Author: Carlos Fraguela

There’s a danger inherent to providing people with false information about food contents. We know there are people who are allergic to certain food products and reactions to these can be deadly.

Three weeks ago, my friend Ariel had an extremely high fever for three days in a row. His temperature never dropped beneath 38. Everything seemed to indicate it was a cold caused by one of the many new strains of virus around. I realized I had no choice but to look after him.

A Cuban friend of mine was recently in France. While there, he dropped in to check out a festival that the French Communist Party holds every year featuring exhibits from the Communist Parties of the world and their affiliates. My friend told me that he enjoyed some of the concerts that were part of the event, but that in other ways he was disappointed.

Panelists of Cuban television’s Round Table program have been speaking in defense of the rights of immigrants to the United States for years. Shouldn’t they begin by speaking in defense of those Cubans living in Havana who are arbitrarily deported and sent back to their provinces of origin by the police?

I have a neighbor who travelled to Italy on an invitation from his daughter, who left Cuba 15 years ago, when she married a foreigner. His only son also lives there. He had planned a three-month stay, but, a week after arriving…

Some weeks ago, I gave one of the animals I had in my aquarium back its freedom. I returned it to the place I had kidnapped it from in order to take pictures of it at home. How happy it made me to see it scurry away among corals and algae! (6 photos)

I have already written about the marine worms that have graced my fish-tank over time. Their beauty and interesting variations simply do not cease to impress me. New marine creatures invariably come along with the algae I bring home to photograph. (7 photos)

A few days ago, I had a very pleasant dream: the Cuban government had decided to shut down its telephone company, the Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA). In its 20 years of operations, the company had failed to demonstrate any capacity to offer a reliable communications service, and its immediate closure had been decided.