Health
Higher Taxes
Higher Taxes / Fernando Dámaso Fernando Damaso, 6 July 2017 — It is no secret among Cubans that their government is inept and inefficient. Fifty-eight years of failure attest to this. With the emergence of self-employment, however, officials have found a way to fill the state’s coffers without having to devote resources or effort to […] Continue reading
Can Trump Destroy Obama’s Legacy?
Analysis: Can Trump Destroy Obama’s Legacy? The New York Times By PETER BAKER WASHINGTON — When the judgment of history comes, former President Barack Obama might have figured he would have plenty to talk about. Among other things, he assumed he could point to his health care program, his sweeping trade deal with Asia, his […] Continue reading
Violent Weekend in Cuba: 30 Ladies in White Arrested Again Trying to Attend Mass
Violent Weekend in Cuba: 30 Ladies in White Arrested Again Trying to Attend Mass by FRANCES MARTEL26 Jun 2017 Over thirty members of the Ladies in White, a peaceful Catholic dissident group in Cuba, were violently arrested over the weekend for attempting to attend Sunday Mass, including leader Berta Soler. The Cuban government recently banned […] Continue reading
Trump’s Fault?
Trump’s Fault? ARMANDO CHAGUACEDA | Ciudad de México | 21 de Junio de 2017 – 10:47 CEST. Donald Trump’s announcement of an alteration of his country’s policies towards Cuba caused a great stir. Despite its limited scope – in terms of affecting Obama’s legacy and the foreseeable impact of the measures – adversaries and officials […] Continue reading
Cuba Won’t Negotiate Trump’s New Policy
Cuba Won’t Negotiate Trump’s New Policy At a Monday news conference, the nation’s foreign minister called the latest deal “a grotesque spectacle straight from the Cold War.” ARIA BENDIX JUN 19, 2017 NEWS Speaking at a news conference in Vienna, Austria on Monday, Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said his nation was not interested in […] Continue reading
Trump rolls back some, not all, changes in US-Cuba relations
Trump rolls back some, not all, changes in US-Cuba relations Darlene Superville, Michael Weissenstein and Josh Lederman, Associated Press, Associated Press • June 17, 2017 MIAMI (AP) — Pressing “pause” on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility with a blistering denunciation of the […] Continue reading
National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba
National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba MEMORANDUM FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT THE SECRETARY OF STATE THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES […] Continue reading
Inside Oval Office, Rubio and Diaz-Balart pushed Trump to crack down on Cuba
Inside Oval Office, Rubio and Diaz-Balart pushed Trump to crack down on Cuba BY PATRICIA MAZZEI pmazzei@miamiherald.com Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart sat in the Oval Office last month, surrounded by two Cabinet secretaries, the national security adviser and an array of top White House staff, and asked President Donald Trump to put […] Continue reading
Cuba to President Trump: We need to continue to cooperate and coexist
Cuba to President Trump: We need to continue to cooperate and coexist BY MAUREEN WHITEFIELD mwhitefield@MiamiHerald.com Noting the hostile rhetoric of President Donald Trump in his Miami speech and saying the United States was in no position to be giving lessons on human rights, Cuba still extended an olive branch and said it wanted to […] Continue reading
The End Of The Cycle For Two Caudillos
The End Of The Cycle For Two Caudillos 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 12 June 2017 — His mother died, his brother emigrated and now no one brings flowers to the tomb of one of those many young Cubans who lost their lives on the African plains. His death served to build the authoritarian regime of […] Continue reading
Populism Cuban Style: Conquests, Threats and Leadership
Populism Cuban Style: Conquests, Threats and Leadership 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, 6 June 2017 — The leader speaks for hours on the platform, his index finger pointing to an invisible enemy. A human tide applauds when the intonation of a phrase demands it and stares enraptured at the bearded speaker. For decades these public acts were […] Continue reading
How will President Trump change Obama’s Cuba policy?
How will President Trump change Obama’s Cuba policy? Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS) Sunday, June 11, 2017 9:12pm President Donald Trump is expected to announce his changes on Friday. WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to roll back parts of President Barack Obama’s improvement of relations with Cuba, siding with hawks who oppose detente and […] Continue reading
The Unqualified Cuban Truth
Reinaldo Escobar: The Unqualified Cuban Truth / Somos+ Somos+, Leyla Belo, 23 MACH 2017 — Those who ever speak with Reinaldo cannot deny his innate genius, his sense of humor and gentleness of expression. A matter of decorum, isn’t it? That quality which is so scarce among many people nowadays. He does what he considers […] Continue reading
President Trump, citing human rights, considers reviving limits on travel to Cuba
President Trump, citing human rights, considers reviving limits on travel to Cuba By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, New York Times Thursday, June 1, 2017 8:19am WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is considering reversing major pieces of the Obama administration’s opening with Cuba and reinstating limits on travel and commerce, citing human rights abuses by the Castro […] Continue reading
How Cuba policy, and its inevitable drama, ensnared Trump’s White House
How Cuba policy, and its inevitable drama, ensnared Trump’s White House BY PATRICIA MAZZEI, NORA GÁMEZ TORRES, ANITA KUMAR AND FRANCO ORDOÑEZ pmazzei@miamiherald.com To unveil President Donald Trump’s new U.S.-Cuba policy, his young administration had eyed a day brimming with symbolism: May 20, Cuban Independence Day. But as the date approached, and rumors flew in […] Continue reading
‘Freak’: meet Cuba’s last self-infected HIV punk rebel
‘Freak’: meet Cuba’s last self-infected HIV punk rebel AFP Héctor Velasco Like many young punks, Gerson Govea saw himself as a misfit. But few embraced the role as self-destructively as this Cuban rocker: he deliberately infected himself with HIV. He is considered the last of the most hardcore members of the “frikis,” or “freaks,” as […] Continue reading
Reagan: Won’t visit Cuba until people are free
Reagan: Won’t visit Cuba until people are free May 30, 2017 Michael Reagan Perspective Expedia is now booking hotels in Cuba. American Airlines is flying American tourists from Miami to Havana. For more than a year American-owned cruise lines have been hauling U.S. citizens by the thousands to the Castro brothers’ beautiful socialist paradise 90 […] Continue reading
Cuban activist prevented from meeting U.S. counterparts
Cuban activist prevented from meeting U.S. counterparts HAVANA — An independent Cuban LGBT rights advocate claims authorities prevented him from traveling to Havana late last week to meet with a delegation of U.S. advocates. Nelson Gandulla, president of the Cuban Federation for LGBTI Rights, told the Washington Blade he received a summons that ordered him […] Continue reading
State Security Bars Belkis Cantillo From Leaving Cuba
State Security Bars Belkis Cantillo From Leaving Cuba 14ymedio, Havana, 4 May 2017 — State Security prevented Belkis Cantillo, the leader of the Dignity Movement, from boarding a flight to the United States on Wednesday afternoon. The activist explained to 14ymedio via telephone that State Security agents and immigration officials notified her that she was […] Continue reading
The Dangers of Hatred
The Dangers of Hatred / Miriam Celaya Cubanet, Norma Whiting, West Palm Beach, U.S., 29 April 2017 – The news, later refuted, of a supposed Cuban flag burning in recent days by Venezuelan demonstrators who oppose the government of Nicolás Maduro provoked diverse reactions on social networks and some Cuban websites. Many Cubans, mostly residing […] Continue reading
Social justice in Cuba? No racism?
Commentary: Social justice in Cuba? No racism? Javier Garcia-Bengochea Guest Columnist Privacy Policy It ain’t what you don’t know that hurts you. It’s what you think you know that just ain’t so … Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige paraphrasing Mark Twain. It’s called fake news. For decades, Cuba has promoted a false narrative regarding […] Continue reading
Theft and Subsidies, Not Exports
Theft and Subsidies, Not Exports ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ QUIÑONES | Los Ángeles | 24 de Abril de 2017 – 17:00 CEST. Once gain former Economy minister José Luis Rodríguez has attempted to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Apparently the Castro dictatorship has called on him to do its dirty work and cook the books to […] Continue reading
Tell Us, General, What’s Plan B?
Tell Us, General, What’s Plan B? 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 20 April 2017 — The Venezuela of “XXI Century Socialism” is wavering and threatening to collapse. It’s only a matter of time, soon, perhaps, as to when it will tumble. And since the economic and political crisis of the country has slipped from the government’s […] Continue reading
Cuba: Risk of Health Crisis Due to Lack of Potable Water
Cuba: Risk of Health Crisis Due to Lack of Potable Water / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 21 April 2017 — There is a slightly damp and cold breeze when Antonio, after drinking a rather bitter sip of coffee, with his wooden cart with rusty steel wheels, moves to a water spout in Manglar Street, very […] Continue reading
Elderly man in Cuba treats arthritis pain with scorpion venom – swears by it
Elderly man in Cuba treats arthritis pain with scorpion venom – swears by it Published April 21, 2017 EFE PINAR DEL RIO, CUBA – At age 71, Cuban peasant Pepe Casañas fends off the typical aches and pains of his age in a unique, and effective, way. His secret: letting himself be stung every now […] Continue reading
Over 100 People Trapped in Collapsed Building in Havana
Over 100 People Trapped in Collapsed Building in Havana 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, Havana, 18 April 2017 — About 120 people are trapped in a Central Havana building after the interior stairs to the apartments collapsed this morning. The property, located on Amistad and San Miguel Streets has been in danger of collapse for years […] Continue reading
When Your Ally’s Beards are on Fire
When Your Ally’s Beards are on Fire*… / Miriam Celaya Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 18 April 2017 — According to an old adage, when you see you neighbor’s beard on fire, go soak your own*. The maxim should be applied to the elderly Cuban dictator, especially if we take into account that the erratic performance […] Continue reading
Ex-Minister: Cuba Earns $11.5 Billion From Export of Professional Services
Ex-Minister: Cuba Earns $11.5 Billion From Export of Professional Services 14ymedio, Miami, 17 April 2017 — Cuban professional services abroad are the main source of foreign exchange for the government and represent an estimated 11.543 billion dollars annually, according to an article published in the official press by the island’s former Minister of the Economy, […] Continue reading