Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes in Havana Author: Visit Amazon's Marc Frank Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0813044650 | Format: PDF
Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes in Havana Description
About the Author
Marc Frank is a freelance journalist based in Cuba, who works for Thomson Reuters and the Financial Times, consults for ABC News, has contributed to the Economist and Argentina’s Clarín, and is the author of Cuba Looks to the Year 2000.
- Series: Contemporary Cuba
- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: University Press of Florida (October 22, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0813044650
- ISBN-13: 978-0813044651
- Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
This is a very useful on-the-ground report on the changes occurring in Cuba. Frank starts with the final years of Fidel Castro's rule and the transition to Raúl Castro. At first things seemed to be moving slowly, but from 2011 the pace accelerated dramatically, with farmers being allowed to sell their own produce directly, the amount of privately farmed land being dramatically increased, a very large number of Cubans being licensed to set up their own small businesses, the removal of travel restrictions, people being allowed to buy and sell their homes, and much more. Raúl seems to have been careful to slowly build up a consensus on the need for change, and as a result is now able to drive both broad economic changes and major shakeups in the government.
Marc Frank has been a Havana resident for 20 years, working for Reuters, ABC, and others. He also has the advantage of being married to a Cuban, whose sprawling extended family has been happy to provide him with views from across the island. He has made many tours around the island and is able to share anecdotal data on the changes over the years, starting from the days when farmers leapt out from behind the shrubbery to clandestinely sell their produce to motorists, to the appearance of officially approved private roadside produce kiosks, to today's plethora of small competing vendors.
Frank makes it clear that the Raúl is definitely not intending to demolish socialism, nor to allow large-scale private businesses. And the regime is determined to maintain a single party state, with strict party discipline and no tolerance of dissent. But he does portray a striking degree of economic liberalization and institutional change which seems to be greatly improving day to day life for ordinary Cubans.
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