“in keeping with the objectives of socialist society” (hahhahahahaha)
First of all, YOU HAVE TO GO CHECK OUT the restaurant El Cochinito (lol “The little pig”) because they got some FIRE CUBAN FOOD! And the FLAN IS TO DIE FOR. It tastes like heaven. (I’m sorry to say to my aunt but it’s even better than hers ahhh). PLEASE just do yourself right and check it out ;)!
Also, here are a list of a few songs by Cuban Artists from the past, recent, and emerging artists that you should also check out if you’re interested in getting some of that Cuban timbre ;)
La Negra Tiene Tumbao by Celia Cruz ( One of my abuelita’s personal favorites)
Gozando En Miami by David Calzado y su Caranga Habenera feat. El Chacal (One of my mama’s personal favorites)
Que la Vida Te Sonria by El Chulo, El Kamel
Toda la Madrugada by Marvin Freddy & Kayanco ********* (My personal Favorite)
Have you ever just needed to look up ON YOUR PHONE how to spell the word “cat” or “the” or something because like you couldn’t remember for your life how to spell the word, then Google or Safari or Chrome, or Firefox just kinda comes to the rescue?! ORRRRR, you forgot you had a research paper on “the implications of underwater basket-weaving in the political sphere of Atlantis” or something like that and you needed to look up political cases or just what underwater basket-weaving is really, on your phone before you got to class so that you could tell your teacher you did the preliminary research?
So as you could tell, by the pointed questions (that were also attempts at being funny but we all know was pretty bad) that I have a topic of interest at hand. (Smiley face with intention).
We are so lucky to have our phones with wifi or cellular data at the tips of our fingers whenever we should so please to use it- even if you just want to look up videos of babies who sneeze and then fall over because they have no balance (hint hint) for entertainment. What a privilege to have! Many countries have this, but there are many that don’t, ehhhhmmmmm, (cough cough) Cuba. And on top of that, many countries (Cuba) have censorship and restrictions on what can and cannot be looked up on the internet (Cuba) because it is not “in keeping with the objectives of socialist society” (rolls eyes). I am not foolish, so I know every country has censorship, even the United States, but this country has so much freedom and allows for diversity of opinion to be given. We all know CNN, FOX, MSNBC etc. and all these sources allow for us to choose and to think freely and not have to agree with our neighbors and advocate against or for the activities and laws and propositions of our own country, but this is not the case in many countries like Cuba or even places like the Middle East or the Eastern World. These freedoms are new and revolutionary and should be treated with respect and never be taken for granted. And the fact, that my Cuba doesn’t have that really pushes me off the edge.
Human rights in Cuba are nothing like they are here.
Their declarations even say so. I mean, the Cuban constitution says that free speech is allowed “in keeping with the objectives of socialist society”. Therefore, anything contrary to socialist ideals (cough cough … brain washing) is illegal. So, could someone explain to me where the freedom in that speech is? Freedom means “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint”(Dictionary.com). Seriously, “WITHOUT HINDRANCE OR RESTRAINT” NOTTTTTT “as long as it doesn’t contradict the socialist ideals that I say go because I’m the President of Cuba”. Honestly, this is not about socialism versus capitalism versus any other political ideology you want to believe in. It is about the freedom to believe in any of these political ideals without being indoctrinated by a government to only believe in one.
…
Moving forward, before I digress in to other tangents, censorship imposes on this freedom of speech and expression. Side note, the Cuban constitution also says artistic creation is allowed “as long as its content is not contrary to the Revolution”(rolls eyes again and sighs). I generally know the restrictions on freedom of speech in Cuba because of all the nightmares that my family and friends have had to experience there. But I thought I’d list Josefina Salomon’s Six facts about censorship in Cuba to sum it up (with a bit of my own commentary mixed in). She is much more organized and well-thought out then I am. (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/six-facts-about-censorship-in-cuba/) So here are the six facts that I know to be true, as well.
1. Freedom of expression can (and most likely will, if you ain’t careful) land you in jail in Cuba.
2. The state has a virtual monopoly on print and broadcast media.
ex: The Granma is the government owned newspaper and I think its the only one in print. It is highly censored.
ex. There are only seven television channels, all government broadcasted. One of which is like past speeches made by the Castro’s, the rest are about government propaganda and activity and one is on music (which has already been censored and tends to be mainly only Cuban music). Yeah, when I was there, a friend flipped through all the channels with me to explain this. And they were lucky because they were one of the few people who actually owned a tv.
3. Cuba is one of the least connected countries in the Americas.
4. Internet access in Cuba is censored.
( I had to include her little summary on this one). With access to internet so limited, online censorship is not that sophisticated in Cuba. Authorities frequently filter and intermittently block websites that are critical of the state. Limiting access to information in this way is a clear breach of the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information.
5. Communicating with Cuban human rights activists from overseas is difficult.
( I had to include her little summary on this one, as well). Amnesty International, along with many other independent international human rights monitors, including UN Special Rapporteurs, are not allowed to access Cuba. The landline, mobile and internet connections of government critics, human rights activists and journalists are often monitored or disabled. In the lead-up to Pope Benedict’s three-day visit to Cuba in September 2012, a communications blockade prevented Amnesty International and other international organizations from gathering information on a wave of detentions that were taking place. Communicating with Cuban human rights activists remains challenging, particularly at times when the authorities are arresting people based on their political opinion.
6. Cubans are savvy about how to circumvent censorship and government restrictions to internet access.
My personal commentary is as follows (warning: my opinion is tossed throughout): aver, one of the only good things that came from the Revolution is Castro’s literary campaign, in which he made sure all Cubans were educated. In fact, Cuba has one of the most educated populations in the Western Hemisphere. Everyone is educated and Cubans tend to be really brilliant minded people. Amnesty Global Insights does say this though, “Literacy campaigns have been central to Cuba’s policies since the revolution, and the country’s commendable education system continues to benefit from heavy investment. Yet decades of off-line censorship, and the apparent desire to continue restricting freedom of expression and access to information through a model of online censorship risks undermining Cuba’s historical advances in education.” That I do agree with, but also, (hysterically laughing) if I were trying to make a country completely socialist or completely ideologically the way I see fit, I wouldn’t educate the people because education leads to imagination and ingenuity and new thinking, and eventually to diversity in opinion and thought, which would and could be an opposition to my rule of the nation. I don’t think Castro thought that one through. I mean, if you know Cubans are smart people and if they are educated they would be even smarter, did you think that it would be more rather than less easier to brainwash them? So, yeah point number 6.
Anyways, my point is, you know looking up that research paper from above is most likely not possible in Cuba, unless “politics” means politics “in keeping with the objectives of socialist society”. (Hahahaha)
So that’s it for now. I’ll talk more censorship next week and other things on freedoms (lack there of) in my Cuba that I wish they could experience like we do here. (One of the things that make me hurt for my people). Also this post is great and will probably use it in My next post, so check it out so you get what I am referencing: https://medium.com/amnesty-insights/cubas-internet-paradox-776213c8ddb0
