CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Cuba’s political isolation and economic limitations have spelled success for its wildlife in the last 50 years. With Cuba’s limited ability to develop as other Caribbean nations have, and the continuing US embargo helping to keep Cuba in the past, Cuba’s natural resources have been preserved in a way not seen in most of the […]

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After Castro’s revolution overthrew Batista’s oppressive, fundamentally capitalist regime, one of the goals of the new order was to create a society where everyone were completely equal regardless of income, race, background, anything. It is understandable to see how these thoughts were generally accepted by Cuba’s new leaders. After all, as a Spanish colony and […]

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Public health is a facet of Cuban culture that the government has not hesitated to fully fund and support. It is especially important to focus on Cuba’s programs for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, which have been globally recognized for their success. Cuba rapidly responded to knowledge of the disease’s existence in 1983 with the establishment […]

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The U.S. imposed embargo on Cuba has lead to substantial American insulation from Cuban culture, and in many ways created a significant gap in the American understanding of the conditions of the Cuban revolution and regime. While my knowledge of Cuba has resembled this typical American perspective in most realms, for me there has been […]

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In the early 1990s, rap became an evolving genre of music in Cuba, particularly the urbanized Havana, Cuba. Initially, Rap music was perceived as an imperialist and commercialized art form imposed upon Cuba by the United States. However, the Cuban state began to recognize the ability to reconcile revolutionary ideals with the notion of “message […]

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In Havana Fever, set in 2003, the reader is presented with a very stark contrast between the days of plenty and the scarcity at that time. Selling books from the Montes de Ocas library was shameful for its caretakers. Really, selling books at all was a clandestine affair. It suggests that Cubans sold their culture […]

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One of the most interesting concepts today when looking at how different people in the United States perceive Cuba is that there is a stark generational difference between the generation that grew up prior to the declaration of the “Special Period in Time of Peace” and those who were born and raised in the 1990s, […]

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Cuba has long held out to opening its borders to the United States, just as the US has maintained its embargo on Cuba, but it seems to be the case that American tourists will soon be able to flock to the island. Already Obama has made it easier for American groups like schools and churches […]

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  Recently, I went to the East Coast Chican@ Students Forum at Brown University. It was overall a rather inspiring event, and so when it came to write to start writing my first blog post, I naturally began thinking about what I talked about during that conference. One of the topics that was raised was […]

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In many of the revolutionary governments in Latin America, there have been remarkable advancements in the welfare and social condition of the population through policies and programs that increase access to education, employment, healthcare, housing, and nutrition. With further study, it seems that these achievements in social justice come at a price to the population […]

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