Like in most communist countries, elections in Cuba are not aimed at changing previously selected officials, but rather at highlighting existing polices and mobilizing the population to support the communist system. Cuban parliamentary elections, late this month, without any opposition groups or parties, will ratify the weak and ineffective presidency of Miguel Díaz-Canel. More importantly, …
*By Jaime Suchlicki Cuba’s new penal code introduced in the island this December, increased to 24 violations sanctioned with the death penalty to 24. The harsh new penal code follows the growth of opposition in Cuba and the massive demonstrations in July of last year. The Cuban regime fears a repetition of these demonstrations and …
WILL CUBA’S NEW PENAL CODE SILENCE POLITICAL DISSENT? Read More »
Por primera vez en 60 años hay evidencia de una creciente oposición en Cuba contra el régimen heredado de la era de Castro. Lo que está claro es que los cubanos han abandonado la política de esperar que el régimen cubano ofrezca un cambio “desde arriba”. Los cubanos buscan ahora un cambio “desde abajo”. El levantamiento popular …
GIVE CUBAN OPPOSITION WEAPONS AND MILITARY TRAINING For the first time in 60 years, there is evidence of growing opposition in Cuba against the legacy regime of the Castro era. Cubans have abandoned the policy of waiting for the regime to provide change “from above.” They now are seeking change “from below.” The nationwide popular …
During the first few years of Batista’s regime, political parties exerted considerable influence in Cuba. The Ortodoxos were particularly popular and influential because of the party’s uncompromising attitude toward Batista, the mystique of its martyred leader, Eduardo Chibás (1951), and the fact that its more prominent members included several professors at the University of Havana. The National …
As the current U.S. administration reviews U.S.-Cuba policy and what changes, if any, to make, the following should be considered: Cuba is a failed economy. Not the result of the U.S. embargo but the consequence of failed economic policies. Not unlike the former eastern European economic systems, the Cuban state-controlled system does not produce; does …
Apparently highly favorable conditions accompanied Cuba’s emergence into independence on May 20, 1902. There were no major social or political problems similar to the ones other Latin American nations had experienced after their break with Spain. There was no large unassimilated Indian population and although blacks represented a significant proportion of the total populating there …
José Julián Martí y Pérez (1853-1895) Cuba’s greatest hero and most influential writer. Revolutionary, poet, journalist, and the principal organizer of the Independence War of 1895-1898, he was the apostle of Cuba’s independence. Born in Havana, January 28, of a Valencian father and “isleño” mother, he spent his early years as an eager student. His environment and teachers …
PART II The disillusionment and frustration caused by the 1961 Bay of Pigs failure among anti-Castro forces, both inside and out of Cuba, prevented the growth of significant organized opposition. With little hope for change more than 2 million Cubans migrated from the island mostly to the U.S. With his power consolidated Castro could embark on massive …
PART I In the early months of the revolution, Castro reasserted his independence from the United States but maintained normal relations. During his visit to the United States in April 1959, he turned down tentative offers of aid, but insisted that Cuba stood with the West in the Cold War. He also met with several U.S. …
