Monday, March 31, 2014

Stakes Are High for Cuba Foreign Investment Law

Stakes Are High for Cuba Foreign Investment Law
HAVANA March 28, 2014 (AP)
By PETER ORSI Associated Press

Cuban authorities are on the verge of enacting a new foreign investment law considered one of the most vital building blocks of President Raul Castro's effort to reform the country's struggling economy.

The law is seen as so important that an extraordinary session of parliament has been scheduled for Saturday so the matter doesn't wait several months until the regular summer session.

Few concrete details have been made public, but this week official media gave some hints of what the draft law looks like.

The newspaper Juventud Rebelde said it will allow foreign participation in all sectors except health and education, and not only through joint partnerships with the socialist government. Also allowed would be an "international economic association contract, or business of completely foreign capital."

Juventud Rebelde said most companies would be taxed at 15 percent of profits, half what they pay under current rules, and they will be exempt from paying for the first eight years of operation. Investors apparently will not see their personal income taxed.

Duties may be higher for operations that exploit natural resources, such as nickel and fossil fuels.

Foreign investment in the Communist-run country has lagged behind expectations in recent years, and the shortfall is seen as a major reason for disappointing economic growth. Analysts say that officials must show they are truly committed to easing the way for foreign firms if this latest attempt to lure overseas capital is to succeed.

"It's really about (creating) a business climate in which business feels government at senior levels has an unambiguously favorable attitude toward foreign investors," said Richard Feinberg, a professor of international political economy at the University of California, San Diego. "That's the best guarantee."

"If this law gives the right signals," Feinberg said, "it would be a major step forward in the economic reforms."

Cuba isn't the easiest place for a foreign businessperson to make a buck.

Labor taxes are high, there is no open bidding for projects, the approval process is opaque and cumbersome and the government has been reluctant to let outsiders have majority ownership.

Companies often find themselves negotiating multimillion-dollar deals with government officials who earn tiny salaries, and some say payoffs are an unfortunate part of doing business in Cuba. At the same time, a crackdown on graft, including the jailing of Canadian, Chilean, Czech, English and French citizens, has sent a chill through the foreign business community.

Then there's the 52-year-old U.S. embargo, which bars most American trade with the island and effectively obliges many foreign companies to choose between doing business with Cuba or the United States.

There's no sign the embargo will be lifted anytime soon, but observers say Cuba can make itself more attractive to investors by doing things like making approvals more transparent, easing payroll taxes, enabling direct hiring of local employees and relaxing rules that require foreign companies to purchase a certain amount of local inputs.

The rules described in Juventud Rebelde would be almost as favorable as those already in place for a special economic development zone at Mariel, a massive port project west of Havana that was formally inaugurated in January.

Officials are also talking of guarantees that the property of foreign companies and individuals will not be nationalized as happened after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, except in cases of national interest and only with due compensation.

In a recent report for the online publication Cuba Standard, which closely follows Cuban business news, former Cuban Central Bank economist Pavel Vidal noted that foreign investment has remained flat since Castro's economic reforms began, about 20 percent below forecast on average. GDP grew just 2.7 percent last year, low for a developing nation and again short of expectations.

Meanwhile, Cuba is heavily dependent on the billions of dollars in oil it gets from ally Venezuela. The socialist-run South American nation is experiencing its own economic woes these days, rocked for weeks by violent protests amid calls by some in the opposition for President Nicolas Maduro to resign.

Vidal said the new law could help stimulate investment by limiting government officials' discretion in decision-making on approvals, ending a longstanding tendency to green-light only large-scale investment and allowing investment in Cuba's emerging privately owned businesses and independent cooperatives.

"The new foreign investment law is the last opportunity for the reform to come close to the growth goals planned through 2016," wrote Vidal, who is currently a professor at Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia. "At the same time, it will help diversify the island's international relations, as well as reduce vulnerability due to its links with Venezuela."

———

Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter—Orsi

Source: Stakes Are High for Cuba Foreign Investment Law - ABC News - http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/stakes-high-cuba-foreign-investment-law-23094248?singlePage=true

Nuevo rostro del diario del Partido Comunista

Nuevo rostro del diario del Partido Comunista
marzo 31, 2014
Isbel Díaz Torres

HAVANA TIMES — El periódico Granma digital, puso on line el pasado 13 de
marzo una nueva versión de su sitio web, esta vez con un diseño dinámico
que tiene como principal atractivo la posibilidad de comentar los
artículos publicados.

El órgano oficial del Partido Comunista de Cuba poseía hasta ahora un
sitio basado en una plataforma estática y una pésima visualidad, que lo
colocaba bien atrás respecto al resto de otros sitios digitales del
gobierno cubano, como Cubadebate, Cubasí, o diarios como Trabajadores o
Juventud Rebelde.

La web del Semanario Granma Internacional, fue la primera de un medio de
prensa de Cuba en Internet, en agosto de 1996, mientras la del diario,
que ahora se unificaron, estuvo disponible desde julio de 1997.

El nuevo equipo de diseñadores, según dice Granma, se planteó como
exigencias "Que sea moderno, que responda a las exigencias de las nuevas
tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, y en la que esta última
signe su desempeño editorial, cumpliendo con el principio de informar
rápida y verazmente, compartiendo los contenidos y que los usuarios no
queden como simples receptores, sino también como principales emisores".

La actual plataforma del diario oficialista en la red se asienta en una
"armazón dinámica", sustentada en un moderno "gestor de contenidos", que
le permite trabajar desde cualquier lugar y cualesquiera sean las
circunstancias. La propuesta también incluye versiones para formatos de
computadoras, tablets, y teléfonos móviles.

La nueva versión posee una gama de soluciones editoriales "que
proporciona a los decisores no solo actuar con celeridad, sino también
con calidad, tanto en el orden de edición de texto, como de presentación
al usuario atendiendo a la jerarquización del material a subir".

Además del buen diseño, la organización, el responsive design, el
rendimiento, el caché, y la disponibilidad de funcionalidades 2.0; las
noticias publicadas pueden también ser leídas en los idiomas inglés,
francés, alemán, italiano, y portugués.

La cara no siempre es lo mismo que el cuerpo

Con un editorial titulado "Granma.cu, nuestra nueva cara en la red", el
joven equipo de trabajo se presentó ante los asiduos lectores.

Para la ocasión, los periodistas no invocaron a Marx, Lenin, ni Fidel,
sino, a tono con los nuevos tiempos, se tornaron hacia el Oriente y de
allá nos trajeron a Mahatma Gandhi en una frase que reza: "Haríamos
muchas cosas si creyéramos que son muchas menos las imposibles".

Por si no fuera suficiente, desde el 551 Antes de Cristo, los comunistas
citaron a Confucio con la expresión: "quien pretenda una felicidad y
sabiduría constantes, deberá acomodarse a frecuentes cambios".

Por fortuna, el comunicado reconoce que "la nueva herramienta facilita
la gestión, pero no escribe, no investiga, no opina, sobre ella tenemos
que volcar la profesionalidad y el compromiso de un mejor periodismo", a
tono con el llamado de Raúl Castro.

La incidencia del flamante vicepresidente Miguel Díaz-Canel, al frente
del tema de la prensa en la isla, es bastante evidente, en ese afán por
un cambio de maneras en la prensa nacional.

No obstante, el diario sigue instalado en el mismo Poligráfico Granma,
donde se producen centralizadamente todos los periódicos nacionales y
los de La Habana, Mayabeque y Artemisa: Juventud Rebelde (segundo piso),
Tribuna de La Habana (tercero), Trabajadores (cuarto), Mayabeque
(quinto), El Artemiseño (quinto), Granma Internacional (sexto).

Granma tampoco ha cambiado su objetivo fundamental, que no es informar
(como se esperaría en un diario), sino "promover mediante sus artículos
y comentarios la obra de la Revolución y sus principios, las conquistas
alcanzadas por nuestro pueblo y la integridad y cohesión de todo nuestro
pueblo junto al Partido y a Fidel", según se expresa en su página
"Quiénes somos".

Otra muestra de que "el cuerpo" parece ser el mismo, es que la
iniciativa de modernizar Granma, ahora será clonada para el periódico
Juventud Rebelde, con el mismo grupo de diseñadores, según rebeló
Díaz-Canel en una reciente entrevista.

Es preciso reconocer que en la sección de Opinión es posible encontrar
algunos artículos ligeramente más frescos, escritos por gente joven;
pero no son estos los colocados en los espacios privilegiados, aún
reservados para las habituales loas al actual estado de cosas en la isla.

El PCC acepta comentarios

Después de dos semanas, ya es una realidad que los directivos de Granma
están dispuestos a aceptar comentarios con criterios opuestos a los de
los artículos, e incluso bastante críticos con la postura general del
gobierno.

Una noticia que anunciaba el nombramiento del nuevo presidente de la
Asociación Nacional de Agricultores Pequeños, por ejemplo, contenía
varios criterios en contra de la injerencia del PCC en una organización
de campesinos privados, así como el procedimiento del gobierno de
colocar directivos no vinculados directamente con el sector.

Aunque los comentarios halagüeños son la inmensa mayoría, ya hay un
grupo de cibernautas que ha descubierto la nueva posibilidad, y con
timidez empiezan a colocar sus críticas.

Por lo general, los cibernautas asiduos a Granma han reconocido la
necesidad de este cambio de imagen, y se muestran alegres de poder comentar.

Además, los diseñadores de Granma han incorporado varios de los
criterios vertidos por los lectores acerca del diseño del sitio, y han
respondido algunos comentarios, dando muestras de una postura dialógica,
al menos en cuestiones no explícitamente políticas.

El limitadísimo acceso de la población general a las páginas web en
Cuba, podría ser la razón por la cual se ha permitido esta apertura en
el nuevo espacio, uno de los pocos que no permitía la participación pública.

Vale aclarar que varios comentaristas con conexión a la red informática
del sistema nacional de salud (Infomed), expresaron descontento por la
lentitud de la navegación, y la excesiva cantidad de tiempo que
significa visitar todas las noticias.

Un aspecto que rebela el recelo que aún persiste hacia las opiniones
diferentes, es que una vez que los artículos salen de la página
principal, permanece solo una selección de los comentarios vertidos, con
preponderancia de los positivos, y una mínima muestra de los negativos,
sobre todo aquellos peor argumentados.

No obstante, es importante permanecer atentos a estos tímidos pasos, por
lo que puedan significar en el futuro: una apertura hacia un aceptable
modelo cubano de libertad de prensa, o un disfraz para ocultar los
archiconocidos procedimientos de la censura en isla.

Source: Nuevo rostro del diario del Partido Comunista - Havana Times en
español - http://www.havanatimes.org/sp/?p=94793

New Face of Cuba’s Official Online Newspaper

New Face of Cuba's Official Online Newspaper
March 31, 2014
Isbel Díaz Torres

HAVANA TIMES — On March 13, a new version of Cuba's Granma newspaper
website went online. The most attractive feature of the new, more
dynamic page design is the possibility of posting comments on published
articles.

Till now, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party had a
website with a static and visually awful platform, far behind other
Cuban government pages, such as Cubadebate, Cubasi and newspaper sites
such as Trabajadores and Juventud Rebelde.

The digital version of the weekly Granma Internacional, which came
online in August of 1996, was the first Cuban Internet press site. The
online edition of the newspaper (which has now been fused with Granma
International) became available as a digital publication in July of 1997.

According to Granma, the new staff of designers sought to make the site
"modern, respond to the demands of new information and communication
technologies and any platform used to convey news, in order to inform
the public quickly and truthfully, sharing news content in such a way
that users aren't mere passive receivers of information, but also the
main sources of such content."

The current Internet platform of Cuba's official newspaper relies on a
"dynamic framework" that employs a modern "content manager". This allows
for updating from different places, regardless of circumstances. Tablet
and smartphone versions of the site have also been released.

The new website also affords a range of editorial solutions that "allows
decision-makers to act, not only expediently, but also intelligently.
This holds for the editing of a given text and for the way it is
presented to the user, with emphasis on the classification of the
materials to be uploaded."

In addition to improved design, better content organization, responsive
design, performance, increased cache and the availability of 2.0
applications, a portion of the published news can be read in English,
French, German, Italian and Portuguese.

The Face and the Body Aren't Always the Same

Granma's new young staff introduced itself to readers through an article
titled "Granma.cu, nuestra nueva cara en la red" ("Granma.cu: Our New
Face on the Internet").

On this occasion, Granma journalists didn't quote Marx, Lenin or Fidel
Castro. Rather, in keeping with the new times, they turned to the East
and invoked Mahatma Gandhi, in a phrase that reads: "We would do many
things if we believed that fewer things were impossible."

As though that weren't enough, the communist staff of Granma shared a
phrase written by Confucius in 551 AD: "whoever aspires to constant
happiness and wisdom must adjust to frequent changes."

Fortunately, the information acknowledges the fact that "these new tools
facilitate the management of the site but do not of themselves write,
investigate or express opinions. These, it said, require the
professionalism and commitment of a higher form of journalism," in
keeping with the appeals made by President Raul Castro.

The impact Cuba's recently appointed First Vice-President Miguel
Diaz-Canel working towards a change in the methods of the national
press, is fairly obvious.

That said, the newspaper continues to be prepared at Poligrafico Granma
("Granma Publishing House"), where all the country's national
newspapers, including those read in Havana, Mayabeque and Artemisa, are
published.

Nor has Granma changed its fundamental objective, which isn't to inform
the public (as one would expect of a newspaper), but to "promote,
through its articles and comments, the work of the revolution and its
principles, the achievements reached by our people and the integrity and
cohesion of our people around the Party and Fidel," as the page "About
Us" announces.

Another indication that the "body" hasn't changed is that the initiative
to modernize Granma will be extended to Juventud Rebelde, through the
same team of designers, commented Diaz-Canel in a recent interview.

I must acknowledge that slightly fresher articles written by young
people can now be found in the newspaper's Opinions column. These,
however, aren't published in the privileged spaces, which are still
reserved for the familiar praise for the current state of things on the
island.

The Communist Party Now Accepts Comments

After two weeks online, it is clear that the editors of Granma are
willing to publish comments expressing criteria opposed to those of the
article and even opinions that are fairly critical of the government's
general policies.

An article that announced the appointment a new chair of the National
Association of Small Farmers, for instance, showed several comments
criticizing the PCC's meddling in an autonomous farmers' organization
and the Party's tendency to appoint leaders who had no direct experience
in the field.

Flattering comments continue to be the immense majority for the time
being, though a group of cybernauts seems to have discovered this new
possibility and timidly begin to post their criticisms.

Generally speaking, Internet users supportive of Granma have
acknowledged that the change was necessary and appear to be pleased by
the opportunity to share their comments.

In addition, Granma designers have implemented a number of changes
suggested by readers and replied to a number of comments, giving signs
of a willingness to converse with the public (at least on matters that
aren't explicitly political).

Cuba's extremely limited Internet access could be the reason these new
spaces have been opened, in one of the few sites that didn't allow for
public participation until recently.

It is worth pointing out that several users who use Cuba's national
health network connection (Infomed) left comments expressing their
dissatisfaction with the slowness of the connection and the amount of
time it took to open the different news pages.

That dissenting opinions are still treated with a measure of
apprehension is revealed by the fact that, once articles are published
on the main page, only a selection of the comments made are left – the
majority are positive and a small number of them (usually the worst
arguments) are negative.

Regardless, we should pay attention to these shy steps and what they
could mean for the future: a move towards an acceptable model of free
press for the island, or a mere disguise used to conceal the censorship
mechanism we know so well.

Source: New Face of Cuba's Official Online Newspaper - Havana Times.org
- http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=102701

Analistas - El historial de arbitrariedades del Gobierno genera desconfianza hacia la Ley de Inversiones

ECONOMÍA

Analistas: El historial de arbitrariedades del Gobierno genera
desconfianza hacia la Ley de Inversiones
AGENCIAS | La Habana | 31 Mar 2014 - 6:44 pm.

La Habana da la bienvenida al financiamiento extranjero, pero una vez
que el proyecto es operativo, quiere apoderarse de él, advierten.

La nueva Ley de Inversiones Extranjeras "aprobada" el fin de semana por
la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular es recibida con profundo
escepticismo por empresarios y analistas debido al historial del
Gobierno cubano, que incluye el encarcelamiento de algunos ejecutivos y
la búsqueda de control sobre emprendimientos que resultan exitosos,
informa Reuters.

"Considerando lo que sabemos hasta ahora, esto representa cierta mejora
en el clima de inversiones, pero todavía existen obstáculos
importantes", dijo Richard Feinberg, exconsejero de Seguridad Nacional
durante el Gobierno de Bill Clinton y hoy profesor de la Universidad de
California, San Diego. "No lo sabremos realmente hasta que veamos cómo
es aplicada en la práctica".

La ley reconoce que el capital extranjero es crucial para el desarrollo
económico de Cuba, pero decepciona a quienes esperaban mayores cambios,
como permitir que las empresas extranjeras contraten libremente a sus
empleados cubanos en lugar de hacerlo a través de una entidad estatal.

El Gobierno dijo que necesita entre 2.000 y 2.500 millones de dólares
anuales en inversión extranjera directa para lograr la meta de un
crecimiento anual del 7 por ciento.

Economistas calculan que la inversión extranjera directa en Cuba ronda
hoy apenas unos pocos cientos de millones de dólares y que la economía
debe crecer solo un 2,2 por ciento este año.

Las autoridades de la Isla quieren conducir a los inversores extranjeros
hacia sectores como agricultura, infraestructura, azúcar, níquel, la
renovación de edificios y negocios de bienes raíces.

Para conseguirlo, la nueva ley recorta a la mitad los impuestos sobre
las utilidades, elimina el impuesto sobre el uso de mano de obra y
ofrece una moratoria de ocho años para empezar a tributar sobre las
ganancias. Pero la forma en que el Gobierno ha tratado en el pasado a
los empresarios sugiere prudencia.

Hombres de negocio señalan que, por ejemplo, las autoridades dejan que
las propuestas extranjeras languidezcan sin explicación. En este caso
estarían negociaciones con varios grupos sobre la construcción de campos
de golf y urbanizaciones de lujo, que pese al entusiasmo inicial no han
prosperado.

"El problema con la nueva ley es que a excepción de los impuestos poco
ha cambiado", dijo un diplomático europeo que pidió no ser identificado.
"Al final, toda la ley continúa siendo discrecional".

Algunos expertos dicen que la aproximación de La Habana a las empresas
extranjeras ha sido arbitraria. Si un negocio tiene éxito, el Gobierno a
menudo quiere una participación mayor. Da la bienvenida al
financiamiento extranjero, pero una vez que el proyecto es operativo,
quiere hacerse cargo.

"Usa a los extranjeros donde mejor le convenga. Y los dejas fuera tan
pronto como pierdan utilidad", dijo otro diplomático europeo que también
requirió el anonimato.

El Gobierno ha cerrado más emprendimientos mixtos de los que abrió desde
que el Partido Comunista aprobó las reformas económicas en 2011.

El año pasado el grupo anglo-holandés Unilever cerró un emprendimiento
conjunto tras 15 años, tras no ponerse de acuerdo con el Gobierno sobre
quién tendría la participación de control.

Más preocupante para los inversores fue el encarcelamiento de los
ejecutivos de la compañía británica de inversiones Coral Capital Group
Ltd, acusados de cometer fraudes no especificados.

En junio de 2013 los ejecutivos británicos fueron hallados culpables de
cargos menores y liberados después de más de un año de prisión. En el
pasado era más probable que el Gobierno deportara a hombres de negocios
sospechosos.

El empresario francés Michel Villand dejó de hacer negocios en Cuba tras
establecer una exitosa cadena de panaderías llamada Pain de París, ahora
en manos del Gobierno.

En su libro Mi socio Fidel Castro, Villand escribió que el Gobierno
cubano lo defraudó al mantener una doble contabilidad y ofrecerle una
suma ridículamente baja por su participación.

"Fundar una empresa mixta en Cuba para una pequeña o mediana empresa
extranjera es lo mismo que ponerse una soga al cuello", dijo el
empresario a la agencia española de noticias EFE.

Aún así otras compañías extranjeras han permanecido en Cuba, entre ellas
el gigante suizo de los alimentos Nestlé, la británica Imperial Tobacco
Group y la española Meliá Hotels Internacional.

"Todavía es un lugar para hacer negocios. Pregunte a los brasileños.
Acaban de colocar 800 millones de dólares allí", dijo Kirby Jones, el
presidente de Alamar Associates, una consultora para empresas
interesadas en Cuba.

El banco estatal de desarrollo de Brasil, BNDES, ha financiado la zona
especial de desarrollo en el puerto del Mariel, construido por el
gigante brasileño de la ingeniería Odebrecht S.A.

"La nueva ley probablemente alentará a los inversionistas extranjeros a
echar otro vistazo a Cuba", opinó por su parte Thomas Herzfeld, cuyo
Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund agrupa acciones y otros activos que, en su
opinión, se beneficiarían de un eventual fin del embargo de Estados Unidos.

Source: Analistas: El historial de arbitrariedades del Gobierno genera
desconfianza hacia la Ley de Inversiones | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1396284293_7902.html

Cuba Needs to Unleash Creative Energy

Cuba Needs to Unleash Creative Energy
March 28, 2014
Vicente Morin Aguado

HAVANA TMES — Michael A. Lebowitz, Canadian economist and professor at
the Simon Frazer University in Vancouver, answered our questions
regarding: Socialism and the Party, the New State from the bottom up,
cooperatives and self-management, Cuba and its economy.

HT: What does the Cuban economy need as a factor of the first order to
succeed?

Michael A. Lebowitz: I don't think it is appropriate for me, as an
outsider, to make specific proposals for the Cuban economy. However, on
the basis of my studies of countries which attempted to build socialism
in the 20th century and several years as an adviser in Venezuela, I
think I can make some general comments.

If you wish to build a new society, it is essential to find ways to
unleash the creative collective energy of the people. It is important to
create conditions in which people through their practice can transform
circumstances and themselves.

In the Soviet Union and countries which followed that model, this was
sorely lacking. The tendency was to think that all solutions and all
movements toward socialism were to be determined at the top and
transmitted to the bottom. The result was that people did not develop
their capacities, that they were alienated in the workplace and
communities and did not and could not defend the gains that were made in
those societies. And we know the result: capitalism triumphed. In short,
even though some people may think it is more efficient to make the
decisions at the top, it should be understood that this is a
disinvestment in people.

I spent a number of years living and advising in Venezuela during the
period when Chavez was president. It was evident there in the communal
councils and workers councils that when people have the ability to make
the decisions that affect them, they develop strength and dignity. One
of the wonderful characteristics of Chavez was that he had confidence in
the ability of people to develop and to build socialism and he never
hesitated to encourage them. If you want to solve the problem of
poverty, he said, you have to give power to the people. Chavez was
consistent on this point: he stressed the importance of producing new
human beings, and he often cited Che Guevara on the necessity to build
new socialist human beings.

HT: Is an economy possible completely based on self-management and the
cooperatives?

ML: I think self-management of state-owned enterprises and cooperatives
are an important way of unleashing the creative energy of people. They
build solidarity within those workplaces and demonstrate essential
aspects of a society based on cooperation rather than competition.
However, I don't believe that you can build a just economy limited to
these islands of cooperation. Their inherent tendency is the
self-interest of the members of these collectives.

For example, in Yugoslavia the orientation of self-managed enterprises
was to maximize income per worker. They functioned within the market
and, rather than building solidarity within the society, the tendency
was to generate inequality in the society. When every group of workers
is looking out only for itself, who is there to look out for the
interests of the working class as a whole?

It is a myth (a dangerous myth advanced by those who are either ignorant
or ill intentioned) to argue that, when everyone acts out of their own
self-interest, the interests of all are advanced. That is the mythology
of Adam Smith and neoliberal economics. In Yugoslavia: the stress upon
self-interest and the market produced the destruction of solidarity
within the society and ultimately the destruction of Yugoslavia itself.

I believe that it is essential that there be an organized voice which
expresses the needs of people and thus acts as a corrective to the
self-orientation of the members of the enterprises. In Venezuela, the
stress has been to bring together the communes (composed of a number of
communal councils) and the workplaces in those areas to explore the ways
in which the workplaces can serve the needs of the local communities.

Obviously, it is not only the needs of local communities have to be
taken into account. However, it is very important that the members of
these workplaces understand their responsibility to society. Otherwise,
you can get the perverse situation which existed in Yugoslavia where
state taxation (for the purpose of equalizing development in the
country) was attacked as exploitation by a Stalinist state.

HT: Do the cooperatives need the unique party and the state as
institutional rectors of the nation?

ML: I definitely believe that you need the state. How else can you deal
with the problem of inequality and problems of national importance like
defense? However, I think it is important to begin to build a different
kind of state – a new state.

In Venezuela, Chavez described the communal councils as the cells of a
new socialist state. They were institutions characterized by
protagonistic democracy, a democracy in practice, in which people
develop through their own activity. And he saw these as the building
blocks to move to communes and from there to the creation of a communal
city and from there upward to the new national state – a state from below.

Obviously, that new state cannot possibly develop overnight and it
necessarily coexists with the old state for a period of time. But the
goal should be to build that new state consciously – precisely because
it is a state which produces the people required for a socialist economy.

I don't think that such a new state emerges spontaneously. It requires
conscious effort. It requires the battle of ideas. It requires
leadership. In short, it requires a party which recognizes the necessity
to create the conditions in which new socialist human beings produce
themselves. And that means, I think, a party with a different focus –
not a focus upon making decisions at the top and enforcing discipline
within the party but one which creates the conditions internally for
people to develop all their potential and initiative, one which contains
within it different tendencies and which respects minorities, a party
oriented toward building socialism which can listen and learn.

HT: Do you think cooperatives are the answer to the problems of Cuban
agriculture?

ML: Certainly the problems of Cuban agriculture are very serious and
much depends upon a solution to these. While these problems have unique
characteristics (reflecting particular decisions that were made in the
past), it is essential to understand that there are many common
characteristics in other countries of the South.

In many places, people have abandoned the rural areas in part because of
the inability to compete with the highly subsidized agriculture of the
United States and other developed capitalist countries. It is not at all
a level playing field – poor and developing countries are pressured not
to subsidize rural production but nothing is done about the subsidies
(direct and hidden) in the rich countries. The result is that many
countries of the South lack food sovereignty despite their fertile land
and end up importing substantial amounts of their foodstuffs.

This is the situation in Venezuela, where there was an enormous movement
from the countryside to the cities in the period before Chavez's
election; a particular factor there was an overvalued currency (due to
oil exports) which meant that rural producers could not compete with
imports.

The result was that Venezuela was importing 70% of its food and much of
its countryside was empty. How was it possible to reverse that and to
develop food sovereignty? In a paper I did for the Venezuelan Ministry
of Economic Development in 2008, I stressed that if you want to
encourage food production, you have to encourage food producers and, in
particular, you have to encourage new entry into agricultural production
especially of young people.

And, I argued that this goes far beyond simply increasing food prices
for the producers (which does not necessarily mean increasing prices for
consumers). It means developing an infrastructure, schools, cultural
facilities and access to modern communications. In short, you have to
create the conditions in which young people do not see themselves as
turning their back on civilization to work in the countryside. This is
obviously an investment – an investment for the future which goes far
beyond a simple solution of raising prices for agricultural production
and leaving things to the market to solve the problem.

If a society is prepared to make such an investment (which needs to be
widely discussed so people understand its necessity), then the next
question is what should be the nature of the relations of production in
agriculture. From what I've said earlier, it is obvious that I think
that forms of self-management (whether under state ownership or
cooperative ownership) are essential. It should be obvious, too, that if
society is making this investment, then the self-managed enterprises
need to recognize their responsibility to society.

If Cuban society is not prepared or is unable to make such investments,
I fear that the prospect is one of shortages, high food prices and
continued high food imports (especially with the aging of the rural
population).

Source: Cuba Needs to Unleash Creative Energy - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=102664

Cuba - Censorship, Self-Censorship and Common Sense

Cuba: Censorship, Self-Censorship and Common Sense
March 27, 2014
Ernesto Perez Chang

HAVANA TIMES — As a mechanism for ideological control, censorship is not
unique to totalitarian regimes. In nearly every country around the
world, there are political, religious and other demarcations that make
so-called freedom of expression mere semblance. This is a truism. No one
is so naïve as to believe they can freely express their opinions without
some form of hostile consequences.

The fact censorship exists nearly everywhere should not, however, be
used by governments to justify its practice as an unquestionable right,
nor as a kind of consolation for those whose right to dissent is curtailed.

All countries will always suffer some form of censorship (tacitly or
explicitly), but public opinion groups and individuals must be very much
aware of the legitimate role they must play in their relationship with
power.

Journalists and writers – provided they are true to their calling and
assume the absolutely independent and responsible attitude devoid of
opportunism and complicity with higher-ups their profession demands –
are duty-bound to practice their trade honestly and decorously, even
when this means an open and direct confrontation with the political
establishment.

It is not a question of turning literature or journalistic work into
propaganda, creating spaces, columns or opinion groups, much less
affiliating oneself to parties or parading down the streets holding
banners and yelling out slogans (as citizens, we are all free to do
this, of course). It is a question, rather, of shedding one's fears
ceasing to conceive of our intellectual subjugation and self-censorship
as "common sense", as these phenomena only lead to ridiculous and
nonsensical text and never to genuine literature or journalism.

While it is true that efforts to avoid censorship through the use of
literary disguises of every sort has spawned literary masterpieces and
brilliant authors whose real names we will never know, hidden as they
remained behind a pseudonym or total anonymity, it is also true that no
hand numbed by fear or guided by a foreign and despotic will ever
managed to write anything worthwhile. One cannot write a journalistic or
literary piece if one is forced to respect the limits imposed by others.
Nothing of any significance can be achieved when one needs a permit in
order to create.

Publishing a sterile work that has been emptied of potentially offensive
content, besmirched by convenience and adulterated by the fear of
punishment could be tolerated in mentally challenged people, but it is
shameful and objectionable when practiced by individuals who have an
effective influence on the public sphere.

Any system that fears individual opinion, the direct usage of the
written word or questioning (misguided or not) only demonstrates that
the ideological foundations that sustain it are as fragile as paper or
as insubstantial as hot air.

By attacking those who dissent, governments merely reveal their colossal
clumsiness. By revealing, through their hatred, their disproportionate
and contradictory faith in the written word, they attest to the fact
that their reality is made up of a huge pile of words, each propped up
by the other, part of a discourse that is only apparently coherent.

Words are not the political or ideological property of anyone. Imposing
limits on the activities of intellectuals and artists does great harm to
a country's culture. Strategies aimed at silencing people and at
controlling the opinions of individuals within the sphere of culture and
others are the fundamental causes behind the stagnation and mediocrity
that prevail in our society.

Source: Cuba: Censorship, Self-Censorship and Common Sense - Havana
Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=102649

Cuba presenta su medicamento estrella en EE UU

Cuba presenta su medicamento estrella en EE UU
Especialistas cubanos presentaron en Washington y Los Angeles el
Heberprot-P, medicamento inyectable 'unico en el mundo para tratar las
úlceras del pie diabético que ya está registrado en 15 países.
Pablo Alfonso/ martinoticias.com
marzo 31, 2014

Científicos cubanos expusieron en dos foros realizados en Estados Unidos
la pasada semana los resultados del empleo del medicamento Heberprot-P
para el tratamiento de las úlceras complejas de pie diabético y que,
según dijeron, evita su eventual amputación.

El doctor Jorge Berlanga Acosta, autor principal del Heberprot-P y Boris
Acevedo, funcionario de la Dirección de Negocios del Centro de
Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología (CIGB), que desarrolló el fármaco,
participaron en un seminario técnico realizado por la Organización
Panamericana de la Salud en Washington, y en la Conferencia del manejo
de la Úlcera del Pie Diabético (DFCON), que se desarrolló entre el 20 y
24 de marzo en el Loews Hollywood Hotel de Los Angeles.

En ese evento, el más importante que agrupa a los profesionales de
Estados Unidos que atienden a pacientes con úlceras de pie, Berlanga
Acosta presentó una ponencia titulada Hi Fidelity Care: Revolutionary
Teams and Technologies Can Avoid a Cuban Missile Toe Crisis, en la que
expuso los resultados clínicos y uso del medicamento que, según
afirmó,está registrado en una veintena de países.

Heberpto-P es un medicamento inyectable cubano único en el mundo para
tratar las ulceras del pie diabético.

Los especialistas cubanos, perteneciente al grupo empresarial
BioCubaFarma, expusieron los detalles del mecanismo de acción que
soportan los resultados en los estudios clínicos y uso del producto, y
aseguraron que su aplicación ha beneficiado a más de 145 mil pacientes
en el mundo, 28 de ellos en Cuba.

De acuerdo con la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) unos 300
millones de personas padecen diabetes en el planeta, de las cuales entre
15 y 35 por ciento pueden sufrir la amputación de una de sus
extremidades en algún momento de la vida.

En Estados Unidos, donde el tratamiento cuesta unos 70.000 dólares, el
65 por ciento de los diabéticos sufre una amputación, según la OMS, pero
el Heberprot-P no se puede comercializar debido a las leyes del embargo
estadounidense a Cuba.

En octubre del pasado año el congresista cubanoamericano, Joe García,
demócrata de la Florida, desató una encendida polémica en Miami cuando
abogó por la autorización del medicamento en beneficio de los pacientes
afectados por la enfermedad.

"Es algo que podría beneficiar a 70,000 estadounidenses y como miembro
del Congreso de Estados Unidos mi trabajo es representar a esos
pacientes", declaró entonces García.

El ex gobernandor republican de New Hampshire, John Sununu y el ex
senador demócrata por Massachusetts, Bill Delahunt, quienes ahora son
lobystas de la empresa farmacéutica Healiance han recabado apoyo de
García para que el medicamente cubano Heberprot-P se venda en Estados
Unidos.

Garcia se unió a otros congresistas estadounidenses circularon en el
Congreso el borrador de una solicitud al Departamento del Tesoro de
Estados Unidos, para que otorge la debida autorización si una empresa
estadounidenses quisiera conducir los procedimientos clínicos necesarios
para comercializar el medicamento en el país.

Según Erick Hernández, especialista del Grupo de Gestión de Promoción
CIGB, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argelia, México, Angola y otros 15 países
cuentan ya con el registro sanitario para el uso de Heberprot-P y otros
14 países, entre ellos China y Rusia, están en trámites para aplicarlo
en sus centros hospitalarios.

Heberprot-P es un producto del nuevo grupo empresaria BioCubaFarm,
creado en 2012, con el propósito de lograr mayores niveles de
integración en el sector biotecnológico y farmacéutico de Cuba. Cuenta
con 38 empresas, de ellas 16 productoras, 19 comercializadoras y tres de
servicios y su principal objetivo es producir medicamentos, equipos y
servicios de alta tecnología, la generación de tecnologías de avanzada
en la producción de alimentos, bienes y servicios exportables.

La industria farmacéutica y biotecnológica de Cuba, estaría ahora
abierta a las inversiones extranjeras, de acuerdo a la nueva Ley
aprobada la pasada semana por la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular.

Source: Cuba presenta su medicamento estrella en EE UU -
http://www.martinoticias.com/content/cuba-presenta-su-medicamento-estrella-en-estados-unidos/33558.html

Shortage of potatoes in Cuba

Shortage of potatoes in Cuba

Potatoes are scarce in Cuba. Cuban weekly 'Trabajadores' reported last
Monday, that the import prices for seed potatoes has risen sharply and
as a result, only half the total area is being planted, compared to last
year.

At the moment approximately 3200 hectares of potato are being cultivated
in Cuba. This is 57% smaller than the total area of 2013, and a 17%
smaller area than 1990. "It will not be enough for everybody," warns
'Trabajadores'. The harvest runs from the end of March to early April.

Publication date: 3/31/2014

Source: Shortage of potatoes in Cuba -
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/119125/Shortage-of-potatoes-in-Cuba

Bahía Honda pero sin transporte

Bahía Honda pero sin transporte
[31-03-2014 16:26:12]
Rodrigo Alberto Rodríguez Verdecia
Red Cubana de Comunicadores Comunitarios

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- En Bahía Honda, provincia de Artemisa,
donde habitan unas 50 mil personas, el transporte es un dilema. La
Empresa de Transporte no posee vehículos para trasladar a los
pobladores, los ómnibus que alguna vez existieron están abandonados y
rotos sin esperanza de ser arreglados, en la Unidad Empresarial de Base
(UEB) de transporte del municipio.
"Quienes tenemos la suerte de encontrar algo para transportarnos somos
tratados como animales, los camiones en los que hay que subirse no
tienen barandas para sujetarse y tenemos que aguantarnos unos de otros e
ir amontonados. Algunos se pegan con malas intenciones y equivocación
tocan donde no deben. Vamos todo el tiempo cogiendo sol y nos bajamos
llenos de golpes, así es la vida en el campo o mejor en el campo no hay
vida", cuenta una pobladora.

Source: Bahía Honda pero sin transporte - Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/53397b043a682e127020be68#.UzmQrPmSwx4

Las áreas comunes ya no son comunes

Las áreas comunes ya no son comunes
[31-03-2014 16:03:46]
Misael Aguilar Hernández
Red Cubana de Comunicadores Comunitarios

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Una de las cosas que muestra de manera
nítida e inmediata, la indisciplina y el caos en que se encuentra la
sociedad cubana, es los espacios comunes o compartidos. Según el decir
popular estos espacios "ya no son tan comunes ni compartidos¨. Esto se
hace evidente en las comunidades que habitan en edificios, alrededor de
estos suelen verse espacios cercados con plantaciones de yuca o plátano.
Alguna carpintería rústica o hasta cochiqueras.
En estos sitios la ley es la voluntad de quien se imponga, de quien tome
la iniciativa. Así es normal que una persona que reside en un segundo
piso construya una escalera que comience en su terraza y termine en el
espacio común. Nadie que proteste. Refutar es buscarse problemas.

Hay lugares verdaderamente fantasmales. La comunidad llamada Los
Pinareños, en San Antonio de los Baños, provincia Artemisa es uno de
ello. Edificios que se yerguen entre salideros, fosas desbordadas y
cercas de arbustos.

Los llamados espacios comunes, existen en la imaginación o en los libros
de arquitectura.

Source: Las áreas comunes ya no son comunes - Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/533975c23a682e127020be67#.UzmQr_mSwx4

Desintegración de la familia - reto de un Estado cubano futuro

Desintegración de la familia: reto de un Estado cubano futuro
[31-03-2014 15:27:41]
Raúl Lázaro Fonseca Díaz
Grupo Decoro

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- El caso del triple asesinato en La Habana
Vieja , pone de manifiesto una arista siniestra de la sociedad cubana,
desde los primeros años de la implantación del comunismo en el país,
comenzó la desintegración de la familia.
El viernes 28 de marzo fueron hallados los cuerpos sin vida de los
ciudadanos cubanos Francisco José García Peña, de 49 años de edad,
Florencia María Machado Fernández, de 64, y del niño Víctor Manuel
García Acosta, de 10. En apenas 24 horas se esclareció el hecho y se
detuvo a su autor, Adrián Abelarde Varela, de 23 años de edad. Fue un
crimen pasional, Adrian asesino a Francisco"por amor" Según rumores la
esposa del Sr. García Peña, no sabía la orientación sexual del mismo,
además estaba trabajando en Venezuela.

Este ejemplo nos sirve para constatar como un gobierno que todavía se
inmiscuye en los más profundos rescoldos de la vida íntima de sus
gobernados, no es capaz de ni siquiera de averiguar a quienes dejan sus
hijos menores de edad, cuando marchan al exterior los trabajadores que
engrosaran las alcas del país por el robo de la casi totalidad del
salario que reciben los mismos, es evidente que les importa más el
dinero ahora que el futuro del país que estará en manos de esos
traumatizados niños.

La operación Peter Pan (que todavía es fuertemente criticada por el
castro comunismo), fue una maniobra coordinada entre el Gobierno de los
Estados Unidos, la Iglesia católica y los cubanos que se encontraban en
el exilio, por la cual más de 14,000 niños fueron llevados de Cuba a los
Estados Unidos. Tuvo lugar entre el 26 de diciembre de 1960 y el 23 de
octubre de 1962. La operación fue diseñada para transportar a los niños
de padres cubanos preocupados que temían la ideología comunista del
gobierno cubano y que conocían lo sucedido con los "niños de Rusia"
enviados por la Segunda República Española a la Unión Soviética, las
noticias de que ya habían escuelas de adoctrinamiento, y de que al
Ejército Rebelde lo estaban también adoctrinando, añadido a todo esto lo
que estaba sucediendo con la implantación de un sistema comunista en
Cuba. Pero la mayoría de estos niños se reencontraron con sus padres,
fueron educados en familia y hoy son venerables abuelos en territorio
norteamericano.

Con la salida al exilio de millones de cubanos, desde el triunfo de la
guerrilla comandada por Fidel Castro por la huida del dictador Fulgencio
Batista, comenzó a desintegrarse la familia cubana. Este proceso ha sido
continuo, ahora en estos momentos es indetenible, tanto por los
nacionales que marchan al extranjero por su cuenta como los que son
enviados por el gobierno a trabajar al exterior.

A los trabajadores cubanos en el exterior, salvo algunos diplomáticos,
se les prohíbe llevar a su familia, esta es la causa fundamental que
jóvenes de hasta 20 años de edad apenas han visto a sus padres media
docena de veces, son criados por abuelos así como otros familiares,
amigos, vecinos, a veces psiquiátricos, alcohólicos o decrépitos, ha
esto se puede agregar los que marchan al exterior en frágiles
embarcaciones y tienen la sensatez de no llevar menores tan suicida acción.

Llamémosla María, era una niña ejemplar, la mejor estudiante en su
quinto grado de primaria de una escuela del municipio Plaza de la
Revolución. Pero comenzó a quedarse dormida casi todos los días en las
clases, por suerte para ella tiene una maestra de mucha experiencia y
dedicación que bien pronto averiguó la causa: su padrastro un militar en
activo la obligaba casi todas las noches a tener una frenética actividad
sexual. La madre de María se encontraba trabajando en Venezuela, la
misma fue traída al país luego de la denuncia de la maestra para seguir
los trámites lógicos que el proceso jurídico de abuso de menores
conllevaba. Pero sorpresa, una vez juzgado y sancionado el abusador
padrastro, la madre de María a pesar de lo destrozada que estaba la niña
regresó a Venezuela dejándola a cargo de una anciana tía que más bien
necesitaba un cuidador para ella misma que ocuparse de una niña con
tratamiento psiquiátrico.

A pesar que la constitución de la República de Cuba en el artículo 35,
el Estado reconoce en la familia la célula, desde el comienzo de la
instauración del sistema comunista hizo bastante por destruirla, desde
los años 60 del siglo pasado, los nativos en la Isla se veían obligados
a romper relaciones con sus familiares que marchaban al exterior, (los
mismos eran clasificados como contrarrevolucionarios, "gusanos", que se
negaban a la construcción del comunismo), bajo pena de ser
estigmatizados en el mejor de los casos, represaliados muchos desde su
mismo barrio, expulsados de centro de trabajos, de estudios, etc. Esos
vientos trajeron estas tempestades, en definitiva los que ahora tratan
de huir del infierno comunista, son los herederos de aquellas medidas
genocidas de los que han dirigido por más de 50 años la devastada Isla.

Un futuro Estado cubano, libre, democrático, soberano e independiente
debe plantearse como una de las primeras medidas el reencuentro y
reconciliación de la familia, en este empeño deben trabajar juristas,
médicos, pedagogos, y la sociedad en general para poder sanar esta
lesión purulenta e impedir que se convierta en un proceso cancerígeno
irreversible.

Source: Desintegración de la familia: reto de un Estado cubano futuro -
Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/53396d4d3a682e127020be64#.UzmQtPmSwx4

Preso en su vivienda

Preso en su vivienda
[31-03-2014 14:32:56]
Fernando Vázquez Guerra
Red Cubana de Comunicadores Comunitarios

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Alexis Sabatelas Ugalde, un opositor
miembro del Comité por la Liberación de los Presos Políticos se
encuentra preso dentro de su vivienda, ubicada en el edificio 25,
apartamento 41, Reparto Micro 2, en la ciudad de Nuevitas, provincia de
Camagüey.
Desde el pasado día 15 de marzo de 2014, la policía política lo arrestó
arbitrariamente en la calle 1ra. entre C y 10, del Reparto Saratoga, en
el municipio cabecera, junto a Daniel Mille Jiménez, del Frente Nacional
de Resistencia "Orlando Zapata Tamayo".

Sabatelas Ugarte, fue trasladado para la ciudad donde reside y desde ese
día no le han permitido salir de su vivienda.

Source: Preso en su vivienda - Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/53397c983a682e0ce8381ae4#.UzmQt_mSwx4

Santiago de Cuba, sin condones

Santiago de Cuba, sin condones
DDC | Santiago de Cuba | 31 Mar 2014 - 5:52 pm.

Las autoridades dicen estar cambiando la fecha de vencimiento de
productos almacenados (noviembre del 2012) porque es 'incorrecta'.

Santiago de Cuba está sin condones desde hace tres meses, informa el
periódico oficial Trabajadores y dice que el asunto "preocupa", entre
otras cuestiones, "por la notable incidencia que tienen en el territorio
las infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS), y el VIH/sida en particular".

La publicación señaló que el VIH/sida afecta a más de mil santiagueros y
tiende al incremento.

Ramón Suárez Ramírez, director del establecimiento provincial de
suministros médicos, dijo que la distribución y comercialización de
condones debe estabilizarse a partir del segundo trimestre de este año,
con la llegada de envíos contratados en el exterior.

También con un proceso, actualmente en desarrollo, de cambio de la fecha
de vencimiento de los preservativos almacenados en la provincia.

Según Suárez Ramírez, se borra una "fecha incorrecta de vencimiento"
estampada en la envoltura de los condones (noviembre del 2012), para
poner una nueva (diciembre del 2014).

Añadió que este proceso "cuenta con la autorización del fabricante", que
el reporte no especificó, y con "la certificación que avala su calidad,
emitida por el Centro para el control estatal de medicamentos, equipos y
dispositivos médicos de Cuba (Cecmed)".

El funcionario dijo que el cambio de fecha debió realizarse culminarse
en el primer trimestre de 2014, pero "no tuvo la agilidad requerida".

La información tampoco aclaró a qué de debió el "error" en la fecha de
vencimiento.

Source: Santiago de Cuba, sin condones | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1396281148_7901.html

Fidel is a talented, egotistical guy who hates the Cuban people

Fidel is a talented, egotistical guy who hates the Cuban people /
Augusto Cesar San Martin
Posted on March 30, 2014

Havana, Cuba — Hubert Matos is a symbol of the struggle against the
tyranny that has dominated Cuba since 1959.

As an admirer of his rebelliousness and perseverance — something that
characterized him until he drew his last breath — I resolved during my
visit to the United States in January of last year not to go home
without interviewing him.

We quickly settled on a date for the interview, arranged by Cuba
Independent and Democratic (CID), an organization that he founded to
bring freedom to his homeland.

With the help of a 17-year-old student, Christopher Campa, to capture
the images of the meeting — he filmed unedited images — we'll see three
generations in his house in Miami. The same home which welcomed him on
October 2, 1979, coming from Costa Rica, to where he was exiled by Fidel
Castro, and in which country he asked for his body to be temporarily
interred, before being placed to rest in Cuba some day.

Huber Matos gave us four hours of his precious time to explore his
indefatiguable life, which he committed fully to Cuba.

Before his physical loss, we forwarded Cubanet fragments of the
interview, taking notes of the transcription of the video.

Cubanet: I understand that your name has something to do with the life
you have lived.

Huber Matos: "The first thing you should know, or the most important in
my life, is that they gave me a name the kids said was unique — "Where
did they get that name Huber from?"

"Before I was born, my father read a book by a Swiss-German researcher,
biologist and naturalist named Francisco Huber. I used to say, "What
does that have to do with me?" The man was blind by the time he began
studying the lives of honeybees. He spent twenty years studying the
subject with the help of two assistants and wrote the most definitive
book of its era on the subject.

"That persistence, that strong will of that man… that means you have to
be strong inside," said my father. And that's how me raised me.

"One cannot soften oneself, one cannot allow oneself to be defeated by
adverse circumstances … The life of a human being has one principal
function that goes beyond saving one's skin.

"So I owe a lot to my parents and teachers. It is not happenstance that
I could withstand 20 years in prison. Of course, there's the luck
factor. If, in those beatings they give … once they almost split me.
They made deep scars on my neck area.

Cubanet: But you also trained values as a part of the Cuban magisterium.

HM: "I spent years training teachers in the normal school in Manzanillo.
We were some 20 professors training teachers, from the first year though
the fourth. Trying, not only to give them knowledge, but also to train
conscience in my case.

"I told them: The Republic is an entity that must be built day by day.
Each of you has a role to play, not only to teach reading and writing,
and teaching arithmetic … helping to train the citizen in the field
which corresponds to him. Help form a conscience.

"As a youth I was afraid of prison. Once they condemned a relative to
one year, 8 months and 21 days because he'd taken a girl and didn't want
to marry her. He asked me to visit him in prison. "Cousin, get me out of
here", I told him, "this is insufferable". Afterwards I had to tolerate
20 years in prison.

Cubanet: You were incarcerated due to a sinister and vengeful trial
during the beginning of the Revolution. Linked to events like the death
of Camilo Cienfuegos, one of the dark chapters of the revolution. Do you
feel hatred towards the Castros, declared enemies of yours since then?

HM: "With all certainty, I tell you in a very sincere way, the question
of hatred no, it's a rejection and some unsettled scores. But I
subordinate that of the unsettled scores to the harm I've done to them
and they are doing to Cuba. In my personal order of things, I've
overcome all they've done to me.

"When I left a free man, I could have accepted recognition at the
international level. Afterwards, when I wrote my book, I noted that in
my story.

"Right now they've called me to Mexico to recognize me as a Hero of
Freedom in America", I told myself "Boy, I didn't expect this … I think
this is beyond my rights, what I deserve."

"Anyway, I think that in some form it's a recognition of the demand of
the Cuban people for respect of their rights. I try to cover the
unsettled account (with the government) with the Cuban people.

"The Castros killed Camilo. I have no proof, but I know that Fidel had
tremendous jealousy of Camilo, for his popularity. He wasted no
opportunity in the months I was in office, from 1 January (1959) until
21 October, which was when I resigned, to impress me with Camilo.

"Fidel traveled all the provinces twice. I was the boss in Camaguey. No
two weeks passed without Fidel calling to tell me something … the two
(Fidel and Raul Castro) were determined he'd form some part of the
government, or perhaps the Minister of Foreign Relations, or Minister of
Agriculture, at the beginning, when they were talking of agrarian
reform. In all their conversations with me they were always trying to
impress me with Camilo.

"Camilo was a guy the people applauded, but he was disorganized, drunken
… I was Camilo's friend, and I'd tell him: "Take care, you know that
Fidel eulogizes you in public, but in private he says nasty things about
you." Camilo didn't put much stock in that.

"They took advantage under cover of my resignation to see if my people
were trying to kill Camilo. Afterward, they took advantage of my
situation to eliminate him.

"How they killed him, I don't know. That which I do know is that they
killed the pilot and bodyguard. I can't affirm how they killed him
because I don't have the evidence. Camilo got in the way of Fidel's
popularity."

Cubanet: Have you been afraid?

HM: "I've been lucky to be a man who doesn't scare easily. In more
difficult situations, I haven't backed down.

"At my sentencing, I was convinced they were going to shoot me, they
were going to shoot me for proclaiming my truth. If they didn't shoot
me, it was because they made a mistake. They brought a lot of people to
encourage my execution, so they would shout "To the wall!", and it
happened that when I stopped speaking, they applauded me. And they
applauded me because I said: "Okay, if with my death the true Cuban
Revolution is saved and the republic is saved, then blessed be my death."

Cubanet: You know intimately the how attached the Castros are to power.
Do you think Raul has the will to change?

HM: "A change to survive them. One always has to expect the chance of
deceit, of the trap. Because they're two individuals who, although they
differ much in their personalities, they team up to scam the rest. To
deceive the rest and leave with what's theirs.

"Fidel is a talented guy, an egomaniac who with all certainty harbors a
tremendous hatred of the Cuban people, which no one can explain. He
hates and detests everything that is not in his self-interest. His taste
for dominion and power traps all mankind.

"Raul is very careful to make sure of this and that, he's organized.
Fidel is chaos.

"They're being flexible in matters of maneuvering here and there, but if
they find a seriously adverse situation, they will ensure it's invented
on the way. That is Raul Castro, in my manner of seeing, the man I know
and have known through his pronouncements."

Cubanet: If I told you to send a message to the new generations of
Cubans, what would you say?

HM: "That it's worth it to make the maximum effort to implement the
ideals of the founders of the Cuban nation. In a true republic, as Marti
said, "with everyone and for the good of everyone".

"What exist and what the Castros have imposed on us is something, but
not a republic. The opposite of the ideals that inspired the mambises,
the founders of the Cuban nation. This one (Castro) has a fiefdom, a
whorehouse, a colony, a farm — something — but not a republic.

"The compromise with the founders of the Cuban nation and the compromise
with the values that inspired them is permanent. Service to collectivity.

"I trust in that. I don't know if it will take us 20, 15, or 100 years
more to achieve a real republic. It's worth the trouble to make the
maximum effort for that achievement."

Cubanet: Does Huber Matos still have things to do?

HM: Before I die, although one never knows if death will come tomorrow
or the day after, I have to write a few more things. I'm taking it from
there. I can't afford to fool myself, 94 years isn't a very short time.

"I wrote the book How the Night Came; now I have to write how we want
the dawn to come out.

"I still have a little understanding, but doubtlessly the almanacs are
respectable."

Cubanet, 28 February 2014. Augusto Cesar San Martin

Translated by: JT

Source: Fidel is a talented, egotistical guy who hates the Cuban people
/ Augusto Cesar San Martin | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/fidel-is-a-talented-egotistical-guy-who-hates-the-cuban-people-augusto-cesar-san-martin/

Cuba for Foreigners

Cuba for Foreigners / Miriam Celaya
Posted on March 31, 2014

HAVANA, Cuba – On Saturday 29 March 2014 the Cuban Parliament "will
debate" in a special session period the new Foreign Investment Law,
another desperate attempt by the regime to attract foreign businessmen
who choose to risk their capital and ships where those of others have
already been shipwrecked.

This time the scenario and the circumstances are markedly different from
the decades of the 90s, when the fragile and dependent Cuban economy
touched bottom and the government had no other alternative but to
reluctantly open it to foreign capital, creating then a Foreign
Investment Law that granted some legitimacy and limited guarantees for
investors.

Hugo Chavez's rise to power in Venezuela at the end of this same decade
came to the rescue of the regime with new subsidies that allowed
backtracking on the opening to capital and the small private family
businesses that arose in the midst of the privations of the period.

Paradoxically, 15 years later, the critical socio-economic and political
situation in Venezuelan situation, which threatens to collapse the
Bolivarian project, once again closing the sources nourishing the Cuban
government, strongly affects a new search for foreign capital because
this is the only way the system will survive, but the investors are
reluctant and skeptical given the absence of a legal framework to
protect the invested capital.

It is rumored that the recent visit of José Ignacio Lula Da Silva to
Cuba , concerned about the risk of elevated investments from Brazil and
the delay of the government of the Island in updating the Foreign
Investment Law, was the definitive touch that made the Cuban cupola
decide to push its approval, postponed several times. There are also
unofficial rumors about the freezing the Brazilian investments in the
Mariel Special Development Zone, and the approval of new credit to the
Cuban side, until there are adequate legal safeguards. The agreements
are no longer based in solidarity, but rather on purely capitalist
financial and commercial relations.

Propaganda at the Recent International Trade Fair of Havana

The new Foreign Investment Law in progress, therefore, is to "strengthen
the guarantees of the investors," while it "also contemplates the total
tax credits and exemptions in determined circumstances, was well an
increased flexibility with regards to customs, to encourage investment,"
according to the statements from José Luis Toledo Santander, president
of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of People's Power
which, "deals with the Constitutional and Legal Affairs," (Granma,
Saturday March 17, 2014, page 3), elements not covered in the Law.

Also the high official declared that the draft presented to the
deputies,"established the priority character of foreign investment in
almost all sectors of the economy, particularly those related to
production." Clearly, a self-employed person is not the same thing as a
capitalist entrepreneur, in case anyone had any doubts.

In the preparatory process, which according to the official press has
been developing throughout the country, participating along with the
deputies have been "specialists, functionaries from the municipal and
provincial governments, representatives of international legal
consultants and consultants from important businesses; in general people
who could support the discussion." (Emphasis by this author.) A plot
behind closed doors of which some harmless notes have reached the
national media, but the common people are nothing more than this
conglomerate of spectators incapable and prevented from making some
"contribution" and should swallow the pill as the olive-green
filibusters stipulate.

The "main concerns and contributions of the deputies" in the so-called
process of analysis and discussion of the draft on the Island revolved
around "the labor rights of the Cubans who work on these projects, the
terms for the investment and the protection of the National Patrimony,"
omitting the fundamental question: the privileging of foreigners over
what should be the national rights of Cubans. A details that recalls
that "Carolina Black Code" that in 1842 recognized the doubtful rights
and privileges of slaves such as corporal punishment not exceeding 25
lashes, and the prize of freedom in exchange for the betrayal of fellow
slaves.

Almost 40 years of experience in parliamentary simulations allow us to
anticipate that, like all the previous laws "discussed," this one will
also be unanimously approved by the choir of ventriloquists from the
from the orchestra seats in the headquarters of the farce, the Palace of
Conventions, on March 29th. For now, many of the parliamentarians have
conceded that the new Law "is in complete harmony" with the economic
adjustments drive by the General-President in his process of updating
the model, another experiment that—indeed—will allow him, through
capital, through capital, the solving of the ever pressing problems of
building socialism.

Miriam Celaya

28 March 2014

Source: Cuba for Foreigners / Miriam Celaya | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-for-foreigners-miriam-celaya/

With Regards to the Promised Salary Increase for Doctors

With Regards to the Promised Salary Increase for Doctors / Jeovany
Jimenez Vega
Posted on March 30, 2014

It's said that on a misty winter day the old Chinese emperor, aroused by
the longing for spring, desired to delight his eyes with a painting of a
beautiful bird, and as the desire of any emperor is an order for his
vassals, the search began immediately, first among the artists of the
court, and later further and further afield, to the borders of that vast
empire that seems to be the borders of entire world.

So, after long investigations, they found in the most distant region, a
painter as skilled as he was wise: it was said that after so much
reflection on the mysteries of the universe he had come to glimpse the
most hidden secrets of the universe; it was said he could talk to the
birds in the forest.

That humble maestro was presented to the sovereign who solicitously
asked what he needed to paint the perfect bird, a beauty never seen in
live, a bird worthy of adorning the palace of an emperor. The wise
painter answered that he needed a large workshop, five servants, one
year, and one hundred gold coins. "So be it!" commanded the emperor.

They tell how a year passed and the maestro was sent for and he came,
just as he was, and to the scandal of the idle court, wearing his
stained painter's smock. The sovereign asked, "Is your work ready?"

"No my Lord," responded the maestro, "now I need a still larger
workshop, ten servants, five years and two hundred gold coins."

"So be it!" commanded the emperor.

They tell how five winters later the maestro was again called to appear
before the sovereign. "Let's see," he said, "show me, finally, your work."

"It's still not ready, my Lord," responded the maestro, "I need ten more
servants, five more years, and five hundred gold coins."

Not believing his ears, the emperor consulted his ministers and
counselors who warned him against such an absurdity. But the longing for
spring overcame him and he decided, again, that it would be thus.

Finally after five more long winters, the emperor, compelled by hope and
curiosity and determined not to wait one more day, decided to visit
himself the workshop of the painter who now seemed too demanding. When
he entered with his entourage he found himself enveloped in a mysterious
light, in silence, in the middle of the spacious salon. The maestro
bowed with respect.

"Everything is ready, my Lord," he said, and immediately revealed to the
incredulous a blank canvas. At the offense, the emperor stared,
understanding nothing.

Only then did the maestro take a few minutes to mix the exact colors,
and according to the legend, before the astonishment of the emperor and
the amazement of the court, he painted, in sublime and serene strokes,
the most beautiful nightingale in the world.

10 March 2014

Source: With Regards to the Promised Salary Increase for Doctors /
Jeovany Jimenez Vega | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/with-regards-to-the-promised-salary-increase-for-doctors-jeovany-jimenez-vega/

Use and Abuse of the Lab Coat

Use and Abuse of the Lab Coat / Fernando Damaso
Posted on March 30, 2014

During my childhood, adolescence, youth and young adulthood, doctors
wore their lab coats only when they were working in hospitals, clinics
and other health care facilities, and only for hygienic reasons. They
were intended to help prevent the spread of germs between doctor and
patient. On the street and in public places they dressed like anyone
else of their social class. This seemed to be the case in the rest of
the world as well, judging from films and television programs which
portrayed medical personnel.
In my country, however, lab coats seem to have become a kind of second
skin, an official uniform for doctors, who never take them off. They
wear them when walking from place to place and on buses, in commercial
establishments and in the management offices of state enterprises and
institutions. They were the damn things in preparation for travel to
countries where they provide cheap labor, in assembly rooms where they
receive their political and professional "orientation," and even as they
get on and off the planes taking them to their final destinations.

Undoubtedly, this use and abuse of the lab coat is not a coincidence but
rather a response to political objectives. It serves as a propaganda
tool, intended for both domestic and international audiences, which is
used to promote one of the most important "achievements" of the regime.

The lab coat, which is worn at all hours of the day, seems to define the
personality of our doctors. In Cuban TV news reports they are always
seen wearing them, even when travelling on foot through fields and
mountains, or on boats on rivers and lakes. They wear them in groups,
"moving towards the bright future" together, as in old Soviet-bloc
propaganda posters illustrating "the path towards communism."

It would be desirable if lab coats were once again used for the purposes
they were originally intended, which was for the well-being of doctors
and their patients. Moreover, they would undoubtedly last much longer.

30 March 2014

Source: Use and Abuse of the Lab Coat / Fernando Damaso | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/use-and-abuse-of-the-lab-coat-fernando-damaso/

UNEAC - A VIII Congress Like the Previous

UNEAC: A VIII Congress Like the Previous / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on March 30, 2014

If Fidel and Raul Castro should be delegates to the UNEAC Congress
again, we can predict right now that it will be a copy of the previous,
which, viewed from a distance, did not achieve any social scope, saving
to mitigating development, destroying illusions and win the trust of
power with opportunistic statements.

All those of us from the base who have participated in these events,
know that the presidents of the associations, not to mention of UNEAC
and is vice-president, are handpicked according to political trust. The
vote of the artists don't decide, but their personalities are malleable.

I remember a ballot count when the now-deceased Guillermo Vidal–a great
writer from Las Tunas–obtained a huge triumph in the votes, but he was
not invited to join the Congress because his literature and posture were
critical.

The system of elections of the UNEAC is similar to that of the president
of the nation; a total fraud.

The creator's guild does not answer to its members but to the State.
It's just a detail that makes an organization useless and falacious.

Dreaming of a Pen Club to work for the benefit of its members, will be
the carrot of Cuban writers.


Ángel Santiesteban-Prats

Lawton Prison settlement. March 2013

To sign the petition please follow the link, asking Amnesty
International to declare Angel a prisoner of conscience.
https://secure.avaaz.org/es/petition/Para_que_Amnistia_Internacional_declare_prisionero_de_conciencia_al_disidente_cubano_Angel_Santiesteban/?fbss

Translated by: Shane J. Cassidy

7 March 2014

Source: UNEAC: A VIII Congress Like the Previous / Angel Santiesteban |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/uneac-a-viii-congress-like-the-previous-angel-santiesteban/

Aviones cubanos secuestrados y traídos a EEUU no vuelven a volar

Publicado el lunes, 03.31.14

Aviones cubanos secuestrados y traídos a EEUU no vuelven a volar
CHRISTINE ARMARIO /AP

Cayo Hueso -- Por su valor nominal, son tres aviones viejos que no
tienen más precio que el valor de sus piezas y su chatarra. Robados al
gobierno cubano durante un período de seis meses que terminó en abril
del 2003 —dos por secuestradores, uno por su piloto— todos aterrizaron
en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Cayo Hueso, un vuelo de 116 millas
desde La Habana hasta las costas de Estados Unidos.

Fidel Castro demandó repetidamente que se devolvieran los aviones. En su
lugar, las cortes estadounidenses los confiscaron para satisfacer parte
de la adjudicación por $27 millones ganada por una cubana-americana que
se casó sin saberlo con un espía cubano en Miami.

Lo que sucedió a los aviones en años siguientes es otro capítulo en la
historia de las contenciosas relaciones EEUU-Cuba, con los nuevos dueños
incapaces de volar los aviones en ningún lugar.

El primero de los tres aviones en aterrizar en Cayo Hueso fue un avión
de fumigación amarillo y fabricación soviética que el piloto Nemencio
Carlos Alfonso Guerra usó para traer a siete pasajeros, muchos de ellos
parientes suyos, a Estados Unidos en noviembre del 2002.

Cuba quería de regreso el bimotor, pero un juez de la Florida estuvo de
acuerdo con Ana Margarita Martínez que debería ser confiscado y vendido
para pagar parcialmente el fallo que se le adjudicó a ella bajo una ley
antiterrorismo. En 1996, su esposo, Juan Pablo Roque, voló de regreso a
Cuba después de infiltrarse en la organización Hermanos al Rescate, con
sede en Miami. Al día siguiente, dos cazas cubanos derribaron dos
Cessnas del grupo en aguas internacionales, matando a cuatro pilotos.

El viejo Antonov AN-2 se subastó en el 2003 en el aeropuerto de Cayo
Hueso y Martínez hizo la mayor oferta, $7,000.

"Tuvimos una victoria —mantuvimos esta propiedad del gobierno cubano",
dijo Martínez después de la subasta.

Ella esperaba venderlo más tarde para lograr un beneficio, pero en su
lugar se lo dio al artista cubanoamericano Xavier Cortada, que pintó la
mitad de él con un colorido mural como parte de una exhibición para
conmemorar la independencia de Cuba.

Después de la exhibición, Cortada donó eventualmente el avión a la
Universidad Internacional de la Florida (FIU), quien planeaba exhibirlo,
pero no pudo encontrar un edificio para almacenarlo. Actualmente se
deteriora bajo lonas en una esquina apartada del campus de la FIU.

Incluso si pudiera volar, habría otro obstáculo: el avión tendría que
dar de baja su registro en Cuba o recibir una autorización especial de
la Administración Federal de Aviación. Eso, sin embargo, requiere
documentos de mantenimiento y certificados que prueben que el avión es
seguro, todos los cuales se encuentran en Cuba.

Don Soldini, quien adquirió un DC-3 secuestrado, es uno de los pocos que
tuvo una oportunidad de obtener registros de aviones cubanos.

"Lo volaría de regreso", dijo Soldini la semana pasada.

Soldini, que fue a Cuba cuando era adolescente para luchar en la
revolución, se mantiene en buenos términos con los dirigentes de la isla.

Soldini tenía apenas 18 años cuando viajó pidiendo aventones de Staten
Island a Cayo Hueso a finales de la década de 1950 para unirse a la
revolución cubana. Luego voló a la isla en un DC-3 de pasajeros, un
elegante avión que es ahora sinónimo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la
era de las décadas de 1940 a 1960 de la aviación comercial. Una vez en
Cuba, Soldini se unió a la clandestinidad y eventualmente luchó en el
ejército rebelde, junto con Raúl Castro y sus tropas.

Después de la victoria de los revolucionarios en 1959, Soldini
permaneció en Cuba, pero no se sintió bien allí como estadounidense.
Eventualmente se fue y comenzó una compañía inmobiliaria en la Florida
con oficinas en 21 países. A partir de la década de 1970, comenzó a
visitar a Cuba unas dos veces al año.

En marzo del 2003, un DC-3 cubano similar al que había volado Soldini
fue secuestrado por seis hombres a punta de cuchillo y llevado a Cayo
Hueso. Trece días después, otro avión comercial cubano fue secuestrado
hacia Cayo Hueso por Adermis Wilson González.

"Mi meta siempre fue venir a este país y trabajar para darle un mejor
futuro a mi familia", dijo González en una carta la semana pasada a The
Associated Press desde una prisión federal en Pennsylvania. González
cumple una sentencia a 20 años por piratería aérea.

Al igual que con el bimotor, ambos aviones fueron subastados.

Dos aspirantes a pilotos de Colorado vinieron a la venta y, para su
sorpresa, ganaron. Wayne Van Heusden compró el DC-3 por $12,500 y
Matthew Overtor adquirió el Antonov AN-24 por $6,500.

"Mi gran idea, inicialmente, era darlo a las autoridades cubanas, porque
es su avión", dijo Van Heusden.

El se imaginó llenar el avión con suministros médicos y volar hacia la
isla, pero no pudo encontrar apoyo financiero. Van Heusden y Overton se
encontraron con el mismo obstáculo: no pudieron volar los aviones sin
los documentos de mantenimiento. Rápidamente se acumularon las tarifas
por mantener los aviones en Cayo Hueso, y ambos decidieron venderlos.

Overton ofreció su avión en eBay, pero no obtuvo una buena oferta. El
Aeropuerto Internacional de Cayo Hueso se hizo cargo del avión y hoy se
usa para simulacros de emergencias.

Soldini oyó sobre el DC-3 y sintió nostalgia por el día en que voló para
unirse a la revolución.

El compró el avión a Van Heusden y contactó a los Castro.

Pero después de los largos y apasionados discursos de Fidel Castro
pidiendo a EEUU la devolución de los aviones, Soldini dijo que el
gobernante cubano no los quiso.

"El está más interesado en el impacto político que en el práctico", dijo
Soldini. "No pude hacer nada".

Soldini regresó a Cayo Hueso, desarmó el avión y lo puso en un camión.
Estacionó el avión en un hangar en la Florida central, donde se
encuentra en la actualidad. Después hizo un largo documental que contaba
la historia del avión, desde que se fabricó en California hasta sus días
en Cuba.

Soldini espera que un día esté en un museo, porque nunca volará de nuevo.

Source: Aviones cubanos secuestrados y traídos a EEUU no vuelven a volar
- Sur de la Florida - ElNuevoHerald.com -
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/03/31/1714869/aviones-cubanos-secuestrados-y.html

Los que hacen la Primavera - Osmar Laffita, un largo camino

Los que hacen la Primavera: Osmar Laffita, un largo camino
LUNES, 31 DE MARZO DE 2014 00:09 ESCRITO POR LUIS CINO ÁLVAREZ

Cuba actualidad, Arroyo Naranjo, La Habana, (PD) Osmar Laffita Rojas
recorrió un largo camino antes de llegar a la prensa independiente: como
marino mercante, navegó medio mundo; a fines de los años 80, fue
perestroiko; a inicios de los 90, se unió a la oposición; de
socialdemócrata pasó a liberal convencido, y ya sexagenario, encontró su
verdadera vocación: escribir artículos periodísticos sobre economía.

Me place haberlo descubierto para la prensa independiente. En honor a la
verdad, la ayuda profesional que pueda haberle brindado, no tiene la
magnitud que él le atribuye. Laffita lee compulsivamente, tiene
conocimientos enciclopédicos, es puntilloso con los datos y los
detalles, es receptivo, acucioso y tenaz en el trabajo. Trabajar con él,
en cuanto a resultados profesionales, resulta muy gratificante.

P: ¿Cuándo entraste en la prensa independiente?
OLR: En 2009, cuando me vinculé con la página digital Cubanet, que
radica en Miami. Poco después entré en Primavera Digital. Comencé con
artículos sobre temas generales. Por mi falta de experiencia y
conocimiento del periodismo digital, tuve mis altas y bajas, al extremo
de que estuve a punto de no seguir en la labor, pero gracias a tus
consejos y enseñanzas, continué. Puse mucha atención a tus sugerencias,
a los límites en cuanto a palabras de los artículos en el lenguaje
digital, que es muy distinto al de la prensa plana. Te puedo decir que
en mi caso se produjo un proceso de aprendizaje de manera ascendente.

P: ¿Cómo valoras el servicio público que presta la prensa independiente?
OLR: Lo que más valoro es tener la oportunidad de poner en la picota
pública a la supeditada, antidemocrática y manipulada prensa del
gobierno cubano.

P: ¿Cuáles son los temas de tu preferencia?
OLR: Me he dedicado a los temas económicos y ocasionalmente, asuntos
internacionales. Hace más de un año que la mayoría de mis artículos
tratan sobre la economía cubana. Mi intención es especializarme,
convertirme en un referente en el tema, ser la contrapartida de la
prensa oficial, que oculta, escamotea y no siempre dice la verdad de lo
que realmente ocurre en la economía cubana.

P: ¿Qué te ha aportado el periodismo independiente y particularmente tu
trabajo en Primavera Digital?
OLR: Además ampliar mis conocimientos, hallar un espacio transparente
para encausarlos, sin ningún vínculo con grupos políticos. En Primavera
Digital he aprendido mucho y recibido una inestimable ayuda, gracias a
la cual mis trabajos periodísticos hoy tienen más aceptación. Mi mayor
alegría es haber tenido el privilegio de formar parte del valioso equipo
que conforma la redacción de Primavera Digital, pero particularmente
gozar de la amistad tuya y de un hombre tan talentoso y carismático como
Juan González Febles, el famoso Johnny.

Para Cuba actualidad: luicino2012@gmail.com

Source: Los que hacen la Primavera: Osmar Laffita, un largo camino |
Cuba noticias actualidad.Periodismo independiente. -
http://www.primaveradigital.org/primavera/destacados/117-politica/10202-los-que-hacen-la-primavera-osmar-laffita-un-largo-camino.html

Preso político demanda chequeo médico

Preso político demanda chequeo médico
LUNES, 31 DE MARZO DE 2014 00:26 ESCRITO POR DANIA VIRGEN GARCÍA

Cuba noticias, La Habana, (PD) En el Campamento Cuatro, San Juan, Pinar
del Río, el preso político y miembro de la organización La Fuerza de la
Verdad, David Piloto Barceló, demanda se le haga un chequeo médico.

Piloto Barceló afirma que ha perdido peso (mide 1,75 metros y
actualmente pesa 60 kilogramos) y tiene frecuentes mareos. No come la
comida de la prisión.

Desde el 20 de febrero ha solicitado que se le hagan análisis de sangre,
porque le duelen los pulmones, pero el jefe de servicios médicos y el
mayor Vargas, segundo jefe de la unidad, le niegan la asistencia médica.

Piloto Barceló tuvo tuberculosis y quedó con secuelas.

Este preso político responsabiliza a Raúl Castro y a la Seguridad del
Estado de lo que pudiera sucederle.

A Piloto Barceló le niegan el traslado para La Habana, su provincia de
origen y donde vive su hermana Odalys Piloto Barceló, que es su única
familia y actualmente no puede visitarlo por estar enferma.

Piloto Barceló reitera su reclamo de libertad para él y los demás presos
políticos que cumplen injustas condenas en Cuba.

Junto con Luis Enrique Labrador Díaz, Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto y
Yordanis Martínez Carvajal, Piloto Barceló fue condenado a cinco años de
privación de libertad el 14 de enero de 2011 por tirar octavillas en la
Plaza de la Revolución en demanda de libertad de expresión, democracia y
la liberación de los 12 presos políticos que quedaban encarcelados desde
la primavera negra de 2003.

El número de su causa es 2/2011 y el de su expediente es 14304593.

Para Cuba noticias: primaveradigital@gmail.com

Source: Preso político demanda chequeo médico | Cuba noticias
actualidad.Periodismo independiente. -
http://www.primaveradigital.org/primavera/cuba-prisiones/90-prisiones/10200-preso-politico-demanda-chequeo-medico.html