There wasn’t a friend, a fellow worker of Mefístoles Zamora Márquez who did not question his decision. His oldest daughter asked him why he had quit his job in the ETECSA telephone company, if he had been fired. The reasons of the engineer in automated controls with a master’s in data transmission to leave behind his 10 years of experience in one of the state-run enterprises with the highest wages in Cuba were not easy to understand. But for months Mefístoles had tried out being an engineer and a photographer, and he only had time for one of them. Photography won. He earned more money and had more time for his family. He was about to have a second child. He left for his private work without suspecting that his business would go beyond the camera, and would be exclusive in Camagüey. “The idea of the home delivery of gifts came up in a Cubaemprende course. It was close to February 14 and the need to deliver gifts came up. The idea came to me of establishing a home delivery service. Someone provided the flowers, while I bought the chocolates, made the postcards and coordinated the deliveries. We distributed flyers...

Two moments marked Ania Perez Lorente’s life: the day she was arrested, and the day her life was given back to her when the Cuban government freed 3522 prisoners ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba in September. “When I heard the news, I felt like I was being resurrected,” she said, trying to hold back her tears. A construction technician, she worked as a manager at the Vertientes Municipal Commerce Company, in the eastern province of Camaguey, from 1990 to 2012, when she was charged with and found guilty of a count of embezzlement, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud. “My sentence could have been reduced to 4 years and 8 months for good behavior, but thanks to the pardon I was out after 3 years, 5 months and 11 days,” she said, pointing out that for people serving time it is inevitable to keep count. “I also keep thinking how good it would have been if they had freed more people. Cuba has a large penitentiary population, and although some 3500 people is a blessing, more could have been freed. Many good women were left behind in prison,” she added. This is the second pardon...