Do Cubans see themselves as part of a Caribbean family? Are there historical, social and cultural reasons for a ‘Caribbean Cuba’ and how does the Caribbean appear in the Cuban imaginary? How is this conditioned by attitudes to race in Cuban society? A conversation taking place within Cuba and between Cuban and Anglo-Caribbean scholars…
It is, indeed, a signal honour for me to have been invited to move this vote of thanks. “Thank you” could be said as simply and as easily as this: “THANK YOU.” But might this not be rude? Would this not be an instance of brevity being most inappropriate? On the other hand, I could choose to be boring and insensitive to this wonderful audience and deliver an hour-long diatribe..
Over the past 50 years or so there has been a noticeable growth of a ‘Caribbean consciousness’ within the Anglophone Caribbean, encompasseing key countries of the wider Caribbean; including Cuba…My question for my Cuban colleagues is this: how does this square with the Cuban ‘conception of self’? Does Cuba accept the notion of a ‘Caribbean family’ to which it belongs?…
Among the most fascinating documents to come out of the WikiLeaks revelations is a cable allegedly sent by the head of the US Interests Section in Havana, Jonathan Farrar, on August 11, 2009. The document is a virtual diplomatic bombshell. It could prove a source of embarrassment to all three governments concerned–the U.S., the Cuban and the Jamaican…
“Cuba’s dissatisfaction is with the United States, which is the world’s largest drug consumer and an important centre for money laundering, stemming from drug trafficking,” Ambassador Gala told the Observer.
US diplomatic staff in Cuba are said to have looked for “human interest stories and other news that shatters the myth of Cuban medical prowess, which has become a key feature of the regime’s foreign policy and its self-congratulatory propaganda.”
On the 34th Anniversary of the bombing of a Cubana airlines plane off the coast of Barbados by a Miami-based terrorist group, killing 73 innocent people, several Caribbean citizens have joined their voices to the outcry over the unjustified incarceration of the ‘Cuban Five’ by the United States, in a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. Supporters of this appeal may add their voices by submitting a message in the Comments box below.
Norman Girvan, Professor, University of the West Indies
Joan French, Development Expert and Gender SpecialistSenator David Abdulah, President, Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs (FITUN)
Ancel Roget, President General, Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union
Joseph Remy, President, Communications Workers’ Union
Shridath Ramphal, Chancellor Emeritus, University of the West Indies
Alissa Trotz, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Havelock Brewster, Hon. Professor, University of the West Indies.
Richard Crawford, Jamaicans United for Sustainable Development
Mervyn Claxton, retired international civil servant
Raffique Shah, journalist, Trinidad & Tobago.
Russell Bell, Russell Bell, Kingston, Jamaica, Educator,Editor of YESCuba, Author of the book “The Story of the Five Cuban Heroes”
Camille Chalmers, Haiti, Chairman, Haitian Platform for Development Alternatives
Reginald Dumas, Former Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the USA and Former Permanent Representative to the OAS
Report of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on the Cuban Five,
Nobel Laureates call for release of Cuban Five
Resolution of the National Lawyers Guild of the United State on the Cuban Five
Members of the European Parliament and several national parliaments call for release of Cuban five
Professor Ellis was recently interviewed by Russell Bell for YESCuba, the Newsletter of Jamaican Youth and Elders in Solidarity with Cuba. The interviews, with selected extracts, are published below. YESCuba is asking for your help in distribution to all your friends, colleagues and especially young Caribbeans at home and abroad.
“We have to aim for unity in ways that are innovative…”The multiparty system is an obstacle to our identifying the core issues that affect our common development and it is a convenience for those outside forces that are known to ruthlessly further their interests by exacerbating divisions…”
“I believe that more room should be given to tenderness and the nurturing of uplifting cultural activity. That has to be within the framework of a social and political system that channels our human and material resources to the common benefit of our people…”
“… many blacks are seeing themselves as vicarious occupants of the White House and have lost sight of the imperialist objectives of the Obama administration…”
“…there is a vibrant spirit among our young people, a curiosity about the world, a confidence that they are equal to everybody else and to every possible task, displayed both in their academic achievements and in their sporting achievements; these qualities augur well for the overcoming of obstacles….”…that alienating tutelage that surreptitiously continues to guide our institutional and social life-these are all barriers in the way of our youth…”
