Opinion Archives - Page 442 of 496

Cars and Cuba’s New Economics

If you wish well for the Cuban people, especially the middle class, you have no choice but to like Raul Castro’s new economics under his revolutionary reform plan.

Cuba: Wilman Villar Died for Us All

Wilman Villar has left us another tragic example that freedom, as Manuel Azaña once said, doesn’t simply free people – it makes them human. There is very little information available about Villar’s case, and what does exist is very confusing (as always occurs in systems where information is a privilege and not a right).

Cuba and its Dual Currency

One consequence of the Special Period crisis in Cuba was the creation of a dual currency. For the government, this currency proxy separates the direct exchange value of the Cuban domestic peso from the US dollar.

Quality Control for Cuba’s Private Cafes

It’s amazing to witness how every day in Havana, more and more private cafes are opening up. On one neighborhood street alone, I saw three and four of these – one next to the other, and usually offering all the same things (coffee, pastries, pizzas, sandwiches, soft drinks) and all at the same prices.

Cuba’s Marti Is Everywhere and Nowhere

As I mentioned in a previous post, my mother told me that she had invited my 21-year-old niece to go see Fernando Perez’s film “Marti and the Eye of the Canary”. When this young woman replied, “I’m not watching that shit,” I was stunned.

Close the Guantanamo Base Now

This past weekend my daughter Tania visited Caimanera, the town here in Guantanamo Province just north of the US naval base; it was her first time. Previously she had been told about the existence of the nearby American base, when and how it arose, and what it means to most Cubans.

The US Base in Cuba and Guantanamo

I received an email from a friend in Europe who is originally from Guantanamo. In it she blasted journalists because they only mention her province in relation to the prison camp inside the US military base located there.

The Objective Truth About Cuba

Many things are published about Cuba around the world, and each one claims to be the truth. Some of these are half-truths blended with lies and nuanced distortions – sometimes written and published out of ignorance of the true circumstances here in Cuba; other times with malicious intent to denigrate the country.

Havana Weather for Jan. 19-25

We should have nice weather for the next seven days, with a low probability of rainfall and at temperatures that will be slightly higher than the past period. The maximum temperatures will range between 27°C (81°F) and 28°C (82°F), while the minimum temperatures will dip to around 18°C.

Cuba’s Ladies in White and the Right to Protest

The first time I heard about the “Ladies in White,” I considered these women to be exceptionally brave to protest and demonstrate in Cuba, a country where holding an opinion against the social system is a crime punishable by law. Since then I’ve read more about the group online.