On February 22, when I checked my inbox, I came across one of those unwanted messages one gets without knowing where it came from and why one was chosen as addressee. I generally erase these spam messages, but, sometimes, curiosity gets the better of me.
Read MoreSix years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Hollywood responded with Night of the Living Dead, an instant American cinema sensation. Record audiences packed dark theaters to exorcise their fear of a Communist invasion through a Zombie apocalypse.
Read MoreOn February 23, exactly 113 years since the signing of a perpetual lease for the lands and waters occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base, Obama addressed the US Congress to announce his commitment to “shut down Guantanamo.” As always, his articulate, precise and well-argued speech proved impressive.
Read More“That’s where the cameras and glitz are, I’m off to the capital!” That summarizes the way nearly all people from Cuba’s interior see Havana. I imagine this is true everywhere in the world. It’s almost always the case that people born in small towns look towards the big cities when it comes to realizing their dreams, but…
Read MoreEsteemed Barack Obama: This letter was written by a run-of-the-mill Cuban, one who is neither a dissident nor has any ties to government politics. What I’ve written comes from the heart and knows none of the hypocritical opportunism that characterizes politics many a time. It is made of pure sincerity.
Read MoreYesterday, I talked for hours with a close friend from Havana who came over and whom I hadn’t seen in over ten years. My friend had been an irredeemable opponent of the system. He had a different problem with the authorities almost every day.
Read MoreWhat remains certain is that Obama’s visit will continue to be the topic of conversation over the next four weeks – on Cuban television, international television, the streets of Havana and Miami, and the President will be greeted in March with expectation, flags and baited breath.
Read MoreFrom what I’ve perceived, no one expects Obama to come offer magical solutions to our problems. The price of tomatoes will not go down, teacher wages will not be raised, our phone company, ETECSA, won’t stop treating us like chumps and buildings won’t sprout from the earth to offer those in shelters and living with families decorous housing just to please Obama.
Read MoreThe day-to-day life of Cubans is very tough, uncertain, stressful and monotonous. Luckily, there’s not much violence in the country and one doesn’t have to pay for schools or hospitals, for that would make it a true, living hell.
Read MoreThe great Cuban novelist and journalist Lisandro Otero used to say that, while one can never be certain of what comes next under capitalism, one is oblivious as to what came before under socialism. It sounds like a joke, but, in Cuba, people know this is gospel truth.
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