The plot reads like a detective novel — shadowy oligarchs, a phantom airline, an unexplained death and a tropical island on the cusp of change. The twist is that this tale of alleged capitalist greed and corruption unfolds in Cuba, in the twilight of Castro rule, and the detectives are Communist Party officials.
If this were fiction, the author would be accused of over-egging things by making one of the protagonists a former bodyguard for former Chilean president Salvador Allende who becomes a guerrilla commander and ends up a tycoon nicknamed Potbelly.
Cuba’s biggest corruption scandal in years has ensnared stalwarts of the revolution, led to dozens of arrests and resignations and shone a light on clandestine preparations for the government’s possible collapse. An investigation into the food firm Rio Zaza — a joint venture between the Cuban government and the Chilean bodyguard-turned-businessman, Max Marambio — has spread to the airport, where senior officials allegedly used state aircraft to rake in millions of illicit dollars.
The civil aviation minister, Rogelio Acevedo, was fired in April and last month it was the turn of Jorge Luis Sierra Cruz, the transport minister, to be “liberated from his duties for errors committed in the performance of his functions.”
Corruption scandals are not new, but what has shocked Cubans is that the alleged scams are said to have been an effort to cash in before things crumble.
“It has become evident that there are people in government and state positions who are preparing a financial assault for when the revolution falls,” Esteban Morales, a historian and prominent commentator, wrote on the Web site of the state National Artists and Writers Union of Cuba.
Corruption posed a graver threat to the revolution than political dissidents, he said, because it came from within — from greedy party apparatchiks.
“Others are likely have everything ready to produce the transfer of state property into private hands, like what happened in the former Soviet Union,” he said.
The scandal broke in December last year, when the authorities jailed Lucy Leal, an accountant for Rio Zaza, over alleged irregularities at the food and drinks producer. More arrests followed, including employees of a sister company, the Sol y Son travel agency. In April, Rio Zaza’s Chilean manager, Roberto Baudrand, was found dead in his Havana flat in unexplained circumstances.
Suicide, said some; stress caused by seven-hour interrogation sessions, others said. Chilean diplomats lobbied in vain for an independent post-mortem examination.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed. Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” “Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines
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