I want to share a paragraph taken from the book Prints of San Cristobal by Jorge Mañach.* In a text devoted to some sculptures in the shape of frogs, once located in Maceo Park (curiously, because although this was one of the parks of my childhood, I do not remember such frogs… if anyone ever… Continue reading Mañach and the new

In these times, when it’s fashionable to reflect on the problems of others and to ignore the immediate and the near by, I propose to touch on issues beyond the narrow framework of my home and my city. I thought then of the Australian Aborigines, discriminated against in their own country, of the problems in… Continue reading Reflections…

“Going to Havana?” the driver shouts as me, as if the corner of Boyeros and Tulipán where I am standing is not part of the city where I was born and live. I respond with a gesture of the finger to the left and confirm: “Yes, going to the Fraternity*,” because I like to make… Continue reading In the shadow of an “almendrón”

  “Going to Havana?” the driver shouts as me, as if the corner of Boyeros and Tulipán where I am standing is not part of the city where I was born and live.  I respond with a gesture of the finger to the left and confirm: “Yes, going to the Fraternity*,” because I like to… Continue reading In the shadow of an “almendrón”

This week we have anti-television therapy in our house. We started gradually and are now at the stage of turning on the “smug little fatty” but not turning up the volume. What this accomplishes is extremely interesting. Before our eyes pass images, so predictable that one’s own imagination adds the voice and sound. If there… Continue reading When I watch TV…

I read a few days ago, in the newspaper Granma, that the Cuban population is decreasing and that there were 4,300 fewer inhabitants in 2006 compared to the previous year. The news does not surprise me because I had already noted that twenty students per class in primary schools was due more to the demographic… Continue reading The children of waiting

I live equidistant from two agricultural markets, in one of which the sellers are farmers, members of a cooperative or their respective intermediaries, and the other of which is run by the Youth Labor Army (EJT). In the first there is nearly every fruit, vegetable, other food and even pork. The State (EJT) market rarely… Continue reading New status symbol

In my 6th grade geography book there was a photograph showing the environmental pollution in capitalist countries. I don’t remember if it was of London or Berlin, I only know that this image resembles it.

In these days the country is in the midst of baseball fever sparked by the final games of the national playoff series. The Industriales wear blue while red is the color of the team from Santiago de Cuba. On many balconies, doors or walls one can read posters with “Industriales Champions” or “Santiago, Go Santiago!”… Continue reading Posters yes, but only about baseball