#Cuba

Last week, Raul Castro announced that he would step down from power in 2018. The last Castro to leave the seat of power in Havana is effectively ending a half-century long novella starting in the 1950s, etching the names of Castro and Che across all of Cuba and world history. The strength of the left […]

President Obama over the last four years has had as successful a record on Latin America as the last two presidents before him. It can be argued he has had some added success in the region considering luck and policy with Colombia gaining a handle on its own internal conflict and Cuba slowly reforming to […]

2011 evidenced our inability to predict substantial change and respond to tumultuous events. The ramifications of foreign policy decisions will not show their true colors for some time. Below, I discuss notable states – Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Qatar, Cuba, Burma, Ivory Coast, Norway, Israel, and Palestine – that I believe are important because of their effects on peace […]

Has America exhibited moral courage by addressing change, or the lack there of, in the world? Or has it squandered our hope for a principled effort to rid American foreign policy of its realist inclinations and desire to cling to paradigms? Many of us have placed our trust in America (i.e., President Obama) to challenge […]

Continuing coverage on the Rise of State-sponsored Capitalism” href=”http://globaleconomy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/05/09/the-rise-of-state-sponsored-capitalism/” target=”_blank”>I’ve written about frequently here in my Global Markets blog — namely the Chinese state’s spin on capitalism. Though there were many critics early on — and still are in many quarters — who argued that China’s state-managed version of capitalism was unsustainable, it seems the long-term sustainability of so-called ‘State Capitalism‘ has been proven, and is even gathering steam in unlikely places — India, Cuba, Vietnam and the Middle-East to name a few — with great success. It’s a trend that Western financial centers should be attuned to, nor should it be dismissed as the global financial architecture continues to evolve following the global financial crisis.

The fact that government outrage continues to provide the international media with grist for its insatiable mill is one of the great ironies in this scenario: perturbed at the site’s revelation of embarrassing diplomatic discussions and fumblings–tales only mildly interesting to the average reader–government officials are now in the process of creating a better, and far more spectacular story over First Amendment rights and the ‘treasonable’ activities of a Dutch citizen accused of committing “sex by surprise” (in Sweden?).

Even worse, the official call from some quarters for draconian regulation of the internet has given Russia (which suggests nominating Assange for the Nobel Peace Prize) and China, a human-rights violator of mammoth proportion, opportunities to ‘prove’ to an already hostile world that when Washington suddenly finds itself looking out through wall-to-wall glass, this nation of stone-throwers is no better than anyplace else.

Report in NY Times about the impending lay-off of over 500,000 employees was jarring in the context of our own stagnant economy. The junior Castro brother, Raúl, is following through on his previous pledges to make Cuba’s centralized, Socialist economy more efficient and to open up opportunities to its enterprising citizens. This begs the question if Cuba will replicate China’s success with its State capitalism model.

In Brazil, nicknames are very common, especially for famous people and even politicians. President Lula da Silva received his nickname when he was  young, since the common nickname for Luiz, his given name, is Lula (similar to calling a person named Robert, Bob). However, given that lula means squid in Portuguese, the president has really […]

Ramiro Valdes, a Cuban revolutionary closely tied to Fidel Castro for decades, is now working with the Venezuelan government in Caracas. Valdes currently serves as Cuba’s Minister in communications and information. The Venezuelan opposition is incensed, pointing out Valdes’ previous role as Interior Minister in Cuba, where he was in charge of surveillance and accused […]

Some say that Venezuelan democracy is under assault, with Hugo Chávez and his cronies consolidating power. The populace may vote, but there is strong pressure to support the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PVUV in Spanish), and a penalty for those who support the opposition (e.g. being black-listed from government jobs). On the other hand, […]

A random story, but the NYT recently covered grave-robbing in Caracas, which is apparently on the rise, and as are many negative social indicators there these days. The bones are sold for use in a religion called Palo, originating with Cubans who migrated to Venezuela decades ago. Some of those interviewed for the story wonder […]

In an editorial within today’s Washington Post, Edward Schumacher-Matos presents a nice summary of what might be considered a waning in the power of Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez. As Schumacher-Matos describes, on a number of fronts other South American nations have been acting counter to Chávez’s wishes. Ecuador, though considered an ally, has reached out […]