An inspirational new documentary brings to

U.S. audiences an American filmmaker's

message of Cuba's prisoners of conscience.

  IN ALTUM PRODUCTIONS & THE PAN-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, Los Angeles (March 15, 2010) - - OSCAR'S CUBA, a documentary about Amnesty International's prisoner of conscience and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dr. Oscar E. Biscet, will be pre-screened in Los Angeles at the BARNSDALL GALLERY THEATER on Sunday, March 21, 2010, from 6 to 7:30 PM. There will be a reception prior to the screening between 5 and 6PM. This event is being hosted by Maria Conchita Alonso, and by the City of Los Angeles Department of Arts and Culture.

While in Cuba on another film project, Jordan Allott of In Altum Productions learned of Dr. Biscet's condition and that of more than 200 Cuban political prisoners. Moved by their stories, he felt compelled to make their plight known to the American people.  Allott filmed most of Oscar's Cuba clandestinely on the Island; there, he interviewed Dr. Biscet's wife and other dissidents, including blogger Yoani Sanchez (chosen as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world); Oswaldo Paya, and Gorki Aguila. Risking further reprisals, they talk about the persecution they constantly face under the Castro regime.  The documentary also shows what individuals, international groups and governments are doing to obtain the freedom of those unjustly imprisoned in Cuba.  

 Four-time Grammy award winning Cuban musician, Arturo Sandoval, contributes an original soundtrack to the production. 

 For more info, email to oscarscubala@gmail.com, or visit www.oscarscuba.com

Read Joe Lima's review of Oscar's Cuba at Breitbart's Big Hollywood.

Received a while ago...

MARCO RUBIO COMMENTS ON 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF CUBAN REGIME’S BLACK SPRING CRACKDOWN ON PRO-DEMOCRATIC LEADERS

Seven years ago today in Cuba, 75 pro-democracy leaders, journalists and human rights activists were arrested, summarily tried and imprisoned for sentences of up to 28 years.  According to the regime, their alleged violations included acting on their consciences by organizing activities to advance the cause of a free and democratic Cuba.

Seven years later, many of these heroes of the Black Spring remain incarcerated alongside other political prisoners in Cuba’s inhumane prisons.  Others are under constant surveillance and pressure from a regime dedicated to suffocating all liberties on the island nation.

For me, the thought of other human beings being deprived of God-given liberties anywhere in the world, especially just ninety miles away from America’s shores, is a tragic reminder of the work that remains to ensure liberty’s blessings reach all corners of the world.

When America’s founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence, they outlined the rights of every single person on earth.  When it comes to Cuba, America must continue to demonstrate we still believe that “all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” When it comes to Cuba, America can still show we will continue standing up for every single word our founding fathers used to make America a reality.  This means promoting policies that support the democratic movement in Cuba, and using our microphone as freedom’s most powerful advocate to speak out about the heroic acts of pro-democracy leaders like Oscar Elias Biscet and castigating the cowardly repression of the regime.

My own experience being raised in the Cuban exile community has shaped my perception of the role America should play in promoting universal liberty.  The exile community’s long-standing solidarity with Cuba’s courageous patriots is a testament to the absolute truth that there is no work taking place around the world more important than supporting people who yearn to be what God intended them to be – free.

Cuba’s history has been littered by dark occasions such as the anniversary we are marking today.  But from the despair of that Black Spring, Cuba’s courageous patriots and those they have inspired to stand for freedom give us hope that more and more Cubans will recognize their condition is unacceptable and immoral, and have the courage to act.

Every day, and particularly on this anniversary, I stand in solidarity with the Cuban people yearning and working to be free.

Lorenzo Enrique Copello Castillo, Jorge Luis Martínez Isaac, Bárbaro Leodán Sevilla García "Murdered by firing squad April 11, 2003 for trying to "hijack" a Castroite ferry to Key West.

"Highjack?"... Well, how the HELL ELSE is a Cuban supposed to get hold of a 'freakin boat in Castro's Cuba, where owning one is a crime? BTW, during the (UNSPEAKBLE!!!) Batista era Cubans probably owned more boats per-capita than Americans.

And FEAR NOT! Wayne Smith had a ready rationalization for Castro's murder of the "tres negritos" as Castro reportedly shrugged off the mens' summary murders:

"Why the (Black Spring) crackdown?" wrote Wayne Smith in his article for the neo-Stalinist rag, The Nation, "In part, it was in reaction to growing provocations on the part of the Bush Administration... (emphasis by intransigent poster).

"The death sentences also infuriated those who, like Rep. Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, had been advocating a dialogue with Cuba," read a NY Times article of the time. ''This about ends that discussion,'' said Rangel to the New York Times at the time .

Well, did it?...

HAH!!!....And I predict the "reaction" to this current crackdown will fade even more quickly. Then back to business as usual for all "Cuba Experts," and all their legislative and lobbyist companeros.

Just watch

During the 2003 Black Spring crackdown in Cuba, among the dissidents rounded up and arbitrarily sentenced, were fifteen librarians.  They were members of an Independent Library movement that collected books , newspapers and periodicals banned by the regime,  and loaned them to interested readers. In Cuba this is a crime. 

 At the time of their arrest, thousands of books and reading materials were confiscated, and according to Cuban court documents ordered incinerated--yes they were burned.   This shocking act by the regime was soundly criticized; except that it is by the one group who should have been the most vocal in denouncing the repression,  The American Library Association. 

  Since 2003, the ALA leadership has refused to condemn the castro regime.  This could change in the upcoming ALA election,  Robert Kent of Friends of Cuban Libraries informs us that Sara Kelly Johnsm  candidate for ALA president,  says that  "she has paid close attention to the Cuban library issue. She gave assurances that, under her leadership, diverse views on controversies would be heard within the ALA and that the Cuban library issue would not be permitted to "go under the table."

Below is a list of those librarians who are still incarcerated in castro’s tropical gulag.  They suffer under horrific inhumane conditions; inadequate nutrition, lack of clean water, fresh air and exercise, unsanitary living conditions, denied medical care, and prolonged periods of isolation.  They are harassed, beaten, and often forced to live among common criminals who are rewarded for mistreating them. 

Victor Rolando Arroyo:   Reyes Magos Library, Pinar del Rio. 26 years. Prison Kilo 5 prison, Pinar del Río. Charge:Law 88 and Article 91. Concerns: Since his imprisonment Arroyo has reportedly been diagnosed with various ailments including diabetes, hypertension and pulmonary emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), and has been denied medical attention on several occasions. He has staged protests against prison conditions and as a result has been held in “punishment cells”. He is also said to have been attacked by other prisoners and threatened by the prison authorities. On 23 or 24 August 2008 Arroyo was reportedly transferred from Holguín prison, eastern Cuba, where he had been held since October 2005, to Kilo 5 prison in Pinar del Río, which means that he is now closer to his family. Arroyo’s wife reported that he had been attacked by other prisoners in late 2008.

José Luis García Paneque: Carlos J. Finley Library, Las Tunas. 24 years.   Prison: Las Mangas prison, Granma. Charge: Law 88 and Article 91. Concerns: García Paneque is reported to have suffered mental illness during his imprisonment and to have been held in a prison psychiatric unit from November 2004 to November 2005. He is also said to suffer from acute intestinal illness, which led to malnutrition, diarrhea and weight loss, as well as chronic pneumonia and a kidney tumor. Despite his worsening health, in 2008 he was reportedly deprived of medical treatment. His wife and children are said to have fled to the USA in June 2007 due to constant harassment. As of December 2008, still being held  at Las Mangas prison, where he is reportedly allowed one family visit every 45 days

Ricardo González: Jorge Mañach Library, Havana. 20 years. Prison: Combinado del Este, Havana. Charge: Article 91. Concerns: González has reportedly suffered numerous health problems since his imprisonment, including hypertension, arthritis, a heart condition, chronic bronchitis, digestive and circulatory problems and allergies. He is understood to have had three operations and also to have spent some time in a prison psychiatric ward in 2005. González was hospitalized from September 2007 to January 2008 and continued to be in very poor health once returned to his cell. Despite this he was reportedly denied medical treatment on several occasions in 2008, including not receiving the medicine he had been prescribed for his heart condition. As of early December 2008, González was said to be sharing a cell with 36 criminal convicts, which had reportedly flooded on several occasions, worsening the already unsanitary conditions. González has reportedly been granted a humanitarian visa to travel to Costa Rica, but the Cuban authorities have refused to allow him to leave the island.

Iván Hernández Carillo: Juan Gualberto Gómez Library II, Matanzas. 25 years.   Prison: Guamajal Prison, Villa Clara Charge: Law 88. Concerns: Hernández reportedly suffers from hypertension and gastritis and has frequently complained about prison conditions. He went on hunger strike in 2003 to demand decent food and medicine for seriously ill prisoners and again in 2007 in protest at mistreatment by guards. In 2008 he reported being denied visits, letters and newspapers and being threatened and attacked by other prisoners. He also complained about unsanitary conditions, rotten food and dirty water.

José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández: Sebastián Arcos Library, Havana Province. 16 years.  Prison: Guanajay, Havana. Charge: Article 91. Concerns: Izquierdo has reportedly suffered from numerous ailments since his imprisonment, including pulmonary emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), stomach and intestinal problems and asthma. His health has worsened since 2007, when he was reportedly twice hospitalized for circulation and gastroduodenal problems, and went on hunger strike in protest at the lack of medical attention at the prison. At the end of 2008 it was reported that Izquierdo was suffering from depression.

José Miguel Martinez Hernández: General Juan Bruno Zayas Library, Havana Province. 13 years.  Miguelito as he is known, has served time in various prisons throughout Cuba since he was unjustly sentenced.  The subhuman conditions he is forced to live under are in lack of potable water as the only water prisoners have to drink is available only a few moments a day. It is generally very dark and dirty, and the prisoners must wait for the water to clear a bit before collecting it in improvised jars. The problem is that while the pipes—meant for potable water—are empty, they absorb waste and dirty contaminated water through their many cracks.  March 2008 he reported an outbreak of Tuberculosis in the prison.  Currently incarcerated at Kilo 5 1/2 prison in Pinar del Rio. He is one of  a group who may go on a hunger strike to protest Zapata's death.

Dr. Luis Milán Fernández: 11th of September Library, Santiago de Cuba. 13 years.  has reportedly been arbitrarily confined to a psychiatric ward since February 18, 2005 at the Boniato Prison Hospital in Santiago de Cuba. He is forced to share a cell with patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders and is prohibited from receiving any medicines or food that his family brings him. Before being moved to the hospital, Dr. Milan underwent a medical check-up at the Combinado del Este Prison in Havana during which he was diagnosed with a tumor in the left humerus, loss of hearing, pulmonary emphysema, hypertension, swollen nasal turbinates, and an enlarged liver. Dr. Milan reportedly refused to undergo treatment for these ailments, since he did not trust the medical personnel in the prison.

Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez: 20th of May Library, Sancti Spriitus. 25 years.  Where he is being held,  in one cell block, there are only 92 beds for 107 prisoners, 15 have to sleep on the floor. There are only three toilets, one urinal, two showers and one sink.  He suffers from arterial hypertension, auditory, chronic gastritis, generalized arthritis, and hemorrhoids problems.  He remains defiant, removing pro-castro stickers from the cell in spite of threats.

Fidel Suárez Cruz: St. Paul Library, Pinar del Rio. 20 years.  Suárez Cruz’s wife,- Aniley has to travel over 300 kilometers from Pinar del Rio to Matanzas to visit him in prison. Suárez Cruz refuses to live among the general population in the prison and is therefore punished to solitary confinement by the authorities. Cuban political prisoners run great risks when they are placed among the prison’ general population. As is the case in other countries, the common prisoner population is made up of criminals. These common prisoners are often encouraged by the authorities to abuse political prisoners in exchange for favors.
Due to the lack of medical attention provided by the prison staff, Suárez Cruz’s health is fragile. His family and friends are concerned because he suffers from renal problems which are not being treated.

Sites referenced for this post:

http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/

http://www.netforcuba.org/cubapp/PresosEN.htm

http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents.cfm

http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba451Letters/web/health-and-welfare-of-the-library-prisoners

http://www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org/index.htm

http://www.4freadom.org/index.html

My colleagues here at Babalu have written eloquently about the Black Spring of 2003 so I won't repeat what they've written. I will, however, mention what I think is the second-most important issue revolving around this crisis: the evil -- yes evil -- behavior on the part of the mainstream media. As Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "the press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood." Well, the American press is surely impotent because it has sins of commission and sins of omission on its collective soul. As Val so eloquently wrote this morning, the MSM is surely complicit with the murder and subjugation of the Cuban people. For a long, long time...

In thinking of today's anniversary of the Cuban Black Spring crackdown, I arrive at a very non-political concept: the concept of human suffering. Christians believe that suffering is an essential part of our human existence, not as a exercise in masochism, but as a way to reflect on our imperfections and get closer to God. It's a very complicated concept and one that I've just barely begun to scratch the surface on.

The brave journalists, dissidents and political prisoners who languish or have perished in Cuban jails can probably write books on the Christian concept of suffering. It's their extraordinary courage, conviction and selflessness that triggers their suffering, and they're willing to go through it for the greater good of their cause.

In this season of Lent in which Christians reflect and give up certain things, I can't think of a better modern-day example of our brothers and sisters in Cuba who know that their cause is a righteous one but have to give up so much for it.

Of the four seasons we experience during a year, spring is the season of rejuvenation. It signifies the end of the cold and dreary winter and it is the precursor of summer with its vacations and family barbeques. Spring brings forth blooming flowers and green grass and the temperature is always just right; neither too cold nor too hot. You can open the windows of your house or apartment and allow the cleansing spring breeze to pass through, replacing the stale air inside with crisp and fresh air. Spring marks the beginning of baseball, festivals, and it inspires everyone to leave behind the winter doldrums and begin anew with a fresh and clean start. For most of the world, spring is a season to look forward to, but if you are a Cuban, spring has become a reminder of the blackness and misery of repression.

Since 2003, spring in Cuba no longer represents blooming flowers and carnivals. It instead represents one of the many dark moments Cubans have suffered through in the past 51 years.

On the morning of the 18th of March, 2003, jackbooted thugs fanned out throughout the island with orders from their maximum leader to arrest Cuban citizens. Over the next two days, the thugs arrested a total of 75 Cubans who were accused of being agents of the United States for their activities as independent journalists, dissidents, librarians, and activists. They were all tried and convicted with prison sentences ranging from six years all the way to 26 years. As the rest of the world enjoyed the sights and the smells of spring, 75 Cubans were arrested, beaten, and thrown into tiny, unsanitary jail cells where they would wait for their next beating at the hands of their jailers.

The horrifying actions of the Cuban dictatorship in the spring of 2003 brought upon them condemnation from most of the world’s leaders and governments. With cameras rolling and flash bulbs flashing, politicos stood in front of podiums and decried the vile and oppressive acts of the Cuban dictatorship. By the summer of 2003, however, many of those politicos were enjoying a summer holiday on a Cuban beach as VIP guests of the tyrannical regime.

In reality, there has only been one season in Cuba since 1959: The Black Season. Winters, springs, summers, and autumns have all been black and lifeless to the Cuban people. Flowers may bloom in Cuba in the spring, and tropical breezes may blow across the white sands of its beaches in the summer, but for the typical Cuban who has been enslaved by a murderous dictator, there is only darkness and misery.

Today we remember not only the 7th anniversary of the Black Spring, but also the 51 black years of oppression and darkness that has enveloped Cuba.

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the Black Spring Crackdown on Cuban independent journalists, librarians and human rights activists.

I received this email from Paul Crespo, maybe you did also:

Friends,

Due to a groundswell of encouragement I have received from colleagues, friends, and family, I'm seriously considering running as a Republican for U.S. Congress in Florida District 25 , the seat recently vacated by my friend, Representative Mario Diaz-Balart. This won't be an easy decision, nor will it be an easy race, but I believe that these trying times require sacrifice, experience and leadership.

Our country is at an historic crossroads and politics as usual just don't cut it anymore. We need new and effective leadership in Washington. We need to dramatically change the direction of our country. We need to solve our nation's problems not just debate them. And we need all this in 2010!

Those who know me from my years in the media, or worked with me on either of the two GW Bush presidential campaigns here in South Florida, know I'm a genuine Reagan conservative. Unlike most of the professional, career politicians in this race though, I've spent much of my life serving my country as an officer in the U.S. Marines, and promoting freedom as an activist, analyst and commentator outside the political bubbles of Miami or Tallahassee. I'm a problem solver with valuable real-world experience, something we all know is sorely needed in our nation's capital.

I believe I could best represent this district and make a real difference in Washington at this critical juncture in our nation's history. For me this is a mission, not a career.

I hope I can count on your support. Please visit the "Recruit Paul Crespo for Congress" Facebook group that was created for me, join if you can, and invite your friends to join as well.

Here's more from FDD

And President of Civica Americana "Promoting American Values"

Watch this video for a taste of human rights in Cuba.

Our hearts break for Reina Luisa Tamayo. MSM are you paying attention? How many more Cuban mothers will have their hearts ripped out by these bastards while the international community kisses castro's ass?

Zapata Vive!

Here's how that big softy pragmatist raul castro treats a peaceful protester in Cuba, a woman participating in a peaceful march for the release of her imprisoned loved one:

More from Breitbart via AFP:

Police detained about 30 people as they marched in Havana Wednesday in a protest led by the mother of a political prisoner who died in a hunger strike, an AFP journalist witnessed.

The so-called "Ladies in White" were heckled by hundreds of government supporters as they marched through Havana with the mother of Orlando Zapata, who died in a prison hunger strike February 23.

Police moved in and female officers forced the dissidents into two buses, which drove off to an unknown destination.

"We are protesting peacefully and we are not going to get on the bus of a government that has kept our family members in prison for seven years," said Laura Pollan, the leader of the group, just before being forced on.

As police were taking the women away, Margarita Rodr?ez, a housewife in a crowd of some 300 pro-government demonstrators, shouted: "Board them by force, it's what they deserve. This is a provocation."

The Ladies in White, a group of wives and mothers of political prisoners, had been staging marches every day this week to mark the anniversary of a 2003 crackdown that jailed 75 opposition activities, 53 of whom are still behind bars.

The women began the day Wednesday with prayers in a Catholic church before setting out, apparently intent on visiting dissident Orlando Fundora, who was jailed in the 2003 crackdown but later released for health reasons.

At the head of the march was Reyna Luisa Tamayo, Zapata's mother, who has charged that her son had been tortured in prison and that his death on the 85th day of a hunger strike amounted to "premeditated murder."

The incident sparked international outrage and new calls for Havana to free political prisoners.

The government says there are no political prisoners in this Caribbean nation of more than 11 million people, and claims there is no torture and that dissidents are paid pawns of the United States.

A day after Zapata's death, activist Guillero Fariñas, 48, began his own hunger strike to press for the release of 26 political prisoners in need of medical care.

Hospitalized a week ago in the central city of Santa Clara, he is being fed intravenously on doctors' orders.

Meanwhile, a virulent campaign launched by state media to counter what it says is a "defamatory" campaign against Cuba in Europe intensified last week after the European Parliament passed a resolution deploring Zapata's avoidable death.

Every day, the Cuban media has denounced the mistreatment of immigrants or "police brutality" in countries like Spain, France and Germany.

They accuse Europe of pursuing a "neo-colonial" and "subversive" policy together with the United States to "destabilize" a revolution already struggling with a serious economic crisis.

"After the Americans, it is now our turn to experience a degradation in our relations with the government" of Raul Castro, said a European diplomat, who said he was unsure what would happen at a meeting of the European "troika" with Cuba in Madrid April 6.

In Madrid, Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has signed a petition calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Cuba, his production company said on Tuesday.

Several personalities, including Spanish-Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, are among some 5,000 people who have already signed it.

The petition calls for "the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuban jails and the respect of the exercise, promotion and the defence of human rights throughout the world."

But if Zapata's death has upset Havana's traditional relations with the European left, Cuba still enjoys broad support in Latin America where elected governments in Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia have come to its defense.

"Imagine what would happen if all the bandits detained in Sao Paulo went on hunger strike and demanded their freedom," said Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, a friend of the Castro brothers, refusing to intercede on behalf of some 200 Cuban political prisoners.

The Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has added his name to the petition "I Accuse the Cuban Government" along with thousands of others from all over the world. Two other Spanish celebrities, Ana Belén and Victor Manuel, also signed the petition showing their solidarity with the dissidents in Cuba. Although they are only signatures, these acts of support by some of Spain's most well known glitterati could be an indication that after more than fifty years of vile indifference to the suffering of the Cuban people, the tide is turning.

Thanks to the internet, the news of the reprehensible assassination of Orlando Zapata Tamayo by the Cuban dictatorship has reached all corners of the world. With every email, Tweet, and Facebook posting coming out of the island, the world is finally coming closer to the realization that Cuba is not a country, but a huge slave plantation where the slave masters punish their slaves with death when they disobey or dare question their master.

After the political execution of Zapata, my worst fear was that the world would soon bury his memory in the vast and unmarked grave in oblivion where the long forgotten memories of thousands of other Cuban martyrs are buried. But as each day passes, his memory is growing stronger and I am seeing a reaction from those who never spoke out for the oppressed in Cuba that--at least in my lifetime--I have never seen.

The tide indeed appears to be turning and with each new signature and each new declaration of solidarity, we come that much closer to finally achieving the end of oppression in Cuba.

If you have not yet signed the petition, you can add your name and your support HERE.

Have you answered our poll question?

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Background here.

Listen to Carlos explain how his cousin tried to kill Castro here--ALAS!!!!

Yes, I do, Ed. Yes, I do...

"Pedro Diaz-Lanz is a shameless fraud. Castro is in fact a strong ANTI-Communist!" (Herbert Matthews)

From his fully glass-built house, disgraced former New York Times Senior Editor Howell Raines recently hurled bricks at Fox News for --get this!--"disinformation!"

"But as Diaz-Lanz warned, when outing Communists, their denial is only half the story. The truth-teller must also be slandered, smeared, defamed --his character assassinated as surely as the hundreds of men and boys then being physically assassinated by Che Guevara's firing squads.

Not to worry! The New York Times was eminently worthy of the task!

"Sources (Castro or his henchmen) tell me that Major Diaz-Lanz was removed from his office for incompetence, extravagance and nepotism," continued Herbert Matthews' front-page article in the New York Times on July, 16 1959 (the very day following Diaz-Lanz’ Congressional testimony!) "Fidel Castro is not only NOT a Communist,” continued the New York Times front-page story, “he's decidedly ANTI-communist."

And Castro's U.S. propaganda minions were just warming up. The New York Times had sounded her bugle. Now the rest of the media pack rushed in behind her (remember, this was 1959), yapping and howling and wagging their tails, panting to join the hunt. They were all too eager for a chance to mob and maul a man who risked his life and went stone-broke to warn America about what turned out to be the gravest threat in her history."

Entire intransigence here at Townhall.

The castro regime, following the "script" to a tee:

A US decision to ease sanctions on Cuba and two other countries to allow exports of Internet services is intended to "destabilize" the communist island, Cuba's government has said.

According to raul and co, anything from the US - other than free millions in cash - is meant to destabilize the communist island.

We know all you progressive lobotomy cases call Fox News, "Faux" News, and rail and scream that it's a Republican mouthpiece news organization, yada, yada, yada. So I have a question for you (if you can put down your strained carrots and crayons for long enough to answer): when President Obama appears on Fox News -- as he will on Wednesday Night with Bret Baier -- is it still "Faux News"?

Just wonderin'...