A group composed of African-American scholars, actors, writers and others—many of whom have typically sympathized with Cuban leadership—released a statement this week calling upon the Cuban state to grant black Cubans the same rights as it does other citizens. The statement, signed by individuals such as Princeton Professor Cornel West, actress Ruby Dee Davis, film director Melvin […]
Today, Nick Miroff of Global Post explored the question that has many following US-Cuba policy worried: who will benefit if the US lifts travel restrictions to Cuba—the Cuban government or ordinary Cubans? Two anecdotal pieces of evidence put him on the side of those that believe the travel ban should be lifted because it would […]
Human Rights Watch released a report recently called “New Castro, Same Cuba“—an update on the human rights situation in Cuba. Interestingly, the Cuban state does not allow Human Rights Watch representatives to visit the island, but HRW claims that it did successfully send investigators to fact-find for this report. The New York Times shares two […]
The Cuban Bishops’ Conference has just announced the launch of their own blog, www.creerencuba.org (“Believing in Cuba”), a space for Catholics to “enrich their experience of God” through the Internet. Reverend Jose Felix Perez indicated that this blog was a way for the Church in Cuba to acknowledge the advancement of digital culture and its […]
A interesting article from the Brookings Institution’s Latin America Initiative was published online today called Fiscal Policy Rules and Latin America: Lessons from the Crisis. The article makes the point that for much of Latin America, with the exception of Mexico, has fared well despite the latest global economic crisis. A region that often has […]
José “Pepe” Mujica was pronounced the victor of Uruguay’s run-off election soon after polls closed on Sunday. With more than 97% of the ballots now tallied Mujica garnered more than 53% of the popular vote, quite a coup for the 74-year-old former guerilla. Mujica served 14 years for his armed opposition to democratically elected governments in […]
An interesting turn of events has taken place in the last while. While the world has been facing a global recession, Latin America has been somewhat blessed with a pre-2008 oil boom that has yet to completely phase out, a super economy in the making which has fared relatively well over the last year, and […]
In a socialist state like Cuba, part of the grounding theory is that each citizen feels and responds to a moral imperative to work, to take only what he needs, and to help ensure that all are provided for (hopefully) equally. Applying this principle to the case of energy consumption then, one has the responsibility […]
Today’s post will let novelist Jose Manuel Prieto—a Cuban told by the government to leave the country in the 1980s—speak about the Cuban revolution in his own words, which are eloquent, insightful and straightforward. These passages were taken from his piece in The Nation today, “Travels by Taxi,” which itself is an adaptation of a […]
Over the past few days, an overlap between two of our Cuba blog posts has highlighted one of the most defining problems of the relationship between the United States and Cuba—a lack of communication. First, Cuba announced that it would hold military exercises nationwide in the coming week (see Wednesday’s post). Then U.S. President Barack […]
In the last few weeks, tensions in the Andean region grew as Chavez in one of his many speeches said that Venezuela should prepare for a hundred years of war, presumably referring to cold relations with its neighbour Colombia. The installation of seven future US military bases in Colombia brought much criticism as historically Latin […]
Today, Yoani Sánchez, the Cuban dissident blogger of world fame, posted unbelievable news. President Barack Obama had answered the seven questions she sent to him—questions that she said keep her awake at night wondering about the future of her country. That future, after all, is so closely intertwined with the choices made by the administrations in […]
The Cuban Defense Ministry announced that for November 26-28, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Armed Forces), Interior Ministry and other national defense actors will perform nationwide military exercises. The tactical exercises will require, for example, troops movement, air flights, and explosions. Called “Bastión 2009,” the exercise is meant to ensure that Cuba is optimally prepared […]
The cover shown to the right is only the beginning of the problem that Miami-Dade County residents identified with the book Vamos a Cuba. The school board in that county decided to remove the book from schools because it contained omissions about life in Cuba under Castro. Happy Cuban children, children who “eat, work, and go […]
The press has recently alighted upon the subject of campaign funding: its origins and its direct effect on Congressional votes with respect to Cuba policy. A report released by the Washington, DC-based group called Public Campaign shows fairly straightforward timelines: lawmakers vote for easing restrictions on Cuba; those same lawmakers receive donations from a pro-embargo […]