The Handshake

When does a simple handshake seem to be more than what it is? Much ado has been said about the recent handshake between US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro. Right wing critics bemoaned that Obama was legitimizing a brutal dictator. On the other hand, Obama supporters try to portray him as a second-coming of Nelson Mandela. Read More ...

A Tale of Two (Sister) Cities: Manila and Havana

Old Manila (top) and Habana Vieja (bottom) were port cities that book-ended the two extremes of the profitable galleon trade of the Spanish Empire during colonial times.

Something interesting happened when I attended the "Colloquium on the Pacific" hosted by the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas of the Institute Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). The event celebrated the 500^th anniversary of the “discovery” of the Pacific Ocean by the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. At the event, I had the honor of meeting Don Benito Legarda, one of the Philippines’ most prominent historians. Dr. Legarda gave me interesting insights regarding the links of Manila and Havana. Read More ...

Passing through the gates of hell

Much has been said about the novelist Dan Brown’s "hellish" depiction of Manila in his novel entitled "Inferno." In the fictional novel, one of the protagonists was said to have been raped in one of Manila's slums. Thin-skinned Manileños, who abhor any negative portrayal about their hometown, took this as a personal offense. This despite the fact that it was a work of fiction, and that Manila indeed is a city full of slums. Read More ...

A visit to Andalucia

A view of the historic center of Cordoba with the Roman bridge on the foreground.

Because of my middle name (Aljibe), I always get asked a lot whether I am a Muslim or I have Andaluz roots when I was in Cuba and Mexico. This has piqued my interest about Andalucia for the longest time. I finally had an opportunity to visit this May. When I was planning the itinerary of my travels, I selected Cordoba, Seville, Granada and Malaga  without putting much thought about it. I merely looked at the map and decided that Cordoba, being the closest one to Madrid would be my jump-off point. From there, the other cities are a just a bus-ride away. Read More ...

Pedro Pan 2.0: Alimport's Pedro Alvarez Borrego lives the American Dream

I came across a headline in Miami Herald about an acquaintance I have met many years ago in Cuba: Pedro Alvarez Borrego now a house-flipping capitalist. My first reaction was that Alvarez Borrego has always been a capitalist at heart despite being a hotshot Cuban trade official. You've got to be one if you are working for the Trade Department regardless of your country's political persuasion. The first thing that came to my mind Operacion Pedro Pan, which ferried Cuban kids out of Castro's Cuba during the Cold War, precisely because of Pedro's first name. This is a case of Pedro Pan 2.0 with a capitalist twist. Read More ...