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Exploring and Living in Cuba

Christopher Howard

One of the least connected countries in the world took a turn in November 2018 with the arrival of the mobile Internet

Q REPORTS (Havana) “Lies”, “manipulation”, “subversion”: Raúl Castro, who handed over the reins of the Communist Party of Cuba this Monday, does not mince words to talk about the Internet, which has become the opposition’s favorite weapon.

People walk near a mural with a Cuban flag in Havana on April 16, 2021. Photo: AFP

The country of 11.2 million people was long one of the least connected in the world.

Everything changed with the arrival of the mobile Internet. At the end of 2018 people adopted it in a dizzying way, despite its high price, with 4.2 million people connected. By the end of 2019, that number had reached 7.1 million (63% of the population).

According to the Ministerio de Comunicaciones (Mincom), as of November 2020, 4.2 million users accessed the internet via a mobile device, of which 1.3 million had access to 4G LTE technology.

President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, successor to Raúl Castro as the head of the communist party, boasted encouraging “the computerization of society,” but was quickly disillusioned by an unprecedented social concern, now visible from the outside.

On Monday, while 300 party delegates were meeting at a congress in Havana, a video was viralized on social media showing the arrest Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a dissident artist in a depressed area of ​​the capital.

Dozens of activists, independent journalists, and artists denounced, through Twitter, that the Police prevented them from leaving their homes, a technique generally used by Cuban authorities to prevent them from gathering.

Others said, through the network accounts of their family or friends, that they were deprived of the Internet.

November, key moment
Ted Henken, an American sociologist and author of the next book, The Cuban Digital Revolution, believes that “there is a struggle in Cuba over who will have control of digital technologies and we don’t know how it will end.”

“After the arrival of 3G, mobilizations both online and on the street increased and became more frequent. After November we saw that they had more and more impact, which provoked a very strong response from the government,” he adds.

November 2020 marked a before and after.

For ten days, the Movimiento San Isidro, led by Alcántara, took refuge in a house to demand the release of a rapper, filming himself through Facebook and even seen outside the country.

After their eviction, some 300 artists demonstrated on November 27 in front of the Ministry of Culture, spreading messages through social networks, to demand more freedom of expression, something never seen before in Cuba.

For Raúl Castro, behind these protests hides the same old enemy: Washington.

“Let’s not forget that the United States government created the ‘Internet Working Group for Cuba’, (founded in 2018 by the State Department) that aspires to make social networks become channels of subversion,” he said.

“However, the truth is different, the internal counterrevolution, which lacks a social base, leadership and mobilization capacity, continues to decrease in the number of its members and the number of actions with social impact, concentrating its activism on social networks and the Internet,” he added.

‘Be on the offensive’
Present at the congress, the octogenarian poet Miguel Barnet headed in the same direction: “Make no mistake about the enemy (…), here the revolution is not in social networks, it is in the streets.”

However, as a precaution, the party adopted a resolution to strengthen “revolutionary activism on social media.” It is necessary to “be on the offensive,” remarked on Saturday the head of the ideological department, Victor Gaute, who was replaced during the congress.

Days before the congress, the Council of State approved a new decree to regulate telecommunications aimed at “defending the successes of the socialist state”, the details of which are not yet known.

On several occasions in recent months, Twitter suspended accounts of Cuban media and official organizations, as well as common activists, for violating its rules on “manipulation”.

For former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray, the government’s use of the Internet as “an instrument of propaganda” is not the most judicious.

According to Alzugaray, the accounts of the Cuban ministers are “a repetition of what the president says.”

Above all because not only dissent surf the Internet: animal defenders, activists for homosexual rights or young Cubans tired of the queues in front of stores also express themselves on social networks without asking for a change in the political system.

Michael Bustamante, professor at Florida International University, criticizes this “binary” approach of the government because what is happening on social networks is also a reflection of a reality: “Talk to anyone on the streets of Cuba today, and they will tell you that frustration and pessimism are widespread,” he tweeted.

Raúl Castro has stepped down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, leaving Cubans without a Castro to lead them for the first time in over 60 years.

Q REPORTS (NY Times) When Raúl Castro retired as Cuba’s top leader Monday, he left a warning for a nation increasingly divided over the legacy of its Communist revolution: The choice at hand is continuity of the revolution’s ideals, or defeat.

Since 1959, when Raúl and his older brother, Fidel, led an insurgency against an American-backed dictator to victory, Cuba has been led by a Castro. Now, as Raúl — who is 89 and succeeded his older brother — steps down from the helm of the Communist Party, he leaves a country that is torn by the most brutal economic crisis in decades.

There is also a deep generational rift.

Fidel Castro, then president of Cuba, and his brother Raúl, then vice president, in Havana in 1978.Credit…OFF/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Many older Cubans remember the poverty and inequality they faced before the Castros, and remain loyal to the revolution despite decades of hardship. But younger generations, who grew up with the achievements of socialism, including access to education and health care, chafe at its limits. They are demanding less government control and more economic freedom.

LeoGrande, an expert on Cuba affairs and a professor at the American University. “And that’s one of the Cuban government’s principal challenges going forward, because their historic base of support is gradually retiring and dying off.”

Mr. Castro relinquished the nation’s most powerful position — first secretary of the Communist Party — on Monday, the last day of the party’s four-day congress, held this year under the banner of “Unity and Continuity.”

The man chosen as the next head of the Communist Party is Cuba’s current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who turns 61 later this month. A party stalwart, Mr. Díaz-Canel is part of a younger generation that wants a gradual opening of the country, though no change to Cuba’s system of one-party rule.

The party conference, which happens every five years, was staged to underscore the endurance of revolutionary ideals in Cuba. But the transition comes at what may be a tipping point for the island.

Over the past few years, as the Trump administration imposed stringent sanctions on Cuba and the tourism industry was decimated by the pandemic, Cubans have seen their country’s economy plummet once again, with many waiting for hours in bread lines. The country’s lauded health care system is frayed. And the number of Cubans trying to leave the island is going up, though it is still far from the exoduses of the 1980s and 1990s.

“The Communist Party lives off the achievements of a long time ago, from when they began,” said Claudia Genlui, an activist with the San Isidro political movement, a collective of artists who have protested against the Communist Party in recent months. Although the group is small, it has surprised the nation with its continued defiance.

“The party does not represent my generation, it does not represent me,” Ms. Genlui said, adding that “there is a lack of generational connection, of interests, of priorities, and all of that somehow drives us away.”

Mr. Castro, to some extent, would agree.

Although Fidel held fast to his rallying cry of “socialism or death” until he died in 2016, the younger Mr. Castro grew to realize that reform was necessary to quell growing discontent and began opening up the country’s economy.

After Fidel formally resigned from the presidency in 2008, Raúl Castro prioritized recruiting younger Cubans into the Communist Party and putting younger members into top government positions. On Monday, the party held elections for its 17-member Politburo, selecting younger members to the body to replace the last of what Cubans call the “historics,” veterans of the armed revolution.

That has sat well with some Cubans.

“I think we’ve got to move on to a new generation, younger people with new ideas,” said Osvaldo Reyes, 55, a taxi driver in Havana, while voicing his support for Mr. Castro and the Communist Party. “A revolution should keep transforming, keep doing the best for people.”

When the Castro brothers started their popular uprising, they tapped into a deep well of discontent many Cubans had over their country’s corrupt ruling elite, which was not just out of touch but also unconcerned by the dire living conditions of most Cubans.

The brothers led a scrappy insurgency against the country’s dictator, Fulgencio Batista, and Cuba became a bulwark against decades of American intervention in Latin America.

But decades later, it would be the Castro brothers and their Communist Party that would be criticized by ordinary Cubans as out of touch. When Raúl Castro took over as head of the Communist Party in 2011, he was surrounded by a government stacked with octogenarian generals.

While many Cubans are fiercely proud of their nation’s sovereignty, they have tired of watching the same revolution-era generals control nearly every aspect of their lives, from how much they earn to the food they eat.

“Lots of people still don’t feel represented because he didn’t manage to breach the gap between the government and the people,” Adilen Sardiñas, 28, said of Raúl Castro.

While Ms. Sardiñas expressed frustration with the slow pace of reforms, like many interviewed, she also blamed America for a decades-long embargo that has crippled Cuba’s economy and further embittered Cubans against the United States.

“We need a change, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to because we’ve got our neighbor, the U.S., stepping on our heels and closing doors everywhere,” she said.

Even among older Cubans who still support the Communist Party, many agree it is inaccessible, ruling from a perch.

“It is impossible to continue a socialist policy without having any interaction with citizens,” said Rafael Hernandez, the editor of Temas Magazine, a quasi-independent Cuban publication linked to the state. “They need to democratize the political system and the base of the Communist Party.”

Reform has proceeded at a glacial pace, slowed by a bureaucracy worried about losing its privileges and by the revolution’s old guard, suspicious of any change that might nudge Cuba closer to capitalism.

Carlos Alzugaray, a former Cuban ambassador and a Communist Party member, described the current struggle as generational.

“Raúl used to say our worst enemy is the old mentality, and that’s what I think is happening: that the old leaders don’t want to change,” said Mr. Alzugaray. “Raúl wants change, and the younger leaders want change but are worried that they will be criticized for not being truthful to the revolution of Fidel Castro.”

The problem, as the country’s prime minister, Manuel Marrero, said earlier this month when speaking about the urgency to make reforms, is that “people do not eat plans.”

Details about Cuba’s future were left unaddressed at this year’s congress. Instead, Mr. Castro’s opening speech on Friday started with a history lesson.

“As long as imperialism exists, the party, the state and the people will pay maximum attention to the defense services,” Mr. Castro said, referring to the United States. “History teaches, too eloquently, that those who forget this principle do not survive error.”

Hanging over the congress was the recent change of leadership in the United States and what prospects or challenges the new administration of President Biden may hold for Cuba.

As vice president during the Obama administration, Mr. Biden helped normalize Cuban-American relations, allowing remittances to flow and lifting travel restrictions. Those policies were reversed once President Donald J. Trump took office, and what economic gains Cuba made were swiftly wiped away.

During his presidential campaign, Mr. Biden promised to thaw relations with Cuba once more. But the Biden administration cooled to the idea after Democrats fared worse than expected in Florida, with Cuban-Americans supporting Mr. Trump and his hawkish foreign policy.

Earlier this month, Juan Gonzalez, a senior National Security Council director, said Cuba was not a foreign policy priority for the Biden administration.

Mr. Castro is likely to retain some influence even in retirement, but he is leaving the day-to-day ruling of Cuba to President Díaz-Canel. When Mr. Castro stepped down in 2018 as president — the country’s second-most powerful position — he handed the job over to Mr. Díaz-Canel.

A technocrat, Mr. Díaz-Canel allowed Cubans to access the internet from their phones in 2018, and in their homes the following year — changes many feel helped fuel protests and demands for greater political freedom.

In January, he further opened up the country to private enterprise, expanding the types of businesses Cubans could enter.

But Cuban leaders are proceeding cautiously.

“The government is deathly afraid of change it is not in control of, because it would threaten their economic and political position,” said Ted Henken a professor at Baruch College in New York and author of “Cuba’s Digital Revolution.”

“It is afraid of any change that it is not choreographing and in control of, and that doesn’t come from the top down — which is ironic for what began as a popular revolution that was massively supported by the people.”

Read the original article from the New York Times here.

Monday, 08 February 2021 11:33

Cuba to offer vaccine to arriving tourists

Tourists will be given the option, if they want, to be vaccinated in Cuba as well

TODAY CUBA – Cuban doctors have been hailed across Africa and Latin America for providing the “backbone” of numerous nations’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the US government has attacked the medical brigades, claiming they are engaging in human trafficking and has encouraged nations such as Brazil and Bolivia to expel them.

Tourists arriving in Cuba will be offered the chance to be vaccinated against COVID-19 if they so choose, a leading Cuban doctor recently said. The country is developing four vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and has plans to rapidly vaccinate the entire population.

“Would you travel to Cuba to get vaccinated?” asks a recent video produced by TeleSUR.

In the video, Vicente Vérez, the director of Havana’s Finlay Institute medical research center, says the country intends to produce 100 million doses of the Soberana 02 vaccine this year and to vaccinate the entire Cuban population of 11.3 million people.

The country will also offer the vaccine to Iran, Venezuela, Vietnam, and India.

“Tourists will be given the option, if they want, to be vaccinated in Cuba as well,” Vérez says.

​Either way, visitors to the island nation will be required to quarantine for several days at their own expense upon arrival, until they get negative results from a PCR test, according to Dr. Francisco Duran, head of Epidemiology at the Cuban Ministry of Public Health. Similar measures were used last spring to successfully contain the virus. The move comes as COVID-19 cases are sharply rising in Cuba for the first time since the spring, including from the new South African strain.

Meanwhile, 90 miles north in the US state of Florida, “vaccine tourism” has become a subject of ire as vaccine supplies run short and daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths remain high.

“We’re discouraging people to come to Florida just to get a vaccine,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference last month, according to the Miami Herald. “If they have a residence and they’re not just kind of flying by night for a week or two, I’m totally fine with that. [Snowbirds] are much different than someone just showing up and saying give me a shot and then they’re going to fly back somewhere; we’re obviously not going to do that.”

Soberana 02 isn’t the only vaccine Cuba is producing: three others are in various stages of testing, including the Abdala vaccine, which began Phase 2 trials on Monday, according to TeleSUR. The other two vaccines are Soberana 01 and Mambisa, the latter of which has an unusual form of delivery, via nasal spray.

Pioneering Medicine Under Siege

Cuba’s development of not one but four COVID-19 vaccines is remarkable, considering the increased pressure put on the socialist nation by the United States over the last year, including being placed on the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism last month. It has been under embargo by the US since 1960.

The sanctions have put a major dent in Cuban tourism, a mainstay of the country’s economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago. Even before the pandemic hit, Cuba registered a 9.3% drop in tourism in 2019, as the Trump administration reimposed travel restrictions that were relaxed late in Barack Obama’s presidential term.

Cuba has one of the highest ratios of doctors per capita on the planet and Cuban doctors have played a major role in the Third World in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, providing medical expertise in more than 40 countries. Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and chairman of the Caribbean bloc CARICOM, told Reuters that in many Caribbean countries, Cuban doctors comprise “the backbone of the response to the pandemic.”

In 2019, nearly every member state at the United Nations voted to condemn the blockade for its “incalculable humanitarian damages” and calling it “a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of human rights” and noting it “qualifies as an act of genocide under Articles II (b) and (c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

The only nations to vote against the resolution were the US and Brazil, while US allies Colombia and Ukraine abstained.

It is an insult to human dignity and intelligence to listen to Cuban dictators preach loudly and without hesitation that Cuba is a healthcare power when cases like these take place. 

Anyone with a single shred of dignity would find it very difficult to live in Cuba. It is certainly revolting to hear Cuban leaders speak of the virtues of their healthcare system, and to know they sell this idea with great success.

These immoral rulers take advantage of the media to scrupulously wash their disgusting image that they then sell and export so successfully. I’ve been told many others want to emulate them in their countries, although I find that hard to believe.

Yet I will not talk today about the poor hygiene and lack of food in hospitals. Nor will I discuss the great shortage of medicines, the unreliability of medical equipment, or the discontent of professionals and workers in healthcare (due low wages and terrible working conditions.)

I won’t talk about the deficit of doctors due to the excessive exports of healthcare professionals— whose true purpose is to paint the dictators in a false image of philanthropy abroad.

The tyrant’s mayor export is socialism, and up to now, it’s biggest buyer has been Venezuela. They’ve spent more on Cuba than the Soviet Union did before collapsing under the inefficiency of the same centralized economy that the two Latin American regimes propose.

Central planning leads to absolute control. Every economic activity is in the state’s hands, and not being able to properly manage everything, basic services start to falter. By nature of being under control of the dictator, there is no one to hold accountable or complain to. Whomever tries to help is sanctioned.

Which is why I want to focus instead on the most basic of health services: the ambulance.

The ambulance service is known as the Integrated System of Medical Emergencies of Cuba, or SIUM. It is an insult to human dignity and intelligence to listen to Cuban dictators preach loudly and without hesitation that Cuba is a healthcare power when cases occur like in the video above.

In the “healthcare power” of Cuba, the inhabitants of Nitrogeno, a rural community located in the Camagüey province, do not have access to this basic emergency service.

Recently, a 90-year-old man had to be transferred in terrible health to the hospital in a horse-drawn cart, as the efforts made by relatives and neighbors to obtain SIUM services were unsuccessful.

The old man had to suffer for more than 2 km by impassable roads before arriving at the hospital, and—as if that was not enough to demonstrate the false humanism of the Cuban system— a well-intentioned neighbor, owner of the rustic transport, was given a fine for having used the precarious means of transportation for a purpose not authorized by the Castros.

That’s the way it is. And those that crave that their countries be like Cuba should know. Socialism demands that the means of production be collectively owned, so even a cart must serve the “interests of the revolution.”

Here, no form of solidarity is possible. Because the Government must verify, authorize and allow even the simplest help. In socialism, the annulment of private property extends to all private action.

Nothing is yours, not even your will. So if you dare to help another when the state fails, prepare for the consequences.

There are not enough words!

Until next time.

Thursday, 19 October 2017 09:28

Next Cuban Leader Rejects US ‘Imperialism’

Cuba will not make concessions to its sovereignty and independence, nor negotiate its principles or accept the imposition of conditions

Havana’s anticipated next leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel, has refuted calls by Washington to change the island nation’s ways, declaring that “changes needed in Cuba will solely be carried out by the Cuban people,” in a stark rebuttal to US political and economic demands.

After stating his intention to step down in 2018, current Cuban President Raul Castro is expected to be replaced by the Caribbean island nation’s First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Speaking on Sunday, Diaz-Canel unambiguously castigated the US for its heavy-handed economic, military and diplomatic tactics.

At a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, who participated in a Bolivian revolt that echoed the 1959 Cuban overthrow, Diaz-Canel reminded his listeners that “imperialism can never be trusted, not even a tiny bit, never.”

In an apparent response to US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the US embargo on Cuba would not be fully lifted until Havana adopts Washington’s version of Western democracy and capitalism, Diaz-Canel said, “Cuba will not make concessions to its sovereignty and independence, nor negotiate its principles or accept the imposition of conditions,”

“The changes needed in Cuba will solely be carried out by the Cuban people,” the popular 57-year-old politician added, cited by Reuters.
 
WITH NO DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR NATIONAL OFFICE IN CUBA, DIAZ-CANEL IS PROJECTED TO BE THE LIKELY APPOINTED REPLACEMENT TO ICONIC FIGURE FIDEL CASTRO’S YOUNGER BROTHER RAUL, NOW 86, AND WOULD MAKE THE RELATIVELY YOUNG LEADER THE FIRST CUBAN HEAD WITHOUT THE CASTRO NAME SINCE THE MID-20TH CENTURY.
 
The US president claimed in June that sanctions on Cuba would be ratcheted back up to pre-Obama levels while concurrently gutting the staff at the US embassy in Havana.

Trump’s administration has issued travel warnings to US citizens seeking to vacation in the once-popular island nation.

“Some unnamed officials are propagating unusual nonsense without any evidence, with the perverse aim of discrediting the impeccable reputation of our country as a safe destination for foreign visitors, including from the United States,” Diaz-Canel claimed.
Tuesday, 10 January 2017 14:34

Rum wars: Havana Club vs. Havana Club

Rum lovers and history buffs should visit Havana’s Museo de Ron while in Havana, Cuba. There are guided tours where one can learn all about the history of rum and the process of how it is made from start to finish. The tour is extremely worth while, but the guide we had spoke very poor English. My son and I are bilingual and would have been better off taking the tour with a Spanish-speaking guide.

The tour showcases Havana Club rum, Cuba’s stellar brand and whose circular red logo is omnipresent on the island. Unfortunately, this Cuban version of Havana Club rum is not sold in the U.S. due to the embargo. However, this has not deterred visitors from the States who have been returning with their suitcases replete with bottles of Havana Club and cigars due to the somewhat loosening of restrictions for travelers.

On Sunday January 2 2017, the program 60 Minutes aired a piece on the controversy around the Havana Club trademark and its distribution rights. Simply put, there is a turf war between Havana Club rum produced in Cuba and it’s counterpart that is made in Puerto Rico by Bacardi. The controversy has arisen with Pernod Ricard, which currently produces the Havana Club made in Cuba, battling with Bacardi over rights to the brand name with both sides laying claim to the name.The Havana Club battle is one of the most heated trademark disputes in recent history. It’s been going on for two decades now—and it’s become even more intense now that trade restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba are lifting. By the way, America’s drink about 40 percent of the world’s rum, so there is a huge potential market and a lot at stake.

Originally, Bacardi and Havana Club rums were rival spirits, and their founding families the Bacardis and the Arechabalas, respectively — were fierce competitors. Facundo Bacardi, started his company in 1862. Rum historians credit him with pioneering Cuban-style rum: lighter than other types, perfect for cocktails, but also aged and blended into fine sipping rums. The Arechabala company, founded in 1878, and other Cuban rum-makers worked in the shadow of Bacardi for many years.

In the 1930s with Americans in mind the Arechabalas introduced Havana Club. Years later Bacardi became a major producer of Havana Club, buying the brand from the Arechabala family. Both rum-making families fled Cuba in the 1960s after the government nationalized the island’s distilleries. However, this did not stop the Cuban government from continuing to produce Havana Club rum at the facilities that it expropriated. In fact, the Cuban version is now produced in a joint venture with French liquor giant Pernod Richard. As a result sales have grown even without selling the product in the U.S. market, because of the trade embargo imposed in 1962 against Cuba.

In 1994, Bacardi filed its own application for the U.S. trademark for Havana Club. It paid the Arechabala family $1.25 million for any rights to Havana Club that the family still possessed, plus a portion of any sales of Havana Club. Ever since then, Bacardi and Pernod Ricard have battled on legal and commercial fronts for ownership of the name. Bacardi appeared to win the rum war in 2006, when the Cubans and Pernod Ricard were not allowed to renew the trademark. However, now the dispute is back in U.S. District Court in Washington, where both sides are seeking a ruling on who owns Havana Club trademark.

Only time will tell how this all sorts out. So stay tuned for more updates.

Cuba will respect Fidel Castro's dying wish that no statues be erected in his honor and no streets be named after him. Despite his omnipresence that endured for decades, the late communist leader always said he did not want any monuments in his honor on the island."There is no cult of personality around any living revolutionary," Castro stated in 2003. "The leaders of this country are human beings, not gods."

Consequently, Cuba’s National Assembly approved the law, which “bans commemorative statues of Fidel Castro and naming monuments and public places after the former leader.

Despite Fidel’s sentiments, Raul told the Assembly that “His fighting spirit will remain in the conscience of all Cuban revolutionaries, today, tomorrow and always,” Some have predicted that Fidel’s legend will grow even more despite his death, much like Che Guevara.

There a couple exceptions to the law banning the use Castro’s name in public places. The term Fidel Castro may used as a name for any institution created to study his role in Cuban history. The law also does not ban using his image, photo or likeness for public acts, Cuban military institutions, and educational or cultural entities.

Monday, 26 December 2016 11:49

Cuba For Sale - People & Power

Half a century ago, when Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces entered the Cuban capital Havana, the new leader pledged to improve the lives of the poor by putting an end to capitalist excess.  

One of the revolutionary government's key measures was the elimination of the property market as a lucrative business. Housing was declared a human right, private rental was abolished and most Cubans were given free properties to live in.

But with a US embargo declared on the revolutionary island and its finances dependent on an inefficient state-driven economy, the government ran out of money and vast parts of Havana fell into decline.

In a radical move, Raul Castro opened up the economy in 2011. Property laws were reversed and Cubans were allowed to buy and sell their homes once more.

The government says its revolutionary vision hasn't changed and that the reforms are aimed at safeguarding rather than dismantling socialism. But will the re-introduction of private property make Havana's urban poor worse off? And how will the government deal with the growing, wealthy new class that the regime once fought so hard to defeat?

In Cuba for Sale, reporter Juliana Ruhfus and filmmaker Seamus Mirodan investigate the impact of the country's recent economic changes and whether the re-introduction of private property heralds an end to Cuban socialism.

Monday, 26 December 2016 11:08

El Viejo y el Mal

The title of this article is word play on the title of Hemingway’s prize winning novel, "El Viejo y El Mar." In this case the translation of the title is “The Old Man and Evil,” referring to the legacy of the late Fidel Castro.

As a result of Castro’s dictatorship Cuba is truly an impoverished country locked in a time warp, where the average monthly salary hovers around $25 dollars and where there is no real freedom of expression, opportunities, dissent or human rights. Many of those who clamor for change are imprisoned. Because of this situation fifteen percent of the islands citizens are in exile in an effort to make a better life for themselves. The revolution was really about Fidel and his socialistic vision and not the Cuban people. He created a system of educated people who had little hope of getting ahead in life. I must admit that the man was a political genius to be able to stay in power for almost 50 years.

The government that Fidel left to his brother does have its supporters among some of those who have lived under the system all of their lives and who do not know nothing else.

However, as I have alluded to in many of my articles, there is no reason to lose hope. Raúl has made some cosmetic changes but democracy and real change has yet to occur. Given the events of the last few years, I feel positive about the country moving in the right direction. But the million dollar question is, How long will the process take?

It is hoped that with the improved relations with the U.S., more widespread and accessible Internet and an influx of new ideas, once again Cuba will regain its spendor as “The Pearl of the Caribbean.” I am betting that it will.

Thursday, 15 December 2016 10:26

Google to provide faster Internet for Cuba

An agreement signed between Google and the Cuban government Cuba aimed at improving its internet speed. The deal will allow the internet giant to provide faster access to its data by installing servers on the island that will store much of the company's most popular content. The deal will now give Cubans access to a network called Google Global Cache that stores data and content on servers located a relatively short distance from the island nation. Now Cubans will have access from sites that Google administers like Gmail, Google Drive and YouTube.

However, home connections remain illegal for most Cubans and the government charges the equivalent of a month's average salary for 10 hours of access to public wi-fi spots with speeds frequently too slow to download files or watch streaming video.

Cuba has one of the lowest Internet speeds and connectivity in the world. It’s no surprise Cuba is considered the “least connected” country in the Americas, with the Geneva-based ITU ranking the country 125th out of 166 countries worldwide in telecommunications development.

The Google deal was announced less than a week after Cuba gave three US cruise companies permission to begin sailing to the island next year. Officials familiar with the negotiations say other deals, including one with General Electric, are in the works.

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