Wanna bet? Cuba tops list for Snowden's final home - beats out Ecuador
(8-1), Russia (8-1) and Iceland (16-1)
By DAVID K. LI
Last Updated: 2:00 PM, June 25, 2013
Posted: 1:58 PM, June 25, 2013
AP
And in a nod to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, William Hill listed
the Embassy of Ecuador in London at 16-1. That's where Assange has been
hiding out for the past year, fighting extradition to Sweden, where he's
wanted for questioning in a sex crime.
In listing the whimsical prop bet, William Hill said: "Where Will Ed
Snowden be on 1st January 2014?"
A rep for the bookie declined to say if a winning bettor will be paid
based on Snowden's physical location on Jan. 1, or what he lists as his
current address at year's end — in case those places are different.
"There's a 99-percent chance this [location] will be quite obvious,"
said Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill.
Sharpe conceded William Hill could end up paying multiple bettors if
Snowden appears to be splitting his time in different places.
Since William Hill doesn't expect to pick up much action on this
proposition, Sharpe said his bosses would err on the side of customers.
"Let's see where he goes and we may have to play dead-heat rules" if
multiple countries are involved, Sharpe said. "I suspect if there's the
slightest doubt over two or three places, we would pay on all them. You
wouldn't want to upset punters [British bettors], customers for the sake
of a relatively small market."
Cuba was listed as the favorite for no other reason than Snowden booking
himself on a Havana-bound plane from Moscow but mysteriously skipped
that flight yesterday, according to William Hill.
Source: "Wanna bet? Cuba tops list for Snowden's final home - beats out
Ecuador (8-1), Russia (8-1) and Iceland (16-1) - NYPOST.com" -
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/wanna_bet_odds_are_final_that_cuba_htcgBeDwh8zYSdmu3uqIuO
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Nelson, at invite of dissidents, considers Cuba visit
Nelson, at invite of dissidents, considers Cuba visit
Mark K. Matthews
4:48 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2013
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said for the first time
Wednesday that he would consider a visit to Cuba -- but only if the trip
would help both island dissidents and a U.S. contractor who has been
held in custody there since 2009.
"If I were to go to Cuba, I would want to see [U.S. contractor] Alan
Gross and do what I can to get him home," Nelson said in a statement.
"It would be on a humanitarian mission to visit with pro-democracy
groups and opposition figures."
Nelson's comments were sparked by a Wednesday meeting with two Cuban
dissidents: Guillermo "Coco" Farinas and Elizardo Sanchez. Earlier this
month, Nelson also met with Gross' wife to help bring attention to his
plight.
Cuba has sentenced Gross to 15 years in prison for what it described as
subversive activities related to his distribution of satellite Internet
equipment to Jewish groups on the island. The U.S. State Department
repeatedly has called for his release, noting a few months ago that he
has "lost more than 100 pounds" since his confinement.
Source: "Nelson: Cuba visit possible, free Alan Gross -
OrlandoSentinel.com" -
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/mobile/os-nelson-cuba-visit-possible-free-alan-gross-20130626,0,7199731.post
Mark K. Matthews
4:48 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2013
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said for the first time
Wednesday that he would consider a visit to Cuba -- but only if the trip
would help both island dissidents and a U.S. contractor who has been
held in custody there since 2009.
"If I were to go to Cuba, I would want to see [U.S. contractor] Alan
Gross and do what I can to get him home," Nelson said in a statement.
"It would be on a humanitarian mission to visit with pro-democracy
groups and opposition figures."
Nelson's comments were sparked by a Wednesday meeting with two Cuban
dissidents: Guillermo "Coco" Farinas and Elizardo Sanchez. Earlier this
month, Nelson also met with Gross' wife to help bring attention to his
plight.
Cuba has sentenced Gross to 15 years in prison for what it described as
subversive activities related to his distribution of satellite Internet
equipment to Jewish groups on the island. The U.S. State Department
repeatedly has called for his release, noting a few months ago that he
has "lost more than 100 pounds" since his confinement.
Source: "Nelson: Cuba visit possible, free Alan Gross -
OrlandoSentinel.com" -
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/mobile/os-nelson-cuba-visit-possible-free-alan-gross-20130626,0,7199731.post
Two groups of Cuban balseros arrive in Honduras and Cayman Islands
Posted on Thursday, 06.27.13
Two groups of Cuban balseros arrive in Honduras and Cayman Islands
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
More than 50 Cuban boatpeople were reported to have landed in Honduras
and the Cayman Islands earlier this week in another possible sign that
increasing number of Cubans are leaving the island.
Honduran authorities detained 32 Cubans on Tuesday aboard a makeshift
boat spotted near the island of Roatan, off the Central American
country's Caribbean coast, according to the Honduran internet
publication Proceso Digital.
The four women and 28 men ranged in age from 23 to 40, the publication
added. Two were suffering from dehydration after 10 days at sea.
Francisco Román Rosales was quoted as saying that the group left the
island June 16 in search of better jobs. "I am a shoemaker and I earned
about $12 a month. We came because of economic conditions," he declared.
"From Honduras we will move on to another place," another Cuban
identified in news reports as Everseas Rodriguez told HRN Radio in
Honduras. The vast majority of Cuban migrants who reach Honduras
continue by land to the United States.
Another 30 Cuban boatpeople landed June 13 on Guanaja Island east of Roatan.
Cuban boatpeople who wind up in Honduras and the Cayman Islands usually
launch from the southeastern end of the communist-ruled island, in hopes
that the prevailing winds and currents carry them westward.
CayCompass.Com, a news service in the Cayman Islands, a British
territory 125 miles off southeastern Cuba, reported that a makeshift
boat carrying about 20 Cubans had docked Tuesday at a dive shop in
George Town Harbor.
The wooden vessel apparently had experienced mechanical difficulties and
one of the Cubans was taken to a hospital, witnesses told the news
service. Police on patrol boats and at the dock were monitoring the Cubans.
Under a 1999 agreement with Havana, Cayman authorities and residents
cannot assist the boatpeople. Boats that are safe can sail on, but
unsafe vessels are forced to dock and those aboard are detained. They
can apply for political asylum but virtually all are rejected and flown
back to Cuba.
The number of Cubans spotted in Cayman territorial waters appears to be
experiencing an uptick in recent months, although it is not clear why
that might be so.
Some experts say illegal departures from Cuba always rise in the summer
months, when the seas tend to be calmer. Others say that the island's
economy is getting worse, despite the reforms enacted by ruler Raúl Castro.
Still others say that all the reports on U.S. efforts at immigration
reform sparked a wave of rumors and fears that Washington might soon
cancel some of the many benefits that only Cuban arrivals now receive.
Source: "Two groups of Cuban balseros arrive in Honduras and Cayman
Islands - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/27/3472417/two-groups-of-cuban-balseros.html
Two groups of Cuban balseros arrive in Honduras and Cayman Islands
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
More than 50 Cuban boatpeople were reported to have landed in Honduras
and the Cayman Islands earlier this week in another possible sign that
increasing number of Cubans are leaving the island.
Honduran authorities detained 32 Cubans on Tuesday aboard a makeshift
boat spotted near the island of Roatan, off the Central American
country's Caribbean coast, according to the Honduran internet
publication Proceso Digital.
The four women and 28 men ranged in age from 23 to 40, the publication
added. Two were suffering from dehydration after 10 days at sea.
Francisco Román Rosales was quoted as saying that the group left the
island June 16 in search of better jobs. "I am a shoemaker and I earned
about $12 a month. We came because of economic conditions," he declared.
"From Honduras we will move on to another place," another Cuban
identified in news reports as Everseas Rodriguez told HRN Radio in
Honduras. The vast majority of Cuban migrants who reach Honduras
continue by land to the United States.
Another 30 Cuban boatpeople landed June 13 on Guanaja Island east of Roatan.
Cuban boatpeople who wind up in Honduras and the Cayman Islands usually
launch from the southeastern end of the communist-ruled island, in hopes
that the prevailing winds and currents carry them westward.
CayCompass.Com, a news service in the Cayman Islands, a British
territory 125 miles off southeastern Cuba, reported that a makeshift
boat carrying about 20 Cubans had docked Tuesday at a dive shop in
George Town Harbor.
The wooden vessel apparently had experienced mechanical difficulties and
one of the Cubans was taken to a hospital, witnesses told the news
service. Police on patrol boats and at the dock were monitoring the Cubans.
Under a 1999 agreement with Havana, Cayman authorities and residents
cannot assist the boatpeople. Boats that are safe can sail on, but
unsafe vessels are forced to dock and those aboard are detained. They
can apply for political asylum but virtually all are rejected and flown
back to Cuba.
The number of Cubans spotted in Cayman territorial waters appears to be
experiencing an uptick in recent months, although it is not clear why
that might be so.
Some experts say illegal departures from Cuba always rise in the summer
months, when the seas tend to be calmer. Others say that the island's
economy is getting worse, despite the reforms enacted by ruler Raúl Castro.
Still others say that all the reports on U.S. efforts at immigration
reform sparked a wave of rumors and fears that Washington might soon
cancel some of the many benefits that only Cuban arrivals now receive.
Source: "Two groups of Cuban balseros arrive in Honduras and Cayman
Islands - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/27/3472417/two-groups-of-cuban-balseros.html
Guantanamo, Cuba Has Its Shanties Too
Guantanamo, Cuba Has Its Shanties Too
June 26, 2013
Rosa Martínez
HAVANA TIMES — According to Isbel Diaz Torres, the writer of one of
Havana Times' diaries I enjoy reading the most, Indalla is a shantytown
located in the very heart of the Cuban capital which not even the
president of its municipality knew existed.
I do not live in the capital. In fact, I live in the province which is
furthest from Havana, in my beloved Guantanamo.
Though some refer to my province as "Cuba's Cinderella", my city is
really not much different from other provincial capitals around the
country, with the possible exception of Havana, Santiago de Cuba, the
second most important city on the island, or, say, Matanzas.
Like most of the country, Guantanamo is still recovering from the
effects of Cuba's Special Period, a crisis which lasted far too long and
damaged a good part of the provinces' economic infrastructure.
It is also suffering the effects of a centralized economy that hasn't
yet been able to address the needs of the population, particularly of
those populations in the regions furthest from the capital.
Here in Guantanamo there are many Indallas, and I imagine all provinces
have at least one shanty neighborhood of this nature – areas of the city
where poverty, despair and hopelessness reach veritable extremes.
I myself live in a Indalla, surrounded by shabby, makeshift houses that
threaten to collapse at any moment, by people with a high rate of
alcoholism, unemployment, delinquency and all forms of violence.
I don't know whether we need an outbreak of cholera to draw a government
authority to this neighborhood which even the gods have forsaken. I
don't know whether the houses here need to collapse entirely for their
inhabitants to finally get some kind of aid (and it would be hard to
imagine such a situation, for these houses are like trailers, assembled
and taken apart with relative ease).
What I am certain of is that this Indalla, like the one in Havana,
doesn't need the government to come and evict its residents. On the
contrary, what this neighborhood needs is for the government to include
it in its development plans, for it to make building materials
available, at reasonable prices which the population can afford, and
thus oblige people to construct homes with basic living conditions.
Source: "Guantanamo, Cuba Has Its Shanties Too - Havana Times.org" -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=95403
June 26, 2013
Rosa Martínez
HAVANA TIMES — According to Isbel Diaz Torres, the writer of one of
Havana Times' diaries I enjoy reading the most, Indalla is a shantytown
located in the very heart of the Cuban capital which not even the
president of its municipality knew existed.
I do not live in the capital. In fact, I live in the province which is
furthest from Havana, in my beloved Guantanamo.
Though some refer to my province as "Cuba's Cinderella", my city is
really not much different from other provincial capitals around the
country, with the possible exception of Havana, Santiago de Cuba, the
second most important city on the island, or, say, Matanzas.
Like most of the country, Guantanamo is still recovering from the
effects of Cuba's Special Period, a crisis which lasted far too long and
damaged a good part of the provinces' economic infrastructure.
It is also suffering the effects of a centralized economy that hasn't
yet been able to address the needs of the population, particularly of
those populations in the regions furthest from the capital.
Here in Guantanamo there are many Indallas, and I imagine all provinces
have at least one shanty neighborhood of this nature – areas of the city
where poverty, despair and hopelessness reach veritable extremes.
I myself live in a Indalla, surrounded by shabby, makeshift houses that
threaten to collapse at any moment, by people with a high rate of
alcoholism, unemployment, delinquency and all forms of violence.
I don't know whether we need an outbreak of cholera to draw a government
authority to this neighborhood which even the gods have forsaken. I
don't know whether the houses here need to collapse entirely for their
inhabitants to finally get some kind of aid (and it would be hard to
imagine such a situation, for these houses are like trailers, assembled
and taken apart with relative ease).
What I am certain of is that this Indalla, like the one in Havana,
doesn't need the government to come and evict its residents. On the
contrary, what this neighborhood needs is for the government to include
it in its development plans, for it to make building materials
available, at reasonable prices which the population can afford, and
thus oblige people to construct homes with basic living conditions.
Source: "Guantanamo, Cuba Has Its Shanties Too - Havana Times.org" -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=95403
Norway To Finance Cuba's Medical Aid To Haiti
Norway To Finance Cuba's Medical Aid To Haiti
HAVANA, June 27 (BERNAMA-NNN- XINHUA) -- Cuban and Norwegian
representatives signed an agreement here Wednesday to continue Norway's
financial support for Cuba's healthcare workers in Haiti, local media
reported.
According to the agreement, the fourth of its kind, Norway will offer
US$800,000 annually from 2013 to 2016 to fund the work of Cuban doctors
and other medical professionals in Haiti.
"After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we asked ourselves how we can help,
and 10 days later we signed the first accord," said visiting Norwegian
Deputy Foreign Minister Gry Larsen.
"The most important thing about this agreement is that it will allow us
to save more lives in Haiti," Larsen added.
Meanwhile, Larsen underlined the importance of maintaining south-south
cooperation, and praised the excellent humanitarian efforts of Cuba's
medical brigade in Haiti.
-- BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA
Source: "BERNAMA - Norway To Finance Cuba's Medical Aid To Haiti" -
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=959225
HAVANA, June 27 (BERNAMA-NNN- XINHUA) -- Cuban and Norwegian
representatives signed an agreement here Wednesday to continue Norway's
financial support for Cuba's healthcare workers in Haiti, local media
reported.
According to the agreement, the fourth of its kind, Norway will offer
US$800,000 annually from 2013 to 2016 to fund the work of Cuban doctors
and other medical professionals in Haiti.
"After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we asked ourselves how we can help,
and 10 days later we signed the first accord," said visiting Norwegian
Deputy Foreign Minister Gry Larsen.
"The most important thing about this agreement is that it will allow us
to save more lives in Haiti," Larsen added.
Meanwhile, Larsen underlined the importance of maintaining south-south
cooperation, and praised the excellent humanitarian efforts of Cuba's
medical brigade in Haiti.
-- BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA
Source: "BERNAMA - Norway To Finance Cuba's Medical Aid To Haiti" -
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=959225
Relatives of jailed dissident rapper call on artists and activists to demand his freedom (Video)
Relatives of jailed dissident rapper call on artists and activists to
demand his freedom (Video)
Posted by Pedazos de la Isla on June 25, 2013
Yudisbel Roseyo Mojena, wife of dissident rapper and political prisoner
Angel Yunier Remon Arzuaga "El Critico", has been passing through some
very difficult moments during these three months in which her husband
has been behind bars. She has had to raise their newborn child (only 4
months old) on her own, while she has had to go through countless
difficulties to try and visit Remon Arzuaga in Las Mangas Prison of Bayamo.
The musician was violently arrested by the political police on the 26th
of March because he handed out pro-freedom pamphlets, painted
anti-regime messages outside his home and carried out a public discourse
in favor of human rights. Friends have also assured that Remon's protest
music within the hip-hop duo Los Hijos Que Nadie Quiso (The Unwanted
Children) is another of the reasons why he has been taken to prison,
considering that his music has attracted much attention from locals,
especially the youth.
Inside of Las Mangas Prison, El Critico has been confronting numerous
complications.
"Right now, Angel Yunier is not receiving medical attention although he
suffers from an ulcer and chronic gastritis", explains Yudisbel to this
blog, "his jailers are also refusing to grant him minutes of phone
access which he is supposed to receive".
In addition, the young mother denounces that when she travels to the
prison to visit her husband, "State Security always forms a problem.
Each time I visit him it's a different scenario. Sometimes they say they
can't bring him out at that moment, other times they tell me I have to
leave first, etc".
Another tactic of the authorities is to try and blackmail and involve
the rapper into committing a common crime, a practice often employed by
regime authorities against prisoners of conscience. He has been
completely resisting these pressures.
"Jailers are trying to find him a problem with a common prisoner to
accuse him of a common crime considering that they have nothing else to
accuse him of. The accusation for which he is in prison is for 'attempt'
but there is absolutely no proof. In reality, State Security attempted
against his life in March", said Yudisbel. Police forces raided Remon
Arzuaga's home and beat him and other relatives, among them his aunt
Jaqueline Garcia, a member of the Ladies in White.
The main aggressor that day was the State Security Chief known as Julio
Cesar, the same person who is now trying to involve Angel Yunier in a
common crime. This agent has taken up the task of personally
persecutting the activist as well as other members of the opposition in
Bayamo.
Yudisbel explains that Julio Cesar also participated in a beating
against her during an act of repudiation when she was 8 months pregnant,
causing her injuries and leading to a sharp rise in her blood pressure,
producing health complications. She feared that her pregnancy would be
interrupted and aborted.
"Julio Cesar physically assaulted me in an attempt to take my cell
phone. He hurt me on my stomach and I had to rush to the hospital, where
they refused to give me a medical certificate. I almost lost my
pregnancy and I was hospitalized, needing a blood transfusion", she said.
Fortunately, Yudisbel was able to give birth without furhter
complications, but now her husband has not been able to spend time with
their young son.
Yudisbel is calling on all Cubans in and out of the island to demand
freedom for her husband. She has especially called on independent
musicans and the community of exiled artists.
"I would like to ask everyone, especially the artists, to please raise
your voices to achieve the liberation of Yunier as well as the rest of
the political prisoner unjustly behind bars. That kind of support would
be an enormous help", she declared.
The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), a dissident organization which
Angel Yunier also belongs to, has published a series of videos on their
YouTube channel which demonstrate the musician's wife as well as other
relatives and friends demanding his release.
This is an edited version (with English subtitles) of some of these
videos, where relatives and friends show their solidarity with Angel
Yunier Remon Arzuaga, "El Critico":
http://youtu.be/evz2iyNujho
Source: "Relatives of jailed dissident rapper call on artists and
activists to demand his freedom (Video) | Pedazos de la Isla" -
http://pedazosdelaislaen.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/relatives-of-jailed-dissident-rapper-call-on-artists-activists-to-demand-his-freedom-video/
demand his freedom (Video)
Posted by Pedazos de la Isla on June 25, 2013
Yudisbel Roseyo Mojena, wife of dissident rapper and political prisoner
Angel Yunier Remon Arzuaga "El Critico", has been passing through some
very difficult moments during these three months in which her husband
has been behind bars. She has had to raise their newborn child (only 4
months old) on her own, while she has had to go through countless
difficulties to try and visit Remon Arzuaga in Las Mangas Prison of Bayamo.
The musician was violently arrested by the political police on the 26th
of March because he handed out pro-freedom pamphlets, painted
anti-regime messages outside his home and carried out a public discourse
in favor of human rights. Friends have also assured that Remon's protest
music within the hip-hop duo Los Hijos Que Nadie Quiso (The Unwanted
Children) is another of the reasons why he has been taken to prison,
considering that his music has attracted much attention from locals,
especially the youth.
Inside of Las Mangas Prison, El Critico has been confronting numerous
complications.
"Right now, Angel Yunier is not receiving medical attention although he
suffers from an ulcer and chronic gastritis", explains Yudisbel to this
blog, "his jailers are also refusing to grant him minutes of phone
access which he is supposed to receive".
In addition, the young mother denounces that when she travels to the
prison to visit her husband, "State Security always forms a problem.
Each time I visit him it's a different scenario. Sometimes they say they
can't bring him out at that moment, other times they tell me I have to
leave first, etc".
Another tactic of the authorities is to try and blackmail and involve
the rapper into committing a common crime, a practice often employed by
regime authorities against prisoners of conscience. He has been
completely resisting these pressures.
"Jailers are trying to find him a problem with a common prisoner to
accuse him of a common crime considering that they have nothing else to
accuse him of. The accusation for which he is in prison is for 'attempt'
but there is absolutely no proof. In reality, State Security attempted
against his life in March", said Yudisbel. Police forces raided Remon
Arzuaga's home and beat him and other relatives, among them his aunt
Jaqueline Garcia, a member of the Ladies in White.
The main aggressor that day was the State Security Chief known as Julio
Cesar, the same person who is now trying to involve Angel Yunier in a
common crime. This agent has taken up the task of personally
persecutting the activist as well as other members of the opposition in
Bayamo.
Yudisbel explains that Julio Cesar also participated in a beating
against her during an act of repudiation when she was 8 months pregnant,
causing her injuries and leading to a sharp rise in her blood pressure,
producing health complications. She feared that her pregnancy would be
interrupted and aborted.
"Julio Cesar physically assaulted me in an attempt to take my cell
phone. He hurt me on my stomach and I had to rush to the hospital, where
they refused to give me a medical certificate. I almost lost my
pregnancy and I was hospitalized, needing a blood transfusion", she said.
Fortunately, Yudisbel was able to give birth without furhter
complications, but now her husband has not been able to spend time with
their young son.
Yudisbel is calling on all Cubans in and out of the island to demand
freedom for her husband. She has especially called on independent
musicans and the community of exiled artists.
"I would like to ask everyone, especially the artists, to please raise
your voices to achieve the liberation of Yunier as well as the rest of
the political prisoner unjustly behind bars. That kind of support would
be an enormous help", she declared.
The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), a dissident organization which
Angel Yunier also belongs to, has published a series of videos on their
YouTube channel which demonstrate the musician's wife as well as other
relatives and friends demanding his release.
This is an edited version (with English subtitles) of some of these
videos, where relatives and friends show their solidarity with Angel
Yunier Remon Arzuaga, "El Critico":
http://youtu.be/evz2iyNujho
Source: "Relatives of jailed dissident rapper call on artists and
activists to demand his freedom (Video) | Pedazos de la Isla" -
http://pedazosdelaislaen.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/relatives-of-jailed-dissident-rapper-call-on-artists-activists-to-demand-his-freedom-video/
Consciousness Asleep
Consciousness Asleep / Fernando Damaso
Posted on June 25, 2013
One of the main sources of my posts is the newspaper Granma, not only
for what it says, but also how it says it and for what it doesn't say.
Although sometimes it publishes this or that interesting letter, the
Letters to the Editor section from last Friday was priceless: either
everyone who wrote supports the "Cuban model," or they only publish this
type of letter.
A reader, after pondering the existence of this section, and linking it
with objectives 70 and 71 of the guidelines (which couldn't be ignored),
and also with 16, without adding anything new, finished in slogan-style,
with the official sentiment: Our worst enemy is our own mistakes.
A fancier defends the breeding of carrier pigeons and ornamental pouter
pigeons by the members of the respective federation and association, and
denounces the so-called pigeon-raisers who profit off them, making it
clear that the Pigeon Fanciers Federation gives its unconditional
support to the Revolution. I think this assertion does not include the
opinion of the pigeons themselves.
Another reader complains that in a town he visited, there has been no
water for three months because the engine that supplies it is broken,
and explains that all the measures taken by the authorities to solve the
problem have been unsuccessful. He complains about the charge of 50
Cuban pesos for every water delivery and adds that he understands that
the blockade, the hard work of the leaders, etc. has prevented a
solution to the problem, and ends with the same slogan as the previous
writer, that this Revolution can only be destroyed by ourselves.
A hothead, shield raised high, states that each patient should be
informed about how much their treatment costs the State, forgetting that
the State, with what it doesn't pay citizens in their penurious wages,
has many more financial resources at its disposal to distribute to the
services of health and education.
Despite its small size, this sample demonstrates how low the level of
public awareness still is, and how much we have to advance to be able to
have a true civil society.
19 June 2013
Source: "Consciousness Asleep / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/consciousness-asleep-fernando-damaso/
Posted on June 25, 2013
One of the main sources of my posts is the newspaper Granma, not only
for what it says, but also how it says it and for what it doesn't say.
Although sometimes it publishes this or that interesting letter, the
Letters to the Editor section from last Friday was priceless: either
everyone who wrote supports the "Cuban model," or they only publish this
type of letter.
A reader, after pondering the existence of this section, and linking it
with objectives 70 and 71 of the guidelines (which couldn't be ignored),
and also with 16, without adding anything new, finished in slogan-style,
with the official sentiment: Our worst enemy is our own mistakes.
A fancier defends the breeding of carrier pigeons and ornamental pouter
pigeons by the members of the respective federation and association, and
denounces the so-called pigeon-raisers who profit off them, making it
clear that the Pigeon Fanciers Federation gives its unconditional
support to the Revolution. I think this assertion does not include the
opinion of the pigeons themselves.
Another reader complains that in a town he visited, there has been no
water for three months because the engine that supplies it is broken,
and explains that all the measures taken by the authorities to solve the
problem have been unsuccessful. He complains about the charge of 50
Cuban pesos for every water delivery and adds that he understands that
the blockade, the hard work of the leaders, etc. has prevented a
solution to the problem, and ends with the same slogan as the previous
writer, that this Revolution can only be destroyed by ourselves.
A hothead, shield raised high, states that each patient should be
informed about how much their treatment costs the State, forgetting that
the State, with what it doesn't pay citizens in their penurious wages,
has many more financial resources at its disposal to distribute to the
services of health and education.
Despite its small size, this sample demonstrates how low the level of
public awareness still is, and how much we have to advance to be able to
have a true civil society.
19 June 2013
Source: "Consciousness Asleep / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/consciousness-asleep-fernando-damaso/
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