Letters to the editor

The independence of Cuban libraries

I note that inCite has published ['Cuban librarians convicted of being dangerous', inCite, June 2005] without attribution - I should have thought a publication by librarians for librarians would have been more careful to declare its sources.

May I refer readers who are interested in this complex issue to the 'Discussion on the "Independent" Cuban libraries' on the International Responsibilities Task Force of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table web page at http://www.pitt.edu/~ttwiss/irtf/cuba.html.

There is also a continuing discussion on this topic on the IFLA Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) e-list - for information on joining this list, see http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/faife-l/.

Gayle Davies, manager, library services, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)

Human rights in Cuba

In regards to your article 'Cuban librarians convicted of being dangerous' in the June 2005 issue of inCite, the convicted people are not librarians. During their trial, evidence was shown that they received money from the US-based Cuban American National Foundation and the US Mission in Havana. CANF campaigns to overthrow the Cuban Government by violent means. Australian academic Tim Anderson wrote about this in the Green Left Weekly of 13 April 2005, which can be accessed at http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/622/622p16.htm.

The website of the Cuban Libraries Solidarity Group at http://www.cubanlibrariessolidaritygroup.org.uk/ has information about libraries and librarians in Cuba.

Alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the Cuban Government are a separate issue to whether these people are librarians. If ALIA members are interested in human rights issues, perhaps it would be more helpful to start by considering the alleged human rights violations of our own government. As in the Cuban case, this has little direct relation to libraries.

Clare Snowball, Perth WA

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