The few examples of democracy that have been given to the world have in fact occurred – and not without reason – under the danger of foreign attack; that is to say, foreign aggression is not an excuse for refraining from the call for self-government, but just the opposite.
Read MoreThe worst case I’ve seen of the degradation of a medical practice is that of Dr. Conrado. Though Cuba is full of polyclinics you can normally only be seen by the one in your locality. This is stipulated by law.
Read MoreOn occasion adherents of the Yoruba religion make offerings to the Orishas: deities of African origin. Each deity is related to some element or force of nature, which is why the Yoruba religion is often celebrated as a medium for communion with the environment, with those entities for which modernity, in its ascent, has lost respect.
Read MoreLuz has the gift of being a first-rate cook. Going to her house is like visiting Havana’s renowned Bodeguita del Medio restaurant. She serves you what she has without thinking twice, even if there’s nothing left for her later on – or the money to buy it.
Read MoreBehind the gates, masked individuals guard Oventic, one of the autonomous municipalities controlled by Zapatista rebels in southern Mexico. We find the tension floating in the air just as we get out of the van that took us to the entry of the Caracol II encampment, 20 minutes from San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Read MoreA month ago today I had an accident in my backyard. As I was trying to repair the concrete perimeter wall by myself – foolishly – an over 200 kilo slab fell on my left leg. I was lucky, because if it hadn’t fallen diagonally I’d be writing this story without toes, and I’d have to sign this diary as Osmel the cripple.
Read MoreWhat a tremendous accomplishment it was that we Cubans – resolved to trace our own path – gathered enough courage to shake ourselves free of the tutelage of the United States.
Read MoreStalinist Cubans are the applied and persevering artisans of a possible capitalist transition within OUR country. Socialism doesn’t need smokescreens. The only way to confront precipices is to uncover them. To look into the abyss and see the abyss looking back, as Nietzsche once said. Only the brave – socialist or not – extend their eyes into the abyss.
Read MoreIf my brother had wanted to become a carpenter, he wouldn’t have been able to; not because my craftsman grandfather’s death occurred unexpectedly, but because my grandfather wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to teach him. He didn’t have a workshop, or the raw material (wood) to work, or a way to obtain it.
Read MoreThe presence of Verela at that concert was for me stranger than my family having transformed their Sunday routine. How was it that this man -who I have always known for being rebellious and an iconoclast- was singing amid that ocean of vacuous symbols and euphoria?
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