English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
She said it with a tone somewhere between surprise and disappointment: “They don’t give a damn, Ernesto. How mistaken we exiles are.” And I nodded because I knew too well what she was talking about. For her, a woman from Santiago who hadn’t stepped foot on her native land since 1999, living in Miami and … Continue reading “The Winners’ Trophy / Ernesto Morales Licea”
In tune with the new airs of delayed economic reforms that General Raul Castro aims to promote, under one of the measures made public on Monday 9th May, Cubans on the island can take holidays abroad. On the street it has been the story of the year. It displaced the Brazilian soap opera, the gossip … Continue reading “Will Cubans Be Able to Holiday Abroad? / Iván García”
On Friday, April 22, on the corner of H and Calzada, Vedado, Havana, I was intercepted at 3:45 p.m. by a Lada car without police plates, from which four plainclothes agents of State Security emerged. Taken by surprise, I tried to ask them for their arrest warrant; meanwhile the leader ordered, “Get in Iturria, your … Continue reading “Chronicle of a Kidnapping in Havana / Miguel Iturria Savón”
On Friday, April 22, at the corner of H and Calzada, in Vedado, Havana, I was intercepted at 3:45 pm by a Lada car without police plates, out of which came four security agents in plain clothes. Surprised, I tried to ask for the warrant; meanwhile the driver commands, “Get in, Iturria your time has … Continue reading “Chronicle of a Kidnapping / Miguel Iturria Savón”
The dawn embraced me strongly, as did a sense of exasperation. I was afraid of losing the opportunity to share with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his team. I take two taxis to travel the 10 miles separating Calvario, a little village in Arroya Naranjo, from Fraternity Park in the heart of Old Havana. … Continue reading “The Meeting with Jimmy Carter / Laritza Diversent”
The former U.S. president, Jimmy Carter made a short but varied three-day visit to Cuba on Monday, March 28, 2011, in response to an invitation from Cuban President Raul Castro. He was greeted at the airport by Foreign Minister José Martí Bruno Rodriguez and diplomatic officials from Havana and Washington, respectively. That same day, the … Continue reading “Carter in Cuba Again / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
The former U.S. president, Jimmy Carter made a short but varied three-day visit to Cuba on Monday, March 28, 2011, in response to an invitation from Cuban President Raul Castro. He was greeted at the airport by Foreign Minister José Martí Bruno Rodriguez and diplomatic officials from Havana and Washington, respectively. That same day, the … Continue reading “Carter in Cuba Again”
It is, without a doubt, the news-of-the-day for Cuba. It has been news on the Island and off the Island. The new revelation of the identities of Moises Rodriguez and Carlos Serpa Maceira, two State Security agents whom the Cuban government, until Saturday 26 February, infiltrated into opposition groups, is just another case, another grain … Continue reading “Pawns of What Empire? Pieces of What Puzzle? / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Fidelism Cuba emerged on the international map as a tiny little island threatened and blocked by a powerful neighbor. With an excellent lecture from Sun Tzu and Machiavelli; without forgetting Gustave Le Bon, Fidel convinced the majority that he was speaking for the Fatherland, and the Fatherland was the Revolution and was Socialism. Fidel was … Continue reading “More About Egypt and Cuba. Popular Uprising: Between “Papa” and Potatoes / Regina Coyula”
Enemy Campaigns and The Politics of Confrontation with Counterrevolutionary Groups Download a PDF of this transcript here. La ciber policia en Cuba from Coral Negro on Vimeo. Presenter: Eduardo Fontes Suárez Introduction The title more or less says it all, we can adjust [the talk to meet] your interests, comrades, when it’s time for discussion. … Continue reading “MININT Cyber Lecture Video – English Transcript”
In late November, a kind reader wrote to me suggesting I prepare a list of all dissident groups and political parties on the Island. Since the proposal has appeared publicly in the comments on more than one occasion, I propose –in turn- to answer publicly and take the opportunity to share some impressions, given that … Continue reading “A Superfluous List / Miriam Celaya”
More than 50 dissidents and activists were arrested on December 10 in Cuba by the combined forces of the National Police and State Security for attempting to mark the International Day of Human Rights, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation led by Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz. The Universal Declaration of Human … Continue reading “Cuba: More than 50 Opponents Arrested on Human Rights Day / Iván García”
There is no doubt the dissidence on the island is looking for a space. The document: A Future for Cuba. Issued on December 2, it is counter-proposals to the government’s measures — a balanced document that fits this time in Cuba — from a group of ten people, among them the economist Martha Beatriz Roque … Continue reading “The Time of the Cuban Opposition / Iván García”
Many people want to do something to help the bloggers directly. The most important thing is to read them, talk about them, comment on their blogs, share their blogs with others, keep them IN THE PUBLIC EYE, which is a shield that helps to protect them. If you want to help with a donation, one … Continue reading “Direct Help to Bloggers”
Nothing will be solved with the hard discourse. There will be no solution because General Raul Castro launches the call to slaughter against the dissidence. Neither will there be a way out of the deep crisis that Cuba inhabits, with the usual television Roundtables, where four rigid guys share their uniform opinions. Cuba needs a dialogue, … Continue reading “Waiting for a Dialogue….and an Inquest”
