Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush distort

[Hamlet]

Miami Herald
Thu, Jul. 22, 2004

Castro's sex-trade point lost on Bush, student says
BY MAURA REYNOLDS

WASHINGTON - Like many scholars, Charles Trumbull hoped that one day his work would attract attention in high places. So he might have been thrilled when the White House used one of his papers to draft a speech for President Bush last week.
But he's not.
In a hotel conference room in Tampa on Friday, Bush told law enforcement officials that Cuban President Fidel Castro was brazenly promoting sex tourism.
''The dictator welcomes sex tourism. Here's how he bragged about the industry,'' Bush said. 'This is his quote: `Cuba has the cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world.' ''
Asked about the source for the quote, White House officials later provided a Web link to a 2001 paper written by Trumbull. At the time he wrote the paper, Trumbull was a Dartmouth College undergraduate. Trumbull is now 24 and a law student at Vanderbilt University.
Trumbull acknowledges that the quote, which he did not footnote in the paper, was likely a paraphrase of Castro's comments in 1992, which have been oft-repeated in the past 12 years and seem to have taken on a life of their own.
MISCONSTRUED
But regardless of the exact wording, Trumbull says the president's speech misconstrued the meaning of Castro's words.
''It shows that they didn't read much of the article,'' Trumbull said in a telephone interview.
According to Trumbull, who conducted field research in Cuba, prostitution boomed there after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But beginning around 1996, Cuban authorities began to crack down on the practice. Although it still exists, Trumbull said, it is far less visible.
And Castro was not boasting about Cuba's prostitutes as sex workers when he made the remarks.
'Castro was merely trying to emphasize some of the successes of the revolution by saying, `Even our prostitutes are educated,' '' Trumbull said. ``Castro was trying to defend his revolution against negative publicity. He was in no way bragging about the opportunities for sex tourism on the island.''
On Monday, administration officials acknowledged that they did not have a source for the wording of the president's citation other than Trumbull's paper. A White House spokeswoman defended the inclusion, arguing that it expressed an essential truth about Cuba.
`MORALLY CORRUPT'
''The president's point in citing Castro's quote was to highlight Castro's morally corrupt attitude to human trafficking,'' spokeswoman Claire Buchan said. She pointed to two other instances in which Castro boasted of the education level of Cuba's prostitutes; in neither case was the context a direct promotion of sex tourism.
The speech ''was vetted the same way all the president's speeches are vetted,'' Buchan said, while declining to explain. A State Department official familiar with the matter said the White House contacted the department no more than a day before the speech and asked for material on human trafficking in Cuba. A quick search of the Internet turned up Trumbull's paper; the official said there was inadequate time to find the original source for Castro's quote.
1992 SPEECH
According to a translation by the British Broadcasting Corp., Castro told Cuba's National Assembly in July 1992 the following:
``There are hookers, but prostitution is not allowed in our country . . . There are no women forced to sell themselves to a man, to a foreigner, to a tourist. Those who do so do it on their own, voluntarily . . . We can say that they are highly educated hookers and quite healthy, because we are the country with the lowest number of AIDS cases.''
Trumbull described himself as ''annoyed'' by the use the White House made of his undergraduate research project.
''It is really disheartening to see bits of my research contorted, taken out of context, and used to support conclusions that are contrary to the truth,'' Trumbull said.

[Nathan]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

I have been through Cuba in recent times, and in areas that are known to have tourists, there are prostitutes a-plenty.
As of course there are in many other LA countries. Of course, economic desperation seems to make it more likely.
Keep in mind this is Fidel's prison...you just can't leave, you have to escape. Overall, Cuba is much safer for tourists for example as far as violent crime goes, except of course if you are Cuban and want to have actual elections or freedom of speech etc., then you are in deep doo-doo.
The boycott is Fidel's best friend...I don't think Fidel could last long with open travel to Cuba( Great beaches by the way) and a gazillion American tourists

Nathan

[Stezo71]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

Google search for
"Kerry lies" results = 598,000
"Gore lies" results = 431,000
"Clinton lies" results = 863,000
Pretty impressive however the undefeated undisputed champion

"Bush lies" results = 1,960,000

[Pete E]

... in response to Trust in Google, posted by Stezo71 on Jul 23, 2004

Its up to 2,010,000 now.
But it means nothing other than alot of people have commented on the subject,not the number of actual lis,if any.
And,a lie is a statement made by a person known by that person to be untrue.If he knows no better its not a lie.If somebody else knows no better its not a Bush lie.
One thing about Bush,alot of people mostly the extreme left,really hate him.
Someone once said a man is defined by the enimies he makes,in which case he might be doing OK.

Pete

[Pete E]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

Yup,
Georgie will grab on to the parts he likes.I wish we had someone a little more rounded in perspective,but I will take him over the opposition so far.But the US populace is waiting for what Kerry comes up with.So far not impressive.
I was a John McCain supporter in 2000.Georgie was almost noninated the day he anounced,he had the name recognition.
Bush does unify the opposition,they hate him.If they can get the Nader supporters to see reality Kerry might even win.
I loved it in 2000.If Al Gore isn't enough of a nut for you,vote for Nader,elect Bush.

Pete

[Jeff S]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

Castro said "We can say that they are highly educated hookers and quite healthy, because we are the country with the lowest number of AIDS cases."

And Bush said that Castro said "Cuba has the cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world."

In the universe of wild distortions that does't exactly rise to the level of a blip on the radar. Sounds to me that somebody is really notpicking to come up with anti-Bush rhetoric.

[Locii]

... in response to Re: Author of Cuba sex report claims Bus..., posted by Jeff S on Jul 23, 2004

Gosh, you're right.  And for sure, I won't vote for Bush now.    Well, then again, I can't vote for Kerry, becuase he committed atrocities against civilians in Vietnam.  And I can't vote for  nader, since, well, he's an all-out socialist.

Perspective, please.

Ciao

[Bueller]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

Since you're in outrage mode over half-truths twisted and molded into greater lies, how 'bout a phillipic against Fahrenheit 9/11?

[Nico]

... in response to Re: Author of Cuba sex report claims Bus..., posted by Bueller on Jul 23, 2004

I know very lttle of Cuban politics and am therefore neither for nor against this article, but shouldn't you be scrutinizing the article directly as opposed to criticizing someone who justs posts an article?

[Bueller]

... in response to Re: Re: Author of Cuba sex report claims..., posted by Nico on Jul 23, 2004

No.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Author of Cuba sex report claims Bus..., posted by Bueller on Jul 23, 2004

Its scary to think that is the only perspective some people will get,from a movie.They no nothing but what a film maker tells them.If this is your only knowledge of the subject,please don't vote.
I am a Linda Ronstadt fan but wouldn't  want to listen to her political oppinions at a concert I would be paying for.
She also needs to understand that her following is mostly people close to her age who tend to feel alot different about it than her.
Idea.The contract to perform should have a clause,you subject an audience that came to hear music to political diatribes,you don't get paid.

Pete

[Scott]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

?

[Jamie]

... in response to Author of Cuba sex report claims Bush di..., posted by Hamlet on Jul 22, 2004

Conclusions without supportive facts, both parties do this daily.