Cuba Says It Can Survive Ban on U.S. Remittances *** HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist-run Cuba reacted angrily on Friday to a report the Bush administration was considering suspending family remittances by Cuban-Americans and said its socialist economy would survive the blow. The cash remittances from relatives in the United States, now estimated to total as much as $1 billion a year, are a vital source of income for many Cubans coping with economic hardship in Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The New York Times reported on Thursday the Bush administration was studying a series of steps to punish the Cuban government for a recent crackdown on dissidents.
"More than four decades of revolution have demonstrated that are (sic) country is capable of facing any threat and defeating sinister plans of all kinds," a Cuban government statement said. "The punished will be many families ... and, what is worse, many elderly people who depend on theses remittances," said the statement, published on the front page of the Communist Party daily newspaper Granma. ***
Venezuelans Protest Cuba Crackdown, Meddling - Show solidarity with repressed Cuban people *** "We don't want Venezuela to be turned into another Cuba and that is what we are heading for. We have to show solidarity with the repressed Cuban people," said Marielena Adrianza, a consulting firm employee joining the opposition protest. Opponents of Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper elected in 1998 on a populist platform, brand him a fledgling dictator and fear he will drive Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism. He scoffs at their claims.
Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage riled foes of Chavez over the weekend when he criticized Venezuelan opposition leaders during a conference in Caracas. Friday's small demonstration came a day after Venezuela voted against a United Nations resolution urging Cuba to accept a visit by a human rights commission following the arrest of scores of Cuban dissidents. ***