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NED Funding Articles/Articulos Links/Enlaces

Ramon Colas with U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay, Martin J. Silverstein Ramon Humberto Colás Castillo Co-founder, with his wife Berta Mexidor, of the NED funded Independent Libraries Project for Cuba in 1998. Library organizations in the US and Europe find the "independent libraries" to be fronts for the recruitment of dissidents as well as mechanism for going to the head of the line in securing US visas. They also contain books that are available in the local public libraries. [See Library Juice, 3/01]  The Independent Libraries Project received $133,000 to $143,000 per years from 2005-2007.  Perhaps the most open link to US intelligence services is in the 2006 GAO report, U.S. Democracy Assistance for Cuba Needs Better Management and Oversight, p 39: "USAID’s Cuba program office and its grantees have conducted some evaluations of U.S. assistance, but these studies have been limited in number and scope. USAID officials also have informally interviewed Cuban dissidents and émigrés about the receipt and effectiveness of U.S. assistance, but they did not systematically document, compile, or analyze the results of these interviews. Although USINT has assessed some independent libraries in Cuba, USAID has not received its reports." Funding for the Independent Libraries Project was not renewed in 2008.   Ramón Colás was expelled from Cuba to the US in 2001, where he founded Proyecto de Relaciones Raciales, in Mississipi. This operation seems to have little to no output other than accompanying Rey Colás' name when he is quoted. Googling "Proyecto de Relaciones Raciales" with quotes on 1/2/2010 reveals 9 listings. Colás is also a Project Advisor for US Policy Toward a Cuba in Transition at the Brookings Institution, where he is listed as Co-Director, the Center for the Understanding of Cubans of African Descent. An example of what would once have been labeled "blowback" where government funds are used to manufacture a certain reality outside the US but then this in turn has an effect in the US. Black skin and Cuban leadership  7/17/2007 Jamaica Gleaner: by Ramon Colas, founder of the Independent Libraries of Cuba - "To be sure, the Cuban authorities would much rather blacks stay far away from investors and joint venture companies. This, in turn, brings about a situation in which investors (largely white) absorb these same attitudes and become complicit in an evil that affects millions of non-white Cubans. In the political realm discrimination is no less pervasive. Within Cuba's power structure, few blacks share the privilege of leading. Of the National Assembly's 600 deputees, only 18 per cent are black. A similar situation exists at the provincial and local levels. The executive is worse yet. When Cuba's leaders travel abroad, they could pass off as a Northern European delegation save for the black faces carrying the luggage or guarding the entourage. Unfortunately, the military is no different. That institution's leadership is made up of white officers. The three chiefs of the army are white; so are the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the police, the navy, and the air force. Similarly, the military's control over economic activities is all channelled through non-black officers. Only the low-ranking black soldiers remind us that Cuba is, after all, in the Caribbean."

Articles/Articulos

“Independent Library” Movement in Cuba  6/18/2008 Librarian, US: contains "Cuba Update for ALA Annual 2008"

Pro-Castro Columnist Compares Black Exiled Dissident to Maid  7/17/2007 Miami Herald Blogs: published 3/06 - "Andres Gomez, the leader of the pro-Castro group Antonio Maceo Brigade who lives in Miami, writes in a Cuban government publication that anti-revolutionary activity is undergoing a renaissance of sorts in the United States. He singles out for ridicule Bibliotecas Independientes, or Independent Libraries, a group that promotes literacy and the development of civil society in Cuba. Writing in cubadebate.cu, a Cuban government web site, Gomez uses the race of Ramon Colas, the group's leader, as part of his criticism. "This organization, whose only visible member includes a little Negro who travels a lot, whose style and mannerisms remind me of maids in Cuba before 1959, always dressed in their white uniforms -- seems to ignore, just like his masters, that in Cuba, for example, during the last 15 years, they celebrate annually a national book fair." Colas said it's the only time he has felt any "racism'' since he came to Miami about 5 years ago from Cuba. "He is using a series of offensive and racists words against me that you would never get away with using against African Americans," Colas said of Gomez… "It's not racist, really, it's an estimation of mine of what he is," Gomez said Wednesday. "It's not racist in the least. He is like that. And I maintain what I said. In any case, he'd be a shame to his race.""

THE "INDEPENDENT LIBRARIES IN CUBA: A BIBLIOGRAPHY WHICH REVEALS PART OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY "DISSIDENCE" SPONSORED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT  8/11/2005 University of Pittsburgh: with extensive linked bibliography.

Librarians as Spooks - The Scheme to Infiltrate Cuba's Libraries  6/18/2005 Counterpunch: "For those who appreciate the art of propaganda, the reason Kent gives for refusing to meet with Cuban librarians and virulently opposing professional exchanges is that they are working for the "state." It seems to have escaped him that at his job for the New York Public Library he also works for the state, as do most of his colleagues. And given his possession of a fake passport and shady activities and associations, "Agent Emmet" is undoubtedly a lot closer to the "state" than any Havana bibliotecario."

Cuba and the Myth of the 'Independent Libraries'  7/30/2004 Zmag: "According to its strategy of destabilization of Cuban society, the United States, in addition to financing and directing "independent journalists", and "human rights members" has created "independent libraries"(1). The main role of those organizations consists of carrying out a job of disinformation in the heart of the country, and in creating favorable conditions for weakening the nation, which is already in an extremely hostile geopolitical context. Those different splinter groups are shown in the international press as the nucleus of the future "civil and democratic society." The information transnationals still do not deign to give attention to the facts, however easily accessible and verifiable, preferring to talk about internal dissidence."

CUBA: Independent librarians' not so independent  8/29/2003 Granma: "Writing in the summer 2001 edition of the Information for Social Change journal, Oberg reported that the so-called independent librarians, "depended on gifts of printed materials, fax machines, telephones and video and audio recorders that, in many cases, are delivered directly to their homes by members of the US Interest Section in Havana. Some admitted that they depend upon financial support, and owe allegiance to, their allies in the anti-Castro Cuban community in Miami and elsewhere abroad." "It became clear to us", Oberg added, "that most of these `independent' librarians fall into two or three distinct categories: leaders or officers of various dissenting political groups, those attempting to ingratiate themselves with the US Interest Section in order to `jump the queue' and receive an immigration visa to the United States, and others who were politically engaged evangelical Christians." After interviewing a number of the "independent" librarians, Neugebauer confirmed that the allegations about the confiscation of books and the harassment and arrest of individuals for owning private book collections, made by anti-Castro groups such as the Friends of Cuban Libraries and CubaNet, were false."

U.S. Seeks Ideas to Promote Cuba Change  8/8/2003 AP: CANF shill Noriega persues bogus buzzwords - "Another key goal, he said, is to increase support for independent libraries and human rights groups on the island which have persisted despite a major anti-dissident crackdown last March and April." What would the US say to Al Qaeda financed libraries in their cities?

My Michigan. There was a man. The guilty Weather bomber — and more  6/20/2003 National Review: scroll down for this - ""Ramon Humberto Colas, founder of Cuba's independent-libraries movement, held a briefing on June 11th for the press corps of the United Nations, where he was attending meetings. . . . "Reiterating [the movement's] offer to close down independent libraries, he said these would be unnecessary once Cubans have [broader] access to books and publications now forbidden and are free to exercise their cultural and intellectual rights. An Afro-Cuban, he also denounced the Castro regime's propaganda on racial issues; highlighted blacks' participation in the peaceful opposition movement; and denounced Castro's need to find external scapegoats and excuses for his failures and absolute control. . . ."

Library group hit on Cuba stance  6/6/2003 Washington Times: "The American Library Association (ALA) is under fire for inviting Cuban government librarians to its upcoming annual convention, while ignoring colleagues from independent libraries in Cuba who were recently sentenced to prison terms of up to 27 years." Said colleagues were receiving funds from Cuba's sworn enemy, the USA.

Cuba Seizes Book Shipment Ordered by U.S. Officials  2/27/2003 Washington Post: "American diplomats were told it was a "firm decision by the government" not to allow the books into the communist-run country for distribution to dissident groups, including independent libraries, U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason said. "They said it wasn't the books, but who we were going to give them to," he told a small group of international reporters. He said the American mission has imported similar books in the past."

Libraries in Cuba: Report of a visit to "independent," national and public libraries in Cuba  4/1/2000 Information for Social Change: "In April 2000 I visited the "Biblioteca Independiente Juana Alonso" in Havana. This "library" is in the home of Rogelio Travieso Perez, who is Human Rights Secretary of the Democratic Solidarity Party. The "library" consisted of 80 books and 20 journals. Only 10 items were out on loan. The collection contained items that would be stocked in the local public library. I concluded that the "library" was a front for political activities. It does not meet the information needs of the people, which are well served by the Cuban library system. My views on independent "libraries" were echoed by Larry Oberg of Willamette University who, together with 14 other US librarians, went on a two week research trip to Cuba in March 2000. In Santiago de Cuba, some of the group visited two "independent libraries". They spoke at length with the people who are responsible for these "libraries". They concluded that "these libraries are, on the one hand, a public face and a recruiting tool for a dissident movement within Cuba and, on the other, a means of 'jumping the queue' to get an immigration visa to the US." "

NED Funding  

The National Endowment for Democracy replaced CIA funding in the 80's.

www.ned.org/grants/05programs/grants-lac05.html   2005
Bibliotecas Independientes de Cuba (Independent Libraries of Cuba) (BIC)
$133,773*
To promote intellectual freedom and debate inside Cuba. BIC will continue to provide material assistance to independent libraries in Cuba and promote international awareness of the library movement. BIC staff will travel to Latin America and Spain to meet with libraries, universities, think tanks, and other organizations to enlist their support for individual libraries and the libraries movement.

www.ned.org/grants/06programs/grants-lac06.html   2006
Bibliotecas Independientes de Cuba (Independent Libraries of Cuba) (BIC)
$133,780
To promote intellectual freedom and debate inside Cuba. BIC will continue to provide material assistance to independent libraries in Cuba and promote international awareness of the library movement. BIC staff will travel to Latin America and Spain to meet with libraries, universities, think tanks, and other organizations to enlist their support for individual libraries and the libraries movement.

ww.ned.org/grants/07programs/grants-lac07.html   2007
Bibliotecas Independientes de Cuba (Independent Libraries of Cuba or BIC)
$143,166*
To promote intellectual freedom and debate inside Cuba. BIC will continue to provide material assistance to independent libraries in Cuba and promote international awareness of the library movement. BIC staff will travel to Latin America and Europe to meet with libraries, universities, think tanks, and other organizations to enlist their support for individual libraries and the libraries movement.

www.ned.org/grants/08programs/grants-lac08.html   2008
not funded

Links/Enlaces

The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2008-2009

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

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