NYT Baracoa Picks

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Painter Roel Caboverde, 74, at his home near the main square in Baracoa, Cuba,  <br />
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When the vibrant tourism economy came to a halt due to the double punch of Trump’s sanctions and Covid shutdowns, his livelihood selling paintings came to an abrupt halt.  When I purchased a 3;x40” canvas from him for $100, he told me it was his first sale in two years. He also said with the tight U.S. embargo, it’s been impossible to buy paint.  He showed me the tubes at his easel what were as empty as used toothpaste tubes.<br />
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His paintings with eroticism and humor of Baracoa scenes have been exhibited in the United States, across Europe, Japan, Dominican Republic, and Costa .  He’s made several outstanding murals for the city of Baracoa.<br />
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Caboverde, 71, said he purchased his spacious home in the heart of Baracoa with the sale of $12,000 of paintings abroad twenty years ago .<br />
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Above taped above his easel this quote: <br />
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“Sin honor, no hay hombre.  Cada cual vida de su sudor o no viva”<br />
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My rough translation: Without honor there is no man.  Each life must have sweat to feel alive.
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