UNPACU Denounces A Plan For "Liquidating the Most Active Opposition" /
14ymedio
Posted on November 29, 2014
14YMEDIO, November 28, 2014 — UNPACU issued a statement Thursday night
in which it accuses President Raul Castro of having ordered the
"liquidation" of the opposition. The organization cites sources from the
Ministry of the Interior (MININT) according to which the elimination of
the most diligent activists should be carried out in the next three months.
UNPACU believes that the latest attacks on the Ladies in White and Jose
Daniel Ferrer fit within that supposed order, given that they involve
violent attacks against key dissident figures in the last weeks and come
from people tied, in their judgment, to State Security.
In the statement they review last Tuesday's event in Santa Clara in
which activist Guillermo Fariñas asserts he suffered an assassination
attempt and in which several Ladies in White were injured, leaving one
of them in serious condition. "A similar case occurred at two UNPACU
sites in Santiago de Cuba and is now the source of a farce that the
government is trying to fabricate against Jose Daniel Ferrer," continues
the statement.
Jose Daniel Ferrer has been called by State Security to give a
statement, presumably as a defendant, for the crime of assault against
the complainant Ernesto Jimenez Rodriguez. As the statement explains,
last November 13th, at the UNPACU headquarters located in Reparto
Mariana de la Torre, in Santiago de Cuba, this man, supposedly sent by
the political police, provoked a violent altercation.
"Fortunately, with several activists and responsible individuals present
at the headquarters, they managed to disable the aggressor, immobilizing
him and removing from him the metal weapons that he carried," the
document highlights.
The same individual had sought membership in UNPACU weeks before, for
which reason the organization made the usual investigations that "are
performed before accepting any applicant." The conclusion was that he
was tied to the Ministry of the Interior.
"In view of such fact, and without telling the individual anything about
it, he was allowed to enter the headquarters with the proper control and
knowledge by those present of his status as a political police
infiltrator and only for events of no significance for activism," they
explain.
Jose Daniel Ferrer, who has denounced the situation, said that "in no
case can an individual who has been seen by more than 15 witnesses
attacking numerous people cause a peace activist for Human Rights to be
taken into police custody with the objective of creating a false
accusation and maybe holding him there without a possible defense. We at
UNPACU are not going to submit ourselves to this farce in any way."
Translated by MLK
Source: UNPACU Denounces A Plan For "Liquidating the Most Active
Opposition" / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/unpacu-denounces-a-plan-for-liquidating-the-most-active-opposition-14ymedio/>
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Access to WiFi or When Ingenuity is Penalized
Cuba: Access to WiFi or When Ingenuity is Penalized / Juan Juan Almeida
Posted on November 29, 2014
It is a paradox that on Friday, November 7, the 151st anniversary of the
death of a singer of innocence and virtue, the Matanzas poet Jose
Jacinto Milanes, at the People's Court of Cardenas in the same province
of Matanzas on the same day two Cuban citizens are awaiting sentencing —
Rolando Cruz (age 46) and Livan Hernandez (35) — charged with "illegal
use of the airwaves" and "illicit economic activity."
Of the five arrested only two were charged. Both Hernandez and Cruz,
instead of punishment, deserve recognition for demonstrated skills and
support for development looking to the future.
The frequency of this network, according to the propaganda in the Girón,
managed to link computers, videogame consoles and smartphones, across
more than 26 kilometers. It never interfered in the frequency of the
Telecommunications Company of Cuba SA (ETECSA), which means it does not
constitute an illegal to use of the Cuban airwaves.
The court, as usual, was forced and ignored that Law Number 62 of the
Cuban Penal Code in force as of April 1988, in addition to being
obsolete, has absolutely no concept of the use of WiFi connections and
without a law that sanctions it, there can be no penalty. That is: Nulla
crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege. (There is no crime, no penalty
without previous law.)
Rolando and Liván violated a resolution that had been signed by the
Revolutionary Commander Ramiro Valdés when he was minister of
information technology and communication. However, this being an
administrative order by a particular agency, the men's activities could
only be deemed a misdemeanor and not a crime.
After five months in jail, under the terrorizing pressure of a process
of "instruction,"the accused agreed that the users of that network could
access the Internet. However, during the trial the magistrate called to
the witness stand five residents of Cárdenas, who said that the
connection was only good for gaming, watching movies, and chatting
amongst themselves.
The invoices for the servers were produced, and these proved that the
purchases were made in Canada and brought legally into Cuba. It was also
demonstrated that the accused charged not a single penny and that the
users had made only two monetary payments — one for 6 CUC and another
for 10. These were for improvements to the network infrastructure, not
usage fees.
The prosecutor — an awful neurotic and somewhat loudmouthed version of
the famous Dr. House — took the wild recourse of accusing the defendants
of "illicit economic activity." She reminded the tribunal of the
guidelines from the Attorney General's office regarding the severe
penalties that are to be imposed for such activities, because of the
"ideological danger" that they pose for the Revolution.
The defense attorney, one Nestor González, performed spectacularly. The
defense was courageous, convincing and articulate — but hardly
effective. The accused had already been sentenced way before the first
hearing. It was the usual: the idea is to make examples of the
violators, produce a sort of electroshock as a reminder and to
demonstrate that in this corporate military era the director general
doesn't want any flight of money, as well as to ratify that the
Revolutionary government cedes no space.
Therefore, keeping in mind that in this case there is no crime but
rather a country that lacks a legal structure capable of functioning
independently from the mandates of the government, we await the sentence.
Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison and others.
12 November 2014
Source: Cuba: Access to WiFi or When Ingenuity is Penalized / Juan Juan
Almeida | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-access-to-wifi-or-when-ingenuity-is-penalized-juan-juan-almeida/>
Posted on November 29, 2014
It is a paradox that on Friday, November 7, the 151st anniversary of the
death of a singer of innocence and virtue, the Matanzas poet Jose
Jacinto Milanes, at the People's Court of Cardenas in the same province
of Matanzas on the same day two Cuban citizens are awaiting sentencing —
Rolando Cruz (age 46) and Livan Hernandez (35) — charged with "illegal
use of the airwaves" and "illicit economic activity."
Of the five arrested only two were charged. Both Hernandez and Cruz,
instead of punishment, deserve recognition for demonstrated skills and
support for development looking to the future.
The frequency of this network, according to the propaganda in the Girón,
managed to link computers, videogame consoles and smartphones, across
more than 26 kilometers. It never interfered in the frequency of the
Telecommunications Company of Cuba SA (ETECSA), which means it does not
constitute an illegal to use of the Cuban airwaves.
The court, as usual, was forced and ignored that Law Number 62 of the
Cuban Penal Code in force as of April 1988, in addition to being
obsolete, has absolutely no concept of the use of WiFi connections and
without a law that sanctions it, there can be no penalty. That is: Nulla
crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege. (There is no crime, no penalty
without previous law.)
Rolando and Liván violated a resolution that had been signed by the
Revolutionary Commander Ramiro Valdés when he was minister of
information technology and communication. However, this being an
administrative order by a particular agency, the men's activities could
only be deemed a misdemeanor and not a crime.
After five months in jail, under the terrorizing pressure of a process
of "instruction,"the accused agreed that the users of that network could
access the Internet. However, during the trial the magistrate called to
the witness stand five residents of Cárdenas, who said that the
connection was only good for gaming, watching movies, and chatting
amongst themselves.
The invoices for the servers were produced, and these proved that the
purchases were made in Canada and brought legally into Cuba. It was also
demonstrated that the accused charged not a single penny and that the
users had made only two monetary payments — one for 6 CUC and another
for 10. These were for improvements to the network infrastructure, not
usage fees.
The prosecutor — an awful neurotic and somewhat loudmouthed version of
the famous Dr. House — took the wild recourse of accusing the defendants
of "illicit economic activity." She reminded the tribunal of the
guidelines from the Attorney General's office regarding the severe
penalties that are to be imposed for such activities, because of the
"ideological danger" that they pose for the Revolution.
The defense attorney, one Nestor González, performed spectacularly. The
defense was courageous, convincing and articulate — but hardly
effective. The accused had already been sentenced way before the first
hearing. It was the usual: the idea is to make examples of the
violators, produce a sort of electroshock as a reminder and to
demonstrate that in this corporate military era the director general
doesn't want any flight of money, as well as to ratify that the
Revolutionary government cedes no space.
Therefore, keeping in mind that in this case there is no crime but
rather a country that lacks a legal structure capable of functioning
independently from the mandates of the government, we await the sentence.
Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison and others.
12 November 2014
Source: Cuba: Access to WiFi or When Ingenuity is Penalized / Juan Juan
Almeida | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-access-to-wifi-or-when-ingenuity-is-penalized-juan-juan-almeida/>
Cuban teen in the military returned to a certain death
Cuban teen in the military returned to a certain death
BY HELEN AGUIRRE FERRÉHAGUIRREFERRE@GMAIL.COM
11/29/2014 2:00 PM 11/29/2014 7:00 PM
Like most other 18-year-olds, Dayro Andino Leon was determined to find
his own way in the world. For Dayro, that meant leaving his home and
country. Living in Cuba's police state was not what he envisioned for
his family, especially his young wife and their 1-month-old daughter.
So he did what so many others do: He joined a group of neighbors who got
on a makeshift boat that was barely seaworthy and headed toward the
United States. If they were afraid of the turbulent, shark-infested
waters, they did not tell their families. They almost made it. But they
were intercepted by the Coast Guard, just 25 miles off the U.S. coast.
Cubans intercepted at sea are supposedly interviewed by a member of the
Coast Guard to determine if they qualify for special consideration for
asylum to enter into the United States. Dayro had a good claim: He was a
military deserter. The return of any Cuban deserter guarantees
imprisonment under brutal circumstances. Incredibly, Dayro was returned
to Cuba with the other refugees and, sure enough, was taken by State
Security thugs while the others were allowed to go free.
At no time was he allowed to speak to or see his family. He was
transferred to the Red Beret Military Unit in Cienfuegos province. His
cell mates said that he was behaving erratically and informed the
guards, according to independent journalist Alejandro Tur Valladares on
the radio show Cuba Today. Dayro was not known for that type of
behavior. Could he have been drugged? What we do know is that the
18-year-old was found dead in his cell, hanging from a bed sheet.
It has been called a suicide, but was it? We may never know. What we
need to know is why the Coast Guard repatriated this young man when they
had to know that his fate was sealed upon return to the Communist island.
Perhaps the Coast Guard official who interviewed Dayro thought he was
evading military service rather than deserting. A mistake can be made if
the interviewer does not speak Spanish well. Someone who has worked
closely with members of the Coast Guard tells me that this is often the
case. If so, the interviews leave much to be desired.
Unfortunately, the mission isn't to find asylum seekers; the goal for
the Coast Guard is to return all Cuban rafters to the island. If Dayro
had known that, would he have embarked on that treacherous journey?
Would he still be alive? His tragic death is one of many thousands.
The number of Cuban rafters has increased dramatically over the past few
years. In 2014, 2,059 Cuban rafters were intercepted in the Florida
Straits. On Oct. 9, the Associated Press reported the gruesome finding
of four Cubans who had drowned at sea. They were said to have been
bitten by sharks, their faces unrecognizable. These four are not unique,
South Florida morgues are full of drowned Cuban rafters yet to be
identified. Experts believe one in four die in attempts to leave Cuba by
water.
One of the worst cases on record occurred in August when 34 migrants
were stranded for one month on the high seas before they were found by
Mexican fishermen. Just 15 were found alive, and two died later.
Only the most desperate flee Cuba this way. Others have crossed the
Mexican border, while more than 22,000 have arrived from a third country
this year requesting asylum. They leave for political and economic
freedom, the common denominator being freedom.
Too many young men and women risk it all coming to our shores. Dayro
Andino Leon had a better chance than most because he was picked up by
the Coast Guard. But something went terribly wrong, and he was returned
to Cuba where he died under suspicious circumstances.
He was picked up but sadly was not rescued; that is something that ought
to make us all bow our heads in shame.
Source: Cuban teen in the military returned to a certain death | The
Miami Herald -
<http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article4189482.html>
BY HELEN AGUIRRE FERRÉHAGUIRREFERRE@GMAIL.COM
11/29/2014 2:00 PM 11/29/2014 7:00 PM
Like most other 18-year-olds, Dayro Andino Leon was determined to find
his own way in the world. For Dayro, that meant leaving his home and
country. Living in Cuba's police state was not what he envisioned for
his family, especially his young wife and their 1-month-old daughter.
So he did what so many others do: He joined a group of neighbors who got
on a makeshift boat that was barely seaworthy and headed toward the
United States. If they were afraid of the turbulent, shark-infested
waters, they did not tell their families. They almost made it. But they
were intercepted by the Coast Guard, just 25 miles off the U.S. coast.
Cubans intercepted at sea are supposedly interviewed by a member of the
Coast Guard to determine if they qualify for special consideration for
asylum to enter into the United States. Dayro had a good claim: He was a
military deserter. The return of any Cuban deserter guarantees
imprisonment under brutal circumstances. Incredibly, Dayro was returned
to Cuba with the other refugees and, sure enough, was taken by State
Security thugs while the others were allowed to go free.
At no time was he allowed to speak to or see his family. He was
transferred to the Red Beret Military Unit in Cienfuegos province. His
cell mates said that he was behaving erratically and informed the
guards, according to independent journalist Alejandro Tur Valladares on
the radio show Cuba Today. Dayro was not known for that type of
behavior. Could he have been drugged? What we do know is that the
18-year-old was found dead in his cell, hanging from a bed sheet.
It has been called a suicide, but was it? We may never know. What we
need to know is why the Coast Guard repatriated this young man when they
had to know that his fate was sealed upon return to the Communist island.
Perhaps the Coast Guard official who interviewed Dayro thought he was
evading military service rather than deserting. A mistake can be made if
the interviewer does not speak Spanish well. Someone who has worked
closely with members of the Coast Guard tells me that this is often the
case. If so, the interviews leave much to be desired.
Unfortunately, the mission isn't to find asylum seekers; the goal for
the Coast Guard is to return all Cuban rafters to the island. If Dayro
had known that, would he have embarked on that treacherous journey?
Would he still be alive? His tragic death is one of many thousands.
The number of Cuban rafters has increased dramatically over the past few
years. In 2014, 2,059 Cuban rafters were intercepted in the Florida
Straits. On Oct. 9, the Associated Press reported the gruesome finding
of four Cubans who had drowned at sea. They were said to have been
bitten by sharks, their faces unrecognizable. These four are not unique,
South Florida morgues are full of drowned Cuban rafters yet to be
identified. Experts believe one in four die in attempts to leave Cuba by
water.
One of the worst cases on record occurred in August when 34 migrants
were stranded for one month on the high seas before they were found by
Mexican fishermen. Just 15 were found alive, and two died later.
Only the most desperate flee Cuba this way. Others have crossed the
Mexican border, while more than 22,000 have arrived from a third country
this year requesting asylum. They leave for political and economic
freedom, the common denominator being freedom.
Too many young men and women risk it all coming to our shores. Dayro
Andino Leon had a better chance than most because he was picked up by
the Coast Guard. But something went terribly wrong, and he was returned
to Cuba where he died under suspicious circumstances.
He was picked up but sadly was not rescued; that is something that ought
to make us all bow our heads in shame.
Source: Cuban teen in the military returned to a certain death | The
Miami Herald -
<http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article4189482.html>
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Extremes Meet
Extremes Meet / Regina Coyula
Posted on November 28, 2014
I am not Argentinian nor did I lose someone during that country's
military dictatorship, but I am appalled to learn about the agreement
between Jorge Videla and Fidel Castro as well as by the selective memory
of the mothers and grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. What would Stella
Caloni, someone always in the Cuban media, say about this? Or the
current Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez, in her crusade for
human rights?*
On Telesur last night I saw Juan Carlos Monedero, one of the leaders of
the new left-wing Spanish political party Podemos (We Can), demanding to
know what Spain's democratic leaders had done to counter the excesses of
Latin American dictatorships while showing a photo of none other than
King Juan Carlos together with Videla.
Fidel Castro seems to be in no position to explain anything. Emilio
Aragonés, Cuba's ambassador to Argentina at the time, died incognito
years ago. (His death did not merit even a brief obituary on page 2 of
Granma.) One of our shrewd journalists should get to the bottom of this.
And I personally believe someone from the government should provide an
explanation and issue an apology.
*Translator's note: The author is referring to recently released secret
cables indicating that in 1977 Cuba asked Argentina's right-wing
military government, then led by Jorge Rafael Videla, to support its
admission to Executive Council of the UN World Health Organization in
exchange for the Cuba's support of Argentina's continued membership in
the UN Social and Economic Council.
Stella Caloni is an Argentinian journalist and writer. In an
introduction to a recently published biography, Fidel Castro described
her as "a recognized expert in communication" who "untangles the
objectives in the counterinsurgency's media war."
24 November 2014
Source: Extremes Meet / Regina Coyula | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/extremes-meet-regina-coyula/>
Posted on November 28, 2014
I am not Argentinian nor did I lose someone during that country's
military dictatorship, but I am appalled to learn about the agreement
between Jorge Videla and Fidel Castro as well as by the selective memory
of the mothers and grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. What would Stella
Caloni, someone always in the Cuban media, say about this? Or the
current Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez, in her crusade for
human rights?*
On Telesur last night I saw Juan Carlos Monedero, one of the leaders of
the new left-wing Spanish political party Podemos (We Can), demanding to
know what Spain's democratic leaders had done to counter the excesses of
Latin American dictatorships while showing a photo of none other than
King Juan Carlos together with Videla.
Fidel Castro seems to be in no position to explain anything. Emilio
Aragonés, Cuba's ambassador to Argentina at the time, died incognito
years ago. (His death did not merit even a brief obituary on page 2 of
Granma.) One of our shrewd journalists should get to the bottom of this.
And I personally believe someone from the government should provide an
explanation and issue an apology.
*Translator's note: The author is referring to recently released secret
cables indicating that in 1977 Cuba asked Argentina's right-wing
military government, then led by Jorge Rafael Videla, to support its
admission to Executive Council of the UN World Health Organization in
exchange for the Cuba's support of Argentina's continued membership in
the UN Social and Economic Council.
Stella Caloni is an Argentinian journalist and writer. In an
introduction to a recently published biography, Fidel Castro described
her as "a recognized expert in communication" who "untangles the
objectives in the counterinsurgency's media war."
24 November 2014
Source: Extremes Meet / Regina Coyula | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/extremes-meet-regina-coyula/>
Cuban Embargo Punctuates Florida’s Presidential Politics
Cuban Embargo Punctuates Florida's Presidential Politics
Both Parties Traditionally Court State's Large Cuban-American
Community—Now With Heightened Importance
By BETH REINHARD
Nov. 28, 2014 4:31 p.m. ET
For decades, Democrats and Republicans with sights on the White House
have trekked to the heart of the Cuban-American community in Florida to
declare their support for the U.S. trade embargo against the island. No
candidate has won the state otherwise.
This staple of presidential politics in the nation's largest swing state
is taking on heightened importance as the 2016 presidential field takes
shape.
Democrat Hillary Clinton , who backed the trade ban in her 2008
campaign, reversed her position earlier this year, calling for an end to
the sanctions. Her potential GOP opponents include Sens. Marco Rubio of
Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, both sons of Cuban immigrants for whom
maintaining sanctions against the Castro regime is not just political,
but personal.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, once dubbed the state's first
Cuban-American governor because of his kinship with the community and
fluency in Spanish, is expected to defend the embargo in a speech on
Tuesday, marking a contrast with Mrs. Clinton as he nears a decision on
a 2016 campaign.
While Cuba policy is unlikely to be a major issue in the presidential
contest, it has the potential to resonate in Florida in a way not seen
since Ronald Reagan's anti-communist fervor rallied Cuban-Americans in
the 1980s.
"Hillary is going to be testing history and political reality in Florida
and highlighting a contrast with Republicans that we haven't seen
before," said Mauricio Claver-Carone, a director of the U.S. Cuba
Democracy PAC, the pro-embargo group hosting Mr. Bush in South Florida
on Tuesday.
Some allies of Mrs. Clinton are already expressing qualms about how a
presidential bid by Mr. Bush would make it harder to lock down the
state's bounty of 29 electoral votes. Those who hoped Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist could offer Mrs. Clinton some
political cover among Cuban-Americans—he came out in favor of lifting
the embargo in February—were disappointed when he lost to Republican
Gov. Rick Scott in the Nov. 4 election.
"Hillary will be a formidable candidate, but I think her position on the
embargo could heighten the intensity against her," said former Florida
Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican and longtime ally of Mr. Bush who
described him as the first Cuban-American governor when they addressed
the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC in 2006.
To embargo proponents such as Mr. Martinez, who fled Cuba as a child and
rose to become the first Cuban-American senator, lifting sanctions would
reward a repressive regime that denies basic human rights and civil
liberties.
Critics of the trade ban say that after half a century, it's time to try
a different approach. In a June appearance at the Council on Foreign
Relations, Ms. Clinton called the embargo "Castro's best friend,"
because, she said, the regime uses it as a scapegoat for the island's
problems.
In her memoir published earlier this year, Mrs. Clinton said that as
secretary of state she urged President Barack Obama to consider lifting
the embargo. "It wasn't achieving our goals, and it was holding back our
broader agenda across Latin America," she wrote.
Democrats dismiss the notion that Mrs. Clinton's position would be a
political liability in Florida, should she run for president. They point
to changing demographics and public opinion. Support for the embargo has
been steadily declining among Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County, from
87 percent in 1991 to 48 percent today, according to polling by Florida
International University.
"Hillary is never going to get the hardliners to vote for her, but there
is a new generation of younger Cuban-Americans who do not have that
vitriolic emotion tied to Cuba," said Democratic consultant Ana Cruz,
who helped run Mrs. Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign in Florida,
where she overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary.
The state is home to three-quarters of the nation's estimated 2 million
Cuban-Americans. A Pew Research Center analysis of 2013 survey data
found that less than half of Cuban voters nationwide lean Republican,
down from 64% a decade ago. Over the same period, the share of Cubans
who favor the Democratic Party doubled from 22% to 44%.
Exit polling in 2012 showed President Obama winning 49 percent of the
Cuban vote, a high-water mark for a Democrat.
"The Cuban-American population is starting to look more like other
Latino populations, and that has major implications, because it changes
the political calculus for winning the state," said Mark Hugo Lopez,
director of Hispanic research at the Pew Research Center.
No major Republican presidential candidate has yet to come out in favor
of lifting the embargo. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee , who as
governor had advocated ending the trade ban to expand opportunities for
farmers in his state, changed his mind during his 2008 presidential
campaign. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan had voted against the embargo but as
the vice presidential nominee in 2012 talked about having a change of
heart. Messrs. Huckabee and Ryan are both viewed as potential candidates
in 2016.
One possible wild card in the nascent GOP field on Cuba policy is
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul , who shares many of the libertarian views
espoused by his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul . The elder Paul
spoke out against the embargo during his 2008 and 2012 presidential
campaigns. Sen. Paul's office said he had not recently taken a public
position on the embargo, a policy void unlikely to last if he were to
visit Florida as a presidential candidate.
Write to Beth Reinhard at beth.reinhard@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/articles/cuban-embargo-punctuates-floridas-presidential-politics-1417210293
Both Parties Traditionally Court State's Large Cuban-American
Community—Now With Heightened Importance
By BETH REINHARD
Nov. 28, 2014 4:31 p.m. ET
For decades, Democrats and Republicans with sights on the White House
have trekked to the heart of the Cuban-American community in Florida to
declare their support for the U.S. trade embargo against the island. No
candidate has won the state otherwise.
This staple of presidential politics in the nation's largest swing state
is taking on heightened importance as the 2016 presidential field takes
shape.
Democrat Hillary Clinton , who backed the trade ban in her 2008
campaign, reversed her position earlier this year, calling for an end to
the sanctions. Her potential GOP opponents include Sens. Marco Rubio of
Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, both sons of Cuban immigrants for whom
maintaining sanctions against the Castro regime is not just political,
but personal.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, once dubbed the state's first
Cuban-American governor because of his kinship with the community and
fluency in Spanish, is expected to defend the embargo in a speech on
Tuesday, marking a contrast with Mrs. Clinton as he nears a decision on
a 2016 campaign.
While Cuba policy is unlikely to be a major issue in the presidential
contest, it has the potential to resonate in Florida in a way not seen
since Ronald Reagan's anti-communist fervor rallied Cuban-Americans in
the 1980s.
"Hillary is going to be testing history and political reality in Florida
and highlighting a contrast with Republicans that we haven't seen
before," said Mauricio Claver-Carone, a director of the U.S. Cuba
Democracy PAC, the pro-embargo group hosting Mr. Bush in South Florida
on Tuesday.
Some allies of Mrs. Clinton are already expressing qualms about how a
presidential bid by Mr. Bush would make it harder to lock down the
state's bounty of 29 electoral votes. Those who hoped Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist could offer Mrs. Clinton some
political cover among Cuban-Americans—he came out in favor of lifting
the embargo in February—were disappointed when he lost to Republican
Gov. Rick Scott in the Nov. 4 election.
"Hillary will be a formidable candidate, but I think her position on the
embargo could heighten the intensity against her," said former Florida
Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican and longtime ally of Mr. Bush who
described him as the first Cuban-American governor when they addressed
the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC in 2006.
To embargo proponents such as Mr. Martinez, who fled Cuba as a child and
rose to become the first Cuban-American senator, lifting sanctions would
reward a repressive regime that denies basic human rights and civil
liberties.
Critics of the trade ban say that after half a century, it's time to try
a different approach. In a June appearance at the Council on Foreign
Relations, Ms. Clinton called the embargo "Castro's best friend,"
because, she said, the regime uses it as a scapegoat for the island's
problems.
In her memoir published earlier this year, Mrs. Clinton said that as
secretary of state she urged President Barack Obama to consider lifting
the embargo. "It wasn't achieving our goals, and it was holding back our
broader agenda across Latin America," she wrote.
Democrats dismiss the notion that Mrs. Clinton's position would be a
political liability in Florida, should she run for president. They point
to changing demographics and public opinion. Support for the embargo has
been steadily declining among Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County, from
87 percent in 1991 to 48 percent today, according to polling by Florida
International University.
"Hillary is never going to get the hardliners to vote for her, but there
is a new generation of younger Cuban-Americans who do not have that
vitriolic emotion tied to Cuba," said Democratic consultant Ana Cruz,
who helped run Mrs. Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign in Florida,
where she overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary.
The state is home to three-quarters of the nation's estimated 2 million
Cuban-Americans. A Pew Research Center analysis of 2013 survey data
found that less than half of Cuban voters nationwide lean Republican,
down from 64% a decade ago. Over the same period, the share of Cubans
who favor the Democratic Party doubled from 22% to 44%.
Exit polling in 2012 showed President Obama winning 49 percent of the
Cuban vote, a high-water mark for a Democrat.
"The Cuban-American population is starting to look more like other
Latino populations, and that has major implications, because it changes
the political calculus for winning the state," said Mark Hugo Lopez,
director of Hispanic research at the Pew Research Center.
No major Republican presidential candidate has yet to come out in favor
of lifting the embargo. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee , who as
governor had advocated ending the trade ban to expand opportunities for
farmers in his state, changed his mind during his 2008 presidential
campaign. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan had voted against the embargo but as
the vice presidential nominee in 2012 talked about having a change of
heart. Messrs. Huckabee and Ryan are both viewed as potential candidates
in 2016.
One possible wild card in the nascent GOP field on Cuba policy is
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul , who shares many of the libertarian views
espoused by his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul . The elder Paul
spoke out against the embargo during his 2008 and 2012 presidential
campaigns. Sen. Paul's office said he had not recently taken a public
position on the embargo, a policy void unlikely to last if he were to
visit Florida as a presidential candidate.
Write to Beth Reinhard at beth.reinhard@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/articles/cuban-embargo-punctuates-floridas-presidential-politics-1417210293
Why The New York Times wants America to open up to Cuba - CNN
Why The New York Times wants America to open up to Cuba - CNN
Posted By By Madalena Araujo, CNN) | Saturday, November 29, 2014 06:49:06 PM
IT IS time for the Obama Administration to improve the long-strained
relations with Cuba, Ernesto Londoño, a member of the New York Times'
editorial board, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that
aired Thursday.
"I think we've entered a new era and I think the months ahead represent
an opportunity for the Obama Administration to take a pretty bold move
and to move this relationship in a direction that I think the president
himself has long wanted to take it."
The New York Times, arguably America's most important newspaper, has
taken a very public stand calling for the end of the decades-old
economic blockade of Cuba.
"I think reforms in Cuba and the political landscape in the United
States offer the right conditions for this relationship to move on a
healthier trajectory, for the two countries, for instance, to think
about resuming formal diplomatic relations."
Londoño joined Amanpour from the Cuban capital Havana, following a
series of editorials Cuba-focussed editorial in the paper. The more than
50-year embargo was a Cold War measure implemented by the U.S. in 1960
when Fidel Castro, a friend of the then-Soviet Union, came to power.
Londoño said the paper had always seen the policy, which restricts
travel and bans trade, "as a failed policy."
"The purpose of the policy we've pursued for 50 years, the purpose has
been to try to undermine and bring about democratic change in Cuba
through punitive measures. We have five decades of evidence that that
policy does not work."
So how would the U.S. benefit from changing its attitude towards Cuba
apart from, if ultimately successful, bringing about democratic change?
"There's a number of things," Londoño said. "Perhaps most importantly
the United States has found itself diplomatically very isolated in the
hemisphere. Cuba keeps coming up in any number of issues that they want
to engage on with countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Central
America."
"Every time there's a diplomatic forum, every time there's a regional
effort underway, a lot of these - a lot of these countries are telling
the United States we disagree vehemently with your policy in Cuba and
Cuba becomes the thorn that stymies many things the U.S. would like to
try to do."
The journalist told Amanpour that "the Cuban government has undertaken a
number of really significant economic reforms. There is a small and
limited private sector that is cropping up."
"And for the first time in a very long time, it's given Cubans an
opportunity to start building livelihoods that are somewhat separate
from the state, where the state does not have absolute control over
their livelihoods."
Londoño, who is in Cuba for the first time in ten years writing and
researching the editorials, said he also notices a "far less vitriolic
rhetoric from the Cuban government, from the Cuban state media toward
the United States."
"We've stopped seeing the kind of demonstrations in front of the U.S.
diplomatic mission here. So I think they've sent an unmistakable signal
that they want to turn a new page." (By Madalena Araujo, CNN)
Link:http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/11/28/why-the-new-york-times-wants-america-to-open-up-to-cuba/
Source: Why The New York Times wants America to open up to Cuba - CNN -
The Mindanao Examiner -
<http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20141129044906>
Posted By By Madalena Araujo, CNN) | Saturday, November 29, 2014 06:49:06 PM
IT IS time for the Obama Administration to improve the long-strained
relations with Cuba, Ernesto Londoño, a member of the New York Times'
editorial board, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that
aired Thursday.
"I think we've entered a new era and I think the months ahead represent
an opportunity for the Obama Administration to take a pretty bold move
and to move this relationship in a direction that I think the president
himself has long wanted to take it."
The New York Times, arguably America's most important newspaper, has
taken a very public stand calling for the end of the decades-old
economic blockade of Cuba.
"I think reforms in Cuba and the political landscape in the United
States offer the right conditions for this relationship to move on a
healthier trajectory, for the two countries, for instance, to think
about resuming formal diplomatic relations."
Londoño joined Amanpour from the Cuban capital Havana, following a
series of editorials Cuba-focussed editorial in the paper. The more than
50-year embargo was a Cold War measure implemented by the U.S. in 1960
when Fidel Castro, a friend of the then-Soviet Union, came to power.
Londoño said the paper had always seen the policy, which restricts
travel and bans trade, "as a failed policy."
"The purpose of the policy we've pursued for 50 years, the purpose has
been to try to undermine and bring about democratic change in Cuba
through punitive measures. We have five decades of evidence that that
policy does not work."
So how would the U.S. benefit from changing its attitude towards Cuba
apart from, if ultimately successful, bringing about democratic change?
"There's a number of things," Londoño said. "Perhaps most importantly
the United States has found itself diplomatically very isolated in the
hemisphere. Cuba keeps coming up in any number of issues that they want
to engage on with countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Central
America."
"Every time there's a diplomatic forum, every time there's a regional
effort underway, a lot of these - a lot of these countries are telling
the United States we disagree vehemently with your policy in Cuba and
Cuba becomes the thorn that stymies many things the U.S. would like to
try to do."
The journalist told Amanpour that "the Cuban government has undertaken a
number of really significant economic reforms. There is a small and
limited private sector that is cropping up."
"And for the first time in a very long time, it's given Cubans an
opportunity to start building livelihoods that are somewhat separate
from the state, where the state does not have absolute control over
their livelihoods."
Londoño, who is in Cuba for the first time in ten years writing and
researching the editorials, said he also notices a "far less vitriolic
rhetoric from the Cuban government, from the Cuban state media toward
the United States."
"We've stopped seeing the kind of demonstrations in front of the U.S.
diplomatic mission here. So I think they've sent an unmistakable signal
that they want to turn a new page." (By Madalena Araujo, CNN)
Link:http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/11/28/why-the-new-york-times-wants-america-to-open-up-to-cuba/
Source: Why The New York Times wants America to open up to Cuba - CNN -
The Mindanao Examiner -
<http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20141129044906>
Cuba -Where Violence Isn’t News
Cuba: Where Violence Isn't News
November 28, 2014
Ernesto Carralero Burgos
HAVANA TIMES — For some time, the Cuban press has been insinuating that
it intends to begin covering crimes and other news that have not
commonly been published to date.
Despite this, the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of
violent crimes that take place in our country on a daily basis aren't
even remotely known by the population at large and are heard of only at
the local level, or when they are so disconcerting that they travel
further distances.
One needn't wait long to again hear of a party that ended up in a
massive brawl where someone got stabbed, or about robberies and even
murders that are so macabre they seem to have been pulled right out of a
Stephen King novel.
I believe that the public safety that a large majority of Cubans
generally feel proud of would not survive close scrutiny.
Though devoid of the organized crime and ultra-violent gangs common in
Central America, Cuba is becoming more and more violent every day.
Not long ago, one of my neighbors was telling me about the most recent
crime perpetrated in the neighborhood of Alamar. There, he came across a
dead and severely mutilated body in a garbage bin. A few days ago, a
pair of hooded men broke and entered into a home as well.
It is said the new District Attorney's Office being built in Alamar is
precisely a response to rising crime in the community. Unfounded rumor
or not, this is cause for concern, particularly during this time of the
year, when crimes of this nature are more common.
One could well ask whether all of this is actually happening or whether
they are mere urban myths or exaggerations. Since the media do not
report on such incidents, we are left only with our uncertainty.
Many may prefer to live in ignorance, but that is a dangerous attitude,
as ignoring our problems is no way of looking for a solution.
If violent crimes aren't reported, if they aren't news, one day we will
wake up and find the country in ruins, without having had the
opportunity to do anything to prevent it. The police and the use of
force are not the only factors that can contain such phenomena.
In fact, I would say that they manage to control it up to a point but
that they never eradicate it. Only through open exchange, community work
and, most importantly, education, will we be able to overcome the
problem. Unfortunately, the first step in this direction still hasn't
been taken.
Source: Cuba: Where Violence Isn't News - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107656>
November 28, 2014
Ernesto Carralero Burgos
HAVANA TIMES — For some time, the Cuban press has been insinuating that
it intends to begin covering crimes and other news that have not
commonly been published to date.
Despite this, the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of
violent crimes that take place in our country on a daily basis aren't
even remotely known by the population at large and are heard of only at
the local level, or when they are so disconcerting that they travel
further distances.
One needn't wait long to again hear of a party that ended up in a
massive brawl where someone got stabbed, or about robberies and even
murders that are so macabre they seem to have been pulled right out of a
Stephen King novel.
I believe that the public safety that a large majority of Cubans
generally feel proud of would not survive close scrutiny.
Though devoid of the organized crime and ultra-violent gangs common in
Central America, Cuba is becoming more and more violent every day.
Not long ago, one of my neighbors was telling me about the most recent
crime perpetrated in the neighborhood of Alamar. There, he came across a
dead and severely mutilated body in a garbage bin. A few days ago, a
pair of hooded men broke and entered into a home as well.
It is said the new District Attorney's Office being built in Alamar is
precisely a response to rising crime in the community. Unfounded rumor
or not, this is cause for concern, particularly during this time of the
year, when crimes of this nature are more common.
One could well ask whether all of this is actually happening or whether
they are mere urban myths or exaggerations. Since the media do not
report on such incidents, we are left only with our uncertainty.
Many may prefer to live in ignorance, but that is a dangerous attitude,
as ignoring our problems is no way of looking for a solution.
If violent crimes aren't reported, if they aren't news, one day we will
wake up and find the country in ruins, without having had the
opportunity to do anything to prevent it. The police and the use of
force are not the only factors that can contain such phenomena.
In fact, I would say that they manage to control it up to a point but
that they never eradicate it. Only through open exchange, community work
and, most importantly, education, will we be able to overcome the
problem. Unfortunately, the first step in this direction still hasn't
been taken.
Source: Cuba: Where Violence Isn't News - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107656>
Friday, November 28, 2014
Big Cuba Communications Contract Awarded
Big Cuba Communications Contract Awarded
November 27, 2014
By Tracey Eaton (alongthemalecon.blogspot.com)
HAVANA TIMES — The U.S. government has awarded a no-bid $1.4 million
contract to a company that will produce "TV and radio programs designed
specifically for audiences in Cuba."
The contract went to Canyon Communications, founded by Jeff Kline. The
Office of Cuba Broadcasting said it awarded the contract without a
competitive bid because Canyon Communications was uniquely qualified for
the job.
Based on the needs of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Canyon
Communications is the only known source with the demonstrated ability to
produce programming specifically designed for a Cuban audience.
In the opinion and to the knowledge of the government evaluator, the
contractor is uniquely qualified to deliver this programming due to
their extensive experience in this area, including successful
performance under a previous OCB contract last year, which was awarded
based on the contractor's unsolicited proposal.
Kline is a longtime government contractor who has worked for the Health
and Human Services Department, the Labor Department and other agencies.
Lately, he's been doing projects for the Broadcasting Board of
Governors, or BBG, which oversees the Office of Cuba Broadcasting,
including Radio & TV Martí in Miami.
In October, I wrote about a radio programming contest that Kline ran in
Cuba without telling participants that it was funded by the U.S.
government. The contest was aborted and no one was awarded any prizes
after Cuban authorities arrested development worker Alan Gross in
December 2009. (See "Taxpayer Contest Aborted").
Earlier, in May 2014, I wrote that that Kline had traveled to Cuba to
test cell phones and other wireless devices for a State Department
contractor. (See "The Other Alan Gross").
In February 2014, I wrote about his contract to produce self-help videos
in Cuba. (See "The incredible disappearing $450,000 contract").
Kline's company, Canyon Communications, signed the $1,450,063 BBG
contract on Sept. 30, 2014. His company has won a total of $1,799,503 in
BBG contracts since 2013. That makes him the BBG's 56th winningest
vendor since 1999.
(Another one of his companies, the Pinyon Foundation, won an additional
$450,000 in 2013 – see record. Canyon Communications appears to have
carried out that contract, documents show. That would bring the
company's total contracts to $2,249,503, which would boost Kline's rank
on the top 100 list to 44. See Top 100 here).
The BBG had announced its interest in finding a contractor for Cuba
programming on April 14, 2014. Its announcement stated:
The BBG is seeking to ascertain if there are firms available who are
capable of developing and producing specialized Spanish language
multimedia programming specifically designed for broadcast to Cuba. The
BBG is most interested in firms that have produced programming for
broadcast to Cuba focusing on entrepreneurship (i.e., how to start a
business, examples of successful small businesses that have been created
through personal initiative, etc.), and profiles of well-known artistic
persons or groups living in Cuba.
Canyon Communications, which lists a corporate address of 1180 South
Beverly Drive, Suite 500, Los Angeles, and one other company responded
to the BBG's request for proposals, sending in statements explaining why
they would be suited for the job.
The BBG stated:
After a technical evaluation of the two statements, it was determined
that while the Canyon Communications capabilities statement clearly
demonstrated that the company had extensive experience and unique
ability in developing and producing programming for Cuban audiences. The
proposal from the other company did not demonstrate having any
capability or demonstrated experience providing programming for this
requirement. In addition to the RFI responses, OCB is not aware of any
other production company that has this experience and capability.
The BBG explained why Canyon Communications was qualified:
As a result of an unsolicited proposal submitted in FY 2013, Canyon
Communications, LLC was awarded a contract by the BBG to provide the
same type of programming for OCB. Under this contract, Canyon produced a
number of radio and television programs. The video and audio programs
maintain an essential component which is a unique and often very "up
close" production style that captures a grass roots approach.
The continued use of the overall format of the productions including
talent used, unique video and audio production techniques and core
content message is essential for the success and the overall continuity
of OCB's and Radio and TV Marti's branding and mission.
Although Canyon assigned the copyright to all programming to the BBG,
only Canyon can realistically produce a continuation of these programs,
making the programming highly unique and available only from this
source. Canyon also assigned all trademarks, including show titles, to
the BBG.
It is in OCB's interest to continue to use the same crew and performers,
as well as the same style of graphics and show opens and closes as were
used under the previous contract in order to have the programming look
and feel the same to our audience.
Source: Big Cuba Communications Contract Awarded - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107629>
November 27, 2014
By Tracey Eaton (alongthemalecon.blogspot.com)
HAVANA TIMES — The U.S. government has awarded a no-bid $1.4 million
contract to a company that will produce "TV and radio programs designed
specifically for audiences in Cuba."
The contract went to Canyon Communications, founded by Jeff Kline. The
Office of Cuba Broadcasting said it awarded the contract without a
competitive bid because Canyon Communications was uniquely qualified for
the job.
Based on the needs of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Canyon
Communications is the only known source with the demonstrated ability to
produce programming specifically designed for a Cuban audience.
In the opinion and to the knowledge of the government evaluator, the
contractor is uniquely qualified to deliver this programming due to
their extensive experience in this area, including successful
performance under a previous OCB contract last year, which was awarded
based on the contractor's unsolicited proposal.
Kline is a longtime government contractor who has worked for the Health
and Human Services Department, the Labor Department and other agencies.
Lately, he's been doing projects for the Broadcasting Board of
Governors, or BBG, which oversees the Office of Cuba Broadcasting,
including Radio & TV Martí in Miami.
In October, I wrote about a radio programming contest that Kline ran in
Cuba without telling participants that it was funded by the U.S.
government. The contest was aborted and no one was awarded any prizes
after Cuban authorities arrested development worker Alan Gross in
December 2009. (See "Taxpayer Contest Aborted").
Earlier, in May 2014, I wrote that that Kline had traveled to Cuba to
test cell phones and other wireless devices for a State Department
contractor. (See "The Other Alan Gross").
In February 2014, I wrote about his contract to produce self-help videos
in Cuba. (See "The incredible disappearing $450,000 contract").
Kline's company, Canyon Communications, signed the $1,450,063 BBG
contract on Sept. 30, 2014. His company has won a total of $1,799,503 in
BBG contracts since 2013. That makes him the BBG's 56th winningest
vendor since 1999.
(Another one of his companies, the Pinyon Foundation, won an additional
$450,000 in 2013 – see record. Canyon Communications appears to have
carried out that contract, documents show. That would bring the
company's total contracts to $2,249,503, which would boost Kline's rank
on the top 100 list to 44. See Top 100 here).
The BBG had announced its interest in finding a contractor for Cuba
programming on April 14, 2014. Its announcement stated:
The BBG is seeking to ascertain if there are firms available who are
capable of developing and producing specialized Spanish language
multimedia programming specifically designed for broadcast to Cuba. The
BBG is most interested in firms that have produced programming for
broadcast to Cuba focusing on entrepreneurship (i.e., how to start a
business, examples of successful small businesses that have been created
through personal initiative, etc.), and profiles of well-known artistic
persons or groups living in Cuba.
Canyon Communications, which lists a corporate address of 1180 South
Beverly Drive, Suite 500, Los Angeles, and one other company responded
to the BBG's request for proposals, sending in statements explaining why
they would be suited for the job.
The BBG stated:
After a technical evaluation of the two statements, it was determined
that while the Canyon Communications capabilities statement clearly
demonstrated that the company had extensive experience and unique
ability in developing and producing programming for Cuban audiences. The
proposal from the other company did not demonstrate having any
capability or demonstrated experience providing programming for this
requirement. In addition to the RFI responses, OCB is not aware of any
other production company that has this experience and capability.
The BBG explained why Canyon Communications was qualified:
As a result of an unsolicited proposal submitted in FY 2013, Canyon
Communications, LLC was awarded a contract by the BBG to provide the
same type of programming for OCB. Under this contract, Canyon produced a
number of radio and television programs. The video and audio programs
maintain an essential component which is a unique and often very "up
close" production style that captures a grass roots approach.
The continued use of the overall format of the productions including
talent used, unique video and audio production techniques and core
content message is essential for the success and the overall continuity
of OCB's and Radio and TV Marti's branding and mission.
Although Canyon assigned the copyright to all programming to the BBG,
only Canyon can realistically produce a continuation of these programs,
making the programming highly unique and available only from this
source. Canyon also assigned all trademarks, including show titles, to
the BBG.
It is in OCB's interest to continue to use the same crew and performers,
as well as the same style of graphics and show opens and closes as were
used under the previous contract in order to have the programming look
and feel the same to our audience.
Source: Big Cuba Communications Contract Awarded - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107629>
Cuba’s Toilet Paper Shortages Revisited
Cuba's Toilet Paper Shortages Revisited
November 27, 2014
Isbel Diaz Torres y Jimmy Roque Martinez
HAVANA TIMES – Though Cuba's toilet paper shortages this year caused
something of a stir in local and foreign media, no one clearly explained
why this product suddenly "disappeared" from the country's stores.
In February, even Granma, Cuba's major official newspaper, published a
letter from a customer who was complaining about the fact "people aren't
being given an explanation". A month later, the sales and purchases
manager for Cuba's TRD Caribe chain – one of the few stores that sell
the product on the island – had the courtesy of going on Radio Reloj and
declaring that the shortage would last till the end of May.
According to this official, Cuba's industry "fails to satisfy" the
demand for the product, but he didn't care to offer any more details. Is
this the case because of technical issues, the lack of investment, raw
material shortages, the US blockade, poor management, lack of incentives
for workers?
The fact of the matter is that toilet paper shortages on the island are
almost chronic, and the volumes of the product produced have never fully
satisfied the demands of the population. In January of this year,
however, something different happened and the result was a 55 % deficit
of the product at stores by April.
A "Little Setback" at the Plant
When we asked about this, we managed to obtain several answers from the
officials closest to the truth. One of them was Alfredo Casanova, sales
manager of Matanza's Empresa de Productos Sanitarios ("Sanitary Products
Company"), who answered a number of our questions.
According to Casanova, first there was "an extraction problem at
stores", and, "as of the month of January, we have a 'bit of a setback'
at the plant." This had a negative impact on overall production. "We
were producing at 70 % capacity for nearly 4 months" because of that
breakdown, the sales manager told us.
The damage in question resulted from sending a deteriorated roller
abroad for repairs. The roller is a rubber cylinder that is nearly 4
meters long.
Without the roller, they were forced to reduce the machine's production
speed from 380 to about 240 meters per minute. "But production
continued. The truly sad thing would have been to shut down the plant
for three months," the technician added.
At the end of the first half of the year, the plant managed to guarantee
102 % of the production planned for that period, and we have been able
to confirm that, even though it's not always easy to find toilet paper,
one comes across it more frequently than at the beginning of the year.
Making Up For the Deficit
According to Casanova, the demand at stores is of 33 million rolls a
year, but Cuba's domestic industry can only deliver 23 million. These
figures, however, are different from those offered by Jose Elias Prats,
sales and purchases manager for TRD Caribe, who declared on Radio Reloj
that the national demand for 2014 had been estimated at 13 million rolls.
Was he referring to demand at TRD stores alone? At any rate, to try and
make up for that deficit, TRD ordered 46 containers of toilet paper from
Vietnam, Guatemala and Mexico.
When we interviewed Casanova, TRD and CIMEX, the two largest store
chains that distribute this product, had imported around 15 containers
of toilet paper. "When you distribute this across Cuba, it's practically
nothing," the manager admitted.
That said, the official from the plant in Matanzas believes that, with
the repairs and imports planned, it is unlikely that a shortage as
severe as the one experienced at the beginning of the year will repeat
itself.
Havana Times approached another employee from the plant's commercial
department, named Jose. According to him, under normal conditions, a
truck supplies TRD and CIMEX stores on a daily basis.
It is worth pointing out that Cuba's manufacturing plants, in addition
to store chains, cover two other gigantic sectors: tourism and defense.
Price Speculation
The cheapest roll of toilet paper costs 0.30 CUC (Cuban Convertible
Pesos). This is the so-called "green" paper, whose fiber is obtained
from recycled paper obtained entirely in Cuba (though some other
elements, like the ink and nylon for the packaging are imported).
In addition to this type of paper, Cuba produces others of greater
quality (whiter, softer and more resistant) which are more expensive. It
is curious that the price of the imported brands does not differ
substantially from these.
Casanova informed us that the total cost of producing a single roll of
toilet paper is 0.15 CUC, but that the sale price at stores are decided
by the chains themselves.
That said, the current price has a "ceiling." "The Ministry of Finances
and Prices established a price ceiling for toilet paper because it is a
crucial item for the population, and said that store chains have to
sacrifice some of their profit margin, that it can't be 2. I believe it
was left at 1.82," the official commented.
The plant in Matanzas sells its products at 0.172 CUC the unit,
obtaining a minimal profit margin, while stores get a good slice, as is
the case with other products sold on the island.
Capacity and Potential
Cuba could produce all of the toilet paper it needs. Buying a roll of
toilet paper from Mexico costs US $ 0.22. If this money were given the
factory, however, the cost would be far less, Casanova tells us. "It is
in the interest of the country that its factories produce the paper
using salvaged left-overs. It would save a lot of money," he added.
"We want to go from a 5 to a 10 thousand ton capacity, but that requires
a degree of investment we haven't had to date." According to the expert,
the only limitation is the money invested.
In Casanova's opinion, to reach its goals, the factory in Matanzas
requires a de-inking and a purfying machine. It also needs to modernize,
installing flat filters, new fiber recovery equipment and another thickener.
Cuba can supply all of the raw material needed to guarantee the
production needed by the populaton, and would only need to import white
paper for "finer products", like luxury napkins for tourism, facial
towels and others.
"The plant knows what it has to do, but the country doesn't have the
money to spend. We're a joint venture company. This year, our partner
invested some six hundred thousand pesos. We did some things with that,
but that's far from being all we need," he regretted.
According to the technician, with around 4 million dollars, the plant
could be taken to "an almost international level."
Unmet Demand
Before the economic crisis of the 90s, Cuba had three toilet paper
plants: one in Cotorro, the other in Puentes Grandes and the one in
operation today, in Matanzas.
Even after the year 2000, the industry covered the country's demand and
exported to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Dominica.
Today, Cuba's per-capita consumption of toilet paper is behind Haiti's:
it is less than a kilogram per inhabitant every year.
The demand is growing at an accelerated pace. "Last year, when we were
delivering the same volume of products to stores, the toilet paper
deficit was below 15%," Casanova explained.
Manufactured products and imports are distributed in certain cities and
sectors, such as tourism, to the detriment of the population in
non-privileged areas of Cuba.
On average, 60% of the toilet paper produced is sent to the capital,
while there are provinces that have experienced a 100% deficit, the
manager told us. The Isla de la Juventud faces the most critical situation.
The fact of the matter is that there are no solutions at hand for the
shortage of this product, though the new foreign investment law could be
an opportunity in this connection.
The growing network of small, private businesses and street vendors
makes indiscriminate use of large volumes of quality white and even
chromium paper, which could be replaced with napkins made of recycled paper.
That could also mean a break for Cuba's predatory and polluting paper
manufacturing industry and an incentive for toilet paper producers.
Source: Cuba's Toilet Paper Shortages Revisited - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107639>
November 27, 2014
Isbel Diaz Torres y Jimmy Roque Martinez
HAVANA TIMES – Though Cuba's toilet paper shortages this year caused
something of a stir in local and foreign media, no one clearly explained
why this product suddenly "disappeared" from the country's stores.
In February, even Granma, Cuba's major official newspaper, published a
letter from a customer who was complaining about the fact "people aren't
being given an explanation". A month later, the sales and purchases
manager for Cuba's TRD Caribe chain – one of the few stores that sell
the product on the island – had the courtesy of going on Radio Reloj and
declaring that the shortage would last till the end of May.
According to this official, Cuba's industry "fails to satisfy" the
demand for the product, but he didn't care to offer any more details. Is
this the case because of technical issues, the lack of investment, raw
material shortages, the US blockade, poor management, lack of incentives
for workers?
The fact of the matter is that toilet paper shortages on the island are
almost chronic, and the volumes of the product produced have never fully
satisfied the demands of the population. In January of this year,
however, something different happened and the result was a 55 % deficit
of the product at stores by April.
A "Little Setback" at the Plant
When we asked about this, we managed to obtain several answers from the
officials closest to the truth. One of them was Alfredo Casanova, sales
manager of Matanza's Empresa de Productos Sanitarios ("Sanitary Products
Company"), who answered a number of our questions.
According to Casanova, first there was "an extraction problem at
stores", and, "as of the month of January, we have a 'bit of a setback'
at the plant." This had a negative impact on overall production. "We
were producing at 70 % capacity for nearly 4 months" because of that
breakdown, the sales manager told us.
The damage in question resulted from sending a deteriorated roller
abroad for repairs. The roller is a rubber cylinder that is nearly 4
meters long.
Without the roller, they were forced to reduce the machine's production
speed from 380 to about 240 meters per minute. "But production
continued. The truly sad thing would have been to shut down the plant
for three months," the technician added.
At the end of the first half of the year, the plant managed to guarantee
102 % of the production planned for that period, and we have been able
to confirm that, even though it's not always easy to find toilet paper,
one comes across it more frequently than at the beginning of the year.
Making Up For the Deficit
According to Casanova, the demand at stores is of 33 million rolls a
year, but Cuba's domestic industry can only deliver 23 million. These
figures, however, are different from those offered by Jose Elias Prats,
sales and purchases manager for TRD Caribe, who declared on Radio Reloj
that the national demand for 2014 had been estimated at 13 million rolls.
Was he referring to demand at TRD stores alone? At any rate, to try and
make up for that deficit, TRD ordered 46 containers of toilet paper from
Vietnam, Guatemala and Mexico.
When we interviewed Casanova, TRD and CIMEX, the two largest store
chains that distribute this product, had imported around 15 containers
of toilet paper. "When you distribute this across Cuba, it's practically
nothing," the manager admitted.
That said, the official from the plant in Matanzas believes that, with
the repairs and imports planned, it is unlikely that a shortage as
severe as the one experienced at the beginning of the year will repeat
itself.
Havana Times approached another employee from the plant's commercial
department, named Jose. According to him, under normal conditions, a
truck supplies TRD and CIMEX stores on a daily basis.
It is worth pointing out that Cuba's manufacturing plants, in addition
to store chains, cover two other gigantic sectors: tourism and defense.
Price Speculation
The cheapest roll of toilet paper costs 0.30 CUC (Cuban Convertible
Pesos). This is the so-called "green" paper, whose fiber is obtained
from recycled paper obtained entirely in Cuba (though some other
elements, like the ink and nylon for the packaging are imported).
In addition to this type of paper, Cuba produces others of greater
quality (whiter, softer and more resistant) which are more expensive. It
is curious that the price of the imported brands does not differ
substantially from these.
Casanova informed us that the total cost of producing a single roll of
toilet paper is 0.15 CUC, but that the sale price at stores are decided
by the chains themselves.
That said, the current price has a "ceiling." "The Ministry of Finances
and Prices established a price ceiling for toilet paper because it is a
crucial item for the population, and said that store chains have to
sacrifice some of their profit margin, that it can't be 2. I believe it
was left at 1.82," the official commented.
The plant in Matanzas sells its products at 0.172 CUC the unit,
obtaining a minimal profit margin, while stores get a good slice, as is
the case with other products sold on the island.
Capacity and Potential
Cuba could produce all of the toilet paper it needs. Buying a roll of
toilet paper from Mexico costs US $ 0.22. If this money were given the
factory, however, the cost would be far less, Casanova tells us. "It is
in the interest of the country that its factories produce the paper
using salvaged left-overs. It would save a lot of money," he added.
"We want to go from a 5 to a 10 thousand ton capacity, but that requires
a degree of investment we haven't had to date." According to the expert,
the only limitation is the money invested.
In Casanova's opinion, to reach its goals, the factory in Matanzas
requires a de-inking and a purfying machine. It also needs to modernize,
installing flat filters, new fiber recovery equipment and another thickener.
Cuba can supply all of the raw material needed to guarantee the
production needed by the populaton, and would only need to import white
paper for "finer products", like luxury napkins for tourism, facial
towels and others.
"The plant knows what it has to do, but the country doesn't have the
money to spend. We're a joint venture company. This year, our partner
invested some six hundred thousand pesos. We did some things with that,
but that's far from being all we need," he regretted.
According to the technician, with around 4 million dollars, the plant
could be taken to "an almost international level."
Unmet Demand
Before the economic crisis of the 90s, Cuba had three toilet paper
plants: one in Cotorro, the other in Puentes Grandes and the one in
operation today, in Matanzas.
Even after the year 2000, the industry covered the country's demand and
exported to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Dominica.
Today, Cuba's per-capita consumption of toilet paper is behind Haiti's:
it is less than a kilogram per inhabitant every year.
The demand is growing at an accelerated pace. "Last year, when we were
delivering the same volume of products to stores, the toilet paper
deficit was below 15%," Casanova explained.
Manufactured products and imports are distributed in certain cities and
sectors, such as tourism, to the detriment of the population in
non-privileged areas of Cuba.
On average, 60% of the toilet paper produced is sent to the capital,
while there are provinces that have experienced a 100% deficit, the
manager told us. The Isla de la Juventud faces the most critical situation.
The fact of the matter is that there are no solutions at hand for the
shortage of this product, though the new foreign investment law could be
an opportunity in this connection.
The growing network of small, private businesses and street vendors
makes indiscriminate use of large volumes of quality white and even
chromium paper, which could be replaced with napkins made of recycled paper.
That could also mean a break for Cuba's predatory and polluting paper
manufacturing industry and an incentive for toilet paper producers.
Source: Cuba's Toilet Paper Shortages Revisited - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107639>
JOSÉ DANIEL FERRER ATTACKED BY THE STATE SECURITY
PRESS RELEASE
Raul Castro would have given personally the order to eliminate
opponents, and two days after the attacks against Guillermo Fariñas and
the ladies in white...
JOSÉ DANIEL FERRER ATTACKED BY THE STATE SECURITY
According to sources from the MININT (Cuban Interior Ministry) consulted
by UNPACU, Raul Castro has given personally the order to eliminate, by
all means, the most active opposition, UNPACU and the Ladies in white,
in a period of three months.
The repression and violence against "key" targets of the opposition have
increased these last weeks with individuals given concrete orders of
infiltration, instead of a massive police short-term repression strategy
that has been going on since three years.
Despite the visit of the Foreign Minister of Spain, José Manuel
García-Margallo and the trade negotiations launched with the European
Union, Raul Castro gave the order to start the repression these last days.
UNPACU REQUESTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION TO WATCH CLOSELY THE ONGOING
EVENTS AND TO CALL FOR AN END OF REPRESSION AGAINST PACIFIC OPPONENTS AS
A CONDITION TO THE ONGOING TRADE NEGOCIATIONS.
Santiago de Cuba, November 27th, 2014, 23:00. UNPACU.
UNPACU has been experiencing these last weeks, an increase of violence
that has been practiced through citizens working for the state security.
The main objective of this repression campaign is to cause fatal damage
and harm the opposition's most active organizations, UNPACU, Ladies in
White and Citizens for Democracy (CxD). A recent case related by various
Medias is the aggression of Guillermo Fariñas, 2010 Sakharov Prize for
freedom of conscience by the European Union, who was attacked by an
individual named José Alberto Botell Cárdenas. To stop the aggressor, a
number of people interfered and, among whom, two Ladies in white who
suffered important injures provoked by stab wounds. One of them is still
hospitalized in serious condition.
ON THE ATTACK AND PLOT AGAINST JOSE DANIEL FERRER
A similar case occurred in the headquarters of the UNPACU in Santiago de
Cuba, a case that is now the source of a farce the government is using
against José Daniel Ferrer.
On Thursday 13th of this month, at the headquarters of UNPACU, named
Maria Heredia and located in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, in
Santiago de Cuba, an individual named Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez,
following direct orders from the political police, provoked a violent
altercation, that was hardly stifled and ended by the expulsion of the
individual from the place. Few minutes later, the same individual went
to UNPACUs headquarters in Altamira carrying heavy metal balls that can
be considered clearly lethal.
Given that the activists recognized the individual and did not let him
renew his attack, he became extremely violent. By chance, many activists
and members were present in the UNPACU headquarter and managed to
immobilize the aggressor and to remove from him the metal arms he was
carrying.
Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, a known agent of the state security
Weeks earlier, the same individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez presented
himself at the headquarter José Maria Heredia, demanding affiliation to
the UNPACU. After the usual inquiries, previous to the acceptance of any
applicant, the individual was found to be sent by the Interior Ministry;
a fact that has been confirmed by external sources (since he had been
identified in repressive acts against many activists) and by internal
sources (from the Interior Ministry). Yet, knowing this fact, and
without informing the individual, he was allowed to enter the
headquarters with the due control and with knowledge of his condition as
an infiltrated from the political police, and only for irrelevant meetings.
José Daniel Ferrer has been called by the State Security in order to
plead "guilty"
Following the facts mentioned above, José Daniel Ferrer has been called
by the State Security to testify, supposedly as the defendant, accused
by the individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, under a false accusation of
aggression against his person.
The summons was delivered to the opposition leader by two 1st
lieutenants by the NRP (National "Revolutionary" Police) around 6 pm of
the afternoon on November 27th at the headquarters of Altamira, Santiago
de Cuba.
José Daniel Ferrer has declared that "In any case, believing that an
individual who has been seen by more than 15 witnesses assaulting many
people could lead a peaceful human rights activist to be brought to
custody creating a false accusation and might even lead him to
detention: There is no way that the UNPACU will submit to this farce"
A complete declaration by Jose Daniel Ferrer (in Spanish), explaining
all the events, can be heard on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEKNr-QISs8
The case of Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez's attacks was already published by
UNPACU on November 13th and can be found in the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4r9QEsj1Y
1. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
2. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE UNIÓN PATRIÓTICA DE CUBA (UNPACU):
José Daniel Ferrer, Cuba, Secretario Ejecutivo
Teléfonos: (+53) 53 14 6740 / (+53) 54 33 2181 / (+53) 53 74 0544 /
(+53) 58 32 3612
Luis Enrique Ferrer, Miami, Rep. en el Exterior
Teléfono: +1 786 553 1666
Email: unpacu@gmail.com
Javier Larrondo, Madrid, Rep. en Unión Europea
Teléfono: +34647564741
Email: info@unpacu.org
Website de la Unión Patriótica de Cuba:
www.unpacu.org
Tweeter de José Daniel Ferrer:
@jdanielferrer
http://twitter.com/#!/jdanielferrer
Vídeos directos desde Cuba (Canal YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/user/unpacu
Raul Castro would have given personally the order to eliminate
opponents, and two days after the attacks against Guillermo Fariñas and
the ladies in white...
JOSÉ DANIEL FERRER ATTACKED BY THE STATE SECURITY
According to sources from the MININT (Cuban Interior Ministry) consulted
by UNPACU, Raul Castro has given personally the order to eliminate, by
all means, the most active opposition, UNPACU and the Ladies in white,
in a period of three months.
The repression and violence against "key" targets of the opposition have
increased these last weeks with individuals given concrete orders of
infiltration, instead of a massive police short-term repression strategy
that has been going on since three years.
Despite the visit of the Foreign Minister of Spain, José Manuel
García-Margallo and the trade negotiations launched with the European
Union, Raul Castro gave the order to start the repression these last days.
UNPACU REQUESTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION TO WATCH CLOSELY THE ONGOING
EVENTS AND TO CALL FOR AN END OF REPRESSION AGAINST PACIFIC OPPONENTS AS
A CONDITION TO THE ONGOING TRADE NEGOCIATIONS.
Santiago de Cuba, November 27th, 2014, 23:00. UNPACU.
UNPACU has been experiencing these last weeks, an increase of violence
that has been practiced through citizens working for the state security.
The main objective of this repression campaign is to cause fatal damage
and harm the opposition's most active organizations, UNPACU, Ladies in
White and Citizens for Democracy (CxD). A recent case related by various
Medias is the aggression of Guillermo Fariñas, 2010 Sakharov Prize for
freedom of conscience by the European Union, who was attacked by an
individual named José Alberto Botell Cárdenas. To stop the aggressor, a
number of people interfered and, among whom, two Ladies in white who
suffered important injures provoked by stab wounds. One of them is still
hospitalized in serious condition.
ON THE ATTACK AND PLOT AGAINST JOSE DANIEL FERRER
A similar case occurred in the headquarters of the UNPACU in Santiago de
Cuba, a case that is now the source of a farce the government is using
against José Daniel Ferrer.
On Thursday 13th of this month, at the headquarters of UNPACU, named
Maria Heredia and located in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, in
Santiago de Cuba, an individual named Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez,
following direct orders from the political police, provoked a violent
altercation, that was hardly stifled and ended by the expulsion of the
individual from the place. Few minutes later, the same individual went
to UNPACUs headquarters in Altamira carrying heavy metal balls that can
be considered clearly lethal.
Given that the activists recognized the individual and did not let him
renew his attack, he became extremely violent. By chance, many activists
and members were present in the UNPACU headquarter and managed to
immobilize the aggressor and to remove from him the metal arms he was
carrying.
Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, a known agent of the state security
Weeks earlier, the same individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez presented
himself at the headquarter José Maria Heredia, demanding affiliation to
the UNPACU. After the usual inquiries, previous to the acceptance of any
applicant, the individual was found to be sent by the Interior Ministry;
a fact that has been confirmed by external sources (since he had been
identified in repressive acts against many activists) and by internal
sources (from the Interior Ministry). Yet, knowing this fact, and
without informing the individual, he was allowed to enter the
headquarters with the due control and with knowledge of his condition as
an infiltrated from the political police, and only for irrelevant meetings.
José Daniel Ferrer has been called by the State Security in order to
plead "guilty"
Following the facts mentioned above, José Daniel Ferrer has been called
by the State Security to testify, supposedly as the defendant, accused
by the individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, under a false accusation of
aggression against his person.
The summons was delivered to the opposition leader by two 1st
lieutenants by the NRP (National "Revolutionary" Police) around 6 pm of
the afternoon on November 27th at the headquarters of Altamira, Santiago
de Cuba.
José Daniel Ferrer has declared that "In any case, believing that an
individual who has been seen by more than 15 witnesses assaulting many
people could lead a peaceful human rights activist to be brought to
custody creating a false accusation and might even lead him to
detention: There is no way that the UNPACU will submit to this farce"
A complete declaration by Jose Daniel Ferrer (in Spanish), explaining
all the events, can be heard on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEKNr-QISs8
The case of Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez's attacks was already published by
UNPACU on November 13th and can be found in the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4r9QEsj1Y
1. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
2. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE UNIÓN PATRIÓTICA DE CUBA (UNPACU):
José Daniel Ferrer, Cuba, Secretario Ejecutivo
Teléfonos: (+53) 53 14 6740 / (+53) 54 33 2181 / (+53) 53 74 0544 /
(+53) 58 32 3612
Luis Enrique Ferrer, Miami, Rep. en el Exterior
Teléfono: +1 786 553 1666
Email: unpacu@gmail.com
Javier Larrondo, Madrid, Rep. en Unión Europea
Teléfono: +34647564741
Email: info@unpacu.org
Website de la Unión Patriótica de Cuba:
www.unpacu.org
Tweeter de José Daniel Ferrer:
@jdanielferrer
http://twitter.com/#!/jdanielferrer
Vídeos directos desde Cuba (Canal YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/user/unpacu
JOSÉ DANIEL FERRER ATTACKED BY THE STATE SECURITY
PRESS RELEASE
Raul Castro would have given personally the order to eliminate
opponents, and two days after the attacks against Guillermo Fariñas and
the ladies in white...
JOSÉ DANIEL FERRER ATTACKED BY THE STATE SECURITY
According to sources from the MININT (Cuban Interior Ministry) consulted
by UNPACU, Raul Castro has given personally the order to eliminate, by
all means, the most active opposition, UNPACU and the Ladies in white,
in a period of three months.
The repression and violence against "key" targets of the opposition have
increased these last weeks with individuals given concrete orders of
infiltration, instead of a massive police short-term repression strategy
that has been going on since three years.
Despite the visit of the Foreign Minister of Spain, José Manuel
García-Margallo and the trade negotiations launched with the European
Union, Raul Castro gave the order to start the repression these last days.
UNPACU REQUESTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION TO WATCH CLOSELY THE ONGOING
EVENTS AND TO CALL FOR AN END OF REPRESSION AGAINST PACIFIC OPPONENTS AS
A CONDITION TO THE ONGOING TRADE NEGOCIATIONS.
Santiago de Cuba, November 27th, 2014, 23:00. UNPACU.
UNPACU has been experiencing these last weeks, an increase of violence
that has been practiced through citizens working for the state security.
The main objective of this repression campaign is to cause fatal damage
and harm the opposition's most active organizations, UNPACU, Ladies in
White and Citizens for Democracy (CxD). A recent case related by various
Medias is the aggression of Guillermo Fariñas, 2010 Sakharov Prize for
freedom of conscience by the European Union, who was attacked by an
individual named José Alberto Botell Cárdenas. To stop the aggressor, a
number of people interfered and, among whom, two Ladies in white who
suffered important injures provoked by stab wounds. One of them is still
hospitalized in serious condition.
ON THE ATTACK AND PLOT AGAINST JOSE DANIEL FERRER
A similar case occurred in the headquarters of the UNPACU in Santiago de
Cuba, a case that is now the source of a farce the government is using
against José Daniel Ferrer.
On Thursday 13th of this month, at the headquarters of UNPACU, named
Maria Heredia and located in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, in
Santiago de Cuba, an individual named Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez,
following direct orders from the political police, provoked a violent
altercation, that was hardly stifled and ended by the expulsion of the
individual from the place. Few minutes later, the same individual went
to UNPACUs headquarters in Altamira carrying heavy metal balls that can
be considered clearly lethal.
Given that the activists recognized the individual and did not let him
renew his attack, he became extremely violent. By chance, many activists
and members were present in the UNPACU headquarter and managed to
immobilize the aggressor and to remove from him the metal arms he was
carrying.
Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, a known agent of the state security
Weeks earlier, the same individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez presented
himself at the headquarter José Maria Heredia, demanding affiliation to
the UNPACU. After the usual inquiries, previous to the acceptance of any
applicant, the individual was found to be sent by the Interior Ministry;
a fact that has been confirmed by external sources (since he had been
identified in repressive acts against many activists) and by internal
sources (from the Interior Ministry). Yet, knowing this fact, and
without informing the individual, he was allowed to enter the
headquarters with the due control and with knowledge of his condition as
an infiltrated from the political police, and only for irrelevant meetings.
José Daniel Ferrer has been called by the State Security in order to
plead "guilty"
Following the facts mentioned above, José Daniel Ferrer has been called
by the State Security to testify, supposedly as the defendant, accused
by the individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, under a false accusation of
aggression against his person.
The summons was delivered to the opposition leader by two 1st
lieutenants by the NRP (National "Revolutionary" Police) around 6 pm of
the afternoon on November 27th at the headquarters of Altamira, Santiago
de Cuba.
José Daniel Ferrer has declared that "In any case, believing that an
individual who has been seen by more than 15 witnesses assaulting many
people could lead a peaceful human rights activist to be brought to
custody creating a false accusation and might even lead him to
detention: There is no way that the UNPACU will submit to this farce"
A complete declaration by Jose Daniel Ferrer (in Spanish), explaining
all the events, can be heard on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEKNr-QISs8
The case of Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez's attacks was already published by
UNPACU on November 13th and can be found in the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4r9QEsj1Y
1. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
2. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE UNIÓN PATRIÓTICA DE CUBA (UNPACU):
José Daniel Ferrer, Cuba, Secretario Ejecutivo
Teléfonos: (+53) 53 14 6740 / (+53) 54 33 2181 / (+53) 53 74 0544 /
(+53) 58 32 3612
Luis Enrique Ferrer, Miami, Rep. en el Exterior
Teléfono: +1 786 553 1666
Email: unpacu@gmail.com
Javier Larrondo, Madrid, Rep. en Unión Europea
Teléfono: +34647564741
Email: info@unpacu.org
Website de la Unión Patriótica de Cuba:
www.unpacu.org
Tweeter de José Daniel Ferrer:
@jdanielferrer
http://twitter.com/#!/jdanielferrer
Vídeos directos desde Cuba (Canal YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/user/unpacu
Raul Castro would have given personally the order to eliminate
opponents, and two days after the attacks against Guillermo Fariñas and
the ladies in white...
JOSÉ DANIEL FERRER ATTACKED BY THE STATE SECURITY
According to sources from the MININT (Cuban Interior Ministry) consulted
by UNPACU, Raul Castro has given personally the order to eliminate, by
all means, the most active opposition, UNPACU and the Ladies in white,
in a period of three months.
The repression and violence against "key" targets of the opposition have
increased these last weeks with individuals given concrete orders of
infiltration, instead of a massive police short-term repression strategy
that has been going on since three years.
Despite the visit of the Foreign Minister of Spain, José Manuel
García-Margallo and the trade negotiations launched with the European
Union, Raul Castro gave the order to start the repression these last days.
UNPACU REQUESTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION TO WATCH CLOSELY THE ONGOING
EVENTS AND TO CALL FOR AN END OF REPRESSION AGAINST PACIFIC OPPONENTS AS
A CONDITION TO THE ONGOING TRADE NEGOCIATIONS.
Santiago de Cuba, November 27th, 2014, 23:00. UNPACU.
UNPACU has been experiencing these last weeks, an increase of violence
that has been practiced through citizens working for the state security.
The main objective of this repression campaign is to cause fatal damage
and harm the opposition's most active organizations, UNPACU, Ladies in
White and Citizens for Democracy (CxD). A recent case related by various
Medias is the aggression of Guillermo Fariñas, 2010 Sakharov Prize for
freedom of conscience by the European Union, who was attacked by an
individual named José Alberto Botell Cárdenas. To stop the aggressor, a
number of people interfered and, among whom, two Ladies in white who
suffered important injures provoked by stab wounds. One of them is still
hospitalized in serious condition.
ON THE ATTACK AND PLOT AGAINST JOSE DANIEL FERRER
A similar case occurred in the headquarters of the UNPACU in Santiago de
Cuba, a case that is now the source of a farce the government is using
against José Daniel Ferrer.
On Thursday 13th of this month, at the headquarters of UNPACU, named
Maria Heredia and located in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, in
Santiago de Cuba, an individual named Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez,
following direct orders from the political police, provoked a violent
altercation, that was hardly stifled and ended by the expulsion of the
individual from the place. Few minutes later, the same individual went
to UNPACUs headquarters in Altamira carrying heavy metal balls that can
be considered clearly lethal.
Given that the activists recognized the individual and did not let him
renew his attack, he became extremely violent. By chance, many activists
and members were present in the UNPACU headquarter and managed to
immobilize the aggressor and to remove from him the metal arms he was
carrying.
Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, a known agent of the state security
Weeks earlier, the same individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez presented
himself at the headquarter José Maria Heredia, demanding affiliation to
the UNPACU. After the usual inquiries, previous to the acceptance of any
applicant, the individual was found to be sent by the Interior Ministry;
a fact that has been confirmed by external sources (since he had been
identified in repressive acts against many activists) and by internal
sources (from the Interior Ministry). Yet, knowing this fact, and
without informing the individual, he was allowed to enter the
headquarters with the due control and with knowledge of his condition as
an infiltrated from the political police, and only for irrelevant meetings.
José Daniel Ferrer has been called by the State Security in order to
plead "guilty"
Following the facts mentioned above, José Daniel Ferrer has been called
by the State Security to testify, supposedly as the defendant, accused
by the individual Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez, under a false accusation of
aggression against his person.
The summons was delivered to the opposition leader by two 1st
lieutenants by the NRP (National "Revolutionary" Police) around 6 pm of
the afternoon on November 27th at the headquarters of Altamira, Santiago
de Cuba.
José Daniel Ferrer has declared that "In any case, believing that an
individual who has been seen by more than 15 witnesses assaulting many
people could lead a peaceful human rights activist to be brought to
custody creating a false accusation and might even lead him to
detention: There is no way that the UNPACU will submit to this farce"
A complete declaration by Jose Daniel Ferrer (in Spanish), explaining
all the events, can be heard on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEKNr-QISs8
The case of Ernesto Jiménez Rodríguez's attacks was already published by
UNPACU on November 13th and can be found in the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4r9QEsj1Y
1. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
2. Direct witnesses of the aggression that occurred in the UNPACU
headquarters in the neighborhood of Mariana de la Torre, and who managed
to expel the aggressor, were: Ricardo Torres Hernández, José Augusto
Bueno Fuentes, Magalis Rivaflecha Revilla, Amado Torres Montalvan,
Yusmila Reyna Ferrera, Ana Lidia Torres Gomez, Roberto Cuello Pozo y
Ernesto Oliva Torres
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE UNIÓN PATRIÓTICA DE CUBA (UNPACU):
José Daniel Ferrer, Cuba, Secretario Ejecutivo
Teléfonos: (+53) 53 14 6740 / (+53) 54 33 2181 / (+53) 53 74 0544 /
(+53) 58 32 3612
Luis Enrique Ferrer, Miami, Rep. en el Exterior
Teléfono: +1 786 553 1666
Email: unpacu@gmail.com
Javier Larrondo, Madrid, Rep. en Unión Europea
Teléfono: +34647564741
Email: info@unpacu.org
Website de la Unión Patriótica de Cuba:
www.unpacu.org
Tweeter de José Daniel Ferrer:
@jdanielferrer
http://twitter.com/#!/jdanielferrer
Vídeos directos desde Cuba (Canal YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/user/unpacu
Cuba tests new biodiesel fuels to reduce oil import dependence
Cuba tests new biodiesel fuels to reduce oil import dependence
English.news.cn 2014-11-28 11:07:18
HAVANA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Experts are trying new biodiesel fuels for
motors, Pedro Rodriguez, doctor in science from Cuban Polytechnic
University Jose Antonio Echeverria (CUJAE), said here on Thursday.
Rodriguez said he and his colleagues have been undertaking researches
with different types of biomass, in order to extract oil and use it
mixed with other fuels.
The target is to improve the energetic matrix of the Caribbean island
through sustainable and environment-friendly fuels, Rodriguez was quoted
by the official agency Prensa Latina as saying.
Rodriguez participated in the 17th Scientific Convention on Engineering
and Architecture, to conclude on Friday at the Havana's Convention
Palace. Over 1,440 investigations from Cuban and foreign experts
presenting, the convention mainly addressed to the issues of energy,
environment, new technologies, biotechnologies and food, among other topics.
Cuba produces about 4 million tons of oils with its accompanying gas in
a year, but that figure covers only 50 percent of its domestic needs and
the rest is imported, with payment facilities, from its main political
ally Venezuela.
The government is promoting strategies to reduce its dependence from oil
imports while developing natural energy sources more favourable to
nature and atmosphere.
Source: Cuba tests new biodiesel fuels to reduce oil import dependence -
Xinhua | English.news.cn -
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-11/28/c_133820355.htm>
English.news.cn 2014-11-28 11:07:18
HAVANA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Experts are trying new biodiesel fuels for
motors, Pedro Rodriguez, doctor in science from Cuban Polytechnic
University Jose Antonio Echeverria (CUJAE), said here on Thursday.
Rodriguez said he and his colleagues have been undertaking researches
with different types of biomass, in order to extract oil and use it
mixed with other fuels.
The target is to improve the energetic matrix of the Caribbean island
through sustainable and environment-friendly fuels, Rodriguez was quoted
by the official agency Prensa Latina as saying.
Rodriguez participated in the 17th Scientific Convention on Engineering
and Architecture, to conclude on Friday at the Havana's Convention
Palace. Over 1,440 investigations from Cuban and foreign experts
presenting, the convention mainly addressed to the issues of energy,
environment, new technologies, biotechnologies and food, among other topics.
Cuba produces about 4 million tons of oils with its accompanying gas in
a year, but that figure covers only 50 percent of its domestic needs and
the rest is imported, with payment facilities, from its main political
ally Venezuela.
The government is promoting strategies to reduce its dependence from oil
imports while developing natural energy sources more favourable to
nature and atmosphere.
Source: Cuba tests new biodiesel fuels to reduce oil import dependence -
Xinhua | English.news.cn -
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-11/28/c_133820355.htm>
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Cuban Health Care Workers’ Motives: Idealism or Necessity?
Cuban Health Care Workers' Motives: Idealism or Necessity?
Posted on November 27, 2014
By Jeovany Jimenez Vega
During an interview last Thursday on his afternoon radio program the
host, Ninoska Perez, told me about the mood he perceived in the Cuban
medical brigade workers dispatched a few days ago by Raul Castro. He was
struck by the "unfriendly" demeanor some of these professionals showed
upon leaving for West Africa to confront the Ebola epidemic. I could not
comment because I had not seen the television program in question, but
his observation did cause me to think about the motives of Cuban health
care workers who have joined medical missions in recent decades.
Although regularly presented by the Cuban government as examples of
lofty philanthropic aspirations, in reality these missions have become
in the span of a few short years the main source of income for this
Caribbean nation. We have all witnessed how the government in Havana —
rather than simply acknowledging that this is a fee-based service from
which it has, on the whole, profited handsomely — continues to portray
my self-sacrificing colleagues as selfless messiahs.
At the same time it downplays the notion that a health care worker —
someone who is paid poverty-level wages — might embark on such a mission
in order to somewhat mitigate his desperate economic situation. The
pretense is that this is more than simply a contract labor issue,
something for which a fee is paid. In itself this is certainly not
immoral, but the assumption is that the "new man" is motivated only by
the purest form of altruism.
Far be it for me to question those who put themselves in harm's way. As
I am not God, I have no right to do so. In light of what they are doing,
a modicum of humility on my part is in order since I am not the one
facing possible exposure. Nevertheless, a number of facts come to mind
that cannot be denied.
First of all, the Cuban professionals who have been sent on these
missions for more than a decade now do not do so under the same
conditions as their counterparts from other countries. Elsewhere, these
things follow a natural course. In other words, the workers themselves
make the decision to enter into employment contracts based on their own
interests and prospects.
Under a totalitarian government like Cuba's, however, the parameters are
quite different since our professional workers are not operating from a
position of personal freedom.
It is no secret that a health care worker on a medical mission almost
never has any say over where he is assigned. And once in the host
country, he is monitored as though he were a child. This applies to his
personal relationships — from the people with whom he talks and
associates to when and where he goes out with them — as well as to even
very small payments for outside work, which are expressly forbidden.
Furthermore, while working overseas, his "salary" is no more than 15% to
20% of the contract price agreed upon by the two governments. In many
cases this amounts less than the legal minimum wage in the host country.
The remainder is retained by the Cuban treasury.
Upon his return, our colleague is not allowed to bring into the country
anything more than stipulated by the mission director, which amounts to
a few very limited boxes of merchandise, and then only after his period
of service has officially ended. Back in Cuba, he can access only half
of the salary he was paid, with the balance remaining frozen in some
Cuban bank.
In the event he should decide to end his term of service earlier than
expected for personal reasons, he would be considered a deserter and
would forfeit all the money he had earned. Even his family would not be
able to access his bank account. He would also be strictly prevented
from returning to Cuba for eight years, even for a short period to visit
his children or in the event of a serious illness or the death of one of
his parents.
Given all this, it is understandable why Ninoska would describe the
current contingent as "an army of slaves." Setting aside the harsh
description, it is evident that the relationship the government
maintains towards individual workers is not one of respect but rather
continues to be punitive and despotic in nature.
But there are parts of the world that still do not understand that the
government that treats its citizens in such an arbitrary way is the same
one that is sending our colleagues to Africa. It is the same one that is
killing us at airports with astronomical prices and draconian customs
regulations, the same one which pays us salaries that are laughable when
compared to a cost of living that reaches soaring heights, the same one
that does nothing to mitigate the state of affairs it itself has created
and encouraged, all of which are incompatible with its humble
proclamations of universal generosity.
Under such circumstances — knowing they face threats from an oppressive
force that is both employer and executioner — it is impossible to assess
the sincerity of some our health care workers when they appear in public
singing the praises of the revolution, the party and proletarian
internationalism. It is quite disturbing to see a familiar face among
this group after having heard him complain bitterly about living and
working conditions that are sometimes simply bad but often are appalling.
This "benevolent" government — the only one that is sends its physicians
off to glory or to death — demonstrates its contempt for us in the most
brutal way. And the reason it can do this with impunity is because it
keeps trotting us around like victory pennants, or like the collateral
behind the emotional blackmail it uses to garner votes and commitments
from foreign governments in international forums.
That is why in domestic policy they can afford to grossly neglect the
welfare of their own people. Who would guess that a government that
takes the "laudable" action of sending a contingent to Africa larger
than those of the rest of the world combined would be capable of
subjugating its own people? How would a world dazzled by such an
admirable initiative suspect that our civil rights are not respected or
that on a daily basis we are subjected to physical attacks, arbitrary
detentions and fully orchestrated acts of repudiation?
When Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health
Organization, or John Kerry, US Secretary of State, praises the Cuban
government — even when it is clear their remarks are limited only to its
role in the current health crisis — they voluntarily or involuntarily
concede ground and thus give Cuban authorities another slap on the back,
allowing them to perpetuate their domestic policy of indentured servitude.
But those of us dealing with this grim reality are not deceived by those
who have a monopoly on everything, even when they are disguised as
sequined divas on the world stage. We don't forget that this is the same
government which continues to speculate with our most basic needs. We
know that they intend to perpetuate our misery because they know that a
bankrupt people, materially and spiritually impoverished, will always be
more susceptible to their whims than a serene and prosperous people.
From Citizen Zero I wish my colleagues from Cuba and around the world
much luck and success in this critical mission, which is essential if
humanity is to eradicate this dangerous scourge. At the same time, I
cannot help but abhor the way the Cuban government politically
manipulates the personal risks these workers are assuming. Ultimately,
it will be the infallible, inexorable and certain judgment of history
that will separate the gold from the dross and the diamond from the coal.
27 October 2014
Source: Cuban Health Care Workers' Motives: Idealism or Necessity? /
Jeovany Jimenez Vega | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-health-care-workers-motives-idealism-or-necessity-jeovany-jimenez-vega/>
Posted on November 27, 2014
By Jeovany Jimenez Vega
During an interview last Thursday on his afternoon radio program the
host, Ninoska Perez, told me about the mood he perceived in the Cuban
medical brigade workers dispatched a few days ago by Raul Castro. He was
struck by the "unfriendly" demeanor some of these professionals showed
upon leaving for West Africa to confront the Ebola epidemic. I could not
comment because I had not seen the television program in question, but
his observation did cause me to think about the motives of Cuban health
care workers who have joined medical missions in recent decades.
Although regularly presented by the Cuban government as examples of
lofty philanthropic aspirations, in reality these missions have become
in the span of a few short years the main source of income for this
Caribbean nation. We have all witnessed how the government in Havana —
rather than simply acknowledging that this is a fee-based service from
which it has, on the whole, profited handsomely — continues to portray
my self-sacrificing colleagues as selfless messiahs.
At the same time it downplays the notion that a health care worker —
someone who is paid poverty-level wages — might embark on such a mission
in order to somewhat mitigate his desperate economic situation. The
pretense is that this is more than simply a contract labor issue,
something for which a fee is paid. In itself this is certainly not
immoral, but the assumption is that the "new man" is motivated only by
the purest form of altruism.
Far be it for me to question those who put themselves in harm's way. As
I am not God, I have no right to do so. In light of what they are doing,
a modicum of humility on my part is in order since I am not the one
facing possible exposure. Nevertheless, a number of facts come to mind
that cannot be denied.
First of all, the Cuban professionals who have been sent on these
missions for more than a decade now do not do so under the same
conditions as their counterparts from other countries. Elsewhere, these
things follow a natural course. In other words, the workers themselves
make the decision to enter into employment contracts based on their own
interests and prospects.
Under a totalitarian government like Cuba's, however, the parameters are
quite different since our professional workers are not operating from a
position of personal freedom.
It is no secret that a health care worker on a medical mission almost
never has any say over where he is assigned. And once in the host
country, he is monitored as though he were a child. This applies to his
personal relationships — from the people with whom he talks and
associates to when and where he goes out with them — as well as to even
very small payments for outside work, which are expressly forbidden.
Furthermore, while working overseas, his "salary" is no more than 15% to
20% of the contract price agreed upon by the two governments. In many
cases this amounts less than the legal minimum wage in the host country.
The remainder is retained by the Cuban treasury.
Upon his return, our colleague is not allowed to bring into the country
anything more than stipulated by the mission director, which amounts to
a few very limited boxes of merchandise, and then only after his period
of service has officially ended. Back in Cuba, he can access only half
of the salary he was paid, with the balance remaining frozen in some
Cuban bank.
In the event he should decide to end his term of service earlier than
expected for personal reasons, he would be considered a deserter and
would forfeit all the money he had earned. Even his family would not be
able to access his bank account. He would also be strictly prevented
from returning to Cuba for eight years, even for a short period to visit
his children or in the event of a serious illness or the death of one of
his parents.
Given all this, it is understandable why Ninoska would describe the
current contingent as "an army of slaves." Setting aside the harsh
description, it is evident that the relationship the government
maintains towards individual workers is not one of respect but rather
continues to be punitive and despotic in nature.
But there are parts of the world that still do not understand that the
government that treats its citizens in such an arbitrary way is the same
one that is sending our colleagues to Africa. It is the same one that is
killing us at airports with astronomical prices and draconian customs
regulations, the same one which pays us salaries that are laughable when
compared to a cost of living that reaches soaring heights, the same one
that does nothing to mitigate the state of affairs it itself has created
and encouraged, all of which are incompatible with its humble
proclamations of universal generosity.
Under such circumstances — knowing they face threats from an oppressive
force that is both employer and executioner — it is impossible to assess
the sincerity of some our health care workers when they appear in public
singing the praises of the revolution, the party and proletarian
internationalism. It is quite disturbing to see a familiar face among
this group after having heard him complain bitterly about living and
working conditions that are sometimes simply bad but often are appalling.
This "benevolent" government — the only one that is sends its physicians
off to glory or to death — demonstrates its contempt for us in the most
brutal way. And the reason it can do this with impunity is because it
keeps trotting us around like victory pennants, or like the collateral
behind the emotional blackmail it uses to garner votes and commitments
from foreign governments in international forums.
That is why in domestic policy they can afford to grossly neglect the
welfare of their own people. Who would guess that a government that
takes the "laudable" action of sending a contingent to Africa larger
than those of the rest of the world combined would be capable of
subjugating its own people? How would a world dazzled by such an
admirable initiative suspect that our civil rights are not respected or
that on a daily basis we are subjected to physical attacks, arbitrary
detentions and fully orchestrated acts of repudiation?
When Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health
Organization, or John Kerry, US Secretary of State, praises the Cuban
government — even when it is clear their remarks are limited only to its
role in the current health crisis — they voluntarily or involuntarily
concede ground and thus give Cuban authorities another slap on the back,
allowing them to perpetuate their domestic policy of indentured servitude.
But those of us dealing with this grim reality are not deceived by those
who have a monopoly on everything, even when they are disguised as
sequined divas on the world stage. We don't forget that this is the same
government which continues to speculate with our most basic needs. We
know that they intend to perpetuate our misery because they know that a
bankrupt people, materially and spiritually impoverished, will always be
more susceptible to their whims than a serene and prosperous people.
From Citizen Zero I wish my colleagues from Cuba and around the world
much luck and success in this critical mission, which is essential if
humanity is to eradicate this dangerous scourge. At the same time, I
cannot help but abhor the way the Cuban government politically
manipulates the personal risks these workers are assuming. Ultimately,
it will be the infallible, inexorable and certain judgment of history
that will separate the gold from the dross and the diamond from the coal.
27 October 2014
Source: Cuban Health Care Workers' Motives: Idealism or Necessity? /
Jeovany Jimenez Vega | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-health-care-workers-motives-idealism-or-necessity-jeovany-jimenez-vega/>
Why the U.S. Should Not Reward Castros' Cuba
Why the U.S. Should Not Reward Castros' Cuba
Cuba, a small island lying in the Caribbean 90 miles away from Key West,
Florida, is the only Communist country in the Western Hemisphere. It has
been ruled by two brothers, Fidel and Raul Castro since 1959. A strong
lobby by the left and some business companies has been launched in
Washington D.C. for the United States to resume economic and diplomatic
relations with Cuba. The New York Times has published five editorials in
five weeks with such a purpose. However, a number of reasons led us to
think the United States should not reward the Castros' regime with open
relations.
* Most fundamental freedoms and rights contained in the U.N. Universal
Declaration of Human Rights have been suspended in Cuba since 1959. All
news media is owned by the government that uses newspapers, magazines,
radio and TV stations and online news sites as propaganda machines,
making the Cuban people one of the most misinformed in the world. Cuban
opposition activists are usually harassed and beaten by civil mobs
organized by Seguridad del Estado (political police), arrested,
prosecuted and sentenced to jail. The Cuban government is still the
country's largest employer and uses such a position to politically
control the population. The Cuban people have not voted in democratic
elections since 1948. Cuba is a failed, police state.
* Cuba's economic freedom score is 28.7, making its economy one of the
world's least free. Its overall score is 0.2 point higher than last
year, with deteriorations in trade freedom, fiscal freedom, monetary
freedom, and freedom from corruption counterbalanced by an improvement
in business freedom. Cuba is ranked least free of 29 countries in the
South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is
significantly lower than the regional average. Cuba's average tariff
rate is 10 percent. The country's planned economy deters foreign trade
and investment. The financial sector remains heavily regulated, and
access to credit for entrepreneurial activity is seriously impeded by
the shallowness of the financial market. The state maintains strict
capital and exchange controls.
* The Castro's regime has a long record of hostility toward private
business. In the summer of 1960, it seized all U.S. companies operating
in the island valued at $1 billion. In March 1968, it confiscated 55,000
small businesses still owned by Cubans.
* In September 2014, Canada's businessman Cy Tokmakjian, 74, was accused
by the Cuban government of crimes against the state, taxation and
bribery. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail and $100 million in his
company's assets were seized. His family say charges are "absurd". He
owns the Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group, a transportation company
* The Cuban government last reported its "active" foreign debt,
accumulated after it declared a default in the late 1980s, as $13.6
billion in 2010. The government no longer reports its "passive" debt
from before the default, which economists estimate at $8 billion. By the
Paris Club's accounting, Cuba owed its members $35.5 billion at the
close of 2012, but more than $20 billion of the debt was in old
transferable Soviet rubles, 90 percent of which Russia had to forgive in
2013, according to Reuters. But according to IndexMundi, Cuba's external
debt was $23.44 billion on December 31, 2013.
* A Cuban factory worker earns 400 pesos a month, about 17 US dollars. A
Cuban doctor earns about 700 pesos, 30 dollars per month. These figures
show that the Cuban people live under the poverty line set by the U.N.
* Even if the Cuban state were business friendly, Capitalism has not
brought democracy and fundamental freedoms to China and other countries.
It is not supposed to help Cubans gain democracy and fundamental
freedoms either.
Source: Why the U.S. Should Not Reward Castros' Cuba -
<http://www.contactomagazine.com/articles/us-cuban-embargo1114.htm>
Cuba, a small island lying in the Caribbean 90 miles away from Key West,
Florida, is the only Communist country in the Western Hemisphere. It has
been ruled by two brothers, Fidel and Raul Castro since 1959. A strong
lobby by the left and some business companies has been launched in
Washington D.C. for the United States to resume economic and diplomatic
relations with Cuba. The New York Times has published five editorials in
five weeks with such a purpose. However, a number of reasons led us to
think the United States should not reward the Castros' regime with open
relations.
* Most fundamental freedoms and rights contained in the U.N. Universal
Declaration of Human Rights have been suspended in Cuba since 1959. All
news media is owned by the government that uses newspapers, magazines,
radio and TV stations and online news sites as propaganda machines,
making the Cuban people one of the most misinformed in the world. Cuban
opposition activists are usually harassed and beaten by civil mobs
organized by Seguridad del Estado (political police), arrested,
prosecuted and sentenced to jail. The Cuban government is still the
country's largest employer and uses such a position to politically
control the population. The Cuban people have not voted in democratic
elections since 1948. Cuba is a failed, police state.
* Cuba's economic freedom score is 28.7, making its economy one of the
world's least free. Its overall score is 0.2 point higher than last
year, with deteriorations in trade freedom, fiscal freedom, monetary
freedom, and freedom from corruption counterbalanced by an improvement
in business freedom. Cuba is ranked least free of 29 countries in the
South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is
significantly lower than the regional average. Cuba's average tariff
rate is 10 percent. The country's planned economy deters foreign trade
and investment. The financial sector remains heavily regulated, and
access to credit for entrepreneurial activity is seriously impeded by
the shallowness of the financial market. The state maintains strict
capital and exchange controls.
* The Castro's regime has a long record of hostility toward private
business. In the summer of 1960, it seized all U.S. companies operating
in the island valued at $1 billion. In March 1968, it confiscated 55,000
small businesses still owned by Cubans.
* In September 2014, Canada's businessman Cy Tokmakjian, 74, was accused
by the Cuban government of crimes against the state, taxation and
bribery. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail and $100 million in his
company's assets were seized. His family say charges are "absurd". He
owns the Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group, a transportation company
* The Cuban government last reported its "active" foreign debt,
accumulated after it declared a default in the late 1980s, as $13.6
billion in 2010. The government no longer reports its "passive" debt
from before the default, which economists estimate at $8 billion. By the
Paris Club's accounting, Cuba owed its members $35.5 billion at the
close of 2012, but more than $20 billion of the debt was in old
transferable Soviet rubles, 90 percent of which Russia had to forgive in
2013, according to Reuters. But according to IndexMundi, Cuba's external
debt was $23.44 billion on December 31, 2013.
* A Cuban factory worker earns 400 pesos a month, about 17 US dollars. A
Cuban doctor earns about 700 pesos, 30 dollars per month. These figures
show that the Cuban people live under the poverty line set by the U.N.
* Even if the Cuban state were business friendly, Capitalism has not
brought democracy and fundamental freedoms to China and other countries.
It is not supposed to help Cubans gain democracy and fundamental
freedoms either.
Source: Why the U.S. Should Not Reward Castros' Cuba -
<http://www.contactomagazine.com/articles/us-cuban-embargo1114.htm>
Cuban prosecutor that was awaiting trial on corruption escapes from Cuba,Submitted by: Camila
Cuban prosecutor that was awaiting trial on corruption escapes from Cuba
Submitted by: Camila
11 / 27 / 2014
The Cuban prosecutor Hilda Batista Torriente, who was awaiting for trial
on charges of forgery and insider trading, managed to evade immigration
controls and escaped from Cuba on a flight to Costa Rica.
Hilda Torriente Batista, who weighed about a prosecution request for 18
years' imprisonment, could circumvent the restrictions imposed by the
Cuban authorities to take a plane in the "José Martí" International
Airport in Havana last September.
The source did not specify how Batista managed to evade the order that
prevented her from traveling abroad while waiting for the prosecution,
which may have occurred in collusion with immigration officials or using
false documents.
Batista, 42, was with other lawyers awaiting trial for a known case of
corruption, which would have falsified documents in homes litigation. By
the time the case uncovered she worked in the Office of the municipality
Arroyo Naranjo.
It is unclear whether she would stay in Costa Rica or use the Central
American country as a springboard to move to the United States. The
Cuban government could report her to Interpol to get her arrest.
Currently Cuba has ordered the capture of Mario Betancourt Caraballoso,
born in Camagüey, and sought for crimes of ongoing fraud, bribery and
forgery of bank and commercial documents.
In the middle of last year, Interpol captured in Dominican Republic and
sent to Havana two fugitives from Cuban justice: Lazaro Lopez Pereira,
required under the charge of forgery and trafficking; and Reinaldo
Torres Hernandez, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2011,
but had obtained his conditional and escaped abroad.
Source: Cuban prosecutor that was awaiting trial on corruption escapes
from Cuba | Cuba Headlines – Cuba News, Breaking News, Articles and
Daily Information -
<http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2014/11/27/p6/cuban-prosecutor-that-was-awaiting-trial-on-corruption-escapes-from-cuba.html>
Submitted by: Camila
11 / 27 / 2014
The Cuban prosecutor Hilda Batista Torriente, who was awaiting for trial
on charges of forgery and insider trading, managed to evade immigration
controls and escaped from Cuba on a flight to Costa Rica.
Hilda Torriente Batista, who weighed about a prosecution request for 18
years' imprisonment, could circumvent the restrictions imposed by the
Cuban authorities to take a plane in the "José Martí" International
Airport in Havana last September.
The source did not specify how Batista managed to evade the order that
prevented her from traveling abroad while waiting for the prosecution,
which may have occurred in collusion with immigration officials or using
false documents.
Batista, 42, was with other lawyers awaiting trial for a known case of
corruption, which would have falsified documents in homes litigation. By
the time the case uncovered she worked in the Office of the municipality
Arroyo Naranjo.
It is unclear whether she would stay in Costa Rica or use the Central
American country as a springboard to move to the United States. The
Cuban government could report her to Interpol to get her arrest.
Currently Cuba has ordered the capture of Mario Betancourt Caraballoso,
born in Camagüey, and sought for crimes of ongoing fraud, bribery and
forgery of bank and commercial documents.
In the middle of last year, Interpol captured in Dominican Republic and
sent to Havana two fugitives from Cuban justice: Lazaro Lopez Pereira,
required under the charge of forgery and trafficking; and Reinaldo
Torres Hernandez, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2011,
but had obtained his conditional and escaped abroad.
Source: Cuban prosecutor that was awaiting trial on corruption escapes
from Cuba | Cuba Headlines – Cuba News, Breaking News, Articles and
Daily Information -
<http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2014/11/27/p6/cuban-prosecutor-that-was-awaiting-trial-on-corruption-escapes-from-cuba.html>
Google launches Play and Analytics in Cuba following Eric Schmidt’s call to end the US embargo
Google launches Play and Analytics in Cuba following Eric Schmidt's call
to end the US embargo
MARTIN BRYANT
Following on from the recent release of its Chrome browser in Cuba,
Google is expanding its product offerings in the Communist state. The
company is launching Google Play and Google Analytics in the country today.
As the United States' long-standing embargo heavily restricts exports to
Cuba, Google is only offering free apps on Google Play, and only the
free version of Google Analytics.
Third-party developers wishing to offer their free apps in Cuba will be
able to do so via the Play developer console. While we were unable to
obtain any official figures for the Android user base in the country,
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in a Google+ post following
a visit to the country earlier this year that "a small technical
community exists around free Android and expect it to eventually spread."
Offering products in Cuba may seem an odd move for Google, seeing as
there's no hope on the horizon of being able to monetize users there.
However, follows a trend for the company of expanding into restrictive
regimes. Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome were launched in Iran in 2011,
and Syria in 2012.
Schmidt's trip to Cuba was part of a series of visits aimed at promoting
a free and open internet that has also taken in Myanmar (where a local
site and partial access to Play were opened last year) and North Korea.
To understand Google's announcement today, read this from Schmidt's June
Google+ post:
"The Internet of Cuba is trapped in the 1990s. About 20-25 percent of
Cubans have phone lines but mostly subsidized land lines, and the cell
phone infrastructure is very thin. Approximately 3-4% of Cubans have
access to the Internet in internet cafes and in certain universities.
"The Internet is heavily censored and the infrastructure, which we
toured, is made out of Chinese components. The "blockade" makes
absolutely no sense to US interests: if you wish the country to
modernize the best way to do this is to empower the citizens with smart
phones (there are almost none today) and encourage freedom of expression
and put information tools into the hands of Cubans directly."
In this context, the launch of first Chrome, and now Play and Analytics,
makes sense. Google may be promoting open internet access for Cubans
today, but by putting US products into the hands of the people it's a
subtle nudge to both Cuba and the US that restrictions on the small
island just south of Florida should be eased off.
Indeed, Schmidt's post from June ends "Cuba will have to open its
political and business economy, and the US will have to overcome our
history and open the embargo. Both countries have to do something that
is hard to do politically, but it will be worth it."
Source: Google Launches Play and Analytics in Cuba -
<http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/11/26/google-launches-free-android-apps-analytics-cuba-following-eric-schmidts-call-end-us-embargo-country/>
to end the US embargo
MARTIN BRYANT
Following on from the recent release of its Chrome browser in Cuba,
Google is expanding its product offerings in the Communist state. The
company is launching Google Play and Google Analytics in the country today.
As the United States' long-standing embargo heavily restricts exports to
Cuba, Google is only offering free apps on Google Play, and only the
free version of Google Analytics.
Third-party developers wishing to offer their free apps in Cuba will be
able to do so via the Play developer console. While we were unable to
obtain any official figures for the Android user base in the country,
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in a Google+ post following
a visit to the country earlier this year that "a small technical
community exists around free Android and expect it to eventually spread."
Offering products in Cuba may seem an odd move for Google, seeing as
there's no hope on the horizon of being able to monetize users there.
However, follows a trend for the company of expanding into restrictive
regimes. Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome were launched in Iran in 2011,
and Syria in 2012.
Schmidt's trip to Cuba was part of a series of visits aimed at promoting
a free and open internet that has also taken in Myanmar (where a local
site and partial access to Play were opened last year) and North Korea.
To understand Google's announcement today, read this from Schmidt's June
Google+ post:
"The Internet of Cuba is trapped in the 1990s. About 20-25 percent of
Cubans have phone lines but mostly subsidized land lines, and the cell
phone infrastructure is very thin. Approximately 3-4% of Cubans have
access to the Internet in internet cafes and in certain universities.
"The Internet is heavily censored and the infrastructure, which we
toured, is made out of Chinese components. The "blockade" makes
absolutely no sense to US interests: if you wish the country to
modernize the best way to do this is to empower the citizens with smart
phones (there are almost none today) and encourage freedom of expression
and put information tools into the hands of Cubans directly."
In this context, the launch of first Chrome, and now Play and Analytics,
makes sense. Google may be promoting open internet access for Cubans
today, but by putting US products into the hands of the people it's a
subtle nudge to both Cuba and the US that restrictions on the small
island just south of Florida should be eased off.
Indeed, Schmidt's post from June ends "Cuba will have to open its
political and business economy, and the US will have to overcome our
history and open the embargo. Both countries have to do something that
is hard to do politically, but it will be worth it."
Source: Google Launches Play and Analytics in Cuba -
<http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/11/26/google-launches-free-android-apps-analytics-cuba-following-eric-schmidts-call-end-us-embargo-country/>
Spain-Cuba Relations Still Far From Normal
Spain-Cuba Relations Still Far From Normal
November 26, 2014
By Isaac Risco (dpa)
HAVANA TIMES— "This trip is part of our country's normal bilateral
relations," Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo insisted on leaving Havana, but
the circumstances in which the Spanish Foreign Minister ended his visit
to Cuba suggest that the two countries are still far from achieving the
rapprochement sought by Madrid.
Garcia-Margallo, the first minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative
government to visit Cuba, was not received by President Raul Castro on
Tuesday, as the Spanish delegation expected. The meeting had not been
officially confirmed, something customary for Cuban authorities, but he
was confident it would take place.
Raul Castro had met in Havana with Garcia-Margallo's predecessor,
socialist Miguel Angel Moratinos, in 2010, and tends to personally
welcome visitors who are sympathetic to his government.
The current head of Spanish diplomacy, however, was received by the
Cuban government's "second-in-command", Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel
and his Foreign Ministry counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, who joined him on
the last day of the delegation's visit. Garcia-Margallo arrived in
Havana on Sunday afternoon and left on Tuesday.
His visit, the first by a Spanish foreign ministry official since 2010,
was surrounded by high expectations, for it took place while Cuba is
negotiating an agreement aimed at "political exchange" and "cooperation"
with the European Union, an agreement that does not envisage any
commercial benefits but which could put an end to Europe's so-called
"common position."
The "common position", impelled in 1996 by the conservative government
of Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar (which designated Rajoy as his
successor), has made relations with the EU conditional on an improvement
in the island's human rights situation. That a member of Aznar's party
should visit Cuba seems to suggest Madrid is considering putting an end
to that policy.
Despite the fact that Rajoy's Popular Party (PP) was highly critical of
the policy of exchange with Cuba maintained by the previous socialist
government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain, like other European
countries, has long been calling for improved relations with Havana.
Foreign diplomats from France and Holland have visited the island in
recent times.
Garcia-Margallo left the island without answering questions from the
press but touched on a number of thorny issues, such as the situation of
Cuban dissidents, and called for a hastening of the island's market reforms.
"Spain wants the economic reforms undertaken in Cuba to advance more
quickly and create a broader margin for private initiative and foreign
investment," he commented.
During his meetings with Cuban authorities, he also spoke on behalf of
the dozens of political prisoners released in 2010 and currently exiled
in Spain, so that these be authorized to visit the island.
"I have asked Cuban authorities to authorize the people released from
prison in 2010 and 2011 as part of agreements between the Church and
government, and are currently residing in Spain, to be able to visit the
island," he said while reading his final declaration, after which he
refused to answer any questions.
In 2010, Zapatero's government successfully interceded to have the
Castro government release dissidents belonging to the so-called "Group
of 75", imprisoned during a wave of arrests that came to be known as the
"Black Spring" of 2003. The agreement reached by Moratinos at the time
allowed the majority of these political prisoners to relocate to Spain.
It was even more curious that, following his meeting with Spanish
entrepreneurs and Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca and
other Cuban officials on Monday, Garcia-Margallo should have delivered a
clearly political speech about Spain's post-Franco transition at the
Higher Institute for International Relations in Havana.
The Spanish minister praised the multi-party system and changes in
political leadership, speaking in favor of freedom of the press and
association.
A political rapprochement with Cuba does not appear easy for Spain,
which expects Cuba, where as many as 400,000 inhabitants will become
nationalized Spanish citizens, to become the second county in Latin
America with the largest number of nationalized Spaniards, by virtue of
Zapatero's Historical Memory Law. The law will grant numerous Spanish
descendants on the island Spanish citizenship.
Spain still expects to be able to persuade Raul Castro to attend the
Spanish-American Summit to be held in Veracruz in December. "Cuba plays
an essential role in the Spanish-American community of nations, and its
presence at Veracruz, through President Raul Castro, is important,"
Garcia-Margallo said, thanking Havana for its good work in the Colombian
peace process and its contribution to the struggle against Ebola.
Source: Spain-Cuba Relations Still Far From Normal - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107607>
November 26, 2014
By Isaac Risco (dpa)
HAVANA TIMES— "This trip is part of our country's normal bilateral
relations," Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo insisted on leaving Havana, but
the circumstances in which the Spanish Foreign Minister ended his visit
to Cuba suggest that the two countries are still far from achieving the
rapprochement sought by Madrid.
Garcia-Margallo, the first minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative
government to visit Cuba, was not received by President Raul Castro on
Tuesday, as the Spanish delegation expected. The meeting had not been
officially confirmed, something customary for Cuban authorities, but he
was confident it would take place.
Raul Castro had met in Havana with Garcia-Margallo's predecessor,
socialist Miguel Angel Moratinos, in 2010, and tends to personally
welcome visitors who are sympathetic to his government.
The current head of Spanish diplomacy, however, was received by the
Cuban government's "second-in-command", Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel
and his Foreign Ministry counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, who joined him on
the last day of the delegation's visit. Garcia-Margallo arrived in
Havana on Sunday afternoon and left on Tuesday.
His visit, the first by a Spanish foreign ministry official since 2010,
was surrounded by high expectations, for it took place while Cuba is
negotiating an agreement aimed at "political exchange" and "cooperation"
with the European Union, an agreement that does not envisage any
commercial benefits but which could put an end to Europe's so-called
"common position."
The "common position", impelled in 1996 by the conservative government
of Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar (which designated Rajoy as his
successor), has made relations with the EU conditional on an improvement
in the island's human rights situation. That a member of Aznar's party
should visit Cuba seems to suggest Madrid is considering putting an end
to that policy.
Despite the fact that Rajoy's Popular Party (PP) was highly critical of
the policy of exchange with Cuba maintained by the previous socialist
government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain, like other European
countries, has long been calling for improved relations with Havana.
Foreign diplomats from France and Holland have visited the island in
recent times.
Garcia-Margallo left the island without answering questions from the
press but touched on a number of thorny issues, such as the situation of
Cuban dissidents, and called for a hastening of the island's market reforms.
"Spain wants the economic reforms undertaken in Cuba to advance more
quickly and create a broader margin for private initiative and foreign
investment," he commented.
During his meetings with Cuban authorities, he also spoke on behalf of
the dozens of political prisoners released in 2010 and currently exiled
in Spain, so that these be authorized to visit the island.
"I have asked Cuban authorities to authorize the people released from
prison in 2010 and 2011 as part of agreements between the Church and
government, and are currently residing in Spain, to be able to visit the
island," he said while reading his final declaration, after which he
refused to answer any questions.
In 2010, Zapatero's government successfully interceded to have the
Castro government release dissidents belonging to the so-called "Group
of 75", imprisoned during a wave of arrests that came to be known as the
"Black Spring" of 2003. The agreement reached by Moratinos at the time
allowed the majority of these political prisoners to relocate to Spain.
It was even more curious that, following his meeting with Spanish
entrepreneurs and Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca and
other Cuban officials on Monday, Garcia-Margallo should have delivered a
clearly political speech about Spain's post-Franco transition at the
Higher Institute for International Relations in Havana.
The Spanish minister praised the multi-party system and changes in
political leadership, speaking in favor of freedom of the press and
association.
A political rapprochement with Cuba does not appear easy for Spain,
which expects Cuba, where as many as 400,000 inhabitants will become
nationalized Spanish citizens, to become the second county in Latin
America with the largest number of nationalized Spaniards, by virtue of
Zapatero's Historical Memory Law. The law will grant numerous Spanish
descendants on the island Spanish citizenship.
Spain still expects to be able to persuade Raul Castro to attend the
Spanish-American Summit to be held in Veracruz in December. "Cuba plays
an essential role in the Spanish-American community of nations, and its
presence at Veracruz, through President Raul Castro, is important,"
Garcia-Margallo said, thanking Havana for its good work in the Colombian
peace process and its contribution to the struggle against Ebola.
Source: Spain-Cuba Relations Still Far From Normal - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107607>
Cuba’s “Twelve Apostles” of Economic Growth
Cuba's "Twelve Apostles" of Economic Growth
November 26, 2014
Erasmo Calzadilla
HAVANA TIMES — Why has the Cuban economy slowed down? This is the thorny
question at the heart of the interview with twelve Cuban economists
conducted by Ariel Terrero.
Some of the causes of this deceleration the experts mention is Cuba's
excessive centralization, erratic investment policy, lack of control
mechanisms, low domestic demand, measly salaries, scant participation of
workers in decision-making processes, lack of transparency, the absence
of a wholesale market, the nation's de-capitalization, the two-currency
system, the restrictions applied on State companies by the bureaucracy
and the timid development of the private sector, which continues to stay
short of freeing the country's productive forces.
Since every expert mentions a different factor, Terrero titled his
interview Doce economistas en pugna ("Twelve divergent economists"). I,
however, fail to notice any real disagreement. What I see, rather, is an
extremely high level of agreement.
All of them, including the journalist, start off from an implicit
certainty: the normal, healthy, positive and longed-for thing is
exponential growth, the more the better. To grow only a little bit, as
happened this year, seems to them something alarming, worthy of a
profound analysis and the symptom that something isn't heading in the
right direction. One of them even said emphatically: "0.6 % isn't growth
at all!". Another called it an "anemic result", and yet another stated:
"stagnation is in no way good!"
I expected something more than an overview of our problems through the
lens of 20th century capitalist economics from such renowned experts.
All of the variants of the capitalist economy reduced men and women to
human resources (the term used by the twelve "apostles") and led to to
the current deterioration of our environment. The theoretical corpus
that sustains this praxis stems from a dangerous and false axiom: the
inexhaustibility of our resources and dumpsites.
A More Detailed Analysis
The excess of centralization, the inadequacy of Cuba's investment policy
and the other obstacles mentioned by the experts consulted can slow down
economic development, but I don't believe that is the gist of the
matter. Just as a child cannot grow without food, a nation's GDP cannot
grow without energy.
The graph below, prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA),
represents the world's energy consumption versus its GDP. As we can
appreciate, the relationship between eating and growing, in addition to
being obvious, is direct.
That is to say, it would suffice to look at a country's energy
consumption to get a good idea of the metabolic state of its economy.
Let us sneak a peek at how our oil diet has evolved over time:
Looking at this data, is it any surprise the Cuban economy came to a
sudden halt? No, what's surprising is that it hasn't plummeted more
abruptly.
I am suggesting the GDP hasn't grown much because we haven't "eaten"
much, but it is quite possible it's the other way around. It's possible
it hasn't grown much because of the problems mentioned by the "apostles"
and as an indirect consequence of low consumption. Without denying the
importance of this last point, the data below lead me to think that the
lack of "grub" is more important than economists are willing to admit.
Domestic oil and natural gas production has been stagnated for years and
investors haven't yet taken the bait.
With the serious problems it faces, Venezuela is unable to satisfy the
exponentially growing energy demands of a country whose governing elite
wants to see growth at breakneck speed.
Put differently: even if we were to eliminate all of the obstacles
mentioned by the "apostles", we would still be unable to grow as the god
of Capital demands. The main reason for this is the shortage of fuel.
Something similar is happening with sugar and nickel. The economists
give us sophisticated explanations as to why these sectors aren't
growing without paying enough attention to the most important reason:
the soils and mines are dry after years of intensive, short-sighted
exploitation in search of economic growth.
Conclusion
The experts interviewed by Terrero differ on certain issues but agree on
one, essential point: we need to grow and we need to grow a lot. If we
do things right, they assure us, the Cuban economy will "take off with
force, like a plane."
These respected authorities would tackle the present with the cognitive
tools of the past and the past tells them that growth is the way. They
do not understand the world is finite and cannot take it anymore, that
it isn't possible to continue to grow without destroying ourselves. They
are unable to see the danger of joining the race towards the abyss, a
race that will be suddenly cut short, because of inertia or their
colonialist mentality.
They should devote their mental efforts to think of the way in which we
are going to confront the coming crisis and the lack of fuels and do so
seriously, without fantasizing about renewable sources of energy.
If the experts Raul Castro consults to make decisions are anything like
these "apostles", then our failure is guaranteed.
Source: Cuba's "Twelve Apostles" of Economic Growth - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107586>
November 26, 2014
Erasmo Calzadilla
HAVANA TIMES — Why has the Cuban economy slowed down? This is the thorny
question at the heart of the interview with twelve Cuban economists
conducted by Ariel Terrero.
Some of the causes of this deceleration the experts mention is Cuba's
excessive centralization, erratic investment policy, lack of control
mechanisms, low domestic demand, measly salaries, scant participation of
workers in decision-making processes, lack of transparency, the absence
of a wholesale market, the nation's de-capitalization, the two-currency
system, the restrictions applied on State companies by the bureaucracy
and the timid development of the private sector, which continues to stay
short of freeing the country's productive forces.
Since every expert mentions a different factor, Terrero titled his
interview Doce economistas en pugna ("Twelve divergent economists"). I,
however, fail to notice any real disagreement. What I see, rather, is an
extremely high level of agreement.
All of them, including the journalist, start off from an implicit
certainty: the normal, healthy, positive and longed-for thing is
exponential growth, the more the better. To grow only a little bit, as
happened this year, seems to them something alarming, worthy of a
profound analysis and the symptom that something isn't heading in the
right direction. One of them even said emphatically: "0.6 % isn't growth
at all!". Another called it an "anemic result", and yet another stated:
"stagnation is in no way good!"
I expected something more than an overview of our problems through the
lens of 20th century capitalist economics from such renowned experts.
All of the variants of the capitalist economy reduced men and women to
human resources (the term used by the twelve "apostles") and led to to
the current deterioration of our environment. The theoretical corpus
that sustains this praxis stems from a dangerous and false axiom: the
inexhaustibility of our resources and dumpsites.
A More Detailed Analysis
The excess of centralization, the inadequacy of Cuba's investment policy
and the other obstacles mentioned by the experts consulted can slow down
economic development, but I don't believe that is the gist of the
matter. Just as a child cannot grow without food, a nation's GDP cannot
grow without energy.
The graph below, prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA),
represents the world's energy consumption versus its GDP. As we can
appreciate, the relationship between eating and growing, in addition to
being obvious, is direct.
That is to say, it would suffice to look at a country's energy
consumption to get a good idea of the metabolic state of its economy.
Let us sneak a peek at how our oil diet has evolved over time:
Looking at this data, is it any surprise the Cuban economy came to a
sudden halt? No, what's surprising is that it hasn't plummeted more
abruptly.
I am suggesting the GDP hasn't grown much because we haven't "eaten"
much, but it is quite possible it's the other way around. It's possible
it hasn't grown much because of the problems mentioned by the "apostles"
and as an indirect consequence of low consumption. Without denying the
importance of this last point, the data below lead me to think that the
lack of "grub" is more important than economists are willing to admit.
Domestic oil and natural gas production has been stagnated for years and
investors haven't yet taken the bait.
With the serious problems it faces, Venezuela is unable to satisfy the
exponentially growing energy demands of a country whose governing elite
wants to see growth at breakneck speed.
Put differently: even if we were to eliminate all of the obstacles
mentioned by the "apostles", we would still be unable to grow as the god
of Capital demands. The main reason for this is the shortage of fuel.
Something similar is happening with sugar and nickel. The economists
give us sophisticated explanations as to why these sectors aren't
growing without paying enough attention to the most important reason:
the soils and mines are dry after years of intensive, short-sighted
exploitation in search of economic growth.
Conclusion
The experts interviewed by Terrero differ on certain issues but agree on
one, essential point: we need to grow and we need to grow a lot. If we
do things right, they assure us, the Cuban economy will "take off with
force, like a plane."
These respected authorities would tackle the present with the cognitive
tools of the past and the past tells them that growth is the way. They
do not understand the world is finite and cannot take it anymore, that
it isn't possible to continue to grow without destroying ourselves. They
are unable to see the danger of joining the race towards the abyss, a
race that will be suddenly cut short, because of inertia or their
colonialist mentality.
They should devote their mental efforts to think of the way in which we
are going to confront the coming crisis and the lack of fuels and do so
seriously, without fantasizing about renewable sources of energy.
If the experts Raul Castro consults to make decisions are anything like
these "apostles", then our failure is guaranteed.
Source: Cuba's "Twelve Apostles" of Economic Growth - Havana Times.org -
<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=107586>
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
American Agency Will Operate Direct Flights Between New York and Havana
American Agency Will Operate Direct Flights Between New York and Havana
/ 14ymedio
Posted on November 26, 2014
14YMEDIO, Havana/November 21, 2014 — The American agency Cuba Travel
Services announced last Thursday that it will operate a direct flight
between New York's J.F. Kennedy Airport and Havana. It is envisioned
that the trips will occur daily in the afternoon, although company
workers have not been able to confirm either the departure days or the
frequency of the flights.
Cuba Travel Services has not provided information about the date the
service will begin, but it has announced that the price for a round trip
ticket on the inaugural flight will start at $849.
The company organizes travel to popular destinations like Cienfuegos,
Camaguey, Santa Clara, Holguin and Santiago de Cuba, with flights
operated by Sun Country Airlines.
The Turbo News site explained this afternoon that "in the spirit of the
recent New York Times editorial published October 11, 2014, entitled
'Time to End the Cuban Embargo,' the agency Cuba Travel Services chose
to provide an important cultural and social link between the two cities."
The agency maintains that the expansion of its offering will permit
travelers who leave from New York to save as compared with the current
options on the market, avoiding the delays of connections and the cost
of additional fares for stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Tampa.
The company, which organizes daily flights between the US and Cuba,
asked for permission to operate flights also from Newark Liberty
International Airport, but that request was rejected.
The US government suspended direct air links with the Island at the
beginning of the 1970's and resumed them in 1999 with a flight between
New York and Havana. After a slight opening by President Bill Clinton,
Barack Obama also opted to soften restrictions on travel by Cuban
Americans visiting the Island; now they can travel every year instead of
every three and stay as long as they like.
In 2012 the Cuban government suspended landing rights on the Island for
two airlines from Miami, Airline Brokers and C&T Charters, explaining
the reason for the decision "as over capacity of seats and other
operational issues," although the travel agency operators revealed
suspected payment defaults with Cuban authorities. Airline Brokers
operated weekly flights to Havana and Cienfuegos from Miami and Fort
Lauderdale, while C&T Charters traveled to Havana and Camaguey from
Miami, New York and Chicago.
Translated by MLK
Source: American Agency Will Operate Direct Flights Between New York and
Havana / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/american-agency-will-operate-direct-flights-between-new-york-and-havana-14ymedio/>
/ 14ymedio
Posted on November 26, 2014
14YMEDIO, Havana/November 21, 2014 — The American agency Cuba Travel
Services announced last Thursday that it will operate a direct flight
between New York's J.F. Kennedy Airport and Havana. It is envisioned
that the trips will occur daily in the afternoon, although company
workers have not been able to confirm either the departure days or the
frequency of the flights.
Cuba Travel Services has not provided information about the date the
service will begin, but it has announced that the price for a round trip
ticket on the inaugural flight will start at $849.
The company organizes travel to popular destinations like Cienfuegos,
Camaguey, Santa Clara, Holguin and Santiago de Cuba, with flights
operated by Sun Country Airlines.
The Turbo News site explained this afternoon that "in the spirit of the
recent New York Times editorial published October 11, 2014, entitled
'Time to End the Cuban Embargo,' the agency Cuba Travel Services chose
to provide an important cultural and social link between the two cities."
The agency maintains that the expansion of its offering will permit
travelers who leave from New York to save as compared with the current
options on the market, avoiding the delays of connections and the cost
of additional fares for stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Tampa.
The company, which organizes daily flights between the US and Cuba,
asked for permission to operate flights also from Newark Liberty
International Airport, but that request was rejected.
The US government suspended direct air links with the Island at the
beginning of the 1970's and resumed them in 1999 with a flight between
New York and Havana. After a slight opening by President Bill Clinton,
Barack Obama also opted to soften restrictions on travel by Cuban
Americans visiting the Island; now they can travel every year instead of
every three and stay as long as they like.
In 2012 the Cuban government suspended landing rights on the Island for
two airlines from Miami, Airline Brokers and C&T Charters, explaining
the reason for the decision "as over capacity of seats and other
operational issues," although the travel agency operators revealed
suspected payment defaults with Cuban authorities. Airline Brokers
operated weekly flights to Havana and Cienfuegos from Miami and Fort
Lauderdale, while C&T Charters traveled to Havana and Camaguey from
Miami, New York and Chicago.
Translated by MLK
Source: American Agency Will Operate Direct Flights Between New York and
Havana / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/american-agency-will-operate-direct-flights-between-new-york-and-havana-14ymedio/>
An Epidemic of Editorials
An Epidemic of Editorials / Fernando Damaso
Posted on November 25, 2014
A few days ago the sixth editorial by the New York Times appeared
regarding relations between the Cuban and North American governments. I
believe that never has a country so small and relatively unimportant
merited so much – and such sustained – attention. This smells of strange
interests on both shores.
The editorial writer who undoubtedly pulls down an annual salary in the
five figures, must feel fulfilled. It is said, although I cannot confirm
it, that he was over here seeking official information for his writings.
This would not be surprising.
To cast blame on the embargo for all of Cuba's problems — even for the
exodus of our professionals lured by United States government policies —
lacks originality. It is merely repeating the same worn arguments made
by the Cuban government during almost 56 years in order to sweep under
the rug its own errors, economic failures, misguided adventures,
blunders, etc., which have resulted in the prolonged political, economic
and social crisis that Cuba endures.
It is true that artists, sports figures, doctors and many other
professionals seize the slightest opportunity to leave the country in
search of better living conditions. The majority of our youth do this,
too. But this does not occur only because North American government
policies offers them incentives them do do so.
Rather, it is the terrible situation in their country: no housing,
miserable salaries — even after raises — and, what's worse, no real
opportunities for bettering their circumstances. Every human being has
but one life to live, and it cannot be squandered believing in outdated
lectures about the future — always about the future — when what is truly
important is the present. This is a concept that apparently eludes the
editorial writer.
What's more, if we truly look at reality, only a portion of Cuba's
medical missions abroad are provided freely. The majority are paid-for
by the governments of countries that benefit — a juicy business for the
Cuban authorities, who even describe them as better revenue-generators
than sugar harvests because they provide greater sums of foreign
currency. Between 60 and 75 per cent of the total salary payments made
by these governments for the services of Cuban doctors remain in the
hands of the State, which then apportions the remainder as wages — and
even that comes not entirely as hard cash, but rather as rights for
obtaining housing or consumer goods, at the artificially high prices set
by the State. Something similar happens with artists and sports figures
working abroad.
In any event, although many of these professionals leave the country,
the Cuban authorities never lose. This is because after the emigres
settle in other countries, they begin sending monetary remittances to
their relatives, who then spend them primarily in government
establishments where the prices are set high, the stated objective being
to maximize the collection of foreign currency.
The editorials will continue and the official Cuban press will go on
reprinting them in their entirety, down to the last comma and period. It
would be helpful if those who influence public policy and public
opinion, whether from the inside or the outside, would not allow
themselves to be misled.
Nobody is against change, and even less so if such change were to lead
to the restoration of normal relations between the governments. However,
this cannot be achieved on the backs of the Cuban people without their
true and complete participation.
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison
21 November 2014
Source: An Epidemic of Editorials / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/an-epidemic-of-editorials-fernando-damaso/>
Posted on November 25, 2014
A few days ago the sixth editorial by the New York Times appeared
regarding relations between the Cuban and North American governments. I
believe that never has a country so small and relatively unimportant
merited so much – and such sustained – attention. This smells of strange
interests on both shores.
The editorial writer who undoubtedly pulls down an annual salary in the
five figures, must feel fulfilled. It is said, although I cannot confirm
it, that he was over here seeking official information for his writings.
This would not be surprising.
To cast blame on the embargo for all of Cuba's problems — even for the
exodus of our professionals lured by United States government policies —
lacks originality. It is merely repeating the same worn arguments made
by the Cuban government during almost 56 years in order to sweep under
the rug its own errors, economic failures, misguided adventures,
blunders, etc., which have resulted in the prolonged political, economic
and social crisis that Cuba endures.
It is true that artists, sports figures, doctors and many other
professionals seize the slightest opportunity to leave the country in
search of better living conditions. The majority of our youth do this,
too. But this does not occur only because North American government
policies offers them incentives them do do so.
Rather, it is the terrible situation in their country: no housing,
miserable salaries — even after raises — and, what's worse, no real
opportunities for bettering their circumstances. Every human being has
but one life to live, and it cannot be squandered believing in outdated
lectures about the future — always about the future — when what is truly
important is the present. This is a concept that apparently eludes the
editorial writer.
What's more, if we truly look at reality, only a portion of Cuba's
medical missions abroad are provided freely. The majority are paid-for
by the governments of countries that benefit — a juicy business for the
Cuban authorities, who even describe them as better revenue-generators
than sugar harvests because they provide greater sums of foreign
currency. Between 60 and 75 per cent of the total salary payments made
by these governments for the services of Cuban doctors remain in the
hands of the State, which then apportions the remainder as wages — and
even that comes not entirely as hard cash, but rather as rights for
obtaining housing or consumer goods, at the artificially high prices set
by the State. Something similar happens with artists and sports figures
working abroad.
In any event, although many of these professionals leave the country,
the Cuban authorities never lose. This is because after the emigres
settle in other countries, they begin sending monetary remittances to
their relatives, who then spend them primarily in government
establishments where the prices are set high, the stated objective being
to maximize the collection of foreign currency.
The editorials will continue and the official Cuban press will go on
reprinting them in their entirety, down to the last comma and period. It
would be helpful if those who influence public policy and public
opinion, whether from the inside or the outside, would not allow
themselves to be misled.
Nobody is against change, and even less so if such change were to lead
to the restoration of normal relations between the governments. However,
this cannot be achieved on the backs of the Cuban people without their
true and complete participation.
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison
21 November 2014
Source: An Epidemic of Editorials / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/an-epidemic-of-editorials-fernando-damaso/>
Kill, Already, If You Are Going to Kill
Kill, Already, If You Are Going to Kill / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo
Posted on November 25, 2014
Cuban State Security — that is, the Castroist assassins of the State —
just as in Havana, have not ceased from monitoring and stigmatizing me
for even one minute since I have been in the US.
It is the sole legacy of a dictatorship that from its inception
disintegrated our nation in an irreversible manner.
But we Cubans are free. But we Cubans do not fear Evil. Castro has no
more Cubans left. And now we are going to relaunch another country,
another Cuba with no traces of Castroism, be it on the Island or in some
other spot. There are plans. It is enough to merely awaken the political
imagination, to break the bonds of our thinking that the dictatorship is
the dictatorship.
And the page of Castroism will remain congealed as a sort of North Korea
of the Caribbean, barbaric, abusive, unnecessary.
There will be another Havana, Brothers and Sisters.
Our children will be handsome, gorgeous and free. Never will they know
the horror of so many generations destroyed by the person of Fidel and
his blackmailed and salaried agents, as well as those already thirsting
for lives that are whole, and the hopes of living them. Castroism is a
criminal habit.
A Cuba will come that manifests permanent values: Good, Beauty, Truth,
Kindness, Love — that which comes easily, which is common, which is natural.
If the assassins of visionaries do not permit me to arrive alive on that
shore, there will be another Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo who will love all
free Cuban men and women as much as I love them.
Castroism's crimes are numbered.
Cubansummatum est!
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison
14 November 2014
Source: Kill, Already, If You Are Going to Kill / Orlando Luis Pardo
Lazo | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/kill-already-if-you-are-going-to-kill-orlando-luis-pardo-lazo/>
Posted on November 25, 2014
Cuban State Security — that is, the Castroist assassins of the State —
just as in Havana, have not ceased from monitoring and stigmatizing me
for even one minute since I have been in the US.
It is the sole legacy of a dictatorship that from its inception
disintegrated our nation in an irreversible manner.
But we Cubans are free. But we Cubans do not fear Evil. Castro has no
more Cubans left. And now we are going to relaunch another country,
another Cuba with no traces of Castroism, be it on the Island or in some
other spot. There are plans. It is enough to merely awaken the political
imagination, to break the bonds of our thinking that the dictatorship is
the dictatorship.
And the page of Castroism will remain congealed as a sort of North Korea
of the Caribbean, barbaric, abusive, unnecessary.
There will be another Havana, Brothers and Sisters.
Our children will be handsome, gorgeous and free. Never will they know
the horror of so many generations destroyed by the person of Fidel and
his blackmailed and salaried agents, as well as those already thirsting
for lives that are whole, and the hopes of living them. Castroism is a
criminal habit.
A Cuba will come that manifests permanent values: Good, Beauty, Truth,
Kindness, Love — that which comes easily, which is common, which is natural.
If the assassins of visionaries do not permit me to arrive alive on that
shore, there will be another Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo who will love all
free Cuban men and women as much as I love them.
Castroism's crimes are numbered.
Cubansummatum est!
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison
14 November 2014
Source: Kill, Already, If You Are Going to Kill / Orlando Luis Pardo
Lazo | Translating Cuba -
<http://translatingcuba.com/kill-already-if-you-are-going-to-kill-orlando-luis-pardo-lazo/>
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