Chronicle on Cuba - August 2009

Exile Community

Agosto 5: Al cumplirse 15 años de la mayor jornada de disturbios populares en Cuba desde la llegada de Fidel Castro al poder, organizaciones del exilio cubano recordarán los acontecimientos del "Maleconazo'' con vigilias y llamamientos a la resistencia cívica dentro de la isla. En Miami, la coalición Asamblea para la Resistencia ha convocado a actos conmemorativos en tres céntricas zonas. Las actividades de recordación se extenderán a otras ciudades de Estados Unidos, y países de Europa y América Latina con presencia de exiliados cubanos. "Lo que queremos es destacar el aniversario de un día de rebelión popular que marcó un hito en la lucha de los cubanos por su libertad'', declaró Janisset Rivero, integrante del Directorio Democrático Cubano (DDC). "Hemos lanzado una convocatoria general al exilio en diferentes partes del mundo''. La activista indicó que "la fecha ha cobrado un significado patriótico tanto para la oposición interna como para la comunidad exiliada'', que la identifican como el Día de la Resistencia Cubana.
El 5 de agosto de 1994, miles de personas congregadas a lo largo de cuatro kilómetros del Malecón habanero protagonizaron un espontáneo estallido de violencia, y recorrieron las calles aledañas lanzando piedras, botellas y otros artefactos contra establecimientos estatales e instalaciones turísticas (El Nuevo Herald, 5/8/09).

Agosto 6: El exilio cubano repudió el concierto que ofrecerá el cantante colombiano Juanes en La Habana el 20 de septiembre por considerar que se convertirá en ``cómplice'' del régimen cubano al no denunciar las ``violaciones que se cometen'' en Cuba. Varias organizaciones anticastristas calificaron de ``inmoral'' que el artista desdeñe la situación de los cubanos y algunas amenazaron con boicotear a Juanes cuando visite Miami mediante protestas y la destrucción de sus discos. Ninoska Pérez, directiva del Consejo por la Libertad de Cuba (CLC), dijo que los cubanos en la isla necesitan democracia y solidaridad y no un concierto en el que se ignorará la ``opresión'' a la que están sometidos desde hace 50 años. Juanes, que según dijeron algunos activistas cubanos con el concierto se cambió la camisa negra por una roja, en alusión a una canción del ganador de doce Grammy Latinos, planea cantar junto a otros doce artistas internacionales el Día Mundial de la Paz (EFE, 6/8/09).

August 7: US Senator Mel Martinez of Florida said he will give up his seat, letting fellow Republican Governor Charlie Crist appoint a replacement. “After nearly 12 years of public service in Florida and Washington, it’s time I return to Florida and my family,” Martinez, 62, said at a news conference in Orlando. “I had talked to the governor about this potential.” Martinez, a first-term senator and former US housing secretary, announced in December he wouldn’t seek re-election next year. A month earlier, a Quinnipiac University poll showed only 36 percent of respondents said he deserved another term. “I have no specific plans for my future other than the fact that it’s going to be in private life,” Martinez told reporters. Martinez, who was born in Cuba, is a member of the committees on Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Science and Transportation. He opposed President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan and the nomination of Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. He voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy distressed securities from financial companies, according to his Web site (Bloomberg, 7/8/09).

Agosto 7: El periodista cubano José Pardo Llada murió en Cali, Colombia, a los 86 años de edad, tras permanecer hospitalizado varios días, informaron medios de prensa colombianos. Pardo Llada, nacionalizado colombiano, fue una figura prominente de la radio en la Cuba republicana. Había sido ingresado en estado grave después de sufrir una hemorragia estomacal que derivó en complicaciones cardíacas. El legendario periodista nació en 1923 en Sagua la Grande, antigua provincia de Las Villas, y cobró notoriedad a comienzos de los años cuarenta por sus críticas al gobierno de Ramón Grau (1944-1948), y a la corrupción republicana. Fue colaborador cercano del líder político Eduardo Chibás (1907-1951), y logró un abrumador respaldo popular como candidato del Partido Ortodoxo para llegar a la Cámara de Representantes en las elecciones de 1950. Tras el golpe militar de Fulgencio Batista, en 1952, su espacio radial fue suspendido en decenas de ocasiones y Pardo Llada fue arrestado varias veces. A finales de 1958 marchó a la Sierra Maestra para unirse a la insurgencia de Fidel Castro. En 1961 abandonó la isla rumbo a México, por desacuerdos con el régimen instaurado, y luego viajó a Colombia, donde alternó la carrera periodística con la política. En Cali fundó Partido Movimiento Cívico y fue representante a la Cámara por el Departamento del Valle. También fungió como embajador de Colombia en Holanda y República Dominicana. Tras 43 años de exilio, regresó a Cuba por primera vez en 2004 para someterse a un tratamiento oftalmológico (Cubaencuentro, 7/8/09).

August 10: Colombian rocker Juanes -- discussing with fans and critics on microblogging website Twitter -- defended his plans to play in Havana. Juanes, who lives in Miami, had been criticized by Cubans in exile in the US and was accused of being complicit with the Castro regime on Cuba, but Juanes, "taking advantage of the fact that I can't sleep," argued that the Cuban people should not be forgotten about. The singer openly responded to questions of others active on the website, acknowledged the pain of Cubans in the US and other countries, but stressed his concert was for the young people of Cuba, who he wants to "lend a hand." "Forget politics now! Think of the people," Juanes wrote. "There is a future for Cuba, but we have to give them a hand, help them, open our minds to them, so that they do the same to us," the singer added (Colombia Reports, 11/8/09).

Agosto 12: Un grupo de exiliados cubanos ha montado un grupo en Facebook, la red social más popular, para proponer su particular alternativa a la dictadura castrista: que Cuba se “reincorpore a España” convirtiéndose en la décimo octava comunidad autónoma. “Cuba antes o después tendrá que tomar decisiones sobre su futuro, se ofrecerán entonces distintas posibilidades al pueblo cubano. Nosotros proponemos la reincorporación de Cuba a España como Comunidad Autónoma, con todos los derechos y todas las garantías que la Constitución Española de 1978 otorga”. Esta reincorporación que llevaría pareja la “incorporación automática a la Unión Europea” por ser ya España miembro de pleno derecho”. Queda así resumido el ‘leiv motif’ y razón de ser del grupo ‘Movimiento por la Reincorporación de Cuba a España como Comunidad Autónoma’ que ya cuenta en Facebook con cerca de 600 fans. Sus promotores, cubanos en el exilio, cuentan con el apoyo de historiadores, políticos y periodistas españoles (Video; El Confidencial Digital, 12/8/09).

August 12: President Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 16 luminaries in theater, sports, science, the humanities and politics, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the tennis great Billie Jean King, the actor Sidney Poitier, the physicist Stephen Hawking, and Cuban Dr. Pedro Jose Greer Jr., who founded a medical clinic to treat Miami’s poor. The White House said “Dr. Greer’s tremendous contributions to the South Florida community and our Nation as a whole stand as a shining example of the difference one person can make in the lives of many” (The New York Times, 13/8/09; The White House, 12/8/09).

August 14: Colombian rocker Juanes is feeling heat from Cuban exiles, who argue his planned "Peace Without Borders" concert in Havana is an endorsement of Cuba's communist system. Event promoters insist the September 20 concert will have no ideological overtones, even if it is being staged in Havana's Revolution Plaza — with its famed, building-size homage to fallen revolutionary Ernest "Che" Guevara. "Nobody is coming to sing to the Cuban system. Juanes isn't a Communist, he isn't a socialist," folk singer Amaury Perez told the press. “I can assure you, because I've been involved in all of the preparations, that no political condition has been imposed." The Grammy-winning Juanes is known for his social activism. Members of one Cuban-exile group in Miami used hammers to destroy copies of Juanes’ CDs in protest over the planned concert. The Vigilia Mambisa organization placed the CDs on a sidewalk on Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana, the heart of the Cuban-exile community, and shattered them to pieces. Protesters also held up posters that read “Juanes, Guerrillas Without Borders,” “Juanes, Olga Tañon and Miguel Bose, Traitors” and “Juanes, Friend of the Murderous Castros.”
 (AP, EFE, 14/8/09). 

August 19: News that Colombian superstar Juanes will hold an outdoor concert in Havana next month has ignited a backlash from Cuban-Americans. Many artists, including exiled Cubans, have also come to Juanes’ defense, highlighting the longstanding divide about whether to engage in dialogue with Cuba or not. But Cuban-Americans like singer Willy Chirino and actress María Conchita Alonso have issued harsh statements criticizing the September 20 “Paz Sin Fronteras” (“Peace Without Borders”) concert. "A concert for peace? In Cuba? Please, that would only occur to a naive, ignorant or cynical person,” Alonso said in a statement. Protesters seem particularly angry at Juanes’ chosen location — Revolution Plaza — and his plan to perform with well-known Cuba-based singers like Silvio Rodríguez and Amaury Pérez, who they charge are supporters of the Castros’ government. Others who have voiced their support include the recently exiled trio 3 de la Habana. Tellingly enough, Cuban-American powerhouse couple Emilio and Gloria Estefan, normally vocal on Cuba matters, have not issued any public comments. Singer Albita Rodríguez also declined to comment through her publicist (New York News, 19/8/09).

Agosto 19: Una treintena de activistas políticos y de derechos humanos del exilio cubano en Miami respaldó el polémico concierto que el cantante colombiano Juanes prevé ofrecer en Cuba el próximo 20 de septiembre. "Fundamentamos el apoyo en nuestras propias experiencias a lo largo de estos 50 años de tiranía, y en reconocer el escenario real de un pueblo incomunicado del resto del mundo, que siempre ha reaccionado con alegría y agradecimiento profundo a sus visitantes libres'', dijeron en un comunicado. El grupo indica que impedir al interprete de "A Dios le pido'' y a otros artistas expresarse y dar a conocer su música es adherirse a la misma posición de "censura'' que ha implementado el régimen castrista en 50 años y que viola la Carta Universal de los derechos humanos. En su opinión, la intención de Juanes puede ser perfecta porque aparte de regalar su música al ‘‘pueblo esclavo de Cuba también -y aunque no sea su propósito- puede abrir una brecha de reclamación cívica de libertad al pueblo cubano''.
"Y apoyando el concierto de Juanes estamos colaborando a ello'', afirmaron los representantes de las organizaciones Cuba Study Group, el Comité Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos, Consenso Cubano y el Partido Demócrata Cristiano, entre otras (El Nuevo Herald, 21/8/09).

Agosto 25: El grupo Generación Cambio Cubano (GCC) de Miami respaldó el polémico concierto que el cantante colombiano Juanes prevé ofrecer en Cuba, el 20 de septiembre, y se declaró en contra de manipular un evento cultural como ``arma política''. ``GCC que profesa un cambio de conciencia mediante la reconciliación de generaciones cubanas, trascendiendo diferencias ideológicas y enfatizando la unidad social por el bienestar del pueblo, se declara públicamente a favor del concierto Paz sin Fronteras'', indicó la organización. Hugo Cancio, fundador de GCC, exhortó a los cubanos a anteponer el bienestar de ``nuestro pueblo por encima del dolor personal. No podemos combatir el odio con el odio, la hostilidad con la hostilidad, y la incomprensión con incomprensión'' (El Nuevo Herald, 25/8/09).

August 27: A newly released poll of Cuban Americans on Colombian singer Juanes' controversial Peace Without Borders concert in Havana finds that almost half oppose the September 20 event, though the numbers vary dramatically according to age and country of birth. The survey was commissioned by the Cuba Study Group, a Washington, D.C.-based organization of Cuban-American businessmen which supports cultural exchanges, including the Juanes show, as a means of advancing democratic change in Cuba. It polled 400 Cuban Americans around the US -- about 80 percent of those questioned live in Florida -- and was conducted by Bendixen & Associates. It has a margin of error of 5 percent. Nearly half, or 47 percent of those surveyed, oppose the concert, while 27 percent support it and 26 percent said they didn't know or had no opinion about the show. Most of those who opposed to the concert gave political reasons. Forty percent said the concert ignored ``Cuban reality'' such as human rights violations and lack of freedom, and 25 percent said it ``helps Castro.'' Of those supporting the concert, 60 percent said the show would bring Cubans needed happiness and music. Predictably, those opposed to the concert tended to be older and had arrived earlier in the United States, while supporters tended to be younger and either recent arrivals or born in this country. Over 60 percent of those 50 and older opposed the concert, while 35 percent of those 18 to 34 supported it. Forty-five percent of those who arrived in the U.S. after 2000 were in favor of the concert, while 64 percent of those who came before 1970 opposed it (The Miami Herald, 27/8/09). 

August 27: Gloria Estefan has said that if she were to give a concert in Havana, it would lead to violence because she would not keep quiet about what she thinks of the Castro regime, and she emphasised that her dream continues to be to perform "in a free Cuba". "My presence in Cuba would cause violence, because I've got a very big mouth and I'm not going to keep quiet in the face of injustice," the singer told Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Dia in an interview. The Cuban-born star was asked about the concert that Colombian singer Juanes is planning to give in Havana on September 20. Estefan said that it would be painful for her to sing someplace and then leave knowing that the people there continue to "undergo tragedies and hardships". The singer said that neither she nor her husband, Emilio Estefan, would agree to accompany Juanes to Cuba and be placed in the "persona non grata" category by the Havana regime. She said that her dream is to sing in "a free Cuba" and pointed out that the people who will come to Juanes's concert will be specially selected by the communist island's government. "The people who are going to attend that concert have been selected by the government because they - the Castros - aren't going to allow anything to get out of their control," she said (IANS, 28/8/09).

August 27: Cuban exiles in the United States have launched an international campaign to demand the release of a man sentenced in Cuba to two years in prison for publicly criticizing the lack of food on the island. The campaign, called the "Jama y libertad" - meaning "Food and Freedom" - will have a Web site where people expressing support for the effort can list their names along with comments about the freedom of expression on the communist island. Poet and photographer Jorge Salcedo, the promoter of the effort, said that it is a campaign of solidarity with 48-year-old Juan Carlos Gonzalez, better known as "Panfilo," who was sentenced to two years behind bars for "pre-criminal dangerousness." Charges were brought after an obviously drunk Panfilo interrupted a live television interview on rap music and, in front of the TV cameras, shouted "We want food! What we need here is food! There's no food, and we're terribly hungry." The video was posted on Internet on the YouTube Web site and has received thousands of hits from interested viewers. The campaign, Salcedo said, is also to demand the "right to freedom of expression in the face of an act of collective intimidation that his imprisonment implies" (EFE, 28/8/09).