Until the end of the 1980s, the words “business person” were akin to an obscenity in Cuba. Working for the State was the norm and even farmers who hadn’t handed over their lands to a cooperative were suspect. The communist ethos had imposed its rules on the population.
Read MoreThe Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU) is without a doubt the Cuban opposition organization with the most extensive membership and the most intense activism. Especially strong in the Eastern tip of the country, its activities have become part of the political landscape in Santiago de Cuba and other southeastern Cuban cities. Despite this, it has little visibility. I believe there are two reasons why.
Read More“You there?” she asks anxiously, counting the seconds — the minutes — before the hoped-for response appears on the screen. The Internet connection in Cuba is very slow. From a keyboard in Miami, someone responds, “Yes, my love, I’m here.” Thus begin the afternoons, when Adria invents an excuse to stay after hours in the office and steal some Internet time to chat at ease.
Read MoreThe arrival of the first Cuban migrants in the U.S., although only a small fraction of the more than 6,000 Cubans still stranded in Costa Rica, symbolizes the collapse of that hateful wall raised by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega to block their passage through Central America.
Read MoreReaders will likely recall the oft-repeated government promise that increased production would bring about a drop in prices. No few of us have criticized such claims for their total lack of objectivity.
Read MoreToday, as though the past had returned like a boomerang, it would again seem that Venezuelans see no other way forward but intolerance. The adversaries, though brothers, are quite different: Chavistas and the opposition.
Read MoreThe interview you’re about to read seeks answers to developments in today’s Cuba in the figure of Jose Marti (1853-1895). Where did I find the answers to these questions? In Ramiro Valdes Galarraga’s Diccionario del Pensamiento Martiano (“Jose Marti’s Thought: A Glossary”), published by Cuba’s Ciencias Sociales in 2013, the 160th anniversary of Marti’s birth.
Read MoreThese Cuban con artists are very good at what they do. They play in the big leagues, conning seasoned businesspeople. Some manage to “suckle at the teat” of these companies for as long as a year before the foreign investor realizes what’s going on.
Read MoreOne element of speech that clearly differentiates where Cubans come from is the way these refer to Fidel Castro Ruz. There are those who call him Fidel and those who refer to him as Castro.
Read MoreThis is a country like no other. Not even we Cubans understand Cuba so, how could we expect a foreigner to quickly grasp our situation? It would be a veritable feat to do so. However, despite all this, we are an interesting people with a beautiful country.
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