Chavez, though not my cup of tea, has been elected and re-elected by the people, and this is a demonstration of popular power. This is unlike Cuba’s system, which is now ready to start its voting, though we all know in advance what the results will be.
Today is my birthday, the day when most of us are filled with joy and are ready to celebrate yet another coming year. But I have to confess that what I’m feeling is something between happiness and sadness. The feeling of nostalgia is what has overcome me.
The much heralded “Population and Housing Census” is now being conducted in Cuba under the slogan “We’re Counting Everybody.” It is said to have the aim of counting how many of us there are: Men and women, children, adults, young and old, blacks, mestizos and whites, as well as what condition people live in, etc.
The strategy for determining and controlling education and culture in the country as being based on political principles (understanding that I’m referring to unconditional support as stipulated by the government) can clearly be seen from that well-known speech “Words to the Intellectuals.”
Things have been shaking on the Internet with a trilogy of open letters, each of them dealing with the controversial theme of the Cuban diaspora. From different perspectives, all of them analyze the problems of emigration and its consequences.
My friend Alfredo spoke recently about the closing down of Polemica digital, the blog published by young university professor Elaine Diaz, whose web log was one of the most widely read in Cuba (for those who have Internet access) and outside as well.
I think Assange is one of those citizens of the world who do not profess an affiliation, neither left nor right. He is a freethinker, passionate about the real opportunities provided by technology.
For more than a half a century, we Cubans have suffered from apprehension, as we have gone through an adverse social juncture in which our civil rights have been constantly vetoed by the government.
The main character was a fairly shrewd Swede who manages to survive in Cuba by taking advantage of his status as a foreigner. This was exactly how Swedish national Jens Aron Modig seemed to me when he appeared at the center of a press conference.
I know of many brains that haven’t been exactly stolen, but they have been squandered by real-life circumstances and personal choices.