Cuba's church and the hunger strikers of havana

adminonJanuary 14, 2022January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Cuba's church and the hunger strikers of havana

Passersby walk the streets in masks in Cuba © Ramon Espinosa Cuba is rumbling. Not only low wages, lack of medicine and food burden the people. Meanwhile, church officials visit hunger-striking dissidents. This is also a signal.

In its letter to the Cuban government, the "Cuban Conference of Religious Men and Women" (Concur) openly criticizes conditions in the country. "The people can't take it anymore," the signatories write, enumerating: Low wages, lack of medicines and food, and lack of freedom of expression burden Cubans.

For many, Concur is seen as a covert mouthpiece of the Catholic Church, so as not to have to expose itself as the Cuban Bishops' Conference. The portal "ABC" wrote therefore a few days ago: "The Church in Cuba demands reforms."

The government blames the U.S. embargo, which has lasted for decades, for the supply shortages. Opposition circles report far too high prices for far too little food. Recently, however, Cuba initiated another "Anpang" of the system with free-market reforms to expand the private sector. In the all-important tourism sector, on the other hand, there is no shortage of foreign guests.

Activists and artists caught in crossfire

The situation in Cuba is tense. Recently, security forces have cracked down on activists and artists who openly criticize the one-party system. The most prominent of them, homosexual Afro-Cuban action artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, has been on hunger strike for days, refusing to take in food and water. According to his own statements, he is protesting against the theft of his artwork and massive repression by the police.

Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch drew attention to the fate of Otero Alcantara. Meanwhile, the artist was apparently transferred to a hospital against his will. His death the government apparently wants to avoid at all costs.

Last week, Otero Alcantara received a visit from a church representative. The Archdiocese of Havana sent its chancellor, Ramon Suarez Polcari, to check on the artist's condition before security forces picked him up. Unlike activists or journalists critical of the government, the churchman was allowed access to the hunger striker.

Church as mediator

For the Cuban government, the church has always also been a mediator, making possible an exchange with the dissidents, without there having to be direct talks that could be understood as recognition.

Cuba's ruling communist party makes a point of defining for itself who can and cannot be part of civil society. Otero Alcantara and other journalists, artists, intellectuals and musicians organized in the rebellious artists' movement "San Isidro" do not belong to this group, according to the official interpretation.

It is the second time in a short time that the church has made contact with government opponents. Havana Archbishop Dionisio Garcia recently visited dissidents of the officially banned opposition party Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), who are also on hunger strike.

Its spokesman, Jose Daniel Ferrer, thanked the archbishop for his visit on Twitter. Garcia had inquired about the health of hunger strikers at the UNPACU headquarters, which also serves as a soup kitchen. Earlier, police cordons around the building had been reduced, Ferrer said. With the hunger strike, opposition politicians are demanding the allowance of political parties, access to state media, and freedom of expression in Cuba.

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SCHUFA information is obligatory – take precautions in good time

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A car loan can be earmarked for a specific purpose, for which the financing bank retains the vehicle title as security. This is common practice with dealer financing, for example, which opens up the possibility of being able to sell the vehicle in one’s own interest in the event of a loan default. You will also find classic car loans in the loan comparison, which only provide the loan amount for the purchase of the vehicle and choose this form of collateralization. However, you should also consider the alternative of being able to act as a cash payer at the car dealer with a freely available loan. The discounts to be negotiated can in many cases compensate for the usually somewhat higher interest rates. In this way, you can decide flexibly on the term, the monthly installment or even an early redemption, without having to clarify this with the financing bank. Most classic car loans run for a maximum of four years anyway and would then have to be extended if necessary. In the case of an installment loan, you can choose a term of up to seven years, which drastically reduces the monthly charge. Simply compare the calculations in the credit comparison and modify the key data until a solution that is acceptable to you has been determined.

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Alt="die schufa" width="300" height="89" />As with any other form of financing, you should not have any negative entries in SCHUFA or similar credit agencies, such as cancelled loans or credit cards, multiple dunning procedures or other payment defaults. In addition, the income must exceed the regular expenses to such an extent that the repayment of the monthly installments is ensured at all. Banks usually apply a flat rate per person for living expenses, so that you can easily show the available liquidity with a comprehensible budget calculation. If these requirements are met, there should be no obstacles to obtaining a loan for your new vehicle.

Pope Francis has appointed new members to the Appeals Commission for Serious Criminal Cases at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This was announced by the Vatican on Monday.

This was a normal staffing refreshment following the departure of several members, the congregation said when asked about the matter. The panel decides on appeals against ecclesiastical convictions of clergy for sexual abuse, heresy, defilement of the Eucharist and other offenses reserved for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Chairman is the Pope's special representative for abuse clarification, Malta's Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

Specifically, the pope appointed Curia Archbishop Filippo Iannone, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts; the bishop of San Miniato, Andrea Migliavacca; the bishop of Mondovi, Egidio Miragoli; the Archbishop of Gorizia, Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli; Curia Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship; the Bishop of Adria-Rovigo, Pierantonio Pavanello; and Curia Archbishop Cyril Vasil', Secretary of the Congregation for the Eastern Church. Argentine Archbishop Emeritus Jose Luis Mollaghan, previously a full member of the commission, was given the rank of alternate member.

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