Corruption
Trump Gets It Right
Editorial: Trump Gets It Right DDC | Madrid | 22 de Junio de 2017 – 11:23 CEST. In his speech in Miami, US President Donald Trump rightly divided Cuban society into two groups: the military and the people. And his criticism of the regime did not center on its ideology, on the single party, or […] Continue reading
The End Of The Cycle For Two Caudillos
The End Of The Cycle For Two Caudillos 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 12 June 2017 — His mother died, his brother emigrated and now no one brings flowers to the tomb of one of those many young Cubans who lost their lives on the African plains. His death served to build the authoritarian regime of […] Continue reading
Drug smuggling a risk if US relations with Cuba shift, officials say
Drug smuggling a risk if US relations with Cuba shift, officials say By Patrick Oppmann, CNN Updated 1005 GMT (1805 HKT) June 12, 2017 Havana, Cuba (CNN)For Cuban officials on the front lines of the fight against drug trafficking, the Trump administration’s threat to roll back improved relations between the United States and the communist-run […] Continue reading
Autonomy of Cuban Dissidents Will Always Be Beneficial
Autonomy of Cuban Dissidents Will Always Be Beneficial / Iván García Iván García, 1 June 2017– The majority of the openly anti-Castro opponents I know do not live in lavish mansions nor do they possess items fashioned with the latest technology. Neither do they boast bank accounts in financial paradises and they do not own […] Continue reading
War Vocation in the “Peace Zone”
War Vocation in the “Peace Zone” Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 31 May 2017 — A brief note published by the official Cuban press reports the meeting held by “General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz” with “the Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army, Timoleón Jiménez” (FARC-EP), where the former “ratified the willingness […] Continue reading
The Cuban Regime is an Enemy to the Freedom of Expression
The Cuban Regime is an Enemy to theFreedom of Expression / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 10 May 2017 — When he is particularly bored, after flicking through the eight channels that there are on the island, 56 year old civil engineer Josuan watches the national news some nights with a smirk only to later write […] Continue reading
Cuba a mix of corruption, impressive beauty, people
Cuba a mix of corruption, impressive beauty, people By Amelia Rayno / Minneapolis Star Tribune The uniformed woman’s eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down, assessing. Seconds earlier, she had told me that the currency exchange was one floor up at the Havana airport. Now, after processing my poor Spanish, blond hair and […] Continue reading
How Cuban State Security Intimidates Potential Informants
How Cuban State Security Intimidates Potential Informants / Iván García Iván García,9 April 2017 — They did not put a Makarov pistol to his head or torture him with electric prods. Let’s call him Josué. (The names in his article have been changed). He is a guy who wears American-made jeans, listens to jazz by […] Continue reading
Should U.S. Companies Hit ‘Pause’ on Doing Business in Cuba?
Should U.S. Companies Hit ‘Pause’ on Doing Business in Cuba?
Apr 20, 2017
President Trump’s government has yet to reveal its hand on the issue of
reconciliation with Cuba. There had been a lot of progress towards
greater ties following President’s Obama’s overtures in December 2014:
Some cooperation agreements were signed – particularly in aviation and
communications — and Google… Continue reading
When Your Ally’s Beards are on Fire
When Your Ally’s Beards are on Fire*… / Miriam Celaya
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 18 April 2017 — According to an old
adage, when you see you neighbor’s beard on fire, go soak your own*. The
maxim should be applied to the elderly Cuban dictator, especially if we
take into account that the erratic performance of Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro… Continue reading
‘From now on you have no name. You are prisoner 217’: life in a Cuban jail
‘From now on you have no name. You are prisoner 217’: life in a Cuban jail A brutal high-security prison was the last place Stephen Purvis expected to end up when he moved to Havana. Stephen Gibbs tells his story Stephen Gibbs Sunday 19 March 2017 09.00 GMT If you happened to go to a […] Continue reading
The Taliban Has Returned
The Taliban Has Returned / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez, 15 March 2017 – At the beginning of the last decade, when Fidel Castro would call a “march of the fighting people” for any reason whatsoever and the multitudes who seemed to have arrived from Pyongyang would chant slogans and wave little […] Continue reading
Ten Years of Raulism – From “Reformism” to the Abyss
Ten Years of Raulism: From “Reformism” to the Abyss / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 February 2017 — As the second month of 2017 comes to a close, the Cuban panorama continues to be bleak. Material difficulties and the absence of a realistic economic recovery program – the ineffectiveness of the chimerical […] Continue reading
Ten Years of Raulism – From “Reformism” to the Abyss
Ten Years of Raulism: From “Reformism” to the Abyss / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 February 2017 — As the second month
of 2017 comes to a close, the Cuban panorama continues to be bleak.
Material difficulties and the absence of a realistic economic recovery
program – the ineffectiveness of the chimerical Party Guidelines has
been demonstrated… Continue reading
Weakness, Fear And Inability Erode The Cuban Government
Weakness, Fear And Inability Erode The Cuban Government / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos 14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Miami, 23 February 2017 — The recent “diplomatic” action by the Cuban Government to try to prevent the presence of foreign personalities in a private event in Havana to receive a symbolic prize bearing the name of the late regime […] Continue reading
Measuring Hopelessness
Measuring Hopelessness / Yoani Sanchez Yoani Sanchez, El Pais, 12 February 2017 — Statistics are deceiving. They only reflect measurable values, tangible realities. International agencies cram us with numbers that measure development, life expectancy or educational attainment, but seldom succeed in grading dissatisfaction, fear, and discouragement. Frequently in their reports they describe a Latin America […] Continue reading
Fidel Castro – The Tyrant Exits but the Damage Remains
Fidel Castro: The Tyrant Exits but the Damage Remains / Jeovany Jimenez Vega Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 29 November 2016 — The dictator Fidel Castro died last Friday at the age of 90. The extensive news coverage was to be expected. After all, he was both the object of the most romantic, idealized love and the […] Continue reading
What Fidel Castro Left Us (Part 1)
What Fidel Castro Left Us (Part 1) / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 17 December 2016 — At the exit of the Bay Tunnel, the P-11 bus is packed with passengers. While the riders enjoy the view of the sea, the odor of saltpeter fills their noses. In this stretch of Havana’s geography, where Monumental Avenue […] Continue reading
Losing Fear To Get Freedom
Losing Fear To Get Freedom / 14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo 14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo, Quito, 10 December 2016 — On the 58th anniversary of the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista, the seizure of power by Fidel Castro and the disappearance of the national hope of a return to the constitutional values of 1940, the people of Cuba, their […] Continue reading
The Seven Phases of Fidel Castro
The Seven Phases of Fidel Castro / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 10 December 2016 — In a country sculpted by slogans, intolerance and symbols, the departure of Fidel Castro — absolute ruler and founding father of the Cuban Revolution — changes the rules of the game. Nothing will ever be the same again. No future […] Continue reading
Legacy and End Point
Legacy and End Point / Somos+, Pedro Acosta Somos+, Pedro Acosta, 6 December 2016 — After your departure the Cuban people should be eternally grateful for: The fall of the dictatorship. Fulfilling your political promises, especially the respect for the 1940 Constitution, the quick holding of free elections, and not placing yourself permanently in power. […] Continue reading
There Is Nothing Worse Than An Artist Who Collaborates With A Repressive Government
“There Is Nothing Worse Than An Artist Who Collaborates With A Repressive Government” / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 7 December 2016 – He has a Polish last name, a first name of Hebrew origin, and Venezuelan blood running through his veins. Jonathan Jakubowicz is as complex and versatile a filmmaker as the […] Continue reading
After an artist is detained in Cuba for celebrating Castro’s death, little hope for change
After an artist is detained in Cuba for celebrating Castro’s death, little hope for change BY CHABELI HERRERA Is a Cuba without one Castro a more open place for artists? Before anyone could get the question out this weekend, Cuba was already answering. Cuban street artist Danilo Maldonado Machado, also known as El Sexto, was […] Continue reading
Miami’s exile community is full of people whose paths crossed Fidel Castro’s
Miami’s exile community is full of people whose paths crossed Fidel Castro’s BY ANA VECIANA SUAREZ Miami’s tightly knit and often contentious exile community is full of people whose paths crossed Fidel Castro’s. They knew him when he was a college student struggling for attention, when he was holed up in the Sierra Maestra mountains […] Continue reading
Fidel Castro is dead
Fidel Castro is dead BY GLENN GARVIN ggarvin@MiamiHerald.com Fidel Castro, who towered over his Caribbean island for nearly five decades, a shaggy-bearded figure in combat fatigues whose long shadow spread across Latin America and the world, is dead at age 90. His brother Raul announced the death late Friday night. Millions cheered Fidel Castro on […] Continue reading
Cuba – Journalists, That’s All
Cuba: Journalists, That’s All / Iván García Iván García, 25 October 2016 — Erasmo Calzadilla, a columnist for the Havana Times digital newspaper, is a controversial chap who listens to opposing arguments but but hangs on doggedly to his own opinions. In a forum on Cuban journalism, organised by the IWPR (Institute for War and […] Continue reading
Trump praises Cuban dissident group the Ladies in White
Trump praises Cuban dissident group the Ladies in White Published October 26, 2016 EFE MIAMI – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday at a Miami meeting with anti-Castro Cuban-Americans praised the Ladies in White dissident group and accused Democratic rival Hillary Clinton of “closing her eyes” to human rights violations on the communist island. […] Continue reading
A judge, then an independent lawyer, and currently in prison, JulioFerrer Tamayo talks about the corruption of the Cuban judicial system
A judge, then an independent lawyer, and currently in prison, Julio Ferrer Tamayo talks about the corruption of the Cuban judicial system WALDO FERNÁNDEZ CUENCA | La Habana | 25 de Octubre de 2016 – 08:00 CEST. Before becoming an independent lawyer, Julio Ferrer Tamayo had a long career as a judge and attorney within […] Continue reading
It’s Hard for the Government to Tolerate the Professionalism ofIndependent Journalists
“It’s Hard for the Government to Tolerate the Professionalism of Independent Journalists” 14ymedio, Joanna Columbie, Havana, 21 October 2016 – Ignacio Gonzalez is frequently seen in the streets of Havana with microphone in hand recording citizens’ reactions to a flood, a historic baseball game or the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the governments of Cuba […] Continue reading
Laritza Diversent, Devastated by the Police Operation Against Cubalex
Laritza Diversent, Devastated by the Police Operation Against Cubalex / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 28 September 2016 — After passing the crossing of La Palma, two kilometers from the old bus stop of Mantilla, El Calvario is found nestled, a district of one-story houses, roads without asphalt and a multitude of dogs without owners. At […] Continue reading
Committee to Protect Journalists Invites Journalists in Cuba to “Cross the Red Lines
Committee to Protect Journalists Invites Journalists in Cuba to “Cross the Red Lines” /14ymedio 14ymedio, Havana, 28 September 2016 – Dismantling the legal framework for the press and eliminating all barriers to individual access to the internet are key factors to promote a more open information environment in Cuba, according to the report Connecting Cuba: […] Continue reading
In Puerto Rico, Cubans Call for a Commission Against Impunity
In Puerto Rico, Cubans Call for a Commission Against Impunity / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, San Juan, 15 August 2016 — The emergence of a new opposition partnership called the Conference of the Cuban National Congress is the most notable result of the event that has gathered in Puerto Rico 65 organizations from […] Continue reading
Voices of Change in Cuba Could Emerge from the Private Sector
Voices of Change in Cuba Could Emerge from the Private Sector / Iván García Iván García, 30 July 2016 — One a hot afternoon in May, a Havana bicycle taxi driver became upset over a fine of 700 pesos and managed to overturn a government regulation which he considered arbitrary. This triggered a flawlessly prepared […] Continue reading
One Woman’s Struggle for Freedom in Castro’s Cuba
One Woman’s Struggle for Freedom in Castro’s Cuba Andrew Egger / July 26, 2016 A slim Cuban woman speaks from a wheelchair at the front of the room. The woman speaks softly for 10 minutes in Spanish, pausing at intervals to wait for her translator’s words. Her left arm ends at the wrist, and she […] Continue reading
Cuba in Crisis: the Pressure is Building
Cuba in Crisis: the Pressure is Building / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 15 July 2016 — Some claim that “nothing ever happens in Cuba.” However, the signals we have been receiving of late indicate otherwise. The price increases at the produce markets since the last quarter of 2015, accompanied by periodic (and […] Continue reading
Backlash in Cuba
Backlash in Cuba Obama’s historic visit was a smash hit in Havana. Fidel Castro wasn’t going to take that lying down. By ANN LOUISE BARDACH June 10, 2016 HAVANA—These days Fidel Castro doesn’t often leave his comfortable home in Siboney, a leafy suburb west of this city. But on April 19, the 89-year-old Cuban leader […] Continue reading
How Democracy Disappeared from Cuba
How Democracy Disappeared from Cuba / Roberto Alvarez Quiñones From the blog of Dimas Castellano: In response to an article in Diario de Cuba about different views on human rights, one reader noted that he would like to read an account of how democracy disappeared from Cuba. In response, Roberto Alvarez Quiñones wrote “At Democracy’s […] Continue reading
The Cuban justice system is seriously corrupt
“The Cuban justice system is seriously corrupt” DDC | Oslo | 26 Mayo 2016 – 9:03 pm. For more than 15 years the Cubalex Legal Information Center has been providing free guidance to Cubans, who, lacking resources and information, must grapple with the regime’s legal system. Cubalex also advises Cubans and foreigners with regards to […] Continue reading
The Enemies of Modern Democracy
The Enemies of Modern Democracy / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 28 April 2016 — What do the autocratic Castro brothers, the solemn Vatican, Islamic fundamentalists and the madhouse that is North Korea have in common? The answer is simple: devotion to dogma, lack of transparency and unchecked caste-based power. In theory communism should be music […] Continue reading
Cuba-Disneyland and Its Leftist Pimps
Cuba-Disneyland and Its Leftist Pimps / 14ymedio, Isaac Nahon Serfaty 14ymedio, Isaac Nahon Serfaty, 10 May 2016 — Cuba is now the Disneyland of the fashion show business. The list of celebrities who go to the island as almost archeological tourists is growing every day. The Mummy Stones, the Lagerfield effigy, and the inevitable voluptuous […] Continue reading