Haroldo Dilla

Cuban Singer Silvio Rodriguez’ “Discoveries”

A few days ago, singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez angered that very small part of Cuba’s population with access to the Internet. This happened when, following a concert held at a small town in Cuba’s eastern end, the musician was interviewed by an official government web-site.

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Cuba: The Newborn Cries of Transnational Politics

More than a month ago, in the first half of March, two Cuba-related events took place. This would hardly be news – Cuba-related events take place every single month somewhere in the Western world – were it not for the fact that the two of them shared the same political objective.

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The Banishment of Cuban Scholar Mesa Lago

At the beginning of March, the renowned Cuban scholar Carmelo Mesa Lago was invited to attend an interesting intellectual gathering in Cuba. The organizers had planned to pay tribute to Mesa Lago, now 80, and to launch his latest book about the Cuban economy in the era of Raul Castro.

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Cuba: Pros & Cons on a Loyal Opposition

In a discussion on a loyal opposition, one must begin by pointing out the main obstacle to its existence in Cuba is the persistence, in power, of a narcissistic political elite that is deaf to all appeals and considers itself the very embodiment of the nation’s history and future.

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Cuba: The Heroic Construction of Capitalism

I am often criticized for reading Cuba’s official daily, Granma. I continue to do it, however, because I feel it is worthwhile. Here’s an example: a report on a recent incident on the coast of Santa Lucia, in Cayo Jutia, a 2.5 mile stretch of pristine, paradisiacal beaches.

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What Do Cuban Émigrés Get?

The Cuban government continues to regard its émigrés as debris that has broken off from the nation’s edifice and seeks to squeeze out as much surplus value from them as it can through remittances and consular services.

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Cuba in the Worst Business Sense

When looking at Raul Castro’s “reform process”, you get the sense that it is slow and limited. At times, however, one cannot help but feel it is advancing in the direction that Cuba’s political elite wants it to, be it because this elite seeks to preserve stability in the short term (the only term most people can lay their bets on) or because they want to guarantee the prosperity of their families in the long run.

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Cubans Can Now Purchase Cars

The liberalization of the automobile market – just like the previous liberalization of the housing, hotel, cellular phone and other markets – isn’t aimed at the general population which remains at the margins, without social mobility and excluded from the hard currency consumer market.

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Cuba’s Dirty Buses

A few days ago, I came across an article about inter-provincial bus trips in Cuba and some things that happen. The thread of the argument was nothing other than the monstrous behavior shown by a passenger during a trip from the province of Las Tunas to another part of the country.

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