Photo: Flickr user lepiaf.geo

Prior to entering office, President Barack Obama spoke of the need for a new approach to U.S.-Cuba relations and a sea change from the past.

As reported by The New York Times, in a speech May 2008, Obama said:

John McCain’s been going around the country talking about how much I want to meet with Raúl Castro, as if I’m looking for a social gathering or I’m going to invite him over and have some tea. That’s not what I said, and John McCain knows it. After eight years of the disastrous policies of George Bush, it is time to pursue direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike, without preconditions.

Last April, the Obama administration lifted some restrictions on Cuban-Americans, including regulations on travel and on sending money back to Cuba.

However, the nearly fifty-year-old embargo on Cuban trade and travel with the United States remains intact. Moreover, President Obama renewed the embargo for another year this past fall.

The relationship between Cuba and the United States has received little attention lately.

Let’s look at what bloggers are saying about life in Cuba and the state of U.S.-Cuba relations today.

U.S. Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s (R-FL) is staunchly opposed to the Communist government in Cuba and an advocate for Cuban-Americans. Susannah Vila of Global Voices discusses Diaz-Balart’s decision to not run for reelection:

As is the case with many of the Obama administration’s accomplishments during its first year, advancements in relations between the US and Cuba have been subtle.  Yet small changes in policy may mean bigger shifts in behavior, especially when it comes to Cuban-Americans and the voting booth.

Bloggers in Miami and Cuba are buzzing over the news that US Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart will not run for reelection in the fall. Diaz-Balart, a Republican, is a staunch supporter of the trade embargo against Cuba, and he took this as an opportunity to highlight his role in codifying the blockade. As a senior member of the House Rules Committee, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process, and the Co-Chairman of the Florida Congressional Delegation, Diaz-Balart’s absence will definitely be felt.

Melissa Lockhart of Foreign Policy Blogs writes how 2010 could be the year that change is realized, even after a slow down in the political will to open relations with Cuba:

The Congressional push to open up Cuba for travel by U.S. citizens was buried at the end of last year in the urgency (at the time) of the health care reform debate. The bill’s sponsors—including Representatives Bill Delahunt (Democrat) and Jeff Flake (Republican)—intend to dig it out and press forward, starting now. The problem at the moment is the Democrats’ reluctance to actually bring the bill to the floor for a vote. The votes may be there (across party lines), but the issue isn’t at the top of their agenda and is one that splits the caucus.

Unfortunately, the momentum that came from Obama’s lifting of travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans last year is now slowed, and the issue has faded from the ever-shifting public attention. Meanwhile, there is bipartisan opposition to the bill as well, and funds channel to members of both parties from opposition, pro-embargo (often Cuban-American) groups. So bipartisanship is not necessarily a relevant asset at all for the backers of this bill.

In her blog Generation Y, well-known Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez discusses the difficulties Cubans face because of their own government’s travel restrictions:

I know how it feels. I know how hard it is to go to the Cuban consulate in any country and be asked to sign your name in support of freedom for the Interior Ministry’s five agents – prisoners in the United States – while they do not even ask you if there’s anything they can do to help you. I have listened to a young man cry at an embassy in Europe while a bureaucrat repeats that he cannot return to his own country because he exceeded the eleven months he is allowed to be away. I have also witnessed it from the other side, the denial received by many here who apply for the White Card needed to board a plane and leave this Island. The travel restrictions have become routine and some have come to believe it should be this way, because to know other places is a perk that they give us, a prerogative that they award us.

Read Sanchez’ interview with President Obama.

In her blog KubaSepia, another Cuban blogger, Katia Sonia, writes about Cuban President Raul Castro and her desire for change:

The new president was surprised by several labor leaders who led an entourage to his ailing brother.  These ideas were conceived to disrupt the roots of the Castros’ base, and strip them of absolute power.  This was an opportunity for the state to fulfill its role of channeling and ensuring the full and total development that the individual needs. Nothing changed. Raúl Castro made two or three stuttering interventions that plunged the nation into the expectation of CHANGE — the possibility of increasing diplomatic relations with the United States; ignoring reality he declared that the world financial crisis would not reach the islanders or their currency exchanges — all designed to buy time.

For more on Cuba, visit our Worldfocus extended coverage page: Cuba after Fidel.

Petra, Jordan. Photo: flickr user gr33ndata

Jordan’s King Abdallah named a new Prime Minister yesterday. Samir Rifai, a former minister of the Royal Court, is the third member of his family to hold the post.

Bloggers in Jordan have taken note of the change and are speculating about its meaning.

In the Observations of a Jordanian blog, engineering student Farah writes:

While the decision to dissolve the parliament about two weeks ago was met with pure joy and relief, the appointment of a new prime minister was met with either disappointment or most probably indifference. Sameer Rifai, the new prime minister is the third generation of a family of prime ministers, something that probably happens only in Jordan.

I like to think of the whole thing as a game. There’s this circle of elitists, the ones allowed to play, all of whom at one point or another were ministers or CEOs and every couple of years one of them gets their turn as the top player. Now this top player would proceed to “reshuffle” the current players, or if he’s looking for some change, add a couple of new ones. The field that each player is in charge of is truly irrelevant to their area of expertise. Now once the parliament is elected, the game of who destroys who first begins! Fun fun fun.

So I don’t really think it matters who gets picked as the prime minister, the same cycle of events seems to repeat itself regardless of how optimistic we are of the new government. But not to be part of the blame culture, because we should take the blame as well. We should be part of a responsible, incorrupt election that would result in a parliament that speaks for the citizens rather than attack them, but hey that’s just wishful thinking.

That sentiment was echoed by a commentator at the blog Black Iris.

Just heard the news about an hour ago that Samir Rifai, who as of yesterday headed the Jordan Dubai Capital corporation, has been appointed as the next Prime Minister of Jordan. I don’t really know what to say about this piece of news. It is, from at least this citizen’s point of view, not the most optimistic news about the state of my country’s domestic affairs.

In response to that post, “Musa” writes,

Why is it so hard for anyone with a significant background and vast interest in Jordanian politics to realise/admit the fact that there is nothing called “politics, domestic affairs or governance” in Jordan outside of the autocratic ruler, his police apparatus and his parasites?

Hopefully, stripping down the theatre of the absurd from all the puppets and proxies that managed to keep people busy for the past decade should help expose the true puppet master using them as his scapegoats, and hopefully that will prompt more people to start questioning the real decision maker who dissolves the parliament, cancels the elections, and assigns a new government of cronies – while on a trip to Paris. Yet still manages to be exempted of any responsibility!

But a post at the blog JordanWatch reads between the lines of the King’s announcement and says it lays out a “really impressive” set of principles - in theory.

What I have been interested in is the content of the letter of designation sent by the King. It had a rather detailed “roadmap” for the new government in a scope that is wider than the conventional letters of designation. What struck me was the King’s emphasis on developing and implementing a package of codes of honor in governance. Here are the King’s exact words:

“We also instruct you to issue a code of honour based on the Constitution and the law that clarifies the moral and legal criteria that the ministers must be committed to throughout their public service. This document will be a public document and an additional reference for Jordanians in judging the performance of the ministerial team. The government should also issue a similar document to which all public servants at every level must commit. For our people are ready to bear any hardship and confront every challenge if they are convinced that those serving them in state institutions are doing their jobs within institutional frameworks and under legal monitoring and are fortified against all forms of corruption, abuse of public office and manipulation of the law.”

Now, regarding the unhealthy relation between deputees and the government, the King says:

“The government should reassess its method of dealing with Parliament so as to restore this relationship as a cooperative and complementary one that serves the national interest, and whereby the authorities each practise their constitutional authority without one trespassing the other or reaching interest-based understandings that would make achieving personal gains a condition for the stability of the relationship between the two authorities. In order to ensure that the mistakes of the past do not recur, we ask you to draft a protocol, to which your team should be committed, that outlines the rules of engagement with Parliament in accordance with the Constitution and the law…

So what we have now at the table is a really impressive set of principles that revolve around the virtue of honesty in governance. If an effective level of honesty can be introduced in the approach to governance in Jordan we will witness a great enhancement of performance and proper use of resources, whether financial, institutional or human.

- Rebecca Haggerty

Creer in Cuba website.

The Catholic Church in Cuba launched a new website on Monday that aims to provide a virtual forum for the island’s faithful,  “Creer en Cuba” (Believing in Cuba.)  According to an announcement on the Cuban Catholic Bishops Conference Web site, it is intended to serve as a meeting place for “those who live, dream, work and hope in Cuba and the Cuban community overseas.”

Although Cuba has the lowest internet usage in the Americas, Cuba has seen a surge of dissident bloggers who use the Internet to voice their concerns about the Castro regime. One such blogger, Yoani Sanchez, was named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and recently received a reply from President Barack Obama to questions she posed in a letter.

Earlier today we spoke with Chris Sabatini — the Senior Director of Policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and the Editor-in-Chief of the Americas Quarterly — about the state of the blogosphere in Cuba.

WORLDFOCUS: What is the state of people’s access to the internet in Cuba today?

SABATINI: Cuba has the lowest levels of internet access in the hemisphere, around 13%–lower than Haiti’s.  The reason is largely because the Cuban government maintains strict limits on the Internet on the island.  Only Cubans with official or government jobs are allowed access to the Internet; and access a number of websites is blocked on the island. Regular Cuban citizens only have access through international hotels but the rate can be as high as $9 an hour–equal to roughly the weekly salary of a Cuban doctor.

President Obama on April 13th announced a change in regulations to allow U.S. companies to increase activities in Cuba to allow for greater communications from the island to the outside world.  Unfortunately, the regulations that were announced continue to place strict limitations on the sale to Cuba of supplies and equipment that is necessary for establishing the necessary infrastructure for providing access on the island. As a result the levels of connectivity envisioned by the President may not happen.

WORLDFOCUS: We’ve seen a surge in dissident bloggers in Cuba, such as the case of Yoani Sanchez.  Why now?

SABATINI: Younger generation Cubans are discovering the Internet as a means of communication with the outside world.  It provides a powerful and modern way for them to tell their stories.  But it comes at a cost.  Yoani herself no longer has access to her blog.  She and many others are forced to type up their blogs and then send them via e-mail from hotel computers to friends overseas who post them for her.  But there is also the risk of repression.  Yoani and a number of her friends were recently picked up by police and beaten in the back of the police car.  Her blogs, though, remain achingly beautiful depictions of the despair and irony of modern-day Cuba and are available in English.

WORLDFOCUS: What is the significance of the Catholic Church starting a blog in Cuba?

SABATINI: The Catholic Church has been active for a long time, often through its parishes and lay members in publishing and disseminating documents related to civic culture, religious freedom, and the like. By their very nature these publications, like the now defunct Vitral, were very strong cracks and challenges to the control over society that the Cuban regime maintains.  The Church’s new blog is an extension of those efforts–but of course with a modern twist.  Of course for the millions of Cubans who don’t have access to the Internet, it will have little direct impact. But it will allow the Church to inform the outside world far more easily than they could through their print publications and provide a channel for the voices of those inside the island who have been held silent for so long.
- Ivette Feliciano

Internet censorship and surveillance are contentious issues around the world.

In Malaysia, blogging remains one of the few ways to exercise free speech, although the government has begun to crack down on sites and bloggers, blocking malaysia-today.net (since redirected) and jailing its publisher.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad joins his country’s bloggers in criticizing the government under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his chosen successor.

The EU recently criticized Turkey for its free speech violations, when the government blocked 850 sites, including Blogger and YouTube. The blockage of wordpress.com last August met a firestorm of criticism, as documented by “Global Voices” blogger Sami Ben Gharbia.

Australia is making headlines for its new Internet censorship legislation, which is being criticized by both bloggers and traditional journalists. Blogger “Stilgherrian” leads a discussion about the new laws that includes a direct reply from a member of Parliament defending the laws.

Egypt faces its own free speech struggles, as explored by a Worldfocus signature story and an interview with blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy, who claims that online free speech rights are severely limited by the government. He also started a debate at Flickr, where he feels his photos of Egyptian political demonstrations have been censored.

Bi Yantao of the “Fool’s Mountain” blog reports that China – perhaps the country most famous for Internet censorship and its “great firewall” — tightened its Internet censorship as the Beijing Olympics finished and foreigners left.

Fred Stopsky of “The Impudent Observor” shares a Finnish report stating that older Finns accept Internet censorship to prevent the spread of violence and “certain ideas.”

British blogger “Charlotte Gore” responds to member of Parliament Hazel Blears’ attack on political bloggers by insisting that “the blogosphere does not answer to the government.”

“DailyBits” provides a succinct top-ten rundown of Internet censorship, and the OpenNet Initiative provides in-depth tracking and analysis of Internet filtration and censorship around the globe.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user wolfcat_aus under a Creative Commons license.

For more Worldfocus coverage of Turkey, visit our extended coverage page: Turkey between East and West.

Racial issues came to the forefront in the recent U.S. presidential election, in which Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first African-American president.

Some thought that President-elect Obama would suffer from the “Bradley Effect” — referencing when African-American candidate Tom Bradley lost his bid for governor of California in 1982 despite polls showing him ahead.

In the end, exit polls showed that Obama garnered 44 percent of the white vote, more than John Kerry, Al Gore or Bill Clinton.

Though race was not part of Obama’s campaign strategy, bloggers worldwide nonetheless seized on the issue.

Jamaican blogger “b C” of “Stories of Me” says that many Jamaicans support Barack Obama simply because he’s a black man.

Brazilian bloggers posted a banner with the words “Não vote em branco” — a phrase which carries the double meaning of  “don’t cast a blank vote” and “don’t vote for a white person.” Worldfocus previously reported on Brazilian candidates who changed their names to “Barack Obama”.

Paula Góes of Global Voices Online’s “Voices without Votes” discusses the response of Brazilian bloggers to the race issue in this election.

Enrique Gonzales of “The Latino Contrarian” blog thinks Obama is the first Latino president in the same way that Bill Clinton was the “first black president.”

Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah of “The Black Iris” says that the next U.S. president is unlikely to “change” much and attributes Obama’s prophet-like status to U.S. election culture. Tarawnah discusses the Bradley Effect and argues that race played an important role in the election.

The “Armenian Economist” blog writes that Armenians see the “Bradley Effect” quite differently — because Tom Bradley lost the race to George Deukmejian,  an Armenian American.

The New York Post reports that Obama’s racial and cultural background generate support from Arabs. Columnist Mohamed al-Menshawi calls the Christian Obama “the harbinger of solidarity between Americans and the Muslim world.”

An article at Japanese news site “Asahi” looks at the Japanese view of race in the election.

The “Grave Error” blog discusses European disbelief that Americans could elect an African American as well as lingering Spanish racism.

One of the estimated 160,000 Egyptian bloggers shares his perspective in our Web exclusive video: Egyptian bloggers cite censorship, arrest and torture.

Special correspondent Hoda Osman and producer Sally Garner report on the state of journalism in Egypt from Cairo.

The video below is an exclusive Web interview with blogger and activist Hossam el-Hamalawy.

For bloggers and mainstream journalists, Egypt is far from free. Both Hossam el-Hamalawy and Nora Younis blog using their real names. Both write about protest rallies, politics and the growing — but still small — labor movement in Egypt.

Watch the video interview of el-Hamalawy, who says he’s been arrested, questioned and tortured several times during his career. He describes the blogging community in Cairo as having one foot in cyberspace and the other in the street.

It’s that activism that makes them targets for state security police.

Blogger Nora Younis told us about knowing she was being watched but choosing to continue to live and work without trying to hide.

“I never lock my door; I just leave my apartment and pull the door shut,” she said. “I never lock my door. I don’t care if they’re tapping the phone; I have to continue living as if this is safe. I have the right to do it. I should continue to do it.”

Reporters without Borders ranked Egypt 148th out of 169 countries in its annual press freedom survey.

The organization specifically cited the jailing of two bloggers last year as evidence of Egypt’s continuing crackdown on journalists. The report also pointed to the use of the Internet as a powerful tool that resulted in the “unprecedented arrest and imprisonment” of two government officials when a blogger posted video of them torturing prisoners at a local police station.

- Sally Garner