Translating Cuba

Yesterday afternoon, quite by accident, I bumped into one of the activists with the CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) on my block. I have known her for many years, since 1971, when I moved to this apartment where I currently live. Although we have never been friends, since we have nothing in common, at one point, when her children were little and she was facing a major crisis, I helped her in any way I could. That was our first and most significant interaction.

I mention this to make it clear that we have never been friendly or intimate enough for her to agree to be the bearer of a stern message from a mutual friend, whom I love and respect because of her kind heart and in spite her extremely uninhibited and even crude language and our diametrically opposed political views. The two of us manage to overlook this, but what I cannot accept is for her to send me threatening messages insisting I attend a meeting being held later today to choose candidates for the well-known People’s Power elections, which we all know are of no consequence.

After she gave me the message, I told the messenger to tell her that she already talked to me yesterday, and I am very sorry, but I will not attend, and she knows quite well that I have not done so for many years.That I only went to the initial meetings, thinking something would get done, but as that was not the case, I decided not to waste my time.

That I do not believe in my country’s elections and, since attendance is voluntary and voting is a right and not a duty, I am abiding by my choice and my right.

That when a delegate is elected with enough power and resources to see to it that trash gets picked up daily, that mass transit improves, that streets are swept and cleaned, the potholes and leaks are fixed, street lighting is adequate, and who represents us and defends our rights, then I will not only attend, I will be the first in line. But as long as we still have this Power that has no power, she can count me out.

September 14 2012

An acquaintance of mine boasts about having suffered from hunger during his childhood and adolescence—noting that he even had to rummage through trash bins—and the poverty that his family experienced. This used to earn him the compassion of a majority of people. By coincidence his mother heard about this one day and angrily assured us, “He was never hungry because his father and I always worked. And he never lacked shoes or education either.” After this we had less respect for him. It is a true story and his mother told us this in 1970.

For dozens of years this country has officially promoted poverty, praising it as though it were a virtue, and has discredited wealth, going to absurd lengths to penalize prosperity. This has been done both on a national and international level. According to this “philosophy,” anyone who is poor, no matter the cause, encompasses all the positive attributes possible: nobility, modesty, intelligence, a courageous spirit of sacrifice, tenderness, loyalty, solidarity, honesty, etc. Anyone who is wealthy or prosperous, no matter the cause, encompasses all the negative attributes possible: arrogance, ostentation, haughtiness, envy, cowardice, immorality, dishonor, disloyalty, harshness, brutality, etc.

So deeply has this absurd “philosophy” seeped into the minds of many citizens that, without realizing it, they react negatively to all those who, with talent, ability hard work and determination, are able to create prosperity and wealth, even under difficult Cuban conditions. They support all measures to “clip their wings” because, in their minds, anyone who prospers does so through illegal means, and only in poverty is legality possible. Given this philosophical mindset, it is no wonder that the national economy is in a shambles, and that the country has been and is in a crisis situation that has lasted for more than fifty years.

Poverty, no matter how much it is praised by those who have never been poor, only generates more poverty and misery, while wealth generates more wealth and prosperity. This is the reality. There are many examples, but they are invisible to those who do not want to see them, either through inability or convenience. If we hope to move forward and achieve development, we must reverse the equation. We must penalize poverty and promote wealth. The more wealth increases, the more poverty decreases, putting the country on a straight and stable path. Promoting wealth does not mean making hundreds or thousands of citizens rich, but rather allowing everyone to prosper without so many obstacles. Building a strong and thriving middle class should be the goal of every nation. This is the case in the richest countries of the world. They are not rich because they have a lot of millionaires, but because they have a large middle class whose reach extends throughout society and exerts a beneficial influence on it.

This was the trend in Cuba before the process of “devolution” began. Today we are turning to an evolutionary necessity in order to survive as a nation. Profound economic, political and social changes, combined with a new way of thinking, provide the only solution.

September 11 2012

By Ignacio Estrada Cepero, Independent Journalist.

In the past week the municipal office of vector control in Santo Domingo in Villa Clara province, detected a total of 111 sources of the Aedes mosquito — which carries dengue fever — in that city.

The data was released Friday by one of the municipal inspectors who asked for anonymity. He explained that the appearance of these new sources increases the danger of contracting dengue fever and that the mosquitoes are most commonly found in concentrations of water in the sewers, ditches, public landfills and in some cases in schools in shelters.

He mentioned that among the schools are the David Diaz Guardarrama School, which recently remained closed for 72 hours.

September 12 2012

On the occasion of the Christian Democrat Organization of America (ODCA) Council held in Chile on August 31 and September 1, our organization released a document about the current Cuban reality. In it we summarize the main views with regards to the economy, society and politics, emphasizing these three most important aspects from the perspective of the Cuban Democracy Project, and how they constitute the basis for a peaceful transition to democracy of the Cuban nation.

September 11 2012

September 12 2012

The Cuban LGBT community demands to be counted in the 2012 population census; we want the Cuban government to publish the number of families made up of same-sex couples.

September 12 2012

This is the first of its kind on permanent display in the whole country, according to some activists from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community of this city. The flag is about a yard wide by six long and was donated by LGBT activists in the city of Hamburg for the cultural center. A place a reference in the work to support LGBT rights in Cuba.

The flag remains on display and can be appreciated by Santa Clarans, visitors, and passersby on Martha Abreu Street in that city.

September 12 2012

This Monday several Cuban dissidents started a hunger strike which has already been joined by 25 people throughout the country. At a press conference, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello explained that that the strikers are demanding the immediate release of Jorge Vázquez Chaviano, age 42. In 2011 this activist was sentenced for the supposed crime of “illicit economic activity,” although many believe this charge masks retaliation for his dissident activities. This legal maneuver is common in Cuba and is intended to make it difficult for the international organizations to count the “political prisoners” and “prisoners of conscience” on the Island.

Vázquez Chaviano is currently being held in the Alambrada maximum security prison in the central province of Villa Clara. His sentence ended this past Sunday, September 9, but the prison authorities, instead of releasing him, moved him to a punishment cell. The spokesperson for the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), Elizardo Sanchez, also called for “an urgent response” from the government, for “the violation is such that it would justify a writ of habeas corpus.”

Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello was the only woman imprisoned during the so-called Black Spring of 2003. At the press conference held Monday she also denounced the repression that State Security carried out against the internal opposition, independent journalists and Human Rights activists. As examples, the well known economist listed the police cordons established around people’s homes, the surveillance, the retention of identity documents — which Cubans are required to carry at all times — the arbitrary arrests, and the forced entry into their homes to arrest them and confiscate their property.

Several activists consulted by this writer said they were worried about the outcome of this situation. Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, declared, “We are women who love our families and our lives, we are not in favor of hunger strikes, but we morally and spiritually support those who undertake them.”

For his part, José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) said, “Some feel they are forced to this as a last resort, mainly because the indifference of most Cubans has allowed this aggravation of the problems.”

Former political prisoner and opposition leader Jorge Luis Garcia Perez (Antunez) is another who has joined the strike. As of Wednesday afternoon a total of 21 men and 4 women were among those refusing to ingest food. Nine of them are in prison. At Roque Cabello’s house there are at least six members of the “Network of Community Communicators,” which she heads, all refusing to eat until their demands are met.

Roque Cabello’s health is deteriorating rapidly, in part because of her refusal to administer the medications necessary to control her diabetes. According to what I was able to verify, by the end of the second day of fasting she suffered from dry lips, trembling and numbness in her hands. At the end of the afternoon she had suffered a fainting spell.

The hunger strike has become a recurring method to put pressure on the Cuban government. One of the more publicized in recent years was carried out in 2010 by the journalist and psychologist Guillermo Fariñas, winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. After several days without food or water, Fariñas physically collapsed and was admitted to intensive care where he was fed intravenously. His persistence was the determining factor in the subsequent process of releases of the remaining prisoners of the Black Spring still in prison.

12 September 2012