Dear friends from my personal blog Cartas desde Cuba (Letters from Cuba), 2016 comes to an end and, after 51 weeks of work, we are going to take some days off starting December 24th. It has been a period of great effort but also of results, the greatest of which we owe to you. [Cartas is also published in English by Havana Times.]
Read MoreIn my household, nobody could believe what journalist Boris Fuentes was telling us on the “Cuba Says” segment of the National News on Cuban TV. I couldn’t help but remember that chorus in “Todos se roban” (Everybody steals) by Carlos Varela
Read MoreFinally, the long-awaited Cuban documentary “Villa Rosa” by Lazaro J. Gonzalez, premiered during the 38th edition of Havana’s International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. Just like many other screenings at the Festival in the “Los colores de diversidad” (The colors of diversity) section, it drew a full audience at the Multicine complex on Infanta St.
Read MoreThe current tourist boom in Cuba accentuates the vulnerability of visitors to the the island’s two-currency system, which some have already read is a detriment to investment, efficiency and transparent bookkeeping.
Read MoreAn application for mobile devices that allows tracking a postal shipment, telegram or national and international money wires is now available to any customer of the Cuban postal company Empresa de Correos de Cuba. However the delivery process is still at a snail’s pace.
Read MoreWelcome peace; welcome unlimited trade; welcome Europe with your good intentions: I hope that your trade agreements won’t leave us completely alone in our fight for a better, more prosperous and democratic Cuba.
Read MoreWithout understanding the United States’ role in severing ties between these two nations, we may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Most recently, the US elected republican president Donald Trump has publicly stated that he will alter the recent agreements and eradicate years of progressive collaboration put in place by the Obama administration.
Read MoreI can venture to say, that until July 25, 1953, not many people in Cuba or around the world had ever heard the name Fidel Castro, which changed dramatically on the following day, July 26. As previous summers living in Guantanamo, we were invited by the Payares family to share with them Santiago de Cuba’s renowned Carnival, which usually began with a dance at the Hatuey Beer gardens that went on until 3:00 AM.
Read MoreMaybe we are at the crossroads of a new beginning. When signing the agreement in Brussels, Cuban Ambassador, Bruno Rodriguez, said that the “European Union and Cuba’s bilateral ties won’t go through Washington.” It would be very wise for both parties if this were the case.
Read MorePrevious outcomes reinforce the need to change the negotiation technique used with the Cuban Government. Negotiations need to be win-win and the hard-line stance of Cuba’s negotiation technique needs to be broken down.
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