When I was boy in the Reparto Eléctrico —a neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, and where I continue to live today— seemed like a veritable jungle. The concerts of frogs and crickets in the silence of the night made you feel far removed from all civilization.
Read MoreWow! This was a dream come true, because Alamar had become one of Havana’s symbols of poor transportation ever since the beginning of the economic crisis of the 1990s. Far from the city center, the neighborhood is made up of a huge population of which most people work outside the community.
Read MoreAt lunchtime we found the La Terraza Restaurant, visited by Hemingway in his time. It was decorated with stuffed swordfish, fish tanks set into the wall, and fishing nets. At certain tables you felt as if you were eating on the sea. The menu: fish and shellfish, of course.
Read MoreWhen activism is discouraged by frustrations and sanctions, where the press portrays a country that is unreal, and where personal solutions are found through illegalities or infractions, to embrace a spontaneous economic liberalism appears as common sense for a good part of my compatriots.
Read MoreEnormous cockroaches with human heads climb out across the polished surfaces of the Museum of Cuban Art. Some have fallen, while others seem to have made it to their destination: the roof, or maybe the sky.
Read MoreAlthough I’m the first to applaud the achievements of this form of so-called socialism, every day I fear that the system -where it’s impossible to buy a decent pair of shoes on your monthly salary- is becoming unsustainable.
Read MoreDead people don’t say what they feel, and they don’t allow others to. They’re the people who don’t grasp that we can be dead by inaction, by disillusionment. A person who expresses themselves out loud is alive. Nor do they fear death; to the contrary, they cling to life and fight for its betterment.
Read MoreIdeas are won on the field of debate, not by gagging people. The conclusions of debate are settled by raised hands, not by isolating or punishing those who think differently. Social conscience evolves slowly, not with “sticks.”
You cannot combat bureaucracy with people’s mouths shut; everyone has their opinions and it’s necessary to respect them.
Read MoreUnfortunately, the younger generation has not acquired political experience in daily struggles, since they’ve almost always remained under the guardianship of their mass organization’s leaders, who provide them with little information about the economic, social and political aspects of Cuba or the world.
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