Uncommon Sense

3/18 Project: Cuba harasses journalists

Jorge Olivera Castillo, a Cuban independent journalist jailed in March 2003 but released in December 2004 for health reasons, fears the authorities are preparing to send him back to prison. Journalist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, jailed in March 2003 but released in Novermber 2004 for health reasons, fears the same.

Reporters Without Borders is worried. The group writes:

The two men, who were imprisoned in the March 2003 crackdown, were released on health grounds at the end of 2004. They then both sought and were refused permission to leave Cuba.

“These ill-timed court summonses look like a judicial farce”, said the press freedom organisation. “What is the point of trying to get independent journalists to give up their work, knowing full well that they will never do so ?” asked the press freedom organisation. “If the Cuban authorities are so determined to silence Oscar Espinosa Chepe and Jorge Olivera Castillo why don’t they grant their request to leave the country? The repression of dissident voices is in any event doomed to failure”, it added.

Also, read Olivera's letter to Western leaders.

13 years ago today, I almost died

At the top of the frame, I am the man in the blue jacket to the right of the man in the black and pink jacket

Thirteen years ago today, my job as a newspaper reporter almost got me killed.

More precisely, a religious fanatic named David Koresh and an inept federal agency named the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, when they met Feb. 28, 1993, on a Texas prairie, almost got me killed.

That morning, about 75 ATF agents attempted to serve search and arrest warrants on Koresh and his Branch Davidian religious sect. As soon as the agents knocked on the door to the Branch Davidians' compound, bullets started flying from the well armed cultists inside.

Some of those bullets came the way of me and four colleages from the Waco Tribune-Herald, who were about 200-250 yards on the country road in front of the compound. We were there after we had received a tip that something might be going down at the compound, known as Mount Carmel.

I have never spent much time around guns, but I instinctively knew we were in danger. When it was clear that our cars were not going to provide us much protection, we dove into a muddy ditch at the side of the road and waited until it was safe.

We were in that ditch for two and half hours.

When it was safe, when Koresh and the ATF negotiated a ceasefire so the ATF could withdraw with its dead and wounded, we got out of the ditch and ran to safety.

After a brief stop at home to change my pants, I went on to cover, to date, the biggest story of my career.

Thirteen years later, I don't have any profound thoughts about that day, the ensuing 51-day standoff or the fiery end to the siege.

I still know these six things about the Branch Davidian standoff of Feb. 28-April 19, 2003:

1) The ATF was wrong to raid the compound the way it did. Despite the fact that we almost got killed, I am glad we were there that morning. Othewise, who knows how many more lies and coverups the ATF might have been able to get away with.

2) The FBI was wrong to raid the compound the way it did on April 19, 1993, in an attempt to end the standoff. Knowing how there were upwards to two dozen children inside, the FBI should have waited as long it might take to end the standoff peacefully.

3) David Koresh was a con man, albeit one who truly believed his con that he was some sort of messiah. The FBI deserves great blame for how the siege ended, but I am convinced that no concesssion the FBI could had made would have brought a different outcome to the siege.

4) Attorney General Janet Reno, who gave the OK for the FBI's tank-and-tear-gas attack on April, 19, should have been fired, instead of serving as a convenient fallguy for President Bill Clinton.

5) After Waco, I will never trust the government the way I was willing to before Feb. 28, 1993.

6) Most importantly, I am grateful to be alive.

For more about the Branch Davidian standoff, read the Waco Tribune-Herald's coverage of the 10th anniversary in 2003.

Among the highlights — at least for me — are the slideshow of photographs taken by Tribune-Herald photographer Rod Aydelotte, who was with me in the ditch that morning. (In Photo 6, taken during one of the ATF's news conferences, I am sitting on the floor in the bottom right-hand corner, wearing glasses.)

Also in the ditch with me, Rod, Mark England and Douglas Doe, was Tommy Witherspoon. For the 10th anniversary, Tommy went back to the ditch to reflect what happened there. To watch the interview, go here (Real Video required).

In 1994, the government called me to testify in the murder trial of a several surviving Branch Davidians. Here's the transcript of my testimony. (Search the text for "Masferrer.")

And to read how big stories like this seem to happen wherever my career takes me, read this story by Emily Taravella.

A tribute to Guillermo Fariñas

Artist Pat Texidor offers a moving tribute, in words and in a haunting sketch, of Cuban independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas.

Pat writes:

I admire Mr. Fariñas for his bravery and conviction and patriotism. I am drawn to him by this sense of awe and reverence. I suppose I see more clearly in him that fragment of the divine present in all of us. I don't know anything about Mr. Fariñas, except what he now looks like and what he is doing. I am a visual artist, and I suppose this makes me, by nature and training, keen to visual details and characteristics. What I see in the available photos of Guillermo Fariñas is a large-framed man with the vestiges of athleticism. His body now shows the devastating effects of the hunger strike. He is obviously of African descent. But the external aspect of a man is merely a faint glimpse of what lies beneath the physical surface of his being. Mr. Fariñas' photos give me a clue to who he is. But outside of meeting him in person, I felt I could gain a better "look" at the intangible aspects of such a man only by attempting to draw his image.

Sign a petition in support of Fariñas here.

(H/T to Babalú.)

Journalist's letter to President Bush

Jorge Olivera

In a recent post about Cuban independent journalist and former prison inmate Jorge Olivera Castillo, I included a link to a letter, in Spanish, Olivera had written to the leaders of the United States, Canada and the European Union about increased repression of human rights in Cuba. Tonight, I received an e-mail CubaNet with an English translation of the letter.

I will be forwarding a copy of Olivera's letter to the governor of Nebraska at this Web page.

Open letter to leaders of the U.S., Canada and European Union

By Jorge Olivera

HAVANA, February 27 (Jorge Olivera) - Given the notable worsening of repression in Cuba against everyone who exercises rights consigned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I've decided to write to you asking, today more than ever, your solidarity and support.

Actions undertaken by the government in the last few months have reached such levels that they could be considered state terrorism.

Gangs encouraged by the political police have carried out beatings and raids, among other forms of attack no less alarming.

The worst of this repressive spiral is the impunity of the events. Real and potential victims find themselves completely abandoned since there is no institution in the country to handle their complaints.

The Communist Party has monopolized for 47 years concepts like homeland, country and state, without leaving any civic space for those who differ with the current ideology.

The terror has reached a dimension that keeps the Cuban family permanently frightened. The defenselessness and the cruelty of the repressors have taken root in the double moral and the silence of the majority who fear going to jail or receiving the stigma of being a counterrevolutionary and immediately being marginalized and suffering the inherent punishment of a system that tramples on one without anyone caring.

I am a witness of the abuse and cruelty. I was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment in April of 2003 for practicing journalism without the supervision of official censors. Sick, they placed me in a barely lit cell infested with insects. I had to drink contaminated water and the food was regularly served in a state of putrefaction.

On December 6, 2004, after 20 months and 18 days of the cruelest treatment, the penal authorities conditionally freed me for reasons of health.

Now they plan to return me to jail. They will not allow me or my family to go into exile. Immigration officials deny us an exit visa, a process that reflects on the country in which we live.

To psychologically destabilize me and increase my colon problems, court officials of the municipality where I live have communicated to me new rules to humiliate and blackmail me.

Since February 21, I have been prohibited to go outside the limits of Havana without court authorization, nor to participate in any celebrations or public events, and they want to put me in a job chosen by the court, which will supervise my conduct along with members of the Communist Party, unions and others from the center where I'll be assigned.

If I fail to do this, they threaten to return me to prison. Their intentions are arbitrary and tortuous, for which reason I call your attention about what might happen to me in the future.

I dearly plead for you to use your good offices in favor of those in Cuba who work for reconciliation and the peaceful transition to democracy and pluralism.

Willie Nelson's blues

That voice. Those songs. That guitar playing. They took centerstage Monday night at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota, Fla., for the concert by Willie Nelson and Family. For almost two hours, Nelson played one classic after another. His distinctive Texas twang was strong, perhaps surpassed only by the magic emanating from his beat-up guitar, his fingers and wrists bringing out sounds, especially on the many blues tunes featured Monday, that only Willie Nelson can. Except for the folks in the first few rows and up in the "cheap" seats, it was sedate crowd — the average attendee is eligible for Social Security — but that did not slow Nelson, who gradually warmed up the audience with his good humor and his great music. By the end of the evening, the crowd was his.

Here are five things I loved about the show:

1) As the house lights dimmed before the start of the show, Nelson walked to the edge of the stage to greet the crowd, and in a moment that this Texan-in-exile sitting in the sixth row and waving a Lone Star flag will not soon forget, pointed at me and smiled.

2) Nelson performed all 10 songs on my wish list. I was a bit worried he wasn't going to take us back to Luckenbach, Texas, but towards the end of the set, he did not disappoint.

3) The performance of "Always on My Mind," featuring Nelson sister's piano playing, was perfect, to the point of almost making me cry.

4) Nelson is in the Country Music Hall of Fame, but he is almost as good a bluesman. And a balladeer. And a pop star. The point being, Nelson showed Monday he can take any song, whether written by him, Hoagy Carmichael, Hank Williams, Townes Van Zandt, Toby Keith or Kris Kristofferson, and make it uniquely his own.

5) At age 72, Nelson does not phone in his performances. He, and his band, love what they are doing. On each number, they played and sang like it was the first time — or maybe it was like it could be the last time — they played a song.

Willie Nelson IS Texas

If you want to “see” Texas, go to Big Bend National Park, where the sky, a backdrop for mountains and desert, never ends. Or just stand in front of The Alamo, the cradle of Texas liberty.

If you want “smell” Texas, stand in a field of wildflowers outside the Hill Country town of Burnet. And if you want to “taste” Texas, go down the road from Burnet to Llano and Cooper’s Barbecue.

And if you want to “hear” Texas, just listen to a Willie Nelson record. Or better yet, do as I’m doing tonight in Sarasota, and see Willie perform live in concert.

For years, I wanted to see Nelson perform live, but for years I never seemed to have the chance, until Easter weekend 2004 when he booked a show at the Rose Amphitheater, outside of Henderson, Texas. The Rose is little more than a clearing in a pasture created, legend has it, by a meteor thousands of years ago. Most of the day, during which it rained, we suffered through performances by middling regional country acts. Most of the crowd didn’t care; as long as the beer flowed, everyone was happy. It was good people having a good time.

About 7 p.m., after the rain stopped, Nelson hit the stage to “Whiskey River.” For 45 minutes — and not a second longer — Nelson raced through one classic after another, some of them almost in medley. We were sitting near the front and to stage right, perfect to hear the music and watch Willie pick on his guitar.

After 45 minutes, and another round of “Whiskey River,” Willie was off the stage and back in his bus, ready to hit the road again. He left me wanting more, which hopefully, I will get tonight, when for a couple of hours I will leave Florida and listen to the “sound” of the Lone Star State.

There isn’t such a thing as a “bad” Willie Nelson song. But I do hope he finds room on his set list tonight to play these 10 songs:

1. Luckenbach, Texas (Basics of Love)
2. Whiskey River
3. On the Road Again
4. Good Hearted Woman
5. If You’ve Got the Money
6. Always on My Mind
7. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
8. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
9. City of New Orleans
10. Crazy

I hope to blog about the show later tonight.

States pick and choose their Plan B

Scientific authorities have recommended to the Food and Drug Administraton that the Plan B emergency contraceptive be made available over the counter. However, the FDA, under pressure from conservative and other anti-abortion groups, has avoided making a decision.

Many states, though, have decided to step in and pass legislation that sidesteps the FDA's unwillingness to make a decision, and regulates how EC can be dispensed. Other states are stepping into the vaccum to restrict the availability of Plan B.

The Washington Post has the report:

More than 60 bills have been filed in state legislatures already this year, and that follows an already busy 2005 session on emergency contraception. The resulting tug of war is creating an availability map for the pill that looks increasingly similar to the map of "red states" and "blue states" in the past two presidential elections -- with increased access in the blue states and greater restrictions in the red ones.

Many of the state bills intended to expand access give specially trained pharmacists in states including Maryland, New York, Kentucky and Illinois the right to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription. Other bills require pharmacies to stock and distribute the drug, and to ensure that the pill is made available to women who come into emergency rooms after a sexual assault.

But some bills would make it more difficult for many women to get emergency contraception, which is effective for only 72 hours after a woman experiences a contraceptive failure or unprotected sex. Legislation in New Hampshire, for instance, would require parental notification before the drug is dispensed, and more than 20 other states will consider bills that give pharmacies the right not to stock the drug and pharmacists the right not to dispense it, even to women with valid prescriptions.

The FDA's innaction is an example of an all-too-common trend during the Bush administration to politicize science. Medical experts have concluded that Plan B OTC would be safe, but that has been trumped by an anti-abortion agenda driven by non-medical forces. Of course, the irony is that by not making Plan B easier to obtain, its opponents are making it more likely that more abortions will be performed.

3/18 Project: Jorge Olivera Castillo

JORGE OLIVERA CASTILLO

Jorge Olivera Castillo is out of prison, but his continued harrassment by Castro flunkies illustrates how little difference there is in the treatment of independent journalists imprisoned in the Cuban gulag and the treatment of those who have been released or have not yet been arrested.

Last week, I described how Olivera, who was released from prison in December 2004 because of his poor health, was ordered not to leave Havana. He and his family have American government permission to emigrate to the United States, but the dictatorship will not let them leave.

In fact, in a statement by Olivera posted at Net for Cuba Olivera offers more details about the harassment he has been receiving. He noted that a judge has threatened to return him to prison if he does not follow certain stipulations.

¨These are the court's stipulations: I am forced to work for a center predetermined by the court where I will be watched by members of the Cuban Communist Party, the official labor union and employees from the court. Also, I can no longer travel outside the limits of the city of Havana without authorization from that court and I cannot assist to any public event or any public festivity¨' declared Olivera Castillo. Who continued saying - ¨The judge threatened to revoke the extra penal license ( that I never requested to begin with) if I do not follow and practice all of the above court dispositions."

Reporters Without Borders said last week that Olivera's summons to appear before the judge is just one incident that suggests a new crackdown on the independent press is imminent.

Olivera was one of the 75 journalists, librarians, human rights activists and other dissidents rounded up during the "black spring" crackdown of March 2003. Olivera was convicted of violating Law 88, which according to PEN American Center is one of the catch-all Cuban laws "designed to cover almost any form of deviance from the official government line."

UPDATED, 9:40 a.m., Feb. 27

CubaNet has more on Olivera, in Spanish, link, here and here.

For more, about imprisoned independent Cuba journalists, go to Payolibre, CubaNet or Reporters Without Borders.

For more on Uncommon Sense's March 18 Project, read here.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

Reporters Without Borders has an ongoing petition drive asking Castro to release independent journalists in prison. You can sign the petition here. (A technical note: Reporters Without Borders is based in Paris, so the confirmation e-mail you will receive after signing the petition will be in French. Just in case you don't read French, the confirmation e-mail asks you click on the link to complete the petition signature process. Castro won't receive your message until you click on the link.)

For more on the Cuban dissidents, including a chance to "adopt a dissident," see the Cuban American National Foundation's Web site.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is find and read the work of independent journalists still on the island. A place to find their articles, in Spanish, English and French, is CubaNet.

Boycott Nebraska

A loophole in the U.S. embargo on Cuba, as a payoff to American farmers, allows the Castro dictatorship to buy American agricultural products if Havana pays cash.

To that, Nebraska says, "Don't talk to us about human rights. Just show us the money!"

The Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star reports:

State government officials plan on making a third trip to Cuba in April to drum up more business for Nebraska.

“We don’t have anything ready to be agreed to yet,” while in Cuba, said Greg Ibach, director of the state Department of Agriculture. “The purpose of this trip is new business.”

Ibach said that from now until April officials will seek out agriculture and business representatives interested in making the trip. It is timed to coincide with a peak buying time for the communist country.

Aaron Sanderford, spokesman for Gov. Dave Heineman, would not say whether the governor might make the trip. A decision could be announced Monday.

Gov. Heineman would do well to follow the example of his fellow Republican governor to the west, Colorado's Bill Owens. Owens said last month he wasn't interested in traveling to Havana nor in doing business with Castro.

"You do have to look at who you're dealing with," Owens said. "They have blood on their hands. The state of Colorado won't be part of it. If I went, I'd have a private dinner with Fidel Castro, I'd be in the presidential palace, I'd see things I'd love to see. But I don't want to be part of what he represents...."

"I don't believe Fidel is a kindly avuncular cigar-smoking guy in fatigues we look at as a bit of an irritant. And I don't regard Che Guevara as a romantic figure. Fidel is a mass murderer who wishes only harm on our country. The fact he hasn't been able to doesn't mean we should forget it.

"As a young man during the Cold War, I decided the greatest challenge facing us was communism," Owens continued. "As far as I'm concerned, Castro is only a step or two removed in capability and in lust for power from people like Stalin, Mao and others. He is the person who tried to get the Soviet Union to launch nuclear weapons against us during the Cuban missile crisis. He's the same guy who was putting people against the wall and shooting them. I'm not willing to be a part of any effort to help his economy so long as he's in power."

To send your own message to Gov. Heineman, go here to send him an e-mail. Or you can call him at 402-471-2244 or send him a fax at 402-471-6031.

White House sets wet-foot, dry-foot meeting

Miami Herald has the story, via Blog for Cuba:

The White House and Cuban-American leaders are finalizing the date for a meeting next month to discuss the Cuban migration accords and the controversial wet-foot, dry-foot policy.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the tentative date for the meeting is March 8.

White House spokesman Blair Jones did not confirm a date, but said, ``We are committed to holding a meeting as soon as possible.''

The White House agreed last month to meet with Cuban-American leaders to discuss U.S.-Cuba migration policy after a well-known Cuban exile activist went on a hunger strike to protest the repatriation of 15 Cuban migrants who had been found by the Coast Guard standing on the pilings of the old Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys.

The Coast Guard concluded that because that section of the bridge -- which has missing pieces -- was not connected to land, the migrants were ''feet-wet'' and sent them back to Cuba.

Ros-Lehtinen and other U.S. congressional representatives had been asking the White House to review the wet-foot, dry-foot policy for years.

The policy requires that most migrants picked up at sea be repatriated, while those who make it to land usually can apply for residency.

The policy only applies to Cubans. Haitian migrants caught at sea or on U.S. land, for instance, rarely are allowed to stay in the United States.

The wet-foot, dry-foot policy was implemented under the Clinton administration in response to the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis.

Before that, most Cubans picked up at sea were brought to the United States because the policy took into account that they were fleeing a communist dictatorship.