Has Stagnation Returned? / Fernando Damaso
Posted on October 26, 2014
For years, stagnation was a constant of Cuban-style socialism, as it was
in the socialism of Eastern Europe. Starting in 2006, with the change at
the helm, it seemed as if the country was going to awaken from its long
lethargy and start to move forward, albeit too slowly for many people. A
few timid steps were taken, but they were enough to create some hope
that, finally, we would begin to travel along the correct path, leaving
behind years of failed experiments and constant political, economic and
social improvisation.
There began a process of eliminating absurd prohibitions, which pleased
everyone, although it was known that the contents of our wallets would
be insufficient to fund such niceties as travel, hotel stays or buying a
car or house. It also seemed as though the economy was going to begin to
take off, salaries and pensions would improve, and we would begin to
live as normal people. Congresses and conferences were convened wherein
short-, medium-, and long-term plans were discussed and approved which,
according to their creators, would facilitate our secure path towards
development, without pressures but also without slow-downs.
Some years have now passed since then, and the scene has changed but
little: agriculture continues to lag behind the demand for
reasonably-priced foods for the majority of citizens, livestock breeding
continues to be stagnant, milk production is seriously below national
demand, basic industrial products are scarce, health and education
services get worse daily, the lack of hygiene is widespread, the state
of the epidemiological system is worrisome, streets and sidewalks remain
broken and unrepaired, buildings collapse and new housing units are not
built, businesses are deteriorating and under-supplied, and incivility
is rampant.
The list of problems could go on ad infinitum, adding to it, besides,
the prevailing corruption, diversion of resources, social violence and
generalized indiscipline. It appears that erstwhile gains are
insufficient, or that actions taken do not resolve the problems that
prompted them. It could be that, without realizing it, we are falling
once again into stagnation.
It is true that it is unjust to own lands when the owner does not work
them, or when the lands are unproductive. However, it is also unjust to
work them and make them productive, and not own them. The same thing
happens when business properties are legally transferred to
non-agricultural, non-private cooperatives. After the State, through its
interventions, nationalized these properties when they were in good
condition and let them deteriorate, now it pretends that the
responsibility to repair them falls on the private proprietors – while
the State continues to maintain ownership of the real estate.
We are face to face with a reality. As long as the State, which during
56 years has demonstrated its economic illiteracy and its incapacity to
make productive ventures out of agriculture, livestock breeding and
industry – as well as being unable to run its enterprises and services
at a quality level – continues to try to maintain itself as the absolute
owner of everything in the name of the people (that generic entity) –
and doesn't permit real Cubans the exercise of real private ownership,
nothing will work.
Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison
Source: Has Stagnation Returned? / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/has-stagnation-returned-fernando-damaso/
Monday, October 27, 2014
Truth and freedom in Cuba
Other voices: Truth and freedom in Cuba
Pioneer Press
POSTED: 10/26/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT
The other day, Fidel Castro wrote an opinion column for Cuba's state-run
newspaper, Granma, as he has done periodically from retirement. He
lavished praise on an editorial in The New York Times that called for an
end to the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. But Mr. Castro had one complaint:
The Times mentioned the harassment of dissidents and the
still-unexplained death of a leading exponent of democracy, Oswaldo
Paya, and a younger activist, Harold Cepero, in a car wreck two years ago.
The assertion that Cuba's authoritarian government had yet to explain
the deaths was "slanderous and 1/8a3/8 cheap accusation," Mr. Castro
sputtered.
So why has Cuba done nothing to dispel the fog of suspicion that still
lingers over the deaths? If the charge is slanderous, then it is long
past time for Mr. Castro to order a thorough investigation of what
happened on an isolated Cuban road on July 22, 2012. So far, there has
been only a crude attempt at cover-up and denial.
We know something about what happened, thanks to the eyewitness account
of Angel Carromero, the young Spanish politician who was at the wheel of
the rental car that was carrying Mr. Paya and Mr. Cepero to a meeting
with supporters. Mr. Carromero, who visited Washington last week, told
us the car was being shadowed by Cuban state security from the moment it
left Havana. He said his conversations with Mr. Paya as they traveled
were mostly about the Varela Project, Mr. Paya's courageous 2002
petition drive seeking to guarantee democracy in Cuba. Many of Mr.
Paya's supporters in the project were later arrested and imprisoned.
After the wreck, Mr. Carromero was pressured by the Cuban authorities to
describe it as an accident caused by his reckless speeding. But he
reiterated to us last week that what really happened is that the rental
car was rammed from behind by a vehicle bearing state license plates.
Mr. Carromero showed us photographs of the damaged car, damage that
seemed inconsistent with a wreck caused by speeding. But the precise
details of what happened are unknown and need to be cleared up by a
credible investigation. Mr. Paya's family has sought one for two years,
without success. When the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of
the Organization of American States sent a query to Cuba about the case,
they got no answer. Nothing.
The U.S. embargo has been substantially relaxed in recent years to allow
hundreds of millions of dollars of food and medicine exports, in
addition to consumer goods supplied to Cubans by relatives in this
country. The question is whether a further relaxation is merited. The
regime's persecution of dissidents is unceasing; it continues to
imprison American Alan Gross on false charges. While Cuba has toyed with
economic liberalization and lifted travel restrictions for some, we see
no sign that the Castro brothers are loosening their grip. Fully lifting
the embargo now would reward and ratify their intransigence.
A concession such as ending the trade embargo should not be exchanged
for nothing. It should be made when Cuba grants genuine freedom to its
people, the goal cherished by Mr. Paya.
-- The Washington Post
Source: Other voices: Truth and freedom in Cuba - TwinCities.com -
http://www.twincities.com/columnists/ci_26804027/other-voices-truth-and-freedom-cuba
Pioneer Press
POSTED: 10/26/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT
The other day, Fidel Castro wrote an opinion column for Cuba's state-run
newspaper, Granma, as he has done periodically from retirement. He
lavished praise on an editorial in The New York Times that called for an
end to the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. But Mr. Castro had one complaint:
The Times mentioned the harassment of dissidents and the
still-unexplained death of a leading exponent of democracy, Oswaldo
Paya, and a younger activist, Harold Cepero, in a car wreck two years ago.
The assertion that Cuba's authoritarian government had yet to explain
the deaths was "slanderous and 1/8a3/8 cheap accusation," Mr. Castro
sputtered.
So why has Cuba done nothing to dispel the fog of suspicion that still
lingers over the deaths? If the charge is slanderous, then it is long
past time for Mr. Castro to order a thorough investigation of what
happened on an isolated Cuban road on July 22, 2012. So far, there has
been only a crude attempt at cover-up and denial.
We know something about what happened, thanks to the eyewitness account
of Angel Carromero, the young Spanish politician who was at the wheel of
the rental car that was carrying Mr. Paya and Mr. Cepero to a meeting
with supporters. Mr. Carromero, who visited Washington last week, told
us the car was being shadowed by Cuban state security from the moment it
left Havana. He said his conversations with Mr. Paya as they traveled
were mostly about the Varela Project, Mr. Paya's courageous 2002
petition drive seeking to guarantee democracy in Cuba. Many of Mr.
Paya's supporters in the project were later arrested and imprisoned.
After the wreck, Mr. Carromero was pressured by the Cuban authorities to
describe it as an accident caused by his reckless speeding. But he
reiterated to us last week that what really happened is that the rental
car was rammed from behind by a vehicle bearing state license plates.
Mr. Carromero showed us photographs of the damaged car, damage that
seemed inconsistent with a wreck caused by speeding. But the precise
details of what happened are unknown and need to be cleared up by a
credible investigation. Mr. Paya's family has sought one for two years,
without success. When the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of
the Organization of American States sent a query to Cuba about the case,
they got no answer. Nothing.
The U.S. embargo has been substantially relaxed in recent years to allow
hundreds of millions of dollars of food and medicine exports, in
addition to consumer goods supplied to Cubans by relatives in this
country. The question is whether a further relaxation is merited. The
regime's persecution of dissidents is unceasing; it continues to
imprison American Alan Gross on false charges. While Cuba has toyed with
economic liberalization and lifted travel restrictions for some, we see
no sign that the Castro brothers are loosening their grip. Fully lifting
the embargo now would reward and ratify their intransigence.
A concession such as ending the trade embargo should not be exchanged
for nothing. It should be made when Cuba grants genuine freedom to its
people, the goal cherished by Mr. Paya.
-- The Washington Post
Source: Other voices: Truth and freedom in Cuba - TwinCities.com -
http://www.twincities.com/columnists/ci_26804027/other-voices-truth-and-freedom-cuba
Cuba to launch new air routes for tourism season
Cuba to launch new air routes for tourism season
MENAFN - 26/10/2014
(MENAFN) Cuba is planning to launch new air routes to expand tourism in
the coming November-April peak season, Xinhua reported.
Cuba's national carrier, Cubana de Aviacion, will launch a new route
from Costa Rica, and add a second flight from Cancun, Mexico, local
media reported.
An official at Cuba's Tourism Ministry said that, carriers in Mexico,
Poland, Russia, Germany and Colombia will open new routes or add flights
to Cuba.
Canada, Cuba's leading source of tourists, has also announced more
flights to the Caribbean country.
Source: Cuba to launch new air routes for tourism season | MENAFN.COM -
http://www.menafn.com/1093990674/Cuba-to-launch-new-air-routes-for-tourism-season?src=RSS
MENAFN - 26/10/2014
(MENAFN) Cuba is planning to launch new air routes to expand tourism in
the coming November-April peak season, Xinhua reported.
Cuba's national carrier, Cubana de Aviacion, will launch a new route
from Costa Rica, and add a second flight from Cancun, Mexico, local
media reported.
An official at Cuba's Tourism Ministry said that, carriers in Mexico,
Poland, Russia, Germany and Colombia will open new routes or add flights
to Cuba.
Canada, Cuba's leading source of tourists, has also announced more
flights to the Caribbean country.
Source: Cuba to launch new air routes for tourism season | MENAFN.COM -
http://www.menafn.com/1093990674/Cuba-to-launch-new-air-routes-for-tourism-season?src=RSS
The Brothers Castro have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment
The Brothers Castro have an 'ah-ha!' moment
BY JOSÉ AZELJAZEL@MIAMI.EDU
10/26/2014 3:00 PM 10/26/2014 7:00 PM
The Story of Cuba, a book by Murat Halsted published in 1896, begins
with a prescient phrase: "The story of Cuba is a tragedy."
Tragedies often have a pivotal moment of revelation when a character
makes a critical discovery; a change from ignorance to knowledge.
Aristotle calls these moments, when we grasp things as they are,
"anagnorisis." Oedipus, the tragic hero of Greek mythology has his
anagnorisis when he learns that, in ignorance he has killed his father
and married his mother. Luke Skywalker has his when he realizes that
Darth Vader is his father.
Fidel Castro's public anagnorisis surfaced in 2010 when, in response to
a question by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg as to whether the Cuban model
was still something worth exporting, the Castro responded: "The Cuban
model doesn't even work for us anymore."
For his part Raul Castro — addressing Cuba's parliament in the "Year 50
of the Revolution" — reneged on the previous five decades proclaiming
that, "Equality is not egalitarianism." He then added that
egalitarianism is a form of exploitation of the hard working by the lazy.
It is clear that the delusion of Cuba as a nation engaged in a
transcendental historical endeavor of building a communist society is no
longer the national identity. The Castros and their governing
nomenclature lack a cohesive socioeconomic identity and seem to have no
national idea of whom or what they are, where they belong, or where they
want to go. Their objective is simply to remain in power.
Some totalitarian regimes, such as Cuba and the Soviet Union before it,
have relied on Marxism-Leninism as ideologies presumably imbued with a
higher construct of truth to create environments hermetically sealed
from outside information. These regimes, depicting themselves as an
expression of the absolute truth, have depended on fanaticism disguised
as social science to achieve political goals with abject disrespect for
personal freedoms.
In early Fidel Castro's Cuba, communist ideology conveyed and instructed
a sense of purpose that in some ways offered context and meaning to
freedom-deprived lives. In that Cuba, it was not tradition, or economic
success, or scientific greatness that served as the country's identity
anchor; it was the credibility of an ideology that imparted a sense of
destiny. Belief in the creed, and harsh repression produced in the
population acquiescence or resigned acceptance in the Platonic
formulation that "silence grants consent." Political loyalty was a
matter of fear as well as ideological faith.
In recent decades, the collapse of the Soviet Union, advances in
communication technologies and other factors have conspired to breach
the intellectual isolation required to sustain the mysticism of
Marxism-Leninism as the inevitable science of history. The magnitude of
the communist dystopia has become evident.
In Cuba today, the ideology that served as the country's identity and
sociopolitical glue has been abandoned even by the Communist Party. Over
time, Cuban communism has produced a profound disillusionment in the
population as well as in the ruling elite. Moreover, central tenets of
Marxist ideology such as abolition of private property and equality do
not lend themselves readily to doctrinal renovation as the Raul Castro
regime is pursuing with its "Perfecting Socialism" ideas.
As we witnessed with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the
preservation of an ideology- based state becomes very tenuous when the
ideology is discredited. The declining ideological convictions of the
ruling elite diminish both their governing legitimacy and their
political will.
None of this is to suggest that the demise of a totalitarian regime is
imminent once it loses its ideology. Other outcomes are possible, but
ultimately Cubans will experience a shared anagnorisis and will realize
that the cure for what ails them is not external, but internal. They
will demand regime change and the replacement of central planning and
totalitarian rule with a market economy and democratic participation and
institutions. A prosperous future requires a national identity based on
the rule of law and not on ideological messianic leadership. Only then,
with a new identity anchored in freedom will a new historical era of
change come to the tragic island.
JOSÉ AZEL IS A SENIOR SAT THE INSTITUTE FOR CUBAN AND CUBAN-AMERICAN
STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI AND THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK "MAÑANA IN CUBA."
Source: The Brothers Castro have an 'ah-ha!' moment | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article3389969.html
BY JOSÉ AZELJAZEL@MIAMI.EDU
10/26/2014 3:00 PM 10/26/2014 7:00 PM
The Story of Cuba, a book by Murat Halsted published in 1896, begins
with a prescient phrase: "The story of Cuba is a tragedy."
Tragedies often have a pivotal moment of revelation when a character
makes a critical discovery; a change from ignorance to knowledge.
Aristotle calls these moments, when we grasp things as they are,
"anagnorisis." Oedipus, the tragic hero of Greek mythology has his
anagnorisis when he learns that, in ignorance he has killed his father
and married his mother. Luke Skywalker has his when he realizes that
Darth Vader is his father.
Fidel Castro's public anagnorisis surfaced in 2010 when, in response to
a question by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg as to whether the Cuban model
was still something worth exporting, the Castro responded: "The Cuban
model doesn't even work for us anymore."
For his part Raul Castro — addressing Cuba's parliament in the "Year 50
of the Revolution" — reneged on the previous five decades proclaiming
that, "Equality is not egalitarianism." He then added that
egalitarianism is a form of exploitation of the hard working by the lazy.
It is clear that the delusion of Cuba as a nation engaged in a
transcendental historical endeavor of building a communist society is no
longer the national identity. The Castros and their governing
nomenclature lack a cohesive socioeconomic identity and seem to have no
national idea of whom or what they are, where they belong, or where they
want to go. Their objective is simply to remain in power.
Some totalitarian regimes, such as Cuba and the Soviet Union before it,
have relied on Marxism-Leninism as ideologies presumably imbued with a
higher construct of truth to create environments hermetically sealed
from outside information. These regimes, depicting themselves as an
expression of the absolute truth, have depended on fanaticism disguised
as social science to achieve political goals with abject disrespect for
personal freedoms.
In early Fidel Castro's Cuba, communist ideology conveyed and instructed
a sense of purpose that in some ways offered context and meaning to
freedom-deprived lives. In that Cuba, it was not tradition, or economic
success, or scientific greatness that served as the country's identity
anchor; it was the credibility of an ideology that imparted a sense of
destiny. Belief in the creed, and harsh repression produced in the
population acquiescence or resigned acceptance in the Platonic
formulation that "silence grants consent." Political loyalty was a
matter of fear as well as ideological faith.
In recent decades, the collapse of the Soviet Union, advances in
communication technologies and other factors have conspired to breach
the intellectual isolation required to sustain the mysticism of
Marxism-Leninism as the inevitable science of history. The magnitude of
the communist dystopia has become evident.
In Cuba today, the ideology that served as the country's identity and
sociopolitical glue has been abandoned even by the Communist Party. Over
time, Cuban communism has produced a profound disillusionment in the
population as well as in the ruling elite. Moreover, central tenets of
Marxist ideology such as abolition of private property and equality do
not lend themselves readily to doctrinal renovation as the Raul Castro
regime is pursuing with its "Perfecting Socialism" ideas.
As we witnessed with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the
preservation of an ideology- based state becomes very tenuous when the
ideology is discredited. The declining ideological convictions of the
ruling elite diminish both their governing legitimacy and their
political will.
None of this is to suggest that the demise of a totalitarian regime is
imminent once it loses its ideology. Other outcomes are possible, but
ultimately Cubans will experience a shared anagnorisis and will realize
that the cure for what ails them is not external, but internal. They
will demand regime change and the replacement of central planning and
totalitarian rule with a market economy and democratic participation and
institutions. A prosperous future requires a national identity based on
the rule of law and not on ideological messianic leadership. Only then,
with a new identity anchored in freedom will a new historical era of
change come to the tragic island.
JOSÉ AZEL IS A SENIOR SAT THE INSTITUTE FOR CUBAN AND CUBAN-AMERICAN
STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI AND THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK "MAÑANA IN CUBA."
Source: The Brothers Castro have an 'ah-ha!' moment | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article3389969.html
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Blatant Lies
Blatant Lies / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on October 26, 2014
During the days in which Ángel Santiesteban-Prats' whereabouts were
unknown, and with fears absolutely based on the illegal transfers that
he experienced before, we filed a complaint with the United Nations
Working Group on Forced or Involuntary Disappearances, so they would put
it before the Regime in Havana to clarify his whereabouts.
Translation of letter from the High Commissioner's Office of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission:
Dear Mrs. Tabakman,
I have the honor of addressing you in the name of the Working Group on
Forced or Involuntary Disappearances with respect to the case of
Mr. Ángel Lazaro Santiesteban Prats (case no. 10005155).
In this respect I would like to inform you that the communication sent
to the Government of Cuba on July 30, 2014, due to an administrative
error, did not include the phrase "Marti TV (Miami, United States)" in
place of "Cuban communication media."
Furthermore, I want you to know that this correction of the case does
not affect the decision taken by the Working Group during its 104th
session, such as was communicated to you in its letter of September 30,
2014.
I would like to inform you that the Working Group will celebrate its
105th session between March 2-6, 2015, in the City of Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
Sincerely yours,
Ariel Dulitzky, President-Presenter
They acted with the dedication and speed that an emergency requires,
and, of course, the Castro dictatorship did not. They only responded to
the Group's requirement when it gave them the demand; that is, when
Ángel already had been located by journalists from 14Ymedio. Thanks to
them we knew where he was, although they couldn't meet with him. The
Regime had put him in the border military prison where he presently is.
I want to point out not only the fact that the Regime responded to the
presenter for the Working Group, but they also took advantage of the
occasion to lie blatantly and use against the "source" complainant the
same strategies they use to falsely accuse and imprison the opposition.
All thieves believe that others are like them.
Translation of document from Cuban government:
On the other hand, the facts transcribed are not reliable. They don't
come from pertinent and credible sources that act in good faith, in
accord with the principles of cooperation in the matter of human rights
and without political motivation, contrary to what is set forth in the
United Nations Charter. They are supported by unfounded accusations that
are only intended to tarnish the reality of Cuba's record in the
promotion and protection of all human rights for everyone.
They exploited an involuntary omission in the group's communication to
the Cuban government to try to disqualify the complaint and the
complainants. Now they have just communicated and corrected the omission
– again – in order to continue supporting their lies, but they will
preserve the same pathetic silence that they have with respect to the
whole case.
I am transcribing here the response from the Regime (the complete
document is attached in a link in this post):
Session: 104
Government Item
Date: September 4, 2014
The Government of Cuba reported that:
"The allegations about a supposed transfer of the citizen Ángel Lázaro
Santiesteban Prats,
from the place where he was fulfilling a punishment of deprivation of
liberty to a 'military base.'
"After investigation, it was demonstrated that:
"1. At 7:00 a.m. on July 21, 2014, Santiesteban Prats tried to escape
from the center where he was held as a prisoner (with open living).
Immediately complaint 38563/14 was filed in the station of the National
Revolutionary Police of Municipio Diez de Octubre, for the crime of
Escape of Prisoners or Detainees.
"2. At 1:05 a.m. on July 27, 2014, Santiesteban Prats was detained and
transferred to the Territorial Department of Criminal Investigation and
Operations, where he remains. He enjoys good health and receives all the
benefits established in the Cuban penitentiary system.
"3. Santiesteban Prats himself admitted that he fled from the detention
center with the goal of leaving the country in an irregular and covert
manner, with support from the exterior, and to thereby avoid having to
continue serving his sentence.
"On the other hand, the facts transcribed are not reliable. They don't
come from pertinent and credible sources that act in good faith, in
accord with the principles of cooperation in the matter of human rights
and without political motivation, contrary to what is set forth in the
United Nations Charter. They are supported by unfounded accusations that
are only intended to tarnish the reality of Cuba's record in the
promotion and protection of all human rights for everyone.
"In that sense, it is false that his presumed disappearance was related
to 'declarations of a person associated with him in Cuban communication
media in the days previous to July 20, 2014.'
"Nor for his activities as a writer and blogger was Santiesteban Prats
sentenced to five years in prison for having committed common crimes, as
regulated in the present Cuban Penal Code.
"He was accused by his wife, Kenla Liley Rodriguez Guzmán, in August
2009, of the crimes of Harm, Home Invasion, Injuries, Threats, Rape, and
Robbery with Force. After investigation, the Prosecutor presented the
case before the Provincial Court of Havana for the crimes of Injuries
and Home Invasion.
"From that time they knew of his intentions to flee the country in an
irregular and covert manner, incited by his sister who lives in the
exterior, to evade his sentence. He finally tried, unsuccessfully, in
July of this year, as already has been explained."
Ángel Santiesteban, without even knowing of the existence of the
complaint or this document, has already given an answer to that nonsense
in the message that was sent explaining what motivated him to leave the
Lawton prison settlement and saying that he would give himself up
several days later. The only certainty in everything the dictatorship
alleges is that he recognized that he abandoned the prison voluntarily,
taking advantage of the movement of the prisoners who left for work in
the morning.
The first lie, which falls of its own weight, is that "he receives all
the benefits established in the Cuban penitentiary system." Exactly
because he DOESN'T receive them is the reason he left on his own to
recover them (the 15 days of pass that corresponded to the last 10
months, which they arbitrarily denied him). He wasn't "detained" on July
27 like they allege. He gave himself up, telling the official who
received him that they still owed him 10 days of pass.
"On the other hand, the facts transcribed are not reliable. They don't
come from pertinent and credible sources that act in good faith, in
accord with the principles of cooperation in the matter of human rights
and without political motivation, contrary to what is set forth in the
United Nations Charter. They are supported by unfounded accusations that
are only intended to tarnish the reality of Cuba's record in the
promotion and protection of all human rights for everyone."
Such a declaration merits nothing more than remembering that we are
facing a dictatorship where neither law nor justice exists, in which
they only administer rewards and punishments according to whether one is
obsequious or opposed. The cynicism of those who work for the Regime is
such that they have the nerve to mention the United Nations Charter and
human rights. Does Mr. Dictator finally want to ratify the pacts of the
U.N.? The biggest violator of all human rights on the continent makes
believe that the complaint "continues tarnishing reality and the
executive of Cuba in the promotion and protection of all human rights
for everyone." Ask him about all the executions, assassinations,
tortures, imprisonments, and those who have been banished and forced
into exile who have endured the said promotion and protection for 55 years.
Then they relied on the before-mentioned omission to lie again: "(…)
It's false that his presumed disappearance was related to 'declarations
of a person associated with him in the Cuban communication media in the
days previous to July 20, 2014.' Now it's already been explained to them
that it was a matter of an omission, clarifying that it referred to the
declaration of Angel's son in a television program from Miami. How do
they explain that they had prepared a transfer for Angel and that he
complained only five days after his son said on Television Marti how he
had been manipulated by his mother and the political police to lie and
prejudice the case against his father? Wasn't there a relationship with
the said complaints? Are they trying to delegitimize the rumor that he
denounced his imminent transfer on July 20 when on August 13 they
incarcerated him where he said they would? The Regime knows perfectly
well that there was an involuntary omission in the report, and they knew
that it referred to the declarations of Angel's son on Television Marti,
who said that the political police were permanently spying on him, so
that the Human Rights Commission granted cautionary measures for him also.
Ángel Santiesteban is the only "common" prisoner to whom the
dictatorship has offered – on numerous occasions since he was
incarcerated – freedom and banishment in exchange for renouncing his
political position, documenting it in a video. Every time he has refused
outright and denounced this in his blog. Even so, they continue
stubbornly trying to convince him. So that "From this time they knew
about his intentions to abandon the country in an irregular and covert
manner (…)" is no more than another cock-and-bull story like the ones
they habitually resort to in order to justify the unjustifiable: the
lack of freedoms, guarantees, and protections for the citizen victims of
the island prison.
Ángel never asked that they free him; he only requested a review of the
trial with ALL the guarantees of due process that they denied him when
they took him to prison. If they would proceed to carry out the review,
he would be absolved, because the accusations aretotally false. That's
the reason they delay the review with the stupidest excuses, because
they only pretend to penalize him by keeping him locked up: "Nor for his
activities as a writer and blogger was Santiesteban Prats sentenced to
five years in prison for having committed common crimes, as regulated in
the present Cuban Penal Code."
The accuser is named Kenia Diley Rodríguez Guzmán; only by reading how
they refer to her in the response do we have proof of the "care" they
put into fabricating causes of action, the accusations and the accusers.
It doesn't ever matter to them who has lied; the only thing that matters
is that their lies serve the interests of the dictatorship: "He was
accused by his wife, Kenla Liley Rodriguez Guzmán, in August 2009, for
the crimes of Harm, Home Invasion, Injuries, Threats, Rape, and Robbery
with Force. After investigation, the Prosecutor presented the case
before the Provincial Court of Havana for the crimes of Injuries and
Home Invasion."
I remember again that as there wasn't any proof that would incriminate
him, they condemned him after a report from a lieutenant, a handwriting
expert, who alleged that "from the size and inclination of his
handwriting, he's guilty."
In the end, there is little to add that is not already known.
The Editor
Translated by Regina Anavy
20 October 2014
Source: Blatant Lies / Angel Santiesteban | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/blatant-lies-angel-santiesteban/
Posted on October 26, 2014
During the days in which Ángel Santiesteban-Prats' whereabouts were
unknown, and with fears absolutely based on the illegal transfers that
he experienced before, we filed a complaint with the United Nations
Working Group on Forced or Involuntary Disappearances, so they would put
it before the Regime in Havana to clarify his whereabouts.
Translation of letter from the High Commissioner's Office of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission:
Dear Mrs. Tabakman,
I have the honor of addressing you in the name of the Working Group on
Forced or Involuntary Disappearances with respect to the case of
Mr. Ángel Lazaro Santiesteban Prats (case no. 10005155).
In this respect I would like to inform you that the communication sent
to the Government of Cuba on July 30, 2014, due to an administrative
error, did not include the phrase "Marti TV (Miami, United States)" in
place of "Cuban communication media."
Furthermore, I want you to know that this correction of the case does
not affect the decision taken by the Working Group during its 104th
session, such as was communicated to you in its letter of September 30,
2014.
I would like to inform you that the Working Group will celebrate its
105th session between March 2-6, 2015, in the City of Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
Sincerely yours,
Ariel Dulitzky, President-Presenter
They acted with the dedication and speed that an emergency requires,
and, of course, the Castro dictatorship did not. They only responded to
the Group's requirement when it gave them the demand; that is, when
Ángel already had been located by journalists from 14Ymedio. Thanks to
them we knew where he was, although they couldn't meet with him. The
Regime had put him in the border military prison where he presently is.
I want to point out not only the fact that the Regime responded to the
presenter for the Working Group, but they also took advantage of the
occasion to lie blatantly and use against the "source" complainant the
same strategies they use to falsely accuse and imprison the opposition.
All thieves believe that others are like them.
Translation of document from Cuban government:
On the other hand, the facts transcribed are not reliable. They don't
come from pertinent and credible sources that act in good faith, in
accord with the principles of cooperation in the matter of human rights
and without political motivation, contrary to what is set forth in the
United Nations Charter. They are supported by unfounded accusations that
are only intended to tarnish the reality of Cuba's record in the
promotion and protection of all human rights for everyone.
They exploited an involuntary omission in the group's communication to
the Cuban government to try to disqualify the complaint and the
complainants. Now they have just communicated and corrected the omission
– again – in order to continue supporting their lies, but they will
preserve the same pathetic silence that they have with respect to the
whole case.
I am transcribing here the response from the Regime (the complete
document is attached in a link in this post):
Session: 104
Government Item
Date: September 4, 2014
The Government of Cuba reported that:
"The allegations about a supposed transfer of the citizen Ángel Lázaro
Santiesteban Prats,
from the place where he was fulfilling a punishment of deprivation of
liberty to a 'military base.'
"After investigation, it was demonstrated that:
"1. At 7:00 a.m. on July 21, 2014, Santiesteban Prats tried to escape
from the center where he was held as a prisoner (with open living).
Immediately complaint 38563/14 was filed in the station of the National
Revolutionary Police of Municipio Diez de Octubre, for the crime of
Escape of Prisoners or Detainees.
"2. At 1:05 a.m. on July 27, 2014, Santiesteban Prats was detained and
transferred to the Territorial Department of Criminal Investigation and
Operations, where he remains. He enjoys good health and receives all the
benefits established in the Cuban penitentiary system.
"3. Santiesteban Prats himself admitted that he fled from the detention
center with the goal of leaving the country in an irregular and covert
manner, with support from the exterior, and to thereby avoid having to
continue serving his sentence.
"On the other hand, the facts transcribed are not reliable. They don't
come from pertinent and credible sources that act in good faith, in
accord with the principles of cooperation in the matter of human rights
and without political motivation, contrary to what is set forth in the
United Nations Charter. They are supported by unfounded accusations that
are only intended to tarnish the reality of Cuba's record in the
promotion and protection of all human rights for everyone.
"In that sense, it is false that his presumed disappearance was related
to 'declarations of a person associated with him in Cuban communication
media in the days previous to July 20, 2014.'
"Nor for his activities as a writer and blogger was Santiesteban Prats
sentenced to five years in prison for having committed common crimes, as
regulated in the present Cuban Penal Code.
"He was accused by his wife, Kenla Liley Rodriguez Guzmán, in August
2009, of the crimes of Harm, Home Invasion, Injuries, Threats, Rape, and
Robbery with Force. After investigation, the Prosecutor presented the
case before the Provincial Court of Havana for the crimes of Injuries
and Home Invasion.
"From that time they knew of his intentions to flee the country in an
irregular and covert manner, incited by his sister who lives in the
exterior, to evade his sentence. He finally tried, unsuccessfully, in
July of this year, as already has been explained."
Ángel Santiesteban, without even knowing of the existence of the
complaint or this document, has already given an answer to that nonsense
in the message that was sent explaining what motivated him to leave the
Lawton prison settlement and saying that he would give himself up
several days later. The only certainty in everything the dictatorship
alleges is that he recognized that he abandoned the prison voluntarily,
taking advantage of the movement of the prisoners who left for work in
the morning.
The first lie, which falls of its own weight, is that "he receives all
the benefits established in the Cuban penitentiary system." Exactly
because he DOESN'T receive them is the reason he left on his own to
recover them (the 15 days of pass that corresponded to the last 10
months, which they arbitrarily denied him). He wasn't "detained" on July
27 like they allege. He gave himself up, telling the official who
received him that they still owed him 10 days of pass.
"On the other hand, the facts transcribed are not reliable. They don't
come from pertinent and credible sources that act in good faith, in
accord with the principles of cooperation in the matter of human rights
and without political motivation, contrary to what is set forth in the
United Nations Charter. They are supported by unfounded accusations that
are only intended to tarnish the reality of Cuba's record in the
promotion and protection of all human rights for everyone."
Such a declaration merits nothing more than remembering that we are
facing a dictatorship where neither law nor justice exists, in which
they only administer rewards and punishments according to whether one is
obsequious or opposed. The cynicism of those who work for the Regime is
such that they have the nerve to mention the United Nations Charter and
human rights. Does Mr. Dictator finally want to ratify the pacts of the
U.N.? The biggest violator of all human rights on the continent makes
believe that the complaint "continues tarnishing reality and the
executive of Cuba in the promotion and protection of all human rights
for everyone." Ask him about all the executions, assassinations,
tortures, imprisonments, and those who have been banished and forced
into exile who have endured the said promotion and protection for 55 years.
Then they relied on the before-mentioned omission to lie again: "(…)
It's false that his presumed disappearance was related to 'declarations
of a person associated with him in the Cuban communication media in the
days previous to July 20, 2014.' Now it's already been explained to them
that it was a matter of an omission, clarifying that it referred to the
declaration of Angel's son in a television program from Miami. How do
they explain that they had prepared a transfer for Angel and that he
complained only five days after his son said on Television Marti how he
had been manipulated by his mother and the political police to lie and
prejudice the case against his father? Wasn't there a relationship with
the said complaints? Are they trying to delegitimize the rumor that he
denounced his imminent transfer on July 20 when on August 13 they
incarcerated him where he said they would? The Regime knows perfectly
well that there was an involuntary omission in the report, and they knew
that it referred to the declarations of Angel's son on Television Marti,
who said that the political police were permanently spying on him, so
that the Human Rights Commission granted cautionary measures for him also.
Ángel Santiesteban is the only "common" prisoner to whom the
dictatorship has offered – on numerous occasions since he was
incarcerated – freedom and banishment in exchange for renouncing his
political position, documenting it in a video. Every time he has refused
outright and denounced this in his blog. Even so, they continue
stubbornly trying to convince him. So that "From this time they knew
about his intentions to abandon the country in an irregular and covert
manner (…)" is no more than another cock-and-bull story like the ones
they habitually resort to in order to justify the unjustifiable: the
lack of freedoms, guarantees, and protections for the citizen victims of
the island prison.
Ángel never asked that they free him; he only requested a review of the
trial with ALL the guarantees of due process that they denied him when
they took him to prison. If they would proceed to carry out the review,
he would be absolved, because the accusations aretotally false. That's
the reason they delay the review with the stupidest excuses, because
they only pretend to penalize him by keeping him locked up: "Nor for his
activities as a writer and blogger was Santiesteban Prats sentenced to
five years in prison for having committed common crimes, as regulated in
the present Cuban Penal Code."
The accuser is named Kenia Diley Rodríguez Guzmán; only by reading how
they refer to her in the response do we have proof of the "care" they
put into fabricating causes of action, the accusations and the accusers.
It doesn't ever matter to them who has lied; the only thing that matters
is that their lies serve the interests of the dictatorship: "He was
accused by his wife, Kenla Liley Rodriguez Guzmán, in August 2009, for
the crimes of Harm, Home Invasion, Injuries, Threats, Rape, and Robbery
with Force. After investigation, the Prosecutor presented the case
before the Provincial Court of Havana for the crimes of Injuries and
Home Invasion."
I remember again that as there wasn't any proof that would incriminate
him, they condemned him after a report from a lieutenant, a handwriting
expert, who alleged that "from the size and inclination of his
handwriting, he's guilty."
In the end, there is little to add that is not already known.
The Editor
Translated by Regina Anavy
20 October 2014
Source: Blatant Lies / Angel Santiesteban | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/blatant-lies-angel-santiesteban/
Cuba stalemate makes identifying rafters difficult
Cuba stalemate makes identifying rafters difficult
By Associated Press October 26 at 11:09 AM
MIAMI — The bodies surfaced 20 miles out from a popular South Florida
beach: Four men, still youthful. Their remains were badly deteriorated,
bitten by sharks, their faces unrecognizable.
One had a horseshoe-shaped scar on his head. Two bore tattoos: One of a
spider, the other of a tiger with a flower. The fourth wore a pair of
orange briefs and a gold-colored watch.
The Coast Guard delivered them to the Broward County Medical Examiner's
Office, where they remained for days, four more among the thousands who
have died trying to cross the turbulent Florida Straits.
The remains of rafters that surface near the U.S. are often in such poor
condition they cannot be visually identified. Politics makes the process
even more difficult with Cuban migrants: Because of the five-decade
diplomatic stalemate between the U.S. and Cuba, pathologists can't get
matching dental records and DNA from relatives on the island.
"The standard means of identification aren't going to work," said Larry
Cameron, operations director for the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner
Department.
Many rafters who flee Cuba simply disappear, but when bodies are found,
they often have no documents, leaving a puzzle of scars, tattoos,
surgeries and clothing.
Sometimes, relatives in the U.S. emerge and can provide a DNA match.
Others remain unidentified, and since Florida law forbids their
cremation, the bones are stored in morgues for years. The Broward morgue
has bodies dating back to the 1970s. Many others are buried in paupers'
cemeteries after DNA is extracted, labeled only by a number, "and we
never know that those rafters didn't get lost at sea," said Ramon Saul
Sanchez, president of the Democracy Movement exile group.
Identifying these bodies has become a priority again for Florida's
medical examiners amid a 75-percent increase this year in the number of
Cubans trying to cross by sea. At least 3,722 Cubans have been
intercepted or made it to U.S. shores in the last fiscal year.
The U.S. Coast Guard has intercepted 72,771 Cubans at sea in the last
three decades. Thousands of others made it to U.S. shores or were
prevented by Cuban authorities from leaving. Scholars estimate at least
1 in 4 Cuban rafters don't survive, which could mean 18,000 have died.
In August, 32 migrants left Manzanillo, on Cuba's southern shore, and
were stranded at sea for nearly a month. When Mexican fishermen found
them in early September, only 15 were still alive. The others tried to
swim to shore, or their bodies were dropped into the water.
The four bodies found off the Florida coast Aug. 24 received less
attention. There were no survivors to tell their story. But then Sanchez
began receiving calls from Cuba: A group of nine rafters had pushed off
near Havana five days earlier. No one had heard from them since.
Sanchez gathered their U.S. relatives — some distant cousins — and went
to the Broward morgue, where investigators asked for any physical
details they could recall.
Aliandi Garcia remembered that his uncle Jose Ramon Acosta, 35, had a
scar after brain surgery for epileptic seizures. Then investigators
showed him Acosta's shirt — it was gray, with a red Puma logo — the very
same shirt Garcia had given his uncle when he left Cuba a year before.
Two others — Alberto Gonzales Mesa, 25, and Guillermo Enrique Buitrago
Milanes, 45 — were identified by their tattoos.
The fourth wore that gold-colored Orient brand watch, now clouded by
seawater. The family of Junier Fernandez Hernandez, 32, immediately
recognized it as a present given to the dead man's father.
Andres Diaz was never able to meet his cousin in life, but he has a
small headshot image of Hernandez, dressed sharply in a suit and tie,
taken for a passport the Cuban government denied.
"He died trying to come to this country," Diaz said. "We're going to
bury him here."
_
Follow Christine Armario on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cearmario
Source: Cuba stalemate makes identifying rafters difficult - The
Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/cuba-stalemate-makes-identifying-rafters-difficult/2014/10/26/173fc868-5d21-11e4-827b-2d813561bdfd_story.html
By Associated Press October 26 at 11:09 AM
MIAMI — The bodies surfaced 20 miles out from a popular South Florida
beach: Four men, still youthful. Their remains were badly deteriorated,
bitten by sharks, their faces unrecognizable.
One had a horseshoe-shaped scar on his head. Two bore tattoos: One of a
spider, the other of a tiger with a flower. The fourth wore a pair of
orange briefs and a gold-colored watch.
The Coast Guard delivered them to the Broward County Medical Examiner's
Office, where they remained for days, four more among the thousands who
have died trying to cross the turbulent Florida Straits.
The remains of rafters that surface near the U.S. are often in such poor
condition they cannot be visually identified. Politics makes the process
even more difficult with Cuban migrants: Because of the five-decade
diplomatic stalemate between the U.S. and Cuba, pathologists can't get
matching dental records and DNA from relatives on the island.
"The standard means of identification aren't going to work," said Larry
Cameron, operations director for the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner
Department.
Many rafters who flee Cuba simply disappear, but when bodies are found,
they often have no documents, leaving a puzzle of scars, tattoos,
surgeries and clothing.
Sometimes, relatives in the U.S. emerge and can provide a DNA match.
Others remain unidentified, and since Florida law forbids their
cremation, the bones are stored in morgues for years. The Broward morgue
has bodies dating back to the 1970s. Many others are buried in paupers'
cemeteries after DNA is extracted, labeled only by a number, "and we
never know that those rafters didn't get lost at sea," said Ramon Saul
Sanchez, president of the Democracy Movement exile group.
Identifying these bodies has become a priority again for Florida's
medical examiners amid a 75-percent increase this year in the number of
Cubans trying to cross by sea. At least 3,722 Cubans have been
intercepted or made it to U.S. shores in the last fiscal year.
The U.S. Coast Guard has intercepted 72,771 Cubans at sea in the last
three decades. Thousands of others made it to U.S. shores or were
prevented by Cuban authorities from leaving. Scholars estimate at least
1 in 4 Cuban rafters don't survive, which could mean 18,000 have died.
In August, 32 migrants left Manzanillo, on Cuba's southern shore, and
were stranded at sea for nearly a month. When Mexican fishermen found
them in early September, only 15 were still alive. The others tried to
swim to shore, or their bodies were dropped into the water.
The four bodies found off the Florida coast Aug. 24 received less
attention. There were no survivors to tell their story. But then Sanchez
began receiving calls from Cuba: A group of nine rafters had pushed off
near Havana five days earlier. No one had heard from them since.
Sanchez gathered their U.S. relatives — some distant cousins — and went
to the Broward morgue, where investigators asked for any physical
details they could recall.
Aliandi Garcia remembered that his uncle Jose Ramon Acosta, 35, had a
scar after brain surgery for epileptic seizures. Then investigators
showed him Acosta's shirt — it was gray, with a red Puma logo — the very
same shirt Garcia had given his uncle when he left Cuba a year before.
Two others — Alberto Gonzales Mesa, 25, and Guillermo Enrique Buitrago
Milanes, 45 — were identified by their tattoos.
The fourth wore that gold-colored Orient brand watch, now clouded by
seawater. The family of Junier Fernandez Hernandez, 32, immediately
recognized it as a present given to the dead man's father.
Andres Diaz was never able to meet his cousin in life, but he has a
small headshot image of Hernandez, dressed sharply in a suit and tie,
taken for a passport the Cuban government denied.
"He died trying to come to this country," Diaz said. "We're going to
bury him here."
_
Follow Christine Armario on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cearmario
Source: Cuba stalemate makes identifying rafters difficult - The
Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/cuba-stalemate-makes-identifying-rafters-difficult/2014/10/26/173fc868-5d21-11e4-827b-2d813561bdfd_story.html
For US and Cuba, the space between
For US and Cuba, the space between
by Julia Cooke
Last week, at a conference about reporting in Cuba held at Columbia
University, a writer talked about dealing with Cuban officials — a few
panels were conducted off-the-record, underlining the double-speak that
dominates discussion of Cuba, even when it takes place below the Tiffany
glass of Columbia's Pulitzer Hall. In her many years on the island, the
writer said, there had always been a disparity between the narrative
about Cuba and what her eyes told her, the daily evidence provided by
supermarket shelves, household gossip, jobs and transportation.
Over the course of three days of talks by writers, academics, and
policy-makers —including writers Jon Lee Anderson, Ann Louise Bardach,
historian Louis Perez, former Presidential advisor Dan Restrepo, and
many more — it became clear that the sentiment also refers to how Cuba
is discussed in the United States. Even as expert after expert confirmed
that support for the trade and travel embargo sits at an all-time low
among both politicians and the American public, they confirmed that the
act of Congress required to fully dismantle it wouldn't happen anytime
soon. Yet, experts also pointed out that the six months between
November's midterm elections and next April's Summit of the Americas
stand as a window in which the unpredictable could, potentially, occur.
"We should just do it, unilaterally," said ex-White House council Greg
Curtis, sketching out steps that President Obama could take, no strings
attached, to render the embargo toothless. Personally attend the Summit
of the Americas in Panama, where Raúl Castro will be in attendance, for
one. Re-establish diplomatic relations with the country. Take Cuba off
the list of state sponsors of terrorism, to which it was added in 1982
for supporting Latin American groups designated as terrorist by the U.S.
— something Cuba no longer does. Lift travel restrictions for all
Americans, a step long-supported by members of Congress from both sides
of the aisle, including Massachusetts' Rep. Jim McGovern, D, Arizona's
Sen. Jeff Flake, R.
Here are others who've come out against the embargo in the last few
months: Hillary Clinton, Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist,
and the entirety of the New York Times editorial board, whose recent
editorial summarized the reasons for ending the embargo. Extend the time
period examined to a few years and account for double-speak, and that
list also includes Cuban-American businessman Carlos Saladrigas and
sugar tycoon Alfonso Fanjul, who reported after various visits to the
island that he'd invest in Cuba were it legal to do so. An open letter
to the President outlining the steps he could take under executive
authority to encourage change in Cuba via engagement garnered signatures
from a host of thinktankers, including Anne-Marie Slaughter and John
Negroponte.
Were this an issue on which the American public could vote, two separate
polls conducted this year confirm that the embargo would not be long for
this world. The 2014 FIU Cuba Poll revealed that almost three-quarters
of Cubans living in Miami-Dade County believe that the embargo has not
worked. "Cubans may be intransigent, but we're not stupid," said
Guillermo Grenier, FIU sociology professor and the poll's author, as he
presented its results. Peter Schechter, director of the Atlantic
Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, reported that 63 percent
of Florida favors changing U.S. policy toward Cuba. "Polls don't usually
give you 65 percent," he said. "The notion that Florida is a poisoned
chalice that no politician can touch is not true anymore."
Within this context, the U.S.'s elected officials seem to be the party
generating a narrative that doesn't match the evidence provided by the
American public: widespread skepticism of the embargo's efficacy, a
desire to engage Cuba, and the acknowledgement of how useful investment
can be to coax change along. Come November, will voters reveal that they
want the storyline united with its reality?
Source: For US and Cuba, the space between | Al Jazeera America -
http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/10/26/cuba-us-summit-americas.html
by Julia Cooke
Last week, at a conference about reporting in Cuba held at Columbia
University, a writer talked about dealing with Cuban officials — a few
panels were conducted off-the-record, underlining the double-speak that
dominates discussion of Cuba, even when it takes place below the Tiffany
glass of Columbia's Pulitzer Hall. In her many years on the island, the
writer said, there had always been a disparity between the narrative
about Cuba and what her eyes told her, the daily evidence provided by
supermarket shelves, household gossip, jobs and transportation.
Over the course of three days of talks by writers, academics, and
policy-makers —including writers Jon Lee Anderson, Ann Louise Bardach,
historian Louis Perez, former Presidential advisor Dan Restrepo, and
many more — it became clear that the sentiment also refers to how Cuba
is discussed in the United States. Even as expert after expert confirmed
that support for the trade and travel embargo sits at an all-time low
among both politicians and the American public, they confirmed that the
act of Congress required to fully dismantle it wouldn't happen anytime
soon. Yet, experts also pointed out that the six months between
November's midterm elections and next April's Summit of the Americas
stand as a window in which the unpredictable could, potentially, occur.
"We should just do it, unilaterally," said ex-White House council Greg
Curtis, sketching out steps that President Obama could take, no strings
attached, to render the embargo toothless. Personally attend the Summit
of the Americas in Panama, where Raúl Castro will be in attendance, for
one. Re-establish diplomatic relations with the country. Take Cuba off
the list of state sponsors of terrorism, to which it was added in 1982
for supporting Latin American groups designated as terrorist by the U.S.
— something Cuba no longer does. Lift travel restrictions for all
Americans, a step long-supported by members of Congress from both sides
of the aisle, including Massachusetts' Rep. Jim McGovern, D, Arizona's
Sen. Jeff Flake, R.
Here are others who've come out against the embargo in the last few
months: Hillary Clinton, Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist,
and the entirety of the New York Times editorial board, whose recent
editorial summarized the reasons for ending the embargo. Extend the time
period examined to a few years and account for double-speak, and that
list also includes Cuban-American businessman Carlos Saladrigas and
sugar tycoon Alfonso Fanjul, who reported after various visits to the
island that he'd invest in Cuba were it legal to do so. An open letter
to the President outlining the steps he could take under executive
authority to encourage change in Cuba via engagement garnered signatures
from a host of thinktankers, including Anne-Marie Slaughter and John
Negroponte.
Were this an issue on which the American public could vote, two separate
polls conducted this year confirm that the embargo would not be long for
this world. The 2014 FIU Cuba Poll revealed that almost three-quarters
of Cubans living in Miami-Dade County believe that the embargo has not
worked. "Cubans may be intransigent, but we're not stupid," said
Guillermo Grenier, FIU sociology professor and the poll's author, as he
presented its results. Peter Schechter, director of the Atlantic
Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, reported that 63 percent
of Florida favors changing U.S. policy toward Cuba. "Polls don't usually
give you 65 percent," he said. "The notion that Florida is a poisoned
chalice that no politician can touch is not true anymore."
Within this context, the U.S.'s elected officials seem to be the party
generating a narrative that doesn't match the evidence provided by the
American public: widespread skepticism of the embargo's efficacy, a
desire to engage Cuba, and the acknowledgement of how useful investment
can be to coax change along. Come November, will voters reveal that they
want the storyline united with its reality?
Source: For US and Cuba, the space between | Al Jazeera America -
http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/10/26/cuba-us-summit-americas.html
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