Search results for: Committee for the Defense of the Revolution

‘The Visionary’: A Tank Dedicated To Fidel Castro / 14ymdio, Juan Carlos Fernandez

14ymedio, Juan Carlos Fernandez, Pinar del Rio, 1 December 2015 – Pedestrians walking along Martí Street in the capital of Pinar del Rio were astonished last Wednesday on seeing a crane moving a tank. A work by the artist Humberto El Negro Hernandez, in collaboration with Arquimedes Lores Nelo, weighs several tons and has been … Continue reading “‘The Visionary’: A Tank Dedicated To Fidel Castro / 14ymdio, Juan Carlos Fernandez”

Impromptu Meeting Between Raul Castro and International Red Cross / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 25 November 2015 – An impromptu meeting this Wednesday between Cuban President Raul Castro and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, suggests that the issue of the almost 3,000 Cuban migrants stuck in Costa Rica is one of the objectives of Maurer’s visit, the first at … Continue reading “Impromptu Meeting Between Raul Castro and International Red Cross / 14ymedio”

Teenage Gangs Assault And Rob Residents Of Havana Neighborhoods / Diario de Cuba, Jorge Enrique Rodriguez

Diario de Cuba, Jorge Enrique Rodriguez, Havana, 24 November 2015 — Two teenage gangs disturb the public peace on the streets of the Havana municipality of Cerro, while the police remain passive. Known as Los Apululus and Los Atormentados, both gangs engage in physical aggression against the elderly, assault and robbery on public streets. The … Continue reading “Teenage Gangs Assault And Rob Residents Of Havana Neighborhoods / Diario de Cuba, Jorge Enrique Rodriguez”

Were The Firecrackers That Brought the CDRs to Life Spontaneous? / Diario de Cuba, Orland Freire Santana

Diario de Cuba, Orlando Freire Santana, Havana, 28 September 2015 – Recently a group of friends were talking about the way the Cuban government leaders, during those first years of Fidel Castro’s Revolution, were maneuvering until achieving the establishment of a Marxist-Leninist-type totalitarian system. At one point in the conversation, one of the participants threw … Continue reading “Were The Firecrackers That Brought the CDRs to Life Spontaneous? / Diario de Cuba, Orland Freire Santana”

The CDR: Social Control Begins in the Neighborhood or the Village

Iván García, 29 September 2015 — When the bearded guerrilla Fidel Castro on the night of 28 September 1960 founded a system of collective surveillance in every neighborhood, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), civil society in Cuba was annulled until further notice. Not even Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Germany, with its full … Continue reading “The CDR: Social Control Begins in the Neighborhood or the Village”

Soup Under the Eclipse / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 28 September 2015 — On the night of a red moon eclipse, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) celebrated the 55th anniversary of the founding of their organization. Updated reports state that more than 8,500,000 people (91% of the population over age 14) are enrolled in the CDRs, … Continue reading “Soup Under the Eclipse / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”

The CDRs and Cuban Reconciliation / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 22 September 2015 – In these days of the Pope when a great deal has been said about reconciliation between Cubans, meetings have been held to prepare the 28 September celebration of the 55th anniversary of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). Great effort has been put into the … Continue reading “The CDRs and Cuban Reconciliation / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”

The Language in the Struggle for Democratization / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos

14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 1 September 2015 — If for you revolution is taking up arms on a hill and facing the bullets of power, for one of your interlocutors it is an act in which the masses take to the streets to change one government and impose another and for a third participating, it … Continue reading “The Language in the Struggle for Democratization / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”

Diplomatic Relations between the United States and Cuba / Anddy Sierra Alvarez

Anddy Sierra Alvarez, 24 August 2015 –The Obama administration apparently betrayed the deep grief of many Cubans who have suffered the “welcoming” hospitality of the Cuban government. Everything points to economic interests, but as of now US government officials may enter Cuba. What will happen? Cuba opened the doors of its prison and in the future it … Continue reading “Diplomatic Relations between the United States and Cuba / Anddy Sierra Alvarez”

Cuban Youth Expect Nothing From 10th Congress Of Communist Youth / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 8 July 2015 – The extensive preparation for the Tenth Congress of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), to be held in Havana from 17 to 19 July, displays the same old contradictions that hinder this type of event. It is a formula that is repeated, be it a conclave of peasants, artists, … Continue reading “Cuban Youth Expect Nothing From 10th Congress Of Communist Youth / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”

Camagüey’s San Juan Festival, Somewhere Between Fun and Indecency / 14ymedio, Henry Constantin

14ymedio, Henry Constantín,Camagüey, 28 June 2015 — Saint John the Baptist, or San Juan in Spanish, was a man who used river water to baptize those who wanted to purify themselves, yet he ended up decapitated for criticizing Galilee’s corrupt rulers. Ironically, now almost two thousand years later, San Juan’s feast day is celebrated in … Continue reading “Camagüey’s San Juan Festival, Somewhere Between Fun and Indecency / 14ymedio, Henry Constantin”

To the Righteous (?!) Women from UNEAC*, When is Your Statement Expected’

Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, 3 June 2015 — There is not a single day of my existence in prison in which I don’t feel embarrassed for those women who, at the beginning of 2013, once I was jailed, made a supposed appeal against gender violence, when in fact it was later shown — by the silence they maintained … Continue reading “To the Righteous (?!) Women from UNEAC*, When is Your Statement Expected’”

Drug Consumption in Cuba…”Benefits” of Globalization? / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya

14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 29 June 2015 — Juventud Rebelde’s extensive report (Alas Trágicas para Volar (I) [Tragic Flying Wings I], of Sunday, June 28th addresses the controversial issue of drug use among adolescents and young Cubans. Putting aside that the presence and alarming spread of this scourge in the Island’s population has been previously … Continue reading “Drug Consumption in Cuba…”Benefits” of Globalization? / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”

Professionals of ‘Snitching’ / Cubanet, Camilo Ernesto Olivera

Cubanet.org, Camilo Ernesto Olivera Peidro, 18 June 2015 – An old man is going out of his house in the little village named Henequen Viejo, near the Port of Mariel. Everyone there knows him as Alfonso. In reality, his name is Idelfonso Estevez. At first glance he seems like an old man like so many … Continue reading “Professionals of ‘Snitching’ / Cubanet, Camilo Ernesto Olivera”

Computerization The Old-Fashioned Way / Dimas Castellanos

The Information Society (IS) is an effect of a process of convergence among technological advances, the democratization of information, and communications, which erupted in the 1980s with such force that it caused the United Nations to call a world summit on information, which took place in the Swiss city of Geneva in 2003. At this … Continue reading “Computerization The Old-Fashioned Way / Dimas Castellanos”