Opinion Archives - Page 449 of 503

Regaining What Was Lost in Cuba

The battle of big capital to regain what was lost with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution began from the very first day of January 1959.

Leaving Cuba on a Mission

Last week, Esther, a friend of mine for years, received news that was the best that any ordinary Cuban can hope to get. She then gave me a big hug, one that was as if we hadn’t seen each other in years. She cried, laughed, and was finally left speechless.

More Production in Cuba Won’t Lead Directly to Lower Prices

The problem is not simply to produce more, but how to achieve this and for whose benefit. Producing more, regardless of the way this is done, could result in returning land to those who have the money, skills and resources to expand production: US companies and property owners of the past.

Reporting on a Death from Cuba, No Easy Task

The Death of Cuban prisoner Wilman Villar put us reporters in a dilemma that, while not new, is more dramatic: that of finding out where the truth lies in the midst of a web of political statements coming from both sides.

Shopping in Cuba and My Sense of Guilt

I have to say that this might sound unbelievable, but I assure you that it’s 100 percent true. Some time ago, I started experiencing a strange anxiety every time I had to go to a store (one that sells goods in hard currency).

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.