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Ramon Humberto Colás Castillo
Library organizations in the US and Europe find the "independent libraries" to be fronts for the recruitment of dissidents as well as mechanism for going to the head of the line in securing US visas. They also contain books that are available in the local public libraries. [See Library Juice, 3/01] The Independent Libraries Project received $133,000 to $143,000 per year from 2005-2007. They have been linked to the US Interests Section. One indications of this is in the 2006 GAO report, U.S. Democracy Assistance for Cuba Needs Better Management and Oversight, p 39, where USINT is the US Interests Section:
As of 2010, Colás was a Project Advisor for US Policy Toward a Cuba in Transition at the Brookings Institution, where he is listed as Co-Director of the Center for the Understanding of Cubans of African Descent. An example of what would once have been labeled "blowback" where government funds are used to manufacture a certain reality outside the US but then this in turn has an effect in the US. Black skin and Cuban leadership 7/17/2007 Jamaica Gleaner: by Ramon Colas, founder of the Independent Libraries of Cuba - "To be sure, the Cuban authorities would much rather blacks stay far away from investors and joint venture companies. This, in turn, brings about a situation in which investors (largely white) absorb these same attitudes and become complicit in an evil that affects millions of non-white Cubans. In the political realm discrimination is no less pervasive. Within Cuba's power structure, few blacks share the privilege of leading. Of the National Assembly's 600 deputees, only 18 per cent are black. A similar situation exists at the provincial and local levels. The executive is worse yet. When Cuba's leaders travel abroad, they could pass off as a Northern European delegation save for the black faces carrying the luggage or guarding the entourage. Unfortunately, the military is no different. That institution's leadership is made up of white officers. The three chiefs of the army are white; so are the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the police, the navy, and the air force. Similarly, the military's control over economic activities is all channelled through non-black officers. Only the low-ranking black soldiers remind us that Cuba is, after all, in the Caribbean." |
“Independent
Library” Movement in Cuba 6/18/2008 Librarian, US: contains
"Cuba Update for ALA Annual 2008"
Pro-Castro
Columnist Compares Black Exiled Dissident to Maid 7/17/2007 Miami
Herald Blogs: published 3/06 - "Andres Gomez, the leader of the
pro-Castro group Antonio Maceo Brigade who lives in Miami, writes in a Cuban
government publication that anti-revolutionary activity is undergoing a
renaissance of sorts in the United States. He singles out for ridicule
Bibliotecas Independientes, or Independent Libraries, a group that promotes
literacy and the development of civil society in Cuba. Writing in cubadebate.cu,
a Cuban government web site, Gomez uses the race of Ramon Colas, the group's
leader, as part of his criticism. "This organization, whose only visible
member includes a little Negro who travels a lot, whose style and mannerisms
remind me of maids in Cuba before 1959, always dressed in their white uniforms
-- seems to ignore, just like his masters, that in Cuba, for example, during the
last 15 years, they celebrate annually a national book fair." Colas said
it's the only time he has felt any "racism'' since he came to Miami about 5
years ago from Cuba. "He is using a series of offensive and racists words
against me that you would never get away with using against African
Americans," Colas said of Gomez… "It's not racist, really, it's an
estimation of mine of what he is," Gomez said Wednesday. "It's not
racist in the least. He is like that. And I maintain what I said. In any case,
he'd be a shame to his race.""
THE
"INDEPENDENT LIBRARIES IN CUBA: A BIBLIOGRAPHY WHICH REVEALS PART OF THE
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY "DISSIDENCE" SPONSORED BY THE UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT 8/11/2005 University of Pittsburgh: with
extensive linked bibliography.
Librarians
as Spooks - The Scheme to Infiltrate Cuba's Libraries 6/18/2005 Counterpunch: "For
those who appreciate the art of propaganda, the reason Kent gives for refusing
to meet with Cuban librarians and virulently opposing professional exchanges is
that they are working for the "state." It seems to have escaped him
that at his job for the New York Public Library he also works for the state, as
do most of his colleagues. And given his possession of a fake passport and shady
activities and associations, "Agent Emmet" is undoubtedly a lot closer
to the "state" than any Havana bibliotecario."
Cuba
and the Myth of the 'Independent Libraries' 7/30/2004 Zmag: "According
to its strategy of destabilization of Cuban society, the United States, in
addition to financing and directing "independent journalists", and
"human rights members" has created "independent
libraries"(1). The main role of those organizations consists of carrying
out a job of disinformation in the heart of the country, and in creating
favorable conditions for weakening the nation, which is already in an extremely
hostile geopolitical context. Those different splinter groups are shown in the
international press as the nucleus of the future "civil and democratic
society." The information transnationals still do not deign to give
attention to the facts, however easily accessible and verifiable, preferring to
talk about internal dissidence."
CUBA:
Independent librarians' not so independent 8/29/2003 Granma: "Writing
in the summer 2001 edition of the Information for Social Change journal, Oberg
reported that the so-called independent librarians, "depended on gifts of
printed materials, fax machines, telephones and video and audio recorders that,
in many cases, are delivered directly to their homes by members of the US
Interest Section in Havana. Some admitted that they depend upon financial
support, and owe allegiance to, their allies in the anti-Castro Cuban community
in Miami and elsewhere abroad." "It became clear to us", Oberg
added, "that most of these `independent' librarians fall into two or three
distinct categories: leaders or officers of various dissenting political groups,
those attempting to ingratiate themselves with the US Interest Section in order
to `jump the queue' and receive an immigration visa to the United States, and
others who were politically engaged evangelical Christians." After
interviewing a number of the "independent" librarians, Neugebauer
confirmed that the allegations about the confiscation of books and the
harassment and arrest of individuals for owning private book collections, made
by anti-Castro groups such as the Friends of Cuban Libraries and CubaNet, were
false."
U.S.
Seeks Ideas to Promote Cuba Change 8/8/2003 AP: CANF
shill Noriega persues bogus buzzwords - "Another key goal, he said, is to
increase support for independent libraries and human rights groups on the island
which have persisted despite a major anti-dissident crackdown last March and
April." What would the US say to Al Qaeda financed libraries in their
cities?
My
Michigan. There was a man. The guilty Weather bomber — and more 6/20/2003 National
Review: scroll down for this - ""Ramon Humberto Colas, founder of
Cuba's independent-libraries movement, held a briefing on June 11th for the
press corps of the United Nations, where he was attending meetings. . . .
"Reiterating [the movement's] offer to close down independent libraries, he
said these would be unnecessary once Cubans have [broader] access to books and
publications now forbidden and are free to exercise their cultural and
intellectual rights. An Afro-Cuban, he also denounced the Castro regime's
propaganda on racial issues; highlighted blacks' participation in the peaceful
opposition movement; and denounced Castro's need to find external scapegoats and
excuses for his failures and absolute control. . . ."
Library
group hit on Cuba stance 6/6/2003 Washington Times: "The
American Library Association (ALA) is under fire for inviting Cuban government
librarians to its upcoming annual convention, while ignoring colleagues from
independent libraries in Cuba who were recently sentenced to prison terms of up
to 27 years." Said colleagues were receiving funds from Cuba's sworn enemy,
the USA.
Cuba
Seizes Book Shipment Ordered by U.S. Officials 2/27/2003 Washington
Post: "American diplomats were told it was a "firm decision by
the government" not to allow the books into the communist-run country for
distribution to dissident groups, including independent libraries, U.S.
Interests Section Chief James Cason said. "They said it wasn't the books,
but who we were going to give them to," he told a small group of
international reporters. He said the American mission has imported similar books
in the past."
Libraries
in Cuba: Report of a visit to "independent," national and public
libraries in Cuba 4/1/2000 Information for Social Change: "In
April 2000 I visited the "Biblioteca Independiente Juana Alonso" in
Havana. This "library" is in the home of Rogelio Travieso Perez, who
is Human Rights Secretary of the Democratic Solidarity Party. The
"library" consisted of 80 books and 20 journals. Only 10 items were
out on loan. The collection contained items that would be stocked in the local
public library. I concluded that the "library" was a front for
political activities. It does not meet the information needs of the people,
which are well served by the Cuban library system. My views on independent
"libraries" were echoed by Larry Oberg of Willamette University who,
together with 14 other US librarians, went on a two week research trip to Cuba
in March 2000. In Santiago de Cuba, some of the group visited two
"independent libraries". They spoke at length with the people who are
responsible for these "libraries". They concluded that "these
libraries are, on the one hand, a public face and a recruiting tool for a
dissident movement within Cuba and, on the other, a means of 'jumping the queue'
to get an immigration visa to the US." "
The National Endowment for Democracy replaced CIA funding in the 80's.
www.ned.org/grants/05programs/grants-lac05.html
2005
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.
www.ned.org/grants/06programs/grants-lac06.html
2006
Bibliotecas Independientes de Cuba (Independent Libraries of Cuba) (BIC)
$133,780
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.
ww.ned.org/grants/07programs/grants-lac07.html
2007
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.
www.ned.org/grants/08programs/grants-lac08.html
2008
not funded
The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2008-2009
And where are the millions? 1/14/07, Political Affairs: "The Mississippi Consortium for International Development (MCID) where Franco’s buddy, playboy Ramón Colas, appeared – after having had his little problem with CANF – also received, rather opportunely, a similar donation to organize “courses” in Cuba. Professional dissident Oswaldo Paya ended up with a salary of $1,000 for his collaboration, alms that were given away at the end of a series of eight courses."
Un peón más en el gran fraude de la USAID 12/25/2005 Granma
En diciembre del 2001, después de haber cumplido con numerosas tareas que le asignaba la Sección de Intereses norteamericanos en La Habana, el tunero abandonó la Isla para refugiarse en Miami. Colas se sumió en la FNCA donde ocupó varios puestos de confianza, administrando fondos otorgados por la USAID y la National Endowment for Democracy. Sin embargo, tuvo que abandonar sus funciones y alejarse de esa ciudad luego de una auditoria que reveló cómo el dinero federal pasaba a su uso personal en proporciones jugosas. Reconociendo aparentemente su talento para desviar los billetes, sus socios de la USAID le encontraron de inmediato una nueva tarea. Colas reapareció rápidamente como… funcionario del MCID, en Mississippi, bien lejos de la Florida del Sur pero bien cerca de los millones del gobierno federal. Esta vez, el polifacético estafador ostenta el título de “investigador”. Entre los socios de Colas en Washington se encuentra nada menos que Adolfo Franco, director para América Latina y el Caribe de esa agencia federal.
LA guerra sucia de la Administración norteamericana contra Cuba siempre ha sido un pretexto para desviar decenas de millones de dólares de los contribuyentes norteamericanos a favor de cabecillas de la mafia cubanoamericana vinculados al clan de los Bush. Ese gigantesco y estéril fraude ha encontrado últimamente una nueva manifestación en una extraña operación que vincula a un “vedette” de la llamada disidencia cubana con un consorcio de centros de estudios de Mississippi y un contrarrevolucionario miamense de dudosa fama.
Fue la periodista Arleen Rodríguez quien, en un programa de la Mesa Redonda informativa de la Televisión Cubana, le puso el cascabel al gato, al señalar cómo Oswaldo Payá, un “disidente” presentado por cierta prensa como “un luchador por la libertad y defensor a favor de los derechos humanos”, ha colaborado servilmente, hace poco, en un proyecto de la CIA financiado por la Agencia de Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID).
Payá ha sido el enlace y luego el coordinador nacional para unos cursos orientados a desarrollar un liderazgo con vistas a una transición anexionista en Cuba, explicó Arleen Rodríguez. Desde el año 2002 —señaló— vinieron a la Isla, bajo cobertura de turistas, dos representantes del Consorcio de Mississippi para el Desarrollo Internacional (MCID, por sus siglas en inglés), bajo los nombres de Patricia Jennigan y Kareen Bishop.
En febrero del 2004, Jennigan y Bishop se reúnen durante cuatro horas con Payá y se ponen de acuerdo con él acerca de un curso que se dará en Cuba y del cual será el coordinador.
Se precisa entonces que el gobierno norteamericano iba a aportar 2 650 dólares para cada ciclo del curso, además del salario de 3 650 dólares que se pagará a profesores que vendrán de EE.UU. y 2 666 dólares que cubrirán el costo de los hoteles y pasajes.
El propio Payá recibirá 1 000 dólares como salario para el ciclo de 8 cursos.
Los dos primeros cursos se realizaron entre el 1º de abril del 2004 hasta el 21 de junio del 2005, con la presencia de dos profesores de la Cátedra de Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Jackson de Mississippi que, también, viajan como turistas.
Oswaldo Payá es un mercenario que siempre se ha negado a pronunciarse contra el bloqueo a Cuba pero que sí felicitó con frenesí al golpista venezolano Pedro Carmona, en carta pública, en el momento del intento golpista del 2004 contra el presidente Hugo Chávez.
La forma en que se desarrolló la colaboración remunerada de Payá con el MCID muestra todas las huellas de un operativo de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia: uso de falsas identidades, enmascaramiento y reuniones clandestinas.
En el curso de la operación, también han visitado a Cuba, Aly Mack, directora Ejecutiva del MCID, y Enrique Maradiaga Fortín, el “program manager” de esa organización.
Los temas “estudiados” no dejan dudas sobre las características e intenciones de los promotores: lograr una movilización contra la Revolución Cubana; buscar un “cambio de mentalidad” en la población y cómo manipular a la prensa extranjera.
UNA OPERACIÓN GLOBAL DE RECUPERACIÓN IDEOLÓGICA
Establecido en 1989, el MCID reúne teóricamente a cuatro instituciones de Educación Superior de EE.UU: la Universidad Estatal de Alcorn, la Universidad Estatal de Jackson, la Universidad Estatal del Valle de Mississippi y la Universidad de Tougaloo.
Según sus publicaciones, la institución líder del Consorcio es la Universidad Estatal de Jackson. Oficialmente, el MCID diseña e implementa proyectos de desarrollo internacional y programas de intercambio.
Con presupuestos millonarios — muy por encima de las limosnas ofrecidas a Payá — la organización cuenta con sus oficinas principales en Jackson, Mississippi, y otras en Washington, D.C.; Luanda, Angola; Dohuk, Iraq; y Abuja, Nigeria, además de representantes en Africa del Sur, Rusia, Ucrania, Kirguizistán y Rumania.
Cuba no aparece en la nomenclatura oficial del grupo.
De hecho, el MCID desarrolla sus actividades en zonas “sensibles” políticamente para Washington.
En Iraq, nación donde la Administración de George W. Bush riega a todos sus socios, el MCID realiza su contrato más jugoso que alcanza 4 990 364 de dólares para… ayudar a la Universidad de Mosul a desarrollar su liderazgo en Iraq y en el Medio Oriente.
RAMÓN HUMBERTO COLAS, DE LA FLORIDA AL MISSISSIPPI
Por supuesto, la presencia de Cuba en este programa específico de la CIA consagrado a Africa, Rusia, Ucrania, Kirguizistán y Rumania no deja de sorprender.
Sin embargo, en la misma Mesa Redonda señalada, el periodista Reynaldo Taladrid dio una clave de esa aparente distorsión al señalar la repentina desaparición de otro “disidente” patentado, Ramón Humberto Colas Castillo, de su puesto de funcionario de la Fundación Nacional Cubano-Americana (FNCA).
“Fundador" autoproclamado de una fantasiosa red de bibliotecas "independientes" en Cuba, Colas dejó en la ciudad oriental cubana de Las Tunas el recuerdo de un playboy más aficionado a los cabarets que a la lectura.
En diciembre del 2001, después de haber cumplido con numerosas tareas que le asignaba la Sección de Intereses norteamericanos en La Habana, el tunero abandonó la Isla para refugiarse en Miami.
Colas se sumió en la FNCA donde ocupó varios puestos de confianza, administrando fondos otorgados por la USAID y la National Endowment for Democracy. Sin embargo, tuvo que abandonar sus funciones y alejarse de esa ciudad luego de una auditoria que reveló cómo el dinero federal pasaba a su uso personal en proporciones jugosas.
Reconociendo aparentemente su talento para desviar los billetes, sus socios
de la USAID le encontraron de inmediato una nueva tarea. Colas reapareció
rápidamente como… funcionario del MCID, en Mississippi, bien lejos de la Florida
del Sur pero bien cerca de los millones del gobierno federal. Esta vez, el
polifacético estafador ostenta el título de “investigador”.
Entre los socios de Colas en Washington se encuentra nada menos que Adolfo
Franco, director para América Latina y el Caribe de esa agencia federal.
Nacido en Cuba, en la ciudad matancera de Cárdenas, Adolfo Franco pertenece al clan de asesores miamenses que orienta las políticas del Gobierno Bush acerca de Cuba. Bien integrado a la clase más adinerada de su nueva patria, ha estudiado en Iowa y ha trabajado en Missouri antes de “casarse” con la congresista cubano-americana Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Extremista de derecha de la escuela de Otto Reich y Roger Noriega, Franco confesó ante un subcomité de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes que su agencia regaló 20 millones de dólares a sus amistades mafiosas de Miami en menos de tres años. La mayor parte de este dinero fue destinada a las distintas organizaciones miamenses que se dedican a la "fabricación" de "disidentes" generosamente remunerados.
Franco se reunió, una vez más, con Colas en su habitación del hotel Hesperia de Madrid, el 26 de octubre, al margen de un gran show mediático montado por Caleb McCarry, el ex funcionario del Partido Republicano encargado recientemente por Bush del dossier cubano, y por Jaime Suchlicki, un ex analista freelance de la CIA convertido en director de un centro de estudios de la Universidad de Miami subsidiado por la Bacardí.
Las características del foro de Madrid y la presencia del “investigador” del MCID, confirman aún más la vinculación con la CIA del MCID. En el mismo evento aparecieron elementos tales como Javier Fernández Lasquetty, secretario general de la Fundación FAES de España y socio íntimo de la pareja Aznar-Moragas, y el “escritor y periodista cubano” Carlos Alberto Montaner, quien empezó su carrera poniendo bombas en centros comerciales.
El “curso cubano” del MCID, “coordinado” por Oswaldo Payá es una sola de las múltiples actividades que realiza contra Cuba la Administración norteamericana gracias a un presupuesto público de más de 60 millones de dólares.
Mientras Payá, en Cuba, recoge las migajas del banquete de la USAID, en Miami y en Mississippi el dinero de los contribuyentes —que no supo encontrar a tiempo el camino de la Nueva Orléans— desaparece en los bolsillos de los verdaderos actores del show de la disidencia.
Foto: Adolfo A. Franco, director para América Latina y el Caribe de la USAID, regalando 1 045 000 dólares a su socio Jaime Suchlicki, de la Universidad de Miami, bajo el pretexto de un proyecto sobre la “transición” en Cuba. En el orden habitual, la congresista cubanoamericana Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Adolfo Franco, Suchlicki, ex analista freelance de la CIA y director del Instituto de Estudios cubanos y Cubanoamericanos de la referida universidad, y Luis Glaser, vicepresidente ejecutivo de esa misma institución.
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2005/diciembre/juev29/2paya.html
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