Thank You, Venezuela! / Somos+
Somos+, 2 September 2016 — Yesterday the Venezuelan people gave us
another great lesson: We can go out into the streets united to demand
our rights, we can peacefully challenge a Populist-Marxist government
and conquer the streets. It was a great victory.
We salute our Venezuelan brothers and we thank them. Thank you for
gathering in such huge numbers to remember one of your leaders, Leopoldo
Lopez, who chose to be arrested in a very special place in Caracas: at
the foot of the statue of Jose Marti, reminding us all that Cuba is one
thing and Fidel Castro and his agents are another, and they are the ones
collaborating with the Maduro dictatorship.
The protest achieved its planned objectives: to "occupy" Caracas and
demand a recall election, without delay, without waiting for next year,
which is what Maduro wants.
It is important to know what the objective was and that it has been
achieved, because some voices have commented saying the effort was
useless, because they should have taken advantage of the moment to
occupy the centers of power in Caracas.
That would have been to anticipate events and give the Chavistas
arguments to use all the forces of their paramilitary collaborators and
the army itself.
The time for that has not yet arrived in Venezuela. First all the legal
means and resources must be exhausted, and we hope that when the time
comes the military will refuse to shoot, because they recognize that in
these demonstrators are their children, their brothers, their wives,
their mothers or themselves.
Venezuelans have given us a great demonstration of where you can get
with unity around a table in which everyone can organize themselves,
around those objectives they have in common and forgetting their
differences.
These common objectives are, briefly: NO to hunger and misery, YES to
work and progress. NO to tyranny, YES to democracy. It's that simple.
From this lesson we must draw a firm determination, in our own national
struggle, of advancing our movement: Somos+ (We Are More), and advancing
our roundtable: MUAD.
Long live free Venezuela and Cuba!
Source: Thank You, Venezuela! / Somos+ – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/thank-you-venezuela-somos/
Monday, September 5, 2016
I Love You Not Despite But Precisely Because of the Tyranny
I Love You Not Despite But Precisely Because of the Tyranny / Orlando
Luis Pardo Lazo
Not a single Cuban is free in the world. If anything, the freest Cubans
are the slaves who still live there, because they have nothing to lose.
Thus, the Cuban passport is the biggest trap in the history of the
world: The Cuban passport is our "Little Pioneer" bandana that marks us
for life as slaves of the Castro regime (even when the Castros are gone,
but not Castroism).
And this is why the Cuban people are so wise: It is because we are so
cynical.
We know that traveling to and from Cuba is not a right. We know that the
little trip from and to Cuba must be earned with blows of silence and
complicity. We know that we have to behave ourselves like good pupils,
before and after this little trip to Cuba. We know that we are servants
of the Cuban State, that has taken us hostage outside of Cuba, as within
Cuba our families remain hostages.
The best example of this I say to you with my heart in my hand is you.
You who flee from me. You who don't want to give me a "Like" or a
"Share" on Facebook. You who pretend that the other side of the screen
doesn't exist.
But that does not make you guilty, you are even more of a victim. Your
silence is honored with your presence. I feel close to you, in
solidarity with you, intimate. I love you again, Cuban. Your fear honors
my voice. Your cowardice makes me humble and more responsible to speak
for you, for me.
If I keep doing what I keep doing it is for this, for us as free as
perhaps never exists because the tyranny is terrible. But what "we" so
free is enough to be happy, to think that we won the battle of the
spirits in freedom.
One day, the final member of the Ministry of the Interior will die.
Then, my life. Then, my heaven. Then, my love.
11 August 2016
Source: I Love You Not Despite But Precisely Because of the Tyranny /
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/i-love-you-not-despite-but-precisely-because-of-the-tyranny-orlando-luis-pardo-lazo/
Luis Pardo Lazo
Not a single Cuban is free in the world. If anything, the freest Cubans
are the slaves who still live there, because they have nothing to lose.
Thus, the Cuban passport is the biggest trap in the history of the
world: The Cuban passport is our "Little Pioneer" bandana that marks us
for life as slaves of the Castro regime (even when the Castros are gone,
but not Castroism).
And this is why the Cuban people are so wise: It is because we are so
cynical.
We know that traveling to and from Cuba is not a right. We know that the
little trip from and to Cuba must be earned with blows of silence and
complicity. We know that we have to behave ourselves like good pupils,
before and after this little trip to Cuba. We know that we are servants
of the Cuban State, that has taken us hostage outside of Cuba, as within
Cuba our families remain hostages.
The best example of this I say to you with my heart in my hand is you.
You who flee from me. You who don't want to give me a "Like" or a
"Share" on Facebook. You who pretend that the other side of the screen
doesn't exist.
But that does not make you guilty, you are even more of a victim. Your
silence is honored with your presence. I feel close to you, in
solidarity with you, intimate. I love you again, Cuban. Your fear honors
my voice. Your cowardice makes me humble and more responsible to speak
for you, for me.
If I keep doing what I keep doing it is for this, for us as free as
perhaps never exists because the tyranny is terrible. But what "we" so
free is enough to be happy, to think that we won the battle of the
spirits in freedom.
One day, the final member of the Ministry of the Interior will die.
Then, my life. Then, my heaven. Then, my love.
11 August 2016
Source: I Love You Not Despite But Precisely Because of the Tyranny /
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/i-love-you-not-despite-but-precisely-because-of-the-tyranny-orlando-luis-pardo-lazo/
A Family Puts Its Belongings In The Street Amid Fears Their House Will Collapse
A Family Puts Its Belongings In The Street Amid Fears Their House Will
Collapse / 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada
14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Larada, Havana, 4 September 2016 – After the
heavy rains that have hit western Cuba in recent days, many residents of
the capital fear an increase in the number of building collapses. Denise
Rodriguez Cedeño, 54, a resident Luz Street, between Egido and Curacao,
in Old Havana, placed her family's belongings in the street after part
of the roof of her house caved in on Saturday.
Those who pass through the busy street, in the heart of the historic
center, can see the bundles with clothes piled up outside the building,
along with kitchenware and a fan. The Rodriguez Cedeño family made the
decision to spend their hours outdoors, in protest against the lack of
response from the institutions charged with distributing materials for
home repairs.
The already poor state of her home worsened with the storm that brought
heavy rains, linked to the ninth tropical depression of the hurricane
season, a weather phenomenon that caused intense rains in the west and
center of the island and moderate flooding in the coastal town of
Surgidero of Batabanó.
Rodriguez Cedeño works for Community Services and has lived in her home
for more than 35 years. The resident told 14ymedio that her housing
problems began in 2003, but she has not yet received a reply from
anyone. Right now her situation is desperate.
The anguish has led her to also pressure the authorities with the
warning that she is not going to send her grandchildren to school this
Monday, when the new school year begins nationwide, because she does not
have the conditions to guarantee them a "home."
"For thirteen years I have been asking through a technical report for
repairs to my house, but they always tell me there are no building
materials," she says. On other occasions, Rodriguez Cedeño has chosen to
"make repairs with my own resources," but the deteriorating economic
status of the family, made up of "four women and two little girls who
have chronic asthma," has prevented her from being able to make the
arrangements to do it herself.
After several hours in which the women stayed with their belongings in
the open street, the authorities of the Council of the Municipal
Administration (CAM) of Old Havana arrived, to learn what damage
occurred in the house and to call for calm. Dozens of people, especially
foreigners passing through the city, were filming what was happening.
The directors of CAM explained that the family would be located in a
Transit Community (a shelter) for about seven days and then taken to
inhabitable housing in another community for people whose homes have
been declared uninhabitable or have collapsed.
Rodriguez Cedeño had spent the whole night between the street and the
half-ruined house, waiting for the authorities keep their word this
Sunday. She warned that they would "plant themselves in the street
again" if they didn't provide a permanent solution to her case.
In their current situation, these residents of the Old Havana
neighborhood have become part of the 33,889 families (132,699 people)
across the country who need a home, many of whom have spent decades
living in shelters for victims. The population census of 2012 showed
that 60% of the 3.9 million existing housing units on the island are in
poor condition.
During the last session of the National Assembly of People's Power, in
July, the deputies met in the Standing Committee on Industry,
Construction and Energy, and agreed that "the housing problem is the
number one social need in Cuba." The parliamentarians criticized "lack
of coordination, integration and priority" at the municipal level in
managing the demands of the population in terms of applications for
materials and construction permits.
In the first half of this year, at least 90,652 people who have received
subsidies for construction work have gone to the stores selling
materials. However, only 52,000 have been able to buy all of the
materials they were assigned, due to shortages of key products such as
steel, cement blocks, bathroom fixtures, tiles and roofing.
Source: A Family Puts Its Belongings In The Street Amid Fears Their
House Will Collapse / 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/a-family-puts-its-belongings-in-the-street-amid-fears-their-house-will-collapse-14ymedio-yosmany-mayeta-labrada/
Collapse / 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada
14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Larada, Havana, 4 September 2016 – After the
heavy rains that have hit western Cuba in recent days, many residents of
the capital fear an increase in the number of building collapses. Denise
Rodriguez Cedeño, 54, a resident Luz Street, between Egido and Curacao,
in Old Havana, placed her family's belongings in the street after part
of the roof of her house caved in on Saturday.
Those who pass through the busy street, in the heart of the historic
center, can see the bundles with clothes piled up outside the building,
along with kitchenware and a fan. The Rodriguez Cedeño family made the
decision to spend their hours outdoors, in protest against the lack of
response from the institutions charged with distributing materials for
home repairs.
The already poor state of her home worsened with the storm that brought
heavy rains, linked to the ninth tropical depression of the hurricane
season, a weather phenomenon that caused intense rains in the west and
center of the island and moderate flooding in the coastal town of
Surgidero of Batabanó.
Rodriguez Cedeño works for Community Services and has lived in her home
for more than 35 years. The resident told 14ymedio that her housing
problems began in 2003, but she has not yet received a reply from
anyone. Right now her situation is desperate.
The anguish has led her to also pressure the authorities with the
warning that she is not going to send her grandchildren to school this
Monday, when the new school year begins nationwide, because she does not
have the conditions to guarantee them a "home."
"For thirteen years I have been asking through a technical report for
repairs to my house, but they always tell me there are no building
materials," she says. On other occasions, Rodriguez Cedeño has chosen to
"make repairs with my own resources," but the deteriorating economic
status of the family, made up of "four women and two little girls who
have chronic asthma," has prevented her from being able to make the
arrangements to do it herself.
After several hours in which the women stayed with their belongings in
the open street, the authorities of the Council of the Municipal
Administration (CAM) of Old Havana arrived, to learn what damage
occurred in the house and to call for calm. Dozens of people, especially
foreigners passing through the city, were filming what was happening.
The directors of CAM explained that the family would be located in a
Transit Community (a shelter) for about seven days and then taken to
inhabitable housing in another community for people whose homes have
been declared uninhabitable or have collapsed.
Rodriguez Cedeño had spent the whole night between the street and the
half-ruined house, waiting for the authorities keep their word this
Sunday. She warned that they would "plant themselves in the street
again" if they didn't provide a permanent solution to her case.
In their current situation, these residents of the Old Havana
neighborhood have become part of the 33,889 families (132,699 people)
across the country who need a home, many of whom have spent decades
living in shelters for victims. The population census of 2012 showed
that 60% of the 3.9 million existing housing units on the island are in
poor condition.
During the last session of the National Assembly of People's Power, in
July, the deputies met in the Standing Committee on Industry,
Construction and Energy, and agreed that "the housing problem is the
number one social need in Cuba." The parliamentarians criticized "lack
of coordination, integration and priority" at the municipal level in
managing the demands of the population in terms of applications for
materials and construction permits.
In the first half of this year, at least 90,652 people who have received
subsidies for construction work have gone to the stores selling
materials. However, only 52,000 have been able to buy all of the
materials they were assigned, due to shortages of key products such as
steel, cement blocks, bathroom fixtures, tiles and roofing.
Source: A Family Puts Its Belongings In The Street Amid Fears Their
House Will Collapse / 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/a-family-puts-its-belongings-in-the-street-amid-fears-their-house-will-collapse-14ymedio-yosmany-mayeta-labrada/
Havana's dirty truths - rubbish-strewn streets spark anger at city's failings
Havana's dirty truths: rubbish-strewn streets spark anger at city's failings
Amid all the stories of Cuba's new prosperity, residents of its capital
are growing frustrated by the daily reality of uncollected rubbish,
overflowing sewage and water leaks – and asking: 'Why did Havana become
like this?'
Naomi Larsson in Havana
@naomilars
Monday 5 September 2016 07.30 BST Last modified on Monday 5 September
2016 10.29 BST
On a street corner in Vedado, Havana's most affluent suburb, pedestrians
have had to manoeuvre around a metre-wide hole in the pavement on Calle
10 for months. Smashed concrete spills on to the road, encircling what
has since turned into a pit of rubbish – a pockmark on the face of
Havana's fading grandeur.
This is, according to residents, "the way things are" in the Cuban
capital. As the city, its people and its architecture has aged, so too
have its public services. While on the face of it, the city is getting a
new lift through the easing of Cuban-US relations, municipal support
structures are failing badly in many parts of the city. As residents get
tired of these inefficiencies, they're expressing their anger – and
pointing to the breakdown of Cuban socialism.
"When Obama came [in March] they cleaned the whole street; they put the
beggars and homeless in a special asylum," says Hamlet Lavastida, a
33-year-old artist who lives in Havana. "They made new roads, they
painted many buildings, just in the areas where Obama was going to be.
People joked that now we're going to have to wait another 50 years for
the next US president to come, to make another new road ..."
These may just be lighthearted jokes for now, but Lavastida suggests
there is a growing discontent among Cubans about the state of public
services: the dirty streets, the broken infrastructure.
"Sometimes the telephone company – of course, controlled by the state –
dig a hole to put in the wires and cables of the telephone, but they
never cover the hole. They leave it like that for months," she says.
Water leaks flow regularly across the streets of Havana's barrios
without being fixed. Waste can overflow public bins for weeks, with
residents having no idea when it will be collected. When referring to
the lack of cohesion between the various government-run, centralised
organisations – the communications company, the water company, the
rubbish collectors ("communales") – Lavastida uses the word "anarchy".
Walking through the city centre with three writers from Havana Times –
an English-language blog that describes itself as "open-minded writing
from Cuba" – the conversation quickly turns to Havana's streets. "We
have serious environmental problems in the city. Problems with garbage
collection, sewage overflowing pits, air pollution," they say.
Such issues are obvious as you walk through the small backstreets just a
few blocks away from El Capitolio, the old seat of government and one of
the city's grandest buildings. Instead of overpowering petrol fumes from
Havana's ageing cars, you smell sewage and dust compounding in the muggy
air. We turn a corner and rubbish falls from a flowing dustbin. Stagnant
water from a leaking drain sits along a pavement. Above it, a building
with cracks in the wall is held up by wooden scaffolding.
"The trash is all over the place," says Luis Miguel Bahia, who lives in
Cerro, one of Havana's poorest municipalities. "I walk and when I turn
the next corner hoping for some fresh air, there is the smell of this
trash that's all over the road, and I think: 'Where am I? Why did this
place become like this?'"
Unsurprisingly, the outer neighbourhoods and poorer communities are more
neglected. Will Aurelievich also lives in Cerro; he tells me that around
his home their sewage system broke, and residents were having to avoid
walking on "actual human shit", as he describes it, for six months
before it was fixed. He was planning on making a documentary about the
problem, but coincidentally as soon as he started the project the state
services came to fix it.
Residents of Alamar, another neglected district, have often written in
Havana Times about the inefficiencies in rubbish collection in their
neighbourhood – one of the posts is entitled "Cuba: till the shit do us
part". The communales (rubbish collection) apparently receives the
biggest state budget but is said to be "one of the most inefficient
sectors in the country".
One of the problems, it seems, is the high level of bureaucracy here.
The city administration is theoretically answerable to the national
assembly of people's power, but they don't have budgetary control – that
is in the hands of central government. A channel of complaint from the
population can only lead to an advisory department, rather than the
funding source, according to Stephen Wilkinson at the International
Institute for the Study of Cuba.
But above all, Cuba has limited resources. It's a trade-dependent
country living with a 56-year US embargo. Helen Yaffe, an LSE fellow who
specialises in the Cuban economy and has spent years living in Havana,
says: "You have to start with the blockade [which has prevented trade
and investment from the US since 1960], although you don't want to
always sound defensive. But the authorities here have very limited
budget. They have to prioritise what they do with their hard currency."
As Yaffe points out, Cuba is a country of contradictions. You might have
to swerve a hole in the pavement on a daily basis, but the government
does provide free universal healthcare and education (Raul Castro used
these services as a defence when questioned about the government's
record of human rights violations during Obama's visit). Indeed, Yaffe
recalls a time when her two-year-old daughter was struck with pneumonia
when they were staying in Havana. "Inside a hospital, the level of care
was phenomenal. Yet we were in a room without hot running in water; in
fact, there wasn't even water all the time.
"This shows the contradictions that Cuba's had to face in terms of its
development. Infrastructurally, they're really struggling."
Lavastida, who recently moved back to his home country after living
abroad for five years, acknowledges the lack of resources, but he
suggests the disintegration of the city's infrastructure and public
services goes much deeper. He believes people care less about their
local community, reflecting the breakdown in Cuban socialist values.
"There's a lack of public interest in what is happening in the street.
This is somehow also part of the change; that Cubans are becoming
individualistic," he says. He sees this apathy as a "passive dissidence".
"I remember when I was a kid there was something called Domingo Rojo
('Red Sunday') and everybody in the neighbourhood decided we were going
to clean the streets, like a communal voluntary service, and it was
great. But nobody believes in the voluntary thing now, in communism.
There is incredible hostility between government and citizens … every day."
Bahia agrees. He has also noticed a feeling of apathy in Cuban society:
"In the long term people react to the the impositions [by the
government] of solidarity, the community and so on. Those kinds of
things must not be imposed because it creates the opposite effect. For
example, with the trash on the street, I told a neighbour about it, and
he said to me to take another route to avoid this trash. No one cares."
As more foreign money enters Havana, it seems individualism and the gap
between rich and poor will only increase. The number of Cubans working
in the private sector has reached nearly half a million – three times
the number in 2008, and there is a new generation of nuevos ricos (new
rich) who isolate those left on government wages. Habaneros worry that
privatisation is slipping into the public sector: apparently if you hand
the communales some money, they'll take your rubbish straight away.
In the last Community Party Congress in April, Raul Castro released new
documents outlining the meaning of Cuban socialism. Yaffe says this was
hugely significant, and "the need for improvement is very much a focus
of the plan document"; but only time will tell if it will change the way
Cubans feel about their communities.
Walking back through Vedado, I see a machine grabbing some of the
rubbish in Calle 10, engulfed in a cloud of dust. The machine stops, and
the workmen expose the crater in the ground. Maybe it will be fixed
soon, or maybe not.
Source: Havana's dirty truths: rubbish-strewn streets spark anger at
city's failings | Cities | The Guardian -
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/05/havana-cuba-rubbish-strewn-streets-spark-anger-failing-city?page=with:img-3
Amid all the stories of Cuba's new prosperity, residents of its capital
are growing frustrated by the daily reality of uncollected rubbish,
overflowing sewage and water leaks – and asking: 'Why did Havana become
like this?'
Naomi Larsson in Havana
@naomilars
Monday 5 September 2016 07.30 BST Last modified on Monday 5 September
2016 10.29 BST
On a street corner in Vedado, Havana's most affluent suburb, pedestrians
have had to manoeuvre around a metre-wide hole in the pavement on Calle
10 for months. Smashed concrete spills on to the road, encircling what
has since turned into a pit of rubbish – a pockmark on the face of
Havana's fading grandeur.
This is, according to residents, "the way things are" in the Cuban
capital. As the city, its people and its architecture has aged, so too
have its public services. While on the face of it, the city is getting a
new lift through the easing of Cuban-US relations, municipal support
structures are failing badly in many parts of the city. As residents get
tired of these inefficiencies, they're expressing their anger – and
pointing to the breakdown of Cuban socialism.
"When Obama came [in March] they cleaned the whole street; they put the
beggars and homeless in a special asylum," says Hamlet Lavastida, a
33-year-old artist who lives in Havana. "They made new roads, they
painted many buildings, just in the areas where Obama was going to be.
People joked that now we're going to have to wait another 50 years for
the next US president to come, to make another new road ..."
These may just be lighthearted jokes for now, but Lavastida suggests
there is a growing discontent among Cubans about the state of public
services: the dirty streets, the broken infrastructure.
"Sometimes the telephone company – of course, controlled by the state –
dig a hole to put in the wires and cables of the telephone, but they
never cover the hole. They leave it like that for months," she says.
Water leaks flow regularly across the streets of Havana's barrios
without being fixed. Waste can overflow public bins for weeks, with
residents having no idea when it will be collected. When referring to
the lack of cohesion between the various government-run, centralised
organisations – the communications company, the water company, the
rubbish collectors ("communales") – Lavastida uses the word "anarchy".
Walking through the city centre with three writers from Havana Times –
an English-language blog that describes itself as "open-minded writing
from Cuba" – the conversation quickly turns to Havana's streets. "We
have serious environmental problems in the city. Problems with garbage
collection, sewage overflowing pits, air pollution," they say.
Such issues are obvious as you walk through the small backstreets just a
few blocks away from El Capitolio, the old seat of government and one of
the city's grandest buildings. Instead of overpowering petrol fumes from
Havana's ageing cars, you smell sewage and dust compounding in the muggy
air. We turn a corner and rubbish falls from a flowing dustbin. Stagnant
water from a leaking drain sits along a pavement. Above it, a building
with cracks in the wall is held up by wooden scaffolding.
"The trash is all over the place," says Luis Miguel Bahia, who lives in
Cerro, one of Havana's poorest municipalities. "I walk and when I turn
the next corner hoping for some fresh air, there is the smell of this
trash that's all over the road, and I think: 'Where am I? Why did this
place become like this?'"
Unsurprisingly, the outer neighbourhoods and poorer communities are more
neglected. Will Aurelievich also lives in Cerro; he tells me that around
his home their sewage system broke, and residents were having to avoid
walking on "actual human shit", as he describes it, for six months
before it was fixed. He was planning on making a documentary about the
problem, but coincidentally as soon as he started the project the state
services came to fix it.
Residents of Alamar, another neglected district, have often written in
Havana Times about the inefficiencies in rubbish collection in their
neighbourhood – one of the posts is entitled "Cuba: till the shit do us
part". The communales (rubbish collection) apparently receives the
biggest state budget but is said to be "one of the most inefficient
sectors in the country".
One of the problems, it seems, is the high level of bureaucracy here.
The city administration is theoretically answerable to the national
assembly of people's power, but they don't have budgetary control – that
is in the hands of central government. A channel of complaint from the
population can only lead to an advisory department, rather than the
funding source, according to Stephen Wilkinson at the International
Institute for the Study of Cuba.
But above all, Cuba has limited resources. It's a trade-dependent
country living with a 56-year US embargo. Helen Yaffe, an LSE fellow who
specialises in the Cuban economy and has spent years living in Havana,
says: "You have to start with the blockade [which has prevented trade
and investment from the US since 1960], although you don't want to
always sound defensive. But the authorities here have very limited
budget. They have to prioritise what they do with their hard currency."
As Yaffe points out, Cuba is a country of contradictions. You might have
to swerve a hole in the pavement on a daily basis, but the government
does provide free universal healthcare and education (Raul Castro used
these services as a defence when questioned about the government's
record of human rights violations during Obama's visit). Indeed, Yaffe
recalls a time when her two-year-old daughter was struck with pneumonia
when they were staying in Havana. "Inside a hospital, the level of care
was phenomenal. Yet we were in a room without hot running in water; in
fact, there wasn't even water all the time.
"This shows the contradictions that Cuba's had to face in terms of its
development. Infrastructurally, they're really struggling."
Lavastida, who recently moved back to his home country after living
abroad for five years, acknowledges the lack of resources, but he
suggests the disintegration of the city's infrastructure and public
services goes much deeper. He believes people care less about their
local community, reflecting the breakdown in Cuban socialist values.
"There's a lack of public interest in what is happening in the street.
This is somehow also part of the change; that Cubans are becoming
individualistic," he says. He sees this apathy as a "passive dissidence".
"I remember when I was a kid there was something called Domingo Rojo
('Red Sunday') and everybody in the neighbourhood decided we were going
to clean the streets, like a communal voluntary service, and it was
great. But nobody believes in the voluntary thing now, in communism.
There is incredible hostility between government and citizens … every day."
Bahia agrees. He has also noticed a feeling of apathy in Cuban society:
"In the long term people react to the the impositions [by the
government] of solidarity, the community and so on. Those kinds of
things must not be imposed because it creates the opposite effect. For
example, with the trash on the street, I told a neighbour about it, and
he said to me to take another route to avoid this trash. No one cares."
As more foreign money enters Havana, it seems individualism and the gap
between rich and poor will only increase. The number of Cubans working
in the private sector has reached nearly half a million – three times
the number in 2008, and there is a new generation of nuevos ricos (new
rich) who isolate those left on government wages. Habaneros worry that
privatisation is slipping into the public sector: apparently if you hand
the communales some money, they'll take your rubbish straight away.
In the last Community Party Congress in April, Raul Castro released new
documents outlining the meaning of Cuban socialism. Yaffe says this was
hugely significant, and "the need for improvement is very much a focus
of the plan document"; but only time will tell if it will change the way
Cubans feel about their communities.
Walking back through Vedado, I see a machine grabbing some of the
rubbish in Calle 10, engulfed in a cloud of dust. The machine stops, and
the workmen expose the crater in the ground. Maybe it will be fixed
soon, or maybe not.
Source: Havana's dirty truths: rubbish-strewn streets spark anger at
city's failings | Cities | The Guardian -
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/05/havana-cuba-rubbish-strewn-streets-spark-anger-failing-city?page=with:img-3
12 Cuban migrants rescued from storm by Coast guard and returned to Cuba
12 Cuban migrants rescued from storm by Coast guard and returned to Cuba
BY ALEX HARRIS
aharris@miamiherald.com
The dozen Cuban migrants on the rickety boat must have been terrified
Sunday night.
It was dark, the waves about 20 miles southeast of Key West were eight
feet high, and were gusting around 30 knots. They were waving for help
when the Coast Guard found them.
The Coast Guard crew gave them life jackets and brought them off their
"rustic vessel" and onto a cutter. No one was hurt.
"We make every effort to rescue those in distress at sea," said Cmdr.
Marc Brandt, the commanding officer of the Northland, in a statement. "I
am extremely proud of our crew for completing this challenging nighttime
rescue safely. I doubt that the rustic vessel would have lasted much
longer in the strong winds and high seas that the storm had generated.
While this group was rescued in the nick of time, attempting to
illegally migrate in poorly constructed, unlighted and overcrowded craft
is inherently unsafe and puts migrants at extreme risk."
The group was among the 36 migrants repatriated to Cuba on Wednesday and
a fraction of the 6,393 Cuban attempted migrants logged by the Coast
Guard since last October.
Alex Harris: 305-376-5005, @harrisalexc
Source: 12 Cuban migrants rescued from storm by Coast guard and returned
to Cuba | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article99568837.html
BY ALEX HARRIS
aharris@miamiherald.com
The dozen Cuban migrants on the rickety boat must have been terrified
Sunday night.
It was dark, the waves about 20 miles southeast of Key West were eight
feet high, and were gusting around 30 knots. They were waving for help
when the Coast Guard found them.
The Coast Guard crew gave them life jackets and brought them off their
"rustic vessel" and onto a cutter. No one was hurt.
"We make every effort to rescue those in distress at sea," said Cmdr.
Marc Brandt, the commanding officer of the Northland, in a statement. "I
am extremely proud of our crew for completing this challenging nighttime
rescue safely. I doubt that the rustic vessel would have lasted much
longer in the strong winds and high seas that the storm had generated.
While this group was rescued in the nick of time, attempting to
illegally migrate in poorly constructed, unlighted and overcrowded craft
is inherently unsafe and puts migrants at extreme risk."
The group was among the 36 migrants repatriated to Cuba on Wednesday and
a fraction of the 6,393 Cuban attempted migrants logged by the Coast
Guard since last October.
Alex Harris: 305-376-5005, @harrisalexc
Source: 12 Cuban migrants rescued from storm by Coast guard and returned
to Cuba | In Cuba Today -
http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article99568837.html
New air links raise hopes in Washington and Cuba
New air links raise hopes in Washington and Cuba
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA
The first off JetBlue 387 were the TV cameramen, the U.S. secretary of
transportation and the airline executives.
As the tropical sun beat the tarmac, the VIPs traded congratulations on
the arrival of the first commercial flight from the U.S. to Cuba in more
than 50 years. Away from the cameras, a small but potentially more
important group made its way through Santa Clara's single-terminal
airport: a pair of backpackers from Oregon and a book editor from
Chicago and his 16-year-old daughter – the first U.S. tourists on the
newly reestablished flights.
By December, the four will have a lot of company, with some 300 direct
flights a week scheduled from the U.S. to 10 cities across Cuba.
America's biggest airlines and the Obama administration hope the planes
will carry hundreds of thousands of U.S. travelers, both Cuban-Americans
visiting family and sightseers who will turn the largest island in the
Caribbean back into a major U.S. vacation destination.
For U.S. airlines it's a chance to move into an untapped market less
than an hour's flight from Miami. For Cubans, it means waves of
demanding but high-tipping Americans could transform the landscape in
cities like Santa Clara that have been off the well-trod tourist track
for now.
"The best tourist there is, is the American tourist," said 25-year-old
Libán Bermúdez as he sold 16-year-old Sophia Compton a pair of handmade
leather sandals from his stand off Santa Clara's main plaza. "They're
the ones that buy the most."
For President Barack Obama, the reestablishment of commercial air links
with Cuba is the last major chance to make a key part of his foreign
policy legacy irreversible before he leaves office.
In the year since the U.S. and Cuba re-established diplomatic relations,
government ties have grown quickly, generating a string of bilateral
agreements on issues from environmental protection to public health.
Commerce remains stalled by the 55-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba,
and the difficulty of doing business in the island's largely closed and
centrally planned economy.
The restart of commercial flights on Wednesday means 10 U.S. airlines
including American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest and JetBlue
suddenly have hundreds of millions of dollars in business due to
U.S.-Cuba normalization.
The Obama administration finalized the last of the new routes, 20 a day
to Havana, the same day Flight 387 touched down in Santa Clara. A
requirement that the airlines start service within 90 days means all the
new Cuba flights will have to be running a month before Obama leaves office.
Pure tourism remains illegal under U.S. regulations that allow 12
categories of travel to Cuba including religious and sports activities
and educational travel promoting "people-to-people" contact. For
Americans without family ties to Cuba, the most popular form of travel
has been on tightly focused educational trips organized in conjunction
with the Cuban government. The Obama administration lifted that group
requirement in March, leaving Americans free to travel to Cuba as long
as they can credibly describe their trips as educational.
As a result, the ban on tourism has become effectively unenforceable,
something that many more Americans are likely to realize now that they
can instantly book travel on commercial flights instead of expensive,
inconvenient charters.
The four travelers on Flight 387 without relatives in Cuba paid about
$200 each to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara. They spent
Wednesday seeing Che Guevara's tomb and sites from Cuba' 1959
revolution. Then Stephen Compton and his daughter Sophia headed to
Havana. Keane Daly and Taimairie Locke boarded a bus to the colonial
city of Trinidad and the waterfalls and beaches of Cuba's central
southern coast.
"I've traveled to 30-35 countries and this is probably one of the
friendliest places I've been to," Daly, a 25-year-old University of
Oregon geology graduate student, said Saturday evening. "I was expecting
maybe some hostility but it's actually the opposite. People are really
excited about Americans coming to Cuba."
Most of the non-official passengers on Flight 387 were Cuban-Americans –
among the nearly 400,000 who already visit family in Cuba each year.
The number of U.S. travelers without family ties to Cuba is already on
track to at least triple to 300,000 this year.
Strapped for cash as subsidized oil from Venezuela dwindles, the Cuban
government is welcoming the wave of new visitors and struggling to
update infrastructure that's already overwhelmed. It's pushing to build
new hotels, but demand will outstrip supply for years to come. The
government has also given Aeroports de Paris, the French company that
manages Paris' airports, a concession to take over Havana's José Martí
airport, where passengers can often wait hours to get their checked
bags. But renovation of the airport isn't expected to start in earnest
until next year, well after commercial flights being arriving there from
the U.S.
Much of the demand is expected to be absorbed by Cuba's growing
non-state tourism sector, where tens of thousands of private
bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants have emerged across the country in
recent years.
The start of flights to lesser-known destinations like Santa Clara,
Holguín and Camagüey is raising hopes among private business people that
they will be able to capture a significant share of the US. tourist boom
that's been concentrated until now in Havana and a circuit of popular
destinations within a few hours' drive.
"We have to get ready and raise our standards," said Ger Gar manager of
a bed-and-breakfast and restaurant in central Santa Clara. "All of this
is above and beyond what everybody was planning."
Source: New air links raise hopes in Washington and Cuba | In Cuba Today
- http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article99969432.html
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA
The first off JetBlue 387 were the TV cameramen, the U.S. secretary of
transportation and the airline executives.
As the tropical sun beat the tarmac, the VIPs traded congratulations on
the arrival of the first commercial flight from the U.S. to Cuba in more
than 50 years. Away from the cameras, a small but potentially more
important group made its way through Santa Clara's single-terminal
airport: a pair of backpackers from Oregon and a book editor from
Chicago and his 16-year-old daughter – the first U.S. tourists on the
newly reestablished flights.
By December, the four will have a lot of company, with some 300 direct
flights a week scheduled from the U.S. to 10 cities across Cuba.
America's biggest airlines and the Obama administration hope the planes
will carry hundreds of thousands of U.S. travelers, both Cuban-Americans
visiting family and sightseers who will turn the largest island in the
Caribbean back into a major U.S. vacation destination.
For U.S. airlines it's a chance to move into an untapped market less
than an hour's flight from Miami. For Cubans, it means waves of
demanding but high-tipping Americans could transform the landscape in
cities like Santa Clara that have been off the well-trod tourist track
for now.
"The best tourist there is, is the American tourist," said 25-year-old
Libán Bermúdez as he sold 16-year-old Sophia Compton a pair of handmade
leather sandals from his stand off Santa Clara's main plaza. "They're
the ones that buy the most."
For President Barack Obama, the reestablishment of commercial air links
with Cuba is the last major chance to make a key part of his foreign
policy legacy irreversible before he leaves office.
In the year since the U.S. and Cuba re-established diplomatic relations,
government ties have grown quickly, generating a string of bilateral
agreements on issues from environmental protection to public health.
Commerce remains stalled by the 55-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba,
and the difficulty of doing business in the island's largely closed and
centrally planned economy.
The restart of commercial flights on Wednesday means 10 U.S. airlines
including American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest and JetBlue
suddenly have hundreds of millions of dollars in business due to
U.S.-Cuba normalization.
The Obama administration finalized the last of the new routes, 20 a day
to Havana, the same day Flight 387 touched down in Santa Clara. A
requirement that the airlines start service within 90 days means all the
new Cuba flights will have to be running a month before Obama leaves office.
Pure tourism remains illegal under U.S. regulations that allow 12
categories of travel to Cuba including religious and sports activities
and educational travel promoting "people-to-people" contact. For
Americans without family ties to Cuba, the most popular form of travel
has been on tightly focused educational trips organized in conjunction
with the Cuban government. The Obama administration lifted that group
requirement in March, leaving Americans free to travel to Cuba as long
as they can credibly describe their trips as educational.
As a result, the ban on tourism has become effectively unenforceable,
something that many more Americans are likely to realize now that they
can instantly book travel on commercial flights instead of expensive,
inconvenient charters.
The four travelers on Flight 387 without relatives in Cuba paid about
$200 each to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara. They spent
Wednesday seeing Che Guevara's tomb and sites from Cuba' 1959
revolution. Then Stephen Compton and his daughter Sophia headed to
Havana. Keane Daly and Taimairie Locke boarded a bus to the colonial
city of Trinidad and the waterfalls and beaches of Cuba's central
southern coast.
"I've traveled to 30-35 countries and this is probably one of the
friendliest places I've been to," Daly, a 25-year-old University of
Oregon geology graduate student, said Saturday evening. "I was expecting
maybe some hostility but it's actually the opposite. People are really
excited about Americans coming to Cuba."
Most of the non-official passengers on Flight 387 were Cuban-Americans –
among the nearly 400,000 who already visit family in Cuba each year.
The number of U.S. travelers without family ties to Cuba is already on
track to at least triple to 300,000 this year.
Strapped for cash as subsidized oil from Venezuela dwindles, the Cuban
government is welcoming the wave of new visitors and struggling to
update infrastructure that's already overwhelmed. It's pushing to build
new hotels, but demand will outstrip supply for years to come. The
government has also given Aeroports de Paris, the French company that
manages Paris' airports, a concession to take over Havana's José Martí
airport, where passengers can often wait hours to get their checked
bags. But renovation of the airport isn't expected to start in earnest
until next year, well after commercial flights being arriving there from
the U.S.
Much of the demand is expected to be absorbed by Cuba's growing
non-state tourism sector, where tens of thousands of private
bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants have emerged across the country in
recent years.
The start of flights to lesser-known destinations like Santa Clara,
Holguín and Camagüey is raising hopes among private business people that
they will be able to capture a significant share of the US. tourist boom
that's been concentrated until now in Havana and a circuit of popular
destinations within a few hours' drive.
"We have to get ready and raise our standards," said Ger Gar manager of
a bed-and-breakfast and restaurant in central Santa Clara. "All of this
is above and beyond what everybody was planning."
Source: New air links raise hopes in Washington and Cuba | In Cuba Today
- http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article99969432.html
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Phone and Internet Service in Cuba, How it Works - Report
Report: Phone and Internet Service in Cuba, How it Works / Anne Nelson
Graphic from the report: Click to enlarge to make it more readable.
http://translatingcuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/etecsaservicesdiagram.png
Download the report here: CUBA'S PARALLEL WORLDS: DIGITAL MEDIA CROSSES
THE DIVIDE
By Anne Nelson
http://www.cima.ned.org/resource/cubas-parallel-world-digital-media-crosses-divide/
Note: Translating Cuba posts this graphic and the link to the larger
report, as we post everything on our site, without any "guarantee" that
what the authors say is accurate or even true. However this report is
getting good reviews by people "in the know," and the graphic appears to
be an excellent and easy to understand summary of the current formal
arrangements for phone service and internet in Cuba.
Source: Report: Phone and Internet Service in Cuba, How it Works / Anne
Nelson – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/report-phone-and-internet-service-in-cuba-how-it-works-anne-nelson/
Graphic from the report: Click to enlarge to make it more readable.
http://translatingcuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/etecsaservicesdiagram.png
Download the report here: CUBA'S PARALLEL WORLDS: DIGITAL MEDIA CROSSES
THE DIVIDE
By Anne Nelson
http://www.cima.ned.org/resource/cubas-parallel-world-digital-media-crosses-divide/
Note: Translating Cuba posts this graphic and the link to the larger
report, as we post everything on our site, without any "guarantee" that
what the authors say is accurate or even true. However this report is
getting good reviews by people "in the know," and the graphic appears to
be an excellent and easy to understand summary of the current formal
arrangements for phone service and internet in Cuba.
Source: Report: Phone and Internet Service in Cuba, How it Works / Anne
Nelson – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/report-phone-and-internet-service-in-cuba-how-it-works-anne-nelson/
Lessons From Myanmar
Lessons From Myanmar / 14ymedio, Eliecer Avila
14ymedio, Eliecer Avila, Yangon, Myanmar, 2 September 2016 — During his
visit to Cuba, US President Barack Obama mentioned the changes in Burma
(now Myanmar) as an example of the most recent democratic transition
from a fierce military dictatorship that lasted over half a century.
Since then, the idea of an exchange between the opposition and Cuban
civil society and their counterparts in Myanmar was developed. Today
this political and cultural contact is a reality full of very valuable
lessons that can only be appreciated by seeing how changes take place
and are managed in real time, the interactions between contending forces
and their interests, the pros and cons, the alliances and the ruptures,
the shared joys and disappointments of a frustrating process, which many
say, is just beginning.
From the air, the tremendous difference in infrastructure and
development in Myanmar and, for example, its neighbor Thailand, is
remarkable. It is like when you leave Miami and then fly over Cuba. It
is clear that this country was left out of the democratic, educational
and technological changes that catapulted the so-called Asian Tigers.
At a time when those countries focused on global integration with
millions of young people ready to conquer the art of creating products
and services on a grand scale, Myanmar's military dictatorship chose
total ostracism, shutting off the country like a strongbox to avoid any
"foreign influence." It always tried to keep the county semi-enslaved in
the service of an army that, like an octopus, controlled the social,
economic and spiritual life of this nation, located exactly on the other
side of the world.
At the airport, going through immigration is somewhat tense because the
military is not yet entirely accustomed to looking at tourists as
ordinary people. To alleviate this problem they have thoroughly replaced
all possible customs and immigration clerks, placing in these positions
young people who are a lot more open and unprejudiced, and who even smile.
Myanmar currently receives just over a million tourists a year, an
insignificant figure not only compared to its neighbors, but in
proportion to its nearly 60 million inhabitants. This figure, however,
is growing due to democratic changes, which in turn attract many investors.
Currency exchange offices accept the US dollar, the euro and the
Singapore dollar, but in order to pay for anything in any one of these
currencies, you have to be sure the bill is not the least bit wrinkled,
because they won't accept it. And don't panic if you see people spitting
out a red substance on the street. It is not blood, but rather a pigment
that comes from a mix of herbs and is constantly chewed, as in Bolivia.
On the streets of Yangon there are no motorbikes. Here superstitions are
very important even when making policy decisions. In a nearby country it
happened that there was a wave of crime in which the criminals used
motorbikes to move around and perpetuate attacks, so the military junta
completely banned them in the capital "just in case."
In Myanmar men wear a kind of wide skirt that is adjusted through a knot
just below the navel, without underwear. Women are often seen adjusting
the typical costume that covers them from the ankles to the neck, an
elegant garment emphasizing the sensuous curves of a perfect waist, as
described by George Orwell in his novel Burmese Days.
They are as thin "as sticks" with shapely legs and smooth hair that
falls in perfect shapes… no thanks to the gym or expensive treatments,
but from a traditional diet based on vegetables, plus genetics and a
life marked from childhood by hard work.
Incredibly decent and helpful, one and all, the citizens of Myanmar grab
your heart with their extraordinary mixture of simplicity and nobility,
probably a reflection of the basic teachings of Buddhism, among which
one stands out in particular: "We must live to give love, not only to
our friends, but also to our enemies."
Although the country is an infinite melting pot of ethnicities and
religions, Buddhism predominates as a belief, significantly influencing
the moral base and value system that rules society. The presence of the
monks and their temples (pagodas) is everywhere. You cannot touch the
monks and much less can they touch a woman. They, however, can touch you
at will.
The monks are greatly venerated and were the protagonists in several of
the largest protests against the abuses of the military power and in
support of changing the terrible economic situation of the country. The
majority of these demonstrations were held in the late eighties and were
called the Saffron Revolution, after the color of the monks' clothing.
Many of them were sent to prison and served long sentences as political
prisoners.
In general, those who were young students in 1988 are called "Generation
88," in memory of the heroic attitude that many of these boys, some of
them mere children, assumed in defense of their country and their
rights, paying a high cost in innocent lives at the hands of the armed
forces.
That sacrifice laid the foundation for the process that is happening
today in the country, overthrowing for the first time the one-party
military rule in that year. There then emerged 235 political parties,
which were more or less consolidated into 91 ahead of the 1990
elections, the first competitive elections since 1948.
The National League for Democracy (LND), which already had more than
three million members (of which, one million are women), swept the
elections getting a historic triumph that gave them the capacity to
govern, but the defeated military didn't go along, they broke the rules,
ignored the election results and imprisoned the leaders of the winning
party, among them its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
With this coup, the military frustrated the aspirations of the whole
nation for freedom and progress, but that would be temporary.
In 2011, after the release of Aung San and thousands of political
prisoners, new elections were called, but several of the most
influential parties chose not to participate, citing the obvious lack of
confidence in the military and demanding a change in the Constitution to
offer real guarantees to civil parties.
The constitution is the legal instrument that guarantees the supremacy
of the military class, still today. The constitution establishes that
25% of the seats in parliament are reserved for the military, regardless
of the results of the election. The trap closes completely with the
provision, in addition, that the constitution can only be changed with
more than 75% of the votes, so it is mathematically impossible to modify
anything, no matter how small, without the consent of the military.
Not satisfied with this, the constitution gives the military permanent
control of the country's most important ministries: Borders, Armed
Forces and the most strategic, Interior. This latter entity, in addition
to the usual functions of controlling order, in Myanmar also controls
all public administration, a great part of the economy, and also
education. The decisions of the military in these institutions are
virtually autonomous and unquestionable.
For these reasons, although the country is very happy with the second
victory of the NLD in 2015 and the rise to power of Aung San, many
believe that as long as the military holds on to all that power they
will not have a true democracy.
Aung San and her party assumed from the beginning a conciliatory
attitude, trying to reach agreements with the military leadership that
will directly benefit citizens, and working so that the country can
begin to emerge from its deep poverty, making it easier and offering
guarantees for both foreign investment and internal trade.
These negotiations have been possible in part because the current top
leader of the military and Aung San have a certain personal empathy and
have maintained a constructive dialogue. This aspect was strongly
criticized by other political parties and many civil society
organizations, who demand clarifications and that the military take
responsibility for its crimes, as well as the release of political
prisoners who remain in jail.
Many of these prisoners were sanctioned for "resistance" against
attempts of certain members of military or their associates to take away
all or part of their land.
Beyond these issues, thorny and inconclusive, there are hundreds of
examples of positive transformations that quickly began to empower
people, especially young people. In 2012, a SIM card for a cellphone
cost about $1,000. Today you can buy one for just $1.50 and it provides
completely free access to the internet, creating overnight more than 10
million internet users ravenously exploring the web, creating new ways
to organize and discuss issues that previously didn't exist. In Myanmar,
as in Cuba, meeting with others without permission from the military
junta was prohibited.
Another important change was to eliminate the tax demanded by the
military of 100% on the purchase value from anyone who acquired a
vehicle. This was reduced to between 3% and 5%, which has facilitated
the importation of millions of light trucks and buses for public
transport. This measure represents an accelerator for the growing
economy that is trying to flourish, but which in turn poses great
challenges of infrastructure, because at certain times the city
collapses in traffic jams of a size never expected or imagined.
Impressive and positive is also the great work being done in the country
through hundreds of supportive organizations and NGOs which, along with
the new authorities, are contributing their experience on issues of all
kinds: entrepreneurship, agriculture, digital commerce, the broad-based
development of women, political participation, mediation in ethnic
conflicts, issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, water
purification and conservation, etc., through training in systems
provided not only in the capital but in the most remote villages of the
14 states that make up the vast territory of the country.
All this cooperation has also contributed to statistical studies,
surveys and research to bring to light for the first time in history the
true picture of the country in very sensitive areas such as human
trafficking, the sex trade of children, drugs, discrimination,
recruitment of children by ethnic guerrillas, etc., so that from this
information the state can implement programs and make decisions to
improve the situation.
The media, now much more free, foster discussions of all these issues
and put pressure on the authorities from their platforms, both physical
and digital. The young people working on a Yangon newspaper talk about
the official media after the change, saying "nobody recognizes them,"
because "they changed their stale and censored discourse for another
kind of more dynamic journalism, objective and real; they are now
becoming real competitors for us."
This shows that journalism's heart was always beating, but it was
subjugated by a regime that annulled it and appeared more before the people.
The young Burmese man who acted as my translator said, "For me, the most
important thing is that people are no longer afraid, they laugh now,
before they were serious, now they dream of work and prosperity; before,
most young people regretted being born here… For myself, I'm not going
anywhere now!"
Source: Lessons From Myanmar / 14ymedio, Eliecer Avila – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/lessons-from-myanmar-14ymedio-eliecer-avila/
14ymedio, Eliecer Avila, Yangon, Myanmar, 2 September 2016 — During his
visit to Cuba, US President Barack Obama mentioned the changes in Burma
(now Myanmar) as an example of the most recent democratic transition
from a fierce military dictatorship that lasted over half a century.
Since then, the idea of an exchange between the opposition and Cuban
civil society and their counterparts in Myanmar was developed. Today
this political and cultural contact is a reality full of very valuable
lessons that can only be appreciated by seeing how changes take place
and are managed in real time, the interactions between contending forces
and their interests, the pros and cons, the alliances and the ruptures,
the shared joys and disappointments of a frustrating process, which many
say, is just beginning.
From the air, the tremendous difference in infrastructure and
development in Myanmar and, for example, its neighbor Thailand, is
remarkable. It is like when you leave Miami and then fly over Cuba. It
is clear that this country was left out of the democratic, educational
and technological changes that catapulted the so-called Asian Tigers.
At a time when those countries focused on global integration with
millions of young people ready to conquer the art of creating products
and services on a grand scale, Myanmar's military dictatorship chose
total ostracism, shutting off the country like a strongbox to avoid any
"foreign influence." It always tried to keep the county semi-enslaved in
the service of an army that, like an octopus, controlled the social,
economic and spiritual life of this nation, located exactly on the other
side of the world.
At the airport, going through immigration is somewhat tense because the
military is not yet entirely accustomed to looking at tourists as
ordinary people. To alleviate this problem they have thoroughly replaced
all possible customs and immigration clerks, placing in these positions
young people who are a lot more open and unprejudiced, and who even smile.
Myanmar currently receives just over a million tourists a year, an
insignificant figure not only compared to its neighbors, but in
proportion to its nearly 60 million inhabitants. This figure, however,
is growing due to democratic changes, which in turn attract many investors.
Currency exchange offices accept the US dollar, the euro and the
Singapore dollar, but in order to pay for anything in any one of these
currencies, you have to be sure the bill is not the least bit wrinkled,
because they won't accept it. And don't panic if you see people spitting
out a red substance on the street. It is not blood, but rather a pigment
that comes from a mix of herbs and is constantly chewed, as in Bolivia.
On the streets of Yangon there are no motorbikes. Here superstitions are
very important even when making policy decisions. In a nearby country it
happened that there was a wave of crime in which the criminals used
motorbikes to move around and perpetuate attacks, so the military junta
completely banned them in the capital "just in case."
In Myanmar men wear a kind of wide skirt that is adjusted through a knot
just below the navel, without underwear. Women are often seen adjusting
the typical costume that covers them from the ankles to the neck, an
elegant garment emphasizing the sensuous curves of a perfect waist, as
described by George Orwell in his novel Burmese Days.
They are as thin "as sticks" with shapely legs and smooth hair that
falls in perfect shapes… no thanks to the gym or expensive treatments,
but from a traditional diet based on vegetables, plus genetics and a
life marked from childhood by hard work.
Incredibly decent and helpful, one and all, the citizens of Myanmar grab
your heart with their extraordinary mixture of simplicity and nobility,
probably a reflection of the basic teachings of Buddhism, among which
one stands out in particular: "We must live to give love, not only to
our friends, but also to our enemies."
Although the country is an infinite melting pot of ethnicities and
religions, Buddhism predominates as a belief, significantly influencing
the moral base and value system that rules society. The presence of the
monks and their temples (pagodas) is everywhere. You cannot touch the
monks and much less can they touch a woman. They, however, can touch you
at will.
The monks are greatly venerated and were the protagonists in several of
the largest protests against the abuses of the military power and in
support of changing the terrible economic situation of the country. The
majority of these demonstrations were held in the late eighties and were
called the Saffron Revolution, after the color of the monks' clothing.
Many of them were sent to prison and served long sentences as political
prisoners.
In general, those who were young students in 1988 are called "Generation
88," in memory of the heroic attitude that many of these boys, some of
them mere children, assumed in defense of their country and their
rights, paying a high cost in innocent lives at the hands of the armed
forces.
That sacrifice laid the foundation for the process that is happening
today in the country, overthrowing for the first time the one-party
military rule in that year. There then emerged 235 political parties,
which were more or less consolidated into 91 ahead of the 1990
elections, the first competitive elections since 1948.
The National League for Democracy (LND), which already had more than
three million members (of which, one million are women), swept the
elections getting a historic triumph that gave them the capacity to
govern, but the defeated military didn't go along, they broke the rules,
ignored the election results and imprisoned the leaders of the winning
party, among them its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
With this coup, the military frustrated the aspirations of the whole
nation for freedom and progress, but that would be temporary.
In 2011, after the release of Aung San and thousands of political
prisoners, new elections were called, but several of the most
influential parties chose not to participate, citing the obvious lack of
confidence in the military and demanding a change in the Constitution to
offer real guarantees to civil parties.
The constitution is the legal instrument that guarantees the supremacy
of the military class, still today. The constitution establishes that
25% of the seats in parliament are reserved for the military, regardless
of the results of the election. The trap closes completely with the
provision, in addition, that the constitution can only be changed with
more than 75% of the votes, so it is mathematically impossible to modify
anything, no matter how small, without the consent of the military.
Not satisfied with this, the constitution gives the military permanent
control of the country's most important ministries: Borders, Armed
Forces and the most strategic, Interior. This latter entity, in addition
to the usual functions of controlling order, in Myanmar also controls
all public administration, a great part of the economy, and also
education. The decisions of the military in these institutions are
virtually autonomous and unquestionable.
For these reasons, although the country is very happy with the second
victory of the NLD in 2015 and the rise to power of Aung San, many
believe that as long as the military holds on to all that power they
will not have a true democracy.
Aung San and her party assumed from the beginning a conciliatory
attitude, trying to reach agreements with the military leadership that
will directly benefit citizens, and working so that the country can
begin to emerge from its deep poverty, making it easier and offering
guarantees for both foreign investment and internal trade.
These negotiations have been possible in part because the current top
leader of the military and Aung San have a certain personal empathy and
have maintained a constructive dialogue. This aspect was strongly
criticized by other political parties and many civil society
organizations, who demand clarifications and that the military take
responsibility for its crimes, as well as the release of political
prisoners who remain in jail.
Many of these prisoners were sanctioned for "resistance" against
attempts of certain members of military or their associates to take away
all or part of their land.
Beyond these issues, thorny and inconclusive, there are hundreds of
examples of positive transformations that quickly began to empower
people, especially young people. In 2012, a SIM card for a cellphone
cost about $1,000. Today you can buy one for just $1.50 and it provides
completely free access to the internet, creating overnight more than 10
million internet users ravenously exploring the web, creating new ways
to organize and discuss issues that previously didn't exist. In Myanmar,
as in Cuba, meeting with others without permission from the military
junta was prohibited.
Another important change was to eliminate the tax demanded by the
military of 100% on the purchase value from anyone who acquired a
vehicle. This was reduced to between 3% and 5%, which has facilitated
the importation of millions of light trucks and buses for public
transport. This measure represents an accelerator for the growing
economy that is trying to flourish, but which in turn poses great
challenges of infrastructure, because at certain times the city
collapses in traffic jams of a size never expected or imagined.
Impressive and positive is also the great work being done in the country
through hundreds of supportive organizations and NGOs which, along with
the new authorities, are contributing their experience on issues of all
kinds: entrepreneurship, agriculture, digital commerce, the broad-based
development of women, political participation, mediation in ethnic
conflicts, issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, water
purification and conservation, etc., through training in systems
provided not only in the capital but in the most remote villages of the
14 states that make up the vast territory of the country.
All this cooperation has also contributed to statistical studies,
surveys and research to bring to light for the first time in history the
true picture of the country in very sensitive areas such as human
trafficking, the sex trade of children, drugs, discrimination,
recruitment of children by ethnic guerrillas, etc., so that from this
information the state can implement programs and make decisions to
improve the situation.
The media, now much more free, foster discussions of all these issues
and put pressure on the authorities from their platforms, both physical
and digital. The young people working on a Yangon newspaper talk about
the official media after the change, saying "nobody recognizes them,"
because "they changed their stale and censored discourse for another
kind of more dynamic journalism, objective and real; they are now
becoming real competitors for us."
This shows that journalism's heart was always beating, but it was
subjugated by a regime that annulled it and appeared more before the people.
The young Burmese man who acted as my translator said, "For me, the most
important thing is that people are no longer afraid, they laugh now,
before they were serious, now they dream of work and prosperity; before,
most young people regretted being born here… For myself, I'm not going
anywhere now!"
Source: Lessons From Myanmar / 14ymedio, Eliecer Avila – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/lessons-from-myanmar-14ymedio-eliecer-avila/
Air travel to Cuba divides Congress
Air travel to Cuba divides Congress
By Melanie Zanona - 09/03/16 02:30 PM EDT
Commercial flights to Cuba resumed for the first time in 50 years this
week, but don't expect a flood of legislative changes to follow.
Proponents of further loosening travel restrictions on Cuba had hoped
that the resumption of air service with the country would give them new
momentum.
In the Senate, appropriators have already approved an amendment that
would lift the tourism ban with Cuba, while similar legislation has
garnered over 50 cosponsors.
But over in the House, advocates still face fierce opposition from the
majority on the Homeland Security Committee, which is pushing a bill
that would ground flights to Cuba until a thorough airport security
review is conducted.
"Despite continued concerns about the safety and security of Cuba's
airports, the Administration rushed resuming regularly scheduled
commercial flights to Cuba — again putting security concerns far behind
the President's legacy building effort," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas),
the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told The Hill in
a statement.
"Once Congress is back in session, I plan to move legislation through my
Homeland Security Committee to force DHS and GAO to both identify and
close any and all of the major security gaps that currently exist."
Critics of travel to Cuba say they don't plan to back down just because
flights to the island are underway.
The stalemate is unlikely to yield any legislative changes this year on
travel to Cuba, an issue that has divided lawmakers for more than five
decades.
"Does [resuming air service with Cuba] potentially increase the
conversation? Yes," said John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba
Trade and Economic Council, Inc. "But does it change the outcome? No."
The Obama administration announced a historic agreement earlier this
year to re-establish scheduled air service between the U.S. and Cuba.
The first U.S. flight touched down in Santa Clara, Cuba, on Wednesday
morning. The arrival was widely seen as a milestone in President Obama's
push to normalize diplomatic relations with the former Cold War rival.
But American tourism on the island is still prohibited and can only be
approved by Congress.
The new flight routes will only open up travel for family visits,
official U.S. government business, foreign governments, journalistic
activity, professional research, educational activities, religious
activities, public performances, humanitarian projects and certain
authorized export transactions.
James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, believes it's only a matter of
time before the travel ban is fully lifted.
"I think it will add more momentum than anything we could have done,"
Williams said. "The more Americans are going to Cuba, the more people
are seeing and experiencing it, and the more they will see that the
travel ban is outdated."
Perhaps more importantly, Williams expects the airline industry to begin
putting lobbying and advocacy muscle behind the issue, now that they
have a number of daily commercial flights to Cuba that they want to fill.
"After the initial few months of curiosity, I think they're going to
have a hard time sustaining them without the travel ban being lifted,"
he said.
There is some evidence that the GOP may be warming to the idea of
allowing tourism to Cuba.
The Senate Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment by voice vote
to the fiscal 2017 spending bill for financial services and general
government that would lift the travel ban.
A standalone measure from Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Jerry
Moran (R-Kan.) also would lift the Cuban travel restrictions. It has
garnered 51 cosponsors.
And companion legislation in the House from Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.)
has 130 cosponsors.
"With U.S. airlines now poised to unleash the power of American
travelers and their frequent flier miles, the time has come for Congress
to eliminate the archaic restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba," Flake
state in a statement.
But there is still staunch opposition from prominent lawmakers such as
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who argue the travel
would enrich the Castro government despite its history of human rights
abuses.
Meanwhile, a group of House lawmakers say they still don't know whether
Cuba's airport security is up to snuff. They want to know whether the
island has adequate body scanners, explosive detection systems,
technology for detecting fake passports and strong employee vetting process.
They are pushing legislation that would halt Cuba flights until the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conducts a thorough review
of the security measures in place at all of Cuba's 10 airports.
The measure, which is backed by Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), chairman of
the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security,
also would require an agreement that allows TSA agents to inspect Cuban
airports, while permitting federal air marshals on flights between the
U.S. and Cuba.
The TSA did announce an agreement with Cuba last month that will allow
federal air marshals to be on board certain flights to and from Cuba.
But bill sponsors say they are still alarmed because the country's
airports only meet international standards, not American ones. They plan
to keep pressing on the issue when they return from the August recess.
"The facts remain the same — we still don't know if Cuban airports have
the proper screening and explosive detection, if they have the ability
to check for fake passports or IDs, and how or if they vet airport
workers," bill sponsor Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) said in a statement to
The Hill.
Kavulich of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council says advocates of
Cuban travel should focus on regulatory changes that could be made in
the remaining days of the Obama administration, instead of focusing on
legislation that is unlikely to pass the Republican-led Congress.
It's been nearly 16 years since the last Cuba-related legislation was
signed into law, Kavulich pointed out.
Kavulich also said that working to alleviate some of the concerns of
opponents — such as ensuring federal air marshals are on planes — can
help thread the needle on Cuban air travel.
"You take away a little bit of the fangs," he said. "You don't solve the
problem, but you lesson [the argument's] viability."
Source: Air travel to Cuba divides Congress | TheHill -
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/294207-air-travel-to-cuba-divides-congress
By Melanie Zanona - 09/03/16 02:30 PM EDT
Commercial flights to Cuba resumed for the first time in 50 years this
week, but don't expect a flood of legislative changes to follow.
Proponents of further loosening travel restrictions on Cuba had hoped
that the resumption of air service with the country would give them new
momentum.
In the Senate, appropriators have already approved an amendment that
would lift the tourism ban with Cuba, while similar legislation has
garnered over 50 cosponsors.
But over in the House, advocates still face fierce opposition from the
majority on the Homeland Security Committee, which is pushing a bill
that would ground flights to Cuba until a thorough airport security
review is conducted.
"Despite continued concerns about the safety and security of Cuba's
airports, the Administration rushed resuming regularly scheduled
commercial flights to Cuba — again putting security concerns far behind
the President's legacy building effort," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas),
the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told The Hill in
a statement.
"Once Congress is back in session, I plan to move legislation through my
Homeland Security Committee to force DHS and GAO to both identify and
close any and all of the major security gaps that currently exist."
Critics of travel to Cuba say they don't plan to back down just because
flights to the island are underway.
The stalemate is unlikely to yield any legislative changes this year on
travel to Cuba, an issue that has divided lawmakers for more than five
decades.
"Does [resuming air service with Cuba] potentially increase the
conversation? Yes," said John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba
Trade and Economic Council, Inc. "But does it change the outcome? No."
The Obama administration announced a historic agreement earlier this
year to re-establish scheduled air service between the U.S. and Cuba.
The first U.S. flight touched down in Santa Clara, Cuba, on Wednesday
morning. The arrival was widely seen as a milestone in President Obama's
push to normalize diplomatic relations with the former Cold War rival.
But American tourism on the island is still prohibited and can only be
approved by Congress.
The new flight routes will only open up travel for family visits,
official U.S. government business, foreign governments, journalistic
activity, professional research, educational activities, religious
activities, public performances, humanitarian projects and certain
authorized export transactions.
James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, believes it's only a matter of
time before the travel ban is fully lifted.
"I think it will add more momentum than anything we could have done,"
Williams said. "The more Americans are going to Cuba, the more people
are seeing and experiencing it, and the more they will see that the
travel ban is outdated."
Perhaps more importantly, Williams expects the airline industry to begin
putting lobbying and advocacy muscle behind the issue, now that they
have a number of daily commercial flights to Cuba that they want to fill.
"After the initial few months of curiosity, I think they're going to
have a hard time sustaining them without the travel ban being lifted,"
he said.
There is some evidence that the GOP may be warming to the idea of
allowing tourism to Cuba.
The Senate Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment by voice vote
to the fiscal 2017 spending bill for financial services and general
government that would lift the travel ban.
A standalone measure from Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Jerry
Moran (R-Kan.) also would lift the Cuban travel restrictions. It has
garnered 51 cosponsors.
And companion legislation in the House from Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.)
has 130 cosponsors.
"With U.S. airlines now poised to unleash the power of American
travelers and their frequent flier miles, the time has come for Congress
to eliminate the archaic restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba," Flake
state in a statement.
But there is still staunch opposition from prominent lawmakers such as
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who argue the travel
would enrich the Castro government despite its history of human rights
abuses.
Meanwhile, a group of House lawmakers say they still don't know whether
Cuba's airport security is up to snuff. They want to know whether the
island has adequate body scanners, explosive detection systems,
technology for detecting fake passports and strong employee vetting process.
They are pushing legislation that would halt Cuba flights until the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conducts a thorough review
of the security measures in place at all of Cuba's 10 airports.
The measure, which is backed by Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), chairman of
the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security,
also would require an agreement that allows TSA agents to inspect Cuban
airports, while permitting federal air marshals on flights between the
U.S. and Cuba.
The TSA did announce an agreement with Cuba last month that will allow
federal air marshals to be on board certain flights to and from Cuba.
But bill sponsors say they are still alarmed because the country's
airports only meet international standards, not American ones. They plan
to keep pressing on the issue when they return from the August recess.
"The facts remain the same — we still don't know if Cuban airports have
the proper screening and explosive detection, if they have the ability
to check for fake passports or IDs, and how or if they vet airport
workers," bill sponsor Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) said in a statement to
The Hill.
Kavulich of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council says advocates of
Cuban travel should focus on regulatory changes that could be made in
the remaining days of the Obama administration, instead of focusing on
legislation that is unlikely to pass the Republican-led Congress.
It's been nearly 16 years since the last Cuba-related legislation was
signed into law, Kavulich pointed out.
Kavulich also said that working to alleviate some of the concerns of
opponents — such as ensuring federal air marshals are on planes — can
help thread the needle on Cuban air travel.
"You take away a little bit of the fangs," he said. "You don't solve the
problem, but you lesson [the argument's] viability."
Source: Air travel to Cuba divides Congress | TheHill -
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/294207-air-travel-to-cuba-divides-congress
Foreign Construction Workers in Cuba
Foreign Construction Workers in Cuba
September 3, 2016
Why is the Cuban government importing skilled workers for jobs that
Cuban residents could do?
By Cubaencuentro
HAVANA TIMES — In an interview architect Alexander Machado Garcia,
director of Investments at the Cuban Ministry of Economy and Planning,
pointed out:
"Along with favoring the participation of independent workers and
non-agricultural cooperatives, which made up 6% of the builders on last
year's construction projects, today the figure has increased to 9%, with
the growth mainly in maintenance projects. Furthermore, foreign contract
workers are being introduced onto the scene in the current investment
project at Santiago de Cuba's Port."
Foreign contractors who work in Cuba made the news recently when their
pictures appeared in newspapers around the world, while they were
working at the Manzana de Gomez Hotel projet in the heart of Havana.
However, the presence of foreign builders in such projects isn't just a
simple anecdote or the headline of a newspaper.
"Currently, we have 352 [foreign workers] hired and working not only on
the Manzana Hotel project but on other construction sites here in the
capital and in Varadero too. (…) By the end of this year, this figure
should increase to about 1100, nearly 1300 in total, where there will
also be approximately 200 Chinese workers working on electrical and
swimming pool installations. (…) There are other foreign workers but in
the technical advice side of things, and theyre not treated the same as
the Indians and Chinese. (…) The minimum salary is $1,500 USD a month,
and the highest is $2,500 USD, plus work clothes, food, healthcare,
transfers and accommodations," an employee affirmed in line with the
findings of the article published.
The expansion project at Santiago de Cuba's port, which is estimated to
take three years with 100 million USD in investment, carried out by the
Cuban government and a Chinese company, aims to develop a 230 meter
loading dock, with the capacity for allowing boats carrying up to 55,000
tonnes to dock, as well as warehouses and support infrastructure. Once
this construction project is completed, Santiago de Cuba will have the
country's second deepwater port. Building this project has been possible
thanks to a loan from the Chinese company, according to an agreement
signed by Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in 2014.
Many factors have come into play and contributed to the fact that Cuba
is resorting to hiring foreign workers to carry out these different
projects. When they have to give explanations, they repeat that this
decision has been made by the foreign investors, which is now permitted
under the new investment law, which favors contracting foreign workers.
Since investment figures and contributions of the parties always remain
hazy in Cuba, any analysis is in fact speculation to a great extent,
however, by placing this decision in foreign hands, under the principle
that whoever is paying, gives the orders, and doesn't always match
what's going on in reality.
It's possible that in the case of the Santiago de Cuba project, the
Chinese company is following the common plan of action that they've
implemented in their investments found in other parts of the world,
including Chinese citizens in their construction projects. However, with
regard to the well-known Manzana de Gomez project, the Cuban military
consortium GAESA is responsible for financing this project, which has
entrusted this work to the construction companies Union de
Construcciones Militares (UCM) and the French company Bouygues Batiment
International (BBI).
It was the French company that brought in the Indian workers, which
appear to also be working in Varadero, and they're even planning on
increasing this figure, all of this in mutual agreement with the Cuban
government.
In the case of the Manzana de Gomez hotel, this decision has been taken
so as to resolve problems with delays, robberies and poor quality work
[from Cuban employees]. It must be seen as an example of the chaos and
inefficiency of today's Cuban economy, whose causes are both political
and ideological, but also includes others. What lies behind this
initiative to look abroad for what we should have in Cuba not only shows
great disdain for the Cuban people, but also the widespread inability to
find solutions to problems.
First of all, you have to define the context of this situation. Any of
these Indian workers is earning up to ten times more than what a Cuban
gets paid for doing the same job. However, that doesn't mean to say that
there aren't plumbers, carpenters and construction workers in Cuba who
earn more than the Indians. The only thing you need to do in order to do
this is work in the private sector.
This is nothing more than a policy of burying the state productive
sector's head in the sand, as there are no legal means to pay higher
salaries and the State – that is to say, the bureaucrats who
administrate it- are unable to go one step further and open their minds
to something that goes beyond the almost feudal mentality they have.
Meanwhile, this kind of primitive exploitation encourages the
development of not only bad working habits but criminal behavior at the
same time. And therefore, robbery, mistakes and a lack of productivity
are the by-products of the absence of motivation. It's impossible to
think that there aren't any good Cuban builders on the island when
Cubans make excellent builders across the entire world.
In allowing foreign construction workers in Cuba, who receive many times
better salaries than Cuban workers themselves do, the Cuban government
is reversing the age-old mechanism of exploitation, whereby a workforce
capable of doing the same work for less money is brought from, or simply
attracted, from overseas. Therefore, Cuba converts itself into a kind of
enigma – or a perfect hell – for somebody like Donald Trump.
We mustn't forget that, in the case of the Manzana de Gomez hotel, the
Cuban State is the investor. So, the Cuban government prefers to pay
foreigners better so they can carry on paying their citizens poorly.
However, all of this has a simple explanation and that's the fact that
our economy is constantly being subordinated to politics, which
continues to endure, despite Raul Castro's government's supposed airs of
change. And another unfortunate conclusion, for those who rule in
Havana, Cubans continue to be the last cards in the deck.
Source: Foreign Construction Workers in Cuba - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=120834
September 3, 2016
Why is the Cuban government importing skilled workers for jobs that
Cuban residents could do?
By Cubaencuentro
HAVANA TIMES — In an interview architect Alexander Machado Garcia,
director of Investments at the Cuban Ministry of Economy and Planning,
pointed out:
"Along with favoring the participation of independent workers and
non-agricultural cooperatives, which made up 6% of the builders on last
year's construction projects, today the figure has increased to 9%, with
the growth mainly in maintenance projects. Furthermore, foreign contract
workers are being introduced onto the scene in the current investment
project at Santiago de Cuba's Port."
Foreign contractors who work in Cuba made the news recently when their
pictures appeared in newspapers around the world, while they were
working at the Manzana de Gomez Hotel projet in the heart of Havana.
However, the presence of foreign builders in such projects isn't just a
simple anecdote or the headline of a newspaper.
"Currently, we have 352 [foreign workers] hired and working not only on
the Manzana Hotel project but on other construction sites here in the
capital and in Varadero too. (…) By the end of this year, this figure
should increase to about 1100, nearly 1300 in total, where there will
also be approximately 200 Chinese workers working on electrical and
swimming pool installations. (…) There are other foreign workers but in
the technical advice side of things, and theyre not treated the same as
the Indians and Chinese. (…) The minimum salary is $1,500 USD a month,
and the highest is $2,500 USD, plus work clothes, food, healthcare,
transfers and accommodations," an employee affirmed in line with the
findings of the article published.
The expansion project at Santiago de Cuba's port, which is estimated to
take three years with 100 million USD in investment, carried out by the
Cuban government and a Chinese company, aims to develop a 230 meter
loading dock, with the capacity for allowing boats carrying up to 55,000
tonnes to dock, as well as warehouses and support infrastructure. Once
this construction project is completed, Santiago de Cuba will have the
country's second deepwater port. Building this project has been possible
thanks to a loan from the Chinese company, according to an agreement
signed by Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in 2014.
Many factors have come into play and contributed to the fact that Cuba
is resorting to hiring foreign workers to carry out these different
projects. When they have to give explanations, they repeat that this
decision has been made by the foreign investors, which is now permitted
under the new investment law, which favors contracting foreign workers.
Since investment figures and contributions of the parties always remain
hazy in Cuba, any analysis is in fact speculation to a great extent,
however, by placing this decision in foreign hands, under the principle
that whoever is paying, gives the orders, and doesn't always match
what's going on in reality.
It's possible that in the case of the Santiago de Cuba project, the
Chinese company is following the common plan of action that they've
implemented in their investments found in other parts of the world,
including Chinese citizens in their construction projects. However, with
regard to the well-known Manzana de Gomez project, the Cuban military
consortium GAESA is responsible for financing this project, which has
entrusted this work to the construction companies Union de
Construcciones Militares (UCM) and the French company Bouygues Batiment
International (BBI).
It was the French company that brought in the Indian workers, which
appear to also be working in Varadero, and they're even planning on
increasing this figure, all of this in mutual agreement with the Cuban
government.
In the case of the Manzana de Gomez hotel, this decision has been taken
so as to resolve problems with delays, robberies and poor quality work
[from Cuban employees]. It must be seen as an example of the chaos and
inefficiency of today's Cuban economy, whose causes are both political
and ideological, but also includes others. What lies behind this
initiative to look abroad for what we should have in Cuba not only shows
great disdain for the Cuban people, but also the widespread inability to
find solutions to problems.
First of all, you have to define the context of this situation. Any of
these Indian workers is earning up to ten times more than what a Cuban
gets paid for doing the same job. However, that doesn't mean to say that
there aren't plumbers, carpenters and construction workers in Cuba who
earn more than the Indians. The only thing you need to do in order to do
this is work in the private sector.
This is nothing more than a policy of burying the state productive
sector's head in the sand, as there are no legal means to pay higher
salaries and the State – that is to say, the bureaucrats who
administrate it- are unable to go one step further and open their minds
to something that goes beyond the almost feudal mentality they have.
Meanwhile, this kind of primitive exploitation encourages the
development of not only bad working habits but criminal behavior at the
same time. And therefore, robbery, mistakes and a lack of productivity
are the by-products of the absence of motivation. It's impossible to
think that there aren't any good Cuban builders on the island when
Cubans make excellent builders across the entire world.
In allowing foreign construction workers in Cuba, who receive many times
better salaries than Cuban workers themselves do, the Cuban government
is reversing the age-old mechanism of exploitation, whereby a workforce
capable of doing the same work for less money is brought from, or simply
attracted, from overseas. Therefore, Cuba converts itself into a kind of
enigma – or a perfect hell – for somebody like Donald Trump.
We mustn't forget that, in the case of the Manzana de Gomez hotel, the
Cuban State is the investor. So, the Cuban government prefers to pay
foreigners better so they can carry on paying their citizens poorly.
However, all of this has a simple explanation and that's the fact that
our economy is constantly being subordinated to politics, which
continues to endure, despite Raul Castro's government's supposed airs of
change. And another unfortunate conclusion, for those who rule in
Havana, Cubans continue to be the last cards in the deck.
Source: Foreign Construction Workers in Cuba - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=120834
A Bold Attempt to Redefine 'Dissidence' in Cuba
A Bold Attempt to Redefine 'Dissidence' in Cuba
Editorial Observer
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO SEPT. 3, 2016
"Dissident" is a loaded word in Cuba, a label used to discredit and
punish. Those who have embraced the term can be shut out of public jobs
and are often subjected to arbitrary detentions and beatings.
This year, with expectations reset by the normalization of relations
between Cuba and the United States, Luis Manuel Otero and Yanelis Nuñez
Leyva, a couple in Havana, figured it was time to redefine what it means
to be a dissident. They created the Museum of Dissidence in Cuba, a
website that chronicles the long line of people who have stood in
opposition to the government throughout history.
Among the dissidents they feature are President Raúl Castro and his
brother, Fidel, who took power through an armed revolt, along with
prominent leaders of modern opposition groups, who have been suppressed
by the Cuban government. The project carries an implicit message: The
current ruling class, which seems so rigidly entrenched, will most
likely be replaced one day.
Mr. Otero, who is a sculptor, has pushed the boundaries of free speech
before through performance art. But Ms. Nuñez's involvement with the
website was particularly gutsy, since she worked as a staff writer at a
magazine published by the Ministry of Culture when the site was created
in April.
"We set out to dismantle the pejorative meaning the word 'dissident' has
had in Cuba," Ms. Nuñez said in an interview. "It was designed to be a
space to generate dialogue."
Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter
Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists,
The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.
A few years ago, this act would have immediately turned its creators
into outcasts. But Ms. Nuñez said she had been hopeful that with the
culture of self-censorship and fear eroding, her supervisors might
simply look the other way. The site, after all, is not aligned with
dissident groups, nor does it challenge the government's policies directly.
In late May, though, it became clear she was in trouble. After meeting
with the vice minister of culture, Ms. Nuñez's boss told her that it
would be in her best interest to resign quietly because of her
involvement with the project. She refused and was told to take two weeks
of vacation. Before her leave was up, she was suspended without pay for
a month, pending the results of an investigation into whether she
visited websites at the office that were not relevant to her work.
On July 1, she was fired. Several Cuban state employees who have run
afoul of the government have chosen to walk away quietly. Not Ms. Nuñez,
who chose to challenge the decision.
"Even if I don't prevail, I think it's worthwhile to fight," she said.
"There's a pretense here that freedom of expression is respected. What
I'm doing could help build pressure to force them to follow the law."
Luisa Campuzano, the editor of Revolución y Cultura, the magazine that
employed Ms. Nuñez, declined to discuss her dismissal. "It's something
that's not worth talking about," Ms. Campuzano said in a brief phone
conversation.
Last month, a labor board rejected Ms. Nuñez's challenge to the
dismissal. She is now appealing her case to a municipal court, hoping it
will be assigned to a maverick judge. "The museum has a noble intent,"
she said. "If we're acting nobly, we can't be afraid."
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter
(@NYTOpinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/opinion/sunday/moderate-republicans-unite.html?ribbon-ad-idx=11&rref=opinion&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=swipe®ion=FixedRight&pgtype=article
Editorial Observer
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO SEPT. 3, 2016
"Dissident" is a loaded word in Cuba, a label used to discredit and
punish. Those who have embraced the term can be shut out of public jobs
and are often subjected to arbitrary detentions and beatings.
This year, with expectations reset by the normalization of relations
between Cuba and the United States, Luis Manuel Otero and Yanelis Nuñez
Leyva, a couple in Havana, figured it was time to redefine what it means
to be a dissident. They created the Museum of Dissidence in Cuba, a
website that chronicles the long line of people who have stood in
opposition to the government throughout history.
Among the dissidents they feature are President Raúl Castro and his
brother, Fidel, who took power through an armed revolt, along with
prominent leaders of modern opposition groups, who have been suppressed
by the Cuban government. The project carries an implicit message: The
current ruling class, which seems so rigidly entrenched, will most
likely be replaced one day.
Mr. Otero, who is a sculptor, has pushed the boundaries of free speech
before through performance art. But Ms. Nuñez's involvement with the
website was particularly gutsy, since she worked as a staff writer at a
magazine published by the Ministry of Culture when the site was created
in April.
"We set out to dismantle the pejorative meaning the word 'dissident' has
had in Cuba," Ms. Nuñez said in an interview. "It was designed to be a
space to generate dialogue."
Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter
Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists,
The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.
A few years ago, this act would have immediately turned its creators
into outcasts. But Ms. Nuñez said she had been hopeful that with the
culture of self-censorship and fear eroding, her supervisors might
simply look the other way. The site, after all, is not aligned with
dissident groups, nor does it challenge the government's policies directly.
In late May, though, it became clear she was in trouble. After meeting
with the vice minister of culture, Ms. Nuñez's boss told her that it
would be in her best interest to resign quietly because of her
involvement with the project. She refused and was told to take two weeks
of vacation. Before her leave was up, she was suspended without pay for
a month, pending the results of an investigation into whether she
visited websites at the office that were not relevant to her work.
On July 1, she was fired. Several Cuban state employees who have run
afoul of the government have chosen to walk away quietly. Not Ms. Nuñez,
who chose to challenge the decision.
"Even if I don't prevail, I think it's worthwhile to fight," she said.
"There's a pretense here that freedom of expression is respected. What
I'm doing could help build pressure to force them to follow the law."
Luisa Campuzano, the editor of Revolución y Cultura, the magazine that
employed Ms. Nuñez, declined to discuss her dismissal. "It's something
that's not worth talking about," Ms. Campuzano said in a brief phone
conversation.
Last month, a labor board rejected Ms. Nuñez's challenge to the
dismissal. She is now appealing her case to a municipal court, hoping it
will be assigned to a maverick judge. "The museum has a noble intent,"
she said. "If we're acting nobly, we can't be afraid."
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter
(@NYTOpinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/opinion/sunday/moderate-republicans-unite.html?ribbon-ad-idx=11&rref=opinion&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=swipe®ion=FixedRight&pgtype=article
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Cubacel Censors Texts With The Words “Democracy” Or “Hunger Strike”
Cubacel Censors Texts With The Words "Democracy" Or "Hunger Strike" /
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Reinaldo Escobar
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez/Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 3 September 2016 — If
you are considering sending a text message to a friend to wish him a
"happy coexistence" with his family or to suggest that he not give in to
"the dictatorship of work," it is very likely that the phrase will never
reach its destination. A filter implemented by the Telecommunications
Company of Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) blocks certain words from flowing through
the cellular network. (See below for the list.)
For years, users of the only cellphone company in the country have
suffered from congestion on the lines and areas of poor coverage, but
few have noticed that there is also a strict blockade on the use of key
terms and phrases in mobile messaging.
The discovery of this list has happened almost by chance. Several users,
upset that their messages were charged for but not delivered, exchanged
experiences. This week they connected the dots and found that texts
containing the following references never reached their destinations:
"human rights," "hunger strike," "José Daniel Ferrer," or the name of
the independent magazine "Coexistence."
Over several days and at different points in the national geography,
this newspaper has run tests from terminals with very different owners,
ranging from opponents and activists to people without any links to
independent movements. In all cases, messages containing certain
expressions "were lost on the way."
Cubacel is ETECSA's cellular network and the contract that each user
signs to get a mobile line makes clear that the among causes for which
the service will be terminated are uses "prejudicial to morality, public
order, state security or that serve as support in carrying out criminal
activities."
The customer is never warned that their messages will be subjected to a
content filter or that a part of their correspondence will be blocked if
it alludes to opponents, concepts that are uncomfortable for officialdom
such as "human rights" or to blogs critical of the government in the
style of "Generation Y."
Arnulfo Marrero, deputy chief of the ETECSA branch at 19 and B in
Vedado, Havana, was surprised on Friday morning by a complaint presented
to his office about the censorship. "We have nothing to do with this,
you should contact the Ministry of Communications (MICOM)," the official
explained to the bearer of the complaint.
"MICOM governs communications policy, because we don't make any
decisions here. All I can do is report it," said Marrero.
Censorship, however, is not yet activated on messages that are sent to
foreign countries, perhaps because of their high cost: 1 Cuban
convertible peso (about $1 US) per 160 characters. Blocking them would
provoke more complaints from disgruntled customers and would have set
off alarm bells much earlier. However, in text messages received from
abroad the same censorship applied to domestic text messaging is also
applied.
In late 2001, Pakistan implemented a similar filter on cellphone text
messages. The telecommunications authorities of that Asian country
created a list of more than 1,600 prohibited terms in English and Urdu,
which included obscene and insulting words, as well as words such as
"condom" and "homosexual."
In the Cuban case it is not morality that guides the scissors of
censorship, because all the words in the popular argot alluding to
sexuality can be sent freely. Cubans can narrate an entire orgy in 160
characters, but cannot send the word "democracia" to their recipients,
not even when they try the trick of changing the "i" to a "1" and try to
sneak in "democrac1a."
The difference with Pakistan lies not only in the reason for blocking
certain phrases or words, but also in the secrecy with which this
censorship has operated for months, perhaps years, in Cuba. Few have
noticed the relationship between certain expressions and communication
problems, because they attribute it to the chronic problems of
congestion and Cubacel's bad service.
With more than three million cell phone users, the Cuban authorities
have bet on few people associating errors in receiving messages with a
desire to prevent the transmission of concepts and words.
The meticulous choice of what terms to block has not been random.
Despite the high prices for mobile phone service, where one domestic
call can cost as much as half a day's wages, the presence of cellphones
in the hands of Cubans has changed ways of interacting and people find
parallel paths to avoid the excessive controls the government impose on
all areas of activity.
"I didn't know this was happening, although now that I read the list of
censored words I'm sure I've used one of them at least once," says Leo,
21, who was waiting outside the Cubacell office on Obispo Street in
Havana this Thursday.
"I watch the news with breakfast," said an astonished young man next to
him, who said he had not noticed blocked terms, "although ETECSA works
so badly that nothing should surprise us any more." During special days,
Christmas or Mother's Day, communicating becomes a real ordeal.
During his students years at the University of Information Sciences
(UCI), the engineer Eliecer Avila worked on the so-called Operation
Truth. His group monitored the internet and created matrices of opinion
favorable to the government in forums, blogs and digital diaries. At
present, Avila leads the independent Somos+ (We Are More) Movement,
which is also on the long list of terms blocked by Cubacel messaging.
"We implemented algorithm projects that, given certain phrases or words
entered by a user into their browser, they would appear preferentially
in official pages," Avila recalled for this newspaper. "We tried to
invisibilize alternative proposals or criticisms."
The presence of an intelligent filter is obvious in this case. If you
type in the text "cacerolazo" – a word meaning the banging and pots and
pans as a form of protest – your message will take much longer to arrive
than some other text. A similar slowdown occurs if you write the names
of Fidel Castro or Raúl Castro, and it is true in the latter case with
or without the accented letter U.
How many dissident meetings have been frustrated because the invitation
message never reached the invitees' inboxes? How many misunderstandings
between couples, domestic squabbles, and uncompleted professional tasks
result from the filtering of messages that include last names such as
Biscet and terms such as plebiscite?
Telecommunications censorship is not a new tool for the Plaza of the
Revolution. Activist frequently denounce the blocking of their
cellphones on December 10th, Human Rights Day, or other times when they
want to gather together.
During the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the island in September of
2012, more than 100 opponents reported the suspension of their cellphone
service, along with house arrests and arbitrary detentions.
A blockade of uncomfortable digital sites has also been a common
practice for officialdom. On the list of inaccessible sites are portals
set up from abroad such as Cubaencuentro, as well as local newspapers
like 14ymedio. More than a few users manage to circumvent the censorship
by sending news via email or sending offline copies of pages that pass
from hand to hand thanks to technological devices like USB flash drives
and external hard drives.
In March of this year, Amnesty International noted that "only 25% of the
Cuban population uses the internet and only 5% of households have a
connection." This situation has strengthened the use of mobile phones,
especially texting, as a way of using "the internet without internet."
Only since 2008 were Cubans legally allowed to have a cellphone contract
and Cubacel currently has over three million users. Last year 800,000
new lines were established throughout the island, despite the high cost
of a national call, the equivalent of half the salary of a working day.
In July 2014, the governments of Cuba and China signed an agreement on
"cooperation in cyberspace." China has transferred to the island its
experience in monitoring and blocking content on the web, especially
what they have learned from their launch in 1998 of the so-called Golden
Shield Project, known worldwide as the Great Firewall, which employs
more than 30,000 censors.
Raul Castro's government has not only copied China's content filtering
strategy, but also the creation of its own social networks to discourage
Cubans from using Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus. To achieve this an
ersatz Wikipedia, called Ecured, was created, along with a
platform-style Facebook dubbed La Tendera (The Shopkeeper) and an
unpopular substitute for Twitter known as El Pitazo (The Whistle), all
with little success.
We now know that the Cuban Government wants to go beyond such crude
imitations and aspires to follow in the footsteps of its Great Chinese
Brother, which has a long history of censoring text messaging through a
"keyword list." A user can have their entire messaging function disabled
if their content does not pass the filter of the censors. In the city of
Shanghai alone, the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reports, messaging
has been blocked for some 70,000 users.
List of Words and Phrases Known to be Blocked by Cubacel
14 y medio
14ymedio
Antunez
Antúnez
Berta Soler
Biscet
Carlos Amel
Coco Farinas
Coco Fariñas
Convivencia
Cuba Posible
Cubanet
Damas de Blanco
Democracia
Democrac1a
DDHH
Derechos humanos
Dictadura
Disidente
Elecciones libres
Generacion Y
Generación Y
Guillermo Farinas
Guillermo Fariñas
Hablemos Press
Huelga de hambre
Jose Daniel Ferrer
José Daniel Ferrer
Oscar Elias Biscet
Óscar Elías Biscet
Plebiscito
Policía Política
Policia Politica
Primavera Negra
Represión
Represion
Seguridad del Estado
Somos+
Todos Marchamos
Unpacu
Yoani Sanchez
Yoani Sánchez
Source: Cubacel Censors Texts With The Words "Democracy" Or "Hunger
Strike" / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Reinaldo Escobar – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cubacel-censors-texts-with-the-words-democracy-or-hunger-strike-14ymedio-yoani-sanchez-reinaldo-escobar/
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Reinaldo Escobar
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez/Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 3 September 2016 — If
you are considering sending a text message to a friend to wish him a
"happy coexistence" with his family or to suggest that he not give in to
"the dictatorship of work," it is very likely that the phrase will never
reach its destination. A filter implemented by the Telecommunications
Company of Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) blocks certain words from flowing through
the cellular network. (See below for the list.)
For years, users of the only cellphone company in the country have
suffered from congestion on the lines and areas of poor coverage, but
few have noticed that there is also a strict blockade on the use of key
terms and phrases in mobile messaging.
The discovery of this list has happened almost by chance. Several users,
upset that their messages were charged for but not delivered, exchanged
experiences. This week they connected the dots and found that texts
containing the following references never reached their destinations:
"human rights," "hunger strike," "José Daniel Ferrer," or the name of
the independent magazine "Coexistence."
Over several days and at different points in the national geography,
this newspaper has run tests from terminals with very different owners,
ranging from opponents and activists to people without any links to
independent movements. In all cases, messages containing certain
expressions "were lost on the way."
Cubacel is ETECSA's cellular network and the contract that each user
signs to get a mobile line makes clear that the among causes for which
the service will be terminated are uses "prejudicial to morality, public
order, state security or that serve as support in carrying out criminal
activities."
The customer is never warned that their messages will be subjected to a
content filter or that a part of their correspondence will be blocked if
it alludes to opponents, concepts that are uncomfortable for officialdom
such as "human rights" or to blogs critical of the government in the
style of "Generation Y."
Arnulfo Marrero, deputy chief of the ETECSA branch at 19 and B in
Vedado, Havana, was surprised on Friday morning by a complaint presented
to his office about the censorship. "We have nothing to do with this,
you should contact the Ministry of Communications (MICOM)," the official
explained to the bearer of the complaint.
"MICOM governs communications policy, because we don't make any
decisions here. All I can do is report it," said Marrero.
Censorship, however, is not yet activated on messages that are sent to
foreign countries, perhaps because of their high cost: 1 Cuban
convertible peso (about $1 US) per 160 characters. Blocking them would
provoke more complaints from disgruntled customers and would have set
off alarm bells much earlier. However, in text messages received from
abroad the same censorship applied to domestic text messaging is also
applied.
In late 2001, Pakistan implemented a similar filter on cellphone text
messages. The telecommunications authorities of that Asian country
created a list of more than 1,600 prohibited terms in English and Urdu,
which included obscene and insulting words, as well as words such as
"condom" and "homosexual."
In the Cuban case it is not morality that guides the scissors of
censorship, because all the words in the popular argot alluding to
sexuality can be sent freely. Cubans can narrate an entire orgy in 160
characters, but cannot send the word "democracia" to their recipients,
not even when they try the trick of changing the "i" to a "1" and try to
sneak in "democrac1a."
The difference with Pakistan lies not only in the reason for blocking
certain phrases or words, but also in the secrecy with which this
censorship has operated for months, perhaps years, in Cuba. Few have
noticed the relationship between certain expressions and communication
problems, because they attribute it to the chronic problems of
congestion and Cubacel's bad service.
With more than three million cell phone users, the Cuban authorities
have bet on few people associating errors in receiving messages with a
desire to prevent the transmission of concepts and words.
The meticulous choice of what terms to block has not been random.
Despite the high prices for mobile phone service, where one domestic
call can cost as much as half a day's wages, the presence of cellphones
in the hands of Cubans has changed ways of interacting and people find
parallel paths to avoid the excessive controls the government impose on
all areas of activity.
"I didn't know this was happening, although now that I read the list of
censored words I'm sure I've used one of them at least once," says Leo,
21, who was waiting outside the Cubacell office on Obispo Street in
Havana this Thursday.
"I watch the news with breakfast," said an astonished young man next to
him, who said he had not noticed blocked terms, "although ETECSA works
so badly that nothing should surprise us any more." During special days,
Christmas or Mother's Day, communicating becomes a real ordeal.
During his students years at the University of Information Sciences
(UCI), the engineer Eliecer Avila worked on the so-called Operation
Truth. His group monitored the internet and created matrices of opinion
favorable to the government in forums, blogs and digital diaries. At
present, Avila leads the independent Somos+ (We Are More) Movement,
which is also on the long list of terms blocked by Cubacel messaging.
"We implemented algorithm projects that, given certain phrases or words
entered by a user into their browser, they would appear preferentially
in official pages," Avila recalled for this newspaper. "We tried to
invisibilize alternative proposals or criticisms."
The presence of an intelligent filter is obvious in this case. If you
type in the text "cacerolazo" – a word meaning the banging and pots and
pans as a form of protest – your message will take much longer to arrive
than some other text. A similar slowdown occurs if you write the names
of Fidel Castro or Raúl Castro, and it is true in the latter case with
or without the accented letter U.
How many dissident meetings have been frustrated because the invitation
message never reached the invitees' inboxes? How many misunderstandings
between couples, domestic squabbles, and uncompleted professional tasks
result from the filtering of messages that include last names such as
Biscet and terms such as plebiscite?
Telecommunications censorship is not a new tool for the Plaza of the
Revolution. Activist frequently denounce the blocking of their
cellphones on December 10th, Human Rights Day, or other times when they
want to gather together.
During the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the island in September of
2012, more than 100 opponents reported the suspension of their cellphone
service, along with house arrests and arbitrary detentions.
A blockade of uncomfortable digital sites has also been a common
practice for officialdom. On the list of inaccessible sites are portals
set up from abroad such as Cubaencuentro, as well as local newspapers
like 14ymedio. More than a few users manage to circumvent the censorship
by sending news via email or sending offline copies of pages that pass
from hand to hand thanks to technological devices like USB flash drives
and external hard drives.
In March of this year, Amnesty International noted that "only 25% of the
Cuban population uses the internet and only 5% of households have a
connection." This situation has strengthened the use of mobile phones,
especially texting, as a way of using "the internet without internet."
Only since 2008 were Cubans legally allowed to have a cellphone contract
and Cubacel currently has over three million users. Last year 800,000
new lines were established throughout the island, despite the high cost
of a national call, the equivalent of half the salary of a working day.
In July 2014, the governments of Cuba and China signed an agreement on
"cooperation in cyberspace." China has transferred to the island its
experience in monitoring and blocking content on the web, especially
what they have learned from their launch in 1998 of the so-called Golden
Shield Project, known worldwide as the Great Firewall, which employs
more than 30,000 censors.
Raul Castro's government has not only copied China's content filtering
strategy, but also the creation of its own social networks to discourage
Cubans from using Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus. To achieve this an
ersatz Wikipedia, called Ecured, was created, along with a
platform-style Facebook dubbed La Tendera (The Shopkeeper) and an
unpopular substitute for Twitter known as El Pitazo (The Whistle), all
with little success.
We now know that the Cuban Government wants to go beyond such crude
imitations and aspires to follow in the footsteps of its Great Chinese
Brother, which has a long history of censoring text messaging through a
"keyword list." A user can have their entire messaging function disabled
if their content does not pass the filter of the censors. In the city of
Shanghai alone, the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reports, messaging
has been blocked for some 70,000 users.
List of Words and Phrases Known to be Blocked by Cubacel
14 y medio
14ymedio
Antunez
Antúnez
Berta Soler
Biscet
Carlos Amel
Coco Farinas
Coco Fariñas
Convivencia
Cuba Posible
Cubanet
Damas de Blanco
Democracia
Democrac1a
DDHH
Derechos humanos
Dictadura
Disidente
Elecciones libres
Generacion Y
Generación Y
Guillermo Farinas
Guillermo Fariñas
Hablemos Press
Huelga de hambre
Jose Daniel Ferrer
José Daniel Ferrer
Oscar Elias Biscet
Óscar Elías Biscet
Plebiscito
Policía Política
Policia Politica
Primavera Negra
Represión
Represion
Seguridad del Estado
Somos+
Todos Marchamos
Unpacu
Yoani Sanchez
Yoani Sánchez
Source: Cubacel Censors Texts With The Words "Democracy" Or "Hunger
Strike" / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Reinaldo Escobar – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cubacel-censors-texts-with-the-words-democracy-or-hunger-strike-14ymedio-yoani-sanchez-reinaldo-escobar/
“Conoce Cuba,” An App Focused On The Private Sector
"Conoce Cuba," An App Focused On The Private Sector / 14ymedio, Zunilda
Marta
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 31 August 2016 – The daughter of
necessity and ingenuity, the application Conoce Cuba (Meet Cuba) has
been gaining ground on Android phones throughout the island. With an
intuitive design, well made and functional, it stands out among other
tools that also seek to provide information about private services and
places to eat or be entertained.
Conoce Cuba is distributed free in the weekly packet. Its developers,
the young engineers Eliecer Cabrera and Pablo Casas Rodríguez Yordi,
come from Camagüey and two years ago wrote the tool's first lines of
program code. Today, it is the work of their lives of which they feel
most proud.
The two young men have designed versions with similar characteristics
for other provinces, but the capital city is where they have the most
complete inventory of restaurants, scenic places, clubs, cafes and homes
for rent. "In the future we want to offer new services," says Cabrera
Casas, but they prefer to move forward in careful steps and consolidate
what has been achieved.
The tool can be used without an internet connection, a trait shared by
many of the apps created on the island. Some of them were demonstrated
and exchanged during the first meeting of the Cuban Android Community,
which was held last Saturday at the studio of the artist Alexis Leyva
(Kcho), under the slogan "For a technological culture available to all."
The creation of these two camagüeyanos is "useful for visitors to the
island," they explain and they say they have focused "on the private
sector from the beginning." The app only provides "information on places
that offer different services, but doesn't include prices or ratings, so
users have the freedom to choose," says one of the creators.
The long-held dream of the student was taking shape in Cabrera Casas'
mind and when he graduated he made the decision. "If it doesn't exist,
we're going to do it," and he turned his hand to the work with an
obsession that knows no bounds.
Totally free, the developers are careful not to include any license or
restriction that would impede the massive use of Conoce Cuba.
To distribute it, they based their strategy on visiting cellphone
repairers and developed an advantageous collaboration with their owners.
At first, they walked around the city knocking on doors of the
self-employed to offer their product.
The proprietor of the Ultracell workshop in Havana was one of the many
who learned of the existence of Conoce Cuba on the street. After
offering the tool as a part of the installation package he loads on the
phones that come his way, he believes it has increased his numbers of
clients and their satisfaction.
Currently the two engineers have also developed a way for business
owners to contact them via email so they can request changes and updates
in the tab associated with their business.
They acknowledge, however, they have had to overcome many obstacles to
pursue their dream. Technological limitations hinder any work of this
kind, but above all they are held back by the restricted internet access
afflicting the country.
Cuba is one of the nations with the lowest rate of connectivity in the
world, with only 5% of the population on-line, a percentage that is
reduced to 1% in the case of broadband.
During the first months of work, the young engineers relied on the
internet rooms operated by the Telecommunications Company of Cuba
(ETECSA), or on friends who copied for them "some tools" they didn't
have, said Cabrera Casas.
Today, competitors abound, such as the app Isladentro (Island Within)
one of the most popular in Cuba. This tool also offers a guide for
travelers, is available for free, and in addition it not only shows
private services, but also state services and is organized by province.
"That people can find a great deal of information no further away than
their pocket" was the objective guiding the two engineers who created
Conoce Cuba, and so far they seem to have succeeded.
Source: "Conoce Cuba," An App Focused On The Private Sector / 14ymedio,
Zunilda Marta – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/conoce-cuba-an-app-focused-on-the-private-sector-14ymedio-zunilda-marta/
Marta
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 31 August 2016 – The daughter of
necessity and ingenuity, the application Conoce Cuba (Meet Cuba) has
been gaining ground on Android phones throughout the island. With an
intuitive design, well made and functional, it stands out among other
tools that also seek to provide information about private services and
places to eat or be entertained.
Conoce Cuba is distributed free in the weekly packet. Its developers,
the young engineers Eliecer Cabrera and Pablo Casas Rodríguez Yordi,
come from Camagüey and two years ago wrote the tool's first lines of
program code. Today, it is the work of their lives of which they feel
most proud.
The two young men have designed versions with similar characteristics
for other provinces, but the capital city is where they have the most
complete inventory of restaurants, scenic places, clubs, cafes and homes
for rent. "In the future we want to offer new services," says Cabrera
Casas, but they prefer to move forward in careful steps and consolidate
what has been achieved.
The tool can be used without an internet connection, a trait shared by
many of the apps created on the island. Some of them were demonstrated
and exchanged during the first meeting of the Cuban Android Community,
which was held last Saturday at the studio of the artist Alexis Leyva
(Kcho), under the slogan "For a technological culture available to all."
The creation of these two camagüeyanos is "useful for visitors to the
island," they explain and they say they have focused "on the private
sector from the beginning." The app only provides "information on places
that offer different services, but doesn't include prices or ratings, so
users have the freedom to choose," says one of the creators.
The long-held dream of the student was taking shape in Cabrera Casas'
mind and when he graduated he made the decision. "If it doesn't exist,
we're going to do it," and he turned his hand to the work with an
obsession that knows no bounds.
Totally free, the developers are careful not to include any license or
restriction that would impede the massive use of Conoce Cuba.
To distribute it, they based their strategy on visiting cellphone
repairers and developed an advantageous collaboration with their owners.
At first, they walked around the city knocking on doors of the
self-employed to offer their product.
The proprietor of the Ultracell workshop in Havana was one of the many
who learned of the existence of Conoce Cuba on the street. After
offering the tool as a part of the installation package he loads on the
phones that come his way, he believes it has increased his numbers of
clients and their satisfaction.
Currently the two engineers have also developed a way for business
owners to contact them via email so they can request changes and updates
in the tab associated with their business.
They acknowledge, however, they have had to overcome many obstacles to
pursue their dream. Technological limitations hinder any work of this
kind, but above all they are held back by the restricted internet access
afflicting the country.
Cuba is one of the nations with the lowest rate of connectivity in the
world, with only 5% of the population on-line, a percentage that is
reduced to 1% in the case of broadband.
During the first months of work, the young engineers relied on the
internet rooms operated by the Telecommunications Company of Cuba
(ETECSA), or on friends who copied for them "some tools" they didn't
have, said Cabrera Casas.
Today, competitors abound, such as the app Isladentro (Island Within)
one of the most popular in Cuba. This tool also offers a guide for
travelers, is available for free, and in addition it not only shows
private services, but also state services and is organized by province.
"That people can find a great deal of information no further away than
their pocket" was the objective guiding the two engineers who created
Conoce Cuba, and so far they seem to have succeeded.
Source: "Conoce Cuba," An App Focused On The Private Sector / 14ymedio,
Zunilda Marta – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/conoce-cuba-an-app-focused-on-the-private-sector-14ymedio-zunilda-marta/
The Two Sides Of The Postcard - Diary Of A Returnee, Part 3
The Two Sides Of The Postcard: Diary Of A Returnee, Part 3 / 14ymedio,
Dominique Deloy
14ymedio, Dominique Deloy, Santiago de Cuba, 2 September 2016 — It had
been years since I'd seen my husband's family. So we traveled to
Santiago de Cuba, where many of them live. Upon arrival, after 17 hours
by bus with a broken suspension, a pleasant surprise awaited me: the
city seemed more flirtatious than ten years ago.
"Thanks to [hurricane] Sandy," say the santiagueros with the black humor
that characterizes them, the city has been beautified: a new public
transit station, some gaily painted houses, the cathedral restored and
its angel re-clothed in golden garments. They also told me that Sandy
has cleaned the beaches, in fact we were able to enjoy one of them, a
wonder of trash-free white sand, as we had never seen before.
We also saw, although this has nothing to do with the terrible hurricane
of 2012 – works of art decorating the streets, paintings, sculptures,
lamps of pretty colors and, above all, a maritime promenade that doesn't
make you want to cry like before, where now you can really walk, and
even connect to the internet! In addition, you can take a boat ride on
the magnificent bay, for a low price in Cuban pesos.
Unfortunately, when it came time to visit the family, a bitter
disappointment awaited me with the other side of the postcard: everyone
seemed to live in the same conditions as before, and the young people
thought of nothing but escaping to another country at any cost, so as
not to have to live like their elders.
My aunt Candita, 59, an architect and Head of Service at the Housing
Institute, continues to earn the same salary as before: it doesn't
exceed 18 CUC (roughly $18 US) a month. My niece Glaydis got a big
promotion: now she is the manager of a very famous candy store in the
city, where she works seven days a week for 13 CUC a month. And she's
lucky because she can bring home cakes! Although she must pay for them
of course. My cousin Juan, who also completed his higher education, is
the head of a large furniture company. He is 53 and has worked there for
forever: he is the most fortunate of all these professionals, earning 20
CUC a month.
I was pensive and on my return to Havana I went to the supermarket near
my house to note down some prices, because sometimes my friends in
France don't believe me. How can a person live on a salary ten times
lower than those in some countries in Africa? Perhaps the prices of
basic products are significantly lower? No way! They are as high or
higher than in France. You don't have to be a great mathematician to
realize that Glaydis, over the space of a month, cannot purchase any
more than a pound of cheese, two quarts of juice and bottle of detergent.
Sometimes I feel that everyone is being punished here. But what did they do?
Source: The Two Sides Of The Postcard: Diary Of A Returnee, Part 3 /
14ymedio, Dominique Deloy – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-two-sides-of-the-postcard-diary-of-a-returnee-part-3-14ymedio-dominique-deloy/
Dominique Deloy
14ymedio, Dominique Deloy, Santiago de Cuba, 2 September 2016 — It had
been years since I'd seen my husband's family. So we traveled to
Santiago de Cuba, where many of them live. Upon arrival, after 17 hours
by bus with a broken suspension, a pleasant surprise awaited me: the
city seemed more flirtatious than ten years ago.
"Thanks to [hurricane] Sandy," say the santiagueros with the black humor
that characterizes them, the city has been beautified: a new public
transit station, some gaily painted houses, the cathedral restored and
its angel re-clothed in golden garments. They also told me that Sandy
has cleaned the beaches, in fact we were able to enjoy one of them, a
wonder of trash-free white sand, as we had never seen before.
We also saw, although this has nothing to do with the terrible hurricane
of 2012 – works of art decorating the streets, paintings, sculptures,
lamps of pretty colors and, above all, a maritime promenade that doesn't
make you want to cry like before, where now you can really walk, and
even connect to the internet! In addition, you can take a boat ride on
the magnificent bay, for a low price in Cuban pesos.
Unfortunately, when it came time to visit the family, a bitter
disappointment awaited me with the other side of the postcard: everyone
seemed to live in the same conditions as before, and the young people
thought of nothing but escaping to another country at any cost, so as
not to have to live like their elders.
My aunt Candita, 59, an architect and Head of Service at the Housing
Institute, continues to earn the same salary as before: it doesn't
exceed 18 CUC (roughly $18 US) a month. My niece Glaydis got a big
promotion: now she is the manager of a very famous candy store in the
city, where she works seven days a week for 13 CUC a month. And she's
lucky because she can bring home cakes! Although she must pay for them
of course. My cousin Juan, who also completed his higher education, is
the head of a large furniture company. He is 53 and has worked there for
forever: he is the most fortunate of all these professionals, earning 20
CUC a month.
I was pensive and on my return to Havana I went to the supermarket near
my house to note down some prices, because sometimes my friends in
France don't believe me. How can a person live on a salary ten times
lower than those in some countries in Africa? Perhaps the prices of
basic products are significantly lower? No way! They are as high or
higher than in France. You don't have to be a great mathematician to
realize that Glaydis, over the space of a month, cannot purchase any
more than a pound of cheese, two quarts of juice and bottle of detergent.
Sometimes I feel that everyone is being punished here. But what did they do?
Source: The Two Sides Of The Postcard: Diary Of A Returnee, Part 3 /
14ymedio, Dominique Deloy – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-two-sides-of-the-postcard-diary-of-a-returnee-part-3-14ymedio-dominique-deloy/
Thinking With Our Stomachs
Thinking With Our Stomachs / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 2 September 2016 – At the dining room
table the grandparents are playing with their two granddaughters. They
ask them what they would ask the genie for if they happened to stumble
on a magic lamp in the corner. "I want a plate full of chicken and
French fries," the littlest one said immediately, while the older said
she wanted it to rain candy. Their second wish included ice cream by the
ton and the third wish concentrated on endless cheeseburgers.
National television broadcasts a report about a popular camping site
that has been renovated and reopened to the public this summer. One
customer smiles at the camera and says, "The food is good." The
administrator of the recreation spot enumerates the dining options and
promises that culinary offerings "suited to all pocketbooks and well
prepared" await whose who book one of the cabins scattered in the
countryside.
Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez, calls for moral and material
respect for teachers to avoid the exodus that profession is suffering as
teachers quit for other—more lucrative—jobs in other areas. The official
recommended holding agricultural fairs next to school buildings, with
sales of pork and produce, so the educators can buy food after work.
An opponent of the Castros visiting a market in Miami recorded a video
in which he says the only way his compatriots would be willing to
"overthrow the dictatorship" would be if they were promised that the
shelves would then be full of the same variety of beers on offer in
Miami. The well-known dissident lists the prices, the quantity of food
available in pounds and the high quality of the products that star in
his video.
A nouveau riche couple books two nights all-inclusive at a Varadero
hotel. They manage to polish off a lunch with two pork steaks each, a
serving of fried beef, several helpings of rice and beans, along with a
pile of succulent shrimp and lobster. Returning home they fail to
describe a single example of the scenery they admired during their trip.
When was it that we Cubans came to be ruled by our stomachs? At what
moment were we conquered by a mouth that swallows and a brain that
thinks only of food? Can our dreams and desires be reduced to filling
our bellies, whetting our appetites and cleaning our plates?
Unfortunately, yes. Decades of shortages and economic hardships have
brought us to a plane of survival where food is the center, obsession
and goal of millions of people who inhabit this island. That obfuscation
often does not allow us to see beyond, because "with an empty belly, who
will think about politics," as any materialistic philosopher would say.
The problem is that "hungry once, always hungry." When a tongue of flame
rises into the esophagus, when a few grains of rice are at the center of
wet dreams and some crumbs of bread are the be-all and end-all, it is
immoral to talk about something beyond whetting the appetite.
We have been condemned, as a people, to mastication, gastric juices and
digestion. In the process we have lost what makes us human and become
creatures of the feedlot, more focused on the dinner bell than on our
rights of free association or expression.
We are like Pavlov's dog, whoever brings us a plate of food will make us
react and salivate. How sad!
Source: Thinking With Our Stomachs / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/thinking-with-our-stomachs-14ymedio-yoani-sanchez/
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 2 September 2016 – At the dining room
table the grandparents are playing with their two granddaughters. They
ask them what they would ask the genie for if they happened to stumble
on a magic lamp in the corner. "I want a plate full of chicken and
French fries," the littlest one said immediately, while the older said
she wanted it to rain candy. Their second wish included ice cream by the
ton and the third wish concentrated on endless cheeseburgers.
National television broadcasts a report about a popular camping site
that has been renovated and reopened to the public this summer. One
customer smiles at the camera and says, "The food is good." The
administrator of the recreation spot enumerates the dining options and
promises that culinary offerings "suited to all pocketbooks and well
prepared" await whose who book one of the cabins scattered in the
countryside.
Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez, calls for moral and material
respect for teachers to avoid the exodus that profession is suffering as
teachers quit for other—more lucrative—jobs in other areas. The official
recommended holding agricultural fairs next to school buildings, with
sales of pork and produce, so the educators can buy food after work.
An opponent of the Castros visiting a market in Miami recorded a video
in which he says the only way his compatriots would be willing to
"overthrow the dictatorship" would be if they were promised that the
shelves would then be full of the same variety of beers on offer in
Miami. The well-known dissident lists the prices, the quantity of food
available in pounds and the high quality of the products that star in
his video.
A nouveau riche couple books two nights all-inclusive at a Varadero
hotel. They manage to polish off a lunch with two pork steaks each, a
serving of fried beef, several helpings of rice and beans, along with a
pile of succulent shrimp and lobster. Returning home they fail to
describe a single example of the scenery they admired during their trip.
When was it that we Cubans came to be ruled by our stomachs? At what
moment were we conquered by a mouth that swallows and a brain that
thinks only of food? Can our dreams and desires be reduced to filling
our bellies, whetting our appetites and cleaning our plates?
Unfortunately, yes. Decades of shortages and economic hardships have
brought us to a plane of survival where food is the center, obsession
and goal of millions of people who inhabit this island. That obfuscation
often does not allow us to see beyond, because "with an empty belly, who
will think about politics," as any materialistic philosopher would say.
The problem is that "hungry once, always hungry." When a tongue of flame
rises into the esophagus, when a few grains of rice are at the center of
wet dreams and some crumbs of bread are the be-all and end-all, it is
immoral to talk about something beyond whetting the appetite.
We have been condemned, as a people, to mastication, gastric juices and
digestion. In the process we have lost what makes us human and become
creatures of the feedlot, more focused on the dinner bell than on our
rights of free association or expression.
We are like Pavlov's dog, whoever brings us a plate of food will make us
react and salivate. How sad!
Source: Thinking With Our Stomachs / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/thinking-with-our-stomachs-14ymedio-yoani-sanchez/
Cuban Workers In State Enterprises Will Pay Taxes Starting In October
Cuban Workers In State Enterprises Will Pay Taxes Starting In October /
EFE, 14ymedio
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 1 September 2016 — The workers of more than
94% of Cuba's state enterprises will have to pay personal income taxes
and a special contribution to social security starting on October 1,
Cuba's official media reported Thursday.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices, Meisi Bolaños, said that both
taxes will be collected in state enterprises if they pay workers bonuses
on top of the basic salary for performance and for the distribution of
benefits, according to the state-run Cuban News Agency.
The tax on personal income will be fixed when the monthly salary exceeds
2,500 Cuban pesos (about $100 US), with a tax of 3% on income up to
5,000 Cuban pesos, and 5% on income above this figure.
The companies themselves are responsible to withhold or deduct taxes
from workers, the report said.
The official also said the tax rates will be set according to business
results generated at the end of September, according to the provisions
of the 2016 Law on the State Budget.
Meanwhile, the Director of Income in the Ministry of Finance and Prices,
Vladimir Regueiro, said the workers would pay the charges if they
receive additional compensation payments for improvements in performance
or efficiencies or the distribution of earnings as an incentive for
collective efficiency.
He also clarified that the special contribution to social security will
be from those who receive remuneration above 500 Cuban pesos (about $20
US) in monthly income, and the tax will be 5% of the total.
At the end of the first trimester of this year, 1,306 Cuban state
enterprises paid monthly wages of more than 500 Cuban pesos, including
403 that paid more than 1,000 Cuban pesos, and 25 with an average salary
of 2,500 Cuban pesos, according to data from the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security.
The Finance and Prices management noted that these taxes are targeted to
"support the economic development of the country and public expenditure."
The new Tax System Law, which entered into force in Cuba in 2013,
provides for the gradual and flexible application of taxes.
Currently workers in private businesses, agricultural and
non-agricultural cooperatives and artists, creators, support staff in
the cultural sector, designers, employees working in foreign
enterprises, owners of land transport and boats and businesses and
corporations are required to pay taxes on earnings.
Translator's note: While in the past Cuba's state workers have not had
taxes deducted directly from their pay, the government effectively
"deducts taxes" before it pays the workers, who historically have
received a pittance for their labor.
Source: Cuban Workers In State Enterprises Will Pay Taxes Starting In
October / EFE, 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-workers-in-state-enterprises-will-pay-taxes-starting-in-october-efe-14ymedio/
EFE, 14ymedio
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 1 September 2016 — The workers of more than
94% of Cuba's state enterprises will have to pay personal income taxes
and a special contribution to social security starting on October 1,
Cuba's official media reported Thursday.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices, Meisi Bolaños, said that both
taxes will be collected in state enterprises if they pay workers bonuses
on top of the basic salary for performance and for the distribution of
benefits, according to the state-run Cuban News Agency.
The tax on personal income will be fixed when the monthly salary exceeds
2,500 Cuban pesos (about $100 US), with a tax of 3% on income up to
5,000 Cuban pesos, and 5% on income above this figure.
The companies themselves are responsible to withhold or deduct taxes
from workers, the report said.
The official also said the tax rates will be set according to business
results generated at the end of September, according to the provisions
of the 2016 Law on the State Budget.
Meanwhile, the Director of Income in the Ministry of Finance and Prices,
Vladimir Regueiro, said the workers would pay the charges if they
receive additional compensation payments for improvements in performance
or efficiencies or the distribution of earnings as an incentive for
collective efficiency.
He also clarified that the special contribution to social security will
be from those who receive remuneration above 500 Cuban pesos (about $20
US) in monthly income, and the tax will be 5% of the total.
At the end of the first trimester of this year, 1,306 Cuban state
enterprises paid monthly wages of more than 500 Cuban pesos, including
403 that paid more than 1,000 Cuban pesos, and 25 with an average salary
of 2,500 Cuban pesos, according to data from the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security.
The Finance and Prices management noted that these taxes are targeted to
"support the economic development of the country and public expenditure."
The new Tax System Law, which entered into force in Cuba in 2013,
provides for the gradual and flexible application of taxes.
Currently workers in private businesses, agricultural and
non-agricultural cooperatives and artists, creators, support staff in
the cultural sector, designers, employees working in foreign
enterprises, owners of land transport and boats and businesses and
corporations are required to pay taxes on earnings.
Translator's note: While in the past Cuba's state workers have not had
taxes deducted directly from their pay, the government effectively
"deducts taxes" before it pays the workers, who historically have
received a pittance for their labor.
Source: Cuban Workers In State Enterprises Will Pay Taxes Starting In
October / EFE, 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-workers-in-state-enterprises-will-pay-taxes-starting-in-october-efe-14ymedio/
Texas faces business obstacles with Cuba, but airline access isn't one of them
Texas faces business obstacles with Cuba, but airline access isn't one
of them
By Conor Shine Follow @Conor_Shine cshine@dallasnews.com
Aviation Writer
Published: 03 September 2016 12:39 AM
Updated: 03 September 2016 12:39 AM
Starting this week, it is now possible to purchase a ticket online, go
to a U.S. airport, board a plane and in as little as 45 minutes find
yourself in Cuba.
The historic launch of commercial service to the socialist nation --
JetBlue flew its inaugural flight Aug. 31 and American Airlines is set
to begin flights Wednesday -- means that accessing Cuba is easier than
it's been in more than 50 years.
Already, Texas business owners and political leaders, including Gov.
Greg Abbott, have journeyed to Cuba in anticipation of the country
opening up further with an eye toward what it could mean for the state's
economy to gain a new trading partner less than 1,000 miles from Houston.
The opportunities for Texas businesses to make their mark are seemingly
endless and potentially lucrative, in industries ranging from
agriculture to aviation to energy to telecommunications. But that
potential is tempered by the hard reality that just because Cuba is open
for travel doesn't mean it's open for business.
"As a trading partner, I think the jury's still out. There are
absolutely opportunities," said Dave Shaw, president of Texas Lyceum, a
non-partisan policy and leadership group that recently led a trip to
Cuba. "Just because (Cuba) is opening up to America doesn't mean there's
going to be a Starbucks on every corner."
A number of challenges both practical and existential stand in the way
of increased trade between the U.S. and Cuba. Many of the country's
roads and airports are outdated. Its internet connectivity is spotty to
nonexistent. Most of the economy is still controlled by state-owned
enterprises and it remains to be seen how U.S. businesses would fit into
the market.
Most importantly, the long standing trade embargo born of the Cold War
severely curtails what business U.S. companies can conduct in Cuba.
Despite the hurdles, many U.S. policy experts and business leaders are
optimistic. More progress has been made opening up relations between the
two countries since 2014 than in the previous several decades.
With time and continued momentum, they say, Cuba can grow into a
sizeable market --one study pegged it at $6 billion per year -- for the
export of U.S. goods and services.
If it does, Texas will be well positioned, with many of its major
industries aligning with Cuba's most immediate needs. Combined with
Cuba's close proximity and a relatively blank economic slate that's ripe
for investment, it all adds up to an opportunity unlike any other.
A long-term play
The first Texas companies likely to see gains are the ones that will be
operating there this year -- specifically American Airlines and
Southwest Airlines, who together plan 19 daily flights to six Cuban
cities, although none will be from Texas.
Tourism is not one of the 12 categories under which travel to Cuba is
permitted, but visitorship is expected to continue to increase. If the
tourism ban is eventually lifted, traffic could take off.
"You have to view Cuba as a long term play as a huge market that's going
to drive an incredible amount of traffic and visitorship," said Art
Torno, a senior vice president at American. "If you take the historical
perspective, in the 1940s and 1950s, visiting Cuba was very chic and
very upscale, that was a place people went for vacation. ... It has the
potential to become one of the most desirable locations to visit in the
Caribbean."
While travel and hospitality are leading the way -- AirBnB has spread
rapidly since launching in Cuba a year ago and hotel chains like
Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International have also staked
out Cuban ambitions -- an even broader market exists for agricultural
products like poultry meat, corn, wheat, rice and soybeans, which the
U.S. already exports to Cuba under a provision in the embargo to the
tune of $299 million in 2014.
The volume of U.S. exports has fallen in recent years due to credit
constraints -- the embargo requires cash-in-advance for goods -- and
competition from other countries. Texas exported $96.2 million worth of
goods in 2008, but just $131,327 in 2014, according to data from Engage
Cuba, a national group supporting trade reform.
By comparison, Texas's total international exports totaled $251.1
billion last year.
Texas could realize $42 million in economic benefit just by regaining
market share lost for agricultural exports since 2012, according to a
November study by Texas A&M University.
"There's a lot of market share we think that we're losing by having the
trade embargo," said Texas Association of Business President Chris
Wallace, who's working with Texas elected officials to generate support
for reform. "It's not a huge market, but as far as the types of goods
that they import, we produce most of those in Texas."
From there, the embargo looms like a brick wall. But on the other side
lies promise for Texas's oil and gas industry.
Cuba relies heavily on Venezuelan oil imports to power its electrical
grid, but given Venezuela's economic troubles, that supply might be
impeded, said Jorge Pinon, director of the Latin America and Caribbean
Energy Programat the University of Texas at Austin
Pinon, who emigrated from Cuba as a teenager in 1960, is studying how
Cuba might incorporate liquefied natural gas into its energy mix.
"One of the energy challenges Cuba will face as they open up their
economy is their dependency on oil as a fuel for their electric power
sector. (Natural gas) could play a role as a cleaner fossil fuel that's
more readily available," Pinon said. "I think (Texas) could certainly
benefit from that."
On the consumer side of things, a population of 11 million people makes
Cuba a sizable market for everything from agricultural equipment to
paint to electronics.
Regardless of where those goods are produced, Texas could still see an
increased flow of goods through its ports, with Cuba serving as an ideal
logistics hub for the rest of the Caribbean.
But for now, the buying power of the average Cuban citizen will limit
consumption.
"That key question is what economic model are you going to have that is
going to create that middle class with the income they'd need to
purchase product and services," Pinon said. "Why would I open a
McDonalds if (the average) Cubans are making $25 a month?"
Work to be done on both sides
During a March trip to Cuba, President Barack Obama called the embargo
an "outdated burden" on the Cuban people and on Americans who want to do
business or invest there.
"But even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize
their potential without continued change here in Cuba," he said.
While Obama has supported lifting the embargo and made opening relations
with Cuba a key foreign policy push during his second term, his
successor in the White House might have different priorities. Even then,
the embargo would have to be lifted through legislation, which would
have to clear a gridlocked Congress and is far from certain.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, whose father fled Cuba as a teenager, has
criticized Obama for legitimizing "the corrupt and oppressive Castro
regime."
"There are human rights stumbling points and a respect for universal
human rights. Many say it's not in our national interest," Wallace said.
The Cuban people and government will also have a major say in how
relations between the two countries develop.
Pinon, the University of Texas-Austin researcher, described Cuba's
current economy as a bottleneck, with future growth constrained by its
economic model.
"There still has to be a major strategic change. ... Otherwise it's not
going to move forward," he said.
The country has taken small steps in recent years, including allowing
small, independently-owned service businesses like barber shops and
establishing a free trade zone at the port in Mariel, 30 miles west of
Havana.
But the Castro-led regime remains in place, with a mindset that Pinon
said is "still in the Cold War."
The push from U.S.-based trade groups and policy organizations will
continue and while none expect immediate change, they think there's a
strong case for further opening up.
"Other countries are getting the (trade) opportunities. We in the U.S.
should have them as well particularly because of the close proximity,"
said Wallace. "There's work to be done on both sides. At the end of the
day, it's a great opportunity for Texas. As the No. 1 exporting state,
we stand to benefit the most."
Source: Texas faces business obstacles with Cuba, but airline access
isn't one of them | Dallas Morning News -
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20160903-texas-faces-business-obstacles-with-cuba-but-airline-access-isn-t-one-of-them.ece
of them
By Conor Shine Follow @Conor_Shine cshine@dallasnews.com
Aviation Writer
Published: 03 September 2016 12:39 AM
Updated: 03 September 2016 12:39 AM
Starting this week, it is now possible to purchase a ticket online, go
to a U.S. airport, board a plane and in as little as 45 minutes find
yourself in Cuba.
The historic launch of commercial service to the socialist nation --
JetBlue flew its inaugural flight Aug. 31 and American Airlines is set
to begin flights Wednesday -- means that accessing Cuba is easier than
it's been in more than 50 years.
Already, Texas business owners and political leaders, including Gov.
Greg Abbott, have journeyed to Cuba in anticipation of the country
opening up further with an eye toward what it could mean for the state's
economy to gain a new trading partner less than 1,000 miles from Houston.
The opportunities for Texas businesses to make their mark are seemingly
endless and potentially lucrative, in industries ranging from
agriculture to aviation to energy to telecommunications. But that
potential is tempered by the hard reality that just because Cuba is open
for travel doesn't mean it's open for business.
"As a trading partner, I think the jury's still out. There are
absolutely opportunities," said Dave Shaw, president of Texas Lyceum, a
non-partisan policy and leadership group that recently led a trip to
Cuba. "Just because (Cuba) is opening up to America doesn't mean there's
going to be a Starbucks on every corner."
A number of challenges both practical and existential stand in the way
of increased trade between the U.S. and Cuba. Many of the country's
roads and airports are outdated. Its internet connectivity is spotty to
nonexistent. Most of the economy is still controlled by state-owned
enterprises and it remains to be seen how U.S. businesses would fit into
the market.
Most importantly, the long standing trade embargo born of the Cold War
severely curtails what business U.S. companies can conduct in Cuba.
Despite the hurdles, many U.S. policy experts and business leaders are
optimistic. More progress has been made opening up relations between the
two countries since 2014 than in the previous several decades.
With time and continued momentum, they say, Cuba can grow into a
sizeable market --one study pegged it at $6 billion per year -- for the
export of U.S. goods and services.
If it does, Texas will be well positioned, with many of its major
industries aligning with Cuba's most immediate needs. Combined with
Cuba's close proximity and a relatively blank economic slate that's ripe
for investment, it all adds up to an opportunity unlike any other.
A long-term play
The first Texas companies likely to see gains are the ones that will be
operating there this year -- specifically American Airlines and
Southwest Airlines, who together plan 19 daily flights to six Cuban
cities, although none will be from Texas.
Tourism is not one of the 12 categories under which travel to Cuba is
permitted, but visitorship is expected to continue to increase. If the
tourism ban is eventually lifted, traffic could take off.
"You have to view Cuba as a long term play as a huge market that's going
to drive an incredible amount of traffic and visitorship," said Art
Torno, a senior vice president at American. "If you take the historical
perspective, in the 1940s and 1950s, visiting Cuba was very chic and
very upscale, that was a place people went for vacation. ... It has the
potential to become one of the most desirable locations to visit in the
Caribbean."
While travel and hospitality are leading the way -- AirBnB has spread
rapidly since launching in Cuba a year ago and hotel chains like
Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International have also staked
out Cuban ambitions -- an even broader market exists for agricultural
products like poultry meat, corn, wheat, rice and soybeans, which the
U.S. already exports to Cuba under a provision in the embargo to the
tune of $299 million in 2014.
The volume of U.S. exports has fallen in recent years due to credit
constraints -- the embargo requires cash-in-advance for goods -- and
competition from other countries. Texas exported $96.2 million worth of
goods in 2008, but just $131,327 in 2014, according to data from Engage
Cuba, a national group supporting trade reform.
By comparison, Texas's total international exports totaled $251.1
billion last year.
Texas could realize $42 million in economic benefit just by regaining
market share lost for agricultural exports since 2012, according to a
November study by Texas A&M University.
"There's a lot of market share we think that we're losing by having the
trade embargo," said Texas Association of Business President Chris
Wallace, who's working with Texas elected officials to generate support
for reform. "It's not a huge market, but as far as the types of goods
that they import, we produce most of those in Texas."
From there, the embargo looms like a brick wall. But on the other side
lies promise for Texas's oil and gas industry.
Cuba relies heavily on Venezuelan oil imports to power its electrical
grid, but given Venezuela's economic troubles, that supply might be
impeded, said Jorge Pinon, director of the Latin America and Caribbean
Energy Programat the University of Texas at Austin
Pinon, who emigrated from Cuba as a teenager in 1960, is studying how
Cuba might incorporate liquefied natural gas into its energy mix.
"One of the energy challenges Cuba will face as they open up their
economy is their dependency on oil as a fuel for their electric power
sector. (Natural gas) could play a role as a cleaner fossil fuel that's
more readily available," Pinon said. "I think (Texas) could certainly
benefit from that."
On the consumer side of things, a population of 11 million people makes
Cuba a sizable market for everything from agricultural equipment to
paint to electronics.
Regardless of where those goods are produced, Texas could still see an
increased flow of goods through its ports, with Cuba serving as an ideal
logistics hub for the rest of the Caribbean.
But for now, the buying power of the average Cuban citizen will limit
consumption.
"That key question is what economic model are you going to have that is
going to create that middle class with the income they'd need to
purchase product and services," Pinon said. "Why would I open a
McDonalds if (the average) Cubans are making $25 a month?"
Work to be done on both sides
During a March trip to Cuba, President Barack Obama called the embargo
an "outdated burden" on the Cuban people and on Americans who want to do
business or invest there.
"But even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize
their potential without continued change here in Cuba," he said.
While Obama has supported lifting the embargo and made opening relations
with Cuba a key foreign policy push during his second term, his
successor in the White House might have different priorities. Even then,
the embargo would have to be lifted through legislation, which would
have to clear a gridlocked Congress and is far from certain.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, whose father fled Cuba as a teenager, has
criticized Obama for legitimizing "the corrupt and oppressive Castro
regime."
"There are human rights stumbling points and a respect for universal
human rights. Many say it's not in our national interest," Wallace said.
The Cuban people and government will also have a major say in how
relations between the two countries develop.
Pinon, the University of Texas-Austin researcher, described Cuba's
current economy as a bottleneck, with future growth constrained by its
economic model.
"There still has to be a major strategic change. ... Otherwise it's not
going to move forward," he said.
The country has taken small steps in recent years, including allowing
small, independently-owned service businesses like barber shops and
establishing a free trade zone at the port in Mariel, 30 miles west of
Havana.
But the Castro-led regime remains in place, with a mindset that Pinon
said is "still in the Cold War."
The push from U.S.-based trade groups and policy organizations will
continue and while none expect immediate change, they think there's a
strong case for further opening up.
"Other countries are getting the (trade) opportunities. We in the U.S.
should have them as well particularly because of the close proximity,"
said Wallace. "There's work to be done on both sides. At the end of the
day, it's a great opportunity for Texas. As the No. 1 exporting state,
we stand to benefit the most."
Source: Texas faces business obstacles with Cuba, but airline access
isn't one of them | Dallas Morning News -
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20160903-texas-faces-business-obstacles-with-cuba-but-airline-access-isn-t-one-of-them.ece
In Cuba the tax man cometh, slowly
In Cuba the tax man cometh, slowly
By Marc Frank | HAVANA
Some 1.5 million more Cuban state workers will contribute to social
security next month, with some paying income tax for the first time
since the 1959 revolution as a law passed as part of efforts to
modernize the economy gradually goes into effect.
The workers, mainly in industry, will pay a 5 percent social security
tax on income over 500 pesos per month and income tax of 3 percent to 5
percent on earnings over 2,500 pesos per month, Cuban state media said
on Friday.
Deputy Finance Minister Meisi Bolanos Weis said the tax would be
deducted from workers' pay checks by their employers, the Communist
Party daily, Granma, reported.
With an eye to the increasing inequality that was sure to come after
President Raul Castro began implementing cautious market-oriented
reforms and reducing the role of the state in the economy, the
Communist-run island passed its first comprehensive tax code in 2012.
Cuba had abolished taxes after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, when
everyone began working for the state at low wages. The government then
subsidized everything from health, education, sports and culture to
food, utilities, transportation and social security.
The Caribbean nation's average monthly wage last year was 687 pesos, or
about $25 at the official exchange rate. There were 5 million in the
labor force, of which 80 percent worked for the state.
The government envisions replacing subsidies for all with targeted
welfare, meaning that the largely tax-free life under a paternalistic
government is on its way out
But the code is being implemented gradually, as "conditions permit," the
law states, with such novelties as a property tax and inheritance tax
still on hold.
Income tax was first applied to owners of small businesses, cultural
figures and Cubans working for foreign companies and more recently to
hundreds of thousands of farmers and 500,000 self-employed Cubans.
Most state workers, for example in the health and education sectors, do
not pay income tax, but over the last three years began contributing to
social security.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Frances Kerry)
Source: In Cuba the tax man cometh, slowly | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-reform-taxes-idUSKCN1182GS
By Marc Frank | HAVANA
Some 1.5 million more Cuban state workers will contribute to social
security next month, with some paying income tax for the first time
since the 1959 revolution as a law passed as part of efforts to
modernize the economy gradually goes into effect.
The workers, mainly in industry, will pay a 5 percent social security
tax on income over 500 pesos per month and income tax of 3 percent to 5
percent on earnings over 2,500 pesos per month, Cuban state media said
on Friday.
Deputy Finance Minister Meisi Bolanos Weis said the tax would be
deducted from workers' pay checks by their employers, the Communist
Party daily, Granma, reported.
With an eye to the increasing inequality that was sure to come after
President Raul Castro began implementing cautious market-oriented
reforms and reducing the role of the state in the economy, the
Communist-run island passed its first comprehensive tax code in 2012.
Cuba had abolished taxes after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, when
everyone began working for the state at low wages. The government then
subsidized everything from health, education, sports and culture to
food, utilities, transportation and social security.
The Caribbean nation's average monthly wage last year was 687 pesos, or
about $25 at the official exchange rate. There were 5 million in the
labor force, of which 80 percent worked for the state.
The government envisions replacing subsidies for all with targeted
welfare, meaning that the largely tax-free life under a paternalistic
government is on its way out
But the code is being implemented gradually, as "conditions permit," the
law states, with such novelties as a property tax and inheritance tax
still on hold.
Income tax was first applied to owners of small businesses, cultural
figures and Cubans working for foreign companies and more recently to
hundreds of thousands of farmers and 500,000 self-employed Cubans.
Most state workers, for example in the health and education sectors, do
not pay income tax, but over the last three years began contributing to
social security.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Frances Kerry)
Source: In Cuba the tax man cometh, slowly | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-reform-taxes-idUSKCN1182GS
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