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All is calm but problems are on the horizon

11 July – One year later

One year after the protests of 11 July 2021, the situation on the streets in Cuba is calm. Cars cruise along Calle 23 in the heart of Havana, families stroll in the parks, queues form at bus stops and in front of some shops. On that date, the flags on government buildings flew at half-mast, after a one-day national mourning was decreed following the assassination of Japan's ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe. Everything seems to be as usual, but in the background, things are starting to rumble.

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Playa Girón - a microcosm of catastrophe and the blueprint of subsequent failure.

Evaluating the Bay of Pigs invasion

This paper, originally written in 2001, analyses the evidence and argues that the US failure at Playa Girón can be read as a microcosm of US policy towards Cuba in the subsequent 60 years. It concludes that not only was the invasion a catastrophe in the short term, its effect in Cuba and the US was to guarantee that US aims would be frustrated for long afterwards.

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IISC researcher Marcel Kunzmann on how Cuba brought Covid under control

Cuba and Covid: an update

Cuba has brought the Corona virus under control, has become one of the most vaccinated countries in the world and has reopened its borders for tourism. Here, IISC researcher, Marcel Kunzmann, explains the situation and how and why Cuba, a country that was labelled as a ‘failed state’ by the US administration, has managed this transformation. 

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