A Cuban Fight Against The Demons Of Machismo
14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 1 July 2017 — A man looks
over my shoulder because I talk about cables and circuits. He grimaces
in disgust when he sees my clumsy nails cut short and is annoyed because
I reject his "compliments," which I should accept with pleasure and
gratitude. He does not say it out loud, but to him I'm just a creature
who should look "pretty," care for his home and bear his children.
It is an exhausting battle. Every day, every hour, every minute, Cuban
women – and so many women in other parts of the world – have to deal
with this accumulation of nonsense. "You can't, let your husband do it,"
is one of the more pleasant phrases we hear from them, although I have
found others who insist that "women should only talk when hens piss*," a
coarse way of saying that we should be seen and not heard.
A journalist asks me in front of the camera how I combine being a mother
with the task of running a newspaper. Although I try to lead the
conversation down a professional path, he insists on referring to my
ovaries. A political policeman mocks me because my hair is
tangled. Probably my texts bother him more, but he feels a special
pleasure in "attacking" my femininity. He is wasting his time.
At the end of the day, I have had to evade a thousand and one attempts
to force me into a mold. That box where we must be silent and
endure; smile and bear it; laugh with grace at the machistas** and act
flattered by their repartee. A twisted mechanism that results in society
losing out on our cores and being left only with our shells.
All these stupid prejudices, which have hardly diminished on this
Island, pave the shortest way to deprive ourselves of the talents that
we possess, not only as women, but – mainly – as human beings.
Translator's notes:
*This expression derives from the fact that chickens do not urinate (as
we know it).
**Male chauvinists.
Source: A Cuban Fight Against The Demons Of Machismo – Translating Cuba
- http://translatingcuba.com/a-cuban-fight-against-the-demons-of-machismo/
Sunday, July 2, 2017
“American-Philia” Conquers Cuba
"American-Philia" Conquers Cuba / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 29 June 2017 — Ten days have passed
since Donald Trump announced his "new" political strategy toward Cuba,
and while the official Cuban press monopoly has wasted gallons of ink on
newspapers and on dozens of reports, interviews and TV programs to show
the world the indignation and rejection of the Cuban people at the gross
interference of US imperialism, which attempts to undermine the
portentous social and economic achievements reached in almost 60 years
of Castro rule, national life continues its boring course at ground
level, far from the rhetorical battles.
If the US president's speech has had any palpable effect in Cuba, it is
in the possibility of clearly confirming, on a daily basis, the enormous
gap that exists between the olive-green power elite, as an eternalized
political class, and common Cubans. Oblivious to the political and mass
organizations at the service of the gerontocracy, which these days have
shown discipline through the obligatory task of drafting their
declarations of repudiation of the Empire of Evil, the people remain as
alienated from the old "revolutionary" epic, and from its ideological
disputes as is possible. Particularly when the enemy they are fighting
is none other than the endearing monster in whose entrails so many
thousands and thousands of Cubans yearn to live.
A breach that has become all the more visible because the majority of
Cubans today increasingly identify less with the official discourse and
is more irreverent in relation to the State-Party-Government and with
everything it represents.
If anyone were to doubt this, all he would need to do is to walk the
streets of the Cuban capital and check the number of American flags that
proliferate every day, either as articles of clothing worn by numerous
passers-by, such as caps, sandals, head scarves, etc. or decorating the
interior of private transportation. It is like a contest in social
irreverence towards everything that stems from the government and its
colossal propagandistic and repressive apparatus, a phenomenon that was
unthinkable only a few years ago.
Thus, the more the official voice shouts itself hoarse calling for the
union of national sovereignty and the reaffirmation of socialism, not
only does American-philia expand among the population of the island –
with even greater strength, although not exclusively, among the younger
generation – but it also adopts multiple variants of expression. It is
not limited to the open display of the US flag, but also has well-known
trademarks originating in that country, signs of official US
institutions on textiles (including t-shirts labeled: USA, DEA, or FBI,
for example), as well as images and names of famous US cities.
It is like an effect of funny magic, by virtue of which everything
having to do with that country draws me near. Or, to put it another way,
to think intensely about a thing is a superstitious way (like "I hope it
becomes true" while crossing one's fingers) of preparing the ground for
the pleasure of enjoying it.
But if, in the daily routine of the city, the American symbols continue
to mark the pace, as if mocking that dreaded label of "ideological
diversion," presumably fallen into disuse, on the beaches the phenomenon
constitutes a quasi-apotheosis. This can easily be seen at the beaches
east of Havana, where coastline areas from El Megano to Guanabo in the
extensive sandy stretches where – despite Trump's bitter declarations
and the strong patriotic protests of the Cuban government – the stars
and stripes constantly parade in the shape of towels, men's shorts and
lightweight children's swimwear, caps, umbrellas and even inflatable
rafts or infant's lifejackets.
It must be torture for the Castro clan and its claque that no
regulations are in effect, (especially not now, when diplomatic
relations exist between the two countries), that prohibit the use of the
US flag in clothing or in any object created by the human imagination.
Would it be justifiable to quell those who wear a symbol that represents
a friendly people entirely, and not just their political powers?
But this is not about a new phenomenon either. It turns out that this
epidemic of a taste for everything American and its symbols had been
manifesting itself in a more or less contained but constant way for
several years, and was unleashed with marked emphasis at the time of the
reestablishment of relations between the governments of Cuba and the US,
especially during and after President Barack Obama's visit to a Havana,
until turning into an unstoppable cult to the chagrin of the hierarchy
of the geriatric elite and its ideologic commissaries, who try in vain
to tackle a hare that is like the mythological hydra, spouting seven
heads for each one they cut off.
And while all this intense American mania continues to be sharpened in
Cuba – the historical bastion of the continent's radical left – the
nationalist affectation of the regime recently chose to prohibit the use
of the Cuban national symbol in a similar way. In fact, Cuban laws
expressly prohibit it.
Consequently, not even the fiercest prospects of their pack of
repudiators or other similarly-minded halberdiers can counteract the
growing "Uncle Sam" effect on Cuban society, since they are barred from
wearing the Cuban national flag as a way to counteract those involuntary
"traitorous" ones, who, without hiding it, continue to publicly display
their admiration for the crème de la crème of evil capitalism, which, it
was taken for granted, had been banished definitively from Cuba since 1959.
Personally, and begging the pardon of the more ardent and sincere
patriots of fetishistic spirit, I am not tempted to worship symbols,
whether from my own country or from others. Even less would I think to
wear a flag, although those who do so – with the vocation of flagpoles –
does not affect me. It is their right. But, strictly speaking, the flag
is nothing more than a rag that many years ago someone designed and
chose to represent us all and that, ultimately, has been used with the
same zeal and passion for the best as for the worst causes, also
supposedly "of everyone." Ergo, I'm not excited about the flags, but nor
do I feel myself to be any less Cuban than anybody else.
Nevertheless, a flag, as a symbol of something, evidences the feelings
of the individuals who carry it towards that "something." That, in the
case of the American flag in Cuba, symbolizes exactly the paradigm of
life of the Cubans who exhibit it. An aspiration on a national scale.
So, for those who want to know what Cubans really think about the US, do
not look for the statements published in the official press or the
boring speeches at events: go to the beach. There, relaxing by the sea,
sheltered by a good umbrella and perhaps savoring a cold beer that
protects them from the strong tropical heat, they will see, parading
before their eyes, the mute response of the Cuban people to the Empire
that attacks them.
Translated by Norma Whiting
Source: "American-Philia" Conquers Cuba / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/american-philia-conquers-cuba-cubanet-miriam-celaya/
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 29 June 2017 — Ten days have passed
since Donald Trump announced his "new" political strategy toward Cuba,
and while the official Cuban press monopoly has wasted gallons of ink on
newspapers and on dozens of reports, interviews and TV programs to show
the world the indignation and rejection of the Cuban people at the gross
interference of US imperialism, which attempts to undermine the
portentous social and economic achievements reached in almost 60 years
of Castro rule, national life continues its boring course at ground
level, far from the rhetorical battles.
If the US president's speech has had any palpable effect in Cuba, it is
in the possibility of clearly confirming, on a daily basis, the enormous
gap that exists between the olive-green power elite, as an eternalized
political class, and common Cubans. Oblivious to the political and mass
organizations at the service of the gerontocracy, which these days have
shown discipline through the obligatory task of drafting their
declarations of repudiation of the Empire of Evil, the people remain as
alienated from the old "revolutionary" epic, and from its ideological
disputes as is possible. Particularly when the enemy they are fighting
is none other than the endearing monster in whose entrails so many
thousands and thousands of Cubans yearn to live.
A breach that has become all the more visible because the majority of
Cubans today increasingly identify less with the official discourse and
is more irreverent in relation to the State-Party-Government and with
everything it represents.
If anyone were to doubt this, all he would need to do is to walk the
streets of the Cuban capital and check the number of American flags that
proliferate every day, either as articles of clothing worn by numerous
passers-by, such as caps, sandals, head scarves, etc. or decorating the
interior of private transportation. It is like a contest in social
irreverence towards everything that stems from the government and its
colossal propagandistic and repressive apparatus, a phenomenon that was
unthinkable only a few years ago.
Thus, the more the official voice shouts itself hoarse calling for the
union of national sovereignty and the reaffirmation of socialism, not
only does American-philia expand among the population of the island –
with even greater strength, although not exclusively, among the younger
generation – but it also adopts multiple variants of expression. It is
not limited to the open display of the US flag, but also has well-known
trademarks originating in that country, signs of official US
institutions on textiles (including t-shirts labeled: USA, DEA, or FBI,
for example), as well as images and names of famous US cities.
It is like an effect of funny magic, by virtue of which everything
having to do with that country draws me near. Or, to put it another way,
to think intensely about a thing is a superstitious way (like "I hope it
becomes true" while crossing one's fingers) of preparing the ground for
the pleasure of enjoying it.
But if, in the daily routine of the city, the American symbols continue
to mark the pace, as if mocking that dreaded label of "ideological
diversion," presumably fallen into disuse, on the beaches the phenomenon
constitutes a quasi-apotheosis. This can easily be seen at the beaches
east of Havana, where coastline areas from El Megano to Guanabo in the
extensive sandy stretches where – despite Trump's bitter declarations
and the strong patriotic protests of the Cuban government – the stars
and stripes constantly parade in the shape of towels, men's shorts and
lightweight children's swimwear, caps, umbrellas and even inflatable
rafts or infant's lifejackets.
It must be torture for the Castro clan and its claque that no
regulations are in effect, (especially not now, when diplomatic
relations exist between the two countries), that prohibit the use of the
US flag in clothing or in any object created by the human imagination.
Would it be justifiable to quell those who wear a symbol that represents
a friendly people entirely, and not just their political powers?
But this is not about a new phenomenon either. It turns out that this
epidemic of a taste for everything American and its symbols had been
manifesting itself in a more or less contained but constant way for
several years, and was unleashed with marked emphasis at the time of the
reestablishment of relations between the governments of Cuba and the US,
especially during and after President Barack Obama's visit to a Havana,
until turning into an unstoppable cult to the chagrin of the hierarchy
of the geriatric elite and its ideologic commissaries, who try in vain
to tackle a hare that is like the mythological hydra, spouting seven
heads for each one they cut off.
And while all this intense American mania continues to be sharpened in
Cuba – the historical bastion of the continent's radical left – the
nationalist affectation of the regime recently chose to prohibit the use
of the Cuban national symbol in a similar way. In fact, Cuban laws
expressly prohibit it.
Consequently, not even the fiercest prospects of their pack of
repudiators or other similarly-minded halberdiers can counteract the
growing "Uncle Sam" effect on Cuban society, since they are barred from
wearing the Cuban national flag as a way to counteract those involuntary
"traitorous" ones, who, without hiding it, continue to publicly display
their admiration for the crème de la crème of evil capitalism, which, it
was taken for granted, had been banished definitively from Cuba since 1959.
Personally, and begging the pardon of the more ardent and sincere
patriots of fetishistic spirit, I am not tempted to worship symbols,
whether from my own country or from others. Even less would I think to
wear a flag, although those who do so – with the vocation of flagpoles –
does not affect me. It is their right. But, strictly speaking, the flag
is nothing more than a rag that many years ago someone designed and
chose to represent us all and that, ultimately, has been used with the
same zeal and passion for the best as for the worst causes, also
supposedly "of everyone." Ergo, I'm not excited about the flags, but nor
do I feel myself to be any less Cuban than anybody else.
Nevertheless, a flag, as a symbol of something, evidences the feelings
of the individuals who carry it towards that "something." That, in the
case of the American flag in Cuba, symbolizes exactly the paradigm of
life of the Cubans who exhibit it. An aspiration on a national scale.
So, for those who want to know what Cubans really think about the US, do
not look for the statements published in the official press or the
boring speeches at events: go to the beach. There, relaxing by the sea,
sheltered by a good umbrella and perhaps savoring a cold beer that
protects them from the strong tropical heat, they will see, parading
before their eyes, the mute response of the Cuban people to the Empire
that attacks them.
Translated by Norma Whiting
Source: "American-Philia" Conquers Cuba / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/american-philia-conquers-cuba-cubanet-miriam-celaya/
In Cuba, Growing Numbers Of Bloggers Manage To Operate In A Vulnerable Gray Area
In Cuba, Growing Numbers Of Bloggers Manage To Operate In A Vulnerable
Gray Area
July 2, 20178:26 AM ET
CARRIE KAHN
In recent years, a growing number of news and political websites have
popped up in Cuba. Some are taking advantage of what they say has been a
small but vibrant opening afforded them since former President Obama
reestablished U.S. relations with Cuba. But others worry that President
Trump's harder line toward the Communist Castro government could have a
chilling effect on the independent media movement afoot.
Harold Cardenas Lema runs his blog La Joven Cuba, The Young Cuba, out of
the two-room apartment he shares with his mom and girlfriend in a
dilapidated building just blocks from Havana's oceanfront esplanade, the
Malecon.
"It's really just one-and-a-half, actually. This is a very small, a very
small apartment," he says, laughing. All editorial board meetings take
place in his bedroom, with everyone sitting on his bed.
Despite its mundane office, discussions on Cardenas' seven-year-old blog
are anything but boring. And they are popular. He says the blog gets
about 2,000 unique visitors a day, nearly 70 percent coming from inside
Cuba. That's quite a following, given how expensive and difficult it is
to access the Internet on the island.
Exact numbers on Cuba's Internet access are hard to pin down. Freedom
House, a U.S.-based human rights group, estimates that anywhere between
5 percent and 30 percent of the population has access, one of the lowest
levels of Internet penetration in the world. Most Cubans connect via
spotty public WiFi hotspots, mostly in parks and near tourist hotels,
for about $2 an hour. Many websites, whether they originate on or off
the island, are officially blocked.
In a recent post titled "Papa Estado," Father State, Cardenas opened a
discussion about whether it was right for the Cuban government to
control all aspects of private life on the island. Among the questions
raised: If Cuban baseball players pay taxes, why can't they hire their
own agents? And for tax-paying small business owners, why can't they
import much needed goods?
Surprised by the boldness of the topic, I ask Cardenas how it is that he
can criticize the government so openly on the Internet in Cuba.
He says there's more freedom of speech in recent years than outsiders
might assume. "There is this [misconception] that you cannot do that in
Cuba — it is pretty much a prejudice of people that don't know how Cuba
works," he says.
And he puts President Trump, who recently announced new restrictions for
Americans traveling to the island, at the top of that list. He says in
the past seven years that he's run the blog, he's never been told to
remove a post or been detained by security forces — though he does say
he has on occasion been "misunderstood" and called "to task" by
officials about certain articles. He doesn't elaborate on either of
those circumstances.
In fact, Cardenas says since President Obama improved relations with
Cuba in December 2014, he has had more freedom than ever to criticize
his government. It's a small but important opening he fears will
inevitably close, given Trump's harder line toward the island.
"If Donald Trump really wants to end the Cuban government," he says, "he
is not doing a very good job."
As the past has shown, Carendas says, when the U.S. clamps down on Cuba,
everyone goes on the defensive and is less open to self reflection —
even those who push for wider debate and criticism about conditions at home.
"We work better and we are a better country to deal with the many things
we have to solve here when we don't have the pressure of the biggest
country, the most powerful country in the world," he says.
Cuba's state apparatus does control news and information on the island,
but some independent writers and reporters are breaking through and even
providing unfiltered international and local news these days.
The best known is 14ymedio, an internationally celebrated site started
nearly a decade ago by Yoani Sanchez. But others are breaking through.
One site, Periodismo del Barrio, run by journalist Elaine Diaz,
chronicles local happenings in some of Cuba's poorest neighborhoods. And
Cuba Profunda, run by Gisele Morales, a local reporter out of Sancti
Spiritus, gives a glimpse of life outside of Havana and into the provinces.
Recent articles in some of these blogs have tackled local problems —
everything form debilitating water rationing to cheating on state
university entrance exams. And many have successfully lobbied the
government for fixes. According to one blogger, the government changed
the state exam after the cheating scandal was exposed — a rare reversal
for Cuba's state apparatus.
Ted Piccone of the Brookings Institution says these Cuban new media
journalists are working in a vulnerable gray area. They are tolerated by
the state but not working with official authorization, either — and not
without threat of censorship or shutdown.
"The government has sent agents to shut them down or interfere with
their work," Piccone says. "Nonetheless, they are smart, well-educated,
well-trained professionals in Cuba. And they are committed to expressing
themselves through this format."
While the Castro regime may be giving a slight opening to younger Cubans
exploiting new media, it continues to crack down on the island's older
dissidents, who've long protested bans on public gathering and freedom
of expression.
And not all of Cuba's young media professionals are willing to test the
limits of Cuban openness through politics and opinion. Robin Pedraja
just wanted to write about reggaeton and rock and roll when he launched
his cultural magazine, Vistar, three years ago.
"Everybody told me, hey, you are crazy, the government isn't going to
allow you to make this," he says.
But in Cuba these days, you are only held back by your own limitations,
Pedraja says — though he admits to never publishing anything negative
about Cuban culture, a closely controlled state commodity.
"I want more. Vistar the magazine is just the beginning ... to build
something very big," he says.
He says one day, he hopes to gain official press credentials and even
start Cuba's first Billboard-like music charts and award shows.
Vistar has become profitable as well as popular. While printing a hard
copy of a magazine or newspaper other than the official,
state-sanctioned dailies is prohibited in Cuba, Pedraja and many other
for-profit zines have found another route to readers. He puts a copy
every week in El Paquete, The Package — an offline compilation of
pirated movies, TV shows and other media favorites that is
hand-delivered on USB drives and hard drives around the island for a
small fee.
It's impossible to know how many read Vistar on El Paquete, since it's
not a state-sanctioned media venture, but Pedraja says from comments and
emails he receives from Paquete readers, he believes they number in the
tens of thousands.
Not all blogs can take advantage of El Paquete's distribution, mostly
because there is a fee to be included in the weekly offerings, about $25
a week.
Cardenas of La Joven Cuba isn't making any money off his blog and
refuses to take donations from sponsors or off-island institutions. So
he can't afford to include his work in El Paquete.
"They have advertisers, they have a whole economic system, and we don't
have that," he says. He's negotiating with El Paquete's operators for a
lower price.
For now, that leaves him copying his blog posts to Facebook, sending
them to subscribers on the WhatsApp messaging app — and hoping for the
day when Cuba has a faster and more easily accessible Internet.
Source: In Cuba, Growing Numbers Of Bloggers Manage To Operate In A
Vulnerable Gray Area : Parallels : NPR -
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/07/02/534760028/in-cuba-growing-numbers-of-bloggers-manage-to-operate-in-a-vulnerable-gray-area
Gray Area
July 2, 20178:26 AM ET
CARRIE KAHN
In recent years, a growing number of news and political websites have
popped up in Cuba. Some are taking advantage of what they say has been a
small but vibrant opening afforded them since former President Obama
reestablished U.S. relations with Cuba. But others worry that President
Trump's harder line toward the Communist Castro government could have a
chilling effect on the independent media movement afoot.
Harold Cardenas Lema runs his blog La Joven Cuba, The Young Cuba, out of
the two-room apartment he shares with his mom and girlfriend in a
dilapidated building just blocks from Havana's oceanfront esplanade, the
Malecon.
"It's really just one-and-a-half, actually. This is a very small, a very
small apartment," he says, laughing. All editorial board meetings take
place in his bedroom, with everyone sitting on his bed.
Despite its mundane office, discussions on Cardenas' seven-year-old blog
are anything but boring. And they are popular. He says the blog gets
about 2,000 unique visitors a day, nearly 70 percent coming from inside
Cuba. That's quite a following, given how expensive and difficult it is
to access the Internet on the island.
Exact numbers on Cuba's Internet access are hard to pin down. Freedom
House, a U.S.-based human rights group, estimates that anywhere between
5 percent and 30 percent of the population has access, one of the lowest
levels of Internet penetration in the world. Most Cubans connect via
spotty public WiFi hotspots, mostly in parks and near tourist hotels,
for about $2 an hour. Many websites, whether they originate on or off
the island, are officially blocked.
In a recent post titled "Papa Estado," Father State, Cardenas opened a
discussion about whether it was right for the Cuban government to
control all aspects of private life on the island. Among the questions
raised: If Cuban baseball players pay taxes, why can't they hire their
own agents? And for tax-paying small business owners, why can't they
import much needed goods?
Surprised by the boldness of the topic, I ask Cardenas how it is that he
can criticize the government so openly on the Internet in Cuba.
He says there's more freedom of speech in recent years than outsiders
might assume. "There is this [misconception] that you cannot do that in
Cuba — it is pretty much a prejudice of people that don't know how Cuba
works," he says.
And he puts President Trump, who recently announced new restrictions for
Americans traveling to the island, at the top of that list. He says in
the past seven years that he's run the blog, he's never been told to
remove a post or been detained by security forces — though he does say
he has on occasion been "misunderstood" and called "to task" by
officials about certain articles. He doesn't elaborate on either of
those circumstances.
In fact, Cardenas says since President Obama improved relations with
Cuba in December 2014, he has had more freedom than ever to criticize
his government. It's a small but important opening he fears will
inevitably close, given Trump's harder line toward the island.
"If Donald Trump really wants to end the Cuban government," he says, "he
is not doing a very good job."
As the past has shown, Carendas says, when the U.S. clamps down on Cuba,
everyone goes on the defensive and is less open to self reflection —
even those who push for wider debate and criticism about conditions at home.
"We work better and we are a better country to deal with the many things
we have to solve here when we don't have the pressure of the biggest
country, the most powerful country in the world," he says.
Cuba's state apparatus does control news and information on the island,
but some independent writers and reporters are breaking through and even
providing unfiltered international and local news these days.
The best known is 14ymedio, an internationally celebrated site started
nearly a decade ago by Yoani Sanchez. But others are breaking through.
One site, Periodismo del Barrio, run by journalist Elaine Diaz,
chronicles local happenings in some of Cuba's poorest neighborhoods. And
Cuba Profunda, run by Gisele Morales, a local reporter out of Sancti
Spiritus, gives a glimpse of life outside of Havana and into the provinces.
Recent articles in some of these blogs have tackled local problems —
everything form debilitating water rationing to cheating on state
university entrance exams. And many have successfully lobbied the
government for fixes. According to one blogger, the government changed
the state exam after the cheating scandal was exposed — a rare reversal
for Cuba's state apparatus.
Ted Piccone of the Brookings Institution says these Cuban new media
journalists are working in a vulnerable gray area. They are tolerated by
the state but not working with official authorization, either — and not
without threat of censorship or shutdown.
"The government has sent agents to shut them down or interfere with
their work," Piccone says. "Nonetheless, they are smart, well-educated,
well-trained professionals in Cuba. And they are committed to expressing
themselves through this format."
While the Castro regime may be giving a slight opening to younger Cubans
exploiting new media, it continues to crack down on the island's older
dissidents, who've long protested bans on public gathering and freedom
of expression.
And not all of Cuba's young media professionals are willing to test the
limits of Cuban openness through politics and opinion. Robin Pedraja
just wanted to write about reggaeton and rock and roll when he launched
his cultural magazine, Vistar, three years ago.
"Everybody told me, hey, you are crazy, the government isn't going to
allow you to make this," he says.
But in Cuba these days, you are only held back by your own limitations,
Pedraja says — though he admits to never publishing anything negative
about Cuban culture, a closely controlled state commodity.
"I want more. Vistar the magazine is just the beginning ... to build
something very big," he says.
He says one day, he hopes to gain official press credentials and even
start Cuba's first Billboard-like music charts and award shows.
Vistar has become profitable as well as popular. While printing a hard
copy of a magazine or newspaper other than the official,
state-sanctioned dailies is prohibited in Cuba, Pedraja and many other
for-profit zines have found another route to readers. He puts a copy
every week in El Paquete, The Package — an offline compilation of
pirated movies, TV shows and other media favorites that is
hand-delivered on USB drives and hard drives around the island for a
small fee.
It's impossible to know how many read Vistar on El Paquete, since it's
not a state-sanctioned media venture, but Pedraja says from comments and
emails he receives from Paquete readers, he believes they number in the
tens of thousands.
Not all blogs can take advantage of El Paquete's distribution, mostly
because there is a fee to be included in the weekly offerings, about $25
a week.
Cardenas of La Joven Cuba isn't making any money off his blog and
refuses to take donations from sponsors or off-island institutions. So
he can't afford to include his work in El Paquete.
"They have advertisers, they have a whole economic system, and we don't
have that," he says. He's negotiating with El Paquete's operators for a
lower price.
For now, that leaves him copying his blog posts to Facebook, sending
them to subscribers on the WhatsApp messaging app — and hoping for the
day when Cuba has a faster and more easily accessible Internet.
Source: In Cuba, Growing Numbers Of Bloggers Manage To Operate In A
Vulnerable Gray Area : Parallels : NPR -
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/07/02/534760028/in-cuba-growing-numbers-of-bloggers-manage-to-operate-in-a-vulnerable-gray-area
They fled to avoid prosecution from a web of corruption that is part of daily life in Cuba
They fled to avoid prosecution from a web of corruption that is part of
daily life in Cuba
BY MARIO J. PENTÓN
mpenton@elnuevoherald.com
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
The couple fled Cuba to avoid the web of corruption and negligence that
they say reflects what is normal life on the island.
They got stranded in Panama, but still hope to eventually reach the
United States.
Yudenny Sao Labrada was born in eastern Cuba, three years after the
government approved a socialist constitution in 1976. Trained by the
Castro revolution as a teacher, she holds university degrees in math and
physics but left the classroom to administer one of the state-owned
grocery stores that sell rationed goods at subsidized prices.
"I liked being a teacher, but the salaries in the Education Ministry are
very low," she said. Running the store in her hometown of Puerto Padre,
she added, she had more opportunities to earn money "on the left," –
Cuban slang for less-than-legal.
"I decided to leave Cuba when they discovered a corruption scheme in the
retail commerce network in Puerto Padre," she said. Audits turned up
"irregularities." Top administrators were sentenced to up to eight years
in prison for embezzlement.
"I had nothing to do with that," she said.
Her own business scheme consisted of selling rice, sugar and smuggled
cigarettes, which she bought on the black market, instead of selling the
products sent by the state for sale at higher prices outside the
rationing system.
Although she did not change the price of the goods sold at her store,
she was breaking the law because Cuba's highly centralized economic
regulations did not allow her to sell goods not supplied by the government.
"I called the family together and told them what was happening, because
the big fish always eats the little fish," she said. Her family includes
husband Yoendry Batista, who is a welder, children who are 19, 10 and 7
years old and Sao's parents. They decided to leave Cuba, and borrowed
$10,000 for the trip from relatives in Florida.
"I used the money to go to Havana. I wanted to take a fast boat to the
United States," she said. "But instead of paying a smuggler … I learned
that there were people who could sell you the parts to build a boat. I
phoned my husband, he went to Havana and we started to build the boat."
The work took place in a neighborhood in the heart of Havana. Materials
cost $7,500 and each person in the group contributed to the labor.
Everything was done in secret, because building boats with the intent to
leave the country is illegal.
"We built the boat with polyethylene and metal sheets. That is illegal.
We could have gone to prison for up to 15 years," said Batista, who had
never before built a boat. After three weeks of hard work in the patio
of a home, the boat was ready.
"We had to fake a house move to take the boat to the coast. At 3 a.m.,
we started to load the furniture and parts of the boat into a covered
truck" that supplied a chain of state-owned stores in the city, Sao
recalled.
They headed for the north coast, near the mouth of the Caimito River.
They and 17 others stayed there for eight days, eating little to save
their supplies for the trip. After weeks of preparations, they were
finally ready to leave for the United States.
"When we started up the motor, we were so happy we shouted 'goodbye
comandante,'" Sao said, referring to late ruler Fidel Castro. But their
happiness ended quickly. The outboard motor barely lasted 75 minutes.
They threw their $2,000 motor and gasoline cans overboard because
possessing them was also illegal.
"The Cuban Coast Guard showed up around noon. My wife had fainted for
lack of food and water," said Batista. "They handcuffed us and kept us
under the sun for hours while they picked up other rafters. That day,
Aug. 12, 2016, they picked up 32 rafters whose boats had broken down."
They were taken to the port of Mariel, fined 3,000 Cuban pesos (about
$120) and freed.
"You're lucky because we're preparing to mark the birthday of the
commander-in-chief," they were told by one of the officers. Aug. 13 was
the 90th birthday of Castro, who died three months later.
They returned to Havana, hoping to build another boat. "We spent many
sleepless nights thinking about that debt of $10,000, and still unable
to leave," said Batista. Police were starting to investigate the
corruption in Puerto Padre and time was running out.
They decided to bribe a policeman who could erase their arrest records,
allowing them to obtain passports and travel legally to Guyana on the
northeastern shoulder of South America.
"We paid $100 to a policeman … and obtained our passports. That's how we
traveled to Guyana and from there started our trek to the United
States," said Sao.
They went first by land to Brazil, where Sao worked as a maid for
several months. Her husband worked in construction, but was cheated a
couple of time by bosses who knew that undocumented Cuban migrants could
not complain to the authorities.
"He worked in shopping malls. One time they promised him 100 reales a
week and they paid him 40," said Sao. Batista has some good memories,
however. "You get a different image of these countries, because it's not
what you're told in Cuba. There are a lot of people in those countries
who have a good heart and help migrants," he said.
After saving up more money, they joined another 60 Cubans traveling on
the Amazon River and over 20 days crossed Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
The Darién jungle between Colombia and Panama was the worst part for
Sao, who is diabetic and suffers from high blood pressure.
"I didn't want to go on, but my family sent us $200 from Cuba. Together
with what we had saved, that allowed us to pay for the guides who led us
through the jungle," Sao said.
They wound up at a shelter in Panama City run by Caritas, the charity
arm of the Catholic Church, where they learned that President Barack
Obama had ended the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that would have allowed
them to stay in the United States. They slipped out when the Panama
government transferred many of the other Cubans to a temporary shelter
in Gualaca, in western Panama, amid fears they would be deported to the
island.
"I don't care where, even if it's Haiti, but I can't go back to Cuba,"
she said.
The house where Sao and her husband stayed was owned by one of the
Panamanians they met in Caritas. They cleaned it up and even planted
some plantains.
"But we won't be around to harvest them. You can be sure of that," said
Batista.
One week later, they left for Costa Rica, where authorities took away
their passports. They continued by land through Central America and are
now in Mexico, waiting for a humanitarian permit that would allow them
to travel to the U.S. border and apply for political asylum.
"The Cuban government is responsible for everything we have suffered. It
forces us to invent all the schemes we have to use to live with dignity.
To buy a pair of shoes for your children you have to spend five months
without eating," said Sao, who added that she would not have left Cuba
if the corruption investigators had not targeted her.
"It is a macabre system" she said.
FOLLOW MARIO J. PENTÓN ON TWITTER: @MARIOJOSE_CUBA
THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF THE "NEW ERA IN CUBAN MIGRATION" SERIES, A
COLLABORATIVE PROJECT BETWEEN THE MIAMI HERALD, 14YMEDIO AND RADIO
AMBULANTE MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRANT FROM THE PULITZER CENTER ON CRISIS
REPORTING.
Source: Couple flees Cuba to avoid prosecution from a common web of
corruption | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article159168109.html
daily life in Cuba
BY MARIO J. PENTÓN
mpenton@elnuevoherald.com
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
The couple fled Cuba to avoid the web of corruption and negligence that
they say reflects what is normal life on the island.
They got stranded in Panama, but still hope to eventually reach the
United States.
Yudenny Sao Labrada was born in eastern Cuba, three years after the
government approved a socialist constitution in 1976. Trained by the
Castro revolution as a teacher, she holds university degrees in math and
physics but left the classroom to administer one of the state-owned
grocery stores that sell rationed goods at subsidized prices.
"I liked being a teacher, but the salaries in the Education Ministry are
very low," she said. Running the store in her hometown of Puerto Padre,
she added, she had more opportunities to earn money "on the left," –
Cuban slang for less-than-legal.
"I decided to leave Cuba when they discovered a corruption scheme in the
retail commerce network in Puerto Padre," she said. Audits turned up
"irregularities." Top administrators were sentenced to up to eight years
in prison for embezzlement.
"I had nothing to do with that," she said.
Her own business scheme consisted of selling rice, sugar and smuggled
cigarettes, which she bought on the black market, instead of selling the
products sent by the state for sale at higher prices outside the
rationing system.
Although she did not change the price of the goods sold at her store,
she was breaking the law because Cuba's highly centralized economic
regulations did not allow her to sell goods not supplied by the government.
"I called the family together and told them what was happening, because
the big fish always eats the little fish," she said. Her family includes
husband Yoendry Batista, who is a welder, children who are 19, 10 and 7
years old and Sao's parents. They decided to leave Cuba, and borrowed
$10,000 for the trip from relatives in Florida.
"I used the money to go to Havana. I wanted to take a fast boat to the
United States," she said. "But instead of paying a smuggler … I learned
that there were people who could sell you the parts to build a boat. I
phoned my husband, he went to Havana and we started to build the boat."
The work took place in a neighborhood in the heart of Havana. Materials
cost $7,500 and each person in the group contributed to the labor.
Everything was done in secret, because building boats with the intent to
leave the country is illegal.
"We built the boat with polyethylene and metal sheets. That is illegal.
We could have gone to prison for up to 15 years," said Batista, who had
never before built a boat. After three weeks of hard work in the patio
of a home, the boat was ready.
"We had to fake a house move to take the boat to the coast. At 3 a.m.,
we started to load the furniture and parts of the boat into a covered
truck" that supplied a chain of state-owned stores in the city, Sao
recalled.
They headed for the north coast, near the mouth of the Caimito River.
They and 17 others stayed there for eight days, eating little to save
their supplies for the trip. After weeks of preparations, they were
finally ready to leave for the United States.
"When we started up the motor, we were so happy we shouted 'goodbye
comandante,'" Sao said, referring to late ruler Fidel Castro. But their
happiness ended quickly. The outboard motor barely lasted 75 minutes.
They threw their $2,000 motor and gasoline cans overboard because
possessing them was also illegal.
"The Cuban Coast Guard showed up around noon. My wife had fainted for
lack of food and water," said Batista. "They handcuffed us and kept us
under the sun for hours while they picked up other rafters. That day,
Aug. 12, 2016, they picked up 32 rafters whose boats had broken down."
They were taken to the port of Mariel, fined 3,000 Cuban pesos (about
$120) and freed.
"You're lucky because we're preparing to mark the birthday of the
commander-in-chief," they were told by one of the officers. Aug. 13 was
the 90th birthday of Castro, who died three months later.
They returned to Havana, hoping to build another boat. "We spent many
sleepless nights thinking about that debt of $10,000, and still unable
to leave," said Batista. Police were starting to investigate the
corruption in Puerto Padre and time was running out.
They decided to bribe a policeman who could erase their arrest records,
allowing them to obtain passports and travel legally to Guyana on the
northeastern shoulder of South America.
"We paid $100 to a policeman … and obtained our passports. That's how we
traveled to Guyana and from there started our trek to the United
States," said Sao.
They went first by land to Brazil, where Sao worked as a maid for
several months. Her husband worked in construction, but was cheated a
couple of time by bosses who knew that undocumented Cuban migrants could
not complain to the authorities.
"He worked in shopping malls. One time they promised him 100 reales a
week and they paid him 40," said Sao. Batista has some good memories,
however. "You get a different image of these countries, because it's not
what you're told in Cuba. There are a lot of people in those countries
who have a good heart and help migrants," he said.
After saving up more money, they joined another 60 Cubans traveling on
the Amazon River and over 20 days crossed Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
The Darién jungle between Colombia and Panama was the worst part for
Sao, who is diabetic and suffers from high blood pressure.
"I didn't want to go on, but my family sent us $200 from Cuba. Together
with what we had saved, that allowed us to pay for the guides who led us
through the jungle," Sao said.
They wound up at a shelter in Panama City run by Caritas, the charity
arm of the Catholic Church, where they learned that President Barack
Obama had ended the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that would have allowed
them to stay in the United States. They slipped out when the Panama
government transferred many of the other Cubans to a temporary shelter
in Gualaca, in western Panama, amid fears they would be deported to the
island.
"I don't care where, even if it's Haiti, but I can't go back to Cuba,"
she said.
The house where Sao and her husband stayed was owned by one of the
Panamanians they met in Caritas. They cleaned it up and even planted
some plantains.
"But we won't be around to harvest them. You can be sure of that," said
Batista.
One week later, they left for Costa Rica, where authorities took away
their passports. They continued by land through Central America and are
now in Mexico, waiting for a humanitarian permit that would allow them
to travel to the U.S. border and apply for political asylum.
"The Cuban government is responsible for everything we have suffered. It
forces us to invent all the schemes we have to use to live with dignity.
To buy a pair of shoes for your children you have to spend five months
without eating," said Sao, who added that she would not have left Cuba
if the corruption investigators had not targeted her.
"It is a macabre system" she said.
FOLLOW MARIO J. PENTÓN ON TWITTER: @MARIOJOSE_CUBA
THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF THE "NEW ERA IN CUBAN MIGRATION" SERIES, A
COLLABORATIVE PROJECT BETWEEN THE MIAMI HERALD, 14YMEDIO AND RADIO
AMBULANTE MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRANT FROM THE PULITZER CENTER ON CRISIS
REPORTING.
Source: Couple flees Cuba to avoid prosecution from a common web of
corruption | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article159168109.html
Saturday, July 1, 2017
According to the report, the average salary in Cuban increased from 408 CUP ($16.30 US) in 2007 to 740 CUP in 2016.
Average Monthly Salary in Cuba is $29.60 US
EFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2017 – The average monthly salary in
Cuba in 260 was 740 Cuban pesos (CUP), the equivalent of $29.60 in US
dollars, although the figure is higher in sectors such as the sugar
industry – where the best paid earn 1,246 CUP ($48.80 US), and falls in
public administration, defense and social security, with a figure a 510
(CUP) ($20.40 US).
The figures come from the publication "Figures for Average Salaries in
2016," released on Thursday by Cuba's National Office of Statistics and
Information, which includes average monthly salaries by province since
2007, and average monthly salary by economic activity type since 2014.
According to the report, the average salary in Cuban increased from 408
CUP ($16.30 US) in 2007 to 740 CUP in 2016.
By province, the highest salaries are earned in Ciego de Ávila (816 CUP
/ $32.60 US), Villa Clara (808 CUP / $32.30 US) and Matanzas (806 CUP /
$32.20 US), while the lowest wages are paid in Guantánamo (633 CUP /
$25.30 US), Isla de la Juventud (655 CUP / $26.20 US) and Santiago de
Cuba (657 CUP / $26.20 US).
The highest paid sectors on the island are the sugar industry (1,246 CUP
/ $49.80 US), mining and quarrying (1,218 CUP / $48.70 US), financial
services (1,032 CUP / $41.20 US), and agriculture, livestock, forestry
and fisheries (991 CUP / $39.60 US).
On the other hand, economic activities with lower wages are: "Other
communal services, associations and personal activities," (503 CUP /
$20.10 US); public administration, defense and social security (510 CUP
/ $20.40 US); Culture and sport (511 CUP / $20.40 US); and education
(533 CUP / $21.32 US).
The low wages paid to state employees in Cuba, compared to the high cost
of basic products—Cuba imports 80% of its food—are constantly subject to
criticism by international organizations and also by opposition movements.
Health and education are universal and free in Cuba, and citizens
receive some basic food from the state through the "ration book."
But the rationing system, which decades ago covered much of the
population's needs—including underwear, shoes and children's toys—has
been reducing the quantities and types of subsidized products.
The rationing system, which decades ago covered much of the population's
needs, has been reducing the quantities and type of subsidized products
Currently, an adult Cuban receives monthly from the ration stores about
7 pounds of rice, 4 pounds of sugar, one pint of soybean oil, one packet
of mixed coffee (that is coffee mixed with fillers such as dried peas),
one packet of pasta, five eggs and small quantities of chicken. Children
also get one quart of milk a day until they turn seven.
In 2011, Cuban President Raul Castro approved the authorization of new
categories of self-employment (the term used in Cuba means "own
account-ism") as one of the key measures to compensate for the
progressive reduction of 500,000 jobs in the state sector.
Another of the main distortions in the Cuban economy is the simultaneous
circulation of two currencies—the Cuban pesos or "national money" and
the Cuban convertible peso, or "hard currency"—that the Government
recognizes needs to be changed, but for the system remains in force and
there is no firm date to merge the currencies.
Source: Average Monthly Salary in Cuba is $29.60 US – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/average-monthly-salary-in-cuba-is-29-60-us/
EFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2017 – The average monthly salary in
Cuba in 260 was 740 Cuban pesos (CUP), the equivalent of $29.60 in US
dollars, although the figure is higher in sectors such as the sugar
industry – where the best paid earn 1,246 CUP ($48.80 US), and falls in
public administration, defense and social security, with a figure a 510
(CUP) ($20.40 US).
The figures come from the publication "Figures for Average Salaries in
2016," released on Thursday by Cuba's National Office of Statistics and
Information, which includes average monthly salaries by province since
2007, and average monthly salary by economic activity type since 2014.
According to the report, the average salary in Cuban increased from 408
CUP ($16.30 US) in 2007 to 740 CUP in 2016.
By province, the highest salaries are earned in Ciego de Ávila (816 CUP
/ $32.60 US), Villa Clara (808 CUP / $32.30 US) and Matanzas (806 CUP /
$32.20 US), while the lowest wages are paid in Guantánamo (633 CUP /
$25.30 US), Isla de la Juventud (655 CUP / $26.20 US) and Santiago de
Cuba (657 CUP / $26.20 US).
The highest paid sectors on the island are the sugar industry (1,246 CUP
/ $49.80 US), mining and quarrying (1,218 CUP / $48.70 US), financial
services (1,032 CUP / $41.20 US), and agriculture, livestock, forestry
and fisheries (991 CUP / $39.60 US).
On the other hand, economic activities with lower wages are: "Other
communal services, associations and personal activities," (503 CUP /
$20.10 US); public administration, defense and social security (510 CUP
/ $20.40 US); Culture and sport (511 CUP / $20.40 US); and education
(533 CUP / $21.32 US).
The low wages paid to state employees in Cuba, compared to the high cost
of basic products—Cuba imports 80% of its food—are constantly subject to
criticism by international organizations and also by opposition movements.
Health and education are universal and free in Cuba, and citizens
receive some basic food from the state through the "ration book."
But the rationing system, which decades ago covered much of the
population's needs—including underwear, shoes and children's toys—has
been reducing the quantities and types of subsidized products.
The rationing system, which decades ago covered much of the population's
needs, has been reducing the quantities and type of subsidized products
Currently, an adult Cuban receives monthly from the ration stores about
7 pounds of rice, 4 pounds of sugar, one pint of soybean oil, one packet
of mixed coffee (that is coffee mixed with fillers such as dried peas),
one packet of pasta, five eggs and small quantities of chicken. Children
also get one quart of milk a day until they turn seven.
In 2011, Cuban President Raul Castro approved the authorization of new
categories of self-employment (the term used in Cuba means "own
account-ism") as one of the key measures to compensate for the
progressive reduction of 500,000 jobs in the state sector.
Another of the main distortions in the Cuban economy is the simultaneous
circulation of two currencies—the Cuban pesos or "national money" and
the Cuban convertible peso, or "hard currency"—that the Government
recognizes needs to be changed, but for the system remains in force and
there is no firm date to merge the currencies.
Source: Average Monthly Salary in Cuba is $29.60 US – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/average-monthly-salary-in-cuba-is-29-60-us/
Nominating Commission That Will Propose Replacement for Raúl Castro is Sworn In
Nominating Commission That Will Propose Replacement for Raúl Castro is
Sworn In
14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2017 — The swearing in, today, of the National
Nominating Commission (CCN) before the National Electoral Commission is
a decisive step that makes it clear that the upcoming elections will be
held under the provisions the electoral law of 1992 and not by the new
legislation promised by Raúl Castro in 2015.
The Commission, composed of six "mass organizations," is responsible for
preparing the proposals for who will be members of the Provincial
Assemblies, the National Assembly of People's Power, and the Council of
State, including its president. The existence of this entity has been
one of the most criticized points of the current electoral law because
it is believed that it hijacks the popular will to elect the president
of the nation.
On this occasion the method of prefabricating a list of candidates is
more sensitive because it is expected that at the conclusion of the
February 2018 elections the country will have a new president whose most
peculiar characteristic will be not carrying the surname Castro.
Article 68 of Law 72 states that "The Nominating Commissions are
composed of representatives of the Cuban Workers Center (CTC), the
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), the Federation of
Cuban Women (FMC), the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the
Federation of University Students (FEU) and of the Federation of High
School Students (FEEM), designated by the respective national,
provincial and municipal administrations."
The members of these organizations, presided over by the engineer Gisela
María Duarte, representing the CTC, took office on Friday and made a
solemn oath of loyalty to the Constitution of the Republic.
The ceremony was presided over by the secretary of the State Council,
Homero Acosta, who said that the representatives of these organizations
"protect as a part of civil society the interests of the entire nation,
the interests of the country, thinking of the commitments and the
responsibility of those you will propose at the appropriate moment."
The electoral process will begin this coming October 22 and 12,515
constituency delegates will be elected. From this group, the Nominations
Commission will choose half of the candidates to the National Assembly
of People's Power, but this phase of the elections, where the candidates
for the Provincial Assemblies will also be known, does not yet have a
definite date.
Cuba's current National Assembly is composed of 612 deputies
representing the country's 168 municipalities and is elected every five
years.
Source: Nominating Commission That Will Propose Replacement for Raúl
Castro is Sworn In – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/nominating-commission-that-will-propose-replacement-for-raul-castro-is-sworn-in/
Sworn In
14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2017 — The swearing in, today, of the National
Nominating Commission (CCN) before the National Electoral Commission is
a decisive step that makes it clear that the upcoming elections will be
held under the provisions the electoral law of 1992 and not by the new
legislation promised by Raúl Castro in 2015.
The Commission, composed of six "mass organizations," is responsible for
preparing the proposals for who will be members of the Provincial
Assemblies, the National Assembly of People's Power, and the Council of
State, including its president. The existence of this entity has been
one of the most criticized points of the current electoral law because
it is believed that it hijacks the popular will to elect the president
of the nation.
On this occasion the method of prefabricating a list of candidates is
more sensitive because it is expected that at the conclusion of the
February 2018 elections the country will have a new president whose most
peculiar characteristic will be not carrying the surname Castro.
Article 68 of Law 72 states that "The Nominating Commissions are
composed of representatives of the Cuban Workers Center (CTC), the
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), the Federation of
Cuban Women (FMC), the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the
Federation of University Students (FEU) and of the Federation of High
School Students (FEEM), designated by the respective national,
provincial and municipal administrations."
The members of these organizations, presided over by the engineer Gisela
María Duarte, representing the CTC, took office on Friday and made a
solemn oath of loyalty to the Constitution of the Republic.
The ceremony was presided over by the secretary of the State Council,
Homero Acosta, who said that the representatives of these organizations
"protect as a part of civil society the interests of the entire nation,
the interests of the country, thinking of the commitments and the
responsibility of those you will propose at the appropriate moment."
The electoral process will begin this coming October 22 and 12,515
constituency delegates will be elected. From this group, the Nominations
Commission will choose half of the candidates to the National Assembly
of People's Power, but this phase of the elections, where the candidates
for the Provincial Assemblies will also be known, does not yet have a
definite date.
Cuba's current National Assembly is composed of 612 deputies
representing the country's 168 municipalities and is elected every five
years.
Source: Nominating Commission That Will Propose Replacement for Raúl
Castro is Sworn In – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/nominating-commission-that-will-propose-replacement-for-raul-castro-is-sworn-in/
On Cuba, Trump is right
On Cuba, Trump is right
Published: July 1, 2017
President Barack Obama bought into an ideology that said be nice to evil
people and they will be nice back.
So it was that he let the Syrian regime off the hook when it killed
civilians with chemical weapons, figuring it would come around. Then
there was this deal with Iran based on Islamic radicals softening up in
a way they have not done. He wanted to get cozy with the Russians, and
they poked him in the eye. And, of course, he then played palsy-walsy
with Cuba, and here was his reasoning.
Yes, he knew Raul Castro has done some bad stuff and not all was hunky
dory on the island. But if we trade with Cuba, the reasoning went, it
will be to the economic good of both sides and the increased
interactions of varied kinds will help induce true democracy. We trade
with other autocracies and punishing Cuba accomplishes nothing and
should come to an end, he grinned.
After his trip to make this deal that was all give and no get, he headed
down to Argentina to provide further evidence of his sophisticated
incompetence. He talked to a group called Young Leaders of the Americas
and said they should not get involved in intellectual arguments about
capitalism versus communism. They should simply choose what works for
them. He went on to say that Cuba provided a good education for its
people and good health care.
Now let's visit with reality and point out that the regime of Raul
Castro and his late brother Fidel has murdered people left and right,
mainly on the right, those who aspire to freedom. There are still
political prisoners, the elections are fake and protest can get you in
deep trouble. It is a desperately poor country not for a lack of trade
that exists with many other nations but because of socialistic
malfeasance. The good health care goes mostly to those with money and
political power, and much of the education is sheer propaganda.
The deal Obama made with Cuba is not trade with the people but trade
that cheats the people. It is trade with the Cuban government, those of
high rank and with a further empowered military. There is little if any
trickle down to the still-deprived. What you get from Castro is
assertions that there is nothing to reform in this blessed land that
once may have looked at Obama's options and chose communism. After all,
he leads the good life, doesn't he?
Then we have President Donald Trump saying he is discontinuing the deal
but would be happy to renegotiate the terms. You want trade, Cuba? Fine.
How about releasing political prisoners. How about easing up the
oppression generally, you know, with real free speech? And how about the
trade being general, something that also goes into the pockets of
entrepreneurs and their workers?
Naturally enough, Trump took a bruising because this is oh, so awful and
there was a chance for something good growing out of the Obama mission
and now it is gone, liberals said. Nonsense. Cuba's only chance resides
in ditching socialism, not in bolstering it. That's what Obama did, and
this Washington star is thereby reminiscent of a Hollywood star, actor
Sean Penn, when he praised Venezuela's socialist dictator Hugo Chavez
and, after he died, Nicolas Maduro, his replacement.
These self-adulating thugs took a country with one of the noblest
records in Latin America and converted it to a land of starvation,
imprisonment and death everywhere you look. That's the record of
ultra-socialist regimes, you know — 100 million dead as a result of
their policies over the last century.
I don't know about those young people lectured in Argentina, but I would
choose a free market over socialism any day of the week. I would also
point out to Obama that niceness can sometimes abet evil.
Source: On Cuba, Trump is right - U.S. - Stripes -
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/on-cuba-trump-is-right-1.476233#.WVfCeYiGP6Q
Published: July 1, 2017
President Barack Obama bought into an ideology that said be nice to evil
people and they will be nice back.
So it was that he let the Syrian regime off the hook when it killed
civilians with chemical weapons, figuring it would come around. Then
there was this deal with Iran based on Islamic radicals softening up in
a way they have not done. He wanted to get cozy with the Russians, and
they poked him in the eye. And, of course, he then played palsy-walsy
with Cuba, and here was his reasoning.
Yes, he knew Raul Castro has done some bad stuff and not all was hunky
dory on the island. But if we trade with Cuba, the reasoning went, it
will be to the economic good of both sides and the increased
interactions of varied kinds will help induce true democracy. We trade
with other autocracies and punishing Cuba accomplishes nothing and
should come to an end, he grinned.
After his trip to make this deal that was all give and no get, he headed
down to Argentina to provide further evidence of his sophisticated
incompetence. He talked to a group called Young Leaders of the Americas
and said they should not get involved in intellectual arguments about
capitalism versus communism. They should simply choose what works for
them. He went on to say that Cuba provided a good education for its
people and good health care.
Now let's visit with reality and point out that the regime of Raul
Castro and his late brother Fidel has murdered people left and right,
mainly on the right, those who aspire to freedom. There are still
political prisoners, the elections are fake and protest can get you in
deep trouble. It is a desperately poor country not for a lack of trade
that exists with many other nations but because of socialistic
malfeasance. The good health care goes mostly to those with money and
political power, and much of the education is sheer propaganda.
The deal Obama made with Cuba is not trade with the people but trade
that cheats the people. It is trade with the Cuban government, those of
high rank and with a further empowered military. There is little if any
trickle down to the still-deprived. What you get from Castro is
assertions that there is nothing to reform in this blessed land that
once may have looked at Obama's options and chose communism. After all,
he leads the good life, doesn't he?
Then we have President Donald Trump saying he is discontinuing the deal
but would be happy to renegotiate the terms. You want trade, Cuba? Fine.
How about releasing political prisoners. How about easing up the
oppression generally, you know, with real free speech? And how about the
trade being general, something that also goes into the pockets of
entrepreneurs and their workers?
Naturally enough, Trump took a bruising because this is oh, so awful and
there was a chance for something good growing out of the Obama mission
and now it is gone, liberals said. Nonsense. Cuba's only chance resides
in ditching socialism, not in bolstering it. That's what Obama did, and
this Washington star is thereby reminiscent of a Hollywood star, actor
Sean Penn, when he praised Venezuela's socialist dictator Hugo Chavez
and, after he died, Nicolas Maduro, his replacement.
These self-adulating thugs took a country with one of the noblest
records in Latin America and converted it to a land of starvation,
imprisonment and death everywhere you look. That's the record of
ultra-socialist regimes, you know — 100 million dead as a result of
their policies over the last century.
I don't know about those young people lectured in Argentina, but I would
choose a free market over socialism any day of the week. I would also
point out to Obama that niceness can sometimes abet evil.
Source: On Cuba, Trump is right - U.S. - Stripes -
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/on-cuba-trump-is-right-1.476233#.WVfCeYiGP6Q
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
