Florida: Pandemic’s Epicenter in the U.S.
Florida: Epicenter of the Pandemic in the U.S.
Unfortunately, at the beginning of this week, this territory has registered almost 25% of the hospitalizations due to COVID in the whole country, despite the fact that Florida represents only 6% of the total population of that nation.y
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
General view of a crowded beach in South Beach, Florida. The state accounts for nearly 25% of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters
If truth, not interference and hatred, prevailed in our world, a “humanitarian intervention” would be called for right now in the state of Florida, the current epicenter of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
That territory, unfortunately, is the site of nearly 25% of the nation’s COVID hospitalizations this week, despite the fact that Florida represents only 6% of the nation’s total population.
Also of concern is that Miami-Dade, the state’s most populous county with some 2.7 million people, has been the number one county for infections and deaths throughout the pandemic and remains so today.
However, after Florida reached 21,683 new cases this Saturday, the state governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, continues to resist issuing an order for the mandatory use of masks and the requirement of vaccinations by employers.
But there’s more: Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio noted on Twitter Monday that there is a “hysteria” by the media regarding COVID, “because bad news sells.” And he stated, “The real story here is how, for fully vaccinated people, the risk of serious disease appears to be close to zero.”
However, data from the Johns Hopkins University show that Florida is the third state in number of cases and the fourth in number of deaths in the entire United States, the country most affected by the pandemic in the world, with more than 35 million infected and 613,000 deaths, as of March 1, 2020.
To give a more complete picture of the situation in the nation, some 72,000 children and adolescents contracted the disease in the week of July 22-29, a figure five times higher than in the previous month, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. And 20,000 of these cases are in Florida.
Now, what is the other reality that can be observed today in the territory: On the one hand, what has been described above and which reflects how the COVID-19 with its new Delta variant is hitting the Floridian population, and on the other hand, the Republican government there, as is also the case in Texas, is adopting resolutions so that the inhabitants, including children, do not use masks or have to apply social distancing measures, as warned by health authorities.
Next week, students in that state will resume classes in person, and the use or not of masks by students is also part of the political debate, an aspect that has become a business, since parents who do not accept such measures are encouraged to transfer their children to private schools, where regulations could be more flexible.
Therefore, it should not be surprising that in Florida and, specifically, in Miami, the beaches are crowded with people, mostly children and young people; that bars and other entertainment centers are open and that this is the other side of a reality that, unfortunately, is already lethal.
In this situation, White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, declared that while 25% of the hospitalizations in the country are in Florida, the governor (DeSantis) has taken steps that go against the recommendations of Public Health. She added: “The situation is too serious, deadly serious, to act in a partisan manner.”
What proposals for a solution would be given by those who, right there in Florida, have asked President Joe Biden for a humanitarian (read military) intervention against Cuba. Or is it that the dead and the infected in Florida do not count when it comes to politicking, as Marco Rubio and other feverish promoters of hatred, the blockade and the attacks against our Island do.
NYT: No Evidence of Sonic Attacks
The New York Times reaffirms what Cuba has denounced so many times: there is no evidence of sonic attacks (+ Video)
The statement came after a meeting convened by the Director of National Intelligence, Avril D. Haines, with the intention of evaluating the investigations carried out on the alleged sonic attacks on State Department officials, CIA officers and their families.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Sonic attacks
The saga of the so-called “Havana syndrome”, used by extreme right-wing elements in the US and the Cuban-American mafia to justify a hardening of policy towards Cuba, and to reinforce the idea that Russia and China constitute a threat to world security, is once again in the news.
As reported Monday by The New York Times, “the United States lacks the evidence to blame other nations for the existence of sonic attacks against its citizens inside or outside the country”.
The statement followed a meeting convened by the Director of National Intelligence, Avril D. Haines, to evaluate the investigations into the alleged sonic attacks on State Department officials, CIA officers and their families.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, present at the meeting, stated that these “unexplained health incidents” are a high priority, although there is no evidence to indict any country without any certainty that microwaves are the cause of the illnesses.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/us/politics/havana-syndrome-attacks-mystery.html
The Cuban Church Together with the People
The Cuban Church will continue founding together with the people
The President of the Republic held a sincere and collegial dialogue with members of the Council of Churches of Cuba and ecumenical leaders of the country. This is the first meeting of others to be held in the future with leaders of religious institutions and fraternal associations.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Meeting with Religious
Photo: Estudios Revolución
An open and sincere dialogue was held by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, with members of the Council of Churches of Cuba and ecumenical leaders. The exchange became a space for gratitude, homage, faith, commitment, participation, learning, reflection and hope.
With them, Cuba will also continue to found. And just as Cuba will do, “the Cuban Church will also continue founding together with our people”, a certainty not only expressed by Joel Ortega Dopico, executive secretary of the Council of Churches of Cuba, but which in many ways marked the essence of more than a dozen interventions that nuanced the debate.
The President of the Republic summoned them to do and found together. It was a little more than three hours in which he was seen listening attentively to every word; taking notes again and again in his agenda; nodding; explaining doubts; inquiring about community projects that really contribute to the neighborhoods; opening ways to solve obstacles that hinder a better performance….
We can still improve and expand harmony, constantly building a lot of trust and the possibility of talking, discussing, debating, even if we do not always agree on the same thing, reflected the Head of State.
From the conviction that together it is possible to create and do more, he thanked everyone for taking the time to attend the meeting and express sincerely “what they feel”. It is tremendous -he said- their willingness to participate in the construction of our society “from all the experience they have and from all the contributions they make”.
“We are going to look for spaces in which you can contribute and participate, so that you can be with us in them and also so that you can teach us, because you have many things to teach, which have already been developed in all these years”, he ratified.
As part of the dialogue, necessary and contributing, the President thanked the prayers that, as those present told him, they make for him and his government team. In detail, he shared with them significant elements of the current situation of the country and the latest events.
A situation that he defined as extremely complex, and at the same time challenging; in the challenges there is also a charm, -he pointed out- and a way of seeing life to look for the capacity of response, encouragement, encouragement, and to go to a better moment, he trusted.
For that -he added- we have to continue multiplying everything that is efficient and contributive, what gives us harmony, usefulness and beauty, discarding what is inefficient, what hinders, what is bureaucratic, what is corrupt.
We need to reinforce the attention in the neighborhoods, and there we count on you. We know about the projects you have developed, the concept of popular education you have worked on, and we hope to be able to multiply your experiences and enrich everything we do with your participation, he emphasized.
In the meeting, which is the first of others to be held with directors of religious institutions and fraternal associations, as part of a permanent link with them that the country’s leadership has maintained during these years, the Head of State acknowledged the historical legacy of those who preceded him, whose path “we want to continue”.
He thanked them for their condemnation of the blockade in different scenarios and how they have defended Cuba’s position before their counterpart churches in the world. I believe that there is a coincidence between what you have proposed and what we want to do,” he said.
Photo: Estudios Revolución
He also spoke at length about the epidemic caused by the COVID-19 and how the country has been facing it for almost 17 months. The first concept, he assured, “has always been to save people’s lives, with whatever it takes…”
Challenges, future projects, shortages, changes in routines, solidarity and willingness to do, were deeply discussed during the day. From the respect for individual beliefs and dialogue, very useful ideas were born and more than one left with “assigned tasks”.
SERVE, PARTICIPATE, DO…
Serving the people and actively participating in the life of society and the Homeland have marked the course of the Council of Churches of Cuba, in its 80 years of foundation, Joel Ortega Dopico, its executive secretary, was heard to say proudly and firmly.
“Throughout these years of Revolution and throughout Cuba’s history, the Council and its predecessors have actively participated in the life of our society and our Homeland,” he evoked. Then, he listed some of the many scenarios in which they have also left their mark: the clandestine struggles in the Sierra; the literacy campaign; the actions for the return of Elián and the Five; the battles against the Bloqueo…..
With the latent emotion for the symbolic and transcendental exchange, he spoke to Díaz-Canel with the frankness of one who knows he is “taken into account”, and confided to him his expectation that the day of this August 6 marks a before and after in the strategy of the Cuban ecumenical movement with the leadership of our Revolution.
We have -he said- to go to the level of Frank País, to the level of Faustino Pérez, of those comrades who gave their lives, and here we are now, to reaffirm that we are also a continuity of their work.
With the certainty that there are many issues still to be addressed to truly achieve the transformation that the nation demands, the Executive Secretary of the Council of Churches of Cuba referred to the necessary self-criticism, the pending rectification, the profound review of methods and styles of work that clash with the will to serve the people, the bureaucracy, the obstacles and the insensitivity of some that are so damaging. These are realities, I trust, which unfortunately the church has not been able to escape either.
How can we ensure that the church and religion become more and more part of the processes of participation in the changes we are experiencing? He asked himself and in turn asked the audience, to gradually string together ideas that ratified the importance of “seeking ways of dialogue so as not to stigmatize positions. There are cracks that we have to heal together”.
“…is the church we want to be, to be a church for our people…”
“Brother President,” Carlos Ham Stanard, pastor of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, then told him, “here we are, as part of Cuba, to reaffirm our vocation of service, to continue in the dialogue, in the struggle, in the work, and we hope to continue in this process of dialogue, mutually enriching each other.”
Without pretending to boast about his actions, because they have only had the purpose of “being useful”, the also Rector of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Matanzas, told how in the institution an extension of the pediatric hospital was enabled, where 1500 patients were attended, in 47 days of service: 900 children and 600 parents and companions.
Those were days of great concern,” he acknowledged, “but also of defense, of fighting for life, and of great satisfaction in being able to serve our people on this front, fighting for life.
Joel Suárez Rodés, executive coordinator of the Collegiate Coordination of the Martin Luther King Memorial Center, spoke about the need to summon and add so that everyone feels part of it; to understand that today’s society is not like the one of 20 years ago, that it is diverse, complex, and has a multiplicity of actors.
Photo: Estudios Revolución
We ask to be convened more, especially in relation to labor and social policies for the attention to vulnerability, he suggested to the First Secretary of the Central Committee. “It is necessary to create a wide corridor to save this Homeland… and it is up to the Party leadership to motivate it…”
Dialogue cannot be imposed, it has to be born from the territory, from the place where people are doing, not saying, he considered.
Díaz-Canel then spoke about granting participation to all, of integrating, of convening. That, he said, we are able to build it and we would be many more contributing, participating. He was joined by members of the Political Bureau Manuel Marrero Cruz and Roberto Morales Ojeda, Prime Minister and Secretary of Organization and Cadre Policy of the Central Committee, respectively; as well as Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, member of the Secretary of the Central Committee, and Caridad Diego Bello, head of the Office of Attention to Religious Affairs of the Central Committee.
First of all, the 15 participants in the meeting who took the floor spoke about their gratitude and considered it a privilege to be able to “meet with our authorities and deal with issues of common interest”.
Regarding the obstacles and bureaucracy that prevent the quick entry into the country of medicines and other supplies necessary for the work they carry out in the communities, they also commented to the Cuban President, who assured them that many of these issues would be resolved immediately. The decision to create an office within the Government to deal with issues related to religious institutions will contribute greatly to open roads and make solutions feasible.
A cornerstone of the interventions was also the need to consolidate the existing spaces for dialogue, not only to talk about “things that concern us, but also to present solutions”; that they become systematic spaces, not temporary, in which to give continuity to the issues and see the answers to the proposals.
With the church we have the duty to work for the unity of our people and we have done it from our messages, with our relatives, friends, people that we have seen that they are wrong, explained Lydia Aguiar Batista, vice president of the Council of Churches of Cuba and vice president of the Sovereign Grace Church.
To embrace, respect and take advantage of the diversity that defines today’s Cuba, called Dora Arce Valentin, pastor and moderator of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church. We cannot reject diversity, she insisted, we have to see that diversity as a gift, as something that enriches society.
That is the Cuba we want, a Cuba where its families are diverse, where they assemble in the way they can, that they want, that they know, (…) because that is how we want Cuban society to be, and in that sense we can be counted on.
Representatives of the Christian youth, “that present that builds the country and the world”, were also heard as a light. From their experiences, they also spoke of participation and the enormous challenge of feeling part of the construction of a better Cuba, in the most diverse scenarios.
“That the religious sector be present in the dialogues with the youth, because from our spirituality and our faith we also have a contribution to those dialogues”, requested to the Cuban President Dianet Martínez Valdés, secretary of the Student Christian Movement for Latin America.
It is up to us now to nurture that unity from this country that we are and to celebrate the diversity that we are. It is up to us, as a church, to be mediators, to be conciliators, said Kirenia Criado Pérez, pastor of Los Amigos Church.
“Cuba is the center of my life, but reconciliation is the center of my task, and I believe that today it is our turn to have reconciliation as the center of our task and we offer ourselves as a church, because of this experience we have lived, to be a space for reconciliation there in the neighborhood, there in the church, there in the smallest communities, to work in these spaces of reconciliation that are so important.”
The intimate moment of reflection then turned into a tribute in which President Diaz-Canel received a wooden cross, a plaque and a Bible from the hands of Rhode Gonzales and Raul Suarez, former presidents of the Council of Churches of Cuba. Similar gifts were also presented to the rest of the members of the presidency.
For the 80th anniversary of its foundation, a recognition was given to the Council of Churches of Cuba, which has historically maintained an attitude of respect, social participation and commitment to the Revolution. Signed by the President of the Republic, this honor was received by the Vice President of the Council of Churches of Cuba, Lydia Aguiar Batista.
In this memorable meeting, the President of the Republic also conferred the Second Degree Felix Varela Order to Pastor Raul Suarez Ramos, pastor emeritus of the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Marianao, protagonist of that historic meeting with Fidel in April 1990.
From the integrity and courage of his years, he was heard saying among emotions: “Raúl Suárez did not retire, he is in full jubilee, which means joy and happiness, which is what has given us this meeting and the next ones we will have”.
Likewise, said decoration was granted post mortem to the Very Reverend Pablo Odén Marichal Rodríguez, a man of light who did a lot for the unity in revolutionary Cuba.
“Dispose and count on what we have, for whatever you wish for the benefit of the nation”, Marcial Hernandez Salazar, president of the Free Evangelical Church, had said a short time before.
And for the benefit of the whole nation, those present then joined in a prayer for life, and prayed together, because from our diversity our many strengths are also born.
Olympics Without the Closet
Olympics Without the Closet
New generations are born with a willingness to excel admirably, and it is good that the fire of Olympus burns, without discriminating, in all hearts
Author:
Mileyda Menéndez Dávila |sentido@juventudrebelde.cu
Tuesday 03 August 2021 | 07:22:38 pm
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Tom Daley, now Olympic diving champion, knits to raise funds to help gay boys who have no support from their families. Author: Taken from the Internet Published: 03/08/2021 | 06:59 pm
Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.
–Marilyn Monroe
If there’s one thing that distinguishes Olympic competitions, it’s their exhibitionist nature. More than to beat their rivals, whatever the sport, each athlete goes out to demonstrate how far we can go in life when we set out to break the limits that someone else set before and seemed immovable.
In that spirit, records are also broken from the stands, as evidenced by the photo of British diver Tom Daley, the new Olympic champion, kintting in concentration as his teammates compete in the Aquatics Center.
The image is iconic because it confirms another challenge overcome in these Games, historic since their inception for many reasons: Tokyo 2020 is the first Olympics in which at least 130 people with homosexual or bisexual erotic orientation, or non-binary identity, and one trans person will openly compete.
Daley declared, “I am gay and an Olympic champion,” to show that these are not incompatible qualities, as has been taboo for too long in modern sport. And the knitting thing is not just a hobby: his fame and activism on Instagram allows him to sell those pieces and donate resources to shelters for gay boys with no family of their own to give them love and respect. The gold didn’t go to his head because he already had it in his heart.
This is his third Olympics and the second time he has come openly gay, an attitude that inspires more athletes to shed the fear of showing who they are in front of the world’s cameras. One less element of stress for their competing bodies and their minds, pending also pandemic.
“When I was younger I always felt like the one who was alone and different and didn’t fit in. There was something in me that was never going to be as good as society wanted me to be,” he told the Guardian. “I hope that any young LGBT person can see that no matter how alone you feel now. You are not alone. You can achieve anything.”
Triple somersault
Tokyo 2020 is not the first step, but it is the most forceful in bringing sport out of the closet of sexual prejudice. The sports magazine Outsports states that in the London 2012 Games, 23 self-declared athletes participated outside the heteronormative canons; and in Rio 2016 there were 56.
The Japanese event almost triples the number with athletes from 25 countries. To mention the most significant: from the United States there are 30 and from the United Kingdom 15. There are 12 from the Netherlands and 11 from Canada. New Zealand and Australia had nine each, and Brazil seven. And these figures do not include the technical staff and Paralympic athletes who will come later.
They are in sports as varied as swimming, basketball, canoeing, horseback riding, field hockey, golf, fencing, judo, handball, rowing, rugby, cycling, diving, boxing, BMX freestyle, soccer, softball, tennis, athletics, taekwondo, wrestling and volleyball. At first glance, we can see figures with non-binary identities, that is, that break the typical culturally constructed expectation of feminine and masculine.
And if we are talking about challenging stereotypes, one who does so in a forceful way is New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, 43, the first trans woman to compete in weightlifting. Registered as a male at birth, in 2013 she completed her physical and legal transition process. Her case has raised strong controversy, but her hormone levels meet the international requirements to compete with women in this sport, which is controversial for gender reasons.
Hubbard did not win a medal, but she was still happy to be in competition, and before the press she thanked the International Olympic Committee for reaffirming its commitment to the principles of Olympianism and making it clear “that sports is something for everyone, that it is inclusive and accessible”.
For now, trans people who take up sports competitively face complaints from those who believe that genes, bone weight or pubertal development give them certain biological advantages, especially if they compete with women. The curious thing is that many of these sportswomen or their predecessors faced similar resistance to breakthrough in sports that were considered very masculine, and proved that they could give an equally honorable and exciting show for the public, something that could also be said of Paralympic competitions.
As we have already said: if in any area society quickly applauds those who leave behind obsolete marks, it is in sports. The new generations are born with the physical and mental disposition to excel in an admirable way, and it is good that the fire of Olympus burns, without discrimination, in all hearts.
The Strength of Women with the Revolution
The Strength of Women with the Revolution (+Video)
Teresa Amarelle Boué, a member of the Political Bureau and general secretary of the FMC, told Granma that in the midst of the media misrepresentation campaign against Cuba, fighting her is among the priorities of the Federation, which will reach its 61st anniversary.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Photo: Taken from the Internet
Cuban women will always be at the side of the Revolution, in defense of the principles and rights conquered for more than six decades. This was emphasized by Teresa Amarelle Boué, member of the Political Bureau and secretary-general of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), an organization that, with that conviction, as part of its essence, will reach its 61st anniversary.
In the midst of the media misrepresentation campaign against Cuba, she referred to Granma that fighting it is among the Federation’s priorities: “We are an organization that has legal authority, a non-governmental organization, but that does not mean that we are against the Government or the leadership of the Revolution, because it was the Revolution that dignified Cuban women and that is what we defend.
“We defend the Revolution because we want that in Cuba women have the right to employment, that there are schools, free education and that our women can be more than 62% of university graduates,” she said.
In another moment of her statements, during a meeting held with the press, she highlighted the importance of the National Program for the Advancement of Women. “Women have to know what the Program proposes; this work we are doing in the communities, the laundromats we are increasing, the strategy itself on violence, which should come out in the next few days with a legal norm; the work we are doing in the Women and Family Guidance Houses.
“We must start in the communities a workshop on gender violence, and we are also working on training the Police and legal personnel on everything that has to do with women’s rights so that they are in a position to exercise a better role in this regard.”
She said that next August 23 the FMC will reach its 61st anniversary with the motivations left by the 8th Party Congress. She pointed out that they will organize dialogues among women in each of the municipalities, and the Fidel and the Revolution of Women workshops, on the occasion of the 95th birthday of the Commander in Chief, always respecting the epidemiological norms.
Among the actions to be carried out in the coming days are a process of deep community intervention to stimulate citizen participation in the communities, as well as volunteer work, special matinees and recognitions to artists, founders and outstanding women in the fight against the pandemic.
The tribute to Vilma Espín Guillois will take place on August 23 at the Second Front, in the mausoleum where her remains rest. The commemorative day will also include the presentation of the Mariana Grajales and Ana Betancourt orders, the August 23 distinction and the 60th Anniversary stamp.
U.S. people send syringes to save lives
The U.S. people send syringes to save lives, while their government promotes chaos in Cuba
Yisell Rodríguez Milán | internet@granma.cu
July 29, 2021
The paradoxes of imperialism are beyond absurd. Just as the U.S. movement in solidarity with Cuba announces the shipment of six million syringes for vaccination against COVID-19, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reports that, in order to access the latest two million dollars allocated for subversion in Cuba, counter-revolutionary mercenaries must adapt their “proposals” to reflect the events that occurred here July 11.
The U.S. government seeks to fuel confrontation, division among Cubans, and promote the many lies about Cuba circulating on the world’s principal media platforms, especially social networks.
Now, a little more than a week after that Sunday of disturbances, the USAID – the public face of the CIA – discloses that it will not change its objectives with respect to the island, and that, in addition, those requesting funding must design their proposals taking into account the current political situation, the Cuba Money Project reported.
Last June 30, USAID announced that it would allocate two million dollars to projects that “encourage” democracy and human rights in Cuba, one of the most obvious U.S. interventionist strategies around the world, and historically used against the Cuban Revolution.
In the meantime, as of July 17, some two million syringes have reached the port of Mariel, just west of Havana, from the Cuba solidarity movement in the United States – an act of love organized by Global Health Partners, with the participation of Cuban-Americans and several solidarity groups, who are continuing to collect funds to send medications, including antibiotics, painkillers, contraceptives and vitamins.
Revolutionaries
Revolutionaries
We revolutionaries are much more like those who sacrificed themselves for the Revolution than those who gave up in the effort.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
The Cuban Revolution is a political and cultural act of support for the Cuban Revolution.
The unity of Cubans is their greatest strength. Photo: Ismael Batista Ramírez
To suppose that we revolutionaries are satisfied with the situation of the country, that we have resigned ourselves and lost our dreams, is a blunder. We are not addicted to shortages, we do not applaud the shortages, we do not ignore the empty shelves or the crowded lines of which we are also part. We long for the bonanza, the good food, the well-stocked market, the full pantry; but we do not shoot at the target with our problems nor do we stay on the random surface of the crisis.
It is up to us revolutionaries to go deeper, to discover the root of the evils, to understand that it is necessary to act against those that are truly ours (the evils) in order to put a stop to them, without necessary self-criticism rising up, like a dense smokescreen, to play the game of those who have become skilled in placing all the evils in the bag of their own inefficiency.
We revolutionaries must have a greater quota of analysis, which will allow us to put the faults in the right place, without forgetting that the tactic of our enemies will always be to knock down our bush and then hold us responsible for not having the fruits. In the human instinct to find the guilty, it is not always easy to discover the real ones.
It is up to us revolutionaries to proclaim that there will be a better future, with the enormous difficulty of doing so from a stormy present. This includes the imperial harassment of our Island; and in that difficult mission, we cannot allow the waters of discouragement to sink our ship, so that others may appropriate our destiny.
We revolutionaries must resemble much more those who sacrificed themselves for the Revolution than those who gave up in the effort. There are many people in our history who overcame more complex moments than those of today without losing hope and optimism.
No one forces us, revolutionaries, to be so, and if we have assumed it, we must understand that it is not a cyclical conviction or a ship that only sails with the wind in our favor. If we are, it must always be with the same face and ready to face more than one storm.
New Worlds
New Worlds
Author: Victor Fowler | internet@granma.cuTranslated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
A few days ago, on Tuesday 27th and for a couple of hours, more than a hundred people (most of them young) exchanged ideas about the events of July 11th in the country. In a panel -organized by the La Manigua collective and transmitted in its voice chat under the leadership of psychologist and activist Karima Oliva Bello- we listened to the remarks of Verónica Medina (actress and vice-coordinator of La Madriguera), Iramís Rosique (member of the Editorial Board of La Tizza and specialist of the Network in Defense of Humanity) and José Ernesto Nováez (journalist and writer, coordinator of the Cuban Chapter of the Network in Defense of Humanity). I don’t know if they have participated in a voice chat on Telegram, a messaging application that (like the popular WhatsApp or the Cuban Todus) which allows the gathering of communities in a virtual “living room” in which they “converse” in real-time, thanks to the exchange of audio messages.
After the initial comments by the panelists, the exchange was open to the participation of more than a hundred listeners who gathered for the occasion. Then a range of ideas flowed that covered, among many other issues, aspects as diverse as the pointing out of errors in the political and/or cultural work within disadvantaged populations; assessments of the relevance or error of having eliminated spaces for collective development such as the scholarship system or the pioneer camps; the substitution of political work (discursive, explanatory, dialogic, pedagogical) for superficial administrative vision (which stops at the management of figures, flows and operations); the need to undertake a profound renovation of structures of popular power such as the CDRs, the FMC and the Poder Popular itself; the obligation for the state and political apparatuses to continuously revive their interactions with the citizens. This is needed so that, in the midst of a relentless economic, political, ideological and cultural war against Cuban socialism, any sign of estrangement, distance or alienation between the population and these directive bodies is prevented.
In addition, there is the need to reinvent the discourses and ways of communicating; the request to eliminate any demand for an active revolutionary policy that continuously rectifies problems of vulnerability, poverty, marginality and their cultural, behavioral, social and educational consequences, social integration and personal fulfillment; the need to increase the participation and, in general, the leading role of young people in society, whether in concrete actions or in the reflection and dissemination of new ideas; the demands on the mass media regarding the importance of showing a more active role, as well as greater immediacy and depth in the analysis and dissemination of the country’s problems, the continuous presence of such problems/demands in the various party instances, the efforts bu State agencies to solve or mitigate them and, most importantly, the placement in the foreground of the communities’ responses; the need to change models of action and/or communication to make the fight against corruption, state bureaucracy, “campaigning” and the weaknesses of the media itself more transparent.
A day earlier, on July 25, this same voice chat had connected us live with the arrival at the Capitol in Washington of the members of Puentes de Amor, a project of solidarity with Cuba and the fight against the blockade, coordinated by Carlos Lazo in the United States. Weeks before, in another transmission, also made from the space of social networks, the collectives of Bufa Subversiva, Brújula Sur, Cimarronas, Horizontes Blog and La Tizza met to create the “collaborative broadcasting channel” Malas compañías. There they developed another very interesting discussion, which they titled Comunidad lgtbiq+ en Cuba. Where are we and where are we going?
These are names of new spaces for the presentation and discussion of ideas, as well as actors to postulate them. In communicational terms, the transformation leads to the obligation to assimilate and produce for a world in which greater speed, diversity and integration between text, audio, still images and video messages are imposed. In addition to the above, a world where exchanges become more challenging, captivating and interactive the greater the dialogicity.
On the one hand, I am interested in listening, and I confess to having enjoyed these exchanges of opinion in territories that require me to abandon my clumsiness in the handling of digital communication technologies, and to quickly incorporate myself into the many options offered by the universe of social networks, blogs, websites, podcasts, voice chats and other alternatives for establishing contact. I believe that there is an enormous potential that political and mass organizations, state entities, neighborhood structures and the most diverse projects of social transformation need to assume, integrate into their work and daily practices, and make the critical analysis of problems, communicative transparency, participation and social dialogue in the country increasingly diverse, extensive, deep and significant in its transformative character.
JCOVID-19 in Cuba, July 2021
July, the most critical month for COVID-19 in Cuba
In the 31 days of the last month, the nation counted 200,398 positive cases of COVID-19, which represents 149,776 cases more than in June, which had been the worst period until then.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Risk perception in the population is fundamental to contain the dangerous wave of COVID-19 that the country is facing. Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus
The spread of more contagious and virulent genetic variants of SARS-COV-2, together with other factors related to the non-compliance with sanitary protocols and the loss of risk perception, caused in the month of July an epidemiological scenario unprecedented in the entire stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba.
In the 31 days of the finalized month, the nation counted 200,398 positive cases of COVID-19, which represents 149,776 cases more than in June, which had been the worst period until then.
On average, 6,464 positive patients were registered per day, with a peak of 9,747 confirmed cases on July 31 and figures exceeding 8,000 cases for several days, which strained the health system in some parts of the country, with the consequent shortage of medical supplies.
In July, 1,553 people died of the disease (1,216 more than in the previous month), also the highest number reported, including the unfortunate deaths of pregnant women, postpartum women and a 12-year-old girl.
At the end of July 31, the island had a high incidence rate of 1,056.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The province with the highest incidence rate was Matanzas (2,861.4), a territory that went through the worst health crisis of the period, with over 3,000 cases, but which, with the efforts that have been made, has already begun to control the situation.
It is followed by Ciego de Avila (2 500.1), Cienfuegos (2 423.4) and Guantanamo (1 625.7). The rest of the provinces, although they have an index below 1,000, report high numbers of transmission, with the exception of the special municipality Isla de la Juventud, which maintains control of the disease.
Induced “spontaneity” (+Video)
Induced “spontaneity” (+Video)
If the media attack under which Cuba is living these days is unprecedented in its scope, due to the technological potential of the adversaries and their growing concerted actions from various geographical points, it is not strange either, because the country has always been in the trenches of a psychological warfare.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Photo: Osval
Leaflets in which the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, with suitcases and gold in his hands, escaped from Cuba in a sinking ship, were prepared and printed in 1962 by specialists in psychological warfare of the United States Army. Although they were not used in the end, because other experts considered them counterproductive at the time, they were part of the arsenal of propaganda resources planned to support the military invasion that the government of the North American nation included in the response options during the so-called Missile Crisis.
A few hours after the recent riots, which were undoubtedly orchestrated from abroad, a Twitter “user” posted that Raul Castro had fled to Venezuela, and the note went “viral”. It did not matter that the photo of the tweet was taken in 2015, when the then-Cuban President arrived in San José, Costa Rica, to attend a Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
Its purpose was to contribute to fix the opinion matrix around a chaos originated by a “legitimate national uprising” against the Cuban government, due to the mismanagement of the pandemic and the lack of medicines, food and electricity.
If the media attack under which Cuba is living these days is unprecedented in its scope, due to the technological potential of the adversaries and their growing concerted actions from various geographical points, it is not strange either, because the country has always been in the trenches of a psychological war.
The example of the drawings that had Fidel as a target of disinformation appears in the book De la octavilla a la sicotecnología, by Emiliano Lima Mesa and Mercedes Cardoso, scholars of the psychological warfare procedures used by the United States in the preparation and development of armed conflicts.
Both researchers say that Cuba has suffered the largest and most prolonged psychological warfare ever carried out by the United States against any country. “It has involved both psychological and propaganda actions and has manifested itself in the economic blockade, support for mercenary gangs, biological warfare, military aggressions, sabotage and assassination attempts on the main leaders, to cite just a few examples,” they write.
In making specifics on the propagandistic level, they state that it has manifested itself in newspapers, books, posters, flyers, rumors and radio and television broadcasts to spread lies and slander against the Revolution.
The referenced book is indispensable to learn the details of the persistent and sinister behavior of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, whose purpose is subverting the social order in our country. Perhaps, in a new edition, in the chapter Against Cuba, the media misdeeds of the social networks in the Internet era should be included. The work was published in 2003 and, since then, the adversarial struggle against the Cuban Revolution has had the Internet as one of its main scenarios.
It is fair to recall that, in this same newspaper, colleague Raúl Antonio Capote wrote that as of 2007, the CIA considered it a matter of prime importance to guarantee access to the Internet in Cuba. The nefarious agency’s idea was to use the illegal networks created on the island at that time, for which they evaluated the possibility of connecting them to digital television, which would be the possible means of access to the network of networks.
The promoters of the program, Capote pointed out, ordered to put in Cuban territory ten BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) equipments. “One was given to a CIA agent in Havana to send daily, in a secure way, information on the capacity of MININT and Mincom to detect illegal satellite TV connection antennas. They also required information on movements of FAR troops in certain regions of the country, and characterization of leaders and cadres of the Revolution”.
In the route that led to the riots of last July 11, there are many other traces of U.S. intelligence agencies and entities created by them to act against Cuba. Thus, among the most recent are the events of San Isidro and the concentration of young people in front of the Ministry of Culture headquarters in Havana.
Both cases were portrayed as an internal issue, due, among other things, to new currents of thought and dissatisfaction of young intellectuals and artists unable to give free rein to their creative spirit. But when analyzing the causes, if the nonconformity to certain regulations and the superficiality with which some officials act is real, it is impossible to ignore that in the period 2008-2012 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored the non-governmental organization (NGO) Creative Associates, which set out to recruit young people belonging to what is identified as Cuban counterculture.
In January 2012, in one of the reports justifying the expenditures, the NGO cited several achievements of its work, including a network of more than 30 independent leaders in all Cuban provinces and the solid establishment of youth and countercultural groups.
Faced with the failure of the immediate objectives they intended with the recent unrest, USAID has responded with a call for more subversion projects in Cuba. The new sum amounts to $2 million dollars, and is being offered for democracy promotion activities. After all, for identical purposes, the agency, along with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was a channeling mechanism for much of the $250 million that in the last two decades the U.S. government devoted to undermining socialism in Cuba.
By the way, Samantha Power, the new director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is a character to keep an eye on. A former U.S. ambassador in the Obama administration and an expert in diplomacy and climate change issues, she has also stood out for promoting her country’s active intervention in other nations for supposedly humanitarian reasons.
That position is confirmed in an article published by The New York Times, on April 15 of this year, when Lara Jakes exposed details of Samantha Power’s confirmation hearing in the Senate. On that occasion, writes the author, Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, asked the official, “Are you willing to admit that the interventions in Libya and Syria that you advocated were a mistake?”
“Power did not,” the journalist said, transcribing her words: “When these situations arise, it’s almost a question of lesser evils; the options are very difficult”.
Could the requests for humanitarian intervention for Cuba made by the same promoters of the vandalism riots be the result of coincidence; the same ones who, in desperation, want to make people believe that chaos reigns in the country?
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