May 12, 2008
The sin of omission
I received this email today from Babalu commenter, Mandingo.
Folks,I just recently found out that in about a week (May 16) there is going to be a major exhibit at the famous Museum of the City of New York pertaining to the history of Catholic New York City between the years 1800 to 1946.
When I saw this I was overjoyed because I knew that the accomplishments of Father Felix Varela would finally be showcased to an ignorant American public. Being very proud of my Cuban American heritage I am always trying to tell non Cubans of our history, and how Cubans have always loved the United States and have fought for American ideals such as freedom, enterprise, and hard work.
As you know, Father Varela is not a forgotten individual who lived and died a long time ago. To us Cubans, - Cuban Americans, he is a symbol of what one man could do for his native country, his adoptive country of refuge, for personal freedom, for the downtrodden (the Irish and Italian immigrants), and for the spirit - he is one of the first Cuban American success stories - the model or prototype of what we as a people would become.
So important was Father Varela that he was named Vicar General of the Diocese of New York in 1837, he founded churches, schools, and orphanages, he fought for the human rights of Irish Catholic immigrants amongst his other accomplishments, like being a champion of Cuban independence from the cruel Spanish crown. Valera has also had schools named after him, a statue of him can be seen in the China Town church where he preached, a United States postage stamp has been issued to commemorate him, and currently he is being examined for possible sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church! Like Jose Marti, the man was a great figure in the annals of Cuban and American history!
So it bought me great pain when Alyson Cluck, the Communications Associate of the Museum of the City of New York wrote to me and said:
"Unfortunately there won't be anything in the exhibition specifically about Felix Varela."
So, whether you are Catholic or not, I think someone, or a group of us should raise this issue with the museum, the administrators, the curators, and maybe with the Dioceses of New York. The very fact that an exhibition that features Catholic New York would happen, and that it would ignore the great accomplishments of Varela is a shame and an outrage.
After reading the brief about the exhibition on the museum's website, and the article in the New York Sun it looked to me like all the praise had gone to the Irish and Italians. This is not right and something needs to be done to expose the blatant chauvinism displayed by our Gaelic brothers and sisters. I hope the curators were just ignorant and forget Varela and I pray this is not another form of Irish American discrimination against Spanish surnamed individuals (something that they do very well, and I have experienced first hand).
Also there is a companion book to the exhibition called Catholics in New York: Society, Culture, and Politics, 1808-1946 (Hardcover) by Terry Golway (Editor). In the book and possibly in the exhibit he
writes about Catholic social worker Dorothy Day...Day was basically a socialist (anarchist communist really) Catholic who was called a "servant of God" by Pope John Paul II and like Varela is currently being examined for sainthood. However if you Google "Dorothy Day + Cuba" you will find out a darker side to her alleged holiness. Yes, Day was an ardent supporter and admirer of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro!
Now, wouldn't it be a shame if the NYC Catholic exhibit praises a horrible Castro sympathizer like Day and totally forgets a saintly former NYC citizen, Cuban freedom fighter like Varela?
Folks, lets not let this one get away.
Regards to all and God bless!
PS
Here are some email address for the NYC Museum if you care to write:
c/o Susan Henshaw Jones, President and Director
info@mcny.org
pressoffice@mcny.org
May 11, 2008
Obama: Meeting With castro Is Not A Privilege That Has To Be Earned By Him.
I don't know where to start in telling you about this article from the Trinidad Express. I'll try to just give the highlights.
It begins with the title, Cuba in the 'politics of change,' Look out for Obama-Castro meeting... by alerting the reader to an Obama-castro meeting, should Obama become president, and then rails on President Bush for insulting the Cuban regime in last week's speech, comparing his demand for free and democratic elections as a farce since he was never democratically elected in 2000. The article's author, one Mr. or Ms. Rickey Singh, then mocks Bush for telling castro to release Cuba's political prisoners when the United States is responsible for "gross human rights violations" in Guantanamo. (These prisoners, it should be noted, are not there for writing articles against the US government, they are there because they are terrorists, but I suppose that is not of any consequence.)
The author points out that requiring voter ID for the elections means "serious negative consequence for Democratic voters, especially of the Black American and Hispanic communities, according to reports in leading US media," and then quotes Nancy Pelosi as saying: "The court's decision places obstacles to the fundamental right, especially the poor, the elderly and individual with disabilities, to participate in the electoral process..."
Is it me or do other people not understand how requiring voters to show proof of who they are when they cast a vote for the President of the United States (or for anyone) not to be an obstacle to the right to vote? Are there that many people in this country who do not have a driver's license, their voter's card, or any other form of valid and acceptable identification? If it truly is a problem, then the Democrat and Republican groups can assist their registered voters to procure the necessary id, just like they help to get them registered to vote. But in Indiana, where the law exists, the" Democratic party and civil rights groups have failed to identify a single individual in Indiana whose right to vote was hurt by the law," per U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement.
But getting back to the title of the article, Mr./Ms. Singh explains that while Hillary Clinton wants to see if Cuba will have made any changes before she decides to have talks with the regime, if she is elected, that Obama plans to "move quickly" toward establishing direct talks with castro. Obama is quoted:
"If we (presidential candidates) think that meeting with the Cuban President(sic) is a privilege that has to be earned (by him), I think that reinforces the sense that we stand above the rest of the world..."
Another anti-American quote by the man who won't wear the American flag pin because he wants his actions to show his patriotism and whose wife was never proud of her country until her husband ran for president.
You can read the whole arroz con mango HERE
Gracias, Madres.
They carry us inside for almost a whole year.
They give birth to us through incomprehensible pain.
Then they spend the next 20 or so years feeding us, clothing us, keeping us clean, making sure we brush our teeth and wash behind the ears. They nurse fevers and flus, clean blood scraped knees and mend egos. They teach us how to speak, help us learn to walk and make sure we have clean underwear. They're always there with breakfast and they make us sit straight while eating dinner. They pack lunches, take us to practice, and answer our stupid questions.
They do all of those things for us and and so much much more and then, they watch us leave. Whether it's off to college or to our own marriage or simply to find our own way in life, there comes a time in their lives when they watch as the fruits of their labor venture into the very same world they have been protecting us from.
Some mothers watch their children make all the wrong decisions. Some mothers watch their children go off to war. Some mothers watch as their children venture off to distant lands, perhaps risking their lives in the process, searching, maybe, for the one thing their mothers were never able to afford them: freedom.
Today, when you spend time with your own mom, amid flowers and gifts, siblings and grandchildren, run your fingers through her perfectly coiffed hair. She wont mind. Take in her freckles and wrinkles and maybe that little beauty mark she's always had. Smile as you remember her in the kitchen, donning fashions from the sixties, or seventies or eighties, whipping up bacon and eggs on the fly. Remember that you never had a better meal than one she made for you, never had an ailment she didn't cure, never heard advice that wasn't good. Look into your mom's eyes today and behind the happiness they exude, remember that behind those eyes are years of wisdom and sacrifice. Thank her, right then and there, for this beautiful life she has given her all to give you. Hug her like there's no tomorrow.
And today, along with your mom, say a prayer for those moms whose children are away in distant lands fighting a war. Say a prayer for those moms whose children gave their all for their county. Say a prayer for those moms in Cuba, whose children may have left their side seeking freedom, risking their lives on rickety rafts, never to be heard from again. Say a prayer for those moms who are separated from their children by 90 miles of ocean and fifty years of ideology and lies.
Say a prayer for all those moms that have passed on and the families they left behind.
Mother's Day isn't just about flowers and perfumes and chocolates for mothers. It's about thanking the most perfect and selfless of human beings: Mom.
May 10, 2008
Raul's Crocodile Tears
(Cross-posted from 26th Parallel, with an added Babalu-only bonus at the end of the post).
Raul Martinez is upset that Radio Mambi programming director Armando Perez-Roura doesn't like him too much and isn't shy about it. The Herald has the scoop here.
Grow up, Mr. Mayor. Last time I checked, radio commentators had the right to express their opinions on issues and political candidates. Not everybody has to like what they have to say, but a veteran politico such as Martinez can't be serious when he claims that he's upset that Radio Mambi commentators are critical of him.
Martinez claims that it's the unsubstantiated attacks on him that he's upset about, and that he hasn't been given "equal air time" to dispute the attacks. OK, I think radio commentators have a responsibility to not allow or encourage the broadcast of unsubstantiated attacks without an appropriate response. Martinez has a point there. But in the end, this is less about that and more about a fight for votes in an election where he rightly sees himself as the underdog. That's my feeling.
Should Radio Mambi have invited Martinez himself to appear on the show instead of Alberto Milian? Perhaps, but Milian is an intelligent and influential person in South Florida politics. He's no slacker. Martinez himself called into the show a few days later, and I have seen and heard him numerous times on local TV and radio, more so than his opponent Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
My conclusion to all this is that Raul is whining because he's no longer the big shot mayor who ruled over Hialeah for many years. He can no longer run around and sucker-punch and verbally insult constituents anymore. He's running for a bigger prize, and with that comes the occasional pot shots and accusations that, whether in good taste or not, are part of the game that Raul Martinez has known and played all too well.
Raul Martinez: cry me a river.
Discriminating Communists?
The Miami Herald has published an article which claims that the AP obtained an internal report from the Cuban Central Bank, (read Fidel and Raúl’s private piggy bank), that was distributed to Cuba’s communist party members, urging the regime “to gradually unify the island's two parallel currencies and cut back on ''indiscriminate'' subsidies.”
The leaked document is a work of genius in that it states the obvious: Something’s got to give.
The double currency system, one of (f)idel’s brain children, is causing social unease and class divisions in the egalitarian socialist paradise, just like (f)idel’s other schemes, because that is exactly what they were designed to do. They were engineered to line the (c)astro nostra family’s pockets and keep the Cuban population isolated, penniless, demoralized and always looking for their next meal.
The new pragmatic and collegial regime is more interested in keeping its profit margins; something that it cannot do if it doesn’t keep motivating its captive workforce. The Cuban worker, after fifty years of communism, knows all too well that putting their best efforts forward in the workplace will not garner any benefits and have modified their work ethic accordingly.
And so, the Central Bank has to raise this red flag, more like a white flag, really, because once again, it has to admit that the regime’s policies and purported ideology have been defeated by the very free market laws that has been “heroically resisting” for 50 years. Yet another surrender in the battle of ideas.
One way to motivate the workforce is to give workers more buying power by strengthening the monopoly money that Cubans get paid in-the Peso. The problem is, this would cut into (r)aúl’s profit margin unless productivity is simultaneously increased. Productivity can only be increased if workers are rewarded according to their contributions to a final product or service. This “capitalist, imperial” practice would force the employer, (the regime-(r)aúl), to be “discriminate” on compensation. After all, paying the same amount to an employee that produces less amounts to a subsidy to that employee.
The regime has already laid the groundwork for this by eliminating the “ceiling” to wages a Cuban can legally earn and by legitimizing foreign companies to give Cubans stipends-over and above what the regime pays them-as long as they pay taxes.
Other “indiscriminate subsidies” also include the rationed food items available through the “libreta” and the so called “free” education and healthcare.
In order to be discriminate in distributing these “subsidies”, the regime would also need to adopt the discriminating practices of the free market system in which subsidies are given to needy individuals based on income eligibility. Like food stamps, student financial aid and Medicare.
So it is foreseeable to see the Cuban regime adopt many of the discriminate and un-egalitarian practices that it has “heroically resisted” over the last 50 years in order to save (r)aúl & co.’s cash flow.
Pajamas Media on Yoani Sanchez
Last week I wrote a column for Pajamas Media about Yoani Sanchez and the REAL changes that are going on in Cuba. Today they published it. Read it here, and if you haven't bookmarked Pajamas Media then make sure you do.
Petition for the Release of Cuba´s Political Prisoners
I highly recommend you all take a little of your time, go here, and browse through the signatures, and the comments left on the petition. Doing so will bring tears to your eyes as you read through the names and countries of residence. I have to wonder why so many U.S. residents chose to sign anonymously, while those on the island, facing real risk, bravely sign their names. Perhaps their motivation comes from the very real fact displayed by Cubans for the last 50 years--that faced with subjugation and tyranny, there is nothing left to lose save life itself, and signing an internet petition is a piece of cake compared to crossing the shark infested waters of the Florida Strait on a piecemeal raft. Or maybe it´s just taking advantage of this rare opportunity to take visible action. The minute they sign, it becomes in international record of dissent, and no amount of post-signing repression by the regime can remove the signatures from the public record.
You also have to notice and appreciate their bravery. It seems to me that this proves Cuban's readiness to take action when given the tools to do so.
One commenter heartbreakingly asks, ¨What have we done to the world, for the world to ignore our plight?
End the silence; if you have not yet done so, please sign the petition by clicking here.
There is no litmus test attached to this petition beyond common human decency. If you believe that mankind is born with the inalienable right to be free, and that imprisonment for the exercise of that right is a violation of Human Rights, then please sign the petition.
I got chills reading the list of countries represented by the signers, from Argentina to Zimbabwe, a sampling:
Austria, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Peru, Puerto Rico, Qater, Germany, Poland, Spain, and on and on. Besides the brave Cubans signing, I saw a lone signature from China...imagine.
As Val said:
One million signatures may not force the Cuban government in and of itself to release Cuba's political prisoners. But, one million signatures may be a giant step in exposing the reality of Cuba's human rights violations to the world and especially to those who simply have refused to acknowledge said reality.A number of human rights groups, organizations, and institutions have come together in support of a petition calling for the release of Cuba's political prisoners. The text of said petition is short, concise and to the point:
The Cuban Government is currently holding more than 220 political prisoners according to Amnesty International, the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders. These prisoners are illegally held in prison according to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Cuba has signed and recognizes. Despite signing these documents, Cuba continues to suppress freedom of expression by outlawing peaceful advocacy for human rights and democratic reforms. In defiance of the universally-recognized rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, Cuban activists are systematically targeted for persecution.I am asking each and every one of you to please sign this petition.
You may not agree with everything we publish here on this blog or may not agree with all the opinions expressed herein, but I know that on this we share common ground. Sign the petition. Grab that URL and paste it onto and email and send it to everyone in your mailbox. Print it out and pass it around. Sign it, send it, and spread it.
Yes, we all know what Human Rights organizations have not done for Cuba. We all know that the number they cite, (220) is absurd--the entire population of Cuba is held captive; some just have better living quarters. This is about forcing public opinion to take notice, and putting pressure on the regime.
Cubans on the island are signing, surely, we can all take a minute of our time to click on the link and follow their example. Do it for them, do it for Cuba. Sign here in English, y en español aquí.
May 09, 2008
More people to people contacts
Here's some more footage of that democracy-building tourism in Cuba, this time from our friends in Canada. The strategy here is to bring human rights to the imprisoned island through talent shows at tourist resorts. I'm quite sure raul castro is nervous about the destabilizing force that fat drunken Cannucks pose.
Vargas Llosa on (c)astro
"The hopes awakened by the Cuban revolution have not been realized,"
So says Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, as quoted in today’s Sun-Sentinel on-line edition.
He is also quoted as saying:
"Cuba is today a poorer country, with huge inequalities between the lives of the nomenclature, tourists and the average Cuban."
Yes, Cuba is much poorer that it was in 1959. And it is the ONLY country in this hemisphere that doesn’t hold multi-party elections.
This being a presidential election year, it reminds me of the “misery index”
Ever since Jimmy Carter ran for President way back in 1976 and started using the phrase “misery index” the phrase pops up every four years. The candidates always ask are you better off now than four years ago?
In Cuba’s case, the question is are you better off than 49 years ago. If all of a sudden Cuba would embrace the free market system, it would probably take 10 to 15 years to get to where the country was in 1959.
That’s some “misery index”!
This is ultimately how (c)astro will be judged by history. Acording to Vargas Llosa there will be NO absolution for the tyrant as he wonce promised, but then again the only promise he ever kept was not to shave until he fullfilled the promise of good government:
"I don't think history will absolve him, instead it will show that Fidel Castro was the continuation of a long caudillo tradition that has done so much harm in Latin America,"
And nowhere in the story is there a line telling us about the free education and health care.
Read it Here.
CAMBIO
Alberto de la Cruz is one year old!
AlbertodelaCruz.com, that is. The real Alberto is slightly older.
It was a year ago today that my friend Alberto started his blog and entered the blogosphere to inform those "not in the know" about Cuba. His blog has always been a collection of heartfelt, passionately written essays in a style I recognize by reading just one line. His passion for a free Cuba is even more noteworthy when you realize that he is the first of his family to have been born in the US.
I have been privileged to call Alberto my friend for many years, but this past year I consider it to be an honor as I witness how he reaches people through his blog and through Babalu, where he was asked to contribute last fall.
He's my "go to guy" for anything I need help with and I am very proud of him for jumping into the fray and sharing his talent.
Please help me to congratulate Alberto on this milestone!
May 08, 2008
Bolivian congress passes recall vote resolution
AFP has the details on the Bolivian congress' move to hold a referendum on the rule of Evo Morales.
The tide is starting to turn on these Marxists.
Hat Tip: Abajo Fidel
Look Who's in Charge of the Hen House
We've all come across it, the mind-boggling ignorance of many Americans when it comes to Cuba, or even worse yet outright lies about the socialist paradise. It should not come as a surprise when we see the people shaping American perception. Columbia University President Lee Bollinger has appointed John Coatsworth as dean of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. Mr. Coatsworth once discussed the management of the Cuban economy and its relations to the Soviet Union in the 1980's in the following terms:
The benefits of this strategy were impressive," Mr. Coatsworth wrote, citing, "rising standards of living in a society characterized by a high degree of equality and universal access to employment, basic nutrition, housing, education and medical care." When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, he wrote, "Cuba confronted an economic catastrophe roughly equivalent to what would occur in the rest of Latin America if the U.S. government were suddenly to impose an economic embargo on trade and investment in the Western Hemisphere.
Any doubts as to where and how firm the ground on which this worthy gentleman stands? Read the article in the New York Sun in which "experts" from Otto Reich to Jaime Suchlicki to Mark Falcoff voice their objections. Shameful.
Peer Pressure from Marta's Cuban American Kitchen
It’s Thursday.
Thursdays mean I should be posting a tasty Cuban recipe here at Babalú.
I apologize in advance.
There’s no recipe today.
Thanks to all the (positive) peer pressure I’ve received here, I’m happy, pleased, proud, excited, and a little humbled to announce . . .
My. Big. Fat. Cuban. Family. COOKBOOK!
I’ll have a limited amount to sell (and sign!) at Cuba Nostalgia, or you can just click on the link below.
I am sooo “sandpapering myself” right now. =D
Join us for CubaNostalgia
CubaNostalgia, in its tenth year, the premier Cuban event outside of Cuba, is a journey back in time for those who remember the island’s glamorous times – and for those who never experienced them. There will be live Cuban exhibits, artists and vendors, traditional Cuban foods, and of course music.
We at BabaluBlog are proud to once again be an exhibitor at CubaNostalgia, especially in this anniversary year. There's lots of reasons to come out and join us:
1. You'll get a chance to meet us and we'll get a chance to meet you, in the real world.
2. We'll be having special guests including authors such as Jaime Suchlicki, Alejandro Lorenzo, David Landau, and Kay Abella
3. Ana Menendez doesn't want you to.
4. We may be joined by some of our elected officials.
5. It'll be fun.
Here's the days and hours of the festival:
Friday, May 16, 2008: 11am – 11pm
Sat, May 17, 2008: 11am – 11pm
Sun, May 18, 2008: 11am – 10pm
We have no problem asking our reader's to pitch in and help out when someone is in need but we hate to ask for money to put together projects like Cuba Nostalgia. However, there is simply no way we could do it without your generosity. So we humbly put out the hat and ask if you could toss a few bucks in.
Cuba Solidarity Day - May 21st, 2008
Here are the graphics I promised last night for the Global Cuba Solidarity Day project:
This is another project we should all get behind - despite our differing opinions on certain issues. The more events planned for that day in solidarity with the Cuban people and the dissident movement, the better. Please consider putting together an event in your neck of the woods - be it a small gathering of friends and family at your homes or a public display of solidarity, peaceful march, candlelight vigil, etc...All events, once recorded at the Cuba Solidarity day site, will be mapped and displayed for all to see.
Id love to see this image and link displayed on all our blogs and webpages, aong with a link and call to sign the petition for the release of Cuba's political prisoners.
Cigar Mike Discovers America
And now it's time for my latest installment of Cigar Mike discovers America. The last few weeks I've taken you to my favorite place in the world, the American Southwest. Don't worry, I have more pics from there which I will post in the next few weeks. But I decided today to take you to one of my other favorite places in the world, the great state of Maine. For our readers who live out in New England, I'm sure you've made that 2 hour drive from Boston to Maine along the coastal US-1.
The Maine coast is an amazing place. From Bar Harbor on the north end through Kittery on the South end. If you are a lighthouse buff like I am, there are more along the Maine coast than anywhere in the United States.
On the northern part of the state where Bar Harbor is, lies Acadia National Park. One of the most amazing places to visit especially during peak foilage. It is literally a painter's palette of fall colors. Somewhere in between the two ends of the state is Portland, Maine. Portland is a must stop for three main objectives: 1) the Portland Head Lighthouse (pictured here); 2) The Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse; and 3) Lobster Rolls at the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth. But if you only had one thing to see in Portland, then the Portland Head Lighthouse is the place to go. This was the first lighthouse commissioned by the newly formed United States of America by his Excellency, President George Washington.
The coastal area rumbles with ferocity of the North Atlantic and one is simply mesmerized watching the waves crash along the rocks. The lighthouse itself has been painted and photographed for hundreds of years by artists and provides a beautiful anchor to the Maine Landscape whether in fall, in the snow of winter, or during the busy summer tourist season.
What's especially awesome about coastal Maine, is that you can drive the entire state while listening to James Taylor and when the scenery is done, you can sit back anywhere and eat lobster until you drop. You can pretty much plan out your trips to visit the various lighthouses during the best light. Spend a week there and you'll still miss some of the lights.
So there you have it infidels. I'm now off to the west coast of Florida once again. See you all out in the field while we rediscover America.
The Petition - Day Two
If you havent already, please sign the Petition for the Release of Cuba's Political Prisoners. It only takes a minute of your time to voice your support for men and women languishing in Cuba's prisons simply for expressing their thoughts and opinions.
And please, tell everyone you know about the petition and ask them for their support as well. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this isnt about political parties, elections, embargoes and remittances - things and issues I know we dont always agree on. This is solely and simply about voicing your support and letting the world know that we demand the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba.
Whodathunkit?
Allow me to be a bit prosaic, as my mom would say:
Who would have thought that the Cuban with the biggest, baddest cojones would be a 32 year old, 100 lb Cubanita?
May 07, 2008
Salesmen of Old Havana
I found this interesting and revealing documentary about Cuba on Youtube. It's called Salesmen of Old Havana and it follows three old men who make a living selling copies of Granma and Juventud Rebelde, along with other Revolutionary paraphernalia to tourists in Old Havana. Though they claim to be died-in-the-wool Revolutionaries and fidelistas we learn during the course of the documentary that what they do isn't legal. They have to go to newsstands and buy 2 copies of the newspaper (all they are allowed to buy) and make the line several times and get others to buy copies on their behalf. Then they can take a walk and peddle their wares. In the film they talk about how terrible life was before the Revolution and then you get to see how "wonderful" their lives are now.
The most revealing segment is part 2.
Related note: Similar slice of life in the L.A. Times. The author however is an idiot that doesn't understand that the terrible living conditions she describes are NOT the product of the idiotic dual currency system in Cuba that's only been around for 4 year, but rather the thousands of idiotic policies that have been put in place since 1959.
Yoani Sanchez Round-up
A lot of coverage out there for Yoani receiving Spain's Ortega y Gasset award in absentia:
El País in Spain, that's the newspaper that gives out the award.
Global Cuba Solidarity Day
As I mentioned on tonight's radio show, the Global Cuba Solidarity Day websites are up and running. You can check themout right here in English and here in Spanish.
The Global Cuba Solidarity Day project is a worldwide effort on May 21st to bring attention to the human rights abuses and violations in Cuba. From their website:
How can I take action on Cuba Solidarity Day?ORGANIZE a peaceful march or vigil in a public place! Use white t-shirts, candles, and posters and pass out information on Cuban political prisoners and on human rights violations in Cuba to members of your local community!
ENCOURAGE at least 10 other friends, colleagues, family members and neighbors to do the same!
MOBILIZE your community leaders – teachers, church ministers, political leaders, human rights organizations, and activists!
REACH OUT to local and international media and let them know why you are taking action!
SHOW your support for Cuba Solidarity Day through Facebook and MySpace!
Let’s demonstrate our support for Cuba’s political prisoners, respect for the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and the right of the Cuban people to choose their own destiny and live freely and peacefully! Join us as we call out in one voice to demand peace, freedom, and democracy on the island!
I hope you all will pass this along to everyone you know and get involved. Send them the petition link for the release of Cuba's political prisoners as well and have them pass these along to their people.
Ill have graphics and buttons tomorrow for those with blogs and websites that want to participate and promote this important project.
Man is not free to watch impassively the enslavement and dishonor of men, nor their struggles for liberty and honor.
Jose Marti
Bush: Cuban Changes Fall Short
President Bush is frequently criticized for not doing more to advance the cause for Cuban freedom. I tend to feel the same way because nothing has changed in regard to Cuban policy and the "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" policy still allows Cubans to perish at sea in order to get to US land. However, he has also kept the castro regime in the forefront by making frequent speeches, awarding Dr. Biscet the Presidental Medal of Freedom, and today, holding a teleconference with dissidents in Cuba (see Gusano's earlier post. ) So, when you look at it in terms of what past presidents have done, it certainly is more significant, although obviously "significant" is relative in this case. I suppose a gesture is better than nothing, and it cannot be denied that President Bush is making an effort to make sure the regime is recognized for what it is.
Today he echoed the frequently heard sentiment of the changes in Cuba made by raúl as "cosmetic." He also called the gestures "empty" and called on the castros to make democractic change and to go about it peacefully.
"Until there is a change of heart, and a change of compassion, and a change of how the Cuban government treats its people, there is no change at all," Bush said in a speech here to officials from North and South America... "If Cuba wants to join the community of civilized nations, then Cuban rulers must begin a process of peaceful and democratic change and the first step must be the release of all political prisoners.""
Condoleeza Rice "urged the government to remove the "fear factor" from political life by reining in the secret police." I don't doubt that if this AP story is read by the average American (which sadly, it won't be) there would be some head scratching: "Secret police? in Cuba?" But that is part of the entire problem that enables the regime to continue choking the life out of Cuba- the castros have worked so long and so hard to promote their propaganda and fidel has become such a superstar that the rest of the world tends to pooh-pooh the idea of repudiation squads, tyranny and other impossible to believe scenarios carried out by the regime. So, when you look at it this way, as a small gesture, it is at least something.
Whatever you feel about it, you can read the article here
Manchurian voters?
Jose Reyes of Cubanology.com, and the newest contributor to CubanAmericanPundits.com is asking a question. Read it here.
Babalu Radio Hour tonight at 8:00 PM EDT
Click the link button below to listen live.
The Call-in Number is : (646) 652-4506. Or you can send an email to me with questions or comments.
We'll be previewing Cuba Nostalgia.
One Million Signatures
One million signatures may not force the Cuban government in and of itself to release Cuba's political prisoners. But, one million signatures may be a giant step in exposing the reality of Cuba's human rights violations to the world and especially to those who simply have refused to acknowledge said reality.
A number of human rights groups, organizations and institutions have come together in support of a petition calling for the release of Cuba's political prisoners.The text of said petition is short, concise and to the point:
The Cuban Government is currently holding more than 220 political prisoners according to Amnesty International, the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders. These prisoners are illegally held in prison according to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Cuba has signed and recognizes. Despite signing these documents, Cuba continues to suppress freedom of expression by outlawing peaceful advocacy for human rights and democratic reforms. In defiance of the universally-recognized rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, Cuban activists are systematically targeted for persecution.
I am asking each and every one of you to please sign this petition.
You may not agree with everything we publish here on this blog or may not agree with all the opinions expressed herein, but, I know that on this we share common ground. Sign the petition. Grab that URL and paste it onto and email and send it to everyone in your mailbox. Print it out and pass it around. Sign it, send it and spread it.
There are hundreds of political prisoners in Cuba right now whose voices have been forcibly muted by the Cuban government. Sign the petition and give them their voice.
Sign it then send it to everyone you know.
Orgullos y lagrimas
Ernesto Hernández Busto of Penúltimos Dias will be accepting El Premio Ortega y Gasset 2008 por Periodismo Digital in Yoani's name and has penned an open letter to her that had me literally weeping and which I am honored and humbled to post here.
Carta abierta a Yoani SanchezQuerida Yoani:
Hablé ayer con Basilio Baltasar, que me llamó para preguntarme si quiero ir a recoger el premio en tu nombre. Estoy seguro de que además de los organizadores de la ceremonia hay varias personas detrás de esa amable sugerencia de invitarme. Por supuesto, agradezco sus gestiones, pero la opinión que realmente me importa –y por la que primero pregunté– es la tuya.
Sé que entenderás mi reticencia inicial: esta noche, cuando me avisen que debo subir a recoger tu premio y recibir unos flashes que no son para mí, también me tocará digerir la sensación de estar usurpando algo ajeno.
No se trata de un arranque de humildad, virtud que —modestia aparte (y nunca mejor dicho)— no suele adornarme. Haciendo uso inmediato de ese recurso cronológico que reconforta la vulgaridad del ego (¡qué sería de los blogs, en definitiva, sin un ego que explayar!), me basta con teclear ahora mismo “Generación Y” en la casilla del Search y ver desfilar cosas como: “22 de mayo del 2007. Generación Y: un buen blog desde Cuba. (Y que conste que esos me los miro con lupa)”. O bien: “Definitivamente, Generación Y sigue siendo el mejor de los blogs escritos desde La Habana” (el 21 de septiembre del 2007).
Todavía no había escrito The New York Times ni el Wall Street Journal; las agencias dormitaban, la televisión tardaba y en El País nadie se había enterado; Time no había hecho su primer borrador de los 100 personajes más influyentes y El Nuevo Herald estaba demasiado ocupado para hablar de bloggers. Pero en definitiva, se trata un poco de eso: de saber que la noticia —o algo muy parecido a la vocación primigenia del periodismo— también habita fuera de los periódicos. Sobre esa vida en otra parte toca citar a mi querido Arcadi Espada, recordándome que los buenos diarios siguen siendo, además de una idea del mundo, un “guión del día”, ese relato matutino de “lo que ha pasado”, y que por eso cualquier blogger más o menos serio está obligado a mirar hacia atrás y hacia arriba para cruzar la calle (o la autopista). Aunque tú tienes a “la abuelita”, que te disculpa de tales menesteres y te permite una prosa más limpia, sin duda te corresponde el gran mérito de haber demostrado que desde Cuba también se puede.
Ya sabes lo que pienso de tu blog, lo que pensaba hace un año: has hecho un trabajo admirable, en una zona inédita, y todos los cubanos deberíamos agradecer tu voluntad y tu entereza. Como buena lectora de novelas, sabrás también que mientras más súbita es la fama, mayores odios convoca, empezando por las bajas pasiones de quienes han decidido que no estés en el podio que te toca esta noche. Son los mismos que hace meses decidieron quitarte unos lectores a los que tú puedes mirar dignamente a la cara —y ellos no. Los mismos que mantienen a varios periodistas independientes en prisión por haber opinado, con menos éxito y repercusión internacional, sobre la realidad de nuestro país. Los mismos mediocres.
Más allá de las habituales suspicacias que escoltan estos asuntos, algunos comentaristas se empeñan hace tiempo en advertirme acerca de un futuro “caso Yoani”: quizás dentro de unas semanas —o unos meses— alguno de esos papagayos de la Mesa Redonda con mayúsculas dirá que la CIA está detrás del Premio Ortega y Gasset, vendrá un aburridísimo desguaze público de tu expediente, ese señor que te sigue los pasos contará con metáforas policiales tus recorridos habaneros y cualquier tonto útil vendrá a sumarse para hablar de la “política anticubana” del grupo PRISA, la manipuladora prensa capitalista y sandeces similares. Algo de eso anda por ahí. Ojalá se equivoquen los pesimistas, ojalá nunca haya un “caso Yoani” y se cumplan, en cambio, los mejores augurios del más optimista de los corresponsales extranjeros; ojalá dentro de unas semanas cualquier cubano pueda viajar a donde le plazca sin tener que pedir permiso, sin convertir un derecho en dádiva o en signo de los tiempos.
Aún cuando ello suceda, mi querida amiga, esta noche ya no será tu noche, y yo no podré invitarte mañana a pasear por las nuevas salas de El Prado ni acompañarte a la exposición que el Cervantes ha dedicado a Severo Sarduy. La libertad, o más bien la falta de ella, suele adquirir esos matices irreparables de una tragedia íntima, más disonante en medio de un extraño coro mediático que anuncia cambios, nuevos rumbos y, sobre todos, muchas inversiones: tu cambio se quedó esta noche en algún bolsillo, en alguna oficina donde alguien decidió robarte una fiesta merecida. En fin, que el balance será injusto como quiera que se vea: frustración habanera para ti y puente aéreo para mí.
Espero, al menos, que ese injusto intercambio de roles sirva para mostrar, casi mejor que cualquier anécdota o reflexión política, lo que desde hace mucho sufrimos los cubanos, los de adentro y los de fuera: los que se desesperan y cogen una balsa, los que hacen cola en una lotería de visas, los que sueñan con reencontrar a un hijo separado por 45 minutos de avión y 50 años de mentiras, pero también los que se fueron para siempre en 1959, los que emigraron por el Mariel en 1980, los que salieron pensando en regresar y 20 años después se preguntan qué cara tendrá aquel familiar o cómo fue que nunca le concedieron autorización para ver a su madre enferma de cáncer, o por qué los obligaron a mendigar en consulados un permiso insultante, o a tener que elegir entre una cárcel en Canaleta y un exilio europeo.
Ahora entenderás mejor, supongo, a qué me refería con lo de “usurpación”. Tú no estarás esta noche, yo escucharé tu discurso y luego subiré al estrado en tu nombre con mi mejor traje. No te preocupes, tendrás todos los detalles. Pero esta carta es pública porque hace falta decir que ese país del que hoy no te dejan salir —y que yo llevo 17 años sin pisar— te debe algo más que una disculpa. Te debe una noche como esta noche, y espero que algún día podamos celebrarla juntos, paseando por La Habana, en alguna exposición dedicada a Sarduy, o a Cabrera Infante, o a Reinaldo Arenas, y que luego salga la crónica en algún periódico dirigido por Raúl Rivero, o firmada por alguno de los 22 periodistas que hoy están en prisión, y que también podamos invitar a una cerveza a Néstor Pérez, ese muchacho del que hablabas el otro día, expulsado con 25 años de la Universidad de Pinar del Río por escribir en una revista independiente, y que acabemos cenando en tu casa alrededor de esa mesa donde ya no esté la silla vacía de tu tío Adolfo Fernández, preso desde la Primavera Negra del 2003.
Porque si bien esta noche en Madrid promete ser muy glamorosa, la nuestra, querida Yoani, esa noche de fiesta habanera que te debo, la noche que algún día despedirá la Noche, seguro que será mucho mejor.
Un abrazo,
Ernesto Hernández Busto
Barcelona
H/T Abajofidel
The Big Spleef
Seems that Jamaica Prime Minister Golding visited Cuba and met with raul, etal, this week, probably trying to keep the Cuban regime from increasing tourism to Cuba and thus not completely devastating Jamiaca's tourism based economy.
Now, I dont know if raul and Golding burned a few spleefs of de ganja or took a few hits from raul's new Chinese bong, but it seems the editorialist for this piece at the Jamaica Observer has been hitting the evil weed pretty hard.
Apparently, with braincells ablaze in cannabissal bliss, for this yellow fingertipped edtorialist, the recent "changes" are so massive, so extensive and so earth-shattering that it is no longer just "Cuba", but "The New Cuba."
That guy's been smokin' de good shit, mon.
Tapabocas for Code Pink
Via the indispensible Gateway Pundit, watch the treasonous Medea Benjamin and her Bacalao Brigade get completely anihilated with reality from members of a Band of Mothers:
Ouch.
Dissident Teleconference
On April 21, nine Ladies in White lead by Laura Pollán, took the streets of Havana and staged a sit-in near the office of Cuba’s new “president”, (r)aúl (c)astro.
"We are here to demand the release of our husbands and won't leave until they are free or they arrest us. We have waited long enough; we want to talk to the new president,"
As well all know, (r)aúl responded by sending out about 20 female police officers to break-up the protest.
The 20 officers were no match for the will and determination of the patriots and soon a mob of “government supporters” soon arrived to rough up the Ladies in White and throw them into an awaiting bus amid insults, jeers and revolutionary slogans.
So much for the new “president’s” call for a “national dialogue.”
Yesterday, though, at least one Lady in White did get to speak to a president and to see him, if only on a TV screen. Berta Soler, one of The Damas De Blanco, along with Martha Beatriz Roque, Jose Luis Garcia " Antúnez participated in a teleconference with the president of the United Sates, George W. Bush.
The three dissidents gave the U.S. leader their assessment of the "political, economic and social situation"
At the teleconference, held at the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, the dissidents were also able to exchange their impressions on the new regime with President Bush, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and the Cuban American Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutiérrez.
At least the Ladies in White pleas for the release of their imprisoned relatives did reach the leader of the free world who reiterated the United State’s support for the release of all political prisoners and lamented the lack of support offered by some of America’s democratic allies.
Ironically, it turned out to be easier for the Ladies in White to express their concerns about their unjustly imprisoned husbands, brothers and sons to the president of the United States than to the new Cuban tyrant.
Maybe they should have called (r)aúl on one of the new cell phones that he's hawking instead.
But what about the cell phones?
It seems that “free” healthcare does not a free society make. Nor do cell phones, computers, DVD players, or the most exotic luxury of all, toaster ovens. With all of the so-called reforms that have been decreed by the great and the munificent prince raul, Cuba still managed to rank as one of the top 8 most repressive countries in the world.
Associated Press - May 6, 2008 2:33 PM ETWASHINGTON (AP) - A new survey by a democracy watchdog organization concludes that 90 countries respect a broad array of basic human rights and political freedoms, while 103 countries fail to some degree to observe standards of liberal democracy.
Eight countries were judged by New York-based Freedom House to have the most repressive regimes. They were Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The organization also placed the territories of Chechnya and Tibet into the lowest category because the group says their "inhabitants suffer intense repression."
Violent repression of protests of food prices in Myanmar contributed to a further downward trend in the South Asian country, which has now been devastated by a deadly cyclone.
Wow, I didn't see that one coming.
