Miguel's Drone, Cuba From the Air

Yoani Sanchez - Award-winning Cuban blogger

Miguel's Drone, Cuba From the Air
Posted: 05/30/2014 7:03 pm EDT Updated: 05/30/2014 9:00 pm EDT

Nobody knows how he got it into the country, with so many customs
restrictions and government paranoia, but Miguel has a drone. Tiny, like
a kid's toy, and with a camera. In his spare time, this forty-something
Havanan dedicates himself to using his new amusement to explore the
nearby patios and rooftops of his neighbors. It's so tiny that it's
barely noticeable when flying over the neighborhood, while it transmits
images and videos to a screen in the home of its proud owner.

Right now it's a prank, but if one day Miguel is discovered with his
diversion, at best he could show up on official TV as a "CIA agent." Who
knows. An uncle of his was arrested on the street in the seventies for
carrying a tape recorder that belonged to the government newspaper where
he worked. He spent long hours at a police station, until the director
of the publication himself had to intercede for him. Time has flown and
now the "fearful" objects are other things, but the reprisals are
usually the same.

In any event, beyond the presumed punishment, Miguel has now learned
some valuable things. He has seen the pool hidden behind his neighbor
the Colonel's high fence, the satellite antenna a former minister has on
the roof of his house, and even the bowl overflowing with meat for the
rottweiler belonging to the painter who lives on the corner. He has also
observed, with the device's night vision, the man who, in the early
hours of the morning, dives into the dumpster and emerges with his
"treasures" under his arm, and the watchman who spends time opening the
warehouse containers to steal from them, without leaving any traces on
the security seals. Early one morning he even captured the president of
his local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) trafficking
in the alcohol from a nearby hospital.

Through the eyes of his drone, Miguel has been looking at Cuba from the
air, and what he is seeing is a country divided into pieces that don't fit.

Source: Miguel's Drone, Cuba From the Air | Yoani Sanchez -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/miguels-drone-cuba-from-t_b_5420878.html