Author: Fernando Dámaso

Photo by Rebeca

With regards to the Cuban hack living in Miami, I’ve decided not to write any more, but it seems that drinks were passed around (in a letter he declared his love for them) and in one of his last writings he dismisses representative democracy.

He complains that in the United States you can’t but a business wherever you want, it has to be in a commercial area. That you are subject to inspections, forced to follow regulations and ordinances. You have to pay taxes. You can’t paint your house whatever color you want or put up fences without authorization. You have to have a permit for a rally or protests, and journalists can only publish what newspaper owners approve.

The hack seems to want to practice anarchism in an organized society. From his arrogance he asserts: Cubans don’t understand anything about this, they haven’t the least idea about the implacable et cetera.

It seems that this gentleman, when he travels to Cuba to deal with his work and have a little fun, hasn’t realized that here, after some time and overcoming the anarchy stage of years back, there are also all the regulations he criticizes and much more, and they are enforced through big fines, demolitions and even seizures without it being a democracy, much less a representative one.

On the subject of protests and demonstrations it’s more radical; they are forbidden and, if you hold one, you will be severely reprimanded by the authorities.

In the case of the press it’s simple: all the media are state-owned and the only articles approved by the authorities appear in them.

I think the hack knows this well, since he writes for one.

I don’t know how much they pay him for his weekly diatribes on the same topic: how bad it is living in Miami. Nor do I know if he is paid in dollars or Cuban Convertible Pesos, but it would be nice if he would be a little more serious, and stop thinking that we Cubans over here are stupid enough to believe what he writes.

28 July 2014

Every now and then the Cuban Authorities mount the spectacle of ’external subversion’ against the regime. As if it were a ’blue plate special’ it’s seasoned with a press statement from a second or third rate official, articles on the subject from some government journalists, a session on the Roundtable TV Show with energetic participants, an anecdote about an alleged event that took place in a cultural forum, and statements about some media junkie being a double agent.

It happens that, despite the political events they participate in, a great part of Cuban youth don’t believe in the country’s current political, economic and social project, and try to abandon the country by any means possible to pursue their lives in other lands.

If the constant defections of athletes, artists and professionals weren’t enough, along with the illegal departures on boats, rafts and other methods by hundreds of Cubans, you only have to talk honestly with the young people in any neighborhood in our towns and cities to know what they really think.

The double standard is well-rooted here, right along with the invasive marabou weed, and you shouldn’t give much credence to what is said in an assembly or mass event, or in front of a microphone or camera. At those times, most of the young and not so young say what the authorities want to hear, so as to avoid trouble.

The solution is not ’blue plate specials’ every now and then, but the adoption of profound measures to resolve the current critical situation and to offer, rather than a long delayed future, a prosperous and dignified present.

7 August 2014

Photo: Rebeca

Typically, we Cubans are short on economic issues and pass on politics. At least that has been the case for the last fifty-six years. We veer between shortcomings and excesses, never finding a happy medium, as so many of the world’s nations and peoples do. We now seem to be in a period of unrestrained overstatement.

First there was the celebration of 61st anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks. Given the hours devoted to scheduled programming on radio and television and the tons of paper and ink expended on this topic, one would think this event had completely changed the history of mankind, except that, so far, mankind has not noticed.

The series of neighborhood concerts given by the singer Silvio Rodriguez — which compelled him to say that, until giving them, he was not aware how bad (he used another word) Cubans were — was described as an epic accomplishment.

The summer road trip take by twenty or so young people from Sabaneta in Guantanamo province to Miraflores in Ciego de Avila — names which by sheer coincidence matched those of two places in Venezuela, recalling the last electoral campaign of that country’s late president — were part of an admirable campaign.

The victories by the Cuban baseball team — reinforced with professional players — against a team of American college students constitute a great accomplishment which swept aside memories of the defeat suffered the previous year by the Cubans at the hands of American team. The sliver and bronze medals which our athletes win are as valuable as those of gold and even shine more brightly because they were won with heart. Apparently, athletes from other countries do not have the heart to compete.

There are even dead people who go on living even after their deaths because they are eternal. It’s not that they get older every year but simply that their birthdays are remembered.

In any normal country the output of a factory or farm is not considered newsworthy. Here it represents a heroic labor achievement. One might add that our children are the happiest in the world, our women the most emancipated and that our citizens enjoy the best health and education systems in the world as well as the most generous social security benefits. The list goes on and on.

Superlatives on a daily basis have become a bad habit. Moderators of radio and television programs, journalists, artists, politicians and even national leaders all do it. Today’s sad reality must be masked with big-sounding words. The problem is that overstatement to the point of ridiculousness is only a step away.

2 August 2014

Artwork by Rebeca

An article by a young Cuban journalist was just published in the so-called youth newspaper under the arresting title “The Happiest Children in the World.” In it she recalls her childhood of aged, half-bald dolls previously belonging to her older sisters, toys given to her by a neighbor after he was too old to play with them, Soviet nesting dolls, daily blackouts, nights spent in darkness and many other shortages. In the end she comes to the conclusion that she “was born in this country, a place where children have everything they need to be the happiest in the world.”

I do not know if the author is trying to be slyly ironic or if she has been a practicing masochist since early childhood. She presents no evidence that would lead to such a conclusion. It could be that for her this is what constitutes happiness, but such generalization is a bad habit on which Cubans too often rely. Statements about having the best baseball, the best boxing, the best education, the best health care, the most courageous people and so forth are far removed from reality.

If this were true, then we would also have to accept that we are the happiest people in the world. This would be in spite of the fact that more than 80% of our homes are in disrepair, that many families live in inadequate and unsanitary housing, that streets and sidewalks are inaccessible, that neighborhood sewer lines are broken, that potable water is scarce, that public sanitation is notable by its absence, that the health and education systems are poor, that social indiscipline and violence are endemic, that salaries and pensions are at poverty levels, that prices for consumer goods are exorbitant, that public transportation is chaotic, that the economy is not growing, that every day the country moves further backwards, and on top of all this that we live without internet access or civil liberties.

One should be careful about what one writes and publishes as well as a little more responsible. Accepting misery and shortages as a normal way of life without working to change them does nothing to help eliminate them. It is one thing to repeat slogans but quite another to discard objectively in order to fill up pages. You don’t want too much of a good thing.

24 July 2014

The case of the Malaysian plane downed over Ukraine is lamentable and condemnable because it involves innocent people–now called collateral victims–divorced from the conflict. Surely appropriate investigations will be undertaken to identify those responsible for this barbaric act. However, it is striking how, in the first moments of this tragedy, certain characters, who appear to have a crystal ball, have come forward to hand out accusations without any evidence, their preferred target being the Ukraine authorities, exempting the Russians and pro-Russian separatist from any responsibility.

The problems of the Ukrainians with the Russians, exacerbated now with the separation of Kiev from Moscow, are long-standing and existed in the Soviet era, only then they were brutally repressed to maintain the former Soviet Union at all cost, and to present it as a joining of united brothers. This is well-known and the evidence for it is overwhelming.

The aspirations of the Russian president to restore his lost Empire are also well-known. The annexation of Crimea, in reality of Tatar origin, is a good example. Thus, there is a geopolitical confrontation between Russia and Ukraine: the Ukrainians are trying to maintain the integrity of their country, and the Russians are trying to dismember it, taking advantage of the ethnic Russian population who colonized areas of this country, a method also used with other republics during the Soviet era. Examples: Estonia Lithuania and Latvia.

The question to ask is, who benefits from the downing of the plane? The Ukrainian authorities did not benefit; confirming their responsibility would put them on the spot in the public eye. Does it serve the Russians and the pro-Russian separatists in their campaign against the government of Kiev? The answer is in the wind.

19 July 2014

Photo: Rebeca

The concern Cuban authorities show for the protection of the global environment is striking. Declarations and denunciations fill the pages and airwaves of government’s media outlets, assuring participation in any UN event dedicated to this topic.

It is a shame that the same concern is not directed at solving the serious environmental problems in this country. The city of Havana has become a showcase for assorted ruins, decrepit streets and sidewalks, comatose buildings on the verge of collapse, widespread filth, effluent spewing from open sewer lines, watermain leaks, abandoned, sick and malnourished animals, rats and vermin, and mountains of unsanitary conditions. The same situation is replicated in other cities and towns.

One could continue to blame the embargo, as is routinely done, for the lack of resources. But after fifty-six years of repeating the same line, it is now time to own up to the obvious inability to solve problems of one’s own making, problems which did not previously exist.

Neither Havana nor other cities and towns in Cuba used to be dirty, unsanitary, dilapidated, with decrepit streets and sidewalks and ruptured sewer lines. On the contrary, they served as examples for many countries of the world.

When mayors and councilmen, who in general used to be longtime residents of their districts, had some control over the fates of their municipalities as well as a significant portion of the funds they generated, such problems got resolved. If they did not, then these officials were voted out of office.

All subsequent governmental reorganizations — from the commissioners to the presidents of the municipal and provincial People’s Power administrations — have failed. This is simply because none of the people running these communities are natural leaders, but merely appointed officials without any ties to their constituencies.

The case of former Havana mayor Manuel Fernández Supervielle, who committed suicide because he was not able to resolve the problem of the city’s water supply, is unthinkable today.

Promises come and promises go. Officials also come and go, without anyone remembering them. But problems remain unresolved and over time grow worse. Responsibility is not demonstrated by working to commemorate some historically important date but by addressing the day-to-day concerns of every citizen. When this happens, we will truly begin moving forward instead of marching backwards into history, which seems to seems to be what has been happening in our country.

14 July 2014

In the recently concluded sessions of the National Assembly in which, according to the government-run press, the overall state of the country was discussed, several issues attracted attention.

To review all the country’s problems in only five days (two devoted to work by commissions, one listening to reports by heads of various departments and one in plenary session) must be a very difficult task given how complicated and longstanding each of the problems they analyzed are. If after fifty-six years of the same government — with only some changes in the secondary faces — they remain unaware of the unresolved problems and, even worse, do not know how to fix them, it’s time to start worrying.

continue reading

Photo: Rebeca

The subject of lost values, poor education, a lack of respect, coarse and vulgar language, violence in the street and a lack of social discipline remains a popular topic in our impoverished society.

Though late in coming, calls by the authorities to reverse this situation continue to be made through official mass media outlets but the population seems not to be taking notice. Rather than getting better, the situation continues to deteriorate. For evidence of this one need only walk through any neighborhood and stroll through its streets to find raucous screaming across street corners, swear words and obscenities, badly dressed people, filth and environmental degradation.

There are those who argue that one has nothing to do with the other, but that does not quite seem to be the case. Normally, people are formed by their surroundings, though — as with anything — there are exceptions to the rule. When vulgarity gets confused with modernity and becomes customary, it becomes very difficult to eradicate it.

Poor education over the course of many years — both in broken homes as well as in schools — combined with an official culture of intolerance and violence, which has been both widespread and supported by the general population, has helped in the establishment and consolidation of these many ills.

Today we are concerned, but the concern has come quite late. It will take many years of peaceful coexistence, of citizen involvement, and of education by both families and schools to achieve results. The existence of a truly democratic society is also essential, a society where the rights and responsibilities of citizens are respected.

5 July 2014

That Cuba is increasingly like Macondo, the mythical village of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, no one doubts. Nor that our official journalism is a faithful reflection of it.

The two major government newspapers echo each other, the same day, each one dedicating a complete page of the eight they have to the scarcity of condoms in pharmacies. This is not news in any country, including here where the State controls everything, and it could have been solved with a simple informative note from the Ministry of Public Health, instead of filling a large space, with the detailed and unnecessary explanations about brands, sizes, manufacturers, consumption, prices and buying and selling, etc.

Maybe it would have been more convenient to dedicate so much space and so many explanations to more important questions that affect Cubans but which, however, are ignored and treated superficially.

But there is more: For “Forest Workers Day,” Trabajadores (Workers), a weekly publication, presented an article under the title “Charcoal Mambisa,” dedicated to a 63-year-old lady who has devoted herself since she was 25, ax and machete in hand, to chopping wood, transporting it in a cart, and building charcoal furnaces. She is presented as an example of gender equality and the achievement of social emancipation of women.

Although all work deserves respect, I don’t consider this an attractive option for men, let alone women. Regardless of the love of the land and the mountain which, according to the journalist, this woman professes, at her age she should be resting or, at least, engaged in less difficult labor, especially when fifty-six years have transpired since the Revolution.

This reminds me of Macondo, when the Gypsies first arrived with ice and ice cream. Gentlemen, we’re in the 21st century!

25 June 2014

In recent days economic issues have been extensively covered by the official press because of statements made by important government officials. We now know that “sugar production increased, though it did not meet the targeted goal.” Reading further, we find out that the recently completed harvest showed an increase in 4.2% over the previous year. There is no mention of how much was produced in the previous year (the problem of secrecy), though according to non-official calculations it seems it did not exceed 1.40 million tons, which is below the 1.43 million tons produced in 1907 when sugar cane was cut and collected by hand and transported in ox-drawn carts.

If we add 4.2% to the previously mentioned figure, the result would be about 1.45 million tons, well below that of 1910 and all subsequent years of the Republic. This does not take into account the fact that the growing season was extended by almost seven months. Nor do we know what the targeted goal was (more secrecy), only that it was 88% fulfilled. continue reading

Photo by Rebeca

If, in Cuba, you are one of those who has the bad luck of needing to engage in any legal process, as simple as you can imagine, prepare yourself to navigate Niagara Falls on a bicycle. The official in question, and even more so if it’s an attorney or notary, after you start to talk to inform them of the problem, they will take a piece of paper and, without looking you in the eyes, begin to detail all the original documents you will have to present to initiate the process, starting with the obligatory recently issued birth certificate, and if you have one from some time ago it won’t do. continue reading

Chapter II, Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba stipulates the following: “Cuban citizenship shall be lost: a) by those who acquire foreign citizenship.”

However, for the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who have emigrated and obtained foreign nationality, and for the thousands who have attained residency in Cuba — mainly Spanish nationals — this clause does not apply.

One might think this constitutes a humanitarian, though unconstitutional, action by authorities to benefit those born on the island. The reality, unfortunately, is quite the opposite. By requiring one and all to have a Cuban passport — even if they hold another one — in order to enter or leave the country, the Cuban government brings in a respectable amount of money, especially since a passport is only valid for six years and must be renewed every two, with the resulting monetary expenditure.

In Cuba a passport costs 100 CUC and each renewal costs twenty. Overseas, however, Cuban consulates charge significantly higher fees. This is the economic impact but there is also a legal issue. Upon entering the country, an emigré is completely subject to Cuban law and the government of the country of which he is also a citizen can do nothing to protect him because, as far as Cuba is concerned, he did not enter the country with the other country’s passport but rather with a Cuban one. As is quite clear, the Cuban state commits this constitutional violation purely out of economic interests in order to obtain hard currency. Secondly, the same perverse motivation allows it to maintain complete control.

In today’s globalized world, where geographical borders become less important with every passing day, people have dual and even multiple nationalities. For Cuban authorities updating this legal statute presents no great difficulty. The flattering reference to the Soviet Union was dropped from the constitution once this state ceased to exist while the ridiculous term “irrevocable socialism” was later added.

Cuba, stuck as usual in the past, rejects renewal and refuses to join the present by continuing to promote its outdated image as a “besieged island,” which for over 56 years has generated substantial political dividends. What it does not realize is that the buyers are becoming increasingly scarce.

11 June 2014