The Prison System the Cuban and Foreign Press Did Not Report On
Posted on April 27, 2013
By Ignacio Estrada
Havana, Cuba – In recent days, correspondents from Cuban television and
newspaper correspondents from accredited foreign media in the capital
undertook an unusual journey through different prisons.
The reporting reflects only what the Cuban government wants to show the
world in the face of their constant refusal to let the United Nations
Special Rapporteur for Human Rights into the country, along with
international officials of other agencies such as the Red Cross.
The deterioration of the Cuban prison system and the constant violations
of inmate rights is reported by alternative media that exists on the
island, denunciations that are narrated via telephone in often broken
voices, people sobbing to themselves and another large number of their
families and a smaller number through third parties.
Cuba is the Latin American nation with more prisons and a prison
population mostly young, for crimes that include prison sentences just
for eating beef.
If the accredited media want to talk about the island prison system they
would have to take as a reference the countless testimonies of the many
people graduate from prison and now despite being released can not get
their jobs back. Or better still to describe each of the punishment
cells in which many have tried to to end their lives out of despair and
others have lost their lives in some cases in unknown situations.
Those who have been in prison fall into things like this, they become
accomplices of those who often repeat intimidating phrases like this:
The Cockroach when he's in the hen's beak doesn't make demands! A speech
about explaining to the accused that they are trapped by the prison system.
A question to ask the National Bureau of Prisons is what is the annual
number of self-attacks in prisons, a number that will never be revealed
because it would show the mental imbalance and fears in a figure that is
constantly growing. When we touch this issue we are not referring to
something unknown, we are talking about a reality and that is the reason
that hundreds of prisoners are admitted to hospitals each year and in
most cases require surgery.
The self-attacks are described derisively by the jailers themselves
unscrupulously labeling those who opt for this kind of protest of the
system as "Tragics," cutting their veins, swallowing barbed wires,
sticking pins in their eyes, burning and mutilating parts of their
bodies, injecting feces and urine into their legs and even voluntarily
injecting themselves with HIV/AIDS; these are all some of the ways in
which the Cuban prison population constantly attacks their own lives.
I respect each colleague of both the domestic and foreign press but
there are things that piss me off and make me lose my faith at times in
the work they do. Is it perhaps that Raul Castro and even the brand new
Cuban vice president, are not calling on the press to be objective and
fill the role of true communicators or the Cuban reality? Lying is the
same thing they did in 'fifty-nine. Everything continues to be a false
government disguised by a puppet press.
I promise in a second paper to describe the Cuban jails where prisoners
with HIV/AIDS serve their sentences. Prisons that now total six which
together have an inmate population that excludes 500 inmates.
22 April 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/the-prison-system-the-cuban-and-foreign-press-did-not-report-on-ignacio-estrada/
Sunday, April 28, 2013
In Madrid as in Miami, Cubans Come Together as One People
Yoani Sanchez - Award-winning Cuban blogger
In Madrid as in Miami, Cubans Come Together as One People
Posted: 04/27/2013 3:49 pm
Last Thursday I was in Havana without leaving Madrid. Thanks to the
guitar of Boris Larramendi I took a little hop to the Island. A brief
but intense return, on the wings of chords and a good musician. At a
place in the Spanish capital we found a group of friends, some graduates
from the Faculty of Arts and letters, but also former players in
whatever musical groups existed in Cuba in the '90s. I felt at home,
because right in the living room of our apartment we had one of these
gatherings that we recalled the night before last. We remembered the
lemon grass tea with a little sugar with which we restored our energy
after carrying our bikes up 14 flights of stairs. But mostly, we
recollected the good songs we had heard there, the space for freedom
that we managed to create for at least a few hours.
Beyond the choruses and the rice with beans, I particularly enjoyed the
reunion with my compatriots. Many of them are still trying to find their
way in a Spain hit by the economic crisis and political questions. Some
are unemployed, others illegal, several with children born here who
don't know the country of their parents; all aware of what is happening
in Cuba. Boris sang himself hoarse, and we clapped along until our palms
were red and, already past midnight, humor took over and we reveled in
jokes.
On one wall a TV showed images recorded on the streets of Havana. The
Malecón and the corner of 23rd and L were a visual background
accompanying our improvised "Guaracha" around two tables. At one point I
realized that the recording that was passing across the screen was from
a police security camera. But here this filtered surveillance material
was just an amusing video in a space for entertainment. The official eye
become banal; control converted into a frivolous daily report. But not
even that could distract us from the most important thing happening in
that room: the confluence. We were finding a point in common after a
long journey and prolonged separation. We were more free than at any
gathering in Havana and yet, we were still the fruit of all those Havana
gatherings. A blessed past that we have waited for this morning.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/in-madrid-as-in-miami-cub_b_3170798.html?utm_hp_ref=cuba
In Madrid as in Miami, Cubans Come Together as One People
Posted: 04/27/2013 3:49 pm
Last Thursday I was in Havana without leaving Madrid. Thanks to the
guitar of Boris Larramendi I took a little hop to the Island. A brief
but intense return, on the wings of chords and a good musician. At a
place in the Spanish capital we found a group of friends, some graduates
from the Faculty of Arts and letters, but also former players in
whatever musical groups existed in Cuba in the '90s. I felt at home,
because right in the living room of our apartment we had one of these
gatherings that we recalled the night before last. We remembered the
lemon grass tea with a little sugar with which we restored our energy
after carrying our bikes up 14 flights of stairs. But mostly, we
recollected the good songs we had heard there, the space for freedom
that we managed to create for at least a few hours.
Beyond the choruses and the rice with beans, I particularly enjoyed the
reunion with my compatriots. Many of them are still trying to find their
way in a Spain hit by the economic crisis and political questions. Some
are unemployed, others illegal, several with children born here who
don't know the country of their parents; all aware of what is happening
in Cuba. Boris sang himself hoarse, and we clapped along until our palms
were red and, already past midnight, humor took over and we reveled in
jokes.
On one wall a TV showed images recorded on the streets of Havana. The
Malecón and the corner of 23rd and L were a visual background
accompanying our improvised "Guaracha" around two tables. At one point I
realized that the recording that was passing across the screen was from
a police security camera. But here this filtered surveillance material
was just an amusing video in a space for entertainment. The official eye
become banal; control converted into a frivolous daily report. But not
even that could distract us from the most important thing happening in
that room: the confluence. We were finding a point in common after a
long journey and prolonged separation. We were more free than at any
gathering in Havana and yet, we were still the fruit of all those Havana
gatherings. A blessed past that we have waited for this morning.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/in-madrid-as-in-miami-cub_b_3170798.html?utm_hp_ref=cuba
Raúl Castro plots his endgame
Posted on Saturday, 04.27.13
Raúl Castro plots his endgame
By JOSÉ AZEL
jazel@miami.edu
The succession from Fidel to Raúl Castro, programmed since the early
days of the Cuban revolution, was efficient, effective and seamless.
Gen. Castro now is orchestrating his own succession, but this one lacks
the historical legitimizing elements of the 1959 revolution.
The recent appointment of Miguel Diaz-Canel, a 52-year-old party
apparatchik factotum, as first vice president of the Council of State
places him in line to succeed Raúl Castro in that state body. This,
however, is not equivalent to being No. 2 in the regime as the
international media seem to have concluded.
Article 5 of the Cuban constitution makes it clear that the Communist
Party is "the superior leading force of the society and the state." The
15-member Politburo of the Communist Party remains headed by Raúl Castro
as first secretary, and by 82-year-old Machado Ventura as second secretary.
It is not often understood that Raúl Castro leads Cuba not because he is
president of the Council of State, but because he is first secretary of
the Communist Party and Fidel's brother. Under the Cuban governing
succession scheme, the military-dominated Politburo would recommend
Cuba's next leader.
The succession plot thickens when we consider that constitutionally, the
president of the Council of State is also the supreme chief of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces. Cuban history offers no tradition of
military subordination to civilian rule. With Raúl Castro gone, it is
difficult to envision old comandantes like Ramiro Valdes and three-star
generals of the Politburo obediently offering military allegiance and
saluting in subordination to a civilian bureaucrat like Diaz-Canel. This
comportment of unchallenged civilian command of the armed forces is not
in the Cuban memes (cultural genes).
When thinking about change in Cuba, it is essential to keep in mind that
Cuba's history for the past half century is that of the Castro brothers
and their ideas. Raúl Castro's inner circle is not made up of closet
democrats waiting for an opportune moment to put into practice their
long-suppressed Jeffersonian ideals. Their governing modality is
ontologically inseparable from their ideology. In a symbiotic
relationship, authoritarianism engenders a corrupt oligarchy, and that
oligarchy profits from the continuation of corrupt authoritarianism.
Behind the Diaz-Canel designation — let's make sure we do not label it
an election — is a venal plot of political maquillage.
The role of the Cuban military in the economy is extensive and
pervasive, with the military managerial elite controlling over 60
percent of the economy. Therefore, from a longer-term strategic
perspective the critical question is: What follows when the Raúl era
comes to an end, leaving the generals in control of both the Politburo
and the economy?
When enterprises are state-owned and managed, the
military-officers-turned-business-executives enjoy the privileges of an
elite ruling class. Their standard of living is higher, they move into
better homes, etc. But these benefits are minuscule when compared with
the opportunities to gain significant wealth by owning the enterprises
under their control. The military elite understands that managing
government-owned enterprises offers only limited benefits — owning the
enterprises is far more lucrative.
In the years to come, the military elite will be highly motivated to
arrange a manipulated privatization of the economy in order to monetize
their positions. Alas, this corrupt mockery of privatization ends with
the generals and colonels as the new Cuban "captains of industry."
This, however, requires support from the international investment
community, and for that, the Cuban leadership must appear willing to
make changes in the political realm. Enter the Diaz-Canel designation.
Surely, he is a capable, obedient and disciplined party loyalist and
fully aware of the dire fate of those civilians who preceded him in
prominent positions when their loyalty was questioned e.g., Aldana,
Lage, Robaina, Perez Roque.
In the Cuban governing madhouse, Gen. Castro is seeking regime
continuity presenting a façade of political lawfulness that will enable
his generals and family to monetize their loyalty. The military will
oversee a hegemonic party system offering a patina of political
legitimacy for the benefit of the international community.
It is not important who fills the civilian poster-face roles. After all,
Roman Emperor Caligula, in his insanity or perversion, sought to make
his favorite horse into a Roman consul to show that a horse could
perform a senator's duties.
José Azel is a senior scholar at the Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami, and the author of the book,
"Mañana in Cuba."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/27/3366891/raul-castro-plots-his-endgame.html#storylink=misearch
Raúl Castro plots his endgame
By JOSÉ AZEL
jazel@miami.edu
The succession from Fidel to Raúl Castro, programmed since the early
days of the Cuban revolution, was efficient, effective and seamless.
Gen. Castro now is orchestrating his own succession, but this one lacks
the historical legitimizing elements of the 1959 revolution.
The recent appointment of Miguel Diaz-Canel, a 52-year-old party
apparatchik factotum, as first vice president of the Council of State
places him in line to succeed Raúl Castro in that state body. This,
however, is not equivalent to being No. 2 in the regime as the
international media seem to have concluded.
Article 5 of the Cuban constitution makes it clear that the Communist
Party is "the superior leading force of the society and the state." The
15-member Politburo of the Communist Party remains headed by Raúl Castro
as first secretary, and by 82-year-old Machado Ventura as second secretary.
It is not often understood that Raúl Castro leads Cuba not because he is
president of the Council of State, but because he is first secretary of
the Communist Party and Fidel's brother. Under the Cuban governing
succession scheme, the military-dominated Politburo would recommend
Cuba's next leader.
The succession plot thickens when we consider that constitutionally, the
president of the Council of State is also the supreme chief of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces. Cuban history offers no tradition of
military subordination to civilian rule. With Raúl Castro gone, it is
difficult to envision old comandantes like Ramiro Valdes and three-star
generals of the Politburo obediently offering military allegiance and
saluting in subordination to a civilian bureaucrat like Diaz-Canel. This
comportment of unchallenged civilian command of the armed forces is not
in the Cuban memes (cultural genes).
When thinking about change in Cuba, it is essential to keep in mind that
Cuba's history for the past half century is that of the Castro brothers
and their ideas. Raúl Castro's inner circle is not made up of closet
democrats waiting for an opportune moment to put into practice their
long-suppressed Jeffersonian ideals. Their governing modality is
ontologically inseparable from their ideology. In a symbiotic
relationship, authoritarianism engenders a corrupt oligarchy, and that
oligarchy profits from the continuation of corrupt authoritarianism.
Behind the Diaz-Canel designation — let's make sure we do not label it
an election — is a venal plot of political maquillage.
The role of the Cuban military in the economy is extensive and
pervasive, with the military managerial elite controlling over 60
percent of the economy. Therefore, from a longer-term strategic
perspective the critical question is: What follows when the Raúl era
comes to an end, leaving the generals in control of both the Politburo
and the economy?
When enterprises are state-owned and managed, the
military-officers-turned-business-executives enjoy the privileges of an
elite ruling class. Their standard of living is higher, they move into
better homes, etc. But these benefits are minuscule when compared with
the opportunities to gain significant wealth by owning the enterprises
under their control. The military elite understands that managing
government-owned enterprises offers only limited benefits — owning the
enterprises is far more lucrative.
In the years to come, the military elite will be highly motivated to
arrange a manipulated privatization of the economy in order to monetize
their positions. Alas, this corrupt mockery of privatization ends with
the generals and colonels as the new Cuban "captains of industry."
This, however, requires support from the international investment
community, and for that, the Cuban leadership must appear willing to
make changes in the political realm. Enter the Diaz-Canel designation.
Surely, he is a capable, obedient and disciplined party loyalist and
fully aware of the dire fate of those civilians who preceded him in
prominent positions when their loyalty was questioned e.g., Aldana,
Lage, Robaina, Perez Roque.
In the Cuban governing madhouse, Gen. Castro is seeking regime
continuity presenting a façade of political lawfulness that will enable
his generals and family to monetize their loyalty. The military will
oversee a hegemonic party system offering a patina of political
legitimacy for the benefit of the international community.
It is not important who fills the civilian poster-face roles. After all,
Roman Emperor Caligula, in his insanity or perversion, sought to make
his favorite horse into a Roman consul to show that a horse could
perform a senator's duties.
José Azel is a senior scholar at the Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami, and the author of the book,
"Mañana in Cuba."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/27/3366891/raul-castro-plots-his-endgame.html#storylink=misearch
U.S. seeks extradition of alleged Cuban spy living in Sweden
U.S. seeks extradition of alleged Cuban spy living in Sweden
Published: April 26, 2013 at 2:52 PM
WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- U.S. officials say they are stepping up
efforts to extradite an alleged Cuban spy they charge convinced a
federal clerk to give up national secrets for decades.
Justice Department officials want to arrest Marta Rita Velasquez, 55, an
American born in Puerto Rico who they say recruited Ana Belen Montes to
give U.S. secrets to Cuba, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
Velasquez, who was indicted in 2004 for conspiracy to commit espionage,
has been living in Sweden since 2002.
Her indictment was sealed until recently after U.S. officials learned
Velasquez knew of the charges.
Under a treaty with Sweden, espionage is considered a "political
offense," so the U.S. cannot ask Stockholm to extradite her. By
publicizing the indictment, Washington hopes the Swedes will feel
pressure to return her to the United States.
Montes is serving a 25-year sentence for espionage. At the time of her
arrest, she worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
The women met in the early 1980s, officials say, while Montes was a
clerk at the Justice Department. Velasquez allegedly used her political
connections to get Montes a position at DIA in 1985.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/26/US-seeks-extradition-of-alleged-Cuban-spy-living-in-Sweden/UPI-28421367002345/?spt=hs&or=tn
Published: April 26, 2013 at 2:52 PM
WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- U.S. officials say they are stepping up
efforts to extradite an alleged Cuban spy they charge convinced a
federal clerk to give up national secrets for decades.
Justice Department officials want to arrest Marta Rita Velasquez, 55, an
American born in Puerto Rico who they say recruited Ana Belen Montes to
give U.S. secrets to Cuba, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
Velasquez, who was indicted in 2004 for conspiracy to commit espionage,
has been living in Sweden since 2002.
Her indictment was sealed until recently after U.S. officials learned
Velasquez knew of the charges.
Under a treaty with Sweden, espionage is considered a "political
offense," so the U.S. cannot ask Stockholm to extradite her. By
publicizing the indictment, Washington hopes the Swedes will feel
pressure to return her to the United States.
Montes is serving a 25-year sentence for espionage. At the time of her
arrest, she worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
The women met in the early 1980s, officials say, while Montes was a
clerk at the Justice Department. Velasquez allegedly used her political
connections to get Montes a position at DIA in 1985.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/26/US-seeks-extradition-of-alleged-Cuban-spy-living-in-Sweden/UPI-28421367002345/?spt=hs&or=tn
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Open Letter from Angel Santiesteban to His Holiness Francisco - Angel Santiesteban
Open Letter from Angel Santiesteban to His Holiness Francisco / Angel
Santiesteban
Posted on April 26, 2013
Havana, Cuba, April 3, 2013
"… justice is like a serpent, a viper, that never bites the boots,
it only bites the barefoot."
Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero
Archbishop of San Salvador, murdered in 1980.
Your Holiness Francisco, first of all I want to thank God, for your
devotion and faith, you who have been designated the first Pope, for
other merits, Latin American, for the pride of those born on this
continent; so it is somehow impossible not to consider you closer and
more earthly, for your own Latino people.
Holy Father, I confess that since the loss of my beloved Pope John Paul
II, my tie to Catholicism has dimmed, but You, despite the few days you
have sat in your humble papal chair, you have practiced that modesty
that elevates and exalts, which has already revolutionized the universal
church.
Your Beatitude, I write from a prison in Cuba, where I am serving a
wrongful conviction for a crime that could not be proved, for opening a
critical blog from which I write on behalf of social justice, a penalty
that has the sole purpose of teaching me a lesson,although they have not
been able to silence my voice, but my heart will not let me cry in my
favor, I prefer, I need, I am urged to seek justice for Prisoners of
Conscience who suffer in Cuban jails.
Supreme Pontiff, the situation being experienced by our island is
already known and unacceptable in the twenty-first century, to
paraphrase our beloved Pope John Paul II, to not open itself to the
world, to not even open its blinds to plural national thinking, as
should correspond to any civilized nation in the world.
Messenger of Peace, we are prisoners because we overcome the fear; the
need to be heard made us take off the gag, so we have faced the
punishment of the dictatorship, which unfortunately holds to maintain
silence and its discipline, attacking with imprisonment, beatings and
the mysterious deaths of opposition leaders.
Your Grace, in this prison where I live with two brothers in the
struggle: Lamberto Hernández Planas and Pedro de la Caridad Alvarez
Pedroso, who have spent 22 years in prison, more than half of their
lives, without having committed acts of bloodshed, without having hurt a
human being; also suffering imprisonment are a married couple, Sonia
Garro Alfonso and her husband Ramon Alejandro Munoz, who have not harmed
anyone, only their ideas have been enough to keep them in jail without
cause or conviction; as well as Calixto Martinez, for his journalism.
But they are not unique; like them there are many throughout the
country's prison system.
Universal Pastor, my voice was one that opposed the last visit of Pope
Benedict XVI, because I felt that was a mockery of the Vatican, as the
Cuban government took advantage of his kindness and good intentions, and
every papal visit only adds a false recognition before humanity,
especially when Cuban representatives of the church that you represent
ignores the Cuban opposition as a political force.
Dear Pope, José Martí, the Cuban most universal, addressing a soldier
wrote on October 20, 1884: "A people is not founded, General, in the
same way that one commands a military camp," and the current governing
Nomenklatura Cuba accepts no position different from the militarized.
We ask you, as Vicar of Christ, that do not rub against the
manipulations of the Castro brothers, exercised for more than half a
century since the beginnings of their nefarious power in 1959. With
humility, we pray that you be elusive to their antichrist offerings. For
the Cuban people it is not enough that we have have the holy days
returned to us. We need freedom, "Which can not be anything other than
freedom to think differently," (Rosa Luxemburg), and that they accept
and respect once again the Universal Human Rights.
Bishop of Rome, I have the hope that your papal administration will
bring peace for Cubans. So that then, one Cuba united, without hatred or
pain, will give you the spontaneous welcome no Pope has received on this
soil.
Humbly I beg of you,
Ángel Santiesteban Prats
Writer
La Lima Prison
Havana, Cuba
* This letter was written by Ángel on April 3 when he had not yet been
illegally and forcefully transferred to La Lima prison. It was just
delivered yesterday April 24 at the headquarters of the Nunciature in
Havana.
Today, April 25, Angel continues in the strict regime prison in 1580.
The reason for his transfer was to prevent his being interviewed by the
Commission of National and International Journalists who visited the
center on April 9. This visit was one of many performances organized by
the Castro regime to deceive the world about what really happens in
their prisons, authentic concentration camps. Three weeks before the UN
Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva and submits a report on the
Castro government which will include aspects of prison policy, the
committee of journalists — without the least ethical principles —
counting on the complicit silence with all the human rights violations
committed by the dictatorship. The UN Human Rights Commission, based in
Geneva, now has in its hands the possibility to remedy such an affront
to the dignity committed by the journalists. In a few days we will know
if they will.
25 April 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/open-letter-from-angel-santiesteban-to-his-holiness-francisco-angel-santiesteban/
Santiesteban
Posted on April 26, 2013
Havana, Cuba, April 3, 2013
"… justice is like a serpent, a viper, that never bites the boots,
it only bites the barefoot."
Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero
Archbishop of San Salvador, murdered in 1980.
Your Holiness Francisco, first of all I want to thank God, for your
devotion and faith, you who have been designated the first Pope, for
other merits, Latin American, for the pride of those born on this
continent; so it is somehow impossible not to consider you closer and
more earthly, for your own Latino people.
Holy Father, I confess that since the loss of my beloved Pope John Paul
II, my tie to Catholicism has dimmed, but You, despite the few days you
have sat in your humble papal chair, you have practiced that modesty
that elevates and exalts, which has already revolutionized the universal
church.
Your Beatitude, I write from a prison in Cuba, where I am serving a
wrongful conviction for a crime that could not be proved, for opening a
critical blog from which I write on behalf of social justice, a penalty
that has the sole purpose of teaching me a lesson,although they have not
been able to silence my voice, but my heart will not let me cry in my
favor, I prefer, I need, I am urged to seek justice for Prisoners of
Conscience who suffer in Cuban jails.
Supreme Pontiff, the situation being experienced by our island is
already known and unacceptable in the twenty-first century, to
paraphrase our beloved Pope John Paul II, to not open itself to the
world, to not even open its blinds to plural national thinking, as
should correspond to any civilized nation in the world.
Messenger of Peace, we are prisoners because we overcome the fear; the
need to be heard made us take off the gag, so we have faced the
punishment of the dictatorship, which unfortunately holds to maintain
silence and its discipline, attacking with imprisonment, beatings and
the mysterious deaths of opposition leaders.
Your Grace, in this prison where I live with two brothers in the
struggle: Lamberto Hernández Planas and Pedro de la Caridad Alvarez
Pedroso, who have spent 22 years in prison, more than half of their
lives, without having committed acts of bloodshed, without having hurt a
human being; also suffering imprisonment are a married couple, Sonia
Garro Alfonso and her husband Ramon Alejandro Munoz, who have not harmed
anyone, only their ideas have been enough to keep them in jail without
cause or conviction; as well as Calixto Martinez, for his journalism.
But they are not unique; like them there are many throughout the
country's prison system.
Universal Pastor, my voice was one that opposed the last visit of Pope
Benedict XVI, because I felt that was a mockery of the Vatican, as the
Cuban government took advantage of his kindness and good intentions, and
every papal visit only adds a false recognition before humanity,
especially when Cuban representatives of the church that you represent
ignores the Cuban opposition as a political force.
Dear Pope, José Martí, the Cuban most universal, addressing a soldier
wrote on October 20, 1884: "A people is not founded, General, in the
same way that one commands a military camp," and the current governing
Nomenklatura Cuba accepts no position different from the militarized.
We ask you, as Vicar of Christ, that do not rub against the
manipulations of the Castro brothers, exercised for more than half a
century since the beginnings of their nefarious power in 1959. With
humility, we pray that you be elusive to their antichrist offerings. For
the Cuban people it is not enough that we have have the holy days
returned to us. We need freedom, "Which can not be anything other than
freedom to think differently," (Rosa Luxemburg), and that they accept
and respect once again the Universal Human Rights.
Bishop of Rome, I have the hope that your papal administration will
bring peace for Cubans. So that then, one Cuba united, without hatred or
pain, will give you the spontaneous welcome no Pope has received on this
soil.
Humbly I beg of you,
Ángel Santiesteban Prats
Writer
La Lima Prison
Havana, Cuba
* This letter was written by Ángel on April 3 when he had not yet been
illegally and forcefully transferred to La Lima prison. It was just
delivered yesterday April 24 at the headquarters of the Nunciature in
Havana.
Today, April 25, Angel continues in the strict regime prison in 1580.
The reason for his transfer was to prevent his being interviewed by the
Commission of National and International Journalists who visited the
center on April 9. This visit was one of many performances organized by
the Castro regime to deceive the world about what really happens in
their prisons, authentic concentration camps. Three weeks before the UN
Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva and submits a report on the
Castro government which will include aspects of prison policy, the
committee of journalists — without the least ethical principles —
counting on the complicit silence with all the human rights violations
committed by the dictatorship. The UN Human Rights Commission, based in
Geneva, now has in its hands the possibility to remedy such an affront
to the dignity committed by the journalists. In a few days we will know
if they will.
25 April 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/open-letter-from-angel-santiesteban-to-his-holiness-francisco-angel-santiesteban/
A True Story That Reveals the Work of the Cooperating Cubans in Venezuela
A True Story That Reveals the Work of the Cooperating Cubans in Venezuela
Posted on April 26, 2013
By Ignacio Estrada
Havana, Cuba — Some time ago I listened to a doctor from from Villa
Clara narrate her life as a medical aid worker, in the Republic of
Venezuela.
I listened carefully to each of her stories. Gossip that she perhaps
told me in confidence between friends, but the mere fact of the imminent
threat of the spread of red tide and the enthronement in Venezuela of
Cubanization makes me see myself obliged to recreate one of these stories.
According to the doctor friend who served as a volunteer in Venezuela
for more than five years and managed to become head of a Medical Mission
to one of the parishes and that the role of the doctors was more than
saving lives and, on occasion, they served as thermometers of Venezuelan
society .
When I use the word thermometer, an instrument known for measuring
environmental and body temperatures. It is because this also the work of
the majority of medical aid workers to provide services to measure the
state of opinion of the Venezuelan people. Information that is collected
and passed to the intelligence services and the government so that they
know where they need to work and how to change that state of opinion.
Perhaps what for many is not important for others is novel and what a
pleasure for it to be both, Important and Novel. Who can imagine the
Cuban army of white coats doing intelligence work in a foreign country?
Work is not unknown by the authorities in power who try to win converts.
According to what my friend told me things weren't left there; during
times of presidential campaigns they also had to work to win votes for
the official President. And this vote is won by explaining to people
that the benefit they receive from healthcare and other things is free
thanks to former President Chavez and the humanitarian work of the
government. These chats take place in the clinics and while traveling
around the the neighborhoods to deliver medications, and the
conversations also serve to threaten the beneficiaries that if Chavismo
ceases to exist all the projects will cease to exist.
This work is repeated whenever Medical Mission Cubans are in Venezuela,
many of them looking for what they can not achieve in their own country
for their families with their profession. The Cubanization is one of the
key factors and principle support and bastion of Chavismo Venezuela.
This same friend in one of our many conversations, also told me about
where she lived with another compatriot in her profession. According to
her, this other doctor was serving on a Medical Mission on Margarita
Island, one of the opposition stronghold states in Venezuela. It turns
out that the opposition mayor once visited the Diagnostic Center that
was under her charge on this island. And seeing the poor conditions
there promised to send help the next day to improve the waiting room,
and fix the air conditioning and the consulting room.
The aid appeared quickly but the doctor could not receive it under
threat of her superiors that she would be deported to Cuba and Medical
Mission suspended for receiving help from the opposition. It would seem
stupid but but it's not, because on signing on the Cuban doctors would
realize that not everything is like they say, and I am more than
convinced that they exchange the improvements for their families for
what they are forced to endure.
This doctor knew how to use one of the beneficiaries of her attentions
and through him asked the Mayor that please not to send the aid the
following morning, thanking him but he was sincere in the reason he
attended and the opposition mayor heard her and didn't fail to fulfill
his promise to help the cooperative.
I do not advocate violence, or the witch hunt, but at times like these I
sympathize with the Venezuelan nation and call for the social order and
the restoration of democracy. I am one of the many Cubans who do not
want to export the model that has failed our nation to another country
in our America, I am one of those who wants Cubans to travel freely and
conquer new areas and earn their livings with dignity but without
trampling the suffering of others.
I apologize to God first and secondly to my friend, a doctor who for
safety I don't say her name name to reveal her stories, but just knowing
that there are people who need to hear these truths is bigger than any
secrets and I am convinced that someday she will be relieved by having
used me to fix who knows what collateral damage that has been caused.
To say Enough is Enough of Cubanization in Venezuela, it not to close
the doors of this nation to freedom-loving Cubans. It is to close off
those who by deceit come to trample and usurp the rights that it is up
to citizens to decide for themselves and that is the right to take back
the future of our nation be it any of the existing models.
22 April 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/a-true-story-that-reveals-the-work-of-the-cooperating-cubans-in-venezuela-ignacio-estrada/
Posted on April 26, 2013
By Ignacio Estrada
Havana, Cuba — Some time ago I listened to a doctor from from Villa
Clara narrate her life as a medical aid worker, in the Republic of
Venezuela.
I listened carefully to each of her stories. Gossip that she perhaps
told me in confidence between friends, but the mere fact of the imminent
threat of the spread of red tide and the enthronement in Venezuela of
Cubanization makes me see myself obliged to recreate one of these stories.
According to the doctor friend who served as a volunteer in Venezuela
for more than five years and managed to become head of a Medical Mission
to one of the parishes and that the role of the doctors was more than
saving lives and, on occasion, they served as thermometers of Venezuelan
society .
When I use the word thermometer, an instrument known for measuring
environmental and body temperatures. It is because this also the work of
the majority of medical aid workers to provide services to measure the
state of opinion of the Venezuelan people. Information that is collected
and passed to the intelligence services and the government so that they
know where they need to work and how to change that state of opinion.
Perhaps what for many is not important for others is novel and what a
pleasure for it to be both, Important and Novel. Who can imagine the
Cuban army of white coats doing intelligence work in a foreign country?
Work is not unknown by the authorities in power who try to win converts.
According to what my friend told me things weren't left there; during
times of presidential campaigns they also had to work to win votes for
the official President. And this vote is won by explaining to people
that the benefit they receive from healthcare and other things is free
thanks to former President Chavez and the humanitarian work of the
government. These chats take place in the clinics and while traveling
around the the neighborhoods to deliver medications, and the
conversations also serve to threaten the beneficiaries that if Chavismo
ceases to exist all the projects will cease to exist.
This work is repeated whenever Medical Mission Cubans are in Venezuela,
many of them looking for what they can not achieve in their own country
for their families with their profession. The Cubanization is one of the
key factors and principle support and bastion of Chavismo Venezuela.
This same friend in one of our many conversations, also told me about
where she lived with another compatriot in her profession. According to
her, this other doctor was serving on a Medical Mission on Margarita
Island, one of the opposition stronghold states in Venezuela. It turns
out that the opposition mayor once visited the Diagnostic Center that
was under her charge on this island. And seeing the poor conditions
there promised to send help the next day to improve the waiting room,
and fix the air conditioning and the consulting room.
The aid appeared quickly but the doctor could not receive it under
threat of her superiors that she would be deported to Cuba and Medical
Mission suspended for receiving help from the opposition. It would seem
stupid but but it's not, because on signing on the Cuban doctors would
realize that not everything is like they say, and I am more than
convinced that they exchange the improvements for their families for
what they are forced to endure.
This doctor knew how to use one of the beneficiaries of her attentions
and through him asked the Mayor that please not to send the aid the
following morning, thanking him but he was sincere in the reason he
attended and the opposition mayor heard her and didn't fail to fulfill
his promise to help the cooperative.
I do not advocate violence, or the witch hunt, but at times like these I
sympathize with the Venezuelan nation and call for the social order and
the restoration of democracy. I am one of the many Cubans who do not
want to export the model that has failed our nation to another country
in our America, I am one of those who wants Cubans to travel freely and
conquer new areas and earn their livings with dignity but without
trampling the suffering of others.
I apologize to God first and secondly to my friend, a doctor who for
safety I don't say her name name to reveal her stories, but just knowing
that there are people who need to hear these truths is bigger than any
secrets and I am convinced that someday she will be relieved by having
used me to fix who knows what collateral damage that has been caused.
To say Enough is Enough of Cubanization in Venezuela, it not to close
the doors of this nation to freedom-loving Cubans. It is to close off
those who by deceit come to trample and usurp the rights that it is up
to citizens to decide for themselves and that is the right to take back
the future of our nation be it any of the existing models.
22 April 2013
http://translatingcuba.com/a-true-story-that-reveals-the-work-of-the-cooperating-cubans-in-venezuela-ignacio-estrada/
In Cuba, much work remains 6 months after Sandy
In Cuba, much work remains 6 months after Sandy
A half-year after Hurricane Sandy, Cuba has had successes in recovery
but much work remains
By Peter Orsi, Associated Press | Associated Press
HAVANA (AP) -- Many people in eastern Cuba are still living with family
or in houses covered by flimsy makeshift rooftops six months after
Hurricane Sandy pummeled the island's eastern provinces, residents and
aid workers said Thursday.
Many praised the government's efforts to rebuild Santiago and other
cities but said much work remains to recover from the storm, which
caused 11 deaths in Cuba before raging up the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard and
killing 72.
"It was very hard-hit, but Santiago is once again blossoming," Aristides
Zayas, a receptionist in Santiago said in a phone interview. "Of course
the magnitude was such that not everything can get off the ground in six
months. It will take time."
The half-year mark comes amid preparations for similar commemoration by
states up and down the U.S. East Coast, where Sandy blew ashore in New
Jersey on Oct. 29 as a monster storm that resulted in billions of
dollars in damage.
Sandy had raked eastern Cuba four days earlier, causing major crop
losses and damaging an estimated 130,000 to 200,000 homes. The
government has not said how many of those have yet to be repaired or
rebuilt.
Cuban scientists say Sandy's surge penetrated 50 yards (meters) inland
and permanently altered much of the eastern coastline, washing away
entire beaches and depositing sand elsewhere.
Shortly after the storm hit, Cuban President Raul Castro visited
Santiago and said the city looked like it had been "bombed."
Cuba's highly organized civil defense brigades mobilized to get newly
homeless people into shelters, distribute food and water and replant
uprooted trees. Authorities also extended loans for rebuilding and
knocked 50 percent off the price of home materials for storm victims.
Communist Party newspaper Granma said Thursday that for visitors today,
"the first thing that catches one's attention and impresses ... is to
find a clean and well-ordered city."
But residents said problems remain.
"From what I hear some things are still lacking," said Sister Mirtha, a
Roman Catholic nun in the town of El Cobre, 30 miles (50 kilometers)
east of Santiago. "Some people have roofs, but others still do not.
There are people who are getting rained on, and it's thanks to neighbors
that they have somewhere to go."
She said some who live in informal housing situations have had
difficulty getting their hands on building materials, because residents
are required to show property titles to get the discounted items.
An international aid worker who has been closely involved in the relief
effort said construction materials like bricks and corrugated iron
rooftops are in short supply since local production is not meeting
demand, and many items must be imported. Some families have moved back
into damaged homes with just plastic sheets covering the roofs.
"They've done really well on re-establishing access to services like
electricity and water, reopening roads, clearing out trees that have
fallen down," the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity in
order to maintain the organization's relationship with island
authorities. "All of that was quite quick given the scale of the impact."
"But at the individual level there's still a lot of work that needs to
be done ... and my sense is that the government can't tend to every
family's individual needs."
State-run news agency Prensa Latina reported this week that Santiago
provincial authorities are prioritizing construction to make sure
everyone displaced by Sandy has a safe place to live, a mission that
takes on more urgency with the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season set to
begin June 1.
There's also still plenty of work for international aid groups, which
are continuing to distribute things like water tanks, purification
tablets, mattresses, sheets, towels and other household goods.
"There's still a lot of families that are living in very precarious
situations," the aid worker said. "Now that's a bit of a concern,
because the rainy season's coming and you want to make sure that people
have proper shelter."
___
Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this
report.
___
Follow Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
http://news.yahoo.com/cuba-much-remains-6-months-123206077.html;_ylt=A2KJ2UYwl3tR4FIAT1TQtDMD
A half-year after Hurricane Sandy, Cuba has had successes in recovery
but much work remains
By Peter Orsi, Associated Press | Associated Press
HAVANA (AP) -- Many people in eastern Cuba are still living with family
or in houses covered by flimsy makeshift rooftops six months after
Hurricane Sandy pummeled the island's eastern provinces, residents and
aid workers said Thursday.
Many praised the government's efforts to rebuild Santiago and other
cities but said much work remains to recover from the storm, which
caused 11 deaths in Cuba before raging up the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard and
killing 72.
"It was very hard-hit, but Santiago is once again blossoming," Aristides
Zayas, a receptionist in Santiago said in a phone interview. "Of course
the magnitude was such that not everything can get off the ground in six
months. It will take time."
The half-year mark comes amid preparations for similar commemoration by
states up and down the U.S. East Coast, where Sandy blew ashore in New
Jersey on Oct. 29 as a monster storm that resulted in billions of
dollars in damage.
Sandy had raked eastern Cuba four days earlier, causing major crop
losses and damaging an estimated 130,000 to 200,000 homes. The
government has not said how many of those have yet to be repaired or
rebuilt.
Cuban scientists say Sandy's surge penetrated 50 yards (meters) inland
and permanently altered much of the eastern coastline, washing away
entire beaches and depositing sand elsewhere.
Shortly after the storm hit, Cuban President Raul Castro visited
Santiago and said the city looked like it had been "bombed."
Cuba's highly organized civil defense brigades mobilized to get newly
homeless people into shelters, distribute food and water and replant
uprooted trees. Authorities also extended loans for rebuilding and
knocked 50 percent off the price of home materials for storm victims.
Communist Party newspaper Granma said Thursday that for visitors today,
"the first thing that catches one's attention and impresses ... is to
find a clean and well-ordered city."
But residents said problems remain.
"From what I hear some things are still lacking," said Sister Mirtha, a
Roman Catholic nun in the town of El Cobre, 30 miles (50 kilometers)
east of Santiago. "Some people have roofs, but others still do not.
There are people who are getting rained on, and it's thanks to neighbors
that they have somewhere to go."
She said some who live in informal housing situations have had
difficulty getting their hands on building materials, because residents
are required to show property titles to get the discounted items.
An international aid worker who has been closely involved in the relief
effort said construction materials like bricks and corrugated iron
rooftops are in short supply since local production is not meeting
demand, and many items must be imported. Some families have moved back
into damaged homes with just plastic sheets covering the roofs.
"They've done really well on re-establishing access to services like
electricity and water, reopening roads, clearing out trees that have
fallen down," the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity in
order to maintain the organization's relationship with island
authorities. "All of that was quite quick given the scale of the impact."
"But at the individual level there's still a lot of work that needs to
be done ... and my sense is that the government can't tend to every
family's individual needs."
State-run news agency Prensa Latina reported this week that Santiago
provincial authorities are prioritizing construction to make sure
everyone displaced by Sandy has a safe place to live, a mission that
takes on more urgency with the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season set to
begin June 1.
There's also still plenty of work for international aid groups, which
are continuing to distribute things like water tanks, purification
tablets, mattresses, sheets, towels and other household goods.
"There's still a lot of families that are living in very precarious
situations," the aid worker said. "Now that's a bit of a concern,
because the rainy season's coming and you want to make sure that people
have proper shelter."
___
Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this
report.
___
Follow Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
http://news.yahoo.com/cuba-much-remains-6-months-123206077.html;_ylt=A2KJ2UYwl3tR4FIAT1TQtDMD
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