Diaries

Chasing Dreams Down Havana’s Via Blanca Highway

Living a stone’s throw away from Havana’s Via Blanca highway means being witness to a constant flow of buses, cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians, of people who set out in search of their dreams every day. People headed to Havana’s east-laying beaches, workplaces in the city, the arms of a loved one, or the last place you would think of.

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A “Dirty Book” About Cuban Reality

Today, I got a hold of a book by the Cuban comedy group Nos y Otros. Published by a Santa Clara publishing house in 1998, this “dirty book” (as the volume is titled) gathers a collection of stories driven by clever and scathing social critique. What prompted me to write about these stories is the fact they continue to reflect Cuban reality quite accurately.

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Cubans and the Salt Cure

We got a clear picture of what we Cubans are made of last year, when a gas station in Santiago de Cuba blew up. That was perhaps one of the most painful confirmations that Cubans are made of a spineless slime: those people splashing about over the spilt gasoline, as though it were a puddle of water…for God’s sake…

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Let’s Say NO to Transgenic Ag in Cuba

Genetically modified crops continue to be introduced into Cuban farmlands in a secretive fashion, while domestic consumers and producers are practically left out of all debates surrounding the design of policies and strategies in this area.

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Cuba: Hooked to the Cell Phone

With over 2 million mobile phone users, Cuba has around half a million more cell phones than landlines. A number of “competent” authorities often speak of this proudly, as though the reality behind this phenomenon weren’t shameful.

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The Cuban Five: An End to Injustice

The coming month of September will mark 15 years of one of the greatest injustices ever to be committed in the United States. I am speaking of the detention, trial and conviction of five innocent Cubans, whose only crime was to try and prevent acts of terrorism against Cuba which were being planned in the state of Florida.

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Some Remarks on Cuba’s Draft Labor Bill

Cuba’s Draft Labor Bill, drawn up in December of last year, is now being distributed to workers at all workplaces around the country. The consultation beginning is hailed as an “expression of our revolutionary democracy”.

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Farewell to Cuba’s Journalists Congress

Following the conclusion of the 9th Congress of the Cuban Journalists Association (UPEC), all Cuban alternative media unanimously agree on one thing: the island’s official journalists will continue to act as faithful spokespeople of the regime.

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