Cuban economist and government official Juan Triana has become highly popular among our country’s leadership by peddling a rather exciting idea: the world economy is sailing before the wind and Cuba ought to stick a rocket up its ass if it wishes to catch up and not be left out of the party (my phrasing).
On the night of Friday, October 17 this year, several city buses parked at a terminal located in El Calvario, a neighborhood in the outskirts of Havana, were intentionally damaged. After several decades of hibernation, the word “sabotage” is again being pronounced by people.
In my previous post, I mentioned in passing that this and all other countries would face a devastating crisis of civilization sooner rather than later. In view of the pronounced interest the issue seems to have among Havana Times’ commentators, I have decided to return to it in this post.
I often say that the Cuban regime is a totalitarian dictatorship and, in saying this, I vent the frustration it produces me in one fell swoop. It’s a shame Spanish does not have as expressive and accurate a term as Totalherrschaft.
During the summer break, I found a Contemporary History notebook in the trash. In this post, I will yap a bit more about this student’s notebook, analyzing how it addresses the rise of fascism and the Second World War. I will then devote a few lines to the course textbook.
Some days ago, I watched a video showing an anti-government protest (and the subsequent public reprisal) staged by the Union Patriotica de Cuba (Cuban Patriotic Union, or UNPACU). I was positively impressed by the civility, intelligence and courage shown by the members of this organization.
Cubans without access to the Internet traffic information on USB flash drives. A video showing a protest staged by the Union Patriotica de Cuba (Cuban Patriotic Union, or UNPACU) – an organization of the opposition that is strong in the country’s east – reached me through one of these.
Every July, when the summer break starts, the city’s dump-sites fill up with notebooks thrown out by student’s who’ve finished the school year. They believe, and not without reason, that the notes they have jotted down in class are as good as garbage.
Now that I am devoid of an Internet connection, I take advantage of my free time to survey the neighborhood from my balcony. The most interesting elements in sight are afforded us by nature: the changing tonalities of the sea, the always-green tree canopies and the daily traffic of people.
History is one of the things I’m passionate about lately. I don’t mean the historical, historiographical or philosophical analysis of facts. I mean a rather odd obsession with jotting down dates in a kind of diary / chronology I’ve been keeping.