CUBA-US: Forest of Flag Poles Ratchets Up ‘Billboard War’

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Feb 6 2006 (IPS) - “This is just more of the same,” a man walking his dog along one of the streets that leads up to the U.S. Interests Section in the Cuban capital told IPS. He was referring to nearly 150 flag poles that now occupy what used to be part of the U.S. diplomatic mission’s parking lot.

The forest of flag poles, some of which are over 30 metres tall, was put in place over the past two weeks by the Cuban government in retaliation for an electronic billboard stretching across the front of the Interests Section building.

Since mid-January, the giant sign has been scrolling news headlines, quotes from famous figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Lech Walesa and Martin Luther King, Jr., and fragments of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. According to Michael Parmly, chief of the U.S. Interests Section, “What we are trying to do is communicate with the Cuban people.”

The flag poles are apparently designed to create a barrier in front of the electronic sign, which is located behind glass on the fifth floor of the Interests Section building.

The flag pole project officially formed part of an expansion of the “Anti-Imperialist Plaza”, which was built five years ago outside of the U.S. Interests Section.

According to rumours that have not been confirmed, the mysterious new site is meant to symbolise the Cuban people’s “years of struggle” for independence, and will be unveiled at a giant rally announced for Monday evening, called to commemorate those who have lost their lives in violent acts against Cuba since the 1959 revolution.

The area where the flag poles are located is lit up by enormous floodlights, despite the energy saving campaign launched by the government of Fidel Castro last year.

“It’ll look pretty, especially at night, but I would say it’s an unnecessary expense,” said the man walking his dog. “I have read some of what they (the Interests Section) put up there (on the billboard) and they’re really not telling me anything I don’t already know.”

Behind him, as he walked away, the U.S. diplomatic mission continued broadcasting its messages, which included “The fast pace of construction is impressive. It shows the potential of Cuban workers”, “Havana residents comment that the funds would have been better spent on widespread repairs”, and “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (a quote from British writer George Orwell).

But others agree with the government of Fidel Castro that the electronic billboard is a provocation aimed at undermining the precarious relations maintained by Cuba and the United States since the two countries opened interests sections in the U.S. and Cuban capitals on Sept. 1, 1977.

“The U.S. Interests Section is a centre for provocation. No embassy in the world places billboards on the front of their building,” dissident Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo remarked to IPS.

But Gutiérrez Menoyo, who returned from exile in Miami in August 2003 to live in Havana, although without official permission, dismissed the idea that the “billboard war” would trigger a complete break between the two countries.

“It is in neither side’s interests. The Cuban government has no interest in kicking out Parmly, and the United States is not thinking of withdrawing,” said the dissident.

There is no doubt that the loss of this sole bilateral diplomatic channel would have a serous impact on the migration agreements signed in 1994 and 1995 to ensure the “orderly and safe” emigration of Cuban citizens to the United States, where there are already roughly one million immigrants from this Caribbean island nation.

“The father of one of my students is in the United States, and the poor little thing thinks she’ll never see him again if the Interests Section shuts down,” an elementary school teacher who asked to remain anonymous commented to IPS.

She added that she hopes the situation does not reach that extreme, and that “the calm after the storm” will eventually return.

When questioned by IPS on the subject last week, the head of the U.S. Interests Section admitted that the closure of the mission would pose serious obstacles for the continued implementation of the agreements.

“It would be complicated,” he remarked, while stressing that the bulk of the work done by the mission’s staff is in fact consular work.

Parmly refuted Castro’s claim that the electronic messages are a provocation.

In the meantime, the escalating tensions did nothing to interfere with a meeting held in Mexico on Friday and Saturday between representatives of U.S. oil companies and Cuban energy sector authorities.

Cuban Deputy Minister of Basic Industry Raúl Pérez de Prado and executives from the state-owned oil company Cuba Petróleo (CUPET) said that U.S. companies were welcome to participate in joint ventures for oil prospecting on the island.

The United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba for the last 45 years as a means of undermining Castro’s government. Beginning in 2001, however, food sales to the island have been authorised under certain conditions – such as payment in cash before delivery – and they currently total roughly 500 million dollars a year.

The establishment of interests sections remedied the total absence of direct diplomatic ties between the two countries after the rupture in bilateral relations on Jan. 3, 1961. In addition to serving as a channel of communication between the two governments, they also provide consular services to Cuban and U.S. citizens.

Bilateral frictions have erupted from time to time over the U.S. diplomatic mission’s open support for dissident activity, which became especially marked during the term of Parmly’s predecessor, James Cason.

Parmly, who took over the post in September 2005, has sparked yet another volley of accusations from Castro with the installation of the electronic billboard, leading the Cuban president to call the Interests Section a “command post” for counterrevolutionary activity last week.