Mission Statement
Cubalog was established by People in Need to provide a forum for Cubans, Europeans and others to publish their analyses, experiences and critiques of the current conditions in Cuba. Cubalog was explicitly created as a way of dealing with the fact that Castro’s government has maintained a blockade more comprehensive than the US embargo for decades on a far more precious and vital commodity – information. Our mission is to provide in depth coverage of actually conditions in Cuba by shining a spotlight on the issues that Cubans face as the island moves closer towards a potential transition to democracy. In addition, we want to serve as a web portal for anyone who is looking for comprehensive and credible news coverage on Cuba with a focus on human rights, democratization and global policy.
People in Need and other European NGOs have intensified their work with Cuban partners in the last few years, by traveling more frequently to Cuba to monitor human rights and by offering greater supporting the burgeoning civil society there. The Cuba-Europe Dialogue bulletin was started in 2006 as a mechanism for publishing the observations from these trips to the island and investigative news on thematic topics, but it has expanded over the last two years considerably. As the name suggests, the ultimate goal of the bulleting has been to foster a dialog between Cuba and Europe by acting as a forum for ideas and support to be freely exchanged between those working for democratic changes in Cuba on the island, as well as elsewhere.
Our website and bulletin function as an outlet for independent Cuban journalists and dissidents, who have no opportunity to publish their work in Cuba. This is beneficial in that it exposes our readers to information that otherwise would be unavailable to the general public in Europe and elsewhere, which can generally only receiving press that has been officially sanctioned by the Cuban government. It is important for any group dealing with repression and restrictions on the basic rights of freedom of expression to be able to speak for themselves, rather than only being spoken for as so often has happened in history. However, for Cubalog to genuine become a promoter of dialog, it is essential for more people to be involved.
Feature articles by prominent politicians, academics and pro-democracy activists across Europe and the Americas have already been published in the six issues of the Cuba – Europe Dialogues about current events and affairs in Cuba. All of these are available for free online in English and Spanish though this website. Contributions have focused on topics ranging from EU policy towards Cuba; ongoing human rights violations; the evolving nature of the Cuban economy in the 21st century and the complexities Cuba faces as it moves towards transitioning to democracy. But as always there is more to be done.
Dialogues require continuous feedback and reflection from the parties involved. To that end, we are hoping to get more contributions for the upcoming issues of the Cuba – Europe Dialogues, which are scheduled to be published in April, August and December 2008. In addition, we want to help promote events and actions that are taking place within Europe and elsewhere dealing with the issues in Cuba.
Editorial
Raúl puede haber asumido la presidencia hace más de un año, pero se encuentra lejos aún la posibilidad de aclarar cuanto control posee sobre su país. Fidel mantiene una gran sombra sobre todo, incluso si no ha sido visto en público por al rededor de tres años, y vocifera su desagrado hacia los esfuerzos que su hermano ha hecho en el gobierno de su país mas allá del estadoactual de las cosas. La forma en que Raúl ha manejado la economía, las relaciones diplomáticas con EEUU, y sus planteamientos sobre el futuro de
Mientras que diez años atrás Cuba estaba altamente aislada, hoy los EEUU son el único país del hemisferio Occidental que no ha normalizado relaciones con la isla. Desde junio pasado, los EEUU han seguido una política de compromiso y mantención de una serie de tareas diplomáticas de alto nivel, a pesar de que no queda claro lo que estas han generado. Lideres de países Latinoamericanos como Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Ecuador y Nicaragua han visitado Cuba en el último año, y otros han prometido hacerlo pronto. Además, ALBA ha crecido, Cuba ha triunfado al convertirse en miembro del Grupo de Rio y está al borde de ser reincorporado en
¿Y qué sucederá a continuación?
Las preocupaciones de los diálogos Cubanos Europeos se dirigen a los desafíos que esta enfrentando Cuba y la comunidad internacional, mientras intenta avanzar hacia la era post-Fidel. Dan Erickson observa los límites del cambio basándose en las decisiones iniciales tomadas por la administración de Obama y los inherentes limites de la habilidad de Raúl para hacer cambios radicales. Brian Latell ofrece su análisis del nivel de tensiones entre Raúl y su hermano, siguiendo especialmente la expulsión en Marzo de las dos más grandes figuras políticas cubanas, Carlos Lage y Felipe Perez Roque. Sumado a esto, el prestigioso historiador cubano y analista Carlos Alberto Montaner discute el crecimiento de las frustraciones de la elite cubana y la disminución de la credibilidad de Raúl. Sumado a esto,
A pesar de cuanto ha cambiado el acercamiento de la comunidad internacional a Cuba, casi no han cambiado las condiciones de la isla respecto a la oposición internacional y a la sociedad civil. Raúl Rivero compara la lenta muerte enfrentada por los periodistas independientes encarcelados en Cuba con la muerte de Anna Politovskaya en Rusia, en la cual todos saben quien dio las órdenes, pero nadie realmente ha sido encontrado culpable del crimen. Además, People in Need con ayuda de diversos grupos de derechos humanos Cubanos esta haciendo publico su tercer semi-anual reporte sobre derechos humanos, con documentos que incluyen violaciones y abusos que se han llevado a cabo en la isla entre Noviembre del 2008 y Abril del 2009. Finalmente, Ricardo Contreras, de Solidaridad Española con Cuba, discute la intimidación y represión actual del gobierno Cubano en contra de las Damas de Blanco.
La comunidad internacional, movida por el compromiso hecho puede o no ser capaz de convencer al Gobierno de Cuba de cambiar sus formas, pero si los Castros fallan en la contención de las expectativas públicamente elevadas respecto a la mejora de las condiciones, podría no importar.
>> Dialogos Cuba Europa: Vol 4; Num 10: El Primer Año de Raul en el Poder
2013-04-22 / The Miami Herald
Cuba saw a record number of “politically motivated and at times violent short-term detentions” during 2012, according to the U.S. State Department’s “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” which was released Friday...more
2013-04-18 / The Washington Post
Members of Cuba’s Ladies in White opposition group will finally pick up Europe’s top human rights prize from 2005 in person next week in Belgium, the European Union and the daughter of the group’s former leader said Wednesday...more
2013-04-16 / The Washington Post
Cubans were relieved Monday by the announcement that the late leader Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor had been elected Venezuela’s new president, apparently allowing their country to dodge a threatened cutoff of billions of dollars in subsidized oil...more
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People in Need (PIN) is a Czech organization that provides relief aid and development assistance, while working to defend human rights and democratic freedom.
