· January, 2012

Stories about Cuba from January, 2012

Cuba: Human Rights Double Standard

  31 January 2012

Lilianne Ruíz, blogging at Translating Cuba, compares a television spot “that shows a series of watercolors of butterflies from one of the five officials of the Interior Ministry imprisoned in the United States…with the stories that are told of Cuban jails, especially for political prisoners who, ever since their detention,...

Cuba: Upwardly Mobile?

  31 January 2012

The latest Cuban media campaign “is directed against the [expensive] mobile vendors, those sellers of fruits and vegetables who transport their goods on a tricycle or other wheeled device” – Generation Y says: “Although this is a problem that hurts us all, I don’t think we will solve it with...

Cuba: Pope's Visit & Human Rights

  30 January 2012

In the wake of more repression against Las Damas de Blanco, Uncommon Sense thinks “that the pope should postpone his visit until human rights conditions improve in Cuba.”

Cuba: The Cardinal Rule

  27 January 2012

In the context of the country's upcoming papal visit, Angel Santiesteban writes: “What we Cubans have to achieve won’t come from anyone’s visit, nor from the ‘peace concert’, although it had good intentions, nor from the ‘U.S. blockade.’ It will come the day we demand what belongs to us by...

Cuba: Playwright Passes On

  27 January 2012

Havana Times acknowledges the passing of “Cuban writer, playwright and theater director Humberto Arenal”, who passed away yesterday.

Cuba: Internet as a Public Good

  26 January 2012

“In addition to triggering the greatest civic hell-raising in Internet history…the SOPA/PIPA laws have touched a nerve in Cuba’s digital community”: half-wired explains.

Cuba, Barbados: Power of the Hunger Strike

  25 January 2012

Uncommon Sense notes that Cuban dissident Jorge Cervantes has gone on a hunger strike after being arrested for putting up posters protesting the recent death of hunger striker and prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza. Barbados Free Press, meanwhile, republishes a letter from a Cuban prisoner who has served his...

Cuba: “Bad” Reporting on Hunger Striker's Death

  24 January 2012

“Wilman Villlar was a political activist accused of murder, contempt and who knows what other charges. Now we can expect our press to report it, belatedly and badly”, says Bad Handwriting, while Havana Times links to that “belated and bad” reporting here and republishes a counter-argument here.

Latin America: Museum Releases Digital Archive of 20th-Century Art

  24 January 2012

The International Center for Arts of the Americas (ICCA) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has released a digital archive of 20th-century Latin American and Latino art, which, “is now available, free of charge, to the research and teaching community as well as to the public at large.” Culture...

Cuba: The Loss of a Decent Man

  23 January 2012

“We are 11 million common criminals, whose misdeeds range from buying milk on the black market to having a satellite dish”: Generation Y says that “now, with the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza, once again the old system of State insult repeats itself…[because] it would be very dangerous if people...

Cuba: On the Death of Wilmar Vilar Mendoza

  20 January 2012

Regina Coyula reflects on the death of the jailed dissident Wilmar Vilar Mendoza [es], who died following a 56 day hunger strike. Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo also blogged [es] about Vilar Mendoza's death.

Cuba: “Free Isn't Easy”

  20 January 2012

Blogger and Global Voices author Ellery Biddle reflects on freedom of speech in thinking about the recent struggle against the United States proposed anti-piracy bill Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) and Cuba: “As I juxtapose SOPA and Cuba’s limitations on free speech, it may sound like I’m comparing apples and mangoes—on...

Cuba: Imprisoned dissident dies after 50 day Hunger Strike

  20 January 2012

Political dissident Wilmar Villar Mendoza died after a 50 day hunger strike. He was serving a four year sentence for disobedience; he was arrested while leading a peaceful demonstration. The Latin Americanist includes a video of Villar Mendoza protesting last November.

Cuba: Fatalities in Building Collapse

  19 January 2012

Fatalities and injuries as a result of a building collapse in “of the worst-maintained neighbourhoods in the Cuban capital” causes Generation Y to comment: “How many others in this capital run the same risk tomorrow? What urgent solution will be applied so that these tragedies won’t continue to be a...