Stories about Cuba from February, 2011
Cuba: Damas de Blanco Attacked
Bloggers discuss the latest crackdown on Cuban dissidents.
Cuba: Watching from Within
“There has not [been] enough coverage or information to even begin to address the complexity of these events and the numberless perspectives interpreting them”: Graham Sowa blogs at Havana Times about watching the Middle East protests from Cuba.
Cuba: The Day Zapata Died
Iván's File Cabinet remembers the day that hunger striker and prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died.
Cuba: Marking Zapata's Anniversary
Diaspora blogger El Cafe Cubano posts photos from a march in honour of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, while Uncommon Sense reports that “Cuban independent journalist and activist Guillermo Fariñas…said the government's crackdown this week has only elevated Zapata's status in Cuba”; Havana Times says that the first anniversary of his death...
Cuba: Zapata Vive
“The fact that Zapata’s death came about through starvation is one more piece of the hunger we have endured for over half a century”: Crossing the Barbed Wire explains why Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death “was not in vain”.
Cuba: What do the Cables from Havana Say? (Part III)
In the last part of a series on WikiLeaks and Cuba, author Elaine Díaz analyzes the content of cables regarding the Cuban opposition and the role of bloggers.
Cuba: Psychiatric Hospital Trial Over
Laritza's Laws is still haunted by the trial for the deaths at the Psychiatric Hospital, describing the proceedings as “a bad theater set painted by the official press.”
Cuba: The Memory of Zapata
“Sometimes the end of person cements his name in history forever”: Generation Y blogs about Orlando Zapata Tamayo on the first anniversary of his death.
Cuba: Cigar Fest
Havana Times and Repeating Islands blog about Cuba's Cigar Festival.
Cuba: Masses for Tamayo
Uncommon Sense reports that “State Security agents this week have been warning parishes in Havana to not celebrate Masses to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo.”
Cuba: Realities of Virtual Protests
Laritza Diversent and Without Evasion blog about the Middle East protests and the obstacles that may prevent similar demonstrations from happening in Cuba.
Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago: The Gay Agenda
Could prioritizing the gay agenda be diverting attention from more pressing issues? Iván's File Cabinet explores the possibilities, while gspottt says the Trinidad and Tobago government “has its priorities on GLBT issues wrong.”
Cuba: Generación Y and Voces Cubanas Unblocked in Cuba
For nearly three years, Yoani Sánchez has called herself a “blind blogger.” Her blog, Generación Y, has been blocked in Cuba since March of 2008. But on February 8, the site was unblocked in Cuba.
Cuba: Reina Luisa Tamayo Arrested
Uncommon Sense re-posts a report of the arrest and alleged beating of the mother of the late prisoner of conscience, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, saying: “Wednesday…is [the] one-year anniversary of [his] death…already, Cuban police — spooked by the calendar and the possible spread of “Egyptian flu” — have launched a new...
Cuba: Journalist's Home Attacked
Babalu and Uncommon Sense blog about Sara Martha Fonseca, whose “home was attacked last night…in reaction to the mass protest in Cuba scheduled for February 23, 2011, in commemoration of the murder of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo.”
Cuba: New Technology, Old Ideas
“What century is Cuban television living in?”: Octavo Cerco is amazed by the claims of a television program, saying: “That the new technologies have arrived, there is now no doubt, because they themselves say it’s so. But it’s thanks to the tenacity of the Cuban people in accessing everything the...
Cuba: Cyberwar? Video Sparks Debate, Anger, Skepticism
A video posted February 1st on Vimeo features a 52-minute presentation on new information technologies and a “ciberguerra” allegedly being waged on Cuba by the United States government and US-based NGOs. Initial reports called this a classified government video that had been leaked, but some bloggers (on and off the island) are questioning this assertion.
Cuba: Dissidents Arrested?
Babalu is concerned about two missing Cuban dissidents; Uncommon Sense re-posts the message, saying: “I'm afraid we will see a lot of this in coming days, with next week's one-year anniversary of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and the Internet-based call for an Egypt-style uprising on the island.”
Jamaica, Cuba, T&T: Egypt's Revolution
Regional bloggers rejoice over Egypt‘s “Revolution 2.0″
Cuba: What do the Cables from Havana Say? (Part II)
Speculation about the health of the former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro Ruz, was one of the main issues discussed in various cables revealed by WikiLeaks. In this second part of a series, our author Elaine Díaz analyzes the content of the controversial diplomatic cables.
Cuba: Calls to Demonstrate
Uncommon Sense and Antunez blog about two different calls to demonstrate in Cuba – one “to demand the freedom and democracy that have been taken from us” and the other to mark the “one year anniversary of the assassination of political prisoner Orlando Zapata.”