taipeitimes.com – AFP, Santa Clara, Cuba
For 23-year-old Charlimar it was a dream come true, gyrating like Latin pop star Shakira on an outdoor stage before 2,000 cheering people, in the first government-sanctioned drag show in the communist country.
Organized by the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro, Mariela, the unprecedented show in the central city that revolutionary hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara conquered in 1958, drew stares and stopped traffic last Monday under the watchful gaze of local police.