Certain smells and tastes bring back childhood memories of a Cuban brand of guava jelly and conserves named La Conchita. I also sometimes miss the black and red beans that could compete with the Kirby and, more recently, Goya brands.
Read MoreMarch promises to be an unusually momentous month for Cuba in terms of rare visits. The norm is to see heads of State and high-level ministers and officials from historically friendly countries, not the likes of a standing US president, MLB team or a top rock band.
Read MoreThere was a time rock music was banned in Cuba, just as certain romantic music stars like Julio Iglesias, Roberto Carlos and Jose Feliciano were. When I say “banned,” I am not referring to the sale of such music, but to its broadcast over the radio or to playing at a party or home.
Read MoreThere was a time [in the early 1990s] when Cuba’s Special Period toughened. I was still living in Bayamo at the time. You couldn’t even find a sewing needle then. My city went from being a happy place, enlivened by constant parties and by art, to a dead place, almost a ghost town.
Read MoreToday’s typical Cuban doesn’t want to become involved in politics. They see this as a fruitless pursuit. Some hold this view out of fear, others out of convenience and the majority out of individualism and a lack of civic awareness.
Read MoreAbout to hold the seventh Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) next April, the country readies for what appears to be a moment of radical redefinitions – the kind that can reshape the lives, circumstances, hopes and frustrations of current generations.
Read MoreStrolling around Cartagena, surrounded by tourists, both national and abroad, seaside hotels, rows of restaurants and coffee shops, enormous malls, fruit and craft stands – in short, by prosperity–, it’s easy to forget this city is located in Colombia, a country with a legacy of decades of violence, drug trafficking and armed conflict.
Read MoreYesterday, I had the fortune of finding an old Life magazine. Carefully turning the frail pages, printed on November 3, 1958, the living-color images of France Nuyen caught my eye. The reason I ended up paying 3 CUC (US $3.50) for the magazine, however, were rather more compelling: one of the headlines on the front page promised an extensive article on Julio Lobo, “the Sugar King.”
Read MoreI wake up early, not because I can’t sleep nor because I’m so hard-working, but because I feel it’s my responsibility to. A number of tasks require my energy, normal everyday activities which allow me to come up on top, “survive”.
Read MoreThe people voted against the possibility of a new term (2019-2025) for Evo Morales by a narrow margin. It said “no” to a proposal to allow his candidacy that, at least to Cubans, was certain to be accepted. In Cuba, of course, it’s hard to have all of the information needed to judge a situation.
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