Cuban exile Alberto Gutiérrez relentlessly denounces
conditions in Cuba. I expressed surprise that no American academic or newsman
had gone to Cuba to write a factual, authoritative report on conditions there.
Alberto comments: "- I am sorry to say that the main objective of many academics
who go to Cuba is have a chat with El Máximo Líder.Then they take a look around
mainly in Havana and return claiming their "expertise"about education and health
services there.
A report about racial discrimination, the suicide rate (one of
the highest in the world), the daily life of a Cuban in comparison with the
ruling elite, etc. is out of the question. Not many US universities are
interested in those subjects. And the same goes for those enterprising
journalists you mentioned. A Cuban professor from Florida International
University will take some of her students to Havana for humanities classes. I
requested a public clarification. I wondered in my note if the courses could be
instead related to Inhumanities, considering the misery and oppression under
Castro. So far my rather sarcastic note has been ignored".
RH: It is a sad
situation, Those involved fear that were they to criticize Castro'e Cuba, they
would not be welcome again. Why does the Diario Las Américas not send someone to
Cuba to write the report I suggested?
Cuba School Discipline
Randy Black described the discipline in Russian schools. Alberto Gutiérrez
recalls his school days at the Academia Raymat, in Pinar del Río, many years
ago: "There the students also stood when the teacher or any visitor entered the
classroom. Those who misbehaved faced the stern principal, and were punished
with a "correctivo", a detention after class doing lots of homework.The students
were sent home with a note explaining the reason of the"correctivo". The note
was expected back the next day after being duly acknowledged by a parent. The
voice of the agriculture teacher was better than any sleeping pill.
Consequently, I also learned to set my eyes as open as possible toward the teac
her and released my mind into a world of clouds closer to the kingdom of
Morpheus. It was not easy but to close one's eyes was unthinkable.
Then, at Mariel Naval Academy things didn't get any better. Reveille at 6 a.m. I
was often hungry and sleepy. My classmates and I endured lots of hazing in the
name of "discipline". After all, that was a military institution, and we were
"gentlemen" midshipmen. Those concepts were also enforced when most midshipmen
were cashiered after the revolutionary purge of 1959, and those few spared
became merchant marine cadets. Spherical Trigonometry and Solid Geometry classes
are the ordeals l remember most. The two subjects were taugh by a highly
qualified lieutenant commander who didn't realize that we lacked his brains. At
least the ensign who taught Nautical Astronomy was more approachable.
In 1960,during the time I attended Havana University, I noticed there a
definitive breakdown of discipline That year many professors were purged, having
been denounced by other professors and their own students for alleged past sins
and a lack of zeal for Castro. However, it was in the US where I finally
realized that sometimes students were allowed to sleep in class.
Unfortunately, with the years discipline and respect for teachers in this
country have declined to an alarming degree. A close relative of mine who has
been an excellent teacher for many years finally is ready to quit ."At this
point I don't know who are worse: the students or their parents",she told me
recently, disillusioned with the outlook"
RH: The disgraceful episodes in American schools should have led to the imposition of more discipline, but that seems not to have happened. Remember the motto of William of Wyckham: "Manners maketh man".
Ships and shipbuilding
Alberto Gutierrez answers a question about ship building in Cuba: "Under
Castro, today shipbuilding in Cuba is a shambles.
Shipbuilding reached its peak in Havana during the second half of the XVIII
century with the launching of men-of-war such as "Santísima Trinidad", the
flagship of the Franco-Spanish fleet at the battle of Trafalgar. Havana was a
main shipyard of the Spanish Navy , taking advantage of the fine Cuban timber
available in those days. Once, in San Lorenzo del Escorial, a member of my
family sternly reminded a tour guide of the Cuban origin of the timber used in
that palace/monastery, other Spanish palaces and in many sailing units of the
Spanish Navy.
At the beginning of the last century, shipbuilding in Cuba was no longer
important. In 1911 the small cruisers "Cuba"and "Patria" were launched in
Philadelphia. Since then the Cuban navy relied on units leased from the US. A
few gunboats with wooden hull were built in Havana. There were many Cuban-made
schooners for commercial fishing, and the steamboats of "Compañía Naviera de
Cuba"(the Cuban shipping company) were used for coastal trade. First the
railroads, and finally the Carretera Central (the central highway )from Pinar
del Río to Santiago de Cuba after 1931 led to the elimination of most maritime
traffic between Cuban ports.
During World War II four old Cuban cargo ships were torpedoed by German
submarines. After the war, foreign shipping companies, mainly US, British ,
Norwegian and Spanish, controlled the maritime traffic from Cuba to other
countries. The little publicized "floating railroad"( railroad wagons full of
cargo on their own wheels were rolled on and off cargo ships), operated between
Havana and South Florida from1945 until Castro took over Cuba, receding the
container concept .
In 1948 the Cuban merchant marine established a regular service to several US
ports. By the mid fifties, in spite of an incongruous collection of old ships ,
there were reasons to expect better days ahead: a dry dock was built in Havana
for repairs, and six new freighters of small tonnage (four British and two
Japanese) were ordered. After 1959 Castro was also keenly interested in
developing a merchant fleet called "Lineas Mambisas de Navegación " . His first
acquisition was the "Sierra Maestra"', an oddly designed freighter built in East
Germany. Other cargo vessels were built in Poland and Spain. Between 1961 and
1965 the Cuban shipbuilding experienced a brief revival with the assembling of a
modern fishing fleet in Havana . However, after the seventies, mismanagement and
Castro's "grandiose " whims in Africa and elsewhere, sealed the fate of what
seemed a promising future at sea. Some freighters were used to transport troops,
and fishing boats carried weapons for the guerrillas in Venezuela and other
countries. With the end of the Soviet subvention in the nineties the lack of
maintenance, and even the unsanitary conditions and contamination aboard all
those ships increased, causing the death of 37 seamen in assorted accidents.
Today the grossly underpaid and understaffed Cuban merchant marine is a disarray
of ships mostly "camouflaged" with foreign flags to avoid US economic sanctions
and the obligations to foreign creditors. Just taking a look at the sad
conditions of Paula Pier in Havana, anyone can see the current situation of
shipbuilding in Cuba"-
Copyright ©
2007 circulonaval.com
