Elections and Citizen Sovereignty / Dimas Castellano

In his book The Social Contract–one of the most influential works of political theory of the 18th century–the French writer, Jean Jacques Rousseau, proposed the following theory: The union of persons to protect their well-being emanates from a general will that transforms the parties to the contract into a collective political body. The exercise of this will confers power, which is referred to as sovereignty, and the party exercising it–the people–is sovereign. Based on this contract, the people choose officials to carry out the general will and temporarily invest them with a mandate to propose and effect laws, and to preserve citizens’ liberties.

From this work of philosophy and political theory it is possible to infer the vital importance of civil, political and economic rights constitutionally ratified through popular participation, including the ability to retract the mandate granted to these officials. It is this sovereign power that grants the parties to the contract the status of citizens.

Elections, like referendums, are two manifestations of popular sovereignty. Through them the sovereign chooses, from among nominated candidates, officials to hold public office and temporarily invests them with authority over certain areas and distinct functions. Through referendums the sovereign participates in decision making on different matters of common interest such as the approval or rejection of laws before they are promulgated. Both tools, although not comprehensive, make up an important and decisive aspect of popular sovereignty.

In Cuba the constitution of 1940 widened the rights and freedoms envisioned in the 1901 constitution. It ratified the division of powers, confirmed the sovereignty of the Cuban people from which the Assembly of People’s Power is derived, extended universal suffrage to women, and in article 40 provided adequate safeguards for the protection of individual rights which had previously been guaranteed. These legal precepts–guarantees of sovereignty held by citizens–provided the basis for the democratic electoral processes which took place between 1940 and 1948, and the civil and military resistance that led to the 1952 government overthrow.

Fidel Castro acknowledged the freedoms outlined in the 1940 constitution during his trial for the assault on the Moncada Barracks when he said, “I will tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a republic. It had its constitution, its laws, its freedoms. A President, Congress and its courts. Everyone could assemble, associate, speak and write with complete freedom. The government did not satisfy the people, but the people could change it, and it only took a few days to do so. Public opinion was respected and accepted, and all the problems of common interest were freely discussed. There were political parties, doctrinal hours on the radio, polemical programs on television, public demonstrations, and the public pulsed with enthusiasm.” He explained that, for these reasons, the first of the five laws to be proclaimed after the triumph of the revolution would return sovereignty to the people and proclaim the constitution of 1940 the supreme law of the land. This made clear that the revolutionary movement, as the temporary incarnation of this sovereignty, assumed all commensurate authority except the authority to modify the constitution itself.

On January 8, 1959, after assuming power, the revolutionary leader made assurances that elections would be held as soon as possible, which presumably implied the restoration of the constitution of 1940. Nevertheless, on February 7 of that year the Magna Carta was replaced with the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Cuba, violating one of the essential attributes of popular sovereignty–the ability to reform the supreme and fundamental law of the nation. Under provisions of the Fundamental Law, which was in effect until the passage of the constitution of 1970, the Council of Ministers assumed all legislative functions, thereby concentrating power and facilitating the turn towards totalitarianism.

Currently Cuban elections are governed by the Fundamental Law, promulgated in 1992, which stipulates that Cubans sixteen years or older can–through free, equal and secret balloting–elect or be elected to various positions in the assemblies of People’s Power, to the offices of President, Vice-President, and Secretary of these assemblies, and to the Council of State.

Under the Electoral Law the direct vote is limited to the election of delegates to municipal assemblies since the candidates for provincial assemblies and for the National Assembly of People’s Power, as well as for the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary and the other members of the Council of State are chosen by the Commission on Candidates. This body is in turn made up of the Center of Cuban Workers, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women, the National Association of Small Farmers, the University Students’ Association and the Federation of Middle Education Students, all of which are members of the only political party permitted under the current constitution. As a result, in elections for provincial or national office, the candidates coming from municipal assemblies–those elected by direct vote–cannot exceed more than 50% of the total number of candidates. The other 50% are nominated directly by the above-mentioned commissions, which include individuals who have not been elected by direct popular vote, rendering popular sovereignty useless.

The constitution of 1976, revised in 1992 and 2002, ignores the rights and freedoms guaranteed under previous constitutions, while the Electoral Law now in force limits direct popular vote to municipal elections. This explains why in today’s Cuba there are Cubans but no citizens, as exemplified by the lack of interest in certain elections held in order to legitimize the status quo, but useless in bringing about changes that society demands.

Unequivocal proof of this lack of national interest is that these days Cubans talk about and discuss the elections in Venezuela or the United States, but no one except the news media talks about elections in Cuba. All this is an indication of the necessity to include, among other changes, a radical reform of the current electoral system so that popular sovereignty occupies the position it deserves.

Published in Diario de Cuba

October 29 2012

Knocking Down the Iron / Lilianne Ruiz

In his time, Marti wrote “arms are iron.” It is the iron I perceived confronting the agents of Section 21 — State Security — posted in the doorway of Lilia and Jose Alberto’s building at J and Calzada, this Thursday, November 1.

It has been a long time that the iron in Cuba, the iron to kill and the iron bars, the iron of the tribunals and the iron of repression, has belonged to the same people who flaunt authority; the only authority of iron.

It is not the iron Marti spoke of.

My plan this Thursday was to go by the home of Lilia and Jose Alberto with the intention of collecting the story of the raid they have suffered, very similar to that of Silva that I related in my last post.

Counting on a bowl of soup that would be my lunch, because for more than a week now Lilia and Jose Alberto have opened their house (which normally is a welcoming place to have a conversation while one awaits any kind of paperwork or service at the USIS) to offer those who come a bowl of soup, in a city where for a lot of reasons, from hygiene to economic issues, snacking or having lunch in the street isn’t recommended for the ordinary Cuban.

We’ve given it the name “Dissident Soup” and the way the cost of making the soup is dealt with is through the efforts and goodwill of many friends.

As I approached I was surprised to see opaque figures in the doorway: three men and two women personifying the iron talked about, stationed there to block the coming and going — State Security Agents.

I have the impression that it is essential not to fall into the trap of “familiarity” between hostages and kidnappers, however much the faces and names of our pursuers are already known. We must convey to those State Security agents, by all possible communication channels, from the attitude to the verb, that we are not equals, nor do we operate at the same level, there is no bond nor familiarity, because they are unable to talk in a natural way to the opponents of the power they represent.

A few minutes later Noralis arrived at the door (the 23-year-old Lady in White) and her husband. We couldn’t enter but we could tell them some truths to their face, among them not understanding what motivates them to violate the rights of citizens in the name of what? A political party? A group of leaders who will never again be credible because they can no longer fool anyone?

But the agents aren’t programmed to respond. We couldn’t even confirm that they heard and understood what we were saying to them.

After 3 hours, those who had been blocked from entering Lilia’s house, and unable to see her, should have walked again by her house. It was not possible to walk by and not ask about the wellbeing of our friends because to do that would have meant giving in, obeying the orders, and showing fear/intimidation. God does not let me fear anything but myself and my sins. I don’t know if others understand this, but I have Christ in my heart, hidden in the core of my soul, and he does not let me fear situations such as this one. So I joined those who decided to return to Lilia’s house.

(Once more I confirm our capacity to object to injustices even though we know there is no institution to protect persecuted civil servants from the abuses and arbitrations of the state. So we have no option but to challenge them and risk their reprisal from which only God can protect us, and to denounce the criminal character of those revolutionaries, defenders of something called socialism and everything else that makes no sense to a discerning mind. In this way, with the urgency for a new social, institutional, political, and business structure, we can start substituting the actual bandits that surround us. Defeat them without iron with our faith in what’s inside us that’s most sacred: the desire to do good and to practice justice, not with “grand ideals” but with the simple truths of our existence which is what’s most useful and meaningful.)

Now the street was full of agents and some uniformed police. This time we made it clear to them that we knew they we could not enter by force, but we were there to find out about our friends. We knew the answer they were going to give us, but the important thing was to be there, not the words.

I was again struck by the phenomenon that if I did not remember that there in one Declaration of Human Rights for all of humanity, that I would have thought they belonged to another humanity, the type of humanity their commander advocated. But no, even though I might regret it, while they are trained to repress and hate those who oppose the Castro brothers, and they act like robots, they are nothing else but humans and they have more rights than they themselves recognize.

The boss, who said his name was Erick, and was second in command of Section 21 (in one of the photos his index finger is pointing) used a threatening voice when I insisted on knowing what happened to my friends, and then walked away to make a call; then I repeated my request to one of the women: “I want to know what is the situation with Lilia and Jose Alberto” and I looked in her eyes for a sign of humanity, but she fixed her eyes on mine in the way she had been trained. I was only able to count 15 seconds and I concluded that it was not important to maintain the stare, that human eyes can only tolerate a locked stare for a fix amount of time, except in cases of Mystical Hindu practices or early Christianity. It was inhuman to maintain a locked stare indefinitely because anything superhuman, from Nietzsche (Zarathustra) to Castro, was useless robotics.

Long ago those wearing the olive green uniforms stopped being the good guys. Ever since January 1, 1959, but they were able to confuse a lot of people. Goodness, according to human nature, and similarly, happiness, wisdom, beauty, God are somewhere else, where there is no agreement or disagreement: they reside inside each one of us, and if we can express them we’ll be free knocking down the iron.

November 2 2012

The Famous”Three Musketeers” Dish Returns to Cuban Hospitals / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada

This note has nothing to do with the famous adventure of “The Three Musketeers.” Nor with any of its characters.

For those of us who have opted at some moment in our lives for institutional learning. The mere fact of mentioning this phrase might bring back memories and spark all those stories, that we’ve told on more than one occasion.

“The Three Musketeers” is an infamous dish made famous in Cuba in the decade known as “the Special Period” if we can talk that way about one of the most difficult periods Cubans have ever lived through. The dish was made up of cooked white rice, porridge of peas, and a boiled egg.

In actuality this well-known dish has been forgotten by many Cubans, unless they’ve had medical reasons to pass through the maternal hospital in the city of Santa Clara during the last week.

The adventure is repeating itself and now this Villa Clara hospital is the chosen site for the staging of the scene. The sad case is that for many this dish, on this occasion, is enjoyed by women who are pregnant, nursing mothers and mothers who recently underwent caesarians.

Now a new product has been added to the plate, and that’s boiled green banana.

October 22 2012

The Machine is “Fucked Up” / Rebeca Monzo

Last Sunday we had to go out to attend to some matters, among them to collect a bit of money from the sale of some work. Another was to see a poster announcing a line of cosmetic products whose model is the daughter of a very dear friend of mine, and also one of my students.

This caused us to be a bit late, so we decided to have lunch at a very famous restaurant, which is located in the central commercial district on the lower floors of the Focsa building, where the posters we had gone to see were being displayed.Café TV is a large and comfortable place, whose decor has some something to do with television on my planet. Its walls are filled with photos of our most famous entertainers. Just past the entrance I noticed a sign that said taking photos was not allowed inside the restaurant, which I found strange considering that the people who go to these places, especially tourists, generally want to have some token remembrance of having been there.

A young man with the face of an angel came to wait on us. He very politely handed us the menus and a little while later came back to ask if he could take our order. He returned again and, with utmost pleasantness and perfect manners, brought us the beers we had ordered. We noticed that almost all the waiters were very young, possibly recent graduates new to this field.

The young man in question would then successively come and go, asking us if everything was alright, if we would like something else… in other words, everything one would expect from someone in his position. And always with his left arm behind his back, as they teach them in culinary school.

The food was excellent and reasonably price, too. Well-prepared and beautifully presented. Remember that these State-owned places, which charge in hard currency, now face strong competition from the private sector.

Finally satisfied, we decided to crown this very pleasant meal with the usual and indispensable cup of coffee. We motioned to the young man with the face of an angel, who immediately responded to our call. We expressed our satisfaction, declined the usual dessert, but asked if he could bring us two espressos and the check. Imagine our surprise when,in his very proper voice,he told us sadly, “I am very sorry, but the machine is fucked up.”

We left there stifling our laughter and noting that here was one of the differences between State-run restaurants and private ones. We also thought that the country itself is really a lot like the coffee machine.

November 2 2012

Socialism = Inefficiency / Angel Santiesteban

A neighbor told me that the re-involution of ’59 had taken property from owners but had not found a substitute. The director of a business will never be the owner, never have the sense of ownership over what he administers. To illustrate that there are more than thousands or millions of examples, it would suffice to offer a country like this one, worn out, a culture where theft is not seen as a crime because to survive death should not be punishable.

A man who, outside the State work plan of his job as a carpenter, makes a curtain rod to sell it and so is able to guarantee the feeding of his child should not be condemned, although for that he has had to use tools of the State, and to take pieces of wood and laces that do not belong to him.

A culture where the concept of “social property” is so foreign and absurd that Marx and Engels would feel so horrified by the result that inspired their theories, that they would not hesitate a second in refuting their communist philosophy.

An example of this was when, some days past, a gas station was about to explode in Santiago de Cuba. The video of the events reveals in detail all the ineptitude of the authorities of the place, from their own workers of Cupet, who immediately washed their hands and distanced themselves from the events — that reminds me of “I am returning, Captain,” when abandoning the sinking ship — but the irony of this case was that, thanks to their cowardice, the “Captain” and the workers of the station saved their lives.

The irresponsibility of the firefighters can be seen in the video in spite of their arriving before the police. They parked the firetruck near the incident, and got out with the same hurry with which they might have arrived at the beach on a summery morning. They watched, distantly, the events as if they were not any of their concern. They did not run to spray foam, like one supposes they would do in this kind of fire, they established no perimeter security, they just limited themselves to being part of the watching public, like those children nobody wanted filling the tanks of their motorcycles using their helmets, and how the neighbors came with boxes to stock up on precious liquid, at the expense of paying with their poor lives as the price of such imprudence.

Of course the inevitable happened, what the least mentally capable person could have predicted from the beginning: The explosion! Everything began with the late arrival of the police authorities. They immediately inspired terror. Looking at it coldly: taking that gasoline from a puddle in the middle of the street was not a crime, it was even — if you will — beneficial, because it would be less liquid spilled. But, as if the rural guard had arrived to distribute machetes, those young men decided to keep their distance, and in a hurry they disappeared, still euphoric for having gotten some gains with no apparent sacrifice, they decided to kickstart their motorcycles, and then, with the first spark they detonated the bomb.

That whole group that appears in the video was caught in the fire trap. For the majority it was like the hug of death. The general reaction of the people of Cuba was unanimous and identical: first toward the inactivity of the workers and the Boss of Turno of the gas station at not turning off the electricity in order to so stop the flow of the combustible liquid; then, the uselessness of the firefighters at not assuming, exercising and implementing what is established for those cases; then for the late arrival of the agents of order in their rickety Lada patrol car, which made its entrance like an old cart that comes in search of dead gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. None of these appeared with the quickness required, by the political directors of the Government in order to prevent the fire that approached like the night.

It was such a big chain of ineffectiveness, worthy of being received by the Guinness Records (very similar to the tragedy that occurred in the Chernobyl nuclear plant); but the worst of all is how to understand how great is the misery in which our people subsist that it brought the victims to commit such foolishness. That made me think of all the inhabitants of the Cuban archipelago that have launched themselves at sea, aware of such as an act of suicide. We have assumed a culture of danger where “whatever God wants” is the determining phrase that decides our lives. For the majority of Cuban families, it is very normal to have suffered the loss of a loved one in the Florida Straits, there we have spilled millions of tears and prayers for our missing brothers. All the flowers of all the springs of the world will not manage to honor those who offered up their lives in the effort to cross the agonizing ninety miles of sea that separate us from the promised land in search of a liberty so long dreamed of by our people.

One of the lessons that the explosion in the Santiago de Cuba gas station leaves is that those people lost their lives for a few liters of gasoline, that is to say: five or six Cuban convertible pesos (CUC), that was the value that they gave them. Another lesson is that the ineptitude of the Cuban “Government” was absolute and at all levels. And, if it serves anything, almost with days of differences, to a greater or lesser degree, the explosion in the refinery of Apure in Venezuela, and the gas station of Santiago de Cuba, both events coincide, maybe in an apparent warning from God that with time, Venezuela will become the mirror of Cuba: an ineffective totalitarianism.

May God protect Venezuela because in Cuba many Cubans believe that He already forgot them long ago.

Translated by mlk

October 28 2012

Democratic Aberration or Amputation of Rights / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado

A careless vote is a right lost, and indifference in voting the prelude to despotism.
Jose Marti. “Patria.” N.Y. April 16, 1893. “The elections of April 10.”

“This past Sunday, October 21, municipal elections were held in Cuba.” To foreigners who don’t know or don’t follow our affairs, this might look like encouraging news; but for truly democratic Cubans this is the same staging with the same actors from the single party. I remember that since 1976, when this government created its first Constitution — its Magna Carta — and began conducting elections, every time election day came, the ballots were “generously” brought to the elderly “so as not to bother them” with having to go to the polling place. Although the Cuban Constitution states that voting is not compulsory, the leaders of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) of each block knocked on the doors of his neighbors — in all certainty, an insistence — and encouraged them to vote early. There was also an “ideologically healthy” competition between the CDR presidents to finish this “revolutionary task” the soonest. It was natural to see them associating, looking at the relationships of their ’charges’ who hadn’t yet exercised their vote, to go ’affectionately’ pressure them to do so.

I don’t know if this custom is still practiced, because today there is less enthusiasm surrounding the CDR and its block-level managers have lowered the pressure on citizens in this sense. They are advised by the harsh reality that surrounds us, but also ’observed’ by the ’diligent’ ruling class as always, which doesn’t want to move towards democracy so the “pedestal” of their privileges isn’t lost. Everyone knows that those who are reliable or support the interests of the party will “accidentally” be chosen by society for different positions. Looking at who dedicates time to training the people to participate in these elections, for the final counts — and narratives — and we see it will be those who say “you, yes”, “you, no”, and “Alarcon is going to continue to be the President of the National Assembly” — the so-called Cuban Parliament — because the people “willed it” so.

Rafa and I enjoyed our quiet Sunday with our family because we hadn’t planned anything for that day, because for years we’d resolved not to play the regime’s game nor participate in its bizarre elections. When there exists multiple parties in our country, and each can put forward a candidate with his own program of government without being limited or determined to be “revolutionarily integrated”, then we will be among those who awaken early to exercise this right so as not to treat it “carelessly” as Marti suggested, and to not again promote “by voters’ indifference” the prelude to despots. But while a democratic landscape does not exist in Cuba, those of us who love democracy and have freedom of conscience shouldn’t play the dictator’s games.

Translated by mlk

October 24 2012

Showtime / Miguel Iturria Savon

After a month of rehearsal, Il Gruppetto presented on August 31st at 5:00 pm, in the old Palacio de las Cariátides del Malecón de La Habana, their spectacular Showtime, the universe of musical theater,which reinvents our Broadway-styled musical and attempts to “offer the original creators’ point of view and fill them, transform it with our own while still being faithful to the fable, the characters, the scores, to the sublime duty of the interpreter to say the song, to tell the story through the musical notes”, according to David Guerra, scenic artistic director.

Besides David Guerra, also in charge of the selection, translation and adaptation of the shows; Ubaíl Zamora, musical director; Lynet Rivero in the choreography, Livan Albelo as assistant director and costume designer and art director, Marcel Mendez the lighting, Edwin Ramirez and Maikel Gonzalez makeup and hair design, and John C. Millán in photography and promotion, as well as Raul Coyula in sound and Alexey Sallet in the lights make up the creative team.

The audience that packed the Sala Loynaz room of the current Spanish American Culture Center (Centro Hispanoamericano de Cultura) did not enjoy a common concert or theatrical performance with a logical order, but “scenes and moments drawn from some of the most relevant works of this specific kind of representation, … divided into pictures by theme or by composers, with profiles of various parts and the genre itself as the guiding thread”.

Among the artists that come out of the dressing room and blow magic dust over the eyelids of the viewers are the young people of Il Gruppetto, directed by the above-mentioned Ubaíl Zamora and composed of singer-actors of the National Lyric Theater of Cuba (Teatro Lírico Nacional de Cuba), including Laura D’Mare, Indira Echavarría, Olivia Méndez, Teresa J. Pérez, Cristina Rodríguez, Assari Sende, Laura Ulloa, Ernesto Cabrera, Javier Olanguren, Dayron Peralta, Edwin Ramírez, Ernesto Leyva and Leo Cuervo; who invited Marcel Méndez, from Teatro de la Luna, and Lesby A. Bautista, Ernesto Herrera and Frank Ledesma, singers from the Camerata Vocale Sine Nomine.

The program shaped by David Guerra favored the deployment of the concerns, energies and talents of young people who personalized the originating pieces of a genre that requires renovation among us, with the purpose of oxygenating the Cuban musical theater and betting on diversity, the differences and connection with other nurturing sources that will raise spirituality without forgetting that the theater is magic and fun.

This journey to the musical, of galloping rhythm, grace and unusual virtuosity, included in its program pieces like The Transgressors, Chicago, Cabaret, The Rocky Horror Show, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rent, Moulin Rouge and Les Miserables.

Despite the choreographic recreation surprises, the scenic displacements, the vocal virtuosity of various interpreters and the connection with the public, this show needs to be exhibited in September or October in rooms with better acoustics and more space, such as the Mella or the Trianón. For its quality, creative daring, and public reception, it would be worth another season in another location. Thousands of habaneros will be grateful. Successes!

Translated by: Billy Shyne (Boston College ’15)

September 13 2012

My Encounter with Paya in Voices 16 / Mario Lleonart

Careful with those whom you all kill, they can spur a craving for liberty in the people (Oswaldo Paya in an interview by the Hispano Cubana Magazine, No. 16, 2003, p. 122).

Friday, September 7 the launch of the 16th edition of the magazine Voices took place in Havana in the home of Yoani Sanchez and Reinaldo Escobar.  Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo was in charge of the introductory words, and not one more person could have fit in the living room and on the terrace of our friends.  Thanks to God I was able to be there and also I have the honor of being included in the so heartfelt pages of this singular issue whose special edition is dedicated to the tragic death of Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero which occurred July 22 in the vicinity of Bayamo.

I thank greatly the editors of this very daring magazine who, for a second time, have included one of my writings.  The first time was in the still recent Voices 14 presented and dedicated to the then imminent papal visit where was inserted my prediction, regrettably correct, “Another Pope, another Cuba and another church.”  This time Voices 16 took from my soul “My encounter with Paya” and I feel maybe they are the simplest of the included pages, surrounded as I am there by multiple voices of high quality.

I recommend the reading of the 16 editions of Voices in general (http://vocescubanas.com/voces) and this issue 16 in particular, as singular as the rest, but so special for its being dedicated to two such special souls as Harold and Oswaldo.  Regardless of my invitation to read the magazine directly, I will provide in my next post fragments of the writing that I dragged from my heart for Oswaldo Paya in Voices 16.

Translated by mlk.

October 30 2012

Violator and Ousted / Luis Felipe Rojas

The whirlwind of corruption, the lack of ethics and the indiscipline have shaken the foundations of the police unit of San German, in Holguin. Another neighborhood bloodhound has been victim of its own bite, originally trained to demolish any form of human vestige. This time, the ousted person is First Lieutenant Eduardo Gomez Quinones who, until the moment of his removal, worked as Second Chief of the Police Unit of San German, Holguin. The mentioned soldier was surprised when caught forcing his 15 year old stepdaughter to take part in lewd games. He was taken to trial now and locked up in the dungeons of the Instructional Police Unit, waiting a sentence no less than 20 years, according to the penal code. Just a few weeks ago, his wife surprised him at night, which brought forth a family scandal and then came the detention. It would have been just another piece of news, but Lieutenant Quinones has been considered one of the most violent police officers of this area in a long time, according to the testimonies of various citizens.

Eduardo Gomez Quinones, an impetuous young police agent, rapidly ascended from a Patrol Guard to Functionary of Public Order and from there to Second in Charge of the local police barracks. Last February, on this blog I denounced the beating he gave to the prisoner Ramiro Hernandez Batista. In addition to fracturing one of his legs and one of his arms, the prisoner was imprisoned under charges of disobedience and resistance of arrest. At that time, the wife of the mentioned police, who worked as the Director of Commerce in that area was substituted of her charge a few weeks later due to inefficiencies in her job. However, this functionary continued getting away with his crimes. A source close to the family assured that the minor had a personal diary where she had mentioned the death threats, the morbid scenes, the sexual obligations which she was subjected to, and all the details between the first and last time. Other sources have indicated that Eduardo Quinones was under investigation also because of corruption, which has not been confirmed due to the secrecy in which the case has been sealed.

From the beginning of 2011 to the date, other inherent agents have been sentenced to military discipline because of Abuse of Power in San German: Captain Vladimir Aldana Rodriguez (Chief of the Unit), First Lieutenant Alexander La O (Chief of Sector), and Lieutenant Jerson Blanco (Chief of Sector). All of these were demoted and are serving a sentence in penitentiaries of the province. In addition, Lieutenant Manuel Gonzalez, up to just a few months ago, had substituted Aldana Rodriguez as Chief of the Unit. Quinones, on his part, had substituted Manuel Gonzalez as 2nd Chief of Unit. The opinion of the locals is that as long as appalling actions such as these by the police keep occurring, then they will keep persecuting independent sellers, unemployed youths, dissidents and non-conformists.

Translators and Readers… Thank you for your patience! / Translating Cuba

The person who manages this blog has been traveling for the last couple of weeks… in MODERN, WIRED, EUROPEAN COUNTRIES… and has had a “dongle” (mobile internet) and stayed in places supposedly offering “hi-speed internet,” in addition to visiting cafes, libraries etc. when all of the above failed.

The long and short of it is, my access has been terrible, at times completely impossible. Nothing seems to work reliably.

Saving a miracle from the internet fairy, this situation will continue for about one more week… and then, hopefully, things will return to normal.

To the translators in particular, who have sometimes waited more than a day to see your work appear, thank you for continuing to translate! And because I barely have enough internet time to post, and almost none to do my own translations, thank you for your prolific output, which is the only thing that’s keeping this site active at all.

After Almost Three Months’ Absence, Here Again / Mario Barroso

It is incredible that time is flying.  Especially when one has no access to the internet and has problems with technology.  This, among other things, is what was happening to me during those three months.  But on the other hand it has not stopped me for even a moment.  I would need another three months to tell of so many adventures.

The constant work in the church on one hand. In the seminaries on the other. It never ends in the midst of a people who suffer so much. And that is what I try to do every day is to relieve the pain of those people of whom I myself am a part.

I will try to post in the next few days some texts that I have written since some time ago.  And to top it off a photo from last night that illustrates that our church has come together in solidarity with the survivors of Sandy, which constitutes the priority of the moment.  May God bless us all.

October 29 2012

Cubans Need Help Recovering From Hurricane Sandy / Yoani Sanchez

Cell phone photo from a civic activist

How You Can Help

Hurricane Sandy has devastated the city of Santiago de Cuba and caused severe damage in several towns in the east of the country. The images of destruction speak for themselves, but the cameras barely manage to capture a share of the drams. The great tragedy runs on a plane difficult to photograph, or to describe with words. It’s impossible to narrate the worst of it. It is a mixture of feelings that shift from sadness to impotence, pain to desperation, dismay to fear. Thousands of people who have seen the wind take a good part of their lives, who woke up one morning in destroyed towns of collapsed streets and missing roofs, and who know that recovering from something like that could take the rest of their existence.

Sandy took five hours to cross eastern Cuba , but destroyed homes, infrastructure and objects that will take decades to reestablish. The loss of human lives has been the most tragic outcome, but nature has also suffered a lot. The intense gusts of wind hit housing stock with decades of accumulated deterioration, the force of the hurricane fell on a population without food reserves to face the days of collapse that have followed. As if the havoc had been small, the floods caused in the center of the country have intensified the agricultural disaster, worsening the nation’s ability to recover. Cuba today is in a calamitous situation, although the triumphalism of media officials wants to substitute slogans for laments, and illusions for objective evaluation.

If we recognize the seriousness of the situation, we can find real solutions. The government has the ultimate responsibility to manage this emergency situation with transparency and humility. This is a time to put pride aside and to ask for help from international agencies trained in these types of tragedies. We Cubans hope that our authorities will facilitate the entry of the international Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to evaluate the infected zones and contribute resources and solidarity to those who lost almost everything. The threats of an outbreak of cholera and of the possible propagation of dengue fever are elements that contribute to the urgency of these decisions. It can wait any longer.

Nor is it advisable to continue with the centralized and political structures for the distribution of aid. The examples above show that when the state wants to take care of everything, including distribution of nails or the delivery of a little sugar, these mechanisms are quickly permeated by the lack of control, corruption, and the diversion of resources that affect every sphere in the country. There is already evidence that the government is blocking activists and independent journalist from going to the affected zones, because the government does not want reports with all the details about the seriousness of what happened, nor do they want parallel paths established for the flow of aid. We must remind them that no party can have a monopoly on solidarity and that the misery of so many is not a time for politics or proselytizing.

In recent days various initiatives have arisen from the citizenry, the exile, the church, other civil society groups, to help alleviate the tragedy caused by Hurricane Sandy in the east of the country.  Steeped in solidarity, several citizens have established collection points for basic supplies in the capital and other regions of the country. None of these places is under the auspices of a political party or a specific group, but are based on a humanistic sense and the horizontality of aid. At the end of this week the resources collected will be transported to Santiago de Cuba and distributed through Father Jose Conrado — priest of Santa Teresita Church in Santiago de Cuba — and civil society activists. Priority will be given to the most affected and to the areas most devastated. Below are contact details for those living within or outside the country.

Goods that are being collected:

  • Canned foods, dried foods and powdered milk.
  • Personal hygiene items (soap, detergent, deodorant).
  • Candles and batteries. Bed linen, towels, personal clothing.
  • Medications (analgesics, cold medicine, rehydration salts, vitamins, anti-diarrhea pills, muscle pain creams, etc.).
  • Pills or drops to chlorinate the water.
  • Disposable diapers and sanitary pads.

The addresses where they can be taken:

  • Municipio Habana del Este: Barriada de Alamar: Edificio B-17 apto. 21 Zona 5. Alina Guzmán or Nilo Julián, tel: +5353862111
  • Municipio Plaza: Factor no. 821, apto 14B entre Conill y Santa Ana. Yoani Sánchez and Reinaldo Escobar Tel: +5352708611 y +5352896812
  • Municipio La Víbora: Saco no. 457 apto 6 entre Carmen y Patrocinio. Esperanza Rodríguez and Wilfredo Vallín, tel: +5353149664
  • Centro Habana: Headquarters of the Ladies in White, Calle Neptuno no. 963 entre Aramburu y Soledad. Berta Soler Tel: +5352906820
  • Municipio Playa: Avenida 1ra no. 4606 entre 46 y 60, Miramar. Ailer González +5353233726

For those who do not reside in the country and want to get help, we suggest buying food online at the following websites:

http://supermarket.treew.com

http://www.carlostercero.ca

http://envioalimentosacuba.com

http://www.lapuntilla.ca/

We recommend buying foods that do not require refrigeration and that can be eaten without cooking. Shipping may be to any of the people listed above at the addresses listed, or to any friend or acquaintance you might have on the island. Many thanks in advance!

30 October 2012

Solidarity Bureaucratized / Reinaldo Escobar

Sandy’s passing across the eastern provinces and the catastrophic consequences have left me with the following questions:

Why must all solidarity by necessity pass through government channels?

Why don’t the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) ask their members to bring support to the offices of each Zone?

Why doesn’t the Federation of Cuban Woman (FMC) ask the women affiliated with it to bring something to the organization’s Blocks?

Why don’t the Pioneer organizations invite the children to donate some school uniforms?

Why doesn’t the Association of the Combatants of the Revolution ask its members to offer to help the victims?

Are they waiting to receive orders from higher authorities or will their own hearts dictate their supportive conduct?

29 October 2012

Your Beer Here! / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado

It seems like a silent cry, a clandestine invitation to beer drinking amid signs of drunkenness, not of admiration. The thirsty passer-by—child or adult—cannot easily sample a soft drink or a little bottle of mineral water in Havana when he wants, since in many public businesses that sell cold drinks in convertible currency, they tend to pack their refrigeration equipment mainly with beer. They hardly leaves room for anything else to drink, and it tells everyone that the alcoholic beverages are the only ones they care to refrigerate. The employees on every crew put a few waters and sodas in the coolers to “cover their backs” or keep up appearances.

It is often that, upon going to one of these businesses a little after the beginning of one or another shift, you’ll get responses like, “They’re hot” or “There aren’t any,” and you must move on. The so-called “Quickies” are the places where I most observe this problem. They remind me of those bars that were around in the capital a few decades ago that they called pilots because, just like them, the tables are often full of happy people with a significant number of empty bottles or cans of the amber liquid atop them. Likewise, in other places not suited for drinking, like some shops, kiosks and other businesses, there is again the same lack of refrigeration which endangers customers.

I ask myself why and I conclude that it appears that they get their rewards in the form of the frothy drink. The bonus is that for years the state expropriated these people and denied them a decent wage. Around here everyone “struggles” to make a decent salary that can provide enough money so that they can have a half-way decent lifestyle and can satisfy their basic needs and those of their families. The state has forced most citizens to resort to daily acts of illegality in order to be able to survive. In their long and disastrous exercise of power we have been the victims of their arbitrary decisions, which have turned virtually all of us into a prison population.

I do not fall into the trap set by officials when they uncover these kinds of things—the rustic private stills installed in homes or inadequate, dirty, illegal locations. I don’t believe it. The clandestine breweries are in state factories and use government vehicles to transport the merchandise. They are controlled by the military’s own men, who divide the output between the exploitative, multi-millionaire State and the impoverished workers.

A self-adjusted salary from which many benefit and no one sees, because the alcoholics of corruption look the other way, so as not to harm this balanced and equitable Robin Hood business, with beer belly and Party card. So as we walk around we must go along to quench our thirst and the tropical heat with some hot soft drink, while others “fill their plates and pockets” with the cold beer “fruits of their sins.”

In our country the most massive drunken binge historically has been that of the strong-man rule. The leader and his group are entrenched, at the cost of appropriating the country, they led us to this crisis of values and the socioeconomic and political ruin that oppresses us. Reasons abound for us to worry about Cuba, because when it appears to be falling, because mutated by inefficiency and immorality it wobbles, which doesn’t mean it’s drunk, but rather rotten.

Translated by Boston College Cuban-American Student Association
First paragraph by russell conner, New Orleans, LA

October 22 2012