Jose Agustin Hernandez, who goes by the name “Adela”, is the first transsexual ever to occupy a government post in all Cuban history. She was elected municipal delegate – a kind of town councilor – by her neighbors.
Read MoreThe “Concerto for violoncello and string orchestra” by Nimrod Borenstein was performed in Cuba by the Cuban-Russian cellist Makcim Fernández Samodaiev, who described the piece as “apparently simple, but then you discover traps, complexities; this shows a lot of elegance by the composer”.
Read MoreLa Partida (“The Last Match”), a film that touches on a number of controversial issues, was screened at the 35th Havana Film Festival held in the Cuban capital the first half of December. “I beg to differ with those who see a portrait of contemporary Cuba in my film,” said its director, Antonio Hens, during his interview with HT.
Read MorePaul Seaquist, manager of the man who is considered the century’s best dancer, speaks to us about Vladmir Malakhov’s recent visit to Cuba in an exclusive interview for Havana Times. “We’ve decided to return and to continue contributing to the arts in Holguin,” he told us.
Read MoreLeo Garrido Herranz, the young singer and host of Cuba’s successful television program Piso 6 (“The 6th Floor”) gives us a sneak peek at his latest album Todo de mi (“Everything About Me”), recorded by the Cuban label EGREM. “It was difficult to be at the top one moment and find myself at home with nothing to do the next,” he told us during his interview for HT.
Read MoreWe look back at the pivotal role Cuba played in ending apartheid and why Castro was one of only five world leaders invited to speak at Nelson Mandela’s memorial. Historian Piero Gleijeses argues that it was Cuba’s victory in Angola in 1988 that forced Pretoria to set Namibia free and helped break the back of apartheid South Africa.
Read MoreDiaven Molina Valera is a Cuban painter, actor, pilot, parachutist and playwright. He believes that art knows no frontiers, that everything is connected. “I’ve liked aviation since I was a kid. I always thought that, if I couldn’t study painting, that I would become a combat-plane pilot,” said Diaven in his interview with HT.
Read MoreAbout to turn 20, Elian Gonzalez declares himself an atheist, but tacitly confesses that his admiration for his mentor Fidel Castro borders on a kind of religious faith. In this article and interview he talks about his life after returning to Cuba from Miami back in 2000 and the people that have influenced him most.
Read MoreThe author of several works published in Cuba and abroad, Miguel Angel Fraga sets out to capture the truth of a difficult and misunderstood era, the experiences of those who became Cuba’s first victims of the terrible HIV-AIDS epidemic. “I can say that it is thanks to HIV that I am a writer today,” he tells us during his interview for Havana Times.
Read MoreLike a giant wrestling with the strong winds of a sea-storm, the Riomar building rises next to Havana’s urban coastline, in the residential neighborhood of Miramar. Built in the 1950s, it is currently inhabited by only 14 Cuban families. Elsa Torres Camacho is one of its residents.
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