U.S. colludes with tyranny

I have been stewing over the story of Andreivi Castillo Pérez, since I first posted on it over the weekend at my blog, Uncommon Sense.

With their rhetoric, President Bush and other officials have at times, been eloquent in their support of Cuban liberty. But at the same time, the United States undermines its moral authority by colluding with the dictatorship to return to the island Cubans trying to flee tyranny, whether with enforcement of the odious wet-foot, dry-foot policy or as what happened to Castillo, turning over Cubans caught trying to enter the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo.

Perhaps this serves some sort of American "strategic" or "political" interests. Or maybe this is the only way to prevent the base from being overrun by freedom-seeking Cubans. But it is undeniable that the U.S. is acting as a partner with tyranny.

And that is indefensible.

Castillo was summarily tried and sentenced to 3 years in a Cuban prison for being a "social danger."

Read my original post here.

No vacancy

As long as raúl castro is dictator, there will be no room at tourist hotels for these Cubans.

The reform Cuba needs

For all his crudity and devotion to his power and that of the dictatorship he heads, raúl castro has demonstated a mastery of public relations in his short tenure as "president." It's all words really, these pronouncements allowing Cubans to have cell phones and stay at tourist hotels — only a small percentage of Cubans will be able to enjoy these "reforms" — but they are words that stand to earn him prestige in circles of people who don't understand what the Cuban people have been missing for almost 50 years.

I do not begrudge the creature comforts these recent pronouncements might provide Cubans who can afford them. They are due whatever diversion they can find. But what the Cuban people lack is not cell phones or other electronic device — although it will be intriguing to see what Cubans armed with cell phone cameras and computers might be able to accomplish in their struggle against the dictatorship. (One small potential benefit of lifting the hotel ban is that Cubans will be able to access cybercafes there now reserved for tourists.)

What Cubans are missing, thanks to the dictatorship, is liberty, the freedom that left unfetttered, in both the economic and political arenas, would not only let Cubans buy what they want to buy, but also choose their leaders and their destiny for Cuba. A few consumer goods will not begin to pay for what the dictatorship has taken.

A disposal of tyranny and a restoration of freedom is the reform Cuba needs most.

Until then, castro's "reforms" are only words.

Told ya so.

La Ventanita brings up an interesting point about all of these reforms announced by the munificent raul castro, king of all he surveys in Cuba (thanks Alberto) and trumpeted by the world's media and that is if that if Cubans can now stay in Cuban hotels legally and can now purchase telephones and PCs legally then it's obvious that such thing were prohibited before. But when we would say such things we were discounted as right-wing batistiano nut jobs that couldn't cope with the beautiful reality of the worker's paradise because fidel castro the great took away our sugar plantations.

Now that Cubans can buy cell phones and stay in hotels the only thing they need is to be able to criticize the government without fear of reprisal, to be able to organize political parties, to be able to vote in free and fair multi-party elections, to be able to move around the country as they please, to be able to work for themselves or other Cubans without interference from the state, to be able to buy, sell and own property as they see fit. Then we can talk about meaningful reforms.

Oh and let's not forget freedom for people like Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and other political prisoners.

Cuba's new travel spokesman...

Is odious castro shill, Lisandro Perez:

“In the post-World War II period, Cuba outranked all countries in the world in the volume of passenger flow to and from the United States,” says Lisandro Pérez, a sociology professor and Cuba expert at Florida International University in Miami. “With jet airplanes, the actual flight is less than half and hour. Havana and Varadero are closer to Miami than Disney World.”

Sharing Responsibility

A story that kind of flew under the radar this weekend was the decision by the Bush administration to take resources away from Miami-based exile groups and giving them to international pro-democracy groups.

The full story is included below the fold, but before I roll it out, I have to say that the idea doesn't strike me as a bad one. Yes, logic would dictate that Miami-based groups are more familiar with dissident groups in Cuba, and therefore should be the focus of any effort to bring aid to those brave individuals. However, their track record is mixed, as a recent GAO report indicated. Opening up the bidding to include a wider pool of applicants, including international organizations does two key things:

- Increases accountability of qualifying organizations.
- Increases international collaboration in the effort to aid dissidents.

Some may not like the fact that U.S. funds may go to groups outside the U.S. I can understand that concern, but if the money is there and ready to be used, let's make sure it gets into the right hands and used properly and with maximum impact. We've been going it alone for too long. A little help is never a bad thing.

U.S. shifting funds away from Miami anti-Castro groups

The White House aims to address allegations of favoritism by sending aid to international organizations -- away from South Florida's anti-Castro groups.

BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is undertaking a major do-over of the controversial Cuba democracy grants, restricting the funds available for anti-Castro groups in Miami and sending more resources to non-U.S. international advocacy organizations, officials and others familiar with the programs say.

The new orientation, which has sent tremors of uncertainty among many grant recipients in South Florida, comes as the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development prepare to award a record $45.7 million in Cuba democracy grants this year -- more than triple the 2007 levels.

The money aims to bring about a transition to democracy in Cuba, but the programs have long faced allegations they favor more Cuban Americans in Miami than people on the island. On Friday, a White House aide resigned amid allegations of misusing program money when he worked for one of the Cuban-American groups.

The funds are to be awarded via competitive bids and officials are urging Eastern European and Latin American groups to apply. The administration is especially eager for proposals that would provide communications technologies to activists in Cuba. Officials say Internet access, YouTube videos and cellphone text messages propelled movements to challenge governments in places like Tibet and Burma.

Access to these technologies is restricted by the communist government, although on Friday, Havana announced cellphones would be made more widely available. Earlier, the government has also said computers would be sold to all Cubans.

''We are not . . . excluding anybody from the process,'' said José Cárdenas, the deputy assistant administrator for South America and Cuba at USAID, ``but with the tremendously escalated resources, definitely we want new participants in the program.

''We would love to see more former East European bloc groups and individuals,'' he added, ``and we would love to see more private interest and activity from Latin America.''

Until now, the bulk of the grants have been funnelled through Miami groups. Critics said the programs placated Cuban-American groups but did little to bring democracy to Cuba. Havana routinely calls Cuban recipients of U.S. aid programs ``mercenaries of the empire.''

A November 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office criticized USAID for providing $74 million in grants since 1996 without competitive bids. The GAO also found some instances of abuse, including using grant money to purchase game consoles and cashmere sweaters.

And on Friday, the White House announced Felipe Sixto, its top liaison with the Cuban-American community, resigned over allegations he may have improperly obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money at a previous job with the Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba.

But supporters of the programs say the GAO report also found programs delivered vast quantities of communications equipment and other supplies to dissidents on the island. The increase in resources for Cuban democracy grants was easily approved by Congress last year.

Officials say Miami-based organizations will now need to show they can provide training, equipment and other resources to groups on the island. ''We want to see an impact in Cuba not somewhere in the United States,'' said one official who helped craft the new guidelines and agreed to speak candidly provided he was not quoted by name.

The goal is to empower Cubans to operate independently of the communist system, which controls everything from access to the mass media to jobs. With Fidel Castro retired, his brother and successor Raúl Castro has taken some timid steps toward debate and reforms, though Cárdenas said the country was still ''tightly controlled'' by the government.

U.S. officials say Washington-based advocacy organizations like Freedom House, International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will also be favored by the new guidelines because they have longstanding links with foreign pro-democracy groups.

Some money already has been provided to groups like the Czech advocacy group People In Need.

European and Latin American activists have an easier time entering Cuba than U.S. citizens.

Paul Fagan, the head of IRI's Latin American programs, says his group often uses Latin Americans to conduct training seminars for Cuban activists, and is looking to set up Cuba programs with Baltic states like Latvia.

According to 2008 State Department budget documents, $33.7 million is to support civil society groups in Cuba, $5 million will support ''rule of law and human rights'' and $7 million is for ``political competition and consensus-building.''

The change in orientation has caused uncertainty among grant recipients in Miami, especially among academic programs that do not deal directly with civil society groups in Cuba.

Jaime Suchlicki says he will keep running his Cuba Transition Project, a unit of the Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, regardless of what the U.S. government does.

''CTP is not going to end, whether we get funding or not,'' said Suchlicki, a historian and longtime head of the institute.

USAID provided $500,000 annually to fund seven researchers focusing on a post-Castro Cuba. Late last year, USAID said the program would not be renewed, though Suchlicki plans to reapply for a grant this year.

Frank Calzón, the head of the Center for a Free Cuba, said his USAID program ended recently but he had enough funds to keep going until the guidelines become clear. The center provides assistance and equipment to dissidents on the island, and works with international human rights organizations and foreign governments to raise awareness on abuses in Cuba.

Calzón said programs are evolving over time.

''There are other tools, there are other instruments,'' he said. ``Now, there are people in Europe, in Latin America who want to help the Cuban people by sending books, by going to the island.''

Cell phones

The AP's Anita Snow has written an article remarkable for it's frankness about what the lifting of cellular phone restrictions in Cuba really means:

Q. Why now?

A. Raul Castro said when he became president last month that he would quickly lift some prohibitions to create new government income. Some also believe that allowing Cubans to have modern gadgets such as cell phones, personal computers and microwave ovens may dissuade them from demanding deeper changes in the state-controlled economy.

Q. Who will provide the service?

A. Cuba's state-controlled telecommunications monopoly, a joint venture between the government and Telecom Italia.

Q. How much will it cost?

A. Probably so much that most Cubans can't afford it. Foreigners and companies currently pay $120 to activate service and 60 cents a minute for local calls.

I wonder if Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet will be permitted to have a "cell" phone?

H/T: Ziva

That Revolutionary Raul and his "Reforms"

So hotels are next, huh. Alberto has pointed out the likelihood of Cubans checking into the Nacional in droves. So one can only conclude that the recent changes are the height of cynicism. And they are, but not in the way you would expect. Yes, there is cynicism in decreeing "changes" the metaphorical equivalent of allowing a nation of convenience store clerks to stay at the Waldorf in NYC, as long as they can afford it, not bloody likely. But the gesture is more cunning still.

If you look at the "reforms" that have made the latest splash in the media, they all have one thing in common. Cell phones, computers, appliances (except for the lowly toaster, they'll have to wait 'til 2010 for them), they are the appurtenances of modern life, the must haves of the global consumer society. Your average American hears, "Cubans will be allowed to buy microwaves," and immediately pictures them in addition to the Kraftmaid kitchen with the Kitchen Aid appliances, not as a replacement for the lone hot plate with the grease of twenty years and the fraying cord, the cost of which must be paid out for years. So to the uninformed, the impression made is that Cuba is joining the 21st century.

Now Cubans may be isolated, but they have a sense of how the other half lives. All they have to do is look at the tourists, the party apparatchiks, and the State stores, or look to their exiled kin. And in part, they realize how little likelihood there is that they will be able to afford these luxuries the rest of the world takes for granted. As usual with the regime, appearance is all.

That's the true genius of these "reforms," they are designed to appeal to the Cuban sense of self. Raul is dismantling the assemblage of fiats that make Cubans feel like second-class citizens in their own country. While no substantial reforms have been forthcoming that will allow Cubans to avail themselves of these "changes," those decreed are designed to make them feel they could. One wonders if the removal of the two-tier currency will be next.

Still among the banned, however, are the rights of free assembly, free speech, free elections. Call me a skeptic, but I'm looking for one tell, and that is the release of the political prisoners. The day that Dr. Oscar Biscet walks out of whatever hell hole they've transferred him to a free man; then I will believe change is truly on the way. Until then, I fear I have misjudged Raul, who may very well have been the brains behind keeping the throne all these many years.

Cubanology

Jose Reyes has posted the Cubanology Biweekly Cuba Report. Read it here.

Ñangara. James Ñangara, 007 1/2

Seems I take a few days away from the internet to work on the old home improvemnent front only to come back and find out that Im the top agent for the castro regime. Apparently, just one word from me has sent the entire castro regime state security apparatus into a paranoid frenzy, arresting every single Cuban whose name has a vowel in its spelling and causing utter chaos among the vast, super secret, I-could-tell-you-but-Id-have-to-kill-you, Cuban maquis underground movement.

This morning I also learned that Im the Cuban anti-Christ. The human, Cuban manifestation of evil incarnate, wielding not fire and brimstone, but gossip and innuendo. Spewing out names of anti-castro agents whose secret identities, as we're reminded on a daily basis, are so secret that even the actual bearer of said secret identity has to write same in an undisclosed bodily location with a Sharpie.

I'd like to offer more information, but my handlers back on the island have warned against it and besides, raul must have had a few too many scotches on Friday as he sent me last week's check, but forgot to sign it, and I need to get that issue resolved right away. The new travertine, $50 a square foot floor tiles are being delivered today and I obviously need the money. Plus, with all the construction confusion going on at home, I seemed to have misplaced my ultra, super duper secret decoder ring, and...well...I need it in order to decipher my instructions for this week.

Goodbye March

While Florida is known for its lack of seasons, there's plenty of Spring to be found here if you look for it.

Here a Northern Cardinal bids adieu to March and welcomes April.

Taken at the Okeeheelee Nature Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Good news and Bad news

The good news is that thanks to the supreme benevolence of king raul, the ever-munificent and generous monarch, Cubans are now allowed to stay in the same hotels tourists have been enjoying for years.

"Anyone can stay at hotels as of midnight last night, as long as they have ID and the money to pay for the room," said the night porter at the Chateau Miramar hotel in western Havana.

The bad news, however, is that thanks to the supreme benevolence of king raul, the ever-munificent and generous monarch, a stay at one of these hotels will run the average Cuban about half a year’s pay.

But let us not get caught up on such trivial technicalities. This is (as the media so diligently points out) real reform.

I am sure that every Cuban who awoke this morning trying to figure out how he or she was going to feed their families this week is going to feel a whole lot better about their situation when they hear this news. Who cares about such unimportant things like food and freedom when you have the privilege to stay in a hotel you cannot afford?

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe - I know you're out there
You're in hiding, and you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming, and I know what you're after
We're wise to you this time - we won't let you kill the laughter

Lunatic Fringe - in the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season, but you won't get too far
'Cause you got to blame someone for your own confusion
We're all on guard this time against the Final Solution

We can hear you coming - no, you're not going to win this time
We can hear the footsteps out along the walkway

Lunatic Fringe - we all know you're out there
Can you feel the resistance?
Can you feel the thunder?

As seen on the streets of Miami

Cuba wildlife on PBS tonight at 8 PM - updated

PBS's NATURE series is showing a special at 8 PM tonight about Cuba's wildlife. I'm slightly skeptical of the "special arrangement with the Cuban government," I probably won't agree with any mention of the politics that come up, and I definitely don't agree with how they seem to be implying that the revolution has brought about environmental preservation. Regardless, it might be an interesting show to watch (if I can tear myself away from MLB's Opening Night game, also at 8 PM tonight - featuring Cuban shortstop, Yunel Escobar, who plays for the Atlanta Braves). I personally have never seen footage of many of the more obscure provinces, so I'm looking forward to that. Here's the description from PBS's website:

Cuba's diverse wildlife stems from its unique natural history. Cuba was not originally in the Caribbean Sea but in the Pacific Ocean, where the island was situated 100 million years ago, before the forces of continental drift slowly brought it into the Caribbean. As the island migrated over the ages, an astonishing variety of life arrived by air, sea, and possibly by land bridges that may have once existed. Over time, these animals adapted to their new environment. Today, more than half of Cuba's plants and animals, including more than 80 percent of its reptiles and amphibians, are found nowhere else on the planet.

Protected by its isolation, the wildlife of Cuba has remained naturally preserved, untouched, and unexplored. Through a special arrangement with the Cuban government, unprecedented access was granted to film the island's natural riches.

Join NATURE in exploring Cuba's coral reefs, swamps, forests, and caves to uncover the astonishing diversity of life on the island.

Update: Thanks to Ray in the comments, I've learned that not only is this not a new show but it is LADEN with political propaganda. I guess that's the "special arrangement." If you're still interested in seeing nature/wildlife, I suggest muting the TV.

Update 2: Thanks again to Ray, apparently this piece was not the propaganda-laden one. I take back my first "Update," above.

Did anyone go see Curazao last night?

I just read about this movie, Curazao, at El Nuevo Herald. It was shown last night at 8 PM at the Teatro Tower in Miami.

Curazao, directed and produced by Agustín Blázquez, is about the history of highly qualified Cuban laborers who must work 16 hour shifts in Cuaracao's shipyards. For this work, they receive just $16 per MONTH from the Cuban government, administered by the Netherlands Antilles. Think about this: 16 hours/day, 5 days/week (assuming it's just 5), 4 weeks/month = 320 hours/month at $16/month = $0.05/hour. That's right, FIVE CENTS PER HOUR.

The movie focuses on Alberto Rodriguez Licea and Fernando Alonso who were contracted to work in Curacao until they escaped into exile in the United States.

''Estamos ante una pieza de denuncia que muestra cómo la dictadura de La Habana envía mano de obra barata a ultramar obteniendo ganancias netas de un trabajo casi esclavo''

"This is a piece that shows how the dictatorship in Havana sends cheap labor overseas, making net profits from work that is practically slave labor."

- Alejandro Ríos

Apparently Curazao is the sixth part of a series called Covering Cuba that Blázquez has been directing and producing since 1995. Its goal is to show the reality of Cuba which is overlooked by the MSM.

If any of you saw the movie last night, I'd love to hear what you thought.

On Cuba's disgraceful record on free press

''Que haya periodistas encarcelados, como prisioneros de conciencia, y que muchos países y organismos intergubernamentales no denuncien esta anomalía, es una vergüenza para nuestro hemisferio.'

"That there are journalists in jail, as prisoners of conscience, and that many countries and global organizations do not denounce this anomaly, is a disgrace to our hemisphere."

Other presidents denounced at this meeting for their attacks on free press include:

• Nicanor Duarte (Paraguay)
• Tabaré Vasquez (Uruguay)
• Manuel Zelaya (Honduras)
• Rafael Correa (Ecuador)
• Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua)
• Evo Morales (Bolivia)
• Hugo Chávez (Venezuela)
  

In a Similar Vein

Former Spanish President José María Aznar, no friend of the castroite regime, had some choice words about the succession. Here are a few:

Fidel Castro's renunciation would be irrelevant if the lack of freedom and the oppression which characterize the regime continue intact...that a dictator retires is not synonymous with the end of the oppressive regime.

and

The economic dole in exchange for renouncing rights and freedoms, Cubans do not deserve that immorality. The position for transition to democracy and not succession, that is the only just and viable solution for the future.

Article in Spanish here.

H/T penúltimos días

My First Post - What's in a Photo?

First I want to thank Henry and Val and the rest of the folks here for giving me the op to publish here. I hope you enjoy the esoteric stuff of mine as I enjoy yours.

So for my first post I give you a picture that is not mine. It is from a studio photographer from Oriente Cuba who in the late 1930's or early 1940's was hired to photograph 2 sisters, my mom (on the left) and my tia (on the right).

The significance of this image like any photograph is for the viewer to wonder what was in the mind of the subject. Of course I cannot speculate what was in the mind of these two little girls. But I can assure that they never would have believed that in less than 30 years later, as young women, they would be forced to leave their homeland and never to see it again for nearly 50 years. This April marks the 50th year since my mom left Cuba to Miami. She came here as a prize winner of an art contest. She was told not to go back since things did not look good and was told to chill until things got better. They never did. She never returned. Being the only one here, in the 1960's, she was the one who got out her parents and 4 siblings and their families.

Last February 2008, I took a picture of one of my best friends; someone who worked with me for a long time. A nice picture. What was in her mind at the time I took the picture? I'm sure it was, there's Mike taking my picture again. Less than a month later she would be murdered. When I took that picture, no one thought that would be her fate. When she was captured on a Publix surveillance video doing her normal routine, she would never know that hours later would be her last on Earth. I still have the photo of her of course; as well as many others I took of her throughout the years which are the only memories that I have now. I have photos of friends and families that I take to capture the moment.

My point ... take a lot of pictures of the ones you love. Do what you always wanted to do and do it now. Don't wait. No one expects their country to be taken from them or that one day coming home some evil person will take our life.

I hope to post for you guys besides the occasional op ed that I find on interesting ironies from the left, but I also hope to post some pics from around Florida and the USA. If for some reason you can't make it to the Wave in Northern Arizona, then I hope my pictures will take you there.

Cheers

-- Cigar Mike

Inalienable

Yesterday I had lunch at El Intrasijente restaurant and while conversing with its owner Juan Amador Rodriguez, the topic turned to the so-called “reforms” that the dictatorial oligarchy in Cuba is receiving accolades for from the mainstream media. Juan made an interesting point that freedom cannot be legislated or granted by a government; freedom is an inalienable right. A government cannot grant its subjects the freedom to speak, to assemble, to worship, or any other basic human right—those rights have always existed. No one can give you something that already belongs to you. This simple, yet very important fact is largely ignored by the media, which is too busy fawning over the new king’s edicts.

But not all have allowed themselves to become pawns in the regime’s self promoting game of “which inalienable right will we bequeath today.” Investors Business Daily has an excellent editorial that addresses the fact that the only reform that can help Cuba and its citizens is restoring freedom.

Economic freedom — including the right to earn what one is worth, charge what the market will bear and innovate and invest as one's individuality allows — is the real issue that needs to be reformed in Cuba. Raul has made no moves in this direction because he may get too close to giving Cubans real power against his rule.

…Raul Castro is only offering these goodies by executive fiat — a dictatorial act in itself — and Cubans themselves know he can reverse it.

I strongly recommend this editorial, which is one of the few that addresses reality. You can read it HERE.

Welcome Cigar Mike

Folks, Val and I would like to welcome the newest contributor to the Babalu family, Cigar Mike Pancier.

Cigar Mike has been blogging with me over at CubanAmericanPundits.com for a while now and it only made sense for him to join us here.

Beyond his love for cigars, Mike loves photography and maintains a great photo blog. Hopefully he'll post some of those outstanding shots over here.

So make him feel at home.

Cell Phone for sale - Slightly Used

While the media gushes over the "reforms" the dictatorial monarchy in Cuba is supposedly engaging in, a simple picture can put these so-called changes into perspective.

$260 for a cell phone? What a bargain! A Cuban would only have to forgo food and clothing for a measly year to afford one.

If any of you gushing media types out there happen to be in the market for a cell phone, I have a slightly used Motorola phone that I am willing to sell you cheap. Since it is used and a little dinged up, I am willing to sell it at 2005 prices. For just $34,586 (the yearly per capita income in the US in 2005) you can be the proud owner of this Motorola cellular phone complete with car-charger and carrying case.

I know it sounds expensive, but the point here is not the price--the point here is that I, in what must be nothing short of magnificent benevolence, am giving you the privilege to buy a $100 phone for just one year's pay.

How can anything be wrong with that?

U.N.-Believable

That’s how Investor’s Business Daily describes Jean Ziegler’s election as an adviser to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council.

In one of his last acts as "right to food" watchdog, Ziegler earlier this month filed a report with the HRC on his visit to Cuba last October. In the report, he blamed not a half-century of Communist rule, but America's "illegal blockade" of the island as Cuba's main obstacle to feeding its people

Read more of Investor’s Business Daily’s critique of Ziegler and the U.N. here.

Quotable

I hope that reading it will convince you of the reality that exists in Cuban prisons and you will never again affirm- at least not in public as you have done- that in them prison authorities don't employ cruel, inhuman, and degrading methods in order to subdue the population.

-from the dedication inscribed in a complimentary copy of Buried Alive*, addressed to Fidel Castro and delivered to State officials by the author's wife, Laura Pollan, one of the Women in White. Story in Spanish here at Miscelaneas.

*Quick refresher: Buried Alive was written in large part by Pollan's husband, Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, one of the victims of the Black Spring Purge.

Who are these "reforms" for?

castro, inc.'s public relations machine is working overtime these days getting the word out about all of the new reforms that raul the reformer is introducing, the latest being the unrestricted sale of cellular phones.

Here's a sampling of the news stories on this topic from just one google news alert:

Cuban lifts mobile restrictions NEWS.com.au - Australia CUBA's new president has authorised Cubans to officially get mobile phones, until now mainly reserved for foreigners and government staff. ... See all stories on this topic

Cuba lifting restrictions on mobile phones
Reuters - USA
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba announced on Friday that it would allow unrestricted use of mobile telephones by all Cubans for the first time in the latest step by ...
See all stories on this topic

Cuba allows unrestricted cellular phone service
ABC News - USA
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba announced on Friday that it will allow Cubans the unrestricted use of mobile telephones for the first time in the latest step by new ...
See all stories on this topic

Cuba lifts curbs on mobile phones
BBC News - UK
Cubans are to be allowed unrestricted access to mobile phones for the first time, in the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro. ...
See all stories on this topic

Cuba lifts mobile phone restrictions
Guardian - UK
Raul Castro at Cuba's National Assembly in Havana. Photograph: Ismael Francisco/AFP/Getty images The Cuban president, Raul Castro, today lifted restrictions ...
See all stories on this topic

Cuba Lifts Ban on Use of Mobile Telephones, Improving Access to ...
FOXNews - USA
President Raul Castro's government will for the first time allow unrestricted use of mobile telephones by its citizens, the latest step by Cuba to improve ...
See all stories on this topic

Cuba's new government to allow ordinary Cubans to get cell phone ...
International Herald Tribune - France
AP HAVANA: President Raul Castro's government said Friday it is allowing cell phones for ordinary Cubans, a luxury previously reserved for those who worked ...
See all stories on this topic

Did you notice anything missing?

Where's the Granma story? How about Juventud Rebelde, Periodico 26 or Prensa Latina?

One would think that the Cuban people would be delighted to know about their newfound right to own a cell phone (if they can afford one).

Makes me wonder that all of these "reforms" are for international consumption more than anything else.

How long before the MSM dummies figure out that they are being played like cheap fiddles? Or do they even care?

Update: Rather in Cuba Alert!

At the good doctor's suggestion:picture from latinamericanstudies.org.

Not content with his accumulated body of work, Rather is said to be reporting on Cuba today on HDNET. Those of you that have it and have a couple of antacids handy might want to watch and let the rest of us know. He was supposedly granted "Extraordinary access." Here's an article about it.

Update: The entire thing is up at Penultimos Dias. Maybe he went to a different country called Cuba.

From My Files

Havana - 1952

Another image of what once was, salvaged from a dusty box of Kodachromes, diaries and paperwork.

Lest we forget . . .

Can You Hear Me Now?

Wow!

You gotta love this guy.

Mr. Pragmatic is certainly proving to be pragmatic at making a buck and squeezing blood from a stone. And he said they weren’t magicians.

In the latest “trick” announced by the Cuban regime to better the lives of the long suffering Cubans, it has decided to allow Cubans to have access to cell phones.

That’s just what a captive, hungry and practically homeless audience needs. Cell Phones. Maybe they can now call Miami for some take out.

From the Sun Sentinel’s Ray Sanchez:

Ordinary Cubans will be allowed to buy cell phone service for the first time, Cuba's phone company announced Friday.

The announcement, which came in a six-paragraph company statement published in the state press, was the latest in a string of modest changes introduced since Raul Castro took formally took over the presidency last month from ailing brother Fidel.

There were few details but the ETECSA statement said that within days it would inform the public about changes in cell phone ownership and service contracts.

So far in raul’s magic show, the promised changes that have materialized have been mostly cosmetic and meaningless in improving the living conditions of the long suffering Cubans while food and freedom continue to disappear. They do however, manage to garner a lot of press coverage and create the illusion for foreign observers that things are indeed changing.

The changes are also clever slight of hand tricks to separate Cubans from what little hard currency they may have and to get their relatives abroad to send some more.

…Cell phone service would involve prepaid cards and be paid for in hard currency, the statement said…

Some like the magic trick, but are questioning the admission price:

…"I could use a cell phone," said Rodrigo Junco, 58, when informed about the change in cell phone ownership. "Whether I can afford one is a different story. But any change at this point is welcome."…

Read Sanchez’s report here.

Dems Split, McCain Wins

No, I'm not trying to be John Dorschner or Nostradamus, but a recent CNN poll indicates that the split in the Democrat Party could indeed favor John McCain come November.

New polls show many Democratic voters could swing their support to Sen. John McCain in the general election if their candidate isn't nominated.

The most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, taken March 14-16, shows the percentage of Sen. Barack Obama supporters who said they'd be dissatisfied or upset if Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the nomination has gone up -- from 26 percent in January, just after Clinton won the New Hampshire primary, to 41 percent now.

The poll suggests if Obama wins, a majority of Clinton supporters -- 51 percent -- would be dissatisfied or upset. The number was 35 percent in January.

A Gallup poll conducted earlier this month and illustrated in the above article painted a more specific and even rosier picture for McCain.

According to a Gallup Poll taken March 7-22, about one in five Obama supporters -- or 19 percent -- said they will vote for McCain if Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

If Obama's the nominee, more than one in four Clinton supporters -- or 28 percent -- said they'd vote for McCain.

If those numbers are even close to being true in November, you can start practicing saying "President McCain".

I don't know how much this has to do with the Wright issue, although it has to be at least somewhat of a factor. "Somewhat" because I heard the results of yet another poll which indicated that Obama still has something like a 60 percent favorable rating, higher than either Clinton or McCain.

As Henry has noted many times before, it's still early and lots can change. But so far, those who asserted that McCain is more "electable" are looking pretty good.

Join us at 8:00!

Whacha doing at 8:00 EST tonight?
If you have some time, please come join me and Alberto De la Cruz at Blog Talk Radio for our interview with Susana Lohse, children's book author and Cuban-American. Susana's life in Cuba and here in the US is a story in and of itself- which is why she wrote about it in her book, "The Peerless Dulcinea."

See you there!

You can buy the book at Susana's website for a discounted price and free shipping here..

Back to the Herald's Future - Part 7

This is the 7th part of an examination of a piece published in The Miami Herald’s Tropic Magazine in 1988. The piece was written as a fictional look back over the 20-year period between 2008 and 1988. As we have seen some of the events described by the author, John Dorschner, have actually come to pass.

Intro, Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

"THE BIG ONE" FINALLY STRIKES: 1993

The U.S. Hurricane Center, of course, had been warning about it for years.

But few were ready on Sept. 1, 1993, when Hurricane Eugene blasted South Florida, crushing the coast with top winds of 132 miles per hour. It was the most brutal storm to hit the area in almost 30 years (since Cleo, in 1964). Many didn't heed the warnings to evacuate Miami Beach and Key Biscayne in time.

Altogether, 47 died. Property damage ran well over $800 million. Some oceanfront high-rises that were supposed to withstand any storm collapsed. (Later, inspectors discovered their developers had secretly violated building codes.) Viceland was virtually destroyed.

Occurring a mere 6 weeks apart, the Conflagration and the storm were "a horrendous 1-2 punch to the economy," as Time magazine noted in its cover story on South Florida, entitled Paradise Lost, Again.

John Dorschner came so close to predicting what would actually happen that it's eerie. In an article where the author was trying to predict the events of a 20 year span, he nailed that a major hurricane would strike south Florida to within 13 months. While it seems that we're always in danger of being struck by hurricane, the fact is that in 1988 when Dorschner wrote this it had been 25 years since the last "big one"

Hurricane Andrew missed hitting Miami directly and instead hit Homestead and Florida City. 15 direct and 25 indirect deaths were credited to the storm and the damages were much more costly than Dorschner predicted (estimated at $30 Billion).

Interestingly Dorschner did not include any footnotes in this small excerpt. As we have seen, many of his predictions came from interviewing experts which he credited in footnotes. Apparently, he just guessed correctly.

Part 8 coming soon.

A couple of spoonfuls of Ajiaco

Newsmax explores the lies of castro, inc.

castro, inc. public relations campaign to erase the reality of it's historic persecution of gays seems to be working.

Microwave Propaganda

It’s all over the papers, the internet and even the TV news in Miami.

Cuba is entering the 80’s, if you believe the AP. You see, Cubans are being introduced to microwave ovens made by Daewoo. WooFreaking’Hoo.

According to the AP, in this Miami Herald article:

LAS GUASIMAS, Cuba -- Ana Magdalena Melian, a spry 91-year-old, had never seen a microwave oven until one landed in her kitchen courtesy of the communist government.

''There were some rich people in Havana who had a microwave, but the rest of us didn't dream of one,'' said the great-grandmother who uses the new Daewoo DC to prepare flan and defrost chicken.

About 3,000 households in Las Guasimas, a town just southeast of Havana named for a stubby evergreen tree, were issued microwaves in December as part of a pilot program.

La Sra Melian is one resourceful ol’ cookie. You’ve got to hand it to her. She figured out how to make a flan, which requires a bunch of ingredients that are scarce and expensive in Cuba and is somewhat tricky to make even with a good stove, (at least in my case), in a Daewoo mini-microwave oven in no time at all. And she’s 91! (lookout, Marta).

The microwave ovens are part of a pilot program in which the regime is studying whether to make the microwaves available for sale to the public. Really, more like a propaganda program designed to make it appear as if the "new" regime is making changes that benefit the lives of ordinary cittizens.

I’m assuming the study is going to be difficult to conduct because of the lack of electricity and food to cook in the microwave ovens. Maybe they should study how to provide these essentials. Oh yes, I forget, they’ve been studying that problem for nearly fifty years. Any day now…..

The sad part of this story, even sadder that they’re making microwave ovens available to people who have nothing to cook in them, is that the regime, the only importer, wholesaler and retailer, is planning on financing the purchase of the microwave ovens to its citizens-probably with interest. And you guessed it - they are conveniently the only financiers as well.

Considering that an average Cuban makes $15 a month and assuming that these Daewoo microwaves go for $90, these ovens represent 6 times a median Cuban monthly salary. So let’s say you make $35,000 per year in the US, it would be like you paying $17,500 for a microwave oven-or like going to the Toyota dealership, getting a nicely equipped Corolla, parking it in kitchen – and toasting your toast on the engine block.

This fact, isn’t overlooked by everyday Cubans, who are smart enough to figure out how to make flan in a microwave, after all:

Melian said her family now loves ''el microwave'' but the idea of having to pay to keep it scares her. ''We still are missing a lot in our lives,'' she said. ``This helps, but at what price?''

Her neighbor, 76-year-old retired truck driver Sergio Rodriguez, uses his microwave to heat rice and milk.
''If they want to charge me, it will take 20 years to pay off,'' said Rodriguez, who lives with his daughter and two grandchildren.

Thank me later...

How about some Thursday Lecuona?

La Comparsa

And if that gets you into a musical mood, you can listen to WDNA's Latin jazz Quarter until 2:30 today, right here.

Refreshing

We often hear about these student groups going to Cuba and coming back with such wonderful things to say about the worker's paradise and castro, inc.

Today, Ziva brings a story to our attention of some students who went to a lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County given by Ramon Colas, a Cuban exile and former independent librarian (you know, the ones the ALA refuses to acknowledge or defend). Well it turns out these kids have more sense than the American Library Association.

Students attending Colas' guest lecture Wednesday...were astounded to learn about the lack of intellectual freedom and widespread human rights violations in Cuba...

After Colas' talk, students discussed tools governments use to keep control over people.

"They use social constraints, like the Nazis did in World War II and Stalin did in the Soviet Union, to get the people to work against one another so that the government doesn't need to do anything. The people do it," said Joseph Franklin, 26, of Marshfield...

Tears welled in Nicole Gershman's eyes as she talked about human rights violations in Cuba.

"I can't imagine what it would be like," said Gershman, 20, of Marshfield. "We have so many freedoms in America."

Virtual Rafters

Yoani of Generacion Y has more on this week's increase of internet censorship in Cuba. Apparently, the regime doesnt need fancy blocking hardware or software, just a bit of code that delays the loading of pages in Cuba.

Think about it. If youre a Cuban lucky enough to have some spare cash to buy an hour of net time at an internet cafe, it would be an incredible waste if each page you want to read takes 20 minutes to load.

Potro Salvaje has more, in a post aptly titled "Apagón."

Babalu Radio Podcast Available

Click the image below to listen to the archive of tonight's show.

Co-hosting tonight was Robert "El Ciclón" Molleda

Antúnez takes a stand for Cuba

Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" is one of the giants of the Cuban opposition.

For more than 17 years, Antúnez was a political prisoner, withstanding the worst the dictatorship could throw at him. His guards tried over and over to break Antúnez, beating him and throwing him in punishment cells. But all they did was strengthen his resolve and his intransigience in the face of tyranny. More than once, he would go on hunger strike to demand that his human rights, and those of other prisoners, be respected.

Since his release last year, Antúnez has continued with the struggle for a free Cuba, despite the toll that prison took on his health. He has participated in numerous protests and other events, and the dictatorship has responded in kind on several occasions by arresting, threatening and then eventually releasing him.

Antúnez also loves his family, which is why on March 11 he started a hunger strike to demand that authorities allow his sister to move from her hovel of a home and into better quarters.

There has been no response from the government, which owns all the housing and controls where people can live, so Antúnez continues with his protest.

Antúnez told Encuentro En la Red that he started the hunger strike after he and his sister, Caridad García Pérez, exhausted all bureaucratic options to find better housing for her and her 11-year-old daughter. The protest also is on behalf of "the thousands and thousands of Cuban families living in difficult conditions for several generations."

Antúnez said his sister's house has tilted walls and dirty floors, and a roof that leaks.

"The key feature of the house is that it may collapse at any time and kill my sister and her young daughter, age 11. Both are sick, my sister has heart ailments, the girl is asthmatic. My sister does not sleep, afraid that the house will fall over.

"The case of my sister is representative of thousands and thousands of Cubans facing a situation similar or worse," Antúnez said.

Antúnez, who is taking in liquids during his protest, said he is not "an addict to hunger strikes. But when the formal channels are exhausted, when you see that there is not an understanding, you have to take a radical position."

To resolve the situation, a group of prominent Cuban dissidents has signed a letter promising to raise from overseas the money needed to repair Caridad García Pérez's home.

(Cross-posted at Uncommon Sense.)

In a Word or Two or Three

I stumbled across this headline in the Sun-Sentinel recently:

Cuba's economic czar promises to rebuild storm-ravaged homes in Baracoa

I don’t want to make light of the predicament of those who lost their homes, but I do want to point out the irony. I could start with the vow, which would better be directed at the Victims of the Storm, by that I mean the ones who have had their homes crumble over their heads, as well as the victims of the storm. But let’s accept the article’s view of reality. There is no housing problem in Cuba, and these are the only unfortunates left homeless. Not to worry, however, Carlos Lage, passed over for the number two spot in the government but happily endowed with a new title by the Sentinel, “economic czar,” has promised to rebuild. Czar, what a grand ring to it, kinda like “Czar of All the Russias.” Of course in his case, he’s been about as effective as our drug “czars”’ and in this particular matter might better be described as the potentate of plaster…of the crumbling variety, that is.

Another interesting point of diction occurs when translators have Cubans speaking as if they were at a cricket match. This makes for some interesting usages. In an article about the dismal state of merchandise offered in stores, Reuters has shop assistant Belkis Martinez complaining that they have “knickers,” but only in small sizes. Somehow, I just can’t picture poor Belkis bemoaning the paucity of full-sized knickers. Bloomers might have been more believable, since it is closer to the Cuban usage, even panties.

The latest example of this phenomenon appeared in an article in a Chinese government organ which quotes the coma andante thus:

"We see around us a great frenzy, as though we lived in Bedlam,"

I know he was educated by Jesuits and all, but I can’t see him using the word Bedlam. Bedlam is one of those words that hasn’t been used outside of a PBS series in at least half a century. Derived from the name of an actual asylum, the Hospital of St. Mary’s of Bethlehem, which with the English proclivity for clipping words became bedlam, it had to be the translator’s equivalent for Mazzora, the Cuban asylum of lore. So I ventured into enemy territory to read the original in Spanish. Nah, it was just “casa de loco,” or “crazy house.”

All of which brings to mind another headline this one from an article by Guillermo Fariñas:

EL INSEPULTO TRADUCTOR EN JEFE

He asks the question, if the Cuban population is 100 per cent literate and politically educated, why do they need the blogger in chief to translate the news for them. Strikes me as a nicely phrased question. And that "insepulto," now that's a great word.

The Little Things in Life

Teaching Spanish this year, my 16th, has been a bit of a rough one for me. Every few years I have one that proves more challenging than others. Behavior problems with the beginning levels and mountains of grading for the upper levels take a lot out of me at times. But then something happens that doesn't just make me smile for the moment, but for the rest of the day. An unexpected remark or an act of kindness made by my students always has the ability to turn my day around. And today was no exception.

Months ago I showed my advanced students the video of King Juan Carlos telling hugo chavez to shut up. They roared with laughter, both because it is one of the first things they learned when they first started Spanish, and also because they already knew who chavez was and enjoyed hearing the King of Spain tell him off. For several weeks afterwards, whenever someone was talking instead of listening, another student would save me the trouble of saying "Silencio, por favor" by yelling "Por qué no te callas?" in a deep, King of Spain-like voice. Rude, but funny.

So, when my students returned from their school trip to Spain today and excitedly gave me a souvenir, I was so touched that they thought of me that I'm still smiling about it. And it wasn't your run of the mill trinket.

Direct from España, a t-shirt, which I cannot wait to wear on our next casual day at work. The kids who also bought one for themselves said they will wear it that day, too. Very, very cool.

Teleminuto

If anyone recorded last night's Telemundo piece, where out of the hour and a half interview I appeared only for about ten seconds, please let me know, Id love to post it. For those of you that didnt get a chance to see the piece, it dealt mainly with the recent restrictions on Cuban bloggers where they are being blocked in Cuba. I put the reporter in contact with Yoani Sanchez of Generacion Y and she did a great job of describing the conditions and cyvber repression in Cuba.

This article from the Guardian has more:

Cuba censors cyber critic with block on island's popular blog

Cuba has blocked access to the country's most popular blog, signalling an apparent government crackdown on a new generation of cyber critics. The blog, Generación Y, received 1.2m hits last month, but its writer, Yoani Sanchez, said Cubans could no longer visit her web page.

Attempts from the island to view desdecuba.com/generaciony and two other Cuban blogs which share the server in Germany prompt an error alert, though the site can be viewed outside Cuba.

Ziegler Follies

Appeal to Swiss President Couchepin and Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey
Re: Jean Ziegler's Nomination to UN Human Rights Council

Dear President Couchepin and Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey,

Angel De Fana
Ex-political prisoner
Director of political prisoners' organization
Plantados Hasta la Libertad y la Democracia
USA

Back to the Herald's Future - Part 6

This is the 6th part of an examination of a piece published in The Miami Herald’s Tropic Magazine in 1988. The piece was written as a fictional look back over the 20-year period between 2008 and 1988. As we have seen some of the events described by the author, John Dorschner, have actually come to pass.

Intro, Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4, Part 5

THE RISE OF THE "LITTLES," THE "HAITIAN MIRACLE" AND THE '93 CONFLAGRATION

In early 1993, economic conditions in Cuba had become so bad that "consumer demonstrations" took place in the streets of Santa Clara and Santiago. The Cuban government arrested the leading demonstrators and discovered 5 caches of Chinese-made weapons hidden in their houses. Several demonstrators confessed they had been in contact with CIA agents. In the ensuing war of words between Havana and Washington, the '87 pact crumbled: Immigration from Cuba was halted completely. Altogether, during the 5 years of the pact's existence, 90,000 Cubans had settled in Miami. (Another 25,000 had found homes in other parts of the United States.)

Economic conditions in Cuba during the early 90s were terrible but the root cause was something that Dorschner did not contemplate, the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1994 violence broke out in Havana in a riot now known as the Maleconazo. Needless to say there were no Chinese weapons and no CIA connection. An immigration pact with Cuba did not end at that time, but instead began. The visa lottery and the hated wet/dry foot policy were implemented in response to the rafter crisis which peaked in 1994. It's estimated that more than 25,000 Cubans took the sea, most settled in South Florida however many perished in the straits of Florida.

But immigrants from other countries continued to flow steadily into South Florida. "Little Neighborhoods" popped up all over Dade. Little Santo Domingo and Little Panama took over what was once called Allapattah. There was a Little Kingston and a Little Bogota, a Little San Juan and even a Little Barbados. Little Managua to include most of Sweetwater.

No doubt we continue to be a magnet for immigrants from the Caribbean but the projections here were a little over the top. Allapattah is still Allapattah and Sweetwater is still Sweetwater. Dorschner did not predict that in 1990 the Ortega and the Sandinista's would lose power in Nicaragua (nor that they would return in 2006).

Little Haiti became almost as large as Little Havana: At its center on Northeast 2nd Avenue was the magnificent Iron Market, built in 1990 and named after the famous market in Port- au-Prince.**15 It was a maze of small stalls, featuring crafts and arts from local entrepreneurs, and by 1994 it was one of the top 10 tourist attractions in Miami.

The economic boom in the Little Neighborhoods was at least partially created by the hype of outside developers -- "Come to the 'Littles,' Visit A Dozen Countries," boasted the ads -- but much of it was authentic, giving Miami a lively mix of cultures found nowhere else in the United States. It also, of course, created problems.

The new immigrants, sociologists found, tended to have less education and fewer resources than the original Cubans, and that led to a growing division within the Hispanic community between the affluent Cubans and the struggling new arrivals.**16

By 1993, 31 percent of Miami Cubans had been born in the United States, and their incomes tended to be as high as Anglos. **17 Demographically, 1st-wave Cubans were much more like Anglos than the newer Hispanics, but the new Hispanic immigrants kept the Spanish language and Hispanic culture thriving. As the countless sociologists who flocked to Miami would point out, that made assimilation into the "American mainstream" a very different process than in earlier immigrant waves in American history.**18

Miami Haitians, meanwhile, were showing some remarkable economic successes. Along with newcomers from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, these budding Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurs attracted attention from journalists around the world. The "Haitian Miracle," many called it. The phenomenon was often overstated -- many Afro-Caribbean immigrants remained impoverished -- but there was enough truth in it that a considerable number of American-born Blacks felt resentment toward the immigrants.**19

By the early 1990s, the Black underclass in American cities was mired in despair. Many government-supported programs had vanished, and so had the Black middle class, which had moved to the suburbs. In South Florida, underclass conditions were even worse because lower-class Blacks had lost many unskilled jobs to new immigrants. In 1992, a team from the University of Chicago concluded that Miami's underclass was worse off than any other group in the country.

In retrospect, the result now seems inevitable: Frustrated by the relative success of immigrants, entrapped in wretched economic conditions, their political power eroding, Liberty City residents rose up once again in violence.**20

It began over an incident on a street corner. A rookie police officer was attempting to arrest a teen-age crack dealer at the Sugar Hill apartment complex when a crowd began pelting him with stones. The cop fired 3 times, trying to scare the crowd away. A 6-year-old girl was shot through the heart.

Enraged, the crowd stoned the cop to death. Snipers killed 2 more officers when they arrived to rescue the 1st.

For 5 days, Liberty City burned. A "copycat riot" -- to use police terminology -- broke out in Broward's Black sections. (Only later did sociologists observe that, because of Broward's urban sprawl and the movement of jobs to the suburbs, Broward's Black unemployment rate was even worse than Dade's.) Damages were twice as high as during the '80 riots. Altogether, 17 Blacks and 7 whites were killed.

Within a month, riots broke out in Detroit, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia. Everywhere, civic leaders began seeking solutions. In Dade, the first step was to carve the city of Miami and Metro-Dade into legislative districts, guaranteeing Black (and, not so incidentally, Anglo) representation.

Marvin Dunn, a Miami psychologist, proposed a Peace Corps- style program: volunteers -- Black, Hispanic, Anglo -- would be given major tax breaks to move into the inner city where they could organize neighborhood activities and serve as role models for the underclass.**21 In Washington, the new Bradley administration seized on Dunn's proposal, and the president personally twisted some congressional arms to get Liberty City declared the 1st experimental "Dunn Zone."

Meanwhile, tourism plummeted. Businesses once again became fearful of locating in South Florida. Many Blacks, disillusioned and desperate, joined the Yahwehs, one of the few organizations that promised them a way out of their misery.**22 Yahweh membership soared. (The most recent estimate: 47,000 members, $298 million worth of property.)

Yawheh members renounced drugs and alcohol, and several leading sociologists believe that despite their past radical reputation, the group exerted a positive, stabilizing influence on a highly demoralized population.

There's a lot to digest there. Needless to say, a lot of it was wrong. I think Dorschner understandably focused on racial tensions because of how volatile the 80s had been. Violence did come to Miami again but it was much sooner than he