Posted on Wednesday, 05.29.13
Cuban dissident says security forces are studying Vladimir Putin's rule
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuban security officers are studying post-communist changes in Russia —
and being nicer to dissidents — in preparation for a possible transition
away from the island's totalitarian system, leading opposition activist
Guillermo Fariñas said Tuesday.
Some of the officers fear a sudden collapse of the communist system and
"don't want to suffer the same fate as the followers of (Moamar)
Kaddafi" in Libya, Fariñas said during a lengthy visit Tuesday to El
Nuevo Herald and The Miami Herald.
They favor a slow transition that would allow them to seize ownership of
state enterprises, he added, like the massive grab for public assets
that the Sandinistas staged in Nicaragua as they left power in 1990 and
became known as the "Piñata."
Fariñas said he has friendly contacts with a half-dozen lieutenant
colonels or colonels because they studied together in military high
schools. He also served one year in Angola with a commando unit and
spent three years at a military academy in the Soviet Union.
Some of the military officers told him they have been attending weekly
lectures on the transitions in Russia and Belarus that they refer to as
"Putinismo," he said, in an apparent reference to Vladimir Putin's
authoritarian yet capitalist rule.
They also told him that some of ruler Raúl Castro's advisers have
suggested that 15 to 25 dissidents should be allowed into the national
parliament, Fariñas added. Castro replied that he agreed, but that
brother Fidel would never allow it.
Some of the Interior Ministry officers in charge of monitoring and
repressing dissidents also are "taking care not to get blood on the
hands," the activist said, to avoid punishments later in case Cuba
shifts significantly toward democracy at some point.
State Security officials used to boast in the 1990s that the island's
communist system would never change. But now they tell him that they are
only following orders, said Fariñas, who has staged more than 20 hunger
strikes during his 21years as a dissident.
One State Security agent now politely asks Fariñas' mother to put
together the dissident's daily medicines before taking him for
questioning from his home in the central city of Santa Clara, the
dissident said.
And one of the harshest State Security officers in the city, a
28-year-old who turned out to be the son of a bus driver at Farinas'
military school, now tells the dissident when other government opponents
confront him, the activist said.
Fariñas said the officer tells him that he is sometimes forced to get
tough when dissidents spit at him, swear at him and his mother or jeer
him as "nalgón" – big butt.
Those and other Fariñas comments could not be independently confirmed,
but other dissidents in Cuba, including human rights activist Elizardo
Sanchez Santa Cruz, have previously said that he does have access to old
friends in the security forces.
Fariñas said that he in fact ran into Miguel Diaz Canel — a fellow Santa
Clara native and classmate in the military high school — six weeks
before his promotion to First Vice President of the Council of State,
No. 2 behind Raúl Castro.
Fariñas said he was walking by the home of Diaz Canel's parents on Jan.
4 when he spotted the old friend parking his car, one of the
Chinese-made Geely vehicles used by high government officials.
Diaz Canel shook his hand warmly and asked about his health as they
spoke for about 15 minutes, the dissident said, largely about the
135-day hunger strike in 2010 that put him in the hospital several times.
The vice president noted in the chat that Fariñas refused to speak to
several government envoys during the strike, the dissident said, and
asked if Farinas would talk to him in case of another hunger strike.
Fariñas said he told Diaz Canel that they could indeed speak, and the
government official replied that "he would keep that in mind." But he
added that he would have to report the conversation to his superiors in
Havana.
Fariñas also said he would oppose an unconditional lifting of the U.S.
embargo and added that while he respects the Catholic Church and its
bishops, he has been "disappointed" with Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
If the Cuban government ever agrees to talks with the opposition, he
added, Ortega should not be part of the negotiations.
Fariñas said he expects to go to Puerto Rico and later to Belgium, to
pick up the $60,000 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience awarded to
him by the European Parliament in 2010, before he returns to Havana
around mid-July.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/29/3421213/cuban-dissident-says-security.html
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Cuba To Offer Public Internet At Cyber Cafes, But Access Comes With Hefty Price Tag
Cuba To Offer Public Internet At Cyber Cafes, But Access Comes With
Hefty Price Tag
By Robert Schoon (r.schoon@latinospost.com) | First Posted: May 28, 2013
03:50 PM EDT
Cuba has announced Tuesday that it is joining the information age
starting on June 4, with public Internet access available at 118
Internet centers across the island. But according to the Associated
Press report, Internet access for average Cubans and the web in peoples'
homes will remain quite limited.
The Internet cafes, including 12 in the capital Havana, will be
connected to Cuba's mainline to the Internet: a fiber optic, underwater
cable which connects from Cuba to Jamaica, and eventually to Venezuela,
that has been providing web access to some on the isolated island since
August of last year. That was one year behind schedule, according to the
Havana Times, which said the cable from Venezuela was supposed to be
ready in July of 2011.
Until now, only a few places, like tourist hotels, foreign companies,
the Cuban government and some Cuban businesses have been able to use
that Internet mainline. Now authorities say they will open cyber cafes
for citizens of Cuba. According to the government's Official Gazette,
people will be able to sign up for either temporary or permanent
accounts with the state telecommunications concern Etecsa and use one of
the 118 cybercafes to access the web.
But the cost of accessing the Internet will remain prohibitively high
for many Cubans. Internet access will be charged at the equivalent of
$4.50 — $5 USD per hour for access to the wider web — while access to a
Cuba-only intranet will cost significantly less, at the equivalent of 60
cents per hour. Pay for government employees averages the equivalent of
$20 USD per month in Cuba, says the Havana Times. Still, this is more
Internet access and at a slightly cheaper cost than before, when the
limited Internet that one could find cost $8 per hour.
The AP reports that 2.9 percent of Cubans have Internet access, though
it could be as much as 5 to 10 percent due to Cubans' under-reporting.
For those in the minority who can afford Cuba's Internet, the web still
comes with a filter: pornography and content deemed politically
unacceptable is censored. It's not clear presently if those restrictions
will continue into the new system.
http://www.latinospost.com/articles/20177/20130528/cuba-offer-public-internet-cyber-cafes-access-comes-hefty-price.htm
Hefty Price Tag
By Robert Schoon (r.schoon@latinospost.com) | First Posted: May 28, 2013
03:50 PM EDT
Cuba has announced Tuesday that it is joining the information age
starting on June 4, with public Internet access available at 118
Internet centers across the island. But according to the Associated
Press report, Internet access for average Cubans and the web in peoples'
homes will remain quite limited.
The Internet cafes, including 12 in the capital Havana, will be
connected to Cuba's mainline to the Internet: a fiber optic, underwater
cable which connects from Cuba to Jamaica, and eventually to Venezuela,
that has been providing web access to some on the isolated island since
August of last year. That was one year behind schedule, according to the
Havana Times, which said the cable from Venezuela was supposed to be
ready in July of 2011.
Until now, only a few places, like tourist hotels, foreign companies,
the Cuban government and some Cuban businesses have been able to use
that Internet mainline. Now authorities say they will open cyber cafes
for citizens of Cuba. According to the government's Official Gazette,
people will be able to sign up for either temporary or permanent
accounts with the state telecommunications concern Etecsa and use one of
the 118 cybercafes to access the web.
But the cost of accessing the Internet will remain prohibitively high
for many Cubans. Internet access will be charged at the equivalent of
$4.50 — $5 USD per hour for access to the wider web — while access to a
Cuba-only intranet will cost significantly less, at the equivalent of 60
cents per hour. Pay for government employees averages the equivalent of
$20 USD per month in Cuba, says the Havana Times. Still, this is more
Internet access and at a slightly cheaper cost than before, when the
limited Internet that one could find cost $8 per hour.
The AP reports that 2.9 percent of Cubans have Internet access, though
it could be as much as 5 to 10 percent due to Cubans' under-reporting.
For those in the minority who can afford Cuba's Internet, the web still
comes with a filter: pornography and content deemed politically
unacceptable is censored. It's not clear presently if those restrictions
will continue into the new system.
http://www.latinospost.com/articles/20177/20130528/cuba-offer-public-internet-cyber-cafes-access-comes-hefty-price.htm
Cuba to offer public Internet at salons islandwide
Posted on Tuesday, 05.28.13
COMMUNICATIONS
Cuba to offer public Internet at salons islandwide
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press
HAVANA -- Cuban authorities said Tuesday that they will begin offering public Internet access at more than 100 cyber-salons across the island, though home Web service remains greatly restricted.
Starting June 4, people can sign up with state telecom Etecsa for temporary or permanent accounts to use one of the 118 centers, according to a measure enacted with its publication in the government's Official Gazette.
"New areas for (Internet) navigation will gradually be incorporated," official newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported.
Until now, the Internet has been limited to places such as tourist hotels that charge $8 an hour for creaky Wi-Fi, foreign-run companies and some sectors of Cuban business and government. Residential dial-up accounts are rare and restricted.
According to government statistics, only 2.9 percent of Cubans said they had access to the Worldwide Web – though outside observers put the likely figure at 5 to 10 percent, taking underreporting into account.
About 16 percent were able to go partway online via a domestic Intranet and email, often through workplace or school hookups or places such as computer clubs and post offices.
"Great! I knew this was coming," said Camila Delgado, a 44-year-old shop worker in Havana, though she added that "there's still a ways to go to be like everywhere else on the planet. We don't have access at home and the prices are prohibitive."
Indeed, some scoffed at the new cyber-centers' price tag of $4.50 an hour, a stiff fee for islanders whose state salaries average about $20 per month plus an array of subsidized goods and services.
"It's a real bargain," snarked a user on state news website Cuba Si who gave the name Osvaldo Ulloa. "I mean, I work for a week and then I can get online for hour – fabulous."
Even for those who are already able to access the wider Internet, some sites are censored for things including pornography or politically objectionable content. It was not clear whether the new service will block such pages, and neither the Gazette nor Juventud Rebelde mentioned the issue.
The Internet is a highly politicized issue on the island, with critics pointing to restrictions as an example of infringement upon freedom.
Authorities say that the limitations are due more to technical reasons and that Cuba has the obligation to prioritize its limited capacity for things that benefit the public good, such as research and work centers or universities.
Earlier this year, Cuba began sending and receiving data traffic through a fiber-optic cable strung from Venezuela in 2011 that provided the island's first hard-wired Internet connection to the outside world.
Expanding connectivity options for Cubans "is consistent with Cuba's stated strategy of continuing to facilitate more and more access to new technologies, depending on the availability of resources and with a focus that favors social use," Juventud Rebelde said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3421157/cuba-to-offer-public-internet.html
COMMUNICATIONS
Cuba to offer public Internet at salons islandwide
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press
HAVANA -- Cuban authorities said Tuesday that they will begin offering public Internet access at more than 100 cyber-salons across the island, though home Web service remains greatly restricted.
Starting June 4, people can sign up with state telecom Etecsa for temporary or permanent accounts to use one of the 118 centers, according to a measure enacted with its publication in the government's Official Gazette.
"New areas for (Internet) navigation will gradually be incorporated," official newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported.
Until now, the Internet has been limited to places such as tourist hotels that charge $8 an hour for creaky Wi-Fi, foreign-run companies and some sectors of Cuban business and government. Residential dial-up accounts are rare and restricted.
According to government statistics, only 2.9 percent of Cubans said they had access to the Worldwide Web – though outside observers put the likely figure at 5 to 10 percent, taking underreporting into account.
About 16 percent were able to go partway online via a domestic Intranet and email, often through workplace or school hookups or places such as computer clubs and post offices.
"Great! I knew this was coming," said Camila Delgado, a 44-year-old shop worker in Havana, though she added that "there's still a ways to go to be like everywhere else on the planet. We don't have access at home and the prices are prohibitive."
Indeed, some scoffed at the new cyber-centers' price tag of $4.50 an hour, a stiff fee for islanders whose state salaries average about $20 per month plus an array of subsidized goods and services.
"It's a real bargain," snarked a user on state news website Cuba Si who gave the name Osvaldo Ulloa. "I mean, I work for a week and then I can get online for hour – fabulous."
Even for those who are already able to access the wider Internet, some sites are censored for things including pornography or politically objectionable content. It was not clear whether the new service will block such pages, and neither the Gazette nor Juventud Rebelde mentioned the issue.
The Internet is a highly politicized issue on the island, with critics pointing to restrictions as an example of infringement upon freedom.
Authorities say that the limitations are due more to technical reasons and that Cuba has the obligation to prioritize its limited capacity for things that benefit the public good, such as research and work centers or universities.
Earlier this year, Cuba began sending and receiving data traffic through a fiber-optic cable strung from Venezuela in 2011 that provided the island's first hard-wired Internet connection to the outside world.
Expanding connectivity options for Cubans "is consistent with Cuba's stated strategy of continuing to facilitate more and more access to new technologies, depending on the availability of resources and with a focus that favors social use," Juventud Rebelde said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3421157/cuba-to-offer-public-internet.html
American held in Cuba Suit against US dismissed
Posted on Tuesday, 05.28.13
American held in Cuba: Suit against US dismissed
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by an
American imprisoned in Cuba against the U.S. government, for whom he was
working when he was arrested.
Judge James Boasberg wrote Tuesday in an opinion dismissing the case
that federal law bars lawsuits against the government based on injuries
suffered in foreign countries.
The lawsuit was filed last year by Alan Gross. He was working for the
U.S. Agency for International Development and its contractor Development
Alternatives Inc. when he was arrested in 2009.
Gross had been working to bring internet access to the Communist island
and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his work.
The lawsuit said he wasn't prepared for his job's risks.
Gross settled with Bethesda, Md.-based DAI for an undisclosed amount
earlier this month.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3421214/american-held-in-cuba-suit-against.html
American held in Cuba: Suit against US dismissed
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by an
American imprisoned in Cuba against the U.S. government, for whom he was
working when he was arrested.
Judge James Boasberg wrote Tuesday in an opinion dismissing the case
that federal law bars lawsuits against the government based on injuries
suffered in foreign countries.
The lawsuit was filed last year by Alan Gross. He was working for the
U.S. Agency for International Development and its contractor Development
Alternatives Inc. when he was arrested in 2009.
Gross had been working to bring internet access to the Communist island
and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his work.
The lawsuit said he wasn't prepared for his job's risks.
Gross settled with Bethesda, Md.-based DAI for an undisclosed amount
earlier this month.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3421214/american-held-in-cuba-suit-against.html
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Antonio Castro's Golf Swing
Cuba: Antonio Castro's Golf Swing
May 28, 2013
Haroldo Dilla Alfonso
HAVANA TIMES — When I read the news about the trophy Antonio Castro had
won at an international golf tournament, I could not help but bring
Pierre Bourdieu to mind.
A requisite read, Bourdieu was a social scientist who wrote about a
broad range of topics and had something interesting to say about all of
them. One of the concepts he coined was that of the "distinction". For
Bourdieu, this was a kind of condensation of consumption habits and
behaviors which underpinned the lifestyle of a specific social class.
All elites cultivate their own distinction on the basis of their history
and power. When Cuba's Sierra Maestra rebels took power, they began to
construct theirs.
At first, it drew from an austere, popular and anti-urban discourse
which found its supreme embodiment in the figure of Ernesto Che Guevara,
a man of undeniable stoicism and a known aversion to bathing.
Afterwards, following the demise of the epic-heroic age, the new
political class began to develop a taste for the abundance afforded by
power.
Appearances, however, had to be kept, and such indulgences were carried
out at the expense of the State (no one had any private means of
accumulation), under the threat of a supreme authority that would
decapitate those who indulged in excess, drew too much attention to
themselves or proved disloyal.
In any event, these individuals had their own, inherit limitations in
this regard, a view of the world that often confounded prosperity with
what Marc Bloch called "obscene abundance."
They were people prone to lavish feasts and heavy drinking, who traveled
around the world with their own, personal gymnasiums, who filled up
planes with all sorts of worthless souvenirs from Madrid, who were
insatiable procurers of sex, of the cheap and expensive kind alike. They
were, however, incapable of grasping the elegance of an adagio or the
difference between the wines of the new and old continents.
I don't know whether this is an excessively cruel remark, but, whenever
I think about these people, I invariably bring to mind the image of
Cuba's last foreign minister [Felipe Perez Roque] to be defenestrated,
beer in hand and trousers rolled up, wiggling his blubbery physique to a
popular tune at that rural festivity, whose video is still being played
on the Internet.
The economic reforms Cuba undertook in the 1990s, and particularly those
implemented as of 2008, have been very shy, in more than one sense of
the word. We've seen no shortage of shyness, however, in the opening of
consumption spaces and the tolerance shown to material accumulation by
what appears to be the new social base of Cuba's coming capitalism:
black market lynchpins, the heirs of political fortunes, competitive
managers, salaried consultants and show business and art-world flaneurs.
This new, emerging elite sets itself apart from its predecessor through
its lifestyle. The previous elite were a class of blood-suckers that fed
on the body of producers like a mass of leeches.
Though dependent on State protection and assets (without which no one
can survive in Cuba), the economic prowess of this emerging economic
elite is derived, to a considerable degree, from the market itself.
They, and they alone, are the ones who benefit from the recent
liberalization which granted Cubans the right to stay at hotels,
purchase houses and cars, travel abroad (with visas that attest to hefty
bank accounts), and enjoy other services which can be secured in the
black market at exorbitant prices, Internet included.
Only they – and this is perhaps what is most important – can
continuously move between the private and public spheres, from the
regular Cuban peso economy to the Cuban Convertible Peso market, from
the realm of business to the world of politics – and to secure the
differential benefits derived from crossing the many borders that
characterize Cuba's current, fragmented reality.
Consequently, Cuba's new elite bears an incipient touch of bourgeois
distinction, visible in the glitter of galas held at select locations
around Havana, or the lush private banquets which were, formerly, the
luxury of consecrated officials and ambassadors.
Several chroniclers of our time, such as Lois Parsley and Sandra Weiss,
have written about the members of this new elite and their luxury-filled
nights. In a recent article, curiously entitled "Glamour is Back in
Havana", Weiss describes the sight of an orange Hummer, rolling noisily
down the city's pot-holed streets.
This is the world that Antonio Castro [son of Fidel Castro] belongs in.
The indignation over the likely costs of his golf hobby that many
readers have felt is understandable.
Cuba is a country where people quarrel over a dollar with the same
passion with which Robinson Crusoe guarded his corral of evasive goats.
The issue of money, however, is secondary, for any company could well
have paid for his training and even directed Antonio's golf balls, via
remote control, towards all of the 18 available holes.
A tournament winner as well-known as Antonio Castro is well worth the
trouble, hence the fact that his victory at a second-rate event has been
given so much coverage you would think he was Tiger Woods and the
tournament a major championship.
In contrast to his brothers – unremarkable in different ways – he plays
a visible, public role. And, unlike his cousins, Antonio Castro is an
apolitical creature. You don't see him launching anti-imperialist books
or leading conga-lines in favor of the LGTB movement. You see him,
rather, smoking fine cigars next to an international, nicotine-loving
jet set.
He holds no high-sounding government positions. He is a mere
vice-chairman in Cuba's Baseball Federation. Though seemingly
insignificant, this places him in a good position to manage the opening
of the country to professional sports and, ultimately, become the owner
of a team, as many multi-millionaires around the world have done,
including Silvio Berlusconi and Sebastian Piñera.
Though undeniably a poster-boy for the regime, Antonio Castro is not an
insignificant man. He is a peculiar but key component of what we have
termed the Castro Dynasty. As such, between puts, Antonio Castro is
slowly becoming part of a de-facto elite that will have considerable
influence over Cuban politics for many years to come.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93698
May 28, 2013
Haroldo Dilla Alfonso
HAVANA TIMES — When I read the news about the trophy Antonio Castro had
won at an international golf tournament, I could not help but bring
Pierre Bourdieu to mind.
A requisite read, Bourdieu was a social scientist who wrote about a
broad range of topics and had something interesting to say about all of
them. One of the concepts he coined was that of the "distinction". For
Bourdieu, this was a kind of condensation of consumption habits and
behaviors which underpinned the lifestyle of a specific social class.
All elites cultivate their own distinction on the basis of their history
and power. When Cuba's Sierra Maestra rebels took power, they began to
construct theirs.
At first, it drew from an austere, popular and anti-urban discourse
which found its supreme embodiment in the figure of Ernesto Che Guevara,
a man of undeniable stoicism and a known aversion to bathing.
Afterwards, following the demise of the epic-heroic age, the new
political class began to develop a taste for the abundance afforded by
power.
Appearances, however, had to be kept, and such indulgences were carried
out at the expense of the State (no one had any private means of
accumulation), under the threat of a supreme authority that would
decapitate those who indulged in excess, drew too much attention to
themselves or proved disloyal.
In any event, these individuals had their own, inherit limitations in
this regard, a view of the world that often confounded prosperity with
what Marc Bloch called "obscene abundance."
They were people prone to lavish feasts and heavy drinking, who traveled
around the world with their own, personal gymnasiums, who filled up
planes with all sorts of worthless souvenirs from Madrid, who were
insatiable procurers of sex, of the cheap and expensive kind alike. They
were, however, incapable of grasping the elegance of an adagio or the
difference between the wines of the new and old continents.
I don't know whether this is an excessively cruel remark, but, whenever
I think about these people, I invariably bring to mind the image of
Cuba's last foreign minister [Felipe Perez Roque] to be defenestrated,
beer in hand and trousers rolled up, wiggling his blubbery physique to a
popular tune at that rural festivity, whose video is still being played
on the Internet.
The economic reforms Cuba undertook in the 1990s, and particularly those
implemented as of 2008, have been very shy, in more than one sense of
the word. We've seen no shortage of shyness, however, in the opening of
consumption spaces and the tolerance shown to material accumulation by
what appears to be the new social base of Cuba's coming capitalism:
black market lynchpins, the heirs of political fortunes, competitive
managers, salaried consultants and show business and art-world flaneurs.
This new, emerging elite sets itself apart from its predecessor through
its lifestyle. The previous elite were a class of blood-suckers that fed
on the body of producers like a mass of leeches.
Though dependent on State protection and assets (without which no one
can survive in Cuba), the economic prowess of this emerging economic
elite is derived, to a considerable degree, from the market itself.
They, and they alone, are the ones who benefit from the recent
liberalization which granted Cubans the right to stay at hotels,
purchase houses and cars, travel abroad (with visas that attest to hefty
bank accounts), and enjoy other services which can be secured in the
black market at exorbitant prices, Internet included.
Only they – and this is perhaps what is most important – can
continuously move between the private and public spheres, from the
regular Cuban peso economy to the Cuban Convertible Peso market, from
the realm of business to the world of politics – and to secure the
differential benefits derived from crossing the many borders that
characterize Cuba's current, fragmented reality.
Consequently, Cuba's new elite bears an incipient touch of bourgeois
distinction, visible in the glitter of galas held at select locations
around Havana, or the lush private banquets which were, formerly, the
luxury of consecrated officials and ambassadors.
Several chroniclers of our time, such as Lois Parsley and Sandra Weiss,
have written about the members of this new elite and their luxury-filled
nights. In a recent article, curiously entitled "Glamour is Back in
Havana", Weiss describes the sight of an orange Hummer, rolling noisily
down the city's pot-holed streets.
This is the world that Antonio Castro [son of Fidel Castro] belongs in.
The indignation over the likely costs of his golf hobby that many
readers have felt is understandable.
Cuba is a country where people quarrel over a dollar with the same
passion with which Robinson Crusoe guarded his corral of evasive goats.
The issue of money, however, is secondary, for any company could well
have paid for his training and even directed Antonio's golf balls, via
remote control, towards all of the 18 available holes.
A tournament winner as well-known as Antonio Castro is well worth the
trouble, hence the fact that his victory at a second-rate event has been
given so much coverage you would think he was Tiger Woods and the
tournament a major championship.
In contrast to his brothers – unremarkable in different ways – he plays
a visible, public role. And, unlike his cousins, Antonio Castro is an
apolitical creature. You don't see him launching anti-imperialist books
or leading conga-lines in favor of the LGTB movement. You see him,
rather, smoking fine cigars next to an international, nicotine-loving
jet set.
He holds no high-sounding government positions. He is a mere
vice-chairman in Cuba's Baseball Federation. Though seemingly
insignificant, this places him in a good position to manage the opening
of the country to professional sports and, ultimately, become the owner
of a team, as many multi-millionaires around the world have done,
including Silvio Berlusconi and Sebastian Piñera.
Though undeniably a poster-boy for the regime, Antonio Castro is not an
insignificant man. He is a peculiar but key component of what we have
termed the Castro Dynasty. As such, between puts, Antonio Castro is
slowly becoming part of a de-facto elite that will have considerable
influence over Cuban politics for many years to come.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93698
Small fleet of Cuban boats grows in the Keys
Posted on Tuesday, 05.28.13
Small fleet of Cuban boats grows in the Keys
BY KEVIN WADLOW AND DAVID GOODHUE
KeysNet.com
Boats assembled from roofing tin, scrap lumber and foam plastic form a
ramshackle fleet moored off Islamorada's Whale Harbor.
"People have to be really desperate to go to sea aboard one of these,"
said Officer Janette Fernandez Costoya of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.
The collection of recovered refugee crafts from Cuba temporarily stored
at the agency's Whale Harbor station grew Friday when the seventh
homemade vessel in five weeks was recovered from the Atlantic off the
Upper Keys.
One is a welded rebar frame packed with plastic foam sheets and
spray-foam insulation. Others float on hulls of hammered sheet metal
barely hanging onto wooden frames.
"They've usually got an engine they pulled out of some vehicle, or a
makeshift sail," Costoya said, hefting a mast fashioned by popping
branches from a tree limb still covered with bark.
Some emigrants from Cuba's political repression and floundering economy
manage to arrange pickup by smugglers aboard speedboats from the U.S.
Others, unable to afford the high cost, "build these in the woods and
slip away at night."
Some of the escape boats are found with emigrants still aboard. Others
were left adrift after Cubans were taken aboard more substantial
vessels. If stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard at sea, those people are
returned to Cuba.
That happened May 10 to about a dozen Cubans stopped by the Coast Guard
about 15 miles off Islamorada. Recreational fishermen Doug Peterson and
Stu Kingma saw the makeshift sailboat cruising near the Islamorada Hump.
"The boat next to us circled them, and then called the Coast Guard,"
Peterson said. "They showed up right away."
Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Mark Barney said those
migrants have been returned to Cuba.
There is no atypical increase in Cubans making the journey across the
Florida Straits, he said, but this time of year usually is busy. "The
better the weather gets, the more we get," Barney said.
Cuban emigrant arrivals are down about 25 percent compared to the same
time period in 2012, said Elee Erice, a spokeswoman with U.S. Customs
and Border Protection. From October 2011 to April 30, 2012, the agency
reported 217 maritime arrivals. This year so far, there have been 166
maritime arrivals.
The number of Cubans intercepted at sea also is down so far this year by
about 35 percent, according to Coast Guard data. From October 2011 to
April 30, 2012, 816 Cubans were stopped at sea. During the same time
period this year, that number is 526.
Sometimes, the Wildlife Commission officers recover the homemade boats
with no idea what happened to those aboard.
Almost all those venturing to sea aboard the small boats are men,
Costoya said. "One group I found had a woman with a 2-year-old child,"
Costoya said. "I couldn't believe it. She said it was worth the risk to
give her child a better life."
Officer Sebastian Dri recently found a group of eight Cuban men aboard
one of the boats off Key Largo's South Sound Creek. The Cubans said the
crossing took four days.
"I asked a guy how they navigated," Dri said. "He pointed to this little
compass he had strapped on his wrist. It was like something out of a
gumball machine."
Costoya said the homemade craft boats are towed to shore to avoid
problems. "They're a nuisance so we bring them in," she said. "We can't
leave them out there. Somebody operating their boat at night could
easily hit one, and you never know where they're going to end up."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3420333/small-fleet-of-cuban-boats-grows.html
Small fleet of Cuban boats grows in the Keys
BY KEVIN WADLOW AND DAVID GOODHUE
KeysNet.com
Boats assembled from roofing tin, scrap lumber and foam plastic form a
ramshackle fleet moored off Islamorada's Whale Harbor.
"People have to be really desperate to go to sea aboard one of these,"
said Officer Janette Fernandez Costoya of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.
The collection of recovered refugee crafts from Cuba temporarily stored
at the agency's Whale Harbor station grew Friday when the seventh
homemade vessel in five weeks was recovered from the Atlantic off the
Upper Keys.
One is a welded rebar frame packed with plastic foam sheets and
spray-foam insulation. Others float on hulls of hammered sheet metal
barely hanging onto wooden frames.
"They've usually got an engine they pulled out of some vehicle, or a
makeshift sail," Costoya said, hefting a mast fashioned by popping
branches from a tree limb still covered with bark.
Some emigrants from Cuba's political repression and floundering economy
manage to arrange pickup by smugglers aboard speedboats from the U.S.
Others, unable to afford the high cost, "build these in the woods and
slip away at night."
Some of the escape boats are found with emigrants still aboard. Others
were left adrift after Cubans were taken aboard more substantial
vessels. If stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard at sea, those people are
returned to Cuba.
That happened May 10 to about a dozen Cubans stopped by the Coast Guard
about 15 miles off Islamorada. Recreational fishermen Doug Peterson and
Stu Kingma saw the makeshift sailboat cruising near the Islamorada Hump.
"The boat next to us circled them, and then called the Coast Guard,"
Peterson said. "They showed up right away."
Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Mark Barney said those
migrants have been returned to Cuba.
There is no atypical increase in Cubans making the journey across the
Florida Straits, he said, but this time of year usually is busy. "The
better the weather gets, the more we get," Barney said.
Cuban emigrant arrivals are down about 25 percent compared to the same
time period in 2012, said Elee Erice, a spokeswoman with U.S. Customs
and Border Protection. From October 2011 to April 30, 2012, the agency
reported 217 maritime arrivals. This year so far, there have been 166
maritime arrivals.
The number of Cubans intercepted at sea also is down so far this year by
about 35 percent, according to Coast Guard data. From October 2011 to
April 30, 2012, 816 Cubans were stopped at sea. During the same time
period this year, that number is 526.
Sometimes, the Wildlife Commission officers recover the homemade boats
with no idea what happened to those aboard.
Almost all those venturing to sea aboard the small boats are men,
Costoya said. "One group I found had a woman with a 2-year-old child,"
Costoya said. "I couldn't believe it. She said it was worth the risk to
give her child a better life."
Officer Sebastian Dri recently found a group of eight Cuban men aboard
one of the boats off Key Largo's South Sound Creek. The Cubans said the
crossing took four days.
"I asked a guy how they navigated," Dri said. "He pointed to this little
compass he had strapped on his wrist. It was like something out of a
gumball machine."
Costoya said the homemade craft boats are towed to shore to avoid
problems. "They're a nuisance so we bring them in," she said. "We can't
leave them out there. Somebody operating their boat at night could
easily hit one, and you never know where they're going to end up."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3420333/small-fleet-of-cuban-boats-grows.html
Unofficial Pastors, Half Free
Unofficial Pastors, Half Free / Luis Felipe Rojas
Posted on May 27, 2013
The U.S. State Department's annual report on religious freedom in the
world noted a slight improvement in Cuba, but placed the country as one
of those who remain on the black list, along with China, Iran and North
Korea.
Cuba improved in practice, says the document, but it also presents the
complaints of groups and independent pastors who claim to be monitored
by the government and suffer occasional arrests.
Pastor Manuel Alberto Morejon Soler, general supervisor of the Christian
Alliance and a resident of Havana, has a different view. To Morejon, the
Office of Religious Affairs and the Cuban Council of Churches (CIC) come
together and help each other with censorship and surveillance.
The pastor, who is defines himself as an independent, says that "only
the official churches are benefiting from the support of the Office of
Religious Affairs [of the Cuban Communist Party] and CIC, as the Bibles
and other resources entering the country and are distributed by these
entities."
A year ago, this pastor, with the 'apostle' Carlos Montoya Palomino, of
the same denomination, asked to attend some meetings of the ICC in the
interest of evaluating whether or not to join it. It has been over
twelve months and they have not yet been sent the official invitation.
"Several years ago the Cuban government froze an account of $ 26,000
belonging to the Seminary of the West Baptist Church in Villa Clara, and
that nothing is said about this," the pastor reported.
Morejon Soler does not see the improvements highlighted in the State
Department report and he believes that the 2012 reporting period, "was
very repressive." While there is a refusal to allow independent churches
on the island to have their own media, churches and other denominations
covered under the umbrella of CIC may buy cars, rent phone lines and
enjoy other benefits.
The Christian Alliance received an offer to transfer the donations they
received in the United States, but finding themselves in a legal limbo,
they are unable to issue paychecks, according to pastor Morejon. He
concludes, "They are not just bureaucratic procedures, rather they are
very sophisticated and have us tied hand and foot."
Having Faith is a heroic act
Carlos Montoya Palomino believes that faith in Cuba is a luxury. He says
it as someone who has gone through numerous vicissitudes.
It is precisely the "Lack of an Act of Worship and Religious Association
that gives human beings the right to wear their faith freely clearly
that makes it more difficult to live full freedom in Cuba," Montoya adds.
27 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/unofficial-pastors-half-free-luis-felipe-rojas/
Posted on May 27, 2013
The U.S. State Department's annual report on religious freedom in the
world noted a slight improvement in Cuba, but placed the country as one
of those who remain on the black list, along with China, Iran and North
Korea.
Cuba improved in practice, says the document, but it also presents the
complaints of groups and independent pastors who claim to be monitored
by the government and suffer occasional arrests.
Pastor Manuel Alberto Morejon Soler, general supervisor of the Christian
Alliance and a resident of Havana, has a different view. To Morejon, the
Office of Religious Affairs and the Cuban Council of Churches (CIC) come
together and help each other with censorship and surveillance.
The pastor, who is defines himself as an independent, says that "only
the official churches are benefiting from the support of the Office of
Religious Affairs [of the Cuban Communist Party] and CIC, as the Bibles
and other resources entering the country and are distributed by these
entities."
A year ago, this pastor, with the 'apostle' Carlos Montoya Palomino, of
the same denomination, asked to attend some meetings of the ICC in the
interest of evaluating whether or not to join it. It has been over
twelve months and they have not yet been sent the official invitation.
"Several years ago the Cuban government froze an account of $ 26,000
belonging to the Seminary of the West Baptist Church in Villa Clara, and
that nothing is said about this," the pastor reported.
Morejon Soler does not see the improvements highlighted in the State
Department report and he believes that the 2012 reporting period, "was
very repressive." While there is a refusal to allow independent churches
on the island to have their own media, churches and other denominations
covered under the umbrella of CIC may buy cars, rent phone lines and
enjoy other benefits.
The Christian Alliance received an offer to transfer the donations they
received in the United States, but finding themselves in a legal limbo,
they are unable to issue paychecks, according to pastor Morejon. He
concludes, "They are not just bureaucratic procedures, rather they are
very sophisticated and have us tied hand and foot."
Having Faith is a heroic act
Carlos Montoya Palomino believes that faith in Cuba is a luxury. He says
it as someone who has gone through numerous vicissitudes.
It is precisely the "Lack of an Act of Worship and Religious Association
that gives human beings the right to wear their faith freely clearly
that makes it more difficult to live full freedom in Cuba," Montoya adds.
27 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/unofficial-pastors-half-free-luis-felipe-rojas/
Prison Diary XXI I Accuse: If something happens to me it is NOT an accident
Prison Diary XXI: I Accuse: If something happens to me it is NOT an accident
Posted on May 27, 2013
Last Friday, May 17, I was led to the punishment cell.
In the morning I was visited by the prison director, Lieutenant Colonel
Villarrueta Reinaldo Vargas, Chief Interior, Major Erasmus, and First
Lieutenant, serving as Duty Officer.
They took me out of the cell and I was told that my belongings would be
searched. What they were looking for was nothing more than my writings,
letters, in short, they wanted the complaints, the future posts.
Faced with my silence, they dug through, with exquisite interest, paper
after paper. Power allows them to abuse. They read my personal letters
from my family and friends sending me strength.
Some letters were seized, one from my daughter, my sister, a mason, all
of Antonio Rodiles's and some others from inmates who wrote to me from
other barracks in Prison 1580.
"A lot of inmates write to you!" the Director commented.
"People don't know how to relieve their pain," I responded.
They continued digging, slowly reading even what a girl of 15 told me
about her life, about her excellent grades and her assurances that she
is very proud of me.
"I've read your complaints, that there is torture here," the Director
said, turning back to me.
"Of course," I said, "there are brutal beatings here, I have seen ten
guards beat a handcuffed man, the living conditions in here are torture,
the lack of general hygiene, bed bugs everywhere, bad food, badly
prepared, and lack of vital medicines for the mental stability of
inmates who need psychiatric drugs, and who, from not taking them, are
altered and are punished in cells with charges of indiscipline filed
against them."
But he wasn't listening to me, he continued to look for information,
trying to prevent the world from knowing about the excesses committed in
Cuban prisons, which disprove the version of Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodriguez, who mocked the Human Rights Council, based in Geneva.
The Director found an old manuscript, a draft of some post already
published.
"This already came out," he said, and tossed it.
At that same time, the inmates of my barracks went out for a reward
visit and were searched physically in a way they never experienced in
all their lives as prisoners. They were stripped, ordered to squat,
spread their buttocks, lift their scrotum, armpits, mouth, show the
soles of the feet. All to prevent their collaborating with the cause and
sending out my writings.
On Friday, the 24th, will be the regular visit. They showed me the card
where I wrote the names of those who would come to see me. And I found
they denied permission to nine of the thirteen people I requested. Each
name had a signature and a NO, including Antonio Rodiles and Ailer
González, and of course, the mother of my daughter and my friends.
So it goes in the prison, the struggle, the censorship and the grim
power of the Castro brothers.
An officer I've never seen before assured me that I will not get out of
this alive, and that after a lot of scandal, nothing will happen;
"Accidents are accidents," he tells me laughing.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580. May 2013
27 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xxi-i-accuse-if-something-happens-to-me-it-is-not-an-accident/
Posted on May 27, 2013
Last Friday, May 17, I was led to the punishment cell.
In the morning I was visited by the prison director, Lieutenant Colonel
Villarrueta Reinaldo Vargas, Chief Interior, Major Erasmus, and First
Lieutenant, serving as Duty Officer.
They took me out of the cell and I was told that my belongings would be
searched. What they were looking for was nothing more than my writings,
letters, in short, they wanted the complaints, the future posts.
Faced with my silence, they dug through, with exquisite interest, paper
after paper. Power allows them to abuse. They read my personal letters
from my family and friends sending me strength.
Some letters were seized, one from my daughter, my sister, a mason, all
of Antonio Rodiles's and some others from inmates who wrote to me from
other barracks in Prison 1580.
"A lot of inmates write to you!" the Director commented.
"People don't know how to relieve their pain," I responded.
They continued digging, slowly reading even what a girl of 15 told me
about her life, about her excellent grades and her assurances that she
is very proud of me.
"I've read your complaints, that there is torture here," the Director
said, turning back to me.
"Of course," I said, "there are brutal beatings here, I have seen ten
guards beat a handcuffed man, the living conditions in here are torture,
the lack of general hygiene, bed bugs everywhere, bad food, badly
prepared, and lack of vital medicines for the mental stability of
inmates who need psychiatric drugs, and who, from not taking them, are
altered and are punished in cells with charges of indiscipline filed
against them."
But he wasn't listening to me, he continued to look for information,
trying to prevent the world from knowing about the excesses committed in
Cuban prisons, which disprove the version of Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodriguez, who mocked the Human Rights Council, based in Geneva.
The Director found an old manuscript, a draft of some post already
published.
"This already came out," he said, and tossed it.
At that same time, the inmates of my barracks went out for a reward
visit and were searched physically in a way they never experienced in
all their lives as prisoners. They were stripped, ordered to squat,
spread their buttocks, lift their scrotum, armpits, mouth, show the
soles of the feet. All to prevent their collaborating with the cause and
sending out my writings.
On Friday, the 24th, will be the regular visit. They showed me the card
where I wrote the names of those who would come to see me. And I found
they denied permission to nine of the thirteen people I requested. Each
name had a signature and a NO, including Antonio Rodiles and Ailer
González, and of course, the mother of my daughter and my friends.
So it goes in the prison, the struggle, the censorship and the grim
power of the Castro brothers.
An officer I've never seen before assured me that I will not get out of
this alive, and that after a lot of scandal, nothing will happen;
"Accidents are accidents," he tells me laughing.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580. May 2013
27 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xxi-i-accuse-if-something-happens-to-me-it-is-not-an-accident/
Cuba will continue success in pro boxing predicts Fidel Castro's son
Exclusive: Cuba will continue success in pro boxing predicts Fidel
Castro's son
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 1
By Tom Degun
Antonio Castro 4May 26 - Antonio Castro, son of the former Cuban leader
Fidel Castro, has predicted the country's boxers will be successful the
professional ranks after it ended its draconian rule of over 50 years to
stop fighters staying amateur.
Professional boxing was effectively banned in Cuba in 1962 because Fidel
Castro regarded it as both corrupt and corrupting, while authorities
there deemed it is too dangerous and unsafe.
The ban left amateur boxing to become one of the most popular and
successful sports in the Caribbean island in recent years, and the
country is the second most successful boxing nation at the Olympic
Games, with an incredible 67 medals, including 34 golds, behind only the
United States.
But with International Boxing Association (AIBA) looking to turn boxing
at the Olympics professional by the next Games at Rio 2016, Cuba ended
their ban in April this year as they signed up to season four of the
World Series of Boxing WSB, which is due to begin in November.
The WSB is currently the only competition in the world that allows
boxers to fight professionally, without headguards, and still retain
their Olympic eligibility.
The WSB will shortly link up with a new tournament - AIBA Pro Boxing
(APB) - in another competition Cuba are set to sign up to.
"Boxing has always been one of the biggest sports in Cuba," Antonio
Castro told insidethegames.
"We have been very strong in the sport at the Olympic Games for a long time.
"Now that there are changes to boxing at the Olympics with this new
professional-style boxing, we are ready to adapt and I think we will
continue our success.
"Going to the Olympics has always been the biggest goal of Cuban boxers
and that will not change.
"I am sure that we will remain one of the strongest boxing nations at
the Olympics through these changes."
Castro, a surgeon by profession, was chief medical officer for the Cuban
Olympic team at London 2012 while he is also vice-president of the World
Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and helping spearhead the sport's
bid to make the 2020 Olympics.
He met with AIBA President C K Wu earlier this year in Cuba to discuss
the country joining the WSB and the APB and admitted he was impressed
with plan.
"I like what the AIBA President has planned for boxing and his idea to
make the sport professional at the Olympic Games," Castro said.
"He is a very smart man with a very clear idea of what he wants to do
for his sport and Cuba is happy to be involved in the project."
In recent history, Cuba produced arguably the greatest Olympic boxer
ever in heavyweight Teófilo Stevenson, who won three gold medals at
three consecutive Games from 1972 to 1980, but never turned professional
despite several huge offers.
At London 2012, the country claimed four boxing medals with flyweight
Robeisy Ramírez and light welterweight Roniel Iglesias taking gold
medals and bantamweight Lázaro Álvarez and lightweight Yasniel Toledo
picking up bronze medals.
Contact the writer of this story at tom.degun@insidethegames.biz
http://www.insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/boxing/1014389-exclusive-cuba-will-continue-success-in-pro-boxing-predicts-fidel-castro-s-son
Castro's son
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 1
By Tom Degun
Antonio Castro 4May 26 - Antonio Castro, son of the former Cuban leader
Fidel Castro, has predicted the country's boxers will be successful the
professional ranks after it ended its draconian rule of over 50 years to
stop fighters staying amateur.
Professional boxing was effectively banned in Cuba in 1962 because Fidel
Castro regarded it as both corrupt and corrupting, while authorities
there deemed it is too dangerous and unsafe.
The ban left amateur boxing to become one of the most popular and
successful sports in the Caribbean island in recent years, and the
country is the second most successful boxing nation at the Olympic
Games, with an incredible 67 medals, including 34 golds, behind only the
United States.
But with International Boxing Association (AIBA) looking to turn boxing
at the Olympics professional by the next Games at Rio 2016, Cuba ended
their ban in April this year as they signed up to season four of the
World Series of Boxing WSB, which is due to begin in November.
The WSB is currently the only competition in the world that allows
boxers to fight professionally, without headguards, and still retain
their Olympic eligibility.
The WSB will shortly link up with a new tournament - AIBA Pro Boxing
(APB) - in another competition Cuba are set to sign up to.
"Boxing has always been one of the biggest sports in Cuba," Antonio
Castro told insidethegames.
"We have been very strong in the sport at the Olympic Games for a long time.
"Now that there are changes to boxing at the Olympics with this new
professional-style boxing, we are ready to adapt and I think we will
continue our success.
"Going to the Olympics has always been the biggest goal of Cuban boxers
and that will not change.
"I am sure that we will remain one of the strongest boxing nations at
the Olympics through these changes."
Castro, a surgeon by profession, was chief medical officer for the Cuban
Olympic team at London 2012 while he is also vice-president of the World
Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and helping spearhead the sport's
bid to make the 2020 Olympics.
He met with AIBA President C K Wu earlier this year in Cuba to discuss
the country joining the WSB and the APB and admitted he was impressed
with plan.
"I like what the AIBA President has planned for boxing and his idea to
make the sport professional at the Olympic Games," Castro said.
"He is a very smart man with a very clear idea of what he wants to do
for his sport and Cuba is happy to be involved in the project."
In recent history, Cuba produced arguably the greatest Olympic boxer
ever in heavyweight Teófilo Stevenson, who won three gold medals at
three consecutive Games from 1972 to 1980, but never turned professional
despite several huge offers.
At London 2012, the country claimed four boxing medals with flyweight
Robeisy Ramírez and light welterweight Roniel Iglesias taking gold
medals and bantamweight Lázaro Álvarez and lightweight Yasniel Toledo
picking up bronze medals.
Contact the writer of this story at tom.degun@insidethegames.biz
http://www.insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/boxing/1014389-exclusive-cuba-will-continue-success-in-pro-boxing-predicts-fidel-castro-s-son
Homesick American hijacker offers to return from Cuba
Homesick American hijacker offers to return from Cuba
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
May 27, 2013 -- Updated 1519 GMT (2319 HKT)
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Should William Potts, an American fugitive living
in Cuba, ever set foot in the United States again, he faces an
indictment for airplane hijacking and a potentially lengthy prison term.
So why is Potts now battling to return to the same country that wants to
imprison him?
In 1984, Potts hijacked a Piedmont Airlines passenger plane bound for
Miami with 56 people aboard.
A Black Panther and self-styled revolutionary, Potts dreamed of
receiving military training in Cuba that he could use to overthrow the
United States government.
But first, the New York native had to find a way to get to the island.
Potts' solution was to smuggle a .25-caliber pistol inside a fake cast
on his arm.
The handgun set off the metal detectors at Newark Airport, but all Potts
had to do was flash his cast and an easy smile to breeze past security.
After the plane took off, Potts went to bathroom, where he ditched the
phony cast and put on what he calls his "Black Panther costume" of dark
clothes and combat boots. He walked to the back of the airplane with the
pistol in hand.
A flight attendant told him to retake his seat, Potts said, but her eyes
grew wide as she saw his changed demeanor and clothing.
Potts gave her a note ordering the pilot to fly the plane to Cuba.
Over the plane's telephone system, the pilot tried to convince Potts to
end the hijacking.
"I had to be forceful with him," Potts remembered. "I tell him, if we
don't go to Cuba, this plane is going down. We are going to hell or Cuba."
As the plane crossed the bright blue water and the coastline and palm
trees came into view, Potts still wasn't sure he was over Cuba.
"I had them go low and circle around," he said. "I was looking for
McDonald's and Coca-Cola and propaganda like that. I didn't see any of
it, so I figured we must be here."
The plane landed in Havana, but Potts did not get the welcome he
expected from his fellow revolutionaries.
After years of hijackings to the island, the Cubans put hijackers like
him on trial.
Authorities told Potts that Fidel Castro's government was no longer
involved in spreading armed revolution abroad.
"In a Machiavellian sense, the Cubans changed," he said. "They simply
changed. They used to do it, and now they don't do it."
Authorities offered to let Potts return with the plane he hijacked to
the United States, where air piracy charges awaited him.
Potts said he would face trial in Cuba.
"I thought I had won the case, and they gave me 15 years," Potts said,
recalling his brief court proceedings in Cuba. "I didn't even know what
15 was in Spanish. And they said 'quince.' I said, what is 'quince?' and
my translator said 15 years. And I said, '15 years for who?' And they
said, '15 years for you.' "
Even though he was sent to one of Cuba's toughest prisons, where he
regularly battled with other inmates and the guards, Potts never lost
faith in the same revolution that had become his jailer.
"If you are not able to suffer for the cause, you are just a play
revolutionary," Potts said.
Potts served his time -- 13½ years in prison and the rest under
supervised release -- and tried to fit into Cuban society with the
pidgin Spanish he learned in prison.
His first marriage, to a Cuban, didn't work out.
"That was a clash of cultures," he explained. "I am Muslim, and she's a
santera."
A second failed marriage produced two daughters: Ntann, 7, and Assata
Shakur, 11, named after the American fugitive also believed to be
residing in Cuba whom the FBI added to its list of most wanted
terrorists in May.
The girl's mother, Aime, also a Cuban, said she didn't realize her
husband was naming their daughter after a fellow militant, convicted of
murdering a New Jersey state trooper.
"He likes Japanese things, so I thought it was a Japanese name," she
said with a roll of her eyes.
Raising his two daughters, Potts said, made him realize how much he
missed family in the United States and wanted his children to meet them.
He said he also needed to make amends and apologize in person to the
passengers of the plane he hijacked.
Potts still considers himself a revolutionary but says that both he and
the times have changed, and violence is no longer an acceptable way to
bring about change.
"I regret taking the plane and putting those people's lives in
jeopardy," he said. "I didn't have that perspective at the time, but I
have it now and will have it until the day I die. I would have been
responsible for all those people dying."
In 2009, Potts wrote President Barack Obama, requesting a pardon for the
hijacking.
Hearing nothing back, Potts then wrote the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Miami to ask whether a plea deal could be worked out to take into
account the time he had served in Cuba.
"Fifteen years in a communist prison that's been cited for human rights
violations, I have paid my debts to society," he said.
Potts again got no reply, but his daughters were given U.S. citizenship
and passports.
Potts wanted to travel with them to the U.S. and in September said he
offered to surrender and face the charges awaiting him in the United States.
Nearly six months later, his daughters have been living with relatives
in the U.S. since December, but he is still waiting for an answer.
But without a renewed U.S. passport, Potts can't join his girls.
Dozens of fugitives are believed to be living in Cuba, from convicted
cop killers to Puerto Rican separatists to suspects in a South Florida
Medicare fraud scheme.
The U.S. State Department has placed Cuba on the list of countries that
support state terror, along with Iran and Syria, for providing a safe
haven for fugitives from U.S. and international justice.
Potts is in all likelihood the only fugitive on the island offering to
be tried.
"No one's harboring me," Potts countered. "I am trying to go back."
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami said Potts has been indicted for the
1984 hijacking but would not comment on why his offers to surrender have
gone unanswered.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/27/world/americas/cuba-american-fugitive/index.html
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
May 27, 2013 -- Updated 1519 GMT (2319 HKT)
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Should William Potts, an American fugitive living
in Cuba, ever set foot in the United States again, he faces an
indictment for airplane hijacking and a potentially lengthy prison term.
So why is Potts now battling to return to the same country that wants to
imprison him?
In 1984, Potts hijacked a Piedmont Airlines passenger plane bound for
Miami with 56 people aboard.
A Black Panther and self-styled revolutionary, Potts dreamed of
receiving military training in Cuba that he could use to overthrow the
United States government.
But first, the New York native had to find a way to get to the island.
Potts' solution was to smuggle a .25-caliber pistol inside a fake cast
on his arm.
The handgun set off the metal detectors at Newark Airport, but all Potts
had to do was flash his cast and an easy smile to breeze past security.
After the plane took off, Potts went to bathroom, where he ditched the
phony cast and put on what he calls his "Black Panther costume" of dark
clothes and combat boots. He walked to the back of the airplane with the
pistol in hand.
A flight attendant told him to retake his seat, Potts said, but her eyes
grew wide as she saw his changed demeanor and clothing.
Potts gave her a note ordering the pilot to fly the plane to Cuba.
Over the plane's telephone system, the pilot tried to convince Potts to
end the hijacking.
"I had to be forceful with him," Potts remembered. "I tell him, if we
don't go to Cuba, this plane is going down. We are going to hell or Cuba."
As the plane crossed the bright blue water and the coastline and palm
trees came into view, Potts still wasn't sure he was over Cuba.
"I had them go low and circle around," he said. "I was looking for
McDonald's and Coca-Cola and propaganda like that. I didn't see any of
it, so I figured we must be here."
The plane landed in Havana, but Potts did not get the welcome he
expected from his fellow revolutionaries.
After years of hijackings to the island, the Cubans put hijackers like
him on trial.
Authorities told Potts that Fidel Castro's government was no longer
involved in spreading armed revolution abroad.
"In a Machiavellian sense, the Cubans changed," he said. "They simply
changed. They used to do it, and now they don't do it."
Authorities offered to let Potts return with the plane he hijacked to
the United States, where air piracy charges awaited him.
Potts said he would face trial in Cuba.
"I thought I had won the case, and they gave me 15 years," Potts said,
recalling his brief court proceedings in Cuba. "I didn't even know what
15 was in Spanish. And they said 'quince.' I said, what is 'quince?' and
my translator said 15 years. And I said, '15 years for who?' And they
said, '15 years for you.' "
Even though he was sent to one of Cuba's toughest prisons, where he
regularly battled with other inmates and the guards, Potts never lost
faith in the same revolution that had become his jailer.
"If you are not able to suffer for the cause, you are just a play
revolutionary," Potts said.
Potts served his time -- 13½ years in prison and the rest under
supervised release -- and tried to fit into Cuban society with the
pidgin Spanish he learned in prison.
His first marriage, to a Cuban, didn't work out.
"That was a clash of cultures," he explained. "I am Muslim, and she's a
santera."
A second failed marriage produced two daughters: Ntann, 7, and Assata
Shakur, 11, named after the American fugitive also believed to be
residing in Cuba whom the FBI added to its list of most wanted
terrorists in May.
The girl's mother, Aime, also a Cuban, said she didn't realize her
husband was naming their daughter after a fellow militant, convicted of
murdering a New Jersey state trooper.
"He likes Japanese things, so I thought it was a Japanese name," she
said with a roll of her eyes.
Raising his two daughters, Potts said, made him realize how much he
missed family in the United States and wanted his children to meet them.
He said he also needed to make amends and apologize in person to the
passengers of the plane he hijacked.
Potts still considers himself a revolutionary but says that both he and
the times have changed, and violence is no longer an acceptable way to
bring about change.
"I regret taking the plane and putting those people's lives in
jeopardy," he said. "I didn't have that perspective at the time, but I
have it now and will have it until the day I die. I would have been
responsible for all those people dying."
In 2009, Potts wrote President Barack Obama, requesting a pardon for the
hijacking.
Hearing nothing back, Potts then wrote the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Miami to ask whether a plea deal could be worked out to take into
account the time he had served in Cuba.
"Fifteen years in a communist prison that's been cited for human rights
violations, I have paid my debts to society," he said.
Potts again got no reply, but his daughters were given U.S. citizenship
and passports.
Potts wanted to travel with them to the U.S. and in September said he
offered to surrender and face the charges awaiting him in the United States.
Nearly six months later, his daughters have been living with relatives
in the U.S. since December, but he is still waiting for an answer.
But without a renewed U.S. passport, Potts can't join his girls.
Dozens of fugitives are believed to be living in Cuba, from convicted
cop killers to Puerto Rican separatists to suspects in a South Florida
Medicare fraud scheme.
The U.S. State Department has placed Cuba on the list of countries that
support state terror, along with Iran and Syria, for providing a safe
haven for fugitives from U.S. and international justice.
Potts is in all likelihood the only fugitive on the island offering to
be tried.
"No one's harboring me," Potts countered. "I am trying to go back."
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami said Potts has been indicted for the
1984 hijacking but would not comment on why his offers to surrender have
gone unanswered.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/27/world/americas/cuba-american-fugitive/index.html
Cuba invites India to explore its resource-rich areas
Cuba invites India to explore its resource-rich areas
PTI | May 27, 2013, 11.25 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Reeling under severe financial sanctions, Cuba on Monday
sought India's help in exploiting its vast natural resource base and as
well as enhanced economic cooperation with it and other BRICS countries.
"India is a world leader in the field of information and satellite
technology which they can use to cooperate with us in exploration of
resource rich regions in our country," Cuban foreign minister Bruno
Rodriguez Parrilla said delivering a lecture here.
Blaming embargoes and economic sanctions for Cuba's current economic
situation, he said that the country is in the process of adopting the
"modern culture" into its society.
"We wish to seek a higher level of economic cooperation with the India
and the other BRICS nations, which we consider to be valuable," he said.
Parrilla said the Latin American country which is facing severe economic
crisis is in the process of implementing economic reforms.
"We are trying to bring in a lot of changes in Cuba, including the
abolition of the two currency system and encouraging investments from
small private entities and cooperative societies," he said.
On ties with the United States, which according to Parrilla are a major
setback to its economic growth, he said that "the relations are stuck in
the Cold War era and there is no reason for it to remain so".
He rued that there has been no effort on the part of the US to make it
better.
Asked about the US including Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring
terrorism, he said, "Anyone who is in their senses will not believe
that. There is no reason for the US to include us in that".
Offering to cooperate with India in the pharmaceutical sector, he said
that Cuba and other Latin American countries who are a part of the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States ( CELAC) have
considerable amount of expertise and resources to offer to Indian companies.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cuba-invites-India-to-explore-its-resource-rich-areas/articleshow/20298296.cms
PTI | May 27, 2013, 11.25 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Reeling under severe financial sanctions, Cuba on Monday
sought India's help in exploiting its vast natural resource base and as
well as enhanced economic cooperation with it and other BRICS countries.
"India is a world leader in the field of information and satellite
technology which they can use to cooperate with us in exploration of
resource rich regions in our country," Cuban foreign minister Bruno
Rodriguez Parrilla said delivering a lecture here.
Blaming embargoes and economic sanctions for Cuba's current economic
situation, he said that the country is in the process of adopting the
"modern culture" into its society.
"We wish to seek a higher level of economic cooperation with the India
and the other BRICS nations, which we consider to be valuable," he said.
Parrilla said the Latin American country which is facing severe economic
crisis is in the process of implementing economic reforms.
"We are trying to bring in a lot of changes in Cuba, including the
abolition of the two currency system and encouraging investments from
small private entities and cooperative societies," he said.
On ties with the United States, which according to Parrilla are a major
setback to its economic growth, he said that "the relations are stuck in
the Cold War era and there is no reason for it to remain so".
He rued that there has been no effort on the part of the US to make it
better.
Asked about the US including Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring
terrorism, he said, "Anyone who is in their senses will not believe
that. There is no reason for the US to include us in that".
Offering to cooperate with India in the pharmaceutical sector, he said
that Cuba and other Latin American countries who are a part of the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States ( CELAC) have
considerable amount of expertise and resources to offer to Indian companies.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cuba-invites-India-to-explore-its-resource-rich-areas/articleshow/20298296.cms
Cuba to begin digital TV test next month
Cuba to begin digital TV test next month
(Xinhua)
08:23, May 28, 2013
HAVANA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Cuba will begin next month the first test on
digital television in zones of Havana, using the Digital Terrestrial
Multimedia Broadcast (DTMB) Chinese standard, official daily "Granma"
reported Monday.
"Beginning from June, a demonstration of digital television service in
Havana will allow the performance of broadcasting tests in real
conditions," the daily quoted a statement by the Communications Ministry
as saying.
As part of the test, signal decoder boxes, "that can receive and
visualize the digital signal in the current televisions," will be
distributed in selected neighborhoods to achieve an adequate
geographical distribution in different reception conditions within the
Cuban capital city.
The equipments were donated to Cuba by the Chinese government according
to an agreement signed between the two countries.
"Granma" said since it was a test, the boxes would be delivered after a
payment of 7.35 Cuban pesos (about 33 U.S. cents).
The goal is to introduce digital TV in Cuba in a gradual way and by
regions, according to the economic possibilities and as part of the
international technical evolution.
Analog reception will not be affected by the testing, according to the
Communications Ministry.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/8260254.html
(Xinhua)
08:23, May 28, 2013
HAVANA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Cuba will begin next month the first test on
digital television in zones of Havana, using the Digital Terrestrial
Multimedia Broadcast (DTMB) Chinese standard, official daily "Granma"
reported Monday.
"Beginning from June, a demonstration of digital television service in
Havana will allow the performance of broadcasting tests in real
conditions," the daily quoted a statement by the Communications Ministry
as saying.
As part of the test, signal decoder boxes, "that can receive and
visualize the digital signal in the current televisions," will be
distributed in selected neighborhoods to achieve an adequate
geographical distribution in different reception conditions within the
Cuban capital city.
The equipments were donated to Cuba by the Chinese government according
to an agreement signed between the two countries.
"Granma" said since it was a test, the boxes would be delivered after a
payment of 7.35 Cuban pesos (about 33 U.S. cents).
The goal is to introduce digital TV in Cuba in a gradual way and by
regions, according to the economic possibilities and as part of the
international technical evolution.
Analog reception will not be affected by the testing, according to the
Communications Ministry.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/8260254.html
Cuban defectors show promise in debut at Fillmore Miami Beach
Posted on Monday, 05.27.13
Dance Review
Cuban defectors show promise in debut at Fillmore Miami Beach
By Jordan Levin
jlevin@MiamiHerald.com
The six Cuban dancers who defected from the National Ballet of Cuba in
April made their U.S. debut as independent artists Saturday night at the
Fillmore Miami Beach, in a showcase produced by the Cuban Classical
Ballet of Miami. What these young dancers want, of course, is not to
remain free agents, but to get jobs with ballet troupes here.
Judging from Saturday's performance, three of them have excellent
prospects. Randy Crespo, in the Le Corsaire pas de deux, and Victor
Santana, in Diana and Acteon, danced with exciting athleticism and
flair. And Arianne Martin, with a lovely physique and line, glowed with
potential in Corsaire. The other three were less exceptional.
While the new exiles have said one of their reasons for defecting was to
dance repertory other than familiar classics, the program consisted of
well-known pas de deux and excerpts from famous ballets. The Cuban
Classical Ballet, directed by Pedro Pablo Peña, produces the
International Ballet Festival in the fall, but as a separate entity
exists primarily to showcase Cuban dancers and style. Saturday's show
also included several generations of Cuban guest artists from various
companies, performing for a sparse but enthusiastic audience. But the
quality and styles of these varied Cuban dancers were so different there
wasn't much to be gleaned about classical dance on the island.
With her long, beautifully shaped legs and line, exactly placed
technique, and joyful lyricism, Martin was lovely in Corsaire. She was
somewhat uncertain and passive in the opening Bayadere Suite, seeming
more like an accomplished student than a full-fledged ballerina –
perhaps a case of nerves or youth (she's only 20). Her partner Edward
Morgado's performance also seemed tense and unfinished.
Annie Ruiz Diaz, who had been a soloist with the Ballet Nacional de
Cuba, was less compelling. With sturdy thighs and torso, Diaz is quick
and strong, showing 180 degree extensions, sharp turns and steady
balance in the coy Harlequinade pas de deux and the bravura Diana and
Actaeon, where she whipped off an impressive series of attitude turns
and fouettes. But she showed little in the way of movement quality or
musicality.
Josue Justis Brito was elastic, clean and witty in Harlequinade. Crespo,
as the high-leaping spirit invading Analay Saiz' dreams in Spectre,
needed a richer sculptural quality throughout his body, not just his
spiraling arms, and cleaner feet to go with his strong jumps. But he was
exciting in Corsaire, with thrilling leaps and smoothly spinning turns.
Santana was even more dynamic in Actaeon, carving body-tilting shapes
into high-flying leaps, with one or two wild finishes.
Veteran guest ballerina Alihaydeé Carreño, niece to famed Cuban danseur
Jose Manuel Carreño, was stiff, stilted, and entirely lacked the
necessary buoyancy for the spritely Flower Festival in Genzano (though
her partner Raydel Caceres was exact and clean), and she was painfully
tense and melodramatic in Dying Swan.
The most accomplished performance was by Brazilian ballerina Roberta
Marquez, of England's Royal Ballet, in the Sleeping Beauty pas de deux,
partnered by the confident and powerful Arionel Vargas (another Cuban)
of the English National Ballet. Marquez danced with rich
characterization and purity, showing us a delighted and regal young
woman glowing with joy, illuminated through beautifully detailed
classical style. The young Cuban defectors would be lucky to end up like
her.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/27/3419975/cuban-defectors-show-promise-in.html
Dance Review
Cuban defectors show promise in debut at Fillmore Miami Beach
By Jordan Levin
jlevin@MiamiHerald.com
The six Cuban dancers who defected from the National Ballet of Cuba in
April made their U.S. debut as independent artists Saturday night at the
Fillmore Miami Beach, in a showcase produced by the Cuban Classical
Ballet of Miami. What these young dancers want, of course, is not to
remain free agents, but to get jobs with ballet troupes here.
Judging from Saturday's performance, three of them have excellent
prospects. Randy Crespo, in the Le Corsaire pas de deux, and Victor
Santana, in Diana and Acteon, danced with exciting athleticism and
flair. And Arianne Martin, with a lovely physique and line, glowed with
potential in Corsaire. The other three were less exceptional.
While the new exiles have said one of their reasons for defecting was to
dance repertory other than familiar classics, the program consisted of
well-known pas de deux and excerpts from famous ballets. The Cuban
Classical Ballet, directed by Pedro Pablo Peña, produces the
International Ballet Festival in the fall, but as a separate entity
exists primarily to showcase Cuban dancers and style. Saturday's show
also included several generations of Cuban guest artists from various
companies, performing for a sparse but enthusiastic audience. But the
quality and styles of these varied Cuban dancers were so different there
wasn't much to be gleaned about classical dance on the island.
With her long, beautifully shaped legs and line, exactly placed
technique, and joyful lyricism, Martin was lovely in Corsaire. She was
somewhat uncertain and passive in the opening Bayadere Suite, seeming
more like an accomplished student than a full-fledged ballerina –
perhaps a case of nerves or youth (she's only 20). Her partner Edward
Morgado's performance also seemed tense and unfinished.
Annie Ruiz Diaz, who had been a soloist with the Ballet Nacional de
Cuba, was less compelling. With sturdy thighs and torso, Diaz is quick
and strong, showing 180 degree extensions, sharp turns and steady
balance in the coy Harlequinade pas de deux and the bravura Diana and
Actaeon, where she whipped off an impressive series of attitude turns
and fouettes. But she showed little in the way of movement quality or
musicality.
Josue Justis Brito was elastic, clean and witty in Harlequinade. Crespo,
as the high-leaping spirit invading Analay Saiz' dreams in Spectre,
needed a richer sculptural quality throughout his body, not just his
spiraling arms, and cleaner feet to go with his strong jumps. But he was
exciting in Corsaire, with thrilling leaps and smoothly spinning turns.
Santana was even more dynamic in Actaeon, carving body-tilting shapes
into high-flying leaps, with one or two wild finishes.
Veteran guest ballerina Alihaydeé Carreño, niece to famed Cuban danseur
Jose Manuel Carreño, was stiff, stilted, and entirely lacked the
necessary buoyancy for the spritely Flower Festival in Genzano (though
her partner Raydel Caceres was exact and clean), and she was painfully
tense and melodramatic in Dying Swan.
The most accomplished performance was by Brazilian ballerina Roberta
Marquez, of England's Royal Ballet, in the Sleeping Beauty pas de deux,
partnered by the confident and powerful Arionel Vargas (another Cuban)
of the English National Ballet. Marquez danced with rich
characterization and purity, showing us a delighted and regal young
woman glowing with joy, illuminated through beautifully detailed
classical style. The young Cuban defectors would be lucky to end up like
her.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/27/3419975/cuban-defectors-show-promise-in.html
Cuban Prisons and the Rights of Those Who Work
Cuban Prisons and the Rights of Those Who Work
May 27, 2013
Dmitri Prieto
Cuban and foreign press were allowed to speak with female prisoners at
the Women's Prison on the outskirts of Havana. Francisco/Cubadebate.
HAVANA TIMES — I watched a number of reports shown on Cuban television
prior to the date when Cuba submitted its official report to the UN
Human Rights Council. The series documenting what life is like in Cuba's
prisons was particularly interesting for me.
The news emphasized the broad range of occupations that inmates can
become involved in while in prison, the work-related education options
made available to them and the crafts they can learn.
In these reports, a number of the officials and prisoners interviewed
referred to the possibility of working in the prison, and one of the
superiors even said that the Labor Code was fully applied in these
places of confinement.
I studied this Code as part of my degree program in Law, and one of the
articles that made the deepest impression in me establishes that workers
may freely, and without "previous authorization", organize themselves
into unions.
I would be interested in knowing whether people in prison who work also
have the right to form unions.
Another official interviewed said that, even though all inmates had the
right to work, not all were guaranteed a job, as there was a limited
number of posts available.
I wonder, therefore, if we should be speaking of a "right" when not
everyone has access to the object the said right is supposed to entitle
one to.
In the reports documenting the workings of prisons and other
penitentiary centers located in different parts of the country (highly
professional in this sense, for they break with the "Havanocentric" bias
characteristic of the news), the inmates and officials interviewed
stressed that the salary earned through their work (established in
accordance with criteria similar to those that govern work outside the
prison) was sent to the prisoners' families, as no money is allowed to
circulate within prison walls.
A friend who works in Cuba's penitentiary system explained to me that
inmates are not allowed to carry money. This is the reason cigarettes
become a kind of virtual currency used to exchange goods, services and
favors.
It remains to be seen whether the issues surrounding this thorny topic
will begin to be addressed more openly and transparently.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93677
May 27, 2013
Dmitri Prieto
Cuban and foreign press were allowed to speak with female prisoners at
the Women's Prison on the outskirts of Havana. Francisco/Cubadebate.
HAVANA TIMES — I watched a number of reports shown on Cuban television
prior to the date when Cuba submitted its official report to the UN
Human Rights Council. The series documenting what life is like in Cuba's
prisons was particularly interesting for me.
The news emphasized the broad range of occupations that inmates can
become involved in while in prison, the work-related education options
made available to them and the crafts they can learn.
In these reports, a number of the officials and prisoners interviewed
referred to the possibility of working in the prison, and one of the
superiors even said that the Labor Code was fully applied in these
places of confinement.
I studied this Code as part of my degree program in Law, and one of the
articles that made the deepest impression in me establishes that workers
may freely, and without "previous authorization", organize themselves
into unions.
I would be interested in knowing whether people in prison who work also
have the right to form unions.
Another official interviewed said that, even though all inmates had the
right to work, not all were guaranteed a job, as there was a limited
number of posts available.
I wonder, therefore, if we should be speaking of a "right" when not
everyone has access to the object the said right is supposed to entitle
one to.
In the reports documenting the workings of prisons and other
penitentiary centers located in different parts of the country (highly
professional in this sense, for they break with the "Havanocentric" bias
characteristic of the news), the inmates and officials interviewed
stressed that the salary earned through their work (established in
accordance with criteria similar to those that govern work outside the
prison) was sent to the prisoners' families, as no money is allowed to
circulate within prison walls.
A friend who works in Cuba's penitentiary system explained to me that
inmates are not allowed to carry money. This is the reason cigarettes
become a kind of virtual currency used to exchange goods, services and
favors.
It remains to be seen whether the issues surrounding this thorny topic
will begin to be addressed more openly and transparently.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93677
Monday, May 27, 2013
Cubans stopover leads to local arrest
Cubans stopover leads to local arrest
By: Norma Connolly | norma@cfp.ky
27 May, 2013
Police Thursday arrested a man who was among a crowd of people gathered
at the West Bay dock to watch a boat carrying 30 Cuban migrants that had
stopped offshore.
The Cubans, including 29 men and one woman, anchored off North West
Point, telling marine police and immigration officers they were having
trouble with their engine.
Some among the crowd of about 50 Cubans and Caymanians questioned why
they were not allowed to give the people on the boat water and food.
Police, who were at the scene to assist the Immigration Department with
the Cuban migrants, arrested a 47-year-old at the car park at the dock
for assaulting police, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Police
later said the arrest was not connected with the Cuban migrants. The man
was released on police bail.
Police officers wrestled him to the ground and tried to handcuff him to
shouts of "that's abuse" and "let the man go" from the crowd. Officers
spent several minutes trying to restrain him and place him inside a
police car, as members of the crowd closed in, calling on police to
release him and not hurt him.
As things got more heated and the man repeatedly refused to get in the
car, resisting police's efforts to push and pull him inside, several
people tried to calm the situation down by talking to the police and the
arrested man, including Bernie Bush, who was spending his first day as
an elected representative of West Bay.
The officers eventually got the man inside the vehicle, but moments
later, he was out again.
At this point, the armed response unit turned up at the scene and police
officers surrounded the vehicle, keeping the crowd back as police again
tried to get the man into the vehicle, using a baton to stop him kicking
and to attempt to get his legs inside the car.
Meanwhile, offshore, the Cubans had repaired their boat and were getting
ready to raise anchor. As the police left with the arrested man in the
back of a car, people walked back to the dock to wave goodbye to the
Cubans and cheer as they took off back out to sea.
Cubans living in Cayman had went to the dock to try to help the
migrants. According to people at the scene, police would not allow chips
and bottles of water to be taken to the group on the boat. Two cartons
of water bottles and Lays potato chips lay on the sand beside the dock
as the boat pulled away and out to the open sea after the boat was
repaired.
Under the terms of Cayman's memorandum of understanding with Cuba signed
in 1999, Cubans who enter Cayman's waters on vessels can choose to land
here and receive care in accordance with international conventions.
Cabinet regulations passed in January 2005 state that if the migrants
choose to continue their journey elsewhere, they cannot be offered any
assistance or be allowed to land to repair their vessels.
Two men from the boat had swum ashore to the foot of the dock and asked
for sunglasses. One man on the dock threw his own sunglasses to the men,
while another man ran off and returned minutes later with many pairs of
new sunglasses that were placed into a plastic container which could
float as the men swam back to their boat.
Immigration officials on board a Joint Marine Unit vessel escorted the
boat out of Cayman Islands territorial waters.
Mr. Bush said he considered the policy of not assisting Cuban migrants
to be a violation of human rights.
"Where are the human rights in this? The people don't want to land on
this shore, but don't tell us we can't go out there and give them water
and food and provisions to continue their journey. They say we have to
meet them 12 miles out and all kinds of stupidness ... whoever made that
law should be ashamed of themselves.
This is a living disgrace," he said.
Speaking to a supporter on the phone at the scene, Mr. Bush: "Can you
imagine on my first day I got to watch police brutalise one of my West
Bayers and watch them try to starve some Cubans? This is a rough first day."
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2013/05/27/Cubans-stopover-leads-to-local-arrest/
By: Norma Connolly | norma@cfp.ky
27 May, 2013
Police Thursday arrested a man who was among a crowd of people gathered
at the West Bay dock to watch a boat carrying 30 Cuban migrants that had
stopped offshore.
The Cubans, including 29 men and one woman, anchored off North West
Point, telling marine police and immigration officers they were having
trouble with their engine.
Some among the crowd of about 50 Cubans and Caymanians questioned why
they were not allowed to give the people on the boat water and food.
Police, who were at the scene to assist the Immigration Department with
the Cuban migrants, arrested a 47-year-old at the car park at the dock
for assaulting police, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Police
later said the arrest was not connected with the Cuban migrants. The man
was released on police bail.
Police officers wrestled him to the ground and tried to handcuff him to
shouts of "that's abuse" and "let the man go" from the crowd. Officers
spent several minutes trying to restrain him and place him inside a
police car, as members of the crowd closed in, calling on police to
release him and not hurt him.
As things got more heated and the man repeatedly refused to get in the
car, resisting police's efforts to push and pull him inside, several
people tried to calm the situation down by talking to the police and the
arrested man, including Bernie Bush, who was spending his first day as
an elected representative of West Bay.
The officers eventually got the man inside the vehicle, but moments
later, he was out again.
At this point, the armed response unit turned up at the scene and police
officers surrounded the vehicle, keeping the crowd back as police again
tried to get the man into the vehicle, using a baton to stop him kicking
and to attempt to get his legs inside the car.
Meanwhile, offshore, the Cubans had repaired their boat and were getting
ready to raise anchor. As the police left with the arrested man in the
back of a car, people walked back to the dock to wave goodbye to the
Cubans and cheer as they took off back out to sea.
Cubans living in Cayman had went to the dock to try to help the
migrants. According to people at the scene, police would not allow chips
and bottles of water to be taken to the group on the boat. Two cartons
of water bottles and Lays potato chips lay on the sand beside the dock
as the boat pulled away and out to the open sea after the boat was
repaired.
Under the terms of Cayman's memorandum of understanding with Cuba signed
in 1999, Cubans who enter Cayman's waters on vessels can choose to land
here and receive care in accordance with international conventions.
Cabinet regulations passed in January 2005 state that if the migrants
choose to continue their journey elsewhere, they cannot be offered any
assistance or be allowed to land to repair their vessels.
Two men from the boat had swum ashore to the foot of the dock and asked
for sunglasses. One man on the dock threw his own sunglasses to the men,
while another man ran off and returned minutes later with many pairs of
new sunglasses that were placed into a plastic container which could
float as the men swam back to their boat.
Immigration officials on board a Joint Marine Unit vessel escorted the
boat out of Cayman Islands territorial waters.
Mr. Bush said he considered the policy of not assisting Cuban migrants
to be a violation of human rights.
"Where are the human rights in this? The people don't want to land on
this shore, but don't tell us we can't go out there and give them water
and food and provisions to continue their journey. They say we have to
meet them 12 miles out and all kinds of stupidness ... whoever made that
law should be ashamed of themselves.
This is a living disgrace," he said.
Speaking to a supporter on the phone at the scene, Mr. Bush: "Can you
imagine on my first day I got to watch police brutalise one of my West
Bayers and watch them try to starve some Cubans? This is a rough first day."
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2013/05/27/Cubans-stopover-leads-to-local-arrest/
Indalla Is Located in Cuba
Indalla Is Located in Cuba
May 27, 2013
Isbel Díaz Torres
indallaHAVANA TIMES — Indalla is a shantytown located in the heart of
the Cuban capital, whose existence even the president of the
municipality where it is situated was unaware of.
At the boundary between Havana's west-laying municipalities of Marianao
and La Lisa, this marginal neighborhood was discovered a few months ago
by the mayor of its own local government, while sanitation units were
conducting a health inspection in the area.
The outbreak of cholera in Marianao last year put sanitation authorities
on alert for several weeks, and some of the inspections conducted
reached Indalla, which had been contaminated by the foul outpours of the
Quibu river and where three cases of cholera were registered.
puenteThe poor families who live in this neighborhood had never before
had the "privilege" of being visited by the mayor, not at the illegal
settlement of numberless houses where they continue to eke out an existence.
Several of the houses in this slum are located directly beneath
high-tension electrical cables, something that is both illegal and
extremely dangerous, to the point of putting the lives of its residents
at risk, but, apparently, the local government turns a blind eye on
this, having no real alternative to offer these people.
The neighborhood was informally established at the end of the 80s and
beginning of the 90s, when there were plans of constructing a laboratory
for the Jose Antonio Echevarria Higher Polytechnic Institute (CUJAE) in
the area.
enfermeraLarge quantities of materials were taken to the site, but
construction was halted with the onslaught of the Special Period
economic crisis. Despite the frustrated plans, many people stayed and
settled there, employed at CUJAE's cafeteria.
Others, according to a resident, grew marihuana and sold it at the
moderate price of 5 Cuban pesos per beer-bottle cap of the herb.
Today, the walls of the neighborhood show symbols of the Abakua
religión. Though attempts to found a congregation there were made, the
initiative was turned down by other, neighboring religious organizations.
I can only hope the government will pay these places more frequent
visits, not to evict its inhabitants (as was recently done in Guanabo),
but to help these Cuban families who live under very difficult conditions.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93656
May 27, 2013
Isbel Díaz Torres
indallaHAVANA TIMES — Indalla is a shantytown located in the heart of
the Cuban capital, whose existence even the president of the
municipality where it is situated was unaware of.
At the boundary between Havana's west-laying municipalities of Marianao
and La Lisa, this marginal neighborhood was discovered a few months ago
by the mayor of its own local government, while sanitation units were
conducting a health inspection in the area.
The outbreak of cholera in Marianao last year put sanitation authorities
on alert for several weeks, and some of the inspections conducted
reached Indalla, which had been contaminated by the foul outpours of the
Quibu river and where three cases of cholera were registered.
puenteThe poor families who live in this neighborhood had never before
had the "privilege" of being visited by the mayor, not at the illegal
settlement of numberless houses where they continue to eke out an existence.
Several of the houses in this slum are located directly beneath
high-tension electrical cables, something that is both illegal and
extremely dangerous, to the point of putting the lives of its residents
at risk, but, apparently, the local government turns a blind eye on
this, having no real alternative to offer these people.
The neighborhood was informally established at the end of the 80s and
beginning of the 90s, when there were plans of constructing a laboratory
for the Jose Antonio Echevarria Higher Polytechnic Institute (CUJAE) in
the area.
enfermeraLarge quantities of materials were taken to the site, but
construction was halted with the onslaught of the Special Period
economic crisis. Despite the frustrated plans, many people stayed and
settled there, employed at CUJAE's cafeteria.
Others, according to a resident, grew marihuana and sold it at the
moderate price of 5 Cuban pesos per beer-bottle cap of the herb.
Today, the walls of the neighborhood show symbols of the Abakua
religión. Though attempts to found a congregation there were made, the
initiative was turned down by other, neighboring religious organizations.
I can only hope the government will pay these places more frequent
visits, not to evict its inhabitants (as was recently done in Guanabo),
but to help these Cuban families who live under very difficult conditions.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93656
Repressive Cuba - Embassy Row
Embassy Row: Repressive Cuba
By James Morrison
The Washington Times
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Cuba is still politically repressive, poor and largely cut off from the
Internet two years after the communist government adopted modest reforms
such as term limits on politicians and allowing the sale of private
property, a U.S. survey has found.
"Repression of free speech and civil liberties remains high," the
International Republican Institute said of its annual poll of Cubans'
attitudes toward their government.
The report also found that detentions of dissidents have increased.
"In 2012 alone, more than 6,000 politically motivated arrests and
short-term detentions were recorded by the Cuban Commission on Human
Rights Reconciliation," the survey said.
Cubans also reject the island's one-party Communist system, established
after the 1959 Cuban revolution. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed
said Cubans, instead of the Cuban Communist Party, should choose their
president. Only 14 percent support the current system.
Fifty-three percent accused the government of political repression,
while 20 percent defended the regime of President Raul Castro. Another
20 percent declined to answer that question on the survey, and 7 percent
said they did not know.
Sixty-nine percent said the government prohibits free speech, despite
Mr. Castro's 2011 promises of political reform. Only 21 percent claimed
they could speak their minds openly.
"Repression and intimidation from the Cuban government is still a
pervasive force in the lives of Cubans," the institute said. "Many
respondents were reluctant to answer certain questions they may have
deemed sensitive."
Cuban also live mostly without Internet service; only 4 percent of those
surveyed said they could access the Web or email.
The Cuban economy continues to suffer, especially with cuts in
government jobs and little private employment. Many are driven to a
growing black market, the survey found.
The Washington-based pro-democracy group interviewed 688 Cubans
throughout the island's 14 provinces in January and February. The survey
has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/26/embassy-row-repressive-cuba/?page=all#pagebreak
By James Morrison
The Washington Times
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Cuba is still politically repressive, poor and largely cut off from the
Internet two years after the communist government adopted modest reforms
such as term limits on politicians and allowing the sale of private
property, a U.S. survey has found.
"Repression of free speech and civil liberties remains high," the
International Republican Institute said of its annual poll of Cubans'
attitudes toward their government.
The report also found that detentions of dissidents have increased.
"In 2012 alone, more than 6,000 politically motivated arrests and
short-term detentions were recorded by the Cuban Commission on Human
Rights Reconciliation," the survey said.
Cubans also reject the island's one-party Communist system, established
after the 1959 Cuban revolution. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed
said Cubans, instead of the Cuban Communist Party, should choose their
president. Only 14 percent support the current system.
Fifty-three percent accused the government of political repression,
while 20 percent defended the regime of President Raul Castro. Another
20 percent declined to answer that question on the survey, and 7 percent
said they did not know.
Sixty-nine percent said the government prohibits free speech, despite
Mr. Castro's 2011 promises of political reform. Only 21 percent claimed
they could speak their minds openly.
"Repression and intimidation from the Cuban government is still a
pervasive force in the lives of Cubans," the institute said. "Many
respondents were reluctant to answer certain questions they may have
deemed sensitive."
Cuban also live mostly without Internet service; only 4 percent of those
surveyed said they could access the Web or email.
The Cuban economy continues to suffer, especially with cuts in
government jobs and little private employment. Many are driven to a
growing black market, the survey found.
The Washington-based pro-democracy group interviewed 688 Cubans
throughout the island's 14 provinces in January and February. The survey
has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/26/embassy-row-repressive-cuba/?page=all#pagebreak
OAS silent in the face of threats to democracy
Posted on Monday, 05.27.13
LATIN AMERICA
OAS silent in the face of threats to democracy
BY CARL GERSHMAN
When the National Endowment for Democracy was created 30 years ago, the
third wave of democratization was beginning to crest in Latin America.
With the fall of Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay and the restoration of
democracy in Chile in 1989, and with Violeta Chamorro's victory over the
Sandinista's the following year, all the countries of the region, with
the exception of Cuba, were either democratic or in the process of
making the transition to democracy.
It was a period of democratic confidence and enthusiasm. In 1991, the
Oorganization of American States adopted the Santiago Declaration,
pledging concerted action to restore democracy in the event of a coup. A
decade later the organization adopted the more comprehensive Democratic
Charter of the Americas, which pledged also to act against what it
called "the alteration" of democracy, by which it meant the steady
undermining of democracy by an elected autocratic government.
But, these pledges have not been fulfilled. With the notable exception
of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the OAS system has
largely stood by passively while democratic institutions such as a free
press, an independent judiciary, a robust civil society, and free
elections overseen by a neutral election commission have been steadily
subverted by the ruling authorities in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and
other countries.
Venezuela, as we know, faces a dangerous crisis of political and social
division following last month's gravely flawed presidential election.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to its credit, has
properly condemned the Venezuelan government for the violence that broke
out in the National Assembly recently, and it has called for an
independent investigation of the post-election killings.
But the OAS, despite calling for a recount of the vote, was represented
at the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro, and Latin American government
officials, with the exception of Peru's Foreign Minister Rafael
Roncagliolo, have evidently decided to ignore the deepening division in
Venezuela and the urgent need for dialogue and bridge-building.
In Argentina, over one million people took to the streets last month to
protest President Cristina Kirchner's plans to curtail the media and
take over the courts, but again, the inter-American system has been
largely silent.
The government of Ecuador has all but abolished independent media,
taking over five television channels, four radio stations, two
newspapers and four magazines; and closing 11 other radio stations. The
media monitoring organization Fundamedios reported 173 "acts of
aggression" against journalists in 2012, including one killing and 13
assaults. Yet again, the response has been silence.
And in Cuba, brave democrats like Oswaldo Paya, Laura Pollán, and Harold
Cepero have lost their lives under circumstances that cry out for
independent investigation. Cuban activists, who continue the fight for
democracy, are exposed to great danger and need political and moral
support. But once again, there is silence.
To repeat, I applaud the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, which itself is under attack by Ecuador and other opponents of
democratic freedoms. But where is the Organization of American States?
Of what value is the Democratic Charter of the Americas if the OAS and
democratic leaders in the hemisphere stand by passively while the
institutions of democracy are demolished and captured by unaccountable
autocrats?
The picture is by no means all bleak. Democracy has made gains in Chile,
Brazil, Peru and other countries, and significant progress has been made
in the region in reducing poverty and inequality. Through some 150
grants annually, NED supports grassroots groups throughout the region
that are working to advance democracy, often in the most difficult
situations.
Moreover, despite the threat to democracy and human rights that I have
noted, the opportunities for democratic progress are actually growing as
the region's populist autocracies are failing politically and
economically, and with the Cuban dictatorship now entering what I
believe is the final stage of its inexorable decline and inevitable fall.
But we can't take advantage of these opportunities without a new rebirth
of democratic solidarity. One of the twenty books written by
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's father Enrique Ros, who died just
last month at the age of 89, is entitled Cuba: Mambises Born in Other
Lands. The book details the participation of foreigners in the struggle
for Cuban independence during the last third of the 19th Century – not
just American citizens and Dominicans, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Puerto
Ricans, Colombians and Peruvians, but also people from Spain, France,
Italy, Poland and even China.
The book conveys a message of democratic solidarity that is relevant
today, but with one caveat. The challenge today is not liberating people
from foreign oppression. It is supporting their nonviolent struggle for
human rights and democratic citizenship against a controlling and
oppressive state. It is this principle that we now have to proclaim and
act upon.
To those who say that defending this principle in the case of people
fighting for democratic rights against a home-grown dictatorship is
interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, we should
recall what Alexander Solzhenitsyn said in his Nobel Lecture in 1970:
"There are no INTERNAL AFFAIRS left on our crowded Earth! And mankind's
sole salvation lies in everyone making everything his business."
If we act upon this principle in solidarity with our brothers and
sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean who are bravely fighting for
freedom, and who need our moral and political support, we shall help
fulfill the promise of a hemisphere united in freedom and democracy. And
if that promise is fulfilled, we will give hope to brave people in other
regions of the world who are engaged in the same struggle for democratic
freedoms and human dignity.
Carl Gershman who has been president of the National Endowment for
Democracy since its 1984 founding. This article is adapted from a speech
he delivered recently upon receiving the Leadership Award from the
Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/27/v-fullstory/3418629/oas-silent-in-the-face-of-threats.html
LATIN AMERICA
OAS silent in the face of threats to democracy
BY CARL GERSHMAN
When the National Endowment for Democracy was created 30 years ago, the
third wave of democratization was beginning to crest in Latin America.
With the fall of Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay and the restoration of
democracy in Chile in 1989, and with Violeta Chamorro's victory over the
Sandinista's the following year, all the countries of the region, with
the exception of Cuba, were either democratic or in the process of
making the transition to democracy.
It was a period of democratic confidence and enthusiasm. In 1991, the
Oorganization of American States adopted the Santiago Declaration,
pledging concerted action to restore democracy in the event of a coup. A
decade later the organization adopted the more comprehensive Democratic
Charter of the Americas, which pledged also to act against what it
called "the alteration" of democracy, by which it meant the steady
undermining of democracy by an elected autocratic government.
But, these pledges have not been fulfilled. With the notable exception
of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the OAS system has
largely stood by passively while democratic institutions such as a free
press, an independent judiciary, a robust civil society, and free
elections overseen by a neutral election commission have been steadily
subverted by the ruling authorities in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and
other countries.
Venezuela, as we know, faces a dangerous crisis of political and social
division following last month's gravely flawed presidential election.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to its credit, has
properly condemned the Venezuelan government for the violence that broke
out in the National Assembly recently, and it has called for an
independent investigation of the post-election killings.
But the OAS, despite calling for a recount of the vote, was represented
at the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro, and Latin American government
officials, with the exception of Peru's Foreign Minister Rafael
Roncagliolo, have evidently decided to ignore the deepening division in
Venezuela and the urgent need for dialogue and bridge-building.
In Argentina, over one million people took to the streets last month to
protest President Cristina Kirchner's plans to curtail the media and
take over the courts, but again, the inter-American system has been
largely silent.
The government of Ecuador has all but abolished independent media,
taking over five television channels, four radio stations, two
newspapers and four magazines; and closing 11 other radio stations. The
media monitoring organization Fundamedios reported 173 "acts of
aggression" against journalists in 2012, including one killing and 13
assaults. Yet again, the response has been silence.
And in Cuba, brave democrats like Oswaldo Paya, Laura Pollán, and Harold
Cepero have lost their lives under circumstances that cry out for
independent investigation. Cuban activists, who continue the fight for
democracy, are exposed to great danger and need political and moral
support. But once again, there is silence.
To repeat, I applaud the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, which itself is under attack by Ecuador and other opponents of
democratic freedoms. But where is the Organization of American States?
Of what value is the Democratic Charter of the Americas if the OAS and
democratic leaders in the hemisphere stand by passively while the
institutions of democracy are demolished and captured by unaccountable
autocrats?
The picture is by no means all bleak. Democracy has made gains in Chile,
Brazil, Peru and other countries, and significant progress has been made
in the region in reducing poverty and inequality. Through some 150
grants annually, NED supports grassroots groups throughout the region
that are working to advance democracy, often in the most difficult
situations.
Moreover, despite the threat to democracy and human rights that I have
noted, the opportunities for democratic progress are actually growing as
the region's populist autocracies are failing politically and
economically, and with the Cuban dictatorship now entering what I
believe is the final stage of its inexorable decline and inevitable fall.
But we can't take advantage of these opportunities without a new rebirth
of democratic solidarity. One of the twenty books written by
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's father Enrique Ros, who died just
last month at the age of 89, is entitled Cuba: Mambises Born in Other
Lands. The book details the participation of foreigners in the struggle
for Cuban independence during the last third of the 19th Century – not
just American citizens and Dominicans, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Puerto
Ricans, Colombians and Peruvians, but also people from Spain, France,
Italy, Poland and even China.
The book conveys a message of democratic solidarity that is relevant
today, but with one caveat. The challenge today is not liberating people
from foreign oppression. It is supporting their nonviolent struggle for
human rights and democratic citizenship against a controlling and
oppressive state. It is this principle that we now have to proclaim and
act upon.
To those who say that defending this principle in the case of people
fighting for democratic rights against a home-grown dictatorship is
interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, we should
recall what Alexander Solzhenitsyn said in his Nobel Lecture in 1970:
"There are no INTERNAL AFFAIRS left on our crowded Earth! And mankind's
sole salvation lies in everyone making everything his business."
If we act upon this principle in solidarity with our brothers and
sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean who are bravely fighting for
freedom, and who need our moral and political support, we shall help
fulfill the promise of a hemisphere united in freedom and democracy. And
if that promise is fulfilled, we will give hope to brave people in other
regions of the world who are engaged in the same struggle for democratic
freedoms and human dignity.
Carl Gershman who has been president of the National Endowment for
Democracy since its 1984 founding. This article is adapted from a speech
he delivered recently upon receiving the Leadership Award from the
Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/27/v-fullstory/3418629/oas-silent-in-the-face-of-threats.html
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Orlando Zapata Tamayo Will Never be Forgotten
Orlando Zapata Tamayo Will Never be Forgotten / CID
Posted on May 25, 2013
Yesterday, May 15, an emotional meeting of the Holguin CID delegation
remembered the birth of the martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo on May 15,
1967. The story of his humble and courageous life stressed the
authenticity of his patriotism. To him the country was sacrifice and
duty. His clash against tyranny involved no desire for publicity nor
even the slightest trace of a dubious role.
Ricardo MedinaThe testimony of those who were his fellow prisoners, as
in the case of Ricardo Santiago Medina, member of the National Executive
Committee of the CID, is that of a true Christian who knew that the
freedom of Cuba could only be achieved with evolution and boldness.
The day of his death on February 23, 2010, after a more than eighty day
hunger strike without proper assistance, OZT carried a cumulative
sentence of 36 years in prison for peaceful protest that in any
democracy wouldn't even lead to a fine.
The regime thought that because of was a poor and unknown black man his
murder would go unpunished. They never imagined that given the
seriousness of her son's condition, Reina Luisa Tamayo's desperation
touched the hearts of millions of people. Nor did they calculate that
once they consummated the crime, Reina would write one of the most
moving and courageous pages in the history of Cuba denouncing the
tyranny in the streets of our country.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a legitimate opponent. He always put his life
on the frontline. He had the courage to maintain his dmeands and his
opposition to the bitter end. Orlando was a direct incarnation of the
historic political prisoners, the ones who when no one in the world
listened maintained the dignity of the struggle for democracy at the
cost of extraordinary personal sacrifice.
For those involved in the final battle against the Castro regime and to
all the people of Cuba who aspire to the change that is coming, Orlando
Zapata Tamayo should not be a patriotic memory, but a living example by
which we must measure all the pretenders to leadership.
16 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/orlando-zapata-tamayo-will-never-be-forgotten-cid/
Posted on May 25, 2013
Yesterday, May 15, an emotional meeting of the Holguin CID delegation
remembered the birth of the martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo on May 15,
1967. The story of his humble and courageous life stressed the
authenticity of his patriotism. To him the country was sacrifice and
duty. His clash against tyranny involved no desire for publicity nor
even the slightest trace of a dubious role.
Ricardo MedinaThe testimony of those who were his fellow prisoners, as
in the case of Ricardo Santiago Medina, member of the National Executive
Committee of the CID, is that of a true Christian who knew that the
freedom of Cuba could only be achieved with evolution and boldness.
The day of his death on February 23, 2010, after a more than eighty day
hunger strike without proper assistance, OZT carried a cumulative
sentence of 36 years in prison for peaceful protest that in any
democracy wouldn't even lead to a fine.
The regime thought that because of was a poor and unknown black man his
murder would go unpunished. They never imagined that given the
seriousness of her son's condition, Reina Luisa Tamayo's desperation
touched the hearts of millions of people. Nor did they calculate that
once they consummated the crime, Reina would write one of the most
moving and courageous pages in the history of Cuba denouncing the
tyranny in the streets of our country.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a legitimate opponent. He always put his life
on the frontline. He had the courage to maintain his dmeands and his
opposition to the bitter end. Orlando was a direct incarnation of the
historic political prisoners, the ones who when no one in the world
listened maintained the dignity of the struggle for democracy at the
cost of extraordinary personal sacrifice.
For those involved in the final battle against the Castro regime and to
all the people of Cuba who aspire to the change that is coming, Orlando
Zapata Tamayo should not be a patriotic memory, but a living example by
which we must measure all the pretenders to leadership.
16 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/orlando-zapata-tamayo-will-never-be-forgotten-cid/
Saturday, May 25, 2013
The Morality of the Survivor
The Morality of the Survivor / Dimas Castellanos
Posted on May 25, 2013
In the expanded meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Friday May
13, the head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment reported on the
irregularities in the operation of businesses with foreign capital and
international contracts; the Minister of Economy and Planning spoke
about the irregularities and criminal activity in the marketing of
fuels; while the Comptroller General of the Republic recognized that
although there are improvements in the evaluations with respect to
previous reviews, serious problems and vulnerabilities persist.
An objective analysis on the subject should begin to banish the use of
euphemisms to sugarcoat reality. It is not about irregularities, but
rather a marked deterioration of ethics, of corruption, which if it
didn't begin in 1959, it was after that date that it expanded from the
political-administrative sphere to all social relations to become a
culture and to act as a brake on government projects themselves.
This phenomenon, which starts in the economy and even reaches the
spirituality of Cubans, is one of the factors that shows the structural
character of the current crisis and explains the failures in the
attempts to overcome it with limited changes to the economy.
Among the factors that condition this reality is the disappearance of
the tens of thousands of proprietors who were replaced by "bosses," the
total implementation of the "property of the whole people" and the
failure of wages and pensions; it was a combination of harmful agents
that have led to robbery, theft, bribery and deception in order to
survive. It is also because the moral standard is a collection of
socially accepted norms, that change depending on purposes, interests
and social conditions, such that survival is a form of morality that
emerged from the profound structural crisis we're immersed in.
The changes that are being implemented in Cuba under the label of the
Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Communist Party, are
faced with the worst situation in respect to moral conduct that our
history has ever known. Survival, reflected in multiple frustrations,
has generated disinterest, hopelessness and escapism reflected in a
morality that employs a patriotic vocabulary with a distinct content.
Now the struggle, is not designed for the purpose of abolishing slavery,
achieving independence and overthrowing tyranny, but rather to survive;
nor is it about "Freedom or Death" or "Fatherland or Death," but about
"Life or Death" which is the slogan of the survivor.
The explanation of the former lies in that the first human morality is
the preservation of life and when social conditions close every
possibility of realization, people have only two paths: renounce life or
survive. Thus, in the face of inadequate wages, Cubans respond with
activities at the margin of the law; to the impossibility of being
entrepreneurs, through the State track, that is, government expenditures
and utilities in particular; the shortages, theft from the State, which
is ultimately the property of "all the people"; the shutting down of all
possibilities to escape to exile; the so-called ideologies, with the
apathy; meanwhile the verbs escape, struggle and resolve, designate the
actions to acquire the necessary "extras," that is, to survive.
Official journalism does not seek the causes
Given this stubborn reality, the State limits itself to repression: more
police, surveillance, restrictions and inspectors; all actions about the
effects without taking into account the causes, among them the shift
toward totalitarianism that erases the citizen from the Cuban scene. But
what strongly draws our attention, as we see in the following and small
sample of articles, is the insistence over the years on the effects and
the ignorance of the causes:
The May 22, 200 issue of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth)
published "The Hunter of Deceptions," referring to a popular inspector
charged with detecting violations in quality, weight, price and the
selling items of outside the unit. According to this inspector when the
evidence of the crime was placed before the the offender, some consumers
are bothered and defending their own victimizer. That is, the "victims"
defended their victimizers, a fact demonstrative of the social
acceptance of the morality of the survivor.
On Saturday November 28, 2003, the newspaper Granma published
"Violations of Prices and the Never-ending Battle," in which an official
of the Department of Price Supervision of the Ministry of Finance, said
that in the first eight months of this year, in 36% of establishments
inspected they found irregularities; in the case of markets, fairs,
plazas and agricultural outlets, the index was above 47%, and in food it
reached 50%.
On Saturday December 24, 2005, Granma reported that at the regular
session of the National Assembly of People's Power, Pedro Ross, then
Secretary General of the CTC, said: "There are workers who react, but
others don't and continue to justify the theft and other misconduct."
On Monday, February 16, 2007, Granma's article "Cannibals in the
Towers," addressed the theft of the structures that support the high
voltage electric transmission network. In 2004, 1,648 of the structures
disappeared on the 220 thousand volt network, and 545 in the 100
thousand volt network; in 2005 they stole 532 and 544 respectively; in
2006, after strengthening surveillance, technical measures and
sanctions, 267 and 1,827 disappeared. There was a decrease in 220,000
network only because the bolts were welded up to 6 yards high, but then
the daring fighters climbed above that height. Similarly the conductor
cables were stolen, to sell the aluminum and copper contained in them.
On Friday, October 26, 2010 Granma published "The Price of Indolence."
It turns out in the commune of Corralillo, in Villa Clara, more than 300
homes were built with stolen materials and resources. In 240 of the
homes inspected over 10,000 feet of rail tracks had been used, and in
82% railroad tracks from the Ministry of the Sugar had been used, which
came from the dismantling of over 15 miles of railway lines, and pieces
from over 59 high voltage towers were also used.
More recently, in Juventud Rebelde of February 19 and 26, 2012, the
Comptroller of the Republic said in an interview: "In our experience,
the causes of corruption range from the fact that there was no control
of the contracts, because those whose job it was didn't do it, and those
who had to audit it either didn't audit it or didn't do so in depth."
And to all this must be added the constant diversion of resources,
countless lawsuits, including against senior government officials.
What neither Granma nor Juventud Rebelde have established, as
journalists, is the relationship between, corruption on the one side
and on the other absolute state ownership, poverty wages and the
inability to be entrepreneurs. What they have done is demonstrated the
futility of repression, if not accompanied by measures to address the
causes, then, surveillance, police, simple inspectors, comprehensive
inspectors, or inspectors of the inspectors, are Cubans with the same
needs as the rest of the population and therefore practitioners of the
predominant morality.
To change the course of events they will have to extend, although quite
late, the economic changes to other social spheres, which means
returning civil liberties, without which the formation and the
predominance of the civic behavior required by present and future Cuba
will be impossible.
From Diario de Cuba
23 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-morality-of-the-survivor-dimas-castellanos/
Posted on May 25, 2013
In the expanded meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Friday May
13, the head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment reported on the
irregularities in the operation of businesses with foreign capital and
international contracts; the Minister of Economy and Planning spoke
about the irregularities and criminal activity in the marketing of
fuels; while the Comptroller General of the Republic recognized that
although there are improvements in the evaluations with respect to
previous reviews, serious problems and vulnerabilities persist.
An objective analysis on the subject should begin to banish the use of
euphemisms to sugarcoat reality. It is not about irregularities, but
rather a marked deterioration of ethics, of corruption, which if it
didn't begin in 1959, it was after that date that it expanded from the
political-administrative sphere to all social relations to become a
culture and to act as a brake on government projects themselves.
This phenomenon, which starts in the economy and even reaches the
spirituality of Cubans, is one of the factors that shows the structural
character of the current crisis and explains the failures in the
attempts to overcome it with limited changes to the economy.
Among the factors that condition this reality is the disappearance of
the tens of thousands of proprietors who were replaced by "bosses," the
total implementation of the "property of the whole people" and the
failure of wages and pensions; it was a combination of harmful agents
that have led to robbery, theft, bribery and deception in order to
survive. It is also because the moral standard is a collection of
socially accepted norms, that change depending on purposes, interests
and social conditions, such that survival is a form of morality that
emerged from the profound structural crisis we're immersed in.
The changes that are being implemented in Cuba under the label of the
Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Communist Party, are
faced with the worst situation in respect to moral conduct that our
history has ever known. Survival, reflected in multiple frustrations,
has generated disinterest, hopelessness and escapism reflected in a
morality that employs a patriotic vocabulary with a distinct content.
Now the struggle, is not designed for the purpose of abolishing slavery,
achieving independence and overthrowing tyranny, but rather to survive;
nor is it about "Freedom or Death" or "Fatherland or Death," but about
"Life or Death" which is the slogan of the survivor.
The explanation of the former lies in that the first human morality is
the preservation of life and when social conditions close every
possibility of realization, people have only two paths: renounce life or
survive. Thus, in the face of inadequate wages, Cubans respond with
activities at the margin of the law; to the impossibility of being
entrepreneurs, through the State track, that is, government expenditures
and utilities in particular; the shortages, theft from the State, which
is ultimately the property of "all the people"; the shutting down of all
possibilities to escape to exile; the so-called ideologies, with the
apathy; meanwhile the verbs escape, struggle and resolve, designate the
actions to acquire the necessary "extras," that is, to survive.
Official journalism does not seek the causes
Given this stubborn reality, the State limits itself to repression: more
police, surveillance, restrictions and inspectors; all actions about the
effects without taking into account the causes, among them the shift
toward totalitarianism that erases the citizen from the Cuban scene. But
what strongly draws our attention, as we see in the following and small
sample of articles, is the insistence over the years on the effects and
the ignorance of the causes:
The May 22, 200 issue of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth)
published "The Hunter of Deceptions," referring to a popular inspector
charged with detecting violations in quality, weight, price and the
selling items of outside the unit. According to this inspector when the
evidence of the crime was placed before the the offender, some consumers
are bothered and defending their own victimizer. That is, the "victims"
defended their victimizers, a fact demonstrative of the social
acceptance of the morality of the survivor.
On Saturday November 28, 2003, the newspaper Granma published
"Violations of Prices and the Never-ending Battle," in which an official
of the Department of Price Supervision of the Ministry of Finance, said
that in the first eight months of this year, in 36% of establishments
inspected they found irregularities; in the case of markets, fairs,
plazas and agricultural outlets, the index was above 47%, and in food it
reached 50%.
On Saturday December 24, 2005, Granma reported that at the regular
session of the National Assembly of People's Power, Pedro Ross, then
Secretary General of the CTC, said: "There are workers who react, but
others don't and continue to justify the theft and other misconduct."
On Monday, February 16, 2007, Granma's article "Cannibals in the
Towers," addressed the theft of the structures that support the high
voltage electric transmission network. In 2004, 1,648 of the structures
disappeared on the 220 thousand volt network, and 545 in the 100
thousand volt network; in 2005 they stole 532 and 544 respectively; in
2006, after strengthening surveillance, technical measures and
sanctions, 267 and 1,827 disappeared. There was a decrease in 220,000
network only because the bolts were welded up to 6 yards high, but then
the daring fighters climbed above that height. Similarly the conductor
cables were stolen, to sell the aluminum and copper contained in them.
On Friday, October 26, 2010 Granma published "The Price of Indolence."
It turns out in the commune of Corralillo, in Villa Clara, more than 300
homes were built with stolen materials and resources. In 240 of the
homes inspected over 10,000 feet of rail tracks had been used, and in
82% railroad tracks from the Ministry of the Sugar had been used, which
came from the dismantling of over 15 miles of railway lines, and pieces
from over 59 high voltage towers were also used.
More recently, in Juventud Rebelde of February 19 and 26, 2012, the
Comptroller of the Republic said in an interview: "In our experience,
the causes of corruption range from the fact that there was no control
of the contracts, because those whose job it was didn't do it, and those
who had to audit it either didn't audit it or didn't do so in depth."
And to all this must be added the constant diversion of resources,
countless lawsuits, including against senior government officials.
What neither Granma nor Juventud Rebelde have established, as
journalists, is the relationship between, corruption on the one side
and on the other absolute state ownership, poverty wages and the
inability to be entrepreneurs. What they have done is demonstrated the
futility of repression, if not accompanied by measures to address the
causes, then, surveillance, police, simple inspectors, comprehensive
inspectors, or inspectors of the inspectors, are Cubans with the same
needs as the rest of the population and therefore practitioners of the
predominant morality.
To change the course of events they will have to extend, although quite
late, the economic changes to other social spheres, which means
returning civil liberties, without which the formation and the
predominance of the civic behavior required by present and future Cuba
will be impossible.
From Diario de Cuba
23 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-morality-of-the-survivor-dimas-castellanos/
On May 20 in Camagüey Ten Arrested and the Opposition Beaten Up
On May 20 in Camagüey: Ten Arrested and the Opposition Beaten Up / CID
Posted on May 25, 2013
Camaguey carreteraThis May 20th when the CID delegation in the capital
of Camagüey gathered to celebrate Independence Day, they had to suspend
the meeting to go urgently to the corner of Carretera Central and 20 de
Mayo street to support two distressed Cuban families who had spent the
night on the street as a result of an eviction.
At the time of publication the situation surrounding this event was
developing. When the State Insecurity and Housing department agents
arrived on the scene, they found neighbors extremely annoyed by the
distress of the families of Marlene Chavarría Abreu and Damaris Álvarez
Abreu.
The major in charge of the State Insecurity agents asked Virgilio
Mantilla Arango, CID National Vice President to give him time to see how
they could resolve the situation. He needed to calm the spirits of
families, the neighbors and the CID activists. The major wanted to talk
with the families.
Mantilla Arango spoke with the parties and all agreed to give the major
a more reasonable time to see if he could solve the case. The first step
was agreed to was that representatives of the Housing department would
move the families to a shelter.
Under the truce, CID activists went to the house of the Camagüey
Coordinator of the United Campaign for Human Rights to be held on May
20. A total of thirty members of the opposition participated in the
patriotic event remembering the long struggle for the independence of Cuba.
At the end of the meeting State Insecurity showed its other side. When
the opponents retired to their homes minions jumped into action
violently beating several and arresting ten of them.
22 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/on-may-20-in-camaguey-ten-arrested-and-the-opposition-beaten-up-cid/
Posted on May 25, 2013
Camaguey carreteraThis May 20th when the CID delegation in the capital
of Camagüey gathered to celebrate Independence Day, they had to suspend
the meeting to go urgently to the corner of Carretera Central and 20 de
Mayo street to support two distressed Cuban families who had spent the
night on the street as a result of an eviction.
At the time of publication the situation surrounding this event was
developing. When the State Insecurity and Housing department agents
arrived on the scene, they found neighbors extremely annoyed by the
distress of the families of Marlene Chavarría Abreu and Damaris Álvarez
Abreu.
The major in charge of the State Insecurity agents asked Virgilio
Mantilla Arango, CID National Vice President to give him time to see how
they could resolve the situation. He needed to calm the spirits of
families, the neighbors and the CID activists. The major wanted to talk
with the families.
Mantilla Arango spoke with the parties and all agreed to give the major
a more reasonable time to see if he could solve the case. The first step
was agreed to was that representatives of the Housing department would
move the families to a shelter.
Under the truce, CID activists went to the house of the Camagüey
Coordinator of the United Campaign for Human Rights to be held on May
20. A total of thirty members of the opposition participated in the
patriotic event remembering the long struggle for the independence of Cuba.
At the end of the meeting State Insecurity showed its other side. When
the opponents retired to their homes minions jumped into action
violently beating several and arresting ten of them.
22 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/on-may-20-in-camaguey-ten-arrested-and-the-opposition-beaten-up-cid/
Being a Dissident and a Practitioner of Santeria, a Difficult Path
Being a Dissident and a Practitioner of Santeria, a Difficult Path
Posted on May 24, 2013
The first Cuban vice-president, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez visited the
headquarters of the Cultural Yoruba Association of Cuba this past
Monday, days after the Department of State published a document in
regards to religious freedom, which alleges that there have been some
advances as far as Cuba's approach in these matters.
While the second-in-line of the Cuban government was saying goodbye to
the babalaos -- the Santeria priests — of the official association,
throughout the streets of Cuba other Santeria leaders are looked down
upon for not joining the organization run by the Office of Religious
Affairs, for abiding by other rules, for carrying weapons to carry out
animal sacrifices and even for being dissidents, a charge which turns
out to be quite heavy to bear.
The babalao Gesse Castelnau Ruiz considers that the meeting of
Diaz-Canel with the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba is manipulative
in its essence, as this religious group accepts only Communist party
members or citizens who are committed to the government.
In the Havana municipality of October 10 there is another Yoruba
Association of Cuba, named "Lazaro Cuesta," which also issues a "Letter
of the Year," parallel to that located in Old Havana. In this regard,
the priest of Ifa, Castelnau states that just recently they went to that
organization to apply for a license to carry the weapons intended for
animal sacrifices and were denied for being active regime opponents.
A drum circle for the health of the deceased former Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, a rite of sacrifice and worship of the five Cuban
intelligence spies imprisoned in the U.S., or for the recovery of former
President Fidel Castro, have been three of the last three demonstrations
of the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba to the government adhering to
the government's designs.
Carrying weapons without official authorization, issuing the Letter of
the Year parallel to that of the official association, showing their
openly rebellious activism or attempting to provide religious services
to foreign visitors, are all part of the causes of harassment
experienced in the capital or provinces such as Villa Clara and Holguin.
"I have taken very well to being a babalao and dissident, me and my
family, where there are four more babalaos. They did not let us
participate in activities organized by that association, nor did we want
to. They have confiscated my batá drums for Zanja Street police station
because they say they have things inside and have to search them. There
is no freedom of religion and expression," the Yoruba priest concluded.
A religion divided
Iyalocha (priestess of Ifa) and Lady in White, Jessica is a young woman
who believes in the powers of Orula and that all men and women are born
free and have equal rights. Because of this she wears a fardo that has
cost her arrests, police repression and the refusal to allow her to be
in the Yoruba Association, based on the Prado in Havana.
Jessica thinks that the practice of the cult of the Orishas in Cuba is
divided, and says that "This happened since they opened the Prado Street
headquarters, which is governed entirely by the Cuban government."
Several babalaos and practitioners agree that the Cuban Santeria guru,
Lazaro Cuesta, would feel betrayed because he created the first Yoruba
Association of Cuba in the municipality of October 10, and it was from
there that the "only true Letter of the Year" is issued Jessica said,
somewhat affected.
"Many Santeria followers don't go to Meadow Street headquarters, for the
simple reason that there can't be two letters. I dare say that 90% of
the Cuban people who believe in Ifa are governed by the letter issued in
the municipality October 10 which was the first that came out."
Cuba currently has Letters of the Year and for those Santeria followers
who originally went to the house of October 10, this duality is a sacrilege.
Declarations of the Iyalocha and Lady in White Jessica C.
Jessica recalls that the official association came to offer a Tambor (a
religious ceremony) for the health of President Hugo Chavez and on this
occasion the Cuban Santeria followers had to use drums at the Prado
headquarters site because most Cuban babalaos will not lend themselves
to such a propaganda show. In the images the musician Papo Angarica
could be seen cheering the Venezuelan leader, as on other occasions he
had done for the cause of the five spies or any other partisan mandate.
"Christians say we are evil and Chavez was a Christian, then how did
they set the Santeria to pray for a Christian? All the world realized it
was a media circus," says the iyalochaa Jessica Castelnau.
24 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/being-a-dissident-and-a-practitioner-of-santeria-a-difficult-path/
Posted on May 24, 2013
The first Cuban vice-president, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez visited the
headquarters of the Cultural Yoruba Association of Cuba this past
Monday, days after the Department of State published a document in
regards to religious freedom, which alleges that there have been some
advances as far as Cuba's approach in these matters.
While the second-in-line of the Cuban government was saying goodbye to
the babalaos -- the Santeria priests — of the official association,
throughout the streets of Cuba other Santeria leaders are looked down
upon for not joining the organization run by the Office of Religious
Affairs, for abiding by other rules, for carrying weapons to carry out
animal sacrifices and even for being dissidents, a charge which turns
out to be quite heavy to bear.
The babalao Gesse Castelnau Ruiz considers that the meeting of
Diaz-Canel with the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba is manipulative
in its essence, as this religious group accepts only Communist party
members or citizens who are committed to the government.
In the Havana municipality of October 10 there is another Yoruba
Association of Cuba, named "Lazaro Cuesta," which also issues a "Letter
of the Year," parallel to that located in Old Havana. In this regard,
the priest of Ifa, Castelnau states that just recently they went to that
organization to apply for a license to carry the weapons intended for
animal sacrifices and were denied for being active regime opponents.
A drum circle for the health of the deceased former Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, a rite of sacrifice and worship of the five Cuban
intelligence spies imprisoned in the U.S., or for the recovery of former
President Fidel Castro, have been three of the last three demonstrations
of the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba to the government adhering to
the government's designs.
Carrying weapons without official authorization, issuing the Letter of
the Year parallel to that of the official association, showing their
openly rebellious activism or attempting to provide religious services
to foreign visitors, are all part of the causes of harassment
experienced in the capital or provinces such as Villa Clara and Holguin.
"I have taken very well to being a babalao and dissident, me and my
family, where there are four more babalaos. They did not let us
participate in activities organized by that association, nor did we want
to. They have confiscated my batá drums for Zanja Street police station
because they say they have things inside and have to search them. There
is no freedom of religion and expression," the Yoruba priest concluded.
A religion divided
Iyalocha (priestess of Ifa) and Lady in White, Jessica is a young woman
who believes in the powers of Orula and that all men and women are born
free and have equal rights. Because of this she wears a fardo that has
cost her arrests, police repression and the refusal to allow her to be
in the Yoruba Association, based on the Prado in Havana.
Jessica thinks that the practice of the cult of the Orishas in Cuba is
divided, and says that "This happened since they opened the Prado Street
headquarters, which is governed entirely by the Cuban government."
Several babalaos and practitioners agree that the Cuban Santeria guru,
Lazaro Cuesta, would feel betrayed because he created the first Yoruba
Association of Cuba in the municipality of October 10, and it was from
there that the "only true Letter of the Year" is issued Jessica said,
somewhat affected.
"Many Santeria followers don't go to Meadow Street headquarters, for the
simple reason that there can't be two letters. I dare say that 90% of
the Cuban people who believe in Ifa are governed by the letter issued in
the municipality October 10 which was the first that came out."
Cuba currently has Letters of the Year and for those Santeria followers
who originally went to the house of October 10, this duality is a sacrilege.
Declarations of the Iyalocha and Lady in White Jessica C.
Jessica recalls that the official association came to offer a Tambor (a
religious ceremony) for the health of President Hugo Chavez and on this
occasion the Cuban Santeria followers had to use drums at the Prado
headquarters site because most Cuban babalaos will not lend themselves
to such a propaganda show. In the images the musician Papo Angarica
could be seen cheering the Venezuelan leader, as on other occasions he
had done for the cause of the five spies or any other partisan mandate.
"Christians say we are evil and Chavez was a Christian, then how did
they set the Santeria to pray for a Christian? All the world realized it
was a media circus," says the iyalochaa Jessica Castelnau.
24 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/being-a-dissident-and-a-practitioner-of-santeria-a-difficult-path/
Cuba and its Biodiversity
Cuba and its Biodiversity
May 24, 2013
Erasmo Calzadilla
HAVANA TIMES — In 2000, with the aim of alerting humanity to the
extinction of ecosystems, species and genes and the accelerated decline
in biodiversity it was causing, the United Nations' General Assembly
declared May 22 International Day for Biological Biodiversity.
One may think that, ultimately, humanity does not need so many bugs
around it to get by, that it is an aesthetic, or, at most, an ethical
issue. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In addition to all of the direct or indirect "services" these bugs
offer, diversity is the stabilizer of the biosphere, its shield against
disturbances and aggressions. Without it, we're toast.
We are the species with the most sophisticated brain the earth has ever
known and we behave like a lowly plague attacking a planet. We're a
sorry sight indeed.
Though the problem appears complex, the options before us are simple
enough: either we slowly, rationally slow down our growth as a species,
avoiding catastrophes wherever possible, or we do it through wars,
environmental and social crises, epidemics and natural disasters. Let no
one be naïve enough to be deceived, at this stage in the game, by that
misguided notion called "sustainable development".
Biodiversity in Cuba
In spite of phenomena such as the proliferation of aggressive fish
species, the creation of artificial land bridges, irresponsible
sugar-cane harvesting practices, the use of transgenic products and the
propagation of marabou across our fields and cities, Cuba continues to
be a prodigious island in terms of biodiversity.
The Cuban archipelago boasts of a broad variety of plants and animals
(500,000 and 19,600 species, respectively), a very high number of which
are endemic to the island (50 and 42%). In terms of biodiversity, Cuba
ranks fourth among the world's islands and first in the Caribbean region.
The Cuban revolution has undermined biodiversity with one hand, and
worked arduously to preserve it with the other. On the one hand, it has
been characterized by a drive towards development, by voluntarism, then
by the bureaucratization of society, carelessness, shortages and negligence.
On the other, it has shown an ecological awareness never before seen in
the region: it has created research centers, trained professionals and
developed a sophisticated legislation to protect the country's flora and
fauna.
I won't draw a balance of the positive and negative things done in this
connection. I'll leave that in the hands of more informed persons. I
would instead like to avail myself of the lines that follow to touch on
a situation I know well, having experienced it personally.
Cuba's Ecology and Systematics Institute
A bit over five years ago, I worked at Cuba's Ecology and Systematics
Institute (IES), one of the 70 scientific institutions involved in the
protection of the country's ecosystems.
Back then, the IES had a valuable team of researchers at its disposal
but no money (and the crisis hadn't even hit yet). To earn a bit of
dough or get their hands on quality equipment, the scientists employed
by the institute had to become involved in international projects, which
were not always related to the aims of the organization.
As if this wasn't enough, bureaucratic hurdles kept everyone on a tight
rein and even prevented the use of the money that was available. There
was a sense of frustration all around one and it was typical for
scientists to ask for asylum abroad when given the opportunity to travel
outside of Cuba.
There was no money for the institute's essential work and, of course,
for anything else. There were never enough custodians around and, every
month, the institute bemoaned the theft of an expensive piece of
equipment or even collections which, I was told, were considered part of
the country's natural heritage.
Needless to say, the food and transportation available for employees was
terrible.
I don't know whether the IES I got to know over 5 years ago was the
exception or the rule. But if the other 70 research centers are in
similar condition (and this is what I presume), then Cuban biodiversity
ought to begin looking for a way of protecting itself.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93596
May 24, 2013
Erasmo Calzadilla
HAVANA TIMES — In 2000, with the aim of alerting humanity to the
extinction of ecosystems, species and genes and the accelerated decline
in biodiversity it was causing, the United Nations' General Assembly
declared May 22 International Day for Biological Biodiversity.
One may think that, ultimately, humanity does not need so many bugs
around it to get by, that it is an aesthetic, or, at most, an ethical
issue. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In addition to all of the direct or indirect "services" these bugs
offer, diversity is the stabilizer of the biosphere, its shield against
disturbances and aggressions. Without it, we're toast.
We are the species with the most sophisticated brain the earth has ever
known and we behave like a lowly plague attacking a planet. We're a
sorry sight indeed.
Though the problem appears complex, the options before us are simple
enough: either we slowly, rationally slow down our growth as a species,
avoiding catastrophes wherever possible, or we do it through wars,
environmental and social crises, epidemics and natural disasters. Let no
one be naïve enough to be deceived, at this stage in the game, by that
misguided notion called "sustainable development".
Biodiversity in Cuba
In spite of phenomena such as the proliferation of aggressive fish
species, the creation of artificial land bridges, irresponsible
sugar-cane harvesting practices, the use of transgenic products and the
propagation of marabou across our fields and cities, Cuba continues to
be a prodigious island in terms of biodiversity.
The Cuban archipelago boasts of a broad variety of plants and animals
(500,000 and 19,600 species, respectively), a very high number of which
are endemic to the island (50 and 42%). In terms of biodiversity, Cuba
ranks fourth among the world's islands and first in the Caribbean region.
The Cuban revolution has undermined biodiversity with one hand, and
worked arduously to preserve it with the other. On the one hand, it has
been characterized by a drive towards development, by voluntarism, then
by the bureaucratization of society, carelessness, shortages and negligence.
On the other, it has shown an ecological awareness never before seen in
the region: it has created research centers, trained professionals and
developed a sophisticated legislation to protect the country's flora and
fauna.
I won't draw a balance of the positive and negative things done in this
connection. I'll leave that in the hands of more informed persons. I
would instead like to avail myself of the lines that follow to touch on
a situation I know well, having experienced it personally.
Cuba's Ecology and Systematics Institute
A bit over five years ago, I worked at Cuba's Ecology and Systematics
Institute (IES), one of the 70 scientific institutions involved in the
protection of the country's ecosystems.
Back then, the IES had a valuable team of researchers at its disposal
but no money (and the crisis hadn't even hit yet). To earn a bit of
dough or get their hands on quality equipment, the scientists employed
by the institute had to become involved in international projects, which
were not always related to the aims of the organization.
As if this wasn't enough, bureaucratic hurdles kept everyone on a tight
rein and even prevented the use of the money that was available. There
was a sense of frustration all around one and it was typical for
scientists to ask for asylum abroad when given the opportunity to travel
outside of Cuba.
There was no money for the institute's essential work and, of course,
for anything else. There were never enough custodians around and, every
month, the institute bemoaned the theft of an expensive piece of
equipment or even collections which, I was told, were considered part of
the country's natural heritage.
Needless to say, the food and transportation available for employees was
terrible.
I don't know whether the IES I got to know over 5 years ago was the
exception or the rule. But if the other 70 research centers are in
similar condition (and this is what I presume), then Cuban biodiversity
ought to begin looking for a way of protecting itself.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93596
Canadian executive awaits verdict in corruption trial
Posted on Friday, 05.24.13
Canadian executive awaits verdict in corruption trial
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
After a two-day trial behind closed doors in a Havana courtroom, Sarkis
Yacoubian goes back to what he has been doing for almost two years —
waiting in a Cuban prison.
The 53-year-old Canadian businessman who operated a trading company in
Cuba is facing three counts of corruption-related charges that could
lead to a 12-year sentence.
His trial Thursday and Friday before a panel of five judges was closed
to the media and no official news has emerged about the proceedings. It
could take up to two weeks for a verdict and a sentence to be announced.
The Cuban government has not even acknowledged that a trial has begun
and the state media has been silent.
The Toronto Star reported earlier this week that the Canadian ambassador
to Cuba, Matthew Levin, attended the trial — a sign of how seriously
Ottawa takes the matter. The Department of Foreign Affairs would not
comment on what the ambassador observed at the trial.
Yacoubian's arrest in July 2011 sent shockwaves through the small
foreign business community in Havana as the Canadian businessman soon
found himself in the center of a widening storm over international
corruption allegations.
In exclusive phone interviews from prison, Yacoubian told the Star that
he cooperated with Cuban authorities and blew the whistle on what he
called the "black forces" of foreign businesses engaged in corruption.
In the wake of Yacoubian's arrest, business executives from at least
five nations were detained and more than a dozen government officials
and state company executives were imprisoned for graft.
For his trial, Yacoubian was whisked in and out of the Criminal Court of
the Peoples' Tribunal for Havana Province and was expected to return to
La Condesa prison on the outskirts of the city.
In Toronto, Krikor Yacoubian said he hoped his brother's cooperation
with Cuban authorities will help him.
"This never would have happened without him, why should he be the fall
guy?" he told the Star. "My hope is that he is going to be free very soon."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/24/3415422/canadian-executive-awaits-verdict.html
Canadian executive awaits verdict in corruption trial
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
After a two-day trial behind closed doors in a Havana courtroom, Sarkis
Yacoubian goes back to what he has been doing for almost two years —
waiting in a Cuban prison.
The 53-year-old Canadian businessman who operated a trading company in
Cuba is facing three counts of corruption-related charges that could
lead to a 12-year sentence.
His trial Thursday and Friday before a panel of five judges was closed
to the media and no official news has emerged about the proceedings. It
could take up to two weeks for a verdict and a sentence to be announced.
The Cuban government has not even acknowledged that a trial has begun
and the state media has been silent.
The Toronto Star reported earlier this week that the Canadian ambassador
to Cuba, Matthew Levin, attended the trial — a sign of how seriously
Ottawa takes the matter. The Department of Foreign Affairs would not
comment on what the ambassador observed at the trial.
Yacoubian's arrest in July 2011 sent shockwaves through the small
foreign business community in Havana as the Canadian businessman soon
found himself in the center of a widening storm over international
corruption allegations.
In exclusive phone interviews from prison, Yacoubian told the Star that
he cooperated with Cuban authorities and blew the whistle on what he
called the "black forces" of foreign businesses engaged in corruption.
In the wake of Yacoubian's arrest, business executives from at least
five nations were detained and more than a dozen government officials
and state company executives were imprisoned for graft.
For his trial, Yacoubian was whisked in and out of the Criminal Court of
the Peoples' Tribunal for Havana Province and was expected to return to
La Condesa prison on the outskirts of the city.
In Toronto, Krikor Yacoubian said he hoped his brother's cooperation
with Cuban authorities will help him.
"This never would have happened without him, why should he be the fall
guy?" he told the Star. "My hope is that he is going to be free very soon."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/24/3415422/canadian-executive-awaits-verdict.html
From the Blog "Resilient Youth In the Collective Intelligence is the Power of Society"
From the Blog "Resilient Youth: In the Collective Intelligence is the
Power of Society" / Reyner Aguero
Posted on May 25, 2013
On the afternoon of May 14 a meeting was held at the University of
Camaguey with students and teachers, led by former G2 agents along with
other higher level officials from Cuban Counterintelligence.
All this focused on the issue of ideological subversion with the
objective of showing the students supposed CIA cables leaked to G2, to
try to counter the discontent and the new mentality that is taking hold
of young people in the face of the current political-social situation in
the country.
I was invited to this event so that, in some way, the information
presented would influence my ideas and political positions taken in
recent years.
Something that is intolerable and never tolerable is how they criticize,
demonize and mock great people (among these there is a major emphasis on
Yoani Sanchez, Antonio Rodilies and Eliecer Avila) without giving them
the chance to enter into an open debate, and denying the public the
chance to decide which arguments they believe and which they don't.
I would like to touch on so many other topices, but the inequalty of the
coalitions obliges me to be precise in the face of an action so hugely
unjust. Simply touching on the topic of plurality, of the right of the
accused to defend themselves in public, and also to criticize. This
action generated a series of controversies some of which are expressed
in my Twitter account (@reyneraguero1).
As with everything, something useful comes from all this. I confront a
fear I had never before thought I had the courage to face. Among the
arguments, many found reason in my words to the point that a dean (a
woman Doctor), after expressing that "Cuban and the universities must be
only for the Revolutionaries," recognized her failure to express the
maxim of Jose Marti, "With all and for the good of all."
Then she defended my right to take part (in a particular way), and in
the form of a harangue cried that they never should have expelled me
from the university. The applause of the crowd followed, apparently
unaware that I had been prohibited from studying in my country.
Later different people took the floor but with very little chance to
respond to them. However, I was more satisfied than ever for having
launched my grain of sand in the Plural Cuba that so many of us want to
build.
(Forgive the editing errors for lack of time and connection problems.)
Reyner Aguero (@ reyneraguero1) / Juventud Resiliente
25 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/from-the-blog-resilient-youth-in-the-collective-intelligence-is-the-power-of-society-reyner-aguero/
Power of Society" / Reyner Aguero
Posted on May 25, 2013
On the afternoon of May 14 a meeting was held at the University of
Camaguey with students and teachers, led by former G2 agents along with
other higher level officials from Cuban Counterintelligence.
All this focused on the issue of ideological subversion with the
objective of showing the students supposed CIA cables leaked to G2, to
try to counter the discontent and the new mentality that is taking hold
of young people in the face of the current political-social situation in
the country.
I was invited to this event so that, in some way, the information
presented would influence my ideas and political positions taken in
recent years.
Something that is intolerable and never tolerable is how they criticize,
demonize and mock great people (among these there is a major emphasis on
Yoani Sanchez, Antonio Rodilies and Eliecer Avila) without giving them
the chance to enter into an open debate, and denying the public the
chance to decide which arguments they believe and which they don't.
I would like to touch on so many other topices, but the inequalty of the
coalitions obliges me to be precise in the face of an action so hugely
unjust. Simply touching on the topic of plurality, of the right of the
accused to defend themselves in public, and also to criticize. This
action generated a series of controversies some of which are expressed
in my Twitter account (@reyneraguero1).
As with everything, something useful comes from all this. I confront a
fear I had never before thought I had the courage to face. Among the
arguments, many found reason in my words to the point that a dean (a
woman Doctor), after expressing that "Cuban and the universities must be
only for the Revolutionaries," recognized her failure to express the
maxim of Jose Marti, "With all and for the good of all."
Then she defended my right to take part (in a particular way), and in
the form of a harangue cried that they never should have expelled me
from the university. The applause of the crowd followed, apparently
unaware that I had been prohibited from studying in my country.
Later different people took the floor but with very little chance to
respond to them. However, I was more satisfied than ever for having
launched my grain of sand in the Plural Cuba that so many of us want to
build.
(Forgive the editing errors for lack of time and connection problems.)
Reyner Aguero (@ reyneraguero1) / Juventud Resiliente
25 May 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/from-the-blog-resilient-youth-in-the-collective-intelligence-is-the-power-of-society-reyner-aguero/
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