| September 2000 |
Volume 3 No. 8 |
| What's happening in Cuba?
Since the publication of our revised International Policy Statement earlier this year (February 2000) the Career Development Group has had a number of correspondents relating to the issue of Cuba, asking what stance the Group takes on this matter. At March Council the Group had a lively discussion on the topic with members having varying views and opinions. The debate concluded by asking the International Relations Officer to investigate the issue of Cuba and report back in Impact on the finding. This ‘investigation’ has been extremely difficult with conflicting views and arguments. A near impossible task to complete. Opinions about Cuban libraries seem to provoke much debate. Some readers may be familiar with an American librarian called Robert Kent who heads an organization called the Friends of Cuban Libraries - he and his band of like-minded supporters are relentlessly critical of Cuba’s government despite their claims of non-partisanship. This has drawn a sharp response from another campaign group headed by John Pateman called the Cuban Librarian Support Group based in the UK. Career Development Group readers should note that both groups hold diametrically opposed views. In this article we have asked both groups to write a brief piece for Impact about libraries in Cuba. Impact realizes that this issue is more about politics than information but nevertheless feels that the role of information provision and access to it is central to the debate. We hope our readers will make up their own minds about the issue. We all know truth can sometimes be ‘subjective’. This is especially so when it comes to Cuba. The Career Development Group would be keen to hear your views on the matter - please write in if you have something to contribute. Ayub Khan Cuba's Independent Librarians: Defending Intellectual Freedom Until June 1999, when the newly-formed Friends of Cuban Libraries issued our first press release, relatively few people in the international community seemed aware of the extent to which intellectual freedom was being repressed in Cuba. Our first report told how Cuba's all-pervasive system of censorship had been challenged since early 1998 by volunteers who were forming independent libraries; their goal is to create a civil society in their nation by offering public access to books reflecting all points of view. The Friends' reports, complete with names and dates, described how the independent librarians were being subjected to persecution. The initial worldwide response to our alarming reports was one of scepticism. Could it really be true that one country in the world - Cuba - was systematically persecuting librarians for the alleged crime of defending intellectual freedom? A few foreign activists, such as Mr. John Pateman, vehemently denied our allegations and claimed that the independent librarians were part of a "CIA plot." Mr. Pateman also denied the existence of the harsh censorship imposed on Cuba's official libraries, which he claimed were forbidden to purchase foreign publications by the U.S. trade embargo. (As as an organization concerned exclusively with intellectual freedom issues, the Friends of Cuban Libraries take no position on the U.S. trade embargo, which in reality authorizes commerce between the two countries for informational materials such as books, newspapers, magazines, films and sound recordings). As other human rights organizations began to examine these conflicting claims, international support for the independent librarians began to grow. In September 1999, IFLA published a lengthy investigative report (see http://www.faife.dk , in the "news and events" section) confirming and documenting every one of the repressive acts cited by the Friends. IFLA condemned the Cuban government's "campaign of threats, intimidation, harassment, eviction, short-term arrests, and the confiscation of incoming book donations or book collections" and demanded a halt to the repression of the independent librarians. In November 1999, after the library movement's founder, Ramon Colas, was arrested, Amnesty International adopted him as a Prisoner of Conscience "detained solely for peacefully attempting to exercise [his] right to freedom of expression, association and assembly." As of June 2000, Amnesty has issued three reports documenting the persecution of the independent librarians, including threats, arrests, evictions, police raids and the confiscation of book collections. It is not a crime to oppose censorship or to open a library, and the Friends urge librarians everywhere to join the growing international effort to defend Cuba's brave independent librarians. As a Canadian library leader wrote to President Fidel Castro: "In persecuting and harassing members of the Cuban library community, your government is striking at the heart of the principles espoused and acted upon by librarians worldwide." Robert Kent The Cuban Library Support Group Cuban libraries are at the heart of Cuba’s rich cultural life. The National Library (named after national hero Jose Marti) has pride of place on Revolution Square in Havana. Built in 1958, the library is perhaps the most frequently visited building on the square, with more than half a million readers passing through its doors. Since the Triumph of the Revolution in 1959 it has been financed by the state and has constantly expanded its collection of books so that it now has more than three million items, including books, photographs, rare books, maps, music and materials in Braille. Cuba has over 4,000 libraries, including 387 public libraries. This compares with just 32 in 1964. The number of books in public libraries has grown from 675,000 in 1964 to nearly six million today. In addition to public libraries, there are also numerous academic and work place libraries in Cuba. Before the Revolution there was only one university in Cuba - in Havana. Today there are universities in each province. Cuba also has many work place libraries, including collections in sugar mills and factories. Cuban libraries are an important component of Cuban society and serve thousands of people on a daily basis. Librarians in Cuba are eager to provide materials of all kinds to their users who are very well educated about Cuba and about the world. Librarians look for and deposit in their collections materials with many different view points, including materials that are critical of the revolution, materials written by Cubans living abroad and materials on human rights, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to UNESCO, Cuba enjoys the highest literacy rate in the hemisphere. After the revolution, a concerted effort was made by the government to improve the literacy rate and maintain it. Public libraries play an important part in that effort and are expected to maintain programmes and activities to promote literacy in the society. The Cuban National Reading Programme coordinates the efforts of all institutions, groups and persons interested in the promotion of books and reading. These include the National Library, Cuban Institute of the Book, Cuban Society of Friends of the Book, Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, and the National Centre of Community Culture. The Cuban Library Association (ASCUBI) has been active in international organisations including IFLA and it was the lead organiser of the 1994 IFLA conference held in Cuba. ASCUBI has about 1200 members and represents all library workers, including both librarians and library technicians. There are chapters in nine of the 14 provinces. The Cuban Library Support Group (CLSG) was established in July 1999 to support:
CLSG works with a wide range of partners to disseminate information about Cuban libraries through publications, events and meetings.To find out more, or to join CLSG, contact John Pateman on 020 8545 3770 or E-mail him at john.pateman@merton.gov.uk John Pateman |
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