This week’s New York Times published a fascinating article about a topic that many experts on Latin America should find very intriguing. The article titled Deals Help China Expand Sway in Latin America by writers Romero and Barrionuevo was an analysis of China’s growing influence in Latin America, with examples of how Chinese liquid investment […]
With all the hubbub in the United States and the hemisphere right now about the Washington-Havana relationship, let’s let it rest for today. The debate is hot as President Obama makes his first visit to Latin America, and John McAuliff’s note of the day provides very good grist for that mill. Instead let’s take up […]
A wealth of sources are giving feedback after the White House announcement (from several perspectives): POV 1: the Obama administration made a big mistake in making these changes. Some Republicans in Congress, including Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, are angered by the decision to lift restrictions on remittances and family travel. They oppose the […]
The Obama Administration went beyond expectations today when it announced not only the lifting of all travel and remittance restrictions for Cuban-Americans, but also an end to the telecommunications embargo that for years has kept Cuba using slow satellite connections instead of an easily accessible underwater fiber-optic cable. In a press release entitled “Reaching Out […]
If U.S. citizens gain the right to travel to Cuba, experts are saying the immediate flow of visitors from the United States to the island would be great. “If the travel ban is lifted, you’ll probably see hundreds, hundreds of American yachtsmen going to Cuba the next day,” according to Timothy Ashby, a former U.S. […]
Reuters, a leading news and financial agency, recorded short videos of individuals in cities around the globe at the end of 2008, asking for postcard-length messages to the new U.S. President. Here is the postcard from Havana, with responses to the question: What message would you give to Obama? The answers: “Obama, you are the […]
Cuba’s most important export industry, nickel production, is on the verge of being unprofitable after a persistent decline in international nickel prices. Nickel has accounted for over half of goods export earnings in recent years, and reserves remain plentiful. Indeed, the Holguin province of Cuba has around 34% of the world’s reserves. But falling prices […]
Not long ago, the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) was an incredibly conservative, hard-line exile group almost inextricably linked with the Republican party. After the Elián González controversy (2000-2001), the hard-liners split off to form the Cuban Liberty Council, leaving behind a more centrist/moderate CANF. That shift was considerable at the time, but the statement […]
Read this article by Norman Girvan: Fidel Castro Unseen Guest at Vth Summit. The number of issues facing the Americas at this moment is staggering: the upcoming Summit must address the current financial crisis and global economic downturn, energy concerns, drug trafficking, migration pressures, persistent poverty and inequality, organized crime and regional violence, at least. And yet, […]
I was recently told, rather unceremoniously, that Cuba’s neighbors in the Caribbean are quite content with a Castro regime in Havana. Apparently these small countries ‘dread’ a regime change, an evolution of the form of government, or an end to the embargo. This point merits special discussion. The reason for such sentiment, of course, is […]
Manuel Marrero Faz of Cuba’s Ministry of Basic Industries stated this week that Havana would welcome U.S. companies’ help in developing the island’s oil industry, should the embargo (someday) be lifted. “We’re very close to each other. We’re neighbors. Why not do business?” He said. A previous post described the possible benefit to the United […]
Representative Barbara Lee of California is head of a Congressional delegation that arrived today in Havana to discuss tourism and trade, as well as other U.S.-Cuba exchanges (health, cultural and academic). She expressed before departing: “America’s harsh approach toward our nearest Caribbean neighbor divides families, closes an important market to struggling U.S. farmers, harasses our […]
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