Cuba at the present time

Casa de las Américas, the Union of Journalists of Cuba, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, the Association of Economists and Accountants of Cuba, the Network in Defense of Humanity, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center, and Resumen Latinoamericano convene the meeting “CUBA IN THE PRESENT TIME,” a day of reflection and dialogue on the challenges facing the Cuban Revolution in the current circumstances. We have borrowed an expression from the unforgettable Cintio Vitier on the eve of the centennial of his birth to name this virtual event: “Martí in Cuba’s Present Time” is the title of that memorable essay he published in 1994, at another very difficult time for the nation.

The following topics will be addressed: intensification of the blockade, confronting the pandemic, measures taken in the field of the economy, subversive plans, riots of July 11 and 12, campaigns against Cuba in the media and social networks, role of Cuban civil society, culture and communication, community work in vulnerable neighborhoods and social inclusion policies.

The meeting will feature speakers from Cuba and other countries in our region and around the world, and will take place on August 17, 24, and 31, between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm Cuban time. It will be held virtually via the Jitsi Meet platform with English translation.

After each panelist's presentation, there will be an exchange with the people connected.

The YouTube channel “Cuba en la hora actual” has been created as a repository for contributions made to the discussion.

The moderator of the three sessions will be Jaime Gómez Triana, vice president of Casa de las Américas.

The first session (August 17), titled “Cuba Trending Topic: What Happened?”, will be dedicated to explaining the events that occurred during the so-called “social unrest” and the background, causes, and instigators of the political-communicational operation against the Cuban Revolution. It will feature five panelists: Rosa Miriam Elizalde, First Vice President of the Union of Journalists of Cuba (Cuba); Pedro Santander Molina, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (Chile); José Ernesto Nováez, coordinator of the Cuban Chapter of the Network in Defense of Humanity (Cuba); Helen Yaffe, professor at the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom); and Txema Sánchez, communicator and member of the EDH Network (Spain).

The second session (August 24), entitled “Challenges and urgent needs of Cuba in the face of the blockade, the pandemic and the serious economic situation”, will have five panelists: Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, economist, vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (Cuba); Gabriela Cultelli, economist and coordinator of the EDH Network (Uruguay); Joel Ernesto Marilli Domenech, Economics student at the University of Havana (Cuba); Gail Reed, researcher, executive editor of MEDICC Review; Ileana Morales, national director of Science and Technological Research of the Ministry of Public Health (Cuba).

The third session (August 31), entitled “Participation, dialogues, collective construction of unity”, will have five panelists: Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, National Coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Cuba); Heidi Fundora, researcher and professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) (Cuba); Pedro de la Hoz, vice president of UNEAC, coordinator of the Aponte Commission and member of the Government Commission to carry out the National Program against Racism and Racial Discrimination (Cuba); Joel Suárez, social activist, executive coordinator of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center; Claudia Rafaela Alba Ortiz, journalist, member of the EDH Network (Cuba).

As a closing event, a speech by the Brazilian writer and theologian Frei Betto will be broadcast.