Surveys, to Please Expectations?

This week I had a brief involvement in a radio program, but, unfortunately, there was insufficient time for the issue which I was invited discuss. Of course, this is not the Cuban radio on the Island, nor do I want to make a critical assessment of the program in question in this post. I hold [...]

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Technology Banned at Military Enterprises

Military business interests range from hard-currency stores, transportation for tourists and restaurants, to hotels in different parts of the country. So that no one can say that the bans don’t also apply in places better favored by the dominant caste, a resolution has recently been passed banning employees of some well-known companies of the Ministry [...]

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Between the Gun and the Cassock

A debate encounter sponsored by the Catholic digital publication Espacio Laical took place on Saturday, October 29th, 2011.  The agency EFE, the leading Spanish news agency, reported the event in a very laudable manner, as published on October 30th on the digital site Cubaencuentro. The report states that “The new role that the Catholic Church [...]

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Eating Medals

On Tuesday, November 1st, the Granma newspaper announced on its front page something that may constitute the ultimate Cuban surrealism. “The Cuban economy will grow 2.9% this year”. Page 2 displayed the same triumphant tone in two other petty articles whose headlines bear happy and misleading portents: “FIHAV 2011*. Growing Spanish Interest in Commercial Interchange [...]

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The Housing Problem: the System’s Autotrophic Phase

Those of us Habaneros who were already adults in the 90′s witnessed the dismantling of the so-called “hostels” or INIT shelters, which — for the younger readers — were something like the tropical version of a cheap motel in which, for a small fee, couples who had no other adequate space rented a room for [...]

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