Whenever I see old people in the street selling peanuts, plastic bags or any little incidental items , I think back to the old woman in the movie Suite Havana, by Fernando Perez.
She appeared along with other flesh and blood Cubans, who were not actors, as they struggled with the weighty challenge of survival in an endless “Special Period” crisis.
Read MorePepe began by looking for all available information in order to decide what type of self-employed work he could do. The choices included selling prepared food, selling animals for “religious matters” or selling farm products.
Read MoreNearly a year after the earthquake, Haiti continues to be plagued by inefficiency, indolence and inaptitude in face of massive human suffering. Many of those supposed to lead the recovery effort, have engaged in posturing, photo-ops, press releases, TV appearances and on radio talk shows.
Read MoreCuba’s President Raul Castro addressed his country’s parliament on Saturday at the closing of a session dedicated to discuss the economic reforms the government has begun to implement that include the laying off of some 500,000 public employees by the end of March and expand the possibilities for self-employment and small business.
Read MoreFormer Cuban President Fidel Castro had sharp criticism Friday for his US counterpart Bill Clinton, the current UN Special Envoy to Haiti, in a commentary published in the Cuban press. HT brings you the full text of Castro’s commentary.
Read MoreNo one in his/her right mind can deny the extraordinary educational advances that Afro-Cubans have made in the past half century. Yet, the socio-economic gap between us and other ethnic groups has persisted and widened in many cases.
Read MoreOne should always keep it in mind that the shoe repairer is not the criminal but the victim of an economic model that has made the trafficking of influence and stolen goods the main source of income for its own bureaucracy.
Read MoreI would like to denounce the bureaucracy that puts limits even on how far one can go in struggling for life. I want to defend the right of people to feel like they’re running up against the limits of nature and not those of human whim.
Read MoreAccording to Fidel Castro, the multilateral agency “not only has to fulfil the elementary duty of fighting for the reconstruction and development of Haiti,” but also “to mobilize the necessary resources to eradicate” that disease, reported IPS.
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