Cuba

Uruguay Delays Guantanamo Transfers, Closure Not in Sight For Detention Center

October 12, 2016

The latest attempt to relocate prisoners out of Guantanamo Bay Detention Center has, as previous attempts before it, been stalled.  The government of Uruguay had recently accepted the relocation of six prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba who have been approved for transfer. However, due to possible political ramifications the relocation will now be pushed back until after the elections in Uruguay this November.1 This is only the latest halt in the traffic jam that is the ongoing process of closing operations at Guantanamo Bay.

Abortion in Latin America: Definitely Not Pro-Choice, but Certainly Not Pro-Life

October 12, 2016

Hundreds of women sit behind bars in El Salvador punished for defying the ban on abortion. Many, such as María Teresa Rivera are pleading they are wrongly jailed for having suffered miscarriages or stillbirths. Three years ago Rivera miscarried and awoke handcuffed to her hospital bed surrounded by seven policemen who proceeded to charge her with murder.1 After an eight-month trial, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated murder.

What Makes it Hard for Cuba to Reform?

October 12, 2016

The collapse of the Soviet Union forced Cuba to enter the Special Period in the 1990s. Since the Special Period, Cuban observers always expect that Cuba pursue the economic reforms like China’s Reform and Opening up and Vietnam’s Doi Moi. But the pace of Cuba’s economic reforms is so slow that the country is still constantly experiencing chronic shortages. Although the Cuban government attempts to attract foreign investment, its policies are inconsistent and cannot provide a hospitable environment for foreign investment so far.

The Next Step in FARC & Colombia Relations

October 12, 2016

After nearly two years of peace negotiations between FARC and the Colombian government, the FARC have done something they have never done before. In all the 50 years that FARC has been terrorizing Colombia, they have never once sequestered a government or military official, but on November 16th, 2014, a leading general in the Colombian military was captured while traversing a remote river in an indigenous region of the Colombian rainforest.

Cuba en la Era de Raúl Castro: Reflexiones del experto Carmelo Mesa-Lago

October 12, 2016

El doctor Carmelo Mesa-Lago tiene una amplísima trayectoria académica. Es catedrático de Servicio Distinguido Emérito en Economía y Estudios Latinoamericanos en la Universidad de Pittsburgh; profesor, investigador visitante y conferencista en cuarenta países; autor de noventa y dos libros y más de trescientos artículos académicos publicados en siete idiomas en treinta y cuatro países.

Benefits to the US-Cuba Opening

October 12, 2016

The surprise opening to Cuba will not necessarily have dramatic effects on either country, though there will be tangible and intangible changes for both.1 For Cuba, the opening brings the prospect for a strong influx of dollars and tourists.  The diplomatic opening does not allow unfettered travel, but it reduces the barriers significantly.  Pitt's Study Abroad program to Cuba had to be canceled last year due to banking restrictions.  That type of problem will surely disappear.  Perhaps, shadowing the new policy with regards to undocumented immigrants, Ob

Book Presentation: "Cuba's Socialist Economy Today: Navigating Challenges and Change"

October 11, 2016

Following more than five decades of fluctuating economic strategies, Cuba's Socialist Economy Today: Navigating Challenges and Change by Paolo Spadoni, and assistant professor of political science at Georgia Regents University, analyzes how Raúl Castro's maintenance of the "pragmatic cycle" has affected the living conditions and the economic power of the island nation.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Cuba