“You there?” she asks anxiously, counting the seconds — the minutes — before the hoped-for response appears on the screen. The Internet connection in Cuba is very slow. From a keyboard in Miami, someone responds, “Yes, my love, I’m here.” Thus begin the afternoons, when Adria invents an excuse to stay after hours in the office and steal some Internet time to chat at ease.
Read MoreThe arrival of the first Cuban migrants in the U.S., although only a small fraction of the more than 6,000 Cubans still stranded in Costa Rica, symbolizes the collapse of that hateful wall raised by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega to block their passage through Central America.
Read MoreReaders will likely recall the oft-repeated government promise that increased production would bring about a drop in prices. No few of us have criticized such claims for their total lack of objectivity.
Read MoreToday, as though the past had returned like a boomerang, it would again seem that Venezuelans see no other way forward but intolerance. The adversaries, though brothers, are quite different: Chavistas and the opposition.
Read MoreThe interview you’re about to read seeks answers to developments in today’s Cuba in the figure of Jose Marti (1853-1895). Where did I find the answers to these questions? In Ramiro Valdes Galarraga’s Diccionario del Pensamiento Martiano (“Jose Marti’s Thought: A Glossary”), published by Cuba’s Ciencias Sociales in 2013, the 160th anniversary of Marti’s birth.
Read MoreThese Cuban con artists are very good at what they do. They play in the big leagues, conning seasoned businesspeople. Some manage to “suckle at the teat” of these companies for as long as a year before the foreign investor realizes what’s going on.
Read MoreOne element of speech that clearly differentiates where Cubans come from is the way these refer to Fidel Castro Ruz. There are those who call him Fidel and those who refer to him as Castro.
Read MoreThis is a country like no other. Not even we Cubans understand Cuba so, how could we expect a foreigner to quickly grasp our situation? It would be a veritable feat to do so. However, despite all this, we are an interesting people with a beautiful country.
Read MoreAfter the portraits of the late Hugo Chavez were removed from Venezuela’s National Assembly this week, the question of his legacy as president appears revived. That, unquestionably, is what’s in question: if Chavez managed to transcend his time, to set a new standard for his country or alter the course of the nation definitively, his significance is not circumscribed to his political party.
Read MoreI don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Harry Half-Wit. He’s a friend of mine, with whom I occasionally sit to talk about the silly things in life. He’s a simple fellow who lives near the Loma de los Zapotes, where many of us played as kids.
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