Opinion

The Holes in the Wall around Cuba

Raul Castro is not likely to go down in history as a daring and innovative politician. He may in fact be remembered as one of the most fainthearted leaders ever to govern Cuba. The general and his retinue of octogenarian and fiftyish officials say they are making “slow but sure” progress, as though they had all of the time in the world to deliver the glass of milk promised every Cuban child, as though every delay didn’t have a huge impact on our society.

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Cuba and Culture Under Siege

The film director, Ian Padron, announced this week that he is leaving Cuba because he’s “tired” of having to deal with these absurdities. The news saddens me but it doesn’t surprise me. For years, I’ve watched the country lose many young talents because of the intransigence of certain power sectors, where ideological extremism combines with ignorance.

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The Curse of the Cuban Passport

The Cuban passport is one of the most problematic documents that Cubans residing abroad have to deal with. In this connection, the range of complaints among émigrés encompass economic issues (because of how expensive requesting or renewing this document is) and even juridical and practical ones (the fact they must enter Cuba with this passport, even when they have acquired citizenship elsewhere).

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The Strange Case of Cuba’s Gilbert Man

Cuban USB drives – the people’s Internet – are now carrying the graphic details of the massive police operation conducted some weeks ago, when the well-known reggaeton music promoter Gilbert Man (a Cuban citizen holding ID card number 86060806804, issued to Gilberto Martinez Suarez on March 14, 2014) was arrested.

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Cuba-USA Try to Skirt Dead Ends

Raul Castro and Barack Obama have boarded a ship built in utmost secrecy over an 18-month period. They are sailing through turbulent waters and torpedoes are being fired at them from both coasts. What’s novel about these negotiations in comparison to previous attempts is that the two governments have sat down to talk without establishing any prior conditions, on the understanding that exchanging points of view is the beginning and not the end of the road.

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A Cuban’s Personal Encounter with the United States

I never thought that several hours in Havana’s “Park of Laments”, a place near the US Interests Section (USINT), would be like taking a semester of Cuban History. There is no other place in our country where hundreds of people gather on a daily basis without having been summoned to take part in a political event, where individuals of all classes, ages, professions, skin-colors and every other details that sets human beings apart convene for the sole purpose of obtaining a visa that will authorize them to cross the warm currents of the Gulf and enter the United States legally.

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