Culture
Watchdog group Cuba cheated on its UN human rights review
Posted on Friday, 05.03.13 Watchdog group: Cuba cheated on its UN human rights review From the summary of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR): • More than 30 NGOs reported “that there is a separation of powers in Cuba, which ensures that the judiciary can perform its duties without interference from the other branches of government.” [...] Continue reading
Prostitution in Cuba: Denied at Home, Enabled from Abroad
Prostitution in Cuba: Denied at Home, Enabled from Abroad March 30, 2013 Graham Sowa HAVANA TIMES — In Cuba the denial of prostitution is a lie of omission: the government doesn't really talk about it. At the same time American politicians promote a travel ban that seriously damages United States efforts to identify and prosecute [...] Continue reading
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
Cuba’s Unanimity: Rest in Peace
Cuba's Unanimity: Rest in Peace December 6, 2012 Fernando Ravsberg HAVANA TIMES — My colleague Angel Thomas told me that during the early years of the Cuban Revolution, political debates were constant and many leaders — including Fidel Castro — used to go to the University of Havana to talk with students. Unfortunately I wasn't [...] Continue reading
Change in Cuba: Less Costly Than Clinging to the Past
Change in Cuba: Less Costly Than Clinging to the Past December 6, 2012 Esteban Morales interviewed by Dmiti Prieto HAVANA TIMES — Esteban Morales is one of Cuba's most outstanding academics. An economist and a specialist on hemispheric policy, he is a grey-haired, tall, bearded black man with an air of being a taita, or [...] Continue reading
Misleading Balancing Act
Misleading Balancing Act / Miriam Celaya Miriam Celaya, Translator: Norma Whiting At first glance, it would seem that nothing changes in Cuba. The system seems to gently continue down its inexorable march toward a crash that, nevertheless, doesn't seem to ever arrive, just like the future promised by the defunct revolution. People continue to do [...] 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
Who Can We Ask?
Who Can We Ask? October 13, 2012 Esteban Morales* People buy newspapers but usually do so only by inertia, because day after day they won't find anything of interest in them. Photo:Caridad HAVANA TIMES — For people like me who enjoy writing, we also like it when others read our work. But this isn't enough. [...] Continue reading
Client-User Defenselessness
Client-User Defenselessness / Cuban Law Association, Lic. E. Javier Hernandez H. Cuban Law Association, E. Javier Hernandez H., Translator: Courtney Finkel For years there has been a reality in our country that isn't exposed nor analyzed from all angles as the suffering of citizens deserves to be: it pertains to the defenseless state of Cuban [...] 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
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
Good deal gone bad: two British investors jailed without charge in Havana
Good deal gone bad: two British investors jailed without charge in Havana Businessmen who planned to build a £325m luxury golf resort are feared to be victims of Caribbean island's anti-corruption drive Cahal Milmo Author Biography Tuesday 05 June 2012 When Cuba and its Communist regime made it known they were open to foreign investment, [...] Continue reading
Economic Transformations, Property Rights, and Cuba’s Current Constitution
Economic Transformations, Property Rights, and Cuba's Current Constitution / Estado de Sats, Antonio Rodiles Antonio Rodiles, Estado de Sats / State of Sats, Translator: Unstated By Antonio Rodiles Introduction The Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party just concluded, leaving a trail of questions to be clarified. Most of the televised debates turned into semantic [...] Continue reading
Cuba, DR on very different paths
Cuba, DR on very different paths By Roland Alum May 20, 2012 On May 20, 1902 the Cuban Republic was born, following the Spanish-American War, or Spanish(Cuban)American War, that ended Spain's colonial rule. Coincidentally, this May 20, the Dominican Republic is holding its 14th presidential election since the downfall of Rafael Trujillo in 1961. It [...] 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
Corruption and the Morality of Survival / Dimas Castellano
Corruption and the Morality of Survival / Dimas CastellanoDimas Castellanos, Translator: Unstated Corruption — the action of corrupting — is the result of many causes, that range from personal conduct to the political-economic system of each country. It is an ancient social phenomenon to that occurs to a greater or lesser extent in all societies [...] Continue reading
The Party…Up for Debate? / Luis Felipe Rojas
The Party…Up for Debate? / Luis Felipe RojasLuis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Raul G. The following post was written by Luis Felipe Rojas for "Diario de Cuba" and published on Wednesday, February 15th: During the past few days, fragments of the recently concluded sessions of the Communist Party of Cuba National Conference have been televised. And [...] Continue reading
Public Declaration in Self-Defense of Rastafarian Artist Hector Riscar (El Nano) / El Sexto – Danilo Maldonado Machado
Public Declaration in Self-Defense of Rastafarian Artist Hector Riscar (El Nano) / El Sexto – Danilo Maldonado MachadoEl Sexto – Danilo Maldonado Machado, Translator: Unstated Share I, Hector Riscar Mustelier, declare in writing what really happened on Wednesday 16 November 2011. We left the National Cabaret, where we were working the Heritage Group, a reggae [...] Continue reading
Cuba’s culture of poverty persists: Op-ed
Cuba's culture of poverty persists: Op-edPublished: Saturday, December 31, 2011, 12:08 PMThe Jersey Journal By The Jersey JournalBy ROLAND A. ALUM / SPECIAL TO THE JERSEY JOURNAL The Fidel-&-Raul Castro regime marks 53 years this Jan. 1. The brothers unquestionably enjoyed extraordinary popularity in 1959, but the enthusiasm soon vanished as they turned Cuba into [...] Continue reading
Vulgarity as a Resource (II) / Miriam Celaya
Vulgarity as a Resource (II) / Miriam CelayaMiriam Celaya, Translator: Unstated The recent case of censure against a reggaeton and all the virulent editorial campaign against it –through the official press- bring once again to the spotlight the topic of the cultural revolutionary politics and the controlling function of institutions. The absence of rights touches [...] Continue reading
With Regards to the Theory of Rescuing Socialism / Miriam Celaya,Miriam Celaya, Translator: Norma Whiting
With Regards to the Theory of Rescuing Socialism / Miriam CelayaMiriam Celaya, Translator: Norma Whiting (Originally published in the Diario de Cuba dated August 3rd, 2011) The last five years in Cuba have been fruitful in the theoretical development of solutions to the country's severe problems, mainly those related to the ills of the economy [...] Continue reading
ISLAND STASIOLOGY / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo
ISLAND STASIOLOGY / Orlando Luis Pardo LazoOrlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Translator: Claudia Diaz Alemany Of Militants and QueersOrlando Luis Pardo Lazo …s they have tried to call it. They weren't "five gray years." Much less a "black decade." The '70s were the splendor, the Cuban Revolution's era of luxury. The '70s are and will be [...] Continue reading
Cell phones and the cost of living in Cuba
Cell phones and the cost of living in Cubaby Kate Dries | Jul. 14, 2011 When I first came to Cuba in 1995, cell phone service was so scarce that, after a meeting in which an official had flashed a cell phone from the podium, I turned to Abel Prieto, then the president of the [...] Continue reading