CONTRA EL PINGALISMO CASTRISTA/ "Se que no existe el consuelo que no existe la anhelada tierrra de mis suenos ni la desgarrada vision de nuestros heroes. Pero te seguimos buscando, patria,..." - Reinaldo Arenas
miércoles, noviembre 13, 2013
Two officials from Cuba’s diplomatic mission in Washington meet in Miami with companies that handle travel Cuba-USA
martes, noviembre 12, 2013
Capitol Hill Cubans : How Obama Can Be "Creative" on Cuba Policy
Both Soler (through The Ladies in White) and Farinas are past recipients, 2005 and 2010 respectively, of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
This simple encounter has sent a message of hope and encouragement to all those risking their lives for freedom and democracy in Cuba.
Unfortunately, in Washington, D.C., this important encounter has been overshadowed by speculation regarding some open-ended remarks by President Obama on U.S. policy toward Cuba.
Here's what the President said, verbatim:
"[W]e’ve started to see changes on the island. Now, I think we all understand that, ultimately, freedom in Cuba will come because of extraordinary activists and the incredible courage of folks like we see here today. But the United States can help. And we have to be creative. And we have to be thoughtful. And we have to continue to update our policies. Keep in mind that when Castro came to power, I was just born. So the notion that the same policies that we put in place in 1961 would somehow still be as effective as they are today in the age of the Internet and Google and world travel doesn't make sense.
And I think that partly because we're of the same generation, we recognize that the aims are always going to be the same. And what we have to do is to continually find new mechanisms and new tools to speak out on behalf of the issues that we care so deeply about."
Fair enough. Here are four simple recommendations:
I. Don't hurt the "extraordinary activists" that you recognize will ultimately achieve freedom in Cuba.
Both Soler and Farinas have made it very clear that the U.S. should not lift sanctions towards Cuba. This would provide the Castro regime with a spigot of economic relief at a time when its Venezuelan subsidies are steadily declining and it's desperately seeking a new foreign bailout for its failed policies.
Moreover, it would provide a pipeline of hard currency to the Castro regime's totalitarian apparatus, as political arrests and repression spike. This would further uneven the playing field for these democracy activists.
As Farinas said about the meeting, "it was an opportunity to express to the U.S. President that there have been cosmetic economic changes in Cuba, that the repression has increased and that he must not let himself be carried away by siren songs."
Last month alone, nearly 1,000 activists were arbitrarily arrested. This increase in repression is perhaps the most dramatic "change" taking place in Cuba today. It should not be rewarded.
II. Focus on updating access to technology.
One aspect of U.S. policy that should continue to be updated in this "age of the Internet and Google" is -- simply -- finding ways to help the Cuban people access the Internet and Google. That is what American development worker, Alan Gross, was doing when he was taken hostage by the Castro regime in December 2009.
Technology has been the key to the growth and strength of Cuba's democracy movement in recent years. The impact of President Bush's 2008 regulations authorizing the non-commercial export of cell phones to Cuba, extended by President Obama, have proven to be transcendental.
The Obama Administration should now launch an initiative to help the Cuban people gain free, uncensored access to the Internet, perhaps through satellite WiFi transmissions -- call it e-Marti.
In the "age of the Internet and Google" this is eminently doable.
III. Ensure current U.S. travelers help the Cuban people, not the Castro regime.
In 2011, the Obama Administration authorized a category of non-degree seeking, educational trips to Cuba, known as "people-to-people" travel. These trips are essentially organized "tourism junkets", whereby travelers stay in the Castro regime's five-star hotels, dine at its restaurants and party at its nightclubs.
Let's stress this important point: 100% of current U.S. "people-to-people" travelers stay in the Cuban military's luxury hotels.
That is absurd.
Why doesn't the Obama Administration require current "people-to-people" travelers stay at "casa particulares," which are private homes that rent rooms to foreigners?
Why not require "people-to-people" travelers to solely dine at "paladares," which are small restaurants run out of private homes (excluding the fancy ones run by the Ministry of the Interior)?
It seems this would be a more "creative" way to help the Cuban people, rather than increasingly feeding the coffers of the Cuban military (which was recently caught violating international sanctions by proliferating weapons to North Korea).
After all, the President's stated purpose for these trips was to help "promote the [Cuban people's] independence from the authorities."
These trips do the exact opposite.
IV. Stop granting visas to human rights violators.
In 2011, the Obama Administration launched a broad initiative to prohibit the issuance of visas to human rights violators throughout the world.
Yet, it seems Cuba has been the exception.
Castro regime officials, including its jailers, torturers and other state security officials keep popping up unexpectedly on the streets of Miami.
Imagine how Cuba's "extraordinary activists" feel seeing the same people that harass, beat and imprison them being rewarded with U.S. visas.
It's incredibly disheartening and sends a message to these human rights violators that there are no consequences for their reprehensible actions.
In other words, it doesn't "help" Cuba's democracy activists, as President Obama acknowledged the U.S. should do.
viernes, noviembre 01, 2013
Flights From Key West To Cuba Resume After A 51-Year Hiatus
"We feel very emotional about being able to provide this service to the Cuban community with flights from Key West after 50 years and prevent travelers from having to travel to the Miami airport," Isaac Valdes, sales director for Mambi Travel, told EFE.
The service will provide three flights a week to Cuba, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and a round-trip ticket will cost $449 to $469, Valdes said.
The twin-engine aircraft will have the capacity for groups of up to 19 people and will take about 30 minutes to fly the route to the Havana international airport.
"We have all the permits in order and hope that the (Florida Keys) community flies with us and is satisfied, avoiding the inconvenience it would pose to go to Miami," said Valdes, who added that he was happy about the possibility of "uniting the Cuban family a little more."
In 2009, the director of the Key West international airport asked the U.S. Treasury Department, which enforces Washington's economic embargo against the Communist island, to permit the reestablishment of direct flights to Cuba, which is just 90 miles away.
Two charter companies, Mambi Travel and Air MarBrisa, which already fly to Havana from Miami, Tampa and New York, will provide the service.
Regular Key West-Havana flights were inaugurated in 1920.
This year, the United States celebrates the centennial of the first flight between Key West and Havana.
On May 17, 1913, Cuban Domingo Rosillo del Toro piloted his monoplane from Key West to Havana, thus winning a $10,000 prize for being the first to cross the Florida Strait by air.
There are more than 2 million Cubans and their relatives in the United States, most of them living in Florida. At present, only Cuban-Americans with relatives on the island and Americans who meet certain requirements, such as traveling for academic and/or religious reasons, may travel to Cuba.
Cuba Cruise to Offer Exclusive Cuba Circumnavigation Sailing
viernes, octubre 18, 2013
Americans traveling to Cuba in record numbers
HAVANA (Reuters) - Americans are visiting Cuba in record numbers despite strict travel restrictions, joining the hundreds of thousands of Cuban Americans who travel home each year, according to Cuban government figures published on Friday.
Just over 98,000 U.S. citizens visited Cuba in 2012, up from 73,500 in 2011 and twice the number compared with five years ago, according to an online report by the National Statistics Office (www.one.cu).
U.S. citizens are barred from traveling to Cuba without government permission under a U.S. trade embargo imposed half a century ago that can only be lifted by Congress.
The rise in U.S. visitors partly reflects a loosening of travel restrictions by President Barack Obama's administration and allow "people-to-people" contact aimed at speeding political change on the communist-ruled island 90 miles from Florida.
As well as allowing Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba freely, Obama authorized licenses for "purposeful" travel to more than 250 Cuba travel agents and allowed more airports to provide charter service between the two countries.
The program, which began in 2011 and requires annual renewal of permission to bring groups to Cuba, allows for educational and cultural travel. The regulations require detailed itineraries of each traveling group.
Cuba hosted 2.8 million tourists in 2012, with arrivals down 2 percent so far this year.
"Cuba has so much to offer in terms of culture, history and issues of mutual concern - healthcare, education and the environment - and students, professionals, people of faith are curious," said Collin Laverty, head of travel provider Cuba Educational Travel.
In the years following Cuba's 1959 revolution when Fidel Castro took power, the highest known number of U.S. visitors peaked at 70,000 under President Bill Clinton, but dropped to an average of 30,000 in the last term of President George W. Bush.
Travel to Cuba is seen as a key political issue by both embargo supporters and opponents in Washington.
"This is not about promoting democracy and freedom in Cuba. This is nothing more than tourism ... a source of millions of dollars in the hands of the Castro government that they use to oppress the Cuban people," Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told a congressional hearing soon after Obama instituted the policy.
Theodore Piccone, deputy director of foreign policy at the Washington-based Brookings Institute that advocates engagement, said Obama should do more to open travel to Cuba. He said it was ironic that Cubans, due to reforms on the island, were now free to travel where they pleased while U.S. citizens were not.
"American travel to Cuba will remain a small fraction of its potential as long as President Obama avoids a further liberalization of travel," he said. "If the Cuban government can open travel of its citizens, which it now has, why can't we?"
(Reporting by Marc Frank; editing by Christopher Wilson)
jueves, octubre 10, 2013
Cuba acapara 70% de reservas británicas para vacacionar en el Caribe
miércoles, octubre 09, 2013
Cuba allows tourism industry to hire private contractors
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has authorized its state-run tourism industry to contract out lodgings, meals, excursions and other activities to private businesses in a boost to a growing "non-state" sector.
While the government has allowed some state contracting to private businesses since 2012, up until now the tourism industry was off limits.
The new regulations, published on Wednesday in the official gazette (www.gacetaoficial.cu), authorize state-run tourism agencies to use the more than 5,000 bed and breakfasts and 1,700 private restaurants now operating in the communist-run country, as well as private entertainment and transportation.
Further, hotels and other tourism facilities can now contract with private businesses to provide meals for workers, gardening and other services.
"Cuba's tourism has been stuck in a 'state provides all' framework for years," said Paul Webster Hare, former British ambassador to Cuba, who currently lectures on international relations at Boston University.
"As a service industry small and imaginative often attracts tourists better than the 'one size fits all,' which has been a feature of the way the big Cuban state- and military- owned companies have run the sector," he said.
Tania Rodriguez, who rents out rooms in the Colonial district of Havana, applauded the measure as key to continued growth of the tourism industry and as a way to improve quality and variety.
"The private sector has provided quality and comfort for tourists who have visited for many years," she said. "I think we are essential if Cuba is going to continue to attract tourists."
Cuban President Raul Castro, who took over for his ailing brother Fidel in 2008, has opened up retail services to small entrepreneurs as part of a larger reform effort aimed at modernizing a Soviet-style economy where the state up until 2010 administered just about everything down to shoe shining.
Castro is encouraging private sector growth to create jobs for the 1 million employees he hopes to slash from bloated government payrolls over the next few years. His goal is to strengthen Cuban communism to assure its future.
There are currently more than 450,000 people operating or working in small businesses or are self-employed in the building trades, transportation, entertainment and other sectors, as well as more than 200 cooperatives.
State-run tourism agencies have been sounding out the owners of restaurants and small lodgings throughout the year, and many, at least in Havana, have expressed little interest, according to industry sources. They point out that individuals visiting the Caribbean island are already free to rent rooms and eat at private establishments.
However, Cuban economists said the opening of the tourism industry was sure to be viewed by some as a business opportunity.
"During the tourism season the good restaurants and bed and breakfasts are usually booked solid, without having to sign a contract with the state," one of the economists said, wishing to remain anonymous.
"But now, if you are thinking of venturing into the private sector, this could be an opportunity to get started," he said.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Additional reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by David Adams and Eric Beech)
viernes, octubre 04, 2013
Landscape impacts of 'neo-resorts' and large villa hotels on the coast. The case of Santa María Cay (Villa Clara, Cuba)
www.cayosantamaria.info |
jueves, octubre 03, 2013
Dispatch, Cuba: Stretching pesos at the market - Travel Weekly
Each group was given 25 Cuban pesos (approximately $1 U.S.), the currency used only by the Cubans, not by tourists.
Tourists must use Cuban convertible pesos, called CUCs (pronounced “kooks”), with one CUC equal to $1 U.S. and obtainable only in approved currency exchange centers in hotels).
The average monthly wage of a Cuban is approximately 300 Cuban pesos, approximately $13 US.
We had 20 minutes to shop in a farmer’s market with the aim of stretching those Cuban pesos as far as we could.
The farmer’s market is a step up from the bodegas or warehouses where most Cubans shop for food staples like rice and beans, using ration books, which are given to each individual or family once a year to buy a certain amount of food each month. The government sets the prices.
A ration book is like a discount card, but because food quantities are limited at the bodegas, Cubans often have to resort to the farmer’s market, where prices are a bit higher, to supplement their pantries.
Off we went into a large, covered, noisy market, lined with rows of fruits, vegetables and some meat, mostly pork.
We were on a tight budget and the clock was ticking.
We bypassed the tomatoes, 10 pesos each; limes were reasonable, three for five pesos, but as my team member Graham observed, “Families can’t live on limes.”
The carrots were too small, the sliced watermelon required refrigeration, and one small slice of pork would have blown the entire budget from the get-go.
With time running out, we decided on a bunch of 16 “donkey” (small) bananas and one medium papaya. Total cost: 25 Cuban pesos.
The groups convened outside the market. Omar Fernandez Gonzalez, our bus driver, served as judge and perused the purchases.
Team One bought two large avocados for 10 pesos each and three limes for a total of five pesos.
Team Two opted for one onion, a small bag of peppers and a yucca root for 25 pesos.
Team Three, my team, was the winner. Our purchases, according to Omar, “will go far. They will serve a family of four in several ways.”
Claire, Graham and I high-fived each other, boarded the bus and moved on to a neighborhood polyclinic for an up-close look at Cuba’s medical professionals at work.
Later, over lunch at La Moneda Cubana, a state-run, semi-air-conditioned restaurant, we all admitted to feeling guilty as we dined on white rice, shredded beef and steamed yucca (looks and tastes like bland potatoes), accompanied by a salad of sliced cucumbers and avocados and finished off with an espresso and the Cuban national desert of ice cream.
It was a meal most Cubans could not enjoy. Or afford.
lunes, septiembre 30, 2013
Cuba: Corrupcion y la conjura en 'La Divina Pastora'
www.netssa.com |
miércoles, septiembre 18, 2013
Cuba: Decrece 1.3% turismo internacional
La Habana.- Con el matiz de incorporar oficialmente los negocios privados a la campaña de invierno del turismo, las autoridades cubanas reconocen que el resto de 2013 puede confirmar una espiral creciente pese a dificultades anteriores. El director comercial del Ministerio de Turismo (Mintur), José Manuel Bisbé, reconoció oportunamente que la campaña de invierno para el turismo cubano aportará incrementos tanto en la llegada de viajeros como en las posibilidades y variedades recreativas.
Indicó la esperanza de cerrar 2013 con crecimientos, a partir de recuperaciones en noviembre próximo. Auguró para el próximo año mejores resultados que el anterior, cuando llegaron a Cuba 2,8 millones de visitantes.
Dijo que el turismo cubano enfrentó un leve decrecimiento en la recepción de visitas de turistas internacionales al cierre de agosto, 1,3 por ciento por debajo.
No obstante, como cifra preliminar, agosto concluyó bien en comparación con idéntico mes del año precedente.
Se trata de un momento particularmente difícil incluso para todo el mercado caribeño del turismo, que decreció un por ciento durante el primer semestre de este año.
Para ello las autoridades locales enfrentan con seriedad la próxima temporada invernal, con la puesta en marcha de instalaciones significativas.
Nuevos clubes extranjeros entrarán en el panorama de los turoperadores que atienden a Cuba, dijo el director de negocios del Mintur, José Daniel Reinaldo Alonso, quien aseguró que revisan los contratos con empresas extranjeras, para garantizar la eficiencia.
Cuba operan en estos momentos 60 mil 500 habitaciones, de las que el 63 por ciento corresponde a hoteles de cuatro y cinco estrellas.
Los polos de recreo más relevantes son el occidental balneario de Varadero que abarca el 32 por ciento de las habitaciones, La Habana con el 23 por ciento, norte de la central provincia de Villa Clara el 10 por ciento, Jardines del Rey (centro-norte) 8,6 y Holguín con 8,2 en el oriente.
Además cuenta con tres terminales de cruceros, siete marinas y 10 aeropuertos internacionales.
Y como colofón a esos elementos, los directivos señalaron que para la temporada invernal participarán con más fuerza empresas familiares locales, tanto en negocios de gastronomía, alojamiento como excursiones.
UNA ESPIRAL QUE BUSCA SIEMPRE CRECER
Los propósitos del Mintur apuntan a comprender y sortear la compleja situación internacional, y para ello no detienen ningún plan de desarrollo, sino los adaptan y enriquecen en dependencia de las realidades.
Apuntan en ese sentido nuevas instalaciones hoteleras, con destaque para Meliá Marina Varadero de 423 habitaciones y 122 apartamentos, Eurostar Santa María con 846 habitaciones, Pestana Cayo Coco de 468 y REX en Santiago de Cuba, ampliación del Blau Costa Verde con más de 400 cuartos de hotel.
Otras de las notas significativas las aporta la Planta Real del Hotel Paradisus Princesa del Mar (168 habitaciones), que junto al remozamiento de unas tres mil habitaciones en todo el país, dota al turismo cubano de una infraestructura adecuada.
A esos fines se acometen trabajos de reparaciones en Villa Cojímar, Cayo Levisa, y Villa Coral en Cayo Largo del Sur. Y proponen para la temporada la reapertura del significativo Hotel Capri, que brilló en los años 50 del pasado siglo.
Anotan tres nuevos clubes italianos mediante los operadores Alpitur y Edén Viaggi en el balneario de Varadero, y los atractivos escenarios de Santa María y Cayo Largo.
Un nuevo delfinario lo proponen en el polo recreativo centro-norte de Jardines del Rey, aumentar el parque de transporte turístico, y trabajos en la infraestructura de diferentes polos, además de mejorar viales y sistemas eléctricos, entre otras tareas necesarias.
AVIACIÃ"N Y CRUCEROS
Como novedad indiscutible, los informantes dijeron, que el próximo 9 de noviembre aterrizará en Cuba, en el occidental aeropuerto internacional Juan Gualberto Gómez, un Boeing 787 Dream Liner.
Esa eventualidad ratifica la estrategia cubana de reforzar la apuesta por las conexiones aéreas de este país.
A dicha noticia se suman nuevas rutas y oportunidades para el invierno. Cubana de Aviación mantiene su recién inaugurada ruta a Sao Pablo, Brasil, y crece en su operación a República Dominicana y Canadá.
Además, se restablece la doble parada en la central ciudad de Santa Clara, para uno de los vuelos desde París. Por su parte, Aerogaviota inauguró vuelos a Jamaica
Canadá sin dudas, dijo, es líder en la emisión de visitantes a Cuba y anuncia una programación con importantes crecimientos y rutas.
Otras líneas son Cóndor, de Alemania, que tendrá tres nuevos vuelos con destaque para los viajes desde Europa hasta Santa Clara en interés de potenciar el polo de Cayo Santa María y las operaciones de circuitos. KLM, del grupo Air France agrega un vuelo semanal a su programación.
Crecen operaciones aéreas desde Escandinavia, donde se incorporan vuelos desde Dinamarca, además de nuevos viajes desde Polonia y España.
Mientras, la Aerolínea rusa Transaero comienza a volar a La Habana, y una operación en aviones pequeños llegará a la oriental provincia de Holguín desde Haití.
Para apoyar este movimiento se realizan trabajos en varias terminales aéreas, con destaque la inversión de más de 10 millones de dólares para la Terminal 3 del Aeropuerto Internacional José Martí de la capital.
Dichos trabajos permitirán mejorar las condiciones de atención a los pasajeros y a las aeronaves, además de modernizar sistemas de aseguramiento.
A la par, se incorporan nuevos aviones del tipo AN-158 que volarán en las rutas tanto nacionales como internacionales, y refuerzan la flota de larga distancia cubana.
La novedad, sin embargo, estará este invierno en travesías de crucero, cuando Cuba Cruise (Canadá), con capacidad hasta de mil 200 personas viajará desde el 16 de diciembre 2013 hasta el 24 de marzo 2014.
Por su parte, Variety Panorama (Grecia) con capacidad hasta de 49 pasajeros navegará del 2 de noviembre del 2013 hasta el 19 de abril 2014.
Star Clipper (Alemania), un velero, con capacidad de 170 personas, tendrá entradas en Cuba en febrero y marzo de 2014, y Tomson Dreams (Reino Unido) con capacidad hasta mil 700 viajeros arribará del 14 al 16 de noviembre 2013.
En esta oportunidad retoman los viajes a Cuba el crucero Semester at Sea (Estados Unidos) con capacidad hasta 836 estudiantes y profesores, el 9 y el 11 de diciembre próximo, sin contar otras operaciones puntuales.
Apoyados en las leyes cubanas, las autoridades promueven las oportunidades de negocios, con ejemplo en los proyectos para campos de golf.
Los voceros significaron que como modalidad de Asociación Económica Internacional, la empresa mixta constituye una de las más empleadas en el sector con 24 constituidas, de las que 12 ya cumplieron parcial o totalmente su objeto social.
Esas empresas operan en la actualidad cinco mil 477 habitaciones de cuatro y cinco estrellas, además manejan una empresa mixta en el exterior, mientras otras siete desarrollan su proceso inversionista y tres prestan servicios gerenciales.
También ocurren contratos de administración y comercialización de hoteles con 16 cadenas hoteleras extranjeras para 28 mil 510 habitaciones en 60 hoteles.
rfc/rcg
*periodista de la redacción Económica de Prensa Latina
domingo, septiembre 08, 2013
Cuba: 47% de los turistas nacionales en area del CUC
La Fontana [calle 46, No. 305, Miramar, Playa]/ www.lafontanahavana.info |
sábado, septiembre 07, 2013
Ministerio Turismo cubano incluirá ofertas del sector privado en sus paquetes
martes, septiembre 03, 2013
Cuerpos en venta: pinguerismo y masculinidad negociada en la Cuba contemporánea [Ensayo]
viernes, agosto 30, 2013
Aduana de Cuba: El 91% de los viajeros empleo el "Canal Verde" [?]
www.cubahora.cu |
miércoles, agosto 28, 2013
EEUU 2do emisor de turistas a Cuba [521,314 cubano-americanos]
www.martinoticias.com |
viernes, agosto 16, 2013
Cuba: Desciende un 2 % turismo internacional en el 1er semestre
martes, junio 18, 2013
miércoles, octubre 03, 2012
Members Outraged By "Educational" Meeting With U.S. Fugitives in Cuba
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Peter King (R-NY), and Scott Garrett (R-NJ) sent a letter to President Obama expressing disgust that, due to abuses of weakened travel regulations under the Obama administration, U.S. students recently met with a fugitive from U.S. justice while purportedly on an "educational" trip to Cuba, which currently harbors more than seventy fugitives from U.S. justice.
You may view a copy of the letter here.
Diaz-Balart said: “It is an outrage that, while on a so-called ‘educational’ trip to Cuba, permitted by President Obama’s weakened sanctions, at least one U.S. university arranged for its students to meet with a potentially violent fugitive from U.S. justice. The Cuban regime, one of only four U.S.-designated State Sponsors of Terrorism, welcomes enemies of the United States with open arms. It is appalling that an American university, aided by the administration’s weakened regulations, would expose its students to enemy propaganda from the mouths of criminals. My heart goes out to the families of those who fell victim to U.S. fugitives still receiving safe harbor in Cuba. Their losses are not forgotten, and the murderers, who have enjoyed solace from an enemy state for far too long, must be brought to justice. In the mean time, it is incumbent on the President of the United States to ensure that his expanded travel no longer compounds the injustice by licensing travel to those who seek to meet with fugitives.”
King said: “The issue of Cuba providing safe harbor to an assortment of fugitives including - cop killers, FALN terrorists and other assorted thugs is an ongoing disgrace. The fact that impressionable, young American adults are provided an opportunity to meet with these individuals is an insult to the victims, their families and our justice system. We need to know what is being done to extradite these fugitives, or are they now simply future ‘educational activities’ for American children to interact with while in Cuba?”
Garrett said: "I am concerned that the Obama Administration’s definition of an ‘educational experience’ includes having American college students meet with fugitives in a country that sponsors terrorism and gives refuge to violent offenders. This incident puts a spotlight on the Obama Administration’s ineptness when it comes to enforcing sanctions and protecting American safety abroad. The victims of the crimes perpetrated by those being safely harbored by the anti-American Cuban regime deserve to know if this meeting was an isolated incident or part of a much larger systematic abuse of licensed travel."
miércoles, junio 27, 2012
Retratos de fusilados por el Castrismo - Juan Abreu
"Hablame"
"EN TIEMPOS DIFÍCILES" - Heberto Padilla
A aquel hombre le pidieron su tiempo
para que lo juntara al tiempo de la Historia.
Le pidieron las manos,
porque para una época difícil
nada hay mejor que un par de buenas manos.
Le pidieron los ojos
que alguna vez tuvieron lágrimas
para que contemplara el lado claro
(especialmente el lado claro de la vida)
porque para el horror basta un ojo de asombro.
Le pidieron sus labios
resecos y cuarteados para afirmar,
para erigir, con cada afirmación, un sueño
(el-alto-sueño);
le pidieron las piernas
duras y nudosas
(sus viejas piernas andariegas),
porque en tiempos difíciles
¿algo hay mejor que un par de piernas
para la construcción o la trinchera?
Le pidieron el bosque que lo nutrió de niño,
con su árbol obediente.
Le pidieron el pecho, el corazón, los hombros.
Le dijeron
que eso era estrictamente necesario.
Le explicaron después
que toda esta donación resultaria inútil.
sin entregar la lengua,
porque en tiempos difíciles
nada es tan útil para atajar el odio o la mentira.
Y finalmente le rogaron
que, por favor, echase a andar,
porque en tiempos difíciles
esta es, sin duda, la prueba decisiva.
Etiquetas
ANALISIS ESPECIALES SOBRE EL NEOKAXTRIZMO
- 89,000 razones para el cambio
- Análisis del neocastrismo entre huevos con jamón y tostadas
- Aproximación a Cuba desde la Teoría del Caos ( I )
- Biología y sucesión ( 2 ): La política económica de la subsistencia
- Biología y sucesión: El Pacto de los Comandantes y el Pacto de los Generales
- Biología y sucesión: ¿A quién mejor que a la familia?
- Cuba, entre la lógica y la incertidumbre
- Cuba, entre la lógica y la incertidumbre
- Cuba: Crisis del sistema bancario o crisis del pensamiento económico
- Cuba: Las reformas y la empresa pública del Neocastrismo I
- Cuba: Las reformas y la empresa pública del neocastrismo ( II )
- Cuba: Nudos Gordianos o ¿dónde dejaron el portaaviones?
- Del Castrismo a la castracion
- Economia Politica de la Transicion en Cuba [1]
- Economía política de la transición (2): La pobreza estructural como mecanismo de dominación
- Economía política de la transición (3): Las claves de la pobreza estructural
- El Neocastrismo posible
- El Síndrome del Neocastrismo
- El Zhuanda Fangxiao cubano: mantener lo grande, deshacerse de lo pequeño/
- El caos y la logica difusa en el Castrismo
- El estado de bienestar del Neocastrismo: “Lucha tu alpiste pichón”
- El menú del neocastrismo: pato pekinés y hallacas venezolanas/ Eugenio Yáñez
- El neocastrismo: “revolución” sin ideología
- El secuestro de la Ciencia Cubana por Fidel Castro
- El ¨sucre¨: fracaso anunciado de un golpe de estado
- Elecciones en Cuba: Control Político, Manipulación y Testosterona Biranica [II]
- Elecciones en Cuba: Control Político, Manipulación y Testosterona Biranica [I]
- Estrategias medievales en el siglo XXI
- La antesala del entierro político de Fidel Castro
- La caja de Pandora del castrismo: la sucesión
- La ¨Rana Hirviendo¨ del Castrismo
- Los caminos hacia la Cuba post-castrista
- Los funerales del hombre nuevo
- Los múltiples síndromes del "Papá Estado" cubano
- Neocastrismo y Vaticano: liturgias y Vía Crucis. El camino de Tarzán
- Neocastrismo, diplomacia "revolucionaria" y wikiboberías
- Por un puñado de dólares
- Raúl Castro en el año del Dragón ( I )
- TRES AÑOS DE RAULISMO ( I I I, FINAL): Sombras nada más
- Unificación Monetaria en Cuba: Un arroz con mango neocastrista [1]
- Unificación Monetaria en Cuba: Un arroz con mango neocastrista [2]
- Unificación Monetaria en Cuba: arroz con mango neocastrista [FINAL]
- Vivienda y Castrismo. La mezcla se endurece
- ¿Perestroika a la cubana?
GLOBAL
- ChartsBin
- DEBKAfile
- Daily Planet Map
- Economist Intelligence Unit
- Estadisticas mundiales en tiempo real
- Foreign Affairs
- Fox Nation
- Fragilecologies
- Global Incident Map
- Global Security
- Human Progress
- InfoWars
- New Zeal
- NewScientist
- Power Wall
- Pulitzer Center
- Ted Ideas
- The Albert Einstein Institution
- The Blaze
- The Daily Beast
- The Global Report
- The National Security Archive
- The Peak
- Trends Research Institute
- What does it mean
- World Audit
- ZeroHedge
- ipernity
Cuba
Seguidores
Carta desde la carcel de Fidel Castro Ruz
“…después de todo, para mí la cárcel es un buen descanso, que sólo tiene de malo el que es obligatorio. Leo mucho y estudio mucho. Parece increíble, las horas pasan como si fuesen minutos y yo, que soy de temperamento intranquilo, me paso el día leyendo, apenas sin moverme para nada. La correspondencia llega normalmente…”
“…En cuanto a fumar, en estos días pasados he estado rico: una caja de tabacos H. Upman del doctor Miró Cardona, dos cajas muy buenas de mi hermano Ramón….”.
“Me voy a cenar: spaghettis con calamares, bombones italianos de postre, café acabadito de colar y después un H. Upman #4. ¿No me envidias?”.
“…Me cuidan, me cuidan un poquito entre todos. No le hacen caso a uno, siempre estoy peleando para que no me manden nada. Cuando cojo el sol por la mañana en shorts y siento el aire de mar, me parece que estoy en una playa… ¡Me van a hacer creer que estoy de vacaciones! ¿Qué diría Carlos Marx de semejantes revolucionarios?”.
Quotes
"No temas ni a la prision, ni a la pobreza, ni a la muerte. Teme al miedo" - Giacomo Leopardi
¨Por eso es muy importante, Vicky, hijo mío, que recuerdes siempre para qué sirve la cabeza: para atravesar paredes¨– Halvar de Flake [El vikingo]
"Como no me he preocupado de nacer, no me preocupo de morir" - Lorca
"Al final, no os preguntarán qué habéis sabido, sino qué habéis hecho" - Jean de Gerson
"Si queremos que todo siga como está, es necesario que todo cambie" - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
"Todo hombre paga su grandeza con muchas pequeñeces, su victoria con muchas derrotas, su riqueza con múltiples quiebras" - Giovanni Papini
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" - John Lennon
"Habla bajo, lleva siempre un gran palo y llegarás lejos" - Proverbio Africano
"No hay medicina para el miedo" - Proverbio escoces
"El supremo arte de la guerra es doblegar al enemigo sin luchar" - Sun Tzu
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
"It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office" - H. L. Menken
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented" - Elie Wiesel
"Stay hungry, stay foolish" - Steve Jobs
"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years ther'ed be a shortage of sand" - Milton Friedman
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less" - Vaclav Havel
"No se puede controlar el resultado, pero si lo que uno haga para alcanzarlo" - Vitor Belfort [MMA Fighter]
Liborio
Para Raul Castro
Cuba ocupa el lugar 147 entre 153 paises evaluados en "Democracia, Mercado y Transparencia 2007"
Enlaces sobre Cuba:
- ALBERTO MÜLLER
- Abicu Liberal
- Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental
- Asociation for the study of the Cuban Economy
- Babalu blog
- Bitacora Cubana
- Centro de Estudios de la Economia Cubana
- Cine Cuba
- Conexion Cubana
- Conexion Cubana/Osvaldo
- Cuba Futuro
- Cuba Independiente
- Cuba Matinal
- Cuba Net
- Cuba Standard
- Cuba Study Group
- Cuba al Pairo
- Cuba transition project
- Cuba/ Brookings Institution
- CubaDice
- Cubanalisis
- Cubano Libre blog
- Cubanology
- DAZIBAO-Ñ-.
- El Blog del Forista 'El Compañero'
- El Republicano Liberal
- El Tono de la Voz
- Emilio Ichikawa blog
- Enrisco
- Estancia Cubana
- Esteban Casañas Lostal/ La Isla
- Estudios Económicos Cubanos
- Exilio Cubano
- Fernando Gonzalez
- Freedom for Dr. Biscet!
- Fundacion Canadiense para las Americas: Cuba
- Fundacion Lawton de Derechos Humanos
- Gaspar, El Lugareño
- Global Security
- Granma
- Guaracabuya: Organo Oficial de la Sociedad Economica de Amigos del Pais
- Humanismo y Conectividad
- Humberto Fontova
- IRI: International Republic Institute
- Ideas Ocultas
- Jinetero,... y que?
- La Finca de Sosa
- La Nueva Cuba
- La Primavera de Cuba
- La pagina del Dr. Antonio de la Cova
- Lista de blogs cubanos
- Los Miquis
- Magazine Cubano
- Manuel Diaz Martinez
- Martha Beatriz Roque Info
- Martha Colmenares
- Medicina Cubana
- Movimiento HUmanista Evolucionario Cubano
- Neoliberalismo
- Net for Cuba International
- Nueva Europa - Nueva Arabia
- Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas de Cuba
- Penultimos Dias
- Pinceladas de Cuba
- Postal de Cuba
- Real Instituto Elcano
- Repensando la rebelión cubana de 1952-1959
- Revista Hispano Cubana
- Revista Voces Voces
- Secretos de Cuba
- Sociedad Civil Venezolana
- Spanish Pundit
- SrJacques Online: A Freedom Blog
- Stratfor Global Intelligence
- TV Cuba
- The Havana Note
- The Investigative Project on Terrorism
- The Real Cuba
- The Trilateral Commission
- Union Liberal Cubana/Seccion de Economia y Finanzas
- White House
- Yo Acuso al regimen de Castro
Cuando vinieron
Cuando vinieron a buscar a los sindicalistas, Callé: yo no soy sindicalista.
Cuando vinieron a buscar a los judíos, Callé: yo no soy judío. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los católicos, Callé: yo no soy “tan católico”.
Cuando vinieron a buscarme a mí, Callé: no había quien me escuchara.
Reverendo Martin Niemöller
Articulos especiales
- * Analisis del saldo migratorio externo cubano 2001-2007
- * Anatomía de un mito: la salud pública en Cuba antes y después de 1959
- * Cuba: Sistema de acueductos y alcantarillados
- * ELECCIONES: Un millon ciento cincuenta y dos mil personas setecientas quince personas muestran su oposicion al regimen
- * El Trinquenio Amargo y la ciudad distópica: autopsia de una utopía/ Conf. del Arq. Mario Coyula
- * Estructura del PIB de Cuba 2007
- * Las dudas de nuestras propias concepciones
- * Republica y rebelion
- Analisis de los resultados de la Sherrit en Cuba
- Circulacion Monetaria: Tienen dinero los cubanos para "hacerle" frente a las medidas "aperturistas" de Raul?
- Cuba-EEUU: Los círculos viciosos y virtuosos de la transición cubana [ 3] / Lazaro Gonzalez
- Cuba-EEUU: Los círculos viciosos y virtuosos de la transición cubana [ I ]/ Lazaro Gonzalez
- Cuba-Estados Unidos: Los Círculos Viciosos y Virtuosos de la transición cubana [ I I ]- Lazaro Gonzalez
- Cuba: Comercio Exterior 2007 y tasas de cambio
- Cuba: Reporte de turistas enero 2008
- Cuba: Sondeo de precios al Mercado Informal
- Estudio de las potencialidades de la produccion de etanol en Cuba
- Reforma de la agricultura en Cuba: Angel Castro observa orgulloso al Sub-Latifundista de Biran al Mando*
- Turismo en Cuba: Un proyecto insostenible. Analisis de los principales indicadores
- Unificación Monetaria en Cuba: Un arroz con mango neocastrista [1]
CUBA LLORA Y EL MUNDO Y NOSOTROS NO ESCUCHAMOS
Donde estan los Green, los Socialdemocratas, los Ricos y los Pobres, los Con Voz y Sin Voz? Cuba llora y nadie escucha.
Donde estan el Jet Set, los Reyes y Principes, Patricios y Plebeyos? Cuba desesperada clama por solidaridad.
Donde Bob Dylan, donde Martin Luther King, donde Hollywood y sus estrellas? Donde la Middle Class democrata y conservadora, o acaso tambien liberal a ratos? Y Gandhi? Y el Dios de Todos?
Donde los Santos y Virgenes; los Dioses de Cristianos, Protestantes, Musulmanes, Budistas, Testigos de Jehova y Adventistas del Septimo Dia. Donde estan Ochun y todas las deidades del Panteon Yoruba que no acuden a nuestro llanto? Donde Juan Pablo II que no exige mas que Cuba se abra al Mundo y que el Mundo se abra a Cuba?
Que hacen ahora mismo Alberto de Monaco y el Principe Felipe que no los escuchamos? Donde Madonna, donde Angelina Jolie y sus adoptados around de world; o nos hara falta un Brando erguido en un Oscar por Cuba? Donde Sean Penn?
Donde esta la Aristocracia Obrera y los Obreros menos Aristocraticos, donde los Working Class que no estan junto a un pueblo que lanquidece, sufre y llora por la ignominia?
Que hacen ahora mismo Zapatero y Rajoy que no los escuchamos, y Harper y Dion, e Hillary y Obama; donde McCain que no los escuchamos? Y los muertos? Y los que estan muriendo? Y los que van a morir? Y los que se lanzan desesperados al mar?
Donde estan el minero cantabrico o el pescador de percebes gijonese? Los Canarios donde estan? A los africanos no los oimos, y a los australianos con su acento de hombres duros tampoco. Y aquellos chinos milenarios de Canton que fundaron raices eternas en la Isla? Y que de la Queen Elizabeth y los Lords y Gentlemen? Que hace ahora mismo el combativo Principe Harry que no lo escuchamos?
Donde los Rockefellers? Donde los Duponts? Donde Kate Moss? Donde el Presidente de la ONU? Y Solana donde esta? Y los Generales y Doctores? Y los Lam y los Fabelo, y los Sivio y los Fito Paez?
Y que de Canseco y Miñoso? Y de los veteranos de Bahia de Cochinos y de los balseros y de los recien llegados? Y Carlos Otero y Susana Perez? Y el Bola, y Pancho Cespedes? Y YO y TU?
Y todos nosotros que estamos aqui y alla rumiando frustaciones y resquemores, envidias y sinsabores; autoelogios y nostalgias, en tanto Louis Michel comulga con Perez Roque mientras Biscet y una NACION lanquidecen?
Donde Maceo, donde Marti; donde aquel Villena con su carga para matar bribones?
Cuba llora y clama y el Mundo NO ESCUCHA!!!
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