Donald Ramotar Rabindranauth (I), President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, on arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, to participate in the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), 26 January 2014. PHOTO AIN / Marcelino Vazquez Hernandez.

In the lead-up to the CELAC summit, independent and dissident bloggers in Havana reported a major crackdown by the security forces.

Beggars, prostitutes and pimps were moved out of sight of large number of foreign guests expected.

Known dissidents and social activists were rounded up and locked up, and some were warned to stay indoors.

State Security has also blocked an independent forum, the Second Democratic Forum on International Relations and Human Rights, which was scheduled to start on January 28, the same day the CELAC meeting begins.

32 of the 33 CELAC countries are multi-party democracies. Cuba remains a one-party state.

Excellent, indeed.

Sunil, thanks for starting this thread and providing official pictures of the CELAC summit.

In the interest of balance, I'm posting a report by the independent Cubanet which shows what has been happening behind the official activities.

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CUBANET, Havana, Jan 28, 2014 -- Yesterday opposition leader Manuel Cuesta Morúa, member of the Progressive Arc Party and organizer in Cuba of the 2nd Democratic Forum on International Relations and Human Rights (parallel to CELAC) was detained and held at the 7th Police Station in La Lisa the outskirts of the Cuban capital.

The news came through the opponent and Cubanet columnist Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, who confirmed the facts earlier today .

This arrest is part of the crackdown of State Security (the secret police) in the environment of ​​the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which takes place in Havana starting today with the presence of delegations from 33 member countries.

The whereabouts of Cuesta Morua, an attorney with the independent Legal Information Center (Cubalex), are now unknown.

This morning a measure was also signed by the attorneys Yaremis Flores, Laritza Diversent and Barbara Estrabao Bichili, who demand attention to the disappearance of independent counsel Veizant Boloy in the area of the  CELAC Summit.

“He phoned at 7:05 in the morning when he left his house and headed to the  Cubalex office located at 169 Lindero on the corner of Angeles, in, El Calvario, Arroyo Naranjo. About 700 yards from his home, he was approached by at least three cars, 4 State Security agents on motorcycles, and a police patrol, number 572. He remained in communication with members of the office while under persecution from the agents . At 12 noon (Monday) he communicated that he was at the Czech Embassy for his turn to connect to the internet and had been escorted by two motorized patrol agents and patrol 572. Since then his whereabouts are unknown.”

Ramu should list and learn how to make a speech.

Operation Cleansing / Yoani Sanchez

Infanta and Vapor Streets, Havana, eight at night. The scaffolding creaks under the weight of its occupants. The area is dark, but there are still two painters passing their brushes over the dirty balconies, the facades, the tall columns facing the avenue. Time is short, the 2nd Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will start in just a few hours and everything should be ready for the guests.

The streets where the presidential caravans will pass will be touched up, the asphalt addressed, the potholes and poverty hidden.  The real Havana is disguised under another stage-set city, as if the dirt — accumulated for decades — was covered by a colorful and ephemeral tapestry.

Then came the “human cleansing.” The first signs of one more stage set being erected comes via our cellphones. Calls are lost into nothingness, text messages don’t reach their destinations, nervous busy signals respond to attempts to communicate with an activist. Then comes the second phase, the physical. The corners of certain streets teem with supposed couples who don’t talk, men in checked shirts nervously touching their concealed earphones, neighbors set to guard the doors of those from whom, yesterday, they asked to borrow a little salt. The whole society is full of whispers, watchful and fear-filled eyes, a huge dose of fear. The city is tense, trembling, on alert: the CELAC Summit has started.

The last phase brings detentions, threats and home arrests. Meanwhile, on TV the official announcers smile, comment on the press conferences and carry their cameras to the stairs of dozens of airplanes. There are red carpets, polished floors, tree ferns in the Palace of the Revolution, toasts, family photos, traffic diversions, police every ten yards, bodyguards, accredited press, talk of openings, people threatened, dungeons filled, friends whose whereabouts are unknown. Not even the Ñico López refinery is allowed to let its dirty smoke leave the chimney. The retouched postcard is ready… but it lacks life.

Then, then everything happens. Every president and every foreign minister returns to their country. The humidity and grime push through the fine layer of paint on the facades. The neighbors who participated in the operation return to their boredom, and the officials of #OperaciónLimpieza — Operation Cleansing — are rewarded with all-inclusive hotels. The plants installed for the openings dry up for lack of water. Everything returns to normal or to the absolute lack of normality that characterizes Cuban life.

The fake moment has ended. Goodby to the Second CELAC Summit.

[Yoani Sanchez is a prominent Cuban blogger and human rights activist]

Cuba is the only country in the Caribbean that has a social safety net. 

1.  If you do not have a job in Cuba you will not starve because of their basic food ration system ( you may not have much to eat but you will not starve).

2.  If you do not have a job in Cuba you will still have access to free health care and very low cost medicine.

3.  If you do not have a job in Cuba you will still have access to free education.

4. If you do not have a job in Cuba you will not go homeless.

In the rest of the so called multi- party democratic, glamorous and free Caribbean if you do not have a job then you better have relatives that can take care of you or you are out on the streets homeless and starving.

Wally, like you I have been an admirer of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel. But, the Revolution can no longer provide all the goodies it promised. The official state media, including the newspaper GRANMA, are only publishing the positives.

To get the other side one has to read blogs which ordinary Cubans post on the Internet. The majority of these people live in Cuba and have first-hand experiences of what they report. They are not the "gusanos" of yesteryear.

For now, I recommend one independent website, HAVANA TIMES (www.havanatimes.org) which has articles pro and con. Check its archives for confirmation of the points I used in my rebuttal above.

so i guess in this country you can be all you want to be,or then again all you cannot be

Communism is a pipe dream of the past. It creates undemocratic, corrupt dictatorships like we currently have in Guyana, Cuba and North Korea. It's about time you old fogies realize that it doesn't work and step into the 21st century.

The day after Christmas ( just a few weeks ago) I walked out of the front door of a four star hotel after attending a lunch meeting. On the other side of the street I saw a homeless man sitting on the ice cold concrete and hiding behind a large pillar (of the building) to protect himself from the wind chill. This is a man who is living in the richest country in the world.  Try telling that man to step into the 21 century and all that other nonsense. 

there are lots of shelters available..if he wants to stay out in the cold, then it's his problem

he choose to be there.the word here is CHOOSE

Those communist Chinese are doing rather well won't you say so?

Who would voluntary choose to live in -25 wind chill and ice in a capitalist city. It seems like you do not understand the issue of being homeless.  Or you believe in Thatcher and Reagan's fairytale understanding of homelessness.  As a first step, I think you should watch the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" about Chris Gardner's brief period of being homeless.

I will alway believe until I take my last breath of oxygen on this planet that it is the state's duty to provide for it's citizens the following.

1. Free housing and low cost housing.  2. Free Education from Primary to University. 3. Free Health care  4. Free land to grow food. 5. Employment opportunities (like what FDR had during the great depression).

The Cuban revolution may not be perfect but it did try to provide these things to its citizens against overwhelming opposition.

They were eating bare rice every day before the Americans went there in the late 1970's and they made reforms to their economy to accommodate American investments. Their economy is backed by mostly Western financial and technological investments in their factories. They were saved by the Yankees, not by communism.

There are people starving and freezing to death in North Korea as we speak. What's your point?

Why don't you walk the walk and go and live in Cuba instead of enjoying the fruits of the West?

I am very grateful and will always be grateful to the West.  For taking me in and giving me full citizenship with all rights that come with it. I like living/traveling here also but I would like to see a more equal society where poor people are protected by the state and not trapped into cycles of poverty.

you just do not know any thing about the homeless in NORTH AMERICA,there is shelters for these people during the winter but these homeless choose to stay on the streets

There are limited space in all of these shelters. Plus they only give temporary shelter to people then you have to find your own place. For most people who use the shelters they are back on the streets eventually.  Sometimes there are gangs operating in these shelters that make it so unsafe that some people prefer to live on the streets. I  have never seen a homeless person in Cuba despite the falling down buildings that bookman mentioned.

they are not homeless they destitute living off the state,how will you feel to know you have potential to excels in your profession and there is no opportunity.country like Cuba kill people dreams

This is the Thatcher nonsense that some people believe in.  Kill what dreams.  If you want to be a doctor or any other professional in Cuba then you can be it regardless of how much money you have in the bank.

Once you are a wage earner in the capitalist system.  Remember this.  You are only a few pay checks away from living on the streets.

I am told that Cuban doctors sometime choose to work at the hotels as servers. They get money from the tourists and lots of clothing which is sold on the blackmarket. Capitalism is a natural desire for every living person-ancient and contemporary. Any thing else is an imposition on free will. And the Castros are ppl who hold others against their will. I looked at the leaders gathered around the Castro brothers. Applauding them. Don't those ppl see something is wrong with their association.  

 Capitalism is a natural desire for every living person-ancient and contemporary

Seignet I like you and kidmost a lot but I wish you were around when capitalism had our ancestors cutting cane for almost nothing during indentureship.  Then you would have had to run for cover from a bad beating when you explain to them that Capitalism is a natural desire for every living person-ancient and contemporary.

Wally says: "I  have never seen a homeless person in Cuba...."

Homeless and Beggars in Havana Cuba

19 February 2009 -- In Cuba, like many other places in the world, abounds with homeless people or people wondering the streets who suffer from mental health issues. There has been a notable increase in the amount of these cases.

According to the experts, due to the extreme weather which devastated the island in august 2008, there has been an increase in the number of homeless people. We can see a great deal of them begging for money in the cities.

In the busy Obispa street in the heart of old Havana we saw many old people reaching out with their hands in the hope that passing tourists will gave them some money for food.

We saw others who were clearly suffering from mental health problems prowling around with their dogs or dressed up in different ways. However, all of them are following the same objective, to nourish their hungry stomachs. Most of them wear torn clothes and are so foul-smelling that it is very clear that they haven't washed for many days.

It is a common site at the pier in Regla to find homeless people washing themselves and their dogs in the seawater.

The government is unable to control this problem and does not have enough food provisions to feed the whole country, so these people are completely helpless and there is no one to care for them.

You can see them sleeping on the pavement, walls and parks despite the bitter cold. According to the revolution what is important are achievements in economy, health and education. What achievements are they talking about?

This terrible situation is appalling. Let us hope that one day the government is able to resolve it. The hunger of Cubans, along with all their other needs and this forgotten and marginalized sector of society are due a brighter tomorrow.

[SOURCE: DEMOTIX -- A network for freelance photojournalists]

To Be Homeless in Havanaby Manuel David Orrio

Havana divers are called that because they dive; not under water, but in garbage bins, looking for food scraps, discarded shoes and old clothes.

The divers are a Cuban version of the New York homeless. Due to psychiatric problems or alcoholism, they live in dark and smelly corners, abandoned to their fate and with the complicity of the National Institute of Housing. Some even have a pension, the extent of which is more a euphemism than social assistance.

Some divers live between misery and poetry. The Banana, for example, an institution among Havana divers, is a mental incompetent who loves dogs and who used to be a photographer of some renown. On one ocassion, he decided he had to save the Cuban flags he found in garbage bins. He simply wanted them burnt, as a sign of respect, but both those on the Left and those on the Right decided the whole affair could be embarrasing and the matter was swept under.

As with The Banana, other neighborhoods sprout divers with their own personalities. A man finds it hard to renounce his uniqueness. So, in the Chinese Quarter, in Old Havana, there is a diver who deserves full first and last name: The Box Diver.

To understand his style, one would have to understand a gastronomic peculiarity of Havana. Whereas in any other area of the city, fast food means pizza, in the Chinese Quarter it means a Box.

Basically, the Box contains a complete meal: rice and beans, some pork, maybe fried bananas and some salad greens. Curiously, the Chinese in Cuba have never shied away from Cuban food. The Box can cost anywhere between 10 and 20 pesos, depending on quality.

At sundown, the Box Diver finds himself a Box; not the 10 or 20 peso warm, full one, but an empty, used one that he then carries in his left hand. With that, he forages through the neighborhood, collecting what he finds in his Box. Later, sitting in the park, he'll parsimoniously consume the contents.

I have tried to approach the Box Diver. I have even tried to take his photograph, all to no avail. He knows me, and he knows that I belong to the same street geography that he does, where they call me, in spite of myself, The Journalist.

Maybe in these Cuban times, at the threshold of the Third Millennium, there should be someone like the Box Diver. And, maybe, also, there should be someone to record his reality, to record his silent witness.

[SOURCE: CUBANET]

This article was published in 1999, which means that homelessness in Cuba is not a recent phonomenon.

And yet far more people in Cuba have the problem that this man has.  You need to stop justifying an ageing fascist regime.  Even Cubans are tired as that blog by a Cuban posted here should tell you.

Even the biggest advocates for pure free market capitalism, the GOP admit that there is a growing problem of income inequality in the USA, so no where is perfect.

Cuba however has huge problems and condoning a geriatric fascist regime who still behavez as if the Cold War exists doesn't help Cubans.

Carib, the income inequality in the capitalist system has grown so bad that even billionaires like Buffet, Gates and Case are now talking about it. 

Your point being?

Cuba is on the brink of seeing a massive increase in income inequality, as those who have the resources and connections to negotiate the massive bureaucracy enrich themselves, as that nation lurches to crony capitalism.

My point Carib is this.  The richest 1 percent of the richest 1% in North America has increased their wealth by 40% in the past few years.  If this tend continues then you may have to consider going to Cuba to retire or work in the West for these wealthy capitalists until you are dead.

Wally communism is dead.  Even Cuba has joined the ranks of being a crony capitalist nation.  China does LESS to help its poor than the USA, and the same can be said of Russia, and Cuba will join them.

There is no one more avaricious, greedy and dismissive of the poor than an ex communist.

You will do better for yourself if you stop reading Castro lies and read what actual Cubans say.

BTW a cousin of mine used to visit Cuba regularly but now reports that it has become every expensive, even when compared to the Dom Rep.  Now how do those poor Cubans with their US $30 per month stipends (paid in Cuban pesos) survive, and I mean DOCTORS!  The state supported economy which deals in the Cuban peso is collapsing.  The private sector deals in CUCs and is filling the gap, and will eventually take over.  But those who lack access to CUCs cannot buy from them.

So yes there aren't the shortages that once existed and the gov't now feels less pressure to subsidize.  They couldn't care one fig for the poor.  They tell them start your own businesses and leave us alone.  This after 5 decades of telling them that the private sector is a leech which needed to be destroyed, and the government will take care of them.  So what happens to the majority who lack the capital or the business acumen?  How do they survive?

Well Carib I have to agree with you here on the Cuban economy. One of my relatives returned from Cuba recently and told me the same thing.