Cuba

Ryan Finan

April 25, 2013

Post 4:

There was an interesting spectacle earlier this month in the nation of Cuba when celebrities Jay-Z and Beyonce visited for the celebration of their fifth wedding anniversary. In all honesty, there’s not a whole lot to be known about their trip, but it did raise a lot of glaring questions. Individuals are not allowed to visit Cuba for the purpose of mere tourism thanks to the embargo in place, yet these two made no attempt to keep this visit private by any means. They were allowed to visit on the license stating they were there for “educational” purposes. This is one of the few exceptions that are allowed when making trips to the island nation, others being for religious, journalistic, or cultural exchange trips. Technically there are no violations, given the license, but I do personally wonder how this was an “educational” visit for the couple. It almost feels as if they were applying pressure in certain areas that don’t particularly need it. In one of Jay-Z’s songs that discusses this event, he pulls a line “Obama said, ‘Chill, you gon’ get me impeached, you don’t need this (expletive) anyway, chill with me on the beach.” The couple are supporters of the president, but it was obvious they were stepping over some boundaries. It might not be immediately evident, but it’s a bit of a fragile time when it comes to Cuba’s rules and regulations, both in the U.S. and Cuba. I feel it might have been a bit irresponsible. And I’m not the only one with such concerns. This comes from an article on The Telegraph:  “Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, who both represented Florida in the House of Representatives, wrote to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, for ‘information regarding the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel.'” I realize celebrities have a lot of “perks” here in the U.S. or other first-world countries, but sometimes even they need to be careful about what they think they have rights to. This post might come off a bit cynical, but I personally believe it makes the U.S. as a whole look a bit arrogant.

Here’s a TMZ video with their own theories on the couple’s little excursion:

 

March 7, 2013

Post 3:

A broad and somewhat complex topic has been popping up over and over in any discussion of Cuba’s current political and/or financial state. And that is Raul’s attempt to make an economical change on Cuba by allowing private businesses to run in the public market and the removal of certain restrictions such as not being able to sell your own real-estate or automobiles. It’s something I’ve briefly touched upon before in my previous posts, but it is probably the largest point of relevant change the country is facing at this time. He is attempting to change the way Cuba operates and how it perceived by the world by making these changes toward a more “state-controlled capitalism.” Since Fidel handed over the position to him five years ago, he’s emphasized this desire to the community a few times and has gone about making these changes to the economy. Although, some of these changes, such as the ability to own your own private business, are being taxed heavily to the point where only a minority can accomplish any success in those areas. It seems to be a very difficult balancing act right now that is going to take a lot of time to really iron out. They have to let people go from the state work force (essentially laying people off) and then “discover” what might be an appropriate tax amount for businesses operating on their own.

That leads into the main concern of this topic. While things are, in fact, starting to improve a bit, it seems like many people don’t believe it’s enough or that it isn’t going to last. There is a lot of doubt in Cuba’s general population that these “changes” are really going to do anything at all. I noticed this for the first time while I was reading a National Geographic article titled “Cuba’s New Now.” One line for demonstration reads, “…the Cuban government has a history of switching signals on its citizens, encouraging private enterprise and then pronouncing it counterrevolutionary and shutting it down again.” The article does go on to discuss, however, that Raul is not his brother, and that feeling of being trapped in time is an image that Fidel had left imprinted in their minds, something that will take a little bit of time to change.

Photograph by Paolo Pellegrin The century-old stone wall of the Malecón, Havana’s famous oceanside esplanade, shields the city—imperfectly—from the battering of roiling seas. On calmer nights people come out to stroll on the street.

That is something I’m starting to feel is a theme for the people living there. It’s hard to feel like things can actually be any different when it’s just about all you know. This change isn’t something that’s happening in a large, bold movement of revolution or anything. It’s a political process that is slowly being implemented into the system, and you won’t be able to see a black and white picture from one day to the next. Many of them aren’t holding their breath, but I personally think it’s huge progress and that it will bring a new era to the island nation. Then again, I can’t really blame anyone for being impatient.

Feb. 13, 2013

Post 2:

First, I’d like to glance a past figure that had more than a substantial amount of impact on Cuba. It’s been quite a long time since Fidel Castro has had a public appearance (since 2010). For the past three elections, since 2006. Castro has been voting privately from his home ever since his brother Raul took office two years after Fidel became sick. He talked to reporters about reforming the economy and the integration of Latin Americans. Both of the brothers seemed to concentrate on “…the importance of the election as a show of support for reforms and independence from the United States,” as stated in the article from NBC. They also discussed how the country is slowly letting up on personal freedoms consisting of travel and the buying and selling of homes and cars. They are implementing these changes slowly to let the economy start to develop at a steady pace. Overall it looks like a sign of improvement the country.

Now, bringing up the simple fact of tension between the U.S. and Cuba lands us in the discussion of one specific man.

American Alan Gross

This American, Alan Gross, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Cuban government on the terms of “…for committing acts against Cuba’s national security and public order, not for promoting freedom,” according to another NBC article. Gross is an American contractor that was reported to have made several trips to Cuba, providing areas with telecommunication equipment that would help increase the availability of the internet in the country. The UN and U.S. both have called for Gross’ immediate release, deeming his sentence as “arbitrary,” though Cuba refuses to comply with their demands as now. Cuba’s reasoning for conviction is considered too vague by international standards, but Cuba seems to be holding its ground at the moment, creating even more tension between the U.S. and themselves.

Jan. 27, 2013

Post 1:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kerry-hagel-drive-reboot-us-cuba-ties-18324172

This article discusses the old feuds between the U.S. and Cuba and how they are starting to re-examine the definitions of those sensitive ties. Many people believe that remaining isolated from Cuba is not going to help improve any of the current circumstances and that we need to do something to start making improvements. Sen. John Kerry and Chuck Hagel both appear to be in favor of a movement toward changing the U.S.’s tough stance on Cuba. Unfortunately, Cuba is still holding U.S. contractor Alan Gross imprisoned for crimes against the state. This will prove to be a tough obstacle to overcome in the process of amending ties.