President's Interpreter in Fight on Cuba Ban

[Judi Lynn]

January 4, 2004


CALIFORNIA
President's Interpreter in Fight on Cuba Ban


By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer


BERKELEY — Two months ago, Fred Burks sat at the side of George W. Bush, serving as the president's trusted interpreter during a whirlwind visit to the Indonesian island of Bali.

Today, he's locked in a testy fight with the Bush administration over a trip he took four years ago to Cuba. (snip)

(snip) In October, the president pledged in a Rose Garden address to redouble the nation's enforcement of Cuban travel restrictions because of ongoing oppression by the regime of Fidel Castro. With that presidential declaration, U.S. authorities clamped down on travel to and from Cuba. They also pressed forward with more than 100 unresolved penalty cases against tourists who had visited Cuba without proper federal permission.

The first person snagged in the tighter net was Fred Burks, presidential interpreter, a man who speaks four languages and has worked on contract for the State Department for more than a dozen years.

"They're trying to make an example of me," said Burks, 45. "I never intended to make a big deal out of this. But I'm going to do what it takes to establish a precedent. I just don't agree with this policy."
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cuba4jan04,1,6665024.story?coll=la-home-local
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[Judi Lynn]

1. Something some DU'ers may not know

From the Cuba paper, Granma (this can also be verified by checking
The State of the World’s Children 2004 from UNICEF):

(snip) 6.3 INFANT MORTALITY IN 2003
Cuba has the lowest rate in Latin America

BY JOSÉ A. DE LA OSA—Granma daily staff writer—

IN 2003 Cuba attained a 6.3 infant mortality rate on the international indicator that measures the state of health of the population and in particular, the development of maternal-infant care. That makes us the Latin American country with the lowest rate.

According to The State of the World’s Children 2004, published by UNICEF, the United States registers 7.0.

Over the last five years the performance in our country has been as follows: 6.4 in 1999, 7.2 in 2000, 6.2 in 2001, 6.5 in 2002 and 6.3 in 2003.

The infant mortality rate measure includes all the deaths of children aged up to one year within the live birth population over a 12-month period. It is known that the rate is affected by multiple social, economic and scientific factors. Thus the maximum and minimum rates give an idea of differences existing among nations and also within geographic areas of the same nation. (snip/...)

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/enero/lun5/mortalidad.html

[Hamlette]

3. Cuba also has a 100% literacy rate

The US ranks 37th of all nations in medical care and pays more than any country for medical care.

Of course, things like that don't matter since we've turned our country over to the mean money moguls.

[Say_What]

2. Gotta keep the MiamiGusanos happy--at least 'till November

I like this guy. If he's as ballsy as his father this'll be amusing to watch. From the article:

...the fine never got low enough to suit Burks. In 2001, he even declined a bargain-basement settlement offer of $250. Burks was willing to pay just $100.