Shadow Beings
After what happened last Friday, I decided to bring to light a series of pictures of people who watch and harass me.
My relationship with the movies has always been from the seats in the shadow of a room where you can hear the sound of an old projector. It kept on like this until I started to live in my own movie, a type of thriller of the pursuers and the pursued, where it is up to me to escape and hide. The reason for this sudden change from spectator to protagonist has been this blog, located in this wide space—so little touched by celluloid—that is the Internet. I woke up two years ago with the desire to write the true script of my days, and not the rosy comedy they show in the official newspapers. I went, then, from watching movies to inhabiting one.
I have my doubts whether some day I’ll see the curtain come down and be able to leave the movie theater alive. The long film that we have been living for decades in Cuba does not seem to be close to the point where the credits are shown and the screen goes blank. However, the spectators are no longer interested in the interminable filmstrip shown by the authorized projectionists. Rather, they seem captivated by the vision of those who create a blog, a blank page where they record the questions, the frustrations and the joys of citizens.
Believing myself Kubrick or Tarantino, I have begun to post a testimony of these creatures who watch and harass us. Beings from the shadows who, like vampires, feed on our human happiness and inoculate us with terror through punches, threats and blackmail. Individuals trained in coercion who could not foresee their conversion into hunters who are hunted, faces trapped on camera, mobile phones, or in the curious retina of a citizen. Accustomed to gathering evidence for this dossier about each of us kept in some drawer, in some office, now they are surprised that we make an inventory of their gestures, their eyes, a meticulous record of their abuses.
Noviembre 29th, 2009 at 07:44
Well Done Yoani…
Your struggle to debunk the Castro’s regime is known in Britain.. The Britihs press has given coverage to your blog. The Cuban Embassy in London is not very happy about it and has instructed British supporters of the so-called Cuban Revolution to write to the press denigrating you and your friends. The most notorious amanuence at the Embassy call is a Ron Miller, an University Lecturer and Director of Cuba Solidarity Campaign who has writen to the Daily The Guardian complaining that Human Rights Report on Cuba was unfair and biased.
Keep photographing your tormentors (chivatos) and splash their faces on your website
for all the world to see.
Noviembre 26th, 2009 at 12:45
Very well done, Miss!
I saw about you on TV, I am from Brazil, you know…
I got very impressed by your courage!
You have all my support, for you are
one of the few that struggle against Utopia,
for it should stop being Utopia, and become Reality…
That’s it, I wish you all the best!
Stand up for the fight! (Bob Marley)
Keep on rockin’ in the free world! (Neil Young)
See ya
Noviembre 26th, 2009 at 07:57
las mismas personas que ha escondidas saben que el govierno no representa los intereses del pueblo y hasta hablan mal de el, sera por envidia o maldad. por que no es por que sean coumistas verdaderos, no lo son. cuando ven a otros cubanos protestando por tener mas los cojen y golpean. y la policia tambien. y como vas a demandar las cosas que pasan si todo es controlado por el govierno, los abogados. cualquier institucion en el mundo que tenga el control total del poder esta destinada a ser corrupta. por eso en los estados unidos la constitucion lo prohibe, un presidente solo puede cumplir 2 terms de 4 anos. y lo malo de cuba es que quizas el pueblo pueda ayudar a mejorar las cosas pero cuando hablan y sus opiniones se diferencias a las del govierno te caen a palos y te meten preso. acaso vamos a defender a fidel como un dios por que al principio de la revolucion trajo escuelas, etc. si,quizas le de las gracias por quitar a batista, que era otro tirano. pero despues de eso, que cojones ha hecho. nada. por que yo te haga un favor hoy, no quiere decir que tu me debas por el resto de la vida. y mas si quiero imponer lo que me de la gane sobre ti. paro que si no nunca termino. y aquellos que van a cuba a especular con dinerito pa buscar nenas y hacerce los duros, cuando en usa trabajan de limpia piso y se hacen los gerentes alla. uds son peores que los propios comunitas por que son unos hipocritas aprovechadores. viva cuba libre, viva el dia que como cubanos podamos votar por quien nos salga de alli, tampoco soy capitalista, pa que no me ataquen con eso.
Noviembre 26th, 2009 at 07:41
yo veo y veo que en cuba pasan cosas asi y despues leo a la gente diciendo que cambiara. quizas sea radical al decir que eso no va a cambiar si no actuamos con violencia a aquellos que reprimen y castigan ,roban,chivatean, atacan. dime seria la violencia necesaria en cuba, o acaso hay otros metodos de lograr una revolucion. quiero mantenerme en conatcto contigo yoany, o con tus amigos. soy cubano, jose g. vine para usa cuando tennia 15 anos y tengo 23. vivo en tampa, fl. estoy desesperado por encontrarme gente como tu, de morales fuertes. me considero uno. quiero formar un grupo aqui en la ciudad que vivo. siempre me ha gustado escribir. poemas, cuentos, canciones. por favor contestame para empezar algo serio y ver si dios nos permite traer libertad a esa miseria. sin violencia, pero de una manera fuerte
Noviembre 25th, 2009 at 17:37
parece mentira que a esta hora todavia en cuba haiga un regimen dictador esclavisando a un pueblo por 50 anos.Por otra parte los castros no son los unicos que tienen la culpa de lo que pasa en cuba.sabemos que el problema de cuba debe ser de los cubanos pero si los americanos han sabido a ir a liberar a otros paises por falta de libertad a miles de millas de distancia como es que no han podido hacerlo con cuba sabiendo que los castros son asesinos y solamente esta a 90 millas de la costa de los estados unidos.yo pienso que el cubano en el exilio ha sido usado como herramienta cada vez que han habido elecciones presidenciales cuando los presidentes predictan que si ganan el voto cuba sera libre, asi llevamos 50 anos.
Noviembre 25th, 2009 at 17:14
yoandy todos estamos respaldandote .los castros no podran aguantar lo que viene en el futuro.ya el mundo esta cansado de lo mismo y las mentiras del gobierno castrista, el gobierno de la habana no es gobierno ni es dictadura solamente es una mafia controlada por dos individuos y sus seguidores que controlan un pueblo por la fuerza la carcel y amenazas.los hombres que asesinan a personas innocentes y le saben dar golpe a sus ciduadanos nada mas por tener diferentes ideas no son governantes si no mafiosos, como no tienen el recurso de mantener un pueblo como es devido cuando se ven perdidos entonces es que usan la violencia.
Noviembre 25th, 2009 at 16:54
yoandi te felicito por tu pensamiento, tu valentia. los cubanos de alla y los de aqui tenemos que hacer todo lo possible para llegar a nuestra meta liberar a cuba y salvar a la humanidad de las garras de los asesinos castros.
Noviembre 19th, 2009 at 20:46
Yoani, I admire your courage. I am doing the small things I can to spread the word about your blog. I hope there will be dozens of others in Cuba who find the courage to join you. I am 59 years old. I can remember that when I was your age, I thought the Iron Curtain would never fall in my lifetime. What a joy it was in 1989 when I was proven wrong. I have also thought that Cuban and North Korean governments would survive as examples of communist repression. Perhaps I will be able to rejoice soon when those dinosaur regimes fall.
Noviembre 19th, 2009 at 19:50
Yoani your efforts are above and beyond what many Cubans have done both past and present. If we could clone 10 of you Cuba may be liberated. Keep up the good work.
But what will come next? Living in Miami I see how the Cuban comunitty has progrsssed or failed too. The older generation that arrived in late 50s and early 60s has established a political system that has turned Dade County on its head by creating a privlidged political class and taxing business and property owners in an abusive way. Many newer arrivals find it hard to shake old habits and have made Miami Dade and Florida ground zero for medicare fraud and “hydroponic homes”
I wish the Cuban people freedom, but I hope they don’t end up in a bachanalia of abuse and corruption that got them were they are today in the first place.
Noviembre 19th, 2009 at 04:56
Greetings and support from Sweden, i follow your blog and whats happening.
Noviembre 18th, 2009 at 06:31
i think it would be interesting to know who the chivatos are? and also how come the familly of “untouchable” are buying houses and more in differents country and our people staving on the street. i know them very well because i went to school with many of their daughters and son @guiteras school 23&A
Noviembre 16th, 2009 at 04:21
#151
Statue,
I have been away for most of the day and saw your post. Rather than continue this into the next area, I say this to you here.
You were right to respond as you did to my post. I seldom resort to colloquialisms and will refrain from doing so going forward.
I do not question your intentions or what you bring to this place. I do not offer unsolicited advice. My connections to Cuba and experience of all that has happened there are different from yours. But they are profoundly real. No less real than yours. You mentioned education free of indoctrination after leaving Cuba. I am also a product of that education and have achieved a measure of success because of it.
Let’s get on with talking about the things that matter.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 22:26
Concubino
I am watching the video you posted
and I totally agree with the first few statements of the video.
I had try to explain something similar to that before but maybe I was not very successful.
Communism is total government control and we all know total government control will be a doom no matter if is far left or far right who totally control a total government
because they will do whatever it takes to keep that kind of order Including repressing torturing and murdering as we all know and eliminate all the human rights!
On the other hand we can not go either for total anarchy that is everyone does as it pleases. There has to be some sort of in between society that not everything is government property and not everything is anarchy a middle ground, Cubans will have to find what that middle ground is for them. I am sure that middle ground will have
Freedom and Human dignity in it.
The Cuban regime used to be all the way to the left that is everything was control by the government but because of the severe economic crises after the fall of Berlin they had to allow back a little bit of private initiative like Paladars(food establishment) etc. just enough so that the whole ship will not go down!
With the economic situation they have now they maybe force to open even more.
Will see.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 22:00
I’m “moving” everything to the next entry… in response to Concubino’s suggestion
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 21:55
Post Fidel vengeance and forgiveness… maybe we should call this “the great reckoning”. (Note, I did NOT capitalize it!)
This of course will be the subject of as much anguish and struggle as the property rights. Who are the “little people”… and who are the “big people”.
Some of the really hard issues I see:
Government leaders. Some will be judged “too dirty”to be allowed to have any role in a new Cuba… whether they will be jailed or punished in some way, I don’t know… but clearly they cannot continue to be in power.
But… do you throw out EVERYONE who held any power? How far down? How are the new positions filled then? With complete neophytes? Remember… Fidel, Che, Raul etc… all neophytes. Look how successful it was last time!
Here’s a great book I recommend: My 14 months with Castro. by Rufo López Fresquet, 1966. Lopez Fresquet was Fidel’s first treasury minister… a competent economist… of course he had to escape with his life in the end. His book is a great look into the disaster in the making… How does Cuba avoid continuing the tradition?
Los Chivatos: What happens to the woman with her hands over her face. Make no mistake, it’s fear of the future, and even the present, that brought those hands up… she’s not worried about whether she forgot her make-up that morning…
It’s the same as with the government officials… how far down do you go? If everyone active in their CDR is a criminal in the post-Fidel Cuba… who’s left? Half the population? Less?
I think South Africa offers some lessons, with its Truth and Reconciliation commission.. I would love to hear from readers from the former communist countries of Europe and others… how does this work? How do you successfully move on?
Again, Germany immediately post-war might offer lessons. Suddenly there were no Nazis. They disappeared. And how could that happen? Because almost everyone was a Nazi and so of course everyone had a stake in moving on. There are some good books and movies about this. One I remember about a young woman later ‘digging up the dirt’… she had to know… it was very painful for all concerned.
I suspect in Cuba this may go on for another 50 years… until all who partook are finally dead and buried.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 21:48
To Andy and Hank
Will you like to be moderators in these topics that are fascinating to you and all of us?. You not only can be moderators but your comments will de great addition as well.There is a new post. We can take it there. Let me know.As always I’m game.Thanks.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 21:40
Post-Fidel property rights.
I don’t know if everyone is aware, but foreign govts, for example the US and I’m not sure about others… Spain? Does anyone know?… Foreign governments have issued legal judgments against the Castro regime for confiscations — settling these accounts is one of the main demands of what I will call, for now, the “hard liners”.
Of course the court judgments tend to be in favor people who owned millions in property etc. The people whose little houses were confiscated by the government after they left, there are no judgments on their behalf.
I like to think none of this will really be an issue. That it will all be resolved fairly easily and the real struggle will be assigning property rights to people living on the island, ordinary people.
But it is hard to say.
I suspect Fidel/Raul et al will take their riches to their graves… that is they’re parked in untouchable off-shore accounts and investments that their heirs will have control of and the (probably literally) billions lost to this will mostly be unrecovered. But who knows.
So… it’s not like the claims of Holocaust victims against Germany, for example. Because where is the current day wealth to pay these claims? It no longer exists.
This whole topic is worthy of a lot of thought. For whatever our thoughts in this blog are worth!
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 21:32
So many interesting threads here and I’ve been off-line for a bit (ever now and then as you know, we all benefit a bit by walking on real streets and not just virtual ones).
The ones I’m interested in pursuing further right now (among many others) –
Post-Fidel property rights… who owns what.
Post-Fidel vengeance and forgiveness… and maybe we need a word that is not forgiveness, but just ‘putting aside’. Many I know, will never be able to forgive but might be willing to let things go so everyone can move on.
Post-Fidel constitution and governance… a fascinating topic for me.
I don’t have a lot of time right now so I’ll make a few brief comments on each… just to keep my hand in! I’m really thrilled the way the discussion in this blog is going lately. It seems we’re focusing in on things that matter and trying to enlarge the discussion and thinking around them.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 21:12
Statue of Liberty #151
I AGREE fully with…”Cuba should be governed by those who now live in the Island”
I agree only partially with this other part of your quote ” any other kind of government will not be accepted by them”.
I think that new Cuban government should follow some models who has been succesfull through history and adapt their laws somehow to fit the Cuban people.
I don’t Hank has any pretensions. He is just an open minded comentator who can see the whole political spectrum of the Cuban oppsition with a clear mind, since apparantly he has no ties with any Cuban.I think his contributions are very well intentioned and I read his comments avidly.
Although I did not have any relatives executed by the Castros,three generations of my family including myself were in Cuban jails for political reasons.My father never was in jail but he was constantly harassed.
You do not give advice because you don’t know personally any of us.I respect that.I don’t know personally anybody in this forum either.However I take your comments and the opinions of the majority of the people of this forum very seriously.
We all do have personals grievences against the Castros one way or another. Again I’m sorry for your loss. Hope you can move on once everything ia over.I have already starting to do so long time ago.For me Cuba comes first.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 20:25
Hank #125 says (I doubt if there is anyone here who does not have a personal stake in this mess. You, me and the rest of us in this virtual place are writing about this crap because it matters to us - personally and for personal reasons. Let’s not get into the game of showing our scars. That’s not what this is about).
To Hank:
I take this blog very seriously like many of us, Cuba is not a game to me and in my post I never implied to show my own scars, those I keep to myself, I was merely referring to those who may have grievances against butchers of the robolution who committed heinous crimes. I know exactly what this blog is all about, it is expressing freely everyone’s opinion without insulting others and I am very mindful of that. Normally I don’t give advice and by the same token very seldom take it from people I don’t know.
The main focus for me in this blog is to fight ignorance and always to tell the truth even if it hurt someone. Sometimes I see comments made about a situation that happened before Castro (during Batista’s) and after the first few years of the robolution by people who did not experienced or by foreigners with no idea of what are they talking about, that is when I come in and try to explain it the way I lived, being objective and clear without showing any sides. I will continue to do so, regardless.
After the fall, it will be hard to predict how the people in Cuba will react, especially after living in a system for fifty years without laws, full of indoctrination, deception, abuse and trying to survive the best they can.
Those of us, who were lucky and decided to leave and experience a new life, became very resourceful after getting an education (without indoctrination) and some of us very successful. There is a lot that we can contribute to rebuild a new Cuba with our savvy and expertise without meddling into their internal affairs. Cuba should be governed by those who now live in the Island; any other kind of government will not be accepted by them.
That it how I vision my contribution.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 19:38
#148
Concubino,
Thanks for directing us to the youtube video. The narrator sounds like Christopher Walken, who I like a lot as an actor. Anyway, there is a considerable amount of information in that 10 minutes that I need to think about. But my gut reaction is that I like it.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 19:25
I used “word” for the first time in comment #148.It was not to much help as you can see.I did not prove read myself as usual.Hopefully you understand what I was trying to said.I’m sorry .Thank you
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 19:03
Hey guys. We are getting somewhere here. Julio posted brilliantly so was Hank.BTW Julio some links don’t get through because the filters as you mention reads them as porno even when they are not. Happened to me before. Just try to find another link to illustrate your point and it will get trough.
Anyways Hank, that document is the supreme law of the country. Therefore even thug is an aberration; there is a delictive figure like “dangerous personâ€, taking money from people like you and me. We will be classified as CIA agents they will be classified as mercenaries working for the Empire.
I don’t you if you know who Panfilo is. But if you don’t everybody is this forum knows who he is. During that time I wanted to send money to Panicle’s family and to the aldeanos and El b. specifically I wanted to send $300.00 to help the cause. I contacted a Cuban blogger by email. (I still have those emails). I emphasized in the fact that I was a private citizen, because the CI (counter intelligence) reads all the emails especially those directed to the bloggers.
The answer I got was categoric.Please don’t do it the C.I can use that email and money transfers receipt as prove and accused me to be a mercenaries at the Service of the Empire. That was the end of effort.
Regarding the article 5 and the whole Constitution itself, well I, guess you are right. All we need is somebody else in charge .Somebody that has no compromises with the Castros and willing to promote the necessaries changes. First thing in order in a new Cuba is to call a new National Assembly and change this travesty called Cuban constitution.
One more thing when using Lincoln’s letter I was thinking as Castro dividing the Union and trying to keep Cuban people slaved and the Opposition being all in one Lincolns themselves trying to compromise and give up a little here and there even to the “commies” and created a true Republic.
If you have ten minutes watch this. It is what I believe .I posted this here before but to illustrate my point this is in my opinion what Cubans deserve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei7Xv_Z0tgI
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 18:44
There are over 4000 comments posted on the Spanish language page. The posts are really interesting. A lot of people want to know who the chivatos are. Others want to get more digital cameras, flash drives and computer equipment into the country. Wow, is something happening here?
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 17:44
#144
Julio,
Exactly. It is that choice you mentioned that I want know more about. They are humans, just like the rest of us. Just like Fidel, Raul and Chavez. And I think you are right, it is fear that made her cover her face. Although, honestly, I know women who don’t like being photographed for vanity reasons, so maybe we are making too much of this!
But it is interesting, if not symbolic. Still, I wonder.
The Chivata could not have known that this photograph would be posted here eventually, or did she? It must have been pure instinct for her to cover her face. An act of self preservation. If someone came up to you on the street and took your picture, would your first reaction be to cover your face? That’s not how I would react. I might get angry and challenge the person, but I wouldn’t cover my face. I think it is more than fear but paranoia that makes a person react that way.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 17:30
I can tell you
when I used to be in Cuba
they will get privileges like been the first to buy a black and white Russian TV set or a trip outside Cuba or a week of vacation in some beach in Cuba etc.
So the tyranny does stimulate this kind of behavior. I think it may be a good idea for us to unmotivated it by publishing their pictures and deeds for the whole word to see the Cuban chivatos and regime collaborators.
As I said before that may put the FEAR back on them.
Notice many of this supporters of the revolution
the ones posting here and that have blogs do so
anonymously. Not like Yoani or Claudia.
Why do they not post their pictures?
FEAR. Fear of the future. They know the future does not belong to the regime.
The future does not belongs to the regime because the regime power is artificial.
Is not a power that was given by the people of Cuba
Is a power that was taken away from the people of Cuba.
Eventually that power will go back to the people of Cuba and when that happens
Their system will be finished.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 17:18
“these people look like ordinary, regular folks. Like anyone else you might see. They don’t seem any different, they don’t look like monsters.”
Hank
I smile when I read your comment above!
The reason why I smile is because criminals do not look like criminals neither chivatos have special markings that will let us know who they are.
They are ordinary people that make the choice of supporting the revolution.
There could be many reasons why she covers her face.
She maybe thinking what if this thing does not last?
What if this picture of me repressing will hunt me down tomorrow?
etc
all above are my speculations we will have to ask her why she did not want to show her face. But we should agree that covering her face, hiding her face is a sign of FEAR.
Yes, they are human like we are they also have fears!
We are the majority
they are the few.
So who should fear more?
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 16:39
#140
Julio,
The details, the minutiae, are important. They are important because when you tell people about this they don’t understand unless you give them context. That’s one of the reasons I am so intrigued by Yoani’s blog. She talks about these details. I was on Claudia’s site (I think it was hers) recently and she told an incredible story. When people board buses in Havana, they don’t put the fare in the fare box, they give it to the bus driver instead. That is huge!
If you look at the photographs Yoani posted, these people look like ordinary, regular folks. Like anyone else you might see. They don’t seem any different, they don’t look like monsters. But when you ask questions like “Why is she covering her face?” you delve into the things she has done that make her feel like she has to cover her face.
I have many friends who don’t give a damn about Cuba because they don’t have any connection to it. When you bring out details that ordinary people can understand, that’s when you pique people’s interest and their outrage about all of this. That’s when people support and demand a change. So, yes, I want to know what she gets in return for her services. I think it is worth it to know. Where did she get those jeans? How did she pay for that watch? Who gave it her? Where did it come from? What make is it? What about the bracelet? I would like to know.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 16:04
I was able to easily find it using Google site search
http://www.google.com/sitesearch/
Amazing the power we have on the internet to do things!
Translator disregard my prior post I guess the restriction is on posting more than one link on a post.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 16:00
The post I was referring before about the youngster
is here
http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=76
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 15:59
“Does the woman who was covering her face with her hands get a special allowance for her chivata services? Does she get paid for what she does or have access to things ordinary Cubans do not? Does she have to wait in line like everyone else or does she have special priviliges? If she is so terrified, is it because of these privileges and the fact that others do not have them and she knows people resent her for it? Isn’t that an incredible opportunity? A tipping point to press?
Yes they do get special privilege from the regime. I am not sure how useful it will be to tell about the privileges because she will not volunteer that information plus it will place a really heavy burden on people to find out about this minutia.
I think more important is to do the same thing that Yoani did so that they will be afraid of collaborating with the regime.
Maybe creating a special site where they can post about Chivatos with pictures and deeds they have done.
That will act as a deterrent so people will learn their actions will be taken into consideration in the near future.
Put the fear back on them.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 15:48
It is incredible the power we have of the internet
for example I wanted to find the prior post where Yoani talks about the young guy that upset so much Fidel Castro.
Here is what I did.
I remember Yoani had called him(Castro) Grandpa
so I went to Google’s site
http://www.google.com/sitesearch/
place Yoani’s site and search specifically for Grandpa
and there it was
http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=76
here is a copy
There are certain elders to whom the carefree attitude of the youngest produce burning and regret. They are those who intuit that those who follow will wash away everything that for them is “holy.†They are right. Nothing is more fearsome than a teenager who wastes his time and threatens to “change everything.†And these are the seniors who, at the first opportunity, throw back in their grandchildren’s faces the diapers washed, the eduction offered, the breakfasts served and and even the medicines bought.
A wave of that rancor came in the dismissive term “jovenzuelo†[youngster] launched by Fidel Castro in his penultimate reflections.* The broadside on “dirty clothes†was motivated because a Cuban (maybe Yuniesky, Yohandry or Yasiel) interviewed by a foreign news agency declared that he didn’t want to talk about socialism. With a determination typical of the young, he earned a virulent reaction from the Head of State himself, who dedicated almost a paragraph to him.
The whole story of the fed-up youngster and the severe “grandpa†reproaching him, transported me to the years of Glasnost and to the magazine “Novelties from Moscow,†where a young man warned the sixty-somethings who were stopping the changes, “You have all the power, we have all the time.†Of course, we have to color that phrase with the knowledge that even for Yuniesky or Yohandry the years pass, and every day they have less time.
I have the hunch that I’ll be a rather punk old lady. I’ll allow the kids of 2050 to make fun of my pictures and of the ugly hairdo that I’ll have had for more than three decades. I’ll let them tear down, one by one, everything that for me now is “untouchable.†I’ll do it gladly and approvingly, because I know that they not only have the time, but that - without their knowledge - they also inherit the power. A huge power that allows them to choose between “waiting or doing something.â€
*Translator’s note: â€Reflections of Fidel†is a regular feature in Granma, Cuba’s morning newspaper.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 15:47
Julio at #137
You’re right, “little by little they take liberties away from you. That’s how they do it.” Well said. What I don’t understand is why, after all we (the human race) have been through, does this continue? Are we just stupid?
Your point about those inside the system is also very interesting. You and Concubino at #130 have both referred to them. Concubino said that they are as terrified as everyone else. I find that to be fascinating.
Does the woman who was covering her face with her hands get a special allowance for her chivata services? Does she get paid for what she does or have access to things ordinary Cubans do not? Does she have to wait in line like everyone else or does she have special priviliges? If she is so terrified, is it because of these privileges and the fact that others do not have them and she knows people resent her for it? Isn’t that an incredible opportunity? A tipping point to press?
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 15:17
Chavez case is an interesting one to study.
My believe is that he gets votes from some of the people that he really is helping and that were neglected by prior presidents. What they do not realize is that he is grabbing more power and more power on his hand and he is already past the point where he is a dictator for life.
Hank, little by little they take liberties away from you. That’s how they do it. When you do realize what has happen you have no freedom at all.
I really do love freedom and democracy and dictatorship is the antithesis of it so it is very important at least for me that something like Chavez can never happen again in Cuba.
That is why I think there should be something in the constitution in that regard.
There is not such thing as a benevolent dictator. They always repress people.
I think the future will bring less and less of a nationalistic view and more of a world view for everyone.
So it will be harder to have Chavez’s and Castro’s
Nobody not a single individual on earth should have as much power over people on their countries as they do. Without any checks without any accountability.
Hank we have seem the rest of Europe that was communist fall.
The reason they did is because communism fails to deliver on its promises.
They know how to redistribute wealth (Created under capitalism) but they do not know how to create wealth!
Instead of raising people from poverty they actually make every one equally poor, except for the top of the party that becomes the new class, the elite totally detach from their countries reality.
Instead of braking chains they create new and stronger chains.
So yes I know that given the choice to freely vote Cubans will never vote for what they have now. I think their repulse towards that system is very obviously manifested in how many people do abandon it. Is a form of vote with your feet!
Many more will do if they could take their whole families with them etc.
I am sure many of the one inside the system will also swap honestly into anything else but what they have. Because they do know that what they have can not sustain forever.
Is a system base on lies.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 14:46
Julio at #135,
I like your optimism. You raise the Chavez issue, which I completely do not understand. How can it be that he is getting away with grabbing more and more power and setting himself up to be the next president in this hemisphere who remains in office for ever and ever? How does this happen? I bet if you were to ask anyone on any street corner in any country on Earth the simple question, “Do you think your country should be run by one person for all of his life?” the answer you would get would be a resounding “NO!” Of course not. It just makes no sense. Can someone please explain this to me?
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 14:25
Concubino on 131
I do agree with you that their will be difficulties ahead but I do not think that many people in Cuba will disagree into what way to go as for capitalism or socialism. I think after 50 years of the experiment they have had sufficient first hand knowledge to know what to do.
I remember a youngster to whom Yoani refer in one of her posts a while back who made Fidel Castro very very upset. The reason was because he was ask in front of cameras what he thought about socialism. His answer was quick.
I do not want to know anything about socialism.
Just remember these are the new man that were born with the revolution.
look no further Yoani was also born withing the revolution and the majority
with her.
We all have seen what the revolution is capable of doing and not doing.
We know the revolution is a fail system that benefits only the mafia at the top and nobody else and a source of injustice and inequality.
I will seriously doubt people will go for them again.
Interesting is to notice that Nicaraguans did go for the Sandinista again but I think the Cuban case is very different.
The Cuban constitution must be change to guaranty the freedoms that all people should enjoy.
The Cuban presidency should be limited to maybe two terms just like in the US
We should place very strict laws with regards to presidents trying to change this particular items of the new constitution so as to not have anymore dictators again.
Or people that will get re elected for ever an ever like Chavez. Etc Etc
Those are the first things that should be address.
With regards to proprieties etc etc those will be huge problems for the new government. Maybe some sort of compensation in some cases or returning property when is possible in some others. Who knows what the right solution is.
Yes they did created a big mess! But nothing the future will not be able to fix!
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 14:02
#131
Concubino,
Here again, I don’t get your point. Please tell me what is the dilemma.
I read the document, through Article 5, and I don’t see why this is such a big problem. If you take the position from the beginning that the document is invalid, why not just throw it out and start over? What is the harm in doing that? Was this constitution legitimately ratified? If so, by whom? If not, throw it out. If it was legitimately ratified, that’s another matter. But I need to know first if it is legitimate.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 13:45
Concubino in 130
Very well said!
Unity to get freedom for Cuba.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 13:38
#130
Concubino,
Thank you for explaining this to me. I see your point now, I didn’t earlier.
The parallel you draw between Lincoln’s letter and the current situation in Cuba is that all of the diverse factions in Cuba that you named (call them “The Lincoln Group”) have the same goal, which is to get rid of Castro, to bring the Cuban regime down (call it “Preserving the Union”).
But the diverse factions can’t do it right now because they see the cost as being too high. That cost is having to trust each other, which they can’t do because they are divided and those divisions are exploited by Castro and his thugs to instill fear in them.
For Lincoln, who was a single person, the cost was the possibility of not ending slavery, but he was willing to risk or sacrifice it for the greater good of preserving the Union. What you are saying, I think, is that the diverse factions have to take the risk, be willing to pay the cost, as Lincoln was. But in this case, their cost is trusting each other in order to achieve the greater good of bringing down the regime.
Sorry, I have to work things out like this because I don’t see the larger picture unless I understand the details. But now that I have worked it out, I agree with you. This is a daunting challenge, a bigger, more difficult one than Lincoln faced it seems to me. Maybe this is why the situation has remained the same for so very long. Thank you again for explaining this to me.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 08:33
Hank
I posted this before, but since you are new to this blog,I would like to share it with you.
Let’s pretend for a minute that Castro brothers are dead. Somebody else is in charge.
How are we going to address the article five of this document?
Everything starts here. http://www.cubanet.org/ref/dis/const_92_e.htm
How are we going to solve this dilemma?
Countries of the so called Socialism of the XXI century (Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua) are heading towards totalitarian states by changing their Constitution.
Zelaya was trying to impose it in Honduras.
How are we going to change ours without being accused first of doing the same they did?
What are we going to say to the Cuban people?
How are going to persuade people who live and believe in this kind of society for so many years?
Are we going to tell them that Capitalism is the way to go? Even though we know is the right way.
The sole mention of the word Capitalism put the fear God in many people.
Castro and his propaganda machine has systematically brain washed at least three generations of Cuban people
Are we going to follow the Chinese model?
I tell you folks the task ahead of these braves Cubans is monumental.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 08:22
Hank
This Linconl’s letter ralates to Cuba.I tell you why….
There is so many people opposing the Havana Regimen from different backgrounds.
You have Yoani and alternative Blogosphere.You have these colleges kids writtings these awesome and courageous letters. You have Vladimiro Roca,Martha Beatriz.You have Osvaldo Paya Sardinnas and his Varela project.You have Antunez and his oposicion Municipalities. You have the Aldeanos,Pedro Luis Ferrer.You have more than 200 hundreds political prisioners. You have people in Santiago de Cuba, Holguin. You have the Pinar del Rio Farmers Association.All of them want to bring the Cuban regime down. However the are pulling in so many differents directions.
Nobody trust anybody.The Cuban State Police terrorizes all of them.They do a great job dividing.Therefore all these groups can’t do much by themselves.These “chivatos” pictured in this post are just humans beings.This Rodney agent is not a super heroe or agent 007. They have fears on their own. They are as terrified as these braves Cubans.They are just emboldened by the Castros.But most importantly they are just following orders from above. They are NOBODIES on their own.
Believe me if all these true Cubans get together, these “Chivatos” will be completly paralized.
If they just can forget that Cuban State police exist and start trusting each other,
if they just get their act together they will be able to do it.
Lincoln an abolitionist himself was ready to compromise in order to preserve the Union.
The Cuban oposition must compromise and put CUBA FIRST if they want to bring the Castros down.The little diferences they have needs to be put aside.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 07:43
#106
Andy,
My thoughts are not clear on these matters either. But since we are on the topic of difficult questions, here’s another:
Assuming the regime changes and we get to some form of representative democracy, or at least a government that recognizes basic laws,
How does the issue of all that appropriated property play out?
Do the thousands of home and landowners who left the island get their property back?
Do they have to buy it back?
What happens to the people who are in these places now? Where do they go?
Will some sort of squatter’s rights apply?
What about the businesses that lost their property? Do the Bacardi’s get their distillery back?
Will outside governments have to step in to compensate everyone just to keep the peace?
Will the next Cuban government keep it all, since it has it already?
What a mess these Castros created. What a mess.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 07:25
A wordle of all our comments on this entry up to now:
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrd.....NGS_Nov_09
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 07:22
Thanks for your work, I read your blog for a long time, as a “tourist” it help me to understand the real cuba, you are taking many risk by bringning the truth out of cuba.. and I believe that you gonna be a source of change, for the futur of cuba..
You and all the other blogguer in cuba are read outside by people who care about there familly living in cuba, who care about truth.. the castrist wont stay for ever.. they are not able to fight the cyber space and this is why they are affraid of you.. I wish freedom for this country and my family there.. as well I wish liberty to everyone else looking for it..
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 06:42
#121
Concubino,
Thank you for the compliment. I am honored that you would say such a thing. I am here because I have strong feelings about these issues, just like you.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 06:34
#108 and 109
Statue,
I doubt if there is anyone here who does not have a personal stake in this mess. You, me and the rest of us in this virtual place are writing about this crap because it matters to us - personally and for personal reasons. Let’s not get into the game of showing our scars. That’s not what this is about.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 06:08
#120
Concubino,
Lincoln’s letter to Greeley was fantastic. Thank you for posting it.
If I understand the letter, Lincoln’s message to Greeley was that he (Lincoln) saw his first obligation to be the preservation of the Union, by whatever means necessary, without regard to positions he might be forced to take on other issues, like slavery. In other words, Lincoln was not going to allow the cost of ending slavery to be the end of the Union.
Lincoln’s use of language is staggering. I don’t know what prompted him to write this letter to Greeley, but it looks like Greeley accused Lincoln of political inconsistencies, and for some reason, Lincoln felt that he had to respond. Lincoln pretty handily slapped him down I think. I am not a Lincoln scholar, so if I have any of this wrong, please let me know.
I guess this could relate to Cuba. We have to be pragmatic in the sense that we must do what it takes to regain a just, civil and open society in Cuba. That’s what we all want. But at all costs? Is that what you are saying? Let’s not be too quick here to equate Lincoln’s desire to preserve the Union, at the possible expense of not ending slavery, to whatever savagery might take place in Cuba to get rid of Fidel or the legacy regime that remains after he is gone. I think that is reading too much into Lincoln’s message. There are alternatives.
How this relates to Cuba
How this relates to Cuba, I guess is that
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 02:23
As they say a picture is worth a thousand words?
What if the picture itself is a picture of words ?
:-)
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 02:13
Here’s a link to what is on the main page of the blog right now (THANKS JULIO!!!!):
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrd.....ov_13_2009
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 02:10
Hank.
Thanks for your kind words.
You and Andy put a cool head in this forum ,very much needed, by the way.
I’m full of passion and my anger towards the Castros sometimes get the best of me.
All I’m try to do is learn from the people who make history this big melting pot called the USA and forward to my people in Cuba and share it with everybody.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:58
Almost everybody in Cuba opposes the Havana Regime.All they need is to put their egos aside and the Castros are going to be history sooner rather than later
In other words change the protagonism for pragmatism.
Abrahan Lincoln is a great example of pragmatism.This letter validates my point.
http://showcase.netins.net/web.....reeley.htm
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:46
It is interesting to see to very contrasting views of Cuba
One by the old leadership the other by the new generation tired of the experiment!
Very dramatic the change.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:43
I also run the same tool on Yoani
and this is what I got
http://farm4.static.flickr.com.....9088_o.jpg
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:41
the link I was intending to place did not show
here is the link
http://farm4.static.flickr.com.....7524_o.jpg
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:40
A while back I was using a wonderful internet tool at
http://www.wordle.net/
I apply this tool to Raul Castro’s speech and this is the image I got
Notice the words that are repeated the most on their language are
past, years, etc it is an interesting tool because it allows you to see at a glance what some long document is all about.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:26
Andy with regards to what to do once the old structure of power is gone and a new democracy is put in place it’s my believe it should be the decision of the Cuban people exercising their right to democracy and democratic institutions they should decided what to do.
What to do with the remainder of the old little group that used to hold power and that committed crimes. Etc etc.
I still think it will perpetuate the cycle of violence if we asked for the old rule
of an eye for an eye.
We should be better than that and let old bygones be bygones. Hope this will be in mind of the Cuban people when they are given the chance to vote for it.
Will see this happening hopefully soon. In our life time.
Maybe not to many of the old guard will still be alive so let’s headache about what to do with them.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 01:16
#105 and #106
Andy, Concubino, Julio, John Two, Statue and Everyone Else:
The forum we share is extraordinary.
Thank you, Yoani, for creating this space, I wish you could be more connected to it.
We here, all of us, every single one of us, are free to say and express what we think without any fear. We are without fear of incarceration, involuntary commitment to an insane asylum (because some unnamed critic articulates an argument against us), kidnapping, beating, disappearance, or worse. We don’t have to worry about these things.
We are free to disagree or agree as each one of us, individually, sees fit. This is a remarkable and amazing thing. We can write pretty much anything we want, short of personal threats of violence. This is the way it should be. It is something people like you and me gave their lives to preserve.
I am filled with an emotion that I do not know how to describe when I read the posts here, whether I personally agree or disagree with them. It is not pride or arrogance. I will never again take liberty for granted because now, for the first time in my life, I understand what it means.
Andy, thank you for posting the English translation of Mr. Soto’s brave letter. When I read it this morning, I was shocked. What amazed me about the letter was not so much the direct questions to the Editor (which were tremendous), but the fact that the Institution itself (Granma) was openly criticized.
What is it that keeps the Castro clan in power? The answer, as far as I can tell, is the Institutions they created to protect themselves from their own citizenry. What is amazing about Soto’s letter is that he mounts a direct attack on one of those Institutions. Once they fall, so will the whole house of cards. Much more to say on this topic but I have to go.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 00:56
John Two
The letter was never published.
Statue
I understand your point of view.If you have relatives executed by Castro, I really understand.I’m sorry.Hope you can move on when everything is over.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 00:34
I Am Not Interested in Power
“I should add that, personally,
I am not interested in power nor
do I envisage assuming it at any time.
All that I will do is to make sure
that the sacrifices of so many compatriots should not be in vain, whatever
the future may hold in store for me.
This is one fragment from the speech on 1959
http://lanic.utexas.edu/projec.....90103.html
How interesting to see that after 50 years all he wanted was the honey of power!
How people that got close to him
Urrutia
Camilo Cienfuegos
Dorticos
Even
Ernesto Che
etc
one by one
how he lie to all! There is so many lies in 50 years!
I still can not believe how some people still believe in this man.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 00:23
Maybe someone mentioned it earlier in this thread, but did the Delgado letter to Granma get published, especially in the print edition which is only version most Cubans have access to? If it did, that would be rather unprecedented.
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 00:07
Statue I admit I was born with the revolution the early years!
So never got to see what Cuba was before
I have seem pictures and I have been able to see and read what other people say about the Cuba before Castro including my own family.
Personally I can tell you that people in my family very close to me were supporters of the revolution since the beginning and even before 1959.
I also know the majority of the people in Cuba that supported the revolution did not want what was deliver at the end.
I have taken the trouble of reading the speeches from Fidel Castro from the early years of the revolution they are actually quite interesting to read.
Because they show you the kind of problems they used to face then and we can compare against the problems they face now. Also you can see the evolution and how the whole thing got transform into a totalitarian state little by little.
Fortunately they have been translated to English
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro.html
There is also a Cuban site that keeps them in Spanish.
My understanding is that Batista took power by force and there was no democracy.
interesting also to know that the money to buy the Granma yacht came
from Carlos PrÃo Socarrás party the last elected president of Cuba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granma_(yacht)
Noviembre 15th, 2009 at 00:02
AFTER THE FALL
If you have a dear one who is being executed by Castro’s thugs and you are not in their shoes, I think it becomes very difficult to give advice.
Every person who supports vehemently this awful system is responsible one way or another for heir own acts and should receive whatever punishment a court of law will dictate to them. When you become a person of legal age, you know exactly what you are doing, no one push you to do things you don’t want to do, only yourself.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 23:46
#97
I believe when you tried to answer me, you really gave yourself the answer.
You are relatively a young fellow therefore any reference to life in Cuba prior to Castro you have learned from history or from someone else, in my case I live it.
It is not only me who has to look at things into context, this goes for everyone else.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 23:30
Talking about the guilty mind
It’s interesting to notice that all this bloggers like Yoani, Claudia Reinaldo etc etc
are posting every critic every statement with their name on it while the so call “revolutionary” do so behind pseudonyms!
Why?
Why can they put their real name attached to their opinions?
What are they afraid of?
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 20:34
I have two thoughts about “After the Fall”… which might also be known as “After the Rise of Freedom” in Cuba.
One is the concern we all share that no precious energy needed to rebuild the country and create a truly free and democratic society be wasted on vengeance.
The other is that the oppressors not be allowed to stay at the top of the heap, and oppress the people with new tools in the same old way. I think we see in Russia this model — after all, who has power, resources, self-confidence, etc. Those who ruled the country for 70+ years.
This is a difficult balance. Is there a model of a country that has gotten it right? There is no perfect model that fits Cuba of course, but there are pieces from other experiences that should be borrowed.
I too believe in forgiveness, forgiveness and understanding, particularly on the lower rungs of the ladder. But how will this forgiveness be accomplished across the board. How will people move on once and for all?
And what of higher ups? Should a certain group of people be barred from any role in a new government?
I don’t know. I really don’t have my thoughts clear on this. But it matters a great deal. We all know that.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 20:23
I think Google did a pretty good job on this so I’m posting it without any changes. English-only readers, read it slowly and it will make perfect sense.
===========
Letter sent to Granma by a student on October 30, 2009
Letter sent by A. Granma newspaper Delgado Soto
Read the Granma, the tragic comedy.
I think I’ve been relatively slow to write the paper and especially to Mr Barredo. Not only personal gripes my point in this post, are grievances and demands of the majority of the people. I like being well informed of national and international events.
Every day I read the newspaper Granma and this just is not a direct compliment to the newspaper, though I recognize the work of many Cuban journalists who are very serious and responsible. My questions are for Mr. Barredo: Do you really believe everything you write in your newspaper? Do you not know the internet? Mr Barredo You do not know the damage so great that he is doing to society and the country?
Today I read again the Granma, as every day, and my approach at the end of the last line as skeptical reader is totally negative. It’s amazing joke is Granma. My conclusion at the end of reading is slow and clear that the U.S. is very bad, that America has a huge economic crisis, the United States has had thousands of deaths from influenza A (H1N1), the U.S. has a lousy health system, that in Washington there is bribery, the U.S. military agreement signed with Colombia, which require it to exit the U.S. ambassador in Nicaragua, a great analysis of what the U.S. vote at the United Nations … and my question is : … and Cuba? Where are the news from Cuba? Where are the really important news that the Cuban people need to know? Why underestimate the people? Why Granma is limited to “copy and paste” from Internet articles and modify them at will? Does this is news? But leaving aside all of that, I repeat my question: What about Cuba? In Cuba things do not happen very important and necessary to inform? Or is that “America” is much more important to give the vast majority of print space? Mr Barredo: Are you aware of the damage that his newspaper is doing? Finishing my reading I went to the billboard television, where most of the spaces and movie star material covered by “United States”, of course, are television materials “stolen” the United States and broadcast on national television illegally, violating a lot of international standards and copyright. Anyway, I had enough to read the “Granma”, so I have no desire to talk about the Yanks.
As I said at the beginning of my letter, I like being “well” informed, and unfortunately the newspaper “Granma” leaves much to be desired when one wishes to learn. That’s why I go to “internet”, at the same place where you Mr Barredo copy news, statistics, international opinion, but in my case what I report. I do not want the press “Cuban” or use the dirty letters of Miami. I just turn to neutral venues where I actually hear everything that happens in the world and many things happening in Cuba and Granma passes them by “not material”.
Is not it important to inform people of the real death toll in Cuba because of the flu AH1N1? According to unofficial sources the figure is over 6 dozens of deaths. Is not it important to inform people of the economic and political plans is the Cuban government? Is not it important to have people waiting for fake reforms proposed by President Raúl Castro? Are there problems in Cuba? What are you doing the Cuban government to eliminate the double currency? What will be done to solve the housing problem? What is being done to achieve comprehensive immigration reform in Cuba? What the Cuban government is doing to encourage real development of the country? Mr Barredo, the town is eager to know the truth and reality that what happens in Cuba. Mr Barredo also know that you are mediated by “people upstairs”, which has strict guidelines about what is published and I also know that there is careful monitoring of each print. But Mr Barredo: Why you are responsible for this band to cover the eyes called “Granma”? Do you not realize the serious social impact of their existing product irresponsibility? Since the Cuban people for some time is beginning to distrust the national press, and prefers not to believe, and often do not read and not heard.
Mr Barredo, allow me a suggestion. You should urgently change the name of his newspaper, disgrace to the magnificent yacht Granma, which among other things served to bring the deserved freedom to Cuba, and instead should rename it to “Titanic”, a big boat that sank his own people.
A. Delgado Soto
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 19:49
#103
Good idea!
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 19:10
Something its happening in Cuba right now that the goverment cannot control. its time for old loco fidel and his brother to leave. the cuban people yearn for freedom to share free expressions with the international community. on Dec 5th of this year in every city inhte world there would be a protest against the cuban goverment like no other. stay tune
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 18:38
To all,
There is are very negative, vulgar and low life posts in Claudia’s site. We need to make our presence there too and support her too!
Humberto Capiro
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 18:19
http://www.neoliberalismo.com/barbacoa/index.htm Go to the bottom of the article. Click in the link is great.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 18:15
This in 1996 about ten years before GY.
http://www.neoliberalismo.com/barbacoa.htm
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 18:14
Statue
That was the intetion, to bring freedom to Cuba. Also you have to realize that the letter was written by a young Cuban who is still in Havana.Please, as Julio said try to understand. Put yourself in this kid shoes of this young and brave Cuban.He could be Yoani’s young brother if you think about it. Honestly I think is is a great letter.
Also Yoani phenomenum has precendent. Check this out..
http://www.neoliberalismo.com/barbacoa.htm
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 16:15
As for the woman covering her face with her hands it shows I think what we call
Mens rea
Not only her actions are bad but also that her mind is also guilty, she may know inside her that what she does is wrong!
That is a great step!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 16:12
Statue
You have to look at things into context
When Granma arrive in Cuba there was the Batista dictatorship. Everyone believe that Fidel Castro and his group will bring about a democracy a real democracy back to Cuba.
Now as we all know it did not happen.
The deliverer of freedom became the torturer and a bigger dictator than the one before him.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 15:52
hey, my respect and love to you!!
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 15:48
Hank on 85
Yes I also believe that the key is in forgiveness otherwise this becomes a never ending cycle of violence.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 15:30
Nota de aclaración en la carta al “Granma”
El párrafo final dice:
“Señor Barredo, permÃtame una sugerencia. DeberÃa urgentemente cambiarle el nombre a su periódico, deshonra al magnÃfico yate Granma, que entre otras cosas sirvió para traer la merecida libertad a Cuba; y en su lugar deberÃa renombrarlo por “TITANICâ€, un gran barco que hundió a su propia gente.
A. Delgado Soto ”
Este barco al que hacen referencia, debÃa haberse hundido antes de tocar playas Cubanas y nunca sirvió para traer la libertad a Cuba como dice el Sr. Soto, al contrario retrocedimos con el advenimiento de este nefasto régimen totalitario que amordaza a todo un pueblo.
In my humble opinion “Granma” never was a tool of freedom to us Cubans, on the contrary, the system imposed by these thugs is well known and the Cuban people lost its freedom with the coming of communism or castrism, or any other word you may want to use.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 14:26
Hank#92
Agree. We hope for the best, but we have to be ready for the worst.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:46
#88
Concubino,
I do know what he did with his enemies after 1959. I know very well. And I agree with you, a pluralistic inclusive society is what we want. I hope we get it, but it is going to be extraordinarily difficult and it won’t come without a price.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:36
Yes, I do. That letter is powerfully written. It is the first time I have seen it. Thank you for showing it to us.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:35
Hank: Now that Iread thelink thhe letter was never published, but it is well known.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:31
I don’t know HanK. I just recieved this morning from my sister it is very weel know among the Students of CUJAE university.You read in Spanish?
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:28
Hank
Just read your whole comment. Very interesting. Hopefully you know what Castro did with his enemies after 1959.
Hope with the inevitable change,Cubans do not do the same.Those who are guilty of crimes should be accountables, but we don’t want a blod bath.We just want to move on.We hope for a new Cuba plural and inclusive of all.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:25
#82
Concubino,
Is this letter actually published in Cuba?
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:20
Well, apperently the quote was missatribute to Winston Churchil.
“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain”.
According to research by Mark T. Shirey, citing Nice Guys Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar Misquotations by Ralph Keyes, 1992, this quote was first uttered by mid-nineteenth century historian and statesman François Guizot when he observed, Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head. This quote has been attributed variously to George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Disraeli, Otto von Bismarck, and others
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:13
Very interesting conversation.
I have a good friend in his mid 60s, a Spaniard. He has lived all his life in Spain, which means he experienced Franco and the ultimate demise of that regime. I asked him recently about the transition, when Spain became a democracy after Franco’s death.
One of the things I was interested in was, what happened to all the people who collaborated with the fascists? What happened to the informants and neighborhood watch creeps who kept tabs on everyone and reported to the authorities. What happened to them? Were there reprisals? Was it like Vichy France after WWII, when they executed the collaborators and shaved the heads of women who slept with the Nazis? There are countless other examples.
But what I really wanted to know from him was, what do you think will happen in Cuba? How do we avoid a blood bath when it collapses and this nightmare finally ends?
What he told me very simply was this: “The key is to forgive.” However hard it might be, however difficult it is, there must be foregiveness or else there is nothing but more horror.
Maybe it is premature to even speak about it. I just wonder what balance will be struck between accountability, bringing the criminals and murderers to justice and reconciliation. It can’t be very far from their thoughts. The photographs we have all seen speak volumes. The woman covering her face with her hands must know. Even “Agent Rodney” must feel it by now, or maybe not. The photographs do something more though. They demonstrate once again the banality of evil.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:08
Here the quote from Winston Churchil
“In war it does not matter who is right, but who is left. Joe loved the working man, …. Show me a young conservative and I’ll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old liberal and I’ll show you someone with no brains. If you are not a socialist by the time you are 25, you have no heart. If you are still a …
en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill -”
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:02
Andy:
The saying goes like this:(please forget comment 81)
“When you are young if you are not in the “LEFT†you have no HEART, but when you are old if you are not in the “RIGHT†you have no BRAINâ€.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 13:00
For those who read in Spanish
http://www.cujae.net
Información acerca de la vida universitaria en Cuba
Carta enviada a Granma por un estudiante el 30 de octubre del 2009
Carta enviada por A. Delgado Soto al periódico Granma
Leer el Granma, la angustiante comedia.
Creo que he tardado bastante en escribirle al periódico y en especial al Señor Barredo. No son sólo quejas personales lo que planteo en este correo, son quejas y demandas de la mayorÃa del pueblo. Me gusta estar bien informado del acontecer nacional e internacional.
Cada dÃa leo el periódico Granma y esto precisamente no es un halago directo al periódico; aunque reconozco la labor de muchos periodistas cubanos que son muy serios y responsables. Mis preguntas son para el señor Barredo: ¿Usted se cree realmente todo lo que escribe en su periódico? ¿Usted no conoce internet? ¿Usted señor Barredo no sabe el daño tan grande que le está haciendo a la sociedad y al paÃs?
Hoy nuevamente he leÃdo el Granma, como cada dÃa, y mi criterio al finalizar la última lÃnea como lector escéptico es totalmente negativo. Es increÃble la tomadura de pelo que es “Granmaâ€. Mi conclusión al finalizar la pausada y clara lectura es que los Estados Unidos son muy malos, que Estados Unidos tiene una crisis económica muy grande, que Estados Unidos ha tenido millares de fallecidos por la gripe A(H1N1), que Estados Unidos tiene un pésimo sistema de salud, que en Washington hay sobornos, que Estados Unidos firma acuerdo militar con Colombia, que le exigen la salida al embajador de Estados Unidos en Nicaragua, un gran análisis de lo que vota Estados Unidos en las Naciones Unidas… y mi pregunta es: ¿…y Cuba? ¿Dónde están las noticias de Cuba? ¿Dónde están las noticias realmente importantes que el pueblo cubano necesita saber? ¿Por qué subestiman al pueblo? ¿Por qué “Granma†sólo se limita a “copiar y pegar†de internet los artÃculos y modificarlos a su antojo? ¿Acaso eso es prensa? Pero dejando todo eso de un lado, reitero mi interrogante: ¿Qué pasa con Cuba? ¿En Cuba no suceden cosas importantes y necesarias de informar? ¿O es que “Estados Unidos†es mucho más importante que le otorgan la gran mayor parte del espacio impreso? Señor Barredo: ¿Usted está consciente del daño que su periódico está haciendo? Terminando mi lectura me dirigà a la cartelera televisiva, dónde la mayorÃa de los espacios estelares y cinematográficos están cubiertos por materiales de “Estados Unidosâ€, por cierto, son materiales televisivos “robados†a Estados Unidos y difundidos ilegalmente por la televisión nacional, violando un montón de normas internacionales y los derechos del autor. Pero bueno, ya bastante he tenido con leer el “Granmaâ€; asà que ningún deseo me queda de hablar de los Yankis.
Cómo les he dicho al principio de mi carta, me gusta estar “bien†informado, y lamentablemente el periódico “Granma†deja mucho que desear cuando uno desea informarse. Por eso es que acudo al “internetâ€, al mismo lugar dónde usted señor Barredo copia las noticias, las estadÃsticas, las opiniones internacionales; pero en mi caso lo hago para informarme. No me interesa la prensa “anticubanaâ€, ni consumo los sucios escritos de Miami. Simplemente me dirijo a sitios neutrales dónde efectivamente me entero de todo lo que sucede en el mundo y de muchas cosas que suceden en Cuba y que “Granma†las pasa por “no importantesâ€.
¿No es importante informarle al pueblo de la cantidad de muertos reales que hay en Cuba por motivo de la gripe AH1N1? Según fuentes no oficiales la cifra supera las 6 decenas de fallecidos. ¿No es importante informarle al pueblo de los planes económicos y polÃticos que tiene el gobierno cubano? ¿No es importante tener a un pueblo esperando por falsas reformas planteadas por el presidente Raúl Castro? ¿No existen problemas en Cuba? ¿Qué está haciendo el gobierno cubano para eliminar la doble moneda? ¿Qué se hará para solucionar el problema de la vivienda? ¿Qué se está haciendo para lograr una reforma migratoria en Cuba? ¿Qué está haciendo el gobierno cubano para incentivar el real desarrollo del paÃs? Señor Barredo, el pueblo tiene ansias de conocer la verdad y la realidad que lo que sucede en Cuba. También sé Señor Barredo que usted está mediado por “gente de arribaâ€, que tiene orientaciones estrictas acerca de lo que se publica y también sé que existe una supervisión minuciosa de cada letra impresa. Pero Señor Barredo: ¿Por qué usted se hace responsable de esta venda para tapar los ojos llamada “Granmaâ€? ¿Usted no se da cuenta del grave impacto social que existe producto de su irresponsabilidad? Ya el pueblo cubano desde hace tiempo está comenzando a desconfiar de la prensa nacional, y prefiere no creer, y muchas veces no leer y no oir.
Señor Barredo, permÃtame una sugerencia. DeberÃa urgentemente cambiarle el nombre a su periódico, deshonra al magnÃfico yate Granma, que entre otras cosas sirvió para traer la merecida libertad a Cuba; y en su lugar deberÃa renombrarlo por “TITANICâ€, un gran barco que hundió a su propia gente.
A. Delgado Soto
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Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 12:58
Andy:
The saying goes like this:
“When you are old if you are not in the “LEFT” you have no HEART, But when you are old if you are not in the “RIGHT” you have no BRAIN”.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 09:11
LOVE THE GRAPHICS ON THIS ARTICLE WITH YOANI IN THE MIDDLE OF FIDEL, RAUL, LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART.
BOOK REVIEW:’Without Fidel’: What’s next for Cuba?
“Nonetheless, Ann Louise Bardach is cautiously optimistic. This intrepid reporter and Cuba maven believes Raúl would like to institute a form of glasnost. But unlike Gorbachev, he has no intention of peacefully relinquishing power. Standing in his way is Fidel, whose protracted and satisfyingly painful leavetaking of this world, alas, has not deterred him from exerting his megalomaniacal will over a beleaguered country he has treated like his personal slave plantation for half a century.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/ent.....31839.html
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 07:09
76
Mr.Hialeah
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 04:44
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The first condition to be a mental patient is to not understand you are a mental patient, the second is to believe you are superior to all other people just because you believe your behaviors are normal and the third is to not understand the utility of a train horn……. I am very sorry with you little one but if you do not understand the utility of a train horn you then must be very careful to not mistake one of them with a suppository!!!!!!!
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 05:01
Mr. H — I probably don’t agree with you on anything except that this made me fall off my chair…
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if it’s a woman “No man wants to date me because I blog all dayâ€
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Sorry.. I can’t stop laughing. (But thank god Yoani found her man before she started all that typing!!!!!)
I’m going to plagiarize you every chance I get… it’s too great a characterization to let it die in the comment section of Gen Y!!!!!!
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 04:56
John Two — wasn’t it Winston Churchill who said something about “no man under 30 with a heart” [of course it would have been a man... not a person, or a 'man or woman'] could fail to be a socialist while “no man over 40 with a brain” could fail to reject it. ?? Google is not giving me the exact quote right now.
In any event… when I was a young PERSON, of course communism/socialism sounded great… oh let’s go to Cuba and cut cane and support the glorious revolution [I was too young to even consider it, thank god]… but… also at every age I’ve ever been… I’ve never been a joiner and nor susceptible to the calls of the charismatic cranks in the world [just my luck... no cleverness on my part... I hate being told what to do by ANYone].
I guess my comments now would be two:
1 — There was no Google when Churchill was talking, nor were the murderous excesses of Stalinist regimes so broadly known and acknowledged, nor able to be called up photographically with a few key strokes (and there never HAS been communism on a broad scale without totalitarianism and repression).
2 — I don’t think we’re hearing from starry-eyed 20 somethings here. We’re hearing from miserable, failed old people (or highly successful rich ones like Sean Penn who’ve made all their money under capitalism lucky them)… but in any event… the old guard. Supposedly intelligent people. Intelligent enough to read and write and work a computer. And they keep on about this crap. Against all evidence of human history!!!!!
I will tell you the most effective argument I have found when face to face with one of these loony tunes… in terms of communicating to them what it would really be like to live under this kind of government.
I say, “OK, think about the HORRIBLEST person in your entire condo, or if you don’t live in a condo, in your workplace. The pedantic, obnoxious, controlling, obsessive, know-it-all who is always trying to run everyone else’s life AND even if they weren’t you just can’t stand to be in the same room as them. Now imagine that this person is in charge of EVERYTHING in your life… where you live, where you work, they collect your salary and dole out your allowance — or don’t… maybe they just deliver to you whatever they think you should have… clothes, food, shelter — etc etc etc. THE MOST OBNOXIOUS PERSON YOU KNOW. You are essentially their slave. IMAGINE that. That is one one-millionth of the horror of life under Fidel. That is communism. Those are the people who are in charge. The petty bureaucrats who run the system and enforce it. IMAGINE it…”
Surprisingly… it often makes them think.
Well these obnoxious, old, apologists… they’re not Fidel of course but they ARE that person in your condo or your workplace.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 04:44
Andy,thanks for your support(I think).Being born and raised in Miami our generacion is sick and tired of most,not all,Cubans that come here and take it for granted.One of the first things they buy is a Big Ford pickup truck and install a train horn,Yes a train horn,and blasting it in front of people,never understood what’s the purpose of that.I was called,no given a condition of being a Racist earlier by a Sigmund Freud,who likes to type in large caps.I give Sigmund the condition of “Little Man Complex”or if it’s a woman “No man wants to date me becuase I blog all day”Anyways unlike most of you nerds I have a social life so time for me to go..
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 04:38
Andy, I always appreciate your perceptive posts. Regarding #63, perhaps I can provide a bit of insight because during my misspent youth I have to admit to dabbling a bit in the far left. I think what attracts young people to both far left and far right groups is a sense of belonging. It’s almost like joining a cult or joining a gang. The fact that your views (and occasionally actions) are rejected by mainstream society only adds to the sense that you have found the true path and everyone else is in the service of the imperialists (far left) or the one world order (far right).
Most of the young recruits to these movements grow out of it. In my case, it was becoming active in both Amnesty International and the NDP (a Canadian social democratic party strongly committed to political pluralism and human rights). But the leaders of these movements tend to be older and they’re always on the lookout for new recruits (university campuses being a prime recruiting ground). I called these leaders nut cases very deliberately. They have extremely manipulative, authoritarian personalities. While reluctant to comment on their mental health, in my experience some would definitely benefit from visiting a shrink.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 04:18
Humberto, re #69, since Havana Times founder Circles Robinson got booted out of Cuba a few months ago he seems willing to let his bloggers be more critical of the regime, and he’s no longer censoring reader comments (at least he hasn’t censored any of mine lately). Thank God, for a while there I was having to change pseudonyms every other post.
While Pedro Campos and other comrades are clearly disagreeing with the violence of the regime against people like Yoani, they don’t realize this is the inevitable result of a totalitarian regime maintaining exclusive control over political, military and police power. I think MarkG hit the nail on the head in one of the reader comments. Gee, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 03:17
ese negrito se parece a panfilo, mas que espian son ociosos que no tienen nada que hacer en su casa y van a pasear por las calles y da la impresion de que son oportunista que quieren sacar algo a yoanis, derrepente un billetico, unos CUc, PERO de espias nada tienen mas que el invento mental. saludos.
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 01:08
I MUST SAY HOW HAPPY I AM TO BE ABLE TO SEND A KICK IN THE “CULO” TO SOME OF YOANI’S OPRESSORS BY POSTING HER BLOG AND ARTICLE LINKS SHOWING THEIR FACES ON THE INTERNET! I FEEL LIKE SUCH A BIG BROTHER TO HER, CLAUDIA AND ALL THE OTHERS! DOES THAT DIVULGE MY AGE? I STILL HAVE MY HAIR!! GRACIAS A DIOS!
Humberto Capiro
Noviembre 14th, 2009 at 00:21
Mr. Hialeah — I appreciate your thought… but Yoani is not available for exchange because she is dedicated to staying in Cuba and making things better in her home country at any cost. I also have read that the journalists who are political prisoners from the Black Spring of 2003 have said clearly, NO, DO NOT EXCHANGE US FOR THE “CUBAN FIVE” — our job is here in Cuba.
Interesting. I don’t think I would have the guts in either case… I would say, yes please, let me out. But that is why they are courageous heroes and I am just an ordinary human being.
On another thought… can anyone understand why the Castro dictatorship doesn’t just let Yoani get on a plane to go get one of her awards and then NOT LET HER BACK IN THE COUNTRY? You’d think they’d be glad to be rid of her no matter what!!! Of course she would raise holy hell from abroad, but she’s already doing that from home and more effectively than she could ever do it from exile. Well I don’t pretend to understand how the forces of repression think.