breathless

Habana 3/23 -- I've stumbled back into my office...breathless, having run a gauntlet of check points and jostling through the mounting crowds in the street. The police have set up several roadblocks in the area around the presidential palace and jeeps carrying armed soldiers have begun patrolling the downtown area.

Just after lunch, I found a flier stuck in my mail slot at work. The Federation for a Democratic Cuba was announcing a public meeting. "A window has been opened," the flier read. "Let the light shine on freedom in Cuba." I rushed to the designated reading room/coffee house on Avenida Esperanza, normally used for late night poetry readings and student gatherings. But when I arrived, the entrance to the establishment was blocked by uniformed guards. "The meeting has been cancelled," an anonymous spokesperson in street clothes informed me and a few others who had shown up. "Go back to your offices and homes," he growled. I rushed back here, breathless. Suddenly, a sense of unease has blown over the city.

I've called contacts in the media and the labor unions. No one is answering.

I've turned on the radio to await President Raúl Castro's first address to his constituents.

havana hombre