, intelligence -- useful
intelligence information. And it's a timely art. It's one in which
we're always under a lot of pressure to produce results quickly,
because intelligence is very time sensitive.

And when I was in Iraq, I was in charge of a team of interrogators
assigned to a task force, and our mission was to find Zarqawi. We
believed at that time, at least our leadership believed, that if we
could kill Zarqawi, we could slow down the path toward civil war.

AG: Explain who he is, who he was.

MA: Well, Zarqawi, he was an extremist. You know, he got his start as
a thug in Jordan, where he spent some time in prison. He had spent
time in Afghanistan, two tours in Afghanistan. And he had come back
to
Iraq prior to our invasion to set up a resistance. And he was also
the
author of the civil war in Iraq. He was the one behind the bombing of
the Golden Dome mosque that started the civil war between Sunni and
Shia. And it was his idea that if they targeted Shia civilians in
suicide bombing attacks that he could bog American forces down in a
civil war and force us to leave.
SRK becomes 'Datuk' Shah Rukh Khan
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Posted: Dec 06, 2008 at 1705 hrs IST
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Kuala Lumpur Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan became the first Indian movie star to be conferred on a prestigious Malaysian title. Wearing a traditional black and gold Malay outfit (Baju Melayu and samping) and headgear, Khan received the title of "Datuk" (equivalent to British Knighthood) from the governor of Malaysia's southern Malacca state.
Baju Melayu is similar to a kurta pajama, while 'Samping' is a piece of cloth men tie around the waist and which falls to the length of the long shirt.
The 43-year-old actor, who has a large fan base among the Malays, held the estimated 1,000 guests at the investiture spellbound as he received the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM), conferred on him and 76 others.
The actor kept waving to his fans as he was escorted into the hall. The Bollywood icon was the focus of attention as media and fans clicked away using cameras from their seats.
The actor will be referred to as Datuk Shahrukh Khan in Malaysia and will be addressed as Datuk. Each Malaysian state chooses its own list of people to honour with "Datukship". A majority of the awardees are local Malaysians who would have excelled in some area or are in the government.
Malacca authorities said Khan was given the title because some of his movies had been shot in the the historical state boosting tourism.
Khan shot a song for the movie 'one two ka four' in Malacca which was named as one of the heritage cities by UNESCO a few months ago.
However, the decision to award Khan with the Datukship received a fair share of criticism across the country with local artists and public noting that the award could have been given to a local actor or artist.










Palash Biswas



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