Cuba, US agree on need to cooperate on security
Havana (AFP) - The United States and Cuba have agreed on the need to
cooperate on security issues surrounding trade and travel between the
two former Cold War foes, the communist party newspaper Granma said
Thursday.
US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas held talks
Wednesday with Cuba's recently named Interior Minister Major General
Carlos Fernandez Gondin, the latest in a series contacts since the two
countries restored diplomatic relations in July.
"During the meeting there was agreement on the need to give substance to
bilateral cooperation with the goal of providing greater security to the
citizens of both countries and other nations," Granma said.
Mayorkas, the highest ranking Cuban-American in US President Barack
Obama's administration, was expected to meet Thursday with officials at
the Transport and Foreign Ministries.
He was accompanied by US Commissioner for Customs and Border Enforcement
Gil Kerlikowske.
The Obama administration has eased restrictions on trade and travel with
Cuba, but the US trade embargo remains in place, complicating the
rapprochement.
Also in Cuba for a separate set of talks is Todd Stern, the US State
Department's special envoy for climate change, who met with interim
Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina.
Stern is also scheduled to meet with Science, Technology and Environment
Minister Elba Rosa Perez and Energy and Mines Minister Alfredo Lopez Valdes.
Source: Cuba, US agree on need to cooperate on security - Yahoo News -
http://news.yahoo.com/cuba-us-agree-cooperate-security-133525496.html;_ylt=AwrC1C5ONDJWWlgABdDQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Italian prime minister urges nation's businesses to invest in Cuba
Italian prime minister urges nation's businesses to invest in Cuba
Published October 28, 2015 EFE
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi urged his country's business owners
and executives to invest in Cuba and ratified his government's "renewed"
commitment to building "strong" trade and cultural relations with the
Caribbean island.
"The Italian government maintains and will maintain this commitment with
renewed confidence," Renzi said in Havana at the inauguration of a
bilateral business forum in which he made a "strong recommendation" to
Italian businesses to invest in the island.
Renzi - on his first state visit to Cuba, the last stop on a Latin
American tour that included Chile, Peru and Colombia - acknowledged the
island's welcoming atmosphere toward foreign investment, which President
Raul Castro has helped create with some "politically historic and
economically ambitious goals."
The Italian prime minister said that his country plans "to accompany
Cuba as a partner" in its efforts to reach 2030 producing 24 percent of
its energy from renewable sources, and added that they have also
identified "important" business opportunities in the agricultural,
tourism and real estate sectors.
The participation of 120 Italian companies in the upcoming Havana Fair,
the island's chief trade showcase, shows their interest in doing
business with Cubans, not only in the economic sphere but also in
cultural endeavors, the Italian deputy minister of economic development,
Carlo Calenda, said.
As part of this interaction, Calenda mentioned an ambitious project that
will make Old Havana a "center of culture and conservation of the past,"
which includes its restoration and the promotion of architecture and design.
For his part, Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo
Malmierca confirmed the "political will" of his government to develop
ties with Italy, which ranks among Cuba's 10 leading trade partners and
No. 2 in Europe.
Malmierca also said that economic relations with the European nation
will continue to diversify in the "new scenario" on the island, which
last July reestablished diplomatic ties with the United States after
more than half a century of enmity.
The Cuban minister said the economic embargo that the United States
maintains on his country "also affects the world" because of its
"extraterritorial nature," and ratified his government's intention to
continue a "stable and open" relationship with Italy even if "the
embargo is lifted."
The inauguration of this business forum was the first public event on
Renzi's official agenda in Havana, where he will meet with President
Raul Castro this afternoon.
This will be their second meeting after the one in Rome last May 10 when
Raul Castro visited Pope Francis in the Vatican. EFE
yg/cd
Source: Italian prime minister urges nation's businesses to invest in
Cuba | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/10/28/italian-prime-minister-urges-nation-businesses-to-invest-in-cuba/
Published October 28, 2015 EFE
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi urged his country's business owners
and executives to invest in Cuba and ratified his government's "renewed"
commitment to building "strong" trade and cultural relations with the
Caribbean island.
"The Italian government maintains and will maintain this commitment with
renewed confidence," Renzi said in Havana at the inauguration of a
bilateral business forum in which he made a "strong recommendation" to
Italian businesses to invest in the island.
Renzi - on his first state visit to Cuba, the last stop on a Latin
American tour that included Chile, Peru and Colombia - acknowledged the
island's welcoming atmosphere toward foreign investment, which President
Raul Castro has helped create with some "politically historic and
economically ambitious goals."
The Italian prime minister said that his country plans "to accompany
Cuba as a partner" in its efforts to reach 2030 producing 24 percent of
its energy from renewable sources, and added that they have also
identified "important" business opportunities in the agricultural,
tourism and real estate sectors.
The participation of 120 Italian companies in the upcoming Havana Fair,
the island's chief trade showcase, shows their interest in doing
business with Cubans, not only in the economic sphere but also in
cultural endeavors, the Italian deputy minister of economic development,
Carlo Calenda, said.
As part of this interaction, Calenda mentioned an ambitious project that
will make Old Havana a "center of culture and conservation of the past,"
which includes its restoration and the promotion of architecture and design.
For his part, Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo
Malmierca confirmed the "political will" of his government to develop
ties with Italy, which ranks among Cuba's 10 leading trade partners and
No. 2 in Europe.
Malmierca also said that economic relations with the European nation
will continue to diversify in the "new scenario" on the island, which
last July reestablished diplomatic ties with the United States after
more than half a century of enmity.
The Cuban minister said the economic embargo that the United States
maintains on his country "also affects the world" because of its
"extraterritorial nature," and ratified his government's intention to
continue a "stable and open" relationship with Italy even if "the
embargo is lifted."
The inauguration of this business forum was the first public event on
Renzi's official agenda in Havana, where he will meet with President
Raul Castro this afternoon.
This will be their second meeting after the one in Rome last May 10 when
Raul Castro visited Pope Francis in the Vatican. EFE
yg/cd
Source: Italian prime minister urges nation's businesses to invest in
Cuba | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/10/28/italian-prime-minister-urges-nation-businesses-to-invest-in-cuba/
Cuba's old trains offer fine-grained look at country off the beaten track
Cuba's old trains offer fine-grained look at country off the beaten track
Associated Press Oct. 29, 2015 | 12:27 a.m. EDT + More
By RAMON ESPINOSA, Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) — From east to the west, trains offer a
fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see.
Goats graze alongside tracks in the countryside, forcing trains to brake
to avoid hitting them. Old American sedans line up at a crossing while
locomotives pass. Horse-drawn carts cross the rails after a train has
gone by.
A boy hitches a ride home from school with a train's engineer. A man on
horseback rides alongside tracks that used to carry tons of sugar from
Cuba's now withered sugar industry. A young man boards with goats to
sell in Havana.
While the island is slowly modernizing its rail system, mistreatment and
theft of railway property by the people it was built to serve ensure it
remains the slowest way to get around already slow-moving Cuba.
The trip from Havana to Santiago, 475 miles (765 kilometers) to the
east, takes an average of 15 hours, if the train doesn't break down. A
slightly more reliable train with air conditioning currently is not
running while it undergoes repairs.
On the way from one end of the country to the other, families chat and
try to catch a few minutes of sleep stretched out between rattling
seats. The train's rocking lulls children to sleep under the eye of
adult relatives. Men stand next to an open train door, chatting.
At their peak, Cuban trains featured dining cars and other high-end
services. Today, refreshment comes from the vendors who board at many
stations offering cold sandwiches and soft drinks. Snacks are also sold
outside.
Cuba became the first Latin American country with a train system in the
mid-19th century when colonial Spain began connecting Havana with the
sugar-growing regions outside the capital. The network grew to 5,600
miles of rails crisscrossing the island before the system fell into
disrepair. It suffered along with much of the country's infrastructure
when the Soviet Union's collapse cut Cuba off from the subsidies that
Moscow had pumped into its economy. The longstanding U.S. trade embargo
made it hard to get parts.
Trains connecting Cuba's capital with the former chocolate company town
of Hershey in Matanzas province are filled with tourists who pay less
than 50 cents for the trip as the island floods with visitors after the
declaration of detente with the United States.
As for the route between Santiago and Havana, Cubans pay a little more
than $1 to shuttle goods or visit faraway family. Visiting foreigners
are charged $30 for the same trip.
Source: AP PHOTOS: Cuba's trains offer fine-grained look at country - US
News -
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/29/ap-photos-cubas-trains-offer-fine-grained-look-at-country
Associated Press Oct. 29, 2015 | 12:27 a.m. EDT + More
By RAMON ESPINOSA, Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) — From east to the west, trains offer a
fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see.
Goats graze alongside tracks in the countryside, forcing trains to brake
to avoid hitting them. Old American sedans line up at a crossing while
locomotives pass. Horse-drawn carts cross the rails after a train has
gone by.
A boy hitches a ride home from school with a train's engineer. A man on
horseback rides alongside tracks that used to carry tons of sugar from
Cuba's now withered sugar industry. A young man boards with goats to
sell in Havana.
While the island is slowly modernizing its rail system, mistreatment and
theft of railway property by the people it was built to serve ensure it
remains the slowest way to get around already slow-moving Cuba.
The trip from Havana to Santiago, 475 miles (765 kilometers) to the
east, takes an average of 15 hours, if the train doesn't break down. A
slightly more reliable train with air conditioning currently is not
running while it undergoes repairs.
On the way from one end of the country to the other, families chat and
try to catch a few minutes of sleep stretched out between rattling
seats. The train's rocking lulls children to sleep under the eye of
adult relatives. Men stand next to an open train door, chatting.
At their peak, Cuban trains featured dining cars and other high-end
services. Today, refreshment comes from the vendors who board at many
stations offering cold sandwiches and soft drinks. Snacks are also sold
outside.
Cuba became the first Latin American country with a train system in the
mid-19th century when colonial Spain began connecting Havana with the
sugar-growing regions outside the capital. The network grew to 5,600
miles of rails crisscrossing the island before the system fell into
disrepair. It suffered along with much of the country's infrastructure
when the Soviet Union's collapse cut Cuba off from the subsidies that
Moscow had pumped into its economy. The longstanding U.S. trade embargo
made it hard to get parts.
Trains connecting Cuba's capital with the former chocolate company town
of Hershey in Matanzas province are filled with tourists who pay less
than 50 cents for the trip as the island floods with visitors after the
declaration of detente with the United States.
As for the route between Santiago and Havana, Cubans pay a little more
than $1 to shuttle goods or visit faraway family. Visiting foreigners
are charged $30 for the same trip.
Source: AP PHOTOS: Cuba's trains offer fine-grained look at country - US
News -
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/29/ap-photos-cubas-trains-offer-fine-grained-look-at-country
The Castros do not want normalization
The Castros do not want normalization
ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ QUIÑONES | Los Ángeles | 29 Oct 2015 - 11:34 am.
The dictatorial elite's perception is that 'too much' rapprochement with
the US would entail enormous internal and external problems.
The Castro brothers have always understood US presidents and the
intricacies of political power better than the Americans have
comprehended the Cubans. In Washington they still can´t fathom why the
two brothers and their military junta don't want friendly and harmonious
relations with the US, but rather for the embargo to be lifted, and to
receive loans and tourists from the north with bulging wallets. Simple
as that.
With the Venezuelan crisis deteriorating by the minute, an end to the
embargo has become urgent for the Castro regime. But having politically
cordial and normal relations with Washington is not in their best
interest. Hence, they will do everything possible to prevent them, or to
sabotage them, even if the "blockade" (a military term that has nothing
to do with a unilateral trade embargo placed by one country on another)
is lifted.
The dictatorial elite's view is that "too much" rapprochement with the
US would generate great internal and external trouble, as it would mean
"betraying" its history as an anti-American leftist leader in Latin
America. But, above all, it could undermine the regime's Orwellian
control over all of Cuban society. People on the island feel would be
less fearful of demanding more freedoms if the "Empire" were a strong ally.
The gerontocracy of "historical" commanders is not prepared - nor do
they want to be - to grapple in a civilized way with the political,
ideological, economic, cultural and psychological "contamination" that
could spring from a close relationship with the US. The training of the
Castro regime's nomenklatura has always been based on the opposite:
visceral confrontation with the "imperialist enemy."
Castro's Manifest Destiny
In reaction to US-made rockets fired at a farmer's house in the Sierra
Maestra by Batista dictatorship aircraft on June 5, 1958, Fidel Castro
wrote a letter to Celia Sánchez setting forth the Manifest Destiny of
his revolution: "When this war is over, for me a much longer and greater
war shall begin: that which I will wage against them. I realize that
this will be my true destiny. "
That war did not end with the reopening of embassies in Havana and
Washington. And it will not end as long as the island is ruled by Castro
and the commanders who joined the anti-US crusade conceived by their
leader. There will be no close relationship between Cuba and the United
States until there is a new "deideologized" political leadership on the
island.
But they don´t understand this in Washington. Even if the embargo were
lifted, the Castroist leadership would throw up roadblocks to stymy the
normalization process. On October 3 Commander José Ramón Machado
Ventura, second-in-command in the regime, made this clear: "the
Communist Party of Cuba will always be the backbone of the Cuban
nation's resistance." In the language of Castroism, that means that the
political and media struggle against the US shall continue.
Strong alliances with Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, Syria, direct
intervention in Venezuela to support the Chávez regime, and encouraging
anti-US positions in Latin American governments, all form part of the
Castros' geopolitical arsenal to maintain serious differences with their
neighbor and forestall the full normalization of relations.
They will continue to blame the US
It's a mistake to believe that with the end of the embargo Castroism
will be left politically speechless, unable to continue blaming the US
for Cuba's dire economic woes. No. The Castros will never recognize that
they themselves, and socialism, are responsible for the widespread
misery in Cuba.
The day after the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act, the regime launched
its Plan B: an aggressive worldwide diplomatic, legal, political and
media campaign to demand the 100 billion dollars that it says the US
should pay Cuba in damages for the embargo. They argue that it was the
embargo that impoverished Cuba, which was left without financial
resources, machinery or raw materials, enough food, and sidelined it
from the technological revolution.
They will insist that if Washington does not disburse this money it will
be impossible to improve the Cuban people's standard of living, or to
reconstruct the country, or to create the infrastructure required for US
investments, or to develop the economy and integrate into the global
economic system.
A silent transfer of power
Havana, however grudgingly, knows it has to end the embargo, and fast,
for two reasons: 1) with the collapse of oil prices, the political and
financial outlook of its Venezuelan benefactor is getting worse and
worse and 2) the end of the "blockade" would economically facilitate a
silent transfer of political-military power from the Castros and their
"historic" cronies to their younger family members and fledgling generals.
Whether or not Castro is their surname, they will be responsible for
installing the neo-Castroist model. They will be those who are
"empowered" by an end to the embargo. By law, the self-employed cannot
even negotiate directly with foreign entities. By the way, if Cuba's
current Stalinists laws are not overturned, it will be hard to attract
any significant American investment in Cuba.
The foundations of that succession model will be presented at the next
Communist Party Congress in April 2016, a formula representing a melding
of State-driven capitalism and post-Soviet and Chinese elements, with
entirely fascist features, due to its decidedly military character. And
watch out: the most important "change" in the economic sphere introduced
by "Raulism" thus far has been the militarization of the economy.
More militarized than ever
The great paradox of the Cuba-US "thaw" is that it is occurring when the
country is more controlled than ever by the armed forces, while its
political system is shedding the formal appearance of an orthodox
"socialist democracy" and starting to look more like a fascist military
regime.
It doesn´t matter what Marxism-Leninism says, or the Cuban Socialist
Constitution, on the leading role of the Communist Party. That
militarization was not envisioned by the Leninist and Stalinist leaders
of the Communist old guard, like Blas Roca, Juan Marinello, Carlos
Rafael Rodríguez, César Escalante or Lázaro Pena. None of them today
would have the political strength, influence and power they did in their
time.
The GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial SA) is a gigantic, truly
capitalist corporation attached to the Ministry of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces (FAR), which receives all the currency entering the country
and almost 80% of revenues generated on the island. It is not
institutionally accountable to the Government of the Republic. Thus, the
Castros laugh at the basic principles of socialism as envisaged by Marx,
according to which the "State of the people, workers and peasants" is
charged with socially distributing and redistributing the "surplus"
created by the workers. And hence, Antonio Castro is able to cruise the
Mediterranean in a luxury yacht.
What the military cadre that reigns in Cuba wants is to shake of the
embargo in order to access loans and get rich off the tourism and
business they could do with the Americans, and to financially facilitate
a succession that is inevitable, for biological reasons, towards a
military dictatorship whose members will benefit from capitalism - but
without allowing everyday Cubans to do the same.
Until then the full normalization of relations with Washington does not
form part of the regime's plans, as it is not compatible with their
Manifest Destiny.
Apparently neither is it in the plans of the neo-Castroists, but
unpredictable events could upset everything and throw a wrench in the
dictatorial succession scheme.
Source: The Castros do not want normalization | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1446111274_17786.html
ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ QUIÑONES | Los Ángeles | 29 Oct 2015 - 11:34 am.
The dictatorial elite's perception is that 'too much' rapprochement with
the US would entail enormous internal and external problems.
The Castro brothers have always understood US presidents and the
intricacies of political power better than the Americans have
comprehended the Cubans. In Washington they still can´t fathom why the
two brothers and their military junta don't want friendly and harmonious
relations with the US, but rather for the embargo to be lifted, and to
receive loans and tourists from the north with bulging wallets. Simple
as that.
With the Venezuelan crisis deteriorating by the minute, an end to the
embargo has become urgent for the Castro regime. But having politically
cordial and normal relations with Washington is not in their best
interest. Hence, they will do everything possible to prevent them, or to
sabotage them, even if the "blockade" (a military term that has nothing
to do with a unilateral trade embargo placed by one country on another)
is lifted.
The dictatorial elite's view is that "too much" rapprochement with the
US would generate great internal and external trouble, as it would mean
"betraying" its history as an anti-American leftist leader in Latin
America. But, above all, it could undermine the regime's Orwellian
control over all of Cuban society. People on the island feel would be
less fearful of demanding more freedoms if the "Empire" were a strong ally.
The gerontocracy of "historical" commanders is not prepared - nor do
they want to be - to grapple in a civilized way with the political,
ideological, economic, cultural and psychological "contamination" that
could spring from a close relationship with the US. The training of the
Castro regime's nomenklatura has always been based on the opposite:
visceral confrontation with the "imperialist enemy."
Castro's Manifest Destiny
In reaction to US-made rockets fired at a farmer's house in the Sierra
Maestra by Batista dictatorship aircraft on June 5, 1958, Fidel Castro
wrote a letter to Celia Sánchez setting forth the Manifest Destiny of
his revolution: "When this war is over, for me a much longer and greater
war shall begin: that which I will wage against them. I realize that
this will be my true destiny. "
That war did not end with the reopening of embassies in Havana and
Washington. And it will not end as long as the island is ruled by Castro
and the commanders who joined the anti-US crusade conceived by their
leader. There will be no close relationship between Cuba and the United
States until there is a new "deideologized" political leadership on the
island.
But they don´t understand this in Washington. Even if the embargo were
lifted, the Castroist leadership would throw up roadblocks to stymy the
normalization process. On October 3 Commander José Ramón Machado
Ventura, second-in-command in the regime, made this clear: "the
Communist Party of Cuba will always be the backbone of the Cuban
nation's resistance." In the language of Castroism, that means that the
political and media struggle against the US shall continue.
Strong alliances with Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, Syria, direct
intervention in Venezuela to support the Chávez regime, and encouraging
anti-US positions in Latin American governments, all form part of the
Castros' geopolitical arsenal to maintain serious differences with their
neighbor and forestall the full normalization of relations.
They will continue to blame the US
It's a mistake to believe that with the end of the embargo Castroism
will be left politically speechless, unable to continue blaming the US
for Cuba's dire economic woes. No. The Castros will never recognize that
they themselves, and socialism, are responsible for the widespread
misery in Cuba.
The day after the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act, the regime launched
its Plan B: an aggressive worldwide diplomatic, legal, political and
media campaign to demand the 100 billion dollars that it says the US
should pay Cuba in damages for the embargo. They argue that it was the
embargo that impoverished Cuba, which was left without financial
resources, machinery or raw materials, enough food, and sidelined it
from the technological revolution.
They will insist that if Washington does not disburse this money it will
be impossible to improve the Cuban people's standard of living, or to
reconstruct the country, or to create the infrastructure required for US
investments, or to develop the economy and integrate into the global
economic system.
A silent transfer of power
Havana, however grudgingly, knows it has to end the embargo, and fast,
for two reasons: 1) with the collapse of oil prices, the political and
financial outlook of its Venezuelan benefactor is getting worse and
worse and 2) the end of the "blockade" would economically facilitate a
silent transfer of political-military power from the Castros and their
"historic" cronies to their younger family members and fledgling generals.
Whether or not Castro is their surname, they will be responsible for
installing the neo-Castroist model. They will be those who are
"empowered" by an end to the embargo. By law, the self-employed cannot
even negotiate directly with foreign entities. By the way, if Cuba's
current Stalinists laws are not overturned, it will be hard to attract
any significant American investment in Cuba.
The foundations of that succession model will be presented at the next
Communist Party Congress in April 2016, a formula representing a melding
of State-driven capitalism and post-Soviet and Chinese elements, with
entirely fascist features, due to its decidedly military character. And
watch out: the most important "change" in the economic sphere introduced
by "Raulism" thus far has been the militarization of the economy.
More militarized than ever
The great paradox of the Cuba-US "thaw" is that it is occurring when the
country is more controlled than ever by the armed forces, while its
political system is shedding the formal appearance of an orthodox
"socialist democracy" and starting to look more like a fascist military
regime.
It doesn´t matter what Marxism-Leninism says, or the Cuban Socialist
Constitution, on the leading role of the Communist Party. That
militarization was not envisioned by the Leninist and Stalinist leaders
of the Communist old guard, like Blas Roca, Juan Marinello, Carlos
Rafael Rodríguez, César Escalante or Lázaro Pena. None of them today
would have the political strength, influence and power they did in their
time.
The GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial SA) is a gigantic, truly
capitalist corporation attached to the Ministry of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces (FAR), which receives all the currency entering the country
and almost 80% of revenues generated on the island. It is not
institutionally accountable to the Government of the Republic. Thus, the
Castros laugh at the basic principles of socialism as envisaged by Marx,
according to which the "State of the people, workers and peasants" is
charged with socially distributing and redistributing the "surplus"
created by the workers. And hence, Antonio Castro is able to cruise the
Mediterranean in a luxury yacht.
What the military cadre that reigns in Cuba wants is to shake of the
embargo in order to access loans and get rich off the tourism and
business they could do with the Americans, and to financially facilitate
a succession that is inevitable, for biological reasons, towards a
military dictatorship whose members will benefit from capitalism - but
without allowing everyday Cubans to do the same.
Until then the full normalization of relations with Washington does not
form part of the regime's plans, as it is not compatible with their
Manifest Destiny.
Apparently neither is it in the plans of the neo-Castroists, but
unpredictable events could upset everything and throw a wrench in the
dictatorial succession scheme.
Source: The Castros do not want normalization | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1446111274_17786.html
Human Rights - Are There False Ones?
Human Rights: Are There False Ones?
YUSIMÍ RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ | La Habana | 28 Oct 2015 - 3:32 pm.
Our official journalists are so busy reporting human rights violations
in the US that they have forgotten to cover those violated in Cuba.
Before Friday October 23 I thought that human rights were a source of
conflict and subject to manipulation; that they are a pretext,
paradoxically, for many violations. But it never crossed my mind that
some of these rights may be real, while others are not. But that's what
seems to be suggested by the title of an article by journalist Elson
Concepción Pérez, published in Granma this past Friday: "Human Rights:
What are the real ones?"
Admittedly, it is a catchy title. One immediately wonders whether some
of the rights enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights are actually false. And, of course, you have to read the
text to find out the answer, at least from the journalist's point of view.
Elson Concepción cites examples of how human rights have been used to
justify massacres: the bombing and disintegration of the former Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia by US and NATO troops; the invasion of Iraq; the
imprisonments at Abu Ghraib; the illegal base at Guantanamo, Cuba; the
invasion of Afghanistan; and the death of Libya's president.
Concepción also describes as alarming —and I agree— the fact that the
United States is the only country that has not endorsed the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, "the main law of all those in
existence." And then he refers to the plight of many children living in
the richest country in the world —where one in six lives in poverty.
"The United States ranks near the bottom with regards to relative child
poverty, the gap between rich and poor, births among teen mothers, low
birth weight, children victims of armed violence, and number of minors
in prison."
Of course, once the reality in the United States (based on data from the
IPS) is presented, it is necessary to compare it with that of the
Cubans; otherwise, what sense does the preceding analysis make? "What
about the fact that Cuba guarantees free, quality education to all its
citizens, and quality health that is 100% free for all its inhabitants?
That is, social security for all."
It is undeniable that education and health in Cuba are available to all
(although some people have been expelled from the University for their
sexual orientation or religious beliefs). Speaking of quality in both
sectors is more difficult, because it has been declining year after
year. As for being "free," we must ask how it is financed. If we
citizens do not pay for it, somehow, who does? The president, the Party,
the Central Committee? Or might there be a relationship between Cuba's
low wages, taxes on remittances, the high prices at its currency stores
... and the coverage of education and health services? Not to mention
that the private sector is paying taxes. However, I repeat that it is a
great achievement that education and health are available to all.
But, at this point in the article, we all know what "true" human rights
are, at least in Elson Concepción's view: children's rights, the right
to education, to health, to social security. Rights such as the freedom
of the press, expression, and association, for which Cuba is questioned,
are not even mentioned in the text. That is, they are not "real."
Therefore, they can be violated. They can be infringed, and the
opposition and political activists may be imprisoned.
I wonder if the article's message is that we Cubans should settle for
"real" human rights, that we should feel fortunate because, in other
countries (specifically, the United States), things are worse.
Instead of trying to show that in Cuba the civil and political freedoms
classed as fundamental human rights are respected, our official
journalists choose to divert attention to what happens in the United
States. And the worst thing is that it works, and has for years.
In several attempts to discuss politics with people who support the
government, their argument has been: "Look how the poor live in the
United States," "look what the US did in Afghanistan," or "look how they
kill blacks in the United States."
And this is true. It is true that the United States invaded Afghanistan
and Iraq, US soldiers have committed atrocities against civilian
populations, and that its bombs have killed women and children. It is
true that when you read the news about the African-American victims of
police violence and racism there, the racism that exists in Cuba seems
to pale in comparison. But if you start to think like that, you've
fallen into the trap.
The issue is not what happens in the US, how its children live (or die),
how much poverty there is, how many blacks have been killed, and how
many more will be. This is not to justify insensitivity to this news, or
to say that it should not affect us. We are also moved by the situation
of those migrants who are risking their lives to reach Europe, aware
that they might not succeed, and that, even if they do, they will still
have to face discrimination and xenophobia in their new countries. The
real question is: what does all this have to do with what is happening
in Cuba?
What do teenage mothers in the United States have to do with the
repression of the "Damas en Blanco" here? What does the number of minors
in American jails have to do with the fact that director Juan Carlos
Cremata has been barred from working in Cuba?
When we see that the writers Antón Arrufat and Eduardo Heras León have
received the National Prize for Literature, and that the latter was
honored recently, it seems that the silence to which they were subjected
back then, was just a mistake of the past. But now the same thing is
happening to Juan Carlos Cremata. Could it be that in 30 or 40 years
they will honor him with a National Theater Award?
Our official journalists are so busy reporting human rights violations
in the US that they have forgotten to cover those violated in Cuba. They
are so busy discrediting dissidents, opponents and activists that they
don´t have time to interview just one, to let him make his case, to
defend his convictions.
Source: Human Rights: Are There False Ones? | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1446039121_17774.html
YUSIMÍ RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ | La Habana | 28 Oct 2015 - 3:32 pm.
Our official journalists are so busy reporting human rights violations
in the US that they have forgotten to cover those violated in Cuba.
Before Friday October 23 I thought that human rights were a source of
conflict and subject to manipulation; that they are a pretext,
paradoxically, for many violations. But it never crossed my mind that
some of these rights may be real, while others are not. But that's what
seems to be suggested by the title of an article by journalist Elson
Concepción Pérez, published in Granma this past Friday: "Human Rights:
What are the real ones?"
Admittedly, it is a catchy title. One immediately wonders whether some
of the rights enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights are actually false. And, of course, you have to read the
text to find out the answer, at least from the journalist's point of view.
Elson Concepción cites examples of how human rights have been used to
justify massacres: the bombing and disintegration of the former Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia by US and NATO troops; the invasion of Iraq; the
imprisonments at Abu Ghraib; the illegal base at Guantanamo, Cuba; the
invasion of Afghanistan; and the death of Libya's president.
Concepción also describes as alarming —and I agree— the fact that the
United States is the only country that has not endorsed the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, "the main law of all those in
existence." And then he refers to the plight of many children living in
the richest country in the world —where one in six lives in poverty.
"The United States ranks near the bottom with regards to relative child
poverty, the gap between rich and poor, births among teen mothers, low
birth weight, children victims of armed violence, and number of minors
in prison."
Of course, once the reality in the United States (based on data from the
IPS) is presented, it is necessary to compare it with that of the
Cubans; otherwise, what sense does the preceding analysis make? "What
about the fact that Cuba guarantees free, quality education to all its
citizens, and quality health that is 100% free for all its inhabitants?
That is, social security for all."
It is undeniable that education and health in Cuba are available to all
(although some people have been expelled from the University for their
sexual orientation or religious beliefs). Speaking of quality in both
sectors is more difficult, because it has been declining year after
year. As for being "free," we must ask how it is financed. If we
citizens do not pay for it, somehow, who does? The president, the Party,
the Central Committee? Or might there be a relationship between Cuba's
low wages, taxes on remittances, the high prices at its currency stores
... and the coverage of education and health services? Not to mention
that the private sector is paying taxes. However, I repeat that it is a
great achievement that education and health are available to all.
But, at this point in the article, we all know what "true" human rights
are, at least in Elson Concepción's view: children's rights, the right
to education, to health, to social security. Rights such as the freedom
of the press, expression, and association, for which Cuba is questioned,
are not even mentioned in the text. That is, they are not "real."
Therefore, they can be violated. They can be infringed, and the
opposition and political activists may be imprisoned.
I wonder if the article's message is that we Cubans should settle for
"real" human rights, that we should feel fortunate because, in other
countries (specifically, the United States), things are worse.
Instead of trying to show that in Cuba the civil and political freedoms
classed as fundamental human rights are respected, our official
journalists choose to divert attention to what happens in the United
States. And the worst thing is that it works, and has for years.
In several attempts to discuss politics with people who support the
government, their argument has been: "Look how the poor live in the
United States," "look what the US did in Afghanistan," or "look how they
kill blacks in the United States."
And this is true. It is true that the United States invaded Afghanistan
and Iraq, US soldiers have committed atrocities against civilian
populations, and that its bombs have killed women and children. It is
true that when you read the news about the African-American victims of
police violence and racism there, the racism that exists in Cuba seems
to pale in comparison. But if you start to think like that, you've
fallen into the trap.
The issue is not what happens in the US, how its children live (or die),
how much poverty there is, how many blacks have been killed, and how
many more will be. This is not to justify insensitivity to this news, or
to say that it should not affect us. We are also moved by the situation
of those migrants who are risking their lives to reach Europe, aware
that they might not succeed, and that, even if they do, they will still
have to face discrimination and xenophobia in their new countries. The
real question is: what does all this have to do with what is happening
in Cuba?
What do teenage mothers in the United States have to do with the
repression of the "Damas en Blanco" here? What does the number of minors
in American jails have to do with the fact that director Juan Carlos
Cremata has been barred from working in Cuba?
When we see that the writers Antón Arrufat and Eduardo Heras León have
received the National Prize for Literature, and that the latter was
honored recently, it seems that the silence to which they were subjected
back then, was just a mistake of the past. But now the same thing is
happening to Juan Carlos Cremata. Could it be that in 30 or 40 years
they will honor him with a National Theater Award?
Our official journalists are so busy reporting human rights violations
in the US that they have forgotten to cover those violated in Cuba. They
are so busy discrediting dissidents, opponents and activists that they
don´t have time to interview just one, to let him make his case, to
defend his convictions.
Source: Human Rights: Are There False Ones? | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1446039121_17774.html
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
How Have Cubans Benefited Since December 17?
How Have Cubans Benefited Since December 17? / Ivan Garcia
Posted on October 27, 2015
Note from TranslatingCuba.com: The video is not translated into English.
The gist of message (other than what is obvious from the images) is that
things in Cuba haven't changed for ordinary people since the
announcement of the reestablishment of US-Cuba relations.
Ivan Garcia, 16 October 2015 — Seated at the helm of his polished 1958
Impala convertible, Eduardo Colón, a private taxi driver, listens to
Adele's concert on his player, while he waits for the marriage of an
American couple outside the Saratoga Hotel, very close to the National
Capitol in the heart of Havana.
The couple arrives with relaxed tourist faces, wide-brimmed sombreros,
video camera in hand, and before climbing aboard the ancient Chevrolet,
they take a selfie with the car in the background.
If anyone has benefited from the more than 100,000 Americans who have
visited Cuba since the December 17 thaw, there's no doubt that private
taxicab drivers are at the top of the list.
"Speaking economically, since the Day of San Lázaro* last year, things
have gone better for me. Especially with the Americans. For a couple of
hours' drive around the city, they pay me up to 60 chavitos (65 CUCs,
"dollars"), Eduardo pointed out.
The owners of homes for rent and private restaurants in the medium- to
high-price range in the usual tourist zones in the capital are earning
more money.
"I rent three rooms at 30 CUCs a night. And in 2015, of the 17 people
who rented from me, 11 were from the U.S. When the bonanza begins, the
infrastructure of hospitality, gastronomy and transport is going to
collapse. For me I'm doing well, but I admit that the markets continue
to be short on supplies and telephone calls to the U.S. are still very
expensive," said Elsa, the owner of a spacious house.
For Onilio, almost ten months after the Americans, neighbors to the
north, stopped being enemy número uno, the balance of positive things is
little.
"I work hard at selling illegal cigars to tourists. I notice that there
are more Americans, who are cooler and who help the clandestine
cigars-and-rum business. But it still isn't very good," said a seller in
the Hotel Inglaterra vicinity.
Kirenia, a prostitute, doesn't think that Amercian affluence has caused
an increase in prices. "It's still the same: 50 or 60 bucks for a night.
If the client looks like he's well-heeled, you can ask for a hundred.
But up to now the Americans I've seen aren't coming in waves to link up
with whores."
For most of the people interviewed, the scene hasn't changed too much.
"It's more peel than potato. For those who do business downtown, where
the rich foreigners are, things are going better. But for those who live
far from the center of Havana, life is the same," states the proprietor
of a private bar.
Still Yasmani has noted benefits. He has a bar that offers tapas, and he
rents out five rooms with a spectacular view of the Malecón for 35 CUCs
a night.
"I do business with Airbnb, and I almost always have clients," he
affirms. The State hotels, mainly administered by military companies,
can't complain either. "This year we are cheek to jowl (full), comments
Eusebio, a receptionist at a hostel in Old Havana.
In restaurants like Los Nardos, a joint venture between home hotels and
the State at kilometer zero** in Havana, it's almost impossible to get a
reservation for dinner.
"I notice there are better opportunities. Although at the moment they
haven't fallen into my pocket. I'm still earning 10 CUCs a day, like
always," says Joel, the doorman.
Those who haven't seen any benefit are the majority of Cubans who own
nothing. "I'm still earning the same shit (550 pesos/month, around 23
dollars) as before December 17. And as far as food goes, buying it takes
almost my whole salary, and when I need a bottle of cooking oil, I have
to save in order to buy CUCs so I can get it in a "shopping"***," notes
Manuel, a bus mechanic.
A wide segment of the population complains about the shortage of food
and the sky-high prices. "No one understands that now that we Cubans can
buy food from the U.S., the markets are empty," says Rosa, a housewife
who prowls the shelves of Ultra, one of the large dollar stores in the
capital.
According to a recent article by Juan Juan Almeida in Martí Noticias, in
a journalistic investigation among foreign businessmen in Cuba, the
Regime has a silent strategy to reduce the buying of food and
merchandise in the U.S. as a way of putting pressure on the U.S.
business lobby to force a more energetic campaign for repeal of the embargo.
Almost 10 months after December 17, not too many benefits are felt in
Cuba. The olive-green autocracy continues without implementing a road
map that would please private workers, to whom, supposedly, Obama's
measures are directed.
The official sinuous politics awakens resentment and mistrust in Cubans
on the street. "Before, the Government complained that we couldn't
access the Internet because of the blockade. Now U.S. businesses offer
us free Internet, and the State says that they prefer to be in charge.
They are interested only in exploiting Cubans with steep prices and
abusive taxes," comments Reinier, sitting on a sidewalk under the sun on
Calle 23 in Vedado, while he tries to communicate by IMO**** with his
relatives in Florida.
A few meters away, Diosbel waits in a Havana Tour office to buy a ticket
to Miami. "We thought that after December 17, the price of airline
tickets was going to go down. The flight to Miami is as expensive as the
one to Colombia. And the Government doesn't give us any news about the
ferry. They're saying that the U.S. Post Office is going to negotiate
with the Cuban Post Office. What for? Those sons of bitches only permit
you to send something that weighs one and a half-kilogram, and if you go
over, each kilo costs 20 CUC. The reestablishment of relations hasn't
brought anything that's good for Cubans," he says, annoyed.
In Havana opinions are divided. Some believe that in 2016 gaps will
inexorably open up, and there will be better conditions for those Cubans
who have only coffee for breakfast and who don't receive hard currency.
Others are more pessimistic. And they're certain that the Regime won't
move its chess pieces until the Americans lift the embargo. And if the
Regime is good at something, it's inertia.
Translator's notes:
*One of the more popular saints in Cuba, venerated on December 17.
**The location from which distances are measured and from which you can
set your odometer, usually in a capital city.
***Special stores that take only Cuban Convertible Pesos, which can be
bought in exchange for Cuban Pesos; these stores carry food items not
found in the Cuban Peso shops.
****Popular program for audio and video chat.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: How Have Cubans Benefited Since December 17? / Ivan Garcia |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/how-have-cubans-benefited-since-december-17-ivan-garcia/
Posted on October 27, 2015
Note from TranslatingCuba.com: The video is not translated into English.
The gist of message (other than what is obvious from the images) is that
things in Cuba haven't changed for ordinary people since the
announcement of the reestablishment of US-Cuba relations.
Ivan Garcia, 16 October 2015 — Seated at the helm of his polished 1958
Impala convertible, Eduardo Colón, a private taxi driver, listens to
Adele's concert on his player, while he waits for the marriage of an
American couple outside the Saratoga Hotel, very close to the National
Capitol in the heart of Havana.
The couple arrives with relaxed tourist faces, wide-brimmed sombreros,
video camera in hand, and before climbing aboard the ancient Chevrolet,
they take a selfie with the car in the background.
If anyone has benefited from the more than 100,000 Americans who have
visited Cuba since the December 17 thaw, there's no doubt that private
taxicab drivers are at the top of the list.
"Speaking economically, since the Day of San Lázaro* last year, things
have gone better for me. Especially with the Americans. For a couple of
hours' drive around the city, they pay me up to 60 chavitos (65 CUCs,
"dollars"), Eduardo pointed out.
The owners of homes for rent and private restaurants in the medium- to
high-price range in the usual tourist zones in the capital are earning
more money.
"I rent three rooms at 30 CUCs a night. And in 2015, of the 17 people
who rented from me, 11 were from the U.S. When the bonanza begins, the
infrastructure of hospitality, gastronomy and transport is going to
collapse. For me I'm doing well, but I admit that the markets continue
to be short on supplies and telephone calls to the U.S. are still very
expensive," said Elsa, the owner of a spacious house.
For Onilio, almost ten months after the Americans, neighbors to the
north, stopped being enemy número uno, the balance of positive things is
little.
"I work hard at selling illegal cigars to tourists. I notice that there
are more Americans, who are cooler and who help the clandestine
cigars-and-rum business. But it still isn't very good," said a seller in
the Hotel Inglaterra vicinity.
Kirenia, a prostitute, doesn't think that Amercian affluence has caused
an increase in prices. "It's still the same: 50 or 60 bucks for a night.
If the client looks like he's well-heeled, you can ask for a hundred.
But up to now the Americans I've seen aren't coming in waves to link up
with whores."
For most of the people interviewed, the scene hasn't changed too much.
"It's more peel than potato. For those who do business downtown, where
the rich foreigners are, things are going better. But for those who live
far from the center of Havana, life is the same," states the proprietor
of a private bar.
Still Yasmani has noted benefits. He has a bar that offers tapas, and he
rents out five rooms with a spectacular view of the Malecón for 35 CUCs
a night.
"I do business with Airbnb, and I almost always have clients," he
affirms. The State hotels, mainly administered by military companies,
can't complain either. "This year we are cheek to jowl (full), comments
Eusebio, a receptionist at a hostel in Old Havana.
In restaurants like Los Nardos, a joint venture between home hotels and
the State at kilometer zero** in Havana, it's almost impossible to get a
reservation for dinner.
"I notice there are better opportunities. Although at the moment they
haven't fallen into my pocket. I'm still earning 10 CUCs a day, like
always," says Joel, the doorman.
Those who haven't seen any benefit are the majority of Cubans who own
nothing. "I'm still earning the same shit (550 pesos/month, around 23
dollars) as before December 17. And as far as food goes, buying it takes
almost my whole salary, and when I need a bottle of cooking oil, I have
to save in order to buy CUCs so I can get it in a "shopping"***," notes
Manuel, a bus mechanic.
A wide segment of the population complains about the shortage of food
and the sky-high prices. "No one understands that now that we Cubans can
buy food from the U.S., the markets are empty," says Rosa, a housewife
who prowls the shelves of Ultra, one of the large dollar stores in the
capital.
According to a recent article by Juan Juan Almeida in Martí Noticias, in
a journalistic investigation among foreign businessmen in Cuba, the
Regime has a silent strategy to reduce the buying of food and
merchandise in the U.S. as a way of putting pressure on the U.S.
business lobby to force a more energetic campaign for repeal of the embargo.
Almost 10 months after December 17, not too many benefits are felt in
Cuba. The olive-green autocracy continues without implementing a road
map that would please private workers, to whom, supposedly, Obama's
measures are directed.
The official sinuous politics awakens resentment and mistrust in Cubans
on the street. "Before, the Government complained that we couldn't
access the Internet because of the blockade. Now U.S. businesses offer
us free Internet, and the State says that they prefer to be in charge.
They are interested only in exploiting Cubans with steep prices and
abusive taxes," comments Reinier, sitting on a sidewalk under the sun on
Calle 23 in Vedado, while he tries to communicate by IMO**** with his
relatives in Florida.
A few meters away, Diosbel waits in a Havana Tour office to buy a ticket
to Miami. "We thought that after December 17, the price of airline
tickets was going to go down. The flight to Miami is as expensive as the
one to Colombia. And the Government doesn't give us any news about the
ferry. They're saying that the U.S. Post Office is going to negotiate
with the Cuban Post Office. What for? Those sons of bitches only permit
you to send something that weighs one and a half-kilogram, and if you go
over, each kilo costs 20 CUC. The reestablishment of relations hasn't
brought anything that's good for Cubans," he says, annoyed.
In Havana opinions are divided. Some believe that in 2016 gaps will
inexorably open up, and there will be better conditions for those Cubans
who have only coffee for breakfast and who don't receive hard currency.
Others are more pessimistic. And they're certain that the Regime won't
move its chess pieces until the Americans lift the embargo. And if the
Regime is good at something, it's inertia.
Translator's notes:
*One of the more popular saints in Cuba, venerated on December 17.
**The location from which distances are measured and from which you can
set your odometer, usually in a capital city.
***Special stores that take only Cuban Convertible Pesos, which can be
bought in exchange for Cuban Pesos; these stores carry food items not
found in the Cuban Peso shops.
****Popular program for audio and video chat.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: How Have Cubans Benefited Since December 17? / Ivan Garcia |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/how-have-cubans-benefited-since-december-17-ivan-garcia/
U.S.-Cuba - Obama 3, Castro 0
U.S.-Cuba: Obama 3, Castro 0 / Ivan Garcia
Posted on October 27, 2015
Ivan Garcia, 7 October 2015 — According to Francisco Valido González,
47, a dissident who works in a transit bus cooperative, his association,
in theory, can ask for credit from a U.S. bank in order to acquire new
buses.
His cooperative's buses have more than 200,000 kilometers on them, and
15 years of use. In his narrow apartment, a stone's throw from Calzada
de Güines, in the municipality of San Miguel del Patrón in the southeast
of Havana, he keeps the auto parts he bought in the informal
market under the bed where he sleeps.
From overuse of the buses, breakdowns are constant. "Almost always,
between 10 to 12 days a month, I have to stop because of a breakdown,"
he told me in December 2014.
Taking a page from Barack Obama's book on "empowering small businesses
and private workers," Validio wrote a missive to the Minister of
Transport soliciting authorization for his cooperative to obtain credit,
which would permit it to buy 50 new microbuses.
Nine months later, he's received silence for an answer. Since 17
December 2014, when both nations surprised the world with the
reestablishment of diplomatic relations, the opinions of Cubans on the
street have gone from exaggerated expectation to lassitude and pessimism.
Hundreds of business owners rubbed their hands in anticipation of the
new panorama that was approaching. Noelvis, a mechanic in a bus
cooperative on Avenue Santa Catalina, made grandiose plans.
His cooperative had been visited by Thomas Donohue, president of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "If the Government approves, our cooperative
can request credit from a U.S. bank and buy a couple of car washes and
modern tools," he commented last March.
Six months later, Noelvis isn't so optimistic. "The game of dominoes is
stalled. Up above (the Government), they're not getting off their high
horse. They don't even answer our questions. Total silence."
Francisco Valido drives a collective taxi 12 hours a day, and in spite
of earning 2,500 Cuban pesos a month (a little more than 100 CUCs —
equal to about the same in US dollars), to make ends meet at the end of
the month he repairs footwear for the residents of the neighborhood.
In the cooperative, Noelvis earns a salary of 2,000 Cuban pesos (about
80 CUCs). "But it's not enough. Because of the high cost of living in
Cuba, you need at least 400 CUCs a month to be able to have two meals a
day and pay the rent, light and telephone." Outside work hours, he fixes
old American and Soviet cars. This extra money allows him to live
without big worries.
David, a computer specialist, has been embroiled for the last three
months in bureaucratic procedures to open a private cybercafe in Havana.
"My project was to buy 12 computers with credit that my family in Miami
was going to arrange with a computer company in the U.S. In the cafe
there would be a bar. Everything would be air-conditioned with a space
for nightly downloads of jazz and trova music. It would have Wi-Fi, and
I'm sure that the people who connected sitting on the sunny sidewalk
would appreciate it."
If you walk around Havana and chat with private entrepreneurs, you will
hear more or less the same stories. Even the cooperatives, legal
entities that appeared under the mantle of the State and which
theoretically can invest with foreign companies, are under the
governmental magnifying glass.
Marino Murillo, the obese czar of the island economy, has expressed
caution in the approval of new cooperatives. "In fact, the Government
put the hand brake on," says a cooperative member in Havana.
On two occasions, December 17, 2014, and September 18, 2015, Obama
released a range of measures to dismantle, brick by brick, the codified
financial and commercial embargo toward the government of Havana.
Washington emphasizes the spread of Internet service, telephone calls,
construction materials, and sea and air travel. The White House is
interested in favoring small businessmen, and in allowing Cubans access
to new technologies.
But the Palace of the Revolution is not opening its mouth. The shifty
ancients in the Government observe the course of events without opening
a door or a window.
The Communist regime is interested only in transactions with State
companies, 75 percent of which are administered by the military. After
nine and a half months of the new agreement between the two countries,
which live their particular Cold War, the harvest is meager.
IDT, a U.S. telecommunications company, negotiates with ETECSA, its
Cuban State-owned counterpart; Airbnb allows the rental of houses in
Cuba from the U.S., and this has increased the number of flights and
American visitors to the Island.
But General Raúl Castro keeps the ramparts fortified. There is no
Government strategy for private workers to get credit or buy food and
foodstuffs from the neighbor to the north.
On the financial terrain, the field continues clogged with the bizarre
double currency system, which complicates any commercial transaction. In
an arbitrary manner, the Regime implements an artificial exchange rate
with the dollar, which makes it more expensive for travelers from the U.S.
The only move on the chess board that the military Government has is
giving bombastic speeches and asking for something without offering
anything in return.
Up to now, neither Obama nor Pope Francis has been able to handle it.
PHOTO: Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, during their meeting on Tuesday,
September 29, in New York. Photo by Doug Mills, The New York Times.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: U.S.-Cuba: Obama 3, Castro 0 / Ivan Garcia | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/u-s-cuba-obama-3-castro-0-ivan-garcia/
Posted on October 27, 2015
Ivan Garcia, 7 October 2015 — According to Francisco Valido González,
47, a dissident who works in a transit bus cooperative, his association,
in theory, can ask for credit from a U.S. bank in order to acquire new
buses.
His cooperative's buses have more than 200,000 kilometers on them, and
15 years of use. In his narrow apartment, a stone's throw from Calzada
de Güines, in the municipality of San Miguel del Patrón in the southeast
of Havana, he keeps the auto parts he bought in the informal
market under the bed where he sleeps.
From overuse of the buses, breakdowns are constant. "Almost always,
between 10 to 12 days a month, I have to stop because of a breakdown,"
he told me in December 2014.
Taking a page from Barack Obama's book on "empowering small businesses
and private workers," Validio wrote a missive to the Minister of
Transport soliciting authorization for his cooperative to obtain credit,
which would permit it to buy 50 new microbuses.
Nine months later, he's received silence for an answer. Since 17
December 2014, when both nations surprised the world with the
reestablishment of diplomatic relations, the opinions of Cubans on the
street have gone from exaggerated expectation to lassitude and pessimism.
Hundreds of business owners rubbed their hands in anticipation of the
new panorama that was approaching. Noelvis, a mechanic in a bus
cooperative on Avenue Santa Catalina, made grandiose plans.
His cooperative had been visited by Thomas Donohue, president of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "If the Government approves, our cooperative
can request credit from a U.S. bank and buy a couple of car washes and
modern tools," he commented last March.
Six months later, Noelvis isn't so optimistic. "The game of dominoes is
stalled. Up above (the Government), they're not getting off their high
horse. They don't even answer our questions. Total silence."
Francisco Valido drives a collective taxi 12 hours a day, and in spite
of earning 2,500 Cuban pesos a month (a little more than 100 CUCs —
equal to about the same in US dollars), to make ends meet at the end of
the month he repairs footwear for the residents of the neighborhood.
In the cooperative, Noelvis earns a salary of 2,000 Cuban pesos (about
80 CUCs). "But it's not enough. Because of the high cost of living in
Cuba, you need at least 400 CUCs a month to be able to have two meals a
day and pay the rent, light and telephone." Outside work hours, he fixes
old American and Soviet cars. This extra money allows him to live
without big worries.
David, a computer specialist, has been embroiled for the last three
months in bureaucratic procedures to open a private cybercafe in Havana.
"My project was to buy 12 computers with credit that my family in Miami
was going to arrange with a computer company in the U.S. In the cafe
there would be a bar. Everything would be air-conditioned with a space
for nightly downloads of jazz and trova music. It would have Wi-Fi, and
I'm sure that the people who connected sitting on the sunny sidewalk
would appreciate it."
If you walk around Havana and chat with private entrepreneurs, you will
hear more or less the same stories. Even the cooperatives, legal
entities that appeared under the mantle of the State and which
theoretically can invest with foreign companies, are under the
governmental magnifying glass.
Marino Murillo, the obese czar of the island economy, has expressed
caution in the approval of new cooperatives. "In fact, the Government
put the hand brake on," says a cooperative member in Havana.
On two occasions, December 17, 2014, and September 18, 2015, Obama
released a range of measures to dismantle, brick by brick, the codified
financial and commercial embargo toward the government of Havana.
Washington emphasizes the spread of Internet service, telephone calls,
construction materials, and sea and air travel. The White House is
interested in favoring small businessmen, and in allowing Cubans access
to new technologies.
But the Palace of the Revolution is not opening its mouth. The shifty
ancients in the Government observe the course of events without opening
a door or a window.
The Communist regime is interested only in transactions with State
companies, 75 percent of which are administered by the military. After
nine and a half months of the new agreement between the two countries,
which live their particular Cold War, the harvest is meager.
IDT, a U.S. telecommunications company, negotiates with ETECSA, its
Cuban State-owned counterpart; Airbnb allows the rental of houses in
Cuba from the U.S., and this has increased the number of flights and
American visitors to the Island.
But General Raúl Castro keeps the ramparts fortified. There is no
Government strategy for private workers to get credit or buy food and
foodstuffs from the neighbor to the north.
On the financial terrain, the field continues clogged with the bizarre
double currency system, which complicates any commercial transaction. In
an arbitrary manner, the Regime implements an artificial exchange rate
with the dollar, which makes it more expensive for travelers from the U.S.
The only move on the chess board that the military Government has is
giving bombastic speeches and asking for something without offering
anything in return.
Up to now, neither Obama nor Pope Francis has been able to handle it.
PHOTO: Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, during their meeting on Tuesday,
September 29, in New York. Photo by Doug Mills, The New York Times.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Source: U.S.-Cuba: Obama 3, Castro 0 / Ivan Garcia | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/u-s-cuba-obama-3-castro-0-ivan-garcia/
United Nations votes 191-2 to condemn U.S. embargo against Cuba
United Nations votes 191-2 to condemn U.S. embargo against Cuba
U.S. once again votes against resolution
First vote on resolution since U.S., Cuba reestablished diplomatic ties
U.N. debates resolution condemning embargo for 24th year
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD
mwhitefield@miamiherald.com
In the first United Nations vote on a resolution condemning the U.S.
embargo against Cuba since the two countries renewed diplomatic ties in
July, Cuba scored its biggest victory yet as the General Assembly voted
191-2 to adopt the resolution.
The only drama was how the United States would vote after its Dec. 17
announcement of a rapprochement with Cuba and its renewal of diplomatic
relations with Havana in July after a gap of more than 54 years.
In explaining its "no" vote, the United States said that it couldn't
support the resolution because "the text falls short of reflecting the
significant steps that have been taken and the spirit of engagement
President [Barack] Obama has championed." The other no vote came from
Israel, which has consistently voted with its ally on this issue.
"If Cuba thinks this exercise will help move things forward in the
direction both governments have indicated they wish, it is mistaken,"
Ambassador Ronald D. Godard, U.S. senior area adviser for Western
Hemisphere Affairs, said at the General Assembly.
Despite demonstrated progress in the relationship, Godard said, the
United States "finds it unfortunate" the Cuban government has chosen to
introduce a resolution "nearly identical" to those of years past.
The United States had to balance its developing relationship with Cuba
and the president's position that he wants to work with Congress to get
the embargo lifted against an awkward and unprecedented stance of not
standing in opposition to a resolution contrary to U.S. law.
Comments by Godard and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also
reflect a split in how the two countries view their evolving relationship.
In his remarks, Rodríguez did acknowledge the new relationship with the
United States and the president's repeated calls to Congress to begin
the process of lifting the blockade, the Cuban term for the embargo.
But he said "the facts make crystal clear" that the blockade is still
being fully and completely applied.
The new rules on Cuban trade and travel, undertaken by Obama using his
executive authority, are positive, said Rodríguez, but they "only modify
in a very limited way some elements of the implementation of the
blockade. Many of them can't be implemented unless others are adopted
that finally would permit Cuba to freely import and exports goods and
services to and from the United States."
The problem isn't, as some U.S. officials have suggested, that Cuba's
system thwarts the new trade opportunities and changes need to be made,
he said, but rather that the embargo continues to exist.
"The human damage it has caused is inestimable," Rodríguez said.
"The Obama Administration is caught between history. They want to lift
the embargo, but they cannot ignore the law of the land. Secondly, the
language of these resolutions is not conducive for the U.S. to vote in
favor," said Miami lawyer Augusto Maxwell who heads Akerman Senterfitt's
Cuba practice. "Law and policy can tie people up in votes."
The vote has become an autumn ritual at the United Nations. Last year
for the 23rd year in a row, the international body overwhelmingly passed
the resolution condemning the U.S. embargo against the island by a vote
of 188 to 2. Again, the United States and Israel were the only nations
to vote against the resolution.
Three small Pacific island nations — Micronesia, the Marshall Islands
and Palau — abstained last year. But just as the 70th General Assembly
session — the first attended by Cuban leader Raúl Castro — opened, Palau
and the Marshall Islands both established diplomatic ties with Cuba.
Earlier in September, Micronesia established diplomatic relations during
the Forum of the Pacific Islands in Papua, New Guinea.
This year the three changed their votes to favor the resolution, giving
Cuba its largest victory margin ever.
South Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen condemned the U.N.
vote, saying "once again, the United Nations General Assembly falls in
line to support the brutal Castro dictatorship while ignoring the plight
of the people of Cuba..... This institution is not interested in the
democratic rights or freedoms of those living under repressive regimes."
Many speakers during the debate on the resolution acknowledged the
renewal of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba and the
island's removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. They
said they welcomed the actions.
But some speakers said the steps taken by the United States were still
limited and that the embargo remained unchanged or had even been
tightened since the historic rapprochement was announced.
María Emma Mejía Vélez, Colombia's permanent representative, said her
country was optimistic that Obama's "political will" to work with
Congress to lift the embargo will serve as a basis for its end. But she
said, "The embargo runs counter to international law."
Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community, Courtenay Rattray, the
permanent representative of Jamaica, noted that "Cuba is the most
popular state of the Caribbean." He said the embargo wasn't only
punitive against Cuba, "but an impediment to our shared regional
development."
In the U.N. Secretary General's report on the embargo, Cuba puts a price
tag of $833.75 billion for accumulated damages caused by more than a
half-century of the U.S. policy of economically isolating Cuba. Taking
into account the declining value of gold against the dollar, the
economic toll would still be $121.2 billion, according to the Cubans.
That figure not only includes the cost of Cuba not being able to sell
its products in the largest market in the world, but also the additional
cost of dealing with more distant markets, and commercial losses in
trade with other nations fearful of running afoul of U.S. sanctions
against Cuba.
Despite the new relationship with the United States, Cuba contends there
has been an intensification of the financial and extraterritorial
aspects of the embargo, including billions of dollars in fines against
third-country banks and financial institutions for using the U.S. dollar
in transactions with Cuba.
Rodríguez said that just last week France's Credit Agricole agreed to
pay a fine of $1.1 billion to settle allegations it handled billions of
dollars in transactions with Cuba — and other sanctioned countries. He
also said that Sprint's first payment after launching direct service
between the United States and Cuba was held up.
Sarah Stephens, executive director of the Center for Democracy in the
Americas, noted that the resolution written by Cuba this year did
acknowledge that "U.S. policy has changed and the trajectory of the
U.S.-Cuba relationship is heading in a new, more positive direction."
She said the no vote by the United States "is essentially a hiccup; it
reminds us of the ongoing damage done to Cuba and the U.S. by keeping
the embargo in place, but it also tells us that the future is about
diplomatic recognition and engagement."
But Ric Herrera, executive director of Cuba Now, which advocates for
normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, said the U.N. vote "represents
another missed opportunity to build momentum toward normalized U.S.-Cuba
relations." He said the vote would have been historic and more
significant if the United States had chosen to abstain.
Source: United Nations votes 191-2 to condemn U.S. embargo against Cuba
| Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article41538987.html
U.S. once again votes against resolution
First vote on resolution since U.S., Cuba reestablished diplomatic ties
U.N. debates resolution condemning embargo for 24th year
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD
mwhitefield@miamiherald.com
In the first United Nations vote on a resolution condemning the U.S.
embargo against Cuba since the two countries renewed diplomatic ties in
July, Cuba scored its biggest victory yet as the General Assembly voted
191-2 to adopt the resolution.
The only drama was how the United States would vote after its Dec. 17
announcement of a rapprochement with Cuba and its renewal of diplomatic
relations with Havana in July after a gap of more than 54 years.
In explaining its "no" vote, the United States said that it couldn't
support the resolution because "the text falls short of reflecting the
significant steps that have been taken and the spirit of engagement
President [Barack] Obama has championed." The other no vote came from
Israel, which has consistently voted with its ally on this issue.
"If Cuba thinks this exercise will help move things forward in the
direction both governments have indicated they wish, it is mistaken,"
Ambassador Ronald D. Godard, U.S. senior area adviser for Western
Hemisphere Affairs, said at the General Assembly.
Despite demonstrated progress in the relationship, Godard said, the
United States "finds it unfortunate" the Cuban government has chosen to
introduce a resolution "nearly identical" to those of years past.
The United States had to balance its developing relationship with Cuba
and the president's position that he wants to work with Congress to get
the embargo lifted against an awkward and unprecedented stance of not
standing in opposition to a resolution contrary to U.S. law.
Comments by Godard and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also
reflect a split in how the two countries view their evolving relationship.
In his remarks, Rodríguez did acknowledge the new relationship with the
United States and the president's repeated calls to Congress to begin
the process of lifting the blockade, the Cuban term for the embargo.
But he said "the facts make crystal clear" that the blockade is still
being fully and completely applied.
The new rules on Cuban trade and travel, undertaken by Obama using his
executive authority, are positive, said Rodríguez, but they "only modify
in a very limited way some elements of the implementation of the
blockade. Many of them can't be implemented unless others are adopted
that finally would permit Cuba to freely import and exports goods and
services to and from the United States."
The problem isn't, as some U.S. officials have suggested, that Cuba's
system thwarts the new trade opportunities and changes need to be made,
he said, but rather that the embargo continues to exist.
"The human damage it has caused is inestimable," Rodríguez said.
"The Obama Administration is caught between history. They want to lift
the embargo, but they cannot ignore the law of the land. Secondly, the
language of these resolutions is not conducive for the U.S. to vote in
favor," said Miami lawyer Augusto Maxwell who heads Akerman Senterfitt's
Cuba practice. "Law and policy can tie people up in votes."
The vote has become an autumn ritual at the United Nations. Last year
for the 23rd year in a row, the international body overwhelmingly passed
the resolution condemning the U.S. embargo against the island by a vote
of 188 to 2. Again, the United States and Israel were the only nations
to vote against the resolution.
Three small Pacific island nations — Micronesia, the Marshall Islands
and Palau — abstained last year. But just as the 70th General Assembly
session — the first attended by Cuban leader Raúl Castro — opened, Palau
and the Marshall Islands both established diplomatic ties with Cuba.
Earlier in September, Micronesia established diplomatic relations during
the Forum of the Pacific Islands in Papua, New Guinea.
This year the three changed their votes to favor the resolution, giving
Cuba its largest victory margin ever.
South Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen condemned the U.N.
vote, saying "once again, the United Nations General Assembly falls in
line to support the brutal Castro dictatorship while ignoring the plight
of the people of Cuba..... This institution is not interested in the
democratic rights or freedoms of those living under repressive regimes."
Many speakers during the debate on the resolution acknowledged the
renewal of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba and the
island's removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. They
said they welcomed the actions.
But some speakers said the steps taken by the United States were still
limited and that the embargo remained unchanged or had even been
tightened since the historic rapprochement was announced.
María Emma Mejía Vélez, Colombia's permanent representative, said her
country was optimistic that Obama's "political will" to work with
Congress to lift the embargo will serve as a basis for its end. But she
said, "The embargo runs counter to international law."
Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community, Courtenay Rattray, the
permanent representative of Jamaica, noted that "Cuba is the most
popular state of the Caribbean." He said the embargo wasn't only
punitive against Cuba, "but an impediment to our shared regional
development."
In the U.N. Secretary General's report on the embargo, Cuba puts a price
tag of $833.75 billion for accumulated damages caused by more than a
half-century of the U.S. policy of economically isolating Cuba. Taking
into account the declining value of gold against the dollar, the
economic toll would still be $121.2 billion, according to the Cubans.
That figure not only includes the cost of Cuba not being able to sell
its products in the largest market in the world, but also the additional
cost of dealing with more distant markets, and commercial losses in
trade with other nations fearful of running afoul of U.S. sanctions
against Cuba.
Despite the new relationship with the United States, Cuba contends there
has been an intensification of the financial and extraterritorial
aspects of the embargo, including billions of dollars in fines against
third-country banks and financial institutions for using the U.S. dollar
in transactions with Cuba.
Rodríguez said that just last week France's Credit Agricole agreed to
pay a fine of $1.1 billion to settle allegations it handled billions of
dollars in transactions with Cuba — and other sanctioned countries. He
also said that Sprint's first payment after launching direct service
between the United States and Cuba was held up.
Sarah Stephens, executive director of the Center for Democracy in the
Americas, noted that the resolution written by Cuba this year did
acknowledge that "U.S. policy has changed and the trajectory of the
U.S.-Cuba relationship is heading in a new, more positive direction."
She said the no vote by the United States "is essentially a hiccup; it
reminds us of the ongoing damage done to Cuba and the U.S. by keeping
the embargo in place, but it also tells us that the future is about
diplomatic recognition and engagement."
But Ric Herrera, executive director of Cuba Now, which advocates for
normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, said the U.N. vote "represents
another missed opportunity to build momentum toward normalized U.S.-Cuba
relations." He said the vote would have been historic and more
significant if the United States had chosen to abstain.
Source: United Nations votes 191-2 to condemn U.S. embargo against Cuba
| Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article41538987.html
Los Castro no quieren la normalización
Los Castro no quieren la normalización
ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ QUIÑONES | Los Ángeles | 28 Oct 2015 - 7:30 am.
La percepción de la elite dictatorial es que 'demasiado' acercamiento a
EEUU le traería enormes problemas internos y externos.
Los hermanos Castro siempre han conocido mejor a los presidentes y los
intríngulis del poder político en EEUU, que a la inversa. En Washington
no acaban de entender que ambos hermanos y su Junta Militar no desean
tener relaciones amistosas y normales con EEUU, sino que se levante el
embargo, recibir créditos, y muchos turistas del "Norte" con sus
billeteras abultadas. Y punto.
Debido a que la crisis venezolana cabalga al galope, el cese del embargo
urge al régimen castrista. Pero tener relaciones políticamente amistosas
y normales con Washington no solo no le interesa, sino que va a hacer
todo lo posible para impedirlas, o para torpedearlas aun si se levanta
el "bloqueo" (término militar que nada tiene que ver con un embargo
comercial unilateral de un país a otro).
La percepción de la elite dictatorial es que "demasiado" acercamiento a
EEUU le traería problemas internos, y también externos, por cuanto
estaría "traicionando" su historia de liderazgo izquierdista
antiestadounidense en Latinoamérica. Pero sobre todo podría erosionar el
control orwelliano que hoy tiene sobre toda la sociedad cubana. La gente
en la Isla sentiría menos miedo a la hora de exigir más libertades, al
convertirse el "Imperio" en un buen amigo.
La gerontocracia de comandantes "históricos" no está preparada —ni
quiere estarlo— para lidiar en forma civilizada con la "contaminación"
política, ideológica, económica, cultural, psicológica y social que
podría emanar de una relación fluida con EEUU. El entrenamiento de la
nomenklatura castrista siempre se ha basado en todo lo contrario, el
enfrentamiento visceral al "enemigo imperialista".
Destino Manifiesto castrista
Como reacción a unos cohetes de fabricación estadounidense lanzados
contra la casa de un campesino en la Sierra Maestra por aviones de la
dictadura batistiana, el 5 de junio de 1958 Fidel Castro escribió una
carta a Celia Sánchez que devino el Destino Manifiesto de "su"
revolución: "Cuando esta guerra se acabe empezará para mí una guerra
mucho más larga y grande: la guerra que voy a echar contra ellos. Me doy
cuenta que este va a ser mi destino verdadero".
Esa guerra no terminó con la reapertura de embajadas en La Habana y
Washington. Y no terminará mientras gobiernen en la Isla los Castro y
los comandantes que se lanzaron a la guerra anti-yanqui convocada por su
jefe. No habrá una relación cordial entre Cuba y EEUU mientras no haya
en la Isla un nuevo liderazgo político desideologizado.
Pero eso no lo comprenden en Washington. Incluso si se levantara el
embargo, la cúspide castrista colocará piedras en el camino para
bloquear el proceso normalizador. El comandante José Ramón Machado
Ventura, segundo jerarca del régimen, el 3 de octubre pasado adelantó
algo al respecto: "el Partido Comunista de Cuba será siempre la columna
vertebral de la resistencia de la nación cubana". En el argot castrista
eso significa que continuará la lucha política y mediática contra EEUU.
Las fuertes alianzas con Rusia, Irán, China, Corea del Norte, Siria, la
intervención directa en Venezuela para apoyar al régimen chavista, así
como alentar posiciones antiestadounidenses en gobiernos de América
Latina, formarían parte del arsenal geopolítico castrista para mantener
serias diferencias y empantanar una posible normalización total de
relaciones.
Seguirán culpando a EEUU
Es un error creer que con el fin del embargo el castrismo se va a quedar
sin discurso político al no poder seguir echando la culpa a EEUU del
cataclismo económico cubano. No, los Castro jamás van admitir que la
miseria masiva en Cuba ha sido responsabilidad de ellos y del socialismo.
Al día siguiente de la derogación de la Ley Helms-Burton el régimen
lanzaría su Plan B: una ruidosa campaña diplomática, legal, política y
mediática, a nivel mundial, en reclamación de los más de 100.000
millones de dólares que dice debe pagar EEUU a Cuba por los daños
ocasionados por el embargo. Argumentaría que fue debido al embargo que
Cuba se empobreció, se quedó sin recursos financieros, sin maquinarias
y materias primas, sin alimentos suficientes, al margen de la revolución
tecnológica.
Insistirán en que si Washington no desembolsa ese dinero no será posible
mejorar el nivel de vida de los cubanos, ni la reconstrucción del país,
ni la creación de la infraestructura que se necesita para recibir
inversiones estadounidenses, ni desarrollar la economía e insertarla en
la economía global.
Silencioso traspaso del poder
La Habana tiene prisa para el cese del embargo por dos motivos: 1) con
el desplome de los precios del petróleo, el panorama político y
financiero de su mecenas venezolano pinta cada vez peor; y 2) el fin
del "bloqueo" facilitaría económicamente el silencioso traspaso del
poder político-militar de los Castro y los "históricos" a sus familiares
y el generalato más joven.
Tengan o no apellido Castro, ellos se encargarán de instalar el modelo
neocastrista. Serán quienes se van a "empoderar" con un cese del
embargo. Por ley, los cuentapropistas no pueden negociar directamente
con entidades extranjeras. Por cierto, de no derogarse las actuales
leyes estalinistas difícilmente habrá inversiones estadounidenses
importantes en Cuba.
Las bases de ese modelo sucesor serán presentadas en el próximo Congreso
del Partido Comunista, en abril de 2016. Se trata de una hibridación de
capitalismo de Estado con elementos postsoviéticos, chinos y con fuertes
rasgos fascistas por su carácter marcadamente militar. Y ojo, el
"cambio" más relevante que en materia económica ha realizado el raulismo
hasta ahora ha sido la militarización de la economía.
Más militarizado que nunca
La gran paradoja del "deshielo" Cuba-EEUU es que se produce cuando el
país está más controlado que nunca directamente por las fuerzas armadas
y se desdibujan de su sistema político las apariencias formales de una
"democracia socialista" ortodoxa, para parecerse más a un régimen
militar fascista.
Ya no importa lo que dice el marxismo-leninismo, o la Constitución
Socialista cubana, sobre el papel rector del Partido Comunista. Esa
militarización no se la imaginaron los dirigentes leninistas y
estalinistas de la vieja guardia comunista, como Blas Roca, Juan
Marinello, Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, César Escalante o Lázaro Peña.
Ninguno de ellos tendría hoy la fuerza política, la influencia y el
poder que tuvieron en su tiempo.
GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.) es una gigantesca
corporación realmente capitalista del Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias (FAR) que recibe todas las divisas que entran al país y
casi el 80% de los ingresos generados en la Isla. No rinde cuentas
institucionalmente al Gobierno de la República. Así los Castro se ríen
de los principios básicos del socialismo diseñado por Marx, según los
cuales el "Estado popular, obrero y campesino" es el encargado de
distribuir y redistribuir socialmente el "plusproducto" creado por los
trabajadores. Por eso Antonio Castro puede pasear en un yate lujoso por
el Mediterráneo.
Y esa claque militar que manda en Cuba lo que quiere es quitarse de
encima el embargo para acceder a créditos y enriquecerse con el turismo
y los negocios que pudieran hacer con los estadounidenses. Y para
facilitar financieramente la inevitable sucesión, por razones
biológicas, hacia una dictadura militar cuyos integrantes van a
conectarse al capitalismo, pero sin permitir a los cubanos de a pie que
lo hagan también.
Entretanto, la normalización total de las relaciones con Washington no
figura en los planes del castrismo. Su Destino Manifiesto no lo contempla.
Al parecer tampoco está en los planes neocastristas, pero
acontecimientos impredecibles podrían cambiarlo todo y dejar a ese
relevo dictatorial colgado de la brocha.
Source: Los Castro no quieren la normalización | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1445896548_17736.html
ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ QUIÑONES | Los Ángeles | 28 Oct 2015 - 7:30 am.
La percepción de la elite dictatorial es que 'demasiado' acercamiento a
EEUU le traería enormes problemas internos y externos.
Los hermanos Castro siempre han conocido mejor a los presidentes y los
intríngulis del poder político en EEUU, que a la inversa. En Washington
no acaban de entender que ambos hermanos y su Junta Militar no desean
tener relaciones amistosas y normales con EEUU, sino que se levante el
embargo, recibir créditos, y muchos turistas del "Norte" con sus
billeteras abultadas. Y punto.
Debido a que la crisis venezolana cabalga al galope, el cese del embargo
urge al régimen castrista. Pero tener relaciones políticamente amistosas
y normales con Washington no solo no le interesa, sino que va a hacer
todo lo posible para impedirlas, o para torpedearlas aun si se levanta
el "bloqueo" (término militar que nada tiene que ver con un embargo
comercial unilateral de un país a otro).
La percepción de la elite dictatorial es que "demasiado" acercamiento a
EEUU le traería problemas internos, y también externos, por cuanto
estaría "traicionando" su historia de liderazgo izquierdista
antiestadounidense en Latinoamérica. Pero sobre todo podría erosionar el
control orwelliano que hoy tiene sobre toda la sociedad cubana. La gente
en la Isla sentiría menos miedo a la hora de exigir más libertades, al
convertirse el "Imperio" en un buen amigo.
La gerontocracia de comandantes "históricos" no está preparada —ni
quiere estarlo— para lidiar en forma civilizada con la "contaminación"
política, ideológica, económica, cultural, psicológica y social que
podría emanar de una relación fluida con EEUU. El entrenamiento de la
nomenklatura castrista siempre se ha basado en todo lo contrario, el
enfrentamiento visceral al "enemigo imperialista".
Destino Manifiesto castrista
Como reacción a unos cohetes de fabricación estadounidense lanzados
contra la casa de un campesino en la Sierra Maestra por aviones de la
dictadura batistiana, el 5 de junio de 1958 Fidel Castro escribió una
carta a Celia Sánchez que devino el Destino Manifiesto de "su"
revolución: "Cuando esta guerra se acabe empezará para mí una guerra
mucho más larga y grande: la guerra que voy a echar contra ellos. Me doy
cuenta que este va a ser mi destino verdadero".
Esa guerra no terminó con la reapertura de embajadas en La Habana y
Washington. Y no terminará mientras gobiernen en la Isla los Castro y
los comandantes que se lanzaron a la guerra anti-yanqui convocada por su
jefe. No habrá una relación cordial entre Cuba y EEUU mientras no haya
en la Isla un nuevo liderazgo político desideologizado.
Pero eso no lo comprenden en Washington. Incluso si se levantara el
embargo, la cúspide castrista colocará piedras en el camino para
bloquear el proceso normalizador. El comandante José Ramón Machado
Ventura, segundo jerarca del régimen, el 3 de octubre pasado adelantó
algo al respecto: "el Partido Comunista de Cuba será siempre la columna
vertebral de la resistencia de la nación cubana". En el argot castrista
eso significa que continuará la lucha política y mediática contra EEUU.
Las fuertes alianzas con Rusia, Irán, China, Corea del Norte, Siria, la
intervención directa en Venezuela para apoyar al régimen chavista, así
como alentar posiciones antiestadounidenses en gobiernos de América
Latina, formarían parte del arsenal geopolítico castrista para mantener
serias diferencias y empantanar una posible normalización total de
relaciones.
Seguirán culpando a EEUU
Es un error creer que con el fin del embargo el castrismo se va a quedar
sin discurso político al no poder seguir echando la culpa a EEUU del
cataclismo económico cubano. No, los Castro jamás van admitir que la
miseria masiva en Cuba ha sido responsabilidad de ellos y del socialismo.
Al día siguiente de la derogación de la Ley Helms-Burton el régimen
lanzaría su Plan B: una ruidosa campaña diplomática, legal, política y
mediática, a nivel mundial, en reclamación de los más de 100.000
millones de dólares que dice debe pagar EEUU a Cuba por los daños
ocasionados por el embargo. Argumentaría que fue debido al embargo que
Cuba se empobreció, se quedó sin recursos financieros, sin maquinarias
y materias primas, sin alimentos suficientes, al margen de la revolución
tecnológica.
Insistirán en que si Washington no desembolsa ese dinero no será posible
mejorar el nivel de vida de los cubanos, ni la reconstrucción del país,
ni la creación de la infraestructura que se necesita para recibir
inversiones estadounidenses, ni desarrollar la economía e insertarla en
la economía global.
Silencioso traspaso del poder
La Habana tiene prisa para el cese del embargo por dos motivos: 1) con
el desplome de los precios del petróleo, el panorama político y
financiero de su mecenas venezolano pinta cada vez peor; y 2) el fin
del "bloqueo" facilitaría económicamente el silencioso traspaso del
poder político-militar de los Castro y los "históricos" a sus familiares
y el generalato más joven.
Tengan o no apellido Castro, ellos se encargarán de instalar el modelo
neocastrista. Serán quienes se van a "empoderar" con un cese del
embargo. Por ley, los cuentapropistas no pueden negociar directamente
con entidades extranjeras. Por cierto, de no derogarse las actuales
leyes estalinistas difícilmente habrá inversiones estadounidenses
importantes en Cuba.
Las bases de ese modelo sucesor serán presentadas en el próximo Congreso
del Partido Comunista, en abril de 2016. Se trata de una hibridación de
capitalismo de Estado con elementos postsoviéticos, chinos y con fuertes
rasgos fascistas por su carácter marcadamente militar. Y ojo, el
"cambio" más relevante que en materia económica ha realizado el raulismo
hasta ahora ha sido la militarización de la economía.
Más militarizado que nunca
La gran paradoja del "deshielo" Cuba-EEUU es que se produce cuando el
país está más controlado que nunca directamente por las fuerzas armadas
y se desdibujan de su sistema político las apariencias formales de una
"democracia socialista" ortodoxa, para parecerse más a un régimen
militar fascista.
Ya no importa lo que dice el marxismo-leninismo, o la Constitución
Socialista cubana, sobre el papel rector del Partido Comunista. Esa
militarización no se la imaginaron los dirigentes leninistas y
estalinistas de la vieja guardia comunista, como Blas Roca, Juan
Marinello, Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, César Escalante o Lázaro Peña.
Ninguno de ellos tendría hoy la fuerza política, la influencia y el
poder que tuvieron en su tiempo.
GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.) es una gigantesca
corporación realmente capitalista del Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias (FAR) que recibe todas las divisas que entran al país y
casi el 80% de los ingresos generados en la Isla. No rinde cuentas
institucionalmente al Gobierno de la República. Así los Castro se ríen
de los principios básicos del socialismo diseñado por Marx, según los
cuales el "Estado popular, obrero y campesino" es el encargado de
distribuir y redistribuir socialmente el "plusproducto" creado por los
trabajadores. Por eso Antonio Castro puede pasear en un yate lujoso por
el Mediterráneo.
Y esa claque militar que manda en Cuba lo que quiere es quitarse de
encima el embargo para acceder a créditos y enriquecerse con el turismo
y los negocios que pudieran hacer con los estadounidenses. Y para
facilitar financieramente la inevitable sucesión, por razones
biológicas, hacia una dictadura militar cuyos integrantes van a
conectarse al capitalismo, pero sin permitir a los cubanos de a pie que
lo hagan también.
Entretanto, la normalización total de las relaciones con Washington no
figura en los planes del castrismo. Su Destino Manifiesto no lo contempla.
Al parecer tampoco está en los planes neocastristas, pero
acontecimientos impredecibles podrían cambiarlo todo y dejar a ese
relevo dictatorial colgado de la brocha.
Source: Los Castro no quieren la normalización | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1445896548_17736.html
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The Day Castro and Khrushchev Led the World to the Brink of Nuclear War
The Day Castro and Khrushchev Led the World to the Brink of Nuclear War
/ Ivan Garcia
Posted on October 26, 2015
Ivan Garcia, 25 October 2015 — The eyes of eighty-four-year-old Roman
Galvan come alive as he remembers the dark days of October 1962 when it
seemed that Cuba would be erased from the map following what appeared to
be an impending nuclear conflagration between the United States and the
former Soviet Union.
Fifty-three years later, Galvan lives in a dilapidated state-run nursing
home in La Vibora, a neighborhood half-an-hour's drive from downtown Havana.
"In 1962 I was a militiaman. In October I was called to serve in a
military unit in the east. Like a lot of Cubans, I had no idea what a
nuclear war was. I was willing to die for what I believed to be a just
cause. We were young and immature. What Fidel said was law," recalls Roman.
He later fought in wars in the Escambray mountains and in Africa. While
fighting to defend Marxist ideology and Fidel Castro's ego, his family
fell apart.
"My wife and I separated, my son spends more time in jail than on the
street and I have lost track of my daughter. It wasn't worth giving up
my life for Fidel or the missile crisis or these other wars. But it's
too late now. I am old and counting down the hours," he says as his
blurry eyes fill with tears.
More than a million Cubans were mobilized in October 1962. According to
official accounts, Nikita Khrushchev was planning to deploy twenty-four
rocket launchers, forty-two R-15 rockets, about forty-five nuclear
warheads, forty-two Ilyushin IL-28 bombers, a squadron of fighter
aircraft, including forty MIG-21 aircraft, two Soviet air defense
divisions, four mechanized infantry regiments and other military units;
some 47,000 soldiers in total.
The operation was code-named Anadyr by the Kremlin. Castro, then
thirty-six-years-old, was aware of the consequences he could face from
the United States as a result of his reckless strategy.
It marked the height of the Cold War. Seventeen years had passed since
the defeat of Nazi Germany at the hands of allied troops. By then, the
destructive power of nuclear weapons was well-known.
Some 195,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after
President Harry Truman ordered the Enola Gay to drop two atomic bombs on
these Japanese cities.
By 1962 the destructive power of these weapons was fifteen times
greater. They were not mere toys. A responsible statesman would have
calculated the severe consequences of initiating a baptism of fire by
the world's two nuclear superpowers.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the country's secret
intelligence archives were opened and the stupidity of Fidel Castro and
his leadership became clear for analysts and historians to see.
In letters to Khrushchev, Castro urged the Soviet leader to pull the
nuclear trigger. At the time, Ernesto Che Guevara, the firebrand
guerrilla from Argentina, wrote an article praising the attitude of the
revolutionary government and challenging the Soviet leaders.
"It is a chilling example of a people willing to sacrifice themselves in
a nuclear conflagration so that their ashes might serve as the
foundations of new societies. When this happens and a covenant is made
to remove nuclear missiles without consulting them, there will be no
sigh of relief, no thanksgiving for the truce. They will jump into the
fray to provide their own unique voice, their battle stance and their
willingness to fight, even if it is alone," wrote Guevara.
There were aspects to the missile plot of which Fidel Castro and his
cabinet were unaware. Oleg Penkovsky, a lieutenant-colonel in Soviet
military intelligence, code-named Agent Hero by the CIA, had informed
the West of the Soviets' strategic nuclear inferiority and Moscow's
plans for deploying missiles in Cuba.
As a result of the crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union
decided to set up a direct telephone link, known as the "hotline,"
between the White House and the Kremlin.
When subsequent negotiations to remove nuclear weapons from Cuba were
conducted, Khrushchev sidelined the swashbuckling Fidel Castro. The
October Crisis is a compelling parable about the irresponsibility of the
island's military regime.
The main actors in this drama are either dead or awaiting God's call.
The supporting players, like Roman Galvan, are living out their last
days in ramshackle homes for the elderly.
Source: The Day Castro and Khrushchev Led the World to the Brink of
Nuclear War / Ivan Garcia | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-day-castro-and-khrushchev-led-the-world-to-the-brink-of-nuclear-war-ivan-garcia/
/ Ivan Garcia
Posted on October 26, 2015
Ivan Garcia, 25 October 2015 — The eyes of eighty-four-year-old Roman
Galvan come alive as he remembers the dark days of October 1962 when it
seemed that Cuba would be erased from the map following what appeared to
be an impending nuclear conflagration between the United States and the
former Soviet Union.
Fifty-three years later, Galvan lives in a dilapidated state-run nursing
home in La Vibora, a neighborhood half-an-hour's drive from downtown Havana.
"In 1962 I was a militiaman. In October I was called to serve in a
military unit in the east. Like a lot of Cubans, I had no idea what a
nuclear war was. I was willing to die for what I believed to be a just
cause. We were young and immature. What Fidel said was law," recalls Roman.
He later fought in wars in the Escambray mountains and in Africa. While
fighting to defend Marxist ideology and Fidel Castro's ego, his family
fell apart.
"My wife and I separated, my son spends more time in jail than on the
street and I have lost track of my daughter. It wasn't worth giving up
my life for Fidel or the missile crisis or these other wars. But it's
too late now. I am old and counting down the hours," he says as his
blurry eyes fill with tears.
More than a million Cubans were mobilized in October 1962. According to
official accounts, Nikita Khrushchev was planning to deploy twenty-four
rocket launchers, forty-two R-15 rockets, about forty-five nuclear
warheads, forty-two Ilyushin IL-28 bombers, a squadron of fighter
aircraft, including forty MIG-21 aircraft, two Soviet air defense
divisions, four mechanized infantry regiments and other military units;
some 47,000 soldiers in total.
The operation was code-named Anadyr by the Kremlin. Castro, then
thirty-six-years-old, was aware of the consequences he could face from
the United States as a result of his reckless strategy.
It marked the height of the Cold War. Seventeen years had passed since
the defeat of Nazi Germany at the hands of allied troops. By then, the
destructive power of nuclear weapons was well-known.
Some 195,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after
President Harry Truman ordered the Enola Gay to drop two atomic bombs on
these Japanese cities.
By 1962 the destructive power of these weapons was fifteen times
greater. They were not mere toys. A responsible statesman would have
calculated the severe consequences of initiating a baptism of fire by
the world's two nuclear superpowers.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the country's secret
intelligence archives were opened and the stupidity of Fidel Castro and
his leadership became clear for analysts and historians to see.
In letters to Khrushchev, Castro urged the Soviet leader to pull the
nuclear trigger. At the time, Ernesto Che Guevara, the firebrand
guerrilla from Argentina, wrote an article praising the attitude of the
revolutionary government and challenging the Soviet leaders.
"It is a chilling example of a people willing to sacrifice themselves in
a nuclear conflagration so that their ashes might serve as the
foundations of new societies. When this happens and a covenant is made
to remove nuclear missiles without consulting them, there will be no
sigh of relief, no thanksgiving for the truce. They will jump into the
fray to provide their own unique voice, their battle stance and their
willingness to fight, even if it is alone," wrote Guevara.
There were aspects to the missile plot of which Fidel Castro and his
cabinet were unaware. Oleg Penkovsky, a lieutenant-colonel in Soviet
military intelligence, code-named Agent Hero by the CIA, had informed
the West of the Soviets' strategic nuclear inferiority and Moscow's
plans for deploying missiles in Cuba.
As a result of the crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union
decided to set up a direct telephone link, known as the "hotline,"
between the White House and the Kremlin.
When subsequent negotiations to remove nuclear weapons from Cuba were
conducted, Khrushchev sidelined the swashbuckling Fidel Castro. The
October Crisis is a compelling parable about the irresponsibility of the
island's military regime.
The main actors in this drama are either dead or awaiting God's call.
The supporting players, like Roman Galvan, are living out their last
days in ramshackle homes for the elderly.
Source: The Day Castro and Khrushchev Led the World to the Brink of
Nuclear War / Ivan Garcia | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-day-castro-and-khrushchev-led-the-world-to-the-brink-of-nuclear-war-ivan-garcia/
Be careful what you wish for
Be careful what you wish for
PEDRO CAMPOS | La Habana | 27 Oct 2015 - 4:51 pm.
If the Cuban government is hampering the lifting of the embargo, does
that mean Obama's policy is a failure...or does it ratify its efficacy?
In two months it will be one year since, on December 17, the governments
of Cuba and the United States announced their intention to restore and
normalize relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations have
been re-established, the nations' respective flags have been run up at
their embassies, several decrees by President Obama have modified some
of the regulations applying to the embargo-blockade, and numerous
official US delegations and groups of businesspeople have traveled to
Cuba in an effort to reach additional agreements.
The Cuban government, however, insists that nothing has changed and that
the blockade remains intact, and that there will be no "normalization"
until all the embargo's terms have been lifted, the naval base at
Guantanamo is closed and its land returned, and Cuba is compensated for
the damages caused by years of sanctions.
A review of the comments of political scientists and experts in
international relations and Cuban-American affairs suggests that behind
the Cuban government's stance lies its interest in frustrating further
rapprochement with the US, or taking any step that will facilitate the
lifting of the embargo, in order to impede any kind of exchange with the
most affluent society in the world. According to some simpletons,
Gorbachev's opening up to the West was actually the cause of the demise
of the socialist camp, rather than a result of its stifling internal
contradictions.
The perpetuation of the blockade-embargo will serve, in turn, to justify
the repression of thought and digressive political activity which, if it
were to overcome current pressures, could grow too strong for the PCC to
control.
According to some Obama's policy has failed and a new course should be
charted, for it has not achieved its objective of influencing the
internal situation in Cuba. But, in reality, the lack of a response by
the Cuban government above all demonstrates its intransigence and its
interest in stymying the lifting of the blockade-embargo, with a view to
remaining in power.
Question: If the Cuban government is hampering the lifting of the
blockade-embargo, does that mean Obama's policy is a failure, or does it
confirm the policy's wisdom? Don't those who argue that it is a failure
realize that maintaining the embargo-blockade means kowtowing to those
in Havana who want this?
Consequently, if the Cuban government is making every effort to maintain
the blockade, because this enables the regime to more easily maintain
internal control, supporting the maintenance of the embargo and opposing
Obama's policy amounts to playing into the Castros' hand.
These opinions are expressed with the utmost respect for those who think
differently, without any intention of accusing anyone of serving
"Castro/Communist" interests.
Let everyone assess —without prejudices, if possible— the phenomenon
itself. And, in any case, he would realize that if the "government of
the Castros" is demonstrating that it really does not want to lift the
blockade —as suggested by more than a few observers, as a full range of
exchanges with the US would cause it to lose power— then it would be
logical for those who want to change things in Cuba with regards to US
policy to endorse the definitive lifting of all the clauses, codes and
other regulations entailed by the embargo-blockade.
An old popular saying is germane here: "Be careful what you wish for."
Source: Be careful what you wish for | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1445957502_17752.html
PEDRO CAMPOS | La Habana | 27 Oct 2015 - 4:51 pm.
If the Cuban government is hampering the lifting of the embargo, does
that mean Obama's policy is a failure...or does it ratify its efficacy?
In two months it will be one year since, on December 17, the governments
of Cuba and the United States announced their intention to restore and
normalize relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations have
been re-established, the nations' respective flags have been run up at
their embassies, several decrees by President Obama have modified some
of the regulations applying to the embargo-blockade, and numerous
official US delegations and groups of businesspeople have traveled to
Cuba in an effort to reach additional agreements.
The Cuban government, however, insists that nothing has changed and that
the blockade remains intact, and that there will be no "normalization"
until all the embargo's terms have been lifted, the naval base at
Guantanamo is closed and its land returned, and Cuba is compensated for
the damages caused by years of sanctions.
A review of the comments of political scientists and experts in
international relations and Cuban-American affairs suggests that behind
the Cuban government's stance lies its interest in frustrating further
rapprochement with the US, or taking any step that will facilitate the
lifting of the embargo, in order to impede any kind of exchange with the
most affluent society in the world. According to some simpletons,
Gorbachev's opening up to the West was actually the cause of the demise
of the socialist camp, rather than a result of its stifling internal
contradictions.
The perpetuation of the blockade-embargo will serve, in turn, to justify
the repression of thought and digressive political activity which, if it
were to overcome current pressures, could grow too strong for the PCC to
control.
According to some Obama's policy has failed and a new course should be
charted, for it has not achieved its objective of influencing the
internal situation in Cuba. But, in reality, the lack of a response by
the Cuban government above all demonstrates its intransigence and its
interest in stymying the lifting of the blockade-embargo, with a view to
remaining in power.
Question: If the Cuban government is hampering the lifting of the
blockade-embargo, does that mean Obama's policy is a failure, or does it
confirm the policy's wisdom? Don't those who argue that it is a failure
realize that maintaining the embargo-blockade means kowtowing to those
in Havana who want this?
Consequently, if the Cuban government is making every effort to maintain
the blockade, because this enables the regime to more easily maintain
internal control, supporting the maintenance of the embargo and opposing
Obama's policy amounts to playing into the Castros' hand.
These opinions are expressed with the utmost respect for those who think
differently, without any intention of accusing anyone of serving
"Castro/Communist" interests.
Let everyone assess —without prejudices, if possible— the phenomenon
itself. And, in any case, he would realize that if the "government of
the Castros" is demonstrating that it really does not want to lift the
blockade —as suggested by more than a few observers, as a full range of
exchanges with the US would cause it to lose power— then it would be
logical for those who want to change things in Cuba with regards to US
policy to endorse the definitive lifting of all the clauses, codes and
other regulations entailed by the embargo-blockade.
An old popular saying is germane here: "Be careful what you wish for."
Source: Be careful what you wish for | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1445957502_17752.html
Neighborhood Journalism in Cuba
Neighborhood Journalism in Cuba / 14ymedio, Rene Gomez Manzano
Posted on October 26, 2015
14ymedio, Rene Gomez Manzano, Havana, 24 October 2015 — Thanks to the US
Embassy in Havana, which provides press briefings with national and
international news to us Cubans who navigate in their internet rooms,
last Monday, October 19, I learned about a new information organ.
Periodismo de Barrio (Neighborhood Journalism) is the name by which the
colleagues engaged in it identify themselves.
The presentation of the new digital media starts with an appealing
paragraph: "Journalism is an implicit promise of change. Presenting
yourself as a journalist is almost like preaching in favor of hope. When
you ask someone to tell you their story, it is not just asking them to
confide in you, but also to believe that sharing their story can help to
change something."
According to its statement of principles, "Neighborhood Journalism is
born with the objective of bringing to the public the stories of
neighborhoods affected by natural disasters, or particularly vulnerable
to phenomena such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, fires, landslides or
others caused by man."
A summary of the United States press fills more than 34 pages of the
first issue. In addition, there are reports – of good quality including
some that are excellent, although perhaps one might consider them late –
dedicated to floods suffered by different Havana neighborhoods six
months ago, during the torrential rains of last April 29.
It should be clarified that the colleagues of the new media have shown a
special interest in not projecting themselves as against the established
government in our country. In the presentation, for example, it is
bluntly stated, "We do not accept donations from any institution that
seeks – or has sought – the subversion of the Cuban political system."
Are these journalists outside the system, but who do not want to stand
out as being so? "Chemically pure" informers who do not want to identify
themselves with any party agenda? Agents of a new pro-government
initiative to make it seem that in Cuba the press acts freely? The broad
access that Neighborhood Journalism enjoys to the Castro regime's organs
and officials could suggest the latter.
But the answers to these questions do not seem to have great importance.
The purpose of truthfully reflecting the realities that confront our
compatriots in the face of natural disasters deserve everyone's
applause. And it is fair to say that the compañeros of Neighborhood
Journalism, to achieve this purpose, have displayed objectivity and
professional skill. They do not follow the easy path of limiting
themselves to proclaiming "the Revolution does not abandon its children."
The series of reports begins with a piece by Geisy Guia Delis devoted to
the work of the members of the National Search and Rescue Detachment,
belonging to the Fire Department. It does not lavish laudatory
adjectives or trite words on them: it focuses on the facts, such as –
and this is just one example – the outstanding performance of a disabled
rescuer, something that is perhaps exclusively Cuban.
From the expository point of view, it might have been preferable to
start the delivery of Neighborhood Journalism with another of the
reports. But we should not belittle different aspects of importance.
Among them, the understandable aspiration to play it safe, leading off
with a laudatory work which, regardless of the humanitarian effort
undertaken, is about an arm of the Ministry of the Interior, an
emblematic force of the system. One more way not to alienate the
powers-that-be.
The second article is a report from San Felipe by Monica Baro: probably
the best of the issue. It is amazed that the dispossessed of this
capital neighborhood continue to suffer the calamities described in the
report, trembling with anxiety whenever the sky clouds over and
threatens rain with the consequent promise of certain flooding. And this
more than half a century after the proclamation of the "Revolution of
the humble, by the humble and for the humble"…
The colleagues of Neighborhood Journalism elude political allusions like
the one I just offered, but it is not necessary to make them. They
describe the reality and this, in its turbidity, is more eloquent than
any adjective or declarations. We await their upcoming issues.
Source: Neighborhood Journalism in Cuba / 14ymedio, Rene Gomez Manzano |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/neighborhood-journalism-in-cuba-14ymedio-rene-gomez-manzano/
Posted on October 26, 2015
14ymedio, Rene Gomez Manzano, Havana, 24 October 2015 — Thanks to the US
Embassy in Havana, which provides press briefings with national and
international news to us Cubans who navigate in their internet rooms,
last Monday, October 19, I learned about a new information organ.
Periodismo de Barrio (Neighborhood Journalism) is the name by which the
colleagues engaged in it identify themselves.
The presentation of the new digital media starts with an appealing
paragraph: "Journalism is an implicit promise of change. Presenting
yourself as a journalist is almost like preaching in favor of hope. When
you ask someone to tell you their story, it is not just asking them to
confide in you, but also to believe that sharing their story can help to
change something."
According to its statement of principles, "Neighborhood Journalism is
born with the objective of bringing to the public the stories of
neighborhoods affected by natural disasters, or particularly vulnerable
to phenomena such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, fires, landslides or
others caused by man."
A summary of the United States press fills more than 34 pages of the
first issue. In addition, there are reports – of good quality including
some that are excellent, although perhaps one might consider them late –
dedicated to floods suffered by different Havana neighborhoods six
months ago, during the torrential rains of last April 29.
It should be clarified that the colleagues of the new media have shown a
special interest in not projecting themselves as against the established
government in our country. In the presentation, for example, it is
bluntly stated, "We do not accept donations from any institution that
seeks – or has sought – the subversion of the Cuban political system."
Are these journalists outside the system, but who do not want to stand
out as being so? "Chemically pure" informers who do not want to identify
themselves with any party agenda? Agents of a new pro-government
initiative to make it seem that in Cuba the press acts freely? The broad
access that Neighborhood Journalism enjoys to the Castro regime's organs
and officials could suggest the latter.
But the answers to these questions do not seem to have great importance.
The purpose of truthfully reflecting the realities that confront our
compatriots in the face of natural disasters deserve everyone's
applause. And it is fair to say that the compañeros of Neighborhood
Journalism, to achieve this purpose, have displayed objectivity and
professional skill. They do not follow the easy path of limiting
themselves to proclaiming "the Revolution does not abandon its children."
The series of reports begins with a piece by Geisy Guia Delis devoted to
the work of the members of the National Search and Rescue Detachment,
belonging to the Fire Department. It does not lavish laudatory
adjectives or trite words on them: it focuses on the facts, such as –
and this is just one example – the outstanding performance of a disabled
rescuer, something that is perhaps exclusively Cuban.
From the expository point of view, it might have been preferable to
start the delivery of Neighborhood Journalism with another of the
reports. But we should not belittle different aspects of importance.
Among them, the understandable aspiration to play it safe, leading off
with a laudatory work which, regardless of the humanitarian effort
undertaken, is about an arm of the Ministry of the Interior, an
emblematic force of the system. One more way not to alienate the
powers-that-be.
The second article is a report from San Felipe by Monica Baro: probably
the best of the issue. It is amazed that the dispossessed of this
capital neighborhood continue to suffer the calamities described in the
report, trembling with anxiety whenever the sky clouds over and
threatens rain with the consequent promise of certain flooding. And this
more than half a century after the proclamation of the "Revolution of
the humble, by the humble and for the humble"…
The colleagues of Neighborhood Journalism elude political allusions like
the one I just offered, but it is not necessary to make them. They
describe the reality and this, in its turbidity, is more eloquent than
any adjective or declarations. We await their upcoming issues.
Source: Neighborhood Journalism in Cuba / 14ymedio, Rene Gomez Manzano |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/neighborhood-journalism-in-cuba-14ymedio-rene-gomez-manzano/
Vandals Paint Che Statue with the Word “Murderer”
Vandals Paint Che Statue with the Word "Murderer" / 14ymedio
Posted on October 26, 2015
14ymedio, Spain, 26 October 2015 — At dawn on Sunday, a group of vandals
painted the statue of Ernesto Che Guevara in the Galician town of
Oleiros with the colors of the Spanish flag and the word "murderer."
This is the fourth attack on the monument since it opened in 2008.
The vandals, according to a local resident who alerted the police, acted
around six o'clock in the morning and were wearing masks and coveralls.
The attack, carried out with glass bottles filled with paint, came hours
before a tribute to Che organized by several Portuguese, Galician and
Cuban collectives to mark the 48th anniversary of the revolutionary's death.
When the police arrived at the statue in Santa Cristina Park, the
vandals had already left.
The mayor of Oleiros, Angel Garcia Seoane, branded them "idiots" and
added that the modus operandi of the attack reflects the "behavior of
cowards, during the night." The councilman said the statue would be
cleaned the next day.
On Sunday different groups of Cubans in exile and from the Association
of Victims of Castroism, in addition to individuals, expressed their
"repudiation" of the tribute in the face of a monument they called
"illegal." For them the monument is an "aggression against all the
victims of Fidel Castro's dictatorship."
The first attack on the monument occurred just weeks after its
unveiling. Both at that time and in August 2013, the 26-foot high statue
was spotted with red and yellow paint.
In 2008, groups in opposition to the local Alternative Party government
demonstrated against the monument's construction and the 180,000 euro
cost of building the roundabout where the work, donated by its makers,
was placed.
Source: Vandals Paint Che Statue with the Word "Murderer" / 14ymedio |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/vandals-paint-che-statue-with-the-word-murderer-14ymedio/
Posted on October 26, 2015
14ymedio, Spain, 26 October 2015 — At dawn on Sunday, a group of vandals
painted the statue of Ernesto Che Guevara in the Galician town of
Oleiros with the colors of the Spanish flag and the word "murderer."
This is the fourth attack on the monument since it opened in 2008.
The vandals, according to a local resident who alerted the police, acted
around six o'clock in the morning and were wearing masks and coveralls.
The attack, carried out with glass bottles filled with paint, came hours
before a tribute to Che organized by several Portuguese, Galician and
Cuban collectives to mark the 48th anniversary of the revolutionary's death.
When the police arrived at the statue in Santa Cristina Park, the
vandals had already left.
The mayor of Oleiros, Angel Garcia Seoane, branded them "idiots" and
added that the modus operandi of the attack reflects the "behavior of
cowards, during the night." The councilman said the statue would be
cleaned the next day.
On Sunday different groups of Cubans in exile and from the Association
of Victims of Castroism, in addition to individuals, expressed their
"repudiation" of the tribute in the face of a monument they called
"illegal." For them the monument is an "aggression against all the
victims of Fidel Castro's dictatorship."
The first attack on the monument occurred just weeks after its
unveiling. Both at that time and in August 2013, the 26-foot high statue
was spotted with red and yellow paint.
In 2008, groups in opposition to the local Alternative Party government
demonstrated against the monument's construction and the 180,000 euro
cost of building the roundabout where the work, donated by its makers,
was placed.
Source: Vandals Paint Che Statue with the Word "Murderer" / 14ymedio |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/vandals-paint-che-statue-with-the-word-murderer-14ymedio/
The cost of Cuba cruising, yesterday and today
The cost of Cuba cruising, yesterday and today
By Tom Stieghorst / October 27, 2015
A veteran travel editor recently lamented to me the expense of cruising
to Cuba, and wondered why it is so pricey.
There's no doubt that at this stage, the choices for cruising to Cuba
are not cheap.
For example, Vacations by Rail's recently announced Cuba by Rail &
Cruise itinerary, which involves two days of rail travel and a 10-day
cruise around Cuba, was priced starting at $5,353 per person.
Part of it is the odd rules that govern U.S. tourism to Cuba. They
almost require that cruise lines include shore excursions in the price,
which is not customary in the contemporary cruise segment, where prices
are cheap.
The underdeveloped ports in Cuba also accommodate small ships, which
don't benefit from the economies of scale that help make fares cheap on
a Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship.
Cuba is becoming well supplied with cruise options in the 49- to
200-passenger range, but for bigger ships being marketed to Americans,
the choice boils down to Carnival Corp.'s Fathom brand, which isn't yet
sailing, and Cuba Cruise by Celestyal, which starts its seasonal cruises
in December.
The Cuba Cruise begins at $1,263 for an inside cabin on a seven-night
cruise during low season aboard its 960-passenger Celestyal Cristal
ship. Fathom's rates begin at $1,800 for an inside cabin during its
off-peak cruises on the 710-passenger Adonia, starting next April.
While researching another story recently, I came across a 1929 newspaper
ad for a Cunard Line cruise to Cuba aboard its 1,550-passenger RMS Caronia.
The fare for a 13-night New York-Havana roundtrip cruise was advertised
as $210; adjusted for inflation, that cruise would be priced at $2,922
today.
Now compare that to an upcoming Queen Mary 2 cruise, which covers six
Caribbean ports from New York over the same time frame. Cunard still
lists space on the Nov. 12 departure with an inside cabin starting at $999.
The only hitch is that Havana is not among the six ports visited. One
can only hope that someday there will be a boat leaving from New York
that will stop in Cuba like it did 86 years ago.
Source: The cost of Cuba cruising, yesterday and today: Travel Weekly -
http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Insights/The-cost-of-Cuba-cruising-yesterday-and-today
By Tom Stieghorst / October 27, 2015
A veteran travel editor recently lamented to me the expense of cruising
to Cuba, and wondered why it is so pricey.
There's no doubt that at this stage, the choices for cruising to Cuba
are not cheap.
For example, Vacations by Rail's recently announced Cuba by Rail &
Cruise itinerary, which involves two days of rail travel and a 10-day
cruise around Cuba, was priced starting at $5,353 per person.
Part of it is the odd rules that govern U.S. tourism to Cuba. They
almost require that cruise lines include shore excursions in the price,
which is not customary in the contemporary cruise segment, where prices
are cheap.
The underdeveloped ports in Cuba also accommodate small ships, which
don't benefit from the economies of scale that help make fares cheap on
a Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship.
Cuba is becoming well supplied with cruise options in the 49- to
200-passenger range, but for bigger ships being marketed to Americans,
the choice boils down to Carnival Corp.'s Fathom brand, which isn't yet
sailing, and Cuba Cruise by Celestyal, which starts its seasonal cruises
in December.
The Cuba Cruise begins at $1,263 for an inside cabin on a seven-night
cruise during low season aboard its 960-passenger Celestyal Cristal
ship. Fathom's rates begin at $1,800 for an inside cabin during its
off-peak cruises on the 710-passenger Adonia, starting next April.
While researching another story recently, I came across a 1929 newspaper
ad for a Cunard Line cruise to Cuba aboard its 1,550-passenger RMS Caronia.
The fare for a 13-night New York-Havana roundtrip cruise was advertised
as $210; adjusted for inflation, that cruise would be priced at $2,922
today.
Now compare that to an upcoming Queen Mary 2 cruise, which covers six
Caribbean ports from New York over the same time frame. Cunard still
lists space on the Nov. 12 departure with an inside cabin starting at $999.
The only hitch is that Havana is not among the six ports visited. One
can only hope that someday there will be a boat leaving from New York
that will stop in Cuba like it did 86 years ago.
Source: The cost of Cuba cruising, yesterday and today: Travel Weekly -
http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Insights/The-cost-of-Cuba-cruising-yesterday-and-today
CUBA REFUSES TO PAY DOCTORS SENT ABROAD TO FIGHT EBOLA
REPORT: CUBA REFUSES TO PAY DOCTORS SENT ABROAD TO FIGHT EBOLA
by FRANCES MARTEL26 Oct 201538
The estimated 460 Cuban doctors deployed to west Africa to participate
in the fight against the Ebola outbreak developing there last year have
not been paid the car, home, or World Health Organization (WHO) salaries
they were promised if they returned from the mission healthy.
Moreover, a Cuban doctor waiting for his salary tells the
Spain-based Diario de Cuba that those told they had won an award for
their service have yet to receive the promised medals due to a "lack" of
physical awards to hand out.
The group of Cuban doctors dispatched to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and
Guinea last year to help treat Ebola patients returned in March,
receiving high praise from African officials in the media who expressed
gratitude for the extra hands. WHO also commended the Cuban communist
government for sending doctors abroad.
Six months later, however, one doctor says he has not been paid and does
not know of any of his colleagues receiving their promised salaries, as
well as a home and a car doctors were told they would receive upon
arrival. The reward would be contingent upon the doctors remaining
healthy; those who contracted Ebola would not be allowed to return to
the island.
Diario de Cuba notes that they have not received any money for their
work in west Africa. The WHO had promised payments of $8,000-$10,000 a
month for those deployed, a far greater sum than the state-mandated $64
a month doctors typically make. The doctor speaking to the newspaper
says he received $70-$100 from the United Nations during his time in
West Africa, but so far, that has been the only income they have seen.
They were forced to live on their savings otherwise. Most doctors
traveling abroad are believed to make less than the allotted $64 a month
they would domestically, as the government only provides a living stipend.
The communist Cuban government typically makes an estimated $7.6 million
a year on what some have dubbed "medical slavery," which it also uses to
elevate its status among sympathetic nations around the world. Diario de
Cuba estimates that Cuba may have made as much as $26.4 million on the
Ebola mission alone, yet doctors have not been paid any money for their
services.
Time estimates that there are more than 50,000 Cuban medical
professionals working abroad and being paid "living" stipends for their
work.
While Cuban doctors receive praise from leftist groups on a routine
basis, doctors working at home make extremely low salaries and are often
forced to work with a dire lack of tools necessary for their trade.
Before the recent raise to $64 a month, Cuban doctors made a salary of
$18 a month. One Cuban doctor defecting in the 1990s explained his
decision to leave by noting that he would regularly be awoken by his own
hunger pangs and could not afford to eat "an egg a day"on his salary.
In addition to their own poverty, the poverty of the hospitals and
clinics in which Cuban doctors work makes their job extremely difficult.
Among the medical tools that have disappeared from pharmacies and
hospitals nationwide are thermometers, bandages, gauze, and cotton. "We
are told we are a medical potency, sending doctors out to fight Ebola,
but we don't have thermometers to measure a simple fever," a customer at
a Havana pharmacy complained to independent news outlet 14 y Medio.
The scarcity in Cuban medical facilities has resulted in a decline in
the quality of Cuban doctors and medical education. While African
nations have embraced Cuban doctors, nations like Tuvalu have opted not
to send for Cuban doctors and are refusing to send their doctors to
Havana to receive training, citing the incompetence of those educated there.
Source: Cuba Refuses to Pay Doctors Sent Abroad to Fight Ebola -
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/10/26/report-cuba-refuses-to-pay-doctors-sent-abroad-to-fight-ebola/
by FRANCES MARTEL26 Oct 201538
The estimated 460 Cuban doctors deployed to west Africa to participate
in the fight against the Ebola outbreak developing there last year have
not been paid the car, home, or World Health Organization (WHO) salaries
they were promised if they returned from the mission healthy.
Moreover, a Cuban doctor waiting for his salary tells the
Spain-based Diario de Cuba that those told they had won an award for
their service have yet to receive the promised medals due to a "lack" of
physical awards to hand out.
The group of Cuban doctors dispatched to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and
Guinea last year to help treat Ebola patients returned in March,
receiving high praise from African officials in the media who expressed
gratitude for the extra hands. WHO also commended the Cuban communist
government for sending doctors abroad.
Six months later, however, one doctor says he has not been paid and does
not know of any of his colleagues receiving their promised salaries, as
well as a home and a car doctors were told they would receive upon
arrival. The reward would be contingent upon the doctors remaining
healthy; those who contracted Ebola would not be allowed to return to
the island.
Diario de Cuba notes that they have not received any money for their
work in west Africa. The WHO had promised payments of $8,000-$10,000 a
month for those deployed, a far greater sum than the state-mandated $64
a month doctors typically make. The doctor speaking to the newspaper
says he received $70-$100 from the United Nations during his time in
West Africa, but so far, that has been the only income they have seen.
They were forced to live on their savings otherwise. Most doctors
traveling abroad are believed to make less than the allotted $64 a month
they would domestically, as the government only provides a living stipend.
The communist Cuban government typically makes an estimated $7.6 million
a year on what some have dubbed "medical slavery," which it also uses to
elevate its status among sympathetic nations around the world. Diario de
Cuba estimates that Cuba may have made as much as $26.4 million on the
Ebola mission alone, yet doctors have not been paid any money for their
services.
Time estimates that there are more than 50,000 Cuban medical
professionals working abroad and being paid "living" stipends for their
work.
While Cuban doctors receive praise from leftist groups on a routine
basis, doctors working at home make extremely low salaries and are often
forced to work with a dire lack of tools necessary for their trade.
Before the recent raise to $64 a month, Cuban doctors made a salary of
$18 a month. One Cuban doctor defecting in the 1990s explained his
decision to leave by noting that he would regularly be awoken by his own
hunger pangs and could not afford to eat "an egg a day"on his salary.
In addition to their own poverty, the poverty of the hospitals and
clinics in which Cuban doctors work makes their job extremely difficult.
Among the medical tools that have disappeared from pharmacies and
hospitals nationwide are thermometers, bandages, gauze, and cotton. "We
are told we are a medical potency, sending doctors out to fight Ebola,
but we don't have thermometers to measure a simple fever," a customer at
a Havana pharmacy complained to independent news outlet 14 y Medio.
The scarcity in Cuban medical facilities has resulted in a decline in
the quality of Cuban doctors and medical education. While African
nations have embraced Cuban doctors, nations like Tuvalu have opted not
to send for Cuban doctors and are refusing to send their doctors to
Havana to receive training, citing the incompetence of those educated there.
Source: Cuba Refuses to Pay Doctors Sent Abroad to Fight Ebola -
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/10/26/report-cuba-refuses-to-pay-doctors-sent-abroad-to-fight-ebola/
In Cuba, an Abundance of Love but a Lack of Babies
In Cuba, an Abundance of Love but a Lack of Babies
By AZAM AHMEDOCT. 27, 2015
HAVANA — A magnetic energy courses between Claudia Rodriguez and
Alejandro Padilla, binding the couple in clichés of intimacy: the
tendency to finish each other's sentences; hands that naturally
gravitate toward one another; a shared laughter that forms the
soundtrack of their romance.
What their love will not bear, for the moment, is a family. Though they
plan to marry and have children, they will wait — until they are no
longer sharing a small apartment with a half-dozen others, or perhaps
until obtaining diapers and formula is no longer a gamble.
In short, they will be waiting a long time.
"You have to take into consideration the world we live in," said Ms.
Rodriguez, 24, who says she has had two abortions to avoid having
children too soon. Clutching Mr. Padilla's hand, she said, "It would be
so much harder with a child."
By almost any metric, Cuba's demographics are in dire straits. Since the
1970s, the birthrate has been in free fall, tilting population figures
into decline, a problem much more common in rich, industrialized
nations, not poor ones.
Cuba already has the oldest population in all of Latin America. Experts
predict that 50 years from now, Cuba's population will have fallen by a
third. More than 40 percent of the country will be older than 60.
The demographic crisis is both an economic and a political one. The
aging population will require a vast health care system, the likes of
which the state cannot afford. And without a viable work force, the
cycle of flight and wariness about the country's future is even harder
to break, despite the country's halting steps to open itself up to the
outside world.
"We are all so excited about the trade and travel that we have
overlooked the demographics problem," said Hazel Denton, a former World
Bank economist who has studied Cuban demographics. "This is a
significant issue."
Young people are fleeing the island in big numbers, fearful that warming
relations with America will signal the end of a policy that allows
Cubans who make it to the United States to naturalize. Until recently, a
law prohibited Cubans from taking children out of the country, further
discouraging many from having children to avoid the painful choice of
leaving them behind.
Those who remain in Cuba say they are also reluctant to have children,
citing the strain of raising an infant in a country where the average
state salary is just $20 a month.
"At the end of the day, we don't want to make things more difficult for
ourselves," said Laura Rivera Gonzalez, an architecture student,
standing with her husband in central Havana. "Just graduating doesn't
mean that things are resolved. That won't sustain us."
Ms. Gonzalez embodies an irony of the Cuban demographic crisis: As the
government educated its people after the revolution, achieving one of
the highest literacy rates in the world, its citizens became more
cautious about bearing children. Scant job opportunities, a shortage of
available goods and a dearth of sufficient housing encouraged Cubans to
wait to start a family — sometimes indefinitely.
"Education for women is the button you press when you want to change
fertility preferences in developing countries," said Dr. Denton, who now
teaches at Georgetown University. "You educate the woman, then she has
choices — she stays longer in school, marries at an older age, has the
number of children she wants and uses contraception in a more healthy
manner."
There is another factor that alters the equation in Cuba: Abortion is
legal, free and commonly practiced. There is no stigma attached to the
procedure, helping to make Cuba's reported abortion rates among the
highest in the world. In many respects, abortion is viewed as another
manner of birth control.
In Cuba, women are free to choose as they wish, another legacy of the
revolution, which prioritized women's rights. They speak openly about
abortions, and lines at clinics often wrap around the building.
Continue reading the main story
Interactive Feature
The State of Cuba
Contradiction is more than just a sign of a changing Cuba — it is a
fundamental characteristic of it.
OPEN Interactive Feature
By the numbers, the country exhibits a rate of nearly 30 abortions for
every 1,000 women of childbearing age, according to 2010 data compiled
by the United Nations. Among countries that permit abortion, only Russia
had a higher rate. In the United States, 2011 figures show a rate of
about 17.
But experts caution that the liberal abortion policy is not responsible
for the declining population. Rather, it is a symptom of a larger issue.
Generally speaking, many Cubans simply believe they cannot afford a child.
"I've had two abortions, one of them with Jorge," said Claudia Aguilar
San Juan, a 27-year-old restaurant worker, referring to her boyfriend of
two years, Jorge Antonio Nazco. "At the time, we didn't think we were
ready to have kids, and we continue to think that it's still not the time."
Mr. Nazco added: "We need to be able to afford basic things for
ourselves, and we're also not going to be living three people in one
room. I just want to give my kids a comfortable life, a better life than
what I had."
That is the case with Elisabeth Dominguez and Eddy Marrero. Together,
the couple earn about $70 a month for her work as a psychologist and his
as a pediatric nurse, a relatively high income by Cuban standards.
The standard, however, is the problem.
"It's barely enough for the two of us," said Ms. Dominguez, 29, shaking
her head. "How could we afford a kid?"
Recognizing the problem, the government has begun to circulate
pro-pregnancy messages, pamphlets and fliers to encourage young couples
to keep their children. Some women said that in recent months,
government doctors have discouraged them from having abortions, while
others have noticed sudden shortages of condoms and birth control pills.
While those assertions could not be verified, most experts say it hardly
matters. Cuba will not be able to procreate its way out of the current
crisis anytime soon.
Very few tactics work to increase a nation's fertility rate, despite
efforts in countries like Japan to pay families to have children.
What some suggest could help is if the government could manage to
encourage the vast Cuban expatriate population to come home. There, too,
the government has shown some willingness to adjust its stance,
including easing the return of islanders living or traveling abroad.
But surmounting the longstanding bitterness of many families toward the
government, which still holds a tight grip on the country, poses
challenges of its own. And the returning Cubans will need to be
interested in more than an extended vacation or investment opportunity.
"Already there is more flow," said Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution who studies Cuba, referring to the return of
Cubans abroad in their 20s, 30s and 40s. "But is it going to be a matter
of 'I want my vacation home there,' or will they put down roots?"
Separated families are a fact of life for most Cubans, another element
straining the state of the Cuban family. With millions abroad, and a
domestic population of just over 11 million, few families are left
untouched by the schism that followed the country's revolution.
Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Padilla both have relatives living in the United
States, some of whom they have not seen for years. Some do not want to
return, having disconnected from the rhythm of life on the island.
Others return and appear changed, no longer the cousins and nephews from
years before.
In many respects, their relationship represents the challenges facing
the government as it confronts an industrialized world problem with a
developing world economy.
In their minds, there is no doubt the two of them will get married. As a
jeweler, Mr. Padilla, 29, plans to design the ring himself and propose
once he saves enough money to buy a diamond.
Even then, they say, they are not certain they can afford the burden of
a child. Earlier this year, the pair aborted a pregnancy, a decision for
which they both express a degree of sadness. Still, it is not so
uncommon in their families. Their mothers have had four abortions each,
the two say, seated on the back porch of Ms. Rodriguez's mother's home,
where the couple live.
Mr. Padilla, smirking, blurted out that Ms. Rodriguez's aunt had
undergone 10 procedures, prompting his partner to laugh.
"Quiet," she whispered sharply, slapping his arm. "She has a degree in
French and is inside right now."
He giggled quietly and looped his arm through hers. Ultimately, he said,
they do want a family. The when of the matter would come in the
not-too-distant future, he hoped.
"We don't want to pressure ourselves," Mr. Padilla said. "We want to
live our lives, day by day, each day in its own time."
Hannah Berkeley Cohen contributed reporting.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/world/americas/in-cuba-an-abundance-of-love-but-a-lack-of-babies.html?_r=0
By AZAM AHMEDOCT. 27, 2015
HAVANA — A magnetic energy courses between Claudia Rodriguez and
Alejandro Padilla, binding the couple in clichés of intimacy: the
tendency to finish each other's sentences; hands that naturally
gravitate toward one another; a shared laughter that forms the
soundtrack of their romance.
What their love will not bear, for the moment, is a family. Though they
plan to marry and have children, they will wait — until they are no
longer sharing a small apartment with a half-dozen others, or perhaps
until obtaining diapers and formula is no longer a gamble.
In short, they will be waiting a long time.
"You have to take into consideration the world we live in," said Ms.
Rodriguez, 24, who says she has had two abortions to avoid having
children too soon. Clutching Mr. Padilla's hand, she said, "It would be
so much harder with a child."
By almost any metric, Cuba's demographics are in dire straits. Since the
1970s, the birthrate has been in free fall, tilting population figures
into decline, a problem much more common in rich, industrialized
nations, not poor ones.
Cuba already has the oldest population in all of Latin America. Experts
predict that 50 years from now, Cuba's population will have fallen by a
third. More than 40 percent of the country will be older than 60.
The demographic crisis is both an economic and a political one. The
aging population will require a vast health care system, the likes of
which the state cannot afford. And without a viable work force, the
cycle of flight and wariness about the country's future is even harder
to break, despite the country's halting steps to open itself up to the
outside world.
"We are all so excited about the trade and travel that we have
overlooked the demographics problem," said Hazel Denton, a former World
Bank economist who has studied Cuban demographics. "This is a
significant issue."
Young people are fleeing the island in big numbers, fearful that warming
relations with America will signal the end of a policy that allows
Cubans who make it to the United States to naturalize. Until recently, a
law prohibited Cubans from taking children out of the country, further
discouraging many from having children to avoid the painful choice of
leaving them behind.
Those who remain in Cuba say they are also reluctant to have children,
citing the strain of raising an infant in a country where the average
state salary is just $20 a month.
"At the end of the day, we don't want to make things more difficult for
ourselves," said Laura Rivera Gonzalez, an architecture student,
standing with her husband in central Havana. "Just graduating doesn't
mean that things are resolved. That won't sustain us."
Ms. Gonzalez embodies an irony of the Cuban demographic crisis: As the
government educated its people after the revolution, achieving one of
the highest literacy rates in the world, its citizens became more
cautious about bearing children. Scant job opportunities, a shortage of
available goods and a dearth of sufficient housing encouraged Cubans to
wait to start a family — sometimes indefinitely.
"Education for women is the button you press when you want to change
fertility preferences in developing countries," said Dr. Denton, who now
teaches at Georgetown University. "You educate the woman, then she has
choices — she stays longer in school, marries at an older age, has the
number of children she wants and uses contraception in a more healthy
manner."
There is another factor that alters the equation in Cuba: Abortion is
legal, free and commonly practiced. There is no stigma attached to the
procedure, helping to make Cuba's reported abortion rates among the
highest in the world. In many respects, abortion is viewed as another
manner of birth control.
In Cuba, women are free to choose as they wish, another legacy of the
revolution, which prioritized women's rights. They speak openly about
abortions, and lines at clinics often wrap around the building.
Continue reading the main story
Interactive Feature
The State of Cuba
Contradiction is more than just a sign of a changing Cuba — it is a
fundamental characteristic of it.
OPEN Interactive Feature
By the numbers, the country exhibits a rate of nearly 30 abortions for
every 1,000 women of childbearing age, according to 2010 data compiled
by the United Nations. Among countries that permit abortion, only Russia
had a higher rate. In the United States, 2011 figures show a rate of
about 17.
But experts caution that the liberal abortion policy is not responsible
for the declining population. Rather, it is a symptom of a larger issue.
Generally speaking, many Cubans simply believe they cannot afford a child.
"I've had two abortions, one of them with Jorge," said Claudia Aguilar
San Juan, a 27-year-old restaurant worker, referring to her boyfriend of
two years, Jorge Antonio Nazco. "At the time, we didn't think we were
ready to have kids, and we continue to think that it's still not the time."
Mr. Nazco added: "We need to be able to afford basic things for
ourselves, and we're also not going to be living three people in one
room. I just want to give my kids a comfortable life, a better life than
what I had."
That is the case with Elisabeth Dominguez and Eddy Marrero. Together,
the couple earn about $70 a month for her work as a psychologist and his
as a pediatric nurse, a relatively high income by Cuban standards.
The standard, however, is the problem.
"It's barely enough for the two of us," said Ms. Dominguez, 29, shaking
her head. "How could we afford a kid?"
Recognizing the problem, the government has begun to circulate
pro-pregnancy messages, pamphlets and fliers to encourage young couples
to keep their children. Some women said that in recent months,
government doctors have discouraged them from having abortions, while
others have noticed sudden shortages of condoms and birth control pills.
While those assertions could not be verified, most experts say it hardly
matters. Cuba will not be able to procreate its way out of the current
crisis anytime soon.
Very few tactics work to increase a nation's fertility rate, despite
efforts in countries like Japan to pay families to have children.
What some suggest could help is if the government could manage to
encourage the vast Cuban expatriate population to come home. There, too,
the government has shown some willingness to adjust its stance,
including easing the return of islanders living or traveling abroad.
But surmounting the longstanding bitterness of many families toward the
government, which still holds a tight grip on the country, poses
challenges of its own. And the returning Cubans will need to be
interested in more than an extended vacation or investment opportunity.
"Already there is more flow," said Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution who studies Cuba, referring to the return of
Cubans abroad in their 20s, 30s and 40s. "But is it going to be a matter
of 'I want my vacation home there,' or will they put down roots?"
Separated families are a fact of life for most Cubans, another element
straining the state of the Cuban family. With millions abroad, and a
domestic population of just over 11 million, few families are left
untouched by the schism that followed the country's revolution.
Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Padilla both have relatives living in the United
States, some of whom they have not seen for years. Some do not want to
return, having disconnected from the rhythm of life on the island.
Others return and appear changed, no longer the cousins and nephews from
years before.
In many respects, their relationship represents the challenges facing
the government as it confronts an industrialized world problem with a
developing world economy.
In their minds, there is no doubt the two of them will get married. As a
jeweler, Mr. Padilla, 29, plans to design the ring himself and propose
once he saves enough money to buy a diamond.
Even then, they say, they are not certain they can afford the burden of
a child. Earlier this year, the pair aborted a pregnancy, a decision for
which they both express a degree of sadness. Still, it is not so
uncommon in their families. Their mothers have had four abortions each,
the two say, seated on the back porch of Ms. Rodriguez's mother's home,
where the couple live.
Mr. Padilla, smirking, blurted out that Ms. Rodriguez's aunt had
undergone 10 procedures, prompting his partner to laugh.
"Quiet," she whispered sharply, slapping his arm. "She has a degree in
French and is inside right now."
He giggled quietly and looped his arm through hers. Ultimately, he said,
they do want a family. The when of the matter would come in the
not-too-distant future, he hoped.
"We don't want to pressure ourselves," Mr. Padilla said. "We want to
live our lives, day by day, each day in its own time."
Hannah Berkeley Cohen contributed reporting.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/world/americas/in-cuba-an-abundance-of-love-but-a-lack-of-babies.html?_r=0
Cuba's interior minister resigns due to health, government says
Cuba's interior minister resigns due to health, government says
HAVANA | BY DANIEL TROTTA
Cuban Interior Minister Abelardo Colome, a career military man who
helped bring the Interior Ministry closer to the armed forces following
a purge in 1989, resigned due to failing health, Cuba said on Monday.
Colome, 76, commonly known by his nickname Furry, was also one of Cuba's
vice presidents and part of the 14-member Politburo, the highest
authority within the ruling Communist Party.
The Interior Ministry is in charge on internal security and has a
central role in clamping down on dissent in Cuba, a one-party state that
routinely detains political opponents. Cuba considers the dissidents a
tiny minority who are paid subordinates of the U.S. government.
First Deputy Interior Minister Carlos Fernandez was promoted to replace
Colome, according to an official statement read on state television.
Fernandez was one of the army generals who came with Colome from the
Defense Ministry to the Interior Ministry in 1989, when the Interior
Ministry was purged of top leaders following the execution of General
Arnaldo Ochoa on drug trafficking charges.
The execution of Ochoa, a popular war hero who was posted to the
Interior Ministry at the time, was shocking. The Interior Minister at
the time, Jose Abrantes, was jailed in the scandal and replaced by
Colome. Abrantes died in jail in 1991.
Colome held the rank of general and was a founder of the Communist Party
half a century ago. He joined Fidel Castro's rebels in 1955, four years
before they overthrew a pro-U.S. government, and holds the honorific
title Hero of the Republic.
Colome had been a one of Cuba's vice presidents on the Council of State.
Several officials hold the title of vice president on either the Council
of State or Council of Ministers, ranking just below President Raul
Castro and First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel.In 2013, Colome
offered his resignation as vice president of the Council of State to
allow for the promotion of younger leaders, the statement said. The
statement did not mention his position on the all-important Politburo.
Changes in that leadership body could be expected at a party congress in
April.
In a letter to Castro, Colome said he was obliged to step down because
of health.
"Dear Raul, of my 76 years, I have dedicated 60 of them to revolution.
As long as I live, I will continue to be a soldier at its service and
member of the Communist Party," he said in his resignation letter.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Source: Cuba's interior minister resigns due to health, government says
| Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-cuba-minister-idUSKCN0SL04W20151027
HAVANA | BY DANIEL TROTTA
Cuban Interior Minister Abelardo Colome, a career military man who
helped bring the Interior Ministry closer to the armed forces following
a purge in 1989, resigned due to failing health, Cuba said on Monday.
Colome, 76, commonly known by his nickname Furry, was also one of Cuba's
vice presidents and part of the 14-member Politburo, the highest
authority within the ruling Communist Party.
The Interior Ministry is in charge on internal security and has a
central role in clamping down on dissent in Cuba, a one-party state that
routinely detains political opponents. Cuba considers the dissidents a
tiny minority who are paid subordinates of the U.S. government.
First Deputy Interior Minister Carlos Fernandez was promoted to replace
Colome, according to an official statement read on state television.
Fernandez was one of the army generals who came with Colome from the
Defense Ministry to the Interior Ministry in 1989, when the Interior
Ministry was purged of top leaders following the execution of General
Arnaldo Ochoa on drug trafficking charges.
The execution of Ochoa, a popular war hero who was posted to the
Interior Ministry at the time, was shocking. The Interior Minister at
the time, Jose Abrantes, was jailed in the scandal and replaced by
Colome. Abrantes died in jail in 1991.
Colome held the rank of general and was a founder of the Communist Party
half a century ago. He joined Fidel Castro's rebels in 1955, four years
before they overthrew a pro-U.S. government, and holds the honorific
title Hero of the Republic.
Colome had been a one of Cuba's vice presidents on the Council of State.
Several officials hold the title of vice president on either the Council
of State or Council of Ministers, ranking just below President Raul
Castro and First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel.In 2013, Colome
offered his resignation as vice president of the Council of State to
allow for the promotion of younger leaders, the statement said. The
statement did not mention his position on the all-important Politburo.
Changes in that leadership body could be expected at a party congress in
April.
In a letter to Castro, Colome said he was obliged to step down because
of health.
"Dear Raul, of my 76 years, I have dedicated 60 of them to revolution.
As long as I live, I will continue to be a soldier at its service and
member of the Communist Party," he said in his resignation letter.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Source: Cuba's interior minister resigns due to health, government says
| Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-cuba-minister-idUSKCN0SL04W20151027
United Nations to discuss Cuba embargo
United Nations to discuss Cuba embargo
Posted: Oct 27, 2015 12:16 AM
Updated: Oct 27, 2015 12:33 PM
NEW YORK CITY (WSVN) -- The United Nations is set to meet and call for
an end to the Cuban embargo Tuesday morning.
There are two options for the United States, to vote against the
resolution, as it has done in the past, or make a historic move and
abstain from the vote.
Both president Barack Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro, while at
the United Nations in September, pushed for an end to the embargo.
"Change won't come overnight to Cuba," said President Obama, "but I am
confident that openness, not coercion, will support the reforms and
better the lives the Cuban people deserve."
The vote will be the first since the United States and Cuba restored
relations and their embassies this summer.
Cuban and State-run media says foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez is in
New York to watch the vote in person. He said, "The blockage or embargo
that has caused damages and hardships to the Cuban people, and affects
the interests of American citizens, should be lifted."
The vote at the UN is only symbolic, as only the U.S. Congress has the
power to lift the embargo.
Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen believes the embargo should remain in
place. "I believe that the correct position for the United States should
be to do what we have done, which is keep the embargo, vote against the
resolution, even though we will be in the minority."
The potentially symbolic vote could take place Tuesday afternoon.
Source: United Nations to discuss Cuba embargo - WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miami
Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco -
http://www.wsvn.com/story/30355564/united-nations-to-discuss-cuba-embargo
Posted: Oct 27, 2015 12:16 AM
Updated: Oct 27, 2015 12:33 PM
NEW YORK CITY (WSVN) -- The United Nations is set to meet and call for
an end to the Cuban embargo Tuesday morning.
There are two options for the United States, to vote against the
resolution, as it has done in the past, or make a historic move and
abstain from the vote.
Both president Barack Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro, while at
the United Nations in September, pushed for an end to the embargo.
"Change won't come overnight to Cuba," said President Obama, "but I am
confident that openness, not coercion, will support the reforms and
better the lives the Cuban people deserve."
The vote will be the first since the United States and Cuba restored
relations and their embassies this summer.
Cuban and State-run media says foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez is in
New York to watch the vote in person. He said, "The blockage or embargo
that has caused damages and hardships to the Cuban people, and affects
the interests of American citizens, should be lifted."
The vote at the UN is only symbolic, as only the U.S. Congress has the
power to lift the embargo.
Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen believes the embargo should remain in
place. "I believe that the correct position for the United States should
be to do what we have done, which is keep the embargo, vote against the
resolution, even though we will be in the minority."
The potentially symbolic vote could take place Tuesday afternoon.
Source: United Nations to discuss Cuba embargo - WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miami
Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco -
http://www.wsvn.com/story/30355564/united-nations-to-discuss-cuba-embargo
Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors
Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors
by Johnny Harris on October 26, 2015
On his worst days, Rafa, a Cuban taxi driver, makes $60 from all his
rides. A doctor in Cuba makes around $45 in a month. The colossal
disparity between these two salaries is one of the many perplexing
realities of the Cuban economy. Watch why the Cuban economy is so upside
down:
The taxi driver and the doctor
Armando is a 34-year-old taxi driver. He's also among Havana's rich, and
not because he inherited any money. I bump into Armando outside his
Central Havana apartment at dusk on a warm Sunday. He has stepped out to
have a drink of high-quality aged rum while taking in the evening
breeze. "I've been driving a taxi for 15 years," he says with pride,
sipping his rum with an air of prestige not normally shown by taxi
drivers. He goes on to tell me of his years driving a taxi he rented
from the government. After several years, with a small loan from a
family member, Armando bought a yellow taxi, obtained one of the
few private licenses available in the country, and began making big bucks.
"I have to pay $20 per day in taxes. But after that, all the money goes
straight to me." Armando has tapped into the hottest market in Cuba from
which to extract his fortune: tourism. He can charge between $20 and $25
per ride to the airport. Doing that a few times per day plus some rides
within the city puts him at around $1,500 per month in profits, over 30
times more than the average physician's monthly pay of around $45.
"I live good here, and I have no intention of leaving," boasts Armando,
in one of the rare moments that someone talks to me with no complaints
about the situation in Cuba.
His entire family has emigrated to Miami, but he has no desire to
follow. "Cuba is safe. You see right there?" he says, pointing to a
lamppost across the street. "There are five security cameras just on
that one post, with police monitoring every one, 24 hours a day. You
think I'll ever get robbed with that kind of security?" He doesn't need
an answer. He continues, "If this were Mexico, a robber would pop out
right now with a gun this big and stick it in your side and steal that
camera in an instant. But not here. Why would anyone leave Cuba?"
The key to Armando's success
Cuba's economy works as a central planning model, where government
ministries dole out resources and set everything from prices to
inventories to salaries. The fact that a taxi driver can make so much
more than a physician is a reflection of the Cuban government's heavy
focus on tourism. For years, the central planning apparatus has valued
tourism as a key mechanism for both bringing in revenue as well as
propagating the idea that Cuba is thriving. Many pesos are collected by
the high prices on everything related to the tourism industry.
A walk through Old Havana reveals the fruits of this focus: Old
architecture is restored, trendy venues are humming with people and
alcohol, and, lucky for Armando, taxis are abundant, their prices
hovering around typical rich-country rates or higher. This means lots of
tax money for the government, and lots of profits for Armando.
There are other ways to compensate doctors
Even with the clumsy pricing schemes of the central system, Cubans have
developed alternative ways of valuing the highly skilled. "Tomorrow I'm
going to the doctor because my kidneys have been hurting because I sit
so much in the car," says Armando, speaking a little louder and more
candidly now that the rum has hit his blood. "I am going to show up with
a fresh bottle of a fine liquor under my coat and when I get there I
will flash it to the doctor. The doctor will then call me in sooner than
later, and I will present him with this 'regalito' [little gift]. In
return he will do a good job on me." Armando claims that going to the
doctor without a "regalito" is asking for longer wait times and a
halfhearted job by the doctor. "That's how we do thing 'a lo Cubano,'"
he says, echoing a catchall phrase that captures every idiosyncratic
form of corruption that has emerged in the Cuba of the Castros.
The exodus of skilled labor
Armando's relatively high income and the economic backwardness contained
therein helped shed light on a question I have run into since I arrived
here. I go to places and ask the bottom-of-the-totem-pole workers if
they've "been working in this for a long time." Some had. Others would
recount their past life as a highly skilled tradesperson who left that
life for a higher salary doing remedial entry-level work. Eduardo used
to be a mechanical engineer; now he cooks at one of Havana's few private
restaurants. Lazaro used to be an information scientist and now
illegally serves ice cream in the street. Carlos used to be an
elementary school teacher and now waits tables at a tourist restaurant
in Central Havana. And Graciela was a professor of technical sciences
for the military academy and now walks the streets illegally selling
faded copies of the Cuban constitution. This is how you survive "a lo
Cubano."
Source: Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors - Vox -
http://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9593658/cuban-castro-taxi-driver-doctor-economy
by Johnny Harris on October 26, 2015
On his worst days, Rafa, a Cuban taxi driver, makes $60 from all his
rides. A doctor in Cuba makes around $45 in a month. The colossal
disparity between these two salaries is one of the many perplexing
realities of the Cuban economy. Watch why the Cuban economy is so upside
down:
The taxi driver and the doctor
Armando is a 34-year-old taxi driver. He's also among Havana's rich, and
not because he inherited any money. I bump into Armando outside his
Central Havana apartment at dusk on a warm Sunday. He has stepped out to
have a drink of high-quality aged rum while taking in the evening
breeze. "I've been driving a taxi for 15 years," he says with pride,
sipping his rum with an air of prestige not normally shown by taxi
drivers. He goes on to tell me of his years driving a taxi he rented
from the government. After several years, with a small loan from a
family member, Armando bought a yellow taxi, obtained one of the
few private licenses available in the country, and began making big bucks.
"I have to pay $20 per day in taxes. But after that, all the money goes
straight to me." Armando has tapped into the hottest market in Cuba from
which to extract his fortune: tourism. He can charge between $20 and $25
per ride to the airport. Doing that a few times per day plus some rides
within the city puts him at around $1,500 per month in profits, over 30
times more than the average physician's monthly pay of around $45.
"I live good here, and I have no intention of leaving," boasts Armando,
in one of the rare moments that someone talks to me with no complaints
about the situation in Cuba.
His entire family has emigrated to Miami, but he has no desire to
follow. "Cuba is safe. You see right there?" he says, pointing to a
lamppost across the street. "There are five security cameras just on
that one post, with police monitoring every one, 24 hours a day. You
think I'll ever get robbed with that kind of security?" He doesn't need
an answer. He continues, "If this were Mexico, a robber would pop out
right now with a gun this big and stick it in your side and steal that
camera in an instant. But not here. Why would anyone leave Cuba?"
The key to Armando's success
Cuba's economy works as a central planning model, where government
ministries dole out resources and set everything from prices to
inventories to salaries. The fact that a taxi driver can make so much
more than a physician is a reflection of the Cuban government's heavy
focus on tourism. For years, the central planning apparatus has valued
tourism as a key mechanism for both bringing in revenue as well as
propagating the idea that Cuba is thriving. Many pesos are collected by
the high prices on everything related to the tourism industry.
A walk through Old Havana reveals the fruits of this focus: Old
architecture is restored, trendy venues are humming with people and
alcohol, and, lucky for Armando, taxis are abundant, their prices
hovering around typical rich-country rates or higher. This means lots of
tax money for the government, and lots of profits for Armando.
There are other ways to compensate doctors
Even with the clumsy pricing schemes of the central system, Cubans have
developed alternative ways of valuing the highly skilled. "Tomorrow I'm
going to the doctor because my kidneys have been hurting because I sit
so much in the car," says Armando, speaking a little louder and more
candidly now that the rum has hit his blood. "I am going to show up with
a fresh bottle of a fine liquor under my coat and when I get there I
will flash it to the doctor. The doctor will then call me in sooner than
later, and I will present him with this 'regalito' [little gift]. In
return he will do a good job on me." Armando claims that going to the
doctor without a "regalito" is asking for longer wait times and a
halfhearted job by the doctor. "That's how we do thing 'a lo Cubano,'"
he says, echoing a catchall phrase that captures every idiosyncratic
form of corruption that has emerged in the Cuba of the Castros.
The exodus of skilled labor
Armando's relatively high income and the economic backwardness contained
therein helped shed light on a question I have run into since I arrived
here. I go to places and ask the bottom-of-the-totem-pole workers if
they've "been working in this for a long time." Some had. Others would
recount their past life as a highly skilled tradesperson who left that
life for a higher salary doing remedial entry-level work. Eduardo used
to be a mechanical engineer; now he cooks at one of Havana's few private
restaurants. Lazaro used to be an information scientist and now
illegally serves ice cream in the street. Carlos used to be an
elementary school teacher and now waits tables at a tourist restaurant
in Central Havana. And Graciela was a professor of technical sciences
for the military academy and now walks the streets illegally selling
faded copies of the Cuban constitution. This is how you survive "a lo
Cubano."
Source: Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors - Vox -
http://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9593658/cuban-castro-taxi-driver-doctor-economy
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