While I am preparing my thoughts, some things to watch and read:
Carnegie Endowment
Aaron David Miller, Ricardo Zuniga, Michael Bustamente
https://youtu.be/Hl1MbcjGItg
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Ulises Aquino, creator of Opera de la Calle, prompts a debate about Cuba's situation
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Hints of Change in Cuba's Economy
https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2026/03/symtons-of-change-in-cubas-economy.html
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Cuba pitches US economic roadmap as Trump pressures Havana
“So, the U.S. wants to be engaged in the economic transformation in Cuba? Let's do it," the top Cuban diplomat told USA TODAY.
Francesca Chambers Rick Jervis
USA TODAY March 31, 2026
https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2026/04/exclusive-cuba-pitches-us-economic.html
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Apocalypse Now? Notes on intelligence and decorum
The most dangerous aspect of the current scenario, in my humble opinion, is not the low availability of fuel and its consequences, but rather the assumption that the imminent collapse of the system is a given.
https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2026/03/rafael-hernandez-on-current-crisis.html
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Reform and overcome the crisis, or not reform and collapse, that is the Cuban dilemma.
by Carlos Alzugaray Treto February 10, 2026
Sovereignty is not negotiable
La Joven Cuba
https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2026/02/carlos-alzugaray-cuban-dilemma-la-joven.html
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Mariela Castro on Political Implications of Ending the Embargo
"the presence of a sole party in Cuba came from the fight against colonialism, from Spain. Jose Martin had the merit of creating the Cuban revolutionary party in Cuba as a sole party, specifically to achieve independence and to avoid domination by the United States. So that's the line that we followed in Cuban history because conditions haven't changed.,,,
If Cuba weren't the subject of an economic and trade embargo, which has created so many problems for us, then Cuba, it wouldn't make sense to have a sole party, just one party. But it's when our sovereignty is threatened that we use this resource, which has truly worked in Cuban history."
Amanpour and Castro Aired June 04, 2012
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My own thoughts
As hard as it may be for many Americans to imagine, President Trump is uniquely positioned to end the embargo as well as the oil blockade and designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
He can do that in conjunction with Cuba adapting to its needs the much admired Vietnamese creation of a market economy with socialist characteristics. The resulting flood of American and Cuban American visitors and investment as well as educational and cultural partnerships will help release the creative independence of the Cuban people in a natural and peaceful way. It will also inexorably diminish the role of Russia and China. If Mariela Castro was correct in her 2014 CNN interview, the end of the embargo can even mean the end of a one party system.
Embittered exiles should remember that her father Raul was responsible for Cubans regaining the right to buy and sell houses and cars and to own personal computers and cell phones. profoundly liberating actions that shaped current discourse. Entrenched Communist party bureaucrats and their anti-communist counterparts in Florida will see their material self-interest and power threatened but both have reached a dead end and may be open to a better future..
-- John McAuliff
more to come
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