Thursday, May 7, 2009

Odds and ends

  • Reuters: Even before the Obama Administration’s new rules go into effect, Cuban American travel to Cuba is up 20 percent this year, according to the Cuban state enterprise Havanatur. And in the art world, signs of a thaw.

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19 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 7, 2009 at 9:08 AM

    aww...poor Silvio. Can't continue to have it both ways. Alternately bootlicking his masters in Havana and living the high-life in capitalist capitals. My heart goes out to him....

    maybe you can attend Pete Seeger's birthday "celebration" in his stead Peters -- and don't forget to wear red.

    chingon

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  2. theCardinalMay 7, 2009 at 1:25 PM

    seriously...I have little sympathy for Silvio. Guy doesn't care that people in his own country get jailed for saying the wrong thing but he works up the nerve to rip State for not letting him go to a birthday party? the cojones on the guy!!!!

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  3. AnonymousMay 7, 2009 at 1:31 PM

    A better question would be: Was Rodriguez actually invited to be a guest at Seeger's event?

    Seeger claims he repudiated his youthful Stalinism decades ago, so why would he invite Silvio R (also known as "Castro's Songbird") to his birthday party? If Seeger really invited the Songbird, then my respect for Seeger will diminish greatly.

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  4. leftsideMay 7, 2009 at 5:57 PM

    Cardinal, the day that you could prove that someone is in jail just for merely saying something in Cuba, is the day I will renounce my support for the Cuban Revolution. It simply is not true - and Silvio knows that as well as anyone. He and I know exactly what the 55 people remaining in jail DID. Almost all had a close working relationship with thh US Government. Many received payment for "work" that originated with the US Government. NONE were just arrested for their speach.

    And yes, of course, Rodriguez was an invited guest. He and Seeger have done a lot of things together over the years. Silvio is certainly not a Stalinist - nor is the Cuban Revolution.

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  5. leftsideMay 7, 2009 at 6:09 PM

    And it is not just Silvio being denied cultural visas under Obama. Last week the Cuban hip-hop group Orishas (who reside mostly in France) were denied entry for the New Orleans Jazz and Blues fest. Their crime is that they have have not spoken out against the Revolution as the Empire insists those wanting US visas do.

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  6. paz , no guerraMay 7, 2009 at 6:25 PM

    silvio ivito a willy chirino ir a dar un concierto en la habana en la plaza publica...por que la tirania castrista no le dejo entrar?

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  7. AnonymousMay 7, 2009 at 7:17 PM

    you know Phil, leftside can speak for himself. His views are clear. Why don't you speak up whenever your views are challenged?

    chingon

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  8. AnonymousMay 8, 2009 at 8:44 AM

    Leftside said: "the day that you could prove that someone is in jail just for merely saying something in Cuba, is the day I will renounce my support for the Cuban Revolution. It simply is not true..."

    Like Leftside, I am so TIRED of all these reactionaries spouting wornout claims that it is somehow a "crime" to speak out against the government in Democratic Cuba.

    When, oh WHEN, will these vicious calumnies cease? The next thing you know, they will start saying the same thing about civil liberties under Comrade Stalin. Leftside, you are my hero.

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  9. AnonymousMay 8, 2009 at 9:41 AM

    Leftside,

    Could you please define your parameters for acceptable free speech in Cuba, and what or who would you consider a trusted source for showing that someone has been arrested in Cuba for saying "something"?

    Vecino de NF

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  10. leftsideMay 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM

    Vecino, I don't quite understand your question. I have read the case file documents for most of the 55 (of the og. 75) that the Western media and Miami-folks tell us are in jail simply for speaking their mind. I know that is utter and complete BS because of the evidence in those documents. I haven't heard any family member of a "dissident" challenge one fact in those dossiers.

    The onus is on folks like Chingon or Cardinal to provide the name of anyone who is in jail simply for words, not actions that connect them to foreign subversion.

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  11. AnonymousMay 8, 2009 at 1:01 PM

    Leftside,

    What do you mean by the case file documents: the prosecution profers, the trial transcripts,...? I thought that your offer was not limited to only the cases of the 75 arrested in the last Black Spring but we can start with those. Just trying to purposely understand what do you think is acceptable free speech in Cuba (and inadvertently upsetting anonimo at the same time ;-)

    Vecino de NF

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  12. leftsideMay 9, 2009 at 3:45 AM

    I mean the sentencing documents. And my offer is not limited to "the 75." Show me one Cuban who is in jail solely for what they said, or did not have contacts with the US. The problem is the US policy of subversion in Cuba. When that ends, there will be no need for Law 88.

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  13. AnonymousMay 11, 2009 at 10:53 AM

    Leftside,

    So you believe that anyone in Cuba who disagrees or criticizes publicly with the Cuban government, and who has contacts with any US person or institution which disagrees with the Cuban government does not have a right to free speech in Cuba and should be sanctioned by law if the Cuban government chooses to prosecute him or her?

    Vecino de NF

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  14. AnonymousMay 11, 2009 at 10:53 AM

    Leftside,

    So you believe that anyone in Cuba who disagrees or criticizes publicly with the Cuban government, and who has contacts with any US person or institution which disagrees with the Cuban government does not have a right to free speech in Cuba and should be sanctioned by law if the Cuban government chooses to prosecute him or her?

    Vecino de NF

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  15. leftsideMay 11, 2009 at 4:14 PM

    Vecino, I believe Law 88 was a justified (if imperfect - like all laws) reaction to Helms-Burton and the Liberatad Acts. When US attempts at subversion is ended in Cuba, there will be no need for Law 88.

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  16. AnonymousMay 11, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    Leftside,

    Justifying cracking down on dissent because of national security is the oldest trick in the book for totalitarian governments. Would you like the US government to apply to you the same rules that the Cuban government applies to dissenters in Cuba? If you say yes, you are suicidal.

    Vecino de NF

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  17. leftsideMay 11, 2009 at 9:22 PM

    Vecino, if the situation was reversed and Cuba was paying me or I was in contact with them I most certainly would be judged an agent of not only an enemy but also terrorist country. Is be in jail, particulalry if this was part of a documented Cuban plan to "transition" the US govt.

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  18. AnonymousMay 12, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    Leftside,

    So you are saying for the record that Cuba is not giving you any material or political support, and that you are not interested in changing the US government and/or its political, economic, or social system?

    Vecino de NF

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  19. leftsideMay 12, 2009 at 12:48 PM

    No to the former, yes to the latter.

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