Cuba: For 53 years the paper supports everything they write / Angel Santiesteban

The most official newspaper, the voice of the only political party in Cuba, is cynical enough to publish an article entitled: “The dark side of democracy,” by the “journalist” and Bolivian university “professor,” national “Senator” for the Socialist Movement party (MAS), “former director”of the weekly “Here” and former candidate in 2002 for vice president of … Continue reading “Cuba: For 53 years the paper supports everything they write / Angel Santiesteban”

MELLA IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Like every respected communist leader, Julio Antonio Mella* was not named Julio Antonio Mella, but something like Nicanor McPartland y Diez (almost an Eduardo del Llano character). As any Cuban political of some importance in the twentieth century, he was a bastard son (maybe our best Cubanologist will ultimately be Dr. Sigmund Freud). In Cuba, … Continue reading “MELLA IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

The Revolution of the Opportunists / Iván García

Viviana, 34, is a good example demonstrating that the Revolution of Fidel Castro is losing force. She has never read any work of Marxist theorists. Not even Das Kapital. Neither does she need to. She is very clear. She needs to get the red card of the party to rise. Improve her harsh living conditions … Continue reading “The Revolution of the Opportunists / Iván García”

White-collar thieves among the legal profession / Miguel Iturría Savón

The taxes and hard currency in the system of international legal consulting and special notaries — for foreigners — enabled in every Cuban province by the Ministry of Justice, does not appear in the Yearbook of the National Statistics Office, but must be one of the most profitable sources for the state bureaucracy, whose avidity … Continue reading “White-collar thieves among the legal profession / Miguel Iturría Savón”

Until the End / Anddy Sierra Alvarez

Citizens of Havana are increasing concerned about living in dilapidated buildings, as there have been several building collapses as the year 2012 progresses. A lady of 55 from a Havana neighborhood commented that the cold season is running out and the rainy season looming, a dangerous stage for buildings in poor condition as the contrast … Continue reading “Until the End / Anddy Sierra Alvarez”

Letter to His Holiness Benedict XVI requesting reconsideration of his trip to Cuba / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada

Havana, Thursday, January 26, 2012 To: His Holiness Benedict XVI. Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. Head of the Vatican State. From: Ignacio Estrada Cepero Executive Director of the Cuban League against AIDS. Human Rights Ombudsman. With joy and great rejoicing the Catholic population in Cuba received the news of your visit to the island, … Continue reading “Letter to His Holiness Benedict XVI requesting reconsideration of his trip to Cuba / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”

How Long? / Miguel Iturria Savón

Cuba has become a universe with its own rules, perhaps somewhere in the the historical past, or in an existential limbo difficult to read facing the outraged crowds who curse the politicians, and the financial institutions in dozens of cities in Europe and North America. In the island universe things continue at the pace of … Continue reading “How Long? / Miguel Iturria Savón”

The spider’s s abode is no longer illuminated… / Lilianne Ruíz

… and the portable lamp moves from one horror to another… One of the most critical times of the day is the News Hour. It is overwhelming, sometimes I despair. But I use all personal resources to recover and reclaim my serenity, it could be the power of some memory that stimulates the opioid in … Continue reading “The spider’s s abode is no longer illuminated… / Lilianne Ruíz”

Maria’s Patio / Rebeca Monzo

Those were the difficult eighties, and the stillness of the Plaza neighborhood’s House of Community Culture cracked under the onslaught of officialdom trying trying to abort a lovely project that, against all odds, Mireye Felipe and Maria Gatorna, Director and Deputy Director respectively of that institution, tried mightily to advance: a space for rock concerts. … Continue reading “Maria’s Patio / Rebeca Monzo”

From Virtuality to Reality / Regina Coyula

Graphic: Publish and find announcements of: Purchase, sale and rental of houses; purchase and sale of cars and parts; classifieds, cellphones, work, nightlife and friends. Ads using only your email. Create your own website and advertise your business on the internet. Express your opinion in our discussion forums. The story of a young Cuban who … Continue reading “From Virtuality to Reality / Regina Coyula”

State Bureaucracy: Via Matrimonial Ordeal / Miguel Iturría Savón

Like many Spanish who travel to Cuba, Angela A. F. knows that the inhabitants of this island are immersed in their problems, crammed with hardship and frivolities, on the edge of chaos and alienation. She also knows that friends overseas overestimate the events of this environment. She did not know, however, that by marrying a … Continue reading “State Bureaucracy: Via Matrimonial Ordeal / Miguel Iturría Savón”

The Cuban Communist Party Against the Country / Eliécer Ávila

This article appeared today in Diario de Cuba. Corruption, bureaucracy, empty talk and constant lies are the pillars that support the ruling system in Cuba; and so it would be naive to think of eliminating these evils that maintain the system: the only way to emerge from the crisis is to eliminate this species of … Continue reading “The Cuban Communist Party Against the Country / Eliécer Ávila”

Frabetti Doesn’t Believe in Tears / Regina Coyula

The Book fair has brought several intellectuals to Havana who remind me of a poem I read a ton of years ago. The poem talked about the jurors for the Casa Prize came to Cuba, were taken here and there, always very well-organized, and in the end the jurors started to believe they knew Cuba. … Continue reading “Frabetti Doesn’t Believe in Tears / Regina Coyula”

My Point of View / Eliseo Alberto Diego – "Lichi" / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate

“When I close the door, I never know whether I’m inside or outside.” (Judith Vázquez) I open the door. The unexpected and inexplicable (and as yet unexplained) return to TV of Jorge Papito Serguera, El Gordo Quesada and Luis Pavón Tamayo, a.k.a. (some say) Leopoldo Ávila, has awoken a logical agitation in Cuban intellectual circles, … Continue reading “My Point of View / Eliseo Alberto Diego – "Lichi" / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”

Laws Don’t Exist, says GECAL / Dora Leonor Mesa

The Cuban newspaper, “Juventud Rebelde” (Rebel Youth) – print edition – has a Readers’ Letters section, essentially to make known and find a solution to the problems that afflict the readers, who in the great majority write looking for help or explanations relating to work conflicts, excessive bureaucracy and many other issues. Sunday January 15th … Continue reading “Laws Don’t Exist, says GECAL / Dora Leonor Mesa”