“La Habana” plus other US-Latin America stories of the week

We spoke tonight with:

Graciela Chelo Lodeiro, author of “Cuando La Habana era La Habana”.

Fausta Wertz Rodriguez, editor of Fausta’s Blog.

You can listen here:

Lions, leopards and buffalo: latest punchlines in the running joke of Cuban “economic reform”

As we’ve heard so many times since Raul Castro took the helm in Cuba, the younger of two Communist dictators is a pragmatist. A reformer. He’s brought changed to the island’s dated, no-longer-sufficient economic system that everyone has known were long overdue.

There are signs that the changes Raul has made are paying off. With economic freedom from the state comes new opportunity. For example: the opportunity to work for the state.

But wait; there’s more! This “brigade of cuentapropistas,” as the BBC refers to it, will be using its freedom from the state to work for the state in accommodating immigrants that will kick Cuba’s economic progress up a few notches: 146 wild animals that Namibia has donated to Cuba, including (but not limited to) lions, leopards and buffalo.

Let me pause here for the benefit of any new readers who might not read much Cuba news. Yes, you are reading this correctly. The government that created “spaces” for free-ish market activity because confining its citizens within its ludicrous economic system was too much of a burden… has decided that the next step in its scheme is to not only hire all those workers right back, but spend a reported $15 million on committing to the care of 146 wild animals. For a zoo in a city where plenty of the human attractions need remittances to feed themselves properly.

And… call me crazy, but something tells me this project won’t stay under its $15 million-dollar budget. Between whatever the regime agreed to pay its new “independent contractors” (cuentapropistas translates roughly to “ownaccorders” or “ownaccounters”), the frivolous and unproductive “job creation” the project will prompt the state to spend on, and the meat that it will presumably feed those animals while denying meat to the two-legged class outside the fence… this might just be the most hilarious-if-it-weren’t-so-tragic theft of Cuban time and talent (a “long con,” if you will) we’ve seen in some time.

Read all about it — including Cuba’s history of inability to properly feed its zoo animals and the international brouhaha over the animals’ right to better migration conditions — here.

Finally, here’s a video of some lions at a zoo in Camaguey, Cuba. It was supposedly shot in May of this year… probably close enough to present day that we can place it in the post-special-period period during which interviewees for the BBC story insist the government has fattened up its animals.

Today in Cuba news: the Carromero family hires a lawyer, a cubiche wins bronze, and opinions on Oswaldo Payá

CUBA. DESPUÉS DEL ASESINATO DE OSWALDO PAYÁ: ¿QUIÉN SERÁ EL PRÓXIMO OPOSITOR ASESINADO POR LOS HERMANOS CASTRO. VIDEO CON TESTAMENTO POLÍTICO DE JUAN FRANCISCO SIGLER AMAYA EN CASO DE SU EXTRAÑA MUERTE
http://baracuteycubano.blogspot.com/2012/08/cuba-despues-del-asesinato-de-oswaldo.html
Cuban opera singer challenges “jealous” bureaucrats over closed theater
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/01/cuba-theater-reform-idINL2E8IU8AZ20120801
Opinion: What Really Happened to Cuban Dissident Oswaldo Payá?
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/08/01/opinionthe-legacy-oswaldo-paya/
Spaniard held in Cuba after deadly crash hires a lawyer
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/08/01/spaniard-held-in-cuba-after-deadly-crash-hires-lawyer/
Cuban-Americans’ Political Success
While Cuban-Americans represent only a tiny fraction of the Hispanic population of the United States, three of them have been elected to the United States Senate and another may soon join them, with Ted Cruz’s victory in the Republican Senate primary in Texas on Tuesday.
Why have Cuban-Americans been more successful than other Hispanic candidates, even in states with few Cuban-Americans?
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/08/01/cuban-americans-political-success
Cuban-American Leyva captures bronze in London
First-time Olympian brings home all-around medal
http://www.local10.com/sports/Cuban-American-Leyva-captures-bronze-in-London/-/1717082/15923946/-/1o95acz/-/index.html
Leyva wins bronze, Orozco finishes eighth for U.S. in individual all-around gymnastics
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/olympics/leyva_wins_bronze_orozco_finishes_kv8InEEb9ZKIJ09yOtSLYN
Payá’s dream of a free Cuba will come true
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/01/2926108/payas-dream-of-a-free-cuba-will.html
New Air Route between Havana and Tokyo
http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/new-air-route-between-havana-and/
US Senate urges Cuba dissident death probe

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/internacional/2012/7/31/Senate-urges-Cuba-dissident-death-probe,734caaca-3dc6-4b85-b572-

8287d0f56b98.html

News & Reporting

Cuban opera singer challenges “jealous” bureaucrats over closed theater

(Note: Another story on the same cabaret was posted yesterday. This Reuters piece, however, offers a bit more detail — however accurate it might be — on the ludicrous legal issues that the club’s owner faces in Cuba.)

Spaniard held in Cuba after deadly crash hires a lawyer

The family of the visiting Spaniard who was behind the wheel for the car crash that killed prominent Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya has hired a Havana-based attorney to represent him, Spanish diplomats told EFE here Wednesday.

Cuban-American Leyva captures bronze in London

Born in Cuba but raised in the United States, Leyva put up incredible scores on the parallel bars and horizontal bars to rally late for a third place finish.

New Air Route between Havana and Tokyo

The first flight is scheduled for Wednesday August 1st

US Senate urges Cuba dissident death probe

The resolution also “condemns the government of Cuba for the detention of nearly 50 pro-democracy activists” following a memorial service for Paya.

Opinions & Editorials

Opinion: What Really Happened to Cuban Dissident Oswaldo Payá? (by Roger Noriega)

So what does Raul Castro have to say in the wake of the untimely death of Oswaldo Payá?  This weekend he offered a dialogue with the United States – “a conversation between equals.”  Setting aside the staggering delusion that Castro considers his regime equal to any decent democracy, such a dialogue must be among the Cuban people about the future they deserve.

Cuban-Americans’ Political Success (a collection of five opinion pieces)

While Cuban-Americans represent only a tiny fraction of the Hispanic population of the United States, three of them have been elected to the United States Senate and another may soon join them, with Ted Cruz’s victory in the Republican Senate primary in Texas on Tuesday.

Payá’s dream of a free Cuba will come true (by Czech journalist Eduard Freisler)

Oswaldo never yelled back; he never even used curse words while describing his enemies to me. Maybe Oswaldo Payá was a little too naive and sometimes too meticulous, but above all he was a brave, noble man who cared about Cuban democracy and freedom. It’s more than unfortunate that both he and Havel died before they could toast to freedom in Havana together.

The BBC on selling cars in Cuba

I know the Babalu crowd doesn’t need anybody explaining how and why this story is ridiculous. Still, I personally always find it interesting to observe the way the press approaches “reform” in Cuba.

Here’s the report from the BBC’s Michael Voss.

Stop the presses! Cuban cabs are old!
Stop the presses! Cuban cabs are old!

If you’re curious to read my thoughts on the story and what it says about journalism in Cuba, check out the first (and, so far, only) post on my own blog.

Note: My blog’s will be a blend of content related to Cuba, marketing, Wisconsin, and other stuff. I’ll be sure to always share Cuba-related content here on Babalu, though.