CUBA & HAITI Cont. (July 14, 2021)

CUBA & HAITI CONTINUED

The Miami Herald says that the crises in Cuba and Haiti cannot remain on the "Biden backburner any longer," at a time when the White House agenda is determined to focus on its top priorities: the national budget and voting rights. The US State Department press briefing yesterday, however, led with a statement on Cuba and fielded several questions about Cuba and Haiti (as well as Venezuela and Brazil). Cuban-born Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas spoke directly to Haitians and Cubans: “The time is never right to attempt migration by sea... this risk is not worth taking. Let me be clear: If you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States.”, according to Reuters.

Cuba

Protests continued in the Havana suburb of La Guinera where one man died and others, including members of the security forces, were hospitalized with injuries, according to state-run media, reports CNN. Those protesting in Cuba appear to represent a broader group of people than previous events, according to the New York Times, "The Movimiento San Isidro, a Cuban dissident group led by artists and academics, tallied 171 reports of people who were detained or who vanished in the wake of the protests."

• CubaLex and CubaNet are running a campaign to identify and follow up on detainees. As befits the media age, a Cuban YouTuber was arrested by Cuban police on live TV as she gave an interview to a program in Spain, according to National Public Radio who included links to the video. "She added: "I have to go. They told me to accompany them."

Political Analysis:  NPR updates the political analysis: Benjamin Gedan, who led Latin America policy in the Obama White House, says, "the administration has really been walking on eggshells when it comes to Cuba policy." Separately, NY Congressman Gregory Meeks gets little airplay in USA media for his demand to lift the blockade, though it does get international coverage, including from Cuba. (He is Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.) 

• The Miami Herald's Leonard Pitts compares American conservatives at CPAC and Cuba protesters in Havana. "Democracy is frustrating, sometimes, vexing, sometimes, disappointing, sometimes. But it is worth the trouble every time. Obviously the people in Dallas have forgotten this. That’s a luxury the ones in Havana wish they had. 

• "As a Miami Cuban, I’ve gotta say — I really wish more of the talk in DC about the situation in Cuba was about the Cuban people in Cuba and not Miami." Tweet from Politico's Immigration reporter Sabrina Rodríguez.

Internet Connectivity to the internet remains a crucial issue and several media are citing data from Netblocks which measures internet access around the world, including Wired.

"In a way, we are living in the splinternet today. Don't underestimate how centralized and controllable internet access has already become worldwide." (Netblocks latest report is a few days old but shows how Cuba can discriminate one app over another.) Florida Governor Destantis was exploring ways to share internet access to Cuba from Miami - including through wifi, according to the Miami Herald.

• Internet connections seem to be returning overnight to Cuba, according to Amnesty International's Americas Director Erika Guevara-Rosas, which allows access to some harrowing videos on the crackdown. "Cubans reported seeing a strong presence of security forces on the streets on Monday and Tuesday, and many families were desperately trying to track down loved ones who were detained or who vanished after the demonstrations," according to the NYTimes.

Other issues:

• The BBC analyzes the pressures from within the Cuban government. Open Democracy does a round-up "guide" to how the world is responding to this crisis. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal emphasizes the crisis that COVID has created on the island.

• Demonstrations blocked traffic in Miami on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Why didn't Gov. DeSantis’ anti-riot laws apply to the Cuba protesters?, wondered a Miami Herald editorial.

• The Miami Herald's lead editorial this morning leads with Raúl Castro and noted that "But if Cubans on the island fell silent, Cubans Americans in Miami made up for it." The Wall Street Journal's headline: Cuba’s Communists Strike Back ... as the world’s attention moves away from Cuba and its Sunday protests."

• July 13 (1994) is an important date in Cuban protests, writes Anthony Depalma in the Washington Post. In addition the Post editorialized and published a column in support of the protestors: "Cubans should know that the outside world is watching with admiration as they attempt to shape their own destiny." 

• ACN, the official Cuban news agency tries to explain the crisis, and to respond to its critics with five bullet points.

• There are so many sources and stories on Cuba right now, including a lot of #FakeNews (the death of a 12-year old made the rounds in the last news cycle). Abraham Jiménez Enoa is a Cuban journalist in Cuba who offers regular updates. (He also publishes on WashPost Opinion page.)

HAITI

Investigations continue into the background of the investigation as well as the next steps for Haiti. 

A deeper look into how Colombian military veterans were recruited into a "noble nation-building effort" that ended with fatal consequences.  (New York Times) They were told, "We are going to help in the recovery of the country, in terms of its security and democracy. We are going to be pioneers.” And then there is this: "The mystery is confounded by the frequent stopovers that the head of Mr. Moïse’s presidential palace guard, Dimitri Hérard, made in Bogotá in the months before the assassination."

Who bankrolled the operation?, is the focus of a Miami Herald report. "Haitian investigators allege that the would-be president is Christian Emmanuel Sanon ... contracted with a Miami-area firm, CTU Security, owned by a Venezuelan emigre known in Doral, to provide the group of Colombian security men and Haitian translators." A former Haitian Senator is now under suspicion for the assassination, according to The Guardian while the AP says five critical suspects are being sought.

"There are good reasons to worry about sending U.N. troops to Haiti. But does anyone have a better idea?", asks the Washington Post in an editorial. The Posts' Max Boots writes that "America is now going through one of its non-interventionist phases, as it did in the 1930s and 1970s," and so no one is likely to respond to Haiti’s interim government calling for help." Still, calls for foreign troops is certainly not a unanimous feeling in Haiti, according to Reuters.

The US Secretary of State says he reached out to the OAS to talk about Haiti

News Digest

Abortion in Honduras & Ecuador

• The Superior Court of Justice admitted an appeal of unconstitutionality, signed by almost 20 organizations, that points toward legal decriminalization for the first time, according to El Heraldo and Somos Muchas.

• The criminalization of abortion in Ecuador impacts indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian women inordinately and exacerbates inequality, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch and reported on by The Guardian.

Jamaica

• Jamaica is set to ask Britain for billions of pounds in compensation for the Atlantic slave trade, according to Reuters and the Washington Post. In 2013, the UK government unequivocally said, "no," according to a report from The Jamaica Gleaner at the time. 

Brazil

• Brazil's President Bolsonaro was hospitalized this morning (Wed) because of "hiccups", according to Reuters, although Folha do São Paulo and Globo are suggesting it may be more serious and "intestinal." (Those hiccups have been going on for 10 days, reports The Guardian.)

COVID

• El Salvador’s congress voted overwhelmingly to impose a 90-day ban on most public events because of a surge in coronavirus cases, according to the Associated Press.

• In Argentina the death toll reaches 100,000, according to Reuters. "We're drowning," quotes the headline.

• Mexican young people are resisting caution and trying to return to a pre-COVID lifestyle, according to the Associated Press.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the delivery of 500,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Costa Rica.

Peru

• The expectation and lingering hope of elected but still-not-announced Pedro Castillo as President of Peru is featured in a photo-feature in the Washington Post. (Pulitzer Prize-winning Michael Robinson Chávez accompanied Anthony Faiola's article on hunger in Peru, earlier in the week.)

It's Eduardo Romero here filling in for Jordana: let me know if I missed or misinterpreted something or perhaps you have a different take. 

Latin America Daily Briefing