Erasmo Calzadilla’s Diary

The general population of most countries does not have the tools to prevent or control ambitious and hazardous projects that the technocratic elite undertake in collusion with governments.

I met Alexis Jardines on a university campus. He was a philosophy professor and later I enrolled to try to become one too. His theories seemed to me back then to be so brilliant on one side and so opaque on the other. I mentioned that to him one time but he disagreed.

Near the end of the 15th century, and after 24 days of sailing, a man came to our continent who would give his name to it for centuries: Americo Vespucio.

What can we do to banish totalitarianism in Cuba or elsewhere without leading to the establishment of another more terrible system? To answer this we would first have to understand the existing political system.

In my hands I have one of the brochures prepared by Cuba’s ideo-bureaucracy to discourage young people from using drugs and for helping teachers with that daunting task.

Now that I have a computer, and sometimes even a few odd moments connected to the Internet thanks to a borrowed account, I take advantage of every resonating political occurrence to learn about the hot spots and topics in this convulsed world.

In November, general “elections” will be held in Nicaragua, that small Central American nation so close to Cuba’s heart. Etched in my subconscious are those revolutionary ballads that were heard here like broken records as a result of the victory of Sandinistas over the tyrant Somoza.

In 1959, the same year as the Cuban revolution, Soviet scientists began implementing a project to tame silver foxes on a farm in the ill-famed region of Siberia. From among the initial population they bred the meekest animals, repeating this procedure with each subsequent generation.

Military service in Cuba is mandatory – unless you’re gay, crazy or have enough money to pay off a corrupt official to get you out of it. I don’t know anybody who has ever voluntarily gone to sign up at the recruitment office.