Change In Cuba

English version Arena de pasiones encontradas, mitos ideológicos y conquistas sociales, Cuba conmemorará en este enero el medio siglo del histórico triunfo revolucionario de 1959. Y lo hace ataviada con realidades contrastantes. La isla es el único país de América Latina cumplidor de las metas del Milenio de la ONU, cuenta con la mortalidad infantil […]

versión español This January marks the half-century anniversary of Cuba’s historic revolutionary triumph of 1959: an arena for discovered passions, ideological myths and social conquests. Cuba will celebrate while confronting contrasting realities. The island is the only country in Latin America to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development goals; infant mortality is the lowest in […]

  What does “non-governmental” mean in a country with a statist tradition? Would not a better criterion for evaluating associations be the nature of their participation, especially the way that they promote community participation? María López Vigil. In recent years, Cuba has expanded participation within associational space, contributing to the gradual process of democratization within […]

During the summer of 2006, a month before Fidel Castro stunned the world by temporarily stepping down from his responsibilities as Cuba’s head of state after 47 uninterrupted years at the helm, a companion and I traveled back roads of the Western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio. We picked up dozens of hitchhikers, from […]

MIAMI — Unpredictability has long been the hallmark of social change in Cuba. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, you are invariably surprised by the twists and turns of a revolution that has always had its own logic, or lack of it.  The application of models from somewhere else, the attempts […]

I We will ponder the meaning of the Cuban revolution for decades to come, and after us, others will reflect on its meaning for many decades more. At present, attention has been given more to predicting the Cuban future (what will happen after Fidel) than to understanding the Cuban past (what happened in Cuba), a […]

“If there is food for the people, risks do not matter.” – Raúl Castro. 09/18/1994 “We will do what is best for each sector and place, and we will not unleash processes that could escape the control of the socialist State.” – Carlos Lage. 12/19/1994 “I strongly believe that the answers to the current problems […]

When Fidel Castro announced that he would not continue as President of Cuba some saw the end of an era and others said little had changed. To be sure, Fidel was succeeded by his brother Raul who promised great continuity. But in fact, it would be a mistake to think Cuba hadn’t changed during the […]

The election of Raúl Castro as president by the Cuban National Assembly did not have quite the same level of tension associated with the Oscars. Nor did it merit anywhere near the same amount of press coverage. Yet the fact that there was even some uncertainty before it and that the results merited front page […]

Bien underground cubano casi sin posibilidades, pero con lo poco q’ tenemos no somos gusanos y hago tanto como muchos q’ no hacen lo q’ hago yo. Me siento un mago cuando estoy en la tarima, levantan de un público muerto hasta lograr q’ rian de alegria desapareciendo su agonia y melancolia, tan solo, representando […]