Diana Fuentes is a rising star in Cuban music. Though some try to pigeonhole her within the trova category — which I wouldn’t exclude her from — her work surpasses such a limiting space. She sits with ease on a vast plain of fusion that melds trova, Cuban “feeling,” boleros, pop, hip hop, funk and other traditional Cuban rhythms.
Read More“In Jesus Christ is the truth” – at least according to a sign on a door I pass by daily on the way from work. That message is written in brown crayon on the deteriorating entryway wall. Its strokes seem impetuous, giving the idea of having been scrawled out in a moment of passion.
Read MoreYesterday — during the half hour I had free between my machine in a cybercafé and a meeting set up with a friend — I used it to go sit on the malecon seawall.
Read MoreThough I’m a fervent follower of most sports, soccer — which is one of the greatest and most profitable spectacles in the world today — doesn’t arouse great passion in me.
Read MoreThey say that only to participate in an Olympic Games is in itself tremendous of glory for any athlete. Winning a medal, then, must be something like sitting at the table with Olympian gods. However, for Cuban athletes there’s an equivalent privilege that few have ever experienced: the right to the “Olympic Dining Room.”
Read MoreThe bus stop in front of the Capitolio Building. Six o’clock in the late afternoon. A mob of people rush the door of a bus bound for Alamar. I think for a second. The day’s been bad and I don’t want to make it worse by ending up squished trying to get a ride home.
Read MoreThe music of Buena Fe is catchy and upbeat, and their lyrics offer a critical perspective connected to the experiences that govern life in Cuba today.
Read MoreFor a long time there has been talk of unifying the two currencies. I don’t think this will happen soon. To be honest—though it may seem like a radical thought—I do not think this will ever be done.
Read MoreBefore my father gave me his version of the story, for me the 1970 sugarcane harvest was a simple incident that gave people something to laugh at. “I haven’t been to a fiesta since the ‘70 harvest,” you could hear any Cuban say with a smile.
Read MoreHe doesn’t make the mistake of simplifying life, like others do when they say that “life is a dream” or “life is just a game.” Not at all, for him life is one, and as everything is unified, it brings with it dialectical opposites: happiness and discontent, with these rising and falling like waves.
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