· July, 2008

Stories about Cuba from July, 2008

Cuba, Venezuela, U.S.A.: Empty Dialogue?

  31 July 2008

Cuban bloggers Babalu and Ninety miles away…in another country focus on U.S. Republican senator Arlen Specter's upcoming Latin American trip, during which he hopes to meet with both Raul Castro and Hugo Chavez: “The Cuban government has made clear that the only thing it is interested in is the unilateral...

Cuba, Mexico: Good Relations

  30 July 2008

“I’ve always admired how Mexico, despite its own internal contradictions and conflicts, was able to dodge the US pressure on Cuba…in the early 1960s”: On a recent trip to Mexico City, Havana-based blogger Circles Robinson has a chat with an immigration officer that makes him realize “Mexico is no exception”...

Cuba: Carnival Time

  29 July 2008

“It is a time to shrug off the slogans, the shortages and the frustrated expectations. Dancing is a magnificent way of forgetting. And so we will have a festival along the same perimeter where, fourteen years ago, Havanans demonstrated their discontent in a social explosion”: Yoani Sanchez looks beyond the...

Cuba: July 26th

  28 July 2008

This past weekend, on July 26th, Cuba marked the 55th anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago that came to be recognised as the start of the Cuban Revolution. Bloggers react to President Raul Castro's much-anticipated speech at the event.

Russia, US: A Cuba Crisis in the Making

Der Spiegelfechter (GER) comments on rumours in Moscow, according to which Russia might station strategic bombers on Cuba in reply to deployment of the US missile defence system to Poland and the Czech Republic. Is it a new Cuba crisis in the making?

Cuba: July 26

  25 July 2008

Raul Castro is scheduled to address his fellow Cubans this weekend and speculation is rife about what he might say. Child of the Revolution: “I hope Castro II announces for instance, that free and fair multi-party elections will be held in Cuba within the next 12 months.” Generation Y: “The...

Cuba: Glorious Future?

  24 July 2008

Both Child of the Revolution and Ninety miles away…in another country take issue with a series of articles in the Christian Science Monitor speculating about Cuba's economic future: “It is particularly galling that the resourcefulness they all laud as the sign of a changing Cuba is a harsh expedient forced...

Barbados, Cuba, U.S.A.: The Times Rejects Mc Cain

  22 July 2008

Caribbean blogs are irate over The New York Times‘ rejection of John Mc Cain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's recent editorial on Iraq: Babalu Blog: “Who the hell gave them the power to think they speak on behalf of my best interests?” Barbados Free Press: “As much as we support Obama,...

Cuba: Cyber-Citizens?

  22 July 2008

“Never having become citizens in the real world, it is hard for us to behave as citizens on the web”: Yoani Sanchez at Generation Y shares her thoughts about the virtual Cuba.

Cuba: Nothing is Free

  21 July 2008

A long wait at a “free” clinic gets Yoani Sanchez thinking about the true cost of freedom: “I imagine that Aladdin’s lamp, rubbed by eleven million Cubans, has succeeded in providing these hospitals, schools and other publicized ‘subsidies.’ But the image of the genie with his three wishes doesn’t last...

Cuba: Family Travel to Cuba

  10 July 2008

The US Congress has approved a 2009 fiscal spending bill containing a controversial provision that lifts family travel restrictions to Cuba. Uncommon Sense believes this would “restore some humanitarian sanity by helping break the barriers between Cubans who have been able to leave the country and loved ones they left...

Cuba: The US and Cuban Oil

  9 July 2008

An article on negotiations between Brazil's Petrobras and Cuba prompts The Cuban Triangle to consider the implications of oil exploration in Cuba's Gulf reserves.

Cuba: Ties with the US

  7 July 2008

Circles Robinson Online joined two Fourth of July celebrations in Havana, and finds history and culture make for a closer relationship than one would expect between Cuba and the US.

Cuba: Oh joy!

  4 July 2008

Cuban blogger Ninety miles away….in another country and Why does the glass have to be half empty or half full?, from Trinidad, both find good reasons to delight in their world.

Cuba: A FARC Cry

  4 July 2008

Cuban blogger Machetera questions the timing of the rescue of French/Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. And, she says, the comments of this high profile hostage show Ms Betancourt's experiences with the FARC guerillas, “left her with no greater understanding of the Colombian conflict than when she was seized on her presidential...