Cuban Port Town Swamped by Sewage
Posted by News Editor in Latest News, RSS, Waste on June 6, 2013 9:51 am
/ no comments
By Osniel Carmona Breijo
HAVANA, Cuba, June 6, 2013 (ENS) – Residents of a port town south of
Havana say that their streets are constantly flooded with raw sewage,
despite promises by the local authorities to replace damaged pipes.
Surgidero de Batabanó, the main shipping and fishing port on the south
coast of Mayabeque province, has to contend with an overflow of hundreds
of gallons of contaminated water, which sometimes even runs into houses.
According to one resident, Anaís Cañete, large puddles of sewage
containing human feces are a common sight, and the situation becomes
critical with the arrival of the rainy season.
"A downpour turns the roads into rivers of filth, preventing people from
leaving their homes," Cañete said, adding, "When there's coastal
flooding, the sea turns the town into a huge septic tank.
"Once – I can't remember during which cyclone it was – the water supply
was contaminated and we had to get supplies from tankers for more than a
month."
She says the root of the problem is lack of maintenance of the sewage
system, designed to flow into septic tanks and ditches located outside
the town.
Over time, blockages in the pipes have led to continuous leaks.
Residents have made numerous official complaints about the problem,
which they say dates back more than three decades.
Two years ago, the local council promised to replace the most damaged
pipes, but this is yet to happen.
The situation in the port, which forms part of the city of Batabanó, is
representative of wider environmental problems affecting Mayabeque
province as a whole.
Two years ago, Cuba's National Statistics Office said state investment
in environmental protection in Mayabeque had fallen drastically since
2005. In 2011, the government only invested 113,000 pesos, US$4,520, in
water management across the entire province, which has a population of
about 380,000.
According to Cañete, it is residents themselves who take responsibility
for everyday repairs of the water system. The provincial administration
only sends a team of workers round with a tanker to check for blockages
and remove sewage in the more extreme cases.
The economy of Surgidero de Batabanó is based on fishing, but there are
also agricultural areas, which are sometimes flooded with polluted
drainage water.
Antonio Luzardo, a small farmer who mainly produces rice and watercress
– both crops that require large amounts of water – said he had lost his
entire harvest on more than one occasion.
In periods of heavy rain, waste contaminated with various waterborne
pests, bacteria and chemical residues from cleaning products enter the
canal irrigation system and spread to his fields.
"Every time it happens, I lose most of my crops, at the very least,"
said Luzardo. "Also, the pests and decomposing matter from the drains
means I can't go out and tend to the crops in the field. I tried that
once and I got various types of skin allergy. I can't risk getting sick."
Locals say that despite the obvious health risks posed by sewage and
general flooding, there have been no reports of serious illness, a claim
corroborated by a source in the statistics department of the local
health centre, who asked to remain anonymous.
"No one has got cholera or dengue fever here," Cañete said. "Our bodies
have adapted to infection. We're cured. Not even mosquitos want to bite us."
{This report was first published June 6, 2013 by the Institute for War
and Peace Reporting}.
http://ens-newswire.com/2013/06/06/cuban-port-town-swamped-by-sewage/
Friday, June 7, 2013
Why has China snubbed Cuba and Venezuela?
Why has China snubbed Cuba and Venezuela?
Jun 6th 2013, 23:50 by H.T. | MEXICO CITY
XI JINPING'S first visit to Latin America and the Caribbean as China's
president, from May 31st to June 6th, took him tantalisingly close to
Beijing's strongest ideological allies in the region, Cuba and
Venezuela. Yet he steered clear of both of them. Instead of visiting
Cuba, as his predecessor Hu Jintao did on his first presidential trip to
the region, Mr Xi stopped off in an English-speaking Caribbean nation,
Trinidad and Tobago, which (as if to rub it in) is only a short hop from
Caracas. He then travelled to Costa Rica and Mexico (pictured)—two
countries that are at least as much a part of America's orbit as Cuba
and Venezuela are part of the "Beijing Consensus". Why this snub to two
friendly nations that have been lavished with Chinese largesse in recent
years, especially at a time when both are struggling to come to terms
with the death in March of Hugo Chávez, the Cuba- and China-loving
Venezuelan leader?
The short answer is: for simplicity's sake. Visits to Cuba and Venezuela
might well have raised distracting questions when Mr Xi meets Barack
Obama in Southern California on June 7th, and neither socialist
government was likely to express publicly any offence at being left off
the itinerary. The beauty of having a chequebook as thick as China's is
that if you give your friends the cold shoulder, you can always mollify
them with money. That may be why, on June 6th, Venezuela's oil minister
announced that he had secured an extra $4 billion from China to drill
for oil, in addition to $35 billion already provided by Beijing. Not
quite in the same league, but significant nonetheless, the Havana Times
reported this week that China was also planning to invest in Cuban golf
courses, the island's latest fad.
However, as our story on Mr Xi's visit to Latin America points out, he
may have had other reasons for picking the destinations that he did.
Firstly, he may be trying to respond to Mr Obama's "pivot" to Asia by
showing that China is developing its own sphere of influence in
America's backyard. China's business relationship with Latin America
gets less attention that its dealings with Africa, but in terms of
investment, it is much bigger. According to Enrique Dussel, a China
expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University, Latin America and the
Caribbean were collectively the second largest recipient of Chinese
foreign direct investment between 2000-2011, after Hong Kong. In terms
of funding, Kevin Gallagher of Boston University says China has provided
more loans to Latin America since 2005 than the World Bank and the
Inter-American Development Bank combined. The visits to Mexico and Costa
Rica may also represent a pivot of sorts in terms of the type of
economic relationship China has with Latin America. Up until now, China
has hoovered up the region's commodities, importing soya, copper, iron,
oil and other raw materials, particularly from Brazil, Chile and
Venezuela, while flooding the region with its manufactured goods. But
its relations with Mexico, a rival in low-cost manufacturing, have been
frosty: China accounts for only about 0.05% of Mexican foreign direct
investment, and it exports ten times as much to Mexico as it imports.
But as wages in China have increased and high energy prices have raised
the cost of shipping goods from China to America, Beijing may be looking
for bases such as Mexico and Costa Rica where it can relocate Chinese
factories and benefit from free-trade agreements with the United States.
This idea thrills the Mexican government, but does it pose an immediate
threat to Venezuela and Cuba? Probably not: China will continue to need
their staunch ideological support over issues like Taiwan, for one
thing. But it does suggest that China's economic interest in the region
is broadening, especially along the Pacific coast. If that proves to be
the case, Cuba and Venezuela, deprived of the charismatic Chávez to
court Beijing on their behalf, will have to work hard to stay relevant.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/06/economist-explains-3
Jun 6th 2013, 23:50 by H.T. | MEXICO CITY
XI JINPING'S first visit to Latin America and the Caribbean as China's
president, from May 31st to June 6th, took him tantalisingly close to
Beijing's strongest ideological allies in the region, Cuba and
Venezuela. Yet he steered clear of both of them. Instead of visiting
Cuba, as his predecessor Hu Jintao did on his first presidential trip to
the region, Mr Xi stopped off in an English-speaking Caribbean nation,
Trinidad and Tobago, which (as if to rub it in) is only a short hop from
Caracas. He then travelled to Costa Rica and Mexico (pictured)—two
countries that are at least as much a part of America's orbit as Cuba
and Venezuela are part of the "Beijing Consensus". Why this snub to two
friendly nations that have been lavished with Chinese largesse in recent
years, especially at a time when both are struggling to come to terms
with the death in March of Hugo Chávez, the Cuba- and China-loving
Venezuelan leader?
The short answer is: for simplicity's sake. Visits to Cuba and Venezuela
might well have raised distracting questions when Mr Xi meets Barack
Obama in Southern California on June 7th, and neither socialist
government was likely to express publicly any offence at being left off
the itinerary. The beauty of having a chequebook as thick as China's is
that if you give your friends the cold shoulder, you can always mollify
them with money. That may be why, on June 6th, Venezuela's oil minister
announced that he had secured an extra $4 billion from China to drill
for oil, in addition to $35 billion already provided by Beijing. Not
quite in the same league, but significant nonetheless, the Havana Times
reported this week that China was also planning to invest in Cuban golf
courses, the island's latest fad.
However, as our story on Mr Xi's visit to Latin America points out, he
may have had other reasons for picking the destinations that he did.
Firstly, he may be trying to respond to Mr Obama's "pivot" to Asia by
showing that China is developing its own sphere of influence in
America's backyard. China's business relationship with Latin America
gets less attention that its dealings with Africa, but in terms of
investment, it is much bigger. According to Enrique Dussel, a China
expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University, Latin America and the
Caribbean were collectively the second largest recipient of Chinese
foreign direct investment between 2000-2011, after Hong Kong. In terms
of funding, Kevin Gallagher of Boston University says China has provided
more loans to Latin America since 2005 than the World Bank and the
Inter-American Development Bank combined. The visits to Mexico and Costa
Rica may also represent a pivot of sorts in terms of the type of
economic relationship China has with Latin America. Up until now, China
has hoovered up the region's commodities, importing soya, copper, iron,
oil and other raw materials, particularly from Brazil, Chile and
Venezuela, while flooding the region with its manufactured goods. But
its relations with Mexico, a rival in low-cost manufacturing, have been
frosty: China accounts for only about 0.05% of Mexican foreign direct
investment, and it exports ten times as much to Mexico as it imports.
But as wages in China have increased and high energy prices have raised
the cost of shipping goods from China to America, Beijing may be looking
for bases such as Mexico and Costa Rica where it can relocate Chinese
factories and benefit from free-trade agreements with the United States.
This idea thrills the Mexican government, but does it pose an immediate
threat to Venezuela and Cuba? Probably not: China will continue to need
their staunch ideological support over issues like Taiwan, for one
thing. But it does suggest that China's economic interest in the region
is broadening, especially along the Pacific coast. If that proves to be
the case, Cuba and Venezuela, deprived of the charismatic Chávez to
court Beijing on their behalf, will have to work hard to stay relevant.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/06/economist-explains-3
Dangerous Liaisons Cuba Tries Entrepreneurs for Corporate Corruption
Dangerous Liaisons: Cuba Tries Entrepreneurs for Corporate Corruption
June 6, 2013
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — Some of the most important entrepreneurs who have been
doing business in Cuba for decades have been summoned to courts on the
island to respond to serious corporate corruption charges, the visible
face of a much broader clean-up campaign undertaken by Cuban authorities.
What is surprising about this is not that the government has taken on
the campaign but that it has taken so long to investigate these crimes,
when Cuba's entire business community knew how these individuals did
business, the manner in which they operated and even what mechanisms
they used to deal out different perks.
The creation of the Cuban Comptrollers Office spelled a radical change
in the battle against corruption, allowing authorities to set their
sights high, on the big shots who, though generally the very originators
of the crime, had hitherto been untouchable.
I recall that, when Raul Castro announced that Mrs. Gladys Bejerano
would be appointed Chief Comptroller, he mentioned that some high
officials had not been pleased with the decision. Perhaps it was because
they suspected this woman would not turn a blind eye on the illicit
activities of ministers, the relatives of high-ups, or foreign
businesspeople.
If so, their apprehension was justified. In the last 20 years, Cuba had
not seen an anti-corruption campaign as far-reaching, profound and,
above all, as protracted as this one. I have been told there aren't
enough courts on the island to try those charged with different
corruption charges.
I know of a number of Cuban managers who were left alone for more than a
year after being implicated in a case of corporate corruption. Just when
they thought they had gotten off, however, they were summoned to trial
and sentenced to several years in prison.
So many people accused of corruption have been sent to labor farms that
– at least according to a high penitentiary official – the racial
demographics of the inmate population is changing, as these business or
political leaders are, for the most part, white.
Some think that the imprisonment of these officials is unjust, arguing
that they became corrupt because of the measly salaries they receive.
This argument could be used if we're speaking of a regular employee or a
school teacher, but it doesn't hold water when it comes to Cuba's
entrepreneurial elite.
Generally speaking, these individuals have a standard of living that is
well above that of common Cubans: they live in comfortable houses, move
around in cars, have a monthly gasoline quota allotted to them, use
cells phones paid for by their companies and receive additional money
for their trips abroad. They are the people who have the least, material
reasons to become involved in illicit activities.
Now, much commotion has been stirred up because the courts aren't only
trying corrupt Cuban company managers but also foreign entrepreneurs,
even if they are citizens of such powerful countries as Canada or the
United Kingdom.
No one, however, ought to be surprised at the fact that, when a case of
corporate corruption is unveiled, authorities should detain, not only
the person who receives a bribe, but also the one who hands it out under
the table, to obtain privileges over competitors during business
negotiations.
The Cuban government cannot be criticized for defending itself from the
hawks that soar across its skies, looking for preys willing to sell out
their fellow countrymen for a bit of cash, but it could be asked to show
greater transparency in its proceedings.
Providing the public with information about these judicial processes
would expose Cubans to the country's successful struggle against
corporate corruption and show businesspeople, both Cuban and foreign,
the high price of accepting bribes.
As a Brookings Institution expert told Reuters, "If the Cuban government
intends that such penalties serve as effective deterrents to corruption,
and not as deterrents to legitimate foreign investment, it should
clarify the precise nature of the alleged infractions and make the
entire legal process more transparent."
Transparency is precisely what the Cuban government needs to make the
difference between eliminating corruption and discouraging foreign
investment clear. It would help, for instance, if we knew that the legal
actions currently being pursued arise from activities that would be
considered crimes and punished in any other country as well.
In Cuba, the passion for secrecy continues to be a boomerang that
returns to the thrower with dangerous force. In this issue, as in so
many others, silence continues to be the least advisable response.
—–
(*) An authorized HT translation of the original published in Spanish by
BBC Mundo.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=94190
June 6, 2013
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — Some of the most important entrepreneurs who have been
doing business in Cuba for decades have been summoned to courts on the
island to respond to serious corporate corruption charges, the visible
face of a much broader clean-up campaign undertaken by Cuban authorities.
What is surprising about this is not that the government has taken on
the campaign but that it has taken so long to investigate these crimes,
when Cuba's entire business community knew how these individuals did
business, the manner in which they operated and even what mechanisms
they used to deal out different perks.
The creation of the Cuban Comptrollers Office spelled a radical change
in the battle against corruption, allowing authorities to set their
sights high, on the big shots who, though generally the very originators
of the crime, had hitherto been untouchable.
I recall that, when Raul Castro announced that Mrs. Gladys Bejerano
would be appointed Chief Comptroller, he mentioned that some high
officials had not been pleased with the decision. Perhaps it was because
they suspected this woman would not turn a blind eye on the illicit
activities of ministers, the relatives of high-ups, or foreign
businesspeople.
If so, their apprehension was justified. In the last 20 years, Cuba had
not seen an anti-corruption campaign as far-reaching, profound and,
above all, as protracted as this one. I have been told there aren't
enough courts on the island to try those charged with different
corruption charges.
I know of a number of Cuban managers who were left alone for more than a
year after being implicated in a case of corporate corruption. Just when
they thought they had gotten off, however, they were summoned to trial
and sentenced to several years in prison.
So many people accused of corruption have been sent to labor farms that
– at least according to a high penitentiary official – the racial
demographics of the inmate population is changing, as these business or
political leaders are, for the most part, white.
Some think that the imprisonment of these officials is unjust, arguing
that they became corrupt because of the measly salaries they receive.
This argument could be used if we're speaking of a regular employee or a
school teacher, but it doesn't hold water when it comes to Cuba's
entrepreneurial elite.
Generally speaking, these individuals have a standard of living that is
well above that of common Cubans: they live in comfortable houses, move
around in cars, have a monthly gasoline quota allotted to them, use
cells phones paid for by their companies and receive additional money
for their trips abroad. They are the people who have the least, material
reasons to become involved in illicit activities.
Now, much commotion has been stirred up because the courts aren't only
trying corrupt Cuban company managers but also foreign entrepreneurs,
even if they are citizens of such powerful countries as Canada or the
United Kingdom.
No one, however, ought to be surprised at the fact that, when a case of
corporate corruption is unveiled, authorities should detain, not only
the person who receives a bribe, but also the one who hands it out under
the table, to obtain privileges over competitors during business
negotiations.
The Cuban government cannot be criticized for defending itself from the
hawks that soar across its skies, looking for preys willing to sell out
their fellow countrymen for a bit of cash, but it could be asked to show
greater transparency in its proceedings.
Providing the public with information about these judicial processes
would expose Cubans to the country's successful struggle against
corporate corruption and show businesspeople, both Cuban and foreign,
the high price of accepting bribes.
As a Brookings Institution expert told Reuters, "If the Cuban government
intends that such penalties serve as effective deterrents to corruption,
and not as deterrents to legitimate foreign investment, it should
clarify the precise nature of the alleged infractions and make the
entire legal process more transparent."
Transparency is precisely what the Cuban government needs to make the
difference between eliminating corruption and discouraging foreign
investment clear. It would help, for instance, if we knew that the legal
actions currently being pursued arise from activities that would be
considered crimes and punished in any other country as well.
In Cuba, the passion for secrecy continues to be a boomerang that
returns to the thrower with dangerous force. In this issue, as in so
many others, silence continues to be the least advisable response.
—–
(*) An authorized HT translation of the original published in Spanish by
BBC Mundo.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=94190
Cayman Islands prepare for more Cuban migrants
Posted on Thursday, 06.06.13
Cayman Islands prepare for more Cuban migrants
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Facing a potential increase in the flow of Cuban migrants, authorities
in the Cayman Islands are reviewing their preparations for an exodus and
policies on denying assistance and repatriating the Cuban migrants.
"There are questions about human rights issues for the Cubans," said
Deborah Bodden, staff manager at the independent but
government-appointed Human Rights Commission in the British territory
125 miles off Cuba's southeastern coast.
Some Cayman officials believe the number of Cubans spotted recently in
Cayman waters has been growing, apparently because of fears that U.S.
immigration reforms will make it harder for them to enter and stay in
the United States.
But others say the sightings always rise at the beginning of the summer,
when the seas are calmer and the tides and winds push the Cuban boats
toward Honduras, from where the passengers try to travel by land to the
U.S. border with Mexico.
The numbers are not large by any means. About 26 Cubans were spotted in
two boats in April. Only seven Cuban boats were sighted in Cayman waters
in all of 2012, nine in 2011 and three in 2010.
Yet, the Cuban migrants are indeed a nettlesome issue for the Cayman
Islands, a peaceful banking haven and tourist destination with a
population of 57,000.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Havana in 1999,
Cayman authorities and residents cannot assist the boats — with food,
water or boat repairs — and must repatriate almost every Cuban who set
foot there.
Boats that are considered safe can sail on. But Cubans in unsafe
vessels, and those who simply want to get off are put in an immigration
lockup in Grand Cayman Island. They can apply for political asylum, but
virtually all are rejected and flown back to Cuba.
Of the 1,200 Cubans who arrived in the Cayman Islands during the "Rafter
Crisis" of 1994 — when Fidel Castro allowed more than 35,000 Cubans to
take to the seas — only 20 received political asylum.
Gary Wong, a deputy chief immigration officer in the Caymans, told the
Reuters news agency that Cubans who reached the British territory
recently have repeatedly mentioned the growing concerns about the U.S.
Congressional efforts at immigration reforms.
Under the U.S. "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans intercepted at sea
are repatriated while those who set foot on dry U.S. land gets to stay —
and obtain permanent U.S. residency after just one year under the Cuban
Adjustment Act.
Havana residents say Cuba was swept by rumors earlier this year that
those benefits might be cut back. The migration hubbub apparently was
also amplified by the Cuban government's decision to ease restrictions
on travel abroad by its citizens as of Jan. 14.
Bodden told El Nuevo Herald last week that the Human Rights Commission
added the Cuba issue to an ongoing review of the Caymans' overall
migration policies due in three months, after receiving "inquiries from
the public and officials."
Police detained one man last month when he vociferously complained that
authorities were blocking a crowd gathered at a Cayman Islands dock from
delivering assistance to a boat with about 30 Cubans aboard that was
standing just off the dock.
Cayman residents left cases of bottled water and fruit juices by the
shore, but managed to deliver sunglasses to the migrants, according to
witnesses. The boat sailed on.
The Caymans government, meanwhile, has revived a mass migration
management committee organized several years ago when large numbers of
Cubans were arriving, according to Wesley Howell, deputy chief of the
Internal and External Affairs Portfolio.
"It is looking at contingency planning for another mass influx of
migrants, whether from Cuba or Haiti or elsewhere," Howell told
CayCompass.Com, a Cayman news outlet.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/06/3437447/cayman-islands-prepare-for-more.html
Cayman Islands prepare for more Cuban migrants
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Facing a potential increase in the flow of Cuban migrants, authorities
in the Cayman Islands are reviewing their preparations for an exodus and
policies on denying assistance and repatriating the Cuban migrants.
"There are questions about human rights issues for the Cubans," said
Deborah Bodden, staff manager at the independent but
government-appointed Human Rights Commission in the British territory
125 miles off Cuba's southeastern coast.
Some Cayman officials believe the number of Cubans spotted recently in
Cayman waters has been growing, apparently because of fears that U.S.
immigration reforms will make it harder for them to enter and stay in
the United States.
But others say the sightings always rise at the beginning of the summer,
when the seas are calmer and the tides and winds push the Cuban boats
toward Honduras, from where the passengers try to travel by land to the
U.S. border with Mexico.
The numbers are not large by any means. About 26 Cubans were spotted in
two boats in April. Only seven Cuban boats were sighted in Cayman waters
in all of 2012, nine in 2011 and three in 2010.
Yet, the Cuban migrants are indeed a nettlesome issue for the Cayman
Islands, a peaceful banking haven and tourist destination with a
population of 57,000.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Havana in 1999,
Cayman authorities and residents cannot assist the boats — with food,
water or boat repairs — and must repatriate almost every Cuban who set
foot there.
Boats that are considered safe can sail on. But Cubans in unsafe
vessels, and those who simply want to get off are put in an immigration
lockup in Grand Cayman Island. They can apply for political asylum, but
virtually all are rejected and flown back to Cuba.
Of the 1,200 Cubans who arrived in the Cayman Islands during the "Rafter
Crisis" of 1994 — when Fidel Castro allowed more than 35,000 Cubans to
take to the seas — only 20 received political asylum.
Gary Wong, a deputy chief immigration officer in the Caymans, told the
Reuters news agency that Cubans who reached the British territory
recently have repeatedly mentioned the growing concerns about the U.S.
Congressional efforts at immigration reforms.
Under the U.S. "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans intercepted at sea
are repatriated while those who set foot on dry U.S. land gets to stay —
and obtain permanent U.S. residency after just one year under the Cuban
Adjustment Act.
Havana residents say Cuba was swept by rumors earlier this year that
those benefits might be cut back. The migration hubbub apparently was
also amplified by the Cuban government's decision to ease restrictions
on travel abroad by its citizens as of Jan. 14.
Bodden told El Nuevo Herald last week that the Human Rights Commission
added the Cuba issue to an ongoing review of the Caymans' overall
migration policies due in three months, after receiving "inquiries from
the public and officials."
Police detained one man last month when he vociferously complained that
authorities were blocking a crowd gathered at a Cayman Islands dock from
delivering assistance to a boat with about 30 Cubans aboard that was
standing just off the dock.
Cayman residents left cases of bottled water and fruit juices by the
shore, but managed to deliver sunglasses to the migrants, according to
witnesses. The boat sailed on.
The Caymans government, meanwhile, has revived a mass migration
management committee organized several years ago when large numbers of
Cubans were arriving, according to Wesley Howell, deputy chief of the
Internal and External Affairs Portfolio.
"It is looking at contingency planning for another mass influx of
migrants, whether from Cuba or Haiti or elsewhere," Howell told
CayCompass.Com, a Cayman news outlet.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/06/3437447/cayman-islands-prepare-for-more.html
Thursday, June 6, 2013
That's Socialism For You
That's Socialism For You / Rebeca Monzo
Posted on June 4, 2013
This morning I went with my friend Magy to buy some bananas and
ingredients for us to make a nice salad. We stopped at the EJT (Ejército
Juvenil del Trabajo or Youth Labor Force) farmers' market. We did not
find anything worthwhile but we did overhear a conversation between two
quite elderly men we recognized from our neighborhood.
One was saying to the other, who was dressed in military fatigues and
boots in spite of being well into retirement age, how expensive and bad
Cuban-made cleaning liquid was. The one in boots, raising his voice so
those of us present could hear, replied, "No, it's good. I just bought
some here, and it came sealed and everything."
"Listen, don't be blind," the other one said. "They dilute this stuff at
the factory. And instead of the three pesos it used to cost when it was
good and thick, it now costs twenty-five. Don't you realize they are
robbing you?"
"O.K.," said the one in boots. "It's true, but they only steal so they
can give it to you."
The other gentleman, who could not contain himself after such an utterly
idiotic remark, said, "Look, my friend, I don't want anyone stealing
anything for me, much less the state. It's like when they tell us they
are giving us health care and education for free. It's just one more
excuse and a fable no one believes anymore."
In the midst of this my friend came over, took me by the arm and said,
"Enough of this. I have something more interesting to show you."
She led me past shelves to a pushcart vendor, who was selling some very
attractive avocados and enormous bunches of bananas. As we were
shopping, we saw an elderly lady coming towards us. She was carrying a
transparent nylon bag. Inside was a pair of pink slippers, which looked
to be quite nice. She approached us shyly, offering them to us for only
five CUC.* Suddenly the boy who had been waiting on us grabbed her
package, turned to us and said, "I saw them first. And, besides, they
are my girlfriend's size. So, sorry, ladies, but the slippers are mine."
We left, "our sides splitting" with laughter, but not before having to
wait for the vendor to buy the slippers from the poor lady, who also
wanted to buy some produce, before completing our transaction. "That's
socialism for you!" I told my friend.
*Translator's note: Five CUC is slightly more than five dollars US at
the official exchange rate.
4 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/thats-socialism-for-you-rebeca-monzo/
Posted on June 4, 2013
This morning I went with my friend Magy to buy some bananas and
ingredients for us to make a nice salad. We stopped at the EJT (Ejército
Juvenil del Trabajo or Youth Labor Force) farmers' market. We did not
find anything worthwhile but we did overhear a conversation between two
quite elderly men we recognized from our neighborhood.
One was saying to the other, who was dressed in military fatigues and
boots in spite of being well into retirement age, how expensive and bad
Cuban-made cleaning liquid was. The one in boots, raising his voice so
those of us present could hear, replied, "No, it's good. I just bought
some here, and it came sealed and everything."
"Listen, don't be blind," the other one said. "They dilute this stuff at
the factory. And instead of the three pesos it used to cost when it was
good and thick, it now costs twenty-five. Don't you realize they are
robbing you?"
"O.K.," said the one in boots. "It's true, but they only steal so they
can give it to you."
The other gentleman, who could not contain himself after such an utterly
idiotic remark, said, "Look, my friend, I don't want anyone stealing
anything for me, much less the state. It's like when they tell us they
are giving us health care and education for free. It's just one more
excuse and a fable no one believes anymore."
In the midst of this my friend came over, took me by the arm and said,
"Enough of this. I have something more interesting to show you."
She led me past shelves to a pushcart vendor, who was selling some very
attractive avocados and enormous bunches of bananas. As we were
shopping, we saw an elderly lady coming towards us. She was carrying a
transparent nylon bag. Inside was a pair of pink slippers, which looked
to be quite nice. She approached us shyly, offering them to us for only
five CUC.* Suddenly the boy who had been waiting on us grabbed her
package, turned to us and said, "I saw them first. And, besides, they
are my girlfriend's size. So, sorry, ladies, but the slippers are mine."
We left, "our sides splitting" with laughter, but not before having to
wait for the vendor to buy the slippers from the poor lady, who also
wanted to buy some produce, before completing our transaction. "That's
socialism for you!" I told my friend.
*Translator's note: Five CUC is slightly more than five dollars US at
the official exchange rate.
4 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/thats-socialism-for-you-rebeca-monzo/
Paris, June 4: Tribute to Imprisoned Writers
Paris, June 4: Tribute to Imprisoned Writers / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on June 4, 2013
Editor's note: This post is in French and is only partially translated here.
Text of notice:
In solidarity with the imprisoned Chinese writer Li Bifeng, the
International Literary Festival of Berlin is calling on intellectuals
and artists, schools and universities, media, theaters and other
cultural institutions around the world to organize readings, June 4,
2013, on the occasion the sad anniversary of the crackdown in Tiananmen
Square, and within the framework of the World Wide Reading Day on the
theme of resistance.
In response to this appeal, the House of Writers and Literature,
Biennial of Poets in Val de Marne, the French Pen Club, the Wandering
Word and Poetry Market invited writers and poets living in France to
support a writer or a poet "gagged in their own country," by reading
their texts.
Performance by Armand Gatti, Serge Pey and Chiara Mulas followed by
readings:
Tahar Bekri (Tunisia) for Mohamed Ibn Dhib (Qatar)
Yves Boudier (France) for Li Bifeng (China)
Francis Combes for Mumia Abu Jamal (United States )
Jean-Luc Despax (France) for Angye Gaona (Colombia)
Marc Delouze (France) for Gao Xingjian (China)
Jacques Demarcq for Trung Nguyen Van Tuc and Phan Ngoc Tuan (all three
of Vietnam)
Jean Pierre Faye (France) to Melissa Patiño Hinostroza (Peru)
Irene Gayraud (France) for Angel Santiesteban Prats (Cuba)
Jabbar Hussin (Iraq) for Bei Dao (China)
Werner Lambersy (Belgium) for Parviz Khazraï (Iran)
Mazen Maarouf (Palestine) for Rasha Awad, Haidar al-Mukashfi, Nur
al-Ahmad al-Nur (all three of Sudan)
Jean-Baptiste Para (France) for Alireza Roshan (Iran)
Anne-Marie Garat (France) will also join the party.
[Angel Sebastian-Prats is included in the tribute]
"Among the readings that will be held, one will be for Ángel
Santiesteban-Prats, unjustly imprisoned in Cuba by the Castro
dictatorship, for the simple "crime" of expressing himself freely in his
blog.
His story, The Moon, A Death and a Piece of Bread, will be read by the
French poet and writer Irène Gayraud.
http://translatingcuba.com/paris-june-4-tribute-to-imprisoned-writers-angel-santiesteban/
Posted on June 4, 2013
Editor's note: This post is in French and is only partially translated here.
Text of notice:
In solidarity with the imprisoned Chinese writer Li Bifeng, the
International Literary Festival of Berlin is calling on intellectuals
and artists, schools and universities, media, theaters and other
cultural institutions around the world to organize readings, June 4,
2013, on the occasion the sad anniversary of the crackdown in Tiananmen
Square, and within the framework of the World Wide Reading Day on the
theme of resistance.
In response to this appeal, the House of Writers and Literature,
Biennial of Poets in Val de Marne, the French Pen Club, the Wandering
Word and Poetry Market invited writers and poets living in France to
support a writer or a poet "gagged in their own country," by reading
their texts.
Performance by Armand Gatti, Serge Pey and Chiara Mulas followed by
readings:
Tahar Bekri (Tunisia) for Mohamed Ibn Dhib (Qatar)
Yves Boudier (France) for Li Bifeng (China)
Francis Combes for Mumia Abu Jamal (United States )
Jean-Luc Despax (France) for Angye Gaona (Colombia)
Marc Delouze (France) for Gao Xingjian (China)
Jacques Demarcq for Trung Nguyen Van Tuc and Phan Ngoc Tuan (all three
of Vietnam)
Jean Pierre Faye (France) to Melissa Patiño Hinostroza (Peru)
Irene Gayraud (France) for Angel Santiesteban Prats (Cuba)
Jabbar Hussin (Iraq) for Bei Dao (China)
Werner Lambersy (Belgium) for Parviz Khazraï (Iran)
Mazen Maarouf (Palestine) for Rasha Awad, Haidar al-Mukashfi, Nur
al-Ahmad al-Nur (all three of Sudan)
Jean-Baptiste Para (France) for Alireza Roshan (Iran)
Anne-Marie Garat (France) will also join the party.
[Angel Sebastian-Prats is included in the tribute]
"Among the readings that will be held, one will be for Ángel
Santiesteban-Prats, unjustly imprisoned in Cuba by the Castro
dictatorship, for the simple "crime" of expressing himself freely in his
blog.
His story, The Moon, A Death and a Piece of Bread, will be read by the
French poet and writer Irène Gayraud.
http://translatingcuba.com/paris-june-4-tribute-to-imprisoned-writers-angel-santiesteban/
Prison Diary XXIV. Cuba and Its Politics of Minions
Prison Diary XXIV. Cuba and Its Politics of Minions / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on June 6, 2013
Once again, the Cuban regime supports — far from international view —
the dictatorship ruling Syria. We are always on the same embarrassing
team: Russia, with the dictatorship of Putin; China, more of the same
but with different style; Bolivia, where its president just manipulated
the Constitution to guarantee himself a place in the upcoming election
for a third term; Nicaragua, few presidents have such effrontery; and
why continue, their names speak for themselves: Ecuador, Venezuela,
Iran, and as if that wasn't enough, North Korea.
And the news, in the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba
on May 16 the headline encapsulates with apparent what is nothing more
than a disgrace: "A dozen countries oppose UN resolution on Syria." That
is, the news is not that 107 countries approved it, or even that 59
abstained, including Brazil, one of our allies.
As much as we should be accustomed to this arbitrary politics of benefit
to party members, in the style of highway robbers, and of course, its
obsession with confronting the United States, simply leaves us outraged.
In the face of this arbitrariness typical of the Castros, I can't stop
being ashamed; the only thing that saves me is my opposition to the
government and it's national and international politics.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580, May 2013
5 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xxiv-cuba-and-its-politics-of-minions-angel-santiesteban/
Posted on June 6, 2013
Once again, the Cuban regime supports — far from international view —
the dictatorship ruling Syria. We are always on the same embarrassing
team: Russia, with the dictatorship of Putin; China, more of the same
but with different style; Bolivia, where its president just manipulated
the Constitution to guarantee himself a place in the upcoming election
for a third term; Nicaragua, few presidents have such effrontery; and
why continue, their names speak for themselves: Ecuador, Venezuela,
Iran, and as if that wasn't enough, North Korea.
And the news, in the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba
on May 16 the headline encapsulates with apparent what is nothing more
than a disgrace: "A dozen countries oppose UN resolution on Syria." That
is, the news is not that 107 countries approved it, or even that 59
abstained, including Brazil, one of our allies.
As much as we should be accustomed to this arbitrary politics of benefit
to party members, in the style of highway robbers, and of course, its
obsession with confronting the United States, simply leaves us outraged.
In the face of this arbitrariness typical of the Castros, I can't stop
being ashamed; the only thing that saves me is my opposition to the
government and it's national and international politics.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580, May 2013
5 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xxiv-cuba-and-its-politics-of-minions-angel-santiesteban/
The Long Arm of Censorship
The Long Arm of Censorship / Miguel Iturria Savon
Posted on June 5, 2013
From May 29th until today I could not open VocesCubanas.com, the
alternative platform that contains my blog Island Anchor. As I thought
the "closure" could be only be in the Spanish Levante — I live in the
province of Castellón, in the community of Valencia — I called followers
of my posts living in Zaragoza, Madrid, Canary Islands, but none could
access "Cuban Voices" nor enter my blog, not even from Google by
searching on the titles of the last texts.
Coincidentally, Wednesday May 29 was the last day of Yoani Sanchez's
stay in Madrid, where she delivered a speech at the ceremony for the
Ortega and Gasett awards, given by the newspaper El Pais; the next day
she was received in Havana by family and friends while the Spanish
newspaper reproduced her words and pictures with former President Felipe
González and other figures of the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party
(PSOE) and the media.
No one should be ready to think that the closure of the Voces Cubanas
portal in Spain was a way to lessen the impact of her words and to annul
any commentary on her extensive tour of Americanand European countries.
But who benefits from the silence of censorship? Who gave the order to
disconnect? Where and by whom was it executed? The answer points to the
officials who monitor the news in the Cuba Embassy in Madrid and to the
Island regime's network of consulates in the Iberian Peninsula.
It is not the classical theory of conspiracy; the Castro regime tactic
is very old and the order stands, the
diplomats-cum-State-Security-Agents executed it based on a Guide to
events that demystifies the Havana government's propaganda. They simply
overload the networks, hack pages, multiply the trash emails against
some, and "take the offensive" against others, even in media such as El
Pais. The rest is up to time and the naive who are silent before the
long arm of censorship.
4 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-long-arm-of-censorship-miguel-iturria-savon/
Posted on June 5, 2013
From May 29th until today I could not open VocesCubanas.com, the
alternative platform that contains my blog Island Anchor. As I thought
the "closure" could be only be in the Spanish Levante — I live in the
province of Castellón, in the community of Valencia — I called followers
of my posts living in Zaragoza, Madrid, Canary Islands, but none could
access "Cuban Voices" nor enter my blog, not even from Google by
searching on the titles of the last texts.
Coincidentally, Wednesday May 29 was the last day of Yoani Sanchez's
stay in Madrid, where she delivered a speech at the ceremony for the
Ortega and Gasett awards, given by the newspaper El Pais; the next day
she was received in Havana by family and friends while the Spanish
newspaper reproduced her words and pictures with former President Felipe
González and other figures of the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party
(PSOE) and the media.
No one should be ready to think that the closure of the Voces Cubanas
portal in Spain was a way to lessen the impact of her words and to annul
any commentary on her extensive tour of Americanand European countries.
But who benefits from the silence of censorship? Who gave the order to
disconnect? Where and by whom was it executed? The answer points to the
officials who monitor the news in the Cuba Embassy in Madrid and to the
Island regime's network of consulates in the Iberian Peninsula.
It is not the classical theory of conspiracy; the Castro regime tactic
is very old and the order stands, the
diplomats-cum-State-Security-Agents executed it based on a Guide to
events that demystifies the Havana government's propaganda. They simply
overload the networks, hack pages, multiply the trash emails against
some, and "take the offensive" against others, even in media such as El
Pais. The rest is up to time and the naive who are silent before the
long arm of censorship.
4 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-long-arm-of-censorship-miguel-iturria-savon/
Prison Diary XIII. Animal of Freedom
Prison Diary XIII. Animal of Freedom / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on June 5, 2013
Having served eight years in prison of the 12 he'd been sentenced to,
they granted him freedom because of his good behavior.
The prisoners said goodbye to him with a mixture of sadness and joy,
everyone wanted to be in his place, it was a feeling that gnawed at them.
A few days later they saw him return and the annoyance was widespread in
the barracks. He declined to explain, he just went to his bed and lay
face down.
Someone said he'd returned to serve those twelve years, plus four more
for fleeing.
Later he explained that the guards were to blame. The day he was
supposed to leave, they brought him in around 10 at night according to
internal regulations.
"There I was informed that they wouldn't sign my release until midnight
and one minute, not one less nor one more, the duty officer told me. And
I looked at that door where I should be getting out. I had dreamed of
this moment for eight long years, and now the door was in front of me,
begging to be possessed, begging me to take her all night. She offered
herself like a woman receiving me with her legs open, ready to be
penetrated, and I was biting my nails, watching the dark impertinence of
those open arms.
The guards weren't paying me any attention, ignoring the lack of respect
of putting me in front of a naked woman without the ability to touch
her, and I stretched out my fingers, then my hand, stood up, and I don't
remember how, my legs — responding to their own impulse — started to walk.
And in that immense night, without receiving freedom, I was lost.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580, May 2013
4 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xiii-animal-of-freedom-angel-santiesteban/
Posted on June 5, 2013
Having served eight years in prison of the 12 he'd been sentenced to,
they granted him freedom because of his good behavior.
The prisoners said goodbye to him with a mixture of sadness and joy,
everyone wanted to be in his place, it was a feeling that gnawed at them.
A few days later they saw him return and the annoyance was widespread in
the barracks. He declined to explain, he just went to his bed and lay
face down.
Someone said he'd returned to serve those twelve years, plus four more
for fleeing.
Later he explained that the guards were to blame. The day he was
supposed to leave, they brought him in around 10 at night according to
internal regulations.
"There I was informed that they wouldn't sign my release until midnight
and one minute, not one less nor one more, the duty officer told me. And
I looked at that door where I should be getting out. I had dreamed of
this moment for eight long years, and now the door was in front of me,
begging to be possessed, begging me to take her all night. She offered
herself like a woman receiving me with her legs open, ready to be
penetrated, and I was biting my nails, watching the dark impertinence of
those open arms.
The guards weren't paying me any attention, ignoring the lack of respect
of putting me in front of a naked woman without the ability to touch
her, and I stretched out my fingers, then my hand, stood up, and I don't
remember how, my legs — responding to their own impulse — started to walk.
And in that immense night, without receiving freedom, I was lost.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580, May 2013
4 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xiii-animal-of-freedom-angel-santiesteban/
Emigration
Emigration / Cuban Law Association, Noel Rodriguez Ávila
Posted on June 5, 2013
From an economic point of view Cubans have come to feel that they lack
a future, it has been more than five decades and they have seen no
fruits of their labors, which don't even meet their basic needs of
housing, food, clothing and a job with a decent wage.
The loss of motivation to study careers requiring a technical or
university education comes from there being no economic advantage, nor
even jobs to fill with these qualifications. The insecurity makes people
look to the future and old age with fear.
There is no hope of prosperity. Every discourse has a political focus,
with regards to the economy they only talk about working and being
productive, about control and demands, not of new factories or
investments or more employees. They talk about a primitive agriculture,
subsistence level. An educated people can't accept these miserable
proposals.
Religious freedom is tolerated, but the system doesn't like it. There is
a lack of freedom of expression.
Cuban people are taught to watch each other, there's a paranoia about
being heard and being informed on to the authorities.
The State's organizational structure is designed to convince us that all
is well, or to understand what is wrong by looking for external causes,
or in lower level management and not at the strategy of the higher ups
who re never wrong. This limits the possibility of changes, all this is
integrated into every Cuban citizen leading to a frustrated frustrated,
hopeless personality, faking it, with no exit, looking abroad for an
option, a hope.
The aspiration of every professional is to go on an international
mission to earn a little money, have a house, buy a car, and have some
comforts; when they can't achieve it they want to leave even more to get
away from their family, their country.
Emigration to the United States has also been an option, although risky,
sad and cruel, when people use any kind of floating artifact to get to
that country, to embrace a hope for prosperity and to help their family
who with anguished hope said the magic words, "arrive safely" and then,
gratefully, receive remittances that alleviate their economic stress.
In any event, the solution for Cubans is not outside, but within.
5 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/emigration-cuban-law-association-noel-rodriguez-avila/
Posted on June 5, 2013
From an economic point of view Cubans have come to feel that they lack
a future, it has been more than five decades and they have seen no
fruits of their labors, which don't even meet their basic needs of
housing, food, clothing and a job with a decent wage.
The loss of motivation to study careers requiring a technical or
university education comes from there being no economic advantage, nor
even jobs to fill with these qualifications. The insecurity makes people
look to the future and old age with fear.
There is no hope of prosperity. Every discourse has a political focus,
with regards to the economy they only talk about working and being
productive, about control and demands, not of new factories or
investments or more employees. They talk about a primitive agriculture,
subsistence level. An educated people can't accept these miserable
proposals.
Religious freedom is tolerated, but the system doesn't like it. There is
a lack of freedom of expression.
Cuban people are taught to watch each other, there's a paranoia about
being heard and being informed on to the authorities.
The State's organizational structure is designed to convince us that all
is well, or to understand what is wrong by looking for external causes,
or in lower level management and not at the strategy of the higher ups
who re never wrong. This limits the possibility of changes, all this is
integrated into every Cuban citizen leading to a frustrated frustrated,
hopeless personality, faking it, with no exit, looking abroad for an
option, a hope.
The aspiration of every professional is to go on an international
mission to earn a little money, have a house, buy a car, and have some
comforts; when they can't achieve it they want to leave even more to get
away from their family, their country.
Emigration to the United States has also been an option, although risky,
sad and cruel, when people use any kind of floating artifact to get to
that country, to embrace a hope for prosperity and to help their family
who with anguished hope said the magic words, "arrive safely" and then,
gratefully, receive remittances that alleviate their economic stress.
In any event, the solution for Cubans is not outside, but within.
5 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/emigration-cuban-law-association-noel-rodriguez-avila/
American jailed in Cuba to get checkup by U.S. doctor
American jailed in Cuba to get checkup by U.S. doctor
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
June 5, 2013 -- Updated 2017 GMT (0417 HKT)
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- A U.S. State Department contractor jailed in Cuba
will be allowed to receive a medical exam from a U.S. doctor, a Cuban
government official told CNN Wednesday.
The family of Alan Gross, 64, for months had asked that they be
permitted to send a doctor to examine the Maryland native who is serving
a 15-year sentence for bringing to Cuba banned communications equipment
as part of a U.S. government-funded program to promote democracy on the
island.
Gross' family said that he has lost more than 100 pounds since his
incarceration in 2009 and that a mass on his shoulder may be cancerous.
The Cuban government countered that Gross receives medical care from
Cuban doctors at the prison hospital where he is being held and that he
is in good condition for a man his age.
Jared Gensler, an attorney for Gross, declined to comment on the Cuban
government's allowing Gross to receive a visit from a U.S. physician or
when the visit would take place.
The change in course comes as Cuba has intensified its campaign to
secure the release of Cuban intelligence agents serving lengthy prison
sentences in the United States.
Cuban officials argue that the men infiltrated hard-line Cuban-exile
groups to prevent terrorist attacks on the island.
But U.S. prosecutors called the men spies, and they were convicted in 2001.
Four of the agents remain in U.S. federal prison. The fifth man, Rene
Gonzalez, returned to Cuba last month after serving 14 years in prison
and on supervised release.
Gonzalez, who was born in Chicago, renounced his U.S. citizenship last
month as part of a deal that allowed him to return to the island and not
serve a final year of supervised release in the U.S.
Cuba will continue to push for the four other agents' release, Gonzalez
said in a news conference in Havana Wednesday.
"We have hope that if the American people know about the case, the
facts, they will put pressure on the White House for a solution,"
Gonzalez said.
Last year, Cuban officials said they wanted to negotiate the jailed
agents' case along with Gross'.
"The ball's in their court," said Johana Tablada, subdirector of the
department that oversees U.S. affairs at Cuba's Foreign Ministry. "We
are waiting on the U.S. government's response."
But U.S. officials have rejected calls for a prisoner swap, instead
arguing that Gross did not spy during his visits to Cuba and should be
released immediately.
"Hopefully, a solution can be found that is mutually beneficial," said
Kenia Serrano, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the
Peoples, a Cuban organization working to secure the agents' freedom.
"All the families involved have suffered greatly."
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/05/world/americas/cuba-gross-medical-care/index.html
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
June 5, 2013 -- Updated 2017 GMT (0417 HKT)
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- A U.S. State Department contractor jailed in Cuba
will be allowed to receive a medical exam from a U.S. doctor, a Cuban
government official told CNN Wednesday.
The family of Alan Gross, 64, for months had asked that they be
permitted to send a doctor to examine the Maryland native who is serving
a 15-year sentence for bringing to Cuba banned communications equipment
as part of a U.S. government-funded program to promote democracy on the
island.
Gross' family said that he has lost more than 100 pounds since his
incarceration in 2009 and that a mass on his shoulder may be cancerous.
The Cuban government countered that Gross receives medical care from
Cuban doctors at the prison hospital where he is being held and that he
is in good condition for a man his age.
Jared Gensler, an attorney for Gross, declined to comment on the Cuban
government's allowing Gross to receive a visit from a U.S. physician or
when the visit would take place.
The change in course comes as Cuba has intensified its campaign to
secure the release of Cuban intelligence agents serving lengthy prison
sentences in the United States.
Cuban officials argue that the men infiltrated hard-line Cuban-exile
groups to prevent terrorist attacks on the island.
But U.S. prosecutors called the men spies, and they were convicted in 2001.
Four of the agents remain in U.S. federal prison. The fifth man, Rene
Gonzalez, returned to Cuba last month after serving 14 years in prison
and on supervised release.
Gonzalez, who was born in Chicago, renounced his U.S. citizenship last
month as part of a deal that allowed him to return to the island and not
serve a final year of supervised release in the U.S.
Cuba will continue to push for the four other agents' release, Gonzalez
said in a news conference in Havana Wednesday.
"We have hope that if the American people know about the case, the
facts, they will put pressure on the White House for a solution,"
Gonzalez said.
Last year, Cuban officials said they wanted to negotiate the jailed
agents' case along with Gross'.
"The ball's in their court," said Johana Tablada, subdirector of the
department that oversees U.S. affairs at Cuba's Foreign Ministry. "We
are waiting on the U.S. government's response."
But U.S. officials have rejected calls for a prisoner swap, instead
arguing that Gross did not spy during his visits to Cuba and should be
released immediately.
"Hopefully, a solution can be found that is mutually beneficial," said
Kenia Serrano, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the
Peoples, a Cuban organization working to secure the agents' freedom.
"All the families involved have suffered greatly."
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/05/world/americas/cuba-gross-medical-care/index.html
Change will occur in Cuba, but mainly from within -
Guillermo Martinez: Change will occur in Cuba, but mainly from within
Por Guillermo Martinez para El Sentinel Columnist
June 6, 2013
The sequence never changes.
Just as night follows day, in the days following a visit by a Hollywood
or Latin American star to Cuba, stories pop up demanding the United
States lift the embargo on the Caribbean island. They add that Americans
should be allowed to travel to Cuba at will and assert with certainty
that the Cubans who live in the island will benefit from the changes.
There is no room for discussion. This is dogma, much like the one held
by a majority of Cubans who live in exile who demand freedom of
expression, multi-party democratic elections as pre-conditions for
lifting the noose on the regime led by the Castro brothers for 54 years.
The truth is somewhere between these two contrasting points of view.
Those who ask the United States to lift the embargo never say why the
embargo was imposed in the first place. They forget that Cuba in the
early days of the revolution confiscated without pay all private
property, including hundreds of American companies worth billions of
dollars.
One would think it would be appropriate for those who clamor for
eliminating the embargo to ask as vehemently for the Castro brothers to
accept the repayment of the confiscated properties. If not for Cubans,
it should do so at least for Americans.
Travel to and from the island has grown in recent years. Cuban Americans
– for the most part – are allowed to visit the island to see their
relatives. But Cuban-American journalists have been barred from
traveling to the island to judge for themselves if things in Cuba are
really changing.
I was allowed to travel to Cuba twice in August and September 1978, when
the government wanted to release more than 3,600 political prisoners.
Since then I have applied for visas to travel to Cuba as a journalist
countless times. They never said no. But they never replied.
Exiles have mixed feelings on allowing those who arrived in recent years
to go visit their relatives. If I had been allowed to go to Cuba to
visit my ailing grandmother in the 1960s, I would have gone. Celia Cruz,
the famed Cuban singer, was not allowed to visit her dying mother. It is
unclear if she would have gone.
The vast majority of Cuba´s population has never known any other system
but Communism. If one goes to focus groups where one can see what those
who are arriving from Cuba recently believe, one would clearly
understand that those who live in the island today are interested only
in solving their daily problems, not in political dogma.
Our best chance of promoting a change in the island´s government resides
in helping the dissidents. We should help prize-winning blogger Yoani
Sánchez. We should back Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White,
a group who peacefully marches after mass on Sundays asking that the
government free all political prisoners.
Change in Cuba will come from within. Cultural visits from Hollywood
celebrities will not help. They are just for show. Raúl Castro says he
is imposing changes in how the government rules, but these changes are
much too slow and don´t go far enough. He says Cuba must remain a
Socialist nation (like China or Vietnam) and that is not possible.
If the younger Castro really allows private enterprise to grow within
the island, Cuba will become a capitalist nation. It is much too close
to the United States to become a mixed breed. Capitalism, if given a
chance and on a level playing field, will prove its superiority quickly.
That will not happen, however, as the government pressures institutions
like the Catholic Church to be compliant to the regime´s wishes. Father
José Conrado, who many called the people´s priest, was forced into a
semi-sabbatical to write a book. His criticism of the regime was not
acceptable and the church hierarchy meekly submitted and transferred him
away from his parish.
Cuba is changing, but not as quickly as those in and out of the island
desire. Calls for an end to the embargo and free travel for Americans
won´t solve the problem. They would merely strengthen the government´s
hand into crafting a regime where some freedoms are granted and others
punished.
That is not acceptable.
Guillermo I. Martínez on Twitter at @g_martinez123, or email him at
Guimar123@gmail.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-gmcol-oped0606-20130606,0,909389.column
Por Guillermo Martinez para El Sentinel Columnist
June 6, 2013
The sequence never changes.
Just as night follows day, in the days following a visit by a Hollywood
or Latin American star to Cuba, stories pop up demanding the United
States lift the embargo on the Caribbean island. They add that Americans
should be allowed to travel to Cuba at will and assert with certainty
that the Cubans who live in the island will benefit from the changes.
There is no room for discussion. This is dogma, much like the one held
by a majority of Cubans who live in exile who demand freedom of
expression, multi-party democratic elections as pre-conditions for
lifting the noose on the regime led by the Castro brothers for 54 years.
The truth is somewhere between these two contrasting points of view.
Those who ask the United States to lift the embargo never say why the
embargo was imposed in the first place. They forget that Cuba in the
early days of the revolution confiscated without pay all private
property, including hundreds of American companies worth billions of
dollars.
One would think it would be appropriate for those who clamor for
eliminating the embargo to ask as vehemently for the Castro brothers to
accept the repayment of the confiscated properties. If not for Cubans,
it should do so at least for Americans.
Travel to and from the island has grown in recent years. Cuban Americans
– for the most part – are allowed to visit the island to see their
relatives. But Cuban-American journalists have been barred from
traveling to the island to judge for themselves if things in Cuba are
really changing.
I was allowed to travel to Cuba twice in August and September 1978, when
the government wanted to release more than 3,600 political prisoners.
Since then I have applied for visas to travel to Cuba as a journalist
countless times. They never said no. But they never replied.
Exiles have mixed feelings on allowing those who arrived in recent years
to go visit their relatives. If I had been allowed to go to Cuba to
visit my ailing grandmother in the 1960s, I would have gone. Celia Cruz,
the famed Cuban singer, was not allowed to visit her dying mother. It is
unclear if she would have gone.
The vast majority of Cuba´s population has never known any other system
but Communism. If one goes to focus groups where one can see what those
who are arriving from Cuba recently believe, one would clearly
understand that those who live in the island today are interested only
in solving their daily problems, not in political dogma.
Our best chance of promoting a change in the island´s government resides
in helping the dissidents. We should help prize-winning blogger Yoani
Sánchez. We should back Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White,
a group who peacefully marches after mass on Sundays asking that the
government free all political prisoners.
Change in Cuba will come from within. Cultural visits from Hollywood
celebrities will not help. They are just for show. Raúl Castro says he
is imposing changes in how the government rules, but these changes are
much too slow and don´t go far enough. He says Cuba must remain a
Socialist nation (like China or Vietnam) and that is not possible.
If the younger Castro really allows private enterprise to grow within
the island, Cuba will become a capitalist nation. It is much too close
to the United States to become a mixed breed. Capitalism, if given a
chance and on a level playing field, will prove its superiority quickly.
That will not happen, however, as the government pressures institutions
like the Catholic Church to be compliant to the regime´s wishes. Father
José Conrado, who many called the people´s priest, was forced into a
semi-sabbatical to write a book. His criticism of the regime was not
acceptable and the church hierarchy meekly submitted and transferred him
away from his parish.
Cuba is changing, but not as quickly as those in and out of the island
desire. Calls for an end to the embargo and free travel for Americans
won´t solve the problem. They would merely strengthen the government´s
hand into crafting a regime where some freedoms are granted and others
punished.
That is not acceptable.
Guillermo I. Martínez on Twitter at @g_martinez123, or email him at
Guimar123@gmail.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-gmcol-oped0606-20130606,0,909389.column
Tropical storm Andrea's rains pummeled western Cuba
Posted on Wednesday, 06.05.13
Tropical storm Andrea's rains pummeled western Cuba
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Tropical Storm Andrea's heavy rains pounded western Cuba on Wednesday,
at the start of a hurricane season expected to be particularly active
and only seven months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the eastern end
of the island.
Civil Defense officials declared a weather alarm in Pinar Del Rio
province through Thursday as a low-pressure system approaching from
Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula dumped nearly 12 inches of rain in some spots
over the previous 24 hours.
Andrea, the first named storm of the hurricane season also triggered a
lower-level "alert" for Havana and the adjoining provinces of Artemisa
and Mayabeque. Heavy weather also was expected to hit the Isle of Youth
off Cuba's southwestern coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded Andrea to a tropical storm
Wednesday afternoon, and the National Weather Service issued a flood
warning for parts of western Florida through Thursday evening.
Cuban news media reported some flooding and more than 1,000 people
evacuated already Wednesday, mostly along the Cuyaguateje River in Pinar
del Rio. Six of the province's 24 dams are already full, and they stand
at an average of 59 percent full.
The provincial town of Las Martinas reported more than 10 inches of rain
over 24 hours. The town of Isabel Rubio reported 7.6 inches and rain
gauges in Acueducto Sandino, the Cuyaguateje dam and Laguna Grande all
reported more than eight inches.
Tobacco leaves stored in the province, Cuba's top cigar-producing area
with 44,500 acres planted, are well protected from the humidity and
officials will try to speed up the harvesting of other products, a Pinar
del Rio Agriculture Ministry official reported.
Gladys Martínez Verdecia, head of Civil Defense for the province, said
one tornado was reported but it only damaged three homes.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast
that the hurricane season that began Saturday will be more active than
usual, with 13 to 20 named storms and three to six of them major
hurricanes. Last year saw 19 named storms but only two major hurricanes.
Hurricane Sandy killed 11 people, damaged the homes of more than 75,000
and caused a reported $2 billion in damages when it swept across eastern
Cuba, especially the province and city of Santiago de Cuba on Oct. 25.
Thousands of Santiago residents are still living in shelters or with
relatives or friends, sometimes jammed two and three families into a
couple of rooms.
Most damaged roofs have been covered with a type of thick paper
distributed by the government or tarps donated by Venezuela, residents
say, but the Havana government has delivered few of the supplies needed
for permanent repairs.
Some families received just 30 roof tiles, one small bag of nails, one
sack of cement and some soft lumber likely to rot quickly in Cuba's
humid climate, according to reports from the dissident Cuban Patriotic
Union.
Santiago dissident Pedro Montané told El Nuevo Herald that the
government appears to be helping those people who suffered only partial
damages more than those like himself, who lost his entire roof to Sandy.
"They have given me nothing, nothing," he said by phone from Santiago.
With donations from friends, neighbors and relatives, Montané added, he
replaced part of his roof with corrugated zinc sheets but expects many
leaks in the next storm.
"There's no cement, no lumber," he added, "and the nice red zinc sheets
donated by Venezuela can only be seen in the government stores."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/05/3435605/tropical-storm-andreas-rains.html
Tropical storm Andrea's rains pummeled western Cuba
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Tropical Storm Andrea's heavy rains pounded western Cuba on Wednesday,
at the start of a hurricane season expected to be particularly active
and only seven months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the eastern end
of the island.
Civil Defense officials declared a weather alarm in Pinar Del Rio
province through Thursday as a low-pressure system approaching from
Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula dumped nearly 12 inches of rain in some spots
over the previous 24 hours.
Andrea, the first named storm of the hurricane season also triggered a
lower-level "alert" for Havana and the adjoining provinces of Artemisa
and Mayabeque. Heavy weather also was expected to hit the Isle of Youth
off Cuba's southwestern coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded Andrea to a tropical storm
Wednesday afternoon, and the National Weather Service issued a flood
warning for parts of western Florida through Thursday evening.
Cuban news media reported some flooding and more than 1,000 people
evacuated already Wednesday, mostly along the Cuyaguateje River in Pinar
del Rio. Six of the province's 24 dams are already full, and they stand
at an average of 59 percent full.
The provincial town of Las Martinas reported more than 10 inches of rain
over 24 hours. The town of Isabel Rubio reported 7.6 inches and rain
gauges in Acueducto Sandino, the Cuyaguateje dam and Laguna Grande all
reported more than eight inches.
Tobacco leaves stored in the province, Cuba's top cigar-producing area
with 44,500 acres planted, are well protected from the humidity and
officials will try to speed up the harvesting of other products, a Pinar
del Rio Agriculture Ministry official reported.
Gladys Martínez Verdecia, head of Civil Defense for the province, said
one tornado was reported but it only damaged three homes.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast
that the hurricane season that began Saturday will be more active than
usual, with 13 to 20 named storms and three to six of them major
hurricanes. Last year saw 19 named storms but only two major hurricanes.
Hurricane Sandy killed 11 people, damaged the homes of more than 75,000
and caused a reported $2 billion in damages when it swept across eastern
Cuba, especially the province and city of Santiago de Cuba on Oct. 25.
Thousands of Santiago residents are still living in shelters or with
relatives or friends, sometimes jammed two and three families into a
couple of rooms.
Most damaged roofs have been covered with a type of thick paper
distributed by the government or tarps donated by Venezuela, residents
say, but the Havana government has delivered few of the supplies needed
for permanent repairs.
Some families received just 30 roof tiles, one small bag of nails, one
sack of cement and some soft lumber likely to rot quickly in Cuba's
humid climate, according to reports from the dissident Cuban Patriotic
Union.
Santiago dissident Pedro Montané told El Nuevo Herald that the
government appears to be helping those people who suffered only partial
damages more than those like himself, who lost his entire roof to Sandy.
"They have given me nothing, nothing," he said by phone from Santiago.
With donations from friends, neighbors and relatives, Montané added, he
replaced part of his roof with corrugated zinc sheets but expects many
leaks in the next storm.
"There's no cement, no lumber," he added, "and the nice red zinc sheets
donated by Venezuela can only be seen in the government stores."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/05/3435605/tropical-storm-andreas-rains.html
Cuban agent who renounced U.S. citizenship now just a "Cuban patriot'"
Cuban agent who renounced U.S. citizenship now just a "Cuban patriot'"
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA | Wed Jun 5, 2013 6:53pm EDT
(Reuters) - A Cuban agent who served 13 years behind bars in the United
States for his role in an espionage ring showed off a certificate
renouncing his U.S. citizenship on Friday and said he was now just a
"Cuban patriot."
For Rene Gonzalez, who was born in Chicago but grew up in Cuba and held
dual U.S.-Cuban citizenship, the certificate meant he was the first of
what the Cuban government calls the "Five Heroes" to complete his
sentence and return to the island in a case that has plagued U.S.-Cuban
relations since the 1990s.
He agreed to renounce his U.S. citizenship at the U.S. Interests Section
in Havana this week in exchange for not having to serve the remainder of
a three-year parole in Florida tacked on to the end of his prison term.
"I'm now simply a Cuban citizen, a Cuban patriot, which in all cases
I've always been," Gonzalez, 56, said in a Havana news conference as he
held up the certificate he received on Thursday.
The men known as the "Cuban Five" in the United States were convicted in
a 2001 U.S. trial of conspiring to spy on Cuban exile groups and U.S.
military activities in Florida as part of a Cuba-backed espionage ring
called the "Wasp Network."
Gonzales flew to Florida in an allegedly stolen crop duster in 1990,
posing as a defector from the communist island.
The case is little known outside the Cuban exile community in the United
States, but it is a national cause in Cuba where pictures of the five,
with the word "Volveran" - they will return - are posted everywhere.
Cuba says the agents were unjustly convicted and excessively punished,
and that they were only collecting information on Cuban exile groups
planning actions against the island 90 miles from Key West, Florida.
The trial was held in Miami, center of the exile community and hotbed of
opposition to the Cuban government, particularly former leader Fidel
Castro and his brother, President Raul Castro.
Gonzalez, a lanky, bearded former military pilot, said he was enjoying
walking the streets of Havana again and receiving the affection of the
Cuban people, but that he was not yet truly free because his four
colleagues are still imprisoned in the United States.
"From the first day we were five, we were one. I'm not going to feel
free until my four brothers return," said Gonzalez, who was accompanied
by his wife, Olga Salanueva, at Havana's International Press Center.
One of Gonzalez's co-defendants is serving a double life sentence for
his part in the shooting down in 1996 of two U.S. planes flown by an
exile group that dropped anti-government leaflets over Havana. The other
three are serving sentences that range from 18 years to 30 years.
Gonzalez, well spoken in both Spanish and English, said in his
undercover work with exiles in Miami he had found that most were "not
bad people," but that "some have a philosophy of confrontation between
Cuba and the United States that is very dangerous."
CREATING CONFLICT
"There are some people, some of them members of Congress, that will not
rest until they create conflict between Cuba and the United States. What
I would say to those people is that what they're looking for is a
tragedy," he said.
"The demographics in Miami are changing," Gonzalez said. "I hope that
someday the philosophy of confrontation, of provocation, of terrorism
against Cuba and searching for war between Cuba and the United States
will be a thing of the past."
Some had interpreted the U.S. deal allowing Gonzalez to stay in Cuba as
an indication that something was in the works to free jailed U.S.
contractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year sentence for installing
Internet networks for Cuban Jews in a U.S. program Cuba considers
subversive.
But Gonzalez said U.S. prosecutors agreed to it because they had "run
out of excuses" for opposing it, not as a "humanitarian gesture" they
hoped Cuba would reciprocate.
He said the Gross case should be resolved as part of a global solution
of the problems that have divided Cuba and the United States since the
1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
Cuba has hinted at a possible swap of the "Cuban Five" for Gross, but
the United States has rejected the idea.
Gonzalez said he is reacquainting himself with his wife and two
daughters and hopes to take part in reforms to modernize Cuba's
Soviet-style economy launched by Raul Castro, who succeeded older
brother Fidel Castro in 2008.
Despite the high price Gonzalez paid for his actions, he said he did not
regret them.
"I don't have any regrets, I grew up in a country where bombs were
exploding," he said. "What I desire most is good relations between the
United States and Cuba."
(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Jane Sutton and Vicki Allen)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/05/us-cuba-usa-agent-idUSBRE9541IL20130605
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA | Wed Jun 5, 2013 6:53pm EDT
(Reuters) - A Cuban agent who served 13 years behind bars in the United
States for his role in an espionage ring showed off a certificate
renouncing his U.S. citizenship on Friday and said he was now just a
"Cuban patriot."
For Rene Gonzalez, who was born in Chicago but grew up in Cuba and held
dual U.S.-Cuban citizenship, the certificate meant he was the first of
what the Cuban government calls the "Five Heroes" to complete his
sentence and return to the island in a case that has plagued U.S.-Cuban
relations since the 1990s.
He agreed to renounce his U.S. citizenship at the U.S. Interests Section
in Havana this week in exchange for not having to serve the remainder of
a three-year parole in Florida tacked on to the end of his prison term.
"I'm now simply a Cuban citizen, a Cuban patriot, which in all cases
I've always been," Gonzalez, 56, said in a Havana news conference as he
held up the certificate he received on Thursday.
The men known as the "Cuban Five" in the United States were convicted in
a 2001 U.S. trial of conspiring to spy on Cuban exile groups and U.S.
military activities in Florida as part of a Cuba-backed espionage ring
called the "Wasp Network."
Gonzales flew to Florida in an allegedly stolen crop duster in 1990,
posing as a defector from the communist island.
The case is little known outside the Cuban exile community in the United
States, but it is a national cause in Cuba where pictures of the five,
with the word "Volveran" - they will return - are posted everywhere.
Cuba says the agents were unjustly convicted and excessively punished,
and that they were only collecting information on Cuban exile groups
planning actions against the island 90 miles from Key West, Florida.
The trial was held in Miami, center of the exile community and hotbed of
opposition to the Cuban government, particularly former leader Fidel
Castro and his brother, President Raul Castro.
Gonzalez, a lanky, bearded former military pilot, said he was enjoying
walking the streets of Havana again and receiving the affection of the
Cuban people, but that he was not yet truly free because his four
colleagues are still imprisoned in the United States.
"From the first day we were five, we were one. I'm not going to feel
free until my four brothers return," said Gonzalez, who was accompanied
by his wife, Olga Salanueva, at Havana's International Press Center.
One of Gonzalez's co-defendants is serving a double life sentence for
his part in the shooting down in 1996 of two U.S. planes flown by an
exile group that dropped anti-government leaflets over Havana. The other
three are serving sentences that range from 18 years to 30 years.
Gonzalez, well spoken in both Spanish and English, said in his
undercover work with exiles in Miami he had found that most were "not
bad people," but that "some have a philosophy of confrontation between
Cuba and the United States that is very dangerous."
CREATING CONFLICT
"There are some people, some of them members of Congress, that will not
rest until they create conflict between Cuba and the United States. What
I would say to those people is that what they're looking for is a
tragedy," he said.
"The demographics in Miami are changing," Gonzalez said. "I hope that
someday the philosophy of confrontation, of provocation, of terrorism
against Cuba and searching for war between Cuba and the United States
will be a thing of the past."
Some had interpreted the U.S. deal allowing Gonzalez to stay in Cuba as
an indication that something was in the works to free jailed U.S.
contractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year sentence for installing
Internet networks for Cuban Jews in a U.S. program Cuba considers
subversive.
But Gonzalez said U.S. prosecutors agreed to it because they had "run
out of excuses" for opposing it, not as a "humanitarian gesture" they
hoped Cuba would reciprocate.
He said the Gross case should be resolved as part of a global solution
of the problems that have divided Cuba and the United States since the
1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
Cuba has hinted at a possible swap of the "Cuban Five" for Gross, but
the United States has rejected the idea.
Gonzalez said he is reacquainting himself with his wife and two
daughters and hopes to take part in reforms to modernize Cuba's
Soviet-style economy launched by Raul Castro, who succeeded older
brother Fidel Castro in 2008.
Despite the high price Gonzalez paid for his actions, he said he did not
regret them.
"I don't have any regrets, I grew up in a country where bombs were
exploding," he said. "What I desire most is good relations between the
United States and Cuba."
(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Jane Sutton and Vicki Allen)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/05/us-cuba-usa-agent-idUSBRE9541IL20130605
CUBA's Cardinal Jaime Ortega must resign
June 5, 2013
CUBA's Cardinal Jaime Ortega must resign
"Houston, we have a Communist"
By Marielena Montesino de Stuart
Is Cardinal Jaime Ortega emboldened by Francis' rise to power?
Why has Cardinal Ortega embarked on a brazen socialist propaganda scheme
through the Archdiocese of Havana?
Fifty four years of lies
For more than 54 years the Cuban people have been subjected to lies from
the Vatican's modernist hierarchy – which has maintained an Ostpolitik
approach to Communism.
I have written and spoken about this extensively, as in The Beijing
Affair (Part Three) published last month – where I addressed the
Vatican's refusal to condemn Communism, as part of the "rules of
conduct" set forth during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (Vatican
II).
The Cuban people, inside the island prison, as well as the exiled
community, have suffered not just under Castro's bloody Communist regime
– but also due to the betrayal of Catholic prelates who travel the globe
– repeating their one-liners and empty rhetoric, at symposiums and
conferences – based on their on-going dialogue with the enemy.
Meanwhile, the people of Cuba continue to experience unspeakable
persecution and suffering at the hands of their Communist captors.
Houston, we have a Communist
Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega has never fooled anyone – except those who
choose to ride the coattails of modernist Cardinals.
Ortega is a perfect example of the hypocritical game played by modernist
Vatican officials – in the ongoing dialogue and rapprochement with the
Communists, which has often been duplicitous towards dissidents,
prisoners and Cubans in exile.
Ortega has shown his true colors again, through the Archdiocese of
Havana's lay apostolate publication, Espacio Laical, which has published
a series of wordy, ignorant, convoluted and embarrassing apologies for
the Communist regime through its Editorial No. 230 (May 2013) –
essentially claiming that there is potential for change in Cuba, within
a progressive (socialist) framework.
In the editorial diatribe of EspacioLaical one can find every excuse for
rejecting freedom, including the condemnation of "certain individuals"
who insist on asking "important centers of power" to "destabilize the
government of Cuba" – which could in turn be "fundamentally detrimental
to the people of the Island."
To add insult to injury, the editorial refers to Cuba's oppressive
Communist measures as "inflexibilities":
"Realmente pueden existir fundamentos que justifiquen ciertas
inflexibilidades..."
TRANSLATION: "Actually, there can be grounds that could justify certain
inflexibilities..."
Espacio Laical continues by advising the Castro regime on an improved
governing model that would not expand these "inflexibilities" – in order
to keep Cuba from falling into "the abyss."
What?
Cardinal Ortega, you are insulting the intelligence of human beings
across the globe. Frankly, this editorial can only be described as
heartless.
People in Cuba are starving – and are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured
and executed, when they express their opposition to the Communist
regime. Are these some of the "inflexibilities" that the Archdiocese of
Havana deems justifiable?
But it appears that Cardinal Ortega and his propaganda writers at the
Archdiocese of Havana do not want to "destabilize" this Communist state
of terror.
Keep Cuba from falling into "the abyss"?
Cardinal Ortega, Cuba IS "the abyss."
A Communist abyss of abortion, hunger, political imprisonment, torture,
executions, sexual tourism, human trafficking – and every barbaric
behavior known to man.
The editorial also rejects the post-Soviet Eastern European economic and
political milieux, "which the immense majority of Cubans do not want."
What?
Is Cardinal Ortega conducting scientific polls in the streets of Havana
to see what form of government the Cuban people want? Has Ortega
forgotten that Cuba is ruled by a brutal Communist dictatorship?
What a pack of lies!
When it comes to the "immense majority" – I would like to remind
Cardinal Ortega that the opinion of the Cuban diaspora is essential.
Those of us who were born and raised in Cuba and suffered horrific
persecution under Castro's Communist regime, have the right to be
included in the decision-making process of Cuba's future, regardless of
the fact that we do not live in the Island. The Cuban diaspora also
includes the opinion and participation of those of us who are faithful
Roman Catholics. Surely, Cardinal Ortega would not want to exclude us!
Anywhere... as long as it is not in Cuba
Short of moving to North Korea – most people in Cuba, including the
government's collaborators, would live anywhere, as long as it is not in
Cuba. This is why for more than 54 years, hundreds of thousands of
Cubans have chosen to risk their lives to escape the Island. Untold
thousands have drowned in the Straits of Florida, or have been killed
while they desperately fled, trying to seek freedom.
The propaganda editorial published by the Archdiocese of Havana is one
of the most depressing pieces I have read in a long time, in light of
the reality faced by the Cuban people for more than 54 years. The ideas
presented reflect minds that were sucked into a dark Communist vortex
long ago – incapable of understanding what true freedom is all about.
Tragically, America is being incrementally sucked into this dark vortex
– and future generations eventually will not be able to appreciate the
precious gem that freedom is – because they will have lost it.
Ironically, Cardinal Jaime Ortega could learn a lesson from the
dedicated Marxists he has hired to write these pieces for the
Archdiocese of Havana, since they at least are consistent, by not
invoking or using Christianity or the Virgin Mary in their propaganda.
Let's see if Cardinal Ortega can be as consistent in his homilies.
Parting thoughts for Cardinal Jaime Ortega...
Cardinal Jaime Ortega, are you emboldened by Francis' rise to power, as
you embark on such a brazen socialist propaganda scheme, through the
Archdiocese of Havana?
Why don't you consider the people of Cuba worthy of true freedom?
What an insult to your own people and to humanity!
The statements that have been published in the Archdiocese of Havana's
EspacioLaical editorial No. 230 (May 2013) are a clear indication that
you have failed to protect and lead your flock in Cuba.
You ignore the fact, Cardinal Ortega, that the basis for all public
policies should not rest on ambiguous catch phrases or more socialist
schemes – but rather on the Commandments of God and on the Natural Law,
which binds all men, for all times and in all circumstances.
The Cuban people deserve no less than this.
As such, I thank God through The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, all
the martyrs and saints and His entire Heavenly Court – that I live in
the United States of America, the country that gave me freedom – and
that I am not trapped back in Cuba watching you "dialogue" with my
former Communist captors.
Cardinal Ortega, don't wait for Francis' de rigueur reply – as part of
your 75-year old retirement petition to the Holy See.
Please resign now – lest you wish to spend the rest of your life as a
Cardinal retired in shame. Someone has to say the truth... ♔
© Marielena Montesino de Stuart"
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/marielena/130605
CUBA's Cardinal Jaime Ortega must resign
"Houston, we have a Communist"
By Marielena Montesino de Stuart
Is Cardinal Jaime Ortega emboldened by Francis' rise to power?
Why has Cardinal Ortega embarked on a brazen socialist propaganda scheme
through the Archdiocese of Havana?
Fifty four years of lies
For more than 54 years the Cuban people have been subjected to lies from
the Vatican's modernist hierarchy – which has maintained an Ostpolitik
approach to Communism.
I have written and spoken about this extensively, as in The Beijing
Affair (Part Three) published last month – where I addressed the
Vatican's refusal to condemn Communism, as part of the "rules of
conduct" set forth during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (Vatican
II).
The Cuban people, inside the island prison, as well as the exiled
community, have suffered not just under Castro's bloody Communist regime
– but also due to the betrayal of Catholic prelates who travel the globe
– repeating their one-liners and empty rhetoric, at symposiums and
conferences – based on their on-going dialogue with the enemy.
Meanwhile, the people of Cuba continue to experience unspeakable
persecution and suffering at the hands of their Communist captors.
Houston, we have a Communist
Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega has never fooled anyone – except those who
choose to ride the coattails of modernist Cardinals.
Ortega is a perfect example of the hypocritical game played by modernist
Vatican officials – in the ongoing dialogue and rapprochement with the
Communists, which has often been duplicitous towards dissidents,
prisoners and Cubans in exile.
Ortega has shown his true colors again, through the Archdiocese of
Havana's lay apostolate publication, Espacio Laical, which has published
a series of wordy, ignorant, convoluted and embarrassing apologies for
the Communist regime through its Editorial No. 230 (May 2013) –
essentially claiming that there is potential for change in Cuba, within
a progressive (socialist) framework.
In the editorial diatribe of EspacioLaical one can find every excuse for
rejecting freedom, including the condemnation of "certain individuals"
who insist on asking "important centers of power" to "destabilize the
government of Cuba" – which could in turn be "fundamentally detrimental
to the people of the Island."
To add insult to injury, the editorial refers to Cuba's oppressive
Communist measures as "inflexibilities":
"Realmente pueden existir fundamentos que justifiquen ciertas
inflexibilidades..."
TRANSLATION: "Actually, there can be grounds that could justify certain
inflexibilities..."
Espacio Laical continues by advising the Castro regime on an improved
governing model that would not expand these "inflexibilities" – in order
to keep Cuba from falling into "the abyss."
What?
Cardinal Ortega, you are insulting the intelligence of human beings
across the globe. Frankly, this editorial can only be described as
heartless.
People in Cuba are starving – and are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured
and executed, when they express their opposition to the Communist
regime. Are these some of the "inflexibilities" that the Archdiocese of
Havana deems justifiable?
But it appears that Cardinal Ortega and his propaganda writers at the
Archdiocese of Havana do not want to "destabilize" this Communist state
of terror.
Keep Cuba from falling into "the abyss"?
Cardinal Ortega, Cuba IS "the abyss."
A Communist abyss of abortion, hunger, political imprisonment, torture,
executions, sexual tourism, human trafficking – and every barbaric
behavior known to man.
The editorial also rejects the post-Soviet Eastern European economic and
political milieux, "which the immense majority of Cubans do not want."
What?
Is Cardinal Ortega conducting scientific polls in the streets of Havana
to see what form of government the Cuban people want? Has Ortega
forgotten that Cuba is ruled by a brutal Communist dictatorship?
What a pack of lies!
When it comes to the "immense majority" – I would like to remind
Cardinal Ortega that the opinion of the Cuban diaspora is essential.
Those of us who were born and raised in Cuba and suffered horrific
persecution under Castro's Communist regime, have the right to be
included in the decision-making process of Cuba's future, regardless of
the fact that we do not live in the Island. The Cuban diaspora also
includes the opinion and participation of those of us who are faithful
Roman Catholics. Surely, Cardinal Ortega would not want to exclude us!
Anywhere... as long as it is not in Cuba
Short of moving to North Korea – most people in Cuba, including the
government's collaborators, would live anywhere, as long as it is not in
Cuba. This is why for more than 54 years, hundreds of thousands of
Cubans have chosen to risk their lives to escape the Island. Untold
thousands have drowned in the Straits of Florida, or have been killed
while they desperately fled, trying to seek freedom.
The propaganda editorial published by the Archdiocese of Havana is one
of the most depressing pieces I have read in a long time, in light of
the reality faced by the Cuban people for more than 54 years. The ideas
presented reflect minds that were sucked into a dark Communist vortex
long ago – incapable of understanding what true freedom is all about.
Tragically, America is being incrementally sucked into this dark vortex
– and future generations eventually will not be able to appreciate the
precious gem that freedom is – because they will have lost it.
Ironically, Cardinal Jaime Ortega could learn a lesson from the
dedicated Marxists he has hired to write these pieces for the
Archdiocese of Havana, since they at least are consistent, by not
invoking or using Christianity or the Virgin Mary in their propaganda.
Let's see if Cardinal Ortega can be as consistent in his homilies.
Parting thoughts for Cardinal Jaime Ortega...
Cardinal Jaime Ortega, are you emboldened by Francis' rise to power, as
you embark on such a brazen socialist propaganda scheme, through the
Archdiocese of Havana?
Why don't you consider the people of Cuba worthy of true freedom?
What an insult to your own people and to humanity!
The statements that have been published in the Archdiocese of Havana's
EspacioLaical editorial No. 230 (May 2013) are a clear indication that
you have failed to protect and lead your flock in Cuba.
You ignore the fact, Cardinal Ortega, that the basis for all public
policies should not rest on ambiguous catch phrases or more socialist
schemes – but rather on the Commandments of God and on the Natural Law,
which binds all men, for all times and in all circumstances.
The Cuban people deserve no less than this.
As such, I thank God through The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, all
the martyrs and saints and His entire Heavenly Court – that I live in
the United States of America, the country that gave me freedom – and
that I am not trapped back in Cuba watching you "dialogue" with my
former Communist captors.
Cardinal Ortega, don't wait for Francis' de rigueur reply – as part of
your 75-year old retirement petition to the Holy See.
Please resign now – lest you wish to spend the rest of your life as a
Cardinal retired in shame. Someone has to say the truth... ♔
© Marielena Montesino de Stuart"
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/marielena/130605
The saga of the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes
Posted on Tuesday, 06.04.13
The saga of the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes
By Gail Epstein
gepstein@MiamiHerald.com
The fatal shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban
military pilots was sudden, shocking and heart-breaking. Four Miami men
were killed, and the shootdown became the driving reason the U.S.
government prosecuted and imprisoned five Cuban spies. One of them,
Gerardo Hernandez, was convicted of murder conspiracy in connection with
the shootdown because trial evidence showed he knew of the shooting plan
in advance.
I was in the newsroom when my phone rang on Feb. 24, 1996, and a law
enforcement source told me that a Cuban MiG had blasted the volunteer
group's Cessnas out of the sky as they flew over the Florida Straits
looking for rafters. I told my editors, who immediately rounded up Miami
Herald reporters in Miami and Washington, D.C.
Staffers hit the streets, still trying to wrap their minds around what
had happened while operating with little information. Where was Jose
Basulto, the high-profile founder of Brothers to the Rescue? What was
the scene at the group's hangar in Opa-locka? Who had been flying on the
downed aircraft? What did the U.S. military know? How would the White
House respond? What would this mean for U.S.-Cuba relations?
Countless questions, as always on the first day of a major story. On
that Saturday and the next day, the Herald produced 14 stories
dissecting every aspect of what was being called the most provocative
action by Cuba since the missile crisis of 1962. But answers were
tougher than usual to come by, because the "other side'' we needed to
hear from was Fidel and Raúl Castro.
Five years later, I sat in a federal courtroom in Miami with Hernandez
and his four comrades — hailed as "heroes'' in Cuba — as a jury
convicted them for spying on Brothers to the Rescue and other exile
groups, and on U.S. military installations. Theirs was a remarkable
six-month trial the likes of which had never been seen, featuring Cold
War intrigue and unprecedented cooperation from Havana, determined as it
was to put Brothers, Cuban exiles and the U.S. government on trial along
with its intelligence agents.
Both stories — the shootdown and the spies — were transformative
chapters in the long saga of Miami's Cuban exile community.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/04/3431391/the-saga-of-the-shootdown-of-the.html
The saga of the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes
By Gail Epstein
gepstein@MiamiHerald.com
The fatal shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban
military pilots was sudden, shocking and heart-breaking. Four Miami men
were killed, and the shootdown became the driving reason the U.S.
government prosecuted and imprisoned five Cuban spies. One of them,
Gerardo Hernandez, was convicted of murder conspiracy in connection with
the shootdown because trial evidence showed he knew of the shooting plan
in advance.
I was in the newsroom when my phone rang on Feb. 24, 1996, and a law
enforcement source told me that a Cuban MiG had blasted the volunteer
group's Cessnas out of the sky as they flew over the Florida Straits
looking for rafters. I told my editors, who immediately rounded up Miami
Herald reporters in Miami and Washington, D.C.
Staffers hit the streets, still trying to wrap their minds around what
had happened while operating with little information. Where was Jose
Basulto, the high-profile founder of Brothers to the Rescue? What was
the scene at the group's hangar in Opa-locka? Who had been flying on the
downed aircraft? What did the U.S. military know? How would the White
House respond? What would this mean for U.S.-Cuba relations?
Countless questions, as always on the first day of a major story. On
that Saturday and the next day, the Herald produced 14 stories
dissecting every aspect of what was being called the most provocative
action by Cuba since the missile crisis of 1962. But answers were
tougher than usual to come by, because the "other side'' we needed to
hear from was Fidel and Raúl Castro.
Five years later, I sat in a federal courtroom in Miami with Hernandez
and his four comrades — hailed as "heroes'' in Cuba — as a jury
convicted them for spying on Brothers to the Rescue and other exile
groups, and on U.S. military installations. Theirs was a remarkable
six-month trial the likes of which had never been seen, featuring Cold
War intrigue and unprecedented cooperation from Havana, determined as it
was to put Brothers, Cuban exiles and the U.S. government on trial along
with its intelligence agents.
Both stories — the shootdown and the spies — were transformative
chapters in the long saga of Miami's Cuban exile community.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/04/3431391/the-saga-of-the-shootdown-of-the.html
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Cuba Admits Gross Is a Pawn
POLITICAL DIARY
June 4, 2013, 2:31 p.m. ET
Cuba Admits Gross Is a Pawn
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY
Is Washington engaged in a negotiation with Havana to try to free U.S.
Agency for International Development contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban
jail? If so, what's on the table?
Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.), Albio Sires (D., N.J.), and Mario
Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.) didn't ask exactly these questions when they
wrote to the State Department's Assistant Secretary of Western
Hemispheric Affairs Roberta Jacobson Monday, requesting a meeting, but
there can be little doubt about their concerns.
The letter was prompted by the issuance of a visa last month to Josefina
Vidal Ferreiro, Cuba's director of North American affairs for the Cuban
foreign ministry, so that she could meet with Ms. Jacobson. It is the
second time Ms. Vidal was granted a U.S. visa in just over 12 months.
This has raised some congressional eyebrows, and not only because Ms.
Vidal's husband is a former diplomat to Washington who was "declared
persona non grata and expelled for his 'activities hostile to the
national security,'" according to the letter.
A larger problem is that Ms. Vidal is a high-ranking member of Cuba's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As such, the congressmen pointed out in
their letter, "her sole mission is to promote the Cuban regime's
propaganda, undermine U.S. interests, and justify" Cuba's repression of
its own people. "In addition, she has been at the forefront defending
the Cuban regime's unjust holding of a U.S. citizen and harboring U.S.
fugitives."
The implication is that the Obama administration is playing footsie with
the Castros. If so, it would seem to be exactly what Ms. Vidal was
asking for when she appeared in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on
May 10. The CNN host asked, "What would be good for Cuba that could
potentially open the door to freeing Mr. Gross?" Ms. Vidal answered:
"For Cuba it would be a right to have a response on the part of the U.S.
government about its willingness to respond to our proposal to sit down
and initiate a negotiation on [the Gross case] and many other matters
concerning our bilateral relationship."
In other words, Mr. Gross is a negotiating chip. Ms. Vidal would not say
what Cuba wants in exchange for letting him go, but the release of
several Cuban intelligence officers convicted in 2001 of spying on the
U.S. is likely on the list.
Not surprisingly, the three Cuban-American congressmen object to
negotiating with the dictatorship and are asking, "What was the purpose
and intent" of Ms. Vidal's trip and "what issues were discussed during
her meeting with Ms. Jacobson?" In addition, they have asked for an
"update" on Mr. Gross's case, which began in December 2009 when he was
arrested by Cuban authorities for having brought satellite
telecommunications equipment into the country. The 64 year-old is now
serving a 15-year sentence in Havana for his "crime."
For the record, Ms. Vidal also told CNN viewers that Cuba has free
elections, political competition and free speech.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323469804578523960704816792.html
June 4, 2013, 2:31 p.m. ET
Cuba Admits Gross Is a Pawn
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY
Is Washington engaged in a negotiation with Havana to try to free U.S.
Agency for International Development contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban
jail? If so, what's on the table?
Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.), Albio Sires (D., N.J.), and Mario
Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.) didn't ask exactly these questions when they
wrote to the State Department's Assistant Secretary of Western
Hemispheric Affairs Roberta Jacobson Monday, requesting a meeting, but
there can be little doubt about their concerns.
The letter was prompted by the issuance of a visa last month to Josefina
Vidal Ferreiro, Cuba's director of North American affairs for the Cuban
foreign ministry, so that she could meet with Ms. Jacobson. It is the
second time Ms. Vidal was granted a U.S. visa in just over 12 months.
This has raised some congressional eyebrows, and not only because Ms.
Vidal's husband is a former diplomat to Washington who was "declared
persona non grata and expelled for his 'activities hostile to the
national security,'" according to the letter.
A larger problem is that Ms. Vidal is a high-ranking member of Cuba's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As such, the congressmen pointed out in
their letter, "her sole mission is to promote the Cuban regime's
propaganda, undermine U.S. interests, and justify" Cuba's repression of
its own people. "In addition, she has been at the forefront defending
the Cuban regime's unjust holding of a U.S. citizen and harboring U.S.
fugitives."
The implication is that the Obama administration is playing footsie with
the Castros. If so, it would seem to be exactly what Ms. Vidal was
asking for when she appeared in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on
May 10. The CNN host asked, "What would be good for Cuba that could
potentially open the door to freeing Mr. Gross?" Ms. Vidal answered:
"For Cuba it would be a right to have a response on the part of the U.S.
government about its willingness to respond to our proposal to sit down
and initiate a negotiation on [the Gross case] and many other matters
concerning our bilateral relationship."
In other words, Mr. Gross is a negotiating chip. Ms. Vidal would not say
what Cuba wants in exchange for letting him go, but the release of
several Cuban intelligence officers convicted in 2001 of spying on the
U.S. is likely on the list.
Not surprisingly, the three Cuban-American congressmen object to
negotiating with the dictatorship and are asking, "What was the purpose
and intent" of Ms. Vidal's trip and "what issues were discussed during
her meeting with Ms. Jacobson?" In addition, they have asked for an
"update" on Mr. Gross's case, which began in December 2009 when he was
arrested by Cuban authorities for having brought satellite
telecommunications equipment into the country. The 64 year-old is now
serving a 15-year sentence in Havana for his "crime."
For the record, Ms. Vidal also told CNN viewers that Cuba has free
elections, political competition and free speech.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323469804578523960704816792.html
Who are Cuba's Dissidents Addressing?
Who are Cuba's Dissidents Addressing?
June 5, 2013
What would happen if members of Cuba's leadership accepted an exchange
with figures of the opposition?
Haroldo Dilla Alfonso*
HAVANA TIMES — The recent international tours of several prominent Cuban
dissidents have been meticulously documented by the world's media. I
think this has been very positive, in many ways.
To begin with, it allowed these individuals to come into contact with an
entire sector of Cuban society which does not reside on the island and,
on the basis of this exchange, to begin training in the kind of
argumentation and public debate of ideas that is never demanded of them
in Cuba.
Having secured greater international exposure, something which will
doubtlessly help soften the onslaughts of State repression, is no less
significant.
It is not my intention to draw a balance of this recent process, which,
to be sure, has not yet ended. I will limit myself to writing that, at
first glance, everyone seems to have availed themselves of the
opportunities opened up to them.
To mention one example, I was surprised by the composure and coherence
shown by Yoani Sanchez, who has lengthened her political CV with
impressive experience thanks to this tour. In all cases, we saw a
decisive step forward, in a new era of international exposure for the
opposition – a time that, as with everything else in life, entails both
new opportunities and new threats.
Despite these achievements, I feel that some personalities have shown a
preference for certain sectors of Cuban émigrés that could seriously
undermine their relationship with the community that supposedly
constitutes their political audience, that is, with those Cubans
residing on the island.
Such choices raise the question of who these dissidents are addressing
as they attempt to bring together the social bases of their political
platforms. If we conceive of these dissidents as political figures and
assume they have legitimate public aspirations, then I believe that they
should articulate their positions regarding complex issues more
precisely, and that we ought to demand this of them.
This has been the case, for instance, with the issue of the U.S.
blockade/embargo. I won't go into the historical, juridical or political
background of this whole affair, which is key to any public proposal
regarding Cuba's future. Anyone who reads these pages knows that I am
absolutely opposed to the embargo, and for more than one reason.
The Ladies in White during a protest march in Havana. Photo:
alongthemalecon.com
For now, I only wish to point out one fact: it is not unreasonable to
presume that the immense majority of Cubans alive today are against the
embargo. According to polls, a little over half of all Cuban émigrés are
opposed to it, and it is safe to assume that huge numbers of people in
Cuba condemn it also.
Consequently, if a politician wishes to win over the hearts and minds of
Cuba's population, I think they would be pretty much obliged to condemn
the US blockade/embargo. Or, if they do not publicly condemn it, they
should at least show a bit more sophistication that did the leader of
the Ladies in White, on stating the United States must handle Cuba with
a "firm hand", so as to stifle the government and spark off an
apocalyptic revolt in the country.
Now, if the target of Berta Soler's political discourse are the
hardliners of Cuba's exile community and the aim is to secure their
favor and access to US financing, then, the "firm hand" is no doubt the
ideal image to reach this goal.
If I lived in Cuba, however, and had come to sympathize with the
humanitarian exploits of these courageous women, and found out that
their leader was asking for harsh measures against me and my family, and
was asking such measures from the country that strikes me as the devil
incarnate (because it has acted as such on occasion, and has been
portrayed as such in others), then I would have more than enough reasons
to feel somewhat frustrated and cheated.
If leaders of Cuba's opposition ought to learn anything from this half
century of revolutionary history, it is the fact that nationalist
sentiments are a key political capital in Cuba.
It is true that dissidents aren't exactly free to choose their
interlocutors, but are rather beset by the highly polarized
circumstances that prevail in Cuba. It is also true that the
possibilities of establishing links to society, be it through words or
actions, are always severely limited by the State's repressive
apparatus. This helps explain the obliquity of their declarations, but
does not justify it.
But, what would happen if members of Cuba's leadership accepted an
exchange with figures of the opposition?
This is the possibility that one of the most exemplary and self-denying
of Cuban dissidents, Guillermo Fariñas, is apparently suggesting.
According to Fariñas, he has, accidentally or intentionally, come into
contact on more than one occasion with high Cuban government officials,
culled from the military circles he was a part of before becoming a
declared dissident.
Guillermo Fariñas. Photo: forocomunista.com
He refers to half a dozen high-ranking officials who speak to him of
such delicate matters as a proposal to include dissidents in Cuba's
parliament, the subordination of Raul Castro to his senile brother,
their fears of having to repress an uprising calling for political
changes and of flirting with other transitional processes taking place
in the high spheres of power. He also speaks of a less than friendly and
casual meeting with Cuba's new Vice-President.
If this is the case, and I have no reason to assume Fariñas is lying,
then we would be facing a rather complex situation, in which the
renowned dissident speaks openly of his sensitive ties to those in power
and puts at risk his potential interlocutors within the Cuban
government, in order to strengthen his public image before Miami's
Cuban-American circles.
The way Fariñas portrays himself, as a privileged interlocutor who has
no qualms about sharing his private exchanges, is precisely the contrary
of what any power faction in Cuba is looking for.
None of this undermines the value that I believe these people have, nor
does it prevent me from recognizing the difficult conditions they face
on a daily basis or from continuing to admire them for their actions.
But, if we are at all concerned about the political effectiveness of
their discourses, we must recall that politics – in which they will
invariably have to become involved – is not a catwalk, but, as Weber
said, a satanic dance where the forces of evil are constantly clashing
against the armies commanded by the goddess of love.
It is a game where many decisions are completely wrong, and where none
is absolutely right. A spell-binding journey full of twists and turns,
where the mind and heart suffer surprise attacks, and the tongue is
almost always ambushed.
And these ambushes are almost always deadly.
(*) A Havana Times translation of the original published in Spanish by
Cubaencuentro.com.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=94104
June 5, 2013
What would happen if members of Cuba's leadership accepted an exchange
with figures of the opposition?
Haroldo Dilla Alfonso*
HAVANA TIMES — The recent international tours of several prominent Cuban
dissidents have been meticulously documented by the world's media. I
think this has been very positive, in many ways.
To begin with, it allowed these individuals to come into contact with an
entire sector of Cuban society which does not reside on the island and,
on the basis of this exchange, to begin training in the kind of
argumentation and public debate of ideas that is never demanded of them
in Cuba.
Having secured greater international exposure, something which will
doubtlessly help soften the onslaughts of State repression, is no less
significant.
It is not my intention to draw a balance of this recent process, which,
to be sure, has not yet ended. I will limit myself to writing that, at
first glance, everyone seems to have availed themselves of the
opportunities opened up to them.
To mention one example, I was surprised by the composure and coherence
shown by Yoani Sanchez, who has lengthened her political CV with
impressive experience thanks to this tour. In all cases, we saw a
decisive step forward, in a new era of international exposure for the
opposition – a time that, as with everything else in life, entails both
new opportunities and new threats.
Despite these achievements, I feel that some personalities have shown a
preference for certain sectors of Cuban émigrés that could seriously
undermine their relationship with the community that supposedly
constitutes their political audience, that is, with those Cubans
residing on the island.
Such choices raise the question of who these dissidents are addressing
as they attempt to bring together the social bases of their political
platforms. If we conceive of these dissidents as political figures and
assume they have legitimate public aspirations, then I believe that they
should articulate their positions regarding complex issues more
precisely, and that we ought to demand this of them.
This has been the case, for instance, with the issue of the U.S.
blockade/embargo. I won't go into the historical, juridical or political
background of this whole affair, which is key to any public proposal
regarding Cuba's future. Anyone who reads these pages knows that I am
absolutely opposed to the embargo, and for more than one reason.
The Ladies in White during a protest march in Havana. Photo:
alongthemalecon.com
For now, I only wish to point out one fact: it is not unreasonable to
presume that the immense majority of Cubans alive today are against the
embargo. According to polls, a little over half of all Cuban émigrés are
opposed to it, and it is safe to assume that huge numbers of people in
Cuba condemn it also.
Consequently, if a politician wishes to win over the hearts and minds of
Cuba's population, I think they would be pretty much obliged to condemn
the US blockade/embargo. Or, if they do not publicly condemn it, they
should at least show a bit more sophistication that did the leader of
the Ladies in White, on stating the United States must handle Cuba with
a "firm hand", so as to stifle the government and spark off an
apocalyptic revolt in the country.
Now, if the target of Berta Soler's political discourse are the
hardliners of Cuba's exile community and the aim is to secure their
favor and access to US financing, then, the "firm hand" is no doubt the
ideal image to reach this goal.
If I lived in Cuba, however, and had come to sympathize with the
humanitarian exploits of these courageous women, and found out that
their leader was asking for harsh measures against me and my family, and
was asking such measures from the country that strikes me as the devil
incarnate (because it has acted as such on occasion, and has been
portrayed as such in others), then I would have more than enough reasons
to feel somewhat frustrated and cheated.
If leaders of Cuba's opposition ought to learn anything from this half
century of revolutionary history, it is the fact that nationalist
sentiments are a key political capital in Cuba.
It is true that dissidents aren't exactly free to choose their
interlocutors, but are rather beset by the highly polarized
circumstances that prevail in Cuba. It is also true that the
possibilities of establishing links to society, be it through words or
actions, are always severely limited by the State's repressive
apparatus. This helps explain the obliquity of their declarations, but
does not justify it.
But, what would happen if members of Cuba's leadership accepted an
exchange with figures of the opposition?
This is the possibility that one of the most exemplary and self-denying
of Cuban dissidents, Guillermo Fariñas, is apparently suggesting.
According to Fariñas, he has, accidentally or intentionally, come into
contact on more than one occasion with high Cuban government officials,
culled from the military circles he was a part of before becoming a
declared dissident.
Guillermo Fariñas. Photo: forocomunista.com
He refers to half a dozen high-ranking officials who speak to him of
such delicate matters as a proposal to include dissidents in Cuba's
parliament, the subordination of Raul Castro to his senile brother,
their fears of having to repress an uprising calling for political
changes and of flirting with other transitional processes taking place
in the high spheres of power. He also speaks of a less than friendly and
casual meeting with Cuba's new Vice-President.
If this is the case, and I have no reason to assume Fariñas is lying,
then we would be facing a rather complex situation, in which the
renowned dissident speaks openly of his sensitive ties to those in power
and puts at risk his potential interlocutors within the Cuban
government, in order to strengthen his public image before Miami's
Cuban-American circles.
The way Fariñas portrays himself, as a privileged interlocutor who has
no qualms about sharing his private exchanges, is precisely the contrary
of what any power faction in Cuba is looking for.
None of this undermines the value that I believe these people have, nor
does it prevent me from recognizing the difficult conditions they face
on a daily basis or from continuing to admire them for their actions.
But, if we are at all concerned about the political effectiveness of
their discourses, we must recall that politics – in which they will
invariably have to become involved – is not a catwalk, but, as Weber
said, a satanic dance where the forces of evil are constantly clashing
against the armies commanded by the goddess of love.
It is a game where many decisions are completely wrong, and where none
is absolutely right. A spell-binding journey full of twists and turns,
where the mind and heart suffer surprise attacks, and the tongue is
almost always ambushed.
And these ambushes are almost always deadly.
(*) A Havana Times translation of the original published in Spanish by
Cubaencuentro.com.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=94104
Cuba wants to swap drugs for Dominican products
Cuba wants to swap drugs for Dominican products
Jun 5 at 8:54 AM
Havana.
Santo Domingo.- Havana proposed to Santo Domingo a swap of its drugs and
other local products, Cuba's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Center (IGBC) director Luis Herrera Martinez announced Tuesday.
He said the Cuban government contacted president Danilo Medina last
week, and proposed "the possibility of sharing mechanisms and marketing
of pharmaceutical products" with products of Dominican origin.
The proposal was channeled through the company TecnHospital Dominican
SRL, which locally represents the drugs made by the IGBC.
"As the result of our research in the field of health, we in Cuba have
vaccines and therapies, many of them unique in the world, enabling us to
showcase the best indicators of health and rid public health of diseases
that still cause havoc in the Dominican Republic," the proposal says.
"One example is that we have a product Herberprot, unique worldwide, to
treat diabetic foot ulcers and decrease amputations, in addition to
pentavalent vaccines and anti hepatitis B, interferon, among others," it
says.
Both nations have common illnesses such as dengue, leptospirosis,
cholera, diabetes and hypertension, the difference is that Cuba has
vaccines for some of them and works on others for their cure.
Cuban's health system development has propelled the country to boast the
world's lowest infant mortality rate.
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2013/6/5/47856/Cuba-wants-to-swap-drugs-for-Dominican-products
Jun 5 at 8:54 AM
Havana.
Santo Domingo.- Havana proposed to Santo Domingo a swap of its drugs and
other local products, Cuba's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Center (IGBC) director Luis Herrera Martinez announced Tuesday.
He said the Cuban government contacted president Danilo Medina last
week, and proposed "the possibility of sharing mechanisms and marketing
of pharmaceutical products" with products of Dominican origin.
The proposal was channeled through the company TecnHospital Dominican
SRL, which locally represents the drugs made by the IGBC.
"As the result of our research in the field of health, we in Cuba have
vaccines and therapies, many of them unique in the world, enabling us to
showcase the best indicators of health and rid public health of diseases
that still cause havoc in the Dominican Republic," the proposal says.
"One example is that we have a product Herberprot, unique worldwide, to
treat diabetic foot ulcers and decrease amputations, in addition to
pentavalent vaccines and anti hepatitis B, interferon, among others," it
says.
Both nations have common illnesses such as dengue, leptospirosis,
cholera, diabetes and hypertension, the difference is that Cuba has
vaccines for some of them and works on others for their cure.
Cuban's health system development has propelled the country to boast the
world's lowest infant mortality rate.
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2013/6/5/47856/Cuba-wants-to-swap-drugs-for-Dominican-products
Cubans say prices too high at new Internet centers
Cubans say prices too high at new Internet centers
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 05, 2013, 12:21
Havana: Cubans had their first experience Tuesday of the island's new
web browsing services with the opening of 118 new Internet centers
nationwide, though the price of being online was still too expensive for
most citizens.
That was the chief complaint that several users expressed to EFE after
trying out the new services at centers in Havana.
An hour online costs the equivalent of $4.50.
"You can surf the web fine, but it's pretty expensive," said Roy, a
young computer technician who accessed his page on Facebook at a
downtown center in Old Havana.
Noel Antunez, 53, had a similar impression - he had just returned to
Cuba after working several years in Cape Verde where, he recalled, an
hour on the Internet at any center cost less than 1 euro ($1.30).
After spending an hour at one of the new centers in the Vedado
neighbourhood, where he was able to chat online with friends and look up
the bank account he still has in Cape Verde, Antunez told EFE that the
expansion of Internet service in Cuba is positive and a "great advance"
but "it's still a little costly for what Cubans can afford".
With regard to the quality, these same users agreed that surfing speed
is very good and that they had no problem accessing the web sites they
wanted to visit.
EFE found at some of these centers that surfing the Internet was faster
than is usual on the island and it was possible to visit without any
problem the online editions of media like Miami's El Nuevo Herald.
Internet access from the home continues to be restricted on the island.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/net-news/cubans-say-prices-too-high-at-new-internet-centers_852973.html
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 05, 2013, 12:21
Havana: Cubans had their first experience Tuesday of the island's new
web browsing services with the opening of 118 new Internet centers
nationwide, though the price of being online was still too expensive for
most citizens.
That was the chief complaint that several users expressed to EFE after
trying out the new services at centers in Havana.
An hour online costs the equivalent of $4.50.
"You can surf the web fine, but it's pretty expensive," said Roy, a
young computer technician who accessed his page on Facebook at a
downtown center in Old Havana.
Noel Antunez, 53, had a similar impression - he had just returned to
Cuba after working several years in Cape Verde where, he recalled, an
hour on the Internet at any center cost less than 1 euro ($1.30).
After spending an hour at one of the new centers in the Vedado
neighbourhood, where he was able to chat online with friends and look up
the bank account he still has in Cape Verde, Antunez told EFE that the
expansion of Internet service in Cuba is positive and a "great advance"
but "it's still a little costly for what Cubans can afford".
With regard to the quality, these same users agreed that surfing speed
is very good and that they had no problem accessing the web sites they
wanted to visit.
EFE found at some of these centers that surfing the Internet was faster
than is usual on the island and it was possible to visit without any
problem the online editions of media like Miami's El Nuevo Herald.
Internet access from the home continues to be restricted on the island.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/net-news/cubans-say-prices-too-high-at-new-internet-centers_852973.html
The "Cuban Model" of INTERNET
The "Cuban Model" of INTERNET / Walfredo Lopez
Posted on June 4, 2013
When the new law of "expansion" of INTERNET service goes into effect
tomorrow, 11 million Cubans will be able to go to cybercafes and pay
$4.50 USD (115 Cuban pesos) per hour to surf cyberspace. I'm sure that
with the average salary of 400 Cuban pesos a month, very few will do so,
which will make the current digital breach between Cubans and the rest
of the world wider and deeper.
But what those who can pass the first hurdle of price and seat
themselves in front of one of the 334 computers available (nationwide)
in the new State business probably don't know is that they will be
paying to enter one of the most sophisticated, invisible and exotic
government machines for the control of the INTERNET that has ever
existed. This is what I like to call the "Cuban Model" of INTERNET.
It's quite possible that the new clients of "Nauta" (as the government
telecommunications company ETECSA calls its cybercafes), will be nervous
because while they type in their user names and passwords in social
networks, review their email and visit online news sites outside of
Cuba, a "cybercafe caretaker" or a camera will be very nearby, but that
is pure distraction.
The reality is that from the moment they open the door of the cybercafe
they will be inside the "Cuban Model" of INTERNET. Many are unaware that
not only does the Cuban government own and have total control over all
the Cuban cybercafes and computers where ETECSA's new customers will
type in their private information. The government also owns and controls
the famous ALBA 1 fiber optic cable which connects the island to the
world wide web, and all the satellite antennas that since 1996 have had
the same function, and is the only provider of INTERNET (ISP) services,
NAP, DNS, nodes, firewalls, proxies, routers, modems, switches, access
points, hotspots, antennas, radio frequencies, NIC, IP, domains, .cu,
hosting, telephone posts and wires, TIC services companies and computer
stores.
But just when many think it's too much, there begins the black list of
dark forces that work in parallel doing their dirty work: web
administrators, computer engineers, political police, cyber police,
business security services, agencies of control and supervision,
national security laws, gag laws, information security laws, price
control laws, armies of trolls, pro-government bloggers, online news
sites, television channels, radio stations, newspapers, etc.
While around world many governments and businesses promote free WiFi.
While 4G becomes a standard. While every day 3 billion people connect to
the INTERNET and a billion of them do it through their mobile phones.
While the courts uphold data protection laws. While cyber-activists
fight to maintain free, open and neutral INTERNET. While internauts
battle laws like SOPA, PIPA, SINDE and HADOPI. Still today, more than 15
years after the arrival of the INTERNET to Cuba, 99% of the 11 million
Cubans who live on the island are trying to get on the world wide web
for the first time. It must be because Cuba, Cubans and the "Cuban
model" of INTERNET don't resemble anyone's.
Wilfredo Lopez R., Havana, Cuba
3 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-cuban-model-of-internet-walfredo-lopez/
Posted on June 4, 2013
When the new law of "expansion" of INTERNET service goes into effect
tomorrow, 11 million Cubans will be able to go to cybercafes and pay
$4.50 USD (115 Cuban pesos) per hour to surf cyberspace. I'm sure that
with the average salary of 400 Cuban pesos a month, very few will do so,
which will make the current digital breach between Cubans and the rest
of the world wider and deeper.
But what those who can pass the first hurdle of price and seat
themselves in front of one of the 334 computers available (nationwide)
in the new State business probably don't know is that they will be
paying to enter one of the most sophisticated, invisible and exotic
government machines for the control of the INTERNET that has ever
existed. This is what I like to call the "Cuban Model" of INTERNET.
It's quite possible that the new clients of "Nauta" (as the government
telecommunications company ETECSA calls its cybercafes), will be nervous
because while they type in their user names and passwords in social
networks, review their email and visit online news sites outside of
Cuba, a "cybercafe caretaker" or a camera will be very nearby, but that
is pure distraction.
The reality is that from the moment they open the door of the cybercafe
they will be inside the "Cuban Model" of INTERNET. Many are unaware that
not only does the Cuban government own and have total control over all
the Cuban cybercafes and computers where ETECSA's new customers will
type in their private information. The government also owns and controls
the famous ALBA 1 fiber optic cable which connects the island to the
world wide web, and all the satellite antennas that since 1996 have had
the same function, and is the only provider of INTERNET (ISP) services,
NAP, DNS, nodes, firewalls, proxies, routers, modems, switches, access
points, hotspots, antennas, radio frequencies, NIC, IP, domains, .cu,
hosting, telephone posts and wires, TIC services companies and computer
stores.
But just when many think it's too much, there begins the black list of
dark forces that work in parallel doing their dirty work: web
administrators, computer engineers, political police, cyber police,
business security services, agencies of control and supervision,
national security laws, gag laws, information security laws, price
control laws, armies of trolls, pro-government bloggers, online news
sites, television channels, radio stations, newspapers, etc.
While around world many governments and businesses promote free WiFi.
While 4G becomes a standard. While every day 3 billion people connect to
the INTERNET and a billion of them do it through their mobile phones.
While the courts uphold data protection laws. While cyber-activists
fight to maintain free, open and neutral INTERNET. While internauts
battle laws like SOPA, PIPA, SINDE and HADOPI. Still today, more than 15
years after the arrival of the INTERNET to Cuba, 99% of the 11 million
Cubans who live on the island are trying to get on the world wide web
for the first time. It must be because Cuba, Cubans and the "Cuban
model" of INTERNET don't resemble anyone's.
Wilfredo Lopez R., Havana, Cuba
3 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-cuban-model-of-internet-walfredo-lopez/
Cuba Will See Itself Forced to Open Amateur Sports to Professionalism
Cuba Will See Itself Forced to Open Amateur Sports to Professionalism /
Anddy Sierra Alvarez
Posted on June 4, 2013
With the decline of sports facilities on the island, the Cuban
government it taking drastic measures in order to keep sports alive,
based on already failed communist ideals. A situation that corners the
Castro government so that for once, it will open the doors to
professionalism.
Havana province has the majority of high-performance sports facilities,
which over time have lost the competitive fundamentals critical to the
development of Cuban sports.
Some reference installations
East Havana, an area of the capital, benefited by being the site of the
Pan American Games in 1991, with the construction of the "Villa
Panamericana" (a sports complex that includes facilities such as the
Velodrome (Cycling), athletics, tennis, pools etc). Currently it is here
that we find the only stadium of athletics (Olympic) "still not over"
that can be used for international competitions. The stadium provides
high performance athletes — world champions or finalists, Panamericans,
Central Americans — "comfortable rooms" located in the same building,
where the bed can injure you or the ceiling can give you a shower in
rainy weather.
"Bare Hill" as the capital residents know it, is the ESFAAR, Training
School of High Performance Athletes. From the street people can see its
damaged structure and contemplate the broken windows during practices
for volleyball, basketball, fencing, boxing and other sports.
There is also the National School of Gymnastics, the youngest building,
whose construction is the ongoing work of INDER, the National Sports
Institute. Proof of this was the concrete sign that read 2000 for the
start date and with completion date of 2004. Later they changed to 2006,
until they decided to remove the information. Currently it is a facility
that has not been fully completed.
Athletes are subjected to exploitation
The sacrifices of the athletes are part of the sporting life, but
working without any recognition is essential affectation of the human
stimulus that Cuban athletes lack.
All athletes who have deserted from the island have done so with the aim
to seek prosperity in the future. Something they are denied in Cuba
totalitarian and comprehensive political ideals, that take into account
political fear. Individual enrichment is alien to the Castro supporting
group, which would do anything to maintain power and which they have
managed to do.
Many athletes comment on their poor earnings and mocking the government
offers: "Crumbs they give us in return for great effort," said an
anonymous junior athlete.
They either open the doors to professional sports, or simply lose their
best athletes
There are many dangers, loss of facilities such as EIDE (the Jose Marti
Sports Initiation School) closed for lack of capital, ESPA (the Manual
Permuy Senior School Athletic Improvement) closed for the same reason.
Stadiums and sports centers are in very bad condition, the only thing
the government cares about is everything having to do with baseball for
its political strategy. In short, if no measures are taken to slacken
the reins over baseball and combat sports (boxing) and let the athletes
be recruited by clubs, everything will go over the cliff. A situation
that the government itself has created.
27 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-will-see-itself-forced-to-open-amateur-sports-to-professionalism-anddy-sierra-alvarez/
Anddy Sierra Alvarez
Posted on June 4, 2013
With the decline of sports facilities on the island, the Cuban
government it taking drastic measures in order to keep sports alive,
based on already failed communist ideals. A situation that corners the
Castro government so that for once, it will open the doors to
professionalism.
Havana province has the majority of high-performance sports facilities,
which over time have lost the competitive fundamentals critical to the
development of Cuban sports.
Some reference installations
East Havana, an area of the capital, benefited by being the site of the
Pan American Games in 1991, with the construction of the "Villa
Panamericana" (a sports complex that includes facilities such as the
Velodrome (Cycling), athletics, tennis, pools etc). Currently it is here
that we find the only stadium of athletics (Olympic) "still not over"
that can be used for international competitions. The stadium provides
high performance athletes — world champions or finalists, Panamericans,
Central Americans — "comfortable rooms" located in the same building,
where the bed can injure you or the ceiling can give you a shower in
rainy weather.
"Bare Hill" as the capital residents know it, is the ESFAAR, Training
School of High Performance Athletes. From the street people can see its
damaged structure and contemplate the broken windows during practices
for volleyball, basketball, fencing, boxing and other sports.
There is also the National School of Gymnastics, the youngest building,
whose construction is the ongoing work of INDER, the National Sports
Institute. Proof of this was the concrete sign that read 2000 for the
start date and with completion date of 2004. Later they changed to 2006,
until they decided to remove the information. Currently it is a facility
that has not been fully completed.
Athletes are subjected to exploitation
The sacrifices of the athletes are part of the sporting life, but
working without any recognition is essential affectation of the human
stimulus that Cuban athletes lack.
All athletes who have deserted from the island have done so with the aim
to seek prosperity in the future. Something they are denied in Cuba
totalitarian and comprehensive political ideals, that take into account
political fear. Individual enrichment is alien to the Castro supporting
group, which would do anything to maintain power and which they have
managed to do.
Many athletes comment on their poor earnings and mocking the government
offers: "Crumbs they give us in return for great effort," said an
anonymous junior athlete.
They either open the doors to professional sports, or simply lose their
best athletes
There are many dangers, loss of facilities such as EIDE (the Jose Marti
Sports Initiation School) closed for lack of capital, ESPA (the Manual
Permuy Senior School Athletic Improvement) closed for the same reason.
Stadiums and sports centers are in very bad condition, the only thing
the government cares about is everything having to do with baseball for
its political strategy. In short, if no measures are taken to slacken
the reins over baseball and combat sports (boxing) and let the athletes
be recruited by clubs, everything will go over the cliff. A situation
that the government itself has created.
27 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-will-see-itself-forced-to-open-amateur-sports-to-professionalism-anddy-sierra-alvarez/
Internet access to expand in Cuba – at a price
Internet access to expand in Cuba – at a price
Cuba said that as of today, users can get on the Internet – including
e-mail and international websites – at 118 providers across the island.
But the per-hour cost may be too high a hurdle for many.
Christian Science MonitorBy Ezra Fieser | Christian Science Monitor
Frustrated with your Internet access? Try logging on in Cuba.
Since it started offering limited access in 1996, the communist country
has tightly restricted access to everything but the bare Web essentials.
Unless you were looking for government news or something directly
related to your job, you were out of luck.
But now news comes that the government is inching toward wider access.
In the Official Gazette, the government said it would provide access to
the Internet – including e-mail and international websites – at 118
providers across the Caribbean island starting today.
Will a handful of Internet cafes in each major city across the island of
11 million make much of a difference in a country where connecting to
the Internet is notoriously slow and difficult?
It won't be cheap. Providers will ask users to fork over the equivalent
of $4.50 per hour for access.
While those prices might compete with the service offered at 30,000 feet
by US airlines, for most Cubans the fees make logging on out of reach.
Independent Cuban journalist Iván García Quintero makes this point in a
column published by Infobae. Mr. García quotes a woman named Sandra who
earns 375 pesos (roughly US$14) a month.
"I don't see how I could surf the Internet or open an account on
Facebook with a salary of 375 pesos. One hour on the Internet would cost
me 112 pesos, nearly a third of my salary," she says. "I guess that some
people could. But the majority is not going to stop eating just to
connect to the Internet."
It's not just the cost. Once you log on, the connection promises to be
slow, too. Think dial-up.
A couple years back, The Economist said Cuba's Internet speed was
second-slowest behind the island of Mayotte, a French territory of
around 200,000 people that sits northwest of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
And it's not clear how heavily the Cuban government will restrict access
to sites. The US-headquartered NGO Freedom House, which ranks countries
based on levels of political freedom and civil liberties, gives Cuba one
of the lowest rankings for Latin American countries in its Internet
freedom category.
"Cuba remains one of the world's most repressive environments for the
Internet and other information and communication technologies," the
organization wrote in its 2012 report entitled "Freedom on the Net."
Blogger Yoani Sanchez, who has famously worked around the island's
Internet restrictions to publicize her work, highlighted the importance
of increased connectivity on a trip to the US this year. "The Internet,"
she said, "is helping us explain to the world what is happening inside
our country."
Even if it's slow and expensive, a connection to the Web seems to
represent another step toward wider access.
Earlier this year, Cuba connected to Jamaica via a submarine cable on
the ocean floor. That was expected to help bring Internet connections to
more Cubans.
Separately, Cuba and Venezuela have connected via a fiber optic cable,
although it remains unclear if that connection is providing service to
Cuban residents.
The 118 new hotspots might not mean much to most Cubans. But, as one
Cuban housewife told a radio station after the announcement, "something
is better than nothing."
http://news.yahoo.com/internet-access-expand-cuba-price-155205819.html;_ylt=A2KJ2PbhKK5ReSwA1HvQtDMD
Cuba said that as of today, users can get on the Internet – including
e-mail and international websites – at 118 providers across the island.
But the per-hour cost may be too high a hurdle for many.
Christian Science MonitorBy Ezra Fieser | Christian Science Monitor
Frustrated with your Internet access? Try logging on in Cuba.
Since it started offering limited access in 1996, the communist country
has tightly restricted access to everything but the bare Web essentials.
Unless you were looking for government news or something directly
related to your job, you were out of luck.
But now news comes that the government is inching toward wider access.
In the Official Gazette, the government said it would provide access to
the Internet – including e-mail and international websites – at 118
providers across the Caribbean island starting today.
Will a handful of Internet cafes in each major city across the island of
11 million make much of a difference in a country where connecting to
the Internet is notoriously slow and difficult?
It won't be cheap. Providers will ask users to fork over the equivalent
of $4.50 per hour for access.
While those prices might compete with the service offered at 30,000 feet
by US airlines, for most Cubans the fees make logging on out of reach.
Independent Cuban journalist Iván García Quintero makes this point in a
column published by Infobae. Mr. García quotes a woman named Sandra who
earns 375 pesos (roughly US$14) a month.
"I don't see how I could surf the Internet or open an account on
Facebook with a salary of 375 pesos. One hour on the Internet would cost
me 112 pesos, nearly a third of my salary," she says. "I guess that some
people could. But the majority is not going to stop eating just to
connect to the Internet."
It's not just the cost. Once you log on, the connection promises to be
slow, too. Think dial-up.
A couple years back, The Economist said Cuba's Internet speed was
second-slowest behind the island of Mayotte, a French territory of
around 200,000 people that sits northwest of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
And it's not clear how heavily the Cuban government will restrict access
to sites. The US-headquartered NGO Freedom House, which ranks countries
based on levels of political freedom and civil liberties, gives Cuba one
of the lowest rankings for Latin American countries in its Internet
freedom category.
"Cuba remains one of the world's most repressive environments for the
Internet and other information and communication technologies," the
organization wrote in its 2012 report entitled "Freedom on the Net."
Blogger Yoani Sanchez, who has famously worked around the island's
Internet restrictions to publicize her work, highlighted the importance
of increased connectivity on a trip to the US this year. "The Internet,"
she said, "is helping us explain to the world what is happening inside
our country."
Even if it's slow and expensive, a connection to the Web seems to
represent another step toward wider access.
Earlier this year, Cuba connected to Jamaica via a submarine cable on
the ocean floor. That was expected to help bring Internet connections to
more Cubans.
Separately, Cuba and Venezuela have connected via a fiber optic cable,
although it remains unclear if that connection is providing service to
Cuban residents.
The 118 new hotspots might not mean much to most Cubans. But, as one
Cuban housewife told a radio station after the announcement, "something
is better than nothing."
http://news.yahoo.com/internet-access-expand-cuba-price-155205819.html;_ylt=A2KJ2PbhKK5ReSwA1HvQtDMD
Cuba's Astro Buses, Quite an Experience
Cuba's Astro Buses, Quite an Experience
June 4, 2013
Dariela Aquique
HAVANA TIMES — Cuba's public transportation system – arguably close to
the top of that long list of things that work badly or do not work at
all in the country – is one of our pending public discussions.
If public transportation within city limits is "terrible", we would need
a particularly harsh adjective, something along the lines of
"disastrous", to capture the experience of those longer journeys, known
as "interprovincial trips", which Cuba's coach company Astro has been
offering for a number of years now.
The company had justified its ticket prices, quite high for Cubans
living on measly State salaries, through promotional references to the
excellence of its services, which included movie screenings,
air-conditioning, a drinking fountain and bathroom, and guaranteed
punctual departures and arrivals and…well, "a comfortable journey"
through and through.
But Cubans have long ceased to enjoy such "benefits" in these journeys.
With the exception of air-conditioning, no other on-board service
continues to be offered. The bathrooms have all been locked up, the DVD
players have stopped working, the drinking fountains are broken and
departures and arrivals are fairly off schedule.
This makes for a rather uncomfortable situation, if we bear in mind that
an interprovincial trip of this nature (from Santiago de Cuba to Havana,
for instance), can last around 13 or 14 hours – or perhaps 18, even 20,
if the bus suffers any kind of mishap. The cost of the tickets, however,
remains the same.
My recent return trip to Havana was made possible by an Astro bus. I
chose this means of transportation, first of all, because it was cheaper
than flying (where you can also meet with all sorts of accidents) and,
second of all, because it is supposedly faster than the train (which is
also a real mess).
Beyond the discomfort caused by the fact most of the things on the bus
aren't working, my trip over was uneventful. This was simply too good to
be true and, on the way back, my co-travellers and I suffered the
calamity that was in store for us all along.
A mere 10 kilometers from Havana, one of bus' rear tires burst. The
driver immediately turned off the AC, claiming he could not use up the
fuel to keep the bus cool while we waited. Luckily, we were near a
bridge. We all got off the bus and went under the bridge, to shield
ourselves from the sun.
dari3On more than one occasion, we had to lend one of our mobile phones
to the driver so he could call the bus terminal, because, according to
him, he had no means of his own to do so. We waited for the repair crew
from 1 until 5:30 in the afternoon.
They changed the tire begrudgingly and without the slightest haste,
telling us there were no backup buses we could be transferred to. When
we finally managed to get out of that place, we were all exhausted and
starving, and some had urgent physiological needs to attend to.
Someone asked the driver if the "disturbance" entailed any kind of
partial reimbursement of the price of the ticket, to which the driver
somewhat sarcastically replied: "we were still in Cuba, last time I
checked."
That's the way the cookie crumbles: always the same, never different.
"We're in Cuba", this is the reply you get whenever you complain about
something that doesn't work. Here are some pictures for you to see, to
get a sense of my atrocious journey on an Astro bus.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=94083
June 4, 2013
Dariela Aquique
HAVANA TIMES — Cuba's public transportation system – arguably close to
the top of that long list of things that work badly or do not work at
all in the country – is one of our pending public discussions.
If public transportation within city limits is "terrible", we would need
a particularly harsh adjective, something along the lines of
"disastrous", to capture the experience of those longer journeys, known
as "interprovincial trips", which Cuba's coach company Astro has been
offering for a number of years now.
The company had justified its ticket prices, quite high for Cubans
living on measly State salaries, through promotional references to the
excellence of its services, which included movie screenings,
air-conditioning, a drinking fountain and bathroom, and guaranteed
punctual departures and arrivals and…well, "a comfortable journey"
through and through.
But Cubans have long ceased to enjoy such "benefits" in these journeys.
With the exception of air-conditioning, no other on-board service
continues to be offered. The bathrooms have all been locked up, the DVD
players have stopped working, the drinking fountains are broken and
departures and arrivals are fairly off schedule.
This makes for a rather uncomfortable situation, if we bear in mind that
an interprovincial trip of this nature (from Santiago de Cuba to Havana,
for instance), can last around 13 or 14 hours – or perhaps 18, even 20,
if the bus suffers any kind of mishap. The cost of the tickets, however,
remains the same.
My recent return trip to Havana was made possible by an Astro bus. I
chose this means of transportation, first of all, because it was cheaper
than flying (where you can also meet with all sorts of accidents) and,
second of all, because it is supposedly faster than the train (which is
also a real mess).
Beyond the discomfort caused by the fact most of the things on the bus
aren't working, my trip over was uneventful. This was simply too good to
be true and, on the way back, my co-travellers and I suffered the
calamity that was in store for us all along.
A mere 10 kilometers from Havana, one of bus' rear tires burst. The
driver immediately turned off the AC, claiming he could not use up the
fuel to keep the bus cool while we waited. Luckily, we were near a
bridge. We all got off the bus and went under the bridge, to shield
ourselves from the sun.
dari3On more than one occasion, we had to lend one of our mobile phones
to the driver so he could call the bus terminal, because, according to
him, he had no means of his own to do so. We waited for the repair crew
from 1 until 5:30 in the afternoon.
They changed the tire begrudgingly and without the slightest haste,
telling us there were no backup buses we could be transferred to. When
we finally managed to get out of that place, we were all exhausted and
starving, and some had urgent physiological needs to attend to.
Someone asked the driver if the "disturbance" entailed any kind of
partial reimbursement of the price of the ticket, to which the driver
somewhat sarcastically replied: "we were still in Cuba, last time I
checked."
That's the way the cookie crumbles: always the same, never different.
"We're in Cuba", this is the reply you get whenever you complain about
something that doesn't work. Here are some pictures for you to see, to
get a sense of my atrocious journey on an Astro bus.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=94083
State Negligence Kills Mother and Daughter in Trinidad When Their House Collapses
State Negligence Kills Mother and Daughter in Trinidad When Their House
Collapses / CID
Posted on June 4, 2013
Dos crucesIn the early hours of Sunday June 2, a tragedy visited a
humble Cuban family. Luisa M. Isnaga Medinas, a young mother, and her
daughter Idaisil Rivero Medina, age 12, died when their house collapsed
in Trinidad.
The family lived at 460 Antonio Maceo Street between Rosario and Simon
Bolivar, just two blocks from the tourist center where thousands of
foreigners go to visit the World Heritage city, while the homes of the
townspeople are in deplorable conditions.
The neighbors confirmed the numerous complaints made by the family to
the People's Power asking for help with repairs, because it was an old
house with another on the second floor. Property repair inspectors were
to do the assessment but it was not resolved. Instead they indicated
that those who were living there living who had to do the repair because
they had no resources to give them.
While all this was happening the regime installed an expensive and
sophisticated system of video camera surveillance. In the face of the
tragedy the locals wonder "why are they spending thousands of dollars to
monitor the poor, while our houses are collapsing."
Reported by Rene Lozano Maidin Carter and
Ombudsman of Cuba (CID)
3 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/state-negligence-kills-mother-and-daughter-in-trinidad-when-their-house-collapses-cid/
Collapses / CID
Posted on June 4, 2013
Dos crucesIn the early hours of Sunday June 2, a tragedy visited a
humble Cuban family. Luisa M. Isnaga Medinas, a young mother, and her
daughter Idaisil Rivero Medina, age 12, died when their house collapsed
in Trinidad.
The family lived at 460 Antonio Maceo Street between Rosario and Simon
Bolivar, just two blocks from the tourist center where thousands of
foreigners go to visit the World Heritage city, while the homes of the
townspeople are in deplorable conditions.
The neighbors confirmed the numerous complaints made by the family to
the People's Power asking for help with repairs, because it was an old
house with another on the second floor. Property repair inspectors were
to do the assessment but it was not resolved. Instead they indicated
that those who were living there living who had to do the repair because
they had no resources to give them.
While all this was happening the regime installed an expensive and
sophisticated system of video camera surveillance. In the face of the
tragedy the locals wonder "why are they spending thousands of dollars to
monitor the poor, while our houses are collapsing."
Reported by Rene Lozano Maidin Carter and
Ombudsman of Cuba (CID)
3 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/state-negligence-kills-mother-and-daughter-in-trinidad-when-their-house-collapses-cid/
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