Diaries Archives - Page 533 of 646

Expanded Private Initiatives in Cuba

Cubans now have a huge new pool of private capital to solicit for startup investment. It remains to be seen if this idea will materialize into overseas wire transfers and person to person micro-lending.

Cuba’s Most Amazing Videos

A few years ago, security cameras were mounted in the streets of the main cities of the country, which at the beginning caught everyone’s attention for being so out of the ordinary.

My Visit to Coconut Island

This past January 7th was my 23rd birthday, and I celebrated it in a way typical of a little girl: I went to an amusement park. The price of admission is only a peso (five cents USD), and if you look to the right while walking toward the rides you can see the sea.

Buying Candy from the Teacher

Snack time had come to a school located on the periphery of Havana. With it, the astonished students observed how their teacher — from one moment to the next — transformed into an efficient vendor of sweets and candy.

Private Property & Consumer Rights

One time I had an argument with a private taxi driver, and from that moment on I knew I’d never get in his cab again, even if when there’s not another one.

Conviction and Disenchantment in Today’s Cuba

As a result of the changes now underway in Cuba, several people have written me to share their views regarding the impact they are experiencing — or foresee suffering — in their daily lives.

A Culture of Work and Illegality

There exist jobs that have remained outside the self-employment legalization process that the Cuban government is now implementing.

Old Thieves

It is not only Cuba’s youth who have been feeling the bitter consequences of this decline in values. The elderly are also seeking ways to adjust to a society where “anything goes.”

Skating Through Life

I saw him whisk by like he’d done so many times before, reveling in the speed of his skates, with his white hair tossed around by the wind and with a look of curiosity about everything that surrounded him.

A Broken Pitcher

I don’t know of another “animal exhibitor” in Cuba except for the man in the photo, the sole person who does this work listed by the Ministry of Labor as one of the 178 types of jobs for which self-employment is now permitted.