Stories about Cuba from January, 2012
Cuba: Human Rights Double Standard
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?
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
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: No Political Reforms
Cuban bloggers discuss the national Communist Party conference, which took place this past weekend.
Cuba: The Cardinal Rule
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
Havana Times acknowledges the passing of “Cuban writer, playwright and theater director Humberto Arenal”, who passed away yesterday.
Cuba: Internet as a Public Good
“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: Knocking & Entering
Laritza's Laws laments that people's homes are not a safe haven from arbitrary searches by government officials.
Cuba, Barbados: Power of the Hunger Strike
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
“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
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: More on Wilman Villar Mendoza
Bloggers continue to share their thoughts on the death of Cuban dissident and hunger striker Wilman Villar Mendoza.
Cuba: “Intolerance for Dissent”
Cuban bloggers draw attention to Amnesty International's stand on the recent death of prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza.
Cuba: The Loss of a Decent Man
“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: Collapse of a Building in Havana
Miriam Celaya writes about the collapse of a building [es] in the center of Havana in which four teenagers died.
Cuba: On the Death of Wilmar Vilar Mendoza
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: TV and “Women's” Programs
Blogger and activist NegraCubana offers a reflection and a critique of the TV program [es] Ecos de Mujer (Echoes of Women) being transmitted on the state-run channel Cubavisión.
Cuba: “Free Isn't Easy”
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: Bloggers React to Death of Hunger Striker
It has been a sad day for the Cuban blogosphere, as netizens received news of the death of political prisoner Wilman Villar Mendoza, who has been on a hunger strike since last November.
Cuba: Imprisoned dissident dies after 50 day Hunger Strike
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
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...