Diaries

Freedom for Your Pecker

Sex mobilizes an enormous amount of human energy. Cuban campesinos have expressed the enormous power of sex in old sayings such as: “A good ass pulls more than a mule, and a pair of hooters can pull more than a horse.

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Countering Violence Against Women in Cuba

With the documentary “La corrupcion de la memoria” (The Corruption of Memory) — consisting of the testimony of a young girl who was raped by her uncle, the capital city’s showing of “Calladita no te ves mas bonita” (When you’re silent you’re not prettier) came to a conclusion.

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How Much ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Can We Take?

The Cuban national television network “Tele Rebelde” has again started showing prime time reruns of the legendary American series “Little House on the Prairie.” Rather than a marathonic soap opera deserving to be reshown twice in a span of less than three years, it exists more like a museum fossil.

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When a Friend Leaves Cuba

When a friend leaves Cuba, it’s as if they’ve died. The relationship that had started at a bus stop or in a classroom suddenly dissolves into the past and nothing else grows after the moment of their departure.

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Christmas Devours Caracas

Two men in underwear — each pair emblazoned with the US flag — were hitting each other indulgently in a boxing ring. In front of the big screen on which they appeared, a Christmas tree was swaying chaotically.

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My First Express Detention (Part II)

One night I went out with my friends to just hang out. Everything went fine and we didn’t run into any problems. But when it came time to go back home, there weren’t any buses around, so we decided to sit on a curb talking crap until something showed up.

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When I Left Havana

“When I left Havana, I didn’t say goodbye to anybody” was a line from a song in my childhood. It continued with “…only to a little Chinese dog tagged along behind me.” I don’t know why, but ever since I was a kid and I heard that tune, I’d invariably be seized by an unjustified sadness.

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Spiritualists in Havana

On this day of celebrating Christ, people came early expecting the arrival of the time 12:12 p.m. on 12-12-12 as the numerological convergence of energy indicates.

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Terror and Cowardice

Due to my inability to access the Internet, I had to read the comments and post titled “Controversy Around the Word ‘Terror’” in fragments and late. Still, I was left with the same questions turning around in my mind: Can fear be measured? What authority can demarcate where fear ends and terror begins?

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