Yoani Sanchez Havana's Newest Spain's "El Pais" Press Correspondent in Cuba

According to Penultimos Dias, since the Castro regime refuses to accredit correspondents from Spain's largest daily, El Pais, the newspaper has hired a local journalist already based in Havana.

Her name is Yoani Sanchez.

Kudos to El Pais. 

Perhaps this will serve as a lesson for all those "journalists" that have jeopardized their integrity to satisfy their dictatorial hosts. 



Sources:

Penultimos Dias

Capitol Hill Cubans

A Brave Man Takes on Cuba's Brutal Regime. Will the Pope Help?

“Police are in my house; bring summons for Oscar,” Tweeted Elsa Morejon at 11:50 Thursday morning from Havana. “Oscar” is her husband, Oscar Elias Biscet, the courageous physician who has spent 12 of his 50 years on earth in Fidel Castro’s prisons for expressing the opinion that Cubans should be free to speak their minds, to associate with whom they please, and to vote in fair elections.

On Wednesday, he voiced those opinions again in anop-ed in the Wall Street Journal. “My country continues to be run by a brutal regime that oppresses the people, systematically violating our basic freedoms,” he wrote. “Cuba is a police state…. They beat and harass anyone seeking peaceful political change.”

Thus, a knock on the door, and the summons to appear at the police station Friday at 9 a.m.

Biscet responded as any brave person responds in the Internet age. He is not cowed. Within minutes, Biscet and his wife ensure that a photo of the police who came to his door and a copy of the hand-written summons are circulating around the world. Continue reading here........

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"Heriberto Pérez Vázquez (Martin Rosel), Fallen Martyr, but Never Forgotten"

On January 9, 1959 in front the Columbia Military Camp (Liberty City), with a white dove perched on his shoulder: Fidel Castro said .......
___ "I want to tell the people and mothers of Cuba, that I will solve all problems without spilling a drop of blood. I tell mothers, that you will never have to mourn." However, the reality has been very different and there have been and are many mothers who weep for their children, because of the Castro brothers and their accomplices."

Thousands of men and women who have fought and are fighting for a Cuba where all citizens can live a life of dignity and freedom. We should always remember the martyrs who gave it all for for the freedom of our country. To one of those forgotten martyrs, is today's tribute.

Heriberto  Pérez Vázquez, known in the underground as Martin Rosel, was born into a poor family of more than ten children, on August 24, 1918. He abandoned his studies after the eighth grade to work and help his family, yet his lack of formal education did not stop him from acquiring knowledge and a clear vision for the future of his homeland. Heriberto fought first against the Batista dictatorship and later took up the fight against the dictatorship of Fidel Castro.

The labor leader, who gave everything for the cause of the working class and later gave his life for Cuba, always maintained a humble demeanor, but firm in his convictions. He dedicated the best years of his life to the improvement of the poor class and was by nature the leader of the Jarahueca miners.

His contempt for communism was so great that he starts to make enemies, but nothing stops his fight to improve the conditions of the working class that they may live to see the fruits of their hard work.

In late 1958 during a meeting with his friend Dr. Felix Egues Castilla near Yaguajay, Heriberto said to him ... ___ "I think, as the Liberator (Simon Bolivar), we have plowed the sea. Over in my camp, the color is red ". Like all great men, Heriberto had the clarity of mind to see the truth that many did not dare see.

When the Revolution triumphed, Heriberto came down from the mountains with the rank of First Lieutenant, but had made an enmity of Commander Felix Torres. Heriberto wanted to stop the peasants from drinking polluted water from nearby rivers that was brought to the shacks. With hard work and he was able to help provide wells of clean water to hundreds of houses, but his enthusiasm for the revolution, no longer existed and thus began his clandestine work against the dictatorship.

His loyalty as a friend, urges him to join the November 30 Revolutionary Movement and continues his tireless work for the future of his homeland. He later took up arms with a group of brave men, but the date does not coincide with an invasion that would come from Central America.

The Bay of Pigs surprises him, because the information doesn't arrive on time and after the failure was that invasion, he goes off on his own with a very small group to the Escambray Mountain and makes contact with Bravo Ramirez, but there is no union and he brakes rank and makes camp separately. He finds no unity there and travels to Havana.
His friend Felix Egues like his family remember that Heriberto was very trusting and careless  with his personal safety. He attends a suspicious meeting where he is betrayed, and never returns.

Heriberto was arrested in Havana. His sibblings tried by every means to find out where he was taken to and finally found him in the G-2 in Santa Clara. They managed to arrange a visit and get a date set for one of his sisters and his wife to visit. Meanwhile, the family hears from him, because his wife was given his clothes to wash and Heriberto manages to write notes in the fabric of his pants pockets, his wife did the same. One of the things that he asked his wife was ..... "Take care of my little girl.", he was refering to his youngest daughter, only 2 years old, as if sensing that would not be there to take care of her with his wife.

As often happens during revolutions, the fury of killing the opposition took over Cuba and the long-awaited visit unfortunately did not materialize. Two days before the date of the visit, one of his relatives shows up at the site where he was kept prisoner and was told he he was dead. Like many others, Heriberto was denied the privilege of a fair trial and on the morning of July 19, 1962 at the age of 45 years in the small town of Iguará in the province of Las Villas, the idealistic man who swore to give his life for his country, laid down his life by firing squad. His death certificate lies and says she died of internal bleeding.

As if trying to kill him twice, the communists did not give his body to his family to receive a Christian burial. The remains of Heriberto Perez Vazquez lie in an unknown tomb, apparently with three other men, also executed. His mother never knew the tragic fate of her-the family hid the truth to spare her the pain. His 4 children, 15, 12, 11 and 2 years were left virtually destitute. His widow suffered a lot-she could not accept what had been done to her husband. A sister of her late husband helped her financially. The older children helped their mother as best they could. The oldest helped a neighbor plant vegetables, the second shined shoes. In the end one by his children left Cuba.

Sonia, his eldest daughter remembers that .....

___ "It was too sad for all of us, yet it's strange, I miss having my father with me, my mother I miss a lot, but I had much more time with her, and I remember how my father was with me. When I was only 9 years old, and I got sick it was he who looked after me all night." Her younger sister who does not remember him, and whom he affectionately called cCuqui, recalls, "I was left with the desire to know what it feels like to have a father."If tragic and inhumane was his murder, also tragic and inhumane was to deny his family the last goodbye. Failing to close that chapter of his life, creates doubts and conflicts that are not easy to resolve. His daughter Sonia stayed with that doubt, if maybe he was alive in a concentration camp, as in some isolated cases. 


She recalls a strange anecdote .......

___ "At 14 or 15 years of age, a cousin requested a photo of my father, because another cousin of hers who had visited a concentration camp in Camagüey, told her that during a visit, when all prisoners lined up,that though he could not talk to them, there was a man that looked like my father, and he stepped forward and whispered to him, tell Juan I'm here (Juan was my father's brother) he wanted the picture to make sure it was him the next time he visited the camp, but unfortunately, it was not to be and he was not sent back to the concentration camp. You could never imagine how many years I spent suffering in silence unable to tell anyone what my cousin told me, because that was dangerous, while hoping that my dad was there and would come out someday. After many years I mentioned it to my mom, but I don't know if she believed me or not, but the fact is, I have lived with that question all my life."

The lies and manipulations of communist systems, leave always doubts. It's as if they get pleasure out of punishing the families of prisoners and dissidents.

It's very Important to note that, the insurrections of the Escambray Mountains have been the strongest that the the Castro dictatorship has had to deal with, and the guerrilla fighters there were known for their boldness and courage. They faced the communists' army without hesitation. In its quest to disappear them, the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, after annihilating all freedom fighters, moved all the farmers in the area to other parts of the island and most recently, led by Raul Castro, they are trying to change the name to the Escambray, in the futile attempt to erase parts of the history of Cuba they do not want anyone to know-something that can not be achieved, for the dead seek justice and will receive it someday.

Partial list of those excecuted by the Castro dictatorship which includes the name of Heriberto.

The name of Heriberto Perez Vazquez is reflected in the historical memory, along with all the forgotten martyrs of Cuba. Your country watches you proud!

Sources:
Dr. Felix Castilla Egues
20 De Mayo Newspaper
Sonia, eldest daughter of Heriberto Perez Vazquez 

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Cuban Exiles Put on Fireworks Show Near Havana

HAVANA (AP) — A coalition of Cuban exiles sailed south from Florida on Friday to protest the island's human rights record with a nighttime fireworks display, eliciting a stern rebuke from Havana officials who called it an affront to national sovereignty.

Organizers said their boats would anchor a little more than 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the Cuban capital, just outside Cuba's territorial waters, and by early evening multicolored explosions could be seen intermittently far off on the horizon from Havana.

Only a handful of people were along the Malecon oceanside promenade amid a steady wind and sporadic rain. Almost entirely missing were the masses of young Cubans who gather to socialize on a normal Friday night.

When an Associated Press crew tried to interview the few who were there, a pro-government crowd of more than 20 people ran across the wide boulevard yelling "American press!" and demanding that a video camera be turned over. Some were holding bottles of alcohol and appeared to have been drinking.

The journalists identified themselves as accredited members of the press with the right to work in Cuba. One cameraman was punched in the face, another's thumb was sprained and a video camera was broken in the melee before the crew managed to leave the scene.

Exile organizers in Miami insisted the 18th protest flotilla over the years would be peaceful and was not a provocation, though they said they were trying to coordinate the protest with actions by dissidents on the island. They called on other Havana residents to bang soup pots in solidarity during the fireworks on the eve of International Human Rights Day.  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jFO5q0qCGz4_dDs1XM0Dw1iwYIxQ?docId=787ab92aa9524f49b5be13a53e84179f

Hablemos Press journalist who wrote about the possible intravenous bacterial infection of Laura Pollan arrested

Havana, October 17, 2011- Six agents from Cuban State Security arrested independent journalist Carlos Rios Otero at his home at 5:30 pm on Friday the 14th.

Rios Otero, who is a member of Independent Press Agency Hablemos Press, had published an article the day before detailing the critical condition of Lady in White Laura Pollan and other cases of Ladies in White who became ill after being injected during acts of repression.

According to the journalist, the agents took him to the Aguilera police station in Lawton, Havana, where he was constantly threatened until after midnight.

His arrest took place two hours before the announcement of Laura Pollan's death, at the same time when it became evident that many of the cell phones of peaceful opposition members had been cut off.

At the home of the journalist at Correa #163, Santos Suarez, a patrol car appeared with two uniformed police officers and two plainclothes agents of State Security. Another two agents in civilian clothes arrived on motorcycles. One said to Rios: "Carlos, we need to talk."

In his articles for Hablemos Press, one on September 12th "IPK Denounces Medical Power," and on October 28th, "Lethal Vaccinations against the Cuban Dissidence," Rios explored the possible relationship between the grave illness of Laura Pollan and the puncture inflicted on her at the last attack she suffered.

He cited previous instances, such as the other Ladies in White who had been injected and then suffered dizzy spells, blurry vision, fever, loss of equilibrium, diarrhea, nausea, cramps, irregular menstrual cycles with heavy bleeding, and other symptoms attributable to bacterial infection or reactions to toxic substances.

Rios said: "They placed me in the back seat between two plainclothes agents and with the two motorcycles leading a caravan that appeared to me as if I were the president of the republic. In the Aguilera station at a section they call "The Pit," they interrogated me and the four agents threatened me regarding signs that had appeared in the streets with the word "NO." I belong to the "NO" campaign. They threatened me with prison for the signs, calling it a "crime of propaganda for the enemy," but I refused to sign an "admission." They interrogated me about my friends and about a repair done on my house - remember that Dr. Darsi Ferrer was imprisoned on the pretext of the materials used in the repair of his house. They avoided talking about my articles dealing with the health of Laura Pollan and the puncture she suffered on her forearm during the last act of repression carried out by them and their paramilitary "Rapid Response Brigades." After releasing me around midnight, one said, 'Laura has died.'"

Carlos Rios believes that the sudden interest in him has nothing to do with the signs on the streets, but with the death of Laura Pollan while he writes of how the government's "battle of ideas" includes suspicious injections.

According to family members, Lady in White and photo journalist for Hablemos Press, Sandra Guerra, was "sequestered by State Security agents on Saturday morning when she was traveling to Havana to attend the funeral for Pollan."

Net for Cuba

 Babalu blog, 

Hablemos Press

SIGN CONDOLENCES BOOK FOR LAURA POLLAN, PRESIDENT OF THE LADIES IN WHITE

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/condolencias-por-el-fallecimiento-de-laura-poll%C3%A1n-tole.html

Laura Pollan Toledo was one of the cofounders of the Cuban opposition movement known as Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White). This group arose spontaneously after the arrests in Cuba's Black Spring, of 75 opponents to the regime of Fidel Castro. Women, wives, mothers, sisters and other female relatives of these peaceful men came together to demand their immediate release.

Laura is the wife of independent journalist and prisoner of conscience Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, imprisoned in the 2003 crackdown and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. She was a Professor of Spanish and literature, she worked until May 2004 when she left to fight for her husband's unjust imprisonment.

Laura has spoken out many times, explaining to the international community the repression prevailing in Cuba and denounced the inhuman conditions suffered by prisoners of conscience, deported to prisons far from their families, not receiving proper medical care and to be victims of cruel and degrading treatment.

The home of Laura is one of the meeting places of the Ladies in White. State Security knows this , so more than once Laura has found among her things hidden microphones. But she does not mind, in these five years of struggle for freedom for her husband and all Cuban prisoners of conscience, she and the other ladies have proved to be too brave to be intimidated with threats.

A courageous attitude has led them to confront a host of difficult situations. Insults, threats and smear campaigns released by the Cuban government made every day in their lives. On April 21, 2008, the world witnessed the violent eviction of a group of ladies who were protesting peacefully in the Revolution Square in Havana. Among them was Laura.

As a member of Las Damas de Blanco, Laura along with the other Ladies in White was honored with the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Human Rights in 2005, and in 2006 the prize from Human Rights First.

She contracted a viral infection that affected her lungs and was admitted to the Hospital "Calixto García" in Havana in were she contracted, a second virus that affected her kidneys and she also contracted dengue fever and died on Friday 14 October 2011 in the evening, leaving a deep emptiness and pain in the Cuban community and all lovers of freedom and democracy.

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My Tribute to Laura Pollan, a Patriot of Cuba!

I should have posted here when I received the knews of Laura Pollan death, but I felt like the wind was just beat out of me. I know that things like this have been happening in Cuba since the Castro's came to power, but it never stops being shocking. Laura Pollan, president of "The Ladies in White", was one of the most important leaders that the dissidents had and now she is gone and though she lives in our hearts, this sad news is very difficult for us.

She marched for the freedom of Cuba among the blows and shoves of the State sponsored mobs, never bowing her head and even while being injured by the violence, she marched on. 

She and other dissidents had reported, being poked with needles by members of these mobs, so the possibility that she was poisoned or infected with a biological agent is very real. The Castro's are well documented on these methods of destroying the opposition in the style of the former Soviet Union!

She was able to accomplish what no one in 5 decades was able to acomplish. The Castro Regime feared her.

Her leadership and her fearless confrontations with the Castro mobs, made us all proud and now she is gone, but not forgotten. Bertha Soler, will now take her place.

Soler said.....___"This is a day of mourning for the Ladies in White and for the opposition in Cuba," as reported by the  Associated Press.

The Ladies in White's message to the government is that they will continue protesting!

Laura Pollan legacy will live on and her name will be published in Cuba's history books. This history is being written as we speak by the Cuban resistance. God be with them!

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A young Cuban man died while traveling in the landing gear of a plane from Cuba

A young man of 23 years has has died on Wednesday in the landing gear of an Iberia plane from Havana. The circumstances are being investigated by the Guardia Civil.

As reported by Efe airport sources, the young Adonis GB,  a Cuban national, may have died by being crushed due to the body showing injuries to the chest and head.




Source: El Mundo

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Numerous Epidemics in Cuba

If all the tourists who are so happy to visit Cuba, had knowledge of the lack of higene Cubans have to live with, they would run, because in Cuba, the soap is no where to be found and the water is disgusting. The Cuban government goes out of it's way to hide it, but Cuba is riddled with epidemics, of Swine Flu, Dengue, Conjunctivitis, and tuberculosis-even leprosy has made a comeback, Leprosy in Cuba.

On her blog Generation Y Yoani writes..... "as the television announcers call on us to strengthen our hygiene before the advance of H1N1. The alert occasioned by the epidemic, however, has not caused the shops to lower the price of cleaning products, not even the cost of simple soap which is the equivalent of the wages for a full day’s work. Instead, the opposite has happened. The collapse in imports has been most notable in those that are used to bathe and disinfect.".

Cuban Hospitals are full to capacity, but doctors are scarce, yet Cuban doctors are raining in Venezuela, where they have been sent. More doctors, probably will make no difference-with or without doctors, there is no medicine.

Independent Journalist Carlos Ríos Otero writes.....

" It's alarming, the population of rats, carriers of leptospirosis. In several municipalities plagues of lice have been identified in Elementary and High School level. Homeless dogs wonder the streets." Article in it's entirety, ZOZOBRA EN LA POTENCIA MÉDICA

Cuba faces the Swine Flu pandemic without vaccines. In a normal country, with good nutrition, would make the people more equipped to survive the disease, but as Otero reports......

"A Cubans diet is deficient and absent of red meats. The government blatantly lies when it affirms that it guarantees 2700 kilo calories/per cápita".

It is usual to see fecal matter running down the streets of Havana. Otero writes......

"70 % of the pipelines for drinking water is deteriorated. The sewer lines are clogged. The sewer waters are spread throughout the city of Havana and invade the drinking water".

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One minute per person of liberty-Claudia Cadelo

From Cuba-Caudia Cadelo of Octavo Cerco narrates to us about the few minutes of freedom, artists and writers enjoyed last night in Havana, Cuba. This has no precedence. Let Freedom Reign!




Yoani Sanchez said only: "There is a performance, it will be good and I'm going to participate, be there at the Wifredo Lam Center at 8 in the evening."

I could never have imagined finding a podium and a microphone ready for all, for each of us. The place was crowded, to make it to the front row I had to slip through the multitude saying I want to get permits from the microphone. Everything began with a woman, white dove on her left shoulder, made a face without sound, (I should mention that this is meant as a mocking of Castro, who 50 years ago, stood before the Cuban people with a white dove on his shoulder, right before his reigh of terror began) while two boys, dressed in the uniform of the MININT, had the time to give an end to its intervention and throw her back to the muted plebs.

Yoani happened right after, she talked about the blogosphere, the censorship, and there was total silence and lots of applause when she finished, people knew and were happy. Then I ran and it was my turn, I was very nervous and had not had a microphone in front of an audience and listen to me since I was 9 years, when dressed in a pioneer uniform I assaulted a CDR(Commeteis in Defence of the Revolution) reunion, to read an incomprehensible statement, over time I developed a sort of phobia to that device only served to mask the reality my country.

I prepared a text which I read with a knowt on my throat:

That one day we will all have all the minutes of the day in front of a microphone to say anything we want. And incidentally also now have that opportunity, take a minute or even less, to tell the truth.

I got off, but I had so much more to say, then Reinaldo Escobar went up, he did not have enough time to finish, and the two in military unform took him down and the opportunity was the last they heard of his speech and with the feet placed on the floor. Time elapsed and no one else went up, people were frightened, and an artist said:

I am very afraid.

I walked toward the podium again and said: that one day freedom of speech in Cuba will not be a performance.

I remember other interventions: Claudio Fuentes asked for a vote, after talking about dictatorship and of political prisoners called for the lifting of hands from those who agreed to change things, almost everyone raised their hands. A Puerto Rican said that although he lived in a colony, in his country he had freedom of expression and asked to leave the microphone open 24 hours. An American: I do not speak Spanish but: ¡viva la cambia! Reinaldo Escobar with a black bag over his head took a second opportunity and said: I think this should be banned. Hamlet Labastida, a plastic artist, called for democracy and for at least one more to go up to the podium, at least one. Ciro Diaz was going to sing "The Commander", but time was up and not the boys dressed in military uniform, but a sullen sound man walked up and shouted: It's over!, While ordering: Disconnect it already! A sizable audience was shouting: Ciro, Ciro, Ciro!, Like a "Porno Para Ricardo" concert asking for another song. The rapid response squad was poor, with only two people, and I suppose they felt strange being the minority without power on the stage: a completely new experience for them. Posted by Claudia at 5:32

50 Years After the Communist Takeover, Cuba Crumbles

Five decades after the rise to power of the Castro brothers, Cuban crumbles, while the world keeps looking at the Castros as if only they were citizens of Cuba. The people must be heard!

Cuban Vice-President's Girlfriend Kills and Dismembers Young Lover

Accoding to Cuba's newspapers, in Cuba, nothing ever happens, but according to the digital newspaper Nuevo Accion , a horrendous crime of passion occurred in Havana, Cuba, two days ago, at the hands of the girlfriend of Cuba's Vice-President Carlos Lage. Lage's girlfriend, Laritza Ulloa, a television host, had another lover, much younger then she was. She stabbed him and them dismembered him in the bathtub of her house.

The Nuevo Accion adds that the Cuban police reports that, Laritza Ulloa, had discovered that her young lover had raped her daughter and that the dismemberment had been done by Laritza on her own, but according to Nuevo Accion, "in some government circles, "they suspect Carlos Lage was involved, due to the dismemberment been done with impeccable precision, from the surgical point of view and because everyone knows that the Vice-President of the Castro government is a doctor". Seems to me he would make a good candidate for the "Forensic Department", performing autopsies!

The photographs were sent out from inside the police. On their page the Nuevo Accion has published the horrendous photographs. I choose not to publish them here, due to the horrific and offensive content. I want to warn my readers that they are difficult to look at and if you impress easy, I suggest you use discretion. The two photos published by this newspaper are the least offensive and they are really graphic-the others were according to the digital newspaper, too disturbing.

But remember, nothing ever happens in Cuba!!

UPDATE:

This story continues to be unconfirmed, since there is no free press in Cuba. Adding to the confusion, there are three Laritza's on Cuban TV-Latitza Vega, Laritza Camacho and Laritza Ulloa, who is the only one linked to the Vice President Carlos Lage. I tried to find a video of Laritza Ulloa and the only one I found has been deleted.

We might never know the truth at this rate!

The Cuba of the 1930s

A voyage through time, takes us to the Cuba of the 1930s. Lets hope, that someday soon, the "Pearl of the Caribean", can once again regain the luster it once had.

John Lennon's Glasses

Back in the 60s, when Beatles mania hit America like a breath of fresh air. Their music was not allowed to play in Cuba. I didn’t

hear any of their music until I arrived here in the U.S. in 1979. It’s understandable; that, I found it so contradictory that decades later the communist regime would name a park after John Lennon and have a statue made in his honor.

The statue was inaugurated in 2000, but just a few days later Lennon’s glasses

were stolen. According Cuba’s State ran television the Minister of the Interior ha a special glue developed, that would make it impossible for the glasses to be stolen ever again. Oh really? Well, guess what, the glasses were stolen again.They were replaced and stolen again.This has gone on for years.

I wonder what Lennon would say if he was alive today. This story could be considered comical if it wasn’t so ridiculous. Now days a group of retired seniors take turns to guard the statue round the clock. Maybe for now his glasses are safe.