Pedro Pablo Oliva: The Art of Honesty

I have read the words of the famous Cuban painter Pedro Pablo Oliva, 2006 National Prize of Plastic Arts, published on his website following his demotion from the post he occupied as a delegate of the Provincial Assembly of Popular Power in Pinar del Río which, once again, demonstrates the perverse nature of the system. [...]

Read Full Post »

Credibility: Basic Asset of the Dissident Blogger

Some obviously well intentioned readers have sent me valuable suggestions regarding the events that have been occurring in the city of Santa Clara, in the Villa Clara province. These readers ask me to use images that attest to the events cited, but they overestimate this blogger’s materials and logistics. Regretfully, I inform you that if [...]

Read Full Post »

From the Depths of Hell…

During this past week, the official Cuban media have shown very reliable evidence of how it is possible to use information from international events to mask and to try to dilute conflicts within the Island.  There is no doubt that government journalism takes the cake in what I normally call the squid effect: a dark [...]

Read Full Post »

Information from Santa Clara

José Lino Asencio. Photograph courtesy of Ricardo Medina Since the death of John Wilfredo Soto this past May 8th as a result of beatings received by local police, successive acts of violence, threats and harassment of various kinds have been carried out against dissident groups and individuals in the city of Santa Clara. My friend [...]

Read Full Post »

With Regards to the “Revolutionary Dissidence”: Nuances for a Possible Dialogue

(Article originally publishes in Diario de Cuba, 14 May 2022.) I recently wrote an article published in this Journal, which, to my satisfaction, has provoked several controversial comments. I say this is satisfactory, because several decades of absence of public debate in Cuban society, has contributed greatly to the lack of solutions to problems that [...]

Read Full Post »

Cubanacán and Our Lady

During this past week, Mr. Carlos Valhuerdi, an independent journalist at the Cubanacán Press website, has been telling me about some recent developments beginning on the night of May 7th through the 8th in the city of Santa Clara, after the death of John Wilfredo Soto, resulting from a brutal beating at the hands of [...]

Read Full Post »

Repression: Quarry of Dissent

After the close of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party, which officially established its approval of the stagnation of the system, and circumvented the changes of large social sectors, including official sectors, the only point on the official agenda that seems to be right on the mark is the repression of the alternative groups [...]

Read Full Post »

What is Real, Possible and Desirable

The recent Congress of the CCP, with all its greyness and its whiff of pre-epitaph – since it is probably “the last” where the so-called historical generation will be in attendance — has clearly demonstrated some issues that, until now, were cause for speculation among the Cuban reality analysts: behind the charade reform of the [...]

Read Full Post »

Official Cuban Journalism: With a Glass Roof…

With such discipline as my training provides, I am carefully reading, for the second time, an article published on page 3 of Granma (May 4th, 2011), in a section created to reminisce about the revolutionary liturgical and dated events of the moment, which they named Remember Girón. The referenced article, entitled “I was the youngest [...]

Read Full Post »