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.
Viajeros de Human Rights Watch exploran el ciclo vicioso de asuntos en Cuba, donde los disidentes a menudo recurren al apoyo de parte de los EE.UU. después de haber sido sistemáticamente aislados y reprimidos por el régimen de Castro. Su reportaje nos alcanza en el punto donde nos dejó el artículo “Nuevo Castro, la misma Cuba” en noviembre de 2009 y nos lleva a concusiones parecidas. Levantamiento del embargo podría ser uno de los caminos para adelante, pero eso casi no cambiaría la realidad de la vida cotidiana en la isla.
Ondrej Nezbeda de la revista semanal Respekt revisa casos de varias personas que fueron obligadas a vivir en silencio y en las márgenes de la sociedad Cubana, incluyendo a algunas de las figuras principales de medios independientes como a Dagoberto Valdés y Luis Felipe Rojas; su “reportaje del país donde temen al silencio” nos aclara las maneras de las cuales los miembros de la sociedad civil , especialmente los que viven fuera de La Habana, siguen siendo sistemáticos e incesantes en sus actividades.
Hay artículos que tratan el tema de la creciente probabilidad de que Guillermo Fariñas podría ser la próxima víctima de la represión; Laritza Diversent cuenta su experiencia de su primer acto de repudio; condiciones actuales de los presos políticos al igual que el último reporte semestral de derechos humanos.
Por el otro lado, todos esos artículos pintan la imagen del futuro en tonos muy sombríos, pero a la misma vez demuestran la tremenda capacidad de recuperación del pueblo cubano y el hecho de que no importa lo duro que Castro trataede sofocar a la disidencia – la oposición nunca desaparece.
Otra manera de ver el lado irónico de todo esto es a través el caso de Alan P. Gross, el contratista norteamericano que se está pudriendo en la cárcel cubana desde el 5 de diciembre, generalmente para que el gobierno cubano pueda estar seguro de que la administración de Obama no tenga chance real de cambiar las relaciones bilaterales entre los EE.UU. y Cuba. El director ejecutivo del Center for Free Cuba refecciona sobra la ironía de que mientras Alan Gross tenga que enfrentar la visión de una detención indefinida, dos artistas cubanos muy bien conocidos acaban de recibir permiso de viajar a EE.UU. De cierta forma todo esto tiene más que ver con el hecho de que a pesar del fin de la Guerra fría de hace casi 20 años para el resto del mundo, el liderazgo de Cuba – con el promedio de edad de 73,5 años- ha vivido adentro de una burbuja por tanto tiempo que ya no se puede imaginar otra forma de vida.
Si Raúl y Fidel continúan apretando los tornillos, eventualmente tendrán que ofrecer algo – esto podría explicar por qué dejaron recientemente que las Damas de Blanco marchen de nuevo por la causa contra Dania Vírgen García sin atacarlas. Sería erróneo pensar que estas instancias indican algún cambio en el futuro cercano, pero por lo menos muestran que el régimen sabe que tiene que mejorar su imagen de momento.
Este número está dedicado al sacrificio máximo de Orlando Zapata Tamayo, con la esperanza de que nadie en Cuba o cualquier otra parte del mundo tenga que recurrir a tal extremo sólo para que lo escuchen.>> Dialogos Cuba Europa, Vol 5 Num 12: Apriete los Tornillos
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.
