Author: Dariela Aquique

This time Enrique Pineda Barnet presents us with Verde Verde (Green-Green) an atemporal and a-spatial plot, but with obvious references to a chimerical Cuba. The story line develops from the gay flirtation between Alfredo, a sailor, and Carlos, a trendy and go-getting computer technician.

Double standards are almost an inherent condition of Cuban life. The visceral fear of the truth, as well as our getting used to things seeming what they aren’t, have become practices used by many people to avoid the classic social stigmas of “standing out” or “asking for trouble.”

A goldmine of memories lie amidst the wreckage of what was once a great theater, the Teatro Oriente of Santiago de Cuba.

As children, when my brother and I went for a walk with our mother, we would always ask her to take us to the park where the “little” orchestra played. Our innocence was such that’s what we called the “Municipal Band,” which performed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Santiago de Cuba’s Cespedes Park.

“Mama Ines” is the character in a well-known song that has transcended its time in many voices, but the unsurpassed version is the one by “Bola de Nieve” (literally, “Snowball”), the artist born Ignacio Jacinto Villa.

Recently, when I read the excellent Havana Times interview “Miriam Celaya: A Dissident by Nature” by my colleague Yusimi Rodriguez, it confirmed my thesis that the Cuban blogosphere is fragmented, consisting of fiefdoms and courts like in the Middle Ages. While some share commonalities, others are definitely at opposing ends of the political spectrum.

We Cubans were hopeful, though skeptical. It was believed that because of the wave of “change” taking place in the country, the First National Conference of the Communist Party of Cuba was going to come up with real proposals aimed at reshaping political and social life on our island.

Today marks the 158th anniversary of the birth of Jose Julian Marti Perez, Cuba’s “national hero,” “the apostle” or the “most universal of all Cubans.” These have been the titles given to the “teacher” throughout the course of the island’s history.

Two days ago I received by forwarded e-mail a message that read: “VERY IMPORTANT! Health care professionals recommend that consumers beware of anything that is “Made in China,” especially products containing yellow, red or orange dye.

A certain gentleman commented about one of my recent posts suggesting that I review the statistics relating to high incidence of poverty in the rest of the Third World compared to the low rates experienced here in Cuba.