Cuba News Summary

Boom del tema racial? Sin el negro, Cuba no sería Cuba  10/26/2009 Negra Cubana: "Varios documentos relacionados con el tema racial, andan dando vuelta por la red cubana. Les comparto este, escrito porque quien, ante la desaparición de Color Cubano, lidera la comisión que ahora se ocupa de esta temática en el seno de la UNEAC. Este artículo contiene lenguaje sexista pero dada su importancia me permito reproducirlo."

Sin el negro, Cuba no sería Cuba  10/26/2009 UNEAC: "Recientemente el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de nuestro país al recibir a un Canciller africano señalaba: “La Revolución Cubana no existiría, sin la solidaridad africana”. Y es que en las grandes batallas que hemos librado en el campo de la diplomacia, nuestros más seguros y firmes aliados han sido la inmensa mayoría de los estados africanos. En las batallas por los derechos humanos; en los temas económicos; en el marco de los Organismos Internacionales como la Organización de Naciones Unidas, el Movimiento de Países No Alineados y en el Grupo de los 77. En nuestra titánica e inclaudicable batalla contra el criminal e injusto bloqueo económico impuesto por los Estados Unidos, Africa siempre ha estado a nuestro lado, como ahora lo está en nuestro batallar incesante por la liberación de nuestros Cinco hermanos presos en las cárceles del imperio."

Galveston mayor learned a lot from Cuba trip  10/22/2009 Fox8, New Orleans

Carta a Granma  10/21/2009 Cofradia de la Negritud: "Estamos una vez más, compañero Barredo, frente a uno de los puntos problémicos heredado por una de las revoluciones --la cubana de 1959-- que más lejos llevó en América la demolición social del capitalismo neocolonizador y dependiente y que, sin embargo, hasta hoy, no ha podido independizarse de un canon patriótico eurocéntrico, en el que sólo los antiguos liberticidas, los señores de la propiedad y la riqueza o los entendidos en los valores librescos europeos pueden ser recordados como protagonistas de los actos libertarios y de la dignidad cívica."

Spain Promises Havana to Lobby EU on Cuba Policy  10/20/2009 Latin American Herald Tribune

Fidel Castro's Reflection: The ALBA and Copenhagen  10/20/2009 PL

Disaster Relief Management in Cuba - Why Cuba’s disaster relief model is worth careful study  10/17/2009 CIP: Published May, 2009 by Jonathan Keyser and Wayne Smith.

New Orleans mayor learns about disaster response in Cuba  10/17/2009 CNN: "We understand we may have a lot to learn from the Cubans in terms of disaster preparedness and how they have dealt with hurricanes," spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said.

Texas mayor learns from Cuba hurricane experience  10/17/2009 Reuters: Originally posted 4/25/09

Afro-Cuban Culture & US Chicanos  10/10/2009 Havana Times: "Lino’s doctoral degree focuses on one of several Afro Cuban cultural groups in Cuba, the Abakua. His depth and breadth of knowledge on this subject was indeed impressive. Lino emphasized that in his opinion, there is no one Cuban culture but rather a diversity of cultures often integrated at the individual level. Thus, at the dimension of religion, a Cuban might incorporate elements of Catholicism along with elements from more than one Afro Cuban religion (e.g., Abakua, Palo, etc.). According to Lino, even the “whitest” of Cubans might be strong disciples of an Afro Cuban religious sect. He also descried periodic gatherings or “congresses” of Afro Cuban groups that meet to exchange perspectives about their values and beliefs and confirm strategies for the transmission of their religion across generations. One of my questions for Lino addressed the explicit teaching of Afro Cuban history and cultures throughout Cuban schools. During the conference Agustin and I attended during our first two days in Havana, a Cuban professor named Maya had expressed her satisfaction at seeing how Cuban schools were now, finally, teaching the heritage of Afro Cubans. However, according to Lino, this was either news to him or it was not as widespread as Maya had inferred. This led to a discussion about a theme that emerged from during the conference as well - the continued prejudice and discrimination against Blacks in Cuba."

Les mercenaires cubains de la Maison-Blanche  10/7/2009 Voltaire Net: "Cet article est extrait de: Cuba. Ce que les médias ne vous diront jamais. Prologue de Nelson Mandela, Paris, Editions Estrella, 2009."

Población negra invisible  10/5/2009 Granma: "Si usted trata de buscar un dato sobre la población afrodescendiente es muy difícil. No existen estadísticas para saber qué está pasando, no existen indicadores específicos de sus niveles de mortalidad infantil o materna, o de nutrición", dijo a IPS la directora regional para América Latina y el Caribe del PNUD, Rebeca Grynspan, al explicar el concepto de "invisibilidad" manejado en el encuentro. "Solo podemos acercarnos vía territorial, porque muchos de ellos viven en regiones bastante identificables, y entonces podemos saber lo que pasa solo por una vía indirecta", afirmó. Pero los afrodescendientes también sufren una "invisibilidad de su aporte a Latinoamérica, de su aporte histórico, de sus movimientos, de su aporte cultural", de su influencia "en lo que hacemos, en lo que cantamos"…. "Coincidimos en la necesidad de poner de manifiesto la cultura de la población afrodescendiente, esos rasgos, esos modos y recursos del lenguaje, esa sabiduría comunitaria, que generalmente se conocen a través de la música y la danza", dijo al cierre del seminario. "Queremos ciudadanos que disfruten plenamente sus derechos, y creemos que el reconocimiento de los derechos culturales va a tener un impacto positivo sobre el resto de los derechos. Tenemos que seguir por ese camino", añadió."

Sobre Color Cubano  10/3/2009 AfroCubaWeb: de Gisela Arandia - "El Proyecto Color Cubano ha desaparecido como tal. Paralelamente se ha creado una Comisión orgánica de la UNEAC que será dirigida por el compañero Heriberto Feraudy, la cual se integra a la estructura de trabajo establecida por la organización. La decisión fue tomada por la dirección de la Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba y se llevó a cabo, luego de un proceso de análisis y estudio sobre el Proyecto, realizado por un grupo de trabajo evaluador, dirigido por Nicolás Hernández Guillén. El dictamen de ese trabajo tuvo en cuenta aciertos y dificultades, así como recomendaciones. En términos generales la valoración de ese grupo de trabajo argumentó el impacto positivo de Color Cubano, en un contexto social donde el tema prácticamente estaba ausente del debate público institucional."

Denuncian en Miami represalias contra Cucú Diamantes por su presentación en Concierto de La Habana  9/28/2009 Cuba Debate

In Mexico…I felt like a human being - Interview with Juan Almeida  9/20/2009 Machetera

Apartheid protesters got it right  9/20/2009 Miami Herald: [Another fine example of the Miami Mafia debasing imagery from the Black struggle.]

Meet Pepe Hernández, CANF’s terrorist president  9/18/2009 Machetera: "For Francisco José “Pepe” Hernández, the head of the Cuban American National Foundation, Luis Posada Carriles is not a terrorist. The terrorist Hernández, who strives to advise President Obama, made this statement in an extremely long interview distributed from Miami by the Associated Press, in which he also admitted to having worked in different parts of the world on behalf of the CIA. Pepe Hernández directly arranged the plans to assassinate Cuba’s president in Panama, in the year 2000. It’s the second time this year that Hernández has acknowledged his links with the torturer, murderer and drug trafficker who, along with Orlando Bosch, planned and ordered the mid-flight destruction of a Cuban airliner in 1976, causing the death of 73 people."

New Mexico Gov. Richardson supports lifting of US trade embargo on Cuba  9/15/2009 AP

Autoridades cubanas impiden que hijo de Juan Almeida asista al funeral  9/15/2009 Nuevo Herald: "El abogado Juan Juan Almeida García, hijo del recién fallecido comandante histórico y vicepresidente cubano Juan Almeida Bosque, denunció el lunes que las autoridades le impidieron participar en los funerales del padre en la Plaza de la Revolución de La Habana, así como asistir al sepelio anunciado para este martes en la ciudad de Santiago de Cuba. En un mensaje enviado a El Nuevo Herald, Almeida García relató que al producirse la muerte del padre el viernes, fue llevado a una morgue por un general y dos escoltas para ver el cadáver, pero separado del resto de la familia…. Almeida García declinó hablar por vía telefónica con El Nuevo Herald alegando que se sentía muy afectado por la muerte del padre, a quien dijo haber amado "profundamente por encima de todo''."

The brilliance of your modesty  9/14/2009 Granma: "With thousands of memories, the people of Las Tunas recalled Juan Almeida yesterday, Sunday. But one – quite recent – lies deep in the heart of the city. It dates back to July 2007 when, dressed in white, the Commander of the Revolution entered a shoeshine parlor on the first stretch of a boulevard under construction. Air conditioning, daily newspapers, peace and downtown Havana. "Get up on that chair. I’m the one who’s going to shine your shoes. I’m going to remember the times when I was a shoe-shine boy," the comandante said suddenly."

Former Pedro Pan refugee presses case against priest  9/14/2009 Miami Herald

Hijo de dirigente cubano vive quinto año cautivo en la isla  9/13/2009 Cronica, Mexico: "Almeida García, quien ha denunciado a través de cartas a varios de sus amigos en España y Florida, Estados Unidos, la forma en como ha sido tratado por expresar su rechazo a un régimen que asegura no ha brindado las garantías de vivir dignamente a los cubanos, ventila parte del cautiverio que vive en su propio país a través de un libro de la editorial española “Espuela de Plata” titulado Memorias de un guerrillero cubano desconocido, en donde narra la transformación equivocada que ha sufrido Cuba desde que fue asumida por los dirigentes de la Revolución. Almeida García, quien ha desafiado a las autoridades cubanas por no permitirle dejar La Habana para reunirse con su familia, asegura que a su calvario de sentirse atrapado en Cuba se suma a una enfermedad reumatológica degenerativa que padece y que le fue tratada en un hospital de Bruselas, Bélgica, durante los años 90. Sin embargo, desde 2004, cuando se le calificó de disidente por presuntamente haber ayudado a cientos de cubanos a abandonar la isla cuando trabajó en México, por órdenes del “alto mando” del régimen se le prohibió salir, lo que ha motivado sus intentos por encontrar la libertad en más de una ocasión para abandonar la isla. En el país autoridades de salud no quieren tratar su enfermedad."

Almeida vive hoy más que nunca, Reflexiones de Fidel  9/13/2009 CubaDebate

Falleció el Comandante de la Revolución Juan Almeida Bosque - Un revolucionario de música en el alma y palabras para conservar los sueños  9/12/2009 Jiribilla: Entire issue devoted to Juan Almeida

Raúl Castro heads tribute to Almeida  9/11/2009 Granma

Un nuevo jefe del FBI para Miami  9/7/2009 Cuba Debate: por Jean Guy Allard -- "En Miami, Gillies retoma la herencia pestilente de Jonathan I. Solomon y de Héctor Pesquera, ambos cómplices de la mafia terrorista cubanoamericana del lugar, el primero por su complacencia ciega y el segundo por su colaboración tan alegre como escandalosa. Solomon es quién tuvo el poco envidiable privilegio de acoger en Miami a Luis Posada Carriles. Dejo a los servicios de inmigración la tarea de manipular la papa caliente, sin nunca considerar el estatuto de terrorista del septuagenario ex agente de la CIA, responsable de 73 homicidios por haber organizado la destrucción en pleno vuelo de un avión civil cubano. El 22 de junio del 2006, cuando el terrorista José Antonio Llama, ex directivo de la Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana (FNCA) reveló al Miami Herald como entrego 1,4 millones de dólares para la compra, entre otras cosas, de aviones teleguiados para bombardear a grandes concentraciones de personas en Cuba, Solomon, no valoró importante inculparlo e investigar la trayectoria terrorista de la FNCA."

Bush-era travel restrictions fuel `mule' industry in Cuba  9/6/2009 Miami Herald: "One legacy of Bush-era restrictions is a shadowy cottage industry in which South Florida Cuban exiles send to island relatives more money and merchandise than legally allowed."

Abren nuevo servicio web para ciudadanos cubanos  9/5/2009 AIN: "En la dirección electrónica http://permutasencuba.infosoc.cu, quienes navegan en la red podrán buscar por tipos de vivienda, en dependencia de las necesidades y ofertas que existan, además de inscribir su propia propuesta. El servicio se inició con una base de datos de más de mil permutas, para consultar en línea, pertenecientes a la "bolsa" existente en la Dirección Provincial de la Vivienda de Ciudad de La Habana."

La nueva blogosfera cubana  9/5/2009 PL: "Más de dos millones 100 mil cubanos se graduaron de los cursos impartidos en los Joven Club de Computación y Electrónica (JCCE) desde 1987, destaca hoy el diario Juventud Rebelde. Creados 22 años atrás, esas instituciones superan actualmente la cifra de 600 con presencia en los 169 municipios del país, y de ellas, 138 están situadas en comunidades rurales y 39 en regiones montañosas. Los JCCE constituyen una red de centros tecnológicos que surgió para contribuir a la socialización e informatización de la sociedad cubana, enfatizó el subdirector nacional del programa, Ernesto Rodríguez. Entre las instalaciones, precisó el rotativo, existen cuatro laboratorios móviles que llevan diferentes servicios a los sitios más intrincados de la geografía de esta isla caribeña. El potencial tecnológico abarca más de ocho mil computadoras, unidas a medios de impresión, digitalización de imágenes, almacenamiento y reproducción de información."

Indignación con Lockerbie, indiferencia con Barbados  9/5/2009 Rebelion: por Jean Guy Allard

Ros-Lehtinen en tierra sionista  9/3/2009 Granma: por Jean Guy Allard -- "En una entrevista con el diario web Forward, el 14 de octubre del 2005, Ros-Lehtinen habló por primera vez de su ascendencia judía que, dijo, pocos de sus electores conocen. Sus abuelos maternales eran judíos sefaraditas procedentes de Turquía que se radicaron en La Habana en los años 50. Su abuelo Jacobo Adato Levy fue un respetado líder religioso de la comunidad judía habanera, fundo sinagogas, y se quedo en Cuba después de la Revolución hasta su fallecimiento."

Racism in Cuba & the Black Fellowship  9/2/2009 Havana Times: “In this same endeavor to rescue history, we have also taken into account the events that took place on November 27, 1871. On that day, in addition to the execution of the eight medical students, there was the murder of five black Abakuas who tried to prevent that injustice. It was an almost suicidal act, resulting in their murder. “But history has sidestepped these events and when people march nowadays to the monument dedicated to the eight students, not once has the heroism of those Abakuas been mentioned, except for in a speech delivered by Commander Ernesto Che Guevara, on November 27, 1961, during the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the martyrs. So, we decided to organize our own tribute parallel to the traditional one organized by the Federation of University Students (FEU)."

Reflota plan contra discriminación racial  9/2/2009 IPS: "Una carta de presentación de la iniciativa, hecha circular por correo electrónico, considera que no podrá haber un avance importante y sostenido en el aminoramiento progresivo de la desigualdad racial sin la ejecución "de una política social que tenga en consideración la desventaja históricamente acumulada de la población negra". En ese sentido, Coneg propone trabajar para que el Estado y la sociedad civil adquieran conciencia del asunto y por "asegurar la prestación de una efectiva atención a la defensa del respeto de los derechos de todo tipo de la población negra cubana". La misiva conserva la fecha de su lanzamiento inicial, en julio de 1998, por el ingeniero Norberto Mesa Carbonell, como "primer cófrade", aunque ahora se añaden las firmas de los "cófrades" Tomás Fernández y Tato Quiñones, investigadores y especialistas en el tema."

To President Obama: Deeds, not words  9/2/2009 Progreso Weekly: By Elíades Acosta Matos -- "• The Specific License defines "close relative." In this manner, the "government of change" has retained the rules set by the previous administration but also has restated an un-Cuban concept that disrespectfully defines the Cuban family: "A close relative is that person related to me by blood, marriage or adoption, whose relationship, or that of my relative with whom I share a common ancestry, does not go beyond the third generation." Consequently, in Cuba, where life expectancy grows yearly and where it is easy to find families with great-grandmothers and great-grandchildren, great-great-grandfathers and great-great-grandchildren, this new ruling rejects the universally accepted concept of what is family and a close relative. And that's not just in the Hispanic culture. • The mere fact of asking Cubans who wish to visit their relatives to apply for a "Specific License" and trying to impose bureaucratic rules on relations that neither natural life nor human feelings have ever commanded is a coercive, discriminatory, dissuasive and intimidating measure. Consequently, the confrontational stance taken by the previous administrations in relation to Cuba and Cubans remains in the background but still visible. Could the OFAC, without appealing to political reasoning, try to impose such licenses on the rest of the immigrants living in the United States?"

US, Cuba to discuss resuming direct mail  9/1/2009 AP: "Before the U.S.-Cuban immigration talks were suspended by the Bush administration in 2003, the twice-yearly meetings in alternating countries had been the highest level contacts between the two countries. The talks were created so the countries could track adherence to 1994 and 1995 accords designed to promote legal, orderly migration between the two countries. The aim was to avoid a repeat of the summer of 1994, when tens of thousands of Cubans took to the sea in flimsy boats. On July 14, U.S. and Cuban officials met in New York to resume the immigration negotiations in what the State Department said at the time was a sign of "our interest in pursuing constructive discussions with the government of Cuba to advance U.S. interests on issues of mutual concern.""

The Black Man: The Object of Others  9/1/2009 Islas: by Manuel Cuesta Morúa, Historian, philosopher and anthropologist, General Secretary of the Socialist Democratic Current, Havana, Cuba. Islas is NED funded. "The situation in Cuba is so-so. The discursive spaces opened up by Tomás Fernández Robaina and Tato Quiñones, who are pioneers in this area, are promising. Color Cubano, with Gisela Arandia; the Cofradía de la Negritud [the Brotherhood of Blackness], with Norberto Mesa; the Movimiento de Integración Racial [the Movement for Racial Integration], with José Vélez; or, more recently, the Ciudadanos por la Integración Racial [Citizens for Racial Integration] project, promoted by the Arco Progresista, which are closer to my position, all bear witness to the problem. There were also shining moments—when singer-songwriter Gerardo Alfonso tried to open up a space in the nineties, and both Elvira Cervera and Walter Carbonell went public on just how marginalized any attempt to culturally, politically, intellectually and academically explore the black issue in Cuba had become."

Gloria Estefan confirma contactos con la CIA  8/30/2009 La Polilla Cubana: "La controvertida cantante, de 52 años, tiene varias enigmas sembradas en su pasado. Hace un año, ella y su esposo, el productor mafioso Emilio Estefan, fueron sospechados de invertir en el trafico de personas entre Cuba y México, en un diario dominicano que los relacionó con operaciones ilegales desarrolladas por la Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana con el Cartel del Golfo, la red de narcotraficantes mexicanos."

Juanes and Miamian bullying  8/30/2009 Rebelion: By René Vázquez Díaz -- "A perfunctory research of Cuban-American businessmen's relations with China would show that Miami adores communism. Their adoptive country is considerably dependent from the Communist Party of China. Cuban Miami has a dangerous tradition of intimidation through threats, slander and physical aggression (not excluding murder) not only against anyone who shows sympathy toward Cuba and its people but also against anyone who defies the rules of frenzied anti-Castroism that characterizes the so-called "heroic exile." Today, the object of that hostility is Juanes; but the history of bullying in Miami is long and dark. For the purpose of collecting the most CIA money and remaining the top protagonists, the members of anti-Castro organizations in the 1970s killed each other with stunning impunity. Like today, each group claimed the most intransigent and valid anti-Cuban line. Like today, all other groups were the target of their attacks. In October 1975, Batista goon Rolando Masferrer, who slandered all other exile leaders in his Miami-published newspaper, started his Ford Torino and was blown to pieces by a car bomb. In April 1976, while watching television in his Coral Gables residence, counter-revolutionary ringleader José Elías de la Torriente was shot four times and killed. Before that crime, other anti-Castro activists had threatened -- among other barbarities -- to hang him on Bayfront Park. Another prominent exile, Ramón Donestévez, was assassinated after proclaiming that he favored a peaceful coexistence with the Revolution. Luciano Nieves, who was also in favor of dialogue with Cuba, was shot to death in the parking lot of a hospital where his son was being treated. Emilio Milián, an announcer at WQBA-AM publicly condemned the terrorist violence committed by exiles; in 1976, a car bomb took off his legs. Between 1973 and 1976 alone, the FBI recorded 103 bomb blasts in Miami and investigated six political assassinations. "Cuban Miami is remarkably complacent about terrorism," wrote David Rieff in his magnificent book "Going to Miami." Relying on FBI documents, Edward S. Herman tells in his book "The Real Terror Network" how Cuban-origin counter-revolutionary groups in New York City were responsible for 20 bomb attacks between 1975 and 1980."

Juanes 'Peace' Concert Stirs Debate Over Cuba  8/27/2009 Billboard: "Although Juanes has given multiple interviews on the subject, he has also personally kept fans informed via a steady supply of information on Twitter. Yesterday, the Colombian singer/songwriter wrote that the cost of the concert would be paid by him directly with Bosé and Tañón. He also posted a home video of himself singing an acoustic song with his guitar whose refrain says "It's time to change hate for love." The line has often been repeated by Juanes in regards to this show. On Aug. 26, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Cuba Study Group released the findings of a Bendixen & Associates opinion poll among 400 Cuban Americans which found that 47% of respondents did not agree with the concert, while 27% were in favor and 26% had no opinion. Not surprisingly, older respondents expressed less support, although the approval rate among respondents ages 18-34 was 35%, still not a majority. However, approval rate for the concert rose to 45% among respondents who had left Cuba after 2000. The majority of those who oppose the concert said they did so because it ignored the realities of Cuba, including human rights abuses and political prisoners. Most respondents, 50%, say they support cultural exchange between Cuban and the United States."

Colombian singer Juanes receives death threats over Cuba peace concer  8/25/2009 Guardian: "Protestors in Florida smashed CDs, burned T-shirts and sent angry messages to his Twitter account, including warnings he was hated and "will die", prompting police to step up vigilance near the singer's Key Biscayne home in Miami. Juanes, 37, has recruited top Latino acts to perform with him at the 20 September Peace Without Borders show, including Puerto Rico's Olga Tañon, Spain's Miguel Bosé and Cuba's Silvio Rodríguez and the band Los Van Van. The Grammy-award winning artist, whose real name is Juan Esteban Aristizábal, said the event was intended to set aside ideological differences and "knock down our own mental walls". He organised a peace-themed concert on Colombia's border with Venezuela during last year's tension between the two governments."

Fidel Castro appears on Cuban TV to challenge rumours of ill health  8/25/2009 London Times

People Need to Believe in the Supernatural - Interview with Cuban anthropologist Milagros Niebla Delgado  8/24/2009 Cuba Now: translated by Susan Hurlich

Foro de Sao Paulo reclamará a Obama fin de bloqueo a Cuba  8/24/2009 Cubadebate

La sexualidad y la belleza de la mujer negra, una aproximación desde Cuba  8/23/2009 Cuba Debate

Adalberto Álvarez: “Estoy de acuerdo con el recomienzo del intercambio cultural entre Cuba y Estados Unidos”  8/22/2009 Jiribilla

Concierto de Juanes en La Habana  8/22/2009 Jiribilla: "Que un concierto a favor de la paz despierte tanta guerra por la sencilla razón de que se celebre en Cuba, es totalmente absurdo"

Hijo de dirigente histórico protesta en la Plaza  8/21/2009 Nuevo Herald: "Aquí estoy en la Plaza de la Revolución con un cartel para pedir que se haga justicia en mi caso'', dijo Almeida García a El Nuevo Herald desde un teléfono celular. "Yo no me he escondido de nadie para pedir mis derechos''. Inmediatamente después cortó la comunicación alegando que "ya vienen a recogerme'', en presunta referencia al personal militar de protección de la Plaza de la Revolución."

Villoldo confiesa: La CIA ordenó el crimen de Boca de Samá  8/20/2009 CubaDebate

Juanes en Cuba: ¿Quién financia la campaña sucia?  8/19/2009 Aporrea: "Uno de los más activos opositores al espectáculo que ofrecerá el cantante colombiano Juanes en La Habana el 20 de septiembre próximo, vive desde décadas de subsidios del Departamento de Estado a organizaciones anti-cubanas y aparece de nuevo en la última lista de rentistas de la National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Según documentos publicados recientemente por la investigadora venezolana Eva Golinger, el norteamericano de origen cubano Orlando Gutiérrez, dueño del llamado Directorio Demócratico Cubano (DDC),recibió en el último presupuesto de la NED la cantidad de 275 000 dólares, fundamentalmente para mantener su actividad de difamación de Cuba a través de denuncias y actividades públicas."

How the blockade of Cuba really works  8/15/2009 Machetera

Cuban political prisoners increase by 1  8/10/2009 AP: "Political prisoners held in Cuba increased by one to 206 in the past six months, the first time the number has not dropped sharply since Raul Castro took over running the communist country three years ago. The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation said Monday that the increase compares to 205 in late January and 219 last summer. "It's the first time in two decades that the number of prisoners has not fallen," said commission head Elizardo Sanchez. Sanchez repeated his complaint that police still use brief detentions to intimidate the political opposition — although those detentions fell by two-thirds in the past six months. The latest prisoner list includes Darsi Ferrer, a physician who organizes tiny Havana street protests to mark International Human Rights Day each December."

Cuba: más que nunca, la USAID sigue invirtiendo en la subversión  8/9/2009 Cuba Ahorra

Cuban spies continue to exploit 'Sister City' program  8/9/2009 Washington Times: by Chris Simmons -- "A four-time war veteran and recently retired spy-catcher, Chris Simmons is an internationally known expert on Cuban intelligence." - "Consider, for example, the heavy-handedness of Afro-Cuban DI officer Felix Wilson Hernandez. A specialist in targeting blacks, he served in Washington from 1996 to 2000. Mr. Wilson featured prominently at the national formation meeting of the U.S.-Cuba Sister City Association in Pittsburgh in March 1999. That same month, he went to Cambridge, Mass. - an emerging sister city - and lectured at Harvard University about blacks in Cuba. One month later, Mr. Wilson was in Richmond, Calif., interacting with its significant black and Hispanic populations. He also repeatedly visited Seattle community leaders in preparation for the World Trade Organization conference in the winter of 1999. At the time, Seattle's Friendship Committee was active in its sister city initiative."

Cash-strapped Cuba says toilet paper running short  8/7/2009 Reuters

Cuban media makes unusual mention of '94 protest  8/5/2009 AP

Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba  8/5/2009 Google Books: Mark Sawyer, quotes Carlos Moore extensively.

15 years after the 5th of August events - Always together in the same battle  8/5/2009 Granma

Cuba: USAID making ever-higher investments in subversion  8/5/2009 Granma: "On the other hand, the NED, a CIA front agency — it was founded to do the work that the CIA did in the 1960s and 70s but with a more legitimate image — has contributed $1.435 million to promoting destabilization in Cuba this year, Golinger states, listing the groups benefiting from that U.S. fund."

Africa en la revolución cubana  8/5/2009 Jiribilla: publicado en 6/05

End the Travel Ban on Cuba  8/5/2009 LAWG

He Buried Che  8/4/2009 Miami New Times: "The then-35-year-old exile wasted little time. Within three months, he'd raised $350,000, recruited 50 men for the mission, and chosen a target: Boca de Sama, a tiny fishing village in eastern Cuba. Only one road ran into the jumble of wooden shacks, which housed just a few dozen people. It figured to be an easy target. On October 12, 1971, Gustavo led the men out of a Key Biscayne harbor on two fast boats and a 177-foot frigate the crew nicknamed El Melón for the way it rolled side to side in the slightest chop. As Gustavo organized the operation on the boat's deck, a 20-commando team raided the village. They killed at least two men: a 32-year-old local official and a 24-year-old militiaman. According to a Cuban radio report, the team also wounded two other men, and two teenage girls were hurt in the crossfire."

US Activists Challenge Obama on Cuba  8/3/2009 Common Dreams: ""The current policy is still about 80% Bush," said Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst from the Arlington, Virginia-based Lexington Institute. "Obama didn't promise a profound policy shift towards Cuba during his election, though he did speak about travel and family relations. Change, however, was the central theme of his campaign." Indeed, Obama said at the April summit, "The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba." Peters argued more than a new beginning is needed. "The nuclear option would be to end the embargo now. The political equation would change overnight. The Cuban government would be forced to accept responsibility for problems they face."

Tropical Babylon - Cuba is a melting pot of different cultures.  8/3/2009 CubaNow

Castro aplaza sin fecha el Congreso del PC cubano por la crisis  8/1/2009 Vanguardia

Cuba Suspends Communist Party Congress and Lowers Projection for Economy  7/31/2009 AP: "Cuba on Friday suspended plans for a Communist Party congress and lowered its 2009 economic growth projection to 1.7 percent _ nearly a full percentage point _ as the island's economy struggles through a "very serious" crisis. In a closed-door meeting of the Communist Party Central Committee, officials agreed to postpone indefinitely the first congress since 1997, which had been announced for the second half of this year. The gathering was to chart Cuba's political future long after President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel are gone. Instead, top communists will try and pull their country back from the economic brink."

SUELI CARNEIRO: Ennegrecer al feminismo  7/28/2009 Negra Cubana: "En Brasil y en América Latina la violación colonial perpetrada por los señores blancos a mujeres negras e indígenas y la mezcla resultante es el origen de todas las construcciones de nuestra identidad nacional, estructurando el decantado mito de la democracia racial latinoamericana que en Brasil llegó hasta sus últimas consecuencias. Esa violencia sexual colonial es también el cimiento de todas las jerarquías de género y raza presentes en nuestras sociedades configurando aquello que Angela Gilliam define como “la gran teoría del esperma en la formación nacional” …

In Havana, U.S. turns off sign critical of Cuban government  7/27/2009 CNN

Raul Castro says Cuba must put land to better use  7/26/2009 AP: "Raul Castro said Sunday that the global economic crisis means tougher times ahead for Cuba, but the country has no one to blame but itself for poor farm production that leads to frequent shortages of fruits, vegetables and other basics. In a speech marking Revolution Day, Cuba's president said the island can't pin all its problems on Washington's 47-year-old trade embargo. He implored Cubans to take better advantage of a government program begun last year to turn unused state land over to private farmers."

How American Antiwar and Solidarity Movements in 60s Impeded an Effective Invasion of Cuba  7/26/2009 Counterpunch

Vicepresidente cubano dice en Managua que está en juego el destino latinoamericano  7/19/2009 CubaDebate: "El vicepresidente de Cuba, Esteban Lazo, afirmó hoy aquí que en Honduras se decide el destino de América Latina y el derecho de sus pueblos a elegir libremente a sus gobernantes. Lazo, quien presidió la delegación de su país a la conmemoración por el 30 aniversario de la Revolución Sandinista subrayó que la junta golpista hondureña no podría sobrevivir de no contar con el apoyo de Washington. Lo ocurrido en Honduras, precisó, nos demuestra que está latente la visión geoestratégica de los Estados Unidos de considerar a América latina y el Caribe como su traspatio."

Despite Cuba embargo, relief finds a way - A humanitarian organization that illegally delivers aid to Cuba will do so again.  7/17/2009 Miami Herald

140 US Citizens Visit Cuba in Defiance of Embargo - An Open Letter from the Delegation to US President Barack Obama  7/16/2009 NarcoNews

US planned to attack Cuba in 2003: Report  7/11/2009 Press TV, Iran: "Former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld was planning a huge attack against Cuba in mid-2003, a report quotes Cuban President Raul Castro as saysing. "It was most dangerous moment ever to face our country since the missile crisis of 1962," Castro told the National Defense Council on Friday, the Cuban daily Granma reported. The then US president George W. Bush and his vice president Dick Cheney had endorsed the purported attack, AFP cited the paper as saying."

Despite Cuba embargo, relief finds a way  7/6/2009 Miami Herald: "This does not concern Dr. Alberto Jones, a Cuban who arrived in Miami during the Mariel boatlift and has been involved with the convoys each year since 1999. ''I'm not afraid to go to jail,'' he said Sunday night at Ham & Eggery restaurant in North Miami Beach, where the truck is parked. Jones' activities mirror those of a growing number of Cuban Americans who question the embargo, which was imposed almost 50 years ago to apply economic pressure on the Cuban dictatorship in the hope of speeding its downfall. As Jones walked around the truck, which is set to join others in Texas later this month, he said American treatment of Cuba disgusts him. ''If you don't see the suffering, you don't feel it,'' he said. ``I saw kids starving and I changed my point of view. I do this [work] in Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic -- and Cuba. What's the difference?''"

Académicos piden debate y acciones contra el racismo en Cuba  7/3/2009 AFP: "A 50 años de una revolución que proclamó la "igualdad'' en Cuba, manifestaciones de racismo no institucional preocupan a académicos y estudiosos que piden un debate abierto y acciones inmediatas para evitar que alcance proporciones mayores."

Race Matters in Cuba  7/3/2009 Havana Times: "Another of the recurrent questions is the posing of the racial question as if it were only of interest to black people and mestizos. White supremacy has not only pushed blacks to the periphery, but also those issues that could interest them. The statement “I don’t have anything to do with that, I don’t feel racism” alerts us that there are those who do not recognize that this is a concern for everyone, given that in the established relations of subordination there are those who hold the power and those who do not, generating inequities that are expressed in very diverse forms."

Raúl Castro llegó sorpresivamente a Nicaragua  6/29/2009 AFP: "El presidente de Cuba, Raúl Castro, llegó este lunes sorpresivamente a Nicaragua donde se congregan mandatarios de al menos 15 naciones del hemisferio para dar su apoyo al presidente Manuel Zelaya, depuesto el domingo por un golpe de Estado, anunció la oficialista radio Ya. Castro llegó al aeropuerto internacional de Managua hacia las 14H34 locales (20H34 GMT), donde fue recibido por su colega nicaragüense, Daniel Ortega."

Reflections of Fidel - A suicidal error - by Fidel Castro  6/29/2009 Granma: "In my reflection written last Thursday night, June 25, I said: "We do not know what will happen tonight or tomorrow in Honduras, but the brave conduct of Zelaya will go down in history." Two paragraphs before I noted: "What is happening there will be a test for the OAS and for the current United States administration."

Cuban ambassador targeted in Honduras  6/28/2009 Machetera

Cuba Dissidents Win Award but Not Obama Audience  6/25/2009 WaPo: "Five Cuban dissidents who have collectively spent decades in jail for their pro-democracy activities were given a top award by the National Endowment for Democracy last night. But, unlike in past years, their representative was not invited to the White House, organizers said. Carl Gershman, president of the endowment, said the organization asked two weeks ago whether President Obama could meet with Bertha Antúnez, the sister of one of the dissidents, who was picking up the award on their behalf. Gershman said he never got a response. It was the first time in five years that the president had not met with the winner of the Democracy Award, according to the endowment, which is funded by Congress."

La visita a Cuba de Olabibi Babalola Joseph Yaï: Reconocimiento de la UNESCO a Cuba y a intelectuales y artistas cubanos  6/19/2009 ONU Cuba: "El reconocimiento de la UNESCO y de sus países miembros a Cuba y a prestigiosos intelectuales y artistas cubanos por su infatigable labor cultural en beneficio de la humanidad expresó el Embajador Olabibi Babalola Joseph Yaï, Presidente del Consejo Ejecutivo de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, Ciencia y Cultura y Delegado Permanente de la República de Benin ante esa organización, en una ceremonia en la sede de la UNESCO en esta capital. El encuentro fue presentado por el Representante de la UNESCO en Cuba y Director Regional de Cultura para América Latina y el Caribe, Herman van Hooff, quien resaltó la importancia de la visita oficial a Cuba del Embajador Yaï y sus conversaciones con altos dirigentes cubanos, intelectuales y artistas. Asimismo, subrayó el gran agrado con que la institución acoge la presencia en Cuba de tan distinguida personalidad."

A Case of Post Diplomatic Stress Disorder - U.S. Cuba Policy  6/18/2009 Counterpunch

Cuba Elected to UNESCO Committee on Cultural Diversity  6/17/2009 Cuba Now: "During the election of representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Paris, France, Cuba got 61 votes and Brazil 57; for the Asian region, China and Laos were elected; Albania and Bulgaria were chosen to represent Eastern Europe, Jordan and Tunisia for the Middle East and Cameroon and Kenya were elected representatives for Africa. Canada and France were elected among the highly developed countries. Cuban ambassador to UNESCO, Hector Hernandez Pardo described Cuba´s election as an extraordinary result that proves the acknowledgement of the island´s consecration to the issue. Cuba obtained the majority of votes after Canada, which got 69 votes, said Hernadez Pardo who also noted that despite the failed and obsolete isolation policy practiced by Washington against the Caribbean nation, Cuba always had impressing support. The election of Cuba expresses strong support of the cultural policy of our country, he said."

Slave Route Museum Inaugurated in Matanzas, Cuba  6/17/2009 Juventud Rebelde: "The Afro América exhibition was opened during the inauguration featuring 105 educational posters and 14 African sculptures donated by Cuban artist Lorenzo Padilla."

Cuba Gives Continuity to the UNESCO Slave Route Project  6/17/2009 Periodico 26: "Olabiyi admitted feeling “excited to be in this part of Africa!” "

Concede la UNESCO a Cuba Medalla de la Diversidad Cultural  6/17/2009 Trabajadores: "Olabiyi entregó a Abel Prieto, miembro del Buró Político y ministro de Cultura, la Medalla de la Diversidad Cultural de la Unesco, en reconocimiento a la posición de Cuba contra los prejuicios y estereotipos que aún prevalecen debido al estigma de la esclavitud, y a una actividad cultural encaminada a distinguir el proceso de transculturación y mestizaje en nuestros pueblos. Al agradecer el gesto, el titular cubano de Cultura reconoció que tiene un gran valor, sobre todo porque el Museo se vincula con la filosofía del Consejo Nacional de Patrimonio de que un museo no es un almacén de piezas, concebidas como algo arqueológico que pertenece al pasado, sino que esas instituciones culturales deben verse como instrumentos educativos, vivos, en manos de la comunidad, de maestros y escuelas."

Slave Route Museum Opens On Tuesday in Matanzas  6/15/2009 Periodico 26: "The UNESCO official will also visit Old Havana, the House of Africa and the Museum of Guanabacoa, in the Cuban capital. His agenda includes meetings with representatives of the International Film School, the Center for Studies on Africa and the Middle East, the Yoruba Association of Cuba, the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists, the National Museum of Fine Arts and the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana."

Cuba drops ban on letting doctor leave island  6/12/2009 AP: "Molina was a prominent neurosurgeon at a government institution until 1994, when she resigned after questioning the ethics of using human stem cell tissue in studies on treating ailments such as Parkinson's disease."

Reflections of Fidel - The envy of Goebbels  6/12/2009 Granma: "Among other issues, the panel was discussing Operation Peter Pan, one of the most repugnant acts of moral aggression mounted against our country… The mastermind of the anti-Cuba operation was Monsignor Walsh, a U.S. Catholic priest who responded to the bishop of Miami."

Msgr. Bryan Oliver Walsh, 71; Led Effort to Aid Cuban Children  6/12/2009 NYT: [Aid the children in a thoroughly Catholic way, based on a CIA plan.]

Welcome to the Official Site of Operation Pedro Pan  6/12/2009 pedropan.org: see also Operation Pedro Pan: A horribly black mark on (U.S.) history

Cuban Oil: Havana’s Potential Geo-Political Bombshell  6/11/2009 COHA: "Desperate to end U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East, United States’ officials are certainly aware of Cuba’s oil-producing potential. In its 2004 assessment, the U.S. Geological Survey found that Cuba has 5 billion barrels of crude oil off its northern shores; Havana claims it has 20 billion . Five billion barrels would put Cuba on par with Colombia or Ecuador, while 20 billion barrels would make Cuba’s oil capacity comparable to that of the United States’ and place it among the top 15 oil reserves nations in the world. Either way, Cuba’s oil is attracting the attention of oil companies from around the globe. At the moment, Spain’s Repsol, Brazil’s Petrobras, and Norway’s StatoilHydro are overseeing exploratory drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Venezuela also have signed deals with Cuba."

Haiti in Cuba: Vodou, Racism & Domination  6/8/2009 Havana Times: "The Haitians brought the Vodou religion to Cuba. The great anthropologist from Santiago de Cuba, Joel James, who studied that culture, says that hundreds of Haitian workers were massacred and literally thrown into the sea during the period prior to 1959. A strong xenophobia existed against them in Cuba, as well as anti-black racism, leading to events that could be characterized as genocide or ethnocide. They were the last card in that deck, however. The revolutionary triumph of 1959 put an end to such occurrences, although a certain degree of prejudice against the Vodou religion remained. This prejudice still exists, even among some of those who practice other belief systems of African origin."

Cuba and Change We Can Believe In  6/7/2009 Global Research: "One of the most notable characteristics of 21st century Havana is what is not there: obvious and visible destitution. The begging and aggressive peddling prevalent in so many poor Latin capitals (and in most US cities) is entirely absent in Havana. There are no homeless people sleeping under bridges or hidden in doorways, no stumbling addicts crashed on park lawns, nor frantic children hawking candy and crafts. The sidewalks are crowded with workers and students and bureaucrats, rushing in every direction, often at a frenetic pace, but at no point is a visitor likely to encounter robbery or assault, or begging."

Cuba, the US and the OAS  6/7/2009 Jamaica Observer: "The older I get the more evidence seems to accumulate that the greatest enemy of world peace and popular enlightenment may be the profession of journalism."

Statue of late 'father' of Pedro Pan unveiled  6/7/2009 Miami Herald

Venezuela approves funds to lay undersea cable to Cuba  6/4/2009 El Universal, Caracas: "The cable will run 966 miles and will have a capacity to handle more than 20 millions of calls at once, as well as 26,000 television signals and will provide Internet connections, as reported by local officials."

OAS 'agrees to let Cuba rejoin'  6/3/2009 BBC

US-Cuba Policy: "Still Stuck in the Past"  6/2/2009 Counterpunch

Cultural Cimarronaje: Racial Politics in Cuban Art  6/1/2009 Upside Down World: article publised 10/9/2007 - "Excerpted from the new book Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures, by Sujatha Fernandes (pp. 160 - 167)"

US-Cuba talks to resume on immigration, mail service between the 2 countries  5/31/2009 AP

Cuban Jews react to Obama's intentions  5/31/2009 Sun Sentinel: ""There are a lot of individuals who have been living here for many years who want to see their families," said Marcos Kerbel, 62, who came to the United States on the Pedro Pan Exodus and is the president of Temple Beth Shmuel-Cuban Hebrew Congregation in Miami Beach. "They have elderly parents and grandparents who need medicine and food and therefore you also have to understand the needs of those individuals.""

U.S., Cuba to restart immigration talks  5/31/2009 The Hill: "Obama has sought to reform policy towards Cuba in incremental steps instead and other changes are in the works too. For example, the U.S. government may support Cuba rejoining the Organization of American States by lifting a resolution that suspended the country’s membership in the organization the 1960s."

Invoking MLK and Rosa Parks in Cuban Exile Politics  5/30/2009 AfroCubaWeb: "Another exile platform extolling the virtues of Antúnez and Rosa Parks is the blog of Marc Masferrer, the nephew of El Tigre Masferrer, who maintains a page on Antúnez. El Tigre, a notorious terrorist and leader of his own private militia, actually spent time in a US federal prison for attempting to invade Haiti so he could use it as a base for invading Cuba."

Cuba slapped with $1 billion judgment  5/30/2009 AP: "The younger Villoldo joined the U.S. military and CIA, taking part in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. A few years later, Villoldo was among a group hunting for Guevara, finally catching up with him in Bolivia in 1967. Guevara was subsequently executed and buried in Bolivia."

Conferencia Mundial contra el Racismo, la Discriminación Racial, la Xenofobia y las formas Conexas de Intolerancia  5/30/2009 CIP, Cuba: Anti-Racism site by CIPRE, Cuba's Center for Press Information, includes info on Durban, 2001

Microsoft Blocks Instant Messenger in Cuba  5/29/2009 CAN: "The article, entitled "Cuba ¿la red cercada? (Cuba, the besieged internet?), reports that according to a communiqué issued by the giant software company, MSN Messenger Services have been suspended to Cuba and other "enemy" countries of the US, including Iran, North Korea, Syria and Sudan in accordance with US legislation."

El racismo en Cuba, tema de debate  5/28/2009 Revistas de Asignaturas Cubanas: "En este espacio se debatió la negativa del régimen a exponer públicamente el documental Raza, expuesto en una sola oportunidad en el Festival de Cine Latinoamericano; la difícil situación que atraviesa la Institución Color Cubano, a punto de desaparecer; se disertó sobre las causas del elevado índice de población penal negra."

A Rainbow Flag Over Habana  5/28/2009 Upside Down World: "While the harassment of gays and lesbians is nothing like what it was in Cuba’s past, it does still exist, from the formal harassment by police on the street, to discrimination in workplaces and at school, and that is to not even speak of the cultural and social taboo. These were the main topics people spoke out about in the open mic sessions it the Pabellon. The anger and frustration spoken forcefully by one man, “In a country that says all are equal I still have to be afraid!"

Black Vs. White - Miami Remains The Same  5/27/2009 Miami New Times: "As much as I hate it when politicians play the race card when they are facing possible criminal charges, I can't just dismiss it either in the case of Spence-Jones. After all, Sarnoff is the city's only Anglo commissioner and Arriola is one of the most prominent Anglo Cuban Americans in Miami. Together they initiated a criminal probe into the city's only black, and only female, commissioner."

Cleared of Wrongdoing, Spence-Jones Speaks To Her Flock  5/27/2009 Miami New Times

Who does Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart represent?  5/27/2009 Progreso Weekly

Antúnez, 6 others arrested in Havana  5/25/2009 Uncommon Sense: "Former Cuban political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" and six other anti-government activists were arrested in Havana on Sunday while commemorating the 37th anniversary of the death of political prisoner Pedro Luis Boitel. The group, which also included Antúnez's wife, Iris Pérez Aguilera, held a ceremony at Colón Cemetery in Havana, followed by march down 23rd Street in Havana, where they were arrested."

Color Cubano by Elíades Acosta Matos  5/21/2009 Progreso Weekly: "Acosta was chief of the Department of Culture of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba." A rank apology for the status quo that repeats a fundamental lie in the ibero spanish canon: "Nationwide, 65.2 percent of the population is white, but the number of mestizos increased by 4 points since the previous census." [Acosta, it is more like 65% afrodescendiente!]

Cuba faces the crisis  5/21/2009 Progresso Weekly: "The leisure industry expanded 2 percent in the first quarter, according to Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero, speaking at the International Tourism Fair held in Havana in early May. The truth is that the industry is showing a troubling tendency to shrink. After leaping 7.9 percent in January, the number of visitors grew a meager 1.2 percent in February and shrank 2.6 percent in March, according to the National Office of Statistics. Foreign visitors have more trouble using credit cards, too. Tourism revenues dropped 13.7 percent in the first quarter, when compared with the same period last year."

Operation Pedro Pan: A horribly black mark on (U.S.) history  5/21/2009 Progresso Weekly: "But what set off a panic among a large number of parents was a rumor that the new revolutionary government was in the process of drafting and implementing a new law that would remove parental rights over their children from Cuban parents. These children would then betaken and sent to the USSR for indoctrination. Thus was born Operation Pedro Pan. At the time, the CIA, with the help ofthe Catholic Church, drew up a plan that if successful, would help destabilize an insecure and young government and lead to its undoingand eventual overthrow. The pawns in this high stakes game of political chess were 14,048 Cuban children -- and their parents. My father, Angel Fernandez Varela, used to love to watch James Bondmovies. “Oh, if it was only so…” he’d say to me as beautiful movie stars seemed a dime a dozen in Bond’s arms. You see, Angel Fernandez Varela was probably the most important CIA agent of Cuban origin of that failed 1960s era that led to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Years before his death, in Miami Beach in the presence of my mother, my sister Maria, her husband and me, he told us that he was one of the persons responsible for redacting the fake law that caused the “removal of parental rights” hysteria. It is why I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Operation Pedro Pan was a sinister immorality play designed and dreamt up by the CIA before the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion."

A Sincere and Painful Apology to the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus  5/20/2009 Black Agenda Report: "None of the Afro-Cubans who are attempting to earn world prominence by opposing the Cuban government have ever offered an aspirin to our group or others engaged in similar humanitarian endeavors, which makes their purported platform questionable at best… These are the real battles for justice, equality and the future of our nation, that all Cubans and Afro-Cubans especially should be waging, not siding with those who castrated our independence in 1898 or those who enabled this massacre and kept us segregated, impoverished, ignorant until 1959 and today, are shamefully relying on the dark skin of some, willing to sell their intellect and soul to the highest bidder, by attempting to intimidate, blackmail or create a negative political scene against members of the CBC, who have courageously stood by their brothers in Cuba for the past 25 years. We will not be threatened by letter carriers, book writers, open mike AM Radio Talk Show hosts in Miami, New Jersey or California, or by Cuban-American politicians in State Houses and in the US Congress with their segregationist past here and in Cuba, attempting to silence members of the CBC, with worn out Jim Crow tactics."

Charter Companies Flying to Cuba Thrive  5/19/2009 NYT: "Cuban officials, he said, want as few companies as possible, and “if they can’t Google you and find you’ve opposed the commercial, economic or political position of the United States, you’re not likely to do any business.”

Operation Pedro Pan  5/18/2009 Miami Herald: Entire subsite on a very Catholic 60's operation -- kidnapping a generation of Cuban children to save them from godless communism.

Armando Valladares’ CIA organization linked to plot against Evo Morales  5/15/2009 Granma: "The Bolivian district attorney’s office has identified Hugo Achá Melgar who, according to the AFP news agency, is Bolivia’s representative to the U.S. Human Rights Foundation (HRF), as providing the bulk of the funds for the terrorist gang foiled in Santa Cruz while plotting to assassinate President Evo Morales. The HRF is a New York-based nongovernmental organization known for its activities of interference and CIA links. Its general secretary, Armando Valladares is a terrorist of Cuban origin. District Attorney Marcelo Sosa, who is leading the investigation in this case, identified Achá, alias "Superman," along with Alejandro Melgar, "El Lucas," as being involved in and funding the plot."

Obama and Latin America: No Light, All Tunnel  5/13/2009 Cuba-L

Cuba confirms its 1st swine flu case  5/12/2009 AP: "Cuba's Health Ministry said in statement read Monday on state television that a group of students from several Mexican states began arriving on April 25, and that 14 of them were suffering from flu-like symptoms. Some of the students were quarantined while most were deemed healthy and released. The ministry statement said that in all of Cuba, authorities have tested 84 possible cases in people of eight nationalities for the virus. Only one case was positive — the Mexican student."

Antúnez declara que superará protesta de ayuno para comenzar nueva fase de acción en Cuba  5/12/2009 Directorio Democrático Cubano

Exiles: We had right to make voyage  5/12/2009 Miami Herald: published 9/7/01 - "Invoking the name of civil rights figure Rosa Parks, Sánchez said he would challenge a presidential proclamation signed by Bill Clinton in 1996 that was designed to prevent Americans from causing a confrontation with the Cuban government in its territorial waters."

Spreading King's message  5/12/2009 Miami Times: "Brothers to the Rescue, the Cuban American group that made a name for Itself spotting Cuban refugees fleeing across the waters, has found an ally in its new mission to help change the communist government in Havana. Members of the group took the two-day course at the Florida Martin Luther King Institute for Nonviolence last November. They marched in the King Day parade and dropped 500,000 leaflets over Cuba calling for civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance."

Nonviolence of Castro's Foes Still Wears a Very Tough Face  5/12/2009 NYT: "The change in tactics by Mr. Basulto is part of a broader movement among some anti-Castro exiles here, from the crude military actions of the past to nonviolent but aggressive methods of protest. Invoking the legacy of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, his group and others are using militant methods of civil disobedience to promote democratic change within Cuba and harsher measures against Mr. Castro by the United States… Mr. Basulto, who last November helped organize a seminar for exiles by the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute for Nonviolence, has also donated money to dissidents in Cuba on behalf of his group and belongs to a support organization formed to help them."

Castro blames Mexico for swine flu outbreak  5/12/2009 Press TV, Iran: "At this moment, we and dozens of other countries are paying the consequences and, on top of that, they accuse us of taking hurtful measures toward Mexico," stressed the 82-year-old Castro."

Cuba: Arrestos y Represion en Placetas 5 de mayo de 2009 - "Movimiento Feminista por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks"  5/11/2009 Directorio.org: [Villa Clara has a history of racism that the dissidents are responding to with their formation "Movimiento Feminista por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks."] "Las imágenes, captadas en Placetas, Villa Clara muestran cómo Donaida Pérez Paseiro, Damaris Moya Portieles y Yaité Cruz Sosa, todas miembros del Movimiento Feminista por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks, son interceptadas en la calle 7ma del sur, golpeadas y removidas de la vista de la cámara a la fuerza por oficiales uniformados y encubiertos de la Seguridad del Estado mientras se dirigían a la vivienda del destacado líder opositor Jorge Luis García Pérez Antúnez. Según declaraciones dadas al Directorio por las víctimas de esta agresión, después de los eventos capturados en las imágenes, las activistas fueron trasladadas a otra calle y allí fueron golpeadas y lanzados sus cuerpos contra los autos patrulleros, aplicándoles técnicas de estrangulación e inmovilización. Damaris Moya fue arrastrada por el pavimento y le partieron el labio superior, con mucho sangramiento. Donaida Pérez recibió patadas por las costillas por parte de los represores quienes le gritaron "¡Cállate negra!" Fueron llevadas a los calabozos de la sede de la policía política en Placetas y allí permanecieron durante tres horas en la celda #3 de ese centro represivo."

Former Cuban Intelligence Official: Celebrities Often Blackmailed Into Supporting Castro  5/10/2009 Newsbuster

Secretaría Nacional  5/7/2009 Directorio Democrático Cubano: Javier de Céspedes, Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, and his wife Janisset Rivero Gutiérrez, are veterans of numerous terrorist and far right campaigns against Cuba. Gutiérrez was a leader of the terrorist group Organización para la Liberación de Cuba and a supporter of ARENA in El Salvador.

Nation and Multiculturalism in Cuba: A Comparison with the United States and Brazil  5/7/2009 George Zarur: "This economy gave rise to the local elite that led the country to independence from Spain." [Antonio Maceo and the largely black Mambi Army led the fight for independence, their victory was stolen by the Americans who re-installed the plantocracy.]

Alabama on Cuba: Tear down this embargo  5/7/2009 LA Times

Mobile would profit from end of Cuba embargo  5/7/2009 LA Times

Sister of Cuban dissident 'Antunez' looks to sway lawmakers  5/7/2009 Miami Herald: "The sister of a prominent black Cuban activist delivered a sharply worded letter from her brother Wednesday to three members of the Congressional Black Caucus who met last month in Cuba with Fidel and Raúl Castro -- but no dissidents. Berta Antúnez's visit comes as efforts to open Cuba to travel and trade heat up on Capitol Hill, and Antúnez said through an interpreter she didn't want Cuban democracy activists to be overlooked. ''They were indifferent to the suffering of the Cuban people, but now the world gets to know who these people are,'' said Antúnez, who was accompanied to the Capitol by Anolan Ponce, a Miami board member of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee, the leading lobby in support of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba."

Cuba travel boom - after long wait  5/7/2009 NY Daily News

‘One small detail about Miami… there are many good people as well’  5/7/2009 Progreso Weekly: Telephone conversation with Gerardo Hernandez from the U.S. prison (Part IV)

Cuban American travel to Cuba on the rise  5/7/2009 Reuters

U.S.-Cuba thaw in full swing in arts world  5/7/2009 Reuters: "After being largely absent in recent years, U.S. gallery owners, museum directors, curators and collectors are returning to the island to view and buy the work of Cuban artists. Hundreds showed up for the just-ended Havana Biennial arts festival that was a regular stop for art buyers before a Bush administration travel crackdown earlier this decade. Their presence reflected both newly relaxed U.S. policy toward Cuba under President Barack Obama and a U.S. hunger for Cuban art."

Cuba cutting Internet access  5/7/2009 Sun Sentinel: "Only government employees, academics and researchers are allowed their own Internet accounts, which are provided by the state, but only have limited access to sites outside the island. Ordinary Cubans may open e-mail accounts accessible at many post offices, but do not have access to the Web. Many got around the restrictions by using hotel Internet services. But a new resolution barring ordinary Cubans from using hotel Internet services quietly went into place in recent weeks, according to an official with Cuba's telecom monopoly, hotel workers and bloggers."

Afro-Cuban dissident seeks US lawmakers' help  5/6/2009 AP: "Rush, and California Democrats Barbara Lee and Laura Richardson spent two hours talking with Castro on April 7 during a visit to the island. The three were part of a larger Congressional Black Caucus delegation that met with Castro's brother, Cuban President Raul Castro, and other officials about improving relations between the two countries. After his return, Rush said he takes "a back seat to no one when it comes to standing up for human rights - anyone's human rights." The FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, pursued him for his efforts to seek justice for African-Americans and others, including his leadership role in the Black Panthers."

Antunez Letter to CBC Members  5/5/2009 Capitol Hill Cubans: "When we recall the fight and integrity of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, without whom you would still be giving up your seat on the bus and would not have the right to vote, we ask ourselves if the legacy of those who conquered the space of opportunity that you enjoy today, has been reserved only for political speeches and has ceased to be a commitment of your generation to justice and truth."

Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch and the Downing of Cubana Flight 455 - A Glimpse into the Mind of a Terrorist  5/2/2009 Counterpunch: published 4/06

Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power  5/1/2009 Organization of American Historians: published 10/06

Rogelio Martínez Furé: Presencia de la cultura africana en los pueblos americanos y caribeños.  5/1/2009 Tricontinental: [publicado 11/04] "La presencia de la cultura angolana y africana en América, en las manifestaciones de las artes plásticas y danzarias, en los gustos culinarios, en las tradiciones y en el lenguaje de los pueblos americanos y caribeños, quedó demostrada en la magistral conferencia ofrecida por Rogelio Martínez Furé, reconocido africanista, fundador del Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba… Recordó un estudio de la música en un convento católico en México, cuyos cantos religiosos no eran comprendidos por los historiadores. No fue hasta analizarse la presencia africana como una tercera raíz, se descubrió que existía un coro de esclavas africanas que fueron internadas junto con sus amas convertidas en novicias y allí dejaron para siempre su huella. En cada momento de esta conferencia magistral del profesor Rogelio Martínez Furé quedó vigente su expresión: “Cuando no sabemos a dónde vamos, tenemos que saber de dónde venimos, porque la identidad es un río renovador que siempre llega al mar de la humanidad”. Y concluyó con un refrán angolano para argumentar la necesidad de tener en cuenta la dialéctica de la historia: “Hoy son hoy, mañana son mañana.” "

US keeps Cuba on terrorism blacklist  4/30/2009 AFP: "It said that the United States had "no evidence of terrorist-related money laundering or terrorist financing activities in Cuba," but pointed out that Cuba's banking systems remain among the most secretive and opaque in the world. It also said Havana still allowed members of US militant groups like the Boricua Popular, or Macheteros, and the Black Liberation Army to live on its territory, even though they were fugitives from US justice. "In keeping with its public declaration, the government has not provided safe haven to any new US fugitives wanted for terrorism since 2006," it added."

Is Cuba closer to removal from list of terrorism sponsors?  4/30/2009 McClatchy: "It's a big gesture on their part to recognize Fidel Castro's statements about the FARC," said Philip Peters of the Lexington Institute. "It sounds to me like Cuba is on its way to coming off the list."

Thirty years after the murder of Carlos Muñiz Varela By Raúl Álzaga Manresa  4/30/2009 Progreso Weekly: "The terrorists and all the American presidents that took office after Carlos' assassination could not halt the flow of travel to Cuba. Then, in 2001, George W. Bush came to the presidency and, in 2004, towards the end of his first term, decided to accomplish via legal means what the terrorists had failed to do in the 1980s -- to reduce to the lowest possible level the exchanges between Cuban relatives, even to redefine the concept of "family." No other Hispanic or minority group in the United States has ever experienced such a prohibition. Today, 30 years after Carlos' assassination, we can say that both attempts -- the one in 1979, through terror and death, and the one in 2004, through "state terrorism" -- have failed."

Recession slows Cuban migration  4/30/2009 Sun Sentinel: "The number of Cubans entering the United States has dropped by more than 40 percent compared with the year before, Department of Homeland Security numbers show. It's the biggest drop in 20 years, said Luis Diaz, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman. Cubans are staying put in large part because of the economic doldrums in the United States, experts say. Cuban-Americans here are telling family members on the island about the tough times, keeping them from making the dangerous trek across the water or the Southwest border desert, they said. "People here are going to say: 'Hey you know what, let the state take care of you in Cuba, as meager as that is, because I'm hardly making a living or I'm unemployed,' " said Rafael Lima, an assistant professor at the University of Miami ,who produced two documentary films about Cuba."

The US, Cuba and Moral Authority  4/29/2009 Black Agenda Report: "When comparing human rights in the US and in Cuba it should be considered that Cuba’s national security has actually been under constant attack by the US since the dawning of the revolution. The US government doesn’t have to worry about the world’s most powerful foreign force, just 90 miles from its shores, constantly attempting to destabilize and overthrow it. Cuba does and the US is that force. One method used against Cuba is the bribing of Cuba’s own citizens to serve the empire against their own country. A declassified October 1961 document authored by then CIA inspector Lyman Kirkpatrick states, “The history of the Cuban Project begins in 1959” and goes on to outline its fundamental aspects: “a) Formation of a Cuban exile organization…to direct opposition activities, and to provide cover for Agency operations. b) A propaganda offensive in the name of the opposition. c) Creation inside Cuba of a clandestine intelligence collection and action apparatus to be responsive to the direction of the exile organization. d) Development outside Cuba of a small paramilitary force to be introduced into Cuba to organize, train and lead resistance groups.” Such activities remain in effect today under the title “Cuba Program,” compliments of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Anywhere such valid national security concerns exist countries cannot simply take for granted the integrity of each and every one of their citizens. But organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International refuse to factor in this added complexity when judging human rights in Cuba or any other country that falls prey to this improved regime change strategy of imperialism. “One method used against Cuba is the bribing of Cuba’s own citizens to serve the empire against their own country.” In response to this Cuba has had to enact laws specifically designed to keep its citizens from aiding and abetting the US’ immoral and internationally condemned Helms-Burton Act."

South African Defense Minister Pays Homage to Internationalists  4/27/2009 CAN: "Ngakula laid a wreath at the Pantheon of those who fell for the independence of their Homeland, located at Havana's Colon Cemetery. The South African official was accompanied by Cuban Division General Antonio Enrique Luson Battle and Brigadier General Delsa Esther Puebla. In statements to ACN news agency, the South African Minister, who is meeting an official agenda in Cuba, said that there is a great understanding in his country about the meaning of the Cuban Revolution. This is a solemn place, not only for Cubans but also for those who received the assistance of the small Caribbean nation he said and added that though their remains rest here, they are alive in everybody´s memory due to their courage and heroism, he stressed."

Reflections of Fidel - Gestures that are impressive  4/27/2009 Granma: "“In an editorial article by Kathleen Kennedy printed today in The Washington Post, Robert’s daughter expresses her wish that her father’s position be adopted by the Barack Obama government, and that this should be the position promoted by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. while the Obama government weighs the next step it will take with Cuba, one that should be pushing for allowing more than just Cuban-Americans to travel freely to the island and dealing with the rights of all Americans, most of whom are not free to go. “Kathleen Kennedy writes that just as Obama found out at the summit meeting last week-end, Latin American leaders have adopted a coordinated message on Cuba: the time is here to normalize relations with Havana. By keeping on trying to isolate Cuba, they essentially told Obama, Washington has only succeeded in isolating itself."

Half a Century of U.S. Lies  4/26/2009 Jamaica Observer

An Interview with Gerardo Hernandez, Leader of the Cuban Five - Seventeen Months in "the Hole"  4/25/2009 Counterpunch: "SL: So you supervised those who had infiltrated violent groups? Explain how you did this. GH: It’s not appropriate to give too many details, right? But in the trial documents it shows we had agents with access to these [terrorist] organizations. Their function was to protect Cuba by learning countless pieces of information regarding terrorist plans of these organizations. For example, Rene joins the Brothers to the Rescue and he hears a comment from Basulto that they have a weapon ready to test on targets in the Everglades. They fire it and it works. Now they try to find a place in Cuba to fire it. Well, I’m alerted through previously arranged methods of communication, like a beeper. I’d call him and with coded language we’d arrange to meet. We’d take precautions and meet and he’d tell me about them testing this weapon. Or Alpha 66 is planning an expedition to fire weapons at the Cuban coast or they want to put a bomb on a plane full of tourists going from Central America to Cuba. I’m not making this up. I’d try to encourage them to find out more while not taking unnecessary risks. I then sent this information to Cuba and Cuba would respond telling me to do this or that, to seek information through this means or that. Basically, that was my job."

Politics of Color for Obama in Cuba  4/25/2009 CQ Politics: "But despite his reversal of Bush Administration policy toward Cuba travel, it more than likely will prove difficult to follow that with a quick end to the 47-year-old trade embargo. For one thing, Cuban leaders aren’t sure the country is ready for the embargo to be lifted. That’s why we see mixed messagescoming from the Castro brothers about opening a dialogue with the U.S. And Castro isn’t stupid. He saw what happened to the Soviet Union in the 1980s after it opened itself up to the West — its economy collapsed."

Orishas cancel Sunday set at Jazz Fest  4/25/2009 Times Picayune, Louisiana: "Cuban hip-hop group Orishas will not perform as scheduled at Jazz Fest's Congo Square stage on Sunday, April 26. A Jazz Fest spokesperson said the group's members, who live in Europe, were not able to enter the country."

International Support for Cuban Pro-Democracy Activist Antunez  4/23/2009 AP

Líderes Internacionales Democráticos se Solidarizan con Activista Cubano Antúnez a 66 Días de Ayuno  4/23/2009 Directorio Democrático Cubano: "Una docena de líderes de países africanos encabezaron la lista de firmantes, entre ellos Eddie Jarwolo, director del Movimiento Nacional Juvenil para Elecciones Transparentes–Socios para el Desarrollo Democrático en Liberia; el juez Mukete Tahle Itoe de Camerún, el Secretario General de la Red Mundial para la Buena Governancia, una organización anti-corrupción; y Anyakwee Nsirimovu, Director Ejecutivo del Instituto para los Derechos Humanos y Ley Humanitaria en Nigeria, quien ha sido perseguido por su activismo en contra de la corrupción. “Le hago un llamado al gobierno cubano a sostener el concepto de la democracia multipartidista basada en la proliferación de diversos criterios políticos y alternativas comenzando por la tolerancia manifiesta a los políticos de oposición y muestras de preocupación y respeto por la dignidad de cubanos vulnerables como obligación del gobierno, ni como favor, ni como opción,” señaló Eddie Jarwolo."

Obama's Real Plan in Latin America  4/22/2009 Venezuela Analysis: "The purpose of the embargo is not to pressure Cuba into being more democratic: this lie can be easily refuted by the numerous dictators the U.S. has supported in the hemisphere, not to mention dictators the U.S. is currently propping up all over the Middle East and elsewhere. The real purpose behind the embargo is what Cuba represents. To the entire hemisphere, Cuba remains a solid source of pride. Defeating the U.S. Bay of Pigs invasion while remaining fiercely independent in a region dominated by U.S. corporations and past government interventions has made Cuba an inspiration to millions of Latin Americans. This profound break from U.S. dominance — in its “own backyard” no less — is not so easily forgiven."

Blacks ponder President Obama’s change in Cuba travel policy  4/22/2009 Westside Gazette, FL

CARLOS MOORE: Putting context to Cuba's racial divide  4/21/2009 McClatchy: " Brought to light in 2008, the first comprehensive, officially-sanctioned document addressing the issue of race in Cuba under the Revolution, The Challenges of the Racial Problem in Cuba [2], paints a stark picture of the situation that exists even now in 2009 for the blacks. This graphic, 385-page document, supported by a bounty of hitherto unpublicized statistics, speaks of neglect, denial, and forceful resurgence of racism in Cuba under Communism. The publication shows a growing impoverishment of the population as a whole, but it emphasizes that black Cubans are disproportionately affected. The old segregationist Cuba is gone, according to this document, yet, somehow the country's leadership continues to be predominantly white (71%). A majority of the country's scientists and technicians are white (72.7%), even though both races have equal rates of education. The same whitening process affects Cuba's universities at the professorial level (80% at the University of La Habana). In the countryside, the land that is privately held is almost totally in the hands of whites (98%), and even in the State cooperatives blacks are almost nonexistent (5%). A robust percentage of able-bodied Cubans with jobs are white, whether male (66.9%) or female (63.8%). In contrast, the overall employment rate of blacks who are fit to work is startlingly low (34.2%). We are left to conclude that most able-bodied black Cubans are unemployed (65.8%)."

Cuba will Expose US Internet Discrimination and Prohibition Policy  4/20/2009 CAN: "Studies published by the media explain that the Internet band width allowed to Cuba by the United States is only as large as any being used by a single enterprise, or even similar to those of private users who count on that resource in other parts of the world. Google, for instance, limits the use by Cuba of services such as Google Earth and other applications like Google Desktop, Google Toolbar, and others. When Cuban users try to download such resources their screens display messages reading like this one: “Thanks for your interest, but the product that you're trying to download is not available in your country”, or “Google Desktop is not currently available in your country, and other messages confirming that Internet is another scenario of the nearly-50-year US economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba."

The U.S. is taking vacuous steps toward Cuba  4/20/2009 Computerworld: "When I was working as a research analyst at the National Security Agency in the mid-'80s, one of my assignments was to study the economic situations in Nicaragua and Cuba… According to The Wall Street Journal, "The White House cast the moves as a way to challenge the Cuban government to open itself up to the outside world." No doubt, Cuba's policies with respect to telecommunications and the Internet have deprived its citizens of access to information that should be freely available. But we in this country need to come to grips with how ludicrous it is for us to preach to Cuba about opening itself up to the outside world while we insist on maintaining a choking trade embargo against it. The fact is, Cuba has opened itself up to the outside world in many ways. The U.S. stands practically alone in keeping the door closed to diplomatic relations and meaningful commercial engagement with Cuba, so lecturing the country on openness will get us nowhere."

From a Really Acceptable Cuban - A Modest (Transition) Proposal to Obama  4/20/2009 Counterpunch: "Out of magnanimous politeness the United States government did not want to be very precise as to what it expects of us Cubans so that we can be granted the blessings of a democratic system in our island. We do appreciate that the interests of Cubans is what guides American policy toward us, something that - obviously - we forget to do ourselves. Your selflessness is commendable, while our own self-interested behavior is certainly demeaning. We have decided, consequently, to respond to your expectations of reciprocity. We want to be good and be like you. Hereby we are lifting our economic embargo of the United States. Moreover, we will go the extra mile. We have come up with a number of initiatives of our own, hoping that you will be pleased and recognize us as your faithful students. The proposals should be considered our response to your substantial and magnificent first steps [i.e. letting Cuban Americans freely travel to our humble nation and do as they wish with their own money]."

Cubans divided on more issues than travel  4/20/2009 Miami Herald: "Recognizing the differences between the waves of Cuban immigrants, sociologists like Silvia Pedraza even came up with labels to describe the various groups. First there were the true exiles, those who came between 1959 and 1962, whom Pedraza calls ''those who wait'' believing that one day they'll return to a free Cuba. They were followed by ''those who escape,'' mostly professionals pushed out by the communists in the early '60s; ''those who search'' (1965-1973), small merchants and farmers who fled after their businesses were taken over; ''those who hope'' (1980s), often poorer and more racially diverse, who came in search of a better future; and ''those who despair'' (1990s and more recently), who arrived as the Cuban government encouraged the discontented to leave the island."

US awaits signs of change from Cuba: White House  4/18/2009 AFP: "Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Obama during a meeting today with leaders from the Union of South American Nations that another Summit of the Americas without Cuba was unacceptable. “The big test is progress in relations with Cuba,” said Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. “A small step was taken in the right direction. But there needs to be direct dialogue, discreet in the beginning. That’s what Lula told Obama needs to take place.” "

An Interview with Gerardo Hernandez, Leader of the Cuban Five - Infiltrating Alpha 66  4/18/2009 Counterpunch: "The first thing that struck me was the impunity with which these groups operated, violating the laws of the US: The Neutrality Acts [of the 1790s] that supposedly means no organization can use American soil to commit terrorism against another country. In the case of Alpha 66, the operatives would take a fast boat and shoot at targets along Cuba’s coast. When they would return to Miami, they would hold a press conference lecture and openly say what they had done."

The OAS Charter, Cuba and the United States  4/18/2009 Counterpunch: By NELSON P. VALDÉS

Articles by Manuel Cuesta Morúa  4/18/2009 Cuba Encuentro: Custa Morua is said to be descended on his mother's side from Martín Morúa Delgado, remembered for introducing a bill that banned black political parties because they discriminated against white Cubans. The Morúa Amendment would later be cited as inciting Cuba’s “Race War of 1912.”

Meek Among Delegation Traveling With Obama  4/16/2009 CBS: "Meek's inclusion on the trip comes just days after he spoke out against Obama's new Cuban policy. According to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, Meek said he wants to curb the amount of money Cuban American his party recently by saying he wants to curb the amount of money Cuban Americans can send their relatives because of the 20 percent cut the Cuban government takes out of any such transaction. "I want to talk to the president about the unlimited remittances, if that's what he said, because that could be counterproductive to our mission in Cuba to turn it toward democracy the way we'd like to see it," Meek told the Herald."

Cuba's Race Relations Seldom Discussed  4/15/2009 NPR: "President Barack Obama yesterday decided to loosen restrictions on travel to Cuba, and the ability of Americans to send money to family members on the island. The decision has met with widely divergent reactions. But largely unmentioned is the sometime complex racial dynamic between Cuban exiles, who are predominately white, and Cubans who remain on the island, 30 to 60 percent of which are of African decent."

What Obama's Cuba move means for blacks  4/15/2009 The Loop

Obama Faces Cuban `Elephant In The Room` Ahead Of Caribbean Summit  4/14/2009 CaribWorldNews: "The new policy will now allow U.S. companies to establish fiber-optic and satellite links to Cuba as well as letting them license roaming agreements for cellphones on the island. Radio and TV satellite companies can also provide services directly to Cuban citizens. In addition, the Obama administration lifted restrictions placed on humanitarian gift parcels, going beyond reverting to 2004 regulations and allowing for any U.S. citizen to send humanitarian aid to individual Cubans."

Cuba Will Continue to Resist - Not a Word About the Blockade - By FIDEL CASTRO  4/14/2009 Counterpunch: "Cuba does not applaud the ill-named Summits of the Americas, where our nations do not debate on equal footing. If they were of any use, it would be to make critical analyses of policies that divide our peoples, plunder our resources and hinder our development. Now, the only thing left is for Obama to try to persuade all of the Latin American presidents attending the conference that the blockade is harmless."

Time for Congressional Black Caucus to Disband?  4/14/2009 Jewish World Review: "Or the seven could have traveled three hours from Havana to see the hunger-striking dissidents led by Jorge Luis Garcia 'Antunez' Perez in Placetas. Or they could have asked to see Oscar Elias Biscet, a doctor serving 25 years in prison for following the peaceful resistance of Martin Luther King Jr…. There was never a good reason for any members of Congress to create a group whose sole criterion for membership was race (or ethnicity in the case of the Congessional Hispanic Caucus). The CBC is so color-based that even congressmen representing majority-black districts who are not themselves black (such as Rep. Stephen Cohen, D-Tenn.), who applied for membership) are not allowed to be members. Such a group, if it existed anywhere else in America, would properly be declared racist and would be either legally or morally forced to shut down." [Like AIPAC?]

Florida tourism looking at Cuba  4/14/2009 Miami Herald: "That potential has the Sunshine State studying how to prepare its top industry for an American tourism boom 90 miles away from its shores. Visit Florida, the state's tourism board, issued a cautionary report in 2002 that warned one in five Florida vacationers would pick Cuba over the Sunshine State if given a choice. This week, officials at the tourism board downplayed the threat from a country with fewer hotel rooms than Detroit. ''But it is also safe to say there will be demand by Americans to see an island that has not been available to them for 50 years,'' Visit Florida President Bud Nocera wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. ``We believe that if and when Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba, much of that travel will be done from Florida.''

White House Fact Sheet: Cuba Policy  4/13/2009 NYT

Cuba readies for possible influx of U.S. tourists  4/12/2009 Reuters: "A study for the International Monetary Fund estimated that as many as 3.5 million Americans could visit Cuba annually if the travel ban was lifted. But travel experts say 500,000 is a more likely maximum the Cuban government would allow in the early years because it does not have enough facilities for more. "Cuba is ready to absorb another half million visitors a year, but not another million, just because of hotel capacity," said a foreign businessman in Cuba's travel industry. "I'm sure they will try to control as much as they can in order to avoid a boom that nobody can control. Every country in the world would try to do the same," he added."

Let's get U S-Cuba relations straight  4/11/2009 Trinicenter: Dr. Kwame Nantambu is professor emeritus, Kent State University, US.

Putting Afro In Cuba Tours  4/10/2009 Race & History: by Willie Thompson, published in 12/2002

Coddling Cuba - Why do the members of Congress rushing to befriend the Castros ignore the island's pro-democracy movement?  4/9/2009 WaPo: "Mr. García, better known as "Antúnez," is a renowned advocate of human rights who has often been singled out for harsh treatment because of his color. "The authorities in my country," he has said, "have never tolerated that a black person [could dare to] oppose the regime." His wife, Iris, is a founder of the Rosa Parks Women's Civil Rights Movement, named after an American hero whom Afro-Cubans try to emulate. The couple have been on a hunger strike since Feb. 17, to demand justice for an imprisoned family member. They are part of a substantial and steadily growing civil movement advocating democratic change in Cuba -- one that U.S. advocates of detente with the Castros appear determined to ignore." [Antúnez is largely unknown in Cuba, his fame is due to the exile drumbeats.]

Policy review prompts solidarity with Cuba’s democrats  4/8/2009 Democracy Digest - NED: "Democracy and human rights groups are urging the Congressional Black Caucus, which yesterday met with Fidel Castro, to press Cuba’s communist authorities on the welfare of the island’s political prisoners and democracy activists, including Afro-Cuban prisoner of conscience Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and civil rights activist Jorge Luis Perez Garcia, aka “Antunez.”"

US Lawmakers Say Time to Talk With Cuba  4/8/2009 IPS: "The visiting lawmakers met for over four hours on Monday with President Raúl Castro. "It was a very good meeting. It was very open and we discussed a wide range of issues," Lee told reporters. "All of us are convinced that President Castro would like normal relations and would see normalization, ending the embargo, as beneficial to both countries," said the congresswoman, who is chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Castro, she added, "said everything was on the table.""

Fidel Castro to Congressional Black Caucus members: 'How can we help President Obama?'  4/8/2009 LA Times

Fidel Castro "energetic" in meeting with U.S. lawmaker  4/8/2009 Reuters

Fidel Castro Meets With 3 Visiting US Lawmakers  4/7/2009 AP: "Signaling its willingness to discuss improved relations with the Obama administration, Cuba on Tuesday granted three visiting members of the Congressional Black Caucus the first meeting with Fidel Castro by American officials since he fell ill in 2006. The surprise meeting came a day after the full delegation of six representatives spent more than four hours talking privately with Cuban President Raul Castro, his first encounter with U.S. officials since formally replacing his brother as head of state nearly 14 months ago."

Lawmakers' Cuba concerns are misplaced  4/7/2009 Miami Herald: "Rep. Kendrick Meek, who was traveling the Panhandle Tuesday in his U.S. Senate bid, offered this wise analysis of his Black Caucus colleagues' ''fact-finding'' mission: ''Political prisoners jailed in Cuba are held for peacefully expressing their rights and freedoms, like Dr. Oscar Biscet and Antúnez,'' he said. ``The Cuban spies held in the U.S. federal prisons were a threat to our national security. That's the difference between night and day.'' [Meeks is also a supporter of free trade with Colombia.]

CBC members praise Castro  4/7/2009 Politico: "Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana. “The fifty-year embargo just hasn’t worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) told reporters this evening at a Capitol press conference after returning from a congressional delegation visit to Cuba. “The bottom line is that we believe its time to open dialogue with Cuba.” Lee and others heaped praise on Castro, calling him warm and receptive during their discussion. But the lawmakers disputed Castro's later statement that members of the congressional delegation said American society is still racist."

A question about Cuba and Martin Luther King Jr.  4/6/2009 Uncommon Sense: "Cuban civil rights activists remember Martin Luther King Jr."

Castro: Americans Summit to keep 'excluding' Cuba  4/5/2009 AP

Racismo en Cuba, un tema controvertido  4/5/2009 Cuba Voz: "Es un choque silencioso entre las dos razas con matices gregarios, por lo general los negros prefieren asociarse entre sí aislándose de los blancos en actividades sociales comunes, en fiestas, reuniones de amigos, en el intercambio de tragos, y lo mismo se manifiesta entre los blancos. Cada uno por separado, pero sin llegar a una definida segregación al estilo de Atlanta año 1950. El racismo en Cuba no va más allá de un agudo prejuicio racial planteado en términos del "somos distintos"."

CUBA: Black Women Rap Against Discrimination  4/5/2009 IPS: published 8/07 by Dalia Acosta

US lawmakers: Normalize Cuba relations, then talk  4/5/2009 Reuters: "The United States and Cuba should normalize diplomatic relations then sort out their differences, the head of a delegation of U.S. lawmakers on a visit to Cuba said Sunday. "Most of the members of our delegation believe we need to actually normalize relations and then the details of what that means would follow," Representative Barbara Lee, who is also chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said at a news conference."

Congressional delegation visiting Cuba - Congressional Black Caucus members to visit Cuba to review trade and travel  4/2/2009 AP: "Members of the Congressional Black Caucus will travel to Cuba on Friday in another sign of federal lawmakers' interest in easing a long-standing trade embargo and travel restrictions. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said the trip is designed to demonstrate to Cubans that the American people are interested in building a new relationship with them. "Diplomacy and a new way of looking at our foreign policy just makes sense," said Lee, chairwoman of the caucus. Visits to Cuba by members of Congress are hardly new, but some lawmakers believe the election of President Barack Obama presents a new opportunity to open up trade and tourism. Business and farm groups are backing the lawmakers' efforts. On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate announced their support for legislation that would prevent the president from stopping travel to Cuba except in cases of war, imminent danger to public health or threats to the physical safety of U.S. travelers. An identical bill in the House has 120 co-sponsors."

Are we shooting ourselves in the foot?  3/30/2009 AfroCubaWeb: "Last Friday, in a near celebratory atmosphere, US Congressman Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, Ros-Lethinen, Wasserman, Meeks, Sires and a few others, read during a press conference, a hate letter sent to President Barack Obama, demanding he severely curtail the time allowed to Cuban-Americans legally visiting their families in Cuba."

Black revolution stirring in Cuba  3/29/2009 Trinidad & Tobago Express: "Nazma Muller [a Fidelista] talks to Carlos Moore."

La crise a accentué le racisme à Cuba  3/28/2009 Africulture: from 1/99 - "Entretien de Landry-Wilfrid Miampika avec Pedro Pérez Sarduy."

Biden says U.S. does not plan to lift Cuba embargo  3/28/2009 Reuters

A Historical Roadmap for Liberating the Cuban Five - Gesture For Gesture  3/27/2009 Counterpunch

Black Cuban Female Blogger  3/24/2009 IPS: "Sandra Alvarez remembers. Her mother, a dressmaker, and her five siblings lived in the modest Havana neighborhood of Lawton. Her mother used to tell them, “You have to study because you’re black; your classes are twice as important for you.”

Plácido  3/22/2009 Jiribilla: Jiribilla devotes an entire issue to Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, Plácido, at the 200th anniversary of his birth. He was executed in 1844 as a result of the so called "Ladder Conspiracy," in reality a figment of the ruling ibero-spanish elite.

Federal ruling offers new hope for Cuba-trip travel agents  3/22/2009 Miami Herald

Expertos en Miami exhortan a levantar todas las restricciones de viajes  3/21/2009 Cuba Encuentro

Costa Rica, El Salvador promise ties with Cuba  3/19/2009 AP: "Costa Rica broke off ties with Havana in 1961, while El Salvador has not recognized the island's government since 1959, when Fidel Castro came to power. On Sunday, Funes became the first leftist president elected in El Salvador since the country's brutal civil war ended in 1992. His party, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, formed from five rebel armies in 1980, is the second former enemy of the United States along with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega to take power democratically in Latin America's lurch to the left."

Cuba-EU Relations May Go very Far, said European Commissioner Louis Michel  3/19/2009 Cuba Now

On the Black Press in Cuba: A Historical Review  3/18/2009 Islas: published 5/2007

Tendencias racistas en Cuba  3/18/2009 Mestizos.Net: "En la actualidad, el desconocimiento acerca de la presencia negra en la prensa plana en Cuba es casi absoluto. Otro aspecto en la vida de la comunidad negra y mestiza cubana escamoteado por las tendencias racistas que abierta o subrepticiamente han manipulado la memoria de la vida socio cultural del país."

Open Letter to Carlos Moore from Pedro Perez Sarduy  3/18/2009 Norman Girvan: reprinted from AfroCubaWeb, but with some interesting responses.

The Imperial Branding of Simon Bolivar and the Cuban Revolution  3/17/2009 Counterpunch: By NELSON P. VALDÉS

US Congress Takes Small Step Toward Cuba Policy Reform  3/12/2009 VOA: "The new bill will block funding to the Treasury Department to punish Cuban-Americans who travel more than once every three years to visit family members. It also eases the rules on farmers or medical supplies vendors to make sales trips to the Communist island. Jake Colvin, vice president of the National Foreign Trade Council that advocates lifting sanctions on Cuba, said the changes could help farmers take advantage of growing opportunities in Cuba."

Obama government fines company for links with Havana  3/11/2009 Granma: "DESPITE all the pressure to change the blockade’s restrictions on trade, maintained against Cuba for half a century, the U.S. agency charged with harassing Cuba’s suppliers has just levied a $20,950 fine on Lactalis USA, a U.S. affiliate of the French giant Lactalis. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed the fine on the cheese and dairy company for violating blockade regulations by “making electronic financial transactions in which Cuba or a Cuban citizen had an interest” between February 2004 and March 2007, according to media reports in Miami, Florida."

Obama will use spring summit to bring Cuba in from the cold  3/8/2009 Guardian, UK: "US companies are queuing up as the president moves to ease restrictions on travel and trade, raising hopes of warmer relations and an end to the embargo."

El negro en la obra de Nicolás Guillén  3/7/2009 Cubarte: "Es muy sólida y resulta muy oportuna esta antología, fruto del estudio y la compilación de Denia, a partir de una búsqueda de las especialistas de la Fundación Nicolás Guillén para establecer todos sus textos referidos al tema. Poemas, artículos, discursos y cartas, fechados entre 1929 y 1982, nos permiten entrar en el mundo de la palabra de uno de los más grandes intelectuales que ha dado Cuba, desde una perspectiva particular que recoge el título: el negro en la obra de Guillén."

Singer Gloria Estefan says CIA tried to recruit her as a spy  3/6/2009 Telegraph: "Maybe I made the decision [to do it]," she said "What better cover than going around as a singer, talking to presidents, talking to kings, close to all the people they wanted access to? So, who knows?"

Autobiografía de esclavos: Equiano, Juan Francisco Manzano  3/5/2009 Cubarte: "Entre las muchas figuras de interés que intervienen en la trama de la película, muchas de ella históricas, me llamó la atención la del ex- esclavo negro Olaudah Equiano (¿1745?-1797), también conocido como Gustav Vassa. Según sus propias palabras, había nacido en Nigeria y muy joven fue vendido a un oficial de la Marina. Un dueño posterior, en Filadelfia, le permitió aprender a leer y escribir hasta que, con su trabajo, pudo comprar la libertad y convertirse en marino, lo que le hizo conocer lugares muy diversos. En Londres el movimiento abolicionista existente allí, al cual pertenecía Wilberforce, lo incitó a escribir su autobiografía, que tituló La interesante narrativa de la vida de Olaudah Equino o Gustavo Vass, el africano, escrita por él mismo (1789), que al ser publicada tuvo una gran repercusión. Esta obra se tiene como una de las primeras autobiografías escritas por esclavos, junto a las del “príncipe africano” J. A. Ukasaw Gronniosum (1772) y la del nativo africano residente en los Estados Unidos Ventura Smith (1798), todas publicadas también en Inglaterra."

El Maleconazo en La Habana 5 de agosto de 1994  3/4/2009 YouTube: [Video of the famous 1994 riot, said to be a race riot by Afrocubans.]

Del legado de Martí  3/2/2009 Granma: de Marta Rojas - "Sin embargo, entrañables amigos de la insurrección se prestaron a no dejar morir al Maestro. Uno de ellos, el cubano Rafael Serra Montalvo, hijo de negros libres, nacido en La Habana e inmigrante en Estados Unidos, fue de los primeros en hacer algo por la memoria de Martí. Serra había tenido la responsabilidad martiana en Nueva York de organizar La Liga, un grupo patriótico que se encargó de instruir a los emigrantes que carecían que no habían podido ilustrarse, en su mayoría cubanos "de color", para quienes Martí fue siempre El Maestro. Insuflado por el pensamiento de su amigo y jefe Serra sigue trabajando en Nueva York y el 16 de abril de 1899 aparece en La Habana el semanario político independiente "La doctrina de Martí" que él dirige, con un artículo de fondo del propio Serra titulado: " Nuestros Propósitos", de corte martiano profundo."

Guerrillero»	«Pinar del Río
El Habanero»	«La Habana
Tribuna de La Habana»	«Ciudad de La Habana
Girón»	«Matanzas
Vanguardia»	«Villa Clara
5 de Septiembre»	«Cienfuegos
Escambray»	«Sancti Spíritus
Invasor»	«Ciego de Ávila
Adelante»	«Camagüey
26»	«Las Tunas
La Demajagua»	«Granma
Ahora»	«Holguín
Sierra Maestra»	«Santiago de Cuba
Venceremos»	«Guantánamo
Victoria»	«Isla de la Juventud

Radio Ciudad de La Habana	Radio Metropolitana
Tiempo 21	Radio Cadena Habana
Radio Sancti Spíritus	CMHW Villa Clara
Radio Victoria	Radio Ciudad del Mar

Bohemia	Habanera
Giga	Temas
Prisma	Negocios en Cuba
Alma Mater	Caimán Barbudo
Mujeres	La Jiribilla
La Gaceta de Cuba	Zunzún
Avances Médicos de Cuba	Travel Trade Cuba
Somos Jóvenes	Opus Habana
Tricontinental	Cine Cubano
Revolución y Cultura	Cuba Internacional
Ciencias de la Información	Salsa Cubana
Juventud Técnica	Pionero
Opciones	El economista
Notinet	El Fénix
Orbe	Senderos

Ceniai	IslaGrande
Infocom	Cubaweb
Infomed	Citmatel
Archivo Nacional	Cubaciencia
Cubanic	Cubarte
Cienfuegos	UPEC
Redsolar	Gobierno cubano
Sitio de Elián	Cuba demanda
Cuba contra el bloqueo	CubAhora
Sitio del Ajedrez en Cuba	Marinas Puertosol
Directorio Turístico de Cuba	Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Casa de las Américas	NO al ALCA

Cuba in the News

List of Cuban provincial papers and other sites

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.
Last modified: July 12, 2009

	AfroCubaWeb

Cuba in the News

List of Cuban provincial papers and other sites

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A. Last modified: July 12, 2009

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.
Last modified: July 12, 2009