Monday, February 27, 2012

THE ORGANIZATION AGAINST TORTURE (OMCT) AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DENOUNCE REPRESSIVE

AMIDST A CLIMATE OF POLITICAL REPRESSION, THE ORGANIZATION AGAINST
TORTURE (OMCT) AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DENOUNCE REPRESSIVE
ACTS IN THE ISLAND

February 26, 2012



“Authorities must urgently stop harassing activists and preventing any of the ‘Ladies in White’ from celebrating the memory of Orlando Zapata,”[1]


Javier Zúñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.

The events that took place in Cuba during the week of February 20-26, 2012 were determined by two dates that involved three events in Cuban history. On February 23, 2010, the Cuban political prisoner of conscience, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a humble man 42 years old, who was committed to the defense of human rights, died under the custody of the Cuban state following a hunger strike of more than 80 days demanding prison rights. On February 24, 1895, the Cuban War of Independence from Spain began under the leadership of the Cuban patriot Jose Marti and is considered an official holiday by all Cubans. On that same day but in the year 1996, three Americans and one U.S. resident: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales were on a rescue mission with the humanitarian organization “Brothers to the Rescue” when two Cuban MIGs shot down their unarmed civilian aircraft over international waters.[2]



As Cuban human rights defenders throughout the island tried to carry out peaceful commemorative acts to honor these dates of great significance, they faced a climate of political repression since the beginning of the week on Monday, February 20 by way of threats, intimidations, beatings and insults; police citations; police surveillance; short term arbitrary violent arrests; mob attacks; barricades to their homes; homes stoned by minors under orders of Cuban authorities; kidnappings of activists whose whereabouts were unknown for several days, etc. Particular targets of arbitrary arrests and disappearances by the political police were the Ladies in White who suffered an “act of repudiation” outside of their headquarters in Havana. Both Amnesty International and the Organization Against Torture issued urgent alerts concerning the arbitrary violent arrest in Havana of the ex-political prisoner of conscience and leader of UMPACU (Union Patriotica de Cuba) in Eastern Cuba, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2012/en/7b47f674-d29b-46d3-bb45-aea6cd39149f/amr250052012en.html

OMCT: In attachment ( In Spanish)



The family of Wilman Villar Mendoza, as well as any activist, who pays homage to the dead human rights defender at the cemetery in the Eastern city of Contramaestre, is subject to acts of harassment. Members of prodemocracy groups have been stoned while visiting Wilman’s tomb.



The Cuban political prisoner Ernesto Borges, who’s served 14 years of a 30 year prison sentence for espionage, has been on a hunger strike since February 10, 2012 demanding to be released under parole. His father, Raul Borges saw him during a prison visit at the Combinado del Este Prison in Havana in very serious physical condition, extremely thin and suffering from arrhythmia. He denounced that though his son is being kept in an isolation cell suffering cruel and ill treatment, he is firm and determined to continue his hunger strike. Raul Borges fears that Cuban authorities want to do the same thing to Ernesto as they did to Orlando Zapata Tamayo and makes an urgent appeal to the world on behalf of his son.



Copy of Ernesto Borges’s sentence: http://pedazosdelaisla.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/sentencia-de-ernesto-borges1.pdf




Three artists who were planning to carry out a public “performance” in Havana were many Cuban youth gather to protest the fact that the regime bans their presentations were subjected to violent arrests and short term detentions. The punk rocker Gorki Aguila, Danilo Maldonado known as “El Sexto” and Ismael de Diego were all violently detained on Saturday, February 25 and released the following day.



Yasmin Conyedo and her husband, Yusmani Alvarez both remain under arrest since January 8, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara. Yasmin Conyedo is an independent journalist of the group, United Antitotalitarian Front and a Lady in White. Her husband, Yusmani Alvarez is an activist of the Young Democratic League of Las Villas. They are both falsely accused of attacking the home of a communist party official in their hometown of Villaclara who had initially subjected the couple’s home to a pro government mob attack the same day of the arrest. Yasmin was transferred to the Prison of Guamajal and Yusmani to the Prison of La Pendiente on January 16, 2012.



FEBRUARY 20, 2012 – In Havana, Ivonne Malleza Galano, her husband Ignacio Martinez Montero and Mayra Morejon were arbitrarily arrested at 11 a.m. and taken to an unknown location.


In the city of Colon, province of Matanzas, Lady in White, Caridad Burunate and activist Lazaro Diaz Sanchez received police citations and had their fingerprints taken. Both refused to sign an “act of admonishing.”


Human rights defender, Ramon Bolaños Martin reported that his house was stoned by minors who were under the direction of the political police and State Security. He made the Cuban regime responsible for the well-being of his own children in the house as well as the safety of those Cuban youngsters being used to vandalize his home.

Twelve members of the Union Patriotica de Cuba (UMPACU) were still under arrest since the weekend.



FEBRUARY 21, 2012 –

The ex-political prisoner of conscience, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, was violently arrested in the suburb of El Vedado in Havana after a meeting with several activists at the house of Hector Palacio Ruiz. Ferrer Garcia declared that during his arrest “they kicked me, beat me, twisted my arms and shoved me against the wall in an attempt to force me to put my hands behind my back to be handcuffed.” The leader of UMPACU was released on Friday, February 24.


Sara Marta Fonseca denounced that Rodolfo Ramirez Cardoso and a the musical duo of “El Primario” and “Julito”, who sing protest songs against the Cuban regime were harassed in Santiago de Las Vegas, Havana.


In the Eastern province of Holguin, State Security and police agents are systematically harassing members of the peaceful human rights groups in that region as well as any of its sympathizers. Ramon Miguel Aguilera reported the ongoing repression against him and his family in the municipality of Calixto Garcia, in Holguin province.


FEBRUARY 22, 2012 - Lady in White Yelena Garces who is also a delegate of FLAMUR, was arrested in the Eastern city of Bayamo.

Ten members of UMPACU were arrested in Eastern Cuba making it a total of 22 human rights defenders of this organization arbitrarily detained since Sunday, February 19, 2012. Numerous activists were protesting the arbitrary arrest and disappearance of other colleagues and Ladies in White in front of police units. The following were detained in front of the police unit in Palma Soriano: Miguel Rafael Cabrera, Rudisan Ramirez Rodriguez, Ivan Brismeranes? Hernandez, Alexander Aldana Batista, Jorge Cervantes Garcia, Mayelin la O Montero, Julio Cesar Santiesteban with their children Amanda Montalvo la O who is 8 years old, 12 year old, Jose Angel Sardiñas Figueredo, and 3 year old, Ileana Cervantes. Others activists arrested: Dany Lopez de Moya, Osmani Cespedes Napoles, Juan Humberto Rodriguez Gonzalez, Sergio Lescay Despaigne, Victor Campa Alemenares, Angel Luis Campa Almenares, Pedro Campa Almenares, Jose Batista Falcon, and Eliesei Elizabal Rodriguez.

State Security forces, police officers and pro government mobs that were classified by activists as “delinquents”, repressed the peaceful commemorative acts carried out by human rights defenders in Santa Cruz del Sur, Camaguey (central Cuba) on February 24, 2012, identified as “Resistance Day” by human rights defenders.


Berta Soler described in a recorded message on February 22 of the repression that preceded the act of remembrance that the Ladies in White had prepared for Orlando Zapata, a political prisoner who died under the custody of the Cuban State in 2010, following a prolonged hunger strike: http://hablalosinmiedo.blogspot.com/#!/2012/02/berta-soler-denuncia-asedio-la-sede-de.html


FEBRUARY 23, 2012 – The Ladies in White, Claribel Rodriguez Morales and Sandra Guerra, disappeared on their way to Havana from Eastern Cuba. The human rights defender, Virgilio Mantilla Arango was also reported missing in the central city of Camaguey.


Delmides Fidalgo Lopez of the Eastern Democratic Alliance was brutally beaten by several State Security agents who broke his glasses. He was arrested and released later in the day.


Luis Felipe Rojas denounced that numerous homes in his hometown of San German in Eastern Cuba were surrounded by uniformed soldiers, some of whom were armed, and by plain clothes agents. Rojas’s home was surrounded as were the homes of Elieser Palma Pupo and Jose Antonio Triguero Mullet.

Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez, leader of the National Front of Civic Resistance and Disobedience Orlando Zapata Tamayo was violently arrested alongside five other activists (among them Yaimara Reyes and Yaite Cruz) in the central city of Placetas when they were carrying out a peaceful protest.


In Havana, a pro-government mob made of some 200 people, most of them students, surrounded the headquarters of the “Ladies in White, Laura Pollan”, shouting slogans and insults through megaphones at the women inside the home who were paying tribute to Orlando Zapata Tamayo on the second anniversary of his death. As the Ladies in White read from the writings by Zapata Tamayo, the crowd outside blocked the entrance to the house screaming for hours: “Down with the Worms!, “Mercenaries!”, “Long Live Raul!”.

Lady in White, Blanca Hernandez was arbitrarily arrested in Havana to prevent her participation in the act on behalf of Orlando Zapata at the Ladies in White headquarters.



FEBRUARY 24, 2012 – A U.S. Congressional delegation of around 10 legislators led by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Richard Shelby (R-Al) met for almost one hour with several representatives of independent groups, ex-political prisoners as well as human rights defenders such as Angel Moya and his wife, the Lady in White Berta Soler. Also present were; Dagoberto Valdes, Oswaldo Paya, Antonio Rodiles and Oscar Biscet with his wife. The Cubans informed the U.S. delegation that “the island’s main problem is its own government and that respect for human rights must be the first item on the table for any Cuba-U.S. negotiations.” They reiterated the need for fundamental freedoms in the island and told them of the escalating repression carried out by a regime that has as its only objective to stay in power.



FEBRUARY 26, 2012 - In Havana, Sara Marta Fonseca and several Ladies in White were subjected to short term arrests. Their families were not informed of their whereabouts.

Ex-prisoner of conscience, Hector Maseda reported that a total of 19 Ladies in White and 6 independent journalists were placed under arrest following the attendance to Mass of some 40 women at the Church of Santa Rita in Havana.


Marcos Antonio Molina reported from Holguin that Lady in White, Adisnidia Cruz Segredo was arrested by four State Security Agents at the door of her home. Caridad Caballero and her husband Esteban Sandes were also subjected to arbitrary arrests when they were on their way to church.



Raul Risco of the Democratic Alliance in Pinar del Rio reported from this Western city that he and other activists, were carrying out a hunger strike in solidarity with those colleagues arrested. The hunger strikers were inside the home of Conrado Rodríguez Suárez” at: Sol # 89, between San Juan and Galiano where they are surrounded by paramilitary groups.



Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia reported that 8 members of UMPACU continue under arrest. Five of them have declared themselves on hunger strike protesting their arbitrary detention.



The Coalition of Cuban-American Women alerts the international community that the lives of those members of Cuban civil society who are actively and publicly struggling peacefully on behalf of fundamental freedoms are in danger. We are particularly concerned with the cases of the political prisoner Ernesto Borges, the family of Wilman Villar Mendoza, the activist couple Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez and with the continued physical and mental harassment against members of the Ladies in White, Laura Pollan throughout Cuba. International recognition of the peaceful resistance and solidarity for these human rights defenders is crucial. We make an urgent call on religious, civic, political, and cultural entities and its leaders, as well as to non-governmental human rights organizations worldwide.



Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Joseito76@aol.com / Laida A.Carro Blog: http://www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com/


Facebook Page: Coalition of Cuban-American Women

Twitter: @COCAW1

FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA:



Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia + 5353631267 / / Caridad Caballero Batista + 52629749 / Raul Risco Perez + 5348763910 / Sara Marta Fonseca + 5353379011 / Berta Soler al +5352906820 / Yris T. Perez Aguilera + 5352731656





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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Cuban authorities prevent activists from commemorating death of dissident

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PRESS RELEASE



23 February 2012



Cuban authorities prevent activists from commemorating death of dissident



Authorities in Cuba are preventing members of the women's organization “Ladies in White” from entering a building in downtown Havana for an event commemorating the second anniversary of the death of activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo.



Several "Ladies in White", who campaign for the release of political prisoners, already assembled in the building told Amnesty International they fear they may be detained if they try to leave.



“It is unacceptable that the Cuban authorities would not allow human rights activists from remembering one of their colleagues in peace,” said Javier Zuniga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.



Women have travelled to Havana from across Cuba to attend the event.



According to information gathered by Amnesty International the Cuban authorities have diverted traffic from passing in front of the headquarters and have stationed police officers on the four corners of the block where they are located. They are checking the identification cards of all pedestrians passing through the area.



“Authorities must urgently stop harassing activists and preventing any of the ‘Ladies in White’ from celebrating the memory of Orlando Zapata.”



Prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died on 23 February 2012 after a 86-day-long hunger strike.



For more information, please contact Josefina Salomon on +44 778 472 116 or jsalomon@amnesty.org

URGENT ACTION

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

UA: 60/12 Index: AMR 25/005/2012 Cuba Date: 23 February 2012

URGENT ACTION

EX PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE BELIEVED DETAINED

Former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García’s whereabouts are unknown following his alleged arrest in central Havana, Cuba, on 21 February.



Former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García, who is on conditional release from prison, is believed to have been re-arrested in central Havana on 21 February. He had travelled to Havana from Santiago de Cuba province to meet with diplomats, human rights activists and dissidents in connection with his work as the coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unión Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU), an umbrella group of dissident organizations based in eastern Cuba.



On 21 February, José Daniel Ferrer García was travelling by taxi with Elizardo Sánchez, coordinator of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation (Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional, CCDHRN), whose office he had just visited. Elizardo Sánchez exited the taxi in the central neighbourhood of Vedado and five minutes later received a text message from José Daniel Ferrer García which stated he was being detained by police. On 22 February, the Elizardo Sánchez contacted the police information service and was informed that there was no record of José Daniel Ferrer García being held in any detention facility.



There has been no news of his whereabouts since then.



José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional release in March 2011, having served eight of his 25 year

sentence. Under the terms of his release, he could be sent back to prison to serve out the remainder of his

sentence - 16 years. Amnesty International believes his arrest is an attempt to repress the peaceful dissident activities he and members of UNPACU are undertaking in eastern Cuba.



Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:

Calling on the authorities to provide information as to the circumstances of José Daniel Ferrer García’s

arrest on 21 February and immediately reveal his current whereabouts;



Urging them, that if detained, to immediately release José Daniel Ferrer García, unless there is sufficient

evidence to charge him with an internationally-recognizable criminal offence;

Urging them to immediately cease the harassment and intimidation of members of the Patriotic Union of

Cuba and all other citizens who seek to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association.



PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 5 APRIL 2012 TO:

Head of State and Government

Raúl Castro Ruz

Presidente de la República de Cuba

La Habana,

Cuba

Fax: +53 7 83 33 085 (via Foreign

Ministry); +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban

Mission to UN)

Email: cuba@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission

to UN)

Salutation: Your Excellency

Interior Minister

General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra

Ministro del Interior y Prisiones

Ministerio del Interior,

Plaza de la Revolución,

La Habana,

Cuba

Fax: +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban

Mission to UN)

Email: correominint@mn.mn.co.cu

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Attorney General

Dr. Darío Delgado Cura

Fiscalía General de la República,

Fiscalía General de la República,

Amistad 552, e/Monte y Estrella, Centro

Habana

La Habana,

Cuba

Salutation: Dear Attorney General

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

EX PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE BELIEVED DETAINED

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION



Prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional release in March 2011 following eight years

imprisonment. He was one of 75 people who were arrested and sentenced following a crackdown on Cuban dissidence in March 2003. All 75 were adopted as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, as they had acted non-violently and

were imprisoned under Cuban legislation which illegitimately criminalizes political dissent. José Daniel Ferrer García was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in relation to his participation in the Varela Project, which aimed at requesting a national referendum on democratic reforms. Article 31.1.4 of the Cuban Criminal Code states that conditional release allows a prisoner to see out the remainder of their sentence outside prison provided they demonstrate “good behaviour” (“buena conducta”).

The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) is an umbrella group of dissident organizations, based primarily in Santiago de Cuba, but also in neighbouring provinces of eastern Cuba. UNPACU seeks democratic change in Cuba via non-violent means.

Since UNPACU’s creation in mid-2011, its members have faced constant harassment and intimidation form the Cuban authorities, including arbitrary detention. One of UNPACU’s members, prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza died in January 2012 following a hunger strike in protest at his four-year prison sentence following a summary trial. This repression is part of a general crackdown against dissidents in the eastern provinces of Cuba which has gathered pace since mid-2011.



Name: José Daniel Ferrer García

Gender m/f: m

UA: 60/12 Index: AMR 25/005/2012 Issue Date: 23 February 2012

No es el fin del capitalismo

Por Dr. Darsi Ferret


La Habana, Cuba. 23 de febrero de 2012.



Nunca antes la Humanidad había alcanzado los niveles de comunicación interpersonal que goza en el presente. Y para mayor provecho hacia una creciente modernidad, las aceleradas innovaciones tecnológicas permiten avizorar un fantástico escenario de nuevas posibilidades de interconexión. De hecho, el concepto del mundo como una “Aldea Global” adquiere mayor materialidad cada día, influyendo de modo determinante en las sociedades civiles, hasta en aquellas naciones donde rige un severo control de su libre actividad.

Participar en esta aventura innovadora promueve novedosas perspectivas para millones de seres humanos. Y las posibilidades no se limitan al protagonismo e influencia en el mercado mundial, ya como vendedor o como simple consumidor. Las ideas e intercambios de información ahora viajan de una parte a otra del orbe con velocidad y presencia inmediata a los acontecimientos políticos, sociales y económicos que las generan, y estas a su vez impulsan otros cambios aún mayores. Las convulsiones sociales deesta dinámica impulsanuna amplia incidencia en aquellas sociedades donde rigen tradicionales o anquilosados patrones culturales. Pero la misma ola de modernidad también estremecelas sociedades desarrolladas, donde se generó el fenómeno de la Globalización.

La presente crisis económica emergida en los Estados Unidos y por lo pronto expandida hasta buena parte de Occidente, revela distorsiones surgidas de la perniciosa tendencia al estatismo que socava la base económica. Y pese a todos los pronósticos agoreros sobre las “insalvables contradicciones” del sistema productivo más exitoso de la Historia, lo que se reciente es su efecto, no su causa. En esencia, ningún modelo de desarrollo basado en la economía de mercado demuestra ser ineficiente en elevar la productividad y el disfrute de riquezas y bienestar para tantos, además de garantizar el Estado de Derecho a sus ciudadanos. Sin embargo, son las deformaciones del modelo político, sobre todo debidos al espacio y función ocupados por el Estado en plena práctica del Keynesianismo, lo que da claras señales de agotamiento evolutivo.

La presencia del Estado en funciones para las que no fue concebido, por ejemplo como protagonista económico, creador de empleo y subvención social, más allá de las reales posibilidades económicas en un momento dado, provocan una deformación consecuente en la estructura del empleo, la maquinaria política de los partidos democráticos y los propósitos y metas de las elecciones, y comosecuela derivan en la generación del clientelismo en la masa de votantes y la creciente intervención de los gobiernos de turno en las finanzas privadas y el mal manejo de los recursos acumulados por las instituciones públicas.

Es evidente que la presente crisis tiene su origen, e incluso se ha agravado, por la persistencia en esa fórmula como solución ante alarmantes indicios de catástrofe económica. También quedan claro los prejuicios derivados de la persistente injerencia del Estado al incentivar, u obligar legalmente en determinados casos, al sistema financiero privado a la práctica bancaria de expandir el crédito de manera indirecta (favoreciendo las hipotecas riesgosas, por ejemplo), o directa, más allá de las reservas bancarias, como principal método de estimulación económica. Pese a tal práctica ser perfectamente identificada como el origen nocivo de las crisis periódicas del sistema de economía de libre mercado, se ha insistido en ella como el trillado método de motivación económica para aumentar la recaudación impositiva y así sufragar mayores subvenciones y gasto público.

Para mayor gravedad, y como urgente intento de solución de las crisis, con el dinero público el modelo de intervención estatal ha favorecido gigantescos rescates financieros de los bancos y enormes empresas en quiebra. Los resultados de esta desacertada política, implementada de manera muy parecida en todo el modelo económico occidental, han demostrado una y otra vez su fracaso como solución que no supera lo eventual.

Muchos analistas políticos y expertos económicos reconocen estos desfavorables resultados. Y hasta opiniones muy calificadas señalan la necesidad de un retroceso de la presencia estatal como protagonista económico. Mas, ¿bastaría con ese paso? ¿No sería un repliegue provisional, para tiempos mejores, conservándose en esencia el mismo concepto del Estado interventor en la economía y finanzas y todo el tándem de maquinaria política-elecciones- clientelismo popular?

Si hay algo que indican estos tiempos globalizadores es que los cambios que ocurren en las sociedades son profundos y generales para todo y todos. ¿Por qué no concebir una nueva configuración del Estado y su contraparte, la sociedad civil, cada una ocupando el espacio que de verdad les pertenece y donde funcionan mejor? No se trataría de otro intento de ingeniería social, sino dejar que fueran retomadas las funciones para las que ambos, durante siglos de formación, errores y aprendizaje, demostraron ser efectivos instrumentos de orden y progreso.

Por ejemplo, el Estado podría retomar por completo su papel de rector, prudente regulador y supervisor, cediendo gradualmente a la sociedad civil y al dinámico mecanismo de oferta-demanda y beneficio-castigo de la economía de mercado las funciones que cumple como benefactor público y creador de empleo. Este ejercicio económico podría ser sufragado, por ejemplo, mediante los recursos que recaude mediante un sistema de impuestos que también fuera novedoso. Tiene más sentido dejar de castigar la riqueza con impuestos crecientes, como tiende a suceder en la actualidad, y en cambio premiar con rebajas la inversión. Es decir, medir el impuesto de acuerdo al gasto y no al ingreso. Aparte de generar capital, haría desparecer gradualmente la dependiente concepción clientelista de la población hacia el Estado Benefactor. En consecuencia, las asignaciones de esos recursos no serían festinadas y a capricho de inversión de un reducido grupo de funcionarios del Estado, como es práctica habitual, sino mediante un riguroso proceso de licitación pública a los diversos mejores proyectos de beneficio general, supervisados periódica y rigurosamente por el Estado en sus niveles de calidad.

Espacios lastrados y con límites onerosos a la vista del presente modelo económico estatista, tales como el empleo, en buena parte causante de excesiva burocracia, y sobre todo de la creciente presión de las pensiones, pasarían a ser asunto de la economía de mercado. Es innecesario que la mayor o una parte significativa de las empresas de servicios públicos sean un monopolio estatal. La práctica histórica de esta política demuestra las ineficiencias que esto genera en corrupción y mala atención a la población. Y las pensiones que son administradas por el Estado, en rigor pertenecen al capital acumulado con su trabajo por cada pensionado. Salvo las excepciones que la razón indique, por causa de incapacidad física, mental o ambas del beneficiario, u otra que merite, el Estado debería entregar en manos del pensionado el total acumulado y que éste lo invierta como accionista en las múltiples compañías de SeguroSocial que de inmediato surgirán en el mercado libre, atraídas por el capital que podrían aportar estos nuevos inversores. El éxito de esta fórmula en un país pionero como Chile demuestra una eficiencia en el uso de esos capitales que supera toda expectativa.

Más, si se acepta que la Globalización es integral en los cambios que trae, se debe ser realista: el aparato legislativo y el funcionariado de la burocracia estatal también debería ser transformado. Serevela una tendencia alarmante sobre la invariable presencia por años de los mismos legisladores y funcionarios encargándose de los asuntos públicos. La experiencia confirma que no resulta beneficioso que los legisladores o los altos funcionarios y especialistas transformen un cargo estatal en una carrera de por vida. El poder es algo demasiado peligroso y tiende a corromper. Tal situacióncrea estructuras de relaciones o maquinarias políticas que a largo plazo trabajan más para el beneficio de su grupo y persona que para el bienestar público. El cargo legislativo debe estar sujeto al mismo límite de dos períodos de funciones seguidas que cualquier cargo ejecutivo. No debe ser una carrera profesional. Es un puesto de sacrificio y entrega provisional a los intereses de la nación. En definitiva, lo que importa es la libertad y eficiencia del cuerpo legislativo, no figuras carismáticas que por muy atractivas que parezcan, envejecen y se pensionan sentados en su curul.

Y sería conveniente en el orden y la efectividad para la necesaria administración burocrática de los asuntos públicos que, una vez reducido a su esencia funcional el aparato burocrático del Estado, no esté exento de una minuciosa política periódica de supervisión y calificación, basada en la calidad y eficiencia de cada funcionario mediante exámenes por oposición. Es esencial que el funcionario público, cualquiera que sea su responsabilidad, se sienta en la obligación de ser cada vez mejor en su trabajo. Su experticia es muy valiosa, mas no cuando utiliza el poder que se le otorga en prácticas ineficientes o franca e ilegalmente lucrativas.

Medidas como estas, u otras mejores que limiten la desmesura de funciones de instituciones estatales serían de provecho para el área de la política. El ejercicio democrático en las urnas no estaría dirigido al propósitode obtener votos a cambio de la promesa de beneficios sociales sufragados con el mismo dinero de los votantes. Las maquinarias de los diversos partidos políticos deben estar influenciadas por programas que no tengan como objetivo crear más carga económica para la sociedad. Los beneficios que se recaudan mediante impuestos no pueden estar a disposición de las plataformas políticas del partido de turno en el poder, ni de funcionarios o legisladores inamovibles de sus cargos. La supervisión del Estado y sus regulaciones como árbitro no deben ser confundidas con disponer como empresario de esa riqueza recaudada. Es la sociedad civil la encargada de tal cometido. Por tanto, el ejercicio consecuente de sus verdaderas funciones pondría gradual fin al vicio del clientelismo popular y al poco eficiente empleo estatal.

Sería razonable tomar en cuenta la imprescindible transformación que debe emprender toda sociedad ante los tiempos que corren. No son premonitorios del fin del sistema de desarrollo que mayores beneficios le ha otorgado a la Humanidad, también sacudida por medio de irrupciones de experimentos irracionales, ajenos al progreso y el cambio saludable.El protagonismo y el peso de la opinión del simple ciudadano ya trascienden los asuntos de su propio país, incursionando y creando estados de opinión sobre temas globales. La ganancia que ello representa para la raza humana aún está en embrión, pero ante la ola de libertad que ahora recorre el mundo, sus perspectivas son muy estimulantes.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Code word: Reconciliation




Don't get me wrong Liborio, I am all for the Pope visiting Cuba and bringing a message of faith and hope(Let's not forget FREEDOM)to the Cuban people. Before everyone starts singing Kumbaya, take a gander at this article. Doesn't it rub you the wrong way? Just because some exiles don't want to go to Cuba during the Pope's visit, the word HARDLINERS pops us, hints that we do not stand with the Cuban people, and that those who do go are holier- than- thou.

Every exile or sons of exiles have their personal reason for not going, BUT for sure we ALL STAND BEHIND THE CUBAN PEOPLE.

We DO NOT however stand behind the criminal dictatorship in Cuba.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

CUBA:PEACEFUL WOMEN ARE TARGETS OF ESCALATING VIOLENCE

CUBA


PEACEFUL WOMEN ARE TARGETS OF ESCALATING VIOLENCE



A Lady in White suffered a miscarriage following a violent arrest by the political police



February 19, 2012

Human rights defenders in the island are sending this week an urgent message alerting the international community that, as the visit of Pope Benedict XVI on March 26-28, 2012 approaches they and their families are being subjected to escalating physical and mental violence in the form of: interference of their telephone communications; blackmail; systematic verbal and physical harassment (including sexual molestation); threats to their lives; threats of losing their jobs; short term arrests; brutal beatings and prison confinements in inhumane conditions. Their homes are at the mercy of: constant surveillance; forced entry; barricades that prevent entering and leaving; attacks by pro government mobs that last days and scream insults through megaphones and throw stones, paint, etc. They are also prohibited from traveling freely in their own country and are systematically forced back to their home provinces any time they venture away.



By this Sunday, around 30 Ladies in White had been arrested since a crackdown began against them on Friday in Eastern Cuba. Most were released and some complained of having their medicine and money stolen. Belkis Cantillo refused to leave the police unit where she had been held without her money which officials would not return. Her husband Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia denounced that she remained in a prison area reserved for men.


Sixteen women were able to reach the Basilica of El Cobre and listen to mass. Fourteen remained in the temple and declared themselves on hunger strike when they were informed that State Security forces were waiting for them on their way back, near Palma Soriano, to beat them up. After several hours at the Basilica, the women were finally able to reach their homes under the protection of the Catholic Church.


Inhabitants of El Cobre, a small town that is home to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity, continue under a government curfew subjected to surveillance by the political police and video cameras, to searches and road blocks that control the free movement of citizens, etc. Human rights activists are reporting that the very poor who live near the route that the Pope will take during his visit, are being evicted from their homes with the intention of covering up the prevailing misery in the island.


Yasmin Conyedo and her husband, Yusmani Alvarez both remain under arrest since January 8, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara. Yasmin Conyedo is an independent journalist of the group, United Antitotalitarian Front and a Lady in White. Her husband, Yusmani Alvarez is an activist of the Young Democratic League of Las Villas. They are both falsely accused of attacking the home of a communist party official in their hometown of Villaclara who had initially subjected the couple’s home to a pro government mob attack the same day of the arrest. Yasmin was transferred to the Prison of Guamajal and Yusmani to the Prison of La Pendiente on January 16, 2012.


On Thursday February 16, two ex-Cuban political prisoners of conscience who were released in 2010, came before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights to testify of the human rights abuses in Cuba. The independent journalist Normando Hernandez http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/112/HHRG-112-FA-WState-HGonzalez-20120216.pdf spoke in Washington D.C. of the cruel and inhumane prison treatment he underwent and stated that the screams of prisoners being tortured are still in his mind and that he is unsure when he will be able to forget them. Dr. Oscar E. Biscet http://cubanexilequarter.blogspot.com/2012/02/oscars-testimony-before-congress.html testified from Havana via webcast from the US Interest Section and ”called on Pope Benedict XVI to use his power and visibility to shine a light on human rights abuses and political oppression under the Castro regime.”


Below are some of the human rights violations reported during the week of February 13 – 19, 2012:

FEBRUARY 13, 2012 - Since the early morning hours of Monday, February 13, the headquarters of the femenine human rights group Ladies in White Laura Pollan, located on #963 Neptuno Street in Havana, was surrounded by paramilitary groups of Rapid Response Brigades and mobs that screamed insults and government slogans at the women during several hours. Twenty six women were able to reach the home of Laura Pollan to honor her memory on what would have been her 64th birthday. Laura Pollan suddenly passed away on October 2011 in a Havana hospital under circumstances that still remain unclear. The Lady in White Mercedes Fresneda and the activist Alfredo Guilleuma Rodríguez, were unable to reach the headquarters of the Ladies in White because they were both subjected to short term arrests.


The Lady in White and leader of the Pro-Human Rights Party in Cuba, Sara Marta Fonseca and her husband, Julio Leon Fonseca, were taken by force by and returned to their home in Havana from the city of Pinar del Rio where they were visiting, Raul Risco Perez, the coordinator of the Democratic Alliance of Pinar del Rio. The home of Risco Perez was surrounded on Sunday, February 12 until Monday afternoon by a mob made up of young cadets and residents of Pinar del Rio dressed in civilian clothes, many of whom Risco Perez identified as “the usual” State Security agents that systematically repress human rights activists in that western province of Cuba. The mob screamed obscenities at Sara Marta and her husband Julio, ordering them to leave Pinar del Rio while Risco Perez’s wife, his elderly parents, and a young child were inside. The couple was eventually overcome by officials when they left the house walking, and were taken back home by a taxi traveling to Havana with passengers inside that was randomly stopped by officials who followed them all the way to the capital city.



Yudisleidy Zamora Alvarez, a Lady in White and the wife of UMPACU member, Alexey Aguirrezabal, was threatened by a Communist Party official in Palma Soriano with being dismissed from her job as a librarian if she continues as a member of the Ladies in White.


FEBRUARY 15, 2012 - The ex-political prisoner of conscience, Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique reported from Havana that he as well as other activists, were subjected to short term arrests when they were on their way to the house of Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, a human rights defender and an ex-political prisoner of conscience who is the head of the “Red de Comunicadores Comunitarios” (Network of Community Communicators). Martha’s home was blocked by State Security agents who surrounded her home. Her telephone lines were also interrupted.


Sara Marta Fonseca reported the violent arbitrary arrest of Aurelio Antonio Morales Ayala in the Havana suburb of Rio Verde. Morales Ayala was taken to an unknown destination.



FEBRUARY 17, 2012 - The Lady in White, Caridad Caballero Batista, denounced that forces of Cuban State Security, the political police, agents of the Ministry of the Interior and of the Rapid Response Brigades in Holguin were she resides, have been posted for weeks around her home to instill panic and intimidate the residents of Holguin to prevent their solidarity with the pro democracy movement such as the Ladies in White.



The following Ladies in White were violently arrested in Eastern Cuba: Karina Quintana, Belkis Cantillo, and Madelaine Santos Grillo, Arelis Rodriguez Chacon, Maria Elena Matos Creach, Teresa Da Roman Lopez and Doraisa Correoso Pozo.



Aurora Martin, wife of the activist, Antonio Gonzalez, reported that her husband was arrested and beaten when he left his home to visit his sick father in the city of Santiago de Cuba.


FEBRUARY 18, 2012 - Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina and Isael Poveda of the “National Front of Civic Resistance and Desobedience Orlando Zapata Tamayo” were arrested in Guantanamo (Eastern Cuba) and violently searched by the political police.


Ex-political prisoner, Aurelio Antonio Morales Ayala, who was arrested in Havana on February 15, was forced back to his hometown of Holguin by State Security forces.

Taimi Vega Biset of Palma Soriano suffered a miscarriage following the violent arrest of several Ladies in White. Prison authorities had to release her because she felt so ill: her blood pressure went up, she felt numbness on one side her face and she was vomiting. Taimi’s husband makes the Cuban regime responsible for this loss he called “a part of me” that he says occurred as a result of the terror tactics carried out against peaceful human rights defenders in the island. Though the exact number of women who were arrested on this date in Eastern Cuba is not known, there may have been at least twenty according to a report by Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia. Aime Garces Leyva, Yelena Garces Napoles were taken to a police station and confined in cells.




FEBRUARY 19, 2012 - In Eastern Cuba around 30 Ladies in White were arrested and the homes of human rights defenders and Ladies in White were placed under surveillance throughout the Eastern cities of Holguin, Santiago de Cuba and Guananamo. Among those Ladies in White arrested were: Liudmila Rodriguez Palomo, Adriana Figueroa Fernandez, Yurislaisis Zamora Alvarez, Alina Fonseca Guevara, Eduviges Isaac Rodriguez, Yanet Figueredo Cruz, Yarivirgen Montega Montoya, Lisandra Leal Garces, Dayami Banyobre Clare, Isabel Peña Torres.


In Banes, a city in the Eastern province of Holguin, the homes of Ladies in White, Marta Diaz Rodon and Gertrudis Ojeda ,were surrounded and subjected to violent police operations. Antonio Lima Dalmau reported from Holguin province that Mariblanca Avila Esposito was one of several Ladies in White threatened with bottles of paint, sticks and stones and that Avigilia Cruz Segrero and Santiago Jordan Rios were among several activists that were arrested. The home of human rights defender of UMPACU, Alexey Aguerrizabal Rodriguez, was subjected to an “act of repudiation” and he was eventually arrested as was the activist Angel Lino Isaac Luna, and a family member Lazaro Corbelo Mejias.


The telephones of the coordinator of UMPACU, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and of the activist Abram Cabrera Torres were out of service. Ferrer Garcia had to use other phones to denounce all the repression, detentions, and the verbal and physical violence perpetrated against peaceful human rights activists in Eastern Cuba this weekend.


Arrested in Palma Soriano UMPACU activists: Dany Lopez de Moya, Bismark Mustelier Galan, Osmany Cespedes Napoles, Sergio Lescay Despaigne, Angel Lino Isaac Luna, Jose Batista Falcon and Rolando Humberto Gonzalez Rodriguez, and the three brothers, Victor Campa Almenares, Pedro Campa Almenares, Luis Campa Almenares. Of the twelve activists arrested, only two had been released by Sunday evening, February 19.


In Pinar del Rio, Raul Risco Perez reported that activists in that western city were blocked by authorities from leaving their homes. The Lady in White, Maria Cecilia Ramos Morejon was arrested and taken to the outskirts of the city to an unknown location.


In Havana, Sara Marta Fonseca was arrested in the morning on her way to attend Mass and march with the Ladies in White.



Members of the National Front of Civic Resistance and Disobedience Orlando Zapata Tamayo and of the Patriotic Union of Cuba carried out peaceful protests in several cities protesting against the systematic arrests and violence against human rights defenders.



The Coalition of Cuban-American Women alerts the international community that the lives of those members of Cuban civil society who are actively and publicly struggling on behalf of fundamental freedoms are in danger. We are particularly concerned with the cases of the activist couple Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez, with the continued physical and mental harassment against members of the Ladies in White, Laura Pollan throughout Cuba. International recognition of the peaceful resistance and solidarity for these human rights defenders is crucial. We make an urgent call on religious, civic, political, and cultural entities and its leaders, as well as to non-governmental human rights organizations worldwide.



Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Joseito76@aol.com / Laida A.Carro

Blog: http://www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com/

Facebook Page: Coalition of Cuban-American Women

Twitter: @COCAW1

FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA:



Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia + 5353631267 / Karina Quintana + 53 52997678 / Caridad Caballero Batista + 52629749 / / Raul Risco Perez + 5348763910 / Sara Marta Fonseca + 5353379011 / Martha Beatriz Roque + 52902212

Exiled Cubans, ex-political prisoners, and human rights activists will be protesting in front of the Cuban Interest Section

On Friday February 24th 2012 exiled Cubans, ex-political prisoners, and human rights activists will be protesting in front of the Cuban Interest Section and various other points in Washington DC:




· Because of the increased repression against pro-democracy activists in Cuba

· Because of the assassination of Wilman Villar Mendoza another recent death of a peaceful activist along with that of Laura Pollan and Orlando Zapata Tamayo

· To commemorate all those who died in hunger strikes in Cuba’s political prisons like Pedro Luis Boitel along with the thousands of other patriots who have been assassinated by the Castro regime like the Brothers to the Rescue who were murdered in mid air while on a humanitarian search and rescue mission on February 24, 1996.



Cuban exiles from Miami, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will be participating in the demonstrations (many of them ex-political prisoners) will be dressed in black and carrying photos of some of those assassinated by the Cuban government. A coffin with the names of more than 10,000 victims will be displayed.



The demonstration will begin at 10 am in front of the Cuban Interest Section at 1:30PM there will be a march down 16th Street to the White House where there will be a silent protest between 2-4 pm and from 4:30 to 8 pm the demonstration will move to Union Station, Washington’s main train terminal, where a film about the reality of the Cuban people will be aired.



Simultaneous demonstrations will also take place in other countries including but not limited to Canada, Venezuela, Chile, Italy and Spain.



For more information contact:

Maritza Lugo (786) 201.1221

Sergio Rodriguez (786) 287.8807





Maritza Lugo

exiliados cubanos protestarán frente a la Oficina de Intereses de Cuba en Washington

Comunicado de PrensaFebrero 20, 2012


El viernes 24 de febrero, exiliados cubanos protestarán frente a la Oficina de Intereses de Cuba en Washington:





- Por el incremento de la represión contra activistas pro democracia en Cuba.

- Por el asesinato de Wilman Villar Mendoza, que se suma a los también recientes asesinatos de Laura Polán y Orlando Zapata.

- Para recordar a todos los que anteriormente han muerto en huelga de hambre en las prisiones políticas en Cuba, como Pedro Luis Boitel; así como la de otros miles de compatriotas que han sido asesinados por el régimen castrista, como los Hermanos al Rescate, de cuyo asesinato en el aire, cuando cumplían una misión humanitaria, se conmemora ese día el 16 aniversario.





Los exiliados cubanos, muchos de ellos ex presos políticos, estarán vestidos de negro y portando fotos de algunos de los asesinados por el régimen castrista. Un sarcófago será expuesto con los nombres de más de 10,000 víctimas, en representación de todos los que han muerto a causa de la tiranía comunista en Cuba.

Exiliados cubanos de New Jersey, New York y Connecticut participarán en las protestas. Desde Miami saldrá en la mañana del día 23 un ómnibus con más de 50 participantes; otros viajarán en avión.

La demostración comenzará a las 10 am frente a la Sección de Intereses de Cuba; a las 1:30 marcharán por la Calle 16 hasta la Casa Blanca, donde habrá una protesta silente de 2 a 4 pm y de las 4:30 a las 8 pm la demostración se moverá la Union Station, la principal terminal de trenes de Washington, donde se exhibirá un video acerca de la realidad del pueblo cubano.

También habrá demostraciones en otros países, como Canadá, Venezuela, Chile, Italia y España, para llamar la atención sobre la realidad del pueblo cubano, víctima de una cruel tiranía desde hace más de medio siglo.

Esta actividad está siendo organizada por activistas por los derechos humanos y ex presos políticos, y no está dirigida por ninguna organización en particular, aunque todas están invitadas y varias de ellas están apoyando.



Para información adicional:





Maritza Lugo (786) 201-1221

Sergio Rodríguez (786) 287-8807

Sunday, February 19, 2012

"Pope wants to see Fidel Castro on Cuba trip: source"

Como? Que...que???


Read the story here.

Presos políticos muertos en Huelga de Hambre en cárceles cubanas desde 1959

Presos políticos muertos en Huelga de Hambre en cárceles cubanas desde 1959


Roberto López Chávez
Presidio de Isla de Pinos
Noviembre 13 de 1966




Luís Alvarez Ríos
Castillo del Príncipe
Agosto 09 de 1967


Carmelo Cuadra Hdez.
Castillo del Príncipe, LH
Julio 29 de 1969

Esteban Ramos Keisell
Cárcel de Boniato, Oriente
Febrero 04 de 1972



Pedro Luí Boitel
Castillo del Príncipe, LH
Mayo 25 de 1972


Olegario Charlot Spileta
Cárcel de Boniato, Oriente
Enero 15 de 1973

Enrique García Cuevas
Cárcel de Santa Clara, LV
Mayo 23 de 1973


Reinaldo Cordero Izquierdo
Prisión 5 1/2. Pinar del Río.
Mayo 21 de 1975



José Barrios Pedre
Pre-tensado Las Villas
Septiembre 22, 1977

Santiago Roche Valle
Prisión Kilo 7, Camagüey
Septiembre 08 de 1985


Nicolás González Regueiro Prisión "La Alambrada" LV
Septiembre 16 de 1992
 
 
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Hospital "Almejeiras"LH.
Febrero 23 del 2010



Wilman Villar Mendoza
Hosp. Juan B. Zayas, Santiago de Cuba
Enero 18, 2012








 
 
 
 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

En ascuas el estatismo en las economías de libre mercado

Por Dr. Darsi Ferret
La Habana, Cuba. 9 febrero de 2012.

En la Cumbre de Lisboa del 2000, los miembros de la Unión Europea se comprometieron a lograr la zona económica más competitiva del mundo antes del 2010. Esos anuncios parecen haberse transformado en polvo ante la profunda crisis que sacude buena parte de las economías de Occidente.
Acaso, ¿comenzó el fin del capitalismo, sacudido en estertores de una contradicción insalvable, como en tantas ocasiones anunciaran los agoreros y enemigos de la economía de libre mercado? O, ¿se trata del advenimiento de un orden económico más justo, con la riqueza distribuida de manera equitativa, según piden a gritos Indignados del mundo desarrollado? Al final, ¿tenía razón el apocalíptico Carlos Marx?
Nada más lejos de esos sueños feroces de la izquierda internacional. De hecho, lo que está en crisis no es la economía de mercado sino la distorsión de la misma, sustituida por el Estado Benefactor. En los sonados quiebres económicos desatados recientemente en Grecia, Portugal, Irlanda, España, Italia y hasta en EEUU, se repite el mismo factor desencadenante; el agotamiento de la insostenible práctica del intervencionismo estatal. Se trata pues de la inviabilidad del Estado al asumir funciones para las que no fue diseñado, como las de creador desmandado de empleo estatal y burocracia, garante de “conquistas sociales”, proveedor de subvenciones, aventurado empresario con dinero público, y caprichoso interventor de la propiedad privada a nombre del bien social.
El modelo político europeo nació en su patrón actual del parlamentarismo socialdemócrata alemán establecido en el Imperio del Káiser Guillermo I y el canciller Bismark, donde el Estado empezó a concebirse como el principal protagonista en la búsqueda de soluciones a las miserias provocadas por los desajustes sociales de la época. Hasta entonces, la sociedad civil, acompañada de la caridad de las organizaciones religiosas, se organizaba por si misma, recabando recursos del mecenazgo privado y la buena voluntad de los que se apiadaban de aquellos que sufrían pobreza y falta de cuidados. La enorme capacidad del aparato estatal para recaudar fondos a través del mecanismo de los impuestos superó pronto las posibilidades económicas con las que contaba la sociedad civil y paulatinamente fue ocupando un mayor espacio en estos menesteres.
Pero no fue hasta la solución keynesiana del New Deal, propuesto por la administración Roosevelt en Estados Unidos, que el Estado asumió en grandes proporciones la función de empleador en un país occidental. Se emprendieron grandes obras sociales como carreteras, puentes y presas que dieron trabajo a cientos de miles de parados por la larga crisis que provocara el crack del año 1929. Esto hizo aumentar en pocos años la plantilla de trabajadores directos del gobierno norteamericano de un 4% del total de la fuerza laboral hasta alcanzar el 10-11%. El intervencionismo gubernamental a gran escala en la economía de mercado, según criterio de muchos analistas de la denominada Escuela Austríaca, trajo como consecuencia que la crisis, que pudo haberse solucionado con los mecanismos naturales surgidos de la propia sociedad mediante el uso flexible y dinámico de compensaciones y ajustes, se prolongara por más de doce años, hasta el estallido de la 2da Guerra Mundial.
Tras la victoria de los Aliados, el área oriental de Europa quedó bajo la bota soviética y de inmediato en esos países se estableció el modelo totalitario del Estado absoluto, tan único generador de empleo y subsidios como dueño de cualquier manifestación de simple individualismo. El espectacular derrumbe de ese engendro inhumano llegó con la Perestroika promovida por Gorbachov y la garantía de que el Ejército Rojo no intervendría más en los asuntos internos de las naciones que integraban su Bloque de ideología marxista-leninista.
Veinte años después, al desvanecerse la terrible sombra del modelo totalitario que conformara el llamado Campo Socialista, fueron quedando al descubierto las limitaciones y fallas del componente estatista que se abrió paso en el esquema democrático de las naciones respetuosas del Estado de Derecho y el libre mercado, alineadas en el mundo Occidental de Europa, Norteamérica, Japón... En sus inicios esa práctica fue promovida indirectamente por la influencia bienhechora del Plan Marshall, mecanismo liderado por los EEUU para sacar a Europa Occidental de la miseria y devastación que provocó la guerra.
El acomodo de este procedimiento en las sociedades democráticas colaboró en gran medida a que los partidos políticos evolucionaran hacia una especie de populismo pausado, donde en sus plataformas programáticas calaron las crecientes propuestas de avances sociales, sustentadas en los caudales públicos salidos de los impuestos. Una vez en el poder, los partidos han llevado a efecto dichos planes, lo que genera el aumento del empleo estatal para administrar y controlar los nuevos servicios de bienestar. Todo ello a costa de dos fenómenos que se fueron consolidando indirectamente con sus propios intereses: la burocracia y el clientelismo popular. Los pueblos europeos y del resto de Occidente se han acostumbrado a recibir beneficios cada vez mayores de los gobiernos de turno.
La alarmante crisis de insolvencia de Grecia es un buen ejemplo. Demuestra como los sucesivos gobiernos griegos y los partidos en el poder han promovido el empleo estatal y la burocracia, las subvenciones económicas, el clientelismo como promotor de votos, el aventurerismo en proyectos de supuesta utilidad social que han sido seleccionados desde las élites que conforman la partidocracia y el funcionariado corrupto. La irresponsabilidad que esto generó se fue acumulando por años de mentiras sobre el verdadero estado de las finanzas públicas y, al final, no se ha podido mentir más. El país ha vivido en una ilusión de falsa prosperidad, por encima de lo que verdaderamente produce. Y es el pueblo acostumbrado a la tutela estatal el que mayormente sufre las consecuencias y no quiere aceptar disminuir su nivel de vida a bases más reales. El hecho de que su moneda fuese el euro contribuyó a promover y asentar la crisis en otros países que parecían estables, pero que en su estructura interna tienen, en mayor o menor medida, los mismos defectos estructurados por las malas costumbres de la injerencia estatal.
El desatino económico en estos países industrializados parece imparable, por lo menos a corto plazo. Buena parte del pecado original, más que la crisis inmobiliaria y financiera, se debe a la resistencia a los cambios que impone la nueva época que vive la Humanidad. La Globalización y sus fuerzas renovadoras convierten en obsoletos muchos de los esquemas que fueron efectivos durante la época industrial, y que ya no se ajustan a las dinámicas de las redes sociales, el Internet, la TV por cable, los teléfonos celulares, los satélites y la fibra óptica. Así lo demuestra la falta de curación de los males económicos, a pesar de los reiterados paquetes de medidas que incluyen la inyección de grandes sumas de dinero, el incremento de la subvención social por los Estados, y el rescate financiero de grandes Bancos y de los mastodontes quebrados de las industrias tradicionales.
Es un buen momento para aceptar las reglas de juego del nuevo contexto mundial, y cambiar de rumbo desmontando el estatismo y su andamiaje burocrático en los asuntos económicos. Y buscar soluciones desde la perspectiva de garantizar más democracia con énfasis en los derechos individuales libertarios, entre los que ocupa un lugar preponderante el respeto a la propiedad privada, y facilitar mayor participación y protagonismo de la sociedad civil

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Cuba: Residents of town to be visited by the Pope are being evicted










RESIDENTS OF THE EASTERN TOWN OF EL COBRE, A DESTINATION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI IN MARCH, ARE BEING EVICTED FROM THEIR HOMES




Video cameras, police surveillance, and road blocks are being reported



February 12, 2012



Video testimonies that were taped and sent from Eastern Cuba by the human rights organization UMPACU, give evidence that there’s a government curfew in force in El Cobre, home of the Basilica of the Patron Saint of Cuba, Our Lady of Charity, and a destination of Pope Benedict XVI in Cuba next month. The activists are obtaining reports of police surveillance whereby residents are stopped and searched; of the unusual presence of numerous buses and vans and; of the installation of video cameras, as well as of road blocks to control those who come and go to El Cobre. According to the testimony of Rodolfo Naranjo, an activist and a resident of El Cobre for more than 30 years who denounced being harassed by the political police, the Cuban regime is intent in covering up the prevailing misery that the Cuban people are suffering in the island. Inhabitants who live down by the road where the Pope will be passing are being evicted and many of the roofs of these shacks are being replaced.



Links to the interviews in Spanish are below. The names and the phone numbers of the human rights defenders of UMPACU who carried out the interviews are: Prudencio Villalon Rades + 53790984 and Jorge Cervantes + 53 53791610

RODOLFO NARANJO FIGUEIRAS - Activist being harassed by Cuban authorities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdSxYcmCSKA&feature=player_embedded


LIDIA LASTRA LOPEZ - Threatened with eviction and living in miserable conditions without a roof with three small children 3-11 years of age http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3fQ9B12IDAg




ALBERTO ROSARIO VAZQUEZ - A humble farmer who is being threatened with eviction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md-vsVUYg18&feature=player_embedded



ENI GILAR RIVERA - Authorities are suddenly accusing him of living in "illegal conditions". He was fined and is being threatened with eviction from his humble home http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G5WtoFRsD8c#!


Every week, in spite of the Cuban regime’s violence carried out by way of threats, arbitrary arrests, beatings and sexual harassment, the Ladies in White travel days ahead, sometimes through mountainous terrains full of thorny bushes, to attend Sunday Mass at the Basilica of El Cobre in Eastern Cuba. Many leave their children with trusted family members or friends and must sleep nights on the floor when they reach the town of El Cobre. This Sunday, forty two Ladies were able to reach the Basilica to hear Mass but many women throughout the island are denouncing terrible forms of systematic harassment. The Lady in White Arelis Rodríguez Chacón refused a proposition made to her by State Security officials who offered her to work for them as an undercover informant. Another Lady in White, Ana Celia Rodriguez Torres, denounced that ar State Security official threatened to burn all their white clothes. Marilyn de la O Montero’s house in the Eastern town of Contramaestre was surrounded by the political police and the head of the communist party because 17 UMPACU activists had convened at Marilyn’s house with the intention of visiting the tomb of Wilman Villar Mendoza.


This is the sixth consecutive week that the home of the independent journalist Felipe Rojas has been under surveillance by uniformed officials, jeeps, etc. in the Eastern city of San German. It was vandalized on January 26, 2012 with blue paint and windows were broken while his family was inside, including two young children.


Yasmin Conyedo and her husband, Yusmani Alvarez both remain under arrest since January 8, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara. Yasmin Conyedo is an independent journalist of the group, United Antitotalitarian Front and a Lady in White. Her husband, Yusmani Alvarez is an activist of the Young Democratic League of Las Villas. They are both falsely accused of attacking the home of a communist party official in their hometown of Villaclara who had initially subjected the couple’s home to a pro government mob attack the same day of the arrest. Yasmin was transferred to the Prison of Guamajal and Yusmani to the Prison of La Pendiente on January 16, 2012.


On February 8, 2012, Laima Andrikiene, a member of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee made public her argument of the human rights situation in Cuba in: ‘Cuban Spring ‘Unavoidable Amid Repression’ pointing to the present responsibility of the international community to “act against the undemocratic Cuban regime as it increases its repression of dissidents” : http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/article/1472/cuban-spring-unavoidable-amid-repression




On February 9, 2012, the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation issued a report that documented at least 631 arbitrary detentions carried out by the Cuban regime for political reasons in the month of January 2012. The group led by Elizardo Sanchez and considered “illegal” in the island, revealed a clear increment in the violence applied by the police against peaceful activists in 2011. It also pointed to the fact that the regime has taken no visible steps to investigate and establish the facts on the circumstances related to the agony, death, funeral and burial of the peaceful human rights defender, William Villar Mendoza who died under the custody of the Cuban state following more than 50 days on hunger strike.

Carlos Lauria, the Americas Senior Program Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced that Yoani Sanchez’s, a Cuban blogger whom the Cuban state media has described as a ‘cybermercenary’ at the service of a foreign government, was denied once again, for the 19th time, her right to travel abroad in the article: Rousseff quiet as Cuban blogger denied travel to Brazil: http://www.cpj.org/blog/2012/02/rousseff-quiet-as-cuban-blogger-denied-travel-to-b.php.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981 that promotes press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.



Below are some of the human rights violations reported during the week of February 6 – 12, 2012.

FEBRUARY 6, 2012 - The home of the Lady in White, Aini Sarrion Romero and her husband, Juan Carlos Vazquez Osoria, who is the coordinator of the UMPACU in the Eastern city of Moa, was violently attacked by the political police who forced their entry and searched the home, tearing down posters that said: “Down with Hunger”, “Long Live Human Rights”,”Freedom for Cuban Political Prisoners”, “Freedom to Travel”. The couple, their son and several other activists were dragged outside and beaten. Ainis Sarrion lost to two teeth due to the punches she received by two men they identified as Víctor Laurencio Blanco and Neuris Basulto. Other activists present were: Maritza Cardoso Romero, Mario Antonio Brocal Borges and Solemnis Abad Alfajo.

Guillermo Fariñas was released after being arrested on February 4, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara for the fifth time this year. A group called the United Antitotalitarian Front ‘Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia’ denounced that two State Security officials ( Ayorbis Gil Alvarez and Francisco Darias Gonzalez) are planning to eliminate Fariñas by weaking him physically with multiple detentions, aware that every time he is arrested he protests by refusing to eat and to take his medication.

FEBRUARY 7, 2012 – The home of the Lady in White, Aini Sarrion Romero and her husband, Juan Carlos Vazquez Osoria, who is the coordinator of the UMPACU in the Eastern city of Moa, was violently attacked by the political police who forced their entry and searched the home, tearing down posters that said: “Down with Hunger”, “Long Live Human Rights”,”Freedom for Cuban Political Prisoners”, “Freedom to Travel”. The couple, their son and several other activists were dragged outside and beaten. Ainis Sarrion lost to two teeth due to the punches she received by two men they identified as Víctor Laurencio Blanco and Neuris Basulto. Other activists present were: Maritza Cardoso Romero, Mario Antonio Brocal Borges and Solemnis Abad Alfajo.

In Havana, the Lady in White, Mercedes Fresneda and husband, Julio Regatillo, were threatened and harassed in the street by paramilitary forces when they were on their way to deal with matters related to a document. Fresneda was once injected with an unknown substance and almost fainted in the street when the Ladies in White were surrounded and attacked by a pro government mob.

Several activists, among them Neldo Ivan Echevarria, spokesperson of the Opposition Movement for a New Republic, were subjected to short term detentions in Havana by the political police and members of Cuban State Security and taken to the police unit of Santiago de las Vegas without informing them of the reason they were being detained.

Members of the Femenine Movement for Civil Liberties Rosa Parks were arrested after delivering a letter to government institutions in the municipality of Placetas, in central Cuba, to denounce the situation of a resident of Placetas who is homeless. The following women were taken away by the police as they were going out of the Church San Atanasio: Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera, Xiomara Martin Jimenez, Yaite Diosnellis Cruz Sosa, plus a friend of the feminine movement


FEBRUARY 8, 2012 – The house of Caridad Caballero Batista was surrounded and blocked to activists in Holguin.


FEBRUARY 9, 2012 – In Havana, of the more than twenty Ladies in White who were invited, only six were able to attend a workshop offered by the blogger Yoani Sanchez in her home. Lazara Mitjans and the independent journalist, Magaly Norvis Otero were arrested early in the morning. Most of the rest of the women were prevented from leaving their homes that were blocked by the political police and pro government mobs. Aimee Cabrales denounced that her home was surrounded and that she was pushed around and beaten in a corridor that leads to her home by at least three women and several police officers.


FEBRUARY 10, 2012 – Detained in Moa, city in the Eastern province of Holguin, the Lady in White, Ainis Sarrion Romero (beaten on Tuesday, February 7) and her husband Juan Carlos Vazquez Osoria, UMPACU coordinator in Moa.


FEBRUARY 11, 2012 – Osvaldo Paya, the leader of the Christian Liberation Movement was intimidated by Cuban authorities upon his arrival at the airport in Holguin who accused him with the fact that he had come to Eastern Cuba to march with the Ladies in White. Paya denied this and told them that they should not intimidate him, that he was a Cuban citizen who was traveling to Holguin to meet with friends.


Rolando Humberto Gonzalez Rodriguez of the organization UMPACU in Palma Soriano was arrested and accused of being responsible for the antigovernment placards that appeared throughout the city. Arnaldo de la Cruz Bañobre was detained by a State Security official that wanted to “discuss” with him the intentions that the coordinator of UMPACU Jose Daniel Ferrer had of establishing independent clinics that would offer free health care to the residents of Palma Soriano. Roberto Gonzalez Feria (UMPACU) was summoned to a police unit in the municipality of San Luis.


Several activists were subjected to short term detentions in the Eastern cities of Songo La Maya and Santiago de Cuba. Some of those arrested were: the independent journalist, Yusmila Reyna, Hergues Frandin, who is the Director of the Center for the Studies of Proactive Democracy, Antonio Alonso, promoter of the Municipalities in Opposition in the Eastern region of Cuba as well as the director of the Cuban Rural Civic Development Project. Roberto Serrano, Health and Environmental Commissioner for the Songo-La Maya Municipality in Opposition and other activists, Sergio Chavan and members of the 30th of November Party (Partido 30 de Noviembre).


FEBRUARY 12, 2012 - Violently arrested and taken away in a patrol car in Holguin, the Lady in White, Caridad Caballero Batista and her husband Esteban Sander by the police office, Major Douglas Torres. In Cacocun, Berta Guerrero Segura and Franklin Pellegrino del Toro were taken away by the police. The UMPACU activists who were going to protest any arrests or harassment against the Ladies in White and were consequently detained in Palmarito de Cauto were: Ruben Torres, Julio Cesar Salazar, and Yuselin Ferrer Espinosa.


Four Ladies in White were arrested in the central city of Placetas as they tried to attend Mass.


From Havana, the ex-political prisoner of conscience, Hector Maseda, reported that the homes of several Ladies in White in the Western province of Pinar del Rio were blocked by the police to prevent their assistance to Mass.


The Coalition of Cuban-American Women alerts the international community that the lives of those members of Cuban civil society who are actively and publicly struggling on behalf of fundamental freedoms are in danger. We are particularly concerned with the cases of the activist couple Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez, with the continued physical and mental harassment against members of the Ladies in White, Laura Pollan throughout Cuba. International recognition of the peaceful resistance and solidarity for these human rights defenders is crucial. We make an urgent call on religious, civic, political, and cultural entities and its leaders, as well as to non-governmental human rights organizations worldwide.



Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Joseito76@aol.com / LaidaA.Carro

Blog: www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com /

Facebook Page: Coalition of Cuban American Women / Twitter: @COCAW1



FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA:



Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia +5353631267 / Juan Pelegrino + 53139855 / Caridad Caballero Batista +52629749 / Aini Sarrion Romero +53673185 / Mercedes Fresneda +53869948

Sunday, February 12, 2012

"Reports of Castro Confessing to Pope Stir Buzz"

"THIS IS THE ULTIMATE THEATRICAL CYNICAL TACTIC BY A MURDERER WHO, AT THE END OF HIS LIFE, CONTINUES TO LAUGH AT AND MAKES A FOOL OF THE WORLD AFTER 53 YEARS OF COMMITTING THE MOST HEINOUS CRIMES... AS I WRITE THIS NOTE, ACTS OF CRUEL AND DEGRADING TREATMENT ARE SYSTEMATICALLY BEING COMMITTED AGAINST CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY AND THOSE WHO DISSENT ARE IN GRAVE DANGER OF LOOSING THEIR LIVES.


FIDEL CASTRO MUST MAKE AN ACT OF CONTRITION BEFORE THE PEOPLE OF CUBA IN A COURT OF JUSTICE FOR COMMITTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY."

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Castro-Pope-BenedictXVI-Cuba/2012/02/08/id/428877



LAIDA A. CARRO

Human Rights Defender

Coalition of Cuban-American Women

Recluso bajo régimen de castigo por exigir tratamiento médico



Por Yusnaimy Jorge Soca
La Habana, Cuba. 5 de febrero de 2012

A escasas semanas de la injustificable muerte del opositor Wilman Villar, tras una huelga de hambre de 50 días, otra madre cubana sufre el temor de que las autoridades carcelarias le maten o dejen morir a su hijo en la cárcel. Su preocupación se basa en la frecuencia con que ocurren en Cuba casos de reclusos que mueren por situaciones prevenibles y a consecuencia de los tratos crueles que de modo sistemático se aplican en el sistema penitenciario.
El joven Dariel Garrido Campos, pasó dos meses en la prisión de Quivicán, en la actual provincia Mayabeque, exigiendo a los militares el tratamiento médico que le indicó el cardiólogo para contrarrestar la descompensación de sus padecimientos de hipertensión arterial, cardiopatía isquémica e hipercolesterolemia. Como se negaron a darle las medicinas, el pasado 16 de enero optó por plantarse en huelga de hambre y coserse la boca con un alambre.
La respuesta de los carceleros fue aislarlo en una celda de castigo, sin colchón, ropas, agua ni asistencia médica. Antes le descocieron la boca a la fuerza con una pinza y le propinaron una golpiza salvaje. En esas condiciones lo mantuvieron por dos días y posteriormente lo trasladaron castigado para la prisión provincial del Combinado del Este, donde se encuentra confinado en el ala norte, segundo piso, del edifico 2.
En el Combinado tampoco ha sido llevado al médico ni le entregan los medicamentos prescritos. Y los guardias del penal le comunicaron que su estancia es temporal, ya que la orden de los superiores es enviarlo lejos de la Habana, para alguna cárcel de las provincias orientales, en represalia por sus reclamos.
A los 28 años de edad, Dariel Garrido purga una condena de 42 años por delitos comunes, de los que ya ha cumplido 5. Le ha confesado a su desesperada madre, Gisela Campos Pérez, que las condiciones de su encierro son infrahumanas, que convive hacinado junto a los demás reclusos en las galeras, donde las condiciones de higiene son deplorables, y abundan las ratas, moscas y mosquitos. Se queja de que la alimentación es pésima, poca en cantidad y mal elaborada. Además, que los militares son abusadores y maltratan y golpean a los presos por cualquier motivo.
La Sra. Gisela teme por lo que pueda suceder con su querido hijo. Reclama ante las autoridades de cárceles y prisiones que termine el castigo, y que le faciliten el tratamiento médico que él requiere. Exige que no lo trasladen lejos de la Habana, lo que haría más martirizante el contacto familiar. Y alega que su muchacho está pagando con su libertad por los delitos que cometió, pero que como ser humano merece un trato digno y condiciones adecuadas de reclusión, por lo que aspira a que no lo dejen morir y que garanticen su vida, aunque sea detrás de las rejas.

ARBITRARY VIOLENT ARRESTS, BEATINGS, PERSECUTIONS, INSULTS, THREATS AND SEXUAL HARRASSMENT PRECEDE THE VISIT OF POPE BENDICT XVI



Human rights defender alerts the international community of the danger in the rise of sexual harrassment against women activists by the Cuban political police




February 5, 2012



According to the report by the independent information group in the island, Hablemos Press, the first month of the year 2012 concluded with 428 arbitrary arrests of Cuban citizens who were exercizing their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association:



http://www.cihpress.com/2012/02/informe-mensual-de-violaciones-de-los.html



In its Press Freedom Index Report 2011/2012, Reporters Without Borders scored Cuba as one of the worst censors in the world: http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html





Yasmin Conyedo and her husband, Yusmani Alvarez both remain under arrest since January 8, 2012 in the central city of Santa Clara. Yasmin Conyedo is an independent journalist of the group, United Antitotalitarian Front and a Lady in White. Her husband, Yusmani Alvarez is an activist of the Young Democratic League of Las Villas. They are both falsely accused of attacking the home of a communist party official in their hometown of Villaclara who had initially subjected the couple’s home to a pro government mob attack the same day of the arrest. Yasmin was transferred to the Prison of Guamajal and Yusmani to the Prison of La Pendiente on January 16, 2012.





Female human rights defenders continue to be at the forefront of the peaceful resistance movement and their demands, meetings and attendance to Mass are being met by Cuban authorities with increasing physical and psychological violence. The Ladies in White are being intentionally kicked and punched on their breasts, buttocks, thighs, etc. (Photo of Sandra Guerra’s bruises in attachment). Throughout the island there is a worrisome rise in sexual harassment (verbal and physical) against them by agents of the Cuban regime who are threatening them with rape and are touching them inappropriately. Just in 2012, Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera, president of the Rosa Parks Human Rights Movement has reported two recent arrests when she was a victim of sexual harassment: once threatened with rape and, this week, she was inappropriately touched by an officer. Other activists who’ve also reported sexual harassment: Sara Marta Fonseca, Idania Llanes Contreras, Damaris Moya Portieles and Odalys Sanabria. Hablemos Press taped interviews of several women’s testimonies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b9vHNrREs0&feature=youtu.be

The 2012 Sakharov Prize recipient and independent journalist, Guillermo Fariñas continues under arrest, since Saturday February 4th. This is the fifth time he’s been arrested this year in the central city of Santa Clara (January 14, 17,19 28). This last detention is related to a 2011 legal demand he presented against a Security guard who beat and threatened him to death at the Arnaldo Millan Hospital. On January 28 he was detained for paying public homage, along with other activists, to the Cuban patriot Jose Marti. All other arrests in January were related to his public protests for the release of Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez.





This is the fifth consecutive weekend that the home of the independent journalist Felipe Rojas has been under surveillance by uniformed officials, jeeps, etc. in the Eastern city of San German.





The Cuban regime denied the blogger Yoani Sanchez the exit permit to travel to Brazil in violation of article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states that anyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. She had been granted a tourist visa by the Brazilian government where she is invited to attend the screening of a documentary.





Rosa Maria Rodriguez, is being blackmailed by Cuban authorities by condemning her mentally disabled son, Yosvany Melchor, to a 12 years prison sentence because she will not stop her activism as a member of the Christian Liberation Movement. Yosvany, who is 29 years old, is presently in Prison 1580 in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, among violent common delinquents. Video of this case with testimony by Rosa Maria Rodriguez was posted this week in the internet by Osvaldo Paya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doTZeTG3AiQ Further detailed information on the case: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/%C2%A1libertad-para-yosvany-melchor.html





The following are some of the reports of human rights violations reported this week from the island:



JANUARY 31, 2012 - At daybreak, a member of the prodemocracy group, UMPACU in the Eastern city of Palma, Dany Lopez de Moya heard noises in front of his home and surprised two men vandalizing it with black paint. Dany ran after the perpetrators and found that other individuals were also vandalizing the home of another UMPACU member, Miguel Rafael Cabrera Montoya. When both activists tried to catch the culprits, the police placed under arrest Miguel Rafael Cabrera Montoya.



Students and teachers of a polytechnic institute in the Eastern Municipality of Mella threw stones against the house of the activists, Ramon Bolaños Martin and the Lady in White, Karina Quintana Hernandez almost hitting their youngest daughter. Carmen Bolaños Quintana, another daughter of the activist couple is being ostracized by her fellow classmates and teachers in her secondary school by orders of the principal because her parents are human rights defenders.

FEBRUARY. 2, 2012 – The following seven women activists were violently arrested and remained in prison cells for 20 hours in inhumane conditions following a peaceful march demanding the release of Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez in the central city of Santa Clara: Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera, Xiomara Martin Jimenez, Yaite Diosnely Cruz Sosa, Yanisbel Valido Perez, Damaris Moya Portieles, Maria del Carmen Martinez and Idania Yanes Contreras.





FEBRUARY 3, 2012 – Activist Caridad Caballero Batista reported that Franklin Pelegrino del Toro was arrested at 8 p.m. taken to the police unit in the Eastern city of Cacocun.





Jose Daniel Ferrer reported that Miguel Rafael Cabrera Montoya, who was arrested on January 31 was released.





FEBRUARY 4, 2012 – In Guantanamo, Angel Frometa Lobaina was injured during a violent arbitrary short term arrest and released on a bail of $1000 pesos for carrying out a peaceful protest.





Since early in the morning State Security and Police forces carried out violent arbitrary arrests of numerous Ladies in White in the Eastern cities of Palmarito de Cauto, Palma Soriano, Contramaestre, and Santiago de Cuba. Road blocks were placed on the main road leading to the Basilica of El Cobre to prevent the Ladies in White from attending Sunday Mass. Aurora Martin and Niraida Martin were arrested early in the morning in Santiago de Cuba and in Mella, Karina Quintana, was prevented from leaving her home and Oria Casanova Moreno was dragged, forced into a patrol car and taken to a police unit. In Palmarito de Cauto a police operation was carried out. Darmis Aguedo, Alina Fonseca, Aliagna Issac, Eduvenia Issac, Yanelis Leiva, Yaima Bejerano, Mercedes Fernandez, Adriana Fernandez, Annia Pecora, Darelis Chacon., Ana Celia Rodriguez Torres, Kenia Legren Elliot, Maria Teresa Darroman Lopez, Araceli Maria Elena The Ladies denounced that the police agents threatened them with burning their white clothes:



CLANDESTINE VIDEO TAPED IN CUBA – Testimony of Ladies in White after their release in Eastern city of Contramaestre ( 5:53 min) Celia Rodriguez Torres, Kenia Legren Elliot, Maria Teresa Darroman Lopez: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nku81yQ1FI&feature=youtu.be&a



FEBRUARY 5, 2012 - Eleven Ladies in White were held under siege by the political police in the Church of Santa Catalina de Ricci in the Eastern city of Guantanamo.



In Holguin, the Lady in White, Adisnidia Cruz, was arrested early in the morning alongside two activists when she was on her way to the Church Cristo Redentor. The Ladies in White, Caridad Caballero Batista, Marta Diaz Rondon, Berta Segura, Gertrudis Ojeda, and Isabel Peña were beaten, subjected to short term detention and threatened.



The Coalition of Cuban-American Women alerts the international community that the lives of those members of Cuban civil society who are actively and publicly struggling on behalf of fundamental freedoms are in danger. We are particularly concerned with the cases of the activist couple Yasmin Conyedo and Yusmani Alvarez, with Yosvani Melchor, and the particular rise in sexual harassment against members of the Ladies in White, Laura Pollan throughout Cuba. International recognition of the peaceful resistance and solidarity for these human rights defenders is crucial. We make an urgent call on religious, civic, political, and cultural entities and its leaders, as well as to non-governmental human rights organizations worldwide.



Coalition of Cuban-American Women / Joseito76@aol.com / Laida A. Carro


Blog: http://www.coalitionofcubanamericanwomen.blogspot.com/


Facebook Page: Coalition of Cuban-American Women

Twitter: @COCAW1

FURTHER INFORMATION IN CUBA: José Daniel Ferrer + 53 53631267 / Belkis Cantillo + 5353790867 / Caridad Caballero Batista + 5-2629749 / Yelena Garces +5353790818 / Dany Lopez de Moya +5352997725

Friday, February 03, 2012

"Cuba Denies Exit to Pro-Democracy Blogger Invited by Brazil"





Cuba has promised changes.....yet they deny exit to blogger Yoani Sanchez,and they continue to imprison those who simply protest for Democracy.

Same ole BS for the last 53 years!

Protesta por la muerte de Wilman Villar Guantánamo, Cuba

Protesta del Movimiento Feminista Rosa Park en Santa Clara, 01/01/12

Tiempo de descuento para régimen de la Habana

Por Dr. Darsi Ferret


La Habana, Cuba. 2 de febrero de 2012.



La naturaleza de un régimen como el derrocado en Libia es una fuente de infinitas lecciones. A diferencia de otras dictaduras de la era moderna, la del lapidado coronel Muamar el Gadafi tuvo la ventaja de no estar institucionalizada de acuerdo a las normas reconocidas. Su disponibilidad sobre las jugosas rentas del petróleo nacional era absoluta. Eso le permitió que, a diferencia de Kim Song-Il en los años posteriores a la Segunda Guerra Mundial, o Fidel Castro a mediados de los setenta, pudiera gobernar bajo la tenebrosa sombra de su Jamahiriya sin necesidad de dependencia del padrinazgo de ninguna potencia, ni verse obligado a organizar su Estado dentro de un rígido modelo burocrático. Sus ventajas para mantener todo el tiempo una dictadura personal deben haber provocado envidia en otros déspotas con mucho menos cash.

Quizá por esas mismas razones su terrible muerte tuvo un carácter tan singular. Es la primera vez que se filma en vivo, sin censura ni cortes profesionales, la matanza de un cruel y todopoderoso tirano. Captadas por los teléfonos celulares de algunos de los tantos que participaban en su ejecución, las imágenes fueron trasmitidas de inmediato al mundo entero. De esta manera, el triunfo de las nuevas tecnologías de comunicación personal también trae dantescas visiones, como esas de los últimos momentos del coronel. Es una lección de lo frágil que es la vanidad y la arrogancia de los que se creen imbatibles. Y también del odio y la crueldad que se han encargado de sembrar en sus pueblos empobrecidos, sojuzgados y muy probablemente encanallados.

Definitivamente, algo de esas macabras imágenes de final insólito han pesado lo suyo para esa nefasta pléyade de “líderes carismáticos” que durante el siglo XX se fosilizaron en el poder a lomo de “vanguardias revolucionarias”. Sin embargo, no tienen el mismo peso y efectos racionales los llamados de las naciones democráticas de occidente, las condenas por violación de los Derechos Humanos y las advertencias de la ONU. Incluso, ni siquiera el despliegue del abrumador poderío de la OTAN. Por el contrario, prima el empecinamiento por sostener una situación imposible, ya vencida por el cambio radical de la civilización a nivel global.

Quizás por ello una de las más duras realidades de la liquidación del régimen autocrático de Gadafi sea el histérico aferramiento de sus iguales en otras naciones. Intentan repetir el mismo inútil empeño por mantenerse en el poder, y la única enseñanza que extraen de la espantosa guerra civil del país norafricano es tratar de implementar en represalias lo que allí dejó de ponerse en práctica. Así lo indica la actitud del dictador sirio Bashar el Assad. Luego de prometer a la Liga Árabe que parlamentaría con la oposición y que pondría fin a la violencia, persiste en lanzar sus fuerzas de seguridad y del ejército contra la población inconforme que se opone a su dinástico régimen opresivo.

Del otro lado del mundo, la impresentable dictadura militar cubana se fija en lo que sucede en Siria e intenta evitar que la población desesperada se lance a la calle. Por tal motivo, aprueba a cuentagotas medidas económicas que no implican cambios estructurales ni modificaciones de las bases de su modelo totalitario, pues no renuncian al concepto del poder absoluto. Tales medidas, que algunos confunden con reformas, las entorpecen con trámites burocráticos que no tienen otro objetivo que mantener el mismo férreo control sobre la empobrecida ciudadanía. De hecho, tienen más de propaganda que de soluciones verdaderas en todo el espectro de la angustiante necesidad popular. Sin embargo, es tan marcada la miseria nacional que confían en que esas gestiones sean suficientes para por ahora amansar la creciente inquietud de la población.

Todo su embeleco tiene el firme propósito de ocultar la realidad. El régimen castrista lejos de abandonar su represión contra la oposición pacífica la incrementa. Desesperadamente aspira evitarse la repetición de los ejemplos de Túnez, Egipto, Libia, y de otros países del Medio Oriente, donde la población se lanzara a la calle de modo masivo y determinado exigiendo libertades.

Los gobernantes de la dictadura identifican a la oposición como la posible guía de esa revuelta, obviando el hecho de que ninguna de las rebeliones de la Primavera Árabe ha sido encabezada por opositores conocidos. Consideran que el reducido grupo de ciudadanos que conforma la oposición en la isla representa el peligro de una indoblegable resistencia moral a sus diseños totalitarios. Por lo tanto, están dispuestos a tomar medidas extremas para aplastarla. Las confusas circunstancias en que murió la líder de las Damas de Blanco, Laura Pollán, o la reciente muerte de Wilman Villar tras una huelga de hambre de 50 días, hacen sospechar que hasta hayan estructurado el diseño del asesinato selectivo de opositores.

Más la ceguera de la soberbia en el poder los impulsa a intentar imposibles. Hay un hecho real a nivel global: el mundo se integra aceleradamente. Y la nueva fase de desarrollo se llama Globalización. A pesar de los denuestos en contra, se impone como una etapa de evolución de la Humanidad. Cualquier intento de impedirla, distorsionarla o ignorarla sólo repercutirá con el doble de empuje en su presencia inevitable. A los Castro y a sus seguidores les cuesta entender los patrones y dinámicas modernas. La mayor parte de los que componen su especie en extinción constituyen un nefasto producto de la Guerra fría, que finalizó hace más de veinte años, tiempo insalvable respecto a la velocidad con que se mueve el mundo en el presente.

El régimen militar que ha empobrecido y despoblado una nación con tantas posibilidades como las de Cuba no es la solución de los grandes problemas que ha creado, sino el terco obstáculo para que los mismos se solucionen. Al igual que otros aferrados a sus privilegios, odian a muerte las libertades y el libre ejercicio de ellas por sus esclavizados súbditos.

No son tan torpes como para ignorar que deben montar algún simulacro de aperturas para lograr extender la existencia del engendro que llaman Revolución, dándole hasta aires de realidad material. No obstante, no comprenden que su tiempo ya se terminó, y que ni siquiera el designio de dinastía familiar que manipulan en las sombras podrá ser posible. Es una época en que la libre información se les cuela por entre los estrechos barrotes donde se empeñan en mantener encerrada a la ciudadanía de la isla. Y la realidad que se filtra va cambiando la mentalidad de todos, hasta de sus seguidores más insospechados.