August 9, 2006
ANTIGOVERNMENT POSTERS IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA
Santiago de Cuba – In spite of the large military presence
existing in the western part of the island, two antigovernment posters
appeared in this city’s most busy section, provoking an immediate reaction
from the authorities all over town and surrounding areas. Through the main
routes accessing Santiago de Cuba, there is an extensive movement of
troops and trucks full with armed soldiers carrying automatic AKM rifles.
A commanding post was soon established in El Caney village, complete with
two vehicles for military communication, and in the Port of Moya, in front
of El Cobre Sanctuary, there are two Russian made assault BTR tanks.
Streets are practically taken by the secret police, with men in civilian
clothes at every corner, showing off their weapons, while the regular
police guard public facilities. The sudden appearance of posters also
provoked a strong action against opposition leaders, who have been
summoned and warned that they are under control and cannot leave their
homes.
PRICE OF EGGS GOING UP
Havana – Up to now, a ration of eight eggs-a-month have
been distributed in the Cuban capital, at a price of fifteen cents per
unit. Now they are going to give two eggs more (ten in total), but five of
them will be sold at 15 cents y and the other five, at 90 cents each. In
the last few days, this piece of news have been the talk of town in the
island, since a worker’s average salary is 148 Cuban pesos –less than $7
dollars a month- and even it may seem impossible, there are many people
who subsist only on their salary, which is becoming less and less
sufficient every time. At present, at the stores selling rationed food,
with Cuban pesos, you can only find crackers, eggs and sugar, all with the
ration card, of course.
INSTRUCTIONS: TO SUPPRESS WITH STRONG HAND
Holguín – Officers from the Revolution’s Defense
Committees (in Spanish, CDR), a repressive entity functioning on every
neighborhood, are carrying out meetings in order to instruct neighbors
about how to react in face of any antigovernment demonstrations. The
guidance given is to arrest any person expressing opposition to the
government. Anybody who is surprised making some critical or mocking
comment about Fidel Castro’s ailment shall be taken to the nearest police
station, and in case of resistance, there are precise order to taken him
there even if he has to be dragged along.
DRIVING REGULATIONS VIOLATED
Havana – Transit authorities have been warning about the
increase of violations in driving regulations. High speed, drinking
alcoholic beverages and the breach of transit laws, together with the
deplorable state of many of the principal routes in the capital, have been
the main cause of accidents, during the first seven months of the year.
Recently, at Marianao, two buses traveling at excessive speed collided in
an open lane, and one of them also impacted a house, with the result of
one person dead and many more wounded.
A PETITION TO RAUL: FREEDOM FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS
Havana – The Ladies in White, a group which includes wives
and relatives of Cuban dissidents in jail, asked Raúl Castro to show some
indication of change, releasing the political prisoners. ¨In our heart,
there is no hate, no ill will, not even against Doctor Castro, who has
made us suffer¨, expressed Laura Pollán, who spoke for the group and asked
that ¨the Lord’s Will be done¨, in relation to Castro. Eight members of
this group, which rose in Cuba in the year 2003, after the imprisonment of
75 dissidents, attended the Santa Rita Church, in Miramar neighborhood, in
order to pray for their relatives in jail, and later marched through this
city’s Fifth Avenue, carrying only gladiolus and white lilies.
¨HABANEROS¨ LEFT ¨ALL DRESSED UP AND NO DANCE TO GO ¨
Havana – Castro’s sudden illness have left musical groups
in Havana all dressed up and with no dance to go. Carnivals, which should
have begun on Friday, August 4th, in the island’s capital, were
suspended on account of Fidel Castro’s disease. Same luck happened to the
city of Bayamo, in Granma Province, at the western part of the country. An
announcer in Cuban television informed about the suspension of carnivals
in Havana, and said that whoever had bought tickets to attend the parade
at the water front, would receive his money back.
CUBANS SEARCHING FOR TV MARTI SIGNAL
Havana – Warned that daily transmissions from TV Martí
station had begun from a plane flying near the Cuban coasts, many island’s
residents tried to tune in with its sign, seeking for an alternative
source of information. This new phase of TV operation implies maintaining
at least four hours of daily information directed to the Cuban public, and
extending the transmission schedules, on the long run.
Arriba (up)
La Iglesia y Fidel
August 9
Citas de los dictadores
La fiesta tendrá que esperar
Circula Carta de Cuba en Isla de Pinos
¿Cuba libre? Vargas Llosa
Testimonio sobre Gustavo Arcos