From: "PL" <pl@pandora.be>
Subject: Date: Sunday, July 25, 2004 3:29 PM
Rum maker longs to return to Cuba
Castro loyalists say Bacard=C3=AD would recoup seized property by force
07:50 PM CDT on Saturday, July 24, 2004
By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News
HAVANA - El Coco, they called it. It was a 98-year-old palm tree that
withered and died in 1960 after Fidel Castro took power.
It stood in front of the Bacard=C3=AD rum factory. Now company =
executives hope to
plant a new coconut palm, after Mr. Castro is gone. They say they'll put =
it
in the same patch of green earth where the first tree sprouted in 1862.
They want their land back, too. And their distillery and their office
buildings.
Castro loyalists say it's not going to happen. The rebels defeated
U.S.-backed Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista in 1959. And there's no =
turning
back, they say.
The Cuban government seized about $1.85 billion in property after the
revolution, according to Cuba Certified Claims, a nonprofit group that
represents many of the original property owners.
The group - and Bush administration officials - say the United States =
cannot
have normal relations with Cuba unless the claims are settled.
The Bush administration in May unveiled a transition plan for Cuba aimed =
at
bringing democracy to the country, boosting the economy and settling the
thousands of property claims.
The Bacard=C3=AD company has been among the most active in trying to =
recover its
properties. The company's original factory was built in Santiago de =
Cuba,
the island's second-largest city. Two brothers, Facundo and Emilio =
Bacard=C3=AD,
ran the operation.
Bacard=C3=AD officials contend that Mr. Castro's government illegally =
seized the
company's distillery and other assets in 1960. The Bacard=C3=AD family =
fled and
family members eventually set up shop in the Bahamas. The company is now =
the
world's leading rum producer and sells its products in 170 countries.
Cuban officials attending the International Rum Festival in Havana in =
June
alleged that Bacard=C3=AD has sought to oust Mr. Castro through violent =
means.
And a White House letter dated June 1964 and declassified in 1998 says,
"Attached is a memorandum from CIA describing a plot to assassinate =
Castro
which would involve U.S. elements of the Mafia and which would be =
financed
by Pep=C3=ADn Bosch."
The late Jos=C3=A9 Pep=C3=ADn Bosch was then the director of =
Bacard=C3=AD.
Hernando Calvo Ospina, a Colombian journalist and author of the book,
Bacard=C3=AD Rum: A Hidden War, said Mr. Bosch also wanted to bomb =
Cuba's oil
refineries in hopes of creating blackouts that would turn the masses =
against
Mr. Castro.
The New York Times wrote about it, and the plan was scrapped, the book =
says.
Bacard=C3=AD executives have been instrumental in lobbying for tougher =
economic
sanctions against Cuba, Mr. Calvo Ospina said. They have also helped =
fund
such anti-Castro organizations as the Cuban American National =
Foundation,
which has been accused of financing plots to murder Mr. Castro, he said.
Patricia Neal, a Bacard=C3=AD spokeswoman, denied the accusations.
"We're not going to be engaged in those types of things," she said.
Leaders of the Cuban exile community in Miami also rejected the claims.
"There's no truth to any of it," said Francisco "Pepe" Hern=C3=A1ndez, =
former
president of the Miami foundation. "Neither Bacard=C3=AD or the =
foundation have
taken part in any of that. It's typical of the regime, an effort to try =
to
destroy us morally in the mind of the public."
Cuban officials insist Bacard=C3=AD has funded anti-Castro groups.
"We have proof they've participated in this kind of financing," said =
Eduardo
Bencomo, president of CIMEX, the largest dollar-earning Cuban company =
and
the distributor of the island's leading brands of rum.
Bacard=C3=AD's quarrel with the Cuban government goes beyond politics =
and money.
The company has been locked in a trademark war with Cuba for more than =
four
decades. It claims the rights to the Havana Club label. Cuba and Pernod
Ricard, a French company that distributes Cuban-made Havana Club rum,
dispute that.
If the ban on trade with Cuba were lifted, Havana Club would likely have
trouble keeping up with the demand at first, said Edward Hamilton, =
author of
The Complete Guide to Rum and Rums of the Eastern Caribbean .
"Good rum takes years to mature. It would be difficult to meet the =
initial
demand, and the quality would most likely drop in the near term."
For now, though, Cuban rum is quite good, said Mr. Hamilton, a resident =
of
Culebra, Puerto Rico.
"The older Cuban rums generally have hints of lightly roasted nuts, a =
little
smoky vanilla and caramel taste in the body and a light charred wood =
note in
the finish," he said. "These characteristics can be found in many rums, =
but
it is the balance of these flavors that makes Cuban rums distinct. And =
they
vary from distillery to distillery much the way Cuban food varies."
Rum at the Santa Cruz distillery east of Havana is aged in oak barrels
imported from the United States more than 30 years ago.
"This industry is ours," said Juan Carlos Gonz=C3=A1lez, 53, a rum =
master at the
distillery. "It's a part of our culture. You come across three or four
friends and you don't think of offering a bottle of whiskey or brandy. =
You
offer rum."
Mr. Bencomo is also a rum aficionado and has hosted 67 delegations of
American business people over the past two years.
"We meet and I ask them, 'Do you want a shot of rum?' They all say yes."
E-mail
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/072504dnin=
tcubarum.98714.html
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