Cuba, Miami y la homofobia

De izquierda a derecha: Jafari Sinclair Allen, Achy Obejas, Mabel Cuesta, Emilio Bejel y María Werlau.  Arriba en la pantalla (y presentes en vivo por teléfono): Leannes Imbert e Ignacio Estrada.

Hoy leí en PD un resumen del panel sobre LGBT del sábado pasado en el NYPL de Harlem (vea mi foto de los ponentes arriba). Acerca de lo que Alexis Romay escribe allí sobre mi pregunta acerca de la homofobia en Miami hacia el final del evento, le digo: o me entendió mal o no me quisó entender.  A eso regreso mas abajo.

A friend weighs in on Lybia

Having just returned from two weeks honeymooning in Morocco, the attacks on the US consulates in Benghazi and Egypt strike particularly close to home. 

Also, I understand that Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who was killed along with three other Americans, was a much admired figure to many in the Libyan resistance last year given his support for them.  

What follows is a brief note I received this morning from a life-long friend of mine recently retired from the USMC. During his 20 years in the military he served in many foreign countries including Afghanistan and Serbia. 

We don't always agree on politics, but his eloquent and impassioned words deserve to be heard and discussed. 

 

From: William Pelletier

Sept. 12, 2012

 

This morning, news organizations reported the death of J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans who worked for the State Department, near the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The four were killed in a riot related to ongoing violence in Egypt and Libya by crowds purportedly enraged by an American-made video that protrayed the prophet Muhammad as being homosexual, a pedophile and a philanderer, all of which are considered blasphemous in Islam.

The video was made by Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American who lives in California and has reportedly gone into hiding. It was publicized by World Dove Outreach Center pastor Terry Jones, the same man who held a trial for the Koran in his church and subsequently burned it in 2010. 

 

To Mr. Bacile: Why are you hiding? Did you honestly think that creating such a movie would produce any result other than pandemonium? Israel is a beautiful, vibrant country that lives in existential danger, and THIS is how you contribute to efforts to keep it safe? Your lack of judgment is matched only by your absence of courage in letting others stand accountable for the chaos you created. Theo van Gogh at least had the courage of his convictions, for which he died. On second thought, stay wherever you are.    

 

To Mr. Jones: I omit the honorific "Pastor," because a pastor is one who tends a flock. You clearly have no one's interests at heart but your own, and as a former Gainesville, Fla. resident, it pains me to see that town's name tarnished because of its association with the likes of you. Justice would be seeing you and all zealots cast into a pit together where the only havoc you could wreak would be on each other, but that's not for me to decide. However, I say that your teachings in no way resemble the answer to the question "What would Jesus do?"    

 

To the Cairo and Benghazi rioters: Whether you were willing participants or unwitting dupes of manipulating masters, you have been party to murder and mayhem. Your action is that of a mad dog, a person who has nothing to lose, and eventually you will force someone to treat you that way. If your goal was to move us one step closer to an end-of-days clash of civilizations, you have succeeded.     

 

To those who demand an apology from the U.S. government for the film:  Go suck an egg (and I restrain myself in my choice of language). This is what freedom looks like, this is what it means to have choices. Your inability or unwillingness to restrain the infantile, anarchic impulses of the people is why America's way has always been the way of the future. Your way is built on a foundation of sand and the result shall be a surprise to no one but you.  

 

To campaign operatives of any party who would even think of political gain from these events: God's own shame on you.   

 

To the wives, children, family and friends of Ambassador Stevens, Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith and our other fallen comrades: You have my family's prayers and condolences. Please pay no mind to the above-listed cowards, charlatans, nihilists, mobsters and calculators who posture grandly with other people's gold. You are the Americans, along with the families of our military, State Department and other overseas agencies, with real skin in the game, and your word carries weight because of your sacrifice. Please take comfort in the fact that while others bloviated, ranted, conspired and threw tantrums, your men walked the walk and died in the noblest of pursuits. 

 

Finally, to the U.S. Marines who guard our embassies around the world: Days like this are what you have trained for. Steady. Semper Fidelis.//

LGBT Lives in Contemporary Cuba

LGBT Lives in Contemporary Cuba 

at the Schomburg Center, Sat., Sep. 15, 3:00 p.m.

I don't expect Mariela Castro to be in attendance for this event but she should return to NYC just for it. She could contribute a bit and, I'm sure, learn a lot too. 

It's really a fabulous set of smart people.  Be sure to RSVP.  See you there!

Although Cuba has made major advances in LGBT rights in recent years, homophobia remains a problematic human rights issue.  A panel of scholars, writers, and activists, featuring Jafari Allen, Emilio Bejel, Mabel Cuesta, Ignacio Estrada, Leannes Imbert, and Achy Obejas, will discuss continuing challenges. 

Jorge Duany Appointed as New CRI Director

http://cri.fiu.edu/news/2012/jorge-duany-cri-director/

Jorge Duany Appointed as New CRI Director

Wednesday September 5, 2012

Cuban Research Institute announces new director

Jorge Duany has joined FIU as the director for the Cuban Research Institute.

He brings with him a passion for shaping the conversation about Cuba and her people. Born in Cuba but raised in Puerto Rico, Duany has long struggled with answering the question: Where are you from? He sometimes just answers, "I'm Cuba Rican." He became interested in the idea of migration, specifically in the Spanish-Caribbean migration, during his time in Puerto Rico and has published extensively on migration, ethnicity, race, nationalism, and transnationalism in the Caribbean and the United States.

"I would like CRI to focus more on the Cuban American community and the Cuban diaspora in the 21st century," Duany said. "I want to strengthen the CRI-faculty relationships, courses, fellowships and summer programs."

Along with his appointment at CRI, Duany also will serve as an anthropology professor in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies within the School of International and Public Affairs.

"Dr. Duany brings a unique perspective to our Cuban studies," said John Stack, executive director of the School of International and Public Affairs and associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. "His passion for Cuba and her people will help invigorate thoughtful conversations about the role Cubans play internationally and about the future of Cuba, itself."

Prior to joining FIU, Duany served as acting dean of the College of Social Sciences and professor of Anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. He currently belongs to the editorial boards of academic journals including CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Cuban Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, and Latino Studies.

Duany received his Ph.D. in Latin American Studies, specializing in anthropology, from the University of California, Berkeley. He received an M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University. He served as director of University of Puerto Rico's Department of Sociology and Anthropology and director of the journal Revista de Ciencias Sociales. He has had visiting teaching and research appointments at several United States' universities, including Harvard, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the City University of New York.

Un panorama actual: Estado de SATS participa en ASCE, 2012

Hacia donde va Cuba? Desde La Habana...

Con Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Karina Gálvez, Wilfredo Vallín, entre otros...

Paul Ryan on Cuba?: American Bridge | Scribd

Some surprising facts about Representative Paul Ryan's voting record on Cuba.

Go to page 163 of the American Bridge report below.

http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/102084820/html5#outer_page_101

More "liberal" than Obama, or perhaps so far to the libertarian "right" that he gets some things right?

What will Florida's Cuban voters think of this?

And Marco Rubio...?

(H/T Ariana Hernández @ EthnoCuba).

NPR - Talk of the Nation: "What the future holds for Cuba's economy"

What The Future Holds For Cuba's Economy - August 9, 2012

Talk of the Nation [30 min 10 sec] 

In Cuba, President Raul Castro has plans to reform the economy, but many challenges lie ahead before the country can move forward. Many of the changes are being implemented slowly because of resistance from within the Communist Party. 

Guests 

Ted Henken, associate professor of sociology and Latin American studies, Baruch College 

Enrique Pumar, chair of the sociology department, Catholic University of America 

Sergio Diaz-Briquets, author of Conquering Nature: The Environmental Legacy of Socialism in Cuba

La Generación Y está en Llama! & Cuban(-Americans) in London, 2012

Generation Y wins again!

I am not making this up.

Selección de nombres de deportistas cubanos que participan en Londres 2012:
Selection of names of Cuban athletes who are participating in the 2012 London Olympics:

A (2): Arasay and Ariannis

D (7): Dailin, Daisurami, Darisleydis, Dayaris, Dayexi, Dianelys, and Diosmely

E (2): Eglys Yahima and Erislandy

G (1): Glenhis

H (1): Hanser Lenier

J (2): Jeinkler and Josleidy

L (2): Lesyani and Leuris

M (2): Marlies and Mijain

N (1): Nelkis

O (2): Onix and Oreydi

R (2): Robeisy and Robelis

S (1): Serguey

Y (15): Yaima, Yaime, Yariulvis, Yasmani, Yosbany, Yasnier, Yarisley, Yargeris, Yoelmis, Yoslaine, Yowlys, Yulitza, Yumari, Yunior, and Yurileidys

(H/T Ariana Hernández @ Ethno-Cuba).

And now for the Cuban-Americans...

Robin Prendes: (Sailing) Cuban-born Robin Prendes moved to Miami with his parents at the age of 6. He began to row there, at the American Barge Club, at the age of 12.  Born in Matanzas, Cuba.

Danell Leyva: (Gymnastics)  Cuban-born Danell Leyva fled Cuba with his mother and older sister 18 years ago. Now here he was, gold medal around his neck, USA emblazoned on his chest.  "I'll always be proud to have been born in Cuba. I'll forever be Cuban," Leyva said before the world gymnastics championships, where he won the parallel bars title on Oct. 16 to give the U.S. men their first gold medal since 2003.

Manny Huerta:(Triathelon) Cuban-born Manny Huerta's grandmother fled Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift.  "She just said it was a very small boat, it was very crowded," said Huerta, 28. "She was just happy that she was able to make that trip. Thanks to her, we were able to move to the U.S." She was granted U.S. citizenship and then helped Huerta, his family get visas to join her in the U.S. In Cuba, Huerta's mother was a university physics professor. Now she's a driving instructor in Miami.

Amy Rodriguez: (Soccer) "I'm really competitive," she says. "That's probably why my coaches always put me at forward because I'm the one that's always persistent, always the one that's going out there and play after play trying to make something happen. I'm part Hispanic -- my dad's Cuban -- so that fiery Latina attitude definitely [comes out] in my game."  Rodriguez says she's pretty Americanized and only speaks a little Spanish. But there are plenty of family reunions where Grandma cooks traditional dishes like congri, a mixture of rice and beans.

Christina McHale: (Tennis) Born in Teaneck NJ-- She is the daughter of John and Margarita McHale. Her father John is an Irish American while her mother Margarita was born in Cuba.

Ryan Lochte: (Swimming) By now, you know all about him.  Let's remind everyone that his mother was born and raised in Cuba and he loves his grandmother's cooking! His favorite food is Bistec empanizado, picadillo y ropa vieja.  Yeah!

22nd Anniversary: Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, 1990-2012

This is a test: Will "Opera de la Calle" be allowed to reopen?

In the last few weeks, three of the leading foreign journalists who live in and regularly report on Cuba have published a series of fascinating installments in the ongoing, and as yet unresolved case of the private restaurant and cabaret "El Cabildo" and it's in-house company, "Opera de la Calle."

Opera de la Calle combined a cultural project with a paladar, 

which allowed it to pay the salaries of all its employees 

and cover its other overhead costs.  Photo: Raquel Pérez. 

First, on July 11, Marc Frank of Reuters published a provocative article entitled, "In Cuba, an Opera Singer Builds an Empire." While the article is a great introduction to El Cabildo and its resourceful and revolutionary founder and director Ulises Aquino, perhaps Frank should have left the word "empire" to government propagandists.

Soon after the article was published, Aquino was called to account by the authorities and, apparently unsatisfied with his explanations of his business plan, they carried out a surprise raid on his operation on Saturday, July 21, interrupted his show, pulled him off the stage as the shocked audience looked on, and proceeded to carry out a 4-hour inspection.

As was later reported by BBC correspondent Fernando Ravsberg on his blog "Cartas desde Cuba" (and at Havana Times in English), in the end, Aquino was stripped of his various business licenses for a two year period and accused of a number of economic crimes including having too many chairs (150) for a private restaurant, serving products whose origins could not be determined, having unauthorized employees, and, most galling, of undue "enrichment" since he charged his patrons a $2 cover and paid his employees the equivalent of $80 a month (roughly 4 times the average state salary).

Ulises Aquino is an important Cuban lyric vocalist who has tried 

to promote the genre among his fellow Cubans using the cultural 

project "Opera de la Calle," while also incorporating “folklore and

the typical archetypes of our society.”  Foto: Raquel Pérez 

The latest update on the story was reported by the always intrepid and incisive NPR/Global Post correspondent Nick Miroff. According to Miroff, the case has sent shock waves through Cuba's fledging community of private entrepreneurs since Aquino seems to have been punished for doing exactly what the government of Raul Castro has been promoting: creating well-paying jobs in the non-state sector and reducing the economic burden on the government.

However, it seems that not everyone - especially those Aquino calls "mid-level bureaucrats endangered by all these new opportunities" - is on board with tolerating, much less promoting, Cuba's new entrepreneurial sector.

You can listen to Miroff's excellent NPR story here.

Miroff notes that this is a test case whose outcome will show how serious Raul Castro's government is about the depth and permanence of its economic reforms. "If they intervene to help re-open El Cabildo," writes Miroff in his related Global Post story, "they will send a clear signal that Cuba's new small businesses deserve encouragement, not strangulation."

However, if the operation which employed as many as 120 workers (being perhaps the largest private business on the island) is left to die a bureaucratic death, it will show "that the skeptics are right, and Cuba hasn't changed much after all" (as Miroff notes in his NPR broadcast).

If that happens, Miroff notes that Aquino will have lost, but quotes him as saying:

"The [real] loser here won't be me. It'll be our country."

Ulises Aquino, a prominent Cuban singer, is the owner of 

the caberat and restaurant. He describes himself as 

a strong supporter of Cuba's socialist system and split the earnings 

among his 130 employees. Photo: Nick Miroff for NPR. 

Readers can read more about "Opera de la Calle" on John McAuliff's blog and a bit more about the case at Diario de Cuba. Be sure to check back here or follow me on Twitter @ElYuma to see how the story ends.