Odds and ends

• Nick Miroff writes in GlobalPost about the Cubans who benefit economically from foreign travelers, and uncovers yet another Victory for American Foreign Policy: when the travel website Hostelworld.com came under American ownership, it had to remove listings of casas particulares in Cuba – room rentals by family entrepreneurs. Maybe it’s time for federal agents to fan out to seize Lonely Planet and other Cuba travel guides that do the same thing, in print.

• From Cubanet, a rumor that Cuba is about to introduce a new currency, the Mambi.

• Two old video gems from Penultimos Dias: Nixon and Kennedy debating Cuba – with Nixon arguing that supporting Cuban exiles in a military operation would violate international law and fail to achieve its objectives – and a 1929 Swedish cruise to Havana.

• Tracey Eaton on a documentary about Victor Alvarez, a Cuban musician who returned after 43 years.

• A tech columnist speculates that Cuba could become a call center outsourcing location. Reasons: ability to reach the U.S. Latino market, low indices of corruption, and the “growing proportion” of the Cuban workforce that works in international tourism, which “has led many individuals to take on significant training by foreign hotel operators and tour companies in order to bring their service skills to Western standards.”

http://cubantriangle.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Go to article