Carta de Cuba, la escritura de la libertad

Havana – Katia Martín Véliz,  wife  of the Orthodox priest and peaceful opponent Ricardo Santiago Medina Salabarría, denounced she was beaten while the police was taking his husband away. ¨Since early morning hours, the Rapid Response Brigades, supported by the political police, were gathering in the down floor of the building where I live¨, indicated Katia. And she told to Carta de Cuba: ¨My husband went down to the street, to buy yogurt for the girls (two year-old twins) and an officer of the State Security, who didn´t want to identify himself, prevented him to come out¨, pointed out Martín Véliz. ¨That’s when everything started: six policemen handcuffed Ricardo, pounded him to the ground and took him away. When I came out to the street –with my children in arms- a multitude of persons, from the ¨rapid response¨ brigades, surrounded and started beating me and the girls¨, told the young dissident. Reverend Medina Salabarría is accused of being ¨potentially dangerous¨, by Castro’s district attorney office, along with twelve other opponents, recently arrested in Havana.- Silvio Núñez

Nueva Gerona – A group of furious residents of Isla de Pinos, with the support of several government opponents, frustrated the eviction of 22 regional families, which was about to take place in the rural area of Siguanea, ordered by the local authorities. The place is very close to ¨El Abra¨, a historical site that reminds the sojourn in Isla de Pinos of José Martí, the Apostle of the Cuban independence, in the XIX century, before he was deported to Spain. The government representatives called these evictions ¨extraction operations¨, but in this case, the firm resolution of the 22 families and the presence of several opponents in the site, succeeded in avoiding this action, at least temporarily, as reported by the independent press. Carlos Serpa

TV MORE DANGEROUS THAN RUM

Güira de Melena – What began as a police search in an agricultural area south of Havana, looking for a clandestine rum distillery, took another dimension when police discovered that the investigated family possessed a satellite antenna for watching American television. The events took place in San Eugenio Street, Güira de Melena, a farming area close to the Cuban capital. When they realized the situation, the policemen pulled out the parabolic antenna connection –something illegal for common Cubans- as well as the cable transmitting the signal to various neighboring houses, threatening to take away all the television sets connected to the system. This provoked that the implicated parties, as well as other neighbors in the area, came out to the streets insulting the policemen, who opted to retire, fearing that from the verbal attacks, they would pass to physical aggression, thus forgetting all about the clandestine rum.- José Raúl García

A FLYING PALACE

This is the IL-96, Castro's new flying palace

Havana.-  Despite the government's attempts to silence the matter, Castro's purchase of a luxurious Ilyushin 96 jetliner has become known. The plane, which cost at least $50 million dollars, and probably much more, is a Russian version of the popular French Airbus A340, which can carry up to 300 passengers in commercial flights. However' Castro's plane is dedicated to a single person, himself, and his entourage. After its basic manufacture in Russia, the plane has been extensively modified in other countries, to make it similar to the official plane of Russian president Vladimir Putin. It has an office, meeting room, bedroom, satellite TV and Internet, as well as a complete medical area with the capabilities of an intensive care unit. It has a nonstop range of over 6,600 miles, at a cruise velocity of 540 miles per hour, and an operational ceiling of  over 40,000 feet. When president Putin bought his plane he was severely criticized by political opponents, who found the expense excessive in view of Russia's economic problems. This accentuates the differences between Cuba and Russia. Russia has a per capita GDP of $9,800 compared to Cuba's GDP of less than $3,000 per person. Furthemore, despite all of its problems, Russia is a world power, which produces these planes for export, so it is logical that its president flies  symbol of national industry. Furthermore, Russia has an active opposition and a multi-party system, which can criticize its leaders without being jailed. If a Cuban say anything about the "Comandante's" flying palace, he or she will certainly end up in jail...

Havana – While the Cuban authorities have declared a violent offensive against the regime opponents, the real delinquency is out of bounds in the island, and the authorities are not doing anything to control it. At San José Street, in Havana Center, a group of hoodlums ¨privatized¨ the public space in front of their houses, making anyone who tried to park there, to pay a fee for such ¨rights¨, without the authorities taking any action about it. The government arrests the human rights activists, for throwing flowers to the sea, while Cuban executives -which are Castro’s employees- work with foreign corporations getting important amounts of foreign currency or Cuban convertible pesos, buying houses or autos, or going on trips outside the country, at the same time that the warehouses –where valuable merchandises are kept- are ¨plundered¨ by bands of delinquents with suspicious precision, all of which makes one think that Castro’s repressive forces are targeting only the dissidents, while thieves are being forgiven.- José Morán

Havana – Eight organizations opposing the communist government  published a communiqué asking international solidarity before the new repressive wave the Cuban government is displaying, since mid July. The government’s anger was provoked as a response to the spontaneous demonstrations reminding the sink of the tugboat ¨March 13¨, perpetrated on July, 1994. At present, some thirteen persons remain under arrest for such protest, with the threat of being prosecuted and sentenced to prison. Among them, opponents René Gómez Manzano, Oscar Mario González, René Montes de Oca, Roberto de Jesús Guerra, Camilo Cairo Falcón, Manuel Pérez Soria y Lázaro Antonio Román.- Manuel Solís

San José de las Lajas – In several vigils celebrated at different places in the island, members of the oppositionist groups to Fidel Castro’s regime demanded the liberation of the activists detained in the last days. In Havana province, members of Pro Human Rights Party of Cuba, affiliated to the Andrei Zajarov Foundation, met at the independent library’s site in San José de las Lajas, in order to demand the liberation of lawyer René Gómez Manzano, journalist Oscar Mario González and other peaceful opponents arrested during the last weeks.- José Reyes

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

Havana – These last days, the Cuban press has been forced to reflect on the debasement of the environment as well as on the poor attention given to such problem, both by the population and the local authorities. A story published in Havana’s newspaper Juventud Rebelde makes reference to the ¨pestilence of Almendares river¨ -the largest river in the Cuban capital- and furthermore, mentions the ¨still dark¨ Havana Bay, in direct reference to the high degree of contamination gathered in it, something which has been often denounced by independent activists, without any official response. The country’s deforestation and the damage done to important ecological systems, where quarries and other productive centers are located, is another aspect mentioned in the article published by the communist newspaper, which ends up with a dramatic accusation (against the population, of course, not the government) for having ¨an excessively hedonist sense of existence¨.

Arriba (up)
August 3, 2005
El caballo volador