Raul Castro
The Philosophy of Marti versus the Totalitarian Model
The Philosophy of Marti versus the Totalitarian Model Posted on June 14, 2013 Published in the second edition of Cuadernos de Pensamiento Plural, April 2013. People cannot live without history. On the 160th anniversary of the birth José Martí, “the crowning figure of Cuban political thought,” his ideas, instead of being used to solve the [...] Continue reading
The General on His Birthday
The General on His Birthday / Juan Juan Almeida Posted on June 11, 2013 During his term in office General Raul Castro has raised doubts and caused confusion. It seems ridiculous to think that a politician, whoever he might be, does not want to fix his country, but to hold onto power. Another oddity is [...] Continue reading
Internet Access for the Nouveaux Riche and Dissidents
Cuba: Internet Access for the Nouveaux Riche and Dissidents June 6, 2013 Pedro Campos HAVANA TIMES — With a great song and dance, the Cuban government haughtily announced the broadening of Internet access on the island by opening 118 cybercafés across the country and lowering web navigation rates to 4.50 CUC (or US $ 5.20) [...] Continue reading
Dangerous Liaisons Cuba Tries Entrepreneurs for Corporate Corruption
Dangerous Liaisons: Cuba Tries Entrepreneurs for Corporate Corruption June 6, 2013 Fernando Ravsberg* HAVANA TIMES — Some of the most important entrepreneurs who have been doing business in Cuba for decades have been summoned to courts on the island to respond to serious corporate corruption charges, the visible face of a much broader clean-up campaign [...] Continue reading
British businessmen await Cuba’s verdict as graft trial ends
British businessmen await Cuba’s verdict as graft trial ends By Marc Frank HAVANA | Fri May 31, 2013 7:50pm EDT (Reuters) – The two-day trial of two top executives of a British investment fund ended in Havana on Friday with a five judge panel expected to deliver its verdict within 10 days. The sentences of [...] Continue reading
British fund executives to go on trial in Cuba
Exclusive: British fund executives to go on trial in Cuba Reuters By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) – The two top executives of a British investment fund in Cuba are scheduled to go on trial in Havana on Thursday, according to sources close to the accused men, as part of an unprecedented government crackdown on corruption [...] Continue reading
Cuba silent on Canadian’s corruption trial
Posted on Friday, 05.24.13 Cuba silent on Canadian’s corruption trial The Associated Press HAVANA — Official silence surrounded the case of a Canadian businessman targeted by a corruption probe in Cuba on Friday, as the initial trial of several foreigners suspected of graft entered its second day. Sarkis Yacoubian, 53, who partnered with the Cuban [...] Continue reading
Cuba readies corruption trials of Western businessmen
Cuba readies corruption trials of Western businessmen By Marc Frank HAVANA | Tue May 14, 2013 10:50pm EDT (Reuters) – Canadian and British executives of three foreign businesses shut in 2011 by Cuban authorities, ostensibly for corrupt practices, have been charged after more than a year in custody and are expected to go on trial [...] Continue reading
Cuba intensifies fight against corruption
Cuba intensifies fight against corruption IANSBy Indo Asian News Service | IANS Havana, May 14 (IANS/EFE) Corruption and illegal activities in areas like fuel distribution are of great concern for the Cuban government, the official media reported here Monday. Those issues were analyzed at a meeting of the Council of Ministers held last Friday at [...] Continue reading
Conspiring With Impunity
Conspiring With Impunity / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Posted on May 16, 2013 “Corrupt lawyer and judge. Raúl Castro, help me. Unjust eviction.” Unfortunately, in Cuba anybody with a Communist Party ID, a title that gives them a substantial amount of power, and personality disorders that will predispose them to abuse their authority, can conspire against [...] Continue reading
Canadian jailed in Havana corruption scandal speaks out
Posted on Wednesday, 05.15.13 Canadian jailed in Havana corruption scandal speaks out By Julian Sher of The Toronto Star And Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com Speaking over a scratchy telephone line from inside a Cuban prison, Sarkis Yacoubian’s voice goes suddenly silent. He’s crying. “I was so depressed at times, I wanted to commit suicide,” says [...] Continue reading
Cuba’s Democratic Left on State Socialism
Cuba’s Democratic Left on State Socialism May 9, 2013 | | Print Print | 0 5 11 32 HAVANA TIMES — A couple weeks ago we published a summary of an essay by Pedro Campos and Armando Chaguaceda on the inability of the State Socialist system that reigns in Cuba to carry out the changes [...] Continue reading
For a Sustainable Prosperity
For a Sustainable Prosperity / Reinaldo Escobar Posted on April 22, 2013 Two new words have been incorporated into the Newspeak of Cuban political officials and leaders: prosperous and sustainable. These “recent” adjectives are greatly used to describe the society they are trying to achieve or the socialism that is supposedly under construction. Both terms [...] Continue reading
Cuba and the Enslaving System of Two Currencies
Cuba and the Enslaving System of Two Currencies / Yusnaby Perez Posted on April 16, 2013 The dual currency system in Cuba is one of the major economic and social problems of the country. Don't take my word for it, on several occasions the president of the country, Raul Castro himself (and I have no [...] Continue reading
Degeneracy Among Cuban Military Officers/ Juan Juan Almeida
Degeneracy Among Cuban Military Officers/ Juan Juan Almeida Posted on March 9, 2013 Some official, unofficial and foreign media outlets have been subject to a certain government manipulation, serving as an echo chamber by focusing special attention on the fight against corruption, which seems to have the become the principal challenge facing the Cuban president. [...] 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
Analysis: Castro brothers’ successor may inherit a very different Cuba
Analysis: Castro brothers' successor may inherit a very different Cuba Fidel Castro, left, and his brother, Raul, are preparing to pass the torch of power to a new generation. By Carlos Rajo, Telemundo News analysis Raul Castro's recent announcement that he will leave power in 2018, and his appointment of 52-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel as first [...] Continue reading
Sadistic, Extravagant and Kleptomaniac: General Gondin
Sadistic, Extravagant and Kleptomaniac: General Gondin / Juan Juan Almeida #Cuba Juan Juan Almeida, Translator: Unstated CarlosFernandezGondinWhen being "Papá's boy" I decided to break out of my bubble, I knew I would face criticisms and threats. But I never imagined that the wicked and fearful smile of Carlos Fernandez Gondin while I was cruelly expelled [...] 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
Cuba: An Economy Does Not Rise Selling Croquettes
Cuba: An Economy Does Not Rise Selling Croquettes / Ivan Garcia #Cuba Ivan Garcia, Translator: mlk Some years ago, when the Politburo headed by General Raul Castro was studying alternative ways to apply reforms capable of reactivating the moribund island economy, Marino Murillo, fattened ex-colonel converted to the "czar of transformations" said that Cuba was [...] 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
U.S. should approach Cuban embargo with caution
U.S. should approach Cuban embargo with caution Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 It has been more than 50 years since President John F. Kennedy signed a trade embargo against Cuba, mainly because of Cuba's relationship with Russia during the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The embargo restricts American companies from forming business relationships [...] Continue reading
An Assessment of the Cuban Government’s Management Over the Last Six Years
An Assessment of the Cuban Government's Management Over the Last Six Years / Dimas Castellano Dimas Castellanos, Translator: Unstated Four decades after taking power through revolution in 1959, the factors which made totalitarianism in Cuba possible have reached their limit. The populist measures imposed during the first years after the revolution were accompanied by the [...] Continue reading
Russian oil company close to offshore Cuba drilling
Russian oil company close to offshore Cuba drilling Published: 16 November, 2012, 14:44 Russian oil company Zarubezhneft is pushing ahead with its Cuba offshore drilling project as its oil rig reached Cuban territorial waters. The rig will start drilling at the L Block some 330 km from Havana, developing a joint venture between Zarubezhneft and [...] 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
In Regards to the Letter from the Cuban Doctors to Raul Castro
In Regards to the Letter from the Cuban Doctors to Raul Castro / Jeovany Jimenez Vega Jeovany J. Vega, Translator: Unstated Every day in this world, in one site or another, clearly or covertly according the dignity of each person, Cuban Public Health Professionals express their opinions about the calamitous situation they face. But this [...] Continue reading