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Accessories and Sandwiches
Accessories and Sandwiches / Regina Coyula
Posted on September 8, 2014
The school year has just begun, the first for many children. Filled with
enthusiasm and wonder, these little ones are unaware of the disruption
their new status as students creates for many Cuban families.
Along with the canasta basica,* the school uniform is the last holdout
of the ration… Continue reading
Cuba restricts inflow of foreign-bought products
Cuba restricts inflow of foreign-bought products
Updated: 2014-09-02 07:39
By Associated Press in Havana(China Daily)
Cubans braced on Monday for a clampdown on the flow of car tires,
flat-screen televisions, bluejeans and shampoo in the bags of travelers
who haul eye-popping amounts of foreign-bought merchandise to the
country, where consumer goods are scarce and expensive.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans… Continue reading
Cuba cracks down on goods in travelers’ luggage
Posted on Monday, 09.01.14
Cuba cracks down on goods in travelers’ luggage
BY MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA — Cubans braced Monday for a clampdown on the flow of car tires,
flat-screen televisions, blue jeans and shampoo in the bags of travelers
who haul eye-popping amounts of foreign-bought merchandise to an island
where consumer goods are frequently shoddy, scarce and… Continue reading
What Does a Cuban Bring Home in Her Suitcase?
What Does a Cuban Bring Home in Her Suitcase? / 14ymedio
Posted on August 29, 2014
Nuria retired last year and this month she traveled to Miami, where her
sisters live. On returning to the Island she showed 14ymedio what she
brought home in her suitcase.
Let’s take a look at what she threw in her bags with brief comments… Continue reading
One Ration Booklet, Different Bread Rolls
Cuba: One Ration Booklet, Different Bread Rolls
August 26, 2014
Jimmy Roque Martinez
HAVANA TIMES – Luckily, we still have a ration booklet in Cuba. In
addition to a monthly quota of rice, sugar, grains and a tiny allotment
of meat products, every person gets one bread roll a day.
Until some time ago, I thought everyone got the same… Continue reading
A Thief Who Steals from a Thief
A Thief Who Steals from a Thief… / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya
Posted on August 25, 2014
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 23 August 2014 — “Beds, furniture,
mattresses, heaters”, is the soft cry from a reseller who prowls around
the Carlos III Market entranceway. A few steps away, another dealer
advertises his wares: “airs,’microgüeys’, washing machines, rice
cookers, ‘Reina’ brand pots… Continue reading
Nazdarovie – New retro-Soviet restaurant a nod to nostalgia for ties between Havana and Moscow
Nazdarovie: New retro-Soviet restaurant a nod to nostalgia for ties
between Havana and Moscow
Published August 23, 2014 Associated Press
In this Aug 20, 2014, photo, Matryoshka dolls and bottles of vodka sit
on display at the Nazdarovie restaurant during its pre-launch in Havana,
Cuba. Occupying the third story of a historic building on the seafront
Malecon boulevard, Nazdarovie is… Continue reading
In Cuba, Economic Contradictions Amid Change
Voices: In Cuba, Economic Contradictions Amid Change
BY JOSÉ GABILONDO
MIAMI, FL — In Havana last week, I thought about how much its economy
had changed since my first visit in college. At that time, Cuba got
Soviet subsidies. After they ended, the island entered its periodo
especial en tiempos de paz – its special period in times of peace… Continue reading
The Day the People of Havana Protested in the Streets
The Day the People of Havana Protested in the Streets / Ivan Garcia
Posted on August 18, 2014
1994 was an amazing year. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the
disappearance of the USSR had been the trigger for the beginning in Cuba
of the “Special Period in Times of Peace,” an economic crisis which
lasted for 25 years.… Continue reading
What it Costs to Eat!
What it Costs to Eat! / Rebeca Monzo
Posted on August 11, 2014
This week I invited to lunch a couple who are friends of mine. I have
among the more “respectable” pensions in this country: 340 CUP (Cuban
pesos) — the type of currency which is also used to pay salaries.
I set out early in search of the… Continue reading
Cuban Agriculture between Farmers and Pencil-Pushers
Cuban Agriculture between Farmers and Pencil-Pushers
July 10, 2014
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — The Cuban government has finally decided to throw
agriculture a life line, eliminating part of the bureaucratic apparatus
that is stifling it. Some 6,400 administrative positions have
disappeared with the State entity responsible for distributing the
fruits of farm production.
The bureaucratic entity in question is… Continue reading
If the Shoe Fits
If the Shoe Fits… / Miriam Celaya
Posted on July 6, 2014
As expected, the birth of the new site 14ymedio.com attracted immediate
attacks from the servers of the Cuban regime. A few hours after the
media’s first appearance, it was redirected by official cyber-hosts to a
dedicated page (oh, the satrapy’s supreme homage!), not to the
disqualification of counterrevolutionary… Continue reading
Cuba’s Budding Entrepreneurs Travel A Rocky Road Toward Success
Cuba’s Budding Entrepreneurs Travel A Rocky Road Toward Success
by DAVID GREENE and JASMINE GARSD
June 24, 2014 3:39 AM ET
When Americans think of business in Cuba, they think of government-owned
enterprise. And the vast majority of Cubans do work for the state.
But in recent years, private business owners known as cuentapropistas
have flourished on the island.
Cuentapropismo… Continue reading
The Fading Splendor of Havana’s Chinatown
The Fading Splendor of Havana’s Chinatown
June 13, 2014
Daisy Valera
HAVANA TIMES — I had my first contact with Chinese culture thanks to a
childhood friend, Javier. He was a Chinese kid who would invite kids
around the neighborhood to his house and make his grandfather read old
newspapers. What he read was in Chinese, of course, which is… Continue reading
Drawing the Line in Cuba
Drawing the Line in Cuba
June 11, 2014
Veronica Vega
HAVANA TIMES — The timely intervention of a reader in my post “The
advantages of being poor (I)“, has triggered a seizure of thoughts in my
head. The reader, who signed Octavio Lopez, says:
“The behavior described in the article on the difficulties with rice, is
widespread in the population… Continue reading
Cuba Food Industry Cooperatives Feel Betrayed
Cuba Food Industry Cooperatives Feel Betrayed
June 6, 2014
Vicente Morin Aguado
HAVANA TIMES — Why the feeling of having been betrayed? Today, I have a
chat with Jaime Olano (aka “Lefty”), a company manager that does not
quite fit our preconceived notions about such positions: he is a tall,
slender, soft-spoken man with greying hair. Jaime was once a… Continue reading
An eyewitness account of Cuba’s shocking wretchedness
Michael J. Totten: An eyewitness account of Cuba’s shocking wretchedness
Michael J. Totten, National Post | June 6, 2014 12:01 AM ET
Neill Blomkamp’s 2013 science-fiction film Elysium, starring Matt Damon
and Jodie Foster, takes place in Los Angeles, circa 2154. The wealthy
have moved into an orbiting luxury satellite — the Elysium of the title
— while the wretched… Continue reading
At the Train Station We’re All Fighters
At the Train Station We’re All Fighters / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz
Posted on June 4, 2014
In Havana, travelers bound for the provinces don’t just say goodbye from
the platform, they wage a daily battle for survival
Lilanne Ruiz, Havana / June 4, 2014 – It’s seven p.m. in Havana. The
train to Guantanamo has just arrived at Central Station.… Continue reading
Even Toilet Paper Is A Luxury
Even Toilet Paper Is A Luxury / Lilianne Ruiz
Posted on June 4, 2014
That the State sells cheap products at high prices is a dreadful cynicism.
HAVANA, Cuba. — First there appeared the “SPAR” products. Then, on a
shelf of the Ultra store in Central Havana, we saw the unmistakable seal
with the little red bird from “Auchan.” Imported… Continue reading
The Last Communist City, A visit to the dystopian Havana that tourists never see
Cuba Brief: The Last Communist City, A visit to the dystopian Havana
that tourists never see
[02-06-2014 14:08:24]
Cuba Transition Project
(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Neill Blomkamp’s 2013 science-fiction film
Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, takes place in Los
Angeles, circa 2154. The wealthy have moved into an orbiting luxury
satellite—the Elysium of the title—while the wretched majority of humans
remain… Continue reading
The Two Mariels – Mega-Port and Ghetto
The Two Mariels: Mega-Port and Ghetto / Polina Martinez Shvietsova
Posted on May 21, 2014
HAVANA, Cuba — The mega-port of Mariel and the impoverished town of
Mariel are two sides of the “prosperous and sustainable socialism” —
wealth and poverty — which Raul Castro promotes as a “solution” to
Cuba’s problems.
The Brazilian company Odebrecht S.A. and Cuba’s Almacenes… Continue reading
Cuban “Pedro Pans” hold a reunion in Washington
Cuban “Pedro Pans” hold a reunion in Washington
BY DAVID MONTGOMERY
May 19 at 2:04 pm
Elia Haza was sitting at a table in Lauriol Plaza near Dupont Circle,
reading aloud from a carefully preserved letter she had penciled as a
child of 8, more than 50 years ago. She translated from the original
Spanish, taking long pauses to control… Continue reading
