Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Political hurricanes
Cuba is getting hammered by hurricane Ike. This couldn’t be worse. The damn thing hit Santiago de Cuba (major city in the South East) and then travelled all along the length of the island to only come out just to the west of Havana.
A quick lesson on hurricanes: When eye is to the west of you….you’re in trouble. When it is to the east of you, it’s not that bad. Havana is in trouble. 2 million evacuated, the power is off, as is the gas and the running water. But at least they’re prepared.
And that’s the thing about hurricanes in Cuba, they are often incredibly prepared. Cuba has somehow defied Mother Nature, and typically the storms are not deadly events. The problem is the clean up afterwards. That takes time, resources and money to get it done, and there we have problems.
The U.S. has offered aid to Cuba during this terrible hurricane season. Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs expresses "his profoundest concern at the destruction caused by Hurricane Gustav," and affirms that the United States is prepared to offer immediate and initial "humanitarian aid" to the people of Cuba in aid supplies via an appropriate international aid organization."
Sounds pretty fair. But that suggestion of humanitarian aid is where the Cubans say “no thanks.” They have seen what humanitarian aid looks like from the United States in other countries, and time and time again it is an open door to get military personnel on the ground in a post-disaster region and to flood the local economy with U.S. foodstuffs that undermine local growing capacity.
Shannon also asked the Cuban government to allow a humanitarian assessment group to visit the island to inspect the affected areas and make a suitable evaluation of the damage.
Ooops. This is a bit of an insult to the Cubans, who again are experts at surviving and recovering from hurricanes. The official response from Havana went something like this:
“Cuba does not need the assistance of a humanitarian assessment group to evaluate the damage and needs, because it has sufficient specialists who have virtually completed that task.
Moreover, the Foreign Ministry note says that if the U.S. government really has the will to cooperate with the Cuban people in the face of the tragedy of the hurricane, it would ask it to allow the sale of essential materials to Cuba, and to suspend the restrictions that are preventing U.S. companies from offering private commercial credits to our country in order to purchase foodstuffs in the United States.”
Good capitalists those Cubans are wanting to buy food and medicine at fair prices and even asking for credit to do so. Who wouldn’t win in that situation? The Cubans purchase U.S. goods, some U.S. businesses do well, more material resources get to Cuba, and there are no mucky politics about the politics of humanitarian intervention.
Unfortunately, the U.S. is less about doing good business and more about hegemony these days. And even though Senator Obama asked for a suspension – for no less than 90 days – of the restrictions on travel and the sending of remittances and aid to their families by Cubans resident in the United States, the last vestiges of the Bush administration remain deaf.
Obama’s fighting gravity on this one, just as he is on most issues. The popular phrase after the U.S. – Mexico war in the 19th century was, “we take nothing by conquest…thank God.” Today, it’s the only way American interests do business.
A quick lesson on hurricanes: When eye is to the west of you….you’re in trouble. When it is to the east of you, it’s not that bad. Havana is in trouble. 2 million evacuated, the power is off, as is the gas and the running water. But at least they’re prepared.
And that’s the thing about hurricanes in Cuba, they are often incredibly prepared. Cuba has somehow defied Mother Nature, and typically the storms are not deadly events. The problem is the clean up afterwards. That takes time, resources and money to get it done, and there we have problems.
The U.S. has offered aid to Cuba during this terrible hurricane season. Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs expresses "his profoundest concern at the destruction caused by Hurricane Gustav," and affirms that the United States is prepared to offer immediate and initial "humanitarian aid" to the people of Cuba in aid supplies via an appropriate international aid organization."
Sounds pretty fair. But that suggestion of humanitarian aid is where the Cubans say “no thanks.” They have seen what humanitarian aid looks like from the United States in other countries, and time and time again it is an open door to get military personnel on the ground in a post-disaster region and to flood the local economy with U.S. foodstuffs that undermine local growing capacity.
Shannon also asked the Cuban government to allow a humanitarian assessment group to visit the island to inspect the affected areas and make a suitable evaluation of the damage.
Ooops. This is a bit of an insult to the Cubans, who again are experts at surviving and recovering from hurricanes. The official response from Havana went something like this:
“Cuba does not need the assistance of a humanitarian assessment group to evaluate the damage and needs, because it has sufficient specialists who have virtually completed that task.
Moreover, the Foreign Ministry note says that if the U.S. government really has the will to cooperate with the Cuban people in the face of the tragedy of the hurricane, it would ask it to allow the sale of essential materials to Cuba, and to suspend the restrictions that are preventing U.S. companies from offering private commercial credits to our country in order to purchase foodstuffs in the United States.”
Good capitalists those Cubans are wanting to buy food and medicine at fair prices and even asking for credit to do so. Who wouldn’t win in that situation? The Cubans purchase U.S. goods, some U.S. businesses do well, more material resources get to Cuba, and there are no mucky politics about the politics of humanitarian intervention.
Unfortunately, the U.S. is less about doing good business and more about hegemony these days. And even though Senator Obama asked for a suspension – for no less than 90 days – of the restrictions on travel and the sending of remittances and aid to their families by Cubans resident in the United States, the last vestiges of the Bush administration remain deaf.
Obama’s fighting gravity on this one, just as he is on most issues. The popular phrase after the U.S. – Mexico war in the 19th century was, “we take nothing by conquest…thank God.” Today, it’s the only way American interests do business.
Labels: aid, capitalism, Cuba, hegemony, Hurricane
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Couch surfing in Havana
Dear folks,
I’m so very sorry for missing our fourth birthday. I have been in Havana, subsisting without pants (gracias a Air Canada for loosing my bags for four days) and without confirmed accommodation (gracias a onslaught of pasty-middle-class tourists that sold out all of Cuba’s hotels). So I do apologize for not being around, and I hope that the lads saved me some birthday cake, while I was couch surfing in Havana. Mind you, I know that Yamis is a guy who likes his cake, so I won’t be disappointed if it is all gone.
By now you’ve heard the news. Fidel Castro is no longer governing the country. It’s official now. The truth of the matter is that he has not governed it for close to two years, and some of the most important economic and social programs have been deployed since 2002 without his direct supervision.
I was in Havana when the news of Fidel’s retirement came. And when it came? Nothing. Not a single thing out of the ordinary. The sun rose, people went to work, and life carried on. After all, the real good-bye Fidel party took place in December 2006 in the form of a delayed 80th birthday party.
Not to gloat, but this is exactly what I said (August 02, 2006) would happen here on this blog. Did the world pay attention? Nope.
On February 19th, a CNN reporter, at three in the morning, was seen on a deserted street in old Havana. He was bantering something to the extent that, “Yes, I’m standing here in the middle of Havana, and it is still pretty quiet, because everyone is still asleep. We are waiting for the onslaught of chaos to ensue tomorrow morning when people wake up and read the papers.”
For 50 years now the Western Media has forecasted the mass upheaval of Cuban society with the departure of Fidel Castro. The U.S. State Department has thought the same. Even the CIA believed it so, and with multiple assassination attempts against Fidel, they hoped that the entire society would fall open to the warm, and glowing, embrace of U.S. Capitalism.
These people are truly stupid. They are stupid in the sense that they have not learned a single thing about Cuban society or its politics for about half a century. And it came down to some poor CNN reporter standing in the deserted street with his dick in the wind trying to convince the world that the counter revolution was about ready to bleed out of the walls.
To me, this is a fascinating time in the sense of watching how the western media handles the normalcy of the post-Castro era. How will they manage to back-pedal on so many years of false prophecy?
And what of the public imagination? So many people in Canada tell me that they want to go to Cuba “before Castro dies.” Well, there’s still time for that. Even the loveable cab driver that took me to Montréal’s airport told me of such personal desire.
It is a little worrisome to see how unequipped media and popular perception is in understanding Cuba, and even the world we live in. We could dig deeper into this, but it largely comes down to how people see orchestrated and monumental movements as the moments of a society’s change rather than an infinite series of presents that all, in some way, create an unfolding path of change.
I’m so very sorry for missing our fourth birthday. I have been in Havana, subsisting without pants (gracias a Air Canada for loosing my bags for four days) and without confirmed accommodation (gracias a onslaught of pasty-middle-class tourists that sold out all of Cuba’s hotels). So I do apologize for not being around, and I hope that the lads saved me some birthday cake, while I was couch surfing in Havana. Mind you, I know that Yamis is a guy who likes his cake, so I won’t be disappointed if it is all gone.
By now you’ve heard the news. Fidel Castro is no longer governing the country. It’s official now. The truth of the matter is that he has not governed it for close to two years, and some of the most important economic and social programs have been deployed since 2002 without his direct supervision.
I was in Havana when the news of Fidel’s retirement came. And when it came? Nothing. Not a single thing out of the ordinary. The sun rose, people went to work, and life carried on. After all, the real good-bye Fidel party took place in December 2006 in the form of a delayed 80th birthday party.
Not to gloat, but this is exactly what I said (August 02, 2006) would happen here on this blog. Did the world pay attention? Nope.
On February 19th, a CNN reporter, at three in the morning, was seen on a deserted street in old Havana. He was bantering something to the extent that, “Yes, I’m standing here in the middle of Havana, and it is still pretty quiet, because everyone is still asleep. We are waiting for the onslaught of chaos to ensue tomorrow morning when people wake up and read the papers.”
For 50 years now the Western Media has forecasted the mass upheaval of Cuban society with the departure of Fidel Castro. The U.S. State Department has thought the same. Even the CIA believed it so, and with multiple assassination attempts against Fidel, they hoped that the entire society would fall open to the warm, and glowing, embrace of U.S. Capitalism.
These people are truly stupid. They are stupid in the sense that they have not learned a single thing about Cuban society or its politics for about half a century. And it came down to some poor CNN reporter standing in the deserted street with his dick in the wind trying to convince the world that the counter revolution was about ready to bleed out of the walls.
To me, this is a fascinating time in the sense of watching how the western media handles the normalcy of the post-Castro era. How will they manage to back-pedal on so many years of false prophecy?
And what of the public imagination? So many people in Canada tell me that they want to go to Cuba “before Castro dies.” Well, there’s still time for that. Even the loveable cab driver that took me to Montréal’s airport told me of such personal desire.
It is a little worrisome to see how unequipped media and popular perception is in understanding Cuba, and even the world we live in. We could dig deeper into this, but it largely comes down to how people see orchestrated and monumental movements as the moments of a society’s change rather than an infinite series of presents that all, in some way, create an unfolding path of change.
Labels: Cuba, Fidel Castro, media
Is John McCain dumber than George W. Bush? Bobert: “Probably so!”
The Republican front-runner, John McCain, is truly stupid. This man is so dumb that he cannot even tell who he has been tortured by. The man was a captive during the Vietnam War, and while undergoing a series of abuses, he somehow figured that Cubans had a role in beating him in a Vietnamese prison.
I don’t mean to play the race card here, but I’m pretty sure that most people, even at first glance, can tell the difference between a gentleman from Vietnam and a gentleman from Cuba. But not John McCain.
Now, we could run a quick survey through Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, to see if torturees know who their torturers are. My guess is that it would be a unanimous, “yes, we know who is torturing us.”
And this is why John McCain is possibly dumber than George W. Bush. At least Bush can hang an Ivy League diploma on his wall and take credit for one of the greatest acts of manufactoring myth and consent in the American Public since Pearl Harbour.
McCain can’t even tell the difference between Tiếng Việt nam and Español. Because there would be no way of getting this confused in the midst of the Vietnam War. There were only a handful of Cuban doctors assisting with the North Vietnamese army in the 1970s, and no formal diplomatic relationships were established with the two countries until the mid-1970s. Hence, the exchange of Cuban personnel, which has always been grounded through diplomatic channels with foreign nations, to Vietnam began after McCain spent his time in the "Hanoi Hilton," (as it was nick-named) and even then, Cuban personnel were not in combat, or police roles.
It’s one thing for the republican front-runner to tell fibs, and have Bobert make fun of him and show him wrong, but the hypocrisy of this man and the Republican Party is certainly another thing. Pointing fingers at Cuba for torture? How about pointing your finger no further than the current administration?
It is a serious fucking mystery to me as to why the entire Bush Administration is not in jail, the U.S. society is not in a state of burning revolution and the Republican Party is not permanently disbanded.
I don’t mean to play the race card here, but I’m pretty sure that most people, even at first glance, can tell the difference between a gentleman from Vietnam and a gentleman from Cuba. But not John McCain.
Now, we could run a quick survey through Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, to see if torturees know who their torturers are. My guess is that it would be a unanimous, “yes, we know who is torturing us.”
And this is why John McCain is possibly dumber than George W. Bush. At least Bush can hang an Ivy League diploma on his wall and take credit for one of the greatest acts of manufactoring myth and consent in the American Public since Pearl Harbour.
McCain can’t even tell the difference between Tiếng Việt nam and Español. Because there would be no way of getting this confused in the midst of the Vietnam War. There were only a handful of Cuban doctors assisting with the North Vietnamese army in the 1970s, and no formal diplomatic relationships were established with the two countries until the mid-1970s. Hence, the exchange of Cuban personnel, which has always been grounded through diplomatic channels with foreign nations, to Vietnam began after McCain spent his time in the "Hanoi Hilton," (as it was nick-named) and even then, Cuban personnel were not in combat, or police roles.
It’s one thing for the republican front-runner to tell fibs, and have Bobert make fun of him and show him wrong, but the hypocrisy of this man and the Republican Party is certainly another thing. Pointing fingers at Cuba for torture? How about pointing your finger no further than the current administration?
It is a serious fucking mystery to me as to why the entire Bush Administration is not in jail, the U.S. society is not in a state of burning revolution and the Republican Party is not permanently disbanded.
Labels: Cuba, Fidel Castro, John McCain, Republicans, torture, Vietnam
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Michael Moore: the world may be watching, but likely not listening
Christ another year older. Might as well broadcast some thoughts:
I have this deep-down sentiment that Cuban healthcare has it right, and while they do everything that they can to offer assistance to the world’s most needy, I they could do wonders to teach the north how to run community-based, low-cost, highly efficient health services.
Saving lives in the developing world is easy. Clean water, food, medicines, and primary healthcare can do wonders. The Cuban, and Cuban-trained, physicians working in 101 countries around the world perform these minor miracles every day.
The bigger challenge is overcoming ignorance and indifference to the possibility that we could make healthcare more equitable, affordable and universal. I wish that it was enough to say that indifferences stem just from rich nations, but really it is a battle between the rich and poor of all nations. Maybe we can overcome indifference with stunts like Michael Moore’s forthcoming film Sicko. You might know that Michael Moore is set to release his attack against the inequity in the U.S. healthcare system at the end of June. Moore took rescue workers from the World Trade Centre to Havana for advanced treatment, and as a result he was handed a threatening letter from the U.S. Treasury Department.
Already reaction is mixed about this. Take letter writer J.R. Dubro in Today’s Globe and Mail, commenting about “The Cubans warmly receiving and treating the workers are clearly involved in a propaganda exercise.” He goes on: “While it is true that Cubans, like Canadians, get free health care they also get a go-directly-to-jail card for saying or printing anything critical of the Castro Government….It is sicko, indeed, to hold up totalitarian Cuba as a shining beacon of compassion.”
And here we go.
Dubro’s critique isn’t a unique one. In fact it’s one that I hear a lot. The idea being that since it is illegal to open up a newspaper in Cuba the success of healthcare should be discredited. Someone make this connection for me! Please! Because I don’t get it. Why does the right to publish op-Eds supersede the right to receive medical treatment? And why are these two things relational? I don’t see, or understand what sort of direct relation there is.
Besides, guys like Dubro give us the impressions that if you say anything fowl in Cuba, you’ll wind up in a North Korean-like prison. Not so. First off, what stands as being critical? In Cuba, if you have complaints about the inefficiencies of the infrastructure, the economy, political representation, let them rip. There are amazingly open forums in Cuban society to express discontent (community organizations, student organizations, women’s groups and others), and most institutions are very self-critical and consistently undergo restructuring to improve practices. And think about this, how likely would it be to start my own free press here in Canada? Sure the state might not shut me down, but the economy will. And in terms of the online culture in Cuba….It’s there baby. Hell there are even Cubans on Lavalife for god sakes.
But if you start dropping hints about overthrowing the government and removing the head of state, you bet there will be a backlash. In what society would there not be one? About a year ago we were told that 18 Muslim kids were going to behead Canadian Prime-Minister Stephen Harper, and they all went to jail, are still there, and have yet to be charged. If being critical calls for the forced removal of the head of state, then I would think in any society there would be a backlash.
The other thing I like to do with people like Dubro is push them on the details. Ask them how individuals are persecuted, what the police custody process is like, how does the trial operate, where are the detention centers, who works there? Not a single creditable human rights agency in the world is crazy enough charge Cuba with torture or institutional abuse.
Then ask the details about healthcare provision. Who gets treated, how do they get treated, how much time is spent with patients, what role do nurses play, and who becomes a doctor and why?
Michael Moore’s involvement in Cuba worries me a great deal. For two reasons. For one he has already said that those who believe that he is promoting the Cuban experience will be disappointed. I just wonder what he has up his sleeve and if his American nationalist politics will distort the image of Cuban healthcare from how it behaves on the ground. Second, I’m not sure that Michael Moore could go up against people like Dubro who believe that poor healthcare is acceptable as long as there is a free press.
I have this deep-down sentiment that Cuban healthcare has it right, and while they do everything that they can to offer assistance to the world’s most needy, I they could do wonders to teach the north how to run community-based, low-cost, highly efficient health services.
Saving lives in the developing world is easy. Clean water, food, medicines, and primary healthcare can do wonders. The Cuban, and Cuban-trained, physicians working in 101 countries around the world perform these minor miracles every day.
The bigger challenge is overcoming ignorance and indifference to the possibility that we could make healthcare more equitable, affordable and universal. I wish that it was enough to say that indifferences stem just from rich nations, but really it is a battle between the rich and poor of all nations. Maybe we can overcome indifference with stunts like Michael Moore’s forthcoming film Sicko. You might know that Michael Moore is set to release his attack against the inequity in the U.S. healthcare system at the end of June. Moore took rescue workers from the World Trade Centre to Havana for advanced treatment, and as a result he was handed a threatening letter from the U.S. Treasury Department.
Already reaction is mixed about this. Take letter writer J.R. Dubro in Today’s Globe and Mail, commenting about “The Cubans warmly receiving and treating the workers are clearly involved in a propaganda exercise.” He goes on: “While it is true that Cubans, like Canadians, get free health care they also get a go-directly-to-jail card for saying or printing anything critical of the Castro Government….It is sicko, indeed, to hold up totalitarian Cuba as a shining beacon of compassion.”
And here we go.
Dubro’s critique isn’t a unique one. In fact it’s one that I hear a lot. The idea being that since it is illegal to open up a newspaper in Cuba the success of healthcare should be discredited. Someone make this connection for me! Please! Because I don’t get it. Why does the right to publish op-Eds supersede the right to receive medical treatment? And why are these two things relational? I don’t see, or understand what sort of direct relation there is.
Besides, guys like Dubro give us the impressions that if you say anything fowl in Cuba, you’ll wind up in a North Korean-like prison. Not so. First off, what stands as being critical? In Cuba, if you have complaints about the inefficiencies of the infrastructure, the economy, political representation, let them rip. There are amazingly open forums in Cuban society to express discontent (community organizations, student organizations, women’s groups and others), and most institutions are very self-critical and consistently undergo restructuring to improve practices. And think about this, how likely would it be to start my own free press here in Canada? Sure the state might not shut me down, but the economy will. And in terms of the online culture in Cuba….It’s there baby. Hell there are even Cubans on Lavalife for god sakes.
But if you start dropping hints about overthrowing the government and removing the head of state, you bet there will be a backlash. In what society would there not be one? About a year ago we were told that 18 Muslim kids were going to behead Canadian Prime-Minister Stephen Harper, and they all went to jail, are still there, and have yet to be charged. If being critical calls for the forced removal of the head of state, then I would think in any society there would be a backlash.
The other thing I like to do with people like Dubro is push them on the details. Ask them how individuals are persecuted, what the police custody process is like, how does the trial operate, where are the detention centers, who works there? Not a single creditable human rights agency in the world is crazy enough charge Cuba with torture or institutional abuse.
Then ask the details about healthcare provision. Who gets treated, how do they get treated, how much time is spent with patients, what role do nurses play, and who becomes a doctor and why?
Michael Moore’s involvement in Cuba worries me a great deal. For two reasons. For one he has already said that those who believe that he is promoting the Cuban experience will be disappointed. I just wonder what he has up his sleeve and if his American nationalist politics will distort the image of Cuban healthcare from how it behaves on the ground. Second, I’m not sure that Michael Moore could go up against people like Dubro who believe that poor healthcare is acceptable as long as there is a free press.
Labels: Cuba, Healthcare, Michael Moore
