Library Juice 3:38 Supplement

Library Juice 3:38 Supplement - October 4, 2000 Good stuff on Cuba Contents: 1. Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections (book) 2. UC Library / Cuba National Library - Sister Libraries! 3. Slate article on why anyone would want to live in Cuba 4. Washington's Costly Cuba Policy 5. AAAS Clearinghouse on Cuban-US Collaboration 6. Message from John Pateman on Freedom of the Press in Cuba 7. The Committee to Protect Journalists and their Cuba reporting 8. THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT - DISSIDENTS OR MERCENARIES ? (book review) 9. School for Scanning: Cuba 10. Second World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity 11. Women and the Media Delegation 12. The Havana Book Fair and libraries in Cuba 13. Statement on US-Cuba relation from librarians at IFLA 1994 _____________________________________________________________________________top 1. Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections (book) A new book by Arnold August In the United States it is "common knowledge" that there are no elections and no democracy in Cuba. But is this true? This book is a first hand study by Canadian Arnold August, of how the "rule of the people" is carried out in Cuba. He examines two constituencies -- an urban district in Havana and a rural district in Cienfuegos Province. he spent months studying the electoral process in order to present a description of the nomination process, elections at all levels and accountability to the citizens. Shouldn't YOUR library have access to this information? This is the only book of its kind available to U.S. readers. Democracy In Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections By Arnold August Editorial Jose Marti ISBN: 0-9685084-0-5 $24.95 list price Order through your jobber, online bookseller or IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing) 402 W. 145th St. New York, NY 10031 212-926-5757 ifco[at]igc.org $25.00+$3.00 s&h _____________________________________________________________________________top 2. UC Library / Cuba National Library - Sister Libraries! Colleagues and friends- Exciting news about US-Cuba cultural relations! A long-term project I have been working on appears to be bearing fruit in the form of a first-ever "sister-library" relationship between the U.C. Library and the national library of Cuba. http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~lcush/LibraryRelease.htm Lincoln Cushing, Docs Populi _____________________________________________________________________________top 3. Slate article on why anyone would want to live in Cuba Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 08:46:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Dan Tsang <dtsang[at]sun1.lib.uci.edu> To: PLGNET-L <PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu> Subject: Alternative views on Cuba Slate offers an alternative interpretation of why one would want to live in Cuba (a la Elian): http://slate.msn.com/HeyWait/00-06-12/HeyWait.asp Daniel C. Tsang Bibliographer for Asian American Studies, Economics and Politics Machine-Readable Data Files Librarian Lecturer, School of Social Sciences 380 Main Library University of California PO Box 19557 Irvine CA 92623-9557 USA _____________________________________________________________________________top 4. Washington's Costly Cuba Policy Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 01:24:05 -0500 To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:4885] Cuba Cc: alex.byrne[at]darwin.ntu.edu.au, sjoerd.koopman[at]ifla.org, jan.ristarp[at]ifla.org, ross.shimmon[at]ifla.org There is a good article by Wayne S. Smith on "Washington's Costly Cuba Policy" in the July 3rd issue of The Nation (page 19-21). It lists the most important anti-Cuban Govt. organizations receiving funding through USAID (about $6 million in 1999). These organizations are all based in the US. And it makes the point that independent Cuban human rights organizations reject this funding as counterproductive to their aims. The author is a former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Al Kagan African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration Africana Unit, Room 328 University of Illinois Library 1408 W. Gregory Drive Urbana, IL 61801, USA tel. 217-333-6519 fax. 217-333-2214 e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu _____________________________________________________________________________top 5. AAAS Clearinghouse on Cuban-US Collaboration Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 11:25:08 -0500 From: "Michael Dowling" <mdowling[at]ala.org> To: ALA International Relations Round Table <alaworld[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: [ALAWORLD:355] AAAS Clearinghouse on Cuban-US Collaboration Dear Sir or Madam: Greetings from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). I am writing to inform you about a AAAS project that seeks to address restrictions on scientific and academic travel to and from Cuba and to promote existing and future scientific and academic collaboration between the U.S. and Cuba. This project, entitled "A Clearinghouse of Information on Travel between Cuba and the U.S.", is managed by the AAAS Science and Human Rights (SHR) Program, with funding from the Christopher Reynolds and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundations. As director of the AAAS Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Project, I am currently assisting in the implementation of this initiative and identifying potential partners and collaborators. AAAS supports the right of scientists and academicians to exchange ideas and participate in scientific activities on a worldwide basis (scientists in this context include physical, natural and social scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and the medical community). U.S. and Cuban scientists agree that scientific and academic exchanges are beneficial to the development of science in their respective countries. Therefore, AAAS has established this Clearinghouse to assist U.S. and Cuban scientists and academicians to travel between Cuba and the U.S. and to maintain or initiate new collaborations between the two countries. We encourage you to learn more about the Clearinghouse by visiting its web site at http://shr.aaas.org/rtt. Of particular importance, please note our ongoing online survey to promote US-Cuba scientific and academic collaboration. The target audience for this survey includes US and Cuban scientists and academicians interested in US-Cuba collaborations, major colleges, universities, and research institutes, as well as AAAS affiliated scientific societies. The survey seeks to determine the extent of ongoing collaboration, organizational policies on conducting collaboration, the scale and impact of U.S. and Cuban travel restrictions, and the level of interest in initiating new collaborations. Your participation in this survey is extremely important for future international scientific collaboration, so we sincerely hope that you will take the time to complete it. If you have any questions, please contact us by email at cuba[at]aaas.org. In addition, we would appreciate learning from you about other individuals or organizations that you believe would be interested in this project and survey. We look forward to hearing from you. On behalf of U.S. and Cuban scientists, researchers and academicians, we thank you very much for joining us in this important and timely effort. Best wishes, Marina S. Ratchford American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) _____________________________________________________________________________top 6. Message from John Pateman on Freedom of the Press in Cuba -----Original Message----- From: John Pateman Sent: 04 September 2000 09:42 To: progressive libs (E-mail) Cc: robert kent (E-mail); norman horrocks (E-mail) Subject: Freedom of the press in Cuba On my visit to Cuba in April 2000 I visited many libraries with internet access. My advice is - go to Cuba yourselves, visit their libraries and talk to their librarians. Also, visit some "independent libraries" - and make up your own minds. It is very interesting to see the so-called "Friends of Cuban Libraries" quoting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights regarding the right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers". This human right has been broken, in the case of Cuba, by the illegal US blockade imposed in 1962. This blockade - the most comprehensive and long lasting in history - seriously undermines Cuba's ability to import and export goods, including food, medicine, books, journals and information. Examples of the impact of this blockade include : 1. a reduction in the number of books available in Cuban libraries caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the blockade by the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts. This impacted on the previously flourishing Cuban publishing industry (which is now recovering) and left little hard currency to buy books from overseas. This has undermined the Cuban education system which offers a minimum ninth grade education and a 100% literacy rate. 2. a shortage of medical journals, which has undermined Cuba's health care system, which operates at First World standards - with high life expectancy and low infant mortality rates that are better than parts of the US and Europe. The blockade has been voted against by over 150 countries in the UN - and supported only by the US and a couple of its client states. The Friends of Cuban Libraries (sic) support the illegal US blockade which belies their claim to support human rights and intellectual freedom. One of the Friends, Jorge Sanguinetty, regularly lectures on the need to maintain the blockade, "to bring Cuba and Castro to their knees" - something which will NEVER HAPPEN. Another attack on Cuba's human rights is the illegal invasion of Cuban airspace by Radio and TV Marti. These broadcasting stations, funded by the US government, transmit programmes around the clock which call on the Cuban people to overthrow their democratically elected government and to boycott elections. The Friends of Cuban Libraries support these activities and Jorge Sanguinetty broadcasts for Radio Marti. These broadcasts are an invasion of Cuban national sovereignty and insult the name of a Cuban national hero. John Pateman Cuban Library Support Group _____________________________________________________________________________top 7. The Committee to Protect Journalists and their Cuba reporting Recently, three Swedish journalists were arrested while trying to enter Cuba. The Swedish government reacted with anger, and the intellectual freedom community followed suit. What wasn't popularly reported was that these journalists didn't have proper visas, and that was why they were thrown out of the country. This of course happens every day in the United States. The popular image of Cuba is that of a totalitarian state, so the story easily took on a false meaning (which reinforced the image of Cuba as a totalitarian state). The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent out a press release deploring the detention and expulsion. In May, CPJ named Castro to its list of the ten worst enemies of the press. Mark Rosenzweig was interested in their methodology and contacted them to find out how Castro earned this spot. The results are interesting and illustrate something of the nature of conventional wisdom Concerning the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and their reporting on Cuba / report by Mark Rosenzweig Dear friends, I decided to contact the CPJ regarding their treatment of Cuba in their reporting and other actions. Having examined the message from them forwarded to this list by Raimund Dehmlow AND having gone to their Web page where they describe who they are, what they do, why they do it, what their scope, procedures and standards are etc. I realized there were several unanswered questions. I called them 9/11 at about 1:15 EST and had no trouble getting the person directly in charge of the Cuba beat. When I told him who I was and what kind of questions I had he stammered a bit and said he thought he had better refer me to his supervisor, the head of the "Americas" department, Marylene Smeets ( officially, "program coordinator of the Americas"). My having left a message on her machine, Ms. Smeets very promptly returned my call. She addressed all my questions in one way or another, very politely and professionally. I had two main areas of questions for her. First, the press release on the three Swedish journalists expelled recently from Cuba. Second the fact that Fidel Castro has been on the CPJ's Ten Worst Enemies of the Press. With regards to the Swedish journalists: I noted that CPJ claims on its Web site that it has the most scrupulous standards of verification of fact, indeed they require 3 independent sources of confirmation of fact. I asked if the details of the account (the conditions of detention, etc.) had been verified by anyone other than the three Swedes themselves. She said yes but could give me no further detail about what kind of verification they had received. I then asked her if she was not aware that the journalists had entered the country illegally and did not declare themselves as journalists and were thus foreigners who had broken the law of a sovereign nation and legitimately subject to deportation. She replied that, yes, as the press release noted they had done so and that CPJ does not encourage journalists to deceptively enter countries and then expect to be subject to protection as journalists."Why then the story," I queried. "Because it shows how much worse journalists are being treated in Cuba with each passing year asked if that weren't rather an unfounded generalization from this story. Why use it the way it was used if it weren't a particularly good example of anything except that these people had behaved illegally and were hence deported. This brought me to my second area of inquiry, the matter of CPJ's annual list of the "ten worst enemies of the press". I noted that Fidel Castro was on the list for the 6th consecutive year and told her I found this rather peculiar. Considering the egregious violations all over the globe of press freedoms and the rights of journalists, there was an unfortunate embarrassment of riches when it came to candidates for this ignoble acknowledgement. Why Castro? She admitted there was a glut of candidates and that made it difficult to select the ten worst. She said one criteria was that the person named was PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for these violations, explaining further that, for instance, many journalists have been killed in Colombia, but they don't consider the head of state responsible so he does not appear. I said in the six years in which Castro made the top ten not ONE journalist had been killed in Cuba, and there are many countries where dozens have been, the purpose being to intimidate all other journalists, and in most cases the governments, if indeed they weren't implicated (which, in many, I doubt to be the case (the PRI in Mexico?) ) did not carry out adequate (or sometimes, any) investigations and prosecutions of those responsible. Could she send me the list of criteria for the selection of those ten worst enemies? No, there weren't any (!). Wasn't that evidence that the selection was rather "subjective" (I was thinking "political")? Yes, indeed, she remarked, it was subjective, no doubt about it. Is it then an accidental that Fidel has appeared every year for six years? No, the decision is based on our best judgement call. I came away disappointed with the answers I had received. It was clear that in both cases "subjective" judgements were being made which could not be anything but partisan and political. While I respect the work of CPJ in many respects, they are by no means an unquestionably apolitical organization or one whose reportage is necessarily above reproach. Just FYI. Mark Rosenzweig PLG _____________________________________________________________________________top 8. THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT - DISSIDENTS OR MERCENARIES ? (book review) "THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT - DISSIDENTS OR MERCENARIES ?" - an expose of the Cuban American National Foundation and anti-Castro groups, by Hernando Calvino Ospina and Katlijn Declercq, 181 pp, pbk, RRP £11.95, Ocean Press, 2000, ISBN 1-876175-15-x Robert Kent and his Friends of Cuban Libraries (sic) are always quoting from reports by organisations such as Amnesty International, Pax Christi and Reporters Without Frontiers. "THE CUBAN EXILE MOVEMENT" blows the lid wide open on the huge international conspiracy to destroy the Cuban revolution financed by the US and supported, either wittingly or unwittingly, by the media itself and by "human rights organisations" such as Amnesty International, Pax Christi, and Reporters Without Frontiers. Columbian journalist Hernando Calvino Ospina and co-author, Belgian Katlijn Declercq, used the simple technique of tape recording interviews with leading figures in the anti Castro movement. The result is a complete debunking of the idea that there is anything like a genuine opposition to the revolution, but rather a vindication of what the Cuban government has been saying all along. That these people are mercenaries paid for by the US who are few in number and would number even fewer if the money tap from Washington was turned off. Ospino says "We decided to go to Miami and Washington and interview some of the leaders of the counter revolutionary groups operating there. We talked with them. They are people who, in spite of the fact that they have so intelligently manipulated Cubans living in both cities, also like to talk with great pride about all the things they have done against the Cuban revolution. For this reason they talked to us and we simply reproduced their uncensored statements". The result is that the interviewees damn themselves from their own mouths. In one interview Ricardo Bofill, the self-styled leader of the so-called Cuban Human Rights Committee, admits that his group has no influence in Cuba, represents nobody on the island, and, perhaps even more surprisingly, that "millions" of people in Cuba sympathise with communism. The leader of Pax Christi in Holland quite brazenly declares her support for the US state department while the French group, Reporters Without Frontiers, admits that they actually pay people in Cuba $50 per month (five times the national wage) to be independent journalists. According to the FAIFE report on "independent libraries" in Cuba, many of these "librarians" are also "independent journalists". Although Reporters Without Frontiers is supposed to be working in favour of journalists in danger for their lives throughout the world, in the case of Cuba, as the interviews in this book shows, they are supporting people who work with the extreme right in the US. Somewhat shamefully, despite the fact that journalists are being murdered at a rate of 2 or 3 a year in Ospina's Columbia, Reporters Without Frontiers makes Cuba its priority in Latin America. When asked to explain, the director says it is because in Columbia there is freedom of expression. You may be killed for it, but at least it is there. Whereas in Cuba, where no journalist has died in 40 years, there is no freedom of expression. Ospina also reveals that the son of Peruvian writer Maria Vargos Llosa had said that Amnesty International intensified its campaign against Cuba after its officials had meetings in Miami with the Cuban American National Foundation. As Ospina concludes "Look what happened to Nicaragua which never declared itself socialist but was attacked and attacked until it was destroyed. Look at Nicaragua today. It has once again become one of the poorest nations in the world with high illiteracy and high mortality. What good does this democracy and freedom of expression the US and Europe touts to defend their economic interests serve in cases like this ?" John Pateman Cuban Library Support Group _____________________________________________________________________________top 9. School for Scanning: Cuba Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 11:16:10 -0400 From: Jamie Doyle <jdoyle[at]NEDCC.ORG> Subject: CUBA SCHOOL FOR SCANNING To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA School for Scanning: Cuba Issues of Preservation and Access for Paper-Based Collections Presented by the Northeast Document Conservation Center March 5-9, 2001 The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) together with the National Archives of Cuba, present an international conference titled: School for Scanning: Cuba, Issues of Preservation and Access for Paper-Based Collections, to be held in Havana, Cuba on March 5-9, 2001. The conference is funded in part by The ACLS/SSRC Working Group on Cuba, The Christopher Reynolds Foundation, The Bay Foundation, and the Getty Grant Program. What is the School for Scanning? This conference provides a rationale for the use of digital technology by managers of paper-based collections in cultural institutions. Specifically, it equips participants to discern the applicability of digital technology in their given circumstances and prepares them to make critical decisions regarding management of digital projects. Although NEDCC has held similar conferences in the past, School for Scanning: Cuba has been specially designed to address the challenges facing Latin American preservation professionals. Technical issues will be addressed, however, this is not a technician training program. Conference content will include: - Managing Digital Assets - What is Metadata? - Content Selection for Digitization - Digital Preservation: Theory and Reality - Text and Image Scanning - Digital Products and Process - Case Studies in Selection - Test-Driving the Technology Who Should Attend? Administrators within cultural institutions, as well as librarians, archivists, curators, and other cultural or natural resource managers dealing with paper-based collections, including photographs, will find the School for Scanning conference highly relevant and worthwhile. The conference will be conducted in English with Spanish translation. All participants will receive a certificate. For registration information contact: School for Scanning: Cuba Archivo Nacional de Cuba Compostela #906 esq. San Isidro Habana Vieja 10100 C. Habana, CUBA Tel: 537 62 9436 o 537 63 6489; Fax: 537 33 8089 Email: <arnac[at]ceniai.inf.cu> _____________________________________________________________________________top 10. Second World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity in Havana, Cuba, November 10 - 14, 2000 The people of Cuba invite you to join their friends (more than 4,000 people) from around the world as they converge in Havana for a week of information, cultural and social events. There are three trip packages available. Trips must be paid for by October 1, 2000 or there will be a late fee. For more information contact National Network on Cuba, P.O. Box 225303, San Francisco, CA 94122, (415) 566-8560, nnoc[at]pobox.com , http://www.cubasolidarity.com _____________________________________________________________________________top 11. Women and the Media Delegation ******** Please post widely ******** Women and the Media Delegation and 2nd World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity Havana and Cienfuegos Province, Cuba November 8-19, 2000 We invite women activists and media makers including film/video makers, journalists in print, writers, editors, academics, radio, television, photography; new media and Internet activists and designers; media centers and distribution organizations; media curators, critics and educators to join us in Havana and Cienfuegos Province for our "Women and the Media" delegation and to participate in the 2nd World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity. Goals of the delegation are: **End the U.S. government blockade of Cuba, including the U.S. media information embargo of Cuba **Bring women's voices and priorities into the media about Cuba **Develop strategies for women to expand our participation and representation in the media **Strengthen skills in media activism **Evaluate the potential for joint global women's media projects in solidarity with Cuba **Address global communication issues from women's leadership perspectives during the World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity **Study the history of media representation of Cuba in the U.S. and vice versa ************************************************************************ Co-sponsored by Hermanas: Sisterhood in Central America and the Caribbean Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Sojourner: The Women's Forum ************************************************************************ Proposed itinerary includes: Wednesday November 8 Travel to Havana, Cuba Thursday November 9 Orientation to delegation, the World Meeting and media activism in Cuba, Jamaica and the United States Fri.-Tues. November 10-14 2nd World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity Meetings with Cuban women media makers, journalists and activists; coordinated by filmmaker Estela Bravo. Discussions and workshops on global communications issues and global women's media priorities at the 2nd World Meeting Wednesday November 15 Havana only participants travel to US Wed.-Fri. November 15-17 Travel to Cienfuegos Province, visit: women's centers, health care projects, educational facilities, revolutionary historical sites including Bay of Pigs (Playa Giron) Saturday November 18 Havana Sunday November 19 Travel to United States ************************************************************************ Costs (subject to change) Delegation and Conference Havana only, Nov. 8-15 WILPF members--$1,050, non-WILPF mbrs.--$1,250 After Oct. 8 --$1,150 $1,350 Havana & Cienfuegos, Nov. 8-19 WILPF members--$1,350, non-WILPF members.--$1,550 After Oct. 8 --$1,450 $1,650 September 15 Deadline for $300 deposit October 8 Deadline for final payment In the case of cancellations, deposits will be refunded, minus $100, through Oct. 8 ************************************************************************ Delegation co-leaders Pamela Groves, Hermanas, Princeton New Jersey 609 924-1486 • email: sistreni[at]aol.com Teresa Konechne, video/filmmaker & media activist, Richmond VI 804 225-3939 email: tlkonech[at]saturn.vcu.edu Jan Strout, NNOC, WILPF Cuba Action Committee co-chair, Seattle, WA 206 547-0940 Cindy Domingo, Seattle, WA 206 782-2565 • email: cindy.domingo[at]metrokc.gov Lauren Draper, New Rochelle, NY 914 576-0196 • email: designwork[at]mindspring.com Tamara James, Wichita, KS 316 267-5791 • email: tsjames[at]worldnet.att.net FOR REGISTRATION PACKET WITH COMPLETE COSTS AND DEADLINES, CALL or EMAIL ONE OF THE CO-LEADERS ABOVE _____________________________________________________________________________top 12. The Havana Book Fair and libraries in Cuba This was the title of the first talk in a new series organised by the International Group of the Library Association (IGLA). The event was held at the Library Association on 29 March. The audience included members of IGLA, the Cuban Library Support Group, Information for Social Change, Link, Cuba Solidarity Campaign and Book Aid International (including a visiting librarian from Zambia). Also present were library and information students, a columnist from the "Library Association Record" (journal of the Library Association) and a volunteer worker from the Pathfinder bookshop. The speaker was Jonathan Silberman who attended the 9th International Havana Book Fair in February 2000 as a representative of Pathfinder Books. The Book Fair was a great success and attracted 200,000 people ; the last Book Fair, in 1998, was visited by 40,000 people. Many people visited the Pathfinder stall to read and discuss the books on display. These included 3 new titles which were launched at the Book Fair : the Spanish version of "Capitalism's World Disorder" by Jack Barnes ; "Che Guevara talks to young people", jointly published with Casa Editora Abril ; and "Making History", interviews with four generals of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces. Pathfinder did not have to submit a titles list in advance of the Book Fair, which dispels the myth surrounding censorship in Cuba. The Book Fair included a number of events, such as the launch of a new version of the children's classic Pinnochio by an Italian publishing house (the Book Fair was sponsored by Italy). The Book Fair illustrated that Cuban publishing is getting back onto its feet after the effects of the US blockade and the collapse of trade with the USSR, which Cubans refer to as the Special Period. The hunger for books and reading is still strong and Pathfinder donated any books which they did not sell to Cuban libraries. You can support this effort via Pathfinder's "Books for Cuba" fund. Jonathan visited the new provincial public library in Havana and attended a meeting of Cuban librarians, including Eliades Acosta, Director of the Jose Marti National Library. The so-called "independent library movement" was dismissed as being neither independent nor a movement, and none of its members were librarians. Eliades called on people to visit Cuba and see for themselves. Jonathan answered a number of questions from the audience and the event was a great success. Future events will be held on 21 June, 19 July, 20 September, 18 October and 15 November. _____________________________________________________________________________top 13. Statement on US-Cuba relation from librarians at IFLA 1994 Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 11:47:04 -0600 To: srrtac-l[at]ala.org, plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu> Subject: Cuba At this point, it might be useful to call the statement that a large group of people made at the IFLA Meeting in Havana in 1994. Statement of Librarians from the United States and Puerto Rico on U.S.- Cuba Relations We librarians from the United States and Puerto Rico have just completed our productive participation in the 60th conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in Havana, Cuba. We were hosted by hundreds of dedicated Cuban librarians from all types of libraries throughout the island. As a group, we feel compelled to give our colleagues and government representatives our observations. We urge a reevaluation of U.S. policy towards Cuba, leading towards normalization of relations. We have seen first-hand the determination of our Cuban colleagues to advance their library services despite the hardships, shortages, and material limitations they are now experiencing. We have witnessed their determination to safeguard basic gains in education, including library services, in the context of developing aspects of a market economy. We have been deeply impressed by their commitment to common professional objectives and deeply moved by their generosity in hosting librarians from all over the world despite their problems. It is clear that many of these problems could be alleviated by the end of the U.S. economic blockade against Cuba and the normalization of relations between our two countries. Diplomatic and economic ties between the U.S. and other nations (such as China and Vietnam) with which the U.S. has ideological differences, have been achieved. why not do the same with Cuba? Normalization would allow the flow of food and medicine into Cuba through trade, reduce the hunger of Cuban people, and stem the tide of those Cubans who are trying to escape these economic hardships by taking to the sea in rafts. But Cuba will not be the only beneficiary from such a course. U.S. businesses and the Americanpeople will benefit from trade, and the prestige of the U.S. in world affairs will be enhanced by its ability to abandon an outdated policy which is universally opposed in the international community. We have been privileged among U.S. citizens to have the opportunity to visit, research and study library service in Cuba and to confer with colleagues from every continent gathered here. And although we have done this within the guidelines of the U.S. Treasury Department, we have been deeply embarrassed by the senseless restrictions placed on travel here for U.S. citizens. We librarians struggle daily for intellectual freedom and the right to know. These are fundamental principles of our profession and our democratic system. The continuation of a policy which limits the right of U.S. citizens to travel is unworthy of a great nation and contradicts our country's ideals of personal and intellectual freedom and human rights. In conclusion, we urge our government to seek negotiations with the government of Cuba aimed at normalizing relations, ending the blockade, and reinstituting unfettered travel and exchanges between the people of our two countries. Signatories: Nancy D. Anderson (University of Illinois, Urbana) Mary Ashe (San Francisco, California) Herbert Biblo (Long Island Resource Council, Stony Brook, New York) Mary Biblo (University of Chicago Laboratory School, Chicago, Illinois) Stephen C. Bloom (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Alex Bloss (University of Illinois, Chicago) Marjorie E. Bloss (Center for Research Libraries, Chicago, Illinois) Ruth C. Carter (University of Pittsburgh, Wexford, Pennsylvania) Marianna Tax Choldin (Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, Urbana, Illinois) Astrid Colón (University of Puerto Rico) Aurea S. Cordero Guillama (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Donald Davis (GSLIS, Univeristy of Texas at Austin, Texas) Dennis Day (Salt Lake City, Utah) Gloria Dinerman (President, Library Co-Op, Inc., Edison, New Jersey) Robert Doyle (Chicago, Illinois) Carlos E. Echevarría (Librarian, Social Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico) Charles Elder (California State University, Dominguez Hills, California) Carol Elliott (University of Arizona, Tuscon) Monica Ertel (Portale Valley, California) Adriana A. Fandler (Queens Public Library, New York) Adele M. Fasick (Toronto, Ontario) Shirley Fitzgibbons (Bloomington, Indiana) Barbara J. Ford (Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond) Judith Lin Hunt (University of Richmond, Virginia) Suzanne Hildenbrand (SUNY at Buffalo, New York) Ena Huyke de Castro (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Al Kagan (University of Illinois Library, Urbana, Illinois) Dorothy Kearney (Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois) Ann Kelsey (County College of Morris, New Jersey) Martin Kesselman (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey) Clayton C. Kirking (Phoenix, Arizona) Leonard Kniffel (Chicago, Illnois) Mike Koenig (GSLIS Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois) Vibeke Lehmann (Madison, Wisconsin) Nina Leneman (United Nations Library, Geneva, Switzerland) Olivia Madison (Iowa State University, Ames) S. Michael Malinconico (University of Alabama SCILS, Tuscaloosa, Alabama) Martha McPhail (San Diego State University, San Diego, California) Suzine Har Nicolescu (Medgar Evers College, CUNY, New York) Maria E. Ordodóñez (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Lisette Ormsbee (Richmond, Virginia) Betty J. Owsley (Indianapolis, Indiana) Grace Patterson (Ridgewood, New Jersey) Jose Manuel Perez (Melcher Edwards, Puerto Rico) Tom Perry-Houts (University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis) Sandra J. Pfahler (Madison, Wisconsin) Magda Rivera Colón (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Howard Rovelstad (Gibson Island, Maryland) Mathilde V. Rovelstad (Gibson Island, Maryland) Lillian Soler (University of Puerto Rico) Ann C. Sparanese (Englewood Public Library, Englewood, New Jersey) Deidre Stam (Syracuse, New York) Rosemary Stevenson (Urbana, Illinois) Christy Ann Strange (Storey County School district, Virginia City, Nevada) Edward Sullivan (Phoenix, Arizona) Peggy Sullivan (Chicago, Illinois) Susan Swartzburg (New Brunswick, New Jersey) Thomas Tollman (University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nebraska) Myra Torres Alamo (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Natividad Torres (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Elisa Vázquez (Library System, University of Puerto Rico) Duane Webster (Potomac, Maryland) Robert Wedgeworth (University of Illinois, Urbana) Chung-Kyun Wedgeworth (University of Illinois, Urbana) Gloria Westfall (Indiana University Library, Bloomington) Mohamed Zehery (Ohio State University, Lima Campus) _____________________________________________________________________________top L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://libr.org/Juice/ | | Library Juice is supported by a voluntary subscription | fee of $10 per year, variable based on ability and | desire to pay. 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