The movie “No”, by the Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain, is circulating in Havana these days from USB flash drive to flash drive, as well as being screened in alternative venues. Its theme: The referendum that removed the dictator Augusto Pinochet from power in Chile.
“Next week I’m going there with my old lady to hang out a little, eat some chicken and look at a few books.” That was what I heard a man saying to his friend recently on the bus. We were en route to downtown Havana and passed by the Morro Cabaña Complex, the main site of the Havana International Book Fair.
The husband of blogger Yoani Sanchez, one of the 100 most influential persons in the world according to Time magazine for 2008, is currently minding the fort while Yoani is off on a worldwide tour. The following is part two of our interview with journalist Reinaldo Escobar.
For months I had wanted to interview Reinaldo Escobar – the blogger and moderator of an audiovisual panel discussion project called Razones Ciudadanas. He’s also the husband of blogger Yoani Sanchez, who is currently on an international tour.
After taking pictures of the protagonist of my last article, “This Government Cares for its people (2)” I walked on down Obispo St. in the direction of the Plaza de Armas. I turned right onto Mercaderes Street by force of habit, and there I saw another man in a wheelchair. I had already gone a few steps past him, but I decided to go back.
On the Sunday morning the elections were being conducted in my country, I was walking down Obispo Street in Old Havana with two friends. That was when I saw a policeman helping out a man who was missing a leg.
A few nights ago, while reading in my living room, the voice of Professor Manuel Calvino came on his TV program “Vale la Pena” (It’s Worth It). He almost always begins by telling us about some situation that he witnessed or was involved in, or by reading a letter sent in to the show to make us reflect on a topic.
I was resting in the sand of what is known as the Cuba’s second Varadero when I was approached by a young man. He was part of a crew that was constructing a hotel there in the area. In pigeon English he asked me, “Vera ju from?” (Where are you from?). “From Cuba just like you, man,” I answered in Spanish. 11 photos)
Rosa Esther is one of those people who have begun to form part of the landscape of our historical city center. I could easily have passed right by her without much notice, except for the fact that Esther is in a wheelchair – “the car”, as she calls it.
Students in Cuba are learning computer skills from the earliest grades in elementary school. But what will happen when they grow up in a country where access to the Internet and other social networks is highly restricted? What does this mean for their chances for ongoing professional development?