The Special Period in Cuba can best be described as a time of struggle. The dissatisfaction of many Cubans has led to their emigration to the United States by traveling in rafts to the coast of Florida. The Cuban people have different views regarding the trip to exile as well as the motivations to stay or leave Cuba. In Alejandro Hernandez Diaz’s book,
The Cuba Mile, and in the movie “Guantanamera”, we see some of the different ways in which Cuban Culture views the
Special Period, the trip to exile, and the motivations behind staying or leaving Cuba.
The year 1991 marked the beginning of the Special
Period and hard times have existed in Cuba ever since. Many
Cubans are tired of the hardships and shortages of the
Special Period. To try and make ends meet many Cubans have adapted to the tough times by making money in the Black
Market. In “Guantanamera”, both the cabdriver and Mariano use the Black Market to make extra money. As they travel across the island, they buy food to be resold at a higher price when they arrive in Havana. Many Cubans feel that the
Revolution is no longer working and that it is time for a change. In “Guantanamera”, symbolism of this idea is clearly demonstrated. In the movie, a story from the
Santeria religion is told. The god of Olofin is represented in the movie, Olofin created life but not death. Therefore, everyone lived forever and the elderly people held control and influenced many aspects of society. Nothing ever changed much like the Cuban government which is old and unchanging. Then, one day Olofin made it rain for thirty days and thirty nights. The flood killed the old and only the young survived. The current revolution is old, and is not working as well as it did in the 1970’s. The movie is calling for the need of a natural process, like the rain to come and wash away the old revolution’s ideas so new and young ideas can survive in Cuba. However, many Cubans feel that the situation is not going to change and their desire to leave Cuba is so strong that they risk their lives by rafting across the Straits of Florida in order to gain freedom and opportunities in the United States.
The hardships of the Special Period became so considerable many Cubans chose to take their chances with the ocean. Large quantities of Cubans began to construct rafts in order to escape to the United States. They hoped to either survive the 90 mile trip or be discovered by the
U.S. coastguard and brought to the United States.
On July 26, 1953, the war for Cuba’s independence began, and for 6 years many Cubans fought for their freedom. The most famous of these revolutionary icons being Fidel Castro, who led the main resistance against the Cuban government. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and the rest of the Cuban's succeeded. This revolutionary war went on to affect the entire world and Eric Selbin believes it is still affecting it. Throughout Eric Selbin's article, Conjugating the Cuban Revolution, he firmly states that the Cuban revolution is important in the past, present, and future. Selbin, however, is wrong.
Fidel Castro entered Havana, Cuba and took his place as Prime Minister in January of 1959, just after the fall of the Batista regime. Within days, many of the Cuban upper class began exiting the island, wary of losing their socioeconomic status and possibly their lives (Leonard 13). Castro’s radical new policies appealed to most of the suppressed lower class seeking change, but the middle sector “became disillusioned with their new leader” and soon comprised the majority of the Cuban refugees in Miami, Florida (Leonard 3). Beginning in December 1960 and ending with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, over 14,000 of those refugees wou...
The goal of these two refugees is to be picked up by the United States Coast Guard and be brought back to American soil. On the fifth day, the see another ship, but it’s not that of the Coast Guard. Commodore paddles ferociously, so as to not be seen by what he perceives to be a Cuban vessel. To loose weight and travel faster, he instructs his partner to toss over his bag of books.
Failing to find a positive opportunity for work, Maria’s next job is seemingly much worse in multiple ways. Maria gets offered enough money to hold her over for a long time in Colombia, by becoming a international narcotrafficker, even though it still “yields ve...
Little by little, the free people of Cuba came to realize it could happen there. The grim facts of life on an island that became a police state” (Frankel 59). Every day, Castro came closer to controlling every aspect of life in Cuba. Fidel Castro even took control of the schools in Cuba, throwing out any teacher who he thought might be “disloyal” or disagreeing with Communism.... ... middle of paper ...
During Gregory’s ethnographic research in the Dominican Republic, he encounters many individuals, some tourists, others expatriates, as well as citizens native to the island. One individual by the name of Minaya, discusses changes in the sugar cane industry. In 1988 he became a worker at a sugar mill that his uncle owned, but claimed that the industry became “Capitalized” (Gregory 2007: 15). He explains this capitalization as the industry being leased out to private corporations, which incurred poor working conditions and minimal wages upon the laborers. Minaya also expresses the fact he has no formal education, a big factor...
In Terry Kay’s novel, To Dance With The White Dog, the main character Sam Peek befriends a snow white dog. The dog, affectionately called White Dog by Sam, helps to save Sam’s life many times. She is spoken of throughout the book by Sam’s children as well as by Sam in his journal entries. The main question throughout the book asks if White Dog is in fact real or is she just an illusion? There are strong facts all through the book that support White Dog’s realistic nature.
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
The next film in which Parton had a leading role was a musical comedy called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, released in 1982. The film tells the story of a madam, played by Parton, who runs an illegal brothel in Texas and has a love affair with the town sheriff, Burt Reynolds. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas was adapted from a play of the same name and both productions are based on a real-life brothel in La Grange, Texas known as the Chicken Ranch. The films controversial aspects, prostitution and overt sexuality (sometimes interpreted as gay symbolism), reflected the pressing political issues of the 1980s Moral Panic. In 1982 the number of prostitution arrests, both male and female, in the United States increased by 13%. The increased
Throughout this piece Marti uses metaphors to describe both the revolution and Cuba’s culture. Marti also uses these particular metaphors to describe the dictatorship, socio-economic status, prejudices, and the indigenous peoples of Latin America, a very important element needed to understand Cuban identity (Retamar). Although difficult to read, Marti made many compelling remarks and critiques in this piece. “Our America”
better education, better living condition, more jobs, equality of the social classes and a new era for the country of Cuba. with time, the people began to get disappointed with the government since, over the years, the country took a turn and Castro 's ruling became a dictatorship. Castro started to implement measures to the people of Cuba by making the things that were once given for free, cost causing discontent in the people. The government also restricted business developments and the people now had to ask for special permission (which was not always granted) to open a very small business which often did not last long. Cubans were not allowed to in any way express their discontent towards the government since Fidel also censored and restricted the freedom of expression of the Cuban people. this has also caused major immigrations from the island to the united states and other countries causing problems due to the many, many incoming immigrants. in the year of 1960 to 1962, Cuban parents sent their children (approximately fourteen hundred) to live in the united states due to fear of them being indoctrinated by the Cuban government. This was known as “Operation Peter Pan”. For the rest of the people still in Cuba, life was and still is not easy. The everyday necessities are not always available and their technology is not that advanced. in fact, it is
Dear Professor Artless, it has come to my attention that you acknowledged that the plays, books, and short stories that we have read prove no merit in Literature. In your words, you stated that the Literature we have read is “trash, nonsense, stale, trivial, irrelevant, and they add nothing to our understanding of what life is like in Latin America.” I should take offense about your statement, but I am going to do something better. I am going to prove it to you by taking you on a journey and tell you about the story we read in class called Dreaming in Cuba. It tells the story about three generations of Cuban women divided by politics and the revolution of Cuba. We should read more books like Dreaming in Cuba because it takes us beyond our limited experience of life and deepens our understanding of the history of our people, the division of politics, and shifting cultures. Also, it examines some of the major themes such as family relationship, exile, preservation of culture, memory, and creation of identity. The relationships between the Del Pino women are for the most part shattered by any or all the themes above. Prepare to be amazed, Professor Artless.
The Cuban revolution was one that transformed Cuba into an independent socialist society. This revolution sent a message around the globe. The message: “ Socialism can be achieved and capitalism, with its culture stripping mechanism’s can be supplemented”. However, the revolution did leave its mark on Cuba. This can be seen in the events that took place during the early stages of the revolution. The effects of the revolution were positive for certain sections of the population and negative for others.
“In Cuba and specifically in Havana there’s a sort of energy that turns every situation into something unexpected” (Fernando Perez). The capital city of Cuba is full of vibrant culture, ancient history, and beautiful landscape. Once a booming tourist destination has now lost some of its attractiveness due to Socialist rule. However, the overall beauty has not dissipated and the culture is just as active as ever.
Coltrane had always had a gift for music and he would constantly think of what was next to come in jazz. During Coltrane’s time working with Gillespie, he worked on what he called “sheets of sound” which is when he would try to play every note in every chord. This was tremendously hard to do and he challenged not only himself to do it, but members of his band as well. This is evident in one of his recordings called, “Giant Steps” (Jazzman). This is a sixteen-bar composition that Coltrane wrote himself and had practiced many times before the actual recording day. While Coltrane had time to practice this hard technique in “Giant Steps” his bandmates did not see the notes of the song until the day of the recording session. This was a bad decision