Foreign Policy (March 22)
Cuba “is experiencing its worst economic crisis since the end of the Cold War,” and the public is becoming more dismissive to government attempts to assign blame to outside interference. “The fresh demonstrations show that Havana’s role in the economic crisis has become more central in the public eye.” But “whether negative public opinion can lead to political change is another question.”
Tags: Blame, Cold war, Cuba, Demonstrations, Dismissive, Economic crisis, Government, Havana, Interference, Negative, Outside, Political change, Public, Public opinion
The Science Times (September 21)
“The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitory Service in Europe has monitored over 100 wildfires in the Arctic” since June. “The ‘zombie fires’ have been the worst this year since reliable monitoring began in 2003.” In June alone, the Arctic fires had already released an amount of carbon comparable “to how much the greenhouse gas is emitted in an entire year from smaller nations like Cuba and Tunisia.”
Tags: Arctic, Carbon, Copernicus, Cuba, Emitted, Europe, GHG, Monitoring, Wildfires
New York Times (May 2)
“What the Venezuelan opposition boldly proclaimed on Tuesday as a ‘final phase’ in the opposition’s three-month campaign to oust the Venezuelan strongman, Nicolás Maduro, fizzled out by Wednesday, leaving behind murky claims of secret talks gone wrong, defectors who didn’t defect and Russian and Cuban meddling. What comes next was even less clear than before.”
Tags: Cuba, Defectors, Final phase, Fizzled, Maduro, Meddling, Murky, Opposition, Russia, Strongman, Venezuela
Toronto Sun (November 27)
“It’s an odd notion: Canada works with Cuba to get them to work with North Korea to get them, in turn, to work with the United States on cooling their nuclear ambitions. But it’s a worthwhile approach… While there’s not a whole lot Canada can do, it’s good that Trudeau’s serious about at least doing what we can.”
Tags: Canada, Cuba, North Korea, Trudeau, U.S., Worthwhile
Wall Street Journal (February 16, 2014)
“It’s getting ugly in Venezuela.” The economy is crumbling with inflation north of 56% and wide-spread shortages, which have caused some factories to close. Amid growing protests, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is consolidating power using deaths at recent protests “to justify a government crackdown on growing civic unrest directed at his leadership and a deteriorating economy.” A natural “strongman,” President Maduro is now following “the Cuban model.”
Tags: Crackdown, Cuba, Economy, Inflation, Leadership, Nicolas Maduro, Protests, Shortages, Strongman, Unrest, Venezuela
Wall Street Journal (September 3)
At age 64, Diana Nyad succeeded in swimming 177 km from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, something she’s been trying to do since 1978. She overcame jelly fish, sharks and strong currents to accomplish her inspiring 53-hour feat. “Enduring such hardships takes extraordinary perseverance, even a touch of fanaticism. Yet by such commitment do human beings change the world, explore new heights, or stretch the boundaries of physical endurance.”
Tags: Boundaries, Change, Commitment, Cuba, Currents, Diana Nyad, Endurance, Florida, Hardships, Jelly fish, Perseverance, Sharks, Swimming, U.S.
