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 […]
A few graphic novels in progress have crossed my e-mail recently because of their focus on Cuba. The first is called Happy at 90 Miles and is based on the real experiences of one Cuban citizen that attempted the raft-trip from Cuba to the United States, only to be caught and imprisoned. The story will be […]
Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo, speaking in Nicaragua today, demanded that the United States “stop providing military support” to the interim Honduran government, “cease its intervention” in Honduran affairs, and “remove its staff from Honduras.” Fidel Castro similarly accused the United States of backing peace talks in Costa Rica as a stalling tactic to exhaust […]
(From the Wall Street Journal) A New York man filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the U.S. government’s restrictions on spending by American citizens and permanent residents while traveling to Cuba. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, alleges Zachary Sanders was fined after he failed to respond to a March 2000 request by […]
On Wednesday at the Egypt meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Raul Castro called for the creation of a new international financial system that better takes into account developing countries’ interests, and “that relies on the participation of all countries.” It’s a goal that makes a lot of sense, frankly, even if implementation is a […]
Cuba, US to resume immigration talks at UN (From AFP): Talks between Cuba and the United States on the thorny issue of immigration, suspended since 2003, will resume on Tuesday at United Nations headquarters in New York, the US State Department said. “Today, US and Cuban representatives will meet in New York to discuss implementation of […]
Pablo Pacheco is a journalist that was imprisoned in Cuba in 2003, and remains behind bars (his sentence is 20 years). Supposedly, he is able to dictate blog entries by phone to Claudia Cadelo, a friend, who posts them here. The Huffington Post gave this blog attention today. It seems unbelievable that Pacheco would be […]
Associated Press reports from Havana without explanation: two Spanish priests have been killed near Havana in the past five months. The second was found this morning in his room at the parish where he worked in the coastal town of Regla. No mention of either of the murders was made by state media, which generally […]
Today the Solomon Islands’ Solomon Star proudly announced that the country plans to send 25 more medical students to Cuba for training next year. Cuba has already given free scholarships to 50 students from the Solomon Islands and sent its own doctors to the Pacific archipelago in an effort to help address the latter country’s shortage […]
Picture of the week A man holding a skeleton on fire performs during the annual Caribbean festival in Santiago de Cuba. (AP Photo / July 9, 2009) Brazil to help finance Cuba port project From Reuters: While visiting Havana this week, the Brazilian Industry and Trade Minister announced that his government had already approved $110 […]
The cartoon above, from Cuba’s Foreign Ministry, shows a Cuban citizen hoping to get a visa and leave for Miami, only to be told by a U.S. diplomat, “There are no visas, but we do have rafts.” The cartoon and a great article from Tuesday by Nick Miroff reminded me that we should take a […]
It has been said that to wait is a Cuban condition: waiting for the fruits of the revolution to manifest themselves; waiting to reunite with family; and waiting, as an exile, to someday return to the island. One in six Cubans today lives outside of the island as a member of the diaspora—the migrant community that […]
We now link from this blog directly to a number of useful sources on Cuba, including blogs, university projects, newspapers and think tanks. See the “Pages” and “Links” sections in the right-hand margin. Please note that these lists are not intended to be exhaustive; they provide grist for the mill. Relevant further suggestions welcome.
The United States is a mere 90 miles north of Cuba—a distance considered so short that it has been cited for over a century as the reason for the two nations’ intertwined destinies. Jamaica, as fate would have it, lies just 90 miles south of Cuba. And surprisingly enough, Jamaica’s trade relationship with Cuba is […]
A Miami Herald article from last year (January 7, 2008) reported that Raúl Castro had declared a “war” on inefficient farming: food prices were excruciatingly high for the low incomes of Cuban citizens, Cuba spent $1.6 billion on annual food imports (importing 60 to 70 percent of the food consumed on the island), and still […]