Cuban scientist attends symposium in Fort Lauderdale

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sat, Jul. 12, 2008
Cuban scientist attends symposium in Fort Lauderdale
BY OSCAR CORRAL

Fabian Pina Amargós arrived in Fort Lauderdale from Havana earlier this week with hopes of networking with his colleagues to find solutions to some of the problems facing coral reefs around the world.
Instead, he wandered the cavernous exhibit halls at the Broward County Convention Center alone.

Pina is the only one of four Cuban scientists who focus on coral reef research who was allowed to attend the International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale this week, the largest gathering of scientists on the subject in the world. His three colleagues never received a response from the U.S. State Department regarding obtaining visas.

Pina's experience is the latest chapter in the bitter relationship between the United States and Cuba in which seemingly everything -- even the undersea world of coral, scuba and grouper -- is politicized.

CHALLENGES, REWARDS

In an interview Thursday, Pina talked about the state of coral reefs in Cuba and the challenges and rewards of pursuing a science career on the communist island. He also lamented that his colleagues couldn't make it to the symposium.

''There is a desire from the scientific community on both sides to do more exchanges,'' Pina said. ``I'd like to see much more exchanges.''

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/v-print/story/602269.html

(It's so completely disgusting that the scum in Miami had this man who could be a fountain of information they could use and they spent precious time trying to pump him about how much money the Cuban government paid (or didn't pay) him. I'm glad he had the sense to see they were invested in trying to make a propaganda moment from his visit.)