Granma (above) vs. todos los demás…
Tag: Cuba
Fidel Castro Is Dead, Because 2016
On November 25, 2016, at around 10:00 PM local time, Raúl Castro confirmed the dead of Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary who was the nemesis of 11 U.S. presidents. He was 90.
This blogger has yet to process this information, and it won’t be easy, mostly because 2016 has been hitting us with one calamity after another. PLUS… I’m still trying to recover from a week-long tacos/tamales smörgåsbord in Mexico City.
My whole family is in mourning mood right now, though I had to remind them the worst is yet to come… Hello, Jan. 20, 2017!
Can 2016 please take us all and get this thing over with?
RIP FIDEL
President Obama Does Latin America; Has more Fun than you
After a historic visit to Cuba, where he posed next to El Ché, learned how to salsa, sipped mojitos and smoked cigars, President Barack Obama this week made his way to Argentina, his first official visit to the South American country.
Barely hours after the Air Force One touched down in the Argentinean capital, the Obamas found themselves wrapping their legs around perfect strangers.
Oh, and how they enjoyed it!
OK, ‘New York Post’ You Win Today: Clap, Clap, Clap
I’m even willing to overlook that CHE sans accent but OK
Obama Talks to Pánfilo: It’s not Que Bolá, It’s Qué Bolá. Qué Lío
Oh yes!
Before his historic (and hysterical) trip to Havana, Cuba, President Obama called Luis Silvia (aka Pánfilo), a retired, not-too-bright Cuban man who plays a (subtle) satire of how Cuban people often have to use their wits to escape the poverty and absurdity of life in modern communist Cuba.
In a video of the skit posted by the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Pánfilo ends up getting connected directly to Obama in the Oval Office only to be tangled up in the whole Qué bolá (or is it Qué bóla?) thing.
Watch, anyway, and let’s discuss this tomorrow. This blogger is too “Bolá” to make any more sense tonight.
Obama Goes to Cuba; Cubans Brace for the Dunkin’ Donuts Cuban Sandwich
It’s all over now.
President Barack Obama is set to arrive Sunday, March 20 in Cuba, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president visits the island in nearly 90 years.
And this, my friends, only means one thing. It means the pickled Dijon-infused Dunkin Donuts Cuban Sandwich is now closer to real Cubans than ever before.
¡Pobres cubanos!
U.S.-Cuba: The Thaw in Today’s Newspapers [photo gallery]
Click on each paper (below) to see full gallery…
New York Post
Ultimas Noticias, Venezuela
Liberation, France
The New York Times, U.S.
El País, Uruguay
The Washington Post
El Diario, Nueva York
El Universal, Mexico
La Repubblica, Italia
El Clarín, Argentina
DeMorgen, Germany
Zero Hora, Brazil
Jersey Journal, USA
Daily News, New York
I will be adding more as time -and energy- allow.
Americans: Here’s your [Last] Chance to See the Real Cuba
I am not going to bother you with details, but unless you’ve been living under a rock (or have no access to the Internet), I’m sure you know that hipster/communist/pothead/deranged/delusional President Barack Obama on Wednesday decided to be like BFF with the Castro brothers (and no, I’m not talking about those other Castro brothers.)
In any case, I’m sure you’re already planning your 2015 Cuba bacchanalia vacation thinking it’s going to be non-stop music, cigars, rum, chicas and fiesta. But let’s take a look at what this country looks like right now before you guys go ruin it all (HINT: It’s gorgeous!)
Oh, and by the way, I’m posting the following photos — taken by yours truly — with confidence I will not be deported and/or lose my Green Card in the process. (Should that be the case, please start raising some funds for my release.)
All photos by Laura Martínez (2012).
EXCLUSIVE: Cuban Lab Preps the Fidel Castro Fragrance
After all, what are we going to do now that the Cuban government has decided to ruin the Ché-Chávez fragrance fun?
How do you Say ‘Appetizers’ in Cuban Spanish?
Based on my most recent trip to the island -where I spent a couple of weeks doing absolutely nothing language research- I realized Cubans are increasingly translating their restaurant menus, street signs and monument guides to cater to an ever-growing tourist industry.
One thing I couldn’t be 100% sure, though, is what the ‘Cuban’ word for appetizer was. While a paladar in Havana offered me a very limited variety of “incomings,” including 20 pieces of olives…
… Melaíto, a snack bar in Pinar del Río promised a more extended list of “entrances,” including “boilet greens” and “French Fried.”
Either way, I’m not happy to report that everything pretty much sucked. Cuba is gorgeous and its people are simply the best. Its food… well, that’s another story.
Photos: Laura Martínez, Cuba 2013
Cuba’s Answer to Coca-Cola: Refreshing ‘Your Ass’
Cubans might not have access to Coca-Cola, but who cares when you can enjoy a refreshing beverage called TuKola?
I am sure my advertising and marketing peeps will help me come up with a great tagline for this awesome product. Here´s what my brother came up with:
“Si quieres refrescar algo… que sea TuKola”
Photo: Laura Martínez (Havana, 2013)
¡Que Pase el Desgraciado! … Laura Bozzo Weighs In On Cuba’s Leadership Changes
Influenza Virus Was Brought to Cuba by a Mexican Student, Not the CIA: Fidel
The swine flu case found this weekend in Cuba was brought to the island by a Mexican student in Havana, and NOT the CIA as everybody Fidel Castro had feared. According to Granma’s Reflexiones del Compañero Fidel:
But wait! what if this particular Mexican works for the CIA? eh? anyone?
[Hat tip to Mariana Carreño King, an avid reader of Granma online]
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