Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Hidden Article

This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Cuba, the cracks are beginning to show

Toby | 03.06.2008 07:53 | Workers' Movements | World

Since the fall of Fidel Castro and the recognition by his brother that Cuba has to change to survive the cracks in the once all powerful state oppression are beginning to appear. Younger people are for the first time asking why they are expected to live in near poverty while the Castro family and its hangers on enjoy US and European luxury goods in their villa outside Havana.


In a country of shortages, political symbols are one of the few objects of plenty in Cuba. Hasta la victoria siempre (always, on towards victory) screams from billboards and television screens across the Caribbean island. But, almost 50 years after Fidel Castro marched into Havana, many younger Cubans are beginning to ask how much longer the promised "victoria" will take. Hospitals may be free, they say, but they lack medicines; pupils may not pay for school, but there are few textbooks.

"They [younger generations] don't care who died in the attack on the Moncada barracks or in the Sierra Maestra," said José Arango, 46, a lawyer in Havana, referring to events leading to the 1959 revolution. "These things are as relevant to youngsters as Arthur and his Round Table are for young Britons." Low incomes, high prices and increasing inequality are the daily realities that concern people. The average wage in Cuba hovers around 250 Cuban pesos (£5.50) per month. Doctors, lawyers and other trained professionals can expect around £11. "It's not enough to get through the first week, let alone the whole month," said Alabardo, the driver of a government-owned taxi in Havana, who survives on tips from tourists.

Monthly state rations of rice, sugar and other basic necessities last at best 10 days, according to Alabardo. Cuba imports around 85% of its food. The increasing number of everyday goods that are now sold in convertible pesos (CUC) aggravates popular disgruntlement. The CUC was introduced as a parallel currency primarily for foreign tourists. Cubans still receive their wages in Cuban pesos, worth 25 times less.

Restrictions on self-employment, quotas on agricultural goods and a ban on the sale of private property add to daily aggravations. Rarely do Cubans complain in public. But in a debate at the University of Information Sciences, a group of students openly criticised restrictions on internet access, foreign travel and staying in tourist hotels.

Alejandro Hernández, a student, questioned the validity of January's parliamentary elections, which saw 614 candidates present themselves for 614 seats. "Who are these people? I don't know them," he said. The criticisms were voiced in the presence of the president of Cuba's national assembly. A video of the interchange was circulated on the internet.

The previous month, workers at Acorec, the state-run employment agency that contracts Cuban employees out to foreign companies, protested about a tax paid on gratificaciones received from international employers. The increase in public complaints is credited to Raúl Castro's stint in charge. Perceived as a moderate reformer, Raúl called for a national debate about Cuba's problems and their potential solutions.

"If there's a change that has taken place in the last 18 months, it's that more people are open about the problems Cuba faces," said a senior western diplomat in Havana.

The state-run newspaper, Granma, now publishes the occasional critical letter from readers. Rumours of a relaxation on private and cooperative ownership of small farms, are also circulating.

Dramatic change should not be expected overnight, the diplomat said. "Whether Fidel is officially president or not, it doesn't make much difference to the running of government. He'll still be the one in charge."


The Truth Recovery Archive on Cuba, primarily based on the groundbreaking work of Dr. Armando Lago,Ph.D., is assembling the record of the Castro regime’s victims. Despite the inability to operate insideCuba, it has documented over 8,000 cases of execution, assassination, and disappearance for politicalcauses –a long list that includes dozens of minors, pregnant women, and fourteen religious leaders,including Catholic nuns and Protestant ministers. Reverends Lázaro Aspurú, Reinaldo Duarte, José Durado, Antonio González, and Pablo Rodríguez, of different denominations, were all executed by firing squad for attempting to flee Cuba. Rev.

Gerardo González was assassinated with machine guns by a prison guards at Boniato prison in September of 1975. In January 1985, Jehovas Witness Rev. Felipe Hernández died in prison of heart failure after Prison Director Col. Edel Castillo refused him medical care: "We don’t give medical care to counter-revoltuionaries, let Jehova save you.” Sister Aida Rosa Perez died of heart failure from torture and hardlabor at age 42 in December of 1967. She was serving a twelve year sentence as "enemy of the revolution."

As for the claim that no Cuban mother has mourned her missing children, a long list of tragedies proveotherwise. One in particular stands out for its connection to the Vatican. The mother of three young men,ages 19, 21, and 25, died heartbroken after claiming her sons’ bones for years to no avail. The García-Marín Thompson brothers, members of a Jehova's Witness congregation, had sought asylum onDecember 3, 1980 at the Vatican Embassy ("Nunciatura") in Havana. Cuban Special Troops burst in and captured them. Sentenced to execution, they were never seen again after thirty days later they weretaken from their cells in the middle of the night. The mother was sentenced to twenty years in prison for protesting her sons’ executions and served ten years after her mental health deteriorated.

The long list of atrocities is, of course, obeys no affiliation, gender, age, or race. In numerous cases ofassassination by Cuban authorities, families have been denied remains for proper burial. Such is thecase of Owen Delgado Temprana, beaten to death at age 15 in March of 1981 after Cuban Special Forces stormed the Embassy of Ecuador in Havana and took out the entire family attempting to obtain asylum to escape the island.

We now have a weekly protest outside the Cuban embassy in London, unfortunately when we publish the details somebody at Indymedia always hides them but if you want to join us come down any * evening and we will give you full details. Freedom for Cuba is coming !

Viva Cuba !
Viva the Cuban people !

Toby

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech