Oil for Ice Cream?

The Mr. Miyagi/Daniel-san relationship that is Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez has taken a new an unexpected turn with the news that the Cuban government will begin making its famous Coppelia Ice Cream in Venezuela.  This is only fair, of course, since Venezuela provides the Cuban government with approximately 90,000 barrels of subsidized oil per day, many of which Cuba resells on the international market for a healthy profit.  One can only imagine what the Venezuelans will give in exchange for the Cubans' dulce de fruta bomba.

Sonora Ponceña's "Don Quique" Honored At Lehman College

This weekend, the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx will host the Sonora Ponceña for a concert honoring the group's founder, Enrique “Quique” Lucca Caraballo.  La Sonora is one of Latin music's most enduring bands thanks in large part to hits such as Fuego en el 23.  The band is also famous, of course, because its long-ago guitarist was Filiberto Ojeda Rios, the Puerto Rican nationalist whose death in 2005, at the hands of FBI agents, outraged many Puerto Ricans. 

Rodriguez, Martinez...It's All The Same To The NYT

I guess when one guy is a Latino elected official who gets beaten up at Occupy Wall Street and the other is a Latino activist who raps about Occupy Wall Street, you're pretty much interchangeable for the New York Times.  Besides, both of their names end in "ez." 

On Latino Electorate, Romney Can't Shoot Straight

It is already clear that Mitt Romney's presidential campaign suffers from a lack of, como se dice, umph.  But nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to the campaign's attempt to connect with Latino voters.  The Romney campaign has struggled to understand the often significant differences that exist between Latino groups in the United States.  Had this campaign been taking place thirty years ago, maybe one could forgive Romney.  But for decades, academics, political consultants, think tanks and, most especially, advertising companies have been pointing out that when it comes to Latinos, recognizing intra-group differences is the key to success.  Put simply, Romney and his high-paid and very smart crop of advisers have no excuse.  Alicia Menendez has captured the essence of Romney's problem writing yesterday:

"These differences — Puerto Rican islanders vs. Latino mainlanders, Mexicans vs. Cubans —  are the type of things you expect someone who is vying for your vote to understand about you, about your priorities, about your American identity. That basic level of cultural understanding shows respect. How can Mitt Romney represent us if he doesn’t even know who we are?"

If Romney has any desire to move in to the White House in January, 2013--he needs to fix this ayer.

For more of Menendez's analysis click here.

Gonzalez for Gross?

A US federal judge granted permission last night for convicted Cuban spy René González to visit Cuba to see his ailing brother.  He may remain in Cuba for a period of two weeks after his arrival on the island.  Gonzalez, who served 13 years in prison, was paroled last year and is required to serve his three year probation in the United States.  Among Gonzalez's crimes were infiltrating the Cuban exile organization Hermanos al Rescate, a group whose pilots combed the Caribbean in search of Cuban rafters attempting to flee the island.  In 1996, four of the organizations members were killed when Cuban fighter jets shot them down in the Caribbean.

Granting Gonzalez's request to visit his sick family member in Cuba might pressure the Cuban government to grant a similar request from American Alan Gross, who was arrested for delivering satellite communication equipment to members of Cuba's Jewish community.  Gross was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison.  He has asked the Cuban government to allow him to travel to the United States to visit his 89 year-old mother, whose health is failing.

Inside Latin America's Prisons

The fire that claimed more than 300 lives last month at the Comayagua prison in Honduras raised awareness of the problem of prison overcrowding in Latin America.  The New York Times provides an inside look at the conditions in some of Central America's most overcrowded prisons and the sight isn't pretty. 

La re-elección de Obama no está garantizada

En la Casa Blanca me imagino que están contentos con la larga y aparentemente interminable interna republicana.  Pero en marzo no se canta victoria.  http://univisionnuevayork.univision.com/destino-2012/editoriales/article/2012-03-14/no-hay-que-cantar-victoria