Leafing through the pages of official Cuban publications in recent days, I see articles on the economy in which there are references to plans for the production of potatoes, malanga, yams, yucca, bananas, vegetables, produce and condiments. This is all great news since these efforts will help feed the population. There is very little or no discussion, however, of meat, fish, shellfish or dairy. It seems these are much more difficult to produce, or that their successful production is much less palpable judging by their prolonged absences from store shelves and their inflated prices, which make them unaffordable for most citizens.
Many are aware, at least theoretically, of the four basic food groups, but for the average Cuban these have been historically reduced to two – those that fill the stomach and those that nourish. Perhaps erroneously, the first group includes all simple and complex carbohydrates such as vegetables, grains, cereals and fruits. In the second group are all the meats and the dairy products. In light of the current situation, many would say, “Human beings cannot live on carbs alone.” And they would be right!
Besides, these products are only appropriate for immediate domestic consumption. There is not much of an international market for them since most cannot be stored and are highly perishable. And with the possible exception of the potato, no matter how many tons might be produced, they would never be considered products suitable for export.
It would be interesting to know in detail what has happened to our traditional exports such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, shellfish and fruit, some of which have disappeared entirely while supplies of others have been so reduced that we almost no longer speak of them. The collapse of the sugar industry is the most familiar blunder, but there is now talk of something similar happening with nickel, of halting its production and dismantling the old Nicaro Nickel Company because of the mineral’s low price on the world market and the prevalence of corruption within the company. An editorial was published overseas in which the writer noted that “Cuba is like a body that loses a limb every day until, in the end, it is totally dismembered.” This analogy is not far removed from reality and it describes the situation accurately.
The proposed “guidelines,” with all their identifying numbers, are nothing more than that — guidelines. By themselves they will feed no one, nor solve any problem, nor reinforce (much less create) the foundations for a new economy. That is possible only with the participation and efforts of all Cubans — state as well as private enterprises — united to resolve our economic crisis. Clinging to a single path, especially one that has been so clearly shown to be a disaster and the principal cause of the current critical situation, would be to repeat past mistakes. It would mean the irresponsible sacrifice of millions of Cubans, forcing them to live in misery and giving the youngest and most capable an incentive to emigrate. It is never too late to reconsider, though with each passing day there is less time to do so.
Cuban television news just broadcast with undisguised joy the statements of the U.S. president about the failure of immigration reforms in that country. With images of Obama on the screen, although taking care, as usual, not to directly broadcast the president’s words, the Island’s media tried to discredit the “enemy” by highlighting another fiasco. It turns out, however, that the authorities here continue to keep the most hermetic silence about the essential immigration reforms in Cuba which — according to what Ricardo Alarcon, the president of the National Assembly, said many months ago — “are being studied.” This is, without a doubt, a most complex study, to judge by its length.
Meanwhile, Cubans on both shores continue to be forced to apply for demeaning exit and entry permits in our own country, pay monthly fees to our consulates in the countries we visit (if we want to have the right to re-enter the Island, always remembering that we are allowed to be gone only 11 months and 29 days), and pay ridiculously high amounts for the most stigmatized passport on the planet. Because in the end, have you noticed how much scorn the border authorities look upon us island slaves when we travel? Note: I’ve only traveled outside of Cuba twice, in 1999 and 2002, and on both occasions I noticed that glance.
In principle, every Cuban who aspires to travel goes to the offices of Immigration and Foreigners, a weird name for an institution that deals mainly with Cubans who, in significant numbers, want to emigrate. Shouldn’t it be called the Department of Emigration and Cubanness? There the extortion we all know begins: You must come up with 55 CUC for the fabrication of a passport which expires in six years and must be renewed every two, raising the full cost to 95 CUC without any benefit to the aspiring traveler. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll only have to spend 150 CUC more to get an exit permit — the infamous white card — and finally you’ll have to pay a 25 CUC tax at the airport when you leave. The paperwork, in its totality, costs a fortune* for ordinary Cubans. In most cases such expenses, and the passage, is paid by family and friends living abroad, who — for their part — have to pay unconscionable amounts when they decide to visit the Island.
In short, you as a Cuban pay for the fabrication of the world’s most expensive passport, a document that will serve almost exclusively for the Cuban government to capture some juicy hard currency without having to invest in anything more than cardboard, ink and the paper it’s made from. With this passport you will not only extend your condition as a slave beyond the boundaries of the hacienda, but will also contribute — like it or not — to nourishing the coffers of the very system that humiliates you. Of course, I’m not suggesting renouncing travel, but I do suggest that perhaps while the authorities are studying the “migratory reforms” perhaps they could go ahead and apply some just modifications. It occurs to me that, since they are the only beneficiaries of the use of the passport by travelers, at least they should include some of the “freebies” of the system. It would be curious to establish the first “subsidized passport” in history in Cuba. This would not change anything in our condition nor turn us in to citizens with freedom of movement, but at least it would to some extent diminish the immense crust of cynicism of the Cuban authorities, something they’re in great need of.
*Translator’s note: The total cost is more than a year’s salary for the average Cuban.
“Good morning,” said the woman with the thick voice and deep tone. My sister responded in kind and the woman began offering medications for sale. The clock indicated it was seven minutes past eight in the morning. The twins had just left for school. Yesterday a neighbor commented on the shortage of books and notebooks in the schools and the difficulty obtaining uniforms.
I stopped writing and went to the room where the woman was still offering medications. I said hello and began observing her with curiosity. She was corpulent. The mixed-race skin of her face suggested someone in her sixties, but her appearance gave the impression of virtuous health. It was now eight minutes after eight. At schools around the country the morning assembly had begun with the Young Pioneers shouting, “Pioneers for communism. We will be like Che.”
I observed the little nylon bag the woman held in her hands from which she pulled out strips of pills and another small bag with injections while my sister kindly told her about possible buyers in the neighborhood.
The day before I had asked two mothers about the issue of school uniforms. One told me they were being sold for a coupon or a voucher that you could get from the schools. For preschool they would let you buy two uniforms for between fifteen and twenty pesos in national currency.* After that you were not eligible to another until the second grade.
The other woman said that in preschool they did not give you the coupon because things were so disorganized and you had to buy it on the black market where it never costs less than one-hundred pesos.
“But how?” I asked. “They provide a uniform for each child.”
“That’s how it is supposed to be,” she said, “but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. As long as they follow all the rules, regulations, laws and intents in the black market, you have to pay.”
It was now eight minutes past eight. The woman was still offering her medications. I finally decided to ask her a question. “Ma’am, why are you doing this?”
The woman was taken aback, almost frightened. “Look, they gave me this… I only… It’s for…” She was almost stuttering. She did not know what to say or do. With obvious nervousness she moved to start gathering up the medications, intending to go. I had caused her to feel uncertain. There was fear in her eyes. The adrenaline was escaping through her dark skin. She was thinking that I could be a government agent, a policeman or a bandit. I tried to quietly calm her down.
“Listen, don’t be afraid. You are under no obligation to answer me. I don’t mean you any harm. I am only interested in knowing why, in knowing what it is like for people near the bottom. I am a defender of human rights, concerned with social justice.”
“Everyone who works should receive a decent salary so that they don’t turn to corruption,” I added. “Elderly people like yourself should not have to denigrate themselves in order to be able to enjoy a much-deserved rest in the last phase of their lives. I think society should reward them for their work by providing enough for them to have some comfort in the few years they have left. But this society is structured so that this does not happen. There is no accumulation of capital, nor of property, that might provide an elderly person with some well-being and security in life and meet their basic needs.”
The woman’s face changed shape, her fear turned to curiosity, her adrenaline must have gone down to normal levels, but she still seemed evasive, elusive. My sister finally put her at ease.
“This is my brother. I assure you that you can speak openly. There’s no problem,” she said smiling.
The woman turned around and faced me, holding the little bag with the medications. “I get these from pharmacies,” she said. “They are medicines that can cost up to six CUC,* but I sell them for a lot less. I was looking for something to make ends meet. So were the people who gave them to me. This is how we all live. With our salaries we cannot buy enough to eat.”
“That is what I was looking for,” I said. “The sincere truth.”
As the woman started to open up, I saw an opening for my second question. “Are you sure of the origins of these medications? Couldn’t they be counterfeit or tampered with?”
“No way,” she said. “They come from the pharmacies and are sealed. They are from people I trust and I don’t sell them to just anyone, only to people I trust.”
Four more minutes had passed. It was now thirteen after eight. The teachers must be starting class now, or scolding the first student who talked to his neighbor or who blew a raspberry.
I told her that I have seen with my own eyes the tampering with and packaging of a multitude of products in small, clandestine factories. On occasion I have even been defrauded myself. It happens with foodstuffs as well as with consumer products and basic necessities like soap, toothpaste, detergent, perfumes, deodorant, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages – including brand name rum – tobacco products and cigars.
The containers, labels and products are taken at different times and in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is through outright burglary. In other instances it is through the actions of a company’s corrupt financial officers, who cover up their embezzlement by cleverly cooking the books, thereby avoiding being discovered by auditors who have not already been bought off through bribery, extortion, lavish meals or gifts. Many of these products end up in state-run hard currency stores through arrangements with the stores’ personnel. I can write about this because I have been concerned enough about this phenomenon to find ways of observing it. In many cases I have become involved with it in order to discover how the process works.
In the 1990s bottles, labels and the rum itself were taken from a factory in Santo Domingo. The rum, which was later secretly bottled, appeared to be genuine, having been sealed at the factory. Personnel at every level were involved in the operation. It was rumored that a security agent from the area was able to buy his 1958 Chevrolet with funds obtained from rum trafficking, though I never had direct contact with the man to confirm this.
Many of those who drank this rum in Varadero were fooled. The differences might have been minimal and virtually imperceptible, but they were there. I could describe the manufacture and bottling of some brand-name beers – Hatuey, Manacas, Polar – as well as soft drinks, pasta products such as vermicelli and elbow macaroni, ham, cigars, coffee… A large number of these products have made their way into the web of state-run stores, thereby covering up their clandestine and illegal production. Almost all appear to be genuine, but their level of quality and purity are minimal.
So many values have been lost. Conscience and dignity are in short supply. Corruption has become so widespread that it does not surprise me that medicines are being tampered with and plaster is being unscrupulously added to aspirin.
“I don’t want to cause you harm. I only want to be sure of the origins. I am not going to judge you, though I don’t approve of corruption. If you are detained by the police, they will apply the force of law or demand a bribe. They won’t care about the motives for your actions. I need to know the why’s,” I told her. This made her feel more secure.
Then I asked my sister a question: “How are things here?” She said that in Lisa things have not been going well for the Ladies in White. The vendors say that, because of them, agents from the Ministry of the Interior, the Technical Department of Investigation and state security are all over the place. They can no longer sell their contraband products on the street through the black market, so they have told the Ladies to get lost, so they say.
She said a few other things that I did not hear. I was thinking about how to explain to her truth as I know it. How to make these people understand that becoming corrupt and denigrating themselves by acting wretched and perverse instead of demanding their rights only leads to misery and perdition?
The woman stood in front of me with her bag of medicines. Another minute had passed. It was now 8:14. The teacher would be at the front of the class now, asking for the attention of the boys and girls who tomorrow will be adult and elderly, like the drug tamperers and clandestine traffickers. Or like the pharmacy workers, or the mothers discussing the need for school uniforms and the black market, or like this victim of drug trafficking.
I looked at her directly, but her illiteracy in ethics and social responsibility did not allow her to value the importance of this issue, and she did not hold my gaze.
“Ma’am,” I said, “It’s not as they would have you believe. I know the Ladies in White very well and what is really going on. Everything is not being sent to them from the United States. They simply receive some help from foreigners who have visited them and perhaps from some organizations made up of honest and honorable Cubans who were expelled from the country after having been denied their rights as citizens and treated as pariahs by a barbarian and aberrant form of discrimination by the regime. But this help has always been insignificant and much less than what the State has received and is receiving, or what the families of the five spies — the so-called Cuban Five– get for their political trips and extravagant personal expenses compared to the rest of the population.”
Negligible given the resources dedicated to the power to rebuke. The Ladies in White are people who have had the courage and decency to speak out for the rights of the people, for hers, and for all these old people to be able to enjoy their retirement relaxing, or traveling with their needs met and not having to smuggle drugs or other products to eat and so those pharmacy workers receive a fair wage that meets their needs and do not see the need for such denigration.
But it happens that government agents make them believe and use the opportunity to create intrigue and disinformation and take advantage of it all to deploy the police against the smuggling and blame it all on the Ladies in White, so the corrupt people do not realize and against those who are demanding everyone’s rights there is a vicious circle of denigration, and many of the acts of repudiation are perpetrated by this corrupt and evil people.
She knows, that people who are part of the opposition can not buy from the black market because they are constantly monitored so they can be accused of some criminal offense and taken to prison, this, besides fearing for their lives, poisoned food or another product that could do damage to them, and this not because I think it but because the Power has shown that it doesn’t want there to be any claimants of rights, freedoms and justice.
The woman now looks at me a little surprised and almost cries, Really! People do not know and they say other things, this is very bad and worse every day, you have to do many bad things just to be able to eat.
Finally, I say to her, she can be sure that what I’ve said is true because I know this firsthand, if someone needs clarifications she can send them to me, and not to worry, I won’t do her any harm. She turns around and without letting go of the little sack with medicines and leaves for another house in the neighborhood.
It’s eight fifteen, two more minutes in the existence of this miserable country with its satanic government.
Perhaps when the teacher turned back to the blackboard after her first demand for respect the teenager blew another raspberry, a child learned to add, a mother bought a uniform on the black market, my twins looked around mischievously, thinking of their uncle who is not in the hands of the dictatorship, some trafficker in medicines graduated from one of the medical technical schools, or medical schools, and will gain the rights he deserves, but he won’t get it with his work and in the next few minutes I will keep asking others, why?
Trying to shoo away the fear of the power that they have taped to people as if it were another gene, to accomplish logical answers and transparency.
Note: I am not against the release of the Five Spies, as spies, as long as they serve their sentences, a benevolent pardon would inflame the perverse politics of the Castro dictatorship but would demonstrate once again the shamelessness and prevarication in the case of the imprisonment of the North American Alan Gross and the public warning they are trying to send via the Spaniard Carromero.
*Translator’s note: There are two currencies in Cuba. Salaries are paid in the “national currency,” the peso, with the average salary equaling about $20 US per month. The convertible peso, or CUC, is pegged at about one-to-one to the dollar. Many basic essentials can only be purchased legally with CUC’s at government-run hard currency stores.
Few TV shows have been the object of as many jokes and parodies as the Roundtable. Emerging from the heat of the so-called Battle of Ideas, this program shows the highest level of political proselytizing to be found in our national media. Its fundamental principal is to overwhelm the television audience with official opinion, without allowing access for contrary or critical views. To denigrate the nonconformists, with no right to respond, is among the most repeated tactics at the microphones of this incredibly boring broadcast. Everything is based on the premise that we live in “paradise” while the rest of the world is falling apart all around us.
As of September 10, the Roundtable has reduced its “on air” time by half an hour. It has also modernized its set and even seems to have added a brand new iPad for the exclusive use of the moderator. The camera angles are bolder and some of its chubby participants have been put on diets. They hope, with these tweaks, to add something of modernity to what was covered with the thick dust of the anachronistic. However, the main precepts governing the program remain intact. The most obvious is the absence of plurality and the resulting monotony that results when everyone thinks alike. And, a great contradiction, this kind of rubbish pays its journalists the highest salaries known in the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT).
My words on this program, however, may be too influenced by the work I also do in the information field. I will illustrate the opinion many Cubans have with a recent anecdote. A little while ago, a friend was outside a police station demanding the release of an activist who had been arbitrarily detained. Her cellphone rang and it was her father calling. He was afraid because his neighbor had told him that his daughter was mixed up with “dissidents.” In the heat of the situation, my friend only managed to answer, “Papi, I already told you, don’t watch the Roundtable any more!” This simple phrase accentuates the gulf between our national reality and the script of this televised soapbox. She was telling her father that he continued to believe in a Cuba that doesn’t exist, a country where no arrests happen outside the law, there are no police threats, no repudiation rallies. An apocryphal nation that only exists from Monday through Friday, for one hour… on our small screen.
The narrow streets of old Havana are a blazing market. Past two in the afternoon, the sun doesn’t let up on the sellers of cheap goods, prostitutes in their element and old musicians looking for a few convertible pesos entertaining some chubby Norwegians at lunch.
It is a passageway of scoundrels and survivors. On Obispo Steet a line of hurried pedestrians make their way towards the cathedral. They come and go. Some of them look at the displays, pick up the merchandise to examine it and, after seeing the astronomical prices,put it back on the shelf.
A heavy-set mulatto man pants while pedalling his bicycle taxi among trash cans, people walking purposefully through the streets and badly parked trucks. He complains to himself about the heat, about having to haul two passengers who weigh more that 200 kilos and—though he does say it outright—about the rules that forbid him from operating in many of the streets in the old section of the city.
Upon arrival at the former San Carlos Seminary he looks like he’s going to have a heart attack. When he learns that in this building a handful of intellectuals of various ideological tendencies will discuss the future and democracy in Cuba, he turns serious. “I’m a neighbor of the place. I’ve never read in the newspaper that they were talking about democracy in San Carlos,” he says. These are the contradictions of the island.
The national press has not dedicated a single line to these meetings, which take place in the former seminary, now the Félix Varela Cultural Center. The gatherings are sponsored by the Catholic church, without participation from government officials, but also without harassment by the special services or verbal assaults from the system’s loyalpiqueteros, who either insult you or angrily call for a massacre with machetes.
It’s one Cuba superimposed on another. The stick and the dialog. Many wonder if in the end these debates have any practical utility. Or are mere trial balloons, where the government makes a note of the liberal thinking of some of the intellectuals in its close orbit.
In any event, the management by the Archbishopric and the magazine Lay is laudable, in the preparation and discussion of papers on the Cuba that is upon on. At the meeting on Monday, September 10, participants were given a publication that collects some essays and analysis about the future of Cuba “By a consensus for democracy.”
It was a spicy mixture. Liberals, neo-communists and exiles likeJorge Domínguez explained their points of view. For anyone betting on democracy in Cuba, these exchanges of opinion are like a fiesta.
The tone of the debate was respectful and without defamatory remarks. The terms “mercenary” and “imperial lackeys” were set aside. There were notable absences, though. The entrepreneur Carlos Saladrigas – a man with a somewhat extravagant political trajectory, which has veered from the conservative right to the center and then perhaps towards the left – did not attend for reasons unknown.
Those who have been historically opposed, such asVladimiro Roca, Elizardo Sánchez and Martha Beatriz Roque, do not often attend these meetings, which are open to all. The new breed of dissidents, among them Antonio Rodiles or Eliécer Ávila, remained silent this time.
Among the more than 170 people congregated in the room, there were only three independent journalists and two alternative bloggers. The opposition should take better advantage of the opportunities for civilized debate.
The first presentation was by a panel was made up of the former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray, Mayra Espina and HiramHermández, who discussed some of the issued raised in Espacio Laical.
After the awards presentation for the Casa Cuba competition, in whichArmando Chaguaceda, Félix Sautié and Pedro Campos received honorable mentions, came the good part.
There was a dialog between the attendees and five academics of varying political beliefs and representatives from the church.Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Dimitri Prieto, Roberto Veiga, Julio César Guanche and Mario Castillo responded to questions from the auditorium.
The climate of tolerance in the old cloister left a good impression in spite of the fact that a few meters away an obese and speechless bicycle taxi driver was confusing freedom with three plates of food.
It would be very presumptuous to think that these meetings would lead to the establishment of an inclusive, open and democratic Cuba. But at least it is an attempt.
This coming October the Cuban government plans to hold the election “of silverware” to choose the municipal and provincial “spoons” that don’t “stab or cut,” because power is concentrated at the top and implicates their closest cadres at the national level.
There are some comical ironies, because the delegates to the Assemblies of People’s Power — the Cuban parliament — are chosen by direct and secret ballot, while the reelection to those in the highest positions, occurs in front of the candidates and by acclamation. Anyone who doesn’t raise their hand , and so abstains, will never again be “elected by the people” for any other office.
In the neighborhood where I live they are already immersed in the routine mechanics of the election. On my block they called all the neighbors to participate in the electoral process, except me. Not that I mind. Everyone has known my political views for years and so they received the order to marginalize me. But, am I not one more Cuban citizen? What do they mean when they talk about participative democracy, when they discriminate against someone — I’m sure I’m not the only one — by the way they think and act?
Of course the totalitarian leaders and their automatic subordinate apparatus, ignore that I have the right to be taken into account — in accordance with Cuban laws — and equally, to not participate. They disagree that to BOTAR — to offer or express — our opinions, is the most democratic, authentic and best way to VOTAR — to vote.
Cuba is preparing for the 2012 census between September 15 and 24. They are officially explaining the date to be collected, what the interviewee should say, without any guarantee of the validity and veracity of the document filled in.
Saturday, September 15, the census will begin, carried out mainly by high school students, who will each collect census data from 50 to 80 households, throughout the whole country.
Javier Lopez, 17, says that people see the census as a game because “I ask a citizen, ’do you have a computer?’ And she answers can’t you see it right in front of my eyes, but I have to put what you say, I don’t see this as having any use, I think I’m wasting my time!”
Lopez says he has canvassed 8 houses and hasn’t done more because people aren’t aware and aren’t home and other say they don’t have time right now and he goes back later no one is home.
Alberto Peña, 56, says they’d already been to his house and he was surprised that this census was being conducted by students and not social workers, and he asked the student if there was someone advising him and was told it was a university.
“I myself saw these young people without responsibility, apparently this 2012 census doesn’t have much validity, God knows if everything they put on the paper is what the citizen said, you can see that in 2 days these students go to 2 or 3 houses and they make up the rest.”
You have to wonder if, having done this, is this going to be valid for the government to have any idea of the cultural level of the population, the number of people living together in a house, the state of the house, etc.
From the news about the People’s Power delegate from the village of Limones giving statements to Radio Marti, I list several in no specific order.
This women was greatly ignored for having made statements to the “Miami mafia’s” radio station.
The delegate knows that many Cubans tune in to Radio Marti and that her complaint was known by her countrymen.
People have lost their fear of Radio Marti.
The Director of the Center for Immunoassays, born and living in the capital, is one of the two deputies who represent the municipality of Majibacoa in the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP). This scientist should leave his laboratory and travel to Limones to listen to the demands of the people he represents.
The Council of State also fails to respond and the demands of the voters are disregarded by this highest authority.
The president of the ANPP is more versed in the failures of the administrative systems of other countries than he is in those of his own.
This delegate, has exhausted her options and run out of patience.
COROLLARY
The People’s Power has no power and does not belong to the People.
Activists in Placetas celebrating the successful outcome of the hunger strike
Diverse elements came together – this time – so that the hunger strike of the many Cuban dissidents demanding the release of a prisoner was successful. The very size of it was a critical factor in its positive outcome. It started with a dozen activists refusing to eat, and by the end more than thirty had joined in. Although Raul Castro’s government has frequently dealt with situations of this kind, the large number of strikers greatly complicated its medical, police and informational contingencies.
The obvious legal violation being committed against Jorge Vazquez Chaviano focused the protest with respect to the country’s legislation. The authorities were trapped in their own legal code, compelled to comply with the opinions issued by their courts. Although judicial arbitrariness abounds throughout the country, there are few situations that offer such obvious evidence of irregularities. Vazquez Chaviano’s case was one of those rare exceptions; a sentencing certificate on letterhead with stamp and signature clearly gave the lie to the official action.
In 2010, when Guillermo Fariñas led the protest of empty stomachs the alternative information networks were not as extensive as they are today, nor as immediate and effective in calling people together. Within twenty-four hours of the press conference announcing the start of the hunger strike, most of the dissidents in the entire Island were aware of what was happening. Twitter has become an irreplaceable tool to confront the press monopoly held by the Communist Party. The hashtag #HuelgadeHambre (Hunger Strike), and the names of those participating in it, lit up this social network.
The rapid response of the international community also contributed to the result achieved. Amnesty International’s statement clarifying why Vazquez Chaviano was still in prison alerted many inside and outside of Cuba. Other statements from European politicians, in which they expressed alarm for the health of the hunger strikers, contributed to publicizing the event far beyond our national borders, making it clear that people were worried and were watching what was happening. The times in which it seemed as if “no one was listening” are definitely long gone.
Despite some criticisms of the strikers, the opposition was surprisingly united around their demand. There were many who saw the fast as diverting attention from other civic projects now gaining strength, but they were the minority. In general, the hunger strikers received numerous displays of solidarity and managed to unite around themselves widely diverse sectors of Cuban civil society. Perhaps this was the major reason that State Security communicated with Vazquez Chaviano’s family on Tuesday that he would be released quickly. The negative political cost of the hunger strike was a distraction for the government, while it functioned as a unifying force for the dissidents.
I walk for the freedom of Cuba. Cuba Democracy NOW!
I have lost count of the times I have heard the phrase “I am not interested in politics”. Often, it is young Cubans who say it.
It’s legitimate that we may not be interested in politics, especially if one has lived most of their life under a totalitarian system where even the flight of a pigeon is linked to politics.
Those of us who were born after 1959 were practically converted into robots. Our capacity of thought was reduced to “Pioneers for communism, we will be like Che” or “Country or Death, we will Win”. In sum, it was a bunch of slogans which bordered dementia.
I respect young Cubans who come from the island and are not interested in politics, it is their right.
But, I feel that it is something completely hypocritical to see those same people who are not interested in politics form a scandal when some US congressman or woman proposes a law to restrict something that has to do with Cuba, or when they want to modify the discredited “Cuban Adjustment Act”, a law which so many Hispanics and people of other ethnic groups long for.
The majority of those who take shelter in the “Cuban Adjustment Act” leave the island because of economic problems and not because they stood up against the ruthless regime which enslaves the country. In fact, upon obtaining US residency, one of the first things many Cubans think of is in returning to their homeland to take a look over the shoulders of their own country. Those who act in such a manner are the oddest political refugees which humanity has ever seen.
In the last 9 months, Cuba has lost two important figures of the peaceful opposition. Their deaths have left lots of doubts up in the air. They were both recipients of the “Sakharov” Award. First Laura Pollan, leader of the Ladies in White, in a case of “dengue” and a few weeks ago the president of Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, after a suspicious “car accident”.
Those who have confronted the dictatorship know of what those who are at the service of the intelligence apparatus are capable of doing when any person who wants change for Cuba and who wants to destroy their totalitarian power stands in their way.
I feel shame when I hear Cubans who live in freedom say: “I am not interested in politics”, and it is not even because of the phrase itself, really, but instead it is because of the hypocrisy which hangs on those words. It is true that many are not interested in talking bad about the regime, about condemning its crimes, denouncing every violent act against the people, yet they do say things about the politicians of the country which has given us refuge whenever they try to pass some law against the dictatorship and, in one way or another, affect their interests.
It is possible that Cuba will change very soon. It is also possible that everything will continue the same, or worse, especially for those who confront the power of the Communist machinery from the inside. But every Cuban has the responsibility of taking action for the destiny of our nation.
There is no such thing as good or bad hypocrisy, just like there is no such thing as good or bad fear. It has been proven: every country which has chosen hypocrisy and fear as their shield has ended in ruins or in shackles. It is time to put an end to harmful fear and subtle hypocrisy.
More than two decades have passed since that TV series of pro-Castro propaganda, produced by the studies of the (then) Channel 6. The plot only showed the supposed exploitation into which North American executives submerged Cuban workers of the Eastern nickel factory, located in the exotic “Lengua de Pajaro” (‘Bird Tongue’). Only then the workers rebelled against the employers. Exclusively, in that era the unions argued against their superiors. The soap opera had a “happy ending” of nationalizing the factory and the creation of a truly socialist company. But, what has happened since then?
Other than the information about the imminent shut down of the factory, very little has been said of the inefficiency and failures in the system of nickel ore extraction. The media, as a state secret, has tightly shut their safe box and has said nothing about the existing mineral poverty. The emission of gases and other toxic substances have turned Nicaro and Moa into real walking hospitals. I don’t have the exact statistic (only the health authorities know that) but carcinogenic symptoms, and lung and liver disease due to drinking water are very common in that place, just to cite a few examples of what is being most commented on among the locals.
One face of the brand new socialist company which is not published at all, is the destitution forced upon the locals of Nicaro, due to the necessity of resources and a nearly total decadence of the municipal structures en Mayari. With richness in its entrails, it is, however, a town which depends on the government of its capital municipality. A couple of blocks of buildings that seem like just that: blocks and not dignified homes, they are buildings of a 60′s Soviet style of the past century, it is the housing richness which was inherited by those who, for five decades, made up the socialist ranks.
The statistics are sometimes difficult to hide and recent data released by the Assembly of Popular Power in Mayari warn of the high level of juvenile delinquency in the area, due to (according to the specialists) the lack of recreational options left for youths. For more than twenty years, the corporation supposedly guaranteed offering homes for their workers, but with the passing of time those who began their working life during the 60′s and 70′s started to enter retirement, and now it is easy to see the disconnection: a series of marginal neighborhoods which are under harassment time and time again by inspectors of the Municipal Housing Procurement Unit and other supervising organizations.
In the year 2009, Kevin Vega Rios, a worker of that factory sent me his concerns. He is a citizen of a marginal neighborhood, with no supporting documents, and was practically forced to abandon his home. He was fined various times until, due to his ailments and the countless denunciations to the independent press, they stopped the threats against his small family. There are other cases like his. There is a more hidden face, which even with the definitive close of the factory will not come to light. They will not even be part of the best investigative journalism. We expect that what is coming, when they start to tear down the scaffolds and the rust of nearly one century of existence, the frameworks of human capital will also be abolished, the essence of a small town which once believed itself to be happy, prosperous and efficient.
If you want to see first hand how the syndrome of secrecy works in Cuba, visit the office of the commissioner of baseball. Such is the lack of information, that not even the managers of the teams know for sure the day and month the new season will start. No one knows what the new structure will be nor the amount of equipment. Or the number of games that will be played.
It’s all rumors. According to reliable sources, the next National Series might field 16 teams. One for each province and the municipality of Isla de la Juventud. They would do away with the Metropolitan team, the second of the capital, despite being at the bottom of the standings in the last five years, its exit could cause many talented players to be without a team.
The amazing thing is that for a couple of weeks, Metropolitan began its preparation for the upcoming season, as officially no senior official from the baseball federation has spoken on the subject. In any organized league, the schedule is known months in advance as is the start date of the season. Last season, two weeks before opening day the details were still unknown.
Another absurdity is the transfer of players. In order to respect territoriality, players must play for their provinces. Only in prominent cases are they allowed to compete in other teams. It has set up a summer soap opera with the alleged departure of the excellent player Yulieski Gourriell from the Sancti Spiritus team. For personal problems, Yulieski’s family decided to settle in Havana.
The All-Star third baseman said in an interview that he intends to play with the famous Cuban baseball team, the Industriales. But the case was handled like a top state secret. On September 3rd the suspense ended. The sports authorities refused Gourriell permission to wear the blue jersey.
In 52 seasons there have been major players moving to different situations. Most striking was the case of the national team starter, Antonio Muñoz, who moved from Sancti Spiritus to Cienfuegos.
Or Villa Clara’s Alejo O’Reilly who decided to play for Ciego de Avila.
If it’s decided to remove Metropolitan, the selection of The Industrialists would have a team full of stars in the batting, but after a few years, young talent stagnates if it’s not able to play regularly. It happens that the current structure of Cuban baseball has a pronounced slump. Many youth who complete their category does not have a tournament where they develop their skills.
Before they competed in a league championship parallel to the local championship. Now that tournament disappeared. In the last 12 years Cuban baseball has seen its quality fall into a tailspin. The causes are known. The principal is the departure of about 250 players who have chosen to play as professionals abroad. Another problem is the outdated concepts of preparing pitchers and batters.
With just five months to the World Classic III, even the baseball authorities still are not clear what kind of tournament is going to be played. In November, the national team will probably stumble a couple of times with its peer from Taipei, China as a warmup for the Classic. Ideally, the local season breaks in October. But it is very likely that due to the stop in Asia the championship will open in late November. If so, there would be a break in the series to prepare the players who participate in the Classic III.
If in questions of baseball there is a lack of information and mystery abounds, what can we expect on important issues like immigration reform or internet marketing. Cuba is a country of riddles and rumors. Learn to read between the lines. The press, rather than inform, misinforms. And those who must make decisions mock the media and citizens. It happens in everyday life. In politics and in baseball.
Again the topic of health in the former medical power occupies me. Of course, you only know of these incidents through close friendships or relatives who have gone through these critical moments.
About twenty days ago, my cousin urgently had to go to the hospital closest to her house. She accidentally fell in her patio at home and fractured her hip. When she arrived at the National Hospital, by fortunate coincidence she ran into a doctor who is a very close friend, almost like family. While she waited on the stretcher talking with her physician friend for entertainment, a family member, who came with her in the ambulance, went home to pick up bedding, a bucket, an electric blanket, jars of water, a pillow and fan, among other things, that one is required bring in order to be admitted, and if you want minimal sanitary conditions.
He told her that for several days he had barely left the hospital because his sister had recently had surgery and was in a delicate state of health. He confessed that the first operation to which she submitted, about 20 days earlier, was to remove a malignant tumor. Two or three days after that intervention, she still had a lot of serious pain, so they took her to the operating room again for another surgery because they had left gauze inside her, causing an infection and unending pain. Again, two days later she returned with the same pain and fever. A third intervention was necessary and this time he accompanied the surgeon, a friend of his through others, and saw when he himself extracted some forceps that had been left inside. As a colleague and friend, he did not want to complicate matters and he swept it under the rug in order not to create problems.
Regrettably, there are many cases of medical negligence like this one that happen,but we only find out when someone close to us is involved in some way. It is not surprising, either, that doctors make mistakes. When it comes to compromising the life or health of a human being, these are unforgivable. Seemingly the great majority of Cubans are victims of the syndrome of forgetfulness due to the accumulation of personal problems that overwhelm us. It is not in our power to solve all these problems, which forcefully assault us daily, making us commit all kinds of mistakes in any activity. In terms of the medical sector, the majority of such mistakes are irreversible. But if they kill you, they don’t have pay you.
Martha Beatriz Roque, a few minutes after ending her hunger strike. Photo: Yoani Sanchez
After a week on a hunger strike, several Cuban dissidents ended their fast this Tuesday afternoon. The number of opponents refusing to eat had reached 30 throughout the country, with their main demand the immediate release of the activist Jorge Vazquez Chaviano. Accused of the crime of “illicit economic activity,” he was sentenced to 18 months and was due to be released on September 9th. But instead of freeing him, the prison authorities transferred him to another prison in the central province of Santa Clara.
Vazquez Chaviano’s wife, along with other family members, staged a protest on Monday in front of the Guajamal prison where the prisoner had been transferred in the past. After this incident the relatives received a summons from the office of State Security in the city of Santa Clara. There they were informed of the pending release of the prisoner, which as of the time of writing this report has not yet been put into effect. However, the thirty activists decided to end the hunger strike, expecting in the coming hours that their principal demand would be met and Vazquez Chaviano would be returned to his home. The Supreme Court file — shown to the relatives — also confirmed the immediate release.
Opposition figures arrived throughout the day at the home of economist Martha Beatriz Roque, one of the principal figures of this particular protest of empty stomachs. At the stroke of six in the evening the journalist and psychologist Guillermo Farinas arrived; he has led similar hunger strikes, the best known of which was in 2010. Although the neighborhood was calm, cars parked on both sides of the street sheltered men who closely inspected everyone who approached. Inside the house the feeling was one of relief, of victory.
Since the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo in February 2010, the product of a prolonged hunger strike, for the same cause, ending in death — and similarly that of Wilmar Villar and his death in January of this year — the Cuban authorities have not had an easy time handling such situations. On one side is the international pressure, and on the other the fear that the death of an activist will trigger a revolt, which makes them cautious and leads them to give in to the pressure.
During the entire time the national press has ignored the hunger strike of these thirty activists. Only a few of the official blogs have spread jokes and raised suspicions about the strikers.
Solidarity of the international community
Several personalities and international organizations have demonstrated, from the beginning, their concern and support for the strikers. A statement from Amnesty International demanded an immediate explanation for why Jorge Vázquez Chaviano remained in prison. Social networks also joined the fight this time, to create something that is taking shape in Cuba today as a mixture of real struggle and virtual struggle.
The reality is, at least this time, a tragic outcome has been avoided.
