Rolando Cubela was a key player in ongoing American plots to kill Fidel Castro
Aged 89, Rolando Cubela died in late August. If you’re wondering who he was, you’re probably not alone. But, at one time, Cubela was an important figure. As the CIA’s man in Havana, he was a key player in ongoing American plots to kill Fidel Castro. Cubela was born in Cuba in 1933, became involved…
The narrative that emerged of American triumphalism was false. There had been a deal
I was a first-year university student in Dublin, Ireland, during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. But I don’t remember it as a time of great angst or agitation. True, the crisis dominated the news and there were certainly people who genuinely feared that nuclear Armageddon was on the doorstep. However, the daily life of…
COVID doesn’t care if you’re a capitalist or a socialist
As I sat recovering from the side effects of my third COVID-19 vaccine, certain things didn’t add up. First of all, I know a number of good, intelligent people who are choosing not to get vaccinated. Of course, there are some very unkind individuals among them who harass our health-care workers and people in the…
A growing number of Cubans are beginning to see through their government's lies. Why don't Canadians?
Canadians have travelled to Cuba as a vacation spot for decades. I doubt most of them ever considered that these excursions have aided its communist government in political and economic terms. CBC News senior reporter Evan Dyer recently pointed out this disturbing fact. “Cuban-Canadian activists say many Canadians are not aware of the extent to…
In his first serious foreign policy test in 1961, the new American president flunked badly. He was in way over his head
Things were going swimmingly for U.S. President John F. Kennedy immediately following his January 1961 inauguration. Despite being elected by a mere whisker, his approval ratings were stratospheric and much of the media was in love with him. It was as if he was a political superman. Then came the fiasco at the Bay of…
Canada and Cuba already have an established trade relationship, as do Mexico and Cuba, and Canada and Mexico
It’s no secret that the North American Free Trade Agreement’s future is in jeopardy. But if NAFTA collapses, what will Ottawa do next? NAFTA is in trouble largely due to U.S. President Donald Trump, who once called it the “worst trade deal in the history of the world.” And Trump’s America First plan, rooted in economic nationalism,…
Guevara’s primary political instinct was totalitarian, with a propensity to violence
Ireland has just issued a postage stamp commemorating Che Guevara. Featuring the ubiquitous two-tone portrait created by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, the stamp marks the 50th anniversary of Guevara’s death on October 9, 1967. The postal service’s rationale is that Guevara had Irish ancestry and that Fitzpatrick’s artwork “appears on t-shirts, posters, badges and clothing…
The best assessment of Castro came from his daughter Alina who, when told he was a dictator, replied: “Strictly speaking, Fidel is a tyrant”
I never liked Fidel Castro. Not even a little bit. Part of my aversion had to do with a general antipathy towards 20th century dictators, especially charismatic ones. They were, after all, the most dangerous. Intelligent people who waxed apoplectic over the alleged authoritarian tendencies of Stephen Harper and wet the bed over the prospect…
No matter who wrote the statement, the prime minister’s name is on it, effectively ending his political honeymoon
There’s been much speculation as to what it would take for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s extended political honeymoon to end. The answer, it turns out, is a recently deceased Marxist-Leninist revolutionary. The PM’s official statement about Fidel Castro, the 90-year-old former president of Cuba who died on Nov. 25, has been ripped apart by critics…
The absence of a free market at home and injured trade abroad has been costly for the Cuban people
The pre-Christmas announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama that the United States would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba will reignite a number of debates. One will be about the cause of Cuban poverty over the past 56 years. While some will blame communism; others the American trade embargo, the correct answer is “both.” For those…