Books Known to Have Been Burned in Cuba in 2003
As
verified in the
sentencing documents posted by
the
Rule of Law in
Cuba web site at the
Florida
State
University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights,
at
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/
Prepared By Steve Marquardt,PH.D.
Trial of Guido
Sigler Amaya, in Matanzas, 5 April 2003 [Sentence number 9], official
document available here
“… the handwritten, typed, printed, signed and recorder [sic] documents
which are also detailed in prior paragraphs … will be immediately destroyed by incineration.”
From the original court record:
“. . . excepto los documentos manuscritos, mecanografiados, impresos y
firmados y grabados los cuales también se detallan con
antelación serán destruido mediante su
incineración oportuna.”
These include the following:
“several copies of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.” One hardcover edition of the
UDHR is published by Applewood Books (November 1, 2000). 32 pages.
ISBN: 1557094551. Source for bibliographic description:
Amazon.com
El resurgimiento global de la
democracia. Unknown Binding: 341 pages. Publisher:
Insituto de Investigaciones Sociales, UNAM; 1. ed edition (1996)
Language: Spanish. ISBN: 9683649904. Source for
bibliographic description: Amazon.com
Vista del amanecer en el
trópico, by Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Paperback)
Publisher: Penguin Books (March 1, 1997).ISBN: 0140262865. Source
for bibliographic description: Amazon.com
[English translation: View of Dawn in the Tropics, by G. Cabrera
Infante. Translated from Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine. (London:
Faber, 1988) First U.K. Edition. Source for bibliographic description:
Alibris.com]
Hacia la gran nación, by
Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat (Miami, Fl : D'Fana Editions,
1995), 32 p. ; 21 cm. Source for bibliographic description: OCLC
WorldCat
Letters from Burma, by George Orwell.
Trial of
Julio Antonio Vales Guevara, in Santiago de Cuba, 5 April 2003.
Case no. 5 of 2003. Available here.
“… books, magazines, brochures and the rest of the documents to proceed
to destruction
by means of incineration for lacking utility; …”
From the original court record:
Se dispone que sobre el negativo fotográfico, el cassete de
audio, las medicinas, los libros, revistas, folletos y el resto de los
documentos procédase a su destrucción mediante
incineración por carecer de utilidad; . . .”
These include the following:
TIME (magazine)
El Disidente (magazine)
Fragura (“news serial … edited in the United States”)
Por Cuba (“news serial … edited in the United States”)
Palestra (“journal … edited in the United States”)
Hispano Cubana (magazine “published in Spain”)
José Martí: la invención de Cuba, by Rafael Rojas.
(Paperback) Editorial Colibri (November 20, 2000), 145 pages. ISBN:
8492355069
Source for bibliographic description: Amazon.com
Cuba's Repressive Machinery: Human
Rights Forty Years After the Revolution, by Human Rights Watch
(Human Rights Watch, July 20, 1999). Paperback, 263 pages). ISBN:
1564322343. Source for bibliographic description: Amazon.com
Buscando un modelo económico en América Latina : mercado,
socialista o mixta? : Chile, Cuba y Costa Rica, by Carmelo
Mesa-Lago; Alberto Arenas; Malena Barro (Caracas, Venezuela
: Nueva Sociedad ; [Miami?, Fla.] : Universidad Internacional de la
Florida, 2002 1. ed. en castellano. 681 p. ; ISBN: 9803171836 23
cm. Source for bibliographic description: OCLC WorldCat
Trial of
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodriguez, in Sancti Spiritus (#1), 5 April 2003.
Available here.
“Also the
destruction is had [of] …”
“sixteen books Encounter of the
Culture Cuban [etc.]”
Book titles are machine translated from the Spanish as follows:
Encounter of Cuban Culture
Plowing in the Sea
Heating of the Planet
Uses and Abuses of Gasoline
World without Winter
Visual Atlas [of the] Ocean
Destruction of Nature and the Ecology
System of Environmental Average Management
Conquering Nature: The Environmental
Legacy of Socialism in Cuba, by Sergio Diaz-Briquets and Jorge
F. Perez-Lopez. (Pitt Latin American Series) University of
Pittsburgh Press (April 1, 2000) (Paperback, 328 pages). ISBN:
0822957213
Source for bibliographic description: Amazon.com
“Classic texts of Carlos Franqui”
(Dominican Republic, 2001). These could include Family Portrait
with Fidel: a Memoir, or Camillo Cienfuegos, Diary of the Cuban
Revolution, or Vida, aventuras y desastres de un hombre llamado
Castro. Or it could be the first edition of his Textos
críticos del socialismo y la revolución, Edition: 2. ed.
[S.l. : s.n.], Rodes Print. Corp.) 2003, ©2002. 159 p. ; 22
cm.
Source for bibliographic description: OCLC WorldCat
The Power of the Powerless: Citizens
Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe, by Vaclav Havel (M.
E. Sharpe; Paperback Reprint edition, June 1, 1990). ISBN:
0873327616. Source for bibliographic description: Amazon.com
Reporters Without Borders, Mission
report in Cuba. Probably this is the September 2000 report
found at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=3213.
Trial of
Felix Navarro Rodriguez and Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, in Matanzas, 4
April 2003. Sentence number 2 of 2003, available here.
“printed material and other that have films and recording will be immediately destroy
[sic] by incineration, which it will also be done with the
handwritten and typed documents …”
From the original court record:
“Los materiales impresos y otros que tienen filmaciones y grabaciones
serán destruidos mediante su incineración oportuna.”
These include the following:
81 pamphlet(s) of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
El Proyecto Varela by Alberto Muller
[and] Oswaldo Payá (Miami, FL : Ediciones
Universal, 2002 1st ed.). Spanish. Book 110 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
ISBN: 0897299981. Source for bibliographic description: OCLC
WorldCat
Trial of
Pedro Argfuelles Moran and Pable Pacheco Avila, in Ciego de Avila, 4
April 2003, available here
“all the publications that include books, magazines and pamphlets, to
give to the Department of the Interior for
its destruction.”
From the original court record:
“El instrumental estomatológico, entregarse al Sectorial
Provincial de Salud de Camagüey, así como los medicamentos;
todas las publicaciones que incluyen libros, revistas y folletos,
entregar al Ministerio del Interior para su destrucción. Todos
los equipos y medios electrónicos, entregar al Ministerio del
Interior, ya que su complejidad técnica no hace que sea prudente
su empleo en ninguna otra actividad.”
These include the following, as listed in the sentencing document:
Jose Martí, The Invention of
Cuba
book "Letters to Elpidio";
book Conquista of the Nature;
book Your Body is Yours;
book Contemporary Universal History;
history of the United States;
book the Cost of the Terrorism in
Human Suffering;
book Foundations of the Media;
book Technical of Education of the
Media;
book Journalism and Creativity;
two books of International Human
rights;
book a More Effective and Less
Expensive Government;
book History of the United States;
book titled Manual for the
Journalists;
book Evidence that demands a Verdict;
titled book EI Viaje de Juan Pablo II;
two books of the Declaration of
Independence of the United States
book the Constitution of the United
States;
6 declarations of the Human rights;
two universal declarations of the
Human rights;
a pamphlet of the Project Varela.
Trial of
Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos and Carmelo Augustín Diaz Fernandez,
in Havana, 5 April 2003, available here
“As far as documents, magazines, notes, books, agendas, photos,
invitations, stickers, propagandas, procédase to their destruction.”
From the original court record:
“En cuanto a los documentos, revistas, apuntes, libros, agendas, fotos,
invitaciones, pegatinas, propagandas, procédase a su
destrucción.”
These included the following:
“. . . books,
bulletins magazines, agendas, booksellers of notes, all of subversive content
abundant documents, books, correspondence, notes, pamphlets and
magazines of content in opposition to the principles of the Cuban
Revolution . . .
“With same aim of destruction of regime partner-political prevailing in
Cuba, defendant created library "Emilio Maspero" which it contained
subversive Literature and contrarrevolucionaria, that was provided by
the government and competing groups of the Cuban Revolution, also they
created a Web site for the publication of his contrarrevolucionarios
postulates the one that could be visited by people of different parts
from the world.”
From the original court record:
“Con el mismo fin de destrucción del régimen
socio-político imperante en Cuba, los acusados crearon la
biblioteca “Emilio Maspero” que contenía literatura subversiva y
contrarrevolucionaria, que era suministrada por el gobierno y grupos
opositores de la Revolución cubana, asimismo crearon un sitio
web para la publicación de sus postulados contrarrevolucionarios
el que podía ser visitado por personas de diferentes partes del
mundo.”
OTHER BOOKS SEIZED FROM INDEPENDENT
LIBRARIES
and NOT LIKELY to be MADE AVAILABLE TO THE
READING PUBLIC:
From Trial
of Diasdado Gonzalez Marrero, in Matanzas, 7 April 2003. Sentence
number 15.)
Como Llego La Noche, by Huber Matos (TusQuets,
April 30, 2004). Paperback: 589 pages. ISBN:
8483109441. Source of bibliographic citation: Amazon.com
From , the trial
of Felix Navarro Rodriguez and Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, in
Matanzas, 4 April 2003. Sentence number 2 of 2003--
Works by “virulent antirevolutionary …
Cubans” Carlos Alberto Montaner and Gustavo Arcos.
The following is from the original PDF photographic images of the
original sentencing documents at the “Rule of Law and Cuba” web site,
images that were later replaced by the transcribed versions in Spanish
and machine-translated into English. In the transition to the later
display, Santa Clara sentencing document number one (the trial of Omar
Pernet Hernandez and Lester Gonzalez Penton) was omitted from the FSU
website.
“Members of the Ministry of the Interior carried out a search of the
accused Lester Gonzalez Penton's residence, confiscating a great
quantity of subversive material and other media aimed at
continuing his communication with the counterrevolution in the
exterior; among them the principle ones are the following: documents,
Jose Marti: the Invasion of Cuba,
Animal
Farm [Spanish title: Rebelion en la Granja],
Cuba: a Century of Painful Apprenticeship,
At the Edge of the Fence,
and an additional great quantity of literature such that, as with the
cases of the other accused persons, listing all of them would make this
sentence interminable, and all of them are of a subversive
character...."
“I made copies of the original PDF versions of the Spanish documents
before they were replaced by the digitized text, so I have a copy of
this document in my (rather chaotic) files. “ - Bob [Kent]
SEARCH FOR YOURSELF, using this
list of trial sentencing document Web pages, as detailed above, and the
following key words:
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-matanzas-9e.cfm. Search
for “incineration.”
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-santiago-6e.cfm. Search
for “incineration.”
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-sancti-spiritus-4e.cfm.
Search for “destruction.”
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-matanzas-2e.cfm. Search
for “incineration.”
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-havana-10e.cfm. Search
for “destruction.”
http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents-ciegodeavila-2e.cfm.
Search for “destruction.”
The AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE CUBA’S BOOK BURNING
Repeated requests have been made to the American Library Association
Office for Intellectual Freedom (ALA OIF) to post news of Cuba’s
court-ordered book burning on the web page that it hosts, entitled Book
Burning in the 21st Century, and have drawn the following replies:
July 11, 2005
Dear Walter Skold,
I have attempted to verify the instances of book burnings in Cuba
that you cite, but am unable to find any references to them in
legitimate news sources[*] (e.g., New York Times, Washington Post, San
Francisco Chronicle). Please send me such sources for your
information.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Don Wood
August 11, 2005
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Wood [mailto:dwood@ala.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 9:20 AM
To: Marquardt, Steve
Cc: Beverley Becker; Deborah Caldwell-Stone; Jen Hammond; Judith Krug;
Jonathan Kelley; Nanette Perez
Subject: Re: Book Burning web page - new entry suggested
August 11, 2005
Dear Steve Marquardt,
Walter Skold has corresponded with the Office for Intellectual Freedom
about this matter. I believe he copied you and Steve Denney with
our response via his reply ("Cuban Book Burning Sources," July 11,
2005).
Once again, I and others have attempted to verify the instances of book
burnings in Cuba that you cite, but we are unable to find any
references to them in legitimate news sources [*] (e.g., New York
Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle). Please send me
such sources for your information.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Don Wood
* In contrast to the high standard of
“legitimate news sources required to verify book burning in Cuba,
the ALA OIF web page includes stories from the Butler
(Pennsylvania) Eagle, the Lewiston (Maine)
Sun Journal and The Courier of Montgomery County (Texas). Steve
Marquardt Comment
The ALA OIF has been informed of reports
issued by Amnesty International and the Organization
of American States
which contain (respectively) 73 and 78 direct references to the
sentencing documents – the OAS used the term “verdict” – available on
the web as posted by Florida State University. As of December 27,
2006, the ALA OIF web page remains silent about Cuba’s burned books.
Apparently the reports issued by respected international organizations
lack, in the judgment of ALA OIF, the “legitimacy” of the Butler Eagle,
et al.
We also provided them with official translations
(from PDF's) of the articles in major Florida papers which
legitimized the reports of book burning. So what can they possibly be
waiting for?
October 17, 2006
From: Marquardt, Steve
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 4:20 PM
To: Don Wood (dwood@ala.org)
Cc: Judith Krug; Keith Michael Fiels
Subject: Book Burning in 21st century: text submission
Importance: High
Don, I have taken some time and effort to make it easy for you to post
the news of the 2003 court-ordered book burning in Cuba, as stated in
black and white in the documents obtained from Cuban courts and posted
on the web by the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida
State University and accepted as valid by Amnesty International.
Here pasted below (and also attached) is the text, with imbedded links,
that you can use. I look forward to it being included on your web
page soon.
Cuban courts order incineration of entire private library collections
(April 4-5, 2003) Following the arrests of 75 dissidents in March 2003
and the conclusions of the one-day trials of Cubans who had been
operating independent libraries, Cuban courts ordered the
“incineration” of the entire contents of the General Pedro Betancourt
Library in Pedro Betancourt municipality, Matanzas province, the
private library of the unofficial Unión de Activistas y
Opositores "Golfo de Guacanayabo" in Manzanillo, and the Juan Gualberto
Gómez Library, Branch II in Columbus municipality, Matanzas
province. Courts also ordered the “destruction” of the books and other
materials in the 20th of May Library in Sancti Spiritus, the Biblioteca
sindical Emilio Máspero in Havana, and the personal library
collections of Pedro Argfüelles Moran and Pablo Pacheco Avila in
Ciego de Avila.
As of December 27, 2006, no answer has been received to the above
e-mail of October 17, 2006.
A FINAL
THOUGHT
In the end we will remember
not the words of our
enemies but the silence of our friends.
–
Martin Luther King, Jr.