News Bulletin
The Friends of Cuban Libraries
December 28, 2001
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN REPORTEDLY FIRED FOR DISCUSSING ENVIRONMENT
Katia Gonzalez, a librarian at an elementary school in Guanabo, Cuba, was
reportedly forced to resign after she held a class discussion on
environmental issues. According to an article filed by reporter Reinaldo
Cosen Alen on the CubaNet website (www.cubanet. org, Dec. 27), Ms. Gonzalez
angered the authorities by asking students in a sixth grade class at the
Martyrs of Angola Public School to voice their opinions about environmental
issues. Several students expressed criticism of environmental problems in
Cuba, such as toxic automobile exhausts and harm to the ozone layer.
One of the sixth grade students of Ms. Gonzalez, Grysy Rodriguez,
complained about this discussion to her father, a member of the Communist
Party. The next day, according to the reporter, school administrators and
the father of Grysy Rodriguez met with the class to inquire as to what had
been said by the librarian, Katia Gonzalez, who was not invited to attend the
meeting. The children were reportedly warned that they should not mention
this meeting to anyone, not even their parents. According to a source cited
by the reporter, "Grysy told lies about the librarian. They didn't call her
[i.e., the librarian Katia Gonzalez] to the meeting to explain her actions or
to allow her to defend herself. Because they threatened the students, no one
spoke up out of fear. It seemed like a Tribunal of the Inquisition, which
approved expelling her from her job saying that she was not in agreement with
the revolution of Fidel Castro." Following this meeting which she was not
allowed to attend, Katia Gonzalez was reportedly forced to resign from her
position as an alternative to being fired outright.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Courteous messages expressing concern about the
situation of Katia Gonzalez may be sent to Mr. Felipe Perez Roque, the Cuban
Minister of Foreign Affairs. His e-mail address is:
([log in to unmask]). Please foward any responses to the Friends of
Cuban Libraries. We also ask that this important matter be brought to the
attention of the President of the American LIbrary Association, Mr. John W.
Berry, who declines to acknowledge violations of intellectual freedom in
Cuba, whether committed against librarians or other persons. Mr. Berry's
e-mail address is: ([log in to unmask]).
BACKGROUND: The Friends of Cuban Libraries, founded in June, 1999, is an
independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit support group for Cuban citizens who have
opened independent libraries free of government control and censorship. We
oppose censorship and all other violations of intellectual freedom, as
defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, regardless of whatever
adminstration may be in office in Cuba. We are funded entirely by our
members and do not seek or accept funding from other sources. For more
information, contact: ([log in to unmask]) or telephone: (718-340-8494).
Mailing address: 4-74 48th Avenue, #3-C, Long Island City, NY 11109 USA.
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