Carolina is not the first and won’t be the last Cuban woman to leave behind her roots, her family and her country by immigrating to the United States. Many have done the same over the last fifty years. Some are able to visit their country shortly thereafter; others never set foot on the island again.
I have an Italian friend who’s always telling me I’ve given cell phones more importance than they deserve, but the truth is that I’ve never seen him come to Cuba without his two mobiles, which are more modern and sophisticated each time around.
May Day parades ought to have special meaning for me, a worker. I assure you it did, at one point, but not so much anymore. I don’t believe that parading all the way down to Revolution Square, carrying banners with phrases that evoke the occasion, or portraits of revolutionary heroes or leaders, means anything for the world’s proletariat, much less that we support socialism or not.
I believe gender-related violence is the main problem we face right now, and I have written about this issue on several occasions. The Cuban government must implement new measures so as to keep this problem at bay, or from reaching the levels caught sight of in other countries in the region, which report alarming rates.
Getting to know the reality of any country is very easy in these days of the Internet. One can’t keep anything a secret. Even national security issues of a country are increasingly difficult to hide. An outstanding example is the body of revelations by Wikileaks.
Before anything else, I would like to offer my apologies to all U.S. citizens, particularly to those who are against war and terrorism. This post is in no way aimed at them. It is, rather, aimed at their government.
Who has not reflected on death at one point or another? Who has not picked up its ghastly scent in a dark corner of one’s existence? Who has not endured it, through the passing of a friend or a relative? Who has not longed for it, at least once? And who has not been gripped by fear, having felt its proximity?
“I swear to you Chavez, my vote’s for Maduro!” With these words and other songs in support of Chavista candidate Nicolas Maduro, a red tide overflowed seven avenues in Caracas. If anyone still doubted the way the Venezuelan people support their interim president, they couldn’t have after having seen this massive march.
Some people just rub you the wrong way the first time you see them. It’s like falling out of love at first sight. It doesn’t matter if what they do or say is good or bad, of if they’re for or against you…the thing is that you simply can’t stand them.
My home is still in mourning, and it has every reason to be. All the members of my family are mopping about the house with sad faces, and I share that pain. In less than 15 days we lost two friends of the family. The first, Nicolas, was a neighbor who was closer to us than any relative who shared our genes. The second friend was Hugo Chavez.