October is the rainy season in Cuba – it’s been pouring on and off, and incredibly grey, since Saturday. The day before yesterday Alfredo’s exasperated neighbor stepped out onto her balcony and shouted at the sky, “Guat! (what) Hasta cuando?” (until when?)
Read MoreAmong the many traditions that were eliminated by the revolutionary government was that of “Three Kings Day,” on January 6, when in many parts of the world, children — whether Christian or not — are brought gifts by these supposed kings.
Read MoreReferring to the expected changes in immigration policy, a Cuban-American colleague wrote: “Not only is it absurd, but it is totally irresponsible to think that Cuba must open the doors to its borders wide open.”
Read MoreA statement from Amnesty International reminds us that the Guantanamo prison is marking a birthday in January 2012. It was exactly a decade ago that the first prisoners of the “war on terror” were sent there.
Read MoreIf there is something that needs to be recognized about Cuba’s leaders, particularly Fidel Castro, it’s their unparalleled talent to retain power, whether by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing.
Read MoreThe sources that originate these rumors are close enough to Fidel Castro to give them credibility but sufficiently diffuse to never allow verification. These come from “high-ranking military leaders,” “family members of Cuban leaders” and “members of their medical staffs.”
Read MoreThis issue will be particularly difficult to solve for Cuba’s leaders. Moreover, the disparity between spokespeople themselves, crying out for changes that never come, could indicate internal contradictions within the elite. The fact is that if Cubans could travel without asking permission, be free to decide the dates of their coming and going, and travel without having to pay for expensive consular services the Cuban government currently demands, this would be taking an important step in dismantling the authoritarian political system.
Read MoreEver since his arrest in December 2009, the US State Department, and even president Obama, have been telling Cuba that it should release Gross. At first they tried to say he was innocent but when that became obviously false they went the humanitarian route.
Read MoreIt would not be the same to confront and expropriate a bureaucratic state, ready and willing to share economic power with foreign capital, as it would be to take on people who own the means of production and control their destiny.
Read MoreIn Cuba, the trend toward vegetarian diets is becoming more popular. Though it has been fueled by the mass media and health food advocates, it still hasn’t been easy to motivate most people in this regard. Cuban dining culture has historically been sustained by the consumption of meat, fish and carbohydrates (with this latter having been the basis of the diet since the advent of the Special Period crisis starting the early 1990s).
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