Granma has been assigned (we all know by whom) a daunting and painful task: lying and misrepresenting. And the truth is that is it has been fulfilling this masterfully. One of those topics around which it has “worked” most is beautifying the image of China.
Everything seems to indicate that the chronic water shortages suffered in parts of the capital won’t be solved any time soon. To cope, people have been creating alternatives such as “doing their do” in plastic grocery bags and then throwing it all into the garbage.
Fredrika Bremer was an outstanding Swedish writer and feminist activist who visited “our” city in the mid-19th century. Touched by the romantic wave, she was confronted with the stale values of her society and therefore went traveling around the world alone.
I have to admit that up until today I wasn’t clear whether keeping Cubans misinformed regarding certain topics was a deliberate act or an organic consequence of how the system is structured. The treatment that “our” media has given the conflict in Syria has cleared up my doubts.
Raul’s reforms, at least in the capital, haven’t been successful. The GDP* has been on an uphill march since 1994, but the purchasing power of the average Cuban family seems to be going backward. It’s the same with health care, education, the availability of food and public transportation.
Living only a few miles off the coast of a powerful and aggressive military power isn’t an easy undertaking. A small and poor nation must act with a firm hand if it wants to maintain its sovereignty.
In an attempt to understand modern capitalism, I learned a lot about “socialism” here in Cuba from the progressive Canadian researcher Naomi Klein. A few days ago Cuban television viewers saw “No Logo,” a documentary based on Klein’s book of the same title.
My grandparents used to tell me that in their hometown of Madruga, racial discrimination was once alive and well. Few whites would associate with blacks, and a white woman who got involved with a black man was rejected by everyone (white). (8 photos)
About ten years ago, I had a bunch of friends who were “burnouts” (as we used to call them) because of conditions of life here, though I didn’t choose them because of that condition.
A large billboard has popped up around the city with the smiling face of the Jose Antonio Echeverria and the phrase: “A golden heart full of dynamite.” What would a visitor who didn’t know our history think? Or those young people that repudiate it for the way the history is canned in school?