Stories about Cuba from July, 2011
Cuba: MSM Paying Attention
Pedazos de La Isla takes heart in the fact that “various English-language news sources have been brave enough to publish the truth about the Caribbean island”, saying: “In Cuba, there is much to report, whether it is through blogs, digital magazines, newspapers, television, radio, etc. On a daily basis, dissidents...
Cuba: Internet Restrictions
Uncommon Sense says that despite the arrival of “an underwater cable reached Cuba from Venezuela” designed to improve Internet access to the island, ” the regime has intensified its control of the Internet, restricting government employees’ access to Facebook and on networks that provide ‘illegal’ e-mail accounts.”
Cuba: Call for Justice in Death of Teen
Laritza's Laws posts an update about the shooting death of a teen by a retired police officer: “Relatives and neighbors of the victim suspect the police are looking for excuses not to prosecute him, and they are demanding justice for the death of Angel Izquierdo Medina, that it not go...
Cuba: Differences of Opinion are Healthy
“‘The People's Path‘ is…a vision statement of what the movement for a free Cuba should be striving for,” writes Uncommon Sense, who, along with Babalu, thinks that despite Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet's lack of support, “the debate that the document, and Biscet's disapproval have sparked, are nothing but healthy for...
Cuba: Tired July 26 Celebrations?
Generation Y blogs about this year's celebration of Cuba’s revolutionary holiday.
Cuba: Attacks vs. Women
Pedazos de La Isla blogs about violence against women in Cuba, here, here, here and here.
Cuba: “The Lion of the East” Passes On
Cuban bloggers mourn the passing of Archbishop Emeritus Pedro Meurice Estiu, who died in Miami at the age of 79. Uncommon Sense calls him “a Cuban patriot and a true man of God”, while Babalu remembers him as “a fierce and unrelenting critic of the Castro dictatorship”; Generation Y honours...
Cuba: Approaching “Adulthood”
As her son approaches the age of majority, Generation Y says, “without maternal excess, that they are too young, too fragile, to face the burden of being considered adults by a legal system that does not correspond to international norms.”
Cuba: Activists Under Pressure
Cuban bloggers report on several arrests and attempts at intimidating independent journalists and activists, here, here and here.
Cuba: Killed for Stealing Fruit
“On the afternoon of July 15, 2011, the town of Mantilla…was shocked by the death of Angel Izquierdo Medina, a 14-year-old black teenager, who died from a gunshot to the femoral artery by Amado Interian, a retired police Major”: Laritza's Laws laments that the youth was killed for trying “to...
Cuba: Project Rainbow
Feminist blogger and LGBT activist Yasmín Portales Machado [es] has launched Project Rainbow (Proyecto Arcoiris) focused on LGBT advocacy in the island: “The reason? There is not a single LGBTI group in Cuba that completely satisfies me.”
Cuba: BloggersCuba is back
The digital project BloggersCuba [es] has made a come back: “BC returns for those inside and outside the digital network, inside and outside Cuba, for those who are part of the island and want to live it with us. BloggersCuba has reborn, again, deeply spontaneous and free.”
Cuba: Freedom of Press
Rogelio Díaz Moreno offers a profound analysis on recente debates [es] on access to information and freedom of press in Cuba.
Cuba: Defending “Las Damas”
Cuban bloggers continue to update their posts about the most recent attack on Las Damas de Blanco, in which members of the group were reportedly “attacked and brutally beaten…by agents of Castro State Security upon exiting a church sanctuary.”
Cuba: New Movie “Habanastation”
El Taburete [es] comments that the US documentary filmmaker Michael Moore will present the new Cuban movie “Habanastation” in Michigan. The movie tells the story of the friendship of two boys from Havana who come from different socioeconomic classes.
Cuba: Stowaway Dies
“There is no thermometer that measures human despair and each person has his own threshold of resistance”: Yoani Sanchez and Babalu blog about the sad fate of some who try to escape Cuba.
Cuba: Female Activists Reportedly Beaten/Detained
Reports of harassment of the Ladies in White and other female activists, here and here.
Cuba: Interview with Palacios
the voice of el morro interviews Hector Palacios, a name associated with “the internal opposition in Cuba.”
Cuba: Race and Sex
“Racism in Cuba has several faces. And variations. But when it comes time to “play the tune”…skin color disappears as if by magic”: Iván García is concerned that “the race issue in Cuba is a real time bomb.”
Cuba: On Queue
“The queue in Cuba…is our music, our magic, our politics. It is the place where we philosophise…the campfire around which we perform our daily routines: conversing, falling for and out with people and, quipping”: A Cuban in London says you haven't seen a real line until you line up in...
Cuba, U.S.A.: About that Embargo
Iván García contends that despite the general pragmatism of U.S. policy, “regarding the Cuban embargo, the Americans show a notable stupidity”, calling it “an authentic mirrors game…of course, the ones who blame the embargo for all the misfortunes that have been happening are also lying.”