At five thirty in the morning, the shrill, loud noise of an obsolete lawn-mower wakes me up. At first, I am irritated, annoyed. It’s Saturday and I should be able to get a bit more sleep. On weekdays, I have to get up early to get my kid ready for school (he’s in junior high).
Read MoreWhat could have been and never was a socialist system, the dreamed-of society of the people, by the people and for the people, became a neo-Stalinist, bureaucratic, authoritarian and counterrevolutionary mess that imperialist powers and the Cuban leadership agree to continue to call “socialism.”
Read MoreCuban musician Roberto Carcasses’ recent declarations at a concert gave rise to a political tsunami. It is the only thing intellectual circles on the island seem to be talking about, as though they regarded the incident as something of primordial importance.
Read MoreWhen someone speaks of the Catholic Church, we often think of it as a powerful institution that has immense political influence everywhere. I will address this issue in general terms and then focus on the case of Cuba.
Read MoreWhen I heard Cuban musician Roberto Carcasses sing at a massive concert in Havana organized as a kind of tribute to the four Cuban agents imprisoned in the USA, the first thing I thought was that I was losing my sense of hearing and confusing wish with reality.The television cameras, all aimed at the stage, didn’t afford me a glimpse at the audience’s reaction, not even that of those standing at the front row: the relatives of the imprisoned agents, high government officials and a number of young girls who seemed to have been made to stand there to look happy.
Read MoreIn the Sierra Maestra building (CIMEX) of Miramar, is a Metropolitan Bank, a Banco International Financiero, an ATM … and a recently opened chain of stores, and a modern cafe.
Read MoreUS President Barack Obama’s intentions of launching a “limited strike” on Syria – a measure for which he has sought authorization from Congress – have prompted innumerable negative reactions around the world and no few statements from respected civilian and military personalities who do not wish these threats to be carried out.
Read MoreIn the years immediately following the triumph of the Cuban Revolution (in January 1959), the island’s trade union leadership undertook to do away with the strike as a mechanism for asserting worker demands. The Cuban Workers’ Federation (CTC) was absorbed by the State apparatus.
Read MorePrivate detectives, pet-care centers, pawnbrokers, tourist buses, opticians, travel agents, psychologists on call – these are some of the new businesses, started by Cuba’s self-employed that have now become as profitable as the more familiar private restaurants or lodgings.
Read MoreHow do we learn to hate what we don’t know? Take the example of Florida Senator Rene Garcia. This young Republican, who was born in Hialeah in 1974 to Cuban parents, and as will be explained here, has done incalculable harm to the state of Florida with his hatred of Cuba as conveyed by his parents.
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