Marabou and the Government: Making the Life of the Cuban Farmer an Ordeal / 14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez

14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez, Pinar del Rio — The Cuban farmer has only two problems in being productive: the invasive marabou weed and everything else. When Raul Castro promoted a plan to lease idle land to the farmers and invited them to make it productive using oxen, he overlooked the fact that these parcels, in many … Continue reading “Marabou and the Government: Making the Life of the Cuban Farmer an Ordeal / 14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez”

Price Controls Extended Across Havana / 14ymedio

14ymedio, 25 January 2016 — What began as a novelty in mid-January has become common in the Cuban capital. The network of agricultural markets with controlled prices now extends to 66 markets and the authorities plan to extend the measure to the 105 people’s council markets in the city, as confirmed by the official press. The … Continue reading “Price Controls Extended Across Havana / 14ymedio”

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”

Agricultural Production Continues to Plummet / Osmar Laffita Rojas

HAVANA, Cuba, October, www.cubanet.org – Of the 6.5 million hectares of agricultural land is in Cuba, only 32 percent was cultivated in February 2008, when General Raul Castro assumed the presidency. There were 2 million acres covered with the invasive marabou weed or other weeds, and badly cared for. In other words, one third of … Continue reading “Agricultural Production Continues to Plummet / Osmar Laffita Rojas”

The Law and the Trap / Lilianne Ruiz

After Decree-Law No. 302 went into force on January 14, health professionals in Cuba could now travel, at least in theory. However, in order to practice in the medical profession in other parts of the world one needs, logically, to be legally licensed in Cuba, in order to be recognized abroad, later. But the cost … Continue reading “The Law and the Trap / Lilianne Ruiz”

A Kafkaesque Tale / Esperanza Rodriguez Bernal #Cuba

by Esperanza Rodríguez Bernal, Attorney at Law Many people come to see us about the fines imposed on them by the Port Captain. The great majority of them have been notified after more than two months have passed from the time they committed the act, making the judicial process ineffective by not fulfilling the established formalities, … Continue reading “A Kafkaesque Tale / Esperanza Rodriguez Bernal #Cuba”

What Will Be? / Yoani Sanchez #Cuba

El Sexto has said he will paint a graffiti on my suitcase; a neighbor gave me an amulet for the journey, and a certain friend noted his shoe size so I can bring him a pair. They said goodbye to me although I still haven’t left. I don’t even have a flight date. But something … Continue reading “What Will Be? / Yoani Sanchez #Cuba”

Double Immunity / Cuban Law Association, E. Javier Hernandez #Cuba

By Lic. E. Javier Hernández Parallel to our inefficient system of managing the economy, also cracked, flawed and inefficient is the functioning of many of the the organs of the state administration at all levels, validating the principle of “poor economic foundation, poor superstructure above”; the latter linked to the negative performance of management officials … Continue reading “Double Immunity / Cuban Law Association, E. Javier Hernandez #Cuba”

Bitter November / Rafael Leon Rodriguez #Cuba

The penultimate month of the year ended passing on to December, the final one, the most important inheritance received from October: the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the eastern provinces of the country. This weather phenomenon, whose final forecast of wind speeds offered by the Institute of Meteorology at the time it entered the province … Continue reading “Bitter November / Rafael Leon Rodriguez #Cuba”

The Cradle of Illegality / Laritza Diversent

It would occur to few people to think that a Frenchman might be illegal in Paris, or an Englishman in London. But the efficient agents of the National Revolutionary Police don’t hesitate to detain someone from Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas, or Guantanamo, for being illegal in the City of Havana. Cuban authorities consider a … Continue reading “The Cradle of Illegality / Laritza Diversent”