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Imagen de presentación INBOX, columna opinión

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Inbox

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Lecturas al Oído

Columna especial para elTOQUE de Mónica Baró durante el 41º Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana. Ilustración: Wendy Valladares y Janet Aguilar

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Vagabunda

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Desde noviembre de 2021 sectores de la sociedad cubana han debatido el contenido del anteproyecto del Código de las Familias, cuya versión 24 fue publicada en enero de 2022. Desde elTOQUE también hemos participado en la discusión a través de materiales y espacios comunicativos.
 
En nuestra cobertura incluimos análisis sobre los nuevos conceptos que introduce el proyecto y sus alcances. También explicamos las novedades de la normativa con respecto al código vigente y las implicaciones en el contexto cubano.

Código de las Familias en Cuba

English

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Estudiante de Periodismo y aficionada al cine.

She carries a purse on one side and on the other, she holds a restless hand, that wants to see and discover everything and post it on Instagram. Posts on this social media platform, especially the “Stories” function, have been her disovery and adventure this lockdown. Little Galilea says that she wants to be a YouTuber. She really likes the media and has stolen the spotlight on her mom’s social media. Her mother is Cuban actress Heydy Gonzalez and here she talks to elTOQUE about her experience of being a mother.Tell us a little bit about your first maternal reference… about your own mother.Everything I am today is thanks to my mother. She was a librarian at the Central Library in Ciudad Libertad, where the Story Festival is held every year. She would organize the event with her colleagues, and children would act out theater pieces. That’s where I began playing characters at just 4 years old. My mother would read me the stories and I would learn them off by heart so I could then take the stage.She is a very introverted person, the complete opposite of me, but I think that she fulfilled herself somehow by watching me grow with this talent. That’s why she always instilled art in me, and it was even her that gave me the push I needed to take the ENA (National Art School) exam. She has been very close to me the entire time, she has never let go even for a second, and she is still by my side supporting every decision and every step I take. I am forever grateful to her.Was Galilea always part of your plan or was she a surprise?Galilea wasn’t planned, but she came when she had to. At 35 years old, I had to decide if I wanted my baby. She came to brighten up everyone’s life at home; she is the center of attention. Plus, she’s a very intelligent and active girl. I don’t remember being as clever as Gali. My mother says that I was, that we have a lot in common, but I think she outdoes me.Many physical and emotional changes are experienced during pregnancy. How did this affect your projects at the time?I remember that I did a teleplay called&nbsp;“La culpa”, alongside Patricio Wood, when I was 6 months pregnant. The character I was playing wasn’t pregnant and I had to wear lots of baggy clothes to cover up my belly, that was quite big by then. The scenes were very emotional, with heated arguments; all of my hormonal changes made the experience a lot more intense, and she would get rebellious in my tummy.In my breaks, I would take advantage to talk to her a little bit to try and calm her down, because I could feel that she was also getting worked up, but I never stopped. I think this is why Gali is so active, because I spent my entire pregnancy like this.Did you have to turn down or stop any project?I had gestational diabetes and that forced me to be very disciplined with my eating times, but I always had the support of my team. Plus, I kept thinking that while a pregnancy requires a lot of being careful, it isn’t a disease: I kept working the whole time, even when I was almost 9 months, when my belly was up to my mouth almost [she laughs].We mothers need to steam ahead with our own projects, especially for our children. I loved working during my pregnancy because I didn’t see it as something that could stop me; on the contrary, it was an incentive to carry on, she gave me strength for everything. <figure class="image-ql with-options" src="/uploads/HEYDY_GONZALEZ_ACTRIZ_CUBANA_GALILEA_MADRE_E_HIJA_CUBA_f6ee6cdaef.jpg" alt="" caption="Foto: Marcos Evora" width="100" style="width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" contenteditable="false"><img src="/uploads/HEYDY_GONZALEZ_ACTRIZ_CUBANA_GALILEA_MADRE_E_HIJA_CUBA_f6ee6cdaef.jpg" alt="">Foto: Marcos Evora</figure>What do you enjoy doing with Galilea the most?Everything. I would like to set up a camera at home to record her because she is really funny, she has become the focus of my social media. When she doesn’t appear on my Instagram account, people ask me: “Where is she? What’s happened? Why haven’t you shared something with her today?” It’s really funny and happens all the time.The pandemic has drawn us even closer. We usually roll around on the floor and play princesses. Sometimes, I have to trick her a little, or pretend that we are at a spa, for example, so she lets me wash her hair and brush it. I try to turn everyday activities into a game so she doesn’t get bored.What would you like her to have from you?She is everything I ever dreamed of, she’s a noble, good, committed girl, in spite of being so small. She likes to do everything well.I don’t want to push her into anything she doesn’t want to do. I am going to give her all the freedom in the world to choose and do what she wants to do when she is older, and I’ll be with her, like my mother was with me, supporting her dream. Whatever it is, I’ll respect her.I want her to be a good-hearted, kind girl, who shines for her simplicity, her naturalness, her spontaneity and I think she’s on the right path for now. I want her to be happy, I feel like she can detach herself from everything, but I don’t want her to be frustrated, she has to do something she enjoys.How would you define your mother’s motherhood and your motherhood with Galilea?I think that they are very similar because they have the same patterns. I come from a happy home and I have tried to give Galilea the same thing.&nbsp;This article was translated into <a href="https://havanatimes.org/interviews/cubanactress-heydy-gonzalez-pregnancy-isnt-a-disease/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">English</a> from the original in <a href="https://eltoque.com/heydy-gonzalez-el-embarazo-no-enfermedad" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spanish</a>.

La actriz cubana Heydy González habla sobre su experiencia en el embarazo y en la maternidad. Foto: Marcos Evora

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Cuban Actress Heydy Gonzalez: “Pregnancy Isn’t a Disease”

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Imágenes curiosas y raras del Primero de Mayo en Cuba

Estos son los muertos y desaparecidos tras la explosión del hotel Saratoga

El servicio militar obligatorio y las manipulaciones de la diplomacia cubana

Cubans can’t imagine a New Year’s celebration without roast pork as the main dish. However, the reality on December 31, 2021 was very different for some families: high prices of pork meant that the longed-for food wasn’t featured on many tables.Nostalgic memories include a suckling pig sandwich on the street, pork steak at lunch time and even rearing a pig or two in the middle of the city that later inspired the parody song «La puerca de papa» (Daddy’s Pig) by the comedy group Punto y Coma, over 10 years ago.It was these current shortages and pork prices going up in Cuba that Lucia March, Camilo Condis and Maykel Gonzalez spoke about on the 97th episode of El Enjambre, a podcast by elTOQUE.<div class="ql-embed-external" src="<iframe id='audio_85518770' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='' scrolling='no' height='200' style='width:100%;' src='https://www.ivoox.com/player_ej_85518770_6_1.html' loading='lazy'></iframe>"><iframe id="audio_85518770" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" height="200" style="width:100%;" src="https://www.ivoox.com/player_ej_85518770_6_1.html" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>Lucia referred to a report by Cuban TV News that labeled pork as a luxury on the table of Cubans that decided to keep it in their diets. «The same news feature admitted that the most typical meat in Cuban cuisine is now too expensive to eat in today’s Cuba».«The news said that supply and demand prices of pork went up from 50 pesos in 2020 to over 200», Camilo added. «This week, I saw it selling for 230 pesos per pound and you couldn’t buy it by piece, you had to buy the whole leg. According to official figures shared during the report, some 26,000 tons of pork are expected to be produced this year, which is ridiculously low considering 200,000 tons were produced in 2016».«To give you an idea of just how dire things are», the podcaster continued, «only 52 tons of pork were produced in Sancti Spiritus, in the first few months of 2022. That is the equivalent of how much Cuba used to produce in just one day back in 2018».Emilio Interian, a pork producer interviewed in the news report, said that the main cause of this crisis is shortages of fodder for pigs. The situation is so serious that the farmer has two to three pigs starving to death on him every day, which affects breeding. Births before used to give an average of ten to eleven piglets, but now the average is five to six.The report gave statistics that allow us to quantify the reduction in fodder imports for pigs. In 2017, there were approximately 14,000 producers with pork agreements in Cuba, while there are only 1400 registered pork producers today, which means that 90% of them stopped rearing pigs for sale.«Farmers are buying fodder for pigs via the Gelma marketing company at US dollar prices on the magnetic MLC cards, which has shot up expenses and forced them to hike up prices in order to continue producing. Where does a farmer get MLC (The magnetic cards in USD that people don’t earn in Cuba) to buy fodder from? They have to buy the MLC with their pesos on the illicit market, because there’s no other choice», Camilo explains.<h2>Controversy surrounding the draft Family Act</h2>The young podcasters also mentioned controversial statements made by Pastor Barbaro Marrero Castellanos on Cuban TV show Palabra Precisa, on April 1st. The religious leader was invited to talk about the draft Family Act, along with Pastor Dora Arce Valentin. The program stirred a commotion on social media with Pastor Marrero’s statements and many independent media outlets echoing the news.The pastor said that, in line with the Baptist Church’s teachings, the Family Act has positive aspects such as caring for the disabled, elderly and family conflict resolution strategies. But he also spoke about what he considered to be negative aspects of the Act.«One of the first criticisms he made, which I was completely taken aback by, was that parents’ rights are limited if they aren’t able to use corporal punishment on their children. I never thought that hitting children would be a priority for members of the Church. It never entered my mind that a pastor would say on national TV that he wanted the right to beat his children; moderately, but to hit them. What the hell is that! I don’t understand», Camilo says.«Corporal punishment in our society and country is perfectly normal, it’s been going on since the time of our great-great-grandparents», Maykel points out. «Physical beatings were never a thing in my family because my father had suffered them when he was a child, and he decided he would never beat us, as he believed they were counterproductive».The statement from the religious leader that really sparked outrage was the following: «The Church isn’t called upon to adjust to the times, like we say today; the Church shouldn’t have to adapt, but should rather be a driving force for society to change; the Church isn’t a thermometer that adapts to the weather around it; it is a thermostat that is called upon to establish a healthy climate for society not to become corrupted».In this regard, Camilo said: «This is a tough one because we are talking about a secular State where the Church hasn’t had any formal power since 1959. I’m also shocked that he would say on national TV that the Church is who should be the one defining society’s rules and dictating the laws that we live our lives by».<h2>Growing migration</h2>The El Enjambre podcasters also gave an update on US-Cuba relations, talking about an interview published on Cubanet with US Charge d’Affaires in Cuba, Timothy Zúñiga-Brown.Regarding resuming consular services in Cuba, the US diplimat said that they had been working internally and with the Cuban Government to gradually resume the immigration visa process. He specified that it would only be this kind of visa, not tourism or short-stay visas for the US. He said that they were working on building up their personnel to process more visa applications and that for now applications continued to function at the US Embassy in Guyana.Regarding the current exodus of Cubans towards the US, Zúñiga-Brown pointed out that the number of young people leaving was especially a cause for concern, and the way they leave, especially those who travel by sea. However, he admitted that there had been a turnaround in the flow of people from Cuba who now prefer to migrate by land, which means many more are crossing the border.«We know that many of the main reasons for illegal migration are a lack of economic opportunities, citizen security, and respect for human rights and basic freedoms (…). The agreement that exists is to grant a minimum of 20,000 visas per year, however, the number of people leaving Cuba is much higher than this. I get the idea that there are many more reasons Cubans are leaving Cuba», the US diplomat said.When talking about US-Cuba relations, Zúñiga admitted that they have always been difficult, but that this may be the worst time in decades since the Revolution triumphed. He referred to those arrested during the July 11th protests and appealed to the Cuban Government to respect freedom of thought, speech and assembly, rights recognized by the Cuban Government in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. <blockquote>This article was translated into&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/pigs-without-feed-and-cubans-without-pork/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">English</a>&nbsp;from the original in&nbsp;<a href="https://eltoque.com/cuba-y-sus-mayores-desde-lentes-jovenes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255);">Spanish</a>.</blockquote><blockquote>Follow&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/is-us-cuba-immigration-remittances-policy-loosening-up/blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(40, 157, 204);">this link</a>&nbsp;to listen to all El Enjambre episodes&nbsp;in Spanish only.</blockquote>

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Pigs without feed and Cubans without pork

HAVANA TIMES – Pornography and erotic representations date back to the oldest times of humanity. Since the Paleolithic era, primitive tribes had already established a totemic cult centered towards procreation, the womb and the phallic cult.
Based on these ancient cults, it is assumed that paleolithic figures of Venus, such as the Willendorf Venus, evoked human admiration for the genitals, motherhood, fertility and eroticism, through breasts and buttocks of exaggerated proportions – with a possible intention to represent pornography.
In Indian culture, especially within philosophies such as that of the Tantra, it was understood that sex was a part of human divinity and at times represented a path towards spiritual enlightenment. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana (400-200 BC) is the epitome of sexuality in Ancient India.
The classical societies of Ancient Greece and the Ancient Roman Empire adopted human sexuality as the basis of artistic expression. The representation of sexual scenes was common in these civilizations; one example being the details in the frescoes of the suburban baths of Pompeii, where scenes with sexually explicit acts are appreciated – including the representations of group sex, homosexual and oral sex.
The modern concept of pornography is defined by the massive commercialization of erotic material, thus abandoning its artistic character and increasing its distribution via mass production, thereby gaining a greater presence dating from the sexual revolution during the 1970s to the present day.
Since the advent of the Internet, pornographic consumption has skyrocketed to astonishing levels. Pornhub, the largest free porn website on the network, received more than 42 billion visits during the year 2019, which is equivalent to the impressive 115 million visits a day. Within the statistics of the site, it was revealed that amateur videos top the list of user preferences and that 32% of people who access the website are women – increasing by 3% compared to the previous year.
Does more internet mean more porn in Cuba?
In Cuba, the increase in Internet access has meant a parallel increase in the consumption of pornography. It still remains far from topping the list of countries with the highest data traffic within the statistics of the Pornhub platform.
However, reports from the site itself, reveal that the increase in Cuba’s participation in the web during the last 5 years has been overwhelming; appearing as one of the leaders in internet surfing growth from cell phones – according to data from 2016. The increase in mobile traffic to Pornhub amongst Cuban users was 310%.
The explanation of this phenomenon became evident since the implementation and increase of Wi-Fi points in the country as of 2013, the reduction in navigation rates in 2015 and the enablement of access through mobile data in December 2018. Therefore, the consumption of pornography in Cuba is under new conditions caused by increased internet access.
To undertake this article, 20 young Cubans were surveyed – aged between 20 and 35 years. 15% confessed to consume online pornography, arguing that the facilities had arisen in the face of greater internet access within recent years. 55% admitted having downloaded pornographic videos from websites such as Bingoporno, Miporno and of course – Pornhub.
What motivates a Cuban to use the Internet to consume porn (at its still relatively expensive price) when the distribution by USBs still works effectively? The possibility of choosing content within greater diversity – was one of the responses of the respondents.
Telegram and its XXX channels
When the cost of Internet browsing is as high as it is in our country, any tool that promises to speed up the process and optimize our search is a treasure. Telegram, the application developed by the Dúrov brothers – launched in 2013, provides the user with a huge amount of multimedia content in the most automatic way possible.
In 2015, the application incorporated the “channels” service. Through this option it is possible to send all types of files on a massive scale; allowing users to subscribe in an open and unlimited way. These channels can be found on the web via a URL – being able to access the entire history of sent messages.
Hundreds of institutions and individuals currently use this route to disseminate their contents, and of course the proliferation of XXX channels was notoriously fruitful.
At the end of the year 2019 there were hundreds of Telegram channels where pornographic content was shared. By subscribing to one of these channels – The Bots – the virtual assistants of Telegram, a board of options is shown with the most diverse sexual content.
In this way, the user can select the variety of his or her preference, and the bot redirects him or her to the videos of that category. This process saves the user considerable navigation time trying to find and select the specific content that they are looking for.
Some of these sites are very active; publishing dozens of daily videos and with several thousand subscribers. There are also channels specializing in home or amateur videos; the category that tops the list of preferences, according to Pornhub statistics.
Of the young people surveyed, 25% admitted to subscribing to an XXX channel on Telegram.
Is pornography morally acceptable?
What is understood as pornography is conditioned by the subjectivities of each person with respect to sex. But the conception is – almost always, of a video or photograph showing sexual intercourse or an explicit sexual act. This explicitness is what the user, spectator, consumer – expects. What the industry has created as an expectation, and what differentiates a pornographic material from an erotic one.
The human being is, in general, highly sensitive to visual stimuli, the inclination to observe sexual scenes is an innate characteristic. The areas of the brain that are activated when watching pornography are the same that are stimulated during sexual intercourse, the brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter mainly associated with the anticipation of reward that also acts in the programming of memories and of information in the brain.
This means that when the body wants, for example, food or sex, the brain remembers what it must do to get the same pleasure as on previous occasions. This, combined with the accessibility and anonymity provided by the consumption of porn, makes us extremely sensitive subjects to its hyper stimulant effects.
There are conflicting opinions about the morality of pornography; a sector of society condemns it for its commercial nature and because it can trigger an addictive and therefore harmful vice for the individual.
However, a current train of thought considers it an art form, in order to show the beauty of human sexuality. Some defend this precept by arguing that it is a form of freedom, and that it is fundamental to the evolution of a society free from prejudices and taboos.
All of the 20 young people surveyed, confessed to having accessed pornography, 55% of them being women, thus demonstrating that females, who historically represent a smaller percentage, are also consumers of this industry. However, there are few those who dare to admit it – as they remain subjugated to the social prejudices of yesteryear.
The survey also revealed that 70% had made homemade pornographic videos with their partners, 50% had maintained telephone sex, via instant messaging or video calls, and another 35% admitted that they would like to try this practice. The opinions in general of the young people with whom I had the opportunity to spend time with, were of support and acceptance to the porn industry – 95% of them said that they considered it morally acceptable.
However, all agreed on the danger of excess. The scenes that can be seen in porn, as with addictive substances, are hyper stimulant triggers that produce an unnatural secretion of high levels of dopamine, which can deteriorate the reward system of dopamine and render it useless in the face of a natural pleasure source.
Psychiatrist Norman Doidge explains it this way:
“Pornography satisfies each of the prerequisites for neuroplastic change. When pornographers boast that they are going one step further by introducing new and stronger themes, they forget that they must do so because their clients are developing a tolerance to the usual content.”
The data collected by Pornhub reveals that conventional sex is less and less interesting for consumers, who replace it with themes such as incest or violence. The perpetuation of sexual violence is especially worrisome, as it could directly influence the statistics of violent episodes in real life.
What is the position of the Cuban state in the face of the increase in porn consumption in our country?
The current Law no. 62 of the Criminal Code of Cuba (Art. 303, subsection C), penalizes with a penalty of deprivation of liberty ranging from three months to one year, or a fine of 100 to 300 installments to he who “produces or circulates publications, prints, film tapes or tape, recordings, photographs or other objects that are obscene, with a tendency to pervert and degrade customs. ”
What are those objects? What is considered obscene? What can pervert and degrade customs? Which customs? As much as the State tries to keep Cubans outside of the “obscenities” considered improper in the socialist system, the ports of entry always mocked them. If not, how did Playboy magazines and graphic-erotic novels enter the country? And the “original” movies on VHS, with their covers illustrated in colors?
The USB distribution – copying content on external discs – revolutionized the modalities of audiovisual consumption in Cuba. Thus, resulting in the first channel for the “virilization” of content on the Island. Porn, was not left out.
So how could the government control the consumption of porn over the Internet? What mechanisms does one adopt in restricting access to pornographic content for children and adolescents?
Although many have insisted on showing a “neat” image of Cuba in that sense, the consumption of pornography among adolescents is a reality, even within educational centers. In the surveys carried out, 65% confessed to having consumed pornography before the age of 15, and 15% of them admitted to having started watching porn merely out of curiosity.
The most alarming of these figures is that if we take into account that we are talking about the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, when the access and distribution of pornography was negligible compared to the current levels, it can be speculated that the percentages are much higher in children and adolescents today.
There is, at least not legally or publicly registered, any mechanism for the Cuban telecommunications company – ETECSA, to regulate the consumption of pornography – especially the consumption among minors.
These mechanisms could be aimed at identifying the mobile devices of children and adolescents to restrict access to this type of material, create alert generation systems before the attempt to access these devices, by sending notifications to parents, encouraging the use of parental control tools.
These actions could be considered duties of the company with respect to consumption via the Internet. The rest would be the responsibility of families and school institutions, although controlling all distribution channels among minors is practically impossible, especially when there are very popular alternative channels in Cuba, such as Zapya, a mobile application for wireless file sharing, or the USB copy.
The scenario demands to modernize the regulations. It is absurd that the production and distribution of pornographic material is penalized or that its exhibition in theaters is censored and its entry intended to be controlled from abroad, when the Internet remains an open and increasingly popular channel in Cuba, as in the rest of the world, for all those activities.
It’s necessary to admit that the consumption of pornography in Cuba is a fact; open your eyes to the reality of what has been going on for decades and that it is gaining more strength in the face of the internet’s rise and access in our country.
Instead of masking the truths and trying to avoid the tarnishing of this false image of ‘the preservers of good manners and morality’, it is imperative to adapt regulations and laws so that they themselves may adapt to the times we are living in, and thus work so that the explosion of multimedia does not foment crime or especially affect children and adolescents – the most vulnerable to all these changes.
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<blockquote>This article was translated to <a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/pornography-and-the-internet-its-impact-on-cuban-society/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">English</a> from the original in <a href="https://zona-binaria.com/cacharreando/pornografia-e-internet-su-impacto-en-la-sociedad-cubana/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spanish</a>.
This text was originally published by the Zona Binaria blog and its author is Jessica Jones. It is fully republished in elToque with the intention of offering varied content and ideas and from different perspectives to our audiences. What is reproduced here is not necessarily the editorial position of our media.
</blockquote>

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Pornography and the Internet: Its Impact on Cuban Society

Over 900 people signed the petition by Feministas Cubanas on Change.org, requesting the Cuban government can open up a corridor of humanitarian flights from the US. Basic essentials, such as medicine and personal hygiene items, would enter the island via this corridor, without Customs restrictions.Addressed to president Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Ministry of Interior and the Council of State and Ministers, the petition asks for mechanisms to be put into place so that Cubans living abroad can travel to the island and deliver these products, as long as they can provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations beforehand.The text mentions the vaccination rate in the US, where “48.4% of the adult population has been vaccinated against the virus, and 60.5% have received at least one dose of the vaccines available in this country,” according to statements from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).It also announces that it is very easy to confirm that US residents wanting to enter Cuba with necessary resources have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as they have a card issued by this very center.“Cuba is facing a serious health crisis right now, with shortages of medicines, food and personal hygiene items, caused by the country’s deteriorating economic situation and the COVID-19 pandemic,” the petition explains at the beginning, recognizing that “unilateral sanctions weigh heavily upon the country” and that “measures implemented by the Cuban government” restrict deliveries of these items.Since February 6th, the Cuban government has cut down on certain flight connections and has canceled others, due to the declining health situation in the country.&nbsp;According to the Cuban Airports and Airport Services Company (ECASA) Facebook page, American Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest and charter flights will continue to fly from the US, on a weekly basis.On the other hand, financial restrictions established by the embargo, as well as the ban on remittances being sent via different platforms (especially via Western Union), have directly affected the way Cubans living abroad can contribute.Given this situation, individuals and organizations are looking for safe ways to send their aid to Cubans living on the island.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="null" alt="null"></a></figure> <h4>Humanitarian corridors, humanitarian flights or safe air travel corridors</h4>Not every crisis situation justifies opening up a humanitarian corridor. On December 14, 1990, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 45/100 that stipulated, for the first time, the need to establish this kind of safe route.This resolution defines corridors as a means to facilitate the circulation of humanitarian convoys, victims of armed conflicts and humanitarian personnel. Transfers (of people or aid) normally take place from, or to, a region of armed conflict.According to International Humanitarian Law and its implementation, such are established mostly in the system of peacekeeping missions and refugee protection programs by the UN and other international bodies. Depending on their purpose, safe areas can be defined as: providing humanitarian aid, evacuating endangered persons; and to encourage the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons. Humanitarian corridors can be land, sea or river or air routes.Secondly, agreements between all parties involved are the key to these demilitarized areas. The Cuban government would have to enter in agreement with some US counterpart to establish “every party’s obligations, the principle of national sovereignty, the territorial integrity of the State in question” and respect for the so-called “Guiding Principles on the Right to Humanitarian Assistance“, which were written up at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, in 1992.The five restrictions allude to:<ol><li>Time: humanitarian corridors are established during an emergency period, during which you have the right to travel and provide aid for as long as needed. As a result, if a corridor of humanitarian flights were established to bring medicine into Cuba, this would be limited to a fixed duration of time outlined between both parties.</li><li>Space: the most direct route possible to the destination should be established. This means that if a corridor of humanitarian flights is established, medicines would leave from a certain place, and arrive at a certain place. Yet, the US government has banned charter flights from the US from reaching Cuban provinces, since March 10, 2020. In this case, mechanisms would have to be established and monitored so that aid can reach other provinces in Cuba, once they arrive at Jose Marti International Airport, in Havana.</li><li>Objects: according to the San Remo document, only care items, medicines, emergency medical/surgical materials and food should be transported. In this case, people responsible for bringing aid are normally considered “humanitarian personnel”, and they are duly trained and focused on delivering and supervising aid. They should not be citizens living in one country, who are visiting citizens living in another.</li><li>Practice: humanitarian corridors should not threaten peace, order or State security, in the places they are established.</li><li>Ethical restrictions imply a respect for impartiality, and the obligation to prevent assistance from being diverted. In regard to these last two principles, the State receiving assistance will have to recognize a state of crisis and allow international organizations and humanitarian personnel to verify the mechanisms established to manage this assistance and that they comply with the agreement.</li></ol>On the other hand, humanitarian flights and repatriation are normally used to transport passengers who have been left stranded in other countries, who require emergency medical treatment, or to take refugees away from areas of armed conflict, or to transport humanitarian assistance.Generally-speaking, assistance is delivered via humanitarian personnel, not citizens who are interested in offering help. Their services should be free, as paying for this assistance goes against the humanitarian essence.Furthermore, respective States, diplomatic missions, embassies, and aeronautical authorities involved must be responsible for organizing this assistance and covering costs. Once again, this depends on the agreement outlined between involved parties and under the San Remo’s five guiding principles.Finally, safe air corridors have been applied in many countries, especially in the European Union, to ensure tourist travel between two countries with a similar Rt rate.They normally go through different phases, depending on the health situation in the countries that decide to open up an air corridor. These phases range from more limited movement, to slowly lifting border controls, as the pandemic situation in both places improves.Every country can outline its own methodology to create a corridor, but they normally have to receive authorization from international health organizations, that confirm or verify the States’ information about the pandemic and its impact.<h4>Citizen-led assistance</h4><figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="null" alt="null"></a></figure> This isn’t the first time that civil society groups or activists have created a petition for humanitarian aid to Cuba. One of the most popular was the letter signed by professor Carlos Lazo, which gained over 15,000 signatures, to the US president at the time, Donald Trump, asking the US to lift sanctions against Cuba during the pandemic. Months later, he wrote an open letter to Joe Biden with the same objective, that gained over 20,000 signatures.Some of the most repetitive humanitarian petitions on platforms such as Change.org, and which involve the Cuban and US governments, have to do with opening up the US Embassy in Havana again so it offers all services, visa applications etc.; restoring the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program) which was suspended in 2017; the elimination of strict Cuban Customs regulations; and the chance to send unlimited remittances back to Cuba.Recent petitions for sending medicines to Cuba are now joining this list, and they involve three key routes: direct deliveries via courier services, raising money for buying sanitary materials via international organizations and money donations and resources for Cuban NGOs or NGOs based in Cuba.The first route is mainly for organized citizens who use their own means to buy medicines and send them using different delivery platforms.However, this tends to be the most expensive way, as prices depend on the weight of the delivery, as well as the expense of buying medicines. So, promoters are asking that charter and commercial flights begin to fly to Cuba more frequently, and for Customs restrictions to be lifted, so they can deliver this aid in person.In this case, ensuring transparency of the delivery of resources will be a challenge, as aid directed to individuals or groups of people will make it difficult to register.Organizers of these initiatives normally make appeals on social media so that networks can be formed in different countries, thereby minimizing delivery and purchase costs.One of the more popular petitions has been the one organized by Reynaldo Lastre and Eilyn Lombard, which was shared on Facebook by the academic Mabel Cuesta. According to the organizers, they were able to raise “almost 3000 USD and infinite kilos of medicines” in less than 24 hours, Cuesta posted on her personal profile.In a more recent post, Cuesta explained that half of the load was currently in Havana, according to the tracking service used by the delivery agency, and the rest will arrive at Varadero and Santa Clara Airports, coming from Canada.She also posted on her page that they have received “a huge donation of medicines: antibiotics, surgical supplies, vitamins, gloves, digestive medicines, Omega, everything…”, and now they are collecting money via PayPay to send this as a package to Cuba.The second route is used by international organizations and cooperation agencies, to contribute towards the COVID-19 vaccination process. Normally, big anti-US embargo campaigns are articulated, that seek to gain individual donors and organizations, so that once they’ve raised their target, this money can then be used to buy resources.Cuba is using this mechanism to ask for help to buy syringes, needles and masks. The Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association and its network of members had managed to buy and send a container with 1,920,000 syringes by April 12th, and they are preparing the second one.<figure class="image-ql" src="null" alt="null" caption="null" width="null" style="width: null%; margin: 0 auto; cursor: pointer;" link="" contenteditable="false"><a href="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-image-inner-post"><img src="null" alt="null"></a></figure> From Europe, the SODEPAZ organization has promised to collaborate in raising funds to buy 10 million syringes with the slogan “Blockades kill, your solidarity gives life”, and UN agencies such as UNICEF and PAHO have also delivered kits with supplies for COVID-19 health emergencies.Puentes de Amor, project by professor Carlos Lazo, NEMO (Cuba Anti-Embargo Movement) and Codepink: Women for Peace&nbsp;<a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/us-cuba-humanitarian-corridor/blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">have also launched</a>&nbsp;a campaign to raise funds to buy syringes.According to the organizers, they have a 100,000 USD target so they can send 3 million syringes to Cuba. Lazo himself said that “the US Department of the Treasury has granted a licence so that funds can be raised to buy syringes for Cuba.”In these cases, donations would reach health authorities, who would then be responsible for distributing these resources to hospitals or care units and ensure they are being used ethically.The third route to send medicines to Cuba consists of getting in touch with different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are working in Cuba. People, groups and organizations that get in touch with NGOs to deliver these resources to them.The NGOs would then be responsible for distributing this aid and applying accountability mechanisms to donors. Caritas and the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Center are two of the NGOs that are normally in charge of collecting and distributing donations: the latter mostly coming from Pastors for Peace caravans.&nbsp;This article was translated into <a href="https://havanatimes.org/features/us-cuba-humanitarian-corridor/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">English</a> from the original in <a href="https://eltoque.com/un-corredor-humanitario-de-estados-unidos-a-cuba" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spanish</a>.

Hombre camina por La Habana, ciudad, Cuba, alimentación, Capitolio. Foto: Natalia Favre.

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US-Cuba Humanitarian Corridor?

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