Coverage comes with price of self-censorship
Posted on Sunday, 02.28.10THE MEDIA | CUBACoverage comes with price of self-censorshipForeign correspondents covering Cuba admit they soften the criticaledges on their stories to keep the government from kicking them out.By JUAN O. TAMAYOjtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
One Spanish journalist based in Cuba for five years wrote that “rare isthe journalist who does not soften his reports, to avoid being expelledfrom the country.''
Another based there for four years wrote, “Self-censorship is a verycommon practice,'' and “No one on the island can write the truth ofwhat happens there. Correspondents can only come close to reality.''
Together, two recent books by Vicente Botín and Isabel García-Zarza havecast a spotlight on a harsh reality that foreign reporters in Cuba havepreviously admitted only in private — that powerful governmentpressures regularly force them to pull their punches on touchy stories.
“Audiences abroad are getting an image of Cuba that is at leastminimized,'' García-Zarza said in a telephone interview from Spain.“But that's always better, 80, 90 percent of reality, than nothing.''
“Of course my editors in Spain were perfectly conscious of what washappening, but to them it was important to keep a correspondent inCuba,'' Botín told El Nuevo Herald in another phone call from Spain.
Self-censorship to avoid being expelled has been common among foreignreporters based in countries with repressive governments, from SaddamHussein's Iraq to the former Soviet Union.
Even in democracies, “a reporter is aware of the pressure to . . . holdback information or present it in a way that's going to avoid needlesslyoffending sources,'' said Ed Wasserman, who teaches journalism ethics atWashington and Lee University in Virginia.
But after he was read several passages from the two Spaniards' books,Wasserman said the Cuban pressures appeared to have forced thecorrespondents in Havana to cross the line of reasonable discretion.
“They are really saying the cost of their stay in Cuba was theirinability to function as journalists,'' Wasserman said.
Botín and García-Zarza disagree and argue that the 150 or so foreignreporters based in Cuba do regularly write and broadcast stories thatmay anger the government but are too important to avoid, such as FidelCastro's health, crackdowns on dissidents and the economic chaos.
Their books — her La Casa de Cristal, The Glass House, and his LosFunerales de Castro, Castro's Funerals, both published in Spain latelast year — provide examples of how they wrote sensitive storiesdespite the Cuban efforts to control their work.
While writing a story about dissidents, “I cannot avoid a littleanguish, and I even consider abandoning the story . . . but later Idecide that I cannot allow them to intimidate me.'' wrote García-Zarza,who worked in Cuba for the Reuters news agency 1999-2004.
And when Cuban officials ordered all correspondents in Havana to report“not one word'' after Castro fainted during a speech in 2001, theynevertheless reported the event, she wrote.
But the bulk of their comments in their books acknowledged that theyoften bowed to the pressures from the Cuban government and itsInternational Press Center, which issues the accreditations strictlyrequired to work there as journalists.
The IPC also issues the paperwork required by correspondents to buy keyitems such as air conditioners, García-Zarza noted, “and of course . .. I can't avoid thinking about that.''
Correspondents strongly believe that state security agents regularly taptheir phones, homes and cars and often follow them. “Sometimes thepolice monitoring is deliberately indiscrete, to intimidate,'' wroteBotín, a Spanish Television correspondent in Cuba 2005-2008.
He added that the security agents also monitor correspondents'“political ideas, their preferences, their tendencies and above alltheir weaknesses like drugs, sex, alcohol, gambling.''
The system of pressures “functions to perfection. You become your owncensor,'' wrote García-Zarza.
When Castro fainted again during a Feb. 18, 2006, funeral for agovernment supporter, “nobody reported nothing'' because of“recommendations from State Security,'' according to Botín.
“The sword of Damocles hangs from a thin thread over the heads of theaccredited correspondents on the island, and the least little breeze canbring it down,'' he wrote.
García-Zarza noted that her first run-in with the IPC came after shewrote about the government ban on Cubans entering tourist hotels. An IPCofficial summoned her to the center, and “being the first time . . .she played the card of the older sister who tries to open the eyes ofher crazy little sister, who has not yet understood the difficulties theisland faces.''
But after a second story deemed too critical, the same officialtelephoned her, “shouting at me how I could have done that, that shehad warned me and that I knew very well that this would have itsconsequences,'' she wrote. “I began crying inconsolably.''
A later IPC complaint was e-mailed to her Reuters supervisor in Havana,saying, “When she has reached this extreme, she should ask herselfwhether she has exhausted her usefulness where she is.''
She stayed on until the scheduled end of her assignment, but a Britishcorrespondent with Reuters in Havana, Pascal Fletcher, was forced toleave in 2001 after Castro publicly attacked his reporting and the IPCtold him it would not renew his press credentials.
“I suppose there was no alternative, but it pains me a lot'' thatReuters agreed to reassign Fletcher, she added.
Later in the book, based on a diary she kept, she wrote, “It's been acouple of months since the [Fletcher case], covering only the absolutelynecessary, taking maximum care with each story. All of us feel fear downto our bones. To the point where each time we write something, we askeach other if `they are going to like it.' ''
About 150 foreign media are currently accredited by the IPC, rangingfrom the U.S.-based CNN and the Associated Press to newspapers andtelevision and radio stations from Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Editors for three of the foreign media with correspondents currently orformerly in Cuba declined comment for this story, and so did Fletcher.The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, which have not received Cubanpermission to report from there for several years, send reporters to theisland as tourists who do not obtain IPC accreditations.
Alberto González, spokesman for the Cuban diplomatic mission inWashington, said he had not read the Spaniards' books but dismissed themas part “of a fad to write books about Cuba and make money. If theywrite the truth about Cuba the books are not published, so they have tolie.''
“They would not have stayed so long in Cuba if they had been persecutedso badly,'' he added.
IPC regulations allow it to cancel correspondents' accreditations “whenthe holder carries out actions that are improper or incompatible withtheir . . . work duties, and when it is considered that he has violatedjournalistic ethics and/or has not remained objective.''
Gonzalez said the wording mirrors those of many European countries,especially Spain. “The only thing that we have demanded is that theystick to the truth and objectivity,'' he said.
The Castro government has expelled or refused to renew theaccreditations of several correspondents since 1959, however. The lastthree were in 2007 and included The Chicago Tribune's Gary Marx, who hadbeen posted in Cuba since 2002.
“It's absolutely true that there's self-censorship in Cuba,'' Marx toldEl Nuevo Herald. “But every correspondent makes his own decision on howto handle the government pressures. I tried as best as I could to coverthe story without buckling.''
He did, and the IPC notified him in early 2007 that he had 90 days toleave the country. “They told me my stories were too negative and that`we think we can do better with someone else.' ''
“For sure self-censorship is a common thing in Cuba,'' said TraceyEaton, the Dallas Morning News' correspondent in Havana from 2000 to 2005.
“Reporters make compromises in exchange for access all the time, but inCuba the situation is more dramatic.''
The Inter-American Press Association reported in November the IPC hadtightened controls on correspondents and delayed renovating theaccreditations for months as a way to pressure the foreigners.
While García-Zarza's book focuses on her personal experiences in Cuba,Botín's offers a detailed and uncensored look at Cuba's reality, fromthe poverty of its people to its chaotic economy.
He wrote parts of the book in secret while living in Havana, butfinished it after he left because, he wrote, “no one from within theisland can tell the truth of what happens there. The correspondents canonly come close to the reality with innuendos and metaphors.''
Cuba, he added, “is not the happy world that the news media projects.''
Coverage comes with price of self-censorship – Issues & Ideas -MiamiHerald.com (28 February 2010)http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/28/v-fullstory/1503249/coverage-comes-with-price-of-self.html
11 Cuban political prisoners have died in hunger strikes
Cuban political prisoners who have died in hunger strikes (1959-present)
11 Cuban political prisoners have died in hunger strikesBy Cuba Archive Saturday, February 27, 2010
Fidel Castro served only 18 months of a 15-year prison sentence forleading an attack on the Moncada Army Barracks. Dictator, FulgencioBatista caved to public demands and freed all the attackers. Duringtheir captivity, they had enjoyed privileges for political prisoners-comfortable living conditions, visitors, plentiful reading materials,and participation in group sports. During the 51-year Castro regimepolitical prisoners have been subjected to very harsh conditions, hardlabor, and appalling treatment, including torture, lack of medicalattention, and even killings by guards. Many have resorted to hungerstrikes demanding humane treatment; sadly, some have paid with their lives.
11 documented cases. For details on each case see CubaArchive.org/database.
Roberto López Chávez, Age 25, died 12/11/1966 at Isla de Pinos Prison.In prison since 1961, he went on a 70-day hunger strike to protestprison conditions after enduring a savage beating by prison guards. Hewas moved to a punishment cell and denied drinking water, which made hisdeteriorated condition worse. As he screamed for water, several guardsentered his cell and one of the guards urinated over his open mouth ashe lay on the floor. He died the next day without receiving medicalattention.
image Luis Álvarez Ríos, Age 31, died 8/9/1967 at Príncipe Castle Prisonin Havana. He had been sentenced to 20 years of prison in summary trialfor "counterrevolutionary" activities. With fellow prisoners, they wenton hunger strike to demand to not be confined with dangerous criminals.On the 11th day, prison authorities agreed to negotiate and they endedthe strike, but were not given medical attention. Instead, they wereserved a heavy meal, which doctors amongst the prisoners said wasdangerous, as the body needs to ingest food slowly after not eating. Agroup of prisoners ate the food and Alvarez Ríos died almostimmediately. The family was allowed to hold a hurried 2-hour wake.
imageCarmelo Cuadra Hernández, died 7/29/1969 in a Havana prison from ahunger strike, denied medical care.
imagePedro Luis Boitel, Age 34, 5/25/1972 at Príncipe Prison, Havana.Leader in the struggle against the Batista regime who turned against theCastro brothers for hijacking the democratic process, he was sentencedto 10 years of prison for counter-revolutionary activities. He wassubjected to torture, beatings, many abuses, and the extension of hissentence. He went on numerous hunger strikes with several fellowprisoners to protest executions and inhumane prison conditions and todemand rights as political prisoners. The hunger strike that took hislife on his 12th year of incarceration lasted 53 days. Denied medicalcare even as his condition became critical, he was ill treated by prisonguards as he lay dying. After his death, his widowed mother wassubjected to physical violence and isolated in her home by StateSecurity. When she was allowed to visit her son's alleged grave withsome women friends, an angry mob that threatened them with violenceawaited them and they were forced to leave without praying.
Olegario Charlot Spileta, died 1/15/1973 at Boniato Prison, Santiago deCuba, without receiving medical attention during a hunger strike.
imageEnrique García Cuevas, died 5/23/1973 at Pretensado ProvincialPrison, Las Villas. He went on a hunger strike at Manacas Prison of LasVillas to protest the inhumane prison conditions, already very weak frommal-nourishment and the hard labor he had been submitted to. After 25days on strike, he was transferred to another prison, where he diedwithout receiving medical attention.
Reinaldo Cordero Izquierdo, died 5/21/1975 in a Pinar del Río prison.After serving his 10 year sentence in its entirety, his sentence wasarbitrarily increased. During his last year of confinement, he had alsobeen severely tortured. He went on hunger strike, demanding a releaseand died in his prison cell of complications, denied medical care.
José Barrios Pedré, died on 9/22/1977 at Pre-tensado Provincial, LasVillas, province during a hunger strike he started while being confinedto an extreme punishment cell ("celda tapiada").
Santiago Roche Valle, died 9/8/1985 at Kilo 7 Prison, Camaguey province,from compli-cations after a hunger strike (heart failure), deniedmedical attention.
Nicolás González Regueiro, Age 42, died 9/16/1992 in Manacas Prison, LasVillas. He was serving a 4-year prison sentence for distributing enemypropaganda when he developed a duodenal ulcer. He went on a hungerstrike to protest the lack of medicine and his internment among commoncriminals.
imageOrlando Zapata Tamayo, Age 42, died 2/23/2010 after a hunger strikeof over 80 days. He had been designated prisoner of conscience byAmnesty International. Incarcerated since 2003 and sentenced to 3 yearsfor contempt, disrespect, and public disorder and his sentence wasincreased by 25 years for "disobedience" as a result of his repeatedprotests against prison conditions and his unjust incarceration. He hadsuffered numerous beatings and torture by prison authorities and began ahunger strike demanding his safety and to be recognized as a prisoner ofconscience. During the strike, he was denied water for 18 days andinstead minimally hydrated by IV, which led to kidney failure. Later, hewas held naked over a powerful air conditioner, which provokedpneumonia. He was transferred to a hospital just hours before his death.
A PDF version of this document is available here:http://cubaarchive.org/home/images/stories/downloads/hunger_strike_victims.pdfA Spanish version will soon follow, to be posted on the section"Informes" of the Spanish section of CubaArchive.org.
11 Cuban political prisoners have died in hunger strikes (27 February 2010)http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/20484
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a Fearful Death
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a Fearful DeathBy Miriam Celaya
Until last February 23rd, it seemed that the imprisonment of the BlackSpring 75 had been one of Castro's utmost blunders. The death of OrlandoZapata Tamayo, one of the civic fighters entrapped back then by thestrong wave of repression unleashed by the dictatorship, goes to showthat the events that took place almost seven years ago continue to haverepercussions against the very regime that carried them out.
Not content with having allowed Orlando even a modicum of comfort, tospend his last days among his people, the dictatorship has launched itswolf packs onto the streets to suppress legitimate demonstrations ofsolidarity and respect by other Cubans for the courage and theresistance of a man who had the high-mindedness to confront the mostpowerful and protracted dictatorial government Cuba's history has known.Many independent Cubans were detained, others were threatened, andpolice operations raged throughout the day on February 24th.
By a strange coincidence, this February 24th, 2010, a date of historicsignificance for Cubans, was marked by fear, not because of thedignified and free citizens who went to the home of Laura Pollan, one ofthe Ladies in White, to sign the book of condolences, or on account ofthose who threw flowers into the sea in memory of the Brothers to theRescue, also killed in the downing of their aircraft, another one of the"glorious" actions of Castro and his spies, nor by those who attendedOrlando's funeral services. Now, the fear of the regime and themercenaries at its service is palpable. They cannot conceive the powerof shame, are ignorant of the virtue that envelops the sense of decorum,and cannot, even remotely, understand that freedom is a natural giftthat is carried inside and it is -therefore- impossible to eliminatewith steel bars. The Black Spring 75, Orlando Zapata, politicalprisoners and all of us who are disobedient are free.
The Cuban regime, on the other hand, is today the real prisoner: it islocked up in the very logic of repression and violence it generates.Victim of the system it alone forged, incapable of producing anythingother than hatred and fear, it now shamelessly displays these thingswhile trying to hold on, through terror, to its only real interest:power. The only thing is that many Cubans are losing their fear.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo's sacrifice also contains a hopeful singularity:he has died, but Cuba is beginning to awaken. Small niches of previouslyunconnected civil society, of the opposition, independent journalists,the Church, and ever-widening social sectors from very diverse ends ofthe island have begun to link. Sooner or later, reality will change:these are not times for dictators.
The Cuban president (the lower case is intentional), Raul, the Grey, theSecond Fiddle, has made a statement to the foreign media saying heregrets Orlando's death. Of course, this is not a spontaneous expressionof sincerity; this time, however, I believe him: he has more than enoughreasons to regret this and many other deaths.
Yoani Sanchez: Cuban Regime is the True Prisoner of Its Own Terror (28February 2010)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/cuban-regime-is-the-true_b_479663.html
Cuba dismisses hunger strike criticism
Cuba has dismissed all criticism about the death of dissident OrlandoZapata, who died last Tuesday in a Havana prison after an 85-day hungerstrike. The country's communist party newspaper said Mr Zapata wasencouraged to begin his protest by foreign political opponents of theCuban regime.
His death has led to widespread international criticism of the Caribbeanisland. The United States is just one of several countries to demandthat Cuba free all its political prisoners.
Mr Zapata stopped eating to protest against conditions in the Havanaprison after being mistreated by a guard. Following his death, fiveother prisoners have now begun hunger strikes. They are demanding theimmediate release of all the country's dissidents.
Cuba dismisses hunger strike criticism | Radio Netherlands Worldwide (28February 2010)http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/cuba-dismisses-hunger-strike-criticism
Cuba says dead hunger striker was common criminal
Cuba says dead hunger striker was common criminalHAVANASat Feb 27, 2010 8:08pm EST
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba fired back against international criticism onSaturday, saying in state-run press a prisoner who died of a hungerstrike this week was a common criminal used by Cuba's enemies forpolitical purposes.
Communist Party newspaper Granma said dissidents and foreign countriesencouraged Orlando Zapata Tamayo to fight against the Cuban system andto undertake the 85-day hunger strike that ended in his death on Tuesday.
The case prompted international condemnation and calls from the UnitedStates, the European Union and Spain for Cuba to release all itsestimated 200 political prisoners.
But Granma, in an article by Cuban essayist Enrique Ubieta Gomez, said"Despite all the make up, this has to do with a common prisoner whobegan his criminal activity in 1988."
It said Zapata, a 42-year-old plumber from eastern Cuba, had served timein prison for crimes ranging from unlawful entry of a house to fraudbefore he went into jail for good in 2003 for crimes "not connected topolitics."
Behind bars, he was recruited by dissidents to join their cause and didso in part because of "material advantages" bestowed upon Cuba'spolitical opponents by "foreign embassies," Granma said.
"This case is a direct consequence of the murderous policy against Cubathat encourages illegal immigration, disobedience and violation of lawsand established order," it said.
The Granma article echoed some of President Raul Castro's comments, whoon Wednesday regretted Zapata's death but blamed the United States forwhat Cuba views as subversive policies.
Cuban leaders consider dissidents to be U.S. mercenaries working tooverthrow the government.
Political analysts have said the death has likely stalled any near-termhopes for improved U.S.-Cuba relations and made it more difficult forSpain to change the European Union's common position on Cuba during itscurrent six-month term at the head of the 27-nation bloc.
Spain has said it wanted to remove obstacles to better relations withCuba by eliminating a clause in the common position urging democracy andimproved human rights on the communist-led island.
Cuban dissidents have said Zapata was a martyr to their cause and vowedto step up pressure for democratic change in Cuba.
(Reporting by Nelson Acosta; editing by Jeff Franks)
Cuba says dead hunger striker was common criminal | Reuters (27 February2010)http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61R06V20100228
Brazilian leader under pressure for Cuba, Iran policy
Brazilian leader under pressure for Cuba, Iran policyBy MARCELO BALLVE
Brazil's Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva may be the world's most popularpresident. But with growing influence comes more scrutiny. And he'sincreasingly finding it hard to justify his policy of coziness towardauthoritarian states like Iran and Cuba.
The tension between Lula's prominence and his "come one, come all"foreign policy was on evidence when the Brazilian president made anunfortunately timed visit to Havana yesterday. As Lula and the Castrosengaged in back-patting and hand-shaking, Cuban dissident Orlando ZapataTamayo was being buried elsewhere on the island after starving himselfto death in a protest fast.
The hunger striker's death, the first such incident on the island since1972, triggered widespread condemnation of Raúl Castro's government–even from Spain, usually loathe to criticize Cuba.
Lula expressed regrets, but was his jolly self in the company of theCastros, which enraged Lula's Brazilian critics. One of the harshestcriticisms of Lula's meet-up was a political cartoon showing him dippinghis toes into a blood-filled bathtub occupied by the Castro brothers.The cartoon was published originally by a Cuban exile group in Sweden,but republished by popular Brazilian blogger Reinaldo Azevedo.
In an accompanying post Azevedo took Lula and his Worker's Party to taskfor their hypocrisy on democracy:
Not one word was heard from Lula in defense of democracy. No one!He didn't touch the question of political prisoners, which may number asmany as 200.
Azevedo also accused Lula's Worker's Party of a veiled support fornationalist or left-leaning authoritarianism that is to its ideologicaltaste, a notion I don't really agree with. But Lula's actions do leavehim exposed to such accusations.
Then there's Iran. William Burns, a high-ranking U.S. State Departmentofficial, was scheduled to arrive in Brazil today to lean on Lula'sgovernment for more of a hard-line against Iran and support forU.S.-proposed sanctions. The United States was not pleased when theIranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Brazil late last year.
More recently, Iran said Brazil was one of the countries where it mightsend uranium to be enriched so as to provide third party guarantees thatthe mineral would only be directed to peaceful uses. Brazil denied ithad discussed this possibility with Tehran, but Lula's diplomaticdalliances with Ahmadinejad's administration put Brazil in the middle ofthe U.S.-Iran dispute.
Clearly, Brazil wants its diplomacy to engage rather indiscriminately inorder to raise Brazil's global profile and thrust it into the sturm unddrang of international geopolitics. It's a respectable policy, andBrazil has a right to an independent and pragmatic stance.
But it must be balanced with a thought to how Brazil, as an emergingpower, will be viewed through moral and human rights lens for how itresponds to autocratic governments. It's a delicate dance, but remainingengaged with Havana and Tehran doesn't require deafness to pro-democracymovements.
Brazilian leader under pressure for Cuba, Iran policy – Marcelo Ballve -South Meridian – True/Slant (26 February 2010)http://trueslant.com/marceloballve/2010/02/26/brazilian-leader-under-pressure-for-cuba-iran-policy/
Falta de fertilizantes agudiza la escasez de alimentos en Cuba
Falta de fertilizantes agudiza la escasez de alimentos en Cuba
12:31 PM La Habana.- La falta de fertilizantes o su llegada tardía alpaís, golpeó a la agricultura cubana agudizando la escasez de alimentos,cuyo aumento es una prioridad "estratégica" del gobierno de Raúl Castro,dijeron diversas fuentes este domingo.
"Este año se reportan rendimientos inferiores en la producción deviandas y vegetales debido a la entrada tardía de fertilizantes einsecticidas, motivada por los problemas financieros del país", informóel ministerio de Agricultura, citado por el semanario Tribuna de LaHabana, según AFP.
Durante la primera quincena del mes de enero, los mercados deagroalimentos de La Habana sólo recibieron "el 26% de los previsto",dijo la publicación.
El precio internacional del fertilizante se disparó de 200 dólares latonelada a 600 dólares, lo cual implica una erogación para Cuba de 19,6millones de dólares para satisfacer sus necesidades.
"Todo ello ha incidido en una escasa presencia de productos en la red(comercial) estatal, tanto en volumen como en variedad", señala Tribunade La Habana.
Reconoce que tanto el Estado, como los agricultores realizan un esfuerzoespecial, pero "tristemente el esfuerzo no se sirve a la mesa".
Cuba importa cerca del 80% de los alimentos que consume, y ello motivó alas autoridades a tomar medidas como el reparto de tierras improductivaso en aumento de precio de compra a los productores, para estimular laproducción agrícola.
La crítica situación con los fertilizantes también afectó el cultivo dela caña de azúcar, en momentos en que los precios internacionales delazúcar son altos y la isla precisa aumentar sus exportaciones para ganardivisas.
El ministro del Azúcar, Luis Ávila, informó que los rendimientos de lacaña en 2009 fueron de 34,3 toneladas por hectárea, 6,2 toneladas menosque los del año precedente y muy inferiores a las 54 toneladas que seproponen para este año.
Además de otras causas, la revista Bohemia señaló que "también dio altraste con lo programado en la pasada campaña (cosecha) que las siembras(de caña) sólo recibieran la mitad de los fertilizantes".
Falta de fertilizantes agudiza la escasez de alimentos en Cuba -Economía – EL UNIVERSAL (28 February 2010)http://www.eluniversal.com/2010/02/28/eco_ava_falta-de-fertilizant_28A3503821.shtml
Cuba mantiene encarcelados a cerca de 200 presos políticos
Cuba mantiene encarcelados a cerca de 200 presos políticos
Juan Heralta Rodríguez.- Cuba mantiene alrededor de 200 presos políticosen la cárcel del país. Por este motivo, gobiernos, instituciones yorganizaciones internacionales claman por una liberación del pueblocubano. Es por eso que cuatro presos que formaban parte del grupo de 75opositores detenidos y sentenciados a penas de hasta 28 años de prisiónhan intentado coger la sartén por el mango iniciando una huelga dehambre para cambiar esta situación. Desde la reestructuración delGabinete de Raúl Castro, no se han producido cambios en Cuba.
Ni uno, ni diez, ni cincuenta, sino que hasta 200 presos políticos estánen cautividad en el Gobierno de Raúl Castro. La salida de Fidel Castrono ha cambiado la situación y Cuba mantiene los mismos derechos civiles,políticos y económicos, a pesar de que hace un año Raúl Castro decidióreestructurar su gabinete político.Para Elizardo Sánchez, miembro de la Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanosy Reconciliación Nacional (CCDHyRN), "nada indica que los actualesgobernantes estén dispuestos a iniciar las reformas jurídicas,económicas y políticas que necesita el país". Ya en el año 2009 seprodujeron al menos 869 casos de disidentes políticos detenidos, aunqueninguna ejecución bajo la pena de muerte, pese a que la máxima penasigue vigente en el código penal cubano.Para Sánchez, la "reconciliación nacional, es el camino para mejorar lasrelaciones entre los ciudadanos con el gobierno comunista. Hay una cargade odio muy grande en la nación cubana, son décadas de enfrentamientoaquí o allá, el lema de este año es la idea de reconciliaciónnacional… es complicado" y la clave es "perdonarnos, los unos a losotros".Pero cansados de esperar una solución que nunca llega, un psicólogodisidente y cuatro presos políticos decidieron iniciar por separado unahuelga de hambre. Los cuatro formaban parte del grupo de 75 opositorescondenados a prisión durante 28 años en la denominada "primavera negra"de 2003, en la que fueron acusados por el Gobierno de mercenarios alservicio de Estados Unidos. Sánchez les ha aconsejado que la abandonenpuesto que considera que dichas huelgas no tienen efecto alguno en elEjecutivo que preside en general Raúl Castro. El primero en iniciar lahuelga de hambre fue el psicólogo, tras ser detenido y golpeado elpasado jueves por agentes de la seguridad del Estado cuando iba decamino al sepelio de Zapata.Actualizado: 28-02-2010
Cuba mantiene encarcelados a cerca de 200 presos políticos – LaSemana.es(28 February 2010)http://www.lasemana.es/periodico/noticia.php?cod=25420
Cuba, los hermanos Castro y los derechos humanos
Cuba, los hermanos Castro y los derechos humanosÚltima actualización 28/02/2010@19:30:16 GMT+1
La huelga de hambre de Orlando Zapata Tamayo era una protesta por laslamentables condiciones que padecen los presos políticos cubanos. Esprobable que su muerte marque un punto de inflexión, un antes y undespués, en la mirada del resto del mundo sobre Cuba.NUEVATRIBUNA.ES – 28.2.2010
El hombre cuya muerte sirvió para que la ausencia de derechos humanos enCuba sea de nuevo noticia en todas las portadas de la prensainternacional, paradojas de la vida, nació en la misma localidad queFulgencio Batista, el dictador al que derrocaron los que luego seconvertirían en dictadores y a los que durante demasiado tiempo se lespermitió basar su exculpación y la razón de ser de su política en elbloqueo y acoso de Estados Unidos.
En marzo del año 2003 se produjo en Cuba una oleada de detenciones deactivistas políticos. Amnistía Internacional "adoptó" a 55 presos deconciencia. Orlando Zapata era uno de ellos. "Orlando Zapata Tamayo fuedetenido en marzo de 2003 y en mayo de 2004 fue condenado a tres años deprisión por desacato, desórdenes públicos y resistencia.
Posteriormente fue sometido a varios juicios por cargos adicionales dedesobediencia y desórdenes en establecimientos penitenciarios, el últimode ellos en mayo de 2009, y en el momento de su muerte cumplía unacondena total de 36 años de prisión.
El hecho de que Orlando Zapata Tamayo, al verse ante una pena de prisióntan prolongada, sintiera que el único camino que le quedaba era matarsede hambre como protesta constituye una denuncia terrible de la constanterepresión que sufren los disidentes políticos en Cuba… Su muerte subrayatambién la urgente necesidad de que Cuba invite a expertosinternacionales en derechos humanos a visitar el país para verificar quese respetan los derechos humanos, en especial las obligacionesestablecidas por el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos."
En Cuba no existe el poder judicial independiente. Según denunciaAmnistía Internacional, "los juicios son a menudo sumarios e incumplengravemente las normas internacionales sobre juicios justos; una vezdictada la sentencia, las posibilidades de apelar son prácticamentenulas". Orlando Zapata no fue sometido a un juicio sumarísimo. A Zapatase le quiso "camuflar" bajo el eufemismo de "preso común" pero la huelgade hambre de 85 días que acabó con su vida consiguió que este humildealbañil negro de 35 años se convirtiese en la representación de larepresión en Cuba.
Aunque el gobierno cubano califica de "mercenarios a sueldo de EstadosUnidos" a disidentes y a presos de conciencia, en la isla caribeña nohay libertad y sí presos políticos, evidencias que convierten a Cuba enun dictadura y a los hermanos Castro, Fidel y Raúl, en dictadores.
Por mucho que el castrismo se empeñó en gritar a los cuatro vientos queera únicamente un "preso común" no pudo evitar que Zapata se convirtieseen una figura capaz de movilizar e incluso aglutinar a una disidenciaque no siempre camina en la misma dirección.
La huelga de hambre de Orlando Zapata Tamayo era una protesta por laslamentables condiciones que padecen los presos políticos cubanos. Esprobable que su muerte marque un punto de inflexión, un antes y undespués, en la mirada del resto del mundo sobre Cuba. AmnistíaInternacional, como consecuencia inmediata, solicita una investigaciónque determine si los malos tratos pueden haber influido en el desenlacefinal además incide en la necesidad de que un comité de expertosinternacionales en derechos humanos visite el país para comprobar si secumple el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos.
Pilar Rego – Educadora Social.
Cuba, los hermanos Castro y los derechos humanos | nuevatribuna.es (28February 2010)http://www.nuevatribuna.es/noticia/29776/OPINI%C3%93N/cuba-hermanos-castro-derechos-humanos.html
Campeche firma convenio de colaboración con Cuba
Campeche firma convenio de colaboración con CubaNéstor Campos en Campeche | Nacional Domingo 28 de Febrero, 2010 | Hora de creación: 02:49| Ultimamodificación: 03:37
Tras destacar que el sector salud en Campeche aspira a fincarse en tresobjetivos plenamente identificados: un sistema justo, sostenible y dealta calidad, el secretario del ramo, Enrique Iván González López, signóun convenio de colaboración con el Complejo Científico OrtopédicoInternacional "Frank País", de Cuba.
El convenio tiene entre sus objetivos coordinar la atención ytratamientos a pacientes de escasos recursos con patología ortopédicacompleja, realizar promoción en el área médica para la realización decursos de capacitación y adiestramiento, y el intercambio de informacióncientífica y técnica en la materia.
Ante la presidenta del DIF estatal, Adriana Hernández de Ortega, y eldirector del Complejo Ortopédico Internacional, Rodrigo Álvarez Cambras,González López reflexionó sobre el futuro del estado y la aspiración desus habitantes en materia de salud. Mencionó tres razones por las cualesla salud es prioridad para Campeche.
Primero, la salud es un tema de justicia y de derechos; en segunda,porque un estado saludable se orienta al crecimiento económico, a lageneración de riqueza y una mejor distribución de ingresos, y, porúltimo, porque un gobierno debe buscar garantizar el acceso a serviciosde salud de calidad, más allá de la condición económica de los ciudadanos.
Por ello, hoy en Campeche se brindan "servicios y especialidades queantes no se tenían, y además a costos verdaderamente simbólicos, y enmuchas ocasiones gratuitos".
El secretario de Salud hizo un reconocimiento público a la labor quedesarrolla la presidenta del DIF estatal, así como la aportación deÁlvarez Cambras, director del hospital "Frank País", en beneficio de lasalud de los campechanos.
Campeche firma convenio de colaboración con Cuba – La Crónica de Hoy /Domingo 28 de Febrero, 2010 (28 February 2010)http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=491084
Empeora la salud de Fariñas en su quinto día en huelga de hambre
Empeora la salud de Fariñas en su quinto día en huelga de hambreDomingo 28 de Febrero de 2010 17:42 DDC
La salud del periodista Guillermo Fariñas ha empeorado en las últimashoras, al cumplir su quinto día en huelga de hambre, según un partemédico independiente facilitado por su familia a DIARIO DE CUBA.
Fariñas está siendo atendido por el médico Ismeli Iglesias, del ColegioMédico Independiente de Villa Clara, y no ha recibido hasta el momentoninguna visita de las autoridades sanitarias ni de la Seguridad del Estado.
El periodista tiene "ardores estomacales, síntomas de deshidratación,dolores en las articulaciones, pérdida de peso y ya no se levanta de lacama, aunque está consciente", indicó una fuente familiar.
"Todos hemos fracasado tratando de disuadir a Fariñas para que deje lahuelga", apuntó este domingo Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, presidente dela Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional (CCDHRN).
"Él tiene secuelas de huelgas anteriores, y su salud retrocede", añadió.
Más huelguistas
Según Dagoberto Valdés, director de la revista Convivencia, hay sietepresos políticos en huelga de hambre en Pinar del Río: Fidel Suárez,Orestes Paino, Pavel Hernández y Rafael Suárez, en la cárcel de Kilo 8,y Nelson Molinet, Eduardo Díaz Fleitas y Diosdado González en Kilo 5 1/2.
Por su parte, el titular de la CCDHRN añadió que los presos políticosAdolfo Fernández Saínz y Pedro Argüelles finalizaron su "ayuno dehomenaje a Zapata", pactado a 48 horas; pero Antonio Díaz, que integrabaeste grupo, todavía el sábado continuaba sin comer.
Empeora la salud de Fariñas en su quinto día en huelga de hambre (28February 2010)http://www.diariodecuba.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=470:empeora-la-salud-de-farinas-en-su-quinto-dia-en-huelga-de-hambre&catid=81:cuba&Itemid=197
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