CUBAN TRANSITIONS

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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In November 1999, soon to be six year old Elián González was found on a Florida beach. His mother had secretly taken him on a dangerous boat voyage out of Cuba to live with relatives in Miami, but she and ten others did not survive the trip. Due to US law that allowed all Cubans […]

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Cuba is proud of its natural resources.  Beyond the fertility of the Cuban campo and the famous beauty of its playas, the island boasts one of the most diverse, unique, and protected natural environments of the Caribbean.  Cuba’s large swaths of forest and wetlands are home to many species of flora and fauna found nowhere […]

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Habanastation As the semester has progressed our class has been exposed to Cuban society at many different stages of revolution and progression. Through the movies, documentaries and videos we have seen, we have experienced Cuban society during the special period, and post special period but have not, until now, really gotten a view of Cuban […]

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