Cubans take to the streets in a massive peaceful protest in Guantanamo
https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1683444005_46973.html
Translated excerpt with translator’s comments:
A massive protest took place at sunset this Saturday in the town of Caimanera, Guantánamo, as dozens of people took to the streets shouting “Freedom!”
Videos making the rounds on social media show how residents of the town, which borders the Guantanamo Naval Base, marched in protest through the streets due to shortages and power outages.
In one of the videos, where an improvised podium can be seen, a resident of Caimanera, who at that moment declared himself dissident, rallied those around him and called on them to stop accepting the misery.
Meanwhile, as videos of the protests began to go viral, Venceremos, the local newspaper in Guantanamo, reported a power outage affecting the entire province, the causes of which were unknown.
Once videos and images of the protest began to make it onto social media, the Castro dictatorship began blocking internet access on the island. The blockages were confirmed by NetBlocks, a British organization that monitors internet access and actions by governments to block and restrict that access. On Twitter, NetBlocks posted graphs on how internet traffic in Cuba first collapsed, and then crashed down to zero.
.....midst the protest, violent acts by security forces were reported, and Cubans reported the loss of mobile data and other telephone services.
In a Facebook post in which he downplayed the scale of the protest, [journalist] Miguel Reyes Mendoza said that “official sources and authorities in the town of Caimanera” reported that “three people who were drinking alcohol began to protest against the Cuban government in the town” and “were later joined by others who also expressed their dissatisfaction and the systematic unmet needs of the population and others that require attention.”
According to the note, “a patrol car was sent, which, in trying to calm the situation, encountered resistance from the protesters, preventing the police from acting.”
However, the videos show very violent actions by military personnel against the gathered people, including women. It is unknown how many were detained. Shouts of “Long live free Cuba!”, “Patria y Vida,” and “Long live human rights!” were also heard.
[…]
Social media followers of the journalist criticized the lack of clarity in the information provided and the far away it was from the reality.
“For God’s sake Migue, you are a credible journalist, don’t let all the effort you’ve made to have and do your job well (end), don’t let reality be hidden. It wasn’t three people, it was a whole town. There are videos, that’s why there was no internet,” said one commenter.
“Oh my God! I follow you and believe you. But I saw all the videos. I really saw those who looked drunk and and it didn’t look good. I also heard the shouts very well,” referring to the cries of “Freedom!” said another commenter.
“The ‘Black Berets’ have arrived. The people raised their hands as a sign of nonviolence. The military beat them to death. Impotence, pain, anger… I’m feeling many things right now!” denounced activist Magdiel Jorge Castro, who shared images of the repression on his social media.
Once again, we have massive protests in Cuba being met with violence by the Castro dictatorship. The international community will likely look the other way, as they have done so many times in the past. It is up to the Cuban people themselves to break the chains of tyranny that have enslaved them for more than six decades.
The people raised their hands as a sign of nonviolence. The [Cuban] military beat them to death.
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Castro’s son, Trudeau, is probably salivating at the idea of being able to do that here. He shows increasingly dictatorial tendencies and lies shamelessly to the public, even when the lies are demonstrably false. His time as PM has served to identify every flaw in our parliamentary and judicial processes (judges at ALL levels are appointed). I see no remedy except to escape.
Why Does Florida Senate Bill 7050 Subvert Public Election Transparency?
https://miamiindependent.com/why-does-florida-senate-bill-7050-subvert-public-election-transparency/
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/7050/Amendment/333316/PDF
Excerpt:
Questions continue to swirl around Florida election bill SB7050 sponsored by Senator Travis Hutson. Sen. Hutson stated the bill was created by Secretary of State Cord Byrd, the Florida Supervisors of Elections (FSE) and other legislators. Interestingly enough he did not mention any input was adopted from the public or election integrity advocacy groups.
SB7050 contains a clause that allows Gov. DeSantis to run for President while remaining Governor. The clause should have been decoupled from the other election bill provisions that raise questions remaining to be answered or resolved before Gov. DeSantis signs the bill.
While the bill certainly contains some minor election integrity improvements, it also appears to contain provisions that remove transparency and public visibility into the elections process. These provisions seem to be far more damaging than the new improvements the bill provides.
The decrease in transparency is particularly of concern in light of the recent discovery of thousands of blank voted ballots in Broward and other counties for Florida’s last major election. These generated an unbelievable 10% or more blank ballots cast as previously reported.
At a minimum, the voters of Florida deserve concrete answers to the following questions about SB 7050:
Why is the requirement for a voter to return an address confirmation request being eliminated? (See line 328)
Why does the bill eliminate sending an address confirmation final notice when there is no response from a voter to an address confirmation request? (See line 301)
Why is duplicate registration data received from another state or entity so confidential that it should not be subject to Florida Open Government Sunset Review Act? (See line 347)
Why is there no longer a requirement to produce voting history within 30 days after election certification? (See line 817)
How can voter secrecy be fragile that the systems must falsely report the votes by ballot type as zero when there are less than 30 voters for the ballot? (See line 949)
Why are the voter’s precinct, unique identifier and voting type being eliminated from legislative report requirements? Why are general specifications for the report being eliminated? (See Line 845)
The bill requires transmission of some of the above Legislative Report data but that does not necessarily make it publicly accessible. Although technical specifications can logically be removed to rule much of the business specifications needed for election verification are at risk of being eliminated.
These are just some examples of bill changes that do not appear to be in the best interest of the public. While they may be legitimate explanations for some of these examples, together they paint a picture of a nefarious attempt to hide future errors and fraud. In light of our recent reporting on the Miami Dade’s reluctance to comply with reporting requests, the people of Florida have reason to be concerned.
We have included a link to the bill in this article and some sample text below so voters can make their own decision.
MI Staff