Among the many ways of extinguishing light, there are very peculiar ones such as “shining in its absence.”  An unmistakable gleam has remained reflected in a photo that appeared yesterday on Granma’s front page, where the Cuban flag lacks the five white points in the middle of the triangle.  The commotion has been such that… Continue reading The star that illuminates and goes missing*

He started with a pick and shovel, planting the heavy crossbeams that support the train lines.  His father had also been a railroad worker, and an uncle even managed to drive the freight cars, loaded with cane, up to the plant.  I was very young and already his life was connected to the journey of… Continue reading Lokomotiv

I could spend the day scared, hiding from the men stationed below.  I might fill pages with the personal cost this blog has brought me and with the testimonies of those who have been “warned” that I am a dangerous person.  It would be enough for me to decide that every one of my articles… Continue reading Victim? No. Responsible.

In mid-2007, Julito assured me that before August pork would be sold at ten pesos a pound, the daily salary of the average worker.  Not seeing his prediction come true, he was shouting last January about the exact date of the meat discount.  With his permanent smile, he assured me that we could acquire the… Continue reading The optimists

I’m post-modern and disbelieving: speeches put me to sleep and a leader standing at a podium is, for me, the height of tedium.  I associate microphones with calls to intransigence, and the praised oratory of some has always seemed to me like nothing but screams to deafen the “enemy.”  At public events I usually manage… Continue reading We the People

Inspired by one of the many tourist advertisements, an idea occurred to me to attract visitors to the Island.  It is not an ecological tour to appreciate nature or an historic tour of the country’s plazas and monuments.  Stay “a lo cubano,” as a Cuban, could be the slogan of this tourist campaign, condemned in… Continue reading Come and live it

Faced with the promises of a future that never takes shape, I lean toward the prospects that begin today, toward the dreams that materialize on this day.  I already had my eyes focused on tomorrow, breathed in mouthfuls of possibilities and believed the illusion of what would come.  At this point, I’m betting only on… Continue reading A possible world, is better

I am waiting on a bench in Parque Central for some friends who are already half an hour late.  It’s been a hard day and I have little desire to speak with anyone.  A boy, he can’t be more than 20, sits down next to me.  He speaks English badly but uses it to ask… Continue reading Lady, I love you