In 2007 I met a young foreigner who — inspired by the work of Cuban internationalist doctors in Africa — had decided to study medicine in Cuba. Can anyone deny the incredible work done by our internationalist doctors throughout Africa and in Venezuela, Haiti and other countries?
Beware of titles like this. Be suspicious of anything that attempts to tell the absolute truth about something – especially if that something is Cuba. Instead, take a gaming dice in your hands and try to see all six sides at the same time. The truth is like a dice, but with more sides.
“With all this experience, it would be selfish to go to another country. I was part of this process. Now I think I have to help achieve the necessary changes in the way that I can,” said Dimas Castellanos in part two of his interview with Havana Times.
My idea about the bloggers associated with the website “Voces Cubanas” didn’t differ much from what the government tries to make us believe, seeing them as a group of cyber-mercenaries in the service of imperialism.
“You Cubans need to look on the bright side,” they seem to be saying. “You folks need to be content, appreciate what you have – because if you try to change things all you’re going to do is make them worse.” That’s the message that has kept us paralyzed for years
Two years ago I interviewed Michel (Nonardo) Perea Enriquez, writer and plastic artist. Homosexual. His partners, always occasional, were guys who defined themselves as heterosexual in public and even in private adopted homophobic attitudes and were never seen with him in the street.
The “Hermanazos” rap group, founded in 2001, has been a member of the Cuban Rap Agency since 2009. They have just returned from a tour of the central and eastern provinces here on the island.
The title of “Poster Girl” suggests a story – true or fictitious – about one of those lovely girls (her loveliness almost always enhanced a bit by the computer) that we see on magazine covers, showing off their ideal faces and bodies so beyond our reach.
It’s good to know how things work in the United States – it keeps our dissatisfaction with the Cuban government from leading us to prefer the US model. I only think that if we talk about democracy, this is a good time to address our own.
In Cuba, in contrast to other countries, the movies aren’t a luxury but a form of entertainment that’s accessible to people of all incomes. A ticket costs two pesos in national currency (US 10 cents).