The “War on Drugs” and the “War on Terror” over the years have both contributed to wearing out a metaphor that was already nearly useless: how can one tell when the war against an abstract concept or an undefined enemy is won or lost? For years, U.S. administrations have employed a similarly troublesome concept in […]
This Saturday will mark the launch of a puzzling (and oddly intriguing) book, El Diccionario de Pensamientos de Fidel Castro—that is, the “Dictionary of Thoughts of Fidel Castro.” How does one alphabetize thoughts? The Cuban state newspaper Granma reported that the volume alphabetizes “key criteria and concepts expressed by the Commander-in-Chief” and provides helpful detail on […]
“We are ready to talk about everything, but not to negotiate our political and social system.” On Saturday, Raúl Castro spoke these words at a National Assembly meeting, and further explained, “It’s true there has been a diminution of the aggression and anti-Cuban rhetoric on the part of the [Obama] administration.” President Castro had previously indicated […]
Archibald Ritter of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas speaks about Cuba-Canada relations in this video. He says that Canada’s policy toward the island has long been “correct” (presumably as opposed to U.S. policy and the policy of exclusion followed by most of the hemisphere for years). Ritter also pointed out that Canadian agricultural trade […]
Raúl Castro postponed on Friday what would be the first Communist Party congress in twelve years. The meeting was to take place by the end of this year, and Castro has not yet set a new date. His reason? The Party must still make a great many preparations—including analyzing current economic conditions to see, as Castro […]
Cuba to create agency to fight corruption “cancer” Cuba’s National Assembly will set up a powerful new agency on Saturday tasked with fighting corruption, which President Raul Castro has called a “deadly cancer” plaguing the communist-ruled island’s economy. Official information on corruption in Cuba is sparse but, in 2000, Attorney General Juan Escalona, testifying before […]
Several years ago, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana—which functions as the American diplomatic mission in Cuba in the absence of formal relations—installed a “billboard” along the fifth floor of the building: an electronic news ticker running pro-democracy and anti-Castro regime messages in bright crimson letters. Fidel Castro at that time called it “a gross […]
The Cuban economy is certainly suffering, so much so that Raúl Castro told citizens on Sunday to brace themselves for the tough times to get worse in the short-term, but the Cuban state is not letting such difficulties impede investment in one of its most highly-regarded assets—education. Teachers and other educational professionals will receive raises of […]
Over the years, buying and selling en la calle—in the street—has been practiced by generations of Cubans trying to make ends meet. Many of the goods sold on the vast black market come from government stores or from abroad. Now they can be sold via internet on Revolico.com, a fascinating development in a country where […]
On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro led a small group of armed rebels/revolutionaries in an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. They were easily defeated, and so failed in their immediate goal of surprising the soldiers within and taking arms for the rebel movement. But the day itself is now widely recognized […]
Noel Brinkerhoff reports: “In another sign of improving, if not incremental change in relations between the United States and Cuba, the U.S. military formally acknowledged a joint disaster-preparedness exercise last week between American and Cuban soldiers. Troops stationed on the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay crossed over into Cuban territory to set up a […]
The last month of economic news has been as diverse as the last 10 months of the same forecasts. With the start of July, the drop in recent markets worldwide and predictions of further problems in large economies such as the UK and Japan set to bring the recession further attention, but by mid month […]
Today my colleague Sean Murphy posted his review of the movie Fidel: The Untold Story on the Foreign Policy Association’s Global Film Review blog. Check out his commentary on the 2001 film here. Also note the blurb from the Miami Herald on the movie poster above: “Infuriating and fascinating! Required viewing.” Particularly incredible in the documentary is the […]
I would like to direct FPA readers to a post by fellow blogger Sean Murphy of FPA’s Global Film Review Blog. Sean seeks to give interesting and concise reviews on his impressions of films from around the globe and wished to present his impression on the film Fidel: The Untold Story below. Please read below […]
The Center for Democracy in the Americas recently discussed the economic embargo with former Secretary of Agriculture John Block. The Secretary pointed out that very different policies have been used with those other countries the United States opposes on similar grounds—China and Vietnam, for example—and that long-standing Cuba policy is not only inconsistent in this […]