Every Western Hemisphere leader had a response to this week’s crisis in Honduras (which I describe here). Incredibly, from Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez to Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama, every one of them fell on the same side, something that in a long history of hemispheric relations has happened very seldomly, if ever. Of course, […]
Dissidents Win Award, but Not Obama Audience Washington Post and other outlets reported that President Obama did not accept an invitation to meet with Bertha Antúnez, the representative for this year’s Democracy Award winners—a group of five Cuban dissidents, three of whom are still in jail in Cuba. Obama did send a note of support […]
More from the BBC on the Cuban economy and the continuing austerity measures, which are apparently successfully cutting energy use without blackouts: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, Cuban media announced this week that a state decree will allow citizens to hold multiple government jobs for the first time. This is part of the labor overhaul that aims […]
It came as no surprise to those who knew about the past rights abuses by Iran’s government when many Iranians, especially young Iranians, took to the streets in the last two weeks and were met with brutal retribution affecting every sector of Iran’s vibrant society including intellectuals, the media, youth and diverse cultures. While much […]
Heads-up: non-stop flights from Los Angeles Airport (LAX) to Havana opened today. Tickets are available through Cuba Travel Services Inc. for a healthy $889 per adult, plus tax. These flights were available briefly between 2000 and 2004, but were suspended indefinitely when the Bush administration tightened regulations on travel to Cuba that year. “You’ve waited […]
The freedom to access health care… this is one freedom that Cubans do have that is seldomly given credit by critics in Washington. The Cuban government assumes fiscal and administrative responsibility for the health care of all of its citizens. Together with Havana’s medical diplomacy initiatives, this has made the country a perceived leader on health […]
Brazil’s economy is the ninth largest in the world—31 times the size of Cuba’s. Its territory makes up nearly half of the South American landmass—80 times larger than the small Caribbean island. And the value of Brazilian trade with the rest of the world is 25 times that of Cuba. So why does Cuba garner […]
At the risk of again being accused of “appealing to readers’ emotions,” I am posting the following story. It surprised me not because of the chain of events, but because the protagonist is a French student—not a journalist, not a political activist—just a graduate student writing her thesis on Cuban opposition and resistance groups. The […]
One significant topic is getting overlooked in all the excitement to open up travel and trade with Cuba: there are more than 5,900 current claims against the assets on the island that were seized (nationalized) by Fidel Castro soon after he overthrew Fulgencio Batista. The initial U.S. response to these appropriations—a large reduction in the […]
Demography updates of the day: Cuba ended 2008 with a population of 11.24 million; By 2025, the Cuban population will decline by 100,000; By 2032, it will drop below 11 million; The nation will officially have the oldest population in Latin America in only 15 years. The island’s National Statistics Office cited aging and lower […]
American car-makers have not shipped spare parts to Cuba since 1960, but an estimated 60,000 of these cars from the 40s and 50s still roam the roads of the island. Some operate as taxis and many have been carefully maintained over half a decade by individual owners. Watch an MSNBC video on this here. The […]
The BBC correspondent in Havana, Fernando Ravsberg, posted a blog entry last week titled “Pobrecitos los cubanos” (Poor Cubans). In it, he writes that the idea that Cubans live in poverty is a common misconception. Today, 50% of the population receives income beyond the oft-cited state salary of $17 per month, and some earn more […]
In the last few weeks, two prominent cases of spying for Cuba have made headlines and worried some about fresh roadblocks on the path toward increased U.S.-Cuba cooperation. First, a couple in the United States (the husband a State Department employee) was arrested and charged with passing classified information to the Cuban regime for thirty […]
Radio and TV Martí is a U.S. government-funded broadcaster that transmits Spanish-language programming to Cuba. Its declared mission is to break the “information embargo” imposed by the Castro regime by providing balanced news reporting on events around the globe. Supporters say the station offers Cubans essential information that the state-run media refuses to provide. Critics […]
From the Los Angeles Times: The Supreme Court will not review the ‘Cuban Five’ case The case of the Cuban Five (or the “Five Heros,” as Cuban officials call them) is one of the main stumbling blocks for the continued warming of U.S.-Cuba relations. If the Supreme Court had agreed to take the case, those […]