NI 476 - October, 2014

Cuba

A note from the editor

‘Julius Caesar from Havana sends his love’

Sunday morning in a provincial town in Cuba. We’d been chatting in a park for a good half-hour – and had migrated to a nearby open-terraced bar.

‘You know,’ the man said, ‘if this had been a few years ago, we’d have been interrupted by now by police asking to see my ID and wanting to know why I was talking to a foreigner.’

I’d noticed the difference. Compared with 10 years ago, people seemed more open, more relaxed. Less cautious and reticent.

There were complaints aplenty still, but they were more detailed and nuanced than before. Many had to do with the profound economic and social changes that the communist country is going through – the topic of this month’s Big Story.

Some things, like old Cold War allegiances, seemed to have stayed the same. One woman told me her heart went out to ‘that poor Assad’ who was trying so hard to ‘save Syria’, and she thanked heavens for Putin’s actions to ‘protect’ Ukraine.

Others confounded me in different ways. Like the taxi driver, who, after a long and cogent analysis of why Cuba was not ‘socialist enough’, had offered as a parting shot: ‘Say hallo to Elizabeth for me.’

‘Elizabeth?’

‘Yes. Your queen. She’s a great lady, very dignified. Tell her Julius Caesar from Havana sends his love.’

This edition of the magazine also sees writers and activists Ilan Pappé and Norman Finkelstein debating whether the academic boycott of Israel is justified – a poignant question given recent events in Gaza. While our Worldbeater takes a swipe at Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, described as ‘a military strongman with an electoral fig leaf and a big ego’. Now there’s an image to conjure with.

Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Behind the vintage taxi is one of Havana’s new Japanese-made co-operative buses. And behind that – the city’s iconic Capitolio, also being renovated.

Photo: All photos in the Big Story are by Vanessa Baird unless otherwise stated.

NI 476 - October, 2014

Cuba

A note from the editor

‘Julius Caesar from Havana sends his love’

The big story

The communist island is opening up for business. Vanessa Baird begins an investigation into what's going on - and what it means.

Features

The streets are alive with micro-enterprise. Who benefits? asks Vanessa Baird.

Cuba is inching towards a free media and political choice - or not. Vanessa Baird explores.

Sexism and racism get official recognition in Cuba. Vanessa Baird explores an issue that's long been kept silent.

Vanessa Baird explores how life has changed for LGBT people.

It sounds perverse, but in the shadow of the US embargo, Cuba is building a gigantic port and free trade zone... Vanessa Baird looks into the issue.

Meet Cuba's highly successful organic farmers. Why are they getting short shrift, when the country needs more homegrown food?

Expect the unexpected. Concluding thoughts - and a look ahead. Vanessa Baird contemplates the future of Cuba.

Tom Fawthrop reports from Southeast Asia, where a series of proposed dams could trigger a food crisis.

Opinion

Ilan Pappé and Norman Finkelstein analyze the pros and cons of the BDS movement.

View from America by Mark Engler.

By Steve Parry.

Agenda

Regulars

Are aid workers actually improving things in CAR? wonders Ruby Diamonde.

Cartoon by Simon Kneebone.

Facts, figures and photos from Mexico.

Cartoon by P J Polyp.

Morhaf Youssef from Syria with ‘The Burden of the Arab Citizen’.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - a big ego backed by military might.

Cartoon by Marc Roberts.

Kenyan author Okwiri Oduor talks to Chris Brazier about winning this year's Caine Prize for African Writing.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Pride, directed by Matthew Warchus; Still the Enemy Within, directed by Owen Gower.

Film of Life by Tony Allen; Voice + Vision by Various Artists.

The Jihadis Return by Patrick Cockburn; The Establishment by Owen Jones; The Last Wave by Pankaj Sekhsaria; Lila by Marilynne Robinson.

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