Cuba's topics - tribe.net

This might be a silly concern, but...........

tairae — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:25:56 GMT

I have a friend in cuba, today is his birthday. I would love to call him, but I am scared to do it. I know this sounds silly, but I am an american who is not supposed to know anyone in Cuba (how would I....I've never been there *ahem ahem*). I know it's not illegal to call cuba, if it's even possible to do from american phones (stupid bullshit). I know it's not illegal for me to know people there. What I don't know is if our government is going to screen calls to cuba, if they are going to put me on a watch list because I have friends there, if they are even going to let me make the call or if the phone will just explode in my hands. I know this sounds somewhat rediculous, but I can't help but to be afraid of what Big Brother will do if they know I am friends with the enemy. Any thoughts?

posted in Cuba - 4 replies

How can I still love Cuba even with all the negative aspects...?

leonmac — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 06:07:52 GMT

Anyone...? Anyone...?

Maybe its the people?

Maybe its the culture?

The music...?

Maybe it represents some sub-consious disfunctional relationship dynamic...

Maybe I havent been cured of my romantic ideals yet...

Anyone...?

L

posted in Cuba - 3 replies

People in San Diego don't support Cuban music.

Cáemgen — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:38:39 GMT

And that is a fact. After going last night to the Danny Lozada concert downtown to an almost empty hall, I can again confirm what was already obvious.

Danny Lozada, before defecting two years ago to Miami, fronted the top dance band in Cuba 'Charanga Habanera' during their peak in the late ninties. He then had success going solo after that producing at that time what many people say is one of the top five timba cds _Tanto le Pedi_. So never the less with that kind of fame one would think that the so called "Cuba music enthusiasts" would make an effort to get off their asses and drive 10 -15 minutes to the venue and pay $20 (not much more than what they pay for a Cuban dance class in S.D.) to see the artist. But no. Out of all the drummers, dancers, musicians, Cubaphiles, and trend followers that I know or have seen in this town, not one of those people showed up to see the first Cuban artist to play here in the last five years, at least.

San Diego is lame to be sure, but you folks who are supposed to be *in* to Cuban culture need to put down your bong for five minutes and go out and show *some* support and enthusiasm.

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Cuban street party.

Cáemgen — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:27:36 GMT

Look how much fun you're missing.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7KxO1Lb54A

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlP9kSJeuc

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yrwZyhLoFU

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1uRCpKLZz0

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

9/11 Sicko and Cuban Healthcare

Cáemgen — Wed, 23 May 2007 06:15:33 GMT

This video speaks for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgNkdATthKQ

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

What Cubans Can Not Do - do you go to Cuba to work for change or for pleasure?

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:20:51 GMT

What Cubans Can Not Do
Do you go to Cuba to work for change or for pleasure? Knowing these very well known facts below. If you don't believe this post or if you think they are lies all you need to do is go to any international human rights organization like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch or Reporters without Borders - all center left orgs to find what is written below isn't that much of a tall tal
Cubans can not:

Travel abroad without government permission.

Change jobs without government permission.

Change residence without government permission.

Access the Internet without government permission (the Internet is
closely monitored and controlled by the government. Only 1.67% of the
population has access to the Internet).

Send their children to a private or religious school (all schools are
government run, there are no religious schools in Cuba).

Watch independent or private radio or TV stations (all TV and radio
stations are owned and run by the government). Cubans illegally
watch/listen to foreign broadcasts.

Read books, magazines or newspapers, unless approved/published by the
government (all books, magazines and newspapers are published by the
government).

Receive publications from abroad or from visitors (punishable by jail
terms under Law 88).

Visit or stay in tourist hotels, restaurants, and resorts (these are
off-limits to Cubans).

Seek employment with foreign companies on the island, unless approved
by the government.

Run for public office unless approved by Cubas Communist Party.

Own businesses, unless they are very small and approved by the
government and pay onerous taxes.

Join an independent labor union (there is only one, government
controlled labor union and no individual or collective bargaining is allowed;
neither are strikes or protests).

Retain a lawyer, unless approved by the government.

Choose a physician or hospital. Both are assigned by the government.

Refuse to participate in mass rallies and demonstrations organized by
the Cuban Communist Party.

Criticize the Castro regime or the Cuban Communist Party, the only
party allowed in Cuba.

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

Just Returned

DragonFly! — Tue, 08 May 2007 17:47:31 GMT

just back from 3 weeks on the "big island". magical!!

things seem to be improving in some areas, not so much in others. perhaps the biggest improvements i saw are that there is much more food. restaurants are open. there are street kiosks selling beer, rum and snacks. water can still be shutoff at times, but electrical blackouts seem to be rare.

the cities in the interior seem to have a lot more consumer goods. i saw well-stocked stores, albeit not a lot of them, in Holguin, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Avila and others. also, there is a thriving Bed & Breakfast industry (called Casas Particulares). great accomodations in private homes with awesome food and excellent company.

i had a rental car and was stopped 9-10 times at police checkpoints. one time i got a ticket but the cops are told to leave the tourists alone. except for that one time, every officer/soldier greeted me with a big smile and warm handshake. even when they were "official", they were polite. of course, most cubans don't get that type of treatment but it is a strange & different approach compared to most places where tourists are taken advantage of by everyone, including police.

the food was good, the water clean and the beaches were amazing. i was in santiago de cuba the weekend they won the world series of pelota (baseball) over the Industriales of Havana. partying in the street, great music, fun people. i marched in the parade for primero de mayo in Havana with zillions of others from all over the world. i nver once had any problems, concerns, fears or issues.

tourism exposes the great divide between the priveleges offered to tourists and the life of cuban residentes, but they need the tourist income badly. gas and rental car was a bit expensive but necessary in a land where vacation time is short and the bus may or may not arrive. food was cheap and we never paid more than $25CUC per nite for a great room. if you have ever had a desire to go and see cuba for yourself, do it. you will never regret it. it is easier than you think and worth every dime.

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Message for Mandingo.

Cáemgen — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 19:03:07 GMT

This old man was reading your tribe posts and made a video for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvUfadqoglQ

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

beyond BVSC

taraneh — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:41:57 GMT

Okay, so there's a strong tendency to dismiss Buena Vista Social Club as "Cuban Lite", but like it or not, it's introduced Cuban music to lot of people who may not have listened otherwise. The hope is that they will move on to seek out the works of other Cuban musicians. I'm sure many of you share the experience of having been a fan of Cuban music for a while already when, all of a sudden, friends of yours who had shown no prior interest all rushed out and bought the BVSC CD. So, rather than berate them for their naiveté, I'd rather tell them, "So you're interested in Cuban music now? Fantastic! If you like that, then you should also listen to..."

Suggestions?

posted in Cuba - 11 replies

Temple of Sound Release New Album "GlobalHead" in USA on May 8th 2007

neilsparkes — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:02:23 GMT

Temple of Sound Release New Album in USA on May 8th 2007
Temple of Sound sign with
Namaste Records/Koch Records

Temple of Sound release their fifth studio album "GlobalHead" on Namaste Records(A Division of The Machat Company)/Koch Records in the USA on May 8th 2007.
The album features 12 tracks written and produced by Neil Sparkes and Count Dubulah AKA Temple of Sound featuring guest appearances by Natacha Atlas, Jah Wobble, Ben Baddoo, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, Abdullah Chhadeh and Hukwe Zawose.

Temple Of Sound are an internationally established production and performance duo at the forefront of dance, dub and world music.
The duo is comprised of Neil Sparkes - vocalist, percussionist, programmer, poet and painter; and Count Dubulah , guitarist , bass player, programmer and editor.
Together Sparkes and Dubulah (ex Transglobal Underground) helped create the style of Global Dance Groove and Mash Up that has become a world wide genre, embracing and developing World Music to become much in demand as musical collaborators, performers and producers.

Production work for a hitlist of World, Dance and Dub artists continues to push the barriers of World music forward . These include Natacha Atlas (Beggars Banquet), nominated for Best Album in World Music Awards 2007 and Los De Abajo (Real World).

"There is a palpable sense of excitement about Temple of Sound. They are buzzing with ideas and a sheer creativity that they are translating into great and innovative sounds. Temple of Sound are an unstoppable force at the cutting edge of global culture."
- Global Rhythm Magazine USA

Full Track Listing and Audio Tracks to Come Soon On MySpace!

www.myspace.com/neilsparkesandthelasttribe

www.myspace.com/templeofsound

www.myspace.com/loungeclash

www.myspace.com/benbadooneilsparkesbougarabou

www.templeofsound.co.uk

For additional info on the KOCH Records label and its roster of artists, please visit www.kochrecords.com

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Letter from someone who spent 6 years in Cuba under scholarship

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:31:25 GMT

FROM SOMEONE WHO SPENT 6 YEARS IN CUBA ON A SCHOLARSHIP

Hello, Well I spent 6 long years in Cuba on a scholarship. When I just got there it was terrible. Imagine the water at the university was brown. My fist week I was hospitalized. You see for tourists and even us students life in Cuba is good cause we have money and at that time (three years ago) the US dollar was legal. Imagine the salary of my teachers at the university was $14US a month. Fidel claims that Cubans don't need big salaries cause he gives them food but the food that is rationed doesn't even last a week. The country is full of hypocrites. In the news they would talk bad about all other countries especially the US and nothing bad about Cuba. A tourist watching the news would think that Cuba is heaven. There are so many murders, robberies, rapes everything you can think of and you hear nothing about it in the news. I have so many friends there and it was illegal for me to sleep over at their house. There are spies in all the neighborhoods watching and reporting everything that goes on. Although I would take a chance, if they did get caught, they would be given a ticket for $1500US. Totally ridiculous. One can build their house from their sweat and can't have who ever they want to stay over. All these rallies that they have with people marching that is all a show. Half of the people who go don't have a choice. If they don't go the can lose their jobs or get a salary cut so they have to go. When I was there they said that the country isn't communist it is FIDELIST. I must say that it is a lovely country and the people are really nice but the system and the government it full of it. They would send their best doctors to other countries like Venezuela while in their country there is a shortage of doctors at the hospitals. They claim that they did it to help these countries and that there was nothing to gain but we knew better. There is so much more but then this would be a book not a letter. Hypocrites, Hypocrites, Hypocrites I had a nice 6 years there but what they are doing to the people is just not right. MJ

posted in Cuba - 13 replies

Faustino Oramas RIP

taraneh — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:26:38 GMT

Buena Vista Social Club member Faustino Oramas, also known as El Guayabero, died yesterday of liver cancer at the age of 95. He was a composer of guajiro music, including the track Candela which was performed in the Buena Vista Social Club documentary.

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

PORNO PARA RICARDO - excellent Cuban punk band from the island

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:52:31 GMT

http://www.pornopararicardo.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

http://www.pornopararicardo.com/discografia/a-mi-no-me-gusta-la-politica-pero-yo-le-gusto-a-ella-companero-2006.html

its a miracle how these guys have not been jailed and shot!

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Has anyone had Cuban ice cream in Havana? Good? Bad?

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:30:55 GMT

Do tell...

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

Great ironies of Cuban life

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:41:54 GMT

Despite the fact that in Cuba everyone has a job, nobody works.

Despite the fact that nobody works, production quotas are always surpassed.

Despite the fact production quotas are surpassed, the warehouses and stores are always empty.

Despite the fact that the warehouses and stores are always empty, the people's needs are always met.

Despite the fact that the people's needs are always met, Cubans complain privately about the government.

Despite the fact that people complain privately about the government, they overwhelmingy "re-elect" it time and again.

Despite the fact that Cuba is waging a battle of ideas against the Americans, the internet is censored and satellite tv is banned.

Despite the fact that Cuban health care is free, Cubans depend on their stateside relatives to send them medicines and medical supplies.

Despite a US blockade, the US is Cuba's leading supplier of food and agricultural products.

Despite the fact that Cuba has such great social equality, hundreds of thousands of Cubans only want to leave.

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

International Society for Human Rights - Cuba report

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:15:29 GMT

http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=873
International Society for Human Rights

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

anyone going to cuba or been there before?

danigirl — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 04:05:18 GMT

Hi,
just looking to see if anyone's planning a trip or who has been there already?

posted in Cuba - 14 replies

Disneylandia cubana

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:18:31 GMT

Isn't it funny how at the begining of the revolution, Fidel and co. threw out all so called foriegn and American influences on the island, but now...

With tourist numbers steadily declining during the past year, the Castro regime is now looking at other, inventive ways to attract cash-carrying visitors to the island – and help keep the Communist economy afloat.

According to media reports, the regime has announced plans to build three new golf courses. (regular Cubans not allowed)

The Minister for Tourism, Manuel Marrero, told reporters the new courses would be situated at Cayo Coco, Holguin (near Banes, perhaps?), and Varadero, which already has the only 18 hole course on the island. Built pre-Castro, of course.

The announcement will come as something of a shock to those remaining die-hard revolutionaries on the island who can still remember the days when golf was considered a capitalist indulgence.

But that’s not all.

The minister also announced proudly that in order to attract more visitors, the regime had plans to build a theme park “about Cuban culture”, although the location is still being debated.

That’s right: a theme park.

Yum, we can't wait to see the theme park attractions like firing squad laser tag, do it yourself torture chamber, and the water park were the visitors become rafters trying to dodge the Cuban coast guard or the one where Canadians and Euros get to trade places with regular Cubans to see if they can live like serfs for a week. What fun.

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

50 years ago today in Cuba

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:21:02 GMT

50 years ago today
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Cuban Presidential Palace. Those of you who have seen the movie The Lost City probably remember the scene in which several armed men came through the front gate of the presidential palace intent on finding and killing the then dictator Fulgencio Batista. When he was alerted to what was going on, Batista got into the building's elevator and went to the top floor which could only be reached by that device and locked it.

About 40 of the attackers were killed in the gunfight and subsequent gunfights on that day. An American tourist, who was on his hotel balcony was also killed by a stray bullet. It should be noted that the attackers were not part of fidel castro's 26th of July movement but instead part of the Revolutionary Directorate, a group made up primarily of University students. Among them was Jose Antonio Echevarria, who was the president of the FEU (Federation of University Students).

Last night Echevarria's sister was on local TV talking about her brother and recounting the story of his death. The interesting thing to note historically is that if the attack had succeeded, fidel castro would have been left in the mountains without an enemy to fight. Instead, the attack failed and Echevarria was made into martyr by the Revolutionaries. castro has co-opted the memory of Echevarria, just like he has co-opted the memory of Marti, Maceo and Cuba's other patriots.

Echevarria's sister claims that her brother never liked fidel and knew that someday his group would eventually have to fight castro. Even so, Echevarria went to Mexico to sign a cooperation pact with fidel and his followers, the occasion is pictured below.

http://www.babalublog.com/archives/echevarria-fidel-anillo.jpg

A curious sidebar is that since the 13th of March is one of the important dates celebrated in Revolutionary Cuba, they named a tugboat the 13 de Marzo. It was that tugboat which was stolen by several Cubans trying to get to the US that was confronted by Cuban coast guard boats and engulfed by firehoses. 37 people died including several women and children as young as 5 months old.

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Some Fidel dear diary satire from the National Post

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:40:51 GMT

Dear Diary: Fidel Castro
As imagined by Scott Stinson

National Post

Saturday, March 10, 2007

MONDAY

Finally, I am starting to feel like my old self again. A good thing, too. A headline in the Miami paper today: "Cuban-Americans plan festivals to celebrate death of Castro." That stings, let me tell you. This wouldn't be happening if Raul had any sense of how to run things. Every day is phone call after phone call. "'Fidel, should I adjust grain prices? Fidel, should I increase medical funding? Fidel, should I execute this dissident?" It gets tiring. But I am sure I have started to turn the medical corner. Strong like bull!

TUESDAY

Weak like kitten. Cannot make it from bed today. Call in Raul. "You must start acting like a leader," I say. "The papers say the people have boats lined up 20-deep in the harbour, just waiting to take off for Miami if I should pass away." "Fidel, I am trying," he says. "But you have spent 40 years telling the people that everything they have is because of you. It is no wonder they do not think much of me. I don't see any Papa Raul statues out there." Always with the statues, this guy.

WEDNESDAY

Alexandre Trudeau called today. What a nice surprise to hear from little Sacha. I asked him how he was doing. "I am well, Uncle Fidel. Keeping busy. I have been doing a lot of work on behalf of political prisoners in Canada." "Really?" I asked. "It's a terrible state of affairs. Canadians imprisoned without any charges against them or allowed to see any of the evidence. Many for years! Isn't it crazy?" "It certainly is!" I said. "Usually we shoot them before too long." He seemed troubled. Not sure why.

THURSDAY

Must keep image in public eye. But too weak to travel, so call Hugo to arrange another "summit." He's always happy to come over and smile for the cameras. You know, there's one thing I have learned to like about all this convalescing: the clothes. I haven't changed out of this adidas track suit for four days. These technical fabrics are so breathable! Those military fatigues always did chafe.

FRIDAY

I think Hugo's people are trying to blow me off. "President Chavez has been to Havana four times since January," they say. What, he can't schedule some face time for the father of modern socialism? So I called Kim in North Korea. "Dear Leader!" I said. "How are things?" He explains that he's finishing negotiations with the West. "I pack mine shaft full of explosives, go kaboom, now they pay me millions to stop making weapon I probably could not make anyway." Ask what he will do with all the money. "Make palace. Maybe buy some new glasses." "Or you could feed your citizens," I said. We had a good chuckle over that one.

© National Post 2007

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Anyone gone there, recently?

DragonFly! — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:42:25 GMT

anyone have suggestions on flights from cancun? cheapest fares? biggest scams?

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

When it comes to gay rights, is Cuba inching ahead of USA?

RubySparks — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:08:57 GMT

When it comes to gay rights, is Cuba inching ahead of USA?

By DeWayne WickhamTue Feb 27, 7:10 AM ET

HAVANA - Years before George W. Bush proclaimed his support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages in the United States, the ideologically rigid government of Fidel Castro made a big move in the opposite direction.

It sanctioned the production and viewing of Strawberry and Chocolate, an Academy Award-nominated film about the awkward friendship between a straight man and a gay man - and the homophobia they both had to battle.

Since this movie debuted in theaters here in the mid-1990s, the Cuban government's intolerance of homosexuals has given way to a more egalitarian treatment of gays and lesbians.

The public persecution of homosexuals has declined sharply. Two years ago, Cuba had its first gay film festival. Last year, the highest-rated show on Cuba's state-run television was a soap opera in which a married man fell in love with another man. And now this country is on the verge of enacting a law that gives same-sex couples some form of legal status.

Ending bias

"We have to abolish any form of discrimination against those persons," said Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly. "We are trying to see how to do that, whether it should be to grant them the right to marry or to have same-sex unions."

Alarcon said he expects Cuba's communist government will soon enact a law to do one or the other. "We have to redefine the concept of marriage," he said. "Socialism should be a society that does not exclude anybody."

This awakening comes less than a year after President Bush renewed his call for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. "Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them, and changing the definition of marriage would undermine the family structure," Bush said in June.

Just one state, Massachusetts, allows gay marriages. And only four permit some form of same-sex union, which falls short of the definition of marriage but lets gay couples have some legal rights.

How ironic is this? While a country that successive U.S. governments have called a totalitarian state is moving toward expanding the rights of gays and lesbians, the president of the United States - the world's leading democracy - wants to restrict their rights.

Influential advocate

Cuba is not the Netherlands, no gay mecca, but the attitudes of people in and out of government are undergoing dramatic change, maybe because a leading advocate of gay rights is Mariela Castro, niece of Fidel Castro, daughter of his brother, acting President Raul Castro, and head of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education.

It also might have to do with Cuba's ever-evolving strategy for fending off U.S. attempts to topple its Communist government and replace it with a U.S.-style democracy. A same-sex union or gay marriage law could make Cuba appear to be more tolerant than the USA.

"Because of our historical heritage, Cuban society has been intolerant of homosexuals," said Ruben Remigio Ferro, president of Cuba's Supreme Court. "But there has been a change in thinking. We are developing a program to educate people about sexual orientation. But it is not a problem that has been solved."

It is, however, a problem that Cuba's government seems determined to solve. "I'm part of this country, like it or not. And I have the right to work for its future," Diego, the gay character in Strawberry and Chocolate, told his straight friend.

Cuba's half-century tug of war with the United States is an ideological struggle. It is a contest between this country's socialist ideals and America's efforts to impose its will on this island nation. While this battle plays out largely on the world stage, its outcome will be determined by the trench warfare that Cuba wages for the hearts and minds of its people - those who are straight or gay.

DeWayne Wickham writes every Tuesday for USA TODAY.

Copyright © 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Dobales, Cuba (Provence of Holguin)

Julie — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:22:24 GMT

Hi Folks!

I joined this tribe with the intention of learning more about the history and people of Cuba.

I am especially interested in information about a city in the Provence of Holguin, named Dobales. This happens to be my surname. There aren't very many of us Dobales's that exist outside of California.

So far, I have only been able to find where the City is located...but no history on it. I am hoping that someone has info or can at least point me in the right direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

posted in Cuba - 2 replies

Need to be enlightened

Bluemoon — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 01:31:33 GMT

I don't understand, is it that Cubans don't believe in God or don't practice any religion? But then why do they have a priest in the Cathedral in Havana? Do they hold masses there? And why in some songs, do they talk about la Virgen Maria and Dios? I know about Santeria, does that count as their religion? Or is it that your free to do what you want about faith, so anything goes. When I've been to a (Cuban) friend's house, she has statues of (I'm pretty sure) of the Virgin Mary. (No, I never really bothered to ask her as I was there to work on choreographies). At home I have small paintings I bought depicting Ochun and the other one I think is Santa Maria, she is above 3 men in a boat, I know there is a story to this but I don't remember because I bought it about 6 years ago, anyway these two figures seemed to be revered in Cuba. Probably my answers to this have to with before and after the Revolution, but I would like some clarification. Anybody?

I guess I should have started this with the fact that I was always under the impression that Cubans don't believe in God, but I keep seeing these icons that say otherwise.

posted in Cuba - 20 replies

mapplethorpe exhibit in Havana

rachael — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:15:48 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/arts/design/10hava.html

posted in Cuba - 8 replies

Does anyone know how to go about getting a visa to Cuba?

Elemirion — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 18:44:38 GMT

I need to go there for Religious reasons and have heard that that is possible but don't have the first idea on how to go about it. Anyone know?

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

Castro temporarily gives power to Raul

yvettesoler — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:42:26 GMT

While in surgery, Fidel gave power over to Raul. I wonder if he will take it back or just leave Raul in charge: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/08/01/cuba.castro/index.html

posted in Cuba - 3 replies

Money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East.

Cáemgen — Thu, 04 May 2006 23:02:36 GMT

This will put the "anti-castro" and "anti-Chavez" groups in a bind. I want to know where the stand on this issue. Would they prefer to buy gas from the terrorists??

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0516-25.htm

posted in Cuba - 1 reply

Bolivian Solidarity

scotiascott — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:36:36 GMT

Bolivia joins Cuba and Venezuela in a new effort for progress in Latin America:

http://granma.cu/ingles/2006/abril/domin30/19lahora-i.html

posted in Cuba - 2 replies

Cuban restaurant SF Bay Area

RubySparks — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 23:29:22 GMT

I've hear that this restaurant is pretty good.

Havana
1516 Bonanza Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596 view map
More Info: 925-939-4555
www.havanarestaurant.net

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Cuba and baseball

RubySparks — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:05:49 GMT

Here is an article from www.sfgate.com
Some of it is about Cuba but some is also about Japan who they'll be playing.

San Diego -- Cuba isn't representing just itself in tonight's World Baseball Classic final. After the Dominicans lost Saturday's semifinal, slugger Albert Pujols crossed paths in a hallway with Cuba pitcher Pedro Lazo, hugged him and whispered, "Bring home the championship to the Caribbean."

The 18-day, 16-nation, 39-game tournament is ending at Petco Park, and Cuba's Big Red Machine, unsurpassed in international competition, is seeking perhaps its biggest prize -- being declared No. 1 in a field of professionals, on United States soil.

The Dominicans have expressed their support.

"We wish them luck," Dominican manager Manny Acta said.

Cuba's opponent will be Japan, which didn't receive the same kind of love from South Korea after knocking out its Asian counterpart in the other semifinal. Japan's best player, Ichiro Suzuki, heard boos from fans of Korea -- boos that had a deeper meaning than those he hears in Oakland -- and the Korean manager, In Sik Kim, all but said Ichiro was deserving of the treatment.

Last month, when Japan was preparing for the Asian bracket of the tournament, Ichiro said he wanted the Japanese to play so well that they'd make "other teams think they won't be able to beat us for the next 30 years." Though Ichiro didn't mention any country by name, the Koreans believed the message was directed at them.

They used it as ammunition to beat Japan in each of the first two rounds -- making Ichiro feel "ashamed" -- before bowing out Saturday. After the semifinal, Kim fired back at Ichiro.

"I think because of what he said, the Koreans and the baseball fans are very offended," Kim said. "Because of what he said, the Korean fans did some booing. Ichiro was doing superbly in the U.S., and before he said that, we were all rooting for Ichiro, but I think this time because of what he stated before the games, that's why Koreans were very offended."

Sunday, Ichiro playfully dismissed the boos.

"They didn't really boo me hard enough," he said. "I was expecting a little harder heckling."

In a tournament that based its promotion on fielding lots of big-leaguers, the final game will include just two -- Ichiro and reliever Akinori Otsuka. The more Japan wins, the more Ichiro's popularity continues to grow in Japan while countryman and fellow superstar Hideki Matsui, who chose to train with the Yankees rather than represent Japan, might be losing support.

"Matsui hasn't played a real game yet this year," Japan manager Sadaharu Oh said, "so I'm sure he will have a lot of opportunities to win back his popularity back in Japan."

Rule No. 1, by the way: Never confuse Suzuki with Matsui. When a New York reporter began asking a question to Ichiro by referring to him as Hideki, Ichiro immediately interrupted.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said with a finger wag, "I'm not Hideki. I'm Ichiro."

Another questioner wondered what Ichiro would like to incorporate into the majors from Japan, and he drew laughs when saying, "I would say that they would need to clean up the dugout a little bit more, because I've experienced so many filthy dugouts in the States."

Ain't it the truth. If a player's not stepping in a pile of sunflower-seed shells, he's stepping in a puddle of discharged tobacco juice.

One day after news that a Korean pitcher, Myung Hwan Park, was disqualified for failing the WBC's drug-testing policy, a rumor circulated that one of the Cuban players defected. It was denied by several sources, including Pedro Cabrera, Cuba's senior press officer.

Cabrera did acknowledge that Fidel Castro sent his regards.

"He expressed that he watched the entire event," Cabrera said. "He sent us a message congratulating the team. He's not demanding a victory, simply saying that we play a good game, let the game decide who the best team is."

Neither team named a starting pitcher for tonight. Cuba's Yadei Marti and Lazo, who shared duties Saturday, are ineligible because of the tournament's pitch-count limits.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's game
Who: Japan vs. Cuba

Where: Petco Park, San Diego

TV: 6 p.m. ESPN

posted in Cuba - 1 reply

When you hear Cuban music...

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:53:08 GMT

how does it make you feel?

posted in Cuba - 13 replies

The Lost City

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 00:17:22 GMT

From Babalu Blog
http://www.babalublog.com/archives/002391.html

The Lost City

There are moments in your life, events that took place when you were a child that you dont particularly remember but that your family has always told you about. Not necessarliy good events, but painful ones. Things that are better left unsaid, but that you feel you have a duty to recall, if only to understand and honor your family and what they went through and sacrficed for freedom. You create this picture of these events in your mind, understanding that sacrifice and that pain they must have endured.

There is one particular scene in The Lost City - one scene among many - where the protagonist goes through a moment that my parents, like all Cuban exile parents and their children, have gone through. I was too young to remember it, but the film gave it to me. It was surreal really, as if Garcia was telling me, personally, "Hey, remember this that your family has always told you about but try as you might you cant remember? Well, here it is."

And then BAM. You get walloped by the pain. You get walloped by all the emotions surrounding that event and they mix together somehow with your knowledge and understanding of it and take you to a place within yourself that youve never been to. And among all that pain and emotion and the haze of time and memory, there is clarity beyond measure.

I was discussing this particulary scene with a guy I met after the film, A Cuban-American a few years younger than I, explaining to him this exact same thing when he stopped me in mid-sentence and said "Did you catch a glimpse of the two little kids in that scene?"

I nodded. Told him that it had blown me away.

"Those two kids," he said. "Were my father and my uncle." His uncle, who had recently passed away, had worked on the music of the film and had related his experience to Andy Garcia and Andy felt that it was so powerful that he had to put it in the film. I cannot even begin to tell you how hard it was for me to fight back the tears right then and there.

This is difficult to write, obviously, as I do not want to give anything away of the movie. You need to experience those moments along with the characters and without foresight to live their reality. Our reality.

The Lost City is incredibly powerful. It will take you on this journey to a time and place in history, and if youre Cuban a place in your life, that was the beginning of the tragic demise of a country and the erosion and separation of the Cuban family. It's a love story, yes. But that love is a metaphor to help us understand the pain of loss and circumstance.

It was raining when Maggie and I arrived at the theater. We were early and we sat down at a table to wait. A gentleman came up to us and asked if he could join us, he looked familiar, was very cordial. "Sure," we said. And for some reason, while we were discussing the weather, my wife mentioned that she freaks out sometimes because I like to swim in our pool when its pouring rain.

"There's nothing like being underwater while it's raining," I said.

The gentleman agreed. "I love it." He said.

We chatted for another while and learned that this gentleman was actually Juan Fernandez and played the role of Fulgensio Batista in the film.

Now, imagine my surprise, while sitting there watching the movie, and in the very first scene where Batista appears, he is shown swimming in a pool while it's raining. It was surreal. After the film, Luis told us that he had taken that conversation with us as a sign and that he hadnt told us of that scene because he wanted us to truly appreciate it.

Forgive me if this post, these thoughts on The Lost City seem to ramble. I am still coming to terms with much of it. There is a lot to absorb. A lot of hurt, a lot of frustration, a lot of what if's. Not about the movie, but about what it portrays. There are some unbelievably devastating scenes throughout the film that I simply cannot tell you about.

The music in the film is incredible. From beginning to end you hear the best of Cuban music ever played. Rumba, son, cha cha cha. Danzon. There is one scene where you see Beny More doing his thing. The actor that plays him is superb. It is almost like seeing old Beny himself live and in color.

You will hate Che. Jsu Garcia does a masterful job at catching the murderers true colors. So good is his interpretation of Che that you find yourself wondering if Andy Garcia had any trouble trying not to strangle him while on set. Finally, a film that depicts the truth about the murderous bastard.

The love interest, Ines Sastre, is stunning. A solid performance throughout, and a very congenial woman in person. And ladies, my wife was enthralled by the costumes, particularly the dresses Ms. Sastre wears throughout the film.

Steven Bauer, who, incidentally, let me have one of his passes to view the film, (Gracias Steven!!) does an incredible job in his supporting role, and while he is not on screen for too long, his performance will tear your heart out. And you cant help but think that what happens to him, happened to so many who were innocent and will, unfortunately, happen again in Cuba's future.

You'll love Bill Murrays performance. He is classic Bill Murray and I wont say anything else about his role so as not to ruin it for you.

And Andy is Andy. A masterful job as Fico and a superb effort in not only producing the film, but staying true to Cabrera Infante's work. I am unbelievably proud of Garcia and his unrelenting efforts with this labor of love.

I could go on and on. The entire cast was superb, the production was more than solid and the cinematography was excellent. A couple people I spoke to mentioned that they thought it was abit long, run time is 2:17, but I would gladly have sat through another two hours.

In essence, all I can say about the film is that you simply must see it for yourself. You will find yourself sitting in a theater with sobs all around. Tears will flow, heartwrenching moments will be lived, sadness will overwhelm you.

En fin, igual que Cuba. Just like Cuba.

posted in Cuba - 1 reply

Genial!

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:51:03 GMT

Posted on Wed, Jan. 25, 2006 (The Miami Herald)

CUBA

U.S., Cubans wage flashy war of words
The Cuban government staged a massive protest in Havana outside the U.S. diplomatic mission, which displayed its own messages to the protesters on a billboard.
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com

Havana's billboard war saw more salvos fired Tuesday as the U.S. and Cuban governments stoked their decades-old confrontation with competing messages.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro shepherded about one million people to a protest outside the U.S. diplomatic mission in the Cuban capital in one of his government's periodic immense protests against Washington.

But just as the 79-year-old leader was about to speak to the masses, American diplomats couldn't resist taking advantage of a captive audience and lit up the electronic ticker-tape billboard recently erected on the side of the building.

''To those who may want to be here, we respect your protest. To those who don't want to be here, excuse the bother,'' the sign declared in a reference to strong government pressures that ensure attendance at such protests is high.

The sign was the latest in a public relations battle between Cuba and the diplomatic mission, officially known as the U.S. Interests Section, each using billboards and displays to mock the other.

''To help Cubans shuck off their propaganda strait jacket, we have creatively used new measures to dialogue with them -- and the streaming, electronic billboard is just our latest initiative,'' U.S. Interests Section chief Michael Parmly said in an e-mail to The Miami Herald. ``Our goal is to show Cubans that other long-repressed people have realized their democratic aspirations.''

Another of the billboard's messages Tuesday read, ``Only in totalitarian societies do governments talk and talk at their people and never listen.''

CASTRO IRRITATED

Castro was clearly irked by the billboard, calling it another ''provocation'' aimed at forcing a total break in U.S.-Cuba relations.

''They turned on the little sign. How brave the cockroaches are,'' Castro retorted. 'Looks like `Bushecito' gave the order.''

Castro called for the ''March of the People'' two days ago to protest the U.S. refusal to extradite Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile accused in a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73. Lasting seven hours and led by former Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, it was one of the largest such marches in recent years.

''They are beaten. Injustice is on its knees,'' Cuba's government newspaper Granma quoted Castro as telling the crowd. ``Nobody believes in the empire.''

Organized by school, work and military groups, the marchers waved little red, white and blue Cuban flags and signs showing Posada's face in a triangle above the words ''Danger: Murderer,'' news agencies reported from Havana. They chanted ``Bush: fascist! Condemn the terrorist!''

Posada was acquitted by a Venezuelan court in the Cuban airliner explosion, but escaped from prison while awaiting a government appeal. He was captured in Miami last year and is being held in Texas by an immigration court; Tuesday was the last day for evidence to be presented in his efforts to win his freedom.

''We don't want revenge, we just want justice,'' marcher Lucía Roja, a retired educator, told the Associated Press.

Marchers like Roja were able to see the U.S. billboard messages, including the news that the U.S. Treasury Department had decided to allow Cuba to play in the upcoming World Baseball Classic tournament. They also saw quotes from Lech Walesa, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln.

''Only such regimes would be outraged by the sayings of Martin Luther King, Vaclav Havel and Gandhi,'' Parmly said.

REACHING PEOPLE

A U.S. official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by name, said Tuesday's use of the sign was common sense: ``If the point is to reach people, why not turn it on when a million people are cruising by?''

The official said the messages deliberately include bad news about the United States in an attempt to show Cuban people that the U.S. government does not censor the media.

The U.S. Interests Section would not say how much the billboard cost.

The billboard follows a large sign bearing the number ''75,'' hung last year from the building's facade as a reference to the 75 Cuban dissidents jailed in 2003.

The Cuban government retaliated with enormous murals, displayed near the U.S. diplomatic center, of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Other billboards set up around the American mission showed bloody brass knuckles, bullets and meat hooks stamped with ''Posada & Bush Company.'' Another poster showed the faces of Bush and Hitler with an equal sign pointing to Posada's face, the AP said.

According to an AP report, the prison abuse sign -- including one with a swastika bearing a ''Made in the U.S.A.'' stamp -- were removed this week and replaced with what appeared to be a movie poster showing Bush and Posada with vampire teeth and blood in their mouths.

The sign purported to advertise an upcoming film dubbed The Murderer, ``coming soon to American courts.''

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

Partner in Crime...

kallistipeace — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 05:54:08 GMT

Wanted for possible travel to Cuba in March. Anyone interested?

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Favorite Cuban band or singer

Bluemoon — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 20:34:12 GMT

New here. Anyone have fave Cuban music you would like to recommend? Say why.
My favorite singer is Manuel Cantero who is with Pupy's band, anyone else like him? My reason? -the best I can say is this guy adds flavor to a song, he really makes it hot!.

posted in Cuba - 21 replies

Myths and Realities in Castro's Cuba

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:16:56 GMT

Myths and Realities in Castro's Cuba

Myth # 1: Fidel Castro was a naïve, Robin Hood revolutionary when he reached power.
Realities:
• Fidel Castro was a seasoned revolutionary by the time he reached power in 1959.
• He had received military training during preparations in Cuba in 1947 for an expedition against Dominican Republic’s dictator Rafael Trujillo.
• He participated in the violence that rocked Colombian society in 1948 and distributed anti-U.S. propaganda in Bogota.
• While in jail in 1954 in Cuba, he instructed one of his allies: “smile at everyone, later there will be time enough to crush all the roaches together.” Castro later revealed that he had read Lenin and became an admirer of the Russian revolutionary.
• While in the mountains, fighting the Batista dictatorship in 1958, Castro wrote: “my real destiny when I reach power is to fight the U.S.”
Myth # 2: The U.S. pushed Castro and the Cuban revolution into the Soviet camp.
Realities:
• In 1959 Castro was an anti-American leader seeking to transform Cuba and remain in power indefinitely.
• He sought and received Soviet support to achieve his political agenda.
• The Soviets introduced nuclear missiles in Cuba to alter the balance of power in the World and to force the U.S. to offer concessions over Berlin, not to defend Castro from the U.S.
• If the Soviets wanted to defend Cuba they could have signed a military agreement with Castro, bring Cuba into the Warsaw Pack, or place several Soviet military divisions in the island, not introduce surreptitiously nuclear missiles that brought the World to a nuclear confrontation.
• The Cuban/Soviet alliance was one of mutual convenience and strategic interest to both countries.
Myth #3: The U.S. embargo is the cause of Cuba’s economic suffering.
Realities:
• Cuba can sell to and buy from most countries except the U.S.
Food and medicines are not part of the U.S. embargo and Cuba can purchase
them from the U.S.
• The U.S. is not the cheapest country for Cuba to buy food, technology, etc.
• Cuba does not have the financial resources to purchase great quantities of needed
products in the world market and Castro’s priorities are military spending and
support for this international causes. These are the reasons there are shortages of
consumer goods in Cuba.
• Cuba’s state dominated economy, like that of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is unproductive, inefficient, riddled with mismanagement and corruption.
• The suffering of the Cuban people is not the result of the U.S. embargo, but of a failed economy dominated by Castro and his military elite for 47 years.
Myth # 4: If we are nice to Castro he will reciprocate.
Realities:
• There are leaders in the world that have their own political, religious, and ideological convictions and oppose and dislike the U.S. and its policies.
• For 47 years Castro has shown his animosity and hatred for the U.S.
• Cuba has supported terrorist, revolutionary anti-American groups throughout the world.
• Castro is unwilling to change those policies for better relations with the U.S.
• Castro’s closest allies today include Venezuela, China, Iran and North Korea.
Myth # 5: If American tourists visit Cuba, we can bring democracy to the island.
Realities:
• For the past four decades millions of Latin American, European and Canadian tourists have visited the island: yet, Cuba is today more totalitarian and repressive than ever.
• American tourists will visit Cuba’s isolated resorts, spend U.S. dollars in State owned hotels and stores that strengthen government owned businesses while having little impact on Cuban politics.
• There is no empirical evidence that tourism, trade or investment had anything to do with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
• If we believe that tourism can change a society, we should begin a massive program to send American tourists to North Korea and Iran.

posted in Cuba - 2 replies

The wonderment of Cuba - always was in the past and the future

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 22:36:24 GMT

What makes Cuba eternal and beautiful.

It's not the Revolution or Che or an old man who wears funny army suits. It's the things about Cuba that have always been there and always will be.

Such as:

A beautiful sundown on the Malecon.
The beaches
The humble and kind people
The beauty of Cuban women.
The warmth and friendliness of the Cuban people
The delicious taste of Cuban food.
The divine sound of Cuban music.
The dance that is Cuba - and the dance the people dance - you know what I mean.
The love of an abuelita.
The beauty of the Cuban country side.
The ingenuity of Cuba's can do attitude.
The smile and games of children in Havana.
The stained glass windows.
The special-ness of this island.
The mind and intellect of Cuba - Jose Marti and Valera and Lecuona did not need "free" education to achieve and think and create the greatness they gave us.

The wonderment on Cuba was there a hundred years ago and it will be there and beyond the day Castro dies.

So in reality the so called "achievements" of the revolution pale in comparison to the permanent uniqueness that is Cuba.

Wow!

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Is Cuba a Sex Mecca?

Cáemgen — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 06:10:34 GMT

This disscusion is a continuation of the "NY times article" thread but I thought this topic should have a thread of it's own since sex is such a controversial topic in this country.

Firstly, calling Cuba a sex mecca would generate laughter from those familiar with places like Brazil, Thailand, Japan, ect. The only ones who bring up Cuba as a sex tourism location is groups who are looking to bring down the Cuban government. Yes, there's sex happening in Cuba, it would be happening with or without tourism. The vibe in Cuba is a very sexual one and to Americans and some Europeons this can be very exciting or disturbing.

Pornography is illegal in Cuba as is prostitution. Sex with a minor in Cuba if you are a foreigner will get you 25 years in prison. There are a few Canadians in jail down there who were told a girl was older then she was and got busted. Sex meccas, I would think are a place where one can do almost whatever and the government doesn't get in the way. In Cuba a foreign man or women with a Cuban of the opposite sex will get the attention of the police and there will be many questions.

For those who don't know, this whole "sex mecca" thing got started when the soviets pulled out in the early Ninties and the Cuban economy collasped. This caused the beginning of the jineteras/jineteros, also called prostitutes, to begin hustling for money with the tourists. There were thousands of young girls from the provinces flooding into Havana to have sex with tourists just to survive. This went on thoughout the ninties and the Cuban government let it go on as they were in no position to stop it, some say that they let it go on to bring in revenue. But anyway, Cuba in the Ninties could be considerd a sex mecca as there were girls everywhere all over the streets. This went on until the Cuban government, "which reacts when they have all the information they need and a plan that's well thought out" decided to make their move.

The efficiency in which the government rounded up all the hookers is amazing. For a long time they gave em rope and waited till they knew who were providing the rooms for the girls, who the pimps were, the look-outs were, who brought the girls from the provinces to the cities and every other detail. And this was done in every town in Cuba simultaneously in one night. The next day it was a different country. They sent all the girls back to the countryside, arrested the ones in Havana along with the pimps and madams. They rounded everyone up and stopped it. This happened in 1999 and what you see now in Cuba as far as prostitution is a far cry from what was going on in the Ninties "kinda like the music scene too." Now you just see girls hanging out on the Malecon or in front of some nightclubs hoping someone will pay their way in and buy them drinks, is this a sex mecca?

I see a lot more foreign women with Cuban men lately, are they prostitutes? It's always been a place where people cut loose and party. Abayumi, you seem to be reading from something from ECPAT? Maybe that study is about 15 years old when things in Cuba were worse. Have you been to Cuba recently?

Now, in Havana, being a jinetera is like a fashon statement, the girls like to brag about how they went out with a tourist and how stupid he was when he gave her money to pay for her cell-phone bill. The rule is now, if you are a foreigner you have to pay for sex, one way or another, even if the girl likes you a lot.

Outside of Havana the government has really cracked down on protitution to where a tourist cannot enter any hotel or private casa particular with a Cuban girl. I've heard many foreign men "who came to Cuba looking for sex or love" they will never come back because the government is so tough now.

The sad thing is, I think the majority of single men and women who travel to Cuba are really looking for love and marriage. And what happens 99% of the time is they get played by someone just looking to leave the island and who has no conscience whatsoever. Men who are looking for just sex, they go to Bangkok and get a disease. Those looking for love, go to Cuba and get their heartbroken.

Those are my observations. Please, don't read me articles written 10-15 years ago.

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

What's your favorite Cuban song and food?

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 00:20:07 GMT

A double question. Digame!

posted in Cuba - 3 replies

visiting cuba in feburary

jefeismymesiah — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:43:00 GMT

how easy is it to find a family to stay with in havana. can you recommend any?

what currency is the best one to bring?

i was in havana in 2000 and there was a cop on every street corner. is this still the case? i've heard it's changed.

thanks,

bjmf

posted in Cuba - 5 replies

Little Christmas cheer in Cuba; Santa blacklisted (Reuters)

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:14:22 GMT

Little Christmas cheer in Cuba; Santa blacklisted
Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:10 PM ET
By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - Eight years after Communist Cuba restored December 25 as a national holiday in a gesture to Pope John Paul II, there is not much Christmas spirit to show for it.

Christmas decorations are mostly to be found in the more expensive shops and tourist spots, and there is no Santa Claus waving at children on the street corner.

Santa, viewed as a symbol of capitalist consumer society, is banned from storefront displays and can only be seen in private homes.

Cubans have not taken to saying "Merry Christmas," which is not surprising since the atheist state had the holiday crossed off the calendar from 1969 to 1997.

Most use "Happy Holidays" as their greeting and tend to see New Year's Eve as a bigger seasonal holiday. That's when President Fidel Castro's government celebrates the anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power in 1959 and authorities put on street fairs with salsa music and cheap beer.

"Few people say 'Happy Christmas.' The young have no idea what it means," said Carmen Vallejo, a Catholic dissident who works with cancer-stricken children.

Cuba did away with the Christmas holiday in 1969, when Castro's government was trying to bring in a record sugar harvest of 10 million tonnes and needed Cubans to work the extra day cutting cane.

It became a holiday again in 1997, as a show of goodwill before the late pope's historic visit to Cuba one month later. The Church got a temporary boost from the visit, but few of Cuba's 11 million people are practicing Catholics.

This year, for the first time, authorities have allowed a choir of 93 singers from 28 Christian churches to sing Christmas carols in Cuba's main cities and broadcast a performance on state-run television.

At the top of Old Havana's Obispo street there is a large Christmas tree lighting up the Floridita bar, where American author Ernest Hemingway drank frozen daiquiris.

'PEOPLE HAVE NO MONEY'

But residents say there are fewer lights than last year along the colonial-era shopping street, and fewer shoppers.

Stores in Central Havana's main shopping center, Carlos III, are stacked with Chinese goods, from bicycles and tennis rackets to skateboards and roller blades.

Plastic toys made in China are expensive for Cubans, with some selling for $20, more than a doctor's monthly salary.

"There are much fewer shoppers this year. Things are very bad," said Carlos, a parking attendant. "This is the worst year since I started here nine years ago. People have no money."

Many Cubans supplement meager wages with dollars sent by relatives in the United States. But the cash remittances lost 20 percent of their purchasing power after Cuba penalized the U.S. currency a year ago and revalued its own currency.

"There is no Christmas spirit, not even in the churches, because people have no prospects. In the current economic crisis they don't have enough to get by on, let alone celebrate," said Vallejo.

"Sometimes I feel God has turned his back on Cuba."

Cubans got some year-end relief from price cuts ordered by the government for some imported supermarket foods, including jam, raisins, tomato puree and canned tuna and sweet corn.

Christmas cheer or not, Cubans will enjoy a family dinner on Christmas Eve, a tradition akin to Thanksgiving consisting of roast pork and "congri" -- black beans mixed with rice.

posted in Cuba - 5 replies

Secret Prison Libraries In Cuba

Sun, 18 Dec 2005 18:02:23 GMT

Secret Prison Libraries In Cuba

God bless these brave defiant Cuban women who've found a way for their imprisoned dissident husbands to practice internal resistance- right under the noses of castro's gulag goons.

From the friends of Cuban libraries:

When Fidel Castro ordered the jailing of 75 of the most active Cuban dissidents with sentences of up to 28 years, he dealt a harsh blow to the opposition movement. But [as the Spanish proverb says] no evil happens without something positive resulting from it. The wives of the "75" discovered a form of internal resistance that was unprecedented... [by taking in books during prison visits to create clandestine libraries]. The majority of the political prisoners are now spending their "free" time studying history, political science and poetry, learning languages and studying medical books. The people thrown in prison form the indisputable cream of the dissident movement. Before their arrest, they were independent reporters, labor activists, economists, physicians or librarians with a greater than average appetite for reading. Alfredo Felipe Fuentes is an independent journalist and librarian who before his arrest used to distribute an impressive collection of books on civil rights in his neighborhood. (His indictment declares: "noble literature in his library was mixed with books containing an evident inclination toward civil disobedience, inciting change in the social system and the Government.") And the list of publications confiscated from him mentions 50 titles on human rights, in addition to 51 copies of the International Declaration of Human Rights. Incriminating material, indeed! It isn't surprising that the prosecutor's demand that he be given 15 years was increased to 26 years. In the last few years, Alfredo has been deprived both of his human rights and of his books on this subject, but in his cell is a biography of Gandhi, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, The Power of the Powerless by Vaclav Havel, and The Second Revolution by Adam Michnik....

Manuel V?zquez commented one time that, thanks to the books delivered by his wife Yolanda, his solitary cell seemed like a miniature version of the Frankfurt Book Fair. The books circulate among the political prisoners and the common criminals.... Manuel couldn't believe that all of those delightful books could have passed the scrutiny of the prison censors. Maybe the explanation is that if the guards were cultured enough to interpret the poems of Akhmatova and to distinguish between Karl Marx and Karl Popper, they would also be leaders of dissident movements and not employees of the State security system.

Read the story from The Friends of The Cuban Libraries.
www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org/

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Cuba blocks Sakharov Prize winners' trip

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 18:01:05 GMT

Fidel, you bad boy you. Picking on poor ladies. Oh well, what can one expect?

12.12.2005 - 17:43 CET | By Lucia Kubosova EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG -

The Cuban dictatorship has not granted permission for the "Ladies in White", the European Parliament's 2005 Sakharov Prize winners, to travel to Strasbourg to receive the award.

MEPs will hold a special ceremony on Wednesday (14 December) to deliver the prize for "freedom of thought" to the three winners chosen this year.

Press organisation Reporters Without Borders and a Nigerian lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim will share the reward with the Cuban activists.

The "Ladies in White" have been recognized "for their action in favour of political prisoners in Cuba."

The group holds peaceful demonstrations every Sunday against the imprisonment of their husbands, sons or brothers who have been put in jail for actions such as collecting signatures for a petition calling for free elections on the island.

The group's representatives were planning to come to Strasbourg to pick up the prize and voice their concerns to the European audience, but the communist regime has prevented them from travelling.

"We have been in touch with them and they have not received the official travel permit on Monday", said Ivana Kullova from the Slovak NGO, People in Peril.

She added that the activists were still hoping the Cuban government would let them go at the last moment, pointing out that they were originally supposed to come to Strasbourg on Saturday to attend various events, including a session of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee on Monday.

According to Ladies in White member Miriam Leiva, the activists chosen to travel to Europe faced bureaucratic burdens from the Cuban authorities.

Last week, some Czech and Slovak female politicians and diplomats gathered signatures in a petition calling on Havana to let the activists come.

European Parliament president Josep Borrell said he was to meet the Cuban foreign minister later this week.

But he added "I can't promise that the diplomatic pressure we are making will secure the permission for Cuban activists to arrive at Strasbourg on Wednesday."

If the Ladies in White fail to get the green light, they will be represented in Strasbourg by their Europe-based associate, Blanca Reyes, who will take the floor on their behalf in plenary.

However, she will not get the prize herself.

Instead, the activists have asked a delegation from the European Parliament to bring it to them to Cuba.

This year's recognition of Cuban opposition forces comes after MEPs granted the Sakharov Prize to another Cuban activist, Oswaldo Paya, in 2002.

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

NY Times Article

pennsposse — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 05:13:33 GMT

Today's Sunday NYT Travel Section had a feature article on Cuba...an interesting read

posted in Cuba - 10 replies

cycling through Cuba

leonmac — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 04:56:25 GMT

My mum and I have been talking about returning to Cuba, I would like
to do a bicycle trip.
Anybody done such an adventure- any tips?
L

posted in Cuba - 1 reply

Cuban choir defect in Canada

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 00:08:57 GMT

Cuban choir members hit high note for freedom

By MARINA JIMÉNEZ

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Page A1

TORONTO -- Ernesto Cendoya-Sotomayor, a Cuban baritone, thought about defecting even before he landed in Toronto on a Canadian tour with the prestigious Coro Nacional de Cuba.

This was his first foreign tour -- and the 27-year-old singer saw it as his one chance to escape the repression and fear that marks his life in Cuba, where the indomitable Fidel Castro has ruled since the Communist revolution in 1959, the same year the choir was founded by Ernesto (Che) Guevara.

After a performance Sunday in a Toronto church, Mr. Cendoya-Sotomayor saw two fellow singers fleeing the hotel, suitcases in hand. He knew he had to act quickly. He called the Cuban-Canadian Foundation and within an hour, the foundation's president had sent a car to collect him, and two more singers.

"It is hard to choose between your freedom and your family. But this was my one opportunity to escape," said Mr. Cendoya-Sotomayor in an interview yesterday in the home of Ismael Sambra, a Cuban exile and the foundation's president. The singer is so worried about the safety of his four-year-old daughter and wife in Havana that he did not want his face to appear in a photograph.

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In all, 11 of the 41-member choir managed to flee the hotel between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, when Digna Guerra, the choir's manager, discovered the absences. In an emergency meeting, she warned the remaining singers that the Cuban government would retaliate against their family members if they tried to seek asylum here, according to Mr. Sambra.

Before this, Mr. Sambra had organized a second vehicle to pick up several more defectors. Others escaped with the help of Cuban-Canadian friends, while one unlucky singer who went back to the hotel to collect her belongings lost her chance. All 11 who defected were taken to the homes of Cuban exiles, including Marta Sanchez, a senior member of the choir and an influential Cuban musician, who rode a bus to Ottawa yesterday morning and is staying there with friends.

Mr. Sambra believes that six in the group have already crossed the border and entered the United States where they have relatives. The United States often recognizes Cuban refugees. The others spent yesterday at Citizenship and Immigration offices filling out forms requesting asylum on the grounds of political persecution.

Mr. Cendoya-Sotomayor said the singers did not plan to seek asylum en masse, but instead there was a kind of "domino effect." He said he discussed the idea in Cuba with two other singers, but was uncertain if it would be possible. He imagined there were government informants within the choir. And once they arrived in Canada for their two-week tour, the singers were only given $20 a day for meals, and their performance pay was withheld, he said.

In the end, however, the other singers helped them by not reporting them to the manager, and in fact one of those who fled is the delegation's deputy head, Mr. Sambra said. "The singers who didn't escape because they have children in Cuba helped the others. They watched out for the security and then said 'fight for me, good luck,' " he added.

Amnesty International has cited Cuba for human-rights abuses. Sixty-one dissidents arrested in a March, 2003, crackdown remain in jail. They were sentenced to 20- and 25-year prison terms for crimes against the state. "For Canadians, Cuba is a tourist paradise. But for Cubans, it is like a big jail," Mr. Sambra said.

Mr. Cendoya-Sotomayor is living in Mr. Sambra's house with two female singers, aged 29 and 30. "I would like to bring my family here and we would all like to go on singing in Canada. We will form another choir and call it Freedom Chorus," he said.

The rest of the choir, however, travelled to British Columbia on Monday where it is performing in various cities in the interior and then in Vancouver on Saturday with the Vancouver Chamber Choir. A spokesperson for the Vancouver choir said all but 11 members of the Cuban choir had arrived in British Columbia.

The mass defection of Cubans was the biggest since 2002, when 24 pilgrims who travelled to Toronto for World Youth Day sought asylum.

From 2000 until June, 2005, 1,017 Cubans have sought asylum in Canada and the acceptance rate has fluctuated between 66 and 70 per cent. Some abandon their claims and go to the United States.

posted in Cuba - 4 replies

Who likes to smoke cigars? Male and female

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 01:37:51 GMT

Cuban or near by of course!

posted in Cuba - 2 replies

some kind of festival??

kallistipeace — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 03:57:17 GMT

I heard that there is a big cigar festival or something in March I think... Does anyone know what or when exactly that is? My Spanish is good, but still a bit broken and I couldn't quite understand what I heard completely.

posted in Cuba - 6 replies

Cuba and endangered DOLPHINS

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:22:31 GMT

DOLPHINS ARE OUR FRIENDS!

Castro's Cuba is killing endangered DOLPHINS-SPEAK OUT & FIGHT!

Castro authorizes it, your dollars pay for it while ecologists look the other way.

By Carlos Wotzkow
Gundlachi@hotmail.com
Bienne, Switzerland
English translation by Robert A. Solera

Carlos Wotzkow is an ornithologist and a writer, author of the books "Natumaleza Cubana" (1998) and "Covering and Discovering" (2001) with Agustin Blazquez, and of dozens of articles in favor of nature and human rights in Cuba. His articles are distributed monthly in magazines and via the Internet. He has lived in exile in Switzerland since 1992, in Bienne since 1994.

November, 2003

The problem of exporting Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Cuba is not new. What happens is that no one, not even the International Convention on Trade on Endangered Species (CITES), wants to talk about it. When some illegality makes itself evident, or when some violation of international conventions points toward Cuba, most ecologists, non government organizations and even the United Nations turn their eyes somewhere else. How do you defend socialist ideas through an ecologist’s tools and criticize the model country of all those eco-guerrillas? Is not Cuba the example of centralized government that the UN wants to impose throughout the world little by little and without us taking notice?

One of the first campaigns against capturing and exploiting Cuban dolphins was begun in Switzerland by an organization called “Working Group for the Protection of Marine Mammals” (ASMS). In 1998, Mrs. Nöelle Delaquis wrote a brave protest letter to the Cuban Ambassador in Bern about the conditions in which they kept some Dolphins in Switzerland captured in the Cuban seas, and that were being exploited in various Dolphinariums without the adequate attention to the law of protection in force in this country (1). Later, the letter was distributed through several travel agencies with the intent of damaging the Cuban tourist industry.

Despite the efforts that year to save those beautiful cetaceans, some of them died in captivity and with their death, the story also died. Only Natumaleza Cubana’s book echoed the incident, as part of a denouncing that also sounded the alert about the frequent killings (using machine-guns) of those mammals south of the Cuban archipelago (2). Afterwards, ASMS and even Mrs. Delaquis, in similar way to other ecological organizations of the world, turned their backs on the Cuban problem and nobody, not even CITES, wanted to get involved in it, much less to ask the Cuban regime about the details of that dirty and cruel business.

Once the United States decided to ban the capture of Dolphins for lucrative purposes, the Cuban government, predator of the environment as no other, took control of the world trade. Since then, the Caribbean nation whom all world environmental organizations congratulate and reward became the world leader in dolphin exportation, followed by Russia and Turkey. It strikes the mind that while the authority of CITES and of Greenpeace in Mexico dedicated themselves to aggressively criticizing Japan and Chile for their captures, those same entities do not say anything about the marine mammal business that Cuba, Spain and Mexico are consolidating.

Since 1989, when I entered the National Aquarium on an almost daily basis to fill my deep-diving tanks to collect specimens for the National Natural History Museum (MNHN), Celia Guevara was already known at the aquarium, sadly, for inoculating Nurse Sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and dolphins with the aids virus For hours under bright sunlight, both sharks and dolphins, were restrained by several people and martyrized on a concrete table near the edge of the tank while the “eminent veterinarian” took blood samples looking for the desired antibody. According to an assistant, those animals would enable Cuba to discover a vaccine against HIV before the Americans would.

It may seem strange that the National Aquarium of Cuba reports on its own internet page the freeing of only two of the dozens of dolphins that they kept in captivity there (3). But it should not seem strange to us if now we comment on the destiny of all that died there due to the maltreatment that the institution gave them. According to the divers with whom I shared moments of ease in several occasions, the order from the Director Dario Guitart was to take out to deep sea the corpses of dead animals before the facility opened its doors to the public. In another instances, they sent rare specimens that died there to the Department of Taxidermy of the MNHN, but labeled “collected dead in the Northern coast of Havana.”

How many dolphins infected with the HIV virus might have been set free by that Cuban aquarium among individuals of the healthy population of the Caribbean? How is the health of those wild dolphins that may have accepted as new members, dolphins sick with that virus? How many dolphins are really in Cuban waters for the Cuban government to consider them plentiful and allow itself the luxury of exporting them? Why doesn’t National Geographic Magazine and the book Deep Cuba (that has so many nice things to say about the environment in Cuba) mention these barbarian things? Might it be that the foreign ecologists that travel to Cuba are not interested in criticizing the Castro’s environmental policies so not to lose their privileges?

I do not have an adequate answer to the majority of these questions, but rather, I can assure you that the dolphins that I saw in Havana’s National Aquarium had ample areas of their bodies reddish and clearly affected by mycosis. At least one of them showed big scabs in its ventral area and others (crowded in a makeshift artificial pond in the rocks of the coast) showed enormous scars resulting from fights within the species. It is widely known that Fidel Castro’s government does not have any remorse when it is time to make a few bucks by selling our national patrimony. To wit, even the dolphins that Guinea Bissau wanted to sell to Portugal were rapidly offered by Cuba before the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) had time to react (4).

There was a denouncing in dozens of pages on Internet (5) in 1999, of the endless capture of Cuban dolphins bound for Europe. At that time, Spain was already the main client of Cuba after Mexico, and it was followed very closely by France, Germany, and even the island of Malta (6). While England prohibited using dolphins for human entertainment in its territory, the Spaniards were augmenting their supply. If one visits any of the Dolphinariums in Barcelona, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante and Tenerife one is brought to tears, not only for the conditions of scarcity where those creatures survived, but for the strong odor of chemical substances that they had to add to the water in an attempt to stabilize its quality.

Of the six aquariums that nowadays exploit more than 50 dolphins in the Iberian Peninsula, 29 were taken out of their natural habitat and the immense majority are Cuban. Among them, the one called “Octopus” in the Playa de las Américas (Tenerife) had four Cuban animals being exploited in very deplorable conditions (5). Another very sad Spanish example of dolphin commerce is that of four Cuban specimens that were exported from Cadaqués (Girona province) to Costa Rica. If the life expectancy of a dolphin is less than 30 years, one has to take into account that those animals not even surpassed one sixth of it, because all were captured in Cuba in 1993 and all died before 1998. (7)

Mexico also does not do anything to impede this thriving business. The recent case of imported dolphins from the Solomon Islands is the proof that Cancun and Cuba have very similar conservation policies. Notwithstanding President Fox’s order to stop the trafficking, Raúl Arriaga (Undersecretary of Gestation for the Environment Protection of Semarnat) and Jorge Soberón (scientific authority of CITES in Mexico), appeared in the news to be most interested that this would not be divulged (8). It is valid to say that article 8.7 of the legal letter in force for Punta Nizuc says: “it is prohibited . . . To introduce exotic species.” (9).

In March 1999 four Cuban dolphins arrived in Acapulco, Mexico. By then, Cuba was receiving a minimum of $50,000 for each dolphin. But the traffic of those mammals was a part of the business that the Cuban state kept with the known narcotrafficker and former Quintana Roo’s governor. Mr. Mario Villanueva, head of the Juárez Cartel (now protected by Castro in Cuba) moved his offices to Cancun and Mexican Joaquín Codwell, moved to Cuba to initiate an enterprise for exporting dolphins in cooperation with the environmental authorities of the island. (10)

Since then, the Cuban counterpart receives $20,000 for each animal shipped Via Mexico, or $50,000 if the company sells them directly to other enterprises or individual buyers. Using this plan, Cuba exported eight dolphins in 1994, seven in 1995, four in 1996, and 13 in 1997, just to Mexico. Nonetheless, to these 32 dolphins exported, one has to add an undetermined number that went to Chile, the four imported by “Paradise” resort in Acapulco in 1999 and another 10 that Mexico re-exported later to Peru. According to the authors of this report (10), the great uncertainty of the data that add up the Cuban dolphins exported might be caused by the imprecise nature of the information provided by the people involved.

The majority of the dolphin exports that Mexico does are really re-exports of cetaceous captured by Cuba. Because there are no norms in our country that regulate the keeping of dolphins in captivity, nor members of the NGO’s willing to denounce the government, nor interest by the environmentalists, that the free world protest any traveling show with dolphins, Cuba enjoys total impunity when exploiting this marine resource. It is valid to clarify that Cuba pays the diver employed by the state the equivalent of 15 dollars per month for capturing dolphins, while she might receive up to $100,000 dollars in Europe for a trained one.

One of the most resounded cases of cruelty that Cuban dolphins suffered is the case of “Meñique”, a specimen that Cuba exported via Mexico to Chile. Lucia Newman, the news reporter known for manipulating what she reports, who is employed by Ted Turner, did not hesitate even a minute in presenting propaganda for Ché Guevara’s daughter who had tortured so many Cuban dolphins at the Aquarium in her biomedical experiments. Nonetheless, the article that CNN aired in 1997 as the true story of Free Willy (11) never had a second sequence in the American news broadcasting company. Meñique died after arriving in Cuba and CNN never revealed that Cuba had been the first country that condemned him to captivity (1995) and that three years later left him to die. (12).

One of the things on which apparently all nature lovers coincide is on the ill treatment that dolphins get from the so-called “specialists” and medical veterinarians. The sinister Cuban veterinarian is not the only case. Veterinarian Victor Rivero Vergara (from Chile) had not even the necessary knowledge to treat Cuban dolphins that he had under his care (10). The same happens yet with German vets, and the ones in Asterix Park in Paris (13).

At the end of 2001 a group of Cuban, Mexican and Spaniard “scientists” rented a luxurious bungalow in the National Park of Punta del Este (Dominican Republic) and promptly attracted attention for their ostentatious and “happy” style of life. They paid local fishermen great amounts of money (up to 2,000 pesos) for capturing dolphins that they wanted to investigate. But when locals took notice, there were no more dolphins in the Canal de la Mona, nor could they be seen from the promontory of the Park. In barely two months, the Cubans, Mexicans and Spaniards made the population of cetaceous flee from nearby places like Bayahíbe, Saona, Miches and Chavón and none of the ecological organizations of the neighboring countries could impede it. (14)

In August 2002, the inhabitants that live near this Natural Park believed that the marine mammals had disappeared from Punta del Este for the disturbances caused by the “investigators”. But soon it was known that Spain and an English national were in this dark business. Even though it is true that dolphins are not an endangered species with peril to become extinct in the Caribbean, it is also fair to say that does not authorize Cuba, Mexico or Spain to exploit a resource inside the national waters of another country and to diminish with it the tourist attraction and the rational and sustainable use that, for example the Dominican Republic practices (15).

It should be considered shameful for all world ecologists for Cuba to hound, capture, and exterminate with nets, firearms, and explosives any marine mammal that gets near its coasts. How is it possible that the UN, while rewarding the Cuban regime for its supposed protection of the environment, has not made even a simple comment? How is it possible that Richard O’Barry, who is tired of running behind Che Guevara’s daughter has not decided to inform the world that in Cuba dolphins are extremely ill attended? While Norway, Austria, Poland, Israel (and even Lula da Silva’s Brazil) close their Dolphinariums, Castro’s Cuba tripled theirs.

It almost seems that for the fate of the world’s dolphins and Cuba’s people maintain a certain analogy. Otherwise, how can we explain that nobody in the world protests seeing Cuban dolphins jumping and acting publicly as clowns and for such miserable dead fish? Is it not the same when we see a whole people to go out into the streets in Havana to protest monthly for a pound of minced Soy meat? Why does the civilized world reject this type of ill paid theatre inside its frontiers, while it accepts them outside them? Why doesn’t the UN apply it’s own Universal Declaration of Animal Rights, Article 4, to Cuban dolphins?

This UN article says: “An animal belonging to a wild species has the right to: (1) Live freely in its own natural habitat. . . and to reproduce themselves” (2). All depravation of freedom, including that with educational purposes, is contrary to this right. In accordance with the competencies established, CITES must, by principle, believe in the declarations that the signing states send to that convention. But on seeing this and other Cuban irregularities (among which must be included the case of the Hawksbill Turtles), what is the sense of keeping on believing in Cuba? Up to where an entity like CITES can accommodate its creed? What is the sense of having Cuba in a convention, if in fact it she is always breaking it?

My friends in some Cuban scientific departments of the Ministry of the Fishing Industry (MIP), Gaviota Corporation and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) have confirmed to me that while capturing dolphins they are frequently observed hitting their heads against the vessel that has trapped them. I have been told about dolphins that have cut themselves a portion of their tail with their own mouth so to free themselves of the loop that was tying them. Scientists working in the National Aquarium, with dolphins supplied by fisherman working intensively for a pittance, assure me that the fisherman are kept busy because more than half of their dolphins that arrive alive to their destiny are kept for some days in a buoyant state and then they die.

Thanks to regulations and to American authorities that yet observe the trade in and out of Cuba, is that we get to know now that Mr. O’Barry was working in Cuba to save Che Guevara’s image from his daughter’s malignity. (16) Only for that we also know that the British (who take pride in not having Dolphinariums in the United Kingdom) are the ones that promote this dirty business in the Caribbean Sea. It is of significance that the authority of Cuba’s CITES has not said a word and this, although Cuba is the one that exports and mistreats more dolphins (about 86 that may be known, between 1986 and 1999) than any other country in the world.

I still remember as if it were today when Mrs. Nöelle Delaquis told me in 1998 that an authority on dolphins in the United States had assured her that the biggest Dolphinariums in the world would be built in Havana for rehabilitation purposes. Since then, the ASMS, previously involved in the problem, has not denounced Cuba. Might it be that the American ecologist lobbies are the ones that make Cuba untouchable? If that would be the case, could you tell me the address of that Cuban center that puts free dolphins into Nature? Then, I used to think that even Delaquis would have believed the story of the illustrious “gringo”. But a reality check demonstrates that world ecologism is infected by the leftist virus. A virus that blinds even the best willing people.

Cuba has broken international law from the moment at which the Bottlenose Dolphins were placed on the list in Appendix II of CITES, of which Cuba is a signatory. In view of the fact that more than 70% of the dolphins that Cuba has exported have died a miserable death, and that CITES demands strict regulation so to avoid their utilization in a way incompatible their survival, it is obvious that Castro’s government breaks the laws that himself promised to enforce in the international world arena. Moreover, the legislation that CITES puts in force in Europe clearly states the prohibition of importing dolphins with a primary commercial goal. It is insulting that for Mr. O’Barry the most important thing is to save Che’s image and of his playful daughter.

Cuba contributes to breaking the European laws from the moment it exports a species listed in Annex A of the UE Council Regulation 338/97, which prohibits all commerce with dolphins inside Europe. CITES and the EU establish that: “trade is allowed . . . only when it has been found that it will not be detrimental to the survival of the species. Although it is true that Cuba can state that the dolphin population is not in danger with these exports, it is also a moral obligation for CITES and for Europe to demand of Cuba the results of a dynamic population study that evidently has never been done.

Cuba violates the regional law in the Caribbean since the dolphin species is on the list of Appendix II of the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) of which Castro’s government is a signatory. From 1986 to 1999 Cuba has exported at least 86 dolphins and the WDCS assures that it has reason to believe that the market of individuals captured directly from natural habitats has continued notwithstanding that the protocol of SPAW was put in force in the year 2000 (17). What is contradictory here is that when I addressed these organizations looking for an update to fight the problem from its roots (that is, attacking Cuban policy) all conversations got cold.

Cuba violates its own conservationist laws of nature protection. Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) has as a duty (among a lot of other things) to support the development of tourism” (18). It is the first time in Cuban history that a ministry in charge of preserving nature has among its duties and obligations to guarantee that the exploitation of its natural resources does not to put in danger the economic interests of the state. It seems absurd, but an analysis of the “environmental licenses” granted in Cuba since the new law went public (19) has simply been to give authorization to all foreign enterprises to locate themselves in areas that had been declared “protected” and now are “protected areas for multiple uses.” That Cuba disregards the environment is clearer than the transparent Caribbean waters.

References

1.- Foundation for the Animal in Law 2001. Dolphinariums in Europe from the animal protection law viewpoint taking into account the legal situation in Switzerland in particular. Zurich, Switzerland. Dec. 19th. 32 pp.

2.- Wotzkow, Carlos 1998. Natumaleza Cubana, Ediciones Universal, Miami. USA 294 pp.

3.- Acuario Nacional de Cuba. Who are we? www.acuarionacional.cu. 3 pp.

4.- Born Free Foundation 2001. Applications to import wild caught dolphins to Portugal are in breach of International Regulations. Animal welfare and conservationist organizations demand refusal of import permissions. www.bornfree.org.uk. 2 pp.

5.- Wotzkow, Carlos 1999. “Nueva ley del medio ambiente, ecosistemas cubanos, e inversores extranjeros. Fundación Argentina de Ecología Científica. 7 pp.

6. - WDCS 2003. Malta imports dolphins from Cuba. The Malta Independent Daily Website. Sept. 13. 2 pp.

7. - WDCS 2003. Spain. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. 6 pp.

8.- Margaux Dodds 2003. Urgent Press Release: four Dolphins already dead in Solomon Islands Capture. Marine Connection Caring for Dolphins and Whales. 3 pp.

9.- Greenpeace Mexico 2003. Autoridad ambiental fue informada de las irregularidades y aún así importó los delfines. Boletín 354. 2 pp.

10.- Castelló, Hugo, Yolanda Alaniz y Cecilia Vega 2000. Dolphinariums and Swimming Programs with dolphins in México. A critical report. Document in PDF. 34 pp.

11. - Newman, Lucia 1997 Free Willy was a movie, Meñique is real. CNN Interactive, April 16, 1997.

12. - Wildlife Rescue of Dade County 1998. Meñique. J. D. Van der Toorn. Cetacean releases. 6 pp.

13.- Marchal, Julien 1997. Dolphins in Asterix Park, Paris, France. Captivity Conditions in Parc Asterix. www.daunphinlibre.be. 3pp.

14.- D’Leon, Nexcy 2001. Delfines pico de botella se fueron de las aguas del Parque del Este. Listín Diario. Edición Digital. 3pp.

15.- Bonelly de Claventi, Ideliza y Ivelisse de Porcella 2001. Frente al uso de delfines en cautiverio en el Parque Acuático, Cofresí, Puerto Plata. Medioambiente. Perspectiva Ciudadana, Noviembre 2001. 4 pp.

16.- Jordan, Sandra 2002. “US join fight for dolphin freedom”. Guardian Unlimited, February 24, 5 pp.

17. - Born Free Foundation, No permission for dolphin capture. www.bornfree.org.uk. 2 pp.

18.- Google 2003. This Internet search engine returns, under the words “Cuba” + “Delfines”, more than 100 advertisements for shows with dolphins in Cuba. These are promoted by several travel agencies from Cuba, Germany, France, Spain, England and Mexico.

19.- Asamblea del Poder Popular 1997. Ley N° 81 del Medio Ambiente. Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. Extraordinaria. Viernes 11 de julio de 1997. Año XCV, pp 47-68.

Carlos Wotzkow is an ornithologist and a writer, author of the books "Natumaleza Cubana", 1998 and "Covering and Discovering", 2001 with Agustin Blazquez, and of dozens of articles in favor of nature and human rights in Cuba. His articles are distributed monthly in magazines and via the Internet. He has lived in exile in Switzerland since 1992, in Bienne since 1994.
You may reach Mr. Wotzkow at Gundlachi@hotmail.com

posted in Cuba - 0 replies

Willy Chirino

Bluemoon — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:43:20 GMT

Anyone know or heard of videos or dvd's of Willy Chirino in concert? I know there are tapes where he's part of a bunch of performers, but I'm looking for something of him singing a lot of his songs, even if it's not a live concert (and only videos of his songs). A friend of mine has been searching high and low, and I'd sure like to surprise her.

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