Cuba has a conniption over U.S. decision to make embassy staff cuts permanent in wake of attacks

Cuba’s Castro dictatorship is having a conniption over the State Department’s decision to make staff cuts at the U.S. embassy in Havana permanent. The embassy personnel reductions in Cuba were prompted by mysterious attacks that injured more than 20 American diplomats beginning in November of 2016.

Not only is the Castro dictatorship unable to provide protection for U.S. diplomats in accordance with the Geneva Convention, it is likely they are either behind the attacks or know who carried them out. In a totalitarian state such as Cuba, no action this serious or of this magnitude happens without the regime’s knowledge if not approval.

So, since the Cuban government is unable to guarantee protection for U.S. diplomats and is even less willing to admit its role in the attacks, all it can do is have a hissy fit.

Via the AP in the Chicago Tribune:

Cuba condemns U.S. cuts to embassy staff over ‘health attacks’

A senior Cuban official on Monday condemned Washington’s decision to make the withdrawal of 60 percent of the U.S. Embassy staff permanent in response to mysterious ailments affecting American diplomats.

Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, the new director of U.S. issues at the foreign ministry, said the decision was motivated by politics and had nothing to do with the safety of diplomats.

He told reporters that the cuts would hurt consular services and make travel more difficult for ordinary citizens. He said it might also erode long-standing cooperation on migration.

The State Department made the cuts permanent last week. It initially scaled back staff in October in response to hearing loss and other ailments affecting at least 24 U.S. citizens. U.S. investigators have not determined a cause and Cuba denies any wrongdoing.

A State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, called the Cuban complaint “ridiculous.”

“Let’s remind Cuba: They are obligated under the Vienna Convention to protect our diplomats. It is very serious that 24 of our U.S. government colleagues suffered health attacks, some with serious and ongoing symptoms. Secretary Tillerson had to protect his staff by limiting our work at the U.S. Embassy in Havana to emergency services,” she said.

“While our investigation is ongoing, rather than find excuses, Cuba should focus on helping to locate who or what is responsible for the harm caused to American citizens,” Nauert added.

Reports from Cuba: The king is dead, long live the king

By Angel Santiesteban in Cubanet via Translating Cuba:

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King

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Eusebio Leal

The first stage of the Havana’s “International” Book Fair, which this year was dedicated to Chinese culture, has ended. Perhaps it would be better to say it was dedicated to the three or four Chinese individuals who have been tasked with traveling the world, extolling the dictators who govern the “Asian giant” and exalting its tyrants.

The Havana Book Fair long ago lost what little sparkle it once had. It used to be an event at which, for a few days, people pretended the work of the country’s authors mattered. More than a few writers actually believed the forum was about them. For a few days each year colleagues from every corner of the island embraced each other and talked about their projects, a few days when the crafty military convinced them it respected their space and were keeping their hands off the event.

But the day came when the real writers disappeared and it became clear that it was the Army that controlled the fair, that it was Raúl’s forces who decided who got the best exhibition booths and the most desirable time slots. The regime has shamelessly turned the fair, and of course its books, into a joke. Political rhetoric dominates, along with green-clad buffoons sporting epaulettes and stars. The fair has become a circus in which the military presents books carefully scripted by its servants.

Today the release of any work by a real writer is conditional. Now, more than in years past, editors must juggle whatever money is left over after the publication of all the titles those in power demand. Only then will they know how many authors might be able to have a slim volume showcased at the fair. And almost always the writers will be those who comply with the state and its military.

One of the fair’s greatest absurdities was the presentation of the book Raúl Castro and Our America Nuestra América, a collection of eighty-six speeches by the Cuban head of state. The book was compiled by a certain Abel Enrique González Santamaría and presented by Eusebio Leal — Havana’s official historian and a man of great notoriety within the halls of power for his exalted language — who acclaimed the work and recounted its history. As expected, he praised the brothers Castro left and right, earning him the applause of a room filled of soldiers and government loyalists.

Among those present was Alejandro Castro Espín, the most powerful of Raúl’s children. It was clear how proud he was of what Eusebio said about his father, that he felt like a prince who, through blood connections, will at some point determine the fate of the country. This was perhaps the most significant of all the presentations, the one that required the skills of the entire security apparatus, the one in which Eusebio — the man who undoubtedly saved Havana’s historic city center — got the key role by being the most loyal of the Castros’ “brown nosers.”

In a country where battlefield rhetoric is prevalent, Eusebio stood out. Those who heard him were as ecstatic as rats at the sound of the Pied Piper’s flute. Eusebio spoke of Raúl as if he were God. However, this should not be surprising for a man who was educated in the Church but who later became loyal to the communists, though not without sometimes ridiculing them of course. But it is not just words that matter; one also has to prove oneself on the battlefield, especially in the area of sexual conquest, of which the macho men of the armed forces are so fond.

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Many are wondering about ‘Cuba after Castro,’ but Cubans already know nothing will change

For months we have been hearing and reading about the “big change” coming in Cuba with the supposed retirement of brutal dictator Raul Castro. There is lots of speculation of what Cuba will look like without a “Castro” occupying the ceremonial post of President.

However, for Cubans on the island and those outside who know how the Castro regime operates, there is virtually no speculation. We all know Cuba will remain under the yoke of a tyrannical dictatorship that is controlled, either openly or in the shadows, by a member of the Castro clan.

Via the Financial Times:

Cuba braced for life after the Castros

Transition comes at a delicate time for the island

Niuris Higueras climbs with heavy tread up the wrought-iron staircase to Atelier, a 50-seat restaurant that boasts graceful wood-panelled rooms and a broad terrace with sweeping views of the Havana skyline. Business seems to be booming.

Outside, Havana is bathed in the tangerine light of sunset. Inside, there is a happy hum of dining tourists and the cheerful clink of glasses. Yet Ms Higueras is in a funk. As with most nascent entrepreneurs in Cuba’s fledgling private sector — and indeed many Cubans — she is nervous.

“Things will change for the better, because they have to,” says the 47-year-old chef fatalistically. There is good reason for Ms Higueras’ concern. On April 19, Raúl Castro, 86, will step down as president and is likely to be replaced by Miguel Díaz-Canel, 57, Cuba’s vice-president. It is the first time in almost 60 years that a Castro brother will not hold the post, and while the presidency is a largely symbolic role, the power shift comes at a delicate moment for the communist island.

Cuba’s Soviet-style economy, battered by hurricanes and hurt by dwindling aid from crisis-ridden Venezuela, is on the rocks. The state has seemingly cracked down on private businesses, again. And a once-budding relationship with the US, Cuba’s arch-enemy, has deteriorated after Donald Trump, the US president, partially reversed the detente launched by his predecessor.

[…]

The biggest unknown is April 19, when Mr Castro will step aside from the presidency. Most Cubans simply shrug their shoulders about its significance as it is a political affair beyond their reach. They are more concerned about getting by from day to day.

But a leaked video that showed Mr Diaz-Canel taking a traditional hardline in a private meeting of Communist Party members, has unsettled nerves.

Mr Diaz-Canel is a burly party functionary from the provinces and little is known of what he believes — or even if he will finally be chosen as successor. Cubans will “vote” in a pre-ratified slate of candidates for the National Assembly on March 11, which will then ratify formally Mr Castro’s successor in April. Mr Castro is expected to remain head of the Communist party and the armed forces when he steps down.

Read the entire piece HERE.

At least 30 Ladies in White violently arrested in Cuba by Castro State Security in another Sunday of brutal repression

It was the 137th Sunday of the #TodosMarchamos (we all march) peaceful protest campaign and like the previous 136 Sundays of the campaign, human rights activists were met with brutal repression and violent arrests. At least 30 Ladies in White were arrested throughout the island yesterday by Cuban State Security agents who lied in wait for the women to come out of their homes this past Sunday to pounce on them.

Diario de Cuba has the report (my translation):

Castro regime arrests at least 30 Ladies in White throughout the country

According to sources in the internal dissidence, at least 30 Ladies in White were arrested by regime forces this Sunday to prevent them from attending mass and participating in the #TodosMarchamos protest campaign calling for the release of political prisoners.

“As of now, ten Ladies in White have been arrested in Havana, 20 in Matanzas, and one in Guantanamo. These numbers can increase since we do not know who was arrested until they are released. We still do not know what happened to the Ladies in White in Santa Clara, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, and Ciego de Avila. Nine women from Havana were able to make it to mass along with 11 in Matanzas,” said Lady in White Deisy Artiles to Diario de Cuba.

Regarding the arrests this Sunday, Artiles said that from the organization’s headquarters in Havana, which had been under siege for several days, “Berta Soler went out along with Lady in White Cecilia Guerra and former political prisoner from the Group of 75, Angel Moya. The arrests were very violent. Berta was dragged away by her wrists and ankles. They were also very violent with Cecilia. Moya was taken away by a mob of police and State Security agents.”

Continue reading (in Spanish) HERE.

Reports from Cuba: Why are no radios sold in Cuba?

Orlando Freire Santana reports from Havana via Diario de Cuba:

Why are no radios sold in Cuba?

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A Sokol-103 Soviet radio.

Last week, on the occasion of the regime’s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Radio Rebelde station, the Mesa Redonda, or Round Table on Cuban TV devoted two programs to the topic of radio in Cuba.

In the first program journalists and radio technicians spoke about the programming, the outlook in the country for this media format and, of course, sang the praises of the work done by Radio Rebelde, the station that since that February 24, 1958 has remained loyal to Castroism.

The second program was to answer questions posed by viewers. Perhaps contrary to what the panelists of the Round Table expected, many of the questions were not related to the topics discussed on the first day. Rather, viewers inquired about why radios are not currently sold in the country’s shopping centers.

The panelists, reluctantly, had to recognize that the investments made to create more municipal stations, and to strengthen the programming of the four national radio stations are good for little when more than half of Cuban homes do not even have a radio, or, if they have one of the few around, it is in poor condition.

The Round Table also discussed the difficulties faced by people who tune into radio stations using their cell phones, which only provides access to FM programming, such that they miss everything in AM.

So, what was the response by the panelists, and Randy Alonso, in his role as the moderator of that program, in response to the viewers’ concerns? Well, they washed their hands of them, like Pontius Pilate, and said they would convey the problem to the Ministry of Domestic Trade (MINCIN).

According to figures from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), since 2011, when 70,000 units were made, no radios have been manufactured in Cuba. This reality is noticeable, as there are no radios in stores on the island, regardless of whether they accept national currency or convertible pesos, or CUC.

It is striking that radios are not being imported to meet demand in the population. It is true that the external finances of the nation are in a precarious state, but the country still imports a certain number of fans, air conditioners, stereos and other household appliances. Obviously, the Cuban authorities are hardly interested in Cubans owning radios.

Perhaps the television panelists and Randy Alonso should be advised not to waste their time bothering the MINCIN about the shortage, because the problem seems to transcend questions of commerce.

Everything suggests that those in the upper echelons of power do not want Cubans freely accessing the information by tuning in to shortwave radio stations, especially in rural areas where there is little access to the Internet, in this way evading the media monopoly imposed by Castroism.

In the context of this media monopoly, there has been the interference suffered for years by Radio Martí and TV Martí and, more recently the block imposed on several digital publications on the Web.

It is sad to see how these veteran followers of Castroism, who today boast of how they struggled to listen to Radio Rebelde broadcasts from the Sierra Maestra, are now quick to support the government’s efforts to prevent young Cubans from tuning into to shortwave stations offering news that the top leadership wants to hide.

Escaping Cuba’s Venezuela: The caravan of misery

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A photographer and reporter from Reuters joined Venezuelans in their escape from the poverty, misery, and repression in what has become Cuba’s Venezuela. Castro-Socialism orchestrated in Havana and implemented by Castro puppet dictator Nicolas Maduro has turned the richest nation in Latin America into a veritable hellhole. Here is the gut-wrenching story.

By Alexandra Ulmer:

A journey on a caravan of misery

A Reuters reporter and photographer traveled with a group of migrants as they fled Venezuela, a nation in stomach-dropping free fall where fear and want are the new normal. On a bus ride through five South American countries, the Venezuelans dreamed of a better life ahead — but couldn’t forget the broken land they had left behind.

Just after dawn, dozens of Venezuelans gathered at the dark bus station in Caracas. They lugged one big suitcase each, as well as blankets, toilet paper, cheap bread and jugs of water. Weeping wives, confused children and elderly parents hugged them over and over until it was time to check tickets and weigh bags, then hung back, waiting hours for the bus to leave. When it finally pulled out, the passengers looked down at their loved ones, pounding on the windows and blowing kisses as they speeded out of this crumbling capital city.

On board the bus, web developer Tony Alonzo had sold his childhood guitar to help pay for his ticket to Chile. For months he had been going to bed hungry so that his 5-year-old brother could have something for dinner. Natacha Rodriguez, a machine operator, had been robbed at gunpoint three times in the past year. She was headed for Chile, too, hoping to give her baseball-loving son a better life. Roger Chirinos was leaving his wife and two young children behind to search for work in Ecuador. His outdoor advertising company had come to a bitter end: Protesters tore down his billboards to use as barricades during violent rallies against authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.

Their bus tells the story of a once-wealthy nation in stomach-dropping free fall, as hundreds of people flee daily from a land where fear and want are the new normal.

By the time dawn rises over Caracas, hungry people are already picking through garbage while kids beg in front of bakeries. Come dusk, many Venezuelans shut themselves inside their homes to avoid muggings and kidnappings. In a country with the world’s largest proven crude reserves, some families now cook with firewood because they cannot find propane. Hospitals lack supplies as basic as disinfectant. Food is so scarce and pricey that the average Venezuelan lost 24 pounds last year.

“I feel Venezuela has succumbed to an irreversible evil,” Chirinos said.

Many blame the country’s precipitous decline on the government of Maduro, who has tightened his grip on power, holding fast to statist policies that have throttled the economy. His government says it is facing a U.S.-led conspiracy to sabotage leftism in Latin America by hoarding goods and stoking inflation.

Poorer by the day, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have concluded that escape is their only option. With the country’s currency virtually worthless and air travel beyond the reach of all but elites, buses have become Venezuela’s caravans of misery, rolling day and night to its borders and returning largely empty to begin the process all over again.

The 37 Venezuelans leaving on this day had hocked everything – motorbikes, TVs, even wedding rings – to pay for their escape. Most had never been outside the country before.

For nine days, a reporter and a photographer from Reuters accompanied the migrants as they headed for what they hoped were better days in Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. For nearly 5,000 miles, they rolled through some of South America’s most spectacular landscapes, including the vertiginous Andean mountain range and the world’s driest desert in Chile. But even though the Venezuelans were awed by the views whizzing by their window, their minds were mostly on the land they had left behind  – and the uncertainty facing them in the lands ahead.

Continue reading HERE.

Reports from Cuba: At 71, Moises Leonardo prosecuted for promoting human rights at the UN

Luz Escobar in 14yMedio reporting from Havana via Translating Cuba:

At 71, Moises Leonardo Prosecuted for Promoting Human Rights at the UN

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Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez has been accused by the authorities of “clandestine printing.”

Promoting Human Rights and advising civil society groups has cost the activist Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez an accusation from the authorities of “clandestine printing.” After a spectacular police search of his home last Tuesday, and the confiscation of several of his tools of the trade, the opponent was released on Wednesday.

In conversation with 14ymedio, Rodríguez, 71, explained that a State Security official attributed his detention to the advice he has given to eight civil society groups “to submit reports to the [United Nations] Universal Periodic Review (UPR),” which the Cuban Government must pass in May.  Through this system, the international organization evaluates the quality of human rights in its member states.

The activist, coordinator of the Corriente Martiana*, also offered his experience so that a dozen independent organizations can jointly present a report on violations of their rights, which will be part of the documents presented to the UPR.

He explains that, in addition, when asked about the reasons for the search, the agents mentioned the work promoting human rights carried out by Ernesto Guy Perez, focused on teaching and training in the preparation of these reports according to UN standards. “This has annoyed them greatly,” he said.

“On Tuesday after nine o’clock in the morning, six individuals dressed in civilian clothes arrived at my house with a search warrant searching for counter-revolutionary objects and documents,” he told this newspaper.

The activist related how among those who searched his house was an investigator from the Ministry of the Interior, named Iturralde. Two supposed neighbors [as required by law] who live in Cabañas (Artemisa), witnessed the operation. They confiscated “a laptop, a computer tower, a USB stick, a printer and even a blackboard.”

The uniformed agents also took “United Nations documents and others submitted to the Government of Raúl Castro, such as the proposal Para una Cuba Martiana.” The search was so intense that the agents did not hesitate to take even the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, according to Leonardo Rodríguez.

At the end of the search, the activist was taken to Artemisa’s police station along with his youngest daughter and his wife, Ileana de los Ángeles, who accompanied him on a voluntary basis. During the more than 24 hours the detention lasted he refused to drink water, eat, take medications or talk to the agents.

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