Solidarity with Cuban Political Prisoners ... NOW!

 

This is one of the easiest calls I will ever have to make as a Freedom Blogger.

Val Prieto at Babalú has challenged every blogger who wishes to demonstrate that he or she truly cares about human freedom and the just rights which should be accorded to all human beings to post this image on their sites to make a statement expressing their support for these rights and to call for solidarity with Cuba's political prisoners.  So what am I to do?

As I said it is a no-brainer.

I also want to post a video that Val has included in his post which drives home the reality of the current struggle for human rights in Cuba as waged by the Cubans themselves.  It is powerful, especially in the aftermath of the recent death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who we should all honor as one of the truest heroes of freedom ever to breath air on planet earth.  Orlando died from a hunger strike was killed by the Castro regime for his insistence upon an uncompromising stance on human freedom as defined by, well, freedom itself.  This gets most closely to true freedom of expression.  You will also see former Cuban political prisoner Guillermo Fariñas, who is well into his own hunger strike as he follows Orlando Zapata Tamayo, interviewed in the video clip below, which is narrated in English and contains subtitles where appropriate.



I will post an update to this blog entry tomorrow, when I return with a summary of some recent activity in the blogosphere on the issue of Cuba's political prisoners, which will contain some useful links to help those of you who may not have been paying close attention to catch up quickly.

StJacques

 

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Zapatero al rescate! Preserving the Castro-Chavez-Evo Axis

 

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

Zapatero Comes to the Rescue of Chavez and Castro

On Saturday Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero came to the rescue of Hugo Chavez, not only saving the Venezuelan president from being called to answer for his regime's collaboration with the Basque terrorist ETA and the Colombian FARC, but also pulling the rug out from underneath his country's own Audiencia Nacional (National Court), which issued an indictment for six ETA and seven FARC members earlier this week.  What did he do?  Well, in the ultimate act of spin control, he qualified the recent indictment as a mere "hypothesis" of Venezuela's relationship with the ETA and the FARC and, after changing the demand for an "explanation" to a simple request for "information," the Spanish government joined with that of Chavez to issue a joint statement "reaffirming their fight against the ETA," effectively setting the matter aside for Chavez.  It is an absolutely perfidious development which, had we paid closer attention, should have been expected all along, as there were definitely signs of Zapatero's moral degradation and insensitivity to democratic and human rights long before this ultimate act of policy pursued on behalf of tyranny, not to mention the abject betrayal of his country's own legal system.

In addition to his rallying to the aid of Chavez, there is also the matter of Zapatero's current role within the activism of the European Left, who have successfully protected the Castro regime against European Union sanction for overt human rights violations, which the recent death of Cuban dissident and political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo has brought to the forefront of discussion.  Zapatero is now playing an absolutely sinister role in European and world politics, that of Defender of the Socialist Faithful, regardless of the tragic consequences for democratic and human rights abroad, as well as the undermining of both the legal institutions of his own country and the safety of the Spanish people from ETA terrorism.

Zapatero's Political Profile:  A Deceitful Ideologue Bent on Cultural Warfare

Regardless of one's opinion of Zapatero, and I will make clear that I hold him in very low esteem, his personal history is a cloudy one which, when told, always excites reaction from either his supporters or opponents, as the case may be, who insist that their alternative is the proper version.  But I think it would be accurate to say that throughout his political career, he has appeared much more ideologically oriented as an activist among Spanish and European Socialists than when presenting himself politically to the Spanish people.  He has even been accused by the opposing Partido Popular (Spanish People's Party or PP) of stealing some of their ideas, such as the Anti-Terrorist Freedom Pact of December, 2000, which was largely aimed at isolating Basque terrorists.  By supporting it as one of the earliest initiatives of his tenure as leader of Spain's Socialist Party (PSOE), Zapatero cast himself before the Spanish public as a moderate; a man who wished to develop a less confrontational and threatening profile for Spanish Socialists.  He even referred to his personal style as Oposición Tranquila (Calm Opposition), which gave him a public image that placed him within what most would consider the political mainstream.

Zapatero's opponents in the PP never viewed him as a mainstream politician, but as the issues around which they contested his policy initiatives during his tenure as Prime Minister demonstrate, their focus was clearly directed more to confrontations on cultural values than upon economic, fiscal, and foreign policy issues; which did not serve the PP well because Zapatero's fiscal and economic policies have been a disaster for Spain.  Currently the country faces double digit unemployment, a budget deficit of 11.4% of GDP, and has been ordered by the EU to implement an austerity plan that must bring its deficit down to 3% of GDP by 2013.  Zapatero remarkably claims that these targets will be met even though social spending, research and development funding, sustainable economy funds, and development aid all will remain unaffected by impending budget cuts.

When one considers that Spain is only one notch above Greece in the EU's mandated austerity program, it becomes difficult to understand how Zapatero and the PSOE have remained in power these past six years.  The answer is that the PP and other opposition groups in Spain spent their collective effort at resisting Zapatero and the PSOE on cultural issues.  During Zapatero's Prime Ministry the left successfully passed initiatives recognizing same sex marriage, expanded adoption rights for gay couples, legal recognition of transsexual identity, and expanded access to abortion services; all of which angered the traditional Catholic right within Spain and provoked no small amount of outrage within their political activism.  And at the same time, Spain has emerged as the center for the cultural left within Europe, which only aggravated Zapatero's opponents further.  But a coherent and cohesive critique of his fiscal and economic policies has never emerged within Spanish politics, much to the discredit of the PP.

Finally; it must be mentioned that Zapatero also negotiated--you can forget any political spin which suggests otherwise--with the Basque ETA terrorist organization, which early into his administration appeared to some to suggest the promise of peace.  In March, 2006 the ETA supposedly declared a ceasefire that was rendered meaningless the following year with a bomb attack at Madrid's main airport.  Zapatero's ETA policy is boldly two-faced.  He consistently presents a public front of pursuing a hard line against the Basque terrorists, while again and again news surfaces of direct contacts with the organization maintained between his government, the PSOE, and other supporters.  It has been one of the most dangerous policy initiatives of his administration, because it does have the potential to unite the Spanish people against him.  Yet somehow Zapatero has always managed to defuse the critique of his ETA associations by appearing credible in his public pronouncements of getting tough with the organization, however much at odds with his policies this stance has been in fact.

In short, Zapatero is a successful politician who understands how to say publicly what people want to hear while pursuing policy initiatives that produce the opposite of what he promises.  He nonetheless succeeds politically by uniting his supporters around an agenda that is ideologically oriented towards advancing cultural conflict within Spain on values issues, which also gives him credibility and additional support from within the international left, while simultaneously rendering his opposition ineffective as they exhaust themselves in cultural warfare, always failing to hold him accountable for his mismanagement of the country's economy and government.  Saying one thing, doing another, and avoiding the consequences through his manipulation of his opponents and his obeisance to the ideological whims of his supporters, that is the Zapatero style.  You know--a liar.

Zapatero and the Latin American Left

As Prime Minister Zapatero has a record of supporting Latin American leftist regimes.  His attitudes towards their repeated violations of human rights and democratic freedoms do not match well with those of most of the developed world in either the western hemisphere or within the European Union.  But again, he has managed to mute criticism of his policies by effectively paying lip service to ideals which he either does not espouse or defines in terms quite differently than others.

Since first entering office in 2004 Zapatero has worked consistently to foster a leadership role for Spain among the Spanish and Portugese speaking nations of "Ibero-America."  Remaining true to his Socialist political affiliation, he has especially sought to make himself into a bridge assisting the integration of Castroite Cuba and other marginalized left-leaning governments, such as Venezuela and Bolivia, into the international community.  The principal foreign policy framework he has utilized to manage these associations has been the Ibero-American Summit.  Traditionally this has been a largely cultural and economic gathering of Latin American nations with Spain and Portugal that never amounted to much.  But it has given Zapatero an organizational mechanism for economic outreach to the left in Latin America through its proposals for debt forgiveness and restructuring via the Ibero-American Inter-Development Bank, always a friend to economically-challenged leftist regimes.  In their own turn, they have returned the favors in kind through the negotiation of commercial arrangements with Spanish business enterprise.

Rehabilitating the image of Castroite Cuba--as opposed to effecting real change within the country--was one of the first goals of Zapatero's Latin American policy.  He was unsuccessful in his attempt to arrange Fidel Castro's attendance at the 2005 Ibero-American Summit, perhaps because the gathering spent a great deal of its effort on promoting the right of free migration, which is not a topic that would appeal to Fidel.  But in 2008 Zapatero was successful in lobbying the European Union to repeal the 2003 sanctions it imposed on Cuba following one of Castro's many crackdowns on dissidents.  And he followed up that success just this week when, using his influence as temporary President of the EU parliament, he prevented the imposition of new sanctions as a response to the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo in a Cuban jail, limiting the action to a near useless declaration of indignation.

So what are we to think of Zapatero's support for Castro and his Cuban regime?  Well, it certainly is not economically motivated.  Though exact figures are not easily available, Spain agreed to forgive a good portion of Cuba's multi-hundred million dollar debt in 2008 and Cuba has not been a productive trading partner with Spain, or anyone else for that matter

The Relationship with Venezuela:  Selling the Spanish Soul

Though it is difficult to qualify and rank Zapatero's recent outrages, his rescue of Hugo Chavez from the indictment of the Spanish National Court would appear to be the most serious, given his obligations as Prime Minister to uphold Spanish law and support the country's institutions, not to mention Spain's stature within the international community, which can only have been damaged by the conflicting signals now being sent abroad.  The most important immediate consequence of the new "cooperative" (this sticks in my throat) approach to dealing with the ETA and the FARC that has been jointly announced in Caracas and Madrid is that there will be no arrests, nor any prosecution of the individuals named in Judge Velasco's auto.  There are obviously domestic political consequences within Spanish politics, but these may not be so negative as one might at first assume, since Zapatero has proven himself quite deft at angering the PP and then letting them become their own worst enemies as they splinter into fragments and fail to coalesce around a unified opposition stance.  All we are really left to ask ourselves is whether Zapatero's primary motivation for saving Chavez was ideological and political, as is clearly the case with Cuba, or economic, which is a new factor to consider with respect to Spain's relationship with Venezuela.

The economic ties Zapatero has helped forge with Venezuela are particularly important to Spain and especially so over the past couple of years.  Spanish investment in Venezuela has been huge, counting such enterprises as Telefónica Venezuela (over $2 Billion U.S.), Spanish oil developer Repsol YPF's stake in developing the Orinoco oil fields in Carabobo, which give the company proven reserves of 75 billion barrels of heavy crude, the Banco Bibao Vizcaya Argentario of Madrid's 55% share in Venezuela's Banco Provincial, and Spanish energy conglomerates Iberdrola and Elecnor's $2 Billion (U.S.) contract to build combined cycle electrical power plants in Venezuela's Sucre state.  There have also been weapons sales to Venezuela and more preceding these recent arrangements.

It can be argued that economics trumps politics and ideology, but in this instance the point is moot.  From Zapatero's perspective there is no conflict, all the aforementioned factors influence his actions in the same direction; saving Chavez and protecting Spanish investments and jobs all go hand in hand.

One might suggest that there is a moral conflict for Zapatero, in that undermining his country's system of justice and even placing the Spanish people at greater risk from Basque terrorism would mitigate against his pro-Chavez policy in this instance, but I would counter that this moral conflict does not exist. 

Moral conflicts are only for virtuous men.  That excludes José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

StJacques

 
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Update:  March 18, 2010, 4:10 p.m.  I have removed a quote and a paragraph from my original entry regarding a "letter" published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo on April 10, 2007, supposedly sent from Zapatero to Fidel Castro.  While I cannot present any information which says that the letter is not genuine, nor has any been presented to me, and even though the author of the article in which it was published, Luis Maria Anson, has never stated that it was anything but genuine, I am taking the advice of Tea and Politics blogger Claudia Al, that I should not treat the letter as an historical document.  Whether the letter is genuine or not, I am certain that Claudia would not act to deceive me, much less protect Zapatero.  StJ
 

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Caracas Mayor: "There is a Cuban Invasion Here"

 

Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma

I am going to post a translation of an article up yesterday (Saturday) at the Caracas newspaper site El Universal that contains a public statement of a prominent Venezuelan public figure that can only be viewed as representing a direct challenge to the Hugo Chavez regime.  In the article Antonio Ledezma, the mayor of "Metropolitan Caracas"--a somewhat confusing term after the implementation of the Capital District Law of 2009, in which Chavez stripped him of a significant portion of his authority--charges that Venezuelan sovereignty has been significantly compromised by what Ledezma calls a "Cuban invasion."  What I find particularly important about the statement is that the Mayor calls upon the Venezuelan Armed Forces to explain why the country is "being invaded by a foreign government."  These kinds of appeals cannot be going down easy among Chavez's supporters, who understand that the population is in earnest.

Before I get to the translation itself, there are two matters I wish to address in brief.  First; I would like to give a little background on Antonio Ledezma, who I think is a man Venezuelans, especially those in the capital city, will pay attention to when he speaks.  And second; I want to give a short overview of the issues raised in the mission of Cuban General Ramiro Valdes, perhaps the number three man in Cuba after Fidel and Raul Castro, who has arrived in Venezuela ostensibly to help "fix" the country's electrical power generation problems, but who instead has created widespread fears of an impending campaign of political repression of a much more dangerous sort than we have seen from Hugo Chavez to date.

Antonio José Ledezma Díaz, 54 years old, has served in Venezuelan public life for almost two decades.  From 1992-1993 he was the Governor of what was then the Federal District of Caracas, an entity that was later abolished.  He later served as Mayor of the Libertador Municipality, which forms part of Greater Caracas, from 1996-2000.  He became one of the first Venezuelan politicians to challenge Hugo Chavez successfully in the Caracas area, generally considered a bastion of Chavismo, in 2008 when he defeated Chavez's hand-picked candidate Aristobulo Isturiz in the Caracas Mayor's race, only to see the National Assembly reduce his power in the already-mentioned Capital District Law of last April.  He is a member of the splinter political party Alianza Bravo Pueblo (Fearless People's Alliance), though he was formerly affiated with Acción Democrática, one of the historical social democratic parties that is now trying to overcome its greatly-diminished power of recent years; in no small part a consequence of their abstentionist political stance in recent elections.

Cuban General Ramiro Valdes Source:  AFP/Getty Images

In the interview with El Universal I am introducing in this entry, Ledezma raises serious concerns over the expanding presence of thousands of Cuban advisors and military personnel, and which directly references General Ramiro Valdes, formerly Cuba's interior minister and Government Vice President, who recently has been in charge of Cuban internet "regulation."  Those who have followed events in Cuba closely will know that this obviously entails much of the Castro regime's recent repressive acts against Cuban bloggers.  And Valdes's personal history as Interior Minister in Cuba does not inspire confidence among Venezuelans, or anyone else observing honestly for that matter, that the essence of his task relates to repairing Venezuela's very serious electrical power generation problems, which are the source of significant dissatisfaction with Chavez's rule among Venezuelans.  As you will be able to see, Ledezma is absolutely unconvinced that the Valdes mission has anything to do with electrical power generation.

One other point to mention about the article.  You will notice that the persistent problem of public safety, i.e. "insecurity," again crops up in the interview with Mayor Ledezma, who is obviously seeking to reverse the effects of the Capital District Law of 2009 with respect to the maintenance of public order.  This is a major issue with many in Caracas.

TRANSLATION: "Ledezma:  There is a Cuban Invasion Here"

03:22 PM Caracas. - The Mayor, Antonio Ledezma, lashed out at the presence in the country of Cuban Minister Ramiro Valdes, and stated that the Armed Forces should explain why Venezuela is being invaded by a foreign government. "There is a Cuban invasion here. The president has stated that we have thousands and thousands of Cubans here. What response is there to this? We are thought of as unpatriotic when we make a statement of what is beyond Venezuela," Ledezma said. He added "Do they believe that they will scare us with this Cuban? Do they believe they are going to silence society? The Mayor considered it "a confession of incapacity, of ineptitude" that we are looking for help in other countries to resolve the electrical crisis, when there are dozens of technicians in Venezuela. "Tell this Mr. Valdes that we all know that he is an expert on police terrorism. He will be coming to electrocute Venezuelans because what lessons of efficiency in matters of electrification can this man, who has a criminal record and experience only in matters of persecution and harassment in the Cuban G2, give to us." Ledezma also defended the students. "I believe that the students are behaving as they are because they also use a light bulb to see, they know they need water, they are also family members." The National Guard is not resolving the problem of security The Mayor, Antonio Ledezma, considers that President Hugo Chavez's announcement of sending the National Guard into the streets to combat insecurity in the country does not constitute a real solution to the problem. "No one can frown upon the effort but the result of announcing this 6 times more or less, is that every time they go on announcing that the National Guard is heading out into the streets the issue of insecurity gains strength, the guard only shows up at bus stops and afterwards goodbye to the electrical power that's now switched off," the Mayor maintained. He said that the National Police have not worked out, and they have not done so because "it was a mistake to put a partisan political label on the police, nowhere in the world are the police socialist, or social christian." He suggested the government would be better off taking another look at the decentralization schemes for fighting insecurity that he proposed "instead of harassing the regional police." He asked once again that the Metropolitan Police be returned to the city's control in order to "teach them how to manage a security plan" because in his view putting that police force in the hands of the national government has not meant any better pay nor better equipment for them and less security for the citizenry. He insisted upon adopting the security plan that he developed with a group of experts headed by Fermin Marmol Leon. "The security plan prepared by a team of specialists has not been dropped." In Ledezma's judgement it is impossible for the government to continue hiding in the closet with respect to the subject of security. "There are war parties out every weekend, the President never speaks of insecurity and there are 150 thousand deaths in the 11 years of his tenure.

In the Blogosphere

As one might guess, the Venezuelan bloggers have been all over the Valdes mission and they go even farther than does Ledezma in voicing their anxieties about Valdes's past and what it portends for Venzuela.  Among the English-language Venezuelan blogs I would especially recommend Miguel's excellent piece at the Devil's Excrement, "Hugo: How insensitive can you be? Ramiro Valdes is a murderer."  That's spot on the mark, by the way Miguel.  Juan Cristobal has an initial entry piece up at Caracas Chronicles, "Enter Ramirito," which presents an introduction to Valdes and speculates that his real mission is to assist Hugo Chavez in controlling internet and telecommunications use.  Daniel Duquenal at Venezuela News and Views has two interesting posts to read.  He pegs Valdes clearly as "one of the major assassins of an already assassin rich Fidel Castro entourage," as well as a second post which reports that Valdes has been strongly rejected in the country and that those within Chavismo would do well to correct their mistake.

Among the Spanish-language blogs I would like to point to three at this moment.  Gustavo Coronel posted an excellent entry yesterday on the very topic I am covering here which uses historical allusion to compare Mayor Antonio Ledezma to Alonso Andreas de Ledesma, an honored and respected figure of Venezuelan history who defended Caracas from the attack of the pirate Amyas Preston in 1596 and who is widely regarded as the model for the character Don Quixote in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes of the same name.  It's an absolutely wonderful piece.  As always, Martha Colmenares is right on top of the issue in multiple posts on her site.  In her first entry, she addresses the negative reactions to the arrival of Valdes, and then follows it with a closer look at Ramiro Valdes as delivered by author Pedro Corzo Eves, which is most disquieting as it paints Valdes in very dark terms.  Finally, Lazaro Gonzalez at Cuba Independiente has a couple of interesting posts worth mentioning.  In "Que hace Ramiro Valdes en Venezuela?" (What is Ramiro Valdes doing in Venezuela?), Laz relates the Valdes mission to Chavez's need to address a deteriorating political situation among his own former supporters, especially in the wake of numerous and recent resignations.  And in a second, and I think very interesting, post "I am sorry Ramiro you are out" Laz suggests that Valdes's appointment is a sign that he is being moved out of the way in the succession to Fidel.

The Valdes mission will remain a topic to keep in view.

StJacques

 

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The Need for Dispassionate Synthesis When Studying Cuban History

 

Cuban Author Manuel Marquez-Sterling

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

John Adams, "Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials," December 1770

I want to send out a special shout today to congratulate George Moneo at Babalú for a post he put up which addresses one of the central problems confronting all of us who live outside of Cuba with respect to grasping the larger problem of Cuban history--the facts before us are very much in question to this day.

Anyone who has honestly examined the record of Fidel Castro's rise to power and the progress of his revolution as told in modern historical scholarship will tell you that the body of work which covers the topic suffers from a lack of what historians refer to as a balanced use of primary sources, which is a test of evidence presented, in various ways, in the first person. In other words, historical evidence is most believable and reliable when it comes directly from the source, rather than relying upon opinions given from the outside.

Moneo's blog entry presents a brief overview of a recent program he attended at the University of Miami's Institute of Cuban and Cuban American Studies in which Cuban author and historian Manuel Marquez-Sterling, son of Carlos Marquez-Sterling, a Cuban politician of the late 50's and early Castro era (when politics ended); gave a presentation on a book he published entitled Cuba, 1952-1959: The True Story of Castro's Rise to Power. Marquez-Sterling's principal objective is to present a more complete chronology of events explaining how Castro came to power, with a particular emphasis upon attacking numerous myths generally assumed to be part of the story as it is now widely held within modern historical scholarship. Some of these myths, such as those associated with U.S. support for Batista and the "evolution" of Castro's ideological development as a Communist, are practically accepted without question among those who study the Cuban Revolution, which makes the problem of understanding Cuba and Castroite rule most difficult. Many important facts are simply not known and, as so many within the Cuban-American community will tell you, are frequently denied or excluded from conversation when they are introduced.

While I am not a Cuban-American, and therefore cannot feel that special pain I know they must endure when they attempt to tell their story, I also have faced the problem of contesting the conventional wisdom on Cuba during my own time in college, when I studied History at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. I can especially recall graduate seminars in U.S. Foreign Relations, U.S.-Latin American Relations, and Latin American History in which I attempted to present factual information that undermined the interpretations of leftist historians--I studied under out-and-out Marxists--only to see it attacked repeatedly in what I clearly recognized then, and now, by fallacious argumentation. If my source was taken from the testimony of Cuban dissidents or émigrés who fled the island after Castro, I faced either an abusive or circumstantial Ad Hominem argument, which either attacked or discounted the testimony of eyewitnesses and those who lived the tragedy in the first person for reason of their political attitudes or personal background. When I presented U.S. government documents, especially from the Department of State, they were either dismissed or discounted for representing a minority viewpoint, thus committing either the fallacy of Ignoratio Elenchi (Irrelevant Conclusion or Thesis), or if the attack was prefaced with "everyone knows" the fallacy of the Argumentum Ad Populum (appeal to the people). And I repeatedly found myself in confrontation when I contested the interpretations offered by pro-Castro historians for my refusal to bow down before the demi-gods of the discipline, the purest form of the Argumentum Ad Verecundiam, or the "argument from authority." Logic and evidence have little or no import when faced with the passion of leftist historians who betray the methodology of their discipline when they corrupt it to promote their own political agendas.

Passion is a good source of motivation to encourage the study and writing of history, but it is a very poor impetus for the assessment of historical evidence. Passion and logic will always be at odds with each other and, as John Adams understood only too well, it will never alter the state of facts and evidence, which will ever remain stubborn and resistant to the propagandizing intent of historians who abuse their readers and do harm to their discipline when they ignore and attack the facts of history.

There will come a day, and I suspect it is not as far off as many might think, when the Cuban people will throw off the yoke of Castrista oppression and the truth will come flooding out in a torrent. When it does, there will be a period of reexamination among historians, many of whom will simply run and hide from their personal embarrassment, as was the case with the fall of the Soviet Union. A dispassionate synthesis of Cuban history, so desperately needed but denied us as of now, will then integrate all the evidence needed to tell what happened in the light of truth. The story of Castro's rise to power will be part of that revisionist process and we will likely see the work of scholars such as Manuel Marquez-Sterling reintroduced into the public consciousness as the institutions who manage public information find themselves forced to account for their past errors. And the story of what took place within Cuba under Castro will be retold as well. In the same manner in which historians of the Soviet era of Russian History who once scoffed at the story Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko told of the Stalinist terror suddenly found themselves compelled to write the Black Book of Communism, we will expect to see the Black Book of Castroite Repression in Cuba. It will happen because, as Saladin told us over seven centuries ago, Blood Never Sleeps.

And we know that the spilled blood of Cuban patriots remains awake because we have the good guys to count upon to keep the truth alive. Guys like George Moneo and his fellow bloggers at Babalú and elsewhere on the web, who will never let this story go untold.

Kudos George!

StJacques

 

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Intimidation of Cuban bloggers continues: Update from Penúltimos Días

Nueva golpiza y mitin de repudio contra blogueros (updated)

  

Reinaldo Escobar

I have a short note to post here by way of an update on the earlier news I posted regarding the violent intimidation of Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez and others in Havana on Friday, November 6.

Penúltimos Días has posted an update on a new incident in which Yoani's husband Reinaldo Escobar, who has his own blog at Desde aquí, was beaten in full view of members of the foreign press by a pro-Castro crowd in Havana on Friday.

Reinaldo is alright and you can see a series of four photos of the attacking crowd subjecting him to abuse at his own blog at the link posted above.

I am going to add those photos images in right here, in which I include a small red arrow pointing to Reinaldo so that he is clearly visible. Please notice the presence of the foreign press and the fact that Castristas are completely unintimidated by their presence.

Reinaldo enters the demonstration area

And the subsequent violent abuse

And Reinaldo's reaction? Well, he entitled his post "Para empezar a perdonar" which we would translate as "To Begin to Forgive."

Reinaldo Escobar is a man worth knowing about. What more needs to be said?

StJacques
 

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That Special Place in Hell

   

Fidel Castro	Sean Penn

I just read a post put up at the Babalu Blog by Ziva Sahl which is occasioned by the news of the open and undeniably brutal repression of freedom of expression surfacing out of Cuba yesterday and today with respect to the regime's crackdown on bloggers. Ziva recounts in very brief form the numerous crimes of the Castro regime, both past and present, and then proceeds to point out that some of the most prominent in Hollywood continued to be enamored of these thugs.

Here is a quote:

. . . Equally shocking is the fact that these mass-murdering thugs remain the darlings of the left. Just this past week Hollywood’s roving reporter Sean Penn made pilgrimage to Cuba in search of spike for his kool-aid. Surely, there must be a special place in hell for them all.

My sentiments exactly Ziva.

The childish and very dangerous attitudes put forth by those within the artistic community who see something worthy of admiration in Castroite Cuba are beyond reproach. They are quite simply, and without any qualification, opponents of human rights and proponents of slavery.

Let us continue to strive for the realization of genuine human rights for all and an end to slavery.

And may we remain confident that Satan will have that very special room ready for those who laud slavery, like Sean Penn and his Hollywood compatriots.

StJacques


   

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Brutal Arrest and Detention of Cuban Bloggers in Havana on Friday (Translation)

 
Friday afternoon a number of Cuban bloggers, including the well-known Yoani Sanchez, were briefly detained and brutally assaulted by state security personnel in Havana when they were intercepted on their way to attend a "performance march," that was billed as a peaceful gathering to support non-violence.

I ran across the news of this when I visited the Babalu Blog this evening and I have decided that, since almost all of the "primary source" news is in Spanish, maybe I ought to help out and post a full translation of what is known so that the story can be circulated among English-language readers. The Spanish-language blog Penultimos Dias has done an excellent job of keeping as much of the evidence in the first person as is possible, so props go out there.

I am going to post a full translation of the entry put up at Penultimos Dias:

TRANSLATION

State Security detains Yoani Sanchez and other bloggers on their way to participate in a demonstration-performance on 23rd Street (Updated) November 6th, 2009 The plan was [that] today at 5:30 in the afternoon: a group of youths should make a peaceful (not a protest nor a demanding political) performance-march from 23 and G up to 23 and L, crossing the corner of the Yara cinema and returning by the other sidwalk back to 23 and G. The idea was to add joyful people, without belligerent, only festive spirit. The performance-march was coordinated by Luis Eligio, of the Zona Franca OMNI group, and Amaury and Aldo, the rapper from Los Aldeanos. Also invited were the musician Ciro Diaz of the band Porno Para Ricardo and the photographer Claudio Fuentes, who formed part of the plan. The "demonstrators" were carrying cardboard placards with the words: Join us, No more violence, For the future of our children, etc. (some of the participants even thought about bringing their children to the march). There was a prior rehearsal in the Dimitrov Park at Paseo and 23, which included fraternization excercises (several of the participants calling each other brothers) and group theater. They are very new and astonishingly naive faces. A few minutes ago, when they were preparing to participate in the march, a group of bloggers (Yoani Sanchez, Orlando Luis Pardo, among others) were arrested by State Security and right now their whereabouts are unknown. Yoani's arrest was at the entrance to the Calixto García hospital: they put her by force into a State Security car, with a private license plate. Claudia Cadelo, with whom I spoke a few minutes ago, was also arrested, put into a patrol car and released somewhere near Nuevo Vedado, far from the scene of the march, of which I am unaware as to whether it finally took place. Penultimos Dias Update: From Claudia Cadelo's Twitter a few minutes ago: They took me by force in a patrol car and released me in Nuevo Vedado. 2 minutes ago from txt Yoani was arrested with olpl and put in a security car 5 minutes ago from txt I don't know where Yoani, olpl, nor Ciro are 9 minutes ago from txt They have now released me 15 minutes ago from txt [unintelligible shorthand]kicks me[?], Yoani, olpl, ci 30 minutes ago from txt I am detained 36 minutes ago from txt Penultimos Dias Update 2: From Claudia Cadelo's Twitter a few minutes ago: Apparently Orlando, Silvia and Yoani are somewhere near the Vedado, after being victims of a [State] Security ambush. They let Claudia go somewhere in Nuevo Vedado, but I couldn't say much more because I had no mobile phone credit, the same with Yoani. Orlando called me about five minutes ago: they applied arm locks to him and he was dizzy with neck pain. This was happening in the line at the P-11 stop at 29th and G, in sight of several acquaintances, including the young narrator Ketty Blanco. Orlando managed to drop the phone out the window and I do not know if anyone was able to pick it up. The girls also seem to have been abused. They split up in two cars: Yoani and Orlando on one side and Silvia and Claudia on the other. They wanted to go to a performance of the OMNI in Mariana Grajales park, 23 and C. I do not know much more. Orlando was so dazed, I could not speak with Yoani. They released her over by Loma and Paseo, somewhere near the Plaza. Penultimos Dias Update 3: The performance-march against violence and for freedom took place in the park at 23 and G. Some 200 people participated. Ciro Diaz and Claudio Fuentes began to arrive and they took photos of what happened. Now they are trying to go to the house of Yoani, whose mobile phone has been disconnected. Penultimos Dias Update 4: Acknowledgment of the message received from Veronica Cervera Ernesto, I just spoke with Yoani. She is at home now. She has a bruise on one eye. They physically and verbally assaulted her. Orlando too. They shouted at them [i.e. Yoani and Orlando] in the patrol car until they arrived there, they put her head down and feet up and they applied karate chops. She was very nervous. Me too. Penultimos Dias Update 5: A detailed account of the beatings in Yoani's statements to El Nuevo Herald (Miami) There is no blood. [There are] bruises, bumps, pulled hair, punches to the head, kidneys, knee and chest. In the end, professional violence. "I, who am a person of spoken pacifism, I am shaken by the violence, because violence mutes anyone," Sanchez said by telephone after the incident which lasted about 20 minutes. [...] "We were almost there when we were intercepted by three men in a car with private plates who ordered us to get in," Sanchez said. "We refused. I did not know if they were kidnappers or what. And it raised the tone of violence on their part." Sanchez said they were near the Calixto Garcia hospital, in Vedado, when she was "dragged into the vehicle and pulled inside by the head." "They applied judo or karate chops and continued raining blows and punches," she said. During the attack, Sanchez added, she managed to take a piece of paper one of the men had in his pocket, and put it in her mouth. "I don't know, it was as if to say: 'I have something of yours,'" she said. "The paper contained a name of a person and a telephone number." "It made him even more furious, and [he threw] more blows" she said. After about 20 minutes en route, the vehicle stopped in an area far from where they had been intercepted. "And we were thrown violently into the street" she said.

I encourage everyone to circulate this news. Forget copyrights, etc. Take the translation and run with it.

StJacques


   

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Is the Wheel of Karma Turning Against Chavez?

   

Gustavo Coronel has put up a short but excellent overview of recent events in Latin America which seem to suggest that Hugo Chavez's international aspirations for spreading his Bolivarian revolution are failing and that the momentum is currently against him almost everywhere in the region.  And Coronel's opinion is not entirely his own, as you will be able to read that many among the Latin American Left have been angered over Chavez's recent about face in his announcement of his withdrawal of support for the FARC in the wake of the revelations emanating from the laptops of slain narcoguerrilla leader Raul Reyes, which have turned international opinion against Chavez to a considerable degree and emboldened the opposition to leftist regimes he supports throughout Latin America.

I would like to point out that in a recent blog entry of my own I wrote that "I believe that the current political trends in the region are against Chavez and Populism" as I discussed the prospects for a post-Chavez era in Venezuela.  In Coronel's blog you will see that some of the latest developments in Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, and Cuba all portend for the imminent failure of Chavez's political project and may point to the impending end of his own tenure in Venezuela as well.  Given that the evidence presented is of much more recent origin I think it safe to say that you can believe Coronel's version more easily than mine.

Here is the link.  Go and read "SOCIALISM OF THE XXI CENTURY IS STILLBORN."

StJacques
   

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Discussing the U.S. Embargo vs. Cuba: Some of the Good Guys are Raising Serious Questions

   
I'm making this blog entry as something of a blog research note on the issue of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.  It seems that there is an awakening interest among many bloggers I personally count among the "good guys" -- the anti-Castro, true lovers of freedom crowd -- who are urging that the U.S. should rethink the usefulness and/or efficacy of the trade embargo imposed against Cuba.  I think I have seen enough in recent weeks to stop and enter a post here asking readers to consider the matter as something worthy of attention.

First; let me give you some facts.  The "embargo" is a term that is usually used to refer to both the limitation of exports of non-food and non-medicinal American commodities to Cuba, as well as prohibitions against the import of Cuban products into the U.S., especially sugar.  It has been a complicated economic policy that began with an embargo on shipments of military goods to Cuba in March, 1958 that was later expanded to include sanctions against the import into America of Cuban sugar in 1960 and has since undergone periods of revision in both the temporary relaxation of restrictions on U.S. exports to the island, as in the period 1977-1982, interspersed with sometimes complex restrictions on what the levels of American economic contact with Cuba and the Cuban people should be under law.  Exports of American food and medicine always have been permitted, but the big issue is the level of person-to-person contact, which is a matter of major concern among many Cuban immigrant families in the U.S., who would like to be able to send greater financial assistance to their relatives and loved ones remaining on the island.

I am going to skip an overview of the arguments put forth by the pro-Fidel sympathizers here in the U.S., which usually come down to the hateful gringos resenting the rise of a truly democratic [sic] revolution of the left so close to their shores and the policy is implemented on behalf of the Cuban-American "fat cats" in Miami who left with all that money when Castro came to power, and, well; you get that picture clearly enough.  However, I would like to point out that there are two groups calling for either an end to or revision of the embargo who deserve our attention; Cuban dissidents now resident on the island, as well as numerous and genuine "freedom blogger" commentators outside of it.  I think these are people whose arguments merit an examination, because they are working conscientiously to bring an end to Castro's tyranny and I am all for that under any circumstances.

Let me identify three very important Cuban dissident elements who are asking Americans to end the embargo; the well-known Generación Y blogger Yoani Sanchez, prominent Cuban dissident and political activist Martha Beatriz Roque (you can find both on the sidebar), and the organization of women known as the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) who are seeking freedom for Cuban political prisoners.  All three have stood up to the Castro regime under the most difficult of circumstances, which should give them credibility.  And I do not offer this comment by way of suggesting that we should accept their arguments simply because they are Cuban dissidents in place, because Yoani did say she preferred Barack Obama to John McCain and I am in no doubt that Obama has some more than questionable credentials with respect to support for democracy and freedom in Latin America.  He has close ties to some of Hugo Chavez's biggest supporters in America, including George Soros the main man for Evo Morales, along with a near hatred of the Colombian government.  These are but two of many things that make him look dangerous and no matter how hard we try to get him to answer some of the tough questions that would clarify his positions on these issues he refuses to respond, leaving us unassured of his good faith.  But I think we can write off the comments of the Cuban dissidents on Obama to naiveté, since they do not receive all the information we get with easy access to our media.  The important thing for us is to filter out what lies underneath the declarations of the Cuban resistance to Castro -- the embargo is hurting those who are trying to make a difference.  That is a statement worth listening to in my opinion.

There are a few worthy bloggers who have also called for a re-examination of the embargo recently, including at least two who have very high credibility with me for their proven record of consistent activism in the cause of freedom.  Marc Masferrer at Uncommon Sense has been doing an excellent job in tracking the plight of political prisoners in Cuba for some time now, and he recently posted a plea to avoid implementing the embargo in a way that hurts ordinary Cubans, especially the relatives of Cuban-American emigrés who would wish to travel to the island and send amounts of money above the limits imposed by law at present (which were $100 per month according to the last report I read).  Marc had already made a similar statement last year when he identified the problems with permitting one type of trade that benefited American farmers while forbidding transit for Americans of Cuban descent to visit family members; setting up priorities he described as "skewed."  And now Alek Boyd, who for the last three years or more has been one of the most important bloggers publicizing the case against Hugo Chavez and whose work I have followed quite closely has made an even stronger statement, urging that the embargo has been counterproductive as a whole and should be scrapped altogether.  The main points of Alek's argument are that the embargo has strengthened the stature of the Castro regime internationally for the attention it gets in its conflict with the American superpower to the north, the policy has hurt those people in Cuba we would wish to help most, the developing Cuban dissident movement is asking for our assistance by requesting an end to the policy, and removing the embargo will strip the Castro regime of the only excuse it has had to hold up to the Cuban people for its inability to provide them with the promised benefits of a revolution that has failed utterly at every level.

These are two very different approaches to a re-examination of the embargo, and I expect Alek Boyd's proposal will generate some strong opposition among many who pay close attention to the Castro regime.  But I must repeat what I wrote in the previous paragraph, which is that I have read Alek's blogging on numerous issues affecting freedom and democracy in Latin America and I believe his extensive record of service in the causes of each merits a fair hearing for his proposal. 

So what do I think?  Well; like Marc Masferrer I am most concerned about the plight of the Cuban people themselves; especially those who have been cut off from work opportunities by the Castro regime for maintaining contacts with their relatives and loved ones here in the U.S.  I do advocate loosening the restrictions on the amount of money families can send to relatives in Cuba and I would like to see travel restrictions relaxed to make their passage to and from the island a lot easier than it is now.  I recognize that Alek Boyd has presented a very thoughtful and well-intentioned argument against the wisdom of the embargo, but I still see the flip side of its immediate and total elimination as resulting in the gravitation of new financial resources -- read "liquidity" -- into the hands of the regime which would be a counterproductive result and therefore is a course I am unwilling to recommend without seeing some signs of progress on democracy and human rights, and I immediately demand a release of the political prisoners in that regard.

My suggestion for a process that can result in the lifting of the embargo is that we Americans first agree upon a basic principle, which is that we will attempt to separate what benefits the Castro regime from what helps the Cuban people and that we then sit down and ask ourselves how the outlines of a policy that would achieve the genuine aim of improving the condition of ordinary Cubans can best be formulated.  Then we take the first step.

I therefore propose the following three measures:

Dramatically raise the limit on monthly cash disbursements American families can send to relatives in Cuba.

Ease travel restrictions for Americans wishing to visit their relatives and loved ones on the island.

Open up American export trade to Cuba -- which is already larger than many people think for our agricultural products -- to include consumer goods not useful to the regime for purposes other than private use.

I recommend that we take the above three steps unilaterally without any preconditions so that we can then turn to the Castro regime and say "it's your turn," leaving the onus to respond entirely upon their shoulders.  And it may be useful to propose a gradualized process of trading one specific step for another in return that will lead eventually to the complete renewal of trade and the full recognition of human rights in Cuba, rather than insisting upon a complete capitulation to all terms at once, which we should understand is a political impossibility for the Castro regime.  However, we must demand the release of all political prisoners as an absolutely necessary first step, and, as distasteful as it may be to bargain, gradually work our way to the restoration of full political rights.

Step by step, solid action for meaningful response, engaging in an open and meaningful process that produces results and does not imply capitulation for either side.  I do not believe that there will be any turning back for the Castro regime once it starts the process as it will most certainly involve the Cuban people in a way they have never been mobilized before; a development that can have but one result -- freedom.

StJacques
   

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Cuba Independiente Zeroes in on Castroite Blogger Yohandry

   

Laz at Cuba Independiente is continuing his very fine work of keeping tabs on the Castroite Blogger who uses the pseudonym "Yohandry," who I have examined myself in a recent post.  This past Thursday Laz put up an excellent examination of Yohandry, in which he uses a little touch of excess to drive home a simple point that is becoming increasingly hard to deny -- Yohandry is not one blogger, but rather a group.  And the significance of this observation is that it is becoming increasingly apparent that the attacks on Yoani are an organized effort on the part of the regime to discredit her.

I would like to post a translation of the first four paragraphs of Laz's article, which get to the heart of the issue:

"The individual who calls himself Yohandry Fontana Guethon [he has forgotten the 2nd lastname in his new blog] who at one time confessed that he was directly responsible, under different pseudonyms, for 90% of the comments that were made in Generacion Y, which itself is a full-time job with several extra hours a day incompatible with his declared profession of doctor.  Bear in mind that on average a Yoani post generates about 3000 comments, for which Yohandry averaged some 2,700 comments.  Assuming that Yohandry sleeps about 7 hours a day and takes another two hours to eat, bathe, and one hour to read what Yoani posts, to receive guidance and read el Granma, we would have his maximum available time at 14 hours.  So to get up to 2700 comments, Yohandry has to post them at a reasonable rate of 192.86 per hour or by the same count, 3.21 comments per minute.  If someone can demonstrate that he can do this day after day, the best thing they can do is to summon the Guinness judge because he has an assured record. But that is not all, Yohandry states that he is a doctor and works as such, for which he would have to deduct another 8 hours minimum [I am not considering the trip back and forth to work because Yohandry could be a family physician who lives on the 2nd floor of the clinic.  Neither am I leaving out the time to do his "errands," union meetings, party meetings, meetings with his commander nor those which any doctor has in the clinic and the town.]; for which the real maximum effective time that Yohandry can dedicate to commenting in Yoani's blog is itself limited to 6 hours daily [14-8] and then Yohandry's efficiency and productivity reaches inhuman levels:  450 comments per hour or 7.5 per minute and if a Yohandry comment is 30 words, then he writes at the incredible speed of 225 words per minute!!! On the other hand Yohandry says that he is 37 years old, for which he would have been born in the year 1970 or 1971; while the fashion of names that begin with "Y" in Cuba began in the 2nd half of the 70's with its boom in the 80's as Yoani explains clearly.  It is not impossible, but it is unlikely that a child born in Cuba in the year 1970 or 1971 has a name that begins with "Y" and that their parents chose a name quite unusual for the time of the cane harvest of the 10 million volunteers, when Bolshevik names were the fashion, Vladimir, Natasha, Nadia, and so on. In a world where uncertainty reigns and the truth is more relative than ever, the sensible analysis of the circumstances of the person Yohandry indicate that he is not one person but a group that has the mission of deploying an ideological offensive from Havana in the blog world. . . ."

Laz goes on to point out that the Cuban government has been open about its plans to use the internet to propagandize the regime and he gives examples to get to the point that "Yohandry is only a crude way to put into practice the concepts that the leadership in Cuba has publicly expressed about the 'ideological battle' on the Internet."  And he continues with one of Yohandry's recent blogs which he introduces in the context of its presentation, which strengthens his point further.

I believe Laz is correct.  Yohandry cannot be one person and it is not an accident that he is getting so much publicity from official circles in Havana.

Buen Hecho Laz!

StJacques
   

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Alek Boyd Interviews Yoani Sanchez

   

Alek Boyd (center) with Yoani Sanchez and husband Reinaldo Escobar

Alek Boyd of VCrisis.com and ProVeo.org has an absolutely fascinating account of an interview with Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez up at his personal blog that is a must read.  Alek went to Cuba and managed to arrange a sit-down with Yoani and her husband, independent Cuban journalist Reinaldo Escobar -- you can check out his Desde aquí blog from the sidebar -- and though the portion of their talk which Alek relates is brief, it is also very revealing. Yoani's capacity for soft and delicate statements shines through.

Just one short quote from Yoani, as she describes her "cause":

". . . I am all up for debate, for the creation of a space where Cubans and interested parties can debate about issues affecting us in a mature, respectful manner. . . ."

It may not sound like much to those of us here in the United States, but those few words about "a space where Cubans and interested parties can debate" are a very powerful antidote to the repression of Castroite Cuba.

Good job Alek!

StJacques
   

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Cuba Independiente Awards "Blog con Huellas" Prize to StJacques Online

   

I am very grateful to Laz at Cuba Independiente, a blog you will see I have linked in my sidebar at the right under my América Latina Libre category, who has honored me with his personal Premio al Blog con Huellas 2008 prize.  I am in very good company as the other four recepients are none other than Yoani Sanchez's Generación Y blog, which does so much to tell the story of living in Castro's Cuba; Marta Beatriz Roque Info, a second blog of a Cuban dissident who lives on the island and which pays closer attention to Cuban internal politics and efforts to publicize the plight of political prisoners within the country; DAZIBAO-Ñ-., an extremely interesting blog from Spain by a Chinese immigrant living there who pays very close attention to jihadism, human rights in China, and la Pesoe, the program of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) of Zapatero; and Birmania Free, an almost unknown blog in Spanish that may have the best coverage of the on-going tragedy in Burma in any language.

As the only American blogger included in this list, I take this recognition from Cuba Independiente to be a special honor.

For those of you who may not know much about the Cuba Independiente blog, allow me to say a few things you may find interesting.  First, foremost, and not surprisingly so; it is a Spanish-language blog dedicated to exactly the principle embodied in its title, a free and independent Cuba (that means an end to Castroite rule on the island).  It is a very active site, by which I mean that it literally contains thousands of posts, many of which link readers to individual articles worthy of recognition.  But unlike some blogs which only post the links and leave readers to inform themselves, Cuba Indpendiente's Laz includes a running commentary of his own that is usually short and to the point.  Laz takes a hard line against Castro, but in my opinion, that is a very good thing, and it speaks volumes for his motivation.  And I should point out that Cuba Independiente has been recognized with awards of its own that are both numerous and which come from some blogging sites and organizations I regard as very distinguished.  I am a frequent visitor to Cuba Independiente for reasons of the broad range of its posted entries and the attitudes expressed in the selection of topics and Laz's simple, but insightful commentary.  It is a true Freedom Blog.

Estoy muy agradecido Laz.  Mereces un buen aludo.

StJacques
   

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The Gorilla Within: Castroite Blogger Yohandry

   

I have always been a proponent of the use of the internet as a forum for free and open discussion, which I naturally believe will benefit the causes of freedom and democracy I support in this blog project.  But I also am aware that free access to the world through internet blogging brings perils along with it, and I am going to introduce one of the most dangerous bloggers I have encountered thus far in this post.  I refer to the Cuban blogger who uses the internet pseudonym "Yohandry," whose blog at the forum of the Spanish newspaper El Pais has evidently just been removed by the decision of web site's managers following a dangerously threatening post directed at renowned Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, whose story I have been following in this blog for some time.

I must be honest and state that, even though Yohandry is introduced elsewhere as Yohandry Fontana Guethón; I doubt this is his or her real name given that it begins with the letter "Y," which Yoani Sanchez stated was a mark of unique distinction in Cuba.  The name "Yohandry" is feminine, but the writing style is uniquely masculine and I would like to point out that posters who have responded as commentators to Yohandry's "closure" notice at the La Comunidad forum have addressed him/her as a member of either gender.  The Blog de Yohandry hosted at the El Pais website was up for at least several months; a fact I gather from other blogs that go back to last February which either reference posts from the blog, comment upon them, or even give Yohandry an opportunity to post short messages.  I cannot say more given that it is now closed.

Beyond a general tendency to proselytize the Castro party line on a number of issues, Yohandry has made a reputation for attacking at least two bloggers I am able to identify at this time; the already-mentioned Yoani Sanchez and an additional Cuban blog known as Potro Salvaje, a name that translates to "Wild Colt" (Note: the Latino music group of the same name is evidently of no relation).  Yohandry accused Potro Salvaje of being responsible for the cyber-attacks that denied Cubans on the island access to Yoani Sanchez's blog last March.  I have read a little of the Potro blog and I must say that I regard this charge as near insanity.  Potro is thoroughly dedicated to the diffusion of information regarding freedom of the press, internet freedom, and access to cyber-technology in Cuba, as well as to the provision of assistance in the way of technical advice, tips, and tricks to fellow Cubans who wish to avoid detection and discovery of their efforts to use the internet free from the retaliation of the Castro regime.  But Yohandry would have us believe that Potro was out to shut Yoani Sanchez down.  You may guess my profane response to this accusation at your own expense.

Earlier this week Yohandry published an entry at the La Comunidad forum which leveled dangerously serious allegations against Yoani Sanchez, or perhaps I should state "dangerously serious allegations understood by anyone who knows the nature of political repression in Cuba."  Since El Pais has closed the site down, I have searched for a copy of the text from elsewhere without success.  It is no longer available in the Google cache and I am only able to read second-hand didactions of its content.  On Tuesday Laz at Cuba Independiente published an entry containing details of a new crackdown on dissidents underway in Cuba that cited Yohandry's blog as evidence that the regime's repressive actions may foreshadow a move against Yoani Sanchez.  I would like to post a translated quote from that blog containing the report of Yohandry's accusations:

". . . This is a clear signal of where the next steps to Tyranny are heading.  In the same vein, the award-winning Yoani Sanchez, owner of the Blog Generacion Y, was accused by a shady and almost unknown blogger using the pseudonym "Yohandry" of working for the CIA and corresponding with the writer in exile Carlos Alberto Montaner, who also is accused of being an agent of the same agency. . . ."

Anyone who is familiar with the nature of the Castro regime in Cuba understands the seriousness of these allegations.  They can result in jail terms lasting decades.

Soon after the Cuba Independiente post, other blog sites who track the progress of human rights in Cuba picked up on the story.  Martha Colmenares opened her own discussion thread and began circulating the information among bloggers and human rights groups.  Spanish Pundit picked it up and, I believe, may have the exact translation of Yohandry's accusation, which is as follows:

". . . That is not a debate blog, that is a blog where all the scum against Cuba meets.  Yoani is lucky, she has all those people there united and not walking aroung the net.  I accuse Yoani of being linked to elements of CIA, specifically to Montaner, the true owner of that blog, I accuse her of being linked with terrorist elements who live in Europe, Montaner and I accuse of fulfilling the editorial policy imposed by Montaner, the true owner. . . ."

Again; the dangerous nature of accusations such as these for a Cuban blogger like Yoani Sanchez must be regarded as severe.  We are discussing the life and freedom of a human being when we examine this in the real world.  In the context of international political blogging and the Latin American Left, the risks are more than serious; they are life-altering.

So where does this leave us when we deal with the question of how we enter into direct discussion with supporters of the Castro regime in Cuba?  I am very sorry to say that the answer is nowhere.  Yohandry has shown only the most recent evidence of a basic psychological truth that anyone who has followed the brutal history of the repression of human freedom that will always remain as the Castro regime's legacy should understand ...

Within the heart of every Castrista lurks that inner gorilla that is always ready to brutalize and destroy anyone who dares to speak freely of the failures of the regime.

And the Spanish newspaper El Pais should put aside its support of the Spanish Socialist Party for just a few minutes -- just this once -- and apologize to the world for having provided the means of the intimidation of one of the most important spokespersons for human freedom on the third planet of this solar system -- Yoani Sanchez.

StJacques
   

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Yoani Sanchez Warns of Her Possible Impending Arrest (Translation)

   

Yoani Sanchez

I do not think I need to put much of an introduction up here, but the treasured Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, this year's winner of the Ortega y Gasset prize for digital journalism, has posted an entry at her Generación Y blog warning that she has been threatened with action by the Castro regime.

I simply will post the translation:


5-16-2008

Complaint-Plea-Confession
Written by Yoani Sanchez in Generación Y

They are warning me that "my case" is lying on the table in some office.  A file full of evidence of offenses committed, a bulky dossier of illegalities that I have accumulated in these years.  Neighbors insinuate that I disguise myself with sunglasses and disconnect the phone when I wish to speak of something in private.  Little, very little -- they are making clear to me -- can now be done so that they do not knock on my door very early one morning.

In expectation of this, I want to point out that I do not keep weapons under the bed.  Nevertheless, I have committed a systematic and heinous crime:  I thought myself free.  Nor do I have a concrete plan to change things, but in me complaining has replaced triumphalism and -- definitely -- that is punishable.  I could never slap anyone, but I refused to accept my systematic smacking "I am civil."  This last thing is reprehensible to an extreme degree.  On top of that, and despite not having pilfered anything belonging to others, I have wanted to "steal" -- on repeated occasions -- what I believed belonged to me:  an island, its dreams, its legacies.

They do not trust me anymore; I am not entirely innocent.  I have brought a mountain of misdeeds upon myself:  I systematically purchased on the black market, I commented in a low voice -- and in critical terms -- about those who govern us, I have given nicknames to politicians and I have shared in pessimism.  Above all, I committed the heinous offense of believing in a future without "them" and in a version of history different from what I was taught.  I repeated the slogans without conviction, I washed the dirty rags in sight of all and -- a huge transgression -- I joined together words and phrases without permission.

I declare -- and I assume the punishment that comes to me -- I was not able to survive and comply with all applicable laws at the same time.

Yoani Sanchez

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Cuban Blogger Yoani Sanchez Refused Travel Visa to Receive Ortega y Gasset Prize

   

Ortega y Gasset Prize Winner Yoani Sanchez

I do not think it is particularly surprising to report that Cuban authorities have refused permission for a travel visa to Generación Y blogger and Ortega y Gasset prize winner for digital journalism Yoani Sanchez to go to Spain to claim her prize.  I reported on the announcement of the award last month, now the news is "official" -- how ugly that word sounds now -- that she will not be permitted to leave Cuba.  This action comes as a tremendous disappointment to everyone who has followed Yoani's blogging; I'm actually afraid to put her blog on the sidebar for fear I will unnecesarily draw the wrong kind of attention to her, but it only serves as further proof of the realities of the supposed "changes" we read are coming for post-Fidel Cuba from leftist blogging sites all over the internet.  Welcome back to reality, little has changed.  Except for the fact that there is a courageous voice speaking very softly through the short blog snippets she posts to let the world know she is there.

Yes; she really is there. Yoani Sanchez was named to Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People" for 2008, a rare honor for someone who began blogging from obscurity less than two years ago, but an honor that clearly raises her profile.  If you would like to read a quick essay that expresses the significance of Yoani's blogging from the perspective of freedom-loving Cuban exiles, check out the article at KillKastro that really gets to the heart and soul of what Yoani represents spiritually to Cubans on and off the island.  The Babalu Blog follows Yoani as closely as anyone, in both English and Spanish.  You can find several entries on their homepage as of today, but you might want to check out their "Yoani Roundup" post to get links to a quick overview of several sources.  And as always, Marc Masferrer's Uncommon Sense blog keeps track of anything and everything to do with Cuban journalists and freedom of expression on the island.  He has two recent posts worth examining;  A Dangerous Woman and No White Card for Yoani.

If you read Spanish, there are a number of places to look, but let me give you two quick links to help.  Penúltimos Días has a heart-rending "open letter" written to Yoani by Ernesto Hernández Busto from Barcelona expressing beautiful affection and sadness that she may not be present to pick up her prize; I wish everyone could read it to get a sense of how Yoani is really touching something deep inside people who understand the dangers of the path she walks.  And not surprisingly, Martha Colmenares continues to track Yoani's story.

Yoani Sanchez is a true blogger-hero who does as much as anyone to bring dignity and meaning to this passion for online expression so many of us share.  We will continue to look to her for inspiration.  And we will also hope and pray that someday she and other Cubans will be able to travel abroad, expressing by their presence on and off the island that basic human right of free movement, which is only one of so many human rights denied them today.

¡Felicitaciones Yoani!


StJacques
   

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Cuban "Generation Y" Blogger Wins Journalism Prize

In case you did not know it, there are a very few courageous Cubans still living on the island who dare to speak openly of problems within the island country. One of these is Yoani Sanchez, an independent blogger who has just been awarded the Ortega y Gasset prize, a.k.a. "The Spanish Pulitzer," for her work chronicling life in Cuba from Havana.


Cuban Blogger Yoani Sanchez

Story from Reuters follows:


HAVANA (Reuters) - Independent Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, who chronicles the woes of life in communist-run Cuba, was awarded one of Spain's top journalism awards on Friday, the Ortega and Gasset prize for digital journalism.

Spanish newspaper El Pais, which awards the prize annually, said Sanchez won it for her "shrewdness" in overcoming hurdles to freedom of expression in Cuba, her "vivacious" style and her drive to join the "global space of citizen journalism."

Her "Generacion Y" blog is the most popular blog posted from Cuba (http://www.desdecuba.com/generaciony/).

It received 1.2 million hits in February for its Web page on a server in Germany.

"This is great encouragement for Cuban bloggers who are still at an embryonic stage," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Havana.

"It recognizes that Cuban blogs can be a parallel source of information, reflection and opinions independent from Cuba's official media," the 32-year-old philologist said.

Sanchez has drawn considerable readership by writing about her daily life and describing the economic hardships and political constraints in her country.

Sanchez said she started her blog as a therapy to "let out frustrations," and write about the Cuba that never gets into the official press.

She has criticized Cuba's new President Raul Castro, who succeeded his ailing brother Fidel Castro last month, for his minimal steps to improve the standard of living of Cubans.

"Who is the last in line for a toaster?" was the title of a recent blog that satirized the lifting of a ban on sales of computers, DVD players and other appliances that Cubans long for, though toasters will not be freely sold until 2010.

In a country where the press is government-controlled and no independent media exists, Sanchez and other Cubans bloggers have found a new vehicle of expression, even though access to the Internet is controlled by the state.

The younger Castro has encouraged more public debate on Cuba's shortcomings in a drive to shore up socialism.

Reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes, editing by Todd Eastham)

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OAS Human Rights Commission Condemns Cuba Anew

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is a semi-autonomous branch of the Organization of American States (OAS), has once again condemned Cuba for multiple violations and abuses of human rights. The list of is a familiar one, but just to keep the information current it includes:

Restricting political rights and freedom of expression

Denying free elections

Denying an independent judiciary

Preventing the organization of independent trade unions

Stripping foreign reporters of work permits for the content of their reporting

Threatening attacks against Cuban rights activists

Imprisoning 26 Cuban journalists

Violating multiple articles of international rights treaties

But they made progress in extending health care! So we can keep our Che T-Shirts, can't we?

I know that for many of you it is not anything new to hear that Cuba has been condemned again for violations of human rights. But the very sad thing about the latest report on human rights from the IACHR of the OAS is that it comes at a time when the prestige of Cuba is actually rising in Latin America, if not elsewhere in the world, owing to the public relations campaign the Bolivarian Left has been circulating recently, much of which has actually been swallowed here in America by the Indy Media/MoveOn.org/Daily Kos crowd. It really is sad, but it is also true.

While it is a repetitive exercise to review the Castro regime's record on human rights, even though still worthwhile, it may be useful to address at least one myth which has circulated here in the U.S. about its historical context -- there has not been an improvement in recent years. I expect this myth will be repeated over the next few days in the event that a discussion of the IACHR's report surfaces.

Cuba has actually worsened in its conduct over the past few years, ever since the Primavera Negra (Black Spring) crackdown on dissidents in March, 2003. For those of you who do not know much about this, beginning on March 18, 2003 and continuing for a few days afterwards, the Cuban government arrested and later "tried" and imprisoned some seventy-five academics, independent journalists, librarians, trade unionists, and other activists. To this day about fifteen have been released for health reasons -- it is worth mentioning here that conditions in Cuba's prisons do not meet western standards by any stretch of the imagination -- but all others remain behind bars at present, some serving sentences as long as twenty-eight years, including the renowned Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet

There is so much more to tell about this and other continuing violations of human rights in Cuba, but I want to take this moment to refer you to some other very fine bloggers who have been on top of this horrible story and who are waging a good fight deserving of commendation. You will find this particular story referenced today on page one of the Babalu Blog, which may have the most wide-ranging information on Cuba of all the blogging sites. Work their site search engine and you can learn a lot quickly. I am especially attached to Marc Masferrer's Uncommon Sense Blog for its content on the plight of the journalists and others arrested in the Black Spring. Marc's career in journalism has made this into a personal cause and I want to come back to him later when I post more on the fine work of tracking political prisoners in Latin America now underway in the blogosphere. The Spanish language bloggers, many of whom take this story very personally and express its significance in heartbreaking tones, also offer a lot. While there are too many to name in a sentence, perhaps no one has done more than Martha Colmenares to track the plight of political prisoners everywhere, and especially in Venezuela, and the world deserves to know her. Cuba Independiente is one of many Spanish-language blogs to watch, take a look at the map image near the bottom of the page just linked for Cuba: La Isla Cárcel (Cuba: The Island Prison). You can also find more links to other Spanish language blogs at both of these two sites, and I include a couple more on this page in the sidebar at the right.

StJacques

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