HAVANA TIMES editor trashes Cuba by Walter Lippmann (October 26, 2009)

HAVANA TIMES editor trashes Cuba
by Walter Lippmann, October 26, 2009

HAVANA TIMES has been celebrating its first anniversary in recent days. The site contains a variety of articles, many lovely photographs, and a range of comments and analyses of life on the island. Among the best of its services are the translation of reports from such sources as the Inter Press Service as well as other documents which add to our knowledge of Cuba. There's much of value to be found at HAVANA TIMES. I look at it daily.

Unfortunately, that's not all one finds at HAVANA TIMES. There's more than a little chaff along with the wheat.

The site increasingly contains a dismaying array of commentaries by unhappy, dissatisfied individuals whose focus seems to be on how rotten life is in Cuba, and on how badly they think they have been treated by the Cuban authorities. Most are Cubans, a few are foreigners. The foreigners add their largely negative voices through the letters approved for posting

Circles Robinson, the editor of HAVANA TIMES, living outside of Cuba since June 2009, has decided to come out with his own laundry-list of complaints about how, in his opinion, he was mistreated during his years working on the island. His declaration is reproduced below.

Robinson says he was never told why his work contract wasn't renewed, but his statements below could not be any clearer. Why would anyone choose to work in the circumstances in which he says he found himself?

This comes as the culmination of a process with Robinson which has been going on for some time. The HAVANA TIMES website which he directs and edits (now from Nicaragua whose Sandinista-led government he bitterly opposes) has become something of a gathering-ground for unhappy people with complaints of one or another kind. Robinson has now publicly, added his voice to this unhappy chorus.

While Robinson complains about what he says is his mistreatment, he omits some notable elements of his Cuba experience. As a foreign technician, he lived in Cuba for seven or more years RENT FREE. He received a salary something like FIVE TIMES greater than his Cuban colleagues, including his supervisor at his job. He had a libreta and so could purchase food in the heavily-subsidized system the Cuban population has access to. His entire family (a wife and two children) benefitted from these arrangements. As part of their compensation, foreign technicians are eligible to receive a paid round-trip plane ticket to their country of origin every two years. Not a bad deal, actually. I've no idea if he ever used it.

About that rent-free apartment, which I visited more than once. It wasn't some run-down public housing project. There were three large bedrooms overlooking the Caribbean sea in the manicured Miramar section of the city where many embassies are located. He also had a telephone, as not all Cubans do, and also Internet access, as not all Cubans do. Some of that was free because of his employment and he was even able to avoid the island's challenging transportation problems they let him work at home telecommuting as we call it. And they don't let everyone work at home, either.

Cuba is a blockaded country, and that makes for some peculiar social and political problems. Some of these are reported in the Cuban media, and others aren't. HAVANA TIMES provides some additional informative looks at life in Cuba's capital city.

Alas, the informative is often more than counter-balanced by the sense of dispiritedness and disenchantment which some of its authors demonstrate. Some seem to have forgotten the blockade and its effects.

More than once, I asked Robinson, what his political attitude was toward the Cuban Revolution? Did he support it or not? He repeatedly declined to answer this simple question. I took his silence to reflect his attitude toward the Cuban process. If he ever supported it in the past, he no longer does.

No one has a right to live in Cuba unless they are Cuban by birth or they receive citizenship through work or marriage. Foreigners (I'm one as well) who want to help out can do so, and their assistance is appreciated. But they have to always keep in mind that such help is an adjunct capacity.

Our responsibility is to help out, and not to try to teach the Cubans how to run their country better than they do (or don't!). The CubaNews list tries to provide a wide range of information, to educate those working towards the normalization of US-Cuban relations. I trust that, providing information like this it helps the Cuban process. Yet I always keep in mind my vantage point is that of a foreign friend, not a Cuban or would-be Cuban.

Cubans are often very frustrated by the things they have to put up with in daily life. And there is no shortage of hassles and problems. Most were born or they choose to remain there, or some return voluntarily after living abroad.

But foreigners, and especially foreigners from the country doing everything it can do bring down Cuba's system (that's the United States of America, Circles Robinson's home country), really need to keep conscious of that at every moment they are in Cuba.

When Cubans do something I don't like, and that does happen sometimes, my first response is not how can I protest loudest, but why did they do that? Even more so, when the Cubans do things with which I don't agree or approve of, I always try to keep two things in mind:

First, it's THEIR country.

Second, THEY have to live with the consequences of their decisions. If I don't like something which the Cubans do, I can always just go the airport and leave because I have a home elsewhere. Cubans don't have those options (neither do most Latin Americans - it's not an exclusively Cuban political question but an economic one), and it seems Circles Robinson has forgotten this rather elementary factor in of his political calculations.

Robinson is from the United States of America, the country whose government is trying to convince the world how rotten Cuba is, and doing what it can to overthrow the Cuban system.

There's plenty to report on, both positive and negative, in the official Cuban media, and beyond it, and more which can easily be written about from personal experience. Including the many very difficult problems in Cuban life.

However, anyone who thinks it will be possible for a foreigner to build an organized platform telling the world how rotten Cuban life is, from a Havana-based blog, will, either sooner or later, find out otherwise.

Even LESS will such activities also be possible while receiving free housing, heavily subsidized food, free Internet access, free telephone service and the various other amenities which go with living and working in Cuba.

Robinson presents as something of an innocent abroad, a well-meaning naif simply trying to teach these less-than-competent Cubans how to better run their country. He, of course, knows better...

Also, since he has placed these comments in the "About Us" section of HAVANA TIMES, the reader will assume that this sense of personal injury informs his editorial decision-making with HAVANA TIMES.

Perhaps he's contemplating an expose on how one more unfortunate Yuma (Cuban slang term for individuals from the United States) was mistreated by those damned ungrateful Cubans while he, Robinson, was only trying to help them to do better? It seems that's the way Circles Robinson has decided to "celebrate" the first anniversary of HAVANA TIMES.

HAVANA TIMES continues posting some useful, interesting and informative material. But the quality is uneven and so the readers who use it need to do so with great care.

		HAVANA TIMES editor trashes Cuba by Walter Lippmann, October 26, 2009 HAVANA TIMES has been celebrating its first anniversary in recent days. The site contains a variety of articles, many lovely photographs, and a range of comments and analyses of life on the island. Among the best of its services are the translation of reports from such sources as the Inter Press Service as well as other documents which add to our knowledge of Cuba. There's much of value to be found at HAVANA TIMES. I look at it daily. Unfortunately, that's not all one finds at HAVANA TIMES. There's more than a little chaff along with the wheat. The site increasingly contains a dismaying array of commentaries by unhappy, dissatisfied individuals whose focus seems to be on how rotten life is in Cuba, and on how badly they think they have been treated by the Cuban authorities. Most are Cubans, a few are foreigners. The foreigners add their largely negative voices through the letters approved for posting Circles Robinson, the editor of HAVANA TIMES, living outside of Cuba since June 2009, has decided to come out with his own laundry-list of complaints about how, in his opinion, he was mistreated during his years working on the island. His declaration is reproduced below. Robinson says he was never told why his work contract wasn't renewed, but his statements below could not be any clearer. Why would anyone choose to work in the circumstances in which he says he found himself? This comes as the culmination of a process with Robinson which has been going on for some time. The HAVANA TIMES website which he directs and edits (now from Nicaragua whose Sandinista-led government he bitterly opposes) has become something of a gathering-ground for unhappy people with complaints of one or another kind. Robinson has now publicly, added his voice to this unhappy chorus. While Robinson complains about what he says is his mistreatment, he omits some notable elements of his Cuba experience. As a foreign technician, he lived in Cuba for seven or more years RENT FREE. He received a salary something like FIVE TIMES greater than his Cuban colleagues, including his supervisor at his job. He had a libreta and so could purchase food in the heavily-subsidized system the Cuban population has access to. His entire family (a wife and two children) benefitted from these arrangements. As part of their compensation, foreign technicians are eligible to receive a paid round-trip plane ticket to their country of origin every two years. Not a bad deal, actually. I've no idea if he ever used it. About that rent-free apartment, which I visited more than once. It wasn't some run-down public housing project. There were three large bedrooms overlooking the Caribbean sea in the manicured Miramar section of the city where many embassies are located. He also had a telephone, as not all Cubans do, and also Internet access, as not all Cubans do. Some of that was free because of his employment and he was even able to avoid the island's challenging transportation problems they let him work at home telecommuting as we call it. And they don't let everyone work at home, either. Cuba is a blockaded country, and that makes for some peculiar social and political problems. Some of these are reported in the Cuban media, and others aren't. HAVANA TIMES provides some additional informative looks at life in Cuba's capital city. Alas, the informative is often more than counter-balanced by the sense of dispiritedness and disenchantment which some of its authors demonstrate. Some seem to have forgotten the blockade and its effects. More than once, I asked Robinson, what his political attitude was toward the Cuban Revolution? Did he support it or not? He repeatedly declined to answer this simple question. I took his silence to reflect his attitude toward the Cuban process. If he ever supported it in the past, he no longer does. No one has a right to live in Cuba unless they are Cuban by birth or they receive citizenship through work or marriage. Foreigners (I'm one as well) who want to help out can do so, and their assistance is appreciated. But they have to always keep in mind that such help is an adjunct capacity. Our responsibility is to help out, and not to try to teach the Cubans how to run their country better than they do (or don't!). The CubaNews list tries to provide a wide range of information, to educate those working towards the normalization of US-Cuban relations. I trust that, providing information like this it helps the Cuban process. Yet I always keep in mind my vantage point is that of a foreign friend, not a Cuban or would-be Cuban. Cubans are often very frustrated by the things they have to put up with in daily life. And there is no shortage of hassles and problems. Most were born or they choose to remain there, or some return voluntarily after living abroad. But foreigners, and especially foreigners from the country doing everything it can do bring down Cuba's system (that's the United States of America, Circles Robinson's home country), really need to keep conscious of that at every moment they are in Cuba. When Cubans do something I don't like, and that does happen sometimes, my first response is not how can I protest loudest, but why did they do that? Even more so, when the Cubans do things with which I don't agree or approve of, I always try to keep two things in mind: First, it's THEIR country. Second, THEY have to live with the consequences of their decisions. If I don't like something which the Cubans do, I can always just go the airport and leave because I have a home elsewhere. Cubans don't have those options (neither do most Latin Americans - it's not an exclusively Cuban political question but an economic one), and it seems Circles Robinson has forgotten this rather elementary factor in of his political calculations. Robinson is from the United States of America, the country whose government is trying to convince the world how rotten Cuba is, and doing what it can to overthrow the Cuban system. There's plenty to report on, both positive and negative, in the official Cuban media, and beyond it, and more which can easily be written about from personal experience. Including the many very difficult problems in Cuban life. However, anyone who thinks it will be possible for a foreigner to build an organized platform telling the world how rotten Cuban life is, from a Havana-based blog, will, either sooner or later, find out otherwise. Even LESS will such activities also be possible while receiving free housing, heavily subsidized food, free Internet access, free telephone service and the various other amenities which go with living and working in Cuba. Robinson presents as something of an innocent abroad, a well-meaning naif simply trying to teach these less-than-competent Cubans how to better run their country. He, of course, knows better... Also, since he has placed these comments in the "About Us" section of HAVANA TIMES, the reader will assume that this sense of personal injury informs his editorial decision-making with HAVANA TIMES. Perhaps he's contemplating an expose on how one more unfortunate Yuma (Cuban slang term for individuals from the United States) was mistreated by those damned ungrateful Cubans while he, Robinson, was only trying to help them to do better? It seems that's the way Circles Robinson has decided to "celebrate" the first anniversary of HAVANA TIMES. HAVANA TIMES continues posting some useful, interesting and informative material. But the quality is uneven and so the readers who use it need to do so with great care.
		Havana Times: The First Anniversary October 15, 2009 By Circles Robinson http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=15046 Havana Sunset, photo: Caridad HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 15 - One year ago I was on vacation in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, sitting in a friend’s apartment during the second week of October editing the diary posts and features that would be the first materials to appear in Havana Times. In Spain, our Cuban webmaster was also putting the finishing touches on the initial design. The idea to start the site actually began years back at my former Havana translating job, where several of us felt the need to take some initiative to get out some better writing from Cuba in English. We believed this would give a broader look at the different realities and complexities of the country, hitting on both its accomplishments and challenges. We wanted to get away from the hell presented by the foreign mainstream press and the heaven described by the Cuban media. We first considered a small-format print publication to be made available at hotels on the island, but starting a new publication without institutional support-plus the economic difficulties and bureaucratic controls-made that proposition appear next to impossible. A few years later, frustration finally pushed us to give it a try, but online. Taking part in several critical discussions between Cuban journalists about the press in their country convinced me that it was time for action. I hoped I would have some supporters and was well aware there would be detractors. Running a site from inside Cuba is a no easy matter due to the slow dial-up phone Internet connection, if you have one. I had that privilege through my job and as a member of the Cuban Journalists Association (UPEC). For those fond of the figures, the connection in Cuba is between 16 and 50 kbs, depending on where you are and the state of the phone lines. Other countries had a similar situation one to two decades ago, but most now have much-improved technology. Cuba has lagged behind, officially due to the US blockade, but some believe a lack of desire to offer widespread Internet use is another key factor. The vast majority of the people writing on the site are Cubans who do not have Internet access, and many could only see the site and their published materials when they dropped by my apartment. Some have e-mail, which facilitates sending in their writing, but not Internet. No Permission, Work Place Blues Contrary to what some might think, I didn’t ask anyone for permission to put out HT, and have never had anyone from the Communist Party or the government directly telling me what I should or shouldn’t publish. Nonetheless, when one of our writers was summarily fired from his job as a professor, one of the reasons given was his writing in Havana Times. A student was close to being expelled for the same reason. I also had problems at my work place, which I was dependent on for my residency in Cuba. My boss had been an early advocate of taking initiative with an alternative publication and even collaborated briefly at the beginning of HT. However, once things got off the ground, he threatened me several times, implying that by having started Havana Times without permission from the center’s director -which I never would have received- I should turn a blind eye to his unprofessional behavior at work. Ultimately, the ugly office scene went from bad to worse, involving my refusal to go along with the nepotism, corruption and poor management practices of my boss, which led to my yearly contract not being renewed, although I was never told why. Having been a “vanguard worker” of the center didn’t even entitle me to a meeting to hear my accusers, much less defend myself. The ex-boss is one of those “cadres” we’ve talked about previously in HT who are causing so much damage to the Cuban Revolution. Their abuses of power discourage others - especially young people- to take an active part. They stifle initiative from the rank-and-file while parroting “revolutionary discourse” to impress their higher ups, but gear their efforts to defending personal privileges and perks…kind of like the overly severe preacher who has a dark personal life that needs hiding. Increased Readership, Now Spanish Too As Havana Times celebrates its first anniversary, we continue an unabated rise in readership and I am editing the materials from Nicaragua, where I have lived since my Cuban residency ran out in June. The Cubans who make up this publication have remained quite committed, some increasing their writing frequency considerably. E-mail, be it their own or a friend or colleagues, continues to make it possible for the writers to get their materials to me for publishing. For the last couple months we have been receiving between two and three thousand hits a day. Now that we just began putting out a Spanish version, readership has immediately increased another ten to fifteen percent. Reader comments are also up considerably. I sincerely hope that Havana Times has filled a space for you and has contributed to a better understanding of a highly unique country with the potential to show humanity that “a better world is possible.”