Cuba razes buildings to fight beach erosion
Source: XINHUA | 2013-6-3 | ONLINE EDITION
HAVANA, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Cuba is demolishing buildings constructed
over the natural dunes of its famed seaside resort of Varadero, in a bid
to fight beach erosion at its top tourist attraction.
So far, some 19 buildings in Varadero have been razed, and another 21
atop dunes along the resort's 22-kilometer coastline are slated to be
knocked down, 10 of them by the end of this year.
Random construction is one of the main causes of erosion at more than
400 beaches around the Caribbean island nation, which is losing sand
beaches at the rate of more than a meter a year, said Ivis Fernandez, an
official with Cuba's Tourism Ministry.
The authorities are also fighting beach erosion by trucking sand to beef
up certain beaches in Varadero, and some 3 million cubic meters of sand
has already been "replanted" in recent years.
"We're spreading the sand through a ... technique that in a short time
restores the natural state of the beaches," said Jose Luis Juanes, chief
of the Department of Coastal Procedures at the Oceanology Institute of
the Environment, Science and Technology Ministry.
Studies show the process of beach erosion at Varadero is irreversible,
forcing officials to regularly refill the beaches with more sand, Juanes
was quoted as saying by state-run daily Juventud Rebelde.
The authorities also were using suction tubes round the clock to dredge
undersea sand and pump it back to shore, he said, adding the method has
been used since the 1920s to expand or rebuild beaches at some of the
world's top resorts.
Like many of the world's most popular beaches, including Cancun in
Mexico, Varadero became the victim of its own success, with a runaway
building boom that put too much stress on its fragile coastal environment.
Prior to l990, Varadero had just three relatively well-known hotels -
the International, Caguama and Oasis - and a handful of converted
million-dollar villas that had been abandoned by their wealthy owners
after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
More hotels were built since the early 90s and today the number of hotel
rooms in Varadero has quadrupled to 18,742.
Varadero is the crown jewel of Cuba's tourism industry, the country's
second-largest source of foreign revenue, after the exports of technical
and medical services.
Cuba last year hosted some 2.85 million visitors and it hopes to receive
some 3 million this year.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=145254
Monday, June 3, 2013
Cuban priest moves to new parish, says it's not punishment
Posted on Sunday, 06.02.13
Cuban priest moves to new parish, says it's not punishment
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Jose Conrado Rodriguez, a Cuban priest who has been highly critical of
the communist government and the Catholic Church hierarchy, confirmed
Sunday he will be moving from Santiago de Cuba to a parish in Cienfuegos.
He also will be writing a book and giving lectures on the history of the
image of Our Lady of Charity in the El Cobre Basilica, Cuba's patron
saint, at the request of Santiago Archbishop Dionisio García, the priest
told El Nuevo Herald.
Rodriguez said he welcomed the book assignment and that García offered
him a one-year leave from his pastoral duties to write it. But he wanted
to remain a pastor and obtained a new parish assignment in the south
center port city of Cienfuegos.
"I don't think [the book] is a punishment. I think Dionisio really wants
this book, and I want it also. I will do it with excitement," he said by
phone from his Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús church in eastern Santiago,
Cuba's second-largest city.
Sometimes called "the people's cardinal," the 62-year-old Rodriguez has
criticized Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega, and a U.S. diplomatic cable made
public by WikiLeaks reported that he had complained the church "is not
in the arena."
He was ordered transferred in 2010 to the village of El Cristo on the
outskirts of Santiago but he held on to Santa Teresita until now — at
least publically because the priests who were supposed to replace him
were delayed in another assignment.
Santa Teresita was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy last year.
Government officials wanted the church to be torn down but Rodriguez
found independent experts who said the church could be fixed, according
to friends of the priest.
"It has not been easy in recent times," Rodriguez said. "But today I
said my goodbyes to the community and on Friday I hand over the parish."
"I am very happy to leave the parish in the hands of my successors,"
three Cubans, he said. The country of 11 million people, officially
atheist from 1962 to 1992, has only 340 priests, slightly more than half
of them foreigners.
The parish runs several canteens for the needy; educational and sports
programs for children; and computer classes for youths and adults.
Rodriguez wrote a public letter to Fidel Castro in 1994 blaming him for
Cuba's chaotic economy, asking for fair elections and urging him to open
a dialogue with dissidents and exiles.
He was sent to study in Spain in 1996, with his supporters saying that
church hierarchs wanted to both protect him and get him out of the way.
He returned to Cuba just before Pope John Paul II's visit in 1998.
After State Security agents burst into this church in 2007 to arrest 15
young dissidents gathered inside, he publicly condemned the event as a
"terrorist party."
Rodriguez followed up with an open letter to Castro's brother and
successor, Raúl Castro, in 2009 urging changes not only to the economy
but also to the island's Soviet-styled political model.
"When problems are not solved, they are like wounds. And when the
infections are big, they can take the life of the patient," he wrote.
"In a situation like Cuba's, a disposition to dialogue and respect for
the other is fundamental."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/02/3430006/cuban-priest-moves-to-new-parish.html
Cuban priest moves to new parish, says it's not punishment
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Jose Conrado Rodriguez, a Cuban priest who has been highly critical of
the communist government and the Catholic Church hierarchy, confirmed
Sunday he will be moving from Santiago de Cuba to a parish in Cienfuegos.
He also will be writing a book and giving lectures on the history of the
image of Our Lady of Charity in the El Cobre Basilica, Cuba's patron
saint, at the request of Santiago Archbishop Dionisio García, the priest
told El Nuevo Herald.
Rodriguez said he welcomed the book assignment and that García offered
him a one-year leave from his pastoral duties to write it. But he wanted
to remain a pastor and obtained a new parish assignment in the south
center port city of Cienfuegos.
"I don't think [the book] is a punishment. I think Dionisio really wants
this book, and I want it also. I will do it with excitement," he said by
phone from his Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús church in eastern Santiago,
Cuba's second-largest city.
Sometimes called "the people's cardinal," the 62-year-old Rodriguez has
criticized Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega, and a U.S. diplomatic cable made
public by WikiLeaks reported that he had complained the church "is not
in the arena."
He was ordered transferred in 2010 to the village of El Cristo on the
outskirts of Santiago but he held on to Santa Teresita until now — at
least publically because the priests who were supposed to replace him
were delayed in another assignment.
Santa Teresita was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy last year.
Government officials wanted the church to be torn down but Rodriguez
found independent experts who said the church could be fixed, according
to friends of the priest.
"It has not been easy in recent times," Rodriguez said. "But today I
said my goodbyes to the community and on Friday I hand over the parish."
"I am very happy to leave the parish in the hands of my successors,"
three Cubans, he said. The country of 11 million people, officially
atheist from 1962 to 1992, has only 340 priests, slightly more than half
of them foreigners.
The parish runs several canteens for the needy; educational and sports
programs for children; and computer classes for youths and adults.
Rodriguez wrote a public letter to Fidel Castro in 1994 blaming him for
Cuba's chaotic economy, asking for fair elections and urging him to open
a dialogue with dissidents and exiles.
He was sent to study in Spain in 1996, with his supporters saying that
church hierarchs wanted to both protect him and get him out of the way.
He returned to Cuba just before Pope John Paul II's visit in 1998.
After State Security agents burst into this church in 2007 to arrest 15
young dissidents gathered inside, he publicly condemned the event as a
"terrorist party."
Rodriguez followed up with an open letter to Castro's brother and
successor, Raúl Castro, in 2009 urging changes not only to the economy
but also to the island's Soviet-styled political model.
"When problems are not solved, they are like wounds. And when the
infections are big, they can take the life of the patient," he wrote.
"In a situation like Cuba's, a disposition to dialogue and respect for
the other is fundamental."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/02/3430006/cuban-priest-moves-to-new-parish.html
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Cuba Internet, in Slow Motion and Hard Currency
Cuba: Internet, in Slow Motion and Hard Currency / Ivan Garcia
Posted on June 2, 2013
Facing the India fountain, next to Fraternity Park and close to the
Capitol, in the center of Havana, is nestled the Hotel Saratoga.
Its ancient facade, painted lime green, has an architecture of curved
arches and tall columns. The interior is a modern frame with iron
structures and plasterboard. According to the relaxed norms of Cuban
hospitality, the Saratoga is a 5 star hotel.
Like almost all hotels, has an Internet cafe. Going up a wide staircase
with iron railings, after crossing the piano bar in a small room and
pool, one can connect to the internet.
If you have a tablet (iPad), laptop or smartphone, you can do it from
anywhere in the hotel, thanks to a wireless network. Otherwise, the
Saratoga has three computers. The speed of transmission is a maddeningly
slow.
Opening a Yahoo email can take up to 6 minutes. Forget Gmail. The
connection runs at 100 kilobytes. Downloading videos and photos that
exceed a megabyte is not advisable.
The service is too expensive, even for a foreigner. Half an hour for 6
CUC (over $6 US). One hour for 10. Two hours for 15. In the same hotel
where a month and a half ago the singers Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed, the
internet works in slow motion.
In 2010 the Castro government, opting for a full 'digital sovereignty',
decided to open its wallet to the investment and together with Venezuela
and Jamaica, financed a submarine cable of several thousand kilometers.
Its birthplace was the Venezuelan region of La Guaira and termination,
Siboney Beach in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, about 550
miles from Havana.
Little is known about the cable. It is a kind of 'ALBANET', with filters
and control mechanisms. Behind the famous cable there is an Olympic
framework of corruption.
Some put out their hands along the way and lost several million dollars.
It's rumored — in Cuba the rumors are more reliable than the news from
the official press — that several people could go to jail.
State media reported euphorically that when the cable is connected, the
data transmission speed would be multiplied by 300. While technical
issues are resolved, 97% of the Cuban population still sees the Internet
as the stuff of science fiction.
In its absence, a USB flash drive serves as transmitter of information
for those computers not connected to the network. The regime considers
the internet a 'hegemonic control tool of U.S. imperialism'.
Since the island links to the information superhighway via satellite,
the tropical 'think tanks' wear themselves out trying to design and
effective cyber police that can tame the democratic worldwide web.
So far they have not succeeded. What they have achieved is to block
sites deemed 'subversive' and in the workplaces 'big brother' is
watching the footsteps of those disobedient people who decide to take a
look at a digital newspaper from Miami or Madrid.
In ETECSA, the State telecommunications company, staff with access to
the web had to sign a statement agreeing not to read 'enemy pages or
visit pornographic sites'.
Nor may they have international email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail).
Zero Twitter, Facebook or other social networks. But in such closed
societies, people applaud a speech with the same emphasis that they
blatantly steal from their job or violate established rules.
Raisa, 24, has never surfed internet. That has not stopped the girl from
having a Facebook account and a page where she advertises herself as a
photographer for weddings and quinceañeras — girls' 15th birthday parties.
All thanks to a computer savvy friend, charged with editing and updating
her site. And those who have State accounts on the internet don't miss a
trick. They sell access for 2 CUC an hour.
But I don't recommend it. At its best, the connection is 50k. It can
take you up to 30 minutes to get to the online edition of the Journal of
The Americas.
Even though the Castro regime has established a drips-and-drabs
internet, some censored information reaches the average Cuban. Late, of
course.
Ivan Garcia
Photo: Several people access internet in a room in Havana. Taken from
Infolatam.
1 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-internet-in-slow-motion-and-hard-currency-ivan-garcia/
Posted on June 2, 2013
Facing the India fountain, next to Fraternity Park and close to the
Capitol, in the center of Havana, is nestled the Hotel Saratoga.
Its ancient facade, painted lime green, has an architecture of curved
arches and tall columns. The interior is a modern frame with iron
structures and plasterboard. According to the relaxed norms of Cuban
hospitality, the Saratoga is a 5 star hotel.
Like almost all hotels, has an Internet cafe. Going up a wide staircase
with iron railings, after crossing the piano bar in a small room and
pool, one can connect to the internet.
If you have a tablet (iPad), laptop or smartphone, you can do it from
anywhere in the hotel, thanks to a wireless network. Otherwise, the
Saratoga has three computers. The speed of transmission is a maddeningly
slow.
Opening a Yahoo email can take up to 6 minutes. Forget Gmail. The
connection runs at 100 kilobytes. Downloading videos and photos that
exceed a megabyte is not advisable.
The service is too expensive, even for a foreigner. Half an hour for 6
CUC (over $6 US). One hour for 10. Two hours for 15. In the same hotel
where a month and a half ago the singers Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed, the
internet works in slow motion.
In 2010 the Castro government, opting for a full 'digital sovereignty',
decided to open its wallet to the investment and together with Venezuela
and Jamaica, financed a submarine cable of several thousand kilometers.
Its birthplace was the Venezuelan region of La Guaira and termination,
Siboney Beach in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, about 550
miles from Havana.
Little is known about the cable. It is a kind of 'ALBANET', with filters
and control mechanisms. Behind the famous cable there is an Olympic
framework of corruption.
Some put out their hands along the way and lost several million dollars.
It's rumored — in Cuba the rumors are more reliable than the news from
the official press — that several people could go to jail.
State media reported euphorically that when the cable is connected, the
data transmission speed would be multiplied by 300. While technical
issues are resolved, 97% of the Cuban population still sees the Internet
as the stuff of science fiction.
In its absence, a USB flash drive serves as transmitter of information
for those computers not connected to the network. The regime considers
the internet a 'hegemonic control tool of U.S. imperialism'.
Since the island links to the information superhighway via satellite,
the tropical 'think tanks' wear themselves out trying to design and
effective cyber police that can tame the democratic worldwide web.
So far they have not succeeded. What they have achieved is to block
sites deemed 'subversive' and in the workplaces 'big brother' is
watching the footsteps of those disobedient people who decide to take a
look at a digital newspaper from Miami or Madrid.
In ETECSA, the State telecommunications company, staff with access to
the web had to sign a statement agreeing not to read 'enemy pages or
visit pornographic sites'.
Nor may they have international email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail).
Zero Twitter, Facebook or other social networks. But in such closed
societies, people applaud a speech with the same emphasis that they
blatantly steal from their job or violate established rules.
Raisa, 24, has never surfed internet. That has not stopped the girl from
having a Facebook account and a page where she advertises herself as a
photographer for weddings and quinceañeras — girls' 15th birthday parties.
All thanks to a computer savvy friend, charged with editing and updating
her site. And those who have State accounts on the internet don't miss a
trick. They sell access for 2 CUC an hour.
But I don't recommend it. At its best, the connection is 50k. It can
take you up to 30 minutes to get to the online edition of the Journal of
The Americas.
Even though the Castro regime has established a drips-and-drabs
internet, some censored information reaches the average Cuban. Late, of
course.
Ivan Garcia
Photo: Several people access internet in a room in Havana. Taken from
Infolatam.
1 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-internet-in-slow-motion-and-hard-currency-ivan-garcia/
Forgiveness or Justice
Forgiveness or Justice / Juan Juan Almeida
Posted on June 1, 2013
The dictators and their henchmen, as a rule, are extravagant,
autocratic, narcissistic, hypochondriac, provocative, enigmatic and
disturbing individuals. Because of this, and more, anyone who grew up in
any of the links in the chain of a dictatorial regime, shares a
psychosocial trauma that is difficult to cure.
Government violence starts to weaken the welfare state with the constant
exercise of its own virtuosity to impose terror and creates uncertainty
under the umbrella of authority. This validates the power and leaves
citizens without any real possibility of using an internal or external
entity to defend their rights. It is called — according to some scholars
– legal helplessness.
Scientifically it has been shown that this damage affects all people
regardless of social class to which each individual belongs. And it
affects not only the psychological and family level, but also damnifies
cultural and educational development.
I do not believe in left nor right; but that all dictatorships possess
as their only ideology the practice of supremacy, and imposition of
their rule to the extent that society ends up adopting passivity,
submission and resignation as a natural phenomenon.
Totalitarianism, with absolute certainty is sexist, the rules legally
and reigns over the woman by whatever means.
I think many know the repeated humiliation of Cuba's Ladies in White.
But there is so much more; for example, Cuba's psychiatric hospitals are
stuffed with very descriptive records of horrific sexual assault by the
authority, which not confronted legally, damages not only the body
memory of each female victim, but also the shock becomes irreparable,
and is extended to the children.
Countless women who have been affected in their individuality, in their
environment, in their family, social and ethical surroundings. Hate, in
these cases (without referring to the many mothers who have lost
children in the sea), is a sensible and even necessary emotion.
Compelling reason forces me to believe that in order to discuss the
future of Cuba and its transition, we should first be self-sufficient
and unburden ourselves of the disguise, and with it, the desire to please.
I don't know about others, but to me, I respect the view of those who
are anxious to figure out how to outline a common moral discourse that
encourages citizen exaltation; it sounds naive, false, ridiculous and
even childish tome to hear them speak of Forgiveness as if this were an
elegant, civilized and pragmatic response to State violence.
I wonder how could Forgiveness, by itself — if it could — not be the
starting point for another period of violence, or how this same
absolution could achieve the reconciliation of a society that for years
seen their children confronted like bands of enemies.
I have read, and lately I hear with reiterated frequency, several
formulas and examples, but I only trust two old tools that have
historically proven to be more reliable than revenge, and more effective
than tolerance: The law and justice.
1 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/forgiveness-or-justice-juan-juan-almeida/
Posted on June 1, 2013
The dictators and their henchmen, as a rule, are extravagant,
autocratic, narcissistic, hypochondriac, provocative, enigmatic and
disturbing individuals. Because of this, and more, anyone who grew up in
any of the links in the chain of a dictatorial regime, shares a
psychosocial trauma that is difficult to cure.
Government violence starts to weaken the welfare state with the constant
exercise of its own virtuosity to impose terror and creates uncertainty
under the umbrella of authority. This validates the power and leaves
citizens without any real possibility of using an internal or external
entity to defend their rights. It is called — according to some scholars
– legal helplessness.
Scientifically it has been shown that this damage affects all people
regardless of social class to which each individual belongs. And it
affects not only the psychological and family level, but also damnifies
cultural and educational development.
I do not believe in left nor right; but that all dictatorships possess
as their only ideology the practice of supremacy, and imposition of
their rule to the extent that society ends up adopting passivity,
submission and resignation as a natural phenomenon.
Totalitarianism, with absolute certainty is sexist, the rules legally
and reigns over the woman by whatever means.
I think many know the repeated humiliation of Cuba's Ladies in White.
But there is so much more; for example, Cuba's psychiatric hospitals are
stuffed with very descriptive records of horrific sexual assault by the
authority, which not confronted legally, damages not only the body
memory of each female victim, but also the shock becomes irreparable,
and is extended to the children.
Countless women who have been affected in their individuality, in their
environment, in their family, social and ethical surroundings. Hate, in
these cases (without referring to the many mothers who have lost
children in the sea), is a sensible and even necessary emotion.
Compelling reason forces me to believe that in order to discuss the
future of Cuba and its transition, we should first be self-sufficient
and unburden ourselves of the disguise, and with it, the desire to please.
I don't know about others, but to me, I respect the view of those who
are anxious to figure out how to outline a common moral discourse that
encourages citizen exaltation; it sounds naive, false, ridiculous and
even childish tome to hear them speak of Forgiveness as if this were an
elegant, civilized and pragmatic response to State violence.
I wonder how could Forgiveness, by itself — if it could — not be the
starting point for another period of violence, or how this same
absolution could achieve the reconciliation of a society that for years
seen their children confronted like bands of enemies.
I have read, and lately I hear with reiterated frequency, several
formulas and examples, but I only trust two old tools that have
historically proven to be more reliable than revenge, and more effective
than tolerance: The law and justice.
1 June 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/forgiveness-or-justice-juan-juan-almeida/
New Film Reveals Critical Havana Housing Conditions
New Film Reveals Critical Havana Housing Conditions
June 1, 2013
From Café Fuerte
HAVANA TIMES — While Havana's old town continues to experience a visible
architectural and socio-cultural renewal, unattended buildings in the
neighboring borough of Centro Habana languish and deteriorate before the
eyes of its tenants and the inertia of government authorities.
The area was once a zone of transition between Havana's colonial-era
settlements and the more modern buildings that were being constructed in
the fledgling neighborhood of Vedado. Its magnificent edifices profited
from an urban development program undertaken between 1827 and 1840.
Today, nothing but a decaying image of these achievements remains.
Elena (2012), a documentary by filmmaker Marcelo Martin Herrera, affords
us powerful images of the collapse of Centro Habana, which continues to
crumble and offers no hope of ever becoming a habitable neighborhood
again. The 42-minute film takes its title from the name of one of the
buildings located on 117 Vapor Street, between Espada and Hospital
Streets, built in 1927.
The result of three years of investigative journalism and interviews
with the tenants of the ramshackle building, Elena is one of the most
compelling testimonies about Havana's architectural debacle produced in
recent times.
A graduate of Cuba's Higher Institute of Industrial Design (ISDI),
screenwriter and director Martin Herrera (Havana, 1980) began his career
making graphic designs and animated publicity for television. He is
currently a filmmaker and publicist attached to the Cuban Film Institute
(ICAIC).
230 buildings collapse each year
The film was screened at ICAIC's 12th Young Filmmakers' Festival this
past April, where it received an honorary mention. To date, it has not
been scheduled for screening at any of Cuba's movie theatres or shown on
Cuban television.
With 163,763 inhabitants and covering an area of five square kilometers
(a mere one percent of the capital's total surface area), Centro Habana
is Havana's most densely-populated neighborhood.
According to official figures, the neighborhood is made up of 46,277
residences, 22,712 of which are in poor condition and 4,198 of which are
in a critical state. Some 230 buildings collapse within the boundaries
of Centro Habana every year.
A total of 24,311 of its residents are currently living in "temporary
shelters", a government euphemism used to describe facilities where
large numbers of homeless people are lodged, usually for long periods of
time.
"I haven't seen a news report that captures the country's debacle as
honestly and as unflinchingly in years," a Cuban State journalist told
CaféFuerte. "Though Elena is a documentary about a concrete, everyday
reality, it also captures, through metaphor, the irrecoverable ruins of
Cuban history and of an architectural heritage that is vanishing all
around us."
No stairways
Our source (who asked to remain anonymous) believes that now, when the
assemblies in preparation for the 9th Congress of the Federation of
Cuban Journalists (UPEC) scheduled for July 14 and 15 are underway,
Elena ought to be shown to communications professionals.
Martin opens his documentary with a screen showing Article 9 of Cuba's
Constitution: "The State shall work to ensure that no citizen is denied
comfortable housing." He closes the film with a dedication: "To Havana,
a city that is still waiting."
The documentary began to be shot in October of 2009, when a work brigade
from the Salvador Allende Contingent was expected to undertake the
building's renovation. Repair work had actually begun earlier, in 2000,
but had been suspended.
"The building's stairway collapsed, like New York's Twin Towers," an
interviewee who identifies himself as "Manolo" remarks in the
documentary. Elena's tenants were moved to a shelter, but many returned
to the building, the victims of daily thefts and despair.
"Everything I owned was stolen from me at the shelter. I lived in the
shelter for eight years and I have absolutely no hope of getting
anywhere," a woman says.
Though Elena is not suitable for residence, it is still inhabited, like
many other buildings in Centro Habana. To access it, tenants use a
corridor built between the edifice and a neighboring building. Many
apartments and rooms have no kitchens or bathrooms, and leakages and
sewage, full of excrement and worms, are a common sight.
A never-ending lie
"All of this is one big lie, an insult…I have devoted my entire life to
the revolution, in Cuba and abroad," tells Gregorio, an elderly
gentleman who took part in internationalist combat missions when young.
Gregorio lives surrounded by putrid waters that overflow into his
quarters constantly. He is forced to take out bucketfuls of sewage
regularly. He tells that a public official offered to unclog his drains,
but asked for 40 dollars for the service (about one thousand Cuban pesos).
"I don't have 40 dollars. I can offer 100 or 200 pesos (4 to 8 dollars),
at most, because I can't afford anything else with my pension," Gregorio
explains.
Emilio, another tenant, brings a crushing reality to the fore: "A person
can't go 25 years without a bathroom or kitchen."
Elena documents the telephone calls to different State institutions and
the headquarters of the construction brigade, which were unable to offer
an explanation for their evident neglect of the building. All they
secure are evasive replies and promises which, at the close of 2012, had
not yet been fulfilled.
"The documentary opens with nightmarish images of unnamable bugs moving
in the waste water that floods the building's quarters every day, and
closes with the photographs and addresses of other buildings in Centro
Habana – a small sample of buildings as deteriorated as Elena, or
already a pile of rubble," filmmaker Eduardo del Llano wrote in his
blog. "Elena is one of those critical pieces which, in addition to being
rigorous and energetic, reveal imagination and even a sense of humor. It
is a protest piece, but it is also cinema.""
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93982
June 1, 2013
From Café Fuerte
HAVANA TIMES — While Havana's old town continues to experience a visible
architectural and socio-cultural renewal, unattended buildings in the
neighboring borough of Centro Habana languish and deteriorate before the
eyes of its tenants and the inertia of government authorities.
The area was once a zone of transition between Havana's colonial-era
settlements and the more modern buildings that were being constructed in
the fledgling neighborhood of Vedado. Its magnificent edifices profited
from an urban development program undertaken between 1827 and 1840.
Today, nothing but a decaying image of these achievements remains.
Elena (2012), a documentary by filmmaker Marcelo Martin Herrera, affords
us powerful images of the collapse of Centro Habana, which continues to
crumble and offers no hope of ever becoming a habitable neighborhood
again. The 42-minute film takes its title from the name of one of the
buildings located on 117 Vapor Street, between Espada and Hospital
Streets, built in 1927.
The result of three years of investigative journalism and interviews
with the tenants of the ramshackle building, Elena is one of the most
compelling testimonies about Havana's architectural debacle produced in
recent times.
A graduate of Cuba's Higher Institute of Industrial Design (ISDI),
screenwriter and director Martin Herrera (Havana, 1980) began his career
making graphic designs and animated publicity for television. He is
currently a filmmaker and publicist attached to the Cuban Film Institute
(ICAIC).
230 buildings collapse each year
The film was screened at ICAIC's 12th Young Filmmakers' Festival this
past April, where it received an honorary mention. To date, it has not
been scheduled for screening at any of Cuba's movie theatres or shown on
Cuban television.
With 163,763 inhabitants and covering an area of five square kilometers
(a mere one percent of the capital's total surface area), Centro Habana
is Havana's most densely-populated neighborhood.
According to official figures, the neighborhood is made up of 46,277
residences, 22,712 of which are in poor condition and 4,198 of which are
in a critical state. Some 230 buildings collapse within the boundaries
of Centro Habana every year.
A total of 24,311 of its residents are currently living in "temporary
shelters", a government euphemism used to describe facilities where
large numbers of homeless people are lodged, usually for long periods of
time.
"I haven't seen a news report that captures the country's debacle as
honestly and as unflinchingly in years," a Cuban State journalist told
CaféFuerte. "Though Elena is a documentary about a concrete, everyday
reality, it also captures, through metaphor, the irrecoverable ruins of
Cuban history and of an architectural heritage that is vanishing all
around us."
No stairways
Our source (who asked to remain anonymous) believes that now, when the
assemblies in preparation for the 9th Congress of the Federation of
Cuban Journalists (UPEC) scheduled for July 14 and 15 are underway,
Elena ought to be shown to communications professionals.
Martin opens his documentary with a screen showing Article 9 of Cuba's
Constitution: "The State shall work to ensure that no citizen is denied
comfortable housing." He closes the film with a dedication: "To Havana,
a city that is still waiting."
The documentary began to be shot in October of 2009, when a work brigade
from the Salvador Allende Contingent was expected to undertake the
building's renovation. Repair work had actually begun earlier, in 2000,
but had been suspended.
"The building's stairway collapsed, like New York's Twin Towers," an
interviewee who identifies himself as "Manolo" remarks in the
documentary. Elena's tenants were moved to a shelter, but many returned
to the building, the victims of daily thefts and despair.
"Everything I owned was stolen from me at the shelter. I lived in the
shelter for eight years and I have absolutely no hope of getting
anywhere," a woman says.
Though Elena is not suitable for residence, it is still inhabited, like
many other buildings in Centro Habana. To access it, tenants use a
corridor built between the edifice and a neighboring building. Many
apartments and rooms have no kitchens or bathrooms, and leakages and
sewage, full of excrement and worms, are a common sight.
A never-ending lie
"All of this is one big lie, an insult…I have devoted my entire life to
the revolution, in Cuba and abroad," tells Gregorio, an elderly
gentleman who took part in internationalist combat missions when young.
Gregorio lives surrounded by putrid waters that overflow into his
quarters constantly. He is forced to take out bucketfuls of sewage
regularly. He tells that a public official offered to unclog his drains,
but asked for 40 dollars for the service (about one thousand Cuban pesos).
"I don't have 40 dollars. I can offer 100 or 200 pesos (4 to 8 dollars),
at most, because I can't afford anything else with my pension," Gregorio
explains.
Emilio, another tenant, brings a crushing reality to the fore: "A person
can't go 25 years without a bathroom or kitchen."
Elena documents the telephone calls to different State institutions and
the headquarters of the construction brigade, which were unable to offer
an explanation for their evident neglect of the building. All they
secure are evasive replies and promises which, at the close of 2012, had
not yet been fulfilled.
"The documentary opens with nightmarish images of unnamable bugs moving
in the waste water that floods the building's quarters every day, and
closes with the photographs and addresses of other buildings in Centro
Habana – a small sample of buildings as deteriorated as Elena, or
already a pile of rubble," filmmaker Eduardo del Llano wrote in his
blog. "Elena is one of those critical pieces which, in addition to being
rigorous and energetic, reveal imagination and even a sense of humor. It
is a protest piece, but it is also cinema.""
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93982
Free Health Care in Cuba?
Free Health Care in Cuba?
June 1, 2013
Moses Patterson
HAVANA TIMES — A much heralded triumph of the Cuban revolution is the
"free health care system". Cuban propagandists will even favorably
compare the Cuban system to US health care delivery.
I imagine, few, if any, of these apologists, have ever experienced
either one, let alone both systems. I just spent last week experiencing
the Cuban health care system. Let me explain:
My wife and I travelled to Cuba last week to help my mother-in-law
recover from surgery. She was going to have to spend at least three days
in the hospital post-op and several more days motionless in bed at home.
We arranged to rent a large 'casa particular' or rental apartment close
to the hospital with two bedrooms and two bathrooms so that my wife and
I could be comfortable and attend to her mother.
My wife's family is from Guantanamo, but the surgical hospital in
Guantanamo, which was damaged by hurricane Sandy last year did not have
the surgical equipment available for the specific surgery my
mother-in-law needed, so for a variety of reasons, we decided to have
the surgery in Havana.
Prior to the trip, my wife wisely purchased towels and two sets of
sheets and pillowcases for her mother's use during her hospital stay. In
addition, we packed several aerosol cans of spray disinfectant, special
soap used for sponge baths and a room air-freshener that plugs into to
an electrical outlet.
Although this Havana hospital provides linens, the quality and hygiene
of the supplied linens is questionable. Needless to say, you don't need
to bring your own linens for US hospitals.
The morning we brought her to the hospital, it was hard to ignore the
dimly lit halls inside and the faint smell of urine and disinfectant
that seemed to be nearly everywhere. Even though I knew this was the
best option available to us in Cuba, I could not help but think that if
this was the US, there would be no way I would leave my mother-in-law in
a hospital that smelled like this.
We were told the elevators weren't working that day so we had to trek up
to the fourth floor for the pre-operation prep and to speak with the
surgeon.
It was clear to me that the staff in this hospital worked and moved
about similar to the way hospital staffs move about in the US. Although
there were some staff who seemed content to simply sit around and talk,
there were others who kept busy doing their jobs.
My wife is still recognized on the street from her days as a national
newscaster several years ago so it was hard to tell how much of our
initial 'special treatment' was just because of her former status in
Cuba and how much was standard customer service.
Still, it is fair to say we were well-received and everyone was polite
and even pleasant. Under these working conditions, that is worth no
small recognition.
After I completed my job carrying the small suitcase with the sheets and
towels and personal items up the stairs, I decided to wander around the
hospital a little while my wife and mother-in-law met with the surgeon.
"It was clear to me that the staff in this hospital worked and moved
about similar to the way hospital staffs move about in the US. Although
there were some staff who seemed content to simply sit around and talk,
there were others who kept busy doing their jobs."
It was raining outside so it was even more hot and humid inside than
normal and if there was any air-conditioning it was fighting a losing
battle. There were noisy fans on all the floors and pushcarts
half-filled with soiled linens left in the halls.
The real difference was the hospital itself. There were more broken than
unbroken windows. Even the unbroken ones still had the "X" tape-blocking
from the last hurricane to threaten La Habana nearly five years ago. If
the interior of the hospital had once had a color scheme, it was no
longer evident.
Most of the walls needed a couple fresh coats of whatever color to hide
the years of gurney crashes and greasy hands. Floor tiles, mostly
broken, were a hodge-podge of colors and markings as well.
Even the most conscientious janitor would have to go about their
cleaning chores by memory because the structural deterioration as well
as imbedded dirt and grime would never betray what was clean and what
was not.
Despite these physical conditions, the two hour surgery thankfully went
well. My wife, upon hearing the good news from the surgeon prompted me
to slide a 100 cuc bill in his hand (Keep in mind that this 'tip'
tripled his monthly salary).
We thanked him and asked if he would continue to visit 'mi suegra' and
we would see to it that he was taken care of again before we took her
home. He nodded his understanding. I still can't imagine tipping a
surgeon in the US.
We thanked the doctor and asked if he would continue to visit 'mi
suegra' and we would see to it that he was taken care of again before we
took her home. He nodded his understanding. I still can't imagine
tipping a surgeon in the US.
I then left for the store to buy juice for my mother-in-law, the Cuban
equivalent of flowers in the US. When I returned to the hospital later,
she was still in recovery. Since she was going to be groggy for the next
few hours, my wife busied herself finding out who would be on staff that
night.
She arranged that the bed was made up with the new sheets. Ten cuc to
the shift 'jefa' assured that she would get the best mattress available
and that her suitcase would be unmolested.
The next two days for me was spent shuttling food and juice to the
hospital for my wife and her mother. I even brought back pizzas and soda
for the staff. The spray disinfectant came in handy for the bathroom.
Her 'room' had ten beds and 8 men and women patients with no dividing
curtains for privacy. Again, even the worst private and semi-private
rooms that we take for granted in the US were simply not available in
this hospital. Believe me, we asked.
We plugged in the air-freshener across the room and by the second day it
began to have an effect. The other patients in the ward also brought
sheets and towels and their own food. Fruits and juices were offered and
shared by everyone.
The doctor managed to look in on my mother-in-law frequently. So did the
nurses and even the staff responsible for cleaning. Word must have
gotten out that my wife was a good tipper.
At the end of the third day, my mother-in-law had arranged to trade her
used sheets and towels for a week's supply of Vicodin and Percocet with
another MD on staff.
These top-shelf painkillers are normally not available in Cuba. She had
also arranged for one of the nurses who worked in the afternoons to drop
by the rental house to check on her in the mornings on her way to work.
(10 cuc per visit)
When we added up the costs of linens, juices, pizzas for the staff, tips
for the doctors and nurses and other odds and ends, my mother-in-law's
three day hospital stay in La Habana costs my wife and I just less than
$400. If she had had the same procedure done in the US, her deductible
would have been at least $1000.
As far as we know, she is no worse for the wear. Her surgeon and the
staff seemed caring and attentive. I have no way of knowing how much of
a difference was made because we had resources typically not available
to the average Cuban.
We also do not know if the same service would have been better or worse
in Mexico City, Guatemala City, or Buenos Aries. We do know now that
hospital conditions are much better in the US. We also know that without
ANY resources, her experience could have been worse. Much worse. Cuban
health care is at least adequate but it is certainly not free.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93949
June 1, 2013
Moses Patterson
HAVANA TIMES — A much heralded triumph of the Cuban revolution is the
"free health care system". Cuban propagandists will even favorably
compare the Cuban system to US health care delivery.
I imagine, few, if any, of these apologists, have ever experienced
either one, let alone both systems. I just spent last week experiencing
the Cuban health care system. Let me explain:
My wife and I travelled to Cuba last week to help my mother-in-law
recover from surgery. She was going to have to spend at least three days
in the hospital post-op and several more days motionless in bed at home.
We arranged to rent a large 'casa particular' or rental apartment close
to the hospital with two bedrooms and two bathrooms so that my wife and
I could be comfortable and attend to her mother.
My wife's family is from Guantanamo, but the surgical hospital in
Guantanamo, which was damaged by hurricane Sandy last year did not have
the surgical equipment available for the specific surgery my
mother-in-law needed, so for a variety of reasons, we decided to have
the surgery in Havana.
Prior to the trip, my wife wisely purchased towels and two sets of
sheets and pillowcases for her mother's use during her hospital stay. In
addition, we packed several aerosol cans of spray disinfectant, special
soap used for sponge baths and a room air-freshener that plugs into to
an electrical outlet.
Although this Havana hospital provides linens, the quality and hygiene
of the supplied linens is questionable. Needless to say, you don't need
to bring your own linens for US hospitals.
The morning we brought her to the hospital, it was hard to ignore the
dimly lit halls inside and the faint smell of urine and disinfectant
that seemed to be nearly everywhere. Even though I knew this was the
best option available to us in Cuba, I could not help but think that if
this was the US, there would be no way I would leave my mother-in-law in
a hospital that smelled like this.
We were told the elevators weren't working that day so we had to trek up
to the fourth floor for the pre-operation prep and to speak with the
surgeon.
It was clear to me that the staff in this hospital worked and moved
about similar to the way hospital staffs move about in the US. Although
there were some staff who seemed content to simply sit around and talk,
there were others who kept busy doing their jobs.
My wife is still recognized on the street from her days as a national
newscaster several years ago so it was hard to tell how much of our
initial 'special treatment' was just because of her former status in
Cuba and how much was standard customer service.
Still, it is fair to say we were well-received and everyone was polite
and even pleasant. Under these working conditions, that is worth no
small recognition.
After I completed my job carrying the small suitcase with the sheets and
towels and personal items up the stairs, I decided to wander around the
hospital a little while my wife and mother-in-law met with the surgeon.
"It was clear to me that the staff in this hospital worked and moved
about similar to the way hospital staffs move about in the US. Although
there were some staff who seemed content to simply sit around and talk,
there were others who kept busy doing their jobs."
It was raining outside so it was even more hot and humid inside than
normal and if there was any air-conditioning it was fighting a losing
battle. There were noisy fans on all the floors and pushcarts
half-filled with soiled linens left in the halls.
The real difference was the hospital itself. There were more broken than
unbroken windows. Even the unbroken ones still had the "X" tape-blocking
from the last hurricane to threaten La Habana nearly five years ago. If
the interior of the hospital had once had a color scheme, it was no
longer evident.
Most of the walls needed a couple fresh coats of whatever color to hide
the years of gurney crashes and greasy hands. Floor tiles, mostly
broken, were a hodge-podge of colors and markings as well.
Even the most conscientious janitor would have to go about their
cleaning chores by memory because the structural deterioration as well
as imbedded dirt and grime would never betray what was clean and what
was not.
Despite these physical conditions, the two hour surgery thankfully went
well. My wife, upon hearing the good news from the surgeon prompted me
to slide a 100 cuc bill in his hand (Keep in mind that this 'tip'
tripled his monthly salary).
We thanked him and asked if he would continue to visit 'mi suegra' and
we would see to it that he was taken care of again before we took her
home. He nodded his understanding. I still can't imagine tipping a
surgeon in the US.
We thanked the doctor and asked if he would continue to visit 'mi
suegra' and we would see to it that he was taken care of again before we
took her home. He nodded his understanding. I still can't imagine
tipping a surgeon in the US.
I then left for the store to buy juice for my mother-in-law, the Cuban
equivalent of flowers in the US. When I returned to the hospital later,
she was still in recovery. Since she was going to be groggy for the next
few hours, my wife busied herself finding out who would be on staff that
night.
She arranged that the bed was made up with the new sheets. Ten cuc to
the shift 'jefa' assured that she would get the best mattress available
and that her suitcase would be unmolested.
The next two days for me was spent shuttling food and juice to the
hospital for my wife and her mother. I even brought back pizzas and soda
for the staff. The spray disinfectant came in handy for the bathroom.
Her 'room' had ten beds and 8 men and women patients with no dividing
curtains for privacy. Again, even the worst private and semi-private
rooms that we take for granted in the US were simply not available in
this hospital. Believe me, we asked.
We plugged in the air-freshener across the room and by the second day it
began to have an effect. The other patients in the ward also brought
sheets and towels and their own food. Fruits and juices were offered and
shared by everyone.
The doctor managed to look in on my mother-in-law frequently. So did the
nurses and even the staff responsible for cleaning. Word must have
gotten out that my wife was a good tipper.
At the end of the third day, my mother-in-law had arranged to trade her
used sheets and towels for a week's supply of Vicodin and Percocet with
another MD on staff.
These top-shelf painkillers are normally not available in Cuba. She had
also arranged for one of the nurses who worked in the afternoons to drop
by the rental house to check on her in the mornings on her way to work.
(10 cuc per visit)
When we added up the costs of linens, juices, pizzas for the staff, tips
for the doctors and nurses and other odds and ends, my mother-in-law's
three day hospital stay in La Habana costs my wife and I just less than
$400. If she had had the same procedure done in the US, her deductible
would have been at least $1000.
As far as we know, she is no worse for the wear. Her surgeon and the
staff seemed caring and attentive. I have no way of knowing how much of
a difference was made because we had resources typically not available
to the average Cuban.
We also do not know if the same service would have been better or worse
in Mexico City, Guatemala City, or Buenos Aries. We do know now that
hospital conditions are much better in the US. We also know that without
ANY resources, her experience could have been worse. Much worse. Cuban
health care is at least adequate but it is certainly not free.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93949
A Cuban Day Care Activity
A Cuban Day Care Activity
June 1, 2013
Rosa Martinez
HAVANA TIMES — The start of the school year is a highly important moment
in Cuba. The country's public education system stands, next to
healthcare and sports, as one of the most significant achievements of
the Cuban revolution, and, every year, we attest to this on the first
Monday of the month of September, when kids return to the country's
schools or enroll in these institutions for the first time.
All schools in the country organize cultural activities in which
children, educators and families participate.
It has become tradition for the principal of the school to deliver a
speech that underscores the importance the school has as a forger of the
country's future workers, professionals and artists.
Usually, this speech has some of the political content we insist on
finding in all our daily experiences in Cuba, invariably touching on the
US blockade, imperialism and the revolution.
The address opens the school year officially, and the principal cannot
let pass an opportunity to stress that, despite the shortages the
country has suffered in the course of more than 50 years, no Cuban child
has been left without schooling, teachers or textbooks.
Though such statements are boring for us parents, who have heard them
countless times, we do understand and appreciate them. We begin to ask
ourselves, however, why no one speaks of the rise in juvenile violence,
or speak to children about their rights and parents about their duties.
The same thing happens at every start-of-the-school-year function, so
it's not something that catches me by surprise anymore. What I hadn't
expected, however, is for this old, tired story to repeat itself at an
activity held by my little girl's day care center.
In this case (it was May), the anniversary of the creation of Cuba's day
care centers was being celebrated. These are very important for women,
for they afford them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of a career
and of professional development without neglecting the care of their
children.
It was a colorful activity in which the teachers dressed up as clowns
and performed dance and song numbers.
The kids enjoyed a show by a magician who, in addition to doing tricks,
told a beautiful story which kept them entertained from beginning to
end. I would be lying, however, if I said they enjoyed the beginning or
end of the activity itself.
The beginning was boring for the kids because, as in all official
ceremonies, it involved playing Cuba's national anthem. Though a few
children managed to mouth the words of the anthem, not one of them
showed any interest in singing that song, whose significance only the
parents and teachers were aware of.
Playing the national anthem is perhaps justified: it is one of the
symbols of our homeland and children ought to get to know it and learn
to respect it from the time they are little. But closing an activity
aimed at children under five with a boring speech, that's something
altogether different.
And that's what happened: the activity ended with a speech about the
commitment that Cuba and its revolution demand, a speech that included
quotations from Commander in Chief Fidel Castro. The parents struggled
to control their little ones who, bored by the high-sounding phrases,
began to run around, scream and play.
Every little kid in Cuba knows who Fidel is, but no kid there understood
what the kindergarten, the teachers, the plasticine, the colored
crayons, the horse on four wheels or the black doll had to do with the
homeland or the revolution. Most of them didn't know what the revolution
was or what it was good for.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93958
June 1, 2013
Rosa Martinez
HAVANA TIMES — The start of the school year is a highly important moment
in Cuba. The country's public education system stands, next to
healthcare and sports, as one of the most significant achievements of
the Cuban revolution, and, every year, we attest to this on the first
Monday of the month of September, when kids return to the country's
schools or enroll in these institutions for the first time.
All schools in the country organize cultural activities in which
children, educators and families participate.
It has become tradition for the principal of the school to deliver a
speech that underscores the importance the school has as a forger of the
country's future workers, professionals and artists.
Usually, this speech has some of the political content we insist on
finding in all our daily experiences in Cuba, invariably touching on the
US blockade, imperialism and the revolution.
The address opens the school year officially, and the principal cannot
let pass an opportunity to stress that, despite the shortages the
country has suffered in the course of more than 50 years, no Cuban child
has been left without schooling, teachers or textbooks.
Though such statements are boring for us parents, who have heard them
countless times, we do understand and appreciate them. We begin to ask
ourselves, however, why no one speaks of the rise in juvenile violence,
or speak to children about their rights and parents about their duties.
The same thing happens at every start-of-the-school-year function, so
it's not something that catches me by surprise anymore. What I hadn't
expected, however, is for this old, tired story to repeat itself at an
activity held by my little girl's day care center.
In this case (it was May), the anniversary of the creation of Cuba's day
care centers was being celebrated. These are very important for women,
for they afford them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of a career
and of professional development without neglecting the care of their
children.
It was a colorful activity in which the teachers dressed up as clowns
and performed dance and song numbers.
The kids enjoyed a show by a magician who, in addition to doing tricks,
told a beautiful story which kept them entertained from beginning to
end. I would be lying, however, if I said they enjoyed the beginning or
end of the activity itself.
The beginning was boring for the kids because, as in all official
ceremonies, it involved playing Cuba's national anthem. Though a few
children managed to mouth the words of the anthem, not one of them
showed any interest in singing that song, whose significance only the
parents and teachers were aware of.
Playing the national anthem is perhaps justified: it is one of the
symbols of our homeland and children ought to get to know it and learn
to respect it from the time they are little. But closing an activity
aimed at children under five with a boring speech, that's something
altogether different.
And that's what happened: the activity ended with a speech about the
commitment that Cuba and its revolution demand, a speech that included
quotations from Commander in Chief Fidel Castro. The parents struggled
to control their little ones who, bored by the high-sounding phrases,
began to run around, scream and play.
Every little kid in Cuba knows who Fidel is, but no kid there understood
what the kindergarten, the teachers, the plasticine, the colored
crayons, the horse on four wheels or the black doll had to do with the
homeland or the revolution. Most of them didn't know what the revolution
was or what it was good for.
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=93958
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