The plight of Cuba's dissidents and their "independent libraries" is still in the news, despite ongoing silence by the American Library Association and others who say they defend free speech.
When police came for Gisela's husband, Hector Palacios, in March they blocked off the street and set up floodlights. "It was like a Hollywood film, as though they were coming for a group of terrorists rather than just one man," she said.They took stacks of documents, computer equipment and several thousand books -- part of a so-called "independent libraries" project which stocked the works of exiled authors such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante and Zoe Valdes. The books were, eventually, returned, but Palacios, who had already spent two shorter periods in jail, never came back.
But do ordinary Cubans care about the dissidents? With the aid of the state-controlled media it has been easy to persuade Cubans, largely obsessed with the dollar and all it can buy, that the dissidents were only in it for cash and the chance of a Miami visa. Some say the dissidents were fools to think they could outplay Castro. "Who is going to be an opposition leader when they put you in jail for 20 years?" asked one disillusioned Havana chemistry student, who admitted he was just waiting for the 76-year-old Mr Castro to die.
The answer to that question is Osvaldo Paya, a dissident leader fired by deeply held Christian beliefs. Paya, who is closer to European countries than to the US, has another explanation for the recent crackdown. Many of those arrested were coordinators of the Varela Project, a referendum petition drawn up by him under the terms of the Cuban constitution and signed by 11 000 people.
It called for reforms to guarantee free elections, freedom of speech, the release of political prisoners and the right to sell labour freely. The Varela project drew the ire of the Cuban authorities and of the exiled fundamentalists in Miami who saw it as too conciliatory. "There is a culture of fear here, but this time thousands of people began asking for change," said Paya.
It is impossible to tell how many Cubans, if they could express themselves freely, would agree with Mr Paya. Few of those who do, however, seem prepared to take the risk. They do not expect change until the "biological solution" -- Fidel Castro's death by natural causes -- happens. And that, they agree, may be a long time coming.
via the Mail and Guardian (South Africa)
While the ALA is silent, leaders of the Czech government, no strangers to oppression, were visibly supportive of the Cuban dissidents during a visit to Miami. Even the EU may act.
''The main reason why we have come is that we cannot simply remain indifferent to the facts, such as 75 people who are inappropriately sent to prison for just having expressed an opinion,'' Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla said, through an interpreter, in an interview with The Herald in his room at the Loew's Hotel in Miami Beach. "We also wanted very much to meet the Cuban-American community. Transformation in Cuba is imminent. And we want that transformation to take place calmly and peacefully.''Posted by Alan at July 26, 2003 03:30 PMThe government of the Czech Republic -- a staunch supporter of opposition to Fidel Castro's regime for years -- wants to take advantage of shifting European attitudes in the wake of the recent Cuban government crackdown. It culminated this spring with summary trials and long sentences for 75 independent writers, librarians and human rights activists, and the execution of three men captured after a failed hijack attempt to leave the island.
As early as this week, the European Union may impose economic sanctions on Cuba in response to the crackdown -- and the Czechs are lobbying for yes votes.
Berta Mexidor, one of the founders of Cuba's independent libraries movement, presented Spidla with a book published by the independent libraries called Ojos Abiertos, (Eyes Open) a compilation of essays and pieces by independent writers.
via the Miami Herald