Panelists of Cuban television’s Round Table program have been speaking in defense of the rights of immigrants to the United States for years. Shouldn’t they begin by speaking in defense of those Cubans living in Havana who are arbitrarily deported and sent back to their provinces of origin by the police?
Read MoreAmanda smiles whenever anyone asks her if she likes going to school or not: a sincere, happy smile that reminds me of my own many years ago. Until the last school year, we would hear Amanda crying out on the stairwell every morning – she didn’t want to go to her kindergarten.
Read More“Let us try and save Cuban Customs,” the island’s official press appears to be saying without the slightest bit of subtlety, for, in recent months, it has covered just about everything this institution is doing, to make it look very busy.
Read MoreSome good friends of mine refer to the spot on Havana’s G avenue they habitually sit at “The Magic Grass.” It’s the only affordable and desirable place where an entire night can be spent with a guitar and a bottle of wine?
Read MoreMy friend Paula wrote me from the United States. “People are strange here, it’s not like down there” she told me. “Where we live, people are really snobbish. No one even looks at anyone. To many, we’re just a bunch of dirty immigrants…”
Read MoreI called a friend. We agreed to meet up at an establishment very close to a place people call the “Curve”, in Alamar, to have something to drink and talk. The first thing that struck me when I went out was the profound darkness that envelops this part of the city.
Read MoreAt 35, Lazaro is a Cuban like many others, a good person without great ambition, that is, someone with a run-of-the-mill job and rather humble income. He has a girlfriend whom he very much wants to marry.
Read MoreYears ago, the small 16th Street beach in Miramar, Havana, was a very popular spot. People, particularly the very young, travelled far to go swimming there and enjoy its peaceful atmostphere. It was a place where beauty and youth met.
Read MoreThough I am surrounded by large urban organic gardens where I live, putting fresh, healthy food on my table is becoming harder every day – and not precisely because of the prices. Aimed at benefitting the low-income population, they are now the chief supplier of Havana’s private restaurants.
Read MoreI have a neighbor who travelled to Italy on an invitation from his daughter, who left Cuba 15 years ago, when she married a foreigner. His only son also lives there. He had planned a three-month stay, but, a week after arriving…
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