Raul Castro

New Cuban political elite

December 4, 2011

Eusebio Mujal-León, professor and former chair of the Department of Government at Georgetown University and the director of the Cuba XXI Project, has written an excellent article (published in the Journal of International Affairs’ Fall/Winter ’11 issue on the authoritarian state) analyzing the new Cuban political elite and exploring how power is distributed between the country’s military [...]

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Newly minted colonels

December 1, 2011

Via Cuban state media: Army General Raul Castro presided over the promotion ceremony of 65 officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) to the rank of colonel at Defense Ministry headquarters. These officers were recognized for “their accomplishments in strengthening the country’s defensive capability and personal character.” Those promoted are graduates of higher education, where 35% [...]

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Cuba in 2012

November 30, 2011

I received today The Economist‘s The World in 2012 issue, whereby it forecasts the following for Cuba: Market forces and private enterprise will take on a greater role in the economy, under the strict guidance of Cuba’s Communist Party. It aims to shift 1m workers off state payrolls over the coming years, phase out rationing [...]

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Russian, Cuban military prosecutors meet

November 25, 2011

The Cuban Military Prosecuting Office (Fiscalía Militar de Cuba) and Office of Attorney General of the Russian Federation met in Havana and exchanged experiences in applying the law, announced Russian Attorney General Sergei Fridinski as reported in RIA Novosti. According to Fridinski, the Russian and Cuban sides exchanged experiences about issues concerning criminal and civil [...]

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Preconditions for political violence in Cuba

November 17, 2011

Three months ago, the Canadian government’s Economic & Political Intelligence Centre at Export Development Canada—EDC (Canada’s export credit agency, which helps Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business) issued its political outlook on Cuba: Raúl Castro’s pragmatism has resulted in investment and cooperation agreements with a variety of countries. Companies from several countries are also building [...]

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Risky business

November 16, 2011

The Economist weighs in on the risk of foreign businesses operating in Cuba:  Standing beside Belarusian tractors and Chinese machine parts at Havana’s annual trade fair last month, Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuba’s foreign trade minister, said the presence of 3,000 executives from over 60 countries proved the appeal of joint commercial ventures with the Cuban government. [...]

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