Thirty years ago a dramatic situation occurred at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana that led to the Mariel boatlift and the spontaneous emigration of around 125,000 Cubans to the United States. Aurora Arrue recounts her unforgettable experience.
Read MoreThe workforce restructuring plan that will soon be implemented in Cuba is worrisome to everyone: State employees as well as retirees, homemakers, self-employed workers and students. In one way or another, they will all be affected by the half million who will shortly find themselves without jobs.
Read MoreTo see disagreements between the panelists on a program like Cuba’s news/commentary program “Mesa Redonda” (the Round Table) is something that rarely occurs. To also allow members of an audience to raise blunt criticisms against the government would be truly astounding.
Read MoreThe situation brought a kind of relief for the rest of us. We even cracked jokes about the circumstances, perhaps because we’ve become used to these after such a long time. In fact, it was during that Special Period —which has spanned a good part of my adolescence and my adult life— that I heard, “You’re not allowed in here,” and I didn’t expect any explanation. I didn’t even think we were owed explanations.
Read MoreThe Cuban government has now begun the process of expelling hundreds of thousands of workers from the labor market and is organizing the country in agreement with the rules of the private marketplace.
Read MoreWe applaud the fact that actions are being taken to free us from stagnation and that at least basic issues are being addressed. However, contrary to the official line, the content, form and order of what has begun demonstrate signs of improvisation, a lack of foresight, the absence of transparency, contempt for revolutionary theory, pressuring and imposition.
Read MoreA few days ago a man with an intense stare and a heavy walk showed up on my doorstep. “Do you want to buy meat?” he asked, looking around cautiously. “Meat? What kind of meat?” I immediately asked.
Read More“Two Who Love Each Other” is the new television program of Cuba’s self-proclaimed artistic vanguard. The airing of the program relates to the personal interests of its host and director, singer-songwriter Amaury Perez, who is attempting to exhibit to the public a select list of “cultured” Cubans.
Read MorePeople told me but I found it difficult to believe that the ministry of Basic Industry had lost millions due to a simple oversight in the signing of mining contracts. It surprised me that with so many well-trained specialists such monumental “deficiencies” could have come to play.
Read MoreA few days ago I went shopping in a small supermarket in a neighborhood here in Havana. It’s a storefront that’s barely 25 steps wide and 20 steps deep. Since the issue of impending mass layoffs across Cuba was fresh on everyone’s mind, I counted the number of workers there and observed how they worked.
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