Luis Rondon's Diary Archives - Page 5 of 8

Two Pieces of Cuban Red Tape and No Solutions (1)

It’s been exactly a year now since I naively pinned my hopes on the Cuban bureaucratic system for the umpteenth time. I’m sad to say it, but reality keeps giving me a slap in the face …

When Making a Difference Really Counts

On May 15th this year, the National Association for the Deaf “ANSOC” invited me to give a talk about Sexually Transmitted Disease “STDs” at the Muncipal Committee’s hall in Havana’s Boyeros municipality.

The Tradition of Mother’s Day in Cuba

Mother’s Day was held for the first time in Cuba on May 10, 1920 at the Santiago de las Vegas Teaching and Recreation Center on the outskirts of Havana. It began at the initiative by local historian Francisco Montoto and a group of young intellectuals.

A US Visa Denied, the Thaw with Cuba and My Arguments

Last Tuesday, I went to the US Embassy in Havana for the third time. The two previous times, I had gone with my mother, for her interview. Her visa was denied the two times because, according to the official who interviewed her, her arguments weren’t convincing enough to grant her a visa.

Obama Reached the Hearts of Many Cubans

I wasn’t able to hold back the tears when I heard him pronounce such words as “the future of Cuba has to be in the hands of Cubans,” his faith in the new generations, in Cuba’s youth, and my own hopes of building a freer, more equitable and truly just Cuba.

Working with the White House

Who’d guess this Cuban would be working with the White House, to put in his grain of sand towards the rapprochement of Cuba and the United States in favor of a free flow of information, understanding and mutual respect? (6 photos)

Waiting in Purgatory: A Trip to Nueva Gerona, Cuba

As is often the case with me, reality proved far stranger than fiction. I arrived at the bus terminal at 6:30 in the morning and was shocked to see over a hundred persons ahead of me in line to get to Batabano on the southern coast and board the ferry to the Isle of Youth.