Rory Carroll
Guest Author
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/ 11 April 2008

Havana bling

Cuba is changing. In the past few weeks the government has announced and enacted a series of reforms unimaginable under Castro. It is now legal to buy cellphones, computers and DVD players. Cubans may now rent cars and stay at hotels previously reserved for foreigners. More significantly, farmers can cultivate idle state land and buy equipment without special permission.

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/ 18 February 2008

The ‘Sandalistas’ who never left

It was the 1980s and Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution was captivating hearts and minds around the world. The olive-uniformed guerrillas had overthrown the hated Somoza dictatorship and were trying to build a more equal society by empowering women, giving peasants land and teaching the illiterate to read.

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/ 5 February 2008

Sex work or no work

What Natasha does on the bed in the dingy room with flaking orange paint so shames her she cannot bring herself to use the word. She calls it "so and so" and sells it here from midday to midnight, six days a week. On a very good day she makes £45. With each 30-minute session earning £2,50 that works out at 18 different men, many drunk, some violent. She tries to forget the very good days.