After a considerable hiatus, I’m pleased to re-welcome you to the Cuba blog. We have lots of catching up to do, so let’s hop right to it. If you’re wondering what’s happened between Washington and Havana in the meantime, catch up with Anya Landau French on the Havana Note: Obama Fumbles on Cuba. You guessed […]
The newest issue of the Economist falls into the more and more common “honeymoon” rhetoric trap in its discussion of current developments in US-Cuba relations: an article dated today is entitled, “Honeymoon cancelled: A familiar mistrust descends.“ The analysis is lacking two distinctions: one, the distinction between public perception and government intent/activity; and two (again), between […]
The AP ran a story today titled, “US-Cuba immigration talks under cloud of mistrust.” The course of the article makes the current US-Cuba relationship and future prospects look pretty dismal. But we had always expected progress to be slow, and mutual recriminations do not disappear overnight. I, for one, am not discouraged. Still, one cannot […]
We say this every year. But like the stubbornly optimistic Chicago Cubs fan (which I also happen to be), we’ll say it again: 2010 could be the year. This year we could see further change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, starting with opening travel. The Congressional push to open up Cuba for travel by U.S. […]
Havana is not alone in its judgment that the Obama administration has not done enough in its first year to achieve rapprochement. Analysts have been voicing their dissatisfaction in connection with the end of year one: the Center for International Policy’s critique sums up the main complaints that have been circulating. Over-arching thesis: “Obama is […]