Author: Miguel Arias

Medicine being sold on the black market or “on the side” is a very delicate subject. We all know about the difficult situation this country has with relation to medicines, both in manufacturing or importing them.

In the Guiteras neighborhood, right on 19th street and Casa Blanca Ave., there is a pothole which continues to exist and literally seems like it has been cut out by a human hand. Everyone who travels there every day can give testament to my words.

The day of the Three Wise Men, known throughout much of the world, is here. In Cuba the day used to be celebrated. Although that was a fantasy, there is no doubt that it was also something very beautiful that children lived.

According to those who claim they know, trap music was born last century in the ‘90s in the US, although it has now spread to Latin America and other parts of the world. Its lyrics promote drugs and addictions, gender violence, a lot of sex, gun use, crimes and no-one bats an eyelid.

There was recently a meeting to choose the candidate/s for my district’s representative (el delegado), in my neighborhood of Guanabacoa, one of Havana’s outlying municipalities. Very few people came out for the 8 p.m. gathering, maybe 20 more or less.

The process of establishing bilateral relations between Cuba and the US has been hurt lots of times. The Cuban government position has always been the same, inflexible and with its backward politics.

In Cuba, where we all know the average wage is low and is not enough to satisfy our basic needs, people find themselves forced to look for an illegal way to improve their lives, other times it’s just not a very honest way.

I must start off by saying that I’m not a music expert. In spite of my father being a violin player, none of his children inherited his talent. But I have always loved listening to music ever since I was a child, especially romantic music.