This past August 13, our country celebrated the 84th birthday of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander-in-chief Fidel Castro Ruz. That same day, a group of friends and I collected garbage along a small strip on Havana’s coast.
A secret in hushed voices is not the same thing as a truth stated in public. The novelty was not the information in and of itself, but in the fact of hearing it directly, in public and from the mouth of someone who was involved in the event.
There is a middle-aged woman standing close to the door and a middle-aged man standing behind her. As we get to the second bus stop, people almost assault the bus and come close to killing each other to get on. The man is now crushed against the woman and soaking her with his sweat. It’s inevitable and they both know it.
Rush hour bus ride. Photo: Caridad
They’ve gotten used to it, as we all have. He is being crushed by someone else, who in turn is being crushed by another person, and so on.
Recently I received a news summary indicating that Argentina had legalized same sex marriages. In doing so, it became the first country in Latin America to take that step – leaving Cuba behind.
I’m sure that if an exam was given on the Concept of Revolution in our country, all of us would pass.
Also, dogs are excellent guards. A security guard can be sleeping, but the dog remains alert. Recently a dog was honored at the Institute of Geology and Paleontology because it prevented the robbery of two air conditioners. Sometime around 9:30 at night, the dog went to the entrance gate and began barking and indicating that something was in the area.
If the objective of showing this film on Cuban television was to make Cuban citizens reflect —especially those who dare to criticize the domestic political system and their government about the achievements of the Revolution in the field of public health that is within reach of all our people— then the film achieved that goal.
The saddest thing is that after fifty years of living in a supposedly socialist society —where supposedly work and altruism are promoted for the well-being of this society— people still cannot see beyond their own immediate and tangible interests, be it in money or in kind.
If I had kept the receipt I was given at the store, maybe I could have written an article about what happens when you ask for your money back because the item you bought is not in good condition. But I didn’t keep it, I was so confident that the quality of this tooth brush would match its price.
A friend told me about her over three months ago. “She was the first black model in Cuba,” she explained, and over that entire period I kept pestering her to help me get in touch with the woman. She was referring to Luz Maria Collazo Reyes, and after the first five minutes of talking with her, I realized that her achievements went a great deal further than having been the first black woman of our runways. (19 photos)