Eleven years ago on February 23, 2010 prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died on hunger strike in Cuba

"Long live human rights, with my blood I wrote to you so that this be saved as evidence of the savagery we are subjected to that are victims of the Pedro Luis Boitel political prisoners [movement]" - Orlando Zapata Tamayo, letter smuggled out April of 2004*

Orlando Zapata Tamayo 1967 - 2010

Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a human rights defender who was unjustly imprisoned in the Spring of 2003 and was tortured by Cuban prison officials and state security agents over the next six years and ten months. He died on February 23, 2010 following a prolonged hunger strike, aggravated by prison guards refusing him water in an effort to break his spirit. He is a victim of Cuban communism.

Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, who was killed under suspicious circumstances on July 22, 2012, issued a statement the same day that Orlando died and appeared in a photograph holding up a photocopy of the martyred human rights defender name and image. 

"Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died this afternoon, February 23, 2010, after suffering many indignities, racist slights, beatings and abuse by prison guards and State Security. Zapata was killed slowly over many days and many months in every prison in which he was confined. Zapata was imprisoned for denouncing human rights violations and for daring to speak openly of the Varela Project in Havana's Central Park. He was not a terrorist, or conspirator, or used violence. Initially he was sentenced to three years in prison, but after successive provocations and maneuvers staged by his executioners, he was sentenced to more than thirty years in prison." 

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas with photocopy image of Orlando Zapata Tamayo

  

Remembering Orlando Zapata

Orlando Zapata Tamayo was born in Santiago, Cuba on May 15, 1967. He was by vocation a brick layer and also a human rights activist, a member of the Movimiento Alternativa Republicana, Alternative Republican Movement, and of the Consejo Nacional de Resistencia Cívica, National Civic Resistance Committee. Orlando gathered signatures for the Varela Project, a citizen initiative to amend the Cuban constitution using legal means with the aim of bringing Cuba in line with international human rights standards.

 

Amnesty International had documented how Orlando had been arrested several times in the past. For example he was temporarily detained on 3 July 2002 and 28 October 2002. In November of 2002 after taking part in a workshop on human rights in the central Havana park, José Martí, he and eight other government opponents were arrested and later released. He was also arrested on December 6, 2002 along with fellow prisoners of conscience Oscar Elías Biscet and Raúl Arencibia Fajardo.  

 
Dr. Biscet just released from prison a month earlier had sought to form a grassroots project for the promotion of human rights called "Friends of Human Rights." State security prevented them from entering the home of Raúl Arencibia Fajardo, Oscar Biscet, Orlando Zapata Tamayo,Virgilio Marante Güelmes and 12 others held a sit-in in the street in protest and chanted "long live human rights" and "freedom for political prisoners." They were then arrested and taken to the Tenth Unit of the National Revolutionary Police, Décima Unidad de La Policía Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR)

Orlando Zapata Tamayo was released three months later on March 8, 2003, but Oscar Elias Biscet, Virgilio Marante Güelmes, and Raúl Arencibia Fajardo remained imprisoned. On the morning of March 20, 2003 whilst taking part in a fast at the Fundación Jesús Yánez Pelletier, Jesús Yánez Pelletier Foundation, in Havana, to demand the release of Oscar Biscet and the other political prisoners. Orlando was taken to the Villa Marista State Security Headquarters.

He was moved around several prisons, including Quivicán Prison, Guanajay Prison, and Combinado del Este Prison in Havana. Where according to Amnesty International on October 20, 2003 Orlando was dragged along the floor of Combinado del Este Prison by prison officials after requesting medical attention, leaving his back full of lacerations. Orlando managed to smuggle a letter out following a brutal beating it was published in April of 2004:

"My dear brothers in the internal opposition in Cuba. I have many things to say to you, but I did not want to do it with paper and ink, because I hope to go to you one day when our country is free without the Castro dictatorship. Long live human rights, with my blood I wrote to you so that this be saved as evidence of the savagery we are subjected to that are victims of the Pedro Luis Boitel political prisoners [movement]."*

On May 18, 2004 Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Virgilio Marante Güelmes, and Raúl Arencibia Fajardo were each sentenced to three years in prison for contempt for authority, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in a one-day trial. Orlando Zapata Tamayo would continue his rebelliousness and his non-violent resistance posture while in prison and suffer numerous beatings and new charges of disobedience and disrespect leading to decades added to his prison sentence in eight additional trials.

Protests for Orlando Zapata Tamayo continue
Eleven years have passed but the martyred Cuban human rights defender has not been forgotten. From the beginning the regime sought to put down and silence protests and acts of remembrance for him, but failed. In March of 2010 at the second Geneva Summit for Human Rights former prisoner of conscience Jose Gabriel Ramon Castillo testified to what had happened to Orlando Zapata. In Norway, regime agents became violent and created international controversy after a Cuban diplomat bit a young Norwegian-Cuban woman for trying to record her mom engaged in a protest remembering Orlando Zapata Tamayo in front of the Cuban Embassy in Oslo in May of 2010.

 

On September 30, 2010 the Canadian punk rock band I.H.A.D. released a song linking what happened to Orlando Zapata Tamayo to the indifference of Canadian tourists visiting Cuba asking the question: Where were you the day Orlando Zapata died? On May 10, 2012 the Free Cuba Foundation published a video accompanying the song, after receiving the band's permission, with images and song lyrics.

Rosa María Payá Acevedo remembers Orlando Zapata Tamayo in 2016.

 

On February 23, 2016 at the 8th edition of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy Rosa María Payá gave the last presentation in which she remembered and honored the memory of Orlando Zapata Tamayo on the sixth anniversary of his passing. 

On 2/19/2018 twenty activists remember Orlando Zapata Tamayo

 

Four days prior to marking eight years to the day that Orlando Zapata died, activists inside Cuba took to protest in the streets with banners remembering the courageous and martyred human rights activist.
The Castro regime did all it could to eliminate the memory of this humble and good man. The dictatorship failed.

Special Mass for Orlando Zapata Tamayo at Our Lady of Charity on February 23, 2020

Later this month let us once again honor and remember the brick layer and human rights defender by writing about him, organizing vigils and protests, and continuing his work for human rights in Cuba.

*Source: "Queridos hermanos míos de la oposición interna de Cuba", escribió Zapata en su misiva, "tengo muchas cosas que decirles, pero no he querido hacerlo por papel y tinta, pues espero ir a ustedes un día cuando nuestra patria sea libre y sin dictadura castrista. Vivan los derechos humanos, con mi sangre les escribí, para que la guarden como parte del salvajismo de que somos víctima el presidio político Pedro Luis Boitel". - "Golpiza y celda tapiada para Orlando Zapata"  La Habana, 22 de abril 2004 (María López, Lux Info Press / www.cubanet.org  

Communist Khmer Rouge leaders found guilty of genocide today: 2 million killed in 3 years and 2 months

“We will burn the old grass and the new will grow.” - Pol Pot, leader of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge (1975 - 1979)

Communist Khmer Rouge leaders guilty of genocide

Earlier today in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge's former head of state Khieu Samphan, 87, and "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea, 92, the two most senior living members of the Maoist group that seized control of Cambodia from April 17, 1975-January 7, 1979, were found guilty of genocide by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, killed two million Cambodians from overwork, starvation and mass executions over the course of three years and two months in power. They were also guilty of targeting ethnic Vietnamese and Cham Muslim minority groups.

What took place in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge was a communist revolution that followed through on its program to its logical conclusion while many in the West looked the other way, or worse normalized them.

Khmer Rouge victims photographed and numbered prior to execution

There are two documentary films that you must see to gain a deeper understanding of what happened in Cambodia. One of them Enemies of the People was screened in 2010 at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City. The other S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (French: S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge) was released in 2003. 

Both are works of art that transcend the confines of documentary film making to serve an important role in truth telling and national reconciliation. Members of the Khmer Rouge were placed on trial and the first verdicts were read out in July of  2010, but the verdict on their ideological project is still the subject of fierce dialogue and debate. Both these films can serve to not only inform but provide context into understanding revolution. 

The films compliment each other. Enemies of the People offers the perspective of the revolutionary leadership, their ideological vision, and how they applied it as government policy. While S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine documentary allows the viewer to see how that policy was implemented in day by day accounts by the prison guards and surviving prisoners.

Enemies of the People offers the perspective of the documentary's director Thet Sambath, a senior reporter for the Phnom Penh Post, and he is regarded as one of Cambodia’s best investigative journalists. On the other hand in S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine the director, Rithy Panh, is a lifelong filmmaker and a survivor of the Khmer Rouge camps who lost his parents, sister, and many other relatives to the genocide. 

Both films offer something I have never seen before in a documentary the voice of the individuals who committed the atrocities. In Enemies of the People the party’s ideological leader, Nuon Chea aka Brother Number Two – break a 30-year silence to give testimony never before heard or seen laying out what and why they did it, and in S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine it is the guards themselves walking through S-21 prison with one of their former captives describing in detail what was done there.

Enemies of the People was shown at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival on June 18, 2010 at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater in New York City. The film opened in New York City on July 30, 2010 at the Quad Cinema and was the winner of the 2010 Human Rights Watch Film Festival Nestor Almendros Award for Courage in Film making.

The award is named after famed filmmaker Nestor Almendros who co-directed two important films about human rights in Cuba: Mauvaise conduite aka “Improper Conduct” (1984) about the persecution of gay people in Revolutionary Cuba and Nadie escuchaba(1987) aka "Nobody Listened"and both documentaries are available for viewing online. 

 S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine is also available online. 

Today, the Trial Chamber of #ECCC convicted former senior Khmer Rouge leaders #NUONChea and #KHIEUSamphan of #genocide, #crimesagainsthumanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. NUON Chea and KHIEU Samphan Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in Case 002/02 pic.twitter.com/c0kkMEpUBE

— KR Tribunal (ECCC) (@KRTribunal) November 16, 2018

U.S. Department of State expresses concern about the plight of imprisoned Cuban pro-democracy activist on hunger strike

U.S. calls on Cuban government to free Mr. Nuñez Magdariaga.

The Wrongful Detention of Tomás Nuñez Magdariaga in Cuba

Heather Nauert
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
October 4, 2018

The United States is gravely concerned about the physical health of Cuban democratic activist Tomás Nuñez Magdariaga, who has been on a hunger strike for more than 50 days in protest against his wrongful imprisonment. We understand his health is in a critical state, and that the authorities have denied his family the opportunity to see him. Cuban authorities arrested Mr. Nunez, a member of Cuba’s largest opposition group, the Patriotic Union of Cuba, on false charges and convicted him in a sham trial, during which they denied him the opportunity to present witnesses in his favor.

Cuban democracy and human rights activists have long experienced and denounced the Cuban government’s use of arbitrary detention on spurious charges as a tool of repression. Mr. Nunez’s condition is cruel confirmation of these wrongful practices, and serves as a dark reminder that there is no due process for those who criticize the Cuban government. The United States condemns these practices in the strongest terms, and calls on the Cuban government to release Mr. Nunez, whose life hangs in the balance, and all political prisoners in Cuba.

Tomás Nuñez Magdariaga: Before and now on hunger strike

Arturo Sandoval: Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

Arturo Sandoval: Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

 Arturo Sandoval is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, in Havana Province, Cuba. Sandoval, while still in Cuba, was influenced by jazz legends Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie, finally meeting Dizzy later in 1977.



Gillespie promptly became a mentor and colleague, playing with Arturo in concerts in Europe and Cuba and later featuring him in The United Nations Orchestra. Sandoval defected to the United States of America while touring with Gillespie in 1990, and became a naturalized citizen in 1999. Because of his defection, his music was banned in his homeland. Many other prominent and important Cuban musicians like Arturo, have also been banned from the airwaves in Cuba.

On February 24, 2009 Arturo Sandoval played taps for Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario De La Peña, Carlos Costa, and Pablo Morales extrajudicially executed by the Cuban government on February 24, 1996 at 3:21 pm and 3:27 pm., respectively, in international airspace. Arturo has remained a steadfast advocate for Cuban freedom and human rights. He scored the soundtrack for the documentary Oscar's Cuba, about the life of a Cuban dissident and former prisoner of conscience.

On August 8, 2013 Arturo Sandoval was named one of 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor of the United States for those "who have made especially meritorious contributions to the U.S. and to world peace."

East German and Cuban prisoners were forced to make Ikea furniture in the 1980s

National German newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), says that Ikea furniture company used East German and Cuban prison labor to make its furniture in the 1980s. Newspaper said that it was possible that political prisoners were made to build Ikea furniture.

Ikea 'also used Cuban prison labour'

Published: 3 May 12 12:49 CET

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said it has seen East German files about a deal for Ikea furniture to be made in Cuban prisons. 

The deal was struck in September 1987, after a delegation of East Germans went to Havana for talks with the Cuban Interior Ministry. East German documents show that they also spoke with Enrique Sanchez, who headed the Cuban company Emiat – responsible for furnishing the holiday and guest homes of the Cuban political elite. 

The East German files say production sites were “incorporated in the prison facilities of the Interior Ministry” in Cuba. 

A contract was later signed with East Berlin-based “Ikea Trading Berlin”, the paper said, for up to 4,000 “Falkenberg” three-piece suites and then 10,000 tables for children and 35,000 dining tables, all to be made in Cuba. 

Problems arose in early 1988, when the first delivery of “Falkenberg” sofas was halted because of poor quality, prompting the East Germans to take another trip to Cuba to ensure production was up to Ikea quality standards. Only then, the documents show, could, “a direct shipment from Havana to Sweden be undertaken.”

The claims will increase pressure on the Swedish retail firm, which has already said this week it will look into allegations that East German prisoners were forced to make its products in the 1970s and 1980s. A spokesman told the FAZ it knew nothing about the Cuban production claims. 

But this was also the initial response to the East German prison labour claims – and early this week the company said it planned to examine Stasi secret service files from the time to check for evidence. 

“We take this matter extremely seriously,” said Ikea spokeswoman Jeanette Skjelmose on Monday. 

“We have requested documents from the old Stasi archive and are speaking with people who were with us at that time.”

The FAZ said it was possible that political prisoners were made to build Ikea furniture in East Germany without the company knowing about it. It said many prisoners had to work for companies, without the prisoners knowing where the stuff they made was destined for, nor the firms themselves knowing who had been involved. 

The Local/hc


http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120503-42321.html

Zapata Lives by Mary O'Grady

August 2, 2010

Castro forces dissidents to accept exile as the price of release from his dungeons.

The announcement last month that Cuba would exile 52 political prisoners currently in jail was supposed to help repair the regime's international image in the wake of the death of Orlando Zapata.

It's not working. The 21 who have already arrived in Spain are speaking out about the hell hole run by Castro that is Cuba. And at least 10 are refusing to leave the country. Zapata lives.

In December 2009, Zapata, who had been rotting in a rat-infested prison cell and repeatedly tortured for almost seven years, launched a hunger strike on behalf of Cuba's prisoners of conscience. He was protesting the unjust incarceration of nonviolent dissidents and the cruelty inside the dungeons. The regime desperately tried to break him, even refusing him water for a time. This led to kidney failure and his death on Feb. 23.

AFP/Getty Images

Cuban political prisoner Óscar Elías Biscet

Zapata's passing sparked international outrage, and on July 7 the regime yielded to the pressure. It agreed to release the independent journalists, writers and democracy advocates who had been jailed during the 2003 crackdown on dissent, known as the Black Spring.

Yet only the naïve could read Castro's forced acquiescence as a break with tyranny. It is instead a cynical ploy to clean the face of a dictatorship. It is also an effort to reclaim respectability for the world's pro-Castro politicians, including Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos. No one understands this better than the former prisoners.

Those sent to Spain have not hidden their joy about getting out of Cuban jails. "There are no words to fairly describe how amazed and excited I was when I saw myself free and next to my wife and daughter again," Normando Hernández González told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a telephone interview. But Mr. Hernández, an independent journalist, hasn't minced words about Cuban repression either.

In a telephone interview with Miami's Radio Republica, he talked about his "indescribable" time in jail. "It's crime upon crime, the deep hatred of the Castro regime toward everyone who peacefully dissents. It is a unique life experience that I do not wish upon my worst enemy."

The regime tried to spruce up the former prisoners by dressing them in neatly pressed trousers, white shirts and ties. But they brought tales of horror to Spain. Ariel Sigler, a labor organizer who went into prison seven years ago a healthy man but is now confined to a wheel chair, arrived in Miami on Wednesday.

These graphic reminders of Castro's twisted mind have been bad for Mr. Moratinos's wider agenda, which is to use the release of the prisoners to convince the European Union to abandon its "common position" on Cuba. Adopted in 1996, it says that the EU seeks "in its relations with Cuba" to "encourage a process of transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people." Mr. Moratinos's desire to help Fidel end the common position is a source of anger among Cuban dissidents.

The former prisoners also resent their exile, after, as Mr. Hernández puts it, "being kidnapped for seven years." He explained to Radio Republica: "The more logical outcome would be, 'Yes, you are freeing me. Free me to my home. Free me so I won't be apart from my sister, from my family, from my people, from my neighbors.'" Instead he says he was "practically forced" to go to Spain in exchange for getting out of jail, and to get health care for his daughter and himself.

Cuba's horrendous prison conditions are no secret. In his chilling memoir "Against All Hope" (1986, 2001), Armando Valladares cataloged the brutality he experienced first hand as a prisoner of conscience for 22 years. A steady stream of exiles have echoed his claims. But another bit of cruelty is less well understood: For a half century the regime has let political prisoners out of jail only if they sign a paper saying they have been "rehabilitated" or, when the regime is under pressure, if they agree to leave the island. Getting rid of the strong-willed, while being patted on the back for their "release," has been Castro's win-win.

Now some prisoners are refusing to deal. Ten of the 52, including Óscar Elías Biscet, famous for his pacifism, say they will not accept exile as a condition of release. These brave souls remain locked up.

Of course, if they are released and allowed to stay home, the same "crimes" that landed them in prison are likely to do so again. A particular hazard for dissidents is Article 72 of the Orwellian Cuban criminal code, which says that "any person shall be deemed dangerous" if he has "shown a proclivity to commit crimes demonstrated by conduct that is in manifest contradiction with the norms of socialist morality."

Cuban dissidents claim there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of prisoners locked up for "dangerousness," "contempt" and other crimes of dissent. No one knows for sure. But shipping a few dozen out of the country doesn't qualify as a step toward civilized government. The memory of Zapata demands much more.

Write to O'Grady@wsj.com

Cuba's Olga Guillot, Queen of the Bolero: Singer and Victim of Cuba's Cultural Genocide

“We are united in a cause that is really important. We are united with women who are heroes and who are the only ones who have done for Cuba’s political prisoners, for the exile community, for the dissidents, for the opponents of the government and for us who have been 50 years in exile without a country these women have made news around the world so that the world know the pain of our Cuba. Thank you for giving us our heroes. Thank you. We will continue our fight. And while they march with bouquets of flowers in their hands--the only weapons they have. We, too, will continue to march in support of them. Thank you, Long Live a Free Cuba!

- Olga Guillot, Ladies in White Demonstration, March 25, 2010

International media are reporting on the passing of Olga, artists are recalling their friendships with her and Olga's impact in music and culture around the world but not in her homeland Cuba. The Miami Herald reported how fans and friends stretched out over 8 city blocs to pay tribute to La Reina del Bolero -- The Queen of Bolero.

According to the book Shoot the singer!: music censorship today edited by Marie Korpe there is increasing concern within the international music community that post-revolution generations are growing up without knowing or hearing these censored musicians and that this could lead to a loss of Cuban identity in future generations. One of the musicians to undergo this process is Olga Guillot.

Wikipedia offers the following description of Olga's career:

Olga Guillot (born October 9, 1922 in Santiago de Cuba - died July 12, 2010 in exile in Miami, Fl) is a famous Cuban singer who was known to be the queen of bolero. She is a native of the Cuban city of Santiago. In 1954, she recorded her song "Mienteme" ("Lie to Me"), which became a hit across Latin America, and earned her three consecutive awards back home in Cuba as Cuba's best female singer. 1958 proved to be an important year for Guillot, as she toured Europe for the first time, including stops in Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

She sang alongside the equally legendary Édith Piaf during a concert held in Cannes. Olga Guillot kept a house in Cuba as she traveled around the world with her music, apart from her house in Mexico. But Guillot opposed Fidel Castro's Government, and, in 1961, she decided to leave Cuba for good and establish herself in Venezuela. Not long after that, she left Venezuela, making Mexico her only permanent residence country.

Kenia Fernandez wrote in article in My Latino Voice titled "Nostalgia Corner: Why the Bolero was censored in Cuba which describes how the Bolero was banned in Cuba:

First, jukeboxes were confiscated from corner bars and nightclubs (there were as many as 20,000 jukeboxes in Havana in the 1950s). Then, in 1961, at the First Congress of Writers and Artists, music was defined as an organ of integration into the new Revolutionary society. The bolero came to be seen as a reactionary genre, in bad taste, and ultimately, banned. Cuba's world-class composers and performers, many of whom had brought the genre to its golden age, were abruptly silenced. Finally, in 1968, in the Ofensiva Revolucionaria -- the Cuban equivalent of China's Cultural Revolution -- most of the 1,200 cabarets and dance halls for which Havana was known were shut down (with only a couple of exceptions, including the notable Tropicana). Bolero lovers and performers were left with no viable venues. An entire generation was traumatized by loss of the very words and music that had defined the key moments of their lives -- coming of age, first loves, stolen kisses, secret romances.

Olga speaks in defense of the Ladies in White on March 25, 2010



Olga Guillot is one of many Cuban artists disappeared by the Cuban regime from Cuba's cultural life in what music censorship experts have described as a cultural genocide. She like Celia Cruz would be erased from Cuban culture under the communist dictatorship in Cuba. Both would never be able to physically return to Cuba because of the communist dictatorship there in power that banned their music and made the nonpersons. Please engage in an act of cultural resistance and rescue help spread their music and that of other censored artists into Cuba by any means at your disposal. Olga and Celia may not be able to return to Cuba physically, but there music and their place in Cuban culture can be restored.



Her long and talented life ended on July 12, 2010 but she will always be remembered for her music and as a Cuban who suffered a long exile from her homeland thanks to a brutal dictatorship that banned her music. Requiescat in pace Olga Guillot, Queen of the Bolero and Cuban patriot. We, free Cubans and children of Cubans, will make sure that your music and your cultural legacy are restored in Cuba.

Catholic Church: Mediator between Dictatorship & Opposition

"Overcome evil with good" -Father Jerzy Popieluszko

Vatican foreign minister arrived in Cuba on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 to attend Catholic Social Week & meet with regime leadership according to the Associated Press to address island's economic plight and activists hope to obtain release of political prisoners. Picture above by AP of Vatican foreign minister Monsignor Dominique Mamberti and the Cuban foreign minister.

Program X Catholic Social Week
From 16 to June 20, 2010  
Casa San Juan María Vianney

The Catholic Church in Cuba: a bridge for dialogue and encounter (excerpt)

We have recognized that the outcome of this mediation has been a triumph for Cardinal Jaime Ortega (i.e. for the Catholic Church in Cuba), for the Ladies in White and the Cuban government. However, we know that the best way to assimilate this outcome – until now - positive, is not triumphalist, but has to be done with the humility necessary to raise awareness that the disposition to meet and dialogue, to achieve understanding and consensus , is the best service we can offer for the general welfare of the nation. 
 

To obtain this welfare, it is necessary to express it, transits today by: providing a definitive agreement for the treatment of the Ladies in White, resolve the sensitive issue of political prisoners, finding the best way for all Cubans to be able to express their views and always seek consensus among all, renew cultural anthropology of the Cuban, re-found economic structures, and achieve better relations with the world – also with the United States

Above extract from the Digital Supplement to Espacio Laical Magazine No.102 June 2010



Wednesday 16
12:30 p.m. Lunch for delegates.
3:00 p.m. Meeting with delegates to provide general guidance on Social Week.
4:30 p.m. Strong Snack
5:15 p.m. Travel to the auditorium at San Gerónimo College. 6:00 p.m. Inaugural lecture by Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States, of the Vatican. Aula Magna of the University College San Gerónimo
8:30 p.m. Concert in the Minor Basilica of San Francisco de Asis.
11:00 p.m. Strong Snack


Thursday 17

7:30 a.m. Marian Act.

8:30 a.m. Breakfast.

9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks by Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, and of Monsignor Emilio Aranguren, bishop of Holguín and president of the National Commission for Justice and Peace.

9:30 a.m. Presentation of the encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in veritate. Father Jorge Cela, sj.

10:30 a.m. Break.

11:00 a.m. Debate about the presentation of the encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI Caritas in veritate.

12:15 p.m. Lunch.

2:30 p.m. Panel on dialogue among Cubans. Participants: Aurelio Alonso, Jorge Ignacio Dominguez and Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. Coordinator: Habey Hechavarria Prado.

4: 00 p.m. Break.

4: 30 p.m. Debate on the dialogue among Cubans.

6:00 p.m. Rest.

7:00 p.m. Dinner.

8:00 p.m. Departure for the SMI Cathedral of Havana.

8.30 p.m. Solemn Mass in the Cathedral of Havana SMI.

10:00 p.m. Public gesture at the San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary.

Friday 18

7:30 am. Mass.

9:00 a.m. Panel on public spaces of the Church. Participants: Maritza Sánchez (Social work of the Church), Sergio Lázaro Cabarruvy (Social communications media), Maria Caridad Campistrous (Educational activities), Roberto Méndez (Relation with the world of Culture) and Gustavo Andujar (Presence of the laity)

Coordinator: Leni Gonzalez Mederos.

11:30 a.m. Break.

11:45 a.m. Debate about the panel on public spaces of the Church.

12:30 p.m. Lunch. 2:30 p.m. Panel on economy and society. Participants: Pavel Vidal, Omar Everleny,Carmelo Mesa-Lago and Cristina Calvo. Coordinator: Reydel Robles.

4: 30 p.m. Break with strong snack.

5: 00 p.m. Debate on economy and society.

6:00 p.m. Rest.

6:45 p.m. Leave for the Vatican embassy.

7:00 p.m. Reception at the Vatican embassy.

10:30 p.m. Strong Snack

Saturday 19
8:00 a.m. Lauds.

8:30 a.m. Breakfast.

9:00 a.m. Panel on reconciliation among Cubans. Participants: Father Juan Carlos
Carballo, Rafael Hernández, Arturo López-Levy and Lenier González. Coordinator: Osvaldo Gallardo.

11:00 a.m. Break.

11:30 a.m. Debate on reconciliation among Cubans.

12:15 p.m. Lunch

2:30 p.m. Exhibition on how to integrate the topics presented during the Social Week
to the pastoral task of the Catholic Church in Cuba. Father Jorge Cela, SJ.
(Only for delegates from the Catholic Church.)

3: 30 p.m. Break.

4: 00 p.m. Debate on the involvement of Father Jorge Cela, SJ. (Only for delegates
of the Catholic Church.)

6:15 p.m. Closing Mass

7:30 p.m. Dinner.

8:30 p.m. Exhibition of paintings of the Virgin Mary

Thank you to Dora Amador's blog Palabra Cubana for pointing me in the right direction for information on this meeting and the Cuban Church.