To live in Havana was to be in that part of the country where there is a little more of everything, despite the shortages. It was living in a city that I could brag about despite the regional differences and phobias; the place where everyone wants to move to; the center of entertainment and economic development.
Read MoreSome dissident bloggers also showed up. One of them was an older grayed-hair person who had apparently met me at the theological institute where we had both studied. He asked me, “Who’s organizing this? I see that people from ‘Socialism of the 21st Century’ are here. This must be an official march.”
Read MoreA few days ago, when concluding a departmental meeting at my job (The Carlos J. Finlay National Museum of the History of Science), a black female co-worker who recently graduated in history expressed with no qualms her indignation for the repeated appearance of homosexual relationships on Cuban television.
Read MoreFrom whose head sprang such a twisted idea? I’m convinced it didn’t come from a child. It seems more likely this occurred to somebody worried about sowing -as soon as possible in the impressionable minds of adolescents- a siege mentality.
Read MoreToday it was my turn to clean the house, my brother’s turn to cook, my stepfather’s turn to go to market and my mother’s turn to rest, since the poor woman spends all week at these same chores while we are all at work.
Read MoreThe white, red and blue cigarette package is up front. The poster ad shows a group of cheerful young people holding each other arm in arm. In the middle are words that clearly show the advertiser’s approach to selling: “Cigarettes mean company.”
Read More“Another one’s gone nuts” was how an e-mail began that was sent to a friend of mine a few days ago. With such an inflammatory heading, those of us who received the forwarded letter read in it anticipation, anxious to find out who this crazy person was.
Read MoreI’ve spent the last several days itinerantly following the development of debates and actions around two recent events in Cuba’s public sphere: the “Último Jueves” (“Last Thursday of the Month”) forum on the Internet, sponsored by “Temas” magazine, and the March for Nonviolence held on November 6.
Read MoreThey give them all a uniform: dark pants, light shirt and sometimes a cute necktie that neither the police nor the military use, nor anyone else within the realm of those who wear uniforms. It’s as if they wanted to give this civil army made up of those commonly known as Watchmen, that tragicomic touch possessed by clowns.
Read MoreViolence is a reality present in almost all social settings: the family, gender relationships, childhood and education, sports, wars, the State and international politics, ecology… It would be simpler but more difficult to specify situations where there is not violence. Regrettably, Cuba is not an exception to this logic.
Read More