MENENDEZ STATEMENT AFTER SPEAKING WITH CUBAN PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER GUILLERMO FARIÑAS
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez spoke yesterday via telephone with Cuban pro-democracy leader and hunger striker Guillermo Fariñas. Menendez expressed his continued commitment to the struggle of Cuba's pro-democracy movement and prisoners of conscience. After the call to a hospital in Santa Clara, he released the following statement:
"We have to continue to shine a light on the brutal treatment by the Castro regime of political prisoners in Cuba. As long as I am a U.S. Senator, I will continue to use my voice and my vote to stand with individuals like Guillermo Fariñas, who have undertaken tremendous personal risk and sacrifice to simply expose the ongoing human rights abuses in Cuba. Guillermo was resolute in his position that the rights of Cuba's political prisoners must be honored."
Guillermo Fariñas has been on a hunger strike in Cuba since February 26th to protest the death of fellow dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo. He said that he will remain on strike until twenty-six other seriously ill prisoners of conscience are set free. He is receiving fluids intravenously since collapsing on March 11.
"Individuals like Guillermo Fariñas and Orlando Zapata Tamayo are evidence of the unbearable brutality of the Castro regime and the tragic state of political prisoners in Cuba. They are also part of a growing number of human rights activists willing to put their life on the line for freedom. The world community must raise their voices so that these rights are honored and Guillermo Fariñas can live. My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Fariñas and all of Cuba's prisoners of conscience."
How Many More Must Die?
From the Paris-based, non-governmental organization, Reporters Without Borders:
International community can no longer ignore the fate of Cuba's imprisoned journalists and dissidents
"How many more deaths will be needed in Cuban prisons?" was the question posed at a news conference held today at Reporters Without Borders headquarters in Paris for representatives of the French, Spanish and Latin American media.
This question has been more pressing than ever since political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death on 23 February. Some independent journalists such as Guillermo Fariñas, who is not currently detained, and Darsi Ferrer, who is in prison, have decided to follow Zapata's example by going on an indefinite hunger strike to press for the release of the prisoners of conscience who are in poorest health.
The 25 journalists currently in prison in Cuba include Reporters Without Borders correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, who is serving a 25-year jail sentence which he received during "Black Spring" crackdown of March 2003. His state of health has deteriorated markedly in recent months.
After Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard opened the news conference, Cuban writer Zoé Valdés described how the authorities recently stepped up their repression of the Ladies in White, a movement formed by the mothers, wives and sisters of political prisoners.
A march that the Ladies in White held in Havana on 17 March, on the eve of the "Black Spring" anniversary, was dispersed in a particularly brutal manner. Valdés also referred to the deterioration in the Castro regime's image since Zapata's death.
Another participant, writer and academic Jacobo Machover, criticised the readiness of certain governments - in France, Spain and Latin America - to tolerate the arbitrary actions of a regime that has still not ratified the two UN human rights conventions it signed when Raúl Castro was officially installed as his brother's successor in February 2008.
"The dissidents on hunger strike are not doing it for themselves but for everyone," Machover said, adding that, "today we are seeing the rebirth of a small hope for the island's future, one that many had ceased to cherish."
Referring to the letter that Reporters Without Borders wrote to Brazil's President Lula on 17 March and to its contacts with the European Union's Spanish presidency, Julliard concluded: "We are waiting for a response from governments regardless of their tendency. The international community cannot continue to remain silent in the face of the suffering of these dissidents and the lack of freedoms imposed by a regime whose hints of a possible opening stopped short at the threshold of human rights."
International community can no longer ignore the fate of Cuba's imprisoned journalists and dissidents
"How many more deaths will be needed in Cuban prisons?" was the question posed at a news conference held today at Reporters Without Borders headquarters in Paris for representatives of the French, Spanish and Latin American media.
This question has been more pressing than ever since political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death on 23 February. Some independent journalists such as Guillermo Fariñas, who is not currently detained, and Darsi Ferrer, who is in prison, have decided to follow Zapata's example by going on an indefinite hunger strike to press for the release of the prisoners of conscience who are in poorest health.
The 25 journalists currently in prison in Cuba include Reporters Without Borders correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, who is serving a 25-year jail sentence which he received during "Black Spring" crackdown of March 2003. His state of health has deteriorated markedly in recent months.
After Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard opened the news conference, Cuban writer Zoé Valdés described how the authorities recently stepped up their repression of the Ladies in White, a movement formed by the mothers, wives and sisters of political prisoners.
A march that the Ladies in White held in Havana on 17 March, on the eve of the "Black Spring" anniversary, was dispersed in a particularly brutal manner. Valdés also referred to the deterioration in the Castro regime's image since Zapata's death.
Another participant, writer and academic Jacobo Machover, criticised the readiness of certain governments - in France, Spain and Latin America - to tolerate the arbitrary actions of a regime that has still not ratified the two UN human rights conventions it signed when Raúl Castro was officially installed as his brother's successor in February 2008.
"The dissidents on hunger strike are not doing it for themselves but for everyone," Machover said, adding that, "today we are seeing the rebirth of a small hope for the island's future, one that many had ceased to cherish."
Referring to the letter that Reporters Without Borders wrote to Brazil's President Lula on 17 March and to its contacts with the European Union's Spanish presidency, Julliard concluded: "We are waiting for a response from governments regardless of their tendency. The international community cannot continue to remain silent in the face of the suffering of these dissidents and the lack of freedoms imposed by a regime whose hints of a possible opening stopped short at the threshold of human rights."
The Travel Debate's True Color
While the world is focused on the Castro regime's brutality and the Cuban people's courageous struggle for freedom through acts of civil disobedience and hunger strikes, Bloomberg's Jonathan Levin appears to be solely focused on the business perspectives of American tourism to Cuba.
So much so, that his recent articles read more like advocacy pieces and premonitions, than objective journalism.
However, these articles and the new legislative "repackaging" of the travel debate over the last few months have helped shed further light on the true color behind efforts to unilaterally lift U.S. sanctions:
Green.
On the one hand, you have the seduction of the U.S. farm lobby through promises of greater agricultural sales upon a tourism cash windfall for the Castro regime, as embodied in the House bill by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson.
On the other, you have Levin's articles and the seduction of the U.S. travel industry by Castro regime officials focused on apartheid resorts, beaches and golf courses.
As usual, all of these transactions have one sole Cuban counter-part: the Castro regime.
And the Cuban people? Nada.
Business as usual.
So much so, that his recent articles read more like advocacy pieces and premonitions, than objective journalism.
However, these articles and the new legislative "repackaging" of the travel debate over the last few months have helped shed further light on the true color behind efforts to unilaterally lift U.S. sanctions:
Green.
On the one hand, you have the seduction of the U.S. farm lobby through promises of greater agricultural sales upon a tourism cash windfall for the Castro regime, as embodied in the House bill by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson.
On the other, you have Levin's articles and the seduction of the U.S. travel industry by Castro regime officials focused on apartheid resorts, beaches and golf courses.
As usual, all of these transactions have one sole Cuban counter-part: the Castro regime.
And the Cuban people? Nada.
Business as usual.
Quote of the Week
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
"We would note that the government of Venezuela was largely closed this week due to energy shortages. To the extent that Venezuela is going to expend resources on behalf of its people, perhaps the focus should be more terrestrial than extraterrestrial."
-- P.J. Crowley, U.S. Department of State spokesman, on the announcement by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez that he is seeking Russia's help to build a space program for the South American nation, Associated Press, April 2nd, 2010
-- P.J. Crowley, U.S. Department of State spokesman, on the announcement by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez that he is seeking Russia's help to build a space program for the South American nation, Associated Press, April 2nd, 2010
Castro Exports Repression
From today's The Washington Times:
Cuban advisers bolster Venezuelan regime
Cuba's communist government has deployed thousands of technical and military advisers to Venezuela to bolster the regime of leftist President Hugo Chavez, as that country faces energy shortages and increased repression against opposition political leaders.
A senior Cuban security official and former interior minister, Gen. Ramiro Valdes, arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, in February to take charge of a Cuban government mission that over the past several years has grown to an estimated 40,000 advisers and aid workers, including a large contingent of Cuban military personnel.
The advisers include intelligence and security officers, political advisers and medical personnel [...]
Mr. Chavez's opponents fear the Cuban advisers are behind the repressive measures taken by the government to secure a victory for Mr. Chavez in congressional elections scheduled for September.
Several prominent opposition leaders have been arrested over the past month. They include Gov. Alvarez Paz of the oil-rich state of Zulia and Guillermo Zuloaga, president of the last surviving independent newschannel, Globovision [...]
"There are indications that agents of the Cuban G-2 [military intelligence] are operating openly at all the main military installations, principally the Ministry of Defense, the strategic operations command, the joint chiefs of staff headquarters, command centers of the army, navy, air force and national guard, as well as the military intelligence directorate" and the internal security service, said retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Uson, who served as defense planning director and briefly held the post of finance minister in Mr. Chavez's government.
Cuban advisers bolster Venezuelan regime
Cuba's communist government has deployed thousands of technical and military advisers to Venezuela to bolster the regime of leftist President Hugo Chavez, as that country faces energy shortages and increased repression against opposition political leaders.
A senior Cuban security official and former interior minister, Gen. Ramiro Valdes, arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, in February to take charge of a Cuban government mission that over the past several years has grown to an estimated 40,000 advisers and aid workers, including a large contingent of Cuban military personnel.
The advisers include intelligence and security officers, political advisers and medical personnel [...]
Mr. Chavez's opponents fear the Cuban advisers are behind the repressive measures taken by the government to secure a victory for Mr. Chavez in congressional elections scheduled for September.
Several prominent opposition leaders have been arrested over the past month. They include Gov. Alvarez Paz of the oil-rich state of Zulia and Guillermo Zuloaga, president of the last surviving independent newschannel, Globovision [...]
"There are indications that agents of the Cuban G-2 [military intelligence] are operating openly at all the main military installations, principally the Ministry of Defense, the strategic operations command, the joint chiefs of staff headquarters, command centers of the army, navy, air force and national guard, as well as the military intelligence directorate" and the internal security service, said retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Uson, who served as defense planning director and briefly held the post of finance minister in Mr. Chavez's government.
Riddle Me This
According to The Hill:
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said this weekend that three pending trade agreements with foreign countries (Colombia, Panama and South Korea) are unlikely to be completed this year.
Kirk said that the agreements were critical for the White House's new focus on job creation, but indicated that more cooperation is needed from labor unions and congressional Democrats before the they can be approved by Congress.
"I don't think that we're going to get them all done this year," Kirk said on Bloomberg's "Political Capital" in an interview that aired Saturday.
So let's get this straight.
Many Members of the U.S. Congress do not want to transact billions in (already existing) business opportunities with Colombia's private sector due to concerns over poor labor conditions.
Fair point.
Yet, those very same Members -- including House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson -- want to provide a billionaire tourism subsidy to the Castro regime in the hopes that it'll buy more U.S. agricultural products.
A classic head-scratcher.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said this weekend that three pending trade agreements with foreign countries (Colombia, Panama and South Korea) are unlikely to be completed this year.
Kirk said that the agreements were critical for the White House's new focus on job creation, but indicated that more cooperation is needed from labor unions and congressional Democrats before the they can be approved by Congress.
"I don't think that we're going to get them all done this year," Kirk said on Bloomberg's "Political Capital" in an interview that aired Saturday.
So let's get this straight.
Many Members of the U.S. Congress do not want to transact billions in (already existing) business opportunities with Colombia's private sector due to concerns over poor labor conditions.
Fair point.
Yet, those very same Members -- including House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson -- want to provide a billionaire tourism subsidy to the Castro regime in the hopes that it'll buy more U.S. agricultural products.
A classic head-scratcher.
Total Generational Disconnect
According to the AFP:
Cuba's young communist map future without Castros
HAVANA - Young Cuban communists gather here this weekend to map a future without Fidel and Raul Castro amid a deepening economic crisis, generational apathy and disenchantment with the revolution.
The Union of Communist Youth has embraced a slogan of socialist continuity for its conference, which is held every five years.
"There will be no turnover, only continuity," said Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, Cuba's first vice president, in preparatory meetings for the conference, rejecting out of hand changes in the country's socialist system.
Here's the kicker: Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (center below) is 79 years old.
Cuba's young communist map future without Castros
HAVANA - Young Cuban communists gather here this weekend to map a future without Fidel and Raul Castro amid a deepening economic crisis, generational apathy and disenchantment with the revolution.
The Union of Communist Youth has embraced a slogan of socialist continuity for its conference, which is held every five years.
"There will be no turnover, only continuity," said Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, Cuba's first vice president, in preparatory meetings for the conference, rejecting out of hand changes in the country's socialist system.
Here's the kicker: Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (center below) is 79 years old.
The Purest of Protests
By Univision News co-anchor Maria Elena Salinas in The Denver Post:
Ladies in White March for Cuba
Ladies dressed in white, marching through the streets of Havana, Cuba, in silence: the purest of protests. Yet a group of Cuban women known as "Las Damas de Blanco," or "Ladies in White," have been victims of cruel repression by supporters of the communist government on the island. But now they are not alone.
Last week, tens of thousands of people marched on the streets of Miami's Little Havana to show their support for the Ladies in White and their cause. "Cubans and non-Cubans alike that live in liberty need to take the opportunity at this moment in history to come together and show them that we care," said Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, who, along with her husband, music producer Emilio Estefan, organized the first of several marches.
Estefan was motivated by the brutal images on television of the women being harassed by pro-government protesters who insulted them as they marched peacefully down the street, as they have done for years, asking for the release of their loved ones. The images show them being pushed and shoved, yelled at, dragged and taken away in buses by security forces.
Las Damas de Blanco spontaneously organized in April 2003, shortly after a series of mock trials in which 75 dissidents, independent journalists and human-rights activists were sentenced to jail terms that range from six to 30 years. They had been rounded up in a series of raids weeks earlier, in what came to be known as The Black Spring of 2003, and were accused of conspiring against the "independence and integrity of Cuba" with the "Northern Empire," as the Cuban government refers to the United States.
Many of those detained were coordinators of the Varela Project, an effort by dissidents to request democratic changes on the island by gathering 10,000 signatures, as required by the Cuban Constitution. They were charged with subversive activities, as were many others who wrote, edited and published an independent magazine.
Since then, the Ladies in White have been holding vigils, taking walks along the streets of several Cuban cities, holding a flower or a picture of their husbands, brothers or sons whom they consider unfairly detained. They remain silent throughout, hoping their peaceful and passive form of protest will help gain their loved ones freedom.
In the past weeks, their efforts have been supported by two brave men who risked their lives in the name of the prisoners of conscience who have fallen ill under detention. After 82 days on a hunger strike, Orlando Zapata, a 42- year-old plumber, died Feb. 23 while in prison. Journalist and human- rights activist Guillermo Farinas, after three weeks on a hunger strike, said he was willing to die if it would call attention to the plight of his jailed compatriots.
The world has taken notice. There has been international condemnation and outcries from the European Union and the U.S. State Department asking the Cuban government to release all political prisoners.
The day before the march in Miami in support of the Ladies in White, President Barack Obama put out a statement of support for the human-rights struggle in Cuba. "Recent events in Cuba, including the tragic death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the repression visited upon Las Damas de Blanco, and the intensified harassment of those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans, are deeply disturbing," said the president. "These events underscore that instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist."
Cuban exiles and dissidents on the island have gone to great lengths to try to bring about democratic changes. Every year they ask the same question: When will freedom come to the Cuban people? Wouldn't it be ironic if a group of women dressed in white, with their silence, their dignity and their courage, could accomplish what the most powerful politicians have failed to do?
Ladies in White March for Cuba
Ladies dressed in white, marching through the streets of Havana, Cuba, in silence: the purest of protests. Yet a group of Cuban women known as "Las Damas de Blanco," or "Ladies in White," have been victims of cruel repression by supporters of the communist government on the island. But now they are not alone.
Last week, tens of thousands of people marched on the streets of Miami's Little Havana to show their support for the Ladies in White and their cause. "Cubans and non-Cubans alike that live in liberty need to take the opportunity at this moment in history to come together and show them that we care," said Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, who, along with her husband, music producer Emilio Estefan, organized the first of several marches.
Estefan was motivated by the brutal images on television of the women being harassed by pro-government protesters who insulted them as they marched peacefully down the street, as they have done for years, asking for the release of their loved ones. The images show them being pushed and shoved, yelled at, dragged and taken away in buses by security forces.
Las Damas de Blanco spontaneously organized in April 2003, shortly after a series of mock trials in which 75 dissidents, independent journalists and human-rights activists were sentenced to jail terms that range from six to 30 years. They had been rounded up in a series of raids weeks earlier, in what came to be known as The Black Spring of 2003, and were accused of conspiring against the "independence and integrity of Cuba" with the "Northern Empire," as the Cuban government refers to the United States.
Many of those detained were coordinators of the Varela Project, an effort by dissidents to request democratic changes on the island by gathering 10,000 signatures, as required by the Cuban Constitution. They were charged with subversive activities, as were many others who wrote, edited and published an independent magazine.
Since then, the Ladies in White have been holding vigils, taking walks along the streets of several Cuban cities, holding a flower or a picture of their husbands, brothers or sons whom they consider unfairly detained. They remain silent throughout, hoping their peaceful and passive form of protest will help gain their loved ones freedom.
In the past weeks, their efforts have been supported by two brave men who risked their lives in the name of the prisoners of conscience who have fallen ill under detention. After 82 days on a hunger strike, Orlando Zapata, a 42- year-old plumber, died Feb. 23 while in prison. Journalist and human- rights activist Guillermo Farinas, after three weeks on a hunger strike, said he was willing to die if it would call attention to the plight of his jailed compatriots.
The world has taken notice. There has been international condemnation and outcries from the European Union and the U.S. State Department asking the Cuban government to release all political prisoners.
The day before the march in Miami in support of the Ladies in White, President Barack Obama put out a statement of support for the human-rights struggle in Cuba. "Recent events in Cuba, including the tragic death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the repression visited upon Las Damas de Blanco, and the intensified harassment of those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans, are deeply disturbing," said the president. "These events underscore that instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist."
Cuban exiles and dissidents on the island have gone to great lengths to try to bring about democratic changes. Every year they ask the same question: When will freedom come to the Cuban people? Wouldn't it be ironic if a group of women dressed in white, with their silence, their dignity and their courage, could accomplish what the most powerful politicians have failed to do?
Seven Years Later
Monday, April 5, 2010
From the International Press Institute (IPI):
Seven Years on, No Sign of Justice for Cuba's Jailed Journalists
On 7th Anniversary of 27-Year Prison Sentence for Omar Rodriguez Saludes, IPI Repeats Call for his Immediate Release
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the sentencing of Cuban journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes to 27 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down to any of the journalists charged during Cuba's notorious 2003 'Black Spring' crackdown against the media.
More than 29 journalists were arrested in the roundups that began on 18 March 2003, according to IPI's Justice Denied Campaign, which highlights cases of imprisoned journalists and impunity in crimes against journalists worldwide. At least two other journalists have been arrested in the years since the crackdown.
Saludes was one of those arrested on 18 March 2003 and three weeks later, on 5 April, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for "acting against the independence or territorial integrity of the State." It was the longest sentence handed down to any of the journalists charged in the crackdown.
Rodriguez was head of the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana in Havana at the time of his arrest. He was known for his reports about political repression under the regime of Fidel Castro, the island nation's ailing former leader and elder brother of the current president. Friends and family members say Rodriguez is housed in the crowded Toledo Prison in the capital, and today suffers from health problems.
In July last year, IPI spoke to Rodriguez's wife, Ileana Marrero Joa, and to his uncle, Miguel Saludes, about the terrible conditions of his imprisonment and the difficulties of being an independent journalist in Cuba today.
In September 2009, in an unprecedented ruling, a United States federal judge ordered the Cuban Communist Party and the government of Raul Castro to pay a total of US$27.5 million to the mother of the jailed journalist.
Dozens of people were jailed on treason-related charges in the sweeping crackdown launched by the Castro regime in the spring of 2003. Despite condemnations from the United Nations, foreign governments and human rights groups, many remain behind bars.
Seven years after the crackdown on journalists and other accused dissenters, the country continues to trample on free expression and remains a leading jailer of journalists, with more than 20 reporters and news managers behind bars.
As of March 2010, at least four dissidents and human rights activists were on hunger strike in Cuba. Political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after an 85-day hunger strike on Feb 24 2010. In the month since then, three other dissidents have also gone on hunger strikes to demand that President Raul Castro's government release political detainees. One of the dissidents, Coco Fariñas is demanding, among other things, the end of "government violence against our people, against bloggers and independent journalists."
"The Cuban authorities should release Saludes immediately, and allow him to return to his family and friends", said IPI Director David Dadge. "Saludes' imprisonment is excessive and unjust, and we demand that Cuba desist from its campaign of harassment against dissidents and journalists, and enable the Cuban people to freely express themselves."
Seven Years on, No Sign of Justice for Cuba's Jailed Journalists
On 7th Anniversary of 27-Year Prison Sentence for Omar Rodriguez Saludes, IPI Repeats Call for his Immediate Release
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the sentencing of Cuban journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes to 27 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down to any of the journalists charged during Cuba's notorious 2003 'Black Spring' crackdown against the media.
More than 29 journalists were arrested in the roundups that began on 18 March 2003, according to IPI's Justice Denied Campaign, which highlights cases of imprisoned journalists and impunity in crimes against journalists worldwide. At least two other journalists have been arrested in the years since the crackdown.
Saludes was one of those arrested on 18 March 2003 and three weeks later, on 5 April, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for "acting against the independence or territorial integrity of the State." It was the longest sentence handed down to any of the journalists charged in the crackdown.
Rodriguez was head of the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana in Havana at the time of his arrest. He was known for his reports about political repression under the regime of Fidel Castro, the island nation's ailing former leader and elder brother of the current president. Friends and family members say Rodriguez is housed in the crowded Toledo Prison in the capital, and today suffers from health problems.
In July last year, IPI spoke to Rodriguez's wife, Ileana Marrero Joa, and to his uncle, Miguel Saludes, about the terrible conditions of his imprisonment and the difficulties of being an independent journalist in Cuba today.
In September 2009, in an unprecedented ruling, a United States federal judge ordered the Cuban Communist Party and the government of Raul Castro to pay a total of US$27.5 million to the mother of the jailed journalist.
Dozens of people were jailed on treason-related charges in the sweeping crackdown launched by the Castro regime in the spring of 2003. Despite condemnations from the United Nations, foreign governments and human rights groups, many remain behind bars.
Seven years after the crackdown on journalists and other accused dissenters, the country continues to trample on free expression and remains a leading jailer of journalists, with more than 20 reporters and news managers behind bars.
As of March 2010, at least four dissidents and human rights activists were on hunger strike in Cuba. Political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after an 85-day hunger strike on Feb 24 2010. In the month since then, three other dissidents have also gone on hunger strikes to demand that President Raul Castro's government release political detainees. One of the dissidents, Coco Fariñas is demanding, among other things, the end of "government violence against our people, against bloggers and independent journalists."
"The Cuban authorities should release Saludes immediately, and allow him to return to his family and friends", said IPI Director David Dadge. "Saludes' imprisonment is excessive and unjust, and we demand that Cuba desist from its campaign of harassment against dissidents and journalists, and enable the Cuban people to freely express themselves."
A Paragon of Modern Slavery
From the New York Post's Editorial Board:
Cuba's ship of state
A slave ship for an enslaved island? How appropriate.
Last Wednesday, a replica of the famed 19th-century slave-transport vessel Amistad concluded a 10-day tour through Cuban waters.
Alas, it was not to bear witness to the political and economic repression that's a daily reality for the Communist nation.
Rather, the highlight of the UN-sponsored "educational" jaunt was the March 25 global "Day of Remembrance" for victims of the Atlantic slave trade — a date that also marked the 10th anniversary of the schooner's launch out of Connecticut's Mystic Seaport.
During its visit to "Fidel's Paradise," Amistad hosted a three-hour simulcast on the history of the slave trade, connecting students in Cuban classrooms with counterparts across the Atlantic and in UN headquarters here.
Well, the UN may consider itself historically aware. Too bad it's also irony-challenged — commemorating centuries of slavery and oppression, while turning a blind eye to its modern-day manifestation just 90 miles from Florida.
Sure, students learned about the slave trade — including the unknowable numbers who died during the Middle Passage transport from Africa.
But how much did they learn about the countless Cubans who've suffered — and those who died — in the 50 years since Castro's ascension to power?
Many of those died at sea, not on a "freedom schooner" such as the recreated Amistad. Instead, they were on makeshift rafts — or any craft they could cobble together — in desperate attempts for a better life.
Yet from all reports, that story wasn't told — ensuring that the Cuban students participating remain in intellectual, as well as geographical, captivity.
The United Nations, of course, gets to remain in moral captivity — feeling superior for its cursory nod to a historical horror, while remaining silent to an inconveniently ongoing one.
Cuba's ship of state
A slave ship for an enslaved island? How appropriate.
Last Wednesday, a replica of the famed 19th-century slave-transport vessel Amistad concluded a 10-day tour through Cuban waters.
Alas, it was not to bear witness to the political and economic repression that's a daily reality for the Communist nation.
Rather, the highlight of the UN-sponsored "educational" jaunt was the March 25 global "Day of Remembrance" for victims of the Atlantic slave trade — a date that also marked the 10th anniversary of the schooner's launch out of Connecticut's Mystic Seaport.
During its visit to "Fidel's Paradise," Amistad hosted a three-hour simulcast on the history of the slave trade, connecting students in Cuban classrooms with counterparts across the Atlantic and in UN headquarters here.
Well, the UN may consider itself historically aware. Too bad it's also irony-challenged — commemorating centuries of slavery and oppression, while turning a blind eye to its modern-day manifestation just 90 miles from Florida.
Sure, students learned about the slave trade — including the unknowable numbers who died during the Middle Passage transport from Africa.
But how much did they learn about the countless Cubans who've suffered — and those who died — in the 50 years since Castro's ascension to power?
Many of those died at sea, not on a "freedom schooner" such as the recreated Amistad. Instead, they were on makeshift rafts — or any craft they could cobble together — in desperate attempts for a better life.
Yet from all reports, that story wasn't told — ensuring that the Cuban students participating remain in intellectual, as well as geographical, captivity.
The United Nations, of course, gets to remain in moral captivity — feeling superior for its cursory nod to a historical horror, while remaining silent to an inconveniently ongoing one.
Military Placed on High Alert
On March 23rd, senior Cuban military officers were convened in Havana to devise a strategy to crush a surge in acts of civil disobedience and internal dissent.
Univision Radio's Angelica Mora reports that a meeting of this type had not occurred since 2006, when Raul Castro informed the military command of Fidel's serious illness.
Pursuant to this latest meeting, General Lucio Morales Sabat placed the Western Army (the Cuban military is divided into three armies, the East, Central and West) on high alert.
Further orders were given to close ranks and facilitate more efficient weaponry to military guards at government installations, particularly the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Council of State, in order to quickly confront "subversive acts."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, are Canadian and European tourism dollars at work.
Univision Radio's Angelica Mora reports that a meeting of this type had not occurred since 2006, when Raul Castro informed the military command of Fidel's serious illness.
Pursuant to this latest meeting, General Lucio Morales Sabat placed the Western Army (the Cuban military is divided into three armies, the East, Central and West) on high alert.
Further orders were given to close ranks and facilitate more efficient weaponry to military guards at government installations, particularly the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Council of State, in order to quickly confront "subversive acts."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, are Canadian and European tourism dollars at work.
Third Hunger Striker Hospitalized
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Cuban pro-democracy leader Franklin Pelegrino del Toro, who is on the 35th day of a hunger strike, has been hospitalized in the northeast town of Holguin. He is said to be in a very deteriorated state.
Pelegrino del Toro, 38-years old, began his hunger strike in solidarity with that of Guillermo Farinas, who is demanding the release of 26 Cuban political prisoners in need of medical care.
Like Farinas, Pelegrino del Toro has stated that he will take the hunger strike to its final consequences, unless the Castro regime responds to their humanitarian request.
On February 23rd, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year old political prisoner, died from a hunger strike protesting the beatings and tortures he was subjected to.
Pelegrino del Toro, 38-years old, began his hunger strike in solidarity with that of Guillermo Farinas, who is demanding the release of 26 Cuban political prisoners in need of medical care.
Like Farinas, Pelegrino del Toro has stated that he will take the hunger strike to its final consequences, unless the Castro regime responds to their humanitarian request.
On February 23rd, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year old political prisoner, died from a hunger strike protesting the beatings and tortures he was subjected to.
Fariñas' Cuban -E-volution
From today's The Guardian (United Kingdom):
A hunger striker exposes Cuba's hidden side
The image of gaunt journalist Guillermo Farinas reveals failure by the Raul Castro regime to deliver greater tolerance
It is not the face Cuba's leaders wanted to project: the eyes are sunken, the cheeks hollow, the expression grim. Guillermo Fariñas is entering his sixth week of hunger strike a gaunt, stricken figure and a symbol of despair under President Raul Castro.
The dissident journalist stopped eating and drinking on 24 February in protest at repression that has derailed hopes of greater tolerance on the communist island.
When Raul formally succeeded his ailing brother, Fidel, last year there was talk of easing political and economic restrictions and a thaw with the US. Raul signaled reform and Barack Obama promised a "new beginning" after half a century of enmity. A year later those hopes are ashes and Fariñas's doleful gaze captures a bleak mood infecting diplomats, analysts and ordinary Cubans.
First came disappointment over economic reforms. Raul's efforts to boost moribund agriculture and industry were timid and no match for a global financial crisis that in effect bankrupted the government, forcing it to slash subsidies and salaries. Food production in Havana province is 40% below target this year, heralding bare shop shelves and markets.
Then on 23 February Orlando Zapato Tayamo, a political prisoner, died after an 85-day hunger strike for better conditions, triggering international condemnation and souring Havana's relations with the European Union.
Fariñas started his hunger strike a day later to demand the release of political prisoners and has vowed to continue until death if necessary. As he turns more skeletal, criticism of Havana grows. When a pro-government mob roughed up the Ladies in White, relatives of the prisoners, angry rallies in Miami and Los Angeles denounced the regime and Obama accused it of responding "to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist".
Last year, the White House slightly eased the US's JFK-era embargo on the island, but Congress retreated from bolder changes in the wake of December's detention of a US sub-contractor, Alan Gross, who was caught delivering satellite communications equipment to Cuba's small Jewish community.
The revolution is hardly about to fall. Fidel remains a towering figure, the government is firmly in control and Latin America, China and Russia are queuing up for business deals.
Still, it cannot be encouraging that Silvio Rodríguez, Cuba's best-known folk singer and pro-government artist, last week called for "conceptual revisions" and said the revolution should drop the R to become "evolution."
A hunger striker exposes Cuba's hidden side
The image of gaunt journalist Guillermo Farinas reveals failure by the Raul Castro regime to deliver greater tolerance
It is not the face Cuba's leaders wanted to project: the eyes are sunken, the cheeks hollow, the expression grim. Guillermo Fariñas is entering his sixth week of hunger strike a gaunt, stricken figure and a symbol of despair under President Raul Castro.
The dissident journalist stopped eating and drinking on 24 February in protest at repression that has derailed hopes of greater tolerance on the communist island.
When Raul formally succeeded his ailing brother, Fidel, last year there was talk of easing political and economic restrictions and a thaw with the US. Raul signaled reform and Barack Obama promised a "new beginning" after half a century of enmity. A year later those hopes are ashes and Fariñas's doleful gaze captures a bleak mood infecting diplomats, analysts and ordinary Cubans.
First came disappointment over economic reforms. Raul's efforts to boost moribund agriculture and industry were timid and no match for a global financial crisis that in effect bankrupted the government, forcing it to slash subsidies and salaries. Food production in Havana province is 40% below target this year, heralding bare shop shelves and markets.
Then on 23 February Orlando Zapato Tayamo, a political prisoner, died after an 85-day hunger strike for better conditions, triggering international condemnation and souring Havana's relations with the European Union.
Fariñas started his hunger strike a day later to demand the release of political prisoners and has vowed to continue until death if necessary. As he turns more skeletal, criticism of Havana grows. When a pro-government mob roughed up the Ladies in White, relatives of the prisoners, angry rallies in Miami and Los Angeles denounced the regime and Obama accused it of responding "to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist".
Last year, the White House slightly eased the US's JFK-era embargo on the island, but Congress retreated from bolder changes in the wake of December's detention of a US sub-contractor, Alan Gross, who was caught delivering satellite communications equipment to Cuba's small Jewish community.
The revolution is hardly about to fall. Fidel remains a towering figure, the government is firmly in control and Latin America, China and Russia are queuing up for business deals.
Still, it cannot be encouraging that Silvio Rodríguez, Cuba's best-known folk singer and pro-government artist, last week called for "conceptual revisions" and said the revolution should drop the R to become "evolution."
Tagged in Bern
The Cuban Embassy in Bern, Switzerland awoke this morning to the following message on its wall:
"Freedom and Democracy for Cuba. Zapata Lives!"
Picture courtesy of Penultimos Dias.
"Freedom and Democracy for Cuba. Zapata Lives!"
Picture courtesy of Penultimos Dias.
The Gladioli Revolution
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Please read this moving perspective from Havana by Lucas Garve of the Foundation for Freedom of Expression.
It is on the "Ladies in White" and their inspirational struggle, which is clearly reverberating throughout the island.
The Power of Flowers
In the street, many people stopped me to ask me about them for most of this past week. They did so in a low voice, but making their indignation clear, in fact one young woman told me how much she had come to understand the manipulation of the state controlled media by the regime.
The majority of the people declared to me their rejection of the violent methods used by the repressive forces of the regime against this group of women dressed in white who walked though the streets of Havana giving away flowers to bystanders.
The Ladies in White honored their imprisoned husbands for the seven years for which they have endured suffering in Cuba's jails. They had to withstand the frontal attacks by mobs (Or Rapid Response Brigades, dressed in civilian clothing) organized by the repressive apparatus of the regime to make it seem as if though it was the "people themselves who rejected the Ladies in White."
This time, the attacks on the Ladies in White consisted of insults and direct physical violence. Hundreds of television viewers saw on TV the broadcasts of these events from stations in Miami which captured though illegal sources and video everything that occurred in Havana.
Not the Cuban baseball playoffs, not the news about the earthquake in Haiti, nor the newly taken stance of the European Union against the regime, was what was on the minds of those who saw the images on the TV of the regime's brigades against the Ladies dressed in white, at the entrance of the Church of Santa Barbara in the Havana neighborhood of Párraga, suburb south of the capital.
One observer said that the violence was directed not just against the Ladies in White, but also against the residents of Párraga, a poor neighborhood where discontent against the regime is more concentrated than in other parts of the city. The violence, used as a sort of warning against those who would dare to join the Ladies in White in their protest.
One mother said that it was amazing that a government that likes to say that it helps the poor of other countries would commit the brutalities it did against a group of women who only ask for the liberty of their husbands and who give out flowers. The woman was present in Coppelia one day when the Ladies in White appeared giving out flowers to people.
So powerful were the images transmitted by the Television broadcasts that one youth, disgusted by the violence of the government on TV, expressed that: "This illustrates the human degradation to which the government is willing to lower itself to in its desperation."
It is clearly a reflection of the crisis that drowns the lives of ordinary Cubans, governed by an elite that does not cease to dream about a perennial and eternal war (against the US), the only thing they have known how to do well. Because as we know it is easier to make war than to construct peace.
No one filled with this much hate can possibly restore the time lost by so many generations of Cubans. Much less if they are afraid of the power of flowers.
Translated from Spanish by UrbanGypsy.
It is on the "Ladies in White" and their inspirational struggle, which is clearly reverberating throughout the island.
The Power of Flowers
In the street, many people stopped me to ask me about them for most of this past week. They did so in a low voice, but making their indignation clear, in fact one young woman told me how much she had come to understand the manipulation of the state controlled media by the regime.
The majority of the people declared to me their rejection of the violent methods used by the repressive forces of the regime against this group of women dressed in white who walked though the streets of Havana giving away flowers to bystanders.
The Ladies in White honored their imprisoned husbands for the seven years for which they have endured suffering in Cuba's jails. They had to withstand the frontal attacks by mobs (Or Rapid Response Brigades, dressed in civilian clothing) organized by the repressive apparatus of the regime to make it seem as if though it was the "people themselves who rejected the Ladies in White."
This time, the attacks on the Ladies in White consisted of insults and direct physical violence. Hundreds of television viewers saw on TV the broadcasts of these events from stations in Miami which captured though illegal sources and video everything that occurred in Havana.
Not the Cuban baseball playoffs, not the news about the earthquake in Haiti, nor the newly taken stance of the European Union against the regime, was what was on the minds of those who saw the images on the TV of the regime's brigades against the Ladies dressed in white, at the entrance of the Church of Santa Barbara in the Havana neighborhood of Párraga, suburb south of the capital.
One observer said that the violence was directed not just against the Ladies in White, but also against the residents of Párraga, a poor neighborhood where discontent against the regime is more concentrated than in other parts of the city. The violence, used as a sort of warning against those who would dare to join the Ladies in White in their protest.
One mother said that it was amazing that a government that likes to say that it helps the poor of other countries would commit the brutalities it did against a group of women who only ask for the liberty of their husbands and who give out flowers. The woman was present in Coppelia one day when the Ladies in White appeared giving out flowers to people.
So powerful were the images transmitted by the Television broadcasts that one youth, disgusted by the violence of the government on TV, expressed that: "This illustrates the human degradation to which the government is willing to lower itself to in its desperation."
It is clearly a reflection of the crisis that drowns the lives of ordinary Cubans, governed by an elite that does not cease to dream about a perennial and eternal war (against the US), the only thing they have known how to do well. Because as we know it is easier to make war than to construct peace.
No one filled with this much hate can possibly restore the time lost by so many generations of Cubans. Much less if they are afraid of the power of flowers.
Translated from Spanish by UrbanGypsy.
Quote of the Month
"Political prisoners do not exist in democracies. In a truly free country, no one goes to prison for thinking differently. Cuba can use all of the rhetorical efforts it wishes to sell the idea that it is a 'special democracy,' but each political prisoner is a factual rebuttal of that assertion. Every political prisoner is irrefutable proof of its authoritarianism."
--Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Spain's El Pais newspaper, March 13, 2010.
--Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Spain's El Pais newspaper, March 13, 2010.
Images Are Louder Than Words
Friday, April 2, 2010
By columnist Miguel Perez of the Creators Syndicate:
Cuban images louder than words
For many years, Cuba's government-orchestrated protests were good enough to fool some. All over the planet, many fools actually believed that the Cuban people loved their government so much that they would run out of their homes to shout obscenities at anyone with a dissenting opinion.
And for many years, Cuban government propaganda had the world thinking that Fidel Castro's communist revolution had somehow liberated the black people on the Caribbean island. African-American politicians, proud defenders of civil rights in the United States, would go there on "peace and love" junkets — without much concern for the human and civil rights of black Cubans.
It was Cuban theater at its best. No one believed us Cuban-Americans, who had lived behind those theater curtains, when we explained that Cuba had many more black dissidents than it had black government officials. No one listened when we explained that the Castro dictator had special "rapid response brigades," or gangs of government goons, assigned to squash any dissident opposition with anything from verbal abuse to physical violence.
Foreign correspondents in Cuba even have reported that these "spontaneous" mob responses by government "supporters" are usually led by people who carry walkie-talkies and, thus, are obviously government officials.
Even Amnesty International recognized, in a 2006 report, that these "acts of repudiation," in which "large groups of government supporters verbally abuse, intimidate and sometimes physically assault and throw stones and other objects at homes of anyone considered to be counter-revolutionary ... are normally carried out in collusion with the security forces."
I understood why no one listened. It was too fictional, too Machiavellian — the kind of story that would not seem real even in the movies.
Yet, new technology is uncovering atrocities by the Cuban government. Just go to YouTube and search for "Ladies in White" or "Damas de Blanco" and you will see how a group of courageous Cuban women are treated for attempting to march peacefully on the streets of Havana and pleading for freedom for their imprisoned relatives.
In video and still images captured March 17 in Havana, you will see the kind of repression that the Cuban government no longer can hide behind its theater curtains. You will see how Cuban authorities forcibly intervened in a peaceful demonstration and dragged these women into a bus while other Cuban government goons shouted obscenities at them.
Circulated around the world via the Internet, these images have ignited a new wave of condemnation against the Castro regime. That's why thousands of non-Cubans joined with Cuban-Americans in dissident solidarity marches in Miami, Los Angeles and New York last weekend. That's why they were dressed in white.
They have seen the images of peaceful Cuban dissidents being accosted by angry mobs in the same way that a lynch mob would more logically confront a rapist or a serial killer. They have seen how even the relatives of imprisoned dissidents — some black, some elderly and one still mourning the recent hunger-strike death of her dissident son in a Cuban prison — are subjected to all kinds of human rights violations.
After the latest "Ladies in White" repression video, even President Barack Obama, who has been trying to befriend the Castro brothers, was forced to condemn them.
"Instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist," Obama said in a written statement. "Today, I join my voice with brave individuals across Cuba and a growing chorus around the world in calling for an end to the repression, for the immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba, and for respect for the basic rights of the Cuban people."
Those are strong words from a president who, just last year, froze $40 million that had been appropriated by Congress to support the pro-democracy movement in Cuba. The recent hunger-strike death of dissident prisoner Orlando Zapata and the ongoing hunger strike by dissident Guillermo Farinas are making it hard for Obama to embrace their tormentors.
Yet, although Obama's State Department recently announced that it would defreeze half of the $40 million designated to support Cuban dissidents, a prominent U.S. senator has decided to single-handedly squash the technological support that has begun to give the Cuban people a chance to fight for freedom.
As if the Cuban "rapid response brigades" had members in the U.S. Congress, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., rapidly announced last week that as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was placing the $40 million on "a temporary hold." A Kerry spokesman shamelessly told reporters that the senator needs "assurances that these (pro-dissident) programs have eliminated waste, fraud and abuse" and that he will wait for the State Department to "undertake a review of these programs."
At a time when computers, satellite dishes, cell phones and other forms of new technology are finally exposing the plight of Cuban dissidents, when their struggle for freedom and democracy is finally gaining some world attention, amazingly, some American politicians still are trying to block their way. The Cuban "rapid response brigades" need more people like Sen. John Kerry.
Cuban images louder than words
For many years, Cuba's government-orchestrated protests were good enough to fool some. All over the planet, many fools actually believed that the Cuban people loved their government so much that they would run out of their homes to shout obscenities at anyone with a dissenting opinion.
And for many years, Cuban government propaganda had the world thinking that Fidel Castro's communist revolution had somehow liberated the black people on the Caribbean island. African-American politicians, proud defenders of civil rights in the United States, would go there on "peace and love" junkets — without much concern for the human and civil rights of black Cubans.
It was Cuban theater at its best. No one believed us Cuban-Americans, who had lived behind those theater curtains, when we explained that Cuba had many more black dissidents than it had black government officials. No one listened when we explained that the Castro dictator had special "rapid response brigades," or gangs of government goons, assigned to squash any dissident opposition with anything from verbal abuse to physical violence.
Foreign correspondents in Cuba even have reported that these "spontaneous" mob responses by government "supporters" are usually led by people who carry walkie-talkies and, thus, are obviously government officials.
Even Amnesty International recognized, in a 2006 report, that these "acts of repudiation," in which "large groups of government supporters verbally abuse, intimidate and sometimes physically assault and throw stones and other objects at homes of anyone considered to be counter-revolutionary ... are normally carried out in collusion with the security forces."
I understood why no one listened. It was too fictional, too Machiavellian — the kind of story that would not seem real even in the movies.
Yet, new technology is uncovering atrocities by the Cuban government. Just go to YouTube and search for "Ladies in White" or "Damas de Blanco" and you will see how a group of courageous Cuban women are treated for attempting to march peacefully on the streets of Havana and pleading for freedom for their imprisoned relatives.
In video and still images captured March 17 in Havana, you will see the kind of repression that the Cuban government no longer can hide behind its theater curtains. You will see how Cuban authorities forcibly intervened in a peaceful demonstration and dragged these women into a bus while other Cuban government goons shouted obscenities at them.
Circulated around the world via the Internet, these images have ignited a new wave of condemnation against the Castro regime. That's why thousands of non-Cubans joined with Cuban-Americans in dissident solidarity marches in Miami, Los Angeles and New York last weekend. That's why they were dressed in white.
They have seen the images of peaceful Cuban dissidents being accosted by angry mobs in the same way that a lynch mob would more logically confront a rapist or a serial killer. They have seen how even the relatives of imprisoned dissidents — some black, some elderly and one still mourning the recent hunger-strike death of her dissident son in a Cuban prison — are subjected to all kinds of human rights violations.
After the latest "Ladies in White" repression video, even President Barack Obama, who has been trying to befriend the Castro brothers, was forced to condemn them.
"Instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist," Obama said in a written statement. "Today, I join my voice with brave individuals across Cuba and a growing chorus around the world in calling for an end to the repression, for the immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba, and for respect for the basic rights of the Cuban people."
Those are strong words from a president who, just last year, froze $40 million that had been appropriated by Congress to support the pro-democracy movement in Cuba. The recent hunger-strike death of dissident prisoner Orlando Zapata and the ongoing hunger strike by dissident Guillermo Farinas are making it hard for Obama to embrace their tormentors.
Yet, although Obama's State Department recently announced that it would defreeze half of the $40 million designated to support Cuban dissidents, a prominent U.S. senator has decided to single-handedly squash the technological support that has begun to give the Cuban people a chance to fight for freedom.
As if the Cuban "rapid response brigades" had members in the U.S. Congress, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., rapidly announced last week that as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was placing the $40 million on "a temporary hold." A Kerry spokesman shamelessly told reporters that the senator needs "assurances that these (pro-dissident) programs have eliminated waste, fraud and abuse" and that he will wait for the State Department to "undertake a review of these programs."
At a time when computers, satellite dishes, cell phones and other forms of new technology are finally exposing the plight of Cuban dissidents, when their struggle for freedom and democracy is finally gaining some world attention, amazingly, some American politicians still are trying to block their way. The Cuban "rapid response brigades" need more people like Sen. John Kerry.
Peterson's Pyramid Bill
During a meeting yesterday with Southern Maryland farmers, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed the possibility of expanding agricultural sales to Cuba, but stated as a caveat:
"As long as it's consistent with our values."
Agreed.
So now here's the question for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, the main sponsor of a bill that seeks to increase agricultural sales to Cuba by doubling the Castro regime's tourism income:
Is providing $1-2 billion in tourism income to the Castro regime's military with the hope (stress the word hope) that it will turn around and purchase more U.S. agricultural products (as opposed to the regime's historic record of strengthening its repressive apparatus with similar financial windfalls, e.g. Soviet and Chavez subsidies) consistent with American values?
Frankly, it sounds like a dangerous pyramid scheme to us.
"As long as it's consistent with our values."
Agreed.
So now here's the question for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, the main sponsor of a bill that seeks to increase agricultural sales to Cuba by doubling the Castro regime's tourism income:
Is providing $1-2 billion in tourism income to the Castro regime's military with the hope (stress the word hope) that it will turn around and purchase more U.S. agricultural products (as opposed to the regime's historic record of strengthening its repressive apparatus with similar financial windfalls, e.g. Soviet and Chavez subsidies) consistent with American values?
Frankly, it sounds like a dangerous pyramid scheme to us.
Failed Cuba Overtures
Thursday, April 1, 2010
In today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel by columnist Guillermo I. Martinez:
Time to admit Obama overtures toward Cuban regime failed
For many years now, maybe even decades, those enamored with the Cuban government repeat as a mantra that the U.S. embargo on the island does not work, that the best way to improve relations with Cuba is to lift all restrictions on travel and trade.
Many of those who oppose the regime admit, albeit quietly, that the embargo has not worked. And that after more than five decades in power, we are no closer to ousting Fidel Castro than we were in the early 1960s. Yet after the Obama's administration's most recent failed efforts at improving relations with the Castro brothers, the least that those who advocate lifting the embargo should do is to admit that their peace offering approach does not work, either.
The Obama administration admitted that much last week after Cuba was condemned internationally. A statement from President Barack Obama was released by the White House Media Affair Office. It said: "Recent events in Cuba, including the tragic death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the repression visited upon La Damas de Balnco, and the intensified harassment of those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans are deeply disturbing. These events underscore that instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist."
Seldom in recent times has repression in Cuba brought about such stern rebuke throughout the world. Tens of thousands of Cuban exiles heeded the call of Gloria and Emilio Estefan and gathered in a five block area of Calle Ocho in Miami to silently protest Cuba's repression against those who dare raise their voice in opposition to the regime. Cuban exiles also gathered in other American and European cities. The European Union suspended efforts to improve relations with Cuba. Leftist intellectuals from around the world — including singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez in Cuba — denounced the Castro regime and demanded that change come to the island.
Trying to improve relations with the Cuban government is a no-win proposition. Now that the Obama administration has allowed exiles to travel to visit their relatives, the government has imposed a new levy so more of the money Cubans want to give their relatives winds up in the government coffers.
Let the Cubans seek better relations and admit publicly they are willing to change. Until they do, no matter how big the carrot, Cuba will continue abusing its people.
Time to admit Obama overtures toward Cuban regime failed
For many years now, maybe even decades, those enamored with the Cuban government repeat as a mantra that the U.S. embargo on the island does not work, that the best way to improve relations with Cuba is to lift all restrictions on travel and trade.
Many of those who oppose the regime admit, albeit quietly, that the embargo has not worked. And that after more than five decades in power, we are no closer to ousting Fidel Castro than we were in the early 1960s. Yet after the Obama's administration's most recent failed efforts at improving relations with the Castro brothers, the least that those who advocate lifting the embargo should do is to admit that their peace offering approach does not work, either.
The Obama administration admitted that much last week after Cuba was condemned internationally. A statement from President Barack Obama was released by the White House Media Affair Office. It said: "Recent events in Cuba, including the tragic death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the repression visited upon La Damas de Balnco, and the intensified harassment of those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans are deeply disturbing. These events underscore that instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist."
Seldom in recent times has repression in Cuba brought about such stern rebuke throughout the world. Tens of thousands of Cuban exiles heeded the call of Gloria and Emilio Estefan and gathered in a five block area of Calle Ocho in Miami to silently protest Cuba's repression against those who dare raise their voice in opposition to the regime. Cuban exiles also gathered in other American and European cities. The European Union suspended efforts to improve relations with Cuba. Leftist intellectuals from around the world — including singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez in Cuba — denounced the Castro regime and demanded that change come to the island.
Trying to improve relations with the Cuban government is a no-win proposition. Now that the Obama administration has allowed exiles to travel to visit their relatives, the government has imposed a new levy so more of the money Cubans want to give their relatives winds up in the government coffers.
Let the Cubans seek better relations and admit publicly they are willing to change. Until they do, no matter how big the carrot, Cuba will continue abusing its people.
Silence on Cuban Injustice
By Univision's popular news anchor, Jorge Ramos:
Silence on Cuban Injustice
On Twitter recently, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez asked, "Why do most of Latin America's governments remain silent about what's happening in Cuba? We need their solidarity."
Sanchez posted this question from Havana on her Twitter page (yoanisanchez) March 14.
Up to that moment, all of Latin America's governments, in a guilty and gutless way, had kept quiet regarding the death last month of jailed political dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and about human rights violations in Cuban jails. A lot of time passed before any criticism emerged from the region.
On Feb. 23, when Zapata Tamayo dies in Havana after an 86-day hunger strike, there is a photo of the 32 Latin American and Caribbean leaders at the Cancun Summit in Mexico, all smiling -- including Raul Castro. But not a word is uttered about the life and death of Zapata Tamayo.
Possibly the leaders didn't know at the time that Zapata Tamayo had died. But the press had already reported widely about his precarious state of health.
Then came the worst, and unexpected criticism: from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on a visit to Cuba, who far from condemning the circumstances of Zapata Tamayo's death, justified them.
"Hunger strikes cannot be used as a human rights' pretext to set people free," he told the press when he returned to Brazil. "Imagine if all thebandits now incarcerated in Sao Paulo started a hunger strike to demand freedom."
Bolivian President Evo Morales was even more explicit. He called Zapata Tamayo a "delinquent" even though Morales himself was once jailed in similar circumstances for his own political way of thinking.
"This is a Cuban internal issue," Morales said, "but it becomes an international scandal when a Cuban on a hunger strike dies."
El Salvador President Mauricio Funes's government could not have chosen a less opportune day to reopen the country's embassy in Cuba. If it had gone without an embassy there for 48 years, couldn't it have waited for a more appropriate moment?
Neither the Salvadoran foreign minister nor first lady Vanda Pignato -- who cut the ribbon at the embassy's opening -- dared even mention Zapata Tamayo or Guillermo Farinas, another dissident who had already commenced his own hunger strike. When Funes visits Havana soon, we'll see if he dares ask for the same freedoms for Cubans as he seeks for Salvadorans.
There are 247 political prisoners in Cuba, according to Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission, a group made up of dissidents opposing the Castro regime.
The majority of Latin American governments, however, have yet to speak up on the subject of Cuba's jailed political dissidents.
The first courageous leader to break the silence was Chile's new president, Sebastian Pinera, who condemned the death of Zapata Tamayo and called for a transition to democracy in Cuba.
The second was Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias.
"Political prisoners do not exist in democracies," Arias said this month.
"Cuba can make all the efforts of oratory it wants to sell the idea that it is a special democracy, but each political prisoner is in practice a denial of that affirmation ... each political prisoner is irrefutable proof of authoritarianism."
Mexico came next: "Mexico exhorts the Cuban government to take necessary action to protect the health and dignity of all its prisoners," declared the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tepidly. The statement was not as forceful as Arias's, but it put Mexican President Felipe Calderon's oft postponed trip to Cuba at further risk.
Other statements -- either weaker or stronger -- came later. But what should be underlined is that two political dissidents, Zapata Tamayo and Farinas, changed the way the world sees Cuba.
Today no one can deny that Cuba is a dictatorship which tortures and kills anyone who dares to think differently and opposes the party line.
What we want, Farinas told me in a phone interview from hospital, is "to show the world the cruelty, the criminal essence of the Cuban government."
Yes, Cuba can change from the inside. That is what Farinas, Zapata Tamayo, Yoani Sanchez and the Ladies in White (a group of women in Cuba who are fighting for the freedom of dissident family members in jail) are demonstrating. When that occurs, Latin America cannot -- must not -- remain silent.
Silence on Cuban Injustice
On Twitter recently, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez asked, "Why do most of Latin America's governments remain silent about what's happening in Cuba? We need their solidarity."
Sanchez posted this question from Havana on her Twitter page (yoanisanchez) March 14.
Up to that moment, all of Latin America's governments, in a guilty and gutless way, had kept quiet regarding the death last month of jailed political dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and about human rights violations in Cuban jails. A lot of time passed before any criticism emerged from the region.
On Feb. 23, when Zapata Tamayo dies in Havana after an 86-day hunger strike, there is a photo of the 32 Latin American and Caribbean leaders at the Cancun Summit in Mexico, all smiling -- including Raul Castro. But not a word is uttered about the life and death of Zapata Tamayo.
Possibly the leaders didn't know at the time that Zapata Tamayo had died. But the press had already reported widely about his precarious state of health.
Then came the worst, and unexpected criticism: from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on a visit to Cuba, who far from condemning the circumstances of Zapata Tamayo's death, justified them.
"Hunger strikes cannot be used as a human rights' pretext to set people free," he told the press when he returned to Brazil. "Imagine if all thebandits now incarcerated in Sao Paulo started a hunger strike to demand freedom."
Bolivian President Evo Morales was even more explicit. He called Zapata Tamayo a "delinquent" even though Morales himself was once jailed in similar circumstances for his own political way of thinking.
"This is a Cuban internal issue," Morales said, "but it becomes an international scandal when a Cuban on a hunger strike dies."
El Salvador President Mauricio Funes's government could not have chosen a less opportune day to reopen the country's embassy in Cuba. If it had gone without an embassy there for 48 years, couldn't it have waited for a more appropriate moment?
Neither the Salvadoran foreign minister nor first lady Vanda Pignato -- who cut the ribbon at the embassy's opening -- dared even mention Zapata Tamayo or Guillermo Farinas, another dissident who had already commenced his own hunger strike. When Funes visits Havana soon, we'll see if he dares ask for the same freedoms for Cubans as he seeks for Salvadorans.
There are 247 political prisoners in Cuba, according to Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission, a group made up of dissidents opposing the Castro regime.
The majority of Latin American governments, however, have yet to speak up on the subject of Cuba's jailed political dissidents.
The first courageous leader to break the silence was Chile's new president, Sebastian Pinera, who condemned the death of Zapata Tamayo and called for a transition to democracy in Cuba.
The second was Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias.
"Political prisoners do not exist in democracies," Arias said this month.
"Cuba can make all the efforts of oratory it wants to sell the idea that it is a special democracy, but each political prisoner is in practice a denial of that affirmation ... each political prisoner is irrefutable proof of authoritarianism."
Mexico came next: "Mexico exhorts the Cuban government to take necessary action to protect the health and dignity of all its prisoners," declared the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tepidly. The statement was not as forceful as Arias's, but it put Mexican President Felipe Calderon's oft postponed trip to Cuba at further risk.
Other statements -- either weaker or stronger -- came later. But what should be underlined is that two political dissidents, Zapata Tamayo and Farinas, changed the way the world sees Cuba.
Today no one can deny that Cuba is a dictatorship which tortures and kills anyone who dares to think differently and opposes the party line.
What we want, Farinas told me in a phone interview from hospital, is "to show the world the cruelty, the criminal essence of the Cuban government."
Yes, Cuba can change from the inside. That is what Farinas, Zapata Tamayo, Yoani Sanchez and the Ladies in White (a group of women in Cuba who are fighting for the freedom of dissident family members in jail) are demonstrating. When that occurs, Latin America cannot -- must not -- remain silent.
Colombia Si, Castro No
By Ambassador Roger Noriega, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, in Forbes:
Colombia Si, Castro No
As farm-state Congressmen are keeping themselves busy offering trade benefits to Fidel Castro, last week Canada's Parliament announced agreement on an accord with Colombia that could cost American farmers $1.7 billion in exports. Our farmers have a right to ask why some in Washington want to waste precious days on the legislative calendar to hand unilateral concessions to Cuba in the midst of brutal crackdown there while refusing to take the time to push trade accords with three of our staunchest allies.
The Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act (H.R. 4645), introduced last month, would authorize tourism and ease exports to Cuba. By allowing leisure travel to Cuba without requiring even a hint of liberalization from the regime in Havana, this bill would deliver a diplomatic victory and a windfall of tourist dollars to the Cuban military that runs much of the island's segregated hotel industry.
The fact is millions of non-American tourists have visited Cuba for decades. If anything, the regime has grown more repressive -- strengthening its police state with the precious hard currency raised from tourists. For many years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have gone to Cuba under a dozen different categories of lawful travel. A year ago, President Obama loosened some limits on family travel, but he wisely refused to allow tourism or make further concessions until he saw some sign that the Cuban regime would ease up on its own people.
Our farmers have a right to ask why some in Washington want to waste precious days on the legislative calendar to hand unilateral concessions to Cuba in the midst of brutal crackdown there while refusing to take the time to push trade accords with three of our staunchest allies.
In the last few weeks, our president heard Havana's answer, as dozens of women staging a peaceful protest in the capital city were dragged, punched, kicked and detained by Cuban state security. Prisoners of conscience are staging hunger strikes in the faint hope that the world will stop appeasing the regime that torments them. Orlando Zapata Tamayo died five weeks ago, and 48-year-old journalist and psychologist Guillermo Fariñas is clinging to life right now.
"[I]nstead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist," President Obama responded. Although the president seems more convinced than ever that we must place strict preconditions on any changes in U.S. policy, H.R. 4645 would take that discretion and diplomatic leverage out of his hands.
A second part of this legislation would allow Cuba to obtain routine financing to purchase agriculture goods from the United States. I helped put in place a requirement that Cuba -- one of the world's greatest debtors and credit risks -- pay cash for our farm goods. Foreign diplomats still complain to me that our people are getting cash, while theirs are getting stiffed. I cannot see how we could improve on those terms. And it will not be long before Castro demands that we offer subsidies or credits to his bankrupt regime.
We can do right by our farmers without compromising our values. There are three other trade deals pending in Congress today -- with Colombia, Panama and South Korea -- that would mean much more for American farmers, workers and consumers. Every day that we fail to act on these accords, our competitors can take those markets away from us. For example, last week, Canada's Liberal Party helped broker a deal to advance a similar pact with Colombia. The Conservative government has agreed to reintroduce the measure with a Liberal amendment requiring annual human rights reports, and the trade accord could be approved by a majority in Parliament within two months. U.S. farmers now sell Colombia about $1.7 billion in wheat, barley, beef and pork, but they may lose out to Canadian competitors unless our Congress moves quickly to secure that market.
So what do agriculture sales and tourism to Cuba have in common, anyway? Not much. But hard-left Castro apologists are offering a quid pro quo to well-meaning farm state legislators, hoping that they will ignore the brutality of the Cuban regime and vote to loosen sanctions in exchange for meager sales to a bankrupt economy. The argument they make is that the 50-year-old embargo is only hurting U.S. farmers.
It is true that our policy has yet to produce the change we all want for Cuba. However, resuscitating the man who is the biggest obstacle to political and economic liberty in Cuba makes less sense today than ever. If we want boundless trade with a free, flourishing Cuban economy, we should preserve our upper hand to use it with a post-Castro government -- to press for broad, deep, irreversible reforms so that Cubans can reach their full potential. Making unilateral concessions to a brutal, bankrupt regime drawing its last breaths is a short-cut to nowhere.
Colombia Si, Castro No
As farm-state Congressmen are keeping themselves busy offering trade benefits to Fidel Castro, last week Canada's Parliament announced agreement on an accord with Colombia that could cost American farmers $1.7 billion in exports. Our farmers have a right to ask why some in Washington want to waste precious days on the legislative calendar to hand unilateral concessions to Cuba in the midst of brutal crackdown there while refusing to take the time to push trade accords with three of our staunchest allies.
The Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act (H.R. 4645), introduced last month, would authorize tourism and ease exports to Cuba. By allowing leisure travel to Cuba without requiring even a hint of liberalization from the regime in Havana, this bill would deliver a diplomatic victory and a windfall of tourist dollars to the Cuban military that runs much of the island's segregated hotel industry.
The fact is millions of non-American tourists have visited Cuba for decades. If anything, the regime has grown more repressive -- strengthening its police state with the precious hard currency raised from tourists. For many years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have gone to Cuba under a dozen different categories of lawful travel. A year ago, President Obama loosened some limits on family travel, but he wisely refused to allow tourism or make further concessions until he saw some sign that the Cuban regime would ease up on its own people.
Our farmers have a right to ask why some in Washington want to waste precious days on the legislative calendar to hand unilateral concessions to Cuba in the midst of brutal crackdown there while refusing to take the time to push trade accords with three of our staunchest allies.
In the last few weeks, our president heard Havana's answer, as dozens of women staging a peaceful protest in the capital city were dragged, punched, kicked and detained by Cuban state security. Prisoners of conscience are staging hunger strikes in the faint hope that the world will stop appeasing the regime that torments them. Orlando Zapata Tamayo died five weeks ago, and 48-year-old journalist and psychologist Guillermo Fariñas is clinging to life right now.
"[I]nstead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist," President Obama responded. Although the president seems more convinced than ever that we must place strict preconditions on any changes in U.S. policy, H.R. 4645 would take that discretion and diplomatic leverage out of his hands.
A second part of this legislation would allow Cuba to obtain routine financing to purchase agriculture goods from the United States. I helped put in place a requirement that Cuba -- one of the world's greatest debtors and credit risks -- pay cash for our farm goods. Foreign diplomats still complain to me that our people are getting cash, while theirs are getting stiffed. I cannot see how we could improve on those terms. And it will not be long before Castro demands that we offer subsidies or credits to his bankrupt regime.
We can do right by our farmers without compromising our values. There are three other trade deals pending in Congress today -- with Colombia, Panama and South Korea -- that would mean much more for American farmers, workers and consumers. Every day that we fail to act on these accords, our competitors can take those markets away from us. For example, last week, Canada's Liberal Party helped broker a deal to advance a similar pact with Colombia. The Conservative government has agreed to reintroduce the measure with a Liberal amendment requiring annual human rights reports, and the trade accord could be approved by a majority in Parliament within two months. U.S. farmers now sell Colombia about $1.7 billion in wheat, barley, beef and pork, but they may lose out to Canadian competitors unless our Congress moves quickly to secure that market.
So what do agriculture sales and tourism to Cuba have in common, anyway? Not much. But hard-left Castro apologists are offering a quid pro quo to well-meaning farm state legislators, hoping that they will ignore the brutality of the Cuban regime and vote to loosen sanctions in exchange for meager sales to a bankrupt economy. The argument they make is that the 50-year-old embargo is only hurting U.S. farmers.
It is true that our policy has yet to produce the change we all want for Cuba. However, resuscitating the man who is the biggest obstacle to political and economic liberty in Cuba makes less sense today than ever. If we want boundless trade with a free, flourishing Cuban economy, we should preserve our upper hand to use it with a post-Castro government -- to press for broad, deep, irreversible reforms so that Cubans can reach their full potential. Making unilateral concessions to a brutal, bankrupt regime drawing its last breaths is a short-cut to nowhere.
Absurdity of the Year
The Sarasota Yacht Club (SYC) spent most of last year (and early this year) lobbying the Obama Administration for approval of a Sarasota-Havana Sailing Regatta.
Fortunately, they were not successful.
Here's how the SYC sought to justify the "humanitarian mission" of this regatta:
Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba Commodore Jose Miguel Diaz Escrich expressed optimism at a press conference Wednesday at Sarasota Yacht Club about the Sarasota-Havana Regatta.
"This year is the 80th anniversary of the first sailing regatta from Florida to Havana," Estrich said through a translator. "The same seas that separate us are the same seas that unite us."
The Sarasota-Havana Regatta is scheduled for May. But the Sarasota Yacht Club Charitable Foundation will need OFAC approval by Feb. 15 and all additional governmental approvals by March 31 to conduct the Sarasota-Havana Regatta. If the yacht-club foundation doesn't receive approval by those deadlines, the race will be rescheduled for May 2011.
Approval will be based on the race's humanitarian mission.
"We're looking at what Cuban children may need to pursue sailing," said Sarasota Yacht Club Commodore Kay Goodman.
This comment is not just insensitive, it is blatantly insulting.
Here's what happens to Cubans that try to go fishing (to feed themselves), not to mention risk their lives in makeshift rafts to pursue freedom across the Florida Straits.
Police carry out roundup off the Malecón
HAVANA, (Aleaga Pesant, Cubanet) – Border guards and national police carried out a roundup last Saturday of fishermen, boaters and divers off the Malecón.
The operation started at 4 p.m. and involved the seizure of fish and the sinking of rafts. Those arrested were taken to a police station, where fines of up to 1,500 pesos, the equivalent of more than three monthly salaries for the average Cuba, were meted out.
Two cigarette boats were used in the roundup.
Those who fled on foot were captured by police in patrol cars.
A source related the roundup to the coming ashore last week of rafters on the coast near the U.S. Interests Section. That incident resulted in police swarming the area.
Under Cuban law, fishermen need government permission to fish and to build boats or rafts from which to fish.
Fortunately, they were not successful.
Here's how the SYC sought to justify the "humanitarian mission" of this regatta:
Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba Commodore Jose Miguel Diaz Escrich expressed optimism at a press conference Wednesday at Sarasota Yacht Club about the Sarasota-Havana Regatta.
"This year is the 80th anniversary of the first sailing regatta from Florida to Havana," Estrich said through a translator. "The same seas that separate us are the same seas that unite us."
The Sarasota-Havana Regatta is scheduled for May. But the Sarasota Yacht Club Charitable Foundation will need OFAC approval by Feb. 15 and all additional governmental approvals by March 31 to conduct the Sarasota-Havana Regatta. If the yacht-club foundation doesn't receive approval by those deadlines, the race will be rescheduled for May 2011.
Approval will be based on the race's humanitarian mission.
"We're looking at what Cuban children may need to pursue sailing," said Sarasota Yacht Club Commodore Kay Goodman.
This comment is not just insensitive, it is blatantly insulting.
Here's what happens to Cubans that try to go fishing (to feed themselves), not to mention risk their lives in makeshift rafts to pursue freedom across the Florida Straits.
Police carry out roundup off the Malecón
HAVANA, (Aleaga Pesant, Cubanet) – Border guards and national police carried out a roundup last Saturday of fishermen, boaters and divers off the Malecón.
The operation started at 4 p.m. and involved the seizure of fish and the sinking of rafts. Those arrested were taken to a police station, where fines of up to 1,500 pesos, the equivalent of more than three monthly salaries for the average Cuba, were meted out.
Two cigarette boats were used in the roundup.
Those who fled on foot were captured by police in patrol cars.
A source related the roundup to the coming ashore last week of rafters on the coast near the U.S. Interests Section. That incident resulted in police swarming the area.
Under Cuban law, fishermen need government permission to fish and to build boats or rafts from which to fish.
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