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Roberto Zurbano demoted from executive to researcher at Casa de las Americas, 4/6/13

Roberto Zurbano has been demoted from high powered executive to researcher at Casa de las Americas, which is all white with the exception of his presence. Many Cuban media and cultural institutions suffer a similar lack of afrodescendants in a country with over 65% people of African descent.

He was not demoted because of the contents of his articles, which reflected ideas he had frequently expounded on previously. Contrary to the US press, led by the New York Times with their ideologically driven journalism, people in Cuba do not necessarily get fired for talking about racism. Casa says he was demoted for having attached Casa's name to the piece, which is actually a position senior management in the US and Europe might take in similar circumstances, with a middle level executive involving the company in a controversial issue. However, in this case, their PR department might have suggested rethinking position and considering an attack on the source of the problem, a foreign news organization willfully distorting their country's realities.

He was attacked in the Cuban media mostly because of the counter-revolutionary title the New York Times imposed on the article at the last minute without informing him - "For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Hasn’t Begun." Even the old guard of AfroCuban intellectuals, which roasted him in Jiribilla over the article, is generally seen as not really objecting to the contents so much as to the title, which, like the publications of the exiled plantocracy, refuses to recognizes that the Cuban government has done anything of value, thereby demonizing them using the standard Indo-European approach, where Manicheist simplicity divides the world into two. -- Andy Petit

ARA-Cuba se pronuncia acerca del artículo de Zurbano y el racismo en Cuba 4/5/2013 Cuba Informacion: "Posición de la Articulación Regional de Afrodescendientes de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, en su Capítulo Cubano (ARAC)".   Position of the Regional Network of Afrodescendants in Latin America and the Caribbean, Cuban Chapter (ARAC), 4/5/13. ARA's Cuba Chapter's position on the Zurbano article and racism in Cuba.

Articles/Articulos

El “escándalo Zurbano”.  4/10/2013 Negra Cubana: "En este post he decidido agrupar, de manera crítica, los artículos que se publicaron en algunos medios cubanos y extranjeros como reacción al texto que, firmado por Roberto Zurbano, salió en el New York Times, el pasado 23 de marzo. Luego de la salida del mismo, una corriente de refutaciones, algunas sumamente pedestres y racistas para ser publicadas en un sitio cultural cubano, inundó la red de redes, en especial a la publicación nacional La Jiribilla."

Zurbano acusa al NYT de 'manipulaciones' 4/6/2013 Diario de Cuba: "El trovador Silvio Rodríguez, quien publicó algunos comentarios sobre el artículo en su blog personal Segunda Cita, dijo que esperaba una circulación del "pensamiento, que se aireen las ideas", sin la intención de caerle "en pandilla" a Zurbano." [con muchos comentarios]

Cuba tiene la obligación moral de librar esta batalla 4/6/2013 Jiribilla: por Zuleica Romay Guerra, presidente del Instituto Cubano del Libro: "El documento contentivo de la posición de ARAC ante las polémicas del momento es resultado de un ejercicio inherente a la voluntad de hacer Revolución. Nuestras discusiones no necesitan moderadores prejuiciados, relatores amarillistas ni escépticos profetas.ARAC es un proyecto revolucionario, defendido por personas conscientes de que el capitalismo no tiene nada que ofrecer a los negros y mestizos de este país. Muy cerca de nosotros, en la nación más rica del mundo, muchísima gente como yo son irremediablemente pobres; no tienen periódicos ni gobierno que defiendan sus intereses, aunque hayan elegido a un hombre negro para ocupar un trono." [Los enlaces son los del original y se refieren a la posicion del ARAAC sobre "las recientes polémicas en medios nacionales e internacionales acerca de la problemática racial en la Cuba de hoy." Es decir, el articulo de Roberto Zurbano en The New York Times.]

Dura crítica al racismo en Cuba le cuesta el puesto a escritor 4/6/2013 Nuevo Herald: No se puede admitir la verdad, que 65%+ de la población es afrodescendiente - "El caso de Zurbano refleja el creciente movimiento de derechos para los negros en Cuba, donde el 35 por ciento de su población de 11 millones de personas son negros o mestizos, en un momento en que sus activistas se quejan de que las reformas económicas de mercado abierto de Raúl Castro favorecen injustamente a los blancos."

Editor Who Wrote of Racism in Cuba Loses His Post, Colleagues Say 4/6/2013 New York Times: Author Randal Archibold is Bureau Chief in Mexico City and evidently has not researched the plausibility of the NYT claim that they informed Zurbano of the change in title to something counter-revolutionary - "Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for The Times, said the editor stood by the article’s preparation. "We worked very hard to ensure that the wording in the piece was translated properly and accurately reflected the writer’s point of view,” she said in a statement. “There were numerous versions of the piece sent back and forth, and in the end, Mr. Zurbano and our contact for him (who speaks fluent English) signed off on the final version.”

Cuba culture official demoted after NY Times op-ed 4/5/2013 AP: "Zurbano told AP he was angry over his interactions with the Times and accused the paper of "manipulations" of his copy, "inaccuracies in translation" and "ethical violations." Specifically he complained about the title of the March 23 op-ed: "For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Hasn't Begun." Zurbano said his proposed title suggested rather that the revolution "has not finished."

Fired for Criticizing Racism in Cuba 4/5/2013 Havana Times: "The Cuban intellectual Roberto Zurbano, has been “liberated” (the Cuban government language for dismissed) from his position as director of the publishing house of Casa de las Americas, following the publication in The New York Times of an article critical of racism in Cuba. Zurbano told a meeting of the Regional African Descent in Latin America and the Caribbean, Cubano Chapter (ARAC), the decision of Casa de las Americas was to offer him another position."

Despiden a Zurbano por críticar el racismo en Cuba 4/5/2013 Havana Times: "El intelectual cubano Roberto Zurbano, ha sido “liberado” de su cargo como Director del Fondo Editorial de la Casa de las Américas, a raíz de la publicación en The New York Times, de un artículo crítico contra el racismo en Cuba. Zurbano explicó en una reunión de la Articulación Regional de Afrodescendientes de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, en su Capítulo Cubano (ARAC), que la decisión de la Casa de las Américas ha sido pasarlo a otra plaza de especialista."

ARA-Cuba se pronuncia acerca del artículo de Zurbano y el racismo en Cuba 4/5/2013 Cuba Informacion: "Posición de la Articulación Regional de Afrodescendientes de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, en su Capítulo Cubano (ARAC)"

ARA-Cuba se pronuncia acerca del artículo de Zurbano y el racismo en Cuba 4/5/2013 Negra Cubana: "Posición de la Articulación Regional de Afrodescendientes de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, en su Capítulo Cubano (ARAC)"

Links/Enlaces top

Roberto Zurbano

For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Hasn’t Begun 3/24/2013 is the title the New York Times imposed on an article by Roberto Zurbano, an executive at the Casa del las Americas publishing house. The original title, changed without the author's assent, was "The Country to Come: And My Black Cuba?" See the firestorm this has touched off at Comments on "For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Hasn't Begun", 4/2/13 Andy Petit

El titulo original que Roberto Zurbano tenia por su articulo era "El pais que viene: ¿y mi Cuba negra?" Vease Los commentarios sobre "Para los negros en Cuba, la Revolución no ha comenzado," 2/4/13 Andy Petit

Prominent Cubans are defending Zurbano's right to talk about racism, 4/7/13 Andy Petit

 

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