Army General Raúl Castro gave Cubans a reprieve by allowing them to open small businesses, but doubts exist if the measure meets with the goal of reducing a bloated bureaucracy and help reanimate the economy “without market reforms.” The enlargement of “self-employment,” expected by many Cubans and suggested by economists, was announced by Raúl Castro on Sunday before the National Assembly as part of “structural changes” that seeks to make the economic model more efficient and avoiding a collapse of the socialist system. [AFP]
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Tags: bloated bureaucracy, cubans, National Assembly, Raul Castro, self-employment, small businesses
Der Spiegel on the political and economic realities facing the Castro regime in its fight for survival:
But the release of the dissidents could also be a message to the Europeans, who have not been entirely sure what to make of the new president since he officially assumed office in February 2008. Raul is believed to be less of a fundamentalist and more of a pragmatist than his brother Fidel. “He is not someone who is out to change the system, but he does show an understanding for the problems,” says one of the Europeans in Havana.
At first, Raul Castro sparked hopes that reforms could be on the way. But so far his fellow Cubans have seen little change, except that they can now own mobile phones and computers with limited Internet access.
Europe, however, wants to see clear signs of liberalization, as a precondition of more intensive cooperation with Havana, especially “progress in the area of human rights and political freedom.” European governments reached this conclusion long ago, in December 1996, and the same conditions are still in place today. However, Castro has forced the Europeans’ hand by releasing the dissidents.
Faced with a catastrophic situation in Cuban agriculture, Raul Castro is urgently in need of aid from Europe. The sugarcane harvest this summer, once an important source of foreign currency, is the worst since 1905. It is even about half a million tons shy of the harvest in 2009, when hurricanes wreaked havoc on the country.
Cuba is now forced to import more than 80 percent of its food, while foreign investment and exports have declined dramatically. At the same time, the sugar island is practically bankrupt and has had to reduce imports of food products and spare parts by at least a third.
Tens of thousands of well-trained young Cubans are leaving the country every year to earn money for their families elsewhere. The numbers would probably be even higher if the government let them go. For this reason, EU diplomats expect more signals from Raul on July 26, a Cuban national holiday: more privatization in agriculture, more freedom to buy homes and a relaxation of restrictions on travel abroad.
Tags: Cuban agriculture, cubans, Europe, Europeans, Fidel Castro, Havana, human rights, political freedom, Raul Castro
ABC (one of Spain’s national newspapers) on the fall of Hugo Chávez’s popularity that is sparking reinforced presence of Cubans in the Venezuelan military to consolidate his totalitarian project.
Tags: Armed Forces, Cuba, cubans, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Military, Raul Castro, Venezuela
Cuba’s government has allowed Granma (Cuban Communist Party’s newspaper) to publish letters to the editor (here and here) critical of an economy devastated by decades of corruption and centralized power.
(Image: Granma, Carta a la dirección, 7 May 2010.)
Tags: Cuban Communist Party, Cuban Government, cubans, Economy, open criticism
Global Post piece on Cubans primarily using their cell phones as text-messaging machines and glorified pagers.
[H/T: AS/COA]
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Tags: cell phones, Cubacel, cubans, Global Post, pagers, text-messaging
“The Prosecutor and Municipal Tribunal, as well as the offices of the Department of Justice, continue to perform in peacetime. Except in a case where an exceptional situation is declared, tribunals and sector prosecutors will be activated, and special legislation will be applied under the principle of unique military jurisdiction.”
Lt. Coronel Adolfo Sánchez (Chief, Cotorro Municipality Judicial Group)
The above referenced quote comes from an informative article published last month by CubaNet entitled “Legislación especial,” which was written by independent journalist Odelín Alfonso Torna.
Torna alerts to the ramifications of information technology and high tech devices that Cubans now have access to (e.g. USB flash drives, mobile phones, iPods) whereby the Cuban government is loosing control of information. Even government employees are violating security regulations exposing confidential information that is being leaked and disseminated to the populace.
He warns of an unexpected special legislation for exceptional situations (e.g. foreign invasion and popular revolt) as Cubans are presently facing repression at its “highest magnitude.”
Tags: Bastion 2009, Cotorro Municipality Judicial Group, Cuban Government, cubans, high tech devices, information technology, Lt. Coronel Adolfo Sánchez, Odelín Alfonso Torna, special legislation for exceptional situations
Coup plotters? Felipe Perez Roque and Carlos Lage greet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana on June 16, 2008. (Image: AFP)
Jorge Casta
Tags: Carlos Lage, conspiracy, coup plot, cubans, Felipe Perez Roque, Hugo Chavez, jorge casta, Raul Castro
Col. Crowther discussing how the war in Iraq will affect U.S.-Latin America Relations at George Washington University. Image: GWU
Colonel Alexander Crowther, a Research Professor of National Security Studies in the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, has written an editorial titled: “Kiss the Embargo Goodbye” for SSI’s monthly newsletter calling for the end of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
He has written prior editorials and papers on Cuba and its military.
Col. Crowther outlines the reasons that have supported the embargo and why it should be lifted.
On the support of:
- we need to continue pressuring the regime to motivate it to reform;
- the Cuban community in Miami wants us to continue
And the reasons for its lifting:
- the cost to the Cuban people
- the embargo is the only excuse that the Castro regime has to maintain its tyranny
- to show the world that we are willing to try a new approach to motivate the Cubans to move towards democracy
- to open up the Cuban market to the United States
He further goes on to say: “To maintain the status quo is to continue failing to engender reforms in Cuba and to continue empowering the dictatorship.”
Click here to read the op-ed in its entirety.
Tags: castro regime, Cuba, cuban community, cuban market, cubans, Democracy, dictatorship, embargo against cuba, latin american relations, Security, strategic studies institute, tyranny, u s army, United States
Via UPI:
The Venezuelan government is operating a secret paramilitary training camp with the help of Cuban military advisers and leftist Colombian guerrillas.
The camp near San Cristobal offers six-week courses for 400 to 1,000 participants, El Nuevo Herald reported Sunday.
The first phase of training at the camp reportedly is political indoctrination through texts printed in Cuba. The second phase includes training in the use of light and heavy weaponry and explosives.
The government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has not responded to allegations about the training camp, but local officials have acknowledged its existence and the presence of Cubans.
Desarrollo Urbanite Caparo, a private tourism company that organizes trips to the area, says its services have been suspended for the time being because ”the government has taken the installations” until January.
The trainees are intended to support Chavez in the type of guerrilla war the president has repeatedly vowed to wage in the event he’s ousted from power, either by a military coup or the U.S. invasion he has alleged has been planned.
Tags: colombian guerrillas, cubans, military advisers, paramilitary training camp, political indoctrination, san cristobal, venezuelan government, venezuelan president hugo chavez, weaponry
Stratfor issues weekly guidelines to its analysts and this week focuses on Latin America with a theory of normalized relations between Cuba and United States:
Cuba remains the mystery. Havana is oddly quiet. Are there discussions going on with the United States? There should be, as far as the United States is concerned, but with an election coming, such talks are hard to set up. The Cubans don
Tags: bush administration, Cuba, cubans, Havana, Latin America, United States
Stayin’ alive
21 May 2010 at 1712 in Commentary, Havana by Armando F. Mastrapa 3d
National Public Radio on disco fever gripping Cubans in Havana.
The report distinguishes between discotecas (which are discothèques), while discotembas are bars and public gatherings playing 1970s disco hits and attracting a graying crowd of dancers. Temba is Cuban slang for a middle-aged person who’s a bit past his or her prime.
Cuba’s communist authorities have shown more tolerance for American pop music once frowned upon.
Tags: cubans, disco fever, disco music, discotecas, discotembas, discothèques, Havana, temba