On Friday, I read that the Ladies in White had asked the government of the United States to continue dealing with Cuba with a firm hand. I can’t say I felt disappointment because, for that, I would have had to harbor expectations about the Ladies in White. What I can say, however, is that I’ve been going over this piece of news in my mind ever since.
Read MoreMayte, the head of the Young Communist League (UJC) committee at my high school, was the girl who presided over those summary trials we would hold in the classroom after school hours. The meetings, then referred to as “Communist Moral Code Reviews”, were assemblies in which each student was publicly evaluated and judged…
Read MoreI have an 11-year old boy who means the world to me. His name is Carlos Adriel and he loves sports. When he was a little kid he liked baseball and wanted to play professionally, but the uniform and equipment are far too expensive (from 110 to 130 usd). Well beyond my more than modest means, to say the least.
Read MoreCuban writer Angel Santiesteban, currently serving a five-year prison term on the island, has asked the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to put an end to abuses against Cuba’s penal population.
Read MoreI was too startled to ask myself what was happening, I just felt panic. I think I may have even blurted out a cuss word. After the second loud bang, we knew we were hearing shots: a war exercise, one of those defense simulations meant to prepare Cubans for the invasion that has loomed over the country for over fifty years.
Read MoreI have absolutely no doubts about this. Left-wing policies will prevail and gain more and more ground, until they become invincible. That said, we ought not to deceive ourselves: capitalism and the dominant classes that are inherent to it do not give up easily and resort to violence, destabilizing strategies, coups and even assassinations in order not to lose their privileges.
Read MoreThe first time I ever spoke with Alfredo Guevara was after I had just arrived in Cuba, at the beginning of the 1990s. At the time, I was planning a television news piece on Fidel Castro and wanted to interview those who had been close to him at different points in his life. Cuba was experiencing frequent blackouts at the time and there was a power cut while we were riding the elevator up to his office at the film institute. Stuck between two floors, we were forced to crawl out through the section of door that seemed largest to us.
Read MoreI believe gender-related violence is the main problem we face right now, and I have written about this issue on several occasions. The Cuban government must implement new measures so as to keep this problem at bay, or from reaching the levels caught sight of in other countries in the region, which report alarming rates.
Read MoreThough President Obama never promised he would lift the Cuban embargo, he began his first term with a series of bold moves which raised some hopes on the island. Today, he seems to have stopped trying, having hit what appears to be a convenient dead end.
Read MoreTo freely defend its ideals, the socialist left has been forced to prioritize the struggle for the democratization of the political system. This is a summary of a much longer essay in Spanish.
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