THE OTHER ISLAND

These photos from -- and to view others, see -- therealcuba.com



DISCONTENT CLOUDS CUBA ANNIVERSARY
FROM CORRESPONDENTS IN HAVANA, CUBA
July 26, 2005 - Reuters

Communist Cuba marked the 52nd anniversary of the start of President Fidel Castro's revolution today without a traditional outdoor mass rally and under a cloud of growing social discontent.

Castro planned to address supporters in a Havana theatre this afternoon to commemorate the 1953 assault he led on a garrison to launch a revolutionary movement that brought him to power six years later. His critics say there is little cause to celebrate for Cubans who face persistent economic hardship, dilapidated housing, low wages and food shortages.

Record heat and power cuts of 12 hours or more a day led to scattered protests, vandalism and rare anti-Castro graffiti this summer, veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said.

Authorities have responded by mobilising rapid deployment brigades of militant supporters to disperse pockets of protest with batons, he and other dissidents said.

"I have not seen such widespread discontent in four decades," said Mr Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights. Read More...



While I don't endorse or denounce the website, "therealcuba.com" and this thread isn't intended for either purpose, this lonely news as to increasing unrest -- could it be any worse, I wonder -- in the island of Cuba is more worthy of notice in media than it's received (this article by Reuters has been reprinted by a few newssites, but that's about it, to my knowledge).

The contrasts between Castro's presentations of what Cuba is with the realities of what the Cuban people experience could not be more severe, from what is revealed by therealcuba.com. Tourists to Cuba view a calculated construct of the place and visitors from Hollywood are gifted with love notes and fruit baskets from Fidel in some sort of visit with Fidel's imagination, or, more likely, egoism, while the population suffers terribly. Whether the world will read about the realities is another question, as is why the world does not.



Read Earlier, Related: "CANADIAN DRUG THING"