Author: Isbel Diaz

Another occupied building has collapsed in Havana, this time only partially and with no fatalities, but in the same district of Centro Havana.

The pastor who barricaded himself inside his Havana church this past August, along with 60 others of his followers, still remains in that place of worship, which is also his home.

Last week I came across a rare photo of Fidel that I found amazing. I’m providing it here for the readers of Havana Times so you can tell me if you think the same.

The saddest thing was seeing how they took Mario Castillo away in handcuffs. But then again, it was also the most beautiful: seeing the firm look on his face, with no hatred for those men who couldn’t understand.

The process carried out by Cuba’s Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology was riddled with violations that jeopardized the entire investigation. They even had to pay fines for not reporting to regulators about experiments on certain plots of land.

Cuba had to settle for minor awards at this year’s Festival of New Latin American Cinema, where — to the disappointment of many — the movie Habanastation failed to fare very well.

The always interesting television program Como me lo contaron (The Way I Heard It), discussed the hot topic of cockfighting last week. Although this lucrative business is promoted by the Cuban state — which exports about 700 fighting birds annually — government involvement in this abuse was not the focus of the program.

The holding of the annual “Love-in Festival” has now become a tradition here in Havana. Every year it has a different theme, and on this occasion it was celebrated as a “Festival for the Environment.”

Looking a little more closely the Granma newspaper, I discovered that in reality we don’t know who’s writing to us every day. Many of the articles go unsigned.

The Cuban public now has available a document called “Dietary Guidelines. It deals with scientific knowledge related to nutritional requirements and food composition, explained as practical messages to help people with the selection and consumption of healthy foods.