It must have been about 10 or 11 a.m., or maybe it was in the afternoon. In any case, it was daytime, that I’m sure of, because as I went down the hallway from the ultrasound department to the delivery unit, the reflection of daylight on the floor made a path of bright colors…everything was going to turn out all right. We had spent the last nine months together; the first things that she knew were my smell, the warmth and music of my womb, blood and voice. She knew right away that my hands were a good place to be, which is why she snuggled close to them every time they were close to my enormous stomach. I had learned to carry her inside; it is a habit that lasts forever. But when I saw her for the first time, so soft and beautiful, so terrifyingly mine…I learned how to be a daughter. She was out there, and 26 years earlier she had been where I now was, and now she was waiting, feeling my pain and joy. A nurse guided the stretcher that supposedly led to the ward…but we were actually going straight to my mother’s scent, to...

Liudmila Quincoses (Sancti Spíritus, 1975) is a poet. She holds a degree in Literature and Spanish. At the age of 19, she won the Santa Clara Foundation Award for her poetry collection, Un libro raro . Her poetry has been published in anthologies in the United States, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Mexico, and in the magazines El Caimán Barbudo, La Gaceta de Cuba, Casa de las Américas, and others, both Cuban and international. Liudmila enjoys writing, and perhaps that is why in 1994, in the midst of the severe economic crisis, she had the idea of hanging a sign on her front door that said: “Escribanía Dollz . Love letters written anytime.” She waited for more than a month for her first customer, and since then, she has been writing love letters non-stop. “Over the years I’ve seen many sad eyes, restless hands, and symptoms of anguish. Being a scribe means being committed to soothing that loneliness and reconstructing stories. But most of all, it means being somebody who cares very much about a person who has set embarrassment aside and has come to involve you in his or her problem. Entering the lives of two people means also...

The Old Man died so many years ago that nobody remembers him anymore. All of the streets here are paved now; all of the buildings have been modernized, except for La Terraza, where the tourists go to sit at the bar and enjoy the same food that was cooked there when the Old Man was the best fisherman in Cojímar and in the world. A lot of people agree that the Old Man was pure fantasy, a character out of a novel, who never existed; however, others say that he was a real old man, with a boat and a fish—all real—brought down by sharks off the coast of the village of Cabañas, more than 60 kilometers west of Cojímar and about 50 from Havana. In the narrow cove, fishing boats are still anchored. That and La Terraza are among the few vestiges that endure from the mundane world of old Santiago. Gregorio Fuentes, skipper of the yacht El Pilar and the sea-venturing buddy of the man who gave the Old Man fame and celebrity, used to go every day, not so long ago, to sit down in a corner of La Terraza and have a bite to eat, recounting...

The 20th International Meeting of Ballet Academies was concluded in Havana after several days of exchanges with different current styles. Visiting the National Ballet School (ENB by its acronym in Spanish) around these days is finding a different space. The walls are the same, as well as the glances at the mirrors; however, there is a different exchange environment where trends are blended on the occasion of the 20th International Meeting of Ballet Academies, which has recently come to an end. The program of the event, which ended his Saturday and was organized by the National Center of Art Schools and ENB, included lectures on Methodology in Physical Training, Teaching by the Cuban ballet academy, as well as composition, children’s theater, choreography, among others. This year’s highlights were Dance Criticism workshops, “very well received” as stated by the Cuban professor from ENB, Marta Vera Álvarez. Furthermore, the event arranged for the first time the workshop Designing dance along with audiovisual aids, and the Contest for young art critics. For the first time, children were allowed to participate in the international contest taking place in parallel with the academic program. Vera Alvarez explained that they had 39 participants in this category,...

With its evocative name of roads and travelers Karromato came, a classic Central European puppet theater tradition. Invited to the XI International Puppet Workshop (TITM) and the International Council of UNIMA 2014 (International Union of Puppetry), presented their "Circus of wood" on the 21 in Sala Papalote de Matanzas and Friday 25 April at the Order III theater, home of La Colmenita from Havana Vieja. On Sunday 27 they have the last function in Pedro Arrupe room at 3:00 PM. Karromato is a European company with home-based in Prague, made by artists from the Czech Republic, Spain and Hungary. As puppeteers from past epoques, they also travel telling stories with puppets. Since its founding in 1996, they have presented in more than thirty countries where the language was not a barrier, because his art does not need words. Today we talk with two of its members: Luis Montoto (Kiko) and his wife Paula Srncová. Do the characters in "Circus of wood" respond one hundred percent to medieval classic types of Czech Puppet Theater? Group Karromato Yes “Circus of wood " is an absolutely traditional spectacle that draws on the roots of Czech puppet shows of the nineteenth century. Originally, they...

OnCuba interviewed young actor and director Jazz Vilá on his latest piece, Rascacielos (Skyscraper), which was premiered and is staged at the Adolfo Llauradó theater hall in La Casona de Linea. Four couples: a few girls with issues in their love relationships, a mature woman and a man much younger, a violent boy and his girlfriend and a couple boys conflicted between the past and the present…, whose fates are linked by a young painter. These are the characters of the piece. It was produced by young actor and director Jazz Vilá—known by the character of La china in the film Juan de los muertos. It is an invitation to “discover the true nature of couple’s intimacy”. Rascacielos is mainly addressed to young people and is a reflection on communication, sexual diversity and coexistence. What materials did you use to build Rascacielos? (He laughs) – The play is based on personal experiences and cinematographic and theater sources of inspiration. I gradually brought together certain interesting topics for me. That’s the foundation for Rascacielos. “Then, I carried an arduous contextualization process of all these ideas in order to fit this reality. So many years living abroad, –almost a decade in Spain–...

The 6th annual International Varadero Gourmet Festival closed with about 28 participating companies from home and abroad, a figure that represents an increase over the previous year but that is far from the expectations the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Cuba and the Palmares Business Group, organizers of the event, had. Manuel Marrero, Minister of Tourism, said they were satisfied with the results and the development of the event plays an important role in the ongoing efforts to transform the world of gastronomy in our country. He highlighted the introduction of new products that make the current offer more varied. "There are still obstacles to access to a variety of quality products to the Cuban market. You have to open the valves that close that entrance, "he said. The Minister also highlighted the presence in the event of non-state tourism entrepreneurs which supplement state tourism, in this case with the participation of the private restaurants. He also praised the quality of the services of these restaurants. He recalled that the Ministry will support the development of these businesses that are an example of quality and active sample of the culinary history of Cuba. During his closing speech Marrero...

The Cuban Joan Fernández Cabrera (Cantaleta) , is currently a member of Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus, according to experts one of the largest and most famous of all American circuses. For eight years Fernández Cabrera has been working his clown career in companies around the globe as the Belarusian State Circus, the Metropole in France and the National Circus of Cuba. His characterization inspired in silent comedies by Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy has earned him great recognition that allows him stand out today in the new production of the Ringling Brothers. The show, entitled “Legends of the Fall, joy and pride," combines artists from around the world and takes a trip with European mythology fantastic creatures like the Unicorn and Pegasus, for example. Here the young clown is accompanied by his pet bear Mususi in an enriched performance since the time when he was 18 and decided by the complex art of making people laugh. In addition to his skills of facial and bodily expression, Cantaleta enjoys acrobatics and impersonation of his own performance. According to what he says, participating in the latest blockbuster of Ringling Brother is a dream come true because of the undeniable...

She was Sonia in Conducta, Luz Marina in Aire Frio (Cold Air) ... and a lot of characters that shape a thriving career that barely started. She is Leoni's wife, the mother of Sebastian, the Yuliet of TB prime time show Piso 6 (6Th Floor) is also the daughter and woman of the times. Yuliet Cruz is a talented actress, and a lucky one. She admits it. Although her face is unusual in soap operas, at which time most people worship the television; she has been noted by, major and minor, appearances in teleplays and other programs. Also, her continuous musical presentation at the 6th Floor magazine has earned her a name over the characters she has performed. In the movies she is another one of those women who has been touched by the magic wand of directors, while nullifying doubts about her worth. She has let us feel the depth of a psychological training, stretching the limits of interpretation at the crossroads of illustrating to an alcoholic and carefree mother, and being a mom who does not want to go at night to work to be with her little one. And what about the theater! The tables have revealed...

Cubasolar 2014 is moving on the sun’s track As said by PhD. Luis Berriz Perez, president of Cubasolar, during the Cubasolar 2014 11thInternational Workshop in session from April 21-25 at the Club Kawama Hotel in Varadero, “power generation with our own energy resources is vital for assuring and speeding up local, territorial and national development”. Bérriznoted that Cuba could be self-sufficient with renewable energy sources and power production in the country could reach a five per cent even when at present it isn’t above three per cent. “From the natural point of view, renewable energy sources have been applied in agriculture with bagasse. We are using renewable energy sources at 20 or 30 per cent not just in power generation but also as heat”, Berriz explained. At present Cuba is highly dependent on the import of fuel (more than 50 per cent), and therefore, it has low energy security. “Lessening our energy dependence is only possible by diminishing the import of energy carriers. We cannot depend on fuel imports for the development of specific activities and for local development”, he pointed out. According to Berriz, out of the energy balance by final use at homes, 45 per cent goes to...

Laritza Bacallao was never afraid of the stage, note even when she was a little girl and used to sing with the Aragon band, which was huge. She isn’t afraid now either as she tours the country, accompanied by the project Por un Mundo Mejor(For a better world) (PMM by its acronym in Spanish), getting rounds of applauses from the audience. Perhaps, as people say, that’s because she’s got pedigree, artist descent and she cannot hide it. Laritza is no longer that little child with a promising future in the continuance of a family tradition in music. Today, she is one of the latest and most interesting voices of the Cuban music, traits not inherited but deserved for her tenacity. Her voice allows her to successfullywalk in and out ballads such as “Someone like you”and less demanding (from the vocal point of view) musical genres as reggaeton. She sets crowds in motion with the same grace she captivates them, as revealed by her national tour Soy Cuba (I’m Cuba) along with PMM, which is half way already since its beginning in March in the eastern part of the country. This tour has taken LED lights and screens (which characterizePMM) and...

Gibara, known as the White Village, captivated Humberto Solas since he shot Lucia and years later he turned it into the capital for Low-budget Cinema. This village also caught the attention of Lester Hamlet, the current director of the Low-budget Film Festival, who assumed the challenge of continuing the legacy of that late filmmaker. When the festival seemed to be lost along with his creator, the festival returns to Gibara until April 27 with intense days between harmony and art. Despite the lack of financing, this 11th edition had great reception, “This has been a great motivation to go on with the event because it wouldn’t be fair that the audience and producers don’t enjoy this cinema, these messages and different means of doing things from several places”, Hamlet told OnCuba. Do you have any other motivations for continuing Solas’ sociocultural utopia? Maintaining Humberto’s legacy, continuing with his work is, of course, one of my motivations because that’s something i owe him. I feel I have the responsibility of offering an opportunity to dialogue, exchange, and screen films for the people that rely on the festival and trust in it. I defend this kind of cinema above anything, a cinema...

From May 2nd, the seventeenth edition of the French Film Festival begins in Havana, organized by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) in conjunction with Cinemania, from France and the Alliance Française in Cuba. The Chaplin, Riviera, 23 and 12 Cinema, Multicine Infanta (halls 1 and 2) room will be open to the public that loves French cinema, and that this time will have the opportunity to enjoy as every year a program of excellence with the latest released in that country. Other room film as "Glauber Rocha" in the New Latin American Cinema Foundation; "Victor Hugo" House, "Walfredo Piñera" House from Felix Varela Cultural Center both in the historical district of Old Havana; International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV); UNEAC, Pedagogical Institute "Enrique José Varona"; will function as secondary venues of the event, spaces that facilitate moviegoers of any part of the city to enjoy the new proposal offered by the organizers. As is tradition a tribute section is devoted to prominent critic, actor and director Francois Truffaut, one of the initiators of the new wave movement in France.

One of the most emblematic places of all Havana, where dreams are born and passions overflow, the Latinoamericano Stadium, could soon become a national monument, an award not only to its architecture, but to what it represents in the daily lives of all Cubans. The popular “Coloso del Cerro”, headquarters of the loved and hated Industriales baseball team, depending of course on the point of view of the national sport fans , treasures in its bowels key moments of Cuban history , not only of sports but also cultural and political besides being a landmark in Havana geography. For this reason, during the recent session of the Ninth Workshop of built and natural heritage , held in Havana on April 16 and 17 , the Municipal Delegation of Monuments, along the Provincial Heritage Centre , proposed to raise the request for the Latino to become a national monument . The idea is not far-fetched, as the No.2 Act governing the particularities of such statements in Cuba this category may be granted to spaces, places, or areas where they significant events or processes of historical , scientific, ethnographic or legendary have taken place, or possessing architectural features of urban design and...

The movie "Papa", whose plot focuses on the last 14 years in the life of American writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), is filmed these days in Havana, some of whose scenes will be filmed in front of the former Presidential Palace. The film is a biographical drama based on a true story, located in Havana in 1959, when the reporter Ed Myers (Giovanni Ribisi) travels to meet his idol Hemingway (Adrian Sparks), who invited him after the first writes a letter to the author of For Whom the Bell Tolls, confessing being his admirer. Both live the turmoil of the Revolution of January 1, 1959, when the flight of the dictator Fulgencio Batista and his top aides, pushed by rebel troops, led by Fidel Castro. According to Premiere Entertainment, the film includes the adventurous life of fishing, bars and gatherings that the writer shares with the new acquaintance, who contemplates his icon, a hero in the flesh. The director and producer of the film is Bob Yari ( Crash & The Illusionist) , after many setbacks began filming the script written by the late war correspondent Denne Bart Petitclerc, friend of Hemingway, which also took to the screen books like Islands...

The Ninth Workshop on Built and Natural Heritage, which was held on April 16-17 at the José Martí Cultural Society, has defined the work strategies to reverse the deterioration of buildings in Havana. The workshop was aimed to stimulate protection and rescue of heritage built as value that retains the historical memory of the country. The exchange of practical experiences on the implementation of cultural projects, community service and environmental education allowed a characterization of the condition or the neglect of monuments, buildings and works of art in the province. “Heritage at Risk” was the title of the presentation of the architect Kenya Santos Diaz proposing a necessary reflection: “The subject is so delicate that it would be a mistake that we witness reality without feeling anguish, or taking enough care. The city of Havana is the on in the Americas that preserve much evidence of times. That makes us heirs of property still preserved, but not in the best condition. If we risk losing them, we would be risking losing our historical memory. " Among the examples of the monuments she cited in bad structural situation are: the Aldama Palace, located in Amistad no. 510, in Old Havana ,...

The 8th Floor Gallery in New York exhibits from March 7 through July 18, the group exhibition of Cuban art “Drapetomanía: Grupo Antillano and the Art of Afro-Cuba” organized by historian and Harvard professor Alejandro de la Fuente. The exhibition pays tribute to the Grupo Antillano, cultural and artistic movement, engaged in the promotion between 1978 and 1983 of a vision that emphasized the importance of African and Afro-Caribbean elements in the formation of national identity, and in turn counterattack the vision of the religious practices of African origin as primitive and backward. After passing through New York, the exhibition will travel to the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco (Fall 2014) and the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery in the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University (Spring 2015). Originally exhibited at the Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design in Santiago de Cuba ( April-May 2013 ) , where it was described as "one of the best examples of fine arts in recent years in Santiago de Cuba , " drapetomania” includes works by Grupo Antillano artists as Esteban Ayala , Rogelio Rodríguez Cobas, Manuel Couceiro , Herminio Escalona , Ever Fonseca, Ramón Haiti,...

The Sixth Regional Conference of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) will be held from May 6 through the 10 in the resort of Varadero and in Havana city. Under the motto Unity of Latin America and the Caribbean for the LGBTI rights, the sixth edition of this conference will bring together over 400 delegates from the region. The conference program, the most important of its kind in Latin America aims to promote discussion and exchange of experiences on the current challenges of the LGBTI community and the best strategies to eradicate all forms of discrimination and exclusion based on sexual orientation and gender identity . Among those attending are Gloria Careaga , Secretary General of ILGA ( International Lesbian , Gay, Bisexual , Trans and Intersex ) and Mariela Castro Espín, Cuba LGBTI rights activist and director of the National Center for Sexual Education ( CENESEX ) . The conference will be also attended by members of more than 200 organizations from ILGALAC and personalities of the Cuban government. The celebration in Cuba of an event of such importance is recognition of the work done on the...

Cubans will stop work activities on Friday April 18, after the Good Friday was formalized as a holiday celebration in the new Labor Code adopted in the country in 2012 after reinstating in an "exceptional" time that Catholic commemoration on the occasion of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. According to the official newspaper Granma, last December the National Assembly of People's Power Law No. 116 approved the “Labor Code " , which provides a day of work break on Good Friday each year. Such regulations will come into force in June, hence to regulate this Friday, April 18 to be a holiday, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security issued a special resolution. However, in that decision the Ministry clarifies that are exempt from this holiday those who work in " the work related to the sugar harvest and other urgent agricultural jobs, industries continuous production process , urgent work of loading and unloading, transport services and their essential technical assurance . " Nor will have a holiday those people working in "hospital care and, drugstores and gas stations, funeral services linked to these gardens and cemeteries, hosting service, communications, radio and television, recreation and tourism attractions and collection...

For over 20 years the Matanzas baseball team has been a squad of living dead. But since the arrival of manager Victor Mesa, followed, hated and rejected by many, everything changed. Motivated by the euphoria of the 51 National Baseball and the awakening of the Matanzas athletes, the electrical engineer, who became a playwright, Jesus Castillo Rodríguez wrote the play “Deporte Nacional”, which won the Grand Prix at the Poetry Ocean State international theater festival, organized by the Cuban Cultural Association & Providence Community Library, from the U.S. state of Rhode Island in 2013. "In Matanzas there was a social upheaval , due to the performance of its athletes and I was a baseball player, I wanted to write about some issues that had never been to literature, such as family , immigration , intolerance and the seemingly insignificant, but needed to live , "Jesus says , affectionately named Chuchi among his friends and work colleagues. After receiving the maximum laurels with this play that won over others from 47 states of the American Union, the countries of the region and the community of Cuban residents in various regions, Deporte Nacional will debut in that US city in mid- April....

A Special Tabloid, published by Granma, hit the newsstands today with the provisions of Law No. 118 of the Foreign Investment passed in the National Assembly of the People’s Power on March 29. This material will be available on newsstands and post offices in the country at the price of 20 cents. On the same day the said Act is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic at its special edition number 20, which also shows its Regulations and a set of additional rules. As reported , from these legal rules the conditions to begin to implement that Act are created at the time of its entry into force , which will occur 90 days after approval by the Cuban Parliament. This legislative body supports the decision to conceive foreign investment as a source of development, activities that are of interest to the country, and in certain sectors and economic activities that are considered active and essential elements, corresponding to the projections of economic and social development in the short, medium and long term. Taken from AIN

France wants to return to Cuba and improve their ninth place in the list of business partners of Cuba. French entrepreneurs see in the Law on Foreign Investment a great incentive to increase their presence in the Caribbean nation Cuba changes and many inspired and eager to participate in the transformations look to the Caribbean nation. The adoption of the new Law on Foreign Investment, on March 29, by the Cuban Parliament, is one of the most tempting incentives many entrepreneurs eager found to enrich their lists of investments. Given the thrust of many Latin American countries and elsewhere to make or grow their business in Cuba, France doesn’t want to be left behind, and want to increase itstrade relations with Cuba, which today are worth about $ 390 million annually. It also intends to further escalate in the list of trading partners for Cuba, in which today ranks ninth. French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius made a quick visit to Havana last Saturday, and shortly after his arrival in the Caribbean nation, he met with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. A meeting in which, according to journalists who were present in the initial part of the talks,...

According to reports from the Spanish Preferente digital site, the Polanco family will invest in Cuba in the hotel business. The decision was made before the adoption of the new Law on Foreign Investment in the country was announced. They arrived in Cuba led by Tenerife’s businessman Enrique Hernandis to analyze the different alternatives that the government of Raul Castro raises. The Polancos, owners in Spain of the Abama and Jardín Tropical, both in the south of Tenerife, estimate that Cuba has a long history in the tourism sector. Hernandis, one of the Canary entrepreneurs with more power while not included in the ranking of influential people published in an annual national newspaper, was a personal friend of Jesus de Polanco until his death. The Tenerife businessman was one of three drivers of Gran Bahia del Duque through Gigansol Group. It is also one of the other partners of the most renowned hotels in Tenerife, El Mirador, operated by the Iberostar chain, while Melia manages two other establishments, all in the South. 15 years ago a tourism project between Varadero and Havana began that has not gotten off the ground. The project in question, located in Bacunayagua, in the Yumurí...

In the early hours of Tuesday from across America people will observe a lunar eclipse that will be the first of a tetrad red moons that will be repeated every six months within year and a half, a phenomenon that will only happen seven times in this century, NASA reported. According to the U.S. space agency, depending on the climatic conditions of each place, in America people will appreciate a show in the sky to see how the moon changes from a bright orange to a deep red, dark brown and perhaps even to gray. Total eclipses of the moon occur when there is an almost perfect alignment between the Sun, Earth and Moon, projecting its shadow on the Earth when the satellite is under full moon, a rare phenomenon that occurred, the last of them, on December 10, 2011. However, the moon does not disappear from view, but turns red because the Earth's atmosphere filters the sunlight and let only the red light, which is projected onto the moon. In this case, in addition to North and South America, the eclipse will also be seen better from Australia and the Pacific, NASA said in a statement, which from 0700...

Considerations by Abel Prieto, Advisor to the Councils of State and Ministers on the challenges Cuban culture is facing today. Six years ago the Seventh Congress of the UNEAC took place, in your opinion: what were those setbacks, stalemates or advances that this organization has had? There has been significant progress. In UNEAC they have a team consolidated in this period led by Miguel Barnet, accompanied by a group of highly effective people in driving cultural initiatives. The national dimension of the organization was consolidated during this time, so I hope that that line to continue in this new cycle. During this time we worked very seriously against waste, against forms of corruption that were born. Barnet deployed a large battle to prevent the indiscriminate growth of the membership of the organization. The UNEAC has become a caricature of its former self. Many people came in earlier periods in bulk and are people who have nothing to do with art, rather the rearguard in artistic and aesthetic terms. A few days ago the Minister of Culture Julián González recalled that between a Congress and the other over 95 major cultural institutions have been repaired throughout the country. Among them, he...