“The time is ripe for change in Cuba.” Many have made this claim before, and many have been dead wrong. Indeed, the Cuban Castro regime, having survived to see ten U.S. presidents come and go, outlasted an embargo for over fifty years while maintaining its communist-authoritarian integrity. His rule has inspired, as of late, a spate of rather pessimistic literature. There is great doubt as to the ability of a democratic movement to come about in...
Illustration by Nicci Yin In March 2010, Angel Francisco Castro Torres was riding his bike down a municipal road in Smyrna, Georgia, when he was pulled over by two police officers. They claimed the incident was nothing but a routine traffic stop procedure, but the stop was anything but ordinary. The officers demanded that Torres – a Mexican-American immigrant – show proof of his immigration status. When Torres failed to immediately produce adeq...
In the world’s slow move towards more open and competitive markets, a few countries continue to resist change. Nominally communist and content with becoming quaint relics of a Cold War past, they have allowed the world to pass them by. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Cuba. Only 45 miles from Florida, Cuba remains mired in poverty and gross economic inequality. However, the February 2008 election of Raúl Castro has brought some market-ori...
.... While this administration has laudably eased restrictions for travel and remittances to Cuba, it has failed to make good on its promises to restore negotiations with the receptive Cuban regime. In 2009, Cuban President Raúl Castro, in 2009, went so far as to say, “we are willing to discuss everything… We could be wrong, we admit it.” But Cuba-US diplomatic relations have since broken down due to delays in the closing of Guantánamo and harsh lan...
...ry policy and the perennial thorn of Cuba underscored the testy environment of the meetings. The United States and Canada rejected a proposal proposed by several Latin American leaders, including a charged statement from Raúl Castro himself. The US and Canada were the only two countries who opposed Cuba’s participation – further exacerbating rifts with Latin American leaders, who see American policy toward the island nation as a dated, relic of t...
...nly accounted for 7.4 percent of votes in 2008. While the fight over immigration will almost certainly boost Hispanic participation rates, I have a difficult time believing that this long-term behavior will change overnight. Castro Finally Kicks It God willing, this is the year Comrade Fidel finally kicks the bucket. Okay, I have no statistical or scientific basis for this prediction; it’s more wistful dreaming than anything else. It’s bound to...
...covertly for decades, and thus, hopefully, eliminate the stigma associated with CIA covert activities.” NED has funded movements that have countered leftist candidates and opposition movements. Their targets range from Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez to leftist professor unions in France. Some of this funding went to pay for political consultants and advertising campaigns meant to spread pro-American political sentiment in countries worldwide. $550...
...ike Kosovo would replace America’s crusade against communism. 9/11 happened, and then W. messed everything up, right? Maybe, but that isn’t the whole story. As Colin Powell once said, “I’m running out of villains. I’m down to Castro and Kim Il Sung.” In 1991, America inherited something rare and priceless: a free hand. No rigid balance of power, no clear threats, and no real enemies. And what did we do with this blank check? Well, we got drunk, b...
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