Education
Cuban Couple Prefers to Face the Jungle Rather Than the Law in Cuba
Cuban Couple Prefers to Face the Jungle Rather Than the Law in Cuba 14ymedio, Mario J. Penton, Panama City, 2 July 2017 – They managed to escape Cuba to leave behind traces of corruption and negligence that, according to Yudenny Sao Labrado and her husband Yoendry Batista, reflect the prevailing system on the island. From […] Continue reading
How President Trump can borrow from US Cuba policy to squeeze Beijing on North Korea
How President Trump can borrow from US Cuba policy to squeeze Beijing on North Korea Asia, Foreign and Defense Policy The New York Times reports that “President Trump, frustrated by China’s unwillingness to lean on North Korea, has told the Chinese leader that the United States is prepared to act on its own in pressuring […] Continue reading
They fled to avoid prosecution from a web of corruption that is part of daily life in Cuba
They fled to avoid prosecution from a web of corruption that is part of daily life in Cuba BY MARIO J. PENTÓN mpenton@elnuevoherald.com PANAMA CITY, PANAMA The couple fled Cuba to avoid the web of corruption and negligence that they say reflects what is normal life on the island. They got stranded in Panama, but […] 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
Corruption Versus Liberty: A Cuban Dilemma
Corruption Versus Liberty: A Cuban Dilemma / Dimas Castellano Dimas Castellanos, 18 November 2016 — The evil of corruption–the act of corruption and its effects–has accompanied the human species since its emergence. It has been present in all societies and in all ages. Its diverse causes range from personal conduct to the political-economic system of […] Continue reading
Social justice in Cuba? No racism?
Commentary: Social justice in Cuba? No racism? Javier Garcia-Bengochea Guest Columnist Privacy Policy It ain’t what you don’t know that hurts you. It’s what you think you know that just ain’t so … Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige paraphrasing Mark Twain. It’s called fake news. For decades, Cuba has promoted a false narrative regarding […] Continue reading
The Thousand Faces of “Journalism”
The Thousand Faces of “Journalism” / Miriam Celaya Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 29 March 2017 – An opinion piece published in recent days by El Nuevo Herald gives me a disturbing feeling of déjà vu. It is not the subject – overflowing with a number of articles by different authors – but its focal point, […] 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
The Socioeconomic Legacy Of Fidel Castro
The Socioeconomic Legacy Of Fidel Castro / Miriam Leiva ABC International, Miriam Leiva, 26 November 2016 — Fidel Castro left Cuba in disastrous economic conditions after exerting absolute power for more than 47 years. His brother received a country “on the precipice” on 31 July 2006. Raul Castro has had to eliminate the “genial” initiatives […] Continue reading
The Role of Cuba in Venezuela – Douglas Farah
The Role of Cuba in Venezuela [Opinion] By Douglas Farah While there is little doubt that the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela is on shaky ground, the Castro brothers in Cuba must be just as nervous. For the past 14 years Venezuela has provided an economic lifeline to the Cuban regime by sending them […] 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
Fidel’s best-sold myth
Fidel’s best-sold myth ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ QUIÑONES | Los Ángeles | 8 de Diciembre de 2016 – 01:47 CET. Free education and public health as the “genuine feat of the revolution” constitute, in my opinion, the best and most sophisticated (dual) myth that Fidel Castro has “sold” to Cubans and the world, among the many that […] 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
What’s next for Fidel Castro’s large immediate family in Cuba?
What’s next for Fidel Castro’s large immediate family in Cuba? BY JUAN O. TAMAYO El Nuevo Herald The death of Fidel Castro has raised uncomfortable questions about the future of his immediate family, a group remarkable both for its size — at least seven, and maybe up to 11 sons and daughters — and for […] Continue reading
In the Midst of a Hurricane, Mariela Castro Remodels Her Mansion
In the Midst of a Hurricane, Mariela Castro Remodels Her Mansion / Juan Juan Almeida Juan Juan Almeida, 3 October 2016 — At the same time that Hurricane Matthew is setting off alarms throughout the island, especially in the eastern part of the country, the wall of secrecy surrounding the Castro family is starting to […] Continue reading
Latin America, Land of the ‘Millennials’
Latin America, Land of the ‘Millennials’ / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 25 September 2016 – They were born at the time when Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose was published, when thousands of Cubans were escaping the island through the Port of Mariel, and when a fan murdered John Lennon in […] Continue reading
Machado’s fall and today’s crisis
Machado’s fall and today’s crisis DIMAS CASTELLANOS | La Habana | 15 de Agosto de 2016 – 15:03 CEST. On 12 August, 1933, 83 years ago, Gerardo Machado y Morales was ousted from power. This class of development, a constant in our political history, is closely linked to militarism (the predominance of the military element […] 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
The Blackboard Mafia
The Blackboard Mafia / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 5 July 2015 — “Everyone knows which teachers accept money,” a group of young people tells me. In fact, some not only accept, but clearly require it from students who know they would not be able to pass the exam on their own. The […] Continue reading
Poor Quality Teaching in Cuba Leads to Expenses and Bribes
Poor Quality Teaching in Cuba Leads to Expenses and Bribes / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 20 June 2016 — The choice facing Yolexis was simple. Either he studied teaching, or he would have to do two years in the armed forces. At the age of 18, he couldn’t think of anything worse than putting on […] Continue reading
What Does Adidas’ Fame Have to Do with Fidel Castro?
What Does Adidas’ Fame Have to Do with Fidel Castro? / Juan Juan Almeida Juan Juan Almeida, 4 June 2016 — A study conducted by the firm Boston Consulting Group reveals some very curious findings, which I find questionable, about Cuban consumers. It claims that Adidas is the best known brand on the island due, […] Continue reading
Cuba in the Name of Deception
Cuba in the Name of Deception May 10, 2016 By Maykel Paneque HAVANA TIMES —I don’t recall when I began to distrust the Cuban government. It may have been a Saturday near the end of the 90s, during a hot month like August, when I first heard about a series of forced labor camps that […] Continue reading
57 Years Later – Towards a New Contract for Cuba (Pt. 2)
57 Years Later: Towards a New Contract for Cuba (Pt. 2) / 14ymedio, Manuel Cuesta Morua 14ymedio, Manuel Cuesta Morua, Havana, 8 May 2016 — The only certainty in Cuba in political terms is that the government accumulates a lot of power but lacks leadership. The kind of leadership required when a country faces an […] Continue reading
Danse Macabre
Danse Macabre / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, West Palm Beach, Florida, 13 April 2016 — The video has gone viral in the internet in just over 24 hours — between Monday afternoon, April 11th 2016, and the early hours of Tuesday night — it had been shared 42,000 times, it had been viewed […] Continue reading
The Big Change
Cuba: The Big Change Alma Guillermoprieto MAY 12, 2016 ISSUE One could swear that nothing has changed. The chaotic lines we travelers form in front of Cuba’s stern immigration officers; their belligerent slowness; the noise and heat in the too-small room; the echoing shouts across the room from one olive-green-clad person to another (an argument […] Continue reading
Is Normalization With Cuba Irreversible?
Is Normalization With Cuba Irreversible? That was one of Obama’s goals in his recent trip—and he made huge progress, charming the Cuban public and establishing a rapport with Raúl Castro. By Peter KornbluhTwitterAPRIL 6, 2016 The day after President Obama ended his historic trip to Havana, Cubans turned on their TV sets and watched his […] Continue reading
The issues that will be missing, and the shadow that won’t
The issues that will be missing, and the shadow that won’t FERNANDO DÁMASO | La Habana | 4 Abr 2016 – 8:26 am. From 16-19 April the VII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) will be held – possibly the last to feature among its highest-ranking leaders historical figures who formed part of […] Continue reading
Tania Bruguera Commits To Civic Education Of Cubans
Tania Bruguera Commits To Civic Education Of Cubans / 14ymedio, Mario Penton Posted on April 1, 2016 Kickstarter campaign will fund “civic and artistic alternative to the emphasis in Cuba on money as the unique salvation to the problems of the country” 14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 1 April 2016 — When in late 2014 the […] Continue reading
How Cuba was destroyed
How Cuba was destroyed Patrick Luciani, Special to Financial Post | March 1, 2016 6:08 PM ET Now that President Obama has opened relations with Cuba, and plans to visit this month, Canadians are saying, “Let’s get down there before Americans ruin the place.” Too late: the ruin began with the 1959 revolution. Many Canadians’ […] Continue reading
In Cuba, racial inequality deepens with tourism boom
In Cuba, racial inequality deepens with tourism boom By Chris Arsenault HAVANA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As warming relations with the United States bring new money and tourists to Havana, some black Cubans like Miguel Campuzano Perez say racial inequalities are widening and they are being left out of a potential capitalist boom. Cuba’s economy […] Continue reading