Claudia4Libertad

Perez Roque: "High Five!"

"The UN General Assembly on Tuesday backed, for the 16th consecutive time, the elimination of the U.S. punitive measure against Cuba by a vote of 184 in favor, four against and one abstention. "

Yes, it's true.  The useless UN has declared that the US should get rid of the "punitive" embargo.  Now, I was not following very closely, but did anyone catch the part where they also passed the resolution telling the castro brothers to return the stolen property to the Cubans and foreigners.  What?  You have no knowledge of this?  Yes, this too, is true.  When castro came into power, he nationalized... everything.  All businesses and properties became the property of the state- aka castro- to do with as he liked.  The embargo began and is still in effect today because castro and company will not give back what they stole from Cubans, Americans and other foreigners who had investments or businesses in Cuba in the 1950's at the time of the "revolution."  Cubans lost their farms, their homes, their stores, their livelihood and have not gotten any of it back.

So...the U.N.(also known as the most ineffective organization in the world), can pass all those resolutions and it beat its collectve chests and decry the evil embargo and how much it causes Cubans to suffer (all the while Cuba is 4th on the list of countries to which we export). And it can moan about how the travel ban should be lifted (so that more tourist money can be funneled into fidel's pocket, by the way, tourism is bigger in Cuba now than it was pre-castro- when Americans WERE allowed to travel there). But until it passes one of those cute, little, useless resolutions telling fidel to fork over the (now dilapidated) belongings to their rightful owners, we'll just watch it and all those 184 weasel countries twist in the wind.  Perez Roque can high five anyone he wants and celebrate the resolution that President Bush, as other presidents before him, will continue to ignore. The embargo stays. 

Dr. Oscar Biscet- Unstopppable Cuban Hero

Dr. Oscar Biscet is a true hero.  He is a man of integrity and of conviction.  He has put his own freedom in jeopardy in hopes of freeing his countrymen from the tyrannical grip of the castro regime.  His voice is one of few and the world barely has taken notice- until now.

On Monday, President Bush bestowed upon this great man the Medal of Freedom.  The White House Press Secretary stated in the press release:

"Oscar Elias Biscet is a champion in the fight against tyranny and oppression. Despite being persecuted and imprisoned for his beliefs, he continues to advocate for a free Cuba in which the rights of all people are respected."

So, who is Dr. Oscar Biscet?  He is the founder of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights.  He is a physician who, upon realizing that women were subject to diseases due to the abortion methods that were practiced, sent a study to the authorities stating his findings and in turn was promptly barred him from practicing medicine and his family was evicted from their home.

He is a man who follows the teachings of Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, who peacefully protested and led prayer-fasts to draw attention the obscene lack of basic human rights on the island, and for that he was jailed.

He is a man who lives in an underground jail cell, far from his family, subjected to the most disgusting living conditions one can imagine, just for disagreeing with the government.  In 1999 he was arrested for displaying three flags upside down- the international sign of distress- during a news conference before the heads of state entered the Ibero-American Summit.  His arrest prevented him from protesting as planned on the anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights at which he planned to protest the death penalty.  He was released in 2002 and arrested again later that year for meeting with other dissidents in a house. He was tried with the independent journalists and librarians arrested in the "Black Spring" crackdown in 2003. Dr. Biscet was sentenced to 25 years in prison under article 91 of the Penal Code.  Article 91 imposes long prison sentences on those who:

"act against the independence or territorial integrity of the state. He who, in the interest of a foreign state, commits an act with the objective of damaging the independence or territorial integrity of the Cuban state, incurs the penalty of ten to twenty years imprisonment or death."

He has been arrested 26 times in total.  He is undeterred and he is unstoppable. Even from prison, he gets his message out.

While it won't get him out of jail, the Medal of Freedom brings much needed attention to the plight of the oppressed Cubans.  Hopefully now that the world's spotlight is upon Dr. Biscet, those who think Cuba is a paradise and castro is a hero will see the true hero and recognize the truth.

Ileana Ros-Lehntinen, Florida Congresswoman, had this to say (in Spanish) on behalf of Dr. Biscet before he was awarded this honor:  Click here

For more on Dr. Biscet, go to his blog: Dr. Biscet

Cuban APARTHEID FRIDAY once again!

Sigh.  There are still some people out there who don't get it.  Let me spell it out.

There is A-P-A-R-T-H-E-I-D in CUBA!  Today I'll highlight the 3rd form of apartheid that Cubans must endure- Information apartheid.  What's that?  Simple- Cubans are denied access to information- internet access, cell phones, cable tv, satellite dishes, anything that could possibly bring the truth to them, anything that could show them that the rest of the world does not live like they do, in their island "utopia," as they are told, is information apartheid.

Who can have a cell phone in Cuba?  A tourist, someone authorized by the government like a member of the "comité," maybe a member of the ministerio de cultura, an artist or musician, someone who is loyal to the Revolution and can be trusted.  The average José?  No way!  That would enable you to have contact with the outside world- possibly spread subversive ideas, talk to someone who has not been fed communist propaganda for 48 years or learn the truth.  The government couldn't tap these phones, couldn't monitor your conversations, and would lose control over the little guy- the entire Cuban populus.  But let's face it.  We all know how big cell phone bills can get- how would a Cuban even pay for the monthly bill on $10 a month salary?  So, much like the visiting of luxury hotels, this point is moot.

If you are a tourist and you stay in a hotel, you can watch dozens and dozens of cable or satellite tv channels which bring you news from all over the world-for example, President Bush's speech the other day in which he told Cubans that their destiny is up to them and they must do what needs to be done for a free Cuba.  Do you think Fidel wants the citizens to hear that everything he has told them is a lie?  Can you imagine what the average Cuban, used to only seeing two state-run tv channels per day, would do with fifty or one hundred?  Pre-castro, in the 1950's when TV was still pretty novel, there were 5 tv channels to watch.  Now there are only two and they are controlled by the government?  Pre-castro, there were 66 television sets per 1,000 people (remember this was still the 1950's) and now, in the 21st century, there are 15 (FIFTEEN) television sets per 1,000 people.  I guess when all you have to watch is fidel, you choose to read a book.

BUT WAIT!  Cubans can't just read anything they want.  NOPE.  What they read is also controlled by the regime.  Many of the "dissidents" that are so dangerous to the revolution are independent librarians who house books in their homes.  There are many books that are banned that would cause independent thinking or make people reconsider liberty or question their lack of human and civil rights- here is a partial list of books that are banned in Cuba- see if you recognize any:

• Amnesty International. Amnesty International Report, 1999.
• Ash, Timothy Garton. The Magic Lantern.
• Cabrera Infante, Guillermo. View of Dawn in the Tropics.
• Constitution of the United States of America.
• Courtois, Stephane, et al. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression.
• Cumerlato, Corinne and Denis Rousseau. La Isla del Doctor Castro: La Transición Secuestrado.
• Diamond, Larry and Marc F. Plattner, eds. The Global Resurgence of Democracy.
• Díaz-Briquets, Sergio and Jorge F. Pérez-López. Conquering Nature: The Environmental Legacy of Socialism in Cuba.
• Edwards, Jorge. Persona Non Grata: A Memoir of Disenchantment with the Cuban Revolution.
• Fernández Revuelta, Alina. Castro’s Daughter: An Exile’s Memoir of Cuba.
• Franqui, Carlos. Diary of the Cuban Revolution.
• Franqui, Carlos. Family Portrait with Fidel: A Memoir.
• Furet, Francois. The Passing of an Illusion: The Idea of Communism in the Twentieth Century.
• Geyer, Georgie Anne. Guerrilla Prince.
• Gutiérrez Boronat, Orland. Hacia la gran nación.
• Harrison, Lawrence E. Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind: The Latin American Case.
• Havel, Vaclav. Living in Truth.
• Toward a Civil Society: Selected Speeches and Writings, 1990 – 1994.
• The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe.
• Human Rights Watch. Cuba’s Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years After the Revolution.
• King, Martin Luther Jr. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• McDowell, Josh. Evidence that Demands a Verdict.
• Michnik, Adam. Letters from Prison.
• Muller, Alberto and Oswaldo Payá. El Proyecto Varela.
• Oppenheimer, Andrés. Castro’s Final Hour: An Eyewitness Account of the Disintegration of Castro’s Cuba.
• Orwell, George. 1984.
• Animal Farm.
• Rojas, Rafael. José Martí: La Invención de Cuba.
• Roosevelt, Eleanor, et al. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Sakharov, Andrei. Sakharov Speaks.
• Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. Letters to the Soviet Leaders.
• Walensa, Lech. A Way of Hope.

Along with banned books is the lack of rights of journalists to report on whatever they want which in turn creates information apartheid for citizens who can only read what the regime approves of.  The Primavera Negra of 2003 was a crackdown of independent journalists whose only crime was to report on what was really happening in Cuba.  They were arrested and sentenced along with independent librarians.  Imagine if that were to happen in the United States.  There wouldn't be a dragnet in the world big enough to round up the anti-government journalists.  They'd have to just implode the whole NYT building.

Internet access is also forbidden- well , not for everyone.  Tourists can access it, certain authorized people in trusted positions in the government or others who haven proven their loyalty can access the internet and some people can have email, but no web access.  Think for a minute what would happen if Cubans could freely access babalublog.com at will or look up topics about Cuba on cubanology.com, a veritable clearinghouse of information. They might not believe everything they read, or maybe they would.  The point is, it would show them another way of thinking, it would show them that the family they have, the Cuban brothers and sisters who enjoy freedom on "the other side," are trying to get the world to recognize what they are enduring on the island.  Picture it like the old Fabergé shampoo commericals- one person would tell another, and he'd tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.  Isn't word of mouth how fidel started HIS revolution 48 years ago?  With the speed of technology enabling information to be spread in this day and age, it's no wonder he has blocked virtually every means of access.  Cobarde.

PLAN FOILED

Today, those who oppose the castro regime in Cuba were asked to unite and demonstrate their opposition peacefully in the streets of Cuba.  As luck would have it, before the demonstration could gain much momentum, castro's thugs (aka the state police) squelched it after an increase in phone calls tipped them off.

What could have started an important movement on the island was not meant to be today.  It is my hope that the Cubans in Cuba do realize that if they want freedom, it is up to them, and their destiny is in their hands.  Only they can help themselves now. As some of the dissidents interviewed from Cuba stated today during Mesa Redonda on Radio Mambi, with their fundamental freedoms still under attack, they only way to resolve the problem is to take to the streets, show a united front and make the media, the regime and the world aware that they have finally had enough.  They know Raul is no reformer and the responsibility to reform the system, erradicate the oppression they have lived under for almost 5 decades and overcome life in sub-standard living conditions is placed squarely on their shoulders.

QUE VIVA CUBA LIBRE

It's Apartheid Friday Again!

That's right folks, it's APARTHEID FRIDAY!

Last week I outlined medical apartheid in Cuba.  Today it's TOURISM apartheid.  So much Cuban apartheid to go around!

In Cuba, Cuban citizens cannot stay in hotels in the tourists areas. Instead, they are relegated to run-down, pre-castro relics, a far cry from the luxurious goverment owned hotels like the Hotel Saratoga or the Spanish chain Sol Melia.  Beautifully appointed suites, breath-taking views, sumptuous buffets- it's all an unattainable dream for Cuban citizens. (Hotel Sol Sirenas Resort, Varadero Beach,Cuba and Hotel Melia Cohiba, Vedado, Cuba)

 

Think of it this way- you live in Orlando and your kids are dying to go to Disney World.  You've never been there, either, because Disney is only for non-Floridians.  So, your kids will never see  Mickey Mouse unless you move out of Florida, except you can't, because your exit pass to leave the state has not been approved. Doesn't make sense, does it?  Neither does the fact that Cuban citizens may not stay anywhere except places that look like this, The Gran America Hotel (photo- therealcuba.com):

Hotels for foreigners-only have satellite TV which provides countless channels for their guests.  Cubans get two tv stations- both government run, unless they can sneak illegal satellite tv.  Why would castro allow Cubans to stay at hotels where they could see what is going on in the world? Or where they could see what freedom really is?  For that matter, Cubans can't mix with foreigners because the average Cuban doesn't make a nice show and poses a risk to the regime- that is- why would castro want hungry, not well-dressed people meandering around the well to-do tourists who perhaps might talk to them and get word out about what is really happening on the island or a tourist could put subversive ideas into their heads? After all, castro has not been power for 48 years because he is naive.

The point is basically moot anyway... the average Cuban earns about $10 per month.  How could one afford even a modest hotel that costs 17 euros (or $24 US) per night?  For a few more bucks, if there were no apartheid, a Cuban who perhaps found a pile of money could look forward to a hotel stay featuring:

• air conditioning
• swimming pool
• top of the line medical services
• buffet

All of these items are foreign to the average Cuban.

A Cuban woman I know who has been here for about 11 years said she has been back to Cuba to see her family.  She said she was torn because since she no longer lives in Cuba, she could finally go to the beaches and stay at the hotels.  She did not, however, because her family could not go with her.   She could finally eat at the fancy restaurants that she was previously never allowed to step foot in, but did not because she did not want to dine without her parents, although her curiosity was killing her.  I told her that her values and the fact that she did not put any more money into fidel's pocket was better than any meal she could eat or any beach view she would have.

Spanish Supertar stands up to Chavez

I've never been a big fan of Spaniard Alejandro Sanz, in spite of his huge popularity and many awards.  I do like some of his songs but he's not really ranked high on my list of favorites.  However, I may try a little harder to appreciate him because of what he recently did.

An article on Contacto Magazine.com tells how Sanz was scheduled to appear in Venezuela on November 1st in the Poliedro in Caracas before 13 thousand people.  Sanz made a statement that he did not like Chavez and that if he had to write a song to dedicate to the country, it would be "Three Million Signatures," which is the amount of signatures needed for a referendum to oust Chavez.  Chavez then cancelled Sanz's concert in the Poliedro.  He may be able to give a concert in a privately owned venue if one can be found.

Is Chavez afraid of a pop singer galvanizing Venezuelans to remove him from power?  Does he think Sanz has that type of caché?  One thing is for sure, banning singers who don't agree with the government sure sounds eerily like another country...

The article in Spanish can be found here:  CONTACTO

Clueless in Barcelona

I don't believe my eyes. First Spain continues to support the castro tyranny and tourist apartheid by maintaining its hotels (Sol Melia) in Cuba and backing the regime, but now it dishonors all the Cubans who have been put to death by the Butcher of La Cabana, Che Guevara.  Barcelona has changed the name of one of its streets, formerly known as Calle Duque Victoria to Carrer de Ernesto Che Guevara. 

Anastasio Blanco has some other great ideas for street names- read it here.

In Miami? Please go support the Cuban Memorial

On October 16, there will be a County Commission meeting where they will vote on creating a permanent Cuban Memorial in Tamiami Park where thousands of crosses are placed to commemorate 10,000 of the victims of the castro regime.  This permanent memorial needs approval and the support of the people, especially the families of the victims, is important in getting this approved,

Please spread the word to all you know in Miami to attend the meeting at 111 NW 1st Street, 2nd Floor, Miami at 2:00 on October 16th and keep the memories of these Cubans alive.

APARTHEID IN CUBA? ¡CLARO QUE SI!

                       IT'S APARTHEID  FRIDAY!

Rush has open mike Friday, Glen has clothes line Friday and now I have APARTHEID FRIDAY.

Question:  "Claudia, is there apartheid in Cuba?"

Answer: OF COURSE! DUH!

Each Friday I will discuss one aspect of the Cuban apartheid. Yes, THERE IS APARTHEID IN CUBA and it's about time the world recognized it.

APARTHEID- "A policy or practice of separating or segregating groups," according to the American Heritage Dictionary.  You may remember the apartheid that took place in South Africa years ago, causing Hollywood to get up in arms and even inspring Little Steven Van Zandt (aka Silvio Dante) to write and record a song and video called "(Not Gonna Play) Sun City."  They were up in arms and galvanized because apartheid is WRONG. But where is the video for Cuba?

Per the Human Rights Watch's 1999 report,

• Apartheid in Cuba is not allowing Cubans to be treated in the pristine, state of the art medical facilities that are reserved for paying clientele from other countries.
• Apartheid in Cuba is not alllowing Cubans to dine in the best restaurants in Havana- tourists only may go there.
• Apartheid in Cuba is not allowing Cubans to visit the beaches or resorts- they are designated for foreigners only.
• Apartheid in Cuba is not allowing Cubans to stay in the luxury hotels (many owned by Spain) because they are not tourists.

Medical Apartheid in Cuba

A brave Cuban doctor by the name of Darsi Ferrer wrote a letter denouncing the castro regime's apartheid in which he said:

The segregation imposed by the ruling powers during the last decades goes beyond racial , political, religious, and social motivations, which are subordinate to the general scorn of the citizenry.

While the members of the nomenclature and foreigners enjoy the exclusive facilities, resources and services of the country, Cubans are relegated to being pariahs, deprived of those rights.

Such separation, although supposedly prohibited by legislation and by international legal instruments, has solidified, officially and invariably, the arbitrary social differences, among the population.

This apartheid guarantees the usurpers of sovereignty the ability to preserve the political control and the economic and social privileges that they deny the rest of the society.

(translated by Henry Gomez of cubanamericanpundits.com):

And if anyone should know about medical apartheid, it's Dr. Ferrer.  Last night the video he secretly filmed and had smuggled out of Cuba showed the world the REAL conditions of the health care that Cubans receive- not the beautiful, sparkling hospitals and pharmacies full of medicines that Michael Moore's "Sicko" portrayed- those are NOT for Cubans, Michael! Dr. Ferrer's video was shown on Miami tv show, "A Mano Limpia," and then on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes- after ABC was pressured by the regime to stop reporting on the medical system.  Dr. Ferrer's video and photos showed the filthy, vermin-infested facilities with broken windows, empty shelves, foam blocks as mattresses, feces-covered floors and patients hunched over in pain. He did this and risked his own safety, and that of his family's, to get the word out about the real Cuba and the apartheid that favors not the whites, like in South Africa, but the foreigners- people who don't belong to the revolution, who have not worked in the requisite camps like Cubans have, who have not "paid their dues," who have not suffered for 5 decades under castro's regime, but who have just arrived for some low-cost state of the art health care.  Why waste that good medicine on lowly Cubans?

Click here for Dr. Ferrer's footage on Hannity & Colmes.

Click here for part two of this footage.

Click here for my article on Michael Moore's "Sicko" and the REAL Cuban healthcare system.

Why am I talking about this?  Because I'm hoping that people will notice, spread the word, make a fuss, get the main stream media involved, send the video to everyone the know... GIVE A DAMN!  It wasn't ok for South Africa and it's not okay for Cuba.  It's not okay for Michael Moore to show the fantasy of Cuban life- get back down there Michael and cover the REAL DEAL.  ABC, show some integrity and run that story on 20/20. 

Is there Apartheid in Cuba?

¡CLARO QUE SI!

Courage

Tonight on Hannity & Colmes, George Utset of therealcuba.com was interviewed about the current state of the "lauded" Cuban healthcare system, debunking Michael Moore's mythological Cuban utopian medical system as depicted in "Sicko."  Alan Colmes, of course, tried to derail George's efforts but he was not thwarted!  I taped it and will post it or link to You Tube tomorrow. George helped ABC gather the information for John Stossel's 20/20 report a few weeks ago and has been threatened by Castro's agents in Miami. He remains undeterred in his efforts to get the truth out. ABC was told by the castro regime that it (news bureau) would be expelled from Cuba if it continued its "expose" the` following week.  So ABC backed off and Fox ran the story, thanks to George's perseverance.  Bien hecho, George! 

Prior to Hannity & Colmes, Miami tv program, A Mano Limpia, featured video from Cuban hospitals and spoke with Dr. Darsi Ferrer, a cuban doctor and man of great courage who revealed the reality of the decrepit, disgusting hospitals in which Cubans are treated, video footage also shown on Hannity & Colmes. I watched it on the internet and was amazed at the courage this fine man had to speak out like he has, risking, basically, his life for "betraying" the revolutuion.  Qué Dios Le Benidga y lo Proteja.