Library Juice 3:38 Supplement - October 4, 2000

Good stuff on Cuba


Contents:

1. Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections (book)
2. UC Library  / Cuba National Library - Sister Libraries!
3. Slate article on why anyone would want to live in Cuba
4. Washington's Costly Cuba Policy
5. AAAS Clearinghouse on Cuban-US Collaboration
6. Message from John Pateman on Freedom of the Press in Cuba
7. The Committee to Protect Journalists and their Cuba reporting
8. THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT - DISSIDENTS OR MERCENARIES ? (book review)
9. School for Scanning: Cuba
10. Second World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity
11. Women and the Media Delegation
12. The Havana Book Fair and libraries in Cuba
13. Statement on US-Cuba relation from librarians at IFLA 1994


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1. Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections (book)

A new book by Arnold August

In the United States it is "common knowledge" that there are no
elections and no democracy in Cuba.  But is this true?

This book is a first hand study by Canadian Arnold August, of how
the "rule of the people" is carried out in Cuba.  He examines two
constituencies -- an urban district in Havana and a rural district
in Cienfuegos Province.  he spent months studying the electoral
process in order to present a description of the nomination
process, elections at all levels and accountability to the
citizens.

Shouldn't YOUR library have access to this information?  This is
the only book of its kind available to U.S. readers.

Democracy In Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections
By Arnold August
Editorial Jose Marti
ISBN: 0-9685084-0-5
$24.95 list price

Order through your jobber, online bookseller or
IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing)
402 W. 145th St.
New York, NY 10031
212-926-5757
ifco[at]igc.org                $25.00+$3.00 s&h
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2. UC Library  / Cuba National Library - Sister Libraries!


Colleagues and friends-

Exciting news about US-Cuba cultural relations!

A long-term project I have been working on appears to be bearing fruit
in the form of a first-ever "sister-library" relationship between the
U.C. Library and the national library of Cuba. 

http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~lcush/LibraryRelease.htm

Lincoln Cushing, Docs Populi
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3. Slate article on why anyone would want to live in Cuba


Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 08:46:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dan Tsang <dtsang[at]sun1.lib.uci.edu>
To: PLGNET-L <PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu>
Subject: Alternative views on Cuba


Slate offers an alternative interpretation of why one would want to live
in Cuba (a la Elian):

http://slate.msn.com/HeyWait/00-06-12/HeyWait.asp

Daniel C. Tsang
Bibliographer for Asian American Studies,
Economics and Politics
Machine-Readable Data Files Librarian
Lecturer, School of Social Sciences
380 Main Library
University of California
PO Box 19557
Irvine CA 92623-9557
USA
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4. Washington's Costly Cuba Policy


Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 01:24:05 -0500
To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org>
From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu>
Subject: [SRRTAC-L:4885] Cuba
Cc: alex.byrne[at]darwin.ntu.edu.au, sjoerd.koopman[at]ifla.org,
        jan.ristarp[at]ifla.org, ross.shimmon[at]ifla.org

There is a good article by Wayne S. Smith on "Washington's Costly
Cuba Policy" in the July 3rd issue of The Nation (page 19-21).  It
lists the most important anti-Cuban Govt. organizations receiving
funding through USAID (about $6 million in 1999). These organizations
are all based in the US.  And it makes the point that independent
Cuban human rights organizations reject this funding as
counterproductive to their aims.  The author is a former chief of the
U.S. Interests Section in Havana.


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu
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5. AAAS Clearinghouse on Cuban-US Collaboration


Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 11:25:08 -0500
From: "Michael Dowling" <mdowling[at]ala.org>
To: ALA International Relations Round Table <alaworld[at]ala1.ala.org>
Subject: [ALAWORLD:355] AAAS Clearinghouse on Cuban-US Collaboration


Dear Sir or Madam:

Greetings from the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS).  I am writing to inform you about a AAAS project that seeks to
address restrictions on scientific and academic travel to and from Cuba
and to promote existing and future scientific and academic collaboration
between the U.S. and Cuba.  This project, entitled "A Clearinghouse of
Information on Travel between Cuba and the U.S.", is managed by the AAAS
Science and Human Rights (SHR) Program, with funding from the Christopher
Reynolds and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundations. As director
of the AAAS Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Project, I am currently
assisting in the implementation of this initiative and identifying
potential partners and collaborators.

AAAS supports the right of scientists and academicians to exchange ideas
and participate in scientific activities on a worldwide basis (scientists
in this context include physical, natural and social scientists,
mathematicians, engineers, and the medical community).  U.S. and Cuban
scientists agree that scientific and academic exchanges are beneficial to
the development of science in their respective countries.  Therefore, AAAS
has established this Clearinghouse to assist U.S. and Cuban scientists and
academicians to travel between Cuba and the U.S. and to maintain or
initiate new collaborations between the two countries. 

We encourage you to learn more about the Clearinghouse by visiting its web
site at http://shr.aaas.org/rtt.  Of particular importance, please note our
ongoing online survey to promote US-Cuba scientific and academic
collaboration.  The target audience for this survey includes US and Cuban
scientists and academicians interested in US-Cuba collaborations, major
colleges, universities, and research institutes, as well as AAAS
affiliated scientific societies.  The survey seeks to determine the extent
of ongoing collaboration, organizational policies on conducting
collaboration, the scale and impact of U.S. and Cuban travel restrictions,
and the level of interest in initiating new collaborations. 

Your participation in this survey is extremely important for future
international scientific collaboration, so we sincerely hope that you will
take the time to complete it.  If you have any questions, please contact us
by email at cuba[at]aaas.org.  In addition, we would appreciate learning from
you about other individuals or organizations that you believe would be
interested in this project and survey.

We look forward to hearing from you.  On behalf of U.S. and Cuban
scientists, researchers and academicians, we thank you very much for
joining us in this important and timely effort.

Best wishes,

Marina S. Ratchford
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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6. Message from John Pateman on Freedom of the Press in Cuba


-----Original Message-----
From: John Pateman
Sent: 04 September 2000 09:42
To: progressive libs (E-mail)
Cc: robert kent (E-mail); norman horrocks (E-mail)
Subject: Freedom of the press in Cuba


On my visit to Cuba in April 2000 I visited many libraries with internet
access. My advice is - go to Cuba yourselves, visit their libraries and
talk to their librarians. Also, visit some "independent libraries" - and
make up your own minds.

It is very interesting to see the so-called "Friends of Cuban Libraries"
quoting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights regarding the right
to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers". This human right has been broken, in the case of
Cuba, by the illegal US blockade imposed in 1962. This blockade - the most
comprehensive and long lasting in history - seriously undermines Cuba's
ability to import and export goods, including food, medicine, books,
journals and information. Examples of the impact of this blockade include :

1. a reduction in the number of books available in Cuban libraries caused
by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the blockade by
the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts. This impacted on the previously
flourishing Cuban publishing industry (which is now recovering) and left
little hard currency to buy books from overseas. This has undermined the
Cuban education system which offers a minimum ninth grade education and a
100% literacy rate.

2. a shortage of medical journals, which has undermined Cuba's health care
system, which operates at First World standards - with high life expectancy
and low infant mortality rates that are better than parts of the US and
Europe.

The blockade has been voted against by over 150 countries in the UN - and
supported only by the US and a couple of its client states. 

The Friends of Cuban Libraries (sic) support the illegal US blockade which
belies their claim to support human rights and intellectual freedom. One of
the Friends, Jorge Sanguinetty, regularly lectures on the need to maintain
the blockade, "to bring Cuba and Castro to their knees" - something which
will NEVER HAPPEN.

Another attack on Cuba's human rights is the illegal invasion of Cuban
airspace by Radio and TV Marti. These broadcasting stations, funded by the
US government, transmit programmes around the clock which call on the Cuban
people to overthrow their democratically elected government and to boycott
elections.

The Friends of Cuban Libraries support these activities and Jorge
Sanguinetty broadcasts for Radio Marti. These broadcasts are an invasion
of Cuban national sovereignty and insult the name of a Cuban national
hero.

John Pateman
Cuban Library Support Group  

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7. The Committee to Protect Journalists and their Cuba reporting


Recently, three Swedish journalists were arrested while trying to enter Cuba.
The Swedish government reacted with anger, and the intellectual freedom
community followed suit.

What wasn't popularly reported was that these journalists didn't have proper
visas, and that was why they were thrown out of the country.  This of course
happens every day in the United States.  The popular image of Cuba is that of
a totalitarian state, so the story easily took on a false meaning (which
reinforced the image of Cuba as a totalitarian state).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent out a press release deploring
the detention and expulsion.  In May, CPJ named Castro to its list of the ten
worst enemies of the press.  Mark Rosenzweig was interested in their
methodology and contacted them to find out how Castro earned this spot.  The
results are interesting and illustrate something of the nature of conventional
wisdom


Concerning the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and their reporting
on Cuba / report by Mark Rosenzweig

Dear friends,

I decided to contact the CPJ regarding their treatment of Cuba in their
reporting and other actions. Having examined the message from them
forwarded to this list by Raimund Dehmlow AND having gone to their Web page
where they describe who they are, what they do, why they do it, what their
scope, procedures and standards are etc. I realized there were several
unanswered questions.

I called them 9/11 at about 1:15 EST and had no trouble getting the person
directly in charge of the Cuba beat. When I told him who I was and what
kind of questions I had he stammered a bit and said he thought he had
better refer me to his supervisor, the head of the "Americas" department,
Marylene Smeets ( officially, "program coordinator of the Americas").

My having left a message on her machine, Ms. Smeets very promptly returned
my call. She addressed all my questions in one way or another, very
politely and professionally.

I had two main areas of questions for her. First, the press release on the
three Swedish journalists expelled recently from Cuba. Second the fact that
Fidel Castro has been on the CPJ's Ten Worst Enemies of the Press.

With regards to the Swedish journalists: I noted that CPJ claims on its Web
site that it has the most scrupulous standards of verification of fact,
indeed they require 3 independent sources of confirmation of fact. I asked
if the details of the account (the conditions of detention, etc.) had been
verified by anyone other than the three Swedes themselves. She said yes but
could give me no further detail about what kind of verification they had
received. I then asked her if she was not aware that the journalists had
entered the country illegally and did not declare themselves as journalists
and were thus foreigners who had broken the law of a sovereign nation and
legitimately subject to deportation. She replied that, yes, as the press
release noted they had done so and that CPJ does not encourage journalists
to deceptively enter countries and then expect to be subject to protection
as journalists."Why then the story," I queried. "Because it shows how much
worse journalists are being treated in Cuba with each passing year asked if
that weren't rather an unfounded generalization from this story. Why use it
the way it was used if it weren't a particularly good example of anything
except that these people had behaved illegally and were hence deported.

This brought me to my second area of inquiry, the matter of CPJ's annual
list of the "ten worst enemies of the press". I noted that Fidel Castro was
on the list for the 6th consecutive year and told her I found this rather
peculiar. Considering the egregious violations all over the globe of press
freedoms and the rights of journalists, there was an unfortunate
embarrassment of riches when it came to candidates for this ignoble
acknowledgement. Why Castro? She admitted there was a glut of candidates
and that made it difficult to select the ten worst.  She said one criteria
was that the person named was PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for these violations,
explaining further that, for instance, many journalists have been killed in
Colombia, but they don't consider the head of state responsible so he does
not appear. I said in the six years in which Castro made the top ten not
ONE journalist had been killed in Cuba, and there are many countries where
dozens have been, the purpose being to intimidate all other journalists,
and in most cases the governments, if indeed they weren't implicated
(which, in many, I doubt to be the case (the PRI in Mexico?) ) did not
carry out adequate (or sometimes, any) investigations and prosecutions of
those responsible.

Could she send me the list of criteria for the selection of those ten worst
enemies? No, there weren't any (!). Wasn't that evidence that the selection
was rather "subjective" (I was thinking "political")? Yes, indeed, she
remarked, it was subjective, no doubt about it. Is it then an accidental
that Fidel has appeared every year for six years? No, the decision is based
on our best judgement call.

I came away disappointed with the answers I had received. It was clear that
in both cases "subjective" judgements were being made which could not be
anything but partisan and political. While I respect the work of CPJ in
many respects, they are by no means an unquestionably apolitical
organization or one whose reportage is necessarily above reproach.

Just FYI.

Mark Rosenzweig
PLG
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8. THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT - DISSIDENTS OR MERCENARIES ?  (book review)


"THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT - DISSIDENTS OR MERCENARIES ?" - an expose of
the Cuban American National Foundation and anti-Castro groups, by Hernando
Calvino Ospina and Katlijn Declercq, 181 pp, pbk, RRP £11.95, Ocean Press,
2000, ISBN 1-876175-15-x

Robert Kent and his Friends of Cuban Libraries (sic) are always quoting
from reports by organisations such as Amnesty International, Pax Christi
and Reporters Without Frontiers.

"THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT" blows the lid wide open on the huge
international conspiracy to destroy the Cuban revolution financed by the
US and supported, either wittingly or unwittingly, by the media itself and
by "human rights organisations" such as Amnesty International, Pax
Christi, and Reporters Without Frontiers.

Columbian journalist Hernando Calvino Ospina and co-author, Belgian
Katlijn Declercq, used the simple technique of tape recording interviews
with leading figures in the anti Castro movement. The result is a complete
debunking of the idea that there is anything like a genuine opposition to
the revolution, but rather a vindication of what the Cuban government has
been saying all along. That these people are mercenaries paid for by the
US who are few in number and would number even fewer if the money tap from
Washington was turned off.

Ospino says "We decided to go to Miami and Washington and interview some
of the leaders of the counter revolutionary groups operating there. We
talked with them. They are people who, in spite of the fact that they have
so intelligently manipulated Cubans living in both cities, also like to
talk with great pride about all the things they have done against the
Cuban revolution. For this reason they talked to us and we simply
reproduced their uncensored statements". The result is that the
interviewees damn themselves from their own mouths.

In one interview Ricardo Bofill, the self-styled leader of the so-called
Cuban Human Rights Committee, admits that his group has no influence in
Cuba, represents nobody on the island, and, perhaps even more
surprisingly, that "millions" of people in Cuba sympathise with communism.

The leader of Pax Christi in Holland quite brazenly declares her support
for the US state department while the French group, Reporters Without
Frontiers, admits that they actually pay people in Cuba $50 per month
(five times the national wage) to be independent journalists. According to
the FAIFE report on "independent libraries" in Cuba, many of these
"librarians" are also "independent journalists".

Although Reporters Without Frontiers is supposed to be working in favour
of journalists in danger for their lives throughout the world, in the case
of Cuba, as the interviews in this book shows, they are supporting people
who work with the extreme right in the US.

Somewhat shamefully, despite the fact that journalists are being murdered
at a rate of 2 or 3 a year in Ospina's Columbia, Reporters Without
Frontiers makes Cuba its priority in Latin America. When asked to explain,
the director says it is because in Columbia there is freedom of
expression. You may be killed for it, but at least it is there. Whereas in
Cuba, where no journalist has died in 40 years, there is no freedom of
expression.

Ospina also reveals that the son of Peruvian writer Maria Vargos Llosa had
said that Amnesty International intensified its campaign against Cuba
after its officials had meetings in Miami with the Cuban American National
Foundation.

As Ospina concludes "Look what happened to Nicaragua which never declared
itself socialist but was attacked and attacked until it was destroyed.
Look at Nicaragua today. It has once again become one of the poorest
nations in the world with high illiteracy and high mortality. What good
does this democracy and freedom of expression the US and Europe touts to
defend their economic interests serve in cases like this ?"

John Pateman
Cuban Library Support Group
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9. School for Scanning: Cuba


Date:         Tue, 29 Aug 2000 11:16:10 -0400
From: Jamie Doyle <jdoyle[at]NEDCC.ORG>
Subject:      CUBA SCHOOL FOR SCANNING
To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA

School for Scanning: Cuba
Issues of Preservation and Access for Paper-Based Collections
Presented by the Northeast Document Conservation Center
March 5-9, 2001

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) together with the
National Archives of Cuba, present an international conference titled:
School for Scanning: Cuba, Issues of Preservation and Access for Paper-Based
Collections, to be held in Havana, Cuba on March 5-9, 2001.  The conference
is funded in part by The ACLS/SSRC Working Group on Cuba, The Christopher
Reynolds Foundation, The Bay Foundation, and the Getty Grant Program.

What is the School for Scanning?  This conference provides a rationale for
the use of digital technology by managers of paper-based collections in
cultural institutions.  Specifically, it equips participants to discern the
applicability of digital technology in their given circumstances and
prepares them to make critical decisions regarding management of digital
projects.  Although NEDCC has held similar conferences in the past, School
for Scanning: Cuba has been specially designed to address the challenges
facing Latin American preservation professionals.

Technical issues will be addressed, however, this is not a technician
training program.  Conference content will include:

- Managing Digital Assets
- What is Metadata?
- Content Selection for Digitization
- Digital Preservation: Theory and Reality
- Text and Image Scanning
- Digital Products and Process
- Case Studies in Selection
- Test-Driving the Technology

Who Should Attend?  Administrators within cultural institutions, as well as
librarians, archivists, curators, and other cultural or natural resource
managers dealing with paper-based collections, including photographs, will
find the School for Scanning conference highly relevant and worthwhile.

The conference will be conducted in English with Spanish translation.  All
participants will receive a certificate.  For registration information
contact:
School for Scanning: Cuba
Archivo Nacional de Cuba
Compostela #906 esq. San Isidro
Habana Vieja 10100
C. Habana, CUBA

Tel: 537 62 9436 o 537 63 6489; Fax: 537 33 8089
Email: <arnac[at]ceniai.inf.cu>
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10. Second World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity

in Havana, Cuba, November 10 - 14, 2000

The people of Cuba invite you to join their friends (more than 4,000 people)
from around the world as they converge in Havana for a week of information,
cultural and social events.  There are three trip packages available.  Trips
must be paid for by October 1, 2000 or there will be a late fee.  For more
information contact National Network on Cuba, P.O. Box 225303, San Francisco,
CA  94122, (415) 566-8560, nnoc[at]pobox.com , http://www.cubasolidarity.com
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11. Women and the Media Delegation


********  Please post widely ********

Women and the Media Delegation
and 2nd World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity
Havana and Cienfuegos Province, Cuba
November 8-19, 2000


We invite women activists and media makers including film/video makers,
journalists in print, writers, editors, academics, radio, television,
photography; new media and Internet activists and designers; media centers
and distribution organizations; media curators, critics and educators to
join us in Havana and Cienfuegos Province for our "Women and the Media"
delegation and to participate in the 2nd World Meeting of Friendship and
Solidarity.

Goals of the delegation are:
**End the U.S. government blockade of Cuba, including the U.S. media
information embargo of Cuba

**Bring women's voices and priorities into the media about Cuba

**Develop strategies for women to expand our participation and
representation in the media

**Strengthen skills in media activism

**Evaluate the potential for joint global women's media projects in
solidarity with Cuba

**Address global communication issues from women's leadership perspectives
during the World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity

**Study the history of media representation of Cuba in the U.S. and vice
versa

************************************************************************
Co-sponsored by
Hermanas: Sisterhood in Central America and the Caribbean
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Sojourner: The Women's Forum

************************************************************************
Proposed itinerary includes:

Wednesday November 8       
Travel to Havana, Cuba

Thursday November 9
Orientation to delegation, the World Meeting and media activism in Cuba,
Jamaica and the United States

Fri.-Tues. November 10-14
2nd World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity Meetings with Cuban women
media makers, journalists and activists; coordinated by filmmaker Estela
Bravo.  Discussions and workshops on global communications issues and global
women's media priorities at the 2nd World Meeting

Wednesday November 15
Havana only participants travel to US

Wed.-Fri. November 15-17
Travel to Cienfuegos Province, visit: women's centers, health care projects,
educational facilities, revolutionary historical sites including Bay of Pigs
(Playa Giron)

Saturday November 18
Havana

Sunday November 19
Travel to United States


************************************************************************

Costs (subject to change)

Delegation and Conference

Havana only, Nov. 8-15
WILPF members--$1,050, non-WILPF mbrs.--$1,250
After Oct. 8          --$1,150                                     $1,350

Havana & Cienfuegos, Nov. 8-19
WILPF members--$1,350, non-WILPF members.--$1,550
After Oct. 8          --$1,450
$1,650

September 15  Deadline for $300 deposit

October 8 Deadline for final payment

In the case of cancellations, deposits will be refunded,
minus $100, through Oct. 8

************************************************************************
Delegation co-leaders

Pamela Groves, Hermanas, Princeton New Jersey 609 924-1486 • email:
sistreni[at]aol.com

Teresa Konechne, video/filmmaker & media activist, Richmond VI 804
225-3939
email: tlkonech[at]saturn.vcu.edu

Jan Strout, NNOC, WILPF Cuba Action Committee co-chair, Seattle, WA 206
547-0940

Cindy Domingo, Seattle, WA 206 782-2565 • email: cindy.domingo[at]metrokc.gov

Lauren Draper, New Rochelle, NY 914 576-0196 • email:
designwork[at]mindspring.com

Tamara James, Wichita, KS 316 267-5791 • email: tsjames[at]worldnet.att.net

FOR REGISTRATION PACKET WITH COMPLETE COSTS AND DEADLINES,
CALL or EMAIL ONE OF THE CO-LEADERS ABOVE
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12. The Havana Book Fair and libraries in Cuba

This was the title of the first talk in a new series organised by the
International Group of the Library Association (IGLA). The event was
held at the Library Association on 29 March. The audience included
members of IGLA, the Cuban Library Support Group, Information for
Social Change, Link, Cuba Solidarity Campaign and Book Aid
International (including a visiting librarian from Zambia). Also
present were library and information students, a columnist from the
"Library Association Record" (journal of the Library Association) and
a volunteer worker from the Pathfinder bookshop.

The speaker was Jonathan Silberman who attended the 9th International
Havana Book Fair in February 2000 as a representative of Pathfinder
Books. The Book Fair was a great success and attracted 200,000 people
; the last Book Fair, in 1998, was visited by 40,000 people.

Many people visited the Pathfinder stall to read and discuss the
books on display. These included 3 new titles which were launched at
the Book Fair :
the Spanish version of "Capitalism's World Disorder" by Jack Barnes ;
"Che Guevara talks to young people", jointly published with Casa
Editora Abril ; and "Making History", interviews with four generals
of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Pathfinder did not have to submit a titles list in advance of the
Book Fair, which dispels the myth surrounding censorship in Cuba. The
Book Fair included a number of events, such as the launch of a new
version of the children's classic Pinnochio by an Italian publishing
house (the Book Fair was sponsored by Italy).

The Book Fair illustrated that Cuban publishing is getting back onto
its feet after the effects of the US blockade and the collapse of
trade with the USSR, which Cubans refer to as the Special Period. The
hunger for books and reading is still strong and Pathfinder donated
any books which they did not sell to Cuban libraries. You can support
this effort via Pathfinder's "Books for Cuba" fund.

Jonathan visited the new provincial public library in Havana and
attended a meeting of Cuban librarians, including Eliades Acosta,
Director of the Jose Marti National Library. The so-called
"independent library movement" was dismissed as being neither
independent nor a movement, and none of its members were librarians.
Eliades called on people to visit Cuba and see for themselves.

Jonathan answered a number of questions from the audience and the
event was a great success. Future events will be held on 21 June, 19
July, 20 September, 18 October and 15 November.
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13. Statement on US-Cuba relation from librarians at IFLA 1994


Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 11:47:04 -0600
To: srrtac-l[at]ala.org, plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu
From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu>
Subject: Cuba


At this point, it might be useful to call the statement that a large group
of people made at the IFLA Meeting in Havana in 1994.

Statement of Librarians from the United States and Puerto Rico
on U.S.- Cuba Relations


We librarians from the United States and Puerto Rico have just completed
our productive participation in the 60th conference of the International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in Havana,
Cuba.  We were hosted by hundreds of dedicated Cuban librarians from all
types of libraries throughout the island.  As a group, we feel compelled
to give our colleagues and government representatives our observations.
We urge a reevaluation of U.S. policy towards Cuba, leading towards
normalization of relations.

We have seen first-hand the determination of our Cuban colleagues to
advance their library services despite the hardships, shortages, and
material limitations they are now experiencing.  We have witnessed their
determination to safeguard basic gains in education, including library
services, in the context of developing aspects of a market economy.  We
have been deeply impressed by their commitment to common professional
objectives and deeply moved by their generosity in hosting librarians from
all over the world despite their problems.

It is clear that many of these problems could be alleviated by the end of
the U.S. economic blockade against Cuba and the normalization of relations
between our two countries.  Diplomatic and economic ties between the U.S.
and other nations (such as China and Vietnam) with which the U.S. has
ideological differences, have been achieved.  why not do the same with
Cuba?  Normalization would allow the flow of food and medicine into Cuba
through trade, reduce the hunger of Cuban people, and stem the tide of
those Cubans who are trying to escape these economic hardships by taking
to the sea in rafts.

But Cuba will not be the only beneficiary from such a course.  U.S.
businesses and the Americanpeople will benefit from trade, and the
prestige of the U.S. in world affairs will be enhanced by its ability to
abandon an outdated policy which is universally opposed in the
international community.

We have been privileged among U.S. citizens to have the opportunity to
visit, research and study library service in Cuba and to confer with
colleagues from every continent gathered here.  And although we have done
this within the guidelines of the U.S. Treasury Department, we have been
deeply embarrassed by the senseless restrictions placed on travel here for
U.S. citizens.  We librarians struggle daily for intellectual freedom and
the right to know.  These are fundamental principles of our profession and
our democratic system.  The continuation of a policy which limits the right
of U.S. citizens to travel is unworthy of a great nation and contradicts
our country's ideals of personal and intellectual freedom and human rights.

In conclusion, we urge our government to seek negotiations with the
government of Cuba aimed at normalizing relations, ending the blockade,
and reinstituting unfettered travel and exchanges between the people of
our two countries.

Signatories:

Nancy D. Anderson  (University of Illinois, Urbana)
Mary Ashe  (San Francisco, California)
Herbert Biblo (Long Island Resource Council, Stony Brook, New York)
Mary Biblo  (University  of Chicago Laboratory School, Chicago, Illinois)
Stephen C. Bloom  (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Alex Bloss  (University of Illinois, Chicago)      
Marjorie E. Bloss  (Center for Research Libraries, Chicago, Illinois)
Ruth C. Carter  (University of Pittsburgh, Wexford, Pennsylvania)
Marianna Tax Choldin (Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, Urbana, Illinois)
Astrid Colón (University of Puerto Rico)
Aurea S. Cordero Guillama (Library System, University of  Puerto Rico)
Donald Davis (GSLIS, Univeristy of Texas at Austin, Texas)
Dennis Day  (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Gloria Dinerman (President, Library Co-Op, Inc., Edison, New Jersey)
Robert Doyle   (Chicago, Illinois)
Carlos E. Echevarría (Librarian, Social Sciences Research Center, University of  Puerto Rico)
Charles Elder (California State University, Dominguez Hills, California)
Carol Elliott  (University of Arizona, Tuscon)
Monica Ertel (Portale Valley, California)
Adriana A. Fandler  (Queens Public Library, New York)
Adele M. Fasick (Toronto, Ontario)
Shirley Fitzgibbons  (Bloomington, Indiana)
Barbara J. Ford  (Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond)
Judith Lin Hunt  (University of Richmond, Virginia)
Suzanne Hildenbrand  (SUNY at Buffalo, New York)
Ena Huyke de Castro (Library System, University of  Puerto Rico)
Al Kagan  (University of Illinois Library, Urbana, Illinois)
Dorothy Kearney  (Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois)
Ann Kelsey  (County College of Morris, New Jersey)
Martin Kesselman  (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey)
Clayton C. Kirking  (Phoenix, Arizona)
Leonard Kniffel  (Chicago, Illnois)
Mike Koenig  (GSLIS Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois)
Vibeke Lehmann  (Madison, Wisconsin)
Nina Leneman (United Nations Library, Geneva, Switzerland)
Olivia Madison  (Iowa State University, Ames)
S. Michael Malinconico (University of Alabama SCILS, Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Martha McPhail  (San Diego State University, San Diego, California)
Suzine Har Nicolescu  (Medgar  Evers College, CUNY, New York)
Maria E. Ordodóñez (Library System, University of Puerto Rico)
Lisette Ormsbee  (Richmond, Virginia)
Betty J. Owsley  (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Grace Patterson (Ridgewood, New Jersey)
Jose Manuel Perez (Melcher Edwards, Puerto Rico)
Tom Perry-Houts  (University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis)
Sandra J. Pfahler  (Madison, Wisconsin)
Magda Rivera Colón (Library System, University of Puerto Rico)   
Howard Rovelstad  (Gibson Island, Maryland)
Mathilde V. Rovelstad  (Gibson Island, Maryland)
Lillian Soler (University of Puerto Rico)
Ann C. Sparanese  (Englewood Public Library, Englewood, New Jersey)
Deidre Stam  (Syracuse, New York)
Rosemary Stevenson  (Urbana, Illinois)
Christy Ann Strange  (Storey County School district, Virginia City, Nevada)
Edward Sullivan (Phoenix, Arizona)
Peggy Sullivan  (Chicago, Illinois)
Susan Swartzburg  (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
Thomas Tollman  (University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nebraska)
Myra Torres Alamo (Library System, University of Puerto Rico)
Natividad Torres (Library System, University of Puerto Rico)
Elisa Vázquez (Library System, University of Puerto Rico)
Duane Webster  (Potomac, Maryland)
Robert Wedgeworth  (University of Illinois, Urbana)
Chung-Kyun Wedgeworth  (University of Illinois, Urbana)
Gloria Westfall  (Indiana University Library, Bloomington)
Mohamed Zehery (Ohio State University, Lima Campus) 
_____________________________________________________________________________top


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