1965-1968 жылдарғы Кубадағы мәжбүрлі еңбек лагерлері

Cuban concentration camps in 1965–1968

Military Units to Aid Production or UMAPs (Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción) were agricultural forced labor camps operated by the Cuban government from November 1965 to July 1968 in the province of Camagüey. The UMAP camps served as a form of forced labor for Cubans who could not serve in the military due to being conscientious objectors, Christians and other religious people, LGBT, or political enemies of Fidel Castro or his communist revolution. The language used in the title can be misleading, as pointed out by historian Abel Sierra Madero, "The hybrid structure of work camps' military units served to camouflage the true objectives of the recruitment effort and to distance the UMAPs from the legacy of forced labor." Many of the inmates were gay men, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh day Adventists, Catholic priests and Protestant ministers, intellectuals, farmers who resisted collectivization, as well as anyone else considered "anti social" or "counter revolutionary". A 1967 human rights report from the Organization of American States found that over 30,000 internees were "forced to work for free in state farms from 10 to 12 hours a day, from sunrise to sunset, seven days per week, poor alimentation with rice and spoiled food, unhealthy water, unclean plates, congested barracks, no electricity, latrines, no showers, inmates are given the same treatment as political prisoners." The report concludes that the UMAP camps’ two objectives were "facilitating free labor for the state" and "punishing young people who refuse to join communist organizations." Historically the Cuban government has presented UMAPs as a mistake, but according to Abel Sierra Madero, this institution has to be understood as part of a project of “social engineering” tailored for political and social control. Sophisticated methodologies were deployed that incorporated judicial, military, educational, medical and psychiatric apparatuses."

The creation of the UMAP camps themselves was initially proposed by Fidel Castro and implemented by Raúl Castro after a state visit to the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, where he learned that the Soviets ran camps for "anti socials". According to an April 14, 1966 article in Granma, the official state newspaper, the UMAP camps were proposed at a November 1965 meeting between Fidel Castro and military leaders. Both were concerned over how to handle "misplaced elements". labour force.

Paul Kidd, a Canadian foreign news correspondent, provides the only known first hand, third party account of the UMAP camps. Kidd traveled to Cuba on August 29, 1966 to write for Southam News Service. On September 8, the Cuban foreign ministry asked him to leave "by the first flight" because he took photographs of anti aircraft guns visible from his hotel room window and "exhibited an incorrect attitude toward the revolution" in an article he had published earlier. The barbed wire enclosed camp was run by 10 security guards and held 120 internees, consisting of Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholics, and "those loosely termed 'social misfits' by the government". As long as their agricultural quotas were met, most internees at the camp were allowed a break to visit family after six months of internment.

Fresa y Chocolate – 1994 Cuban film which deals with the discrimination LGBT people faced after the Revolution, also brieftly mentions the UMAP camps. "El Pecado Original" – song by Pablo Milanes, considered a homage to remember the mistakes made in post Revolution Cuba towards LGBT people. Before Night Falls – autobiography by Reinaldo Arenas, deals with theme of UMAP camps.