Red Herrings in Duke

This weekend I attended a conference held by Raices de Esperanza, at Duke. I am glad to say that I met many wonderful people who have their hearts full of good will and the desire to help Cuba be free. It was a great experience and I thank all who were involved in making it happen. I have many positive things that I can say about it, but honestly, most have been said at the conference and so I don't think we can learn from my simply repeating them. I feel obliged to speak candidly about one of the negative aspects of this conference so that, just maybe, next time, we will stop repeating our mistake...it is a mistake that has been made by the exile community for about 5 decades now.

Far too much of this conference was spent on the red herring that the Castro regime has dangled in front of the exile community for the past 50 years, the one that we keep biting and getting hooked onto: the embargo and its surrounding politics. Conference participants literally spent hours "discussing" (it was more like: "hey, this is my long-winded opinion," and "hey, you're stupid and a communist and now you have to listen to my ridiculously long-winded opinion" and then "hey, you're stupid and here is my long-winded opinion that doesn't begin to address your argument because I wasn't even really listening to you..." and "hey, you're stupid..." you see my point I hope) the merits of the embargo, the merits of the travel ban, the politics behind them. They also spoke about political candidates and who they endorsed and other such irrelevant things. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, maybe they are not entirely irrelevant, but they certainly are brought up during a panel titled "Understanding the Opposition." Politics has its place, and it is not omniscient.

This was supposed to be a conference about Cuba and how to better aid it, not one focused on US-Cuba policy. The conference had a sub-focus of "yesterday, today, and tomorrow." The present and future that I saw at this conference was a bit disheartening. It seems to me that we are falling into the same trap that the Cuban-American community has been falling into for years. We are getting entangled by reaching out for that red herring. We could put it aside, we could focus on our similar desires and our one goal of a free Cuba and what we can do to help bring it about. Instead, we spend hours bickering over something we don't have any control over anyway.

If something can be learned from the past, it should be that when we have been divided we have failed. Until we learn this lesson and unite behind our common cause, our todays will likely be like our yesterdays, and our tomorrows will remain unchanged. I remember this quote that I saw on a poster in a classroom, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." I sincerely hope that we will wake up from this repetitive nightmare we have created for ourselves.

Keep Gorki Free

Hi all,
Gorki Aguila of Porno Para Ricardo (PPR), Cuba's most controversial and pro-freedom rockers, has again been harassed by the police, given another citation. Of course, this is after his having served time in prison after being arrested in April 2003. He was finally released under conditional liberty after having served nearly 2 years in prison. Well, upon his release, he went right back to work producing excellent music with an excellent message. (To read more about Gorki and the wonderful band he's a part of, check out their website: http://www.pornopararicardo.com/).

Well, PPR has managed to do a lot recently. They've released a couple new albums and possibly the first public song written about Raul Castro, which has come with a great deal of media attention, including Gorki being on many international radio and TV shows. They have also managed to have a secret concert in Havana (http://youtube.com/watch?v=y0iVq49Pa9k). Now, the regime really doesn't like for a freedom-loving person to gain so much publicity, and they have been doing what they can to try to put some fear back into Gorki. Let's keep his name in the news and in our conversations and give him so much name recognition that he becomes untouchable. Let's make sure they can't send him back to the misery he once suffered unjustifiably.

Check out the story (in Spanish) below to see the latest way they are harassing him and his bassist Hebert, and what Gorki has to say about it. (From www.Pornopararicardo.com)

Continúa la represión contra el grupo

La represión comunista está llegando de nuevo a la puerta de nuestro amigo Gorki, y también a la puerta de Hebert, el bajista de la banda.

Gorki nos escribe y nos dice que :

"Una vez más a mi me han citado a la policía para no perder la costumbre de su politica de acoso y de intimidación, el motivo esta vez fue el mismo de siempre, parece como si quisieran que me fuera del pais o coaccionarme de alguna u otra manera. También a Hebert el bajista lo ha ido a visitar un tipo del Minint con el pretexto de una entrevista. Hebert se ha asustado y ha venido a contarme. Quiero que si es posible pongan esto en la web como modo de noticia y denuncia".

Naturalmente que le damos la noticia a todos, amigos, fans, y también a enemigos y que hacemos responsables a las fuerzas represivas de la dictadura por cualquier cosa que pueda suceder a Gorki, a Hebert y a los otros miembros de la banda o sus familiares. Ya es algo habitual que a personas que pacificamente se oponen al gobierno cubano se les intimide y presione para abandonar el país. La policía presta sus unidades y estaciones a la seguridad del estado -que no es mas que la policía política del régimen- para que sus miembros citen a los que en el argot represivo se conoce como los "problemáticos y pensantes" para "cordialmente invitarlos" a abandonar el país. La presión se ejerce con intimidación, amenazas de cárcel y a veces veladas amenazas en contra de los familiares.

Si uno de los miembros de Porno Para Ricardo se pincha un dedo con la espina de una rosa, ya sabremos quienes son los responsables. Ahora los quieren empujar al mar, con la esperanza de que desaparezcan.

Leer más...

A raíz de esta noticia, aprovechamos para hacer un homenaje póstumo al regguetonero Elvis Manuel quién desapareció cuando la embarcación donde escapaba de Cuba se hundió.

Interview with the CJM (in Spanish)

So, I know that I've been MIA of late...my apologies...I've been incredibly busy with work, school, and Cuba activities. One of these Cuba activities is mentioned below--the teleconference with youth in Cuba. It was a tremendous success that was very necessary. The people we spoke with were very vocal in their displeasure with the regime and they saw us in a very positive light, as we see them (of course). So, anyway, read away.

And I will be posting again soon.

Entrevista a lideres de la Coalición Juvenil Martiana
Álvaro Yero Felipe
8 de abril de 2008
La Habana – www.PayoLibre.com – Dado al interés despertado en Cuba y en el exilio por la tele conferencia efectuada el pasado 18 de marzo entre jóvenes de la Coalición Juvenil Martiana (CJM), desde un lugar de La Habana, y estudiantes de la Universidad de Miami, Edgar López Moreno y Yuri Pérez Vázquez, presidente y vicepresidente respectivamente de dicha coalición y participantes de la actividad, accedieron a ser entrevistados.

¿Que importancia le conceden a este encuentro, entre ustedes y miembros del grupo CAUSA?

Yuri Pérez Vázquez (YPV): Para nosotros fue muy estimulante contactar con un prestigioso académico de la talla del Dr. Andy Gómez y estudiantes cubano-americanos del grupo (CAUSA), que a pesar de su lamentable destierro conservan sus raíces y han asumido un compromiso patriótico.

Edgar López Moreno (ELM): Considero significativo el establecimiento de este nexo, pues abre un espacio de colaboración e interacción entre los jóvenes cubanos en pos de la libertad de Cuba.

¿De los temas abordados cuales consideran de mayor relevancia?

CJM: Apreciamos como esencial el tema del conflicto generacional y político existente en Cuba, que fue reflejado por la prensa con total claridad. Además señalamos la frustración de la juventud, la formación de un liderazgo juvenil y la necesidad de la cobertura mediática.

¿Que resultados tangibles arrojó la tele conferencia?

YPV: Bueno, arrojó una prometedora asistencia académica de parte del Instituto de Estudios Cubanos y Cubano-Americano de la Universidad de Miami (ICCAS, por sus siglas en ingles), que nos aportará las herramientas cognoscitivas para la formación de los recursos humanos imprescindibles en el proceso de transición.

ELM: También un muy buen resultado fue el nacimiento de una relación de colaboración entre nuestras organizaciones que facilitará el flujo de información dentro de la juventud cubana y la búsqueda de estrategias comunes para la CJM y el grupo CAUSA en el exilio.

¿Esperan la reedición de eventos similares?

CJM: Por supuesto que sí, de hecho ya estamos organizando un próximo encuentro, y aspiramos a realizar estas actividades con otras Universidades u otras organizaciones juveniles.

¡Muchas Gracias!