Cuban Double Agent Fears for His Life after Revealing His True Identity
/ Juan Juan Almeida
Juan Juan Almeida, 27 February 2017 — Luis Enrique Cepero García was an
opponent of the Cuban regime serving a sentence in the Combinado del
Este prison when he decided to infect himself with a disease rather than
continue being subjected to mistreatment in prison.
Given his state of health, Luis Enrique was transferred and imprisoned
at the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) in Havana where,
on orders from a doctor, his life ended abruptly one day in 1995.
"I remember that before he died in the IPK, my brother Luis Enrique told
me that a doctor told another doctor he would not be there the next day.
My brother began to have some tremors. Then in the afternoon a nurse
came into the room and began putting cotton in his nose, mouth and anus.
My brother died and I was left with that image in my head.
"Then I did something I should never have done. To take revenge I joined
the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and pretended to
be a revolutionary in order to get inside State Security and take my
revenge for the death of my brother," says William Cepero García, who
today is a former spy living on Santa Maria del Rosario Road, kilometer
4.5, Cubicle #106, Cambúte, San Miguel del Padrón, a district located in
the east of the Cuban capital.
When Luis Enrique died, William was living in Old Havana, buying and
selling antiques. He started pretending to be a revolutionary. He says
that, with his money and growing popularity, it was not difficult to
attract the attention of the Cuban secret services.
"I started at the CDR… Well, you know how that works. In 2005 I was
approached by officers from DTI (Technical Investigations Department)
who wanted to recruit me. But I told them that, if I was going to do
something for the Revolution, it had to be something big. It was then
that I met an officer by the name of Yosbani, a young man from a
Domestic Counterintelligence unit in Old Havana. He was the one who
recruited me."
I met the spy
"It's all a surprise to me," says Luz María Piloto Romero, a Cuban
dissident who now lives in exile in Miami. "I met William Cepero García
because he was living in Old Havana around the corner from my house. His
brother, the one who died from HIV, was a good friend of mine. I always
saw William at non-violent opposition events in support of human rights."
Cepero García says that, after several exams and countless meetings at
the Municipal Identity Card Directorate's offices, he was instructed to
collect information on people in the area who sympathized with opponents
of the government.
"At first I was very frightened," he admits. "I realized that the people
I knew were innocent but, after a few months working as a spy, I
determined that the information I was giving to my official contacts had
already been given to them by other agents I did not know."
Cepero García remembers being sent in 2005 to Cambute in San Miguel del
Padrón, where there as an active opposition movement. He says that there
he was part of a group under the direction of the local Domestic
Counterintelligence office. He began trying to penetrate the Cuban Human
Rights Foundation, an opposition organization then headed by Juan
Antonio Bermúdez Toranza.
"I very cautiously tried to warn Juan. I didn't know whether or not he
was also a State Security agent and did not want to get burned.
Everything here has been infiltrated," he says.
But Bermúdez Toranza, who currently lives in exile in Spain, says,
"William came out from the shadows. It was Juan Carlos who introduced
him to me."
He is referring to Juan Carlos González Leiva, a blind attorney,
activist and founder of the Independent Blind Fraternity of Cuba and the
Cuban Human Rights Foundation.
"William approached me offering to help. He was interested in my needs,"
adds Bermúdez Toranza. "His help was economic. He was a guy who moved
money around, dealing in antiques, jewelry and those sorts of things.
But he was asking a lot of questions; he wanted to know everything. He
never disagreed with any of my decisions and it isn't normal to agree
with everything. I never trusted him. I always compartmentalized with
him because I suspected he was working for State Security."
Two years later Bermúdez Toranzo was arrested and charged with
counter-revolutionary activities. William left the area but returned in
2009 with a new mission. "Juan (Bermúdez Toranzo) was in jail and his
then wife, Neris Castillo, was one of the Ladies in White, and my new
mission was to insert myself in her life, get information on the Ladies
in White, blackmail her and sleep with her… You know how these things
go," he says.
A female spy's testimony
"He told me he had come to carry out a task but he didn't have the
courage for it. He told me about his brother. I saw him trying to help
young men who had decided to set out to sea and other people I can't
remember right now. That's why I took him to what was then the US
Interests Section in Cuba, to the human rights office, so he could
provide information and decide whether to switch from one side to the
other," explains the former Lady in White, Neris Castillo Moreno, who is
now Cepero García's partner.
"He helped a lot of people. When my brother was taken prisoner, William
helped him. After being in a jail myself for a week, there was nothing
to eat at my house and he said to me, 'Let's go, Luz. I'll fix you a
sweet roll.' And he did. I hope that all the people he once helped might
now help him. Actually, I was surprised by the news," says Luz María, a
Cuban dissident who now lives in exile in Miami and says she knows
Cepero Garcia.
According to Cepero García, his work as a double agent earned him enough
credit with the regime's intelligence agencies that they ended up giving
him the mission to become the leader of the Republican Party of Cuba and
later the secretary general of the November 30th Frank País Democratic
Party after the death of the previous office holder.
However, after receiving a new mission from officials at Cuban State
Security, which Cepero García had allegedly infiltrated years earlier,
the self-described "double agent" decided to reveal his true identity
and expose himself to the risks inherent in such a decision.
"I fear for my life but I am aware of what I have done. I have to face
whatever comes." And here his story ends.
Meanwhile, the exiled Cuban dissident living in Spain, who is familar
with the spy's performance in San Miguel del Padrón, insists that Cepero
García's true intention in making this revelation is to leave Cuba.
"What William wants is a visa to the United States. I know he is a spy
and that he has regrets and that he helped people. But, look, if William
is saying that, he is not doing it because he is in charge or because he
wants to say it. He is saying it because someone is ordering him to do
so. And I assure you it is someone in Section XXI (of G2, the
Intelligence Directorate)," concludes Juan Antonio Bermúdez Toranzo
categorically.
Source: Cuban Double Agent Fears for His Life after Revealing His True
Identity / Juan Juan Almeida – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-double-agent-fears-for-his-life-after-revealing-his-true-identity-juan-juan-almeida/
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Travelling to Cuba this year? Swap your hotel for a homestay
Travelling to Cuba this year? Swap your hotel for a homestay
Nicola Trup
Evening Standard March 3, 2017
There's a cowboy waiting outside my room. Kitted out in a checked shirt,
jeans and a Stetson, he introduces himself as Miguel, and soon we're
clip-clopping away in a horse-drawn cart.
Trinidad, in southern Cuba, is more than just a photogenic,
Unesco-listed town (though it is that, too). It's surrounded by natural
attractions; within just a few kilometres are some of the country's best
beaches, with sweeping hills and valleys ripe for exploring.
We're dropped off near the edge of town, and Miguel gets our group of
wannabe cowboys saddled up. "Only one hand," he says, as I reach for the
reins; the other holds on to a metal handle on the saddle — something
I'm thankful for once I realise I have no control over my horse's speed.
We ride along a dusty trail, through scrubby meadows and palm-dotted
woodland, stopping en route at a grass-roofed open-air bar serving
refreshing cups of sugar-cane juice. We ride a little further before
dismounting again, and making the short walk to El Pilón. It's dry
season, so this normally impressive waterfall isn't much more than a
trickle, but it flows into a pair of beautiful natural rock pools,
framed by caves and forest. I clamber into the cool, dark water, with
cigar smoke and the sound of acoustic guitar drifting over from the
makeshift bar nearby.
Arriving back in Trinidad in the late afternoon, the sun is starting to
slip down behind the colourful Spanish colonial houses, and I walk
slowly back to my homestay, slightly bruised from a day in the saddle.
It's two decades since Cuba's casas particulares ("private homes")
scheme was introduced, allowing locals to rent out their spare rooms to
tourists. They offer a sharp contrast to the state-run hotels, which,
while often grand, tend to come with rather indifferent service ("They
know they will always have a job, so they have no reason to try," one
Cuban tells me). Until last year, when rules were relaxed, it was
illegal to own a private business, but as running a casa particular is
considered self-employment, the scheme has been a great way for Cubans
to boost their incomes, which, according to official figures, average
about £20 a month.
Casas, meanwhile, are a cross between a B&B and a family home: you get
your own key but you might also hang out with your hosts. On practically
every street in Trinidad or Old Havana you'll spot at least one of the
scheme's blue signs, and with so much competition, owners often come up
with a USP. At "Casa El Ceramista" (The Potter's House), where I'm
staying, host Alexey will show you how to throw a pot on his wheel — the
walls are decorated with his clay creations.
The next day I take a tour of the town's historic centre with Roxy,
whose parents run another casa. Having grown up in Trinidad, she's full
of local insight, like where to find the best views (the top of the
tower at Museo Lucha Contra Bandidos) and the most unusual night out
(Disco Ayala, a club in a spectacular natural cave).
Tourism is booming in Cuba, thanks in part to the US easing its rules
for visiting — a move that may be reversed by President Trump. For now,
though, new businesses are springing up to cater to the growing number
of travellers, and among them is Bar Café El Mago. With its white-washed
walls and quirky reclaimed furniture, it wouldn't look out of place in
Hackney or Brooklyn, though like the casas particulares, it's also
someone's home; the delicious coffee is made in the family kitchen.
Soon it's time for me to move on to Havana, and a five-hour cab ride in
a gorgeous, if somewhat rickety, Fifties Buick leads me to my next casa.
Marisela's apartment, part of a grand old townhouse in the capital's
Vedado neighbourhood, is decorated in every colour of the rainbow, and
Marisela chooses her clothes to match.
I can't leave Cuba without a stroll around Habana Vieja (Old Havana),
whose pristine streets are the city's most photographed, so the next day
I head over in another old taxi. Winding between a series of pretty
squares, I take in the imposing baroque cathedral and moated fort before
finding myself outside Hotel Ambos Mundos.
Most Havana establishments trumpet even the most tenuous connection to
Ernest Hemingway, who lived here in the 1930s, but Ambos Mundos is bona
fide — the writer rented a room in the hotel for seven years. So I
decide to stop for a drink in the Art Deco lobby bar. Unsure of what
"Papa" would have ordered, I opt for a coffee spiked with rum. It's a
potent, not entirely pleasant, concoction, but as I sit back in my
chair, the sound of jazz piano drifting over me, it feels like little
has changed since Hemingway drank here — even if he preferred a mojito.
Details: Cuba
Nicola Trup travelled with Homestay.com, which offers doubles at
Alexey's in Trinidad (bit.ly/ThePotter) from £24, B&B, and doubles at
Marisela's in Havana (bit.ly/MariselaColores) from £31, B&B. Virgin
Atlantic (virgin-atlantic.com) flies from Gatwick to Havana.
travel2cuba.co.uk
Source: Travelling to Cuba this year? Swap your hotel for a homestay -
https://www.yahoo.com/news/travelling-cuba-swap-hotel-homestay-172020558.html
Nicola Trup
Evening Standard March 3, 2017
There's a cowboy waiting outside my room. Kitted out in a checked shirt,
jeans and a Stetson, he introduces himself as Miguel, and soon we're
clip-clopping away in a horse-drawn cart.
Trinidad, in southern Cuba, is more than just a photogenic,
Unesco-listed town (though it is that, too). It's surrounded by natural
attractions; within just a few kilometres are some of the country's best
beaches, with sweeping hills and valleys ripe for exploring.
We're dropped off near the edge of town, and Miguel gets our group of
wannabe cowboys saddled up. "Only one hand," he says, as I reach for the
reins; the other holds on to a metal handle on the saddle — something
I'm thankful for once I realise I have no control over my horse's speed.
We ride along a dusty trail, through scrubby meadows and palm-dotted
woodland, stopping en route at a grass-roofed open-air bar serving
refreshing cups of sugar-cane juice. We ride a little further before
dismounting again, and making the short walk to El Pilón. It's dry
season, so this normally impressive waterfall isn't much more than a
trickle, but it flows into a pair of beautiful natural rock pools,
framed by caves and forest. I clamber into the cool, dark water, with
cigar smoke and the sound of acoustic guitar drifting over from the
makeshift bar nearby.
Arriving back in Trinidad in the late afternoon, the sun is starting to
slip down behind the colourful Spanish colonial houses, and I walk
slowly back to my homestay, slightly bruised from a day in the saddle.
It's two decades since Cuba's casas particulares ("private homes")
scheme was introduced, allowing locals to rent out their spare rooms to
tourists. They offer a sharp contrast to the state-run hotels, which,
while often grand, tend to come with rather indifferent service ("They
know they will always have a job, so they have no reason to try," one
Cuban tells me). Until last year, when rules were relaxed, it was
illegal to own a private business, but as running a casa particular is
considered self-employment, the scheme has been a great way for Cubans
to boost their incomes, which, according to official figures, average
about £20 a month.
Casas, meanwhile, are a cross between a B&B and a family home: you get
your own key but you might also hang out with your hosts. On practically
every street in Trinidad or Old Havana you'll spot at least one of the
scheme's blue signs, and with so much competition, owners often come up
with a USP. At "Casa El Ceramista" (The Potter's House), where I'm
staying, host Alexey will show you how to throw a pot on his wheel — the
walls are decorated with his clay creations.
The next day I take a tour of the town's historic centre with Roxy,
whose parents run another casa. Having grown up in Trinidad, she's full
of local insight, like where to find the best views (the top of the
tower at Museo Lucha Contra Bandidos) and the most unusual night out
(Disco Ayala, a club in a spectacular natural cave).
Tourism is booming in Cuba, thanks in part to the US easing its rules
for visiting — a move that may be reversed by President Trump. For now,
though, new businesses are springing up to cater to the growing number
of travellers, and among them is Bar Café El Mago. With its white-washed
walls and quirky reclaimed furniture, it wouldn't look out of place in
Hackney or Brooklyn, though like the casas particulares, it's also
someone's home; the delicious coffee is made in the family kitchen.
Soon it's time for me to move on to Havana, and a five-hour cab ride in
a gorgeous, if somewhat rickety, Fifties Buick leads me to my next casa.
Marisela's apartment, part of a grand old townhouse in the capital's
Vedado neighbourhood, is decorated in every colour of the rainbow, and
Marisela chooses her clothes to match.
I can't leave Cuba without a stroll around Habana Vieja (Old Havana),
whose pristine streets are the city's most photographed, so the next day
I head over in another old taxi. Winding between a series of pretty
squares, I take in the imposing baroque cathedral and moated fort before
finding myself outside Hotel Ambos Mundos.
Most Havana establishments trumpet even the most tenuous connection to
Ernest Hemingway, who lived here in the 1930s, but Ambos Mundos is bona
fide — the writer rented a room in the hotel for seven years. So I
decide to stop for a drink in the Art Deco lobby bar. Unsure of what
"Papa" would have ordered, I opt for a coffee spiked with rum. It's a
potent, not entirely pleasant, concoction, but as I sit back in my
chair, the sound of jazz piano drifting over me, it feels like little
has changed since Hemingway drank here — even if he preferred a mojito.
Details: Cuba
Nicola Trup travelled with Homestay.com, which offers doubles at
Alexey's in Trinidad (bit.ly/ThePotter) from £24, B&B, and doubles at
Marisela's in Havana (bit.ly/MariselaColores) from £31, B&B. Virgin
Atlantic (virgin-atlantic.com) flies from Gatwick to Havana.
travel2cuba.co.uk
Source: Travelling to Cuba this year? Swap your hotel for a homestay -
https://www.yahoo.com/news/travelling-cuba-swap-hotel-homestay-172020558.html
Cuba struggles to satisfy cigar demand after bad crops
Cuba struggles to satisfy cigar demand after bad crops
By Sarah Marsh | PINAR DEL RIO, CUBA
Communist-led Cuba is struggling to maintain the supply of some premium
cigar brands in the face of poor tobacco harvests and rising demand,
industry experts said at its annual cigar festival.
El Niño weather that brought excessive rains and unseasonable drought
damaged all Cuban crops including the delicate tobacco plants needed for
its signature product and fourth-biggest goods export.
"The quality used to be better," said tobacco factory worker Mavelys
Linares on one of the tours organized by the festival to western Pinar
del Rio province, where most of Cuba's tobacco is grown. "It just
doesn't have the same texture."
Linares spends eight hours each day stretching out wrinkled brown
tobacco leaves after they have been harvested, strung out to dry in airy
barns and fermented for six months.
"It's the fault of the weather. There are good years and bad ones," said
the 43-year old, whose husband has a plantation.
Industry experts said Cuba had been unable to keep up the supply of
certain top tier brands as a result of the bad crops. They gathered to
attend the week-long Habanos festival that ended on Friday.
"They have been limited in their tobacco of Cohiba Behikes by difficult
crop years," said David Savona, editor of Cigar Aficionado magazine,
which named that particular smoke Cigar Of The Year in 2010.
"And there seem to be fewer of certain big cigar sizes. Cohiba
Esplendidos are little hard to find right now. Big cigars need a big leaf."
Savona and other cigar connoisseurs said restricted supply was not
necessarily a bad thing.
"If you don't have the good tobacco to make Cohiba, you shouldn't make
it, and Cuba understood this," said Christoph Puszkar, marketing
director of 5th Avenue Products, which imports Habanos to Germany,
Austria and Poland.
"We check 20-30 percent of all the goods coming into our markets. We
have not had a bad impression of quality."
The supply crunch comes as demand for Cuban cigars rises abroad due to
growth in emerging markets and at home due to a jump in tourism. Sales
of Cuba's cigars rose 5 percent last year to $445 million.
U.S. POLICY BOOSTS CIGAR SALES
Cuban cigar maker Habanos said at its annual news conference launching
the festival that sales at home were increasing in tandem with the 13
percent increase in visitors to the Caribbean island fueled by more
relaxed U.S. travel rules, part of the normalization of relations
between the Cold War foes.
The United States also lifted restrictions on the amount of Cuban cigars
American travelers could now take home with them as part of the same
policy, further boosting demand.
Manuel Froehlich, who owns a shop in Zurich selling Caribbean rum,
coffee and cigars, said he was struggling to source a variety of Cuban
products.
"We usually sell Cuban coffee in our shop but for two years we haven't
been able to source it," he said. "They don't have enough even for the
domestic market because there are so many tourists."
"Cigars, which make up half our revenue, are also hard. We started to
have supply issues last year and it just got worse."
Hopes are high that a better harvest this year should help a bit with
those supply issues.
"Of course you have to store the tobacco first, before they can use it,"
said Puszkar. "Supply should be slightly better from the beginning of
the third quarter of this year."
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Christian Plumb and Cynthia Osterman)
Source: Cuba struggles to satisfy cigar demand after bad crops | Reuters
- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-cigars-idUSKBN16A2NU
By Sarah Marsh | PINAR DEL RIO, CUBA
Communist-led Cuba is struggling to maintain the supply of some premium
cigar brands in the face of poor tobacco harvests and rising demand,
industry experts said at its annual cigar festival.
El Niño weather that brought excessive rains and unseasonable drought
damaged all Cuban crops including the delicate tobacco plants needed for
its signature product and fourth-biggest goods export.
"The quality used to be better," said tobacco factory worker Mavelys
Linares on one of the tours organized by the festival to western Pinar
del Rio province, where most of Cuba's tobacco is grown. "It just
doesn't have the same texture."
Linares spends eight hours each day stretching out wrinkled brown
tobacco leaves after they have been harvested, strung out to dry in airy
barns and fermented for six months.
"It's the fault of the weather. There are good years and bad ones," said
the 43-year old, whose husband has a plantation.
Industry experts said Cuba had been unable to keep up the supply of
certain top tier brands as a result of the bad crops. They gathered to
attend the week-long Habanos festival that ended on Friday.
"They have been limited in their tobacco of Cohiba Behikes by difficult
crop years," said David Savona, editor of Cigar Aficionado magazine,
which named that particular smoke Cigar Of The Year in 2010.
"And there seem to be fewer of certain big cigar sizes. Cohiba
Esplendidos are little hard to find right now. Big cigars need a big leaf."
Savona and other cigar connoisseurs said restricted supply was not
necessarily a bad thing.
"If you don't have the good tobacco to make Cohiba, you shouldn't make
it, and Cuba understood this," said Christoph Puszkar, marketing
director of 5th Avenue Products, which imports Habanos to Germany,
Austria and Poland.
"We check 20-30 percent of all the goods coming into our markets. We
have not had a bad impression of quality."
The supply crunch comes as demand for Cuban cigars rises abroad due to
growth in emerging markets and at home due to a jump in tourism. Sales
of Cuba's cigars rose 5 percent last year to $445 million.
U.S. POLICY BOOSTS CIGAR SALES
Cuban cigar maker Habanos said at its annual news conference launching
the festival that sales at home were increasing in tandem with the 13
percent increase in visitors to the Caribbean island fueled by more
relaxed U.S. travel rules, part of the normalization of relations
between the Cold War foes.
The United States also lifted restrictions on the amount of Cuban cigars
American travelers could now take home with them as part of the same
policy, further boosting demand.
Manuel Froehlich, who owns a shop in Zurich selling Caribbean rum,
coffee and cigars, said he was struggling to source a variety of Cuban
products.
"We usually sell Cuban coffee in our shop but for two years we haven't
been able to source it," he said. "They don't have enough even for the
domestic market because there are so many tourists."
"Cigars, which make up half our revenue, are also hard. We started to
have supply issues last year and it just got worse."
Hopes are high that a better harvest this year should help a bit with
those supply issues.
"Of course you have to store the tobacco first, before they can use it,"
said Puszkar. "Supply should be slightly better from the beginning of
the third quarter of this year."
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Christian Plumb and Cynthia Osterman)
Source: Cuba struggles to satisfy cigar demand after bad crops | Reuters
- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-cigars-idUSKBN16A2NU
CUBA'S QUIET BATTLE FOR AMERICAN AIRSPACE
CUBA'S QUIET BATTLE FOR AMERICAN AIRSPACE
By Barbara Sturken Peterson
THE DAILY DOSEMAR 03 2017
Flight CU188, a twin-jet Airbus A320 on its way from the Caribbean to
Canada, looks no different than the 5,000 other commercial planes flying
through U.S. airspace —except maybe for that red, white and blue livery
that looks straight out of the swingin' '60s. In fact, this flight is
anything but typical: Even in an emergency, the crew can't land in the
U.S. If it did, there's a good chance that local marshals would seize
the plane.
That's because the Airbus flies for Cubana de Aviación, the official
airline of Cuba. The deal that the U.S. and Cuba brokered two years ago
to normalize relations should have sent the Caribbean carrier soaring
into the lucrative blue yonder of the American market. Instead, the
airline is being dragged down by lingering issues from the 60-year-old
trade embargo, including potential seizure of Cuban assets — like the
Airbus — to settle U.S. claims to recover assets confiscated by the
Castro regime. Meanwhile, in the past six months, Cubana has had to
watch from the sidelines as 10 U.S. carriers zip back and forth between
the two countries on about 40 daily round trips.
Additional turbulence may ground whatever plans Cubana has to tap into
its northern neighbor's massive travel market and earn desperately
needed revenue and hard currency. In November then-president-elect Trump
tweeted: "If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban
people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will
terminate [the] deal."
The president may have been out of step with the American public. A Pew
Research survey released a few weeks after Trump's tweet revealed that
75 percent of respondents approve of steps taken to restore relations
with Cuba. "The momentum among American travelers for unfettered access
to Cuba continues," says Ninan Chacko, the CEO of Travel Leaders Group,
a consortium of high-end travel agencies.
When the U.S. and Cuba agreed to resume diplomatic relations in late
2014, air service was an integral part of the discussions. A longtime
State Department hand, who helped negotiate aviation treaties with
former foes like China, says "it's almost unprecedented" that a country
wouldn't want its state-owned airline to benefit from any increase in
air traffic. As a former official, the Foggy Bottom veteran spoke on
background, but confirmed that Cubana does in fact now have the right to
fly to the U.S.; however, the airline first wants the legal situation
clarified. (The Cuban embassy did not respond to requests for comment.)
Most U.S. business leaders believe that full trade and tourism
ultimately will resume, and that Cubana will become a customer for U.S.
companies, such as aerospace suppliers — avionics from Honeywell, jet
engines from General Electric and Pratt & Whitney and jets from Boeing.
Once dubbed the world's most dangerous airline for a string of fatal
crashes decades ago, Cubana could use a serious upgrade. Although the
roughly 20-plane fleet includes a few leased Airbus jets, it consists
mainly of Russian-built Antonov, Ilyushin and Tupolev aircraft, a sort
of "Aeroflot of the Caribbean." In safety matters, at least, its
performance has improved.
Certainly, other airlines have successfully shed their communist-era
reps. Vietnam Airlines is gunning to be the second-biggest full-service
airline in Southeast Asia with a fleet of Boeing Dreamliners and Airbus
A350s. For Cubana to pull off a similar Cinderella feat, it will need to
clean up its customer service act to go along with a new, improved
fleet. (It typically ranks near the bottom in customer surveys on
TripAdvisor and the U.K. review site Skytrax.) A cautionary tale:
China's state-owned airlines had to give flight attendants "smiling
lessons" when the carriers began flying to the U.S. and other Western
destinations.
Source: Cuba's Quiet Battle for American Airspace | Fast Forward | OZY -
http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/cubas-quiet-battle-for-american-airspace/75517
By Barbara Sturken Peterson
THE DAILY DOSEMAR 03 2017
Flight CU188, a twin-jet Airbus A320 on its way from the Caribbean to
Canada, looks no different than the 5,000 other commercial planes flying
through U.S. airspace —except maybe for that red, white and blue livery
that looks straight out of the swingin' '60s. In fact, this flight is
anything but typical: Even in an emergency, the crew can't land in the
U.S. If it did, there's a good chance that local marshals would seize
the plane.
That's because the Airbus flies for Cubana de Aviación, the official
airline of Cuba. The deal that the U.S. and Cuba brokered two years ago
to normalize relations should have sent the Caribbean carrier soaring
into the lucrative blue yonder of the American market. Instead, the
airline is being dragged down by lingering issues from the 60-year-old
trade embargo, including potential seizure of Cuban assets — like the
Airbus — to settle U.S. claims to recover assets confiscated by the
Castro regime. Meanwhile, in the past six months, Cubana has had to
watch from the sidelines as 10 U.S. carriers zip back and forth between
the two countries on about 40 daily round trips.
Additional turbulence may ground whatever plans Cubana has to tap into
its northern neighbor's massive travel market and earn desperately
needed revenue and hard currency. In November then-president-elect Trump
tweeted: "If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban
people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will
terminate [the] deal."
The president may have been out of step with the American public. A Pew
Research survey released a few weeks after Trump's tweet revealed that
75 percent of respondents approve of steps taken to restore relations
with Cuba. "The momentum among American travelers for unfettered access
to Cuba continues," says Ninan Chacko, the CEO of Travel Leaders Group,
a consortium of high-end travel agencies.
When the U.S. and Cuba agreed to resume diplomatic relations in late
2014, air service was an integral part of the discussions. A longtime
State Department hand, who helped negotiate aviation treaties with
former foes like China, says "it's almost unprecedented" that a country
wouldn't want its state-owned airline to benefit from any increase in
air traffic. As a former official, the Foggy Bottom veteran spoke on
background, but confirmed that Cubana does in fact now have the right to
fly to the U.S.; however, the airline first wants the legal situation
clarified. (The Cuban embassy did not respond to requests for comment.)
Most U.S. business leaders believe that full trade and tourism
ultimately will resume, and that Cubana will become a customer for U.S.
companies, such as aerospace suppliers — avionics from Honeywell, jet
engines from General Electric and Pratt & Whitney and jets from Boeing.
Once dubbed the world's most dangerous airline for a string of fatal
crashes decades ago, Cubana could use a serious upgrade. Although the
roughly 20-plane fleet includes a few leased Airbus jets, it consists
mainly of Russian-built Antonov, Ilyushin and Tupolev aircraft, a sort
of "Aeroflot of the Caribbean." In safety matters, at least, its
performance has improved.
Certainly, other airlines have successfully shed their communist-era
reps. Vietnam Airlines is gunning to be the second-biggest full-service
airline in Southeast Asia with a fleet of Boeing Dreamliners and Airbus
A350s. For Cubana to pull off a similar Cinderella feat, it will need to
clean up its customer service act to go along with a new, improved
fleet. (It typically ranks near the bottom in customer surveys on
TripAdvisor and the U.K. review site Skytrax.) A cautionary tale:
China's state-owned airlines had to give flight attendants "smiling
lessons" when the carriers began flying to the U.S. and other Western
destinations.
Source: Cuba's Quiet Battle for American Airspace | Fast Forward | OZY -
http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/cubas-quiet-battle-for-american-airspace/75517
Report - Cuba has kept drug trafficking, consumption in check
Report: Cuba has kept drug trafficking, consumption in check
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD
mwhitefield@miamiherald.com
Although Cuba sits in close proximity to Caribbean drug lanes and the
U.S. market, the U.S. State Department's annual narcotics control report
found that it's not a major consumer, producer or transit point for
illegal narcotics, and drug consumption on the island remains low.
The report to Congress, which was released Friday, discusses the record
of countries around the world in combating the global drug trade. It is
the first time since 2008 that the report was rolled out to the media.
It comes at a time that William Brownfield, assistant secretary for
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, says the United
States is experiencing "perhaps the worst drug crisis that we have seen
in the United States of America since the 1980s, and the worst heroin
and opioids crisis that we have seen in the United States in more than
60 years."
But it is also a time when Cuba and the United States have begun to work
more closely on combating the drug trade. A new U.S.-Cuba drug accord
was signed in July 2016, and there is a U.S. Coast Guard liaison in the
U.S. Embassy in Havana to coordinate with Cuban law enforcement. Direct
communications between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and
Cuba's National Anti-Drug Directorate began in July.
The Coast Guard and Cuban authorities have been sharing tactical
information on vessels transiting Cuban waters that are suspected of
trafficking and are coordinating responses.
"Cuba's intensive security presence and interdiction efforts have kept
supply down and prevented traffickers from establishing a foothold,"
said the report. "Cuba concentrates supply reduction efforts by
preventing smuggling through territorial waters, rapidly collecting
wash-ups, and conducting thorough airport searches."
CUBA'S INTENSIVE SECURITY PRESENCE AND INTERDICTION EFFORTS HAVE KEPT
SUPPLY DOWN AND PREVENTED TRAFFICKERS FROM ESTABLISHING A FOOTHOLD.
State Department report
The most recent maritime seizure of drugs by Cuban authorities occurred
in 2015. That year, the Cuban government seized 906 kilograms of illegal
drugs, including 182 kilos of cocaine, 700 kilos of marijuana and 24
kilos of hashish oil. That same year, Cuban authorities detected the
incursions of 48 suspicious go-fast boats along the island's
southeastern coast.
In July 2016, Cuban authorities sentenced 11 Cubans to 15 to 30 years in
prison for smuggling marijuana from Jamaica through Cuba to the Bahamas,
the report said. During the case, the principal organizer was extradited
from Jamaica, a country with which Cuba also shares real-time
information on suspected trafficking.
The report also looked at money laundering and financial crimes around
the world.
"The government-controlled banking sector, low internet and cell phone
usage rates, and lack of government and legal transparency render Cuba
an unattractive location for money laundering through financial
institutions," the report said.
Although the risk of money laundering is low in Cuba, the report said
Cuba has a number of "strategic deficiencies" in its
anti-money-laundering regime. Among suggestions were that Cuba increase
the transparency of its financial sector as well as in criminal
investigations and prosecutions.
Follow Mimi Whitefield on Twitter: @HeraldMimi
Source: U.S., Cuba have increased cooperation on fighting illicit drug
trafficking | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article136310783.html
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD
mwhitefield@miamiherald.com
Although Cuba sits in close proximity to Caribbean drug lanes and the
U.S. market, the U.S. State Department's annual narcotics control report
found that it's not a major consumer, producer or transit point for
illegal narcotics, and drug consumption on the island remains low.
The report to Congress, which was released Friday, discusses the record
of countries around the world in combating the global drug trade. It is
the first time since 2008 that the report was rolled out to the media.
It comes at a time that William Brownfield, assistant secretary for
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, says the United
States is experiencing "perhaps the worst drug crisis that we have seen
in the United States of America since the 1980s, and the worst heroin
and opioids crisis that we have seen in the United States in more than
60 years."
But it is also a time when Cuba and the United States have begun to work
more closely on combating the drug trade. A new U.S.-Cuba drug accord
was signed in July 2016, and there is a U.S. Coast Guard liaison in the
U.S. Embassy in Havana to coordinate with Cuban law enforcement. Direct
communications between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and
Cuba's National Anti-Drug Directorate began in July.
The Coast Guard and Cuban authorities have been sharing tactical
information on vessels transiting Cuban waters that are suspected of
trafficking and are coordinating responses.
"Cuba's intensive security presence and interdiction efforts have kept
supply down and prevented traffickers from establishing a foothold,"
said the report. "Cuba concentrates supply reduction efforts by
preventing smuggling through territorial waters, rapidly collecting
wash-ups, and conducting thorough airport searches."
CUBA'S INTENSIVE SECURITY PRESENCE AND INTERDICTION EFFORTS HAVE KEPT
SUPPLY DOWN AND PREVENTED TRAFFICKERS FROM ESTABLISHING A FOOTHOLD.
State Department report
The most recent maritime seizure of drugs by Cuban authorities occurred
in 2015. That year, the Cuban government seized 906 kilograms of illegal
drugs, including 182 kilos of cocaine, 700 kilos of marijuana and 24
kilos of hashish oil. That same year, Cuban authorities detected the
incursions of 48 suspicious go-fast boats along the island's
southeastern coast.
In July 2016, Cuban authorities sentenced 11 Cubans to 15 to 30 years in
prison for smuggling marijuana from Jamaica through Cuba to the Bahamas,
the report said. During the case, the principal organizer was extradited
from Jamaica, a country with which Cuba also shares real-time
information on suspected trafficking.
The report also looked at money laundering and financial crimes around
the world.
"The government-controlled banking sector, low internet and cell phone
usage rates, and lack of government and legal transparency render Cuba
an unattractive location for money laundering through financial
institutions," the report said.
Although the risk of money laundering is low in Cuba, the report said
Cuba has a number of "strategic deficiencies" in its
anti-money-laundering regime. Among suggestions were that Cuba increase
the transparency of its financial sector as well as in criminal
investigations and prosecutions.
Follow Mimi Whitefield on Twitter: @HeraldMimi
Source: U.S., Cuba have increased cooperation on fighting illicit drug
trafficking | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article136310783.html
The Government Puts the Screws to Pedicab Operators Too
The Government Puts the Screws to Pedicab Operators Too
FRANK CORREA | La Habana | 3 de Marzo de 2017 - 16:44 CET.
Another ordinance to regulate transport in the capital has come to
light, this one persecuting pedicabs and consisting of a prohibition
against operating outside the municipality where the vehicle is registered.
"Imagine. I can't leave the limits of Central Havana" says Yuniel, age
25, who pedals a bikecab he made himself. "I can go to Belascoain, or
Carlos III, but not one block more. If the police catch me entering Old
Havana or the Revolution Plaza, I risk getting a ticket, or even having
my vehicle seized."
These vehicles constitute a boon amidst the perennial transport crisis,
due to the insufficient supply of cars, limited fuel, and shortage of
spare parts.
Another bike taxi driver who complained of the mistreatment of his
"guild" by the authorities is Armando. "They've thrown up a bunch of
obstacles against this trade, exercised by the self-employed," he says.
"All they want is to get rid of us. Now to get a license they ask you
for an endless list of papers and procedures, and even a medical
checkup, which includes an eye exam, a blood test, and an X-ray. We have
to pay for a driving course as if we were driving a car, and sometimes
we have to pay to get things approved it, because they have got us
cornered."
Luisón, who lives in Playa, went every day to Zanja, Prado, Malecón or
Infanta, locations with lots of customers. "But now I can't go beyond
the Almendares Bridge. Even worse, almost all the pedicab operators are
working without a license. The Tax Office is not issuing any new
licenses, or renewing existing ones. And they won't explain why either."
In addition to these requirements, the State requires cycle rickshaws to
bear a plate with their registration numbers, which they have to get at
a workshop located in Bauta, outside Havana. "They picked a very remote
place, apparently to discourage us," says Luisón. "And you have to go
there pedaling, to demonstrate it's in good technical condition. It's
abusive. We must equip the vehicle with our own resources, upholster it,
take it to the shop, and pay for the driving course, all before ever
making a penny."
The continuous onslaught by state inspectors and police against this
green means of transport, which requires no fuel, and does not pollute
the air, sparked a demonstration by 50 pedicab operators in May of 2016.
They parked in front of the Revolution Square to protest their poor
working conditions and harassment by the State, but their situation did
not improve. In fact, it worsened, with this new measure barring them
from operating outside their municipalities.
Manolo, who was a P.E. teacher, and now earns more pedaling a cycle
rickshaw, says they solve many problems for people. "Any time they knock
on our door, we're ready. Even in the wee hours. Whether it's to take a
patient to a hospital, or transport a TV, or a mattress. We are cheaper
than renting a truck. And we go anywhere, even if there's a flood, or
rough terrain."
"The tough lives led by Cubans force us to scrap," says Pepecito, a
school-age youth who put together a bike rickshaw and tries to earn
money pedaling. "A lot of people also come from the countryside to use
the pedicabs, and the disputes over the fares are tremendous."
"Now, with the new law keeping us from leaving the town, it's worse.
Yesterday I took a couple bound for the Bus Station, and had to leave
them on the border of Central Havana and Revolution Square. They didn't
want to pay me. I had to explain to them that it wasn't my fault, that
the Government has prohibited it. They had to walk the last six blocks.
Luckily, their suitcases had wheels. Otherwise they'd have had to pay
for another rickshaw to get to the station," he explained.
The number of pedicab operators in the city is not known, but there are
clearly many. Almost all of them are working without licenses, and
unable to obtain them, harassed by inspectors and the police, and
burdened by the many absurd laws designed to hinder their operations,
such as this new "ban on operating outside one's municipality."
Source: The Government Puts the Screws to Pedicab Operators Too | Diario
de Cuba - http://www.diariodecuba.com/node/29383
FRANK CORREA | La Habana | 3 de Marzo de 2017 - 16:44 CET.
Another ordinance to regulate transport in the capital has come to
light, this one persecuting pedicabs and consisting of a prohibition
against operating outside the municipality where the vehicle is registered.
"Imagine. I can't leave the limits of Central Havana" says Yuniel, age
25, who pedals a bikecab he made himself. "I can go to Belascoain, or
Carlos III, but not one block more. If the police catch me entering Old
Havana or the Revolution Plaza, I risk getting a ticket, or even having
my vehicle seized."
These vehicles constitute a boon amidst the perennial transport crisis,
due to the insufficient supply of cars, limited fuel, and shortage of
spare parts.
Another bike taxi driver who complained of the mistreatment of his
"guild" by the authorities is Armando. "They've thrown up a bunch of
obstacles against this trade, exercised by the self-employed," he says.
"All they want is to get rid of us. Now to get a license they ask you
for an endless list of papers and procedures, and even a medical
checkup, which includes an eye exam, a blood test, and an X-ray. We have
to pay for a driving course as if we were driving a car, and sometimes
we have to pay to get things approved it, because they have got us
cornered."
Luisón, who lives in Playa, went every day to Zanja, Prado, Malecón or
Infanta, locations with lots of customers. "But now I can't go beyond
the Almendares Bridge. Even worse, almost all the pedicab operators are
working without a license. The Tax Office is not issuing any new
licenses, or renewing existing ones. And they won't explain why either."
In addition to these requirements, the State requires cycle rickshaws to
bear a plate with their registration numbers, which they have to get at
a workshop located in Bauta, outside Havana. "They picked a very remote
place, apparently to discourage us," says Luisón. "And you have to go
there pedaling, to demonstrate it's in good technical condition. It's
abusive. We must equip the vehicle with our own resources, upholster it,
take it to the shop, and pay for the driving course, all before ever
making a penny."
The continuous onslaught by state inspectors and police against this
green means of transport, which requires no fuel, and does not pollute
the air, sparked a demonstration by 50 pedicab operators in May of 2016.
They parked in front of the Revolution Square to protest their poor
working conditions and harassment by the State, but their situation did
not improve. In fact, it worsened, with this new measure barring them
from operating outside their municipalities.
Manolo, who was a P.E. teacher, and now earns more pedaling a cycle
rickshaw, says they solve many problems for people. "Any time they knock
on our door, we're ready. Even in the wee hours. Whether it's to take a
patient to a hospital, or transport a TV, or a mattress. We are cheaper
than renting a truck. And we go anywhere, even if there's a flood, or
rough terrain."
"The tough lives led by Cubans force us to scrap," says Pepecito, a
school-age youth who put together a bike rickshaw and tries to earn
money pedaling. "A lot of people also come from the countryside to use
the pedicabs, and the disputes over the fares are tremendous."
"Now, with the new law keeping us from leaving the town, it's worse.
Yesterday I took a couple bound for the Bus Station, and had to leave
them on the border of Central Havana and Revolution Square. They didn't
want to pay me. I had to explain to them that it wasn't my fault, that
the Government has prohibited it. They had to walk the last six blocks.
Luckily, their suitcases had wheels. Otherwise they'd have had to pay
for another rickshaw to get to the station," he explained.
The number of pedicab operators in the city is not known, but there are
clearly many. Almost all of them are working without licenses, and
unable to obtain them, harassed by inspectors and the police, and
burdened by the many absurd laws designed to hinder their operations,
such as this new "ban on operating outside one's municipality."
Source: The Government Puts the Screws to Pedicab Operators Too | Diario
de Cuba - http://www.diariodecuba.com/node/29383
Friday, March 3, 2017
Ten Years of Raulism - From “Reformism” to the Abyss
Ten Years of Raulism: From "Reformism" to the Abyss / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 February 2017 — As the second month
of 2017 comes to a close, the Cuban panorama continues to be bleak.
Material difficulties and the absence of a realistic economic recovery
program – the ineffectiveness of the chimerical Party Guidelines has
been demonstrated in overcoming the general crisis of the "model" – in
addition to the new regional scenario, the socio-political and economic
crisis in Venezuela, the leftist "allies" defeated at the polls, the
repealing of the "wet foot/dry foot" policy of the United States and,
with it, the closing of Cubans' most important escape route, Donald J.
Trump's assumption of the US presidency, and his having already
announced a revision and conditioning of the easing of measures of the
Embargo dictated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, are increasing the
fears for an eventual return to the conditions of the 1990s, after the
collapse of the USSR and the end of the so-called "real socialism."
At the social level, one of the clearest indicators of the deterioration
and inability to respond on the part of the government is, on the one
hand, the increased repression towards the opposition, and, on the other
hand, the increase of controls on the private sector (the self-employed)
while the economy and services in the state sector continue to collapse.
The most recent example is in the area of passenger transportation, one
of the most active and efficient in the non-state sector; the State's
response to this efficiency has been to impose a cap on fares, which now
cannot exceed 5 Cuban pesos for each leg of the trip.
Weeks after this measure was implemented, transportation in the Cuban
capital has plunged into a lamentable crisis, demonstrating the great
importance of the private sector for this service. The measure has
resulted in not only a noticeable decrease in the numbers of cabs for
hire – the "almendrones" as they are called, in reference to the
'almond' shape of the classic American cars most often used in this
service – in the usual or fixed routes formerly covering the city; but
also in their refusal to pick up passengers in mid-points along their
routes, which could be interpreted as a silent strike of this active
sector in response to the arbitrariness of the government's measure.
As a corollary, there has been increasing overcrowding in the limited
and inefficient state-operated buses, and the resulting discomfort for
the population, which now must add another difficulty of doubtful
solution to the long list of their pressing daily problems.
Far from presenting any program to improve its monopoly on passenger bus
service, the official response has been the threatening announcement
that it will launch its hordes of inspectors to punish with fines and
appropriations those private sector drivers who intend to conspire to
evade the dispositions of the Power Lords.
For the olive-green lords of the hacienda, the "cabbies" are not even
independent workers who are part of a sector to which the State does not
provide any resources nor assign preferential prices for the purchase of
fuel or spare parts, but simply driving slaves: they and their two-wheel
open carriages are at the service of the master's orders.
The infinite capacity of the Cuban authorities to try to overcome a
problem by making existing ones worse and more numerous is the paroxysm
of the absurd. For, assuming that in the days to come a true avalanche
of inspectors is unleashed on the hunt for private carriers who don't
comply with the established prices, the outcome of such a crusade cannot
be less than counterproductive, since, as is well-known, the inspectors
constitute a formidable army of corrupt people who, far from guarding
the funds of the public coffers, the fulfillment of the service of each
activity and the health of the tax system, find the possibility of
lining their own pockets in every punitive action of the State against
every "violation," through the extortion of the violators.
For its part, the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) which serves as
"support" to the inspectors, is another leech also dedicated to bleeding
the private workers dry, who are, in fact, the only useful and
productive elements in this chain. So, every governmental offensive
against "the private ones" means a juicy harvest for the pairing of
inspectors-PNR, who usually feed like parasites on the most prosperous
entrepreneurs and, invariably, the final harvest results in the
deterioration of services and an increase in their prices – because
whatever the private workers lose in compensation paid as bribes must be
made up for by an increase in prices – and the "normalization" of the
corruption in the whole society, generally accepted as a mechanism of
survival in all spheres of life.
The cycle is closed when, in turn, the passenger, that is, any common
Cuban, is forced to perfect his mechanisms of resistance that will allow
him to equate the increase in the cost of living, and seek additional
income sources, probably illegal, related to contraband, thievery, or
"diversion of resources" (a fancy term for stealing) from state-owned
enterprises and other related offenses. Anything goes when it comes to
surviving.
And, while the economy shrinks and the shortages increase, the
General-President remains alien and distant, as if he had no
responsibility for what happens under his feet. Cuba drifts in the
storm, with no one in command and no one at the helm, approaching, ever
so close, to the much talked about "precipice," which Raúl's reforms
were going to save us from.
Paradoxically, given the weakness of civil society and the lack of
support for it by most of the democratic governments of the world, busy
with their own internal problems, the salvaging of Cubans depends
fundamentally on the political will of the dictatorship in power.
But Castro II is silent. Apparently, he has virtually retired from his
position as head of government well before his announced retirement date
of 2018, and after the final death (as opposed to the many announced but
not real deaths) of his brother and mentor, has only loomed from his
lofty niche from time to time, not to offer his infamous directions to
the misguided "ruled" of the plantation in ruins, but to serve as host
at the welcoming ceremonies for distinguished foreign visitors. At the
end of the day, he is another native of these lands, where almost nobody
cares about the fate of one another… Isn't it true that, for many
Cubans, the world begins beyond the coral reefs?
Translated by Norma Whiting
Source: Ten Years of Raulism: From "Reformism" to the Abyss / Cubanet,
Miriam Celaya – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/ten-years-of-raulism-from-reformism-to-the-abyss-cubanet-miriam-celaya/
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 February 2017 — As the second month
of 2017 comes to a close, the Cuban panorama continues to be bleak.
Material difficulties and the absence of a realistic economic recovery
program – the ineffectiveness of the chimerical Party Guidelines has
been demonstrated in overcoming the general crisis of the "model" – in
addition to the new regional scenario, the socio-political and economic
crisis in Venezuela, the leftist "allies" defeated at the polls, the
repealing of the "wet foot/dry foot" policy of the United States and,
with it, the closing of Cubans' most important escape route, Donald J.
Trump's assumption of the US presidency, and his having already
announced a revision and conditioning of the easing of measures of the
Embargo dictated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, are increasing the
fears for an eventual return to the conditions of the 1990s, after the
collapse of the USSR and the end of the so-called "real socialism."
At the social level, one of the clearest indicators of the deterioration
and inability to respond on the part of the government is, on the one
hand, the increased repression towards the opposition, and, on the other
hand, the increase of controls on the private sector (the self-employed)
while the economy and services in the state sector continue to collapse.
The most recent example is in the area of passenger transportation, one
of the most active and efficient in the non-state sector; the State's
response to this efficiency has been to impose a cap on fares, which now
cannot exceed 5 Cuban pesos for each leg of the trip.
Weeks after this measure was implemented, transportation in the Cuban
capital has plunged into a lamentable crisis, demonstrating the great
importance of the private sector for this service. The measure has
resulted in not only a noticeable decrease in the numbers of cabs for
hire – the "almendrones" as they are called, in reference to the
'almond' shape of the classic American cars most often used in this
service – in the usual or fixed routes formerly covering the city; but
also in their refusal to pick up passengers in mid-points along their
routes, which could be interpreted as a silent strike of this active
sector in response to the arbitrariness of the government's measure.
As a corollary, there has been increasing overcrowding in the limited
and inefficient state-operated buses, and the resulting discomfort for
the population, which now must add another difficulty of doubtful
solution to the long list of their pressing daily problems.
Far from presenting any program to improve its monopoly on passenger bus
service, the official response has been the threatening announcement
that it will launch its hordes of inspectors to punish with fines and
appropriations those private sector drivers who intend to conspire to
evade the dispositions of the Power Lords.
For the olive-green lords of the hacienda, the "cabbies" are not even
independent workers who are part of a sector to which the State does not
provide any resources nor assign preferential prices for the purchase of
fuel or spare parts, but simply driving slaves: they and their two-wheel
open carriages are at the service of the master's orders.
The infinite capacity of the Cuban authorities to try to overcome a
problem by making existing ones worse and more numerous is the paroxysm
of the absurd. For, assuming that in the days to come a true avalanche
of inspectors is unleashed on the hunt for private carriers who don't
comply with the established prices, the outcome of such a crusade cannot
be less than counterproductive, since, as is well-known, the inspectors
constitute a formidable army of corrupt people who, far from guarding
the funds of the public coffers, the fulfillment of the service of each
activity and the health of the tax system, find the possibility of
lining their own pockets in every punitive action of the State against
every "violation," through the extortion of the violators.
For its part, the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) which serves as
"support" to the inspectors, is another leech also dedicated to bleeding
the private workers dry, who are, in fact, the only useful and
productive elements in this chain. So, every governmental offensive
against "the private ones" means a juicy harvest for the pairing of
inspectors-PNR, who usually feed like parasites on the most prosperous
entrepreneurs and, invariably, the final harvest results in the
deterioration of services and an increase in their prices – because
whatever the private workers lose in compensation paid as bribes must be
made up for by an increase in prices – and the "normalization" of the
corruption in the whole society, generally accepted as a mechanism of
survival in all spheres of life.
The cycle is closed when, in turn, the passenger, that is, any common
Cuban, is forced to perfect his mechanisms of resistance that will allow
him to equate the increase in the cost of living, and seek additional
income sources, probably illegal, related to contraband, thievery, or
"diversion of resources" (a fancy term for stealing) from state-owned
enterprises and other related offenses. Anything goes when it comes to
surviving.
And, while the economy shrinks and the shortages increase, the
General-President remains alien and distant, as if he had no
responsibility for what happens under his feet. Cuba drifts in the
storm, with no one in command and no one at the helm, approaching, ever
so close, to the much talked about "precipice," which Raúl's reforms
were going to save us from.
Paradoxically, given the weakness of civil society and the lack of
support for it by most of the democratic governments of the world, busy
with their own internal problems, the salvaging of Cubans depends
fundamentally on the political will of the dictatorship in power.
But Castro II is silent. Apparently, he has virtually retired from his
position as head of government well before his announced retirement date
of 2018, and after the final death (as opposed to the many announced but
not real deaths) of his brother and mentor, has only loomed from his
lofty niche from time to time, not to offer his infamous directions to
the misguided "ruled" of the plantation in ruins, but to serve as host
at the welcoming ceremonies for distinguished foreign visitors. At the
end of the day, he is another native of these lands, where almost nobody
cares about the fate of one another… Isn't it true that, for many
Cubans, the world begins beyond the coral reefs?
Translated by Norma Whiting
Source: Ten Years of Raulism: From "Reformism" to the Abyss / Cubanet,
Miriam Celaya – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/ten-years-of-raulism-from-reformism-to-the-abyss-cubanet-miriam-celaya/
The Private Sector Consolidates Its Presence in Gastronomy and Services
The Private Sector Consolidates Its Presence in Gastronomy and Services
/ 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 1 March 2017 — The corner of
Galiano and Zanja is a hive of people at noon. The area's private cafes
sell everything from bread with croquettes to a complex meat lasagna,
but the nearest state places only sell cigarettes. A third of the
food services in Cuba are managed privately or by cooperatives, a sector
that is attracting a larger and larger clientele.
According to public statements in Monday's official press from Interior
Minister Mari Blanca Ortega, 32% of food, personal and technical
services operating on the island "have moved to non-state forms of
management." This formula now seeks to "achieve more quality and
efficiency," says the official.
In the last two decades, the scene in the nation's streets has been
transformed with the appearance of timbiriches – tiny private businesses
– sales counters in the doorways of houses, all the way to restaurant
complexes serving Creole and international food. But the sector is still
burdened by the absence of a wholesale market and a strong tax policy.
"The taxes are very high," says Dario, who manages a small fruit and
snack store near the Military Hospital in Havana. "The account doesn't
balance because the products have gone up a lot of price and I have to
pay the Office of the Tax Administration (ONAT) almost half of what I
earn in a year," he complains.
Right now, more than 200,000 workers, of whom at least 170,000 are
self-employed, must submit their formal declarations of accounts. Those
who have annual incomes in excess of 50,000 Cuban pesos (about US
$2,000) must pay the Treasury up to 50% of the total earned.
Darío says that in the area where he works "many small businesses have
closed because they have not been able to maintain a stable
supply." However, at the national level the numbers have grown, albeit
slowly in recent years. By the end of 2016, the country had 535,000
self-employed workers, according to data from the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security.
The most common activities are the preparation and sale of food, the
transport of cargo and passengers, the rental of dwellings, rooms or
spaces and telecommunications agents.
Cases of tax evasion are common. Recently ONAT indicted 223 of these
entrepreneurs in court. If found guilty they could face sentences of up
to eight years in prison, ONAT's legal director, Sonia Fernández, told
the official media.
Outside a bakery on Carlos III Avenue, several of the self-employed were
waiting Monday to supply their businesses. "I come every day and buy
about 30 flautas, but sometimes I have to wait up to two hours to get
goods," says Migdalia, a cafeteria employee at nearby Calle Reina.
The bakery belongs to the retail network and the line alternates
entrepreneurs and customers who only want to buy for home
consumption. "If behind me someone buys wholesale, I'm left with
nothing," protests a retiree who considers that "the normal consumer is
affected" when he must stand in line with small businesspeople.
Due to shortages affecting domestic markets, other products must be
imported directly from abroad. "All the olive oil and Parmesan cheese we
use we have to bring in from the outside," said the administrator of a
busy Italian restaurant in Havana's Chinatown, insisting on anonymity.
In September 2014, new resolutions of the General Customs of the
Republic attempted to restrict shipments of goods for commercial
purposes by air, sea or postal. But the flow of products to the private
sector has not stopped.
"I cannot tell a customer that we are not making a dish because there is
no nutmeg in the country or because I ran out of sesame," complains the
manager of the Italian restaurant. "When people come here they want to
see that everything on the menu is being served; to guarantee that, you
have to import many ingredients," he says.
A report published a few days ago from the Economic and Trade Office of
Spain in Havana says "the lack of stable access to raw materials and
supplies necessary for their activity" as one of the greatest
difficulties that the self-employed and cooperatives must face.
The lack of legal status is also at the root of most of the problems in
this sector.
In spite of the rapid growth in numbers, and the contribution to the
gross domestic product made by entrepreneurs and cooperatives, these
forms of management have not been able "to squeeze into the productive
fabric with sufficient force, due to the strong regulation and legal
obstacles they encounter."
Source: The Private Sector Consolidates Its Presence in Gastronomy and
Services / 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-private-sector-consolidates-its-presence-in-gastronomy-and-services-14ymedio-marcelo-hernandez/
/ 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 1 March 2017 — The corner of
Galiano and Zanja is a hive of people at noon. The area's private cafes
sell everything from bread with croquettes to a complex meat lasagna,
but the nearest state places only sell cigarettes. A third of the
food services in Cuba are managed privately or by cooperatives, a sector
that is attracting a larger and larger clientele.
According to public statements in Monday's official press from Interior
Minister Mari Blanca Ortega, 32% of food, personal and technical
services operating on the island "have moved to non-state forms of
management." This formula now seeks to "achieve more quality and
efficiency," says the official.
In the last two decades, the scene in the nation's streets has been
transformed with the appearance of timbiriches – tiny private businesses
– sales counters in the doorways of houses, all the way to restaurant
complexes serving Creole and international food. But the sector is still
burdened by the absence of a wholesale market and a strong tax policy.
"The taxes are very high," says Dario, who manages a small fruit and
snack store near the Military Hospital in Havana. "The account doesn't
balance because the products have gone up a lot of price and I have to
pay the Office of the Tax Administration (ONAT) almost half of what I
earn in a year," he complains.
Right now, more than 200,000 workers, of whom at least 170,000 are
self-employed, must submit their formal declarations of accounts. Those
who have annual incomes in excess of 50,000 Cuban pesos (about US
$2,000) must pay the Treasury up to 50% of the total earned.
Darío says that in the area where he works "many small businesses have
closed because they have not been able to maintain a stable
supply." However, at the national level the numbers have grown, albeit
slowly in recent years. By the end of 2016, the country had 535,000
self-employed workers, according to data from the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security.
The most common activities are the preparation and sale of food, the
transport of cargo and passengers, the rental of dwellings, rooms or
spaces and telecommunications agents.
Cases of tax evasion are common. Recently ONAT indicted 223 of these
entrepreneurs in court. If found guilty they could face sentences of up
to eight years in prison, ONAT's legal director, Sonia Fernández, told
the official media.
Outside a bakery on Carlos III Avenue, several of the self-employed were
waiting Monday to supply their businesses. "I come every day and buy
about 30 flautas, but sometimes I have to wait up to two hours to get
goods," says Migdalia, a cafeteria employee at nearby Calle Reina.
The bakery belongs to the retail network and the line alternates
entrepreneurs and customers who only want to buy for home
consumption. "If behind me someone buys wholesale, I'm left with
nothing," protests a retiree who considers that "the normal consumer is
affected" when he must stand in line with small businesspeople.
Due to shortages affecting domestic markets, other products must be
imported directly from abroad. "All the olive oil and Parmesan cheese we
use we have to bring in from the outside," said the administrator of a
busy Italian restaurant in Havana's Chinatown, insisting on anonymity.
In September 2014, new resolutions of the General Customs of the
Republic attempted to restrict shipments of goods for commercial
purposes by air, sea or postal. But the flow of products to the private
sector has not stopped.
"I cannot tell a customer that we are not making a dish because there is
no nutmeg in the country or because I ran out of sesame," complains the
manager of the Italian restaurant. "When people come here they want to
see that everything on the menu is being served; to guarantee that, you
have to import many ingredients," he says.
A report published a few days ago from the Economic and Trade Office of
Spain in Havana says "the lack of stable access to raw materials and
supplies necessary for their activity" as one of the greatest
difficulties that the self-employed and cooperatives must face.
The lack of legal status is also at the root of most of the problems in
this sector.
In spite of the rapid growth in numbers, and the contribution to the
gross domestic product made by entrepreneurs and cooperatives, these
forms of management have not been able "to squeeze into the productive
fabric with sufficient force, due to the strong regulation and legal
obstacles they encounter."
Source: The Private Sector Consolidates Its Presence in Gastronomy and
Services / 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-private-sector-consolidates-its-presence-in-gastronomy-and-services-14ymedio-marcelo-hernandez/
Otto Rivero’s March 2nd
Otto Rivero's March 2nd / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 2 March 2017 — Otto Rivero directed the
most powerful entity in Cuba at the beginning of this century, the
Battle of Ideas, but was ousted by Raúl Castro a few months after the
latter assumed the presidency. Now, the former youth leader has emerged
from his "pajama plan" – as such forced retirements are referred to in
Cuba – to be a producer for the Covarrubias National Theater, a few
yards from the Plaza of the Revolution.
Reserved and with psychological scars from his purging, Rivero navigates
behind the scenes of the well-known theater. Those who do not remember
his glory days cannot even imagine that the silent employee who
coordinates the events was once one of the most powerful men on the island.
Behind his discreet appearance hides the man who controlled the immense
resources of a "supra-ministry" with omnipotent powers, arising from the
campaign for the return of the child rafter Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. A
supra-ministry with the capacity to oversee gas stations, distribute air
conditioners or call forth the shock troops in repudiation rallies
against dissidents.
On the second day of March, but eight years ago, a brief note published
in the official press gave notice of his end. The Council of State had
decided to "free compañero Otto Rivero Torres of his responsibilities as
vice president of the Council of Ministers." A phrase which, for
connoisseurs of the official grammar, confirmed his fall into disgrace.
Rivero's exclusion from the "family photo" had been foreshadowed since
Fidel Castro was sidelined by health problems in mid-2006. The former
secretary general of the Young Communists Union (UJC) had been part of
the entourage of the "Comandante's men" and his dismissal was only a
matter of time.
In the purges carried out by Raul Castro against the team loyal to his
brother, others who fell included vice president Carlos Lage and Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque. But unlike in their cases, Rivero's ousting
was not the subject of an acidic public diatribe; no column by the
former president in the Party newspaper accusing him of addiction to
"the honey of power."
Close witnesses report that after his dismissal, Rivero went through a
real ordeal. He was detained in the cells of the dreaded Villa Marista,
State Security's headquarters in Havana. He was accused of having
allowed and participated in an enormous embezzlement that sucked funds
out of the Battle of Ideas. The losses totaled millions in an era when
Venezuelan oil allowed every kind of excess.
Police investigators blamed his lack of control over the entity and his
having allowed its resources to be squandered on luxuries, foreign
travel and gifts. Embezzled products circulated in the informal market:
white, red and blue shirts; refrigerators made in China; and air
conditioners.
"He was interrogated endlessly and his head couldn't resist," a close
family source told 14ymedio. "When he returned home he was a zombie, he
couldn't even speak." His mental state deteriorated to the point that he
attempted suicide, but "that didn't go well," the relative commented.
The former vice president's family fell into a precarious economic
state. The car and chauffeur were taken away as was the supply of luxury
foods. As a punishment, the authorities sent Rivero to work at the
Frederick Engels printers among the ink and printing presses. But he
spent weeks before showing up for work the first time, where he became a
mute automaton keeping his head down.
Rivero does not give statements or respond to questions about his past.
All attempts to make him talk about the subject crash into the wall of
his silence. But a nervous tic in his hands appears in response to the
sound of certain names. His co-workers describe him as someone
"affected" who has been "under psychiatric treatment."
Of the confidence with which he wove slogans from the dais, nothing
remains. "He is very careful and avoids being seen," a singer-songwriter
who has organized several events at Covarrubias Theater tells this
newspaper. "He has changed a lot physically and most of the people who
pass by him do not recognize him," says the artist, who prefers anonymity.
Before the crash, his trajectory had been meteoric. At the age of 38, he
was appointed Vice-President of the Council of Ministers after leading
the UJC for seven years. With a degree in Economics and a seat in the
National Assembly of People's Power, the young man ascended the power
structure at full speed to stand at the right hand of the
Commander-in-Chief.
At the 7th UJC Congress, Fidel Castro defined Rivero and his team as "an
avant-garde army, an elite troop of the Revolution" for being at the
forefront of the Battle of Ideas. Four years after those words, the
brand-new official had become a pariah.
To accommodate the Battle of Ideas, he began to refurbish a luxurious
mansion on the central corner of 23 and B in Havana's Vedado
district. Here the promising leader would spend his glory days. The
arrival of Raúl Castro stopped that dream and now the property hosts the
Comptroller General of the Republic. A cruel irony.
Otto Rivero's biography has also been removed from EcuRed, a Wikipedia
substitute made to measure by the ruling party. For many Cubans, that
youth leader no longer exists or has been forgotten. But very close to
the Council of State he was once a part of, a gray employee ruminates
his fate of banishment in the dim light of a theatrical hall.
Source: Otto Rivero's March 2nd / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/otto-riveros-march-2nd-14ymedio-zunilda-mata/
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 2 March 2017 — Otto Rivero directed the
most powerful entity in Cuba at the beginning of this century, the
Battle of Ideas, but was ousted by Raúl Castro a few months after the
latter assumed the presidency. Now, the former youth leader has emerged
from his "pajama plan" – as such forced retirements are referred to in
Cuba – to be a producer for the Covarrubias National Theater, a few
yards from the Plaza of the Revolution.
Reserved and with psychological scars from his purging, Rivero navigates
behind the scenes of the well-known theater. Those who do not remember
his glory days cannot even imagine that the silent employee who
coordinates the events was once one of the most powerful men on the island.
Behind his discreet appearance hides the man who controlled the immense
resources of a "supra-ministry" with omnipotent powers, arising from the
campaign for the return of the child rafter Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. A
supra-ministry with the capacity to oversee gas stations, distribute air
conditioners or call forth the shock troops in repudiation rallies
against dissidents.
On the second day of March, but eight years ago, a brief note published
in the official press gave notice of his end. The Council of State had
decided to "free compañero Otto Rivero Torres of his responsibilities as
vice president of the Council of Ministers." A phrase which, for
connoisseurs of the official grammar, confirmed his fall into disgrace.
Rivero's exclusion from the "family photo" had been foreshadowed since
Fidel Castro was sidelined by health problems in mid-2006. The former
secretary general of the Young Communists Union (UJC) had been part of
the entourage of the "Comandante's men" and his dismissal was only a
matter of time.
In the purges carried out by Raul Castro against the team loyal to his
brother, others who fell included vice president Carlos Lage and Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque. But unlike in their cases, Rivero's ousting
was not the subject of an acidic public diatribe; no column by the
former president in the Party newspaper accusing him of addiction to
"the honey of power."
Close witnesses report that after his dismissal, Rivero went through a
real ordeal. He was detained in the cells of the dreaded Villa Marista,
State Security's headquarters in Havana. He was accused of having
allowed and participated in an enormous embezzlement that sucked funds
out of the Battle of Ideas. The losses totaled millions in an era when
Venezuelan oil allowed every kind of excess.
Police investigators blamed his lack of control over the entity and his
having allowed its resources to be squandered on luxuries, foreign
travel and gifts. Embezzled products circulated in the informal market:
white, red and blue shirts; refrigerators made in China; and air
conditioners.
"He was interrogated endlessly and his head couldn't resist," a close
family source told 14ymedio. "When he returned home he was a zombie, he
couldn't even speak." His mental state deteriorated to the point that he
attempted suicide, but "that didn't go well," the relative commented.
The former vice president's family fell into a precarious economic
state. The car and chauffeur were taken away as was the supply of luxury
foods. As a punishment, the authorities sent Rivero to work at the
Frederick Engels printers among the ink and printing presses. But he
spent weeks before showing up for work the first time, where he became a
mute automaton keeping his head down.
Rivero does not give statements or respond to questions about his past.
All attempts to make him talk about the subject crash into the wall of
his silence. But a nervous tic in his hands appears in response to the
sound of certain names. His co-workers describe him as someone
"affected" who has been "under psychiatric treatment."
Of the confidence with which he wove slogans from the dais, nothing
remains. "He is very careful and avoids being seen," a singer-songwriter
who has organized several events at Covarrubias Theater tells this
newspaper. "He has changed a lot physically and most of the people who
pass by him do not recognize him," says the artist, who prefers anonymity.
Before the crash, his trajectory had been meteoric. At the age of 38, he
was appointed Vice-President of the Council of Ministers after leading
the UJC for seven years. With a degree in Economics and a seat in the
National Assembly of People's Power, the young man ascended the power
structure at full speed to stand at the right hand of the
Commander-in-Chief.
At the 7th UJC Congress, Fidel Castro defined Rivero and his team as "an
avant-garde army, an elite troop of the Revolution" for being at the
forefront of the Battle of Ideas. Four years after those words, the
brand-new official had become a pariah.
To accommodate the Battle of Ideas, he began to refurbish a luxurious
mansion on the central corner of 23 and B in Havana's Vedado
district. Here the promising leader would spend his glory days. The
arrival of Raúl Castro stopped that dream and now the property hosts the
Comptroller General of the Republic. A cruel irony.
Otto Rivero's biography has also been removed from EcuRed, a Wikipedia
substitute made to measure by the ruling party. For many Cubans, that
youth leader no longer exists or has been forgotten. But very close to
the Council of State he was once a part of, a gray employee ruminates
his fate of banishment in the dim light of a theatrical hall.
Source: Otto Rivero's March 2nd / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/otto-riveros-march-2nd-14ymedio-zunilda-mata/
Panama Will Deport Almost 500 Cubans in the Coming Weeks
Panama Will Deport Almost 500 Cubans in the Coming Weeks / 14ymedio,
Mario Penton
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 2 March 2017 – In the next few weeks
Panama will deport almost 500 Cubans who remain undocumented in the
country, after being stranded by the end of the United States' wet
foot/dry foot policy in January, which had previously allowed Cubans who
stepped foot on American soil to remain in the country.
According to reports to 14ymedio by sources from Panama's National
Immigration Service, the deportations could begin when the Service's
director, Javier Carrillo returns; currently he is in Havana in the
fourth round of migration talks between the two countries.
"The deportations depend on the agreement between the two nations, but
we can confirm that all undocumented migrants who are currently in the
country will be returned to Cuba," said the official source.
"The Memorandum of Understanding for the deportations has been signed
but the details have not yet been made known," he said.
In Panama, 383 Cubans remain in the care of Caritas Panama, 92 in Lajas
Blancas and another 24 in the shelter of the National Migration
Service. For the migrants who are in the shelter set up by Caritas the
news was disconcerting.
"They are very worried they did not expect something like this," says
Victor Luis Berrio, permanent deacon in charge of the Catholic institution.
"At the moment we are making every possible effort to avoid the massive
deportation of these Cubans," he adds.
According to Berrío, his organization has sent a letter to the president
of the nation explaining that all the humanitarian work of the
Government could be jeopardized if they proceed with the deportation.
According to Deacon Barrios, who follows the message of Pope Francis to
shelter refugees, "the authorities' intention has always been
deportation." He thinks, however, that it will not come to pass,
"without a fight."
"We are going to open our doors so that Cubans in Lajas Blancas can come
to Caritas and we will continue to protect these defenseless people,"
says the deacon.
"The decision of Caritas is to defend all the migrants that are in its
care," he says.
Last week two Cubans attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills due to
the uncertainty of their fate, they said. They were in a Cuban migrant
camp in the village of Lajas Blanca, near the western Panama border.
Many crossed the Darien Gap jungle to get there.
Source: Panama Will Deport Almost 500 Cubans in the Coming Weeks /
14ymedio, Mario Penton – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/panama-will-deport-almost-500-cubans-in-the-coming-weeks-14ymedio-mario-penton/
Mario Penton
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 2 March 2017 – In the next few weeks
Panama will deport almost 500 Cubans who remain undocumented in the
country, after being stranded by the end of the United States' wet
foot/dry foot policy in January, which had previously allowed Cubans who
stepped foot on American soil to remain in the country.
According to reports to 14ymedio by sources from Panama's National
Immigration Service, the deportations could begin when the Service's
director, Javier Carrillo returns; currently he is in Havana in the
fourth round of migration talks between the two countries.
"The deportations depend on the agreement between the two nations, but
we can confirm that all undocumented migrants who are currently in the
country will be returned to Cuba," said the official source.
"The Memorandum of Understanding for the deportations has been signed
but the details have not yet been made known," he said.
In Panama, 383 Cubans remain in the care of Caritas Panama, 92 in Lajas
Blancas and another 24 in the shelter of the National Migration
Service. For the migrants who are in the shelter set up by Caritas the
news was disconcerting.
"They are very worried they did not expect something like this," says
Victor Luis Berrio, permanent deacon in charge of the Catholic institution.
"At the moment we are making every possible effort to avoid the massive
deportation of these Cubans," he adds.
According to Berrío, his organization has sent a letter to the president
of the nation explaining that all the humanitarian work of the
Government could be jeopardized if they proceed with the deportation.
According to Deacon Barrios, who follows the message of Pope Francis to
shelter refugees, "the authorities' intention has always been
deportation." He thinks, however, that it will not come to pass,
"without a fight."
"We are going to open our doors so that Cubans in Lajas Blancas can come
to Caritas and we will continue to protect these defenseless people,"
says the deacon.
"The decision of Caritas is to defend all the migrants that are in its
care," he says.
Last week two Cubans attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills due to
the uncertainty of their fate, they said. They were in a Cuban migrant
camp in the village of Lajas Blanca, near the western Panama border.
Many crossed the Darien Gap jungle to get there.
Source: Panama Will Deport Almost 500 Cubans in the Coming Weeks /
14ymedio, Mario Penton – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/panama-will-deport-almost-500-cubans-in-the-coming-weeks-14ymedio-mario-penton/
Castro’s daughter favors bold legislative weapon to combat prostitution — punish the client
Castro's daughter favors bold legislative weapon to combat prostitution
— punish the client
BY ABEL FERNÁNDEZ
abfernandez@elnuevoherald.com
The daughter of Cuba's most powerful man is publicly discussing —
perhaps in search of academic support before taking her idea to the
legislature — a bold proposal to combat prostitution: penalize the
clients who pay for sexual services.
"We have to act. We can't simply say that we are against sexual
exploitation as a form of sexual work. We cannot say that we want to
protect our children and adolescents from sexual exploitation. It's not
just wanting it, but breaking our heads to find a way to do it," Mariela
Castro said recently on the nationally televised Cuban program Mesa
Redonda, which discussed the International Symposium on Gender Violence,
Prostitution, Sexual Tourism and Human Trafficking held earlier this
year in Havana.
Castro, daughter of Cuban ruler Raúl Castro, also serves as director of
the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX by its Spanish
acronym) and is a member of the National Assembly of People's Power.
During the TV broadcast, she spoke about measures adopted by other
countries to battle prostitution, including going after the clients, a
strategy practiced by Sweden since 1999 and more recently adopted by France.
But in Cuba, where prostitution is not officially illegal, many experts
agree that the island is a long way from implementing laws that punish
sex seekers because it would be inconsistent with the idiosyncrasies of
a macho society and the socio-economic reality of the island.
In the short term, some say, it is more likely that the issue continues
to be discussed in academic circles or, as Castro herself said in the TV
program, maturing until it gets "from yearning to implementation" of
measures to bring prostitution to a halt.
During the symposium, Castro also discussed other measures, such as
those implemented by the Netherlands and Belgium, where prostitution has
been legalized as a form of work. But she said she favored the Sweden
approach for Cuba because "becoming a sexual commodity takes away
people's rights," according to a report by the Inter Press Service.
CENESEX did not respond to questions from el Nuevo Herald about the
alleged proposal and said press queries must go through the Cuban
Embassy in Washington. The Embassy did not respond to emails from el
Nuevo Herald.
Amir Valle, author of the book, Habana Babilonia or Prostitutes in Cuba,
said that since 1993, when he began his five-year research, experts
already had been touting the idea of penalizing the client without
taking into account that solutions are only implemented when the
government recognizes there is a problem.
"The Cuban government, even though it has all the information and field
studies at its disposal to position itself, has never really accepted
the social reach of the phenomenon," Valle said, adding that the
government also does not recognize the proliferation of prostitution in
its various manifestations — "jineterismo" directed at tourism, the
masculine or transsexual prostitution or the increasing national
prostitution.
In this sense, the symposium could be considered a step forward, as the
discussions covered male sex workers and some even raised their voices
about the censorship on the subject in academia and the complexity of
addressing the issue of prostitution "because of moral prejudices and
ideological divergences."
In an interview with Inter Press Service, Cuban researcher Rosa
Campoalegre praised the "academic and civic audacity of the symposium"
because it allowed for a healthy debate and controversial viewpoints.
Reached by phone at her home in Havana, Campoalegre declined to answer
questions from el Nuevo Herald.
The symposium and subsequent Mesa Redonda program also brought up the
question on whether prostitution in Cuba is legal or not, concluding
that the person who practices prostitution is not committing a crime
under Cuban law. However, there is legislation against pimps, sexual
exploitation of minors and pornography.
Valle said that although prostitution is not directly condemned,
legislation does label it as a "dangerous" act because of its
"antisocial" conduct.
Punishments, Valle said, include heavy fines against those who engage in
prostitution in the province where they are from. Those caught outside
their native provinces are sent home. In the late 1990s and early 21st
century, prostitutes were placed in detention centers where they were
"reformed." Those centers closed between 2002 and 2003, Valle said.
Ted Henken, a sociologist, author and professor at Baruch College,
believes that Cuban society, which he defines as "machista-leninista,"
is not ready to go after clients who pay for sex.
"Prostitution in Cuba is part of tourism," said Henken, adding that
although authorities have taken action to clear the streets of the
trade, "it is just better hidden and those interested know how to find it."
Although prostitution always existed in Cuba, the 1959 Revolution
prohibited businesses that involved sex work. But after the collapse of
the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba lost its main economic
benefactor and a crisis hit the island hard, forcing it to open up to
international tourism, which resulted in the proliferation of
prostitution as a means of survival.
Alberto Roque, a well-known activist for LGBTQ rights on the island,
said that the discussion to penalize the client is still at an academic
level, but that "the institutions and civil society can influence" the
debate so that the proposal reaches the legislature.
Roque, who is also a doctor and a member of the Cuban Communist Party,
supports CENESEX's proposal to penalize the client, but he told el Nuevo
Herald that it is not enough to pass a law while the population
continues to view prostitutes as individuals with a "negative" value.
"I do not think the people are ready," Roque said.
FOLLOW ABEL FERNANDEZ ON TWITTER: @ABELFGLEZ
Source: Cuba explores penalizing the clients to fight prostitution |
Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article136024378.html
— punish the client
BY ABEL FERNÁNDEZ
abfernandez@elnuevoherald.com
The daughter of Cuba's most powerful man is publicly discussing —
perhaps in search of academic support before taking her idea to the
legislature — a bold proposal to combat prostitution: penalize the
clients who pay for sexual services.
"We have to act. We can't simply say that we are against sexual
exploitation as a form of sexual work. We cannot say that we want to
protect our children and adolescents from sexual exploitation. It's not
just wanting it, but breaking our heads to find a way to do it," Mariela
Castro said recently on the nationally televised Cuban program Mesa
Redonda, which discussed the International Symposium on Gender Violence,
Prostitution, Sexual Tourism and Human Trafficking held earlier this
year in Havana.
Castro, daughter of Cuban ruler Raúl Castro, also serves as director of
the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX by its Spanish
acronym) and is a member of the National Assembly of People's Power.
During the TV broadcast, she spoke about measures adopted by other
countries to battle prostitution, including going after the clients, a
strategy practiced by Sweden since 1999 and more recently adopted by France.
But in Cuba, where prostitution is not officially illegal, many experts
agree that the island is a long way from implementing laws that punish
sex seekers because it would be inconsistent with the idiosyncrasies of
a macho society and the socio-economic reality of the island.
In the short term, some say, it is more likely that the issue continues
to be discussed in academic circles or, as Castro herself said in the TV
program, maturing until it gets "from yearning to implementation" of
measures to bring prostitution to a halt.
During the symposium, Castro also discussed other measures, such as
those implemented by the Netherlands and Belgium, where prostitution has
been legalized as a form of work. But she said she favored the Sweden
approach for Cuba because "becoming a sexual commodity takes away
people's rights," according to a report by the Inter Press Service.
CENESEX did not respond to questions from el Nuevo Herald about the
alleged proposal and said press queries must go through the Cuban
Embassy in Washington. The Embassy did not respond to emails from el
Nuevo Herald.
Amir Valle, author of the book, Habana Babilonia or Prostitutes in Cuba,
said that since 1993, when he began his five-year research, experts
already had been touting the idea of penalizing the client without
taking into account that solutions are only implemented when the
government recognizes there is a problem.
"The Cuban government, even though it has all the information and field
studies at its disposal to position itself, has never really accepted
the social reach of the phenomenon," Valle said, adding that the
government also does not recognize the proliferation of prostitution in
its various manifestations — "jineterismo" directed at tourism, the
masculine or transsexual prostitution or the increasing national
prostitution.
In this sense, the symposium could be considered a step forward, as the
discussions covered male sex workers and some even raised their voices
about the censorship on the subject in academia and the complexity of
addressing the issue of prostitution "because of moral prejudices and
ideological divergences."
In an interview with Inter Press Service, Cuban researcher Rosa
Campoalegre praised the "academic and civic audacity of the symposium"
because it allowed for a healthy debate and controversial viewpoints.
Reached by phone at her home in Havana, Campoalegre declined to answer
questions from el Nuevo Herald.
The symposium and subsequent Mesa Redonda program also brought up the
question on whether prostitution in Cuba is legal or not, concluding
that the person who practices prostitution is not committing a crime
under Cuban law. However, there is legislation against pimps, sexual
exploitation of minors and pornography.
Valle said that although prostitution is not directly condemned,
legislation does label it as a "dangerous" act because of its
"antisocial" conduct.
Punishments, Valle said, include heavy fines against those who engage in
prostitution in the province where they are from. Those caught outside
their native provinces are sent home. In the late 1990s and early 21st
century, prostitutes were placed in detention centers where they were
"reformed." Those centers closed between 2002 and 2003, Valle said.
Ted Henken, a sociologist, author and professor at Baruch College,
believes that Cuban society, which he defines as "machista-leninista,"
is not ready to go after clients who pay for sex.
"Prostitution in Cuba is part of tourism," said Henken, adding that
although authorities have taken action to clear the streets of the
trade, "it is just better hidden and those interested know how to find it."
Although prostitution always existed in Cuba, the 1959 Revolution
prohibited businesses that involved sex work. But after the collapse of
the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba lost its main economic
benefactor and a crisis hit the island hard, forcing it to open up to
international tourism, which resulted in the proliferation of
prostitution as a means of survival.
Alberto Roque, a well-known activist for LGBTQ rights on the island,
said that the discussion to penalize the client is still at an academic
level, but that "the institutions and civil society can influence" the
debate so that the proposal reaches the legislature.
Roque, who is also a doctor and a member of the Cuban Communist Party,
supports CENESEX's proposal to penalize the client, but he told el Nuevo
Herald that it is not enough to pass a law while the population
continues to view prostitutes as individuals with a "negative" value.
"I do not think the people are ready," Roque said.
FOLLOW ABEL FERNANDEZ ON TWITTER: @ABELFGLEZ
Source: Cuba explores penalizing the clients to fight prostitution |
Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article136024378.html
Cuba tech startups land in Boulder for a Boomtown-style training
Cuba tech startups land in Boulder for a Boomtown-style training
By Jerd Smith
Business Editor
POSTED: 03/01/2017 03:45:25 PM MST
Thanks to the ongoing diplomatic thaw between the United States and
Cuba, a foundation intent on cultivating private commerce in Cuba's
largely state-controlled economy has turned to some of the USA's most
energetic tech hubs for help.
Under the guidance of the Washington, D.C.-based Cuba Emprende
Foundation, a cadre of young Cuban startup CEOs has arrived in Boulder
to undergo a two-week intensive program on product design, finance,
digital marketing and anything else Boulder's hyper-active startup
community can throw at them.
The group is based out of Boulder accelerator Boomtown, with an assist
from Techstars.
Problems and opportunities in Cuba abound, where the economic landscape
is dramatically different than in the U.S. Two-thirds of the work force
of roughly 5 million people is employed by the government, internet
access is extremely limited and privately owned companies authorized by
the state to operate are only gradually beginning to multiply, according
to data provided by the Cuba Emprende Foundation.
Foundation Chairman John McIntire — a former Goldman Sachs banker whose
mother was Cuban — has been working to open Cuba's economy to private
sector activities for years. Last year, after helping launch an
accelerator program in Cuba, he teamed with a Latin American group of
business pros to select, through a competition, a handful of young Cuban
CEOs to bring to the U.S.
In addition to the Boulder group, two others are working in Palo Alto,
Calif., and Miami.
To see the young business people on the ground after years of
envisioning the occurrence is gratifying.
"It's like a veil has been pulled back from their eyes," McIntire said.
The three firms in Boulder are focused on app development. One mimics an
Amazon-like marketplace, another is based loosely on Yelp and a third
offers users a quick way to peruse Cuba's arts and culture scene.
Juan Luis Santana, CEO and co-founder of arts app Ke Hay Pa' Hoy, said
sitting in on sessions aimed at problem-solving has been helpful.
"We have wicked problems in Cuba," he said. "To see the thinking that
goes on here is very interesting."
Bernardo Romero Gonzalez is CEO and founder of Cubazon, the Amazon-like
market helping generate demand for Cuba-based goods and services.
This is Romero Gonzalez's third startup and the entrepreneur said being
immersed in the U.S. tech community has made him more certain than ever
that Cuba's small band of startups has what it needs to succeed.
"The Cuban entrepreneurs are prepared and have as much knowledge and
ability as any," he said. "I feel confident now."
McIntire hopes that sense of opportunities opening continues to grow.
"Cuban entrepreneurs know difficulty and failure in spades," he said.
"Learning new skills is key, but I'm really hopeful that they will take
home the sense of optimism they see here. Optimism is in short supply
there."
Jerd Smith: 303-473-1332, smithj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/jerd_smith
Source: Cuba tech startups land in Boulder for a Boomtown-style training
- Boulder Daily Camera -
http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-business/ci_30828503/cuba-tech-startups-land-boulder-boomtown-style-training
By Jerd Smith
Business Editor
POSTED: 03/01/2017 03:45:25 PM MST
Thanks to the ongoing diplomatic thaw between the United States and
Cuba, a foundation intent on cultivating private commerce in Cuba's
largely state-controlled economy has turned to some of the USA's most
energetic tech hubs for help.
Under the guidance of the Washington, D.C.-based Cuba Emprende
Foundation, a cadre of young Cuban startup CEOs has arrived in Boulder
to undergo a two-week intensive program on product design, finance,
digital marketing and anything else Boulder's hyper-active startup
community can throw at them.
The group is based out of Boulder accelerator Boomtown, with an assist
from Techstars.
Problems and opportunities in Cuba abound, where the economic landscape
is dramatically different than in the U.S. Two-thirds of the work force
of roughly 5 million people is employed by the government, internet
access is extremely limited and privately owned companies authorized by
the state to operate are only gradually beginning to multiply, according
to data provided by the Cuba Emprende Foundation.
Foundation Chairman John McIntire — a former Goldman Sachs banker whose
mother was Cuban — has been working to open Cuba's economy to private
sector activities for years. Last year, after helping launch an
accelerator program in Cuba, he teamed with a Latin American group of
business pros to select, through a competition, a handful of young Cuban
CEOs to bring to the U.S.
In addition to the Boulder group, two others are working in Palo Alto,
Calif., and Miami.
To see the young business people on the ground after years of
envisioning the occurrence is gratifying.
"It's like a veil has been pulled back from their eyes," McIntire said.
The three firms in Boulder are focused on app development. One mimics an
Amazon-like marketplace, another is based loosely on Yelp and a third
offers users a quick way to peruse Cuba's arts and culture scene.
Juan Luis Santana, CEO and co-founder of arts app Ke Hay Pa' Hoy, said
sitting in on sessions aimed at problem-solving has been helpful.
"We have wicked problems in Cuba," he said. "To see the thinking that
goes on here is very interesting."
Bernardo Romero Gonzalez is CEO and founder of Cubazon, the Amazon-like
market helping generate demand for Cuba-based goods and services.
This is Romero Gonzalez's third startup and the entrepreneur said being
immersed in the U.S. tech community has made him more certain than ever
that Cuba's small band of startups has what it needs to succeed.
"The Cuban entrepreneurs are prepared and have as much knowledge and
ability as any," he said. "I feel confident now."
McIntire hopes that sense of opportunities opening continues to grow.
"Cuban entrepreneurs know difficulty and failure in spades," he said.
"Learning new skills is key, but I'm really hopeful that they will take
home the sense of optimism they see here. Optimism is in short supply
there."
Jerd Smith: 303-473-1332, smithj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/jerd_smith
Source: Cuba tech startups land in Boulder for a Boomtown-style training
- Boulder Daily Camera -
http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-business/ci_30828503/cuba-tech-startups-land-boulder-boomtown-style-training
Will Cuba embrace the internet revolution?
Will Cuba embrace the internet revolution?
By Will Grant
Cuba correspondent, BBC News
2 March 2017
From the section Latin America & Caribbean
No matter how much you warn visitors to Cuba that they'll be offline
during their stay, they often won't believe it until they actually
arrive in Havana.
On arrival, they find their iPads and smartphones suddenly only serve
for taking photos which, to their dismay, can't be immediately posted to
their Instagram or Facebook accounts.
Whether Snapchat-obsessed millennials or email-addicted workaholics,
they stare at their phones in disbelief, waiting in vain for the
familiar "4G" symbol to appear, as the realisation dawns that an
enforced digital detox is upon them.
Conversely, plenty of travellers to Cuba relish the chance to disconnect
from the office emails and the constant barrage of WhatsApp alerts and
tweets.
Yet what for the tourist is either a temporary inconvenience or a
welcome offline breather is a very different reality for ordinary Cubans.
For years, it felt to many on the island like the internet was something
happening elsewhere, to other people.
There are now more than 240 public access wi-fi spots dotted around the
country and the price for an hour of internet access, while still
expensive by international standards, has dropped by more than half, to
$1.50 (£1.20) for an hour.
It is now a common sight to see people sitting with their laptops or
phones in parks and public plazas connecting with their families abroad
via video-chat technology.
In the latest development, the state telecommunications company, Etecsa,
has installed internet connections in around 2,000 homes in the
capital's colonial district, Old Havana, as part of a two-month pilot
scheme.
Among the lucky few is Jose Antonio Ruiz.
His modest apartment in one of the neighbourhood's newer buildings is
part of the government's domestic online experiment. As a private
business owner who rents rooms to tourists, Mr Ruiz has found the new
"luxury" helped him in two main ways.
First, he says, he can advertise his apartment more easily on popular
accommodation websites like Airbnb, and answer his clients' emails much
more promptly than before.
Secondly, he can offer his guests a unique service giving him a
competitive advantage over other guesthouses.
"The guests are really pleased when you tell them we have internet,"
Jose Antonio explains. "They relax as they know they can check their
flights from here, read their emails or contact their families."
During the pilot, the connection is free but once it's over the
government is expected to publish prices, so users can choose whether to
keep the service or live without it.
It hasn't yet been confirmed but it is believed it will cost around $15
(£12) for 30 hours at the slowest speed of 128 kilobits per second, and
up to $110 (£90) for the fastest - two megabits per second.
With the average wage in Cuba about $25 (£20) a month, those prices
would be prohibitively expensive for many Cubans.
Jose Antonio's connection is not fast enough to stream video, for
example. Still, it is an improvement on the dial-up connections that
some state employees have at home and he says he'd pay to keep it as
it's enough for what he needs.
One day, though, those needs could change, says Cuban youth blogger
Ariel Montenegro.
"The digital transformation of a country is not just giving people the
internet, but giving them services on the internet, Cuban services," he
explains at a public access wi-fi point in the Vedado neighbourhood of
Havana.
"Like banking or paying your bills or buying tickets for the movie
theatre or applying to college. When those kinds of national services
start to happen online then people will naturally become more impatient."
Such a move will take time, he thinks. However, much has already
happened in a relatively short period.
"If you compare it with the rest of the world, of course we're still
behind," admits Mr Montenegro. "But it's progress. When I started
college, although we had the internet, it was really, really, really
slow. You could barely do anything."
"In five years' time, I believe that at least every university will have
a really fast internet connection as well as in libraries, in schools
and more public wi-fi spots."
The Cuban government's position on the internet is twofold.
First it blames the US economic embargo for the lack of information
technology in Cuba, saying that many of the major IT firms around the
world fear running foul of Washington's strict rules on trading with Cuba.
Since the bilateral thaw of December 2014, that has been harder to
argue, of course. Last year Google reached an agreement with Etecsa on
storing its online content, such as YouTube video and Gmail, on servers
inside Cuba to improve local access. Google executives are also keen to
provide further internet-based solutions to challenges on the island.
However, there is also a lingering official distrust of unfettered
internet access.
Whether stemming from an ill-advised USAid-run programme intended to
undermine the Castro government via a text message-based form of "Cuban
Twitter" called ZunZuneo or a broader suspicion of social media as a
tool of dissent, the authorities have traditionally been wary of the net.
Following his meeting with Raul Castro last year, the then British
Foreign Secretary, Phillip Hammond, told the BBC that the 85-year-old
Cuban president "clearly understands the power of the digital economy to
drive growth" but had also raised his concerns over "the negative
aspects of the internet from online radicalisation to child sexual
exploitation".
Mr Castro has a little under a year to go before he steps down from the
presidency. His expected successor, Vice-President Miguel Angel Diaz
Canel, is thought to be receptive to greater online access after he once
publicly defended a group of young bloggers who had posted relatively
critical material online.
As the home internet pilot scheme draws to an close, the Cuban
government must next decide whether to shut it down or roll it out
across the island.
Depending on the price, many thousands of potential users are ready to
connect.
Source: Will Cuba embrace the internet revolution? - BBC News -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39119873
By Will Grant
Cuba correspondent, BBC News
2 March 2017
From the section Latin America & Caribbean
No matter how much you warn visitors to Cuba that they'll be offline
during their stay, they often won't believe it until they actually
arrive in Havana.
On arrival, they find their iPads and smartphones suddenly only serve
for taking photos which, to their dismay, can't be immediately posted to
their Instagram or Facebook accounts.
Whether Snapchat-obsessed millennials or email-addicted workaholics,
they stare at their phones in disbelief, waiting in vain for the
familiar "4G" symbol to appear, as the realisation dawns that an
enforced digital detox is upon them.
Conversely, plenty of travellers to Cuba relish the chance to disconnect
from the office emails and the constant barrage of WhatsApp alerts and
tweets.
Yet what for the tourist is either a temporary inconvenience or a
welcome offline breather is a very different reality for ordinary Cubans.
For years, it felt to many on the island like the internet was something
happening elsewhere, to other people.
There are now more than 240 public access wi-fi spots dotted around the
country and the price for an hour of internet access, while still
expensive by international standards, has dropped by more than half, to
$1.50 (£1.20) for an hour.
It is now a common sight to see people sitting with their laptops or
phones in parks and public plazas connecting with their families abroad
via video-chat technology.
In the latest development, the state telecommunications company, Etecsa,
has installed internet connections in around 2,000 homes in the
capital's colonial district, Old Havana, as part of a two-month pilot
scheme.
Among the lucky few is Jose Antonio Ruiz.
His modest apartment in one of the neighbourhood's newer buildings is
part of the government's domestic online experiment. As a private
business owner who rents rooms to tourists, Mr Ruiz has found the new
"luxury" helped him in two main ways.
First, he says, he can advertise his apartment more easily on popular
accommodation websites like Airbnb, and answer his clients' emails much
more promptly than before.
Secondly, he can offer his guests a unique service giving him a
competitive advantage over other guesthouses.
"The guests are really pleased when you tell them we have internet,"
Jose Antonio explains. "They relax as they know they can check their
flights from here, read their emails or contact their families."
During the pilot, the connection is free but once it's over the
government is expected to publish prices, so users can choose whether to
keep the service or live without it.
It hasn't yet been confirmed but it is believed it will cost around $15
(£12) for 30 hours at the slowest speed of 128 kilobits per second, and
up to $110 (£90) for the fastest - two megabits per second.
With the average wage in Cuba about $25 (£20) a month, those prices
would be prohibitively expensive for many Cubans.
Jose Antonio's connection is not fast enough to stream video, for
example. Still, it is an improvement on the dial-up connections that
some state employees have at home and he says he'd pay to keep it as
it's enough for what he needs.
One day, though, those needs could change, says Cuban youth blogger
Ariel Montenegro.
"The digital transformation of a country is not just giving people the
internet, but giving them services on the internet, Cuban services," he
explains at a public access wi-fi point in the Vedado neighbourhood of
Havana.
"Like banking or paying your bills or buying tickets for the movie
theatre or applying to college. When those kinds of national services
start to happen online then people will naturally become more impatient."
Such a move will take time, he thinks. However, much has already
happened in a relatively short period.
"If you compare it with the rest of the world, of course we're still
behind," admits Mr Montenegro. "But it's progress. When I started
college, although we had the internet, it was really, really, really
slow. You could barely do anything."
"In five years' time, I believe that at least every university will have
a really fast internet connection as well as in libraries, in schools
and more public wi-fi spots."
The Cuban government's position on the internet is twofold.
First it blames the US economic embargo for the lack of information
technology in Cuba, saying that many of the major IT firms around the
world fear running foul of Washington's strict rules on trading with Cuba.
Since the bilateral thaw of December 2014, that has been harder to
argue, of course. Last year Google reached an agreement with Etecsa on
storing its online content, such as YouTube video and Gmail, on servers
inside Cuba to improve local access. Google executives are also keen to
provide further internet-based solutions to challenges on the island.
However, there is also a lingering official distrust of unfettered
internet access.
Whether stemming from an ill-advised USAid-run programme intended to
undermine the Castro government via a text message-based form of "Cuban
Twitter" called ZunZuneo or a broader suspicion of social media as a
tool of dissent, the authorities have traditionally been wary of the net.
Following his meeting with Raul Castro last year, the then British
Foreign Secretary, Phillip Hammond, told the BBC that the 85-year-old
Cuban president "clearly understands the power of the digital economy to
drive growth" but had also raised his concerns over "the negative
aspects of the internet from online radicalisation to child sexual
exploitation".
Mr Castro has a little under a year to go before he steps down from the
presidency. His expected successor, Vice-President Miguel Angel Diaz
Canel, is thought to be receptive to greater online access after he once
publicly defended a group of young bloggers who had posted relatively
critical material online.
As the home internet pilot scheme draws to an close, the Cuban
government must next decide whether to shut it down or roll it out
across the island.
Depending on the price, many thousands of potential users are ready to
connect.
Source: Will Cuba embrace the internet revolution? - BBC News -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39119873
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Cuba Announces Exorbitant Rates for Limited Home Internet
Cuba Announces Exorbitant Rates for Limited Home Internet / 14ymedio,
Luz Escobar
Luz Escobar, Havana, 1 March 2017 — After a two month free trial, the
fees for government-run home internet service, known as "Nauta Hogar,"
were announced on Wednesday. The Telecommunications Company of Cuba
(ETECSA) will charge between 15 and 115 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC)
for packages of 30 hours, depending on the connection speed, which
varies 128 kilobytes and 2 megabytes. Thus, Cubans will pay, depending
on the speed, the equivalent of roughly three weeks to five months wages
in a state enterprise for one hour of internet a day.
Last January, the state monopoly chose 2,000 users in the Catedral and
Plaza Vieja popular council areas for a pilot test of home web
connectivity. Today, March 1, users have been informed of the ongoing
costs for the service, but are not able to set up contracts because the
computer system "is not working yet," according to an employee of the
Obispo Street Telepoint office who spoke to 14ymedio.
The worker explained that the new rates must be paid "within a period of
seven days and if they are not the service will be cut." Once
interrupted, "the user has 30 days to pay and restore it." Otherwise it
will be disconnected.
After consuming the 30 hours of the initial package, customers can
recharge their Nauta accounts under the same bonus terms used for wifi
connections; users will be able to purchase more than one 30-hour
package per month.
Until now, surfing the internet from home was a privilege reserved for
senior officials, the most trustworthy professionals, and foreigners
living in Cuba. Most connections were made through the antiquated
dial-up method, but the new connections will be served by faster ADSL lines.
Cuba is among the countries in the world with the lowest rate of
internet access. Since July 2015, the state telecommunications monopoly
has enabled public wifi hotspots, which now number more than 200
throughout the country. According to official figures, around 250,000
daily users are connected in these zones.
In recent weeks antennas for wireless connection have also been
installed in several places along Havana's Malecon, and the company is
planning to extend the service to the entire perimeter of the coastal
strip. For now, wifi is active along the Malecon at Hola Ola, La
Piragua, 12 and Malecón, 3rd and B and Fuente de la Juventud.
Source: Cuba Announces Exorbitant Rates for Limited Home Internet /
14ymedio, Luz Escobar – Translating Cuba -
https://translatingcuba.com/cuba-announces-exorbitant-rates-for-limited-home-internet-14ymedio-luz-escobar/
Luz Escobar
Luz Escobar, Havana, 1 March 2017 — After a two month free trial, the
fees for government-run home internet service, known as "Nauta Hogar,"
were announced on Wednesday. The Telecommunications Company of Cuba
(ETECSA) will charge between 15 and 115 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC)
for packages of 30 hours, depending on the connection speed, which
varies 128 kilobytes and 2 megabytes. Thus, Cubans will pay, depending
on the speed, the equivalent of roughly three weeks to five months wages
in a state enterprise for one hour of internet a day.
Last January, the state monopoly chose 2,000 users in the Catedral and
Plaza Vieja popular council areas for a pilot test of home web
connectivity. Today, March 1, users have been informed of the ongoing
costs for the service, but are not able to set up contracts because the
computer system "is not working yet," according to an employee of the
Obispo Street Telepoint office who spoke to 14ymedio.
The worker explained that the new rates must be paid "within a period of
seven days and if they are not the service will be cut." Once
interrupted, "the user has 30 days to pay and restore it." Otherwise it
will be disconnected.
After consuming the 30 hours of the initial package, customers can
recharge their Nauta accounts under the same bonus terms used for wifi
connections; users will be able to purchase more than one 30-hour
package per month.
Until now, surfing the internet from home was a privilege reserved for
senior officials, the most trustworthy professionals, and foreigners
living in Cuba. Most connections were made through the antiquated
dial-up method, but the new connections will be served by faster ADSL lines.
Cuba is among the countries in the world with the lowest rate of
internet access. Since July 2015, the state telecommunications monopoly
has enabled public wifi hotspots, which now number more than 200
throughout the country. According to official figures, around 250,000
daily users are connected in these zones.
In recent weeks antennas for wireless connection have also been
installed in several places along Havana's Malecon, and the company is
planning to extend the service to the entire perimeter of the coastal
strip. For now, wifi is active along the Malecon at Hola Ola, La
Piragua, 12 and Malecón, 3rd and B and Fuente de la Juventud.
Source: Cuba Announces Exorbitant Rates for Limited Home Internet /
14ymedio, Luz Escobar – Translating Cuba -
https://translatingcuba.com/cuba-announces-exorbitant-rates-for-limited-home-internet-14ymedio-luz-escobar/
A City Invaded
A City Invaded / Fernando Dámaso
Fernando Damaso, 26 February 2017 — The lack of hygiene has taken over
the city: poorly maintained and filthy streets and sidewalks, garbage
everywhere, nauseating streams of sewage, grimy floors and walls in
state establishments, widespread environmental contamination, and even
dead animals rotting in squares and courtyards, in full sun under the
laziness of passersby and the authorities.
Today's Havana has no resemblance to the Havana of the Republic: it has
lost all the cleanliness and hygiene that characterized it, the pride of
the people of Havana and the admiration of those who visited it.
The authorities can blame numerous factors, but the key one has been
their inability to organize and operate an effective cleaning system.
Faced with chaos and prolonged inefficiency, social discipline was lost
and today everyone contributes, with their citizen irresponsibility, to
make the so-called "capital of all Cubans" dirtier, which is not the
case in other cities and towns in the country, where the sense of
belonging to the place where you were born has not been lost.
Unfortunately for Havana, the majority of those born here, the original
Havanans, abandoned it, and their place was occupied by emigrants from
other provinces, without any affectionate bond with it, becoming a city
invaded, with all the evils that such a situation entails. In Havana
they did and do what in their places of origin they did not nor would
they dare to do.
The Havana of "dudes," "bros," "homies," "uncles and aunties," "chicks,"
"moms," "pals," and others in that vein, is not my city.
Translated by Jim
Source: A City Invaded / Fernando Dámaso – Translating Cuba -
https://translatingcuba.com/a-city-invaded-fernando-dmaso/
Fernando Damaso, 26 February 2017 — The lack of hygiene has taken over
the city: poorly maintained and filthy streets and sidewalks, garbage
everywhere, nauseating streams of sewage, grimy floors and walls in
state establishments, widespread environmental contamination, and even
dead animals rotting in squares and courtyards, in full sun under the
laziness of passersby and the authorities.
Today's Havana has no resemblance to the Havana of the Republic: it has
lost all the cleanliness and hygiene that characterized it, the pride of
the people of Havana and the admiration of those who visited it.
The authorities can blame numerous factors, but the key one has been
their inability to organize and operate an effective cleaning system.
Faced with chaos and prolonged inefficiency, social discipline was lost
and today everyone contributes, with their citizen irresponsibility, to
make the so-called "capital of all Cubans" dirtier, which is not the
case in other cities and towns in the country, where the sense of
belonging to the place where you were born has not been lost.
Unfortunately for Havana, the majority of those born here, the original
Havanans, abandoned it, and their place was occupied by emigrants from
other provinces, without any affectionate bond with it, becoming a city
invaded, with all the evils that such a situation entails. In Havana
they did and do what in their places of origin they did not nor would
they dare to do.
The Havana of "dudes," "bros," "homies," "uncles and aunties," "chicks,"
"moms," "pals," and others in that vein, is not my city.
Translated by Jim
Source: A City Invaded / Fernando Dámaso – Translating Cuba -
https://translatingcuba.com/a-city-invaded-fernando-dmaso/
Havana Mobilizes For The Liberation Of The Spy Ana Belén Montes
Havana Mobilizes For The Liberation Of The Spy Ana Belén Montes
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana 27 February 2017 – This Tuesday, a
campaign launches in Cuba for the liberation of Ana Belén Montes, a
former intelligence analyst for the United States Defense Intelligence
Agency, condemned for espionage and considered a "prisoner of
conscience" by the government of Havana. The initiative includes
concerts, conversations, and publications on social networks with the
hashtag #FreeAnaBelenMontes.
The governing party seeks to revitalize the case of the spy, who was not
included on the list of prisoners pardoned by Barack Obama at the end of
his term. Now, efforts are focused on "getting her released through
diplomatic negotiations," according to official sources consulted by
this newspaper.
Montes was arrested in September 2001 in Washington and sentenced to 25
years in prison for espionage assisting the Havana government.
Currently, after her cancer diagnosis and mastectomy, she remains
imprisoned in the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Carswell, located on a
U.S. Navy Air Station in Fort Worth, Texas.
For many years, the analyst provided substantial information to the
Cuban Intelligence Agency, including military data following a visit to
El Salvador, which Havana passed on to the FMLN guerillas (Marabundo
Martî Front for National Liberation). That information served to inform
an attack on a barracks in 1987 in which 65 soldiers perished, including
an American.
The cause for the liberation of the ex-official maintains a low profile
in comparison to the media coverage that surrounded the campaign for the
five Cuban spies belonging to the Red Avispa (Wasp Network). In recent
months, however, a photograph of Montes has appeared in various events
organized by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People (ICAP)
and other official entities.
Last year, the life of the Pentagon spy came to the screens through an
episode of 'Declassified,' a documentary series released on CNN. The
presenter of the program, Mike Rogers, former chair of the House of
Representatives Intelligence Committee, guided spectators through the
evidence that led to Montes' arrest.
Like a fast-paced thriller, the documentary included the clue of a
purchased Toshiba laptop, which led the FBI right to the spy, found in
her apartment with information revealing her connection with the
Island's intelligence services; a code table found in her bag completed
part of the investigative jigsaw puzzle.
The promoters of her release rely on International Amnesty's definition
of "prisoner of conscience," considered as an "individual that has been
imprisoned for their race, religion, skin color, language, sexual
orientation or beliefs, as long as they have not propagated or practiced
violence." Her Cuban defenders argue that Montes did not receive
payments from the Cuban government for her services nor was she
recruited through "sordid blackmail." They define her as someone that
faced risks "for love of justice and honorary solidarity for the cause
of the Cuban revolution."
In October 2015 the Cuban Committee for the Liberation of Ana Belén
Montes was created in Havana. The organization relies on various global
affiliates and for months its objective was to demand a "presidential
pardon" for the ex-official. The members systematically sent letters to
the American government seeking her liberation.
A rumor about the possible exchange of Montes for Joanne Chesimard,
alias Assata Shakur, who is a refugee in Cuba and wanted for the murder
of a police officer in New Jersey, faded away without it being
confirmed. The fugitive, who is on the Ten Most Wanted List in the
United States and for whose capture there is a posted reward of 2
million dollars, continues to live out her days in Havana.
In the weeks leading up to Obama's White House departure, demands for
the liberation of Montes rose to new heights. "She deserves now, more
than ever, a presidential pardon, now that the U.S. speaks of
normalizing relations with Cuba," declared organizers of the committee.
This Tuesday Belén Montes turns 60 years old. Her release date is
anticipated to be in 2023 and nothing points to her being released
before that time.
Translated by Chavely Garcia.
Source: Havana Mobilizes For The Liberation Of The Spy Ana Belén Montes
– Translating Cuba -
https://translatingcuba.com/havana-mobilizes-for-the-liberation-of-the-spy-ana-belen-montes/
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana 27 February 2017 – This Tuesday, a
campaign launches in Cuba for the liberation of Ana Belén Montes, a
former intelligence analyst for the United States Defense Intelligence
Agency, condemned for espionage and considered a "prisoner of
conscience" by the government of Havana. The initiative includes
concerts, conversations, and publications on social networks with the
hashtag #FreeAnaBelenMontes.
The governing party seeks to revitalize the case of the spy, who was not
included on the list of prisoners pardoned by Barack Obama at the end of
his term. Now, efforts are focused on "getting her released through
diplomatic negotiations," according to official sources consulted by
this newspaper.
Montes was arrested in September 2001 in Washington and sentenced to 25
years in prison for espionage assisting the Havana government.
Currently, after her cancer diagnosis and mastectomy, she remains
imprisoned in the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Carswell, located on a
U.S. Navy Air Station in Fort Worth, Texas.
For many years, the analyst provided substantial information to the
Cuban Intelligence Agency, including military data following a visit to
El Salvador, which Havana passed on to the FMLN guerillas (Marabundo
Martî Front for National Liberation). That information served to inform
an attack on a barracks in 1987 in which 65 soldiers perished, including
an American.
The cause for the liberation of the ex-official maintains a low profile
in comparison to the media coverage that surrounded the campaign for the
five Cuban spies belonging to the Red Avispa (Wasp Network). In recent
months, however, a photograph of Montes has appeared in various events
organized by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People (ICAP)
and other official entities.
Last year, the life of the Pentagon spy came to the screens through an
episode of 'Declassified,' a documentary series released on CNN. The
presenter of the program, Mike Rogers, former chair of the House of
Representatives Intelligence Committee, guided spectators through the
evidence that led to Montes' arrest.
Like a fast-paced thriller, the documentary included the clue of a
purchased Toshiba laptop, which led the FBI right to the spy, found in
her apartment with information revealing her connection with the
Island's intelligence services; a code table found in her bag completed
part of the investigative jigsaw puzzle.
The promoters of her release rely on International Amnesty's definition
of "prisoner of conscience," considered as an "individual that has been
imprisoned for their race, religion, skin color, language, sexual
orientation or beliefs, as long as they have not propagated or practiced
violence." Her Cuban defenders argue that Montes did not receive
payments from the Cuban government for her services nor was she
recruited through "sordid blackmail." They define her as someone that
faced risks "for love of justice and honorary solidarity for the cause
of the Cuban revolution."
In October 2015 the Cuban Committee for the Liberation of Ana Belén
Montes was created in Havana. The organization relies on various global
affiliates and for months its objective was to demand a "presidential
pardon" for the ex-official. The members systematically sent letters to
the American government seeking her liberation.
A rumor about the possible exchange of Montes for Joanne Chesimard,
alias Assata Shakur, who is a refugee in Cuba and wanted for the murder
of a police officer in New Jersey, faded away without it being
confirmed. The fugitive, who is on the Ten Most Wanted List in the
United States and for whose capture there is a posted reward of 2
million dollars, continues to live out her days in Havana.
In the weeks leading up to Obama's White House departure, demands for
the liberation of Montes rose to new heights. "She deserves now, more
than ever, a presidential pardon, now that the U.S. speaks of
normalizing relations with Cuba," declared organizers of the committee.
This Tuesday Belén Montes turns 60 years old. Her release date is
anticipated to be in 2023 and nothing points to her being released
before that time.
Translated by Chavely Garcia.
Source: Havana Mobilizes For The Liberation Of The Spy Ana Belén Montes
– Translating Cuba -
https://translatingcuba.com/havana-mobilizes-for-the-liberation-of-the-spy-ana-belen-montes/
Revolutionary ‘Justice’
Revolutionary 'Justice' / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez
14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 28 February 2018 — The distance
between the Havana Capitol and the Ciudad Deportiva (Sport City) remains
the same and yet it seems to have changed. With the capped prices
imposed by local government on the private taxi routes, this journey has
become immense and difficult to complete. Where before a person needed
to wait between 5 and 15 minutes, now they have to wait up to an hour to
climb into an almendrón*.
At this point, those who were rubbing their hands at the reduced prices
for private transport, must have realized that the hand of the state has
broken a fragile network ruled by supply and demand. The taxi drivers
cut their trips in a sign of protest, and many are staying home weighing
whether it is worth spending so many hours behind the steering wheel for
ever smaller profits.
The victims of these reductions are all of us. One of the new rich who
manages a restaurant, the doctor who needs to get to the hospital, the
old man who has a medical appointment, or the student who is counting
his centavos to make it to the end of the month. It has not been a blow
to the social class that can pay between 10 and 20 Cuban pesos for a
trip, but a blow to all those who on some occasion, even if only
sporadically, use this type of transportation.
Official propaganda is now unleashed against the workers of the private
sector, but it is silent before the exploitive state that pays for such
misery
Like many restrictive measures of this "Revolutionary" process, it has
also surrounded itself with a whiff of false justice, with an aura of
supposed egalitarianism. Official propaganda is now unleashed against
private sector workers who charge half a day's wages for a trip, but it
is silent before the exploitive state that pays for such misery.
The television reports approach the passengers to capture the moment
when they say, "that was an abuse that could not continue," or, "now
prices are more in line with our pockets." But they are silent about
those shelves in the state stores where a liter of oil cost two days'
pay and two pounds of chicken can mean a week's hard work.
Will prices also rise in those markets? Will the Havana Administrative
Council unleash itself against the retail network where a father has to
pay two week's wages for a pair of shoes for his son? The Revolutionary
"justice" is one-eyed in these cases, only looking in the direction that
suits it.
*Translator's note: "Almendrón" means "almond" and refers to the shape
of the classic American cars often used in shared, fixed-route taxi service.
Source: Revolutionary 'Justice' / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez – Translating
Cuba - https://translatingcuba.com/revolutionary-justice/
14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 28 February 2018 — The distance
between the Havana Capitol and the Ciudad Deportiva (Sport City) remains
the same and yet it seems to have changed. With the capped prices
imposed by local government on the private taxi routes, this journey has
become immense and difficult to complete. Where before a person needed
to wait between 5 and 15 minutes, now they have to wait up to an hour to
climb into an almendrón*.
At this point, those who were rubbing their hands at the reduced prices
for private transport, must have realized that the hand of the state has
broken a fragile network ruled by supply and demand. The taxi drivers
cut their trips in a sign of protest, and many are staying home weighing
whether it is worth spending so many hours behind the steering wheel for
ever smaller profits.
The victims of these reductions are all of us. One of the new rich who
manages a restaurant, the doctor who needs to get to the hospital, the
old man who has a medical appointment, or the student who is counting
his centavos to make it to the end of the month. It has not been a blow
to the social class that can pay between 10 and 20 Cuban pesos for a
trip, but a blow to all those who on some occasion, even if only
sporadically, use this type of transportation.
Official propaganda is now unleashed against the workers of the private
sector, but it is silent before the exploitive state that pays for such
misery
Like many restrictive measures of this "Revolutionary" process, it has
also surrounded itself with a whiff of false justice, with an aura of
supposed egalitarianism. Official propaganda is now unleashed against
private sector workers who charge half a day's wages for a trip, but it
is silent before the exploitive state that pays for such misery.
The television reports approach the passengers to capture the moment
when they say, "that was an abuse that could not continue," or, "now
prices are more in line with our pockets." But they are silent about
those shelves in the state stores where a liter of oil cost two days'
pay and two pounds of chicken can mean a week's hard work.
Will prices also rise in those markets? Will the Havana Administrative
Council unleash itself against the retail network where a father has to
pay two week's wages for a pair of shoes for his son? The Revolutionary
"justice" is one-eyed in these cases, only looking in the direction that
suits it.
*Translator's note: "Almendrón" means "almond" and refers to the shape
of the classic American cars often used in shared, fixed-route taxi service.
Source: Revolutionary 'Justice' / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez – Translating
Cuba - https://translatingcuba.com/revolutionary-justice/
Pastor and Wife Arrested for Homeschooling Children in ‘Normalized’ Cuba
Pastor and Wife Arrested for Homeschooling Children in 'Normalized' Cuba
Courtesy Home School Legal Defense Association
by PENNY STARR 28 Feb 2017
A pastor and his wife have been arrested in Cuba for homeschooling their
children, according to Mike Donnelly, director of global outreach for
the Home School Legal Defense Association, a U.S.-based organization
that has offered legal assistance to homeschooling families since 1983.
Donnelly wrote about Cuban pastor Ramón Rigal and his wife Adya, who
were arrested on Feb. 21, on the HSDA website on Monday.
"The Obama administration argued that normal relations with Cuba would
lead to improved conditions for Cubans," Donnely wrote. "But things have
not gotten better for homeschoolers."
"We wanted the freedom to give our children the education that we, the
parents, have chosen," Ramón said. "As Article 26.3 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights says, every parent has the right to give his
children the education that he chooses."
"The Municipal Office of Education in Guantánamo wrote to Ramón
explaining, among other things, that 'in our system, homeschooling is
not considered an educational institution, as this term is basically
used in countries with capitalist foundations,'" according to the Home
School Legal Defense Association.
"The letter also stated that the Cuban penal code provides sanctions for
a person who 'leads a minor to abandon his home, be absent from school,
refuse educational work that is inherent to the national system of
education, or fail to fulfill his duties related to the respect and love
for the homeland.'"
Donnelly said this stance violates international human rights law —
something characteristic of totalitarian regimes like the one in Cuba.
"A government that denies parents the right to choose how their children
are educated, including home education, violates fundamental norms of
international human rights law," Donnelly told Breitbart News.
In the article, Donnelly said Cuba should "meet certain minimum norms"
to be part of the global community.
"If Cuba plans to join the community of nations, especially having a
relationship with the United States, it should be expected to meet
certain minimum norms in the way it treats its citizens," Donnelly wrote
in the article. "The right of people to establish private schools and to
homeschool is a minimum expectation.
"A society that forces its children to learn only in public school is
totalitarian and Cuba's long history of totalitarian behavior in many
areas including education must change now," wrote Donnelly, who also
sent a letter to the Senior Minister of Education in Cuba on behalf of
the family.
He did not receive a response.
Donnelly pointed out in his article that the U.S.'s Cuban Democracy Act
of 1992 states that U.S. policy should oppose the human rights
violations of the Castro regime, to maintain sanctions "so long as it
continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect
for human rights" and to "be prepared to reduce the sanctions in
carefully calibrated ways in response to positive developments in Cuba."
Donnelly also cited President Barack Obama's 2016 memorandum that said
normalizing relations with Cuba would help human rights.
"Our vision for U.S.-Cuba normalization reflects my Administration's
support for broad-based economic growth, stability, increased
people-to-people ties, and respect for human rights and democratic
values in the region," then-President Obama wrote in the memorandum.
"Our policy is designed to support Cubans' ability to exercise their
universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, with the expectation
that greater commerce will give a broader segment of the Cuban people
the information and resources they need to achieve a prosperous and
sustainable future."
"Ramón wants to be able to stay in Cuba to pastor his congregation. But
it is no wonder that Ramón and his family, after being treated like this
simply because they homeschool, have expressed a desire to seek refuge
in a country that would respect their rights to educate their children,"
wrote Donnelly, who called on the Cuban government to respect parents'
rights and the U.S. government to hold it accountable.
"A government that is unwilling to trust its citizens to homeschool is
not worthy of trust from its citizens," Donnelly wrote. "We call on Cuba
to respect Pastor Rigale's right and to end its prosecution of his family.
"We hope that members of Congress and the Trump administration will take
an interest in this case and take action to defend the Rigals and others
like them," Donnelly wrote.
video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgLRVnAll0k
Source: Pastor and Wife Arrested for Homeschooling Children in
'Normalized' Cuba - Breitbart -
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/02/28/parents-arrested-cuba-homeschooling-children/
Courtesy Home School Legal Defense Association
by PENNY STARR 28 Feb 2017
A pastor and his wife have been arrested in Cuba for homeschooling their
children, according to Mike Donnelly, director of global outreach for
the Home School Legal Defense Association, a U.S.-based organization
that has offered legal assistance to homeschooling families since 1983.
Donnelly wrote about Cuban pastor Ramón Rigal and his wife Adya, who
were arrested on Feb. 21, on the HSDA website on Monday.
"The Obama administration argued that normal relations with Cuba would
lead to improved conditions for Cubans," Donnely wrote. "But things have
not gotten better for homeschoolers."
"We wanted the freedom to give our children the education that we, the
parents, have chosen," Ramón said. "As Article 26.3 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights says, every parent has the right to give his
children the education that he chooses."
"The Municipal Office of Education in Guantánamo wrote to Ramón
explaining, among other things, that 'in our system, homeschooling is
not considered an educational institution, as this term is basically
used in countries with capitalist foundations,'" according to the Home
School Legal Defense Association.
"The letter also stated that the Cuban penal code provides sanctions for
a person who 'leads a minor to abandon his home, be absent from school,
refuse educational work that is inherent to the national system of
education, or fail to fulfill his duties related to the respect and love
for the homeland.'"
Donnelly said this stance violates international human rights law —
something characteristic of totalitarian regimes like the one in Cuba.
"A government that denies parents the right to choose how their children
are educated, including home education, violates fundamental norms of
international human rights law," Donnelly told Breitbart News.
In the article, Donnelly said Cuba should "meet certain minimum norms"
to be part of the global community.
"If Cuba plans to join the community of nations, especially having a
relationship with the United States, it should be expected to meet
certain minimum norms in the way it treats its citizens," Donnelly wrote
in the article. "The right of people to establish private schools and to
homeschool is a minimum expectation.
"A society that forces its children to learn only in public school is
totalitarian and Cuba's long history of totalitarian behavior in many
areas including education must change now," wrote Donnelly, who also
sent a letter to the Senior Minister of Education in Cuba on behalf of
the family.
He did not receive a response.
Donnelly pointed out in his article that the U.S.'s Cuban Democracy Act
of 1992 states that U.S. policy should oppose the human rights
violations of the Castro regime, to maintain sanctions "so long as it
continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect
for human rights" and to "be prepared to reduce the sanctions in
carefully calibrated ways in response to positive developments in Cuba."
Donnelly also cited President Barack Obama's 2016 memorandum that said
normalizing relations with Cuba would help human rights.
"Our vision for U.S.-Cuba normalization reflects my Administration's
support for broad-based economic growth, stability, increased
people-to-people ties, and respect for human rights and democratic
values in the region," then-President Obama wrote in the memorandum.
"Our policy is designed to support Cubans' ability to exercise their
universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, with the expectation
that greater commerce will give a broader segment of the Cuban people
the information and resources they need to achieve a prosperous and
sustainable future."
"Ramón wants to be able to stay in Cuba to pastor his congregation. But
it is no wonder that Ramón and his family, after being treated like this
simply because they homeschool, have expressed a desire to seek refuge
in a country that would respect their rights to educate their children,"
wrote Donnelly, who called on the Cuban government to respect parents'
rights and the U.S. government to hold it accountable.
"A government that is unwilling to trust its citizens to homeschool is
not worthy of trust from its citizens," Donnelly wrote. "We call on Cuba
to respect Pastor Rigale's right and to end its prosecution of his family.
"We hope that members of Congress and the Trump administration will take
an interest in this case and take action to defend the Rigals and others
like them," Donnelly wrote.
video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgLRVnAll0k
Source: Pastor and Wife Arrested for Homeschooling Children in
'Normalized' Cuba - Breitbart -
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/02/28/parents-arrested-cuba-homeschooling-children/
It’s only a drill Guantánamo rehearses Caribbean migrant crisis
It's only a drill: Guantánamo rehearses Caribbean migrant crisis
Hundreds of U.S. forces are rehearsing a migrant crisis this week at the
U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a massive multimillion dollar
drill that envisions the United States capturing huge numbers of people
in the Caribbean bound for the United States — and how the military,
State Department and Homeland Security would collaborate on handling it.
At the Southern Command, Army Col. Lisa Garcia said the military was
contributing 400 troops and spending $2.5 million on its portion of the
month-long exercise, to include transportation and airlift. It ends Friday.
She said Southcom's "battle staff" is taking part in the exercise as
well as its Public Affairs team. The Miami Herald asked to watch and
report on the exercise and was declined. The U.S. military likewise
declined to release photos of it.
RELATED NEWS: Miami Herald report on the 2013 exercise at Guantánamo
It's called Operation Integrated Advance and it "is dedicated to
improving our integration with federal and local partners," the colonel
said.
The military has engaged in some sort of annual Guantánamo-related
migrant exercise for at least a decade. The Department of Homeland
Security participates every other year. This one, however, is the first
since the Obama administration withdrew the "wet foot, dry foot" policy
of granting legal entry status to visa-less Cubans who manage to arrive
on U.S. soil.
Base residents and visitors have spotted the activity and asked whether
the event was somehow related to a planned surge in deportations of
undocumented migrants from the United States since President Donald
Trump took office and hired retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, a former
Southcom commander, as Secretary of Homeland Security.
A Department of Homeland statement called the exercise "routine." But
spokesmen would not say whether it additionally was training to put
deportees there or limited only to war-gaming how to handle something
like the humanitarian crisis that saw tent cities sprout across the base
in the 1990s to temporarily hold up to 60,000 Cubans and Haitians across
several waves.
The spokesmen similarly would not say whether the Trump administration
has considered whether it can use the Homeland Security migrant
facilities at the U.S. Navy base for people picked up on U.S. soil
versus those collected by the Coast Guard or Navy at sea.
The exercise — which has had troops building a tent city and overwhelmed
some guest housing facilities for weeks — runs through March 3. They are
expected to pull up stakes and be gone by Sunday when the Pentagon
dispatches an airlift of staff and observers for a series of war court
hearings in three cases that will extend into April.
"This year's exercise scenario focuses on a potential mass migration in
the Caribbean," a Homeland Security statement said Wednesday. "The
primary objective is to protect the safety of life at sea and to deter
mass migration using organic DHS forces reinforced by other federal,
state, and local assets and capabilities."
It also said: "As stated by Secretary Kelly previously, there will be no
mass deportations."
Most of the 400 troops were sent to the base from Southcom's U.S. Army
South subsidiary at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. About half of them
are staying in warehouse-style housing, another quarter in tents erected
on the base's Leeward side for the occasion and the last 100 or more are
sharing guest quarters, two to a room, Garcia said.
Another 50 civilians are also taking part, Garcia said by email.
A series of government offices contacted by the Herald were unable to
account for the total tab of the project, which trains troops to detain,
process, house and care for people interdicted at sea trying to reach
the United States. It in the past it has envisioned command centers in
Texas, Miami and Washington, D.C., for different functions.
The International Organization for Migration also has had a role in
training for the repatriation of the migrants. But, "since most of the
exercise is simulated, the cost of the exercise is much lower than if we
actually deployed ships and aircraft as we would in the event of a mass
migration," Garcia said.
Last year, the base hospital took part in a similar drill documented in
a U.S. Navy video.
Carol Rosenberg: 305-376-3179, @carolrosenberg
Source: Guantánamo rehearses migrant crisis | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article135673913.html
Hundreds of U.S. forces are rehearsing a migrant crisis this week at the
U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a massive multimillion dollar
drill that envisions the United States capturing huge numbers of people
in the Caribbean bound for the United States — and how the military,
State Department and Homeland Security would collaborate on handling it.
At the Southern Command, Army Col. Lisa Garcia said the military was
contributing 400 troops and spending $2.5 million on its portion of the
month-long exercise, to include transportation and airlift. It ends Friday.
She said Southcom's "battle staff" is taking part in the exercise as
well as its Public Affairs team. The Miami Herald asked to watch and
report on the exercise and was declined. The U.S. military likewise
declined to release photos of it.
RELATED NEWS: Miami Herald report on the 2013 exercise at Guantánamo
It's called Operation Integrated Advance and it "is dedicated to
improving our integration with federal and local partners," the colonel
said.
The military has engaged in some sort of annual Guantánamo-related
migrant exercise for at least a decade. The Department of Homeland
Security participates every other year. This one, however, is the first
since the Obama administration withdrew the "wet foot, dry foot" policy
of granting legal entry status to visa-less Cubans who manage to arrive
on U.S. soil.
Base residents and visitors have spotted the activity and asked whether
the event was somehow related to a planned surge in deportations of
undocumented migrants from the United States since President Donald
Trump took office and hired retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, a former
Southcom commander, as Secretary of Homeland Security.
A Department of Homeland statement called the exercise "routine." But
spokesmen would not say whether it additionally was training to put
deportees there or limited only to war-gaming how to handle something
like the humanitarian crisis that saw tent cities sprout across the base
in the 1990s to temporarily hold up to 60,000 Cubans and Haitians across
several waves.
The spokesmen similarly would not say whether the Trump administration
has considered whether it can use the Homeland Security migrant
facilities at the U.S. Navy base for people picked up on U.S. soil
versus those collected by the Coast Guard or Navy at sea.
The exercise — which has had troops building a tent city and overwhelmed
some guest housing facilities for weeks — runs through March 3. They are
expected to pull up stakes and be gone by Sunday when the Pentagon
dispatches an airlift of staff and observers for a series of war court
hearings in three cases that will extend into April.
"This year's exercise scenario focuses on a potential mass migration in
the Caribbean," a Homeland Security statement said Wednesday. "The
primary objective is to protect the safety of life at sea and to deter
mass migration using organic DHS forces reinforced by other federal,
state, and local assets and capabilities."
It also said: "As stated by Secretary Kelly previously, there will be no
mass deportations."
Most of the 400 troops were sent to the base from Southcom's U.S. Army
South subsidiary at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. About half of them
are staying in warehouse-style housing, another quarter in tents erected
on the base's Leeward side for the occasion and the last 100 or more are
sharing guest quarters, two to a room, Garcia said.
Another 50 civilians are also taking part, Garcia said by email.
A series of government offices contacted by the Herald were unable to
account for the total tab of the project, which trains troops to detain,
process, house and care for people interdicted at sea trying to reach
the United States. It in the past it has envisioned command centers in
Texas, Miami and Washington, D.C., for different functions.
The International Organization for Migration also has had a role in
training for the repatriation of the migrants. But, "since most of the
exercise is simulated, the cost of the exercise is much lower than if we
actually deployed ships and aircraft as we would in the event of a mass
migration," Garcia said.
Last year, the base hospital took part in a similar drill documented in
a U.S. Navy video.
Carol Rosenberg: 305-376-3179, @carolrosenberg
Source: Guantánamo rehearses migrant crisis | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article135673913.html
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Police In Havana Deploy In Response To Taxi Driver Strike
Police In Havana Deploy In Response To Taxi Driver Strike / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Havana, 27 February 2017 — Residents of Havana woke up on
Monday morning to a strong police deployment, motivated by the
announcement of a strike by private taxi drivers. In response to a
question from 14ymedio, a uniformed officer said that it was "an
operation due to the overcharging by the taxi drivers."
"As of Monday, 27 February, we drivers all over Cuba are going to
strike. We will simply stay home and not wok on those days," said a text
that circulated several days earlier on the alternative media. However,
many drivers were unaware of the initiative or declined to participate,"
according to what 14ymedio was able to confirm.
The drivers' discontent has been growing since the beginning of this
month when the authorities of the capital set fixed rates for the
portions of the routes of private taxi drivers. This decision has put an
end to the law of supply and demand that regulated the private
transportation of passengers for more than two decades.
"They are afraid that we will go to the Plaza of the Revolution like the
pedicab drivers did last year," a driver who preferred anonymity and
decided not to work on Monday told 14ymedio. "I'm going to stay home all
week, even if I lose money, it's my right," he said.
Faced with the pressures of the authorities many drivers have reacted by
no longer serving the intermediate stops or selecting only those
customers who make the complete route
Others have gone out to drive like any other day. "This 'ship' is the
food for my family, I can't give myself the luxury of not working,"
explains Reinier, a young driver who works in a car he rents from its
owner. For those who work in this way it is more difficult to join in
any initiative to stop work or protest.
The passengers are complaining abut the delays. "I spent an hour and
couldn't move from this corner," said a customer who was at the
intersection of Infanta and Neptune waiting for a taxi to go to to
Playa. "The transport situation was much worse today," he added.
Faced with the pressures of the authorities many drivers have reacted by
no longer serving the intermediate stops or selecting only those
customers who make the complete route. The response of the carriers has
been fewer taxis on the streets, a way to pressure the authorities to
take a step back.
The call for a strike this Monday circulated anonymously and several
drivers expressed to 14ymedio their doubts about the authenticity of the
call. Nevertheless, all those consulted were aware of the proposal that
was made known in blogs, news sites and television programs that are
seen through the illegal antennas.
"We are victims of a daily siege by police agents, state inspectors and
other entities," the text warned. Those calling for a strike are
demanding access to a wholesale market (for fuel and other needs), the
reduction of taxes, and the right to create an independent trade union.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security, more than 535,000 people are self-employed, of whom 54,350 are
engaged in freight and passenger transport.
Source: Police In Havana Deploy In Response To Taxi Driver Strike /
14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/police-in-havana-deploy-in-response-to-taxi-driver-strike-14ymedio/
14ymedio, Havana, 27 February 2017 — Residents of Havana woke up on
Monday morning to a strong police deployment, motivated by the
announcement of a strike by private taxi drivers. In response to a
question from 14ymedio, a uniformed officer said that it was "an
operation due to the overcharging by the taxi drivers."
"As of Monday, 27 February, we drivers all over Cuba are going to
strike. We will simply stay home and not wok on those days," said a text
that circulated several days earlier on the alternative media. However,
many drivers were unaware of the initiative or declined to participate,"
according to what 14ymedio was able to confirm.
The drivers' discontent has been growing since the beginning of this
month when the authorities of the capital set fixed rates for the
portions of the routes of private taxi drivers. This decision has put an
end to the law of supply and demand that regulated the private
transportation of passengers for more than two decades.
"They are afraid that we will go to the Plaza of the Revolution like the
pedicab drivers did last year," a driver who preferred anonymity and
decided not to work on Monday told 14ymedio. "I'm going to stay home all
week, even if I lose money, it's my right," he said.
Faced with the pressures of the authorities many drivers have reacted by
no longer serving the intermediate stops or selecting only those
customers who make the complete route
Others have gone out to drive like any other day. "This 'ship' is the
food for my family, I can't give myself the luxury of not working,"
explains Reinier, a young driver who works in a car he rents from its
owner. For those who work in this way it is more difficult to join in
any initiative to stop work or protest.
The passengers are complaining abut the delays. "I spent an hour and
couldn't move from this corner," said a customer who was at the
intersection of Infanta and Neptune waiting for a taxi to go to to
Playa. "The transport situation was much worse today," he added.
Faced with the pressures of the authorities many drivers have reacted by
no longer serving the intermediate stops or selecting only those
customers who make the complete route. The response of the carriers has
been fewer taxis on the streets, a way to pressure the authorities to
take a step back.
The call for a strike this Monday circulated anonymously and several
drivers expressed to 14ymedio their doubts about the authenticity of the
call. Nevertheless, all those consulted were aware of the proposal that
was made known in blogs, news sites and television programs that are
seen through the illegal antennas.
"We are victims of a daily siege by police agents, state inspectors and
other entities," the text warned. Those calling for a strike are
demanding access to a wholesale market (for fuel and other needs), the
reduction of taxes, and the right to create an independent trade union.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security, more than 535,000 people are self-employed, of whom 54,350 are
engaged in freight and passenger transport.
Source: Police In Havana Deploy In Response To Taxi Driver Strike /
14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/police-in-havana-deploy-in-response-to-taxi-driver-strike-14ymedio/
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