Thousands of Cubans use their privately-owned classic or modern cars to give black-market rides, risking steep fines or losing their cars to the state if caught. In some areas, they troll set routes where commuters wait for a lift. The existence of the illegal business is a necessity for car-less Cubans, who are for the […]
— On Friday, Cuban Vice President Juan Almeida Bosque (the communist government’s “number three”) died of cardiac arrest, at age 82. His death was mourned by tens of thousands of Cubans who lined up on Sunday at the Plaza de la Revolucion to pay their respects. The symbolism of this particular individual is twofold. First, […]
Cuban exile Armando Ruiz is awaiting a response from the Obama administration on his application for a license to run a ferry from Miami to Havana. He proposes to charter a 600-cabin cruise-ferry from a dealer in Lithuania for $23 million for the project. Now that Cuban-Americans are allowed to travel freely to visit family […]
Amnesty International released a report this week (in Spanish and English here) called “The US Embargo Against Cuba: Its Impact on Economic and Social Rights,” reiterating previous AI calls to lift the embargo but shifting focus to how the trade and financial sanctions affect human rights (not simply political rights) of Cuba. This is a […]
Despite controversy surrounding musician Juanes’ intention to perform in Havana, he will apparently go forward with the concert, which he is calling “Paz Sin Fronteras” (Peace Without Borders). Critics call the move ignorant, cynical, and naive. Some who oppose the show have even sent the singer death threats. But what is the harm in a […]
A public feud has developed after several years of hard feelings between Cuba and the Dutch company Philips. Apparently in 2006, Castro bought from Philips and Germany’s Siemens thousands of pieces of advanced medical equipment for Cuba and Venezuela. Siemens followed through on the agreement, but Philips did not deliver on time the 3,553 pieces of […]
Whatever people may think about Fidel Castro, he is likely one of the luckiest and most challenging leaders towards his opponents in the last three generations of world history. While his actions towards the surviving opposition, journalists and opposing leaders in Cuba is less than civil, and Raul Castro himself was responsible for executing much […]
Last Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department officially lifted nearly all restrictions on Cuban-American remittances and travel to Cuba—measures promised by the Obama administration nearly five months ago. The department also relaxed regulations prohibiting U.S. telecommunications and satellite linkages between the United States and Cuba, and eased licensing requirements for visitors engaged in agricultural and medical sales. […]
The above video shows Juan Carlos González Marcos, now better known as “Pánfilo,” interrupting an interview on the streets of Havana. His loud comments regarding the tremendous need in Cuba for “jama”—the slang Cuban word for food—stuck with many viewers when the video reached YouTube a few months ago, and the clip spread quickly on that […]
Until last year, Cuban citizens were not allowed to enter hotels and resorts on their own island—these were reserved exclusively for foreign tourists. The defense (which usually came from members of the regime, e.g. those whose job it was to defend the policy) was that the tourism industry in Cuba had been developed over the […]
The Obama administration’s appointee for the post of Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs is Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, professor of government and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. Valenzuela’s focus in the region has previously been on Mexico and the Southern Cone, and perhaps in light of that, it is […]
*The photo above shows the counter at Coppelia, a Havana ice cream shop constantly crowded with people waiting to take advantage of one symbolic measure of the revolution: ice cream, a treat exclusively for the rich before, became accessible for all Cubans.* ______________________________________________ I recently had the privilege of reading a 40-year-old piece on Cuba […]
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien spoofs the ever-rollercoastering health of Fidel Castro, below. Dissidents and U.S. policy-makers for years have made plans for how to approach a post-Fidel Cuba and the subsequent ushering-in of democracy in Cuba, vacillating between expecting Fidel Castro’s death and feeling stymied by his almost impossible insistence on surviving. The […]
“I think enhancing cultural and artistic and educational ties is a prelude to diplomatic and commercial ties. It always happens that way… I’m for enhanced tourism travel for Americans.” New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson spoke these words to Associated Press journalists in Cuba, where he is this week, while he was on a tour of […]
Around Cuba’s capital Havana, it is quite remarkable how often you see a neatly tended plot of land right in the heart of the city. Sometimes smack bang between tower block estates or next door to the crumbling colonial houses, fresh fruit and vegetables are growing in abundance. So begins Sarah Murch’s piece in the Herald […]