On July 30th, Grady Ross Daugherty, a HT reader and supportive anarchist, bid us farewell. Our friend came to visit our country on several occasions, his most recent visit was last year. His optimism for Cuba’s future diminished markedly in the face of the country’s current reality.
Read MoreWhen Fidel Castro proclaimed that this model of socialism is of no use even for us, anyone would have thought that this would have been reason enough for his followers to start looking for another strain of Socialism that would serve the Cuban nation better.
Read MoreThis story began when 500,000 surplus state sector jobs were to be eliminated, almost “putting the cart before the oxen”, and nobody knew where these unemployed workers would end up after receiving wages over a three month grace period.
Read MoreCuban agriculture has passed through moments of glory and huge setbacks caused by the country’s own political leaders. For everyone who has been following the achievements, failures and setbacks of Cuban agriculture, it’s been highly refreshing to read minister Gustavo Rodriguez’s approaches and proposals.
Read MoreThe provincial newspaper 5 de Septiembre in Cienfuegos publishes a story about motor scooters secretly imported into the country. According to the newspaper article since August 1, the police forbade that these scooters, known as “motorinas”, circulate on the streets of Cienfuegos.
Read MoreEvery act in Cuba in favor of change, outside of the official framework, is considered an act of dissidence. It doesn’t matter whether you sympathize with Posada Carriles’ violent methods, with the Chicago school of economics or whether you are a democratic socialist like yours truly.
Read MoreThe 1968 “Revolutionary Offensive” nationalized all the small businesses that remained after the Revolution triumphed in 1959. According to figures from Granma newspaper itself, 55,636 small businesses were seized back then:11,878 grocery stores, 3130 butchers, 3198 bars, 8101 food selling establishments, 6653 launderettes, 3643 barber shops, 1188 shoe repairmen, 4544 car repair workshops, 1598 craft businesses and 3345 carpentry workshops.
Read MoreNo one could have anticipated the person who would pick up the torch passed on by Diaz, Emiliano Chamorro, and Somoza. How could we ever have imagined that it would be a fighter for Nicaragua’s national liberation, one of the leaders of the Sandinista Front?
Read MoreTwo people never tell how something happened in the exact same way. One person accentuates certain facts, the other person accentuates others. Therefore, I am going to go out on a limb and say the following: the way a story is told says more about the people telling the story than about what actually happened in the first place.
Read MoreEvents in Venezuela are truly a cause for concern. A political party, with a socialist name, is clinging onto power with ruses, rather than mass popular support. The desire to implement socialist policies should never undermine the principle of strict compliance to the people’s will which is expressed via democratic channels.
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