Pedro Campos

Ana Teresa Igarza, director general of the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) Regulations Office, recently announced that a special hard-currency exchange rate had been established for Zone employees. Contracted employees will receive 80 percent of their salaries but…

In one way or another, all schools of political thought in Cuba today, within or outside government circles, concur that we must work to bring about changes to this model. The differences have to do with the scope and direction of these changes.

The new foreign investment law – which seals the alliance between Cuba’s bureaucratic apparatus and foreign Capital – has been approved on the island. The regulations that are to make this new legislation viable have not yet been announced.

No one wrote the Colonel in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ novel – he never received the letter with the pension he was waiting for and ended up living in poverty. Similarly, no one [on the inside] is criticizing General Raul Castro’s “reform” program.

Raul Castro should be congratulated for being so clear and sincere. If anyone had any doubts about the possibility of important changes under his leadership, everything is now clear as day. Many of us were already aware of the situation some time before, but some continued to wait for true reforms.

The United States’ policy towards Cuba has proven counterproductive It is more detrimental to the interests of the US government than those of the Cuban leadership and hurts the people of Cuba most of all, as it has been used, internally, to justify repression and anti-democratic policies.

I welcome the Havana Declaration, particularly its references to human rights and citizen participation. I hope the statements made in this connection go beyond mere “intentions”.

The price of products in Cuba – particularly farm products essential to the population – show no signs of decreasing. The bureaucrats blame producers, cooperatives and intermediaries. In their assessments, however, they neglect the true causes of this situation.

I could fill several pages with names of institutions of all types being managed or run by officers or former officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) put there by the respective higher ups. There is no doubt: Whatever happens in Cuba today, in any sphere, is decided by the military.