Castro Responds to the “Reformists” / Antunez

The recent speech by the ruling Castro in the National Assembly of People’s Power is a clear and devastating response to those who believed in the possibility of reforms and relaxations within the current system, and that the controversial releases – better understood as exilings – could be the signal of a process of détente and tolerance, a prelude to a step towards democracy.  Once again the government’s strategy for maintaining its position of power consists of well-calculated delaying actions and sowing false expectations.

Even though the large media outlets have brought more attention to the economic situation he laid out, I believe that discourse of the barricade, the same rhetoric against his opponents, and threats against Cuban civil society are more important and are the equivalents of a clear demonstration of his rigidity and continuing policy, such that the people have no other option but to fight for their freedom.

Castro was clear and precise, and once again made our argument for us – those of us who do not subscribe to bland politics and approaches, like the naive idea that with moderation one can exhaust his repressive speeches and gestures regarding failed and useless strategies.

When one has no enemies, one invents them – the siege mentality is his strength, and whoever tries to take that away is taken out of circulation.  “He that is not with me is against me” – this is and will continue to be his ideology.

Sometimes I find it hard to see that any analyst who knows the macabre mind of the Castro regime would entertain the slightest hope that reforms and change would come with Raul, as if the dictator was not involved in the creation and support of this totalitarian monster, as if his younger brother did not share his fierce anti-democratic and dictatorial zeal.

The other part of his speech concerning warm openings in the economic sphere I believe is secondary, and to spotlight them with too much seriousness would make it easier for the regime to spread them.

It is true that Cuba needs the introduction of a market economy and economic liberation from the tight control the government monopoly exercises over people and property; anything else is more of the same and sleight of hand.

There, in the words of the dictator, are the answers and the results of those who urge restraint to avoid hurting the beast, and there also is clear affirmation of we who refuse not to continue calling things by their name, we who do not accept that a president who is not one governs by tyranny. We who refuse a reconciliation without justice first.

Translated by Alexander Gonzales

August 5, 2010

Bethlehem Hill / Antunez

In the early morning hours Idania Yanes called me. “Antúnez, there is going to be an eviction here in Santa Clara, in the Bethlehem Hill subdivision. Seven or eight families were given 48 hours to vacate their homes, or else the bulldozers will come and remove them. They just called us asking for support. I cannot allow this. We must go back them up.”

“And when is the deadline?” I immediately asked her.

“Tomorrow at noon. I’ve prepared the troops here to help these families.”

Very early the next day we arrived there – more than a dozen members of the Central Opposition Coalition. Bethlehem Hill is far removed from the city center, close to the ice plant and nearly adjacent to the National Highway, so an eviction there would be hard to hear in the city. Seven or eight houses, nearly all masonry, were to be demolished.

Upon seeing us, the families were visibly and touchingly hopeful. The number of children and pregnant women there broke our hearts. As soon as we arrived we explained to them what their legal rights were, and how they should defend them.

“We are here and we will be with you until the end. We are human-rights activists and our duty is to stand with the victims. Don’t let them provoke you. When they come to remove these houses we will get in front of the bulldozer and if there is repression we will remain peacefully in the front row, but we will not let you be homeless.”

Our words encouraged the neighbors, and the rumor that “the human-rights people have arrived,” had spread throughout the area, so even families that had not been threatened with eviction were there to see and hear us.

Thirty minutes later a Lada pulled up on the side of the highway; two more stopped on the other side further back, watching and taking photographs. Out stepped Major Oirizat, Commander of the State Security Confrontation Brigade for the province, along with the Head of the Provincial Housing Department who, by way of greeting the families, said:

“What’s going on here?”

We dissidents preferred not to speak at that moment, or at least not until we were addressed. We were not there to do politics, but in solidarity to solve a problem.

“Although yesterday you came to tell us we had 48 hours to leave or you would demolish our houses, we do not . . .”

“That was a mistake – nobody is going to be thrown out of here, so be calm. What I can assure you is that by your being here you will not get title to the property because this is illegal!” said the official.

Upon hearing that we breathed easier – the same person who hours before had publicly announced to these families: “You have 48 hours to collect your stuff and leave or I will come back with the bulldozer,” now said the opposite.

Oirizat looked at us hatefully. “And now we are leaving and we hope you will withdraw and not complicate things,” he said as he was leaving.

August 5, 2010

Young But Not Rebels / Miguel Iturría Savón

As August progresses, as if the summer sun and rain weren’t enough, the official press is punishing us with news that tests the boundaries of even the complete joke represented by the newspaper Granma, the Communist Party organ, and Juventud Rebelde — Rebel Youth — the newspaper for the younger generation, two sides of the totalitarian coin, accustomed to embellishing statistics, interviewing “leaders” and courtesans, pointing their magnifying glass at events in the United States and giving a pat on the back to allies like Iran and North Korea.

As each edition reiterates the twisted perception of the world versus the wonders that happen on this island, these media beat us over the head with the little story of Comandante-Saviour-of-the-World and the disasters in other latitudes that confirm his prophecies. To the worst leader in our nation’s history they dedicate poems, art works, celebrations for his 84th birthday and comments on the 896 page tome he wrote when he was seriously ill; it can’t be topped, right?

In this satirical operetta is inscribed the interview published by Mayte María Jiménez, on Saturday, August 14, in Juventud Rebelde, of Maydel Gómez Lago, 23 from Cienfuegos, who is a recent graduate in Pedagogy and the designated president of the FEU (Federation of University Students). If anyone would like to see Maydel’s teeth and to know “What Cuba dreams of in the future?”, I suggest you get the newspaper or ask Google the title “Creative and in love with life” (Creativos y enamorados de la vida).

As we know how they fabricate these puppets converted into leaders of this or that organization, I am not going to question this girl’s biography nor repeat the questions and answers. Maydel seems less intelligent than Carlos Lage and nicer than Felipe Pérez Roque, two men who ascended the ladder to the top tier of the Cuban government years ago from the little position now occupied by her. Lucky girl!

The girl spoke, of course, of the ideological political work and the academic plane, of being more creative to strengthen the Revolution, of giving continuity to the leadership of the FEU, which Julio A. Mella and José A. Echeverría gave their lives for, and bet on “an eternally socialist and revolutionary Cuba,” Come on! The same as always. Nothing about the autonomy of the university nor how to extract the FEU from the clutches of despotism.

On Tuesday, August 17 Juventud Rebelde provided one of its pages to another young official. His name is Jesús Lara Sotelo and he emerged by drawing Fidel Castro, to whom he dedicated his most recent work, “The Triumph of the Prophecy,” now exhibited at the Hotel Nacional, and displayed on August 13 at the Cuba Pavilion, where the celebration With Fidel and For Peace was held. We know through the journalist José Luis Estrada Betancourt, whose interview appeared on page 6 under the title of the picture.

Rather than a marionette, Lara Sotelo seems more like a pygmy with a brush in front of a colossal and ancient David. In his responses to the reporter, the new Painter of the Olive-Green Court could displace Alexis Leyva (“Kcho”), who encouraged him “through a mutual friend.” Thanks to the push (or the order, who knows?) from other celebrities of the eternal army, like Alex Castro, who presented him with photos of his father; Armando Hart, ex-minister of culture, and the pianist Frank Fernández, who blessed him with a homonymous work.

As a reward, the new portraitist of the tyranny left on a trip to the Basque Country, where he will exhibit his mural, “Haiti is another Guernica,” in the Make Bacon salon. The young palace decorator is clever and manipulative, right?

August 24, 2010

Summer / Regina Coyula

I’ve been around here less, but I’ve had the joy of being with new friends who bring messages from old friends and with friends I haven’t seen in some time.

The first was Carmen Agredano, from Córdoba, who doesn’t live in Córdoba but in Las Palmas, and who brought me an old card from my friend Manolo Díaz Martínez. Carmen came to give presentations in several cities on the (Cuban) isle and I had the pleasure of enjoying her spectacle on two occasions. Poets to whom Carmen lent her beautiful voice and emotional Flamenco interpretation, with arrangements and accompaniment from that luminary Reynier Mariño, so good with the Flamenco guitar that he literally dances at the home of the spinning top*. Seeing him play, you get the deceitful impression that such flourishes are simple. They completed the spectacle with a most versatile dancer, the actor Carlos Padrón, Cecilia reciting poems and two more musicians (box drum and bass), plus any that should show up casually. It was a group of friends having a good time, doing what they like to do, transmitting good vibes to the public who knew how to appreciate it.

And two days after saying goodbye to my friend Carmen, Marival and María came to see me from Logroño, Spain. Like the Wise Men, they came loaded with gifts and love from all the friends we have over there. For my friends from Logroño, I gave them a somewhat profound walk around Havana and here in our little garage, we spent the hours conversing.

Although they carry back to our friends all the impressions of having been with us, I am taking advantage of this opportunity to thank Alfonsa and Ane, to Doctor Germán, to Isabel and Colo, to Rafa Pérez Foncea, to the Mongoleles for that little magazine that I adore. To all those who sent books.

Many thanks for the friendships that have given me something similar to a vacation.

* Translator’s note: bailar en casa del trompo translates literally as “to dance at the home of the spinning top.” In colloquial English, the best translation would be “to best someone on their home turf”; but this is one of those literary uses that would be lost in translation … so artful that I just can’t cover it up.

Translated by: JT

August 18, 2010

Hair, And Sex / Regina Coyula

Until now, hiding my grey hair has been a matter of principle. I intend to die ridiculously blond even if I’m 100 years old. I’ll be like my aunt Tita, with her 96 years she keeps her hair mahogany and her lips red. You can see her in the photos on the Diario de viaje page on the tab in the header of this blog. The other day I was going around looking for hair dye, and my experience was disheartening. I went to various shops, two of which specialized in “cosmetics for the hair,” and I could have dyed my hair golden blond, copper blond, chestnut or red, but those highlights, the ones that soften my hair’s proclivity towards carrot, were nowhere to be found. I was equally fruitless in the search for an electric shaver for my son, with that trend these days among youth to shave more than beards and mustaches.

Discouraged, on my way back I stopped by my friend Sandra’s. I thought we’d take turns venting our frustrations, but she’d just returned from the Spanish embassy where they’d imposed new requirements for citizenship… of course, the hair dye and electric shaver thing hardly seemed serious. But it was Sandra herself who shook off pessimism and, with no explanation, gave me a case full of CDs with one sentence: “So you can relax.”

The case was large and full. So, when I had a moment, I sat down to pick through its contents. Sandra was right, because therein was Sex and The City, that monument to frivolity that settled me down better than a jar of prozac, and even made more bearable that incipient yet unmistakable grey line that expands in my hair. It ain’t always that deep.

Translated by: Yoyi el Monaguillo

August 25, 2010

Confusing Scene / Laritza Diversent

Note from the “blog manager”: Laritza contributes to two blogs which we consolidate into one on this English translation website. This post is very similar to the August 22 post, “The Scene is Indeed Confusing” — they are from the two different blogs — and we have decided to publish it here as well.

Before the formation of the current Council of State on February 25, 2008, Fidel Castro resigned his posts in that body. In a public address he explained that the state of his health no longer allowed him to hold “a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I was physically able to offer.”

In mid July of 2010, after several months of absence from the media, Fidel Castro resurfaced noticeably recuperated. The comments were quick to follow. Does he intend to reclaim his duties and return to power?

It’s speculated that he is attempting a “slap-on-the-hand coup” against Raúl Castro, after having relinquished the country’s leadership to him four years ago for health reasons. His younger brother respects him, too much for a man with the responsibilities of running a nation.

I also don’t doubt that Fidel Castro misses his position as thee number one on the island. But time doesn’t pass for the sake of passing. The current political scene doesn’t allow for reversal. Any action could be dangerous. A 20% voter abstention from the polls in the recent elections reaffirms that popular discontent is running out of control.

Someone asked me, if during this past extraordinary session, the National Assembly could have agreed to a new announcement calling for elections appointing the elder Castro as Head of State. From a legal standpoint, the idea seems ridiculous.

First, a compelling reason is lacking to justify a change in the country’s leadership. Second, if said reason should appear, it would reaffirm suspicions of a power struggle. However, in Cuba anything can happen.

It’s certain, that figure of the “compañero who reflects”* raises doubts as to who truly governs and decides in this country. However, his aged image and everything that implies — incoherence and mental lapses — show him as inept for leadership. The perception broadens. I don’t think the majority of the population would endorse his return, although I don’t doubt they would impose it either.

There is no doubt, the messiah sends us a sly little message: “Careful, I’m still in the game.” He’s trying to gain some space among the ambitious youth who wish to gain trust and positions in the highest spheres of power. But I suspect the interests of other characters hidden behind his figure.

Of course, his sudden appearance is related to the unprecedented dialogue that led to the release of the political prisoners of 2003’s “Black Spring”. The doubt arises as to whether the Cuban government will truly undertake measures to improve the human rights situation on the island, deserving a change in policy from the European Union and Washington. Incidentally, the reappearance of the ex-President questions Raúl’s capacity to make decisions and carry out essential changes within the system.

The struggles for power are unseen but they are felt. The internal performance of the repressive entities doesn’t always follow the same pattern. On one hand they repress — arbitrary detentions and intimidation of dissidents; on the other hand, they display a tolerance that begs the question: who’s giving orders? The scene is indeed confusing.

*Translator’s Note: “compañero who reflects,” is a reference to Fidel Castro’s regular column in the Cuban press, entitled “The Reflections of Compañero Fidel,” with the simple title of “compañero” — or comrade — intended to carry its own meaning.

Laritza Diversent

Translated by: Yoyi el Monaguillo

August 25, 2010

Activists from the Independent and Democratic Cuba Party Founded the Committee of Free Peasants / Katia Sonia

Members of the Independent and Democratic Cuba (CID) Party, founded the Committee of Free Peasants in the municipality of San Juan y Martinez of the Province Pinar del Rio at 2:00 pm, on the 20th day of August as an alternative method of fighting against the exploitation of the Cuban Peasant.

The Committee of Free Peasants (CCL) democratically elected Ronaldo Pupo Carralero, as President; who is supported by nine more members, all of which are landowners who in their opening statement ratified essential objectives of society:

  • Fight against the exploitation of the farmers by the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), with regards to what is paid for crops.
  • The coercion exercised by the Cuban government against the peasants, in collusion with ANAP and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)
  • The systematic violations of Human Rights in rural areas.

Ronaldo Pupo Carralero, is the neighbor of El Gacho, San Juan y Martinez, Pinar del Rio and he declared that he would not betray the confidence that the members placed in him to represent them and ended by thanking the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) in San Juan y Martínez for the presence of the CID support group.

Translated by: Antonio Trujillo

August 24, 2010

Prison Diary (3) (La Cabaña Prison) / Ángel Santiesteban

Photo: Alejandro Azcuy

AFTER THE MONTHS IN THE CELL you come to terms with the loneliness. Then things get better. You get used to knowing that a few steps from you there are other miserable beings who weep, pray and beg that their stay in this incredibly quiet place will end some time. Nothing is forever, however much it may seem so.

The best is when you feel like masturbating, stretching out the moment of orgasm, going over each image stored in your mind, time passes and it seems as if you’ve escaped from that place, leaving you with the feeling of having been, for a time, far beyond those four walls; in these moments you believe that in reality you possess your wife, that she screams from pleasure and desperation; unconsciously you smell under your armpits, strangely that smell of sweat reminds you of your wife, you pass your fingers between your buttocks and that also reminds you, you feel you are going to explode, and she holds you back, she goes back over your body with her tongue, afterward you lie down and do the same, from your neck down to your toes, then you return slowly, going back over those contours you have already licked, it is a ritual that requires all your concentration; you go back and stop yourself, wanting the time not to pass, you already know that after the orgasm it’s worse, that the semen makes you nauseated, depresses you and you want to scream at them to take you back to your house.

August 24, 2010

The Logic of the Predictions / Laritza Diversent

Two years ago, in a work I published about “the comrade who reflects,” I said:

“The elder Castro, in his reflections, goes back in time and rehashes the past, mainly the 60s and 70s, which suggests that ‘the providential man’ of the Cuban revolution, age 81, is showing symptoms of senile dementia.

“Easily recalling events of long ago as if reliving them is a manifestation of the disease, which attacks the elderly. The situation is being exploited to create a new history of the Leader, now from his personal point of view. Expect soon a literary work about this.”

On August 2, 2010, “former president” Fidel Castro released his book Strategic Victory, about the guerrilla fighting in the summer of 1958. The book, 896 pages long, chronicles the battle of the Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra to stop the offensive of the armed forces of Batista, according to the voice of the “leader and strategist” of these events, as described on Cuban television.

Laritza Diversent

Text of the cartoon:
Coño, that’s a nurse! It’s not a Lady in White!

Translated by: Tomás A.

August 24, 2010

Minister Places Citizen in Indefensible Position / Laritza Diversent

Minister of Finances and Prices

In July 2009, The Minister of Finances and Prices, a member of the Council of Ministers, ordered the confiscation of property obtained by Teófilo Roberto, the father of Antonio Roberto, during the period from 1998 to 2008. The action was taken under the authority of Decree-Law 149 (“Regarding the seizure of property and income resulting from unjust enrichment”) known as the law against profiteers (the new rich), and its regulations, Decree No. 187, both from 1994.

The minister claimed that the seized items “are not fruits of honest labor,” but the Cuban Civil Code defines unjust enrichment as the transfer of items of value from one estate to another, without a legitimate basis.

The process also affected Pompilio López Licor, age 61, and Teófila Elsa Ávila Gutiérrez, 60, Teófilo’s brother and his wife, who along with his son Antonio, were named in a ministerial order as third parties who benefited from the unjust enrichment.

The defendants appealed against the ministerial decision through the Recourse of Reform before the same minister, who declared it without merit, confirming his decision, in October 2009. On June 22nd they appealed again to the head of Finances and Prices, the start of a special review procedure.

But the appeals do not stay the execution of the penalty of confiscation. Decree-Law 149 placed those affected in a state of helplessness, preventing them from access to the courts to demand justice against an act of the government that is harmful, according to Article 9 of the Decree.

Pedraza Rodríguez asserts that the three houses, two cars, a motorcycle and various items, including appliances, were obtained and authenticated by Theophilus, and hidden through subterfuge, on behalf of his relatives, without specifying which acts were illegal.

But he did not initiate legal action against the state officials who acted to legalize the goods and property of those affected. In particular the Arroyo Naranjo municipal housing management officials, responsible for implementing the Ministerial Regulation concerning real estate. On July 22, the state agency notified Antonio that he would be evicted within 72 hours.

The confiscation process was initiated and submitted to the Minister by Brigadier General Juan Escalona Reguera, subsequently released from his position as Attorney General of the Republic by the State Council, who may be linked to a corruption scandal involving foreign companies.

The assets seized from the Lopez family amounted to 2,347,834.24 Cuban pesos. The amount was certified by experts who did not specify, as is required by law, what their evaluaiton consisted of, or what the parameters of the process were, or what factors they took into account to estimate that figure.

Teófilo, Antonio’s father, is self-employed as a “producer-vendor of food and nonalcoholic beverages in a fixed point of sale,” according to the rules for the activity numbered 646. In his defense he claimed that he received income from his self-employment amounting to 521,000 pesos. But the minister countered that Theophilus hired labor.

The criminal law regards the use of non-family labor in otherwise authorized activities as illegal. But the ministerial decision issued by the head of Finances and Price did not refer to any criminal penalty imposed on the father of Antonio.

Teófilo receives remittances from the United States from six brothers and a son who live in that country. From January 2007 to December 2008, the National Bank of Cuba established that the relatives of the accused deposited remittances for him of 12,000 convertible pesos (CUC), equivalent to 300,000 Cuban pesos (CUP). The bank report was dismissed by Minister Pedraza Rodriguez, because it did not show that Theophilus had actually received the money.

Article 60 of the Constitution of the Republic states that “the confiscation of property shall be used as a punishment by the authorities only in the cases and procedures determined by law.” The Penal Code, regulates it as a specific penalty and accessory of a crime.

The Constitution, The Law of Criminal Procedure, and the Ordinance of the People’s Courts, guarantee that “No one can be tried or sentenced except by a competent court under the laws in effect prior to the crime and with the formalities and guarantees that they provide.”

In this case, the Decree-Law 149 is unconstitutional and illegal because it provides that the penalty of confiscation be implemented by an administrative authority, as an exemplary measure against those who obtained an illegitimate legacy as a result of theft, speculation, diversion of resources from state agencies, involvement in shady deals, black market activities and other forms of enrichment.

In the same provision of law, the behaviors are classified as “criminal activities” that damage the national economy and social stability. But the prosecutor, who is responsible for bringing criminal actions on behalf of the state, decided to encourage an administrative proceeding before initiating a criminal complaint.

In a fair criminal trial, Theophilus’s relatives would never have had to answer for the acts of others. The responsibility is individual. Moreover, the Penal Code, in force since 1987, provides that “the confiscation of property does not include . . . goods or items that are essential to meet the vital needs of the sanctioned or the relatives of his household.” Thus, housing cannot be seized.

The preferred implementation of Decree-Law 149 is the result of the subordination of the Attorney General’s Office to the State Council. This means that it must first comply with political instructions before it controls and preserves “socialist legality” and ensure strict compliance of laws

The existence of this rule in the Cuban legal system far from protecting the general welfare, destroys the trust and security that any legal system must provide. Its application violates the guarantees afforded to criminal defendants and renders citizens defenseless against the excesses of the government.

Lina Olinda Pedraza Rodríguez was appointed by the government as Minister of Finance and Prices, but is not qualified to administer justice. The powers conferred by Decree Law 149/94 are unconstitutional, and therefore arbitrary.

Since July 22nd, Antonio López Ávila and his family members have lived with the apprehension that at any moment police officers will forcibly evict them and destroy their home.

Laritza Diversent

Photo: Minister Pedraza Rodriguez is also a member of the Communist Party Central Committee, and Deputy for the Province of Villa Clara.

Translated by: Tomás A.

August 11, 2010

FRIGHTLESS / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

(this time without visuals)

PENULTIMATE FEARS
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Fear was a literary attribute from George Orwell (there is no fear in Kafka, only suspicion) until the Cold War pushed and pushed to overthrow the totalitarian Iron Curtain.

In the calcified Cuba of today, among the digital copies of the film 2012 in every pirated video collection, a blow to feudal cellphones and internet, with the trumpet blasts of Fidel Castro certifying that only a nuclear holocaust would be a glorious finish for his Revolution, paradoxically, fear has ceased to be a genetic defect. Virgilio Piñerahas suddenly aged as an author, since he established his panic before his own Premier at the beginning of Utopia: I only know that I am afraid, very afraid…

But the Cuban fear today is hardly an oedipal justification. Pure paternalism behind a mask as comfortable as it is inertial. This, our features are more recognizable under the disguise: we are more authentic the more we are in character.

Fear is, also, a wildcard because the Cuban exile does not incite us, in Cuba, to go a step further. To blackmail them to they’ll respect our shameless bullshit. In fact, fear is a magic mirror to blame them a little bit for their condition as the Cuban exile, for abandoning us in the unsupported arena of the absolutely obsolete State.

What our nation is now living in could be the true Little Icecube War, a theatrical conflict whose script requires very little correction by the CIA and the G-2, because it is a perfect ruse. A great plot: a trap, this time, genetic. Cuban hypocrisy as a survival instinct recruits more agents than all the intelligence agencies. To abandon this mattress of marvelous lies is, at least, an irresponsible act of madness. The maxim of Saint Solzhenitsyn, back-stitched into the Declaration of Inhuman Rights, today would read in Cuba as: no one should be condemned to live in the truth…

In Cuba, only the foreigners still suffer from fear (perhaps the dead also suffer the myth): it is a reflection of their poor Eastern-European readings and Capitalist-Phobia of being left unemployed and losing a certain status. In questions of paranoia, culture advises: ignorance saves. In particular, left-wing foreigners are particularly terrified to contact dissidents in Havana: most notably the academic Yankee who, without the Cuban Revolution, as well the intuited Ernesto Ché Guevara, would have to kill themselves at the loss of their PhD scholarship.

Still less do the powers-that-be fear. Many are unaware that technically they are in power. They organize their more or less repressive roles and go on vacation until the disturbances of this or that summer pass (enough with the cops at the time of the billy-clubs). The nomenklatura ahistorically inhabits a kind of child labor that at times becomes heart attack labor. As an old class, they are the rearguard of the proletariat. Their fatigue is comparable to the fallen angels among the signers who never sign the next resolution.

Cubans simply don’t want to participate too much. They don’t want to be involved at all. The protagonist is branded a pathetic poseur. It’s the cunning art of the post-political. Perhaps a plot of zero calling. No one calculates what is cooking clandestinely here. Switzerland and Haiti, all already seething but without any racket.

For now, in the absence of constitutional democratic tics, such as a free press and other luxuries that the exile exhibits in the rest of the world, I guess we at least have the right to plagiarize Epicurus: to live in secret, very much in secret…

August 20, 2010

The Scene is Indeed Confusing / Laritza Diversent

Fidel Castro in Parliament, for the first time in four years

Before the formation of the current Council of State on February 25, 2008, Fidel Castro resigned his posts in that body. In a public address he explained that the state of his health no longer allowed him to hold “a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I was physically able to offer.”

On July 7, 2010, after several months of absence from the media, Fidel Castro resurfaced noticeably recuperated.

The comments were quick to follow: “Does he intend to reclaim his duties and return to power?” On the streets, people speculated that he was attempting a “slap-on-the-hand coup” against Raúl Castro, after he had relinquished the country’s leadership to him on July 31, 2006 for health reasons.

Apparently, his younger brother highly respects him, especially since he is, at the moment, the man who has the responsibility to lead the nation.

It’s possible that Fidel Castro misses his position as number one. But time does not pass for the sake of passing and the current political scene does not allow reversal, rendering any action risky.

The latest elections for candidates to the National Assembly of People’s Power revealed a 20 percent voter abstention, an officially recognized figure and unimaginable in past elections. This is evidence that popular discontent is now escaping control by the State.

Someone asked me if during the 7 August extraordinary session of the National Assembly another announcement calling for elections could have been agreed to, newly appointing Fidel Castro as Head of State.

The idea, from a legal point of view, seems ridiculous. First, a strong reason would be necessary to justify a change in the country’s leadership. Second, if said reason were found, that announcement would expose an internal power struggle. However, in Cuba anything can happen.

It’s certain that the shadow of the “compañero who reflects,”* generates doubts as to who truly governs and decides in this country. However, his aged image, incoherence and mental gaps show him as inept for leadership. The perception is general and I don’t think the majority of the population would endorse his return, although I don’t doubt it could be imposed.

The “messiah” sends us a sly little message: “Careful, I’m still in the game.” He’s trying to gain some space among the ambitious youth who wish to gain trust and positions in the highest spheres of power.

I suspect that behind his figure the interests of other characters are hidden and that his sudden appearance is related to the unprecedented dialogue with the Church and the release of 52 political prisoners from the Black Spring of 2003.

The doubt arises as to whether the government will truly undertake measures to improve the human rights situation on the island, that would merit a change in policy from the European Union and Washington. Incidentally, the reappearance of the ex-leader puts Raúl’s authority and capacity to make decisions and undertake changes within the system in doubt.

The struggles for power are unseen, but they are felt. The internal performance of the repressive entities is erratic. On the one hand they repress, with intimidation and arbitrary detentions of the opposition and independent journalists; and on the other hand, on occasion they display a tolerance that begs the question: who’s giving orders? The Cuban political scene is indeed confusing.

Laritza Diversent

Photo: AFP

*Translator’s Note: “compañero who reflects,” is a reference to Fidel Castro’s regular columns in the newspaper, entitled “The Reflections of compañero Fidel,” with the simple title of “compañero” — or “comrade” — intended to carry its own message.

Translated by: Yoyi el Monaguillo

August 22, 2010

Of Flesh and Laws / Henry Constantín

I took a look around that place, because they had already told me about its crowd.  And I saw them.  One of them could not have been more than fifteen years old.  The others, who were not more than 25, gave off subtle signals, between smiles, of having lived much more.  Except for the youngest they all had tattoos, Bucanero beers in their hands and cigarettes.  They looked at the arriving modern cars with ecstasy.  Before dawn, they gradually settled next to the newly arriving, robust gentlemen who would immediately ask for hollywood cigarettes and more beer, or for the chauffeur of one of the three parked cars.  The youngest and a girlfriend got into an Audi with tourist plates heading for Las Tunas.

It’s not pleasant to go to Guáimaro, the town with the most history in the Camagüey region, since the private buses that operate on the route from Camagüey take much more than an hour to arrive, and if one leaves from Las Tunas it’s almost the same.

I always passed through there in a hurry, headed somewhere else.  And that is what this town has always been, a place for passing through. Guáimaro is almost at the border that divides two very discordant regions, culturally and economically: Camagüey and Oriente (the East).

Guáimaro is well-known for the abundant livestock that has always roamed its plains. Although in the newspaper Adelante, the official voice of the Party in the province of Camagüey, it is prohibited to publish how much livestock there was in Camagüey prior to the Revolution, everyone knows that today only a shadow remains.  The milk, the meat and the cheese that comes out of here keeps a good part of the country alive.

What I related in the beginning, I saw on a Sunday, in the rápido that’s in front of the town’s terminal.  A rápido, anywhere in Cuba, is a type of cafeteria that is open 24 hours and is outdoors, with little tables covered by an awning and of course, alcoholic beverages sold in divisas (foreign currency); in other words, it’s not a place for the normal Cuban.  Later, I was told about the long, useless list that the authorities have compiled to track and monitor the teenagers who frequent the place.

The Guáimaro museum also opens at night. It is close to the road. It is the only house in Cuba where two constitutions have been signed, possibly the two most democratic. There were no more visitors. A few pieces of furniture, and graphics with brief information is all the visual tribute to the men who tried to turn a fertile farm into a country with civil liberties.  The cold that comes off the huge house is incapable of reviving the bitter sessions of 1869 and the jubilation of 1940.

Late at night I returned to the terminal, to wait for some type of transportation.  Meanwhile, the couples who had already been formed at el rapido began to slip apart.  Sleepy, I managed to get out of there aboard a truck at three in the morning.

Translated by: Antonio Trujillo

August 19, 2010

Don’t Answer / Yoani Sánchez

My cellphone rings but I don’t answer. I wait for the ringing to stop and go to a nearby phone to call the number shown on the screen. I’ve warned my friends that I’ll let a call go and call them back later, but some insist, forgetting about the high cost of a minute of conversation on the cell network. I have a code with them: two rings if it’s urgent and three if it’s about something that can wait. When I’m in the street and the device I carry in my purse vibrates, I look for a public phone that takes coins and doesn’t have the handset ripped off.

Although the telecommunications company ETESCA reported that the number of cell phone users will soon surpass one million, we remain handicapped with regards to this technology. To receive a domestic call is madness, configuring the texting can take hours of fighting with the operators, and finding a place that sells recharge cards is like the movie Mission Impossible. Like a teenager whose growing feet no longer fit in his shoes, our cellphone system has increased the number of subscribers but without the corresponding improvement in infrastructure. Well, the growth doesn’t follow an integrated development of the system, but is led by the desire to collect — at all costs — those colored convertible notes that simulate the dollar.

Despite recent reductions in the high rates, even a doctor can’t afford cellphone service, but the political police enjoy subsidized rates which they can pay in national currency. Nor is it possible to open an account and pay at the end of the month, we have to pay in advance to be able to communicate. Many of us feel defrauded by ETESCA, but the State monopoly doesn’t allow other competitors to offer us better and cheaper service. Meanwhile a solution appears, thousands of users work out a strange Morse code with cellphones: One ring, two, three… Don’t answer on the other end! Just run to the nearest phone.

August 24, 2010

My Donkey, My Donkey… / Miriam Celaya


May the influenza not win over us!
THE SOLUTION IS IN YOUR HANDS
A message from the Cuban Public Health at the service…
Photo: Orlando Luis

When I was young, there was a very popular children’s song that made reference to a sick donkey whose ills always had a solution. “My donkey, my donkey, has a headache: A doctor sends him a black cap…” we children sang in chorus, and the little tune went on, letting out in its stanzas each discomfort of the quadruped, until he would end up completely cured. I never thought I’d see the day when I would, sincerely and categorically, envy that donkey because, in spite of the difficult conditions that the Cuban reality imposes for our survival, everything is more or less “tolerable” until you find yourself forced to see a doctor. It is there that the true agony starts.

Recently, my mother had to go to the clinic (family doctor) because of her persistent discomfort in the throat. There, after waiting for her de rigueur turn, a physician as ancient as she, or older, prescribed an exudation –to be performed at the Emergency Hospital- to test for possible bacteria. As a precaution, the doctor prescribed Tetracycline tablets to her “to be taken after the exudation.” It is clear that the doctor knows the reality of the Cuban health system. The exudation could not be done because “there is no technician” at the hospital’s laboratory, nor do they know when there will be one, “go see if they want to perform it at the Hospital Calixto Garcia.” They did not want to, or they were not able to. Resigned, and without a diagnosis, my mother completed her “treatment” by taking her antibiotics: she was sick to her stomach and for several days, she still presented with discomfort in the throat. (My donkey, my donkey, has a sore throat; the doctor has put on him a white tie.)

But hers is just a minor case. When you go to a doctor’s office here, you discover horrifying cases. A lady I personally know went to a certain hospital with numbness in one arm and general malaise, including a headache, and, just like that, she was diagnosed with a stroke. Very alarmed, her family then went to another hospital, this time through a doctor friend of theirs, who was a friend of another doctor who had clout, etc. It was only then that, after rigorous tests, they arrived at the correct diagnosis: the old woman was incubating a virus, her immune system was compromised and –besides that- was rejecting the antihistamines she had been prescribed to treat her allergies, hence the numbness of the limbs. She improved within a few days.

I recently heard of an extreme case about a man, also very old, in the terminal phase of lung cancer who was not being given oxygen “as to not to create dependency.” He died within a few days, which was inevitable, only that he was in terrible agony. I’m not allowed to cite this source either, but it is a real life case from my own municipality (Centro Habana). This very humble old man and his family didn’t have any “godfather” to go to. I could write whole pages with enough examples of this sort to crash this website.

I know that many readers might also give examples of irresponsibility, poor attention, lack of resources and missed diagnoses that take place everywhere in the world, but here, they are becoming commonplace, and we don’t have the opportunity to make the slightest claim or to opt for “another service” because of the “egalitarian” and centralized character of the system. The truth is that, in Cuba, one can no longer be assured of receiving good medical care -except for few and honorable exceptions- if not with the corresponding “recommendation.” Almost always, if one sees a doctor through established channels, the doctors’ hands are tied and they cannot perform tests that are required for an exact diagnosis; in other instances they are able to diagnose, but it is possible that the medication needed is not found at the drug stores, or it is dispensed only in CUC, at prohibitive prices for the commonplace Cuban pocket. Because of so much confusion, many prefer not to see a doctor uselessly and try to “make do” with concoctions of traditional medicine and with prayers that aren’t always sufficiently effective, as may be understood. Such are our very expensive freebies.

In today’s Cuba, the total deterioration of the system rages most scandalously in hospitals, polyclinics, clinics and pharmacies. Added to the already inadequate resources -always attributed to the ubiquitous “embargo”- and the eternal lack of medications in national currency pharmacies, is the shortage of medical personnel or the questionable ability of some of those not yet “in mission” or “collaborators” (which is not the same) in some Venezuelan neighborhood, in any remote jungle, or in a lost valley in the Andes. The TV news and the official press abound with examples of the medical miracles Cubans manage through other lands. Apparently, when it comes to Cubans, any place is good to practice medicine and to find solutions to illness… Any place, except Cuba. (My donkey, my donkey, nothing ails my donkey. The doctor prescribes apple syrup. You don’t say! Apple?! Ha, ha!)

Translator: Norma Whiting

August 20, 2010