The facts are clear in all
cases. Zapata died on February 23 after 85
days of a hunger strike-the first Cuban to perish in this manner in
almost 40 years. The following day Fariñas started his own
strike at
his home, and has been hospitalized since March 11, demanding the
release of 26 allegedly ill political prisoners. The Ladies in
White
are a group that was formed in 2003 to protest the imprisonment of 75
opposition figures and sentenced to lengthy terms. Some 53 of
that
number remain in prison. The women have been leading
demonstrations
for 7 years, marching on Sundays down Fifth Avenue in the Miramar
district of Havana. In early April, however, they were confronted
by
large pro-government demonstrations, and security forces intervened to
protect them.
For three Sundays in a row these confrontations continued until
Cardinal Jaime Ortega negotiated with government officials, with the
result that the Ladies were allowed to march wherever they wanted, and
without official permission to stage a demonstration (normally required
by Cuban law). What was negotiated was a return to the status quo
ante
that had existed prior to the first week of December 2009. On May
2 a
dozen Women in White renewed their traditional march. [1]
The case of Zapata received a tremendous amount of media attention, in
part because it was the first time in decades that an opponent of the
Cuban government had died during a hunger strike. He was arrested
in
2003, charged with contempt and public disorder and given a prison
sentence of 3 years. Subsequent acts of defiance in prison
led to
further charges being laid. He started his hunger strike on
December
8, 2009, and died on February 23, 2010. He was widely presented
as a
person imprisoned for his human rights beliefs, summed up in a release
by the International Republican Institute entitled "Democracy's Heroes:
Orlando Zapata Tamayo".[2]
Emotional descriptions were given of his prison conditions and the
punishments he had received. His back was "tattooed with blows,"
and
when he was transferred to hospital he was "skin and bones, his stomach
is just a hole," his mother noted.[3] Emotionally disturbed by
the
deliberate suicide of her son, she lashed out at the treatment
received, calling his death "a premeditated murder" by the Cuban
government. Her criticism of the lack of medical care provided
was
highlighted in media reports, when it was clear
that just the opposite was true. In fact a video shown on Cuban
television shows her expressing gratitude to the medical staff
attending him.[4]
Vocal denunciations of the abuse of human rights in Cuba were sprinkled
among the many articles dealing with Zapata. The term "prisoner
of
conscience" was liberally used to describe his plight, and he was
presented as a political activist who was protesting inhuman treatment
in prison. In the media rush to show him as a person imprisoned
for
his political beliefs, little attention was paid to his long criminal
record, involving domestic violence (1993), possession of a weapon and
assault, including the use of a machete to fracture the cranium of
Leonardo Simón (2000), fraud (2000), and public disorder
(2002).[5] In
sum, the issue of his imprisonment is somewhat murkier than might at
first appear.
Mainstream US media covered the events in great detail-with over 80
articles published in a 3-month period. Interviews with leading
dissidents in Cuba, exile politicians, Miami groups opposed to the
Cuban government, U.S. politicians, resulted, all praising the courage
and honesty of Zapata. The opinion was given that the Cuban
government was fearful that the death would lead to massive protests,
and so "an increased police presence was reported in the streets of
several Cuban cities".[6] In various press reports mention was
made of
major demonstrations of grief, and concern by the
government resulting in extreme security measures being adapted.
The Obama approach to Cuba was also linked with the Zapata case, and
anger was directed to both Cuba and the president. A common
impression
given is that the Obama administration has tried to pursue a more
flexible approach to Cuba, but has been met with Cuban intransigence
and hostility. One editorialist of The Washington Post used the
suicide to condemn Obama´s policy-which was seen as being too
liberal:
"Is the new, Castro-friendly approach working? A good
answer to that
question came Tuesday, when Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year-old
Afro-Cuban political prisoner, died after an 83-day hunger strike".[7]
The U.S. government has recently issued outspoken condemnations of the
Cuban government's approach to human rights, with statements by Philip
J. Crowley (Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs) and even
President Barack Obama. The president condemned the "repression
visited upon Las Damas de Blanco, and the intensified harassment of
those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans",
while noting that "Cuban authorities continue to respond to the
aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist".[8] One
searches
in vain, however, for any references by the president to the clenched
fist of the Honduran government and the appalling
human rights record since the removal of President Zelaya in June of
2009. In a related matter, it is clear that US media has provided an
extremely sympathetic portrayal of the 'Ladies in White,' as can be
seen from the titles of a recent article in the Miami Herald, "United
by Pain, Cuba's Ladies in White Vow to Keep Marching," and an editorial
in the Wall Street Journal, "Women Who Brave Mobs".[9] The
terminology
in the latter leaves
little to the imagination, with references to the women "getting leaned
on by Havana's toughs," "Castro's goons," "the regime's desperation in
the face of popular discontent," and the Ladies in White "walking in
the face of an increasingly dangerous mob".[10]
The attention given to the "Damas de Blanco"[11] has in many ways
mirrored that given to the cases of Zapata and, to a lesser extent,
Fariñas. The fact that they have been protesting for
several years in
Havana without any significant repression (or media coverage) would
indicate that the recent extensive coverage is due to an unusual
conjunctural set of circumstances. In Miami a demonstration in favor of
Cuban human rights activists was held on March 25 in which
Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan and her husband music producer
Emilio, together with exile singers Willy Chirino and Olga Guillot,
while a few days later Cuban exile, the actor Andy García,
participated in a march in Los Angeles to show his support for the
Damas de Blanco. It would appear that, for a variety of reasons,
opposition groups to the Cuban government decided in the spring of 2010
to ramp up their activities-and the media jumped on the bandwagon and
followed suit. It is also clear that, as the Cuban government
responded, US media became increasingly critical in their presentation
of the human rights situation. Typical of the reaction was a pointed
editorial in The Miami Herald: "In a democracy, people can
disagree.
They can march to protest their government, they can chastise their
elected officials in public forums, they can walk down the street
carrying placards voicing their opinions [.] Not in Cuba.
Never in
Cuba".[12]
This massive media campaign against marches taking place by an
opposition group-some of whose members have admitted to having been
paid by U.S. government officials-during a few weeks had never been
seen before. Again it must be emphasized that these weekly
marches
have been going on for seven years, and without any major harassment
from government officials. That fact is ignored almost completely
by
the media.[13] What is also ignored in U.S. media analysis is the
recent approval by Washington of some $20 million to promote political
destabilization in Cuba, with funds being earmarked "to provide
humanitarian support to prisoners of conscience and their families.
Funds may also be used to support democratic rule of law programs that
promote, protest and defend human rights in Cuba". Other funds
are
earmarked "to provide humanitarian support to families of Cuban
political prisoners". In all $20 million is to be made
available.[14]
This of course follows on from five decades of U.S. government
hostility after Washington broke off diplomatic relations on January 3,
1961, maintains the "Trading with the Enemy" act, and over the decades
has supported a variety of hostile acts (including terrorism) against
Cuba.
In synthesis, the issue of the hunger strike of Orlando Zapata (which
resulted in his suicide), and the hostilities faced by the Damas de
Blanco over a three-week period in the spring of 2010 resulted in an
unprecedented barrage of media coverage in the spring of 2010.
The
media campaign was ferocious, and clearly focused. Perhaps the
most
thoughtful response to itcame from an unexpected source-Cardenal Jaime
Ortega of Havana, who criticized the "media violence" and the "verbal
war by the media in the
United States, Spain and other countries".[15] If one contrasts those
facts with events in Honduras during approximately the same time, and
if one analyzes the nature of media coverage of events there, a
very
different picture emerges. Most of those developments follow on from
the circumstances surrounding the coup d´état of June 28,
2009, when
the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, was
ousted. The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights confirmed that several
hundred arbitrary arrests and beatings of supporters of the overthrown
Zelaya government by the armed forces and police occurred. The list of
abuses was long and detailed: "killings, an arbitrary declaration of a
state of emergency, disproportionate use of force against
public demonstrations, criminalization of public protest, arbitrary
detention of thousands persons, cruel, inhumane and degrading
treatments, poor detention conditions, militarization of Honduran
territory, an increase in incidents of racial discrimination,
violations of women's rights, severe and arbitrary restrictions on the
right of freedom of expression, and serious violations of political
rights".[16]
In just the first hundred days after the coup, the Committee of the
Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH)
documented 4,234 violations by the de facto government, including 21
extrajudicial killings, 3,033 illegal detentions, and 818 cases of
violence.[17] It is clear that the numbers of victims was in fact
much
higher, but that many have not made public their treatment at the hands
of security forces out of fear of reprisal. From June 2009 to
February
2010, COFADEH documented 43 politically motivated murders.
Particularly chilling is the fact that in
the spring of 2010 some 7 journalists were assassinated.[18]
Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch condemned the widespread abuses,
echoing the conclusions of the Organization of American States.
Sadly, these extremely clear violations of human rights in Honduras
have been commonplace, though the media in North America have largely
ignored them. A quantitative analysis of the media attention paid to
the three issues studied here-the hunger strike of
Zapata, the
treatment of the ladies in White over a 3-week period, and the killings
and beating accruing in Honduras in recent months-is telling.
Table 1: Media Coverage of Three Human Rights-Related Topics
News No. of posts
regarding No. of post
regarding No. of post
Agency 7 murdered
journalists Cuba hunger
strike on Ladies in
& human
rights abuses
(02/10/2010-05/6/2010) White
Honduras
[20]
(02/01/20-
(6/29/2009-5/6/2010)[19]
05/06/2010
[21]
CNN
2
7
7
New York Times
1
8
1
Washington Post
1
13
5
Boston Globe
1
4
2
Miami Herald
1
55
46
Total
6
86
61
As the table above indicates, there have been a large number of
articles on the hunger striker, and very little on the murdered
journalists, and much less on the widespread human rights abuses in
Honduras since the overthrow of President Zelaya. In fact, of the news
agencies examined above, there are over 14 times more posts published
on the hunger striker in Cuba, than that of the murders of journalist
and human rights abuses in Honduras. As noted earlier, it is
clear
that there is an abundance of material to be studied for the
latter-should the media be interested.
A qualitative analysis also indicates an unequal representation of both
issues. While the articles describe the slow death of Zapata, a man who
was charged with various federal crimes and chose to ignore medical
assistance, there has been almost no explanation of the vast and
overarching abuses suffered by the Honduran people-including dozens of
murders and thousands of arbitrary arrests and beatings.
To be sure, the severity or extent of these issues has not been
accurately portrayed in the media. Moreover, not only is information
sadly lacking in the case of Honduras, but it is also often presented
in a superficial way. Noticeably, for example three of the articles
presented in these major media outlets were identical, and simply
listed Honduras among several countries including Mexico, Colombia,
Pakistan, and Nigeria as dangerous places for journalists to work.[22]
The others briefly state that UNESCO, Amnesty International and some
Honduran human rights groups are concerned about the level of violence
and abuses of human rights throughout the country, particularly of
those who oppose the government. Of all of these articles found, only
one CNN report explained in any detail the prevalence and ferocity of
violence that Hondurans have been facing since the coup of June 2009.
By contrast, the Cuban government was incessantly vilified for
"letting" Zapata die and articles were particularly emphatic about the
government's restrictions on the Damas de Blanco and the "repression"
of its people. Political and celebrity figures including President
Obama, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and
Senator John Kerry have also been widely cited in denouncing the Cuban
government's treatment of its people. By contrast one sees no
celebrities or politicians being cited to condemn the dozens of
assassinations at the hands of the security forces in Honduras-sadly a
case of selective indignation. In a strongly worded statement
condemning the treatment received by the Ladies in White, and
reflecting on the suicide of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, President Obama
called for "an end to the repression" in Cuba. He added "I remain
committed to supporting the simple desire of the Cuban people to freely
determine their future and to enjoy the rights and freedoms that define
the Americas".[23] Clearly he was not referring to the situation
the
right s and freedoms in Honduras.
Can we imagine what the U.S. government would say, or do, if within a
few months 7 journalists had been assassinated in Cuba? Or if
dozens
of government opponents had been murdered by the Cuban military during
the same time frame? A useful comparison of official United
States
position on the human rights abuses in both countries can de derived
from statements made by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on
these issues. She has repeatedly condemned the Cuban government for the
treatment of Zapata and others, stating "They're letting these hunger
strikers die. They've got 200 political prisoners who are there for
trivial reasons. And so I think that
many in the world are starting to see what we have seen a long time,
which is a very intransigent, entrenched regime that has stifled
opportunity for the Cuban people, and I hope will begin to change and
we're open to changing with them, but I don't know that will happen
before some more time goes by".[24] By contrast, directly
following
the Honduran coup in 2009, she refused to refer to the political
situation as such, nor condemn the violence and gross and repeated
violation of human rights in that situation.[25] Rather, she later
stated "we believe that President Lobo and his administration have
taken the steps necessary to restore democracy".[26] It is
lamentable
that she has not been able to lay aside political preference in order to
criticize manifest abuses in Honduras. On May 3, 2010 ("World Press
Freedom Day") Ms. Clinton issued a noteworthy statement noting that
"Wherever independent media are under threat, accountable governance
and human freedom are undermined".[27] She passionately defended
journalists risking their lives to provide "independent information" on
government abuses, and singled out the efforts of Cuban blogger Yoani
Sánchez, an outspoken critic of the Cuban government, noting
that
President Obama had also praised her efforts. She concluded by
noting
that the United States was committed to "defend freedom of expression
and the brave journalists who are persecuted for exercising it".
One
looks in vain, however, for any reference by leading U.S. government
officials to the Honduran journalists who were assassinated for doing
just that. Apparently their contribution is less important.
Clearly
there is a double
standard at play; sadly, mainstream US media reflect that same double
standard.
On April 29, following the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the National
Lawyers Guild of the United States issued a statement that was widely
ignored by mainstream media. In fact there is apparently no
analysis
of its significance in any of the leading U.S. media. It is
unfortunate because it puts in context the crux of this issue-media
treatment of the suicide of one individual in Cuba after rejecting
medical assistance for weeks, versus an ongoing process of
assassination and brutality in Honduras, a traditional US ally.
The
NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian closes the release in the
following way: "The National Lawyers Guild opposes infractions of human
rights anywhere, but Cuban prison officials acted properly when Zapata
decided to go on a hunger strike. We urge the media to turn its
attention to real human rights violations and deadly foreign policies
in this country and elsewhere".[28] Well said.
NOTES
[1] See Will Weissert's report for AP, "Cuba Frees Backer of Dissident
Group
Amid Appeal," May 11, 2010 and Mauricio Vicent, "El gobierno cubano se
compromete con la Iglesia Católica a permitir las marchas de las
Damas de
Blanco," El País, May 2, 2010.
[2] The International Republican Institute, "Democracy's Heroes: Orlando
Zapata Tamayo," April 28, 2010. Found at
http://www.iri.org/node/2536.
Accessed May 13, 2010.
[3] Juan O. Tamayo, "Jailed Cuban Activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo Dies on
Hunger Strike," The Miami Herald, February 23, 2010.
[4] In the March 1, 2010, national nightly news report on Cuban
television
she was shown addressing Cuban medical personnel: "Well, thank you very
much. we have full confidence. we can see your concern and that
everything
that is being done to save him". See "Orlando Zapata Tamayo, A
Case of
Political Manipulation," Granma Internacional Digital, March 4,
2010. Found
at www.granma.cu/ingles/2010/marzo/juev4/Orlando-Zapata-Tamayo.html.
Accessed May 13, 2010. Further evidence is provided in the
article to show
the extraordinary lengths to which Cuban officials went-even having a
kidney
ready in case his failed. His mother is seen also stating "I was
able to
see the doctors who were there before I went in, and there were doctors
from
CIMEQ (Center for Medical Surgical Research), the best doctors, trying
to
save his life."
[5] One Cuban academic has noted that he was in jail for "breaching the
peace, 'public damage,' resistance to authority, two charges of fraud,
'public exhibitionism,' repeated charges of felonious assault, and being
illegally armed". See Michael Parenti and Alicia Jrapko, "Cuban
Prisoners,
Here and There," Monthly Review, April 15. 2010. Found at
http://cuba-l.unm.edu. See also "Campaña mediática
contra Cuba. Cronología
de los hechos," La Jiribilla, April 4, 1010. Found at
http://cuba-l.unm.edu. Accessed April 4, 2010. A detailed
analysis of the
Zapata case can also be found in Salim Lamrani, "The Suicide of Orlando
Zapata Tamayo," March 18, 2010. Found at
http://www.voltairenet.org/article164489.html. Accessed May 13,
2010. The
French academic makes a telling point, noting that in France between
January
1, 2010 and February 24 a total of 22 suicides in prison, with 122 in
French
prisons (2009) and 115 (2008)-without any apparent media interest.
[6] Juan O. Tamayo, "Jailed Cuban Activist.".
[7] See the editorial, "Is the Castro-friendly Cuba Policy
Working?," The
Washington Post, February 26, 2010.
[8] See White House Statement on Orlando Zapata Tamayo, March 24, 2010.
Found at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-human
rights-situation-cuba. Accessed May 13, 2010. Also see
Philip J. Crowley,
"Death of Cuban Dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo," found at
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/02/137180.htm. Accessed May
13, 2010.
[9] Juan O. Tamayo, "United by Pain, Cuba's Ladies in White Vow to Keep
Marching," Miami Herald, April 24, 2010, and the editorial "Women Who
Brave
Mobs," Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2010.
[10] A very different interpretation is given by Cuban academic Enrique
Ubieta: "The Ladies in White are a movie montage. The right wing
had
learned to take left-wing formulas of expression such as the Mothers of
the
Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, authentic women struggling in memory of
their
children and grandchildren, tortured and murdered. In Cuba there
are no
tortured or assassinated prisoners. The people in prison were
judged by
courts, following our laws. So, they take the wives and mothers
of people
who worked to subvert the constitutional order [.] they dress them in
white--a color associated with peace and purity-they hand them some
gladioli
and take them to a Catholic church, a perfect scenario for them to be
seen
in Europe. And when they are ready they say "Cameras!
Action!" And that's
where we see CNN, Spanish TV cameras. What you are seeing is a
film that is
a fiction, while on the street away from the action are the European
and US
diplomats-the producers of the film, who are the ones paying for the
show".
See Fernando Arrizado, "Enrique Ubieta: 'Las Damas de Blanco son un
montaje
escenográfico,'" Cubadebate, April 27, 2010. Found at
http:Cuba-l.unm.edu.
Accessed April 28, 2010. (Translation by authors).
[11] See "Cuba's 'Ladies in White' March Blocked Again," Washington
Post,
April 25, 2010 and Will Weissert´s report for Associated Press of
the same
day. Available at http://Cuba-l.unm.edu. Accessed April 25,
2010.
[12] "Cuba's Brutality," The Miami Herald, March 19, 2010. The
editorial
concluded: "Only a concerted effort by democratic governments-from the
left
and the right-can show Raúl and Fidel Castro that their free
ride of terror
is coming to an end".
[13] In a recent interview leading Cuban academic Rafael
Hernández quotes
the Royal Academy of Spain dictionary to show that many of the
opposition
figures who receive financial support from U.S. government officials
are in
fact mercenaries. The context of U.S. enmity needs to be
considered, since
Washington broke relations with revolutionary Cuba in January 1961, and
has
supported a variety of policies designed to bring about "regime change"
in
Cuba. See Mauricio Vicent, " Mauricio Vicent entrevista a Rafael
Hernández,
director de la revista Temas," El País, April 9, 2010.
[14] See "United States Department of State. Congressional
Notification.
Program: Western Hemisphere. Appropriation Category: Economic
Support
Funds. Project Title: Cuba. Intended 2010 Obligation:
$20,000,000". Found
at http:cuba-l.unm.edu. Accessed April 5, 2010.
[15] "The tragic event of the death of a prisoner as he was on a hunger
strike has resulted in a verbal war by the media in the United States,
Spain
and other countries. This strong media campaign contributes to
further
exacerbating the crisis. It is a form of media violence to which
the Cuban
government responds in its own way". See "A Call for Dialogue:
Interview
with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of Havana". Originally
published in
Palabra Nueva, journal of the archdiocese of Havana on April 19, 2010,
and
subsequently translated and published in Progreso Weekly, May 4, 2010.
Found at
http://progreso-weekly.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article=1613:a-call-for-dial.
Accessed May 16, 2010.
[16] "Honduras: Human Rights and the Coup d'Etat". Inter-American
Commission
on Human Rights. 2009. Retrieved 2 May, 2010 from
http://cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras09eng/Chap.1.htm
[17] Canadian Council for International Co-operation, "Honduras:
Democracy
Denied. A Report from the CCIC's Americas Policy Group with
recommendations
to the Government of Canada," Ottawa, April 2010, p. 16.
[18] Council on Hemispheric Affairs, "Washington's Invented Honduran
Democracy," April 22, 2010. Found at
http://www.coha.org/washingtons-invented-honduran-democracy.
Accessed
on
May 12, 2010. On April 26, 2010 Amnesty International issued a
statement:
"Journalists in Honduras are at serious risk. Six journalists,
all men,
have been shot dead in the last eight weeks, and numerous others have
received death threats. No one has been held to account and no
action taken
to support and protect journalists". See UA: 94/10, AI Index: AMR
37/006/2010, "Honduras: Journalists Killed".
[19] See search results for "murdered journalists, human rights abuses,
Honduras". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from www.miamiherald.com. See search
results for "murdered journalists, human rights abuses, Honduras".
Retrieved
6 May, 2010 from www.washingtonpost.com. See search results for
"murdered
journalists, human rights abuses, Honduras". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from
www.boston.com. See search results for "murdered journalists, human
rights
abuses, Honduras". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from www.nytimes.com. See
search
results for "murdered journalists, human rights abuses, Honduras".
Retrieved
6 May, 2010 from www.cnn.com.
[20] See search results for "Hunger Strike, Cuba". Retrieved 6 May, 2010
from www.miamiherald.com. See search results for "Hunger Strike, Cuba".
Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from www.washingtonpost.com. See search results
for
"Hunger Strike, Cuba". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from www.boston.com. See
search
results for "Hunger Strike, Cuba". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from
www.nytimes.com. See search results for "Hunger Strike, Cuba".
Retrieved 6
May, 2010 from www.cnn.com.
[21] See search results for "Ladies in White, Cuba". Retrieved 6 May,
2010
from www.miamiherald.com. See search results for "Ladies in White,
Cuba".
Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from www.washingtonpost.com. See search results
for
"Ladies in White, Cuba". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from www.boston.com. See
search results for "Ladies in White, Cuba". Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from
www.nytimes.com. See search results for "Ladies in White, Cuba".
Retrieved 6
May, 2010 from www.cnn.com.
[22] "Media Group: 17 Journalists Killed in April". The Washington
Post. 28
April, 2010. Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from
[23] "White House Statement on Orlando Zapata Tamayo and the Ladies in
White," March 24, 2010. Found at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-human-rights-situation-cuba.
Accessed May 13, 2010.
[24] Clinton, Hillary Rodham. "US State Department - Secy. Of State
Clinton:
On Nuclear Nonproliferation". Remarks on Nuclear Nonproliferation at the
University of Louisville as Part of the McConnell Center's Spring
Lecture
Series. 9 April, 2010. Found at
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/04/13958.htm. Accessed 15
May, 2010;
Weissert, Will. "Castro: Cuba Will Resist Hunger Strike 'Blackmail'".
Associated Press. 4 April, 2010.
[25] (Sheridan, Mary Beth. "U.S. Condemns Honduras Coup". The Washington
Post. 30 June, 2009. Retrieved 6 May, 2010 from
)
[26] Rothschild, Matthew. "Hillary Clinton's Honduran Disgrace." The
Progressive. March 5, 2010. Retrieved 7 May, 2010 from
http://www.progressive.org/WX030510.html)
[27] Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, "World Press Freedom
Day,"
May 3, 1010. Document located at http://cuba-l.unm.edu.
Accessed May 3,
2010.
[28] National Lawyers Guild, "NLG Urges U.S. Media to Cease
Misrepresentation of Cuba's Human Rights Record," April 29, 2010.
Found at
http:cuba-l.unm.edu. Accessed April 29, 2010.
*Emily J. Kirk will be an M.A. student in Latin American Studies at
Cambridge University in September.
* John Kirk is a professor of Latin American Studies at Dalhousie
University, Canada.
Both are working on a project on Cuban medical internationalism
sponsored by Canada's Social Science and Humanities Research Council of
Canada (SSHRC). Professor Kirk co-wrote with Michael Erisman the
2009 book
"Cuba's Medical Internationalism: Origins, Evolution and Goals"
(Palgrave
Macmillan). He spent most of February and March in El Salvador and
Guatemala, accompanying the Henry Reeve Brigade in El Salvador, and
working
with the Brigada Medica Cubana in Guatemala.
|
