¡Tú estás totalmente equivocado! - The Best Thing (about Cuba) I've Read (in Spanish) This Week (IV)

You Are Totally Wrong!

Fernando Ravsberg, 2009-12-10

I recently discovered the work of Fernando Ravsberg, the BBC foreign correspondent in Cuba. Ravsberg churns out some really good articles and interviews on the usual suspects and topics - los Hnos. Castro, Yoani Sanchez, politics, U.S.-Cuban relations, etc. However, in an effort to focus attention on the often ignored struggles and joys of daily life in Cuba for its average citizens (and often in the neglected "provinces," faraway from the overexposed capital city), he also launched a blog, Cartas desde Cuba, two years ago.

His first five posts all appeared in a single week in mid-November of 2007. They covered fascinating subjects like the daily struggles to make ends meet, a handfull of Cuban children abandoned by their parents who live quite well at a state-run orphanage, trying to spend a weekend at Varadero when you (like Ravsberg) are a foreigner with a Cuban spouse (back then, Cubans couldn't stay in hotels and foreigners could only stay in them), the underground rock scene and the youth hang-out at 23 y G in Vedado, and corruption, the black market, and the creeping privatization of state enterprises by their "enterprising" employees.

His fascination with this Cuba, "beyond the headlines," led to his rich and vivid blog (now two years old). To this we can add the rich and provocative comments his world-wide reading audience have sent in.

Here is how he described the purpose and focus of his blogging adventure back in November of 2007:

"In the press we are acoustomed to read, see, or hear about Cuba only when some kind of political event occurs; whether it has to do with Fidel Castro, Cuba's historic leader, or when there is an incident concerning relations with the United States, among other themes. Nevertheless, we know and read little about the day-to-day life of this Caribbean island.

"For that reason, our correspondent Fernando Ravsberg ventured out into the streets in order to search for and write about the daily lives of Cubans, sharing his expereinces with you in these 'Cartas desde Cuba.' We also invite you to read the many comments we have received responding to his work during this week."

Luckily for us, this week-long experiment went so well that Ravsberg decided to continue blogging into 2008 and 2009.

His latest post, "You Are Totally Wrong!" is his 100th. It is highly recommended for its wit and for its focus on Cuban political culture, where respectful dialogue and debate is often a faraway dream. Instead, both government critics and pro-revolution stalwarts tend to attack one another with "verbal violence," refusing to ever really hear what the other is saying.

Click above to read the post in Spanish.  My translation follows below.

Arriba Periodismo Ciudadano; Abajo Violencia Verbal: Video Interview with Yoani Sanchez (July 2008)

On a trip to Havana in July 2008, I had the good fortune of tracking down and interviewing the fearless, indefagable and now world-reknown Cuban blogger, Yoani Sánchez.

When I called her home to arrange the meeting and interview, her intrepid husband, the journalist and fellow blogger Reinaldo Escobar answered the phone and invited me to meet them over lunch later that day. My visit soon took on a typically surreal Cuban socialist quality, however, when Escobar explained that while they lived on the 14th floor, the building’s elevator only reached the 12th floor, from where I would have to proceed by foot.

In fact, when I arrived the elevator was not working at all, forcing me to ascend all 14 floors on foot, arriving drenched in sweat and out of breath. Upon seeing my state of exhaustion, Escobar commented ironically, “They must’ve told you the elevator was broken… And you must’ve believed them!”

Laughing, he quickly handed me an ice-cold blackmarket Bucanero beer and explained that he, in fact, was the buliding’s elevator repair man.

“Twenty years ago when they expelled me from the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, I decided to study engineering. In today’s Cuba there is just as much need for a good repair man as there is for a good journalist. Except that the first profession requires no ideological training. Really, I sould thank them for granting me my freedom.”

Soon thereafter I transcribed that interview (available in Spanish here and here) and then translated parts of it into English. However, due to my then negligible skills editing video for YouTube or at managing a blog, the video we shot of the interview has only been shown in public once and has so far remained off-line.

No more! I have just edited and uploaded the entire 50 minute video onto YouTube in 13 separate thematic parts. A list of links to the 13 clips is available here in chronological order.

You can also access individual clips here:

[1] The Origins of Generacion Y (4:19)
[2] The portal DesdeCuba.com (2:19)
[3] The connection between Generacion Y and the Polemica Intelectual (6:37)
[4] Sanchez explains the terms "Violencia Verbal" and "Periodismo Ciudadano" (5:19)
[5] The evolution, insults, and applause generated by Generacion Y (4:07)
[6] Sanchez's favorite blogs from within Cuba (3:01)
[7] Sanchez's favoirte blogs about Cuba from abroad (1:37)
[8] Obstacles to blogging in Cuba and strategies for overcoming them (3:43)
[9] A description of Generacioin Y's "citizen network" abroad and of the use of minidisks (3:13)
[10] How the "citizen network" helps with the translation of Generacion Y (2:01)
[11] Sanchez on how she finances her blog and on remaining independent (4:31)
[12] Sanchez's thoughts on Raul Castro's leadership and on his speech from July 26, 2008 (2:55)
[13] Sanchez's thoughts on Obama's candidacy and possible changes in U.S-Cuban relations that could result from his election (5:07)

Enjoy!

Heat and Light

Can we talk? Can we listen? Can we hear one another?

In the header above, I explain that I intended this blog to serve as a platform where "one Yuma (me) could share his toughts on all things Cuban, a subject that often generates more heat than light."

Recent heated events in Miami and Havana have made my words seem somewhat prophetic. But, then again, it's not rocket science to accurately predict that Cubans of different opinioins and political persuasions will come to (verbal) blows. The tendency toward personal attacks, disqualification of anyone who thinks differently, and EL GRITO!!! - in short "verbal violence" - is a trait deeply rooted in Cuba's political culture (tanto en La Habana como en La Pequena Habana).