I’ve known Pavel since childhood, and we’ve always gotten along well although our lives are very different. I was born and raised in the Vibora Park neighborhood and I graduated with a University career. He was born and raised in a solar (tenement alley) in Central Havana and he graduated from a Trade School as a lathe operator.
Read MoreIn his most recent public speech on Sunday, President Raul Castro urged youth to make use of debate and to accept differences of opinion as a means to advance the construction of socialism.
Is it possible to disagree with certain decisions and policies outlined by the Cuban leaders while continuing to be on the side of the Revolution? Do you think the leaders in fact fear disagreement? Up to what point could differences of opinion advance or reverse the Cuban effort to build socialism?
Participate in the discussion
Read MoreI’ve always thought of Avelino as one of the most upright and morally consistent people I’ve ever known. I think of him as the model rank-and-file member of the Communist Party of Cuba, someone who never missed a speech by our leader. He was also someone who would confront anybody who dared to criticize our revolutionary process.
Read MoreThe removal of Gen. Rogelio Acevedo from his position as the head of Civil Aeronautics has exposed a Pandora’s Box. On the street, people are talking about how corruption within the airline industry rose to overshadow all previous cases; this latest instance involved the embezzlement of millions of dollars generated from clandestine commercial activities.
Read MoreWe know the enemy’s tactics. In their plans, polarization should lead the situation of the country to a worsened political and economic disaster at the hands of the authoritarian conservatives, contrary to the need for all forms of democratization and socialization.
Read MoreCuban-Americana singer Gloria Estefan headed a march this past Friday in Miami in support of the Cuban dissident group known as the Ladies in White. Likewise, actor Andy Garcia headed a protest on Sunday in Los Angeles with the same objective.
Havana Times invites its readers to reflect on this issue:
What has compelled these artists to lead demonstrations against the Cuban government?
Are they defending the interests of Cubans who live on the island?
Will these marches contribute to better relations between Cuba and the United States?
Participate in the debate.
Read MoreThe demand is huge and it’s not so strange. Cuba must be the sole country in the world where aesthetic surgery is free. They can trim your eyelids, take off some of the belly, improve your profile with a beautiful nose or remodel women’s breasts. It’s not necessary to be very observant to see the changes on the street. It began as something exclusive to people in entertainment, but the fashion has now extended across the board.
Read MoreAfter 50 years of a socialist government and highly personalized leadership, lots of people on and off the island are wondering what’s next for Cuba when Fidel Castro and his brother Raul are gone. If you browse through the Juventud Rebelde newspaper website, you can find several articles referring to recently held meetings of top Communist Party officials with the Young Communist League (UJC). In most of those meetings an often used phrase was heard: “The future of the Revolution is guaranteed.”
What’s your opinion?
Read MoreBeyond the facts, those who are accustomed to following the course of events from within begin to sense the presence of a pattern that has been repeated over and over during the history of Cuba in the last decades: the vicious and seemingly inevitable circle of relaxing – tightening and/or crisis – hardening.
Read MoreA few years ago the minister of Culture, Abel Prieto, told me in a conversation that technological development would very soon make it impossible to block satellite signals, and added that the failure to prepare people to receive information from other sources would be suicidal.
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