Tony Karon, Rootless Cosmopolitan, February 20: There’s been predictably little interesting discussion in the United States of Fidel Castro’s retirement as Cuba’s commandante en jefe, maximo etc. That’s because in the U.S. political mainstream, Cuba policy has for a generation been grotesquely disfigured by a collective kow-towing — yes, collective, it was that craven Mr.…
Showing all posts tagged Cuba
The (thankful) passing of an era
The retirement of Cuba’s long-time dictator Fidel Castro is welcome news. He’s been in power for decades too long, never understanding that authoritarianism is the enemy of stability and peace. The US embargo has been nothing short of futile. Changes may be afoot. It should signal a change in policy from Washington, though probably not…
Taxi to reality
Australian New York based documentary producer Eva Orner, discussing her recently Oscar-nominated film Taxi to the Dark Side about the “war on terror” and torture: It’s really important that we’ve made a film basically suggesting that [the Administration] are a bunch of war criminals and that they should be accountable. What they’ve done is outrageous.…
The backside speaks the truth
“Fair Trial, My Arse.” The perfect place to display contempt for the legal procedures at Guantanamo Bay.
The need for a post-Fidel world
Take your mind back to Cuba, in the 1990s, and the introduction of the internet: In 1995, the Republic of Cuba received a Class B license from InterNIC, the US-based cooperative that registers servers joining the Internet, effectively giving the Cuban government an address in cyberspace. In October 1996, the revolution connected full-time to the…
This is what they do
“Violation of US policy”? Pulease: In an apparent violation of U.S. policy, Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar were asked by a U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia “to basically spy” on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country, according to Peace Corps personnel and the Fulbright scholar involved. “I was told to provide the names,…
The world through a Latin screen
The digital awakening of a continent continues apace (despite the continual faltering of Cuba): The Dominican Republic has the second-highest technology level within the CAFTA trade pact, according to the second annual Latin Technology Index from Latin Business Chronicle. The Dominican Republic ranks ten among the 20 countries surveyed, but is ahead of all CAFTA…
We know heaps about gulags
The Decider speaks: “The socialist paradise [Cuba] is a tropical gulag.” Oh, the irony. A few years ago, Amnesty head Irene Khan called Guantanamo Bay, the US base in Cuba, the “gulag of our times.” Yes, Bush believes in human rights, freedom and democracy. Shame about the over one million dead in Iraq.