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.
Read MoreOf 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.
Read MoreWhen 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.
Read MoreYesterday 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.
Read MoreIn 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.”
Read MoreWhenever 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?
Read MoreCarlos always tries to participate in the meetings of his CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) and in the Report-back Assemblies of his community delegate (representative to the city council). He feels these are the appropriate places for raising the problems he suffers as a citizen of this country, as opposed to making simple comments to kill time at a bus stop.
Read MoreFrom their altitude, Silvio and Pablo, with their recent clear and strong calls for fundamental changes in our society, again give strength to the trapped, decimated, troubled, but always faithful and revolutionary, generation of ’68. They, together with the forces of positive change, would be invincible, because they are recognized, trusted voices of our generation.
Read MoreHow can you achieve change when there is no real dialogue, not even among revolutionaries themselves; or when they don’t give space in the country’s only press to the opinions of communists and revolutionaries who promote a socialist perspective different from the failed official outlook; or when they reject other writings dealing with those issues?
Read MoreSunday I went for a drive around the city. Lenin Park and the Escaleras de Jaruco were packed with people. In the food-stands were roast pork and fish (all sold in national currency); all around was music playing, people drinking rum and beer, and children taking turns to ride the horses.
Other Cubans took advantage of the weekend to experience their true passions: going out to dance, or to the beach, exploring caves, diving in the reefs, fishing on the coast, or maybe playing baseball, racing cars or organizing cock fights.
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