More than 50 dissidents and activists were arrested on December 10 in Cuba by the combined forces of the National Police and State Security for attempting to mark the International Day of Human Rights, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation led by Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz. The Universal Declaration of Human … Continue reading “Cuba: More than 50 Opponents Arrested on Human Rights Day / Iván García”
Procedural law governs, albeit sketchily, its own process. In concept, the governing body must substantiate, by its own judicial decision, before the clerk of the court, the reasons for its decision. Then the judicial officer signs and issues the respective warrant. The process should ensure that citizens are not unnecessarily disturbed. Under Article 91 of … Continue reading “Legal Process to Officially Cite a Citizen / Laritza Diversent”
The elimination of civil society within Cuba — solid base of totalitarianism and source of immobility — was accompanied by a foreign policy based on confrontation. The dispute with the United States, the rejection of re-entry into the OAS conditioned on the acceptance of the 2001 Inter-American Democratic Charter, which requires respect for human rights … Continue reading “Cuba: Toward a New Political Scenario / Dimas Castellanos”
During the time in which I lived in Madrid, a friend of mine from the Island came to visit. Unable to resist his curiosity, he immediately began to pry into my bookshelves (a habit I have to confess, I do not like). When he came across a shelf lined with cassettes, he smirked and in … Continue reading “Censorship: Are You There? (1) / Carlos Espinosa / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
One Anyone seeing all six-feet-eight of him go by, looking like a basketball forward, would never guess his true profession and what he cares about. Unless he puts on, obviously, the huge white coat he wears which marks him as a saver of lives. His name: Fernando Mederos. For a long time he’s been the … Continue reading “Who Said All Is Lost? / Ernesto Morales Licea”
There are many who say that Ministry of Interior agents do not need judicial authorization to officially summon a citizen. However, the Criminal Procedure Act, approved by the Cuban Parliament in 1977, requires that such diligence is done “through a summons issued by the Secretary,” a court official. The official citation is intended to clarify … Continue reading “Cuban Laws Favor State Arbitrariness / Laritza Diversent”
One of the merits which I believe can be attributed to the government of Raul Castro, since he took office on the island in 2008, is his obvious concern for the national economic condition. Being conservative, I believe that in just two years the Army General has publicly shown far more interest and willingness to … Continue reading “In Dante’s Ninth Circle / Ernesto Morales Licea”
If someone were to ask me, what is the principal weakness, the most glaring problem suffered by Cuban journalism today, I believe I could summarize it without hesitation: It doesn’t resemble Cubans. It doesn’t resemble anyone. Neither the audience to whom it is addressed, which recognizes less and less these triumphalist news items they read … Continue reading “Orphaned From Journalism (Part 2, Almost Final) / Ernesto Morales Licea”
THE CONSULTATION HONOR TO HIM WHO DESERVES IT Wilfredo Vallín Almeida, 27 September 2010, La Víbora, Havana Since launching this section, The Consultation in the Digital Spring, we have received a great number of communications in different ways. Many of them from people with different types of problems: from a housing issue to police harassment, … Continue reading “HONOR TO HIM WHO DESERVES IT / Yamil Domínguez”
I still haven’t gotten over my amazement upon hearing, on the short-wave radio, of course, the unbelievable declarations that would be made by the Guru of my little planet to a North American journalist: “The Cuban model can’t be exported, because it hasn’t worked even in Cuba.” Of course, whoever doesn’t have a short-wave radio here, has neither … Continue reading “Brain Drains? / Rebeca Monzo”
The dialogue between the government of General Raúl Castro and the top hierarchy of the Catholic Church continues to generate discussions between different opposition groups and the independent civil society sectors. It was expected that half a century of stagnation would bring, as its first consequence, the creaking of rusty hinges when trying to turn … Continue reading “The Cuban Catholic Church and the Opposition: An Unnecessary Conflict / Miriam Celaya”
The Limits of Immobility By Dimas Castellanos The multiple factors that made possible the paralysis of our history in recent decades, while interacting on a different stage, have placed the limits of immobility on the daily agenda. The attempts to convert citizens by the masses, to ignore the vital function of rights and liberties, and to … Continue reading “Essay from Voices 1 by Dimas Castellanos / Posted in: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Yoani Sánchez, born in Havana, 1975. I studied for two terms at the Pedagogical Institute, majoring in Spanish Literature. In 1995, I moved to the Faculty of Arts of Letters, and after five years finished a degree in Hispanic Philology. I majored in contemporary Latin American Literature, presenting an incendiary thesis entitled, “Words Under Pressure: … Continue reading “Yoani Sánchez”
The article by Juan Varela Pérez, faulting the control and dedication in the sugar harvest, published in the daily Granma on May 5, 2010, is evidence that the critical condition of Cuban sugar production reflects the situation of agricultural production and the of the economy in general. Among other things Varela said that “the current … Continue reading “Sugar, Half a Century of Failures”
Sandy Olivera is a young Cuban who, two years ago, emigrated as a political refugee to the United States. His girlfriend remained on this side of the sea. A week ago, he returned to Cuba to marry her. The formalization of the marriage took place in the Specialized Notary at 23rd and J, in Vedado, … Continue reading “The Foreignization of Cubans”
