(www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org)

In a message dated 4/7/04 10:11:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Mr Kent's smear tactics continue.

    The Friends of Cuban Libraries believe that telling the truth is not a
smear tactic. We re-affirm the accuracy of our reports about violations of
intellectual freedom in Cuba, as repeatedly confirmed by Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, etc., as well as by reputable
journalists such as correspondents for the BBC (see "BBC Program Features Cuban
Libraries," datelined April 27, 2002, on our website).

.
>  Mr Kent does not know the content of my report to CILIP on my return from
> the 2002 conference in Havana. Mr Kent says that I can "continue to pretend
that the worldwide outpouring
> of support....."etc.  There is no evidence that I have ever pretended that.

   CILIP's "Annual Report 2002" contains a summary of Mr. Naylor's visit to
Cuba, where he made a point of ignoring the well-publicized plight of the
independent librarians while meeting only with leaders of the regime's "official"
library association, who continue to deny Cuba's grim reality of ironclad
censorship, persecution and bookburning: "Discussions are currently underway,"
states the Annual Report, "on how best to move forward with our relationship with
Cuban librarians."  So the best way to "move forward," in Mr. Naylor's view,
is to deliberately ignore the repression of Cuba's independent librarians and
the confiscation and burning of their book collections?

>  Mr Kent says that "Mr Naylor and Mr Pateman can continue to quote the
> denials of Cuba's 'official' librarians....." etc.  I have never quoted the
> views of Cuba's "official" librarians on this subject.

    Or has Mr. Naylor failed to quote them because he intentionally avoided
asking them? As for Mr. Pateman, he claims (among other nonsense) that "a free
press exists in Cuba." The CILIP Update (July 2002)] reports that Mr. Naylor,
during his 2002 visit to the island, "went for a trip round Havana but
stumbled over surprisingly little ideological baggage."  If so, then Mr. Naylor was
fortunate not to have stumbled over the charred remains of burned library
collections or the bodies of librarians, such as Nereyda Rodriguez, being assaulted
by President Castro's thugs (see "Library Director Assaulted," April 14,
2002, on the Friends' website). To continue Mr. Naylor's enthusiastic account in
CILIP's Update of his visit to the only nation in the world which
systematically persecutes librarians, his "overwhelming impression" was of a country "keen
to engage strongly with the world at large - but only on acceptable terms."
Thankfully, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and IFLA
continue to insist on engaging Cuba with regard to the cruel persecution of the
island's independent librarians, whether or not the Cuban regime, or Mr.
Naylor, consider this subject "acceptable."
.
>  My original intervention was prompted by the wise old saying: People who
> live in glass houses should not throw stones.
>  Mr Kent continues to throw ( metaphorical) stones at the state of Cuba on
account of their human rights
> record and seems prepared to disregard the fact that he is, himself, living
> in a large and very prominent glass house (the United States of America)...

    The Friends of Cuban Libraries is a worldwide organization committed to
defending intellectual freedom in Cuba.  We believe the systematic and
unprecedented repression of Cuba's innovative free library movement deserves special
attention on the part of intellectual freedom activists, just as anti-racism
activists believed the Apartheid regime in South Africa merited a special focus
on the part of the international community. As for larger human rights groups
with a worldwide focus, every compassionate person should wish them success in
opposing injustice, wherever it exists.

> Your hero, Mr Lincoln, would surely recognise the point. I believe the
whole point of
>  his struggle was that human rights are indivisible.

    Exactly. Intellectual freedom is a universal human right. Even if (as
appears increasingly unlikely) the Cuban government is able to destroy the
island's courageous and historically unprecedented free library movement, no one in
the international community will ever be able to mutter, with a dismissive
shrug: "If only I had known!"

    How, in good conscience, can the members of CILIP remain silent on this
issue of overwhelming importance?

Sincerely,

The Friends of Cuban Libraries
(WWW.FRIENDSOFCUBANLIBRARIES.ORG)