Courts giving harsher sentences
Cuban
Radar Read Spanish Version
Courts
giving harsher sentences
A
service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau
"Courts
are giving harsher sentences, but not in all cases, against those who
attempt to profit illegally when the circumstances deal with the
destruction caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike,” said the official
Granma
daily in its Tuesday, October 21, edition.
The
daily points out that the courts have dealt swiftly with those who
speculate with food products, burglarize homes, hoarders, and cattle
rustlers. It also mentions the occurrence of disturbances, but not
where they have taken place.
According
to the newspaper, judges have applied Article 53 of the Criminal Code
in relation to the existence of aggravating circumstances, as well as
Article 54, "which contemplates an addition of up to half of the
maximum sentence in the case of several aggravating circumstances or
one of them is present in an intense manner."
Granma
reported
that "From January to August of the present year average prison
sentences were given to 15% of those found guilty; correctional work
plus confinement to 3% and minus the confinement to 4%; limitations
of movements to 3.4%, and fines to 10%."
However,
the situation is different now. For example, from September 23 to
October 3, 24.5% of those found guilty were confined to prison;
correctional work plus confinement to 21.3% and minus the confinement
to 40.1%; limitations of movement to 3.4%; and fines to 10%."
European
commissioner in Cuba
Louis
Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian
Assistance, arrived in Havana on October 22, for a 3-day visit to
formalize with Cuban authorities the agreed upon dialogue between the
European Union’s Troika and Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez
Roque last week in Paris.
In
June, the EU agreed to begin this dialogue with the island, without
excluding any issue, but based on total equality and mutual respect.
At
a press conference in Mexico City on October 22, the Cuban Foreign
Minister declared that there has been "a process of
reconstruction of Cuba’s relations with the European Union. We have
re-launched a mechanism for bilateral political dialogue."
Sources
close to the EU predict that one of the fruits of Michel’s trip, and
the conversations, will be the announcement of significant assistance
by the EU, as well as the reaffirmation that at the present UN
General Assembly, where Cuba once again will present a declaration
condemning the U.S. blockade against the Island, the EU will vote
with Cuba.
Mexico
and Cuba: Full relations and repatriation
With
the signing of an 8-point memorandum, the governments of Cuba and
Mexico fully normalized their relations which had deteriorated under
former President Vicente Fox.
The
objective is to put order in the migratory flow through legal and
secure channels and the devolution of Cubans captured at sea, as well
as of those who are illegally in Mexican territory.
Mexico
has become a channel for the smuggling of persons headed for the
United States. The U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act, known also as "dry
foot-wet foot policy" favors Cubans who set foot in U.S.
territory by any way, legal or not. Both the Cuban and Mexican
governments have publicly expressed their concern that this law
promotes human smuggling and related crimes.
According
to reliable sources, in 2007, some 11,000 Cubans arrived in the U.S.
through illegal operations controlled by criminal Mexican gangs. At
present some 2,000 Cubans are in Mexico illegally.
During
his visit to the country, Foreign Minister Perez Roque delivered an
invitation from Cuban President Raul Castro to Mexican President
Felipe Calderón to visit Cuba.
Cuba
is a priority
The
Spanish government’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation
Soraya Rodríguez said in Havana that "Cuba is a priority
in our policy of cooperation for development."
Rodríguez
arrived in Havana in order to tour areas of Pinar del Rio devastated
by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The reason for the visit is to better
know about the places where aid from her country will be used. The
Spanish government decided, among other measures, to donate 24.5
million euros for the reconstruction of housing and infrastructure.
A
report by Italian news agency IPS says that Rodríguez told the
Spanish press that "Relations between Cuba and Spain will not be
completely normal until that country’s Cultural Center in Havana is
not reopened — shut down by the island’s authorities after the
crisis that froze relations with the EU in 2003."
Russia-Cuba:
Joint projects
Havana
and Moscow are working jointly on four projects in the areas of
energy, oil, pharmaceutical industry and transportation, said Liubov
Konstantinovna Sliska, first vice president of the Russian Duma
(parliament).
In
a press conference in Havana, Sliska also said that Russian tourist
companies are interested in investing in Cuban tourism.
The
parliamentary leader stressed the condemnation, by Russian
legislators, of the blockade that the U.S. has imposed on the island.
Fidel
Castro meets with Metropolitan Kiril
In
a brief "Reflection" published October 22, by Cuban media,
former President Fidel Castro said he had met with His Eminence Kiril
Gundjaev, number two in the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church,
which he called "a spiritual force."
Castro
recalled the role played by the Church at the time of the Nazi
invasion of the USSR and noted that when the Soviet country
disintegrated, "imperialism did not find an ally in the Church."
"His
Eminence is not an enemy of socialism or condemns to eternal fire
those of us who base their struggle for a just world on
Marxism-Leninism," said Castro.
