In this post, I want to continue to document the street art and graffiti that today decorates the walls, building facades and doors of Havana. The courage and originality shown by some of these public interventions are truly praiseworthy. (21 photos)
Read MoreAs I predicted, my partner Jimmy Roque, member of the Observatorio Critico Network, ultimately lost his job because of his political ideas. The management of the 27 de Noviembre Polyclinic, where he worked, came up with a strategy to get rid of him.
Read MoreThis Saturday I was summoned to the Police Station 23 and C , in Vedado, where an agent of the Ministry of Interior (MININT) threatened to retaliate against me and my fellow Critical Observatory Network members, if we hold public debates on the Cuban Labor Code bill.
Read MoreSince acting as the representative of her community in an effort to recover a grove of casuarina trees in Santa Fe that had been felled by authorities, my restless friend Patricia Alonso has continued to insist that autonomous community work is possible and to try and involve her neighbors in the exploration and transformation of their environment.
Read MoreIn the course of these past few years, the Cuban journal Espacio Laical (“Secular Space”) has demonstrated that the much-needed space for a gathering of Cubans and a debate among them can be created in every imaginable sphere, provided the guiding tenet is transparency.
Read MoreThis is not a warning, no. It is exactly the opposite, actually: if you want to feel safe and enjoy a ride in one of Havana’s many traditional American cars, try and catch a ride in this woman’s cab. I had the good fortune of meeting her a few days ago, when I decided to catch a cab to work.
Read MoreSoon after writing my previous post about the decline of Coppelia, Cuba’s largest ice-cream parlor, the establishment surprised me this weekend by announcing a new offer of twenty different flavors.
Read MoreThat individuals holding bureaucratic, non-productive positions should earn the highest wages at State companies is not uncommon. Such are the historical distortions of Cuba’s labor system which, in this particular regard, is no different than any private enterprise system around the world.
Read MoreMy life partner, the optometrist Jimmy Roque Martinez, has just been approached in his place of work and accused of being a “human rights advocate”, and that he has been incited to become one by none other than yours truly. The Party is now suggesting that he ought to be laid off.
Read MoreGenetically modified crops continue to be introduced into Cuban farmlands in a secretive fashion, while domestic consumers and producers are practically left out of all debates surrounding the design of policies and strategies in this area.
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