Private Cuban video shows corruption cases

Posted on Wednesday, 02.01.12

Private Cuban video shows corruption cases

Top officials are getting private showings of a video that purportedly
details ongoing corruption investigations.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

The Cuban government is summoning top loyalists to private showings of a
video on the evils of corruption, singled out by ruler Raúl Castro in
many speeches as the main threat to the survival of the revolution.

The video details some of the island's ongoing corruption
investigations, according to Havana residents who spoke with officials
who watched it.

Castro appeared to confirm the video when he lashed out at corruption
during a lengthy section of his Sunday speech to the Communist Party of
Cuba: "In the last few weeks, deputies to the National Assembly and many
cadres and functionaries around the country have received lots of
information on some investigations on this issue."

Castro also repeated his argument that corruption was "one of the
principal enemies of the revolution, much more prejudicial" than the
U.S. government's "subversive" campaign to assist pro-democracy and
civil-society activists on the island.

Cuba has used privately shown videos in the past to disseminate
allegations against top government officials, such as the unguarded
banter about Fidel Castro's succession that led to the dismissal of
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and others in 2009.

Corruption has long been a scourge on the island, with foreign companies
paying bribes to senior island officials who sign off on large deals,
and average Cubans pilfering state goods, such as gasoline and
construction materials.

Castro cracked down on the corruption after he succeeded ailing brother
Fidel in 2006, creating the post of comptroller general to audit
government offices and state-run enterprises.

Some of the scandals involved Cuba's telecommunications, aviation,
nickel, cigar, construction, and other industries, and have reportedly
led to the arrests or dismissals of scores of government officials.

Caught in the crackdown have been the British-owned Coral Capital Group,
a trading company that had announced plans to invest $1 billion, and two
Canadian companies, the Tokmakjian Group and Tri-Star Caribbean.

Castro told the Communist Party of Cuba's weekend gathering that details
of the corruption cases will be made public "at the appropriate time,
after the courts rule."

He added that the Cubans under investigation are "frequently" party
members, and noted that changes in party rules will allow their
immediate expulsion — once a sanction reserved for treason and other
grave crimes.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/01/2620095/private-cuban-video-shows-corruption.html