Thursday, September 30, 2021
Free Cuba Now!
To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms
COVID-19 cases, deaths in Cuba and Castro regime's data manipulation. Venezuela’s National Academy of Medicine expresses concern over Cuban vaccine
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS-CoV-2 ), the virus that causes COVID-19
France 24 reported today that "officials said Cuba's borders will be reopened to international tourists from November 15, and schools will gradually open their doors in October and November. Official media is claiming that "given the sustained decrease in the number of confirmed cases over the last eight months and the progress in the vaccination campaign" the island will be reopening.
This does not pass the smell test.
Cuba has a population of 11.3 million and according to official data Havana provided through March 2021 there had been only 425 deathsdue to COVID-19 in the island. Meanwhile the Dominican Republic with a population of 10.9 million and according to official data reported 3,330 deaths due to COVID-19 on that island. Revisiting the data today finds Havana recognizing 7,436 deaths while Santo Domingo is reporting a total of 4,046 deaths. Nevertheless, the numbers provided by Havana continue to be unreliable.
Professor Duane Gubler of the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore who has served as a consultant/advisor on numerous World Health Organization committees, "says Cuba has a history of not reporting epidemics until they become obvious," reported New Scientist on January 8, 2019.
It still holds true today.
Data provided by the Castro regime over the past year contradict official claims by Havana now. Eight months ago on February 28, 2021 there were 618 cases reported with a seven day average of 751.
On September 29, 2021 there were 5,617 new cases reported with a seven day average of 6,725 new cases. This is a dramatic increase over the past eight months, according to official data provided by Havana.
Official data on deaths have also increased dramatically over the past eight months. On February 28, 2021 the total number of deaths recognized by Havana were 322 deaths with the first death recorded on March 19, 2020.
Eight months later on September 28, 2021 the total number of COVID-19 deaths recognized by Havana were 7,330 deaths. This is a substantial increase, assuming the data provided is accurate.
Venezuela’s National Academy of Medicine on Monday in a report published by NBC News expressed concern over the use of Cuba’s Abdala coronavirus vaccine in Venezuela due to a lack of scientific research on its safety and efficacy. They pointed out that “Abdala has not been approved by the WHO or any international regulatory agency” and expressed their "deep concern that a product for which there is no scientific information on safety and efficacy ... is being administered to Venezuelans.” Caracas received its first batch of 30,000 Abdala doses in June as part of clinical trials, and the Castro regime claims that a second batch had been shipped.
Countries with emergency use authorizations for Cuban vaccines are Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and Vietnam. This appears more of a political operation bowing to ideological considerations than one concerned with public health.
Herschel For Senate
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| This is a very important week for our campaign. If you've looked at your calendar recently, you know the end of the 3rd quarter is TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT. For most folks, September 30th doesn't mean much. For us, it is a critical date BECAUSE after midnight TONIGHT, we'll have to make public what we have been able to raise for our Senate campaign since announcing just four weeks ago. Would you please spare 16 seconds of your time and watch the video I recorded for you? Then, if you're able to make a gift to our campaign, please consider doing so. Come next week, the entire country will know the strength of our campaign – and I want everyone to know we are strong enough to win. I need your support to hit all of our goals while there is still time left.  Here are three reasons why our Q3 numbers are important:
Thank you,  Herschel Walker | ||
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Copyright © 2021. ACT for America, |
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Righteous Among The Nations
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Herschel For Senate
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Our campaign is facing our first public – and most important – deadline yet in less than 48 hours. We haven't reached our financial goal yet, so we really need your help. Can we count on you to chip in $10 or more right now so we can hit our target?
Herschel got a GIANT boost of momentum when he spoke at President Trump's HUGE rally in Georgia on Saturday.  While it's fantastic to have President Trump's support, we also need to know you're with us. Team Herschel needs your support BEFORE MIDNIGHT TOMORROW to help give our campaign the momentum it needs to finish this quarter STRONG. Can we count on you to make an end of quarter contribution of $10 or more before time runs out? Thanks, Team Herschel
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Tuesday, September 28, 2021
ACT
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Copyright © 2021. ACT for America, |
Free Cuba Now!
To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms
Two Cubans forcibly exiled to Poland, and Cuban woman faces six year prison sentence for nonviolently participating in July 11th protests
Hamlet Lavastida is interviewed on Polish television shortly after landing at the Warsaw airport. (Courtesy)
Cuban artist and dissident Hamlet Lavastida was arrested on June 26, 2021, and forcibly exiled together with writer and dissident Katherine Bisquet to Poland on September 25, 2021. Part of the price for Lavastida's release was Bisquet also going into forced exile. Bisquet had been under house arrest.
Neither was allowed to say goodbye to their families.
Hamlet Lavastida was one of six identified by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience on August 19, 2021, the others are Maykel Castillo Pérez, Thais Mailén Franco Benítez, Esteban Rodríguez, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and José Daniel Ferrer García. They are prisoners of conscience because they are jailed for their political beliefs.
Thais Mailén Franco, arrested on April 30, 2021, was released on September 21, 2021. The other four remain jailed.
Others remaining behind in Cuba are facing stiff prison sentences for their nonviolent protest. Cuban prosecutors want to sentence Lady in White Sissi Abascal Zamora to a six year prison sentence for nonviolently participating in the July 11th protests.
Castro regime wants to jail Sissi Abascal Zamora for six years
Scott Simon writing for NPR highlighted the cases of Katherine Bisquet, and Hamlet Lavastida, and that they were " among at least 55 artists and writers that PEN America says are imprisoned, or under house arrest or surveillance since this summer's mass protests against the Cuban government." He also brought attention to the dictatorship's "new Decree-Law 35 makes online criticism of the state a cybercrime."
The Castro regime does not release information on arrests, prison population size, and officials lie about it when asked, but other sources give partial estimates together with concrete data. 14ymedio, the press outfit founded by Yoani Sanchez, estimates more than 5,000 detained. Cubalex, a human rights NGO, identified 1,081 detained or missing Cubans, related to the protests that began on July 11th, in their database as of September 27, 2021 at 7:32pm.
Havana Times, September 27, 2021
Banished from Cuba: Hamlet Lavastida and Katherine Bisquet
Hamlet Lavastida and writer Katherine Bisquet
HAVANA TIMES – On Saturday September 25th, artist Hamlet Lavastida and writer Katherine Bisquet boarded a plane, after suffering prison time, home arrest, blackmail and police harassment for over three months. Escorted by State Security to get all of the paperwork they needed and on their way to the airport, without time to say goodbye to their families and friends, they headed to Poland on a one-way trip.
Lavastida came to Cuba after finishing an artistic residency in Germany, on June 21st. Like everyone who travels to the country, he went to the place where he had to self-isolate because of COVID-19. On the seventh day, State Security went looking for him and took him to their headquarters at Villa Marista, where he was held for three months, supposedly because he was being investigated for Incitement.
According to Bisquet, the political police forced them both into exile as the only way to release Hamlet. “From the very beginning of Hamlet’s unusual arrest, and during the 90 days that he had been jailed under a baseless investigation, I, Katherine Bisquet, writer and activist, have been a target of harassment, coercion, illegal detention (home arrest for 65 days), psychological torture, illegal arrests and threats of being taken to trial by State Security.”
Lavastida is a visual artist that has challenged the Revolution’s discourse with his work and his own symbols, including the figure of Fidel. Bisquet has also become an uneasy person for the Government with her work and activism, especially since she took part in the sit-in at the San Isidro Movement headquarters, in November 2020. Both have suffered repression and harassment, as if they were criminals.
“Me leaving the country was the currency for his release,” Katherine explains, and adds that “many people linked to Hamlet, both friends and family, were subjected to this same pressure of blackmail.”
The Cuban government can’t hide its fear of artists. It has been exposed in the world’s eyes: it’s a government that represses, drives into exile and condemns anyone who thinks differently, at its own fancy. Over 800 people are still in Cuban jails, arrested for taking part in the July 11th protests, when so many Cubans took to the streets to demand Freedom.