Cuban message to Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk/Carta cubana a Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg y Elon Musk

Written by on 16/07/2021 in Petición - 2 Comments
Petition/Petición

Dear Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk:

We are writing to you, free and successful businessmen, with enormous capacity for management and initiative, in the hope that you can help us at a time when the Cuban people suffer the brutality of an oppressive regime. Specifically, we ask for your contribution so that they provide directly or through the alliances that they consider feasible, in coordination with the Biden Administration if necessary, an Internet without filters, independent of Cuban state companies, that protects the population from government abuse and allow the Cubans to break free.

As you may know, on July 11, even with the Internet running, Cubans took to the streets in dozens of cities across the island, demanding freedom and basic subsistence resources. In response, the totalitarian regime resorted to two immediate measures of force: direct violence against protesters – which included beatings of women and children, torture and firearms shooting – and disconnection from the Internet. Already the dead, wounded and imprisoned are accumulating, although, precisely because of the computer blackout imposed by the dictatorship, it is not yet possible to offer the exact number of victims.

In this third millennium, providing the Cuban population with unfiltered Internet is like, in other areas or times, saving a country from an epidemic. The great epidemic that Cubans suffer is censorship, the impossibility of coordinating freely, without being spied on by the regime in power or suffering from technological blackouts. Rest assured, dear friends, that in a future free Cuba, Cubans will know how to thank your inventiveness and generosity with the emphasis that an effort of such extraordinary dimension deserves.

_______________________________________________________________________

Estimados Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg y Elon Musk

Les escribimos a ustedes, empresarios libres y exitosos, con una enorme capacidad de gestión e iniciativa, con la esperanza de que puedan ayudarnos en momentos en que el pueblo cubano sufre la brutalidad de un régimen opresor. En concreto, pedimos vuestra contribución para que provean directamente o por medio de las alianzas que consideren factibles, en coordinación con la Administración Biden si es necesario, un Internet sin filtros, independiente de las empresas estatales cubanas, que proteja a la población del abuso gubernamental y le permita liberarse.

Como tal vez ustedes conocen, el pasado 11 de julio, aún con Internet en funcionamiento, los cubanos se lanzaron a las calles en decenas de ciudades de toda la Isla, demandando libertad y recursos básicos de subsistencia. En respuesta, el régimen totalitario recurrió a dos medidas de fuerza inmediatas: la violencia directa contra los manifestantes —la cual incluyó palizas a mujeres y niños, torturas y disparos de armas de fuego— y la desconexión a Internet. Ya los muertos, heridos y encarcelados se acumulan, aunque, precisamente por el apagón informático impuesto por la dictadura, aún no es posible ofrecer el número exacto de víctimas.

En este tercer milenio, proveer Internet sin filtros a la población cubana es como, en otros ámbitos o épocas, salvar a un país de una epidemia. La gran epidemia que padecen los cubanos es la censura, la imposibilidad de coordinarse libremente, sin ser espiados por el régimen en el poder o padecer apagones tecnológicos. Estén seguros, estimados amigos, que en una futura Cuba libre los cubanos sabrán agradecer vuestra inventiva y generosidad con el énfasis que merece un esfuerzo de tan extraordinaria dimensión.

©Pueblo de Cuba. Patria y Vida. All Rights Reserved

About the Author

Manuel Gayol Mecías is the Director and Editor of Palabra Abierta (“Open Word”; mu.gayol3@gmail.com), and a Cuban writer and newspaper man. He was a Senior Researcher in the Literature Investigation Center of the Casa de las Américas (Havana, 1979-1989), and was a member of the editorial board of Vivarium magazine, a review published under the tutelage of the Archidiosis of Havana. He has published innumerable critic essays, short stories, novels and poetry in many Cuban and foreign literary reviews and newspapers, and has been the recipient of various prizes in literature, among them the Short Story National Prize of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), 1992, and the Enrique Labrador Ruiz International Short Story Prize of the Círculo de Cultura Panamericano (Pan-American Circle of Culture) of New York, 2004. He worked as editor of Contact Review, from 1994 to 1996. He worked at La Opinión Spanish Newspaper as Editor and Copyeditor (1998 to 2014). At present, he is one of the founders of the Club del Pensamiento Crítico at the Huntington Park Public Library. He is a member of Cuban History Academy in Exile, and a member of Cuban Pen Club in Exile, too, and vice president of Vista Larga Foundation. Published works include "Retable of the Fable" (Poems, Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1989); "Multiple Appraisal of Andre’s Bello" (Compilation, Editorial Casa de las Américas, 1989); "The Jaguar is an Amber Dream" (Short stories, Provincial Center of the Havana Book Editorial, 1990); "Return of the Doubt" (Poems, Vivarium Editions, Archiepiscopal Center of Studies, Havana, 1995); "The Night of the Great Goth" (Short stories, Neo Club Editions, Miami, 2011); "Eyes of Red Goth" (Novel, Neo Club Editions, Miami, 2012); "Marja and the Eye of the Maker" (Novel, Neo Club Editions, Miami, 2013); "Inverse Trip towards the Reign of the Imagery" (Essays, Neo Club Editions, Miami, 2014) and "The Fire’s Artifice" (Short stories, Neo Club Editions, Miami, 2014); "Coincidencias de un editor (o el exorcismo de Joel Merlín)" (Novel, Palabra Abierta/Neo Club Ediciones, Eastvale/Miami, 2015); "La penumbra de Dios (De la Creación, la Libertad y las Revelaciones)" (Essays, Palabra Abierta/Neo Club Ediciones, Eastvale/Miami, 2015); "Las vibraciones de la luz (Ficciones divinas y profanas). Intuiciones II" (Essays, Palabra Abierta Ediciones/ Alexandria Library Publishing House, Eastvale/Miami, 2016).

2 Comments on "Cuban message to Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk/Carta cubana a Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg y Elon Musk"

  1. Coralina Ramirez-Brothers 18/07/2021 at 5:40 pm · Responder

    Querido Manuel:

    Eres el hombre de gran talento y alta humanidad de siempre. Gracias. Patria y Vida!

    Coralina Ramirez-Brothers

    • Manuel Gayol Mecias 18/07/2021 at 6:22 pm · Responder

      Gracias, mi querida Cora, gracias. Es lo menos que puedo hacer. Un abrazo para ti y Tim, Manuel

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