People say that when Fidel Castro saw his friend Rene Portocarrero go white as a sheet in the face of a horde of enraged speeches that were taking place at the first National Congress of Education and Culture in 1971, he kindly asked Alfredo Guevara to please get him out of there. I don’t know if this story is true, although I do think it’s likely.
Read MoreA negotiation or political dialogue between excluding positions is never a process to reach agreements. In an alliance you seek to be in agreement, in a political negotiation you do not. A negotiation defines the limits of the reciprocal interests confronted, in a contradictory and changing reality…
Read MoreCuba is an example of the dangers of the extreme concentration of national wealth and a good study case of how this concentration eats away at the vitality of society. How this hyper-concentration of wealth came about is irrelevant to us analyzing its consequences for democratic life.
Read MoreThe aggressive attack launched by the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry against the OAS’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, has meant a declaration of war against this institution, whose report about the grave human rights violations in Nicaragua is being backed by 21 countries on the continent.
Read MoreDaniel Ortega, the autocrat that promised to end presidential hegemony in Nicaragua, built the most autocratic regime in the history of the country, even outbidding Somoza’s concentration of power through his state-party-family scheme.
Read MoreThere are major changes that appear in the new draft Constitution (now in its popular consultation phase), which make it seem modern, keeping up with changes in Cuban society and other expressions to hide what it really is.
Read MoreI went to the house of someone very dear to me and went into her kitchen right when she was “cleaning” the chicken from the bodega food rations store. “Did you read the new amendments to the Constitution?” I asked her just to get on her nerves.
Read MoreThe actual unknown is if any of the functionaries that surround Ortega have noticed that the entire country, Ortega loyalists and opponents alike, is heading towards a precipice with no distinction for political sympathies. Perhaps some know it and don’t dare to say it. Who will tell the King he’s naked?
Read MoreOn August 14th 2018, I received news in one of the chat groups I’m in that we would have free internet until 8 PM. Suddenly, joy filled the streets and it was quite an event. I called up all my friends to tell them to take advantage of the situation.
Read MoreLike its concise predecessor, this new Constitution, which the Cuban Communist Party is proposing to us via the National Assembly, continues to be full of contradictions regarding sensitive but key points. And you can pick up on this as early as Chapter 1.
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