Housing In Cuba / Somos+, German Gonzalez

Somos+, Germán M. González, 11 November 2018

Absolute power equals absolute responsibility: the socio-economic situation of the country is disastrous, party & government admits it: Who will answer for that?

In the final days of this October, several references to the subject of housing appeared in the official Cuban media. Published first is that Pinar del Rio lacks more than ten thousand homes in order to fully recover from “prior hurricanes,” we are talking at a minimum of at least 10 years, and later, in the public version of a meeting of the council of ministers the “president” announced the proposal of building homes at a rate of 50 thousand per year. Let’s look at some background.

The universal right to decent and adequate housing is reflected in international and multilateral documents and agreements, as well as in the legislation of many countries, including national constitutions. Recognized in this manner, the human right to adequate housing — and its environment – is of fundamental importance for the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights. Let’s look at the current situation in Cuba according to official sources.

The official newspaper Granma (January 25, 2018) reports that 47% of homes are inadequate, only exceeded in Latin America by Brazil (64%) and far higher than Argentina (22%) and Chile (23%). In addition, in the latter two countries, due to their climate, considering a home adequate implies many more requirements than in our sub-tropical archipelago. continue reading

The pace of construction has declined in the last twelve years, from more than 111,000 units in 2006 to fewer than 22,000 in 2017 (denying the claimed efficiency of the raulista term of office) according to the Cuban Statistical Yearbook (AEC), the smallest amount since statistics became available. Graphic view:

In its June 1st edition, Granma offers chilling data:

Housing pending solution: Grand Total/Total Collapses — Hurricanes prior to Sandy (2012): 42,000/25,000; Hurricane Sandy (2012): 36,000/14,000; Hurricane Matthew (2016): 8,000/7,000; Hurricane Irma (2017): 115,000/15,000.

In total, there are 201,000 homes affected; of those 61,000 were total collapses; 42,000 and 25,000, respectively, occurred before 2012.

In summary, if the pace expected by Díaz-Canel is reached, it would take four years to replace the homes affected by hurricanes and then ten years to repair the “not adequate” ones, plus an indeterminate period for impacts from new hurricanes and the currently adequate homes that, due to the passage of time and the poor quality of construction of the last 60 years, will inevitably deteriorate.

Add to this that the projected Diaz-Canelian pace is 2-1/2 times greater than what was achieved in the last five years as an annual average, plus the aforementioned unpredictable destructions and deteriorations, and the hopes of decent housing for most Cubans is more than remote.

A problem without a solution? For sure, under the current mandate of the “five” and their dogmas that are only effective for maintaining power.

The liberalization of the economy, the creation of a real estate market with modern credit system included, and above all the restitution to millions of Cuban diaspora members of their civil, political and economic rights with the consequent financial injection would surely give better results — in this and any other socioeconomic spheres — than the diffuse Díaz-Canelian dreams, which are nothing more than a badly copied version of the thousands of similar promises made by the Castro brothers… and look where we are after sixty years of listening to them.

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

The ‘Chicken’ of ‘Rice with Chicken’ / Somos+

Somos+, Germain Gonzalez, 13 October, 2018 — There’s a certain surprise in digital media over the active participation of the Cuban population in the “debates” about the project of the constitution. The surprise is valid because in reality the “revolutionary” enthusiasm is minimal. The “electoral” processes as well as in the status reports from the delegates, the meetings of the organizations of the masses in the neighborhoods, workplaces and schools can be characterized by their formal structure. The population attends and completes this necessary process for the inspections carried out in their vicinity in order to get a job, scholarship, promotion, trip abroad, etc. The religious services of all creeds usually show greater attendance and happiness among the parishioners.

What’s certain is that Cubans, even with the extremely limited amount of information offered by the media, which is also scarce, biased, incomplete, and generally untruthful, feel anxious since something could improve or worsen. Like Pánfilo, the popular television character, who searched fruitlessly in the tabloid of project information for the quota of chicken or other rationed foods. continue reading

What’s certain is that the assemblies and their “debates,” just like the elections turn out “bread with nothing.” The uncomfortable explanations — of having something — stop right there, the media spreads only the favorable ones, and the chicken [i.e. not chicken but a substitute] of ’rice with chicken’ isn’t even mentioned: the “superior guiding power of society and the State” party, article five that takes away all validity from the rest of the monstrosity, if it had any.

Therefore the discussion of the rest of the article ends up an intellectual exercise. The referendum having taken place, and the final version of the thingamajig approved, in the first meeting of the political executive committee that presides over it throws out an idea, it’s approved — unanimously — the formal party processes are carried out (secretariat, full central committee), it’s presented to the National Assembly of Peoples Power (ordinary or extraordinary session according to the urgency), and this most docile parliament in universal history will approve the changes to the recently debuted constitution — unanimously — or simply as today they will do whatever is a good idea, taking notice of this.

Does anyone doubt it? Here goes an example:

On September 10, 1993, the political executive committee agrees on the creation of the Basic Units of Cooperative Production (UBPC) from the state-owned agricultural entities affected by gigantism, inefficiency, not economically and environmentally sustainable in the new situation created by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the European socialist camp the loss of the subsidies they gave to Cuba.

Ten days later Decree 143 is issued by the Council of State; in the next session of the assembly the Decree is approved, without questions and unanimously.

Regardless of being a terrible law, full of contradictions and incongruencies, it made available assets of billions of pesos, including 1.7 million hectares of agricultural land, hundreds of thousands of workers, and many millions of pesos of production, starting from the unappealable decision of an organ of power whose members have no practical nor theoretical experience in agricultural administration. Result: the cooperatives created are not profitible for the most part and agricultural production in clear retreat.

This example is not an isolated fact, the deterioration of the socioeconomic situation of the country is related to the system that gives ones man, or at most a small team, absolute powers for life, fulfilling the José Martí’s premonition:

Any wide and long-exercised power degenerates into caste. With caste comes interests, high positions, the fear of losing them, intrigues to hold on to them. The castes interweave, and they act tough to each other. (O.C. t9, p 340)

For example, the cooperative is master of production but had to sell it to the Company that the State designated at fixed prices, so for this reason, is it or is it not the master? The necessary supplies are received in the same manner, the rules for their functioning are so bureaucratic that there is almost no difference from a state entity, in short, all of the principles of cooperativism are violated.

Among the elders is the defenestration of the sugar industry; the “battle of ideas” with the creation of a super ministry, in the practical fount of corruption and waste of resources; martial decisions of great magnitude even for a power with interference in the internal affairs of other states or in conflicts between sovereign nations, etc.

In the brief historical existence of “real socialism” similar catastrophic actions abound: the forced collectivization of Stalin, the great “leap forward” of Mao are examples of absurd decisions that caused millions of death by hunger.

Translated by: Sheilagh Carey

Cuba: Exploring Civic Opinion Under the Government of Diaz-Canel / Somos+

Ask us anything about Cuba We specialize in market studies. When you need data, you’re not alone.A project of Cubadata. (For more information visit http://www.cubadata.com.es)

Somos+, 15 August 2018 — Cuba is finding itself in a moment of great changes. Constitutional reform and the legitimacy of new leaders, together with a lack of rights and the prolonged socioeconomic crisis, are the elements combining together over growing social uncertainty.

The survey that we are presenting today — probably the biggest independent public opinion study carried out on the island since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 — focuses on measuring the aspirations, perceptions, and evaluations of Cubans in various spheres: their economic rights and the effectiveness of reforms, political institutionalization, freedoms, and the functioning of social services.

Do you believe that the Constitution should change to permit direct presidential elections? Yes: 61.4% No: 17.0% I don’t know: 21.6%

continue reading

Does the Cuban state media represent the diversity of opinions present in Cuban society? How would you rate the quality of education in Cuba? (Blue: Very Good. Red: Good. Yellow: Regular. Green: Deficient. Purple: Very deficient. Turquoise: Don’t know.)

Carried out between June 4 and 11, 2018, the survey covered a sample of 2,287 people, with individual and verifiable profiles, who agreed to respond voluntarily via the online tool of CubaData.

The results, analyzed by a team of specialists from academic centers in the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela, were compared with the main surveys carried out in Cuba and other countries of interest. Showing a diverse country, with concrete questions of a dissimular nature, that reveal the opinions of a society that is reconfiguring itself and that by this time does not allow black and white readings.

We highlight here the most relevant aspects of the survey.

In the field of economic reforms:

– 83.4% of those polled believe that foreign businesses on the island should be able to hire Cuban workers directly

– 81.9% understand that the government should not control a monopoly over imports and exports

– 87.6% believe that Cuban professionals should be able to start businesses and companies within their professions

In the field of social services:

– 62.9% think that Cuban public health is not good, qualifying it as “regular” (33.3%), “deficient” (18.9%), and “very deficient” (10.7%)

– 61.7% have had to pay or give a gift to a doctor at least once to be seen or to get a consultation more quickly

– 64.7% believe that the quality of education is “regular” (35.4%), “deficient” (18.6%), or “very deficient” (10.7%)

In the field of freedoms:

– 65.6% do not believe that Cubans can say what they think in public places, forums, or communication media without the fear of suffering reprisals

– 58.9% do not believe that the state media reflects the diversity of opinions present in society

– 84.4% believe that Cubans do not have sufficient internet access

In the field of Constitutional reform:

– 38.2% do not know if the article that declares the irrevocability of socialism should be eliminated, while 34.8% say yes and 27% no

– 45.7% believe that political parties other than the Communist party should be permitted, while 28.9% do not know and 25.4% oppose the idea

– 61.5% believe that presidential elections should be direct, while 21.6% say they don’t know and 17% oppose them

Finally, in the field of the biggest worries of Cubans, the surveyed give priority to income (26.6%), food (21.2%), and public services (13.9%), while they find themselves very divided over the possibilities that the new president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, can manage to change and improve things in the country. 46% of the responses believe that Díaz-Canel has little chance of achieving change, while 35% seem more optimistic. The indecisive find themselves in the middle of these two groups.

See the survey (http://www.cubadata.com.es)

The results were analyzed by the specialists: Armando Chaguaceda (Universidad de Guanajuato), Elaine Acosta (Florida International University), Juan Manuel Trak (Universidad Católica Andrés Bello) and Rodrigo Salazar-Elena (FLACSO México), who presented a detailed report on the matter.

The CubaData survey is based on a non-probabilistic sample of 2,287 users of mobile apps with identified profiles and access to email. The reported conclusions are not intended to be representative of the totality of the Cuban population, but rather solely those of the group of subjects who answered the questionnaire. Subjects who, for the diversity of their identities, express real tendencies of Cuban society. Given the restrictions in carrying out surveys in the field or via the internet, the data of this study are a first approximation of the scope of Cuban opinions.

In the immediate future, we will continue extending and perfecting the reach and the representation of this type of study.

Translated by: Sheilagh Carey

Manipulation and Shamelessness in the Decline of a Dying Man / Somos+

If the republic doesn’t open its arms to everyone and move forward with everyone, the republic dies. José Martí

Somos+,Lcdo. Adalberto R Mesa Duarte, 22 August 2018 — I believe that if the Cuban people felt consciously free to express what they have kept in for sixty years, Raúl Castro and his “Always Unanimous National Assembly” would resign en masse from such a serious responsibility.

In a real democracy, “cooption” cannot be an option. So I ask: Why keep doing the same thing? … How is it possible that the Constitution of 1940, one of the most advanced legal documents of its time, and whose application could extend to even today, needed to be destroyed in 1976, only to subsequently and repeatedly modify it to the whims of the eternal censor, to the point that its original idea has disappeared?

The answer is very simple: to guarantee that an entire class remain in power! That in the style of the most classic dictators, to dazzle some, and to subdue, arrest, or murder others, only to subdue an entire people in the name of liberty. continue reading

The Constitution of 1940, and the democratic system of government that it established, was violated by “Commander Censor” and his Revolution long before his arrival in Havana in 1959. Any debate in this direction turns into a broad and justified questioning of each one of the rules that over time were introduced to the Constitution, and which objectively blinded and made impossible a popular response that could turn back the social unhappiness that hovered over the people and in the end caused the stagnation of the society that we live in.

Six decades have been more than enough for Cuban society to become resigned to sadness, fears, and the inability to carry out by themselves significant contributions to the development of the nation. For example, we can take as a reference socially blameworthy situations, in which the personal interests of the Dictator took precedence above those of the Cuban people, and in those in which it is obvious that the word “PEOPLE” is only used to manipulate and thereby justify absurd ambitions. A total analysis of the constitution’s rules would be interesting, but too extensive for this occasion.

From the Constitution of 1940, Article 10, I cite: “The citizen has the right. Subsection a) To live in his homeland without being an object of discrimination or any kind of extortion, no matter his race, class, ‘political opinions’, or religious beliefs.” End of citation.

In the Constitution of 1976, in Chapter VI Equality, Article 42, I cite: “Discrimination because of race, skin color, sex, national origin, religious beliefs, and any other reason prejudicial to human dignity is forbidden and sanctioned by the law.” End of citation.

So, for what reason does the “Censor in Chief” curiously leave out, in the Constitution of 1976, the reason of discrimination for “political opinions?”

I have here one of the answers: In daily practice, it is certain that in Cuba, any person that is discriminated against for reasons of race, skin color, sex, national origin, religious beliefs, or any other reason prejudicial to human dignity, is relatively protected by the State, only that the wronged person must have one condition: that the person discriminated against must be a revolutionary, or at least keep a low profile sufficiently in line with revolutionary doctrine! Or rather: keep your head down and don’t protest!

Everyone knows that in any other case, the actions of the district attorney, the courts, and the Ministry of the Interior turn out overwhelmingly differently, because to think and have different opinions in Cuba is an obvious sentence to live in disgrace, submission, and institutional neglect.

Perhaps it’s necessary to keep trusting this government only because it has given “free” education and health to the people? The people also have a right to the fundamental freedoms that were eliminated as of 1959!

I believe that before taking part and voting mechanically to legitimize by referendum the Project of the Constitution proposed by Raúl Castro and his dictatorship, Cuban society must be made aware of the answers to many of the questions that I raise here, otherwise we will continue with the “boot of oppression above our heads.”

In the Constitution of 1940, I repeat, were implemented many of the guarantees that today the Cuban people lack, so they were intentionally eliminated, in order to perpetuate totalitarianism as a fundamental element of direction and social submission, and so it is appropriate now to ask:

  • Why does the government of the Republic of Cuba, which boasts of the total support of the people, need to establish and shield the ruling role of the Communist Party at the head of Cuban society, without submitting it to a review, vote, and approval of the people? All told, and so it is well understood: the party is even above the Constitution itself!
  • Why was the Court of Constitutional Guarantees abolished? Everyone knows that the district attorney neither guarantees nor respond tos with total transparency the claims of human rights violations on the part of the Ministry of the Interior, including those that are endorsed in the Constitution of 1976 itself and the subsequent reforms.
  • What rights, for example, does the citizen have when his property or personal goods are confiscated by the police or the Department of State Security? In the legal framework of 1940, the judicial authority was the entity that determined what would proceed. Today it is carried out by a simple civil servant and on many occasions the act of confiscation isn’t even reflected on the record. And in this case: don’t even ask!
  • Why is the principle of the presumption of innocence not observed? In Cuba a citizen is detained… Even for being ugly! …It is enough that the State presumes that a person could commit a crime for him to be imprisoned. He is detained and then they investigate…
  • Why are the registries of detained and imprisoned people not public? There are many examples in which this vital information was denied to family members and/or interested parties, even after days have passed. And sometimes the aforementioned information isn’t even offered.
  • Why are prisoners and people detained for political motives locked up along with people imprisoned for common crimes? There are many well-documented reports of cases where they have received beatings from “some revolutionary prisoners or detainees”…
  • Why are Cubans restricted or prohibited from living in places or territories of the country, and including: why are they exiled inside of their own homeland? Example: In the capital*…
  • Why are Cuban citizens denied entry to their own country, or why are they prohibited from leaving without giving reasons to justify themselves?
  • Why are citizens with political opinions opposed to the regime objects of repression and censorship? Where is freedom of expression? Why are they even denied the right to work?
  • Why is it a crime to associate or gather peacefully without weapons, why is marching or gathering for all the aims of life, without any more restriction than is necessary to guarantee public order, a repressible act?
  • Why is any act which would limit or prohibit the citizen from participating in the political life of the nation not made punishable? Why is any form of coercion to force a citizen to affiliate, vote, or demonstrate against his will in any electoral operation not sanctioned?
  • Why is the free formation of associations and/or political parties of different ideological tendencies, with adaptation to the laws, not permitted?
  • Why is the President of the Republic not elected by means of universal suffrage of the people, by way of a direct and secret vote? And why isn’t he limited to serve for a term of four years with the possibility of a single reelection?
  • Why doesn’t the diaspora have the right to vote, while it already totals nearly three million Cubans? These people have even been stripped of the right to live in their own country.
  • Why is the man who considers himself the king of this country, and not the citizens of the land, the only one who proposes reforms to the Constitution?

In my modest opinion, the only legal and non-violent way to stop this farce is with the vote of all the people of Cuba, and if the government of Raúl Castro wishes to demonstrate a truly democratic opening, it must observe a tangible transparency, it must go without the accustomed manipulations of public opinion, and additionally it must permit the attendance of international observers, and as is logical, it must include the popular consultation, that is the votes, of all the Cuban exiles. In any other case, it will just be another excluding and biased Constitution.

The Constitution of 1940 was massacred by Fidel and Raúl Castro, and if the majority of its precepts that were eliminated are not restored, Cuban society will continue to be subjugated by resignation, fear, and oppression. Sixty years of this “Royal Monopoly – Revolution” is enough to demonstrate that.

Translator’s note: Cubans are not permitted to live in Havana without legally established residency.

Informative Note about Detained Members / Somos+

Somos+, 18 August 2018 — The Executive Council has been able to contact the six members of our movement who had been arbitrarily detained by the State Security in Puerto Padre, province of Las Tunas. All have been released and are in their respective homes.

We are deeply grateful to all our members for their solidarity, and to the honorable and exceptional instances of journalists, influencers and members of other political projects that responded on behalf of our representatives during these days. continue reading

  • In our initial contact, these brave men and women have expressed firmness in their decision to stay in our movement and the certainty that nothing will make them bow down.

As we have already reported, their phones, a video camera, as well as the money provided for their travel expenses and performance of their duties, were confiscated

Repressive actions against Somos + is increasing, but no obstacle will stop us.

Executive Council

Political Movement S+

Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria

Theory and Practice in Our America / Somos+, Eliecer Avila

Source: CLAES

Somos+, Eliecer Avila, 1 May 2018 —  or at least two decades, since Hugo Chavez’s rise to power, the policial debate in Latin America has centered its discussions around the populist model, which was introduced in Venezuela and which has not stopped being exported, with more or less success, to the rest of the continent.

After the resounding failure of the experiment called “21st century socialism,” the arguments against it were greatly strengthened; today, it is not so difficult for any well-informed Democratic candidate to win a debate by a large margin when facing the representatives of the radical Left.

With the overwhelming evidence we have at hand about the impracticality of this type of political project, it seems impossible that candidates like Gustavo Petro in Colombia or Manuel López Obrador in Mexico will be competitive in the face-to-face surveys in the next elections. continue reading

Apparently, voter perception is not based solely on television content, educational videos, or posts on social media. A majority of the world’s citizens continue to reference the concrete situation in which they live to determine whether they will support or oppose any given politician.

To save democracy from the claws of populism is, in the opinion of many, the “mission” that voters have in the next elections, and this is true. What’s not healthy is that this perspective overlooks the necesary debate that must be had about the quality of the democracies and governments which aspire to be elected as alternatives to populism.

It is of no use today to win ideological debates or to demonstrate the falsity of the proposal aligned with Chavism if, after being elected, many Democratic candidates don’t last in their seat without being prosecuted for corruption, vote buying, alliances with the mafia, links to drug trafficking, crimes against journalists, shell corporations to launder money, and a string of things that have become rule, with honorable exceptions from the Rio Bravo to Patagonia.

No matter how hard it is to admit, bad Democratic governments are the principal architects of populism and its consecuences, because they have not taken full advantage of their years in power to implement the structural changes, investments, and public policies that are urgently needed in Latin America to improve the quality of life of a majority of our people.

It’s difficult to believe that in the era in which we live, millions of people in our America are unable to access the medical attention that they need, some are unable to study at elementary levels because they’ve needed to work since childhood, and crime, scattered or organized, runs rampant in entire populations where governments and police mean nothing to the Left.

I know that the populist formula does not resolve these problems, or if it resolves them in part, it does so in exchange for your life, your will, and your conscience. But, if we are clear that this is not the way, that the solution is not that “you give him the fish without teaching him how to fish,” that “you can’t drink the milk and eat the meat from the same cow,” and many other adages that appear to be obvious: why are there not sufficient advancements with solutions emanating from democracy? Isn’t that what democracy itself is for?

I have no doubt that the western democratic design, based on balance of power, freedom of expression, and respect for the human rights recognized in the Universal Declaration, is the best one that exists on the face of the earth, but if the human capital entrusted with making the system work does not respect its rules and repeatedly betrays the social pact and the trust of the outraged voters, then they will inevitably end up rejecting the politicians and also the democratic design.

Now more than ever, the future of our America depends on the integrity, honesty, and commitment of the democratic leaders. This should, at least in theory, make us feel safe and happy. We’ll see what will happen in practice.

Translated by: Emilee Sullivan 

Which Jose Marti do Cuba’s Rulers Read? / Somos+


“I feel like they murder a child of mine each time they deprive a man of the right to think.” –José Martí

Somos+, Germán M. González, 29 January 2018 —  In Cuba, there is an urgent need to restore, rehabilitate, revive, reconstruct, rescue, all familiar terms in the party/government media. The sugar and coffee agro-industries, livestock breeding, the fishing and merchant marine sectors–all are barely surviving at less than 30% productivity. Also at risk are intangibles such as culture, the transmission of our history–in short, everything.

But for Cubans, both in and outside the Island, there is an urgent need to rescue José Martí, our Apostle, because his thought is proving today–in the shadow of our civic extinction and the battered state of our national pride–an indispensable guide. continue reading

They combine Martí with incompatible things, starting with his appeal that heads up the current Constitution: “I want the first law of our Republic to be the cultivation of Cubans towards the full dignity of Man”–negated when the supremacy of one small part of the society over this Republic, and the state, is proclaimed in Article 5–wherein additionally he is mixed up with characters (“…follower of Martí and Marxist-Leninist…”) who were antithetical to the ideology that can be noted throughout his entire body of work. The following maxims are representative examples:

A Constitution is a living, pragmatic law that cannot be constructed out of ideological elements. José Martí Complete Works, v. 9, p. 308.

On the “candidacy commissions” during “elections”:

 The Republic is lifted on the shoulders of universal suffrage... Op.Cit., v. 1, p. 91

On considering Marxism-Leninism to be an exclusive ideology:

To know diverse philosophies is the best way to free oneself from the tyranny of some of them… Op.Cit., v. 15, p. 91

On eternal socialism:

The right of the worker cannot ever be hatred of capital: it is harmony, conciliation, the coming together of one and the other. Op.Cit. v.6, p. 275.

On thousands of executions following extremely summary trials lacking procedural safeguards:

(…) capital punishment is unjust for it quenches in the body (…) the rage roused by the crime of the spirit. Op. Cit. v.21, p. 25.

On the plans for massive scholarships:

There is great danger in educating children away from home, for it is only from parents that the continuous tenderness flows which should water the youthful flower, and that constant mix of authority and affection–ineffective, owing to the very domination and arrogance of our nature, but that both proceed from the same person. Op. Cit. v.5, p. 260

On the medical missions and emigration that break down the family:

 (…) so necessary in the family home is the father, always dynamic, as well as the mother, always cautious. Op. Cit. v.4, p.275.

On intervening in the internal affairs of and conflicts between sovereign nations:

Nothing so imprudent there is as to perturb with their own rancors–given that there are unfortunates who hold them–the peace of a foreign people: (…) Op. Cit. v.4, p. 137.

On the abrupt eradication of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses and farms:

A nation is rich that includes many small proprietors. Op. Cit. v. 7, p. 134.

The finest citizen is he who cultivates a large tract of land. Op. Cit. v. 7, p. 164.

On heavy bureaucratization:

A country of paper pushers is headed on the wrong path. Op. Cit. v. 15, p. 391

On the absolutist State:

 (…) from being a slave of the capitalists, as is said today, would a man go to being a slave of the functionaries. Op. Cit. v.15, p 391.

On the absolute and lifelong power guaranteed by the current political system:

All power that is fully and prolongedly exerted degenerates into a caste. With the caste comes the vested interests, the high positions, the fear of losing them, the intrigues (…) Op. Cit. v. 9, p. 340.

On the militarization of the economy and society:

What in the military sphere is a virtue, in the government sphere is a fault. A country is not a battlefield. In war, to command is to bring down; in peace, it is to raise up. No known edifice exists that was built upon bayonets. Op. Cit. v. 13, p. 129-143.

On caudillismo [Spanish or Latin American-style autocratic government]:

 A Revolution is still necessary–that which does not make of its caudillo a President, that revolution against all revolutions: the raising up of all men of peace (…) so that neither they nor anyone else will ever see him again!  Op. Cit., v. 6, p. 360. 

Let us rescue Martí–the true one has been hijacked–and we need him.

Translated By: Alicia Barraqué Ellison

Enemy of the United States? / Somos+

José Martí

Somos+, Germán M. González (Professor-A1010-S +), 30 January 2018 — Our Apostle (as we Cubans call José Martí) is sentenced to prison in Cuba at only sixteen years of age. In 1871 he is deported to Spain; in 1875 he arrives in Mexico after a brief passage through Paris and New York, and from there he settles in Aztec lands until he falls into disgrace with the government of Porfirio Díaz; he lives in Guatemala and Venezuela, from where he has to leave because he upsets the dictators on duty, and spends a brief period in Cuba until his second exile. Altogether, twelve years of suffering prison, exiles, and physical and spiritual breakdowns. Sin: expression of thought. Enemy: intolerance. continue reading

From 1882 he resides–except for short trips–in New York. At this time he consolidates the monumental work that is considered by many the greatest cultural event of Latin American in the 19th century, and he maintains feverish political activity towards his life’s goal: the independence of his homeland. In his articles for the Spanish-American media the “North American Scenes” are defined; there he offers a vision of the American life of that period consistent with what he himself had stated:

To know a people, you have to examine it in all of its aspects and expressions: in its elements, in its tendencies, in its apostles, in its poets and its criminals! 

Martí recognizes the merits of this nation, the largest of those which never declared freedom in his article “Vindication of Cuba” and immediately after clarifies: We love the homeland of Lincoln, as much as we fear the homeland of Cuttíng. This coincides with the Americans who venerate their lumberjack president and scorn the other character. Martí always expresses the critical admiration that the young nation produces: Criticism is not censorship; it is simply and even in its formal sense–in its etymology–is this, the exercise of judgement.

Through the exercise of judgement–in and about the United States–José Martí did not visit a police station, nor did he visit a police officer in his 14 years of residency. How different from his previous 12 years of life in Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, and Venezuela! If in these countries (even today) he had expressed a fraction of the opinions that he voiced about Americans, including the presidents, he would not have lived to prepare the necessary war and to die in it.

The criticism of the ideas of Martí in the United States is very wide-spread, unlike their admiration:

for the people greatest in peace and most generous in war live in his time in the universe. [O.C. t 13, p 83-115]

Deeply generous, or decorous, or discreet, is this American people, (…). [ibid]

(…) the greatest prosperity that written history remembers through the centuries; but a country that (…), to that which skimps on or threatens its right, denounces and overturns it. [ibid]

Of the most vehement of the freedom born in the apostolic days is North America. [O.C. t 6, p 134]

I would sculpt in porphyry the statues of the marvelous men who drafted the Constitution of the United States of America: I would sculpt them signing the vast work (…) [O.C. t 10, p 184]

At this moment in time, it is the truth that never has a happier crowd lived in such useful labor in any people of the earth, nor has it originated and enjoyed more fortune, [O.C. Vol. 9, p 123 E.D.]

How the relationship between the two Americas should be:

(…) whose enmity is neither sane nor feasible to encourage, and with which strong decorum and astute independence is not impossible and is useful, to be friends. 

Martí insistently warns of the necessity of the objective knowledge of the United States as well as the necessity of knowing Our America to achieve the previous purpose.

When the Latin American demagogues cease to blame the United States for all of their misfortunes, act like the Apostle predicted, and show more interested in the progress of their country than in the grasping of power, Latin America (and Cuba) will change.

Translated by: Emilee Sullivan 

Let No One Paint Anything! Only the PCC Can Smear … / Somos+

Cuba is ours. I am Fidel.
Cuba is ours. I am Fidel.

Somos+, Alexei Games, 9 December 2017 — The laws in Cuba are written, but they are applied in a selective and discriminatory manner. These two images (there are thousands) show that on the walls of public entities and institutions of all kinds, one can paint or place insignias, advertisements, graffiti and whatever else occurs to the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) even if it does not comply with any urban regulation.

I tell you all this because, as a member of the Methodist church of Jagüey Grande, Matanzas, it hurts me that we can not put a sign on the front of our temple that says “METHODIST CHURCH.”

Several times our pastor has made efforts to get “someone” to authorize the sign. The last few times, in his visits to the physical planning office they dared to tell him, “Why do you want to put a sign on it if everyone knows that this is the Methodist Church of Jagüey?”

Another justification offered was that you can not paint directly on the walls, though it can be done on a signboard with some measures regulated according to the law of physical planning. However, it is impossible to legally obtain this signboard anywhere in Cuba, except on the black market,  but that is another subject.

However, this municipality is full of signs and posters everywhere and none of them complies with the law that our Church must comply with. If we paint the wall of the temple, it is very likely that some sanction will be invented and that surely the wall will have to be repainted so that the sign can not be seen. But … Who sanctions those who have smeared paint in Cuba in violation of its own law?

Translated by Alberto

A Summoning to General Elections / Somos+

Somos+, Havana, 27 October 2017 — By the present lines, I, Dr. Carlos Raúl Macías López, Institutional Secretary of the Political Movement Somos+, by virtue of Article I of the Electoral Regulations, and by the expressed mandate of the National Council, headed by the current President Engineer Eliécer Avila: summon all members of our organization to participate in the first general elections for the honorable duty of President.

Election Timeline for 2017:

  • 10th of November: Presentation of the Electoral Commission.
  • 13th of November: The preparations and means to register and enroll Candidates will be announced.
  • 20th of November: Deadline for Candidates to register and enroll.
  • 21st of November until the 5th of December: Publication and debate of the messages of the candidates.
  • 8th of December: The Electoral Commission communicates to its participating members (eligible to vote) the methods, protocols and technical details to achieve suffrage directly and secretly.
  • 10th of December: National and International Suffrage, in accordance with the methodology that the Commission will define.
  • 10th of December: Announcement of Results and Celebration!

continue reading

It is important to remind all of our members the immense responsibility and privilege that it means for us to be a part of this process, that it strengthens and honors us for its exceptional and neccessary course, for our Homeland “Patria” and our Time.

At the same time, we must not forget the obstacles of all sizes that we will be facing to achieve with success what we are hoping and longing for.

The stability that we have had in a general sense during these past four years, is today more necessary than ever in order to guarantee the subsistence of our project and to be part of the light and good example that our nation needs to reconstruct itself.

We recommend that everyone read the Electoral Regulations carefully, and be in constant contact with the Commission, once it be presented, in order to clear up any doubts or report any anomalies in the process.

We will continue offering information as necessary.

Dr. Carlos Raúl Macías

Institutional Secretary

Political Movement Somos+

Translated by: Ylena Zamora-Vargas

Somos+ Stands In Solidarity With The Victims Of The Terrorist Attack In Barcelona / Somos+

Somos+, 18 August, 2017 — The political group Somos+ offers condolences and solidarity to the city of Barcelona, in the wake of the recent terrorist attack which left 13 dead and over a hundred wounded, according to official sources.

We grieve the loss of human life caused by this condemnable act. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. We wish for a quick return to calm for the city and that those responsible are brought to justice

We repeat our condemnation of these kinds of attacks that threaten humane principles. We are part of a community that dreams of an end to this wave of terror and hatred, in the construction of a fraternal, caring society.

Translated by Alice Edwards

Edison Lanza and the Lack of Press Freedom in Cuba / Somos+, Karla Pérez González

Edison Lanza

Somos+, Karla Pérez González, 28 August 2017 — Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for the Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), shares his vision on what is happening in Cuba regarding the violation of a series of elementary rights, already surpassed by the majority of systems that govern the continent.

The Uruguayan, who has held the reins of this department of the CIDH since 2014, regrets the Cuban case, where according to him, at the moment “the modality of repression has changed, but it is still a state that violates the international standards of freedom of expression”. continue reading

“In the last 20 years the rapporteur has been consistently pointed out that, first of all, there is no pluralistic system of political parties in Cuba, there is no system that allows pluralism of opinions and diversity of ideas. Then there is a legal framework restricting freedom of expression, starting from the Constitution that subordinates this right – which is individual – to the interests of the Party and the Revolution. There are an immense series of criminal figures that suppress critical voices. The history of the last 30 years in Cuba has led to situations of exile, or imprisonment for political dissent that forms organizations that are not allowed by the regime. Simply to propose from the Academy a series of transformations in the economy and in the Cuban political system, some were cataloged of subversives and of attempting against the security of the State, and they underwent severe and long penalties of prison”, said the journalist.

Regarding the island of the last five-year period, he explained that “there are sentences of journalists, activists, human rights defenders and journalists are simply being held outside official structures, which can last for 24 or 48 hours. They are then released, or subjected to criminal proceedings that generate a strong inhibitory effect, or destruction of material, subtraction of equipment to prevent independent journalists from performing their work. ”

Internet was the last topic of the interview. It is known the complicated panorama that crosses the common Cuban to “connect”. When in the world this communicative tool is a necessity today, the criollos still have to see it -not because they want to, but because they have no other choice- as a luxury, a petty-bourgeois pleasure.

“Obviously the lack of internet access that today is the platform to disseminate information par excellence and in general Cubans have restrictions to access the Internet, to disseminate. Surveillance also on those who exercise freedom of expression. A journalist who lives guarded, who tries to know his source of information, his contacts by email, etc., is a journalist who is not free. All this scenario makes Cuba a country not free to do journalism.

The Rapporteur has also integrated, led and founded several non-governmental organizations in defense of the right to freedom of expression. He did postgraduate studies on freedom of expression and criminal law at the University of the Republic, and holds a doctorate related to the processes of regulation of audiovisual media in the region at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires.

Edison Lanza is co-founder of the Center for Archives and Access to Public Information in Uruguay. Moreover, this also included the Committee on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information of the Regional Alliance for Free Expression and Information and the IFEX-ALC Alliance for the Defense of Freedom of Expression. He has also offered consultancies to different countries for the development of law projects related to access to public information, freedom of expression and communication media systems, among others.

Translated by: J. Rausenberger (From Somos+ English site)

Reinaldo Escobar: The Unqualified Cuban Truth / Somos+

Photo taken from the web

Somos+, Leyla Belo, 23 March 2017 — Those who ever speak with Reinaldo cannot deny his innate genius, his sense of humor and gentleness of expression. A matter of decorum, isn’t it? That quality which is so scarce among many people nowadays.  He does what he considers to be his duty: to disassemble our Island from within, dreaming that some of us, or all of us together, will fix it. Each one of his writings brims with endless sensibility, while leaving to others the use of easy adjectives and trivial cruelties.  A committed journal¡ist; of the kind of those no longer living, because his commitment is not centered around one man but around his Cuba, his suffering Cuba.

You had nearly two decades of work in official media under your belt. When did you decide to take another path and why?

When I was supposed to graduate from the School of Journalism in 1971, there was a “purge” at the University of Havana which meant the expulsion and punishment of several students. My “punishment,” caused by my “ideological issues,” consisted of working for a year for a tabloid by the name of El Bayardo, which was part of Columna Juvenil el Centenario, a youth brigade (a forerunner of the Youth Working Army), in Camagûey province. I stayed there until mid-1973. continue reading

After serving out my sentence I was placed with Revista Cuba Internacional where, according to my colleague Norberto Fuentes, we were involved in “sugarcoating.”  I worked there until mid-1987, when I transferred to the Juventud Rebelde newspaper, inspired by the Soviet glasnost, and thought that we would be able to engage in a different type of journalism in Cuba. I tried to do so with the best of intentions, and the result was that I was expelled from the newspaper in 1988 and disqualified from exercising the profession on the Island. Thus, some 18 years elapsed between mid-1971 and 1988 when I was engaged in official journalism.

I began working as an independent journalist in January, 1989, which was referred to at that time as “freelance” journalism, and contributed to several European publications by writing about Cuban subjects.

You are the founder of 14ymedio and are its Editor in Chief. How difficult is it to engage in serious journalism in an underground media?

The 14ymedio newspaper is not an underground newspaper. If I were to label it at all, I would rather call it an independent or unofficial newspaper. The best definition is that we are a digital, non-subsidized, non-printed newspaper.

That definition is essential to explain its difficulties. The problem other media have in securing ink and paper is experienced by us in achieving Internet connectivity. The largest volume of information flow is with our correspondents in the provinces and with other associates through the Nauta webmail network, which is slow and government-controlled.

The other difficulty is the scarcity of journalists who meet the appropriate requirements, as the first characteristic is for them to have the professional sensibility to sense everything which is really newsworthy. The second characteristic is to be able to truthfully and appealingly write in any journalistic genre, while checking with reliable sources. The third element is for them to dare to face the risks stemming from the threats by the political police.

At times those threats materialize into specific events which physically render it difficult to perform our job.

Current independent journalism (most of it) does not stem from a “passion” when dealing with the news.

One of the distinctive features of the current, independent journalism is the short distance that exists between many of its reporters and political activism. Arbitrary detentions, beatings, searches, evictions and everything that contributes to a true picture of a typical dictatorship seems to be the only thing of interest to that type of journalism. This can be explained because such news is absent from official media, and to counteract the official media monopoly on information is one of the raisons d’être of independent media. The passion is inherent to the nature of this reporting, hence the (always unnecessary) profusion of adjectives.

Independent journalism should also focus on other matters, such as the growing presence of entrepreneurs, and it should look at those –apparently insignificant– signs of defiance by our plastic artists, filmmakers, writers, humorists and musicians.

Authorized press in Cuba is subsidized by the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). In your opinion, what would be the ideal management paradigm for the media?

I do not think there is an ideal management paradigm for the media.

The issue of media ownership is a complex matter. When it is privately-owned,  under a market system, information becomes one more item of merchandise and “what sells” gains visibility over “what needs to be reported.” When management is in state hands and does not depend on advertisers, the media often becomes boring and doctrinaire. In addition, there is public management, which is somewhat different from state management in that it is governed by the readership.

Even though it is not noticed at first glance, the official broadcasting media in Cuba are privately-owned and are the monopoly of the Communist Party. If we understand that the concept of ownership specifically refers to the decision-making capacity and add to the aspect of material responsibility for what is owned, there is no question that the official media owner is the PCC, which designates the management staff, establishes the editorial line, manages material resources and pays the salaries.

Earnings are not measured in terms of money as under a market system, but in terms of the achieved control over the population, which only finds out about what those media report if they are privileged enough to connect to other media. It is acceptable for a political party to own its own publication, but it not acceptable for that party, having exclusive access to power in the name of the law, to use State funds to pay the cost of its media and, in addition, to take upon itself the right of prohibiting the existence of its competitors.

Eventually, we will have private newspapers and magazines in Cuba, perhaps full of advertisements, police-blotter journalism and trivial news about the world of show business; civil society institutions will manage their own media and perhaps there will be a public TV channel where people will learn about the debates in Parliament.

You interviewed the Law student expelled from Cienfuegos University. How do you define his action?

This young man only exercised his sacrosanct right to free expression when answering the test questions. If a student is asked on a test what his opinion is regarding a specific subject, whoever grades the test has to refrain from his or her political prejudices, otherwise they should pose the questions with more honesty, such as, “What do you think I would be pleased to hear regarding such subject?”

You were detained a few months ago while a Spanish journalist was interviewing you. Was that another violation of the freedom of expression?

During the days of mourning following the death of former president Fidel Castro, I was interviewed by journalist Vicent Sanclemente, from Televisión Española. I do not think I was being followed at that particular time, but “they” were just highly-strung. Maybe the informant who was keeping an eye by the Malecón sea wall thought my answers to be inappropriate. When this young man reported to his superiors that there was a Cuban guy saying strange things to a foreign journalist, the person who got the report was compelled to fulfill his duty. Something “natural” in our environment.

Violating the freedom of expression is expressed in the most acute way when, for instance, our 14ymedio.com newspaper becomes inaccessible to the domestic servers providing Internet browsing service.

The official discourse boasts of freedom of expression in Cuba. Yet the reality is different.

Once, I do not remember the exact date, Mr. Carlos Lage maintained that there was total freedom of thought in Cuba… and it is true. What happens is, as Friedrich Engels used to say, “the word is the material wrapping of thought,” so that it is totally worthless for someone to come up with a political formula if he or she cannot in absolute calmness expound upon it to all of his or her followers.

Freedom of expression, exercised in its public environment, is the best guarantee that all rights to which people are entitled are fulfilled, including, naturally, the right to education, public health and social security.

Translated by: Anonymous

Human Rights Violations: How to Report them? / Somos+

Somos+, 20 March 2017 — During the last session of Academia 10/10, we were joined by renowned Prof. Moisés Rodríguez Valdés, a physicist by profession but one with ample knowledge of human rights and civil liberties.

He is the chief spokesperson in Cuba for Corriente Martiana. Attendees enjoyed this very valuable conference during which, among other important topics, he explained how to formally report human rights violations to the United Nations. The following are some of the major points he shared with us.

Report violations of human rights you have experienced to the United Nations. continue reading

Not doing so encourages the perpetrators’ sense of impunity, even if this is not your intention.

The process is easy and does not take much time, but the effect can be significant if everyone follows established procedures.

We hear reports on a daily basis, through Radio Martí and other broadcasters, as well as through digital and print media, of human rights violations against civil society activists not formally recognized, who are vilified and repressed and, occasionally, are subject to unjustified physical violence.

Using the media to raise public awareness is NECESSARY, BUT IS NOT ENOUGH. That is because UN resolution 1503 precludes the organization from considering complaints based on press reports (see annex, UN Res. 1503).

Some complaints are forwarded to international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others. There is nothing wrong with it, but this is also NOT ENOUGH. UN Res. 1503 establishes that the complaint must be filed by the victims, their representatives or organizations located in the places where the actions were known to have occurred.

Furthermore, it is well-known that complaints by the European Union and even the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), while noteworthy, have proved to be inadequate in stopping systemic and institutionalized violations depicting a persistent situation, which is what triggers UN mechanisms.

Failure to communicate individual facts to this international institution means to forego the one institution that can compel the Cuban government to halt violations committed by state officials and institutions, which essentially means State Security agents.

It is not a question of resolving individual cases but rather that out of all the complaints made it will be possible to put members of the Cuban government on the stand, as was done until prior to 2006, when the Commission on Human Rights was replaced by the current UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The fact that the Cuban government has served on Council three times, or that it is currently a member, does not preclude us from seeking redress from that government through other channels provided we report each violation we have personally experienced, or that others we know have experienced, whether they are civil society activists or the population at large.

For information on how to go about filing a complaint, we are attaching the text of Res. 1503, which you should review prior to initiating such communication, as well as the sample form to report violations to the so-called special procedures.

We suggest that you begin the process by emailing your written testimony to Corriente Martiana:

corrientemartiana2004@gmail.com

It will be reviewed and forwarded to the UN by people who have years of experience in dealing with these matters. They will also send you suggestions on how to format any future correspondence.

Do not fail to do so, for only in this manner will we contribute to increase the political cost to the Cuban government for its systemic, institutionalized violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, which keep the country in a continuous state of crisis, cause the steady exodus of fellow countrymen and keep the citizenry mired in an effort to survive amidst generalized fear and misery, which prevents them from acting as legitimate citizens but rather as accomplices due to their dependence upon the totalitarian regime imposed on our country.

Looking forward that you will carefully assess this suggestion, I remain,

Sincerely,

Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez Valdés

Human Rights Advocate

This document was prepared and distributed by Corriente Martiana, an institution currently focused on the promotion of human rights through face-to-face teaching, distribution of information and teaching material, and implementing pressure strategies on decision-making individuals.

Address: Ave. 45 # 2410 e/ 24 y 26. Cabañas, municipio Mariel, provincia Artemisa. Cuba

Emails:  corrientemartianacuba2004@gmail.com      moises47@nauta.cu

Web page:  www,corrientemartianacuba.org                                    @cubamartiana

Mobile phone:  +53 5 3351152

Annex 1

Procedure contemplated in Res. 1503, reviewed (summary of the main points for purposes of this suggestion).

The fact that a communication is forwarded to the applicable government and an acknowledgment of receipt is forwarded to the author thereof does not mean any opinion as to the admissibility or merits of the communication. When the Working Group finds that there is reasonable evidence to the existence of a persistent sitatuon of manifest human rights violations, the matter will be referred to the Working Group on Situations for review. The Working Group on Situations will consist, as before, of five members designated by regional groups, and due attention shall be given to the rotation of its members.

The Group shall meet one month, at the latest, prior to the Commission’s meeting, in order to review particular situations referred to it by the Working Group on Communications, and it shall subsequently decide whether or not to refer some of those situations to the Commission.

Then, the Commission shall adopt a decision on each particular situation brought to its attention in this manner. Confidentiality.

All initial steps of the process are confidential until a situation is referred to the Social and Economic Council (ECOSOC).  However, since 1978, the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights has disclosed the names of those countries subject to review. Thus, if a situation of abuses occurring in a given country are not resolved during the initial stages of the process, it can be brought to the attention of the international community through the ECOSOC, which is one of the main UN bodies.

What are the admissibility criteria for a communication to be reviewed?

– No communication shall be admitted which is contrary to the principles of the UN Charter or which displays political motivations.

– Only one communication shall be admitted if, after having reviewed it, it is determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe –also having taken into account all replies sent by the interested country– that there is a persistent situation of manifest, conclusively proven violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

– Communications may originate from individuals or groups claiming to be victims of human rights violations or  from those having first-hand, reliable knowledge of those violations. Anonymous communications shall be inadmissible, as well as those based on media reports.

– Each communication shall describe the events and indicate the purpose of the petition, as well as the rights which were violated. As a general rule, communications containing offensive terms or insulting comments regarding the State against which a claim is made shall not be reviewed.

– In order for a communication to be reviewed all internal remedies must have been exhausted, unless it can be convincingly proven that national solutions would be ineffective or would take longer than reasonable expected to be achieved.

Annex 2

THIS IS THE MOST COMMON COMMUNICATION MODEL USED, WHICH YOU MAY USE:

Communication to UN Special Procedures from CUBA.

(Read the instructions at the end prior to beginning your communication.)

i. Identification of individuals(s) victim(s):

1. Surnames:

2. Given Names:

3. Sex: M____ F____

4. Date of birth or age (at the time of being subject to the violation):

5. Citizenship(s):

6. a) Type of ID (ID from your country, passport or similar).

ID Card

b) Number:

7. Profession and/or activity (if there are grounds to believe that the violation of rights and/or freedoms bears any relation to it(them):

8. Current address:

City:                        Province:

II.  Identification of violation’s perpetrators.

1. Date when violation occurred:

2. Place where violation occurred (please provide as many details as possible):

3.  Alleged perpetrators of violation:

4.  Are perpetrators members of any official institution? Which one?

III. Please provide a detailed description of events and circumstances under which the violation subject to the communication occurred (be brief and concise).

IV. Indicate which rights were allegedly violated during incident subject to the communication.

V. Identification of individual(s) or organization(s) filing the communication:

1. Name and surnames of individual(s) or name of the organization and representative’s name:

2. a) Address of the individual or the organization’s headquarters:

City:                            Province:

b) Email:

c) Telephone No. (landline):

d) Cell phone:

Instructions.

1. If you submit a handwritten communication, please use black or blue ink and write legibly, preferably in block letters.

2. Your communication shall not be reviewed if you use insulting language or political content.

3. Please limit yourself to describing the events in connection with the incident and clearly and concisely provide only the essential details. It is not a questions of evaluating or giving an opinion, only of describing the facts.

4. No anonymous communications shall be accepted.

To clarify any questions, you can contact Moisés Leonardo Rodriguez at:

 

Avenida 45 número 2410 entre 24 y 26, Cabañas, municipio Mariel, provincia Artemisa. CP 34100. Cuba.

 Email: corrientemartiana2004@gmail.com

Let’s do it! That way we will achieve a more favorable environment for the defense of Human Rights!

P.A. Mosés Leonardo Rodríguez

Original Corriente Martiana founder.

 Translated by: Anonymous

Peru,Thank You for Your Example and Great Strength / Somos+

Eliecer Avila on a walk around Lima’s mountains, with two Peruvians

Somos+, Eliecer Avila, Havana, 21 March 2017 — During those days we observed with deep sorrow the disaster that Peruvians are enduring, with many deaths and thousands homeless due to flooding and landslides. A beautiful country that has overcome some of the most unfavourable historical events, to rise up to one of the continent’s and the world’s emerging economies of our time.

It has reached a stable democracy after more than a decade of civil war, dictatorship, and extreme poverty. It has since started to forge a modern history of sustained growth, advances in social issues, in infrastructure, in telecommunications, with booming business and an unprecedented right-wing state. continue reading

Eliecer Ávila visiting a family-run ice cream factory in Lima in 2014

Still far away from its potential, Peru today constitutes an example of what a Latin American nation can achieve when it advances together and is reconciled in what is necessary. One can appreciate the tremendous efforts of its entire diaspora that has not rested, collecting assistance that will soon reach the hands of their compatriots to alleviate, even if just a little, so much shared pain.

Our movement maintains strong ties of solidarity and cooperation with different institutes and civil organizations in Peru. We have witnessed there the humility, education and immense spirit of work that distinguishes its people. To all our friends, we want to let you know that we are at your disposal to help in everything that is possible.

We are sure that this dark chapter will pass and the immense South American nation will resume even more strongly its path of flourishing and progress. They will achieve it with the same spirit they express, in the motto that accompanies their shield and banner: “Steady and happy for the union.”