VISITORS NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 2, 2002

This afternoon with some friends I traveled out to the Havana suburbs of Alamar and Cojimar and the beach at Guanabo for a touristy kind of day.

Road signs aren't invariably present and directional signals aren't always visible, so the friend who drove us into one of the beach cities got a traffic ticket for going in the wrong direction on a one-way street. He tried to argue with the cop about how there was no sign. The cop agreed that the signs weren't easy to see, but the ticket was issued anyway. It will cost the sum of ten Cuban pesos, or the equivalent of about 40 U.S. cents.

They do have a point system for violations such as these, and going the wrong way on a one-way street is considered a more serious violation. I'm not quite clear about the consequences of violations, but I gather your license can be restricted or limited in some way if you get too many points.

Unlike in the U.S., however, these things don't seem to affect auto insurance. This is because auto insurance is voluntary, not mandatory.

Guanabo is an area where some of the entertainment venues (restaurants and beach facilities, and so on) set up for foreigners. This is the middle of the week and few foreigners are around. The one place where we stopped for a bit was all but empty (no one inside a place that has a capacity for a hundred people, one pair of people outside at tables), the music was blaring at intense levels. I'm told that now this beach community is filled on the weekends with Cubans.

Across the street at a gas station which is the functional equivalent of a 7-11, I met an old man who said his name was Antonio.

He must be in his seventies and looked like he wasn't doing well economically. He had a dog-eared copy of today's Granma and quietly pulled from inside it a six-pocket plastic folder containing a series of antique Cuban bank notes. He offered these to me for $10.00 USD. These included bills from the early revolutionary period, one of which had Che's signature printed on it. Others had Felipe Pazos' signature, both before the revolution (1949) and in 1960.

Cuba has a history of very attractive paper currencies and you can purchase an encyclopedic treatise on this at some of the used bookstands and flea markets. (This book was published in both English and Spanish editions.)

Antonio was dressed somewhat shabbily with a remarkable mixture of cultural symbols for one individual. His hat had the logo of a U.S. baseball team, but it also had a Che pin stuck inside. He wore a crucifix around his neck as well, so I'll guess he was covering all his bases.

The beaches at Guanabo which remind me of Fire Island, New York, were not crowded and for the most part were being used by Cubans. In one tourist area I saw a number of foreigners and various entertainment options made out for them, from rentals of sailboats, kayaks, and paddle boats, to one area where you could obtain a full-body massage outside under a palm tree for prices ranging from $5.00 all the way up to $20.00 USD. The massage person wasn't around so I was unable to get a breakdown of the kinds of massages offered.

People walking on the beaches didn't seem to mind tourists with cameras and several of them spontaneously posed for me without my even asking. These included pretty girls and muscular guys.

I walked up to one young couple who were being photographed by friends of theirs. I showed them my camera and said, "Y yo tambien?" and they posed for me, too. In the United States the idea of photographing people you do not know is sometimes considered to be a violation of peoples' personal space. Here in Cuba most people smile and let you know it's just fine.

(Some don't, including a few who are in the informal economy, and others who are licensed street peddlars have also declined my requests to photograph them, and I'm never pushy about such things.)

In general, people here are friendly normally, and even more friendly when you tell them "Estados Unidos" when they ask "De que pais?"

Driving along these highways it's still a striking site to see women of all ages, including mothers with small children, who are getting around by hitchhiking.

Men hitchhike as well, but imagine this happening in the United States? Any woman who even thought about getting around by hitchhiking would be thought to be, and would be, crazy, due to the great dangers which about on the mean streets of the capital of the "free world".

Here in Cuba, however, women, men, cops and army personnel all use this method to get around with no evident difficulties of any kind. A few months ago I picked up a medical doctor who was hitching a ride home after a day's shift at work, in a provincial jail.

Tonight's Mesa Redonda featured a panel of international visitors including trade unionists from other Latin American countries who affirmed their solidarity with Cuba. Gloria LaRiva from the National Committee to Free the Five in the U.S. spoke about the activities of the group in publicizing the Miami Five case.

One of the interesting sidelights of these Mesa Redonda programs, which began during the struggle to repatriate Elian Gonzalez, is that Fidel Castro frequently comes to the program and sits in the audience, listening intently to panelists, but not participating himself. Sometimes he has the show all to himself, of course, but on other occasions he simply sits in as a member of the audience, as he did on this occasion.

The Mesa Redonda is clearly NOT an audience-participation event, so those who attend never speak up or ask their own questions. It would make for a more lively format if they did, but unfortunately they don't. Still, the message seems to be clear that Fidel Castro himself sees these shows as important places to both learn, but more importantly, to let viewers know he thinks it's important, since he could obviously watch TV at home like anyone else.

It's quite noticeable as well here that while some of the regular panelists read quotations and documents from notes in their hands, many don't, and they make their points clearly and without fumbling as one might find if put on a nation-wide television program for the first time.

The weather is rather warm now as we approach the beginning of summer.

Until next time,

Walter
==============================

VISITORS NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 2, 2002

In the last few days I've renewed several Cuban acquaintances, walked around the city of Havana and taken lots of photos and given out prints to people whose pictures I'd taken on the last visit.

Here are a few more observations on life as observed literally from the streets of Havana.

Despite analytical articles from the normally accurate Reuters correspondent Marc Frank and others, claiming the Cuban economic and its dynamic tourist sector are in decline, that's not what seems evident here in Havana.

Foreign tourists, who are normally easy to spot in their distinctive clothing, are apparent all over, though I'm sure there are less than there were prior to 9-11. Commentators who speak about reduced tourist business here rarely mention as context that tourism generally, and here in the Caribbean in particular, is down broadly.

New businesses catering to Cubans who have hard currency (dollars or convertible pesos) keep opening up. Places which were still being put up in January and February, are not open and doing business. It's hard to know how much business, but the stores here are very active.

Construction projects which had gone on for many years, and which seemed stalled during my visits in 1999 and 2000, have recently been completed, the scaffolding removed, an are now brightly colored. Most unusually here, a very high apartment building on 23rd at E or F is pained in warm Southwest tones of mustard and lavender.

I went with a friend to one of the largest of such dollar stores, on 70th Avenue and 3rd Street in the Miramar area. That market was formerly restricted to diplomatic staff, but is now open to anyone. It was packed and all of the checkout lines were busy. Prices haven't changed since late last year, either, for such commodities as coffee, fresh vegetables and fruits, meats and alcoholic beverages.

Main streets are not crowded, and all seem to be in good repair. Side streets continue to be plagues with lots of potholes, and there are lots of active construction projects all around.

The sight of hitch-hikers never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday I saw officers from the Interior Ministry, in uninform, also hitchiking. One was a single female, who was picked up by one of the many well-maintained old Lada's on the streets.

The other hitch-hiker in uniform was a mother with her small child in tow. I haven't used this form of transportation on this trip, but on one of my earlier visits, while in hurry to get somewhere I stuck my thumb out and walked backwards facing traffic. Within moments someone stopped, picked me up and took me directly where I was headed.

Though the weather is hot, and Cubans complain about it, by mid afternoon the ocean breeze tends to clear the air and lower the temperature. There's been no rain here in months, but the air quality, which in some parts of town can be nasty due to smoke from burning off natural gas at oil refineries, is quite clean.

Telephone service has changed greatly as the digitization process moves foward. It's long been a challenge to my US-based mind to get used to the phone numbers in Cuba which had either five or six digits. (US numbers all have seven, and in addition an area code.). In large parts of the city one or two numbers were added in front of the old ones, and so nearly all phone number now have seven digits.

And the entire city of Havana has only one area code. Phone calling within the city has gotten lots simpler, certainly for me, but some Cuban friends say the like the new system better as well

This coming weekend is Mother's Day a big event on the Cuban calendar. I'll let you know what goes on in that respect.

Stay tuned,

Walter
===========================

VISITOR'S NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 9, 2002

We're still having warm weather here in Havana. Friends complain about the heat now, but they add that it's a good deal hotter in the provinces on the eastern end of the island. As yet I have not been to the eastern provinces and I'm not inclined to do this right away today.

Given the virulent hostility which is guiding Washington's approach to Cuba these days, you might not think the island would be busily preparing its population for more interaction with with people from the United States.

If that was your impression, you'd be wrong.

Morning television here includes educational fare with this aim in mind. the UNIVERSIDAD PARA TODOS today provides instruction in English conversation and how to conduct research in English language sources.

Tonight's evening news cast likewise had a segment on playwrite Arthur Miller which was shot in New York earlier today. Miller has just won another theatrical award in Spain and the segment highlighted the author's treatrical work, as well as his marriage to the actress Marilyn Monroe, evidently quite popular here.

The evening news here isn't anything like the evening news on CBS-NBC-ABC or the rest. It's kind of seductive because there are NO commercials whatsoever, so it's hard to find time to get up and do something else as we do in the US. Domestic rather than world- focused stories tended to predominate tonight.

Among the stories on tonight's main newscast were reports on national firefighters week, Cuban dance queen Alicia Alonso's return from an international tour which had taken her to China, a meeting of the Federation of University Students (FEU), a meeting of the Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), a segment on (was it??) rhinoceri at the national zoo, housing construction and secondary education in which viewers were shown middle school students who are being trained at computers using the machines in their classrooms. There were also segments on weather, sports and a range of cultural themes. There were more, but I didn't think to take notes on each of these from the very beginning.

A tourism convention is now underway at the convention center in Varadero, which is being reported actively in the media here. A link to the convention on the AIN website doesn't work, however, but it's probably too late for anyone else to register anyway. The event is reported on the main evening news show in great detail. The island's tourism industry is working hard to encourage new visits by tourists by sprucing up available activities and facilities. It's an impressive effort.

Tonight's Mesa Redonda features a panel on the status of children in the world. The guests all have their laptops in front of them from which they obtain needed information. The U.N. is at this moment sponsoring a conference on this same topic. A range of international media are covering that event.

Cuba strongly supports such United Nations events and participates in them actively. UN gatherings are forums in which Cuba's many programs for children, educational, medical cultural are presented to participants. Human rights, as viewed here on the island have a strong social foundation. Cuba's delegation to this UN gathering in New York City is being headed by Vilma Espin, who is president of the Cuban Women's Federation. Vilma Espin is one of the historic leaders of the revolution going back to its earliest days.

Last night's Mesa Redonda focused on Cuba's campaign to free the Miami Five. A CD-ROM is now available on the case. It's a multi-media production in which the family members, mothers, wives and children address the viewer directly.

Written translations of the texts to English are also provided. Cuba is clearly making a strong effort to utilize the capacities which computer technology provides to get out the facts as it's seeing them, and presenting them to the Cuban public.

I seem to have an insect bite on my right knee which, while it's not limiting my movements in any way, it causing some unpleasant swelling and the accumulation of a nasty fluid. One of my neighbors has located a dermatologist who works at a hospital and I'll have it looked at in the morning. The hospital is walking distance from here, about three blocks away.

It's been a long day and I'm up rather late, at least for me.

Stay tuned,


Walter

===============================

VISITOR'S NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 12, 2002

It's Mother's Day, El Dia de Los Madres, a very big day on the Cuban social calendar. Mothers are feted at home. Special meals are made. Families go to visit mothers. Restaurants have special events where people who don't want to cook go. People dress up and make a big deal of it.

The Cuban postal service has issued a special series of postcards with floral designs and poetry about motherhood. Lots of warm sentiment is in the air. Young children find ways to salute their moms, hitting up other relatives for help at the last minute to purchase even very small gifts.

Driving around the city one sees people carrying large covered plates, bringing food to gatherings of their families. Younger mothers go to the homes of THEIR mothers and grandmothers. People are in a festive mood today. The weather continues to be hot, but cools off in the afternoon. Those who don't have children, such as the retired nurse with whom I'm staying, and her cousin who is visiting from faraway Sancti Spritus province, go out to eat at a restaurant which is having a Mother's Day dinner. They're dressed up very colorfully.

Of course, this is Cuba, so there's no advertising. No sales in stores. No commercials on television telling you where to go for the special Mother's Day sales on whatever it is you might not want or need or even think about. Aside from places like restaurants, it seems Mother's day has no commercial significance here in Havana. In the morning, it seems like it will be a swelteringly hot day, but the weather cools off by afternoon.

Shortly before noon, Cuban television broke into it regular programming to take viewers directly to the Jose Marti International Airport where former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalyn, and an entourage of family and associates from the Carter Center, are arriving on the island.

The visit is presented with all the pomp and ceremony you'd imagine with a sitting head of state. The flags of the United States and Cuba are flying. The national anthems of each nation are played, and so on. Both Presidents speak briefly and cordially, not cracking jokes, but noting the significance of their visits. I'm sure that the transcripts of their remarks will be sent out, so you'll get them later. Fidel Castro is dressed in a black double-breasted suit, not his customary military uniform.

This visit is one which the Bush administration in the United States didn't want to happen, but was really politically powerless to prevent since the political cost (to them) of opposing Carter's visit would have only escalated its significance in the eyes of those who paid attention to it.

Carter's visit, days after the bizarre and utterly unsubtantiated "bioterrorism" allegations against the island, which haven't been taken seriously in the mainstream U.S. media, constitute an simple, objective refutation of the claims. After all, had the U.S. presented any kind of even remotely credible evidence, how could Carter have come here at all?

When the Carter arrival is completed, the station I'm watching returns to its regular programming, which at that moment was Walt Disney cartoons (dubbed into Spanish). Later in the day Cuban television has a feature on one hundred years of movies from the United States, this time with a feature on Charlie Chaplin.

Coming here to Cuba is the best reality check for people who want to know about what life is really like here on the island. While the Cuban government and lots of people are strongly opposed to the politics of the government of the United States, U.S. culture is deeply and positively intermeshed with Cuban life. There is no "anti-Americanism" that I'm able to see.

Some Cubans go to the beach, and while I'm not much of a beach-goer, I'm curious to see what is going on there. With a couple of friends we drive out to the east-Havana suburb of Guanabo where Cubans (no tourists today) are gathered in large family groups, eating, sleeping, swimming or just hanging out. Cars drive up to park, but they're all the old Lada's or ancient U.S. cars from the fifties. No new cars, no RVs, no trucks, but a few motorcycles, that's about it. Oh, and there are no billboards anywhere at all near these beaches.

There are a few cops around on the beach and it seems they have nothing to do, but it must be hot wearing their full uniforms and belts with their walkie-talkies, guns and billy clubs. They are just relaxed and hanging out, and on all of the beach I actually only see three officers.

We hang out for awhile and then we take a walk away from the area where families are gathered. The crowds thin out and soon there are virtually no people around. But a few steps on and I'm in an area with maybe a hundred men and no more than four or five women. It's a gay section of the beach, and everyone is relaxed, hanging out, talking, reading, whatever.

Throughought history and all over the world gay people always find ways to meet and hang out with one another. Cuba's no exception. But for those whose impression of gay life here on the island was formed or even influenced by the movie BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, a scene like this would be incomprehensible. No one is hassling or bothering these people at all.

In the evening the Carter visit is covered as the main lead story of the day, covering over five, close to ten, of the program's 45 minutes. We also get a short segment linking Mother's Day with Cuba's determined struggle to rescue the five Cuban men languishing in U.S. jails after having been convicted on "espionage" charges.

The mother and wives of the five men were feted, given flowers by National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, and the nation again reminded that its leadership will not rest until the five men are returned home. People here know this won't happen anytime soon, but will be a long-term struggle. There's much more to the evening news on Cuban television. These are only the two lead stories.

It's been a long, full day and, while there are more things I'd like to share with you about things done and seen here, they'll have to wait until the next installments.

Stay tuned,


Walter

============================

VISITOR'S NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 13, 2002

(Please note that this isn't exactly a diary and so the dates above don't necessarily relflect when things happened, only when I got them written up. As much as I can my plan is to be sure to tell you when the did occur.)

Last week I mentioned having an apparent insect bite in my right knee. It had caused a peculiar swelling and inflamation and a small discomfort. A nasty-looking white pus was also generated, so I felt the need to go to a doctor.

On Thursday morning I went over to the Manuel Fajardo hospital, a major local facility located three blocks from where I live in the Vedado. After a short wait, I was examined by a pair of dermatologists. They looked at my knee, asked basic questions, and made a diagnosis. They then prescribed a regimen of twice-daily damp compresses, anti-biotic medications three times per day, and gave a prescription for a skin cream to be applied after the compresses.

The section I was seen in is one of those which are set up for patients with dollars, and yes I'll take it for granted I was seen faster than might be the case had I not had those dollars. Here's a bit of a walking tour through my experience at that hospital.

Let's start with the waiting room, which was at once clean and neet, though not brightly lit. Cable television, including CNN En Espanol, the Discovery Channel, and at least one US- based movie channel were available. I know this because they gave me the remote control and so I was able to channel-surf a little bit.

Things were clean and neat, but the place was also old and somewhat rundown. Mostly it reminded me of any large public hospital in the United States, such as Los Angles County General Hospital, from which I'd taken numerous children during my Child Protective Services Social Worker years.

The movie I saw parts of was also from the US, though it was dubbed into Spanish. Its story was about a young Black kid having difficulty in school and life, who meets an old retired school teacher who, presumably, gruffly worked with the young man and so, through their relationship, came to take his studies more seriously.

The hospital visit cost $25.00 USD and the hospital prepared the fluid for the compress to be placed on my knee. This consists of two large bottles of clear liquid and cost $5.40 USD. It took what seemed forever, over an hour to be prepared, and I found myself sorry that I hadn't brought a book to read to kill the time while waiting. From there I walked home and from there went out to pick up the other medications.

These were obtained at the International Pharmacy (this means hard currency or, in other words, US dollars) and I paid $6.80 for 40 Sporidex 250 pills made by Ranbaxy Laboratories, Limited, in Dewas, India. I also paid $7.65 for Gentamicin Sulfate cream, made in Ronkonkoma, NY, by Thames Pharmacal.

The treatment took effect right away and the swelling went away within a day. I'm continuing to follow through and know it's imperative that I complete the full run of anti-biotics for the treatment to succeed.

=============================
Aside from my regular daily programs of reading the news and sharing them with readers, I'm spending my time visiting a few friends and literally walking around, looking the place over, and taking some photographs. This time I don't have much of a structured schedule. I'm not taking formal Spanish lessons as I did for part of my last visit, but I'm finding myself at the same time less afraid to practice my Spanish than I was previously.
==============================

It always sounds odd to me to read and hear how Cubans live on salaries of 200 or 300 or even 400 Cuban pesos, knowing that when one changes money, at the rate of 26 pesos to the dollar, this means some people are living here on what is the dollar equivalent of 10 to 20 dollars per MONTH.

How can this possibly be? I can't say that I fully understand this myself, but there are some clues which I'm continuing to look at as time passes. Consider this:

On Saturday, for example, a worker from the gas company (Cupet, short for Cuban Petroleum) came around to manually give out the bills. If the recipient is home, you pay the bill. If not, they just stick it in your door jamb. What tedious work that must be, I think, though I admit I haven't seen any overweight delivery people.

The gas bill for the month of May amounts to the sum of (are you sitting in your chair??) 2.75 Cuban PESOS. Yes, that's right, the dollar equivalent of ELEVEN CENTS. There are meters here so usage is monitored. My hostess, Julia, has lived here for many years, and, under Cuban law she owns her own home and no longer makes payments on the place. Most long-term residents make no house payments any longer.

Stay tuned,

Walter

=======================

JIMMY CARTER'S MEETING 
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA
by Walter Lippmann, May 15, 2002

Jimmy Carter's speech took place as planned last evening at the Magna Aula of the University of Havana. As Fidel Castro and the Cuban government had promised, Carter spoke freely and his talk was transmitted live to the Cuban people, without any kind interruption or restriction. Carter's talk lasted just under twenty minutes. The event as a whole lasted close to two hours.

The Magna Aula (big classroom) was filled with a selection of students from the U.S. and Cuba, academics, media people from the U.S., Cuba and elsewhere. (I met a Cuban reporter, speaking English, covering the event for Kyodo News, an English-language  publication in Japan, for example.)

The Magna Aula is not a very large room, under a thousand people could fit in it, perhaps less than eight hundred. The former President was introduced by a student speaker and the dean of the University of Havana. The Cuban national anthem was played, as was the U.S. national anthem. Carter and his wife Rosalyn placed their hands on their hearts during the music. The U.S. and Cuban flags were up directly
behind the podium.

A chorus of Cuban students sang two songs as the event was getting started, including "Give Me That Old Time Religion" and Jimmy Carter sang along with the chorus.

They applauded the various people who were introduced to the meeting, which included the families of the five Cuban men imprisoned in the U.S. for their efforts to obtain information on the terrorist activities of right-wing Cuban exiles. Yes, Carter applauded them as well. He received simultaneous translation of the words being spoken at the meeting.

He spoke in Spanish, but later took and responded to questions which were given in Spanish, but he responded in English. Carter Center staff had copies of the English text after it was delivered.

Top leaders of the government were there  and listened carefully, including Fidel Castro, Ricardo Alarcon, Felipe Perez-Roque and Culture Minister Abel Prieto, among many others. When the meeting was over, they applauded politely, as did the entire audience.

Security arrangements were comprehensive. Television and other cameras were viewed
by security staff. The former president had his own small contingent of Secret Service Agents who looked serious and attentive. There were two or four of those, it wasn't clear.

The next message will be the text of Carter's speech, followed by a selection of the media
coverage of the event. Carter's visit to the island, and his remarks, have been subject to a great deal of international commentary, well beyond the United States. I just heard a discussion of the Carter speech given on the Australian public broadcasting system.
(Unlike NPR in the United States, there are no under-writing "commercials", just talk
and music.)

There's lots to be said and thought about the remarks Carter made and the impact it
may have in both Cuba and the United States over time. Over the next days there will be
a round of discussion of the meaning of the Carter visit and his talk.

I'll share some of my own ideas later on.
=======================

VISITOR'S NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 18, 2002

Jimmy Carter has returned to the United States. He left yesterday and his departure was shown on Cuban television. Fidel Castro went to the airport. No speeches were given.

Today I took some time to reflect on the Carter mission and what it means. I'm also continuing to read a new book, CONFLICTING MISSIONS, which documents Cuba's role in Africa during the years 1959 through 1976, a great read which includes timely documentation of Washington's on-going hostility toward Cuba over the past 43 years.

Looking at the coverage of the recent visit here by President Carter, it's quite useful to take a reality check and to see how consistent Washington, and the mainstream media have been, in their irreconcilable hostility toward the Cuban revolution. Timely and recommended for anyone studying US policy toward Cuba.

Life in Cuba goes on. Life in the United States also goes on. The long-term impact of the visit here by the former President remains to be determined. The short-term assessments will be coming out in the next days. The reported "tough" speech by President Bush is due to be given on Monday, May 20th. Clearly Bush will be forced to respond to Carter's visit, whether Bush mentions the Carter mission or not.

(Cuba's media has been alerting the people here of Bush's impending speech.)

Carter's visit, and in particular his remarks at the final news conference, can and should be seen as framing whatever Bush proposes in his speech on Monday. The Cuban media have been informing people here that Bush will be giving a major address on Cuba this coming Monday. Bush may not mention the Carter visit at all, but he'll be responding to what Carter did while visiting, particular all the praise Carter gave toward many of the island's programs and institutions.

The coverage in the media of the corporate mainstream has been extensive, since this is an event with many very distinctive elements.

But the tone of the coverage has been, for the most part, sneering and derisive. Only that wonderful editorial in yesterday's Capital-Times newspaper from Madison, Wisconsin, seemed to have actually grasped what it was which took place here on the island of Cuba this past week, and responded to them in a positive manner.

Praise is due to President Carter for having had the courage and perspicacity to come here to Cuba. He doesn't support the Cuban Revolution. He favors the capitalist system as the model for humanity to organize its economic life. When he was President of the United States, he opposed the Cuban government on significant levels and was largely responsible for the Mariel boatlift.

Carter, as President used secret negotiations and obtained the release of prisoners from the island, but received as gratitude the uncompromising hostility of the wealthy right wing of the Cuban exile community in Miami. Though they may say nice things about his having mentioned in his remarks the magic words "Varela Project" they had no use for Carter when he was in office.

In foreign policy, as all the newspapers are now reminding, Washington tried to pressure Cuba out of supporting the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in opposition to the US and South African-backed UNITA and FNLA forces. Those forces were also backed at that time by China, and even by a few misbelieving people on the political left.

Cuba refused to buckle from its support to the Angolan struggle, and because of Cuban aid, Angola was able to defeat South Africa's little stooges. Ultimately, everyone now agrees that South African apartheid, the institution against which Washington never clamored for any kind of punitive sanctions, collapsed and that the coup de grace was due to its defeat at the hands of Angolan and Cuban troops at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

Yet the Carter visit, arguably one of the most significant, and certainly the most constructive and positive visit by a U.S. political figure in the 43 years of the Cuban Revolution, is an event we'll need to analyze and digest for some time.

Keep in mind that Carter said more in praise of Cuba, and in defense of Cuba, than he did in criticism of its institutions. And further, when he spoke critically, as in endorsing the Varela Project, he did so in respectful tones, tones which we can only wish the rest of the main corporate media would emulate!


Stay tuned,

Walter

VISITORS NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 2, 2002

This afternoon with some friends I traveled out to the Havana suburbs of Alamar and Cojimar and the beach at Guanabo for a touristy kind of day.

Road signs aren't invariably present and directional signals aren't always visible, so the friend who drove us into one of the beach cities got a traffic ticket for going in the wrong direction on a one-way street. He tried to argue with the cop about how there was no sign. The cop agreed that the signs weren't easy to see, but the ticket was issued anyway. It will cost the sum of ten Cuban pesos, or the equivalent of about 40 U.S. cents.

They do have a point system for violations such as these, and going the wrong way on a one-way street is considered a more serious violation. I'm not quite clear about the consequences of violations, but I gather your license can be restricted or limited in some way if you get too many points.

Unlike in the U.S., however, these things don't seem to affect auto insurance. This is because auto insurance is voluntary, not mandatory.

Guanabo is an area where some of the entertainment venues (restaurants and beach facilities, and so on) set up for foreigners. This is the middle of the week and few foreigners are around. The one place where we stopped for a bit was all but empty (no one inside a place that has a capacity for a hundred people, one pair of people outside at tables), the music was blaring at intense levels. I'm told that now this beach community is filled on the weekends with Cubans.

Across the street at a gas station which is the functional equivalent of a 7-11, I met an old man who said his name was Antonio.

He must be in his seventies and looked like he wasn't doing well economically. He had a dog-eared copy of today's Granma and quietly pulled from inside it a six-pocket plastic folder containing a series of antique Cuban bank notes. He offered these to me for $10.00 USD. These included bills from the early revolutionary period, one of which had Che's signature printed on it. Others had Felipe Pazos' signature, both before the revolution (1949) and in 1960.

Cuba has a history of very attractive paper currencies and you can purchase an encyclopedic treatise on this at some of the used bookstands and flea markets. (This book was published in both English and Spanish editions.)

Antonio was dressed somewhat shabbily with a remarkable mixture of cultural symbols for one individual. His hat had the logo of a U.S. baseball team, but it also had a Che pin stuck inside. He wore a crucifix around his neck as well, so I'll guess he was covering all his bases.

The beaches at Guanabo which remind me of Fire Island, New York, were not crowded and for the most part were being used by Cubans. In one tourist area I saw a number of foreigners and various entertainment options made out for them, from rentals of sailboats, kayaks, and paddle boats, to one area where you could obtain a full-body massage outside under a palm tree for prices ranging from $5.00 all the way up to $20.00 USD. The massage person wasn't around so I was unable to get a breakdown of the kinds of massages offered.

People walking on the beaches didn't seem to mind tourists with cameras and several of them spontaneously posed for me without my even asking. These included pretty girls and muscular guys.

I walked up to one young couple who were being photographed by friends of theirs. I showed them my camera and said, "Y yo tambien?" and they posed for me, too. In the United States the idea of photographing people you do not know is sometimes considered to be a violation of peoples' personal space. Here in Cuba most people smile and let you know it's just fine.

(Some don't, including a few who are in the informal economy, and others who are licensed street peddlars have also declined my requests to photograph them, and I'm never pushy about such things.)

In general, people here are friendly normally, and even more friendly when you tell them "Estados Unidos" when they ask "De que pais?"

Driving along these highways it's still a striking site to see women of all ages, including mothers with small children, who are getting around by hitchhiking.

Men hitchhike as well, but imagine this happening in the United States? Any woman who even thought about getting around by hitchhiking would be thought to be, and would be, crazy, due to the great dangers which about on the mean streets of the capital of the "free world".

Here in Cuba, however, women, men, cops and army personnel all use this method to get around with no evident difficulties of any kind. A few months ago I picked up a medical doctor who was hitching a ride home after a day's shift at work, in a provincial jail.

Tonight's Mesa Redonda featured a panel of international visitors including trade unionists from other Latin American countries who affirmed their solidarity with Cuba. Gloria LaRiva from the National Committee to Free the Five in the U.S. spoke about the activities of the group in publicizing the Miami Five case.

One of the interesting sidelights of these Mesa Redonda programs, which began during the struggle to repatriate Elian Gonzalez, is that Fidel Castro frequently comes to the program and sits in the audience, listening intently to panelists, but not participating himself. Sometimes he has the show all to himself, of course, but on other occasions he simply sits in as a member of the audience, as he did on this occasion.

The Mesa Redonda is clearly NOT an audience-participation event, so those who attend never speak up or ask their own questions. It would make for a more lively format if they did, but unfortunately they don't. Still, the message seems to be clear that Fidel Castro himself sees these shows as important places to both learn, but more importantly, to let viewers know he thinks it's important, since he could obviously watch TV at home like anyone else.

It's quite noticeable as well here that while some of the regular panelists read quotations and documents from notes in their hands, many don't, and they make their points clearly and without fumbling as one might find if put on a nation-wide television program for the first time.

The weather is rather warm now as we approach the beginning of summer.

Until next time,

Walter
==============================

VISITORS NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 2, 2002

In the last few days I've renewed several Cuban acquaintances, walked around the city of Havana and taken lots of photos and given out prints to people whose pictures I'd taken on the last visit.

Here are a few more observations on life as observed literally from the streets of Havana.

Despite analytical articles from the normally accurate Reuters correspondent Marc Frank and others, claiming the Cuban economic and its dynamic tourist sector are in decline, that's not what seems evident here in Havana.

Foreign tourists, who are normally easy to spot in their distinctive clothing, are apparent all over, though I'm sure there are less than there were prior to 9-11. Commentators who speak about reduced tourist business here rarely mention as context that tourism generally, and here in the Caribbean in particular, is down broadly.

New businesses catering to Cubans who have hard currency (dollars or convertible pesos) keep opening up. Places which were still being put up in January and February, are not open and doing business. It's hard to know how much business, but the stores here are very active.

Construction projects which had gone on for many years, and which seemed stalled during my visits in 1999 and 2000, have recently been completed, the scaffolding removed, an are now brightly colored. Most unusually here, a very high apartment building on 23rd at E or F is pained in warm Southwest tones of mustard and lavender.

I went with a friend to one of the largest of such dollar stores, on 70th Avenue and 3rd Street in the Miramar area. That market was formerly restricted to diplomatic staff, but is now open to anyone. It was packed and all of the checkout lines were busy. Prices haven't changed since late last year, either, for such commodities as coffee, fresh vegetables and fruits, meats and alcoholic beverages.

Main streets are not crowded, and all seem to be in good repair. Side streets continue to be plagues with lots of potholes, and there are lots of active construction projects all around.

The sight of hitch-hikers never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday I saw officers from the Interior Ministry, in uninform, also hitchiking. One was a single female, who was picked up by one of the many well-maintained old Lada's on the streets.

The other hitch-hiker in uniform was a mother with her small child in tow. I haven't used this form of transportation on this trip, but on one of my earlier visits, while in hurry to get somewhere I stuck my thumb out and walked backwards facing traffic. Within moments someone stopped, picked me up and took me directly where I was headed.

Though the weather is hot, and Cubans complain about it, by mid afternoon the ocean breeze tends to clear the air and lower the temperature. There's been no rain here in months, but the air quality, which in some parts of town can be nasty due to smoke from burning off natural gas at oil refineries, is quite clean.

Telephone service has changed greatly as the digitization process moves foward. It's long been a challenge to my US-based mind to get used to the phone numbers in Cuba which had either five or six digits. (US numbers all have seven, and in addition an area code.). In large parts of the city one or two numbers were added in front of the old ones, and so nearly all phone number now have seven digits.

And the entire city of Havana has only one area code. Phone calling within the city has gotten lots simpler, certainly for me, but some Cuban friends say the like the new system better as well

This coming weekend is Mother's Day a big event on the Cuban calendar. I'll let you know what goes on in that respect.

Stay tuned,

Walter
===========================

VISITOR'S NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 9, 2002

We're still having warm weather here in Havana. Friends complain about the heat now, but they add that it's a good deal hotter in the provinces on the eastern end of the island. As yet I have not been to the eastern provinces and I'm not inclined to do this right away today.

Given the virulent hostility which is guiding Washington's approach to Cuba these days, you might not think the island would be busily preparing its population for more interaction with with people from the United States.

If that was your impression, you'd be wrong.

Morning television here includes educational fare with this aim in mind. the UNIVERSIDAD PARA TODOS today provides instruction in English conversation and how to conduct research in English language sources.

Tonight's evening news cast likewise had a segment on playwrite Arthur Miller which was shot in New York earlier today. Miller has just won another theatrical award in Spain and the segment highlighted the author's treatrical work, as well as his marriage to the actress Marilyn Monroe, evidently quite popular here.

The evening news here isn't anything like the evening news on CBS-NBC-ABC or the rest. It's kind of seductive because there are NO commercials whatsoever, so it's hard to find time to get up and do something else as we do in the US. Domestic rather than world- focused stories tended to predominate tonight.

Among the stories on tonight's main newscast were reports on national firefighters week, Cuban dance queen Alicia Alonso's return from an international tour which had taken her to China, a meeting of the Federation of University Students (FEU), a meeting of the Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), a segment on (was it??) rhinoceri at the national zoo, housing construction and secondary education in which viewers were shown middle school students who are being trained at computers using the machines in their classrooms. There were also segments on weather, sports and a range of cultural themes. There were more, but I didn't think to take notes on each of these from the very beginning.

A tourism convention is now underway at the convention center in Varadero, which is being reported actively in the media here. A link to the convention on the AIN website doesn't work, however, but it's probably too late for anyone else to register anyway. The event is reported on the main evening news show in great detail. The island's tourism industry is working hard to encourage new visits by tourists by sprucing up available activities and facilities. It's an impressive effort.

Tonight's Mesa Redonda features a panel on the status of children in the world. The guests all have their laptops in front of them from which they obtain needed information. The U.N. is at this moment sponsoring a conference on this same topic. A range of international media are covering that event.

Cuba strongly supports such United Nations events and participates in them actively. UN gatherings are forums in which Cuba's many programs for children, educational, medical cultural are presented to participants. Human rights, as viewed here on the island have a strong social foundation. Cuba's delegation to this UN gathering in New York City is being headed by Vilma Espin, who is president of the Cuban Women's Federation. Vilma Espin is one of the historic leaders of the revolution going back to its earliest days.

Last night's Mesa Redonda focused on Cuba's campaign to free the Miami Five. A CD-ROM is now available on the case. It's a multi-media production in which the family members, mothers, wives and children address the viewer directly.

Written translations of the texts to English are also provided. Cuba is clearly making a strong effort to utilize the capacities which computer technology provides to get out the facts as it's seeing them, and presenting them to the Cuban public.

I seem to have an insect bite on my right knee which, while it's not limiting my movements in any way, it causing some unpleasant swelling and the accumulation of a nasty fluid. One of my neighbors has located a dermatologist who works at a hospital and I'll have it looked at in the morning. The hospital is walking distance from here, about three blocks away.

It's been a long day and I'm up rather late, at least for me.

Stay tuned,


Walter

===============================

VISITOR'S NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 12, 2002

It's Mother's Day, El Dia de Los Madres, a very big day on the Cuban social calendar. Mothers are feted at home. Special meals are made. Families go to visit mothers. Restaurants have special events where people who don't want to cook go. People dress up and make a big deal of it.

The Cuban postal service has issued a special series of postcards with floral designs and poetry about motherhood. Lots of warm sentiment is in the air. Young children find ways to salute their moms, hitting up other relatives for help at the last minute to purchase even very small gifts.

Driving around the city one sees people carrying large covered plates, bringing food to gatherings of their families. Younger mothers go to the homes of THEIR mothers and grandmothers. People are in a festive mood today. The weather continues to be hot, but cools off in the afternoon. Those who don't have children, such as the retired nurse with whom I'm staying, and her cousin who is visiting from faraway Sancti Spritus province, go out to eat at a restaurant which is having a Mother's Day dinner. They're dressed up very colorfully.

Of course, this is Cuba, so there's no advertising. No sales in stores. No commercials on television telling you where to go for the special Mother's Day sales on whatever it is you might not want or need or even think about. Aside from places like restaurants, it seems Mother's day has no commercial significance here in Havana. In the morning, it seems like it will be a swelteringly hot day, but the weather cools off by afternoon.

Shortly before noon, Cuban television broke into it regular programming to take viewers directly to the Jose Marti International Airport where former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalyn, and an entourage of family and associates from the Carter Center, are arriving on the island.

The visit is presented with all the pomp and ceremony you'd imagine with a sitting head of state. The flags of the United States and Cuba are flying. The national anthems of each nation are played, and so on. Both Presidents speak briefly and cordially, not cracking jokes, but noting the significance of their visits. I'm sure that the transcripts of their remarks will be sent out, so you'll get them later. Fidel Castro is dressed in a black double-breasted suit, not his customary military uniform.

This visit is one which the Bush administration in the United States didn't want to happen, but was really politically powerless to prevent since the political cost (to them) of opposing Carter's visit would have only escalated its significance in the eyes of those who paid attention to it.

Carter's visit, days after the bizarre and utterly unsubtantiated "bioterrorism" allegations against the island, which haven't been taken seriously in the mainstream U.S. media, constitute an simple, objective refutation of the claims. After all, had the U.S. presented any kind of even remotely credible evidence, how could Carter have come here at all?

When the Carter arrival is completed, the station I'm watching returns to its regular programming, which at that moment was Walt Disney cartoons (dubbed into Spanish). Later in the day Cuban television has a feature on one hundred years of movies from the United States, this time with a feature on Charlie Chaplin.

Coming here to Cuba is the best reality check for people who want to know about what life is really like here on the island. While the Cuban government and lots of people are strongly opposed to the politics of the government of the United States, U.S. culture is deeply and positively intermeshed with Cuban life. There is no "anti-Americanism" that I'm able to see.

Some Cubans go to the beach, and while I'm not much of a beach-goer, I'm curious to see what is going on there. With a couple of friends we drive out to the east-Havana suburb of Guanabo where Cubans (no tourists today) are gathered in large family groups, eating, sleeping, swimming or just hanging out. Cars drive up to park, but they're all the old Lada's or ancient U.S. cars from the fifties. No new cars, no RVs, no trucks, but a few motorcycles, that's about it. Oh, and there are no billboards anywhere at all near these beaches.

There are a few cops around on the beach and it seems they have nothing to do, but it must be hot wearing their full uniforms and belts with their walkie-talkies, guns and billy clubs. They are just relaxed and hanging out, and on all of the beach I actually only see three officers.

We hang out for awhile and then we take a walk away from the area where families are gathered. The crowds thin out and soon there are virtually no people around. But a few steps on and I'm in an area with maybe a hundred men and no more than four or five women. It's a gay section of the beach, and everyone is relaxed, hanging out, talking, reading, whatever.

Throughought history and all over the world gay people always find ways to meet and hang out with one another. Cuba's no exception. But for those whose impression of gay life here on the island was formed or even influenced by the movie BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, a scene like this would be incomprehensible. No one is hassling or bothering these people at all.

In the evening the Carter visit is covered as the main lead story of the day, covering over five, close to ten, of the program's 45 minutes. We also get a short segment linking Mother's Day with Cuba's determined struggle to rescue the five Cuban men languishing in U.S. jails after having been convicted on "espionage" charges.

The mother and wives of the five men were feted, given flowers by National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, and the nation again reminded that its leadership will not rest until the five men are returned home. People here know this won't happen anytime soon, but will be a long-term struggle. There's much more to the evening news on Cuban television. These are only the two lead stories.

It's been a long, full day and, while there are more things I'd like to share with you about things done and seen here, they'll have to wait until the next installments.

Stay tuned,


Walter

============================

VISITOR'S NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 13, 2002

(Please note that this isn't exactly a diary and so the dates above don't necessarily relflect when things happened, only when I got them written up. As much as I can my plan is to be sure to tell you when the did occur.)

Last week I mentioned having an apparent insect bite in my right knee. It had caused a peculiar swelling and inflamation and a small discomfort. A nasty-looking white pus was also generated, so I felt the need to go to a doctor.

On Thursday morning I went over to the Manuel Fajardo hospital, a major local facility located three blocks from where I live in the Vedado. After a short wait, I was examined by a pair of dermatologists. They looked at my knee, asked basic questions, and made a diagnosis. They then prescribed a regimen of twice-daily damp compresses, anti-biotic medications three times per day, and gave a prescription for a skin cream to be applied after the compresses.

The section I was seen in is one of those which are set up for patients with dollars, and yes I'll take it for granted I was seen faster than might be the case had I not had those dollars. Here's a bit of a walking tour through my experience at that hospital.

Let's start with the waiting room, which was at once clean and neet, though not brightly lit. Cable television, including CNN En Espanol, the Discovery Channel, and at least one US- based movie channel were available. I know this because they gave me the remote control and so I was able to channel-surf a little bit.

Things were clean and neat, but the place was also old and somewhat rundown. Mostly it reminded me of any large public hospital in the United States, such as Los Angles County General Hospital, from which I'd taken numerous children during my Child Protective Services Social Worker years.

The movie I saw parts of was also from the US, though it was dubbed into Spanish. Its story was about a young Black kid having difficulty in school and life, who meets an old retired school teacher who, presumably, gruffly worked with the young man and so, through their relationship, came to take his studies more seriously.

The hospital visit cost $25.00 USD and the hospital prepared the fluid for the compress to be placed on my knee. This consists of two large bottles of clear liquid and cost $5.40 USD. It took what seemed forever, over an hour to be prepared, and I found myself sorry that I hadn't brought a book to read to kill the time while waiting. From there I walked home and from there went out to pick up the other medications.

These were obtained at the International Pharmacy (this means hard currency or, in other words, US dollars) and I paid $6.80 for 40 Sporidex 250 pills made by Ranbaxy Laboratories, Limited, in Dewas, India. I also paid $7.65 for Gentamicin Sulfate cream, made in Ronkonkoma, NY, by Thames Pharmacal.

The treatment took effect right away and the swelling went away within a day. I'm continuing to follow through and know it's imperative that I complete the full run of anti-biotics for the treatment to succeed.

=============================
Aside from my regular daily programs of reading the news and sharing them with readers, I'm spending my time visiting a few friends and literally walking around, looking the place over, and taking some photographs. This time I don't have much of a structured schedule. I'm not taking formal Spanish lessons as I did for part of my last visit, but I'm finding myself at the same time less afraid to practice my Spanish than I was previously.
==============================

It always sounds odd to me to read and hear how Cubans live on salaries of 200 or 300 or even 400 Cuban pesos, knowing that when one changes money, at the rate of 26 pesos to the dollar, this means some people are living here on what is the dollar equivalent of 10 to 20 dollars per MONTH.

How can this possibly be? I can't say that I fully understand this myself, but there are some clues which I'm continuing to look at as time passes. Consider this:

On Saturday, for example, a worker from the gas company (Cupet, short for Cuban Petroleum) came around to manually give out the bills. If the recipient is home, you pay the bill. If not, they just stick it in your door jamb. What tedious work that must be, I think, though I admit I haven't seen any overweight delivery people.

The gas bill for the month of May amounts to the sum of (are you sitting in your chair??) 2.75 Cuban PESOS. Yes, that's right, the dollar equivalent of ELEVEN CENTS. There are meters here so usage is monitored. My hostess, Julia, has lived here for many years, and, under Cuban law she owns her own home and no longer makes payments on the place. Most long-term residents make no house payments any longer.

Stay tuned,

Walter

=======================

JIMMY CARTER'S MEETING 
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA
by Walter Lippmann, May 15, 2002

Jimmy Carter's speech took place as planned last evening at the Magna Aula of the University of Havana. As Fidel Castro and the Cuban government had promised, Carter spoke freely and his talk was transmitted live to the Cuban people, without any kind interruption or restriction. Carter's talk lasted just under twenty minutes. The event as a whole lasted close to two hours.

The Magna Aula (big classroom) was filled with a selection of students from the U.S. and Cuba, academics, media people from the U.S., Cuba and elsewhere. (I met a Cuban reporter, speaking English, covering the event for Kyodo News, an English-language  publication in Japan, for example.)

The Magna Aula is not a very large room, under a thousand people could fit in it, perhaps less than eight hundred. The former President was introduced by a student speaker and the dean of the University of Havana. The Cuban national anthem was played, as was the U.S. national anthem. Carter and his wife Rosalyn placed their hands on their hearts during the music. The U.S. and Cuban flags were up directly
behind the podium.

A chorus of Cuban students sang two songs as the event was getting started, including "Give Me That Old Time Religion" and Jimmy Carter sang along with the chorus.

They applauded the various people who were introduced to the meeting, which included the families of the five Cuban men imprisoned in the U.S. for their efforts to obtain information on the terrorist activities of right-wing Cuban exiles. Yes, Carter applauded them as well. He received simultaneous translation of the words being spoken at the meeting.

He spoke in Spanish, but later took and responded to questions which were given in Spanish, but he responded in English. Carter Center staff had copies of the English text after it was delivered.

Top leaders of the government were there  and listened carefully, including Fidel Castro, Ricardo Alarcon, Felipe Perez-Roque and Culture Minister Abel Prieto, among many others. When the meeting was over, they applauded politely, as did the entire audience.

Security arrangements were comprehensive. Television and other cameras were viewed
by security staff. The former president had his own small contingent of Secret Service Agents who looked serious and attentive. There were two or four of those, it wasn't clear.

The next message will be the text of Carter's speech, followed by a selection of the media
coverage of the event. Carter's visit to the island, and his remarks, have been subject to a great deal of international commentary, well beyond the United States. I just heard a discussion of the Carter speech given on the Australian public broadcasting system.
(Unlike NPR in the United States, there are no under-writing "commercials", just talk
and music.)

There's lots to be said and thought about the remarks Carter made and the impact it
may have in both Cuba and the United States over time. Over the next days there will be
a round of discussion of the meaning of the Carter visit and his talk.

I'll share some of my own ideas later on.
=======================

VISITOR'S NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 18, 2002

Jimmy Carter has returned to the United States. He left yesterday and his departure was shown on Cuban television. Fidel Castro went to the airport. No speeches were given.

Today I took some time to reflect on the Carter mission and what it means. I'm also continuing to read a new book, CONFLICTING MISSIONS, which documents Cuba's role in Africa during the years 1959 through 1976, a great read which includes timely documentation of Washington's on-going hostility toward Cuba over the past 43 years.

Looking at the coverage of the recent visit here by President Carter, it's quite useful to take a reality check and to see how consistent Washington, and the mainstream media have been, in their irreconcilable hostility toward the Cuban revolution. Timely and recommended for anyone studying US policy toward Cuba.

Life in Cuba goes on. Life in the United States also goes on. The long-term impact of the visit here by the former President remains to be determined. The short-term assessments will be coming out in the next days. The reported "tough" speech by President Bush is due to be given on Monday, May 20th. Clearly Bush will be forced to respond to Carter's visit, whether Bush mentions the Carter mission or not.

(Cuba's media has been alerting the people here of Bush's impending speech.)

Carter's visit, and in particular his remarks at the final news conference, can and should be seen as framing whatever Bush proposes in his speech on Monday. The Cuban media have been informing people here that Bush will be giving a major address on Cuba this coming Monday. Bush may not mention the Carter visit at all, but he'll be responding to what Carter did while visiting, particular all the praise Carter gave toward many of the island's programs and institutions.

The coverage in the media of the corporate mainstream has been extensive, since this is an event with many very distinctive elements.

But the tone of the coverage has been, for the most part, sneering and derisive. Only that wonderful editorial in yesterday's Capital-Times newspaper from Madison, Wisconsin, seemed to have actually grasped what it was which took place here on the island of Cuba this past week, and responded to them in a positive manner.

Praise is due to President Carter for having had the courage and perspicacity to come here to Cuba. He doesn't support the Cuban Revolution. He favors the capitalist system as the model for humanity to organize its economic life. When he was President of the United States, he opposed the Cuban government on significant levels and was largely responsible for the Mariel boatlift.

Carter, as President used secret negotiations and obtained the release of prisoners from the island, but received as gratitude the uncompromising hostility of the wealthy right wing of the Cuban exile community in Miami. Though they may say nice things about his having mentioned in his remarks the magic words "Varela Project" they had no use for Carter when he was in office.

In foreign policy, as all the newspapers are now reminding, Washington tried to pressure Cuba out of supporting the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in opposition to the US and South African-backed UNITA and FNLA forces. Those forces were also backed at that time by China, and even by a few misbelieving people on the political left.

Cuba refused to buckle from its support to the Angolan struggle, and because of Cuban aid, Angola was able to defeat South Africa's little stooges. Ultimately, everyone now agrees that South African apartheid, the institution against which Washington never clamored for any kind of punitive sanctions, collapsed and that the coup de grace was due to its defeat at the hands of Angolan and Cuban troops at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

Yet the Carter visit, arguably one of the most significant, and certainly the most constructive and positive visit by a U.S. political figure in the 43 years of the Cuban Revolution, is an event we'll need to analyze and digest for some time.

Keep in mind that Carter said more in praise of Cuba, and in defense of Cuba, than he did in criticism of its institutions. And further, when he spoke critically, as in endorsing the Varela Project, he did so in respectful tones, tones which we can only wish the rest of the main corporate media would emulate!


Stay tuned,

Walter

VISITORS NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 2, 2002

This afternoon with some friends I traveled out to the Havana suburbs of Alamar and Cojimar and the beach at Guanabo for a touristy kind of day.

Road signs aren't invariably present and directional signals aren't always visible, so the friend who drove us into one of the beach cities got a traffic ticket for going in the wrong direction on a one-way street. He tried to argue with the cop about how there was no sign. The cop agreed that the signs weren't easy to see, but the ticket was issued anyway. It will cost the sum of ten Cuban pesos, or the equivalent of about 40 U.S. cents.

They do have a point system for violations such as these, and going the wrong way on a one-way street is considered a more serious violation. I'm not quite clear about the consequences of violations, but I gather your license can be restricted or limited in some way if you get too many points.

Unlike in the U.S., however, these things don't seem to affect auto insurance. This is because auto insurance is voluntary, not mandatory.

Guanabo is an area where some of the entertainment venues (restaurants and beach facilities, and so on) set up for foreigners. This is the middle of the week and few foreigners are around. The one place where we stopped for a bit was all but empty (no one inside a place that has a capacity for a hundred people, one pair of people outside at tables), the music was blaring at intense levels. I'm told that now this beach community is filled on the weekends with Cubans.

Across the street at a gas station which is the functional equivalent of a 7-11, I met an old man who said his name was Antonio.

He must be in his seventies and looked like he wasn't doing well economically. He had a dog-eared copy of today's Granma and quietly pulled from inside it a six-pocket plastic folder containing a series of antique Cuban bank notes. He offered these to me for $10.00 USD. These included bills from the early revolutionary period, one of which had Che's signature printed on it. Others had Felipe Pazos' signature, both before the revolution (1949) and in 1960.

Cuba has a history of very attractive paper currencies and you can purchase an encyclopedic treatise on this at some of the used bookstands and flea markets. (This book was published in both English and Spanish editions.)

Antonio was dressed somewhat shabbily with a remarkable mixture of cultural symbols for one individual. His hat had the logo of a U.S. baseball team, but it also had a Che pin stuck inside. He wore a crucifix around his neck as well, so I'll guess he was covering all his bases.

The beaches at Guanabo which remind me of Fire Island, New York, were not crowded and for the most part were being used by Cubans. In one tourist area I saw a number of foreigners and various entertainment options made out for them, from rentals of sailboats, kayaks, and paddle boats, to one area where you could obtain a full-body massage outside under a palm tree for prices ranging from $5.00 all the way up to $20.00 USD. The massage person wasn't around so I was unable to get a breakdown of the kinds of massages offered.

People walking on the beaches didn't seem to mind tourists with cameras and several of them spontaneously posed for me without my even asking. These included pretty girls and muscular guys.

I walked up to one young couple who were being photographed by friends of theirs. I showed them my camera and said, "Y yo tambien?" and they posed for me, too. In the United States the idea of photographing people you do not know is sometimes considered to be a violation of peoples' personal space. Here in Cuba most people smile and let you know it's just fine.

(Some don't, including a few who are in the informal economy, and others who are licensed street peddlars have also declined my requests to photograph them, and I'm never pushy about such things.)

In general, people here are friendly normally, and even more friendly when you tell them "Estados Unidos" when they ask "De que pais?"

Driving along these highways it's still a striking site to see women of all ages, including mothers with small children, who are getting around by hitchhiking.

Men hitchhike as well, but imagine this happening in the United States? Any woman who even thought about getting around by hitchhiking would be thought to be, and would be, crazy, due to the great dangers which about on the mean streets of the capital of the "free world".

Here in Cuba, however, women, men, cops and army personnel all use this method to get around with no evident difficulties of any kind. A few months ago I picked up a medical doctor who was hitching a ride home after a day's shift at work, in a provincial jail.

Tonight's Mesa Redonda featured a panel of international visitors including trade unionists from other Latin American countries who affirmed their solidarity with Cuba. Gloria LaRiva from the National Committee to Free the Five in the U.S. spoke about the activities of the group in publicizing the Miami Five case.

One of the interesting sidelights of these Mesa Redonda programs, which began during the struggle to repatriate Elian Gonzalez, is that Fidel Castro frequently comes to the program and sits in the audience, listening intently to panelists, but not participating himself. Sometimes he has the show all to himself, of course, but on other occasions he simply sits in as a member of the audience, as he did on this occasion.

The Mesa Redonda is clearly NOT an audience-participation event, so those who attend never speak up or ask their own questions. It would make for a more lively format if they did, but unfortunately they don't. Still, the message seems to be clear that Fidel Castro himself sees these shows as important places to both learn, but more importantly, to let viewers know he thinks it's important, since he could obviously watch TV at home like anyone else.

It's quite noticeable as well here that while some of the regular panelists read quotations and documents from notes in their hands, many don't, and they make their points clearly and without fumbling as one might find if put on a nation-wide television program for the first time.

The weather is rather warm now as we approach the beginning of summer.

Until next time,

Walter
==============================

VISITORS NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 2, 2002

In the last few days I've renewed several Cuban acquaintances, walked around the city of Havana and taken lots of photos and given out prints to people whose pictures I'd taken on the last visit.

Here are a few more observations on life as observed literally from the streets of Havana.

Despite analytical articles from the normally accurate Reuters correspondent Marc Frank and others, claiming the Cuban economic and its dynamic tourist sector are in decline, that's not what seems evident here in Havana.

Foreign tourists, who are normally easy to spot in their distinctive clothing, are apparent all over, though I'm sure there are less than there were prior to 9-11. Commentators who speak about reduced tourist business here rarely mention as context that tourism generally, and here in the Caribbean in particular, is down broadly.

New businesses catering to Cubans who have hard currency (dollars or convertible pesos) keep opening up. Places which were still being put up in January and February, are not open and doing business. It's hard to know how much business, but the stores here are very active.

Construction projects which had gone on for many years, and which seemed stalled during my visits in 1999 and 2000, have recently been completed, the scaffolding removed, an are now brightly colored. Most unusually here, a very high apartment building on 23rd at E or F is pained in warm Southwest tones of mustard and lavender.

I went with a friend to one of the largest of such dollar stores, on 70th Avenue and 3rd Street in the Miramar area. That market was formerly restricted to diplomatic staff, but is now open to anyone. It was packed and all of the checkout lines were busy. Prices haven't changed since late last year, either, for such commodities as coffee, fresh vegetables and fruits, meats and alcoholic beverages.

Main streets are not crowded, and all seem to be in good repair. Side streets continue to be plagues with lots of potholes, and there are lots of active construction projects all around.

The sight of hitch-hikers never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday I saw officers from the Interior Ministry, in uninform, also hitchiking. One was a single female, who was picked up by one of the many well-maintained old Lada's on the streets.

The other hitch-hiker in uniform was a mother with her small child in tow. I haven't used this form of transportation on this trip, but on one of my earlier visits, while in hurry to get somewhere I stuck my thumb out and walked backwards facing traffic. Within moments someone stopped, picked me up and took me directly where I was headed.

Though the weather is hot, and Cubans complain about it, by mid afternoon the ocean breeze tends to clear the air and lower the temperature. There's been no rain here in months, but the air quality, which in some parts of town can be nasty due to smoke from burning off natural gas at oil refineries, is quite clean.

Telephone service has changed greatly as the digitization process moves foward. It's long been a challenge to my US-based mind to get used to the phone numbers in Cuba which had either five or six digits. (US numbers all have seven, and in addition an area code.). In large parts of the city one or two numbers were added in front of the old ones, and so nearly all phone number now have seven digits.

And the entire city of Havana has only one area code. Phone calling within the city has gotten lots simpler, certainly for me, but some Cuban friends say the like the new system better as well

This coming weekend is Mother's Day a big event on the Cuban calendar. I'll let you know what goes on in that respect.

Stay tuned,

Walter
===========================

VISITOR'S NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 9, 2002

We're still having warm weather here in Havana. Friends complain about the heat now, but they add that it's a good deal hotter in the provinces on the eastern end of the island. As yet I have not been to the eastern provinces and I'm not inclined to do this right away today.

Given the virulent hostility which is guiding Washington's approach to Cuba these days, you might not think the island would be busily preparing its population for more interaction with with people from the United States.

If that was your impression, you'd be wrong.

Morning television here includes educational fare with this aim in mind. the UNIVERSIDAD PARA TODOS today provides instruction in English conversation and how to conduct research in English language sources.

Tonight's evening news cast likewise had a segment on playwrite Arthur Miller which was shot in New York earlier today. Miller has just won another theatrical award in Spain and the segment highlighted the author's treatrical work, as well as his marriage to the actress Marilyn Monroe, evidently quite popular here.

The evening news here isn't anything like the evening news on CBS-NBC-ABC or the rest. It's kind of seductive because there are NO commercials whatsoever, so it's hard to find time to get up and do something else as we do in the US. Domestic rather than world- focused stories tended to predominate tonight.

Among the stories on tonight's main newscast were reports on national firefighters week, Cuban dance queen Alicia Alonso's return from an international tour which had taken her to China, a meeting of the Federation of University Students (FEU), a meeting of the Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), a segment on (was it??) rhinoceri at the national zoo, housing construction and secondary education in which viewers were shown middle school students who are being trained at computers using the machines in their classrooms. There were also segments on weather, sports and a range of cultural themes. There were more, but I didn't think to take notes on each of these from the very beginning.

A tourism convention is now underway at the convention center in Varadero, which is being reported actively in the media here. A link to the convention on the AIN website doesn't work, however, but it's probably too late for anyone else to register anyway. The event is reported on the main evening news show in great detail. The island's tourism industry is working hard to encourage new visits by tourists by sprucing up available activities and facilities. It's an impressive effort.

Tonight's Mesa Redonda features a panel on the status of children in the world. The guests all have their laptops in front of them from which they obtain needed information. The U.N. is at this moment sponsoring a conference on this same topic. A range of international media are covering that event.

Cuba strongly supports such United Nations events and participates in them actively. UN gatherings are forums in which Cuba's many programs for children, educational, medical cultural are presented to participants. Human rights, as viewed here on the island have a strong social foundation. Cuba's delegation to this UN gathering in New York City is being headed by Vilma Espin, who is president of the Cuban Women's Federation. Vilma Espin is one of the historic leaders of the revolution going back to its earliest days.

Last night's Mesa Redonda focused on Cuba's campaign to free the Miami Five. A CD-ROM is now available on the case. It's a multi-media production in which the family members, mothers, wives and children address the viewer directly.

Written translations of the texts to English are also provided. Cuba is clearly making a strong effort to utilize the capacities which computer technology provides to get out the facts as it's seeing them, and presenting them to the Cuban public.

I seem to have an insect bite on my right knee which, while it's not limiting my movements in any way, it causing some unpleasant swelling and the accumulation of a nasty fluid. One of my neighbors has located a dermatologist who works at a hospital and I'll have it looked at in the morning. The hospital is walking distance from here, about three blocks away.

It's been a long day and I'm up rather late, at least for me.

Stay tuned,


Walter

===============================

VISITOR'S NOTES FROM CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 12, 2002

It's Mother's Day, El Dia de Los Madres, a very big day on the Cuban social calendar. Mothers are feted at home. Special meals are made. Families go to visit mothers. Restaurants have special events where people who don't want to cook go. People dress up and make a big deal of it.

The Cuban postal service has issued a special series of postcards with floral designs and poetry about motherhood. Lots of warm sentiment is in the air. Young children find ways to salute their moms, hitting up other relatives for help at the last minute to purchase even very small gifts.

Driving around the city one sees people carrying large covered plates, bringing food to gatherings of their families. Younger mothers go to the homes of THEIR mothers and grandmothers. People are in a festive mood today. The weather continues to be hot, but cools off in the afternoon. Those who don't have children, such as the retired nurse with whom I'm staying, and her cousin who is visiting from faraway Sancti Spritus province, go out to eat at a restaurant which is having a Mother's Day dinner. They're dressed up very colorfully.

Of course, this is Cuba, so there's no advertising. No sales in stores. No commercials on television telling you where to go for the special Mother's Day sales on whatever it is you might not want or need or even think about. Aside from places like restaurants, it seems Mother's day has no commercial significance here in Havana. In the morning, it seems like it will be a swelteringly hot day, but the weather cools off by afternoon.

Shortly before noon, Cuban television broke into it regular programming to take viewers directly to the Jose Marti International Airport where former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalyn, and an entourage of family and associates from the Carter Center, are arriving on the island.

The visit is presented with all the pomp and ceremony you'd imagine with a sitting head of state. The flags of the United States and Cuba are flying. The national anthems of each nation are played, and so on. Both Presidents speak briefly and cordially, not cracking jokes, but noting the significance of their visits. I'm sure that the transcripts of their remarks will be sent out, so you'll get them later. Fidel Castro is dressed in a black double-breasted suit, not his customary military uniform.

This visit is one which the Bush administration in the United States didn't want to happen, but was really politically powerless to prevent since the political cost (to them) of opposing Carter's visit would have only escalated its significance in the eyes of those who paid attention to it.

Carter's visit, days after the bizarre and utterly unsubtantiated "bioterrorism" allegations against the island, which haven't been taken seriously in the mainstream U.S. media, constitute an simple, objective refutation of the claims. After all, had the U.S. presented any kind of even remotely credible evidence, how could Carter have come here at all?

When the Carter arrival is completed, the station I'm watching returns to its regular programming, which at that moment was Walt Disney cartoons (dubbed into Spanish). Later in the day Cuban television has a feature on one hundred years of movies from the United States, this time with a feature on Charlie Chaplin.

Coming here to Cuba is the best reality check for people who want to know about what life is really like here on the island. While the Cuban government and lots of people are strongly opposed to the politics of the government of the United States, U.S. culture is deeply and positively intermeshed with Cuban life. There is no "anti-Americanism" that I'm able to see.

Some Cubans go to the beach, and while I'm not much of a beach-goer, I'm curious to see what is going on there. With a couple of friends we drive out to the east-Havana suburb of Guanabo where Cubans (no tourists today) are gathered in large family groups, eating, sleeping, swimming or just hanging out. Cars drive up to park, but they're all the old Lada's or ancient U.S. cars from the fifties. No new cars, no RVs, no trucks, but a few motorcycles, that's about it. Oh, and there are no billboards anywhere at all near these beaches.

There are a few cops around on the beach and it seems they have nothing to do, but it must be hot wearing their full uniforms and belts with their walkie-talkies, guns and billy clubs. They are just relaxed and hanging out, and on all of the beach I actually only see three officers.

We hang out for awhile and then we take a walk away from the area where families are gathered. The crowds thin out and soon there are virtually no people around. But a few steps on and I'm in an area with maybe a hundred men and no more than four or five women. It's a gay section of the beach, and everyone is relaxed, hanging out, talking, reading, whatever.

Throughought history and all over the world gay people always find ways to meet and hang out with one another. Cuba's no exception. But for those whose impression of gay life here on the island was formed or even influenced by the movie BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, a scene like this would be incomprehensible. No one is hassling or bothering these people at all.

In the evening the Carter visit is covered as the main lead story of the day, covering over five, close to ten, of the program's 45 minutes. We also get a short segment linking Mother's Day with Cuba's determined struggle to rescue the five Cuban men languishing in U.S. jails after having been convicted on "espionage" charges.

The mother and wives of the five men were feted, given flowers by National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, and the nation again reminded that its leadership will not rest until the five men are returned home. People here know this won't happen anytime soon, but will be a long-term struggle. There's much more to the evening news on Cuban television. These are only the two lead stories.

It's been a long, full day and, while there are more things I'd like to share with you about things done and seen here, they'll have to wait until the next installments.

Stay tuned,


Walter

============================

VISITOR'S NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 13, 2002

(Please note that this isn't exactly a diary and so the dates above don't necessarily relflect when things happened, only when I got them written up. As much as I can my plan is to be sure to tell you when the did occur.)

Last week I mentioned having an apparent insect bite in my right knee. It had caused a peculiar swelling and inflamation and a small discomfort. A nasty-looking white pus was also generated, so I felt the need to go to a doctor.

On Thursday morning I went over to the Manuel Fajardo hospital, a major local facility located three blocks from where I live in the Vedado. After a short wait, I was examined by a pair of dermatologists. They looked at my knee, asked basic questions, and made a diagnosis. They then prescribed a regimen of twice-daily damp compresses, anti-biotic medications three times per day, and gave a prescription for a skin cream to be applied after the compresses.

The section I was seen in is one of those which are set up for patients with dollars, and yes I'll take it for granted I was seen faster than might be the case had I not had those dollars. Here's a bit of a walking tour through my experience at that hospital.

Let's start with the waiting room, which was at once clean and neet, though not brightly lit. Cable television, including CNN En Espanol, the Discovery Channel, and at least one US- based movie channel were available. I know this because they gave me the remote control and so I was able to channel-surf a little bit.

Things were clean and neat, but the place was also old and somewhat rundown. Mostly it reminded me of any large public hospital in the United States, such as Los Angles County General Hospital, from which I'd taken numerous children during my Child Protective Services Social Worker years.

The movie I saw parts of was also from the US, though it was dubbed into Spanish. Its story was about a young Black kid having difficulty in school and life, who meets an old retired school teacher who, presumably, gruffly worked with the young man and so, through their relationship, came to take his studies more seriously.

The hospital visit cost $25.00 USD and the hospital prepared the fluid for the compress to be placed on my knee. This consists of two large bottles of clear liquid and cost $5.40 USD. It took what seemed forever, over an hour to be prepared, and I found myself sorry that I hadn't brought a book to read to kill the time while waiting. From there I walked home and from there went out to pick up the other medications.

These were obtained at the International Pharmacy (this means hard currency or, in other words, US dollars) and I paid $6.80 for 40 Sporidex 250 pills made by Ranbaxy Laboratories, Limited, in Dewas, India. I also paid $7.65 for Gentamicin Sulfate cream, made in Ronkonkoma, NY, by Thames Pharmacal.

The treatment took effect right away and the swelling went away within a day. I'm continuing to follow through and know it's imperative that I complete the full run of anti-biotics for the treatment to succeed.

=============================
Aside from my regular daily programs of reading the news and sharing them with readers, I'm spending my time visiting a few friends and literally walking around, looking the place over, and taking some photographs. This time I don't have much of a structured schedule. I'm not taking formal Spanish lessons as I did for part of my last visit, but I'm finding myself at the same time less afraid to practice my Spanish than I was previously.
==============================

It always sounds odd to me to read and hear how Cubans live on salaries of 200 or 300 or even 400 Cuban pesos, knowing that when one changes money, at the rate of 26 pesos to the dollar, this means some people are living here on what is the dollar equivalent of 10 to 20 dollars per MONTH.

How can this possibly be? I can't say that I fully understand this myself, but there are some clues which I'm continuing to look at as time passes. Consider this:

On Saturday, for example, a worker from the gas company (Cupet, short for Cuban Petroleum) came around to manually give out the bills. If the recipient is home, you pay the bill. If not, they just stick it in your door jamb. What tedious work that must be, I think, though I admit I haven't seen any overweight delivery people.

The gas bill for the month of May amounts to the sum of (are you sitting in your chair??) 2.75 Cuban PESOS. Yes, that's right, the dollar equivalent of ELEVEN CENTS. There are meters here so usage is monitored. My hostess, Julia, has lived here for many years, and, under Cuban law she owns her own home and no longer makes payments on the place. Most long-term residents make no house payments any longer.

Stay tuned,

Walter

=======================

JIMMY CARTER'S MEETING 
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA
by Walter Lippmann, May 15, 2002

Jimmy Carter's speech took place as planned last evening at the Magna Aula of the University of Havana. As Fidel Castro and the Cuban government had promised, Carter spoke freely and his talk was transmitted live to the Cuban people, without any kind interruption or restriction. Carter's talk lasted just under twenty minutes. The event as a whole lasted close to two hours.

The Magna Aula (big classroom) was filled with a selection of students from the U.S. and Cuba, academics, media people from the U.S., Cuba and elsewhere. (I met a Cuban reporter, speaking English, covering the event for Kyodo News, an English-language  publication in Japan, for example.)

The Magna Aula is not a very large room, under a thousand people could fit in it, perhaps less than eight hundred. The former President was introduced by a student speaker and the dean of the University of Havana. The Cuban national anthem was played, as was the U.S. national anthem. Carter and his wife Rosalyn placed their hands on their hearts during the music. The U.S. and Cuban flags were up directly
behind the podium.

A chorus of Cuban students sang two songs as the event was getting started, including "Give Me That Old Time Religion" and Jimmy Carter sang along with the chorus.

They applauded the various people who were introduced to the meeting, which included the families of the five Cuban men imprisoned in the U.S. for their efforts to obtain information on the terrorist activities of right-wing Cuban exiles. Yes, Carter applauded them as well. He received simultaneous translation of the words being spoken at the meeting.

He spoke in Spanish, but later took and responded to questions which were given in Spanish, but he responded in English. Carter Center staff had copies of the English text after it was delivered.

Top leaders of the government were there  and listened carefully, including Fidel Castro, Ricardo Alarcon, Felipe Perez-Roque and Culture Minister Abel Prieto, among many others. When the meeting was over, they applauded politely, as did the entire audience.

Security arrangements were comprehensive. Television and other cameras were viewed
by security staff. The former president had his own small contingent of Secret Service Agents who looked serious and attentive. There were two or four of those, it wasn't clear.

The next message will be the text of Carter's speech, followed by a selection of the media
coverage of the event. Carter's visit to the island, and his remarks, have been subject to a great deal of international commentary, well beyond the United States. I just heard a discussion of the Carter speech given on the Australian public broadcasting system.
(Unlike NPR in the United States, there are no under-writing "commercials", just talk
and music.)

There's lots to be said and thought about the remarks Carter made and the impact it
may have in both Cuba and the United States over time. Over the next days there will be
a round of discussion of the meaning of the Carter visit and his talk.

I'll share some of my own ideas later on.
=======================

VISITOR'S NOTES ON CUBA
by Walter Lippmann, May 18, 2002

Jimmy Carter has returned to the United States. He left yesterday and his departure was shown on Cuban television. Fidel Castro went to the airport. No speeches were given.

Today I took some time to reflect on the Carter mission and what it means. I'm also continuing to read a new book, CONFLICTING MISSIONS, which documents Cuba's role in Africa during the years 1959 through 1976, a great read which includes timely documentation of Washington's on-going hostility toward Cuba over the past 43 years.

Looking at the coverage of the recent visit here by President Carter, it's quite useful to take a reality check and to see how consistent Washington, and the mainstream media have been, in their irreconcilable hostility toward the Cuban revolution. Timely and recommended for anyone studying US policy toward Cuba.

Life in Cuba goes on. Life in the United States also goes on. The long-term impact of the visit here by the former President remains to be determined. The short-term assessments will be coming out in the next days. The reported "tough" speech by President Bush is due to be given on Monday, May 20th. Clearly Bush will be forced to respond to Carter's visit, whether Bush mentions the Carter mission or not.

(Cuba's media has been alerting the people here of Bush's impending speech.)

Carter's visit, and in particular his remarks at the final news conference, can and should be seen as framing whatever Bush proposes in his speech on Monday. The Cuban media have been informing people here that Bush will be giving a major address on Cuba this coming Monday. Bush may not mention the Carter visit at all, but he'll be responding to what Carter did while visiting, particular all the praise Carter gave toward many of the island's programs and institutions.

The coverage in the media of the corporate mainstream has been extensive, since this is an event with many very distinctive elements.

But the tone of the coverage has been, for the most part, sneering and derisive. Only that wonderful editorial in yesterday's Capital-Times newspaper from Madison, Wisconsin, seemed to have actually grasped what it was which took place here on the island of Cuba this past week, and responded to them in a positive manner.

Praise is due to President Carter for having had the courage and perspicacity to come here to Cuba. He doesn't support the Cuban Revolution. He favors the capitalist system as the model for humanity to organize its economic life. When he was President of the United States, he opposed the Cuban government on significant levels and was largely responsible for the Mariel boatlift.

Carter, as President used secret negotiations and obtained the release of prisoners from the island, but received as gratitude the uncompromising hostility of the wealthy right wing of the Cuban exile community in Miami. Though they may say nice things about his having mentioned in his remarks the magic words "Varela Project" they had no use for Carter when he was in office.

In foreign policy, as all the newspapers are now reminding, Washington tried to pressure Cuba out of supporting the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in opposition to the US and South African-backed UNITA and FNLA forces. Those forces were also backed at that time by China, and even by a few misbelieving people on the political left.

Cuba refused to buckle from its support to the Angolan struggle, and because of Cuban aid, Angola was able to defeat South Africa's little stooges. Ultimately, everyone now agrees that South African apartheid, the institution against which Washington never clamored for any kind of punitive sanctions, collapsed and that the coup de grace was due to its defeat at the hands of Angolan and Cuban troops at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

Yet the Carter visit, arguably one of the most significant, and certainly the most constructive and positive visit by a U.S. political figure in the 43 years of the Cuban Revolution, is an event we'll need to analyze and digest for some time.

Keep in mind that Carter said more in praise of Cuba, and in defense of Cuba, than he did in criticism of its institutions. And further, when he spoke critically, as in endorsing the Varela Project, he did so in respectful tones, tones which we can only wish the rest of the main corporate media would emulate!


Stay tuned,

Walter