Yesterday Cubans gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the first battle of the revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

Some things have changed since then. Fidel made no public appearance at the celebration, nor did his his brother Raul, who has provisional power of the island.

Achy Obejas is a writer based in Chicago. She also blogs for us. She was born in Havana, Cuba. She and her family fled the island in 1963.

And she’s joining us now to talk about what’s been happening on the island…