CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA September 12 , 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's International Shortwave Service in English for Friday, September 12, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA ANNOUNCES ARREST AND DEPORTATION OF U.S. CITIZEN CONTRACTED BY FREEDOM HOUSE TO UNDERMINE CUBAN REVOLUTION 2.- SALVADORAN NATIONAL, ARRESTED IN TERRORIST BOMBINGS IN HAVANA, WAS A MEMBER OF EL SALVADOR'S MILITARY 3.- SPANISH BUSINESSMAN, ARRESTED FOR VIOLATING WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA, COPS A PLEA 4.- CUBAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT RICARDO ALARCON SAYS WASHINGTON SHOULD STOP PUSHING ITS MODEL OF DEMOCRACY ON THE REST OF THE WORLD 5.- CUBAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER IN MEXICO FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY 6.- AUDIENCES IN SPAIN ARE WILD ABOUT PABLO MILANES 7.- CUBA: THE WORLD'S LEADER IN TOP-QUALITY CIGARS CUBA ANNOUNCES ARREST AND DEPORTATION OF U.S. CITIZEN CONTRACTED BY FREEDOM HOUSE TO UNDERMINE CUBAN REVOLUTION Havana, September 12(RHC)-- This morning's edition of Granma newspaper published yet another example of how a so-called non-governmental, human rights organization -- "Freedom House Foundation" -- is merely a CIA front and an instrument in the Cold War. The Cuban news daily published the details of a Freedom House operation against Cuba, in which U.S. citizen David Norman Dorn was arrested last August 15th and deported from the country. Numerous documents found in Dorn's possession demonstrated not only that he had been recruited by ultra right-wing Cuban-American Frank Calzon -- Director of Freedom House in Washington, DC -- but that his mission was conceived as an operation typical of those carried out by U.S. intelligence services. Besides the instructions on how to avoid surveillance by Cuban State Security, Dorn, who arrived in Cuba as a tourist, was ordered to take back to the United States detailed information on important economic objectives in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and the mining region of Moa. The U.S. agent was carrying 16 different instructions on what he should and should not do and on how to provide money and resources to counterrevolutionaries in Cuba. Upon being detained by Cuban authorities, Dorn admitted to his contacts with Calzon and Freedom House -- an organization that in October 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced -- with a great deal of fanfare -- would be awarded a government contribution of 500,000 dollars to destroy the Cuban Revolution. The article in Granma newspaper asserted that Cuban authorities have detected dozens of similar operations over the past several years, but that most of them used foreigners from the former European socialist camp, Western Europe or Cubans residing abroad in order to not openly implicate the United States. Concerning Frank Calzon, Cuba's Granma newspaper asserted that he is an old parasite living high on the hog from the multi-million dollar business operation that has become the war against Cuba. Calzon was recruited by the CIA during his university studies and later placed by the CIA in the post of translator for the U.S. State Department. He was formerly a member of the leadership of ultra right-wing Jorge Mas Canosa's Cuban-American National Foundation and also had ties with the terrorist group "Alpha 66." He left the Foundation, however, after losing a power struggle with Mas Canosa. Calzon was instrumental in collecting funds to be sent to the Nicaraguan contras based in Honduras during the 1980's and was a virtual ambassador for Angola's reactionary rebel UNITA organization when Cuban troops were helping Angola to defeat an invasion of that country by the South African apartheid regime. He has also participated in plots against sectors of the Cuban-American community that favor normal relations between Havana and Washington. Currently, Calzon is actively carrying out a campaign to pressure foreign diplomats accredited in Cuba who travel to the United States or other countries, attempting to convince them to personally take back to Cuba materials and money for the small groups of so-called "dissidents." Cuba's Granma newspaper calls Freedom House, and other similar organizations, factories that fabricate dissidents and opposition parties -- that is, counterrevolutionaries and anti-communists. SALVADORAN NATIONAL, ARRESTED IN TERRORIST BOMBINGS IN HAVANA, WAS A MEMBER OF EL SALVADOR'S MILITARY San Salvador, September 12(RHC)-- The government of El Salvador confirmed today that the Salvadoran citizen, arrested in Cuba and accused of placing terrorist bombs in Havana's tourist installations, was in fact a member of that Central American nation's military, despite efforts by the ultra right-wing in Miami denying Cuba's affirmation. Miami's Spanish-language Channel 23 Television -- with an ultra right- wing editorial line against the Cuban Revolution -- asserted Thursday that foreign mercenary Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon was a 26-year-old student and had never been in the army. The TV station exhibited what it claimed was Cruz Leon's identification card and quoted members of his family -- whose names were not mentioned -- to the effect that the detainee had never belonged to the Salvadoran military. In a government communique, Salvadoran authorities said that according to the registry of the country's military academy, Cruz Leon requested a discharge from the army. El Salvador's opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front has demanded that the Salvadoran government open an investigation into the involvement of a Salvadoran citizen in terrorist attacks against Cuba. Miami's ultra right wing Cuban-American National Foundation, meanwhile, is going out of its way to deny any involvement in terrorist plans against Cuba, flooding the Miami media with its denials. When a terrorist bomb at the Cuban capital's Copacabana Hotel killed an innocent Italian citizen, this organization lamented the death, but reiterated its support of attacks against Cuban tourism installations. SPANISH BUSINESSMAN, ARRESTED FOR VIOLATING WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA, COPS A PLEA Miami, September 12(RHC)-- The Spanish businessman arrested recently in Miami for violating Washington's blockade against Cuba has struck up a deal with federal authorities. Javier Ferreiro has reportedly agreed to plead guilty of violating the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act and to testify against four others charged in the case -- in exchange for a two-year prison sentence. The attorney of one of the other four accused, Joaquin Perez, said that his client -- Spanish Juan Torres Manzano -- only worked for Ferreiro's business enterprise. Ferreiro is accused of having set up several firms in Curacao and Panama to export vegetables and canned goods to Cuba, acquired in the United States. Ferreiro's attorney, Nathan Diamond, has refused to answer the calls of journalists and neither Diamond nor his client appeared at a court hearing last Wednesday. CUBAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT RICARDO ALARCON SAYS WASHINGTON SHOULD STOP PUSHING ITS MODEL OF DEMOCRACY ON THE REST OF THE WORLD Havana, September 12(RHC)-- Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon says the U.S. tries to impose its own brand of democracy on the rest of the world, at a time when they have not even worked out their own problems with democracy. Alarcon told journalists in Havana that many U.S. voters themselves do not trust the model of democracy Washington has designed for them. The Cuban legislator stated that a truly participatory and representative democracy rules in Cuba. Alarcon said that Cuban voters elect their own representatives by secret and direct ballot. He noted that the Cuban people's main task is to defend and improve the island's political system and that the island's electoral process is an essential part of that project. CUBAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER IN MEXICO FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY Mexico City, September 12(RHC)-- Cuban Deputy Defense Minister General Ulises Rosales del Toro has arrived in Mexico City, where he is an official guest for Mexico's National Holiday. General Del Toro told reporters shortly after his arrival that he is very pleased to visit Mexico -- from where a group of revolutionaries set sail for Cuban shores in 1956, to free the island from Batista's tyranny. While in Mexico, General Rosales del Toro will have a jam- packed agenda, including a military parade to mark the 187th anniversary of Mexican Independence on September 16th. AUDIENCES IN SPAIN ARE WILD ABOUT PABLO MILANES Madrid, September 12(RHC)-- Internationally-renowned Cuban composer and singer, Pablo Milanes, has chosen the Spanish city of Valladolid to present his latest album "Despertar". More than 3000 people crowded into the theater where Milanes sang many of his new songs. The author of well-known hits such as "Yolanda" has been in Spain for the past week, promoting his latest CD -- produced by Ricardo Miralles, the arranger for famed Catalan singer, Joan Manuel Serrat. Pablo's performances will include five cities in Spain. Among them: Fuentevaqueros in Granada -- the birthplace of poet Federico Garcia Lorca. There, Pablo Milanes will inaugurate an art exhibit on the significance of Lorca's visits to the island. CUBA: THE WORLD'S LEADER IN TOP-QUALITY CIGARS Madrid, September 12(RHC)-- One of the world's largest cigar producing, sales and distribution companies has recognized the world-class quality of Cuban cigars. Prensa Latina News Agency in Madrid quotes the General Manager of the Spanish Cigar Company TABACALERA S.A., Antonio Vazquez, saying that the island is THE world's leader in cigars. Upon his arrival in Madrid from a visit to Havana, Vazquez said that no one doubts that Cuba produces the best cigars in the world. Vazquez told journalists that TABACALERA S.A. and Cuba have had excellent relations for over three centuries now. TABACALERA S.A. president said his company is looking forward to expand business with Cuba in the future. TABACALERA S.A. operates in Nicaragua, Honduras and Spain -- controlling 25 percent of the U.S market -- the largest in the world -- with over thirty percent of international cigar consumption. [c] 1997. Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. 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