The greatest weakness in the reform initiative lies in the fact that the bureaucrats are in charge of its application, control, the establishment of norms, setting timelines, specifying procedures and deciding on punishment when “shortcomings” are discovered.
Read MoreThe pursuit of the intolerance of critical thought deserves a response, be it emanating from Budapest or Manama, Jerusalem or Beijing, Havana or Miami.
Read MoreThe recent events in Egypt stirred up surprising expectations among some Cuban exiles. Through Facebook they called upon islanders to rise up, even indicating the exact date that they should begin protesting.
Read MoreToday it is exceedingly difficult to know what is going on, who’s who in the new political and administrative matrix, or in what direction the policies of the island are moving.
Read MoreWhat I’m trying to do is establish comparisons with the nation’s current situation, appealing to emotive memories that recall experiences from the past.
Read MoreI experienced the most difficult moments of the Special Period crisis when I was only 16. I had just entered high school when we received the news of the collapse of the socialist camp; the consequences would soon follow.
Read MoreIn a society where the overwhelming majority of youth not only don’t read, but they speak worse and worse every day, and they are voracious consumers of reggaeton and all types of flashy junk, this physical cutting back on poetry is only a symptom of the true illness that is eating away at us as a nation. It is a spiritual metastasis.
Read MoreA perverse tradition in the political culture of the island’s leadership (which has permeated the whole of Cuban society) is that the achievements are privatized and the costs socialized.
Read MoreNow is the time for the Cuban people and its institutions to develop a different approach to attracting investment and development to the island and shake off the asphyxiating stranglehold of a half century embargo/blockade.
Read MoreThe news had run around the whole university like a line of lit gunpowder. Teachers, services workers and even some students were all talking about it. It seems that those of us in my department were the last ones to find out.
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