Search results for: UMAP

Leaked Documents From the UMAP Reveal Techniques To ‘Rub Out’ Homosexual Behaviors

14ymedio, Havana, August 12, 2024 — “Rub out all mannerisms and antisocial behavior” was the first commandment of the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP), founded in Cuba in the 60s as forced labor camps for “homosexuals, the religious and the social lumpen.” The phrase is fixed, like a mantra, in several documents of the … Continue reading “Leaked Documents From the UMAP Reveal Techniques To ‘Rub Out’ Homosexual Behaviors”

‘Cubadebate’ Exhumes Fidel Castro’s Speech That Gave Way to the UMAP Camps, and Removes it Hours Later

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 14 March 2023–Universidad de la Habana, March 13, 1963. Fidel Castro leaned on the podium, at the top of the stairs facing thousands of students. Dressed in a suit, grimacing, are: President Dorticós; the adventurous geographer Antonio Núñez Jiménez; youth director José Rebellón; and the parents of Camilo Cienfuegos, who had … Continue reading “‘Cubadebate’ Exhumes Fidel Castro’s Speech That Gave Way to the UMAP Camps, and Removes it Hours Later”

Cuba: A UMAP for ‘Social Transformation’ of People Who Do Not Study or Work?

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 27 October 2022 — A brief note in Cuba’s officials state newspaper Granma has set off the alarm. It’s getting ugly. During the council of ministers, which met yesterday, October 25th, they presented general directives for preventing and confronting crime, corruption, illegalities and lack of discipline. It was about time, … Continue reading “Cuba: A UMAP for ‘Social Transformation’ of People Who Do Not Study or Work?”

From the Gulag to the UMAP: Official History and the Control of Memory

Abel Sierra Madero, Hypermedia Magazine, 15 May  2020 — Yuri Brokhin, a Soviet filmmaker who defected in 1972 and settled in the United States, described his experience trying to purchase a Volga automobile in the late 1960s. In all of Voroshilovgrad, Ukraine, there were only twelve of these cars available for sale to the public, … Continue reading “From the Gulag to the UMAP: Official History and the Control of Memory”

UMAP: Selective Memory

Ernesto Hernández Busto, Penultimos Días, 13 September 2016 — It seems that in Cuba one can now talk about UMAP, the notorious Military Units to Aid Production (in Spanish: Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción), internment and forced labor camps where the Cuban government imprisoned homosexuals, the religious, intellectuals, dissidents and any other “suspicious … Continue reading “UMAP: Selective Memory”

Castro Regime Censors Blog Calling Raul Castro Responsible For UMAP* / Diario de Cuba

Diario de Cuba, Havana, 9 February 2016 — A blog on sexual diversity, Proyecto Arcoiris (Rainbow Project), housed in the government-run blogging platform Reflections, has been censored by the regime after addressing UMAP and publishing a text attributing the responsibility for it to Raul Castro, according to the Global Voices international network of bloggers. Those responsible for … Continue reading “Castro Regime Censors Blog Calling Raul Castro Responsible For UMAP* / Diario de Cuba”

Of UMAP* and Other Demons / Henry Constantin

UMAP: Citizens’ force used for the good of society. Brilliant initiative of military cadres. A common school, half in ruins, half with children in uniform, with its Cuban flag and signs on the walls. The boys talk among themselves, then look with curiosity at the stranger, who takes photos of enormous homeless sites behind the … Continue reading “Of UMAP* and Other Demons / Henry Constantin”

Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / FELIX LUIS VIERA

FELIX LUIS VIERA I was the soldier UMAP 22 of the “Company” 1, the “Battalion” 23 of the Band 6, based at the Senado sugar mill, of the Military Staff of the UMAP, Military Unit 1015, with headquarters in the city of Camaguey. The day after I turned 46 I met the Sergeant Major Hector … Continue reading “Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / FELIX LUIS VIERA”

Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / HÉCTOR SANTIAGO

HECTOR SANTIAGO UMAP* was more terrible than what has been said, because they tried to change homosexual orientation through so-called scientific methods which, imported from the USSR, consisted of insulin injections and the application of electroshocks, interacting with images of naked men, on the one hand, and naked women on the other. So the images … Continue reading “Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / HÉCTOR SANTIAGO”

The Cuban Revolution, 66 Years of a Dream Turned Into a Nightmare

So it did not occur to anyone that the Cuban Revolution, in a few years, would deny its reason for being. 14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, 3 January 2024 — Then no one could imagine what would come next. It was January 1959 and neither my friend Guillermo nor I were bothered by the “northern wind,” … Continue reading “The Cuban Revolution, 66 Years of a Dream Turned Into a Nightmare”

Cuba and Argentina Have a Bitter Exchange of Disqualifications

The Cuenca Summit closes without an official declaration due to lack of consensus EFE (via 14ymedio), Cuenca (Ecuador), 16 November 2024 — The XXIX Ibero-American Summit, held in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca, closed this Friday without an official statement due to the lack of consensus among the 19 participating countries, of the 22 that … Continue reading “Cuba and Argentina Have a Bitter Exchange of Disqualifications”

The Cuban Army Runs Out of Recruits Due to the Exodus and Low Birth Rate

The absence of young people in the activities of Cuba’s Youth Labor Army, EJT, is noticeable 14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 31 July 2024 — A bunk bed with a thin mattress, boots that he had to return when he was demobilized and a uniform that was not olive green were, for months, the main … Continue reading “The Cuban Army Runs Out of Recruits Due to the Exodus and Low Birth Rate”

Lilo Vilaplana Talks About his Film ‘Plantadas’: “Doing Historical Justice Comforts Me”

The film can be seen in Cuba using the link sent through friends 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 15 June 2024 — In a narrow, dirty and crowded cell, several prisoners support each other so as not to lose their sanity or their lives. The guards bring a beaten woman to the dungeon and the prisoners … Continue reading “Lilo Vilaplana Talks About his Film ‘Plantadas’: “Doing Historical Justice Comforts Me””

‘Writers and Artists Under Communism’, a Chronicle About the Cuban Government’s Hatred of Culture

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, January 6, 2024 — “Down with the apolitical writers! Down with the supermen of literature!” “Their original sin: they are not authentically revolutionary.” “Outside the Revolution, no rights.” The law of eternal return presides over the tension between the intellectuals and communism. Guevara repeats Castro, and Castro repeats Stalin or Mao. … Continue reading “‘Writers and Artists Under Communism’, a Chronicle About the Cuban Government’s Hatred of Culture”