Few foreign cities have such a vital importance in the imagination of people in another country as the city of Miami has for Cubans. Always treated with hostility by the official State media, but often idealized by the average Cuban on the street, Miami today is for many Cubans on the island the closest thing to the “Cuban dream.”
Read MoreAs we entered the city of Matanzas, for me it was a completely new sensation and utterly different from what I’d imagined. I only knew that this province was a major producer of citrus fruit and henequen fiber, that it had a very intense cultural life, and that a large number of Cuban baseball stars had been born here…ah, and that it’s known as the “City of Bridges.”
Read MoreTo maintain both forms of partisanship (official and dissident) outside the electoral process and to prevent police interference in the community would be examples of respect for civic will and for the legitimacy of perhaps the only level in the nation where popular participation still plays a leading role (and not mere ornamentation).
Read MoreI don’t believe in the bureaucracy, and less still that somebody is capable of filling out a form to enter the United States admitting “Yes sir, I belonged to a terrorist organization that taught me how to plant bombs on commercial airplanes; in fact, once we did place one, and it worked.”
Read MoreIn front of my building are two benches where several youth from the block sit to talk. In these cool January days, when I’ve taken the dog downstairs for a walk, I’ve sat near them and have been able to hear their discussions.
Read More“In the Footsteps of Che Guevara” is an annual chess tournament held between different ministries and agencies of the State. We are now holding the competition for the second time.
Read MoreSince Cuba’s television networks cut back on the production of telenovelas a good while back, the past few months they’ve been showing reruns of the popular police series “Día y Noche” (Day and Night.) In this series is a character known as “Tavo” (short for Octavio), who is a police agent with the mission of infiltrating the ranks of the murky Cuban underworld of the 1990s.
Read MoreThe event was also called “Casa Tomada” (Occupied house), because for nearly a week all corners of the Casa de las Americas cultural institution were given over to conferences and expositions of artists from nearly all branches of the arts.
Read MoreTraveling is a constant in the thoughts of Cubans. I wonder if this is because of the prohibitions on traveling abroad (Cubans who wish to travel must obtain a letter of invitation from someone in the destination country; they cannot just apply for a visa and then go directly to the airport to buy a ticket).
Read MoreA friend asked me for my New Year’s predictions for Cuba. I —who don’t include optimism among my strong points— consented to this with what I consider a sound presage.
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