Cuba: 90% of major city's churches damaged by Hurricane Sandy
12 / 15 / 2012
Seven weeks after Hurricane Sandy ravaged Cuba, hundreds of thousands of
residents remain homeless, according to Bishop Luis del Castillo
Estrada, a Uruguayan Jesuit bishop who has served as a missionary in
Cuba since his retirement.
The dioceses of Uruguay are providing financial support to assist those
left homeless.
The prelate added that 90% of the churches around Santiago de Cuba, the
nation's second-largest city, have suffered damage, including the
National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Charity.
Source: Catholic Culture.org
http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2012/12/15/36768/cuba_90_of_major_city%E2%80%99s_churches_damaged_by_hurricane_sandy.html
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Economic Reforms in Cuba Require Decentralisation
Economic Reforms in Cuba Require Decentralisation
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Dec 11 2012 (IPS) - The social and economic model that is taking
shape in Cuba based on changes gradually being implemented require
reforms for strengthening and giving greater autonomy to local
government bodies, which began to be renewed in October with the
election of new municipal assembly members.
Now that state, cooperative and private forms of property have begun to
coexist in the Cuban economy, "decentralised decision-making is going to
be essential to the success of these transformations," Ricardo Torres, a
researcher with the University of Havana's Centre for the Study of the
Cuban Economy, told IPS.
That principle is considered basic to the goal of local development, a
process in which municipalities are becoming central players instead of
recipients. The government wants projects such as small-scale industries
and service centres, especially in the food sector, to be part of the
strategy of municipal self-reliance in terms of supplies.
To ensure financial autonomy, the tax system that will go into effect in
January will include taxes on businesses, trading companies and
cooperatives, with the goal of financing projects in the areas where
they are located. That income will increase municipal budgets for local
productive and service activities.
Torres said that a mixed economy (in terms of ownership) and
decentralisation are becoming characteristics of the model that could
emerge from the reforms that were approved in April 2011, during the
Sixth Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Cuba.
On that occasion, President Raúl Castro announced that the "excessively
centralised economic model" had to open up. "Practical experience has
shown us that excessive centralisation conspires against the development
of society and the entire production chain," Castro said.
"All of our lives, we have seen a Cuban model based on a central power,
from which all decisions come. Now we have seen that that is not
viable," said Professor Marta Zaldívar of the University of Havana's
Faculty of Economics.
For Zaldívar, who has been working on the issue for several years, local
development will continue to be a pending issue if there is no legal
framework for management at the provincial level. "Some steps have been
taken, but they are still incipient. The process is slow and time is
running out," she said.
In an interview with IPS, Torres said that "in a situation where there
is greater heterogeneity among economic actors, it is essential for them
to be able to make autonomous decisions about a multitude of variables
and questions related to the life of these organisations."
At the same time, he said, this is a new path, which requires a break
with schemes and patterns of behaviour. "In fact, there will be cases
where it will be necessary to de-concentrate ownership in enterprises
that are too large for the size of the domestic market. It is an area in
which state companies will have to be more autonomous," he said.
In line with these changes in business management, the national
government will have a number of powers, but it will have to share
authority and functions with provincial and municipal authorities. "That
is another long and difficult learning process that Cuba is setting out
on now," Torres commented.
Local and provincial governments "will have to play a leading role in
setting the development agenda for their regions, which requires a
number of things, including greater autonomy for them to make relevant
decisions in certain areas, such as setting local policies that do not
interfere with the national strategies," he said.
In his view, the conditions are not yet fully in place in every province
and municipality, which means the process will have to include the
strengthening of local government capacities, so that the local and
regional authorities are able to become more active agents in economic
and social development at the municipal and provincial levels.
The municipal delegates who won the recent local elections — a process
that lasted until November in some places due to Hurricane Sandy's
impact on the eastern provinces — are the government officials closest
to the grassroots of society.
One frequent complaint voiced by Cubans is that a delegate may be very
good, but does not have the resources to solve voters' problems.
However, delegates are not actually in charge of directly solving
problems; their job is to represent and express the needs, concerns and
difficulties of their constituents, and to inform them of measures
passed by the municipal assembly.
Municipal elections are held every two and a half years. On this
occasion, they will be followed by elections in February for
representatives to provincial assemblies and the National Assembly – the
single-chamber parliament. The official Communist Party media outlets
have acknowledged that these government bodies need to boost their
authority and participation in the process of changes.
By taking on a more central role in developing their regions, local
officials will reinforce democratic participation and bring government
closer to citizens on the local level, Torres said. He added that
citizens, in turn, will be more interested in giving their votes to
individuals shown to be the most competent in given situations.
In that sense, Torres did not rule out the future professionalisation of
municipal and provincial delegates, and of the members of the National
Assembly.
"As of now, in most cases, representatives at all levels fulfil their
duties simultaneously with those of their previous occupation; however,
if we really want these people to turn toward the development of their
communities, the issue of professionalisation should be analysed and
debated," he commented.
* With reporting by Ivet González.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/economic-reforms-in-cuba-require-decentralisation/
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Dec 11 2012 (IPS) - The social and economic model that is taking
shape in Cuba based on changes gradually being implemented require
reforms for strengthening and giving greater autonomy to local
government bodies, which began to be renewed in October with the
election of new municipal assembly members.
Now that state, cooperative and private forms of property have begun to
coexist in the Cuban economy, "decentralised decision-making is going to
be essential to the success of these transformations," Ricardo Torres, a
researcher with the University of Havana's Centre for the Study of the
Cuban Economy, told IPS.
That principle is considered basic to the goal of local development, a
process in which municipalities are becoming central players instead of
recipients. The government wants projects such as small-scale industries
and service centres, especially in the food sector, to be part of the
strategy of municipal self-reliance in terms of supplies.
To ensure financial autonomy, the tax system that will go into effect in
January will include taxes on businesses, trading companies and
cooperatives, with the goal of financing projects in the areas where
they are located. That income will increase municipal budgets for local
productive and service activities.
Torres said that a mixed economy (in terms of ownership) and
decentralisation are becoming characteristics of the model that could
emerge from the reforms that were approved in April 2011, during the
Sixth Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Cuba.
On that occasion, President Raúl Castro announced that the "excessively
centralised economic model" had to open up. "Practical experience has
shown us that excessive centralisation conspires against the development
of society and the entire production chain," Castro said.
"All of our lives, we have seen a Cuban model based on a central power,
from which all decisions come. Now we have seen that that is not
viable," said Professor Marta Zaldívar of the University of Havana's
Faculty of Economics.
For Zaldívar, who has been working on the issue for several years, local
development will continue to be a pending issue if there is no legal
framework for management at the provincial level. "Some steps have been
taken, but they are still incipient. The process is slow and time is
running out," she said.
In an interview with IPS, Torres said that "in a situation where there
is greater heterogeneity among economic actors, it is essential for them
to be able to make autonomous decisions about a multitude of variables
and questions related to the life of these organisations."
At the same time, he said, this is a new path, which requires a break
with schemes and patterns of behaviour. "In fact, there will be cases
where it will be necessary to de-concentrate ownership in enterprises
that are too large for the size of the domestic market. It is an area in
which state companies will have to be more autonomous," he said.
In line with these changes in business management, the national
government will have a number of powers, but it will have to share
authority and functions with provincial and municipal authorities. "That
is another long and difficult learning process that Cuba is setting out
on now," Torres commented.
Local and provincial governments "will have to play a leading role in
setting the development agenda for their regions, which requires a
number of things, including greater autonomy for them to make relevant
decisions in certain areas, such as setting local policies that do not
interfere with the national strategies," he said.
In his view, the conditions are not yet fully in place in every province
and municipality, which means the process will have to include the
strengthening of local government capacities, so that the local and
regional authorities are able to become more active agents in economic
and social development at the municipal and provincial levels.
The municipal delegates who won the recent local elections — a process
that lasted until November in some places due to Hurricane Sandy's
impact on the eastern provinces — are the government officials closest
to the grassroots of society.
One frequent complaint voiced by Cubans is that a delegate may be very
good, but does not have the resources to solve voters' problems.
However, delegates are not actually in charge of directly solving
problems; their job is to represent and express the needs, concerns and
difficulties of their constituents, and to inform them of measures
passed by the municipal assembly.
Municipal elections are held every two and a half years. On this
occasion, they will be followed by elections in February for
representatives to provincial assemblies and the National Assembly – the
single-chamber parliament. The official Communist Party media outlets
have acknowledged that these government bodies need to boost their
authority and participation in the process of changes.
By taking on a more central role in developing their regions, local
officials will reinforce democratic participation and bring government
closer to citizens on the local level, Torres said. He added that
citizens, in turn, will be more interested in giving their votes to
individuals shown to be the most competent in given situations.
In that sense, Torres did not rule out the future professionalisation of
municipal and provincial delegates, and of the members of the National
Assembly.
"As of now, in most cases, representatives at all levels fulfil their
duties simultaneously with those of their previous occupation; however,
if we really want these people to turn toward the development of their
communities, the issue of professionalisation should be analysed and
debated," he commented.
* With reporting by Ivet González.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/economic-reforms-in-cuba-require-decentralisation/
Defrauding the Consumer: An Epidemic in Cuba
Defrauding the Consumer: An Epidemic in Cuba / Ivan Garcia #Cuba
Ivan Garcia, Translator: Unstated
Fooling Nivaldo, 71, is not an easy task. When the old man goes
shopping, in his inseparable shopping bag he carries a portable scale.
As he rummages through the meat, fruit and vegetables covered with dirt
on the metallic trays at the farmers market, the problems arise.
At the checkout, the traders try to scam him, charging more for the
products than they weigh. Demanding his rights has given the old man a
reputation for stinginess and unfriendliness.
"Yesterday I got twelve pounds of pork oat 23 pesos a pound, when I
checked the weight it was 2-1/2 pounds under. It's common. At every
market there are State scales to check they're selling you the exact
weight, but they often rig them. It's a national epidemic. Fucking
people over is like a sport," says Nivaldo, while rushing to get home
before the clouds burst.
Scamming and adulteration food and other items is an old story. In many
hard currency shops and snack bars, the principal mission of the staff
is to "fine" (i.e. cheat) the customer. There are new methods. Others
are clumsy bungles.
In the Island of Cuba Mall, a stone's throw from the National Capitol
building, Luisa, 46, reached into the meat fridges and pulled out two
packages of chicken thighs, where it showed the price according to weight.
She added it up. One package cost 2.60 and the other 2.40. In total, 5
convertible pesos. The math doesn't fail. But in Cuba numbers are magic.
Quietly, the cashier sealed the two packages and put the in a nylon bag
and said they were 5.30.
Luisa explained that there must have been a mistake. She opened the
sealed packages and showed them. The cashier admitted it and replied
that "it was the fault of the cash register."
If you don't look after yourself, the vendors will blatantly cheat you.
Marco, who works in a hard currency supermarket, offers a justification.
"We earn very little. The way we get money is to "fine" the customer.
Those who work in this sector invest hundreds of dollars to get a place.
The thing is hot and we have to go home with money. We also have families."
The question Marco preferred not to answer was: if the customers are not
at fault for their low salaries, why don't they complain to the union
and mount a loud protest in the Plaza of the Revolution.
Ah, no, this they would never do. They could go to jail. Given the lack
of legal mechanisms that allow service workers to demand better
salaries, the solution is to discharge their repressed anger in the
pockets of the consumers.
In the hotels, discos and restaurants where the tourists usually go, the
"fines" increase. Many managers of tourist restaurants have a doctorate
in the subject. Looking at the credit cards and details like expensive
watches or an Apple laptop, they calculate how much money they can skim off.
A few days ago three habaneros living in Miami arrived with several
friends at a hard currency snack bar to drink beer in style. On the fly,
the employee caught they were "Cubans from the other side." Every so
often, while collecting the empty beer cans, he talked about the Major
Leagues. He established empathy with them. After 11 at night,
inebriated, happy to share with attentive staff, singing boleros and
taking photos, they paid 130 CUC. An excessive amount.
Right now, the Cuban-Americans are the best clients. They leave good
tips. And if the guy gets drunk, the "fine" is even more.
To deceive the customer is latent in all sectors of the national life.
If you walk down any street in Havana, you will see a multitude of
plastic tables of the State food service offering pork sandwiches for 5
pesos, servings of fried rise at 15 pesos and fried chicken at 1.60 an
ounce.
I have always been amazed by the capacity of the tropical bureaucracy
for absurd formalisms. Every little table has a weight and a sign that
indicates the grams of each product a consumer should have.
A dapper "chef" picks a greasy pork leg, skin with strips of meat and
dried fruit. He weighs it and puts the hash in a round pan. Does each
consumer have to walk around with a portable scale to verify the exact
grams? The old Nivaldo does. But the vast majority don't worry about
weighing what they buy.
We Cubans are not used to being scammed. An "extra payment" we accept
with discipline, like everything in Cuba. From listening to a speech
promising a bright future that never comes, to buying our 80 grams of
bread every day that almost always weighs about half that.
In street slang, duping customers is called "fighting/" It's a vicious
circle. You fuck me over from behind the bar, and late I overcharge you
20 CUC for a medical checkup.
It's a kind of pact. We fuck each other over. Few have the courage to
point out those guilty of transforming our lives into a competition to
see who can hurt others the most.
The loss of values has been one of the greatest damages caused by the
Castro's in their 54 year reign. To recover them will be very expensive.
Photo: Sale of pig's liver at a Havana farmer's market, taken from
Worldisround.
December 5 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/defrauding-the-consumer-an-epidemic-in-cuba-ivan-garcia-cuba/
Ivan Garcia, Translator: Unstated
Fooling Nivaldo, 71, is not an easy task. When the old man goes
shopping, in his inseparable shopping bag he carries a portable scale.
As he rummages through the meat, fruit and vegetables covered with dirt
on the metallic trays at the farmers market, the problems arise.
At the checkout, the traders try to scam him, charging more for the
products than they weigh. Demanding his rights has given the old man a
reputation for stinginess and unfriendliness.
"Yesterday I got twelve pounds of pork oat 23 pesos a pound, when I
checked the weight it was 2-1/2 pounds under. It's common. At every
market there are State scales to check they're selling you the exact
weight, but they often rig them. It's a national epidemic. Fucking
people over is like a sport," says Nivaldo, while rushing to get home
before the clouds burst.
Scamming and adulteration food and other items is an old story. In many
hard currency shops and snack bars, the principal mission of the staff
is to "fine" (i.e. cheat) the customer. There are new methods. Others
are clumsy bungles.
In the Island of Cuba Mall, a stone's throw from the National Capitol
building, Luisa, 46, reached into the meat fridges and pulled out two
packages of chicken thighs, where it showed the price according to weight.
She added it up. One package cost 2.60 and the other 2.40. In total, 5
convertible pesos. The math doesn't fail. But in Cuba numbers are magic.
Quietly, the cashier sealed the two packages and put the in a nylon bag
and said they were 5.30.
Luisa explained that there must have been a mistake. She opened the
sealed packages and showed them. The cashier admitted it and replied
that "it was the fault of the cash register."
If you don't look after yourself, the vendors will blatantly cheat you.
Marco, who works in a hard currency supermarket, offers a justification.
"We earn very little. The way we get money is to "fine" the customer.
Those who work in this sector invest hundreds of dollars to get a place.
The thing is hot and we have to go home with money. We also have families."
The question Marco preferred not to answer was: if the customers are not
at fault for their low salaries, why don't they complain to the union
and mount a loud protest in the Plaza of the Revolution.
Ah, no, this they would never do. They could go to jail. Given the lack
of legal mechanisms that allow service workers to demand better
salaries, the solution is to discharge their repressed anger in the
pockets of the consumers.
In the hotels, discos and restaurants where the tourists usually go, the
"fines" increase. Many managers of tourist restaurants have a doctorate
in the subject. Looking at the credit cards and details like expensive
watches or an Apple laptop, they calculate how much money they can skim off.
A few days ago three habaneros living in Miami arrived with several
friends at a hard currency snack bar to drink beer in style. On the fly,
the employee caught they were "Cubans from the other side." Every so
often, while collecting the empty beer cans, he talked about the Major
Leagues. He established empathy with them. After 11 at night,
inebriated, happy to share with attentive staff, singing boleros and
taking photos, they paid 130 CUC. An excessive amount.
Right now, the Cuban-Americans are the best clients. They leave good
tips. And if the guy gets drunk, the "fine" is even more.
To deceive the customer is latent in all sectors of the national life.
If you walk down any street in Havana, you will see a multitude of
plastic tables of the State food service offering pork sandwiches for 5
pesos, servings of fried rise at 15 pesos and fried chicken at 1.60 an
ounce.
I have always been amazed by the capacity of the tropical bureaucracy
for absurd formalisms. Every little table has a weight and a sign that
indicates the grams of each product a consumer should have.
A dapper "chef" picks a greasy pork leg, skin with strips of meat and
dried fruit. He weighs it and puts the hash in a round pan. Does each
consumer have to walk around with a portable scale to verify the exact
grams? The old Nivaldo does. But the vast majority don't worry about
weighing what they buy.
We Cubans are not used to being scammed. An "extra payment" we accept
with discipline, like everything in Cuba. From listening to a speech
promising a bright future that never comes, to buying our 80 grams of
bread every day that almost always weighs about half that.
In street slang, duping customers is called "fighting/" It's a vicious
circle. You fuck me over from behind the bar, and late I overcharge you
20 CUC for a medical checkup.
It's a kind of pact. We fuck each other over. Few have the courage to
point out those guilty of transforming our lives into a competition to
see who can hurt others the most.
The loss of values has been one of the greatest damages caused by the
Castro's in their 54 year reign. To recover them will be very expensive.
Photo: Sale of pig's liver at a Havana farmer's market, taken from
Worldisround.
December 5 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/defrauding-the-consumer-an-epidemic-in-cuba-ivan-garcia-cuba/
Stalking the Stalkers
Stalking the Stalkers / Rebeca Monzo #Cuba
Rebeca Monzo, Translator: Unstated
Since the arrests which grew out of a tragic event—the premature deaths
of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero—it has increased. Especially the
stalking near the house of Antonio Rodiles, headquarters of State of
SATS.* This time they were not content to hinder access to the
residence. They also arrested people who, affirming their rights as
citizens,insisted on being allowed to go there. After being prohibited
by authorities from continuing on, two of the more impetuous young men
decided to go along the shoreline. Rodiles' house sits by the sea and
only a big chain link fence, rusted by time, separates it from the ocean.
Some people were already inside, either because they arrived before the
operation had begun, or because they passed unnoticed through the police
cordon. They were suddenly startled by the sight of these two
men—completely dressed but soaked—who climbed over the fence, trying to
enter the premises. At first everyone thought the police operation was
being carried out by sea, but they immediately recognized the two young
men and let them in. The host loaned them some of his clothes so they
could dry off, change and join the meeting.
With this and recent events very much on everyone's mind, we were afraid
we would be confronting a similar situation on Friday, September 7. We
were to meet at the house of Yoani Sánchez for the release of the
sixteenth issue of the digital magazine Voces, which is dedicated
exclusively to the memory of Payá,who, along with Cepero, lost his life
in a very controversial automobile accident.**
Many of us were mentally prepared for a "political stalking." But when
we arrived, everything nearby seemed normal. Even those "shady types,"
the sight of whom has become routine for us, did not seem to be around.
I am sure they were there, but were keeping a low profile.
When my husband and I arrived, there was already a group of people in
the apartment. The living/dining room had been converted into a
makeshift cinema. They were about to show a short film of the eulogy and
internment of Payá, as well as images of masses said in his memory at
the church in his neighborhood, where he was much loved and admired.
Before the film began, Reinaldo Escobar read a brief but emotional
message from the wife of the deceased, apologizing for not being able to
attend.
Later, the journalist and blogger Orlando Luís Pardo Lardo, as is
customary, presented the latest issue of Voces. Finally, some sample
copies, courtesy of a collaboration among friends, were handed out to
those in attendance.The children who were present provided a happy note
that helped dispel the sense of nostalgia that was the prevailing mood
of this gathering. Everything was very pleasant, but in an instant this
cozy atmosphere was interrupted by an unexpected and unpleasant visit.
* Translator's notes:
According to its website, State of SATS "hopes to create a plural space
for participation and debate, where open and frank debate is exchanged.
The project sponsors panel discussions, forums and other events that are
filmed and broadcasted on the Internet."
**On July 22, prominent Cuban pro-democracy leader Oswaldo Paya and
activist Harold Cepero were killed in a car accident while on a trip to
the east of Cuba. Many Cuban dissidents suspect foul play may have been
involved. Paya's daughter has declared in an audio clip that a second
car provoked the crash.
Site manager's note: Somehow this post never appeared, despite having
been translated in September. Apologies for the delay.
September 8 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/stalking-the-stalkers-rebeca-monzo-cuba/
Rebeca Monzo, Translator: Unstated
Since the arrests which grew out of a tragic event—the premature deaths
of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero—it has increased. Especially the
stalking near the house of Antonio Rodiles, headquarters of State of
SATS.* This time they were not content to hinder access to the
residence. They also arrested people who, affirming their rights as
citizens,insisted on being allowed to go there. After being prohibited
by authorities from continuing on, two of the more impetuous young men
decided to go along the shoreline. Rodiles' house sits by the sea and
only a big chain link fence, rusted by time, separates it from the ocean.
Some people were already inside, either because they arrived before the
operation had begun, or because they passed unnoticed through the police
cordon. They were suddenly startled by the sight of these two
men—completely dressed but soaked—who climbed over the fence, trying to
enter the premises. At first everyone thought the police operation was
being carried out by sea, but they immediately recognized the two young
men and let them in. The host loaned them some of his clothes so they
could dry off, change and join the meeting.
With this and recent events very much on everyone's mind, we were afraid
we would be confronting a similar situation on Friday, September 7. We
were to meet at the house of Yoani Sánchez for the release of the
sixteenth issue of the digital magazine Voces, which is dedicated
exclusively to the memory of Payá,who, along with Cepero, lost his life
in a very controversial automobile accident.**
Many of us were mentally prepared for a "political stalking." But when
we arrived, everything nearby seemed normal. Even those "shady types,"
the sight of whom has become routine for us, did not seem to be around.
I am sure they were there, but were keeping a low profile.
When my husband and I arrived, there was already a group of people in
the apartment. The living/dining room had been converted into a
makeshift cinema. They were about to show a short film of the eulogy and
internment of Payá, as well as images of masses said in his memory at
the church in his neighborhood, where he was much loved and admired.
Before the film began, Reinaldo Escobar read a brief but emotional
message from the wife of the deceased, apologizing for not being able to
attend.
Later, the journalist and blogger Orlando Luís Pardo Lardo, as is
customary, presented the latest issue of Voces. Finally, some sample
copies, courtesy of a collaboration among friends, were handed out to
those in attendance.The children who were present provided a happy note
that helped dispel the sense of nostalgia that was the prevailing mood
of this gathering. Everything was very pleasant, but in an instant this
cozy atmosphere was interrupted by an unexpected and unpleasant visit.
* Translator's notes:
According to its website, State of SATS "hopes to create a plural space
for participation and debate, where open and frank debate is exchanged.
The project sponsors panel discussions, forums and other events that are
filmed and broadcasted on the Internet."
**On July 22, prominent Cuban pro-democracy leader Oswaldo Paya and
activist Harold Cepero were killed in a car accident while on a trip to
the east of Cuba. Many Cuban dissidents suspect foul play may have been
involved. Paya's daughter has declared in an audio clip that a second
car provoked the crash.
Site manager's note: Somehow this post never appeared, despite having
been translated in September. Apologies for the delay.
September 8 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/stalking-the-stalkers-rebeca-monzo-cuba/
Attack on Antunez in Placetas
Attack on Antunez in Placetas / Luis Felipe Rojas #Cuba
Antunez - Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Unstated
Democratic Cuban Directorate, Miami, December 3, 2012. In the city of
Placetas Jorge Luis Garcia Perez "Antunez" reported that at noon he was
traveling on his bicycle to his home, and at the intersection of South
5th Street at the corner of West 6th, a police car came behind him,
toward the place where he was riding. On turning on his bike toward a
street to the right, he followed his instinct for self-preservation, the
cop car managed only to brush him from behind, and the police, visibly
nervous, ask him for his identity card and detained him.
"Looking back I realize that had this attack of the cop car against me
taken place next to the little bridge there that I would have fallen and
broken my neck, it would have killed me. This worries me greatly
considering the number of threats that I am receiving from the police;
the threats I received in Camagey when I was arrested, they were going
to kill me, they would not allow me to continue to promote activities in
the streets. Death threats recently in the province of Holguín when I
was arrested. That hatred and that viciousness that the military doesn't
hide when they confront me," complained Antunez.
December 4 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/attack-on-antunez-in-placetas-luis-felipe-rojas-cuba/
Antunez - Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Unstated
Democratic Cuban Directorate, Miami, December 3, 2012. In the city of
Placetas Jorge Luis Garcia Perez "Antunez" reported that at noon he was
traveling on his bicycle to his home, and at the intersection of South
5th Street at the corner of West 6th, a police car came behind him,
toward the place where he was riding. On turning on his bike toward a
street to the right, he followed his instinct for self-preservation, the
cop car managed only to brush him from behind, and the police, visibly
nervous, ask him for his identity card and detained him.
"Looking back I realize that had this attack of the cop car against me
taken place next to the little bridge there that I would have fallen and
broken my neck, it would have killed me. This worries me greatly
considering the number of threats that I am receiving from the police;
the threats I received in Camagey when I was arrested, they were going
to kill me, they would not allow me to continue to promote activities in
the streets. Death threats recently in the province of Holguín when I
was arrested. That hatred and that viciousness that the military doesn't
hide when they confront me," complained Antunez.
December 4 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/attack-on-antunez-in-placetas-luis-felipe-rojas-cuba/
Cuba's Favorite Shirt Tails a New Generation
December 14, 2012, 10:20 p.m. ET
Cuba's Favorite Shirt Tails a New Generation
Storied 'Guayabera' Faced Fashion Exile; Now It's a Club-Scene Hit
By ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ
MIAMI—The guayabera, a pleated, four-pocket shirt worn untucked over
trousers, became a ubiquitous fashion here thanks to Cuban exiles
fleeing Fidel Castro and his olive-green fatigues.
Now that the original exiles are dying out, some haberdashers are trying
to remake the centuries-old shirt for a younger, hipper generation. It
can be a tough sell.
Antonio García-Martínez, a son of Cuban émigrés who grew up in Miami,
says the classic linen guayabera has clear stylistic limits: It wrinkles
easily, looks boxy, and is just too old-fashioned for his taste. The
shirt "makes you look like a Cuban grandfather at a funeral," says Mr.
García-Martínez, now in his mid-30s, who now lives in the San Francisco
Bay area.
In its classic, long-sleeve form, with lines of pleats tightly sewn into
crisp linen fabric, the guayabera has long been a comfortable and
appropriate alternative to dress suits in the steamy tropics.
Worn by men in warm countries from Southeast Asia to the Caribbean, the
shirt is widely believed to have originated in Cuba, where it spread
from the peasantry to become a symbol of elegance in Havana, and with
such foreign devotees as Ernest Hemingway.
Nowadays, most guayaberas—with short sleeves and long—are made in Mexico
or China, mainly from cotton or synthetic fabrics that conveniently dry
quickly when washed.
But there are still tailors in Miami who care deeply about the craft and
some of them are looking to update the style for younger men.
A few retailers are pushing wild new incarnations including
guayabera-inspired baby wear, dresses, tunics—and even outfits for dogs.
The main focus, though, is on trying to make the shirt cooler for the
young people who are now among the city's chief fashion consumers.
As the scion of guayabera royalty, Louis Puig, 52, knows the new target
customer well.
His father Ramón, a noted tailor, earned a reputation back in Cuba as a
guayabera wizard, then built on it in Miami, where he re-established
himself as king of the Guayaberas. Now that "el Rey de las Guayaberas"
has passed away, the younger Mr. Puig—who had a career here as a disco
DJ and owns Club Space, one of Miami's most famous electronic music
clubs—is trying to jazz up the family business with a flashy new
boutique in downtown Miami, a world away from Little Havana, where his
father set up shop in 1971.
Pricey linen and cotton guayaberas with stripes and in bold colors hang
from racks—a revolutionary departure from the traditional white, beige
or light- blue look. There are guayabera-style dresses for women.
The old store is cluttered with mementos and rolls of fabric; the new
downtown boutique, rebranded "Ramón Puig Guayaberas," has portraits of
sexy models strutting their guayaberas on South Beach's Ocean Drive.
Enlarge Image
image
image
Guayabera
"The guayabera is the coolest thing in the world," says the younger Mr.
Puig, adding, "It's not just your dad's shirt anymore. It's Cuban cool."
The guayabera's roots are a mystery, but tales point to 18th-century
rural Cuba, where a Spanish settler asked his wife to make a shirt with
extra pockets, a design that local guava pickers found practical
(Guayaba is Spanish for guava.)
Others say the name derives from the Yayabo river, near the Cuban town
of Sancti Spiritus. In any case, the shirt allowed planters and soldiers
to beat the heat, and quickly spread to other Spanish outposts in Latin
America and Southeast Asia. Cuban doctors and legionnaires also took it
to Africa during the Cold War.
After the Cuban Revolution, the guayabera's manufacturing heartland
moved to Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, where makers added embroidery.
Its popularity there was enshrined in the early 1970s by Mexican
President Luis Echeverría, an aficionado of the shirt, says Mike Knoll,
a folklorist at HistoryMiami, formerly the Historical Museum of Southern
Florida.
Today, the guayabera is also known as a "Mexican wedding shirt," and has
become popular attire at tropical destination weddings. It remains a
favorite among Latin American heads of state, including Mr. Castro
himself, who has worn them at summits. Since 2010, the guayabera has
been the official garment of Cuban diplomats.
Today in Miami, however, the shirt faces obstacles in winning recent
Cuban immigrants, who lived under the island's Communist regime and have
a less romantic view of many old traditions, including guayabera fashions.
Mr. Knoll, who curated an exhibit on the shirt, says that on the island
the garment is "not nearly as beloved as it once was." Most newer Cuban
immigrants associate it with state security agents and stodgy
revolutionary officials.
Miami-based Rafael Contreras Jr., whose D'Accord-brand guayaberas are
made in Yucatán and sold around the world, says love for the guayabera
shrinks and expands. In the '80s, youngsters in Miami wore them with
jeans and cowboy boots at nightclubs, he says.
Now some young people want "guayamisas"—a cross between a guayabera and
a simpler dress shirt.
They like the untucked style and fine pleats—but "they don't want
pockets" because they give the shirt a more streamlined look, he says.
Louis McMillian, a 34 year-old commercial Realtor who grew up in Miami,
is a big fan of the garment. He said he has seven guayaberas, and he
wears one at least once a week, sometimes at work. He says that they're
sharp, comfortable in Miami's steamy weather, and help strike up
conversation with clients.
"You can wear it with jeans and still looks good," he says. They also
remind him of his Cuban grandfather, who introduced him to the shirt.
"To me it's something special," Mr. McMillian says.
With some refurbishing, loyalists are confident that the guayabera can
prove as resilient as Mr. Castro, the bearded comandante who still
haunts many here.
"I don't know of a Cuban in Miami who doesn't own at least one or two,"
says Mike Valdés-Fauli, a second-generation Cuban-American. The 33-year
old marketing executive owns three—two that his grandfather bought him,
and one in pink that he purchased himself. He wears the shirts mostly at
family gatherings.
Write to Ángel González at angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324481204578179370815982916.html
Cuba's Favorite Shirt Tails a New Generation
Storied 'Guayabera' Faced Fashion Exile; Now It's a Club-Scene Hit
By ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ
MIAMI—The guayabera, a pleated, four-pocket shirt worn untucked over
trousers, became a ubiquitous fashion here thanks to Cuban exiles
fleeing Fidel Castro and his olive-green fatigues.
Now that the original exiles are dying out, some haberdashers are trying
to remake the centuries-old shirt for a younger, hipper generation. It
can be a tough sell.
Antonio García-Martínez, a son of Cuban émigrés who grew up in Miami,
says the classic linen guayabera has clear stylistic limits: It wrinkles
easily, looks boxy, and is just too old-fashioned for his taste. The
shirt "makes you look like a Cuban grandfather at a funeral," says Mr.
García-Martínez, now in his mid-30s, who now lives in the San Francisco
Bay area.
In its classic, long-sleeve form, with lines of pleats tightly sewn into
crisp linen fabric, the guayabera has long been a comfortable and
appropriate alternative to dress suits in the steamy tropics.
Worn by men in warm countries from Southeast Asia to the Caribbean, the
shirt is widely believed to have originated in Cuba, where it spread
from the peasantry to become a symbol of elegance in Havana, and with
such foreign devotees as Ernest Hemingway.
Nowadays, most guayaberas—with short sleeves and long—are made in Mexico
or China, mainly from cotton or synthetic fabrics that conveniently dry
quickly when washed.
But there are still tailors in Miami who care deeply about the craft and
some of them are looking to update the style for younger men.
A few retailers are pushing wild new incarnations including
guayabera-inspired baby wear, dresses, tunics—and even outfits for dogs.
The main focus, though, is on trying to make the shirt cooler for the
young people who are now among the city's chief fashion consumers.
As the scion of guayabera royalty, Louis Puig, 52, knows the new target
customer well.
His father Ramón, a noted tailor, earned a reputation back in Cuba as a
guayabera wizard, then built on it in Miami, where he re-established
himself as king of the Guayaberas. Now that "el Rey de las Guayaberas"
has passed away, the younger Mr. Puig—who had a career here as a disco
DJ and owns Club Space, one of Miami's most famous electronic music
clubs—is trying to jazz up the family business with a flashy new
boutique in downtown Miami, a world away from Little Havana, where his
father set up shop in 1971.
Pricey linen and cotton guayaberas with stripes and in bold colors hang
from racks—a revolutionary departure from the traditional white, beige
or light- blue look. There are guayabera-style dresses for women.
The old store is cluttered with mementos and rolls of fabric; the new
downtown boutique, rebranded "Ramón Puig Guayaberas," has portraits of
sexy models strutting their guayaberas on South Beach's Ocean Drive.
Enlarge Image
image
image
Guayabera
"The guayabera is the coolest thing in the world," says the younger Mr.
Puig, adding, "It's not just your dad's shirt anymore. It's Cuban cool."
The guayabera's roots are a mystery, but tales point to 18th-century
rural Cuba, where a Spanish settler asked his wife to make a shirt with
extra pockets, a design that local guava pickers found practical
(Guayaba is Spanish for guava.)
Others say the name derives from the Yayabo river, near the Cuban town
of Sancti Spiritus. In any case, the shirt allowed planters and soldiers
to beat the heat, and quickly spread to other Spanish outposts in Latin
America and Southeast Asia. Cuban doctors and legionnaires also took it
to Africa during the Cold War.
After the Cuban Revolution, the guayabera's manufacturing heartland
moved to Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, where makers added embroidery.
Its popularity there was enshrined in the early 1970s by Mexican
President Luis Echeverría, an aficionado of the shirt, says Mike Knoll,
a folklorist at HistoryMiami, formerly the Historical Museum of Southern
Florida.
Today, the guayabera is also known as a "Mexican wedding shirt," and has
become popular attire at tropical destination weddings. It remains a
favorite among Latin American heads of state, including Mr. Castro
himself, who has worn them at summits. Since 2010, the guayabera has
been the official garment of Cuban diplomats.
Today in Miami, however, the shirt faces obstacles in winning recent
Cuban immigrants, who lived under the island's Communist regime and have
a less romantic view of many old traditions, including guayabera fashions.
Mr. Knoll, who curated an exhibit on the shirt, says that on the island
the garment is "not nearly as beloved as it once was." Most newer Cuban
immigrants associate it with state security agents and stodgy
revolutionary officials.
Miami-based Rafael Contreras Jr., whose D'Accord-brand guayaberas are
made in Yucatán and sold around the world, says love for the guayabera
shrinks and expands. In the '80s, youngsters in Miami wore them with
jeans and cowboy boots at nightclubs, he says.
Now some young people want "guayamisas"—a cross between a guayabera and
a simpler dress shirt.
They like the untucked style and fine pleats—but "they don't want
pockets" because they give the shirt a more streamlined look, he says.
Louis McMillian, a 34 year-old commercial Realtor who grew up in Miami,
is a big fan of the garment. He said he has seven guayaberas, and he
wears one at least once a week, sometimes at work. He says that they're
sharp, comfortable in Miami's steamy weather, and help strike up
conversation with clients.
"You can wear it with jeans and still looks good," he says. They also
remind him of his Cuban grandfather, who introduced him to the shirt.
"To me it's something special," Mr. McMillian says.
With some refurbishing, loyalists are confident that the guayabera can
prove as resilient as Mr. Castro, the bearded comandante who still
haunts many here.
"I don't know of a Cuban in Miami who doesn't own at least one or two,"
says Mike Valdés-Fauli, a second-generation Cuban-American. The 33-year
old marketing executive owns three—two that his grandfather bought him,
and one in pink that he purchased himself. He wears the shirts mostly at
family gatherings.
Write to Ángel González at angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324481204578179370815982916.html
Cuba's Free-Market Farm Experiment Yields a Meager Crop
Cuba's Free-Market Farm Experiment Yields a Meager Crop
Feeding the People in Cuba: Last year, President Raúl Castro legalized
small agricultural businesses as part of an effort to revive the economy.
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: December 8, 2012
HAVANA — Cuba's liveliest experiment with capitalism unfolds every night
in a dirt lot on the edge of the capital, where Truman-era trucks
lugging fresh produce meet up with hundreds of buyers on creaking
bicycle carts clutching wads of cash.
"This place, it feeds all of Havana," said Misael Toledo, 37, who owns
three small food stores in the city. "Before, you could only buy or sell
in the markets of Fidel."
The agriculture exchange, which sprang up last year after the Cuban
government legalized a broader range of small businesses, is a vivid
sign of both how much the country has changed, and of all the political
and practical limitations that continue to hold it back.
President Raúl Castro has made agriculture priority No. 1 in his attempt
to remake the country. He used his first major presidential address in
2007 to zero in on farming, describing weeds conquering fallow fields
and the need to ensure that "anyone who wants can drink a glass of milk."
No other industry has seen as much liberalization, with a steady rollout
of incentives for farmers. And Mr. Castro has been explicit about his
reasoning: increasing efficiency and food production to replace imports
that cost Cuba hundreds of millions of dollars a year is a matter "of
national security."
Yet at this point, by most measures, the project has failed. Because of
waste, poor management, policy constraints, transportation limits, theft
and other problems, overall efficiency has dropped: many Cubans are
actually seeing less food at private markets. That is the case despite
an increase in the number of farmers and production gains for certain
items. A recent study from the University of Havana showed that market
prices jumped by nearly 20 percent in 2011 alone. And food imports
increased to an estimated $1.7 billion last year, up from $1.4 billion
in 2006.
"It's the first instance of Cuba's leader not being able to get done
what he said he would," said Jorge I. Domínguez, vice provost for
international affairs at Harvard, who left Cuba as a boy. "The published
statistical results are really very discouraging."
A major cause: poor transportation, as trucks are in short supply, and
the aging ones that exist often break down.
In 2009, hundreds of tons of tomatoes, part of a bumper crop that year,
rotted because of a lack of transportation by the government agency
charged with bringing food to processing centers.
"It's worse when it rains," said Javier González, 27, a farmer in
Artemisa Province who described often seeing crops wilt and rot because
they were not picked up.
Behind him were the 33 fertile, rent-free acres he had been granted as
part of a program Mr. Castro introduced in 2008 to encourage rural
residents to work the land. After clearing it himself and planting a
variety of crops, Mr. Gonzalez said, he was doing relatively well and
earned more last year than his father, who is a doctor, did.
But Cuba's inefficiencies gnawed at him. Smart, strong, and ambitious,
he had expansion plans in mind, even as in his hand he held a wrench. He
was repairing a tractor part meant to be grading land. It was broken. Again.
The 1980s Soviet model tractor he bought from another farmer was as
about good as it gets in Cuba. The Cuban government maintains a monopoly
on selling anything new, and there simply is not enough of anything —
fertilizer, or sometimes even machetes — to go around.
Government economists are aware of the problem. "If you give people land
and no resources, it doesn't matter what happens on the land," said
Joaquin Infante of the Havana-based Cuban National Association of
Economists.
But Mr. Castro has refused to allow what many farmers and experts see as
an obvious solution to the shortages of transportation and equipment:
Let people import supplies on their own. "It's about control," said
Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst with the Lexington Institute, a
Virginia-based research group.
Other analysts agree, noting that though the agricultural reforms have
gone farther than other changes — like those that allow for
self-employment — they remain constrained by politics.
"The government is not ready to let go," said Ted Henken, a Latin
American studies professor at Baruch College. "They are sending the
message that they want to let go, or are trying to let go, but what they
have is still a mechanism of control."
For many farmers, that explains why land leases last for 10 years with a
chance to renew, not indefinitely or the 99 years offered to foreign
developers. It is also why many farmers say they will not build homes on
the land they lease, despite a concession this year to allow doing so.
Mistrust is widespread. To get the growth Mr. Castro wants in
agriculture and the economy, people need to trust the government,
analysts say. But after half a century of strict control, many Cubans
doubt proclamations from officials, who insist that this time, despite
previous crackdowns, private enterprise will be supported.
Some farmers still wonder when the government is going to swoop in and
take what they have built.
"What concerns me is that in a place like this, after five or six years
the state might need the land to complete some kind of project," said
Reinaldo Berdecia, who is raising cows outside Havana.
Cubans also say they worry that the bureaucrats responsible for managing
the country's complex mix of state-run and private agriculture lack the
knowledge needed to make the system work. In the fall, there were piles
of bananas rotting all over Havana, for example. Farmers say the
government guaranteed a price that was too high, failing to recognize
that because bananas require less investment and their planting season
is short, farmers would overproduce.
At a recent visit to the market near the Havana airport, these
frustrations, hopes and fears were on view. From the backs of trucks as
old as retirees, sunburned farmers in black rubber boots tossed onions,
lettuce and other items to colleagues who weighed them for sale, as a
crush of buyers approached. Every truck that arrived was immediately
surrounded, mostly by young men shouting and elbowing for access.
It was a sign that demand still outpaces supply, and in the middle of
the rush to buy wholesale, not everyone seemed certain free markets were
the way to go. Wary government inspectors watched for sales occurring
before the official start time of 6 p.m. Jose Ramón Murgado, 40, a
member of the farmers union, said the government had introduced too much
chaos into the system.
"Capitalism means higher prices," he said. "That's the problem."
But high prices were also leading to adaptation and efficiency. Some
farmers from eastern Cuba said they held back loads of onions, a chief
ingredient in sofrito sauce, a basis of Cuban cuisine, until after
harvest season, because they could earn more per pound. Other farmers
watching nearby seemed ready to follow their lead.
For Mr. Castro and his government, the success or failure of the reforms
with agriculture and other parts of the economy may come down to these
innovators who inspire others to greater productivity — people like Mr.
Toledo, the owner of three small stores that he supplies with produce
from the market.
He spent a decade driving trucks in Florida and Spain, and with
confidence, a few extra pounds and some money saved, he returned a year
ago to take advantage of Cuba's new opportunities.
He has his own truck now, along with six employees scouring the market
for deals. Agriculture has given him a boost, as it has others who have
taken a chance on private farming. But the question many across Cuba are
asking is: How far will Mr. Castro's socialist government let them rise?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/americas/changes-to-agriculture-highlight-cubas-problems.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all
Feeding the People in Cuba: Last year, President Raúl Castro legalized
small agricultural businesses as part of an effort to revive the economy.
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: December 8, 2012
HAVANA — Cuba's liveliest experiment with capitalism unfolds every night
in a dirt lot on the edge of the capital, where Truman-era trucks
lugging fresh produce meet up with hundreds of buyers on creaking
bicycle carts clutching wads of cash.
"This place, it feeds all of Havana," said Misael Toledo, 37, who owns
three small food stores in the city. "Before, you could only buy or sell
in the markets of Fidel."
The agriculture exchange, which sprang up last year after the Cuban
government legalized a broader range of small businesses, is a vivid
sign of both how much the country has changed, and of all the political
and practical limitations that continue to hold it back.
President Raúl Castro has made agriculture priority No. 1 in his attempt
to remake the country. He used his first major presidential address in
2007 to zero in on farming, describing weeds conquering fallow fields
and the need to ensure that "anyone who wants can drink a glass of milk."
No other industry has seen as much liberalization, with a steady rollout
of incentives for farmers. And Mr. Castro has been explicit about his
reasoning: increasing efficiency and food production to replace imports
that cost Cuba hundreds of millions of dollars a year is a matter "of
national security."
Yet at this point, by most measures, the project has failed. Because of
waste, poor management, policy constraints, transportation limits, theft
and other problems, overall efficiency has dropped: many Cubans are
actually seeing less food at private markets. That is the case despite
an increase in the number of farmers and production gains for certain
items. A recent study from the University of Havana showed that market
prices jumped by nearly 20 percent in 2011 alone. And food imports
increased to an estimated $1.7 billion last year, up from $1.4 billion
in 2006.
"It's the first instance of Cuba's leader not being able to get done
what he said he would," said Jorge I. Domínguez, vice provost for
international affairs at Harvard, who left Cuba as a boy. "The published
statistical results are really very discouraging."
A major cause: poor transportation, as trucks are in short supply, and
the aging ones that exist often break down.
In 2009, hundreds of tons of tomatoes, part of a bumper crop that year,
rotted because of a lack of transportation by the government agency
charged with bringing food to processing centers.
"It's worse when it rains," said Javier González, 27, a farmer in
Artemisa Province who described often seeing crops wilt and rot because
they were not picked up.
Behind him were the 33 fertile, rent-free acres he had been granted as
part of a program Mr. Castro introduced in 2008 to encourage rural
residents to work the land. After clearing it himself and planting a
variety of crops, Mr. Gonzalez said, he was doing relatively well and
earned more last year than his father, who is a doctor, did.
But Cuba's inefficiencies gnawed at him. Smart, strong, and ambitious,
he had expansion plans in mind, even as in his hand he held a wrench. He
was repairing a tractor part meant to be grading land. It was broken. Again.
The 1980s Soviet model tractor he bought from another farmer was as
about good as it gets in Cuba. The Cuban government maintains a monopoly
on selling anything new, and there simply is not enough of anything —
fertilizer, or sometimes even machetes — to go around.
Government economists are aware of the problem. "If you give people land
and no resources, it doesn't matter what happens on the land," said
Joaquin Infante of the Havana-based Cuban National Association of
Economists.
But Mr. Castro has refused to allow what many farmers and experts see as
an obvious solution to the shortages of transportation and equipment:
Let people import supplies on their own. "It's about control," said
Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst with the Lexington Institute, a
Virginia-based research group.
Other analysts agree, noting that though the agricultural reforms have
gone farther than other changes — like those that allow for
self-employment — they remain constrained by politics.
"The government is not ready to let go," said Ted Henken, a Latin
American studies professor at Baruch College. "They are sending the
message that they want to let go, or are trying to let go, but what they
have is still a mechanism of control."
For many farmers, that explains why land leases last for 10 years with a
chance to renew, not indefinitely or the 99 years offered to foreign
developers. It is also why many farmers say they will not build homes on
the land they lease, despite a concession this year to allow doing so.
Mistrust is widespread. To get the growth Mr. Castro wants in
agriculture and the economy, people need to trust the government,
analysts say. But after half a century of strict control, many Cubans
doubt proclamations from officials, who insist that this time, despite
previous crackdowns, private enterprise will be supported.
Some farmers still wonder when the government is going to swoop in and
take what they have built.
"What concerns me is that in a place like this, after five or six years
the state might need the land to complete some kind of project," said
Reinaldo Berdecia, who is raising cows outside Havana.
Cubans also say they worry that the bureaucrats responsible for managing
the country's complex mix of state-run and private agriculture lack the
knowledge needed to make the system work. In the fall, there were piles
of bananas rotting all over Havana, for example. Farmers say the
government guaranteed a price that was too high, failing to recognize
that because bananas require less investment and their planting season
is short, farmers would overproduce.
At a recent visit to the market near the Havana airport, these
frustrations, hopes and fears were on view. From the backs of trucks as
old as retirees, sunburned farmers in black rubber boots tossed onions,
lettuce and other items to colleagues who weighed them for sale, as a
crush of buyers approached. Every truck that arrived was immediately
surrounded, mostly by young men shouting and elbowing for access.
It was a sign that demand still outpaces supply, and in the middle of
the rush to buy wholesale, not everyone seemed certain free markets were
the way to go. Wary government inspectors watched for sales occurring
before the official start time of 6 p.m. Jose Ramón Murgado, 40, a
member of the farmers union, said the government had introduced too much
chaos into the system.
"Capitalism means higher prices," he said. "That's the problem."
But high prices were also leading to adaptation and efficiency. Some
farmers from eastern Cuba said they held back loads of onions, a chief
ingredient in sofrito sauce, a basis of Cuban cuisine, until after
harvest season, because they could earn more per pound. Other farmers
watching nearby seemed ready to follow their lead.
For Mr. Castro and his government, the success or failure of the reforms
with agriculture and other parts of the economy may come down to these
innovators who inspire others to greater productivity — people like Mr.
Toledo, the owner of three small stores that he supplies with produce
from the market.
He spent a decade driving trucks in Florida and Spain, and with
confidence, a few extra pounds and some money saved, he returned a year
ago to take advantage of Cuba's new opportunities.
He has his own truck now, along with six employees scouring the market
for deals. Agriculture has given him a boost, as it has others who have
taken a chance on private farming. But the question many across Cuba are
asking is: How far will Mr. Castro's socialist government let them rise?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/americas/changes-to-agriculture-highlight-cubas-problems.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all
Cuba's fatal conceit on economic reforms
Posted on Sunday, 12.16.12
ECONOMIC REFORMS
Cuba's fatal conceit on economic reforms
BY JOSE AZEL
jazel@miami.edu
In late 2010, the Cuban government first detailed its plan to revitalize
the moribund Cuban economy. Two key components of this plan were the
massive firing of over one million state employees (in a workforce of
five million) and to allow some private sector self-employment to absorb
the newly unemployed.
The enlightened nomenclature decreed that the firings were to take place
in short order and the newly permitted activities would be limited to a
bizarre amalgamation of precisely 178 occupations from baby sitting to
washing clothes to shoe shinning, to repairing umbrellas.
Not surprisingly, two years later, the process is mired in a web of
internal debates and emerging rules and regulations. The failure in
implementing economic reforms is rooted in the pathology of thought of
the Country's ruling elite. It is this pathology of thought that
economist and political philosopher Friedrich A. Hayek described in his
influential work The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism. As Hayek
explained, central plans fail with unforeseen and unintended
consequences because all variables are not known or even knowable to the
central planners.
The dismissal of the state employees has been essentially halted and is
now supposed to take place over a period of five years. Kafkaesque
efficiency committees will determine the "ideal" number of employees for
each function and then other committees will decide who is to be dismissed.
The process regarding activities "outside the government sector" — The
Cuban government cannot bring itself to say "private sector" — is just
as revealing. With significant fanfare, Granma recently announced that
the number of permitted "outside the government sector" activities would
be increased from 178 to 181. The three new tolerable activities are
"granitero" (as in doing tile work); party planners for weddings and
quinces (sweet sixteen-like parties), and insurance agents.
Cuba's Vice Minister of Finance and Prices, (yes, there is a ministry in
charge of prices) also announced that the activity of granitero would
have to be approved by the work directives and by the office of the City
Historian. The bureaucrats further decreed that the three new allowed
activities will be taxed at markedly different fixed monthly fees as
follows: Graniteros 150 CUPs (Cuban pesos), Party Planners 300 CUPs, and
Insurance Agents 20 CUPs. The unexplained central planning logic of
these taxation decrees is left for the reader to decipher.
Notwithstanding this stifling regulatory environment, Cubans are seeking
work independent from the State. A recent survey conducted by Freedom
House finds that although "some Cubans are discouraged by the
uncertainties associated with self-employment . . . more Cubans say that
it is better to be self-employed than to work for the government."
In allowing some entrepreneurship, the Cuban government sought to create
new employment for the fired government employees. Things, however, are
not going as planned by the mandarins. For example, 73 percent of the
69,000 women now self-employed were not previously in the government's
payroll. Additionally, many of the cuentapropistas are engaged in
subsistence self-employment which does not generate significant
additional employment.
Another unfortunate consequence of Cuba's central planning arrogance is
an exacerbation of racial tensions. Reflecting the racial composition of
the Cuban Diaspora, the vast majority of Cubans receiving remittances
from abroad and able to become self-employed are white. Access to
dollars is essential for self-employment. Paradoxically, the new
entrepreneurs must sell their goods and services in the national
currency, but must purchase supplies from government stores in Cubas's
convertible currency. Afro-Cubans, without access to remittances from
family members abroad, are left behind as income inequality increases.
It is quite a conceit to believe, as central planners do, that one
individual, or one ministry, or one central committee can gather and
understand all available information to design an efficient economic system.
The tragedy of communism is both its mistaken view of how an economy
works and its glorified view of its own rational capabilities. The Cuban
government's hubris on riding the intellectually dead horse of central
planning showcases its Fatal Conceit.
José Azel is a senior scholar at the Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami and the author of the book,
Mañana in Cuba."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/16/3142645/cubas-fatal-conceit-on-economic.html
ECONOMIC REFORMS
Cuba's fatal conceit on economic reforms
BY JOSE AZEL
jazel@miami.edu
In late 2010, the Cuban government first detailed its plan to revitalize
the moribund Cuban economy. Two key components of this plan were the
massive firing of over one million state employees (in a workforce of
five million) and to allow some private sector self-employment to absorb
the newly unemployed.
The enlightened nomenclature decreed that the firings were to take place
in short order and the newly permitted activities would be limited to a
bizarre amalgamation of precisely 178 occupations from baby sitting to
washing clothes to shoe shinning, to repairing umbrellas.
Not surprisingly, two years later, the process is mired in a web of
internal debates and emerging rules and regulations. The failure in
implementing economic reforms is rooted in the pathology of thought of
the Country's ruling elite. It is this pathology of thought that
economist and political philosopher Friedrich A. Hayek described in his
influential work The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism. As Hayek
explained, central plans fail with unforeseen and unintended
consequences because all variables are not known or even knowable to the
central planners.
The dismissal of the state employees has been essentially halted and is
now supposed to take place over a period of five years. Kafkaesque
efficiency committees will determine the "ideal" number of employees for
each function and then other committees will decide who is to be dismissed.
The process regarding activities "outside the government sector" — The
Cuban government cannot bring itself to say "private sector" — is just
as revealing. With significant fanfare, Granma recently announced that
the number of permitted "outside the government sector" activities would
be increased from 178 to 181. The three new tolerable activities are
"granitero" (as in doing tile work); party planners for weddings and
quinces (sweet sixteen-like parties), and insurance agents.
Cuba's Vice Minister of Finance and Prices, (yes, there is a ministry in
charge of prices) also announced that the activity of granitero would
have to be approved by the work directives and by the office of the City
Historian. The bureaucrats further decreed that the three new allowed
activities will be taxed at markedly different fixed monthly fees as
follows: Graniteros 150 CUPs (Cuban pesos), Party Planners 300 CUPs, and
Insurance Agents 20 CUPs. The unexplained central planning logic of
these taxation decrees is left for the reader to decipher.
Notwithstanding this stifling regulatory environment, Cubans are seeking
work independent from the State. A recent survey conducted by Freedom
House finds that although "some Cubans are discouraged by the
uncertainties associated with self-employment . . . more Cubans say that
it is better to be self-employed than to work for the government."
In allowing some entrepreneurship, the Cuban government sought to create
new employment for the fired government employees. Things, however, are
not going as planned by the mandarins. For example, 73 percent of the
69,000 women now self-employed were not previously in the government's
payroll. Additionally, many of the cuentapropistas are engaged in
subsistence self-employment which does not generate significant
additional employment.
Another unfortunate consequence of Cuba's central planning arrogance is
an exacerbation of racial tensions. Reflecting the racial composition of
the Cuban Diaspora, the vast majority of Cubans receiving remittances
from abroad and able to become self-employed are white. Access to
dollars is essential for self-employment. Paradoxically, the new
entrepreneurs must sell their goods and services in the national
currency, but must purchase supplies from government stores in Cubas's
convertible currency. Afro-Cubans, without access to remittances from
family members abroad, are left behind as income inequality increases.
It is quite a conceit to believe, as central planners do, that one
individual, or one ministry, or one central committee can gather and
understand all available information to design an efficient economic system.
The tragedy of communism is both its mistaken view of how an economy
works and its glorified view of its own rational capabilities. The Cuban
government's hubris on riding the intellectually dead horse of central
planning showcases its Fatal Conceit.
José Azel is a senior scholar at the Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami and the author of the book,
Mañana in Cuba."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/16/3142645/cubas-fatal-conceit-on-economic.html
Oil rig arrives off Cuba for new exploration
Posted on Saturday, 12.15.12
Oil rig arrives off Cuba for new exploration
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- A Norwegian-owned platform arrived in waters off Cuba's
north-central coast for exploratory drilling by the Russian oil company
Zarubezhneft, authorities said Saturday, renewing the island's search
for petroleum after three failed wells this year.
Drilling is to begin "in the coming days" and take six months, according
to a notice published by the Communist Party newspaper Granma. The depth
of the project was given as 21,300 feet (6,500 meters).
State-run oil company Cubapetroleo said in the announcement that the
Songa Mercur rig, owned by Songa Offshore of Norway, was inspected to
make sure it contains less than 10 percent U.S.-made parts. That allows
the companies involved in the drilling to avoid sanctions under the
50-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba.
The exploration block in question, near the gleaming beaches of a major
tourist resort, is considered less promising than offshore areas to the
west where earlier this year a superdeep-water platform drilled three
wells deemed commercially nonviable.
The Scarabeo-9, a huge semisubmersible rig owned by Italy's Saipem, left
Cuban waters last month after sinking the three dud wells, and analysts
said it could be years before drilling resumed in those deep-water blocks.
Geologic surveys say 5 billion to 9 billion barrels of oil may lie off
Cuba's coast. Island authorities hope there may be even more and have
been banking on a big strike.
An injection of petrodollars could boost Cuba's struggling economy,
bankroll President Raul Castro's economic reforms and ease the island's
energy dependence on Venezuela, which has sent billions of dollars'
worth of oil on preferential terms.
"The new well has the objective of determining the potential of
petroleum and natural gas in this sector of our country," the notice in
Granma read. "Its results should contribute to the knowledge of the area
of the perforation, as well as all of north-central Cuba."
Cuba's oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted protest from
Cuban exiles in the United States and alarmed some who fear a spill
could befoul American shores from Florida to the Carolinas.
The notice in Granma said the Songa Mercur rig also underwent safety
inspection and is capable of drilling with minimum environmental risk."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/15/3143509/oil-rig-arrives-off-cuba-for-new.html
Oil rig arrives off Cuba for new exploration
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- A Norwegian-owned platform arrived in waters off Cuba's
north-central coast for exploratory drilling by the Russian oil company
Zarubezhneft, authorities said Saturday, renewing the island's search
for petroleum after three failed wells this year.
Drilling is to begin "in the coming days" and take six months, according
to a notice published by the Communist Party newspaper Granma. The depth
of the project was given as 21,300 feet (6,500 meters).
State-run oil company Cubapetroleo said in the announcement that the
Songa Mercur rig, owned by Songa Offshore of Norway, was inspected to
make sure it contains less than 10 percent U.S.-made parts. That allows
the companies involved in the drilling to avoid sanctions under the
50-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba.
The exploration block in question, near the gleaming beaches of a major
tourist resort, is considered less promising than offshore areas to the
west where earlier this year a superdeep-water platform drilled three
wells deemed commercially nonviable.
The Scarabeo-9, a huge semisubmersible rig owned by Italy's Saipem, left
Cuban waters last month after sinking the three dud wells, and analysts
said it could be years before drilling resumed in those deep-water blocks.
Geologic surveys say 5 billion to 9 billion barrels of oil may lie off
Cuba's coast. Island authorities hope there may be even more and have
been banking on a big strike.
An injection of petrodollars could boost Cuba's struggling economy,
bankroll President Raul Castro's economic reforms and ease the island's
energy dependence on Venezuela, which has sent billions of dollars'
worth of oil on preferential terms.
"The new well has the objective of determining the potential of
petroleum and natural gas in this sector of our country," the notice in
Granma read. "Its results should contribute to the knowledge of the area
of the perforation, as well as all of north-central Cuba."
Cuba's oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted protest from
Cuban exiles in the United States and alarmed some who fear a spill
could befoul American shores from Florida to the Carolinas.
The notice in Granma said the Songa Mercur rig also underwent safety
inspection and is capable of drilling with minimum environmental risk."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/15/3143509/oil-rig-arrives-off-cuba-for-new.html
Driver convicted in Payá accident to return to Madrid
Posted on Saturday, 12.15.12
CUBA
Driver convicted in Payá accident to return to Madrid
Angel Carromero will serve the rest of his four-year sentence in Spain,
Cuban and Spanish officials said.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
The widow of Havana dissident Oswaldo Payá said Friday she's glad that
Spanish politician Angel Carromero will leave his Cuban jail but has
little hope that he will clear up allegations surrounding her husband's
death in a car crash when he returns to Madrid.
"We have never blamed Carromero for the accident," said the widow,
Ofelia Acevedo, who maintains that government security agents may have
caused the crash and then forced the Spaniard to keep quiet on the
promise of letting him out of jail early.
Cuban and Spanish officials announced Friday that Carromero will be
moved to a Spanish jail to serve the remainder of his four-year sentence
for vehicular homicide in the deaths of Payá, founder of the Christian
Liberation Movement, and youth branch leader Harold Cepero.
The Spaniard was at the wheel of a rented car carrying Payá, Cepero and
Swedish politician Jens Aaron Modig when it crashed July 22 in eastern
Cuba, killing the two Cubans. Carromero and Modig, both 27, suffered
only minor injuries.
Cuban officials say the Spaniard lost control of the car and crashed
into a tree. Payá's family is demanding an independent investigation,
saying there's evidence he was forced off the road by another car,
presumably carrying State Security agents who always monitored Payá.
Carromero and Modig, who returned to Stockholm a week after the
accident, have not spoken about the second car to win a quick release
for the Spaniard, according to Payá relatives and supporters on the
island and abroad.
"We are happy that he can leave Cuba, that he can end his kidnapping
here," Acevedo told El Nuevo Herald in a phone interview from Havana.
"But we're not renouncing our demand for an independent investigation.
We do not accept the government version, because we're convinced that it
did not happen that way."
Once out of Cuba, the Spaniard may tell the full truth about the
accident, she added, "although I also would not be surprised at all that
he would maintain total silence on the issue … There are other interests
and other powers that evidently don't want the truth to come out."
Payá's daughter, Rosa María, said in a statement emailed to journalists
that once freed, Carromero should explain reports that Modig used his
cell phone to send text messages to friends in Sweden reporting their
car had been rammed from behind by another vehicle.
She also noted that the Cuban government has yet to give her family a
copy of her father's autopsy, and has not given Cepero's relatives the
SIM cards from the two cellular phones he was carrying, which might show
whether he made any calls immediately before or after the car crash.
"We are glad for Angel and his family, and we hope that from Madrid he
will help to clarify the truth, the truth for which we work and for
which we will never stop seeking," Rosa María concluded.
Payá's representative in Spain, Regis Iglesias, sent a Tweeter message
Friday saying, "Oswaldo and Harold murdered. Angel and Aaron back home …
Spain in dishonorable silence." Modig did not return phone calls and
emails seeking comment for this story.
Carromero and Modig are activists in the youth wings of conservative
parties — the Popular Party in Spain and Sweden's Christian Democratic
Party. The Cuban government alleges that they went to the island on
tourist visas to deliver money to dissidents.
Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told
journalists in Madrid on Friday that Cuban and Spanish officials had met
Wednesday in Havana and agreed to the return home of Carromero. A Cuban
foreign ministry statement confirmed the agreement.
No date was given for his return, although the EFE news agency quoted
Spanish diplomats in Havana as saying they hoped Carromero would be home
before the end of the year. Another Spaniard serving an 18-year drug
sentence in Cuba also will be transferred to a Spanish jail.
The two countries signed an agreement in 1998 that allow their citizens
to serve prison terms in their own countries, but it is not known how
many times it has been used.
Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo of Spain met twice with his
Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez in November to discuss the Carromero
case but has maintained diplomatic silence on the case before and after
the meeting.
A post Friday on the Christian Liberation Movement's Facebook page
reflected the belief of many Payá supporters that the Spanish government
agreed to cover up the Cuban involvement in the fatal crash in order to
get Carromero out of prison quickly.
"From the start, and despite having information about the crime, the
Spanish government used the strategy of 'self-blame,'" the post noted.
"Now it must accept that an innocent person … serve a sentence in Spain
for a crime he did not commit."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/15/3142593/online-head.html
CUBA
Driver convicted in Payá accident to return to Madrid
Angel Carromero will serve the rest of his four-year sentence in Spain,
Cuban and Spanish officials said.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
The widow of Havana dissident Oswaldo Payá said Friday she's glad that
Spanish politician Angel Carromero will leave his Cuban jail but has
little hope that he will clear up allegations surrounding her husband's
death in a car crash when he returns to Madrid.
"We have never blamed Carromero for the accident," said the widow,
Ofelia Acevedo, who maintains that government security agents may have
caused the crash and then forced the Spaniard to keep quiet on the
promise of letting him out of jail early.
Cuban and Spanish officials announced Friday that Carromero will be
moved to a Spanish jail to serve the remainder of his four-year sentence
for vehicular homicide in the deaths of Payá, founder of the Christian
Liberation Movement, and youth branch leader Harold Cepero.
The Spaniard was at the wheel of a rented car carrying Payá, Cepero and
Swedish politician Jens Aaron Modig when it crashed July 22 in eastern
Cuba, killing the two Cubans. Carromero and Modig, both 27, suffered
only minor injuries.
Cuban officials say the Spaniard lost control of the car and crashed
into a tree. Payá's family is demanding an independent investigation,
saying there's evidence he was forced off the road by another car,
presumably carrying State Security agents who always monitored Payá.
Carromero and Modig, who returned to Stockholm a week after the
accident, have not spoken about the second car to win a quick release
for the Spaniard, according to Payá relatives and supporters on the
island and abroad.
"We are happy that he can leave Cuba, that he can end his kidnapping
here," Acevedo told El Nuevo Herald in a phone interview from Havana.
"But we're not renouncing our demand for an independent investigation.
We do not accept the government version, because we're convinced that it
did not happen that way."
Once out of Cuba, the Spaniard may tell the full truth about the
accident, she added, "although I also would not be surprised at all that
he would maintain total silence on the issue … There are other interests
and other powers that evidently don't want the truth to come out."
Payá's daughter, Rosa María, said in a statement emailed to journalists
that once freed, Carromero should explain reports that Modig used his
cell phone to send text messages to friends in Sweden reporting their
car had been rammed from behind by another vehicle.
She also noted that the Cuban government has yet to give her family a
copy of her father's autopsy, and has not given Cepero's relatives the
SIM cards from the two cellular phones he was carrying, which might show
whether he made any calls immediately before or after the car crash.
"We are glad for Angel and his family, and we hope that from Madrid he
will help to clarify the truth, the truth for which we work and for
which we will never stop seeking," Rosa María concluded.
Payá's representative in Spain, Regis Iglesias, sent a Tweeter message
Friday saying, "Oswaldo and Harold murdered. Angel and Aaron back home …
Spain in dishonorable silence." Modig did not return phone calls and
emails seeking comment for this story.
Carromero and Modig are activists in the youth wings of conservative
parties — the Popular Party in Spain and Sweden's Christian Democratic
Party. The Cuban government alleges that they went to the island on
tourist visas to deliver money to dissidents.
Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told
journalists in Madrid on Friday that Cuban and Spanish officials had met
Wednesday in Havana and agreed to the return home of Carromero. A Cuban
foreign ministry statement confirmed the agreement.
No date was given for his return, although the EFE news agency quoted
Spanish diplomats in Havana as saying they hoped Carromero would be home
before the end of the year. Another Spaniard serving an 18-year drug
sentence in Cuba also will be transferred to a Spanish jail.
The two countries signed an agreement in 1998 that allow their citizens
to serve prison terms in their own countries, but it is not known how
many times it has been used.
Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo of Spain met twice with his
Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez in November to discuss the Carromero
case but has maintained diplomatic silence on the case before and after
the meeting.
A post Friday on the Christian Liberation Movement's Facebook page
reflected the belief of many Payá supporters that the Spanish government
agreed to cover up the Cuban involvement in the fatal crash in order to
get Carromero out of prison quickly.
"From the start, and despite having information about the crime, the
Spanish government used the strategy of 'self-blame,'" the post noted.
"Now it must accept that an innocent person … serve a sentence in Spain
for a crime he did not commit."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/15/3142593/online-head.html
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Repression, Poverty and Other Cuban Truths Arrive at the DVD Market
Repression, Poverty and Other Cuban Truths Arrive at the DVD Market /
Luis Felipe Rojas #Cuba
Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Unstated
In just thirteen minutes of history human rights activists told how they
were attacked by political police officers and men in plain clothes. The
reason? Castro graffiti on the streets, and posters hanging from roofs.
Without meaning to justify themselves, young dissidents explain how they
have been surprised that when these signs appear they are held
responsible for them and that they come from the increasingly
discontented population of the whole country.
The independent visual experimentation group, Palenque Vision, of the
Eastern Democratic Alliance, has released from the tangled Guantanamera
geography a documentary produced by themselves and directed by Rolando
Rodriguez Lobaina. The material, entitled "For Cuba, Freedom", is
supported by a simple narrative, without makeup, profusion of visual
effects or complicated editing.
This same group recently produced an amusing video shot with a hidden
camera showing delegates to an assembly prior to municipal elections of
the People's Power in Baracoa, Guantanamo, last September, where the
revolutionary leaders fall into a deep sleep to the rhythm of harangues.
Right now the Cuban documentary is found in small viewings in
intellectual circles, the few spaces for exhibitions and festivals, and
the rich environment of everyday life underground. Alternative
distribution routes are growing — from citizen to citizen — enriching
the immediate reality.
The proliferation of flash memory, the use and popularization of
something as useful as the home DVD player, and the release by the Cuban
government of patents for reproducing and selling audiovisual products
on the part of the self-employed, have enlarged Cuban viewers'
opportunities over the last five years.
The American television series that propaganda apparatus on the island
do not allow to be releases, materials from Cuban athletes living
abroad, telenovelas, historical films, action adventure (all produced by
capitalists), go from house to house, in cutting edge technological
devices or the almost obsolete CDs.
Amid this avalanche also coming into homes are materials showing Cuban
government repression or closeups denouncing the misery in which the
country finds itself.
The documentaries of Vision Palenque join the materials coming out of
film schools and independent experimental groups, which have produced
debates as such as Citizens' Reasons and State of Sats (Estado de Sats)
and reports such as those from Let's Talk Press (Hablemos Press) and
other independent news agencies .
This is a good sign for the health of the Cuban documentary.
http://translatingcuba.com/repression-poverty-and-other-cuban-truths-arrive-at-the-dvd-market-luis-felipe-rojas-cuba/
Luis Felipe Rojas #Cuba
Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Unstated
In just thirteen minutes of history human rights activists told how they
were attacked by political police officers and men in plain clothes. The
reason? Castro graffiti on the streets, and posters hanging from roofs.
Without meaning to justify themselves, young dissidents explain how they
have been surprised that when these signs appear they are held
responsible for them and that they come from the increasingly
discontented population of the whole country.
The independent visual experimentation group, Palenque Vision, of the
Eastern Democratic Alliance, has released from the tangled Guantanamera
geography a documentary produced by themselves and directed by Rolando
Rodriguez Lobaina. The material, entitled "For Cuba, Freedom", is
supported by a simple narrative, without makeup, profusion of visual
effects or complicated editing.
This same group recently produced an amusing video shot with a hidden
camera showing delegates to an assembly prior to municipal elections of
the People's Power in Baracoa, Guantanamo, last September, where the
revolutionary leaders fall into a deep sleep to the rhythm of harangues.
Right now the Cuban documentary is found in small viewings in
intellectual circles, the few spaces for exhibitions and festivals, and
the rich environment of everyday life underground. Alternative
distribution routes are growing — from citizen to citizen — enriching
the immediate reality.
The proliferation of flash memory, the use and popularization of
something as useful as the home DVD player, and the release by the Cuban
government of patents for reproducing and selling audiovisual products
on the part of the self-employed, have enlarged Cuban viewers'
opportunities over the last five years.
The American television series that propaganda apparatus on the island
do not allow to be releases, materials from Cuban athletes living
abroad, telenovelas, historical films, action adventure (all produced by
capitalists), go from house to house, in cutting edge technological
devices or the almost obsolete CDs.
Amid this avalanche also coming into homes are materials showing Cuban
government repression or closeups denouncing the misery in which the
country finds itself.
The documentaries of Vision Palenque join the materials coming out of
film schools and independent experimental groups, which have produced
debates as such as Citizens' Reasons and State of Sats (Estado de Sats)
and reports such as those from Let's Talk Press (Hablemos Press) and
other independent news agencies .
This is a good sign for the health of the Cuban documentary.
http://translatingcuba.com/repression-poverty-and-other-cuban-truths-arrive-at-the-dvd-market-luis-felipe-rojas-cuba/
Primary School in Cuba: Crisis or Regression in Quality?
Primary School in Cuba: Crisis or Regression in Quality? / Ivan Garcia #Cuba
Ivan Garcia, Translator: mlk
I have a nine-year old daughter, and due to the laxity in primary
education, her mother and I have seen ourselves obliged to invest more
time and money than we would like in order tostrengthen her knowledge.
When she was in first grade, her teacher, 18-years-old with poor teacher
training, used corporal punishment against the students every time she
lost her patience. The mistreatment happened often. The girl was vulgar
and angry. Besides, she scarcely had any culture and little or no
teaching vocation.
Repeated complaints to the director of the school and letters sent to
theMinister of Education by some parents provoked a transfer of the
teacher to another school. The logical thing would have been to expel
her from teaching. But the lack of primary teachers in Cuba caused the
educational authorities not to take drastic measures.
My daughter came home fearful because of the screams, blows and insults
of her teacher. She began to reject school. She barely progressed in
reading and math. After her school day, her mother and I reviewed with
her for two hours daily.
For 10 convertible pesos, half the salary of a professional in Cuba, we
hired an experienced, retiredprimary school teacher for the purpose of
elevating the quality of her instruction. Also, we paid 3 convertible
pesosmonthly to an English teacher.
My daughter's situation is not an exception in Cuba today. I would say
it is the norm. Many families surely have a history of complaints to
tell about faculty mismanagement.
According to the official press, there is a deficit of 14 thousand
teachers in primary and secondary teaching. Fernando Ravsberg, reporter
for BBC on the island, says on his blog that it takes great abilityto
write an article of 1,400 words about the scarcity of teachers and not
oncementionthe low salaries that they earn.
The regression in the quality of education is intimately tied to the
ridiculous salaries. A teacher does not earn more than 500 pesos. He
receives no extra money in currency. And his social recognition has
fallen precipitously. When a young person chooses the teaching career,
it is almost always because he has failed in his effort to pass entrance
exams in other degrees considered more "prestigious."
To be a teacher is the last card from the deck. Many men opt to study in
lightening teaching courses as a way of escaping military service. It is
not rare to see a former primary school teacher washing dishes in a
luxury hotel or preparing homemade pizzas in a private business.
A good teacher is one of the most valuable contributions to the country
that the GDP does not usually pick up. Who does not remember superb
classes in history or literature by a virtuoso teacher? The good
teachers are never forgotten and they are not only thanked for what
welearned, but also for the way in which they taught us. Behind great
professional and honest men, there is always the hand of a great teacher.
At this point we are going backwards. Right now, in the homeland of
Felix Varela, Jose de la Luz y Caballero and Maria Luisa Dolz, among
other outstanding educators, being a teacher is somewhat trivial. An
office of last resort to notswell the unemployment statistics.
If in Finland, a European nation in the vanguard of education in the
world, they assign the highest level teachers to primary teaching, in
Cuba the opposite happens. The statistics reflect that on the island
there are more than a million university graduates. Thousands of
technicians. Zero illiterates.
It is laudable. An achievement of Fidel Castro. With his stains:
teaching is highly ideological. And on the higher level, if you openly
demonstrate your political discrepancies, they might throw you into the
street.
In his timid and incomplete economic reforms, Raul Castro must have
contemplated an important improvement in the salaries of primary and
secondary teachers. An official from the Ministry of the Interior or the
Revolutionary Armed Forcesearns a thousand pesos a month. They have a
mobile telephone paid by the state.
They can get goods at cost in exclusive stores for officials. And every
year they go on vacation at military villas where they pay for their
services with very little money. The generals' club enjoys greater
prerogatives. On the other hand, Cuban teachers earn miserable salaries,
and their work is not recognized by the government.
Low quality education is now reaping its fruits. Mediocre professionals,
with spelling mistakes and incorrect use of language. Youngsters without
morals or civics whom school does not motivate. The refrain, you can
never know too much, fell into disuse.
The qualitative regression could be stopped if the State dignifies the
teaching profession and its role in society. To the contrary, the
educational crisis will continue to become more acute. We are going down
that path.
Photo:Year 1950-51. Third grade students in Public School No. 126 Ramon
Rosainz, located at Monte and Pila, Havana. They appear with their
teacher, Miss Ines. At that time, teachers were very valued and
respected by society. Before 1959, in public and private schoolsin Cuba,
individual photographersmade portraits similar to this one, which were
sold to parents for 50 cents or a peso. The first on foot on the second
row, to the left, is Tania Quintero, my mother, then 8 years of age.
Translated by mlk
December 12 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/primary-school-in-cuba-crisis-or-regression-in-quality-ivan-garcia-cuba/
Ivan Garcia, Translator: mlk
I have a nine-year old daughter, and due to the laxity in primary
education, her mother and I have seen ourselves obliged to invest more
time and money than we would like in order tostrengthen her knowledge.
When she was in first grade, her teacher, 18-years-old with poor teacher
training, used corporal punishment against the students every time she
lost her patience. The mistreatment happened often. The girl was vulgar
and angry. Besides, she scarcely had any culture and little or no
teaching vocation.
Repeated complaints to the director of the school and letters sent to
theMinister of Education by some parents provoked a transfer of the
teacher to another school. The logical thing would have been to expel
her from teaching. But the lack of primary teachers in Cuba caused the
educational authorities not to take drastic measures.
My daughter came home fearful because of the screams, blows and insults
of her teacher. She began to reject school. She barely progressed in
reading and math. After her school day, her mother and I reviewed with
her for two hours daily.
For 10 convertible pesos, half the salary of a professional in Cuba, we
hired an experienced, retiredprimary school teacher for the purpose of
elevating the quality of her instruction. Also, we paid 3 convertible
pesosmonthly to an English teacher.
My daughter's situation is not an exception in Cuba today. I would say
it is the norm. Many families surely have a history of complaints to
tell about faculty mismanagement.
According to the official press, there is a deficit of 14 thousand
teachers in primary and secondary teaching. Fernando Ravsberg, reporter
for BBC on the island, says on his blog that it takes great abilityto
write an article of 1,400 words about the scarcity of teachers and not
oncementionthe low salaries that they earn.
The regression in the quality of education is intimately tied to the
ridiculous salaries. A teacher does not earn more than 500 pesos. He
receives no extra money in currency. And his social recognition has
fallen precipitously. When a young person chooses the teaching career,
it is almost always because he has failed in his effort to pass entrance
exams in other degrees considered more "prestigious."
To be a teacher is the last card from the deck. Many men opt to study in
lightening teaching courses as a way of escaping military service. It is
not rare to see a former primary school teacher washing dishes in a
luxury hotel or preparing homemade pizzas in a private business.
A good teacher is one of the most valuable contributions to the country
that the GDP does not usually pick up. Who does not remember superb
classes in history or literature by a virtuoso teacher? The good
teachers are never forgotten and they are not only thanked for what
welearned, but also for the way in which they taught us. Behind great
professional and honest men, there is always the hand of a great teacher.
At this point we are going backwards. Right now, in the homeland of
Felix Varela, Jose de la Luz y Caballero and Maria Luisa Dolz, among
other outstanding educators, being a teacher is somewhat trivial. An
office of last resort to notswell the unemployment statistics.
If in Finland, a European nation in the vanguard of education in the
world, they assign the highest level teachers to primary teaching, in
Cuba the opposite happens. The statistics reflect that on the island
there are more than a million university graduates. Thousands of
technicians. Zero illiterates.
It is laudable. An achievement of Fidel Castro. With his stains:
teaching is highly ideological. And on the higher level, if you openly
demonstrate your political discrepancies, they might throw you into the
street.
In his timid and incomplete economic reforms, Raul Castro must have
contemplated an important improvement in the salaries of primary and
secondary teachers. An official from the Ministry of the Interior or the
Revolutionary Armed Forcesearns a thousand pesos a month. They have a
mobile telephone paid by the state.
They can get goods at cost in exclusive stores for officials. And every
year they go on vacation at military villas where they pay for their
services with very little money. The generals' club enjoys greater
prerogatives. On the other hand, Cuban teachers earn miserable salaries,
and their work is not recognized by the government.
Low quality education is now reaping its fruits. Mediocre professionals,
with spelling mistakes and incorrect use of language. Youngsters without
morals or civics whom school does not motivate. The refrain, you can
never know too much, fell into disuse.
The qualitative regression could be stopped if the State dignifies the
teaching profession and its role in society. To the contrary, the
educational crisis will continue to become more acute. We are going down
that path.
Photo:Year 1950-51. Third grade students in Public School No. 126 Ramon
Rosainz, located at Monte and Pila, Havana. They appear with their
teacher, Miss Ines. At that time, teachers were very valued and
respected by society. Before 1959, in public and private schoolsin Cuba,
individual photographersmade portraits similar to this one, which were
sold to parents for 50 cents or a peso. The first on foot on the second
row, to the left, is Tania Quintero, my mother, then 8 years of age.
Translated by mlk
December 12 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/primary-school-in-cuba-crisis-or-regression-in-quality-ivan-garcia-cuba/
Cuba Allows Cooperatives in Various Economic Activities
Cuba Allows Cooperatives in Various Economic Activities / Yoani Sanchez
#Cuba
Translator: Unstated, Yoani Sanchez
Waiting for…
This Tuesday a new Decree-Law went into effect in Cuba, gradually
expanding cooperatives. In a preliminary state it is expected to
contribute to the creation of more than 200 associations of this type
throughout the country. Since the last session of the National Assembly,
in July of this year, we have been awaiting the implementation of a
measure that is expected to invigorate the island's ailing economy.
Until now, this kind of management has only been allowed in the
agricultural sector. But starting now it will also include restaurants,
transport, personal and domestic services, the recovery of raw materials
and construction, among other sectors.
This measure is part of a plan of increased flexibility and economic
adjustments approved by the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of
Cuba in 2011. According to official propaganda is part of a process of
"updating the current model" rather than dismantling it. However, some
critical sectors had advocated for less nationalization and more
cooperatives, as an alternative to privatization.
This Tuesday's edition of the newspaper Granma said that it is a
decree-law that establishes the "experimental constitution" of these
associations. It also announced that the lease of state-owned premises
shall preferentially be offered to those workers who work in them now.
Of course, when these workers "voluntarily determine to form a
cooperative." To form the cooperative the applicants will have to
present a request to the municipal organs of People's Power and these
submit them to various committees.
Initially "first degree" associations will be authorized, with up to
three employees. It is also expected that "second degree" associations
will be permitted, made up of two or more cooperatives, although right
now they still will not be implemented. A General Assembly, where each
partner will have one vote, will be directed by each of these groups.
The official organ of the Communist Party clarifies that the the prices
of products and services marketed will be governed by the laws of supply
and demand. Although it warns that there will be some exceptions in
which the State will determine the sales prices. During the session of
the National Assembly in July, Vice President Marino Murillo said the
government was working on the preparation of a General Law of Cooperatives.
Among the best received points of the new Decree-Law is the fact that
these new entities will have a legal existence. They will not be
administratively subordinated "to any state entity" although it's been
made clear that they should "conform to the guidelines set forth by the
governing bodies" of each activity. For example, in the case of a group
of workers who form a construction cooperative, they will have to abide
by the quality standards dictated by the appropriate Ministry.
The new Decree-Law is also related to the Law No. 113 of the Tax System
to take effect this coming January. This grants tax incentives for
cooperatives compared to other state forms of management.
The economic adjustment plan driven by Raul Castro still has major gaps.
Complaints from the self-employment and cooperative sector center on the
inability to get bank financing and the lack of a wholesale market. The
government has said the latter will be gradually implemented beginning
in 2013, but this announcement has not quieted suspicions. However, a
brief glimmer of autonomy is being opened with the Decree-Law that goes
into effect on this second Tuesday of December.
11 December 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-allows-cooperatives-in-various-economic-activities-yoani-sanchez-cuba/
#Cuba
Translator: Unstated, Yoani Sanchez
Waiting for…
This Tuesday a new Decree-Law went into effect in Cuba, gradually
expanding cooperatives. In a preliminary state it is expected to
contribute to the creation of more than 200 associations of this type
throughout the country. Since the last session of the National Assembly,
in July of this year, we have been awaiting the implementation of a
measure that is expected to invigorate the island's ailing economy.
Until now, this kind of management has only been allowed in the
agricultural sector. But starting now it will also include restaurants,
transport, personal and domestic services, the recovery of raw materials
and construction, among other sectors.
This measure is part of a plan of increased flexibility and economic
adjustments approved by the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of
Cuba in 2011. According to official propaganda is part of a process of
"updating the current model" rather than dismantling it. However, some
critical sectors had advocated for less nationalization and more
cooperatives, as an alternative to privatization.
This Tuesday's edition of the newspaper Granma said that it is a
decree-law that establishes the "experimental constitution" of these
associations. It also announced that the lease of state-owned premises
shall preferentially be offered to those workers who work in them now.
Of course, when these workers "voluntarily determine to form a
cooperative." To form the cooperative the applicants will have to
present a request to the municipal organs of People's Power and these
submit them to various committees.
Initially "first degree" associations will be authorized, with up to
three employees. It is also expected that "second degree" associations
will be permitted, made up of two or more cooperatives, although right
now they still will not be implemented. A General Assembly, where each
partner will have one vote, will be directed by each of these groups.
The official organ of the Communist Party clarifies that the the prices
of products and services marketed will be governed by the laws of supply
and demand. Although it warns that there will be some exceptions in
which the State will determine the sales prices. During the session of
the National Assembly in July, Vice President Marino Murillo said the
government was working on the preparation of a General Law of Cooperatives.
Among the best received points of the new Decree-Law is the fact that
these new entities will have a legal existence. They will not be
administratively subordinated "to any state entity" although it's been
made clear that they should "conform to the guidelines set forth by the
governing bodies" of each activity. For example, in the case of a group
of workers who form a construction cooperative, they will have to abide
by the quality standards dictated by the appropriate Ministry.
The new Decree-Law is also related to the Law No. 113 of the Tax System
to take effect this coming January. This grants tax incentives for
cooperatives compared to other state forms of management.
The economic adjustment plan driven by Raul Castro still has major gaps.
Complaints from the self-employment and cooperative sector center on the
inability to get bank financing and the lack of a wholesale market. The
government has said the latter will be gradually implemented beginning
in 2013, but this announcement has not quieted suspicions. However, a
brief glimmer of autonomy is being opened with the Decree-Law that goes
into effect on this second Tuesday of December.
11 December 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-allows-cooperatives-in-various-economic-activities-yoani-sanchez-cuba/
Day of Latin American Medicine
Day of Latin American Medicine / Jeovany Jimenez Vega #Cuba
Jeovany J. Vega, Translator: Unstated
medico-cubanoThe anniversary arrives uneventfully. Today is the Day of
Latin American Medicine, and in this or that Cubanmedical center this or
that political-cultural-recreational-allegorical act will be held, in
which this or that director will repeat this or that second-hand
patriotic phrase opportunely memorized. On the platform will be those
who live to talk, pretend or lie, and those who simply work saving human
lives. When the staging is finished they will leave behind the same
panorama as always: a health care professional who asks what do the
words accomplish without the support of the facts.
There are heard again these days rumors of an imminent "salary increase"
that our sector will get, even specifying that it would be around 30 or
40% of base salary. Personally I very much doubt it — because in one of
his last speeches Raul Castro made clear that for now that would not
happen. To create expectations today would be like taking the heartbeats
for the galloping horse that is expected, but it would be worth the
effort, stage direction apart, to reflect on the value of such a "raise"
for an economic sector that earns for this country much more than a
billion dollars annually.
If true, that would be a raise of around $200.00 pesos (CUP or "national
money"), which is the equivalent in Cuba of $8.00 in convertible pesos
(CUC), or what would be the same as $8.80 US. That is, as long as we
generate billions, they will offer us $8.00 a month for such a "salary
increase."
But the Cuban government says it has no more to spend on public health
workers. True, they have to prioritize the wages of those policemen who
stoically sacrifice to maintain such quiet that we do not hear anyone
screaming in the middle of the Revolutionaries' street that they can not
afford to live on their salaries, which would create too awkward of a
landscape for the tender eyes of the tourists and foreign reporters.
What defines the quality of a gift is the posture, the dignity of the
recipient: if you receive something from a position of subservience or
submission, to the detriment of a single shred of dignity, it's as if
you receive a handout but consists of millions received in an unworthy
manner; this is what they do with us in 2005 and it would be the same
now, if it is true what is rumored.
I think if some sector in Cuba is comfortably able to triple the base
salary of its employees, it is the public health sector; tripling the
basic wage — and from there add no less than $500 in Cuban pesos for
each specialty practiced, or another way to look at it, each diploma or
mastery –and this would begin to be more respectful, the rest would be
pure symbolism, pure window dressing.
But as for now everything is pure speculation, and not to be accused
again of being "metallic" for demanding a decent wage, I am happy today
to congratulate from my humble site those I hold in high esteem, those
working with very modest resources, ignoring the shortages they suffer
personally, to return to health and to life as many people as possible;
to my teacher, for whom I have an admiration and a respect bordering on
fanaticism, and a devotion similar to that professed by the martyrs and
the saints; to that professor who does not know my voice and who, but
for the limits imposed by behavior and gallantry and good looks, like
the kiss for a father, whenever I met him I would kiss his clean hands.
December 3 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/day-of-latin-american-medicine-jeovany-jimenez-vega-cuba/
Jeovany J. Vega, Translator: Unstated
medico-cubanoThe anniversary arrives uneventfully. Today is the Day of
Latin American Medicine, and in this or that Cubanmedical center this or
that political-cultural-recreational-allegorical act will be held, in
which this or that director will repeat this or that second-hand
patriotic phrase opportunely memorized. On the platform will be those
who live to talk, pretend or lie, and those who simply work saving human
lives. When the staging is finished they will leave behind the same
panorama as always: a health care professional who asks what do the
words accomplish without the support of the facts.
There are heard again these days rumors of an imminent "salary increase"
that our sector will get, even specifying that it would be around 30 or
40% of base salary. Personally I very much doubt it — because in one of
his last speeches Raul Castro made clear that for now that would not
happen. To create expectations today would be like taking the heartbeats
for the galloping horse that is expected, but it would be worth the
effort, stage direction apart, to reflect on the value of such a "raise"
for an economic sector that earns for this country much more than a
billion dollars annually.
If true, that would be a raise of around $200.00 pesos (CUP or "national
money"), which is the equivalent in Cuba of $8.00 in convertible pesos
(CUC), or what would be the same as $8.80 US. That is, as long as we
generate billions, they will offer us $8.00 a month for such a "salary
increase."
But the Cuban government says it has no more to spend on public health
workers. True, they have to prioritize the wages of those policemen who
stoically sacrifice to maintain such quiet that we do not hear anyone
screaming in the middle of the Revolutionaries' street that they can not
afford to live on their salaries, which would create too awkward of a
landscape for the tender eyes of the tourists and foreign reporters.
What defines the quality of a gift is the posture, the dignity of the
recipient: if you receive something from a position of subservience or
submission, to the detriment of a single shred of dignity, it's as if
you receive a handout but consists of millions received in an unworthy
manner; this is what they do with us in 2005 and it would be the same
now, if it is true what is rumored.
I think if some sector in Cuba is comfortably able to triple the base
salary of its employees, it is the public health sector; tripling the
basic wage — and from there add no less than $500 in Cuban pesos for
each specialty practiced, or another way to look at it, each diploma or
mastery –and this would begin to be more respectful, the rest would be
pure symbolism, pure window dressing.
But as for now everything is pure speculation, and not to be accused
again of being "metallic" for demanding a decent wage, I am happy today
to congratulate from my humble site those I hold in high esteem, those
working with very modest resources, ignoring the shortages they suffer
personally, to return to health and to life as many people as possible;
to my teacher, for whom I have an admiration and a respect bordering on
fanaticism, and a devotion similar to that professed by the martyrs and
the saints; to that professor who does not know my voice and who, but
for the limits imposed by behavior and gallantry and good looks, like
the kiss for a father, whenever I met him I would kiss his clean hands.
December 3 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/day-of-latin-american-medicine-jeovany-jimenez-vega-cuba/
Friday, December 14, 2012
Cuban foreign minister promoted to top leadership body
Posted on Wednesday, 12.12.12
Cuban foreign minister promoted to top leadership body
In a group dominated by men in their 60s and 70s, Bruno Rodriguez, at
54, is among the young leaders.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, 54, has been elevated to
the top echelon of the Communist Party as part of what ruler Raúl Castro
described as an "urgent" effort to break the stiff resistance to the
promotion of younger leaders.
"It is urgent for us to break the blockade in thinking that still exists
when it comes time to select and prepare young leaders," the 81-year-old
Castro was quoted as telling a meeting Tuesday of the party's Central
Committee. "Time is running short."
Castro did not identify who's behind the "blockade," but there have been
several unconfirmed reports of officials of Communist Party of Cuba
(PCC) throwing quiet but sharp elbows to position themselves or their
friends for top party and government posts in coming years.
"We have brilliant youths who we must guide and transmit to them the
knowledge that we have acquired in so many years of revolution,"
official news reports quoted Castro as saying. "On the issue of (party)
leaders, we have taken positive steps but the effort required is big."
Castro, who is first secretary of the PCC, then announced that Rodriguez
had been elevated to the Political Bureau, the party's top standing
body. Only four of its 16 members are under the age of 65 and the oldest
is 84. Five hold the rank of general.
Castro has been insisting on the need to bring more youths, women and
blacks into the party since a national congress of the PCC last spring,
but there have been hints that some middle- and high-ranking party
officials are not happy making way for newcomers.
"Some of these people say they sacrificed to rise within the party, paid
their dues if you will, and now see these newcomers on the fast track,"
said a European diplomat who asked to remain anonymous because he was
not authorized to speak on Cuba issues.
Cuba analysts have long looked to the Politburo's membership for the
kinds of changes that could first point to possible successors to
Castro, who has proposed a 10-year term limit for top government
officials. That could force him to leave his office no later than in 2018.
But the elevation of Rodriguez to such a powerful position surprised
many who considered him as no more than a disciplined revolutionary who
moved up the chain because he was too cautious to risk making any mistakes.
"He's not one you could have a conversation with and feel that he could
provide any information or guidance that was outside the safety lanes,"
said John Kavulich, who met Rodriguez several times when he was Cuba's
ambassador to the United Nations. "He was a typical bureaucrat, whether
a Havana bureaucrat or a Washington bureaucrat."
Rodriguez started in public life as national president of the Federation
of High School Students, then served in the Federation of University
Students while earning his law degree and teaching for a few years at
the University of Havana.
He has been publisher of the Rebel Youth newspaper, official voice of
the Union of Communist Youths (UJC) and one of the island's three
national newspapers, and headed Cuba's medical mission to Pakistan
following a devastating earthquake there in 2005.
Since 1981, he has been head of the UJC's international relations
department, deputy ambassador and ambassador to the U.N., and then
deputy foreign minister — with almost each promotion following in the
footsteps of Fernando Remírez de Estenoz.
Remírez de Estenoz, who also headed Cuba's diplomatic mission in
Washington from 1995 to 2001, was considered a potential future leader
until 2009, when he was fired in a crackdown along with Vice President
Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.
Former Cuban ruler Fidel Castro later indicated that Lage and Roque had
become too power hungry, saying that "the honey of power … awoke in them
ambitions that led them to an undignified role."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/12/3139468/cuban-foreign-minister-promoted.html
Cuban foreign minister promoted to top leadership body
In a group dominated by men in their 60s and 70s, Bruno Rodriguez, at
54, is among the young leaders.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, 54, has been elevated to
the top echelon of the Communist Party as part of what ruler Raúl Castro
described as an "urgent" effort to break the stiff resistance to the
promotion of younger leaders.
"It is urgent for us to break the blockade in thinking that still exists
when it comes time to select and prepare young leaders," the 81-year-old
Castro was quoted as telling a meeting Tuesday of the party's Central
Committee. "Time is running short."
Castro did not identify who's behind the "blockade," but there have been
several unconfirmed reports of officials of Communist Party of Cuba
(PCC) throwing quiet but sharp elbows to position themselves or their
friends for top party and government posts in coming years.
"We have brilliant youths who we must guide and transmit to them the
knowledge that we have acquired in so many years of revolution,"
official news reports quoted Castro as saying. "On the issue of (party)
leaders, we have taken positive steps but the effort required is big."
Castro, who is first secretary of the PCC, then announced that Rodriguez
had been elevated to the Political Bureau, the party's top standing
body. Only four of its 16 members are under the age of 65 and the oldest
is 84. Five hold the rank of general.
Castro has been insisting on the need to bring more youths, women and
blacks into the party since a national congress of the PCC last spring,
but there have been hints that some middle- and high-ranking party
officials are not happy making way for newcomers.
"Some of these people say they sacrificed to rise within the party, paid
their dues if you will, and now see these newcomers on the fast track,"
said a European diplomat who asked to remain anonymous because he was
not authorized to speak on Cuba issues.
Cuba analysts have long looked to the Politburo's membership for the
kinds of changes that could first point to possible successors to
Castro, who has proposed a 10-year term limit for top government
officials. That could force him to leave his office no later than in 2018.
But the elevation of Rodriguez to such a powerful position surprised
many who considered him as no more than a disciplined revolutionary who
moved up the chain because he was too cautious to risk making any mistakes.
"He's not one you could have a conversation with and feel that he could
provide any information or guidance that was outside the safety lanes,"
said John Kavulich, who met Rodriguez several times when he was Cuba's
ambassador to the United Nations. "He was a typical bureaucrat, whether
a Havana bureaucrat or a Washington bureaucrat."
Rodriguez started in public life as national president of the Federation
of High School Students, then served in the Federation of University
Students while earning his law degree and teaching for a few years at
the University of Havana.
He has been publisher of the Rebel Youth newspaper, official voice of
the Union of Communist Youths (UJC) and one of the island's three
national newspapers, and headed Cuba's medical mission to Pakistan
following a devastating earthquake there in 2005.
Since 1981, he has been head of the UJC's international relations
department, deputy ambassador and ambassador to the U.N., and then
deputy foreign minister — with almost each promotion following in the
footsteps of Fernando Remírez de Estenoz.
Remírez de Estenoz, who also headed Cuba's diplomatic mission in
Washington from 1995 to 2001, was considered a potential future leader
until 2009, when he was fired in a crackdown along with Vice President
Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.
Former Cuban ruler Fidel Castro later indicated that Lage and Roque had
become too power hungry, saying that "the honey of power … awoke in them
ambitions that led them to an undignified role."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/12/3139468/cuban-foreign-minister-promoted.html
Cuba cracks down on dissidents on Rights Day
Posted on Tuesday, 12.11.12
Cuba cracks down on dissidents on Rights Day
Scores of Ladies in White and other dissidents were detained during the
Sunday crackdown.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuban police have detained more than 100 dissidents and put another 100
to 150 under house arrest in an island-wide crackdown to block any
gatherings marking International Human Rights Day on Monday, according
to government opponents.
Among those detained were about 80 members and supporters of the Ladies
in White, including dozens who were reportedly carted off roughly during
roundups in Havana and on their way to the Our Lady of Charity Basilica
in the eastern town of El Cobre.
Security agents also sealed off several homes in eastern Cuba to avert
gatherings of dissidents to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, said Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, head of the
opposition Cuban Patriotic Union.
The U.S. government swiftly denounced the arrests, saying it was "deeply
concerned by the Cuban government's repeated use of arbitrary detention
and violence to silence critics, disrupt peaceful assembly and
intimidate independent civil society."
"We call on the Cuban government to end" the arrests and violence "and
we look forward to the day when all Cubans can freely express their
ideas," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Monday.
Cuban police and State Security agents usually round up scores of
dissidents on or before Dec. 10 each year to keep them from staging any
sort of events marking the day. The government critics are then released
after a few hours or days.
About 45 Ladies in White and 10 supporters were arrested in Havana
following their traditional march outside the Santa Rita church after
Sunday mass, said Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz, head of the Cuban
Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
The women usually are allowed to go home without incident after the
marches, but this weekend were harassed by government agents. When they
sat down in protest, police dragged them roughly to three waiting buses,
Sanchez said. Most were released by Sunday night.
Ferrer said another 34 Ladies in White and two young girls were
detained, 16 of them "with violence," over the weekend around eastern
Cuba as they tried to make their way to El Cobre to pray for human
rights. All had been freed as of noon Monday.
Police intercepted three more at the gates to the church on Sunday and
tried to seize two others already inside, Ferrer told El Nuevo Herald by
phone from his home in the nearby town of Palmarito de Cauto. But a
priest in the church protected the women and drove them home after the mass.
The Ladies in White, founded by the wives, daughters and mothers of
political prisoners, was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2005. They wear white clothes and carry
pink gladiolas during their marches.
Another 20 male dissidents were taken into custody and held in police
lockups around eastern Cuba over the weekend, Ferrer added. Four were
confirmed to have been freed as of noon Monday but there was no word on
the fate of the others.
Sanchez added that police and state security agents also put between 100
and 150 dissidents under house arrest during the crackdown, but stressed
that he was still receiving new reports of arrests and releases as of
Monday evening.
A blog widely believed to be run by State Security agents, Yohandry's
Blog, claimed that police were forced to drag away the Havana Ladies in
White before civilians nearby could give them a "forceful reply" for
"failing to respect the pain of the Cuban people" over the health of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
Chávez announced Saturday that he was returning to Cuba for a fourth
round of surgery related to his fight with cancer. He arrived Monday.
The opposition group Express Art for Freedom, meanwhile, announced a
contest, open to island residents only, for the best Tweet regarding
International Human Rights Day. The winner, who will pick from among a
computer, a camera or a cellular telephone, will be announced after Dec. 23.
And in Spain, two Cuban groups marched to the Cuban embassy in Madrid on
Sunday to protest the detentions and demand the release of Sonia Garros
and Calixto Ramon Martinez, dissidents who have been jailed on the
island for several weeks.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/11/3136204/cuba-cracks-down-on-dissidents.html
Cuba cracks down on dissidents on Rights Day
Scores of Ladies in White and other dissidents were detained during the
Sunday crackdown.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuban police have detained more than 100 dissidents and put another 100
to 150 under house arrest in an island-wide crackdown to block any
gatherings marking International Human Rights Day on Monday, according
to government opponents.
Among those detained were about 80 members and supporters of the Ladies
in White, including dozens who were reportedly carted off roughly during
roundups in Havana and on their way to the Our Lady of Charity Basilica
in the eastern town of El Cobre.
Security agents also sealed off several homes in eastern Cuba to avert
gatherings of dissidents to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, said Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, head of the
opposition Cuban Patriotic Union.
The U.S. government swiftly denounced the arrests, saying it was "deeply
concerned by the Cuban government's repeated use of arbitrary detention
and violence to silence critics, disrupt peaceful assembly and
intimidate independent civil society."
"We call on the Cuban government to end" the arrests and violence "and
we look forward to the day when all Cubans can freely express their
ideas," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Monday.
Cuban police and State Security agents usually round up scores of
dissidents on or before Dec. 10 each year to keep them from staging any
sort of events marking the day. The government critics are then released
after a few hours or days.
About 45 Ladies in White and 10 supporters were arrested in Havana
following their traditional march outside the Santa Rita church after
Sunday mass, said Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz, head of the Cuban
Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
The women usually are allowed to go home without incident after the
marches, but this weekend were harassed by government agents. When they
sat down in protest, police dragged them roughly to three waiting buses,
Sanchez said. Most were released by Sunday night.
Ferrer said another 34 Ladies in White and two young girls were
detained, 16 of them "with violence," over the weekend around eastern
Cuba as they tried to make their way to El Cobre to pray for human
rights. All had been freed as of noon Monday.
Police intercepted three more at the gates to the church on Sunday and
tried to seize two others already inside, Ferrer told El Nuevo Herald by
phone from his home in the nearby town of Palmarito de Cauto. But a
priest in the church protected the women and drove them home after the mass.
The Ladies in White, founded by the wives, daughters and mothers of
political prisoners, was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2005. They wear white clothes and carry
pink gladiolas during their marches.
Another 20 male dissidents were taken into custody and held in police
lockups around eastern Cuba over the weekend, Ferrer added. Four were
confirmed to have been freed as of noon Monday but there was no word on
the fate of the others.
Sanchez added that police and state security agents also put between 100
and 150 dissidents under house arrest during the crackdown, but stressed
that he was still receiving new reports of arrests and releases as of
Monday evening.
A blog widely believed to be run by State Security agents, Yohandry's
Blog, claimed that police were forced to drag away the Havana Ladies in
White before civilians nearby could give them a "forceful reply" for
"failing to respect the pain of the Cuban people" over the health of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
Chávez announced Saturday that he was returning to Cuba for a fourth
round of surgery related to his fight with cancer. He arrived Monday.
The opposition group Express Art for Freedom, meanwhile, announced a
contest, open to island residents only, for the best Tweet regarding
International Human Rights Day. The winner, who will pick from among a
computer, a camera or a cellular telephone, will be announced after Dec. 23.
And in Spain, two Cuban groups marched to the Cuban embassy in Madrid on
Sunday to protest the detentions and demand the release of Sonia Garros
and Calixto Ramon Martinez, dissidents who have been jailed on the
island for several weeks.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/11/3136204/cuba-cracks-down-on-dissidents.html
US official: Gross detention limiting US-Cuba relations
Posted on Tuesday, 12.11.12
Cuba
US official: Gross detention limiting US-Cuba relations
Roberta Jacobson, the Obama administration's point person for the
Western Hemisphere, rejected any suggestion that Gross was spying in Cuba.
By Aaron L. Morrison
Special to The Miami Herald
NEW YORK -- There's no chance for broadening American-Cuban relations
until Cuba releases American subcontractor Alan Gross from prison,
Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs. said Tuesday.
During a presentation at the Council of the Americas in New York,
Jacobson reiterated the State Department's belief that the Cuban
government has no basis for refusing to release Gross, but remains
optimistic that the Cuban people's desire for a more open society might
influence a decision on his release.
"While we really wished that we could have moved forward with a broader
agenda with the Cuban government, it is the Cuban government that has
made that extremely difficult," Jacobson said. "There is a very easy way
to resolve that part of the agenda and that is to release Alan Gross…
just to be home with his mother, who has cancer, and his daughter, who
went through breast cancer last year."
Jacobson's remarks come just one week after the third anniversary of
Gross' arrest and imprisonment in Cuba. Gross, a 63-year-old native of
Maryland, was arrested in Havana on Dec. 3, 2009, after delivering
satellite telephones to Cuban Jews so they could access the Web outside
of the government's telecommunications system. He was sentenced to 15
years in prison for acts against the "independence or territorial
integrity" of Cuba.
"We've been very clear about who Alan Gross is and what he did,"
Jacobson said, rejecting a suggestion by a member of the audience that
U.S. officials have misled about financing Gross' visits with
pro-democracy program funds. "We feel he needs to be treated as an
international development worker. He isn't and wasn't a spy and he
should be returned to his family."
Jacobson also highlighted some of the Obama administration's key
priorities in the Western Hemisphere; including energy development,
expanding educational exchange opportunities for students, and
encouraging freedom of expression and the press.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/11/3137719/us-official-gross-detention-limiting.html
Cuba
US official: Gross detention limiting US-Cuba relations
Roberta Jacobson, the Obama administration's point person for the
Western Hemisphere, rejected any suggestion that Gross was spying in Cuba.
By Aaron L. Morrison
Special to The Miami Herald
NEW YORK -- There's no chance for broadening American-Cuban relations
until Cuba releases American subcontractor Alan Gross from prison,
Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs. said Tuesday.
During a presentation at the Council of the Americas in New York,
Jacobson reiterated the State Department's belief that the Cuban
government has no basis for refusing to release Gross, but remains
optimistic that the Cuban people's desire for a more open society might
influence a decision on his release.
"While we really wished that we could have moved forward with a broader
agenda with the Cuban government, it is the Cuban government that has
made that extremely difficult," Jacobson said. "There is a very easy way
to resolve that part of the agenda and that is to release Alan Gross…
just to be home with his mother, who has cancer, and his daughter, who
went through breast cancer last year."
Jacobson's remarks come just one week after the third anniversary of
Gross' arrest and imprisonment in Cuba. Gross, a 63-year-old native of
Maryland, was arrested in Havana on Dec. 3, 2009, after delivering
satellite telephones to Cuban Jews so they could access the Web outside
of the government's telecommunications system. He was sentenced to 15
years in prison for acts against the "independence or territorial
integrity" of Cuba.
"We've been very clear about who Alan Gross is and what he did,"
Jacobson said, rejecting a suggestion by a member of the audience that
U.S. officials have misled about financing Gross' visits with
pro-democracy program funds. "We feel he needs to be treated as an
international development worker. He isn't and wasn't a spy and he
should be returned to his family."
Jacobson also highlighted some of the Obama administration's key
priorities in the Western Hemisphere; including energy development,
expanding educational exchange opportunities for students, and
encouraging freedom of expression and the press.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/11/3137719/us-official-gross-detention-limiting.html
Raul Castro says economic reforms are working
Posted on Thursday, 12.13.12
Raul Castro says economic reforms are working
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- President Raul Castro declared Thursday that Cuba's two-year
experiment with market reforms is working and has the wind at its back,
but said much work remains to breathe life into the sputtering economy.
In a speech devoid of any new policy announcements, the military
khaki-clad leader sounded a generally positive tone in discussing the
Marxist country's progress, though he conceded that the island faces a
"colossal psychological barrier" in shedding old habits and "concepts of
the past."
"The updating of the Cuban economic model ... marches with a sure step
and is beginning to delve into questions of greater reach, complexity
and depth," Castro said, according to an official transcript of his
remarks before lawmakers at the second of their twice-annual sessions.
The proceedings were closed to foreign journalists, but state television
later broadcast tape-delayed highlights.
Cuban economy czar Marino Murillo told the assembly that the government
is planning more measures to support and increase the ranks of
independent workers and small business owners.
Real estate broker, delivery person, antiques dealer and produce vendor
will all be newly legalized private jobs in a country where the
government has long dominated the economy and employed nearly the entire
workforce.
The self-employed "are gaining space," Murillo was quoted as saying by
the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.
Economists have said Cuba needs to expand the number of allowable
private enterprises, with an emphasis on white-collar work. Real estate
has been a particular concern. Cuba legalized the buying and selling of
property 12 months ago, but has yet to allow agents to facilitate
transactions.
Some 400,000 people now work in the private sector in 180 legally
approved job areas, Prensa Latina said. That's up from 156,000 in late
2010, the onset of Castro's five-year plan to reform the economy with a
dash of free-market activity.
Cuba intends to keep control of key sectors, however, and Castro and
other top officials insist the country is not abandoning a half-century
of socialism for freewheeling capitalism.
Murillo also said that in the future, state-run businesses including
tourism concerns will be paying independent contractors via bank
transactions in hard currency.
Meanwhile, lawmakers passed a 2013 budget with a deficit of 3.6 percent
of GDP and heard an update on the country's economy.
The government announced recently that GDP rose 3.1 percent this year,
below expectations of 3.4 percent. Growth of 3.7 percent is forecast for
2013, low for a small developing economy, but Castro called it
"acceptable in a scenario of continuing global economic crisis."
Economy Minister Adel Izquierdo said the construction sector is expected
to expand 20 percent in the coming year, worker productivity should rise
2.6 percent and the country has a goal of topping 3 million tourist
visits for the first time, according to Prensa Latina.
In its first order of business, the assembly unanimously passed a
resolution of support for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who earlier
this week underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery in the Cuban capital.
Chavez is a key ally of Cuba, and during his presidency Venezuela has
sent billions of dollars' worth of oil to the island on preferential terms.
"At this crucial hour for Venezuela ... we will be like always," Castro
said, "together with President Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution he
leads."
The unicameral parliament will reconvene in February with a new
membership following elections and is then expected to name Castro to
another five-year term.
Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter-Orsi
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/13/3140643/cuban-lawmakers-meet-to-consider.html
Raul Castro says economic reforms are working
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- President Raul Castro declared Thursday that Cuba's two-year
experiment with market reforms is working and has the wind at its back,
but said much work remains to breathe life into the sputtering economy.
In a speech devoid of any new policy announcements, the military
khaki-clad leader sounded a generally positive tone in discussing the
Marxist country's progress, though he conceded that the island faces a
"colossal psychological barrier" in shedding old habits and "concepts of
the past."
"The updating of the Cuban economic model ... marches with a sure step
and is beginning to delve into questions of greater reach, complexity
and depth," Castro said, according to an official transcript of his
remarks before lawmakers at the second of their twice-annual sessions.
The proceedings were closed to foreign journalists, but state television
later broadcast tape-delayed highlights.
Cuban economy czar Marino Murillo told the assembly that the government
is planning more measures to support and increase the ranks of
independent workers and small business owners.
Real estate broker, delivery person, antiques dealer and produce vendor
will all be newly legalized private jobs in a country where the
government has long dominated the economy and employed nearly the entire
workforce.
The self-employed "are gaining space," Murillo was quoted as saying by
the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.
Economists have said Cuba needs to expand the number of allowable
private enterprises, with an emphasis on white-collar work. Real estate
has been a particular concern. Cuba legalized the buying and selling of
property 12 months ago, but has yet to allow agents to facilitate
transactions.
Some 400,000 people now work in the private sector in 180 legally
approved job areas, Prensa Latina said. That's up from 156,000 in late
2010, the onset of Castro's five-year plan to reform the economy with a
dash of free-market activity.
Cuba intends to keep control of key sectors, however, and Castro and
other top officials insist the country is not abandoning a half-century
of socialism for freewheeling capitalism.
Murillo also said that in the future, state-run businesses including
tourism concerns will be paying independent contractors via bank
transactions in hard currency.
Meanwhile, lawmakers passed a 2013 budget with a deficit of 3.6 percent
of GDP and heard an update on the country's economy.
The government announced recently that GDP rose 3.1 percent this year,
below expectations of 3.4 percent. Growth of 3.7 percent is forecast for
2013, low for a small developing economy, but Castro called it
"acceptable in a scenario of continuing global economic crisis."
Economy Minister Adel Izquierdo said the construction sector is expected
to expand 20 percent in the coming year, worker productivity should rise
2.6 percent and the country has a goal of topping 3 million tourist
visits for the first time, according to Prensa Latina.
In its first order of business, the assembly unanimously passed a
resolution of support for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who earlier
this week underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery in the Cuban capital.
Chavez is a key ally of Cuba, and during his presidency Venezuela has
sent billions of dollars' worth of oil to the island on preferential terms.
"At this crucial hour for Venezuela ... we will be like always," Castro
said, "together with President Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution he
leads."
The unicameral parliament will reconvene in February with a new
membership following elections and is then expected to name Castro to
another five-year term.
Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter-Orsi
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/13/3140643/cuban-lawmakers-meet-to-consider.html
Cuba stays silent about deadly cholera outbreak
Posted on Saturday, 12.08.12
Life on the island
Cuba stays silent about deadly cholera outbreak
It's the disease that the government doesn't acknowledge, because it
might deter tourists from coming to the island.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuban dissident Walter Clavel says that when he took his 2-year-old son
to a hospital Wednesday with a case of diarrhea, the boy was tested for
a sometimes fatal disease that the government is stubbornly refusing to
acknowledge — cholera.
Nurses told him the test was negative, and the boy was not quarantined
in the three wards reserved for cholera patients at the North Pediatric
Hospital in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, Clavel said.
Cuba, especially the eastern third of the island, is suffering through
an alarming outbreak of cholera — as well as the mosquito-borne dengue
fever — brewed in its decrepit water and sewer systems and fueled by
Hurricane Sandy's floods, according to residents.
More than a dozen deaths have been reliably reported. Hospitals and
prisons have been quarantined at times. Schools have been shut down, and
so have restaurants and street kiosks selling juices and other products
made with water.
Government buildings have established hand and shoe disinfection stands
at their entrances. Some public health officials have gone door to door
asking if anyone is suffering from diarrhea, vomiting or fevers, and
others distributed water purification tablets.
Cuba's government has said nothing publicly about cholera since Aug. 28,
when it announced that an outbreak in the eastern city of Manzanillo —
the first in a century — had ended after three deaths and 417 confirmed
cases.
Spread by bacteria that cause severe diarrhea and vomiting, the disease
killed millions in the Middle Ages.
Police in uniform and plainclothes stationed at hospitals are telling
visitors to keep quiet about cholera and other diseases, Clavel told El
Nuevo Herald — apparently to avoid upsetting the Caribbean island's $2.5
billion-a-year tourism industry.
"We have to question whether the Cuban government today prioritizes
their need for tourism … more than local public health demands," wrote
Sherri Porcelain, a public health expert at the University of Miami and
researcher at its Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies.
Worst hit by the cholera has been eastern Cuba, where Sandy came ashore
last month halfway between Manzanillo and Santiago, the island's
second-largest city and capital of a province with the same name.
It damaged water, electricity and sewer systems, flooded latrines and
left behind puddles where dengue-carrying mosquitoes easily bred.
"There is tremendous worry in Santiago," said Clavel, one of a dozen
Cubans contacted for this story. Many were dissidents, unafraid to talk
about the epidemics. Their versions coincided in many ways, but could
not be individually confirmed.
In the only independent report, a Nov. 2 announcement by the Pan
American Health Organization in Washington, a branch of the U.N.'s World
Health Organization, noted that "suspected cholera cases detected in
several areas of the country continue to be investigated."
Two Cubans said the cholera spread rapidly in Sandy's wake in part
because infected inmates at the Mar Verde prison were transferred to the
Boniato prison, both in Santiago province, and later to another prison
in the neighboring province of Camaguey.
Mar Verde was quarantined as of Monday, said city of Santiago dissident
Eunices Madaula. More than 100 cholera cases were reportedly being
treated at the Boniato prison's infirmary and 80 more at the nearby
Ambrosio Grillo Hospital.
Hospital staffers hung up on El Nuevo Herald phone calls last week to
ask about the cholera cases. But Miami-based Radio/TV Martí reported
that when it called recently, a nurse answered, "You're asking if we
have cholera? All the wards are full!"
Havana dissident Dania Virgen García, who stays in contact with
political prisoners throughout the island, said cholera is spreading
prison to prison because of their notoriously bad hygiene. García added
that she had received several reports that some prisoners died from
cholera but were counted among Sandy's 11 Cuban fatalities.
Santiago dissident Pedro Montané said he spoke last week with several
people who confirmed to him in private that their relatives were being
treated for cholera at the 28th of September Clinic, but did not want to
give their names.
The government jailed the doctor who first reported a dengue epidemic in
2000 for more than a year, and is now holding Calixto Ramón Martínez
Arias, the independent journalist who first reported the cholera
outbreak in Manzanillo.
And Santiago blogger Janis Hernandez wrote that several young children
playing on a sidewalk recently were chanting, "Cholera's going around,
cholera's going around … I am going to inject you. Better wash your hands."
Scores of other cases were reported in Guantánamo, Ciego de Avila,
Yateras, Baracoa, Maisí, Palma Soriano, San Luis, Palmarito de Cauto,
Songo-La Maya, Sagua de Tánamo and Antilla. Guantánamo's Agostinho Neto
Provincial Hospital alone saw 80 suspected cases, said one resident who
asked for anonymity.
Smaller numbers of cholera cases were reported in western Cuba and
Havana. But the capital is suffering through an outbreak of dengue, also
known as Breakbone Fever. A 1981 epidemic killed 158 Cubans and affected
344,000 more.
So many dengue cases are now jamming Havana hospitals that long-running
shortages of medicines, needles, bandages, chlorine, soap and other
supplies are turning into emergencies, according to several recent
dissident reports.
What's more, Cuba's water and sewer systems are so deteriorated after
decades of little or no maintenance that experts say it will be
impossible to stop future outbreaks of contagious diseases like cholera
and dengue.
More than half the water pumped through the country's pipes never
reaches its destination because of breaks and waste, Cuban television
reported in June. Pipes with low or no water pressure can be
contaminated by bacteria or critters.
The country of 11.2 million people has only 3,300 miles of sewer lines
and eight waste treatment plants, according to a July report by the
National Institute for Hydraulic Resources to the legislative National
Assembly of People's Power.
A study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Agency for International
Development in 2007 showed only 65 percent of the population had access
to piped drinking water, and that sewage services reach only 38 percent
of the people.
Even in Havana, more than 100,000 residents were receiving potable water
by truck in April 2011 because of breaks in the pipes and a drought,
according to an article in the Granma newspaper, official voice of the
Communist Party.
Montané said his tap water in Santiago often runs the color of
chocolate, and Madaula said poor parts of the city still have no water
because of Sandy's disruptions. Most suburban and nearby farms have
latrines and water wells, she added.
Santiago's small waste treatment plant can handle only 45 percent of the
flow and is often down altogether. The rest goes directly into the bay,
said Manuel Cereijo, an electrical and computer engineering professor at
the University of Miami.
With such tattered infrastructure, and with the government lacking the
money to fix it, infectious diseases likely will continue to hit the
island, said Julio Cesar Alfonso, a Cuban-trained Miami doctor who keeps
in touch with physicians on the island.
"It is very probable that in coming years cholera will remain in Cuba as
an endemic disease … as part of the island's suffering.""
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/08/v-fullstory/3133744/cuba-stays-silent-about-deadly.html
Life on the island
Cuba stays silent about deadly cholera outbreak
It's the disease that the government doesn't acknowledge, because it
might deter tourists from coming to the island.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuban dissident Walter Clavel says that when he took his 2-year-old son
to a hospital Wednesday with a case of diarrhea, the boy was tested for
a sometimes fatal disease that the government is stubbornly refusing to
acknowledge — cholera.
Nurses told him the test was negative, and the boy was not quarantined
in the three wards reserved for cholera patients at the North Pediatric
Hospital in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, Clavel said.
Cuba, especially the eastern third of the island, is suffering through
an alarming outbreak of cholera — as well as the mosquito-borne dengue
fever — brewed in its decrepit water and sewer systems and fueled by
Hurricane Sandy's floods, according to residents.
More than a dozen deaths have been reliably reported. Hospitals and
prisons have been quarantined at times. Schools have been shut down, and
so have restaurants and street kiosks selling juices and other products
made with water.
Government buildings have established hand and shoe disinfection stands
at their entrances. Some public health officials have gone door to door
asking if anyone is suffering from diarrhea, vomiting or fevers, and
others distributed water purification tablets.
Cuba's government has said nothing publicly about cholera since Aug. 28,
when it announced that an outbreak in the eastern city of Manzanillo —
the first in a century — had ended after three deaths and 417 confirmed
cases.
Spread by bacteria that cause severe diarrhea and vomiting, the disease
killed millions in the Middle Ages.
Police in uniform and plainclothes stationed at hospitals are telling
visitors to keep quiet about cholera and other diseases, Clavel told El
Nuevo Herald — apparently to avoid upsetting the Caribbean island's $2.5
billion-a-year tourism industry.
"We have to question whether the Cuban government today prioritizes
their need for tourism … more than local public health demands," wrote
Sherri Porcelain, a public health expert at the University of Miami and
researcher at its Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies.
Worst hit by the cholera has been eastern Cuba, where Sandy came ashore
last month halfway between Manzanillo and Santiago, the island's
second-largest city and capital of a province with the same name.
It damaged water, electricity and sewer systems, flooded latrines and
left behind puddles where dengue-carrying mosquitoes easily bred.
"There is tremendous worry in Santiago," said Clavel, one of a dozen
Cubans contacted for this story. Many were dissidents, unafraid to talk
about the epidemics. Their versions coincided in many ways, but could
not be individually confirmed.
In the only independent report, a Nov. 2 announcement by the Pan
American Health Organization in Washington, a branch of the U.N.'s World
Health Organization, noted that "suspected cholera cases detected in
several areas of the country continue to be investigated."
Two Cubans said the cholera spread rapidly in Sandy's wake in part
because infected inmates at the Mar Verde prison were transferred to the
Boniato prison, both in Santiago province, and later to another prison
in the neighboring province of Camaguey.
Mar Verde was quarantined as of Monday, said city of Santiago dissident
Eunices Madaula. More than 100 cholera cases were reportedly being
treated at the Boniato prison's infirmary and 80 more at the nearby
Ambrosio Grillo Hospital.
Hospital staffers hung up on El Nuevo Herald phone calls last week to
ask about the cholera cases. But Miami-based Radio/TV Martí reported
that when it called recently, a nurse answered, "You're asking if we
have cholera? All the wards are full!"
Havana dissident Dania Virgen García, who stays in contact with
political prisoners throughout the island, said cholera is spreading
prison to prison because of their notoriously bad hygiene. García added
that she had received several reports that some prisoners died from
cholera but were counted among Sandy's 11 Cuban fatalities.
Santiago dissident Pedro Montané said he spoke last week with several
people who confirmed to him in private that their relatives were being
treated for cholera at the 28th of September Clinic, but did not want to
give their names.
The government jailed the doctor who first reported a dengue epidemic in
2000 for more than a year, and is now holding Calixto Ramón Martínez
Arias, the independent journalist who first reported the cholera
outbreak in Manzanillo.
And Santiago blogger Janis Hernandez wrote that several young children
playing on a sidewalk recently were chanting, "Cholera's going around,
cholera's going around … I am going to inject you. Better wash your hands."
Scores of other cases were reported in Guantánamo, Ciego de Avila,
Yateras, Baracoa, Maisí, Palma Soriano, San Luis, Palmarito de Cauto,
Songo-La Maya, Sagua de Tánamo and Antilla. Guantánamo's Agostinho Neto
Provincial Hospital alone saw 80 suspected cases, said one resident who
asked for anonymity.
Smaller numbers of cholera cases were reported in western Cuba and
Havana. But the capital is suffering through an outbreak of dengue, also
known as Breakbone Fever. A 1981 epidemic killed 158 Cubans and affected
344,000 more.
So many dengue cases are now jamming Havana hospitals that long-running
shortages of medicines, needles, bandages, chlorine, soap and other
supplies are turning into emergencies, according to several recent
dissident reports.
What's more, Cuba's water and sewer systems are so deteriorated after
decades of little or no maintenance that experts say it will be
impossible to stop future outbreaks of contagious diseases like cholera
and dengue.
More than half the water pumped through the country's pipes never
reaches its destination because of breaks and waste, Cuban television
reported in June. Pipes with low or no water pressure can be
contaminated by bacteria or critters.
The country of 11.2 million people has only 3,300 miles of sewer lines
and eight waste treatment plants, according to a July report by the
National Institute for Hydraulic Resources to the legislative National
Assembly of People's Power.
A study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Agency for International
Development in 2007 showed only 65 percent of the population had access
to piped drinking water, and that sewage services reach only 38 percent
of the people.
Even in Havana, more than 100,000 residents were receiving potable water
by truck in April 2011 because of breaks in the pipes and a drought,
according to an article in the Granma newspaper, official voice of the
Communist Party.
Montané said his tap water in Santiago often runs the color of
chocolate, and Madaula said poor parts of the city still have no water
because of Sandy's disruptions. Most suburban and nearby farms have
latrines and water wells, she added.
Santiago's small waste treatment plant can handle only 45 percent of the
flow and is often down altogether. The rest goes directly into the bay,
said Manuel Cereijo, an electrical and computer engineering professor at
the University of Miami.
With such tattered infrastructure, and with the government lacking the
money to fix it, infectious diseases likely will continue to hit the
island, said Julio Cesar Alfonso, a Cuban-trained Miami doctor who keeps
in touch with physicians on the island.
"It is very probable that in coming years cholera will remain in Cuba as
an endemic disease … as part of the island's suffering.""
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/08/v-fullstory/3133744/cuba-stays-silent-about-deadly.html
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Laritza Diversent: The Pending Emigration Law Should Make No Distinctions Because of Citizens' Political Views
Laritza Diversent: The Pending Emigration Law Should Make No
Distinctions Because of Citizens' Political Views #Cuba
Laritza Diversent, Translator: Unstated
Readers' interview from Diaro de Cuba
The attorney and independent blogger, Laritza Diversent, responds to
questions by readers of Diaro de Cuba regarding emigration reform.
Ricardo E. Trelles: In your professional life you have to deal with the
country's existing legal system in which laws are formulated and
established in an illegitimate way, without citizen participation, and
in which the appointment of judges as well as their legal decisions are
made arbitrarily. Don't you think that your knowledge could be useful in
helping to define and develop a political movement that could help
provide us with a government, legislative body and legal system that is
legitimate and respectable? Do you have hopes that the current legal
system will continue to become a little more flexible and tolerant, one
where there are more opportunities for respectful criticism that does
not threaten its hegemony?
Hello, Ricardo. Yes, that is precisely what I am doing — putting my
knowledge at the disposal of Cuban civil society, or whoever might have
need of it. And it is not only me. There are also other young attorneys
with whom I intend to work to identify the problems of the legal system,
which puts us in an indefensible position by making us look for ways to
oppose it, so that, when democracy does arrive, these problems will not
be repeated. Along with attorneys such as Yaremis Flores, Veizant Boloy
and Barbara Estrabao, we are taking the time to identify those problems
and to help dissidents as well as citizens who do not seem to have
political motivations.
In regards to your second question, I do not think the system is
becoming more flexible and tolerant, much less allowing for citizen
participation from its critics. The situation in Cuba today demands
change, and even then this is not enough. My hope is that Cubans will
stop engaging in self-censorship and will realize that they are the
masters of their destinies and their lives, that free education and
health care are not "victories of the revolution" but an obligation of
the state, that they are people with rights and those rights are there
to be exercised since they are the foundation of liberty. In my opinion,
self-censorship is a stronger force in today's Cuba than repression. In
other words it is clear that physical repression is used against those
who exercise their rights, but most people do not exercise their rights
out of fear of repression.
Ernesto Gutiérrez Tamargo: It is always good to have the perspective of
a colleague in Cuba. What do you consider to be the positive and
negative aspects of Legal Decree 302/2012? Considering that it regulates
some basic human rights, don't you think it would have been more fitting
and consistent, legally speaking, if it had been approved as a normal
law by the National Assembly of People Power (ANPP) rather than being
issued as a legal decree by the Council of State?
In regards to your first question about what I consider to be positive
and negative in Legal Decree 302/2022, in my opinion the new regulations
are positive in that they allow Cubans living abroad to regain residency
status in Cuba. Before this law the only possibility of obtaining
permission to repatriate (a permanent return to Cuba) was if it was for
"humanitarian reasons." Permission was granted to those were were
terminally or gravely ill, women over sixty, men over sixty-five and
children under sixteen, and only if they could demonstrate that they had
family members in Cuba capable of supporting them financially.
On the negative side it does not solve the problem of dual citizenship,
which the constitution does not allow. The government does not prohibit
its nationals from changing citizenship, but neither does it allow them
to renounce their Cuban one. In practice it ignores the fact that a
Cuban living overseas might be a citizen of the other country.
With respect to the suitability of approving a law in the ANPP instead
of doing so in a legal decree by the Council of State, hopes for
emigration reform certainly grew each time a session of the National
Assembly was announced. However, it was the offices presided over by the
Head of State and Head of Government, the Council of State and Council
of Ministers who unexpectedly put the reforms into effect by decree.
Good judicial practice dictates that normally a law should be modified
or overturned by the body that created it. This is one of the principal
and logical outcomes of the principal of regulatory hierarchy. In other
words it is not appropriate for a lower body to modify a legal statute
established by a higher one. But in Cuba we are the exception to the rule.
Here it is quite normal for the Council of State to modify a law created
by parliament. We saw this, for example, in the new regulations that
allowed for the sale of private homes in which the Council of State
modified the General Housing Law, a statute created by the National
Assembly. The same thing happened with the new modifications, although
it was not the Cuban parliament that issued Law 1312 on September
20,1978. Instead it was approved by the President of the Republic, a
position that does not exist within the Cuban legal structure. It is the
Council of State that modifies or overturns statutes approved by
parliament based on the premise that it is a branch of the National
Assembly, which it represents when the Assembly is not in session.
With regards to the hasty approval in a plenary session of the National
Assembly in December, the strategic and intelligent decision was
conveniently put into effect before Cubans could exercise their right to
vote in elections. One of the promises made by Raul Castro when he took
office in 2008 was to eliminate "excessive and unnecessary"
restrictions. It was also to his advantage to modify his emigration
policy before the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the UN Council on
Human Rights, scheduled to take place between April 22 and May 3, 2013.
One of the recommendations made by the council in the previous UPR in
2009, which has still not been accepted, was to eliminate restrictions
on freedom of movement of its citizens. On this occasion the government
used a similar strategy when, before submitting to the review, it signed
the conventions on human rights on February 28, 2008, which it still has
not ratified, even though at the time the signing led to recognition and
congratulations from the international community.
Saavedra: I have two questions for you. First, I have been working
outside Cuba for a year and a half. To come here, I had to apply for a
release (a letter of non-objection) in February of 2011 at the
university where I used to work as a professor. I retain Cuban residency
and have travelled twice during this time. I am thinking of going in
December of this year and returning on January 10. Do I run the risk
that they will retain my passport based on fact that I worked at the
university more than a year ago and am a university graduate? Or could
they ask me for a new letter of release that the university rector could
delay giving me for up to five years?
In response to your first question, they are required to update your
passport and you would not be running a risk of having to apply for a
new letter of release. You have already been released. The guidelines
dealing with professionals who require authorization to travel overseas
for personal reasons pertain to those who are currently employed on the
island, whose names and permanent identity information is in an
automated system organized and controlled by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security according to the new regulations (articles 5 and 6 of
the decree). However, I recall that there are various articles that
could apply here and that the final decision is subject to the
discretion of the Minister of the Interior.
Saavedra: My second question pertains to my wife, who is in Cuba. She is
also a university graduate and has a job as a specialist for ETECSA
(Telecommunications Company of Cuba). I would like to take her with me
early next year, in March or April. Obviously, they could delay giving
her authorization to travel for up to five years. If we begin the
process of applying for the non-objection letter before January 14 (when
the new law goes into effect), can they keep her there for five years
based on the new law or some other existing law, or would they release
her from her job reasonably quickly? Our intention is to work outside of
Cuba without losing our residency status there, or to travel at least
every two years. Thank you for your answer, and I apologize for the
length of my questions.
Your wife does run the risk that they could keep her passport for five
years if she is still working. The automated system contains the names
and permanent personal information of professionals who require
authorization to travel overseas for personal reasons and must be ready
in two months counting from October 16 of last year, the date of
publication of the new regulations.
Bryan: Is there some legal mechanism for Cuban youths who have dual
nationality to be excused from active military service?
Unfortunately, there is no legal ruling that exempts a young Cuban from
fulfilling the requirement of military service because of dual
nationality or citizenship. In fact this is one of the quirks that
prevents Cubans from obtaining a passport and, therefore, from leaving
Cuba. The government does not recognize that any of its citizens has any
citizenship other than the Cuban one, even if he or she holds
citizenship from one or more other countries. In other words, you can
have several nationalities, legally speaking however, within Cuba you
are a Cuban citizen and there is no formula or procedure by which you
can renounce this citizenship, even if it infringes on constitutional
law. Legally, even the National Assembly has not determined who has the
authority to decree loss of citizenship. It is one of the factors used
to control the flow of emigration.
Lila: I have been in Spain for ten months. I have a residency permit for
five years. I am not thinking of going back to Cuba because I would lose
my job. Would I have to get an extension or is there no need under the
new law? How much would I have to pay for my stay here?
Yes, you have to get an extension for each month you stay overseas after
the time period for which you received permission, if it is before
January 14, 2013. After that date a fee is charged for each month after
the first 24 months you are a permanent resident outside the country,
according to rulings from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The name of
the consular contribution will change from "Extension for Overseas Stay"
to "Extension of Permanent Overseas Residency." They will be priced the
same. In your case, since Spain is a member of the euro zone, that would
be 40 euros if you pay it through the Cuban consulate. It you pay
electronically, it is 25 euros more. You could even ask them to give you
multiple extensions in the same application for the number of months
authorized.
Orosmer Rodríguez: In the case of Yoani Sánchez what would happen if
next February she were to decide to visit New York or Miami? Could she
be detained even if there are no pending legal charges against her?
Under new regulations Yoani Sánchez should get a new passport or have it
renewed, if she already has one. As long as she is not violating any
laws in Cuba's current Penal Code, no one can detain her. And if they
did, we would be dealing with an arbitrary detention.
It is another matter if they do not allow her to leave the country. That
would constitute a violation of freedom of movement, which is a
recognized right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well
as under the International Convention for Civil and Political Rights
which the state, by signing, has made clear its intention to respect.
However, under the new emigration regulations the government can prevent
Yoani Sánchez from leaving the country by denying her the possibility of
obtaining a valid passport or by officially declaring that she may not
leave the country for reasons of national or military security, or if
the Minister of the Interior so determines.
International human rights institutions are concerned about the practice
by some states of hindering their own nationals from leaving their
country. One of the tactics that they mention is the refusal to issue a
passport under the pretext that the applicant would harm the country's
reputation.
Tenores Jomenor: I would like to know what you consider to be the main
points of "the pending emigration law," assuming it is inadequate.
The pending emigration law should not be called an emigration law since
the regulation of the right to citizenship would be outside its scope.
This is closely tied to freedom of movement, specifically to the right
of each individual to enter his or her own country, which recognizes the
special connection that one has to the other.
The pending emigration law should regulate and protect the right to move
freely and to choose one's residency within the nation's boundaries.
Nevertheless, Havana has special regulations that violate freedom of
movement and freedom to freely choose one's residency.
The restrictions that the anticipated emigration law contain should be
specific and provide for legal recourse to limit the ability of Minister
of the Interior to limit entry or exit from the country.
The restrictions contained in the pending emigration law should be
compatible with all other universally recognized rights and fundamental
principles of equality and non-discrimination. It should make no
distinctions because of a citizen's political views. Nor should it
invalidate any right or compromise its essence. In other words it should
not be the general rule and the exercise of the right the exception.
Mario Martínez: I live in Cuba, but have worked for several years in the
Cayman Islands. Until now I have had to return to the island every eight
or nine months. I would like to ask you if in the future, before going
to Cuba, I will still have to pay $40 per month extension with a bank
draft to the Cuban embassy in Jamaica as well as the $25 for not doing
it in person.
Your question is very similar to Lila's. After January 14, 2013, based
on the new regulations, specifically those from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, you should continue to pay the same currently established rates
for extending your stay overseas for more than 24 months, which is the
time limit for Cubans living overseas who have permanent residence on
the island and who travel on personal business.
Phillip: What does the constitution say about the right of citizens to
request a passport? In other countries it is a right that no one is
denied except in certain cases in which it can be confiscated from the
passport holder to prevent him from leaving the country when it being
shown that he has been involved in a serious crime. Otherwise, by law it
cannot be denied to anyone.
If the Cuban constitution ignores freedom of movement — widely
recognized as one of the principal judicial instruments of human rights
— then it pays even less attention to the right to obtain a passport.
The new emigration legislation certainly eliminates the entry and exit
visa, but it establishes a new prohibition, which in my opinion is even
worse. It prevents someone from obtaining a necessary travel document
not only for having committed a crime, but for reasons political or
otherwise. The right to leave the country also includes the right to
obtain the necessary travel documents. The refusal of the government to
issue a passport (or to renew an existing one) to a Cuban living or not
living on the island is to deny his legitimate right to enter or leave
the country.
Miguel Cervantes: Doesn't the emigration reform law contain something
about persons deported from the United States that Cuba refuses to receive?
After January 14, 2013 Cuban emigrants will be able to reclaim their
residency status within the nation's boundaries — an option that did not
exist prior to the new regulations. Although the new emigration statute
does not expressly mention people deported from the United States, their
status as emigrants allows them them file an application.
One of the advantages of the new emigration statute is that one does not
have to physically reside in the country to regain residency status on
the island. People will be allowed to exercise rights denied them until
now, such as their rights to vote, work, to education and to acquire
property.
The request can be filed through overseas consulates or through the
Processing Office of the Ministry of the Interior to the Department of
Immigration, which subsequently approves or denies residency requests
within three months.
The regulation also requires an applicant to disclose the means used to
emigrate and does not provide for an appeals process in the event a
request is denied. This means that recognition of one's right is subject
to the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. This also means that
emigration law itself establishes the conditions under which someone —
either a national or a foreigner — can be denied entry into the country.
Ramón: I left for Argentina in 1998 after obtaining a letter of
invitation and have not been back since. I was denied entry into the
country because I am a doctor. On numerous occasions over the last 15
years I filed appeals to the Cuban authorities, explaining that I was
authorized to leave, that I have my release card, and that I did not
leave during an official mission but rather on a visit to Argentina.
However, I have never received a reply. With this new law can I file an
appeal to return since I am an emigrant who left for personal reasons?
My father is still in Cuba. My mother died a month ago and I was not
able to even attend her funeral. I also have a sister and niece there.
They told me at the Cuban embassy in Argentina that everything remains
the same for people like me.
Unfortunately, the government's policy with respect to doctors, artists
and athletes is very inflexible and is not written into law. Although
changes have been made to emigration laws, certain practices remain in
place, such as the discretionary power of the Minister of the Interior
to decide which Cubans may enter or leave the country. You could read
through any number of legal statutes, and nowhere will you find mention
of any process by which a citizen can file an appeal in the event he or
she is denied the right to enter or leave the country.
The Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedural Law provides an avenue
for appealing administrative decisions by the Central State
Administrative Boards (OACE) and its domestic branches which violate
legally established rights.
However, denials by officials from the Ministry of the Interior
(MININT), a OACE, with respect to entry and exit applications cannot be
brought before a court since they emanate from the exercise of
discretionary legal authority. The law itself prevents judicial bodies
from analyzing the decisions arising from this authority. This is
precisely one of the concerns of international human rights organizations.
Supposedly, the laws which authorize the imposition of restrictions must
not confer discretionary powers without constraints on officials who
exercise them. There is only one conclusion that we can draw from this:
The discretionary freedom that the government grants to its Minister of
the Interior places citizens in a defenseless position when faced with
administrative actions which are detrimental to their legitimate rights.
Cubans are being denied "an effective recourse before competent national
courts charged with protecting them against actions which violate their
fundamental rights as recognized by the constitution or by law" by the
preventing them from appealing decisions of MININT officials before
courts of justice. Every Cuban "has the right, under conditions of full
equality, to be publicly and justly heard by an independent and
impartial court to determine their rights…"
Ramón, you should not allow them to continue punishing you for having
made the decision to exercise your rights. If the Cuban government does
not respond to you, contact the UN High Commission's special rapporteur
on the independence of judges and attorneys — a recommendation that I
strongly make to all Cubans who have been denied the right to enter or
leave their own country by the Ministry of the Interior.
Many thanks to the readers of Diario de Cuba for their questions.
November 27 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/laritza-diversent-the-pending-emigration-law-should-make-no-distinctions-because-of-citizens-political-views-cuba/
Distinctions Because of Citizens' Political Views #Cuba
Laritza Diversent, Translator: Unstated
Readers' interview from Diaro de Cuba
The attorney and independent blogger, Laritza Diversent, responds to
questions by readers of Diaro de Cuba regarding emigration reform.
Ricardo E. Trelles: In your professional life you have to deal with the
country's existing legal system in which laws are formulated and
established in an illegitimate way, without citizen participation, and
in which the appointment of judges as well as their legal decisions are
made arbitrarily. Don't you think that your knowledge could be useful in
helping to define and develop a political movement that could help
provide us with a government, legislative body and legal system that is
legitimate and respectable? Do you have hopes that the current legal
system will continue to become a little more flexible and tolerant, one
where there are more opportunities for respectful criticism that does
not threaten its hegemony?
Hello, Ricardo. Yes, that is precisely what I am doing — putting my
knowledge at the disposal of Cuban civil society, or whoever might have
need of it. And it is not only me. There are also other young attorneys
with whom I intend to work to identify the problems of the legal system,
which puts us in an indefensible position by making us look for ways to
oppose it, so that, when democracy does arrive, these problems will not
be repeated. Along with attorneys such as Yaremis Flores, Veizant Boloy
and Barbara Estrabao, we are taking the time to identify those problems
and to help dissidents as well as citizens who do not seem to have
political motivations.
In regards to your second question, I do not think the system is
becoming more flexible and tolerant, much less allowing for citizen
participation from its critics. The situation in Cuba today demands
change, and even then this is not enough. My hope is that Cubans will
stop engaging in self-censorship and will realize that they are the
masters of their destinies and their lives, that free education and
health care are not "victories of the revolution" but an obligation of
the state, that they are people with rights and those rights are there
to be exercised since they are the foundation of liberty. In my opinion,
self-censorship is a stronger force in today's Cuba than repression. In
other words it is clear that physical repression is used against those
who exercise their rights, but most people do not exercise their rights
out of fear of repression.
Ernesto Gutiérrez Tamargo: It is always good to have the perspective of
a colleague in Cuba. What do you consider to be the positive and
negative aspects of Legal Decree 302/2012? Considering that it regulates
some basic human rights, don't you think it would have been more fitting
and consistent, legally speaking, if it had been approved as a normal
law by the National Assembly of People Power (ANPP) rather than being
issued as a legal decree by the Council of State?
In regards to your first question about what I consider to be positive
and negative in Legal Decree 302/2022, in my opinion the new regulations
are positive in that they allow Cubans living abroad to regain residency
status in Cuba. Before this law the only possibility of obtaining
permission to repatriate (a permanent return to Cuba) was if it was for
"humanitarian reasons." Permission was granted to those were were
terminally or gravely ill, women over sixty, men over sixty-five and
children under sixteen, and only if they could demonstrate that they had
family members in Cuba capable of supporting them financially.
On the negative side it does not solve the problem of dual citizenship,
which the constitution does not allow. The government does not prohibit
its nationals from changing citizenship, but neither does it allow them
to renounce their Cuban one. In practice it ignores the fact that a
Cuban living overseas might be a citizen of the other country.
With respect to the suitability of approving a law in the ANPP instead
of doing so in a legal decree by the Council of State, hopes for
emigration reform certainly grew each time a session of the National
Assembly was announced. However, it was the offices presided over by the
Head of State and Head of Government, the Council of State and Council
of Ministers who unexpectedly put the reforms into effect by decree.
Good judicial practice dictates that normally a law should be modified
or overturned by the body that created it. This is one of the principal
and logical outcomes of the principal of regulatory hierarchy. In other
words it is not appropriate for a lower body to modify a legal statute
established by a higher one. But in Cuba we are the exception to the rule.
Here it is quite normal for the Council of State to modify a law created
by parliament. We saw this, for example, in the new regulations that
allowed for the sale of private homes in which the Council of State
modified the General Housing Law, a statute created by the National
Assembly. The same thing happened with the new modifications, although
it was not the Cuban parliament that issued Law 1312 on September
20,1978. Instead it was approved by the President of the Republic, a
position that does not exist within the Cuban legal structure. It is the
Council of State that modifies or overturns statutes approved by
parliament based on the premise that it is a branch of the National
Assembly, which it represents when the Assembly is not in session.
With regards to the hasty approval in a plenary session of the National
Assembly in December, the strategic and intelligent decision was
conveniently put into effect before Cubans could exercise their right to
vote in elections. One of the promises made by Raul Castro when he took
office in 2008 was to eliminate "excessive and unnecessary"
restrictions. It was also to his advantage to modify his emigration
policy before the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the UN Council on
Human Rights, scheduled to take place between April 22 and May 3, 2013.
One of the recommendations made by the council in the previous UPR in
2009, which has still not been accepted, was to eliminate restrictions
on freedom of movement of its citizens. On this occasion the government
used a similar strategy when, before submitting to the review, it signed
the conventions on human rights on February 28, 2008, which it still has
not ratified, even though at the time the signing led to recognition and
congratulations from the international community.
Saavedra: I have two questions for you. First, I have been working
outside Cuba for a year and a half. To come here, I had to apply for a
release (a letter of non-objection) in February of 2011 at the
university where I used to work as a professor. I retain Cuban residency
and have travelled twice during this time. I am thinking of going in
December of this year and returning on January 10. Do I run the risk
that they will retain my passport based on fact that I worked at the
university more than a year ago and am a university graduate? Or could
they ask me for a new letter of release that the university rector could
delay giving me for up to five years?
In response to your first question, they are required to update your
passport and you would not be running a risk of having to apply for a
new letter of release. You have already been released. The guidelines
dealing with professionals who require authorization to travel overseas
for personal reasons pertain to those who are currently employed on the
island, whose names and permanent identity information is in an
automated system organized and controlled by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security according to the new regulations (articles 5 and 6 of
the decree). However, I recall that there are various articles that
could apply here and that the final decision is subject to the
discretion of the Minister of the Interior.
Saavedra: My second question pertains to my wife, who is in Cuba. She is
also a university graduate and has a job as a specialist for ETECSA
(Telecommunications Company of Cuba). I would like to take her with me
early next year, in March or April. Obviously, they could delay giving
her authorization to travel for up to five years. If we begin the
process of applying for the non-objection letter before January 14 (when
the new law goes into effect), can they keep her there for five years
based on the new law or some other existing law, or would they release
her from her job reasonably quickly? Our intention is to work outside of
Cuba without losing our residency status there, or to travel at least
every two years. Thank you for your answer, and I apologize for the
length of my questions.
Your wife does run the risk that they could keep her passport for five
years if she is still working. The automated system contains the names
and permanent personal information of professionals who require
authorization to travel overseas for personal reasons and must be ready
in two months counting from October 16 of last year, the date of
publication of the new regulations.
Bryan: Is there some legal mechanism for Cuban youths who have dual
nationality to be excused from active military service?
Unfortunately, there is no legal ruling that exempts a young Cuban from
fulfilling the requirement of military service because of dual
nationality or citizenship. In fact this is one of the quirks that
prevents Cubans from obtaining a passport and, therefore, from leaving
Cuba. The government does not recognize that any of its citizens has any
citizenship other than the Cuban one, even if he or she holds
citizenship from one or more other countries. In other words, you can
have several nationalities, legally speaking however, within Cuba you
are a Cuban citizen and there is no formula or procedure by which you
can renounce this citizenship, even if it infringes on constitutional
law. Legally, even the National Assembly has not determined who has the
authority to decree loss of citizenship. It is one of the factors used
to control the flow of emigration.
Lila: I have been in Spain for ten months. I have a residency permit for
five years. I am not thinking of going back to Cuba because I would lose
my job. Would I have to get an extension or is there no need under the
new law? How much would I have to pay for my stay here?
Yes, you have to get an extension for each month you stay overseas after
the time period for which you received permission, if it is before
January 14, 2013. After that date a fee is charged for each month after
the first 24 months you are a permanent resident outside the country,
according to rulings from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The name of
the consular contribution will change from "Extension for Overseas Stay"
to "Extension of Permanent Overseas Residency." They will be priced the
same. In your case, since Spain is a member of the euro zone, that would
be 40 euros if you pay it through the Cuban consulate. It you pay
electronically, it is 25 euros more. You could even ask them to give you
multiple extensions in the same application for the number of months
authorized.
Orosmer Rodríguez: In the case of Yoani Sánchez what would happen if
next February she were to decide to visit New York or Miami? Could she
be detained even if there are no pending legal charges against her?
Under new regulations Yoani Sánchez should get a new passport or have it
renewed, if she already has one. As long as she is not violating any
laws in Cuba's current Penal Code, no one can detain her. And if they
did, we would be dealing with an arbitrary detention.
It is another matter if they do not allow her to leave the country. That
would constitute a violation of freedom of movement, which is a
recognized right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well
as under the International Convention for Civil and Political Rights
which the state, by signing, has made clear its intention to respect.
However, under the new emigration regulations the government can prevent
Yoani Sánchez from leaving the country by denying her the possibility of
obtaining a valid passport or by officially declaring that she may not
leave the country for reasons of national or military security, or if
the Minister of the Interior so determines.
International human rights institutions are concerned about the practice
by some states of hindering their own nationals from leaving their
country. One of the tactics that they mention is the refusal to issue a
passport under the pretext that the applicant would harm the country's
reputation.
Tenores Jomenor: I would like to know what you consider to be the main
points of "the pending emigration law," assuming it is inadequate.
The pending emigration law should not be called an emigration law since
the regulation of the right to citizenship would be outside its scope.
This is closely tied to freedom of movement, specifically to the right
of each individual to enter his or her own country, which recognizes the
special connection that one has to the other.
The pending emigration law should regulate and protect the right to move
freely and to choose one's residency within the nation's boundaries.
Nevertheless, Havana has special regulations that violate freedom of
movement and freedom to freely choose one's residency.
The restrictions that the anticipated emigration law contain should be
specific and provide for legal recourse to limit the ability of Minister
of the Interior to limit entry or exit from the country.
The restrictions contained in the pending emigration law should be
compatible with all other universally recognized rights and fundamental
principles of equality and non-discrimination. It should make no
distinctions because of a citizen's political views. Nor should it
invalidate any right or compromise its essence. In other words it should
not be the general rule and the exercise of the right the exception.
Mario Martínez: I live in Cuba, but have worked for several years in the
Cayman Islands. Until now I have had to return to the island every eight
or nine months. I would like to ask you if in the future, before going
to Cuba, I will still have to pay $40 per month extension with a bank
draft to the Cuban embassy in Jamaica as well as the $25 for not doing
it in person.
Your question is very similar to Lila's. After January 14, 2013, based
on the new regulations, specifically those from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, you should continue to pay the same currently established rates
for extending your stay overseas for more than 24 months, which is the
time limit for Cubans living overseas who have permanent residence on
the island and who travel on personal business.
Phillip: What does the constitution say about the right of citizens to
request a passport? In other countries it is a right that no one is
denied except in certain cases in which it can be confiscated from the
passport holder to prevent him from leaving the country when it being
shown that he has been involved in a serious crime. Otherwise, by law it
cannot be denied to anyone.
If the Cuban constitution ignores freedom of movement — widely
recognized as one of the principal judicial instruments of human rights
— then it pays even less attention to the right to obtain a passport.
The new emigration legislation certainly eliminates the entry and exit
visa, but it establishes a new prohibition, which in my opinion is even
worse. It prevents someone from obtaining a necessary travel document
not only for having committed a crime, but for reasons political or
otherwise. The right to leave the country also includes the right to
obtain the necessary travel documents. The refusal of the government to
issue a passport (or to renew an existing one) to a Cuban living or not
living on the island is to deny his legitimate right to enter or leave
the country.
Miguel Cervantes: Doesn't the emigration reform law contain something
about persons deported from the United States that Cuba refuses to receive?
After January 14, 2013 Cuban emigrants will be able to reclaim their
residency status within the nation's boundaries — an option that did not
exist prior to the new regulations. Although the new emigration statute
does not expressly mention people deported from the United States, their
status as emigrants allows them them file an application.
One of the advantages of the new emigration statute is that one does not
have to physically reside in the country to regain residency status on
the island. People will be allowed to exercise rights denied them until
now, such as their rights to vote, work, to education and to acquire
property.
The request can be filed through overseas consulates or through the
Processing Office of the Ministry of the Interior to the Department of
Immigration, which subsequently approves or denies residency requests
within three months.
The regulation also requires an applicant to disclose the means used to
emigrate and does not provide for an appeals process in the event a
request is denied. This means that recognition of one's right is subject
to the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. This also means that
emigration law itself establishes the conditions under which someone —
either a national or a foreigner — can be denied entry into the country.
Ramón: I left for Argentina in 1998 after obtaining a letter of
invitation and have not been back since. I was denied entry into the
country because I am a doctor. On numerous occasions over the last 15
years I filed appeals to the Cuban authorities, explaining that I was
authorized to leave, that I have my release card, and that I did not
leave during an official mission but rather on a visit to Argentina.
However, I have never received a reply. With this new law can I file an
appeal to return since I am an emigrant who left for personal reasons?
My father is still in Cuba. My mother died a month ago and I was not
able to even attend her funeral. I also have a sister and niece there.
They told me at the Cuban embassy in Argentina that everything remains
the same for people like me.
Unfortunately, the government's policy with respect to doctors, artists
and athletes is very inflexible and is not written into law. Although
changes have been made to emigration laws, certain practices remain in
place, such as the discretionary power of the Minister of the Interior
to decide which Cubans may enter or leave the country. You could read
through any number of legal statutes, and nowhere will you find mention
of any process by which a citizen can file an appeal in the event he or
she is denied the right to enter or leave the country.
The Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedural Law provides an avenue
for appealing administrative decisions by the Central State
Administrative Boards (OACE) and its domestic branches which violate
legally established rights.
However, denials by officials from the Ministry of the Interior
(MININT), a OACE, with respect to entry and exit applications cannot be
brought before a court since they emanate from the exercise of
discretionary legal authority. The law itself prevents judicial bodies
from analyzing the decisions arising from this authority. This is
precisely one of the concerns of international human rights organizations.
Supposedly, the laws which authorize the imposition of restrictions must
not confer discretionary powers without constraints on officials who
exercise them. There is only one conclusion that we can draw from this:
The discretionary freedom that the government grants to its Minister of
the Interior places citizens in a defenseless position when faced with
administrative actions which are detrimental to their legitimate rights.
Cubans are being denied "an effective recourse before competent national
courts charged with protecting them against actions which violate their
fundamental rights as recognized by the constitution or by law" by the
preventing them from appealing decisions of MININT officials before
courts of justice. Every Cuban "has the right, under conditions of full
equality, to be publicly and justly heard by an independent and
impartial court to determine their rights…"
Ramón, you should not allow them to continue punishing you for having
made the decision to exercise your rights. If the Cuban government does
not respond to you, contact the UN High Commission's special rapporteur
on the independence of judges and attorneys — a recommendation that I
strongly make to all Cubans who have been denied the right to enter or
leave their own country by the Ministry of the Interior.
Many thanks to the readers of Diario de Cuba for their questions.
November 27 2012
http://translatingcuba.com/laritza-diversent-the-pending-emigration-law-should-make-no-distinctions-because-of-citizens-political-views-cuba/
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