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Author: Maria Matienzo

Maria Matienzo's Diary 

For a Compassionate Dictatorship of the Proletariat

May 6, 2013May 9, 2013 Maria Matienzo 5 Comments

Is there compassion in socialism? Apparently there is, or so claims Mayra Espina, currently working as a researcher at Cuba’s Center for Psychological and Sociological Studies, located in Vedado, Havana. The question is the title of yet another public conference held in Havana’s Dominican convent of San Juan de Letran.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

Toast to Freedom

April 30, 2013May 6, 2013 Maria Matienzo 2 Comments

The fear of ending any relationship can be paralyzing. People aren’t only afraid of authority, they’re also afraid of change, of the unknown. Judging from the reactions of people around me, I can say Cuba’s situation now, faced with the prospect of change, is more complex than we’d imagined.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

A Caricature of Angel Santiesteban’s Trial

March 21, 2013 Maria Matienzo 1 Comment

The last time I spoke with Angel, I told him to have faith, because the truth always ends up coming out. At the same time I wondered why a feminist had to defend an alleged spouse abuser. Were the accusations true? These questions didn’t make me doubt the innocence of Angel Santiesteban.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

Living and Dying Like Sheep

February 4, 2013 Maria Matienzo 3 Comments

“I sit on the balcony of my house and do what everyone else does at the age of 33: I try to assess my life. What do I have to show?” That’s what Liudmila told me the last time we saw each other.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

Cuba Immigration Reform and Faith Traps

January 30, 2013February 4, 2013 Maria Matienzo 9 Comments

Whoever invented the law definitely knew the trap. Yes, we can now travel as tourists; but to leave, almost any country on the globe requires — in addition to applying for a visa — money in a bank account (in euros or US dollars) that back up one’s trip.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

33 Years of Crisis

December 11, 2012 Maria Matienzo 1 Comment

When I’m an old woman I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that I visited hell – and believe me, Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy fell short. Each person has their own version, just as my story isn’t a blank slate.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

Yours Is My Kingdom

December 4, 2012 Maria Matienzo 8 Comments

I just read a book that’s chaotic, at least in appearance. Tuyo es el reino (Yours Is the Kingdom), by Abilio Estevez, was on my nightstand for months waiting in my line of books to be read. But if I had known how good it was, I swear it would have been among the first.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

Zulu Wallets for and from Cuba

November 28, 2012December 4, 2012 Maria Matienzo 6 Comments

I don’t know if from a stroke of good luck, but Cuban families are being forced to somehow recover from the economic disaster. Hilda Zulueta’s family is one of these.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

Seeking Forgiveness

November 23, 2012 Maria Matienzo 4 Comments

The other day talking with Amaury (a member of Omni-Zonafranca) the subject of hate came up. I promised him that I ever time I could, I was going to write seeking reconciliation between all Cubans in the world, even though my writings are just a grain of sugar.

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Maria Matienzo's Diary 

‘I’ am Very (Very, Very) Tired

November 17, 2012November 21, 2012 Maria Matienzo 2 Comments

There was once a people that was so poor and miserable that they didn’t recognize themselves as being such.

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