Author: Dariela Aquique

What was the sensation experienced by Winston Smith (the main character in 1984, the novel by British writer Georges Orwell) when he thought that enormous and ubiquitous signs with the phrase “Big Brother’s Watching” were looking at him from all directions?

Wisely, the Cuban government has now reconsidered an entire series of decisions that were taken to promote social development but that in practice demonstrated the opposite.

To be faithful to one’s ideals or principles is noble, just as having absolute conviction in what one defends and why is commendable. The problem begins with people become overzealous.

The “theater of the absurd” is one mode of creating dramatized works. In Cuba it is associated with Virgilio Piñera, the island’s father par excellence of dramatic works that were the precursor of this genre.

A few days ago I read the commentary “The Anonymous Complaint” by Alfredo Fernandez. Among other things, it made me reflect on the double standards that proliferate in our country these days as practices of daily life.

Prior to the victory of the Revolution, cock fights were the favorite form of entertainment in rural areas as well as in many marginal urban neighborhoods across the country.

I’m not trying to eulogize mystic beliefs; I’m simply referring to these in our country right now. We Cubans are of a tradition rooted in religion.

Our younger generations were really educated in an indifference to work. They grew up unaware that the things people obtain are the result of their effort…that they don’t merely deserve them.

I admit that I’m a neophyte when it comes to personal finance, but I do know how to figure out when things don’t add up.

I was on the bus when the carefree expression of a nine-year-old boy old caught the attention of those of us near him and his mother. Immediately laughter broke out as if everyone were celebrating the wit of this child, who was wearing his Pioneer uniform.