Cuba’s place in Latin American history
Cristian Sanchez,
Contributor
September 20, 2017
The underlying cause for most of these revolutions in Latin America is, to my mind, more rooted in the want of economic and national independence. When most of these lands are reaped for their benefits by overseas investors and business conglomerates while the country itself sees little to none of s...
La libreta
Alexandra Archuleta,
Contributor
September 20, 2017
Cuban, government-owned supermarkets, otherwise known as bodegas, have been controlled by the Cuban government since Fidel Castro implemented a rations system in 1962. From Castro’s regime to present day, families are required to bring their state-issued ration book, known as la libreta, each time they...
Cuba’s coastline is no man’s land
Hannah Childress,
Contributor
August 29, 2017
Gaining access to information on water activities in Cuba proved harder than expected. Some local Cubans claimed that access to water for recreational or commercial purposes is strictly prohibited or limited. As one local street artist who goes by Martí said, “It is learning to see the lies… to ...
Tourism: Economic hope for Cuban people
Daisy Ortiz,
Spanish Editor
August 29, 2017
A crowd of people lines up against the Malecón near Old Havana late afternoon to wave goodbye to the cruise ship that came in earlier that week. People hold their phones up taking pictures with the ship as their background and even of it. This is the site every time a cruise ship says farewell and u...
“Patria o muerte:” Anti-colonial history and Cuba’s place in Latin America
Cristian Sanchez,
Contributor
August 28, 2017
In a forest of banner-less flagpoles, there stands a wall, a wall that boldly displays three simple yet powerful words in bright red: “¡Patria o muerte!” Even more curious than its placement amongst the aforementioned flagpoles, however, is what building this wall is directly facing. Head past t...
Insatiable: Cuba’s food ration system and the people of Cuba
Alexandra Archuleta,
Contributor
August 28, 2017
The one and only man behind the counter is Juan Delgado*; today is his 25th birthday. He works from dawn to dusk, handing out rationed groceries and making marks in people’s ration books in the small government bodega far from the lavish shops and elegant hotels of central Havana. Here in this impoverish...
Stephanie Maniche
Stephanie Maniche,
Contributor
August 27, 2017
Reality check After deplaning at Havana Airport and going through security, it still had not sunk in that I was in Cuba. The humidity, intense heat and the accents were not enough to confirm that I had reached my destination. I didn’t know that in just a few moments, I would encounter my reality...
Donnisha Brown
Donnisha Brown,
Contributor
August 27, 2017
A Cuban is a Cuban In the United States, there are African Americans, Chinese Americans, Mexican Americans and many more Americans. Although it is not directly defined by race, wealth, livelihood and overall quality of life is differentiated culture to culture, neighborhood to neighborhood. In Hav...
Communism, bad for whom?
Stephanie Maniche,
Contributor
August 23, 2017
Growing up, I always associated communism with being a bad thing and capitalism as being great. Sometimes in life, we just accept what we’re told if enough people are saying the same thing until we dig a bit deeper to find out for ourselves why we believe it.Today I question if the definitions ar...
Alexandra Archuleta
Alexandra Archuleta,
Contributor
August 23, 2017
Life in the slow lane Life for the socialist citizens of Havana, Cuba moves at a different pace. In the land of 1950s vintage cars, slow internet, and even slower hospitality, it’s more than apparent that the people of Havana are on island time. As my fourth day in Havana comes to a close, I can...
Perspective is always half of the battle
Alexandra Archuleta,
Contributor
August 17, 2017
As I spend increasingly more time walking the streets and conversing with the people of Havana, I slowly begin to discover that the overall impression someone develops on a topic is almost entirely reliant on perspective, and only a very small part relies on the actual circumstance itself. The concept...
Blog from Cuba: Small business, big surprise
Daisy Ortiz,
Spanish Editor
July 12, 2017
Havana is a mix between grey and white. I say grey because, unfortunately for some and a blessing for others, even the best parts of Havana aren’t what you would see in the United States. Many of the hotels are built in the middle of run-down buildings in which people still live. Some b...
