Articles by Jose Azel
The Cuba Decide Plebiscite: To Be, or Not to Be Free!
After decades of freedom-less lives under totalitarian rule, the Cuba Decide Plebiscite is a citizen-led initiative fundamentally asking the Cuban people a rational judgment question: Do you want to be free? “Yes” or “No.” Who can possibly object to such … Continue reading
The Actualization of Cuban Socialism
The dismal state of the Cuban economic model succinctly depicted by the old Soviet joke that described their centrally planned economic system as one in which “We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us.” The bankrupt Cuban system … Continue reading
Cuba’s Economic Surrealism
In his economic dreamland of surrealist juxtapositions and non-sequiturs, with visions free from conscious rationality, General Castro believes that improved state management is the way to save Cuba’s communist system. The hostility toward individual freedoms and success embodied in his … Continue reading
Diplomacy in the Trump Era
Diplomacy in the Trump era is likely to be misunderstood and unsatisfying to the usual constituencies. It will be a diplomacy that emphasizes negotiations, unbounded by ideological conceptions of good and evil, but responsive to the requirements of U.S. national … Continue reading
Back to the Future: Liberation Theology Rehabilitated
Liberation Theology began as a movement within the Latin American Catholic Church. The intellectual methodology of Liberation Theology relies heavily on Marxism. In its present form, it is a varied inter-denominational, international movement. The origin of the Latin American brand … Continue reading
Economic Sanctions and Private Property Rights
Fifty-six years ago, President John F. Kennedy sent a reasonable message to the international community that governments choosing to expropriate the properties of U. S. citizens need to compensate them for their losses. Governments that choose to simply steal the … Continue reading
On the Future of Freedom
The future of freedom depends on our understanding that sustained societal cooperation and economic prosperity are only possible when individual freedom is maximized in a democratic milieu. The future of freedom hinges on being free from government coercion. Sadly, the … Continue reading
Trump’s New Foreign Policy of “Principled Realism”
The new U.S.-Cuba policy emphasizes our democratic values, but allows for negotiations responsive to the requirements of U.S. national interests. It is a policy of principled realism. The symbolism of a change to a policy that now embraces our values … Continue reading
The Cultures of Individualism and Collectivism
The moral hymn for collectivist societies is “The greatest good for the greatest number,” which sounds democratic until we consider that this philosophy can, and has been used, to justify the most inhumane actions by collectivist regimes and the likes … Continue reading
The Trump Administration’s Latin American Opportunity
The Trump administration, with its business acumen, intuitively understands that a Latin America that is entrepreneurial, prosperous, and free market oriented is in the national interest of the United States on multiple fronts: it limits the influence in the region … Continue reading
Castro, Obama and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
Cuba, the non-cooperative betraying criminal, received the favorable treatment of being rewarded with U.S. diplomatic relations. And, the accommodatingly silent Obama administration ought to be harshly sentenced in the court of public opinion for its failure to act in the … Continue reading
The Cuban-American Vote in 2016
There is a lesson here for other minority communities throughout the United States, who are similarly taken for granted by the Democratic Party. As minority communities, they need to break the unwarranted stronghold of political parties on their vote, and make sure that their personal political ideas line up with the platforms of those they choose to support. The Cuban-American community has done it this electoral year. Continue reading
Hispanic Voters and the Role of Government
In the Hispanic electorate, if we peel off most dogmatic arguments against free markets, an intellectual discomfort with freedom itself becomes obvious. This discomfort is what the preference for bigger government reveals. The Hispanic intellectual uneasiness with freedom is dismaying, because freedom is the only enduring foundation for improving the human condition. Continue reading
History Lessons for the Architects of the New US-Cuba Policy
The self-employment Cuba allows consists of work permits to provide services in 205 subsistence activities, such as repairing umbrellas and peeling fruits. Its participants are mostly individuals born after 1959 with no living memories of political freedoms. So, on what grounds do supporters of the new U.S. policy formulate change championed by the newly self-employed Continue reading
Investors “With” Cuba, Beware!
In Cuba, foreign investors must partner with the Cuban government. The Cuban government expects foreign investments to generate revenue for the state on its terms. If the venture fails to meet the expectations of the state, the government may arbitrarily terminate the agreements and seek another naive investor for the project and there is no independent judicial system to adjudicate any investor claims. Continue reading
President Obama’s Visit to “Perfidious Cuba”
Fidel Castro has repeatedly sought to deceitfully assuage the international community, as evidenced by excerpts from his 1959 speeches. Three years later, in December 1961 Castro finally admitted, “I am a Marxist-Leninist and shall be one until the end of my life.” The following year, Castro urged the Soviet Union to launch a preemptive nuclear attack on the United States, with missiles from Cuba. President Obama is cavalier in dismissing history noting that “I am not interested in having battles that started before I was born.” Continue reading
