English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 9 November 2022 — To the grave situation in the sectors of economy, food, finance, energy, politics, social justice, migration and health — all from which Cuba is suffering — we may add a new crisis that could deliver the final death blow to a fading, crumbling model. Because if … Continue reading “The Culture Crisis of the Cuban Revolution”
14ymedio, Madrid, November 8, 2022 — The Cuban platform, D Frente [D Front], has penned a letter to former Latin American leaders who, last week, asked the U.S. to end the embargo against Cuba, inviting them now to make statements about the situation of rights and freedoms on the Island. Furthermore, they requested the leaders … Continue reading “Former Presidents Opposed to the US Embargo are Asked to Make a Statement About Freedom in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 September 2022 — The Cuban government has called on the population to vote yes in the referendum on the Family Code held this Sunday. Far from the monolithic opinion that has been imposed in the official discourse — and maybe in private — voting is like a Russian doll for those who … Continue reading “Cuba: Are You Voting on the Family Code?”
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 13 September 2022 — The Dominican priest David Pantaleón, a superior of the Jesuits in Cuba, left the island on Tuesday due to the Government’s refusal to extend his residence permit. The Jesuit is already in his own country, according to a source. The also former president of the Cuban Conference … Continue reading “Jesuits Denounce ‘The Dictatorial Power’ that Forced the Order’s Superior to Leave Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 September 2022 — Members of the Cuban opposition inside and outside Cuba announced their support for “D Frente,” a group of “coordination of plural Cuban civil and political actors, whose central objective is to achieve the refounding of the Republic, guided by José Martí’s idea of building a country ’with everyone and … Continue reading “Six Cuban Opposition Organizations Unite to Refound the Republic”
14ymedio, Madrid, 6 September 2022 — The artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement (MSI), is one of the winners of the Impact awards of the Prince Claus Foundation in the Netherlands, which every two years recognizes cultural professionals around the world, not only for their work but for their “positive … Continue reading “Cuban Otero Alcantara Wins the Impact Award from the Dutch Prince Claus Foundation”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2022 — “If a door were opened for me right now, where I could go into exile, brother, I’d go, do you understand?” The words of Maykel Castillo Osorbo, in a telephone conversation from prison with Armando Labrador, owner of the Cántalo TV YouTube channel, suggest that the artist is willing to … Continue reading “From Jail, Rapper Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Suggests He is Willing to Leave Cuba”
Cubalex, Giselle Camila Morfi, 24 June 2022 — The crimes of disrespecting national symbols, contempt, defamation of institutions and organizations, and heroes and martyrs, are not compatible with international human rights standards. These crimes are an assault on the freedom of expression recognized in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant … Continue reading “Cubalex’s Assessment of the Sentences Imposed Upon Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Castillo / Cubalex”
14ymedio, Havana, August 5, 2022–Cuban opponent, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who is being held in the maximum security prison of Guanajay, has been transferred to a “shuttered cell and held in solitary confinement,” according to a statement published by the San Isidro Movement (MSI). During a family visit, Alcántara denounced that after determining his situation to … Continue reading “Cuban Political Prisoner, Otero Alcantara, is Moved to a ‘Shuttered Cell and Held in Solitary Confinement’ in Guanajay Prison”
Dimas Castellanos, 1 July 2021 — To improve the image of Cuban laws — outdated with respect to the international legal system — the Supreme People’s Court (TSP) submitted four preliminary drafts to the National Assembly of People’s Power for approval: Law on the Courts of Justice, Code of Proceedings, Law on Administrative Procedure and … Continue reading “Cuba’s New Laws, a Strategy for the Debacle / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 July 2022 — The Cuban opposition figure and artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara informed his family on Wednesday that he is suffering “harassment” by a prisoner in the Guanajay maximum security prison. According to the curator Claudia Genlui, the inmate has a 51-year sentence and State Security has instructed him “to attack Luis … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Used a Common Prisoner to Harass Otero Alcantara in Prison”
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 8 July 2022 — The artists and opponents Maykel Castillo Osorbo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara refused to appeal their sentences of nine and five years in prison, respectively. In addition, the latter has announced that he began a new hunger strike – the third since he was in prison – on July 4 to demand … Continue reading “Cuban Artists Otero Alcantara and ‘Osorbo’ Refuse to Appeal Their Sentence”
14ymedio, Madrid, 5 July 2022 — The Cuban Foreign Ministry reacted this Monday, more than a week late, to the European Union’s condemnation of the sentence against the members of the San Isidro Movement, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo ’Osorbo’. The spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano, posted on Sunday … Continue reading “Cuba’s Foreign Ministry Rejects EU’s Criticisms of the Convictions of Alcantara and ‘Osorbo’”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 18 June 2022 — The majority of university students in Cuba were born between 1998 and 2003. According the Ministry of Higher Education, as reported in the newspaper Granma, preliminary enrollment for the 2021-2022 academic year was 292,507 students, distributed across Cuba’s fifty universities and 113 majors. The most prestigious schools, … Continue reading “No Cuban University Student Foresees a Fulfilling Future”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 June 2022 — There is now a sentence in the trial against the artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo, held on May 30 and 31 in Havana. In a statement made public this Friday by the Attorney General’s Office, the People’s Municipal Court of Central Havana reported that the sentence for Alcántara is … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ Sentenced to Five and Nine Years in Prison”
