2. Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca
Cultivo una rosa blanca
En julio como en enero,
Para el amigo sincero
Que me da su mano franca.
Y para el cruel que me arranca
El corazon con que vivo,
Cardo ni ortiga cultivo,
Cultivo una rosa blanca.
Jose Marti (1853-1895)
José Martí was the great writer of the Cuban
Revolution against Spain. He spent a great
deal of time in the US, and also in other
countries in Latin America and Europe. He
admired US culture for its strength and
freedom, but feared its obvious desire for more
Dominion in Latin America, including Cuba.
The beautiful song
“Guantanamera”
contains some of his
verse set to music…
3. This great man died in a fruitless 2-man charge against overwhelming
Spanish forces in 1895. It is said that the Spanish, upon discovering
the identity of his body, refused to burn it for fear that his ashes would
get in their throats and choke them…
They may have been right.
There are
statues of
José Martí
all over Cuba
4. “Granma” is Cuba’s only state-run daily
newspaper. As with all news media in Cuba,
the content is tightly controlled to adhere to
the official dogma of the state.
In the January 30th, 2010 edition of the
Havanatimes.org online newsletter, Erasmo
Calzadilla suggests that, while the paper is
apparently becoming more willing to publish
dissenting views and expressions of
dissatisfaction, certain other properties of the
publication which seriously affect its most important function for the
Cuban people have recently deteriorated.
However, Mr. Calzadilla is not without a solution. Apparently, wetting
La Granma and allowing it to dry over the shower curtain rod improves
its texture greatly, thus making it much more pleasant to use for its
primary purpose!
5. On January 27, 2010, world-famous Cuban Writers
Manuel Garcia Verdecia and Rafael Vilches Proenza were fired
from the Cuban Writer’s Guild for “improper use of the Internet”:
it seems they browsed sites that were not complimentary to the
Cuban government.
Many Cuban writers, such as Reinaldo Arenas & Guillermo Cabrera
Infante, have continued to write from exile, thus creating another set
of voices against tyranny.
I suspect Mr. Calzadilla may lose his internet privileges soon…
