Isbel Diaz

Finally, the authorities have publicly acknowledged that there’s cholera in Havana. Now, if we truly want to protect ourselves, we need gas to boil all the water we consume. It’s that simple.

When a friend leaves Cuba, it’s as if they’ve died. The relationship that had started at a bus stop or in a classroom suddenly dissolves into the past and nothing else grows after the moment of their departure.

The current session of the Cuban parliament is ending and the issue of the extension of rights to people with sexual orientations that are not heterosexual has again been left off the island’s legislative agenda. Though outraged, I’m really not too surprised given the lack of autonomy of the Cuban Parliament.

After reading a brief article in the national press, I became suspicious about Cuban policy regarding forestry. What some Cuban journalists have managed to achieve is making it seem like it’s possible to promote reforestation and deforestation at the same time.

The chainsaws of Cuba’s Ministry of Agriculture have killed another ceiba in Havana. This time though, along with my friend Jimmy, I had the opportunity to talk with the person responsible for this latest murder.

The overwhelming majority of us Cubans, who are poor, know that poor quality products are what are provided to us. This even applies to chicken eggs – a major source of protein for the lower class. Most of the time they come to us still spotted with droppings and feathers, in addition to being very small.

“Are you guys ‘underground’?” a young woman asked us recently, as Jimmy and I were going to visit a friend in the hospital who was about to have a baby. Of course the question didn’t end there.

The robust ceiba tree that was growing in front of the university steps in the Cuban capital has been drastically pruned. This is another example of sloppy and disrespectful work of those involved in the green areas in this battered city.

Horrendous! With the stroke of a pen they have managed to give a homophobic skew to the instructions of the Cuba 2012 census takers! One of the paragraphs that defined who would be considered partners was crudely struck out.

The testimonies that I viewed in the documentary Take the Flame confirm that it’s not necessary to respond to the imposed models of femininity or masculinity to be fast, agile, strong, perceptive or to play as a team.