Diaries Archives - Page 514 of 647

A Cuba Urban Bus Terminal Scene

The slow drone of idling diesel engines and their steady exhaust serve as a backdrop for all other sensations at Terminal Playa, the main city bus interchange in western Habana.

Of Balladeers and Trova Musicians

For several years, with the development of tourism in the city, our musical patrimony has been heavily exploited. This has been done by professionals and amateurs, by corporations and centers created or designed for that aim or on their own initiative by people in search of hard currency.

Criminalization of the Internet in Cuba

The Cuban state and government have deployed a mass media campaign to politically criminalize the Internet. The argument is that it is part of one of the strategies for political intervention by the United States into Cuban affairs.

Invited to the US Interests Section

Several days before May Day, I received a letter from the US Interest Section (the de facto American embassy here in Havana). I wasn’t the only one who received one; copies were also sent to a colleague of mine and to the members of the Critical Observatory network.

My Repeated Return to Viñales

Once again I’ve pulled out my beat-up backpack to hit the guerrilla trail, this time in the company of a Venezuelan woman; as well as with Irina and Yordanka, two collaborators with Havana Times.

What Does It Have to Do with the Chinese?

On Sunday my mother picked up a copy of the La Tribuna newspaper, and after reading it for barely a couple minutes, she closed the paper slowly. At the same instant her face reflected concern.

Changing Mentalities

With the recent congress of the Communist Party having concluded, a friend of mine visiting here in Havana asked me if I thought it was possible for leaders who have been so anchored to their dogma for so many years to change their mentality.

Easter Eggs

When my mother lived in this realm of the world, every Easter she would boil some eggs for us, along with slices of onions. The eggs were dyed a reddish color. That’s how she’d been taught in her native Russia.

March of the Masses

With their arms held high, waving flags, they loudly and clearly shouted phrases reaffirming that if the party or the revolution calls, the people will respond. This was how the International Workers Day March took place in “the second city” of the island.

How I Spent International Workers Day

The historical origins of this march are conveniently silenced in our media. The popular demands by Chicago workers in 1886 and their strong criticism of the government and capitalism are not pointed out.