Search results for: Saratoga Hotel

‘We Should Have Kicked You Out Long Ago’: How the Director of Alma Mater was Fired by Cuba’s UJC

14ymedio, Madrid, 10 May 2022 — Armando Franco Senén, former director of Alma Mater magazine, has broken his silence two weeks after the controversy generated by his dismissal from the publication. In an extensive Facebook post published on Tuesday, the journalist stated that his silence was converting him into an accomplice of the decision by … Continue reading “‘We Should Have Kicked You Out Long Ago’: How the Director of Alma Mater was Fired by Cuba’s UJC”

Getting Dressed in Cuba / Iván García

Ivan Garcia, 15 May 2017 — The plastic drawers holding garments for men and women give off the usual scent of things that have have been in storage for a long time. We are in a government-run store that sells used clothing on the Calzada de Monte, a busy thoroughfare lined with state-owned retail establishments, privately … Continue reading “Getting Dressed in Cuba / Iván García”

Do Cuba and the United States Need to Rebuild Trust? / Ivan Garcia

Ivan Garcia, 20 February 2015 — Fifty Cuban and foreign journalists attended the press conference that a delegation of congressional Democrats headed by Nancy Pelosi held on the afternoon of Thursday, February 19 outside the residence of Lynn Roche, the U.S. Interest Section’s public affairs officer. Nancy Pelosi, born in Maryland in 1940, traveled to Havana … Continue reading “Do Cuba and the United States Need to Rebuild Trust? / Ivan Garcia”

A “Clandestine” Meeting with Ernesto Londoño / Miriam Celaya

Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, HAVANA, Cuba, 2 December 2014 — Young journalist Ernesto Londoño should feel very gratified professionally: he has not only managed to raise a bitter media controversy in recent weeks, stemming from his uncharacteristic editorial which appeared in the New York Times (NYT), in favor of bringing closer the governments of the US … Continue reading “A “Clandestine” Meeting with Ernesto Londoño / Miriam Celaya”

Internet in Cuba: A Success in Spite of Everything / Ivan Garcia

Eight in the morning. On the ground floor of the Focsa building  – Cuba’s Empire State – on M between 17 and 19 Vedado, in a shop between the Guiñol theatre and a beaten-up bar at the entrance to the Scherezada club, a queue of about 15 people are waiting to enter the internet room. … Continue reading “Internet in Cuba: A Success in Spite of Everything / Ivan Garcia”

Cuba-United States: Focusing on Transparency / Ivan Garcia

There are not always good arguments for trampling on the jurisdiction of a foreign nation. The Cold War mentality is still latent in the behavior of certain U.S. institutions. If a government believes in democracy and political freedom, it shouldn’t go around hiding its peaceful efforts to support the democrats in autocratic countries like Cuba. … Continue reading “Cuba-United States: Focusing on Transparency / Ivan Garcia”

Cuba: Internet in Your Home from September / Ivan Garcia

According to a spokesman for ETECSA, the only telecoms company in Cuba, they are going to start marketing internet in peoples’ homes, with ADSL included, from the first half of September. We don’t yet know what the price of the installation will be. What has come to light in a document which we have seen … Continue reading “Cuba: Internet in Your Home from September / Ivan Garcia”

Strange Coincidence of Attacks Against Regime Opponents and Independent Journalists / Michel Iroy Rodriguez Ruiz

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec. 6, 2013, Michel Iroy Rodríguez Ruiz / www.cubanet.org.- In recent weeks, several independent journalists and opposition have been victims of kidnappings, assaults and theft. Many blame this on State Security. On 7 November, between eight and eight-thirty in the evening, Mario José Delgado González, correspondent of the Social Agency of Independent Journalists … Continue reading “Strange Coincidence of Attacks Against Regime Opponents and Independent Journalists / Michel Iroy Rodriguez Ruiz”

Fashion and Reality in Cuba / Ivan Garcia

If, like 22-year-old Yoan, you consider it a priority to dress in the style of a male fashion model and you spend all your spare time in the gym sculpting your body, then the bill could exceed your income. Yoan maintains a lifestyle similar to an average middle-class guy in any developed country thanks to … Continue reading “Fashion and Reality in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”

Cuba: Internet, in Slow Motion and Hard Currency / Ivan Garcia

Facing the India fountain, next to Fraternity Park and close to the Capitol, in the center of Havana, is nestled the Hotel Saratoga. Its ancient facade, painted lime green, has an architecture of curved arches and tall columns. The interior is a modern frame with iron structures and plasterboard. According to the relaxed norms of … Continue reading “Cuba: Internet, in Slow Motion and Hard Currency / Ivan Garcia”

Havana, A Unique Metropolis / Ivan Garcia #Cuba

In spite of the decay and the grime, it is still a vain city. A varied architecture, rows of archways and tall columns topped with plaster figures. Neighborhoods with their own flavor.Atarés, El Pilar, Carraguao, La Víbora, Lawton, Sevillano, Mantilla, Párraga, Buena Vista, Pogolotti, San Leopoldo, Colón, Cayo Hueso, El Vedado o Miramar. Each with … Continue reading “Havana, A Unique Metropolis / Ivan Garcia #Cuba”

Navigating the Internet is Expensive, Slow and Risky for Cubans / Iván García

In the year 2000, in a long, narrow cubicle of the National Capitol, the present seat of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, an Internet service at 5 dollars per hour was authorized. At that time 5 dollars was a little more than half the minimum wage in Cuba. The service was agonizingly slow. … Continue reading “Navigating the Internet is Expensive, Slow and Risky for Cubans / Iván García”

In Cuba, We Breathe the World Cup

The world is a football. With the end of the leagues on the old continent, people’s mouths are watering in Cuba. On 11 June, something great starts: the World Cup in South Africa. Already in the sports clubs, they are setting up sweepstakes. Brazil, as usual, has the advantage in the betting. Mauricio, 32, a hotel worker in … Continue reading “In Cuba, We Breathe the World Cup”

The Two Faces of the Internet in Cuba

For Rolando, a 56-year-old worker, the internet is science fiction. Fernandez, who has never navigated the information highway, thinks it is pure fantasy that someone sitting in their home can read a newspaper or magazine, watch television shows or listen to the radio. Laureano, a 61-year-old retired cigar-roller, looks at me with amazement like he … Continue reading “The Two Faces of the Internet in Cuba”