Juan de la Caridad García new archbishop of San Cristóbal de Habana. (Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba)
14ymedio, Havana, 28 December 2016 – Cuban faces of 2016: Ordained as a priest in 1972 and consecrated as a bishop in 1997, Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez belongs to a new generation of prelates within the Cuban Church. He served as a priest in Ciego de Avila and as a bishop in Camagüey until his appointment as Archbishop of Havana in April of this year.
The arrival of Garcia Rodriguez at the head of the capital diocese occurred after Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Jaime Ortega y Alamino for exceeding the age of 75 years, as established by the Code of Canon Law. After receiving the news, the lay Catholic Dagoberto Valdés considered that it was “a gift from the pope to the people of Cuba,” because the Camagüeyan priest “truly smells like the sheep,” as the pontiff wishes.
Weeks after taking office, the new archbishop generated a festering controversy stating that he did not want there to be in Cuba ” capitalism or anything like that, but that socialism progress” to go “forward in a fair and balanced society of brotherhood.”
The director of Caritas Panama, Deacon Victor Berrío, speaks to Cubans. (Courtesy)
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Miami, 5 January 2017 — Dozens of Cubans take refuge every week in the shelter set up by the social ministry of Caritas in Panama to continue their journey to the United States. Although currently there are no bottlenecks in Central America and the flow of migrants remains constant and away from the cameras, the situation is far from solved and will probably get worse, explains Deacon Victor Luis Berrio, executive secretary for Caritas Panama.
“On the last night of the year we had about 140 migrants. Every day 20 or 30 arrive, but as they come they go,” explains Berrio. continue reading
According to statistics provided to 14ymedio by the National Immigration Service, in Panama, for all of 2016 more than 750 foreigners were returned to their countries of origin. Of these, only 5 were Cubans. The majority of those arriving in Panama do so from Colombia, which is used as a springboard by those who travel without a visa from Cuba to Guyana and the Lesser Antilles.
For all of 2016, more than 750 foreigners were returned to their countries of origin. Of these only 5 were Cuban
“The border crossing are going well,” explains Berrio, based on what migrants who are in communication with his institution have told him.
“Some spend months here. In gratitude, they then write to tell us how they are doing in the United States once they reach their destination,” he adds.
Yuniel Ramos is a 31-year-old Cuban from Alamar, in eastern Havana. He has been at the shelter for five days and, although he has tried twice to cross Costa Rica to continue his trip to the United States, he has been captured by law enforcement agents, who return him to the Panamanian border.
“Here they give us food, cleanliness and welcome us until we can continue the journey,” explains Ramos, who learned of the existence of the Caritas hostel through the messages of other migrants on Facebook.
“The truth is that we cannot complain because the police treated us very well in Panama and Costa Rica. They even offered us food when we crossed the jungle from Colombia. The indigenous communities helped us cross the Darien Gap, but we have to pay them,” explains the migrant.
“We arrive exhausted from crossing the jungle. This place is a great help. Many people have been waiting for a miracle from God to continue their journey, because they have no money,” he says.
Ramos hopes his relatives in the United States can send him money to continue his trip.
“They want to avoid people having to go with the coyotes, but they force them by keeping them from passing through. We just hope for a miracle that will allow us to continue on the way to the United States.”
The Caritas shelter arose as an initiative to alleviate the humanitarian crisis sparked by the presence of thousands of Cubans stranded in Panama after the closing of the border with Nicaragua at the end of 2015.
“We had to set up dormitories where we used to have offices before. The important thing is that people have a safe place to sleep and a plate of food to put in their mouths,” says Deacon Berrio.
“After the airlift Cubans have continued to arrive; since August we have hosted more than 1,500, which obviously requires considerable expenditure”
Two large groups of Cubans were transferred thanks to an airlift that the Government of Panama agreed to with Mexico. In total some 5,000 Cubans were evacuated. But the problem did not end.
“After the airlift Cubans have continued to arrive; since August we have hosted more than 1,500, which obviously requires considerable expenditure,” he explains.
Thanks to the solidarity of organizations in the United States, Panamanian institutions and Cubans resident in that country, they have managed to continue aid for the migrants, valued at more than 120,000 dollars.
The deacon says he has had no communication with the Cuban Church during the crisis.
“We have seen five Cuban-Panamanians born in this shelter. There is no other institution like this in Panama,” he says proudly.
Liensey Martínez, a young resident of Teniente Rey Street between San Ignacio and Cuba, now enjoys having internet at home. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 January 2016 – A few lights blink in Julian’s living room, on San Ignacio Street between Teniente Rey and Amargura in Old Havana. This week he was given a router to connect to the internet, as a part of a pilot project being carried out in the area. However, the old man has no computer and hasn’t managed to enter the great World Wide Web.
The Telecommunications Company of Cuba (Etecsa) has chosen 2,000 users in the People’s Council districts of Catedral and Plaza Vieja for a free experiment in web connectivity from their homes. The requirement was to have a landline, but many residents who qualified do not have the technology to enjoy the service.
“I leave it on all the time so it doesn’t get damp,” says Julian, of the apparatus whose LEDs twinkle in his modest home. The old man dreams that they will also offer a “time payment plan” so he can get a laptop, just like was done “with the purchase of the refrigerator.” continue reading
So far, navigating from home has been a privilege reserved for high officials, highly trusted professionals and foreigners living in Cuba. Those connections were established through the old-fashioned dial-up method, but the new test is being done with the faster ADSL lines.
The requirement for enrollment in the pilot was to have a landline, but many residents do not have the technology to enjoy the service
For Julián, the main benefit would be to connect with his family living abroad, although he acknowledges that, “Really it’s all the same to me to have the internet or not.”
The experience of Liensey Martínez, a young resident of Teniente Rey Street between San Ignacio and Cuba, is different. He has a computer and with the delivery of the router, a TP-Link brand, he is able to also put in a home wifi network to connect to a tablet or cellphone.
This week they gave Julian a router to connect to the internet, but he does not have a computer. (14ymedio)
“The connection works well, sometimes it gets slow, but it almost never freezes,” says Martinez, who operates a private business in his home renting rooms to tourists. “We benefit a lot because we make almost all reservations online and now it is more convenient. Before we had to go to the Plaza Hotel or a Wi-Fi zone,” he says.
The entrepreneur details that the pilot test includes 30 hours of free navigation during the month of January and a similar amount for February. However, “I can also enter my Nauta navigation account using my username and password,” and use the balance deposited in that service.
The experiment will conclude on 28 February, but the hourly rates for navigation packages have not been made public. “People say there will be packages of 30, 60 and 100 Cuban Convertible pesos (CUCs, which are about the same in dollars) depending on the hours but that’s just rumors that hear,” Martinez says.
Cuba is one of the countries in the world with the lowest rates of internet penetration; as of July 2015 the state telecommunications monopoly has enabled public Wi-Fi hotspots
Old Havana is one of the country’s municipalities with the most wifi zones, a good part of them located in the hotels, but there is also one on the corner of the centrally located Obispo Street at San Ignacio. But the connection from these points remains expensive for most wallets, although Etecsa recently lowered the price of one hour of Internet browsing from 2.00 CUC to 1.50, in a country where the average monthly salary barely exceeds the equivalent of 25.00 CUC.
Cuba is one of the countries in the world with the lowest rates of internet penetration; as of July 2015 the state monopoly of telecommunications has enabled public Wi-Fi hotspots, which now number more than 200 throughout the country. According to official figures about 250,000 users connect in these areas daily.
In recent weeks antennas for a wireless connection have also been installed in in several places along Havana’s Malecon and the company plans to extend service all along the coastal boulevard. The wifi zones at Hola Ola, La Piragua, 12 and Malecón, 3rd and B, and Fuente de la Juventud are already operational.
However, eyes are watching Old Havana. Cubans are waiting for 2017 to be the year they can finally become internet users.
Carlos Fernández Gondín made his mark on the Ministry of the Interior. (Cubadebate)
14ymedio, Havana, 8 January 2017 — Faithful, hard-line and knowledgeable of the ultimate secrets of dissidents and ministers, Carlos Fernandez Gondín made his mark on the Ministry of Interior (MININT), the most feared Cuban institution. But shortly after taking over the portfolio in 2015, life played a bad trick on him and he had a stroke, and this Saturday he became the most recently deceased of a dying gerontocracy.
His death, at age 78, came as no surprise to anyone. The official note says he died “because of complications of a chronic illness,” and on June 6, at the celebration of the creation of the Ministry of the Interior, he did not appear on the cameras of national television, something that fanned the rumors about his state of health.
The powerful ministry he led controls the police, immigration and aliens, prisons and the omnipresent State Security, among other departments. Gondín arrived at the top of the institution thanks also to the perfect fidelity he always showed towards Raul Castro, under whose orders he fought in the Second Eastern Front in the years of the fight against Batista. continue reading
Gondín made his career in the Cuban army, graduating from the Matanzas School of War and was later selected to study at the Soviet Union’s Frunze Academy. He participated in the military adventures in Angola and Ethiopia, reaching the position of second in command of Cuban troops in Angola.
The powerful ministry he led controls the police, immigration and aliens, jails and the omnipresent State Security, among other departments
From 1980 he sat on the Central Committee, the highest organ of the Communist Party of Cuba which decides the number of members of the Politburo, the maximum circle of power in the nation. He was also an elected member of Parliament as of the seventh legislature.
In 1989, MININT’s leadership was purged and Fidel Castro named Abelardo Colome Ibarra, known as Furry, as interior minister while Gondín became the first deputy minister. Both had worked together since in 1978 when Gondín was named to head the Counterintelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces
“He was a man of the Armed Forces who came to MININT at a time when it was purged of its more open and reformist elements,” political scientist and historian Armando Cuban Chaguaceda told 14ymedio from Mexico.
According to the academician, there has always been a rivalry between the Ministry of the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces that climaxed with the conviction of General Arnaldo Ochoa and 13 others accused of getting rich through drug trafficking operations in 1989.
“The MININT apparatus has more sophisticated people than the military. There are many people dedicated to analyzing, to thinking, especially those who are in contact with the outside,” explains Chaguaceda. He believes that Gondín’s death will not affect the current policy on the island. “Until proven otherwise it is more of the same,” he says.
Gondín was also known for being a meticulous man, who knew how to stay in the shadows. He was considered the eminence grise after the political repression during the mandate of Furry. Several dissidents point to the recently deceased military man as the main organizer of the arrests, house arrests and strict surveillance against opponents, especially against the Ladies in White.
Gondín was also known for being a meticulous man, who knew how to stay in the shadows. He was considered the eminence grise after the political repression during the mandate of Furry
However, shortly after assuming the position of minister, Gondin suffered a stroke that left him unable to perform his duties. Since then and to date, Cuba’s most powerful ministry has been under the command of Vice Admiral Julio Cesar Gandarilla Bermejo, first deputy minister of the Ministry of the Interior who comes from the Ministry of the Armed Forces Military Counterintelligence arm.
The analyst Julio Aleaga, author of a study about who’s who in Cuban national politics, told 14ymedio that Gondín’s time in management was “very short” and when he was named to the post “it was already known that he was a sick man.” When asked who will fill the vacancy, he points to Gandarilla Bermejo, who has completed missions in 11 countries, including Angola, and who is also a septuagenarian.
Aleaga discards the idea that Alejandro Castro Espín, son of the current ruler, and a man whom many point out as possible replacement, will be placed at the front of the ministry. “If they were preparing Alejandro to ascend in the control of the dynasty, he would hold a position at another level, not in the Ministry of the Interior,” he says.
For his part, Juan Antonio Blanco, executive director of the Cuban-based Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, is skeptical about the arrival of a reformist era with the death of Gondín.
“It is more likely to be related to facilitating the ascent of the grandson, Raul Guillermo Rodríguez Castro and the son, Alejandro Castro Espín, within MININT and the elite of power,” he says.
For Blanco, “What is coming is the definitive consolidation of Castro’s succession before 2018,” the year in which the second term of Raul Castro ends.
For his part, Chaguaceda says that it is difficult to establish a parallelism between the longevity of Cuban rulers and that of the elderly secretaries of the Communist Party in the Kremlin during the time of the Soviet Union. By 1982, a successive chain of deaths had renewed Soviet rule and allowed a younger generation to take power and implement change. The fundamental difference would be that in the Soviet case the rulers were part of the nomenklatura and not the creators of the system itself, as is the case in the Cuba.
“In Cuba the succession is given, in the life of the founder and with a decade of development, while in the USSR, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko died in quick succession, which shook the ossified bureaucracy of the politburo,” the expert explains.
Many of the members of the Politburo are in the seventh decade of their lives. In the coming months obituaries and new appointments could appear very frequently in the Cuban press.
Note to viewers of the video: This video was taken by the police, and as can be seen with careful viewing, the uniformed officers are not the only enforcers in this video; many plainclothes officers are also present.
14ymedio, Havana, 7 January 2017 — Images of a police operation against informal fruit and vegetable sellers fill the viral video that is infuriating Cubans. Although the event occurred in mid-August 2016 in Old Havana, when some people uploaded it to Facebook, only in December was the recording leaked to alternative networks where it now is being passed hand-to-hand.
The video shows the most agitated moment of a trifling occurrence on the corner of Aguacate and O’Reilly streets in the historic center of Havana. A pushcart vendor is arrested by the police, who confiscate his merchandise, while onlookers gather all around so as not to miss what is happening.
The minutes, captured by one of the plainclothes officers who participated in the arrest, show popular outrage at the event, which some present called “abuse.” The harshness of the vendor’s beating at the hands of plainclothes officer is also captured in the video. continue reading
According to witness statements gathered this week at the scene, the incident began when a police officer detained an avocado seller who did not have a license to sell agricultural products. The vendor’s resistance and the subsequent action to overcome it, sparked solidarity and protests among those passing by this busy intersection.
The video, taken by the police, not only documents the moments of greatest violence, but also seems to have the express purpose of recording the faces of those who reacted with greatest dissatisfaction to the police operation
“Every now and then something like this happens,” confesses Luisín, a pedicab driver who covers the route between the Fraternity Park and the historic center. The man remembers the arrest last August and says that, “for days the neighborhood did not talk about anything else, because it got hot.”
The same corner is a focal point and meeting place for the police who staged the operation. “We have to show an iron fist against the illegalities, because we can’t have people getting rich selling food to the population,” Veronica, a retiree and habitué of the place, told this newspaper.
The police video not only documents the moments of greatest violence, but also seems to have the express purpose of recording the faces of those who reacted with the greatest dissatisfaction to the police operation.
The official offensive against the pushcart vendors started last January, after a sharp rise in food prices. The government imposed price caps at some points of sale in the capital, closed the El Trigal wholesale market, and unleashed a concentrated raid against street vendors selling fruits and vegetables.
However, twelve months after the start of the offensive, food prices have not dropped as much as the authorities hoped and informal sellers have again proliferated all along Aguacate Street.
In the face of the problems of supply and low productivity, the government plans to import 1.75 billion dollars worth of food in 2017, about 82 million dollars more than in 2016.
The residents of the neighborhood of Nuevo Vedado have waited for almost four decades to recover a stretch of Calle Marino. (14ymedio)
14ymedio Havana, 6 January 2017 — The residents of the neighborhood of Nuevo Vedado have waited for almost four decades to recover a stretch of Calle Marino, closed during all that time by mandate of the Ministry of Transportation. The block was turned over to the exclusive use as parking access for the Ministry’s officials in the ‘80s, and since then has been blocked off the passage of vehicles.
The return of this street has been one of the most repeated demands in the “Accountability Meetings” with the area’s deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power, events where citizens can speak directly to their elected officials and “hold them accountable.” For many years, however, the Ministry has turned a deaf ear to the demands. At the beginning of 2017 the stretch was opened to traffic, to the surprise of those who had given up for lost this small piece of the city.
As a general rule, official media only refer to urban irregularities committed by citizens, but rarely shed light on the violations committed by the state sector. No national or local newspaper has reported the closure of a stretch of Calle Marino … nor will they now announce its opening. But all the residents of the neighborhood already know and are happy.
A young girl takes a selfie in one of the new areas with wifi coverage on Havana’s Malecon. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2017 — This year began for Havana’s Malecón with five new points of wireless connection to Internet. The newly authorized Wi-Fi zones are located in La Piragua*, El Castillito de 12 and Calzada, the corner of 3rd and B, Hola Ola and the area around the Fuente de la Juventud (Fountain of Youth). This Thursday dozens of users arrived to test the service offered by Telecommunications Company of Cuba (Etecsa), at a rate of 1.50 Cuban convertible pesos per hour.
Looking for the few shady spots on the Malecón, netizens gathered near walls, buildings and monuments, to avoid the reflections of the sun on the screens of their phones and computers. “At night is when you can use it best,” explains Raudel, a young man who logged on Thursday for the second time near the Hotel Nacional.
The new Wi-Fi zones could help reduce congestion in other areas with wireless access such as La Rampa, Fe del Valle Park and the Latin American Stadium, which receive hundreds of customers every day. However, the main expectation for telecommunications in 2017 is the possible arrival of the internet to the island’s homes. “Connecting from home is something else,” says Raudel.
*Translator’s note: La Piragua is a large plaza-type open space along Havana’s Malecon overlooked by the Hotel Nacional.
14ymedio, Havana, 28 December 2016 – Cuban Faces of 2016: The name of Victor Mesa has filled the sports pages this year. The explosive and controversial baseball manager announced in February that he would no longer manage baseball in Cuba out of fear for his physical safety and that of his family. This statement came a few days after he beat up two students in Pinar del Rio, having confused them with another individual who criticized him.
In March, Mesa led the selection of the Cuban team against the Tampa Bay Rays, who played a friendly match at the Latin American Stadium in the presence of presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro. In November, the National Baseball Commission (DNB) reported that the Matanzas team manager had been disqualified for nine games because of “inappropriate behavior” in a game between his players and the team from Holguin.
With Mesa there are no half-tones. Followers of the national pastime love him or hate him. His last scandal came after the announcement of the Cuban team for the 4th World Baseball Classic (WBC) to be held next March. “Nobody approached the managers when it came time to come up with the 50 shortlisted,” criticized the manager of the Crocodiles.
Buying toys for their children on Three Kings Day is an major effort for most Cuban families. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 5 January 2017 – Chocolates, toys and technology star in the letters that Cuban children are writing to the Three Kings right now. The tradition of giving gifts to children on Epiphany, the 6th of January – the day the Three Kings are believed to have reached the manger to honor Jesus’ birth – arrived with force after decades of fierce atheism, but this year the economic crisis has cut the expectations of gifts.
Patricia, 28, works in a private day care center in Havana’s Miramar neighborhood. Last week she helped the children write letters addressed to Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. “Most asked for electronic tablets, cars with batteries or video games,” she says. continue reading
The children at Patricia’s nursery are the children of parents with a high purchasing power: foreigners resident in the country or owners of private restaurants. They are willing to pay between 60 and 100 Cuban convertible pesos a month (about the same in dollars) for the care of their children and to satisfy all their whims for January 6.
However, the picture is very different in the vast majority of families. “I warned them that they have to ask for something cheap, because I have had many expenses,” says Yaimara, the mother of two girls, ages five and ten. The woman finished repairing the roof of her house and has been left in a complicated economic situation.
“The thing is, it’s not like before,” reflects Yaimara, who complains that “everything has gone up in price” and she cannot “reach into my wallet and buy toys, because now everything goes for food.”
A box with pieces to set up a small zoo costs 27.90 CUC, the monthly salary of a qualified state worker
The network of state markets is preparing for the occasion. The centrally located Carlos III Plaza in Havana has one of the toy stores most frequented lately. Inside, dolls compete with kitchen sets, costumes and small musical instruments.
A box with pieces to set up a small zoo costs 27.90 CUC, the monthly salary of a qualified state worker. Lower-income families buy plastic figurines or crystal marbles. “I’ve been saving up for this all year,” a grandmother told 14ymedio as she bought a truck with a tiny driver.
Others ask the Magi for food. “I want chocolates and soft drinks,” says Daniela, a sixth grader from a school in Cerro. Her parents warned her that “there is no money for toys” and the girl has adjusted her expectations in line with the family’s wallet.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Government supplied subsidized toys through a rationed market for industrial products. With the fall of the Soviet Union that was eliminated. Those who were children then are now parents and juggle to meet the demands of their own children.
For them, informal commercial networks are an alternative. For 25 CUC, the Revolico classified site (a kind of Cuban Craigslist) offers Lego City sets* that include three small figures: a deep sea diver and two scuba divers. Cheaper options are inflatable balls for 3 CUC, jump ropes for only 1 CUC and teddy bears for less than 5 CUC.
*Translator’s note: The Lego Deep Sea Starter Set – which appears to be the set referred to – is available for less than $10 (in some cases much less) in the United States. 25 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) is roughly $25.
A member of the opposition movement Ladies in White is arrested during a demonstration on International Human Rights Day in December 2015. (EFE)
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 January 2017 — The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), a dissident group, denounced today that it had documented at least 9,940 arbitrary arrests for “political reasons” in 2016, the highest figure of the last six years.
With a monthly average of 827 arrests, the opposition organization said that Cuba is in “first place” in Latin America for this type of “repressive action.”
In its monthly report, the CCDHRN reports that in December there were 458 arbitrary arrests of “peaceful dissidents,” up from 359 in the previous month, but a much lower figure than in other months of last year; data from January to April showed more than 1,000 arrests a month. continue reading
According to this organization, in December there were also 14 physical assaults by political repression groups against peaceful opponents, 37 acts of harassment and intimidation, and two acts of repudiation, “true civil lynchings without the loss of human lives until now.”
The CCDHRN documented, in December, 14 physical attacks by the political repression groups against peaceful opponents
The commission notes that the opposition groups most punished by this harassment are the Ladies in White, who march every Sunday to demand respect for human rights on the island, and the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), which has suffered “vandalism and robbery by the police” at its headquarters in Santiago de Cuba and at the homes of some of its activists.
The CCDHRN also expressed concern over the situation of two political prisoners imprisoned since November: Eduado Cardet, coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement, and Danilo Maldonado, the graffiti artist known as “El Sexto,” who is considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
“El Sexto” has been detained since the early hours of November 26 for painting “He’s gone” in a central place in Havana on the occasion of the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. He is being held in a maximum security prison without trial.
The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, led by the well-known dissident Elizardo Sánchez, is the only group to record and report the numbers of these incidents in Cuba.
The Cuban government considers dissidents “counterrevolutionaries” and “mercenaries.”
The absence of heavy armaments promoted an image of austerity, as did these troops dressed like soldiers from the last century. (Twitter)
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 4 January 2017 – The March 2nd “military parade and combatants’ march,” dedicated to the late Fidel Castro and to Cuba’s youth, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, offered four main messages: projecting an image of austerity; no aggressiveness towards the new American government of Donald Trump; demonstrating an image, unreal, of youthful engagement; and no internal changes. There may be others.
1-Projecting an image of austerity
The iconic yacht Granma, surrounded like sea waves with young “pioneers” and “mambisa” calvary, harking back to Cuba’s 19th century wars of independence, filled the parade, which was lacking in heavy armaments, cannons and tanks. Nor were there rockets or “strategic weapons.” Rather it was a review of the troops carrying their long rifles, state workers, many young people from military schools, and more than a few children organized to show broad respect for the newly deceased leader. continue reading
The absence of heavy and strategic long-range and mechanized armament promoted an image of austerity in the face of the serious economic situation that the Government has not hidden. Since the assumption of real power by Raul Castro, the traditional parades and speeches in the Plaza have been characterized by sobriety and speed.
2-No aggressiveness toward the new Trump Government
The speech for the occasion, evidently prepared under the direction of the Party-Government, was handed over to the meteor of the FEU (University Students Federation), Jennifer Bello, who is also a newly appointed member of the Council of State. The speech was marked by the “reaffirmation” of the traditional “principles,” especially in relations with the United States: the lifting of the blockade/embargo, the elimination of interventionist programs and the return of the Guantanamo naval base.
However, the absence of offensive weaponry may also be a sign of the interest in not showing any aggressiveness to the outside, particularly towards our neighbor to the North, at a time when a new tenant arrives at the White House.
This fact, incidentally, could be influenced by Putin’s Russia, which has just intelligently responded to President Barack Obama’s recent moves to oust 35 Russian intelligence officers for their alleged interference in the recent presidential elections in the United States. Putin decided to assume that this is an irrelevant act, and to wait for the relations between the two powers to assume a new rhythm with the inauguration of Donald Trump.
In sum, the discourse of the designated youth “leader,” along with the highlighting of the traditional policies toward Washington and the absence of offensive weaponry, would be sending a two-way message to Trump: “We do not want problems with the US, but we are not going to change.”
3- Show an image, unreal, of youthful engagement
Another message is intended to show a greater role of youth in the current stage of the “Revolution,” touched up by the presence of women younger than the average age of the “historicos”: Raul Castro, Machado Ventura, Ramiro Valdes and Guillermo Garcia who were in the reviewing stand.
However, it was damaged by the same old speech from the young star and by the fact that these four figures were the center of the choreography presiding over the parade, relegating to a secondary position, away from the center, Miguel Diaz Canel, who could indeed represent that younger blood in his position as vice-president.
The excessive image of youth engagement does not reflect reality, since the young woman gave the same speech, old in both form and content, while it is evident that those who identify themselves as the “historic generation,” decorate their surroundings with young faces who will be present only as long as they remain loyal.
I do not pretend that the irrelevance granted to the vice president suggests that he himself is in disgrace, but it does show that the young faces are only adornments and can be moved like dominos, or disappear, as long as they do not affect the power of the historical ones, certainly now that they lack their natural glue: Fidel Castro.
4- No internal changes
Finally, as a whole, the speech, the parade itself and its images carry a message of immobility: no substantial changes, no democratization and the repression against dissent and different thinking will continue.
The death of Fidel Castro does not bring freedom for the Cuban people. (EFE)
14ymedio, Jose Azel, Miami, 3 January 2017 — Raul Castro, in his one-minute announcement on Cuban television reporting the death of his brother, referred to Fidel Castro as “the founder of the Cuban Revolution.” The label of “founder” shows the unalterable faith of the regime in its continuity.
Fidel Castro, although a background presence, had been effectively out of power for a decade. Raúl has orchestrated an uninterrupted succession with himself as first secretary of the Communist Party, and people selected by him in the new generation of communist leadership.
This is the bittersweet reality for we Cubans who love liberty, and whom often believed in the slogan No Castro, no problem. Fidel Castro may be gone, but the regime remains structurally intact. The death of Fidel Castro does not bring freedom for the Cuban people. His legacy is that of thousands executed by firing squads, brutal repression, concentration camps, and every possible violation of human rights. He turn what was, in 1958, one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America into an impoverished dysfunctional state from which 20% of the population has escaped. continue reading
Fidel Castro may be gone, but the regime remains structurally intact
In addition, according to the report Freedom in the World by the organization Freedom House, Cuba remains the only country in the Americas considered “not free,” with ratings in the worst categories in terms of political rights and civil liberties. Even so, the Castro brothers are not dishonored as architects of this tragedy, but distinguished by the obsequiousness of many world leaders.
Cuba today is a nation with a discredited ideology, a declining senile leadership and a bankrupt economy. So what will be next for this tragic island? Let’s begin by examining what I call a culture of acquiescence.
Meme is a neologism coined by British scientist Richard Dawkins to explain how ideas and social behaviors are transmitted through non-genetic means, in contrast to genetic transmission. For example, a boy who is constantly exposed to domestic violence may come to accept violence as natural. In political science, I explain memes as sociocultural genes that help to understand how, in totalitarian societies, the presumption of power dethrones the presumption of freedom.
Usually, the use of power is not enough to preserve an oppressive regime. At some level there must be a tacit acceptance that the ruling class has some legitimacy to exercise power. In China, Vietnam, North Korea and Cuba, revolutionary mysticism linked to Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il-Sung and Fidel Castro served to confer such legitimacy. Over time, the presumption of freedom is replaced with the acceptance of the legitimacy of tyrannical powers.
In China, Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba coercive power has engendered memes of acquiescence by accepting the widespread presumption that the leaders were born with the right to govern and people are born with an obligation to obey. This is also part of Fidel Castro’s legacy.
The “black swan” could be an unknown Václav Havel or Boris Yeltsin in the armed forces who is able to emerge and consolidate power as a true reformer
Thinking about post-Fidel Cuba it is essential to keep in mind that the history of the island in the last sixty years is the history of the Castro brothers and their ideas. The Raul Castro’s inner circle is not made up of cowering Democrats not waiting for the right moment to put into practice long-suppressed Jeffersonian ideals. His way of governing is inseparable from his ideology.
If we assume that change in Cuba will not come as a result of some intervention from the US or internationally (from the outside in), nor as a result of any upstream events like the Arab Spring, we are left only with change that comes down from above. That is, a change that originates in a leadership alien to democratic culture and imbued with a negative incentive towards democratic reforms.
Of course, the imponderable, the possibility of an improbable black swan, is always present. The black swan could be an unknown Václav Havel or a Boris Yeltsin in the Revolutionary Armed Forces who is able to emerge and consolidate power as a true reformer. However, at the current juncture, one does not see the possibility of moving towards liberal democracy, or even towards change.
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Editor ‘s Note: José Azel is a senior researcher at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami and author of Mañana in Cuba.
Home antenna for the reception and sending of WIFI signals, used in alternative connection networks. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 4 January 2017 – All one has to do is turn on a small wifi antenna and aim it toward the balcony for a computer screen to show the long list of wireless networks that link the entire neighborhood. Invisible threads that connect hundreds of users. The material support of this network are the NanoStations, Bullets, Rockets, Routers and Yagi antennas, the most coveted technological objects on the island.
“In that building over there, there are like nine networks,” says Ricardo, known as Rupert at the node he administers in the Havana’s Playa district, in the west of the city. The young man, with a degree in geography, decided one day to invest in several devices to send and receive wifi signals. In a short time he set up a network with more than 250 users. continue reading
“Before it was very difficult, because we couldn’t find the equipment, but now the market is saturated,” Rupert tells 14ymedio. Although no store in the country sells this type of technology, the informal market offers a wide range of receivers, wireless stations, antennas and even specialized technology for its mounting and configuration.
Customs rules that went into force in mid-2014 are very clear about the importing of data networking devices such as routers and switches. The regulation warns that in order to bring them into the country, the traveler “requires previous authorization from the Ministry of Communications,” but in practice the authorities do not always apply the established rules.
The Bullet is a device widely used by young Cubans for the creation of wifi networks. (14ymedio)
“There are workshifts where the customs officials are stricter and confiscate every NanoStation they detect, but others turn a blind eye because they end up with a lot of this equipment,” an employee of General Customs of the Republic who works at the international terminal of José Martí International Airport told this newspaper,
The worker, who requested anonymity, said that along with flat screen TVs, air conditioners and smartphones, the wireless communications devices are among the items most frequently brought in by the “mules” who operate on the short distance flights and import merchandise for the informal trade networks.
The equipment for wifi is shifting from satellite dishes. Although many families still choose the TV programming that arrives this way, a la carte consumption of audiovisuals is growing. The alternative wireless networks have joined the “weekly packet,” with a varied assortment of games, documentaries, courses and forums, where you can’t talk about politics and religion nor share pornography.
The advantage of the networking devices lies also in their discreet size and their ability to pass unnoticed. “Unlike an antenna, a Nanostation doesn’t raise any suspicion, it is small, it can be placed on a balcony and people who don’t know think it’s just a small white box that has been left there,” says Rupert. However, he notes there have been several police raids in his neighborhood to dismantle the networks, but says it is a long time since they’ve been back.
SNet, the biggest spider
StreetNet, abbreviated SNet, is the queen of the wireless webs that cut through Havana. It extends everywhere and its tentacles reach each neighborhood. In cities like Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Pinar del Río and Santiago de Cuba, similar initiatives also operate. In the middle of this year, it was estimated that more than 30,000 users in the capital were plugged into SNet, but in recent months its growth has been strengthened by the arrival of more infrastructure.
SNet’s strong point is its social networks, which allow users to interact as they would on Facebook or Instagram, share files and play games. It contains more than fifty sites that work without having to connect to the internet and offers the ability of uploading or downloading heavy files through the FTP protocol.
But every king can be dethroned and SNet also has competition. “The smaller private networks are growing very fast,” Rupert told this newspaper. “People are looking for smaller virtual spaces where they can meet and share and now that anyone can put up a network, they don’t have to wait for an SNet administrator to give them a password to enter.”
For those who can’t afford the costs of a NanoBeam, one of the most ambitious teams of those who put up wifi networks, they can get inventive. Kirenia and her brother Amaury are dedicated to making Yagi-Uda directional antennas with a power of up to 19 dBi, the unit of measurement that describes the ability of the apparatus to capture and receive signals.
“At first we made an antenna to play on the web with some neighborhood friends, but then we started to sell it and now we have a lot of interested people,” says the young man, 21, a resident of Santiago de las Vegas in the south of the Cuban capital. He learned the rudiments of his work through “some manuals downloaded from the internet,” and since then he is passionate about designing the stylized anatomy of each antenna, which he offers for a price between 25 and 40 Cuban Convertible pesos (roughly the same amount in dollars).
“The one I’m doing now is for a customer who lives near an Etecsa (Cuban phone company) wifi network,” says Kirenia. “So you can tap into the network and navigate from the living room in your house,” she says, although “ideally there are no great obstacles in the way, like buildings or trees.”
In one of the countries with the lowest internet penetration in the world, reaching a Nauta wifi signal from the state service, installed in some plazas and parks of the country, becomes an obsession for the antenna “cacharreros,” as Karina calls them. “There are people who live several kilometers from one of these zones and who want to connect, but even though the antennas are good, they can’t do magic, because the signal often is not stable and there are many users connecting at the same time,” she reflects.
Currently, the island has 1,006 public internet browsing points, including 200 wifi zones, with a total of 250,000 users connecting every day, according to recent information released by the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (Etecsa).
Kirenia’s dream is to buy a LiteBeam, the ultimate “creature” to mount wireless networks that have entered the country illegally; it looks like a small satellite and reaches up to 23 dBi. With such a device she believes she can “make a powerful network to share a good volume of content.” The girl calls herself a “woman internaut.”
The arrival of the state-owned internet in homes could change the landscape of the alternative wireless networks. At the end of last year the government began a connection test with some 2,000 users of the popular councils in Catedral and Plaza Vieja in Old Havana, but the timetable for extending access has not yet been made public.
But while waiting for the great World Wide Web to connect them with the world, Rupert, Kirenia and her brother Amaury are already weaving invisible threads with their Yagi antennas, NanoStations and LiteBeams.
14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2016 – Cuban Faces of 2016: Joanna Columbié’s baptism by fire began in September of 2015, when the dissident was detained to prevent her participation in the 2nd National Council of the political movement Somos+ (We Are More). With degrees in History and Nursing, Columbié was working at that time as an education methodologist in the municipality of Céspedes in Camagüey. Police pressures led to the loss of of her state job.
Columbié runs Academy 1010, an independent educational project that seeks to develop leadership skills among its students with a view to the nation’s political future. In the opinion of the opponent, “it would be a fatal mistake to come to democracy with people not prepared to assume it.”
Last November, the second session Academy 1010 was severely suppressed by State Security and several students were arrested. Columbié denounced the police siege. She is a member of the opposition Democratic Action Roundtable (MUAD) coalition and participated as an observer in the referendum on peace accords in Colombia.
