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By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 7, 2013, at 6:35 pm Hugo Chavez died of cancer on March 5, 2013. He represented an ideological pushback against neoliberal globalization. He pursued a progressive hemispheric trade agenda. He raised oil royalties dramatically to improve the social capacity of people in and around Venezuela. He revolutionized and democratized Venezuela’s constitution. He attracted the ire of American imperialists who supported an amateurish, botched coup. And while we never saw the formation of Cubazuela or some kind of socio-economic cooperation that would elevate Haiti out of its status of hemispheric whipping boy, though that may be on its way, his legacy begins this week.
Thanks (Read more…)
By Lorne, on January 30, 2013, at 9:01 am January 23, 2013:
In a previous post, I compared and contrasted Cuba and Canada in terms of the opportunities for achieving one’s potential through access to information, ideas, etc., noting that in Cuba the opportunities are almost non-existent, while sadly, in our country, there are those who choose not to avail themselves of the almost boundless access to ways to develop themselves.
Today I want to consider people who have availed themselves, used the resources available, yet choose to close themselves off from any meaningful participation in our society. While I readily acknowledge that there are so many
. . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Reflections from Cuba – Civic Responsibility
By Lorne, on January 28, 2013, at 1:17 pm The following is one of several pieces I wrote on my Blackberry Playbook while on a recent holiday in Cuba. Because Internet access and outside information is limited there, I spent some time writing pieces largely drawn from things I was thinking about at the time, and therefore are perhaps not as overtly political in nature as my usual fare.
January 21, 2013:
What, I wonder, is worse, a society in which there is little or no opportunity to learn and grow, or one in which the opportunity exists but is ignored by a substantial proportion of the people?
That
. . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Reflections From Cuba
By Guest Blog, on January 26, 2013, at 5:48 pm Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, Ottawa has been openly hostile to Venezuela and leftward swing in Latin America – except in Cuba where Canada has large commercial interests. So argues Canadian author, activist and commentator, Yves Engler. RELATED: Photo Tells Us Why Canada Severed Diplomatic Ties With Iran Canada’s Unenviable Royal Race READ MORE
By Lorne, on January 11, 2013, at 11:27 am
There won’t be any new blog posts for the next two weeks as we begin our annual hegira to Cuba, where the climate and the people offer a soothing respite from the Canadian winter. This will be our sixth visit to the island, and each time there we learn another facet of Cuban life, thanks to two friends that we visit, usually for a day, during our holiday.
Since Internet is very restricted there, I will be offline during our stay.
Any online comments to this blog will not be published until I return.
Keep the faith, everyone! Recommend this
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on October 29, 2012, at 7:53 pm Frankenstorm Promo
How would you feel about a news organization that treats a hurricane as a campy Halloween ratings booster? I’m appalled. Watch the above clip from GlobalTV last Thursday night.
Hurricane Sandy has killed dozens already and will likely kill more as it runs aground today in the northeast where tens of millions live.
I was stunned to see the jovial treatment that news broadcasters were taking to a subject packed with such calamity.
Cynically, it appears that an attempt to create levity about such an impending disaster is a compelling way to boost ratings to earn more profits
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: GlobalTV Mocks Hurricane Deaths
By Amanda McCuaig, on October 14, 2012, at 9:19 pm
It’s rare to see depictions of Havana that don’t consist of the stereotypes: people playing music, someone sitting on the street smoking a cigar, old American cars, stunning old buildings.
In fact, many films set in Havana (such as Our Man in Havana and even Die Another Day) are filmed in other locations, posing as Havana. Tour books of Cuba consistently say that visitors will leave with more questions than they arrived with. The ‘real’ Havana is often masked and protected by Cuba’s Revolutionary government (one of its founders, Che Guevara, had openly written about being anti-freedom of the press).
. . . → Read More: Art Threat: Una Noche a beautiful story of a challenging life
By Lorne, on June 27, 2012, at 9:17 am I suppose I might feel differently about Omar Khadr if I hadn’t read a particular book, A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah. It provided indelible insights into both the realities of the child soldier’s world and the possibilities of redemption and rehabilitation. It should be read by everyone who is quick to judge and condemn Khadr.
Now 31 years old, Beah, a very bright, articulate and talented writer effectively conveyed in his memoir the horror of his experiences as a child soldier, conscripted into the army at the age of 13 to fight the rebels in Sierra Leone,
. . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: The Realities Of The Child Soldier
By kersplebedeb, on May 4, 2012, at 5:34 pm Recommended reading: Jake Krzeczowski’s blog post about Nehanda Abiodun, a political exile living in Cuba; “They say I and others were involved in expropriations of armored trucks, that we were also engaged in the ‘liberation’ of Assata,” Abiodun said. “Personally they say I was involved in the expropriations and aiding and abetting Assata’s liberation.”
Read it here.
By Bill Longstaff, on April 18, 2012, at 3:06 pm A new age has dawned in the Americas. The Monroe Doctrine, a policy established by the United States ostensibly to keep European imperialists out of the Western Hemisphere but which eventually deteriorated into an instrument to maintain American dominance, is now effectively deceased. At the recent Summit of the Americas, the Latin nations couldn’t have made it clearer that they intend to be
By Simon, on April 15, 2012, at 7:32 pm Holy Chiquita Banana. What an embarrassment.There he was, looking like Obama’s Sancho Panza, or the Dirty Oil Man.
Making an idiot out of himself. Again.
Canada and the United States are finding themselves at odds with Latin American countries on two thorny issues — the war on drugs and the exclusion of Cuba — at a summit of hemispheric leaders in Colombia.
Trying to keep Cuba out of the Summit of the Americas. When everybody knows that the cruel Yankee embargo has caused the wonderful Cuban people all kinds of misery.
Defending the insane War on Drugs.
. . . → Read More: Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper’s Summit Humiliation
By Bill Longstaff, on April 11, 2012, at 1:15 pm Sports is a tribal business, and Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen has upset his tribe. The outspoken Venezuelan had the audacity to express admiration for Fidel Castro in Time magazine. “I respect Fidel Castro,” he is reported to have said. “You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that motherfucker is still here.” The team and a number of the
By Lorne, on April 10, 2012, at 6:58 pm As someone who is a regular visitor to Cuba and has seen both the good and bad of its society through friends that we visit there, I know that it has very real problems, but also very real benefits, under its dictatorial communist system. However, I can’t help but wonder how long it will be, thanks to the reactionary dictatorship (aka the Harper regime) we in Canada are currently chafing under, before we adopt the ‘lynch mob’ mentality evident here. Recommend this Post
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