In Cubaland, Libraries are Dangerous Places

well, unofficial libraries, that is. the official ones only have books that the government allows the people to read; as far as they go, they are orthodox.

but a few "unofficial" libraries have cropped up all over Cuba, where patrons have a chance to browse new books brought in from abroad or old classics kept in private libraries -- in other words, they are outside the government's control and thus sheer heresy.

the government, of course, does not like this dangerous exposure of the Cuban people to unauthorized books:

One of the readers who visit the independent library Gaston Vaquero, located near the center of the town of Banes, was stopped by police this past August 5, according to the director of the library, Martha Diaz Rondon.

The officials asked the reader for his official id and noted his name in writing; they also stated they would be forwarding the information to the officials in charge so that an official warning would be issued that if the reader continued to visit the independent library, he would be charged with the crime of being a social danger.

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the "crime" of being a social danger is about as broad as it can get. basically, if the government doesn't like what you are doing, you can be charged with being a "social danger."

thus, Cubaland teaches its citizens how to read, but does not allow them to read anything the government doesn't want them to read.