My Wish for Cuban Youth: Part 1

This post marks the launch of a series of themed entries on the Roots of Hope blog. The current prompt is "My Wish for Cuban Youth." Here is one response.

The People

By Miguel Cruz

I was asked to reflect on what my dream for Cuban youth was in 2011. Obvious ones such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to vote for representatives in their government came to mind. But I was stuck. Which one do I write about? What points to I bring up? How on earth do you even write a blog entry anyways? It’s not like I had to take an English course during my engineering degree (Okay, I did, but they couldn’t possibly have expected me to pay attention). The only thing I kept thinking about was the people.

Let’s think about it. Each morning, Cuban youth awake to a government that has stripped their country of the most basic human rights. There is no denying that. But then, without even knowing, a community around the world is consistently arguing about how inflict change in Cuba. Some say ‘Pa Cuba ni agua’, referring to their belief that until the repressive regime has left power, Cuba should not be assisted in any way. Others feel that reaching an untapped market of 13 million people that have been deprived of Starbucks, McDonalds, and Best Buy can help bring Cuba out of their modern day stone age. Who is correct? Neither? Both? Here is the real question.

What do the Cuban people think about all this?

No no, “This is what’s best for the Cuban people” does not answer my question. Who are we, as people living outside of Cuba, to determine how these people lives their lives? No matter what you say, shutting them out of the outside world or force feeding them western culture is determining how they live their lives. Fundamentally, all human rights abuses aside, what difference is it from what they currently have?

Let’s look ahead into a Cuban democracy. What if a Socialist Workers Party, like the one currently in power in Spain (a democracy), is elected to run the national government? What if abortions are banned by law after a nationwide vote? What if their commerce department only allows wholesale businesses to enter Cuba, allowing Cubans to develop their own fast food chains and electronic companies, rather than importing them. Would we be able to respect these choices that they themselves made?

Unfortunately, that vote will not happen today. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find out what they are thinking.

Find a way to contact a group of Cuban youth. Ask one question “If you had the freedom to do whatever you put your mind to, what would you want to do with your life?” Don’t be shocked by their silence. Chances are they have never been asked to talk about this openly before. Just wait. Listen. Someone will speak up. I promise. It’s been their dream to talk about it for a long time.

Miguel Cruz moved to Dallas, TX from Cuba when he was 2 years old. After studying Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, he now resides in Ft. Worth, TX.

Cell Phones for Cuba in the News

Felice Gorordo making the case for connectivity!

http://www.justnews.com/video/26781716/index.html

Why EGYPT matters in CUBA

There are many questions left to be answered in Egypt except one: What made this call for democracy possible?

TECHNOLOGY

During the uprising, the Egyptian government tried to shut down the internet 5 different times. Repressive governments do all they can to control every means of communication available to the people because information is power. As the recent leaked Cuban Security video attests, they have no way of controlling all the ways in which we connect in the 21st century. And why should they? Connectivity is a HUMAN RIGHT.

YOU can be directly responsible for bringing a Cuban citizen into the 21st Century. By donating your old cell phones to our CELL PHONES FOR CUBA campaign, you will be connecting one alienated Cuban at a time to the possibilities of self determination.


Please donate your old cell phone to us. For information on how to do it go to http://www.cells4cuba.org/

Our Student Network supports Dr. Elías Biscet with Screenings of Oscar's Cuba

University tour brings Dr. Biscet's message to students
Harvard University Screening
Members of Harvard's CAUSA with Director Jordan Allott

The Oscar's Cuba University Tour has brought Dr. Biscet's story and message to hundreds of university students across the country. Tour stops so far have included the University of Central Florida (11/2), University of South Florida (11/4), University of Michigan (11/5), University of Notre Dame (11/6), Harvard University (11/16) and Tufts University (11/17). In the coming weeks Oscar's Cuba will also screen at George Washington University in DC (12/6) and the University of Washington in Seattle (1/21), among others.

USF
University of South Florida student group CASA
*courtesy of www.oscarscuba.com

Raíces asiste al Programa "Conoce tus leyes"

Varios cubanos miembros de Raíces en España completaron el pasado noviembre el programa "Conoce tus Leyes", ideado para enseñar nociones básicas de Derecho español a los inmigrantes que llegan del extranjero a la Comunidad de Madrid. Nuestra agrupación ha sido invitada a participar para facilitar la integración de los jóvenes cubanos que empiezan una nueva vida al otro lado del charco.

Consistente en varios cursos sobre Derecho Constitucional, Tributario, de Familia y Extranjería, el programa, totalmente gratuito, se estructura en cuatro módulos:

- Elementos básicos de la organización y convivencia en España.

- Derechos y deberes fundamentales de los ciudadanos.

- Las leyes en la vida diaria.

- Derecho de extranjería y sus especialidades.

Las clases son impartidas por abogados del despacho Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, una de las firmas más prestigiosas del país, y participan también en el mismo la Fundación Wolters Kluwer y la propia Comunidad de Madrid.

Como curiosidad, los cubanos de Raíces compartieron aula con inmigrantes chinos, con lo que las explicaciones fueron bilingües español-mandarín, una experiencia realmente divertida.

Raíces España participa en el Congreso Paneuropa Juventud

Los pasados días 8, 9 y 10 de octubre la delegación española de Raíces participó en el Congreso Paneuropa Juventud, celebrado en la localidad madrileña de San Lorenzo de El Escorial bajo el título : La Unión Europea tras la reforma de Lisboa: un debate sobre el futuro de la Unión Europea.

La organización convocante, Paneuropa Juventud, es la rama juvenil de la Unión Paneuropea Internacional (UPI), el movimiento de unificación europea más antiguo, cuyos orígenes datan del manifiesto Paneuropa de 1923 en el que el conde Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi abogaba por un Estado Europeo unificado.

Perseguida por los nazis, la UPI contribuyó decisivamente tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial al proceso de integración europea que unificó el Viejo Continente después de más de medio siglo de guerras intestinas. Entre sus miembros de la posguerra destacaban, entre otros, los presidentes de la República Francesa Charles de Gaulle y Georges Pompidou, así como los primeros ministros de Alemania y de Austria, Konrad Adenauer y Bruno Kreisky, respectivamente.

Actualmente, la UPI tiene delegaciones en más de 30 Estados europeos y está presidida por Su Alteza Imperial Otón de Habsburgo-Lorena, hijo primogénito de Carlos I, último Emperador del Imperio Autro-Húngaro (disuelto tras la Primera Guerra Mundial). La organización sigue trabajando en pos de la integración y concordia de una Europa democrática.

El evento celebrado en Madrid el mes pasado, y en el cual participó Raíces, se centraba en el análisis y debate sobre el futuro de la Unión Europea en el nuevo marco del Tratado de Lisboa, ratificado por todos los Estados miembros de la Unión en 2007, que modifica en gran medida las instituciones comunitarias. Entre otras cuestiones, el tratado dota a la Unión de personalidad jurídica propia para firmar acuerdos internacionales, concede mayor peso al Parlamento Europeo y convierte en vinculante la Carta de los Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión Europea.

Durante el encuentro, la delegación española de Raíces tuvo la oportunidad de presentar su trabajo al ex presidente del Parlamento Europeo José María Gil-Robles (fotografía adjunta) y compartir impresiones con diplomáticos, políticos y pensadores de varios países europeos: España, Alemania, Austria, Eslovenia, Bosnia y Herzegovina, Croacia, etc.

Aunque no era el tema de la reunión, también se conversó sobre la situación en Cuba, asunto especialmente sensible en estos días en que se debate el mantenimiento o no de la Posición Común de la Unión con respecto al régimen cubano.

En resumen, participar en uno de los foros europeos más prestigiosos fue una gran experiencia para Raíces España y esperamos que sea tan sólo el inicio de un intercambio fructífero entre Raíces de Esperanza y la Unión Paneuropea Internacional, deseo que fue convenientemente transmitido a Carlos Uriarte, presidente de Paneuropa Juventud España que fue quien nos invitó a participar y a quien quedamos muy agradecidos.

Has the Cuban Government Blocked Twitter on the Island?

For some time now Cuban bloggers have been using the SMS feature of their cell phones to make posts to their twitter account (as they do not have regular access to the internet to make the posts nor smart phones with twitter apps)

Recently acclaimed Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez published this to her twitter page :

#twitter debe aclarar si su servicio nos ha censurado publicacion de tweets por sms o si ha sido el gobierno de#cuba que nos ha bloqueado
23 minutes ago via web

Translation: Twitter should clarify if they've censored the publishing of our tweets through SMS or if the Cuban government has blocked us

#cuba Bloquearon la publicacion desde moviles cubanos a twitter. Parece que pusieron el filtro aqui dentro.1 amigo publica por mi este tweet
about 3 hours ago via web

Translation: Cuba blocked the publication of twitter messages from Cuban mobile phones. It looks like they've put a filter. A friend is publishing this tweet for me.

There has been no confirmation as to whether she is correct and the government is blocking the signals or if it is a technical problem with twitter and/or Cuban cellphone service. Should it be true this would be a serious blow to many Cubans who use this technology as a vital lifeline to the world. Check back here for more info on the story as information comes in.