Opinion Archives - Page 474 of 488

A Reader’s Response to: “No False Promises in Cuba’s Elections”

Seeing as that the author of the article seems to be interested in the US electoral system, please note that normally only 50-60% of the possible electorate votes there, and once the votes are divided between the Republicans and Democrats, the president of the US (which IS NOT elected directly elected but rather by electoral colleges – remember Bush vs. Gore, etc,) gets about say 20% of the votes: a very far cry from the minimum 50% required for any Cuban elected citizen. And so Cubans, through the 2007-08 elections of the municipal assembly delegates and the National Assembly deputies do indeed have a say as to who should be the president.

No False Promises in Cuba´s Elections

Here in my country, on the eve of Cubans turning out to vote in the April 25 elections, I can feel pity for people in the US who went to the polls with the hope that their vote could change things in their country. How naive.

US Military Bases in Colombia

Despite the strong opposition it now faces in the Colombian parliament, the military agreement between that country and the US continues being put into operation. This began to become evidenced this past December when the first detachments of Marines and equipment started to arrive.

Don Alejandro

Among the private campesinos, Don Alejandro stood out as much for the quality of his tobacco as for the productivity of his land. His prestige was such that Fidel Castro himself —the father of the agricultural collectivization— went to his farm to learn its secrets.

They Keep Us in Shape

There were times when I reflected on my situation and I concluded that I had spent a considerable amount of my lifetime waiting at bus stops. It was at these stops where I had witnessed the most interesting things and had come up with the most interesting thoughts. It was at bus stops where I had met the most interesting —and the most uninteresting— people in my life.

Those Who Could Die

Of those who never wore uniforms or military stripes or badges on their chests, little will ever be known, even though the heroic pages they wrote and still write —which are well hidden, burned or forgotten— are a substantial part of the pillars of this revolution that remain standing in the struggle for our future.

Sports Are Political

When Cuban athletes face competitors from any capitalist country (especially the United States, and even more so if the sport is baseball) it’s hardly a simple sporting event. It’s a confrontation between socialist sports and capitalist sports.

A Normal Day in Guantanamo

Yesterday I got up early as always, but I guess I was moving more quickly than usual, since by 6:50 I was already at the bus stop to see if I could get the 7 a.m. bus and save myself the trouble of hitchhiking, or the 2 pesos for a collective horse-drawn taxi.

Cuba Is Back to the Trenches!

In Cuba these days we are seeing concerts in support of the Revolution, ceremonies of patriotic demands at workplaces, fiery statements in the press by readers, and speeches by those who remind people they mustn’t yield – “not even an inch.”

The siege mentality returns in the face of the “foreign threat” —embodied this time by the United States and the European Union— which in words of Raul Castro have launched an “enormous smear campaign against Cuba.”

Cuba: On Bats and Balls

Whenever the final stage of the baseball championships gets here, I always wonder the same thing: Why can’t we Cubans discuss the other truly monumental issues that also affect our lives in the same continuous and open way…with the same passion?