After news concerning our parliament, I was surprised when the Cuban TV announcer started talking about a “Pan-American Contest of All Races.” I wondered whether this was something new related to racial integration… but why such an explicitly biological term?
Read MoreBy the way, could it be that among those interests is the right of citizens to receive diverse, plural, updated, national and international information? I don’t think so, because if that had been the case they wouldn’t have seized the newspapers. Maybe they think Granma daily is enough.
Read MoreYesterday, when Chavez’s death was announced, I was in the heart of the city and was able to pick up some of the spirit felt by people over the departure of the president.
Read MoreWe owe the rise of Chavez and his movement for initiating the breakdown of neoliberal hegemony, which had produced obscene levels of inequality and social exclusion in the countries of Latin America. His legacy was also one of reintroducing forms of integration and solidarity.
Read MoreThe phone rang earlier than usual. A friend had called to share the news that left me wanting to scream, but at the same time I was stunned. I cried out the pain, shocked, because one is always left like that when someone dies violently, unexpectedly.
Read MoreJuan Carlos Fuentes is one of my neighbors in Cojimar, a small fishing village on the eastern outskirts of Havana. He’s a retired fisherman who now makes his living in a rather strategic manner: buying clothes in Panama and selling them in Havana.
Read MoreA week ago, a shoe shiner in central Mexico recognized my accent and asked me, “Hey, are you Cuban?” After acknowledging that I was, he added, “Well then Cuban, this old man is more sensible than the other one… right?”
Read MoreI’m writing these lines to congratulate the new Cuban soccer movement. My readers know that I don’t buy into nationalism, but Cuba’s under-20-year-old soccer team just came in fourth in a regional competition!
Read MoreTypically, acts of censorship by officials of various ranks on the island are carried out with care taken not to leave evidence that can later be used for legal claims. Examples of this include numerous firings of members of independent collectives for what are always explained as administrative reasons.
Read MoreI love old people. Not always of course, but they usually transmit a sense of tranquility and serenity to me. That’s why I relaxed when I found out who would be the head of the Employment Justice Council – the entity that would serve as the arbiter in the case leveled against me by my employer four years ago.
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