Cuba - Social, Cuban Politics, Latin America

About Some of the Changes in Cuba

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February 15, 2013
Andrés Gómez, Director of Areítodigital

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

Miami.- I returned from Havana recently after a few weeks in that beloved city. A lot is changing in Havana, just as in the rest of the Island, as a result of the new economic measures in place in the country.

Clearly the changes are positive. New enterprising forces are visible. These were made possible by the latest laws, guidelines and regulations. The most obvious changes are those related to transportation, gastronomy and building. Also and most importantly is the money available to the population in general.

The availability of money in the population in general makes possible the rest of the changes that are taking place. Today I will talk about the three I mentioned before. Perhaps because I am not an economist I fail to understand how with the level of salaries received by the large majority of Cuban workers so many of them can spend so much money to acquire so many things. I know that there are sectors related to the new businesses that have a higher purchasing power; but it is difficult for me to believe that there are as many persons related to these new businesses as those we see spending money in the streets and buying at the commercial shops in the city. This situation is still an enigma for me. And although it is a mystery, I see it with pleasure, because people enjoy it and benefit from it. There will be time for me to understand it.

Transportation in the city has improved considerably, and not because the government has acquired many more buses, but because the private sector has made available to many customers the old American cars -at least their bodies, because these cars operate with motors and parts of cars that are not American. And I say to many –and not to all- because a trip in Havana (in the metropolitan area) in one of these cars costs between 10 and 20 non-convertible Cuban pesos.

Most of the persons who have to use public transportation because of their economic situation, must use the available buses whose numbers have increased, but are still not enough. However, the availability of “almendrones” [literally big almonds], as these private cars used for public transportation are called, contributes greatly to solve the transportation problem.

It is amazing to see the lines of almendrones, one after the other, along the main avenues in the city such as Avenidas 51, 41, 31 and 3ra in Marianao and Playa, Línea or 23 in Plaza, or Calle Neptuno in Centro Habana picking up passengers and performing dangerous maneuvers against traffic regulations. It looks as if all the old American cars in the Island are running as public transport along the streets of Havana. It is a good business that of almendrones!

Gastronomy seems good business as well. There are small places that require little investment with a counter or table to serve their products; some with a little electric oven or toaster. These are in home porches, building entrances, garages of houses or buildings, or inside houses that serve food from an enlarged window. They sell ham or ham and cheese sandwiches, omelets in bread –the omelet could be of plain eggs or with added onion, ham, cheese or combinations of these. Among these places there are many that sell Cuban pizzas or Cuban food. The Cuban menu and pizzas have been available for a longer while, but are more numerous now.

And ranking above these basic places there are others -better and larger- that are considered cafeterias, some with a few tables and chairs and others that also have a bar counter and tall chairs. These places vary in decoration, some are quite rustic, but others are rather elegant. The cafeterias offer different sandwiches and hamburgers, pizzas and even more sophisticated dishes.

And higher up in this gastronomic chain are the paladares and private restaurants that specialize in different cuisines or menus; from the budget places to the expensive and the very expensive.

Another visible change in Havana these days is in construction, or rather the repair, remodeling and enlarging of homes. The new laws related to the buying and selling of houses and the new regulations to facilitate the legal procedures to repair or enlarge houses have fueled these processes.

It is very encouraging to see how –not only in the areas where the best houses in the city are located, supposedly the places where the owners with more money reside, but practically in every neighborhood in the capital city- so many people are involved in the improvement of their houses.

And these activities have stimulated the creation of places where building materials are sold, including more materials and parts related to these works in the hardware stores of the State commercial network, and specially a proliferation of small kiosks that sell plumbing appliances of great demand.

In future articles I will be dealing with these issues, because they are important to see how our country is at the moment in the midst of a positive process of change that, even with its problems, makes life more productive and pleasant to our people in the Island.//

Sobre algunos de los cambios en Cuba

15 de febrero de 2013 Andrés Gómez, director de Areítodigital

Miami.- Recientemente regresé de La Habana después de estar varias semanas en esa querida ciudad. Mucho cambia en La Habana, como mucho también cambia en el resto de la Isla, como consecuencia de las nuevas medidas económicas que han entrado en efecto en el país.

Claramente los cambios son positivos. Se hacen evidentes nuevas fuerzas emprendedoras posibilitadas por las nuevas leyes, directrices y reglamentos. Entre los cambios que más se hacen obvios están los relacionados al transporte, la gastronomía y a la construcción. Como también, y más importantemente, es indudable el dinero disponible en la población en general.

Lo del dinero disponible en la población en general posibilita el resto de los cambios que tienen lugar y de los cuales hoy trataré sobre los tres anteriormente señalados. Quizás sea porque no soy economista, pero realmente no entiendo, cómo con el nivel de los sueldos que percibe la inmensa mayoría de las trabajadoras y trabajadores cubanos puedan gastar muchos de ellos tanto dinero en adquirir tantas cosas. Entiendo que hay sectores relacionados a los nuevos negocios que tienen más poder adquisitivo. Pero me es muy difícil creer que haya tantas personas relacionadas a estos nuevos negocios como las que se ven gastando dinero en las calles y comprando en los establecimientos comerciales de la ciudad. Para mí esta situación sigue siendo un enigma. Aunque es un misterio que percibo con regocijo porque la gente lo disfruta y se beneficia. Ya tendré tiempo para entenderlo.

El transporte en la capital ha mejorado notablemente y no porque el gobierno haya adquirido muchos más autobuses sino porque el sector privado ha puesto a disposición de muchos los viejos automóviles americanos, al menos sus carrocerías, ya que estos carros funcionan con motores y piezas de carros que no son americanos. Digo a disposición de muchos –y no de todos– ya que un viajecito en La Habana en estos carros, y cuando digo en La Habana, incluyo toda el área metropolitana, oscila entre los $10 y $20 pesos moneda nacional no convertible.

La mayoría de la gente que tiene que utilizar transporte público, por necesidad económica, tiene que recurrir a los autobuses disponibles, que han aumentado en número, pero siguen siendo insuficientes. Aunque la disponibilidad de los almendrones, como son conocidos los carros privados que se utilizan en el transporte público, alivia notablemente el problema de ese transporte.

Es increíble ver las hileras de almendrones, uno detrás de otro, por las vías principales de la ciudad como pudieran ser las Avenidas 51, 41, 31 y 3ra en Marianao y Playa, Línea o 23 en Plaza, o la Calle Neptuno en Centro Habana, recogiendo pasajeros, en peligrosos despliegues de paragüería. Tal perece que todos los viejos carros americanos de la Isla corren en estos tiempos como carros públicos por las calles de La Habana. Es un buen negocio el de los almendrones.

Como tal parece ser que un buen negocio también es el de los establecimientos relacionados con la gastronomía. Estos pudieran ser pequeños lugares, que requieren poca inversión, con una tabla o mesa para despachar, algunos con hornitos o planchas eléctricas, que se encuentran en portales de viviendas, entradas de edificios o entradas de garajes de casas y edificios, o dentro de viviendas en las que se despacha por las ventanas ampliadas de las viviendas. Estos pudieran vender panes con jamón, con jamón y queso, panes con tortilla — la tortilla pudiera ser de huevos solamente o de huevos con cebolla, con jamón, queso y sus combinaciones. También hay entre este tipo de establecimientos los que se dedican a la venta de pizzas, pizzas cubanas, o de comida criolla. Este último menú así como el de la venta de pizzas tienen más tiempo de existencia, aunque ahora proliferan.

Y partiendo de este tipo básico de establecimiento hay otros mejores o más amplios que son considerados cafeterías que pudieran ser de los más básicos con algunas mesitas con sillas, hasta otros que, además de las mesitas, tienen mostrador con banquetas. Estos están montados desde de una manera rústica a otros que están muy bien puestos. Estas cafeterías pueden ofertar diferentes tipos de bocaditos y hamburguesas, pizzas, hasta platos más sofisticados.

Y entonces están los paladares y restaurantes privados especializándose en diferentes tipos de cocinas o menús. Desde los que son más económicos hasta los que son caros, bien caros.

Otro cambio que se hace evidente en estos tiempos en La Habana es el de la construcción, o más bien, el de remozar, reparar y ampliar viviendas. Las nuevas leyes relacionadas a la venta y compra de viviendas y las nuevas regulaciones dirigidas a la agilización de los trámites relacionados a la reparación o ampliación de viviendas han dado impulso a estas necesidades.

Es muy estimulante ver cómo, no solamente en los barrios donde se encuentran las mejores viviendas de la ciudad –que es donde uno supone se encuentren los propietarios con más dinero disponible — sino en prácticamente todos los barrios de la capital muchos se han volcado a mejorar sus viviendas.

Y con estas actividades se ha impulsado la creación de lugares donde se venden materiales de la construcción, incluyendo más materiales y piezas relacionadas con estos trabajos en las propias ferreterías de las redes comerciales estatales, y muy especialmente la proliferación de los timbiriches donde se venden productos relacionados a la plomería, que tanta falta hacen.

Sobre estos asuntos trataré en próximos artículos ya que éstos son de importancia para representar a nuestro país como éste se encuentra actualmente en medio de un acertado proceso de cambios que, aunque con sus problemas, hace la vida más productiva y placentera a los nuestros en la Isla.//

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John And Ken Show Protested By Latinos

John Kobylt , Kenneth Chiampou

John And Ken Show Protested By Latinos, As Conservative Talk Radio Program Expands To New York

(The Huffington Post  |  Posted: 02/12/2013 6:21 pm EST)

A Latino group is re-launching a campaign against a talk radio show it accuses of fueling hate speech against Hispanics.

The National Hispanic Media Coalition said Tuesday it would renew its push to force the “John and Ken Show” off the air, now that the show will begin syndicating its program in New York, according to La Opiníon.

Despite a round of cultural sensitivity training, the radio personalities have built a reputation for offending people of color, the Coalition says. The hosts routinely bash undocumented immigrants on their show.

The Coalition first launched its attack on the radio duo back in 2011. Just before the passage of the California DREAM Act, the hosts read the cell phone number of immigrant rights activist Jorge Mario Cabrera on air and urged their listeners to call him. Hundreds of “John and Ken Show” fans obeyed, many leaving hateful and threatening messages, including one who said:

You illegal immigrant, piece of sh*t motherf***er. We will do everything to fight you motherf***ers until you’re all dead, you’re all motherf***ing dead.

Kobylt and Chiampou apologized for the incident and wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Times that they hadn’t intended for their listeners to threaten Cabrera and said his cell phone appeared on his organization’s press releases.

But their response didn’t satisfy the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which says on its website:

For years John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, hosts of “The John and Ken Show,” have terrorized and targeted Los Angeles communities, creating an atmosphere of hate, intolerance, discrimination and legitimizing hateful attitudes against members of these groups. John and Ken are known to habitually use unsubstantiated claims, divisive language, flawed argumentation and dehumanizing metaphors to shock and anger their audience.

Advertisers including General Motors and the Anaheim Angels pulled their money out of the show in response to a boycott led by Latino activists after the Cabrera incident.

Kobylt and Chiampou were suspended for seven days last year for calling Whitney Houston a “crack ho” after her death. They apologized for the remarks.

With a weekly audience of 1.2 million, the afternoon talk show is one of California’s highest rated, according to Los Angeles Magazine.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhGFte4mLoQ&feature=player_detailpage

Other related stories

La Opinion: http://www.laopinion.com/coalicion-medios-hispanos-renueva-lucha-contra-programa-radial-racista-john-and-ken-show-los-angeles&source=RSS#.URrQfaVEGSp

RBR-TVBR: http://rbr.com/nhmc-denounces-john-and-ken-show-addition-in-nyc/

Cuban Arts, Cuban Culture

A much more universal José Martí

3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR WORLD EQUILIBRIUM

Pedro de la Hoz / Photos: Juvenal Balán & Jorge Luis González (GRANMA INTERNACIONAL)

 Jose Marti Cuban Revolution

Jose Marti Cuban Revolution

A much more universal José Martí emerged from the 3rd International Conference for World Equilibrium, the closing session of which took place January 30 in Havana’s International Convention Center.

One of the most eloquent results of the conference, which brought together more than 800 delegates, is the José Martí World Solidarity Project Declaration and the commitment made by the Youth Forum, included on the event’s agenda.

The Declaration, signed by eminent intellectuals and read by Ignacio Ramonet, warns of the dangers of nuclear war, climate change and the social crisis produced by increasing inequalities within the dominant economic model. It identifies the growing strength of those proposing alternatives and fighting for peace and justice. To this end, Martí’s thinking has become a necessary reference and opens the way to a better world.

For their part, young people affirmed their commitment to promoting Martí’s ideas, fighting to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba and for the liberation of the Cuba Five serving unjust sentences in the heart of the empire.

In the closing session, attended by Council of State Vice President Esteban Lazo and Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, various speakers confirmed the value of the conference and the continuing relevance of Martí’s ideas. At the same time, they addressed significant current issues such as the new movement in Latin America and the Caribbean, solidarity with the Bolivarian process in Venezuela and its leader Hugo Chávez, the adoption of successful strategies against global hegemony, and the need to promote environmental solutions and protect nature.

INTEGRATION TO CHANGE THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva advocated systematizing a doctrine of Latin American and Caribbean integration which would serve as an intellectual platform for the arduous tasks being undertaken in the region to fulfill Martí’s ideas.

His appeal was directed at participants in the 3rd International Conference for World Equilibrium, which closed with a dedication to the Cuban national hero on the 160th anniversary of his birth.

Full integration would contribute to changing the history of Latin America, Lula stated. “We must forge concrete unity among intellectuals, students, labor unions and social movements. We are constructing something that would have seemed impossible a number of years ago.”

Lula mounted the podium wearing a red guayabera shirt in honor of President Hugo Chávez, who is battling in Havana to recover his health, and expressed his happiness at having met a few hours earlier “with that great compañero Fidel,” and then with President Raúl Castro.

After asking for a minute’s silence in a tribute to the young victims of the tragedy in the university city of Santa Maria, the former President recalled the first time he spoke at the International Convention Center, in 1985, during an international meeting, led by Fidel, on external debt.

“Cuba has a very special significance. The moral authority constructed by this people in defense of dignity and sovereignty is even respected by those who do not sympathize with the Cuban Revolution,” he affirmed.

Referring to the five Cuban anti-terrorists unjustly sentenced in the United States, Lula recounted that, as President of Brazil, he interceded on behalf of the heroes on a visit to Washington during the George W. Bush administration.

“Unfortunately, it would seem that the Americans turn a deaf ear when the issue is about the problems of our beloved Latin America. I hope that in his second term, Obama will release the Five, end the blockade of Cuba and look more equitably and justly upon our region. Obama should have the same daring as his people had when voting for him.”

Lula shared some of his experiences as President over eight years, heading an administration which was able to reduce poverty, implement policies of inclusion and social mobility, give people land, and open new universities, policies now being extended by the Dilma Rousseff government.

In the last part of his speech, Lula called for a new political and economic order, the premises of which include the democratization of the United Nations and international financial organizations, and reiterated his confidence that the construction of a better world will become a reality sooner rather than later.

Positive contributions were made during the closing session by former Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom; Mikhail Ostrovski, Vice President of the Russian Civic Chamber; Jean Pierre Bel, President of the French Senate; and Ecuadoran Defense Minister María Fernanda Espinosa. Other speakers were Simon Deuseuil Desras, President of the Haitian Senate; former Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana and Senator María de los Angeles Higonet, both from Argentina; and the Culture Ministers of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, Pedro Calzadilla and José Antonio Rodríguez, respectively. Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal closed the conference with a moving speech in which he recalled how, through the Moncada assault, Fidel restored the figure of Martí in order to illuminate the paths of resistance and dignity of the Cuban people after the triumph of January 1, 1959.

A much more universal José Martí

Cuban Revolution, The Cuban Five

What is the U.S. Government Afraid of ?

hernandez

In 2001 Gerardo Hernandez was condemned to two life sentences, one of them for conspiracy to commit murder for the shooting down of two planes of Brothers to the Rescue. Gerardo had nothing to do with the shooting down of these planes on February 24, 1996 and the U.S. Government could present no evidence to the contrary. That was a decision of the Cuban Government in defense of its sovereignty after 26 violations of Cuba’s airspace by this group.

Despite the fact that Gerardo had nothing to do with this incident, the proof of the place where the planes fell holds the key information to this unfortunate episode caused by Brothers to the Rescue. The evidence of NASA satellite images from that day could exonerate Gerardo. Well within his rights, he has requested the U.S. government to present evidence for which he was condemned by that false charge. To this day the U.S. has refused to do so.

Why is it that the U.S. government continues to hide such crucial evidence? It alleges that the aircraft fell in international waters. Cuba has reiterated with sufficient evidence before international organizations that the aircraft fell in waters within Cuban jurisdiction.

If the US government had the basis to indict Gerardo, why is it hiding the satellite images after 17 years? What is the United State governments afraid of?

Satellite Images Demand Goes to Reluctant Circuit

Friday, January 11, 2013

By MATT REYNOLDS

PASADENA, Calif. (CN) – There is no reason for the U.S. government to shield the existence of satellite images showing the Cuban government shoot down airplanes, a group told the 9th Circuit.

In 2010, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law filed a federal complaint under the Freedom of Information Act against NASA and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The group wants access to any satellite pictures taken on Feb. 24, 1996, of an area near the north coast of Cuba, where Cuban MiGs shot down two aircraft flown by Cuban exiles in the group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four U.S. citizens. The center believes that such information is critical to a Habeas Corpus petition for Gerardo Hernandez, who is serving life in prison based on charges that he fed Cuba the information that led to the 1996 shooting.

Hernandez belongs to a group of Cuban men known as the Cuban Five, detained for spying on Brothers to the Rescue on American soil. After Hernandez was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, an appeals court briefly overturned the convictions against him and his compatriots. The full 11th Circuit eventually reinstated the convictions, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari.

The Center for Human Rights said confirmation of the satellite images would help it determine where the shoot-down occurred to undermine Hernandez’s conviction. But the NGA refused even to confirm or deny the existence of the records or images that the group seeks. Refusing to acknowledge the existence of an item requested under FOIA is known as a Glomar response, named after the Hughes Glomar Explorer, a ship used in a classified CIA project to raise a sunken Soviet submarine from the Pacific Ocean. Responding to the center’s lawsuit, NGA director Barry Barlow explained the reasoning behind the agency’s decision in a declaration to the court.

U. S. District Judge Margaret Morrow in Los Angeles found this explanation credible and granted the government summary judgment in 2011.

“The court holds that the NGA has met its burden of showing that it acted permissibly in determining that acknowledging the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to plaintiffs’ request might disclose sources or methods of foreign intelligence and harm national security,” Morrow wrote. Represented by its executive director, Peter Schey, the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law urged the 9th Circuit on Wednesday to revive the case. Schey said this case represents the “very first time” an intelligence agency had taken the position that it would apply a Glomar response to every Freedom of Information Act request. Confirming the existence of the images would only confirm what the world already knows: that America gathers foreign intelligence, he argued. Skeptical, Judge Margaret McKeown told Schey: “That hardly trumps the view that there’s a significant national security interest.” Schey insisted that Barlow’s declaration was inadequate, calling it a “cookie cutter” affidavit that the agency could wield to deny all future requests for satellite images under the Freedom of Information Act.

Judge Milan Smith seemed convinced by Barlow’s declaration. He noted that the plaintiffs had a mountain to climb because of lack of case law. Matters of national security are an “area of expertise” for the government, not the courts, he added. In response, Schey questioned NGA’s authority to deny the request at all. He argued that the director of national intelligence, not the NGA, must protect intelligence sources. But Justice Department attorney Thomas Byron said the agency was “authorized” to use a Glomar response. He also disputed the notion that all future requests of a similar nature would be denied using the same exemption.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski asked Bryon why it would threaten national security to confirm the existence of the images. “I’m not sure how saying that we have a picture at a particular time and place reveals anything at all,” the chief said.
Bryon stuck to the line that America’s enemies might gather information on U.S. intelligence-gathering capabilities and limitations, even if the agency did no more than confirm or deny the existence of the images. He said foreign spies could track where the satellites operate, and glean intelligence from the resolution of the image, and the angle at which a picture was taken. Kozinski pressed for an answer as to whether the agency would use an exemption to deny all Freedom of Information Act requests for images.
After some back and forth, Bryon conceded that, when it came to images taken at a certain time and place, the exemption could apply. The attorney also said that the agency was happy to provide the court with more detail in camera, but argued that such an examination should be a “last resort.”
“I’m not asking to see the pictures,” Kozinski said to chuckles from the courtroom. “I have enough trouble with the fact that you can see my house on Google maps. If you look close enough, you might see me sunbathing on the patio.”