After the “half-news”
In the autumn of 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, bringing the beginning of the end of communist rule for most, but not all, of the world. In Cuba, the revolution continued, albeit stunted by the sudden...
View ArticleOn “banishment” and freedom
Last Wednesday, after days of negotiations with Catholic church leaders and the Spanish foreign ministry in Havana, Cuban government authorities agreed to release fifty-two of the nation’s political...
View ArticleThank the camera phone
Since I wrote my last post, the terms of the prisoners’ release have become a bit more clear. Those who have chosen exile have already begun to depart. Seven arrived in Madrid on Tuesday. But multiple...
View ArticleJama y toma
Over 52,000 people worldwide have signed a petition calling for the release of all of Cuba’s political prisoners. Last Friday marked the five-month anniversary of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo,...
View ArticleCuba is not Egypt (and Miami is not Cuba)
In the last few weeks, reports of Egypt’s revolution, ranging from NYT articles to the ecstatic messages of MENA region bloggers on the Global Voices author listserv, have left me amazed and heartened...
View ArticleIt’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you
In my last post, I argued that Cuba’s lack of a real civil society creates a poor groundwork from which social movements could develop on the island. But behind this, and every potential outlet for...
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