Translating Cuba

“The chocolate is over!” screamed my two friends, as I opened the door that night of July 31, 2006. They were alluding, with their improvised slogan, to the latest plan pushed by Fidel Castro to distribute a chocolate quota to every Cuban through the ration market. When the doorbell rang there were only two hours left before the first of August and Carlos Valenciaga, Fidel’s personal secretary, had already read a proclamation on TV announcing the unexpected illness of the Maximum Leader. The lights at the Council of State remained lit — oddly — and an anomalous silence settled over the city. During that long night, no one could sleep a wink in our house.

As they reached for their second glass of rum, my friends began to count how many times they had planned for that day, predicted that news. He, a singer-songwriter; she, a television producer. Both had been born and grown up under the power of the same president, who had determined even the smallest details of their lives. I listened to them talk and was surprised by their relief, the flood of desires for the future now unleashed. Perhaps they felt more free after that announcement. Time would bring them to understand that while we were chatting about the future, others were ensuring that the package of succession was neatly tied up.

Five years later, the country has been transferred, entirely via blood. Raul Castro has received the inheritance of a nation, its resources, its problems and even its inhabitants. Everything he has done in the last five years stems from the imperative not to lose this family possession, passed on to him by his brother. The slow pace of his reforms, their timidity and superficiality, is marked in part by feeling himself the beneficiary of the patrimony entrusted to him. And what, you wonder, of my friends? When they realized that under the younger brother the repression would continue, that the penalization of opinion would remain intact, they distanced themselves, frightened. Never again did they knock on my door, never again did they enter this place where, in 2006, they had come screaming, believing that the future had begun.

30 July 2011

Our authorities have the absurd habit of changing the names of streets, parks, shops, businesses and even some public places, according to their short-term political interests. Thus, Presidents Avenue, El Vedado, built during the Republic and along which appear monuments, statues or busts of various Cuban presidents, degenerated into a the so-called Avenue of the Latin American Presidents (not of all of them, just the “friendly” ones). Previously, the site dedicated to the American Presidents (taking the Americas as a whole), was the beautiful Fraternity Park, next to the Capitol building. In its conversion to Estrada Palma (the first President) all that is left on the marble base is a pair of shoes, near the Hotel Presidente, an outstanding display of cultural vandalism, and Jose Miguel Gomez was saved at the junction with Calle 29, as his monument was so huge. The spaces provided for the others have been occupied by statues or busts (some quite poorly executed artistically) of Bolivar, Alfaro, Torrijos, Allende, etc., in a strange hodgepodge of history.

The Avenida de Carlos III, has long has imposed on it the name of Salvador Allende, but only a tiny minority of people call it this. The same thing happened to Reina (renamed Simon Bolivar), Galiano (Father Varela), Monte (Maximo Gomez) and others, all of which ordinary people still call by their original names. This extends to sports venues, where most of the ballparks have names that have nothing to do with their sport, whether it be swimming pools, facilities for basketball, volleyball and others where elementary logic suggests they should be named for the respective leading figures in that sport.

Recently a rally held at the Acapulco Park in Nuevo Vedado got my attention; in one of its corners they have erected an unimaginative and completely oblivious to the design of the park monument dedicated to Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh. It turns out that they have renamed it Ho Chi Minh Park (when they dedicated the monument, it called Liberty Park). At the ceremony, which they repeat every time some important Vietnamese visits, the only ones participating were the students from a nearby high school, in full uniform, Vietnamese students studying in Cuba and a few selected officials. A political assembly that passersby observe from afar, since it has nothing to do with them or with the neighborhood. I don’t know if the Vietnamese have noticed.

Undoubtedly, the authorities of the city and country have the right to name avenues, streets, parks, etc., but please, build them first rather than rededicate existing ones; it would be much easier and less expensive than changing existing, and therefore historical, ones. For me and the neighbors who live in Nuevo Vedado, Acapulco Park was, is and always will be the Acapulco Park. I think, the same thing happens with the neighbors of other places.

These names are also part of the much touted national identity. They constitute the heritage of neighborhoods, areas and cities. Changing them for short-term political expediency shows disrespect for the citizens (who are not consulted) to whom they really belong, because they live in the area around them, and also shows a lack of culture and civility. The defense of national identity is demonstrated by deeds and not speeches. Hopefully this nefarious practice, which has failed wherever there have been efforts to impost it (St. Petersburg will always be St. Petersburg), will cease once and for all, not further complicating the lives of future historians with so many name changes, which almost everyone ignores.

July 7 2011

The Methodist Pastor Yordi Alberto Toranzo Collado, rector of “Trinity” Church in the city of Santa Clara. Source: Google Images.

Seeking the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, has been the Methodist Pastor Yordi Alberto Toranzo Collado,, rector of the “Trinity” Church in the city of Santa Clara, who swore before the Altar of God to seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness. The same inscription is in a stained glass image of Jesus with outstretched arms, leading the church whose rector, with the consent of the Holy Spirit, Yordi leads in that city, this image offers a welcome to the people of Santa Clara who pass in front of the temple and gather there.

So the Rev. Yordi Alberto Toranzo Collado, encouraged by the sense of justice, left his house and walked a few blocks to join the grieving family of Soto García, Sunday May 8, the feast of Mother’s Day, as he does and is called on to do, not only as a minister of God, but to all the baptized.

It is sad to see how Monseñor Ricardo Pereira Díaz, Bishop of the Methodist Church in Cuba, a few days later and prompted by fear of State Security through the Department of Attention to Religious Matters and the Ministry of Justice and the Council of State, called for the removal of the pastor to the town of Santa Cruz del Norte, of Havana province. It is painful that an authority of the Church of Christ for the Republic of Cuba serves the government better than he serves his flock and their pastors.

Monseñor Pereira, I am a witness of this town of Santa Clara, where the adages of contempt continued against the temple, the sign that announced the Municipal Party Headquarters, the place which was operated as the Methodist Church in Cuba, I remember as a child (because I am from Santa Clara), how the workers of the Municipal Part bought eggs and called the children studying the Mariano Clemente Prado primary school, located across from the church, to through the eggs at the Reverent Pedro Mayor and his wife Ana Luise whom I remember with much fondness.

Now as a priest of Christ I do not understand, nor will I ever understand, the position you have taken agasint Yordi, his place is to be at the side of justice and I am very sure that this is being denied by the ministry in which you preside. Reflect and ask for the light of the Holy Spirit and say with us:

“We want Yordi in Santa Clara.”

June 28 2011

I don’t think there’s a government in the world that devotes as much attention to what happens in the United States as that of Cuba. The neighbor to the north occupies the greatest space in official statements and the national media, something that never happened in the Republican era when, according to the authorities now, we were a colony of the Empire.

It is striking that everything is said and written focuses on the negative aspects, without dedicating a single line, not one minute, to showing something positive which, without a doubt, must exist, given its great development would be incomprehensible, its attraction for migrants, and the important place it occupies in the international arena.

Many of our commentators, not to mention the authorities, must have as their reason to exist dedicating commentaries and articles to ranting about the powerful neighbor, convinced that, in this way, they are assured of continuing to receive their salaries, and will avoid joining that numerous legion of the “available,” the ultimate euphemism for the unemployed. Thus, it is in the game of participation, whether it is those in politics, the economy, etc., just like those concerned with culture or sports. Everyone contributes their grain of sand to avoid being disqualified.

In the world of advertising there is an old axiom that states that when the message is excessive and saturates its receptor, it produces the opposite of the intended effect. In other words: it creates repulsion for what it is promoting. This has happened with this systematic campaign to discredit: every day there are more Cubans wishing to emigrate to this country and every day too, our population is more influenced by their habits and customs, now being ever more Americanized than before. So much has been said about the big bad wolf, that everyone wants to meet him!

Being measured and limited has never been one of the strong points of our authorities in the last half century. To repeat to the point of boredom the same old arguments and worn out slogans has been a constant: quantity has supplanted quality. Hence, the enormous volume of discrediting news and writings about the United States, which sometimes border on the ridiculous. As with other campaigns, this one too has failed. The reality has been imposed.

June 4 2011

CONVIVENCIA (COEXISTENCE) LITERARY CONTEST II – 2011

JURY RESULTS

Prize in the Photography category:

The jury decides, unanimously, to award the prize in the genre of Photography to the series titled: Desconocido (Unknown), by the Cuban author, Alberto Borrego Sánchez, of San Cristóbal, Artemisa province.

By judicious selection of settings, use of bold and contemporary content, with a social approach committed to its environment, without devaluing in the least the quality of photography as art. As a set of pieces, strung together with a mark of style, where the sepia tones and the mood of hieratic reality shown are utilized according to the messages revealed in the works.

Prize in the Essay category:

The jury decided unanimously to award the prize in this area to the work presented with the title: Until the End of the Exclusions, by the Cuban author Orlando Freire Santana, native of Cerro, Havana province.

For the social and contemporary effectiveness of its analysis, which treats different settings (the Island and its Diaspora). It is not limited to a simple dissection of the political agenda in recent years, but explores the social-ethical and individual background of our existence as a nation; it stands out for its powerfully communicative paragraphs, manifested Cubanness, citizen reference and commitment to its thesis.

Story Category:

By a majority, the jury decided not to award the prize in the Story category, in this edition of the contest.

General Poetry Prize:

In this literary genre, after a sharp and deep analysis of the outstanding works presented, the jury decided, unanimously, to award the prize to the work: Room of One Day, by the Cuban author Francis Sánchez, of Ciego de Ávila.

For the music of the universal language and encouragement reborn in its verses, in which one finds words released from the depths, like a weaving of clarities that transcend the collective suffering and nostalgia for living in a time already in the past. Significant in this collection are the social nuances of the magnetic messages.

In this same genre, we also agreed unanimously to grant an honorable mention to the notebook of poems Exact Room, from the author Mojena Miguel Angel Hernandez, Candelaria, province Artemis. It is proposed to publish some of his writings in Convivencia Magazine. For this decision, we have taken into account the organic nature of the book, the beauty of poetic images, and the intimate nature of its parts.

Meeting in Pinar del Rio, with the Convivencia Board, July 27, 2011.

THE JURY (in alphabetical order):

Henry Constantín Ferreiro
Maikel Iglesias Rodríguez
Jesuhadín Pérez Valdés

July 28 2011

Small private businesses are beginning to multiply again throughout the city, including on my Tulipan Avenue, where just months ago they were wiped out. It’s like the weed that never dies, but in this case it is a good herb that should never die, and should become stronger and become leafy trees, with deep roots to resist the onslaught of the cyclone sure to come. Depending on what is available to each, some are better assembled than others, but all have the desire to succeed, something innate to human beings. To start over again.

We should look on their resurgence with optimism, but we cannot put too much confidence in their permanence. We have had several negative experiences (remember the operations Bird-on-a-Wire against artisans and artists in the Plaza of the Cathedral and Block-and-Hammer against the self-employed, and others, to cite just a few with quirky names). Reality obliges us to be cautious. Some people are already starting to blame them as responsible for the scarcity of products in the stores.

Analyzing the writings and talk about self-employment, its implementation was forced by the need to rescue the drowning, that, convinced of its advantages, we discover that on starting up a business, you must pay the state between 30% and 35% in taxes on earnings, spend (it’s estimated) up to 40% on inputs (which you must document with legal proof) and earn a profit of not more than 25% (on which you won’t get rich). On other words, the State appropriates 75%, in one way or another (expenses that include energy, inputs, etc. are all bought from the State, the only supplier, at the exorbitant established prices), and the self-employed person gets 25%. Not even the demonized savage capitalism works like this.

It’s as if someone who is drowning asks for help and their savior demands that the buy the rope and life jacket with which they will be rescued, and at a price set by him. It would be absurd. As we can see, the self-employed person, despite what it said, is still seen as an unwelcome traveling companion, an ideological enemy, who is utilized because there is no other choice, with the intention of dispose of him again, as soon as possible. They continue to believe in the failed socialist enterprise, which hasn’t worked anywhere it has been implemented. It is the contradiction between the efficient and productive and the inefficient and unproductive.

Despite these questions, it’s healthy that something has begun to move, although the movements are minimal and come with many strings attached. In short, the creature, if it can be strengthened and developed, will gradually be able to free itself from them and gain velocity.

July 29 2011

The American Gary Marks’s stay in Cuba, from 1998 to 2002, and his contacts with segments of our intelligentsia anchored in everyday survival, sparked the interest of the northern professional in documenting the contrasts. How? Through a DVD documentary about the unbreakable friendship of two artists, one who went rafting to Florida during the mass exodus of August 1994, while the other remained stranded in the island’s capital.

Friendship, this variant of love that exalts the human condition, has shone in all literary genres and artistic expressions such as music, theater and film, and the emotional memory of it is part of Dream Havana, which tells the parallel stories of the narrator, Ernesto Santana Zaldívar, and the poet, journalist and editor, Jorge Luis Mota, protagonists of chance, uncertainties and hopes in a kind of road movie that moves from Havana to Camaguey, Havana to the Guantanamo Naval Base, Miami, Chicago and Guadalajara, with poetry, the ocean, nostalgia, music and archival images as essential supports to the work.

Sponsored by Hexagram Productions, edited by Hannah David and Sharon Zurek, production by Erick Burton-Michale Taylor with help from Álvarez Martín; additional Photomontage from the BBC/A WVEC PTN, and a 58 minute version for television in 2009, which I enjoyed courtesy of Santana. You can find it at WWW.Dreamhavanamovie.com.

Dream Havana immerses viewers in layers of Cuban reality from the early eighties to 2000. It reports on society at the macro level through personal stories that reflect the certainties and failures of many lives suffocated by extreme circumstances. The film grows and suggests the traumas and frustrations of its protagonists. This debut by Gary Marks achieves artistic balance through the testimonial feeling of its voices, the agility of its shots, the photographic excellence of archival materials, the originality of the music composed by Descemer Bueno, and the poetic-existential discourse of Santana and Mota.

The symbolism of the sea as a bridge and backdrop of change, the authenticity of those participating in the scenes, and the play of the cameras and shots that emphasizes the brotherhood of the central characters, provide a counterpoint to the Cuban national drama without falling into extremes.

The mobility of the scenes reaffirms the shared role of Ernesto Santana and J.L. Mota. The first speaks and moves from poetry. The second from the urgency to leave and try his luck in a free environment. The balance is provided by friends and relatives of both, such as the wife and mother of Mota, and colleagues in common who interlace personal and social coordinates, re-created by the letters exchanged, photos and postcards and the allegorical lyrics of the songs.

Near the end, the profound Cuba of censorship, blackouts, speeches, hunger and distance, yields to the miracle of the reunion of friends, thanks to the Carpentier Prize awarded by the Cuban Book Institute to E. Santana’s novel Ave y Nada, presented at the International Book Fair of Guadalajara, Mexico, attended by J.L. Mota, distinguished by his time in the United States with the Hispanic Journalism Award.

The parallel scenes of the travel of each one, the respective airports, the walk of both along the Pacific Ocean and the hug and goodbye, seal the atmosphere of people in flight that characterizes the life and work of E. Santana and J.L. Mota, friends who meet again through Dream Havana, anchored in work and creation despite the waves and island twilight.

July 29 2011

Not surprisingly, in the crusade against the empire that the Cuban regime has waged since its establishment, they have regressed from supporting the progressive forces of that time, to closing ranks with the reactionary regimes of today. It seems that in the long journey some ideals were lost, mainly having to do with the full freedom, humanism, civil rights, et cetera.

In official statements and in the media, openly and shamelessly, they defend the rulers overthrown by the will of the people in Tunisia and Egypt. Also those who, faced with popular demonstrations and riots, are trying to maintain power in Yemen, Libya and Syria. They also supported the ruler — ultimately ousted — in the Ivory Coast who, despite having been defeated in a legal electoral process, refused to relinquish power. All this without mentioning the absurdity of North Korea where power, as a dynasty, is passed from fathers to sons (just in recent days they commemorated the 99th anniversary of the birth of the great leader, founder and eternal president of Korea), or the desire to perpetuate himself in power of the Venezuelan president.

It is understandable that this happens: the Cuban regime has been in power for 52 years, and in practice has also functioned as a dynasty where the main political positions are held by the so-called historic leaders. Therefore, the issue is close enough to them and they defend their peers as a way of defending themselves.

It is a reality that social phenomena do not have to be repeated identically, but also a reality that, when the causes are the same, anything can happen. The domino effect is very old and is part of the history of mankind and will not fail to be taken into account, despite the geographic space separating the different events.

An intelligent appraisal what is happening, must lead to objectively analyzing our situation and taking appropriate decisions in time to avoid greater evils. This process includes the active participation of all stakeholders, without exclusive policies, and the exercise of citizens’ rights. Only in a climate of tolerance, without obsolete dogmatic entrenchment, can you secure the tranquility necessary to the whole nation, a prerequisite for solving many problems.

April 29 2011