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The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2007Here we track issues of race and identity among the anti-Castro groups based primarily out of Miami as well as responses from Cuba and abroad. The term dissident is used to denote those who seek to overthrow the Cuban government, as opposed to the emerging critical voices in Cuba today who work within the system. * Afro-Cuban Alliance, Miami * Asociación Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana, Madrid, Spain * Carlos Moore, Brazil * Proyecto de Relaciones Raciales, Mississipi: Ramón Colás, Founder and Director of Independent Libraries for Cuba [See Library Juice, 3/01] The Afro-Cuban Alliance, la Asociación Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana (Cuban Culture Encounter Association), and Independent Libraries for Cuba have been recipient of NED funds. NED was originally established to channel what previously had been CIA funds -- the problem was that their source kept being leaked to the press, so Congress decided to do the funding more overtly. Carlos Moore was salaried as translator under a recipient of large sums from CIA, Holden Roberto of Angola, whose group FNLA fought against the Cuban backed Angolan government. The following have not been listed as recipients of NED funds: * Enrique Patterson, Miami * From the Front Page Magazine, site of the notorious neocon David Howorwitz, who started out, like many neocons, as a trotskyite: Red Against Black by Myles Kantor 8/20/2007 Front Page Magazine: "In addition to sharing heroic dissidence, Esteban Cardenas, Enrique Patterson, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, and Oscar Elias Biscet are black Cubans. The latter commonality is significant given the recurrent myth that Fidel Castro has enhanced black Cubans’ quality of life. "[B]lacks are demonstrably better off under Castro than they were under the Batista dictatorship," Randall Robinson writes in Defending the Spirit. Economist Jude Wanniski similarly claims that "Fidel made life better for black Cubans." In addition to brutalizing these and other Afro-Cuban dissidents, Castro’s totalitarianism subjugates Afro-Cubans as a whole; there is no Afro-Cuban exemption from "illegal exit," "disrespect," "illicit association," and other repressive policies. Afro-Cubans are enslaved, muzzled, and terrorized no less than white Cubans. In fact, there is evidence that Afro-Cubans are more acutely repressed. Prohibitive emigration, for example, has applied with greater intensity to Afro-Cubans. Patterson notes, "I am certain that because of my race, I was the first member of the group [the Democratic Socialist Current] that the political police went after."" Professor West, What About Castro’s Leftwing Victims? 2/12/02 Front Page Magazine: "Patterson’s being a black Cuban also didn’t endear him to the regime; black dissidents refute Castro’s propaganda that the Cuban Revolution has benefited them. "I am certain that because of my race," Patterson notes, "I was the first member of the group [CSDC] that the political police went after.""
Dr. C. Esteban Morales Domínguez, Havana:
Anti-Cuban subversion: the race issue,
9/07
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NED Funding of Dissidents - National Endowment for Democracy
2007
www.ned.org/publications/annual-reports/2007-annual-report/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/description-of-2007--3
Afro-Cuban Alliance
$70,150
To promote discussion about the conditions of Afro-Cubans and Afro-Cuban
issues. The Afro-Cuban Alliance will continue to publish a quarterly journal,
Islas, distributed inside and outside the island. The journal seeks to
inform Cubans of African descent on the island and in exile about civil rights,
the hidden history of slavery and racial discrimination in Cuba, the experience
of civil rights movements, and how to organize to bring change.
Asociación Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana (Association for the
Discovery of Cuban Culture)
$215,000 *
To promote free debate and discussion about Cuban politics and the future
of Cuba. Endowment support will enable Encuentro to publish its
quarterly journal, continue its web-based daily newspaper, “Encuentro On-Line,”
and enhance its virtual Cuban community through the development of new
chat-rooms.
Bibliotecas Independientes de Cuba (Independent Libraries of Cuba
or BIC)
$143,166*
To promote intellectual freedom and debate inside Cuba. BIC will continue
to provide material assistance to independent libraries in Cuba and promote
international awareness of the library movement. BIC staff will travel to Latin
America and Europe to meet with libraries, universities, think tanks, and other
organizations to enlist their support for individual libraries and the libraries
movement.
Center for a Free Cuba
$55,000*
To provide humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to political
prisoners and their families. Assistance will go to family members of the nearly
300 prisoners detained in Cuba because of their political beliefs.
CubaNet
$42,000
To support independent journalism and promote freedom of expression in
Cuba. CubaNet will continue to compensate independent journalists in Cuba who
provide news and analysis of the situation in Cuba for publication on the
CubaNet website. CubaNet will also continue to work with its colleagues around
the world to provide additional support, training, and international solidarity
to independent journalists.
Directorio Democratico (Democratic Directory or Directorio)
$350,000
To promote access to objective information and news in communities around
Cuba. Directorio will continue to offer radio programming devoted to
community development and local news. The station will reach out to youth and
women as well as moderate elements of Cuban leadership through programs that
promote greater awareness of citizen participation, entertainment and events at
the local level.
Disidente Universal de Puerto Rico (Universal Dissident of Puerto
Rico or Disidente)
$65,000*
To increase the flow of independent information to Cuba and within Cuba.
Disidente will publish and distribute in Cuba its monthly journal,
El Disidente, and maintain its website, www.disidenteuniversal.org,
containing articles and editorials from activists living on the island,
dissidents living in exile, and international news organizations. The website
also maintains an up-to-date list of political prisoners in Cuba.
Grupo Internacional para la Responsibilidad Social Corporativa en
Cuba(International Group for Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba or
GIRSCC)
$228,256*
To promote labor rights and defend independent labor unions and workers in
Cuba. GIRSCC will conduct an international campaign to inform international
investors and organizations about the violation of labor conventions in Cuba,
including holding its annual conference on corporate social responsibility in
Costa Rica. GIRSCC will produce a report on labor rights in Cuba and will
continue to provide training and material support to Cuban labor activists in
their efforts to organize and monitor working conditions.
People in Need (PIN)
$120,400*
To enhance the capacity of independent journalists and civil society groups
to interact with the European public and donors. Building on its work with
independent journalists in Cuba, PIN will start a long-distance internship
program between 10 major Eastern European media outlets and independent Cuban
journalists. Additionally, PIN will train independent civil society groups to
apply for grants from the European Union’s multiple grant-giving mechanisms.
People in Peril
$37,000*
To create a curriculum to enhance the critical thinking skills of Cuban
youth and young adults. Over the past two years, People in Peril supported the
development of independent research on the state of the educational and economic
system in Cuba. People in Peril will work with its partners to create a
curriculum based on the report of the educational research group.
Red Feminista Cubana, Inc. (Cuban Feminist Network)
$95,000*
To promote women’s rights in Cuba. Through its contacts with women’s
movements around the world, Red Feminista will collect and send
materials to Cuba for independent women activists and will hold a series of
training programs for them. Red Feminista will continue to support its
women’s network within Cuba, which it disseminates information on the strategies
and activities of women’s movements in other countries.
NED Funding of Dissidents - National Endowment for Democracy
2005
www.ned.org/grants/05programs/grants-lac05.html
Afro-Cuban Alliance
$62,000*
To promote discussion about the conditions of Afro-Cubans and Afro-Cuban issues.
The Afro-Cuban Alliance will establish a quarterly journal, Islas, which will be
distributed inside and outside the island. The journal will seek to inform
Cubans of African descent on the island and in exile about civil rights, the
hidden history of slavery and racial discrimination in Cuba, the experience of
civil rights movements, and how to organize to bring about change. [This is Enrique
Patterson's organization.]
Asociación Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana (Cuban Culture Encounter
Association)
$200,000*
To promote free debate and discussion about Cuban politics and the future of
Cuba. Endowment support will enable Encuentro to publish its journal Revista
Encuentro and continue to maintain its website and its web-based daily newspaper
Encuentro On-Line. Encuentro will publish four editions of its journal, which
will be distributed in Cuba and abroad.
[Encuentro published a remarkable blame
the victims account of the 1912 massacre]
Bibliotecas Independientes de Cuba (Independent Libraries of Cuba) (BIC)
$133,773*
To promote intellectual freedom and debate inside Cuba. BIC will continue to
provide material assistance to independent libraries in Cuba and promote
international awareness of the library movement. BIC staff will travel to Latin
America and Spain to meet with libraries, universities, think tanks, and other
organizations to enlist their support for individual libraries and the libraries
movement.
NED was founded in the early 80's to openly continue CIA's covert funding of publications, books, organizations, etc. As CIA funded various entities, they were invariably outed, causing numerous scandals, such as that involving the National Student Association in the US in the 60's. So the model was shifted to overt Congressional funding in order to legitimize the work, forgetting that Congress is perceived even in the US as a corrupt body entitled to little respect or credibility.
From the Allianza Democratica site:
"Enrique Patterson is an essayist and journalist. A Cuban dissident and co-founder of the Corriente Socialista Democratica Cubana, he became a political exile in 1992. His professional career as teacher includes positions as Professor of History and Philosophy and Head of Department at the University of Havana, 1976-1982; Professor of Literature at the Institute Anton Makarenko, Havana, Cuba, 1983-1987; and, as professor of Spanish, Miami Dade County Public School System, 1994 to present. His publications and conferences are numerous. Well known ones include, “Sin calcetines” in Remembering Cuba, anthology edited by Andrea O’Reilly, University of Texas, “Heberto Padilla; La Revolucion Fuera del Juego”; “Cuba: la nacion a la luz de las transiciones”; “Cuba; discursos sobre la identidad”; “Teoria y Practica de la Revolucion Cubana”; “La Experiencia de la Diaspora Cubana”; Prognosis After the Break; “La Descriminacion Racial: Problema Pendiente en la Transicion Cubana”; The Role of Race in Cuba – U.S. Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, NY; “Las Violaciones de los derechos humanos y la descriminacion racial en Cuba”, Martin Luther King Center, Atlanta, GA, and among others, his last conference “La Idiologia de la Revolucion Cubana”, Cuban Cultural Congress, Madrid, Spain. Mr. Patterson currently serves as President of the Instituto de Estudios Cubanos. He earned a BA in Hispanic Literature, University of Havana, 1974, and a MA in Cuban Studies, also at the University of Havana in 1977."
-- http://www.alianzademocratica.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=231
Racismo, totalitarismo y democracia 11/9/2007 Encuentro: de Enrique Patterson - "Recientemente, La Jiribilla, publicación cultural online del régimen, publicó el artículo "El tema racial y la subversión", firmado por el Dr. Esteban Morales. Más allá de las omisiones, mentiras y descalificaciones (entre ellas, la demonización de quien escribe), resulta interesante el intento de re-abordar ¡por fin! el tema racial, aunque sea desde los paradigmas de las ya desgastadas ideología y práctica "revolucionarias". El reconocimiento, leve y tangencial, de los descalabros del régimen a la hora de lidiar con la tradición racista y discriminatoria indica la dificultad del poder para seguir negando la existencia de semejante flagelo en el seno del llamado régimen "socialista"."
See also Enrique Patterson
The US, the Exiled Plantocracy and Race, a summary of all of our materials on this topic.
LOS NEGROS, LOS OLVIDADOS EN EL ''PARAISO SOCIALISTA'' CUBANO
www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-07-06-2040.htm
Red Against Black, Front Page Magazine, 8/07
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=4CB4B434-C56D-4716-A30F-A8BD8EBFBF00
This is a neocon publication, run by newly conservative former Trotskyite
David Horowitz
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