With Regards to the Guantanamo Naval Base / Rafael Alcides

Rafael Alcides, Havana, 2 April 2016 — The government that has ruled us since 1959 insists that the American Naval Base in Cuba’s Guantanamo Province is illegal. Mistake. It is immoral, but not illegal. At a time when the United States did not hide its eye patch and peg leg it took advantage, before leaving … Continue reading “With Regards to the Guantanamo Naval Base / Rafael Alcides”

Cuban Poet Rafael Alcides Denied US Visa As “Possible Emigrant” / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 2 March 2016 — The US Embassy in Havana denied the poet Rafael Alcides a visa to travel to Miami, this morning, believing he might be intending to emigrate, as reported by his wife, the blogger Regina Coyula. Alcides had been invited by the Vista Foundation, which organized a tribute to him and … Continue reading “Cuban Poet Rafael Alcides Denied US Visa As “Possible Emigrant” / 14ymedio”

Rafael Alcides, Chapter 5: The People / Miguel Coyula

This video is the 5th in a series of vignettes extracted from a four-hour interview of Rafael Alcides conducted by the filmmaker Miguel Coyula. Below are links to the other Chapters. ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 1: The Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 2: Artists and Politicians / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 3: About … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides, Chapter 5: The People / Miguel Coyula”

Rafael Alcides, Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time in Biran / Miguel Coyula

This video is the 4th in a series of vignettes extracted from a four-hour interview of Rafael Alcides conducted by the filmmaker Miguel Coyula. Below are links to the other Chapters. ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 1: The Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 2: Artists and Politicians / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 3: About … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides, Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time in Biran / Miguel Coyula”

‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 3: About Beauty / Miguel Coyula

A series of videos with Rafael Alcides, by the filmmaker Miguel Coyula, with Lynn Cruz and thanks to Leonardo ds Vinci, Tomaso Albinoni, Alberto Korda The other videos: ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 1: The Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 2: Artists and Politicians / Miguel Coyula Rafael Alcides, Chapter 4: Once Upon a … Continue reading “‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 3: About Beauty / Miguel Coyula”

‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 2: Artists and Politicians / Miguel Coyula

A series of videos with Rafael Alcides, by the filmmaker Miguel Coyula. Music by Ivan Lajardi and thanks to Lynn Cruz and Marta Aquino. The other videos: ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 1: The Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 3: About Beauty / Miguel Coyula Rafael Alcides, Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time in Biran … Continue reading “‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 2: Artists and Politicians / Miguel Coyula”

‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 1: The Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula

A series of videos with Rafael Alcides, by the filmmaker Miguel Coyula (with Lynn Cruz and thanks to Marta Aquino) Links to the other videos: ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 2: Artists and Politicians / Miguel Coyula ‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 3: Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula Rafael Alcides, Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time in Biran / … Continue reading “‘Rafael Alcides’ Chapter 1: The Beautiful Things / Miguel Coyula”

The Future Begins on August 14 / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 3 August 2015 – For some, it began on 17 December of last year, when – as surprisingly as a goal scored at the last minute deciding a world championship – the leaders Barack Obama and Raúl Castro publicly announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, … Continue reading “The Future Begins on August 14 / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”

What Is the General Plotting? / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 26 May 2015 – From a distance I saw them arguing. They were father and son—they could not be heard, but their animated gesticulations spoke volumes. The son, already in his 60s; the father, a captain in the Sierra, who escaped from the Party a while back, is a person I’ve … Continue reading “What Is the General Plotting? / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”

Rafael Alcides

Rafael Alcides was born in Barrancas, municipal district of Bayamo (Cuba) in 1933. A poet and storyteller, he was a master baker in his teen years. He has worked as a farmhand, cane cutter, logger, wrecking crew cook, and manager of a sundries store in a cane-cutters’ outpost. In Havana in the 1950s he worked variously … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides”

“If I had someone to sponsor* me…” / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 19 May 2015 – This morning I woke up pessimistic. There was no milk in the house, and the kind they sell at the “shopping” [hard-currency* store] is priced out of reach for anyone who is not an executive at a firm or who does not have relatives out there who … Continue reading ““If I had someone to sponsor* me…” / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”

What the Wind Left Behind* / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 10 April 2015 – Havana sixty years ago was a pretty city—clean, young and with no thieves of any consequence in the neighborhood. Around 9:00 at night the garbage truck would make its rounds. It was a regular truck, not one of those modern-day versions that look like interplanetary spaceships. It … Continue reading “What the Wind Left Behind* / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”

The Harvest of the Sowing of Violence / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 13 May 2015 – Extremely worried, doctoral candidate in physics Antonio Rodiles and his wife the actress and political activist Ailer Gonzalez, in their home, related to me two events that I have prayed over, that those events that started with the blood of Moncada wouldn’t end up being a circular … Continue reading “The Harvest of the Sowing of Violence / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”

Their Weapon is the Word, Peaceful is their Struggle / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Our “mercenaries” do not plant bombs, nor do they plan attempts on people’s lives, nor sabotages, as did those who today are in power. Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 30 April 2015 – A young Communist, lamenting how the Cuban government delegation (supposedly there representing Cuban civil society) made fools of themselves in Panama, told me, … Continue reading “Their Weapon is the Word, Peaceful is their Struggle / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”

Made in Cuba / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides

Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 10 April 2015 – Thinking of my son Reuben (whom I have not seen in twenty-one years, five more than his age when he emigrated in 1993) I wrote in 2003 a text collected in a booklet in 2011 which was published by Mangolele, in Logrono, Spain. Here it is:  ASTRONOMICAL Miami … Continue reading “Made in Cuba / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”