Tourism 21
Hotels as anti-COVID-19 isolation centers
SPECIAL: Cuba uses hotels as anti-COVID-19 isolation centers
Updated 2021-03-18 05:03:44 | Spanish. xinhuanet. com
By Raul Menchaca
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews
mage from March 16, 2021 of an employee sanitizing the hands of a foreign visitor at the entrance of the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
HAVANA, Mar. 17 (Xinhua) — Cuba has set up a score of hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until confirming that they are not infected with the new coronavirus.
Since the beginning of February and in view of a third outbreak of the pandemic, the authorities determined the isolation of these travelers, who must also present a negative molecular biology test, the so-called PCR test, carried out 72 hours before their arrival in Cuba.
The isolation has two modalities since there are paid hotels for foreigners and Cubans who opt for them and free centers only for Cubans, but with less comfort.
Travelers remain isolated for five nights until they know the results of the PCR test performed at the airports and another one at the hotel, where they also have daily sanitary control, since in each facility there is a doctor and a nurse, who twice a day examine each traveler.
“It’s a little stressful to be locked up, but I understand that it is the sanitary protocol to protect us and others,” Cuban Yosvany Barrios, who lives in the southern United States and returned to the island to spend a few days with his wife, who is four months pregnant, told Xinhua.
Barrios, a construction contractor, who stayed at the downtown Havana hotel NH Capri, said he feels safe with these measures, which help him “also to take care of my wife and the future baby”.
This opinion is shared by Jorge Carmona, another Cuban who also lives in the United States and who said he understands the need for these restrictions, despite the fact that it is uncomfortable to be locked up for so many days.
Visitors are not allowed to leave their rooms, pending the result of the PCR test, and can only leave them when it is confirmed that they are not infected.
“This prevents contact between people and therefore transmission,” said Dr. Juan Carlos Vidaud, an intensivist who usually works in a Havana hospital, but who with the arrival of the pandemic has been assigned to health surveillance at the NH Capri Hotel, where more than 100 people are staying.
For a month and a half, Vidaud has attended to more than 200 travelers staying at the hotel and explained that only four have tested positive for COVID-19, which has activated a rigorous emergency plan to transfer them to hospitals where they received specialized medical care.
It is a new reality for the now depressed Cuban tourism sector, once the second-largest contributor of foreign currency to the island, with some 3.1 billion dollars annually, only surpassed by the export of medical services, but today hard hit by the pandemic.
“We have a different clientele than we had before. There is a pre-COVID client and now there is a post-COVID client,” said Spain’s Juan Francisco Candeal, general manager of the NH Capri and NH Victoria hotels.
Candeal, a man of vast experience in the hotel industry, noted that the facilities he manages have modified more than 700 actions to conform to a strict sanitary protocol and protect clients and workers.
“I think that within this great misfortune that we are all going through, it has been a great improvement for the tourism industry,” said the executive of the Spanish chain.
Cuban authorities had closed the borders in April last year, but reopened them on November 1, which with the massive arrival of travelers for the end-of-year holidays gave rise to the current third outbreak of the disease on the island.
Therefore, at the beginning of February, in addition to the sanitary protocol in airports, the list of countries with restricted regular flights was extended to include the United States, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Colombia and Jamaica, and connections with Nicaragua, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname were suspended.
Measures such as the suspension of the school year and the closure of public places such as theaters, bars and restaurants were also applied throughout the country.
In Havana, the main source of transmission of the disease, the authorities are maintaining restrictive sanitary measures that include limiting circulation from 21:00 local time until 5:00 hours the following day, as well as severe fines for those who do not use or misuse masks.
Since the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was first recorded on the island a year ago, Cuba has accumulated 63,725 infected people and 380 deaths.
HAVANA, March 17, 2021 (Xinhua) — Picture on March 16, 2021 of an employee moving the luggage of a foreign visitor at the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
HAVANA, March 17, 2021 (Xinhua) — March 16, 2021 image of a foreign visitor being checked by a Cuban doctor at the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
HAVANA, March 17, 2021 (Xinhua) — March 16, 2021 image of an employee knocking on a room door to deliver food service to a foreign visitor at the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
HAVANA, March 17, 2021 (Xinhua) — March 16, 2021 image of people walking in front of the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
HAVANA, March 17, 2021 (Xinhua) — March 16, 2021 image of a Cuban nurse performing a body temperature check on a foreign visitor at the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
HAVANA, March 17, 2021 (Xinhua) — March 16, 2021 image of people coming from abroad checking in at the Capri Hotel, which is being occupied as an isolation center, in Havana, capital of Cuba. Cuba has set up some 20 hotels, mostly in Havana, as isolation centers where travelers arriving from abroad spend a few days until it is confirmed that they are not infected with the new coronavirus. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
Cuba se mantiene fuerte/strong>
WSJ Magazine
Cuba se mantiene fuerte
El marcado aislamiento de la isla ha sido útil para contener el coronavirus, pero difícil en cuanto a problemática economía. Las andanzas de un fotógrafo capturaron la belleza de Cuba y la resistencia de un pueblo que ha luchado durante mucho tiempo con el flujo y reflujo de la historia.
STOLEN MOMENTOS. Un adolescente de pie en una plaza iluminada por el sol en la Habana Vieja. “La moda está totalmente planificada”, dice el fotógrafo Andrew Jacobs, que visitó Cuba el año pasado. “Cuando haces fotografía callejera es lo contrario. Eso es lo que quería abrazar.” FOTO: ANDREW JACOBS PARA WSJ. MAGAZINE
Por Tony Perrottet
7 de septiembre de 2020 8:21 am ET
Traducido y editado por Walter Lippmann para CubaNews.
Mil gracias a Pedro Gellert por su indispensable ayuda en esta traducción.
Cuando los viajes internacionales comenzaron a cerrarse en marzo debido a la pandemia de coronavirus, Collin Laverty tuvo que tomar una decisión repentina: ¿Miami o La Habana? Para un norteamericano que divide su tiempo entre las dos ciudades mientras dirige Cuba Educational Travel, una agencia que en tiempos menos restringidos contaba entre su clientela con senadores estadounidenses y luminarias del mundo de la tecnología, la elección era obvia. “Sentí que los cubanos iban a hacer un mejor trabajo”, explicó por teléfono desde La Habana. “Estaría más seguro aquí.”
Se ha demostrado que Laverty tenía razón. Mientras la situación se ha deteriorado este verano en Florida -una población de 21,5 millones con casi 10.000 muertes, o 46 por cada 100.000 habitantes- la isla cubana de 11,3 millones de habitantes había registrado a mediados de agosto 88 fallecimientos, o menos de una muerte por cada 100.000. A pesar del pequeño brote ocasional en las provincias, la isla informaba muchos días con cero casos nuevos o con pocos como para contarlos con los dedos de una sola mano.
El éxito de Cuba fue el resultado de una respuesta de libro de texto: Las autoridades sanitarias (que habían estado en constante diálogo con la Organización Mundial de la Salud desde enero) cerraron el país, suspendieron los vuelos internacionales, llevaron a cabo amplias pruebas, aislamiento y rastreo e impusieron el uso de cubrebocas, un proceso sin duda más fácil en un sistema autoritario.
Una guagua [autobús] en una carretera de Pinar del Río, una provincia al oeste de La Habana.
FOTO: ANDREW JACOBS PARA WSJ. MAGAZINE
“Es una cultura diferente”, dice Laverty. “Si los funcionarios de salud te dicen que es mejor usar un cubreboca, usas un cubreboca. Y a diferencia de los EE.UU., no hay medios alternativos que le digan a la gente que no use un cubreboca”.
Aunque el sistema de salud de Cuba está plagado de escases crónicas, la capacidad de su fuerza laboral médica le ha servido bien durante la pandemia. Cuba tiene el porcentaje más alto de médicos per cápita que cualquier otro país del mundo, y están capacitados para dar una respuesta comunitaria rápida a los huracanes y otros desastres naturales. “Había médicos y enfermeras en bata de laboratorio que llamaban a la puerta una o dos veces al día, para registrarse”, dice Laverty.
La otra cara de la moneda es que la crisis ha castigado a una economía que ya estaba en serios problemas por la mala gestión interna y su desconexión del resto del mundo. Mientras que Cuba ha estado alejada durante seis décadas de su socio comercial natural, los Estados Unidos, a través de un embargo comercial conocido en la isla como “el bloqueo”, el Covid-19 ha llevado el aislamiento del país a nuevos extremos. El cierre de un día para otro de la industria del turismo, la principal fuente de divisas de Cuba, ha llevado el desempleo y la escasez de alimentos a niveles nunca vistos desde el “período especial” de hace 30 años, cuando el colapso de la Unión Soviética y el fin de sus subsidios económicos dejaron a la isla varada y empobrecida.
Pescadores de la época de la adolescencia en un puerto deportivo cerca de La Habana. Las 3.500 millas de costa cubana bañadas por cálidas aguas tropicales han ofrecido un respiro durante las décadas de aislamiento. FOTO: ANDREW JACOBS PARA WSJ. MAGAZINE
Cuba ha dado algunos pasos tentativos hacia la reapertura al turismo. Se han destinado cinco arenosos cayos septentrionales para recibir vuelos chárter, donde los visitantes extranjeros serán sometidos a pruebas de detección del virus a su llegada y alojados en centros turísticos de playa lejos del resto de la población. Hasta ahora, ha habido pocos viajeros. Los canadienses hambrientos de sol, el mercado objetivo lógico, han sido desalentados por su gobierno a viajar al extranjero, y los europeos también están nerviosos por aventurarse lejos de casa. Los locales también son cautelosos: “Los cubanos han sacrificado mucho”, dice Laverty. “Saben que tan pronto como se abran existe el riesgo de una segunda ola”.
Un posible resquicio de esperanza es que la crisis ha empujado al presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel a reiniciar las reformas de la economía estatal, un proceso que había comenzado bajo el mandato de Fidel Castro en 2011 pero que se estancó hace tres años debido a la resistencia de los partidarios de la línea dura del gobierno. El anuncio se hizo a mediados de julio; los detalles siguen siendo vagos, pero la idea es fomentar la empresa privada y la agricultura y reducir la regulación gubernamental. “Es una noticia muy positiva, pero también hay mucho escepticismo”, dice Laverty. “Todo el mundo está esperando a ver qué pasa”.
La pandemia es sólo el último capítulo de la montaña rusa de Cuba desde la revolución de 1959: períodos de grandes esperanzas seguidos de desilusiones. Como resultado, hacer frente al incierto flujo y reflujo de la historia se ha convertido en una especie de especialidad cubana, una resistencia que permite a su pueblo sobrevivir a desafíos que podrían haber sido aplastantes en otros lugares.
YENDO ESPIRAL Una escalera en la Habana Vieja. Años de abandono han añadido una pátina a la arquitectura vernácula de la ciudad. FOTO: ANDREW JACOBS PARA WSJ. MAGAZINE
Este espíritu fue capturado por otro observador de Cuba, el fotógrafo neoyorquino Andrew Jacobs, que exploró la isla en el verano de 2019, sin saber que la pandemia pronto daría mayor resonancia a su trabajo. Al igual que muchos estadounidenses (emigró a los Estados Unidos desde Sudáfrica a los 13 años), Jacobs visitó Cuba por primera vez tras el llamado deshielo de Obama, un delirante espasmo de optimismo que parece hoy en día historia antigua. La reapertura de las relaciones diplomáticas entre Cuba y los EE.UU. en 2014 llevó a una escena improbable tras otra: El presidente Obama de gira por La Habana y asistiendo a un partido de béisbol con Raúl Castro; los Rolling Stones jugando ante una multitud masiva al aire libre; se aflojan las restricciones de viaje de los Estados Unidos que habían estado vigentes desde la época de Eisenhower; y dentro de Cuba, nuevos negocios individuales que convierten a la isla en una fiesta elegante y a la vez desgtastada.
Para los observadores veteranos de Cuba, las nuevas posibilidades estaban simbolizadas por el Bar Roma, una asociación entre un DJ local y un yanqui expatriado que se ocultaba en la azotea de un decrépito edificio de apartamentos art decó en la Habana Vieja. Encontrado de boca en boca, se calificaba como el Estudio 54 de Cuba: Desde el desmoronado vestíbulo, un ascensor de jaula operado a mano crepitaba hacia arriba sobre ruedas sin engrasar, y luego se abría a una multitud felliniesca de jóvenes fashionistas de La Habana y extranjeros conocidos que bailaban sobre los tejados coloniales iluminados por la luna. El co-director cubano, Alain Medina, señaló el lugar del suelo de baldosas donde nació. Para visitar un baño, los invitados le pasaban dinero a uno de los residentes del último piso y luego pasaban por delante del sofá mientras la familia se sentaba y veía la televisión.
Fue esta atmósfera eufórica la que cautivó a Jacobs, nacido en Johannesburgo, cuando una tarea periodística repentina e improvisado a principios de 2017 lo transportó de Nueva York a La Habana a través de uno de los nuevos vuelos directos de JetBlue. El rodaje comercial de los trajes de baño de Onia duró menos de una semana y no le llevó más lejos de la capital que las playas locales, pero quedó asombrado por lo que encontró. “Me cautivó lo vibrante que era Cuba”, recuerda. “Era muy visceral. Dejé de querer fotografiar a las modelos con las que estaba. Quería fotografiar a la gente en la calle.”
Cuba se mantiene fuerte
El marcado aislamiento de la isla ha sido útil para contener el coronavirus, pero difícil en cuanto a problemática economía. Las andanzas de un fotógrafo capturaron la belleza de Cuba y la resistencia de un pueblo que ha luchado durante mucho tiempo con el flujo y reflujo de la historia.
EN COLOR VIVO Artículos colgando para secar en la lavandería de un edificio de apartamentos en La Habana. REVISTA
Un mecánico de autos fuera de su lugar de trabajo.
Fruta en venta en un mercado de La Habana.
A guajiro, or Cuban campesino, in Pinar del Rio. WSJ MAGAZINE
Jacobs juró volver de forma independiente para documentar la nueva Cuba. Cuando finalmente lo hizo, en junio de 2019, el curso de la historia había cambiado de rumbo otra vez. Los EE.UU. invirtió el deshielo de Obama, endureciendo las sanciones económicas y volviendo el reloj a la Guerra Fría. La belicosa retórica del presidente Trump había asustado a la mayoría de los viajeros americanos, y las reformas del sistema socialista de Cuba se habían estancado. Cuando Jacobs se puso en contacto con Talía Bustamante, una productora de La Habana a la que había conocido en su anterior visita, llevaba más de un año luchando por encontrar un trabajo estable, al igual que su marido, Alejandro Callejas, un operador de cámara. Como para simbolizar el nuevo frío, el Bar Roma pronto cerraría sus puertas, después de una disputa entre los co-directores cubano y americano. “Fue muy difícil para los cubanos”, dice Laverty, cuya propia empresa había traído a muchos empresarios estadounidenses al país para investigar las oportunidades. “Eran la comidilla del mundo, este lugar guay y sexy; luego les dieron una serie de golpes en el cuerpo.”
Jacobs descubrió que, a pesar de este giro que truncaba muchas esperanzas, la vitalidad que lo había atraído primero a la isla seguía intacta. Generaciones de tumultos y reveses han enseñado a los cubanos a apreciar el adagio “Las mejores cosas de la vida son gratis”. Tienen la bendición de vivir en una isla tropical con 3.500 millas de costa, bosques exuberantes, playas de arena y un clima benigno. Este ambiente acogedor ha ayudado a fomentar la vida comunitaria, que, tras el paréntesis de las restricciones de Covid-19, ha empezado a recuperarse. Los cubanos siguen desparramándose por las esquinas, tocando música con instrumentos improvisados, bromeando entre ellos sobre sus políticos y disfrutando de la sensualidad de las tardes con aroma a azúcar. Dependen de recursos de ingenio y humor conversacional hasta un punto que otras culturas, inundadas por la tecnología, han abandonado. La Habana Vieja colonial puede estar desmoronándose, con un aire tangible de privación a la vuelta de la esquina de las zonas que han sido embellecidas para los turistas, pero muchos residentes se conocen por su nombre. Los adolescentes a veces se agrupan a lo largo del Malecón, el paseo marítimo de la ciudad, para compartir una botella de ron y bailar bajo las duchas de rocío marino.
Para capturar este espíritu, Jacobs se propuso explorar la capital a pie, con el azar y el capricho de su única agenda, caminando, hablando y conociendo gente mientras Bustamante servía de guía y traductor. Durante su viaje de 2019, fue estimulante renunciar a todo lo que se parezca a un programa de rodaje. “La moda está completamente planeada”, dice. “Cuando haces fotografía de calle es lo contrario. Eso es lo que quería abrazar.”
Un día, se encontraron con una pequeña liga de béisbol [little league] en la que los jugadores llevaban zapatos de gran tamaño y uniformes de segunda mano. Como neoyorquino, Jacobs fue recibido como una celebridad. “Los niños estaban tan emocionados que no podían quedarse quietos ni mirarme durante mucho tiempo”, dice.
Cuba is Staying Strong
El marcado aislamiento de la isla ha sido útil para contener el coronavirus, pero difícil en cuanto a problemática economía. Las andanzas de un fotógrafo capturaron la belleza de Cuba y la resistencia de un pueblo que ha luchado durante mucho tiempo con el flujo y reflujo de la historia.
CIELO AZUL Las jaulas de pájaros cuelgan de una pared en Playa.ANDREW JACOBS para el WSJ. MAGAZINE
Una carretera costera cerca del puerto de La Habana. Dado el bloqueo comercial de EE.UU. durante décadas, los cubanos se han convertido en expertos en el reciclaje de piezas para mantener los coches americanos antiguos.
CARRETERAS SOLIDARIAS Residentes de Santa Fé en Playa, un municipio de La Habana. La economía de Cuba ha tenido dificultades desde los años 90, después de que la Unión Soviética se disolviera y el apoyo se agotara. Las áreas fuera del centro de la ciudad que ven menos turistas han sido especialmente afectadas.
Para explorar las provincias, Jacobs hizo un viaje por carretera a Pinar del Río, al oeste de La Habana. La logística se improvisó al clásico estilo cubano: El marido de Bustamante se apuntó como conductor, y durante los tres días de viaje Jacobs y su ayudante se metieron en el asiento trasero del pequeño vehículo bajo montañas de equipos de cámara. La recompensa fue explorar el Valle de Viñales, donde un mosaico de plantaciones y granjas de tabaco de una exuberancia imposible está enmarcado por espectaculares afloramientos de piedra caliza llamados mogotes (“Como el Parque Jurásico”, dice Jacobs). La hermética sociedad rural tiene un aire de otro mundo: campesinos bañados por el sol con sombreros de paja que cabalgan a caballo pasando por bohíos, chozas de paja, creando escenas tropicales que recuerdan los lienzos de Gauguin.
Las imágenes de Jacobs rara vez incluyen signos reveladores de lugares específicos -no estatuas, catedrales o vistas de postales para turistas- y en cambio se concentran en detalles íntimos. Le atraía especialmente lo que había detrás de las puertas cerradas. La arquitectura hispano-caribeña, con sus balcones de hierro forjado, pórticos cubiertos y ventanas con contraventanas, protege a los residentes del sol pero también desvía las miradas indiscretas. “En las calles, se puede acercar a cualquiera, charlar, reír y tomar fotos”, dice Jacobs. Pero acceder a las casas privadas era un asunto delicado; a muchos les preocupaba que sus circunstancias pudieran ser juzgadas por un extrañjero.
En realidad, Jacobs era lo opuesto a juzgar, ya que se vio envuelto en la poesía casual de la vida doméstica de los cubanos. “La gente no tiene mucho, pero es hermoso”, dice. “La luz, la forma en que arreglan las cosas, el uso del color. Los cubanos sacan lo mejor de lo que tienen.”
Un lago de montaña. FOTO: ANDREW JACOBS PARA WSJ. MAGAZINE
Los cubanos son legendarios por la creatividad que aplican a los bienes materiales. Sin acceso a las nuevas piezas mecánicas, son expertos en el reciclaje, con Chevrolets, Dodges y Buicks de los años 50 reconfigurados para durar décadas más allá de su vida natural, a veces con motores Toyota bajo el capó, con cables que sostienen las ventanas agrietadas o con tablones de madera usados como tablas del suelo. Pero el acceso a los lujos más retro se desgasta en las provincias. Muchas de las aldeas que Jacobs visitó exudaban un aire fantasmal.
Típico era el puesto de avanzada de Hershey (hoy conocido como Camilo Cienfuegos), aproximadamente a 35 millas de La Habana, un pueblo fundado en 1916 para proveer de azúcar a la compañía de chocolate con sede en Pennsylvania. Las calles estaban antaño bordeadas de ordenados bungalows que hacían eco de las ciudades modelo de los suburbios americanos -un mundo desaparecido capturado en la novela de Rachel Kushner de 2008, Telex desde Cuba. Cuando la refinería fue nacionalizada después de la revolución, la ciudad siguió funcionando mientras la URSS compró la cosecha de azúcar de Cuba a un precio inflado. “Era como un pueblo del Viejo Oeste en pleno auge del oro”, dice Jacobs. Hoy en día, la refinería cerrada se cierne como una catedral en ruinas sobre calles habitadas sólo por ancianos.
La provincia de Pinar del Río, a unos 160 km al oeste de La Habana, es el centro agrícola de la industria tabacalera cubana. Arriba: Un bohío, o cabaña de paja. FOTO: ANDREW JACOBS PARA WSJ. MAGAZINE
Para esta generación mayor, los sueños fracturados de Cuba en la última década tienen un aire familiar, que se hace eco de ciclos históricos más largos de esperanza y decepción. Al principio, la llegada de Fidel Castro y sus románticos barbudos (“los barbudos”, como se conoció a sus guerrilleros en la Sierra Maestra) fueron recibidos con un éxtasis. Toda la isla se vio envuelta en el cuento de hadas “revolución juvenil” contra el brutal dictador Fulgencio Batista, mientras Cuba se embarcaba en un experimento que parecía prometer una utopía política, económica y racial. Con el paso de los años, la desilusión se instaló, y el sueño se derrumbó en la década de 1990.
Aún así, dentro de la Cuba de hoy, la esperanza continúa. “Si todo se alinea, Cuba estará en un buen lugar”, dice Laverty. “Pero para llegar allí, tendrán que lidiar con muchas dificultades.” Como siempre, los cubanos tendrán mucha experiencia en la que apoyarse. -•
Cuba to open first “LGBTI-friendly” Hotel
Cuba to open its first “friendly LGBTI” hotel
By EntreDiversidades
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews
Playuela Beach, located next to Cayo Guillermo, has been the site chosen to build one of the hotels that will undoubtedly be visited by the LGBTI community.
According to Mathu Hotel in Cuba, the country plans to open the Rainbow Muthu Hotel, the first hotel facility dedicated to the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community in October 2019.
The new hotel will have 248 rooms of high comfort, five restaurants, three bars, a room of animation and all the necessary facilities for the practice of aquatic sports.
“A perfect #LGBT-Friendly hotel, for an escape to #cayoguillermo #granmuthurainbow, will be an incredible place to visit all year round with these incredible rooms and views,” says one of the facility’s promotions.
The Muthu Hotel representation in Cuba has summoned CENESEX to help in the selection and training of the personnel that will work in the facilities; in addition to collaborating in events, promotions and campaigns.
Travelers and Tourists
Travelers and Tourists
By Graziella Pogolotti
digital@juventudrebelde.cu
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
The large-scale tourism industry has a relatively recent history. Its initial impulse came after World War II. The rise of left-wing movements and the pressure exerted by powerful trade unions led many countries to pass laws making paid rest compulsory. For many sectors of the middle classes, the possibility of enjoying holidays was opened up.
At the same time, numerous publications disseminated the cultural values located in Third World countries. Appropriate marketing operations designed tours to famous places for destinations that were docile to the indications of trained guides. The trip was no longer an adventure. Everything was planned in advance. Back home, the tourist would not remember much of the experience lived in the pyramids of Teotihuacán, but would arrive with a bunch of trinkets billed as souvenirs.
The traveler, on the other hand, is moved by the search for the unusual. He’s going to go to some of the most remote places in the cities. You will observe the human landscape without disdaining typical foods in some modest restaurants. I confess to having belonged to this species in my younger years. When I couldn’t afford the pennies to take on bigger adventures, I decided to start at home.
At the time, I had just finished my college degree. The studies of Art History had revealed to me the importance of our colonial legacy. I obtained the assistance of two compañeras to launch us on the adventure of discovering Trinidad. We stayed in a room on the corner of Media Luna and Desengaño. The names of the streets, such as the Habaneras of Amargura, Mercaderes, lficios or la Muralla have always exerted on me a remarkable power of poetic evocation. But the Trinitarian atmosphere of those days was far from what we know today.
There were the houses of yesteryear in the midst of an impressive misery. Barefoot and ragged, the children roamed the streets, sometimes reduced to begging. The ruin of the Valle de los Ingenios plunged the city into a poverty in which some families tried to preserve the dignity of the past.
It’s been a few years. In the 60’s of the last century, in the middle of the fight against the bandits, a traveling library went along the road between Cienfuegos and Trinidad. It offered book loans for children and adults. I wanted to know the experience in a direct way. The newly-literate peasants encouraged their children to acquire the habit of reading. On that occasion, I met a unique character.
Carlos Joaquín Zerquera was one of those local historians who narrated countless anecdotes of characters from the past. He did it so neatly that his murky marriage intrigues seemed to be happening in the contemporary world. His energies were focused on the effort to rescue the Brunet Palace in order to turn it into the Romantic Museum. Resources were scarce.
Nicolás Chao, Party secretary in the region, who also sponsored the creation of the Grupo Escambray, led by Sergio Corrieri, was able to listen to the Trinitarian researcher’s homily. Little by little something was done. Recognition of the need to preserve our heritage was beginning to take shape. We did not know, in those distant 1970s, that we were investing in a future tourism that would become one of our options for economic growth. Trinidad has been reborn and has recovered its best artisan tradition.
The traveler can enjoy the uniqueness of its urban environment. Let us take great care of your specific features. Let us not fall into the mimetic temptation of Cancunizing it.
On holiday days, we can try the adventure of discovering our country. Sometimes, you don’t have to walk very far to stumble upon the surprise of the unusual. In the Havana municipality of Cotorro is the Church of Santa María del Rosario, a rural place devoured yesterday by the galloping growth of the capital. Nicolás de la Escalera, the oldest painter with a name registered in our history of art left his mark there.
In our small country, there are many corners to be rediscovered. To do this properly, we need to move, relentlessly but steadily, towards a change of mentality. Let’s not confuse the popular with the uncouth. Let us discard the reductionist vision of culture as an ornament and recognize in it the nourishing source of a spirituality that defines our uniqueness, that is, our identity. Managing with intelligence, avoiding the banal commercialization of the peddlers, is a good that can translate into tangible material benefits.
Let us abandon the formal routine of commemorations. Let us make each of them an event open to wider horizons. In these days we have remembered the bicentenary of the San Alejandro foundation.
Let us abandon the formal routine of commemorations. Let us make each of them an event open to wider horizons. In those days we remembered the bicentenary of the foundation of St. Alexander. The history of the Academy was one of light and shadow. The triumph of the Revolution brought about a substantial change by bringing about the emergence of the long-neglected artistic avant-garde. The tribute to the date would be an opportunity to find in our National Museum the work of those who passed through it along with the insurgents who rebelled against the obsolescence of their curricula.
Welcome to the sunny days and the beach, as well as the festivities that animate summer days. Let us also learn to take advantage of the weeks of rest to turn our gaze inward and devote some moments to productive meditation.
Travel Photography
Travel Photography, More than Postcards
Our first challenge of 2018 addresses a theme that has gained so much prominence that it has become a genre within photography.
By Leyanis Infante Curbelo leyanis@juventudrebelde.cu
and Maykel Espinosa Rodríguez digital@juventudrebelde.cu
Published: Wednesday 14 February 2018 | 06:21:23 PM
Updated: Thursday 15 February 2018 | 12:12:12:40 PM
Translated and edited for CubaNews by Walter Lippmann.
Eastern Cuba. Author: Roberto Suárez Published: 09/10/2017 | 10:10 a
Hello photographer:
With the proposal that we bring you to inaugurate 2018, it is almost impossible that you won’t feel identified. In fact, most of our readers, whether or not they love photography, will feel they have something to say or show for it.
We are referring to travel photography, which with the rise of cyber platforms, and the amplification and cheapening of access to equipment capable of taking photos, is one of the themes that has been most developed and popularized worldwide: travel photography.
It is no longer just professional photographers who display their impeccable graphic memories of the places they have visited. Increasingly, from social networks and blogs people share their experiences in other latitudes, offer advice, suggest itineraries… and show their images. Some even live make a living from it.
So much so that travel photography has begun to be recognized as a [distinct] genre and enough literature has already been written about it.
Usually, we all take images of the places we visit, with the intention of remembering them later and to enlarge our personal graphic memory. But what kind of images do we make, of what objects or subjects we photograph and above all, why.
It’s not just a postcard.
For some authors, travel photography is just one facet of photojournalism, another way to tell stories. And the fact is that, although it is not wrong to want to immortalize in our images in a kind of postcard of what we have seen, there are many other ways to face a tourist visit.
It is clear that there are essential photos. For example, if you visit the Valley of Viñales, you will not fail to take a panoramic photo from the Hotel Los Jazmines, nor from the paradisiacal beaches of Varadero. But you will make a difference when you also begin to tell stories, when you imbue your images with the feeling of the place you visit, portraying its inhabitants in their surroundings, detail traditions, gastronomic culture… and everything that grabs your attention (animals, streets, doors, trees).
Take pictures from the first moment. Preparations for the trip are also part of it.
Take photos on the means of transport, including the plane. To do this, you will have to be attentive and request the seat in a window in which the wings of the plane do not obstruct your vision. Take advantage of this opportunity to take aerial photos.
In addition to the typical places, it also seeks to bring out daily customs and characters.
Photograph the people of the place… but first, ask them for permission, not only to take the photo but also if you plan to publish it or upload it to your social networks.
Include tourists and passers-by in your images, that will make them more attractive and moving.
If you photograph your fellow travelers in a space or in front of an important building or monument, take a short shot of your friends, half-body or closer. Otherwise, they’ll be so tiny that you won’t notice them in the picture.
Above all, try to do things with common sense, discretion, and education. When in doubt, always ask.
When you return from your trip, make a rigorous selection. Make the selection as if it were a projection, at 4 seconds per photo, you should be able to see the selected photos in 3 or 4 minutes maximum so you don’t bore your audience.
With information from https://www.blogdelfotografo.com and https://saltaconmigo.com
We Keep Being Put on New Lists
We Keep Being Put on New Lists
By: Dr. Néstor García Iturbe
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
The Trump administration, at the head of the United States government, has just included Cuba on three new lists.
That is part of the policy change, which Trump announced when he met in the city of Miami, with a group of “rank Batistianos, annexationists and terrorists” as our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, described them in his recent speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations.
One of the lists, from the State Department, refers to different Cuban entities with which the US citizens will not be able to carry out financial transactions. This list is headed by the MINISTRY OF THE ARMED FORCES, THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR, THE POLICE AND OTHERS ORGANS OF STATE SECURITY. They also include a series of hotels and other entities that supposedly belong to the security forces of the Cuban government.
This measure has been shaped by the main interest of trying to affect the trips of US citizens to Cuba. But what it establishes is unconstitutional, within the so-called freedoms that American citizens have proclaimed, as well as being irrational.
For example, if a US citizen commits a traffic infraction, he has to pay a fine to the police, in doing so he is violating a regulation of the US government and could be incriminated for this.
It is irrational and ridiculous to include in the ban two brands of soft drinks made in Cuba. The so-called “individual freedoms” of the American are torn up again when the government regulates them up to the brand of soda pop that can be drunk.
To continue issuing regulations, the Trump administration will establish the type of toilet paper that Americans should use in Cuba. It is possible that even THAT will have to be regulated for people from the US. That is the so-called “democracy”, and a sample of the “freedom” that prevails in capitalist society.
The other lists, also regulating what the US citizen can do or not do, have the same goal, try to affect the relations between the Cuban people and the American people, the contacts that are established between visitor and visited, in order, to the greatest extent possible, to avoid these contacts.
In general, people from the US who have traveled to Cuba are kind, respectful and interested in knowing the truth of what is happening on the Island. That is the danger that the enemies of our country are considering.
Those who return from Cuba, speak with honesty of our people, of the advances of the revolution and of the situation in which we live, which is always much better than the image disclosed by the enemies and the Miami mafia.
What kind of regime is Trump creating?
It is not only trying to reverse the progress in relations with Cuba that was achieved during the Obama administration. The violations of the US Constitution and to the liberties proclaimed in that same document, are directed at creating a repressive, discriminatory, terror regime, comparable to the existing one at the time of peak of the McCarthyism.
Perhaps that is the true meaning of his motto “Make America great again”.
Using Fear to Strike at Cuban Tourism
Using Fear to Strike at Cuban Tourism
By Manuel E. Yepe
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Exclusive for the daily POR ESTO! of Merida, Mexico.
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann.
The mysterious case of the alleged “acoustic attacks” against US diplomatic personnel in Cuba turns out to have been a media maneuver aimed at damaging tourism in terms of as part of the blockade against the island.
One of Cuba’s greatest attractions for foreign tourism is the guarantee of security offered by the island to visitors from any part of the world. Another is the high level of public health in Cuba, one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere with health indicators comparable to those of the most developed nations.
In addition to the exceptional conditions with which the island has been endowed by nature, the popular revolution of 1959 has incorporated the dsocial conditions of peace and harmony that the visitor appreciates from the first moment of their stay in Cuba.
More than half a century of possessive paranoia, aggravated by the economic, commercial and financial blockade, have not been able to counteract the enormous achievements of socialism, even if they have postponed or limited many revolutionary economic and social advances in the country.
Basque journalist José Manzaneda, coordinator of the Cubainformación website, a channel that broadcasts news, reports and commentaries on the island from Spain, has denounced the media’s objective against Cuba over the campaign of alleged sonic attacks.
Manzaneda remembers that it was the Argentine newspaper “Clarín”, among many other media, who published a report two years ago from the Associated Press. Its focus was on an American traveler who felt “a sudden loss of feeling in his four extremities, in the same hotel where some affected diplomats were staying.”
Then there’s the growing interest among students, the sector of American visitors that has grown the most in Cuba –118% in the first half of the year– given that conventional tourism is still prohibited by the US blockade, Diario de Cuba, half-financed by the governments of the United States and Spain, wrote: “There are signs that students and retirees (from the U.S.) plan to cancel their trips to the island”, since neither “Washington nor Havana have been able to prevent the attacks, which could generate an uncontrollable crisis”.
El Nuevo Herald, a mouthpiece for the extreme right-wing Cubans in Miami, assured its readers that Raúl Castro is turning a diplomatic crisis into an economic, potentially destabilizing one.
Agencies and media collaborated in this way with the objective of the White House that came to life on September 29. That was when, recognizing that ti was “not aware” of the origin of the supposed acoustic attacks, it officially recommended not traveling to the island.
“Coming from the government of a country where every year 30,000 people die by firearms, more than a thousand by police, and 31% of the world’s mass shootings are recorded, this alarm seems like a joke in bad taste,” says Manzaneda.
The extreme-right of Cuban origin of the Republican party, which, in exchange for its vote on other matters, already manages Donald Trump’a Cuba policy. It seeks to reverse the growth experienced through the trips of Americans to the island and damage the income from them which it brings to the Cuban economy.
In line with this campaign, the conservative Washington Examiner asked the House of Representatives to demand that Cuba “evaluate security at its ten international airports.” This is an inadmissible interference that seeks to reduce the number of visitors from the US, in this case by canceling the regular flights authorized by the Obama administration.
However, RESPECT, the largest US association of travel promoters in Cuba, rejected –as unnecessary and counterproductive– the “security warning” issued by the State Department, arguing that Cuba is a “safe destination.”
The Spanish newspaper El País followed with an interview with Thomas Shannon, US Undersecretary of State. He held Cuba responsible for everything that had happened, but without clarifying what he was referring to, and without contributing any element to such an unusual story. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s current spoiled scion, seems to be, according to analysts, the one who is behind the nefarious campaign about “sonic attacks” in Cuba.
Everything indicates that, now, the tactic chosen by the right, at the service of imperialism, is to generate fear more than to legislate against Cuba. This is because, since for the former they have the concurrence –conscious or unconscious– of powerful international agencies and media, so much so that, for the second, they run the risk of increasing the division in the Republican ranks in Congress.
Let it be known then that all this diabolical mischief of sonic attacks is nothing more than another element of the blockade against Cuba that this past November 1, was condemned almost unanimously by the world community in the UN for the 26th consecutive year.
November 2 of 2017.
Virgin Group Founder Visits Habana Vieja
Important British Empresario Visits Habana Vieja
By Editor, Havana Radio/ Photos: Alexis Rodríguez
October 20, 2017
Cuba Recovered and Open
By Manuel E. Yepe Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann. USA Today reported on Sept. 17 that the US government was providing humanitarian aid to numerous Caribbean islands devastated by Hurricane Irma. Cuba, located just 90 miles off the coast of Florida – was not among them. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Cuba was the first nation to offer aid. The island prepared thousands of volunteers and huge amounts of emergency equipment and supplies to assist the victims in the affected regions with all the expenses incurred by Cuba. Even on that occasion, Havana organized a permanent aid brigade to send to to countries affected by natural disasters that was named after a US citizen, Henry Reeve (1850-1876), who fought in an outstanding way in the Cuban independence ranks against Spanish colonialism, and who rose to the rank of Brigadier General. The US government of George W. Bush rejected the magnanimous Cuban aid offer, in spite of the enormous humanitarian catastrophe that was unfolding in Louisiana at the time. Katrina caused damage to the city of New Orleans, but it did not devastate it. Shortly afterwards, the Pontchartrain lake dams and several canals were broken. A toxic broth of contaminated water flooded the streets, as well as thousands of homes and beyond the second floor of tall buildings. Tens of thousands of people, almost all of them black and poor, had to fight for survival in the worst conditions of official abandonment. An estimated 300,000 families were made homeless. Nor was the offer of Cuban aid accepted at that time. At the moment, although Cuba is recovering from the serious damage caused by Hurricane Irma, it has not hesitated to give aid to neighboring islands that have suffered a misfortune similar to its own. Hundreds of professionals, with their assistants and medical supplies, have been sent by Havana in support their Caribbean neighbors. It is known that there are now hundreds of millions of dollars worth of food, medicine, and building materials being stored in the US military base that Washington illegally occupied more than a century ago, on the shores of Guantanamo Bay, on Cuban territory, in the easternmost part of Cuba. (This also includes the concentration camp whose inmates have no rights or trial as prisoners war). But it is also known that the US military base has not shared a single bottle of potable water with the Cuban residents affected by the hurricane outside the perimeter fencing at the base. Among other nations, they are providing assistance to Cuba, Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Russia, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam, as well as some dependencies from the ONU. In contrast, the State Department has issued a warning against travel to Cuba and advises the Americans in that regard. Meanwhile, millions of Cuban volunteers have cleared the tracks that provide the most evidence of the destructive passage of Hurricane Irma. Tourists from the most diverse countries are already going massively to the island. By denying Cubans aid, and discouraging its citizens’ travel to Cuba, Washington is once again using the occurrence of a humanitarian disaster to punish Cubans for refusing to accept US meddling in their internal affairs. However, as the Canadian tour operator “Cuba Explorer”, which has been based for years in Havana, states in a message to its clients, “Americans are preparing to visit Cuba in large numbers in the coming months, aware that social tourism is a form humanitarian and economic aid. The travelers want to keep alive the new spirit of cooperation between the United States and Cuba that began during the Presidency of Barack Obama. “Cubans are showing their disposition and their desire to welcome and warmly welcome their arrival to the island to their American guests,” said the aforementioned US tour operator, based on his own experiences and expectations. September 18, 2017.
Por Manuel E. Yepe Exclusivo para el diario POR ESTO! de Mérida, México. El diario USA Today informó el 17 de septiembre que el gobierno de Estados Unidos estaba dando ayuda humanitaria a numerosas islas del Caribe devastadas por el huracán Irma. Cuba, situada a tan solo 90 millas de las costas de la Florida- no estaba entre ellas. Cuando el huracán Katrina golpeó a Nueva Orleans en 2005, Cuba fue la primera nación en ofrecer ayuda. La isla preparó miles de voluntarios y enormes cantidades de equipos y suministros de emergencia para ayudar a las víctimas en las regiones afectadas con todos los gastos sufragados por Cuba. Incluso en esa ocasión La Habana organizó una brigada permanente de ayuda a países afectados por desastres naturales que nombró Henry Reed (1850—1876), en honor a un ciudadano estadounidense que combatió de manera sobresaliente en las filas independentistas cubanas contra el colonialismo español, en las que alcanzó el grado de Brigadier General. El gobierno estadounidense de George W. Bush rechazó la magnánima oferta cubana de ayuda, a pesar de la enorme catástrofe humanitaria que se desplegaba en el estado de Luisiana en aquel momento. Katrina causó daños a la ciudad de Nueva Orleáns, pero no la devastó. Poco después, cuando los diques del lago Pontchartrain y varios canales se reventaron, un caldo tóxico de agua contaminada inundó las calles, así como miles de casas y hasta más allá del segundo piso de los edificios altos. Decenas de miles de personas, casi todas negras y pobres, debieron luchar por la supervivencia en las peores condiciones de abandono oficial. Se calcula que 300,000 familias quedaron sin techo. Tampoco fue aceptada entonces la oferta de ayuda cubana. En estos momentos, pese a que Cuba se está recuperando de los graves perjuicios que le causara el huracán Irma, no ha vacilado en prestar ayuda a las islas vecinas que han sufrido una desgracia semejante a la propia. Cientos de profesionales, con sus asistentes y suministros médicos, han sido enviados por La Habana en apoyo a sus vecinos del Caribe. Se conoce que en la base militar estadounidense que ilegalmente ocupa hace más de un siglo un espacio en la ribera de la bahía de Guantánamo, en territorio cubano, en la parte más oriental de Cuba (así como en el campo de concentración de sus prisioneros de guerra sin derecho a juicio que allí existen), hay actualmente alimentos, medicinas y materiales de construcción valorados en cientos de millones de dólares. Pero se sabe, igualmente, que la base militar estadounidense no ha compartido ni una sola botella de agua potable con los cubanos residentes afectados por el huracán fuera del vallado perimetral de la base. Entre otras naciones, están proporcionando ayuda a Cuba Argentina, Bolivia, Canadá, Colombia, Costa Rica, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, España, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, República Dominicana, Rusia, Uruguay, Venezuela y Vietnam, así como algunas dependencias de la ONU. En contraste, el Departamento de Estado ha dictado una advertencia contra los viajes a Cuba y asesora en ese sentido a los estadounidenses. Mientras tanto, millones de voluntarios cubanos han limpiado las huellas que más evidencian el destructivo paso de huracán Irma. Turistas de los más diversos países están acudiendo masivamente ya a la isla. Al negarle ayuda a los cubanos y desalentar los viajes a Cuba de sus ciudadanos, Washington está utilizando una vez más la ocurrencia de un desastre humanitario para castigar a los cubanos por negarse a aceptar la intromisión de Estados Unidos en sus asuntos internos. Sin embargo, como manifiesta en mensaje a sus clientes el turoperador canadiense “Cuba Explorer”, basado hace años en La Habana, “los estadounidenses se preparan para visitar Cuba en gran número en los próximos meses, conscientes de que el turismo social es una forma humanitaria y económica de ayuda. Los viajeros quieren mantener vivo el nuevo espíritu de cooperación entre Estados Unidos y Cuba que se inició durante la Presidencia de Barack Obama”. “Los cubanos están dando muestras de su disposición y sus deseos de dar la bienvenida y abrazar calurosamente a su llegada a la isla a sus invitados estadounidenses”, expresó el antes citado turoperador norteamericano, a partir de sus propias vivencias y expectativas. Septiembre 18 de 2017.
Cuba Recovered and Open to the World
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Exclusive to the daily POR ESTO! of Mérida, Mexico.CUBA SE RECUPERA Y SIGUE ABIERTA AL MUNDO
http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/
Hurricane Irma’s Effects on Cuba
Hurricane Irma’s Effects on Cuba
By Néstor García Iturbe
Translated and Edited by Walter Lippmann.
DEAR READERS:
Some compañeros from other countries have written to me worried about Hurricane Irma and its consequences. That is why I make this brief chronicle. It would be unnecessary for those who live in Cuba and surely they would have much to contribute from their personal experiences.
AFTER PREPARATION TO RECEIVE IRMA AND ITS ARRIVAL IN CUBA, THEY CAN UNDERSTAND THAT ALL LIFE HAS BEEN ALTERED.
This hurricane crossed several provinces of the country along the north coast, destroying a good part of our tourist facilities and beaches, in addition to seriously affecting many cities.
The size of the hurricane was such that when it passed through a place it affected an area of more than three hundred kilometers. The closest to the eye of the hurricane with winds of about 250 kilometers per hour, in addition to the rains, those that were far from the center of the hurricane were also affected by winds of 80 kilometers in some cases and 150 in others (approximately).
Virtually the entire country ran out of electricity, with heavy flooding, disrupted roads, telephones. The news could be heard on the radio, the one with a portable radio, because although the television was on the air, no one could receive the signal because of the lack of electricity.
Although Civil Defense properly and timely warned about the dangers and the need to be safe, people were placed at safe locations to shelter, accidents occurred that cost the lives of ten Cubans.
Losses were also suffered in agriculture, industries, housing, schools, hospitals and others.
For those who have visited Cuba and have been in Havana, I can tell you that the water the sea advanced about 800 to 900 meters from the coast, above the seawall, in some places reached the height of 1.5 meters (as in the neighborhood where alive). You can understand that it destroys mobile homes, electrical equipment, shops, streets. trees, cars, electric and telephone lines, flooding of tunnels, garages and everything that is usually the basement of a building, where people often live.
After the hurricane, work began on the restoration of normality, and although much of the services (water, electricity, gas, telephone, television, radio) have yet to be restored, they have been reestablished in almost all of the country. On Monday the school year should be restarted at all levels, people who had problems with their home will continue in shelters, but work is underway on many of these, as well as factories and power plants. Most of the streets are passable and almost all the trees that were demolished were eliminated.
We still have some work to do, we have solved a good part but there are always issues that we must resolve to bring the country and its citizens back to the situation in which they were before Irene.
We are grateful for the solidarity shown by many people who are friends of Cuba, the help that is coming to us from some countries and above all we are grateful to have so many friends, like you, who care about us.
Many hurricanes would have to pass so that the Revolution would not go ahead. A hurricane affects us, but it does not stop us.S
Thank you all,
Néstor