Regina Coyula, Translator: Unstated
Information in Cuba is hopeless. To give you an idea, with regards to
Syria they speak of armed mercenaries from Turkey, but they never say
anything about the repression of the El-Assad government. It's striking
that the ETA has never been labeled as a terrorist organization, rather
they refer to is the "Basque separatist organization."
In my press, we Cubans never learn about the link between the Colombian
guerrillas and narcotrafficking; instead they devote headlines to the 8%
increase in the price of food in Chile! It's like a friend says, the
turkey calls the vulture bald, because here,someone who wasn't an
economist but who took on the subject, determined that goods sold in
freely convertible currency were taxed at 240% — yes, that's not a mistake.
This leader was ousted for trying to suck the honey of power, but the
240 remains, though occasionally we encounter surprises, for example
when a liter of vegetable oil went from 1.90 to 2.40. This theme is a
sandwich to which I invite you to add other unique approaches to the
news in Cuba. I invite you, also, to reflect on how this peculiar
approach determines the thinking of those who have no alternative
information.
It never leads to protests; not even those journalists, so attentive to
the evils of the world, hint at a complaint, or even a mild criticism;
they don't engage their investigative capacity and decide to ask to
interview the responsible officials. I remember when someone threw a
shoe at Bush, the scene was repeated in all the national and provincial
news; but most of the country doesn't know that a Cuban had his one
second of freedom in front of the world during the Pope's visit. And
with these thunderclaps there are still those who believe that
independent journalists are paid by the Empire. Information of the
greatest interest to the citizenry often remains untouched. To improve
the press is one of the issues of the Party Congress: they've never
fulfilled their agreements.
I began by saying that information is hopeless. But it can be helped.
April 20 2012
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