Diaries

Between the Revolution & the Wall (Part 2)

Few copies of those books were ever printed, though I believe they should be in every university classroom and in each municipal library. Through their presentations, however, the “Revolution Beyond the Walls” meeting was an excellent opportunity to extend bridges between young Cubans and the imaginations of radical thinkers.

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The Other Pandemic (Part II)

During the most difficult times of the “Special Period” (the 1993-94 crisis in Cuba resulting from the collapse of the socialist camp), I estimate that more than 50 percent of the Cuban population tossed their dogs out into the street. These former pets contracted all types of illnesses, among them what is commonly called “mange,” which can also affect people.

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ELAM Med School 10 Years After

ELAM is a large school where students from many countries converge; therefore it’s a place where the various cultures of Latin America come into contact and begin to understand one another, an undoubtedly challenging situation.

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Healthy Amusement

My work is particularly interesting. I’m in charge of the strategic design, execution and review of literary promotion on the radio, as well as book presentations and gatherings, poetry readings, tributes to writers, competitions between radio listeners and other literary activities.

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Should I Believe You Granma?

On Thursday, November 19, there appeared a relatively extensive article in the newspaper Granma titled “The Intellectual Orphanage of Human Rights Watch.” A journalist for the official organ of the Party informed us that the preceding day this NGO had accused the “island” of failing to improve its human rights record.

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The Return to Poverty

Less than a year ago, there began to appear a considerable number of people in the streets of Havana who reminded me of my country. Beggars had re-emerged. In the beginning, I thought this involved only a few Cubans who were simply trying to take advantage of tourism to pocket some easy change.

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The Other Pandemic

The local media constantly hammers us about the measures we must take to avoid contracting the AH1N1 virus, an infamous pandemic. However, when I stop to analyze the many things that affect us in our society, I note that there are other pandemics that can and do upset the stability and balance of any human being; these are situations that directly threaten our mental health.

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Good-Bye Ration Book

These days I’m bidding farewell to something truly unique. I believe that in the history of all humanity, in the whole world, unless you’re Cuban you won’t know how to explain it, and from whose separation I don’t know if I’ll survive. I speaking of my beloved “ration supply book.”

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A Kid’s Passion

Seeing my 12-year-old cousin obsessed with the new treasure that he handled daily piqued my curiosity. I found out it was a collection of cards based on stories from Japanese “manga” comics. The much-desired cards are permeated with magic.

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Forgotten Things about Violence

But nonviolence in Cuba is not a new phenomenon: it was mentioned for the first time at the end of the 1960s by several Protestant church leaders. They broke with a tradition that had been adopted in the conservative gospel of the North, now being reformed by its Black American adherents, especially the southerners and particularly by the thought and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.

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