As far as I can tell, there are only two things at which the regime in Havana has excelled: oppression and propaganda. Both were in evidence yesterday. The first we have been witnessing for weeks. And yesterday's pictures tell that story. Their other strong suit is reflected in the reports filed by the MSM reporters.
Weeks ago we heard of the arrangements the Capos in the capital were making to counter the march. One stratagem involved staging their own newsworthy item at the same time as the march. How successful were they? Here are some headlines. You be the judge.
The New York Times: Cuba: U.N. Rights Pacts to Be Signed
BBC News: Cuba makes human rights promise
Newsday: Cuba says it will sign civil rights accord
Reuters: Cuba to allow U.N. human rights monitoring
Each of these articles makes reference to the march. I suspect the Michael Corleone moment was impossible to ignore. Even as they made the announcement, thugs were manhandling and hectoring the protestors. The headlines, however, went to the regime.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Faces of Oppression: More from Today
top two images from Los Miquis de Miami. The last from Henry Gomez at Babalublog.
The Faces of Oppression: Yesterday
Top: from Babalublog, Cuban soldier citing Darsi to military headquarters. Taken a few days ago.
Middle: from Babalublog, two security operatives maintaining surveillance at the Ferrer home.
Bottom: Reuters photo of group assailing the Ladies in White at their demonstration yesterday.
The Faces of Oppression
Much as we like to blame leaders like the Castros, systematic governmental oppression is impossible without the active cooperation of legions of ordinary folk. It is these armies of the night that terrorize their fellow man. For them, there is no excuse, and they will have to answer to their maker if no one else.
It is my editorial policy to refrain from using other people's pictures. In this instance I am making an exception in the interest of our shared goals. I will try to give credit where it is due.
It is my editorial policy to refrain from using other people's pictures. In this instance I am making an exception in the interest of our shared goals. I will try to give credit where it is due.
Updated: News of the Moment
Update: Henry, who has been doing a yeoman's job of getting the word out, at Babalu has posted the phone conversation with Darsi in Spanish. Darsi hints that many others were taken up before they could reach the park. He also says that press and diplomatic representatives witnessed the events. Let's see if we hear more from that. Here for the recording.
Here is what I have been able to piece together from various sources. More as the information becomes available.
Their campaign of pre-emptive intimidation having proven successful as usual, a mere dozen or so dissidents made it to the park in Havana this morning. They were accosted and were advised that they would be killed if they entered. A Spaniard who was with Darsi Ferrer and the demonstrators was encouraged to leave and later whisked away. Word has reached the states that they were then beaten by a group of 200 or so armed with clubs and crow bars. This is the ugly face of tyranny. The next post will include more of these.
Read accounts in English at The Real Cuba here.
And in Spanish at Penultimos Dias here.
Babalublog is working on getting audio from Dr. Ferrer. Check here.
Here is what I have been able to piece together from various sources. More as the information becomes available.
Their campaign of pre-emptive intimidation having proven successful as usual, a mere dozen or so dissidents made it to the park in Havana this morning. They were accosted and were advised that they would be killed if they entered. A Spaniard who was with Darsi Ferrer and the demonstrators was encouraged to leave and later whisked away. Word has reached the states that they were then beaten by a group of 200 or so armed with clubs and crow bars. This is the ugly face of tyranny. The next post will include more of these.
Read accounts in English at The Real Cuba here.
And in Spanish at Penultimos Dias here.
Babalublog is working on getting audio from Dr. Ferrer. Check here.
From The Real Cuba
A quote from Dr. Darsi Ferrer in a post on The Real Cuba today:
"My home is surrounded by state security security forces. The entire neighborhood has been under siege since Saturday.
Our neighbors, who sympathize with the cause of a free Cuba and are concerned for out safety, have helped identify several of the officer who are participating in this operation.
The headquarter for the state security officers has been set up about three blocks from our house. There are abut 4 dozen officers in there.
Neighbors have also reported that they have seen trucks carrying troops of the so called "special forces" wearing camouflage uniforms and others with soldiers wearing civilian clothes.
This is the situation we are facing. We are determined to exercise our rights no matter what happens.
May God bless our nation. Dr. Darsi Ferrer"
"My home is surrounded by state security security forces. The entire neighborhood has been under siege since Saturday.
Our neighbors, who sympathize with the cause of a free Cuba and are concerned for out safety, have helped identify several of the officer who are participating in this operation.
The headquarter for the state security officers has been set up about three blocks from our house. There are abut 4 dozen officers in there.
Neighbors have also reported that they have seen trucks carrying troops of the so called "special forces" wearing camouflage uniforms and others with soldiers wearing civilian clothes.
This is the situation we are facing. We are determined to exercise our rights no matter what happens.
May God bless our nation. Dr. Darsi Ferrer"
Latest Info from Cuba
10 Dissidents picked up yesterday, including Antuñez, who released earlier this year from 17 years in prison has continued his activities and has been hauled in on a number of occasions- including Dec.6 when he was beaten, held for 8 hours, and released. This time he was arrested as he was leaving the demonstration held by the ladies in white.
Speaking of the ladies in white. They were joined yesterday by about 15 young European women, mainly Spanish tourists. Today, word comes that immigration officials were waiting for them when they arrived back at their hotel. They were taken away and could be deported today. For the story, including why the ladies in white march, read here.
In addition to preemptive arrests, the figure has to approach a hundred if not surpass it, word is that the homes of known dissidents have been surrounded by groups of as many as 50 thugs to prevent them from attending the march.
More as I come across it.
Speaking of the ladies in white. They were joined yesterday by about 15 young European women, mainly Spanish tourists. Today, word comes that immigration officials were waiting for them when they arrived back at their hotel. They were taken away and could be deported today. For the story, including why the ladies in white march, read here.
In addition to preemptive arrests, the figure has to approach a hundred if not surpass it, word is that the homes of known dissidents have been surrounded by groups of as many as 50 thugs to prevent them from attending the march.
More as I come across it.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Dis-ingenuous
AP article via The Baltimore Sun. They're at it again. This gushing article about the largesse of Cuban authorities in including American films, a number of "experimental" films and a couple of films by Hollywood types, in their film festival has to be deliberately cynical. The two films highlighted in the article are the Man of Two Havanas about Max Lesnick and Redacted. For the uninitiated, Lesnick has been much vilified in the exile community and a film about him would be a natural fit for the regime types. And Redacted, which casts American soldiers as rapists and murderers, well, I'm not going to get started on that one.
In the "I can't believe they could be this disingenuous" department, the article would have us believe that it is the US that limits films going to Cuba.
But the U.S. government makes it difficult for American directors to present their work on the island.
Sure it does, since the Cuban government doesn't limit all forms of media access. Gee, so that's why Andy Garcia's The Lost City hasn't played in Cuba! It's those Americans again.
In the "I can't believe they could be this disingenuous" department, the article would have us believe that it is the US that limits films going to Cuba.
But the U.S. government makes it difficult for American directors to present their work on the island.
Sure it does, since the Cuban government doesn't limit all forms of media access. Gee, so that's why Andy Garcia's The Lost City hasn't played in Cuba! It's those Americans again.
Tell Everyone You Know and Update X's 2
IMPORTANT: Reminder, if you are going to send to anyone involved in any way in any country in opposition to the Cuban regime, make sure to use the blind copy feature in your e-mail. Otherwise everyone's address will appear.
Update: It works. I'm already getting positive responses back.
Below is a copy of an email I sent to everyone in my address book. I would ask that my readers do the same, as far as they feel comfortable doing, that is. I get untold bad jokes and cutesy articles daily in my inbox. Let's give them something else to read. Copy mine or write your own. I think it is particularly important to get the word out to our American friends.
Tomorrow, December 10, 2007, dissidents in Cuba will attempt a peaceful march to commemorate the anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights and protest silently the apartheid system under which they live. I use the term "attempt" because the regime has released a wave of intimidation to forestall the march since November 21. Dr. Darsi Ferrer, who has called for the protest, has been threatened with death by an official of the state. When the threat failed to intimidate him, he was summoned to military headquarters an hour before the event. The regime has also put in place measures to make sure that no one can reach the venue.
I ask your prayers for those who will attempt it. I also ask that you spread the word among your acquaintances. The greatest protection dissidents have is notice of the international community.
Update: It works. I'm already getting positive responses back.
Below is a copy of an email I sent to everyone in my address book. I would ask that my readers do the same, as far as they feel comfortable doing, that is. I get untold bad jokes and cutesy articles daily in my inbox. Let's give them something else to read. Copy mine or write your own. I think it is particularly important to get the word out to our American friends.
Tomorrow, December 10, 2007, dissidents in Cuba will attempt a peaceful march to commemorate the anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights and protest silently the apartheid system under which they live. I use the term "attempt" because the regime has released a wave of intimidation to forestall the march since November 21. Dr. Darsi Ferrer, who has called for the protest, has been threatened with death by an official of the state. When the threat failed to intimidate him, he was summoned to military headquarters an hour before the event. The regime has also put in place measures to make sure that no one can reach the venue.
I ask your prayers for those who will attempt it. I also ask that you spread the word among your acquaintances. The greatest protection dissidents have is notice of the international community.
Sunday Snippets: Odds of Ends
Memoirs of a Geisha? Reuters article on the disappearing world of the Geisha feautres Kokin, the world's oldest at 98, who reminisces about the glory days and laments the passing of her world. Geishas, it seems have fallen on hard times, forced lift their exclusivity and (shudder) perform for tourists. Karaoke?
The Name of the Continent. Library of Congress is displaying the 1507 Waldseemuller map that labeled the continent America. Seems a later version of the same map, omitted the name. In another map by the same monk, created in 1516, North America is labeled "Terra de Cuba."
Read it here.
Pride and Prejudice. The New York Times got around to reviewing The Boys from Dolores by Patrick Symmes. Guy Martin gets it right in the main about the tome, although the heavy insistence on privilege is a bit superfluous. And we weren't "gallegos," as he maintains, despite having been descended from them. Remember, you read about it here first! Now you can read about it there.
Gone with the Beards. A write-up of the "Masterpieces of Cuban Painting" exhibit in Daytona. Laura Stewart's take seems to be that its scale, both physical and emotional- she uses the word bombastic to describe a painting- conveys a "mythic" Cuba. Of course, that means I'll probably like it just fine. She makes me want to undertake the five hour car ride to see it.
Read it here.
Oh, and here are this morning's headlines about Cuba:
"Cuba allows foreign firms to pay in hard currency" from Reuters. Isn't that nice? The regime is now going to allow Cubans to get paid in something other than the near worthless currency the rest of Cuba has to use. Before you get all weepy at their munificence, they are doing it so they can tax the earnings. No word on whether the employees can now be paid directly or whether the powers that be are still going to absorb 80% or so of the same salaries.
"Cuba apologizes for police raid on Catholic church," another entry from Reuters. They said they were sorry to the church. Still awaiting an apology are the twenty plus, not seven as the report indicates, dissidents who were pepper sprayed, beaten, and hauled off.
The Name of the Continent. Library of Congress is displaying the 1507 Waldseemuller map that labeled the continent America. Seems a later version of the same map, omitted the name. In another map by the same monk, created in 1516, North America is labeled "Terra de Cuba."
Read it here.
Pride and Prejudice. The New York Times got around to reviewing The Boys from Dolores by Patrick Symmes. Guy Martin gets it right in the main about the tome, although the heavy insistence on privilege is a bit superfluous. And we weren't "gallegos," as he maintains, despite having been descended from them. Remember, you read about it here first! Now you can read about it there.
Gone with the Beards. A write-up of the "Masterpieces of Cuban Painting" exhibit in Daytona. Laura Stewart's take seems to be that its scale, both physical and emotional- she uses the word bombastic to describe a painting- conveys a "mythic" Cuba. Of course, that means I'll probably like it just fine. She makes me want to undertake the five hour car ride to see it.
Read it here.
Oh, and here are this morning's headlines about Cuba:
"Cuba allows foreign firms to pay in hard currency" from Reuters. Isn't that nice? The regime is now going to allow Cubans to get paid in something other than the near worthless currency the rest of Cuba has to use. Before you get all weepy at their munificence, they are doing it so they can tax the earnings. No word on whether the employees can now be paid directly or whether the powers that be are still going to absorb 80% or so of the same salaries.
"Cuba apologizes for police raid on Catholic church," another entry from Reuters. They said they were sorry to the church. Still awaiting an apology are the twenty plus, not seven as the report indicates, dissidents who were pepper sprayed, beaten, and hauled off.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Literary Interlude: An Excerpt from “Shield of Achilles” by WH Auden
Reading Havana Noir this week brought this poem to mind. Although it uses a scene from the Illiad to comment on war, particularly WWII, I think it really touches upon the dehumanizing effects of brutality, especially the last verse I’ve excerpted. You can easily get the complete poem on the internet or at your library.
Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot
Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke)
And sentries sweated for the day was hot:
A crowd of ordinary decent folk
Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke
As three pale figures were led forth and bound
To three posts driven upright in the ground.
The mass and majesty of this world, all
That carries weight and always weighs the same
Lay in the hands of others; they were small
And could not hope for help and no help came:
What their foes like to do was done, their shame
Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride
And died as men before their bodies died.
She looked over his shoulder
For athletes at their games,
Men and women in a dance
Moving their sweet limbs
Quick, quick, to music,
But there on the shining shield
His hands had set no dancing-floor
But a weed-choked field.
A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,
Loitered about that vacancy; a bird
Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:
That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,
Were axioms to him, who'd never heard
Of any world where promises were kept,
Or one could weep because another wept.
I have come to the conclusion that blogger hates poetry. I can't tell you what I go through. The beginning of some of the lines is idented. I've tried to rectify it twice. I hope it goes through as entered this time.
Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot
Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke)
And sentries sweated for the day was hot:
A crowd of ordinary decent folk
Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke
As three pale figures were led forth and bound
To three posts driven upright in the ground.
The mass and majesty of this world, all
That carries weight and always weighs the same
Lay in the hands of others; they were small
And could not hope for help and no help came:
What their foes like to do was done, their shame
Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride
And died as men before their bodies died.
She looked over his shoulder
For athletes at their games,
Men and women in a dance
Moving their sweet limbs
Quick, quick, to music,
But there on the shining shield
His hands had set no dancing-floor
But a weed-choked field.
A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,
Loitered about that vacancy; a bird
Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:
That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,
Were axioms to him, who'd never heard
Of any world where promises were kept,
Or one could weep because another wept.
I have come to the conclusion that blogger hates poetry. I can't tell you what I go through. The beginning of some of the lines is idented. I've tried to rectify it twice. I hope it goes through as entered this time.
Friday, December 7, 2007
FLAMUR's Call to Women in Exile
Having submitted their petition with 10,738 signatures demanding that they be allowed to use the currency in which they are paid in any establishment in the country, and in effect end the current two tier apartheid system, FLAMUR, the organization of rural women behind the "Con la Misma Moneda" campaign asks a question. Why have they not received support of Cuban women living in free countries?
What starts out as something of a challenge at the beginning of their communiqué ends on a plea for help, reminding us that they are from the interior of the country where there is no international press, there are no diplomatic offices. Their only protection lies in the notice we in free countries can bring them. These brave women with the help of young people have been collecting signatures throughout the country for months, and whatever shelter my poor words can offer, I will gladly give.
For the entire article in Spanish at Misceláneas de Cuba, click here.
What starts out as something of a challenge at the beginning of their communiqué ends on a plea for help, reminding us that they are from the interior of the country where there is no international press, there are no diplomatic offices. Their only protection lies in the notice we in free countries can bring them. These brave women with the help of young people have been collecting signatures throughout the country for months, and whatever shelter my poor words can offer, I will gladly give.
For the entire article in Spanish at Misceláneas de Cuba, click here.
Lost Time in Miami
Recently in a post about an upcoming art show, I mentioned a Cuban museum that is part of MOAS in Daytona. Immediately, I received a comment like "isn't that the artwork Batista stole?" Then in response to the recent publicity about Eusebio Leal, blogs have featured his role in stripping Cuba of its cultural patrimony, most notably an open letter written to the King of Spain by well-known author Armando Valladares this April. In this letter, he basically tells the King that the painting gifted him by the regime, through the auspices of Leal, is stolen from the Cuban people.
Finally yesterday, you may have noticed, I didn't post. That's unusual, because I have a compact with my readers. I feel that if you are gracious enough to pay us a visit, I promise to have timely and interesting, as far as my and Lou's humble talents allow, material for you to read. I didn't post because I was in Miami, a trip that involves a considerable amount of driving. At lunchtime, I paid my very first visit to the Versailles. In all these years, I had never gone. I've been to the original La Carreta across the street many a time. I'm a sucker for the cart thing they have going on there, as well as the food. But, never, the Versailles. And I can't tell you how I would like to be there this morning.
As is usual, I am told, the place was packed. I looked around the room at all those beautiful, well-scrubbed Cuban faces, and in addition to that twinge of pride I always feel on the rare occasions when I am in a large gathering of Cubans, I experienced a moment of epiphany. Of all that Cuba has lost, of all that it has been stripped by those abominations masquerading as men, here was the greatest theft of all, in these people: well-groomed, with open hopeful faces, so obviously prosperous, most seemingly there on a lunch break. I thought back to the Miami of 1965 and how it had grown and been enriched by the presence of these people, of their parents, and grandparents, and I felt Cuba's loss all the more keenly.
All this drive, all the obvious optimism about the future, this prosperity rightly belonged in Cuba. And to me, these people were representative of the millions on the island whose initiative, drive, and ingenuity, subverted by an illegitimate regime, has been reduced to scoring some facsimile of a meal for the day by whatever means at hand. Can you imagine what they could do, if they were unleashed? I can.
Finally yesterday, you may have noticed, I didn't post. That's unusual, because I have a compact with my readers. I feel that if you are gracious enough to pay us a visit, I promise to have timely and interesting, as far as my and Lou's humble talents allow, material for you to read. I didn't post because I was in Miami, a trip that involves a considerable amount of driving. At lunchtime, I paid my very first visit to the Versailles. In all these years, I had never gone. I've been to the original La Carreta across the street many a time. I'm a sucker for the cart thing they have going on there, as well as the food. But, never, the Versailles. And I can't tell you how I would like to be there this morning.
As is usual, I am told, the place was packed. I looked around the room at all those beautiful, well-scrubbed Cuban faces, and in addition to that twinge of pride I always feel on the rare occasions when I am in a large gathering of Cubans, I experienced a moment of epiphany. Of all that Cuba has lost, of all that it has been stripped by those abominations masquerading as men, here was the greatest theft of all, in these people: well-groomed, with open hopeful faces, so obviously prosperous, most seemingly there on a lunch break. I thought back to the Miami of 1965 and how it had grown and been enriched by the presence of these people, of their parents, and grandparents, and I felt Cuba's loss all the more keenly.
All this drive, all the obvious optimism about the future, this prosperity rightly belonged in Cuba. And to me, these people were representative of the millions on the island whose initiative, drive, and ingenuity, subverted by an illegitimate regime, has been reduced to scoring some facsimile of a meal for the day by whatever means at hand. Can you imagine what they could do, if they were unleashed? I can.
Ambivalence About Lending
President Bush came out yesterday with a "compassionate" proposal to ease the mortgage woes of millions of Americans. It wasn't a bad political move, either. I would like to be a big person. I would like to be noble and say, "How Wonderful!" But I'm not.
Having once, way back in the 80's, lost everything, having been forced by a lender unwilling to work with us into selling our home at a considerable discount, a lender who then turned around at the closing and slapped us with punitive “fines” which ate up our substantial down payment, as well as the extra thousand towards the principal we had paid for years, leaving a grand total of $494.00 out of the nearly hundred thousand in those two items, I have a skewed perspective on the matter.
For years in Florida I have watched people, twentysomethings in particular, who would have scoffed at the ramshackle four room Cracker home we bought later- the one with a mortgage the size of a motorcycle payment- buy large faux Mediterranean homes with price tags they could not possible afford. Snug in my now quaint cottage, I watched an impending train wreck.
But now, it seems I was wrong. There are so many of them that letting them learn the hard lessons we were taught could torpedo the economy. The situation reminds me that not long after our financial collapse, Donald Trump found himself in a similar situation. Of course, they didn’t take him to the wall, they way they did to us. They helped bail him out. It’s kinda like that commercial where the big banks use the little guy as a matchbook to prop up a wobbly table. Oh, well, one of the things you learn early on is that life isn’t fair.
For a more positive take, read this column at Townhall.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
The Roll of the Detained in Latest Wave of Repression
Here is a compilation of the new wave of arrests by Cuban authorities that started about November 21. If there is nothing next to the name, it does not necessarily mean he or she has not been released. Information is sketchy.
Date Not Specified:
Rita Montes de Oca Chirino- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Antuán Clemente Hernández- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Rancés Calzada Coba- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Vladimir Alejo Montes de Oca- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Leosdán Alejo Montes de Oca- threatened with jail and released hours later.
November 21: All arrested with Bermúdez Toranzo.
Juan Bermúdez Toranzo- still in custody at last report.
Georbis Ferrer Plana
José Luis Rodríguez Chávez
William Cepero García
Omar Osmany
Varván del Pino
November 27:
Manuel Pérez Soria- former political prisoner after hunger strike to protest gov't's failure to provide identitypapers; arrested for lack of documentation; still in custody at last report.
Vladimir Alejo Miranda- interrogated, threatened for 6 or 8 hours and released.
November 29: All three student leaders were part of the University student petition press conference.
Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina- still in custody at last report.
Eliécer Consuegra Rivas - deported to provinces Dec 4.
Gerardo Sánchez Ortega- deported to the provinces Dec.4.
November 30:All arrested outside the Lawton police station where they were peacefully protesting the arrest of Juan Bermúdez Toranzo.
Yusniel Basterechea Quintana
Miguel López Santos- held 24 hours and released at Km 17 on the national highway.
Arisnay Rodríguez Cruz
Juan Alberto de la Nuez Ramírez- held 24 hours and fined.
Yunier Piedraita Santa Cruz -held 24 hours and fined.
Alejandro Gabriel Martínez- held 24 hours and fined.
Yuris Barreras Sánchez- held 24 hours.
Carlos Michael Morales- held 24 hours and fined.
Raúl Pérez Gavilá- held 24 hours and fined.
Rogelio Hernández Mill
Aramis Sainz Sánchez
Tania Maceda Guerra- released at Km 17 on the national highway.
Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva- released at Km 17 on the national highway.
Jesús Cordero Suárez.
December 3: in Guantanamo
Juan Carlos Hernández Hernández
Salvador Benavides
December 4: Political Police broke down the doors of a church and using tear gas arrested 20(?) dissidents who were praying for the release of political prisoners after a march of 18 blocks
Unnamed
December 5: At the train station where they were accompanying Gerardo Sánchez Ortega.
Juan Carlos Hernández Hernández
Yorleinis Duvergel
Unnamed others
Source: Reports by Luis Esteban Espinosa, Tania Maceda Guerra, and Álvaro Yero Felipe at PayoLibre.com
Date Not Specified:
Rita Montes de Oca Chirino- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Antuán Clemente Hernández- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Rancés Calzada Coba- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Vladimir Alejo Montes de Oca- threatened with jail and released hours later.
Leosdán Alejo Montes de Oca- threatened with jail and released hours later.
November 21: All arrested with Bermúdez Toranzo.
Juan Bermúdez Toranzo- still in custody at last report.
Georbis Ferrer Plana
José Luis Rodríguez Chávez
William Cepero García
Omar Osmany
Varván del Pino
November 27:
Manuel Pérez Soria- former political prisoner after hunger strike to protest gov't's failure to provide identitypapers; arrested for lack of documentation; still in custody at last report.
Vladimir Alejo Miranda- interrogated, threatened for 6 or 8 hours and released.
November 29: All three student leaders were part of the University student petition press conference.
Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina- still in custody at last report.
Eliécer Consuegra Rivas - deported to provinces Dec 4.
Gerardo Sánchez Ortega- deported to the provinces Dec.4.
November 30:All arrested outside the Lawton police station where they were peacefully protesting the arrest of Juan Bermúdez Toranzo.
Yusniel Basterechea Quintana
Miguel López Santos- held 24 hours and released at Km 17 on the national highway.
Arisnay Rodríguez Cruz
Juan Alberto de la Nuez Ramírez- held 24 hours and fined.
Yunier Piedraita Santa Cruz -held 24 hours and fined.
Alejandro Gabriel Martínez- held 24 hours and fined.
Yuris Barreras Sánchez- held 24 hours.
Carlos Michael Morales- held 24 hours and fined.
Raúl Pérez Gavilá- held 24 hours and fined.
Rogelio Hernández Mill
Aramis Sainz Sánchez
Tania Maceda Guerra- released at Km 17 on the national highway.
Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva- released at Km 17 on the national highway.
Jesús Cordero Suárez.
December 3: in Guantanamo
Juan Carlos Hernández Hernández
Salvador Benavides
December 4: Political Police broke down the doors of a church and using tear gas arrested 20(?) dissidents who were praying for the release of political prisoners after a march of 18 blocks
Unnamed
December 5: At the train station where they were accompanying Gerardo Sánchez Ortega.
Juan Carlos Hernández Hernández
Yorleinis Duvergel
Unnamed others
Source: Reports by Luis Esteban Espinosa, Tania Maceda Guerra, and Álvaro Yero Felipe at PayoLibre.com
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Different Origins, Different Creeds, One People: Judaism in Cuba Today
The sound of wooden footwear clacking on cement as he chased them figured prominently in my mother's childhood tales of tormenting the Chino who ran a laundry. I used to ask myself, "what was a Chinese guy doing in their back of beyond small Cuban town?" The question was answered later when I discovered that the Chinese constituted one of the largest minority groups in Cuba. Still later I learned, they were lured in under harsh conditions of near indentured servitude to replace newly freed slaves. Unusual.
Then there were the Polacos. I'm not sure I'm even spelling it right. Growing up I knew people like "Joseito, el Polaco." Although I could never tell any difference between him and the other Cubans I knew, I thought it meant he was somehow from Poland. Again, I was to find out that Polaco denoted anyone from Eastern Europe or descendants of the same. In one case it extended to a guy reputedly from Syria or Lebannon. His origins are shrouded in the mists of time. Seems if you were foreign and looked European and weren't Gallego, you were Polaco.
Similarly, although the majority of Cubans were Roman Catholics, I learned there was a sizeable contingent of Presbyterians, at least around Matanzas. Nowadays, there are still Seventh Day Adventists. Didn't fifo attend the opening of their new church, or something like that? Growing up in the needle trades, I also knew quite a few Cuban Jews. So it was with interest that I read this NY1 article about Judaism in Cuba today.
I don't espouse, nor do I presume to judge, their having invited fifo to Hannukah. Who knows, he could have potentially been "enlightened." Whatever your political sensibilities, however, you have to appreciate the Cuban minyan: Seven men and three Torahs. Cubans are nothing, if not adaptable.
Then there were the Polacos. I'm not sure I'm even spelling it right. Growing up I knew people like "Joseito, el Polaco." Although I could never tell any difference between him and the other Cubans I knew, I thought it meant he was somehow from Poland. Again, I was to find out that Polaco denoted anyone from Eastern Europe or descendants of the same. In one case it extended to a guy reputedly from Syria or Lebannon. His origins are shrouded in the mists of time. Seems if you were foreign and looked European and weren't Gallego, you were Polaco.
Similarly, although the majority of Cubans were Roman Catholics, I learned there was a sizeable contingent of Presbyterians, at least around Matanzas. Nowadays, there are still Seventh Day Adventists. Didn't fifo attend the opening of their new church, or something like that? Growing up in the needle trades, I also knew quite a few Cuban Jews. So it was with interest that I read this NY1 article about Judaism in Cuba today.
I don't espouse, nor do I presume to judge, their having invited fifo to Hannukah. Who knows, he could have potentially been "enlightened." Whatever your political sensibilities, however, you have to appreciate the Cuban minyan: Seven men and three Torahs. Cubans are nothing, if not adaptable.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Reads: Havana Noir
Havana Noir, edited and translated in the main by Achy Obejas is one in a series of anthologies set in different metropolitan areas. Since I’m a fan of Chandler and Hammet and more recently Padura, it was with anticipation I cracked open the book. By midnight, after a few straight hours of reading, I was ready to slit my wrists. Havana here is a bleak, desolate metropolis, a landscape bereft of love, honor, softness, and most especially hope. The city depicted in these stories is a cesspool of moral depravity. As my mother would say, “Que despretigio.” Add to that the abject misery of life in Cuba, amplified for the form.
I was commenting on the same with my film school student daughter when she reminded me that’s characteristic of noir: alienation, violence, sex. Duh. But, wait, something is different here. To begin with there is only one detective in the whole collection, Alex Abella’s Jason Blue, who doesn’t do divorces or children because “I’ve got two of each and they’re not experiences I particularly want to relive.” Therein lies all the resemblance to the stories and movies of yesteryear. Random copulation, pederasty, you name it, all are fodder for the authors here. The world has changed.
Yet the stories in this book, each set in a different part of the capital, are “real.” They demand deliberation. Despite my disaffection, I found myself mulling the symbolic diminution of the cross-eyed narrator in the first entry, the symmetry of staring at the sun in Padura’s and the definition of Cuban in Obejas’ story, to name a few.
And then, there’s always one in every bunch, or siempre hay alguien que lo tiene que cagar. Despite Obejas’ use of the term “blockade’ for embargo in her intro, her selection was notable for its inclusionary nature, and political criticism, if any, was directed at the regime… except for Lea Aschkenas’ story, that is. Hers is the only one that has a group hissing at President Bush on TV and calling exiles "terrorists." In fact, her plot centers on the latter. I did some preliminary research, and her familiarity with Havana seems to devolve from having spent ten months there and having fallen in love with a Cuban, which experience she has already parlayed into a book.
I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book. I almost didn’t finish it. At the same time, I can’t highlight a story or two, because there were so many I did enjoy reading. There’s the pathos of Medina’s protagonist in his relentless, yet heartbreaking, quest to get to La Yuma, the charming local color of Arango’s story, the fascinating inner monologue of Correa’s, and many I don’t have room to mention. I recommend reading a story or two at a time, curled up in an arm chair, sipping a glass of red wine. I’ll be heading out to get Miami Noir and see how it compares. Could be I’m just a relic from a bygone era.
I was commenting on the same with my film school student daughter when she reminded me that’s characteristic of noir: alienation, violence, sex. Duh. But, wait, something is different here. To begin with there is only one detective in the whole collection, Alex Abella’s Jason Blue, who doesn’t do divorces or children because “I’ve got two of each and they’re not experiences I particularly want to relive.” Therein lies all the resemblance to the stories and movies of yesteryear. Random copulation, pederasty, you name it, all are fodder for the authors here. The world has changed.
Yet the stories in this book, each set in a different part of the capital, are “real.” They demand deliberation. Despite my disaffection, I found myself mulling the symbolic diminution of the cross-eyed narrator in the first entry, the symmetry of staring at the sun in Padura’s and the definition of Cuban in Obejas’ story, to name a few.
And then, there’s always one in every bunch, or siempre hay alguien que lo tiene que cagar. Despite Obejas’ use of the term “blockade’ for embargo in her intro, her selection was notable for its inclusionary nature, and political criticism, if any, was directed at the regime… except for Lea Aschkenas’ story, that is. Hers is the only one that has a group hissing at President Bush on TV and calling exiles "terrorists." In fact, her plot centers on the latter. I did some preliminary research, and her familiarity with Havana seems to devolve from having spent ten months there and having fallen in love with a Cuban, which experience she has already parlayed into a book.
I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book. I almost didn’t finish it. At the same time, I can’t highlight a story or two, because there were so many I did enjoy reading. There’s the pathos of Medina’s protagonist in his relentless, yet heartbreaking, quest to get to La Yuma, the charming local color of Arango’s story, the fascinating inner monologue of Correa’s, and many I don’t have room to mention. I recommend reading a story or two at a time, curled up in an arm chair, sipping a glass of red wine. I’ll be heading out to get Miami Noir and see how it compares. Could be I’m just a relic from a bygone era.
Where's the Coverage?
On December 1 at the University of Miami, an all day seminar was held, entitled "Cuba: What to Expect." Participants included some pretty notable figures in the field. You can view the program here. Inquiring minds would like to know what was discussed, what the participants had to say.
There is very little coverage to be had. There should be something in the Herald, but despite numerous searches, I could find nothing. The few articles I managed to unearth focus on Commerce Secretary Gutierrez's comments on our policy and, you guessed it, the embargo, the gist of which is our policy will not change, nor the embargo be lifted, unless there is change in Cuba.
In response to a questioner, doubtless interested in the old "we trade with China" argument for the lifting of the embargo, he reflected that in China and Vietnam have shown an interest in having good relations with the US and have made settlements of claims. Their people have some rights to travel, choose a job, start small businesses. A more accurate parallel, he indicated would be North Korea.
To read scattered quotes from the other participants, read the Palm Beach Post article here and the Nuevo Herald article here.
I guess it wasn't news.
Hold the presses! Found another one in the UK's Financial Times, strictly devoted to Gutierrez's remarks here.
There is very little coverage to be had. There should be something in the Herald, but despite numerous searches, I could find nothing. The few articles I managed to unearth focus on Commerce Secretary Gutierrez's comments on our policy and, you guessed it, the embargo, the gist of which is our policy will not change, nor the embargo be lifted, unless there is change in Cuba.
In response to a questioner, doubtless interested in the old "we trade with China" argument for the lifting of the embargo, he reflected that in China and Vietnam have shown an interest in having good relations with the US and have made settlements of claims. Their people have some rights to travel, choose a job, start small businesses. A more accurate parallel, he indicated would be North Korea.
To read scattered quotes from the other participants, read the Palm Beach Post article here and the Nuevo Herald article here.
I guess it wasn't news.
Hold the presses! Found another one in the UK's Financial Times, strictly devoted to Gutierrez's remarks here.
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