Indiana Senator: Ease Trade, Travel Restrictions to Cuba

U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R.-Ind.) joined 16 other Republican and Democratic Senators on a bill introduced yesterday easing U.S. trade restrictions to Cuba, the Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2009 (S. 1089), his office reports.

The bill would help U.S. farmers and ranchers export their products to Cuba by allowing timely and direct cash payments for agricultural goods. The bill also requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba. Additionally, the bill lifts the current travel ban, allowing U.S. citizens and legal residents to travel to Cuba, and it eases restrictions on exports of medicines and medical devices, Lugar's office explains.

.

"Great Decisions" Series Starts Next Month

The Great Decisions Lecture Series addresses eight current international issues important to the United States. The series includes a lecture followed by group discussion.

Participation in this Indy-based series, sponsored by the Indiana Council on World Affairs, is open to the public, with sessions scheduled for eight Tuesday evenings. They will be held in the Pharmacy Building, Butler University, Indianapolis. Registration begins at 7 p.m. with the program following at 7:30 p.m.

THE ARCTIC AGE - 3 February - Richard Fredland, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Political Science, Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis

AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN - 10 February - Milind Thakar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Indianapolis

ENERGY & THE GLOBAL ECONOMY - 17 February - Jesse Kharbanda, Executive Director, Hoosier Environmental Council

THE U.S. AND RISING POWERS - 24 February - Pierre Atlas, Ph.D., Director of the Richard G. Lugar Franciscan Center for Global Studies, Marian College

EGYPT IN THE 21ST CENTURY - 3 March - Amira Mashhour, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, World Languages and Cultures, IUPUI

GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY - 17 March - James Morris, Former Executive Director of the U.N. World Food Program

CUBA AFTER CASTRO - 24 March - Gaston Fernandez, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Indiana State University

UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS? - 31 March - Paul Hanson, Ph.D., Professor of History, Butler University

For further information on the local, contact Annette Johansson, 317:879-1338.

"Great Decisions" is a program of the Foreign Policy Association.

Raúl's Cuba

Marifeli Pérez-Stable (right) will discuss ""Raúl's Cuba: Domestic and International Challenges" at 4:15 p.m. Thursday (3 April) in Room C103, Hesburgh Center, University of Notre Dame, South Bend.

Dr. Pérez-Stable is vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, DC, and a professor of sociology at Miami’s Florida International University. She is also the director of “National Dialogues on Democracy in Latin America,” a project sponsored by the Inter-American Dialogue with the cooperation of the Organization of American States.

An abstract of her presentation:
"In February 2008, Raúl Castro assumed the presidencies of the Cuban councils of state and ministries, choosing hard-liner José Ramón Machado Ventura as first vice president of both councils. In his inaugural speech, Raúl announced a restructuring of the state administration, hinted at economic reforms, and said he would delay naming ministers until the end of 2008.....

"Raúl’s principal domestic challenges are to maintain political control and improve living standards. His international obstacles include improving relations with the US, and maintaining positive relations with Hugo Chávez, while lessening Cuban dependence on Venezuelan oil."

Guantanamo Bay: The Struggle for Human Rights

James Yee, Former US Army Muslim Chaplain, will speak on "Guantanamo Bay: The Struggle for Human Rights" at 5 p.m. Thursday (12 April) in Wynne Courtroom of the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis, 530 West New York Street, Indianapolis.

Yee is a former US Army Chaplain and graduate of West Point who served as the Muslim Chaplain for the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After being officially recognized twice for outstanding performance, Captain Yee was arrested and imprisoned in a Naval brig for 76 days in September 2003 while being falsely accused of spying, espionage, and aiding the alleged Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners.

Yee's gripping account of his Guantanamo experience and struggle for justice has been recently published and is entitled For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.

For more information contact Tori Calvert, (317) 635-4059 ext. 233.

"Everything is Separated by Water"

"Regalos/Gifts: a Public Performance" is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday (24 February) in the Pulliam Great Hall of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis.

A notice from the IMA says, "A regalo is a gift, a gesture that extends the self into another as a way to communicate. In this performance, the artist's body forms a bridge, an informational memory line, to the audience."

The artist giving the performance is María Magdalena Campos-Pons, whose work is featured in IMA's special exhibition, "Everything Is Separated by Water", open Sunday (25 February) through 3 June.

The IMA notes, "As the first in-depth exhibition of María Magdalena Campos-Pons, one of the most important Cuban artists working today, this show features 34 major works including paintings, sculptures, new media installations, and large-format Polaroid photographs that the artist produced since leaving Cuba in 1990. Campos-Pons re-assembles fragments and symbols of personal and collective memories in order to grapple with her imagined displacement from Africa, her actual exile from Cuba, and her experience as a black Cuban woman living in North America."

The exhibit was organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art with support in part by grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Admission to the special exhibit is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors (65 and over); $6 for children ages 7-17 and college students with valid ID, and free for children six and under and IMA members.

Saturday's performance, however, is open to the public at no charge.