Havana: Exclusive to Canadian Dimension

On July 11th, 2008 the First Ordinary Session of Cuba’s current legislature took place. The National Assembly of People’s Power that was elected on January 20th, 2008, met in Havana’s National Congress Center. More than 92% of the 619 deputies were present. Among the elected deputies absent was Fidel Castro. He, however, had his place of honour: the vacant seat next to the new president of the Council of State, Raúl Castro. During the proceedings it was evident that there is a stable transition of leadership to the new Council of State elected by the deputies last February 24th. Fidel Castro has been as active as ever─even more so─ in the last few weeks. He continues to write his reflections (sometimes several times a week) on a number of national and especially international issues. He also meets regularly with heads of state, representatives from various countries and international cultural figures. (Keep reading…)

Special to Canadian Dimension June 5,2008 (Keep reading…)

Red Pepper Feb/March 2008

In the wake of the announcement by Cuban leader Fidel Castro that he will “neither aspire to nor accept” another term as the country’s president, much of the analysis in the mainstream media has concentrated on whether Fidel’s retirement will usher in a “transition” period for Cuba’s socialist revolution, now in its 50th year, writes Pablo Navarrete (Keep reading…)

Special to Canadian Dimension February 21, 2008

Fidel decided to retire from almost half a century of leadership this week. I saw him first in April 1961. “The worst is over,” he told the person next to me in the hallway. “The issue is developing socialism.” Poking his finger into my chest, he asked about the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico, and the state of poverty in the areas — far worse than anything Cubans went through. (Keep reading…)

Text of Castro’s announcement that he is stepping down Reuters February 19, 2008 at 4:29 AM EST

HAVANA — Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president. Following are extracts from his message to Cubans, which was published on the web site of the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma in both Spanish and English: (Keep reading…)

Special to Canadian Dimension January 19, 2008

Canadian author Arnold August is currently in Havana, investigating and attending electoral activities regarding the current elections for deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament) and for delegates to the Provincial Assemblies. He was also in Cuba last September for most of the first phase of these general elections for delegates to the Municipal Assemblies. Simultaneously with this work, he is also carrying out extensive interviews, discussions and research concerning Cuba’s People’s Power: how it operates at all levels between elections, from the Parliament to the Municipal Assemblies to the People’s Councils within the Municipal Assembles. This and other collateral research is being carried out towards his forthcoming book entitled Cuba: Participatory Democracy and Elections in the 21st Century. To be released in 2009 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban revolution, it will be published first in English followed by Spanish and French in the same year. (Keep reading…)

Progresso Weekly September 27 - October 3, 2007

In September 1960, Fidel Castro founded the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) for the purpose of combating the wave of bombings and sabotage coursing through in the country. Today, 47 years later, the CDRs, which bring together millions of Cubans, are immersed in the debates called for by the Communist Party of Cuba to help the Cuban process move forward. “Unless reforms are made, we’ll lose everything,” Jorge said to me as we left the CDR meeting in his building, in the Vedado neighborhood, following an analysis of the July 26 speech by the acting president of Cuba, Army Gen. Raúl Castro. What reforms was he talking about? (Keep reading…)

Special to Canadian Dimension, September 16, 2007

Revolutions and the Cuban is no exception, advance in a contradictory process: in the course of solving basic immediate problems they confront new challenges. There are revolutionary writers who recognize this dialectical process and the need to critically support the revolution. On the other hand there are publicists who arrogate to themselves the role of unconditional apologists for every shift in policy of the official spokesperson, parroting the argument of the day. (Keep reading…)

On August 20, lawyers for the Cuban Five presented their arguments to the US Court of Appeals in Atlanta, arguing their clients did not get a fair trial. (Keep reading…)

July 12, 2007. http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia.php?id_noticia=24223 Translated by Dana Lubow

We Cubans associate the Special Period with the worst economic crisis of the revolutionary phase: it is synonymous with scarcity, food shortages, blackouts, bicycles as transportation, houses in deplorable, almost irreversible condition, little television transmission, the disappearance of numerous newspapers, reductions of print runs of major newspapers, a drastic reduction of most leisure options for the populace, constant siren alerts in the face of possible imperialist aggression, massive mobilizations to dig tunnels, evacuation exercises, training of territorial militias and other similar actions. (Keep reading…)