Days, weeks, months and years go by without achieving the promised computerization of Cuban society. Gone is the debate as to whether the Internet will be social or individual; most Internet users are ready to accept any option as long as they have access.
Read MoreOver the weekend I went hiking along the trails of Viñales Valley in Pinar del Rio where I could see how the lives of people there have changed. I left my car at a lookout point, around which were several private restaurants offering me something to eat for when I returned from my trek.
Read MoreNo one in Cuba continues to dispute the need for reforms to provide the nation with a self-sustaining economy. Today Cubans use words like efficiency, the market, profitability, costs and benefits, and supply and demand, without fear of being branded heretics. The central issue in this article is to what extent culture can finance itself.
Read MoreSince Thursday, hundreds of thousands of Cubans across the island are flocking to pay posthumous tribute to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was one of the island’s most loyal friends. In Havana’s Revolution Square, the line for people to pay their respects is several blocks long.
Read MorePeople told me that he traveled around town by bicycle, only using his official car when he had to leave the city. It was said that some senior members of the Communist Party didn’t look upon him favorably; they complained about him not dressing or acting like a first secretary.
Read MoreMiguel Diaz Canel, a 52-year-old politician, could become the next president of Cuba in five years, when the current president can no longer be re-elected because of a provision — one that he himself has advocated — that limits office to two of five-year terms.
Read MoreWith a new accord that includes pardoning a portion of Cuba’s debt to the former Soviet Union, Havana and Moscow removed the main obstacle to further developing relations between those two nations – though the agreement seems to have required a fair amount of compromise by each side.
Read MoreThe reduction of subsidies and steady increases in prices are forcing them to continue searching for sources of income even after retirement. Anything goes – from selling cigarette lighters in the street to collecting empty beer cans and cartons.
Read MoreAgainst their own forecasts, dissidents Yoani Sanchez, Eliecer Avila and the daughter of Osvaldo Paya left Cuba – all benefiting from the new immigration reforms that opened the island’s doors after 50 years of extremely cumbersome and expensive procedures.
Read MoreEven as a little boy, he was dazzled by the stories told by the laborers in the fields of Uruguay, so he decided to become a storyteller too. At 30 he hijacked a plane and re-routed it to Cuba, where — a half a century later — he was presented with the National Literature Award.
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