In this issue of OnCuba, we have an interview with one of Cuba’s greatest contemporary musicians. The maestro Leo Brouwer talked with us about the Chamber Music Festival that his office organizes; its fifth edition will be held in September and October of this year. Singing Décimas is further proof of how much we need music. In his article, Amado del Pino reveals the craft and inspiration of poets who cultivate this traditional art. Another interesting article, one that we especially recommend, takes a look at the circus in Cuba today, a cultural expression that is often overlooked, but whose quality is confirmed by the many prestigious international companies interested in hiring Cuban artists. Also for this September issue, we have some very unique stories: people who live under the influence of Hemingway, so much so that filmmakers wouldn’t hesitate to use them as doubles in a movie about that famous writer; and Cuban woman Loreta Janeta Velázquez, who fought in the U.S. Civil War dressed as a man. We also recommend the Economy and Business section, which features an interview with an entrepreneur who has been doing business in Cuba for years, and who agreed to chat with our...

About some changes made in order to give effect to the purposes of the current strategic agenda on Cuban economy, PhD Jorge Mario Sanchez Egozcue writes in his "Structural Change, Economic Growth and External Sector: Transforming Self Adjustment". In the center of social debate generated by the transformation process that followed the adoption of the Guidelines for the economic and social policy is, of course, the performance of the Cuban economy. Given that this has been marked by "the configuration and stability of its international relations, in order to access funding, energy resources, food and essential supplies to many of the domestic production," the article discusses the results of foreign trade, which impact lies in areas such as those mentioned above, and owing to the fact that the export of services is currently the most important source of income generated by the country through exports (almost two thirds). "In recent years, the external sector has taken place in a particularly tense succession of adverse events and the impacts of climate events and the international crisis, in addition to the acute accumulated endemic problems ". (...) "In essence, the determinants are not external, the Cuban economy has dragged for years structural...

In Guanahacabibes, the hours are marked more by the sun than by any clock, and every rock, nook, strip of beach and cave has a history. The peninsula (456.76 square miles, located in the municipality of Sandino), is divided into two capes: Corrientes in the east and San Antonio in the west. To get there from the city of Pinar del Río, you take the Panamericana highway–an extension of Cuba’s Carretera Central, or central highway–which was named that way because it was part of an intercontinental project in the 1930s that was going to make Cuba into a ferry port. The peninsula has a population of about 38,896 (23 per square kilometer, or 0.39 miles), with 58 percent living in urbanized areas. Local residents work mostly in environmental management, tourism, and conservation and preservation of the forests that were declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1987. The core of this reserve, the Guanahacabibes national park, has two natural reserves: El Veral and Cabo Corrientes. Faro Beach (on the Cape of San Antonio) is Cuba’s westernmost tip. On a raised terrace, the internationally-known Faro Roncali (lighthouse) has stood since the mid-19th century. It is about 102 feet high, and...

Among the various film genres and subgenres, science fiction has been one of the least present in the history of Cuban cinema. The apparent disconnection with reality that generates with the imaginary, it was not of interest to emerging filmmaking in the sixties, usually inscribed on the line of socialist realism. And while the following decades our filmmakers lived shifts in concerns and ways to make, the genre maintained its small presence, limited to be only, as in Madrigal (Fernando Perez, 2006), a segment of the film. It is not until this year that, for the first time, a director undertakes a film project in Cuba totally of science fiction. Writer and scriptwriter Eduardo del Llano becomes film director, and inspired by an unpublished story of his own, is about to film Omega 3, initiatory work of this genre in the film career of the island. About the film he told OnCuba: Omega 3 is my second film. Unlike the first, Vinci, which is situated in the Renaissance, that is, in the past, this will take place in the future, say a hundred years. It is a conflictive situation that already happens today, but exaggerated (classic mechanism of the genre)...

State investment-as the name indicates, involves the allocation of resources by the state to certain entities or areas in order to develop an activity. In 2012 Cuba made a plan with the economy projected to 2016, with the fundamental premises of accelerating investments to generate liquidity and increase savings. The National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI) of Cuba published in March of this year a summary in this regard, entitled Investment. Selected indicators. The report shows the monies executed in the period between January and December 2012, compared, fundamentally, to the previous year. The material helps to assess the behavior of the investment process in this period and also to look at their evolution in recent years (2008-2012). The separation of the indicators by province allows the identification of areas where more resources are concentrated and its economic purposes. “Investments. Selected indicators” illustrates the average increase rate of investment and identifies the most significant one, by year. Thus we have that in 2008 this rate reached the top in the period, decreased significantly in 2009 and continued to do so until 2010. The following year a slight recovery soared, held until December 2012. In all cases, Construction and assembly...

DJ Derek Turcios, one of the main promises of the New Sound of New York visits Cuba for the first time. In a three-day tour of Havana, from this week, Derek Turcios shared the stage with some of the most influential DJs of the Island In an exclusive to OnCuba Turcios confessed he feels at home and although he had never worked for the Cuban public he admitted to being this an experience definitely worth repeating. "Cubans have a very genuine energy that motivates any musician, even more if you're a DJ" Turcios said hours before traveling to Mexico. His last appearance was in the piano bar and restaurant Somavilla, a private space located in one pent-house in the Vedado neighborhood, Havana. From midnight until just before seven o'clock the whole party surrendered to Turcios music. The host and the opening act was Djoy of Cuba under the auspices of Analogica , a project that brings more and more fans club music.

Rigoberto Ferrera, essentially an actor and comedian by profession, presented these days his show SOS Ferrera. With this recent performance, he, who was also emblematic host of the program of the Cuban video clips, pays tribute to the comedy group Nos y Otros, while continuing his work in the theater accompanied by live music. This "resistant" actor, as he defines himself, throughout the interview to  OnCuba talks about his work and humor on the island. What doesNos y Otros represent for you? In 1994 when I participated in the second Aquellarre contest, I started trying to learn from that movement, which did not come from an academy, but compared to me know much, because I had only an inkling of what it the humor was. Among the participants of the event was Nos y Otros which was a group of intellectuals, linguists, art historians, journalists and writers who came from a literary group and later became part of the humor movement. As early as 1996 I became one of them, kind of directing the scenic part and I both acted and nourished by all the cultural baggage they had in terms of humor. For me the group set a tone,...

Internationally renowned actor Jorge Perugorría returns to the set once again, this time as director of the film Fatima, or the Fraternity Park (production title), film based on a shortstory written by Miguel Barnet. Speaking to OnCuba, Rafael Rosal, assistant director of the film, said that the original text won the Juan Rulfo Prize two years ago. " Fatima script is  by Fidel Orta, son of the poet Jesus Orta Ruiz, El Indio Naborí". This is not the first time a story by Barnet, the current president of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) - is made ​​into a film: the hit film La Bella del Alhambra (1989), by Enrique Pineda Barnet, is based on his novel Rachel's Song, published in 1969. The fourth film by Perugorría (Affinities, 2010; Chronic Love, 2012; For Sale, 2012) is a co-production between the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) and NMP-a producing company. In the words of Rosales, "Fatima ... is a drama, with moments of great hilarity. The character’s whole life passes in front of his eyes in one day. The film has many flashbacks, but the center of the film takes place in about six...

The Cuban economy has evolved under a new policy adopted at the Sixth Congress of the PCC, whose results have been projected to materialize in the context of a strategy aimed at creating conditions for stable development of the country over a period of five years. In fact, the changes in Cuban economic policy began in 2007 and accelerated in 2009, therefore making an assessment of the same will have to cover a period longer than that provided for in this analysis. In the immediate environment and according to the Economic & Social 2012 issued by the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI) recently published, once they valued the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy at the end of last year and which, according to estimates, had a cost of over 6.9 billion pesos, GDP growth in 2012 reached 3% from 3.1% previously announced in the National Assembly and below the planned 3.4% for the period, as well as 4, 4% estimated for the five years. This result, although fell short of expectations, is not an insurmountable deficit for the planned development program, which is to achieve GDP growth rates of over 6% in the medium term. For now, the...

Having a júcaros, cherry and ebony forest on a balcony or on a roof of a Cuban home may seem like a crazy fantasy, but a wealthy collector visiting the Fourth Biennial of the Bonsai Havana group could buy his own botanical garden. Bonsai are not ordinary houseplants. They are living ornaments very different from those commonly grow on the outside of houses or on patios. These plants require extra effort and care in cultivation, they are modified to remain dwarfed, and require constant treatment throughout their life. Therefore they have luxury prices. Professor Jorge Guerra, president of Bonsai Havana, says that the sale of these small trees cannot be yet a stable business in Cuba, as there is no domestic demand and the existing domestic market is very small. Guerra itself only sells two or three pieces a year. These trees are not cheap, at least for the purchasing power of the average Cuban. Like any sophisticated craftsmanship, the price of a bonsai is determined by supply and demand. The minimum price is 25 pesos convertibles, when it comes to the lowest category. The regular value of a piece can be bargained, sometimes even hundreds of CUC down: the...

It is not the Holy Grail for the cure of pain; it doesn’t remove juvenile acne in one shot, or turn a frog into a prince, but is effective for several conditions that people may have. This is how this thermal ecological mud is presented, which comes to the market with the name Naurij. "The person using Naurij will get improvements in his quality of life, because it is a product with a near neutral pH that brings different properties. Besides helping to heal some diseases, removes blemishes, nourishes the skin, fights teenage acne, and reduces suffering in the knees and back, such as rheumatism and arthritis. It is not a painful treatment, or aggressive and also has no odor. Each product comes with application instructions, but we recommend going first to see a doctor ", Natalia Sánchez Vega, BA in Physics and Director of the Geomineros Laboratories (LABGEOMIN) Business Unit Base, the governing authority of the José Isaac del Corral Central Laboratory of Minerals (LACEMI), responsible for manufacturing the mud, explained. "Another advantage is that it acts as a dermal stimulant, not only cleaning the skin, but favors the elimination of uric acid, helps in cell regeneration, it chemically...

For those born on the island, it is common to associate with heat, tropical and fun the Vanesa brand in swimsuits. And since the 1970s, Vanesa has accompanied several generations of Cubans. When this brand came out, there was not much variety of choices in Cuban stores and to this day it remains a good option to have lower prices, when compared with imported swimsuits. In recent months we have seen it for sale in Cuban currency stores, a favorable factor to alleviate the demand for the coveted garment, especially during the summer months. The fact that there are currently two versions of the brand: an economic and the one aimed at dollar stores chains, which, in the words of Marcial Galvez, senior specialist at the Vanesa Bathing Suits Factory, answer to a Cuban government strategy to foster domestic swimsuits. "Both lines have good quality and presence, the same designs. They only differ in some complexities from the technological point of view ", the specialist said. At present the production of the factory is 200 000 suits annually. Its 138 employees produce about 20 thousand units per month and between 60 and 80 different designs a year. Birth of a...

LongHouse reserve, in the Hamptons of New York, hosted on August 2 the exhibition Rerum Alter Natura by Cuban artist Yoan Capote and as part of the festivities for the welcome, the Voxare Quartet performed in the large nature reserve. This property in the Hamptons occupies about 16 hectares and each year they host exhibitions in the pavilion and gardens, at the confluence of aesthetics developed by man and what nature owns itself. This fact can be seen in the design of the impressive sculpture parks. Reserve LongHouse design was inspired by the Ise Shrine in Japan. There are more than 60 sculptures there (including glass and ceramic works) of various international artists including Dale Chihuly, Toshiko Takaezu, Buckminster Fuller, Sol Lewitt, Yoko Ono, Willem de Kooning, Alfonso Ossorio ... Along Rerum Alter Natura they opened the exhibition Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads of the controversial artist and political activist Ai Weiwei (artistic advisor Bird's Nest stadium which hosted the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008). The exhibition consists of 12 pieces inspired by the heads surrounding fountain of Yuanming Yuan imperial retreat in Beijing. This exhibition of Ai Weiwei in a natural environment is a reinterpretation of the...

An inflatable planetarium with didactical materials, courtesy of the Institute of Geophysics and Astronomy (IGA), opens in Old Havana as part of the first edition of Social Festival "Geology and Society: a world to discover" organized by the National Natural History Museum of Cuba. During the event, which runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm on Wednesday, August 28, it will also be present a sample of fossilized animals that inhabited the Cuban archipelago in the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras, which will be recreated on a prehistoric environment thanks to the collaboration of fine artists. They will as well exhibit national and international collections of rocks and industrial minerals. As part of the Festival, they will present the puppet play, "Discovering the treasures of my planet" and open for public exhibition "Geoarte" that includes art pieces made with jewelry, precious and semiprecious stones, accompanied by a selection of photographs on major mineral deposits in Cuba. Geologists and paleontologists will offer lectures about the mysteries of the Cuban archipelago, its origins, marine ecosystems, the composition of rocks and minerals, and fossils of animals that once inhabited Cuba.

Every year so many people in Cuba look forward to see the renewed floats of Las Charangas de Bejucal, Los guaracheros de Regla, the troupes, cheap beer, pork sandwiches ... Everything  that means the arrival of the carnival. In the city of Matanzas the event is cause for as much rejoicing. "Do not mourn, that life is a carnival, / And it's beautiful to live singing /" Celia Cruz sang the song Life is a carnival, by Puerto Rican singer Victor Manuelle, with music that invites you to participate in a cultural and gastronomic event which promises to forget pains. However, there is a topic that has gained attention in recent editions of carnivals: the economic one. Therefore, to meet the demands of expenditure of this playful expression, identity of Cuban society as many others, is part of the agenda of the Cuban state interests. These popular celebrations are done with a budgeted fund that governmental authorities in each municipality allocate for these purposes. Culture and economy go hand in hand at Matanzas´ carnivals and Cuba’s in general. They both form an inseparable symbiosis, since, besides being a celebration of culture, they have all the chances of also becoming a...

Near the famous Puente de Hierro (Iron Bridge), in Havana, stands an imposing building where stood at a time the El Cocinero oil factory. The place is now undergoing multiple changes and by the end of the year it will become a company of dreams: An Art Factory. So says its creator, the artist X Alfonso. "This will be a cultural center to display art in all its manifestations. Our intention is to promote the exchange and enriching interaction between the public and the creators." "The project is designed mainly for university people and also for anyone who can not access these new points-mostly bars and restaurants- that have opened in Havana and that exceed the actual monetary possibilities of many people." Admission costs 50 Cuban pesos (CUP) and once inside you can enjoy photography, plastic arts, music, theater, dance, cinema... "We are also thinking of creating a WiFi system with a database of art, where people can buy some cards in CUP and download what they want." The cultural center will feature several rooms. The ground floor will have a plastic arts gallery with a bar, a small stage in the middle for acoustic performers and multiple spaces for...

Its presence is spectacular, even the unbeliever is amazed by its magnificence. Before us appears a giant pumpkin of 1.10 meters long, a stem of 60 cm, waist 50 cm., in its thicker part measures 96 cm in diameter and weighs over 85 pounds. So easy are its characteristics. Hanging from the branch, perched on a water tank, the new queen of the Hato-Hatuey neighborhood in the municipality Cotorro tries to defy gravity. Lilia Alfonso Alfonso, owner of the pumpkin doesn’t hide her happiness. "Six months ago we planted pumpkin seeds with their gut and did not do anything else; we didn’t apply compost, or fertilizer to the soil. The only help they received were the rains of the last few months. " But the Queen does not hang all by herself, a few yards to the left, crossing a fence, on a narrow wall, in the shadow, appears suspended another giant pumpkin, belonging to the same plant and located in the home of a neighbor. It is smaller in its dimensions, 1 meter long, 35 cm stem, waist 45 cm, at its widest 83 cm and weighs just a tad less than 65 pounds. However, this has all the...

As reported by the Journal Juventud Rebelde, the Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 313, concerning the procedures to be followed with the goods confiscated from those persons who engage in criminal activities. The confiscations are carried out in accordance with Law No. 62 of Penal Code, Law No. 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act, and the application of the decree laws on Forfeiture Obtained by undue enrichment, and confiscation related to drug traffic, corruption or other illegal actions. The publication, available on the 21special edition  of the Official Gazette of the Republic, dated Wednesday, also regulates "how deposited goods are transferred to the State once ready the confiscation or seizure, and rules for the deposit , disposition, preservation and return, when appropriate ". Under Decree 313, the Council of Ministers meets a request from  the State Council in the Decree-Law No. 310, amending the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Act, passed last May 29 and will come into force on next  October 1st. It also establishes the entities that will take care of the deposit, storage and disposal according to the nature of the goods. So the Central Bank of Cuba will be in charge of "cash, securities,...

Seth Panitch is a dreamer, passionate about utopias. So he comes back again and again to the Cuban stages. This time he came to show, for two weekends, the latest production of the HavanaBama Company. Alcestis Ascending, released by Panitch in Havana Raquel Revuelta room, is a fable with mythological overtones which mixes contemporary dance and a text by Greek playwright Euripides, all seasoned with a hint of double take and humor. The highlight: a group of young Cuban and American actors dialogue with the audience in perfect English and in Spanish close to the regular Cubans. All seasoned with the musci by experienced composer Tom Wolfe. n the leading roles the American Jeff Horger debuts as King Admetus. His wife, Queen Alcestis, is played by Cuban Alianne Portuondo. True to the aesthetics of Tony Diaz, director of Mephisto Theatre, Raissel Cruz takes the cake with his sympathetic character of Hercules. In this piece work several Cuban dancers who come from groups like Open Dance and the Cuban television Ballet. At the completion of the Cuban dance art contributes Osnel Delgado, dancer and choreographer with a promising career ahead. After 75 minutes of presentation, we talked in the lobby of...

Among Cuban filmmakers who are active, perhaps one of the most prolific is Juan Carlos Cremata. When asked how he can carry out many projects at the same time, he answered OnCuba naturally: " I always have to be doing something, if not I die of boredom. There is an Italian saying that goes: "he who hesitates is lost ', and that happens to me. In fact, I like the creative process better than the finished work itself. When opening a play I get depressed, because I think I have to start over another project, but at the same time, I like that. I think that addiction is hereditary, because my family is like taht. My brothers and I grew up in that environment of creation, and if they take us out of it, we lose the vital breath. " In recognition of his work, Cremata was recently invited by the Latin American Film Festival Vancouver as president of the jury. It is the first time the Cuban filmmaker leads the event, which takes place from August 30 through September 8. Added to that honor there is a retrospective screening of his feature films including Nada (2001) and Viva Cuba...

At 6:00 pm of a Monday I was waiting at the door of the building for Omar Puente for our interview, when I saw him walking with the five-string violin hanging from a shoulder and a bottle of soda in the other hand. He honestly does not appear to be a successful musician, someone who is residing in England since 1995. The apartment, with an enviable balcony facing the Presidents Avenue, does not seem either to belong to someone who has shared the stage with John Williams, Robert Mitchell, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Kirsty MacColl, among others. *** The day he went alone to study in Havana, the terrified family could not foresee that violin would travel around the world in the hands of Omar. None of his classmates who saw him in the scholarship seated any Sunday watching TV, salivating with Nitza Villapol´s programs, and imagining the smells of home food, or peeling telephone cables for getting an E string, or tying Cassette tapes with acetone to hear Brazilian music, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, could have imagined that at all. "That independence helps you to become stronger, to overcome obstacles," he says. By then, after finishing his...

Design professionals in Cuba already have a national registry, which represent them by law for the exercise of their activity in the country. Managed by the National Bureau of Design (NCDO), that database is proposed to improve and protect national and foreign registered designers at a time when is urgent to promote the presence of good design for the development of the Cuban economy. Carmen Pozo Gómez, director of Image and Promotion of that entity, explained that this instrument will allow greater control over the practice of the specialty and its practitioners, in order to avoid improvisation, especially the proliferating new figures in the economic environment, which also require services.  Since for the first time Cuba brings together all the designers in the country in the same database, one of its advantages will be a warrant for business organizations, because they will hire those who are duly registered, to avoid committing illegalities, the official noted. Published on July 15 in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba, Resolution 202, concerning the National Register of natural persons authorized to carry on the business of Industrial Design and Visual Communication-, set a deadline of 120 days to the start using it....

Leave your questions here Musician, poet, crazy ... and the best high jumper ever. That is Javier Sotomayor Sanabria, the man who has reached closer to the sky using only his feet. Forthcoming OnCuba will publish the secrets of 'Soto', whose universal record has endured over time for two decades and will be threatened for the first time at the Moscow World Athletics. Leave here your questions to be included in our text. Javier has promised to answer them all.