I've read that the "Independent Libraries project" is a political front, for terrorist groups in Miami. One group that hosts their webpage is called the Directorio, which receives lots of money from the US government, and supports the Embargo. Where is their office?

Does the Directorio pay the people they ask to take donations to their political satellites, oops!, I mean 'libaries' in Cuba? Do they give you advance training at some secret facility somewhere? Will they buy your airline tickets, or pay your OFAC fine when you return? Do they carve out the center of those books for a secret stash, or just put money between the pages? What will they do if you get thrown in jail like Douglas Schimmel did, for ummmmm giving Sinbad the Sailor to a 'library'?

Write up a good story for CubaLies.com? Or just spam Thorntree and other tourist websites for the next year, "See How Commie Cuba Persecutes Tourists!"

What happened to the crime, the dengue epidemic, and all those sharks gobbling up Germans at Varadero?

So many questions, so much confusion.

1) Number Of Dengue Cases In Havana On The Increase

HAVANA, August 30 (Juan Carlos Linares) In spite of a fumigation campaign designed to erradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the number of cases of dengue fever reported in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality of Havana keeps growing, said a public health specialist who asked to remain anonymous.

The Cuban press and the local government entities have not made any details of the outbreak public, presumably in order not to contradict the official government line that holds that excellence in health care is one of the accomplishments of Socialism and that Cuba is a "medical power."

Only two days ago, a local director of public health authorized erradication workers to inform the public as to the aims of the campaign, saying the public needed to be aware for the campaign to work.

The neighborhoods of Párraga, Mantilla, El Moro, and La Lira are said to have recorded the highest incidence of cases so far. There are reports that El Calvario and Reparto Eléctrico also record high numbers.

"The Aedes aegypti has developed resistance to the insecticide used in the area. The primary cause of the epidemic is the negligence of the municipal officials of the Public Health Ministry, specifically as to the erradication of this type of mosquito," said the specialist.

2) Street Peddlers Harassed In Camagüey

CAMAGÜEY, August 30 (Homero Pacheco Ordóñez, CPIC) A police operative lead by lieutenant Antonio Álvarez rounded up and fined several street peddlers attempting to sell agricultural products in this city's San Ramón square on Tuesday.

"These peddlers are the solution to a serious problem, but the government orders the police to round them up because they are more efficient than the government distributors. It's revenge," said one resident who declined to give his name.

The peddlers try to work the streets around the government agricultural market, which cannot satisfy the demand of its potential customers.

One of the requirements imposed by authorities on the peddlers as a condition of licensing is that they cannot operate in any one location, they must always be on the move. This was the reason for the latest round of fines.

3) Five Customs Officers Implicated In Container Theft

HOLGUÍN, August 30 (Juan Carlos Garcell, APLO) Five customs officers formerly assigned to the port of Moa, in eastern Cuba, have been awaiting trial since June, presumably for having taken part in the theft of an indeterminate number of freight containers full of merchandise, according to knowledgeable sources at the port.

The containers were typically trucked to Santiago de Cuba and there put on ships to Havana, where the stolen merchandise was more easily disposed of. The operation was uncovered when a full container was changing trucks on the road from Moa to Santiago de Cuba.

The sources were afraid of reprisals and didn't want to reveal the names of the five, who will be charged with corruption, the taking of bribes, and theft. Presumably there are more people involved in the operation.

The incident is potentially embarrassing to the government, since jobs in customs are generally reserved for those who are considered "reliable" and are members of the Communist Party.

4) Cuban Phone Service Quirky And Undependable
Claudia Márquez Linares, Grupo Decoro

HAVANA, August In Havana, you can listen to the radio through a telephone, or pick-up telephone conversations through your radio or TV set; sometimes your neighbor's conversations come in clearer than the local radio stations.

This is not a new feature or an advance in communications technology; it is simply another instance of the poor service that customers of the Cuban telephone company ETECSA complain about constantly.

In spite of a slight increase in the number of lines and telephones in use, service standards of the joint Cuban-Italian company remain backward and quirky.

The company has stepped up the installation of public and private telephones, but the service has not kept pace. Most public phones around Havana, for example, are not in working order. The would-be user typically finds a screen that reads: 'Only good for emergency calls.' That may mean that the set is broken or that the coin box is full. ETECSA officials have repeatedly said they will address the situation, but they have been saying that for years.

Some months ago, the company started selling pre-paid telephone cards in pesos. The problem is that there are practically no phones that accept the cards.

In the air-conditioned phone booths ETECSA has placed in high-traffic areas of the capital, one in five phones takes the local currency, and that's usually the one with the 'Broken' sign.

In Havana's historic core, the company simply removed the phones that accepted pesos; customers must pay in dollars to use the remaining ones.

International calls also bring complaints. Cubans must go through an operator to make calls abroad. Some wags have said that instead of phone service, the company offers "a classical music service," because operators put customers on hold with music while they try to connect. Someone actually connecting in a half-hour, say, is considered lucky.

People try to adapt. A resident who didn't want to give his name said a woman in his neighborhood always lets him know when she can pick up his telephone conversations in her old, Caribe-brand TV set.

Please give more information on shark attack on German at Veradero. I no go there if true. Where are safe beach in Cuba from shark? I no see this yet in German newspaper.

Don't worry, you'd be much safer in Florida.

Because the anticubans say so!

Every day you can read about shark attacks in The Miami Herald, all of them in Florida.
Also there are a lot of sharks walking around Little Havana, they are worse than the sea sharks...........

Like, adding 'bloke' makes you sound British, when attacking Cuba. Gee, that's sooooo clever! Yes, we'll all be fooled into thinking the Embargo supporters are international. And that you're not just an anticuban troll from Dade or New York.

"I no see this yet in German newspaper" is another brilliant example: it's not what a German speaker would write, poor ESL style. Its more like "Oh you cuban man so hot, you want fucky fucky? Five dollah, no ten dollah you sooo ugly!" Try again, auf deutsche, bitte? Without squinting your eyes. FUCKWIT TROLL!

To answer your question, YES, CANF has STRONG TIES to terrorist organizations. There's a wonderful little diddy called "US: Haven to Terrorists" that we have on our website:
http://www.seattlecuba.org/US haven to terrorists.htm

Can anyone who affiliates themselves with CANF and get money from the US gov really defend themselves? I've yet to hear a response, except "the only good commie is a dead commie"...

Better CANF than cEAnf, I always say.

CAMAGÜEY, September 4 (Homero Pacheco Ordóñez, CPIC) Custodians and porters at the "shoppings," as people call the government owned dollar stores here, say numerous people have been caught stealing at the stores in the last few weeks.

"There is no pattern; it's a generalized problem. Both men and women of any age steal. Last week a pregnant woman tried to take two cans of condensed milk under her clothes. When she was apprehended she said she needed to strenghthen her diet," said one custodian.

Customers found stealing are immediately taken to the police station, where they have to pay heavy fines. Employees at the stores are charged for stolen items.

Many here who are close to the problem say the theft of merchandise is on the increase, and blame the worsening economic crisis faced by the population.

Posting CubaLies spam again and again: it's silly slanted news! Does anyone believe anything out of Miami, anyhow?

Lord knows, there's no shoplifting in that town. A 'crisis of capitalism' it must be.......