Cuba USA
- Liberalizing The Cuban Economy…for Whom?
by Manuel E. Yepe source manuelyepe.wordpress.com A CubaNews translation The coming visit to Cuba, on March 21 and 22, of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, has the expressed goal of contributing to the process of normalization...
- Us Policy Toward Cuba Progresses ........with More Isolation
by Iroel Sánchezsource La Pupila Insomnetranslation Cuba-Network in Defense of Humanity When on December 17 last year President Barack Obama achnowledged that the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against the Cuba by the US has led...
- “cuba Does Not Allow Free Access To Internet” If This Were True, Why Spent 70 Million Dollars For A Fiber Optic Cable Running From Venezuela
By Jose Manzaneda Source: La Pupila Insomne “Executives of Google visit Cuba to promote access to Internet” or Google president visits Cuba to promote ‘free and open Internet’ are headlines of the international press with a unanimous message:...
- Cuba-u.s: Something Is Moving
Signs from the Straits of Florida.By Leonardo PaduraSource : ipscuba.net It cannot be by chance that a week before the publication of Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton’s memoirs, some excerpts of the book which precisely speak of the U.S. embargo on Cuba...
- There Are New Winds Blowing About Cuba In Washington
By Jorge Wejebe Cobo Source: Cuba es Surtidor Former U.S, State Secretary writes, in her book, “Hard Choices” calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to lift the blockade against Cuba considering it counterproductive. The main argument that Clinton...
Cuba USA
Cuban “myths” that Obama has shown to be reality
by José Manzaneda
source La pupila insomne
A cuba-news translation
Since last December []2014], when President Barack Obama made public the decision to begin a dialogue with Cuba, and declared that the blockade of the island has been a failure, several media myths have begun to break down (1) 
One: that the blockade of Cuba is not an "invention" or an excuse of the Cuban Government (2), but a policy that affects the lives of the Cuban population and is the main straitjacket for the country’s economic development (3).
Two: for the first time many people have read in the press that the citizens who cannot travel, because they are expressly prohibited to do so, are the Americans (4). It is they who cannot travel to Cuba except under certain conditions (5) and not the Cubans whose government abolished more than two years ago the remaining --mostly administrative-- obstacles to travel (6).
Three: that the difficulties of Internet connectivity in Cuba have a lot to do with the US blockade (7), and not with an alleged decision of the Cuban Government to prevent access to the net (8). The decision by the White House to allow US transnationals to sell products to and invest in Cuba to modernize telecommunication networks, eliminates the myth that Havana refuses to accept, orapplies censorship to the Internet (9).
Another media myth that also begins to fall has to do with Cuban athletes in the US (10). Cuba has, for some time, allowed itsathletes be hired abroad, and to receive most of the income of their contracts (11). They could also do it in the US, but in this case, the blockade prevents it ... unless those athletes establish their residence outside Cuba, break all ties with the Cuban sports institutions, and stop paying taxes in the Island (12).
For the first time, we read in some media news pointing out to the real responsible for this situation: the US government. TheSpanish newspaper El Pais said that if the blockade is lifted, "Cuban players could sign up with US clubs without risking their lives(...). Just as they do today with the Japanese League (...) The MLB (Major League Baseball) could pay a fee for the transfer of players publicly coming from the Cuban championship" (13).
Of course, the news could not fail to place a share of blame on the Cuban government, "there are those who do not trust that the Cuban government will apply a full opening," says El País. But the truth is that Havana has already made its "opening", allowingplayers to sign up with foreign teams –the MLB too, if they wish– provided that they pay an income tax to finance grass roots sports in the island. The one who has a "full opening " pending, in this and other topics is the US government.
In any case, it seems that the historic step taken by President Barack Obama to recognize the failure of the blockade against Cuba,and the damage it does to the population of the island, has led some media to begin shedding light on certain issues. We'll see for how long.
- Liberalizing The Cuban Economy…for Whom?
by Manuel E. Yepe source manuelyepe.wordpress.com A CubaNews translation The coming visit to Cuba, on March 21 and 22, of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, has the expressed goal of contributing to the process of normalization...
- Us Policy Toward Cuba Progresses ........with More Isolation
by Iroel Sánchezsource La Pupila Insomnetranslation Cuba-Network in Defense of Humanity When on December 17 last year President Barack Obama achnowledged that the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against the Cuba by the US has led...
- “cuba Does Not Allow Free Access To Internet” If This Were True, Why Spent 70 Million Dollars For A Fiber Optic Cable Running From Venezuela
By Jose Manzaneda Source: La Pupila Insomne “Executives of Google visit Cuba to promote access to Internet” or Google president visits Cuba to promote ‘free and open Internet’ are headlines of the international press with a unanimous message:...
- Cuba-u.s: Something Is Moving
Signs from the Straits of Florida.By Leonardo PaduraSource : ipscuba.net It cannot be by chance that a week before the publication of Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton’s memoirs, some excerpts of the book which precisely speak of the U.S. embargo on Cuba...
- There Are New Winds Blowing About Cuba In Washington
By Jorge Wejebe Cobo Source: Cuba es Surtidor Former U.S, State Secretary writes, in her book, “Hard Choices” calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to lift the blockade against Cuba considering it counterproductive. The main argument that Clinton...