Features

Raul Castro began his tenure in office with reforms that opened the Cuban economy to small private sectors and with the reestablishment of relations with the United States. However during recent years, the pace of opening slowed and the thaw with Washington came to a halt, leaving the new president to take office this week many pending tasks.

Untreated garbage and muck thrown into the Quibo River travels 27 kilometers and even reaches Havana’s University of the Arts (ISA). A group of students and environmentalists decided to draw attention to the serious contamination problem.

There is a sign on Libertad Street, one of the main streets in Ciego de Avila, and it reads: “Female Watchmaker”. Yes, female watchmaker, not a male watchmaker, like people say if you ask them for directions.

When I saw the photos of the inauguration of the Mercabel wholesale market, in the pro-government media’s inflated article, I thought they were strange for a feature about a center of this kind which are normally large commercial spaces.

Any man who has ever visited Havana will be familiar with the common occurrence that is the offering of ‘chicas’ by many of the local men. As a young foreign man living here alone, no evening escapes the practice.

Lola and Eduardo’s paths have been wedged together like two forged pieces of metal for the past 17 years since back when they studied acting at the Superior Institute of Art and shared the stage together in a Havana theater troupe.

Every month, something happens that makes me anxious, stressed and afraid… when my body warns me that this something is on its way, I start looking in cupboards and drawers, I take to the street to ask where the black market retail points are, I turn to friends, I ask my mother if she can help me.