Chambers Global 2008 has launched online

The 2008 edition of Chambers Global is now available online. The rankings and editorial comment about lawyers are independent and objective. Inclusion in this section of the guide is based solely on the research team's findings. It lists the top lawyers in 175 countries.

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CIA Plans Destabilization and Military Intervention in Venezuela

Venezuelan counterintelligence reveals a sinister plan to destabilize the upcoming Referendum for Dec 2 using psychological tactics to create violent uprising with the objective of encouraging an armed insurrection in Venezuela against the government of President Chavez that will justify an intervention of US forces.

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Israeli municipal court had Google reveal a blogger's identity.

Google Israel was compelled by Israeli local court to disclose Blogger.com blogger IP address. Google agreed to supply the information, but not before the court suggested that the same blogger would be given a chance to respond to the motion anonymously.

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Nov. 26, 2007

 

Cuban Weekly News Digest  - "A compilation of news articles about Cuba, distributed since 1992 in order to encourage a more balanced understanding of the Cuban situation and to promote investments in the Republic of Cuba"

ASSOCIATED PRESS - HAVANA – Cuba announced it has set Jan. 20 for national elections that are part of the process of determining whether ailing leader Fidel Castro continues as president. The ruling, signed by interim leader Raul Castro and read on state television, set the date for elections to provincial and national assemblies – voting that is held every five years. There was no explicit mention of Fidel Castro, but the 81-year-old leader of the Cuban Revolution must be re-elected to the national parliament before he could repeat as president of the Council of State to remain in full power. Raul, 76, is the council's first vice president

The January elections come almost 18 months after the elder Castro stepped aside on July 31, 2006, because of emergency intestinal surgery, provisionally ceding his functions to his brother and a team of other top leaders. He has not been seen in public since, appearing only in official photographs and videos and regularly writing essays with mostly international themes. The parliament, known in Cuba as the National Assembly, elects a new council every five years, several weeks after deputies are elected. It was not announced when the new National Assembly would meet for the first time to renew the top council members.

Cuba's constitution calls for the council's first vice president, currently Raul Castro, to fill the presidential slot when vacated. Fidel, Cuba's unchallenged leader since 1959, held the council presidency since its 1976 creation. Phil Peters, a Cuba analyst with the pro-democracy Lexington think tank outside Washington, said January's vote would be “an election with real suspense.” “If (Fidel) doesn't put his name on the ballot, he is effectively resigning,” Peters said. However, even if Castro relinquishes the presidency, he could still play a key role in the nation's leadership in his current position as Communist Party general secretary – arguably a more politically powerful job – or in a new emeritus position. Vicki Huddleston, America's top diplomat in Cuba from 1999-2001, said it seemed likely Raul Castro would be Cuba's next Council of State president. “Very few people imagine that Fidel will return to power in an active position,” said Huddleston.

Cuba recently held the first round of its election process, with more than 8.1 million voters – 95 percent of those registered – casting ballots in late October to elect more than 12,000 delegates to 169 municipal assemblies across the island. Those assemblies are now choosing candidates for provincial and national assembly seats. Anyone 16 or older can vote in Cuba and casting a ballot is not mandatory. Membership in the Communist Party – the only legal political party on the island – also is not required. Small dissident groups – which are tolerated but dismissed by Cuba's government as mercenaries of the United States – boycotted the municipal elections.

HAVANA - (Reuters) - Caribbean presidents will gather in Cuba next month for a meeting of Petrocaribe, which supplies Venezuelan oil to the region at preferential prices, Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba said on Friday. Ali Rodriguez said the summit will coincide with the reopening of a 65,000-barrel-a-day refinery that is being overhauled by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez plans to inaugurate in mid-December. The Soviet-era refinery at Cienfuegos on Cuba's south coast will serve as a Petrocaribe hub to supply import-dependent Caribbean islands with refined products such as gasoline, diesel and aviation jet fuel. "The Petrocaribe meeting and the inauguration of the refinery will be done at the same time," Rodriguez said at a news conference in Havana. The exact dates of the meeting have yet to be worked out, he said. Fifteen Caribbean nations --all but Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados -- benefit from the 2005 Venezuelan initiative, which allows them to defer payment of 40 percent of their oil bill for 20 years with a low-interest rate of 1 percent. The favorable terms for purchases of up to 200,000 barrels a day have increased Chavez's influence in the Caribbean where he has struck a close alliance with communist-run Cuba.

Rodriguez said Venezuela maintains a stable supply of crude and refined products to Cuba -- officially put at 92,000 bpd -- but shipments will increase to feed the Cienfuegos refinery. Processing capacity at Cienfuegos will expand to 109,000 bpd in the near future, said Rodriguez, Venezuela's former oil minister. Rodriguez also said Venezuela could help Cuba build a plant to improve its heavy crude. Cuba produces 65,000 bpd of high-sulfur oil, most of which is burned in thermoelectric power plants, and output is increasing. Renovation of the long-dormant Cienfuegos refinery by a joint venture between the state oil companies CUPET of Cuba and PDVSA of Venezuela, cost an estimated $500 million.

Havana - (acn) - Members of U.S' National Lawyers Guild endorsed a call for an international investigation into their government's failure to address the denial of justice in the case of the Five Cubans, who have been unfairly imprisoned for more than nine years. Gathered on their 70th annual conference in Washington DC, the American lawyers passed Monday, November 19, a resolution supporting their call. The document briefly reviews the case and points to the Cuban and international efforts to achieve the release of the five men, which have gone unheard. It also compares the Cubans' case to that of terrorist Posada Carriles, known as being the mastermind of several acts of terrorism against Cuban government's leaders and people.
Likewise, the resolution mentions the human rights violations committed against the Five. It explains that they have been subjected to solitary confinement without enough reasons supporting the measure, and that they are not allowed to receive family visits, as the U.S government keeps denying entry visas to Gerardo Hernandez' wife Adriana Perez, and Rene Gonzalez' Olga Salanueva. Finally, the lawyers called upon the American government to either release the Cuban prisoners or provide them with a new trial and to immediately grant entry permit to the wives of the two Cubans. They also asked the U.S media to significantly cover the case and urged the UN's Human Rights Commission to lead a probe into the American government for its lack of compliance.

La Paz - (Prensa Latina) - Delegations from Bolivia and Cuba signed in this capital an economic complementation accord to boost new trade relations. According to Cuban Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Pedro Luis Padron, the regulation strengthens bilateral links from the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) country members. Padron told Prensa Latina that the accord reaffirms a larger reconciliation among governments and brother peoples, which include facilities of access to market, among other preferences.

He stated that the zero tax liability for the commercial operation of products from both countries corresponds with accords of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas and the Peoples' Trade Agreement, inked by both governments. Also included are ruling issues, solution of controversies, and phytosanitary measures. The participation of Bolivian companies in the Havana International Fair and Cuban enterprises in the Cochabamba and Santa Cruz expos is an example of the potentiality of exchange to benefit our peoples, Padron stated.

MIAMI - The Miami Herald - In a significant shift in Cuba migration policy, the U.S. government announced last Wednesday it was creating a new program that would reduce the long delays many Cubans experience in securing visas to enter the United States. Under the new Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, Cubans granted permission to travel here by U.S. authorities will no longer have to wait in Cuba to receive permanent residency. They will now be given a travel document that would ''parole'' them into the United States, so they can wait here for their green card to be delivered to them.

Even with the new program, however, there is no guarantee that Cubans with approved parole will enter the country any faster. That's because they still must get an exit permit from the Cuban government. It's unclear whether or not Havana will even recognize the new U.S. program. Cuban Interests Section officials in Washington did not return a call asking for comment. Officials with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said they hope the new program will discourage Cubans from attempting to illegally enter the United States by hiring smugglers or transporting themselves across the seas. Those likely to benefit from the new parole program include siblings and adult children of Cuban exiles who are U.S. citizens or spouses, and minor children of Cuban green card holders.

Visas are normally available quickly for immediate relatives such as spouses, minor children and parents of U.S.</ST1< span>