Robbed, Arrested And Beaten By Cuban State Security / 14ymedio, Juannier
Matos Rodriguez
14ymedio, Juannier Rodriguez Matos, Baracoa, 30 October 2016 — On
Wednesday, October 12 at 5:40 pm, when I was on my way to the phone
company in downtown Baracoa, the voice of Capitan Alfredo Oliveros
ruined my afternoon, "Juannier, let's go to your house for a moment, we
want to talk with you […], we're going to do a search," he told me in an
arrogant tone of voice.
A patrol car came up the road and the driver and a soldier from the
Special Troops got out, handcuffed my hands behind me, and made me get
in the back of the car. He got in with me and looked at me so long and
fixedly I had to say to him, "Compadre, don't look at me any more." He
responded, "You wouldn't want me to pick you up and beat you."
They took me back to my house and waiting there was Dieser Castro
Pelegin (formerly a deputy of the Ministry of the Interior, MINIT, in
Baracoa, now I don't know what he does), the State Security agent Eliner
Leyva, an official from the Cuban Revolutionary Police with the ID
number 25513, the investigator Diorvys Odelin Lamoth, a van with some
six or eight soldiers from the Special Troops, the informers from the
Vigilance Committee, Diosmarys Infante Palmero (president of the
Federation of Cuban Women) and Meydi Duran Navarro (agent from MINIT's
Special Protective Services Company), along with Alfredo Oliveros.
They showed me a search warrant signed by Elier Lopez Carcases,
currently a MINIT deputy in Baracoa. They did not tell me the reason for
the search.
They took my computer, a phone, a hard drive, two USB memories, several
books and magazines, among other things.
Those hands took my books and threw them in a dirty sack, and with some
copies they mockingly said: "This is burning my hands." They took books
that did not even mention Cuba, it was enough that the title would
include the words freedom, rights, ethics, civic, transition, journalism
and democracy, any of those words that are always repeated in
international settings by the experiment called Revolution that is Cuba.
The officers claimed they were subversive books, but they were mine and
they had no right to steal them from me. I don't go to some communist's
house and say, "Hey, that book 100 Hours with Fidel is useless. Give it
to me, I'm going to toss it out, it's 100 hours of lies."
What hurt me most was that the flash drives and the computer had years
of research for my degree in Biology, my diploma work, a recent several
months long research project collecting information on a population
of polymita brocheri (land snails) in Punta Maisi on which I will
publish new results, hours of work in the hot sun in Maisí, dozens of
gigabytes of literature on the subject and specialty, as well as
personal information.
I begged them to let me keep the items about biology, which is
professional work, about those beautiful snails that are a threatened
species, that was done for Cuba, I didn't even know what to say, but as
if it was nothing, they didn't understand they were taking a part of my
life.
They took two Cuban flags, one of which I flew from my roof as a gesture
of solidarity with the neighbors who lost everything and in appreciation
for my brothers all over the island who prayed for us during Hurricane
Matthew, which I'm convinced made God protect every human life; and one
of which was on the wall at the head of my bed, which made me dream
every night about a more just and fraternal country with room for everyone.
Then I was again handcuffed with my hands behind my back and without
saying anything they took me to a cell in the Baracoa police
station. There I refused to eat and continued to do so the next day,
when they took me out again, handcuffed, to a jail in La Maya, in
Santiago de Cuba, passing through Imías, San Antonio del Sur and Guantanamo.
The next day in the morning, a MINIT major went to the jail, apparently
the second in command in the La Maya unit, and I told him, "Officer, you
are violating my right to a phone call." He responded, "Yes, and we will
continue to violate it."
I told the officer who was guarding the cells I was feeling sick and
would he please take me to a doctor. I heard a senior officer reply:
"The one from Baracoa, he's a disgrace, he's a counterrevolutionary, let
him die, it's not your problem, it's CI's (Counterintelligence)
problem." I was in that filthy cell without eating until Saturday
morning, when a police official came and put me out on the street.
I arrived in Baracoa the next morning. I went to the MINIT delegation
and they told me they weren't going to return anything, that everything
had to be reviewed in Guantanamo and then they would give me an answer.
Source: Robbed, Arrested And Beaten By Cuban State Security / 14ymedio,
Juannier Matos Rodriguez – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/robbed-arrested-and-beaten-by-cuban-state-security-14ymedio-juannier-matos-rodriguez/
Monday, October 31, 2016
In Cuba ‘Raulismo’ Follows The Fine Print Of ‘Fidelismo’
In Cuba 'Raulismo' Follows The Fine Print Of 'Fidelismo' / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 27 October 2016 – In recent weeks several alarming
news reports about the Cuban economy have filled the front pages of
newspapers. The attitude of the government in monopolizing the aid for
the victims of Hurricane Matthew and its cutting off of new licenses for
private restaurants have raised fears that the country is heading down
the path of "counter-reform," accompanied by an aggressive political
rhetoric.
The first signs of this backtracking were felt in the "Guidelines for
Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution," updated
during the 7th Communist Party Congress last April. These guidelines not
only refuse to accept "the concentration of property" in non-state forms
of productions, but added that the concentration of wealth would also
not be tolerated.
For those who were waiting for the Party Congress to lead to greater
flexibilities for national entrepreneurs, this strengthening of the most
orthodox line increased their frustration.
"Raul Castro's government seems more willing to lose the income from
taxes on entrepreneurs than to allow entrepreneurs to exist with
positive results," laments an economist at the University of Havana who
asked to remain anonymous. "Although the foreign media has exaggerated
the similarities between the reforms undertaken on the island and the
Chinese and Vietnamese style models, in practice, Cuban officialdom
strives every day to do the exact opposite."
The national press is full of calls to use the maximum "reserves of
productive efficiency" that supposedly exist on the island, but this is
just an empty phrase if they don't start opening the Cuban economy
instead of closing it.
After officially ascending to power in 2008, Raul Castro initiated a
process of changes in the economy that he called "structural" and
necessary for the country. Among those that had the greatest impact on
daily life was the push for the private sector, which had been corralled
with excessive controls, rules and high taxes during the presidency of
Fidel Castro.
The leasing of state land under the terms of usufruct generated hope for
advances toward greater flexibility in production and trade in
agricultural products. The creation of urban cooperatives also helped to
fuel the illusions of an economic recovery and an improvement that would
be felt on Cuba's dinner tables and in Cuban pockets.
There were also the relaxations to allow Cubans to buy and sell homes
and cars, to travel outside the country and to be able to have
cellphones, which achieved greater political impacts, lauded in the
headlines of the international press as it highlighted "the Raul reforms."
Eight years after the beginning of that impulse for renewal, officialdom
is determined to divert attention from the main problems facing the
country. In the streets there is a palpable sense that the country is
returning to the early years of this century, with an imposed economic
arbitrariness.
The former Minister of the Armed Forces, now president, has not met his
commitment to push transformations "without haste, but without pause," a
much-repeated phrase that has become a touchstone of his supposed
intentions. In recent years, instead of advancing, the flexibility
measures have stalled and only 21% of the Guidelines have been met,
according to the authorities themselves.
Recently, the private sector in the dining industry has begun to suffer
new pressures. The announcement of a freeze in the issuance of new
licenses to open private restaurants has been read as an unmistakable
sign of a slowing, and even a backtracking, in the reforms.
Instead of concentrating its facilities to create a wholesale market,
the state has chosen to dedicate all its efforts so that entrepreneurs
cannot acquire the products and raw materials needed for their
businesses in the informal market. Monitoring and control absorbs more
resources and energy, in this case, than enabling and empowering.
Something similar has happened with private transportation, which, since
the beginning of the year, has been under intense scrutiny by the
authorities, with the government canceling of licenses in an attempt to
regulate rates already established by supply and demand. Price caps have
affected the population and doubled the time passengers spend in travel.
When logic suggested that the authorities should turn their efforts to
providing carriers gasoline and oil at wholesale prices, they inverted
the logic with inspectors demanding receipts from the drivers of
shared-taxi services to prove they bought their fuel at state outlets.
This, at a time when it is an open secret that private transport is only
profitable if fuel is supplied through the informal market.
The ever louder beating of the drums by the most recalcitrant targets
the accumulation of wealth, but without announcing the definition of
what is acceptable and what is not. A practice of confusion and
permanent anxiety that was very effective for Fidel Castro in keeping
the country on tenterhooks for five decades.
The question many are asking is why doesn't the government turn its
energy to working with private businesses to make the state sector more
efficient. Why not decentralize this mammoth network that produces more
costs than benefits?
The little progress that has been made in this direction is felt in the
country's development. According to official estimates, in 2016 economic
growth will be less than 1%, a figure dominated by the state sector that
employs three-quarters of the labor force.
The state model driven by Raul Castro has chosen, in recent months, to
spend huge resources on political mobilizations, but is incapable of
sowing the crops needed to feed the population.
What country does he intend to bequeath to his successor?
Those who applauded his reforms look out over a Cuba today that is
turning to the past, and a government that redoubles its rhetoric
against independent journalists, bloggers and academic critics. A nation
that continues to put the brake on its productive forces and looks
grudgingly on entrepreneurship and prosperity.
Source: In Cuba 'Raulismo' Follows The Fine Print Of 'Fidelismo' /
14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/in-cuba-raulismo-follows-the-fine-print-of-fidelismo-14ymedio/
14ymedio, Havana, 27 October 2016 – In recent weeks several alarming
news reports about the Cuban economy have filled the front pages of
newspapers. The attitude of the government in monopolizing the aid for
the victims of Hurricane Matthew and its cutting off of new licenses for
private restaurants have raised fears that the country is heading down
the path of "counter-reform," accompanied by an aggressive political
rhetoric.
The first signs of this backtracking were felt in the "Guidelines for
Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution," updated
during the 7th Communist Party Congress last April. These guidelines not
only refuse to accept "the concentration of property" in non-state forms
of productions, but added that the concentration of wealth would also
not be tolerated.
For those who were waiting for the Party Congress to lead to greater
flexibilities for national entrepreneurs, this strengthening of the most
orthodox line increased their frustration.
"Raul Castro's government seems more willing to lose the income from
taxes on entrepreneurs than to allow entrepreneurs to exist with
positive results," laments an economist at the University of Havana who
asked to remain anonymous. "Although the foreign media has exaggerated
the similarities between the reforms undertaken on the island and the
Chinese and Vietnamese style models, in practice, Cuban officialdom
strives every day to do the exact opposite."
The national press is full of calls to use the maximum "reserves of
productive efficiency" that supposedly exist on the island, but this is
just an empty phrase if they don't start opening the Cuban economy
instead of closing it.
After officially ascending to power in 2008, Raul Castro initiated a
process of changes in the economy that he called "structural" and
necessary for the country. Among those that had the greatest impact on
daily life was the push for the private sector, which had been corralled
with excessive controls, rules and high taxes during the presidency of
Fidel Castro.
The leasing of state land under the terms of usufruct generated hope for
advances toward greater flexibility in production and trade in
agricultural products. The creation of urban cooperatives also helped to
fuel the illusions of an economic recovery and an improvement that would
be felt on Cuba's dinner tables and in Cuban pockets.
There were also the relaxations to allow Cubans to buy and sell homes
and cars, to travel outside the country and to be able to have
cellphones, which achieved greater political impacts, lauded in the
headlines of the international press as it highlighted "the Raul reforms."
Eight years after the beginning of that impulse for renewal, officialdom
is determined to divert attention from the main problems facing the
country. In the streets there is a palpable sense that the country is
returning to the early years of this century, with an imposed economic
arbitrariness.
The former Minister of the Armed Forces, now president, has not met his
commitment to push transformations "without haste, but without pause," a
much-repeated phrase that has become a touchstone of his supposed
intentions. In recent years, instead of advancing, the flexibility
measures have stalled and only 21% of the Guidelines have been met,
according to the authorities themselves.
Recently, the private sector in the dining industry has begun to suffer
new pressures. The announcement of a freeze in the issuance of new
licenses to open private restaurants has been read as an unmistakable
sign of a slowing, and even a backtracking, in the reforms.
Instead of concentrating its facilities to create a wholesale market,
the state has chosen to dedicate all its efforts so that entrepreneurs
cannot acquire the products and raw materials needed for their
businesses in the informal market. Monitoring and control absorbs more
resources and energy, in this case, than enabling and empowering.
Something similar has happened with private transportation, which, since
the beginning of the year, has been under intense scrutiny by the
authorities, with the government canceling of licenses in an attempt to
regulate rates already established by supply and demand. Price caps have
affected the population and doubled the time passengers spend in travel.
When logic suggested that the authorities should turn their efforts to
providing carriers gasoline and oil at wholesale prices, they inverted
the logic with inspectors demanding receipts from the drivers of
shared-taxi services to prove they bought their fuel at state outlets.
This, at a time when it is an open secret that private transport is only
profitable if fuel is supplied through the informal market.
The ever louder beating of the drums by the most recalcitrant targets
the accumulation of wealth, but without announcing the definition of
what is acceptable and what is not. A practice of confusion and
permanent anxiety that was very effective for Fidel Castro in keeping
the country on tenterhooks for five decades.
The question many are asking is why doesn't the government turn its
energy to working with private businesses to make the state sector more
efficient. Why not decentralize this mammoth network that produces more
costs than benefits?
The little progress that has been made in this direction is felt in the
country's development. According to official estimates, in 2016 economic
growth will be less than 1%, a figure dominated by the state sector that
employs three-quarters of the labor force.
The state model driven by Raul Castro has chosen, in recent months, to
spend huge resources on political mobilizations, but is incapable of
sowing the crops needed to feed the population.
What country does he intend to bequeath to his successor?
Those who applauded his reforms look out over a Cuba today that is
turning to the past, and a government that redoubles its rhetoric
against independent journalists, bloggers and academic critics. A nation
that continues to put the brake on its productive forces and looks
grudgingly on entrepreneurship and prosperity.
Source: In Cuba 'Raulismo' Follows The Fine Print Of 'Fidelismo' /
14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/in-cuba-raulismo-follows-the-fine-print-of-fidelismo-14ymedio/
Does Economic Development Lead To Democracy?
Does Economic Development Lead To Democracy? / 14ymedio, Jose Azel
14ymedio, Jose Azel, Miami, 27 October 2016 – For decades the statement
that "the more wealthy a nation is, the greater the chances that it
supports democracy" has been a conventional view and a centerpiece of
United States foreign policy. This quote is from a seminal work from
1959, "Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and
Political Legitimacy" by the political sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset.
Lipset was the first to raise, on empirical grounds, a correlation
between development and democracy. His thesis continues to guide US
foreign policy and is often cited in discussions of how to promote
transitions to democracy.
In what is known as the Lipset hypothesis, the professor theorized that
economic development supports the consolidation of democracy, expanding
levels of literacy, information and access to the media, expanding the
middle class, activating independent civic organizations, emphasizing
legitimacy and other sociopolitical values. Sadly, he is one of the most
cited authors read.
Lipset noted that the correlation between politics and democracy is a
wide list of factors that change social conditions, enabling the
reception of a democratic culture. These elements, among them
industrialization, urbanization, wealth and education, are the
conditions, not the causes, of democracy. As suggested by the title of
the article, the relation between economic development and political
democracy is correlative, not causal.
US foreign policy errs when it ignores the contingent nature of history
and relegates the complex social and structural conditions that lead to
democracy to a simplistic economic variable. The error is multiplied
when correlation is confused with causality. As Lipset shows, economic
prosperity is often accompanied by personal freedoms, but that does not
mean that economic growth causes political reforms.
The fact that the two events are frequently observed together does not
meant that one causes the other: that the rooster crows every morning
does not mean that the rooster makes the sun rise. In logic, the
principle that correlation does not imply causality is known as the cum
ergo propter hoc fallacy, which in Latin means "with this, therefore
because of this."
The most important political implications of the Lipset hypothesis have
become one of the most researched topics in the social sciences. Recent
studies don't support the affirmation that economic development brings
democracy. The most that can be obtained from empirical evidence is that
development facilitates the permanence of this form of government, but
does not make it more likely.
However, the US foreign policy will continues to depend on the false
causality of the "development first, democracy later," approach.
Atypical cases flow in both directions with wealthy autocracies like
Saudi Arabia and poor democracies like Costa Rica. In the case of
totalitarian regimes, it is clear that economic development does not
lead to political reforms, as is shown in China and Vietnam. In
totalitarian societies the elites have a lot to lose and choose oppression.
In the case of authoritarian regimes, the experience is mixed. The
divergent cases of South Korea and Singapore illustrate the limitations
of the claims that development furthers democracy. South Korea seems to
exemplify circumstances where the increase in wealth contributed to the
later democratic consolidation. Singapore, for its part, turns the
thesis on its head, because the country remains authoritarian and has
become more repressive with the increase in prosperity.
Our understanding of the relationship between the type of regime and
economic development remains, at best, probabilistic. But we have
learned that in previous communist societies it wasn't the economy that
generated the pro-democracy movements. In those countries, the essential
struggle between the population and the elites was about human rights
and civil liberties.
Therefore, to promote democracy US foreign policy should be updated and
better informed, to understand how citizens adopt democratic values and
push for democratic reforms.
____________________
Editor's Note: José Azel is a senior researcher at the Institute for
Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami and author
of Mañana in Cuba.
Source: Does Economic Development Lead To Democracy? / 14ymedio, Jose
Azel – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/does-economic-development-lead-to-democracy-14ymedio-jose-azel/
14ymedio, Jose Azel, Miami, 27 October 2016 – For decades the statement
that "the more wealthy a nation is, the greater the chances that it
supports democracy" has been a conventional view and a centerpiece of
United States foreign policy. This quote is from a seminal work from
1959, "Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and
Political Legitimacy" by the political sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset.
Lipset was the first to raise, on empirical grounds, a correlation
between development and democracy. His thesis continues to guide US
foreign policy and is often cited in discussions of how to promote
transitions to democracy.
In what is known as the Lipset hypothesis, the professor theorized that
economic development supports the consolidation of democracy, expanding
levels of literacy, information and access to the media, expanding the
middle class, activating independent civic organizations, emphasizing
legitimacy and other sociopolitical values. Sadly, he is one of the most
cited authors read.
Lipset noted that the correlation between politics and democracy is a
wide list of factors that change social conditions, enabling the
reception of a democratic culture. These elements, among them
industrialization, urbanization, wealth and education, are the
conditions, not the causes, of democracy. As suggested by the title of
the article, the relation between economic development and political
democracy is correlative, not causal.
US foreign policy errs when it ignores the contingent nature of history
and relegates the complex social and structural conditions that lead to
democracy to a simplistic economic variable. The error is multiplied
when correlation is confused with causality. As Lipset shows, economic
prosperity is often accompanied by personal freedoms, but that does not
mean that economic growth causes political reforms.
The fact that the two events are frequently observed together does not
meant that one causes the other: that the rooster crows every morning
does not mean that the rooster makes the sun rise. In logic, the
principle that correlation does not imply causality is known as the cum
ergo propter hoc fallacy, which in Latin means "with this, therefore
because of this."
The most important political implications of the Lipset hypothesis have
become one of the most researched topics in the social sciences. Recent
studies don't support the affirmation that economic development brings
democracy. The most that can be obtained from empirical evidence is that
development facilitates the permanence of this form of government, but
does not make it more likely.
However, the US foreign policy will continues to depend on the false
causality of the "development first, democracy later," approach.
Atypical cases flow in both directions with wealthy autocracies like
Saudi Arabia and poor democracies like Costa Rica. In the case of
totalitarian regimes, it is clear that economic development does not
lead to political reforms, as is shown in China and Vietnam. In
totalitarian societies the elites have a lot to lose and choose oppression.
In the case of authoritarian regimes, the experience is mixed. The
divergent cases of South Korea and Singapore illustrate the limitations
of the claims that development furthers democracy. South Korea seems to
exemplify circumstances where the increase in wealth contributed to the
later democratic consolidation. Singapore, for its part, turns the
thesis on its head, because the country remains authoritarian and has
become more repressive with the increase in prosperity.
Our understanding of the relationship between the type of regime and
economic development remains, at best, probabilistic. But we have
learned that in previous communist societies it wasn't the economy that
generated the pro-democracy movements. In those countries, the essential
struggle between the population and the elites was about human rights
and civil liberties.
Therefore, to promote democracy US foreign policy should be updated and
better informed, to understand how citizens adopt democratic values and
push for democratic reforms.
____________________
Editor's Note: José Azel is a senior researcher at the Institute for
Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami and author
of Mañana in Cuba.
Source: Does Economic Development Lead To Democracy? / 14ymedio, Jose
Azel – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/does-economic-development-lead-to-democracy-14ymedio-jose-azel/
Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found
Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Every October 28 the action is
repeated, already converted into a tradition in the elementary schools
throughout the country. Children bring flowers to their classrooms and
from there leave to through them into the sea as a reminder of Commander
Camilo Cienfuegos, who disappeared in 1959 in strange circumstances.
Over time, the historical details have become blurred, the official
version of events has become highly schematic, while students made
comparisons or ask uncomfortable questions.
This morning, at a school in Havana, a preschool teacher tried to
explain to her five-year-old students that "the Gentleman of the
Vanguard" was lost at sea and they never found "anything at all" of him,
not a single trace. The response of one of the little children
disconcerted the energetic teacher, "Yes, teacher, I was at the beach
once with my cousin and he lost a toy in the water that never came back…
we looked everywhere and we never never found it."
For new generations of Cubans, Camilo is that gentleman of the big hat
and diaphanous laughter… of whom there is "nothing, nothing" left.
Source: Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/camilo-cienfuegos-nowhere-to-be-found-14ymedio/
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Every October 28 the action is
repeated, already converted into a tradition in the elementary schools
throughout the country. Children bring flowers to their classrooms and
from there leave to through them into the sea as a reminder of Commander
Camilo Cienfuegos, who disappeared in 1959 in strange circumstances.
Over time, the historical details have become blurred, the official
version of events has become highly schematic, while students made
comparisons or ask uncomfortable questions.
This morning, at a school in Havana, a preschool teacher tried to
explain to her five-year-old students that "the Gentleman of the
Vanguard" was lost at sea and they never found "anything at all" of him,
not a single trace. The response of one of the little children
disconcerted the energetic teacher, "Yes, teacher, I was at the beach
once with my cousin and he lost a toy in the water that never came back…
we looked everywhere and we never never found it."
For new generations of Cubans, Camilo is that gentleman of the big hat
and diaphanous laughter… of whom there is "nothing, nothing" left.
Source: Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/camilo-cienfuegos-nowhere-to-be-found-14ymedio/
Algeria Oil - Export In October Will Be Higher Than In September
Algeria Oil: Export In October Will Be Higher Than In September
Oct.31.16 | About: The United (USO)
Algeria oil exports slowed after 10th October.
Yet, total October figure will be higher than in September.
Despite promise by media, no tanker went from Algeria directly to Cuba.
Algeria is the second largest oil producer in Africa. According to the
most recent OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report, Algeria produces 1,089kbbl/d
of oil. This North African country tries to reduce its dependence on
hydrocarbons by diversifying its economy. Algeria intends to boost its
oil output by 30% by 2020.
Algeria experiences one of the strongest negative effects of current oil
price environment among OPEC countries. That is why this country has a
strong incentive to support the decision to cut oil production, or at
least to freeze it. Algeria's Minister of Energy Noureddine Boutarfa has
contributed a lot to reduce tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Algeria was going to send an oil tanker to Cuba in September. Cuba and
Algeria have ties in such areas of cooperation as tourism, healthcare,
education and research. Then, tanker departure was thought to happen in
October. Algerian Prime Minister visited Cuba in the first half of
October. So, if oil flow from Algeria to Cuba was an important matter,
it would be resolved at the meeting of heads of state. Then, we would
see tanker departed from Algeria and headed to Cuba. However, my tanker
data shows that no such delivery took place neither in September, nor in
October.
Interestingly enough, Cuba sought this foreign oil in order to
compensate for Venezuela's declining production. Although no tankers
went directly from Venezuela to Cuba (however, they could have gone
through other Central American countries), Venezuela's oil production is
not declining in October, as my tanker tracking data shows. This is
despite everything that is going on in that country.
Source: Algeria Oil: Export In October Will Be Higher Than In September
- The United States Oil ETF, LP (NYSEARCA:USO) | Seeking Alpha -
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4016952-algeria-oil-export-october-will-higher-september
Oct.31.16 | About: The United (USO)
Algeria oil exports slowed after 10th October.
Yet, total October figure will be higher than in September.
Despite promise by media, no tanker went from Algeria directly to Cuba.
Algeria is the second largest oil producer in Africa. According to the
most recent OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report, Algeria produces 1,089kbbl/d
of oil. This North African country tries to reduce its dependence on
hydrocarbons by diversifying its economy. Algeria intends to boost its
oil output by 30% by 2020.
Algeria experiences one of the strongest negative effects of current oil
price environment among OPEC countries. That is why this country has a
strong incentive to support the decision to cut oil production, or at
least to freeze it. Algeria's Minister of Energy Noureddine Boutarfa has
contributed a lot to reduce tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Algeria was going to send an oil tanker to Cuba in September. Cuba and
Algeria have ties in such areas of cooperation as tourism, healthcare,
education and research. Then, tanker departure was thought to happen in
October. Algerian Prime Minister visited Cuba in the first half of
October. So, if oil flow from Algeria to Cuba was an important matter,
it would be resolved at the meeting of heads of state. Then, we would
see tanker departed from Algeria and headed to Cuba. However, my tanker
data shows that no such delivery took place neither in September, nor in
October.
Interestingly enough, Cuba sought this foreign oil in order to
compensate for Venezuela's declining production. Although no tankers
went directly from Venezuela to Cuba (however, they could have gone
through other Central American countries), Venezuela's oil production is
not declining in October, as my tanker tracking data shows. This is
despite everything that is going on in that country.
Source: Algeria Oil: Export In October Will Be Higher Than In September
- The United States Oil ETF, LP (NYSEARCA:USO) | Seeking Alpha -
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4016952-algeria-oil-export-october-will-higher-september
Dramatic Change in Israel-Cuba Relations
Dramatic Change in Israel-Cuba Relations
Monday, October 31, 2016 | Yossi Aloni
For the first time in 25 years, Israel will change its voting pattern
regarding Cuba in the UN General Assembly.
At the upcoming vote on the resolution calling on the US to end its
sanctions against Cuba, a resolution that has been presented annually
for the past 25 years, both Israel and the US will change their vote
from "against" to "abstain."
Regarding this change, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said:
"Israel welcomes this progress in relations between the US and Cuba and
hopes it will open a new chapter for this region. Israel has no greater
ally than the State of Israel, and we will continue our close
cooperation, also at the UN."
For the past quarter century, Israel was the only nation to consistently
join the US in voting against the annual resolution calling for an end
to sanctions against Cuba, resulting in hostile relations between the
Jewish state and the Caribbean nation.
Source: Dramatic Change in Israel-Cuba Relations - Israel Today | Israel
News -
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/30371/Default.aspx
Monday, October 31, 2016 | Yossi Aloni
For the first time in 25 years, Israel will change its voting pattern
regarding Cuba in the UN General Assembly.
At the upcoming vote on the resolution calling on the US to end its
sanctions against Cuba, a resolution that has been presented annually
for the past 25 years, both Israel and the US will change their vote
from "against" to "abstain."
Regarding this change, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said:
"Israel welcomes this progress in relations between the US and Cuba and
hopes it will open a new chapter for this region. Israel has no greater
ally than the State of Israel, and we will continue our close
cooperation, also at the UN."
For the past quarter century, Israel was the only nation to consistently
join the US in voting against the annual resolution calling for an end
to sanctions against Cuba, resulting in hostile relations between the
Jewish state and the Caribbean nation.
Source: Dramatic Change in Israel-Cuba Relations - Israel Today | Israel
News -
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/30371/Default.aspx
After the embargo, 'for how long will the Government claim that we are still recovering?'
After the embargo, 'for how long will the Government claim that we are
still recovering?'
JORGE ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ | La Habana | 31 de Octubre de 2016 - 11:21 CET.
Although politics seems to interest ordinary Cubans less and less, for
many relations with the United States are an exception, and Washington's
recent abstention in the vote on the embargo at the UN has sparked
surprise, or at least curiosity.
"The question now is how many decades the Government will tell us it is
going to take to recover from the effects of the blockade once it no
longer exists," said Orlando Jiménez. "Because, without any doubt, that
will be the justification for continuing with the blockade at home. I
know that hope is the last thing you lose, but here in Cuba hope was
still sprouting when it was nipped in the bud."
On a lot in Cerro, some confused by the vote believed that "the
blockade is over." But Nila Mercedes, one of the residents there, was
more wary: "I am afraid that things here aren't going to change due to
that abstention by the Americans. Bruno's speech was more to warn about
storms brewing than to announce any changes. It was the same rant, the
same reproaches, and the same slogans as always. There was nothing in
his words giving the people any hope."
Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, dedicated just a
couple of lines to positively assess the US's decision to abstain in the
vote. As occurs every year, the foreign minister devoted most of his
speech to citing figures gauging the damage done by the blockade.
Ramis Argudín was not surprised "at all" by Rodríguez Parrilla's
harangue, which was "in line" with the Government's position ever "since
relations were restored."
"The press and television continue with their paranoia about the
imperialist, interventionist enemy. They barely see anything positive
about this change in the American vote," Argudín said. "They have
nothing but criticisms and reminders about the blockade, the naval base
and socialism's refusal to surrender."
But "the party violating the sovereignty of this country is the
Government itself, which does not allow us citizens to be sovereign and
prosperous. Or perhaps they are going to blame the blockade for their
offensive against the self employed," he said.
"Rodríguez Parrilla shared his experience of not being able to access an
American site using Cuban servers" on the Internet. "A very nice
anecdote perhaps, for foreigners, but frankly disrespectful to those who
right now do not have access to dozens of sites blocked by the Cuban
Government," complained Lucía Corrales.
"That has nothing to do with the embargo, and neither does the growing
wave of repression against activists, journalists, artists and
independent civil organizations, who are accused of being paid
operatives of interventionist projects," she added.
"Who is suppressing the private sector, independent lawyers, and the
rights of young Cubans to better themselves through the World Learning
program? The abstention in this vote, together with that of Israel, is
yet another step by the US administration in a relationship in which
Raúl Castro has not yet managed to take even one," said Corrales.
Elsewhere in his speech the Foreign Minister complained about the
effects of the embargo on the bank accounts of doctors in missions
abroad, "but failed to mention that Raúl Castro retains 75% of the
wages" earned by Cuban professionals hired by other countries, observed
Antonio Ibarra.
The sale of professional services, mainly medical, is currently the
Government's main source of revenue.
"I think that there is a lot hope generated by this abstention vote by
the US. It remains to be seen whether the Cuban regime will refrain from
maintaining the internal blockade that prevents the self employed from
earning money, so they don't get rich," criticized Ibarra
In his speech at the UN, Bruno Rodríguez "did not speak for the average
Cuban, but rather for the personal interests of the country's rulers. It
was neither sincere nor conciliatory. "
Ánibal Tresold, an Ontario resident visiting the Island, believes that
the US's "surprising abstention," whether Bruno Rodríguez likes it or
not, gives some measure of faith to "every Cuban asked to buy the
narrative of living for the State."
"In other words, the anguish of unemployment, where the citizen loses
the right to live from his work , and is forced into undertaking the
adventure of emigrating. We Cuban expatraites are not stifled by US law
... we are stifled by Cuban law," Tresold concluded.
Source: After the embargo, 'for how long will the Government claim that
we are still recovering?' | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1477905692_26372.html
still recovering?'
JORGE ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ | La Habana | 31 de Octubre de 2016 - 11:21 CET.
Although politics seems to interest ordinary Cubans less and less, for
many relations with the United States are an exception, and Washington's
recent abstention in the vote on the embargo at the UN has sparked
surprise, or at least curiosity.
"The question now is how many decades the Government will tell us it is
going to take to recover from the effects of the blockade once it no
longer exists," said Orlando Jiménez. "Because, without any doubt, that
will be the justification for continuing with the blockade at home. I
know that hope is the last thing you lose, but here in Cuba hope was
still sprouting when it was nipped in the bud."
On a lot in Cerro, some confused by the vote believed that "the
blockade is over." But Nila Mercedes, one of the residents there, was
more wary: "I am afraid that things here aren't going to change due to
that abstention by the Americans. Bruno's speech was more to warn about
storms brewing than to announce any changes. It was the same rant, the
same reproaches, and the same slogans as always. There was nothing in
his words giving the people any hope."
Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, dedicated just a
couple of lines to positively assess the US's decision to abstain in the
vote. As occurs every year, the foreign minister devoted most of his
speech to citing figures gauging the damage done by the blockade.
Ramis Argudín was not surprised "at all" by Rodríguez Parrilla's
harangue, which was "in line" with the Government's position ever "since
relations were restored."
"The press and television continue with their paranoia about the
imperialist, interventionist enemy. They barely see anything positive
about this change in the American vote," Argudín said. "They have
nothing but criticisms and reminders about the blockade, the naval base
and socialism's refusal to surrender."
But "the party violating the sovereignty of this country is the
Government itself, which does not allow us citizens to be sovereign and
prosperous. Or perhaps they are going to blame the blockade for their
offensive against the self employed," he said.
"Rodríguez Parrilla shared his experience of not being able to access an
American site using Cuban servers" on the Internet. "A very nice
anecdote perhaps, for foreigners, but frankly disrespectful to those who
right now do not have access to dozens of sites blocked by the Cuban
Government," complained Lucía Corrales.
"That has nothing to do with the embargo, and neither does the growing
wave of repression against activists, journalists, artists and
independent civil organizations, who are accused of being paid
operatives of interventionist projects," she added.
"Who is suppressing the private sector, independent lawyers, and the
rights of young Cubans to better themselves through the World Learning
program? The abstention in this vote, together with that of Israel, is
yet another step by the US administration in a relationship in which
Raúl Castro has not yet managed to take even one," said Corrales.
Elsewhere in his speech the Foreign Minister complained about the
effects of the embargo on the bank accounts of doctors in missions
abroad, "but failed to mention that Raúl Castro retains 75% of the
wages" earned by Cuban professionals hired by other countries, observed
Antonio Ibarra.
The sale of professional services, mainly medical, is currently the
Government's main source of revenue.
"I think that there is a lot hope generated by this abstention vote by
the US. It remains to be seen whether the Cuban regime will refrain from
maintaining the internal blockade that prevents the self employed from
earning money, so they don't get rich," criticized Ibarra
In his speech at the UN, Bruno Rodríguez "did not speak for the average
Cuban, but rather for the personal interests of the country's rulers. It
was neither sincere nor conciliatory. "
Ánibal Tresold, an Ontario resident visiting the Island, believes that
the US's "surprising abstention," whether Bruno Rodríguez likes it or
not, gives some measure of faith to "every Cuban asked to buy the
narrative of living for the State."
"In other words, the anguish of unemployment, where the citizen loses
the right to live from his work , and is forced into undertaking the
adventure of emigrating. We Cuban expatraites are not stifled by US law
... we are stifled by Cuban law," Tresold concluded.
Source: After the embargo, 'for how long will the Government claim that
we are still recovering?' | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1477905692_26372.html
Sunday, October 30, 2016
The Blockade Again… Fidel’s War Against Windmills
The Blockade Again… Fidel's War Against Windmills / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Launching an
advertising campaign, deploying a costly diplomatic action charged to
the Cuban people against a "blockade" that doesn't have a single
opponent in the United Nations, because even the United States
government abstained, is at the very least to make yourself a
laughingstock to the world.
This happens when politics is not structured based on rational thought,
nor even on your own interests, but on the remains of pride, madness and
fear.
We discover, one more time, that this campaign is directed against the
Cuban people whom it tries to continue to disinform and shut up with
nonsense seeking justifications for suicidally clinging to obsolete
methods and ideas, superseded by history, even at the cost of
international credibility.
The world doesn't care about fidelismo, about the Castro regime. It is
demonstrably tired of it. The regime's goal is to maintain power within.
An absolute power that makes room for any nonsense, so corrupt is it, so
addicted and brutish.
The US government's intelligent abstention in the periodic vote in the
UN General Assembly on the American embargo on Cuba, left the Cuban
government, as we say colloquially, with the rifle on its shoulder ready
to swing at a ball that hasn't been pitched, or falling under the cannon
fire of a ghost ship on the high seas.
Now how are they going to keep blaming Obama and his government for the
permanence of some strings of the blockade (as the Cuban government
likes to calls it), or the embargo (as it is, in fact).
The overwhelming media and mobilizing campaign against the "blockade"
reached its zenith on the eave of the UN vote on the repeated Castro
regime proposal stating the "need to put an end to the economic,
commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of
America against Cuba."
Cuba's press organs spent several days trying to demonstrate that the
blockade-embargo is the cause of all our ills. For weeks, the
repudiation rallies have been unending in work and study centers, led by
the likes of television talking-head Randy Alonso, against a policy that
never diminished one iota the well-being of the political elite and
which, instead, has served to justify its disasters, repressions and
phobias toward democracy.
People, meanwhile, play at the Soviet era game in Russia: "They pretend
to pay us and we pretend to work." Which translated in this context
would mean something like "they try to deceive us and we let them think
we believe them so they'll leave us alone."
If anything has demonstrated once again how useful fidelismo is in
maintaining what is left of the embargo, it is precisely this beardless
social mobilization to entertain people and the rigged domestic measures
to counter the "imperialist penetration," which at any particular moment
they identify with the policies approved by the last congress of the
Cuban Communist Party (PCC) regarding self-employment, cooperatives and
foreign investments.
The policy of rapprochement with the United States, developed in the
last years of the Obama administration, which has been taking steps
since the last Bush administration, has reached the reestablishment of
relations, the signing of several presidential orders modifying nearly
everything that is not codified by Congress, and even the visit of the
US president to Cuba, whose people did not hide their joy at possibly
the most momentous visit by a head of state in the last half century.
The US president has been very clear: he wants to live the blockade, but
it doesn't depend on him. He is doing everything he can to dismantle it
from the office of the president. It's clear that he would like a
democratic government in Havana with whom the US would have better
relations, but he does not intend to meddle in Cuban affairs. He said
this in Cuba: this is a matter for Cubans.
But it doesn't matter, the campaign against the blockade will continue.
Fidelismo cannot live without enemies, and even though the adversary
vows, promises and acts constructively, he must continue to be blamed
for all wrongs and his "fifth column" must be repressed. If not, on whom
is going to fall the historic blame for the disaster? Because history
"must absolve" it*.
Fidel's war against the windmills will continue.
*Translator's note: A phrase taken from Fidel Castro's defense in court
(according to a version later published by he himself) for the 1953
attack on the Moncada Barracks, which is considered the start of the
Revolution that ultimately triumphed in 1959: "Condemn me, it does not
matter. History will absolve me."
Source: The Blockade Again… Fidel's War Against Windmills / 14ymedio,
Pedro Campos – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-blockade-again-fidels-war-against-windmills-14ymedio-pedro-campos/
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Launching an
advertising campaign, deploying a costly diplomatic action charged to
the Cuban people against a "blockade" that doesn't have a single
opponent in the United Nations, because even the United States
government abstained, is at the very least to make yourself a
laughingstock to the world.
This happens when politics is not structured based on rational thought,
nor even on your own interests, but on the remains of pride, madness and
fear.
We discover, one more time, that this campaign is directed against the
Cuban people whom it tries to continue to disinform and shut up with
nonsense seeking justifications for suicidally clinging to obsolete
methods and ideas, superseded by history, even at the cost of
international credibility.
The world doesn't care about fidelismo, about the Castro regime. It is
demonstrably tired of it. The regime's goal is to maintain power within.
An absolute power that makes room for any nonsense, so corrupt is it, so
addicted and brutish.
The US government's intelligent abstention in the periodic vote in the
UN General Assembly on the American embargo on Cuba, left the Cuban
government, as we say colloquially, with the rifle on its shoulder ready
to swing at a ball that hasn't been pitched, or falling under the cannon
fire of a ghost ship on the high seas.
Now how are they going to keep blaming Obama and his government for the
permanence of some strings of the blockade (as the Cuban government
likes to calls it), or the embargo (as it is, in fact).
The overwhelming media and mobilizing campaign against the "blockade"
reached its zenith on the eave of the UN vote on the repeated Castro
regime proposal stating the "need to put an end to the economic,
commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of
America against Cuba."
Cuba's press organs spent several days trying to demonstrate that the
blockade-embargo is the cause of all our ills. For weeks, the
repudiation rallies have been unending in work and study centers, led by
the likes of television talking-head Randy Alonso, against a policy that
never diminished one iota the well-being of the political elite and
which, instead, has served to justify its disasters, repressions and
phobias toward democracy.
People, meanwhile, play at the Soviet era game in Russia: "They pretend
to pay us and we pretend to work." Which translated in this context
would mean something like "they try to deceive us and we let them think
we believe them so they'll leave us alone."
If anything has demonstrated once again how useful fidelismo is in
maintaining what is left of the embargo, it is precisely this beardless
social mobilization to entertain people and the rigged domestic measures
to counter the "imperialist penetration," which at any particular moment
they identify with the policies approved by the last congress of the
Cuban Communist Party (PCC) regarding self-employment, cooperatives and
foreign investments.
The policy of rapprochement with the United States, developed in the
last years of the Obama administration, which has been taking steps
since the last Bush administration, has reached the reestablishment of
relations, the signing of several presidential orders modifying nearly
everything that is not codified by Congress, and even the visit of the
US president to Cuba, whose people did not hide their joy at possibly
the most momentous visit by a head of state in the last half century.
The US president has been very clear: he wants to live the blockade, but
it doesn't depend on him. He is doing everything he can to dismantle it
from the office of the president. It's clear that he would like a
democratic government in Havana with whom the US would have better
relations, but he does not intend to meddle in Cuban affairs. He said
this in Cuba: this is a matter for Cubans.
But it doesn't matter, the campaign against the blockade will continue.
Fidelismo cannot live without enemies, and even though the adversary
vows, promises and acts constructively, he must continue to be blamed
for all wrongs and his "fifth column" must be repressed. If not, on whom
is going to fall the historic blame for the disaster? Because history
"must absolve" it*.
Fidel's war against the windmills will continue.
*Translator's note: A phrase taken from Fidel Castro's defense in court
(according to a version later published by he himself) for the 1953
attack on the Moncada Barracks, which is considered the start of the
Revolution that ultimately triumphed in 1959: "Condemn me, it does not
matter. History will absolve me."
Source: The Blockade Again… Fidel's War Against Windmills / 14ymedio,
Pedro Campos – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-blockade-again-fidels-war-against-windmills-14ymedio-pedro-campos/
Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found
Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Every October 28 the action is
repeated, already converted into a tradition in the elementary schools
throughout the country. Children bring flowers to their classrooms and
from there leave to through them into the sea as a reminder of Commander
Camilo Cienfuegos, who disappeared in 1959 in strange circumstances.
Over time, the historical details have become blurred, the official
version of events has become highly schematic, while students made
comparisons or ask uncomfortable questions.
This morning, at a school in Havana, a preschool teacher tried to
explain to her five-year-old students that "the Gentleman of the
Vanguard" was lost at sea and they never found "anything at all" of him,
not a single trace. The response of one of the little children
disconcerted the energetic teacher, "Yes, teacher, I was at the beach
once with my cousin and he lost a toy in the water that never came back…
we looked everywhere and we never never found it."
For new generations of Cubans, Camilo is that gentleman of the big hat
and diaphanous laughter… of whom there is "nothing, nothing" left.
Source: Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/camilo-cienfuegos-nowhere-to-be-found-14ymedio/
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Every October 28 the action is
repeated, already converted into a tradition in the elementary schools
throughout the country. Children bring flowers to their classrooms and
from there leave to through them into the sea as a reminder of Commander
Camilo Cienfuegos, who disappeared in 1959 in strange circumstances.
Over time, the historical details have become blurred, the official
version of events has become highly schematic, while students made
comparisons or ask uncomfortable questions.
This morning, at a school in Havana, a preschool teacher tried to
explain to her five-year-old students that "the Gentleman of the
Vanguard" was lost at sea and they never found "anything at all" of him,
not a single trace. The response of one of the little children
disconcerted the energetic teacher, "Yes, teacher, I was at the beach
once with my cousin and he lost a toy in the water that never came back…
we looked everywhere and we never never found it."
For new generations of Cubans, Camilo is that gentleman of the big hat
and diaphanous laughter… of whom there is "nothing, nothing" left.
Source: Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/camilo-cienfuegos-nowhere-to-be-found-14ymedio/
Saturday, October 29, 2016
From Today Your Life Will Be “Very Difficult,” State Security Tells Dagoberto Valdes
From Today Your Life Will Be "Very Difficult," State Security Tells
Dagoberto Valdes / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 — The director of the Center for
Coexistence Studies (CEC), Dagoberto Valdes, summoned to a meeting with
State Security on Thursday, received "an official warning" which
anticipates "the possibility of committing crimes against State Security
as defined in the Penal Code."
Valdes, who remained at the police headquarters on the San Juan road for
two hours and fifteen minutes, explained to 14ymedio that the officials
threatened him that "as of today" his life "would be very difficult" if
one day "he was to incur one of these crimes." The police mentioned as
possible violations of the law the receipt of money from the United
States for his activities, or the lack of a contribution to the
treasury. The director of Coexistence affirmed that he had "received not
even one cent from the United States government."
Despite these warnings, Valdes affirmed that everything happened "in a
serious and respectful climate" and that "there was no physical abuse"
at any time.
"I came to this place [the headquarters of the State Security] on time
and within minutes of the hour I was received by Lieutenant Colonel
Osvaldo Labrador, head of the unit, and Major Joaquin" said Valdes in a
statement received by this newspaper.
According to the director of Coexistence, on entering the unit he was
led to "an interrogation room where the entire conversation was
filmed." In it, he said Lt. Col. Labrador told him that for "all these
years" he had remained "at the razor's edge between being a layman of
the Church and being a counterrevolutionary."
Accordingly, Valdes added by telephone, they advanced that if he
"engages in counterrevolution" he would be "treated" accordingly, but
not if he continues with "his profile as a Catholic layman and cares for
the social objective of Coexistence" and he mentioned "2003, when the 75."
At the end of the declaration, Valdes was taken to the "technical" room
where they took his "finger and palm prints, an odor print of his pelvis
and photos from the front and side," and later took him to the
infirmary. Despite telling Major Joaquin that he felt "in very good
health," they insisted on taking his blood pressure, which was stable.
Dagoberto Valdes is thankful "with all his heart, for the immense
solidarity received from friends and brothers of many countries and
institutions, as well as for the prayers of pastors and brothers of
different faiths."
The Coexistence Studies Center focuses on training for citizenship and
civil society in Cuba. Among its activities is the publication of the
magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), the discussion of proposals for the
future of the island and the exchange ideas about our current situation.
Last September the members of Coexistence denounced that at least nine
of them had been subjected to police interrogation. The activists were
forced to suspend the My Neighborhood One Community program due to
pressure from State Security, which included operations around several
of their homes, arrests and the cutting of the cell phone service of
event organizers.
Based in the province of Pinar del Rio, the independent entity is
conceived as a think tank to "think about the national home we desire,
to contribute to the reconstruction of the human person and the fabric
of civil society."
Source: From Today Your Life Will Be "Very Difficult," State Security
Tells Dagoberto Valdes / 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/from-today-your-life-will-be-very-difficult-state-security-tells-dagoberto-valdes-14ymedio/
Dagoberto Valdes / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 — The director of the Center for
Coexistence Studies (CEC), Dagoberto Valdes, summoned to a meeting with
State Security on Thursday, received "an official warning" which
anticipates "the possibility of committing crimes against State Security
as defined in the Penal Code."
Valdes, who remained at the police headquarters on the San Juan road for
two hours and fifteen minutes, explained to 14ymedio that the officials
threatened him that "as of today" his life "would be very difficult" if
one day "he was to incur one of these crimes." The police mentioned as
possible violations of the law the receipt of money from the United
States for his activities, or the lack of a contribution to the
treasury. The director of Coexistence affirmed that he had "received not
even one cent from the United States government."
Despite these warnings, Valdes affirmed that everything happened "in a
serious and respectful climate" and that "there was no physical abuse"
at any time.
"I came to this place [the headquarters of the State Security] on time
and within minutes of the hour I was received by Lieutenant Colonel
Osvaldo Labrador, head of the unit, and Major Joaquin" said Valdes in a
statement received by this newspaper.
According to the director of Coexistence, on entering the unit he was
led to "an interrogation room where the entire conversation was
filmed." In it, he said Lt. Col. Labrador told him that for "all these
years" he had remained "at the razor's edge between being a layman of
the Church and being a counterrevolutionary."
Accordingly, Valdes added by telephone, they advanced that if he
"engages in counterrevolution" he would be "treated" accordingly, but
not if he continues with "his profile as a Catholic layman and cares for
the social objective of Coexistence" and he mentioned "2003, when the 75."
At the end of the declaration, Valdes was taken to the "technical" room
where they took his "finger and palm prints, an odor print of his pelvis
and photos from the front and side," and later took him to the
infirmary. Despite telling Major Joaquin that he felt "in very good
health," they insisted on taking his blood pressure, which was stable.
Dagoberto Valdes is thankful "with all his heart, for the immense
solidarity received from friends and brothers of many countries and
institutions, as well as for the prayers of pastors and brothers of
different faiths."
The Coexistence Studies Center focuses on training for citizenship and
civil society in Cuba. Among its activities is the publication of the
magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), the discussion of proposals for the
future of the island and the exchange ideas about our current situation.
Last September the members of Coexistence denounced that at least nine
of them had been subjected to police interrogation. The activists were
forced to suspend the My Neighborhood One Community program due to
pressure from State Security, which included operations around several
of their homes, arrests and the cutting of the cell phone service of
event organizers.
Based in the province of Pinar del Rio, the independent entity is
conceived as a think tank to "think about the national home we desire,
to contribute to the reconstruction of the human person and the fabric
of civil society."
Source: From Today Your Life Will Be "Very Difficult," State Security
Tells Dagoberto Valdes / 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/from-today-your-life-will-be-very-difficult-state-security-tells-dagoberto-valdes-14ymedio/
“It Is Not Because You Write In ‘OnCuba’, It Is What You Write,” University Professor Told
"It Is Not Because You Write In 'OnCuba', It Is What You Write,"
University Professor Told / 14ymedio, Mario Penton
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 26 October 2016 — "It's not because you
write in OnCuba, it is what you write," were the words used by
the authorities of the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana to
tell Juan Antonio Fernández Estrada that he could not continue to be a
university professor. This measure "put the lid on the jar" and provoked
a reaction from the teacher, who says he will not stay silent about this
new outrage.
"I do not want to make a media show of this. I am submitting demands
through the relevant channels and waiting for the responses to a
situation that I consider unjust," Fernandez told 14ymedio by phone,
after an email he shared with friends explaining his situation went
viral on the national servers. He further clarified that had never asked
anyone to share or make public that communication which was meant to be
private.
As of March 2012, the professor has contributed articles to the American
magazine OnCuba, a publication with correspondents in Cuba that is
widely disseminated through informal networks on the island.
The magazine is permitted by the Government and is a refuge for
journalists and academics who see their contributions as a way to
increase their meager income working in the state sector. Fernandez has
published twenty columns ranging from opinions, history, politics and
other topics of interest to Cubans.
"They informed me that my contract as a guest lecturer at the Faculty of
Law could not be continued because I had been asked to resign from the
Center for the Study of Public Administration (CEAP), and having done
so, I had resigned from all of the University of Havana. I told them
that other teachers had continued on as guest lecturers after having
resigned as professors, but they explained to me that my resignation
from CEAP had been for personal problems, the University considered it
was because of my writings for OnCuba, and especially for an article
about President Obama's visit to Cuba," reads an email that Fernandez
sent to his friends.
The article referenced said, "I don't want to know anything about the
Industriales (baseball team) or Obama," published at the beginning of
April of this year, after the visit of the US president to Cuba. In this
opinion column, Fernandez lambasted "the cries that warn us of Obama's
deception" and, putting his finger on the wound, wrote, "We, the people,
we are not the one approaching the United States, nor like sovereigns
did we talk in secret for more than a year with that government, nor did
we invite President Obama to Cuba, nor did we invite him to speak live
on national television."
Given the impossibility of being hired, the professor told them that
teaching was his only work, but the officials, undaunted, spit out that
"you should have thought of that before writing those things."
"I am telling you this because my silence is over this time," said
Fernandez in his email. "The University has not respected my silence all
these years. I didn't complain in 2008, I didn't complain in 2012, but
this time they can't eliminate me without my speaking and responding.
The pressures of the Cuban authorities so that journalists and academics
don't collaborate with the private press and the emerging digital
platforms has intensified over the last year. Presenters on radio and
television were told in a circular transmitted verbally that they were
prohibited from cooperating with these other media. According to a
witness to some of the meetings, they were reminded "within the
Revolution, everything, but outside of the Revolution, nothing," which
motivated everything from letters of protests to continued desertions to
the independent press.
"The confusion of some has been to think that all my problems at the
University of Havana have been because of errors," concluded Fernandez,
"because of naiveté, but it's not like that, my problems have been for
telling the truth, for being dignified and honest, for defending
socialism and criticizing the opportunists and the shameless. These are
my crimes and I will continue committing them."
Source: "It Is Not Because You Write In 'OnCuba', It Is What You Write,"
University Professor Told / 14ymedio, Mario Penton – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/it-is-not-because-you-write-in-oncuba-it-is-what-you-write-university-professor-told-14ymedio-mario-penton/
University Professor Told / 14ymedio, Mario Penton
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 26 October 2016 — "It's not because you
write in OnCuba, it is what you write," were the words used by
the authorities of the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana to
tell Juan Antonio Fernández Estrada that he could not continue to be a
university professor. This measure "put the lid on the jar" and provoked
a reaction from the teacher, who says he will not stay silent about this
new outrage.
"I do not want to make a media show of this. I am submitting demands
through the relevant channels and waiting for the responses to a
situation that I consider unjust," Fernandez told 14ymedio by phone,
after an email he shared with friends explaining his situation went
viral on the national servers. He further clarified that had never asked
anyone to share or make public that communication which was meant to be
private.
As of March 2012, the professor has contributed articles to the American
magazine OnCuba, a publication with correspondents in Cuba that is
widely disseminated through informal networks on the island.
The magazine is permitted by the Government and is a refuge for
journalists and academics who see their contributions as a way to
increase their meager income working in the state sector. Fernandez has
published twenty columns ranging from opinions, history, politics and
other topics of interest to Cubans.
"They informed me that my contract as a guest lecturer at the Faculty of
Law could not be continued because I had been asked to resign from the
Center for the Study of Public Administration (CEAP), and having done
so, I had resigned from all of the University of Havana. I told them
that other teachers had continued on as guest lecturers after having
resigned as professors, but they explained to me that my resignation
from CEAP had been for personal problems, the University considered it
was because of my writings for OnCuba, and especially for an article
about President Obama's visit to Cuba," reads an email that Fernandez
sent to his friends.
The article referenced said, "I don't want to know anything about the
Industriales (baseball team) or Obama," published at the beginning of
April of this year, after the visit of the US president to Cuba. In this
opinion column, Fernandez lambasted "the cries that warn us of Obama's
deception" and, putting his finger on the wound, wrote, "We, the people,
we are not the one approaching the United States, nor like sovereigns
did we talk in secret for more than a year with that government, nor did
we invite President Obama to Cuba, nor did we invite him to speak live
on national television."
Given the impossibility of being hired, the professor told them that
teaching was his only work, but the officials, undaunted, spit out that
"you should have thought of that before writing those things."
"I am telling you this because my silence is over this time," said
Fernandez in his email. "The University has not respected my silence all
these years. I didn't complain in 2008, I didn't complain in 2012, but
this time they can't eliminate me without my speaking and responding.
The pressures of the Cuban authorities so that journalists and academics
don't collaborate with the private press and the emerging digital
platforms has intensified over the last year. Presenters on radio and
television were told in a circular transmitted verbally that they were
prohibited from cooperating with these other media. According to a
witness to some of the meetings, they were reminded "within the
Revolution, everything, but outside of the Revolution, nothing," which
motivated everything from letters of protests to continued desertions to
the independent press.
"The confusion of some has been to think that all my problems at the
University of Havana have been because of errors," concluded Fernandez,
"because of naiveté, but it's not like that, my problems have been for
telling the truth, for being dignified and honest, for defending
socialism and criticizing the opportunists and the shameless. These are
my crimes and I will continue committing them."
Source: "It Is Not Because You Write In 'OnCuba', It Is What You Write,"
University Professor Told / 14ymedio, Mario Penton – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/it-is-not-because-you-write-in-oncuba-it-is-what-you-write-university-professor-told-14ymedio-mario-penton/
Kidnapped by Human Traffickers
Kidnapped by Human Traffickers / 14ymedio, Georlys Olazabal Drake
14ymedio, Georlys Olazabal Drake, Florida, Camagüey Province, 19 October
2016 — At 29, like many of the young people here, Georlys Olazabal Drake
fled the lack of opportunities in Cuba for undertake the risky journey
to the United States. A member of the opposition movement Somos+ (We Are
More), Olazabal Drake, who studied computer science, signed up for an
illegal exit that would end up with his being kidnapped in Mexico by
human traffickers.
Now he shares his story with the 14ymedio's readers, with a notable
number of details that reveal the framework of extortion, complicity and
violence that surrounds many of these journeys to follow a dream.
This story started last July 23, when my cousin's wife told me there was
a boat leaving to take people to Mexico, some of them from Florida, the
name of our town in Camaguey. She said the trip would cost between 2,000
and 3,000 dollars a person, but along the way – when I could no longer
turn back – I discovered the real cost was 10,000 dollars.
The journey came like a hope, because everything was going badly for me
at that time. I had had problems with the inspectors and the police had
taken away my business license. I also had problems in my personal life.
Previously I wanted to leave the country and several of my family
members had abandoned the island. Although I'm not in agreement with the
system of government, the reasons that led me to leave had nothing to do
with my political ideas, but with personal circumstances. I was a way to
escape: I was presented with an opportunity and without thinking about
it I undertook the journey.
I left in a rented car from Fontanar headed to the bridge of the PRIMER
ANILLO of Havana, where a group of people had already gathered to be
picked up. From there we were taken to the city of Pinar del Rio in a
private truck being used to transport passengers.
During this leg of the journey I still felt sure about what I was doing.
I believed it was the solution. On arriving in Pinar del Rio a gentleman
picked us up outside the bus station and took us to his house. Then, in
another truck, we took the highway to a town called Las Marinas. They
collected us in these carts that they call spiders and took us to a farm.
We were 32 people, 20 from Pinar del Rio, 6 from Santiago de Cuba, and
the other 6 from my town of Florida. There were no children, just 29 men
and 3 women. Among them were 2 young men who had deserted from the
border guards, taking their uniforms, their guns and leaving their jeep
abandoned.
Once there, there was already no way to turn back. The only chance to
abort the trip was if the border guard troops found out about it and
interfered, or if the boat was intercepted at sea. They made it very
clear that if we tried to leave or if we didn't want to go, they would
put an end to our lives.
There was no way to communicate with anyone, because we had to give up
our cellphones. We could only go with a change of clothes, a package of
cookies, a bottle of water and the money we had. We weren't even allowed
matches.
I wanted to call my wife but I knew they wouldn't forgive me if I did
so. However, I consoled myself thinking that I was making the journey
for the two of us and if it worked out, I would find a way to get her
out, to leave all the problems we were going through and to start again.
At the farm they didn't give us any food. Many things were going through
my head. I felt insecure, but the only thing left to me was to go
forward and ask God for things to turn out well. The people got that
far, although we didn't know each other, were pretty communicative. We
tried to help each other.
We slept one night at that farm, where there were several animals like
cows and horses, but fortunately no mosquitoes, only some MORO crabs who
were all around us because we were near the beach. Some farmers watched
us at night with their faces covered, so they couldn't be identified in
case the border guards raided the placed.
During the night the time the boat would leave was changed several
times, until some demanded to know the truth. After some pressure they
told us it would leave at 7:30 in the morning. Then they gave us more
warnings and brought us a jug of water
Around seven in the morning the farmers returned to tell us to get
ready, the boat was about to some. When we approached the rock along the
shore we could see in the distance what looked like a dove in the water.
At that point I don't know what I felt, I just remember telling myself,
"Yes, this is what I should do."
We were content. However, until that moment I also hoped that the boat
wouldn't arrive. I felt a desire not to make that journey, to put it all
behind me and to return to the people I loved. At the moment you leave
Cuba, that is when you value it.
Around 7:20 in the morning on July 24 the boat arrives. When we were far
from shore I put my hands to my head and said, "My God, what have I
done?" But I could no longer throw myself in the sea. The boatman pulled
out a pistol and let off two shots in to the air to let us know we were
under his control.
The crew was made up of two people: a boatman and his helper, both
Cubans. The helper was called "El Menor" and was originally from a town
in Pinar del Rio called El Cayuco, while the boatman was called "El
Yuma" and was from Güines. Both of them live in Mexico and can't enter
Cuba legally, because they are wanted to drug trafficking, human
trafficking and murder.
The boatman bragged about having killed his previous helper, a Honduran
who was a boat mechanic.
The two men took security measures, like making us throw away our shoes
so no one could escape when we landed. One of them told us that from the
same place we had left from, they had made more than 30 trips last summer.
They bragged about coming and going from the island as if it was their
house. According to them, in Cuba there are no teams to pursue fast
boats. They leave Mexico like a fishing charter, and at night stay 60
miles out and advance slowly as if it was a fishing boat. When the sun
rises, they rush in at full speed, pick up, and leave in the same way.
At around 30 miles they made a call to Mexico, to the boss of the
business, and told him only: "We're coming." The boatman boasted that
five boats belonging to the same business owner to look for people in
Cuba, but only he had been able to pick up.
The trip was long because they were forced to enter Mexico at night. We
arrived at Cancun, near the hotel area, after nine at night. We landed
on a dock where we had to pay 100 dollars each to enter.
We were waiting for two small buses and boarded them, 16 people each.
They took us to an abandoned warehouse, a sort of old rented building
with all the security for this type of business. There two groups of us
joined up with more than 50 people who had arrived on previous trips.
On arriving in Mexico we had to get the money to pay them. They took
care of the paperwork for each migrant to fly north and present
themselves at the US border. The entire trip cost 10,000 dollars, but I
had no money to pay. At that point I began my odyssey.
The abandoned warehouse had two floors. Upstairs there were four
bedrooms and a large living room where the TV was. One of the rooms was
for the guides, who are responsible for finding people in Cuba who want
to leave the country. The guides are more comfortable, with mattresses
and food, and the trip is free. They are also used to control
discipline. The other rooms are like cells.
The bosses were Cuban. They call the main one El Millo and he never
shows his face in the business. Later it was Julian, El Negro, who is
from Matanza and "attends to" the migrants and helps them do things like
call their families. He functions as an intermediary. In addition, there
are people everywhere who collect money.
A man named Rey, from Vertientes in Camaguey, is known as El Pinto and
looks after the house. He is also responsible for the tortures.
They collected all our clothes from us, our identity cards, passports,
and money to prevent any change of escape. They left us with shorts and
a t-shirt, which is the "uniform" of the people help in that place.
The next day, at seven in the morning, we had a piece of bread and a
glass of water for breakfast. Then they started the calls with our
families, most of whom were unaware of our exit plans. They only allowed
us to speak for a few seconds to they would know it was true that they
had us.
If the family said they didn't have any money, they warned them they
would put their relative in a tank of acid and nothing would ever be
heard of them or they would put them back in a boat and take them 30
miles out and throw them to the crocodiles.
I wasn't tortured but others didn't enjoy the same luck. They just
punished me for not having any money and took me to a room where they
only took me out for a bath once a week. We couldn't watch TV or talk to
anyone, and we had to be quiet and sleep on the floor.
I saw how they beat up several people, among them a young man that
almost killed. Another who didn't have any money, they broke two of his
fingers with an ax.
If someone fell ill and they didn't see any chance to get any money from
them, they'd take them away and they never came back. We didn't know
what happened with them, if they kept them prisoner or killed them.
Sometimes they would split someone's nose and send photos to the family
to scare them and threaten them.
Those who didn't have any money didn't receive any food. I spent 38 days
with just water but no food. Sixty-nine of us lived like this, because
in my group there were only 14 with money who were able to go to the
United States.
It was better not to be very communicative, because they could think you
were up to something, or going to flee or something else. Some, to get
in good with the bosses, brought them information, so I preferred not to
speak.
I stayed in a corner, quiet, sitting there, and when I was tired I slept
to avoid reprisals of they became violent.
I wasn't afraid but I worried about what my mom was able to do and
thought a lot about my grandfather. On the other hand, they were
convinced I was going to get out of there but couldn't imagine how or when.
On the 35th and 36th day they started saying they were going to toss
people 30 miles out or take us to the migrant centers of Chetunal and
Tabasco. They took a photo of me and said to be ready at seven at night.
They put me in the taxi and called the federal police, with whom they do
business. They sent the photo and the taxi information and later I just
had to get in the police car. I was with the federal police for 48
hours, with the right to an attorney and they gave me a book that
explained my rights and duties.
They gave us food and treated us well. The police were corrupt and also
offered us the chance to continue the journey in exchange for money.
From there, they took us to the migrant center in Chetumal, where I was
for 17 days, waiting for everyone. When I got there, there were 29
Cubans and on the day I left 17 more came. It was amazing to see how
Cubans who don't demand their rights on the island, do so there. They
were protests about the cleanliness, water, food.
I knew they were going to deport me, but I still had the chance of
refuge or political asylum. I thought about this last option, but gave
up because I missed everything in Cuba. Despite all the problems I'd
left behind, my country was better.
On 22 September they took me in a can to the Cancun airport and the next
day, around seven in the morning, I left to fly to Havana.
They took all of us to the migrant center at Valle Grande prison, where
they analyzed us, took statements and checked for criminal histories.
The treatment was good, respectful and they didn't ask us about
anything. After a period of quarantine they sent me to the police
station in my town and from there, home.
I'm happy to be in Cuba, with my family, my friends, and to have the
chance to continue my political activism. Although sometimes I thought
the solution was to emigrate to the United States, I don't think I will
try to leave again. I just want to establish myself here and have a family.
Although it's hard to live with the problems we have in Cuba, the
situations that face us when we try to exit illegally are harder. I urge
everyone to fight for change in Cuba, since leaving the country is also
leaving everything you love.
Source: Kidnapped by Human Traffickers / 14ymedio, Georlys Olazabal
Drake – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/kidnapped-by-human-traffickers-14ymedio-georlys-olazabal-drake/
14ymedio, Georlys Olazabal Drake, Florida, Camagüey Province, 19 October
2016 — At 29, like many of the young people here, Georlys Olazabal Drake
fled the lack of opportunities in Cuba for undertake the risky journey
to the United States. A member of the opposition movement Somos+ (We Are
More), Olazabal Drake, who studied computer science, signed up for an
illegal exit that would end up with his being kidnapped in Mexico by
human traffickers.
Now he shares his story with the 14ymedio's readers, with a notable
number of details that reveal the framework of extortion, complicity and
violence that surrounds many of these journeys to follow a dream.
This story started last July 23, when my cousin's wife told me there was
a boat leaving to take people to Mexico, some of them from Florida, the
name of our town in Camaguey. She said the trip would cost between 2,000
and 3,000 dollars a person, but along the way – when I could no longer
turn back – I discovered the real cost was 10,000 dollars.
The journey came like a hope, because everything was going badly for me
at that time. I had had problems with the inspectors and the police had
taken away my business license. I also had problems in my personal life.
Previously I wanted to leave the country and several of my family
members had abandoned the island. Although I'm not in agreement with the
system of government, the reasons that led me to leave had nothing to do
with my political ideas, but with personal circumstances. I was a way to
escape: I was presented with an opportunity and without thinking about
it I undertook the journey.
I left in a rented car from Fontanar headed to the bridge of the PRIMER
ANILLO of Havana, where a group of people had already gathered to be
picked up. From there we were taken to the city of Pinar del Rio in a
private truck being used to transport passengers.
During this leg of the journey I still felt sure about what I was doing.
I believed it was the solution. On arriving in Pinar del Rio a gentleman
picked us up outside the bus station and took us to his house. Then, in
another truck, we took the highway to a town called Las Marinas. They
collected us in these carts that they call spiders and took us to a farm.
We were 32 people, 20 from Pinar del Rio, 6 from Santiago de Cuba, and
the other 6 from my town of Florida. There were no children, just 29 men
and 3 women. Among them were 2 young men who had deserted from the
border guards, taking their uniforms, their guns and leaving their jeep
abandoned.
Once there, there was already no way to turn back. The only chance to
abort the trip was if the border guard troops found out about it and
interfered, or if the boat was intercepted at sea. They made it very
clear that if we tried to leave or if we didn't want to go, they would
put an end to our lives.
There was no way to communicate with anyone, because we had to give up
our cellphones. We could only go with a change of clothes, a package of
cookies, a bottle of water and the money we had. We weren't even allowed
matches.
I wanted to call my wife but I knew they wouldn't forgive me if I did
so. However, I consoled myself thinking that I was making the journey
for the two of us and if it worked out, I would find a way to get her
out, to leave all the problems we were going through and to start again.
At the farm they didn't give us any food. Many things were going through
my head. I felt insecure, but the only thing left to me was to go
forward and ask God for things to turn out well. The people got that
far, although we didn't know each other, were pretty communicative. We
tried to help each other.
We slept one night at that farm, where there were several animals like
cows and horses, but fortunately no mosquitoes, only some MORO crabs who
were all around us because we were near the beach. Some farmers watched
us at night with their faces covered, so they couldn't be identified in
case the border guards raided the placed.
During the night the time the boat would leave was changed several
times, until some demanded to know the truth. After some pressure they
told us it would leave at 7:30 in the morning. Then they gave us more
warnings and brought us a jug of water
Around seven in the morning the farmers returned to tell us to get
ready, the boat was about to some. When we approached the rock along the
shore we could see in the distance what looked like a dove in the water.
At that point I don't know what I felt, I just remember telling myself,
"Yes, this is what I should do."
We were content. However, until that moment I also hoped that the boat
wouldn't arrive. I felt a desire not to make that journey, to put it all
behind me and to return to the people I loved. At the moment you leave
Cuba, that is when you value it.
Around 7:20 in the morning on July 24 the boat arrives. When we were far
from shore I put my hands to my head and said, "My God, what have I
done?" But I could no longer throw myself in the sea. The boatman pulled
out a pistol and let off two shots in to the air to let us know we were
under his control.
The crew was made up of two people: a boatman and his helper, both
Cubans. The helper was called "El Menor" and was originally from a town
in Pinar del Rio called El Cayuco, while the boatman was called "El
Yuma" and was from Güines. Both of them live in Mexico and can't enter
Cuba legally, because they are wanted to drug trafficking, human
trafficking and murder.
The boatman bragged about having killed his previous helper, a Honduran
who was a boat mechanic.
The two men took security measures, like making us throw away our shoes
so no one could escape when we landed. One of them told us that from the
same place we had left from, they had made more than 30 trips last summer.
They bragged about coming and going from the island as if it was their
house. According to them, in Cuba there are no teams to pursue fast
boats. They leave Mexico like a fishing charter, and at night stay 60
miles out and advance slowly as if it was a fishing boat. When the sun
rises, they rush in at full speed, pick up, and leave in the same way.
At around 30 miles they made a call to Mexico, to the boss of the
business, and told him only: "We're coming." The boatman boasted that
five boats belonging to the same business owner to look for people in
Cuba, but only he had been able to pick up.
The trip was long because they were forced to enter Mexico at night. We
arrived at Cancun, near the hotel area, after nine at night. We landed
on a dock where we had to pay 100 dollars each to enter.
We were waiting for two small buses and boarded them, 16 people each.
They took us to an abandoned warehouse, a sort of old rented building
with all the security for this type of business. There two groups of us
joined up with more than 50 people who had arrived on previous trips.
On arriving in Mexico we had to get the money to pay them. They took
care of the paperwork for each migrant to fly north and present
themselves at the US border. The entire trip cost 10,000 dollars, but I
had no money to pay. At that point I began my odyssey.
The abandoned warehouse had two floors. Upstairs there were four
bedrooms and a large living room where the TV was. One of the rooms was
for the guides, who are responsible for finding people in Cuba who want
to leave the country. The guides are more comfortable, with mattresses
and food, and the trip is free. They are also used to control
discipline. The other rooms are like cells.
The bosses were Cuban. They call the main one El Millo and he never
shows his face in the business. Later it was Julian, El Negro, who is
from Matanza and "attends to" the migrants and helps them do things like
call their families. He functions as an intermediary. In addition, there
are people everywhere who collect money.
A man named Rey, from Vertientes in Camaguey, is known as El Pinto and
looks after the house. He is also responsible for the tortures.
They collected all our clothes from us, our identity cards, passports,
and money to prevent any change of escape. They left us with shorts and
a t-shirt, which is the "uniform" of the people help in that place.
The next day, at seven in the morning, we had a piece of bread and a
glass of water for breakfast. Then they started the calls with our
families, most of whom were unaware of our exit plans. They only allowed
us to speak for a few seconds to they would know it was true that they
had us.
If the family said they didn't have any money, they warned them they
would put their relative in a tank of acid and nothing would ever be
heard of them or they would put them back in a boat and take them 30
miles out and throw them to the crocodiles.
I wasn't tortured but others didn't enjoy the same luck. They just
punished me for not having any money and took me to a room where they
only took me out for a bath once a week. We couldn't watch TV or talk to
anyone, and we had to be quiet and sleep on the floor.
I saw how they beat up several people, among them a young man that
almost killed. Another who didn't have any money, they broke two of his
fingers with an ax.
If someone fell ill and they didn't see any chance to get any money from
them, they'd take them away and they never came back. We didn't know
what happened with them, if they kept them prisoner or killed them.
Sometimes they would split someone's nose and send photos to the family
to scare them and threaten them.
Those who didn't have any money didn't receive any food. I spent 38 days
with just water but no food. Sixty-nine of us lived like this, because
in my group there were only 14 with money who were able to go to the
United States.
It was better not to be very communicative, because they could think you
were up to something, or going to flee or something else. Some, to get
in good with the bosses, brought them information, so I preferred not to
speak.
I stayed in a corner, quiet, sitting there, and when I was tired I slept
to avoid reprisals of they became violent.
I wasn't afraid but I worried about what my mom was able to do and
thought a lot about my grandfather. On the other hand, they were
convinced I was going to get out of there but couldn't imagine how or when.
On the 35th and 36th day they started saying they were going to toss
people 30 miles out or take us to the migrant centers of Chetunal and
Tabasco. They took a photo of me and said to be ready at seven at night.
They put me in the taxi and called the federal police, with whom they do
business. They sent the photo and the taxi information and later I just
had to get in the police car. I was with the federal police for 48
hours, with the right to an attorney and they gave me a book that
explained my rights and duties.
They gave us food and treated us well. The police were corrupt and also
offered us the chance to continue the journey in exchange for money.
From there, they took us to the migrant center in Chetumal, where I was
for 17 days, waiting for everyone. When I got there, there were 29
Cubans and on the day I left 17 more came. It was amazing to see how
Cubans who don't demand their rights on the island, do so there. They
were protests about the cleanliness, water, food.
I knew they were going to deport me, but I still had the chance of
refuge or political asylum. I thought about this last option, but gave
up because I missed everything in Cuba. Despite all the problems I'd
left behind, my country was better.
On 22 September they took me in a can to the Cancun airport and the next
day, around seven in the morning, I left to fly to Havana.
They took all of us to the migrant center at Valle Grande prison, where
they analyzed us, took statements and checked for criminal histories.
The treatment was good, respectful and they didn't ask us about
anything. After a period of quarantine they sent me to the police
station in my town and from there, home.
I'm happy to be in Cuba, with my family, my friends, and to have the
chance to continue my political activism. Although sometimes I thought
the solution was to emigrate to the United States, I don't think I will
try to leave again. I just want to establish myself here and have a family.
Although it's hard to live with the problems we have in Cuba, the
situations that face us when we try to exit illegally are harder. I urge
everyone to fight for change in Cuba, since leaving the country is also
leaving everything you love.
Source: Kidnapped by Human Traffickers / 14ymedio, Georlys Olazabal
Drake – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/kidnapped-by-human-traffickers-14ymedio-georlys-olazabal-drake/
Cuba’s Pro-Government Intellectuals Denounce US “Cultural War”
Cuba's Pro-Government Intellectuals Denounce US "Cultural War" / EFE,
14ymedio
EFE/via 14ymedio, Havana, 20 October 2016 — The National Union of
Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and the Hermanos Saiz Association on
Thursday blamed the United States for being behind a "war of culture and
symbols" against Cuba and warned that "any naiveté in this sense could
be very expensive for the sovereignty and independence" of the country.
"It is obvious that the war of culture and symbols that we confront is
based on an explicit laid out in the statements of the leaders of the US
themselves and in documents of that country's armed forced," says a
message from these groups collected in the official press to mark the
Day of Cuban Culture.
The two associations, that include the intellectuals of the island's
officialdom, say that they are trying to "undermine" unite, and "sow
doubts" and demobilize.
"Although those who attack us have failed to break the commitment of the
vanguard of Cuba's artists and intellectuals with the Revolution, they
do not pause in their attempts," affirms the letter, published by the
newspaper Juventud Rebelde .
The letter stresses that "history itself has been charged with
demonstrating that it is not possible to imagine the survival of a
socialist revolution if it is not accompanied by a profound cultural
transformation that reaches the level of common sense."
It also quotes former President Fidel Castro, who defined culture as the
"shield and sword of the nation" and the current ruler, his brother Raul
Castro, who recently warned that the field of Cuban culture is "doubly"
threatened by " subversive projects" and" the global wave of colonization."
Intellectuals also refer to the economic embargo the United Stats has
maintained for five decades against the island and whose "attacks" has
been "suffered directly" by Cuban culture.
On October 20 Cuba celebrates National Culture Day in commemoration of
the first singing of the country's anthem, in the city of Bayamo.
Source: Cuba's Pro-Government Intellectuals Denounce US "Cultural War" /
EFE, 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cubas-pro-government-intellectuals-denounce-us-cultural-war-efe-14ymedio/
14ymedio
EFE/via 14ymedio, Havana, 20 October 2016 — The National Union of
Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and the Hermanos Saiz Association on
Thursday blamed the United States for being behind a "war of culture and
symbols" against Cuba and warned that "any naiveté in this sense could
be very expensive for the sovereignty and independence" of the country.
"It is obvious that the war of culture and symbols that we confront is
based on an explicit laid out in the statements of the leaders of the US
themselves and in documents of that country's armed forced," says a
message from these groups collected in the official press to mark the
Day of Cuban Culture.
The two associations, that include the intellectuals of the island's
officialdom, say that they are trying to "undermine" unite, and "sow
doubts" and demobilize.
"Although those who attack us have failed to break the commitment of the
vanguard of Cuba's artists and intellectuals with the Revolution, they
do not pause in their attempts," affirms the letter, published by the
newspaper Juventud Rebelde .
The letter stresses that "history itself has been charged with
demonstrating that it is not possible to imagine the survival of a
socialist revolution if it is not accompanied by a profound cultural
transformation that reaches the level of common sense."
It also quotes former President Fidel Castro, who defined culture as the
"shield and sword of the nation" and the current ruler, his brother Raul
Castro, who recently warned that the field of Cuban culture is "doubly"
threatened by " subversive projects" and" the global wave of colonization."
Intellectuals also refer to the economic embargo the United Stats has
maintained for five decades against the island and whose "attacks" has
been "suffered directly" by Cuban culture.
On October 20 Cuba celebrates National Culture Day in commemoration of
the first singing of the country's anthem, in the city of Bayamo.
Source: Cuba's Pro-Government Intellectuals Denounce US "Cultural War" /
EFE, 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cubas-pro-government-intellectuals-denounce-us-cultural-war-efe-14ymedio/
Cuba.com site for sale for $4.5 million
Cuba.com site for sale for $4.5 million
abfernandez@elnuevoherald.com
For sale: www.cuba.com.
The price? $4.5 million.
The domain is selling for $4.5 million in cash, but the purchase can be
financed for five years with an initial payment of $2 million.
This sale was announced by VIP Brokerage.
"This special digital asset has enormous growth and revenue potential in
the areas of travel, tourism, hotels, entertainment, recreation, etc.,"
said Mark Thomas, executive director of the firm specializing in the
buying and selling of premium domain names.
Although Thomas did not specify who the seller is, he said the site has
belonged to the same owner for more than 15 years. Various reports name
Skip Hoagland, founder of Domain New Media LLC, as the owner.
John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council,
said the sale was significant because the offer "represents the first
specific U.S. dollar valuation for a United States-based business that
is solely focused upon Cuba and is for sale."
Almost two years after the restoration of relations between Cuba and the
United States, business opportunities with Cuba are attractive to U.S.
companies. New regulations approved by the Obama administration that
seek to "empower the Cuban people and build bridges between the two
countries" have spurred much interest. The most recent regulations
authorize, among other things, the scientific collaboration between the
two nations in the field of medicine and the U.S. sale of medicines
produced in Cuba.
However, reservations still exist among many companies primarily because
of the continued complicated legal landscape as a result of the economic
embargo, which remains in place, as well as Cuban government
restrictions and the upcoming U.S. presidential election that could turn
the table on U.S.-Cuba policy.
Several U.S. companies and experts met earlier this month in Miami for a
"Preparing for Trade with Cuba" conference to discuss future business
opportunities.
After the announcement of the restoration of relations with Cuba on Dec.
17, 2014, the number of domains with the word "Cuba" multiplied
significantly. On the same day, about 1,500 domains containing "Cuba"
were registered, according to DomainView. Also on that day, some 300
domains containing "Havana" were registered.
FOLLOW ABEL FERNANDEZ ON TWITTER @ABELFGLEZ
Source: Cuba.com site on sale for $4.5 million | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article111135922.html
abfernandez@elnuevoherald.com
For sale: www.cuba.com.
The price? $4.5 million.
The domain is selling for $4.5 million in cash, but the purchase can be
financed for five years with an initial payment of $2 million.
This sale was announced by VIP Brokerage.
"This special digital asset has enormous growth and revenue potential in
the areas of travel, tourism, hotels, entertainment, recreation, etc.,"
said Mark Thomas, executive director of the firm specializing in the
buying and selling of premium domain names.
Although Thomas did not specify who the seller is, he said the site has
belonged to the same owner for more than 15 years. Various reports name
Skip Hoagland, founder of Domain New Media LLC, as the owner.
John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council,
said the sale was significant because the offer "represents the first
specific U.S. dollar valuation for a United States-based business that
is solely focused upon Cuba and is for sale."
Almost two years after the restoration of relations between Cuba and the
United States, business opportunities with Cuba are attractive to U.S.
companies. New regulations approved by the Obama administration that
seek to "empower the Cuban people and build bridges between the two
countries" have spurred much interest. The most recent regulations
authorize, among other things, the scientific collaboration between the
two nations in the field of medicine and the U.S. sale of medicines
produced in Cuba.
However, reservations still exist among many companies primarily because
of the continued complicated legal landscape as a result of the economic
embargo, which remains in place, as well as Cuban government
restrictions and the upcoming U.S. presidential election that could turn
the table on U.S.-Cuba policy.
Several U.S. companies and experts met earlier this month in Miami for a
"Preparing for Trade with Cuba" conference to discuss future business
opportunities.
After the announcement of the restoration of relations with Cuba on Dec.
17, 2014, the number of domains with the word "Cuba" multiplied
significantly. On the same day, about 1,500 domains containing "Cuba"
were registered, according to DomainView. Also on that day, some 300
domains containing "Havana" were registered.
FOLLOW ABEL FERNANDEZ ON TWITTER @ABELFGLEZ
Source: Cuba.com site on sale for $4.5 million | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article111135922.html
Friday, October 28, 2016
The Ex-President of the National Bank of Cuba Has Been Arrested
The Ex-President of the National Bank of Cuba Has Been Arrested / Juan
Juan Almeida
Juan Juan Almeida, 26 October 2016 — Under the alleged charge of
influence peddling, Héctor Rodríguez Llompart, an ex-Cuban diplomat and
the ex-President of the National Bank, was arrested.
"No one knows the motives," said a source close to the Llompart family.
"I think after the Ochoa case, the people running this country lost all
the elements of inhibition in human conduct."
Retired and 82-years-old, on August 8, 2016, there appeared in Granma an
article that was later reproduced for the digital portal, Cudadebate. It
was entitled "Viva Fidel," in allegory to the 90th birthday of the
ex-Cuban leader. However, in spite of his advanced age, his copious
history and the laudatory writing about Fidel, Llompart was arrested at
home, in the Casino Deportivo neighborhood, together with his wife,
Patricia Arango.
Llompart, ex-Vice Chancellor, ex-President of the State Committee for
Economic Collaboration (CECE), ex-Vice President of the National
Commission on Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation and
ex-President of the National Bank of Cuba, is known for depenalizing the
dollar in 1993, and for the implementation of the Cuban Convertible Peso
as the second official currency in 1994. Both measures had a significant
impact on the economy and on living conditions for Cubans.
According to sources consulted, Patricia Arango, Rodríguez Llompart's
wife, after being freed and subjected to a search of her home, has been
confined to her house.
Héctor Rodríguez Llopart is a native of Havana and did not join the
Rebel Army during the conflict in the Sierra Maestra. He passed through
the Cuban Chancellery, where he was Vice Minister, Minister-President of
the CECE, and then the President of the National Bank of Cuba for 10 years.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: The Ex-President of the National Bank of Cuba Has Been Arrested
/ Juan Juan Almeida – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-ex-president-of-the-national-bank-of-cuba-has-been-arrested-juan-juan-almeida/
Juan Almeida
Juan Juan Almeida, 26 October 2016 — Under the alleged charge of
influence peddling, Héctor Rodríguez Llompart, an ex-Cuban diplomat and
the ex-President of the National Bank, was arrested.
"No one knows the motives," said a source close to the Llompart family.
"I think after the Ochoa case, the people running this country lost all
the elements of inhibition in human conduct."
Retired and 82-years-old, on August 8, 2016, there appeared in Granma an
article that was later reproduced for the digital portal, Cudadebate. It
was entitled "Viva Fidel," in allegory to the 90th birthday of the
ex-Cuban leader. However, in spite of his advanced age, his copious
history and the laudatory writing about Fidel, Llompart was arrested at
home, in the Casino Deportivo neighborhood, together with his wife,
Patricia Arango.
Llompart, ex-Vice Chancellor, ex-President of the State Committee for
Economic Collaboration (CECE), ex-Vice President of the National
Commission on Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation and
ex-President of the National Bank of Cuba, is known for depenalizing the
dollar in 1993, and for the implementation of the Cuban Convertible Peso
as the second official currency in 1994. Both measures had a significant
impact on the economy and on living conditions for Cubans.
According to sources consulted, Patricia Arango, Rodríguez Llompart's
wife, after being freed and subjected to a search of her home, has been
confined to her house.
Héctor Rodríguez Llopart is a native of Havana and did not join the
Rebel Army during the conflict in the Sierra Maestra. He passed through
the Cuban Chancellery, where he was Vice Minister, Minister-President of
the CECE, and then the President of the National Bank of Cuba for 10 years.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: The Ex-President of the National Bank of Cuba Has Been Arrested
/ Juan Juan Almeida – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-ex-president-of-the-national-bank-of-cuba-has-been-arrested-juan-juan-almeida/
Assassins, Accomplices, and Victims (II)
Assassins, Accomplices, and Victims (II) / Ángel Santiesteban
Ángel Santiesteban, 2 September 2016 — After writing what will now be
considered the first part of this post, and publishing it under this
same title, I was arrested by State Security; however it was not the
writing, and much less the visibility that it would attain in my blog,
that was the real cause for the arrest. My captors, in the height of
contempt, tried to make me believe that I was a trickster, a vulgar
swindler. In a flash I became, again, a dangerous offender. I confess
that I even got to imagine myself in the shoes of some famous swindlers
whom I met in movies, but this was not at all a game, and the cell was
not a movie set.
I have dug around a great deal in their procedures up to now, and I know
their falsehoods, which was why I urged them to let me know the details
of my mischief. What was the cause? What would they do now to present me
as a swindler?
First would be to convince me of that strange condition of con artist
that even I did not recognize in myself. Time and again, fraud would be
cited in their arguments, with no trace of it when the facts were
compiled. Diffusion, accusation…so that the crook I was would contradict
himself and ultimately see the error of his ways. Which ways?
They themselves would offer me very few details. Everything had occurred
a year ago, and on the Isle of Pines–that island south of the larger one
which, arbitrarily and without popular consultation, the government
decided to rename the Isle of Youth. While I was shut away in a dungeon,
my "interlocutors" mentioned a fraud which they were not able to explain
very well, only to later refer to a packet of leaflets which,
supposedly, I had given to the photographer and human rights activist
Claudio Fuentes, who was also detained.
Try as the hired gun might to convince me of the "misdeed" and that I
had no option other than to recognize my "crime," I could not help but
burst out laughing. The allegation was so ridiculous that I could have
dignified it with many guffaws such as the one it provoked at the start,
but these spurious accusations have no intention other than to ruin the
lives of we Cubans who think differently, and laughter is a good thing.
I had not other option than to let them know that I was well aware of
those strategies, that I was sure that they were trying to make me
believe that Claudio had denounced me, and how that was a well-worn
tactic–even in the movies and police novels. "I do not think the same as
you. I am not a coward, nor am I your 'comrade.' I am not a lackey."
That's just what I said to them.
Then they laughed, but their laughter was not that of a victor, it was
the nervous laughter of someone who's about to lose. I confess that I
felt frustrated; I have always dreamed of taking on an intelligent
adversary, an enemy convinced of the rightness of his actions. This
would be much better, but this time again it was useless to pine for
such a thing, and the worst was that those gendarmes had not the
slightest idea what the words "liberty" and "democracy" mean.
I was so annoyed that I started to speak of my childhood, of those days
when I believed that Cuban State Security was one of the best in the
world, even mentioning out loud the titles of a few novels: "Here the
Sands are Whiter," and "If I Die Tomorrow," and "In Silence It Has Had
to Be." I mentioned the mark that those works had left on a bunch of
proud adolescents who, still, believed that what which those fictional
officials were defending actually existed in reality–and that we even
believed, naively, that on this Island was a concerted effort to create
a lasting prosperity.
The bad part, I assured them, was when I knew the whole truth, when I
understood that those agents were only after ensuring the perpetual rule
of the Brothers Castro. I mentioned the moment in which I crossed the
line, that line that placed me, irreversibly, on the opposite side. I
spoke of my discontent with a totalitarian regime, and about how I
discovered the true essences of those killers in the service of the
Castros: people capable of abusing women, of planting false evidence for
the prosecution (after brutalizing them) of those who fight for change
in Cuba. They would laugh, nervously…and with no segues they arrived at
a new argument, undoubtedly the most important one, the one that caused
them to shut me away.
What had truly annoyed them was a post that I had published regarding
Roberto Fernández Retamar, in which I called him an assassin. According
to them, I had not considered the fact that Roberto was my colleague. "I
don't have colleagues who are assassins," I told them, and they replied
that my attack had not achieved any importance, that it had already been
forgotten, and that Fernández' true comrades had made a tribute to him
immediately. Then why, I asked, were they holding me there? Why were
they mentioning that post? For sure, they were contradicting
themselves–but I was already used to that, and once again I smiled,
sardonically.
I thought of a version of Silvio Rodríguez whom I had seen on TV making
tributes, in song, to Fernández, which made me suspect that it all could
be a reply to my post. My detention had nothing to do with the leaflets
nor with any fraud– that seizure was orchestrated after I accused
Roberto Fernández Retamar of having signed a death sentence against
three youths who only wanted to get out of an extremist country where
they no longer wanted to live.
I had already received some news about the comments that had been
incited by that post, and I also knew of the vexation that it had
provoked in some writers, who judged it excessive that I should call
Fernández an assassin. Again it was I who was the monster, I who
committed savageries, I the irreverent and cruel barbarian–while
Fernández was presented as the venerable elder, the respectable and
virtuous man, the honest citizen, even after having signed a death warrant.
My detractors, the same who became his defenders while forgetting that
the poet was one of the signatories of that judgment that would send
three youths to the execution wall, denigrated me again, but never
mentioned that the "revolutionary" poet lent a veneer of legitimacy to
the death of those three young men, whose only sin was to have tried to
leave a country that was tormenting them, to separate from an Island and
from the dictators that have been ruling it for more than 50 years. Is
that a crime?
Those who were annoyed by the post are the same who repeat the charge
against me that the official discourse prepared some years ago. Those
who claim that I was unjust toward Roberto Fernández Retamar did not
defend my innocence when I went to jail. They saw me be taken away, they
knew I was shut away in a cell, and they were silent. They never had
doubts, they never confronted a power that decided to accuse of me of
physically mistreating the woman who was then my companion. Those who
again judge me and cast me aside are also guilty of my imprisonment.
Those who today are annoyed because I accused the president of the Casa
de las Américas, did not lift a finger to request, at least, a thorough
investigation of my case. They believed in the "dignity" of that woman,
and today turn a deaf ear to the statements by my son. They, whom my
post angered so, are the same who remain silent when "State Security"
beat the Ladies in White, a "State Security" that beats women who are
demonstrating peacefully. What kind of security is this? Of what State?
This shows their double standard and hypocrisy. Those who signed the
accusation against me today are irritated by my "attack" on the poor
poet Fernández, following the orders of Abel Prieto, who at the same
time was following those of the highest hierarchy of a dictatorial
government.
My attackers defend only their permanence in that official union that is
the UNEAC. They who seek to tarnish me want to preserve their membership
in the official delegations sent to any event taking place outside the
Island. They who raise their voices to attack me defend the shoes and
sustenance of their children. They who attacked my liberty because,
supposedly, I was beating the mother of my son, said not a word after
the thrashing that State Security delivered to the actress Ana Luisa Rubio.
That woman who found herself so vulnerable, so trampled, had no choice
but to leave Cuba–and what else could she do, if the UNEAC did not offer
her any support nor did it organize a demonstration to confront that
power that decided to batter her. No woman was to be found confronting
the janissaries that bashed Rubio. In those days there was no book going
around collecting the signatures of indignant UNEAC members, if any
there were. Nobody went out on the street–apparently, they were amusing
themselves by protecting the crumbs they get from the powers that be for
their services to the "fatherland."
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison and others
Source: Assassins, Accomplices, and Victims (II) / Ángel Santiesteban –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/assassins-accomplices-and-victims-ii-angel-santiesteban/
Ángel Santiesteban, 2 September 2016 — After writing what will now be
considered the first part of this post, and publishing it under this
same title, I was arrested by State Security; however it was not the
writing, and much less the visibility that it would attain in my blog,
that was the real cause for the arrest. My captors, in the height of
contempt, tried to make me believe that I was a trickster, a vulgar
swindler. In a flash I became, again, a dangerous offender. I confess
that I even got to imagine myself in the shoes of some famous swindlers
whom I met in movies, but this was not at all a game, and the cell was
not a movie set.
I have dug around a great deal in their procedures up to now, and I know
their falsehoods, which was why I urged them to let me know the details
of my mischief. What was the cause? What would they do now to present me
as a swindler?
First would be to convince me of that strange condition of con artist
that even I did not recognize in myself. Time and again, fraud would be
cited in their arguments, with no trace of it when the facts were
compiled. Diffusion, accusation…so that the crook I was would contradict
himself and ultimately see the error of his ways. Which ways?
They themselves would offer me very few details. Everything had occurred
a year ago, and on the Isle of Pines–that island south of the larger one
which, arbitrarily and without popular consultation, the government
decided to rename the Isle of Youth. While I was shut away in a dungeon,
my "interlocutors" mentioned a fraud which they were not able to explain
very well, only to later refer to a packet of leaflets which,
supposedly, I had given to the photographer and human rights activist
Claudio Fuentes, who was also detained.
Try as the hired gun might to convince me of the "misdeed" and that I
had no option other than to recognize my "crime," I could not help but
burst out laughing. The allegation was so ridiculous that I could have
dignified it with many guffaws such as the one it provoked at the start,
but these spurious accusations have no intention other than to ruin the
lives of we Cubans who think differently, and laughter is a good thing.
I had not other option than to let them know that I was well aware of
those strategies, that I was sure that they were trying to make me
believe that Claudio had denounced me, and how that was a well-worn
tactic–even in the movies and police novels. "I do not think the same as
you. I am not a coward, nor am I your 'comrade.' I am not a lackey."
That's just what I said to them.
Then they laughed, but their laughter was not that of a victor, it was
the nervous laughter of someone who's about to lose. I confess that I
felt frustrated; I have always dreamed of taking on an intelligent
adversary, an enemy convinced of the rightness of his actions. This
would be much better, but this time again it was useless to pine for
such a thing, and the worst was that those gendarmes had not the
slightest idea what the words "liberty" and "democracy" mean.
I was so annoyed that I started to speak of my childhood, of those days
when I believed that Cuban State Security was one of the best in the
world, even mentioning out loud the titles of a few novels: "Here the
Sands are Whiter," and "If I Die Tomorrow," and "In Silence It Has Had
to Be." I mentioned the mark that those works had left on a bunch of
proud adolescents who, still, believed that what which those fictional
officials were defending actually existed in reality–and that we even
believed, naively, that on this Island was a concerted effort to create
a lasting prosperity.
The bad part, I assured them, was when I knew the whole truth, when I
understood that those agents were only after ensuring the perpetual rule
of the Brothers Castro. I mentioned the moment in which I crossed the
line, that line that placed me, irreversibly, on the opposite side. I
spoke of my discontent with a totalitarian regime, and about how I
discovered the true essences of those killers in the service of the
Castros: people capable of abusing women, of planting false evidence for
the prosecution (after brutalizing them) of those who fight for change
in Cuba. They would laugh, nervously…and with no segues they arrived at
a new argument, undoubtedly the most important one, the one that caused
them to shut me away.
What had truly annoyed them was a post that I had published regarding
Roberto Fernández Retamar, in which I called him an assassin. According
to them, I had not considered the fact that Roberto was my colleague. "I
don't have colleagues who are assassins," I told them, and they replied
that my attack had not achieved any importance, that it had already been
forgotten, and that Fernández' true comrades had made a tribute to him
immediately. Then why, I asked, were they holding me there? Why were
they mentioning that post? For sure, they were contradicting
themselves–but I was already used to that, and once again I smiled,
sardonically.
I thought of a version of Silvio Rodríguez whom I had seen on TV making
tributes, in song, to Fernández, which made me suspect that it all could
be a reply to my post. My detention had nothing to do with the leaflets
nor with any fraud– that seizure was orchestrated after I accused
Roberto Fernández Retamar of having signed a death sentence against
three youths who only wanted to get out of an extremist country where
they no longer wanted to live.
I had already received some news about the comments that had been
incited by that post, and I also knew of the vexation that it had
provoked in some writers, who judged it excessive that I should call
Fernández an assassin. Again it was I who was the monster, I who
committed savageries, I the irreverent and cruel barbarian–while
Fernández was presented as the venerable elder, the respectable and
virtuous man, the honest citizen, even after having signed a death warrant.
My detractors, the same who became his defenders while forgetting that
the poet was one of the signatories of that judgment that would send
three youths to the execution wall, denigrated me again, but never
mentioned that the "revolutionary" poet lent a veneer of legitimacy to
the death of those three young men, whose only sin was to have tried to
leave a country that was tormenting them, to separate from an Island and
from the dictators that have been ruling it for more than 50 years. Is
that a crime?
Those who were annoyed by the post are the same who repeat the charge
against me that the official discourse prepared some years ago. Those
who claim that I was unjust toward Roberto Fernández Retamar did not
defend my innocence when I went to jail. They saw me be taken away, they
knew I was shut away in a cell, and they were silent. They never had
doubts, they never confronted a power that decided to accuse of me of
physically mistreating the woman who was then my companion. Those who
again judge me and cast me aside are also guilty of my imprisonment.
Those who today are annoyed because I accused the president of the Casa
de las Américas, did not lift a finger to request, at least, a thorough
investigation of my case. They believed in the "dignity" of that woman,
and today turn a deaf ear to the statements by my son. They, whom my
post angered so, are the same who remain silent when "State Security"
beat the Ladies in White, a "State Security" that beats women who are
demonstrating peacefully. What kind of security is this? Of what State?
This shows their double standard and hypocrisy. Those who signed the
accusation against me today are irritated by my "attack" on the poor
poet Fernández, following the orders of Abel Prieto, who at the same
time was following those of the highest hierarchy of a dictatorial
government.
My attackers defend only their permanence in that official union that is
the UNEAC. They who seek to tarnish me want to preserve their membership
in the official delegations sent to any event taking place outside the
Island. They who raise their voices to attack me defend the shoes and
sustenance of their children. They who attacked my liberty because,
supposedly, I was beating the mother of my son, said not a word after
the thrashing that State Security delivered to the actress Ana Luisa Rubio.
That woman who found herself so vulnerable, so trampled, had no choice
but to leave Cuba–and what else could she do, if the UNEAC did not offer
her any support nor did it organize a demonstration to confront that
power that decided to batter her. No woman was to be found confronting
the janissaries that bashed Rubio. In those days there was no book going
around collecting the signatures of indignant UNEAC members, if any
there were. Nobody went out on the street–apparently, they were amusing
themselves by protecting the crumbs they get from the powers that be for
their services to the "fatherland."
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison and others
Source: Assassins, Accomplices, and Victims (II) / Ángel Santiesteban –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/assassins-accomplices-and-victims-ii-angel-santiesteban/
Amenazan a director de Convivencia por supuestos delitos contra la soberanía nacional
Amenazan a director de Convivencia por supuestos delitos contra la
soberanía nacional
octubre 27, 2016
Martinoticias.com
Dagoberto Valdés recibió amenazas de agentes de la Seguridad del Estado,
que le advirtieron que a partir de ahora " su vida va a ser muy difícil".
La Seguridad del Estado citó y amenazó con llevar a prisión este jueves
al director del Centro de Estudios Culturales Convivencia y la revista
del mismo nombre, Dagoberto Valdés, por supuestos delitos contra la
soberanía nacional.
Valdés explicó a Martí Noticias que los oficiales del MININT sostuvieron
con él una conversación "de advertencia" en la sede de la Unidad
Provincial de Investigación Criminal y Operaciones de Pinar del Río, y
le advirtieron "que de hoy en adelante su vida va a ser muy difícil".
El director de Convivencia dijo que también fue amenazado con ser
procesado en caso de cometer "delitos contra la estabilidad de la
nación, la soberanía y la integridad territorial".
Entre las advertencias también figuraron "supuestas actividades
contrarrevolucionarias, y que recibiera financiamiento de Estados
Unidos", acusaciones que negó, "porque ellos saben que yo no recibo
financiamiento del gobierno de EEUU".
Durante la citación le tomaron huellas digitales y lo sometieron a
pruebas de olores y fotografías de perfil y de frente, para tenerlas en
los archivos de la Seguridad del Estado, señaló.
Las autoridades no le entregaron ningún acta de citación, pero le
explicaron que su presencia allí respondía a la cita que le habían hecho
una semana antes, y que fue suspendida porque el oficial que lo citó no
se presentó al encuentro.
Source: Amenazan a director de Convivencia por supuestos delitos contra
la soberanía nacional -
http://www.martinoticias.com/a/cuba-amenazan-director-convivencia-supuestos-delitos-contra-soberania-nacional/132517.html
soberanía nacional
octubre 27, 2016
Martinoticias.com
Dagoberto Valdés recibió amenazas de agentes de la Seguridad del Estado,
que le advirtieron que a partir de ahora " su vida va a ser muy difícil".
La Seguridad del Estado citó y amenazó con llevar a prisión este jueves
al director del Centro de Estudios Culturales Convivencia y la revista
del mismo nombre, Dagoberto Valdés, por supuestos delitos contra la
soberanía nacional.
Valdés explicó a Martí Noticias que los oficiales del MININT sostuvieron
con él una conversación "de advertencia" en la sede de la Unidad
Provincial de Investigación Criminal y Operaciones de Pinar del Río, y
le advirtieron "que de hoy en adelante su vida va a ser muy difícil".
El director de Convivencia dijo que también fue amenazado con ser
procesado en caso de cometer "delitos contra la estabilidad de la
nación, la soberanía y la integridad territorial".
Entre las advertencias también figuraron "supuestas actividades
contrarrevolucionarias, y que recibiera financiamiento de Estados
Unidos", acusaciones que negó, "porque ellos saben que yo no recibo
financiamiento del gobierno de EEUU".
Durante la citación le tomaron huellas digitales y lo sometieron a
pruebas de olores y fotografías de perfil y de frente, para tenerlas en
los archivos de la Seguridad del Estado, señaló.
Las autoridades no le entregaron ningún acta de citación, pero le
explicaron que su presencia allí respondía a la cita que le habían hecho
una semana antes, y que fue suspendida porque el oficial que lo citó no
se presentó al encuentro.
Source: Amenazan a director de Convivencia por supuestos delitos contra
la soberanía nacional -
http://www.martinoticias.com/a/cuba-amenazan-director-convivencia-supuestos-delitos-contra-soberania-nacional/132517.html
Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline
Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline
October 27, 2016
By Marc Frank
HAVANA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cuba has paid ahead of schedule the first
installment of a renegotiated $2.6 billion debt to 14 wealthy
governments, according to diplomats from a number of the countries, as
the Communist-run island seeks to overcome its chronic payment history.
Cuba reached a deal in December with members of Paris Club of creditor
nations that forgave $8.5 billion of $11.1 billion official debt it had
defaulted on through 1986, plus charges. Repayment of the remaining debt
was structured over 18 years, and the first payment of about $40 million
was due by Oct. 31.
The deal was seen as a step toward Cuba rejoining the international
financial community in the context of detente with the United States and
future competition from U.S. businesses.
"The Cuban government has paid the first installment, and done so
early," France's ambassador to Cuba, Jean-Marie Bruno, said on late on
Wednesday.
"This is a very important signal that Cuba intends to honor its
commitments and a key first step in gaining access to the multilateral
lenders," a foreign banker with years of experience in Cuba said on
Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Cuba is not a member of any multilateral lending institution such as the
International Monetary Fund.
Under the December agreement, the 14 nations had a year to sign
bilateral restructuring deals which could include the establishment of
local accounts where a percentage of money owed would be deposited for
local joint development projects.
"The government of each participating creditor country or its
appropriate institutions may sell or exchange in the framework of debt
swap" a large proportion of remaining debt, according to the agreement
seen by Reuters.
The four largest creditors, France, Spain, Japan and Italy, have all
signed agreements, as have Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Great
Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. Canada has
yet to sign.
During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Cuba in September,
the countries agreed that of the roughly $592 million owed Japan, $350
million would be paid directly to the government and another $242
million deposited in Cuba for use in development projects.
Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and perhaps others have signed
similar deals, with total sums to be invested in Cuba, including Japan,
topping $750 million of the $2.6 billion owed.
Payments, due annually by Oct. 31, gradually increase from 1.6 percent
of the $2.6 billion owed to 8.9 percent in 2033.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Richard Chang)
Source: Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline -
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cuba-begins-pay-debts-western-180853206.html;_ylt=AwrC0F9dVBNYWwwA4cfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
October 27, 2016
By Marc Frank
HAVANA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cuba has paid ahead of schedule the first
installment of a renegotiated $2.6 billion debt to 14 wealthy
governments, according to diplomats from a number of the countries, as
the Communist-run island seeks to overcome its chronic payment history.
Cuba reached a deal in December with members of Paris Club of creditor
nations that forgave $8.5 billion of $11.1 billion official debt it had
defaulted on through 1986, plus charges. Repayment of the remaining debt
was structured over 18 years, and the first payment of about $40 million
was due by Oct. 31.
The deal was seen as a step toward Cuba rejoining the international
financial community in the context of detente with the United States and
future competition from U.S. businesses.
"The Cuban government has paid the first installment, and done so
early," France's ambassador to Cuba, Jean-Marie Bruno, said on late on
Wednesday.
"This is a very important signal that Cuba intends to honor its
commitments and a key first step in gaining access to the multilateral
lenders," a foreign banker with years of experience in Cuba said on
Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Cuba is not a member of any multilateral lending institution such as the
International Monetary Fund.
Under the December agreement, the 14 nations had a year to sign
bilateral restructuring deals which could include the establishment of
local accounts where a percentage of money owed would be deposited for
local joint development projects.
"The government of each participating creditor country or its
appropriate institutions may sell or exchange in the framework of debt
swap" a large proportion of remaining debt, according to the agreement
seen by Reuters.
The four largest creditors, France, Spain, Japan and Italy, have all
signed agreements, as have Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Great
Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. Canada has
yet to sign.
During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Cuba in September,
the countries agreed that of the roughly $592 million owed Japan, $350
million would be paid directly to the government and another $242
million deposited in Cuba for use in development projects.
Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and perhaps others have signed
similar deals, with total sums to be invested in Cuba, including Japan,
topping $750 million of the $2.6 billion owed.
Payments, due annually by Oct. 31, gradually increase from 1.6 percent
of the $2.6 billion owed to 8.9 percent in 2033.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Richard Chang)
Source: Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline -
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cuba-begins-pay-debts-western-180853206.html;_ylt=AwrC0F9dVBNYWwwA4cfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
Congress - Cuba to Share Critical U.S. Intel With Iranian Spies
Congress: Cuba to Share Critical U.S. Intel With Iranian Spies
Intel sharing with Cuba endangers America, lawmakers warn
BY: Adam Kredo
October 27, 2016 1:47 pm
Obama administration efforts to bolster the sharing of critical
intelligence data with Cuba is likely to benefit Iran, which has been
quietly bolstering its foothold in the country with the communist
government's approval, according to conversations with members of
Congress and other sources familiar with the matter.
A little noticed Obama administration directive on Cuba, released Oct.
14, instructed the U.S. director of national intelligence to assist and
cooperate with Cuba's intelligence services.
The directive has raised red flags on Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers
are concerned that Cuba will pass along critical U.S. intelligence to
the Iranians, who have made moves in recent years to extend their
influence in the communist country and other Latin American countries
hostile to the United States.
Iran's interest in Cuba was on fully display earlier this year when
Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, went on a goodwill tour throughout
Latin America that included stops in Cuba and Venezuela, among others.
The goal of this visit, sources told the Washington Free Beacon, was to
solidify Iran's growing terrorist network in the region and ensure the
Islamic Republic maintains its presence along America's doorstep.
"The Castro regime has shown no inclination to end its anti-American
activities, including espionage," Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.) told
the Free Beacon. "The Castro regime in August and September 2016
deepened ties with Iran through high level visits, and there are reports
that Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has established a base in Cuba."
"The director of national intelligence, General James R. Clapper,
testified in February 2016 that the Castro dictatorship remained an
espionage threat at the level of Iran, behind only China and Russia,"
Diaz-Balart added. "Under these circumstances, President Obama's
directive to encourage intelligence sharing with the Castro regime is
reckless, dangerous, and contrary to U.S. national security interests."
Iran has been interested in Latin America for years, but now has the
resources to pursue a footprint in the region as a result of the cash
windfall provided by last summer's comprehensive nuclear agreement.
Hezbollah, the terror organization funded and directed by Iran, has had
assets in the region for some time.
Iran's longer-term goal is to establish an intelligence network in the
region via various cultural centers and religious establishments that
act as a front for Tehran's spy operation.
The Obama administration's move to share intelligence with Cuba is
likely to be celebrated by Iran, according to congressional sources
tracking the matter.
"President Obama's instruction to DNI Clapper last week to look for ways
to cooperate with Cuba on intelligence issues poses an unconscionable
threat to the security of the American people," Victoria Coates,
national security adviser for Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), told the Free
Beacon.
"The administration tried to bury it under enthusiasm for easing
restrictions on the rum and cigars American tourists can buy from Fidel
and Raul Castro, but the reality is the Castros are aggressively
pursuing a closer relationship with Iran, the mullahs just refinanced
Cuba's debt with the assets they got from the president's nuclear deal,
and Cuba's close ally, Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, visited Iran
this week," Coates said. "Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is re-establishing
Russian intelligence assets in Cuba 90 miles from the United States."
"What possible confidence can we have that anything we share with the
Castros won't immediately be telegraphed to Tehran and Moscow? This
simply makes no sense," Coates added.
Intelligence released by the State Department and posted on WikiLeaks as
part of an email dump from Hillary Clinton's personal email server shows
that Hezbollah was moving into Cuba as far back as 2011.
"During the week of September 5, 2011, extremely sensitive sources
reported in confidence that the Israeli Intelligence and Security
Service (Mossad) has informed the leadership of the Israeli Government
that Hezbollah is establishing an operational base in Cuba, designed to
support terrorist attacks throughout Latin America," according to source
intelligence contained in the Clinton emails.
"While this operation is aimed particularly at Israeli diplomatic and
business interests, these sources believe that Hezbollah supporters have
been instructed to also begin casing facilities associated with the
United States and the United Kingdom, including diplomatic missions,
major banks, and businesses in the region," the sources claim. "These
individuals believe that the Hezbollah military commanders in Lebanon
and Syria view these U.S. and U.K. entities as contingency targets to be
attacked in the event of U.S. and British military intervention in
either Syria or Iran, at some point in the future."
Congressional sources have also been tracking Iran's involvement in
Latin America for some time.
Iran has opened an embassy in Chile in recent months and its presence
has come with an uptick in Hezbollah operations.
"A Hezbollah member was picked up in Brazil, an explosive device was
found near the Israeli embassy in Uruguay, and Hezbollah members are
reportedly traveling on Venezuelan passports," a senior congressional
aide told the Free Beacon when Zarif was in the region. "It was not too
long ago that Venezuela offered flights to Iran and Syria, and as of
last week, Hezbollah cells were found in the West Bank where Venezuela
lifted its visa requirements for Palestinians."
"So potential terrorists who want to cause the U.S. harm can travel
easily to Venezuela, and once there, they can get to Nicaragua
or Cuba without passports or visas, which poses a national security risk
for our nation," the aide said.
Source: Congress: Cuba to Share Critical U.S. Intel With Iranian Spies -
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/congress-cuba-share-critical-u-s-intel-iranian-spies/
Intel sharing with Cuba endangers America, lawmakers warn
BY: Adam Kredo
October 27, 2016 1:47 pm
Obama administration efforts to bolster the sharing of critical
intelligence data with Cuba is likely to benefit Iran, which has been
quietly bolstering its foothold in the country with the communist
government's approval, according to conversations with members of
Congress and other sources familiar with the matter.
A little noticed Obama administration directive on Cuba, released Oct.
14, instructed the U.S. director of national intelligence to assist and
cooperate with Cuba's intelligence services.
The directive has raised red flags on Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers
are concerned that Cuba will pass along critical U.S. intelligence to
the Iranians, who have made moves in recent years to extend their
influence in the communist country and other Latin American countries
hostile to the United States.
Iran's interest in Cuba was on fully display earlier this year when
Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, went on a goodwill tour throughout
Latin America that included stops in Cuba and Venezuela, among others.
The goal of this visit, sources told the Washington Free Beacon, was to
solidify Iran's growing terrorist network in the region and ensure the
Islamic Republic maintains its presence along America's doorstep.
"The Castro regime has shown no inclination to end its anti-American
activities, including espionage," Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.) told
the Free Beacon. "The Castro regime in August and September 2016
deepened ties with Iran through high level visits, and there are reports
that Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has established a base in Cuba."
"The director of national intelligence, General James R. Clapper,
testified in February 2016 that the Castro dictatorship remained an
espionage threat at the level of Iran, behind only China and Russia,"
Diaz-Balart added. "Under these circumstances, President Obama's
directive to encourage intelligence sharing with the Castro regime is
reckless, dangerous, and contrary to U.S. national security interests."
Iran has been interested in Latin America for years, but now has the
resources to pursue a footprint in the region as a result of the cash
windfall provided by last summer's comprehensive nuclear agreement.
Hezbollah, the terror organization funded and directed by Iran, has had
assets in the region for some time.
Iran's longer-term goal is to establish an intelligence network in the
region via various cultural centers and religious establishments that
act as a front for Tehran's spy operation.
The Obama administration's move to share intelligence with Cuba is
likely to be celebrated by Iran, according to congressional sources
tracking the matter.
"President Obama's instruction to DNI Clapper last week to look for ways
to cooperate with Cuba on intelligence issues poses an unconscionable
threat to the security of the American people," Victoria Coates,
national security adviser for Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), told the Free
Beacon.
"The administration tried to bury it under enthusiasm for easing
restrictions on the rum and cigars American tourists can buy from Fidel
and Raul Castro, but the reality is the Castros are aggressively
pursuing a closer relationship with Iran, the mullahs just refinanced
Cuba's debt with the assets they got from the president's nuclear deal,
and Cuba's close ally, Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, visited Iran
this week," Coates said. "Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is re-establishing
Russian intelligence assets in Cuba 90 miles from the United States."
"What possible confidence can we have that anything we share with the
Castros won't immediately be telegraphed to Tehran and Moscow? This
simply makes no sense," Coates added.
Intelligence released by the State Department and posted on WikiLeaks as
part of an email dump from Hillary Clinton's personal email server shows
that Hezbollah was moving into Cuba as far back as 2011.
"During the week of September 5, 2011, extremely sensitive sources
reported in confidence that the Israeli Intelligence and Security
Service (Mossad) has informed the leadership of the Israeli Government
that Hezbollah is establishing an operational base in Cuba, designed to
support terrorist attacks throughout Latin America," according to source
intelligence contained in the Clinton emails.
"While this operation is aimed particularly at Israeli diplomatic and
business interests, these sources believe that Hezbollah supporters have
been instructed to also begin casing facilities associated with the
United States and the United Kingdom, including diplomatic missions,
major banks, and businesses in the region," the sources claim. "These
individuals believe that the Hezbollah military commanders in Lebanon
and Syria view these U.S. and U.K. entities as contingency targets to be
attacked in the event of U.S. and British military intervention in
either Syria or Iran, at some point in the future."
Congressional sources have also been tracking Iran's involvement in
Latin America for some time.
Iran has opened an embassy in Chile in recent months and its presence
has come with an uptick in Hezbollah operations.
"A Hezbollah member was picked up in Brazil, an explosive device was
found near the Israeli embassy in Uruguay, and Hezbollah members are
reportedly traveling on Venezuelan passports," a senior congressional
aide told the Free Beacon when Zarif was in the region. "It was not too
long ago that Venezuela offered flights to Iran and Syria, and as of
last week, Hezbollah cells were found in the West Bank where Venezuela
lifted its visa requirements for Palestinians."
"So potential terrorists who want to cause the U.S. harm can travel
easily to Venezuela, and once there, they can get to Nicaragua
or Cuba without passports or visas, which poses a national security risk
for our nation," the aide said.
Source: Congress: Cuba to Share Critical U.S. Intel With Iranian Spies -
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/congress-cuba-share-critical-u-s-intel-iranian-spies/
TripAdvisor Granted Permission to Sell Cuba Flights, Hotels, Tours and More
TripAdvisor Granted Permission to Sell Cuba Flights, Hotels, Tours and More
Andrew Sheivachman, Skift - Oct 27, 2016 7:00 pm
TripAdvisor selling travel to Cuba is just another step towards the
mainstreaming of Cuba as a U.S. tourist destination, and represents a
coup for TripAdvisor as it tries to ramp up its bookings business.
— Andrew Sheivachman
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
has granted TripAdvisor a license to sell travel to Cuba as the
organization loosens restrictions on overall travel to Cuba for Americans.
TripAdvisor users will be able to place bookings for hotels, flights,
tours, attractions, and short-term rentals using TripAdvisor's booking
tools. This will make TripAdvisor the first major online booking site
with ability to sell multiple travel Cuba travel products to U.S. travelers.
TripAdvisor will be able to use display advertising and display products
using metasearch, as well, and plans to roll out booking
functionality in the next few months.
While TripAdvisor will be the first major U.S. online travel agency to
have access, Booking.com received clearance to sell hotel rooms earlier
this year. Airbnb, of course, has been extremely active in Cuba,
allowing travelers to stay in Cuban cities despite the lack of available
hotel rooms. Many U.S. travel agencies and tour operators have been
booking trips to Cuba for years.
"Cuba continues to be one of the only countries in the world where the
United States imposes significant travel restrictions," said TripAdvisor
president and CEO Stephen Kaufer in a release. "We applaud President
Obama's policies to ease these restrictions and build relations with our
island neighbor just 90 miles south of Florida. TripAdvisor looks
forward to helping travelers all over the world discover Cuba's vibrant
history, people and culture as we begin the important work to make these
trips possible."
From the traveler perspective, travel to Cuba booked through
TripAdvisor still needs to fall into one of twelve categories approved
by OFAC, including family visits, educational activities, and more.
Source: TripAdvisor Granted Permission to Sell Cuba Flights, Hotels,
Tours and More – Skift -
https://skift.com/2016/10/27/tripadvisor-granted-permission-to-sell-cuba-flights-hotels-tours-and-more/
Andrew Sheivachman, Skift - Oct 27, 2016 7:00 pm
TripAdvisor selling travel to Cuba is just another step towards the
mainstreaming of Cuba as a U.S. tourist destination, and represents a
coup for TripAdvisor as it tries to ramp up its bookings business.
— Andrew Sheivachman
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
has granted TripAdvisor a license to sell travel to Cuba as the
organization loosens restrictions on overall travel to Cuba for Americans.
TripAdvisor users will be able to place bookings for hotels, flights,
tours, attractions, and short-term rentals using TripAdvisor's booking
tools. This will make TripAdvisor the first major online booking site
with ability to sell multiple travel Cuba travel products to U.S. travelers.
TripAdvisor will be able to use display advertising and display products
using metasearch, as well, and plans to roll out booking
functionality in the next few months.
While TripAdvisor will be the first major U.S. online travel agency to
have access, Booking.com received clearance to sell hotel rooms earlier
this year. Airbnb, of course, has been extremely active in Cuba,
allowing travelers to stay in Cuban cities despite the lack of available
hotel rooms. Many U.S. travel agencies and tour operators have been
booking trips to Cuba for years.
"Cuba continues to be one of the only countries in the world where the
United States imposes significant travel restrictions," said TripAdvisor
president and CEO Stephen Kaufer in a release. "We applaud President
Obama's policies to ease these restrictions and build relations with our
island neighbor just 90 miles south of Florida. TripAdvisor looks
forward to helping travelers all over the world discover Cuba's vibrant
history, people and culture as we begin the important work to make these
trips possible."
From the traveler perspective, travel to Cuba booked through
TripAdvisor still needs to fall into one of twelve categories approved
by OFAC, including family visits, educational activities, and more.
Source: TripAdvisor Granted Permission to Sell Cuba Flights, Hotels,
Tours and More – Skift -
https://skift.com/2016/10/27/tripadvisor-granted-permission-to-sell-cuba-flights-hotels-tours-and-more/
Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline
Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline
By Marc Frank | HAVANA
Cuba has paid ahead of schedule the first installment of a renegotiated
$2.6 billion debt to 14 wealthy governments, according to diplomats from
a number of the countries, as the Communist-run island seeks to overcome
its chronic payment history.
Cuba reached a deal in December with members of Paris Club of creditor
nations that forgave $8.5 billion of $11.1 billion official debt it had
defaulted on through 1986, plus charges. Repayment of the remaining debt
was structured over 18 years, and the first payment of about $40 million
was due by Oct. 31.
The deal was seen as a step toward Cuba rejoining the international
financial community in the context of detente with the United States and
future competition from U.S. businesses.
"The Cuban government has paid the first installment, and done so
early," France's ambassador to Cuba, Jean-Marie Bruno, said on late on
Wednesday.
"This is a very important signal that Cuba intends to honor its
commitments and a key first step in gaining access to the multilateral
lenders," a foreign banker with years of experience in Cuba said on
Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Cuba is not a member of any multilateral lending institution such as the
International Monetary Fund.
Under the December agreement, the 14 nations had a year to sign
bilateral restructuring deals which could include the establishment of
local accounts where a percentage of money owed would be deposited for
local joint development projects.
"The government of each participating creditor country or its
appropriate institutions may sell or exchange in the framework of debt
swap" a large proportion of remaining debt, according to the agreement
seen by Reuters.
The four largest creditors, France, Spain, Japan and Italy, have all
signed agreements, as have Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Great
Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. Canada has
yet to sign.
During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Cuba in September,
the countries agreed that of the roughly $592 million owed Japan, $350
million would be paid directly to the government and another $242
million deposited in Cuba for use in development projects.
Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and perhaps others have signed
similar deals, with total sums to be invested in Cuba, including Japan,
topping $750 million of the $2.6 billion owed.
Payments, due annually by Oct. 31, gradually increase from 1.6 percent
of the $2.6 billion owed to 8.9 percent in 2033.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Richard Chang)
Source: Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline |
Reuters - http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-debt-idUSKCN12R2H4
By Marc Frank | HAVANA
Cuba has paid ahead of schedule the first installment of a renegotiated
$2.6 billion debt to 14 wealthy governments, according to diplomats from
a number of the countries, as the Communist-run island seeks to overcome
its chronic payment history.
Cuba reached a deal in December with members of Paris Club of creditor
nations that forgave $8.5 billion of $11.1 billion official debt it had
defaulted on through 1986, plus charges. Repayment of the remaining debt
was structured over 18 years, and the first payment of about $40 million
was due by Oct. 31.
The deal was seen as a step toward Cuba rejoining the international
financial community in the context of detente with the United States and
future competition from U.S. businesses.
"The Cuban government has paid the first installment, and done so
early," France's ambassador to Cuba, Jean-Marie Bruno, said on late on
Wednesday.
"This is a very important signal that Cuba intends to honor its
commitments and a key first step in gaining access to the multilateral
lenders," a foreign banker with years of experience in Cuba said on
Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Cuba is not a member of any multilateral lending institution such as the
International Monetary Fund.
Under the December agreement, the 14 nations had a year to sign
bilateral restructuring deals which could include the establishment of
local accounts where a percentage of money owed would be deposited for
local joint development projects.
"The government of each participating creditor country or its
appropriate institutions may sell or exchange in the framework of debt
swap" a large proportion of remaining debt, according to the agreement
seen by Reuters.
The four largest creditors, France, Spain, Japan and Italy, have all
signed agreements, as have Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Great
Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. Canada has
yet to sign.
During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Cuba in September,
the countries agreed that of the roughly $592 million owed Japan, $350
million would be paid directly to the government and another $242
million deposited in Cuba for use in development projects.
Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and perhaps others have signed
similar deals, with total sums to be invested in Cuba, including Japan,
topping $750 million of the $2.6 billion owed.
Payments, due annually by Oct. 31, gradually increase from 1.6 percent
of the $2.6 billion owed to 8.9 percent in 2033.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Richard Chang)
Source: Cuba begins to pay debts to Western creditors, beats deadline |
Reuters - http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-debt-idUSKCN12R2H4
Havana duo launches crowdfunding campaign for first Cuban indie video game
Havana duo launches crowdfunding campaign for first Cuban indie video game
BY ABEL FERNÁNDEZ
abfernandez@elnuevoherald.com
The notion of private enterprise in Cuba usually refers to restaurants
known as "paladares," classic car owners who serve as taxis or homes
that offer rooms-for-rent to tourists.
But despite limited access to the internet for the masses, lack of
information from outside the island and constrained social media
interaction — in a country where piracy rules — two young men from
Havana are betting on an almost untapped market: video games.
Using a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, multimedia artist Josuhe
Pagliery, 35, and programmer Johann Armenteros, 30, hope to raise
$10,000 to fund "Savior," the first independent video game made in Cuba.
"Having launched this without access to social media or the internet is
like going to run at the Olympics without shoes," says Pagliery, who is
visiting Miami, where he has family.
The "Savior" game, an animated 2D-platformer, is based on a fictional
tale about "little god," the protagonist, who wakes up early in the game
to discover that his world is falling apart. He then starts searching
for the "creator of the universe" through different game levels.
"Savior" seeks to constantly surprise the player and exploits personal
and emotional experiences.
Pagliery, who graduated from Havana's San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts
and Superior Institute of the Arts said that being outside Cuba gives
him the possibility to network and connect with more people.
Before launching a crowdfunding campaign, he said, it is desirable to
have as many supporters and followers on social media as possible.
"We did not have any of that in Cuba. We really did the best we could,"
he said.
Pagliery founded Empty Head Games, a home-based Havana studio, and later
partnered with Armenteros, a mathematics and computer science graduate
from the University of Havana.
The duo has faced several challenges creating an indie video game in
Cuba, mainly because "there is no previous experience. There is no close
reference to go to," Pagliery said.
Still, he said, "Cubans are fascinated by video games."
On the island, most video games are pirated and distributed along with
movies, novels and other entertainment products in an underground
network known as El Paquete — a two-gigabytes mix of audiovisual
materials distributed on external hard drives and flash drives.
All video games produced by Cuban state-run institutions such as the
University of Information Sciences (UCI) and the Youth Computer Clubs
are about educational or historical topics.
For example, the video game "Gesta Final" (Final Feat) based on
revolutionary history and produced by the Youth Club, recreates the
guerrilla war led by Fidel Castro to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. Other
games such as "Aventuras en La Manigua" (Adventured in La Manigua) or
"Super Claria" represent what Pagliery calles the "cubanization of video
games," which he considers "very superficial, based on formulas too
widely used."
Those games "could work the 'cubanidad' from a different perspective,"
Pagliery said, adding that independent productions are more sincere.
"The independent spirit of production gives you the freedom to do
whatever you want," he said.
Although there are other independent video game projects on the island,
Pagliery said they are built "for mobile phones, are more commercial."
"Savior" is "more serious, more elaborate, more professional," he said.
The game thrives on Pagliery's experience in art and Armenteros'
programming skills.
Empty Head Games has received backing by Innovadores Foundation, a
U.S.-based non-profit exchange between entrepreneurs and technology
innovators in Cuba, and the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, which promotes
Cuban artists.
Pagliery expects that next year they will have a playable demo ready for
PC, Mac and Linux that can be promoted in festivals and technology
events. The duo's dream is to bring the game to consoles like XBox and
Playstation.
"Although we do not have the necessary background or visibility, to
launch this campaign has been a huge first step," he said.
FOLLOW ABEL FERNÁNDEZ ON TWITTER: @ABELFGLEZ
Source: Havana studio Empty Head Games launches Indiegogo campaign for
first Cuban indie video game | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article110870687.html
BY ABEL FERNÁNDEZ
abfernandez@elnuevoherald.com
The notion of private enterprise in Cuba usually refers to restaurants
known as "paladares," classic car owners who serve as taxis or homes
that offer rooms-for-rent to tourists.
But despite limited access to the internet for the masses, lack of
information from outside the island and constrained social media
interaction — in a country where piracy rules — two young men from
Havana are betting on an almost untapped market: video games.
Using a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, multimedia artist Josuhe
Pagliery, 35, and programmer Johann Armenteros, 30, hope to raise
$10,000 to fund "Savior," the first independent video game made in Cuba.
"Having launched this without access to social media or the internet is
like going to run at the Olympics without shoes," says Pagliery, who is
visiting Miami, where he has family.
The "Savior" game, an animated 2D-platformer, is based on a fictional
tale about "little god," the protagonist, who wakes up early in the game
to discover that his world is falling apart. He then starts searching
for the "creator of the universe" through different game levels.
"Savior" seeks to constantly surprise the player and exploits personal
and emotional experiences.
Pagliery, who graduated from Havana's San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts
and Superior Institute of the Arts said that being outside Cuba gives
him the possibility to network and connect with more people.
Before launching a crowdfunding campaign, he said, it is desirable to
have as many supporters and followers on social media as possible.
"We did not have any of that in Cuba. We really did the best we could,"
he said.
Pagliery founded Empty Head Games, a home-based Havana studio, and later
partnered with Armenteros, a mathematics and computer science graduate
from the University of Havana.
The duo has faced several challenges creating an indie video game in
Cuba, mainly because "there is no previous experience. There is no close
reference to go to," Pagliery said.
Still, he said, "Cubans are fascinated by video games."
On the island, most video games are pirated and distributed along with
movies, novels and other entertainment products in an underground
network known as El Paquete — a two-gigabytes mix of audiovisual
materials distributed on external hard drives and flash drives.
All video games produced by Cuban state-run institutions such as the
University of Information Sciences (UCI) and the Youth Computer Clubs
are about educational or historical topics.
For example, the video game "Gesta Final" (Final Feat) based on
revolutionary history and produced by the Youth Club, recreates the
guerrilla war led by Fidel Castro to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. Other
games such as "Aventuras en La Manigua" (Adventured in La Manigua) or
"Super Claria" represent what Pagliery calles the "cubanization of video
games," which he considers "very superficial, based on formulas too
widely used."
Those games "could work the 'cubanidad' from a different perspective,"
Pagliery said, adding that independent productions are more sincere.
"The independent spirit of production gives you the freedom to do
whatever you want," he said.
Although there are other independent video game projects on the island,
Pagliery said they are built "for mobile phones, are more commercial."
"Savior" is "more serious, more elaborate, more professional," he said.
The game thrives on Pagliery's experience in art and Armenteros'
programming skills.
Empty Head Games has received backing by Innovadores Foundation, a
U.S.-based non-profit exchange between entrepreneurs and technology
innovators in Cuba, and the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, which promotes
Cuban artists.
Pagliery expects that next year they will have a playable demo ready for
PC, Mac and Linux that can be promoted in festivals and technology
events. The duo's dream is to bring the game to consoles like XBox and
Playstation.
"Although we do not have the necessary background or visibility, to
launch this campaign has been a huge first step," he said.
FOLLOW ABEL FERNÁNDEZ ON TWITTER: @ABELFGLEZ
Source: Havana studio Empty Head Games launches Indiegogo campaign for
first Cuban indie video game | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article110870687.html
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