Cuba

Latin America: Making sure anti-tobacco efforts don’t go up in smoke

También disponible en español

Today is No Tobacco Day, a moment in time when we’re supposed to remind ourselves of the many evils smoking brings upon us both as individuals and as member of society.

So when I started drafting this blog I asked myself: why can’t we have a No Tobacco Month, or even better a No Tobacco Lifetime? In other words, why are we not already enjoying a tobacco-free world or a tobacco-free Latin America?

Latin America 4 degrees warmer? Not cool!

También disponible en español y portugués

So you may be wondering if those scenes from the movie 2012 are not too much of a stretch after all, huh?

In the Hollywood blockbuster, apocalyptic images of rising oceans, erupting volcanoes and crumbling cities prelude the end of the world as we know it. Well, let me tell you that even though I’m not a great fan of end-of-days films –I think they oversimplify issues and de-sensitize the public-- I do believe that the world as we know it is on a path to dangerous climate change

Growing the middle class

También disponible en español

Shoppers in Chile

Since the Great Recession of 2008, there has been a widespread sense of malaise among the American middle class. Their incomes are close to stagnant, employment has not recovered, and the gap between them and the famously rich top 1% continues to grow. Look south of the Rio Grande, though, and it is quite a different picture. In the last decade, moderate poverty (under U$ 4 a day) in Latin America and the Caribbean fell from over 40% to 28%.

Carbon for (clean) water in Western Kenya

Available in: Español

An hour down a dirt road stands the most beautiful natural treasure in Kenya’s Western Province—the Kakamega Forest. The forest is a fraction of its former size, and it grows smaller every day because of the insatiable demand for firewood.

Young politics

I don’t know if any of you heard about the public protests that took place on September 4th in diverse cities in Colombia, Venezuela and even in Spain, Belgium, Canada, Argentina and Honduras, among other countries. I personally didn’t participate in them but I had the opportunity to witness them and they revived memories of the manifestations that I’ve seen in the last years in Colombia and Venezuela.

United States allows travel and remittances back home by Cuban immigrants

The Miami Herald reported today that the Obama administration has lifted restrictions on family visits and sending of remittances by Cuban immigrants living in the United States (more details from a White House fact sheet). Although there are no official figures on the amount of remittances sent by the 1 million Cuban immigrants in the U.S., according to a State Department background note on Cuba, these flows are estimated to be between $600 million and $1 billion annually. The earlier U.S. policy, in effect since 2004, allowed very small amounts of remittances to immediate family members and trips back home every three years.

Interestingly, the Cuban government still levies a tax of some 20 percent on inward remittances, and a White House spokesman and some senators have called on Cuba to reduce these onerous charges. These charges represent a significant loss of value for the recipients and a barrier to sending remittances through official channels.

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