Kabir Vega’s Diary

Thinking back to my fondest memories, when I was just a child, I didn’t imagine how tough the reality was in the country I lived in. I think I remember everything I told my mother I wanted to do when I was less than 8 years old…

Nearly every Cuban analyzes the perks of a public sector job, not the salary but the extras they can get out of it (normally goods that are obtained illegally). This reality might seem far-fetched for a foreigner, but here are some examples:

It was going to be another routine day of signing onto the Internet at the ETECSA computer room, without anything important to report. However, on my way there, I was extremely shocked to find that a natural area had been completely mutilated…

I don’t believe there is a single person in Cuba who hasn’t experienced a relative or friend leave in search of a better future abroad. I believe some of them are never able to forget that feeling: bearing witness to somebody change their life radically while they remain behind, paralyzed, trapped in a country with a suffocating reality and no prospects of improving whatsoever.

When it comes to any overly expensive service, you can only hope for two things: quality and security. However, there is no doubt Cuba’s telecommunications monopoly, ETECSA, has managed to provide its customers with the worst service possible, with incredible efficiency. A slow and unsecure connection.

In Cuba, schools have been almost fascist, well at least post-1959. Ever since primary school, whenever we have talked about the universe’s origins, I remember how teachers used to give us Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution as the absolute and irrefutable truth.

This year’s halfway point is drawing near and with that came another May 1st, an annual event where Cubans show their enthusiasm and hard-working spirit by joining the classic parade.

“There’s no hope for our youth”, is a common phrase here in Cuba. Luckily, people have never used it with me, but I have to regularly sit and listen to how many people agree that young people behave inappropiately.

The media is the result of progress made over many years seeking to spread information quickly, from and to every nook and cranny in the civilized world. The Internet and TV have been two of the greatest achievements made in this regard, however, just as a tool can be used for good, it can also be used for bad.

It’s been two years now that I first signed up on the SNET network, which emerged spontaneously due to the lack of internet access here in Cuba and I have praised it in more than one of my articles. However, this time, I have nothing positive to say, rather I need to give my condolences.