A woman checks the list of candidates for the municipal elections. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 21 April 2015 — Years of masks, whispers and fears have made Cubans find delving into political issues as difficult as delving into enigmatic, dark abyss. The few surveys and inquiries conducted independently in recent decades have encountered a suspicion that leads us to question: Why are you asking me that? What will you do with the information?
However, there are times when our actions are the most conclusive and direct of responses. As in the elections held last Sunday for the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power, where more than 1.7 million people didn’t vote, annulled their ballot, or left it blank, or even voted for one of the only two opposition candidates. continue reading
With as 88.3% participation, any foreign observer would think that we take the district elections very seriously. Amid voter apathy of so many democratic countries, the participation of Cuban voters could be misinterpreted as a sign of civility, but in fact it is evidence of the tight controls under which we have lived for over half a century. Going to the polls does not signal assent or support.
To not vote or abstain has for too long signified a act that marks us as disaffected or counterrevolutionaries, in a country where ideological fidelity opens doors, guarantees futures and results in privileges. On the other hand, the act of selecting our representatives has been taken over by automatic behavior, aware of our limited power to influence the solution of local and national problems.
The district delegate becomes a sort of scapegoat, one whose management capabilities are limited and lacking in autonomy
The district delegate becomes a sort of scapegoat, a target of the complaints and demands, but one whose management capabilities are limited and lacking in autonomy. How many years have to told this people’s representative, in successive “accountability meetings,” about the poor quality of the bread, the deterioration of the streets? Without, in the three decades of their existence, these figures managing to improve anything.
Hence the phrase, “everything, if nothing is going to change,” repeated by millions of voters, who also counsel their friends, “Go to vote so they don’t single you out.” A combination of disbelief and faking it, skepticism and fear, has been the principle force for “going through the motions” of marking a ballot, folding it and placing it in a ballot box as closely watched as it is ineffective. A reflexive gesture, some unavoidable paperwork that many try to get done with as quickly as possible, with neither hope nor confidence.
A combination of disbelief and faking it, skepticism and fear, has been the principle force for “going through the motions” of marking a ballot
To the more than 1.7 million Cubans who this weekend showed their disinterest or disagreement with the elections, the same number or twice as many individuals who think the same might join them, but they are afraid of standing out. For every person who doesn’t enter the polling station, scribbles on the ballot, or just writes nothing on it, should be added many more who wanted to but didn’t dare to be so bold. The voting booth might have hidden cameras – they think fearfully – or the ballot could be marked to detect disobedience, they tell themselves.
The president of the National Electoral Commission, Alina Balseiro, said the nearly six percentage point drop in attendance compared to the last municipal elections was due to the absence of the “hundreds of thousands of Cubans” who are traveling abroad. The official has to know that this explosion of travel is also a way to vote against a system that hampers their personal and professional development within national borders.
It is worth emphasizing that the brave who chose not to give in to their fears are more than double the number of those who are active in the Communist Party. The courage it takes for the former far exceeds the effort to pay the annual dues of an organization that has hijacked the name of the country and boasts of representing the soul of all its citizens. In the ranks of those who refused to validate their vote is, therefore, greater willpower and honesty.
This Sunday, we sent a loud and clear message. Without our agreement, without spaces for us in the national mass media, and even in the face of possible punishments, 1.7 million Cubans stepped from the shadows of faking it to the harsh sun of assuming our positions publicly. A force for change that the government fears and that the dissent should channel.
The Bridgettines’ Convent/Hotel in Havana. (Holidaycheck)
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana 6 February 2015 — Discreet and elusive, donning gray habits and cross-adorned veils, they attend mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Pinar del Río. The three nuns, originally from India, belong to the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget headed by the Italian religious Mother Tekla Famiglietti. Known as the Generalessa, Mother Tekla is one of the most influential women in the Vatican, and her ties to the Cuban government have been reinforced in the last few years.
The Bridgettines – a religious order of nuns founded in 1911 in Sweden by Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad – recently inaugurated a new convent in the city of Pinar del Río. A little more than a decade after opening their impressive headquarters in Havana, this religious order has now turned its attention to Cuba’s far western province. No other religious order on the Island has experienced such rapid growth, which has only been made possible thanks to the longstanding ties between the Mother Tekla and the political élite centered around Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution. continue reading
“While we’ve been waiting for years for [the authorities] to approve a complete restoration of our convent, the Bridgettines have managed to open a new convent, and even built a hostel for tourists,” protested a nun of the Daughters of Charity who chose to remain anonymous.
Last November 26th, Jorge Enrique Serpa, Bishop of Pinar del Río, blessed the new Bridgettine building. Their headquarters are located on what was once a homestead known as “Celestino the Mute’s Farm,” which was sold off by the original owner’s grandchildren due to family quarrels and financial difficulties.
The nuns bought the mansion nestled on a 2.5-acre property thanks to the efforts of Bishop Serpa himself. The diocese helped look for a building, negotiated the selling price with the owners, and helped the nuns sail through the red tape. Everything was undertaken with the utmost discretion, as is characteristic of the Bridgettines.
Work on the property started only a few days after the nuns settled in. The freshly painted façades, the hauling of building materials, and the constant presence of construction workers caught the attention of the residents of Galiano and Cuba Libre, two adjacent communities suffering from a high degree of poverty and social inequality. Nobody knew what was being built. Yet as the chapel was nearing completion, the public was informed that apart from their pastoral work focused on the care of the elderly and the poor or the region, the nuns were planning to build on a ten-room hostel on their property. At present, only a few of the rooms are ready for occupancy, and reservations have to be requested by email. The rate for a double occupancy room is 50 CUC, breakfast included. The hostel also offers a suite for 65 CUC.
No other religious order on the Island has experienced such rapid growth, which has only been made possible thanks to the longstanding ties between the Mother Tekla and the political élite centered around Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution
Time is of the essence. An avalanche of visitors from the United States could begin arriving in the next few months if the U.S. Congress lifts travel restrictions to the Island. The regions of Viñales and María la Gorda, the marinas at Cape San Antonio, and Jutías Key and Levisa Key are among the most important attractions in the western Cuba. Consequently, the city of Pinar del Río would be a mandatory stop on the way to most of these sites. Construction at the Bridgettines’ hostel has picked up in recent weeks.
Under the protection of Bishop Serna, and with their eyes set on a possible upturn in tourism to the province, the Bridgettines are positioning themselves in the hotel market in a city suffering from a stagnant economy, and that for the moment does not have much to offer in the way of accommodations. Mother Tekla Famiglietti’s privileged position allowed her to have beforehand knowledge that the United States and Cuba were negotiating a rapprochement with the Vatican’s support, and especially with the help of Pope Francis.
The Generalessa and the Comandante
The Bridgettines’ first convent in Cuba was inaugurated a few days before 75 opposition members were arrested in what is known as the Black Spring of 2003. At the time, Church–State relations had worsened due to the publication of a pastoral letter from Jaime Cardinal Ortega y Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, in which he called for more economic freedom and social justice. The political tensions at the time heralded the repressive wave unleashed shortly thereafter. Yet Mother Tekla would not be deterred.
In an event* broadcast on March 8, 2003 on Cuban State television, the Generalessa and the Comandante expressed their mutual affection and exchanged accolades. Fidel Castro was made Commander of the Order of Saint Bridget of Sweden, and in exchange, the Cuban Council of State awarded Abbess General Tekla Famiglietti the Order of Félix Varela.
Under the protection of Bishop Serna, and with their eyes set on a possible upturn in tourism to the province, the Bridgettines are positioning themselves in the hotel market in a city suffering from a stagnant economy
Both parties plotted the creation of the Havana convent in 2000 during Mexican president Vicente Fox’s inauguration. From that moment on, the Generalessa –born in southern Italy in 1939, and Abbess General of the Bridgettines since 1981 – would strengthen her friendship with Castro, showering him with gratitude and affection. When the Comandante suffered a fall during a 2004 speech in the city of Santa Clara, Mother Tekla rushed to send him a letter, published in the official Cuban press, wishing him a speedy recovery.
The Cuban Catholic Church hierarchy reacted angrily at the publicized presence of the political élite at the Havana convent’s opening ceremony. Three days after the event, the Cuban Conference of Bishops released a stern reprimand against Famiglietti in a communiqué calling on her “to clearly differentiate the person of Holy Father John Paul II…and his scriptural foundations – as is to be expected of him – characterized by dignity, respect, serenity, and moderation, and not associate the Holy Father with excessive praise in words and deeds, as we have seen some Church figures do at these events.”
As a gesture many understood as evidence of a break with the Bridgettines, Jaime Cardinal Ortega boycotted the convent’s inauguration. Moreover, the Cuban Conference of Bishops let it be known very clearly in its statement that “no Cuban bishop or clergy designated to officially represent the Archdiocese of Havana or the Cuban Church was present at the event.”
The advantages accorded the Bridgettines were very frustrating for the over fifteen Catholic religious orders and several priests who had been waiting for many years for a response to their request to serve in Cuba. For their part, the Cuban bishops did not delay in making it perfectly clear that when it came to the matter of the Bridgettines’ presence on the Island, “the Catholic Church in Cuba did not in any way actively participate in bringing them to the country, nor did it plan their arrival, nor did it coordinate their plans in any way.”
Less than one week later the first dissidents of the Black Spring were arrested, as was reported in headlines worldwide. The Bridgettines kept quiet, and just concentrated on moving forward with building their convent and hostel in Old Havana. Their stance caused other Catholic orders to distrust them so that now, fifteen years on, the distrust still lingers. In fact, the levels of distrust have only worsened with the Bridgettines’ purchase of the property in Pinar del Río.
In response to criticisms lodged against her at that time, the Generalessa assured that former Cuban president Fidel Castro was invited to the inauguration solely out of “Christian love and courtesy,” and that he did not help with the expenses.
In 2004 Mother Tekla found herself in a tight spot. Six novices from India who were living in a convent near Rieti, Italy, went before a prosecutor to lodge a formal complaint against Abbess General Famiglietti, accusing her of resorting to violence, blackmail, and threats. The nuns swore that Famiglietti went so far as to confiscate their passports and health insurance cards. They also went on to claim that they were being so exploited when it came to their work at their convent’s hostel that they had no time to pray. Pope John Paul II himself was forced to intervene, speaking publicly in support of the Generalessa’s work “that has been so valuable to the whole Bridgettine family.” The nuns’ lawsuit was filed away without Mother Tekla ever facing any charges.
The name Tekla Famiglietti would again surface in a Wikileaks cable exposing a meeting she held with American officials in Rome. During their encounter, the Generalessa boasted of having visited Fidel Castro’s home “on numerous occasions,” and that she advocated for the lifting of the US trade embargo on Cuba. By contrast, she did not say one word about the imprisoned dissidents.
Another Wikileaks cable cast doubts on the renovation of the Havana convent without the mediation of the Cuban Catholic Church’s hierarchy. In response to criticisms lodged against her at that time, the Generalessa assured that former Cuban President Fidel Castro was invited to the inauguration solely out of “Christian love and courtesy,” and that he did not help with the expenses.
To Caesar what is Caesar’s…
The waters now seem to have calmed down, and the relationship between the Bridgettines and the Cuban Catholic Church hierarchy has reached a certain level of normality. According to sources close to the Archdiocese of Havana “our relationship has indeed improved, but we still keep a proper distance.” Still, the Bishop of Pinar del Río has served as a key ally in the expansion of the order into his province, and he has finally managed it so that the Bridgettines have won the favor of Cardinal Ortega y Alamino and the Cuban Conference of Bishops.
The Bridgettines have successfully run their hostel in Havana – on Oficios Street in the heart of the historic district – for more than a decade. The sign on the façade reads “Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget,” yet the convent’s doors are usually locked.
Lorenzo Montalvo Ruiz de Alarcón y Montalvo, Quartermaster General of the Navy and Minister of Shipbuilding of the Royal Treasury and Bank of Havana, lived in this same building at the end of the 18th century. Many years later, the renowned Café de Copas would also find a home there. Consequently, none other than Eusebio Leal – Havana’s official historian, who also happens to maintain a close relationship with Mother Tekla – supervised the allocation of this historic building to the Bridgettines.
Although he has been the nuns’ key backer in Cuba, Fidel Castro’s retirement from the pubic stage has not in any way diminished the privileges accorded the order
Impeccably restored at a cost of US$4,000,000, raised for the most part by the Generalessa herself, the former mansion now boasts an intercom ensuring access only to guests with reservations. Since religious orders are tax-exempt, even when they run lucrative businesses, the Cuban National Tax Office’s logo is clearly missing from convent’s door.
Upon entering this Havana hostel, one encounters a central courtyard embellished with well-kept plants, and the soothing sound of water flowing from a fountain. A nun of few words greets guests. The hustle and bustle of the streets is left behind. It feels like crossing a temple’s threshold.
The hostel consists of only eleven rooms, and offers no brochures explaining its history. It does not offer direct Internet service either. Reservations must be requested by writing to an email address whose domain is a Cuban domestic server, and then waiting for a response. Several travel sites list and recommend the hostel, but with the same halo of secrecy that surrounds everything associated with the Bridgettines.
The Bridgettines’ new convent in Pinar del Río. (Juan Carlos Fernández)
A room in the convent is priced at around 50 CUC a night, and in high season it goes up to 75 CUC. “It’s a very peaceful place, and guests aren’t allowed to bring in another person to spend the night,” says a Polish family that stays there every time they travel to Havana. “And this is a good thing, since we travel a with a small child.”
The real world is outside, on the corner, where a café with live music functions as a meeting point for prostitutes and foreign customers. The nuns are wary of allowing Cuban guests, who they politely refuse, telling them there are no vacancies.
Before long, the Bridgettines will be offering another tourist oasis, but this time, in Pinar del Río. Although he has been the nuns’ key backer in Cuba, Fidel Castro’s retirement from the pubic stage has not in any way diminished the privileges accorded the order. The deal that the Generalessa and the Comandante once reached still stands. With an almost eerie quiet, the Bridgettines have managed to position themselves in the shadows of power.
*Translator’s note: The televised event was in commemoration of International Women’s Day, a national holiday in Cuba. First conceived by German Communist Clara Zetkin in 1910, it became a national holiday in the USSR after the October Revolution of 1917, by order of Vladimir Lenin himself. Since the collapse of the Soviet Empire, most former Communist countries no longer observe it. It survives in a handful of countries, including Cuba, Russia and North Korea.
14ymedio, Juan Carlos Fernandez, Pinar del Rio, 20 April 2015 – On the day that Cubans voted to elect the local representatives of the People’s Power, the State markets in Pinar del Río put potatoes on sale.
Chance, someone said, is the daughter of causality and hence the suspicion of some who interpreted the sale of the highly valuable tuber as an electoral strategy to get the voters to leave their homes or to set aside possible plans to flee to the homes of friends or family who live far away. Who would allow themselves to lose a chance to buy potatoes for one Cuban peso a pound just to escape their commitment to the delegate elections. Very few. A triumph of political marketing in the best Soviet style. continue reading
The State markets are located very close to the polling stations. “Killing two birds with one stone,” as they say. Vote and from there go to the market to buy potatoes.
A gentleman of seventy said, before placing his ballot in the ballot box, “I’m going to finish with this delegate quickly, I don’t know who he is and I don’t care,” to immediately add, “I’m going to get in the potato line, there are a lot of people and they close at noon today.” With a certain tone of electoral authority, he concluded, “The potato won these elections, my friend.”
If from the mood of the inhabitants of the city of Pinar del Río it was clear that something had changed, it was because they were celebrating the victory of the absolute winner of these unforgettable elections which took place on the market stands and which had as the only candidate a food that appears very sporadically in these markets.
Meanwhile, in the balloting there was a notable boredom among the poll tenders, anxious for closing time to arrive. Indifference and apathy surrounded the process to select “the most capable.” “It’s tedious and nobody takes it seriously,” said a commentator at the Parque del Bosque Peña de Pelota in the city center.
On this “historic election day,” the potato had no rival candidate and carried the day with a resounding victory.
A woman looks at the biographies of the candidates before voting. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Eliecer Avila, Havana, 19 April 2015 — “He abused me, but I love him… many years together, I don’t want to leave him.” How many times have we heard this phrase in the mouths of women who suffer domestic violence from their husbands. And how difficult is it for family, friends, specialists in psychology, to convince an abused person to denounce their situation, to take action for their own good, to free themselves.
The victim has developed a deep inferiority complex, feels dependent and doesn’t conceive of life outside the “protection” of her owner. Although she has all the capabilities to be much better off without him. continue reading
“He gives me everything, it’s true that he has this character; he won’t let me go out, if I say what I think he punishes me, he won’t let me work, he says what he gives me is enough. If I talk with the neighbor – the man in the big beautiful house – he shouts at me and beats me, but I know deep down he loves me, and he does take care of me.”
The classic symptoms of the victim of domestic violence are also seen in the relationship of people with their governments when, for more than half a century, they have been the tough masters of the house.
Everyone spends their life lamenting the “untenable situation,” the streets, the trash, wages, water, bread, Internet, prices, bureaucracy, censorship… But deep down, no one, or to be fair, few, dare to upset Dad.
And so it explains a thousand and one times that, on a day like today, people come out to participate in an absolutely useless exercise, such as district elections in Cuba.
Sometimes we don’t realize how much the struggles for democracy resemble those that were fought for gender equality or against discrimination. In all of them, the most difficult thing is getting the victims to change their attitude to life, to cease playing a passive role and become protagonists of their own history.
But that does not make us tire of telling the people, like we continue to tell abused women: you don’t depend on anyone, it’s all in your mind. You have the courage to break free, not only will you be better off, you will also discover that through your own efforts you can be happy.
14ymedio, 17 April 2105 – This Friday morning, the Forum for Rights and Freedoms convened a group of activists to a meeting under the title After the Summit in Panama, what next? The event took place at the home of Antonio González Rodiles, director of the opposition group Estado de Sats.
About 70 attendees heard testimony from Berta Soler, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez, Gorki Águila, Roberto de Jesús Guerra and other activists who participated in the Civil Society Forum during the recently concluded Seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama.
The discussions addressed issues related to the restoration of relations between Cuba and the United States and on the actions taken by the representatives of civil society sent to Panama by the Cuban government.
Among the many businesses that have flourished since the recent relaxations for self-employment, there are not many bakeries. (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 17 April 2015 — Eliot’s Bakery dawned this Friday with the kneading blade broken and a line of people waiting to buy a baguette or a bagel. Eliot’s brother hurried over to fix the broken blade, because, “You can’t have a day with no sales, the loss is tremendous,” says the concerned baker.
This self-employed worker has opened a unique business in Havana’s Timba neighborhood, offering a great variety of baked goods. Every day that he manages to overcome the high prices of raw material and the infrastructure problems, he counts as an accomplishment. continue reading
Among the many businesses that have flourished since the recent relaxations in self-employment, there are not many bakeries. Given that there are growing complaints about the poor quality of this product in the rationed market, it is surprising that daring Cuban entrepreneurs haven’t set out to knead and bake for every taste.
Very close to Colon Street, in one of the buildings known as “pastorita” on Bellavista Street, a few weeks ago a poster appeared announcing wonderful breads in a huge freshly printed graphic. In a ground floor apartment a simple wooden shelf has been installed to display the products. The bakery’s strong point is bread, but there are also panetelas, cakes and other fine desserts.
A bag of 15 large rolls costs 20 Cuban pesos and they even have sesame seeds. The word has passed among the neighbors and now they ask for special order breads that live only in the memories of some of the oldest people. From the early hours of the morning there is an unmistakable aroma of loaves slowly baking in the oven.
Every day that he manages to overcome the high prices of raw material and the infrastructure problems, he counts as an accomplishment.
The place also offers products of a more standard size that cost a peso each, as well as hotdog buns and others shaped like croissants. Eliot doesn’t need to go out hawking his wares. Sitting on the balcony of his house, he serves all those who come looking for a taste or texture other than the insipid bread from the State bakeries.
A few years ago he tried to open a barbershop in the apartment courtyard, but it didn’t go well. The thing ended up at the police station and they confiscated what little he had acquired to start his business. A pair of old barber chairs were loaded onto a truck and, in the end, he even spent a long time at the station, having lost his cool with the big guys dressed in blue.
Luckily, life smiles on him now. The mothers of the area can count on getting snacks for their kids, and the owners of nearby cafes wake up at dawn to get a good supply that they later sell as snacks and sandwiches. Briseida, a retired woman who collected her pension this morning, waits for the broken blade to be returned. “Today I’m going to give myself the taste of some good bread,” she says.
Many immigrants come to Havana from the provinces, hoping to expand their narrow horizons (14ymedio)
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 16 April 2015 — It is a fact that permanent poverty creates distortions in perception. The most obvious example is the value judgments we Cubans place on the supposed “riches” of some, based on a comparison with our own poverty, which is the general state of the nation.
It is common for people from the towns and cities of the provinces to see, in the country’s capital, the wealth that they themselves do not enjoy. Viewed superficially, any observer would say that Cuba is no exception in this, because it is well-known that the capitals of all countries absorb a great deal of the immigration from the diverse points of their own national geographies, attracted by better job prospects, cultural options and the many other possible opportunities that more developed and cosmopolitan cities have to offer. continue reading
But the distinctive feature in the Cuban case is that Havana, far from symbolizing a promised prosperity, or the eventual realization of the dreams of an immigrant from the interior, is an impoverished and ruined capital, whose only – and doubtful – attraction is that it is also the capital of tourism, of contraband and corruption, currently the most promising and immediate sources of moderately ‘juicy’ incomes for those who can’t count on the support of remittances from family members who emigrated abroad, and so it is a mecca for those fleeing the narrowest provincial horizons.
Havana is the city with the largest influx of international tourism and, in consequence, where there are the greatest number of prosperous private business, whose owners have been able to pull together a relatively large amount of capital and whose employees receive a remuneration greatly superior to that of state employees, and so enjoy a standard of living much higher than that of most Cubans. They have come to constitute a sector that perceives the overall atmosphere of mediocrity and poverty that permeates the island as a brake on their capacity to consume and their personal development.
The legal aberrations that make a Cuban from the provinces “undocumented” in the country of their birth, have resulted in a profound cynicism among social sectors
Aside from the proliferation of restaurants, cafes, beauty salons, or rooms to rent for foreign tourists, along with the shady domestic operators, the extensive capital geography offers refuge and anonymity to the provincial immigrants who survive in a precarious balance of double illegality: that conferred by the law (Decree 217) – which expressly forbids those who have no address or job in the capital to remain there beyond a certain length of time; and that which derives from this: the inability to legally get a job without a residence in the city. A closed circle that, with few exceptions, condemns to marginality and exclusion immigrants from the interior who decide to establish themselves in “the capital of all Cubans.”
The economic deformities, coupled with the social exclusions and the legal aberrations that make a Cuban from the provinces “undocumented” in the country of his or her birth, have resulted in a profound cynicism among social sectors based on their place of birth, their access to advantageous jobs or the ability to start private businesses and their ability to consume.
Thus, a fragment of “new rich” has arisen, representing those who have some means of income several times greater than the average Cuban’s, that sees themselves as a group distinct from that marginal and miserable mass, often forced to break the law to guarantee their survival.
However, in an economy in ruins, where there are no legal guarantees for anyone, where the laws of the market are barely a joke and the authorities have total control of lives and property, it is absurd to speak of a “growing class of rich Cubans.” At most, we could be facing a proto-entrepreneurial class that fights to sustain itself and defends a limited private space in the face of eventual and real changes that will allow them to really soar; but which is starting to socially distance itself from the most socially disadvantaged and create their own niches.
If some class is “growing” in Cuba, it is that of the excluded and extremely poor.
If some class is “growing” in Cuba, it is that of the excluded and extremely poor. In the interior of Cuba poverty has increased, there is almost zero access to the Internet, fewer cell phones, and infinitely greater problems with transportation, food, water and electrical systems, not to mention medical or other services. But this does not make the capital an emporium of riches that spontaneously or naturally despises immigrants from other provinces.
It is the Government itself that exiles the immigrants who come to the capital, deporting them to their places of origin, which deprives them of their rights as citizens of the Island. The Government, moreover, restricts the rights of all of us, denying our economic, political and social freedoms addressed in the United Nations covenants, signed by Cuba in February 2008, but never ratified.
The disdain of many Havanans toward those they call “Palestinians” – in reference to their ‘statelessness’ – born in the eastern provinces where major poverty and lack of opportunities are concentrated, is just a sample of the contempt that the Government itself feels for all Cubans. They encourage grudges between us when we have an executioner in common.
On the Calipso farm they cannot give interviews to uncertified journalists. Nor are photos permitted. (Photos Isis Marquez)
Any farmer caught selling to the general population the strawberries that he cultivates will be fined 1000 CUP* (national currency) and have his land confiscated
Cubanet.org, Isis Marquez, Havana, 17 April 2015 – The strawberry is the forbidden fruit for Cubans. Its limited national production is for tourists and for the olive green hierarchy. The State limits the production because it sells for 2.4 euros per kilogram on the international market. Some say that it was introduced onto the island in 1965. Fifty years have passed and still the Cuban people cannot consume this exquisite strawberry. Maybe the Cuban government pretends that its people do not eat these fruits, which are anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogen?
Caption:
Benefits of the strawberry
The strawberry is a short cycle fruit rich in vitamin C. Its compounds have a high anti-oxidant power, as well as increased anti-cancer activity, and it prevents aging of the brain.
In February Cubanet had the opportunity to speak with vendors Kolia Morejon and Jorge Aspen, who said: “We are here because our client left us loaded. We have to sell the product to passersby before they go bad. We sell the small tin for 1 CUC*, the big one for 3 CUC. continue reading
Cubanet decided to investigate where the strawberry is cultivated for the purpose of investigating how and why the people do not have access to buying the “forbidden fruit” for their tables.
The odyssey of the strawberry
First you arrive at “Las Canas” community located on the border between Alquizar and Artemisa. Then you have to travel along La Roncha highway. From there on is where the communities called Maravilla, Calipso, Neptuno and La Pluma begin. In these inaccessible places is where strawberries are cultivated. These particular farms belong to the “Rigoberto Corcho” Cooperative of Artemisa.
Kolia Morejón and Jorge Aspen
On the Calipso farm as soon as I spoke with the producer Nadir Jimenez, he said: “I am sorry, we cannot give interviews to foreign journalists who don’t come certified with a letter from the Municipal Delegation of the ANAP (National Association of Small Farmers) in Artemisa or with a letter from the Ministry of Agriculture. Nor is it permitted to take photos of the crops. I am very sorry, but I cannot help you.”
Later, on the La Pluma farm, I was able to speak with a vendor identified as Julio Cesar Frias: “The strawberry is an exclusive product for the tables and the pastry shops of the 5-star hotels, and for some special contracts established with private bars and restaurants.”
And he assured: “We cannot market the strawberry to the population. Inspectors impose a fine of 1000 pesos in national currency and confiscate the farms. To go out to Havana to sell one can (5 kg) means dodging the control points, the police, the inspectors and the devil himself.” Frias concludes: “When we manage to overcome the controls, in Havana, we sell the frozen pints for 1 CUC and the big ones for 3 CUC.”
On La Roncha highway I found a couple who preferred not to be identified, and they had recently acquired a 3 CUC pot. They said: “The strawberry that is produced is for the trusted people of the area. If you have friends, good contacts with the “bigwigs” of business and the municipal ANAP, you can have the luxury of coming and buying. We recommend that no outsider approach anything here if he does not come well ‘endorsed.’”
Later a passerby identified as Norberto Joel Batista added: “The strawberry is only for the rulers of this country, the tourists, the military and the new bourgeoisie. For us there is no opportunity to buy the strawberry. Strawberries definitely are the Cuban’s ‘forbidden fruit.’”
Strawberry buyers who were not identified
Fruit for the privileged
Later, back in the city, I entered the “Betty Boom” snack bar, with very American style and design, which is on 3rd Avenue and 60th Street. There I consumed a strawberry frappe that cost 2.8 CUC for the large cup. The customers obviously were foreigners and privileged Cubans.
Translator’s note: Cuba has two currencies, the “Cuban peso” or CUP, also known as “national money,” and the “Cuban Convertible Peso, or CUC.” The CUC is pegged to the US dollar but with exchange fees costs roughly $1.10. The Cuban peso is worth about 4¢ U.S. Most wages are paid in Cuban pesos, and the average wage is generally the equivalent of about $20 U.S. monthly. Pensions are much lower.
Danilo Maldonado, ‘El Sexto’ (The Sixth) (14ymedio)
14ymedio, 15 April 2105 — The Cuban artist Danilo Maldonado, known as El Sexto (The Sixth*), is one of three winners of the 2015 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, as announced on Wednesday by the New York-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF). Also receiving the prize are members of the Sudanese non-violent resistance movement Girifna, and the Indonesian comic Sakdiyah Ma’ruf. The prize will be awarded in an Oslo Freedom Forum ceremony on May 27.
The graffiti artist, who has been in prison since last December charged with contempt, continues to await trial. He was arrested while attempting to stage a performance with two pigs decorated with the names “Fidel” and “Raul.” continue reading
“Through his art, El Sexto reveals the intolerance of the Cuban regime,” said the former Romanian president Emil Constantinescu. “A government that is afraid of an artist and his work has a truly fragile hold on power and is demonstrating its tyrannical nature,” he added.
Girifna, whose name in Arabic means “we are fed up,” is a non-violent resistance movement in Sudan founded in 2010 by young pro-democracy activists. Its members have become a constant target for repression by the government of Omar al-Bashir.
Sakdiyah Ma’ruf is an Indonesian comic monologist who constantly challenges Islamic fundamentalism. Television producers have tried several times to censor her jokes, but Ma’ruf has always refused.
The three winners will receive a representation of the Goddess of Democracy, the iconic statue erected by Chinese students during protests in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 and will share a prize of 350,000 Norwegian kroner (about $44,000).
The Human Rights Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes human rights worldwide, established this prize with the support of Dagmar Havlová, widow of the late poet, playwright and statesman Vaclav Havel to honor those who fight against dictatorships. Previous prize winners include Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the Russian group Pussy Riot, North Korean democracy activist Park Sang Hak and Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, among others.
*Translator’s note: Danilo jokingly adopted this moniker in reference to “The Cuban Five” also known, in Cuba, as “The Five Heroes”; five Cuban spies formerly in prison in the United States.
Does the fact that Raul Castro has met and shaken hands with Obama and that both of their governments have engaged in a year and a half of secret conversations commit the general-president to the aggressive policies of the US government?
The Cuban government received billions of rubles in support and arms of every kind from the former Soviet Union and supported it through guerrilla and military actions in other countries. Does this make the Cuban government the mercenary of the USSR?
Fidel Castro received from the former president Carlos Prio, the most anti-Communist of all the presidents of the first half-century of the Republic, $50,000 to buy the yacht Granma [on which he sailed to Cuba from Mexico to start the Revolution]. Does this mean that Fidel responded to the interest of Prio and was his mercenary? continue reading
The US government suspended its military cooperation with the Batista dictatorship and that contributed to its fall. Did this make the government of United States a mercenary of Fidel Castro’s 26th of July movement and a Castro agent, or vice versa?
The 26th of July movement and the guerrillas of the Sierra Maestra received wide economic support from the national bourgeoisie and the oligarchy. Did that make the leaders of the Sierra mercenaries of the oligarchy and the national bourgeoisie?
Several governments of the continent gave military aid to the “bearded ones” of the Sierra Maestra in their struggle against the Batista tyranny. Did that make the anti-Batista movement the mercenary of those governments?
Several reports from that time assert that CIA officials were supporting in some ways the revolutionary movement against Batista. Among them is the testimony of Liman Kirkpatrick, Inspector General of the CIA who visited Havana in 1958, in his book The Real CIA. Could one, therefore, accuse CIA mercenaries of being Cuban revolutionary fighters?
The US consulate in Santiago de Cuba Santiago widely collaborated with revolutionaries who fought the dictatorship. Did that make those revolutionaries mercenaries of Washington?
It is true that more than a few opponents and government officials have lived for years off the business of confrontation. But most of them have done it for their ideals
Does the fact that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has sent economic aid to Cuban dissidents who fight peacefully for democracy in Cuba make them mercenaries of the US? Does Coco Fariñas appearing in a photo with Posada Carriles make him a terrorist?
It is true that Brigade 2506 that starred in the Bay of Pigs invasion was trained, armed, supported and transported by the US government and its intelligence agencies to overthrow the revolutionary government in 1961. But does that negate that the vast majority of the members of that brigade had participated in these events to free their homeland from Castro-Communism? Were they mercenaries of United States who came to fight because of the money they were paid?
It is also true that more than a few of the opponents and the officials of the Cuban government have lived for years on the business of confrontation. But it is not true that most of them have defended their positions, including with weapons in hand, for money or personal benefits. Most of them have simply done it for their ideals. Neither one nor the other can be classified as mercenaries.
Could the Government of the Castro regime label as mercenaries all of the journalist, party functionaries, and officials of the Armed Forces and State Security who defend that government and what it considers its revolution and from which they receive high salaries and some perks? Absurd.
With biased, simplistic, and one-sided analysis of human history and its realities, without taking into account the interests of other affected parties and ignoring the most progressive values corresponding to each era, it is not possible to reach an understanding.
“Justice must be served for the literacy teachers murdered, for those dead in attacks on boats, economic facilities and official missions, for the crime of the plane crash carried out in the Barbados, and an endless list,” say some.
“We must have justice for the hundreds killed in the fight against the Revolution in the Escambray, for the thousands dead in the sea trying to escape communism, for the children and women on the 13 de Marzo tugboat, for the Brothers to the Rescue and the three young men who hijacked a boat,” say others.
I am not asking anyone to forget, but I believe that without transparency of information, without truth, without integrity in historical analysis, and without forgiveness, there will be no possible reconciliation. At least until the disappearance of the generations involved in Cuba’s political struggles of the last decades.
To accuse all those who do not share a particular vision of the country of being mercenaries, terrorists and assassins is nothing more than a pretext to continue the confrontation
To accuse all those who do not share a particular vision of the country and all those who receive aid from others for their struggle of being mercenaries, terrorists and assassins is nothing more than a pretext of the extremes to continue the confrontation and to not enter into dialogue because of various fears.
The old Cuban Communists were accused of receiving money from Moscow in order to disqualify and discredit them.
It is not just, nor is it legitimate, nor isn’t constructive for either side to continue with these absurd accusations against everyone who has been involved in these struggles from one side or the other.
Why don’t we just recognize once and for all that the era of armed military confrontation and the language of the Cold War is over and we are in a time of peaceful democratic political struggles where everyone can defend his or her ideas freely?
Let’s be serious. How can the opponents of the Cuban government objectively sustain a peaceful political struggle for their ideals without any outside help, when everyone knows that we live in a country where the government controls absolutely everything?
Has the democratic left itself have not been victims of this absolute, absurd and counterproductive control that ends up leaving people without life support and eventually turns them against their own operators?
How can we forget that high and medium level government officials of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) suspected of perestroikos and ideological weaknesses were sent en masse to retire and “perform other important missions” to limit their access to information and decisions between 1989 and 1994?
How can we forget that some compañeros were removed from their posts and lost their Internet or Intranet accounts because they used them to spread articles critical of state socialism and to publicly propose ways forward towards a participatory and democratic socialism after Fidel Castro himself warned in late 2005 that these Revolutionaries were the only ones who could destroy the Revolution by corruption and excessive bureaucracy, and also called for help in this fight?
The attitude of the delegation sent by the Government of Cuba to the Civil Society Forum of the recent Seventh Summit of the Americas was an example of that old extremist, intolerant and neo-Stalinist mentality in the leadership of political and mass organizations and of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) that pretends to be the only representative of Cuban civil society.
How can the opponents sustain a political struggle without outside help, when we live in a country where the government controls absolutely everything?
Is it possible that the government of Raul Castro could emerge from the current economic disaster with the collaboration of its historic enemy without essential changes in the political economic model that starts from a new national consensus that has the approval of workers, the self-employed, cooperatives, Cuban entrepreneurs, opponents and dissenters?
Do we really believe the Cuban president that the 97% approval of the Constitution in 1976 is the same level of approval that the government and its policies have today? Are we forgetting that in the last election almost 13% of the voters either did not vote or turned in a blank or annulled ballot? Does the general president not know that in recent years over 30,000 Cubans have left Cuba by different routes and does he not know that perhaps more than one million Cubans would like to leave the country?
Does the four-star general believe that the people don’t know the high level of nepotism and corruption that corrodes the system that he defends?
If the current government headed by Raúl Castro is unable to control its extreme wing and enter into a process of dialogue, national reconciliation and democratization of society, the country can hardly steer its development in peace and have the professional and financial aid from all Cubans, which it needs, no matter where they are, along with external collaboration. In any case, Cuba can go from bad to worse.
It is time to understand that our political and ideological differences, our sorrows over past events, leave us no choice but to overcome this stage of confrontation and take on the reunification of the nation with all its consequences.
Otherwise, we run the risk of turning our country into a failed state, either because the economy continues to sink into the vacuum of the inconsistencies of State management, of because of our inability to dialog, ending up in fratricidal conflict provoked by those who from the extremes would prefer that Cuba sink into the sea, rather than recognize errors and sit at the negotiating table.
Those of us who want to solve the problems of Cuba, be we within or outside of government and within or outside Cuba, need to set ourselves to seriously working for dialogue and reconciliation in a framework of democracy and rights, where the extremes are another bad memory of our history.
Figure dedicated to Fe del Valle in the park of the same name in Havana. (14ymedio)
Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 14 April 2015 — Like every April 13, last Monday a group of Trade Union workers met with the task of carrying a bouquet of flowers to a marble statue. It is a figure dedicated to Fe del Valle in the Havana park of the same name and located at the central corner of Galiano and San Rafael. The site usually supplies the absence of public toilets in the area and the sculpture has both hands mutilated.
In this space was one of the most exclusive Havana stores, El Encanto, with branches in Varadero, Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Founded in the early twentieth century by Solis, Entrialgo and Company, S.A. was one of the first properties nationalized after the revolutionary process. continue reading
The park is named in honor of the employee who died around this time, trying to rescue goods store in the middle of a raging fire that left the building completely destroyed and which also injured 18 people. Material losses were valued at $20 million. Another shop worker named Carlos González Vidal, known for his opposition to the Revolution and identified as an active member of People’s Recovery Movement, was convicted of sabotage and subsequently shot.
Fe del Valle Ramos, affectionately known as Lula, was born in Remedios on August 1, 1917 and worked at the store from the ‘50s and served as department head. She was a member of the Federation of Cuban Women and in the militia. Eyewitnesses say that she was on duty that night and, although she was found safe when the firefighters arrived, she returned to save funds that had been collected for a daycare center for the children of store employees. Her burned body was found days after the fire amid the rubble.
Nowhere around the sculpture can be found the sculptor’s name. The woman represented there looks more like a kolkhoz from Socialist Realism times than a Cuban woman working a department store. The neighbors didn’t record the date on which her hands were torn off and no one even suggests the motives — political, personal or religious — that led to the vandalism.
In 2016 a celebration will be held for what specialists call a “closed anniversary” – ending in a zero or five. The commemoration of 55 years will be an opportunity to restore the statue, but it will probably follow the passions that were behind each of the acts of this tragedy: the confiscation, the revenge, the sacrifice, the desecration…
14ymedio, Havana, 13 April 2015 — The Cuban activist Guillermo Fariñas has been selected to receive the 2015 Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom, as he himself announced Monday via his Twitter account.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Washington DC, offers this award annually to individuals or institutions involved in the fight for freedom and democracy and opposed to communism and other forms of tyranny.
Since the first edition of the award, in 1999, those who have received this distinction include Pope John Paul II (in 2005), former Polish President Lech Walesa (in 2006) and former Secretary of US Defense Donald Rumsfeld (in 2012), among others.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation aims to honor the more than 100 million victims of communism worldwide and the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.
Raul Castro during his speech at the Summit of the Americas (EFE Señal Instucional)
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Panama, 12 April 2015 — During the Summit of the Americas, when Raul Castro said Barack Obama was not at fault for the decisions taken by the ten presidents that preceded him, confusion overcame me and it’s no wonder.
Upon hearing that speech, delivered in front of more than thirty leaders meeting in Panama, it became even harder for me to understand why the gallant members of the pro Cuban government “civil society” who came to this city continued to label as assassins the activists, dissidents and independent representations who came to participate in forums parallel to the historic event.
If Obama is not guilty of what happened at the Bay of Pigs, nor the logistics support to the anti-Revolution rebels of the Escambray; if he is not responsible for the creation of Radio Martí, nor the Cuban Adjustment Act… nor even for the implementation of the embargo, then, what guilt is it that they want to foist on the activists defending human rights?
Now, that the general-president has already absolved the dignitary of the country that official propaganda sees as “the enemy,” it is worth asking why his supporters accuse of events that happened decades ago those, who organize opposition parties, or engage in library projects or independent journalism with the sole purpose of proposing a country different from that outlined in the guidelines of the Sixth Communist Party Summit.
When the horrendous sabotage occurred to the Cuban plane coming from the Barbados, Guillermo Fariñas was engaged in or preparing for an international mission in Africa. At the moment when they shot the prisoner Ernesto “Che” Guevara in Bolivia, neither Eliécer Ávila nor Henry Constantin had been born. It would be like blaming Abel Prieto for the firing squads, the forced relocation of the farmers from the center of the country to captive villages, the atrocities of the Revolutionary Offensive, the disaster of the 1970 sugar harvest, the “Five Gray Years” and so many other things.
When I mention Abel Prieto I could include the names of almost the entire delegation whose tickets and lodging were paid for by the Cuban government. Are they aware that when you accuse others of a past in which they didn’t exist nor make decisions, you will also be evaluated in the same light? Are they prepared to take on all the atrocities committed by their predecessors?
The Panamanians, however, gave us a clear example of this positive attitude during the summit, an attitude that is summed up by looking more to the future than the past. I would like to believe that Raul Castro is not responsible for anything… although the evidence points in the other direction.
Perhaps the time has come when we should concern ourselves more with solutions than with blame.
I know many compatriots, who totally within their rights, will not agree with me, especially since there are wounds impossible to heal and grievances difficult to forget. If I had to vote on it, I would raise my hand in favor of their retiring in peace. Their penance, their worst punishment, will be to watch us construct a nation without hatred nor rancor. Once again Cubans, everyone, at the same fiesta.
Raul Castro with Barack Obama at a press conference at the Summit of the Americas
EFE / 14ymedio, Panama, 11 April 2015 – The president of the United States, Barack Obama, today told his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, that “it was time to try something new” in relation to Cuba, during the historic meeting they held in Panama under the framework of the Summit of the Americas.
It is the first time in half a century that the presidents of the two countries have met.
For his part, Raul Castro assured the US president that “we are willing to talk about everything, but with patience,” in the process towards normalization of bilateral relations. continue reading
Moments before the start of the meeting, Obama explained that “The history between the United States and Cuba is complicated,” and, “We are now in a position to move on a path toward the future.” He immediately said that the majority of Americans and Cubans had “responded positively” to the process of reestablishing relations, announced last December 17.
The US president confirmed that there are “profound differences” between to two countries. “We are willing to talk about everything. The United States will defend democracy and human rights and Cuba will put on their table their concerns with respect to US policy, as Mr. Castro did during his speech,” Obama emphasized during a press conference immediately after the meeting.
Obama went further and ventured that, “And over time, it is possible for us to turn the page and develop a new relationship between our two countries.”
The two leaders met in room at the Atlapa Convention Center where, on Friday, the Summit of the Americas got underway, and where Saturday’s sessions have transpired.
The meeting began after the photo session of all the presidents who participated in the hemispheric forum in which Cuba is participating for the first time.
Juan Francisco Puello, president of the Caribbean Confederation of Professional Baseball
14ymedio, 11 April 2015 — The Dominican Juan Francisco Puello, president of the Caribbean Confederation of Professional Baseball, is currently visiting Cuba and attended the sixth game of the finals of the National Baseball Series. At the conclusion of the game at the stadium in Ciego de Ávila, the representative of the regional organization answered questions from the press.
Puello acknowledged that having witnessed the game between the local team and the team from the Isla de la Juventud was “an enlightening and rewarding experience.” At his side were Higinio Velez, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, and Heriberto Suárez, another senior official of the State Institute of Sports. continue reading
All the questions were directed to the visitor, who began by responding to the possibility of recruiting Cubans in the leagues that make up the Caribbean Confederation. Puello said that this issue was one of the items on his agenda during his current trip to Cuba. “It is important to note that (…) until we have a specific definition with the Major Leagues and OFAC [both in the US], that we can have Cuba as a full member of the Confederation, it will not be possible,” the Dominican said with respect to contracts.
However, he added that the arrival of players from the island to the winter leagues in Venezuela or Mexico, “Is at hand, because we have been talking to lawyers in the major leagues who are working on that.” Next week, Puello announced, there will probably already be a definition of that in particular, “and we will communicate it to Cuba.”
He also confessed that “some organizations have approached the Cuban authorities informally” but the impediment would come from the US authorities, both Major League Baseball and the government of that country. “All the leagues [of the countries of the Confederation] have shown interest” in Cuban athletes. “The fact that they are engaged (…) is going to reduce the extreme fatigue,” a condition that hinders the participation of players committed to the major leagues in regional tournaments.
The Confederation official believes that at least until 2020 there will not be a Caribbean Series held here, because for this to happen the Island should be a full member of the regional sports organization. Meanwhile, the country is expected to continue to attend the annual competition, the latest of which was won by a team with the name of Vegueros of Pinar del Río.
“To invite Cuba is a firm decision,” said Puello, who considers it “disproportionate” not to pay the Cuba players the awards they won for their performance in Caribbean Series. And he judges that this is a “problem is more political than sport-related, (…) it must end.”
“This is the time for Cuba to open up,” said Puello, who was visiting the country for the first time since 1999, but, he said, “That was not the time for opening Cuba” he said. The official is currently working on including the Cuban Baseball Federation, controlled by the government and still officially represented as an “amateur” sport, in the Caribbean Confederation of Professional Baseball.
