The serpent, at last, has bit itself on the tail. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Treasury has turned back the clock to the Clinton era by authorizing Cuban Americans to visit family in Cuba once a year under a general license.
The World Baseball Classic is diverting my attention these days but there is still a buzzing in my head, wondering what has just happened in Cuba where the two youngest key figures in the government were removed in disgrace and numerous other changes were made.
—Like most Cubans and foreigners that follow events on the island, the fall of both on March 2nd, and their being accused of abusing their posts and pleasing the enemy, was not something to take lightly.
How can we evaluate our leaders? Where can you find the commentaries of specialists, essayists and critics that assess our representatives during a given period of time? In what paper, website or library can I find concrete data about an official’s performance? No, it’s nowhere; we have to rely on their superiors to evaluate them.
The winds of a new change have begun to blow from Washington. The phrase does not mean the dismantlement of the US political framework that has been in place up to now, but rather the adaptation to an alternative logic when fighting its “closest of enemies.” The underlying reasoning for a change in policy is that the logic of contact played a leading role in the deconstruction of socialism in Eastern Europe, where the Cold War was won “without firing a single shot.”
President Castro has been a strong supporter of strengthening Cuban institutions and his latest moves appear geared in that direction. In these times of world economic crisis, the measures and personnel changes made will hopefully protect Cuba from a harder impact.
After Mexico, the Latin American country with the greatest and deepest cultural ties with Cuba is probably Chile. That relationship, like all others, has its history. It was particularly intense during the government of Salvador Allende (1970-1973), when for the first time an electoral process brought a left-wing candidate to the presidency, a foreshadowing of events that would unfold in the region many years later.
The photo is an image very similar to those published in recent times and of others that we could find in any family album: a grandfather receiving a visit from one of his daughters or granddaughters. However, two small but striking details can be observed that make this photo somewhat different from previous ones.
For Russia, the strategic alliance means a revival of traditional links with Cuba, trade preferences and investment on the island. For Cuba, it represents much-needed economic and political support.
—As for the Cuban debt accumulated in the Soviet years, some Russian sources say this seems to be finally buried and forgotten, leaving a clean slate for this new stage in bilateral relations.
A fellow editor reminded me the other day that Cuban media professionals draw a danger line for themselves. The line keeps them from stepping onto shaky ground, where some higher up might perceive their subject matter as too controversial or too negatively critical.
—The rationale is always that internal problems should not be divulged or discussed by the Cuban media, because such writing “helps the enemy.”
Jefferson’s statement that “nothing would be more suitable” —than the idea that Cuba constituted— “the most interesting addition that could be made to our system of states,” would become one of the most damaging political tendencies of the century for the existence of the Cuban nation.
—The 19th century produced numerous expressions of paternalism, but without a doubt one of the most representative is the narrative that Cubans weren’t ready for self government.