Search results for: schools in the countryside

Cuba’s Worst ‘New Man’: With a Luxury Car, a Powerful Surname and Little Education

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 2 March 2021 — He alternates his gaze between the road and the camera recording him. He smiles. He flaunts the luxurious vehicle that he drives at high speed and tosses phrases at a spectator he assumes must be salivating at such luxury. The protagonist of this scene could be any … Continue reading “Cuba’s Worst ‘New Man’: With a Luxury Car, a Powerful Surname and Little Education”

And Them? Were They ‘Mercenaries’ Too?

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 6 December 2020 — I have several friends who have not slept for days, glued to the phone or having conversations in front of the mirror, with their pillow or in the shower. They are some of the artists who were in front of the Ministry of Culture on November 27 and who … Continue reading “And Them? Were They ‘Mercenaries’ Too?”

Jose Marti, from Apostle to ‘Pret-A-Porter’ / Fernando Damaso

Fernando Damaso, 1 August 2020 — The preaching and thought of José Martí had their greatest diffusion in the United States, among the emigrants and the participants in the War of 1868, which they knew and shared with him. It was logical: joining forces for the new war, he tried to convince them, with his words, to … Continue reading “Jose Marti, from Apostle to ‘Pret-A-Porter’ / Fernando Damaso”

The ‘Truly’ Convertible Money Now Prevails In Cuba

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, July 16, 2020 – in the midst of a growing shortage in Cuban markets, the Government has decided to increase the distance between consumers and merchandise, improving the capacity to buy for holders of debit cards that can only be nourished with foreign currency. This commercial modality started at the end … Continue reading “The ‘Truly’ Convertible Money Now Prevails In Cuba”

From the Gulag to the UMAP: Official History and the Control of Memory

Abel Sierra Madero, Hypermedia Magazine, 15 May  2020 — Yuri Brokhin, a Soviet filmmaker who defected in 1972 and settled in the United States, described his experience trying to purchase a Volga automobile in the late 1960s. In all of Voroshilovgrad, Ukraine, there were only twelve of these cars available for sale to the public, … Continue reading “From the Gulag to the UMAP: Official History and the Control of Memory”

From ’Protoplin’ to Sugarcane Juice

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aqui, Havana, 28 May 2020 — It was in the 1980s, durng one those trips to the provinces which I took as a journalist for the magazine Cuba International, accompanied by the Luis Manuel Fernández, better known as Pirole.  In the midst of the boredom of those hotels with no diversions, … Continue reading “From ’Protoplin’ to Sugarcane Juice”

Days 27 to 30 of the Covid-19 Crisis in Cuba: Silencing the Critics with Fines

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 19 April 2020 – The days now are defined by lines and heat. The temperatures stop any breezes from blowing on our 14th floor, midday feels like an oven, and the fans have to work much harder than normal for April. But the lines to buy food are the worst because, … Continue reading “Days 27 to 30 of the Covid-19 Crisis in Cuba: Silencing the Critics with Fines”

The Extraordinary Resemblance Between Tourism in Nazi Germany and Communist Cuba

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Valencia, 30 September 2019 — The Spanish newspaper ABC dedicated an interesting report to tourism during the third German Reich, and how Hitler fooled millions of tourists in World War II. All this comes from a book by Julia Boyd entitled Travelers in the Third Reich from the Atico Libros publishing house, filled with letters, documents and testimonies … Continue reading “The Extraordinary Resemblance Between Tourism in Nazi Germany and Communist Cuba”

The Agent-of-Change Generation

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, August 8, 2019 — If we accept the convention that a generation spans a period of thirty years, then the so-called “historic generation” would encompass those born between 1910 and 1940. Similarly, the “generation of heirs” — also known as “the grateful generation” — came into the world between 1940 and … Continue reading “The Agent-of-Change Generation”

"The Person Who Puts Food on the Table is ‘el Yuma’*"

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 26 April 2019 — While she waits, she retouches her lips, fixes her hair and asks another woman who is waiting next to her if this is the first time she’s come. On the outskirts of La Condesa, a prison for foreigners 50 kilometers from Havana, several women arrive for the … Continue reading “"The Person Who Puts Food on the Table is ‘el Yuma’*"”

Nostalgia For The Cage Of The ‘80s

14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, 22 April 2019 — That day I did not want to watch national television but rather some documentary on the ‘Weekly Packet’, but when I turned on the screen there was Ramiro Valdés, speaking before the National Assembly about the “diversion of resources,” the official euphemism used to talk about stealing … Continue reading “Nostalgia For The Cage Of The ‘80s”

“Peter Pan” in the Air / Fernando Damaso

Fernando Damaso, 19 February 2019 — Lately I’ve been hearing the phrase “the horrendous Operation Peter Pan” and I ask myself: Was it really horrendous? “Operation Peter Pan” consisted of many parents sending their children to the United States through religious organizations, to avoid losing “parental authority,” which was a broadly-held concern among the members … Continue reading ““Peter Pan” in the Air / Fernando Damaso”

Ratifying the Constitution Will Institutionalize the Dictatorship of One Party

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, February 4, 2019 — If someone wanted to find a definition of what is most current and important from what is happening in Cuba, they could assert that today there is happening a transition of authority from symbol to force of law. For almost half a century Cuba was basically driven … Continue reading “Ratifying the Constitution Will Institutionalize the Dictatorship of One Party”

Prague 1968, My First (and Belated) Disappointment

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 20 August 2018 — On the cover of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde on that Tuesday, 20 August 1968, a disturbing headline surprised everyone: Czechoslovakia Invaded. The subheading added that Warsaw Pact troops were the executors of the action. On Wednesday the 21st, a group of students from the School of Journalism of the University … Continue reading “Prague 1968, My First (and Belated) Disappointment”

What Has and Has Not Changed in Cuba Since Raul Casto Came to Power

14ymedio, Mario J. Pentón/Reporting Team, Miami, 17 April 2018 — On the last day of July 2006 Cuba’s prime time news program broke with its usual monotony. Carlos Valenciaga, Fidel Castro’s chief of staff, announced to Cuba and the world that the hitherto invincible Commander-in-Chief had temporarily ceded power, after suffering intestinal bleeding. Raúl Castro, his younger brother, took … Continue reading “What Has and Has Not Changed in Cuba Since Raul Casto Came to Power”