Friday, July 10, 2009

Odds and ends

  • The New York Philharmonic is sending representatives to Havana today to discuss possible performances in the fall, the New York Times reports. AP says the U.S. government has already approved the tour.

  • Tracey Eaton writes about the Hermanos Amejeiras hospital, the imposing building on the Malecon, and digs up Fidel Castro’s speech at its 1982 inauguration.

  • Cuba is withdrawing 143 sports and literacy workers from Honduras after they were accused of “indoctrination” activities, according to Prensa Latina, while Cuba’s medical personnel in Honduras will remain.

9 comments:

  1. There has also been a reduction in the number of Honduras stories posted on the Granma website home. Protesting against the military taking a hand in civilian affairs and against the elimination of civil liberties may be cutting it a little too close to home in Cuba. Interesting to see that Venezuela discontinued its shipments of oil to Honduras (blockade or embargo?), and the OAS decision to oust Honduras looks like a mirror image of the just reversed decision on Cuba in the 1960s (a country expelled from the OAS because its internal affairs do not conform to hemispheric standards.)

    Vecino de NF

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  2. Finally someone in the neighborhood is standing up to the Castroite/Chavista mafia. Everyone who loves freedom and wants what's best for the people of this hemisphere should be standing shoulder to shoulder with Honduras.

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  3. "143 sports and literacy workers"

    yes, ok, Phil, sports and literacy workers...all with side-training in political agitation and subversion...sheesh!

    Phil, you are obviously not an idiot...so why do you so freely adopt the regime's propaganda?

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  4. I like this story about the cultural exchanges.
    I propose one cultural exchange that will benefit both Cuba and the USA.
    We send Leftside permanently to Cuba and they send us Oscar Elias Biscet and this way Leftside is happy at last, and Biscet regains his freedom. Is a win-win situation for everyone.

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  5. I second that exchange!

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  6. "Tracey Eaton writes about the Hermanos Amejeiras hospital, the imposing building on the Malecon, and digs up Fidel Castro’s speech at its 1982 inauguration."

    That building was built by the Batista adminstration for the Cuban National Bank and like most of the buildings the present communist regime has appropiated for itself, they had nothing to do with its construction.
    Even the most famous structure in all of Havana, the Jose Marti Monument was built by the previous govt. and not by the revolutionary regime.

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  7. Nice piece on Hermanos Almejeiras and its history.

    What's bugged me recently about the hospital is its depiction in Michael Moore's "Sicko" as a hospital where everyday Cuban citizens are treated. Almejeiras treats dignitaries, foreigners and anyone who can pay a bribe for entry into this hospital which is much-better equipped than the standard hospitals for so-called "regular" Cubans on the island.

    I'm saying this simply because the facility my aunt was scheduled to have gall bladder surgery in was a disgusting mess when I took her for her pre-procedure checkup. The bribes, begging and pleading I had to take part in to have her treated at the anything-but-everyday Cuban hospital were just, absolutely appalling.

    Moore's film was beyond ridiculous.

    Now, speaking of architecture, etc, it is a fascinating building - the decor is straight out of the Sputnik era - with satellite-like orbs adorning the walls, etc. It's a trip to behold.

    -Anatasio

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  8. Anastasio, Almejeiras Hospital - like all Cuban hospitals - is assigned to patients according to where they live. Almejeiras is not just for tourists or foreigners, there are seperate foreign currency centers for that. The fact that you had to beg and plead (and bribe?) to get your aunt in to a hospital she is not assigned to had nothing to do with your assumptions.

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  9. again, you're incorrect, leftside. I've got a great aunt as well, who lives three blocks away and cannot be treated at the facility. You can argue all you like, but those of us who are actually Cuban, and deal with this sort of thing on a regular basis, will shoot you down with facts each and every time. there simply is no contest. who are people to believe? a foreigner, or a Cuban?

    seems like a no-brainer to me.

    Anatasio

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