The cover shown to the right is only the beginning of the problem that Miami-Dade County residents identified with the book Vamos a Cuba. The school board in that county decided to remove the book from schools because it contained omissions about life in Cuba under Castro. Happy Cuban children, children who “eat, work, and go […]
The press has recently alighted upon the subject of campaign funding: its origins and its direct effect on Congressional votes with respect to Cuba policy. A report released by the Washington, DC-based group called Public Campaign shows fairly straightforward timelines: lawmakers vote for easing restrictions on Cuba; those same lawmakers receive donations from a pro-embargo […]
U.S. Science Group Seeks Cooperation with Cuba (From Reuters) A group led by the head of the United States’ biggest science organization is in Cuba this week to discuss ways to rekindle scientific cooperation as U.S.-Cuba relations slowly improve under U.S. President Barack Obama. Nobel Prize-winning scientist Peter Agre, president of the American Association for the […]
Anne Louise Bardach wrote a piece on “Fidel Castro’s Long Goodbye” for the Los Angeles Times today, including a note comparing the caudillo/dictator qualities of Fidel and Francisco Franco. Her interesting comment is excerpted here: Castro’s reluctant leave-taking—with its periodic near-finales—fits into a long tradition of Hispanic caudillos or dictators. Consider, for example, the life—and […]
Dr. Eduardo Torres Cuevas is a Cuban national treasure. A professor of history at the University of Havana and Director of the José Martí National Library, he has received the National Literature Prize and the National Prize in Social Sciences of Cuba. His work focuses on topics of Cuban independence, abolition, slavery, popular religion, freemasonry, and […]
November 10th brought much attention to Brazil as a blackout in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo shrouded Brazilians in darkness. The rest of the world on the other hand is starting to see Brazil in a new light as the BBC World Service reported the announcement of the first steps towards physically accessing massive […]
Havana held its 27th annual International Trade Fair last week (November 2-7), with 652 companies in attendance for a total of over 1,600 participants from 51 countries. Spain, Canada, China, Russia and Venezuela boasted the largest delegations at the Fair, and Italy, Germany, Mexico and Brazil also had considerable presence. Meanwhile, CNN ran a piece on […]
Last week potatoes and peas were dropped from the monthly ration books that Cubans depend upon as one of their main sources of food. Not having these products in the ration books means, of course, that potatoes and peas will no longer be rationed. Islanders can buy as much of them as they want, if […]
House Representative Howard Berman (D-California) announced last week that the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of which he is chair, will hold an open hearing at 10 AM on November 18 on the topic “Is It Time to Lift the Ban on Travel to Cuba?“ The 47-member Committee includes representatives that are strongly in favor of […]
Recent visits to Havana by EU aid minister Karel de Gucht and by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos both addressed the issue of the European Union’s “common position” on Cuba, but from different sides. Moratinos wants to be entirely rid of the policy; de Gucht reinforced that it would only come down with concrete gestures from […]
The newest bill in Congress to tear down the Cuba travel ban—the freedom to travel to Cuba act—has a greater chance of passing in this Congress than in previous years, as we’ve noted before. Several factors contribute: visiting Cuba is now being viewed as an issue of the inalienable rights of Americans to travel; the […]
Spain’s Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, visited the White House on October 13, soon before the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, paid a visit to Raúl Castro in Havana on October 19. According to Spain’s El País, President Obama used this opportunity to ask Spain to deliver a message to the Cuban regime. From […]
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