Opinion

The Time to Eradicate World Hunger is Now

The way I see it, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include the reduction of world hunger to half by 2015, continue to be too modest, for there is enough cultivable land in the world, and sufficient food is currently being grown, to be able to feed every human being on the planet.

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A Tiny Ray of Hope

My current situation is not exactly something I can be proud of: I dropped out of high school. However, I have no regrets. My opinion about university today is nothing like the one I had while I was still in primary school. I may not materialize the dreams I had then, but I will set new goals for myself.

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A Cuban Contemplates Her Lost Past

The ancient world was limited to Greece and Rome. In terms of Africa, I was taught only something about Egypt. Black Africa is a black blur in my mind. The history classes we received at school here in Cuba and during my life as a student, showed me no more than this.

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A Small Fortune Found on a Cuban Street (Part II)

I usually share both the good things and bad things that happen to me with my relatives but that evening, I didn’t tell anyone at home I had found the bill. Perhaps it was out of fear everyone would suddenly want me to buy them something. I know my brothers well. Looking back, though, I think I simply wanted some time to decide how I would spend the money I’d found.

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Cuba’s Salary/Productivity Dilemma

While the State-Party-Proprietor, the government, the press and central bureaucratic apparatus continue to blame company managers for Cuba’s low production indices, the economic disaster caught sight of in State companies – for which they have only themselves to blame – will also continue.

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Cuban Filmmakers Today: Extras or Leads?

“They want to change the script without consulting with us first,” a Cuban filmmaker tells me, referring to the restructuring of Cuba’s film industry, a process undertaken by a government commission and high officials of the Cuban Film Industry and Art Institute (ICAIC).

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A Small Fortune Found on a Cuban Street

While waiting for something to take me back to my neighborhood, at the outskirts of the city, I had the most pleasant surprise a poor person can have: I found a bill lying on the street – wet, dirty and crumpled. I didn’t want to unfold the bill there, fearing the owner could come back and claim it.

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Cuba: Dangers of the Political Ghetto

The cultural and, to a certain extent, political liberalization that has taken place in Cuba, particularly since Raúl Castro assumed power in 2006, has been mostly limited to certain circles, such as the cultural-political milieu of the Catholic Church, and, to a lesser extent, the academic and artistic milieux of the island.

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Radio in Cuba, My Favorite Stations

After retiring in 2009, I took off the last in a long line of cheap wrist-watches and added it to the collection of broken and disused watches in my top bureau drawer. Henceforth, if I needed to know the time, I’d consult my cell-phone. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize US cell phones don’t work in Cuba and, in October of 2010, I found myself, if not Eyeless in Gaza, then at least “timeless” in Havana.

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