Alfredo Fernandez’s Diary

My unusual absence from Havana Times — which has now ended — had a good reason: I was preparing to defend my thesis for a master’s in Science and Innovation Management.

Last Friday, I was talking with a young Honduran historian who was referring to Cuba’s Republican stage (1902-1959). She simplified that period by comparing it to how she sees Panama today: a paradise for gambling and sex but with a government that is failing to provide its citizens a dignified life.

Here’s what I learned last summer about Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (Ricky Ricardo from the U.S. TV series I Love Lucy).

Erasmo and I are not naïve, and though what we spoke about with Henken was only our opinions on various issues, we know perfectly well that when meeting with a foreigner to talk about our opinion of cyberspace and the country, in the eyes of “powerful and dogmatic” individuals, we could possibly be committing a crime.

At the Main Bus Terminal in Havana, a well-known system is used for people to get a bus without having purchased a ticket weeks in advance, which is what most people do. This involves the dreaded “waiting list.”

With the recent congress of the Communist Party having concluded, a friend of mine visiting here in Havana asked me if I thought it was possible for leaders who have been so anchored to their dogma for so many years to change their mentality.

The date April 27, 1971 seems unimportant, though it certainly is. That was the occasion when a good part of the world’s intellectuals officially broke with the Cuban Revolution.

The difficult circumstance of always being too close to these treacherous Jurassic residents makes me vulnerable. The fact is, I’m no David.