Raúl’s promise of a new socialist model continues to evolve in practice: The Cuban state began a trial program yesterday that closed state-run lunchrooms in four government ministries and instead provided workers with a small stipend for lunch, equivalent to about 60-70 cents. The idea is to see how well it works and whether the lunchroom […]
In the video below, Ann Louise Bardach (author of the new book Without Fidel and the previous Cuba Confidential) and Steve Clemons (of the Havana Note and New America) discuss current Cuba topics: the recent Juanes concert, Fidel, Raúl, the March cabinet shuffle, Cuba’s relations with Venezuela and China, and the case of Luis Posada Carriles.
As we discussed a few weeks ago, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Bisa Williams traveled to Cuba for the September 17 talks on reestablishing mail service between the two countries. Only today, however, did State Department officials tell the press that Williams remained in Cuba for five days following those […]
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez took the floor today at the United Nations and, to no one’s great surprise, devoted half of his speech time to a discussion of Cuba’s relationship with the United States. Through Rodriguez, Cuba again called for normalization of US-Cuba relations. The Foreign Minister affirmed the hope that Barack Obama’s election […]
Last year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) held a series of panel discussions on “Cuba Outlook: Raúl and Beyond,” with Cuba experts from Canada, the United States and Europe participating. The product is a report of the same name by Peter DeShazo, just released by CSIS, which synthesizes the group’s analysis of Cuba’s […]
This past week has been filled with numerous interesting policy stories and interviews regarding issues that affect every nation in the world, focusing on those regions such as the Middle East and Latin America, which seem to be the source of much of the security tensions for the members of the UN Security Council. First […]
On October 6, 2009, Ann Louise Bardach’s new book Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington will be released. The reporting contained therein is based on countless interviews with Washington officials and politicos, Cuban officials and exiles, Castro family members—including Raúl—and Fidel Castro himself, and thus provides insights and information that have […]
The Cuban missile crisis in 1962 is widely regarded as the closest the world ever came to a nuclear war. But in the early 1980s, the Cold War was at its chilliest. The threat of nuclear annihilation was nigh as President Ronald Reagan began a trillion-dollar arms buildup in the United States, ordering atomic detonations in […]
California Democrat Sam Farr on Americans traveling to Cuba: “If you are a potato, you can get to Cuba very easily, but if you are a person, you can’t, and that is our problem.” Representative Farr is optimistic about the success of the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, which he believes will have enough […]
Last week Venezuela’s Minister of the Interior, Tareck El Aissami, publicly denounced a July 20 report released by the US Government’s General Accounting Office (GAO) which labeled his country as “one of the major drug transit countries in the Western Hemisphere”. The struggle over public perception between Washington and Caracas continues. The US government states […]
The controversial Juanes concert in Havana yesterday blanketed Revolution Square in a sea of white, the color worn by both performers and concertgoers to symbolize peace. Different sources report various figures, but over 800,000 and possibly up to 1.15 million people attended the concert. Thousands showed up hours early to secure spots with a view, […]
I recently had the privilege of meeting with a Cuban official to exchange thoughts on U.S.-Cuban relations. I took note in particular of the following points he made: —The official said he was pleased by the recent progress between Cuba and the United States, especially with respect to the bilateral migration discussions that took place in NYC […]
The UN General Assembly will soon reconvene for a new session, and Cuba has again submitted a draft resolution urging for an end to the U.S. economic and financial embargo. This will presumably be the 18th year that a majority of the international community condemns this U.S. policy, as that “majority” grew to 185 countries […]
Around the world the way to deal with the aftermath of past violence and police states has yet to come to a definitive closure or method to resolve crimes of the past. Often the ruling class in one era of a society remains in the next era, whether it be a peaceful one or a […]
Today, Cuban and U.S. officials met in Havana to discuss the re-establishment of direct mail service, which has been suspended since 1963 (one year after the imposition of the embargo). It was the first State Department trip to Cuba since 2002. Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service also joined the meetings. Issues related to mail […]