Campaña
Asdrubal Caner
Escritor y Poeta
No end to repression
El periódico canadiense The Globe and Mail, continúa dando cobertura a la crítica situación que hay en Cuba, con las huelgas de hambre de los dididentes políticos, llamando a la liberación de los prisioneors políticos presos, por el sólo delito de alcanzar las libertades y derechos humanos, que la Monarquía Policiaco-Militar ha barrido de la escena política de nuestro país. Tanto este periódico como el National Post, son de los pocos en Canadá, que cubren las noticias sobre Cuba y emite sus propias opiniones, a través de Editoriales. Al menos se rompe el silencio complice y oportunista de este país, así como la postura de bajo perfil, del gobierno canadiense, con la dictadura más vieja del mundo. Some day the truths on Cuba will come and the canadians will turn pale of shame in front of the atrosity and horrendous crimes of Fidel Castro.
Asdrúbal Caner Camejo
From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Mar. 08, 2010 12:00AM EST Last updated on Monday, Mar. 08, 2010 3:31AM EST
Images of another emaciated and frail Cuban dissident-turned-hunger-
Guillermo Farinas, a 48-year-old psychologist and freelance writer, stopped eating Feb. 24, the day after Orlando Zapata Tamayo died from an 85-day hunger strike, becoming a martyr for Cuba's opposition. Four more dissidents who are in jail have also launched hunger strikes.
These dramatic gestures of protest are unlikely to force the hand of the Cuban government, but they have certainly shamed it.
The incident has quashed hopes - at least in the short term - for the improvement of Cuba's relations with the U.S. or Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mr. Zapata was imprisoned for speaking his mind. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's Prime Minister, called on Cuba to free all its political prisoners, estimated to number 200.
Cuban officials know this issue resonates abroad, which explains their predictable response at the United Nations. Cuba's foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla accused the U.S. of stepping up subversion against the nation, called its long economic blockade "genocide" and complained that global capitalism has brought about the death of millions in poor countries.
It is impossible to know whether ordinary Cubans actually believe that all political opponents are U.S. mercenaries, and that another country is responsible for what happens inside Cuban prisons.
It is clear, though, that President Raul Castro is no political reformer. Many thought he would loosen his brother Fidel's repressive grip when he took power in 2006. But Mr. Castro allowed 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003 to languish and locked up scores more on the grounds of "dangerousness" to the state (including writing articles critical of the government). Cuba is the only country left in the Americas which outlaws all forms of political dissent; it even forbids the International Red Cross from visiting prisoners. Mr. Farinas, the only hunger striker not behind bars, wants the release of 26 political prisoners said to be in poor health. Starving himself is the only way he can be heard.
And yet it is difficult for the opposition message to gain momentum inside the country, as Cubans are restricted from using the Internet, and only have access to government-controlled media.
"This is an incredibly effective, repressive state machine. People are justifiably afraid because they know the consequences of crossing the line," says Nik Steinberg, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who visited Cuba recently, despite being denied official permission to enter.
Don't expect change any time soon in Cuba - except a further loss of its credibility on the world stage, and more familiar rhetoric about the U.S. being the source of all evil.
PROTESTA: !1994 CRÍMENES CONTRA LOS BALSEROS!
PROTESTA: !1994 CRÍMENES CONTRA LOS BALSEROS!
Obsessed with the idea of finding a way out of Cuba, he convinced his brother in law, Fidencio Ramel Prieto, to take the tugboat and serve as skipper. Ramel, who was in charge of operations at the Port of Havana, served as one of its Communist Party secretaries and had twenty-five years of commendable service at the port.
This gave him access to the tugboat, which belonged to the state enterprise Empresa de Servicios Marítimos. With all vessels in Cuba under government ownership and tightly controlled to prevent escapes, this access was no small feat.
Raúl Muñoz, a friend and fellow port worker who had been harbor pilot of the "13 de Marzo" and was now the pilot for another tugboat, was recruited to pilot the tugboat for the escape. Several more men joined in to develop the plot.
The plan included numerous family members and close friends. Only Ramel had the entire list of the approximately fifty two passengers who were to go on the journey.
The organizers were divided into groups and each had a leader. Each leader was in charge of getting his respective group to the pier on the designated day.
To keep maximum secrecy, the children were told they were going on an excursion. On three previous occasions, a date had been chosen, but the escape had been aborted when insiders working at the port announced unexpected security measures deemed unfavorable.
Unbeknownst to them, government authorities had been receiving information of the plan, in all probability by infiltrators. The spies are suspected to have been part of the actual planning group -in fact two did not show up for the departure. But, the information may have leaked out to spies through relatives who knew of the plot.
On the designated date, the group quietly boarded the tugboat in the middle of the night and the motors were started. Unexpectedly, people who were not on the list showed up, a few others who were to come did not. It was 3:15 A.M. when they began to make their way out of Havana‟s harbor. Immediately, a tugboat belonging to the same state enterprise initiated a chase.
The pursuing vessel first tried to drive the "13 de Marzo" into a dock. When that proved unsuccessful, it rammed it, attempting to push it towards the reefs by the mouth of the harbor near the Morro Castle.
4 As its crew maneuvered skillfully, the "13 de Marzo" avoided the attacks and kept sailing forward. Free Society Project, Inc. March 2007. ©All rights reserved. Reproduction and redistribution of this material is authorized as long as its source, Cuba Archive/Free Society Project, is cited. 2
People at nearby piers and at the Malecón, Havana‟s seawall, witnessed the attack and were yelling to let them go. Just as the "13 de Marzo" cleared the harbor, two other tugboats that had been waiting for them in the dark, joined the chase. With their water cannons, they started spraying high pressure jets at the escaping vessel.
The wooden "13 de Marzo" was now being hounded by three modern, larger, and heavier tugboats made of steel –the "Polargo 2," "Polargo 3," and "Polargo 5." They were respectively commandeered by Jesús Martínez Machín, a man named David, and one called Arístides.
As the "13 de Marzo" sailed ahead, the pursuing tugboats kept spraying the high-pressure water and getting in its way to make it stop. After around forty-five minutes, when the "13 de Marzo" had reached approximately seven miles out to sea, the pursuing tugboats began ramming it.
Although the "13 de Marzo" had stopped and signaled its willingness to surrender and turn back, the relentless attack continued. The pilot of the "13 de Marzo" attempted to radio an SOS, but the pounding water had damaged the electrical equipment.
A vessel belonging to the Cuban Coast Guard had arrived on the scene, a Soviet-built cutter referred to as "Griffin."
5 But, it stayed back, simply observing the spectacle.
The adults brought out the children on deck to see if this would deter the incessant jet streams and collisions. In desperation, parents held their children up in the air and pleaded for their lives, putting them in front of the powerful reflector lights pointed at them. But, the attackers disregarded their cries and continued to bombard the powerless passengers with the high pressure water. The mighty streams scattered them all over deck, ripped clothing off, and tore children from their parents‟ arms. Some were swept into the ocean immediately.
In a frantic attempt to find safety, some passengers went below deck to the cargo hold and the machine room, many carrying children. The "13 de Marzo" was now taking in water from the incessant ramming. Although it had stopped its engine, the "Polargo 5" rammed it decisively one last time and it began to sink.
The doors to the machine room and cargo hold were blocked by the water. With the passengers pinned down, they desperately pounded on the walls and ceilings as the children wailed in horror. Frantically, Raúl, the pilot, tried unsuccessfully to open the trap door on deck as it was quickly filling up with water.
Unable to make it budge, silence soon took over. Those trapped below had all drowned. It was around 4:50 A.M. when the tugboat sank seven miles northeast of Havana harbor. Panic gripped the stunned survivors. Mothers tried to hold on to their children to prevent them from drowning, screaming for husbands and other relatives to help.
They all clung to life in high seas in the dark of night. Many floated atop a large refrigeration box, others hung onto anything that floated by or simply treaded water. The three boats then began circling the survivors, creating wave turbulence and eddies for around forty-five minutes.
It was obvious they wanted to make sure no one would be left alive to bear witness to the horror. María Victoria García, who lost her ten-year old son, husband, and many other close family members later related: "After nearly an hour of battling in the open sea, the boat circled round the survivors, creating a whirlpool so that we would drown. Many disappeared into the seas... We asked them to save us, but they just laughed." One of the tugboats attempted to run over the floating refrigeration box holding many survivors. Fortunately, it was unsuccessful.
Free Society Project, Inc. March 2007. ©All rights reserved. Reproduction and redistribution of this material is authorized as long as its source, Cuba Archive/Free Society Project, is cited. 3
All of a sudden, the attackers stopped and the tugboat crews told survivors to swim toward the Cuban Coast Guard ships on the scene.
Once on board, they noticed that a merchant ship with a Greek flag was close by, approaching Havana harbor. Survivors believe this is was what made the attackers stop unexpectedly.
Several Coast Guard vessels then moved in to rescue those who were left. The exhausted groups of rescued passengers were kept at high seas almost until around 11A.M.
When the order was received, they were all taken to a Naval Base at Jaimanitas, near Havana, where many high-ranking members of the military had gathered. The men were put into one cell and left there. The women and children were put it another cell, where they were interrogated.
Early that evening the women and children were sent home and the men were taken to Villa Marista, Havana‟s State Security headquarters. Some were kept in detention several weeks and released to domiciliary detention.
Two were kept for eight months. They were all given psychotropic drugs, visited by psychologists, and subjected to interrogations at all hours with the purpose of making them relay the story as an accident. Reports of the number of victims varied from the start. Because some who were supposed to make the journey did not show up while many others unexpectedly joined in, the exact number who boarded and of those who perished remains uncertain.
Finally, only thirty seven people, individually identified, were confirmed missing by their grieving families and the thirty one survivors. Many were related; most came from four neighborhoods of greater Havana -Cotorro, Guanabacoa, Marianao, and Arroyo Naranjo. Four more persons may have perished if, in fact, seventy-two passengers boarded, but they remain unidentified.
Despite intimidation and harassment, many survivors immediately denounced the premeditated ramming of the "13 de Marzo" and the deliberate aggression against them while they were unarmed and in no position to seriously resist capture. They recounted how the pursuers appeared to be taking orders from the Cuban Coast Guard cutter and that, at one point, a helicopter had flown over the scene. The escapees never imagined their lives had been in danger.
Even Ramel‟s son, who worked for State Security
6 and survived, reported never thinking they would suffer more than imprisonment if they were stopped. Unknowingly, however, they were taking a much larger risk than they had bargained for. Earlier that year, on April 28th, the tugboat "Polar 12" had been commandeered in Havana harbor and taken to Key West, Florida, with sixty-eight persons on board. On June 17th another tugboat, "The Mar Azul," had also been taken to Florida with seventy-four persons on board.
Reportedly, both tugboats had been pursued by Cuba‟s Coast Guard, rammed by its vessels in international waters, and attacked with machine guns even though they carried many women and children as passengers. Because information in Cuba is tightly controlled and all media is owned by the government, these incidents were unknown on the island.
The Cuban government reported that thirty-two people drowned and thirty one were rescued, but a list of victims was not provided. No bodies were returned to their families for burial and, if any were recovered, their location remains unknown. In fact, the authorities expressly refused to conduct search operations for the bodies. At State Security headquarters, agents mocked desperate relatives seeking bodies and told them that their loved ones were nothing more than "counter-revolutionary dogs."
When news reached the outside world, Rafael Dausá, the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, declared that survivors‟ accounts were "science fiction" and blamed the incident on the "thieves who stole the boat."
Granma –government newspaper and organ of the Communist Party- published the official version of the events - that the three pursuing vessels "had attempted to intercept Free Society Project, Inc. March 2007. ©All rights reserved.
Reproduction and redistribution of this material is authorized as long as its source, Cuba Archive/Free Society Project, is cited. 4 the "13 de Marzo" and the maneuvers undertaken to that effect had resulted in a regrettable accident that had made the boat sink."
In a subsequent story titled "Capsized tugboat robbed by anti-social elements,"Granma blamed the "irresponsible act of piracy" on counter-revolutionary radio stations of the "Miami nest of maggots" (referring to Cuban exiles) and on the United States‟ failure to abide by immigration agreements. A Granma editorial of July 23rd 1994 was titled "A bitter lesson for the irresponsible." In a speech on July 26th, Raúl Castro, the head of Cuba‟s Armed Forces, insisted that the tugboat was destined to sink because it had not been seaworthy and praised the Cuban Coast Guard for trying to prevent that.
Cuban radio stations, which are all government owned, repeated similar explanations. Finally, on August 5, 1994, in a three hour speech, Fidel Castro publicly praised the perpetrators for their exemplary behavior and patriotic acts and emphatically declared that they had no intentions to sink the boat. Attempting to feed the cover-up, some of the imprisoned survivors were paraded in front of cameras to tout the government line and insist that the tragedy was their entire fault. Manipulated into apologizing publicly, they had, among other things, been told that the populace was ready to lynch them for killing so many children.
Apparently, the international community‟s reaction soon tempered the Cuban government‟s defiant tone. World leaders, including the Pope, made statements denouncing the deplorable incident and expressed condolences to the victims. Cuba‟s Ministries of Interior and of Foreign Relations promised an investigation. Unsurprisingly, it has never been heard of again. Subsequent attempts by family members of victims and human rights activists on the island to open judicial processes via official legal channels have been ignored. In fact, the head of the operation, tugboat pilot Jesús González Machín, is said to have received a "Hero of the Cuban Revolution" award from the government.
Numerous reports by international organizations have condemned the massacre. On July of 1994, Amnesty International had called on the Cuban government to carry out an investigation of the incident and to bring justice if any government affiliate was involved. In 1997, Amnesty reported that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that it had been an official operation and that, if events occurred in the way described by several of the survivors, those who died were victims of extrajudicial execution. In June of 1995 the United Nations‟ Special Rapporteur on Cuba requested from the Cuban government an investigation and called for those responsible to be processed and the families of victims to be compensated.
On October of 1996, the United Nations denounced the absence of an investigation. That same month, the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) released a Special Report declaring that the Cuban state was responsible for premeditated murder. Over time, as more survivors and witnesses left the island and their accounts were pieced together, it became apparent that the Cuban government had planned the murder. It was evident that spied had been infiltrated who offered early and detailed knowledge of the preparations.
Reportedly, once the plot was known, the decision had been made at the highest levels of government to not foil it by arresting the organizers or closing the entrance to Havana harbor. Instead, they would be allowed to steal the tugboat, so it could be sunk and an enduring lesson could be delivered to prevent further escapes from the island.
Free Society Project, Inc. March 2007. ©All rights reserved. Reproduction and redistribution of this material is authorized as long as its source, Cuba Archive/Free Society Project, is cited. 5
ENDNOTES
1Article 216 of Cuba‟s Penal Code punishes exit from the national territory not authorized by the government with up to eight years in prison. Article 117 punishes theft of any maritime or air vessels ("piracy") with ten to twenty years in prison or death.
2The exact number remains unclear to this day. Ramel, the skipper, reported to the leaders that 72 people had come on board. But, when the victims and survivors were later accounted for, only 68 were found -37 victims and 31 survivors.
There are several explanations for this discrepancy:
1. The skipper could have made a mistake counting, especially in a situation of fear and confusion when some who were expected did not show up while many who were not did.
2. Four people may have perished who came on board with the last-minute group may have been known only to someone who died and whose families may not have known they were going on the tugboat.
3. Four people, also from the last-minute group, jumped into the harbor when the first hostile encounters took place and, in fear, have not come forth.
4. Four people were State Security agents that jumped, as previously planned, after the tugboat left the pier.
To cover up government involvement, only civilian vessels were employed in the attack and while only Coast Guard vessels rescued survivors. The O.A.S. report indicates that while this type of manipulation has been common Cuban government practice, "the attack against defenseless civilians was planned, orchestrated, and directed by the Communist Party and State Security with the direct participation of both." On the island, survivors and family members of those who died were initially denied information and put under constant surveillance. Many were dismissed from their jobs.
They have continued to endure systematic harassment by the authorities. Over the years, all survivors except one have managed to go into exile, some in voyages by raft. All bear the marks of deep trauma, feelings of senseless loss, and a sense of outrageous injustice.
On the island, the Cuban government continues to imprison, threaten, and intimidate those who seek to peacefully protest the sinking and remember those who died, usually in small ceremonies on the anniversary of the attack. Government-organized mobs, the Rapid Response Brigades, habitually scream insults and hit participants.
7 To prevent commemorative activities, members of political and human rights groups are arrested, mobs harass them and even intrude in their homes, and extensive police operations are mounted. Just this past February 27th 2007, five peaceful activists kept under arrest since the July 13, 2005 memorial were tried for public disorder.
René Montes de Oca, Emilio Leiva, Lázaro Alonso, and Manuel Pérez Oria were sentenced to two years imprisonment and Roberto Guerra Pérez to one year and eight months. The defendants declared that they had merely attempted to render tribute to the tugboat victims and only screamed at attackers of the Rapid Response Brigade to not hit them while they formed a human chain to protect themselves.
What is perhaps the most puzzling aspect of this tragedy is that, as with similar cases in the past,8 it has been largely ignored by world media. As a result, international public opinion remains essentially unaware of the systematic attacks perpetrated by the Cuban government on defenseless civilians trying to flee Cuba.
Sadly, many world leaders and celebrities display a shameless disregard for the most basic standards of accountability for the Cuban government. The Castro regime continues to enjoy a free pass to trample on the most fundamental rights of its citizens, including the most precious -the right to life.
See attached pages for List of Victims and Survivors, Photos, Brief biographical entries on all victims, and Sources.
TENSIÓN ENTRE CANADÁ Y CUBA
La noticia la dio “The Globe and Mail”: Canadá le negó el visado de entrada a Rodrigo Malmierca, Ministro de Comercio e Inversiones de Cuba, como respuesta diplomática, a la misma medida tomada por Cuba con Peter Kent, Vice-Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores para las Américas, quien tenía planificado un viaje a la isla, el 19 de este mes.
El señor Malmierca venía a la junta anual de accionistas de la Sherritt Internacional, importante inversora canadiense en níquel, petróleo y gas en nuestro país y con la cual Cuba tiene deudas, con mucho atraso ahora. Al parecer, Malmierca venía a convencer a los accionistas, de que Cuba pagaría, cuestión muy difícil si se tiene en cuenta el impago de la isla con Pebercan, también canadiense, que al final, canceló sus inversiones en la isla.
Por lo demás, Canadá conoce el estado de casi insolvencia financiera de Cuba, que ha tenido que posponer el pago de muchas de sus obligaciones con numerosas compañías extranjeras asentadas en la isla malapaga.
Hasta ahora, Canadá y Cuba han tenido unas relaciones muy tranquilas, resultado de 50 años de cierto silencio con la sistemática violación de libertades, derechos y permanentes abusos contra la sociedad civil cubana. Sé que, en ocasiones, Canadá ha protestado por la problemática de los derechos humanos en Cuba, pero, como decimos nosotros, la sangre no llega al río. Este país nunca rompió sus relaciones con la isla cuando la OEA lo requirió de sus miembros, por considerar el modelo comunista incompatible con la democracia panamericana. Posteriormente, el señor Pierre Trudeau se enamoró de Cuba, pensando que era un país justo, algo que él quería para su querida Canadá. Siendo Primer Ministro, fue a Cuba en 1976 y, recorrió y habló en La Habana y Cienfuegos, donde le dio vivas a Fidel Castro, algo extremadamente controversial para aquel entonces. Después de dejar el premierato, fue varias veces más a ver a su amigo Fidel Castro, y mantuvo con él, excelentes relaciones personales. Con la visita de Jean Chrétien en 1998, comenzó la política liberal del llamado “Constructive Engagement”, que ha regido las relaciones amistosas entre ambos países hasta el presente.
Canadá, un país que no tiene grandes monopolios o corporaciones industriales, financieras o comerciales, quería aprovechar la inexistencia de ninguna competencia comercial y de inversiones por parte de EE.UU. u otras grandes potencias, a la vez que trataba –según ellos - de hacer algo sobre los temas claves de los derechos humanos. Simplemente vio en Cuba, una oportunidad dorada para abrirse paso en sus objetivos económicos y políticos nacionales.
En ese lapso de tiempo, pocos han sido los desencuentros entre los dos países. Ha mi entender, Cuba le ha impuesto el silencio a este país: hay muchos intereses económicos e inversiones, que pueden ser eliminadas, si el colérico dictador monta una de las suyas.
Fidel Castro tiene como armas, la confrontación y la beligerancia y, cualquier país que no acepte sus generalizados y permanentes abusos, puede entrar en el área de esa confrontación, cosa que Canadá ha evitado.
La existencia de un gobierno Conservador minoritario, no ha podido cambiar las cosas. En el Parlamento se enfrenta a tres partidos socialistas, con una gran influencia entre la población: Liberales, Nuevo Partido Democrático y el Partido de Quebec.
Incluso, para nosotros los cubanos que vivimos aquí, se hace muy difícil la comprensión de nuestras denuncias sobre los crímenes y violaciones de la dictadura castrista, y esto, a pesar de que el pueblo canadiense es bastante solidario y compasivo.
Parte de esta situación se debe, al silencio de los políticos y de la prensa controlada por ellos, y al carácter y la idiosincrasia un poco apolítica de la población. Si usted le une a todo esto, cierto rechazo a los americanos, ya puede tener la idea de la misión tan difícil que tenemos por delante.
A raíz de la Conferencia en Queen´s University, yo y otras dos personas, nos reunimos con una alta funcionaria de Relaciones Exteriores. Fuimos allí con la intención de plantear algunos problemas de derechos humanos y violaciones, que queríamos que el Señor Kent hablara con las autoridades cubanas. Ella nos dio la noticia de que, Cuba había cancelado la visita de Peter Kent. Para mí fue una gran sorpresa, después de tantos años de tranquilidad en las relaciones Canadá- Cuba. Y le di mi criterio: si Canadá sigue con su silencio ante la situación de libertades, democracia y derechos humanos en Cuba, F. Castro nunca la respetará, porque ese dictador sólo respeta a quien se le enfrenta.
Por eso, me alegró mucho la medida de Canadá, de cancelar la visita de Malmierca a este país.
Fueron las declaraciones del Primer Ministro Harper y de Peter Kent sobre los problemas de Cuba, lo que enfureció a las autoridades castristas. Quieren que la ovejita canadiense, siga callada. Cancelaron el viaje de Peter Kent, a pesar de que el Ministerio de Relaciones canadiense, aportó más de 30 mil dólares para el apoyo a la Conferencia de Queen´s University, para traer a toda la delegación cubana.
Al parecer, Canadá ya está harto de todo lo que está ocurriendo en la isla, y ha tomado una posición mucho más respetable. Espero que siga así. Al final, Cuba necesita mucho más, yo diría extremadamente, las inversiones, el comercio y el turismo de este país.
Un abrazo.
Asdrúbal Caner Camejo
Representante del PSC
en CanadáCANADÁ: EMBARGO, CULTURA Y SARGENTOS CULTURALES
En una sesión plenaria de la Conferencia organizada por Queen's University, los Sargentos Culturales Rafael Hernández y Nancy Morejón – esta última con una larga trayectoria de servil y rastrero servicio a la dictadura castrista – han dicho que el embargo de EE.UU. ha “distorsionado” la cultura en Cuba.
Es más, el señor Rafael Hernández, sin ningún rubor, señaló que “el embargo ha afectado la vida de los cubanos y por supuesto su comportamiento cultural... al punto de que se llega a hablar de aislamiento".
Vamos a precisar: el embargo es el culpable del aislamiento y la distorsión de la cultura cubana. ¡! WOW!
O sea, que la política de Fidel Castro de “Con la revolución todo, contra la Revolución nada”, no tiene nada que ver con la distorsión y el aislamiento cultural.
Tampoco tiene nada que ver la represión y el terror contra los intelectuales y artistas.
No creo que estos dos personajes –embajadores de la propaganda castrista en todo el mundo – desconozcan la reunión de F. Castro con los intelectuales cubanos en la Biblioteca Nacional, en junio de 1961 – o sea, mucho antes de embargo – donde Virgilio Piñera dijo que “tenía miedo”, un miedo atroz a que “el gobierno vaya a dirigir la cultura”.
Mucho antes del embargo, ya se había censurado el documental “P.M”, la primera obra censurada por la tiranía.
Cuando no existía embargo, F. Castro le dijo a los intelectuales:
“¿Cuáles son los derechos de los escritores y de los artistas revolucionarios o no revolucionarios? Dentro de la Revolución: todo; contra la Revolución: ningún derecho" ("Palabras a los Intelectuales")
Allí mismo, F. Castro dijo que el gobierno tenía el derecho de "regular, revisar y fiscalizar las películas que se exhiban al pueblo".
No fue sólo F. Castro. El Che Guevara, en su obra “El Socialismo y el hombre en Cuba”, había sido muy claro:
“Resumiendo, la culpabilidad de muchos de nuestros intelectuales y artistas reside en su pecado original; no son auténticamente revolucionarios. Podemos intentar injertar el olmo para que dé peras, pero simultáneamente hay que sembrar perales. Las nuevas generaciones vendrán libres de pecado original... Nuestra tarea consiste en impedir que la generación actual, dislocada por sus conflictos, se pervierta y pervierta a las nuevas”
Más claro ni el agua: impedir la perversión ideológica, el “diversionismo ideológico”. Por ello cerraron a cal y canto nuestro país.
Señor Hernández y Sra. Morejón: esa es la causa del aislamiento de la cultura cubana, el miedo al contagio, el miedo a que los escritores cubanos vieran otros mundos y tuvieran otras perspectivas. Por eso fue que le cerraron las puertas de los viajes e hicieron una selección rigurosa de lo que se podía leer, escuchar y ver. Esto afecto no solo a la literatura, sino a todos los campos del arte y el saber: la música, el cine, la televisión, la prensa que podían comprarse o recibir del extranjero. Y afectó a todo el pueblo de Cuba, a quien recluyeron en un bunker, sin la posibilidad de contacto con el exterior.
Junto a ustedes ha venido señor Ricardo Alarcón, que hizo el resumen de este evento… ¿Recuerdan lo que le contestó al estudiante sobre el derecho a viajar al extranjero? Le dijo que, si se cumpliera ese derecho “el cielo se llenaría de aviones que chocarían unos con otros provocando un gran desastre”. ¡Dios mío, ni Cantinflas!
Las sociedades abiertas, las sociedades democráticas, permiten todas las críticas. De ello se valen los comunistas y los fascistas para sus críticas virulentas y subversivas. Pero, llegada la Revolución, es lo que dice Mario Benedetti… “Continuar tratando de subvertir un orden que entonces sería socialista, significaría sencillamente pasar a militar en la contrarrevolución”.
¡Esto es lo que lleva al aislacionismo más espantoso! Y es que, la naturaleza del Castrismo es el aislamiento y la confrontación. El aislamiento es la base del control, la represión y el terror, sin “audiencias enemigas”. De ahí la imposibilidad del uso de Internet por el pueblo de Cuba.
Antes del embargo, en noviembre de 1959, F. Castro mandó a cerrar “Lunes de Revolución”. Bueno, ya había liquidado al Diario de la Marina, y se había apropiado de todos, todos los medios de comunicación. Pero “Lunes…” era algo surgido al principio de 1959, por un grupo entusiasta de escritores que apoyaban la Revolución. ¿Qué pasó con el diario y muchos de los intelectuales, que escribían para él?
La mayoría acabó en el exilio, donde hoy se cuentan por cientos los escritores, músicos, dramaturgos, pintores, cineastas, periodistas y artistas, de todas las ramas del arte y el intelecto. En ese exilio hay de todas las generaciones. Ellos les hablarán de toda la represión por la música de Los Beatles, las UMAP, el “Quinquenio Gris” y otros engendros diabólicos del castrismo. Agréguese a esto, los “Quedaditos”, es decir, escritores y artistas que se han quedado en muchas partes del mundo, pero que aún mantienen el cordón umbilical con sus amos.
Es un cinismo inmoral el de estos Sargentos o Comisarios Políticos, que quieren echarle la culpa al embargo, de algo que responde a la esencia y naturaleza de una dictadura: el aislamiento. ¡Y lo dijeron sin oposición en la Queen´s University, en un país democrático y abierto como Canadá! La única oposición que tuvieron, fueron un grupo de cubanos, que protestaron valientemente contra toda esa farsa “académica”. Pregúntese el lector, si me dejarían a mí, dar una conferencia en la Universidad de la Habana, con mis criterios opuestos totalmente al castrismo. Simplemente impensable.
Para más información sobre el tópico de la cultura y sus graves problemas, puede consultar este artículo de Manuel Toledo: “Contra la Revolución, nada”. Pero incluye otros trabajos.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/
Hay muchísimas otras fuentes que se pueden buscar en Internet, donde se demostrará las falacias de estos señores.
Un abrazo
QUEEN´S UNIVERSITY: ACADEMIC IMMORALITY
(Spanish version down)
Canadian academics and others not so academic have decided to celebrate Fidel Castro’s 50 years in power with a conference entitled "The Measure of a Revolution: Cuba, 1959-2009", held at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, from May 7th to 9th 2009.
The event – as everything that has to do with Cuba – has raised objections and protests. According to Jorge Ferrer, author of the blog “El Tono de la Voz”…"A reader (of my blog) and colleague, Laura Garcia Freyre, was denied participation to the academic encounter. Her presentation involved the blogger Yoani Sánchez -Generation Y- and the rock band Porno for Ricardo. This denial is not really a surprise".
Right here in Canada, some people were also denied participation, as is the case of FOCAL (the Canadian Foundation for the Americas). Professor Juan A. Blanco explains:
"In Canada, FOCAL kindly and respectfully advised the organizers of the conference that there was an “imbalance” in the selection of the speakers and proposed holding a panel comprising of Yoani Sánchez and the publishers of two Cuban magazines: Convivencia and Espacio Laical (represented by Dagoberto Valdés and Salvador Vega) on the subject of Internet and development. The answers were evasive excuses based on technical and formality considerations similar to those presented to Mrs. Garcia Freyre. As well, they did not accept FOCAL’s offer to cover all the expenses nor the suggestion to use Internet if the speakers were denied exit visas from the Cuban government. Furthermore, the idea that this panel could be held outside of the original conference schedule was not accepted".
Another similar situation is that of Ana J. Faya, former FOCAL official:
"This event has been in the hands of people in Canada that do not want to criticize the Cuban government so as not to jeopardize their relations with La Habana and their ideological affinities. Some of the advisors for the conference actually worked in 2003 and 2004 at eliminating FOCAL’s only program on Cuba in Canada that denounced the violations of human rights in Cuba and the repression against all opposition. It is doubly shameful that an academic center in Canada discriminates for reasons of ideology when organizing an event that is supposed to contribute to scientific research".
According to the Associated Press journalist Nestor Ikeda who covers the event… “Out of the nearly thousand participants, the majority are supporters of the Cuban government, although not necessarily all of the speakers".
It is not only a matter of denying participation to people whose opinions differ from those of the Cuban government. It is also a matter of sponsorship, among which we find the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, the Ford Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
On the other hand, in the 47 panels and in the roundtables, we see that no difficult themes are brought up. There is no word on freedom, human rights, repression against the pro-democracy activists, political prisoners, conditions in the 300 Cuban jails, and imprisoned journalists and union members. None speaks of Dr. Elias Biset, Dr. Darsy Ferrer, Antunez, Fariñas and other black activists, in their quest for freedom and human rights. Nothing was said about the current racism in Cuba, the hunger, the misery and the inefficient economy. No mention either of the early years of the regime and the executions. And no word said on the Fidel Castro’s terrorist history in Latin America. In short, the history and reality of the Castro regime is not on the agenda. Should these not be raised by academics?
The 33 members of the Cuban delegation have to feel proud because they return to their country with a great success in hand: here in Canada, close to the Yankee imperialists, they have achieved one of the most successful propaganda campaign in the recent years: they have presented Castro’s vision of Cuba without any disturbing opposition. And this academic circus ended with the words of a man who was not able to answer the questions of a simple student at UCI (Universidad de Ciencias Informáticas de Cuba), Mr. Ricardo Alarcón, President of the National Assembly of Cuba. Add to that the movie festival and the book fair with titles like "Reinventing the Revolution: a contemporary Cuba reader" by Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose Jiminez, John M. Kirk, and William M. LeoGrande.
And finally, “CUBA FIESTA FEATURING THE CARIBE GIRLS. OUR GALA EVENT! GREAT MUSIC! GREAT SALSA! GREAT CUBAN FOOD!”
Isn’t marvelous!
Oh, I forgot to mention that Fidel Castro’s gift to Canada for organizing such an excellent conference was to suspend the visit of the Canadian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs to Cuba planned for May 19, 2009. It appears that the Commander in Chief was negatively reacting to Prime Minister Harper’s comments on Cuba at the Summit of the Americas.
This goes to show how the Devil treats its supporters. I’m so sorry Canada.
Asdrúbal Caner Camejo
Representative of the Social Democratic Party of Cuba (PSC) in Canada
QUEEN´S UNIVERSITY: ACADÉMICA INMORALIDAD
Los amigos canadienses del ámbito académico y otros no tan académicos, han decidido celebrar los 50 años de F. Castro en el poder, con un Congreso: “The Measure of a Revolution. Cuba, 1959-2009”, que se está celebrando desde el 7 hasta hoy, sábado 9 de mayo, en la Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canadá.
El evento – como todo lo que tiene que ver con Cuba – ha levantado ronchas y protestas. Según Jorge Ferrer, autor del blog “El Tono de la Voz”… “una lectora, y colega, Laura García Freyre, ofreció… el testimonio de su experiencia fallida con esa cita académica. La ponencia que ofreció presentar involucraba a la bloguer Yoani Sánchez -Generación Y- y al grupo de rock Porno para Ricardo. No es de sorprender que fuera desechada”.
Aquí mismo en Canadá, algunas personas fueron rechazadas también, como es el caso de FOCAL. Veamos aquí las palabras del Profesor Juan A. Blanco:
“En Canada, FOCAL (The Canadian Foundation for the Americas) alertó de manera respetuosa, oportuna y amable a los organizadores de este congreso que se apreciaba un "desequilibrio' en la selección de los ponentes y propuso hacer un panel con un servidor, Yoani, y los editores de dos revistas cubanas: Convivencia y Espacio Laical (Dagoberto Valdés y Salvador Veiga) sobre el Internet y el desarrollo. Las respuestas fueron evasivas basadas en consideraciones técnicas y formales como las presentadas a la Sra. Garcia Freyre. Ni siquiera aceptaron cuando FOCAL dijo que cubriría todos los gastos y que si no les daban permisos de salida del país a algunos panelistas se podría hacer por Internet. Tampoco resulto aceptable que se realizara como actividad colateral fuera de los horarios centrales ya comprometidos”.
Otra opinión similar es de Ana J. Faya, ex funcionaria de FOCAL:
“Este evento ha estado en manos de personas en Canadá que no quieren hacerle al gobierno cubano críticas que pongan en precario sus nexos con La Habana ni sus afinidades ideológicas. Algunos de los asesores de ese evento se dedicaron de manera activa durante los años 2003 y 2004 a querer cerrar en la Fundación Canadiense para las Américas el único programa sobre Cuba en Canadá que denunciaba las violaciones de derechos humanos en la isla y la represión contra la oposición. Es doblemente vergonzoso que un centro académico, en Canadá, se preste a discriminaciones por razones de ideología al organizar un evento que se supone debe contribuir a la indagación científica”.
Según criterios del periodista Néstor Ikeda de Associated Press, que cubre el evento… “Los casi un millar de asistentes han sido mayormente simpatizantes del gobierno cubano, aunque no necesariamente algunos de los panelistas”.
No es sólo el rechazo a la participación de otras opiniones académicas no compartidas por los cubanos. Es también ver a los patrocinadores, entre los cuales se encuentran el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Canadá, la Fundación Ford y el Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canadá.
Por otra parte, en ninguno de los 47 Paneles ni en las Mesas Redondas, hay ningún tema escabroso o difícil para la extensa delegación cubana. No se habla de libertades, derechos humanos, represión contra los activistas pro democracia, presos políticos, condiciones de las cerca de 300 cárceles cubanas, periodistas y sindicalistas presos. Nadie toca el tema del Dr. Biset, Darsy Ferrer, Antunez, Fariñas y otros luchadores negros, en su búsqueda de libertades y derechos. Tampoco se toca el tema del racismo actual en Cuba. Nada del hambre y la miseria, ni de la ineficiencia de la economía. Ninguna mención a los años iniciales y los fusilamientos. Ni una palabra sobre la historia terrorista de F. Castro en A. Latina. En fin, ningún tópico acerca de la historia y realidad del castrismo. ¿Acaso no son esos, temas académicos?
La delegación cubana, sus 33 miembros, tiene que sentirse orgullosa, porque regresa al país con un éxito extraordinario: aquí, en las narices del “monstruo revuelto y brutal”, han logrado uno de los montajes propagandísticos más exitosos que han tenido en los últimos años: la vencedora versión castrista de Cuba, sin incomoda competencia. Y todo el jolgorio académico terminará, con las palabras del hombre que, no supo responder las preguntas de un simple estudiante de la UCI, el Sr. Ricardo Alarcón.
Agréguese a eso el festival de películas y la feria de libros, por ejemplo: “Reinventing the Revolution: a contemporary Cuba reader” by Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose Jiminez, John M. Kirk, and William M. LeoGrande.
Y finalmente! GREAT CUBAN FIESTA FEATURING THE CARIBE GIRLS OUR GALA EVENT! GREAT MUSIC! GREAT SALSA! GREAT CUBAN FOOD!
!Maravilloso!
¡Ah, se me olvidaba decirles que, el pago que le dio Fidel Castro a Canadá por organizar tan excelente Congreso, fue suspender la visita del Vice Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Canadá a Cuba, prevista para el 19 de este mes, debido al disgusto del Comandante en Jefe, por las palabras del Primer Ministro de Canadá sobre Cuba, en la Cumbre de las Américas.
¡Así paga el Diablo a sus ayudantes! ¡Lo siento, Canadá!
Asdrúbal Caner Camejo
Representante del PSC
en Canadá.
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