From: Nelson Valdes nvaldes@unm.edu
September 18, 2004

Dear Cuba-L reader,

The Miami Herald has been working overtime in politicizing and criticizing the Cuban government. Even Juan O. Tamayo has been caught in this process. Tamayo, as a rule, has done fairly balanced reports on Cuba. Nancy San Martin, on the other hand, has changed her tune in the last 12 months or so, she is now one more in the large crowd of rightwing journalists cranking out tirades against the Cuban government.  Contrary to what Cuba-L usually does, we wish to point out all the examples in the following piece were the authors have gone out of their way to politicize and criticize the Cuban government - when, in fact, it was unnecessary We have added our comments [in brackets]. It should be noted that what is extraordinary is that they are totally unaware of how the Civil Defense system in the island is highly regarded throughout the world.

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September 17, 2004
Miami Herald -
STORM PREPARATIONS: Cuba imposes strict response

[The title begins with Cuba "imposes strict" response.  But, CBS4 News out of Ft. Lauderdale on August 11 reported that the South Florida authorities had established "Mandatory Tourist Evacuation In Lower Keys." Thus, it is OK when it is done in Florida but not when it is done in Cuba. Whether it was mandatory in Cuba was not demonstrated]

Cuba evacuated nearly 1.9 million people facing the wrath of Hurricane Ivan with remarkable effectiveness.
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO AND NANCY SAN MARTIN
jtamayo@herald.com

Cuba's state TV and radio monopoly was all Ivan all the time. Volunteers went door to door announcing evacuations for the Category 5 hurricane, and police followed them to enforce the order. President Fidel Castro, as always, went to the province most threatened -- before Ivan arrived.

[Imagine a report on a hurricane begining with a discussion of the ownership of the media in Cuba. Fair enough. How about media concentration and monopoly in Miami? Should we learn about that while getting a report on hurricane preparations in south Florida? Why not? I want to know about Viacom and Clear Channel and what the Columbia Journalism Review reported on media concentration and mergers in Miami in the last 4 years. The point is: it was totally unnecessary to start the piece that way.]

In the end, Ivan barely brushed the westernmost province of Pinar del Río, destroying several homes, flooding some areas and knocking down power lines and trees but causing no deaths. [From this sentence you could conclude that the hurricane did little damage to Cuba. But is that the case? How could they report on the damages when the Cuban government has not issued a final assessment yet? It is due to do so latter this afternoon]

The country's evacuation of nearly 1.9 million people from coastal and flood-prone areas underlined the effectiveness of its hurricane preparedness -- partly because of its organization, partly because of the communist government's firm control over the lives of 11 million Cubans. [Could the same be said of the United States government? In fact, outside of Iraq is there a government that does not have a firm control of its citizens? Are these journalists born again libertarians?]

After 45 years of Castro rule, Cubans understand that the government has the last word. When state agents came, most people did not question the orders to evacuate, to open and staff shelters and ensure that displaced families were accounted for and fed. [A report on hurricanes have to state that Fidel Castro has been in power 45 years. Interesting. Then we are told about "state agents"  - they become "volunteers" elsewhere in the story.  They write that "most people did not question the orders to evacuate" 1) How do they know? 2) Did Tamayo and San Martin were in Cuba? 3) 1.9 million were evacuated, so, how many of those did THEY interview?" 4) How long did they take them? 5) How many are most? And last but not least, 6) how come they did not? Fear of the government or sharing the same concern as the authorities? So many questions, verdad? ]

What if the people don't want to leave their homes? a reporter asked a resident of Artemisa, just outside of Havana. She laughed. ''They have no choice,'' she said. [A reporter? Who? Where? When? Are Juan and Nancy relying on those "independent journalists" we hear so much about? And what, "a" reporter asks "a" resident out of 1.9 million people? It should be noted that: 1) the Cuban government has no incentive to evacuate anyone unless it has to, 2) the Cuban governent will have to provide  evacuation resources (trucks, food, space, etc) unless the people evacuated are taken  to the homes of friends and relatives [something that will be unheard of in the US], 3) the Cuban government also moved the possessions of the people evacuated, something that is never done anywhere else. 

Imagine, the family and their possessions (including animals) are evacuated at no cost. The von Mises crowd obviously cannot comprehend this. More important,  did the reporters  checked to see whether FEMA engages in compulsory evacuations as well? Do the authors realize that the "The USA stands out more or less alone for having adopted the alternative term 'emergency preparedness' rather than civil defense? [See: "From civil defense to civil protection--and back again" by David Alexander] Thus, comparing Cuba and the United States demonstrates a naive degree of ethnocentricism.]

The Cuban government's first line of defense against hurricanes is the media, totally controlled by the state, from the three TV stations to dozens of radio stations and newspapers. [We already learned this in the first paragraph but the authors apparently forgot that they told us that already, or felt compelled to tell us again.]

From the day that Ivan began pointing its eye toward Cuba, TV broadcast nonstop shows on the hurricane. Civil-defense officials announced preparations and meteorologists gave hurricane instruction every night before a classroom-like studio audience. [Non-stop? Really? Not entirely. Only Radio Reloj did so non-stop, and they always report just the news. Radio Progreso and Radio Rebelde provided music as well.  And so did the other radio stations. Many of them available via Internet. Tamayo and San Martin actually missed the opportunity of attacking the Cuban government on this matter. They should have said that the mass media - controlled and owned by the Cuban government - did not provide around the clock information on the hurricane...]

The result was that Cubans began stocking up on emergency supplies early and taking other precautions.

In all, the government moved 1.89 million people -- 17 percent of its citizens -- out of harm's way.

As civil defense officials announced evacuations, members of neighborhood watch groups went door to door making sure everyone knew. Then came the police, making sure everyone obeyed. [Obeyed what? Evidence?]

All along, civil defense officials and volunteers kept detailed lists of residents, those who were in shelters and those in neighbors' homes. [Detailed lists of residents? Like in Google? Should Cuba-L provide the addresses and the phone numbers of Juan and Nancy? Well, one could start here: http://find.intelius.com/search-summary-out.php?ReportType=1&searchform=name ]

''We are well organized,'' said a civil defense representative at a shelter in Guanajay just outside Havana.

''We got very lucky,'' Melardo Quintero, 54, said as he made some minor adjustments on his thatched roof near the town of San Juan y Martínez in Pinar del Río.

But Castro, who repeatedly compared his government's preparations for Ivan to the island's long-standing preparations for a possible war with the United States, said it was more than luck. ''We've been preparing for this for 45 years,'' he told state television.

[So, why such organization in Cuba? Is it totalitarianism at work? Is it Fidel Castro showing off? Is it, perhaps preparing for a military invasion from outer space or Florida? How about  October 9, 1963? Have the reporters ever heard of Hurricane Flora and what it did to Cuba? Over a 1000 Cubans were killed then. And the Civil Defense network that the island has now began to be built then. The system is so successful that the United Nations has recognized it as a model for the world.  Tamayo and San Martin have not caught up with those facts, yet. But let us help them with the proper hyperlink. This is a report issued on September 14, 2004. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/iha943.doc.