This past Friday I had the opportunity to travel to Pinar del Rio province. I went as a journalist to cover a literary initiative that over the recent period has been dealing with the nation’s cultural life. On what would have been her 100th birthday, homage was paid to Dora Alonso, one of the greatest writers of children’s literature.
One of the icons of the Nueva Trova movement, Pablo Milanes is known for maintaining a critical position toward what he considers errors committed by the leadership of the Cuban Revolution, though without ceasing to defend that revolution despite its mistakes.
Mauricio Ortega, 57, is a native of Guanabacoa, a municipality of the city of Havana. With a ninth grade education, among the jobs he’s held are street sweeper, security guard and ambulance driver. HT interviews Mauricio (not his real name) who is currently working for AGESP,the Security and Protection Agency.
The Dog Cemetery disappeared almost totally just at the moment it was beginning to take on scale, and precisely when it was acquiring meaning for the residents in the surrounding area. It no longer exists as such, and all of this was due to human insensitivity.
One must to try to unite the useful with the satisfying. In other words, you have to try to reconcile earning a living with doing what you like. In my case, though I can’t generalize, it’s like what Marx said: “Social consciousness reflects social being,” which is to say that you think like you live.
I felt I was lucky. I’d even passed up piling on the last of the four P-11s with the full faith that the next one would soon be by. Such excessive optimism dealt me a bad hand.
Although he has not achieved the same level of acclaim as that of his contemporaries Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes, some of his songs appear within the most beautiful of Cuban trova.
Mayelin is from Cienfuegos, a south-central province of the island. It was there that the first important events of her life occurred. She studied to make it through university. She married her son’s father, and years later she got divorced from him.
His lyrics have assured him a place in the hearts of all Cubans, just as his fusion work has won him high marks among specialized critics. His songs incorporate elements of Latin American music —basically Brazilian and Caribbean.
Requirements and standards are very positive for achieving efficiency. Me in particular, I like to do my job well. I have years of experience in work that has made me known as a straight shooter.