Seeds of Change: Understanding & Supporting Micro-finance Efforts in Cuba

This post marks the tenth entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read some of the previous entries, see What comes next: study abroad and youth-led change in Cuba,

The video below takes a closer look at Micro-finance efforts in Cuba and how the public and private sectors, as well as individuals can begin to understand, support, and guide economic empowerment in Cuba. For related information about the Cuba Small Business Initiative, see here. Also, we urge you to check out the Cuba Study Group's Executive Director's post for Seeds of Change on the effect of economic change in Cuba and the windows of opportunity it creates for those of us across the Florida Straights.

Seeds of Change - Cuba's Economic Reforms: A Window of Opportunity

This post marks the ninth entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read some of the previous entries, see What comes next: study abroad and youth-led change in Cuba, How Cell Phones Can Shake a Nation, Begin from the Beginning: the need for open dialogue, and From New Orleans to Havana.

Cuba’s Economic Reforms: A Window of Opportunity

By Tomas Bilbao
www.CubaStudyGroup.org

Few times, if any, in Cuba’s modern history has there been such an opportunity to help fuel the seeds of change on the island. The process of economic reforms put in place by Raul Castro, though limited and often contradictory, provide a window of opportunity help thousands of Cuban entrepreneurs succeed in starting and operating their own, independent businesses.

For years, the focus of those interested in planting seeds of change in Cuba has been almost exclusively on providing humanitarian and democracy-promotion assistance in the way of U.S. government funded programs through NGOs. While this work is important and can be productive if properly managed, it is limited in both scope and effectiveness. The U.S. government monopoly on assistance to the island until recently has relegated the immense potential of family and people-to-people assistance to the sidelines.

Two important factors have changed the landscape today:

1) Cuba’s process of economic reforms: In an effort to attempt to rescue Cuba’s failing economy, the Cuban government has begun to implement unprecedented reforms which include the authorization of a limited number of self-employment categories.

2) Recent changes in U.S. policy: Regulatory changes by President Obama created new opportunities for civil society in the U.S. to assist civil society inside Cuba through travel, remittances and people-to-people exchanges.

Given the ability of Cubans to start their own businesses and new U.S. regulations that allow U.S. citizens to assist Cubans on the island directly, those interested in helping empower Cubans on the island to determine their own future can now do so directly. Here are some ways U.S. nationals can help plant seeds of change in Cuba:

• Visit family: Given the isolation of the Cuban people, their contact with the outside world has been limited. This means that the opportunity to visit family in Cuba provides them with a window to the outside world. By taking them information and resources, U.S. nationals can help their families in Cuba take advantage of the economic reforms.

• Send remittances to family in Cuba: U.S. nationals can now remit unlimited amounts of money to family residing in Cuba. This money can be used to help them meet basic needs or to start their own small businesses to reduce their dependence on remittances and government programs.

• Send remittances to civil society: New U.S. regulations allow U.S. nationals to remit up to $500 to non-family members per quarter, per recipient “to support the development of private businesses, among other purposes.” This empowers every American to become an agent of change and makes every Cuban a potential entrepreneur.

• Participate in people-to-people exchanges: Thanks to the new regulations, U.S. nationals who do not have family on the island can also help empower Cuban civil society through direct contact. Educational, athletic, cultural and religious organizations are now authorized to travel to Cuba under a general license if they meet certain conditions. These exchanges can serve to provide Cuban entrepreneurs with information and training to start of expand their independent businesses. It also allows academics; artists and athletes to better understand the needs of the Cuban people in order to take advantage of new U.S. regulations.

There is no question that Cuba’s economic reforms have been timid and are limited in scope, nor the fact that U.S. regulations continue to present important barriers to assisting civil society in Cuba, but the environment today presents the best opportunity in half a century to empower civil society. These important changes allow any U.S. nationals to become agents of change regardless of whether they have family on the island. Since these regulations were announced, over 300,000 Americans a year have visited family on the island and another 100,000 have engaged in people-to-people travel. In addition, approximately one billion dollars has been sent as family remittances with up to another billion has been taken in the forms of goods by travelers to Cuba.

The enormous potential created by these reforms and changes in U.S. policy represents the best window of opportunity help empower civil society in Cuba in decades. All Americans, not just those with family on the island, can become agents of change by taking advantage of this opportunity to help entrepreneurs on the island start and expand their independent businesses. Doing so will help them reduce the dependence on the Cuban government and remittances from abroad, empowering them to become authors of their own future. This is an opportunity that should not be missed. Now is the time to plant seeds of change in Cuba by supporting its budding entrepreneurs.

Tomas Bilbao is Executive Director of the Cuba Study Group and is an MBA candidate at the Kellogg School of Management. He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and is passionate about promoting and defending democracy. Follow him on Twitter at @TomasBilbao.

Seeds of Change: From New Orleans to Habana

This post marks the sixth entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read previous entries, see What comes next: study abroad and youth-led change in Cuba, How Cell Phones Can Shake a Nation, and Begin from the Beginning: the need for open dialogue.

By Annie Gibson

A few days ago I arrived in la Habana with a group of students from Tulane University in New Orleans. They are about to embark on an amazing adventure, studying for a semester at la Universidad de la Habana in the Departments of Artes y Letras and Geografía y Filosofia. It is an experience that few North American students are granted due to the obvious hurdles caused by the strained relations between Cuba and the United States since 1959.

Tulane University has engaged in a semester long study abroad program in Havana, Cuba in partnership with the University of Havana since 2009. This program evolved out of several years of sustained effort by Tulane’s Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute (a part of Tulane’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies) to develop relations with Cuban counterpart organizations for the purposes of academic collaboration and exchange, curricular development, cultural exchange and international development and dialogue. The Cuban & Caribbean Studies Institute, a part of Tulane’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies, was officially established in 1997, and has been responsible for the organization of a variety of lectures, performances, courses, symposia, etc. aimed at promoting a true academic and cultural exchange between Cuba and the United States. (cuba.tulane.edu)

This August, we began our Cuba semester study abroad in Miami, where we made visits to key cultural and political leaders within the Cuban-American communitybecause in order to fully understand Cuba, one cannot leave out its diasporas. And for most in the United States, the term “Cuban-American” primarily evokes images of Miami. As the most populous resettlement of Cuban expatriates in the US, Miami has been the undisputed home of Cuban-American culture and commerce for half a century. For students coming to Cuba from Tulane, however, I am quick to mention that that not only is Miami an important city to study in connection to Cuban-American relations, but their own city of New Orleans has historical ties that date back to the 1800s.

From 1762 until 1800, New Orleans was a Spanish colony administered by the Captains General of Cuba stationed in Havana. That situation ensured close ties between New Orleans, located at the helm of North America’s most expansive riverine network, and Havana, the well-protected port at the Gulf Stream’s entrance to the Atlantic. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Havana and New Orleans were fundamental hubs along an “American Mediterranean” that also included Hispaniola and New Spain. Consequently, the ports at New Orleans and Havana enjoyed centuries of communication, and in the mid-20th century, Cuba was New Orleans’ most voluminous and lucrative trading partner. These ties were critical in the economic, political, and cultural development of each.

The Cuban embargo of 1963 transformed US-Cuban policy and trade into a vehement anti-Castroism. Bolstered by millions in CIA funds and a steady flow of Cuban migrants, while Miami instantly became the epicenter of the Cuban-American community, fifty years later, New Orleans’ port economy has stagnated, never fully recovering from the loss of its vital commercial ally.

This semester of study in Havana, is, thus, not only an opportunity for Tulane students to learn about Cuba, but also to see the historic and cultural ties between New Orleans and Havana that make New Orleans the city that it is today. These adventurous Tulane students will be ambassadors of culture, opening the gates of communication to better understanding the transnational ties between Cuba and New Orleans. We will keep you posted on their findings!

Annie Gibson received her PhD in 2010 from the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. Her areas of specialization include Cuban and Brazilian performance cultures and Brazilian immigration to the United States. Her travels and research in both Cuba and Brazil have been supported by two FLAS Fellowships, the Tinker Foundation, and the Research Group for the Study of the Global South. At Tulane, Dr. Gibson teaches a diverse range of courses in Spanish and Portuguese language and literature, Latin American migrant cultures and literature, and performance cultures of Latin America. She holds a contract in both the Departments of Latin American Studies and of Spanish and Portuguese. Dr. Gibson’s experience with study abroad began when she was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, participating in study abroad semesters in Argentina and Brazil. In 2004, she directed a spring break trip to Costa Rica for Princeton Day School middle and high school students, in 2010 she was the Resident Director for Tulane’s summer in Costa Rica program and in 2011 she led a summer program for the Rassias Foundation in Pontevedra, Spain. She is currently the resident director of Cuba’s semester study abroad program in Havana, Cuba.

Seeds of Change - Begin from the beginning: the need for open dialogue

This post marks the fifth entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To see previous entries, read about how cell phones can shake a nation and the potential impact of studying abroad.

By Ariel Elias

If you keep looking for answers, you will only find frustration. I’m not sure if this was told to me by someone in Cuba or if the conclusion was my own. No doubt it is a philosophy based on the efficiency and transparency, or lack thereof, of the Cuban government, a force that permeates every aspect of Cuban life. Whether you agree or disagree with the government itself, there is no denying that even the simplest, most innocent of acts can turn political. The meticulous eye of a good idea gone awry watches its people, sometimes subtle and hidden, other times so overwhelming it becomes humorous, bringing out the choteo, making you think, “Surely you have better things to do.”

Cuba is unique because of its complications. You must learn to recognize the difference between an answer and the answer. It is a country of layers that cannot be understood until experienced, and even then, your head will continue to spin as you attempt to differentiate between the real and the lie, the genuine and the exaggerated. Too much is hidden or covered up, blamed on los yanquis or people who have been dead for the better half of a century. Suddenly, you are faced with two choices: believe what you hear or develop an imagination, an imagination that does not blind you or foster naïveté, rather one that fills in the blanks and encourages hope.

So that’s what we’re left with. An imagination, an openness that does not exist with older generations, a restlessness that only occurs when you know there is a better way. We learn to work with what we have, taking it one step at a time. For now, we discuss. We argue, we culture shock, we fight the censors and demand to be heard, we empathize, but most importantly, we establish a relationship. We set the foundation and attempt to correct centuries of wrongdoing that we did not cause, yet we are now responsible for. We ease the tension and create the space. Ultimately, we do not find the answers, we discover them.

Ariel Elias is a recent graduate from Tulane University, and studied abroad in Cuba in the fall of 2009. She currently lives in New Orleans as a medical translator/stand-up comic.

Seeds of Change - Loudspeakers for Cuban Voices (Pt. 2)

This post marks the fourth entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read previous entries, see What comes next: study abroad and youth-led change in Cuba and How Cell Phones Can Shake a Nation.

A brief introduction:

For the purpose of the Seeds of Change theme on our blog, we wanted to tell our readers about the power of translating blogs. As many of you know, for Cuba's blogging community, the people who translate their blogs represent the opportunity to reach a broader audience, maximize their impact, and BE HEARD. As an example, Mary Jo Porter - who acts as translator for Yoani Sanchez - describes the effect of her work in an interview we featured earlier this month. What we found as we set out to feature blog translating in an entry, was that the greatest testament came from Cuban bloggers themselves. And so, we will be featuring their answers and comments over the next weeks.

To follow up Regina Coyula's response, here is a message from Orlando Luis Pardo:

The word of independent Cuban bloggers is like a light that is true, but very fragile. Before the totalitarian power of the official media, every effort is small to boost this alternative current within today's Cuba. To translate to other languages, to make accessible to other audiences of the world these independent looks into the Absolute State, is a gesture of solidarity of incalculable human and historic worth.

The volunteer translators can hardly feel the emotion that they provoke in each author with each one of the posts they help disseminate. Never have the critical voices within the island counted with such a citizen platform of world support. Never have we felt so accompanied in the midst of the most uncivil solitude(socialipsysm: what I like to call this sub-existential situation after half a century of a Revolution that is "irreversible" even by our Constitution).

We can only give you back our love vocalized in the most elementary of words: Thank you…Or even better, of course, because we already are even without knowing each other: Thank you, brothers...

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La palabra de los bloggers independientes cubanos es como una luz verdadera, pero muy frágil. Ante el poder totalitario de los medios oficiales, todo esfuerzo es poco para potenciar esta corriente alternativa dentro de la Cuba de hoy. Traducir a otros idiomas, hacer accesible a otras audiencias del mundo estas miradas independientes al
Estado Absoluto, es un gesto solidario de incalculable valor humano e histórico. Los traductores voluntarios difícilmente puedan sentir la emoción que provocan en cada autor con cada uno de sus posts que ayudan a difundir. Nunca las voces críticas dentro de la Isla contaron con tal plataforma ciudadana de apoyo mundial. Nunca nos sentimos tan acompañados en medio de la más incivil soledad social (socialipsismo:
me gusta llamar a esta situación sub-existencial tras medio siglo de Revolución "irreversible" hasta por nuestra Constitución). Sólo podemos devolverles nuestro cariño vocalizado en la más elemental de las palabras: Gracias... O mejor, por supuesto, porque ya lo somos incluso sin conocernos: Gracias, hermanos...

Seeds of Change - Loudspeakers for Cuban Voices

This post marks the third entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read previous entries, see What comes next: study abroad and youth-led change in Cuba and How Cell Phones Can Shake a Nation.

A brief introduction:

For the purpose of the Seeds of Change theme on our blog, we wanted to tell our readers about the power of translating blogs. As many of you know, for Cuba's blogging community, the people who translate their blogs represent the opportunity to reach a broader audience, maximize their impact, and BE HEARD. As an example, Mary Jo Porter - who acts as translator for Yoani Sanchez - describes the effect of her work in an interview we featured earlier this month. What we found as we set out to feature blog translating in an entry, was that the greatest testament came from Cuban bloggers themselves. And so, we will be featuring their answers and comments over the next weeks.

To start, here is Regina Coyula's message:

Hello to all translators,

The voluntary translations of our blogs is an invaluable labor. This work allows the reality of our country to be seen from a more realistic point of view, different from the one official propaganda has offered. I hope it has helped many people form a more complete -and complex- idea of my country. Thank you so much for making me a part of this.

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Saludos para los traductores,

Es una labor inestimable la traducción voluntaria de nuestras bitácoras, pues de esa manera la realidad de nuestro país puede verse desde un punto de vista diferente al que ha ofrecido la propaganda oficial. Espero que haya ayudado a muchas perdonas a formarse una idea más completa -y compleja- de mi país. Muchas gracias por el pedacito que me ha tocado.


See Regina's blog here. To get involved in translating blogs from Cuba, visit www.hemosoido.com

Seeds of Change - What comes next: study abroad and youth-led social change in Cuba

This post marks the second entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read previous entries, see How Cell Phones Can Shake a Nation.

By Sam Tabory

It turns out that I didn’t spend a semester studying abroad in Cuba so that I could better grasp Cuban history, the Cuban experience, or the Cuban context. Instead, I spent that semester coming to the conclusion that the situation is so intricately and overwhelmingly complex, that all I could do was ride the wave, trying to take in as much as possible, until a Miami-bound flight spit me back out in the States four months later. Cuba opened my eyes to a lot. I could try to tell you about it, but that’s not what this post is about. My experience in Cuba ended months ago, and now I've moved on to a very different place in my life, albeit still carrying with me the lessons I learned while on the island. But the Cuban youth with whom I shared those experiences and with whom I formed deep bonds still live on the island. They still endure the daily struggle. They are still looking for a way out. For a new society. For something to change.

That’s what this post is about. It is about those youth, and the potential that study abroad programs have to help them as they seek to define their own futures. Just as cell phones and the Internet are opening new avenues that allow access to information and the outside world, so too are study abroad programs. When a foreign student steps off a plane at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, a new stimulus is being introduced to the island. That young person will not only take away his own impressions of the island to share with the world, but he will also leave impressions. As a university student, he will inevitably make awkward small talk in class, form friendships, chat with taxi drivers, join intramural soccer teams, get drunk over dominoes, go to clubs, have heart-to-hearts, argue about sexualities, fight about politics, debate moral and material paradigms, etc. He will, simply put, live his life for four months, a semester, a year…whatever it may be, and he will leave behind an impression, even if limited, of what type of people and what type of ideas are to be found in the broader global arena. In a word, he will become a vignette, to be added to a larger collection of vignettes of all outsiders who have set foot on the island. And it is these vignettes that become food for critical thought as young people in Cuba explore and experiment with what type of new society they want to create. This is the value of study abroad in Cuba.

But don’t make the mistake of assuming that study abroad should be seen as an evangelizing force to spread the gospel of the western world. The Cuban students with whom I built strong friendships were as discerning and critical as university students anywhere. They understand the need for change on the island, but they also understand that they must be careful as to which models of change they employ. Most Cubans will readily agree that their own model or status quo is not working, but that does not mean that they are ready to blindly adopt foreign norms. They have strong opinions about social justice and the role that the State should play in the lives of citizens. These opinions are real and genuine, firmly grounded in historical tradition and collective memory, not simply the rhetoric of Fidel. To assume that study abroad in Cuba is a force by which to indoctrinate Cuban youth is incorrect. Its purpose is to introduce as many new ideas and stimuli as possible, to give young people in Cuba access to as many models as possible, so that they can begin the individual but also collective process of deciding which qualities, characteristics and models of the outside world are best for them, and which are not. Who do they want to emulate, and whose likeness do they want to avoid? These are the questions that need to be answered as Cuba moves forward in forging its future.

But the work of forging a new society is not neat. It is messy and contradictory and ultimately a very human and imprecise endeavor. It requires that those undertaking the process are the most well-informed and worldly individuals a given society has to offer. But the youth of Cuba don’t have access to global travel opportunities and study abroad programs. If they cannot see the world, the world must come to them. Although they are an imperfect stopgap, study abroad programs administered by European and North American universities are an important resource in making sure that Cuban youth have at least limited access to the schools of thought and ideologies of the global arena.

I could write pages and pages about the personal benefits that I got from studying abroad in Cuba, but the real importance of study abroad programs has more to do with what Cuban students are able to do with the raw intellectual material of having foreign nationals studying in their classrooms. Study abroad in Cuba isn’t about benevolence or proselytizing. It’s about a two-way exchange of information. Anyone who spends significant time on the island will be changed, for better or for worse. But the Cuban youth with whom you interact will also be changed, for better or for worse. Societies are built, opinions are formed, and the world goes round as we are introduced to and react to stimuli. The more stimuli we are exposed to, the faster things move. To study abroad in Cuba is to be such a stimulus in the context of a national transition. Cuba will change, and it will do so dramatically. But what that change will look like is still a matter of debate, as it should be. Study abroad programs, and the foreign stimuli they introduce, are an important component of keeping that debate alive as young people in Cuba seek to define and mold their own futures.

Sam Tabory is a senior at Tulane University. He spent the fall semester of 2010 living and studying in Cuba as a student at the University of Havana. He can be reached at Stabory@tulane.edu

Featured Blog from Cuba: Rebeca Monzó Mieres

A Botched Robbery

By Rebeca Monzó Mieres (translated into English by Chabeli Castillo)

A friend from Spain sent me a package in the mail, on July 6th, containing medicines, two cell phones, one for myself and the other one for another person, with their corresponding chargers, three flash drives, and some office supplies.

The package arrived in less than fifteen days. When I was notified of its arrival, I went to pick it up to the Ministry of Communications facilities. At the moment that the package was handed to me, the employee noticed that on the outside of the box protected by a transparent plastic from the TransVal Company, was a loose cell phone battery. After we opened it up to its content, we saw that the two cell phones declared on the original invoice were missing. Only the batteries were left (botched robbery) whose models corresponded to different brands, and the empty box of one of them.

I immediately went to make my claim to the Technical Department of the Postal Zone Six for Services to the Population. There, they also charged me $25.00 pesos. I don't know if that was because of my mismanagement or what.

It is assumed that the mail is inviolable, and especially when the content has been declared to the pertinent authorities. How is it possible that accidentally all packages, including mail, even a simple magazine from a foreign university get here damaged, and come along with the obviously expected note?

Right in that place, an employee, very kindly, informed me that if I wanted to, I could go to Calle 100 and Boyeros, where all the packages arrive before they are processed by the Ministry of Communications, but the problem was that they did not serve the public there. This seemed a joke to me, but the woman told me this very seriously.

I decided to write a letter, to explain this story with every detail, and send it to the Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) Newspaper, which has a section called Acknowledgment of Receipt, where they use to receive and publish this type of complaint. What results to be ridiculous and deplorable is the botch of the robbery.

Original Blog Post: Un Robo Chapucero by Rebeca Monzó Mieres.

Rebeca Monzón Mieres: an autobiography

I was born in Havana, on November the 14th… well, the year does not matter; I will just tell you that I'm from the era of the four - speed record player and the pressure cooker.

I am a teacher, "quasi journalist" (I missed a semester to finish). I worked in the radio for two years and was a diplomat in Paris. I also worked as a salesperson in El Rastro, Madrid. Then, I was Professor of Ceramics and Pottery in the same city and a bureaucrat for many years. Since 1986, I am an “independent artist”, member of the Cuban Association of Artisan Artists. I have done exhibitions in and outside the country. I’m earning a living as an artisan, and now I have a blog because I love to write.

To read some of Rebeca Monzó Mieres's other posts (in Spanish) see below:

Erre con Erre Cigarro

Mujeres Liberadas

Jugando al Capitalismo

Rompiendo el Bloqueo

4 De Julio

Llover Sobre Mojado

Summer Fellows Journal: Words from the Wise

This post marks the fourth installment of a series of accounts by the 2011 Roots of Hope Summer Fellows, focusing on their experiences, thoughts, and musings over the course of the coming months! To see previous posts, click: "An Exciting Beginning," "Amazed by Raíces" or "An Unexpected Surprise."

Words from the Wise

By Ben Tyler

As part of the Roots Fellowship, we the Fellows have the opportunity to meet and speak with some of the most well respected business and thought leaders in our community. The “Leadership Discussion Series” as it is so aptly titled, is an opportunity for us to grow as leaders by exposing us to some of the most successful people South Florida has to offer. So far this year we have had the opportunity to meet with leaders such as Carlos Alberto Montaner, Ricky Arriola, Alfredo Mesa, Nestor Carbonell, and Carlos Saladrigas. The diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions of the speakers has truly given us an incredibly well rounded take on everything from business to life to issues facing Cuba.

While each speaker has someway or another risen to the forefront of their respective fields, some of the most profound thoughts that they shared with us had nothing to do with business. I found it interesting that almost every speaker stressed the importance of balancing all aspects of life. Carlos Alberto Montaner spoke about the different lives we all lead (business, family, social, and personal) and how a happy person is one who can best distribute their time to develop each life. From Ricky Arriola we learned that sometimes family and business can be one and the same and compliment each other in a very positive way. The consensus seems to be that no matter what we choose to do in life, we should do it to the best of our abilities taking our own personal growth into account.

Although each speaker has had his own unique take on Cuba, what was adamantly clear in all of the discussions is that Roots of Hope’s goal of empowering Cuban youth to become author’s of their own future eclipses the monotonous political rhetoric that we often find surrounding the issues facing the island. Alfredo Mesa told us that what Roots of Hope has effectively done is create a “healthy space” for people to discuss Cuba without the shackles of typical political motivations. Both Nestor Carbonell and Carlos Saladrigas spoke about the importance of our work not only as a thought leader, but as an agent for tangible change on the island. The fact that leaders from complete opposite sides of the political spectrum have been able to find common ground in the Roots network is a testament to the potential of our endeavors. If the Leadership Discussion Series has taught me one thing, it is that no matter how deep political tensions may become, there is always a way to advance the debate.



Ben Tyler is a rising sophomore in the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service and a Roots of Hope 2011 Summer Fellow. To contact Ben, email bentyler@raicesdeesperanza.org

Official Statement From Rotilla Organizers

Havana, Cuba. July 20th, 2011

Official Statement of the Directive Council of the Rotilla Festival
Purpose: Denunciation of the Kidnapping of Rotilla Festival

Rotilla Festival, founded in the year 1998, is the only event of its kind in Cuba. It is brought together every year in the month of august, and during three consecutive days it promotes and exposes the great majority of the demonstrations of the Cuban artistic vanguard. It is of a non-lucrative character, completely free and open to the public.

Originally it began as a movement promoting electronic music exclusively, since 2008 it incorporated in its artistic program musical bands of the most varied formats, but always under the principle of promoting the alternative within the arts.

In the same way, since its beginnings the festival has been administered INDEPENDENTLY by its founders, and practically without any collaboration of the Cuban authorities (state-government). That has been our policy and our position, we wanted to grow by ourselves, develop ourselves and generate an authentic movement aimed specially at the youth with their true expectations and demands very much in mind.

In our last edition (2010), already because of the artistic proposals, because of the national and international press coverage, because of its long trajectory and the renown it has acquired world-wide, the festival obtained a record attendance of 20,000 people, thus placing itself as the longest running and most attended by youth event in the island. The great quantity of film material gathered in all this time legitimizes this claim.

Today, in 2011, Rotilla Festival faces its biggest challenge. The Cuban Government, personified by vice-president Esteban Lazo, together with the Ministry of Culture, personified by vice minister Fernando Rojas, aim to hijack the event from the hands of its organizers and founders, and produce it through government institutions, seizing and plagiarizing our name, our scheduled days and our convocation, distorting the very concept of the event, bringing to the "festival" bands that modify the format that we ourselves, the festival's legitimate owners, had established. At the same time, the institutions questioned have offered the participating artists of this "event" monetary remuneration, in that way deteriorating the social relationship established historically (on a non lucrative basis) among the original organizers and the artists, and thus securing the performance of the latter.

Traditionally there existed a dialogue with the authorities, where they pressured us so that a certain group did not perform, and in exchange they would cooperate to allow the festival to happen. Thus it was established a modus vivendi, of coexistence. It has never being easy informing an artist that he cannot perform because the Ministry of Culture rejects him; but that, is the traditional folklore that we live in Cuba regarding art; everyone knows it. However, this time…the so-called institutions have gone too far. They have informed us informally, by way of Noel Soca, government official who heads the Commission of Recreation and Culture in the new province of Mayabeque, that we no longer had any involvement in the subject, that the festival would be run by the Ministry of Culture and the Institute of Music in the arranged days, as young people would attend any way.

The board of directors of Festival Rotilla headed to the Ministry of Culture, knowing that a meeting was being carried through with the purpose and name "Rotilla", in the offices of Fernando Rojas, vice minister of Culture. From this meeting we were politely expelled; we had not been invited.

Censorship (already traditional), is one thing, and something very different is the theft, plagiarism, and hijacking of the work that has reached such high levels of attention at even international levels, and that counts with the congratulations of thousands of young Cuban people that have attended for years.

The organizing team of Rotilla Festival wants to clearly and categorically assert, that on this year 2011, the Rotilla Festival is cancelled, due to the ethical violence that has been manifested by the highest authorities of Cuban culture.

We, organizers and authors of the Rotilla Festival, and I myself, its director and founder, DENOUNCE the theft, plagiarism, and kidnapping that this attitude represents for all the young people of this earth that we today represent. We denounce the excessive and stubborn censorship that is being exerted against any cultural activity that DOES NOT originate in the so-called institutions. We denounce the harassment to which we are constantly being put through. We denounce the surveillance and the subtle or direct threats to which we are subject daily.

"A country is not governed as one governs a barracks" said Jose Marti to the general Maximo Gomez on the occasion of the small war. We believe a country should foster pluralist thought, its society should be the owner and true sovereign of its nation, and above all, the owner of the good work constructed with the effort of many years and with its very own sweat.

The theft of one's own work, conceived as a life project, is the most immoral and deplorable act that the government of a nation could be involved in. It violates all the principles of revolutionary ethics, whose concept is written in each corner of every neighborhood across the whole country.

We warn our leaders that this type of behavior attacks even the base of the social contract that is in place in Cuban society. It attacks the principle of respect that a populace (nation) must have for their government. We believe this even contradicts some of the same points that have just been released by the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, ignoring some of the principles that were set forth; leaving the children of Cuba wandering aimlessly without hope or direction.

To reconstruct the nation, it is evidently necessary that we all participate, and that participation can only be generated with the confidence and the respect between the government and its people. Such acts will plant in us, today’s youth, distrust to build and create on our own land, because there is no guarantee that neither our creations nor our investments in time, human resources, and material resources will be respected.

We made it clear to our institutional counterpart that we will initiate the corresponding legal proceedings against them, because this act not only violates all known ethical and moral concepts, but also a set of laws on copyright and ownership of intellectual property that, we expect, are still in force in the Cuban nation.

It is time that each of us demand the rights that correspond to us as citizens, and that these rights mark our relationship with institutions. It is time to bring order to the folly (stupidity) and arbitrariness.

We want to do our exercise in our land, invest and earn doing what we do, our personal business, our party, and our festival. That right, which we demand, but do not have, is just and necessary.

The Rotilla Festival team invites anyone who identifies with or adheres to our cause to disseminate this speech by any means at their disposal. This way we can build today, the solidarity of tomorrow.

We hope that this statement is received with the same respect that we intended to print it. It is our intention to discuss reform, to grow and succeed, to build a nation for all where everyone has their own space to grow as confident and capable individuals.

Let there be no doubt that we will continue demanding the right to carry out our festival in the coming years, it is our legitimate right.

MATRAKA PRODUCTIONS - ROTILLA FESTIVAL

Seeds of Change - How Cell Phones Can Shake a Nation

This post marks the first entry for the current Roots of Hope blog theme: Seeds of Change. To read more about the purpose and goals of this series, see here.

According to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union, Cuba - a country of 11 million inhabitants - has a total telephone density of less than 20 percent, the lowest in Latin America. We've sought to change that statistic.

Cell Phones For Cuba is a Roots of Hope project committed to providing young people in Cuba with technology, helping them to become more connected and unified. Our organization seeks to find creative outlets both in Cuba and abroad to further our mission of empowering the Cuban youth to become the authors of their own futures.

Cell phones in Cuba help guarantee a technological infrastructure for effective connectivity within the island, and certainly between Cuba and the rest of the world. Cell phones are of great advantage for the Cuban people to communicate, in both cities and remote rural areas. They are key to organizing and promoting social gatherings and events, a hundred percent independent from the government. Cell phones help the extensively separated Cuban families become more unified because they are the most efficient and accessible way, if not the only one, for the Cuban people to reconnect with their loved ones.

What are Cuban youth saying about the Cell Phones 4 Cuba Project? "El cell está de maravillas. Ya lo estoy usando, al igual que muchos otros; incluso otros se han abierto la línea gracias a eso. Un millón de gracias…”
- 22 year old Civil Engineering student in Camagüey

These bridges between families and friends allow the exchange and flow of information, eventually helping the Cubans on the island become more aware of their own reality, and the rest of the world’s. For an isolated country like Cuba to have social development and address the paradigms of information and knowledge, it must have a modern and efficient communication infrastructure, making it possible to access any information quickly and safely.

Thanks to all our donors and supporters, Roots of Hope has been able to send more than 450 cell phones to Cuba this year, each phone having a cost of $40.00. Our goal is to send a total of 10 000 phones or more to the island. Our organization is committed to help the Cuban youth, bringing relief, friendship, love, and hope into the lives of many Cubans on the island.

The young people who benefit from our services appreciate, from the bottom of their heart, the generosity of all the members of the Roots of Hope family, and all the people that collaborate with us.

What are Cuban youth saying about the Cell Phones 4 Cuba Project?“Realmente conozco personas a quienes les vendrían muy bien esos teléfonos, porque los necesitan, y no pueden comprarlos…”
- 25 year old Industrial Design student in Havana

The youth in Cuba live within an atmosphere of constant pessimism, and their only hope of having a future is leaving the country. Cubans on the island need to know that there are people out there who care about them, and want to give them the support that they need to be able to make the changes that they want in their society. It is empowering to witness and hear of the excitement and gratitude they feel from the support and assistance that we can offer.

What are Cuban youth saying about the Cell Phones 4 Cuba Project?“…es muy noble en realidad esa labor de ustedes. Acá hay mucha gente que necesitan ayuda, y ver que todavía hay personas que ayudan a los otros sin importar nada, es muy gratificante…”
- 23 year old Visual Design student in Havana

Want to impact someone’s life? Join us! We invite you to take a tour of our website and the Roots of Hope and Cells4Cuba Facebook pages.

Our crew is always available to set up a visit for you, or to answer any questions you may have. Don't hesitate to call our office at 305.397.8604, or email us at comms@raicesdeesperanza.org. We would love to keep you updated on the Cuban youth and our campaign through our newsletter and monthly emails.

Featured Blog from Cuba: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo was born in Havana on December 10, 1971. This incredibly eloquent Cuban blogger graduated from Havana University in 1994 with a degree in Biochemistry. In an unusual move, left a career in science to be engulfed in the world of literature and citizen journalism.

Orlando has been blogging since 2008 in his blog Lunes de Post-Revolución (Post-Revolution Mondays), in which he reflects on his life - and that of others - within Cuba. For more information, check out a recent interview in a fellow blogger's blog, Claudia Cadelo's.

To read some of Orlando's writings translated into English, see these entries:

#TWITTHELP

CONSTANTÍN ANSWERS IN DIARIO DE CUBA

WAIT FOR ME IN CAPITALISM, MY LOVE

In addition, here is a beautiful new post that hasn't been translated yet.

Summer Fellows Journal: An Unexpected Surprise

This post marks the third installment of a series of accounts by the 2011 Roots of Hope Summer Fellows, focusing on their experiences, thoughts, and musings over the course of the coming months!

An Unexpected Surprise

By Claudia Diaz

I went to the Raíces conference last spring ready to be immersed into a network of people with a love for Cuba and an interest in doing something for it. I was surprised that there was even a group of young people like me interested in talking about it; I thought the Cuba topic only belonged to the older generation, to “el canal 41”, Maria Elvira, Oscar Haza, to Versailles Cuban Restaurant and to the corners of Miami supermarkets. It was never a topic I approached with friends at school, or with people of my generation overall, mainly because it was supposed to be a dead end, a conversation that only consisted of complaints, name calling, frustrations, sadness and no solution in sight. So, what were we going to talk about in that conference that hadn’t already been said? I was in for a pleasant surprise. The conference as well as my short time at Raíces this summer have showed me that practical solutions can be reached when everyone works together to brainstorm ideas and solutions to the issues we all care about. During the conference, small workshops were created where everyone was allowed to voice their opinion about a specific problem facing Cuba and come up with a project that would in some way be a solution, or at least produce an advancement. I realized once again that the power of exchanging ideas and of collective brainstorming is incredible.

Within the Cuban community we all have different ways we think are best to reach the end goals we want. However, it is very fortunate that we all hold very similar goals: to better the situation of Cuba and its people. Roots of Hope encourages its members to do precisely this, focus on the ends and not the means, for this is what unites us. Diverging opinions on how to reach those ends have to be respected and given freedom to be explored, while simultaneously leaving room for other paths. The most productive activity is to unite efforts, thoughts, and ideas. In Raíces, we believe in the power of trial and error. Instead of becoming incredibly attached to one method of accomplishing a goal, we strive to constantly evaluate, tweak, recreate, and sometimes throw away those methods that do not work. This is a practice that our community should embrace as part of an effort to create any kind of change. At the end, those methods are only tools to achieve the goals that we all wish for.

Everyday in Raíces I learn more about different approaches, methods, and conversations that have already been had and carried through, and I am extremely grateful to learn from a group of people with so much experience and freshness at the same time. I am looking forward to all that I have yet to learn during my time here and to all the impact I can have on Cuba and its people because of it.


Claudia Diaz will be starting her third year at the University of Chicago this fall, where she is a pursuing a major in Political Science and a minor in Human Rights. She came to the United States at the age of 11 and has lived in Miami ever since. To contact Claudia, email claudiadiaz@raicesdeesperanza.org.

Launching Seeds of Change!

We are announcing the launch of the new theme on the Roots of Hope blog: Seeds of Change!

Over the past few months Roots from all over the country have blogged about their 2011 wishes for Cuban Youth. Some have spoken of self-governance, others of political and social change, as well as freedom of expression. The wishes have been as diverse as the Raíces family, but one yearning seems ubiquitous: that Cubans will be able to realize whatever dreams and aspirations they have as individuals and communities.

Not too long ago, Roots of Hope as a whole had a wish for Cuban youth – connectivity – and we responded by launching Cells 4 Cuba, a project aimed at increasing exchange within Cuba. Now we ask you to be the Seeds of Change. How do you think young Cubans can achieve their dreams? What can we do on our end to empower them? Whether by translating blogs from the island, working to launch microloan programs, finding a pen pal, donating cell phones, or studying abroad – how do you think that we can help the wishes – or seeds – of youth in Cuba become catalysts of change and self-determination?

Over the next months, you will see posts roll out that touch upon these and other topics, but I encourage you to question yourself and to submit an entry with your own answers and suggestions. If you are interested in writing a post, let us know by emailing comms@raicesdeesperanza.org!

Summer Fellows Journal: An Exciting Beginning

This post marks the first installment of a series of accounts by the 2011 Roots of Hope Summer Fellows, focusing on their experiences, thoughts, and musings over the course of the coming months!

An Exciting Beginning

By Ben Tyler

For the vast majority of my life, the last thing people thought when they saw me was “Cuban”. My name is Benjamin Tyler, I burnt easily in the sun, and as far as most were concerned I was as “American” as it got. Granted, I am half American. My father is what many would call a gringo; his family has been in the United States for several generations and in Miami for the past three. My mother is the daughter of Cuban exiles who came to the United States escaping an oppressive regime and looking for a better life. Yet, because of the unique nature of South Florida, being half American is enough to give you the label. It wasn’t until I left Miami for college that I truly became cognizant of my complete identity and began to identify with (and be identified by) my Cuban roots.

I decided to apply for the Raíces de Esperanza Fellowship because it affords me the opportunity to be a part of a cause that transcends borders, politics, and widely-accepted social frameworks, as well as the chance to learn more about myself and where I come from. Very rarely does one get an opportunity like the Raíces Fellowship and I am very grateful that I am on board. I first heard about Raíces through a friend who was involved in the organization and was lucky enough to attend the 2011 conference at Boston College. I was amazed not only by the elevated level of dialogue, but the caliber of the people. The strength of Raíces stems directly from those involved, its literal Roots of Hope.

Over the course of this summer I hope to gain a better understanding of the everyday life of my peers on the island; those who, in the grand scheme of things, are just like I am but have not been granted the same luxuries. My goal is to realize the ways that I can best serve them, think of the most effective way to achieve it, and use the Raíces network to carry it out. As I have begun to identify more with my Cuban heritage, I have also begun to understand the responsibility that I have to my brothers and sisters on the island. Raíces is the perfect forum to accomplish my goals and expand my horizons and I am excited to learn new things, meet new people, and have the chance to help empower a new generation.

One of the first things I was told when I started the fellowship was that Raíces doesn’t deal with “Cuban issues” but with “Human issues”; given my background and experiences, to me they are one and the same.



Ben Tyler is a rising sophomore in the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service and a Raíces de Esperanza 2011 Summer Fellow. To contact Ben, email bentyler@raicesdeesperanza.org

Call to Action: Chris Sabatini

Chris Sabatini, Editor-in-Chief of Americas Quarterly and Senior Director of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, sends a message to Roots of Hope at the 2011 Roots of Hope Conference in Boston!

If you cannot see the video below, click on this link.

Amnesty International Calls on Cuban Government to Grant Freedom of Expression

On this American Independence Day (July 4^th), many will celebrate with flag waving and backyard barbeques. However, many take for granted their basic, assumed rights, such as the freedom of expression, whether in favor of or contrary to the national government and regime.

Amnesty International (AI), a global non-governmental organization drawing attention to human rights abuses, has recently issued a report (Restrictions on Freedom of Expression in Cuba) and called on the Cuban government to make changes to eliminate its “repressive machinery”. Any persons with opinions contrary to the government’s stance risk arbitrary arrest and harassment by officials—such as happened to Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) earlier this year.

“The laws are so vague that almost any act of dissent can be deemed criminal in some way, making it very difficult for activists to speak out against the government,” said Kerrie Howard, Deputy Americas Director at AI. Other restrictions on journalists by the Cuban government include requiring all journalists to join the national journalists’ association (in turn controlled by the Communist Party) and restricting island access to certain blogs openly criticizing the government, such as Yoani Sanchez’s blog (Generation Y), blocked since early 2008.

Even now, digging into its own ranks, the government has expelled a high level party official, Esteban Morales, for acting as a whistle blower to corruption and writing on a state website that “people in government and state positions are preparing a financial assault for when the revolution falls”.

AI recognizes at least 53 political prisoners on the island and has called for their release. The Independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights estimates about 190 political prisoners, including AI’s fifty-three.

The organization also addressed the United States embargo, claiming the government was using it as a scapegoat to justify inadequacies at guaranteeing human rights. “[The embargo] is frankly a lame excuse for violating the rights of the Cuban people,” stated Ms. Howard. “The government needs to find solutions to end human rights violations, instead of excuses to perpetrate them.”

Amnesty International has demanded the government “revoke or amend legal provisions that unlawfully limit freedom of expression, end harassment of dissidents, release all prisoners of conscience, and allow free exchange of information through the internet and other media.”

7 Cuban Doctors Sue Cuba and Venezuela: Operation "Barrio Adentro" Exposed

"El que la hace la paga?"

The United States District for the Southern District of Florida is no stranger to international disputes. And certainly not to lawsuits filed against the Cuban regime or its officials.

Seven Cuban doctors and a nurse have filed a suit in Miami's federal court alleging that Cuba, Venezuela and its state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela engage in "modern slavery." The victims claim that they were forced to serve in the program "Misión Barrio Adentro" in order to help re-pay Cuba's debt to Venezuela.

In 2008, a federal judge granted an $80 million judgment against a company based in Curacao for submitting three Cuban workers to forced labor and holding them in inhumane conditions. This case set a precedent because it was the first time that a company was held responsible for engaging in slave labor and other human rights violations with the Cuban regime. However, like many cases before it, the plaintiffs have had enormous difficulty collecting the award.

An all too familiar sound of "Quien es el ultimo?!" comes to mind as "la cola" to collect against those who violate human rights grows year after year.

So I ask you, our fellow readers: What do you propose is an effective means of collecting these awards?