Search results for: Decree 35

Decision by Raul Castro Complicates Cuba’s Legal Landscape / Juan Juan Almeida

Juan Juan Almeida, 7 December 2015 — During one of his famous tantrums, General Raul Castro shamelessly ordered a review of all the paperwork related to the sale of nine private homes as well as investigations into their new owners. The Office of Personal Security got to work and the public prosecutor intervened, seizing some … Continue reading “Decision by Raul Castro Complicates Cuba’s Legal Landscape / Juan Juan Almeida”

Intensified Vigilance Against Fish and Yogurt Sellers in Mayabeque / 14ymedio, Carmona Osniel Breijo

14ymedio, Osniel Carmona Breijo, Guines, 3 December 2015 – “Anyone with more than five pepinos [the liter-and-a-half plastic bottles that are standard for homemade yogurt] can get off now.” This phrase, according to Nereida, a 61-year-old seller of illegal yogurt, serves the police as their “calling card” when they stop public transport for an inspection. … Continue reading “Intensified Vigilance Against Fish and Yogurt Sellers in Mayabeque / 14ymedio, Carmona Osniel Breijo”

The Cancellation of A Cyber-Gathering In Camagüey Sparks Outrage / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma

14ymedio, Orlando Palma, Camaguey, 2 November 2015 — The peaceful city of Camagüey experienced a shock among its intellectuals this weekend. The well-known film critic Juan Antonio Garcia Borrero denounced the “intellectual conservatism” that led to the suspension of a cyber-gathering programmed for this Thursday in Café Ciudad. In his blog, Cine cubano, la pupila insomne … Continue reading “The Cancellation of A Cyber-Gathering In Camagüey Sparks Outrage / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma”

Questions to a Symposium / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 8 October 2015 — Many unanswered questions, inaccuracies and poorly sustained theories have characterized the political process that began in Cuba in January 1959. Perhaps with the objective to remedy such lacks, the First International Symposium on the Cuba Revolution: Genesis and Historic Development, in which its organizers propose “to analyze … Continue reading “Questions to a Symposium / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”

The Pioneers Are Retiring / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 8 October 2015 — The ceremony is solemn. The national anthem echoes from the loudspeakers and an adult with a serious face ties the blue scarf around the student’s neck. Little has changed since my childhood, when that initiation turned us into members of the youngest mass organization in Cuba. A piece … Continue reading “The Pioneers Are Retiring / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”

The “Blockade” Will End Only With a Change in the Internal Order / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Mexico City, 19 September 2015 – The first reactions from the Cuban government to the recent relaxations of the embargo decreed by Obama concentrate mainly on protesting the underlying condition that, in order to receive the benefits, the Government will have to modify “the internal order,” a euphemism that can be translated … Continue reading “The “Blockade” Will End Only With a Change in the Internal Order / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”

Less Milk and Less Beef / 14ymedio, Jose Quintana de la Cruz

14ymedio, Jose Quintana de la Cruz, Pinar del Rio, 31 August 2015 – Cattle ranching in Cuba touched bottom in 1999, but it had started its decline in 1970. That year’s effort to produce 10 million tons of sugar was the focus of attention and resources for the entire nation. Such a disproportion was detrimental … Continue reading “Less Milk and Less Beef / 14ymedio, Jose Quintana de la Cruz”

Causes and Dangers of the Government’s Erratic Course / Dimas Castellano

The Antecedents The Revolutionaries who took power in 1959 substituted the 1940 Constitution for the Fundamental Law of the Cuban State*, the Prime Minister assumed the powers of the Head of Government, and the Council of Ministers replaced the Congress. Measures for “the benefit of the people” were decreed that legitimized the power acquired through … Continue reading “Causes and Dangers of the Government’s Erratic Course / Dimas Castellano”

Condemn Us, It Does Not Matter: Art Will Absorb Us* / 14ymedio, Juan Carlos Cremata

14ymedio, Juan Carlos Cremata, Havana, 10 July 2015 — First of all, I apologize this time for speaking in the first person. I have always thought, like Garcia Marquez, that what I have tried to say is found in my work. And instead, it enriches me, much more, to hear the diverse interpretations that emerge … Continue reading “Condemn Us, It Does Not Matter: Art Will Absorb Us* / 14ymedio, Juan Carlos Cremata”

Computerization The Old-Fashioned Way / Dimas Castellanos

The Information Society (IS) is an effect of a process of convergence among technological advances, the democratization of information, and communications, which erupted in the 1980s with such force that it caused the United Nations to call a world summit on information, which took place in the Swiss city of Geneva in 2003. At this … Continue reading “Computerization The Old-Fashioned Way / Dimas Castellanos”

Easterners in Havana: An Exodus Hushed Up by the Cuban Regime / Ivan Garcia

Ivan Garcia, 30 May 2015 — One hot and boring night, drinking a tear-inducing moonshine, Yosvany and a group of friends in a remote sugar-workers’ town in Yateras, Guantanamo province, more than a 600 miles east of Havana, made plans to relocate to the capital to try to change their future. “The village where we … Continue reading “Easterners in Havana: An Exodus Hushed Up by the Cuban Regime / Ivan Garcia”

Who Are the “Rich Cubans”? / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya

14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 16 April 2015 — It is a fact that permanent poverty creates distortions in perception. The most obvious example is the value judgments we Cubans place on the supposed “riches” of some, based on a comparison with our own poverty, which is the general state of the nation. It is common for people from the … Continue reading “Who Are the “Rich Cubans”? / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”

Why Do Cubans Continue To Be Spaniards? / 14ymedio, Ferran Nunez

14ymedio, Ferrán Nuñez, Paris, 21 February 2015 — With the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Spain ceded or sold the last pieces of its former empire where, in the time of Carlos V, “the sun never set.” This treaty, as has already been proven by Pedro Albizu Campos, had several legal defects … Continue reading “Why Do Cubans Continue To Be Spaniards? / 14ymedio, Ferran Nunez”

2015 Partial Elections: an Old Woman Wearing Rouge / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya

14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 19 January 2015 – Next spring, Cuba will hold the first election process after the announcement of the restoration of relations with the imperialist enemy. Everything indicates that the authorities of the Island are ready to stand the test of what the democratic makeup should look like to create an impression of positive change. For this reason, they are rushing to create their own mechanisms for “approval” with the democratic systems in the … Continue reading “2015 Partial Elections: an Old Woman Wearing Rouge / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”

Institutional Crisis / 14ymedio, Fernando Damaso

14ymedio, FERNANDO DAMASO, Havana, 22 January 2015 — Among so many crises that affect us, little is said about that related to institutions. In the Republican era, there existed institutions that, without being perfect, worked. If it had not been so, the country would not have developed in the way that it did. When the … Continue reading “Institutional Crisis / 14ymedio, Fernando Damaso”