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DE RUEHWN #0180/01 0831521
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241521Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7243
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0133

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000180 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12948:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM CU XL
SUBJECT:  Cuban Dissident Blasts Cuban Racism, Sparking Vigorous 
Debate in Barbados 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) A rare public presentation by a critic of Cuba sponsored by 
the University of the West Indies drew big crowds, sparked a heated 
debate, and evoked a hysterical (in both senses of the word) 
response from the Cuban Ambassador in Barbados.  Afro-Cuban 
dissident Carlos Moore highlighted the pervasive racism that exists 
in Cuba and the lack of genuinely democratic practices.  The 
willingness of the university and the Barbadian media to provide a 
forum for critical perspectives of Cuba stood in contrast to both 
the Barbadian government's usual non-critical support of Cuba in 
Human Rights fora and the usual academic and media political 
correctness about the goodness of all things Cuban.  The volatile 
reactions from many audience members to the critical views, however, 
demonstrated that many Barbadians are still loathe to call their 
island neighbor to account.  End Summary. 
 
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Racism Alive and Well in Cuban Paradise 
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¶2. (U) Carlos Moore, an Afro-Cuban dissident and professor of 
international studies, delivered a public lecture on the realities 
and impact of racism in Cuba at the University of the West Indies in 
Barbados March 19.  The lecture, part of a multi-country book tour 
to promote the professor's recently-completed autobiography, was 
sponsored by UWI's new Cultural Studies Department.  Well attended 
by university students, members of the public, and current and 
former members of the diplomatic corps, the presentation has 
received extensive coverage in the local press. 
 
¶3. (U) Moore's lecture followed on the heels of the publication of 
an open letter he wrote to Cuban President Raul Castro entitled 
"Cuba's Big Black Lie."  In the letter and in his lecture, Moore 
derided as deceitful past declarations by Cuba's ruling elite that 
racial discrimination in Cuba had been eliminated. "Wherever we look 
in socialist Cuba," Moore contended, "our eyes are confronted with a 
cobweb of social and racial inequities and racial hatred against 
black people."  In his lecture, Moore shared that, as a young man, 
he had strongly supported the revolution and been a devotee of Fidel 
Castro.  However, this support quickly turned to disillusionment 
because of what Moore called the revolutionary government's 
ineptness at destroying the legacy of white supremacy and racism 
against Afro-Cubans. 
 
¶4. (U) Moore was among those imprisoned for protesting the 
revolution's refusal to advance racial integration.  He said he 
spent 28 days in jail, and was subsequently sent to a labor camp for 
7 years before escaping to the Embassy of Guinea and eventually 
making his way to the U.S., after which he lived in exile in several 
countries for 35 years, still a committed Marxist with strong 
criticism both for America's Cuba policy and for Cuba's 
institutionalized racism. 
 
¶5. (U) Moore's key message was that the racial divide and the 
resulting tension in Cuba have grown over the past 50 years and the 
country is now a racial powder keg on the verge of explosion.  The 
situation is dire -- contained, or perhaps only delayed, by the 
recent release of statistics by Raul Castro that acknowledge a 
racial problem exists.  Moore cited recently released GOC statistics 
that show, he said, that Afro-Cubans are disproportionately 
unemployed, under housed, and unrepresented in positions of 
leadership at all levels.  Moore contended that the reality of a 
small minority white ruling elite in a country that is 70-75 percent 
Afro-Cuban could not continue for much longer without either 
providing Afro-Cubans greater access to government, business, and 
military leadership positions, or facing the real possibility of 
civil unrest. 
 
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Swimming Against a Strong pro-Cuban Stream 
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¶6. (U) Moore's lecture was followed by a lively question and answer 
session, during which it quickly emerged that his compelling 
personal story and factually argued points had swayed few in the 
audience from their firmly held affinity for Cuba.  While some in 
the audience thanked the professor and focused their questions on 
distinctions between different kinds of racism and the plight of 
black women in Cuba, others were aggressive, forcefully pressing 
professor Moore on why he had not addressed the white communities in 
Cuba that had also suffered or why he had not highlighted the fact 
that the Cuban military under Fidel had gone to Africa to liberate 
blacks from oppression. 
 
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Cuban Ambassador Blasts Free Press, Academic Freedom 
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BRIDGETOWN 00000180  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The publication of Moore's letter and the extensive media 
coverage of the lecture sparked an immediate harangue from Cuba's 
Ambassador to Barbados, who castigated the Nation newspaper for 
printing what he termed an "outrageous and hostile" article and 
coverage of an "anti-revolutionary" lecture.  The Ambassador also 
attacked UWI for supporting "the propaganda of defamation and lies 
against Cuba."  Clearly unfamiliar with the role and functioning of 
a free press, the Cuban expressed his hope that the newspaper" will 
not publish, in the future, any more unpleasant articles like the 
one I am complaining about which does not correspond or identify 
with the traditional and magnificent relations and collaborations 
which exists between the Government and people of Barbados and the 
Government and people of Cuba." 
 
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Comment 
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¶8. (SBU) Both UWI and local media are to be commended for providing 
a forum for a Cuban dissident to air a rare criticism of Cuba in the 
Eastern Caribbean, where solidarity with Castro's Cuba has long been 
an unchallenged shibboleth and honest discussions of human rights in 
Cuba are rare.  Nevertheless, the reaction to Moore's comments made 
it clear that many Barbadians, still anchored in the past of 
romanticized support for the Cuban revolution, are simply not yet 
willing or able to come to grips with open criticism of Cuba.  While 
feelings of non-aligned small-state fraternity and appreciation for 
Cuban medical assistance programs color many opinions in the region, 
the Barbadian affinity for Cuba still seems oddly juxtaposed against 
a society that boasts of having the longest democratic traditions in 
the Hemisphere, holds itself to the highest ideals of protection for 
human rights, and has labored mightily to overcome its own heritage 
of slavery and racial division.  Still, the willingness of the 
university and media to contemplate a non-traditional narrative on 
Cuba offers a glimmer of hope that Barbados could play a more 
constructive role within the region as it comes to terms with how to 
deal with an evolving Cuba in the years ahead. 
 
HARDT