Violence Against Women
Julieta Venegas’s voice echoes in the large room of the National Theater. She scales the heights, she dives into the soul. I am in a seat, in the dark, when the first notes sound. My eyes fixed on the stage. I have traversed the La Timba neighborhood from my house to get here, with dogs barking at me from the corners, and women in raggedy clothes watching out the windows. I have come to this place with my doubts, by progesterone, my fingernails so short they would be those on the hands of a teenager, dressed in my lack of femininity, my hair that resists the comb, my motherhood, my fierceness. I am I, with these ovaries that mark my biological clock and a son who any day now will make me a grandmother… I’d better prepare myself for the speed of life.
So I try to capture the rhythm of Venegas’ songs, repeating a refrain and snapping my fingers to mark the beat. The fight against domestic violence that she has taken up touches me closely, although I’ve never experienced family or matrimonial abuse first hand. But I know well the sullen, bruised, crestfallen faces that I see at every turn. In the elevator, in line for the bus, in this city where, despite its size, you bump into the same people again and again. I look at her eyes, which no longer meet mine out of shame and fear that her abuser will discover her call for help. But every inch of her skin, every scrap of her clothes say “Save me! Get me out of this situation!†I see the young girl in a tight dress, whose pimp follows her every step. A big woman with breasts grown larger from multiple births whose husband throws the plate from the table at her while shouting, “And is this all there is to eat?!†The secretary who makes up her face in front of the mirror thinking that if she pleases her boss at the end of the month she will get a bag with two pounds of chicken and some soap. The ballerina who converts a grimace into a gesture of pleasure after a kiss from some decrepit high mucketymuck, who promises her a better life.
And I look, between the end of one song by Julieta Venegas and the beginning of another, at the president of the University Students Federation (FEU) from the Economics Faculty. The same person who, last Saturday, in the Manuel Sanguily amphitheater at the University of Havana welcomed potential new students. To convince them to enroll in his specialty this boy said, “We have a lot of activities, Caribbean sports games, parties at the FEU beach club, and of course… the activities against the Ladies in White.†And I have been there in that auditorium, feeling an incredible sadness for this young man for whom going to insult women, preventing them from leaving their homes, screaming every kind of insult at them, is almost an entertainment. Two days later I found myself in the overstuffed seat at the National Theater confirming how the official discourse itself can incite and condone barbarism, inviting a talented artist to denounce domestic violence and – at the same time – crushing the song of freedom of so many women.
Diciembre 19th, 2012 at 07:47
Here’s a suggestion to the team “yoani”, the cia writers who write all this bullshift and delusional nonsense, and then pretend that some inept, incapable woman from Cuba is the author:
Why not write about the positive changes in Cuba. Neutrally, at least, as the real journalists would do.
Leave your presonal ideology in the crapper and try to write objectively.
The latest changes to the Cuban penal system surely deserve a comment. After all, they seem to be very compatible with the (empty and senseless) words the team “yoani” regurgitates here ad-nauseam every day!!!
And, surely again, that is something to look forward, no? The compatibility of your demands with the new changes in the penal code of Cuba.
Or, will yo again only see the negatives (which will ne qite hard to find, if we judge by the draft of the law that will soon be submitted to a debate in the parliament).
Diciembre 11th, 2012 at 12:27
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS: 2012 prison census - 232 journalists jailed worldwide
CUBA: 1
Calixto Ramón MartÃnez Arias, Centro de Información Hablemos Press - Imprisoned: September 16, 2012
State security agents arrested MartÃnez Arias near José Martà International Airport in Havana where he was reporting on two tons of medicine and medical equipment that had been damaged, according to CPJ sources and news reports. MartÃnez Arias, a reporter with the independent news agency Centro de Información Hablemos Press, was taken to a police station in Havana where he was interrogated and beaten, Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez, the organization’s director, told CPJ.
According to Guerra Pérez, MartÃnez Arias was accused of contempt under Cuba’s archaic desacato or disrespect laws for shouting anti-Castro slogans after he was harassed by authorities. Article 144.1 of the Cuban criminal code establishes that those who threaten, defame, insult, or offend the dignity of a public official can be jailed for up to three years.
On September 27, MartÃnez Arias was transferred to the Valle Grande Prison in the town of La Lisa, Havana province, Guerra Pérez told CPJ. The journalist began a hunger strike in November, according to Hablemos Press. Two people recently released from jail told Hablemos Press that MartÃnez Arias had been placed in solitary confinement.
At the time of his arrest MartÃnez Arias was looking into reasons why a shipment of medicine and medical equipment reportedly donated by the World Health Organization had been left to go bad, according to Guerra Pérez and news reports.
MartÃnez Arias, who has worked for the news agency since 2009, has reported on sensitive issues such as an outbreak of cholera in Granma province, according to CPJ sources and news reports. Prominent human rights activist Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz, president of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation in Havana, told CPJ that MartÃnez Arias was arrested for his journalistic work.
MartÃnez Arias has often been harassed by authorities for his reporting, Guerra Pérez said. In 2011, CPJ documented a string of arrests of journalists from Centro de Información Hablemos Press, which prevented them from reporting on the Communist Party Congress.
http://www.cpj.org/imprisoned/2012.php
Diciembre 11th, 2012 at 00:53
AN ODE TO The Man!! POLLY WANTS A CRACKER, POLLY WANTS A CRACKER! JE JE JE!
BELLINGHAM HERALD: Cuba cracks down on dissidents on Human Rights Day - By JUAN O. TAMAYO
MIAMI — Cuban police have detained more than 100 dissidents and put another 100 to 150 under house arrest in an island-wide crackdown to block any gatherings marking International Human Rights Day on Monday, according to government opponents. Among those detained were about 80 members and supporters of the Ladies in White, including dozens who were reportedly carted off roughly during roundups in Havana and on their way to the Our Lady of Charity Basilica in the eastern town of El Cobre. Security agents also sealed off several homes in eastern Cuba to avert gatherings of dissidents to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, head of the opposition Cuban Patriotic Union. The U.S. government swiftly denounced the arrests, saying it was “deeply concerned by the Cuban government’s repeated use of arbitrary detention and violence to silence critics, disrupt peaceful assembly and intimidate independent civil society.” “We call on the Cuban government to end” the arrests and violence “and we look forward to the day when all Cubans can freely express their ideas,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday.
Cuban police and State Security agents usually round up scores of dissidents on or before Dec. 10 each year to keep them from staging any sort of events marking the day. The government critics are then released after a few hours or days.
About 45 Ladies in White and 10 supporters were arrested in Havana following their traditional march outside the Santa Rita church after Sunday Mass, said Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
The women usually are allowed to go home without incident after the marches, but this weekend were harassed by government agents. When they sat down in protest, police dragged them roughly to three waiting buses, Sanchez said. Most were released by Sunday night.
Ferrer said another 34 Ladies in White and two young girls were detained, 16 of them “with violence,” over the weekend around eastern Cuba as they tried to make their way to El Cobre to pray for human rights. All had been freed as of noon Monday.
Police intercepted three more at the gates to the church on Sunday and tried to seize two others already inside, Ferrer told The Miami Herald by phone from his home in the nearby town of Palmarito de Cauto. But a priest in the church protected the women and drove them home after the Mass.
The Ladies in White, founded by the wives, daughters and mothers of political prisoners, was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2005. They wear white clothes and carry pink gladiolas during their marches.
Another 20 male dissidents were taken into custody and held in police lockups around eastern Cuba over the weekend, Ferrer added. Four were confirmed to have been freed as of noon Monday but there was no word on the fate of the others.
Sanchez added that police and state security agents also put between 100 and 150 dissidents under house arrest during the crackdown, but stressed that he was still receiving new reports of arrests and releases as of Monday evening.
A blog widely believed to be run by State Security agents, Yohandry’s Blog, claimed that police were forced to drag away the Havana Ladies in White before civilians nearby could give them a “forceful reply” for “failing to respect the pain of the Cuban people” over the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez announced Saturday that he was returning to Cuba for a fourth round of surgery related to his fight with cancer. He arrived Monday.
The opposition group Express Art for Freedom, meanwhile, announced a contest, open to island residents only, for the best Tweet regarding International Human Rights Day. The winner, who will pick from among a computer, a camera or a cellular telephone, will be announced after Dec. 23.
And in Spain, two Cuban groups marched to the Cuban Embassy in Madrid on Sunday to protest the detentions and demand the release of Sonia Garros and Calixto Ramon Martinez, dissidents who have been jailed on the island for several weeks.
http://www.bellinghamherald.co.....dents.html
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 19:28
BOSTON GLOBE: Cuba dissidents denounce wave of detentions
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban dissidents accused authorities Monday of a wave of arrests to prevent them from gathering to mark International Human Rights Day.
More than 100 government opponents were briefly detained and promptly sent back to their homes, human rights monitor Elizardo Sanchez said.
‘‘The saving grace is that (the arrests) are of short duration,’’ said Sanchez, who heads the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
A leader of the group known as the Ladies in White said they were rounded up Sunday when they held their weekly protest march outside a Havana church.
‘‘They told us we were being provocative,’’ Alejandrina Garcia said by phone.
Dissidents have no legal recognition in Cuba, which accuses its small community of vocal opponents of being traitors and ‘‘counterrevolutionaries’’ who accept foreign money to undermine the government.
The U.S. State Department criticized what it called arbitrary detentions aimed at silencing criticism on the island.
http://www.boston.com/news/wor.....story.html
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 15:03
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE LIKE THE SONG GOES!
HISPANIC BUSINESS.COM: Cuba Enforces New Law to Promote Food Production
Dec 10, 2012
A new Cuban law on land usufruct came into force on Sunday with the purpose of boosting the island country’s food production.
Under the Decree-Law 300 and its accompanying regulations, designed to expand the delivery of state-owned idle land, beneficiaries are allowed to build housing and other production-related properties.
Also, the legislation increases the limit of land given to each beneficiary from 40 to 67 hectares, while including forestry and fruit production in the allowed activities.
In addition, food producers are expected to enjoy tax reductions or exemptions after a new tax law comes into effect in January.
Cuba has an agricultural area of some 6.6 million hectares, and the idle land was estimated at 1.8 million hectares four years ago, when the government began its delivery in usufruct.
According to the National Land Control Center, the island now still has 975,000 hectares of idle areas to deliver in usufruct, and 65 percent of them are infested with marabou, a thorny shrub very difficult to eradicate.
The Cuban government considers food production as a strategic issue. The country spends $2 billion a year to import 80 percent of the food needed to meet domestic needs.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.co.....romote.htm
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 14:05
FINANCIAL TIMES: Glimpsing the outline of a post-Chávez Venezuela - by John Paul Rathbone
2013 may well be the year that biology trumps ideology – if not in attitudes to global warming (although perhaps that too) then in the increasing actuarial possibilities that both Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez will soon die.
Fidel Castro, the father of the Latin American left, is 86 years old and infirm. Hugo Chávez, his ideological son, is only 58-years old (and with a body that still looks like “packed concrete,†as Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez once put it). But the Venezuelan president’s cancer condition is worsening. After 14 years in power, Chávez even went so far this past weekend as to endorse a possible successor – his vice president Nicolas Maduro.
Castro and Chávez are both great windbags, who like to monopolize national conversations. So their departure would, at the very least, mark a profound change in the air that perfumes regional politics. But beyond that? Fidel’s death would mark a major symbolic passing. But the post-Fidel Cuba that many have feared or hoped for over the past 50 years has already arrived. In case you hadn’t noticed, Fidel Castro stopped governing Cuba several years ago, when he handed the reins of power over to his brother, Raul. In that respect, an era has already ended.
Chávez might wish he could hand over the reins of power as smoothly as Fidel Castro did. But Chávez faces a different set of historic conditions in Venezuela. Unlike the Castro brothers, who came to power as leaders of a popular armed rebellion, Chávez owes his legitimacy to the ballot box. And Venezuela’s new constitution, as approved by Chávez, requires fresh elections should he depart.
“Chavismoâ€would face a far more uncertain future without the charismatic former tank commander at its head; it was always a highly personalised political project. How uncertain that future could be may be seen at regional elections next week. On December 16, voters will not be choosing their president, as they did in October when Chávez won presidential elections by a large margin, but rather governors and local councilmen. That is an important difference.
Nor will Chávez, recuperating from surgery in Cuba, be campaigning alongside his party against the opposition this time either. The opposition has always struggled to maintain a united front. But Chavismo, without Chávez, may well struggle too. Indeed, whether it will now unite behind Maduro, the putative successor, will be a key test of the institutions that Chávez built while in power. A first glimpse of what a post-Chávez Venezuela might look like could come sooner than one might expect.
blogs.ft.com/the-world/2012/12/glimpsing-the-outline-of-a-post-chavez-venezuela/?
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 13:20
The Man! YOU HAVE YOUR PRIORITIES AND I HAVE MINE DEAR! GO AND COMPLAIN ABOUT IN A BLOG SUITED FOR THAT! AS A DIVERSIONARY TACTIC IS GETS REALLY OLD!
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 13:18
@61… Ah yeah Humberto that’s the parrot peanuts I was talking about… Your are so full of them they make you desperate for Cuba to observe human rights…minus a small convenient detail called Guantanamo… isnt it?
and if the sky is so clear in Venice bs beach, can you see any drones??? Or today they dont fly?
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 12:59
INSTITUTE FOR WAR & PEACE REPORTING: Cuban Journalist Pressured to End Hunger Strike - Cuban authorities order water withheld from Calixto MartÃnez Arias. - By Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez - Dec 8, 2012
Independent journalist Calixto Ramón MartÃnez Arias, a reporter for the Hablemos Press Information Centre, has been on hunger strike for close to a month now.
MartÃnez Arias was detained on September 16 near Cuba’s international airport in Havana while investigating allegations of a damaged shipment of medicines sent by the World Health Organisation.
The authorities charged him with insulting President Raúl Castro and his brother Fidel Castro, the first leader of post-revolutionary Cuba. (See Cuban Journalist Faces Charge of Insulting Castros.)
MartÃnez Arias, 42, began a hunger strike on November 10. At a meeting with his sister on November 30, he told her he planned to carry on, as a way of protesting against overcrowding in the jail, and also against having to wear prison uniform and being stripped of all of his belongings.
The authorities at the Combinado del Este Prison, where MartÃnez Arias is being held, are refusing to disclose information on his health.
A fellow inmate, who requested anonymity, said by phone that on December 7, State Security officers took MartÃnez Arias out of the punishment cell he was in and asked him to end his hunger strike.
The prisoner said MartÃnez Arias told him afterwards that the officers were “from Villa Marista†– State Security headquarters.
“They took him out to try to force him to end his hunger strike, [and show that] they won’t give in to pressure. But he made it clear that he would continue his strike because they had refused to offer him any kind of guarantees,†the inmate said. “When he returned to his cell, they denied him water in order to force him to end his strike.â€
Another prisoner confirmed the incident, saying he saw two officers in green uniforms with State Security insignia taking MartÃnez Arias out of his cell on December 6.
He saw him the following morning, and MartÃnez Arias told him that “he was feeling weak, but wouldn’t give up his strikeâ€.
Speaking on December 6, MartÃnez Arias’s lawyer said he had still not been given access to the journalist’s records, despite having requested them on two occasions.
In a statement issued on December 7, the Inter-American Press Association reiterated its demand for “the immediate release of the Cuban journalist… who has been imprisoned since September and has been on hunger strike for nearly a month in protest against the appalling conditions in which he is being heldâ€.
The president of the association’s committee for press freedom, Claudio Paolillo, said, “The Cuban government has a tendency to ignore local and international appeals against their deplorable human rights abuses. We cannot be silent in the face of constant violations.â€
The Hablemos Press Information Centre has set up a petition on the change.org website to win broad international solidarity for MartÃnez Arias’s case. It is asking President Castro and the official Union of Cuban Journalists to act to secure the journalist’s immediate release.
Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez is an independent journalist and founder of the Hablemos Press news agency in Cuba.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/cu.....ger-strike
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 12:37
IS Yoandry Depass THE CUBAN/BRIT ALAN GROSS? THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE SHOWING THEIR TRUE COLORS AGAIN!
THE TELEGRAPH UK: Family appeals for Briton stuck in Cuba - By Nick Allen and Alex Spillius
The family of British man trapped in Cuba after travelling to the country to help his mother in the wake of Hurricane Sandy has issued a heartfelt appealed for his release.
Yoandry Depass, who was born in Cuba but moved to the UK as a child, was stopped from leaving Havana a week ago when the Cuban authorities told him he did not have the right documents.
Leah Hall, his partner and mother of his child, said that on his way in Mr Depass was told by an immigration officials that “he would be all right†for this trip but should get a Cuban passport for any future travel to the country.
He was then stopped by officials attempting to leave on Dec 4 and return to his family in Mansfield.
Cuba does not recognise dual nationality and Mr Depass was required to have a Cuban passport to travel in and out of the country. He was unaware of those requirements when he arrived in on Nov 24 to visit his mother Oadalis, whose roof was blown off by the storm.
She said Mr Depass, who is universally known as Yogi, was staying in his mother’s one-room shack living off basic rations with no shower or bath facilities†in Santiago de Cuba, a 12-hour bus ride from the capital Havana.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....-Cuba.html
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 12:18
HI The Man!! HOW IS YOUR MONDAY MORNING? HERE IN VENICE BEACH IS BEAUTIFUL, CLEAR BUT CHILLY! HOPE YOURE HAVING A GOOD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY! OOPS, FORGET THAT YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS DOES NOT APPLY TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE IN THE ISLAND JAIL!
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 12:17
BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: The New Cuban Economy: What Roles for Foreign Investment? - By: Richard Feinberg
For revolutionary Cuba, foreign investment has been about more than dollars and cents. It’s about cultural identity and national sovereignty. It’s also about a model of socialist planning, a hybrid of Marxist-Leninism and Fidelismo, which has jealously guarded its domination over all aspects of the economy. During its five decades of rule, the regime’s political and social goals always dominated economic policy; security of the revolution trumped productivity.
THE WORLD’S HEAVIEST TAX ON LABOR
The most unusual characteristic of the Cuban FDI regime is the labor contract system . FDI firms are not generally allowed to directly hire labor . Rather, a state employment agency—typically a dependency of the relevant sectoral ministry (e .g ., tourism, light industry)—hires, fires, settles labor disputes, establishes wage scales, and pays the wages directly to the workers . The FDI pays the wage bill to the state employment agency which in turn pays the workers . But there is a very special twist to the Cuban system: the FDI pays wages to the employment agency in hard currency and the employment agency turns around and compensates the workers in local currency, an effective devaluation or tax of 24-to-1 . Thus, if the firm pays the employment agency $500 a month and the employment agency pays the workers 500 pesos, over 90 percent of the wage payment disappears in the currency conversion; the effective compensation is instantly deflated to $21 per month . This could be the world’s heaviest labor tax . It provoked one Cuban worker to remark to the author: “In Cuba, it’s a great myth that we live off the state . In fact, it’s the state that lives off of us .â€
This labor system, which also authorizes only one national union (the Confederation of Cuban Workers, which is closely allied with the Communist Party), violates many principles of the International Labor Organization, of which Cuba is a charter member . It also freezes Cuba into a low-wage, low-productivity trap .
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE REPORT!
http://www.brookings.edu/resea.....y-feinberg
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 11:11
Humberto the parrot @ work… good work for peanuts… peanut bird - peanut does - peanut truths all over the place or is it something else??!
Alan is still in prison and your group rejoice! man you gotta live to see this!
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 11:04
@38 >> ?? oh why, Griffin just because you say so?? are we supposed to buy anything that you say more than we buy it from the other side??
You said:
“The reports on the Cuban medical system that bear the UN stamp were written by the Cuban government.”
You said:
“In 1995, Dr. Oscar Biscet published a report telling the truth about the Cuban medical system, the much higher infant mortality rates, the forced abortions of all pregnancies”
Telling the truth??? just because it is endorsed by a US politician and we get a video promo on the site as if this is an action movie it’s gotta be the truth and nothing but the truth…
By the way I used the past participle tense and that in my book places ‘the truth’ I was saying somewhere in the past… every revolution has its benefits.. that last or don’t last - full stop!… Batista would never have delivered change at a rate Castro did and for the better of society!… Read Rousseau on true citizenship is and learn - before you speak of ‘back to past’ again!
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 02:08
THE CASTROFASCISTS FIGURED THIS EXTORTION PLOY USING ALAN GROSS AS A HOSTAGE WRONG! THE CASTRO OLIGARCHY MAFIA ARE UP AGAINST THE WALL IN WORLD OPINION ON THIS! THE FACT THAT THEY DID NOT ALLOW THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS TO BE PRESENT IN THE COURTROOM FOR MR. GROSS’ TRIAL AND SUBSEQUENT APPEALS AS WELL AS NOT ALLOW HIM TO BE INTERVIEWED IN THREE YEARS BY THE WORLD PRESS SAYS A LOT ABOUT THEIR CASE AGAINST HIM!
MIAMI HERALD OPINION: No deal for Cuban spies - There is no parallel between Alan Gross and Cuba’s espionage agents
It was reassuring last week to hear from a ranking official of the State Department that there is no plan in the works, and none foreseen, to engage in a spy swap with Cuba that would involve trading U.S. government subcontractor Alan Gross for five Cuban spies convicted in Miami.
Four of them are still serving time and another is serving a three-year parole somewhere in the United States. The Obama administration official, speaking anonymously but clearly reflecting administration policy, said such a trade would be unacceptable.
No deal: That should continue to be the standard reply from Washington to Havana whenever the topic comes up.
Trading spies for hostages is a bad policy under any circumstances, especially when dealing with a cynical and corrupt regime like the one in Cuba.
As the State Department official rightly pointed out: “There is no parallel between the two cases.â€
The unfortunate Mr. Gross, of Potomac, Md., became a pawn in Cuba’s sinister spy games when he was arrested in Havana on Dec. 3, 2009 after delivering three satellite telephones for use by members of Cuba’s isolated Jewish community so they could have access the Internet and contact people abroad without using the government’s tightly monitored telephone monopoly. It was part of a U.S. government pro-democracy program designed to reach out to the Cuban people.
For that, Mr. Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison for acts against Cuba’s “independence or territorial integrity.â€
That borders on the absurd. This kind of activity may have violated some Customs rules, but it’s perfectly legal anywhere in the world except in totalitarian regimes with arbitrary judicial systems and laws that can be twisted to achieve political objectives. And it certainly doesn’t rise to the level of “espionage†by any customary definition.
Meanwhile, the so-called “avispa†(Wasp) network of Cuban spies engaged in a series of actions that clearly violated U.S. laws. They spied on military facilitees and infiltrated anti-Castro groups with the aim of obtaining intelligence that could be useful to the Cuban government.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE EDITORIAL!
http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....spies.html
Diciembre 10th, 2012 at 01:34
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY: Cuba Dictatorship An Embarrassment, Spanish Politician Says
The president of the People’s Party in Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, called on Spaniards to commit to the democratization of Cuba and “take on†the dictatorship of the Castro brothers.
“I want to say very loudly and clearly that for the citizens of the western countries, for all the citizens of the democratic countries that share the same cultural roots and the same moral and political values, the existence of the Communist dictatorship in Cuba is a reason for embarrassment and a call to our sense of freedom and responsibility,†Aguirre said.
The Spanish politician made her comments during a ceremony on Dec. 4 at headquarters of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents honoring the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement in Cuba, Oswaldo Paya, and dissident Harold Cepero.
Both dissidents were killed in an alleged car accident on July 22 in Cuba. Paya’s family has rejected the Cuban government’s version of how the opposition leader died and continues to maintain that his death may have been intentional.
During her remarks, Aguirre announced she has joined a petition calling for an international investigation into the deaths.
The political leader also stressed that the “commitment against the Castro dictatorship needs be greater in Spaniards.â€
“Because it was the last republic to gain independence, Cuba is the American nation with the closest ties to Spain, and they are very strong,†she explained. “Family ties, sentimental ties and emotional ties.â€
These bonds mean Spaniards have “more responsibility than anyone else when it comes to taking on the dictatorship, and when it comes to collaborating with the dissidence in order to achieve, once and for all, a return to a free Cuba,†Aguirre said.
“So that once and for all, Cuba ceases to be a sinister anomaly among the nations of the West to which it belongs.â€
http://www.eurasiareview.com/1.....cian-says/
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 16:15
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY IS TOMORROW! BUT NOT IN CUBA!
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL-LADIES IN WHITE, CUBA: Transforming Pain Into Hope - Human rights defenders in the americas
Take action now support human rights defenders in the americas human rights defenders in the americas play a vital role in exposing and combating human rights violations. many have paid a high price for their courageous efforts to break cycles of injustice, discrimination and impunity. in the past few years, hundreds have been persecuted and attacked. despite the lack of effective protection for themselves and their families and widespread impunity, they continue their struggle – transforming pain into hope. members of the Ladies in White in cuba have been repeatedly subjected to short-term and arbitrary detention and intimidation. the Ladies in White was formed by a group of women relatives of 75 prisoners of conscience who were imprisoned in 2003. all have since been released and the Ladies in White now campaign for the release of other political prisoners and to lift restrictions on fundamental freedoms in cuba. Join us in urging the cuban authorities to take all necessary measures to put an end to all acts of harassment and intimidation against the Ladies in White and other activists in cuba, and ensure they can all exercise their peaceful human rights activities free from fear and reprisals.
Dear President Raul Castro,
I am dismayed by the ongoing short-term and arbitrary detention, acts of repudiation and intimidation faced by the Ladies in White, because of their peaceful calls for the release of all political prisoners and for the lifting of restrictions on fundamental civil and political rights in Cuba.
I urge you to:
1. Stop all forms of harassment and intimidation against the Ladies in White and other human rights activists, and publicly recognize the legitimacy and importance of their role in society
2. Immediately and unconditionally release anyone in Cuba detained solely for the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of opinion, expression, association or assembly.
Yours sincerely,
CLICK LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION!
http://www.amnesty.org/en/libr.....21/2012/en
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 14:44
One of the most amazing things about the website that hosts Yoani’s blog is the dedication of the volunteers who translate the several dozen individual blogs into numerous languages not only English.
Most do attach their real names to the translations, a few do not. With the falsehoods and venom directed against the translators by people like Damir, can’t say I blame those that don’t identify their translations.
BTW, the Translating Cuba archive is worth a visit in its own right. It’s a useful reminder that there are many insightful Cuban bloggers in addition to Yoani. Here is a link to some recent blog postings by Eliecer Avila which are always worth a read: http://translatingcuba.com/cat.....cer-avila/
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 14:08
I’m half-man, half-woman. You dummies think you have it all figured out, it’s fun watching you makes fools of yourselves.
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 05:51
To the dumb person calling himself Damir, there are several Anonimos here. You haven’t a clue which one is which. But then you are very confused about everything. Non entity, irrelevant, nuts.
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 05:51
To the dumb person calling himself Damir, there are several Anonimos here. You haven’t a clue which one is which. But then you are very confused about everything. Non entity, irrelevant, nuts.
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 02:45
THE CASTROFASCISTS CONTINUE TO LIE IN ODER TO SAVE THEIR PRECIOUS INCOME FROM TOURISM, EVEN IF IT MEANS LETTING MANY ORDINARY CUBANS DIE OF DISEASE!
MIAMI HERALD: Cuba stays silent about deadly cholera outbreak - It’s the disease that the government doesn’t acknowledge, because it might deter tourists from coming to the island. - By Juan O. Tamayo
Cuba, especially the eastern third of the island, is suffering through an alarming outbreak of cholera — as well as the mosquito-borne dengue fever — brewed in its decrepit water and sewer systems and fueled by Hurricane Sandy’s floods, according to residents.
More than a dozen deaths have been reliably reported. Hospitals and prisons have been quarantined at times. Schools have been shut down, and so have restaurants and street kiosks selling juices and other products made with water.
Government buildings have established hand and shoe disinfection stands at their entrances. Some public health officials have gone door to door asking if anyone is suffering from diarrhea, vomiting or fevers, and others distributed water purification tablets.
Cuba’s government has said nothing publicly about cholera since Aug. 28, when it announced that an outbreak in the eastern city of Manzanillo — the first in a century — had ended after three deaths and 417 confirmed cases.
Spread by bacteria that cause severe diarrhea and vomiting, the disease killed millions in the Middle Ages.
Police in uniform and plainclothes stationed at hospitals are telling visitors to keep quiet about cholera and other diseases, Clavel told El Nuevo Herald — apparently to avoid upsetting the Caribbean island’s $2.5 billion-a-year tourism industry.
“We have to question whether the Cuban government today prioritizes their need for tourism … more than local public health demands,†wrote Sherri Porcelain, a public health expert at the University of Miami and researcher at its Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies.
Worst hit by the cholera has been eastern Cuba, where Sandy came ashore last month halfway between Manzanillo and Santiago, the island’s second-largest city and capital of a province with the same name.
It damaged water, electricity and sewer systems, flooded latrines and left behind puddles where dengue-carrying mosquitoes easily bred.
“There is tremendous worry in Santiago,†said Clavel, one of a dozen Cubans contacted for this story. Many were dissidents, unafraid to talk about the epidemics. Their versions coincided in many ways, but could not be individually confirmed.
In the only independent report, a Nov. 2 announcement by the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, a branch of the U.N.’s World Health Organization, noted that “suspected cholera cases detected in several areas of the country continue to be investigated.â€
Havana dissident Dania Virgen GarcÃa, who stays in contact with political prisoners throughout the island, said cholera is spreading prison to prison because of their notoriously bad hygiene. GarcÃa added that she had received several reports that some prisoners died from cholera but were counted among Sandy’s 11 Cuban fatalities.
Santiago dissident Pedro Montané said he spoke last week with several people who confirmed to him in private that their relatives were being treated for cholera at the 28th of September Clinic, but did not want to give their names.
The government jailed the doctor who first reported a dengue epidemic in 2000 for more than a year, and is now holding Calixto Ramón MartÃnez Arias, the independent journalist who first reported the cholera outbreak in Manzanillo.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....eadly.html
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 02:32
LOOKS LIKE THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER SUGAR/OIL DADDY! AND I MEAN REAL SOON!
BBC NEWS: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez announces new cancer operation
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he will return to Cuba on Sunday for more cancer surgery.
The Venezuelan leader only returned on Friday from his last course of treatment there.
In a TV address Mr Chavez said it was “absolutely essential” that he received further treatment, adding that more malignant cells had been found.
The 58-year-old has had three cancer operations in Cuba since mid-2011, but few details have been released.
Speaking from the Miraflores presidential palace, Mr Chavez said that if his health failed and a new election had to be held, his supporters should vote for Vice-President Nicolas Maduro.
Correspondents say it is the first time the president has named a successor.
“Unfortunately, during these exhaustive exams they found some malignant cells in the same area. It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential, that I have to undergo a new surgical intervention,” he said.
“With God’s will, like on the previous occasions, we will come out of this victorious.”
During his latest visit to Cuba, Mr Chavez was said to be receiving “hyperbaric oxygenation” therapy, which can ease ailments caused by radiation treatment.
President Chavez has spent many months receiving surgery and treatment in Cuba since his diagnosis in July 2011.
In May, he declared himself free of cancer.
However, he has never given much detail about the type of cancer he suffered from, and chose to be treated in Cuba rather than Venezuela, which has led the opposition to call for greater transparency.
Mr Chavez’s recent visit to Cuba follows his re-election in October for a third term in office.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-20656441
Diciembre 9th, 2012 at 02:12
“friendly” translator coming out of the closet:
Anónimo
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 15:30
LOL, I am a woman, you dumbf*ck!
Both as who she is, and as a rude and uncivilised lowlife…
Which is how you get the job with the team “yoani”. An hones person cannot possibly be willing to peddle the lies and delusional propaganda written by cia aparatchiks as if she is the author, and about a country she has never seen in her life for her “democratic” “freedom-fighting” nazist gulag usa PROHIBITS>\,/b> its citizens fromvisiting Cuba.
And, by the way, the prohibition is in palce to prevent usanian slaves (ciizens) from seeing what is their nazist dictatorship causing to an independent nation, and that Cuba is quite different in reality to what they are being told.
Hypocrites all over.
Diciembre 8th, 2012 at 20:42
Yoani’s post leaves me wanting more information. What - if anything - do the Cuban authorities do to when faced with incidents of spousal violence? Are there shelters where abused women can seek refuge? Or is the reality of domestic violence kept hidden from public view. I can’t ever recall the issue being addressed in any Cuban state media.
Diciembre 8th, 2012 at 18:46
“LA CHINA” RAUL SAYS FOOD PRODUCTION IS A MATTER OF “national security”, BUT IS MORE LIKE THE CASTROFASCSITS FEAR HUNGRY PEOPLE WILL REVOLT! CONTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL! BUT THAT WILL BRIG THE CASTRO OLIGARCHY DOWN!
N.Y. TIMES: Cuba’s Free-Market Farm Experiment Yields a Meager Crop - By DAMIEN CAVE
HAVANA — Cuba’s liveliest experiment with capitalism unfolds every night in a dirt lot on the edge of the capital, where Truman-era trucks lugging fresh produce meet up with hundreds of buyers on creaking bicycle carts clutching wads of cash.
“This place, it feeds all of Havana,†said Misael Toledo, 37, who owns three small food stores in the city. “Before, you could only buy or sell in the markets of Fidel.â€
The agriculture exchange, which sprang up last year after the Cuban government legalized a broader range of small businesses, is a vivid sign of both how much the country has changed, and of all the political and practical limitations that continue to hold it back.
No other industry has seen as much liberalization, with a steady rollout of incentives for farmers. And Mr. Castro has been explicit about his reasoning: increasing efficiency and food production to replace imports that cost Cuba hundreds of millions of dollars a year is a matter “of national security.â€
Yet at this point, by most measures, the project has failed. Because of waste, poor management, policy constraints, transportation limits, theft and other problems, overall efficiency has dropped: many Cubans are actually seeing less food at private markets. That is the case despite an increase in the number of farmers and production gains for certain items. A recent study from the University of Havana showed that market prices jumped by nearly 20 percent in 2011 alone. And food imports increased to an estimated $1.7 billion last year, up from $1.4 billion in 2006.
“It’s the first instance of Cuba’s leader not being able to get done what he said he would,†said Jorge I. DomÃnguez, vice provost for international affairs at Harvard, who left Cuba as a boy. “The published statistical results are really very discouraging.â€
A major cause: poor transportation, as trucks are in short supply, and the aging ones that exist often break down.
In 2009, hundreds of tons of tomatoes, part of a bumper crop that year, rotted because of a lack of transportation by the government agency charged with bringing food to processing centers.
“It’s worse when it rains,†said Javier González, 27, a farmer in Artemisa Province who described often seeing crops wilt and rot because they were not picked up.
Behind him were the 33 fertile, rent-free acres he had been granted as part of a program Mr. Castro introduced in 2008 to encourage rural residents to work the land. After clearing it himself and planting a variety of crops, Mr. Gonzalez said, he was doing relatively well and earned more last year than his father, who is a doctor, did.
But Cuba’s inefficiencies gnawed at him. Smart, strong, and ambitious, he had expansion plans in mind, even as in his hand he held a wrench. He was repairing a tractor part meant to be grading land. It was broken. Again.
The 1980s Soviet model tractor he bought from another farmer was as about good as it gets in Cuba. The Cuban government maintains a monopoly on selling anything new, and there simply is not enough of anything — fertilizer, or sometimes even machetes — to go around.
Government economists are aware of the problem. “If you give people land and no resources, it doesn’t matter what happens on the land,†said Joaquin Infante of the Havana-based Cuban National Association of Economists.
But Mr. Castro has refused to allow what many farmers and experts see as an obvious solution to the shortages of transportation and equipment: Let people import supplies on their own. “It’s about control,†said Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Virginia-based research group.
Other analysts agree, noting that though the agricultural reforms have gone farther than other changes — like those that allow for self-employment — they remain constrained by politics.
“The government is not ready to let go,†said Ted Henken, a Latin American studies professor at Baruch College. “They are sending the message that they want to let go, or are trying to let go, but what they have is still a mechanism of control.â€
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12.....l&_r=0
Diciembre 8th, 2012 at 12:45
$520 FOR A CUBAN PASSPORT! ARE THESE ARE THE NEW “CHANGES” THAT THE CASTROFASCISTS WILL PUT INTO EFFECT COME JANUARY?? THAT’S A TWO-YEAR SALARY FOR THE AVERAGE CUBAN IF YOU BUY THE $20/MONTH AVERAGE WAGE! CAN YOU SPELL M.A.F.I.A.!! THE CASTRO CLAN HAS LEARNED WELL FROM THE CUBA, Meyer Lansky YEARS!!
1 British Pound Sterling equals $1.60 US Dollar
Diciembre 8th, 2012 at 12:21
THE CASTROFASCISTS’ MONEY MAKING VENTURE OF REQUIRING ALL CUBANS TO BUY A CUBAN PASSPORT IN ORDER VISIT THE ISLAND! PRETTY RIDICULOUS!
ITV.COM: Nottinghamshire man detained in Cuba
A father from Nottinghamshire is currently being held in Cuba following his detention by border control, after visiting his mother whose house had been destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.
Yoandry Depass moved to the UK 20 years ago and holds a British passport. However, due to Cuba not recognising dual nationality, Mr Depress requires a Cuban passport under Cuban law, and is unable to leave without one.
Mr Depress has paid £320 for a passport but doesn’t know when he’ll get his hands on it.
His partner, Leah Hall, is worried about his safety, and she’s anxious that he won’t be back in the UK in time for Christmas.
Leah also says that their 15 month-old baby girl is starting to wonder where her Daddy is.
Yoandry is currently being assisted by the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba.
http://www.itv.com/news/centra.....d-in-cuba/
Diciembre 8th, 2012 at 00:05
Reports are that Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad is sending out feelers for possible asylum — should the need arise. After all, the inconvenience of being captured alive isn’t really an option for him, neither is the prospect of an ugly war crimes trial in Le Hague. Who needs that on top of everything else! The wardrobe ramifications are enough to give one pause.
It’s interesting to note the countries most frequently mentioned on Assad’s short list to evade those horrors: Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, and I’ve also seen hints of Iran. That short list seems like a series bad choices. But what’s a dictator to do once his time is up? Not sure what I’d do if I were him. Sure, Cuba has a great climate and they love the dictatorial class, but what happens when the money runs out? Same with Venezuela. And if Chavez really does have bone cancer, that gig is about up. Which leaves Ecuador and Iran. Maybe Assad should consider North Korea?
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 22:54
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CUBA: Annual Report 2012 - The state of the world’s human rights
The Cuban authorities continued to stifle freedom of expression, association and assembly, in spite of the much publicized releases of prominent dissidents. Hundreds of pro-democracy activists and dissidents suffered harassment, intimidation and arbitrary arrest.
In April, the Cuban Communist Party held its first congress since 1997 and adopted a package of more than 300 economic reforms that were due to be introduced gradually. However, no resolutions were adopted granting Cubans greater enjoyment of civil and political rights or proposing legislative reforms to allow greater political freedom on the island. During the year, the Cuban government introduced minor economic reforms authorizing the sale of cars and houses, and permitting some income-generating activities outside its direct control.
Alan Gross, a US citizen arrested in December 2009 for distributing telecommunications material in Cuba, was sentenced by a Cuban tribunal to 15 years in prison for crimes against the security of the state. US officials and personalities attempted to secure his release on humanitarian grounds but were unsuccessful.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION:
The authorities continued to severely restrict the freedom of expression, assembly, and association of political dissidents, journalists and human rights activists. They were subjected to arbitrary house arrest and other restrictions on their movements by the authorities and government supporters which prevented them from carrying out legitimate and peaceful activities. All media remained under the control of the Cuban government.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE REPORT!
http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/cuba/report-2012
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 20:09
FIRST THE MORINGA PLANT WAS TO SUPPLY CUBA WITH ALL KIND OF EDIBLE GOODIES LIKE “MILK” AND “MEAT”!! NOW IS THE MARABU WHO WILL SAVE CUBA’S ENERGY PROBLEMS!! IS ANYONE REALLY BUYING THESE CASTROFASCIST STORIES?? UNBELIEVABLE!
BBC NEWS: Could a troublesome weed power Cuba? - By Sarah Rainsford
Drive anywhere in the Cuban countryside and you will spot the marabu lining the road: a dense, woody weed that grows as tall as trees and has invaded vast swathes of agricultural land.
The land-grab began in the 1990s when Cuba was in economic crisis following the collapse of its great benefactor, the Soviet Union. The mighty sugar industry slumped too, and cane fields were overrun by marabu.
But to one British firm, the aggressive weed is less a problem than a valuable resource.
Havana Energy has just signed a $50m (£31m) investment deal to build a renewable-energy power plant in central Cuba, supplying one of the country’s biggest sugar mills as well as the national grid.
During the harvest it will be fuelled by sugar-cane residue, known as bagasse. The rest of the year it will be fed with marabu.
“Marabu has a very high calorific level and low moisture so as biomass it’s very attractive,” explains the firm’s CEO, Andrew Macdonald.
Benefits for all
Harvesting marabu will also address a pressing issue on the island.
“Seventy per cent of the food Cubans consume is imported, which is a national tragedy with their climate and soil,” says technical director Keith Dawson.
“Every Cuban hates marabu so we’re doing a service: not just removing it but also returning the land to farming.”
The deal is a joint-venture with Cuba’s state sugar monopoly and is part of a move by the Communist government to diversify its energy supply away from dependence on subsidised, imported oil from its socialist ally, Venezuela.
“Cuba relies on diesel-powered power stations, which are even less green than coal, very expensive and give-off horrible emissions,” Mr Macdonald explains, saying his firm’s green energy will also be cheaper.
Now the papers have finally been signed, the British team face their first major test.
Early next year they will import a combination of forestry and construction equipment that they hope can harvest the marabu economically. No-one has managed that yet.
“You can’t underestimate marabu. We’ve brought foresters to look at it and they’ve been confused, and agricultural kit is not strong enough,” says agricultural adviser Julian Bell.
‘Terrible state’
The plant’s woody roots vary in size and are as dense as teak with fierce thorns.
“Usually you just wouldn’t bother. But I don’t know anywhere else with 1.5 million hectares covered in such a good energy source,” he says.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-20641433
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 13:03
WAS WONDERING WHY THE CASTROFASCISTS SHOT DOWN THE COLLECT CALLS TO SPAIN THE OTHER DAY! THOUGHT THEY NEEDED THE MONEY!! NOW I KNOW THE ANSWER!! FASCISTS!!
McCLATCHY PAPERS: Cuba blocks calls to phone system used by dissidents - Juan O. Tamayo
MIAMI — The Cuban government is blocking calls to U.S. and Spanish telephone numbers once described as a 911 service for dissidents - a system they could use to swiftly report abuses to supporters abroad.
Hablalo Sin Miedo (Say It Without Fear) allowed Cubans to record voice messages of up to three minutes that were later posted on the system’s blog and automatically emailed to those who signed up, mostly other activists and journalists.
Launched last spring by a Cuba-born Florida International University graduate, the system borrowed a page from a Google and Twitter facility established after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak shut down Internet access during the Tahrir Square riots.
It was receiving hundreds of calls a month with reports that the official media in the Communist-ruled island would never publish, such as accounts of the arrests of the dissident Ladies in White and damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
But starting Oct. 29, its lines were blocked by Cuba’s government-owned telecommunications monopoly, ETECSA. Its U.S. number was blocked first, and when the system was switched to a number in Spain, that was blocked also.
ETECSA even blocked calls from Cuba to his personal phone, said the FIU graduate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wants to keep his activism separate from his job.
“We are exploring alternatives to re-establishing the service. We will soon announce new ways in which it can be used again,” the graduate wrote Thursday in an email.
“The fact that they have blocked Hablalo sin Miedo confirms its usefulness for Cuban activists and average Cubans who trusted us to tell the stories that the Cuban government wants to silence,” he wrote.
Dissidents can still send fast messages via the Twitter facility, but the outlook for finding another way to send voice messages abroad is unclear because all phone calls in Cuba must go through ETECSA.
The Hablalo facility was being used most heavily recently by members of the Cuban Patriotic Union, a dissident group in eastern Cuba.
Also using the system have been members of the Cuban Network of Community Communicators, a group headed by dissident Martha Beatriz Roque that focuses on reports of neighborhood-level issues.
Roque said Cubans trying to call Hablalo Sin Miedo get a message saying the number is “temporarily disconnected.” That message is often heard when Cuba’s State Security agents block dissidents’ cellphone calls.
Google and Twitter established the Speak2Tweet system after Mubarak shut down Internet service during the Arab Spring revolt there last year. The system received hundreds of thousands of calls, which were then posted on the Web and retransmitted as tweets.
Calls to Hablalo Sin Miedo were fewer because phone calls from Cuba to the U.S. cost about $1 per minute, a high fee in Cuba.
But foreign supporters of dissidents could prepay money into the accounts of Cuban cellphones so they could be used to call the facility, and it was at least theoretically available in case of emergencies.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/201.....ystem.html
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 12:33
ARENT YOU TIRED OF “THE MOUSE WARS”?? I SURE AM! NOW LETS COME BACK TO CUBA AND CUBAN ISSUES!
NPR: In Farmers Market, A Free Market Rises In Cuba - by Nick Miroff
Cuba has no shortage of fertile farmland, but the country spends $1.5 billion a year importing about 70 percent of its food.
The communist government’s chronic struggle to get farmers to produce more is forcing authorities to grudgingly accept a greater role for market principles and the profit motive.
Now authorities seem willing to go another step further, tolerating the rise of what might be described as Cuba’s “free-est” market.
This market, on the edge of Havana, only exists at night, appearing after sundown every day in a muddy vacant lot. Scores of battered, sputtering Chevy farm trucks and ancient Ford tractors arrive loaded with onions, squash, papayas and cabbage. It must be the largest gathering of 50-year-old American farm equipment anywhere on the planet.
The market doesn’t have any signs, or even bathrooms, adding to the impression that Cuban authorities haven’t quite accepted its permanence. Sales are done in cash under the faint glow of cellphone screens and lanterns. Even the police, who are ubiquitous elsewhere in Cuba, seem absent here.
Wholesale produce markets like this one exist all over Latin America, of course, where farmers can drive to the city and freely sell their crops. But in Cuba, there hasn’t been anything like this in a half-century.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesa.....es-in-cuba
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 12:08
Man CA,
Just one of your many errors:
“5. …he revolution had it’s achievents in literacy, infant moratlity, medical care that the UN recognises.
The reports on the Cuban medical system that bear the UN stamp were written by the Cuban government. To date, there have been no independently performed studies of the Cuban medical system. That is because the Castro Regime does not allow doctors or medical workers to speak privately with researchers. All medical related information is considered “state secrets” which must be approved for release.
In 1995, Dr. Oscar Biscet published a report telling the truth about the Cuban medical system, the much higher infant mortality rates, the forced abortions of all pregnancies declared high risk, the practice of leaving new born babies to die if they were discovered to have a birth defect. For this act of treason Dr. Biscet was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in prison. He was banned from the Cuban medical association and forbidden to practice medicine. HE was arrested again in 2003 and given a 25 year prison sentence. Under international pressure, the Cuban authorities reluctantly released Biscet in 2011. Biscet claims he was beaten, starved, tortured and burned while in prison.
http://www.oscarscuba.com/home/
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 10:56
He’s also a “I’m a leftist so I have the moral high ground and everyone who doesn’t think like me is a far right-winger” cliche.
Oh Mousy boy, you are the chief “American media regurgitator.”
Dear, you’ve been told before, but I suppose since you’re a little thick I’ll tell you again: This is not the place to debate with Cubans. They don’t generally have access to this particular blog. You can thank your hero Castro for that.
Don’t look now, dear, but your raison d’etre for being here is to get into pissing matches with the other posters here. I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine. You can dish it, but you sure can’t take it.
Let me explain what free and open debate is. It allows everyone, no matter their opinion, to express that opinion, just like you are able to post your garbage here. That system is a beautiful thing. That there are more people here with a certain opinion, that is not like yours, really gets your goat. Also a beautiful thing. CUBAN CITIZENS AREN’T SO LUCKY.
Absolutely no one robs you of your opinion here, some just don’t agree with it.
I’ll quickly refute what is, perhaps, your dumbest assertion:
“2. you never speak in realistic terms of the USA and US economy in the rut - but you constantly attack the Cuban economy as if this is the main point in one’s life;”
If you were actually to speak to a Cuban, you would quickly realize that the Cuban “economy” DOES rule their lives. Where their next measly meal is coming from, how they will pay their bills, whether they can obtain basic supplies that we all take for granted, etc., all loom VERY large in their lives, on a daily basis. All this because a power-thirsty dictator, who is a failure by the way, rules every aspect of their lives with an iron fist. In case you hadn’t noticed, this is a blog about Cuba, and the state of the American economy is not relevant here, though you try your darndest to make it an issue. No one here is biting on that, and it pisses you off.
Again, your brain does not seem to be able to make a distinction between an individual, and the dirty deeds of that individual’s government. With every ounce of your being, you would like to assign collective blame as if we are a monolithic unit. That’s the beautiful thing about having the freedom to express one’s own opinion. We are free to tow the official party line, or to be as renegade as we see fit. Collectivism and socialism are dangerous things when they are forced upon people. They can be beneficial, in some circumstances, when they are VOLUNTARILY engaged in.
And speaking of a waste of time, as you did, the UN is the epitome of one. Don’t fall for those bogus statistics on infant mortality and “health care” in Cuba.
“INFANT MORTALITY
When Castro seized power, almost 50 years ago, Cuba was one of the most advanced countries in Latin America. Its infant-mortality rate was the 13th-lowest in all the world, ahead of even France, Belgium, and West Germany. Statistics in Castro’s Cuba are hard to come by, because honest statistics in any totalitarian society are hard to come by. Some kind of accounting is possible, however: Cuba has slipped in infant mortality, as it has in every other area (except repression). But its infant-mortality rate remains respectable.
Castro will see you now.
Roman Genn
You might suspect a story behind this respectability — and you are right. The regime is very keen on keeping infant mortality down, knowing that the world looks to this statistic as an indicator of the general health of a country. Cuban doctors are instructed to pay particular attention to prenatal and infant care. A woman’s pregnancy is closely monitored. (The regime manages to make the necessary equipment available.) And if there is any sign of abnormality, any reason for concern — the pregnancy is “interrupted.†That is the going euphemism for abortion. The abortion rate in Cuba is sky-high, perversely keeping the infant-mortality rate down.
Many doctors, of course, recoil at this state of affairs. And there is much doctor dissidence on the island. Some physicians have opened their own clinics, caring for the poor and desperate according to medical standards, not according to ideology or governmental dictates. The authorities have warned that, in the words of one report, “new dissidences in the public-health sector will not be tolerated.†Anyone trying to work outside of approved channels is labeled a counterrevolutionary or enemy agent. ”
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....I2NDI5MzI=
The article cited above also states that leftists have a deep psychological need to believe that the Cuban health care system is a good one. You guys really need to give up the ghost on that one, the Cuban “health care” system has been exposed, thanks to Cubans posting pictures and descriptions of Cuban hospitals, as well as accounts of the bribery that must take place in order to get decent service in a hospital.
Mousy also said:
“4. you don’t propose debate, reconcilliation, charity and equality by any means - probably cos that would be too much work and a cerebral effort you are not used to - but none the less you propose capitalism as solution to everything;”
My middle name is “cerebral” baby, and I will debate you any time, any day. But, like you said, it’s a total waste of time. You are only on this blog to rage against capitalism, and the United States in particular. I certainly don’t propose capitalism as a solution to everything, you are making that up. Americans, including myself, are some of the most charitable people on the face of the earth, giving freely of both their time and their money. I know, you don’t like that, it doesn’t jive with your “the US is the evil empire” schtick. Too bad.
I believe in equality for all people, but I haven’t found a societal or political system yet where that is a reality.
Have a beautiful day in grand delusion land!
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 09:19
and then _man comes around_ writes this winner about us bad ole anti-Castrists:
“you don’t propose debate, reconcilliation, charity and equality by any means”
which describes the Castro clique and their groupies to a T.
It’s Yoani, the Ladies in White, and most of us who constantly propose debate, reconciliation, charity and equality while getting whacked on the head by Castro.
So this is what I propose:
_man comes around_ is a Hollywood cliche.
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 09:14
_man comes around_ writes:
“you regurgitate a lot of the American media take on Cuba…”
and then he regurgitates the American media take on Cuba, like this winner:
“the revolution had it’s achievents in literacy, infant moratlity, medical care that the UN recognises”
one of the American media’s oldest cliches on Cuba, probably something he lifted from the NY Times or Miami Herald.
Even FOX News uses that cliche, so maybe the _man_ secretly watches it.
Diciembre 7th, 2012 at 06:16
Anonimo, I know when I am wasting my time… and you are a waste of time… not even a beautiful one..
I came here to meet with Cubans not with American plastic cups who cannot even recycle their conscience into something new - more in tone with the times we live in. As seen on a daily basis here Castro is the one you hate and blame him for everything while the other half of your conscience is as proven and at best, a blank anonimous dark hole ready to stop anyone that doesn’t subscribe to the offical rethoric!… You have no respect for what ‘anonimous’ is or is used for on the Internet but that is the least.. you say nothing about yourselves yet you scanvange what others may say and use personal attacks on that.
Stick to what you do best then whatever that may be, and if you characted doesn’t feel taken down thank you clique or pack or wolves that scavange over here hoping others are sheep and would relent and say this is OK or leave. I am neither!
To recap what we know about you plastic cup conscience and American wolf pack:
1. you regurgitate a lot of the American media take on Cuba…even other Western media seldom makes the cut;
2. you never speak in realistic terms of the USA and US economy in the rut - but you constantly attack the Cuban economy as if this is the main point in one’s life;
3. you want change in Cuba but the change you feel is right and needed as if you are entitled to change things there. In this light you never discuss not repudiate the Cuban Act a piece of US legistaltion that actually enslaves in debt Cubans and future generations of Cubans;
4. you don’t propose debate, reconcilliation, charity and equality by any means - probably cos that would be too much work and a cerebral effort you are not used to - but none the less you propose capitalism as solution to everything;
5. you think Castro is a criminal and Che (though dead) even a bigger one - though no objective history puts them in that context and the revolution had it’s achievents in literacy, infant moratlity, medical care that the UN recognises;
6. you stopped a number of times other people from puting other context in place, here, by flooding them as a wolf pack with ‘your vast plastic cup half conscience’ about Cuba. Indeed you constantly are paranoid about people adding any other background to this blog comments than the background of American Cubans that parade their 50’s Cold War righteousness. You are even prepared to lie for it to pretend history didn’t happen the way it has been recorded.
and one last bit which sums any pack plastic cup conscience best:
7. you are not prepared to put your money where apparently your mouth is, which proves your mouth is not where actually your money is!
I would tell you to mind your own business from now on and not keep tabs on people who don’t display the same avid inclination to become part of a clique that robs others of their opinion by means we saw you escalate yesterday, in the name of your group think - but as seen even that would be a waste of time!…
So good luck with being a user that is dumping down the beautiful anonimous prerogative (some people really need on the Internet) and you are doing it in the vein of an American half-wit femme done and taken down!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 21:50
U.S. SENATE RESOLUTION: IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF UNITED STATES CITIZEN ALAN PHILLIP GROSS — (Senate - December 05, 2012)
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 609, which was submitted earlier today.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 609) calling for the immediate and unconditional release of United States citizen Alan Phillip Gross from detention in Cuba and urging the Government of Cuba to address his medical issues.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, 2 days ago–December 3, 2012–marked the third anniversary of Alan Gross’ arrest by the Cuban Government. Over the past 3 years, Alan’s case has been of deep personal concern to me and many in my State. Alan, an American citizen and Marylander, was in Cuba to help the small Jewish community there establish improved access to the Internet, which would allow the community to go online without fear of censorship or monitoring. After being held for 14 months without charge and then a cursory 2-day trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In August 2012, a petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was filed on his behalf.
Last week, officials with the Cuban Ministry for Foreign Affairs claimed that Alan Gross is in good health. But the Cuban Government has not allowed Mr. Gross to receive an independent medical evaluation. To date, Alan has lost 105 pounds, suffers from degenerative arthritis, and has a mass behind his shoulder. Alan also suffers from severe mental anguish because of the separation from his family.
To say that the Gross family has been on a rollercoaster would be an understatement. His mother and daughter are both battling cancer. His wife Judy is struggling to make ends meet. Judy Gross has fought for Alan’s release every day for the last 3 years. Judy has called, e-mailed, and met with everyone imaginable. She has been on news programs and written letters. Judy has never given up hope; she has remained strong for her family and for Alan. As many of our colleagues will attest, she will stop at nothing to see Alan return home. Due in no small part to Judy’s perseverance, the U.S. Senate has been actively involved in this matter.
Over the past 3 years, U.S. officials have traveled to Cuba, we have written to numerous Cuban dignitaries, and we have employed other creative means to encourage Mr. Gross’ release. In September, my colleague Senator Moran and I, along with a bipartisan group of 44 Senators, sent a letter to Raul Castro urging the Cuban Government in the strongest possible terms to release Alan Gross immediately and unconditionally. But these attempts have been futile. Alan Gross remains in prison, caught in the middle of a conflict between two nations with a complex, often frustrating relationship.
Tonight, the Senate is adopting a resolution unanimously, a resolution Senator Moran and I have submitted with a long list of bipartisan sponsors. The resolution calls for Mr. Gross’ immediate and unconditional release and urges the Cuban Government to address his medical issues, including allowing an independent medical examination to be completed. Alan’s personal freedoms are being violated every day that he continues to be incarcerated, and we can no longer tolerate his being denied an independent medical evaluation. Alan Gross should no longer be forced to suffer the consequences of political gamesmanship. Enough is enough.
Today the Senate has spoken once again. Alan Gross is a husband, a father, a son, and an American. We call on the Cuban Government to release Alan Gross immediately.
Mr. President, I know of no further debate on this measure.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
If not, the question is on agreeing to the resolution.
The resolution (S. Res. 609) was agreed to.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the matter be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 609
Whereas, Alan Phillip Gross, a citizen of the United States, was born in New York on May 2, 1949, and is a resident of the State of Maryland;
Whereas Mr. Gross has devoted his professional life to helping others through his work in international development and has served in more than 50 countries and territories worldwide;
Whereas, in 2001, Mr. Gross founded JBDC, LLC to support Internet connectivity in locations with little or no access;
Whereas, on February 10, 2009, JBDC, LLC received a subcontract with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID);
Whereas, working as a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development, Mr. Gross sought to establish wireless networks and improve Internet and Intranet access and connectivity for a small, peaceful, non-dissident, Cuban Jewish community;
Whereas Mr. Gross made 5 trips to Cuba in furtherance of the United States Agency for International Development project he was subcontracted to support;
Whereas the last time Mr. Gross was in the United States was on November 24, 2009;
Whereas Mr. Gross was arrested on December 3, 2009, in Havana, Cuba;
Whereas Mr. Gross was detained without charge for 14 months;
Whereas Mr. Gross was charged in February 2011 with “actions against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state”;
Whereas Mr. Gross’s trial lasted only 2 days, after which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison;
Whereas Mr. Gross and his wife Judy have 2 daughters, one of which was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010;
Whereas Mr. Gross’s 90-year old mother was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in February 2011;
Whereas, in 2011, Mr. Gross’s wife Judy underwent surgery, causing her to miss considerable time from work and putting further financial strain on their family;
Whereas Mr. Gross is 63 years old and has lost more than 105 pounds since being detained in Cuba;
Whereas Mr. Gross has developed degenerative arthritis in his leg and a mass behind his shoulder;
Whereas the Government of Cuba has denied requests by Mr. Gross for an independent medical examination;
Whereas Mr. Gross’s legal representative filed an appeal to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations in August 2012; and
Whereas, since Mr. Gross was detained by the Government of Cuba on December 3, 2009, his health has severely deteriorated and his family members have suffered health and financial problems: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate–
(1) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of United States citizen Alan Phillip Gross; and
(2) urges the Government of Cuba in the meantime to provide all appropriate diagnostic and medical treatment to address the full range of medical issues facing Mr. Gross and to allow him to choose a doctor to provide him with an independent medical assessment.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/C.....pdf#page=1
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 21:07
YOANI SANCHEZ FOTO/PHOTO! Carton y pegamento: sello #FreeInternet - Cardboard and glue: seals #FreeInternet
COPY AND PASTE LINK TO BROWSER TO SEE PICTURE!
twitpic.com/bjobc2
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 19:36
LOOKS LIKE THE CASTROFASCISTS MIGHT NEED TO LOOK FOR A NEW SUGAR/OIL DADDY!
REUTERS: Venezuela’s Chavez to skip summit due to health - By Esteban Israel and Andrew Cawthorne
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not attend a regional trade summit in Brazil on Friday, sources said, an absence sure to heighten speculation over the leftist leader’s health.
Before he went to Cuba last week for more cancer-related treatment, Chavez had spoken enthusiastically about attending the Mercosur bloc’s meeting in Brasilia to celebrate Venezuela’s entry.
He has not been seen in public since November 15.
“Chavez is not coming. They’ve even cancelled the hotel reservation,” a Brazilian foreign ministry source said on Thursday. Another Brazilian official said Chavez’s logistics and security advance staff were leaving Brasilia.
In Caracas, a source at the Miraflores presidential palace also said the 58-year-old Chavez was not going to travel.
The recently re-elected president went to Cuba nine days ago for “hyperbaric oxygenation” treatment - normally used to treat bone decay caused by radiation therapy.
Chavez has had three cancer surgeries in Cuba since mid-2011. So even though officials were portraying the latest treatment as normal follow-up after radiation, rumours are rampant that it could be more serious.
“If Chavez does not show up at the first meeting where Venezuela is a full member of Mercosur, it will create a lot of distrust over his health,” said Marcelo Coutinho, professor of international relations at Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University.
Officials have given no detailed information on Chavez’s condition.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://uk.reuters.com/article/.....IA20121206
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 18:06
I’ve been taken down by the likes of you? LOL. You’re a legend in your own mind.
Like I’ve said before, until you post your actual name and picture here, you are just as “anonymous” as I am.
A derogatory speech when I am challenged you say? You are the poster boy for that type of behavior. Let’s see, you hate Jews, gypsies, Americans, and smart women. Have I left any object of your bigotry out?
Aren’t you the one who can’t even figure out how to scrape enough money together to have a child, which you claim you would like to? And the one who complains about democracy, while living in, and enjoying the benefits of one?
You’re such a hypocrite you don’t know which end is up.
Muist de soareci
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 17:16
Cos, like, drum roll, funny voice, silly accent, cos like more stage directions to make your innane incoherent diatribes just don’t cut it baby, cos like I said you must be constantly pissed in an English pub and unable to put an articulate sentence together cos like whatever!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 17:01
Yeah mammy baby got you there…thought you would fall for being called man!! ..etc… .. Proved you’re one…half-wit femme. I couldnt even call you racist or an anti-semite…that would be too good cos you are more and soo unrealistic… So better call you anonimous the half-wit femme…. that makes it about what you should stay and what you are… Like the garbage that lives in the subconscious you should surface just anonimously…as you have did and done!
Ah yeah andyou get my permission to quote me on what I’d said about MsY .when you see her!!. Hope you took it down cos at your age I see it is actually hard to rembmer and you have no inclination for the truth…. ..Seems MsY took notice too in her last entry …. And tried to convince us her nails are so short that no dirt can be under them…
So in the end the only ignorance I see myself guilty of is to think for a moment that dialogue with your clique was possible … we re-enacted practically what Castro said all the time…you see the world through your own half-wit greatness and half-baked generosity which could be worse that any communist every achieved in brain washing his nation… Ms Y proves how much Castro created successful individuals that can think even though Castro doesnt like them …
Now cry your half wit to sleep you’ve been had and taken down by a BEGGAR in your own words…. Luckily you have your anonimous cover to spend tomorrow as someone you are not! Perfectly likable if you are a hypocrite pretending you care about Cuba and freedom….when the most creative thing you can do time and again is a derogatory speech when you are challenged!
And yeah this ‘beggar’ is a chooser and has chosen to walk all over your clique becaue you’ve stopped too many other voices from being heard here as if you have a monopoly or more likely are someones dogs, so go lick his ballls cos you have been exposed for what you are…. fake as a plastic cup and as anonimous but vicious when it comes to recycle your half-wit conscience… Cos the other half is a huge lack of it!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 15:34
Seriously, what would one expect from someone spawned by two people who were too dumb to clear the title to a house, that they thought was theirs, before they moved in? Dumb and dumber. Everyone wants something for nothing. Beggars.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 15:31
But your ignorance never disappoints.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 15:30
LOL, I am a woman, you dumbf*ck!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 15:14
Anonimo.. You cannot stop mammy you just got going…continue !!.. If you don’t know a woman is defined in part by her hands you probably are married to a witch.. Good luck
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 14:08
LIKE IF THE CASTROFASCISTS HAD ANY MORAL AUTHORITY! THEY ARE THE MOST CORRUPT AND DEVIANT OF ALL! I WONDER WHAT René Pérez, aka Residente OF CALLE 13 WILL SAY ABOUT THIS! NOTHING OF COURSE, HE IS A CASTRO BOOTLICKER!
THE GUARDIAN: Cuba cracks down on ‘vulgar’ reggaeton music - Country to outlaw musical styles that ‘threaten’ its traditional musical culture and project women as ‘grotesque sexual objects’ - Giles Tremlett
A crackdown on reggaeton and other unnamed musical styles that are threatening the revolutionary country’s traditional musical culture will punish artists and fine those who programme it, according to Cuban Music Institute boss Orlando Vistel Columbié.
“We are not just talking about reggaeton. There is vulgarity, banality and mediocrity in other forms of music too,” Vistel told the official Granma newspaper. “But it is also true that reggaeton is the most notorious.
“On the one hand there are aggressive, sexually obscene lyrics that deform the innate sensuality of the Cuban woman, projecting them as grotesque sexual objects. And all that is backed by the poorest quality music.”
On an island where music and dance are an essential part of everyday culture – and where the country’s youth increasingly sets aside the more traditional son or salsa to listen to reggaeton, the move looked likely to provoke anger.
Musicians who play reggaeton are threatened with being struck off official lists, making it harder for them to work, and recordings are already being purged from official catalogues. Radio and television stations are also under pressure to drop reggaeton – though Cubans can still turn their dials to radio stations in nearby Miami or elsewhere.
“Measures that have been adopted range from professional disqualification of those who violate ethics in their work to the levying of severe sanctions against those who from official institutions encourage or permit these practices,” said Vistel. “We are in the process of purging music catalogues with the aim of eradicating practises that, in their content, stray from the legitimacy of Cuban popular culture.”
A new law should soon spell out what kind of music can be played in public places on the island, he added.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....eton-music
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 13:31
MIAMI HERALD: Cuba’s partners in human exploitation - BY MARIA C. WERLAU
Just weeks after the disaster, Cuba was promoting a gigantic endeavor to build a new healthcare infrastructure for Haiti at an annual cost of $170 million, to be paid for by international donors. Cubans and Cuban-trained medical staff would run it at “half the international prices.â€
Countless millions are now pouring into Cuba from the Pan American and World Health Organizations, dozens of NGOs, foundations, companies, and individuals from the United States, Canada, Spain, Belgium and others. Many governments have also donated — Venezuela $20 million to start, Brazil $80 million, Norway $2.5 million. The list of donations is undisclosed, but France, Australia, Japan, and other countries have apparently chipped in. The cost to Haiti is just a $300 monthly stipend to each Cuban health worker plus transportation and housing.
Haiti is just one very profitable subsidiary in Cuba’s global multi-billion dollar ¨humanitarian¨ enterprise. Most of its profits come off the backs of Cubans indentured as “collaborators.†Angola, for example, reportedly pays Cuba $60,000 annually per doctor; the doctor receives $2,940 (4.9 percent), at most. These service exports bring more than three times the earnings from tourism and far more than any other industry — $7.5 billion in 2010, the last year reported. Business is so good that in 2010 the Cuban government reduced an already decimated local health staff by 14 percent to send more abroad.
This unique brand of health diplomacy is only possible in a totalitarian state guaranteeing a steady pool of “exportable commodities.†Leaving Cuba without government authorization is punishable with years of prison; health professionals face the strictest travel restrictions. If they defect while abroad, their family, which must stay behind, cannot joint them for five years; issuing them academic or other records is forbidden.
The average monthly pay of a doctor in Cuba is around $25, barely guaranteeing survival. Abroad, they live off a bare-bones stipend from the host government. But, they receive from Cuba their usual peso salary and a bonus of $180-220 per month, plus are allowed to send home shipments of consumer goods. This paltry compensation package is enough for Cuban doctors to “volunteer†to be exploited abroad rather than at home.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....ation.html
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 13:27
What’s this “mammy” crap? You sound like the ignorant, bigoted redneck that you are.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 13:23
The Man on #12!! ANOTHER BAD OLD U.S.A. RESPONSE?? DEAR, DEAR! NOW WHO IS THE PARROT WHO ONLY KNOWS HOW TO REPEAT ONY ONE PHRASE!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 13:23
You should know, dumb dumb, because you are so adept at judging a woman’s breeding by the state of her hands, which you were stupid enough to say on this comment section, LOL.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 12:18
Oh wow.. what about the woman in all of us… when that gets a beating what are we supposed to do??
drumrolll
Or… some Anonimous brain from the clique5 here was calling me a woman and did his research on who apparently I could be..and more… he committed lots of violent words ie. threats towards a woman that he didn’t know or met or actually a woman who knew you were even talking about her here and posting her details!… nice one clique5.. .I suppose some women are more women than the others and the woman in question was not woman enough in your blue elephant skin book!!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 12:09
Anonimo and Help yeah mammy that’s all I know, you got it right (wing) the first time… I’ve left all the moral high ground for you… and it stinks like the swamp you swim in, that even in Cuba across the straight they can smell you…
The Bay of Pigs as name was such poetic name for your moral mores… (with Jewish accent) I suppose your Jewish dentist also didn’t tell you that too much bad breath got to do with taking high morals BS all day. So you may need a stronger mouth wash to go with your morals that you do NOT upheld but for the few in your little clique… the rest should vanish or put up with it I suppose!!
drum roll…
But and apparently Alan was more tuned into the Internet revolution than I ever am so maybe you should ask him how to write iPhone.. Probably the Jewish guys needed satellite phones to rent them to the ‘other’ Cubans… that’s what they did in my former country after the revolution… rent technology to ‘locals’ tech they got as ‘help’ from the other mutherland - computers mobiles audio equipment…
drum roll please… laughter is the only way to take American branded politically correct bs down… luckly this blog is set-up in Spain.. cos I would have been told this is an American blog and should keep away by the lovely 1 and 1/2 guys!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 11:37
Anonimo, all he knows about is his high speed internet and Iphone. He probably thinks Iceland is in Israel and all Cuban women are Jewish.
That must be why they’re always beaten up by their brave husbands.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 11:06
Some of you leftists are ignorant beyond belief, falling prey to ignorant stereotypes about people. I really pity you, and those like you. Full of fear and hatred.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 10:13
Anonimo… yeah right kosher boy… that coming from a hyena with no teeth that would sell his mom for milk money profit!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 09:29
Mouse, your dumb parents raised quite the rabid anti-semite. It all seems to boil down to money for you too.
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 05:00
@10 … yeah dear parrot that’s exactly what they are showing … now try to ‘examine’ some of the innocent guys at Guantanamo for health reasons… oh yeah we know how far that would get you… then again Alan should get different treatment since he comes from your great nation and apparently he is Jewish too… which of course as we all know are the chosen people!… so that demands some extra TLC!…
I love it that he sued your gov.. so Jewish!… all boils down to money!
Diciembre 6th, 2012 at 00:50
VERY INTERESTING PROGRAM! AND I AM NO RADIO/TV MARTI FAN! SPANISH ONLY OF COURSE!
AUDIO PROGRAM: Radio y Televisión Martà presentan “Avanza Cuba: las redes sociales y su futuro en Cubaâ€, un análisis en los cambios, logros y retos que enfrentan las redes sociales en la isla; asà como el uso de estas tecnologÃas por miembros de la sociedad civil independiente para informar dentro y fuera de Cuba a pesar de los esfuerzos del gobierno de silenciar sus voces. Con la conducción de Karen Caballero y la participación en el estudio del bloguero Luis Felipe Rojas, recién llegado de Cuba y otros participantes como el profesor Ted Henken de la Universidad de Nueva York y desde Cuba los blogueros, Yoani Sánchez, Miriam Celaya, Reinaldo Escobar, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Rebeca Monzó, el periodista e ingeniero Dagoberto Valdés, y el director de Estado de SATS, Antonio G. Rodiles. Durante el programa Ildolidia Darias monitorea y reporta sobre las conversaciones en Twitter acerca del programa.
http://www.martinoticias.com/m.....17276.html
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 23:51
THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE SHOWING THEIR TRUE COLORS! BY NOT ALLOWING AN INDEPENDENT ONCOLOGIST OR ONCOLOGISTS TO EXAMINE ALAN GROSS REGARDING HIS GROWTH THEY SHOW THE WORLD THEY GOT LOTS OF THINGS TO HIDE! NOW WHO ARE THE LIARS??
BBC: Alan Gross case: Cuba accuses US of lying about health
Cuba has accused Washington of lying about the health of a US man serving a 15-year jail term in Havana for smuggling illegal internet equipment.
The US State Department this week marked the the third anniversary of Alan Gross’s sentencing by calling his imprisonment unjustified.
It said Mr Gross had lost more than 40kg (100 lb) and called for him to be seen by a doctor of his own choosing.
The Cuban foreign ministry denied Mr Gross’s health was deteriorating.
Spokeswoman Josefina Vidal said a biopsy showed he did not have cancer, adding that there was no need for an independent doctor’s report, says the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford in Havana.
“He receives systematic attention from an excellent world class medical team; the best specialists of our country have been put at his disposal, when required,” said Ms Vidal.
Straining relations
Mr Gross was detained in December 2009 while he was delivering computers and communications equipment to the Jewish community in Cuba.
The 62-year-old had been working for a company, Development Alternatives Inc (DAI), under contract with the US Agency for International Development.
He was sentenced in March 2011 for “crimes against the state”.
He is currently suing DAI and the US government for $60m (£38m), saying he was not adequately trained or told about the risks he was incurring when he went to Cuba to do development work.
Repeated requests by US government officials to free Mr Gross, such as that by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, have been rebuffed by the Cuban government.
The case is seen as a major obstacle to attempts to improve US-Cuban relations.
In September, Cuba said it was prepared to negotiate with Washington to find a solution to his detention.
But Ms Vidal said the US government kept refusing to sit down with Cuban officials to resolve the issue.
“The US government has been lying about the causes that led to the detention of Mr Gross with the sole purpose of avoiding its direct responsibility for the situation that Mr Goss and his family are going through,” she added.
“There is sufficient evidence… that prove he was a contract worker for USAID… working to implement a programme with subversive aims, to create instability in Cuba… in a clandestine fashion.
“The Cuban government invites the US government to talk seriously about the issue to achieve a humanitarian solution acceptable to both countries.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-20621268
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 23:02
THE CASTROFASCISTS THINK THAT THEY CAN PLAY THE VICTIM AND USE EXTORTION PLANS AS EASILY AS THEY USED TO DURING PRE-INTERNET! HOW LITTLE THEY UNDERSTAND THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION THESE DAYS!
WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL: U.S. shouldn’t hand Cuba an Alan Gross-for-spies deal
The Castro government says it wants to repair relations with the United States, win the lifting of what remains of the U.S. trade embargo and attract investment from American companies. So why keep Mr. Gross in prison? The answer, unfortunately, is relatively simple. Cuba wants to swap its prisoner for five Cuban spies who were arrested in Florida in 1998. The network infiltrated a U.S. Navy base and anti-Castro groups and provided information that facilitated Cuba’s 1996 shoot-down in international airspace of two planes carrying members of one of the groups. Four U.S. citizens died. The head of the network was sentenced to life in prison after a 2001 trial, while others were given lesser terms. One is now out on probation.
There is no equivalence between Mr. Gross and the five prisoners, as Havana itself acknowledges. It agrees the Florida prisoners were its spies, but it has never charged Mr. Gross with espionage. But Mr. Castro sees Mr. Gross as the leverage to spring his agents, whom the state propaganda apparatus portrays as heroes. More significantly, by arranging an exchange, the regime believes it can reshape U.S.-Cuban relations on its own terms, without having to make concessions on human rights.
The Gross family has appealed to Mr. Obama to send a high-level envoy to Cuba and to do what is necessary to obtain his release. That’s understandable, but the administration ought to stick to its refusal to countenance such a bargain. On the contrary, Mr. Obama should consider new steps to punish the Castro regime for the continued imprisonment of Mr. Gross, and the administration should do more to raise his case in international forums.
Better relations between Cuba and the United States must be conditioned on real steps toward democratization by Havana. But until Mr. Gross is released, they ought to get worse.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ESSAY!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 22:29
YOUTUBE: DAMAS DE BLANCO CUBA - PolicÃas cubanos apalean y encierran a más de 30 Damas de Blanco. LADIES IN WHITE CUBA - Cuban police they beat and arrest over 30 Ladies in White.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0qWUaKVvto
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 22:14
YOUTUBE : Ladies In White (English/español) by Human Rights Foundation (HRF) - The Ladies in White, or “Las Damas de Blanco,” is a civil society group inside Cuba that organizes peaceful Sunday marches for freedom and human rights. The world-renowned group is formed by the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and supporters of political prisoners who were arrested during the “Black Spring” government crackdown on Cuban dissidents. During the four-day period that occurred in March 2003, 75 independent journalists, librarians, and democracy and human rights advocates were arrested and ultimately convicted with sentences ranging from 6 to 28 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vWNAHLOzVk
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 22:13
YOUTUBE: Agents prevent Cuba’s Ladies in White from leaving headquarter - Agents of the State Security prevented the Ladies in White members to walk into the streets. By Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez / Hablemos press. Havana, September 26, 2012 - Agents of the Department of State Security kept blocked the entrance to the home and headquarters of the Ladies in White and prevented them to walk streets to celebrate the day of Our Lady of Mercy, patron saint of prisoners, September 24 at 5:00 pm. The images captured by the camera of one of the Ladies in White member were donated to Hablemos Press to accompany this article, shows the violence used by the agents. According to Berta Soler, spokeswoman Ladies in White Movement, they had planned to “walk from the venue to the La Merced church to attend Mass and pray there for political prisoners as we do every year.” This video shows officers punching and scratching Soler at the entrance of the house which is their headquarters on several occasions where they attacked the late Laura Pollan the leader of the group who died shortly after a violent action like this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKsGaKn3TOc
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 22:00
HOW COZY! THREE RUTHLESS DICTATORS IN THE TROPICAL ISLAND OF CUBA! MAYBE THEY CAN SHARE TORTURE METHODS AND OTHER THUGGERY AGAINST THEIR OWN PEOPLE!
EL UNIVERSAL ENGLISH: Al Assad weighs asylum in Cuba, Ecuador or Venezuela - Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has expressed outspoken support to his Syrian counterpart, the newspaper remembered
Syrian President Bashar al Assad is pondering on asylum for him, his relatives and close friends and followers in Cuba, Ecuador or Venezuela, in the event of ultimately leaving Damascus, Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday.
Last week, Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal al Miqdad held meetings in all of the three Latin American countries and brought classified letters from Al Assad to each of the presidents.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed daily newspaper El Universal that Al Miqdad handed over a letter for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, received by him before heading for Cuba last Wednesday for his cancer treatment.
A Venezuelan government spokesman told Haaretz that Al Assad’s notice referred to the “personal relationship between the two presidents” and that the visit of the Vice-Minister showed the close bilateral ties.
Syrian Ambassador to Venezuela Ghassan Abbas also confirmed the Israel newspaper that
Al Miqdad contacted Venezuelan officials in Caracas. However, he claimed to have no knowledge of the content of the letter signed by Al Assad.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has expressed his outspoken support to his Syrian counterpart. In addition, Venezuela has sent oil and fuel to Syria quite a few times, the newspaper remembered.
According to Haaretz, which does not quote any sources, the Foreign Vice-Minister held similar meetings last week in Havana and Quito.
http://www.eluniversal.com/nac.....-venezuela
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 16:28
re: # 3 by Damir.
No, that’s not what anybody here is saying. Not Yoani nor the comments below. Guess again.
Hint: try reading the words and thinking about what they mean. Try to block out the voices in your head.
Here’s an example of violence against women all too common in Cuba:
Cuba Teen is Brutally Attacked for Defending Human Rights Group
http://www.latino.foxnews.com/.....z2EDA8IB8t
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 16:00
More of hypocrisy by the team “yoani”, who in their “femeninity” are forgetting that they are doing exactly the same against the men on this very page.
Is it okay to equalise all men based on a highly subjective self-inflicted image of a few taxi drivers? Is it okay to equalise all men just because the team “yoani” hate Castro brothers? Is it okay to equalise all men and condemn them for violence against women just because they have seen a pimp on the street following some girl, allegedly one of his girls?
And what about the women and their violence against the men?
Or, are we to believe that women (Cuban women?) are all angels? If so, who are the prostitutes on the steets of Cuba then?
More of pointless and senseless comments with no substance and a hollow intent to blame the government for everything.
Next you’ll tell me that christian fanatics and criminals killing women in Guatemanla are Cuban agents spreading communism.
Or, how about devoted religious Spaniards, killing their women every year like it is some kind of sport there? How about those crazy muslim fanatics marrying 5-6 years old children, raping them and then beating them to death for “refusing to fulfill” their marital duties to their “husbands”?
Yeah, bloody Castros have really stuffed the world.
EVERYTHING is their fault.
Naturally, women NEVER do anything wrong.
Well, this site is attributed to a woman who wants to destroy her own country. She also calls Cuban youth to raise to an armed revolution against the government. She accuses ALL men of being evil just because some deprived taxi driver looked under her skirt in his retrovisor (although that is physically impossible because the front seats act as a barrier to a visual contact).
She lies, she calls children to rebel and kill, she is a traitor and a terrorist in waiting, and yet, it is all
CASTROS
fault…
Hypocrites. Get a job. Get a life.
Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 14:07
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Mexican Julieta Venegas is a talented singer. Interesting videos. But I don’t see what she does for abused women on her Wikipedia information. Any person–or government–that abuses people is worthless. Any man who abuses a woman is worthless–very little man.
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As far as women pleasing rich men–a bitter Freud said that there are only 2 eternal values in people. Beauty in women, and riches in men! The video seems to say that it’s “lets make a deal” time!
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Mexicana Julieta Venegas es una cantante con mucho talento. Videos interesantes. Pero no veo que hace por mujeres abusadas en la informacion en su sitio Wikipedia. Cualquier persona–o gobierno–que abusa la gente no vale nada. Cualquier hombre quien abusa una mujer no tiene valor–muy poco hombre.
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Y cuando habla de mujeres agradando hombres ricos–un Freud amargo dijo que hay no mas que 2 valores eternales en la gente. Belleza en mujeres, y riquesa en hombres! El video parece decir que es tiempo “de hacer un arreglo”!
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John Bibb
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Diciembre 5th, 2012 at 13:12
UN sponsors concert for women’s rights in Cuba, ignores regime’s violence against women
Meanwhile the thugs of the Castro regime continue to beat up the Ladies in White.
http://www.babalublog.com/2012.....nst-women/