I heard a joke circulating among my Trotskyite friends. It goes, “What do two Trotskyites do on a deserted island? They found two Trotskyite parties!” I know that this thought tendency is not the one that prevails today among the global left.
Read MoreThe good and bad stories that I had heard about the island would later become real experiences for me. I can say that, by my standards at least, I was not so misinformed about Cuban life. Nonetheless, there was something that did not cease to surprise me.
Read MoreI have taken several weekend trips with my student group while in Cuba. Most recently we went to Santiago, where we also spent a day in Guantanamo, and two weeks before that we went to Cienfuegos and Trinidad.
Read MoreIn the airplane, to prevent the confusion that continued pursuing me, I began to recall how I had got there. It was in August 2008 that I met Yumiko, a Japanese woman who had made close contacts with my friends, who by then had emigrated to different countries.
Read MoreIt then hit me that they were holding the “March of the Torches,” which didn’t take a lot of convincing to get my friends to participate in. We walked closer to the area and found a sea of people clenching smoky torches and heading down San Lazaro St. toward the Malecon seawall.
Read MoreLivio walks the streets weighed down with depression. He drags his feet as if he was hauling his own body, but he’s so thin you hardly notice. When he comes up to you, all you notice is his energy.Livio is a poet who lives in my Havana suburb of Alamar, a fine poet. He has been left all by himself.
Read MoreDespite all their protests, we held our activity. We weren’t going to allow this little group that holds power to make decisions for us. We refused to accept being turned into marionettes so that they could later proclaim they are still a viable organization.
Read MoreI don’t remember ever having asked myself what race I belonged to. I was born advantaged in a society that discriminated against non-whites. So, am I white? The answer isn’t so simple. Let’s have a look at my genealogical tree; since racial classifications don’t work with me.
Read MoreAs we had secretly yearned, we got lost. Emotion returned something to our faces, but only slightly, because we suspected that soon we would find our way out of there. While we strolled along those sunny paths, we told stories and passed the time throwing stones, like children.
Read MoreI was confused by this situation, and temporarily abstained from involvement in “political life.” Upon completing my premedical training, due to a personal situation I had to travel to Argentina, where I had time to think a little more about this situation.
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