Diaries

On Cooperatives as an Alternative

A while back, Raul Jimenez sent in a comment about one of my posts referring to cooperatives. He asked about the benefits of this form of organizing work in relation to the development of private businesses.

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Gray with Black Stitches

Returning to a little popular slang (also known as “cubanisms”), when we say something is bad, we say “it’s black.” Similarly, to say that something is bad and going to get worse, we say “it’s gray with black stitches.”

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Killing Hitler: Come and See

When they first showed Come and See in the cinemas here in Havana, people were impressed by a narrative that was so different from the classic Soviet style of making movies about the war.

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Lights in the Street, Darkness at Home

It had been exactly 12 years since I last went inside that place. The memory of my mother’s last dying breathes had made it impossible for me to set foot in the Provincial Oncological Hospital since then.

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The Eternal Waiting List

At the Main Bus Terminal in Havana, a well-known system is used for people to get a bus without having purchased a ticket weeks in advance, which is what most people do. This involves the dreaded “waiting list.”

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The Blog of Cuba’s Silvio Rodriguez

I just visited Cuban musician Silvio Rodriguez’s blog. I learned about it through a news story that featured his statement: “Everything done to destroy the ultra-conservative bureaucracy will result in benefits for the country.”

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What I know about Elias Biscet

I don’t believe that seconding the blockade and referring constantly to God are going to earn many votes in Cuba for this doctor-turned-politician, although they will earn favor among anti-Castro radicals far removed from the human consequences of the Blockade.

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