My Real Cuba

Rosa Martinez

HAVANA TIMES, Dec 11 — When I began to write for Havana Times two years ago, I thought I was running the risk of being expelled from the university or being looked at poorly in my neighborhood the day I was discovered.

I imagined that some officer from State Security might come to my house and turn my life upside down for writing for a foreign website.

These and other risks I ran when I decided to speak out in Havana Times about my experiences and those of others who, like me, don’t feel that our lives are reflected in the official media of our country.

I was driven by the desire to contribute to the struggle for a more participatory, more open society in which we can say everything we feel without the fear of being branded traitors or labeled a gusano (a worm).

I was never interested in having readers believe that I was either opposed to the revolution or a staunch advocate of it. My only concern was, and is, to relate my experiences, which in some manner might be the same as others residents from here in Guantanamo Province and could be interesting for other Cubans.

Over this time I have found admirers and detractors. The words of support obligated me to keep on writing and trying to do better, while any criticism also helped me and sometimes served as the inspiration for additional posts.

Over the more than three years that our site has remained on the web, the readers — some faithful regulars, others occasional passersby’s — have been the best gauge of our ideas.

Our followers can be for or against the topic or the ideas expressed by any contributor, it doesn’t matter.

What matters is that they’re always there, willing to continue the discussion about a real Cuba, one that exists beyond the cold Cuban official dailies and those publications that rant nonstop against this country.