Nobody Listened to Human Rights Abuses in Cuba

'Nobody Listened' to Human Rights Abuses in Cuba
Jessica Rincon and Patrick White
Monday, April 3, 2006

Excerpted from a student paper by Jessica Rincon and Patrick White
written for the communication studies department, Concordia University,
Ontario, Canada.

A documentary made by Nestor Almendros and Jorge Ulla, entitled "Nobody
Listened," touches on the extent of human rights abuses in Cuba. The
film is inspired by the book "Against all Hope," which describes the
experiences that author Armando Valladares and others went through as
prisoners in Cuba. "Nobody Listened" recounts experiences of priests,
civilians and a former comrade of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

It is easy to see why the film is censored in Cuba. Since Castro first
formed his government 47 years ago, thousands of political prisoners
have been accused of committing crimes. What are considered crimes
include being part of organizations defending human rights, sedition or
possessing counter-revolutionary or non-authorized materials. If a
person has been arrested previously, and is considered politically
active, Castro will find any pretext to harass or imprison that person,
according to Valladares.

Castro censors people's freedom of expression by arbitrarily banning any
materials (book, film, or article) he feels threatens his government
principles, such as any declaration of human rights or a book written by
a Cuban exile, and labels these works as "counter-revolutionary."

"Nobody Listened" also covers the contrast of what Castro and his
comrades are saying is happening in Cuba and what is really going on
through the everyday experiences of many Cuban citizens. The film seeks
the response of the Cuban government regarding these issues, and not
surprisingly, uncovers that the government feels exiles are traitors, as
are human rights advocates.

It seems the documentary is not receiving the warm welcome it was
thought that it would in the United States. Agustin Blazquez, a
filmmaker and friend of Almendros, was interviewed and provided great
insight through an article entitled " Branded by Paradise and Maligned
by Exile," which appeared in "Tyrant Aficionado" in 1999. For years,
intellectual Cuban exiles residing in the United States have been
discriminated against by the people who control the media and the ones
in charge of promoting and distributing artists, filmmakers and writers'
works, Blazquez says.

As an example, "Nobody Listened" was rejected in 1988 by the New York
Film Festival. The same festival rejected "Bitter Sugar" (Leon Ichazo)
and "This is Cuba" (Chris Hume), films that also contain controversial
information about Castro's regime. This trend did not go unnoticed as
Cuban-American filmmakers protested against this decision, and among
these protesters was Jorge Ulla.

PBS initially would not show the documentary, but in 1990 finally agreed
to broadcast it. However, the stations' producers cut out about an hour
of the two-hour film. Furthermore, immediately after it ended, PBS aired
a documentary entitled "The Uncompromising Revolution" by Saul Landau.
This, according to Blázquez, was something that Ulla and Almendros
considered an absolute offence to their work. They saw Landau's work as
being pro-Castro.

Only when documentaries such as "Nobody Listened" can be shown in their
entirety will the issues on both sides be presented. That the material
is controversial and revealing is exactly why it should be aired. Only
then will the oppressed living in unspeakable conditions in Cuba be heard.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/4/3/121649.shtml?s=os