This week, a good friend of mine – I will call her “Doña Flor” – told me she has been away from work for days because, on setting a legal procedure in motion, she discovered she is still married to her first husband, even though she contracted matrimony with another man 6 years ago.
Read MoreThere have been numerous reports about the repressive measures the Cuban government and its security apparatus took against dissidents who had planned a peaceful celebration of the 65th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this past December 10. Was this really necessary?
Read MoreA few days ago, I came across an article about inter-provincial bus trips in Cuba and some things that happen. The thread of the argument was nothing other than the monstrous behavior shown by a passenger during a trip from the province of Las Tunas to another part of the country.
Read MoreAlmost everyone likes to follow fashion. Fashion is constantly changing, recycling styles that were popular in the past or setting new trends. This diversity makes it easy for the fashion industry to lure people with very different tastes. In Cuba, we are not immune to these fluctuations.
Read MoreThose in Cuba who once bet on the complete expropriation and nationalization of foreign capital today beseech foreign capital to come in their aid, offering investors every imaginable guarantee. The Cuban State economy is in crisis, but not as a result of the imperialist blockade or the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the defenders of “State socialism” often say.
Read MoreNow, we know that there are hundreds of people facing trial on charges of corruption, and that this situation has even changed the racial make-up of the country’s population facing criminal charges, but we are given no details about how the proceedings are unfolding, much less the names of those accused.
Read MoreThe Cuban government is afraid, and its undeniable fear makes it react towards its opponents in excessive, unjust, inconsistent and contradictory ways. One day, they issue passports to nearly all of them, only to harass them at the airport when they return from their trips. There are many examples.
Read More“This is the story of how Che haunts me,” states Margaret Randall at the outset of her new book, aptly termed “a poet’s reminiscence of an era.”. “His memory draws me to revisit his life, ponder the attraction he exerts long past death and read anew his writings and what others continue to write about him.”
Read MoreThe photo of Barack Obama and Raul Castro shaking hands was the talk of the day Tuesday around the world. Those photographed, however, are probably more concerned about what the man who brought about their encounter on African soil – and ultimately forced them to shake hands – could think of them.
Read MoreOne of the most surprising comments prompted by my previous post came from a Cuban émigré, who warns his compatriots on the island that Cuba’s anti-corruption campaign may be part of an enemy strategy designed to “have us persecute each other and fight amongst ourselves.”
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