Havana Carnival in Full Swing

9 thoughts on “Havana Carnival in Full Swing”

• Cubans come in Droves to the US looking for that “American way if life” you are denigrating. They have been coming for decades, and its only increasing. Apparently they don’t share your view.

• Great pictures of the carnival which is a time of togetherness. Most of the other islands in the region have carnivals and crop over celebrations, and it gives people a chance to forget politics and haves some fun. However, sadly as we’ve seen here, some of us cannot leave the politics alone for a moment.

  I am convinced that like me many of the readers of HT are fed-up with the constant Castro bashing. Some of these people behave as if the USA is the panacea to everything in the world. Many of you may not like to hear this but America is not everyone’s idea of utopia.

• I am sorry your view of my country is so negative. The “American” way of life is a positive thing and continues to draw foreigners from all over the world in record numbers. Cuba is ALREADY heavily influenced by American culture. It’s far too late to worry about that. Cuba will not reflect the most negative aspects of US society unless they allow it. Our struggle with gun crime, environmental neglect, and the political influence of money are all very preventable. Cubans are neither innocent nor naive. Whatever changes occur will not be accidental.

• There is no such thing as a perfect country as long there is humans there will be problems , the idea that you want to open the floodgates on a population of 11 million that have no experience in living the American system , a population that will eventually see horrible things is unacceptable .
  Does the emotions or experience of one individual over rules the experience and the interest of societies?
  If the situation to change overnight in Cuba , I imagine what would happen is exactly what happened to Russia after the collapse of communism , we are going to have blood all over the place , it is simply not acceptable .
  It’s not acceptable to set our neighbors house on fire under any circumstances ,
  Average American is a kind and generous individual , if any major social crisis happen anywhere , you will find average Americans trying to help , try and imagine the kind of mess and what wall happened if the social system in Cuba collapses ,
  Heaven forbid that anything like what happen to all the countries that had to go through massive changes is to happen in Cuba .
  Effective hepatitis C medications are costly, soaring to $1,000 a pill and more than $100,000 for a full course of treatment.
  What you have just read is one example of many that happen in the USA , is it right that life should be denied because somebody did not have enough money to save his life ?
  I’m not going to say anymore at this point I’m sure there’s plenty of examples .
  All what I’m saying if their is changing coming to Cuba it has to come slow enough for the population to comprehend and cope with the situation without any chaos, it has to be homegrown , peaceful ,without the corrupt influence of capitalist money , the last thing I do not wish for is for any society to experience the American Way of life .
  It is not acceptable to have them go through a healthcare system like the one we having US to say the least .

• I don’t “shy away” from anything. Yes, there are Senior citizens in the US having a hard time. There, I said it. Do you feel better? More importantly, does acknowledging that the US is not perfect make the as abhorrent living conditions in Cuba less abhorrent? When one writes about the truth from personal experience as I do about Cuba, it can seem overwhelming. However I assure you that there is only one of me.

• Is the glass half-empty or half-full? The two comments by nidal shehadeh and Moses Patterson say it all! This is a perfect example of what Chris Marker illustrated in his early documentary (1957) “Letter from Siberia,” in which the same stock footage of Siberia during the 1950’s was run, first with an anti-communist narration, then with a pro-communist narration, and finally with a more neutral and objective one. I know some folks my age who are angry and view the world with a “worms eye view” (pun intended!). On the other hand, a few years back the head of a group of local high schools students who visited Cuba came back with such glowing accounts that it was if he had visited the New Jerusalem (also my view back in 1969-70, when I participated as part of the first Venceremos Brigade during the “Zafra de los diez millones”). Now, in my seventh decade, I view Cuba , as Judy Collins once crooned, “from both sides now,” and “it’s love’s illusions I recall…I don’t know life at all.” Still, before the mysteries of life, I humbly admit my ignorance. In short, Cuba is neither heaven or hell, but somewhere in between. Yet, amidst her sufferings, I must admire Cuba and her people, who have dared to storm the Olympian heights. Maybe they have lost this round–or maybe they have not. Only History will tell, but I suspect, as their leader said back in ’53, that “history will absolve (him)”–or at least admire him for the audacity to try!

• Moses Patterson are you sure there’s only one of you blogging on Havana Times org site , the way you go back and forth with your opinions makes me wonder , when I’m about to say I heard on the Bill Moyers show, his statement and I quote to the best of my memory ,
  “when you see your neighbor buying cat food and you know she does not have a cat do you wonder why ”
  the fact remains here in the US certain segments of society specially senior citizen survived on pet food , you sir constantly criticize Cuba yet you shy away from the reality off life in the US .
  disabled and senior citizen in the US make on average $1294 total disability if that , and they have to make a choice between paying for medicine or buying food rent and utilities ,extremely difficult choices , keeping in aimed some medications cost over $1000 a month ,
  if your house is made out of glass do not go throw stones at somebody else’s .

• Wine will age only under the appropriate conditions of light and temperature. Left out in the elements, bottled grape juice quickly decomposes into an undrinkable swill. After 56 years of being exposed to the elements, Havana struggles to be even drinkable, let alone a fine wine.

• The beautiful city of Havana same as good wine it gets better with time , more more beautiful with every passing day , I cannot wait to visit the beautiful city of Havana , and rub shoulders with beautiful people in Havana

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