Pedro Pablo Morejon

What unfolded was completely unplanned for, the only risk they’d calculated was being arrested by these people or by the US Coast Guard…

The twilight hour found me under a bridge by the highway, awaiting some way to reach Pinar del Rio. As usual, the highway was nearly deserted.

Over 40 years old and, like most Cubans, I didn’t know what Varadero, the tourist cays and other places were like…

Well, just as I was about to fall asleep, a noise broke my trance. A cry of joy as if it were 3 p.m. during Carnival.

As always, it’s the US Empire’s fault. According to the government, it is the Empire that is encouraging the protests, while they blockade us.

“Although I appear calm, my anxiety keeps rising. I imagine the cortisol levels in my blood have reached unprecedented levels.”

The truck used to carry passengers stops a few kilometers from the city. A pair of police officers get on, & file into the vehicle’s interior.

I’d spent a week away from home and had asked my closest neighbors to “keep an eye out” because burglaries are common nowadays.

The Cuban people have clearly expressed their rejection of the ruling political & economic system, not only with this mass & silent exodus…