Golpeado y detenido maestro independiente
Golpeado y detenido maestro independiente
LA HABANA, Cuba, 31 de diciembre, (José Alberto Álvarez Bravo, www.cubanet.org) -En la noche del 28 de diciembre de 2009, el maestro Rafael Leyva Leyva, miembro del Colegio de Pedagogos Independientes de Cuba, CPIC, fue golpeado y arrestado por un grupo de integrantes de las Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida capitaneado por Rubinelsa Santana, conjuntamente con el oficial de la policía política –Departamento de Seguridad del Estado, DSE- conocido como "el polaco".
Según Carlos Ortega, fuente de esta información y también miembro del CPIC, Leyva Leyva padece de desgarramiento del recto, padecimiento que le produce frecuentes hemorragias, y de pérdida de la visión de un ojo como consecuencia de una anterior golpiza.Ortega y Leyva residen en el poblado de Velazco, en la oriental provincia de Holguín, zona geográfica donde la represión suele ser más fuerte que en otras de la isla.
Cuba: Golpeado y detenido maestro independiente (31 December 2009)http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y09/diciember/31_N_1.html
Aumenta temor por otro derrumbe
Aumenta temor por otro derrumbe
LA HABANA, Cuba, 31 de diciembre, (Adolfo Borrazá Chaple, www.cubanet.org) – El pasado 28 de diciembre, en horas de la tarde, luego de un tiempo lluvioso y de fuertes vientos, el edificio ubicado en Desagüe # 212, en Centro Habana, tuvo otro derrumbe parcial en uno de sus laterales.
Los pedazos del inmueble destruido cayeron en una terraza colindante donde no se encontraba persona alguna, por lo que no hubo que lamentar heridos. Los que conviven en el lugar han lidiado con varios desmoronamientos por el paupérrimo estado de la edificación.
"Cada vez que hay mal tiempo se derrumba un poco más el edificio, ya tuvimos un herido grave y, gracias a Dios, hasta ahora no hay muertos, pero parece que eso es lo que espera el gobierno para darnos un apartamento", refiere Milagros Meybol, madre de dos hijos, uno de ellos de año y medio.Las autoridades conocen de esta situación por las denuncias que han hecho los vecinos y hasta el momento no han hecho caso a las mismas.
Cuba: Aumenta temor por otro derrumbe (31 December 2009)http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y09/diciember/31_N_3.html
El régimen anuncia bailes y fiestas para celebrar sus 51 años
El régimen anuncia bailes y fiestas para celebrar sus 51 añosAutor y Ciudad:Agencias
El régimen ha anunciado para este fin de año y el 1 de enero un programa que incluye bailables y actividades públicas, destinadas a celebrar sus 51 años en el poder, reportó EFE.
Los medios de comunicación oficiales informaron sobre espectáculos y fiestas que tendrán lugar en varias plazas de la Isla durante este fin de semana, con bandas en concierto y orquestas de música salsa.
La llamada Tribuna Antiimperialista de La Habana —popularmente conocida como "protestódromo"— será la sede principal de los bailables nocturnos que comenzarán el 1 de enero, día en que triunfó en 1959 el alzamiento encabezado por Fidel Castro contra la dictadura de Fulgencio Batista.
El 31 de diciembre, a las 12 de la noche, se repetirá el tradicional disparo de 21 salvas de artillería para saludar la fecha desde la Fortaleza de La Cabaña, en La Habana, que estará abierta al público para la ceremonia.
A esa misma hora, los canales de la televisión —todos controlados por el gobierno— trasmitirán el himno nacional y un comunicado oficial, mientras que algunos medios locales han informado que en Nochevieja se realizarán cenas al aire libre en parques y plazas.
En las calles de la capital se pueden ver carteles en las vidrieras y esquinas con lemas de apoyo a los 51 años del régimen, casi todos con fotos de Fidel Castro.
Además, grupos de estudiantes han reeditado de forma simbólica en varias provincias del oriente de la Isla las últimas acciones bélicas contra el Ejército de Batista.
El año pasado, cuando la revolución cubana celebró su medio siglo, los festejos también incluyeron eventos convocados por las instituciones culturales y la Unión de Jóvenes Comunitas. El acto central tuvo lugar en Santiago de Cuba, encabezado por el general Raúl Castro.
Cuba cierra un año caracterizado por la profundización de su larga crisis económica. Del 6% de crecimiento previsto, sólo alcanzó un 1,4%, de acuerdo con las cifras oficiales.
La situación se agravó con la crisis mundial y las consecuencias del paso de tres huracanes devastadores en 2008. El gobierno ha reconocido graves problemas de liquidez y problemas de impago a los socios comerciales y a empresarios extranjeros con negocios en la Isla.
El régimen anuncia bailes y fiestas para celebrar sus 51 años | DIARIODECUBA (31 December 2009)http://www.ddcuba.com/cuba/noticias/2009/el-regimen-anuncia-bailes-y-fiestas-para-celebrar-sus-51-anos
Familiares de 96 dominicanos desaparecidos creen que están en Cuba, cortando caña
Familiares de 96 dominicanos desaparecidos creen que están en Cuba, cortando cañaAutor y Ciudad:
Familiares de 96 dominicanos que el 13 de noviembre de 2008 salieron de manera irregular con destino a Puerto Rico, creen que se encuentran detenidos en Cuba, donde supuestamente son obligados a cortar caña, reportó EFE.
Eriko Cuba, portavoz de los familiares, dijo que el grupo salió en una yola (un tipo de embarcación muy ligera, movida con remos y vela) desde las costas de Samaná, en el nordeste dominicano, pero que la pequeña embarcación sufrió un percance por un mal tiempo que se presentó en el Canal de la Mona (que separa República Dominicana de Puerto Rico) y los viajeros fueron a parar a Cuba.
Subrayó que Wellington Mayobanex Aquino Suárez, uno de los viajeros, llamó el martes al destacamento de la policía del municipio de Villa Riva, de la provincia Duarte (noreste), de donde es oriunda la mayoría de los emigrantes, para que los agentes avisaran a su familia de que él y sus compatriotas están presos en Cuba.
Eriko Cuba dijo que, según informaciones que ha recibido, algunos de los viajeros indocumentados portaban armas y utilizaban drogas, y consideró que esa podría ser la razón por la que el grupo se encuentra detenido en Cuba.
El portavoz de los viajeros, dados por desaparecidos por las autoridades dominicanas, dijo que en Cuba las personas que están privadas de su libertad tienen que trabajar en la agricultura y en otras áreas de la economía.
Asimismo, pidió a la embajada dominicana en La Habana que investigue con profundidad la suerte que corren los náufragos.
Familiares de 96 dominicanos desaparecidos creen que están en Cuba, cortando caña | DIARIODECUBA (31 December 2009)http://www.ddcuba.com/cuba/noticias/2009/familiares-de-96-dominicanos-desaparecidos-creen-que-estan-en-cuba-cortando-cana
ACTO DE REPUDIO FRENTE AL DOMICILIO DE SARA MARTA FONSECA
ACTO DE REPUDIO FRENTE AL DOMICILIO DE SARA MARTA FONSECA2009-12-31.Ana Aguililla Saladrigas, Periodista Independiente
(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Jaimanitas, 23 de diciembre del 2009.- El 16 del presente mes, un centenar de elementos paramilitares se agrupó ante la casa de Sara Marta Fonseca, para realizar un acto de repudio.
En la acción participaron individuos uniformados con pulóveres rojos que tenían la imagen del Ché. "Estoy aquí a ver si emigración me da el permiso para ir de visita a los Estados Unidos"-dijo Roberto Ordaz Román, jefe de transporte del Hospital Psiquiátrico de La Habana, quien era uno de los protagonistas del mitin.
Durante el espectáculo, el grupo gritaba frases ofensivas a Fonseca y su esposo Julio Ignacio León Pérez. Mientras, el matrimonio opositor respondía con vivas a los Derechos Humanos y trataba de repartir Cartas de la Declaración Universal de los mismos. Los manifestantes rompían los documentos internacionales y los arrojaban sobre el jardín.
En horas de la tarde, el acto contra los disidentes tomó un carácter agresivo. Noelia Pedraza Jiménez, esposa del Prisionero Político Ariel Sigler Amaya, fue golpeada por los agresores al intentar entrar en el domicilio de Marta Fonseca.
Esta última y su esposo, salieron en defensa de Pedraza y resultaron heridos. Otras de las activistas afectadas fueron Odalys Caridad Sanabria Rodríguez y María López, a quienes detuvieron e impidieron llegar al lugar.
Ese día un grupo de opositores debía reunirse en la vivienda de Sara Marta. Desde allí partirían a realizar una marcha pacífica con los brazos cruzados. De esta manera protestarían contra el aislamiento domiciliario al que ha sido sometido Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez".
Sara Marta Fonseca es representante de la Provincia Ciudad Habana, en la Junta Nacional del Parlamento de la disidencia Agenda para la Transición Cubana.
ACTO DE REPUDIO FRENTE AL DOMICILIO DE SARA MARTA FONSECA – Misceláneas de Cuba (31 December 2009)http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/article.asp?artID=24954
Pasajeros de Air Comet en Cuba alegan una ‘excepción’ para regresar a España
Pasajeros de Air Comet en Cuba alegan una 'excepción' para regresar a EspañaAutor y Ciudad:Agencias
Unos 30 pasajeros de Air Comet han entregado este miércoles en el consulado de España en La Habana una solicitud al gobierno español para que se les permita regresar a Madrid sin pagar un nuevo billete, argumentando las condiciones de "excepción" que hay en la Isla, informó EFE.
El documento agrega que sólo una parte de los pasajeros en Cuba recibió el aviso del cierre de la compañía española el 21 de diciembre, y añade que la noticia no fue publicada por los medios de la Isla, donde además existen dificultades para acceder a internet y falta de cobertura para los móviles internacionales.
El grupo, en su mayoría españoles y cubanos residentes en España, se presentó en el consulado para presionar al gobierno de Madrid a que les extienda hasta mediados de enero el plazo que ya había dado a los clientes de Air Comet para viajar sin tener que pagar un nuevo billete.
En el caso de Cuba, esa opción dispuesta por el ministerio español de Fomento expiró el pasado 26 de diciembre.
Asimismo, exigen igualdad de derecho para los pasajeros cuyo billete de regreso tiene fecha para finales de febrero y primeros días de marzo, y una respuesta oficial en un máximo de doce horas.
El portavoz del grupo, el español Carlos Chico Fernández, dijo a EFE que los únicos que recibieron aviso en la Isla fueron los que se hospedaron en hoteles, pero hay muchos, como él, que se encontraban en casa de amigos y familiares.
El cónsul general de España en Cuba, Pablo Barrios, declaró a EFE que la solicitud parece "razonable" y que será enviada de inmediato a los ministerios de Fomento y de Exteriores.
Según Barrios, las aerolíneas Iberia, Air Europa y Cubana de Aviación ya han reducido en más de la mitad el precio de sus billetes para facilitar los viajes desde La Habana, pero los pasajeros en Cuba se niegan a pagar la tarifa especial.
Datos de la oficina de Air Europa en La Habana cifran en unos 110 los pasajeros de Air Comet que deben quedar en la Isla, aunque Chico Fernández aseguró que son unos 200.
Sólo por Iberia se calcula que ya han viajado desde la capital cubana a España unas 300 personas.
Pasajeros de Air Comet en Cuba alegan una 'excepción' para regresar a España | DIARIODECUBA (30 December 2009)http://www.ddcuba.com/cuba/noticias/2009/pasajeros-de-air-comet-en-cuba-alegan-una-excepcion-para-regresar-espana
More Than Half a Century of Tragedy in Cuba
Publicado el 12-30-2009More Than Half a Century of Tragedy in Cuba
January 1st, 2010 marks the fifty-first anniversary of the enslavement of the Cuban people by the totalitarian Marxist-Leninist tyranny of Fidel Castro, and in the last two years of a two-headed tyranny with the incorporation of General Raúl Castro as head of state. To review in detail the history of these fifty-one years is to revive terrible memories of what the suffering of the noble Cuban people has been with its execution walls, its prisons full of persecuted citizens, religious persecution and with the plundering of banks and privates homes in total violation of private property.
It is inconceivable, painfully inconceivable, that during the year that is about to end democratically elected rulers of the Western Hemisphere visited Havana to pay homage to the decrepit and ailing tyrant. Without any qualms whatsoever, these rulers, male and female alike, arrived to burn incense at the feet of the tyrant, taking their pictures with him and expressing their feelings of admiration, respect and solidarity, although not necessarily all of them might have used the same words. But, undoubtedly, these concepts are implied in this shameful behavior to pay homage to the one who is a determining factor, the only one, in the enslavement of a sister nation that has been oppressed by a fierce tyranny for more than half a century. These tributes included decorations or gestures of "political tenderness" as was the case of the now deposed President Zelaya who came to see Castro and placed the hat that he usually wears on the head of the tyrant as a sign of exceptional identification with him.
The attitude of these rulers implies their close ties with a regime that is cruelly anti-democratic, which is more than anti-democratic. And, nevertheless, they dare to challenge the will of the majority of the people of Honduras "disqualifying" the democratic and constitutional performance of the government that substituted Zelaya in compliance with the country's Constitution.
What the Cuban people have suffered is perhaps incalculable in many aspects. And to make things worse during this more than half-a-century prominent Cuban figures have died, thus no longer being able to offer verbal testimony – there are many in writing – of what their homeland has suffered.
Diario Las Americas – More Than Half a Century of Tragedy in Cuba (30 December 2009)http://www.diariolasamericas.com/news.php?nid=91438
Cuban nickel output seen lowest in a decade
Cuban nickel output seen lowest in a decadeWed Dec 30, 2009 11:25am EST
* National output seen between 60,000 and 65,000 tonnes* Sherritt International venture operating at capacity* Industry still struggling to overcome hurricane damage
By Marc Frank
HAVANA, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Cuba's unrefined nickel plus cobalt production appears to have been between 60,000 and 65,000 tonnes this year, the lowest in a decade, according to scattered radio reports this week.
Cuba produced 70,400 tonnes of unrefined nickel and cobalt in 2008, after averaging between 74,000 and 75,000 tonnes during much of the decade.
While production at Canadian mining company Sherritt International's (S.TO) nickel venture in Cuba topped 37,000 tonnes, output at two plants owned by state-run Cubaniquel was well below capacity.
Cuba has not announced this year's nickel output, with officials simply stating it was less than the 70,000 tonnes planned.
The Caribbean island is one of the world's largest nickel producers and supplies 10 percent of the world's cobalt, according to the Basic Industry Ministry.
"The Pedro Soto Alba plant met this year's plan, producing more than 37,000 tonnes of nickel, and remains open," Jorge Cuevas Ramos, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguin, was quoted by national state-run Radio Rebelde on Wednesday as stating.
Radio stations based in Holguin, where the three plants are located, reported this week that production at the Cuba-owned Ernesto Che Guevara plant, with a capacity of 32,000 tonnes, did not meet it's 26,000-tonne plan.
There was no mention of output at the country's third and oldest plant, the Rene Ramos Latourt at Nicaro Holguin, which has a capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes and is also operated by Cubaniquel.
Scattered reports this year indicated Rene Ramos Latourt and the feed process to the plant were operating below capacity at various times, so there were most likely production problems there as well.
Hurricane Ike, a Category 3 storm, hit Cuba in September 2008 at Holguin's northern coast, where the nickel industry's three processing plants are located, damaging the two Cubaniquel plants, infrastructure, housing and buildings and swamping the area with torrential rains and a storm surge.
Nickel is essential in the production of stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys. Cobalt is critical in production of super alloys used for such products as aircraft engines.
Cuban nickel is considered to be Class II, with an average 90 percent nickel content.
Cuba's National Minerals Resource Center reported that eastern Holguin province accounted for more than 30 percent of the world's known nickel reserves, with lesser reserves in other parts of the country. (Additional reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Walter Bagley)
Cuban nickel output seen lowest in a decade | Reuters (30 December 2009)http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3021507420091230?type=marketsNews
The Castro brothers’ big dirty secret
The Castro brothers' big dirty secretPosted: December 30, 2009
For years I have been reporting on how Fidel Castro has been crushing internal dissent. I did this while simultaneously trying to demythicize his comrade, Che Guevara, a charismatic man when he was not a merciless executioner at Havana prisons. I once met Guevara, and, during our exchange at a Cuban mission in New York, we did not agree on the value of free elections. As for Fidel's brother, Raul, he continues the family tradition of adding to the prison population of Cubans caught practicing discordant political speech.
Throughout the course of these columns on the Castro dictatorship, I have cited the chronic racial discrimination against black Cubans throughout Fidel's Revolution, a "revolution" that gladdens such visitors as celebrity documentarian Michael Moore, who never mentions Jim Crow on the island.
The extensive marginalization of blacks in Cuba has failed to break through into general American consciousness; but as of the Nov. 30 release of "Statement of Conscience by African-Americans" (miamiherald.com, Dec. 1), the big dirty secret of the Castro brothers has been exposed.
According to the resounding news release – which had the authoritative ring of Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" – "60 prominent black American scholars, artists and professionals have condemned the Cuban regime's stepped-up harassment and apparent crackdown on the country's budding civil-rights movement. This statement is the first public condemnation of racial conditions in Cuba made by black Americans."
Trapped in Castro's gulag and lived to tell about it – check out Armando Valladares' story of 20 years under dictator's thumb: "Against All Hope"
Among the signers denouncing the "callous disregard" for the "most marginalized people on the island" are:
Princeton University professor and widely read author Cornel West; Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College; professor Ron Walters, University of Maryland and the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign manager; renowned actress Ruby Dee Davis; film director Melvin Van Peebles; and UCLA Vice Chancellor Claudia Mitchell-Kernan.
These protestors emphasize that "traditionally, African-Americans have sided with the Castro regime and condemned the United States' policies, which explicitly work to topple the Cuban government. Yet this landmark statement by prominent African-Americans condemns the growing persecution waged by the Cuban government against Afro-Cuban movements" in Cuba.
Tellingly, these tribunes of civil rights emphasize, among other sources, including Afro-Cubans: "The U.S. State Department estimates Afro-Cubans make up 62 percent of the Cuban population, with many informed observers saying the figure is closer to 70 percent.
"Afro-Cubans are experiencing strong and growing instances of racism on the island, with their 25-odd civil-rights movements reporting a wide range of discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion and access to Cuba's socialized medicine and educational system."
When you were filming your tribute to Fidel Castro's exemplary government-controlled health system, Mr. Moore, didn't you notice the paucity of black patients?
There's more from this statement of conscience, which has received little notice in the American press as of this writing. Surely what follows should be of interest to Americans of all colors:
"Young black Cubans bitterly complain of aggressive racial profiling conducted by police, and Cuba's jail population is estimated to be 85 percent black, according to black Cuban civil-rights activists." In addition, "70 percent of Afro-Cubans are said to be unemployed. In such conditions, a vigorous rebirth of Cuba's black movement, banned in the early years of the Cuban Revolution, is occurring. Cuban authorities are responding with violence and brutal civil-rights violations."
(Column continues below)
In a previous column, I reported on a visit to Havana months ago by members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Several enthusiastically lauded Fidel Castro's achievements in advancing the betterment of the Cuban people, but there was not a word about the pervasive racism.
In contrast, writing about this "Statement of Conscience" challenge to the Cuban government, Juan O. Tamayo (miamiherald.com, Dec. 1) noted that "more African-Americans traveling to Cuba have been able 'to see the situation for themselves,' said David Colvin, one of the statement's organizers and former president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists."
And, in an incisive reminder to President Obama as he advocates improved U.S. relations with the Cuban government, Victoria Ruiz-Labrit, Miami spokesperson for the Cuba-based Citizens' Committee for Racial Integration, also reminds all of us that even those Americans working for human rights in Cuba have largely omitted the race issue. But, she adds, "Cuban blacks moved closer to the term 'civil rights,' because those are the rights that the movement here in the U.S. made a point of – the race issues."
The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton – along with leaders in the NAACP and our other civil-rights organizations – will, I hope, soon book passage to Cuba to stand with Cuban civil-rights activists trying to get some of their members out of the Castros' prisons where they are held in cells with common criminals.
Next week: the prison hunger strike by Cuban civil-rights leader Dr. Darsi Ferrer, and more of the resistance to the dictatorship.
Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights and author of many books, including "The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance."
The Castro brothers' big dirty secret (30 December 2009)http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=120410
Cuba’s "World-Class" Music Education?
Cuba's "World-Class" Music Education?Matt Welch | December 30, 2009
The short one, on the rightThe New York Times has a goo-goo story up about how Carlos Varela, "Cuba's Bob Dylan" (quick question: what does the world wrongly think it has more of, "fill-in-the-blank-country's Bob Dylan," or "the Silicon Valley of fill-in-the-blank country"?), who is currently in the U.S. trying, as the headline says, "to sway America's Cuba policy with song." Here is your requisite NYT-Cuba WTF paragraph:
His life has been marked by the highs and lows of the Cuban revolution. The government gave him a world-class education in music and theater, but refuses to broadcast many of his songs, which have veiled critiques of the Communist leadership.
Doot-en-doo-doo (1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3)This "world-class education" stuff I'll never understand. When you're talking particularly (though not only) about the humanities, whether music or literature or architecture, how can any education be "world class" if it is utterly and intentionally choked off from a thick chunk of the outside world? Is it technically possible to provide a world-class education in music while, for instance, banning the Beatles?
Being anti-communist means never having to say you're sorry about your tiesYou used to see the same kind of credulous nonesense written about the former East Bloc. What literate, well-educated, artsy people! (Never mind that many were pretty well educated, often better educated, before the Red Army began policing the borders.) But the joyless, restrictive dead-endism of communist thinking poisoned the humanities there as much as anything else. One of the first things that Czechoslovakia's post-commie Fine Arts Academy rector did was fire each and every one of the professors. A Czech classical music student I knew flunked out of one key oral exam by failing to properly answer the question: "What is music?" (The correct answer: Music is art that is experienced by the ears.) With whole swaths of music and literature banned, and expression/exchange frowned upon and criminalized, many artists and/or free-thinkers would aim to receive as technical an education as possible (for instance, in engineering, or the restoration of old buildings). In Cuba, I befriended an architect and former revolutionary who finally turned his back on Castro after the regime suddenly announced post-1989 that it could no longer afford to import Central European newspapers and journals. A revolutionary architecture that willfully cut itself off from the global conversation, he decided, was an architecture without foundation.
It should be intuitive that closed systems generally produce bad learning, with only occasional exceptions of results produced by grotesque over-emphasis (for instance, medicine in Cuba, and swimming in East Germany). But apparently it's not.
Varela's offical website here. I wrote about the island's crappy culture of information back in 2002. Contributing Editor Glenn Garvin wrote about "Castro's favorite propagandist" in 2007. And Michael Moynihan caught up recently with Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila for ReasonTV:
Finally, for connoiseurs of terrible music, here is Varela's pal Jackson Browne singing "Going down to Cuba," a song whose righteous lyrics about Americans' freedom of travel cannot begin to make up for the line "They make such continuous use of the verb to resolve."
Cuba's "World-Class" Music Education? – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine (30 December 2009)http://reason.com/blog/2009/12/30/cubas-world-class-music-educat
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