Un sindicato en los brazos del patrón
Un sindicato en los brazos del patrón El 1 de mayo ni un solo puño se levanta en señal de protesta Yoani Sánchez 11 MAY 2012 – 00:04 CET
Si algo distingue al primero de mayo de otros días del año, no es el desfile, ni tampoco la muchedumbre que agita sus banderitas de papel. Lo más llamativo resulta el silencio que cae sobre La Habana después de que terminara el acto masivo en la Plaza de la Revolución. Una quietud apenas interrumpida por los pocos autos que recorren las calles y por algún policía que suena el silbato en una esquina. Todas las escuelas, los centros laborales, las dependencias oficiales y hasta las paradas de ómnibus se quedan vacías. Ese escenario se ha repetido por décadas, pero en este 2012 algo rompió el tedio habitual de la jornada de los trabajadores. Muchos negocios particulares, conocidos aquí con el calificativo de cuentapropistas, abrieron sus puertas a pesar del feriado, se saltaron la conmemoración para volcarse en el comercio de pizzas, helados o batidos de frutas. Mientras otros lanzaban consignas de reafirmación revolucionaria, ellos vendían sus productos; pescaban en el río apacible dejado por los comercios estatales cerrados.
Se espera que al finalizar este año alrededor de 600.000 cubanos ostenten una licencia para trabajar en el sector privado. Entre ellos se incluirán muchos de los que quedarán sin empleo a raíz de la reducción de plantillas que se lleva a cabo por todo el país. En los próximos meses más de 170.000 plazas serán cerradas en diferentes esferas pertenecientes al Estado y al personal se le reubicará en otras labores o irá al despido. Los eufemismos que caracterizan al lenguaje oficial han llegado a su máxima expresión a la hora de hacer referencia a este impopular proceso. Han dado en llamar a los recortes "reordenamiento laboral" y a las personas que están en el paro les han colgado el calificativo de "disponibles". Como si no bastaran tales peculiaridades en el plano nominal, el único sindicato autorizado en el país ha apoyado la decisión de "desinflar las plantillas para lograr eficiencia". La Central de Trabajadores de Cuba ha dejado claro que su papel está más al lado del empleador que de los empleados. Postura que no ha sorprendido a ninguno de sus casi tres millones de miembros, acostumbrados a pagar disciplinadamente su cuota pero conscientes de que esta organización representa los intereses del poder frente a la base y no a la inversa.
A ese mismo obediente sindicato ha ido a parar más del 80% de los más de 370.000 trabajadores por cuenta propia y una representación de ellos desfiló el pasado primero de mayo. No se han inscrito en él buscando representatividad o amparo, sino para evitarse problemas. Intuyen —con razón— que de no afiliarse podrían señalarse como "apáticos", "burgueses" y en el peor de los casos como "contrarrevolucionarios". Todos ellos, sin dudas, preferirían una asociación que los defendiera de los altos impuestos, convocara a protestas por la ausencia de un mercado mayorista y reclamara préstamos bancarios con los que sostener sus negocios. De poder elegir, ni siquiera hubieran votado por Salvador Valdés Mesa, el actual secretario general de la CTC, cuya ocupación anterior fue en el antagónico Ministerio del Trabajo. En lugar de la Iglesia en manos de Lutero, el nuestro parece ser un sindicato atrapado en los brazos del patrón. Una federación que ha respaldado la supresión de medio millón de empleos que se implementará hasta el año 2015 y que ha llamado a una mayor compromiso con el Gobierno de Raúl Castro. Como legado negativo de esa actitud pasiva y cómplice, quedará el rechazo futuro de muchos obreros a integrar sus filas o las de otra organización proletaria. A la palabra sindicato habrá que sacudirle en Cuba sus actuales connotaciones de inacción para devolverle aquel papel irreverente y autónomo que una vez tuvo.
Por el momento, en la tribuna del primero de mayo en lugar de un mensaje reivindicativo se imponen como lemas los llamados a la disciplina, la exigencia y el control. La inconformidad laboral no tiene cabida en una Plaza de consignas triunfales y loas al sistema. Ni un solo bloque representa a los desempleados, ni un solo puño se levanta en señal de protesta, ni un sólo cartel pone en jaque a las autoridades. Muchos de los allí presentes han asistido por la misma razón que se han inscrito en la CTC, para no marcarse como desafectos a un proceso político en el que ya apenas si creen. Sonríen a la cámara y algunos lleven a sus hijos sentados sobre los hombros; pero nada queda en ellos de la esencia contestataria del Día de los Trabajadores. Cuando termina el acto regresan a casa o se adentran en las calles de los alrededores en busca de algo para comer o beber. Terminan comprando en el mostrador de algún cuentapropista no sindicalizado que mantuvo abierto su negocio durante el feriado. A la mañana siguiente, el periódico oficialista Granma publica un orgulloso titular en letras rojas "este ha sido el desfile más organizado y más rápido" de nuestra historia. Y por esta vez, Granma tiene razón.
Ni un solo bloque representa a los desempleados, ni un solo cartel pone en jaque a las autoridades
Yoani Sánchez es periodista cubana y autora del blog Generación Y.
http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/04/opinion/1336137006_358736.html
My Case File Disappeared / Angel Santiesteban
My Case File Disappeared / Angel Santiesteban Angel Santiesteban, Translator: Regina Anavy
These days I have wandered with my lawyer through the "legal systems" of Cuba. The Castro brothers, who own the Birán estate that was previously their father's, later extended the fence to the limit of the jurisdictional waters and converted the estate into Birania. They seized the rest of the nation and have "governed" it as if it were their personal fiefdom, by pure caprice and personal interest.
Back in 1994, they captured me for accompanying my sister to the coast to say goodbye to her. After 14 months in La Cabaña prison (hell). I was acquitted and they withdrew the charge of "concealment" because I heard at trial that among siblings and parents this offense does not apply. The fact is that I suffered for that year and two months, with its days, hours, minutes and seconds. I should thank them for making me do time, because I matured earlier than I would have by my nature, education and environment. I always say that if God exists he sent me there because thanks to him I was able to prove myself through poverty, the suffering of Cuban youth, and the many tears that I saw fall in those cell blocks. I discovered that my vocation was to be a writer.
I devoted myself to writing in body and soul, and with a literature that highlights the plight of Cubans through the manipulated image that the "revolution" has made us suffer. My characters appeared, shaped into stories and books. These volumes were awarded the most coveted prizes, in spite of officials who tried to see a way of containing my ascent as a writer. Of course I suffered in 1992, when they took away from me the Casa de las Americas prize, according to the testimony of the jurors themselves. In 1994 something similar happened, and finally to run no risk, they decided to remove my work from any contests where there were awards. They also removed my work from portfolios, anthologies and literary events. That was my punishment, the price I paid for writing a critical story that was aggressive according to the dogma of the dictatorship. Honestly I never cared, I was aware it was my duty, and it's impossible to resist your own nature.
I was visited by several intellectuals who told me to stop.
I don't hide that I always had the need to write my opinion, my point of view, on the environment, on people I knew, their frustrations, desires, dilemmas, fears, horizons and all that could happen to human beings. I dreamed of writing in a newspaper, on a corner of the last page, but I also knew that was impossible, that with the Cuban system I never could, since all the newspapers are administered by the government, and any attempt to create an independent one is punished with the toughest laws.
On a visit to the Book Fair in the Dominican Republic, I learned there was something called a blog, and it was the closest thing to that little corner of a newspaper, however unimportant it was. I dreamed about posting. On returning I opened my blog. Immediately I was visited by several intellectuals who told me to desist; that was my first warning. I persisted. So I was removed from the Cubarte email, which was paid monthly, to prevent my connection with the rest of the world. I resisted.
After two months I was assaulted by members of State Security, who broke my arm. They thought that this reprisal would be sufficient. They never were more wrong, because by then, with the cast on my arm, I needed to double my effort to write more on the blog and to go meet other Cuban bloggers who offered me support. They staged several repudiation rallies at my front door. Sometimes I went by and greeted them, thinking they were CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) meetings. Then I found out they were against me, and my neighbors found a way, without being seen, to tell me they were there but had nothing against me and supported me, and they always justified themselves by talking about family, retaliation, etc.
The Prosecutor asked for the laughable sentence of 54 years in prison.
When they realized that blows would not be the way to make me give up, they brought accusations. The first was when I started the paperwork to go to the Word Festival in Puerto Rico. They had to avoid my attending at all costs, and the only way to do this was to bring a civil lawsuit to hide that I was being punished for my point of view.
They began with detaining me, saying I had knocked down a child with my car and I would abscond. The child, as I have said several times, luckily never appeared, nor did the charges. But the time of arrest was on the record.
Finally they manipulated my ex, from whom I had been separated for over two years. They accused me, without any evidence or witnesses, of so many things as if they had happened that perhaps they thought at some point of torment I might ask for mercy and promise to surrender.
The truth is that adding up all those years in prison, according to the prosecutor's request, amounted to the laughable sum of 54 years (without including the other charges that they brought and then dismissed).
The prosecutor, anticipating how ludicrous that would look to international opinion, decided to "combine" the charges and requested 15 years in prison. For this they invented a "witness" (with acute neurological problems, who was a career criminal with more than 30 convictions, including theft, fraud, harassment of foreigners, etc..), and thanks to a hidden camera the truth came out and he showed the clothing they gave him and other gifts he had been promised, and invitations to dinners and swimming pools, all in exchange for a declaration against me.
When they learned about the video, because I gave it to the prosecutor, they accused me of "attack" because they made him declare that he had been threatened into making the video. Finally an expert showed that the man in the video was telling the truth. I suppose the complaint was not eradicated since I was never summoned to make a statement.
They worked in a feverish manner to make me submit.
Since then I've been waiting for the trial. After three years of being summoned to the Picota station at 100 and Aldabó, I can understand they are tired, bored with waiting for my submission, my incorporation into the fold. There is no shortage of advice; I always warned them that it wouldn't happen, but they have so little capacity to understand that they worked feverishly to make me submit. Finally, from my first statements to what they are today, there are differences, they changed them, but what they didn't imagine is that the first time they delivered the file I photographed every page, and you can see the rough work of falsification they did to incriminate me. Now they settle for keeping me waiting. My case is in legal limbo.
When I turned up with my lawyer at the Provincial Prosecutor's, which is in charge of bringing my case, they informed us that my file was sent to the General Prosecutor of the Republic. We went to this office, which is located in Miramar. We were told it was sent back to the Provincial Prosecutor. We left the building and to avoid the trip, as we suspected the answer, we telephoned and were assured that the file had not been returned. Fifteen minutes after my attorney returned to the same office requesting that they get their story straight, there was no choice but to inform him that my file had been delivered to Officer Ribeiro, at the Villa Marista (the seat of Cuban State Security).
Visit to Villa Marista.
After the information we headed towards Vibora. We stayed for two hours in the waiting room. They told us that the file couldn't be found. And we had no choice but to return and continue to wait. In fact the "judicial laws" require that notice of any movement of the case file has to be given to the defense counsel. This step was never fulfilled.
In these three years I had to turn down 27 invitations from universities, festivals, book presentations and book fairs. Right now five of my books are being published in different countries. I think that's the real punishment.
Anyway, I always say, we are the generation of children that nobody wanted, and if they gave me the opportunity to return to the time I opened the blog and caused myself so much trouble, without even thinking about it I would do it again, only with more emphasis.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Translated by Regina Anavy
April 29 2012
Cuba, Crying Out Against the Fear / Angel Santiesteban
Cuba, Crying Out Against the Fear / Angel Santiesteban Angel Santiesteban, Translator: Unstated
Recently various events have stolen our time of creation. On the fifth anniversary of the blog Generation Y, a pioneer space that shouts to the world about the rights of Cubans, the gift from the government has been the imprisonment of the attorney Wilfredo Vallín Almeida, president of the Cuban Law Association (AJC).
It was Yoani Sanchez herself who alerted me to the tragedy. I was overcome by rage. It was an attempt to cut off the independent process of those who are trying to represent the law beyond the fees, limits and censorship of the administrators of the Law in Cuba and who, according to the attorney Vallín himself, are the first to violate the provisions of the laws they themselves have passed.
In more than 50 years of totalitarianism, never has anyone said to the government officials, Legal Code in hand, that they are all infringing on the rights of Cuban citizens.
Tranquility and light for the unprotected
I told Yoani we couldn't sit on our hands. She told me we would meet at his house to make a decision. I assured her I would be there in half an hour. It was inconceivable to me to imagine Attorney Wilfredo Vallín detained, being interrogated by the peons without decency, thugs who follow orders without the intervention of their conscience. My anger was building, becoming more explosive every second.
Personally, I am very grateful to the Association over which he presides. The offices are in his own house; they opened to the doors to me there when I felt myself without legal rights, they would protect me. When I confirmed that the State was on my back and its henchmen beat me in the street. Without protection I went to his house charged with a series of crimes that would total 54 years in prison. Then they brought me shade, peace, and a light at the end of the tunnel that opened like heaven itself. They scared away the darkness. And began to prepare me to break all the lies that they were plotting against me.
When I knocked on the door of the lawyer Vallín, to the delight of all, it was he who opened the door. He told us what happened and how outrageous it was that he was arrested and handcuffed in front of his wife and neighbors. Then at the police station, a young and incompetent officer assured him tat he was there because of his relationships with counterrevolutionary people, and he mentioned Yoani Sanchez and Dagoberto Valdes.
Vallín responded that his home was open to everyone who needed legal advice, and among those were the wives of officers "like you," he said, arbitrarily imprisoned, "and the law is for everyone," Vallín assured him. An example of the constant violations was what they had committed against he himself, because he was arrested without a warrant to justify such an actions.
An absurd arrest
The truth was, happily, Vallín was released, and what could have been the first public protest to demand the release of this Cuban was avoided, or they might have preyed on us all and we would have joined Vallín. When we left there were still State Security agents around his home. I tried to photograph them and two hid, another appeared in the photo trying to hide himself.
At night we met at Yoani's house to celebrate the anniversary of her blog. We also spoke about the contribution, days earlier, of Vallín at the Estado de SATS project, where he explained the flagrant violations committed during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, and gave examples, reading from the Legal Code. For example, the State had imposed a state of emergency on the country without informing its citizens. We are sure that his participation in that event was the trigger for the absurd attempt to frighten him with an arrest.
However, the deep fear instilled in us since birth, living through all the injustices that the governments of the Castro brothers have sowed in us, are being overcome with the cry for freedom and justice.
Angel Santiesteban Prats
May 10 2012
Discriminación, aislamiento y desamparo de pareja con VIH
Discriminación, aislamiento y desamparo de pareja con VIH Jueves, 10 de Mayo de 2012 13:46 Escrito por Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez
Cuba actualidad, Cabañas, Artemisa, (PD) Manuel Coloma León, de treintaiún años, y Elier Bishop Rodríguez, de cuarenta y uno, forman una pareja gay residente en una vivienda prestada que, por su pésimo estado constructivo, resulta inadecuada para la salud de estos pacientes de SIDA.
La vivienda, ubicada en calle 60 número 415 interior entre 41 y 45, en San Antonio de los Baños, provincia Artemisa, presenta filtraciones en paredes y techos y salideros en el sistema sanitario, lo que la hace muy húmeda.
A pesar de las múltiples gestiones ante el gobierno y el partido municipal, y las numerosas promesas incumplidas, ellos no cejan en su sueño.
"Solicitamos un terreno para construir por esfuerzo propio y el presidente del gobierno, Tommy Prieto Robaina, nos dijo que fuera el 1º de junio para darme respuesta. No creo en él, pero vamos a ver qué pasa", confesó Elier.
El mismo aseguró, durante una entrevista realizada por los reporteros del centro de información de la Corriente Martiana Alejandro Sánchez y Adalberto Blanco: "Me tienen a base de engaños, esto se moja completo. No puedo trabajar porque tengo las defensas bajas, y un estafilococo en la piel que no me pueden tratar porque me costaría la vida si lo hicieran".
Aunque recibe una pensión mensual de $ 185 en moneda nacional (CUP) de Seguridad Social, su pareja Manuel, que es portador del VIH, no desea ser una carga social, sino trabajar, pero asegura que no consigue empleo y por ello deben hacer trabajos por cuenta propia de forma ocasional.
Continua Elier: "Recibo algunos medicamentos gratis, otros los debo comprar, pero mi dinero no me alcanza para ello. Por ejemplo, un protector solar que evita el desarrollo del estafilococo cuesta entre cuatro o cinco dólares. ¡La pensión no me da para adquirirlo!".
Ambos se quejan de la discriminación que sufren y la ejemplifican con la situación en el comedor donde reciben el almuerzo. "Yo busco el almuerzo en el bar de Orestes. A veces he querido almorzar allí pero no me lo permiten, dicen que los viejos empiezan a hablar que si tengo SIDA, que si esto o lo otro, y por eso solo nos dejan llevarnos los alimentos", explica Elier y lo confirma Manuel.
"Muchas veces en la calle nos gritan cosas, nos ofenden, es terrible", explica Manuel, y añade su pareja: "Perdí a mi mamá, a mi papá y a la pareja con la que llevaba once años de relación estable. Estoy muy deprimido, casi no salgo porque en la calle hay gente despiadada." A lo que Manuel añade: "Deben respetarnos, somos ciudadanos de este mundo y no hacemos daño a nadie con nuestra preferencia".
En su condición de enfermos no pueden satisfacer su derecho a una vivienda adecuada. Trabajan en condiciones no apropiadas para sus enfermedades, como cuando ciernen arena para reparar su vivienda u obtener algún dinero adicional al de la pensión. No tienen todos los medicamentos que necesitan, pero a pesar de ello les propusieron trabajar como colaboradores de la policía.
Aseguran que les propusieron ser informantes. No aceptaron. Al respecto, aclara Manuel: "Todo lo hacemos dentro de la ley, respetamos el orden, pero nada de eso tiene que ver con nosotros, lo nuestro es mejorar nuestra situación sin dañar a nadie".
En una ocasión Manuel intentó ver personalmente al presidente del gobierno para rogarle le solucionara el problema de vivienda a su pareja, pero se lo impidieron y llamaron a la policía. Le amenazaron con deportarlo a su lugar de origen en el oriente del país.
A pesar de la discriminación, el aislamiento y el desamparo que sufren, esta pareja mantiene viva la esperanza y empeñan en sus sueños las pocas fuerzas que les restan.
Mientras, sus vecinos se dividen entre quienes los desprecian, los que los admiran y los indiferentes, queda la interrogante de cuál de esos grupos será mayoría, dado que nuestra sociedad ha sido siempre homofóbica, y en ella, como resultado del castrismo, pululan los egoístas y despiadados como nunca antes.
Para Cuba actualidad: corrientemartiana2004@gmail.com
Usuarios descontentos por “régimen esclavista de ETECSA”
Usuarios descontentos por "régimen esclavista de ETECSA"
Los cubanos solo pueden hablar un minuto y medio al día si dedicaran todo su salario para hablar con su celular y hay que pagarle a la compañía monopolista. mayo 10, 2012
"El régimen esclavista de ETECSA" fue denunciado por La Joven Cuba, un blog de jóvenes universitarios que opinan sobre la realidad cubana, según su propia definición, en un artículo que lleva el mismo nombre y aborda sobre las disímiles dificultades de los cubanos para mantenerse comunicados con la única empresa autorizada en la isla para realizar estas actividades.
El monopolio telefónico, encargado de garantizar las comunicaciones tanto en tiempo de paz como en tiempos de guerra, ha visto crecer vertiginosamente el número de usuarios (aproximadamente 1,2 millones de fijos e igual número de celulares) aunque a la par se han disparado las insatisfacciones de quienes utilizan sus servicios.
Mientras el blog oficialista aclaró que "en Cuba no hay nadie más que te preste este servicio; así que te guste o no, estés satisfecho o no con la calidad del servicio tienes que arrodillarte a los pies del todo poderoso ETECSA y agradecerle por todos sus maltratos", Radio Martí contactó con varios miembros de la sociedad civil para ahondar en las causas de este descontento.
"Para poder mantener (el servicio celular) tenemos que hacer tremendo sacrificio" dijo Jorge Luis desde Camaguey pues "todos los meses debes recargar con cinco dólares", el equivalente a una cuarta parte del salario promedio en Cuba.
Yurisan con 30 años de edad se refiere a los celulares como un "localizador en clave" para los ciudadanos pues las personas saben cuando responder o no. "Si alguien que tú conoces te da tres timbrazos significa que debes responder", todo en dependencia de la forma en que se hayan puesto de acuerdo las dos personas.
Dania Virgen, periodista independiente con residencia en La Habana, explicó a martinoticias.com que esta compañía "es bastante insuficiente en el trato a la población. Si hay una rotura con el teléfono fijo y no los sobornas con el pago de 50, 60 o hasta 100 CUC o más no te arreglan el aparato" asegura.
Las personas que no cuentan con el dinero para sobornarlos se quedan sin el servicio debido a que no existen equipos para reemplazarlos, explica Dania, y entonces pierden la línea telefónica aunque la hayan tenido desde hace 20 años.
Aníbal del municipio Playa en Ciudad de La Habana, piensa que los celulares se utilizan bastante "pero es un poco caro porque no se gana en lo que se paga la tarjeta" para recargarlos comercializada en pesos cubanos convertibles o CUC.
La tarifa cobrada por ETECSA por cada minuto de comunicación (0.45 CUC de 7 am hasta las 11pm) es otro de los puntos discordantes con sus usuarios que si empleasen su salario completo para sus celulares podrían conversar solamente un minuto y medio por día.
La comunicación es una necesidad, explica otro entrevistado "pero solo del que pueda mantenerlo", agregó.
La Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (S.A) ha violado el contrato con sus usuarios, dijo Enrique,un opositor de Santiago Cuba alegando la "complicidad" del emporio comunicativo con el gobierno cubano.
"Varias veces me han hecho lo mismo. Me suspendieron el servicio por más de cinco días", durante la más reciente visita del Papa, concluyó.
Por su parte, el articulista del blog oficialista cerró su artículo con la siguiente aseveración: "en estas condiciones comerciales jamás contrataré un servicio con ETECSA. Mi dinero me los administro y me lo planifico yo, no una empresa que ya ha demostrado ser bastante ineficiente y con varios escándalos de corrupción".
http://www.martinoticias.com/content/etecsa_cuba_telefonos_descontento_regimen_esclavista/11070.html
A Curious Event / Rebeca Monzo
A Curious Event / Rebeca Monzo Rebeca Monzo, Translator: Unstated
It's been several days since I published on my blog due to, among other things, a big accumulation of work and personal matters that have affected me. The last thing I published was related to the first of May and the impact it had on me.
In these days I have had to dedicate myselfthoroughly to my principal activity, handicraft, due to the heap of orders.Dividing this time with my usual routine and having to neglect my blog a little. Also as an extra, my collaboration was requested for a friend's wedding, which I did with the greatest pleasure. All that leaving me little space for other activities.
Sunday arrived and far from being able to rest, I had to dedicate myself to household chores which were piling up, along with exhaustion, by the end of the week.
In the worst of the moments there appeared on the lower floor of my building a casual lookingyoungster who screamed my name even with spelling errors. I went down to see what he wanted and who sent him. He told me to look for my identification card because he had to deliver something to me. I climbed up to search for my identification but I forgot my glasses.
Look, they're going to send you a package from Miami and I must take your information to make a delivery, he told me. He took notes on a long, narrow piece of paper like the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) use to cite you to the police, or the famous ballots. He speaks firmly here, and as tired as I was and wishing to finish at once, I signed thatstrip of paper without reading it. Take this CUC (1.00) to exchange for current pesos and you can pay the amount of the package when they bring it to you, which shouldn't exceed 25 pesos.
When I climbed the stairs back to my apartment with that bill in my hands, I reacted, but the boy had already left. At first it made me laugh, but I immediately panicked. Suddenly I realized the error I had committed. I even came to think he was a State Security Agent disguised as bum, like they usually do. I ran tosend a message to the friend who I presumed had sent the aforementioned package of which I still had no news. What if I have signed on that little strip of paper that I have received it?
Maybe I even signed a promise to do CDR guard duty for a whole year?
Finally, in spite of knowing that I shouldn't sign anything before reading it, I clumsily did so. Even more in our case, of the alternative blogosphere, in our own country we are constantly being attacked and defamed. What is done is done, it is only left for me to ask God to protect me and pray that all this has not been more than a curious series of coincidences.
May 9 2012
Policía política de Cuba y Alemania Oriental labraron acuerdo que incluyó el de IKEA
Publicado el jueves, 05.10.12
Policía política de Cuba y Alemania Oriental labraron acuerdo que incluyó el de IKEA Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com
El polémico contrato para usar mano de obra penitenciaria cubana para hacer muebles para IKEA fue parte de un acuerdo más amplio entre firmas controladas por los servicios de seguridad de Cuba y Alemania Oriental, que incluía además antigüedades, tabacos y armas cubanas, según un investigador en Berlín.
Documentos sobre el acuerdo, encontrados en los archivos de la STASI, la tristemente famosa agencia de seguridad de Alemania Oriental, hacen referencia también a mano de obra penitenciaria cubana e indican que Fidel Castro había aprobado en persona el acuerdo general, afirmó el investigador Jorge Luis García.
García indicó el miércoles a El Nuevo Herald que publicó un artículo sobre el acuerdo en el 2006 que mencionaba la manufactura de muebles "para Suecia" y publicó una nota sobre el asunto en su blog, STASI-MININT Connection, a principios del año pasado.
Pero el acuerdo estalló la semana pasada en escándalo luego de que un periódico alemán reportó que una sucursal de IKEA en Berlín y una compañía de Alemania Oriental habían hecho un contrato para usar mano de obra penitenciaria cubana para hacer 45,000 mesas y 4,000 juegos de sofá en 1987.
El Muro de Berlín fue derribado dos años después, y Alemania Oriental —oficialmente la República Democrática Alemana— desapareció en 1990 al fundirse con la República Federal de Alemania, llamada también Alemania Occidental.
No está claro todavía hasta dónde se cumplió el acuerdo de 1987, afirmó García, nacido en Cuba, quien fuera interrogado en las celdas subterráneas de la STASI en Berlín Oriental en 1987. En la actualidad sirve de guía en visitas dirigidas a las celdas e investiga los archivos de la agencia.
Tampoco se sabe si reclusos cubanos fueron usados en la elaboración de los otros productos mencionados en el acuerdo.
Un documento encontrado por él en los archivos muestra que las firmas de Alemania Oriental involucradas en el acuerdo fueron Delta GmbH y Comercio de Arte y Antigüedades, conocida como KuA, ambas controladas por el Ministerio del Interior, encargado de la seguridad nacional. La STASI, que vigilaba y reprimía a la disidencia interna, era una muy temida sección del ministerio.
Pero las compañías eran oficialmente ramas de la agencia de comercio exterior del gobierno, Kommerzielle Koordinierung. La agencia era dirigida por el notorio negociante Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, funcionario de STASI que desertó en 1989.
El documento muestra que la agencia de La Habana en el acuerdo era EMIAT, y la describió como propiedad del Ministerio del Interior de Cuba (MININT). Lo mismo que su contraparte de Alemania Oriental, el MININT está a cargo de la seguridad nacional y administra las cárceles de Cuba así como la Dirección General de la Seguridad del Estado, la cual vigila y reprime a la disidencia.
García amplió que el documento, escrito en alemán, muestra que tres directivos de KuA y Delta visitaron Cuba y se encontraron con funcionarios del MININT y EMIAT entre el 17 y el 26 de septiembre de 1987 para discutir una serie de acuerdos.
"Se realizaron visitas a los centros de producción. Parcialmente, estos centros se encuentran en establecimientos penitenciarios del MININT", indica el documento, según la traduccion de García. "EMIAT desea aumentar el uso de estas instalaciones para la fabricación de productos para la exportación".
El mismo documento reportó que el ministro de Comercio Exterior de Cuba, Ricardo Cabrisas, se había reunido con los visitantes alemanes y les dijo: "Esta cooperación ha sido autorizada por el compañero Fidel Castro".
García agregó que el documento reportó también que EMIAT "abastece las casas de visita del gobierno y del Comité Central" del Partido Comunista de Cuba. "Es además una rama comercial del MININT".
Un documento separado, en español, con fecha del 26 de septiembre de 1987, es un memorándum de entendimiento que enumera los acuerdos a que llegaron los visitantes de Alemania Oriental y sus huéspedes cubanos, pero no brinda todos los detalles de todos los acuerdos.
Otro documento señala que los acuerdos incluyen la producción de muebles para IKEA con un valor total de 12 millones de marcos. Pero no menciona específicamente la mano de obra penitenciaria.
Los documentos parecen indicar que Delta estaba representando a la cadena sueca de muebles y artículos para el hogar en los negocios con Cuba.
También se mencionan en el memo acuerdos sobre productos textiles así como 10,000 toneladas de jugo de toronja, valorado en 4.5 millones de marcos, 200,000 botellas de ron y 200,000 tabacos, tres productos altamente codiciados en Alemania Oriental por su imagen "tropical".
KuA ordenó además tres contenedores de "muebles antiguos", añadió el memo. El gobierno de Castro confiscó decenas de miles de antigüedades, pinturas y esculturas cuando familias adineradas huyeron al extranjero en los primeros años de la revolución y tuvieron que dejar atrás sus propiedades.
Los cubanos pidieron además ayuda a KuA para exportar al mundo no comunista lo que el documento llamó Oldtimers: los autos y camiones estadounidenses antiguos que se ven en las calles cubanas hasta el día de hoy. "Hay 400 Oldtimers listos para exportar", precisó el documento.
También se mencionan en el memo ventas a Alemania Oriental de crustáceos, café, metales preciosos y hasta ataúdes cubanos, explicó García por teléfono desde Berlín. Facilitó además copias digitales de algunos de los documentos.
Pero no había indicación alguna de cuales acuerdos fueron convertidos en contratos legales, o cuáles fueron llevados a cabo finalmente. La economía cubana se desplomó a finales de la década de 1980 cuando el presidente soviético Mijail Gorbachov empezó a recortar los subsidios a la isla.
Otros documentos publicados en Alemania la semana pasada mostraron que el lote inicial de sofás de IKEA hechos en Cuba tuvieron problemas de calidad, y que un grupo de funcionarios de Alemania Oriental tuvieron que viajar a la isla para resolver el problema. No hubo indicación alguna de qué sucedió.
El memorándum de entendimiento está firmado por tres representantes de Delta y KuA así como el jefe de EMIAT, el teniente coronel Enrique Sánchez, el primer secretario de la embajada cubana en Alemania Oriental y el general Santiago Borges. García afirmó que otros documentos de la STASI muestran que Borges dirigía la logística en el MININT.
García amplió que otro documento de los archivos de la STASI, que informa sobre el viaje de los alemanes a Cuba, mostró que las autoridades de La Habana estaban tan contentas que habían hecho al presidente de KuA Axel Hilpert coronel honorario del MININT y mejoraron a primera clase su viaje de vuelta.
A su regreso a Berlín Oriental, Hilpert también sirvió de mediador en la venta de 2,200 pistolas Colt de fabricación estadounidense en los almacenes cubanos —al parecer un remanente de la época previa a Castro— a un negociante de armas de Los Angeles, según documentos citado por García.
Hilpert, veterano agente de STASI cuyo nombre de código era "Monika", se hizo rico tras el colapso de Alemania Oriental, argumentando que había hecho lucrativos contactos con empresarios occidentales durante sus años en Kommerzielle Koordinierung.
Fue investigado en los años 90 en un caso relacionado con sellos de correo cubanos falsificados, así como el mal manejo de ciertos fondos durante los días finales de Alemania Oriental, y en estos momentos está en la cárcel bajo investigación por otras acusaciones.
Pero sigue siendo el copropietario oficial del centro turístico de cuatro estrellas Resort Schwielowsee, en la antigua Alemania Oriental, que sirvió de sede a un encuentro de ministros de Finanzas del Grupo de Ocho en el 2007.
Una habitación de una sola cama en la instalación turística, situada junto a un lago cerca de Berlín, cuesta alrededor de $160 por noche.
Vea en elnuevoherald.com copias de los acuerdos.
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2012/05/10/v-fullstory/1199120/policia-politica-de-cuba-y-alemania.html
STASI records show Cuba deal included IKEA furniture, antiques, rum and guns
Posted on Wednesday, 05.09.12
STASI records show Cuba deal included IKEA furniture, antiques, rum and guns
Documents of East Germany's STASI security agency provide more details of the deal between Cuba and IKEA. By Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
The controversial contract to use Cuban prison labor to build IKEA furniture was part of a broader deal between firms run by the Cuban and East German security services that also involved Cuban antiques, cigars and guns, according to a researcher in Berlin.
Documents on the deal, found in the archives of East Germany's notorious STASI security agency, also refer to Cuban prison labor and indicate that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro personally approved the overall deal, said researcher Jorge Luis García.
Garcia told El Nuevo Herald on Wednesday he published an article about the deal in 2006 that mentioned the Cuban manufacture of furniture "for export to Sweden," and posted a note about it in his blog, STASI-MININT Connection, early last year.
But the deal blossomed into scandal last week after a German newspaper reported that an IKEA subsidiary in Berlin and an East German company had contracted for Cuban prison labor to build 45,000 tables and 4,000 sofa groupings in 1987.
The Berlin Wall fell two years later and East Germany — officially the German Democratic Republic — disappeared in 1990 into the Federal Republic of Germany, also sometimes called West Germany.
It remains unclear how much of the 1987 deal was carried out, said the Cuban-born García, who was interrogated in the STASI's underground cells in East Berlin in 1987. He now guides tours of the cells and researches the agency's archives.
It was also unclear if prison labor was used to make Cuban products that were not part of the IKEA contract.
One document Garcia found in the archives show the East German firms involved in the deal were Delta GmbH and Art and Antiquities, known as KuA, both controlled by the Interior Ministry, in charge of domestic security. The STASI, which monitored and repressed domestic dissent, was a much feared part of the ministry.
But the companies were officially branches of the government's foreign trading agency, Kommerzielle Koordinierung. The agency was led by the notorious wheeler-dealer Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, a STASI officer who defected in 1989.
The document shows that the Havana side of the deal was EMIAT, and described the company as owned by Cuba's Interior Ministry, or MININT. Like its East German counterpart, MININT is in charge of domestic security and runs Cuba's prisons as well as the General Directory of State Security, which monitors and cracks down on dissidents.
García said the German-language document shows that three officials of KuA and Delta visited Cuba and met with MININT and EMIAT officials Sept. 17-26 of 1987 to discuss a broad array of deals.
"There were visits to production centers. In part, those centers are in penitentiary establishments of the MININT," Garcia quoted the document as saying. "EMIAT wants to increase the use of those installations for the manufacture of products for export."
The same document reported that Cuban Foreign Commerce Minister Ricardo Cabrisas had met with the East German visitors and told them "This cooperation has been authorized by Compañero Fidel Castro."
García added that the document also reported that EMIAT "supplies the guest houses of the government and the Central Committee" of the Cuban Communist Party. "It is also a commercial branch of the MININT."
A separate document, in Spanish and dated Sept. 26, 1987, is a memorandum of understanding that lists all the agreements reached by the East German visitors and their Cuban hosts, but does not give all the details of all the deals.
The memo notes that the agreements included a deal on "the production of furniture for export to Sweden" — the world headquarters of IKEA — with a total value of 12 million German Marks. But it does not specifically mention IKEA or prison labor.
It appears from the memo that Delta acted on behalf of the Swedish furniture and housewares chain.
Also mentioned in the memo are deals on textiles as well as 10,000 tons of grapefruit juice valued at 4.5 million marks, 200,000 bottles of rum and 200,000 cigars — all three products highly coveted in East Germany because of their "tropical" image.
KuA also ordered three containers of "antique furniture," the memo added. Castro's government seized tens of thousands of valuable antiques, paintings and sculptures as wealthy families fled abroad in the early years of the revolution and had to leave their property there.
The Cuban partners also asked for KuA help in exporting to the non-communist world what the document called "Oldtimers" — the antique U.S.-made cars and trucks still seen in Cuban streets to this day. "400 Oldtimers are ready for export," the document said.
Also mentioned in the memo were sales to East Germany of Cuban shellfish, coffee, precious metals and even coffins, García said by telephone from Berlin. He also provided digital copies of some of the documents.
But there was no indication of which agreements were turned into legal contracts, or which contracts were actually carried out.
Cuba's economy went into a tailspin in the late 1980s as Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev began cutting subsidies to the island.
Other documents published in Germany last week showed that the initial batch of IKEA sofas produced in Cuba had quality problems, and that a group of Delta officials had to travel to the island to fix the issue. There was no indication of what happened.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by three representatives of Delta and KuA as well as EMIAT chief Lt. Col. Enrique Sanchez, the first secretary at the Cuban embassy to East Germany and Gen. Santiago Borges. García said other STASI documents show Borges ran MININT logistics.
García said another document in the STASI archives, reporting on the East Germans' trip to Cuba, showed Havana authorities were so happy that they made KuA president Axel Hilpert an honorary MININT colonel and upgraded his flight home to first class.
After he returned to East Berlin, Hilpert brokered the sale of 2,200 U.S.-made Colt pistols in Cuban stockpiles — apparently left over from pre-Castro days — to a Los Angeles weapons dealer, according to the document quoted by García.
Hilpert, a long-time STASI agent code-named "Monika," became wealthy after the collapse of East Germany, telling reporters that he had made profitable contacts with Western business people during his years at Kommerzielle Koordinierung.
He was investigated in the 1990s in a case involving forged Cuban mail stamps, and the mishandling of some funds during the final days of East Germany, and is now jailed while under investigation on other complaints.
But he is still the co-owner of record of the four-star Resort Schwielowsee in the former East Germany, which hosted a 2007 gathering of G-8 finance ministers. A single room at the lakeside resort near Berlin goes for about $160 a night.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/09/v-fullstory/2791748/stasi-records-show-cuba-deal-included.html
Nuevo número de Blogger Cubano
Nuevo número de Blogger Cubano
Ya puede leerse en sus dos formatos, electrónico e impreso, el número 7 de la revista Blogger Cubano, dedicado a la cultura alternativa en Cuba mayo 08, 2012
Ya puede leerse en sus dos formatos, electrónico e impreso, el número 7 de la revista Blogger Cubano, con un Dossier dedicado a la cultura alternativa en Cuba.
El e-Book de la publicación también puede ser leído en el blog del mismo nombre: http://bloggercubano.blogspot.com/
El Dossier de la revista, que reproduce grafitis de El Sexto en portada e interiores, enfatiza la importancia de la cultura alternativa como factor de cambio.
"En el caso de regímenes de corte totalitario como el cubano, el concepto Cultura Alternativa identifica particularmente a movimientos culturales marginales y de resistencia contra la opresión oficial y su pretensión de esgrimir la cultura como un instrumento del poder político. También, a artistas y escritores que, aunque no forman parte, oficialmente, de ningún movimiento específico, subvierten el orden de la censura desde su propia propuesta creativa", agregan los editores en la introducción al Dossier.
Además, la revista contiene trabajos de Darsi Ferrer, Héctor Maseda, Václav Havel, Kiko Arocha, Manuel Gayol y Antonio Rubio.
Armando Añel, editor de la publicación, dijo a MartiNoticias: "En el caso de Blogger Cubano, se trata de un esfuerzo encaminado a subvertir el orden de la censura en Cuba desde la información. Es decir, intentando introducir información fresca en Cuba por medio de tres vías fundamentales: e-Book de la revista vía correo electrónico (que eventualmente puede imprimirse allá dentro); la revista en formato blog para los que puedan conectarse a Internet; y la revista impresa que se introduce en la Isla en pequeñas cantidades y puede circular de mano en mano. También, con este proyecto se intenta enriquecer el intercambio entre los sujetos del cambio dentro de Cuba y los activistas, periodistas e internautas en el exilio.
"Blogger Cubano constituye también un intento de dimensionar la importancia de Internet como instrumento organizativo e informativo de cara a una eventual transición hacia la democracia en Cuba".
They Ignore Us So They Can Discredit Us / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado
They Ignore Us So They Can Discredit Us / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado, Translator: Unstated
I knew about the "Cuban Bloggers" event on the night of April 27th, briefly, late and on the last Cuban TV newscast of the day, which provided some information they didn't offer in prime time or that they rejected to make more time for criticisms of capitalism and praises of the raised-to-mythical-status Cuban tyranny and that of their Latin American friends. They probably didn't want to give too much media attention to the event, but they wanted to stay on the good side of the forum organizers and attendees.
They referred to the "First National Meeting of Cuban Bloggers in Revolution," held in Matanzas with representation from all provinces. Once again the alternative blogosphere, as usually happens with the independent Cuban society, was ignored by the totalitarian government and its media officials.
Three days alter the journalistic gloss of the event appeared on page 2 of Juventud Rebelde. It summarized the themes such as the inclusion of the universities in the official blog horizon, which promotes the image of Cuba in cyberspace "as diverse" and so on; and went on and on about the main purposes being to "share experiences, create horizontal mechanisms of integration, achieve complementarity without falling into dogmas and preconceived themes, and promoting critical analysis from the blogs."
We find there Mrs. Mariela Castro — I don't know if she has a blog — who was, of course, interviewed about the meeting and probably had the implicit mission of mediated at the highest levels for the facilities and essential tools for this new militia of letters.
I wonder what they will offer university students — who have to spend much of their time studying in order to do well academically — in exchange for creating blogs obedient to the totalitarian model and facing off against the independents. What diversity are they referring to? In Cuba, the concept is flawed due to the single-party interests of the government, which takes forceps to diverse political opinions and mutilates the aspirations and legitimate rights of Cubans to a multi-color pluralism.
Will they ever respect the right of everyone to access the Internet or will they continue to use that tool as a device in exchange for loyalty? It seems they intend to "lower the profile" of the Cuban independent blogosphere as they did with the alternative political society.
There is a clear design oriented to this end. I don't expect they that will use the power of manu militari* to redeem us from the attacks of fear and double standards that they themselves delineate to divide us with their a unified and virtual propaganda.
What I do expect and will continue to modestly cultivate, is that we reach the stage where they don't muzzle those who think differently and they respect the right to freedom as an attribute inherent to human nature. This is something very natural for democratic societies which I hope for, but it for the ancient Caesarian government it is too much.
*By force of arms.
May 8 2012
Living Among Lies / Lilianne Ruíz
Living Among Lies / Lilianne Ruíz Lilianne Ruíz, Translator: AnonyGY
Camilo Cienfuegos seen in an artwork installed in 2009 in the Plaza of the Revolution. The text says: "You're doing fine, Fidel."
Cuba looks like an anthill, and each one has contributed — as they say — a grain of sand. Believing that this grain of sand is so little that it means nothing because "nothing can change". I am reading for the first time "El poder de los sin poder" (The Power of The Powerless), by Vaclav Havel, what he defines as autokenesis of the post totalitarian system I see it as this behavior of ants who sustain the commune that seems to be Cuba today. The secret life of this Commune, what does not appear, is not reflected in the official press.
On May 3rd, Press Freedom Day, the announcer of the Nightly News denounced the murder of Mexican journalists, and mentioned Honduras, denouncing these two countries as examples of places where repression against journalists is growing. It was not mentioned in the report, revised and corrected by the Editorial Board of the News, that Cuba was the third country on that list. Nor was the Cuban audience made aware that such a list, where the situation of press freedom is mentioned, was published by Amnesty International.
In Cuba there is repression against journalists, but the knowledge of such situation depends much on the media showing that situation from the moment in Cuba that no one learns about what is happening watching the News show. Then, in the consequences it has for a citizen conscious of what is right or wrong to start expressing himself and do journalism, independent of the interests of the State Dictatorship.
I saw the way in which Ariel Sigler Amaya left prison and it was not on the News. I never heard of the situation of Oscar Elías Bicet from the Cuban journalists who work for Cuban television but rather over Radio Martí. I did not not know well who Laura Pollan was, until I went to her house. Laura's death occurred under unclear circumstances but it is impossible to open an investigation and that has not been mentioned in any News whatsoever.
In the cases of Ariel and Oscar there is clear evidence of psychological tortures and attempted murder, not to mention Zapata Tamayo who was slandered in Granma Newspaper and in the News after he was left to die on a hunger strike rather than recognize the demand Zapata took to an extreme because of his freedom and that of Cuba as well.
Today I write and also make public in my blog, I live with fear, but I know the regime has had some kind of defeat after the Black Spring of 2003, carried out by the group of 75 and the Ladies in White. I also know if I do not express myself, feeling as I do, I would be an accomplice.
It is increasingly promoted in Cuba that youth become part of the huge and expensive repressive system. The government, historically a oppressor, one day could not count anymore on "the compartmentalizing" of information and the obedience of the whole people before the threat, and it happened when groups of Human Rights defenders appeared, and also independent journalists.
It did not matter whether one had a degree or not, from the Faculty of revolutionary journalism; these are people who make an effort to write a piece of news and above all they really go for it, where the only thing that matters is to be objective and witness an abuse, an arrest, a beating, a humiliating social phenomenon, having no other translation for anyone's conscience, as the so called revolutionary journalism attempts to make us believe.
Killing isn't done in the streets like in Mexico, but the cost of being an activist for freedom, a journalist, or a blogger, may be slow death in one of the regime's jails. Many times, the detentions of activists are lengthened by the regime with accusations of noncompliance with police brutality. The Cuban reality is so treacherous that it needs the real access of journalists without gags.
Then I try to imagine whose brain would be behind all the propaganda that made poor people during the first years identify their greatest welfare with the socialist Revolution, which did not start as a socialist one. And I notice it was not only one brain, but maybe many people who either believed they were doing the right thing, or underestimated their small acts from the will to survive without going against the current. And 53 or 54 years have passed, I never count them any more.
There will be some, still within the anthill, who know all this is buried under the lie, and will kill, every time, the hope of rescue for this nation and therefore for us, the people who live here. Those people who every day support the lie of the regime on many occasions only aspire to pretend a little longer until they can leave the country.
The Communist Party uses a language that can not express human aspirations. It is an inhuman language. Why don't people scream that it is not exactly what they want, that they have access to? They are terribly scared, and that generates obedience and immorality, when one has no faith not even in the innocent fairy tales.
Why did God let such phenomenon happen? But I still trust in Him. To find Him, still in the darkest valley, makes me fear no evil, as the psalm says. However, I have the hope He will make a miracle soon. During the time I have waited for Him, my God has never failed me. The lie will fall, what I can not foretell is where they will hide from their shame, those who have sustained it.
Translated by AnonyGy
May 7 2012
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