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CUBAN LIBRARIES
SOLIDARITY GROUP Statement of Brian Campbell, past-Chair of the British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) Intellectual Freedom Committee, past member of the CLA Intellectual freedom committee, past Chair of the CLA Information Policy Committee, winner of the UBC School of Library, Archival and Information Studies Outstanding Graduate Award, the BCLA President's Award, the Canadian Association of Public Libraries Outstanding Service to Canadian Public Libraries Award and the 2003 Canadian Library Association Outstanding Service to Librarianship award. I visited Cuba as a tourist in 1993 and as part of a library tour in 2001 to look at "independent" libraries. ******************************************************** Policy towards Cuban "independent" libraries, and therefore Cuba, will be a major topic of debate during the ALA /CLA conference. This is a defining moment for both organizations. Librarians will have to decide whether intellectual freedom and access to information, among our most cherished principles, are ideals to be defended regardless of social and historical reality. Are these principles transcendent, even when manipulated as instruments of American foreign policy in order to prepare for the overthrow of a government embodying many of the values of humanity upon which our libraries are based? The Cuban debate highlights the impossibility of librarians asserting neutrality from the real world of politics. Neutrality does not question the dominant power but accedes to it. Where libraries reflected the social world that created them, now they must question it. This is an historic challenge. From the impact of media consolidation on access to information, neo-liberal budget cutbacks threatening library service or increased government surveillance, librarians are called upon to defend the public good and the future of libraries. Cuba is another such issue. Openly available documents on U.S. foreign policy and 50 years experience in Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Iran and Iraq teach us that the aggressive stance to Cuba is motivated not by human rights but by the desire to bring Cuba back into the international marketplace. However, the neo-liberal marketplace is not compatible with the marketplace of ideas. Cuban society and its leadership is imperfect, both in its day-to-day reality, and in its lack of full achievement of our ideals of a just and social society. What country is not? The reality however is that it has existed in an unwanted state of war with the most powerful nation on earth for the 44 years since its founding through the overthrow of a corrupt and exploitive colonial state. During that time, it has achieved remarkable success in improving literacy, medical care, education, health research and poverty reduction compared to other South American countries. No other country has survived, let alone continued to develop, under the economic blockades, assassination attempts, terrorist attacks, subversion and relentless foreign pressure to which Cuba has been subjected. Clearly, the social ownership of Cuba's economy is the basis for its successes and resilience. This is the real source of opposition to Cuba by those who would return it to its previous colonial position while integrating it into a world market economy in which divisions between the poor and the wealthy continue to grow. The so-called "independent" libraries is an important element of this attack. The objective is to reintegrate Cuba into the American market. The attacks, as usual, are silent as to historical background, current political context and the reality of Cuba's present situation. Many librarians will recall current and past propaganda efforts which justified going to war and which later proved false or inaccurate. The "Axis of Evil" and the lists of countries, which without evidence include Cuba, supporting terrorism are part of a highly charged international political climate. The attacks on Cuba must be understood within this political climate. Media concentration makes full access to necessary information on which to judge international issues doubly difficult. Two recent events should have highlighted the nature of these constant attacks on Cuba but are instead used by the right to celebrate the lack of human rights in Cuba. The first incident was the recent arrest and imprisonment of 75 Cubans, including "independent" librarians and "independent" journalists, for conspiring with the US Interests Section in Havana to destabilize Cuba. This is a crime in Cuba as it is in most countries. It is illegal in Cuba to work for the U.S. in undermining Cuba. These laws are similar to U.S. laws requiring individuals or organizations "subject to foreign control," (i.e. receiving money or instructions from a foreign government) to register with the Attorney General. "Independent libraries" are one dimension of a campaign initiated globally in the early 1980's to use civil society organizations funded through the CIA, US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to undermine and disrupt Cuban and other societies. Through USAID, money has been shifted to Freedom House and the Center for a Free Cuba. As recently as May 2002 President Bush announced in Washington and Miami his " Initiative for a New Cuba" and "increased and direct assistance to help build Cuban civil society". The 75 received a trial in accordance with Cuban law, the charges against them fitting into a pattern of US interference that is well-documented in Cuba and many other countries. The US has been very clear about its objectives and James Cason, the recently appointed Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana has been blatant in supporting Cuban dissidents. The development and support of Cuba's "independent libraries" is part of this supposed increased "democratization" of Cuba. Both the organizations listed above support the "independent" libraries. I was able to visit two out of five independent libraries that I tried to locate. Their collections consisted of a few book shelves, material provided by the Catholic Church and right wing organizations in Spain, Puerto Rica and Miami as well as a few individual donations. The people running the libraries were not librarians and were clearly opposition political activists receiving funds from outside Cuba. They had the best phones and faxes that I saw in Cuba. The second incident involves the arrest of 10 individuals for hijacking a regular coastal commuter ferry and taking it into open waters thus jeopardizing the lives of the other ferry passengers, including holding a knife to the throat of a woman passenger. Cuba, which had not executed any prisoners for several years, executed three leaders of the hijacking. Compare this to the number of executions per capita in Texas. Again, this must be looked at in the context of the international political climate. Cubans can leave Cuba. Through an agreement demanded by the U.S., 20,000 U.S. visas can be given out each year. Since October, 2002, only 700 visas were issued. Thus a safety valve had been closed. At the same time, another 29 hijackings plots were being thwarted by Cuban authorities as the U.S. warned Cuba that "any more hijackings would be viewed as a serious threat to U.S. National Security." Despite the U.S. position, Cuban hijackers who make it to the U.S. have been given asylum and none have been prosecuted despite international agreements in place regarding hijacking. The combination of limiting visas and rewarding hijackers has resulted in the spate of hijacking. Cuban policy is directed towards not providing the U.S. with an excuse for a naval blockade, aerial bombardment or other escalation. There have been no hijackings since the executions. In the end, your position on Cuba and the "independent" libraries will reflect not just your understanding of the specific circumstances of Cuba but your most basic political and social values. Is Cuba a threat to the U.S.? Are its policies the main threat to human rights internationally? What is the way forward to a more just and humane international world order? Is Cuba to be judged against some idealized version of society operating in a peaceful geo-political environment or in a realistic way taking into consideration the 44 years of aggression that has distorted the possibility of developing a fully human society? Are human rights to be defined only in terms of freedom of expression and access to information, despite limitations in our countries imposed by the media consolidation and government secrecy? Does the military imbalance count for anything? What are the human rights values of having a high literacy rate, free education and healthcare and acceptable shelter? And finally, will we allow library values to be used to undermine a struggling country with demonstrated success in maintaining an imperfect but humane society. Important questions are raised for librarians on freedom of information access. How much does the political context affect our policy. How does freedom of access function in poor countries when major corporate media and their values can overpower local resources? Indeed, how much freedom of access to information exists all North America when so much information of vital importance, including information on Cuba, is not available. I for one will not put my library principles at the service of American foreign policy. I critically support Cuba and believe that it has accomplished much in raising the living standards and hopes of the Cuban people.
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