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Thursday, April 23, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
CUBA: Raul Castro’s Challenges
Lacking the charisma of his brother but possessing a personality that is perhaps easier for the average Cuban to identify with, Raúl Castro, slated to replace Fidel as Cuba’s new president, will have to push through major economic and political transformations if he hopes to guarantee the survival of the country’s socialist system.
CUBA: Fidel Castro Officially Steps Down
In a decision that could be described as unexpected from someone who has spent nearly 50 years in power, Fidel Castro announced Tuesday that he was resigning the presidency of Cuba and officially handing over power to his brother Raúl, the candidate who took the most votes in the Jan. 20 elections.CUBA: State-of-the-Art Centre Minimises Trauma of Sexual Abuse
The young boy speaks in barely audible tones and hardly looks up from the stuffed animal that he turns over and over in his hands. The counsellor helps him, repeating his words, prompting him to continue, but without ever asking "what happened?" or "how did you feel?" Despite the boy’s visible anxiety, the story slowly emerges.CUBA: Cultural Policy Debate Keeps Growing
More than a year after the outbreak of the so-called "e-mail war", the debate on cultural policy has not died down in Cuba. And although the issue is not addressed in the national media, the discussion continues, and is spreading to embrace other aspects of life in this socialist island nation.CUBA: Student Denies Arrest, Says Criticism Was ‘Within the System’
A Cuban university student who made headlines around the world when a videotape of him questioning aspects of the country’s socialist system was posted on the Internet defended his right Tuesday to express constructive criticism from within the system and said that contrary to rumour, he was never arrested for speaking out.POLITICS-CUBA: Fidel Re-Elected to Parliament – Will He Become President?
In national elections for the Cuban parliament’s next five-year term, all nominated candidates were elected, including President Fidel Castro, who has been away from government duties since Jul. 31, 2006 for health reasons.RIGHTS-CUBA: Fewer Political Prisoners, More Arbitrary Arrests – Dissidents
The number of political prisoners in Cuba fell last year, but arbitrary detentions increased, according to a report released Wednesday, by the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN).CUBA: Economic Independence for Rural Women
María Valido has stopped thinking of herself as a simple farmer devoted to traditional household chores since becoming involved in an agricultural innovation programme that has changed the lives of hundreds of families in rural regions of Cuba since 2000.
CUBA: Innovation Gives Boost to Small Farmers
Cuban small farmers are strengthening their traditional ties with the land through a farming project that links scientific know-how with ancestral techniques and encourages greater local autonomy in decision-making on food production.
CUBA: Elizabeth and Monica’s Wedding
The veils, gloves, roses and dresses are white. Monica and Elizabeth hold hands and exchange rings on this afternoon in Cuba overflowing with symbolism, tears, laughter and hugs from people who have supported them over the last two years.CUBA: Film Frenzy
María Martínez and her husband go home every evening after participating in a ritual that is repeated every December, when the Cuban capital hosts the New Latin American Film Festival, an audiovisual feast that revolutionises the city’s routine for two weeks every year.CUBA: (Some) Men Renounce Violence Against Women
Orlando Berrios, 53, works over eight hours a day as a barber in the Párraga district in the Cuban capital, and shares household tasks with his wife, to the astonishment of their neighbours, who regard him as an "odd character."CUBA: Machismo Not O.K. – But Not Yet K.O.’d
Gradually, more men in Cuba are declining to take on traditional masculine behaviour patterns, and women who oppose the machismo and sexism that still predominates are opening up ways of changing gender relations, beyond the effects of official measures taken to promote equality over the last 50 years.CUBA: Sails of Popular Education Catch Winds of Socialist Change
The growing role of popular education in local experiences of social change is spurring debate about the need for more active participation by the people of Cuba in the social transformations that are inevitable if it is to remain a socialist country.CUBA: Popular Education Transforms Women’s Lives
"I have the spirit of a 15-year-old girl, and the wisdom of a 66-year-old woman," says Felicia Pérez, who recovered her joie de vivre after attending a handicrafts course, and became a promoter of urban values and the creator of a crafts workshop in her own neighbourhood.
CUBA: Churches Tackle Divisions by Discussing Ethics, Not Doctrine
A group of Christian denominations and ecumenical organisations in Cuba have launched an ethical dialogue aimed at smoothing over their historical differences and fomenting mutual understanding, knowledge, and openness to debate.
CUBA: Remembering Baldrich Through His Lens
One of Ángel González Baldrich’s lifelong friends and colleagues at the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde once wrote that by a conservative estimate, the photojournalist took more than 70,000 photos and had around 10,000 published in different papers and magazines in Cuba.
CUBA: A Church Embraces Those Who Have Lost Their Way
In the heart of Balcón Arimao, a poor barrio on the fringes of the Cuban capital, a small evangelical church combines spirituality and community work, combating alcoholism, prostitution, crime and family breakdown.CUBA: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff – Studying the Soviet Legacy
Although Cuba survived the demise of its communist allies in the early 1990s, the legacy of its close relationship with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe may still have a bearing on the future of socialism on this Caribbean island nation.CUBA: Providing the Tools for an Active, Fruitful Old Age
Becoming a senior citizen in Cuba has ceased to be seen as a tragedy, the end of useful life and a resigned waiting for death. Embracing old age without fear, with its pain and its wisdom, appears to be the purpose of thousands of women and men who attend classes at the University for Older Adults.CUBA: Citizen Action Transforming the Barrio
Two women set out nine years ago to help the barrio of Balcón Arimao, on the outskirts of the Cuban capital, tackle its numerous problems through community participation.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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