VZCZCXYZ0021
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUB #0356/01 1661707
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151707Z JUN 09
FM USINT HAVANA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4487

UNCLAS HAVANA 000356 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CU EAID PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: CIVIL SOCIETY PROJECT PROPOSALS AND PRISONERS' 
HUMANITARIAN NEEDS 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
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¶1. (SBU) Cuban Civil Society members frequently present USINT 
officers with project proposals or requests for humanitarian 
aid. USINT officers also provide input about civil society 
conditions and aid requests during quarterly USAID LAC 
Grantee Coordination Meetings and through regular 
communication with the Department. In preparation for the 
quarterly meeting being held in late June, this cable 
summarizes three recent project proposals from USINT 
contacts, and lists humanitarian needs of prisoners, as 
reported to USINT officers by family members of prisoners and 
other prisoner advocates. Although some context is included 
in the humanitarian aid section in order to provide clarity, 
this cable should not be viewed as an endorsement, critique, 
or evaluation of any of the following civil society requests. 
 USAID and DRL grantees may find this information useful when 
channeling their resources in current and future programs. 
Further information on the local counterparts for civil 
society projects can be provided upon request through WHA/CCA. 
 
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CIVIL SOCIETY PROJECT PROPOSALS 
------------------------------- 
 
PROJECT A: CIVIL SOCIETY CONSTRUCTION IN IMPOVERISHED AREAS 
 
¶2. (SBU) OBJECTIVE: Build/strengthen civil society structures 
in poor neighborhoods throughout Cuba. 
 
¶3. (SBU) PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Deliver humanitarian aid to 
impoverished areas of the island; organize cultural exchanges 
("intercambios"), sporting events/leagues, and non-political 
ethics courses that will teach participants how to be "truly 
free and democratic." 
¶4. (SBU) RESOURCES REQUESTED: Either funding to purchase the 
following items, OR the items themselves: medicine, food, 
clothing, toys, sports equipment (particularly for baseball 
and soccer), and literature for children, adolescents, and 
adults. Deliveries could be tracked by the project 
coordinator, and any contributors to this project would be 
welcome to monitor/attend any event organized through the 
project. 
 
PROJECT B: LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER (LGBT) COMMUNITY 
BUILDING VIA WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN 
¶5. (SBU) OBJECTIVE: Strengthen the existing Cuban LGBT 
community by increasing its awareness of and connection to 
the global LGBT community. 
¶6. (SBU) PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Create, publish, and distribute 
a weekly Spanish-language news bulletin covering LGBT-themed 
issues and developments outside Cuba. (Bulletin conceived as 
the first step in a multi-tiered project designed to improve 
the LGBT community's ability to publicize conditions on the 
island and advocate for change in the promotion and 
realization of constitutional and human rights.) 
¶7. (SBU) RESOURCES REQUESTED: Laptop, Printer, Toner, and 
Printer paper OR economic resources to buy same on-island; 
Internet cards for use in hotels. 
 
PROJECT C: PETITION DRIVE TO GATHER 10,000 SIGNATURES IN 
SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION GUARANTEEING RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS 
¶8. (SBU) OBJECTIVE: Strengthen Christian civil society at a 
national and local level. Gather the minimum number of 
signatures necessary to mandate consideration of draft 
legislation establishing, in part: official recognition of 
all religious congregations; the right to personal private 
property for the practice of religion; the authorization of 
public spaces such as stadiums and theaters for religious 
use; and freedom for religious groups to provide humanitarian 
and other forms of aid to vulnerable populations, including 
prisoners. 
¶9. (SBU) PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Establish/support a nationwide 
network of 12 coordinators who will collect petition 
signatures and build, at the local level, independent 
Christian communities which would offer education in 
Christian ideology and human and civil rights. 
¶10. (SBU) RESOURCES REQUESTED: The coordinator (an 
evangelical Christian pastor) has constructed a budget for 
the project which includes logistical needs and salaries for 
chief coordinators.  He estimates a $595 CUC budget per month 
will be necessary to complete this project. The project is 
already underway, but the coordinator states that it has 
stalled due to a lack of funding to cover basic 
organizational costs. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
HUMANITARIAN AID REQUESTS FOR PRISONERS 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Political prisoner advocates (including immediate 
family members and former prisoners) regularly present USINT 
officers with requests for humanitarian aid for delivery to 
prisoners. (NOTE: Post would continue to discourage use of 
the diplomatic pouch for shipments of humanitarian aid to 
political prisoners and would encourage NGOs to diversify 
their mechanisms for getting assistance to the island. END 
NOTE.) The following lists summarize those requests, without 
giving priority to any area or item. Anecdotally, advocates 
emphasize that water purification mechanisms, basic medical 
supplies, and mosquito nets are top priorities. 
¶12. (SBU) Prisoners receive supplies through family visits, 
which are generally granted every 45-90 days, depending on 
the prisoner. Legally, families are allowed to deliver up to 
30 pounds of goods on these visits for an individual 
prisoner's use; in practice, weight allowances can shift 
dramatically, based on any number of factors including prison 
guards, personal preferences. 
¶13. (SBU) Advocates believe the following items could 
generally be delivered to inmates by their families and would 
not be confiscated by prison guards. (Items are categorized.) 
------------------ 
¶14. (SBU) HYGIENE (quantities adequate for 1 prisoner, per 
month): 
- Body soap (1 bar per month, or a minimum of 3 hotel-sized) 
- Laundry detergent/soap 
- Dish soap 
- Razors 
- Shaving Cream 
- Sanitary Pads for females 
¶15. (SBU) CONTEXT: Prisoners are generally given one small 
(hotel-sized) bar of body soap per month, which will 
disintegrate within 3-5 uses. Prisoners often eat with their 
own dishes and utensils, but are not given cleaning supplies, 
either for their dishes and eating utensils, or for their 
uniforms. They must wash their dishes in dirty and usually 
parasite-ridden water. Female prisoners do not receive 
tampons or sanitary pads, and those items are too expensive 
for many families to purchase, and/or unavailable in many 
areas of Cuba. 
------------------ 
¶16. (SBU) CLOTHING/BEDDING 
- Sheets 
- Towels (Body and dish) 
- Shoes (preferably long-lasting boots) 
- Socks 
- Underwear 
- Flip-flops (for shower) 
- Camping Mat or other form of mattress/cover for cement beds 
- Mosquito Net 
¶17. (SBU) CONTEXT: Although prisoners are given uniforms, 
family members stress that uniforms do not include footwear 
or underwear. Inmates need flip-flops for showers as well as 
shoes for daily wear, since fungal infections and other 
contagious skin conditions are an ongoing problem due to an 
overall lack of sanitation. Prisoners often sleep on cement 
slabs. Prisons do not supply bedding, and many families 
cannot afford to purchase sheets, or cannot find them on the 
market. Although some inmates receive mattresses, they are 
frequently only half an inch thick and rot easily; many 
mattresses are also infested with vermin. Camping mats 
designed to withstand heat, humidity, insects, and mold would 
be an ideal form of aid, so long as the mats could be 
transported with ease. Many families travel for a day or more 
(and via several types of transportation) in order to visit a 
prisoner. 
------------------ 
¶18. (SBU) NUTRITION 
- Water purification tablets (enough for 3L of water per day) 
OR containers with water filters 
- Multi-vitamins (one per day) 
- Meal Replacement/High Calorie Bars 
- Powdered Milk (500 grams per month, preferably soluble in 
cold water) 
- Protein Powder 
- Fish oil tablets 
- Chicken soup packets (2 per day) 
- Seasoning packets (2 per day) 
¶19.  (SBU) CONTEXT: Family members repeatedly tell USINT that 
prisoners rely on the food they receive during visits as 
their primary diet. One mother states that her son has 
survived for four years by eating crackers with mayonnaise, 
which he rations according to the quantity she can bring when 
she visits. According to current and former prisoners, food 
in the prisons is often rotten or otherwise inedible, and 
portions are dangerously small. Inmates may receive a small 
piece of bread in the morning; lunch may be a small piece of 
meat (perhaps 2 ounces), accompanied by rice or pasta. 
 
Prisoners report uncooked or rotten rice and meat, as well as 
frequent servings of "bone soup" - i.e., hot water flavored 
only by meatless bones. 
----------------- 
¶20. (SBU) MEDICINE 
- Anti-fungal powder 
- Antacids 
- Basic pain relievers 
- Fever-reducing pills 
- Anti-inflammatories 
- Anti-diarrheals 
- Antibiotic ointment 
- Antihistamines 
- Menthol 
- Band-aids/gauze 
- Clean syringes 
¶21. (SBU) CONTEXT: Prisoners and family members report that 
medical supplies are virtually non-existent in prisons, 
particularly basic "over-the counter" supplies. Prisoners 
have requested clean syringes because prison authorities 
reuse needles when giving vaccinations and other shots. 
 
¶22. (SBU) COMMENT: Outside of humanitarian aid, prisoners 
also constantly request Spanish-language reading material. 
Family members report that reading material will be 
confiscated if it is political or economic in nature, written 
in English, or obviously linked to the US or a US-based 
organization. Sports books, almanacs, and atlases have been 
particularly popular with inmates. 
¶23. (SBU) COMMENT: Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez recently 
posted a specific description of how people off-island could 
provide aid to Cuban bloggers.  Her posting provides 
additional insight into the current needs of Cuban civil 
society and can be found in Spanish at 
www.desdecuba.com/generaciony/?p=1206, or in English at 
www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=620.  The posting is titled, 
"How to Help" ("Como Ayudar"). 
FARRAR