FROM THE PLAZA OF THE REVOLUTION

Courtesy of my man in Havana, the latest issue of CubaNow (a digital magazine of Cuban arts and
culture) just eluded U.S. customs and made it into my emailbox. It features stacks of
current and archived articles like these, picked at random: Gabriel Garcia Marquez on “bad literature teachers”;
Cuba’s most eminent musicologist, Maria Teresa Linares, on “the close relationship and
mutual influence of Cuban and American music, from early symphonic orchestras to present day
rap groups”; Herbie Hancock Jammin’ in
Havana; Danzon, the Cuban dance fit for a queen. Many
articles are translated — somewhat awkwardly — from the Spanish. Others seem to have been
written directly in awkward English. Not all the articles are from Cuba. Chomsky highlights flaws in Bush Doctrine, for
example, is reprinted from the Yale Daily News. But the magazine as a whole communicates an
unfiltered Cuban point of view, which, whether you agree with it or not,
makes innaresting reading.

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