Très Che

Another brilliant deconstruction of that sunny, white knight of the Cuban revolution, Che Guevara, by the ever-brilliant Alvaro Vargas Llosa, in today's Dallas Morning News. Here's a little taste:

Che Guevara, who did so much (or was it so little?) to destroy capitalism, is now a quintessential capitalist brand. His likeness adorns mugs, hoodies, key chains, bandannas, couture bags, jeans, herbal tea and, of course, those omnipresent T-shirts with the photograph, taken by Alberto Korda, of the socialist heartthrob in his beret during the early years of the revolution as he happened to walk into the photographer's viewfinder – and into the image that, 38 years after his death, is still the logo of revolutionary (or is it capitalist?) chic. The metamorphosis of Che into a capitalist brand is not new, but the brand has been enjoying a revival of late – an especially remarkable revival, since it comes years after the political and ideological collapse of all that Mr. Guevara represented.

This windfall is owed substantially to the Oscar-winning film The Motorcycle Diaries, which shows the young Che on a voyage of self-discovery as he encounters social and economic exploitation – laying the ground for a New Wave reinvention of the man whom Sartre once called the most complete human being of our era.

It is customary for followers of a cult not to know the real-life story of their hero, the historical truth. It is not surprising that Mr. Guevara's contemporary followers, his new post-communist admirers, also delude themselves by clinging to a myth – a myth firing up people whose causes for the most part represent the exact opposite of what Mr. Guevara was.

Read the rest. (H/T Dave Roberts)

The 'ya basta' line

Back around when I was in grad school in New York, I had a Cuban roomate named Ibis. We were a perfect match because I never watched television and she never stopped. My abstention gave her total access to the whole set and time to see every last television show on the air. I was no threat. The TV was all hers. What the heck, Cuba Libre in hand, I even watched sometimes with her, and got to see Law & Order, or maybe it was LA Law, her favorite show. Could television-watching could be turned into a career? She often wondered about it.

She explained to me that for some Cubans, exemplified by herself, television was non-negotiable, a necessity of life, something to fight for. And all things, truly all things, except for a call from her mother in Miami, could wait while Law & Order was on. But if her mother called while Law & Order was on, they watched together on their simultaneously tuned sets in two cities as they chatted. That's the way it was.

Well it looks like castro has met his first Ibis.

This past week, a whole neighborhood of Cubans in Havana fought off castro's sweaty little communist agents in grubby black leather jackets for trying to confiscate one of their television sets. A line was crossed - into the intolerable - when the bastards tried to steal the television set for the "crime" of watching American television programs. Who were these resistors to communism? Ordinary Cubans, and maybe, like Ibis, watching Law & Order by satellite dish. They beat the castroite thugs back and chased them out in a real revolutionary act. Over this ordinary pleasure.

Television is often seen as a passive medium. Well, in Cuba it isn't. In an unfree society, it's a few minutes of sanity, a few glimpses of freedom. Amid all the ration cards, restrictions on movements, 12-hour speeches by the bearded Beast, rotten medical care, insulting billboards saying 'we're doing well,' block committees, bad food, leering, grinning visits from Hugo Chavez, crappy transport, potholes, propaganda education, damn castro to heck if he ever tries to take their TV sets, too.

Because that is obviously the line where some Cubans say 'ya basta.'

A small victory, for now.

If you want the goods, you have to pay for them -- up front

More idiocy from Congress regarding agricultural "trade" with Cuba. Senator Baucus is once again featured in the article. (See Mora's post.) The San Jose Mercury News weighs in on the "showdown looming over farm trade with Cuba" in yesterday's edition. Here's an excerpt:

"It's the most convoluted, ridiculous scheme that totally backfires on the people who support the administration most - farmers in rural America," said Emerson, a Republican.

By requiring payment to occur before shipment, Cuba has to own the rice before it leaves U.S. ports. David Coia, a spokesman for the USA Rice Federation, said the procedure is fraught with risks because Cuban exiles with claims against the Castro government could try to seize those shipments before they reach the island nation. Instead of facing those risks, Coia said Cuba is now turning to China and Vietnam to buy its rice.

"It's a huge problem, it's unfair and it goes against the spirit of what Congress intended," Coia said.

Farmers won a partial victory late Friday, when the Treasury Department said it would allow farmers to get around the rule by using a third-country bank as their agent. The agency clarified the rule under pressure from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who for months had blocked the confirmation of several Treasury Department nominees over the dispute.

"This kind of transaction is far from ideal," Baucus said in a written statement. "Sales will still be lost. But given the burdensome restrictions imposed by Treasury and the resulting plummet in agricultural sales to Cuba, something had to be done."

As a taxpayer who would eventually have to foot the bill for castro's non-payment -- and I'll remind all of you in the compassionate, anti-embargo crowd that he has defaulted on BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of dollars to European firms -- I am elated that Bush Administration has tightened the "cash up-front" policy.

The howling from the farm states just highlights the idiocy and hypcrisy of the governmental controls and subsidies we have in place in the agricultural sector. Mr. Baucus doesn't give a crap whether I or any other taxpayer ends up with the defaulted bill. His only concern is short-term political benefit he would derive from helping his constituents; the rest of the country be damned.

Sorry Mr. Baucus, we aren't fooled by your BS.

It's all about integrity

About Jim Defede's firing from Miami Herald editor Tom Fiedler in today's edition:

But extraordinary cases aside, the people with whom we deal cannot think that they can trust us some of the time, even most of the time. They have to know that they can trust us all the time, in every encounter.

When we tell them a conversation is off the record, it will remain so. And when we don't tell them that their words are being recorded, they can know that they aren't.

It's all about trust. I could suspend Jim for a time, and he would, I am sure, never repeat his mistake. But the message that would send to all others who deal with us is that The Herald tolerates those who have breached that trust, even if just once.

Once, my head tells me, is too often.

castro's media whore at it again

As castro's reputation and support hit all time lows in Cuba, with the bastard tottering as never before, who should come along to help with the propaganda effort than Miss Vanessa Bauza, who assures us that castro is training young communists who love him like Hugo Chavez.

Now, how did this media hooker get access to those castro schools? Can it be that she was a 'trusted person'? Can it be that castro's grubby little men had embarassing photographs of Miss Vanessa in compromising positions? Or, like a slut, does she do it for free?

Whatever it is, she is missing the huge building story about castro's imminent demise to show an entirely false picture that makes castro happy. And the Sun-Sentinel should get rid of her for that.

The Untouchable (UPDATED)

Andy Garcia- our main man in Hollywood - has always been a staunch defender of the Cuban people and, of course, a harsh critic of fidel, che, and all of their cronies. He's an island of reason and integrity in the ocean of sleaze, backstabbing, and fidel-worshipping that is Hollywood.

An interview in The Independent of Great Britian with Garcia highlights those traits that make him not only one of the great actors of our time, but a person of solid character and integrity.

Garcia talks about his long-time project "The Lost City", which has been 15 years in the making:

"The Lost City is the story of impossible love set against the cabaret world of Havana in the Fifties, and the Cuban revolution," he continues. It was written by the late Cuban novelist Guillermo Cabrera Infante, who lived in London and died earlier this year. "I was interested in the nightlife, the cabaret world and all its inhabitants, so initially I was looking for an excuse to put the music to film and weave a tapestry. And I realised what I was trying to do had parallels to other great films like Casablanca, Doctor Zhivago, Cabaret - even The Godfather: Part II."

Garcia also talks about how his upbringing helped shape "The Lost City":

"When we arrived in the United States my mother borrowed a dime to let our relatives know we'd arrived and my father, who was a lawyer, followed us a few months later. He hit the ground running and just began to provide for his family in any way he could. He couldn't fry an egg but he started working for a catering company and was soon organising the entire business. My mother was an English teacher in Cuba and she had to get work as a secretary. I had a fantastic childhood," he says. "The important thing for my parents was the opportunity for their children to to pursue their dreams.

"That's the why The Lost City is so important to me. It is a story about impossible love, which is the central metaphor of an exile's life. The thing you cherish you can't have, so you find solace in the things that never betray you, like your music and family."

The best part of the interview is the last paragraph, but I'll let you all read it for yourselves here.

Thanks to Val for the heads up.

Val who?

UPDATE 4:30 PM - After reading and reflecting upon Killcastro and CB's comments, I thought of another recent Andy Garcia interview which appeared in the Miami Herald back on July 11th. It also touches upon the film, but deals more with Garcia the person, and talks more about his feelings towards Hollywood's aversion to anti-castro projects.

Read it here. It might clear up some misperceptions, it might not, but I think it's fair to say that Andy is on our side.

Oh, by the way, thanks for the warm welcome! ;)

Max Baucus, total creep

Senator Max Baucus of Montana just rammed through a bill in the Senate to make it easier for Montana sugar beet farmers to sell SUGAR to castro's Cuba. Gee what a pro-trade guy he is, he wants free trade even for castro. First conclusion: so he's in the pocket of the Sugar Barons, I am not surprised, this is after all Congress. And castro is pleased.

But that's one thing.

What's despicable is his unforgiveable effort to SHUT OUT our loyal Central American allies from free trade. Less than a month ago, the bastard voted against CAFTA, even though he has voted for every other free trade measure that has been put before him. Baucus is no free trader. Open Secrets shows that he's in bed with the Trial Lawyers. His legislative record shows that he looks out for his friends. What he wants is free trade for castro and everyone else with the exception of our loyal friends and allies in Central America. Most of the countries are doing their damndest to fight castro, Hugo Chavez and "Sunglasses" Danny Ortega.

What a slap in the face.

Central America is our friend and ally. In Latin America, they are our ONLY friend and ally - outside Chile and Colombia. Most of the little countries there vote with us in the U.N. and fight side by side with us to liberate Iraq. They too have paid with blood and treasure the price of freedom.

But Max Baucus wants free trade with castro's Cuba and NONE for our brave Salvadoran and other Central American allies.

Now remember this: Forbes magazine noted that castro owns all the agriculture producers in that $550 million fortune of "his," so we might as well say that Baucus wants free trade with castro, never mind Cuba.

But at the same time, he tried to SHUT OUT our good and worthy friends from Central America! castro si, Central America no. What a scumbag.

This jerk has got to go.

It's Friday, folks, and I'm beat. (Updated)

I've had a slight relapse yet again of the vertigo which is the reason I havent been my usual blogging self today. A big thanks to George for picking up the slack yesterday while I lay in complete silence and darkness all day.

I'm going to take a few days away from the blog, not just because of the dizzy spells, but because I need a break. It's been a bit hectic lately, to say the least, and I need some downtime. A couple days to decompress.

So, for the next week or so, I'm going to chill. Im going to finish those half read books I have at home - Finding Mañana by Mirta Ojito first. I'm gonna spend some more quality time with the Mrs being that our anniversary is a week away. Im gonna finish up a couple of projects around the house that I've been neglecting. And Im gonna play fetch with the dog. Who knows, maybe Ill even get a little fishing in.

That's not to say I wont be around, I will be. Just that Ill probably just be a lurker for a few days.

I always had qualms about taking a few days away from the blog before because there was really no one out here in blogworld that covered Cuba and Cuban related news. But we now have quite a few fellow Cubanazos out there that do a damn fine job. (Paxety, for one, has been on fire lately.) Not to mention George and Mora and Amanda and Robert who have the keys to Babalu and will be here (hint hint) keeping you company and informed with their excellent stuff.

Who knows. There may even be a surprise blogger or two.

So try not to miss me too much while Im on holiday. And no wild parties either. The last thing I want is to come back and find the blog strewn with empty booze bottles and empty bags of chips and beer cans and drunken strangers lying around.

Update: I know I'm officially supposed to be on hiatus, but you have to admit this is definitely something that's gotta make you smile.

Gracias, Howard

Our good friend Howard Morseburg has an excellent post aptly titled "Cuba: What will happen?" It is today's must read.

Chavez and his Cuban chulo

'Chulo,' according to our good friend blogger Daniel in Venezuela, is a Venezuelanism for 'pimp.' castro is Chavez's pimp and in every way shows it and acts it.

Daniel's got an awesome article translated from the great Carlos Alberto Montaner that appeared in Spain's media, describing this castroite pimpery. It satisfies like a good steak.

It's an absolute must-read, Montaner at his vintage best. Don't miss it. Read it all the way to the dazzling end and read it here.

Condi Rice, we love ya!

The BBC published this tonight. I want everybody to focus on this phrase from Condi Rice's speech and repeat it, over and over and over:

"Accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny."
"Accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny."
"Accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny."
"Accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny."
"Accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny."
"Accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny."

Sounds nice, don't it?

New post to help Castro 'demise'

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced the creation of a new post to help "accelerate the demise" of the Castro regime in Cuba.

Caleb McCarry, a veteran Republican Party activist, was appointed as the Cuba transition co-ordinator.

Ms Rice said for 50 years Fidel Castro had condemned Cubans to a "tragic fate of repression and poverty".

Mr Castro accuses the US of funding unrest and vowed that dissidents would never bring down his government.

'Castro's tyranny'

The post was recommended in a 2004 report on Cuba by a commission headed by Ms Rice's predecessor Colin Powell.

The report outlines the steps the US is prepared to take to bring about regime change in Cuba, such as subverting Mr Castro's plans to hand over power to his younger brother.

Introducing Mr McCarry at the State Department in Washington, Ms Rice said the US was working with advocates of democratic change on the island.

"We are working to deny resources to the Castro regime to break its blockade on information and to broadcast the truth about its deplorable treatment of the Cuban people," she said.

She said the aim of the effort was to "accelerate the demise of Castro's tyranny" on the Caribbean island, which he has ruled since 1959.

Earlier this week, in a speech marking the anniversary of the Cuban revolution, Mr Castro accused the US of financing dissidents and false propaganda.

"No other revolutionary process has been able to count on as much consensus and overwhelming support as the Cuban revolution has," he told supporters in Havana.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4726301.stm
Published: 2005/07/28 22:40:41 GMT

Ms. Rice, you have my vote in 2008 -- whether you run or not!

"Ladies and gentlemen, deploy your barf bags now, please"

OK, so here's our story so far.

Jim DeFede is fired because he committed what the executives of the The Miami Herald considered to be an illegal act, namely, taping the late Art Teele's conversations without informing Mr. Teele he was being taped. (Mr. Teele killed himself yesterday in the lobby of said newspaper.)

Now, as much as I dislike The Miami Herald and its editiorial policy, they have every right to fire any of their employees for cause. This alleged illegal taping seems to me to be "cause" in every way I have ever defined it. Right? Are we clear, so far? OK.

So what do we get today on the Blogosphere? Journalists for Jim DeFede, a new blog formed to issue an open letter "signed" by a lovely assortment of MSM apparatchiks. Here is their statement, verbatim:

[DEPLOY BAGS NOW, PLEASE]

An open letter to Miami Herald Publisher Jesus Diaz and Executive Editor Tom Fiedler

July 28th, 2005

We are writing as journalists to express our sadness, distress and disappointment at the way the newspaper has treated Jim DeFede. He has been an important face of the newspaper in a community that has embraced him. Jim represents the finest journalism values: inquisitiveness, commitment to community, and determination to hold figures in power accountable for their actions. We believe firing him was an overreaction to an offense that should be viewed in the context of an intense, immediate episode during which he had little time to consider his actions.

Further, we are concerned that Jim’s willingness in the past to offend powerful figures in Miami and, at times, his own employers, may have contributed to the hasty decision to fire him. We believe that Jim’s determination to be a voice for the poor and powerless in Miami makes him an asset to the community and to The Herald, even if his words may at times make some people uncomfortable.

Jim’s actions may not even have been a technical violation of the law upon closer examination, and whether or not it was an ethical violation is questionable, given the extreme circumstances. But in any case he came forward on his own and has admitted his mistake. The Herald should do likewise and take him back.

[CLOSE BAGS NOW, DO NOT DISCARD]

It's OK for Jim to "skirt" the law, but not OK for Rove, or Bush, or Halliburton, or any other red-eyed spawn of satan Republican, right? I see. OK. But wait, it gets better. At this link, a gentleman by the name of Stephen Rivers writes the following:

[DEPLOY BAGS AGAIN, PLEASE]

The taping incident gave the Herald editors an easy public excuse for firing him, but I suspect that privately a big part of the reason was the heat they got from the local Cuban-American extremists because of DeFede's columns on Cuba, Luis Posada, etc.

Tada!

It's the fault of the Cubans in Miami! The Mafia, los gusanos! Man, are we powerful or what!? I cannot tell you how much this has helped my self-esteem. I feel... well, omnipotent. Thanks, Mr. Rivers, for clearing that up.

BTW, Mr. Rivers, have you seen any black helicopters lately?

[DON'T FORGET TO THROW OUT YOUR BARF BAGS]

Helen Thomas, Professional Wacko

If anyone needs proof of the MSM's liberal/left bias, I present this:

The Drudge Report

REPORTER VOWS TO 'KILL SELF' IF CHENEY RUNS FOR PRESIDENT
Thu Jul 28 2005 15:32:13 ET

Veteran wire reporter Helen Thomas is vowing to 'kill herself' if Dick Cheney announces he is running for president.

The newspaper HILL first reported the startling claim on Thursday.

MORE

"The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself," she told the HILL. "All we need is one more liar."

Thomas added, "I think he'd like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does."

Can we get that in writing?

BTW, Helen, we already had the big liar in the White House. I believe he was disbarred for his perjury. Do you remember his name, Helen?

Jim DeFede fired from Herald (UPDATED)

Read this:

The Miami Herald Thursday, Jul. 28, 2005

Herald columnist Jim DeFede fired over taped phone call

Metro columnist Jim DeFede said he taped a phone conversation with Art Teele hours before the politician shot himself. Executives said they fired DeFede because taping is illegal without consent.

BY JAY WEAVER

jweaver@herald.com

The Herald fired columnist Jim DeFede Wednesday because he tape-recorded a phone conversation with Arthur E. Teele Jr. without his knowledge.

Teele had killed himself in The Herald's lobby earlier in the day without ever knowing that the columnist recorded their conversation.

Both Publisher Jesús Díaz Jr. and Executive Editor Tom Fiedler said they fired the popular Metro writer because it is illegal for anyone to tape a conversation with another person without that individual's consent in Florida.

DeFede told them that during his interview with Teele, he turned on a tape machine to record his conversation as the politician confided in him about his public corruption charges, financial problems and other sensitive issues, according to Díaz.

At one point, Teele told the columnist that he was not speaking on the record -- but DeFede continued to record him anyway without his knowledge, Díaz said.

Díaz said that The Herald had no choice but to dismiss DeFede because his conduct was potentially a felony crime and unethical.

More here.

UPDATE: From NBC6.net: "Fired Herald Columnist Speaks Out After Teele's Death." Here's a quote from Mr. Sensitivity:

In a tense situation I made a mistake. The Miami Herald executives only learned about it because I came to them and admitted it. I told them I was willing to accept a suspension and apologize both to the newsroom and our readers ... The Herald decided on the death penalty instead.

Nice choice of words, Jim. Way to go!

One Herald Plaza (UPDATED)

BREAKING:

Indicted Miami City commisioner Art Teele walked into Miami Herald offices and shot himslef in the mouth.

No other details available at the moment.

UPDATE 8:25 PM: Art Teele has died of his self-inflicted gunshot wound.

El peor enemigo

The worst enemy.

Wanna see a couple of fidel castro's worst enemies?

This guy. And this guy. And this guy. And this guy. And her. And let's not forget this guy. This guy. Here's another. And another. Her too. Him. And her.

And every single other person out there that spreads the truth.

A present for ya...

Here's a picture of a present some "people" are dying to give you:

Can you guess what it is?

You get one try.

Via Michele.

Sunburns and the EU

Leading Cuban Dissident Marta Beatriz Roque rakes the EU over the proverbial coals:

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Leading Cuban dissident Marta Beatriz Roque accused the European Union Sunday of giving tacit approval to the taking of political prisoners in Fidel Castro's Cuba, after a new crackdown landed her in prison this weekend.

Roque said she was among some 30 dissidents who were detained Friday as the communist regime broke up a planned protest in front of the French embassy to chide France for its decision to normalize relations with Castro's regime.

The 60-year-old economist, who was released early Saturday, said 14 people were released and 16 remained imprisoned. Roque had started a hunger strike as soon as she was taken in.

"The European Union must see its responsibility in this, because it is legitimizing the government, allowing it to have political prisoners," she told AFP, vowing to continue anti-government protests despite the repression.

The EU sanctioned Cuba in 2003 after the regime arrested 75 dissidents in a crackdown in May of that year, but Brussels temporarily suspended the penalties this year and re-established political dialogue with Havana.

"Today we ask the Europeans: What have they resolved with dialogue? Where is the liberation of prisoners?" said Roque, who is president of the illegal Assembly for the Promotion of Civil Society.

"This change in policy by the European Union won't solve anything," she said. She called for the Cuban government to free political prisoners.

The EU voiced deep concern Sunday over the latest clampdown on dissidents.

"The European Commission remains extremely concerned about the current political situation in Cuba," it said in a statement from Brussels. "Recent events appear to show a clear hardening in the attitude of the government of Cuba."

In re-establishing dialogue with Cuba, the EU also ordered a suspension of its practice of inviting Cuban dissidents to national celebrations, saying that instead a parallel dialogue should be established with the opposition.

But France went one step further, inviting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to the French embassy's July 14 Bastille Day celebration, marking a normalization of bilateral relations.

Dissidents wanted to show their displeasure in front of the French embassy Friday, but only 15 people made it to the demonstration that also demanded the release of all political prisoners.

"With these detentions they seek to intimidate, divide, destabilize the opposition," Roque said. "But we say to the government that we will continue protesting, not only in Havana, but in the entire country."

The French Foreign Ministry said Sunday the French embassy immediately "demanded" that Havana free the people detained Friday. Paris also demanded the liberation of all political prisoners and respect for human rights.

The roundup of dissidents was the second this month. About 30 people were arrested in Havana on July 13 during a demonstration commemorating the drowning death in 1994 of 41 people who were trying to flee Cuba by boat. Six of the 30 detained July 13 are still behind bars, dissidents said.

The roundups were the largest sweep since the May 2003 crackdown.

Roque, the only woman among the 75 detained in 2003, was sentenced at the time to 20 years in prison.

She was released for health reasons one year ago, suffering from diabetes, hypertension and partial paralysis of the face. She had already spent three years in jail between 1997 and 2000.

Washington, which has imposed an embargo on Castro's Cuba since the 1960s, on Saturday condemned the latest arrests.

"We call on the Cuban government to end this deplorable repression and immediately free all of those arrested. We urge other countries to join us in condemning these acts," said Adam Ereli, the US State Department's deputy spokesman. (epmh. mine)

Ala Hans Blix in Team America - World Police, the EU has issued a statement telling fidel castro how very very angry they are. Then they slapped on some sunscreen and took a dip with some mulaticas in Varadero beach.

Paxety has more.

Cojones, y bien puestos

From Net For Cuba:

25 July 2005

Independent journalist included in wave of arrests of dissidents

Reporters Without Borders today roundly condemned the arrest of independent journalist Oscar Mario González of the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro news agency, who was detained at the same time as at least 15 other dissidents on the morning of 22 July.

Referring to the 21 other journalists already being held in dreadful conditions in prisons throughout the island since 18 March 2003, the organisation said González had become "the 22nd example of the deplorable state of press freedom in Cuba."

More dissidents were arrested last week than at any time since the so-called Black Spring of March 2003. Thirteen of those detained on 22 July were still being held today, including González, who was reportedly being held at a police station in the Havana municipality of Playa.

The exact circumstances of his arrest are unknown. He has been allowed to receive some packages but he has not been allowed any visits.

When González was summoned and questioned by two state security agents in Havana on 24 March, he was told he would not see his family again if he continued to work against the government as a journalist. He was offered the chance of going to Sweden where his daughter lives, but he refused.

Three of the journalists held since March 2003 for threatening "the state's independence and territorial integrity" are members of the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro news agency. They are Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez (who is serving a 20-year prison sentence), Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández (who was sentenced to 18 years) and José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández (16 years).

En español:

25.07.2005

Otro periodista entre rejas

Reporteros sin Fronteras denuncia con firmeza la detención de Oscar Mario González, de la agencia de prensa Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, ocurrida el 22 de julio en La Habana. 21 periodistas cubanos están actualmente detenidos en condiciones execrables, en diferentes cárceles de la isla.

"Oscar Mario González se ha convertido en el ejemplo número 22 de la deplorable situación de la libertad de prensa en Cuba", ha declarado Reporteros sin Fronteras.

El periodista independiente fue detenido el 22 de julio por la mañana y actualmente se encuentra en la Unidad de Nacional de Playa (La Habana), a donde fue trasladado tras permanecer detenido en una unidad de la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria.

Oscar Mario González fue detenido al mismo tiempo que una quincena de opositores, en la mayor oleada de represión desde la primavera negra de 2003. Trece de ellos se encuentran todavía detenidos.

Se ignoran todavía las circunstancias exactas de la detención del periodista. No se le ha permitido recibir ninguna visita. A Oscar Mario González solo le han autorizado a recibir algunos paquetes que le habían enviado.

Dos oficiales de la policía política de La Habana citaron e interrogaron al periodista el 24 de marzo de 2005. Le dijeron que no volvería a ver a su familia si continuaba con sus actividades periodísticas contra el gobierno. El periodista rechazó una propuesta que le hicieron de viajar a Suecia, donde reside su hija.

Entre los 21 periodistas encarcelados desde la oleada represiva del 18 de marzo de 2003, tres son miembros de la agencia de prensa independiente Grupo de Trabajo Decoro : Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández y José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández fueron condenados a 20, 18 y 16 años de reclusión respectivamente, por atentar contra "la independencia y la integridad territorial del Estado".

Will all you anti-embargo and dialogue with fidel folks please chime in and let me know how lifting the embargo will prevent this kind of thing from happening?

You can't make this stuff up

Quote of the day, from Eddie, on Publius Pundit:

If Hollywood producers tried to cast such people in a movie about Venezuela, they wouldn’t be allowed to get away with it

Behold the cast of Chavez and castro.

Open with caution.

To Babalu Readers

Some of you may have received an email from the-ever-so-busy-at-filmmaking-with-so-little-time-to-read-little-blogs BAM complaining that he/she had been banned from commenting on this blog.

I banned BAM last night after receiving a ridiculous threat of lawsuit and being told that Babalu Blog is now being monitored by the FBI, supposedly, after the Bureau was contacted by BAM. I figured it to be the prudent thing to do and I emailed BAM with the following:

I will not offer or publish a retraction of anything I have written on the blog. Nor did I threaten you with bodily harm as I responded and made clear in a second email. The comment thread pretty much speaks for itself, and it will prove in court, should you wish to pursue this, that I have neither libeled nor slandered you. Especially, of course, since you chose to comment anonimously.

To prevent any further misunderstandings, and since you have publicly
threatened me with a lawsuit, I have taken the liberty of banning you from
commenting on my site.

If you review said comment thread further, you may find that the slanderous
and libelous statements made were directed at me, from you.

I wish I could say its been nice, but, well, you know.

Val

NO RETRACTIONS. NO APOLOGIES. I WILL NOT BE THREATENED OR COERCED.

If you do not like the opinions stated on this blog, then I suggest you use the back button on your browser and get the hell out.

Power outages? I thought they were lies of the Miami Mafia! (UPDATED)

And here I thought everything was just peachy in the Tropical Socialist Worker's Paradise. Go figure. (Check out the highlighted passages, but read the whole article.)

Castro: Power Problems Being Resolved

Wednesday July 27, 2005 2:46 AM
By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer

HAVANA (AP) - President Fidel Castro said Tuesday his government was revolutionizing Cuba's aging electrical system, asking a nation weary of recent breakdowns to be patient while his government works to fix the problems.

Summer heat in the 90s and hours-long blackouts that stop fans and water pumps and cause refrigerated food to spoil have increasingly irritated Cubans and led to reports of small, sporadic protests and scattered anti-government graffiti. While occasional blackouts are common every summer, Cubans say these are the most frequent and longest of recent years.

"We will overcome. Have a little bit of faith," the Cuban leader said in an address of more than two hours marking the 25th anniversary [sic] of his revolution. It celebrated his 1953 attack on a military barracks, but he did not come to power for another 5 years on Jan. 1, 1959.

[If fidel's BS could generate electricity, the island would be lit up like Vegas.]

. . .

He said the government would respond the same way "as long as traitors and mercenaries go one millimeter beyond what the revolutionary people - whose destiny and lives are at risk going up against the most inhumane empire - are willing to permit."

The audience, including hundreds of Americans who arrived this week with a humanitarian aid shipment, cheered Castro and waved large red, white and blue Cuban flags.

["Hundreds of Americans." I am so ashamed of some of my countrymen that it cannot be expressed in words. To me this is the equivalent of joing the Bund movement during World War II and helping the Nazis. Revolting. And those "humanitarian shipments" are going straight to the CDRs and party apparatchiks.]

Castro also criticized international media based in Cuba, accusing some journalists of siding with the American government "and working in full complicity with the office of the U.S. Interests Section to misinform and deceive the world about the Cuban reality."

[Was the speech written by Wayne Smith?]

. . .

Although Castro has encouraged his people to have faith, residents in Old Havana say numerous anti-government writings have appeared on walls around the neighborhood - only to be quickly painted over in the early morning hours by state workers.

[Good. More, we need more. We need to make them run out of paint!]

On the bright side, the speech was only two hours long and not five.

Oh, and one more thing. I think we should send the AP writer who wrote the story to remedial arithmetic classes. 1953 through 2005 isn't 25. I know how calculating the left is, but this is ridiculous...

UPDATE 7/27/2005: Reuters joins AP in reporting that "Discontent clouds Cuban revolution anniversary".

Let's lift the embargo!!!

For the "When a policy hasn't worked in 45 years, isn't it time to try something else?" crowd.

Contrary to popular belief, I am all for lifting the embargo and trade sanctions against Cuba. Because we all know that lifting the embargo is the answer to all that ails Cuba.

So I am stating here, in public and for the record, that I want the embargo and trade sanctions lifted.

I just have a couple of conditions that need to be addressed:

Condition I:

Both parties must ensure an end to apartheid on the island. The poor, suffering Cuban people must be allowed to travel about their country free from any restrictions as to where they can go, where they can eat, where they can sleep, what beaches they are allowed to attend, and what people they are allowed to come in contact with.

Condition II:

Both parties must ensure there be no more prisoners of conscience and no more political prisoners. The poor, suffering Cuban people must not be incarcerated for having their own opinions and voicing said opinions publicly.

Condition III:

Both parties must ensure there be no more travel restrictions. The poor, suffering Cuban people must be allowed to travel freely as they wish, wherever they wish, just like their American and foreign counterparts.

Condition IV:

Both parties must ensure there be no more indentured servitude or slavery. The poor, suffering Cuban people must be allowed to work and earn wages that are reasonable and fair and shall not be used as slaves for the American and foreign owned businesses.

Condition V:

Both parties must ensure there be no more censorship of written and electronic media and information. The poor, suffering Cuban people must be allowed access to any and all information available to all human beings, via any and all means possible.

Condition VI:

Both parties must ensure there be no more disparity among available food and medical supplies on the island. The poor, suffering Cuban people must not be made to endure tourism stores filled with food and merchandise while their own stores have empty shelves.

Condition VII:

Both parties must ensure that Cubans be allowed to prosper individually and afforded the right to own their own homes and businesses. The poor, suffering Cuban people are not allowed to purchase their own homes no to own and operate their own business to seek financial freedom.

And there you have it. Seven measely conditions. Just seven little things to iron out before the lifting of the evil embargo.

I say we sit down at the bargaining table and if we ask nicely and politely, say Pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top, I am sure that the present Cuban government will immediately respond to these needed Conditions with a resounding "Pero claro! We'll take care of that right away."

Surely the government of the people of Cuba, the government of the people of the worker's paradise will have absolutely no problem with correcting these minor problems. Tying up these minor loose ends in order to lift the evil imperialist embargo for good. The government of Cuba will jump at the chance to get this done, once and for all, so that the people of Cuba will no longer suffer the injustices imposed upon them by the evil US embargo.

So, com'on, fidel. Waddaya say? Let's do this thing. Pretty please with a cherry on top.

/sarcasm

So you want dialogue with fidel? (Updated)

Bring a big friggin' stick. You are going to need it.

Because this is how the castro regime deals with dissenting opinions:

Here's the result of dissent from the Cuban people while castro still rules:

The above photographs are fresh from Cuba and more are available at The Real Cuba.

Update: Welcome Instapundit readers! I hope you all take a few minutes and visit The Real Cuba for pictures of the conditions and reality that is Cuba today. I also extend an invite to peruse the main page and archives for news and information, articles and editorials covering our communist neighbor 90 miles South.

Mi casa es su casa.

Hear how he brays...

The latest from castro's jackass.

One particularly pungent biscuit from him:

I've been in Cuba three times this year and can testify that tourism was booming.

The disinfectant facts are here.

Background here, here, and especially here.

Another anniversary

Thank you, Ted, for being the moral lighthouse of the Senate.

Thank you, Ted, for reminding us of how morally outraged you are at the Bush Administration.

Thank you, Ted, for supporting fidel.

Ever heard the term...

...Christmas in July?

Well, for decades, while the rest of the entire world was celebrating the birth of Christ, getting together with family, wishing for peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, decorating Christmas trees or going to misa de gallo and kids waking up early morning to open their Christmas presents, children and people in Cuba were forbidden to take part in this celebration.

Christmas was illegal.

Another day was celebrated in Cuba. A day where no one worked and kids received presents. Supposedly it was a birthday of sorts. In July. July 26th to be exact. The year of our Lord 1953.

The anniversary of the Moncada barracks attack is what fidel castro allowed his people to celebrate. El 26 de julio. An anniversary of death and the birthday of fidel castro's terrorist revolution.

New toys and presents for all! A holiday to surpass all holidays! A holiday observed nationwide, celebrating the death of Cuba.

It could have been referred to as Christmas in July, had Christ been allowed into the homes and souls of Cubans. But religion is the enemy of the state and fidel castro made sure he was the only god worshipped on the island. Not even Christ could compete with fidel castro.

Charlie Bravo has more over at KillCastro - A War Blog. As does Juan at Paxety. Mora has more in this post below.

castro's festival of himself

castro is full of his worthless self today - July 26. On this day, Cubans will be treated to the insulting self-praise of the man who impoverished their lives for 46 unbearable Sovietic years. And who now lives to cling to power. In the dark and sweltering hungry heat of Havana and Matanzas and Santiago and Cienfuegos and Spiritu Sancti, the Cubans know different. This foul dictator is history's worst plague, his crimes against humanity will become known, and he deserves to die someplace other than his bed.

Source: GOPINION

Miami Herald has an excellent editorial today:

Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2005

What Castro won't say on this day

Today, Fidel Castro will celebrate the 52nd anniversary of his revolutionary movement with typical fanfare.

What he won't say is that the Cuban people have lost hope in the future. Most are fed up with the government and their living conditions. Cuban dissidents and other island observers note that popular discontent is as high as ever in the 46 years of his dictatorship.

Here's the reality lived by ordinary Cubans: food, water, housing and electricity shortages and the constant threat of repressive reprisal to any protest.

Cuba is suffering dark days -- literally and figuratively -- and the prospects for improvement appear dim. No wonder so many are miserable. To counter this discontent, Castro has brought his repressive machinery into action.

Recent protests

• Dozens of dissidents have been roughed up and arrested in the last two weeks. In an incident last Friday, 30 dissidents who attempted to protest at the French Embassy in Havana were detained. Their complaint: The French government invited the Cuban foreign minister to its Bastille Day celebration.

Among those detained were prominent leaders Martha Beatriz Roque, Félix Bonne and René Gómez Manzano. As of Monday, about a dozen of them, including Mr. Gómez, and others arrested at a July 13 protest remained detained.

• The ''rapid-response brigades'' are back. These government-organized groups harass and assault dissidents under the guise of a counter-protest. They have appeared at the last two dissident protests and moved against the Women in White, a group that marches weekly to demand the release of political prisoners and other civil rights.

• Ms. Roque has announced that she will continue to protest, peacefully and openly. She says that groups of dissidents islandwide are ready to take to the streets demanding freedom for Cuba's 300-plus political prisoners.

• Ordinary Cubans are tired of daily blackouts, inadequate healthcare and wages that don't cover bare necessities. Meanwhile, they resent the government's sending Cuban doctors and aid to Venezuela and other places.

Castro's abuses

Earlier this year, the European Union lifted sanctions imposed in 2003 after the Cuban regime sentenced 75 dissidents to lengthy prison terms. Now the EU is expressing concern about the new acts of repression. Europe should understand that pressure, not engagement, is more likely to restrain Castro from committing more abuses.

Heat, misery and popular discontent are a dangerous brew. Cuba's dissidents are growing bolder while the Cuban government has primed its forces to repress them. Castro only wants to hold on to power, and he will go to any lengths to do so. His top echelon may continue to follow him out of fear or greed. Whatever the motive, they will be remembered as accomplices in crimes against humanity.

Our hope is that saner heads will prevail. May democracy and freedom come to Cuba in a peaceful transition.

Brazilian hypocrites

Brazil. The haughty touchy nation that lectures all other nations about the importance of not interfering in other nations' "internal affairs." Brazil sets the pace by ignoring and abetting the depredations of the Hugo Chavez regime of Venezuela right on their border and the savagery of The Monster At Their Door, none other than fidel castro in Cuba a short yacht ride away. These two evil dictatorial scumbags have gotten a free pass from Brazil to violate as many human rights as they can manage, in castro's case, for more than 40 years. Not one peep out of Brazil. Total indifference. But plenty of reproach to the United States when it tries to stand up to these brutal leftist thugs destroying their neighbors. That "hegemonic" meddling United States, so they smugly sniff.

Now, the British cops have accidentally shot and killed a Brazilian illegal alien who mistook the anti-terror officers trying to stop a human bomb for 'La Migra.' They chased him and told him to stop. Thinking only of himself, he didn't. Instead, it didn't bother him to jump a subway turnstile - he was well outside the law anyway as an illegal alien. What's a subway turnstile? I pity him but all of the choices he made were his own.

What were the cops to think? He had this huge heavy jacket on in 80-degree heat and looked kind of Pakistani. An electrician, some saw wires dangling underneath his heavy jacket, perfectly logical for an electrician - or a human bomb. He lived in a terrorist complex. He wouldn't stop. The only people who don't stop are human bombs. Or people who have better things to do than think of public safety. Or who are totally unaware that Britain is at war, repeat, war, with Islamofascist animals. The right to be an illegal alien is so much more ... important.

Now Brazil is making an absolute ass of itself as a nation. Suddenly its leftists not only demand billions in compensation, they also want certain people arrested regardless of whether there has been a crime or not - from 6000 miles and an ocean away, they have already decided. They are marching in the streets in vast demonstrations, blaming Britain. And insisting that they know better than Britain about how to administer justice in England. They want to micromanage the United Kingdom's internal affairs! All the while NOT LIFTING A FINGER TO FIGHT THE WORLD TERROR WAR against Islamofascist animals. Not doing a damn thing except obstructing. and seeking free money.

Just looking for something for nothing on the backs of the Free World that does the heavy lifting. And in their minds, they all have an absolute inalienable right to be an illegal alien in England and act furtive, as is natural for someone breaking the law, any time they please. Britain needs to stop its terror war and accomodate Brazil.

To heck with that. Britain should warn Brazil it's just lost about 60 people to Islamoterrorist killers and there are some still walking free.

Britain should shut off the immigration spigot to Brazil immediately to assure Brazil that none of its nationals will ever be shot when they overstay their visas, abuse their privileges of residency and then refuse to stop for questioning by the U.K.'s terror fighters who have a world of trouble to investigate with so many Islamofascist animals demanding their right to blow up civilian trains.

To heck with all of this. F Brazil. It's time for Brazil to understand Britain this time. Not the other way around. Give them nothing, England! Back to the old confident British Singapore ways. When self-centered people act childish, they should be treated like ... children.

Things are different now.

"Point the Bow Towards Hope" - Part 3: The Cutter

If you haven't done so, please read the Introduction, Part 1, and Part 2 of this story. (Thanks to HowardE for the title change suggestion.)

There were two other balseros on the cutter. After picking us up, they rescued several more groups. It was a crazy quilt of people on the boat. Most of the rafts they picked up were inner-tube based flotation devices. We also saw several empty rafts as we moved along. We were moving along very quickly and soon we encountered a huge warship and another Coast Guard cutter, larger than the one we were on. We were all transferred to a smaller boat with an outboard engine that belonged to the larger cutter. When we went on board, there were already 300 or 400 balseros already on the ship.

They had picked us up Thursday at approximately 8:30 in the morning. We had been in the water for about 36 hours.

Dad and I were taken to a lower deck where they gave me first aid. As a result of the position I was in on the catamaran, both of my legs, from the ankles up, had had the skin abraded off. My wound from the spinal surgery had also opened up, but not as badly as it could have been. They did a fine job of treating my wounds. After a while, they transferred me and some others to the large warship we had seen. We thought we were going to Key West. The reality was that the ship was full and heading towards Guantanamo Bay to take the injured and sick so we wouldn’t have to wait. Once again, they transferred us to a launch that took us to the large warship we had seen.

(I have not seen Carlos since I arrived here; I think he was on the cutter and that has to fill up with balseros before they are transferred to Guantanamo and it should have arrived a day after we did. It’s not easy to find anybody here unless they have your same last name.)

On the warship, they took me to an improvised covered infirmary. All of the doctors and assistants were military men. They placed me on a cot and dad stayed right next to me. They asked me my name and my ailments. They cut my pants legs and made them into shorts. As you can imagine, I was wet to the bones, and felt very uncomfortable. I told this to one of the navy men and he gave me one of his own clean pair of shorts. He also brought me clean water and soap so I could wash. After I washed I removed my long-sleeve sweater-jacket and wore only my t-shirt. I felt so much better. Dad was unable to change his clothes, although he was doing much better than the others, kids included, who were sleeping in the open, bad weather and all, on top of one another.

We slept until 3 that afternoon when they woke us to give us a meal. We were given a small ball of rice, about the size of a scoop of ice cream, with some beans in it. Imagine how hungry we were that we pretty much wiped it out in about three bites. Afterwards, we slept again. All manner of balseros were coming in and out of this makeshift infirmary, with all manner of ailments and complaints. There was one young man, in particular, who had a perforated ulcer and another diabetic with some severe problems.

We were not fed until breakfast the next day. We were given the same meal as before, and we ate as hungrily as before. At 5 that afternoon, we were given another food ration; I asked for an apple and they give me one. The ship was moving along much faster than the catamaran and I felt the waves more here. I was little seasick. The weather had not improved much.

I have to say that the doctor was very nice to me and dad. Even though I was treated well, the personnel, especially the chiefs, were not very nice to the other refugees on board.

The next morning (the 27th) at about 6:00 AM we sailed in to Guantanamo Bay. We were very confused about what would happen to us. We thought we would be taken to the Krome Detention Center in Miami, but we were far away from there. And, from the manner the military personnel were treating us, we knew we wouldn’t be heading that way any time soon.

The young man who had come in to the infirmary with the perforated ulcer was in agony all the way to Guantanamo. When we awoke on that last morning, the day we entered the bay, we realized that he had died during the night. I ma of the opinion that the medical personnel were negligent in not taking him quickly -- by helicopter, maybe -- to a medical facility. He did have a medical emergency, after all. They covered his corpse and removed him from the area. He was fortunate, in a way, that he wouldn’t live through what we -- those of us lucky enough to reach Guantanamo -- would experience over the next few months.

The doctor treated me very well; he was a fine man. He said goodbye to me as I was being lowered on the stretcher. He grabbed my hand and said, “I wish you and your father the very best.”

They lowered the stretcher and placed me near an ambulance on the shore of the bay. I would have thought that the sick would be in a different location, but we were ordered by some military men to get on a bus that was close by. We were brusquely subjected to body searches, including our private parts and cavity searches. One of the Immigration officials kept repeating, imperiously and sarcastically, that none of us would ever go to the United States.

When the bus was full, we left the port and passed some lovely houses on paved streets and construction sites. We were leaving the city behind and entering a hilly area with fortifications and no homes, and traffic signs. We finally entered the area where the camps -- structures made of wood and with electricity -- for the balseros were located. But the most shocking thing we saw on entering the camp were the tall razor wire fences that surrounded it.

End of Part 3

(Copyright © 2005 The Universal Spectator in trust for an anonymous author. All rights reserved. The material contained in this story on the BabaluBlog.com website is protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of The Universal Spectator™. English translation Copyright © 2005 The Universal Spectator. All rights reserved.)

Blue Bracelets

Here's an interesting editorial (reg. reqd) from the Naples Daily News sent to me by reader Marie in Bakersfield, CA:

Havana: Ninety miles from Florida but a world away, Cuba waits for the winds of change to draw closer

By WILL GRAVES, wrgraves@naplesnews.com
July 24, 2005

HAVANA — Vamos bien.

The words, written in red, are plastered against a green backdrop with a profile of one of the world's most famously infamous dictators facing them on countless billboards throughout Cuba's capital city.

"We're doing well," a vibrant, seemingly vivacious Castro seems to be shouting.

Spend a week amid the decaying buildings, street hustlers and countless poor in this once-vibrant city, and it's difficult to agree.

Yet the shouts are everywhere. On billboards. On television. In the state-run newspaper and in bookstores. Pictures of Castro and hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara — who helped Castro depose Fulgenico Baptiste in 1958 in an effort to establish the kind of social utopia Karl Marx wrote so lovingly about so long ago — pile up in the kind of ubiquitous ad campaign that would make the people at McDonald's blush.

Castro is trying to sell the image of a country on the upswing as he stares out from the billboards, three or four stories above the ground.

The way he looks out over the citizenry is almost symbolic. You get the feeling many of the 15 million people in this beautiful, complex, confusing land would rather Castro look them in the eye.

Vamos bien.

Nancy Suarez, 50, isn't so sure she agrees with the only leader she's ever known.

Suarez lives in a cramped apartment with her brother, two daughters and a granddaughter on a crowded street in tourist-heavy Old Havana. Thousands of foreigners with Cuban Convertible Pesos at the ready walk just outside her door every day, yet her family is forced to get by on the milk, food and water provided by the government.

It was different before, she tells you. When Russia was pumping $3 billion into the economy from the 1960s into the late-1980s, things were good, even though she knew her countrymen who dared speak out against the government were being locked up. Even as her brother escaped to America in search of a better life.

She hasn't heard from him in 20 years. She didn't cry when he left. Life goes on. She's more concerned about Cuba pulling itself back onto its feet.

In the 1980s, it was easy to put up with the tyranny of Castro because at least there was enough to eat.

Ask her if she partially blames the trade embargo between the United States and Cuba for her homeland's economic struggles and she only shakes her head.

"We're not friends," she says in broken English, smacking her two fists together to prove her point. "Politics are stupid. The problem isn't the people, it's the politics." Will those politics change when Castro, who turns 79 next month, is gone? She doesn't know. Nobody does. She figures Raul Castro, Fidel's 73-year-old younger brother, will run things after Fidel dies.

After Raul, however, she fears civil war. There's a divide, she says, between the Cubans who live in cities like Havana and the Cubans who live in the country.

People out in the countryside don't see the tourists every day. They don't know what they're missing. People like Suarez do.

"We need dollars," she says. "We don't make money, not like in the U.S." And make no mistake, even as Castro denounces the U.S. as "imperialists" and information about the U.S. is limited at best, and slanted at worst, American culture seeps through the cracks in the wall the two countries have erected between each other.

"The U.S. is the best country in the world," says a young man trying to sell cigars. "I love the U.S." Walk through the streets of Havana, and there is no end to the people who want to talk to you about the U.S. They ask for your yellow Livestrong bracelets. They talk about baseball. They want to know if you know Michael Jackson. They want to know where you live, if there are a lot of Cubans there, if everyone has a car, if everybody is rich.

There isn't a cab driver or a waiter or a bartender who doesn't know somebody who knows somebody in Miami or California or New York.

"I would love to go to America," says a young man on the Malecon, the seawall that protects Havana from the Straits of Florida, one night as people gather to watch the sunset.

Does he want to go to the U.S. someday? He sighs.

"It's not possible," he says in Spanish. "Maybe one day. Maybe one day things will be different." Then he goes on his way, hopeful the next tourist will take him up on his offer of cigars, cocaine, marijuana or prostitutes.

Moments later, a bicycle rickshaw rolls by. The spokes on the two rear wheels have been removed, replaced with the kind of spinning rims you'd see on a pimped-out SUV in the States. A busted speaker blasting Jay-Z drowns out the small waves rolling against the Malecon.

It's just another startling revelation in the heart of a country that seems desperate to join the 21st century but is unsure how to get there.

Street hawkers are everywhere, offering to show you the best restaurants or the best nightclubs. Some taxi rides are an exercise in bartering, even though the taxi industry, like just about everything else in Cuba, is regulated by the government.

You're not surprised when a cab driver tells you he used to teach English at one of the universities. He switched jobs a few years ago because it's tough to get by on the $20-a-month the teaching provided. He can make the same in one day driving a cab.

What strikes you, though, is how life goes on, how things are depressed but not necessarily depressing. The streets are constantly filled with people: old men working on cars, workers fixing countless potholes that litter the narrow sidestreets, children playing handball in an alley, women hanging laundry from the balcony.

The streets aren't filled with sadness or anger necessarily, but people simply trying to make it through the day.

Maybe it's part of the comfort of living in a dictatorship. Maybe there's freedom in being powerless. Maybe they're just waiting for the winds of change that draw ever closer.

"Que sera sera." What will be will be. You hear it more than once.

Amid the rubble, there's beauty. It's hard not to think about what the city must have looked like a century ago, when Ernest Hemingway was downing daiquiris at the Floridita and the ports were alive with shipments from all over the world.

Sitting in the Catedral de la Virgen Maria de la Concepcion Immaculada, initiated by the Jesuits in 1748, you're humbled by the gracefulness of the oldest church in Havana. An organ plays hymns as tourists wander through on a hot Monday afternoon. In the corner, Maria de Jesus prays. She comes three times a week, kneeling for hours at a time. She prays for her family, she prays for food, she prays for her country.

Handel's "Messiah" brings tears to your eyes as you walk out.

"For the Lord God omnipotent raineth. Hallelujah." From one of the gun towers at El Moro, the imposing fort that guards the entrance to Havana, the city spreads out in front of you. Cars whiz up and down the Malecon, slamming on the breaks, cutting each other off in a manic, hell-bent style that makes New York City look tame by comparison.

Yet there are no accidents, no road rage. It's a privilege to have a car in Cuba. Crack yours up, and it's not like Allstate is around the corner to help you.

Cars come in two varieties: modern, fuel-efficient sedans from Kia, Hyundai, even Peugeot, in the form of taxis. They have air conditioning, a radio and power windows.

Then there are the others, countless American relics. Oldsmobiles and Plymouths, Fords and Chevrolets. All at least 50 years old. All still running, churning up the hills of Havana in a cloud of black smoke.

They are the cars of common Cubans. You don't learn this until you hop in a power-blue Plymouth from the Truman administration after leaving El Moro.

The driver chats away as he makes his way back into Havana.

"Chevrolets are the best," he says. "My brother has one." As you near the hotel, he stops at the side entrance.

"Pay me here," he says, eyeing the ever-present Department of the Interior officer in a beige uniform at the front door of the hotel.

Turns out these kinds of taxis are for Cubans only, as are the massive "buses" where as many as 400 passengers cram themselves into a converted livestock trailer. Cubans aren't allowed to ride in the new taxis, and you're not allowed to ride in the old ones.

Why? Like just about everything else in Havana, it's a mystery.

Vamos bien.

Maybe, Castro's right. Maybe they are doing well. You don't live there. You're an American visiting another country for the first time in your life. Maybe it's better now than it was five years ago. Maybe it'll be better next week.

Maybe the answer's on the wrist of the old man who approaches you in the alley. He points at one of the two yellow Livestrong bracelets on your right wrist. He points to the frail, painfully thin older woman next to him.

You take it off and hand it to her.

You think about offering him the other one, but he's already wearing a bracelet. It's blue.

There's a word on it: Hope.

It is the same bracelet I am wearing in this photo during the Cuba Nostalgia Convention.

If it's free...

..it's probably worth what you paid for it.

The latest with Cuba's vaunted free universal healthcare:

Havana on health alert after eight children die

25 Jul 2005 01:45:41 GMT

Source: Reuters

HAVANA, July 24 (Reuters) - Cuban health authorities urged Havana residents on Sunday to take extra hygiene precautions as they investigate the deaths of eight children from an unknown cause.

A government communique said that there had been an increase in digestive and respiratory illnesses reported over the last two weeks in the Cuban capital coinciding with power, cooking gas and water problems, in part caused by Hurricane Dennis, which passed a few miles east of Havana July 8.

The statement said children were particularly susceptible, and in some cases high fever and other complications developed.

"In this context eight deaths among minors have occurred which are being meticulously investigated," the communique, broadcast during the government's nightly television newscast, said.

While children die at high rates in developing countries from various diseases, such deaths are rare in Communist Cuba, which takes pride in a relatively well-developed and free health care system

An open letter for Luis Moro and BAM

From someone who was there with you, in Cuba, while you paraded around like naked kings and filmed your little movie:

Dear Luis and friends,

Why am I spreading lies about you? Just to let you know I only read the title of your e-mail that you sent me. If you want to continue a dialogue, I suggest you do it here in public where it began.

About my critique on the behaviour of you and your crew when you were shooting your film in Havana (which you call lies), well we could argue about this until we are blue in the face. In the end it is only for yourself to decide whether your actions were or were not appropriate. There is however a much bigger issue at stake and that has to do with the film itself.

Your friend who wrote the response in the blog was correct when he pointed out that no one has in fact seen the film yet and until that time one cannot give a fully accurate critique of the project. Yet judging by the strong reaction your film has already provoked in the public, you may have noticed that shooting a film in a Cuba is an extremely controversial action, an action that you will have to take responsibility for. Taking responsibility for his or her actions, whether you feel comfortable with this or not, is the main role of an artist.

Now being a filmmaker myself who has written, directed and produced several films, I know first hand what it means to take responsibility. It means treating your subject matter with respect (which in turn treats your audience with respect). Respect comes from having deep understanding of the culture/ people/ and subject matter that you portray in the film. This understanding leads to an empathy that allows you to depict your subject matter in an inoffensive way, even if the film is a critique of that culture. So how does a filmmaker come about having that understanding? Well when it deals with a foreign culture, it comes from living and working in that culture, interacting with the people on an everyday basis and doing tremendous research, research that often takes years to do.

So my questions for you are: How long had you been in Cuba before you began shooting? How much research did you do about the culture and people beforehand? Did you live there? Did you work there? Did you use Cubans as a part of the crew, allowing them to make serious, creative decisions about the script, the dialogue and about the portrayal of the Cuban people depicted in your film?

Perhaps you will respond by saying the film isn't about Cuba. It's about a man who goes to Cuba. but this is where you cease to take responsibility for your role as an artist. Simply by going to Cuba you have made a statement. By shooting a film there you have opened up a volatile can of worms. You don't need my "lies" to trigger off the anger towards your own actions. You have already done this by using Cuba, your own Cuban heritage and the volatile political situation to spread your own lies- lies about your understanding of the integrity of filmmaking and about your understanding of Cuba and the Cuban people who are suffering tremendously day by day.

Yes I should wait for the film to come out before making this statement, but I feel confident enough by what I have already seen about the project and what you have to say in your defense, to come to the conclusion that you are exploiting the Cuban people and the whole subject of Cuba to sell yourself and your career.

I will make an effort to watch the film when it comes out, and if you prove me wrong I promise to take back my words and offer an apology.

In the end what I said about you and your crews actions in Cuba is insignificant gossip. It's the film itself which will speak the truth.

A clean, well lighted place.

The title of this post is the same as the title to my favorite Hemingway short story. A Clean Well Lighted Place is basically about a lonely man who has nothing and is looking for a clean, well lighted place to contemplate the misery of his life.

I find that appropriate today, resonant even, given last nights Food Network special on Hemingway's Cuba. I didnt watch it. I didnt have to see it to know that it was going to be another fluff job. Another piece that barely scratches the surface on Cuba and the situation the island is in. I knew it would be something of an infomercial for Cuba.

Apparently, I was correct. Mandingo Jones has written up his take on the show, as has CB at KillCastro's new blog.

I also received the following via email from reader Ray Sand:

I just finished watching Hemingway's Cuba on the food channel and I like to share my thoughts on this program with all of you.

To start off, it was nothing more than a travelogue undoubtedly made in cahoots with the Cuban Ministry of Tourism. It had the imprimatur of the Castroite dictatorship all over it. For instance, on several occasions when the camera showed a close-up of a Hemingway book, or a picture of Hemingway on the wall, it would invariably show Hemingway next to Fidel Castro. When the camera showed a close-up of a bartender making a mojito, it would focus on a bottle of Havana Club thus giving Cuba's rum [Bacardi's competition] free advertisement. At the end when the program was ending, they played a Buena Vista Social Club song. The Food channel stressed all of Cuba's selling points!

There was really so much propaganda in this program that it is hard to point a finger at any one thing, but I will do so anyway. Take the Chinatown segment for instance. Cuba's Chinatown [before Castro destroyed Cuba's Chinese community] was the biggest Chinatown in Latin America and could rival New York or San Francisco's Chinatown. That much said, Havana's present-day Chinatown is kitsch and it has no Chinese people. I think that I saw one old Chinese guy and that's all. Basically, it looked like a cheap theme park with all of the red Chinese lanterns and ornaments hanging from the buildings, but without any authenticity or legitimacy, the authenticity and legitimacy that a Chinatown populated with real Chinese people would have! By the way, Mariel Hemingway mentioned that you can buy songbirds in this Chinatown. The tragic thing is that Cuba's songbirds are endangered and these are undoubtedly some of those endangered songbirds being sold in this Chinatown. But HEY, Castro has systematically sold off Cuba's national patrimony including its fauna and flora, so this should not come as a surprise! What is surprising is that any American program would casually mention the songbirds without taking into regard the harm that is being done to Cuba's wildlife. Isn't America's media politically correct and liberal? Aren't politically correct liberal Americans supposed to be ecologically conscientious?

Another propaganda point were the paladares which we are lead to believe are all over Havana. In fact, while paladares were flourishing at one time, now they are diminishing. Castro is so afraid of a Cuban middle class that all of the paladares that were making money were so heavily taxed that most of them were forced to close. The owners were also heavily scrutinized and fined for the slightest infraction of any of Castro's arbitrary laws such as the one where only family members can work in paladares, or that you can't have more than a certain amount of tables in the paladar. Mariel Hemingway made it seem as if paladares were everywhere and she didn't even hint at how the owners are mistreated by the government. And talking about food, that farmer's market that Mariel Hemingway visited was obviously, how shall we put it? Grossly embellished! Yes, there are food markets in Cuba, but the abundance and variety of food that was shown in this program is exaggerated. My mother speaks to her sister in Cuba quite often and she says that there is no food to be had. She says that she is literally starving and often goes to sleep without eating!

Of course, no Castroite propaganda program would be complete without to important things:

Number One: mentioning Cuba's alleged "excellent health care and education" which Mariel Hemingway did.

Number two: Most importantly NO Castroite propaganda piece would be complete because of what was NOT SAID. As usual, no mention of Cuba's repressive government, and lack of human rights in all of its manifestations was ever made, or even hinted at. Mariel Hemingway totally [and with flying colors] complied with these two requirements!

It's sad and insulting that the Food Channel aired this propaganda piece without any regard for the many Cuban exiles that undoubtedly watch it, or most importantly for the dissidents who are still imprisoned and the Cuban people who are repressed.

By the way, what's with the title? "Hemingway's Cuba?" Not even ashes are left of Hemingway's Cuba!

At the end of Hemmingway's "A clean, well lighted place", he gives us the true unending sorrow the main character lives in. An eternal life of solitude and isolation and sadness. It resembles the lives of Cubans in many ways:

"Good night," the other said. Turning off the electric light he continued the conversation with himself, It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly you do not want music. Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours. What did he fear? It was not a fear or dread, It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee. He smiled and stood before a bar with a shining steam pressure coffee machine.

"What's yours?" asked the barman.

"Nada."

"Otro loco mas," said the barman and turned away.

"A little cup," said the waiter.

The barman poured it for him.

"The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished," the waiter said.

The barman looked at him but did not answer. It was too late at night for conversation.

"You want another copita?" the barman asked.

"No, thank you," said the waiter and went out. He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted cafe was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he would go home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it's probably only insomnia. Many must have it.