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Viewing cable 06HAVANA10189, CARTAS DE CUBA, SPRING 2006

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06HAVANA10189 2006-05-12 16:54 2011-08-30 01:44 SECRET US Interests Section Havana
VZCZCXRO3168
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV
DE RUEHUB #0189/01 1321654
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 121654Z MAY 06
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7339
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0007
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0021
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0084
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL
RUESDM/JTLO MIAMI FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 HAVANA 010189 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2021 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS ECON EFIN EAGR SOCI UN CU
SUBJECT: CARTAS DE CUBA, SPRING 2006 
 
REF: HAVANA 9343 
 
HAVANA 00010189  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
Classified By: MICHAEL E. PARMLY FOR REASONS 1.4 b/d 
 
1. (U) The latest installment of Cartas de Cuba features 
the following items: 
 
-  GOC Delirious Over HRC Win 
-  PR on the Prowl 
-  PR vs. BR 
-  Robinson Liked His Whiskey 
-  Party Shuffle 
-  Feisty 
-  New Strategy:  Give 'Em Money, Make 'Em Spend It 
-  Just Below the Surface 
-  CDRs... Who Needs 'Em? 
-  Creeping Sloth 
-  How (Not) To Make Money in Cuba 
-  Neat Trick - Part I 
-  Neat Trick - Part II 
-  Cuban Organics - Lots of Green Hype 
 
 
GOC Delirious Over HRC Win 
-------------------------- 
 
2. (U) The Cuban media is aglow with victory over Cuba's 
election to the UN's new Human Rights Council.  In the May 
10 edition of Granma newspaper, Foreign Minister Felipe 
Perez Roque calls the win "one of Cuba's most important 
foreign policy victories in 46 years of the Revolution." 
He attacks the EU for collaborating with the U.S. to block 
Cuba's election, attributing Cuba's win to a secret ballot 
that allowed third world countries to vote "on the side of 
justice." 
 
3. (C) Behind the scenes, British DCM Nigel Baker relayed 
a message from New York that the Cuban delegation reacted 
with "visible shock" that they achieved only seventh place 
out of eight available Latin American slots on the Human 
Rights Council.  The Cuban media did not mention the close 
shave. 
 
PR on the Prowl 
--------------- 
 
4. (SBU) At 4:00 a.m. on an early morning some two weeks 
ago, a Mexican diplomat found himself chatting outside his 
apartment building with a visiting Chilean businesswoman. 
(They stood near a park on Fifth Avenue known locally as 
Parque Chupa Chupa, or "Lollipop Park.")  The Chilean 
complained at length that she was waiting for a friend who 
always showed up late.  A few minutes later, Foreign 
Minister Felipe Perez Roque strolled out of the park to 
meet her.  Without disclosing his status as a diplomat, 
the Mexican spent several minutes with Perez Roque, 
describing him as "personable, friendly and a lot nicer 
than in his speeches."  Perez Roque is married. 
 
PR vs. BR 
--------- 
 
5. (S) Doctor Hilda Molina (protect), former biomedical 
science adviser to Castro, said Foreign Minister Felipe 
Perez Roque and one of his deputies, Bruno Rodriguez 
Parrilla, were locked in a power struggle within the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX).  Perez Roque's close 
relationship with Castro appears unshakable (he is often 
referred to as "speaking with Fidel's mouth"), but 
Rodriguez Parrilla was also hand-picked by Castro and may 
be gaining ground on Perez Roque.  According to a Cuban 
USINT employee who formerly worked for Rodriguez - and 
"hates him" - the Deputy FonMin is a meticulous, slavering 
lapdog who never risks stepping on the toes of a higher- 
up.  His painstaking attention to detail made him a 
favorite of Castro's (especially during his years as 
Permanent Representative to the UN).  Rodriguez scored 
recent points for heading up a successful official visit 
to Pakistan. 
 
Robinson Liked His Whiskey 
-------------------------- 
 
 
HAVANA 00010189  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
6. (S) Politburo member Juan Carlos Robinson Agramonte was 
dismissed April 28 for "behavior unbecoming of a 
communist" (reftel).  Local Cuban businessman Maximo Lopez 
(protect) said Robinson was "bad through and through," 
engaged in corruption, talked ostentatiously on his cell 
phone, partied visibly, and even served whiskey to his 
guests.  (Whiskey is an expensive, foreign product. 
Robinson should have stuck to rum - if anything at all.) 
Despite his love for material things, Lopez said Robinson 
"talked like a Stalinist hard liner."  The contradictions 
between Robinson's "walk and talk" became too stark, and 
he is reportedly being held in Villa Marista prison. 
 
Party Shuffle 
------------- 
 
7. (U) The May 9 edition of Granma newspaper announced the 
promotions of Pedro Betancourt Garcia and Omar Ruiz Martin 
to the positions of First Secretary of the Communist Party 
in Matanzas and Villa Clara, respectively.  The two come 
from very different backgrounds.  Betancourt, who appears 
to be in his early 40s, worked as an automotive mechanic 
before dedicating himself to Party activities.  Ruiz, who 
appears slightly older, is a former teacher and 
administrator.  Both men have ten years experience as 
Party apparatchiks. 
 
Feisty 
------ 
 
8. (S) Reuters journalist Marc Frank said the GOC had 
followed the course of the Iraq War closely, and increased 
defense spending last year by several million USD to 
include the purchase of small arms (sniper rifles and 
homemade bomb kits as opposed to tanks).  Frank spoke to a 
Cuban veteran eager to take up small arms and fight off a 
U.S. invasion.  The vet confessed he hadn't fired a rifle 
in fifteen years, but remembered how to make a Molotov 
cocktail.  (Note:  GOC propaganda regularly warns the 
population of a potential U.S. invasion, using Iraq as an 
example of USG intentions towards Cuba.  State-run media 
report every day on U.S. casualties, just like The New 
York Times.  End Note.) 
 
New Strategy:  Give 'Em Money, Make 'Em Spend It 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
9. (C) Observers claimed last year's increase in Cuban 
salaries and pensions would lead to inflation.  Low 
production was expected to increase inflationary 
pressures.  Reuters journalist Marc Frank said Castro had 
resolved the inflation problem in the short term by 
creating "artificial production," i.e., spending millions 
of dollars on cheap, high demand consumer goods (like 
Chinese pressure cookers) and selling them in Cuban pesos. 
The strategy recoups the extra liquidity injected by the 
salary increase, thus putting a damper on inflation. 
 
10. (C) In a broader sense, Frank thought the GOC had 
adopted a new strategy to go from simply "subsidizing 
everything" to raising salaries and insisting people pay 
for goods and services.  This would explain recent moves 
such as electricity hikes, the wide distribution of 
Chinese electro domestic appliances and Castro's threats 
to do away with the ration system.  (Cubans tell us 
regularly that the Chinese appliances are defective and 
don't save them money on electric bills.  One model has a 
plastic blue thermostat button that melts when the oven is 
on.) 
 
Just Below the Surface 
---------------------- 
 
11. (C) AFP journalist Patrick Lescot lives in Miramar, a 
once-privileged neighborhood that still houses many light- 
skinned descendants of rich families.  Lescot integrated 
himself into his local Committee for the Defense of the 
Revolution (CDR, or block organization).  He told P/E 
Officer that many of his white, elderly neighbors are 
fierce patriots who fought in Angola and love Fidel. 
Despite their so-called revolutionary credentials, they 
are openly racist, blaming the country's ills on "lazy, 
thieving blacks."  Lescot theorized that Fidel earns much 
 
HAVANA 00010189  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
bedrock support from white Cubans who see him as their 
protector from the black hordes.  "Their deepest fear," he 
said, "is that Fidel will die and the blacks will take 
over the country." 
 
12. (C) Cuban businessman Maximo Lopez laughed off this 
theory but conjectured that Castro himself was deeply 
racist.  Lopez, a self-described "lover of mulattas," said 
Castro had maintained many white mistresses over the 
years, but never a mixed-race or black woman.  Lopez also 
pointed out there were no blacks among Castro's intimate 
advisers.  In a country where the vast majority of the 
population is black or mixed race, Lopez insisted only a 
racist could mingle so exclusively with whites.  Also, in 
Cuban Air Force defector Rafael del Pino's memoirs, he 
quotes Castro as stating, "We'll only have to pay a 
pittance of an indemnity to those black guys," when he 
ordered the Cuban Air Force to sink a Bahamian ship in 
1980. 
 
13. (C) Burkinabe First Secretary Issa Soma believes the 
absence of blacks in leadership positions is only one part 
of a much bigger problem:  Pervasive racism.  He described 
Cuba as a society fundamentally divided between poor 
blacks and privileged whites.  He felt tensions ran so 
deep, they would preclude a peaceful transition after 
Castro's departure.  He said Castro's strong hand kept a 
lid on the situation, but without him, "it would explode." 
Bulgarian Commercial Officer Galina Kostadinova, who is 
married to a Cuban, said racial divisions were more marked 
outside Havana.  Racism runs deeper, and there is less 
racial mixing as a result. 
 
14. (U) Comment:  The Revolution claims to have vanquished 
racism, and many Cubans say it doesn't exist.  They tend 
to avoid serious discussions about race, though the topic 
comes up regularly via jokes, stereotypes, hand gestures 
and derogatory comments.  An issue so long repressed could 
erupt violently and unpredictably.  End Comment. 
 
CDRs... Who Needs 'Em? 
---------------------- 
 
15. (C) Canadian academic Hal Klepak said CDRs were losing 
ground in their efforts to keep Cubans in line.  Many CDR 
officials are themselves involved in illegal activities 
and in no position to turn in others.  Others don't want 
to continue living in neighborhoods where they've become 
known as snitches.  Klepak claimed CDR counterparts in the 
Soviet Union operated more effectively because the rewards 
were greater and the punishment of transgressors much 
harsher.  As one Cuban commented, "No one wants to be CDR 
president anymore.  It's just a pain.  You have to do all 
this stuff, and for what?"  (Comment:  Yogi Berra's line: 
"Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore; it's too crowded" 
may apply here.  CDRs are still very much a factor in 
every day life.  End Comment.) 
 
Creeping Sloth 
-------------- 
 
16. (C) Swiss businessman Christian Laemmler told P/E 
Officer that Cubans have grown unaccustomed to hard work. 
He said the Cuban economy stays afloat by paying nearly 
nothing in salaries and misappropriating everything in 
goods.  The lower the salaries, the more goods are stolen 
and the less people work.  Chinese Ambassador Zhao told 
COM the entire Cuban culture, including the work ethic, is 
reminiscent of China during the early 1980's.  (People 
showed up for work when they chose to and left on a whim.) 
When the Chinese chancery required a major overhaul, Zhao 
simply brought in Chinese workers to do the job, bypassing 
the Cuban services contractor CUBALSE.  The principal 
advantage of the strategy, said Zhao, was that Chinese 
laborers put in a full day's work.  Zhao noted that 
CUBALSE officials had commented pointedly to him on how 
much luckier the Chinese were for being able to use non- 
Cuban laborers. 
 
17. (SBU) A domestic employee of a USINT officer said many 
of her friends had turned down opportunities to work for 
foreigners because the duties were expected to be overly 
burdensome.  They turned down these jobs even though 
 
HAVANA 00010189  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
"everyone knows that's where you make the most money." 
Another Cuban who works under the table as a fitness 
instructor gets around on her bike because she can't find 
anyone willing to chauffeur her motorcycle.  She 
explained, "Every one wants dollars, but no one wants to 
do anything for them." 
 
Neat Trick (Part I) 
------------------- 
 
18. (SBU) Last week, a Dutch businesswoman exchanged a 
large quantity of euros at the Casa de Cambio (Money 
Exchange).  When she requested a receipt for the 
transaction, the teller "discovered" she had shortchanged 
the foreigner by fifty cents.  The Dutch woman calculated 
the teller only had to perform the stunt twenty times a 
day to earn an extra two hundred USD on top of her 
official income (equivalent to fifteen USD per month). 
 
Neat Trick (Part II) 
-------------------- 
 
19. (SBU) A foreigner working in a joint venture couldn't 
understand why his cell phone bill went up by 300 USD one 
month.  He approached ETECSA (the Italian-Cuban telecom 
joint venture) to inquire.  After some investigation, he 
discovered each call had been broken down into separate 
calls of one minute's duration.  For example, a ten minute 
call to Spain was being charged like ten calls to Spain of 
one minute each. 
 
How (Not) To Make Money in Cuba 
------------------------------- 
 
20. (C) Local British entrepreneur Steve Marshall 
attempted to launch an IT operation in Cuba to design 
internet sites for Cuban entities.  He set up a joint 
venture in 2000 under the Ministry of Informatics and 
Communications (MIC).  He invested 50,000 USD in computer 
equipment and office space.  He hired a Cuban staff of 
programmers and signed contracts with various GOC state 
companies.  Each company committed to pay several thousand 
dollars per web site, payable in monthly installments of 
1,000 USD.  Marshall's contract stipulated that after 
recouping his investment plus an additional percentage, 
the entire operation would revert to Cuban hands. 
 
21. (C) One day Marshall showed up unannounced to discover 
all his programmers working on private projects:  "One was 
doing a web site to advertise his brother's house rental; 
another was designing a web site that we hadn't 
contracted, etc."  The computers were operating at very 
slow speeds; apparently Marshall's staff had bypassed the 
padlocks on the hard drives and stolen most of the 
available memory. 
 
22. (C) To make matters worse, Marshall's clients stopped 
making their payments.  Marshall complained to MIC, then 
showed up one day to find the front door of his office 
chained shut.  MIC officials said they could not allow the 
operation to continue until the "payments dispute" was 
resolved.  (Marshall later discovered that MIC continued 
to use his staff and equipment on the sly to design web 
sites.)  Marshall unloaded the operation on a Dutch 
investor, but continued working through the Cuban courts 
system to recoup the investment.  A year later, MIC handed 
over the computers.  Marshall inspected them.  "They stole 
all the components, and our Pentiums were left with the 
operating capacity of junked 486 computers from the '90s." 
 
Cuban Organics - Lots of Green Hype 
----------------------------------- 
 
23. (U) Cuba's cooperative urban gardens, or 
"organoponicos," were established in the '90s to soak up 
urban unemployment and increase food availability in the 
cities.  The GOC took advantage of bankruptcy to prohibit 
the use of environmentally-damaging (and expensive) 
pesticides in organoponicos.  (Organoponico is a made-up 
word stemming from hydroponico, or hydroponic farming, a 
fad that didn't last long in Cuba due to the expense of 
chemical fertilizers.) 
 
 
HAVANA 00010189  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
24. (SBU) The organoponico project became an effective GOC 
propaganda tool because it proves to sympathetic 
foreigners -- especially "Greens" -- that Cuba is on the 
cutting edge of the organic movement.  Most foreigners 
interested in the program are steered towards the 
beautifully outfitted "Organoponico Alamar" in the 
outskirts of Havana.  The farm stand and urban garden were 
founded seven years ago on an empty lot in the Alamar 
housing project.  Director Miguel Salcines pointed out 
state-of-the-art techniques to P/E Officer, including 
raised beds, timed irrigation, earthworm cultivation, crop 
rotation, even a cafeteria and chart showing how each 
worker shared in the profits. 
 
25. (SBU) The truth is, however, that most organoponicos 
have little in common with Salcines' Potemkin farm.  They 
are low-level productions, with rickety stands and little 
in the way of infrastructure.  Produce at organoponicos 
sells for pennies, but the selection is wildly 
unpredictable (at one organoponico, P/E officer found 
nothing but radishes and parsley for sale).  Most 
organoponicos are not located in high density 
neighborhoods and can be difficult to access.  At an 
organoponico near Jose Marti airport, P/E officer glimpsed 
an agricultural worker wearing protective gear and 
spraying the plants - not a typically "organic" practice. 
 
26. (C) Organoponicos are strictly small-scale, but many 
other Cuban agricultural operations have moved to organics 
by default.  Cuban farmers have by now developed 
commendable organic practices, and organic farming 
accounts for perhaps 10 million USD in Cuba's GDP (mostly 
honey to Europe and coffee to Japan).  Their dedication to 
environmentally responsible farming is questionable, 
however, given Cuba's farms were driven to organics not by 
choice but in desperation.  Bill Messina, a citrus expert 
from the University of Florida, told P/E Officer of the 
many occasions Cuban farmers told him, "...if only I had a 
little in the way of pesticides, or fertilizers..." 
PARMLY