Today the Cuban government's official website Cubadebate, whose tagline is "Against Media Terrorism," posted an article titled "The Impossible Innocence of the CLICK Festival." In the title the initials CIA are capitalized in the word "innocenCIA" to make it clear to readers who is supposedly behind this event that begins on June 21, an event organized from here in Havana, by us, local Cubans.
"They are cooking up a subversive monster in Havana," the article begins, going on to inform readers that "Yoani Sanchez, one of the organizers of the event, has openly confessed to promoting capitalism in Cuba" and then claiming that the CLICK Festival site "is a meeting place for counterrevolutionaries conspicuous for their mediocrity."
Far from monstrous (no comment on "mediocre"), the CLICK Festival is technological, not ideological or political, a constructive space to plan for tomorrow.
We encourage all Cubans to attend, and also extend a broad welcome to foreign tourists visiting the Island who want to join us; the doors of the CLICK Festival will be open to you. Your presence will strengthen our visibility and transparency, contributing to the greatest protection we could count on.
Please come any time from 9 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, June 21-23. The location is: #4606 1st Street (Calle 1ra) between 46 and 60, Playa, Havana (or you can show this to your cab driver: Calle 1ra. #4606. Esquina 46 y 60. Playa. Ciudad de La Habana. Cuba)
You will never have a better chance to see the "real" Cuba and engage with Cubans in a welcoming atmosphere.
Following is an interview I did with Jose Luis Antunez, a Spaniard who organized a similar conference in Spain that inspired us with its example of plurality and debate.
Since 2006 you have organized the Spain Blog Event (EBE). What motivates you?
We are motivated and encouraged by the will to serve. To contribute in some way to the use of the web in different sectors of society.
Another fundamental reason was that there wasn't any kind of national conference to analyze blogging and the latest trends on the web in Spain. In the United States, from the early 2000s, they already had these events. And in Europe they are starting to take off. Paris organized "The Blogs" in 2005, now known as "The Web," and this was the trigger for me to try to organize something similar in Spain.
In March of 2006 I met Benito Castro and Luis Rull. I proposed to them the idea of our trying to differentiate ourselves right from the start from the events in other countries, with a very relaxed atmosphere, approachable, family-like. In these two videos you can see the famous "EBE spirit" that many are talking about: Video 1. Video 2.
You were recently in Havana. From a technological standpoint, what most impressed you... positively and negatively?
I was very positively impressed by the hunger for technology that I saw in some people and especially in some university freshmen who are forbidden to connect to the web until they are sophomores.
And what struck me most is that Cuba is a country that is disconnected from the world. Internet access is exceedingly slow, expensive, and available only in some hotels, the universities, in government buildings and in the embassies.
At least cellphones have arrived and despite the high prices of text messages it's a technology in common use.
If right now they shut off your Internet connection at home and on your cell phone, and you had a black-and-white screen Nokia, and a Pentium I PC without access to the web, do you think you would continue to Tweet? To blog? How?
What you pose is one of my worst nightmares. Sadly it is a reality in many countries.
I know you've supported and worked on a festival on technology and social networks that will soon be held here in Cuba. Why don't you tell us about the event.
The CLICK Festival (#FestivalCLIC) was born from a collaboration between several Cuban initiatives such as Estado de Sats, the Blogger Academy... and EBE from Spain, to create in Havana a reference point to evangelize about the use of the web in Cuban society.
The first edition of the CLICK Festival will be held on Thursday June 21 to Saturday June 23 and every Cuban is welcome, regardless of their ideology. The Festival is a technological and inclusive event. We will be talking about new trends in the web, there will be blog workshops, there will be music...
The question about Robinson Crusoe taking his most precious book to an island is now out-dated. What technological object would you take on a one-way trip to Cuba... to that other island of the disconnected?
It would take an iPad full of applications that could be used offline.
How do you see the situation in Spain right now as it relates to the Internet? What are the hottest topics related to Internet use?
For two years I've been very interested in seeing how politicians go after what they call "the Internet vote" without understanding that it doesn't exist. It's as if we said "the vote of the people walking down the street." And this is in Spain, where 60 percent of homes have Internet and 55 percent of people have a smart phone.
If we talk about hot topics from the perspective of a citizen who connects every day, the "fever" for mobile applications is the theme of the year. The "app-economy" is here to stay and is going to generate a great debate: The Internet of the web browser versus the internet of applications in a closed environment.
There is one question very much in vogue now, a question that calls on conspiracy theory and I'm going to ask it... so as to keep up with the times. Who is behind Jose Luis Antunez? That is, who is under the skin, under the Twitter nick and in the depths of the blog and the Skype account of Jose Luis Antunez?
It is a person who every five to six years needs to find new challenges in which design and empathy with the user are the stars of the show: http://jlantunez.com
Follow Yoani Sanchez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/yoanifromcuba
There can be little doubt that the bottom line of Sánchez's agenda is the destruction of Socialism and the reintroduction of American economic colonialism to Cuba for the sole benefit of people like herself, and a huge loss to Cuba's working population.
The CLICK Festival is therefore both ideological and political. At root, it's serves as yet another element designed to destabilise the Cuban government by pretending that Cuba's technological circumstances are anything other than the result of the US blockade/embargo.
As has been only too obviously illustrated in other articles by Sánchez, American political scientist, Gene Sharp's 'refusal to be governed' advocacy figures largely in the plans of current 'dissidents', a similar agenda which resulted in the US inspired 'Orange Revolution' in the Ukraine, and many further attempted 'Orange Revolutions' since. It's about usurping the legitimate Cuban government's right, with the consent of the Cuban electorate, to rule and apply the laws of the country.
If the feds’ case sticks, Oscar L. Sanchez will be convicted as a cash-for-Cuba financier of fraudsters, “a capitalist for Cuban banks,” as prosecutors wrote in a court motion, accusing the 46-year-old South Florida man of conspiracy to commit money laundering for a group that funneled $63 million of stolen Medicare payments to Havana banks. You think the Cuban government was in on it?
For the skeptics, I have two words: Robert Vesco.
The fugitive American financier was accused of securities fraud in the 1970s and after trying to buy his own island from the country of Antigua, popped up in Havana in 1982, protected by the communist regime from extradition to the United States. Alas, the commie honeymoon didn’t last once Vesco’s millions seemed to run out. Cuba arrested him in 1996 for “fraud and illicit economic activity... acts prejudicial to the economic plans and contracts of the state.” He didn’t last long in prison, dying of lung cancer a few months later.
Still, prosecutors say there’s no direct evidence linking the Cuban regime and the Castro brothers to the plot.
Well, no kidding. After 53 years of elaborate schemes, murder and mayhem from Angola to Venezuela, Fidel and Raúl have gotten pretty good at it. But the bottom line really isn’t that complicated if the doubters care to seek the truth. Nothing happens in Cuba without the consent of the Castros. Certainly nothing having to do with money, and certainly not millions of dollars in deposits in Cuban government-controlled banks. Was the Cuban government taking a cut?
You betcha. And that’s no conspiracy theory. It’s simple mathematics -- and history.
If she was correct, she would have disappeared into a deep, dark dungeon a long time ago, never to be seen again, Soviet style.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: DOCUMENT - CUBA: ROUTINE REPRESSION: POLITICAL SHORT-TERM DETENTIONS AND HARASSMENT IN CUBA- 2012
The Cuban government wages a permanent campaign of harassment and short-term detentions of political opponents to stop them from demanding respect for civil and political rights. Since Amnesty International’s last report on the respect for the freedom of expression in Cuba, published in June 2010, the situation has further deteriorated with a steady increase in the number of arbitrary detentions. Criticism of the government is not tolerated in Cuba and it is routinely punished with arbitrary and short-term detentions, “acts of repudiation” (demonstrations led by government supporters with the alleged participation of state security officials aimed at harassing and intimidating government critics), intimidation, harassment and politically motivated criminal prosecutions.
The authorities continue to deny those wanting political change in Cuba their right to express and share their ideas freely and without reprisal or retaliation. Repression is routine. Peaceful demonstrators, independent journalists and human rights activists are routinely detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement. Activists are often detained as a preventive measure to stop them from attending public demonstrations or private meetings.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE REPORT!
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/007/2012/en/ccc6aeba-e892-4079-9e4a-63eebecd8a76/amr250072012en.html
at 6:02 PM
In a press release on H.R. 5986, bipartisan legislation to -- among other things -- renew Presidential authority to apply import sanctions against Burma, Castro's long-time friend U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) said:
"Burma sanctions have helped promote change and progress, which I am hopeful will continue.”
Mustelier Galán is a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Union Patriotica de Cuba, UNPACU), based in eastern Cuba and headed by former political prisoner (of the Black Spring's "75") Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia.
He is the fourth member of UNPACU sentenced in recent months.
The others are
- Dany López de Moya, sentenced to one-year for "disobedience"
- Omar Naranjo Borges, sentenced to four-years for "dangerousness" *
- Yordanis Gómez Mejías, sentenced to two-and-a-half years for "drawing anti-Castro posters"
* Dangerousness is a "criminal" figure in castrofascist penal code that allows regime to put someone in jail just based on the presumption the “prosecuted” can be a public danger. It is designed to put in jail dissidents and opponents without any cause and to make people to be incorporated to the rewards-punishment system crated to control the people.
HAVANA — Cuban bloggers and tweeters talked tech in Havana on Thursday at a Spanish-organized forum promoting social media in one of the world's most unplugged nations, prompting accusations from state-run media of an attempt to foment subversive activities. With about 50 people present on the first day of the three-day Click Festival, organizers and attendees insisted their purposes are not political.
Thursday evening, Cuban state-run website Cubadebate posted a strongly worded editorial seizing upon such corporate sponsorship, among other things, to allege nefarious intent by the organizers.
"In Havana they are cooking up a subversive monster, supposedly not politicized, `promoting' the use of information and communications technologies," the editorial read.
"The intention of the Click Festival is clear," Cubadebate added. "To advance the strategy of constructing networks ahead of an aggression, as was done in Libya, Syria and before in Yugoslavia, and strengthen the idea of the counterrevolution linked to the United States as a promoter of freedom on the Internet."
Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, who is routinely excoriated in the official media, kept up a fast-paced barrage of tweets on subjects such as Cuba's woeful Internet access and the "rights of the Internaut."
"We Cubans are ready to become human beings of the 21st century" "We want access, and enjoy and learn from the new technologies."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120621/cb-cuba-bloggers-gathering/
A digital cold war is being played out against a backdrop of demonizing the Internet and social networks, which are accused of having a destabilising influence and being orchestrated by the American enemy. Will the arrival of the Venezuelan fiber-optic cable call into question the “rationing” of the Internet, which remains out of reach for the majority of the population? The creation of a tightly controlled Cuban Web 2.0 tends to indicate that the regime has no intention of making any concessions with regard to communications.
Pressures and defamation campaigns against critical bloggers
Pro-government bloggers are waging a non-stop battle on the Internet against “alternative” bloggers critical of the authorities. The regime is preventing most of its citizens from gaining access to the Internet and is occupying the field in order to leave no cyberspace for dissidents (see the Cuba chapter in the 2011 “Enemies of the Internet” report). However, although less than 2% of Cubans have access to the World Wide Web, a growing number of them have found creative ways to connect with the Internet and visit the social networks.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE REPORT!
http://en.rsf.org/cuba-cuba-12-03-2012,42058.html
From just before the Pope arrived in Cuba last Monday, mobile and landline connections belonging to government critics, human rights activists and independent journalists have all apparently been tampered with. A communications blockade is in place, and all potential voices of dissent have been silenced by the authorities.
Communication with Cuba is always challenging, as access to the internet is heavily restricted.
The Twitter accounts of independent journalists and bloggers, who are able to tweet from their mobile phones, have almost all been silent over the last few days.
There are reports of more than 200 people being detained or held under house arrest, to prevent them from travelling to attend open air masses celebrated by the Pope in Havana and Santiago de Cuba.
The communications blockade is preventing Amnesty International and other international organizations from gathering information on these detentions and the draconian efforts of the Cuban authorities to silence dissent in front of the world’s media.
Amnesty International, along with other international human rights organizations, journalists and users of social media will continue to bear witness to the struggle of Cubans to seek respect for fundamental civil and political freedoms.
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2012/03/30/smoke-signals-to-cuba/
STATE MONOPOLY OF THE MEDIA
The media is a key arena in which the right to freedom of expression is exercised. It plays a
critical role in any society, for example raising awareness of human rights and exposing
human rights violations. The absence of an independent media is a serious obstacle to the enjoyment of
freedom of expression and the adequate review of corrupt and abusive official practices.
Restrictions on the Cuban media are stringent and pervasive and clearly stop those in the
country from enjoying their right to freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.8 The state maintains a total monopoly on television, radio, the press, internet
service providers, and other electronic means of communication.9 According to official
figures, there are currently 723 publications (406 print and 317 digital), 88 radio stations,
four national TV channels (two devoted to educational programming), 16 regional TV stations
and an international TV channel. All are financed and controlled by the government.10 Three
newspapers provide national coverage: Granma, which is the organ of the Cuban Communist
Party, Juventud Rebelde and Trabajadores.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2010/en/62b9caf8-8407-4a08-90bb-b5e8339634fe/amr250052010en.pdf
CONTROL OF INTERNET ACCESS
In Cuba, access to the internet remains under state control. It is regulated by the Law of Security of Information, which prohibits access to internet services from private homes. Therefore, the internet in Cuba has a social vocation and remains accessible at education centres, work-places and other public institutions. Internet can also be accessed in hotels but at a high cost. In October 2009, the government adopted a new law allowing the Cuban Postal Services to establish cyber-cafés in its premises and offer internet access to the public. However, home connections are not yet allowed for the vast majority of Cubans and only those favoured by the government are able to access the internet from their own homes.
However, many blogs are not accessible from within Cuba because the Cuban authorities have put in place filters restricting access. The blogs affected are mainly those that openly criticize the Cuban government and its restrictions on freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and movement. For example, Generation Y is one of the dozens of blogs that are filtered or intermittently blocked by the government and are not accessible inside Cuba.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2010/en/62b9caf8-8407-4a08-90bb-b5e8339634fe/amr250052010en.pdf
The situation occurred in Santa Claraon Wednesday, May 2nd, when 18 peaceful dissidents- members of the Central Opposition Coalition, the Rosa Parks Movement for Civil Rights, were congregated to carry out the accustomed weekly candlelight vigil to demand freedom for all political prisoners.
More than 80 State Security agents and members of the Special Brigades from the Ministry of the Interior (who had been keeping an eye on the house during the entire vigil) ran at us and started to beat us.
They savagely beat me and they dragged me by my hair, then shoving me into the police vehicle, detaining me and taking me to the Instructional Unit. None of this is new. In fact, it occurs frequently.
When I arrived at the Unit, the agents put me in a cell. It was here where the horrors began.
I recall that agent Eric Francis Aquino Yera was the officer on watch that night. Yera is highly dangerous because of his predatory instincts. This officer ordered two supposed common prisoners to shout from another cell that they were going to rape my 5 year old daughter. I cannot forget those obscene words which they used to describe everything they would do to my innocent child “by the back and by the front”. I protested, I told them they were pigs and abusers. They just screamed more at me.