At the beginning of the year, I warned of an eminent conservative shift as well as the gradual decline of progressive experiences, born out of the coordination of social protest and institutional reform that has typified the past decade in Latin America.
Read MoreLuis Perez Hernandez is a babalawo priest of the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion who was arrested last August in his suburban home in Westchester (outside of New York City) for cruelty to animals. This is not an atypical case, but another act of harassment that babalawo priests have suffered in the USA.
Read MoreThe Isle of Youth doesn’t make its inhabitants younger, or those who visit it. It owes its name to the camps of hard-working youth that lived there in the 1960s and 70s; they came there from all points of the country to urbanize the island.
Read MoreAbout 50 years ago, Pons was little more than a poor village situated where two roads crossed. With the Revolution, the town received a sawmill and several manufacturing industries, which brought some life and electricity to a land of hacienda owners and campesinos well adapted to their environment.
Read MoreThe wait for the turtles became unbearable. A jittery mood took hold of us when a hurricane approached on the horizon. Pinar del Río is a Cuban province with a special magnet for hurricanes and other harsh weather conditions.
Read MoreI am from Cuba. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be Jamaican, Dutch, or South African. Why? Right now, while you read my thoughts, more than half of you have already begun to judge me. Why? Because for too many people, being Cuban is a moral, or even more so, a political matter.
Read MoreOver the course of the past 50 years, Cuban politics has by no means been detached from the region. However, it was a surprise for many that Honduras – perceived by most people as the most “passive” country in Central America – would elect a left president.
Read MoreHowever, back pains, thirst, hunger and fatigue were not obstacles to enjoying the beauty of the fields of the Cuban west, until we finally took a little siesta. We took pictures that we would never see, because the camera broke and the film was exposed.
Read MoreI believe that the greatest error of Cuban filmmakers is perpetually showing the “ass” of Cuban society, as if here there are no fighters who day to day struggle for their family and their country, as if new activists do not emerge from every barrio.
Read MoreMy diary post “Today’s Teachers” was not based on just one or even ten examples. For several years, even before my cousin began attending the school mentioned, I have listened to friends, classmates and co-workers all complaining about the shortage of true teachers in schools.
Read More