Category: Translator: Norma Whiting

In addition to all this, he is calling for Latin American and Caribbean nations to help Colombia confront the last decade’s flow of “humanitarian exodus” of Colombians to Venezuela, as they flee “from drug trafficking, paramilitaries, war, famine, homelessness and inhumanity.” Maduro chose to be discreet about the increasing emigration of his nationals to the United States and other destinations, as well as shortages, rising poverty, violence, insecurity and the power of armed groups known as “colectivos” in Venezuela, who kill, terrorize and repress with total impunity.

Meanwhile, the Colombian President has accused his Venezuelan counterpart of causing the humanitarian crisis on the border, by deporting (“repatriating”) over a thousand Colombians settled in Venezuelan soil in that area, and also precipitating the exodus of another 7,000, who chose to return to Colombia rather than to suffer the same fate as their compatriots.

Maduro chose to be discreet about the increasing emigration of his nationals to the United States and other destinations, as well as shortages, rising poverty, violence, insecurity and the power of armed groups known as “colectivos”

At the same time, it has become known that Colombian authorities are prepared to grant citizenship to Venezuelans who are a part of the Colombian families deported by Maduro.
In the midst of such a delicate situation, which must be settled at the September 3rd meeting of the Union of South Nations (UNASUR), after Colombia’s failed request for a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of American States (OAS), analysts are wondering how the diplomatic conflict between the two governments will affect talks on the peace process between the Colombian Government and representatives of the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) being held in Havana, in which the Venezuelan government is acting as mediator.

Another conjecture tat intrigues public opinion is the role the government of Cuban General-President Raúl Castro will play in the conflict, given the close relationship and influence which, according to rumors, Havana supremacy brandishes over its Venezuelan counterpart. In any case, the absence of a clear official statement on the Cuban position on this conflict raises a few eyebrows.

However, it is known that the Palace of the Revolution octogenarians are masters of conspiracy, and generally choose to wait out the course of events and possible outcomes before making statements in order to adjust the tone and commitments according to their own interests.

Presumably, in sharp contrast to the chaos of the Venezuelan president, the Cuban General-President will try to maintain a reasonable balance.

However, it has also come to light that Cuban doctors on missions in Venezuela have received guidelines to act “in defense of the Bolivarian revolution” in case of an armed conflict and, according to the official Cuban media, Cuban doctors who carry out their professional duties in the border area of Táchira are continuing to provide their services without interruption, despite the “state of emergency” declared by President Nicolas Maduro, counter to the irregularities that have taken place from this conflict.

Nor is difficult to guess on whose side the sympathies of the leadership of the Cuban power rest, especially when there are reservations about the possible role it played in the steps taken by the Venezuelan president regarding the closure of the border there. In any case, Venezuela remains an important card to the Cuban government as long as there is no verified effective progress in its new relations with the US, and as long as the long-awaited investment of foreign capital in Cuba has not taken place.

We mustn’t forget that the forces that oppose “normalization” and the lifting of the embargo between the circles of political power in the US hang, like the sword of Damocles, over the controversial process of talks between Havana and Washington. Presumably, in sharp contrast to the chaos of the Venezuelan president, the Cuban General-President is trying to maintain a reasonable balance, weighing every step. A collision against Colombia and its allies may be as risky as turning its back on Chavez’s deranged heir. Because, as clearly as an old Spanish proverb indicates: A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred in flight.

Translated by Norma Whiting

There is so much national apathy here that Cubans are probably the only people who, instead of running away, stand around in a place where the possibility of a bomb exploding has just been announced. However, seeing that nothing was happening that was worthy of more attention, the crowd started to disperse gradually, and towards 6 PM there were barely a handful of neighbors hanging around, more entertained than concerned about an event that broke the neighborhood’s daily routine.

This was the moment this casual writer chose to innocently approach the security guard in charge of controlling the wrought iron fence at the market’s side entrance on Árbol Seco Street, to find out why they had closed before the regular time. “We have a special situation,” a very serious and circumspect guard responded. “And why is that, is there a fire, a new assault on Western Union, another gas leak like the one a few months back?”

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It belonged to a young man in his thirties who had quietly come over to us and had witnessed the brief dialogue. His Suzuki motorcycle, parked at the curb, by the sidewalk, betrayed his status as an agent of the State Security. He approached in a friendly and conciliatory – even condescending – manner: “No. We are going to tell this comrade the truth,” he directed his comment to the uniformed guard, who instantly turned into an unwelcome guest. Then, turning towards me, his hand still on my shoulder, informed me there was a “bomb threat” at the market, and, for security reasons, they had evacuated the place. The threat had been phoned in; they were not even sure whether the bomb had been placed at this store or at another one, so they had decided to close several shops since the previous day, as a precaution.

“Any Cuban might be a mercenary of the Islamic State. We have to be better informed, comrade! Don’t you know what the internet is?” the security dude told me.

I put on my best face of shock and disbelief. “A bomb… in Cuba? Are you sure about that? And if the threat has been known since yesterday, why is the market closed today? A lot of us could have blown up, right?” The agent began to lose his good demeanor and withdrew his affectionate hand from my shoulder: “But why are you surprised, comrade? Don’t you know there was an Italian tourist who died because of a bomb at a Cuban hotel?” I responded: OK, but that was a bomb, not a threat. As far as I know, nobody has placed a bomb in Cuba and later warned that he did. That is something you see in American movies. People who place bombs prefer to let them explode without warning.

By now the young man was showing real disgust with this exasperating inquisition. “Look, comrade, everyone knows that after the triumph of the Revolution there have been lots of bombs and counterrevolutionary terrorist attempts where lots of innocent people have died.” I nodded and added “You’re right, this thing about bombs is nothing new. Even before the Revolution there were revolutionary ‘Action and Sabotage’ groups of the July 26^th Movement that would place bombs and petards [pipe-bombs} in movie theaters, parks, and other public places.”

It was a low blow on my part, I know. This time, my impromptu instructor was momentarily speechless, he looked at me suspiciously and began to lose his temper, but he still did not quit his lesson. “Listen, comrade, you should get better informed. Look, if you have any relatives abroad, ask them to tell you what is in the cable news. There is a terrorist group called ISIS that has branches throughout the world, and Cuba has become part of the world and we are globalized, so any Cuban might be a mercenary of the Islamic State, just like the one that was going to place a bomb but was arrested in Florida recently. Are you listening? Ask your relatives to inform you. You need to get better informed, comrade, you have to get in tune with the times! Don’t you know what the internet is?”

“We need to consider that there are many in Florida who don’t want relations between Cuba and the US. I bet they have something to do with the bomb.”

That was the foot in the door I had been waiting for. ”Let me tell you something, young man, as far as I know, we Cubans are so well informed by Granma, all of the national media and Telesur that we don’t need any foreign news show, internet or any cable to know what is happening in Cuba and in the world. What’s more, if they don’t mention this in the national TV news, the business about the bomb is another enemy hoax to sow fear in the population. What’s more, I fail to see any team of firemen, cops, or street closings. People continue to circulate throughout the area and employees continue inside the market. What kind of bomb is it that can only kill customers?”

Obviously, the agent had no answer to that, so he ended the conversation and improvised a crumb: “That’s another matter. We need to consider that there are many in Florida who don’t want relations between Cuba and the US. I bet they have something to do with the bomb.”

I could not help laughing, “Well, finally! It had been slow in coming. So we no longer have an imperialist enemy and now we invent another one. OK. We need to keep up the belligerence somehow. What would happen to the Revolution if it became orphaned of its enemies?”

Suddenly, the young security dude realized that he had been the victim of a scam and scowled, but it was in vain. People around us laughed heartily. An old neighbor from across the street sealed the brief episode with a solemn sentence, “A bomb was placed 56 years ago but it has failed to explode!” A general peal of laughter was the most convincing popular judgment on this unusual “bomb threat” in the Carlos III Market.

Translated by Norma Whiting

In Cuba the Revolution’s social pact broke down; social spending diminished in important areas — like health or education — which ultimately were never rights, since they were not recoverable.

The Cuban opposition has focused heavily on the issue of human rights, which are deficient, but unimportant to the people. The left’s agenda, however, defends social rights. At least one sector of the left is headed down that path, as is the case, for instance, of the Observatorio Crítico which defends the social conquests and rights of workers; or Pedro Campos, who proposes participatory and democratic socialism.

Personally, I was helped a great deal by anarchism in criticizing the State and in understanding another kind of militancy, because I come from communism. During my anarchism years I lived and felt the rescue of solidarity and affection “from the bottom up.” My fondest memories are from those years I spent as a Professor at the University of Havana.

MC. Do you consider the changes Raul Castro has made in Cuba more a “betrayal” rather than an improvement of the “socialist model”?

Chaguaceda. It is not a betrayal. It is an update, a reform. A new model is being built which has continuities and changes in respect to the previous one. Political control over society and the lack of social pluralism continue. At the same time, society is being changed to be less dependent on the State and more diverse, but also poorer and more unequal. Meanwhile, the market allocates goods and services in the economy to those who can pay.

“The Cuban opposition has focused heavily on the issue of human rights, which are deficient but unimportant to the people.”

MC. Can someone be liberal, right-wing, bourgeois or annexationist and still have good relations with Chaguaceda?

Chaguaceda. Yes. I have relatives and friends across the political spectrum, but we share values and feelings as human beings. It is important to understand and to defend that concept in a country that has been polarized and politicized for decades.

MC. To reform or to overthrow?

Chaguaceda. Do I advocate violence? In principle, I don’t. Violence is always imposed from the authorities when people are denied other avenues and freedoms, and that violence often claims the lives of the poorest and most powerless. Other times, when violence prevails as a revolutionary movement, it ends up exalting the previously subversive and establishing new dominance.

But, additionally, for ethical reasons, I cannot ask of others to do something I never did. In my years of political life in Cuba, in the official organizations, in the emerging activism and in my writings as a public intellectual, always I ventured to use “the correct place, time and means*” [chuckles], peacefully and appealing to the laws and the rights to promote the causes I believed in.

MC. How do you evaluate the process of negotiations between Cuba and the United States?

Chaguaceda. As something inevitable and understandable, given the failure of the isolationist agenda and from the legitimate interests of the US government towards its entrepreneurs and citizens. That does not mean that international support for democratization and respect for human rights in Cuba must be subordinated to geopolitical interests. I think it must be, above all, a citizen cause of activists, organizations, movements and, in the case of Cuba, it should have the participation of Latin American governments.

MC. How much has the Mexican experience enriched and changed you?

Chaguaceda.The Mexican experience has impacted me in various ways. First, I met a country, a culture and a people of immeasurable wealth, where I was able to develop an eight year career and academic training. But it has also helped me to understand rampant inequality and everyday violence. All legal structure and constitutional democracy is empty of meaning for the common people at the bottom.

In Mexico I have also gotten to know theoretical and practical movements in the fight for human rights which I did not catch in their proper level in my years in Cuba. And when I see cases of gross violations of human rights from the testimony of the victims, I realize that no violation is preferable to another, but – in the extreme — different conditions and guarantees to exercise your rights.

“When violence succeeds as a revolutionary movement, it ends up exalting the previously subversive and establishing new dominance.”

Physical murder may exist in some places, and, in others, civic murders. But from the experience of the repressed, any violation of rights, whatever the legitimating principle invoked to carry it out (the fight against terrorism or against “the mercenaries of the Empire**,” for example), is to be condemned.

MC. In your speech you did a report on the state of political science in Cuba. Could you summarize what you pose in it?

Chaguaceda. First, compared with other social sciences, development of political science lags significantly, both organizationally and in the theoretical-methodological, as well as in the dissemination in the results of research. Stalinist dogmas and abuses of guidelines persist, lacking empirical support. As a result, it becomes more like political philosophy than political sociology, and that brands the styles of all of us whose formative years were spent in Cuba.

However, previously excluded topics are surfacing in academic places and in alternative forums, the use of investigative techniques and the gathering and processing of data is becoming more rigorous, and legible work, without cryptic codes is being acknowledged by Latin America academia. We have challenges, such as reading and quoting “those inside” and “those outside”; overcoming the self-centered suspicion that lives in some of the former and the pedantic realism of those who, from abroad, believe there is no worthy work to be recognized and valued in those internal conditions.

Translator’s notes:
*A phrase used by the regime with regards to where when and how the Communist Party and the regime may be criticized.
**Also a phrase of the regime claiming that internal opposition members are being paid by the United States — “the empire” — to overthrow the Cuban government.

Translated by Norma Whiting

The amount the Cuban government has established as compensation “to the people” exceeds $100 billion, though it is not known what indicators were used to calculate it.

The Cuban government, in turn, is demanding that American authorities “compensate the Cuban people for over $100 billion in human and economic damages caused by US policies,” referring to economic constraints imposed by the commercial and financial embargo that has weighed on the Island (the so-called “genocide”), as well as other damages resulting from “terrorist attacks”. The total that the Cuban Government has established exceeds $100 billion, although it is not known how or who came up with the process of quantification of the damages.

Up until recently, Cubans “in Cuba” have feared the supposed danger of the nearly 6,000 compensation claims registered in the US at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, its acronym in English). A quasi-war cry that emerged from the official discourse, when stating that those once termed “siquitrillados”* — hat despicable gang of “bourgeois and stateless softies” who stole the wealth that belonged to the humble people and then took refuge under the shadow of Cuba’s worst enemy — were trying to recuperate what they had lost under the weight of revolutionary justice. That is to say, in the event revolutionary power might cease, thousands of Cuban families would be left homeless when the former owners took back their real properties and evicted them from their buildings. At the same time, children would be left without schools and there would not be enough hospitals, jobs, etc.

The fear was so deep that until now the specter of eviction, unemployment and other possible losses worries not just a few families

And, while that was the message to Cubans on the island in the late 90’s, the government, with its exhausted coffers, sent reassuring signals to foreign investors interested in Cuba as a market, reassuring them that they would be willing to negotiate “fair” compensation with the victims of those old expropriations.

But fear, that indispensable tool of every totalitarian power, had penetrated so deeply into the common people’s psyche that, to date, the specter of eviction, of unemployment and of some other possible losses worries not just a few of the families who live in properties built before 1959 or who work at establishments and factories that Fidel Castro’s government seized decades ago. It is expected, therefore, that the issue of “claims and compensation” of the current negotiating agenda will awaken a higher expectation among Cubans than the modicum of (harmless) novelties that have been presented so far in the framework of political strife currently taking place.

Every Cuban is familiar with those huge posters displaying mysterious mathematical calculations which, however, nobody understands. Such language is often seen declaring how many books, notebooks, medicines or sport equipment have not been acquired for each number of days of the “blockade” (embargo) against Cuba.

Cubans should be getting their calculators ready to determine the exact amount of compensation that the “revolutionary” government should pay us.

The figures are usually astronomical, but the basic criteria and indicators are completely unknown. That is, exactly what is the equivalent of one day of US embargo if measured in notebooks? What are these notebooks and how are their prices calculated? Something similar happens with even more subjective issues, such as the amounts the US owes Cubans who have been victims of violence or terrorism in acts of sabotage taking place during these years.

However, it is absolutely fair to demand compensation for damages in either case. For this reason, and because the scenario seems conducive to reconciliation, Cubans should be getting our calculators ready to determine exactly what amounts of compensation the “Revolutionary” government should pay us for all the wars they got us involved in, where thousands of our fellow countrymen died, how much for the destruction of the national economic infrastructure, how much for the waste of public funds based on ideology, how much for the parades, for the poverty, for the emigration, for shattering our country and the Cuban family, for so many useless “battles,” for the fraud they call Revolution, for the lives lost in the Florida Straits, for the sinking of the 13 de Marzo tugboat, for the repression, moral damages, persecution, exclusions, prohibitions, low wages, inflation, monetary duality, for snatching our freedom, and for the curtailment of our rights.

Let’s test it out, and in the style of those experiments the beloved General-President loves so much. I propose that we prepare, slowly but surely, a list of our losses over 56 years of dictatorship, and calculate their cost. Our list of demands is sure to be endless, but the sum of the total compensation they owe us is simply beyond price.

*Translator’s note” Siquitrilla: wishbone. Those who lost property in early years of the revolution, or who “ended up with the short end of the (their own) wishbone.”

Translated by Norma Whiting

On that occasion, the mere presence of that media commissioner set off alarms in the actors guild, especially in the surviving victims of the ill-fated Quinquenio Gris [The Five Grey Years], leading to the first open and uncontrolled intellectual debate, which took place on the emerging e-mail cyberspace, and came to question the cultural policy of the Revolution, outlined by Fidel Castro in his menacing and infamous speech known as Palabras a los Intelectuales [Words to the Intellectuals].

In 2007, the “little war of emails” made clear the fissure in the traditional pact of submissiveness of the artistic-intellectual sector to the cultural policy of the Government

Finally, after weeks of e-mails exchanged in ever escalating tones of criticism, the controversy was sealed in a closed-door meeting held at the House of the Americas, led by the then minister of culture, Abel Prieto, and a select group of participants of the peculiar debate. The protesting voices were silenced with some minor concessions to the better-known figures, and the frantic exchange of e-mails ended as suddenly as it had begun.

However, the “little war of e-mails” managed to set one important precedent, among others, because of two essential factors: it made clear the fissure of the traditional pact of submissiveness of the artistic-intellectual sector to the cultural policy of the Government, and new information technologies and communications were used for the benefit of free thought for the first time in Cuba, circumventing government censorship. It is not coincidental that shortly afterwards, in 2007, an emergence of true freedom of expression took place with the emergence of the first independent blogs that have caused so many headaches to the repressors.

Juan Carlos Cremata, the controversial director of film and theater, has already experienced the pressure of censorship from the commissioners of official art before, due to his strong preference for uncomfortable topics of the Cuban reality, and his incisive and direct manner in addressing them. Since his directorial debut with the film Nada [Nothing] (1995), where he successfully used comedy as means to deal with the drama of emigration, the intransigence of a female official, and the love of a young couple in the midst of the shortages of the economic crisis of the 90’s, he won the approval of the national public to such an extent that, since that time, he has carried on with close ties with film and theatre as well as with the attention of the ideological inquisitors.

Cremata has already experienced the pressure of censorship of the commissioners of official art before, due to his strong preference for uncomfortable topics of the Cuban reality

Despite this, Nada won the Premio Coral de Opera Prima at the 23rd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in 2001, in addition to other international awards.

After that, there were other movies, among them, the renown feature film Viva Cuba, also the recipient of international awards, and several other short films denoting the caustic and questioning style ascribed to this filmmaker by the preference of the Cuban public and by the hostility the censors.

Crematorium 1 at Last… Evil, stands out among these works: a synthetic portrait of contemporary Cuba through an acid and biting satire of the rigidity and hypocrisy of the ideological dogmas imposed on society whose script, from start to finish, explicitly questions the loss of social values and the spuriousness of the moral foundations of the system. Crematorium has never aired on TV or been on film circuits billboards, but it has circulated widely among Cuba’s public through informal distribution networks, largely thanks to the interest that the forbidden often arouses.

Censorship only reinforces the message it tried to invalidate, in identifying King Eggplant the First with the Cuban ex-president – both are decadent, exhausted and obsolete

On the other hand, Cremata’s performance as a theater director has also had its obstacles. According to his own account, four years ago, in the same Tito Junco Auditorium, the play La Hijastra [The Stepdaughter], a work he directed, was interrupted, that season after 14 shows.

There have been allusions to excessive, unnecessary vulgarity on stage. In fact, Cremata supports the use of “foul language that is, excessive, irreverent (which is not the same as disrespectful), iconoclastic, rebellious and sometimes vulgar or profane.”

However, this argument could be put forward as the cause of censorship, particularly when vulgarity is a credential letter of the system and is legitimized by cultural officials, as demonstrated abroad in gross acts of repudiation against the representatives of Cuba’s independent civil society, orchestrated and directed during the last Summit of the Americas in Panama by many of those same jealous caretakers of the “national culture,” including the former minister of culture, Abel Prieto, the pseudo-intellectual Miguel Barnet (a so-called “anthropologist”) and the president of the Hermanos Saíz Association, such a grayish character that I could not even remember his name.

Paradoxically, the current instance of censorship against The King is Dying merely reinforces the message it is trying to invalidate, by identifying the play’s main character, King Eggplant the First, with the Cuban ex-president — they are both decadent, willful, exhausting and obsolete — even more so when the president of Cuban Theater Arts, Gisela Gonzalez, described the staging in terms of “treason” or “political lampoon”.

How could we ignore the many “cultural events” that are based on similar acts of repudiation against Cuba’s peaceful opposition in which certain art instructors even enroll primary school children? Can we possibly imagine greater vulgarity than what is being promoted by the administrations of our cultural institutions? Is there greater vulgarity than the censorship itself of freedom of creation and of thought?

A discrete, though growing transition has begun to take place in the consciousness of our best artists and creative individuals, and it is a contagious pandemic

The truth is that, when he directed this theatrical season with the intention of “talking about resistance to change,” Cremata ended up surpassing the uncomfortable subject category and reaching that of intolerable creator in the taxonomy of the cultural curator, one that is, precisely, the entrenched forefront of that resistance.

Cremata states: “I defend, above all, a plurality of readings in what I pursue or dream about, because, in some way, it encourages and obsesses me as artist, thinker and human being.” A principle that completely denies the exclusionary nature of a system that has imposed what the artist ironically defined as “limited independence”, “ration-book freedom” and other epithets. But it clearly defines, at the same time, the fascist nature of the official censorship.

When he warns his (our) censors that these are times when “a pandemic of freedom is flooding our senses” Cremata states what many of us have been suspecting all along: a discrete, though growing transition has begun to take place in the consciousness of our best artists and creative individuals, and it is a contagious pandemic, especially because it flows from voices that can exert a greater and deeper influence over society than any program or opposition march. Thus, the actions of the repressors become more visible and self-defeating.

Now we’ll just have to wait and see if Cremata’s letter becomes the trigger for the demands that our best Cuban creative artists have been making in the last few years, and whether it will unleash another debate involving these and other rights, or if another deep silence will turn it in an epilogue of what could have been the beginnings of a new intellectual polemic.

*Translator’s note: The play has been staged in the United States under the title “Exit the King”

Translated by Norma Whiting

Under the scorching midday heat it was already evident that “something” had failed and –lacking any information- speculation became more frequent. “They must be configuring the system so it will not crash when service starts” argued a twenty-something young man that had spent hours searching for the expected signal on his phone. Others around him kept trying, while disappointment grew as the hours passed. Everyone had purchased their Nauta cards for this occasion, and they had activated their accounts to allow international navigation.

Already under the scorching midday heat it was evident that “something” had failed and –lacking any information- speculation became more frequent

By the afternoon, the number of potential Internet users grew a bit. The most persistent were about a dozen teenagers, who wanted to sign onto Facebook and Twitter to chat with friends who live abroad. A 17 year old girl claimed that although she had bought a card at the nearby Habana Libre Hotel, she could not connect without the hotel’s password. “It’s telling me that I need to have the hotel’s access code, but they did not mention that to me, or give me the code when I bought the card”.

Several vendors at the well-known craft fair, Feria de La Rampa “had known” unofficially that the network would only start operations “from July 2^nd… or after the 10^th”. As is the norm in Cuba, nobody knew exactly what difficulties had prevented the network’s activation. Tania, a custom jewelry seller, said she sporadically checked her phone to see if she could finally get a signal, until a friend who works at the Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión came by and told her that there would be no Wi-Fi signal because of a “technical problem”, a worn-out phrase which is strictly true in the Cuban circumstance. In fact, Nauta mail had problems since mid-morning, connecting intermittently and not allowing images or attachments to be viewed.

By afternoon’s end it was already clear the expected Wi-Fi signal would not be available on La Rampa, at least not on the promised date, and even the more optimistic users felt frustrated and put away their phones. “These people are always lying to us, that’s why nobody ever believes anything they say”, stated Joan, a college student who has been my companion today thorough this failed attempt at web-navigation. He is upset and is not hiding it. “You see this? They can’t even set up a Wi-Fi network which they charge us a lot for, besides. But no, just try to connect for free at the US Interests Office in Havana and they expel you from the University, they hold a meeting and label you as a traitor.” Then he leaves, grumbling, down La Rampa.

“Americans are going to set up a nice web room, all for free. And they won’t be able to tell us that it would be a bad thing, because we are now friends aren’t we?”

There are also the irredeemable optimists, who have an extra dose of fantasy. Roberto is another young man, but did not complete school. He drives the Coppelia-Vívora route of an almendrón [a vintage car fixed-route taxi] for a living. He says, “As soon as they reopen the embassy (on July 20^th) Americans will set up a nice web room all for free, just wait and see. And they won’t be able to tell us that it would be a bad thing, because we are now friends, aren’t we? I want to view all about the Major Leagues on the internet.” What’s amazing is that there is no malice or suspicion in his demeanor, as if what he expects were a done deal.

The worst part of it? The indifference of some who simply shrugged: another day without Internet, who cares? Time is a dimension that only acquires real value beyond the wall of Havana’s Malecón which the Telecommunications Company, monopoly of the Cuban government, set as limit for the Wi-Fi, but that, in truth, continues to be the border between Havana and the real world.

Translated by Norma Whiting

The gathering was enlivened by American entertainers, who performed traditional Cuban and American music.

The simultaneous presence of members of independent civil society and of well-known personalities of the national culture has been evolving into a healthy trend that has been implemented in celebrations organized by the Interests Section, thus creating room for tolerance and mutual respect in a relaxed atmosphere, though, overall, certain distrust persists on both sides.

Perhaps for the 240th US Independence Day anniversary we will have the unusual image of the bird on its structure with the marble columns, paradoxically close to the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal

Of course, most of the discussions were focused on the new relations between Cuba and its neighbor to the north, the imminent opening of the US embassy, and frequent speculations about what the current dialogue and “normalization” process, initiated last December, might mean for the lives of Cubans in the medium term. An atmosphere of cautious optimism prevailed, though those who are more knowledgeable on policy issues recognize that the current situation within Cuba is complex and delicate.

White roses adorned the surroundings, while the crowd of invited guests was presented with fans with the US flag on them, to mitigate the heat that prevailed in the gardens of the residence of the head of the US Interests Section, where the reception was held.

There, at the back of the beautiful park, the bold eagle, symbol of the “enemy” nation, stands proud, and now extends an olive branch to Cubans. This is the first bronze sculpture crowning the monument to the victims of the USS Maine. The bronze eagle was struck down by the hurricane that hit Havana in 1926; the sculpture which replaced it fell under the onslaught of the other major hurricane, the 1959 revolution, and now head of the eagle can be found on the wall of the conference room at the Cuban Interests Section building, while the Historian for the City of Havana treasures the rest of the body.

It has been said that only when Cuba and the United States rekindle the path of harmony the two parts of the bald eagle would be reassembled and placed anew on its pedestal, by the sea at the Malecón, peering at the horizon. If this prophecy is fulfilled, perhaps for the 240^th Independence Day anniversary we will have the unusual image of the bird on its structure with the marble columns, paradoxically close to the Tribunal Anti-Imperialista and the Monte de las Banderas.

Translated by Norma Whiting

Neither happy nor too profound

Formerly, the official speech coined a Guevara phrase defining Cuban youth, “Happy but profound.” However, the article by Juventud Rebelde assures us that in a survey conducted on a sample of 40 young people between 14 and 19 of age, residing in the capital and in four other regions of the Island, it was evident that, though they are aware of the health risks of narcotics, “most” associate it with a social activity, and consume them at discotheques, parks, festivities and they even take “pills” at school or at home. Such are the ways the failed children of “the New Man” find happiness

Over half a century of indoctrination to purify four generations of revolutionaries have not been enough, and young Cubans have surrendered to that other noxious influence of the consumer society: drugs. We must ask ourselves how many of those who march each year towards the Fragua Martiana Museum carrying torches or those who join in youth battalions of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution will be destined to combat and eradicate this new enemy that attacks us from within, drug use.

Drug use has become one of the ways to find joy for the failed children of the “New Man”

In any case, we know how useful the most wholesome youth can be when it comes to joining in those battles of the revolution, as was demonstrated in the past decade, when an army of young social workers* knocked themselves out in the urgent task of wiping out the roots of corruption. We can still recall the sassiness on their faces at the gas pump, trafficking happily in the hydrocarbons of their beloved mentor, Fidel Castro.

Without cause and without solutions

Juventud Rebelde’s article barely shows the tip of the iceberg, judging by a specialist in forensic medicine, who says that “consumption (of alcohol) mixed with medication is a fairly common group practice in recent times,” difficult to quantify because “alcohol consumption is often diagnosed, but it is very difficult to know if it has been combined with some psychotropic drug” due to the lack of controls and corresponding clinical examinations.

That leads directly to another question. If drug use has spread in such an epidemic fashion among young people, is it not time to set in this dazzling medical world power the necessary clinical procedures to find out what types of substances have been ingested by those who come to the health care centers, to identify trends and implement the most appropriate medical procedures, for both emergency treatment and a process of rehabilitation? What happened to that fabulous anti-drug laboratory — “the largest in the region” — perfectly equipped, which, in the brutal 90’s the Cuban president had constructed to demonstrate our purity as a sport nation? Why not devote the necessary resources to get this new scourge that hovers ever stronger over the Island out of the way, especially when payment for the services of the contingents of physicians services sub-contracted abroad is one of the most juicy foreign exchange net earnings in the country?

Is it not time to establish in this dazzling medical world power the clinical procedures to detect what types of substances have been ingested?

Meanwhile, the Juventud Rebelde article makes reference to the increasing use of drugs and alcohol in Cuba as if it were just another trend in line with global standards. It is, in short, a global scourge, and in this Cubans are also in tune with the rest of the world. So our young people are simply seeking “to escape reality,” which should not be expected of a just and happy society like ours, where everyone is guaranteed a bright future, very different from that of the wretched people who scrape by in decadent capitalist societies.

What’s more, it is known that drug use is also associated with alcoholism and smoking, another two of the national pandemics. But this is certainly not related to the fact that Cuba is one of the leading producers of tobacco, or that rum is one of the few industries that has survived the voracious predatory social system imposed on the island since January of 1959.

For now, Juventud Rebelde does not venture too far into the analysis of the causes, or of solutions. However, we should not get too far ahead of ourselves. This article last Sunday was only the first installment on the topic in the “Journal of Cuban Youth.” In the next installments we will certainly be able to discover some ingenious proposals that will fill us with hope.

*Translator’s note: These are young people performing their “social service,” not social workers in the sense of a life’s career.

Translated by Norma Whiting

Beyond the blatant disregard of those studying under the auspices of the US government, the “Emerging President*”, a graduate of who-knows-where, does not seem to rely too much on the strength of his media monopoly or in its capacity to influence the masses despite the proven loyalty of its hired scribes. For this reason he “is worried” – his own words – about this exchange of journalism courses and conferences that run outside the classrooms, so strictly controlled by the government, where many graduates get more credit for their demonstrations of loyalty to the regime than for their academic achievements or their talents.

Brief historical look at the “harmful” American influence in Cuba

An article appearing on the last page of the newsaper Granma (The Teachers’ Lessons, Ronald Suárez Rivas, Wednesday May 13, 2015) supports what is already emerging as a new ideological crusade against American “penetration,” so crucial at this time when the government of the Island strives to make peace with its historic enemy.

The work in question goes back more than 115 years ago when, as part of the US intervention in Cuba, after the end of the war of independence from 1895 to 1898, the US government took the initiative to “contribute to training a group of Cuban teachers, and, as if it had been against their will, they “were taken” to the United States.

But, of course, collaborating in the field of education was not “the true intentions” of the northern government, but “one of Washington’s first concrete actions in the ideological field, intended to directly influence the Cuban people” according to the words of a local historian, quoted by the Granma scribe.

In an effort to rewrite history to suit the Castro-ocracy, important details have been omitted that show that the US influence in Cuba was not all absolutely negative

Obviously, in their wish to rewrite Cuba’s history according to the Castro-ocracy’s taste, both the journalist and the official historian omit some important details recorded by renowned writers and other personalities of the time, documented in the Cuban National Archives, showing that the US influence on the Island had already penetrated deeply, long before the military intervention in the Spanish-Cuban-American war took place. Documents, that, in addition, show that the US intervention was not an absolutely negative event.

An event should be mentioned that, at the time, marked the sensibility of the Cuban people in a special way, and earned the gratitude and affection of the poorest sectors: the assistance provided by the US government to the victims of the Reconcentración de Weyler** (1896-1898).

In early January 1898, at the request of the then president William McKinley, Clara Barton, president of the American Red Cross arrived in Cuba to organize the relief to the reconcentrados. She and the US consul in Havana, with the help of Bishop Santander, toured various towns and cities on the Island and were responsible for the coordination and distribution of food, clothing and medicine that began arriving by sea at the port of Havana, thanks to the solidarity bridge established by a Central Committee on Relief, spontaneously organized by the American people.

The philanthropy demonstrated by the Americans had the additional benefit of raising the awareness of the wealthy sectors on the Island of Cuba, which until then had remained indifferent to the scenes of death and desolation caused by the colonial government and intensified by the incendiary torch of the mambises***, both of which had ruined the Cuban countryside, seriously damaging food production.

It was then that some societies and leading Cuban personalities of the era began organizing fund raisers through dances, opera and theater events, raffles, bullfights, book sales and other activities in order to help the reconcentrados and charitable institutions responsible for helping the poorer sectors, suffering from hunger and epidemics due to their lack of resources.

The philanthropy demonstrated by the Americans had the additional benefit of raising the awareness of the wealthy sectors on the Island.

It is true that the US naval blockade, which began on April 22,1898 and ended on August 14th of that year, temporarily worsened the shortages and general poverty. However, just two months after the war’s end, the tireless Clara Barton was able to restart the bridge of essential help – interrupted since the beginning of the naval blockade — which this time would also be enough to provide help to the insurgent mambises, still camped out in rural villages.

The previous month, a flotilla from the US had already been established, responsible for at least partially supplying food to the markets. Though not enough, the aid from the US was the assistance that reached the Cuban people when they needed it the most.

Later on, the work of Clara Barton in Cuba were aimed at creating the basis for what eventually became the Cuban Red Cross and the first health system through the Casas de Socorro (Free emergency clinics) caring for the poor sectors.  Also under the hand of the occupying American army, important sanitation work took place, the engineering work of planning the new sewer and paving systems were started (its construction began in 1908 and ended in 1913), sanitary facilities were established, and the improvement of the aqueduct commenced.

The “Paused General’s” concern for the danger of US influence on Cubans through independent journalism is untimely

The list of benefits derived from the relationship between Cuba and the United States, going back to the history of our nation, would be too long to finish in one article. Suffice it to note that many poor families in Cuba in recent decades would not be able to survive shortages or escape extreme poverty if it were not for the remittances and aid arriving from that country, to which most Cubans looking for a promising future emigrate.

Beyond “the true intentions” of our powerful Northern neighbor, the “Paused General’s” concern over the danger of the biasing effect of the United States on Cuba through independent journalism is, at the very least, untimely. In reality, Cuba and the US never had more mutual interaction than in the last half a century, and perhaps never before did Cubans count on, with so much hope the prosperity that has always arrived from that country, and now, even more than ever, with over two million Cubans living on its soil. And it can be said, without a doubt, that this all took place thanks to the Cuban Revolution.

Translator’s notes:

*”Without haste, but without pause” has been a catch phrase for Raul Castro, in speaking of economic reforms in Cuba. “Emerging President” is a reference to a former program to fill classrooms lacking ‘regular’ teachers with “emerging teachers” – teenagers with hardly any training.

**Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, Duke of Rubí, Grandee of Spain was a Spanish general and Governor General of the Philippines and Cuba whose Weyler Reconcentration policy was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cubans and for the almost complete destruction of the countryside.

***Mambises (plural of mambí) refers to Cuban independence and Filipino guerrillas, who in the nineteenth century took part in the wars for the independence of Cuba and the Philippines against Spain.

Translated by Norma Whiting