All Content: Cuba

Misguided Efforts to Promote Democracy in Cuba

13 Feb 2012
Analysis & Commentary
The USAID programs employing Alan Gross and others are ill-conceived. Whatever their intentions, they do nothing to actually promote democracy.

Tuesday Marks 50th Anniversary of Failed U.S. Embargo on Cuba

The embargo has hurt the Cuban people, damaged U.S. interests and families, and failed to accomplish its goals.
6 Feb 2012
News

Republican Candidates Compete for the Shrinking Voting Bloc of Hardline Cuban Americans

31 Jan 2012
Analysis & Commentary
Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both locked themselves in to radicalized positions on Cuba in order to compete for the Cuban-American share of the Republican primary vote

A Report Back from Cuba: Ongoing Reforms and U.S. Policy

Upon return from a trip to Cuba, WOLA staff talk about security, ongoing reforms, and U.S. policy
30 Jan 2012
Publication
WOLA staffers Geoff Thale, George Withers and Clay Boggs just returned from a week-long trip to Cuba. They talk to Adam about the island's maritime cooperation with the United States, oil, economic reforms, U.S. policy and the Republican primary debates.

Pope’s Visit Will Highlight Changes Underway in Cuba

9 Jan 2012
Analysis & Commentary
It hasn’t been so visible on our radar screen here, but change has been taking place in Cuba. While important concerns about human rights and freedom of expression remain, the Cuba of today is different from the Cuba visited by the previous pontiff in 1998.

Ahmadinejad in Latin America: What does the Iranian leader’s trip portend?

9 Jan 2012
Analysis & Commentary
This week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting Latin America, starting this past Sunday in Venezuela and going on to Nicaragua, Cuba, Ecuador, and possibly Guatemala. Why is the trip taking place, and what does it portend? Should U.S. officials be concerned?

WOLA: Promoting Human Rights, Democracy, and Social Justice

22 Dec 2011
Video
As the year winds to a close, we hope you will enjoy this video about how WOLA works with partners in the region to advance human rights in Latin America. If you have not done so, we hope you will consider making a donation to WOLA to support our continued efforts. Your support makes a difference.

Cuba Experts Applaud Obama's Defense of Cuban American Travel in "Megabus" Negotiations

16 Dec 2011
News

Now Cubans Can Own and Sell Their Own Homes

The Meaning of Housing Reform
23 Nov 2011
Analysis & Commentary
These new regulations represent only one aspect of a series of ongoing adjustments in the Cuban economic system (the latest of which allows direct sales of fresh produce from small producers to restaurants in the tourist industry).

The Possibility of an Alan Gross-Rene Gonzalez Prisoner Swap

U.S.-Cuba Negotiations or Political Theater?
24 Oct 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Elliot Abrams and Jennifer Rubin have expressed outrage about the proposed swap, and Senator Marco Rubio may hold up the nomination of a new assistant secretary of state for Latin America. It’s a little hard to see this as more than political theater.

Obama and Romney Out of Touch on Cuba

13 Oct 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney clearly share one thing: they are both out of touch when it comes to Cuba and what U.S. policy should be towards the island.

The Case of Alan Gross: Bill Richardson’s Trip to Cuba

8 Sep 2011
Analysis & Commentary
WOLA's Geoff Thale analyzes the significance of Bill Richardson's September 7 trip to Cuba and the Alan Gross case, in the context of U.S. "democracy promotion" programs in Cuba.

Letter to Raul Castro Urging Release of Alan Gross

WOLA cites humanitarian grounds in letter requesting that the US contractor be paroled
8 Sep 2011
Publication
In the letter, WOLA states that "it would be a generous and humanitarian gesture to parole Mr. Gross and return him to his family."

Voices against Limiting Family Travel and Remittances to Cuba

14 Jul 2011
Publication
Cuban Americans urge President Obama to block new restrictions recently approved by the House Appropriations Committee.

House Appropriators Approve Return to Harsh Bush-era Regulations on Family Travel to Cuba

23 Jun 2011
News
Today the House Appropriations Committee voted in favor of an amendment to—once again—divide Cuban-American families from their relatives in Cuba.

The Human Cost: Cubans and Cuban Americans Talk about Their Lives and the Embargo

7 Jun 2011
Publication
In this report published jointly by WOLA and LAWG, Cubans and Cuban-Americans speak candidly about the effect of the U.S. embargo on their lives. The stories are deeply personal, noting the human suffering and pain caused by a failed policy.

A Firsthand Look at the Emerging Self-Employed Sector in Havana

26 May 2011
Analysis & Commentary
WOLA’s Cuba team recently returned from a trip to the island to learn about changes in the Cuban economy. Here, Program Officer Ashley Morse reports back from a walking tour of downtown Havana where the WOLA team saw up close on the streets the emergence of a modest but formal self-employed sector.

Changes in Cuba: A Conversation with Congressman David Bonior

WOLA's Geoff Thale and Ashley Morse speak with the former representative about their recent trip to Cuba together
16 May 2011
Publication
Congressman David Bonior, who represented Michigan between 1976 and 2002, took a trip to Cuba recently with WOLA Program Director Geoff Thale and Program Officer Ashley Morse. They share impressions of a nation undergoing significant economic change.

Old Guard Still in Charge, but Change is Underway in Cuba

Program Director Geoff Thale on the recent Cuban Communist Party Congress
20 Apr 2011
Analysis & Commentary
A process of evolutionary change is underway in Cuba—something that the United States should acknowledge in its policy toward the island.

Tug of War on U.S-Cuba Policy

Geoff Thale on former president Carter's recent trip to Cuba and the U.S. Government's unhelpful announcement days after
6 Apr 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Last week former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Cuba where he pressed diligently on sensitive matters of bilateral interest, including the imprisonment of USAID subcontractor, Alan Gross.