Diaries

The Women of Latin America’s Left

Women are taking a lead role in the Latin American political scene and they have come with proposals to reduce social inequality to a maximum and to bring about the political, economic and social integration of the L.A. region and the Caribbean.

Read More

Are Codes of Ethics Good for Anything?

I saw a news piece on television reporting that the president of France and the German chancellor are discussing the possibility of signing a code of ethics. Apparently, it has to do with how governments should behave in order not to end up spying on one another.

Read More

My Dog Bruno’s Death

Our friendship began almost a decade ago. Every night, returning home from work, I would find him lying on the dirt near the bus stop – old, scrawny, his skin covered with disease, slow in his gait, hungry and, most noticeably, sad, very sad. No one was able to tell me where that sorry-looking beast had come from.

Read More

Getting Dengue in Cuba

I’d always thought of the whole dengue fever business as something that happens to others, something people can die from, but not anyone close to me. I imagine a lot of people think this way and will continue to do so. I don’t think this way anymore.

Read More

An Unauthorized Tribute to Cuban Singer Teresita Fernandez

This past Sunday, a group of young people met in the beautiful San Francisco de Asis square in Havana’s old town to pay a personal tribute to Cuban children’s song writer and singer Teresita Fernandez – without having been officially invited to do so, without signed permits and without TV microphones.

Read More

Love at First Sight on a Cuban Street

There are only two things in the world I like more than plants. One is telling stories. The other are kids, particularly children under five. For me, it is delightful to spend time with a little kid, to see their smiles, to pamper them. On occasion, I offer them some of the sweets I carry around for my own girls so as to get as close to them and get a glimpse at those perfect beings that will soon not be so perfect.

Read More

Cuba is Not an Enemy of the USA

To claim that Cuba is an enemy of the United States would be humorous if the statement didn’t have such tragic and shameful consequences. How could a small country, without offensive weapons of any kind represent a threat to the most powerful empire on the face of the earth today?

Read More

Cuban Design and Private Initiative

“Cuban design ? difficulties” is a simple and useful formula that could well be used to summarize the situation of this practice on the island. The promotional and support strategies which the Cuban revolution developed in many cultural sectors (such as popular music, ballet and others) were scant in connection with the design arts.

Read More

Write Your Deputy: A Call on Cuba’s Left

The part of the new labor code that would regulate work relations in the non-State sector grants employers a series of unheard-of faculties, while leaving employees virtually without any real protection before the management’s decisions. In essence, the new code seeks to empower Cuba’s emerging middle class.

Read More

The Passion for Baseball in Santiago de Cuba

The Cuban baseball league season is the biggest sporting event on the island. This year it involves 16 teams from each of the provinces and the Isla de la Juventud. Here are my pictures taken at a recent game between Holguin and the home team Santiago de Cuba. (20 photos)

Read More