Shalom Cuba- Issue 7

A publication of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS)

NEWS Cuban man carrying U.S. flag rewrote monotonous script of Havana’s annual labor celebration  By Mario J. Penton  Dissident Daniel Llorente waved a large U.S. flag as he ran down the plaza and demanded freedom at the top of his lungs. His performance lasted just a few seconds, until security forces tackled and pummeled him before a shocked audience that included several foreign journalists....  Read story » Colombian Guerrillas FARC and ELN Meet in Cuba  By Felipe Fernandez  Members of The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) traveled to Havana to meet with The National Liberation Army to discuss strategies for reaching peace with the Colombian government... Read story » Russia Sends Cuba Oil Lifeline, Filling the Gap as Venezuela Collapses  By David Unsworth  News of a Russian contract to supply Cuba with large quantities of diesel and petroleum has exacerbated an already strained relationship between the two nations and the United States. The Soviet Union, the Caribbean island’s longtime benefactor, once propped up the island’s economy, supplying the vast majority of its energy needs, and buying its sugar at considerably inflated prices... Read story » SPOTLIGHT General Raul Castro supports Pyongyang in current crisis, says North Korea  Raul Castro expressed his support while speaking with Ju Yong-gil, the head of a group of North Korean trade unions, whom he met this week at the world's federation of trade unions meeting in Havana, the official news agency KCNA reported Thursday...  Read story » Cuba: Another perspective  By Frank Calzon  The real issue isn’t selling to Cuba. It’s getting Cuba to pay for what it buys. The Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Economic Freedom puts Cuba’s credit rating right in the bottom—178th out of 180 countries, followed by Venezuela and North Korea... Read story » Cuba and Venezuela Use Labor Unions to Bolster Regime Support  By Angelo Florez de Andrade  Millions marched around the world on May 1 for International Labor Day. Radical left parties promoted many of those marches. In countries like Cuba, thousands were forced to march in support of a dictatorial regime. Despite rhetoric defending workers, freedom of association was largely restricted. Let’s take a look at how that played out in Cuba and Venezuela specifically... Read story »

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