Climate change doesn’t recognize ideological or geographic boundaries. The body of water that threatens to take a big bite out of Cuba is doing the same to dozens of cities along the coastline of the southernmost state of its nemesis to the north—Florida.
Report in NY Times about the impending lay-off of over 500,000 employees was jarring in the context of our own stagnant economy. The junior Castro brother, Raúl, is following through on his previous pledges to make Cuba’s centralized, Socialist economy more efficient and to open up opportunities to its enterprising citizens. This begs the question if Cuba will replicate China’s success with its State capitalism model.
The Washington Post yesterday and a few other sources pointed out that, interestingly, Fidel Castro has not appeared publicly alongside his brother Raúl since he stepped down from the presidency four years ago. And so the seed was planted, and everything begins to look like evidence. Raúl’s recent agreements to release Cuban prisoners and Fidel’s […]
The July/August issue of Foreign Policy includes a piece by George B.N. Ayittey that lists what he designates are the world’s worst dictators. The media is jumping all over his unapologetic account. Kim Jong Il places at number one in these “top 23,” and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran) is at number eight, but Raúl Castro is given a spot […]
In a previous post, we mentioned Raúl Castro’s April 4 speech to the Youth Communist League (UJC) in Cuba, focusing on its discussion of regime continuity in the coming years. But the speech merits revisiting in order to zero in on another topic: economic reform. Raúl’s discussion covered a number of familiar topics—the moral imperative […]
In recent posts we’ve discussed the future of Communist Cuba after the current generation of leaders is gone, and what might be expected of the next generation. These questions are on the top of the minds of current leadership, and so this weekend’s conference of the Union of Communist Youth fit smoothly into that context: […]
These are actually by no means “the” answers. But here are mine: Are Communist Party officials a bit overoptimistic when they say, as they frequently do, that “the future of the Revolution is guaranteed”? Overoptimistic yes, but completely off base, no. Many Cubans beyond the so-called “dissident” community are frustrated with the Cuban political and […]
Supporters and opponents alike frequently look to the Cuban regime with the same impression: the current political cadre is aging without indicating a clear method of succession. The average age of Raúl Castro’s cabinet is over 70. Fidel Castro is 83, and Raúl is 78. The general sense that the regime might successfully pull off a […]
This was a week of international attention for Cuba. On Tuesday, Orlando Zapata Tamayo—a 42-year-old plumber imprisoned in 2003 who was serving a 36-year sentence for disobedience of the government, among other charges—died in prison after an 85-day hunger strike in protest of inhumane prison conditions. His death drew condemnation from the United States, Canada, Spain […]
This week Havana will hold the fifth Cuban Conference on Sexual Education, Orientation and Therapy, organized by the National Center of Sex Education (CENESEX) under Mariela Castro. Ms. Castro, notably, is the daughter of Raul and niece of Fidel Castro, and an outspoken rights advocate on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual Cubans. In […]