Diaries Archives - Page 526 of 647

They Tried to Burn Down My Tree

It was around eight o’clock in the evening, and the park where the cadaver of my ceiba tree now lies was dark. In the dimness, a silent fire grew. The base of the tree was in flames.

Interpreting Flags from Cuba

Gala season has started at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba. Every year each country, or region, of the world represented at ELAM puts together a cultural variety show that usually includes a few lines on history, a few more on contemporary society and plenty of dancing.

Guantanamo’s Creeping Unemployment

I can only imagine not having a job. At times I might ask myself what difference it makes since what I’m paid isn’t close to what my family needs, but the answer comes to me quickly: Without that little bit of monthly cash, our economic situation would be even worse.

Along the Canopied Sidewalk

“Look at this! Years back, a spectacle like that wasn’t allowed. The police would have come and carted them all off. Today they hang around all over the place,” commented a man who was also waiting for a bus.

They’re Shooting Arrows

It seems that with all this self-employed work that has taken hold here in Cuba, someone has been carrying out Cupid’s job – and very efficiently.

Dissident and Mercenary Are Not Synonymous

I find it all even more incomprehensible when someone who politically disagrees here is called a “dissident” and ends up also being branded a “mercenary.” I find it difficult to understand such a contradiction.

Call Me a Palestinian* Now!

With this sarcastic phrase, the Guantanamo public taunted the baseball players on the team from the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio; which had just suffered a crushing series defeat at the hands of “The Guaso Indians” – the team of the inflamed Guantanameros.