Diaries Archives - Page 525 of 647

Marginalization Isn’t Criminal

“Ambientoso” (braggart) is a word used in Cuba to describe the social behavior of many people who live in highly marginalized and impoverished neighborhoods on the island.

Constructing Constructivism

I will try to explain a little about the term “alienation” that I constantly use in my diary entries. I assert that a circumstance of alienation exists when the environment is stiff, when it is resists accommodating our interests.

Our Own Personal Cock Fights

Prior to the victory of the Revolution, cock fights were the favorite form of entertainment in rural areas as well as in many marginal urban neighborhoods across the country.

Women’s Day, Another Day of Struggle

. Some would dare say that in Cuba this day is a festive one because women now have the same rights as men and are treated the same way by society. But to say this it would be necessary to close one’s eyes.

My Neighbor’s Serenade

Sitting in the front room of our house, we were watching the nine o’clock soap opera when suddenly we heard an unusual sound.

Another Type of Violence

People talk a lot about the violence that reigns among the peoples of Latin America today. Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia are all countries — to mention only a few — that possess ruptured systems of civil security.

Imposed Cities

La Bajada, a rural community in Pinar del Rio province, is a ghost town. It’s a series of vacant deteriorating buildings.

In Somebody Else’s Shoes

“I’m on this side, but I have to put myself in your place. I know full well that it’s not easy. I’d love to give everyone a ride for free, but I can’t. Everybody needs money to survive, but this is the only way I have to survive myself.”

Piracy in Cuba

Tyrants Taking Flight

Seeing the fall of the old tyrants of the Arab world — pushed not out by other idiots like themselves, but by popular street demonstrations — was something exciting to me.