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Cuba moves political prisoners ‘closer to home’

(AFP) As projected by officials of the Catholic Church last week, today the Cuban government began moving dissident prisoners to facilities closer to their homes in a gesture of humanitarian regard for the connection of families. The Archbishop of Havana announced that six prisoners have been transferred thus far. The government reportedly also agreed to move very ill prisoners to hospitals, but no announcement has been made to confirm whether that is yet occurring.

Cuba’s quiet revolution

(CNN) In May, Cuban Minister of the Economy Marino Murillo announced that private farmers would now be allowed to purchase goods directly from suppliers—a great and welcome change from the centralized system, in which a massive, inefficient, bureaucratic national distribution machine often held up farms from receiving necessary supplies in reasonable time. And it should have a direct positive effect on Cuba’s economy, as private farmers produce 70% of the food grown in Cuba while using only 40% of the island’s farmland.

(Photo credit: AFP)

 

Author

Melissa Lockhart Fortner

Melissa Lockhart Fortner is Senior External Affairs Officer at the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles, having served previously as Senior Programs Officer for the Council. From 2007-2009, she held a research position at the University of Southern California (USC) School of International Relations, where she closely followed economic and political developments in Mexico and in Cuba, and analyzed broader Latin American trends. Her research considered the rise and relative successes of Latin American multinationals (multilatinas); economic, social and political changes in Central America since the civil wars in the region; and Wal-Mart’s role in Latin America, among other topics. Melissa is a graduate of Pomona College, and currently resides in Pasadena, California, with her husband, Jeff Fortner.

Follow her on Twitter @LockhartFortner.