…o más bien escribió. Lo estaba esperando y al fin apareció. Tarde y mal pero llegó.
En la conferencia de prensa en que participé el pasado miércoles 6 de noviembre en el Centro Internacional de Prensa de Madrid hubo un espía. Se llama Bertrand de La Grange y a diferencia de los redactores allí presentes permaneció todo el tiempo en silencio,
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A continuación proporcionamos en español la reseña del libro: http://www.democracycuba.com/ERLACS_Book_Review.html#rev_span,
ERLACS is the European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe. It welcomes articles that reflect substantial empirical research and/or are theoretically innovative with respect to major debates within the fields of the social sciences and history. It is a scholarly publication of the prestigious Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA). The inter-university CEDLA was founded in 1964 at the University of Amsterdam. In 1971 CEDLA became an inter-university institute with its activities carried out on a national scope.
John McAuliff — Nov 9, 2013
President Obama is in Miami and said nice things about dissidents (filtered through Juan Tamayo’s usually hostile to Havana interpretation in the Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/08/3740997/with-charlie-crist-as-guest-president.html,), but also suggested more is coming on US policy change:
Obama told two of Cuba’s leading dissidents in South Florida that he admires their sacrifices, a rare White House recognition of the peaceful opposition on the communist-ruled island.
“The most important thing here was the recognition by the president of the United States, the most powerful democracy in the world,” dissident Guillermo Farinas said minutes after the meeting.
Obama also referred to his administration’s decision to relax travel restrictions on Cuba and said, “we’ve started to see changes on the island,” adding the U.S. needs to be “creative and thoughtful” and continue to update out Cuba policies.
If memory serves, Farinas sits on the pro-travel restrictions pro-embargo side of the dissident community although he has obviously profited from both countries’ liberalization.
The President’s comment on his travel initiative could be read as a refutation to Farinas and explain Farinas language about “the most important thing here”, which implies Obama said things he was not so happy about.
John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
Links and resources
Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances by Mark P. Sullivan, Specialist in Latin American Affairs An invaluable annual report published by Congressional Research Service (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL31139.pdf,)
taken from http://thehavananote.com/2013/11/another_straw_wind,
by Trevor Brown
With the international community’s attention being taken up by the recent revelation of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, that the United States government through its National Security Agency (NSA), was ‘ eaves dropping’ on her personal conversation, coupled with further allegations that Spain another ‘ friendly’ country, having 60,000,000(sixty million) conversations tapped in the space of 30 days and at least 35 other world leaders being subjected to similar monitoring by this security behemoth, a very important vote was taken in the hallowed halls of United Nations(UN) on October 29, 2013.
The occasion marks a resolution on ‘the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba’ by the government of the United States of America for over 50 years, which contains a summary of the principal damages caused by this policy on the country’s society and economy. Losses which up to April 2013 amounts…
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Claudia Morcom has been actively engaged in civil rights and human rights work throughout her life, beginning with attending rallies for the Scottsboro frame-up victims in her childhood. She worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the National Lawyers Guild in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi.
Claudia Morcom was the first African American woman to work in an integrated law firm when she joined the firm of Goodman, Crockett, Eden, Robb, and Philo in the early 1960s. She was the Southern Regional Director of the National Lawyers Guild Committee for Legal Assistance from 1964-1965. In 1966, she became the Director of the Wayne County Neighborhood Legal Services Program for the indigent. She became a Wayne County Circuit Court Judge in 1983. She served as a delegate to the United Nations Council on Human Rights.
Judge Claudia House Morcom worked to establish “gender and racial equality in all facets of society through her notable accomplishments in the field of law”.
November 5, 2013
Dear President Obama,
I am appealing to you as a colleague, a lawyer, a human rights activist and someone keenly conscious of the history of unjust imprisonment in our country. Specifically, I am writing this letter asking you to release the four remaining members of the so called “Cuban Five” whose only crime was to defend their country against unwarranted attacks. It is a simple act of justice that you can easily do.
The prosecution and imprisonment of the Scottsboro brothers and the outcry to free them was one of the factors that shaped my determination to become a lawyer at a very young age. It was in an era when women, particularly Black women, were seldom if ever enrolled in law schools.
As a young lawyer who organized legal defense for freedom riders in Mississippi, I saw first hand the ways in which hatred can taint our judicial system. In the years I served on the bench, I sought justice and heard all sides, especially in politically unpopular cases.
Since my retirement from the bench I have continued to advocate for human rights in our country representing the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers before the United Nations in Geneva and New York.
Because of my long term involvement with the National Lawyers Guild I have had the opportunity to interact with lawyers, law professors and students from all over the world. The U.S. has always been looked up to as a proponent for equal justice under the law and there have been many occasions where we have allowed long standing racist and sexist injustices to denigrate our aspirations for equality.
I have long been involved with the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Southern Poverty Law Center and many, many other organizations. It seems that the violation of human rights and justice unfortunately continues generation after generation.
As a lawyer, senator, professor and community organizer, you too have seen all of the inequities in our systems, at state, local and national levels.
You have a unique opportunity at this time to try to really demonstrate to young people of all races, ages and genders that the U.S. they have known in the past can’t continue to relegate so many as second class citizens.
You have an opportunity to be an example and change the course of the future. One historic act that you can do to correct a massive injustice that is not only current but historic is to open a dialogue with Cuba without preconditions. Then as has been voted by the United Nations General Assembly for 22 consecutive years, end the embargo on Cuba. Not only for the legal justification, but for the humanitarian message it will send to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and justice loving people around the world. Critical to this historic rapprochement that only you can achieve is freeing the Cuban Five.
Sincerely,
Hon. Claudia House Morcom, retired
Claudia Morcom ha estado envuelta toda su vida en el trabajo por los derechos civiles y los derechos humanos.
Durante temprana edad ya asistía a mitines en apoyo a las víctimas del caso Scottsboro. Ella trabajó con el Comité Coordinador de Estudiantes para la No-Violencia y el Gremio Nacional de Abogados en la década de los 1960 en Jackson, Mississippi.
Claudia Morcom fue la primera mujer afroamericana en trabajar en un bufete integral de abogados cuando se unió a la firma de Goodman, Crockett, Eden, Robb y Philo en la década de 1960. Además, fue la Directora Regional del Sur del Gremio Nacional de Abogados para la Asistencia Legal en 1964 y 1965. En 1966, pasó a ser la Directora del Programa de Servicios Legales para los Indigentes del Vecindario del Condado de Wayne. En 1983 comenzó a desempeñarse como Jueza del Tribunal de Circuito del Condado de Wayne.
También participó como delegada ante el Consejo de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos Humanos.
La Jueza Claudia House Morcom trabajó para establecer “la igualdad racial y de género en todas las facetas de la sociedad a través de sus notables logros en el campo del derecho”.
5 de Noviembre, 2013
Estimado Presidente Obama,
Estoy apelando a usted como colega, como abogado, como activista por los derechos humanos y como alguien profundamente consciente de la historia de injustos encarcelamientos en nuestro país. En concreto, le estoy escribiendo esta carta para pedirle que libere a los cuatro miembros restantes de los llamados “Cinco Cubanos” cuyo único delito fue defender a su país contra ataques injustificados. Es un simple acto de justicia que usted puede hacer fácilmente.
El procesamiento y encarcelamiento de los hermanos Scottsboro y las protestas para liberarlos fue uno de los factores que a temprana edad influyeron en mi decisión de estudiar abogacía. Eso sucedió en una época en que las mujeres, especialmente negras, raramente se inscribían en facultades de derecho.
Como joven abogada que organizó la defensa legal de los viajeros de la libertad en Mississippi, pude ver a primera mano cómo el odio puede contaminar nuestro sistema judicial. En los años que trabajé en la Corte, traté de que se hiciera justicia y oí a todas las partes, especialmente en casos políticamente impopulares.
Desde que me retiré de la Corte, he continuado abogando por los derechos humanos en nuestro país representando al Instituto por las Libertades Civiles Meiklejohn y la Asociación Internacional de Juristas Demócratas ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra y Nueva York.
Debido a mi larga historia de participación con el Gremio Nacional de Abogados he tenido la oportunidad de interactuar con abogados, profesores de derecho y estudiantes de todo el mundo. Estados Unidos siempre ha sido visto como un defensor de la igualdad bajo la ley y, sin embargo, ha habido muchas ocasiones donde hemos permitido durante mucho tiempo injusticias racistas y sexistas para denigrar nuestras aspiraciones por la igualdad.
Durante mucho tiempo he participado con el Centro de Estudios para la Paz y los Conflictos, la Unión de Libertades Civiles Americana, Amnistía Internacional, el Centro Legal para la Pobreza del Sur y muchas otras organizaciones. Lamentablemente parece que la violación de los derechos humanos y la justicia continúan generación tras generación.
Como abogado, senador, profesor y organizador comunitario, usted también ha visto todas las desigualdades en nuestro sistema, a nivel local, estatal y nacional.
Usted tiene una oportunidad única en este momento para tratar de demostrar realmente a los jóvenes de todas las razas, edades y géneros que los Estados Unidos que han conocido en el pasado no pueden continuar relegando a tantas personas a ciudadanos de segunda clase.
Usted tiene la oportunidad de ser un ejemplo y cambiar el curso del futuro. Un acto histórico que usted puede hacer para corregir una enorme injusticia que no sólo es actual sino histórica es abrir un diálogo con Cuba sin condiciones previas. Entonces, como ha sido decidido por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas durante 22 años consecutivos, usted debe acabar con el embargo a Cuba. No sólo por la justificación legal, sino por el mensaje humanitario que enviará a los países de América Latina y el Caribe y a los amantes de la justicia de todo el mundo. Para lograr este acercamiento histórico que solo Ud. puede hacer posible, debe comenzar por liberar a los “Cinco Cubanos”.
Sinceramente,
Honorable ex-Jueza Claudia House Morcom
REMEMBER ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5TH TO CONTACT PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO JOIN THE WORLDWIDE DEMAND FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE CUBAN 5
DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE
By phone: 202-456-1111 (If nobody answers the phone leave a message)
If calling from outside the United States, dial first the International Area Code
+ 1 (US country code) followed by 202-456-1111
By Fax: 202-456-2461
If fax is sent from outside the United States, dial first the International Area
Code + 1 (US country code) followed by 202-456-2461
To send an e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
To send a letter:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
United States
RECUERDE EL MARTES 5 DE NOVIEMBRE COMUNÍQUESE CON LA CASA BLANCA Y SÚMESE AL RECLAMO MUNDIAL POR LA LIBERTAD DE LOS CINCO
DIFERENTES FORMAS DE COMUNICARSE CON LA CASA BLANCA
Por teléfono: 202-456-1111 (Si no le responden, deje un mensaje en el contestador)
Si llama desde fuera de los EEUU, marque el Código Internacional del respectivo país + 1 (Código de EEUU) 202.456.1111
Por fax: +1- 202 456-2461
Por correo electrónico: president@whitehouse.gov
Por correo postal:
Presidente Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit: http://www.thecuban5.org,
Para aprender sobre el caso de los 5 Cubanos visite: http://www.thecuban5.org,
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