Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Still in Custody / Yoani Sanchez

Translator’s note: The news of Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo’s arrest is beginning to appear on international news sites.  Also detained are his girlfriend, Silvia Corbelle Batista, and friend and fellow regime opponent Manuel Cuesta Morua.

1 hour: They told us in the Police Station that we are allowed to bring toiletries to OLPL, soap, toothpaste, and a towel… why don’t they free him?

3 hours: We are demanding they release OLPL. A group of us are pressuring in front of Section 21 and another in front of the El Cotorro Station.

3 hours: In front of the Cotorro Police Station we are congregating — some friends of OLPL — a small way to pressure.

 

Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Located / Yoani Sanchez

The police station where Orlando Luis Pardo Laza and his girlfriend Silvia are being held

1 minute: The station where OLPL and his girlfriend Silvia are being held.

31 minutes: We are arriving at the Cotorro Station still with no confirmation that OLPL is there. Attorneys from the Cuban Law Association are going to Section 21. [Readers: See post below]

54 minutes: We have been stopped by the police, they are surrounding the car and won’t let us continue. But we continue on foot.

1 hour: I called the 106 police number and they told me OLPL was taken to the Cotorro Station but still no confirmation.

Translator’s note: Tweets from others suggest additional people might have been arrested with OLPL and Silvia — we will confirm when we have information.

1 September 2012

Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Treated Like a Drug Kingpin or Terrorist / Yoani Sanchez

6 min ago: They have launched an operation against OLPL as if he were the drug kingpin or terrorist, when in reality he is a peaceful man, armed with words.
18 min ago: We are going to the Aguilera station to find out what is happening with OLPL. Aguilera Street at 9 de Abril and Lugareno, Lawton

Is Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Being Arrested Right Now? / Yoani Sanchez

Something is happening with OLPL, he has called me but all I hear are screams, I think he is being arrested.
OLPL was able to dial my number before they arrested him, now I can hear the sounds of a car, screams and warnings.
A man screams at OLPL. He still doesn’t know that in his [OLPL’s] pocket his cellphone is “open” and the sound of everything is coming to me.
I have this huge sense of “impotence” listening to the line as OLPL is arrested but I don’t know where he is, where they are taking him.

— ADDITION to ORIGINAL POST —

At least this time this gadget with keys and a screen has served to alert [us about] what is happening, but sadly it is not ENOUGH.

— SECOND ADDITION —

They’ve cut OLPL’s line; just before I heard screams but distorted by movement and distance. I have recorded a little…

Secrecy Shrouds Upcoming Trial in the Case of Oswaldo Paya’s Death / Yoani Sanchez

The “100 y Aldabo” police station in Havana where Andres Carromero is being held / ALEJANDRO ERNESTO (EFE)

We know that the trial of Angel Carromero — the Spaniard who was driving the car in when Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero were killed — will be held in Bayamo, 450 miles east of Havana. But we still don’t know when it will begin. Although Friday, August 31, was mentioned, the fact is that there has been no official notification. Diplomatic sources expect that the trial “will be held soon, but for now, there’s no date.”

The leader of the youth wing of the Spanish People’s Party (PP) is charged with reckless homicide and the prosecutor has asked for a prison sentence of seven years. According the official Cuban media version, Carromero was responsible for the accident that killed the two Cuban dissidents on July 22. The island press release stressed that Carromero was supposedly speeding on a road under repair and that this was the principle cause of his losing control of the car and hitting a tree.

Thus, he will be judged based on Article 177 of the current Penal Code, where it establishes that “the driver of a vehicle who, while breaking the laws and regulations governing transportation causes the death of a person, incurs the penalty of privation of liberty of from one to ten years.”

Nevertheless, the family of the leader of the Christian Liberation Movement does not accept the official explanation of the facts and has asked for an independent investigation.

Since the prosecution’s sentencing request was announced a few weeks ago, Carromero’s case has entered a stage of maximum discretion on the parts of both the Cubans and the Spanish, who have maintained silence with regards to the press. Various diplomatic sources consulted preferred to continue that reserve and remain “silent until the trial.”

The Spanish government is hoping that once the trial is concluded, Havana will expel the young politican or follow the treaty between the two governments regarding the serving of sentences. In that case, Carromero could serve his time in Spanish territory. However, we are far from knowing the final outcome.

It is likely that the ruling will not be disseminated immediately after the trial, but be delayed until after sentencing, which would mean waiting several days before knowing the outcome. Already, he has been in custody 40 days since the incident occurred.

Amid such secrecy, it is very difficult to confirm when the trial at the Granma Provincial Court will begin. I traveled there this Thursday and can confirm that, as August 31 dawned over Bayamo, the city appeared quiet. The early hours of the day began, in the heat of August, with the preparations for the start of the school year.

Numerous news agencies have traveled to Bayamo, intending to attend the trial, but it’s likely it will be held behind closed doors. Several passersby interviewed were unaware the trial was going to be held at the court there. However, they seemed to be aware of the events of July 22 which took the lives of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize winner, Oswaldo Paya, and his colleague in the struggle Harold Cepero.

Given the political background of the Carromero case, there is a visible anticipation in the international community and among island’s dissident activists as to what may happen in this case — quite complex and surrounded by questions.

31 August 2012

The Policy / Regina Coyula

For months retail stores have been short of two much-in-demand items—powdered detergent and floor mats. A few days ago a friend was waiting in line at theGalerías Paseo store to buy the elusivefloor mats. As she approached the counter, she noticed a printed sign that read, “SPECIAL OFFER —5 FLOOR CLOTHS PER PERSON FOR 80 CENTAVOS.” Some of the more naive people in line thought this meant that five floor clothes cost 80 centavos. The price was the same as usual. The limit on the number per customer was what was different. Nevertheless, a few enterprising types got in line to buy in bulk.

This, so far, is the context. My friend, amused by the misleading sign, got out her phone to take a picture. Suddenly, an employee approached and tried to stop her. My friend apologized for the mistake and asked the employee to show her where the notice was that indicated photos were not allowed, because she had not seen it. The employee hesitated. There was no sign, but it was “the policy.”

My friend, who knows about such things through programs—those that are broadcastwithout proper licensing byCuban television—replied that, if photos were not allowed, there must be a sign that explicitly stated this. The employee’s response was that “the policy” came from the manager’s office. And what was she taking photos for anyway?

My friend’s nephew, who was waiting in line with her and had not opened his mouth, suddenly turned the employee’s face white. “It’s to send to the Herald,” he said. Everyone there understood this to be a reference to none other than “the libelous mafia of ultra-rightists from Miami.”

Taking advantage of the employee’s desperation, my friend asked where the manager’s office was so that she could read “the policy.” This is how she found out that “the colonel” was the author of “the policy.” My friend was alleviating the boredom of everyone in line. “Please don’t tell me this is a military establishment!” she said.

“No, no, the manager is a civilian now!”

“Look, it’s not my fault that nowadaysall the managers are from the military,” she said. “It would be better if they worried about theft and embezzlement instead of a photo of a sign.”

My friend made me promise I would not use her name. I could not convince her under any circumstances to let me use the photo of the sign for this post.

August 31 2012

Shortage of Bubbles / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado

Washing powder has been missing from Havana for days. First the cheaper, less fragrant varieties bought by the average Cuban; then the more expensive ones: all washing powders — foreign-made or domestic — seem to have left on the evening train of inefficiency.

The self-employed people who sell goods in different places around the capital city, however, have the same imported washing powder that they usually sell in the state-owned foreign currency collection stores. Now the elderly and the people of all ages who devote their time to selling this product can be happy, since the strong demand for the cleaning agent has brought them higher revenue.

But those of us who, as eager as treasure hunters,go every day from here to there trying to buy groceries and cleaning productswonder about the real reason why private individuals have an imported article and the State doesn’t. Could it be that, once again, they want to take advantage of the oligopoly in order to sell their low-quality product? Or are they planning to increase all prices?

If we’ve had to climb on strange artifacts in order to emigrate and enjoy freedom outside of our homeland; if we’ve had to take part in “acts of repudiation” to insult those who struggle to defend our rights; if we’ve had to shower without soap and clean floors without floor cloths during the Special Period; we can just as well blow bubbles with our mouths, as long as we are able to produce saliva and whisper our fears.

At the end of the day, cleanliness in this model seems to be a mental state, linked to politics since 1959. The rest doesn’t matter.

Translated by: Ada

August 26 2012

Repeating Failure / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado

People tend to repeat actions and strategies that were successful, be it as individuals or as groups. Even governments, such as Cuba’s, sometimes show little creativity and don’t escape this facile practice of repeating and “taking hold” of well-used — and sometimes abused — tactics.

Thus, through the years, we have witnessed how from campaign to campaign — one of the synonyms of this vocabulary is “mission,” which the Chavez government in Venezuela uses — they steal time and resources from the country and the whole people. With their known skills and control for “spreading rumors” in society, they made us, and still make us, believe what is most convenient to their interests.

So, they divided families, and as if that rupture weren’t sufficient, they verbally abused and even humiliated those who wanted to leave Cuba. I remember many of the promises we were made as children, of the triumphalist utopias that never came true, of those “Three Kings” of social justice who never arrived. They atrophied our ability the right to oppose, to choose among several parties –or none — and they blockaded freedoms.

The conceived of the “Havana cordon” as a coffee plantation lost by whim and improvisation. They conceived the 10 Million Ton Sugar Harvest to improve the financial situation in Cuba and turned the entire nation to this effort. Then, more and more projects failed, campaigns failed — like a strong election campaign, but with only one candidate. From the perpetual deepening 53-year crisis — euphemistically called “the Special Period” — they created the “rectification of errors and negative tendencies” program to give hope to people of good will.

As time went on the dictatorial government had their cadres and society immersed in this new program. Then came the “perfection of business,” another gap of several years without questions because they are working to improve everything; and the result is more of the same: another period of mythological manipulation, propaganda and super-politicization of 360 degrees, which led us nowhere. And what happened to the Energy Revolution? Why is our electric service still cut off?

The saddest thing is that all these deceptive tasks and plans that they offer society have no deadlines. Unlike any serious proposal, they do not set dates or stages to achieve certain project milestones. And time passes and no one asks — much less publicly — about the results of the program.

With time the rhythm of these crippled plans is lost; among the corruption and inefficiency everything slows down and they come up with a new plan to reestablish the initial enthusiasm, a process like a video game, with bonds of permanence.

It seems there is no schedule or timer to the nonsense cooked up by the Cuban historical leadership, despite their many failures and setbacks. It seems that these repetitive manipulative schemes are sociological probes that continue to drain their failures, the wheel with which they draw water allowing them to stay afloat.

When his health stopped the “eternal guide” from continuing to lead the country and he ceded the post to his brothers, rumors of Raul reforms created expectations in society. But in the last two years the hereditary president has only proposed the Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution. He repeats the old procedure of introducing the demagogic catheter to ensure his continuity at the head of Cuba and welfare and positioning of his family members.

In February Raul Castro will complete his first five official years of leading the government and the national media has already announced elections in October. Who will be elected? As dictatorships always propose their continuation, before the event everyone is already sure of the results: there won’t be any surprises.


August 30 2012

Complicated Pathways / Fernando Damaso

Photo: Rebeca

A citizen decides to solve the housing problem of his daughter and grandchildren by deeding her the roof of his house so she can build on top of it. He begins by submitting an application to the Ministry of Housing, but they first require a report from the city architect and a permit from Physical Planning. He has made attempts to do this, but he has been waiting for the document from the architect for a month, and more than six months for the one from Physical Planning. Thus far nothing has happened.

In spite of having delivered the products they were contracted to provide, the workers of an agricultural production cooperative do not receive money owed to them since 2009 from a farm belonging to the same cooperative. All their demands for payment are unsuccessful.

Another citizen, who was a victim of a flood caused by a storm in 1996, is given a house in 2002. Ten years later, in spite of having completed all the applications, he still has not been able to obtain title to his property.

A third citizen goes to Immigration to submit an application They require that she first present an original birth certificate. She can only request one at a time from the Civil Registry Office, and must wait fifteen days for delivery. When she goes back with the original certificate, they tell her they do not accept copies.

These accounts are not fictional. They are actual cases selected at random. The questions that arise are: Have they crippled the legal application process for citizens, and why is obtaining a document so burdensome? Where is the so-called rationalization of these services?

The governmental bureaucracy exists in all state agencies. They provide fertile ground for it to take root and grow. This is not the case in private, service-oriented businesses because, in a competitive world, this would lead to bankruptcy. Instead, administrative staffs are small and function efficiently. On the other hand, under socialism—with its massive and inefficient administrations—this adverse phenomenon finds its fullest expression. This is understandable. Since everything belongs to the state, these are the”power centers” that give it a feeling of importance. In spite of the laws, regulations, directives and resolutions drafted by the nation’s top leaders to combat it, the bureaucracy continuesusing its weaponryto resist efforts to displace it. What would become of it if this were to happen?

The only effective way to confront it is to reduce the number of agencies from which it operates, simplifying the application process to essentials and eliminating unnecessary paperwork. It is also vital to abandon the obsolete and absurd politics of control, which in fact control absolutely nothing and hinder everything. Until this happens, the bureaucracy will continue demanding respect while citizens pay the price in lost time and money, as well as in mistreatment and added aggravation.

August 30 2012

The Mediocre “Cuban National Assembly” / Angel Santiesteban

It’s sad to see the “deputies” applauding every stupidity that originates in the puppet theater, and how many respectable, and some admired figures — very few are left — are unaware that history will remember them as accomplices to the Totalitarian Government.

Not to be forgotten is the consistent attitude maintained by the painter Pedro Pablo Oliva, who was expelled because of his personal opinions from the “Assembly,” where the people had put him, where one is supposed to repeat the institutional unlikely tongue twister they present as “democratic socialism.” In reprisal they seized and closed his Home Workshop, a response of the dictatorship so that those “parliamentarians” won’t forget that here there is no democracy, only absolute obedience to the whims of the Castro brothers.

The truth is that at the last meeting of the “delegated representatives of the people”, the artist Kcho, (or perhaps his intentions were to venture into the humor and therefore I didn’t understood what he said), asked something stupid that I won’t venture to repeat again, and until that time he had been acceptable, because everyone’s opinion has worth, that is the teaching that they themselves have not learned.

The sad, dramatic, the unacceptable, is what the other “lawmakers” will give a standing ovation to, rising to their feet, as a way of shouting to the world “we are stupid and all of us are incapable of having individual opinions,” because you can’t conceive that there are so many cowards together, that no one has the courage to confront the slanders they perpetrate there behind the backs and against the people, forgetting that their names will be part of the disrepute and history will not forgive them.

The meetings of the “National Assembly of Cuba”, have become a place of sleep and overall apathy. We can see this simply observing what happens when the television cameras pan over those stale faces, struggling not to make their lethargy obvious, faces awakened only by the applause of some “parliamentary pilots” whose job is to warn them when they should be clapping or raising their hands in the unanimous vote that so shames us, and which is the living proof of the lack of individual thought in those instances.

Apparently we will have to continue to live with such “councilors”, only Fidel, Raul Castro and God, know why and what they are there for, but what most Cubans do know is that they are never going to benefit the people they claim to represent.

August 30 2012