The receptionist at the polyclinic kindly explained to me that the ultrasound request I’d brought had been filled out incorrectly, for, according to her, it wasn’t possible to examine the liver, gallbladder, bladder, kidneys and biliary tracts in a single ultrasound procedure.
Read MoreIt was the month of September of 1993. Cubans faced one of the darkest chapters of the country’s political, economic and social history. The Berlin Wall had fallen and Cuba’s economic crisis (the “Special Period”) was at its most severe: the US blockade was being intensified, the economy was being dollarized and people were leaving the country on rafts and en masse.
Read MoreRecently, on the eve of October 10, a Cuban national holiday commemorating the date (in 1868) in which Cuban landowner Carlos Manuel de Cespedes and his retinue of (former) slaves took up arms against Spanish colonial domination, a Round Table program bearing the controversial title of “Neither Black Nor White: Cuba is Mixed Race” was aired on television.
Read MoreMy aim with this post is not to again criticize my friends the journalists. On the contrary, today I will write about a clever program aired every week during the Cuban television’s evening news. Cuba dice (“Cuba Says”) is the closest thing to the critical and timely investigative journalism we dearly need that we’ve ever had.
Read MoreSome days ago, I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a very long time. From the clothes he was wearing and the accent he spoke with, I immediately realized he was now living abroad. We sat down together to catch up. We told stories, asked each other questions, laughed.
Read MoreI recently had the immense pleasure of meeting Isidro Estrada, one of Havana Times’ vanguard commentators, in person. Our compatriot has been living in China for about fifteen years. He decided to hop on over to his native soil for a bit and we set up something of an ambush for him.
Read MoreBefore the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Cuba has once again called on nations to work towards general and complete disarmament, including the banning of nuclear arsenals. Though we must continue to ask for this at all international forums, this goal is, in my opinion, nothing short of an unattainable dream.
Read MoreIt’s been over a month since the beginning of the “yellow ribbon” campaign calling for the release of the 4 Cubans imprisoned in the United States and yellow – which is also the color of Cuba’s Virgin of Charity and the Yoruba deity Oshun – continues to tint the city with its complex polysemy of spiritual symbolism and its tacit call for conformity and political commitment.
Read MoreThe point is that, today, finding a bit of milk in Venezuela can turn into a veritable adventure. In the past few months, I’ve traveled through several states in the country and have seen long, sweaty lines of people in front of State or private markets offering the product.
Read MoreYou open the door to Havana’s Café Fortuna – nestled beyond a steep set of steps – to the chimes of little bronze bells shaped like pagodas. If it weren’t for the glass counter before you, you’d think you had mistakenly stumbled into the living room of some extravagant collector.
Read More