Stories about Cuba from June, 2011
Cuba: Train Accident Injures 79
Babalu links to a story about a train crash that has injured nearly 80 people in Cuba, commenting: “The decaying infrastructure and transportation system in Cuba…continues to take a deadly toll on the Cuban people.”
Cuba: Methodist Pastor Replaced
“When Cuba is free, those who accommodated, appeased and apologized for the Castro regime to preserve their own standing will not be absolved”: Uncommon Sense blogs about the actions of Cuba's Methodist Bishop, who reportedly replaced one of the church's pastors, allegedly “because of his good relations with Cuban dissidents.”
Cuba: Women in the Cuban Blogosphere
Yasmín S. Portales has been posting her research [es] on women's voices in the Cuban blogosphere.
Cuba: Hunger Striker to Leave Island
Uncommon Sense reports that hunger striker Jorge Cervantes Garcia has ended his protest and “will be allowed to leave Cuba once he has recovered from the physical effects of his protest.”
Cuba: Cuba Votes for LGBT Resolution at UN Human Rights Council
The United Nation Human Rights Council passed a resolution expressing “grave concern at the violence and discrimination experienced by people because of their sexual orientation..." Among the nations that supported the measure was Cuba. Cuban bloggers and Twitter users celebrated this significant victory for the island’s LGBT communities.
Cuba: Old & Black
“Being old in Cuba is a problem”: But, explains Iván García, “it becomes harder if you are black.”
Cuba: Avidly Expecting #Twitthab
Blogger Iroel Sánchez (@iroelsanchez) comments on the controversies and expectations [es] surrounding the first offline meeting of Twitter users (#Twitthab) to be held in Havana on July 1st.
Caribbean: Thanks, Dad!
Father's Day, that worldwide celebration honouring dads and their important role in the family dynamic, is marked in the Caribbean on the third Sunday of June and regional bloggers posted en masse yesterday for the occasion. From the eloquent to the irreverent, here's what they had to say…
Cuba: To Reach Havana
“Havana is a sort of forbidden city for people from deep inside Cuba”: Iván's File Cabinet blogs about Cubans who are unwelcome in their own capital city.
Cuba: Twitter Users Will Meet for the First Time
The first meeting of Cuban Twitter users was announced by @leunamrguez (Leunam Rodríguez), for July 1st starting at 4pm on central 23rd street and 12 La Habana. The event has had a tremendous welcome in and outside of Cuba.
Cuba: Cervantes Continues Strike
“Protest by suicide is never an acceptable option,” says Uncommon Sense as he blogs about the failing health of a hunger striker, “but it is important to remember that Cervantes is fighting back against his jailers by the only weapons at his disposal — his health and maybe his life.”
Cuba: Guidelines on Rights
Despite new party guidelines on the rights of Cubans, Laritza's Laws says: “Although it touched on but did not recognize the theme of human rights, the reforms were not significant.”
Cuba: Worry About Hunger Striker
“The regime cracked down on him once against after he assumed the posture of NOT ceasing his anti-government activities”: Pedazos de La Isla blogs about the hunger striker Jorge Cervantes Garcia.
Cuba: Actress Recognized
Havana Times reports that “Cuba’s coveted National Cinema Award for 2011 was received by actress Eslinda Nuñez.”
Cuba: Confronting Fate
“Death always makes you reflect. In front of the mirror you tell yourself, “You too are at the mercy of the same power that took the lives of those dissidents. What are you waiting for? What will be your fate?”: Laritza Diversent realises that her fate is “the same as...
Cuba: Farinas Ends Hunger Strike
Uncommon Sense confirms that Guilllermo Farinas has ended his hunger strike, which he began “to demand an independent investigation of the police beating death last month of dissident Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia.”
Cuba: Activists, Bloggers on the Cuba Money Project Vimeo Channel
The Cuba Money Project has launched an impressive video archive with interviews of activists and bloggers in Cuba. Global Voices author Ellery Biddle interviews Tracey Eaton, the founder of the non-profit research and reporting initiative that aims to investigate and bring greater transparency and accountability to US federal spending on “pro-democracy” programs in Cuba.
Latin America: Online Freedom of Expression
Global Voices author Ellery Biddle comments on online freedom of expression in Latin America: “One of the reasons that Latin America (perhaps with the exception of Cuba) is often left out of the conversation about Internet policy and freedom of expression online is that it’s a region where technical filtering...
Cuba: Remembering History
Osmany Sánchez remembers the attacks on Cuba during the 1960s and 1970s [es], some organized and perpetrated by the groups that welcomed Reina Luisa Tamayo in Miami [es]. Reina Luisa Tamayo is the mother of Orlando Zapata, the hunger striker who died of starvation in protest against the Cuban government.
Cuba: Media Critique
In La Pupila Insomne [es], Iroel Sánchez criticizes [es] the Spanish newspaper El País [es] for its coverage of Cuba, and the protests in Madrid.
Cuba: Finding Strength For Fariñas
“I have no desire to write. I scold myself. Since I learned that Coco Fariñas is on a hunger strike I have been floating above the city”: Octavo Cerco has been feeling like she's “floating in nothingness”.
