Apartheid Persists
Reinaldo took the side of yes and he insisted and insisted. I, however, am of the generation that thinks ahead of time that nearly everything is prohibited, that they are going to scold me at every step and prevent me from doing anything that occurs to me. So this time the matrimonial discussion was intense. He claimed that we could board that boat to see Cienfuegos Bay from the swells of its waves; while the little voice inside me shouted that so much enjoyment could not be available to nationals. For a couple of hours I believed in my husband’s optimism and like a tropical Candide he got away with it. We went to the marina office near the Jagua Hotel and an official there sold us two tickets for the coveted boat trip. We never hid our breakneck Havana accents, nor tried to pass ourselves off as foreigners, but no one asked for identification. We felt there were already a pair of seats on board the yacht “Flipper” with our names on them and the murmur of skepticism faded in my head.
We arrived at the dock half an hour early. The sun-burnt tourists began to board the boat. Rei and I reached the spectacular corner from where we took photos of that bay as big as an ocean. The dream lasted barely five minutes. When the captain heard us talking he asked if we were Cubans. He shortly informed us that we had to go ashore, “boat rides are prohibited for nationals at every marina in the country.” Rage, anger, the shame of carrying a blue passport makes us guilty — in advance — in the eyes of the law of our own nation. A feeling of deception on comparing the official discourse of a supposed opening with the reality of exclusion and stigma. We wanted to cause a scene and cling to the railing, to compel them to remove us by force, but what would it have served? My husband dusted off his French and told the group of Europeans what was happening. They looked surprised, whispered among themselves. None of them disembarked — in solidarity with the excluded — from that coastal tour of our island; none of them found it intolerable to enjoy something that is forbidden to us, its natives.
The Flipper sailed, the wake of apartheid was visible for a few seconds and then was lost among the dark waters of the bay. The face of the musician Benny Moré on a nearby poster seemed to have exchanged its smile for a sneer. On one side of his chin was the famous refrain from one of his songs: “Cienfuegos is the city I like best…” We left that place. Reinaldo defeated in his illusion and I sad that my suspicions had triumphed. We waked along the road to Punta Gorda while an idea took shape in our minds: “If Benny had lived in these times, he too would have been thrown off — like a mangy dog — from that yacht.”
Noviembre 27th, 2011 at 14:49
Damir,
I appreciate your response. As I am a new reader I am trying to make my way through the previous articles, as well as read other authors on here. It is taking its time, moslty not using a good computer internet
Responses:
- the minder thing is from O’Rourke’s quote - we did not have minder, only a guide. I was with a group of friends, I think the guess of a partner may be from O’Rourke’s quote as well (he stated wife)
But what I would like to know is: what is your link or interest with cuban affairs, and why are the reasons you are (I guess) against this blog?
Noviembre 27th, 2011 at 02:39
Fresita, yo have written too many things to address them all. I’ll just mention a few comments because I find them interesting. One is your “minder”. As someone who was there many a time by now, and never had one, how did you actually get one in the first place? And why?
I can understand a group tourist guide (which were highly opinionated back in the early nineties, no doubt. And some were outright rude too.), but you seem to have been just with you partner, judging from your post.
The second is the wrong statement of that Bourke journalist you mentioned: “people can, do and will say anything. But people cannot lie about their actions.”
Absolutely wrong. People lying about their actions is the main subject of our lies. 99% of all lies are about what we did and do not want others to know.
It may appear that my posts are “angry” if you simply jump in and read nothing else. You should go back two or three years to see my original posts and the real anger my thoughts were met with. Insults and name calling, for merely expressing my opinion.
You will notice that I do NOT call anyone by their name, unlike the losers here who do just that, showing the level of their primitive intellects.
The fifth column is a term coined in Spanish civil war, by a general of Franco’s army, and it stands for internal traitors. He depended heavily on those traitors in the partizans’ army, in order to defeat them.
Without the traitors from within, the Spanish civil war would have been won by communists, and there would never have been Franco’s dictatorship, which was strongly supported by the “free” and “democratic” capitalist countries.
Noviembre 26th, 2011 at 17:32
Damir - here is a quote from a journalist I enjoy, and it is regarding people speaking about their experiences. He was commenting on a previous quote of his that the last person to ask about the affairs of a country is a politician, and what to do instead
P J O’Rouke
“Always the best thing to do is look and listen. Because people can, do and will say anything. But people cannot lie about their actions. What people do is what they do. So hanging around in markets, hanging around in government agencies, hanging around with the military, hanging around with rebels, if you can, and watching what they do. Just hanging out.
You know, people are such terrible blabbermouths. Sooner or later, if you hang around with people long enough, they’ll start telling you their story. They can’t help it. It’s something in people’s nature.
My wife and I were down in Cuba and we got a government minder who took us around, to keep an eye on us, make sure we didn’t talk to any miscreants. That lasted about 20 minutes before he started complaining about his life and telling us how hard it was to buy a mattress and on and on. He was just completely spilling the beans.”
My point for this quote is to show you that anyone can talk, regardless of potential consequence. People may want to talk, alleviate stress, share their story or just talk talk. I do not know where you are in the world or what cuba means to you, but do you discuss other causes with such passion?
Noviembre 20th, 2011 at 18:47
Hello again to all
Thank you for your information, I will look to consider your information carefully. Coming to Cuba again is not something I can do at present, or the Americas at all. I will do some more research and see if I can help where I am, or if you can direct that would be good. Thanks to Humberto and Help for their responses
In response to Damir, I will give my details of Cuba. Hopefully you will see maybe where I have been or my experience.
I was 19, and travelling with non Spanish friends, I was helping with translation. We went to Santa Clara mostly, and did tour of rest of island in five days with the tour guide. The non Cuban tour company made it clear that travelling without guide was a problem and that to do more than to be in Santa Clara we needed to pay for the guide (cuc). Perhaps being a bit naïve and the first time leaving home, I went along with it. We were told of danger and tourist kidnaps or robberies so we stuck to their tours and paid money to the European company.
The guide for the tour was Cuban who had worked for an embassy but changed to tourism to fund his family. He talked at the time how taxes changed each month, depending on the current research or policies,and this made it difficult to plan financially, and sometimes there was not enough money. We all had questions like why no adverts on the street at all if there is only one country embargo? Why such limited goods if embargo is only with america? Etc. As we had high school education which only covered Cuba in the sixties and Cuba is told to other people to be a great equaller of common wealth, an example of successful communism and having excellent health services,and perhaps also because many teenagers in Europe have che and communism as a kind of role model I did not know before going people were so poor, or of the two currency and so on. So we had a lot of questions and I think rather than the tour guide telling us everything, he was trying to make us understand and it was a fine balance between knowledge and opinion. He told us he longed to travel but was not able, but he did not share such great detail as yoani does or perhaps can?
We went on a boat and they told us about the seafood ban, outside of hotels we could not get beef because of the beef ban, no drinks we knew from before except the ron,instead state cola and state beer is it? Only one type- buccaneer? We went in hotels and the guide was not there sometimes. To his best he explained the posters (we understood it as propaganda) as they were all anti-American or pro revolution. Anytime we were left alone in the street Cubans surrounded us - the guide would come running back, ask them to leave us alone. I spoke to one person before we were herded away, they asked for cuc, they said one cuc would feed their family. The guide pulled us away, saying any victory would cause mobs. Reluctantly, we went. We were taken to specific shops prices in cuc only, they were quiet, and when we asked to go elsewhere, we were told it was not possible. In our visits to other towns we went only to their chosen shops and street vendors if we got away for a short time. We felt herded and separated from a real experience and knowledge.
In hotels, we talked to cleaners. They told us that if they wanted jobs like doctors and teachers, the state paid for the education, but they had to give their time back at the end for free to work in poor areas, which is noble but not always practical, which is why they were maids to try and help earnings. We made a conscious effort to tip all the people who helped us, but it is difficult to get everyone fairly. As I said in my post I was naïve to the extent these things happened, and yoani blog helped me to put another view onto the trip - why were we always accompanied,private transport,did not meet Cubans socially, why are we always told where to go and who to speak with, why the limited resources, why the full fruits for tourist but not for nationals? I’m sure there is more from my experience, but I struggle to remember now all of it. Hopefully this makes my travel clearer for you
Now my comment to you damir-
What is fifth column? I have seen it mentioned many times by you and do not know. I admit I am reliant on internet and publication, I cannot return to Cuba for finances, so I do not know what you are talking about or how the wikipedia definition fits in here
Usa agent - again, what is this? Perhaps I am naïve of this world but I don’t see how some federal people from America have any benefit to set up a blog and talk of Cuba. I do not know what nationality you are so I don’t know how you experience Cuba, or if you are Cuban. But what is the point of American agency? If the Americans have wars in middle east and so on why do they need argument being stirred with Cuba? Maybe if you have argument against the case held on these blogs maybe to write in common person terms. All this white god thing it confuses and I cannot discuss your opinion or even hold my own up if I do not understand
Third - everyone has an opinion, including me, you, everyone here. Your writing seems so angry against others, why?
Fourth - the feeling of oppression, fear or paranoia will vary in individuals the same as happiness, sadness or love. You say the tour guide should have been fearful - maybe he just was not? To use other example, other countries have had secret police - Nazi Germany, East Germany, Hungary, so on. At some point all of those systems will have arrested someone who said the wrong thing to the wrong person, did not praise in the right place, cast a disparaging look or offered to lend material to someone they should not. Their trust could have been misplaced, they could have been naïve, or perhaps they did none of those things and were reported, or they did those things for a long time and felt safe to an extent and did not continue with same level of security. Not everyone will feel the same level of fear, not everyone will use a small level of paranoia as protection from mistakes, and some people will be unintentionally careless. Just because he did not defacate does not mean it does not exist for others, no? There is a Russian sign, maybe common in other countries I do not know, you look to the ceiling silently. It means ‘they are listening’ translated this is - think about what is coming out of your mouth. There is a very good film about east Germany and oppression called ‘lives of others’ about someone who listens to someone elses life for the government. Go to the terror house in Hungary and see the cells for counter revolutionaries. The evidence is there for other places, so why so impossible in Cuba? what am i not seeing, from your view?
Many other countries experience oppression, and as I have got older and less materialistic and selfish, and more interest in charity- I read amnesty internation, a non government human rights charity. I became more interested in helping the world instead of just myself, and this is why I am writing here now. So concluding, anyone can feel oppressed, anywhere. They had the Arab springs in Arabia, which is display of systematic oppression. There are concentration camps in north Korea which can be seen from satellite, people have escaped and told their horrific stories. ‘wild swans’ is a book about a woman who experienced Chinese oppression through the cultural revolution. So if oppression is world wide, why cannot Cuba be oppressed also? Why cannot people want change? Not everyone will feel oppression or even know it exists if they see nothing else.
Hopefully this post was not too long or useless, and may allow for some debate
Fresi
Noviembre 16th, 2011 at 01:45
Castro courtship of African American leadership has been for political gain. His intervention in Africa was based on geopolitical calculations to serve the interests of the Soviet Union and prop his regime. He saw the plight of Africans as an opportunity to be seized to advance his own interests.
A number of Cuban blacks made it to positions of great political power during the democratic era. Batista, Cuba military leader, President and strongman, was of mix race, white (Spaniar) and Taino Indian. During his leadership a large number of the army officers were black and mulattos. The black population was proud of Batista mix ancestry. Under the Castros’ military dictatorship blacks and mulattos, that comprised 36% of the population, hold only six seats in the 24-member Politburo, and only 15 blacks hold seats in the 150-member Central Committee. Only three backs are among the 52 most senior members of the regime government. Castro brothers’ military leadership has practically no blacks in its ranks, where 95% of high ranking senior officers are white.
Noviembre 15th, 2011 at 07:14
Post 76, a few very interesting points:
1. Don’t you find it funny that you visited Cuba so many years ago and did not see any oppression you read about here (mostly stupidities and lies written by the usanian terrorist agents)? And even your tour guide talked about the problems in Cuba to foreigners. If you were to believe the team “yoani” lies and propaganda, the tour guide would have been soiling his/her pants just by thinking of telling something, yet yours actually TALKED about problems at the time of your visit.
This from you:”I am sad that when I was younger and I went to Cuba that we did not know of the restriction people had, our tour guide told us of some problems”
2. Your other question:
“We were told by the tour company (not the tour guide cubano) that we had to buy everything legitimate from the state owned shops as everything else is fake and you cannot leave the country with fakes and without goberment stamps on the things - is this true? Are the tour companies stopping people from contributing to the common person?”
I suggest you travel again and SEE for YOURSELF how many people are selling souvenirs, just like in any tourist destination, and you CAN bring them out with you out of CUBA.
Rather than naively believing the nonsense so deliberately presented on this site, I suggest you go there and make your own conclusions.
You will be surprised and you will see that the real CUBA is somewhat different to Cuba these fifth column and traitors of their own country (it runs in the genes) are trying to make you think is real.
Noviembre 15th, 2011 at 07:04
Yeah, let us see how blacks fare under Castros:
Let us talk about a country full of those hated (according to the pioneers of this support brigade to the failed “democracy fighters”, the team “yoani”), niggers.
Haiti.
You, “freedom fighters” and “humanists” to no end have already even forgotten about it.
Too busy talking stupidities and total nonsense about a foreign country, called Cuba, that you have no right to speak about. Or against.
See, Haiti was facing pandemonium with cholera only a few months ago.
And what did the “charity” organisations do in the wake of a possible epidemy?
They just about all LEFT the country and left the people of Haiti to their own devices.
The only doctors, who were there well before the earthquake, the CUBAN doctors!!! remained on the island.
And it is exclusively thanks to these CUBAN doctors that the epidemy of cholera was prevented and another massive human disaster averted.
So much about Cubans hating those “niggers”.
The only haters here are those losers whose loser status seems to be gentically transmitted from parents to children.
These real losers then find a Marx-forgotten “blog” page like this one and spill their venom, and loser shift, to their hearts content.
Being losers they do not understand that it is in vain.
Once a loser, ALWAYS a loser.
That is why they are now foreigners and live in a country that keeps them alive because, let’s face it, someone has to clean the sewage, swipe the streets, baby sit and waiter in restaurants…
More than that one simply cannot get out of those empty losers’ heads who look at you and see a white “god”.
It is quite uncomfortable telling another human being, “Stop licking my feet, you stupid…”
Noviembre 15th, 2011 at 00:55
How blacks have fared under Castro? Cuban blacks, along with the rest of the Cubans, do not have the right to their own opinion if it runs contrary to the Castros regime line. The treatment in prison for the black are harsh, but even worse for those who voice their opinions against the regime. The truth is that the existence of black dissidents is a slap in the face for the Castros regime, and that is the reason they treat them even worse that other dissidents.
Noviembre 14th, 2011 at 20:47
Fresita! Thanks for you story and concern! I usually get asked to bring small flash drives and blank DVDs! You can put many books in a PDF format and videos etc in these flash drives and the Cubans there will do the rest via the underground networks. There are ways for this information to be passed around even if selected pages.
Noviembre 14th, 2011 at 19:07
Fresita,
I can only tell you what happened to me and people I know. I suggest you contact people in the Cuban community in America and ask their advice. Maybe Humberto can give you some contacts.
Here’s my opinion. The stuff you left for the cleaners probably went to good use. People will either use, trade, share or sell almost everything you leave. The only thing is the stuff maybe didn’t get to the cleaner, someone else in the hotel could have stolen it. I put everything right into the hands of the cleaner, and in private where her boss won’t demand a cut. If you’re leaving bigger things like clothes, not money, make sure you wait for the cleaner and show it to her in your room. You can just explain that you didn’t want anyone stealing it.
Don’t worry about the tour companies. These days you can always leave their company, make friends with ordinary people and help someone in need. The person who told you that story might have been ignorant or just trying to con you. Almost nobody who works for a tour company will be honest, there are exceptions these days though. But they usually have to get to know you first.
The only problem we’ve had with books is when we brought in a lot. In the past they sometimes spent an hour browsing every page of every book, looking for something subversive. If you bring in subversive stuff, like 1984, just put it in your handbag and make it look like it’s for you, although you’re safer bringing in more politically correct material.
And like I said, don’t believe anyone. It can take time before someone will tell you how they feel. Especially people who have good jobs or are connected to the communist party. I’m not kidding, some people who you think are hard-core communists and always go to hear Fidel or Raul speak really hate communism and Castro. Just a type of prostitution, the only job available after 59.
I suggest you go down with nothing in mind, walk around a lot and make friends, and if you want you can walk into a few churches and ask how you can help the poor. The only source of income for almost all Cubans is 1) their families outside of Cuba 2) tourists 3) the black market. If they don’t have one of those, they risk starvation.
Thanks for wanting to help.
Noviembre 14th, 2011 at 15:20
One irrelevant little soccer player from Eastern Eurpose now speaks for the world. Ha ha.
Noviembre 14th, 2011 at 14:49
Helo
Firstly, thank you to Yoani for this great blog. I did not know of it before, and I was watching a television channel, which houses a lot of independent documentaries and there was one on Cuba, where you were discussed amongst other things about hidden Cuba. I am so glad for the education, and I will look at other blogs now.
I have two questions: Firstly, I have seen the list of ‘help’ on how people can help, donating money and more. Is this tracked by ayuntamiento, and can there be problems from this because of identity? I would like to have send things to Cuba, but I know no person and no address - so it would be that money would be the only way?
Secondly, I was a tourist in Santa Clara many years ago when I was a lot younger, I also went to Trinidad, Habana and many other places on my tour. Do Cubans think that tourism should be boycott to tell the regime that responsible tourist will not go, or will this cause more harm as tourist provide tips/propinas to the persons?
I am sad that when I was younger and I went to Cuba that we did not know of the restriction people had, our tour guide told us of some problems, nothing direct but obviously now I am older I see that there was issue to tell us of what was really happen. We left all of our non essential items for the cleaners at our hotel, we were hoping that they make use of them, maybe now this was not the case. We were told by the tour company (not the tour guide cubano) that we had to buy everything legitimate from the state owned shops as everything else is fake and you cannot leave the country with fakes and without goberment stamps on the things - is this true? Are the tour companies stopping people from contributing to the common person?
Another question, now that I am writing. I am a fan of bookcrossing.com, it is a way to spread books for free. Should tourist bring their books and leave them in Cuba? Would this help to bring and leave books from other places, if to bring electricals get taken from them as books are not likely to be check at airport?
Another scheme i like is stuff your rucksack, taking things like pencils to local orfanages so that they have things to work with. is there anything else like this in cuba?
Hopefully this was not too disjointed and it makes sense to someone.
Abrazos xxx
Noviembre 14th, 2011 at 11:25
I hope when Iran starts nuking people, Damir is there. Last words from Damir will be: “please God, I take it all back”
Noviembre 14th, 2011 at 08:46
Castros don’t need to tell to Cubans nothing about the usa. Cubans are intelligent enough to see through the glitzy-rosy paper and realise that the presents do not exist. Only a lot of shift. And with the usa now ramping up the attack on Iran, when only the last week they were “complaining” about Israel’s recalcitrance and hrad-headed approach to Iran, it is clear that the pretext is being made for the fsailed nazist dictatorship to revive its’ only profitable industry - weapons of mass destruction,
I suggest we nuke the usa an have them see how does it look and feel being attacked simply because “we don’t like you” shifty attitude.
Who reckons they wouldn’t like being bombed into the oblivion?
Luckilly, no one cares what the usanians would think about being dusted up. Nazists are irrelevant and should be destroyed at sight. Start with all the surviving ex-”presidents”, and the finish off the job with whatever is left standing.
And finally there will be some peace on this sad little planet where criminals talk “democracy” and “freedom” while killing people who have done nothing against them.
Noviembre 13th, 2011 at 03:05
Castros’ regime has told the people of Cuba for 52 years, that the United States is a racist government. What are they going to tell them now? They were tricked 52 years ago, only to find out that all the promises of a better tomorrow were just that, promises, empty promises that he never intended to keep. The majority of casualties in foreign wars ware black Cubans, and 80% of prisoners are black Cubans. The Castro brothers’ regime will not be able to use the race card again.
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 11:43
Damir
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 11:04
And let me remind all readers, no matter how few there are, of the post by the copy and paste genius, who also contradicts herself on a daily basis, that she not so long ago posted an interview with a Cuban pensioner who had RETURNED to CUBA after 340 years of slavery in “some kind of pragmatic capitalism”, and said that
“The life in Cuba is G O O D !!!!”
She returned to Cuba after 340 years in the United States? She lived a very long life, we must be doing something right.
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 11:40
An instance where one person said that life in Cuba was good means that everyone thinks that life in Cuba is good? Wow, you must have graduated from the school of pretzel logic. Find another quote, please, you’ve rolled out that same old tired quote ad nauseum.
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 11:04
And let me remind all readers, no matter how few there are, of the post by the copy and paste genius, who also contradicts herself on a daily basis, that she not so long ago posted an interview with a Cuban pensioner who had RETURNED to CUBA after 340 years of slavery in “some kind of pragmatic capitalism”, and said that
“The life in Cuba is G O O D !!!!”
The censors of this web site only removed the incriminating interview excerpts after DAMIR pointed it out and made them all, both the team “yoani” and the copy and paste “genius” the laughing stock of internet.
It may not be widely known but the joke on those losers and traitors was raging in various forums around the internet.
Some are still calling the culprits the names I cannot repeat here, not being “one of the boys” and will have the post deleted immediately if I did.
Unlike those brain-deprived “democracy-fighters” with democracy credibility in the vicinity of -100%…
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 10:56
And the post 65, merely another one in a long line of self-delusional self-censure…
Talking about racism against ALL Cubans…
How on earth is that a racism, if both white and black Cubans are subjected to it?
It is sort of self-explanatory, but let us see if I can make the poor brainless “genius” understand the size of his/her eh… shall we call it error…?
Racism is negative treatment of one distinct group of people against the other distinct group of people. The distinction is by definition dependant of the colour of the skin, as the colour of the skin is the most visible racial ID.
It can also be a religion or ethnicity- based.
But, if all groups of people are subjected to the same treatment, then it is not racism we can talk about. It is discrimination.
Funny thing is, the only people who do not understand these fundamental, and very simple, definitions are the biggest whinners in the world: cuban traitors and fifth column…
The good news for these low life forms is that their white “gods” have a sympathetic ears for those cries and whinnings.
I guess, cretens of all colours unite and find each other no matter where they are.
They can smell the shift at extremely large distance and recognise each other in the masses instantly…
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 10:40
Oh, and did I mention how great is to be back in “some kind of pragmatic capitalism”? The country is falling apart, the prime minister finally leaving because his own party disowned him and turned against him, the economy in shatters and the whole EU walking on the brink of disintegration.
All the while the “leaders” of the free imperialist world (that’ll be the beloved “some kind of pragmatic capitalism”) on the other side of the Atlantic drowning in their own excrement while still pretending all is well because there’s China to come to the rescue.
But, and please someone correct me ifg I am wrong, is not China a communist country?
Yet the “best system ever since the potato peeler was invented, the “some kind of pragmatic capitalism”, is on its knees and begging commies to save them from their paradisiac system and the complete collapse…
Talking about absolute hypocrites.
Why not asking “god” to save their arses? The “in god they trust” one… Secular democracies that they are… exemplars of tolerance and friendliness (see Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Jugoslavia, Iceland, South America, Grenades, etc.etc.)
Yeah…
Noviembre 12th, 2011 at 10:27
Another creten posting her/his lunch freshly fished out from the sewage of white “gods”:
“The stupidity of the following statements is astounding:
“Secondly, this post AGAIN DEMONSTRATES the size of self-delusion and size of their lies!
If they were correct, then Cubans are massively pro=team “yoani” and other similar dissidents.
Once they were on the waves, the boat skipper would simply ignore them speaking Cuban Spanish, wouldn’t he? They would be all one big dissident family!!!”
Show me where Yoani has EVER claimed that every single Cuban agrees with her.”
No one ever said that.
Do you try to reason with a creten, or do you let this stupidity go because a creten simply cannot fathom the simple facts?
Smart people will know the difference so I choose to let these stupid and immesurably funny comments go… They speak for themselves (not to mention their authors…).
And make all those “millions” of visitors laugh histerically.
Noviembre 11th, 2011 at 15:45
Castro declared to the world that he had abolished racism in Cuba. Those who said the contrary were simply denigrating the revolution and were labeled “agents of American imperialism.” By denying the existence of racism in Cuba for 52 years, the regime guaranteed a safe haven for the perpetuation and growth of a rampant racism in Cuba. Cuban society continues to be today a profoundly racist society.
Noviembre 11th, 2011 at 02:42
It is time for the world to know how blacks are treated in Cuba, how everyday their rights are violated. They are constantly followed and provoke by the police, who throw them in jail for any minor charge they can think off. Castro brothers’ totalitarian regime squelches all human rights in the island. Racism remain widespread under their regime.
Noviembre 10th, 2011 at 18:42
pamela, it’s too bad your posts always show up late and Dumbir’s always show up quickly. You know, the 14,265,327 posts where he claims he’s censored and can’t post to this site.
Back to the subject here… the discrimination against Cubans goes way beyond racism. The main reason blacks are turned away from hotels more than whites is that whites are more likely to pass for European or American tourists. Many of the doormen doing the turning away are black. In the past, many of our white friends have been able to come into our hotel when management thought they were tourists, but the minute they opened their mouths the troubles began and they were blacklisted. At the same time, some black friends didn’t have problems because they knew the right people at the hotel.
So while racism is definitely a problem in Cuba, the problem that Yoani writes about is the discrimination that ALL Cubans suffer at the hands of the communist mafia nobility.
Noviembre 10th, 2011 at 17:36
when i saw castro gave that guy death for stealing the boat to come to america i was shock i never thought he was that hard core that sick i did not keep up with it thou he probly is dead wet foot dry foot law must change people are dieing out there but still they will still come they are other country out there too plus its hell viva humanity
Noviembre 10th, 2011 at 16:55
ACCORDING TO THE CUBA ARCHIVE TRUTH AND MEMORY PROJECT AS OF 2003, THERE ARE ALMOST 80,000 DOCUMENTED OF DEATHS BY THOSE FLEEING THE CASTROFASCIST JAIL ON BOATS, RAFTS ETC.! A MASS GRAVE THAT DIANA NYAD TRIED TO CROSS BUT THEIR GHOSTS DID NOT LET HER!
NBC MIAMI: 3 Cubans Wash Ashore in Miami, 4 Missing After Boat Sinks -Group left Havana on wooden boat Wednesday, reach Miami a day later
Three Cuban refugees made it ashore and four others were missing after their boat sank off Miami Beach Thursday morning, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
According to the Coast Guard, the three survivors — 46-year-old Osmany Cala, 44-year-old Leonel Caea, and 31-year-old Larizat Perez — had left Havana around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday with four others on a 15-20 foot wooden boat with an outboard motor.
When the boat began to sink, the group split into two, clinging to innertubes.
Cala, Caea and Perez arrived at the Tropical Food Market at 1025 Northeast 79th Street around 5:30 a.m., where owner Ruben Lopez gave them food and towels to warm them up.
The four others, three men and one woman, were still missing late Thursday morning and the Coast Guard had initiated a sea and air search for them, officials said.
The three who made it were taken by U.S. Border Patrol for processing.
Lopez told an NBC Miami reporter in Spanish she’d come to the U.S. because she “wanted a better life” and that “things were ugly in Cuba.”
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/133609148.html
Noviembre 10th, 2011 at 14:05
THE SH*T KEEPS HITTING THE FAN! BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THE CASTROFASCIST MAFIA! I YOU INVEST WITH GANGSTERS YOU EVENTUALLY GET BURNED!
THE ECONOMIST: Business in Cuba, A risky venture- Arrests of foreign businessmen reflect the cautious pace of reform
STANDING beside Belarusian tractors and Chinese machine parts at Havana’s annual trade fair last month, Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuba’s foreign trade minister, said the presence of 3,000 executives from over 60 countries proved the appeal of joint commercial ventures with the Cuban government. Many in the audience saw the speech as an attempt at reassurance. Since July Cuba has arrested several foreign managers, and closed three such ventures.
Most recently, on October 11th, Amado Fakhre, a British citizen and the head of Coral Capital, an investment fund, was woken at dawn and taken for questioning by state security agents. He has been held without charge ever since. His company owns Havana’s poshest hotel in partnership with the government, and hoped to win a $400m contract to build homes around a golf course. Its Havana office has been closed and declared a crime scene.
Two Canadian executives, Sarkis Yacoubian and Cy Tokmakjian, have met a similar fate. Their questioning has gone on for months, again without charge. Their companies imported cars (including the president’s fleet of BMWs) and machine parts destined for nickel mining.Cuba’s official media have not published details of the cases. But rumours of the allegations—which range from overpaying local staff to offering kickbacks for contracts—highlight the difficulties for foreign investors posed by President Raúl Castro’s incremental approach to reform.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Mr Castro’s brother and predecessor, Fidel, decided that Cuba had to court foreign investment to survive. Hundreds of companies, mostly from Europe and Canada, soon began investing in oil, mining and hotel construction. However, the government never set up tender contests to pick its corporate partners, encouraging corruption. It also required firms to hire workers through a state employment agency that paid meagre salaries, and to restrict any perks—even extra-tasty lunches in staff canteens.
As public finances deteriorated, the government cut distributions of subsidised food. Meanwhile, prices for items like soap and petrol have soared. State salaries of $20 a month can no longer cover basic expenses. Cubans fill the gap by trading on the black market, receiving foreign remittances or stealing from state firms.
Raúl Castro is trying to be bolder than his brother. To shrink the public payroll, he has legalised self-employment in over 180 professions. Last month he authorised Cubans to buy and sell homes and cars. Perhaps because some of these steps are controversial, he is also cracking down on corruption, which the cash-strapped state can no longer afford to fund. Gladys Bejerano, the comptroller-general, has had dozens of employees in the sugar, mining, telecom and tobacco industries jailed for graft.
Yet for now, Mr Castro still considers letting foreign firms pay market wages a step too far. That has forced companies to break the law—and run afoul of his newfound efforts to enforce it. “My people help run a business which brings in millions of dollars to Cuba,” says one European businessman, who pays bonuses to his entire local staff under the table. “I need to pay them a monthly salary which is rather more than the price of a taxi ride home.”
COPY AND PASTE LINK TO BROWSER IF NOT ACTIVE!
http://www.economist.com/node/21538202
Noviembre 10th, 2011 at 12:35
POPE JOHN PAUL II STIRRED UP THE CUBAN PEOPLE TO CRY OUT FOR FREEDOM WHEN HE VISITED CUBA FROM JAN. 21 TO JAN. 25, IN 1998! COULD POPE BENEDICT XVI TRIP HELP PUSH THE CASTROFASCISTS TOWARDS THE EXIT DOOR?
VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI is looking into visiting Cuba and Mexico next spring and will make a final decision shortly, the Vatican said Thursday.
The announcement marks the first word from the Vatican of a possible foreign trip for the pontiff next year, and signals that despite his age — he turns 85 in April — and increasing frailty, Benedict still intends to travel far to meet the world’s Catholics.
In recent days, the Vatican asked its papal envoys in Cuba and Mexico to inform religious and political authorities that Benedict is studying a “concrete project” to visit the two countries, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.
Lombardi said a visit by Benedict to Cuba would offer “great encouragement” to the island’s faithful, particularly as they celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba’s patron saint.
http://www.boston.com/news/wor.....320931186/
Noviembre 10th, 2011 at 03:32
Castro brothers’ regime continued to exclude Cuban blacks from tourist-related industries, where they can earn hard currency. They are frequently excluded from jobs and responsible positions that require contact with tourists. They live in inadequate housing. Racism is alive and well in the workers’ paradise.
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 22:13
PLEASE HELP JUDY GROSS AND THE CUBAN PEOPLE BY POSTING THIS SPEECH IN YOUR FACEBOOK PAGES, TWITTER ACCOUNTS AND SEND TO YOUR LISTS! THE JEWISH COMMUNITY KNEW OF ALAN GROSS’ WORK AND HE HAD A RECEIPT BY THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT TO BRING IN THE EQUIPMENT HE WAS FIRST CHARGED WITH BRINGING IN! ONLY AFTER THE CASTROFASCISTS KNEW OF THIS RECEIPT IS WHEN THEY CHANGED THE CHARGE TO “SUBVERSION”! THAT CHANGE OF TACTIC SHOWS THAT HE IS A HOSTAGE AND HE WAS ONLY ARRESTED IN ORDER TO TRADE FOR THE CUBAN 5 SPIES!
JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY: Gross’ wife, Judy, in an address Tuesday to the 2011 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America in Denver, made a plea for his freedom. Here is her GA speech.
Nearly two years ago, on the night of Dec. 3, 2009, the Shabbat table was set. In a half hour, Alan would be walking through the door, putting on his kippah and saying the motzi. When a half hour passed, I thought that his flight must be delayed. I checked and was a bit startled to find that the flight had landed on time. I began to have a sinking feeling.
After a few phone calls, I learned that Alan had not made it onto the flight. I knew then that something was very wrong. I learned later that night that Alan had been arrested, the charges unknown, and he was in a maximum security prison. This was the beginning of almost two years of incredible suffering for Alan, our family, and our friends.
Most of you don’t know Alan, so I’d like to say a few words about him. Above all he is a humanitarian. He has devoted his life to helping others. He has worked in over 50 countries with one goal: to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged. Alan is also passionate about the Jewish community, both here and abroad. He worked for both the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and the federation in Washington, and he has always been active in our congregation.
It is the combination of these qualities that brought Alan to the Jewish community in Cuba. He wanted to do what he always does: help his fellow Jews. The Jewish community in Cuba is small and spread out, and it is difficult for them to communicate with one another and with the rest of the world. Alan jumped at the chance to be able to help to improve their ability to connect and share. He helped them to better access the Internet so they could download prayer books and communicate with Jews around the world. He tried to help them create an “intranet” to bring the community closer together, allowing them to share things like recipes, prayers and even sports scores. This is what he was doing in Cuba. Nothing more.
Believe it or not, one of the most touching aspects of his work in Cuba came through during Alan’s brief trial in Havana. The Cuban government called several witnesses from the Jewish community to testify about Alan. I’ll never forget one man’s testimony. He was an older gentleman; he had trouble getting up to the witness stand. When the prosecutor asked him what Alan showed him on the Internet, he became emotional.
“We saw the world!” he cried out. He explained that Alan had used the Internet to show them places they had never seen before — pictures of the Western Wall in Jerusalem and the city of London.
And it is because of this humanitarian work that Alan is sitting in a jail cell today. That Alan has been convicted of crimes against the state of Cuba — and that he has been sentenced to 15 years in prison — for helping the Jewish community share prayers and look at images of Jerusalem is beyond any sense of reason. It is inhumane and it is unjust. Alan’s only intention was to help the small Jewish communities in Cuba. Nothing more. I believe that the Cuban authorities know this. They were at the same trial that I was; they heard the same testimony that I heard.
You may know about the health challenges we have faced in the family since Alan has been imprisoned. Both my daughters are suffering terribly from the thought that they may not see their father again. One of them has been diagnosed with — and is now battling — breast cancer, without her father by her side. Alan’s mother, who is also fighting cancer, is heartbroken that she may never see her son again. And of course there is Alan. He has lost more than 100 pounds. He is not well, and he is suffering every day, mentally, physically and spiritually.
Alan and we are desperate for him to return home. On the eve of the two-year anniversary of his arrest and incarceration, we want our community, our country and the world to remember that Alan Gross needs to be released from Cuba. We ask you to please join us in this effort. Contact your members of Congress and tell them to take action on Alan’s behalf. Tell everyone you know about Alan. Write letters to your newspapers. Let the Cuban government know that the Jewish community wants Alan home.
On behalf of Alan and our family, I want to thank all of you for your concern and your anticipated help. Thank you.
(This address by Judy Gross, the wife of Alan Gross, was presented Tuesday to the 2011 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America in Denver.)
http://www.jta.org/news/articl.....plea-to-ga
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 21:20
I HOPE HE MEANS ALSO “LA CHINA” RAUL AND “THE MUMMY” FIDEL! BUT WE KNOW THIS IS JUST CUBAN CIGAR SMOKE AND “LA CHINA’S” MIRRORS! I JUST LOVE THAT QUOTE! HOW CYNICAL AND HYPOCRITICAL! HAVE THEY ANY CREDIBILITY LEFT?
“…a crackdown on corruption that has given Cuba’s international business community the jitters will continue and warned that no one was immune from prosecution.”
REUTERS: Cuban official says corruption crackdown to go on - by Nelson Acosta; Writing by Jeff Franks; Editing by Kevin Gray and Anthony Boadle)
- Cuba’s top law enforcement official said Wednesday a crackdown on corruption that has given Cuba’s international business community the jitters will continue and warned that no one was immune from prosecution.
Attorney General Dario Delgado, speaking at a conference on corruption, said the anti-corruption drive now underway in Cuba is “systematic, permanent” and necessary to strengthen the communist country’s economy.
“We will continue fighting until exhaustion, mercilessly, against all manifestations of corruption in the country, committed by foreigners or nationals,” he said.
The crackdown began when President Raul Castro succeeded older brother Fidel Castro at the country’s helm in 2008 and said widespread theft and graft had to be eliminated because it contributed to the Caribbean island’s chronic economic woes.
It coincided with reforms to strengthen Cuba’s socialist system. Dozens of Cubans have been jailed, including former government officials and top executives of state companies.
In recent months, executives of two Canadian trading companies and a British investment firm have been detained while investigators probe their finances, diplomatic and business sources said.
Last year, a Cuban joint venture with a Chilean firm was shut down and its Chilean executive Max Marambio sentenced in absentia to a long prison term for graft. Marambio, once a close friend of Fidel Castro’s, stayed in Chile and denied the charges.
The legal actions have created unease among foreign businessmen, many of whom say they fear being unjustly accused of illicit acts. Those worries discourage foreign investment in Cuba at a time when the island needs it, they said.
Delgado, speaking to reporters after his speech, said the government had no problem with foreign businesses nor had the foreigners complained about the crackdown.
“They have understood that (corruption) has to be eliminated. It is a very noxious practice,” he said.
“We will never stop defending the flags of honesty and dignity. It is our duty,” Delgado said.
http://www.reuters.com/article.....F820111109
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 20:36
mister bait you cuban spy the syria story got your communist blood broiling i am going to use a big revolution weapon from the story we’d rather die than live like this viva fascist sucks
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 20:24
mister bait you cuban spy the syria story got your communist blood broiling i am going to use some big revolution weapon from the story we’d rather die than live like this viva mouth revolution
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 20:15
MY PREVIOUS LINK TO THESE SERIES OF VIDEOS IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, BUT YOU CAN SEE THEM HERE!
YOUTUBE VIDEOS: ALJAZEERA - The Stream speaks to Yoani Sanchez- She responds to the following questions in a series of Youtube Videos.
What’s the effect of the Arab Spring on reporting in Cuba?
How has the Cuban government responded to the Arab Spring?
What are the rules for international and local journalists in Cuba and how do these rules affect them?
What’s the sentiment on the ground after the death of Cuban activist and founder of the “Ladies in White” Laura Pollan?
http://www.youtube.com/results.....+&aq=f
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 19:20
Haaaahaahaaahahaahaaa.
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 19:12
I know it’s not the issue here but I just have hear about what mariela Castro is now saying about what she said for Radio Holland, what? is she an university graduate from Psyclogy and Sexology???? I have serious doubts, she doesn’t speak Spanish? or only the Italian learned at bed?, she was clear and evidently cynical and also derogatorial about prostitution and cuban women, how she dare? They (the Castro clan) are so arrogant that give me nausea. Better if she begins to think about what she’s going to do (or to talk about) when at last the regimen falls, or that is a problem already fix?
Of course Yoanny, there is apartheid, they think are better than common cuban people, their slaves for whom almost all is forbidden unless that the performing gets them dollars for their personal accounts, it’s a real shame, are there even one in the world who defends that system? Shame on them
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 18:44
viva stupidity is a fake and a coward hide behind no name viva mouth revolution hahaha i got a web name viva viva viva
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 18:40
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THIS DOCUMENTARY, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! VERY BALANCED AND SYMPATHETIC TO ALL PERSPECTIVES VIEWS OF THE CUBAN PEOPLE, FROM THOSE WHO BELIEVED, THOSE WHO WERE BETRAYED AND THOSE WHO JUST DON’T CARE ABOUT THE CUBAN “REVOLUTION”!
YOUTUBE : CUBAN Documentary - “Wishes on a Falling Star”- Wishes on a Falling Star - feature length documentary- by Paolo Cellammare, Jacopo Cecconi, Giammarco Sicuro- Featuring Yoani Sanchez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....feature=iv
Cuba, in the 50th year of the Revolution: While the Castro brothers face their certain end, an uncertain future hangs over the island. Some people are afraid, many cannot wait, but all shudder and hope that the changes will be positive.This documentary leads the audience through the discovery of this hope, through a tourist’s camera which looks to be turned off and oblivious to the conversation at hand, yet is focused on candidly capturing each person’s wishes.
There is the old guerrillero who took part in the revolution, the lady who met Che Guevara and lives thanks to the government social card, and also the young boys and girls — those who wish to make a career within the rules, as well as those who only try to escape abroad.
Clandestine underground shops, businessmen experienced in all things illegal, dodgy pimps, mothers who force their daughters into selling their bodies — the hidden face of the State which welcomes tourists into its luxury resorts is openly displayed beyond censorship’s control.
One special guide is Yoani Sanchez, the independent blogger, a leader of the new, peaceful revolution — the revolution of ideas. The internet is its main instrument, while the government attempts to limit computer use with any means possible in a pushing and pulling of ideals. In the interview, recorded in a secret location, the young writer speaks about her country’s ruin, and where Raul’s reforms have no effect on everyday life.
Castro’s supporters and dissidents, young and old — none deceive themselves that the star of the revolution will shine on for much longer. And this is what this project focuses on: the wishes on a falling star.
FREEDOM is KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE is FREE
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 18:03
Las Damas De Blanco are leading the way to changes. They have been able to stir the pot and call attention to the abusive dictatorship. All those who support them are known DAMAS DE APOYO. We all need to show our support and help them with resources so that they can continue. Yoani is also a BRIGHT STAR in CUBAS FUTURE. Fidel and his Mafia are fading out and will not last forever, so change is eminent.
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 17:24
nobody reads my stupid posts but i have to keep on posting them because i need the attention
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 17:08
english please pbs frontline has under cover reporting in syria is cuba like this
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 16:35
YOUTUBE VIDEOS: ALJAZEERA - The Stream speaks to Yoani Sanchez- She responds to the following questions in a series of Youtube Videos.
What’s the effect of the Arab Spring on reporting in Cuba?
How has the Cuban government responded to the Arab Spring?
What are the rules for international and local journalists in Cuba and how do these rules affect them?
What’s the sentiment on the ground after the death of Cuban activist and founder of the “Ladies in White” Laura Pollan?
http://stream.aljazeera.com/st.....am-0021857
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 13:07
As I read the opinions expressed in these blogs , I can not but reflect on the history of Cuba. Many want a peacefull transition to some sort of Democracy much like Jose Marti. Then you have others that live in the reality that oppresive regimes can only be toppled by armed revolution this would be the De Cespedes philosophy. As we see the continued sucession of Fidelistas being put into positions of power there is no hope for a peacefull transition . There is no system to hold the government accountable for its oppression of those who oppose it. When you have a system of government that is both judge and jury you cannot have justice. Even the pacifist Marti came to terms with this and was pivotal in the continued armed revolution for freedom from Spain. When I hear the voices of the young Cubans express an attitude of hopelessness and indifference towards Life,a revolution is highly unlikely . So Cuba shall languish in its misery for another generation. The only hope is in a miracle that God will send a Cespedes or Maceo to lead the people to liberty.
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 06:29
gitmo jamaica haiti is in cuba south coast years ago some try to come to america got caught got death by castro government for there crimes i saw it on news viva gitmo
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 02:44
CASTROS main interest is in MONEY and POWER. The people of CUBA do not count. Its shameful how CUBANS get treated. Thanks Humberto for the info on the Catholic church and its members in Cuba. I’m upset with the VATICAN as they have done little to promote change or even visit the many jails that warehouse tens of thousands. Allan Gross is serving a 15 jail sentence for making phones and internet available to some jews on the island. All those who promote CASTROS repressive Regime should be cataloged and later punished with similar unjust sentences in like kind cells. Cubans lack information and news, so any spanish newspaper or magazine is always greatly appreciated. Cubans love WILLY CHIRINO music, so the new YELLOW SUBMARINE album would make someones year more palatable and elevate you to celebrity status.
Noviembre 9th, 2011 at 00:52
So why would Cubans who pay their fares not be allowed on these cruises? Isn’t Cienfuegos Bay on Cuba’s South Coast? Not very feasible to make a dash from Miami from there.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 23:23
Cuban blacks have many complaints about the existing racism and believe is it getting worse. Cuba’s rappers have made racial complains a major theme of their songs. Young Cubans blacks are detained and harassed by the police for no apparent reason other than their race. They are asked for identifications and interrogated. This is political profiling of black males, an abuse of power by the military regime.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 22:12
ANOTHER CASTROFASCIST OLD-FART NAMED TO A HIGH RANKING POSITION OF POWER IN CUBA! GUESS “LA CHINA” AND “THE MUMMY” ONLY TRUST THEIR RELATIVES AND THEIR SIERRA MAESTRA CORRUPT BUDDIES!
REUTERS: Veteran of Cuban revolution named defense minister
General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, who joined Fidel Castro’s rebel army in 1957 and is in the Communist Party’s top leadership, has been named Cuba’s minister of defense, the government said on Tuesday.
The 70-year-old Cintra, a career military officer who has been serving as first vice defense minister, replaces Julio Casas Regueiro, who died of a heart attack on September 4.
The appointment of Cintra follows a well-trodden path by President Raul Castro, who has spoken of bringing new blood into the government but mostly appointed fellow veterans of the revolution to top positions.
Still, Cintra is a decade younger than most of his bosses — Raul Castro is 80 and first vice president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 81. Fidel Castro, who no longer holds a leadership position but remains a power behind the scenes, is 85.
The post of defense minister is particularly important to Raul Castro because he held the job for 49 years until he succeeded his brother as president in 2008.
He has placed military men in a number of high positions, entrusting them to carry out wide-ranging economic reforms he has proposed to strengthen Cuban communism for the future. Military businesses control a wide swath of Cuba’s Soviet-style economy.
President Castro also views military personnel as less prone to the wide-spread corruption he is now on a mission to eradicate.
The two-month delay in announcing a replacement for Casas raised questions about whether Castro wanted Cintra for the job, despite their long association and Cintra’s presence on the powerful Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party.
But his appointment follows the weekend interment of Casas’ ashes at a monument to fighters in the revolution, suggesting Castro may have been waiting for the conclusion of that tribute to make the announcement.
Before taking a place in the government, Cintra held several high commands in the military and led troops in Cuba’s long military involvement in Angola.
He fought under Fidel Castro during the revolution that ended when the rebels toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959.
The government said General Alvaro Lopez Miera, 68, would replace Cintra as first vice defense minister while keeping his position as chief of staff of the armed forces.
(Reporting by Jeff Franks and Rosa Tania Valdes; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
http://www.reuters.com/article.....KR20111109
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 21:44
THE CASTROFASCIST CLAN DOES NOT LIKE TOOLS LIKE TWITTER WHERE YOU CANNOT CONTROL INFORMATION! THEY ARE SO TRANSPARENT WITH THEIR RHETORIC! THE DOLLAR $IGN$ ALWAY$ APPEAR A$ A WAY TO DEFAME ANYONE WHO DOE$ NOT AGREE WITH THEM!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
BBC NEWS: Mariela Castro Twitter debut sparks Cuba dissident spat- November 8, 2011
The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro has made her debut on Twitter, only to be confronted by a dissident demanding free speech.
Mariela Castro is the head of Cuba’s sexual education institute and a supporter of gay rights on the island.
Within hours of joining the internet site, she was challenged by Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez.
“Welcome to Twitter pluralism,” Ms Sanchez wrote. “Here no one can shut me up or deny me permission to travel”.
The internet activist - who has more than 170,000 followers on Twitter - questioned why Ms Castro’s tolerance of gay rights did not extend to other areas of life in Cuba.
“How can you ask for acceptance in just one area?” she asked.
“When can we Cubans come out of the other closets?”
‘Parasites’
Ms Castro responded by telling her critic she needed to study.
“Your focus on tolerance reproduces the old structures of power,” she tweeted.
The daughter of the Cuban leader went on to thank her friends for “messages of support” and the “boring and mediocre” for spreading her tweets.
Later, she employed some of the revolutionary rhetoric made famous by her uncle Fidel, who ruled Cuba for nearly half a century before handing power to her father.
“Contemptible parasites,” she tweeted. “Were you given the order by your bosses to reply to me in unison and with the same predetermined script?”
The public exchange of views between President Raul Castro’s daughter and one of his most outspoken critics is very unusual in communist Cuba, where political opposition is banned and the media is controlled by the state.
Yoani Sanchez is a prominent figure in Cuba’s small but vocal dissident movement, and one of the first to make widespread use of the internet.
She writes a prize-winning blog - Generacion Y - and relies on Twitter to communicate via her mobile phone when access to the internet is difficult.
According to official Cuban statistics, only 3% of the population have access to the web - the lowest figure in the western hemisphere - and internet speeds are among the slowest in the world.
Access is restricted and available only with government permission - although since 2009 Cubans have been able to use internet cafes, mostly in hotels, and there is a strong black market for internet connections.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-15649113
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 20:40
SO CUBA SHOULD BE REMOVE FROM THE TERRORIST LIST BY THE U.S.A.? GOOD QUESTION!
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, swagger undiminished as bombing case comes to court -Nicola Clark-November 8,
The charges against Ramirez stem from a bombing in March 1982 of a Paris-Toulouse train in south-western France; an attack in April 1982 on the Paris offices of an Arabic-language newspaper, Al Watan; and the bombing in December 1983 of a high-speed train and the main rail station in Marseille.
Ramirez told El Nacional that under his ”co-ordination” ”more than 100” attacks were carried out; he said he could boast of the results because they were ”very well-executed”.
Asked if he believed that he had made mistakes, Ramirez said his crimes were minor. He charged that the former Cuban president Fidel Castro ”killed more people”.
The former Marxist turned Islamist said: ”Terrorism is going to exist as long as imperialists dominated the world … I am the enemy of terrorists like the United States and Israel.”
http://www.smh.com.au/world/ja.....215;3.html
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (born October 12, 1949) was a terrorist, a “professional revolutionary” and playboy better known by the nom de guerre Carlos the Jackal.
His first taste of battle occurred during “Black September” in 1970, when King Hussein of Jordan, initially sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, became increasingly politically isolated following numerous airline hijackings by the PFLP, and drove the Palestinians out of Jordan. By all accounts Carlos acquitted himself well, earning a reputation for courage under fire during the long battle, and he was rewarded by his appointment as the PFLP’s representative, which saw his return to London after the conflict, in February 1971. His covert mission was to draw up a list of high profile kidnap targets with pro-Israel sympathies; overtly, he enrolled at the University of London and happily resumed his playboy lifestyle.
During his time in London he set up a network of safe houses, and came under police suspicion briefly as a result, but no charges were filed against him. He also claimed to have been involved in a number of daring raids, including the hijacking of a Lufthansa jet in February 1972, and the attack on the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics by the militant group “Black September”, in September 1972, but there was no proof of his participation in these acts of terrorism.
When the leader of the PFLP died suddenly in March 1978, Carlos recruited the best agents from within the leaderless group, as well as other nationals, to form his own group of terrorist mercenaries, named the Organisation of Arab Armed Struggle. The group established relations with East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, as well as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Cuba’s Fidel Castro. The agents included German divorcee Magdalena Kopp, who went on to become Carlos’ wife in January 1979.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 19:05
I TWEETED TO MARIELA CASTRO THAT I WANTED TO SEE A DEBATE BETWEEN HER AND YOANI! SHE DID NOT RESPOND OF COURSE! THAT WOULD BE “LA FLACA” vs “LA TORTI” (many people speculate that Mariela is lesbian)!
Yoani Sanchez and Castro’s Daughter Go Toe-to-Toe on Twitter- By Elizabeth Llorente
One hour into the debut of her Twitter account on Tuesday, Mariela Castro (@CastroEspinM) was engaged in a snarky duel of words with Yoani Sánchez (@yoanisánchez).
Largely unnoticed by much of the world so far, this Havana war of Tweets is a remarkable sign of the times.
Mariela Castro, who lives in Havana, is the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro and the niece of Fidel Castro. Yoani Sánchez, who also lives in Havana, is Raul Castro’s most well-known antagonist on the Internet.
Earlier this year, Sánchez, 36, challenged Castro, an activist for gay rights, to a public discussion with her about tolerance, but insisted that the president’s daughter also address other kinds of rights in Cuba – such as the right to free speech, to elect political leaders and to travel abroad.
Castro, whose father’s government denounces Sánchez and other dissidents as traitors to the Communist revolution and pawns of the U.S. government, did not respond to those requests. Cuban officials have denied Sánchez permission to travel abroad to receive several human rights awards.
“They tell me that Mariela Castro has opened an account on Twitter,” Sánchez tweeted on Tuesday about an hour after @CastroEspinM had posted some initial tweets that included an exchange of pleasantries with @Yohandry8787. “One question for her: When will Cubans be able to break free of [all] restraints?”
Sánchez then tweeted Castro: “Welcome to Twitter pluralism @CastroEspinalM. Here, no one can silence me, deny me permission to travel nor impede my entry.”
Castro, 49, responded: “Your focus on tolerance resurrects old power structures. To improve the value of your ‘services,’ you need to educate yourself.”
Sánchez nudged her again on her advocacy for gay rights, but not other rights the blogger says are oppressed in Cuba.
Sánchez shot over another Tweet: “Another little question for @CastroEspinM. How can you ask for selective acceptance for one issue. Acceptance is total, or not?”
As of 3:30 p.m., Castro had not responded directly to Sánchez’s tweet, except with this: “Friends who follow me, thanks for your messages. I appreciate also the mediocre-minded and bored for sharing my tweets with others.”
By nearly 4 p.m. Tuesday, Castro, who sometimes is discussed as a possible successor to her father for the presidency in Cuba, had 242 followers, and had posted seven tweets. Among the accounts she follows are those of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez and various Cuban state-run media.
Sánchez, who has gained a near rock star status among human rights bloggers around the world, has more than 173,000 followers, as well as an account on Facebook.
She has been active on the Internet for several years, often relying on friends abroad to post her messages for her because of what she has said are government efforts to interfere.
Follow Elizabeth Llorente on Twitter: @Liz_Llorente
http://latino.foxnews.com/lati.....dissident/
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 17:10
viva berlusconi
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 17:05
berlurconi is on his way out leader of the world feeling the heat but no arab spring in cuba i guest spanish people love there dictator or more like they are not good at revolution viva cheers
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 16:40
berlusconi on his way out leader of world feeling the heat but no arab spring in cuba i guest spanish people love dictator or more like they are not good at revolution viva mouth revolution
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 14:29
WIKIPEDIA: Impact on Cuban society and tourism apartheid
To ensure the isolation of international tourism from Cuban society, it was to be promoted in enclave resorts where, as much as possible, tourists would be segregated from Cuban society. This was not lost on the average Cuban citizen, and the government tourism policy soon began to be referred to as “enclave tourism” and “tourism apartheid”.[4]
According to Castro, the government was “pondering formulas” that would allow Cubans to use some of the tourist facilities as a reward for outstanding work, but believed that giving Cubans access to amenities at the expense of paying foreign tourists would ultimately be a counterproductive move for the economy; “For every five Cubans staying two or three days in one of those hotels, the country would have one less ton of meat to distribute to the people,”.[24]
Until 1997 contacts between tourists and Cubans were de facto outlawed, and Cubans seen in contact with tourists were regarded as potential thieves by police.[2][3] Global human rights groups complaints, and the upcoming visit of Pope, helped cause an about-face, although such contacts are still frowned upon, with standard harassment such as police identification checks for any Cuban seen in contact with a tourist common.[2] Tourist identification is usually not checked unless the tourist has dark skin and is mistaken for Cuban.[2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Cuba
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 14:24
saw uber matos on the tube… sounds like a mafia conspiracy. the way they jailed him cuz he wanted to resign as he saw the truth of comunism coming… that opened my eyes… gezz, castro is a ganster, the man did nuthin wrong. just acused him of wat he would become. he was right. after his prophesy came true he still did 20 years in prison beaten n abused. thats just a gangster ceasing power. SIMPLE MAN, CRYSTAL CLEAR. wow, some people actually still defend him… WOW!!!
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 11:26
cuba or north korea who get freedom first i say north korea cheers
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 11:22
I went to Cienfuegos and all I got was this stupid Che tee shirt.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 10:14
pamela, those patients who starved to death are clearly fifth-column CIA trained team-Yoani usanian wannabes who know nothing about Cuba.
Seriously, you think it’s a coincidence Damir showed up in Cienfuegos at the exact time Yoani was there? You think he’s one of those celebrity stalkers? Someone should get a picture of the guy and warn Yoani.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 08:23
Perhaps Damir can fit in a trip to one of Cuba’s award-winning hospitals while he is there:
http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 08:05
Man, this sh*t is funny early in the morning! Let’s see, where shall I start?
Cienfuegos has a population of 150,000 people, and dum-dum insists that he WOULD HAVE SEEN Yoani and her husband if they were there. He claims here “authoritatively” that you were not there. Major LOL!
Dumbir is THE expert on all things Cuban. Everyone else on here is NOT Cuban. Humberto, did you know that you weren’t born in Cuba? Better re-check your birth certificate, the one that has CUBA on it.
Only Dumbir can go to Cienfuegos. All dissidents must stay away.
The stupidity of the following statements is astounding:
“Secondly, this post AGAIN DEMONSTRATES the size of self-delusion and size of their lies!
If they were correct, then Cubans are massively pro=team “yoani” and other similar dissidents.
Once they were on the waves, the boat skipper would simply ignore them speaking Cuban Spanish, wouldn’t he? They would be all one big dissident family!!!”
Show me where Yoani has EVER claimed that every single Cuban agrees with her. Now you’re just making stuff up.
So, according to Dumbir, Cubans can only stay in certain hotels “post-season.” If that’s the case, then personally I wouldn’t give my money to such an establishment ever. Dumbir can’t wait to get there to mingle with “Cubans.”
Like Help pointed out previously, Dumbir is so obsessed that he can’t even stay away from Yoani’s blog while he is purportedly on vacation.
Obsessed, ranting, hatred-filled dumb-as* is what really describes you perfectly.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 03:38
Liars to heaven!!!
First:
Damir went to Cienfuegos, suddenly the team “yoani”, certified liars and backsite-lickers to their white “gods”, “went” to Cienfuegos…!!!
What a load of lies and empty failed capitalist ideology!!!!
And to make it worse, they BOARDED the boat only to be then told they CANNOT!!!!
First, if there was a control, they would pick them up as Cubans before the liars even set the foot on the boat!
Hypocrites!!!!!
Secondly, this post AGAIN DEMONSTRATES the size of self-delusion and size of their lies!
If they were correct, then Cubans are massively pro=team “yoani” and other similar dissidents.
Once they were on the waves, the boat skipper would simply ignore them speaking Cuban Spanish, wouldn’t he? They would be all one big dissident family!!!
Who on earth would know!
Third, the team “yoani” would know that it was “forbidden” to board the boat, so why did they? And if it were, how did they buy the tickets if they did NOT hide their Cuban accent?
They never did, because they never were in Cienfuegos in the first place.
And the fourth and the LAST NAIL in the team “yoani” slef-hysterical delusion: It is now post-season. Cubans are not only allowed to travel and stay in hotels where normally foreigners stay, Cubans are given HUGE DISCOUNTS to do JUST THAT.
In fact that is the main reason Why I go to Cuba in this period. It allows me to stay in a hotel full of CUBANS!!!!
Oh, by the way, Cienfuegos is sufficiently small that I would have seen you losers if you were there as you claim.
I claim here, authoritatively: you were not there. By claiming to have been, you confirm that you are liars.
But, what would be new about that…? The whole world knows that you are destructive fifth column and usa-trained cheap liars.
Traitors is really what describes you perfectly.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 02:33
Post 19, I suggest you to seek the infromation from the nearest Cuban consulate or embassy about what and how much you can bring with you. You can bring up to 10 kg of things as presents, and 5 kg of medical supplies.
If you ask they may even give you a letter of confirmation that the stuff, on list of allowed items are allowed to enter, and customs will honour the letter.
I only ever asked for it the first time I went to Cuba.
7 Years later I never had to ask for it again and never had any problems. Just make sure whatever you bring with you is on the list (very large and flexible list) of allowable items. You can bring a lot of stuff for yourself and still leave it in Cuba. Make sure you do not carry more than two mobile phones and only one laptop. You will need to explain why you do not have them on your exit.
And do not rely on the “advice” from the pioneers of the sewage-based support brigade. They do not know a first thing about Cuba, beng foreigners (although they claim to be “cubans”, they have never been there, let alone they “are” “cubans”).
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 02:23
By the way, wannabe capitalists, the boat on the photo is NOT a “yacht”. It is a BOAT.
You just cannot get your facts straight on anything, now can you?
Little cuban wannabe “righteous” “democrats”…
Laughable to the world and a shame for Cuba.
Correction: your “royalties” from Belgium and Spain still like you..
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 02:11
Liars to heaven!!!
First:
Damir went to Cienfuegos, suddenly the team “yoani”, certified liars and arse-lickers to their white “gods”, “went” to Cienfuegos…!!!
What a load of lies and empty failed capitalist ideology!!!!
And to make it worse, they BOARDED the boat only to be then told they CANNOT!!!!
First, if there was a control, they would pick them up as Cubans before the liars even set the foot on the boat!
Hypocrites!!!!!
Secondly, this post AGAIN DEMONSTRATES the size of self-delusion and size of their lies!
If they were correct, then Cubans are massively pro=team “yoani” and other similar dissidents.
Once they were on the waves, the boat skipper would simply ignore them speaking Cuban Spanish, wouldn’t he? They would be all one big dissident family!!!
Who on earth would know!
Third, the team “yoani” would know that it was “forbidde” to board, so why did they?
They never did, because they never were in Cienfuegos in the first place.
And the fourth and the LAST NAIL in the team “yoani” slef-hysterical delusion: It is now post-season. Cubans are not only allowed to travel and stay in hotels where normally foreigners stay, Cubans are given HUGE DISCOUNTS to do JUST THAT.
In fact that is the main reason Why I go to Cuba in this period. It allows me to stay in a hotel full of CUBANS!!!!
GO lie to your Belgian or Spanish “royalties”, you self-drugged fanatics.
Lie to yourselves all you want, but get this ONCE AND FOR ALL:
you are fooling no one in the real world.
You know, the “millions” that visit this page in your heads. Because apart from a few like me and your self-organised support brigade of stupid little pioneers, nobody else reads your ludicrous and plain mentally derranged idiocies.
Oh, by the way, Cienfuegos is sufficiently small that I would have seen you losers if you were there as you claim.
I claim here, authoritatively: you vwere not there in the past 6 weeks. If you say you were, you are lying.
But, what would be new about that…? The whole world knows that you are destructive fifth column and usa-trained cheap liars.
Traitors is really what describes you perfectly.
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 00:46
TOURIST, POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS APARTHEID! WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED ABOUT A FASCIST STATE! DUH!
Cuba Urged To Let Church Leader, Family Leave Island-Monday, November 7, 2011 Monday, November 7, 2011
HAVANA, CUBA (BosNewsLife)– The leader of a major Cuban network of independent churches and his family have urged Cuba’s government to let them leave the Communist-run island following years of harassment, including imprisonment, Christian rights activists told BosNewsLife Monday, November 7.
Pastor Omar Gude Perez of the growing ‘Apostolic Movement’, his wife and two children were granted asylum in the United States in July but were refused permission to exit Cuba, said advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
“We are deeply concerned at the news that Cuban officials have once again declined to issue the Gude family an exit visa,” added CSW’s Special Ambassador Stuart Windsor in a statement to BosNewsLife.
Pastor Gude, served almost three years of a six and a half year prison sentence on what his supported called “trumped up charges”. He was released on “conditional liberty” earlier this year but is reportedly prohibited from preaching or from traveling outside his home city of Camaguey.
“After receiving asylum in the US in July, the couple was informed by government officials that they would not be issued exit visas, or “white cards”, as they are called in Cuba,” CSW said.
COPY AND PASTE LINK TO BROWSER IF NOT ACTIVE!
http://www.bosnewslife.com/189.....ave-island
Noviembre 8th, 2011 at 00:29
@Post-colonial. When we bring in food we say it’s for us. It’s a good excuse since nothing we bring in is available in Cuba. Or we say it’s for friends who have a medical condition, which is also true, like when we bring in food supplements and vitamins. So far we’ve been lucky that they haven’t confiscated much, although a bit unlucky in that they always rip our suitcases apart. They just do that for the bosses who watch them and always tag our loaded suitcases, most customs people realize everyone benefits when we bring in so much stuff and leave it behind, although a lot of them need to steal too.
We’ve also been lucky bringing in books, I think they’re supposed to allow educational material through. And we bring in clothes, hygienic products and all that. We leave everything except the clothes on our back in Cuba.
So I can’t tell you about bringing in expensive stuff, I think if you bring it in it’s more a case of them charging you a huge duty, but other people here will know more about that than me. Never brought in computers because I heard some got stolen by customs but maybe that’s rare.
We do like Freedom Rings suggests and leave USB memory and mp3 players behind. Those are very valuable to Cubans. And like he says, leaving cameras behind is a great idea. Honestly, it all depends who you know. We do mainly charity work and some of the Cubans we know have never seen running water or a full meal, much less a computer or would know what to do with a camera. But most people know somebody who can help them or know someone with access to a computer who will be glad to have a digital camera. If you’re going to do that, don’t forget to bring in power adapters, usb cables, plenty of long-life batteries, all are very valuable in Cuba, and it’s good to bring in extras because a lot of that stuff will get stolen.
Only money we bring in these days is Euros which we change from dollars before we leave for Cuba. I’ve stopped changing money in Cuba, I let my friends do that. Once when I ran out of Euros and had only US dollars I got heavily ripped off when I changed them to CUC, I thought the exchange tax was 20% but learned recently it was only 10%, they just lied to me at the counter. I’ve also been cheated at the airport currency exchanges. These days, except for tips we leave, every Euro we bring in goes directly into the hands of Cuban friends. I tell everyone who wants us to bring back Cuban rum and cigars that every 10 dollars we leave behind makes a huge difference to a Cuban family. And I avoid as much as possible giving money directly to Castro.
Also, if you stay in a hotel, make sure when you leave you give the cleaning staff their tips in person, or else someone like a manager could steal it before the cleaner gets to your room. I’ve seen that a lot.
I don’t know about Paladars. Do you mean casa particulars? All the paladar and particular owners I know have party connections, which is how they got permission to open their businesses, and all are rich by Cuban standards so they don’t need our help. That’s just us though and I could be wrong. Maybe if you have no connections in Cuba staying at one will be a good idea. Explore different options for a few trips and see where it takes you. Enjoy yourself but please support the brave dissidents in any small way you can.
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 23:36
THE CASTROFASCISTS HAVE CAMERAS EVERYWHERE, AND THEIR “GUESTS” AND ANY OTHER SIGNIFICANT CUBAN CITIZEN WILL GET VIDEO TAPED! KIND LIKE THE OLD SHOW “CANDID CAMERA” SHOW BUT WITH A FASCIST TWIST! WHAT DO THEY HAVE ON CARDINAL JAIME ORTEGA? STANDARD PROCECURE TO RECORD ANYONE ACCORDING TO “LA CHINA” & “THE MUMMY”! PEOPLE WAKE UP!!!
UNCOMMON SENSE BLOG (For a free Cuba. And more) : Good Catholics in Cuba stand up for Ladies In White
The bad example of Cardinal Jaime Ortega notwithstanding, do not count all Catholics in Cuba as accomplices of the Castro dictatorship.
Diario De Cuba — with a translation from Pedazos de la Isla — has the story of how some Catholics on Sunday stood up for their faith and what is right:
This Sunday, a priest, various nuns, and churchgoers impeded 7 Ladies in White from suffering a mob repudiation attack and possible aggressions in the Cobre Church of Santiago de Cuba, the independent journalist Caridad Caballero Batista informed ‘Diario de Cuba’.
The women were able to arrive to the sanctuary on Saturday, having to take different routes in order to surpass the police operations, and spend a night in a hostel.
“Thanks to the people working in the hostel and others who approached us, we found out that the political police knew of our presence there, but the priest of El Cobre sanctuary was concerned for us”, said Caballero Batista, one of the women who was able to assist mass.
The other women who made it were Belkis Cantillo Ramirez, Aimee Garces Leiva, Mari Blanca Avila Expósito, Oria Casanova Moreno, Adriana Núñez Pascual and Tania Bandera González, according to the former political prisoner from the group of the 75 Jose Daniel Ferrer.
Another 7 women also made it to the Cathedral of Santiago. At least two of them, Liudmila Rodríguez Palomo and Ana Celia Rodríguez Torres, were detained after the mass in order to impede them from carrying out a march.
“Those of us who were in El Cobre were victims of a mob repudiation attack on behalf of paramilitary troops who wanted to attack us” after leaving mass. “Churchgoers and nuns had to intercede and protect us from being beat”, recounted Caballero Batista. “The nuns went out and got us a car to drive us out of there”.
The independent journalist pointed out that after the Eucharist, the priest Jorge Palma “said that the Ladies in White were present in the church, that they were peaceful women who demanded freedom for prisoners and for all Cubans, and that on many occasions they have been beat”.
“Churchgoers approached us and nuns offered us their support”, Caballero Batista assured. “We felt very reassured. It was something we appreciate”.
http://networkedblogs.com/pClGB
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 23:03
Post-Colonial! I think your time is a good start! Thanks for your concern! Couple of flash drives would be great, put them somewhere in your person they are small! Paladares, shoe shiners, stuff like that are the people’s jobs! Gracias amigo!
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 22:17
For those of us considering a visit to Cuba, what is the best way to get money we spend into the hands of ordinary people? The paladares? I’m told that Cuban customs officers will typically confiscate any items one brings into the country as gifts, so I’m just wondering what the options are, if any.
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 21:45
Fidel Castro and his thugs do with Cuba as they please. Only now with this new internet technology does the rest of the world see what kind of crap the citizens of Cuba have to put up with. Cuban have been deprived of their civil rights for far to long. The Catholic Church is a joke as they know this has been going on and they endorse it. The people of cuba need to rally and STAND UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS. We on the outside have to make sure the truth gets out and that this does not ever happen to another civilization ever again. People, take your children to Cuba, so that they can witness it for themselves.
Thousands have been recently jailed in Cuba including a child under the age of 16. Everyone travelling to Cuba should leave old cameras, USB Memory and phones, so that Cubans can get their stories out.
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 21:43
EVENT: Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011- 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM - Lehrman Auditorium - 217 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002
A wave of repression is currently taking place in Cuba – but you wouldn’t know about it from the lack of media coverage. Why is the press at home and abroad ignoring blatant human rights violations? Why has the Obama Administration consistently coddled dictators like Castro? And, what should our elected leaders be saying about Cuba and these human rights abuses?
http://www.heritage.org/Events/2011/11/Cuba
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 19:37
SURPRISED? NOT ME, BEEN SAYING SINCE HE WAS ARRESTED THAT THIS IS THE TRADE THAT THE CASTROFASCISTS ALWAYS WANTED AND THAT IS WHY ALAN GROSS WAS KIDNAPPED AND HELD FOR RANSOM! YES, THE CUBAN 5 SPIES RANSOM ! THERE IS ALSO A THEORY THAT THE 75 POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE BLACK SPRING OF 2003, WERE THE FIRST ATTEMPT BY THE CASTROFASCIST MAFIA TO TRY TO GET THE CUBAN 5 SPIES BACK, AGAIN USING THE 75 DISSIDENTS AS LEVERAGE!
Mr. Gross had a receipt to bring this equipment into Cuba and the Cuban Government knew this very well. There is also testimony that the Jewish Community knew of his work and that he had been there many times. I also want to point out that the International Press was not allowed inside the courtroom on any of his proceedings! Dont you think that there is a BIG difference on the case of the Cuban 5 and Mr. Gross. There are more about the 11 million Cuban prisoners that are on that jail we call Cuba for over 52 years. No internet, no free press, no freedom to travel abroad!
AFP: Jailed American wants to be swapped for Cuban spies
WASHINGTON — US contractor Alan Gross, jailed in Cuba for the past two years, wants to be exchanged for five Cuban spies being held in the United States, a rabbi who saw him in Havana wrote Monday.
The “Cuban Five” espionage ring was broken up in 1998 in Florida, and the men were convicted of espionage and sent to prison three years later. The five are considered heroes in Cuba.
Gross, who is Jewish, was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison on charges he violated Cuba’s “independence or territorial integrity” in a case that has soured US-Cuban relations.
Gross, 62, has been in jail since his arrest in 2009 for distributing cellphones and laptops to members of the island’s Jewish community under a State Department contract.
“Having learned about the recent swap of (Israeli soldier) Gilad Shalit for more than 1,000 imprisoned Palestinians, (Gross) felt that the US and Cuba could do the same for him and the ‘Cuban Five,’ five Cubans convicted of spying and serving sentences in the US from 15 years to life,” said Rabbi David Shneyer in a message to his congregation just outside the US capital.
Gross, who has health problems, is being held in the Carlos Finlay military medical complex in Havana and shares his cell with two Cubans, Shneyer reported on his congregation’s website.
The US prisoner follows Jewish festivals in his cell, and one of his Cuban cellmates fasted with him during Yom Kippur, Shneyer said.
Gross and the rabbi spoke for an hour and 40 minutes with a translator and Interior Ministry agents present, Shneyer said.
“Alan saw a photo of the September vigil coordinated by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington in a Mexican newspaper. He hoped that future vigils would focus on the humanitarian aspects of his release,” Shneyer wrote.
The high-profile cases have been the biggest obstacles to improving historically strained US relations with Cuba, the only one-party communist regime in the Americas. The countries have not had full diplomatic ties since 1961.
Havana considers the “Cuban Five” political prisoners and has lobbied intensely for their release.
Court documents claim the five Cubans were looking for US military information, and to monitor groups of Cuban exiles opposed to the Havana government. Cuba acknowledges the men were agents, but claims they were working to stop terrorist attacks on Cuban soil.
One of the “Cuban Five,” Rene Gonzalez, has been released but is currently serving a three year probation term in Florida.
http://www.google.com/hostedne.....dd66ab.1c1
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 18:41
Black American tourists are offended when they see how differently they are treated from White American tourists who visit Cuba.
Tourism and the Negrificación of Cuban Identity
http://profmama.files.wordpres.....cacion.pdf
L. Kaifa Roland
Walking into a hotel nightclub, the security guards would let the others pass without incident but step directly in my path, asking me where I was going. I quickly learned to look confused and to respond in my best American-accented English that I did not understand because I did not speak Spanish. Only in very few occasion, in encounters with police, did I have to prove my foreign status by showing the photocopy of my passport that I learned to keep with me at all times.
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 15:30
SHOW ME THE MONEY FIDEL! ALL THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, WE CUBANS IN THE DIASPORA SEND YOU EVERY YEAR. YOU PAY YOUR PEOPLE $15/MONTH SALARIES, DON’T PAINT THE HOMES, DON’T FIX THE STREETS! WHERE IS THE MONEY???? THE NUMBERS DON’T ADD UP!
REUTERS : Exclusive - Paris Club invites Cuba to resume debt talks
Cuba’s wealthiest creditors have decided to test President Raul Castro’s pledge to improve the island’s financial credibility by inviting his government to talks with the Paris Club about settling billions of dollars of outstanding debt, according to Western diplomats.
A letter recently sent to the Cuban central bank asked if the Communist-run country would like to explore the resumption of negotiations broken off a decade ago, the sources said.
“Cuba was discussed for the first time in many years at the Club’s meeting on October 9 and 10, and it was decided to see if they were interested in talking,” a European diplomat said.
“They have not formally replied, but have expressed some interest through the central bank,” he added.
The Paris Club reported that Cuba owed its members $30.5 billion (19.0 billion pounds) at the close of 2010, but more than $20 billion of the debt was in old transferable Soviet rubles that Russia now claims but Cuba does not recognise.
According to its annual report, the Paris Club is an informal group of creditor governments composed of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Unlike the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, from which Cuba is excluded under to the longstanding U.S. trade embargo, the Paris Club does not issue multilateral loans.
Castro, who replaced his ailing brother Fidel as president in 2008, has drastically reined in imports, cut state payrolls and subsidies while insisting the government get its financial house in order.
Last week, Cuba’s government gave Cubans the right to buy and sell their homes for the first time since the early days of the 1959 revolution — a long-awaited reform that creates a real estate market and promises to put money in people’s pockets.
The Communist Party and government this year approved a five-year economic plan that calls for efforts to “enhance Cuba’s credibility in its international economic relations by strictly observing all the commitments that have been entered into.”
The plan also said the rescheduling of Cuba’s foreign debts must be expedited and that “flexible restructuring strategies for debt repayment” must be put in place as soon as is practical.
OBSERVERS CAUTIOUS
The Bank for International Settlements reported banks in 43 countries held $5.76 billion in Cuban deposits as of March of this year, compared with $4.285 billion at the close of 2009 and $2.849 billion at the close of 2008.
Cuba last reported its foreign debt in 2007 at $17.8 billion, but most analysts agree it now exceeds $21 billion, or close to 50 percent of gross domestic product and 30 percent more than annual foreign exchange revenues.
The central bank reported more than half the debt was classified as inactive, dating back to when the country defaulted in the late 1980s, while the remainder was active debt piled up after the demise of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s former benefactor.
In recent years, China has become the country’s largest creditor with local experts estimating the amount owed at around $5 billion.
Cuba over the last year restructured its debt with China and has been pursuing similar bilateral agreements with various other creditors, diplomats said.
“Talks can only be a good thing,” said Stuart Culverhouse, chief economist of Frontier Market Investment Banking at the London-based Exotix. “Although Cuba has pursued bilateral deals, there have been no substantive negotiations with the Paris Club for ten years. So it would signal some progress.”
“But I’d be cautious in concluding that it means some sort of rapprochement on the debt is imminent,” he added.
Western diplomats appeared divided between those who expressed cautious optimism that something would come out of the initiative and those who were skeptical it would go anywhere.
Talks between the Paris Club and Cuba were indefinitely put on hold in 2001 after nearly two years of discussions. During the talks, the United States agreed not to participate.
The negotiations had marked Cuba’s first sitdown with creditors to negotiate multilaterally since the late 1980s when it defaulted.
Along with restructuring terms, Cuba’s 20-billion convertible ruble debt to the former Soviet Union was considered another major obstacle to any multilateral accord.
Though Cuba and Russia have since agreed to put the old debt aside and work to rebuild their economic relations, it remains on the books.
“We proposed an accord similar to those with other middle-level developing countries, but the Cubans wanted something special and unheard of. We were miles apart,” a European diplomat, who had followed the negotiations closely, said at the time.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/.....AS20111107
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 13:43
EXCELLENT ESSAY ON THE NEW REAL ESTATE LAW IN CUBA! AS MR. CARDENAS POINTS OUT, ITS ALL SMOKE AND MIRRORS FROM THE CASTROFASCISTS BEST CIGARS AND THE MIRROR THAT “THE MUMMY” AND “LA CHINA” CONSTANTLY LOOK INTO TO ASSURE THEMSELVES OF THEIR “POWER”! WHO IS THE FAIREST AND STRONGEST OF THEM ALL? THE CUBAN PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD!
FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: Cuba’s smoke-and-mirror reforms - By José R. Cárdenas- November 7, 2011
The Castro regime’s announcement that for the first time Cuban citizens will be able to buy and sell their own homes has spurred an outpouring of irrational exuberance that real change is finally coming to the island-prison of Dr. Castro. “To say that it’s huge is an understatement,” one interested observer told the New York Times. “This is the foundation, this is how you build capitalism, by allowing the free trade of property.”
Another told Reuters, “The ability to sell houses means instant capital formation for Cuban families … It is a big sign of the government letting go.” Still another writes in the Christian Science Monitor that these are “incredibly meaningful changes.”
Such optimism is ill-founded. In fact, it is indicative only of one of two things: either it betrays a brazen political objective (Time magazine: “Why the U.S. Should Drop the Embargo and Prop Up Cuban Homeowners”) or it demonstrates just how low the bar of expectation has been placed for what the Cuban people need and deserve that we must celebrate mere crumbs tossed their way by the Castro dictatorship.
Indeed, sweep away the hype and all you see are daunting hurdles as to how this announcement will change in any way the regime’s suffocating control of the Cuban population. The new order restricts people to “ownership” of one permanent residence and one vacation home (as if the average Cuban is in any position to own a second home); all transactions must be approved by the State; no explanation is given on how you grant titles to homes that either have been confiscated from their rightful owners, have been swapped multiple times in the underground economy, or which house multiple families because of the severe shortage of available housing; the construction industry remains state-controlled; and the regime itself admits this order reflects no backsliding on the preeminence of the State in controlling the country’s economic and political systems.
Beyond these challenges, however, is the fundamental fact that you cannot conjure private property rights, let alone the free trade in property, out of thin air. Those rights exist only where they are rooted in a credible, impartial, and transparent legal superstructure that can protect one’s property, settle disputes, and guarantee transactions against the predations of the State. Anything less is a rigged game where the State is the dealer.
This is how the State Department’s annual Human Rights Report characterizes Cuba’s judicial system: “While the constitution recognizes the independence of the judiciary, the judiciary is subordinate to the imperatives of the socialist state. The National Assembly appoints all judges and can remove them at any time. Through the National Assembly, the state exerted near-total influence over the courts and their rulings … Civil courts, like all courts in the country, lack an independent or impartial judiciary as well as effective procedural guarantees.”
Translation: Cubans’ ability to “own” property, trade, or leverage their property to build capital will continue to exist at the sufferance of the State. And what the State giveth, the State can taketh away. The bottom line is that, ultimately, all Cubans will really own is a piece of paper that says they own something.
Rather than empowering individual Cubans, the regime’s goal in allowing the open trade of houses is to hopefully siphon more Cuban American money into the island’s perennially bankrupt economy. With average Cubans on the island too poor to buy or improve their dilapidated dwellings, their hope is relatives in Miami and elsewhere will remit even more cash to the island attempting to improve their relations’ situation. Indeed, the cynicism of relying on Cuban exiles to support the Cuban economy has never bothered the Castro brothers in the slightest.
The Castro regime recognizes the increasing unrest among the repressed and impoverished Cuban people for fundamental change, but they are capable only of prescribing more painkillers rather than the radical surgery that is needed to restore the nation’s health. Pretending to devolve more autonomy in individuals’ lives is just one more cruelty inflicted on the Cuban people over five decades of dictatorship, a cruelty made worse by the cheerleading from abroad.
http://shadow.foreignpolicy.co.....or_reforms
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 13:11
MAYBE THE LEFTISTS ENVIRONMENTALISTS MIGHT LIKE THIS? NAH, THEY LIKE FIDEL MORE AND WANT TO SAVE THE “REVOLUTION”! WILL THEY START YELLING - “MIAMI MAFIA PUTTING MORE RESTRICTIONS TO THE “EMBARGO”?
THE HILL: House members seek insurance against Cuban oil spills- By Pete Kasperowicz - 11/07/11
Four members of the House — including two who were born in Cuba — proposed legislation last week that would hold foreign offshore oil drilling operations accountable for all damages related to oil spills that affect U.S. waters.
The Foreign Oil Spill Liability Act, H.R. 3393, is a reaction to news that Cuba is looking to drill for oil in waters that are 90 miles off the Florida coast, which bill sponsors fear could lead to spills that harm the coast. The bill is sponsored by Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.), and co-sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Albio Sires (D-N.J.). Both Ros-Lehtinen and Sires were born in Cuba.
“This bill seeks accountability from responsible foreign parties, in the event of an oil spill that affects American waters and shores, by ensuring that they pay for all cleanup and compensation costs,” Rivera said. “While the responsible party is held liable for American-sourced oil spills, there is a much lower level of responsibility for foreign-sourced spills.
“American taxpayers and state governments should not be footing the bill for cleanup and compensation costs from a foreign oil spill,” he added.
Rivera says that under current law, the cost of cleaning up foreign oil spills that affect the U.S. is paid for out of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Money that goes into that fund comes from taxes on oil companies, transfers from other pollution funds, interest earned on existing funds, and cost recovery money and penalties paid by parties responsible for a spill.
Under the bill, oil spills originating in countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism are subject to triple the liability and penalty amounts, which also seems aimed at Cuba.
“The Castro regime, that has as much regard for environmental safety as it does for human rights, seeks to drill for oil less than 90 miles off the coast of Florida, posing a direct threat to our state’s environment and economy,” Rivera said. “While the White House and the U.S. Department of the Interior help facilitate this drilling, in possible violation of the embargo, I am sponsoring this important piece of legislation to ensure that Florida taxpayers are not made to pay for an environmental disaster caused by a terrorist regime.”
Aside from Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as also designated as state sponsors of terrorism.
COPY AND PASTE LINK TO BROWSER IF NOT ACTIVE!
thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/192105-house-members-seek-insurance-against-cuban-oil-spills
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 13:00
I PUT MY MONEY ON LA FLACA! AHEAD OF “THE MUMMY” BY 14,000 FOLLOWERS!
YOANI SANCHEZ TWITTER @YoaniSanchez) 173,224 Followers (+236 yesterday, +236 on average)
FIDEL CASTRO TWITTER @ReflexionFIdel : 159,125 Followers (+209 yesterday, +209 on average)
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 04:45
Ti seguo da molto tempo, ho ascoltato la tua intervista alla radio Italiana, continua nella tua battaglia di civiltà,
Piero
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 04:06
GREAT INTERVIEW OF CUBAN GRAFFITTI ARTIST “EL SEXTO”! GOT I FROM LA YOA ON HER TWITTER ACCOUNT! SOME EXCERPTS BELOW!
Tell me who El Sexto is, and how did you come up with your name? What does it stand for?
El Sexto is a kind of Robin Hood who left the “noise of the people”. El Sexto is any Cuban anonymous face who survives facing our social commitment, and so, El Sexto is everywhere and from everywhere, responding to the alienating media campaign (which takes more than a decade) of slogans for the release of the five US-convicted spies.
Do you see yourself as an activist or a social change agent? If yes, what are you hoping to change?
I hope to change the mono-system that exists in Cuba. On the streets, you’re only legally allowed to post graphic backgrounds that are political and over-saturated, in praise of the revolution and its leaders and ideological ridicule of the United States. The most criticized are inspired by Hip-Hop, Rock, Punk, among other manifestations underground (including, of course, rebellious graffiti), which all suffer daily censorship.
Were you really kidnapped?
I left my home in peace, without tagging, just two blocks from my home. It was a police car, but with a common Lada body, with four people in it, who did not identify themselves as cops and were dressed in civilian clothes (I was shown a card at the speed of light and I could not even read it while being reduced to the force of two strong men). I was taken to the police station at Zapata and C [streets] in the El Vedado neighborhood, which is very far from my residence in Arroyo Arenas. When my mother went to the Policía Nacional Revolucionaria [the national police department office] to find out what was happening, she was notified that my name was not in any authority record. My mother thought then that it was a mob vengeance against me (for money or for something otherwise marginal) and was terrified.
At the station, I removed all personal belongings, flash memory cards, cards, money, etc… I learned about a voluminous file against me, as thick as the Bible. One expert took nail samples from me to identify traces of paint (they had taken samples of my spray graffiti in the city earlier). They questioned my loyalty to the “Five anti-terrorism heroes who had fought so that my family did not fall” (I have a work that asks parodically, “Devuelvan mis 5 Euros” ["Return my 5 Euros"]. They also criticized the sentiment of my other graffiti and flyers, saying things like, “You strike out my things, I trash yours.”). The next day I was transferred to the 10 de Octubre area (even more distant from my home). Only then did my family have some information about me, but I could not see them until the third day, when I stopped eating in protest against such arbitrariness (they never even let me make a phone call or request the services of a lawyer). They questioned me about my most controversial friends (bloggers, musicians, photographers activists, civilians) and about my income outside the state. They emotionally blackmailed my mother and sister. They filmed and coerced me to sign several documents. On the fourth day, I was suddenly released, thanks in part to a media campaign by my friends and supporters on the Internet. When I got home, I discovered that they had confiscated my only laptop, flyers, sprays and my stencils, without the proper official documentation.
Are you afraid of the backlash you will receive from this exhibition?
I have more fear of not being who I am, not to manifest and share everything that I have inside. I believe that despite the pressures (I was interviewed by two security officials days before the opening, who led me to the official residence of the famous artist Kcho), the exhibition will be a milestone that marked a before and after in me and my work. Paradoxically, the more active a rebellious artist, the more protected against the power they may be because the visibility is often what saves him from the arbitrariness of the authorities.
http://www.thestarklife.com/20.....graf-king/
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 03:01
Go to this Link: http://miamiherald.typepad.com.....oblem.html. When you are there click on Download McGarrity on Cuba, and it will take you to the article
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 02:56
I notice that the previous link didn’t work. Here is another one: Download McGarrity on Cuba and racism
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 02:41
African-American Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, Gayle McGarrity, wrote this article published in the Miami Herald:
Yes, Cuba has a race problem
http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....oblem.html
BY GAYLE McGARRITY
As an anthropologist and a woman of mixed racial descent, who is fluent in Spanish, I was in a unique position to capture the ideas and beliefs of Cubans of all different racial classifications.
Although I was treated much better than darker skinned Cubans, I did feel discrimination. When I would attempt to enter places reserved for tourists, I would be questioned and had to make sure that I always had my foreign passport handy.
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 02:13
YOUTUBE : ‘Apartheid In Cuba” by Eduardo Montes-Bradley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
A Film In Progress by Eduardo Montes-Bradley. Carlos Moore speaks openly on racial tensions and discrimination in Fidel Castro´s Cuba since the beginning of the Revolution.
An ethnologist and political scientist with two doctorates from the prestigious University of Paris-7, France, CARLOS MOORE was banished for three decades from his native Cuba as a result of his opposition to the racial policies of the Castro regime. Fluent in five languages, he lived and worked in many lands throughout his 34-year exile, and traveled extensively on ethnological research projects in South-east Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. His political and professional career began in 1962 when, aged nineteen, he was recruited into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a translator in the Asian Division.
Noviembre 7th, 2011 at 02:01
NELSON MANDELA! WHERE IS YOUR VOICE WITH THE CUBAN PEOPLE? FIDEL WAS NEVER YOUR FRIEND, HE JUST LIED AND USED YOU LIKE HE DID TO EVERYONE!
YOUTUBE : Cuban Apartheid caught on tape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHbrof-tQPw
In this video a Spanish tourist attempts to check into the famous Havana Libre Hotel with his girlfriend. The problem is that she’s a Cuban citizen and therefore forbidden from staying there. The clerk explains that they need a marriage license or she would need to be a permanent resident of another country. The issue is not that they are not married. If the girl were Spaniard or even Cuban with Spanish residency she there would be no problem. Spanish hoteliers that do business in Cuba agree to enforce the government’s disgusting apartheid practices.
End Cuban Apartheid!
Noviembre 6th, 2011 at 23:47
What I meant below, for any stupid Marxist who visited in the 60s and 70s and didn’t know what was going on, is that any Cuban seen talking to you “without permission” and “saying the wrong thing” would be reported to authorities. All the people who talked to you “spontaneously” were being listened to and all your conversations reported. It was the same way under Stalin and Mao, and made for very rosy visits where the Marxist heard the heavily rehearsed scripts of party loyalists and was kept away from the starving masses and the dissidents being tortured and worked to death in labor camps.
Noviembre 6th, 2011 at 23:45
***
Again a communist government treats its citizens as second class people. While claiming to provide “equality” for all. Lies! They are afraid the Cubans will flee to Florida.
***
Otra vez un gobierno communista trata sus ciudadnos como gente de la classe segunda. Y ponen que proveen “egualidad” por todos. Mentidas! Tienen mierdo que los Cubanos van a huir a Florida.
***
John Bibb
***
Noviembre 6th, 2011 at 23:23
Another sick joke, to think that the “anti-Yankee anti-imperialist” Castro government lays out the red carpet for any foreign imperialist including us Yankees, and excludes the Cuban natives from all our pleasure. Except for select members of the Cuban communist nobility, who have permission to mingle with us.
This sick joke is of course lost on visiting Marxist imperialist tourists who appreciate not having to mingle with ordinary Cubans and listen to their griping.
Marxists liked the 60s and 70s a lot better though when almost every Cuban was off limits to visitors. In those days all visitors were constantly followed around and any Cuban seen talking to one of them was immediately reported as a possible “counter-revolutionary”.
And if any Cuban was crazy enough to tell the visitor what they really thought about Castro, they’d be placed in a “re-education camp” or “psychiatric ward”. Ahhh, the good old days, hard-core Marxists sure must miss them. I hear Iran and North Korea are very progressive these days, maybe they’ll have better luck over there.