The section "What's new?" of Juventud Rebelde, announced the launching of a cultural supplement of that newspaper, which started May 5, 2001 would be circulating virtually.
With a freshness of its own, with an agitated soul, like that of the "group of young journalists and intellectuals, with no other instruments than a laptop, a Chinese bicycle and a bomb-proof will, (that) began to put together the first issue", La Jiribilla was born, first as a website, and then it would reach the readers in printed format.
This magazine, which is now 20 years, would outline the path to be followed by Cuban digital journalism, whose paths, from that moment on, would be inclined towards a new era, marked by a carefree attitude without ignoring analysis and humor, along with the necessary criticism in the cultural and artistic sphere of the largest of the Antilles, since its transcendence is remarkable, above all, in the virtual world.

Transgresora came to the networks to offer a place to the restless national intelligence, which for some twenty years has been tirelessly cultivating anyone who comes close to its assessments. It has been the target of many cyber sabotages and verbal attacks by some who are dissatisfied with its vertiginous ascent, constant renovation and, above all, with its ways of defending truths that are manipulated in other media scenarios.

This space, which from the beginning has proposed to assert the presence of our culture and society on the Internet, is Creole and authentic. It addresses a diversity of topics with a typical vision of our idiosyncrasy from its own name, inspired by the Angel of the Jiribilla, with which Lezama Lima described the spirit and identity of the Cuban: "Jiribilla, (...) fabulous resistance of the Cuban family. Ark of our resistance in time, ribbon of light in the hummingbird, which ascends and descends, to the measure of man, like a temple (...)".

That distinctive Lezamian text also served as inspiration for the artist José Luis Fariñas, who gave life to the painting that has accompanied the publication since 2006.

But La Jiribilla goes beyond its digital and printed formats. Its headquarters, the Casa Amarilla, is filled with good taste, history and art, every time the projects take space: Sala de Foros, El Patio de Baldovina, Resistencia de la Memoria and the Paredes sin Nombre gallery.

"Jiribilla, little devil of ubiquity. Simultaneity in the seasons, which unite gold and gray, like two arms. Like two arms that raise freedom in the middle space in the squares of color and in the time of the dream (...)". This magazine has retraced time and again the paths of our cultural roots, has evolved along with society, reflecting -always through respect for the truth, with criticism and humor as banners- the irreverent and seductive world of the Cuban. (L.M.G.)

(Taken from Granma)

English version Hector Hdez.