Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fidel Castro’s face on a cake for human rights campaign goes viral

Posted on Wednesday, 04.18.12

Fidel Castro's face on a cake for human rights campaign goes viral

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro's face — minus mouth — is on a cake as
part of a human rights campaign. Now, many want the recipe.
Amnesty International
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

An image created for a prominent human rights group showing a cake with
Fidel Castro's face, a thick slice taken out of his mouth and the words,
"the voice of oppression," has gone viral on the Internet.

The image was created for an Amnesty International publicity campaign
that was cancelled "because it did not fulfill our requirements" — not
to avoid offending Castro, Sharon Singh, the group's spokeswoman, said
Wednesday.

"We believe in free speech," Singh told El Nuevo Herald by phone from
the group's offices in New York City.

Created by the Euro RSCG Prague advertising company in the Czech
Republic, the image was part of proposal for a publicity campaign
marking the anniversary of Amnesty International's founding in London in
1961, Singh said.

It shows a cake in the shape of Castro's face, wearing his traditional
olive green military cap and with a slice taken out of his mouth and chin.

A sign in English in the lower right corner says, "50 years together
with you cutting down the voice of oppression" and displays Amnesty
International's well-known logo of a candle wrapped in barbed wire.

Another image proposed by the Czech advertising agency featured
Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian president of Belarus.

But the image of the former Cuban ruler has been so popular, according
to sources, that some people who saw it on the Internet have asked for a
recipe for the cake — which appears to have layers of chocolate and vanilla.

Singh said Amnesty was not aware of any complaints from Castro
supporters about the image. It was somehow posted on the Internet, she
added, and "went viral."

An uncredited report published April 9 in the Chilean branch of Terra, a
Web portal based in Spain, said the image "ridicules Fidel Castro and
brands him as 'an oppressor.' " Its headline said the image had
"generated a polemic" but gave no details.

The report added that Amnesty International has been "especially
critical" of the Cuban government headed by Castro's brother Raúl and
this year "tried to intercede, without success, to allow dissident
blogger Yoani Sánchez" to attend an event in Brazil.

Amnesty International describes itself on its Web page as "a global
movement of more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in
more than 150 countries and territories" who campaign against "grave
abuses of human rights."

It is independent of any government, political ideology, economic
interest or religion, it adds, and its operations are "funded mainly by
our membership and public donations."

The Czech government, and human rights advocates in the European nation
ruled by communists between the wake of World War II and the "Velvet
Revolution" in 1989, have been especially active in supporting
dissidents in communist-ruled Cuba.

The two nations have not named ambassadors to each other's capitals
since 1993, since Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and
Slovakia. Diplomatic relations are carried out at the level of charge
d'affaires.


http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/18/2755723/fidel-castros-face-on-a-human.html

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