No Nikon for a Cuban boy (by US corporate edict).

[Mika]

No Nikon for a Cuban boy
http://vivirlatino.com/2006/10/31/no-nikon-for-a-cuban-boy.php

If you live in Cuba, apparently you can't have a Nikon camera. Or at least that's what Nikon is telling a young Cuban boy who won a contest for one. Nikon is citing the U.S. government's restriction of entry into Cuba on products produced in the U.S.:


A 12 year-old Cuban boy, Raysel Sosa González, won a Nikon digital camera as a prize for an international environmental painting contest held in Algeria and organized by the United Nations.

Nikon, the company who makes the digital camera, refused to delvier the gift to the child citing the content of a clause from Washington that prohibits the entry into the island of products with components from the United States.

It seems that the digital camera contains elements that are included in the list created by the U.S. during the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis.


According to Spain's 20 Minutos, the Cuban government is milking this for all its worth, and Castro himself sent the boy a digital camera. Judging from an article from the revolution's newspaper, Granma, I can't say that I disagree:

By brutally humiliating a Cuban child, the Japanese company has demonstrated how euphemistic it is to call the Yankee blockade of the island an “embargo”...

“Our child is not a terrorist; he does not plant bombs, and nor do any of the people who live and work in my country toward the magnanimity of humanity, taking healthcare and well-being to millions of human beings around the planet; our child still does not know about the evil that abounds in this world – well, now, in one single blow, he has come to know one part of that – because, since he was born, he has been surrounded only by love in his school, in the hospitals that he frequently visits and in his neighborhood, where he runs around without the fear of drugs, of kidnappers of children to remove their internal organs, or in fear of his life because a common criminal could murder him. Nobody is frightened of that because in his country these things are not an everyday occurrence, like in the United States, the government of which is incapable of controlling these evils on its own doorstep and tries to give lessons to the whole universe, when it is the main promoter of terrorism, of the mass murder of innocent children and of all that is bad on this marvelous planet, marvelous in spite of all these things.

Whoa. All this because of some camera parts.

Whatever you think of the embargo (or blockade), it seems to me that Nikon was a little too nit-picky. Was it really worth drumming up all this bad publicity? You really can't win in the court of public opinion when you are denying a child something.

[Sammy Pepys]

1. Cuban government would probably take it anyway.

And if Castro gave him one, he'll probably be giving it back very soon.

[Mika]

2. Not likely.

The Cuban government (and Mr Castro) are masterful at PR.

Being cruel to kids is not good PR.

Treating children well is good PR.

That is one reason why Cuba puts its children first - with world class universal education and world class universal health care.


Learn from Cuba

“It is in some sense almost an anti-model,” according to Eric Swanson, the programme manager for the Bank’s Development Data Group, which compiled the WDI, a tome of almost 400 pages covering scores of economic, social, and environmental indicators.

Indeed, Cuba is living proof in many ways that the Bank’s dictum that economic growth is a pre-condition for improving the lives of the poor is over-stated, if not, downright wrong.

-

It has reduced its infant mortality rate from 11 per 1,000 births in 1990 to seven in 1999, which places it firmly in the ranks of the western industrialised nations. It now stands at six, according to Jo Ritzen, the Bank’s Vice President for Development Policy, who visited Cuba privately several months ago to see for himself.

By comparison, the infant mortality rate for Argentina stood at 18 in 1999;

Chile’s was down to ten; and Costa Rica, at 12. For the entire Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole, the average was 30 in 1999.

Similarly, the mortality rate for children under the age of five in Cuba has fallen from 13 to eight per thousand over the decade. That figure is 50% lower than the rate in Chile, the Latin American country closest to Cuba’s achievement. For the region as a whole, the average was 38 in 1999.

“Six for every 1,000 in infant mortality - the same level as Spain - is just unbelievable,” according to Ritzen, a former education minister in the Netherlands. “You observe it, and so you see that Cuba has done exceedingly well in the human development area.”

Indeed, in Ritzen’s own field, the figures tell much the same story. Net primary enrolment for both girls and boys reached 100% in 1997, up from 92% in 1990. That was as high as most developed nations - higher even than the US rate and well above 80-90% rates achieved by the most advanced Latin American countries.

“Even in education performance, Cuba’s is very much in tune with the developed world, and much higher than schools in, say, Argentina, Brazil, or Chile.”

It is no wonder, in some ways. Public spending on education in Cuba amounts to about 6.7% of gross national income, twice the proportion in other Latin American and Caribbean countries and even Singapore.

There were 12 primary school pupils for every Cuban teacher in 1997, a ratio that ranked with Sweden, rather than any other developing country. The Latin American and East Asian average was twice as high at 25 to one.

The average youth (age 15-24) illiteracy rate in Latin America and the Caribbean stands at 7%. In Cuba, the rate is zero. In Latin America, where the average is 7%, only Uruguay approaches that achievement, with one percent youth illiteracy.

“Cuba managed to reduce illiteracy from 40% to zero within ten years,” said Ritzen. “If Cuba shows that it is possible, it shifts the burden of proof to those who say it’s not possible.”

Similarly, Cuba devoted 9.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) during the 1990s to health care, roughly equivalent to Canada’s rate. Its ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1,000 people was the highest in the world.

The question that these statistics pose, of course, is whether the Cuban experience can be replicated. The answer given here is probably not.

“What does it, is the incredible dedication,” according to Wayne Smith, who was head of the US Interests Section in Havana in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has travelled to the island many times since.

[Sammy Pepys]

3. They are very masterful at PR

...which is why you'd never hear anything about the camera being taken away. in the first place.

That's the way it works in Cuba. When I was there a year ago working on a humanitarian project, lots of us brought candy and stuff like that to hand out to all the kids. However, if you got caught handing it directly to a kid, you got in trouble. All the candy was to go to one of the adult leaders we were working in concert with, and they would distribute the candy (Same thing with out leftover meals at lunch).

There is always an intermediary when it comes to giving or receiving something in Cuba.

[Mika]

4. That was NEVER the case in any of my dozens of stays in Cuba.

I've been to Cuba many times. Some for personal/family reasons and some for humanitarian technical/professional exchange/education. I've had direct contacts & exchanges with Cubans of all ages, without any intermediary.


PR isn't just for foreign consumption, it is for domestic consumption also. That is one reason that Cubans overwhelmingly support their system of government (socialism).



"There is always an intermediary when it comes to giving or receiving something in Cuba."

Maybe for some certain events involving US projects, but most certainly not "always an intermediary". Direct contact between Americans and Cubans has been the impetus for Cuba's seeking the end to the US's ban on Americans freely traveling to Cuba. It is the US gov that denies this interaction, not the Cuban gov.

[Sammy Pepys]

5. Well, we had very different experiences then...

My experience was great and I love Cuba very much. I got to spend time in a lot of places besides Havana and found the people generous and fascinating. And I did not need any intermediary to talk to anyone...but when it came to the exchange of material goods, that was something different. The kind of system that exists there, for all it's pluses, would definitely not be tolerated here.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Mika, your experiences interacting with Cubans in their own country

sound far, far closer to everything ELSE I've heard from other people who go there, or who have been there many times, not to mention times you have even worked there, for crying out loud.

As you already know, there are DU'ers who maintain warm, close relationships with people they know in Cuba which have lasted for years. One DU'er especially has discussed on another message board the fact she used to, before _{George W. Bush,} of course, regularly send articles through the mail, through various services to her acquaintances there, and they have NEVER been intercepted in that country.

That's why they even have stores in Florida for Cuban-Americans to ship things to their friends and relatives there: have, for years. If this service didn't work, if things were grabbed by "the Cuban government," it wouldn't be a good business proposition, would it, to continue trying to send things to people there? Oh, well!

He's a very cute little fella. The photo taken of him with his picture is really sweet, what a smile!



Here's a photo taken of him after he returned home, and finally got a camera, similar to the one he had been promised, provided by his own country, instead.

It sounds as if it was a very unpleasant moment, as they bestowed cameras to all the other winners from other countries, then came to him with a box from Nikon containing art supplies, so he could DRAW A DAMNED PICTURE of images he wanted to record!

I don't know a thing about digital cameras, have never even held one, yet, so I can't grasp a clue about the one he got as a substitute. I would imagine his country gave him a good one.



By the way, Raysel Sosa González has hemophilia, a fairly unusual disease. Hope he's going to be o.k. At least he has access to a medical team, which should be helpful.

[Mika]

7. Certainly strange to see somone post something so different from..

.. the experience of (hundreds of) thousands of people who visit Cuba. Not to mention the remittances and goods that Cuban expats send and take to their friends and relatives in Cuba - with no one acting as any intermediary. As I've mentioned, there might be an intermediary at some US sponsored projects or events (for security reasons), but otherwise I've experienced nothing like the poster proposes.

[Judi Lynn]

8. I remember hearing about former head of the American Interests Section, Vicki Huddleston's

extravagant gifts of little short-wave radios to Cubans which were designed to pick up Radio Marti, the U.S. propaganda chanel from Miami featuring programming created by Cuban-American right-wing "exiles," and starring Cuban-American right-wing "exiles," all financed annually by U.S. taxpayers' dollars.

Their cover story was that they were giving these cute little radios to Cubans so Cubans could have a chance to hear what's going on in the rest of the world. That's the story they tell to Congress each year when they apply for more funding.

As you learned a long time ago, Cubans listen to and watch American radio stations, and tv stations, as well as Mexican, and Carribean, and Central American stations in the comfort of their own homes, and already KNOW what's going on because the news is all around them, all the time. Holy smokes, what a whopper.They don't NEED no steekin' little radios from the U.S. ambassador!



Good lord, it's Vicki Huddleston, and Havana, her Afghan. They kinda look alike, don't they?

[Judi Lynn]

9. Was looking to see if there's been a follow up to this story, found one.

It might explain why the little boy's facial expression is so very serious!

RAYSEL Sosa González received a digital camera on Wednesday night (Oct. 25), sent by President Fidel Castro, the daily Juventud Rebelde reported.

The boy received his gift publicly from the hands of Roberto González, deputy minister of health, at the school where Raysel attends seventh grade, Olof Palme Junior High, in the Havana neighborhood of La Lisa.

Jorge González, who leads the Coloring My Barrio Community Workshop, where Raysel cultivates his artistic talent, said that for four months, they had suffered together after the Japanese company Nikon shamefully refused to give Raysel the camera that was his prize for the 15th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment, because the camera had U.S. components.

“Today, justice has been done, and it has come from the most just man in the world,” the teacher affirmed.

Raysel, who was so surprised that he didn’t open his carefully gift-wrapped present for several minutes, said he was very happy about the camera sent by Fidel.

He said that he would like to see him when he gets better, give him a kiss on the cheek, and thank him for that warm gesture.
(snip)

http://newmexico.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/4712.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sweet, isn't it? I had originally assumed he was so solemn because he was feeling sadness/anger about the injustice of the effects of the American embargo on Cubans, but it looks more like he was moved that the elder Presidente had arranged this gift for him personally.

[Mika]

10. Thanks for the follow-up story, Judi.

This story illustrates just one of the millions of injustices put upon the Cuban people by the US's Helms-Burton law and the myriad of other extra territorial sanctions the US has pushed on Cuba (and Americans).

EVERYONE knows that the US sanctions only hurt the populace at large - but yet, the US government presses on with this insanity. :mad:

Don't forget, that for the digital camera that this young man won to be fully utilized a computer is needed. Luckily, if he does not own one, Cuba has tens of thousands of free computer schools, camps, etc, as well as free computer use at their libraries.