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AfroCubaWeb
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Race
& Identity in Cuba: many contributions from across the spectrum on
AfroCubaWeb Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 9/07 Congressman
Accuses Castro Of Targeting 'People Of Color' 5/9/02 CNS: savor
the irony of a Republican from New Jersey talking about racial profiling
in any location other than his own state. Exiles try to convince Black Caucus that Cuba is racist, 8/1/01 CANF's AfroCuban page,
7/31 Funding for Cuban Dissidents, 2001 Sodepaz on extremist Catholics groups targeting Cuba, 1/01 Predomina la raza negra en la población penal femenina. Testimonios de Marta Beatriz Roque, 1/01 Cuban racial equality
termed a myth; White minority has most power, 10/00 Organizaciones del exilio que recibirán fondos, 2/00 Cuestionan destino del dinero para la democracia en Cuba, 2/00 |
Dissidents and Race, 2001Here we attempt to track some of the information relating to dissidents on the island and off, particularly in regards to race. We have heard it said that dissidents have up until recently been largely "white," with a few notable exceptions. However, since the 90's there has been a steadily increasing stress on the theme that the Cuban government is racist, out of touch with its black majority, that it can no longer count on the unconditional support of the majority population, etc. The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), an organization more representative of the old plantocracy than of Cubans of African descent, even got into the act and in August 2001 took their favorite AfroCubans up to Capitol Hill to testify against Castro. Meanwhile, the CANF maintains its commitment to drug trafficking terrorists who have acted against AfroCuban and African American interests many times in the past. In Matanzas, to pick a provincial example, dissidents do tend to be white. It is said that the Miami Mafia picks these rubes out in the sticks and funds them -- out in small places such as Union de Reyes, Perico, and others much beloved of Lydia Cabrera for their intense African culture. The rube starts a political party and makes a splash. The idea seems to be that funding a person in a small town makes a bigger fish in a small pond, whereas funding someone in Habana would scarcely get noticed. You have to make a lot of noise in Havana before someone cares. As a February 2000 article from "El Herald" notes, USAID funds have been pouring into Miami to fund dissidents. The Miami Mafia of course is virtually all "white", or at least passes for such. One notable exception was Tony Bryant, an ex-panther jailed in Cuba for criminal activities who then joined "Commando L" in Miami and was made the head of it. He later resigned, stating that the people he was working with were irremediably racist. Until the 90's, the dissident and the exile groups paid very little attention to AfroCuban issues. One of the first articles we noted was by "independent journalist" Ulisses Cabrera: Blacks and Whites, in 1999, though we are told there are earlier examples. Since then, there has been a steadily increasing emphasis on these issues, along stereotypical lines of "the Cuban government is racist" and "there are no blacks in the Cuban government," etc. There has been very little substantive discussion of the issues but that is bound to come as the subject gets talked about more. Another first was Manuel Cuesta Morúa, who called himself an "afro cuban." For a broader view of issues of race and identity in Cuba, see our Race & Identity section with many contributions from across the spectrum. Note: as of early 2002, we have also been tracking all articles on race & identity in Cuba on Cuba: Race & Identity News The US, the Exiled Plantocracy and Race, a summary of our materials on this topic |
Afro-Cuban
Delegation Meets With Congressional Black Caucus, 8/1/01
| By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff
Writer. August 01, 2001.CNS News
(CNSNews.com) - A delegation of Afro-Cubans, four from the Miami area and two from the Washington, D.C. area, spent Tuesday on Capitol Hill meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, hoping to convince them that Fidel Castro is bad for Cuba and should improve his human rights record there. Omar Lopez Montenegro of the Cuban Civic National Union was among the delegation. He was told by the Castro government to leave Cuba several years ago and has lived in the United States ever since. "We want to explain to the American people what the real situation is in Cuba," Montenegro said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "Blacks in Cuba are unhappy with the system of government. A majority of blacks living in Cuba are dissidents. Many blacks cannot get government positions in the arts or politics because of the Castro government. The only field where blacks have excelled in Cuba is in sports," he said. Other members of the delegation did not speak English and their remarks were translated by interpreters from the Cuban-American National Foundation, an anti-Castro group that was escorting the delegation around Capitol Hill as they called on members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The delegation was scheduled to meet with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chairperson of the caucus. Reps. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.), Carrie Meek (D-Fla.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.), and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.). Selby McCash, a spokesman for Bishop, said the delegation met with the Georgia congressman but Bishop had no comment on the meeting. Spokespeople for other CBC members wouldn't confirm or deny that their bosses had met with the delegation. The group also lunched with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a Cuban exile and one of Castro's most vociferous critics in the House. The delegation carried a letter to caucus members from Bertha Antunez, the founder of a Cuban dissident group calling itself the "Mothers for General Amnesty." In the letter, Antunez said, "The Cuban government tries to fool the world with siren songs depicting racial equality in our country. But it is all a farce, as I and my family can attest, having suffered from the systematic racism directed at us by Castro's followers." Her brother, Jorge, according to the letter has "suffered the scourge of racial discrimination in every prison he has been condemned to. The beatings are always accompanied by racial epithets. They set dogs on him. They deny him medical attention. They kept him from attending his mother's funeral." In many of its broadcasts, Radio Havana, the official voice of the Castro government has denounced the United States and its racial policies. However, Antunez thinks the Castro government shouldn't be pointing the finger at the U.S., because Castro hasn't treated blacks very well in Cuba. "Fidel Castro has often denounced racial discrimination in U.S. penitentiaries and has decried the high percentage of blacks in the U.S. prison population. Yet in Cuba, the percentage of blacks in the prison population hovers between 80 and 89 percent, conservatively estimated," he said. Antunez also believes the Castro government practices "racial profiling." "The racist mentality is so ingrained among Cuba's agents of repression that when mixed race groups are stopped on the street, only the blacks are asked for their identification papers," he said. "I've been told by the political police, 'because you're black you have to be grateful to revolution for making you equal to whites.' To which I've answered, before God we are all equal, but among men the only thing that differentiates us is our conduct, not the color of our skin," Antunez added. "The only think I have to thank the (Cuban) revolution for is for restoring the yoke of slavery that my ancestors lived under," he concluded. All original CNSNews.com material, copyright 1998-2001 Cybercast News Service. |
| By Rafael Lorente, Special to the
Tribune. Published August 1, 2001. Chicago
Tribune
WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Black Caucus and the Cuban American National Foundation have not been best of friends over the years. After all, Black Caucus members have made frequent visits to Cuba and offered praise of President Fidel Castro, the foundation's least favorite person. Some have pushed to end the embargo against Cuba and ease travel restrictions that prevent Americans from traveling there legally. But Tuesday, the foundation's Washington office brought a half-dozen black Cuban dissidents living in the United States to meet with several members of the Black Caucus and their staffs. The objective was to convince them that Castro's Cuba is not a paradise for blacks. "We have to break this myth of Fidel Castro being the savior of blacks in Cuba," said Omar Lopez Montenegro, who said he moved to the United States nine years ago after being politically persecuted in Cuba. Montenegro contends blacks and those of mixed race, who make up about 60 percent of Cuba's population, are overrepresented in the island's political prisons and underrepresented in powerful positions in the government and Communist Party. As evidence, Montenegro and others point to jailed dissidents such as Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and Vladimiro Roca. They think the Black Caucus can help. For the rest of this story, see: |
| The CANF now has a page focusing on the status of blacks
in Cuba. It is, predictably enough, full of venom against the dreaded
communists and alleged concern for blacks in Cuba. This from an
organization dedicated to ending affirmative
action in the state of Florida!
See http://www.canfnet.org/News/010731newsa.htm Note, as of 9/07, this link is defunct and the canfnet.org site seems unused. |
| María de los Angeles González Unión de Periodistas y Escritores Independientes, UPECI La
prisión de occidente de La Habana, conocida con el trist e nombre de
“Manto Negro”, tiene alrededor de 700 mujeres presas donde el
promedio de edades fluctúa entre los 22 y 23 años de edad y predominan
las de la raza negra. Un
fenómeno social se viene produciendo desde los primeros años del
triunfo la “revolución” hasta la fecha. Los delitos comunes, tales
como el robo, complicidad, drogadicción y tráfico de estupefacientes
son los más frecuentes entre las causas que en ocasiones pueden
alcanzar más de 25 años de cárcel. Marta
Beatriz Roque Cabello, exconvicta y presidenta del Instituto de
Economistas Independientes de Cuba, asegura que el trabajo de reeducación
de estas presas es muy
deficiente, ya que las oficiales- en su mayoría estudiantes de Derecho
y Psicología, encargadas de ese trabajo, suelen permanecer muy poco
tiempo en la penitenciaría, debido a la falta de condiciones materiales
y morales de las reclusas. “La
vida en la prisión es muy dura, ahí te puedes encontrar
con asesinas y homosexuales. En realidad su conducta hacia las
presas políticas es de respeto, pero eso no deja de hacernos sentir
conmovidas y asustadas, porque las agresiones entre ellas son
frecuentes. La seguridad del
penal se muestra indiferente a ello y, en ocasiones, la atención medica
se demora lo bastante como para originar protestas como la ocurrida en
octubre de 1997, cuando se amotinaron cientos de presas” dice Roque
Cabello. Marta Beatriz Roque, coautora del Documento “ La patria es de Todos”, se encuentra bajo libertad condicional. Desde su liberación no cuenta con identificación permanente y la Seguridad del Estado intenta limitar sus movimientos y acciones. Frecuentemente la visita el coronel Luis Mariano, de la Inteligencia cubana, quien el pasado sábado la condujo a una residencia del Ministerio del Interior, asegurándole que la situación de su carné de Identidad le sería devuelto en breve, pero su solicitud para viajar a los Estados Unidos para visitar a un sobrino enfermo, había sido denegada por el mandatario cubano. |
| Tom Carter; THE
WASHINGTON TIMES October 24, 2000 Cuba's Communist revolution, far from being a model of racial tolerance and inclusion, is run by "old white men" and is racist at its core, say academics, Cuban dissidents and even some supporters of President Fidel Castro. Forty years after Mr. Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista - a mulatto military dictator backed by the United States - Cuba remains racially divided between the white haves and the black and mixed-race have-nots. Years of racial intermarrying has turned the Cuban population into a spectrum of shades, and at the street level, Cuba has far less racial tension than virtually anywhere in the United States. But official Cuba might as well have a sign on the doors of power saying "Whites only." Cuba's blacks and mulattos make up more than 60 percent of the island's population but hold less than 20 percent of the leadership positions in government. By one estimate, less than 10 percent of the top leadership in the Politburo is nonwhite. "Most Cuban blacks will say that there have been gains in the revolution in health care and education, but there is much more to do. . . . Blacks end up playing second fiddle in Cuba," said Wayne Smith, former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba who hosted a forum on Cuban racism last year. 'NEED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION' Mr. Smith said the overwhelming number of officials working at the highest levels of the Cuban government and military are white. By his count, just three of the 36 leaders of Cuban communism are nonwhites. "They really need an affirmative action program in the Cuban Politburo," he said. The Cuban Interests Section, which handles Cuban diplomatic issues in Washington, said there were no racial problems in Cuba. "We don't have any racial problems in Cuba, nothing like in the United States," said Luis Fernandez, spokesman for the Cuban government in Washington. "We have a lot of African Cubans in important positions. How many African-Americans are in important positions in the United States?" Castro critics charge that blacks in the United States, who helped end apartheid in South Africa, are woefully uninformed about race in Cuba, preferring to believe the myth that their country is a racial paradise. Members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus - sometimes called "Fidel's amen corner" - have been vocal in supporting the Cuban revolution and opposing the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba but remain almost silent on racial inequities there. In September, Mr. Castro went to Harlem and spent nearly five hours before an ecstatic crowd of mostly black supporters, ripping the United States for a litany of wrongs, including racism. During the speech, Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat and Black Caucus member, sat at his feet in rapt attention. RANGEL SEES ISSUE Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat and a Black Caucus leader who has worked vigorously to end the U.S. embargo on Cuba, said racial inequality in Cuba is a legitimate issue that needs to be confronted. He agrees that while Cuba is overwhelmingly black or mulatto, only a few have broken through the revolutionary glass ceiling. "It is a legitimate issue. It is a legitimate observation. I have raised the issue of racism in Cuba with Fidel Castro and others on many occasions," Mr. Rangel said. "Everything is not all right in Cuba." He said his inquiries regarding Cuban racism may have embarrassed the Cuban government into posting a few black diplomats to Washington. "I asked, 'Where are the black faces?' Maybe that's why Felix Wilson Hernandez, a black Cuban and Havana's second-ranking diplomat in Washington is here now," the congressman said. Mr. Rangel said that ordinary Cuban blacks he speaks with are similar to American blacks during the civil rights movement in that they support their government in general, but find themselves fighting it for racial equality. He said there are plenty of Cuban blacks in baseball and boxing - as in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s - but few in positions of power. WHITE DISSIDENTS RELEASED There is additional concern that blacks and mulattos may be overrepresented in Cuba's prison population, Mr. Rangel added. He said that when foreign delegations visit Cuba and succeed in getting dissidents released from prison, they are invariably white dissidents. "Who is in Cuba's prisons? Are people of color getting a fair shake?" he asked. For the rest of this article, see |
|
| The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), was founded by Jorge Mas
Canosa, a veteran of the 1960 Bay of Pigs with long term ties to the CIA until his death
in 1997. Mas Canosa founded Mas Tec Inc., a construction company with revenues in excess of $1 billion in 1998. His son, Jorge Mas Santos, inherited not only the business, but also the post at the head of the foundation. The CANF has a board of directors with about 60 members, each of whom gives over $10,000 a year. A separate board of trustees numbers 60. Each of them gives over $5,000 a year. The total number of contributors is 50,000. In addition, the Jorge Mas Canosa Freedom Foundation, which is funded by Mas Canosa's estate, matches each dollar contributed to the CANF with two dollars of its own. The administrative budget is around $1.5 million a year with separate funds raised for each activity. In 1997 and 1998, the foundation's Free Cuba PAC gave Democrats $53,000 and Republicans $49,500. The foundation has another PAC, the Cuban American Foundation PAC. CANF members and their allies also donate money to candidates as individuals. During the ’92 primaries, the CANF organized fund-raisers for Bill Clinton who received $275,000 at two fund-raisers in Miami. Just before his inauguration, he was rumored to be considering Mario Baeza, an AfroCuban attorney, for assistant secretary of State for Inter-American affairs. Mas Canosa opposed the Baeza appointment and made it known through three other recipients of hislargess: Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Bob Graham of Florida, and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, thus ending the appointment. The CANF and its allies have been linked in the past with acts of intimidation and efforts to stomp out dissent, even death threats, as documented by Americas Watch and other human rights group. |
PABLO ALFONSO El Nuevo Herald La Agencia Internacional de Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo (USAID) ha donado millones de dólares en ayuda federal en los últimos tres años a organizaciones políticas de exiliados e instituciones norteamericanas, para implementar un polémico plan que aspira a promover una transición pacífica hacia la democracia en Cuba. ``Hasta ahora hemos aprobado $6.5 millones y nuestro nivel de aprobación para este año es de $3.5 millones más'', explicó Kim Walz, de la Oficina de Prensa de USAID en Washington. Los fondos aprobados benefician a una amplia gama de organizaciones que van desde el Instituto para la Democracia en Cuba, que recibió $1 millón, hasta CubaNet, que recibió $98,000. Hay diferencias en el proceso administrativo de esos fondos ya que, mientras algunos de sus dirigentes reciben salarios de hasta $30,000 anuales, otros no reciben ningún dinero por su trabajo y la mayoría declinó revelar a El Nuevo Herald cuánto ganaba. Según la USAID, el dinero entregado por esa agencia no puede ser enviado en efectivo a Cuba, en cumplimiento de las sanciones comerciales de Estados Unidos a la isla. Su utilización está destinada fundamentalmente a: Mantener comunicaciones con activistas de derechos humanos dentro de Cuba y difundir en el exterior sus denuncias.
Por lo demas, vease el Herald: http://www.elherald.com/content/tue/noticias/eudocs/060365.htm |
Organizaciones del exilio que recibirán fondosLos fondos se derivan del cumplimiento de las leyes Torricelli y Helms-Burton
Instituto para la Democracia en Cuba: $ 1,000,000 Registrado en el Estado de la Florida como una Corporación No Lucrativa. Los datos corporativos muestran que sus directivos son: Rafael Sánchez Aballí, Leonardo V. Sesin y Francisco Hernández-Trujillo. Según la USAID, los fondos aprobados serán utilizados para asistir a los activistas democráticos en Cuba, informar al pueblo cubano y reunir y diseminar información de derechos humanos desde dentro de Cuba. Servirán también para proveer asistencia humanitaria (medicinas y alimentos) a prisioneros políticos, sus familiares y otras víctimas de la opresión en Cuba.
Vease al http://www.elherald.com/content/sun/docs/018860.htm por el resto del articulo |
Publicado
el martes, Cuestionan destino del dinero para la democracia en Cuba ``En realidad muchos de esos planes son una burla a los legítimos intereses de los opositores cubanos y de los propios Estados Unidos'' , afirmó José Basulto, presidente de Hermanos al Rescate. ``En lo que a nosotros respecta, no queremos esa ayuda, no la hemos recibido y no la estamos solicitando''. Según Basulto los fondos de USAID pudieran estar creando ``un desbalance en el abanico político interno, porque su entrega selectiva por grupos de interés genera desequilibrios entre las fuerzas opositoras''. Raúl Rivero, director de la agencia de CubaPress en La Habana, señaló que los esfuerzos externos de ayudar politica y financieramente a la disidencia interna, encuentran en Cuba el obstáculo de leyes que penalizan con varios años de cárcel a quienes la reciban. ``Después de cursar tres años de periodismo por correspondencia de FIU tienes que estar dispuesto a cumplir cinco años de cárcel por violar la ley'', subrayó Rivero. ``Hasta donde yo sé, el intento ese de crear cursos por correspondencia para periodistas independientes en Cuba no ha funcionado hasta ahora'', añadió. El Centro Internacional de Prensa, de la Universidad Internacional de la Florida (FIU) en Miami, recibió el pasado año $292,000 de la USAID para ``entrenar a periodistas independientes en Cuba y mejorar sus habilidades profesionales''. Charles Green, director del Centro, dijo que esos fondos han servido para elaborar cursos por correspondencia para periodistas independientes, traducir sus artículos y reportajes, y para invitarlos a talleres y cursos de formación en el Centro Latinoamericano de Prensa en Panamá. ``Todavía no hemos invitado a nadie pero esperamos hacerlo para fines de este
mes o principios del próximo'', indicó. ``Algunos cientos de copias del estudio están disponibles para quien los pida o los quiera recoger en las oficinas de nuestra Sección de Intereses en La Habana'', dijo un funcionario del Departamento de Estado. ``Es la forma que tenemos de que esto se conozca entre la población cubana'', agregó. La idea de preparar un proyecto electoral para Cuba, desde el exterior y por una institución extranjera, fue criticada fuertemente por Roberto Rodríguez, presidente de la Junta Patriótica Cubana (JPC). ``¿Cómo se va a hacer un estudio, un proceso de esa naturaleza desde Washington?'', se cuestionó Rodríguez, quien rechazó además la idea de aceptar fondos federales. ``El que paga manda y la nueva Cuba debe surgir libre, sin ataduras a gobiernos extranjeros''. Rodríguez dijo que desde su fundación la JPC se ha sostenido con el aporte de sus miembros y del pueblo exiliado. ``Ni hemos recibido ayuda federal, ni la queremos, ni la hemos pedido nunca'', subrayó. Otro de los proyectos cuestionados es el de la Fundación Panamericana para el Desarrollo, con sede en Washington, que recibió $237,000 para vincular a organizaciones ambientalistas no gubernamentales de Cuba con sus contrapartes en el hemisferio. ``En realidad hasta ahora no hemos hecho nada, no hemos usado esos fondos porque estamos tratando de identificar a organizaciones no gubernamentales en Cuba'', dijo Norberto Ambross, Director de Programas de esa fundación. ``Creemos que hay organizaciones ambientalistas en Cuba no gubernamentales, menos oficialistas que otras, y estamos en ese proceso de búsqueda''. Según Elizardo Sánchez, presidente de la Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional'', en Cuba casi todas las organizaciones registradas legalmente como ``no gubernamentales'' tienen un carácter oficialista. Por lo demas, vese al http://www.elherald.com/content/tue/noticias/cubadocs/045457.htm |
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