La Habana Research Articles

Persistent Vulnerability after Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Response: The Case of Salgar, Colombia

Community-based disaster management (CBDM) has replaced traditional models of disaster risk reduction (DRR), giving the community a more participatory role in the planning and implementation of risk mitigation and preparedness strategies, disaster response, and post-disaster recovery measures. This shift in disaster response approaches has impacted understandings of vulnerability and resilience, leading scholars and policy makers to move away from a physical definition of vulnerability and to incorporate social variables. However, in Colombia, a traditional DRR approach still prevails. The National Risk Management Policy employs a top-down approach to risk reduction and disaster management, relying on the action of governmental authorities without community participation in the design or implementation of risk management planning and strategy. This article reveals the deficiencies of traditional DRR approaches. The Colombian government’s post-disaster resettlement project after a 2015 landslide in Salgar, Antioquia that resulted in 98 people dead or missing did not contribute to the reduction of vulnerability for the resettled community. To accurately measure post-disaster vulnerability and resilience, a new holistic model of indicators that includes both social and biophysical variables that illustrate and measure the relevance of preexisting vulnerabilities was developed. Local data was collected through 178 surveys administered to the inhabitants of Salgar’s three post-disaster resettlement sectors—La Habana, La Florida, and Las Margaritas—to construct an accurate picture of the populations affected by the disaster. Our results show that in the case of Salgar, social vulnerabilities persist even in the physical components of the resettlement sites where new infrastructure would be expected to reduce hazardous conditions and exposure to risk.

Rilievo per il restauro. La documentazione morfometrica e cromatica della Facultad de Arte Teatral dell’ISA (L’Avana - Cuba).

The paper, through the analysis of the case study relating to the morphometric and chromatic documentation of the Facultad de Arte Teatral of the ISA (La Habana), aims to highlight the essential role that the survey of architecture plays in the process of enhancement and protection of Cultural Heritage. The survey is the critical investigation tool by definition: when it’s understood in the broadest sense of the term, it constitutes the necessary cognitive premise at the basis of any design action. This is even more true when the intervention involves the restoration of a cultural artefact aimed at its conservation and management, an operation that assumes a careful analysis of the existing state and the correct reading of the architectural organism in all its parts.

Geomática y geografía al servicio de la conservación del Patrimonio Arquitectónico

In the last decades, the introduction of geomatic technologies in the processes of documentation of built environment has revolutionized the field of morphometric documentation. These procedures have undoubtedly helped tangible Cultural Heritage, which in today's society plays an increasingly central role in socio-economic development and the reaffirmation of a country's cultural identity. This research aims to illustrate a management method for Architectural Heritage (AH) using innovative technologies, which allow determining the influence of geographic-environmental conditions on the processes of material and structural degradation of buildings. The case study on which this method was tested is the Facultad de Arte Teatral (FAT) of the Universidad de las Artes in La Habana (Cuba).

Enhancing Quality of Life: Pre- and Postoperative Assessment in Idiopathic Hyperhidrosis Patients.

This study aimed to characterize patients, describe surgical complications, and evaluate the pre- and postoperative quality of life (QOL) of individuals who underwent surgery for primary hyperhidrosis (PHH). A prospective, non-randomized, uncontrolled study was conducted, documenting cases of patients undergoing surgery for PHH at a reference center in La Habana, Cuba, from January 2016 to December 2022. A total of 49 cases were described, with a median age of 16 years; 59.1% were female. The most common presentation was palmar-plantar-axillary, observed in 53% of cases. The palmar presentation was more frequent in female patients (p<0.05). Within 24 hours post-procedure, 85.7% of patients showed dryness in the palmar and axillary areas, with surgical complications occurring in 14.3% of cases (intercostal neuritis, pneumothorax, and hemothorax). CHof some form was recorded in 89.8% of cases. At least 30 days after the surgery, 95.9% of the patients reported a significant improvement in their QOL. Thoracic sympathectomy is an efficient and safe method for treating hyperhidrosis in adolescents, leading to an enhanced QOL. However, this study reported a higher incidence of complications, particularly CH, compared to previous national and international studies.

Palpigrades from Cuba (Arachnida: Palpigradi: Eukoeneniidae).

The knowledge of palpigrades in Cuba is limited to the species Eukoenenia orghidani, discovered and described from Cueva de Bellamar. In this work, a survey for palpigrades in the suburbs of La Habana, Cuba revealed three species, Eukoenenia berlesei, Eukoenenia florenciae and a new species described here as Eukoenenia glandulosa sp. nov. Interestingly, the three species coexist in the microspaces of wet soil. A total of 16 arthropod species were identified living in the same microhabitat as the palpigrades.

Bare Life and Biopolitics in El Rey de La Habana

In this essay, I propose a reading of Pedro Juan Gutiérrez’s novel El Rey de La Habana (1999) as a critique of the reduction of political life to what philosopher Giorgio Agamben calls “bare life.” The novel, written during the período especial highlights the state of emergency and economic crisis that overwhelmed Cuba following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. My analysis centers on Reynaldo, the novel’s protagonist, and the various ways he embodies the thresholds or zones of indistinction that constitute bare life. In Agamben’s terms, Reynaldo exhibits the traits of homo sacer, the sacred man whose exclusion from political life is constitutive of modern sovereign power. In this sense, my biopolitical reading contemplates the central role of excessive corporeality in the novel as an index of the violence of sovereign power during Cuba’s Special Period.

Media coverage of the cholera epidemic of 1850 in Havana in the Spanish Cuba government periodicals

The article analyzes the narrative created in the government periodical, Gaceta de la Habana, during the cholera epidemic of 1850 in Havana; in the course of this article three main subjects were considered – the dynamics of media coverage, steps against the cholera epidemic and actions of help to the lower class.

A Collective Fabric on a Cane Loom: a Weaving Workshop by Marta Palau in the 1986 Bienal de La Habana

This essay addresses the inclusion of artist-run craft workshops in the second iteration of the Bienal de La Habana (1986), held in Cuba’s capital city. Advertised as spaces for technical training and the cultivation of subaltern solidarity, these events offered crucial opportunities for so-called Third World artists to meet, learn new skills, and develop an international reputation within the field of craft. As part of a larger effort to present before international audiences an anti-colonial aesthetics that favored production over reception, the Bienal included objects produced in collaboration with local participants. This article focuses on a workshop led by Spanish-Mexican artist Marta Palau in October and November 1986, and centers on the role that materials, process, and relations of production can play in emancipatory approaches to artistic practice.

Out of Sync in Havana: Two Socialist Visions of Global Contemporary Art

On 1 November 1989, when the third edition of la Bienal de la Habana opened its doors, the show included ink paintings from North Korea called chosŏnhwa (literally ‘Korean paintings’). By that time, the Korean–Cuban friendship had lasted for more than three decades, following its formation after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, and based on the principle of Third World solidarity. But this encounter in 1989 illustrates that their contemporary art was out of sync with one another. The Korean presentation contrasted with the more installation‐oriented, inter‐media works submitted by Cuban artists who were part of the ‘New Cuban art’ wave. As an archeological study on these two starkly different visions of ‘contemporary art’, this essay sustains a bifurcated view onto Pyongyang and Havana as a method with which to reassess the culture of Third World politics and post‐coloniality at the Cold War's end, and to propose a translocational, South‐to‐South method of art history.

Casa en que nunca he sido extraña: Las poetas hispanoamericanas: identidades, feminismos, poéticas (Siglos XIX-XXI)

Casa en que nunca he sido extraña: Las poetas hispanoamericanas: identidades, feminismos, poéticas (Siglos XIX-XXI)

A RECORD OF “POST-HAVANA”: NOTES ON FICTION AND GLOBALIZATION IN &lt;i&gt;LA AUTOPISTA: THE MOVIE&lt;/i&gt; BY JORGE ENRIQUE LAGE

This paper analyses Jorge Enrique Lage’s (1979) novel La autopista: The movie, published in 2014 in La Habana, in the context of the latest Cuban narrative and Caribbean science fiction. Many of Lage’s works explore the different possibilities of Cuba’s future, positing universes full of strange and novel elements that may -or may not- correspond to the future of the country, although their main intention is not to build a model society: these universes are immersed in chaos, in instability. Globalization enters his novels as an irremediable force, being the cause of the arrival of all these elements on the island.

Glove perforation in selected surgical procedures in a general hospital in La Habana, Cuba

SummaryBackgroundSurgical glove perforation constitutes a risk for the maintenance of aseptic technique and the risk of surgical site infection and occupational exposure to blood borne infections for healthcare workers.AimTo identify the frequency of glove perforation in selected surgical procedures.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out in the surgical unit of the Joaquin Albarrán Hospital (La Habana, Cuba) during the period September–December 2019. Gloves used by surgeons in major urgent or elective surgical procedures were collected and tested for perforations.Findings757 gloves from 149 surgeons and 8 surgical specialties were tested and 95 (25.8%) had perforations. The highest frequencies of glove perforations were reported in vascular surgery (50.0%), proctology (37.9%), urology (28.0%) and general surgery (26.1%). The selected surgical procedures with the highest frequencies were open radical nephrectomy (87.5%), splenectomy (57.1%), open adenomectomy (55.6%), limb amputation (46.2%) and hysterectomy (41.7%). Glove perforation occurred more frequently in consultant surgeons (28.8%) than in residents (20.9%) (P = 0.021), in surgeons with more years of surgical experience (P = 0.003) and longer procedure duration (P = <0.001). Most glove perforations were identified in the left hand (64.1%), while 23.1% were in the right hand and 12.8% in both hands. 51.2% occurred in thumb and index finger. Differences in the patterns of glove perforation were observed among the different surgical procedures.ConclusionsOur findings provide insights into the risk of glove perforation during selected surgical procedures and the need for prevention strategies to reduce adverse consequences of glove perforation in patients and healthcare workers.

El impacto de la Resolución 1325 de Naciones Unidas y la perspectiva de las mujeres en el proceso de paz de Colombia

Without a doubt, the Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace of Colombia, signed on the 24th of November 2016 at Colón Theater in Bogotá, represents an achievement for Colombian women’s organizations and for feminist and anti-militarists acti-vists worldwide. This article aims to shed light on how this result was achieved and with this goal it will analyze the impact of the Resolution 1325 and of women’s perspective on the Colombian peace process. Supported by international legislation, the organizations of Colombian women lobbied the Negotiating Table to make sure that women’s perspective would be included in the peace process. Through the analysis of the changes occurred during the years of negotiation of La Habana and of the peace agreement signed on the 24th of August 2016 and on the 24th of November of the same year, this study aims to investigate what allowed to obtain such change during the years of negotiation and how women’s perspective changed the Final Peace Agreement.

Is simultaneous arrival of pelagic Sargassum and Physalia physalis a new threat to the Atlantic coasts?

The massive influxes of pelagic Sargassum and Physalia physalis have become an increasingly recurrent phenomenon on the Atlantic coasts, affecting the economy and the structure of coastal ecosystems. For the first time, a study assesses the simultaneous arrival of these pelagic organisms. This study was conducted from June/2019 through June/2021 on the littoral of La Habana, one of the circulation points of the currents that form the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (NASG) run. Transects of 40 m were located parallel to the shoreline, the biomass of pelagic Sargassum was weighed, and the number of colonies of P. physalis was counted at the intertidal zone. The biomass of pelagic Sargassum was estimated as dry biomass. The simultaneous arrival of pelagic Sargassum and P. physalis was reported. Simultaneous arrivals of these pelagic species were recorded in the winter seasons, with the occurrence of cold fronts, low mean temperatures (22–27 °C), and strong northerly winds. Most months with the arrival of these pelagic species coincided with a negative average magnitude of the Arctic Oscillation Index, which favors the occurrence of cold fronts and northerly winds. The mean landing dry biomass of Sargassum during the peak months was low (0.73 ± 0.54 kg/m2) compared to the Mexican Caribbean. 145 P. physalis colonies over 100 m of coast length per year were reported during the study period. The higher visual occurrence of Sargassum natans I and the higher percentage of left-handed P. physalis colonies (56.16 ± 3.37) may indicate that the NASG area, which encloses the Sargasso Sea, could be the primary source of arrivals to La Habana littoral. As reported, the distribution of sightings of pelagic Sargassum and P. physalis coincided in several regions in the Atlantic Ocean and represents an urgent call for coordinated monitoring and development of predictive forecasting of beach landings. This work suggests that there are Atlantic coastal sites such as La Habana littoral that could host the dangerous simultaneous arrivals of pelagic Sargassum and P. physalis. Finally, the use of remote sensing techniques with in situ observations is considered important for future work, since using remote sensing techniques alone seems to miss important events such as those documented in this study.

Laparoscopic enucleation of renal masses

Introduction: Tumor Enucleation (TE) of renal masses as an alternative of nephron-sparing surgery has increased in the past years. Objectives: To describe the perioperative, oncological and functional outcomes of laparoscopic TE in a series of patients with renal masses. Material and method: A descriptive and retrospective study of 71 patients who underwent laparoscopic TE surgery for renal mass in La Habana, Cuba at the Centro Nacional de Cirugía de Mínimo Acceso, between 2010 and 2019. Clinical-epidemiological and perioperative variables, complications, Clavien-Dindo grade and oncological variables were considered. The SPSS program, version 23.0 was utilized. Frequencies, mean percentages, standard deviation and Student´s t- test (p&lt;0.05) were estimated. Survival was appraised by using the Kaplan Meier curve. Results: Mean age was 58 years. Male patients prevailed (60.6%), with comorbidities (87.3%), incidental diagnosis (73.2%), low complexity tumors (64.8%). Mean tumor size and RENAL score was 33.6 mm and 6.1, respectively. Hand-assisted transperitoneal approach was performed (92.9%), mean bleeding was 335.9 ml and length of hospital stay 5.2 days. Postoperative renal function was preserved (p=0.082). Postoperative complications prevailed (14.1%), bleeding (8.4%) and grade II and IV (4.2%, respectively). Most masses were malignant (71.8%), ccRC prevailed (52.1%), pT1a (78.4%), overall survival and cancer specific survival was 100% and 96.0%, respectively. Mean follow-up time was 7.4 years. Conclusions: Laparoscopic TE is a feasible alternative for treating select renal masses, with satisfactory perioperative, oncological and functional outcomes.

Theatricality and Race in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Raquel Carrió and Flora Lauten’s Otra tempestad

Otra tempestad was performed at La Habana’s Teatro Buendía in 1997, with dramaturgy by Raquel Carrió and Flora Lauten.2 This play marked a new direction in Latin American rewritings of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. This tradition began with Ruben Darío, Paul Groussac and José Enrique Rodó, who discussed the image of Caliban in relation to the United States and its intervention in Latin America. The climax of these rewritings came with authors such as George Lamming, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Kamau Brathwaite and Roberto Fernández Retamar. Their readings and understanding of the play vindicate the image of Caliban and emphasize the processes of colonization in the context of the Cuban Revolution, the Négritude Movement, and the decolonization of the Caribbean. Continuing with this tradition, Carrió and Lauten composed their play focusing on the processes of globalization and the new millennium (Flaherty 102), transferring their focus to the experimentation with new ways of understanding theatricality and Cuban identity through dialogue, establishing a counterpoint with The Tempest. Carrió herself has stated that rewriting the plot of the Shakespearean play became more complex by the end of the century (“Otra” 159). This results in a temporal and thematical distance with Césaire’s rewriting and the Caribbean tradition of the 50s and 60s because, for Carrió, it is not enough to negate the language of the colonizer but researching the process of cultural formation through cultural contact is also needed (“Otra” 159). The main gesture that the dramaturges offer comes from the title itself. By entitling it Otra tempestad (Another Tempest), Carrió/Lauten include the play in relation to Césaire’s play Une Tempête (A Tempest). […] By María José Cornejo

Craft as Anti-colonial Universalism in the Bienal de La Habana

The distinction between art and craft is one touchstone of Western aesthetics. Among other implications, this distinction has supported hierarchical valuations of culture that support processes of coloniality. In 1983, coherent with its mission of Third World solidarity, the Cuban state created the Bienal de La Habana, an international exhibition of art that sought to question Euro-American hegemony in the aesthetic field by showing objects from Latin America and the Third World. This article explores the dimensions of practiced and theoretical work performed within the Bienal, with especial attention to those invested in the reevaluation of the seminal art vs craft distinction. In doing so I show that, in addition to revisiting core principles of Western aesthetic philosophy, biennial curators opened as well fruitful avenues for an emancipatory curatorial practice that resonates with present concerns to decolonise the art institution.

A bibliometric analysis of nursing and midwifery research in the Caribbean.

To determine the research output of Caribbean nurses and midwives. We searched the Scopus database to identify publications by Caribbean nurses and midwives during the period 2000-2020. Publications were included in the analysis if they had at least one author who was either a nurse or midwife and affiliated with a Caribbean geographic location. All publication types and languages were included in the analysis. Organization analysis and collaboration networks were created using the VOS Viewer application. The number of Scopus publications by Caribbean nurses and midwives progressively grew from 22 in 2000 to 584 in 2020. Cuba recorded the highest number of nursing research publications (319) followed by Jamaica (92), and Puerto Rico (59). Most publishing institutions were universities. The University of the West Indies (Jamaica) ranked highest with 15.2% of publications, followed by Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana with 14.4% of publications, Universidad de Puerto Rico ranked third with 9.8% of publications. The majority of publications (83.6%) were peer reviewed research articles, while review articles accounted for 9.8% of publications. Six out of the ten journals that published most research done by Caribbean nurse researchers were Cuban journals which published a total of n=250 (75.8%) articles. All six journals had no impact factor and had low cite scores. Our analysis of bibliometric indicators suggest that recent and steady growth in nursing and midwifery research in the Caribbean has had low visibility. Equipping nurses and midwives with the necessary knowledge and skills to lead, teach, and conduct high quality research through doctorate level education is an imperative for increasing research productivity among Caribbean nurses and midwives. Nursing and midwifery research is critical for evidence-based nursing and midwifery practice. High quality and context specific research evidence will enable Caribbean nurses and midwives to provide quality and culturally sensitive nursing and midwifery care and contribute to evidence informed policy decisions.

La picaresca en la narrativa china e hispanoamericana: estudio comparativo

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; This work describes traces of the picaresque novel in literature outside Europe by analyzing and comparing two novels from the perspective of the picaresque genre, one from Cuba, El Rey de La Habana, and the other from China, Leaving Home at 18. It is based on the criteria proposed by Fernando Cabo Aseguinolaza and has found that these two novels have characteristics of the picaresque genre despite the fact that in El Rey de La Habana these characteristics are more evident according to the referentialist orientation, while in the other one the picaresque character is more easily verified from the formal perspective.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Excedente español en la Cuba postsoviética: Muerte de un murciano en La Habana (2006)

This essay analyzes the visual strategies used in Muerte de un murciano en La Habana (2006), by Teresa Dovalpage, a novel that parodically interrogates the social impact of economic dynamics in post-Soviet Cuba, based on a scriptural enterprise that uses intertextuality and self-referentiality. The writer deploys a series of postmodern strategies in which both subjects and Spanish Baroque pictorial signs are mobilized and parodied in the same operation as they are relocated onto a specific local urban space: Havana. I propose here that the author includes herself, as Velázquez would do in Las Meninas, not to shed light on representational strategies, but to draw attention to the figure of the migrant writer in a regional linguistic market, who must capture the gaze of Spanish transnational publishers, who exercise a hegemonic control in that market.