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Canadians are major customers in Cuba’s child sex market
Canadians are major customers in Cuba's child sex market Canada is lax when it comes to stopping its sex offenders from going to Cuba and preying on underage prostitutes. Most tourists are drawn to Cuba by the sand, the sunshine, and the culture. But a few tourists – including some Canadians – are drawn by [...] Continue reading
Can Cuba survive the loss of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez?
Can Cuba survive the loss of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez? Many in and out of Cuba wonder if the loss of Chávez is the death knell of the Castros' Revolution, or if it could inject urgent momentum into Raul Castro's reform agenda, just in the nick of time. By Anya Landau French, Guest blogger / March [...] Continue reading
The new man
Cuba's leaders The new man The Castros unveil their successor Mar 2nd 2013 | HAVANA EVER since Raúl Castro replaced his ailing brother, Fidel, as Cuba's president in 2008, he has made clear that his overriding aim is to organise an orderly political and economic transition to ensure that the ruling Communist Party remains in [...] Continue reading
Cubans can leave, but to where and with what?
Cubans can leave, but to where and with what? Girish Gupta, Special for USA TODAYShare Cuba announced it will lift its travel ban, but the expense and the fine print will probably mean many Cubans will stay put. Story Highlights - Cuba announced a lifting of its travel ban in January - It is unlikely [...] Continue reading
Head of Cuban cigar factory Partagas allegedly arrested in Havana
Head of Cuban cigar factory Partagas allegedly arrested in Havana Posted November 07, 2012 by publisher Various bloggers are reporting that the head of the Partagas factory in Havana, Abel Exposito, was arrested last week. Since there is no official word from Cuban authorities, information contained in this article cannot be verified. The alleged charges [...] Continue reading
Young Communist Union A Springboard to Power… and Corruption
Yoani Sanchez – Award-winning Cuban blogger Young Communist Union A Springboard to Power… and Corruption Posted: 09/26/2012 4:06 pm There was a time when Cuba devoted a great deal of attention to the first secretary of the Young Communists Union (UJC). Styled after the Soviet Komsomol, this organization provided cadres to the Party and even [...] Continue reading
Cuba squeezed by health care costs
Cuba squeezed by health care costs Cuba's health sector has had millions of dollars in budget cuts and tens of thousands of layoffs. The Associated Press HAVANA – Cuba's system of free medical care, long considered a birthright by its citizens and trumpeted as one of the communist government's great successes, is not immune to [...] Continue reading
Cuba campaign takes on ‘free’ health care
Posted on Saturday, 08.25.12 Cuba campaign takes on 'free' health care By PETER ORSI Associated Press HAVANA — Cuba's system of free medical care, long considered a birthright by its citizens and trumpeted as one of the communist government's great successes, is not immune to cutbacks under Raul Castro's drive for efficiency. The health sector [...] Continue reading
Independent Activism in Cuba
Independent Activism in Cuba August 5, 2012 June Fernandez* HAVANA TIMES — "Come wearing something red and kiss someone, because all forms of love are important." Last June 28, forty-six people who had received this message via instant messaging or e-mail met in the Havana bus terminal, near the Plaza of the Revolution, to kiss [...] Continue reading
Breast Implants Expose Corruption at Cuba’s Calixto Garcia Hospital
Yoani Sanchez – Award-winning Cuban blogger Breast Implants Expose Corruption at Cuba's Calixto Garcia Hospital Posted: 07/21/2012 5:49 pm "A doctor implanted them during his guard duty," she told me, while proudly feeling her breasts through her blouse. Then she points to her rear end and pouts, "This didn't go so well for me, because [...] Continue reading
‘Roberto’ and other tales of the Cuban economy
'Roberto' and other tales of the Cuban economy Ask any self-employed Cuban how she came to possess the goods she's selling, and she might tell you they came from 'Roberto,' a euphemism indicating the goods are stolen, writes a guest blogger. By Melissa Lockhart Fortner, Guest blogger / July 20, 2012 Ask a self-employed Cuban [...] Continue reading
Cuban doctors treated private patients in public hospitals
Posted on Friday, 07.20.12 Cuban doctors treated private patients in public hospitals They treated private patients in public hospitals, ran post-surgery clinics in private homes By Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com A number of Havana doctors, nurses and others are under investigation for allegedly treating paying patients in public hospitals and running post-surgery recovery rooms in [...] Continue reading
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba – 536 Signatures and Counting
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba – 536 Signatures and Counting Translating Cuba Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental [...] Continue reading
Cuba: Reason Stands Up to Slander
Cuba: Reason Stands Up to Slander June 26, 2012 Pedro Campos HAVANA TIMES — An editorial in the official Cubadebate website linked the recently concluded "Festival Clic" with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the anti-Cuban schemes of US imperialism. Similarly, the publication is seeking to implicate Havana Times in that festival and its alleged [...] Continue reading
Cuban blog gathering prompts official criticism
Posted on Thursday, 06.21.12 Cuban blog gathering prompts official criticism By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA — Cuban bloggers and tweeters talked tech in Havana on Thursday at a Spanish-organized forum promoting social media in one of the world's most unplugged nations, prompting accusations from state-run media of an attempt to foment subversive activities. With [...] Continue reading
The Conspiracy Exposed: Who is Behind Estado de Sats?
The Conspiracy Exposed: Who is Behind Estado de Sats? (corrected) / Estado de Sats, Alexis Jardines Alexis Jardines, Estado de Sats / State of Sats, Translator: Unstated Corrected Text: Unfortunately the first paragraph got left off this article when it was posted earlier today. Alexis Jardines While it is considered a construction of State Security [...] Continue reading
For Another Cuba – Citizen Demand for Another Cuba
For Another Cuba – Citizen Demand for Another Cuba Translating Cuba Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. [...] Continue reading
Disappointing month for foreign investment in Cuba
Disappointing month for foreign investment in Cuba Foreign companies look to be pulling out of oil exploration in Cuba, and Havana Club rum is fighting to retain its name in US markets, writes a guest blogger. By Anya Landau French, Guest blogger posted June 7, 2012 at 3:53 pm EDT It's not been a banner [...] Continue reading
Cuban police arrest top aide to parliament speaker Alarcón
Posted on Wednesday, 06.06.12 Cuban police arrest top aide to parliament speaker Alarcón A senior aide to Ricardo Alarcón, Cuba's long-serving parliament president, was arrested along with his wife, a former intelligence agent. By Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com The top aide to the president of Cuba's parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, and his wife — both former [...] Continue reading
In Cuba, mystery shrouds fate of Internet cable
Posted on Monday, 05.21.12 In Cuba, mystery shrouds fate of Internet cable By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA — It was all sunshine, smiles and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro had [...] Continue reading
Has Cuba’s regime eased up? Depends who you ask
Posted on Saturday, 04.28.12 Cuban government | Analysis Has Cuba's regime eased up? Depends who you ask Raúl Castro's grudging reforms have sparked an intense debate in Cuba and abroad on the current living conditions and future of the regime. By Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com Is the Cuban government sinking or swimming? Are dissidents gaining [...] Continue reading
Cuba’s Shame
Cuba's ShameBy Jacob MchangamaMarch 12, 2012 5:00 A.M. 'He who loses his honor loses everything." So states one of the propaganda posters, featuring quotations from Fidel Castro, that are ubiquitous in Cuba. How ironic, then, that Castro's policies are directly responsible for the daily humiliations suffered by the Cuban people, the supposed beneficiaries of Cuban [...] Continue reading
Beset by online surveillance and content filtering, netizens fight on
Beset by online surveillance and content filtering, netizens fight onPublished on Monday 12 March 2012. This report, which presents the 2012 list of countries that are "Enemies of the Internet" and "under surveillance," updates the report published on 12 March 2011. The last report, released in March 2011 at the climax of the Arab Spring, [...] Continue reading
Routing Out Corruption in Cuba Will Require Transparency, Now Missing
Yoani Sanchez – Award-winning Cuban blogger Routing Out Corruption in Cuba Will Require Transparency, Now Missing in ActionPosted: 02/28/2012 3:18 pm Several months ago a friend gave me this magnificent manual entitled "Toolbox for citizen control of corruption." Accompanied by a CD with numerous practical examples, I have read it in search of answers to [...] Continue reading
U.S. should speak up for democracy in the region
Posted on Thursday, 02.16.12 WESTERN HEMISPHEREU.S. should speak up for democracy in the regionBY ERIC FARNSWORTHefarnsworth@as-coa.org Democracy is not a fragile flower, as Ronald Reagan told the British Parliament 30 years ago, but it does require tending. What was true in Eastern Europe in the 1980's and also the Middle East in the aftermath of [...] Continue reading
Internet for Cubans: A Permanently Impossible Dream?
Yoani Sanchez – Award-winning Cuban blogger Internet for Cubans: A Permanently Impossible Dream?Posted: 02/13/2012 6:27 pm It's 10:00 a.m. at the Plaza Hotel a few yards from Havana's Capitol building. A smell of moisturizer wafts from the bodies of tourists rushing through their coffee so they can go out and explore the city. On one [...] Continue reading