Cuban official calls problems ``war wounds''

Cuban official calls problems ``war wounds''
Posted on Fri, Apr. 04, 2008
Associated Press

HAVANA --
A top Cuban official on Friday publicly acknowledged problems permeating everyday life on the island, calling them ''war wounds'' of a long struggle with the United States.

Vice President Carlos Lage's comments came at a gathering of Cuban intellectuals, who complained about censorship, restrictions on the Internet and heavy-handed, inept bureaucracy.

The relatively open debate appeared to be part of a guarded opening under new President Raul Castro, who succeeded his brother Fidel in February and has urged Cubans to fearlessly voice major complaints without fear of reprisal.

''Double morality, prohibitions, a press that doesn't reflect our reality like we want, unwanted inequality, deteriorating infrastructure are all war wounds, but they are from a war we have won,'' Lage told the 400 members of the Congress of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists.

Cuba has for decades considered itself in an ideological war with the United States and officials blame many political restrictions and economic hardships on U.S. threats and embargoes.

Lage offered no promises for improvement in any of the areas he singled out, but the new leadership has done away with some of the most-despised restrictions on daily life, dropping bans on allowing Cubans to rent cell phones, rent cars, stay in luxury hotels and buy appliances and DVD players.

Relatively few Cubans have the money to take advantage of those openings and the reforms have not eroded the control of Cuba's Communist Party.

But another prominent official, Havana city Historian Eusebio Leal, rejected suggestions the new measures were superficial and purely cosmetic, while insisting more changes were on the way.

A policy ''that until yesterday was not convenient or prudent, today is necessary,'' Leal, who administers the celebrated revamping of Havana's colonial center, said Thursday.

Similar gatherings in the past have helped set the tone for Cuban culture -- sometimes enforcing discipline on writers and artists who had veered away from communist orthodoxy.

The new congress was closed to international media, but the comments by Lage and Leal, as well as some other delegates were broadcast on state television.

''We are preparing ourselves for our country's new direction,'' said Leal, who is also a member of the Communist Party Central Committee.

He also called for reconciliation between Cubans living on the island and those in exile, many of whom headed to the United States after Fidel Castro took power in 1959.

''I'm not embarrassed by those who are outside the country because my kids are outside the country,'' Leal said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/483654.html
.

Relevant Pages

  • Official Cuban Journalism: With a Glass =?UTF-8?B?Um9vZuKApiAvIE0=?= =?UTF-8?B?aXJpYW0gQ2VsY
    ... Official Cuban Journalism: With a Glass Roof… ... In case any readers are now wondering what kind of morbid masochist wish has me reading a Granma article more than once, let me assure you that I would not have conceived such journalistic cynicism otherwise. ... Anyone in their right mind would question, for starters, what kind of parents would allow their underage children to become part of an entity destined for war; so the author justifies it his way: "My old man tried to persuade us and talked to us about joining the Youth Patrols and Rebel Youth, but we always wanted to do what we had not been able to accomplish during the war: to fight the enemy face to face". ... Another question would be what kind of institution or government would authorize the recruitment of children into armed militias, and here again the author explained: "Thus, in Jaimanitas, where he lived, they finally allowed me to become militia, though I, at least, was put through huge obstacles because of my age, and I can't even remember how it was that they let me in". ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)
  • From War Veteran to Peaceful Dissident / Luis Felipe Rojas
    ... From War Veteran to Peaceful Dissident / Luis Felipe Rojas ... he traversed various obstacles until he became a public dissident. ... This soldier was later discharged here in Cuba because he was having an affair, something very common within the Cuban armed forces. ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)
  • Cubas Military Celebrates 49 Years
    ... the height of the Cold War before assuming a newer mission to bolster ... existed before the Cuban Revolution, traces its roots to Dec. 2, 1956, ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)
  • Is Cuba At War? And If So, Against Whom?
    ... Is Cuba At War? ... The poster is glued to the window of "The Polynesian" restaurant in the basement of the "Habana Libre" hotel. ... Maybe it's a little sad for all those who still hope for changes, to see that these are the new reforms that are planned; and despite its proven failure, this is still the "New Man" of the Cuban Revolution. ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)
  • THE EMPIRE AND ITS LIES
    ... It was Reagan who created the Cuban ... When, on March 30, 1981, we received news in Cuba that Reagan had ... "WAYNE SMITH: Thank you, very much. ... was ask that the official convey the United States" gratitude to the ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)