Opinion Archives - Page 463 of 499

A Kid in Cuba Asks: Are all Americans Bad?

“Mommy, why are the Americans so bad?” With that question and an anxious look on her face, I found my little girl when I went to pick her up at her elementary school several days ago.

Farewell to Innocence

My son will finish junior high school (ninth grade) in a month and half. Wearing his sole uniform, with the shirt having been torn and mended several times due to its being washed daily, I watched as he went into his school. Its walls are covered with peeling paint, and it’s not allowed to take pictures.

Another Cuban Out of Work

Ever since she was little, Adela promised herself that she didn’t want to have to make the same sacrifices as her mother. She committed herself to becoming a professional, and she did just that.

Cuba Parade Says No to Homophobia

Spontaneous parades are not permitted in Cuba. All of them must be guided by the officialdom. The LGTB community, disallowed until a few years ago, has been winning official “recognition.” (19 photos)

Cuba’s “Struggling” Officials

It’s said that Yoani Sanchez and other Cuban bloggers opposed to the government are our enemies. But in my opinion, those embezzling, thieving and lying leaders are more dangerous than any inflammatory message that might navigate over the Internet.

Freedom for Cuba’s Political Prisoners

After the release of all peaceful dissidents and several of the violent ones, the bulk of political prisoners remaining in Cuba are those that the United States continues to hold at its military base in Guantanamo, on the east side of the island.

The Execution of Bin Laden & the Cuba Angle

Now the extrajudicial execution of Osama bin Laden is asserted as an irreproachable legal and moral act – as if the status (well deserved) of Bin Laden as criminal vermin justifies his murder.

Changes in Cuba Leave Root Problem Intact

At the beginning of the revolutionary process, the disproportionate presence of guerillas fighters in the government and party leadership could be justified. Fifty years later, and after an unprecedented cultural revolution, such a presence of military men and “historicos” is a divisive error.

The Right to Be Apolitical in Cuba

“Politics is the dirtiest thing there is,” I’ve often heard said. “It’s nothing more than prostitution. Tonight they’re with one, and tomorrow with another.” However, since I began going to school, and without realizing it, I’ve become part of politics.

They Didn’t Like the Cuba Granny Story

What really bothered a friend who is a government official, the same as some other mid-level political cadre, was my story about a grandmother forced to collect tin cans to survive. It was as if they believed it’s enough to kill the messenger for bad news to go away. I’m sorry if I offended anybody, but my job is to write about Cuba, and that includes the poor and the excluded because they too are the children of this nation.