Last week economist Richard Feinberg presented his latest monograph “Soft Landing in Cuba? Emerging Entrepreneurs and Middle Classes” published by the Brookings Institution, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. In a nutshell, Feinberg recommends that the U.S. abandon regime-change fantasies and instead take a suite of measures to support, encourage, influence and participate in building a prosperous and powerful non-state sector in Cuba.
Read MoreThese remarks are addressed to You: to President Raul Castro, the leadership of his government and Party, and the military officers heading the “reform process.” The measures implemented, which, in some measure, benefit we, the people, have been pragmatically designed to garner You greater benefits.
Read MoreThough some refuse to acknowledge it, the positive results of the social transformations undertaken in Cuba following the triumph of the revolution in 1959 are plain to see and within everyone’s reach. Many aren’t aware of these changes because they take them for granted – over 70 percent of Cuba’s current population was born after the revolution and did not experience what came before.
Read MoreI turned on the TV to listen to the morning show Buenos Dias, as I always do, from the kitchen. It was a news piece having to do with Cuba’s two currencies and their use. I perked up my ears and managed to hear something about “monetary unification.” In less than two seconds, my brain was already asking such questions as: “Will I get paid in Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC)?”, “How much will I start earning now?” and “Will my salary finally be enough to live on?”
Read MoreNow that Cuba has decided to definitively (though slyly) change its social model and the structure and foundations of its economy, I am positive we will soon see the novel figure of the Cuban entrepreneur blossom across the island.
Read MoreI don’t doubt Cuba’s Council of Ministers thoroughly evaluates its decisions before taking any concrete steps, but, sometimes, it does not clearly explain these decisions to the public. Many of us are still struggling to understand why the government thinks it necessary to “immediately” shut down 3D home theaters or computer game locales.
Read MoreThe United Nations has once again gone through the motions of condemning the blockade/embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States. Though this gesture is very ineffective, I am happy it was repeated, for the blockade/embargo has increasingly become a stumbling block devoid of any evident advantages for anyone.
Read MoreTwo days ago, a friend of mine who’s a writer arrived in Cuba. Fascinated by the descriptions of the architectural beauty, museums and historical sites of Old Havana I had sent him in my emails, he wanted to start his tour of the city in the old part of town.
Read MoreOn November 2, Cuba’s Granma newspaper published a press note regarding the self-employed, demanding that 3D home theaters and computer game rooms be shut down immediately and claiming such businesses were never authorized (they cut people some slack, a lot of slack, and now they’re pulling in the reins).
Read MoreCuba is looking for “foreign” investors for the construction of a grand, commercial port. As fate would have it, this enclave, which marks one of the pivotal moments of the island’s abandonment of Marxism-Leninism in all its ideological dimensions, is situated in El Mariel, renowned for having been the point of departure for one of the most massive of human exoduses of the 20th century.
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