When I take a stroll down Alamar, if I have to cut across a green area, I find it hard to choose a path: absolutely all of them are covered with garbage, and the abominable smell of rotting food, dead animals and stagnant water.
Read MoreI wonder whether, in a few months, Venezuelans will feel as though they live on an island. If I’m able to travel to Cuba any time in the future – and I do hope it’s soon – I’ll have to think twice about it, go over the decision to travel months in advance (and, more than think, put together a whole lot of money).
Read MoreHavana’s offerings of Comida Criolla mostly consist of overly greasy, yet surprisingly dry fare; usually served at room temperature. My definition of the national food of Cuba got a second look after I went to the newish restaurant Aqui in the Cerro neighborhood of the capitol.
Read MoreAt the beginning of this year, Cuba took another important step towards “normality.” Cubans can now approach a State dealership and buy a car with nothing other than a wad of bills. The problem now is the prohibitive prices.
Read MoreFor me, Miami was a world caught between work as a way of life and the affection of my relatives, a city saturated with asphalt and anonymity, where the nostalgia felt by Cuban immigrants lacks the gleaming splendor described by the songs of Willy Chirino.
Read MoreTalking a walk around this old and refurbished quarter of Old Havana, where one always seems to find something new, something one missed during a previous stroll among the ancient buildings, is very agreeable experience.
Read MoreWhat similarity is there between the prices established by the State and those that exist in the black market for automobiles? What standard of measure was used? What kind of research was done? What sector did they focus on?
Read MoreI thought I knew death – at once the negation and the complement of life – but I now feel obliged to admit I only had a mental image of death, a theory. True death, tethered to the intensity of one’s affection for the loved one we lose, is very different from this rational interpretation of death.
Read MoreIt would seem the issue of Cuba’s sugar industry is caught up in an endless process marked by intermittent stages of silence and controversy. As of the close of November last year, with the start of the 2013-2014 harvest, we appear to be entering a boisterous, propagandistic period.
Read MorePlaff, o demasiado miedo para vivir (“Plaff, or Too Afraid to Live”) is a Cuban film from the late 80s starring Daisy Granados, Luis Alberto Garcia and Thais Valdes, premiered at the close of Cuba’s decade of material abundance.
Read More