English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Elías recounts how, at age 16, he came to wave the national flag at the corner of Toyo, standing atop an overturned police patrol car 14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Madrid, July 16, 2026 / Elías Rizo León was just 16 years old on 11 July 2021, but his image -holding the Cuban flag as he stood … Continue reading ““Our Flag Had the Blood of the Protesters Wounded on 11 July””
The US Embassy condemns “the abuse and mistreatment suffered by political prisoners in Cuban regime prisons.” 14ymedio, Madrid, 17 November 2025 — Yosvany Rosell García Caso, who has been on hunger strike for 26 days in the Cuba Sí prison in El Yayal (Holguín), has declared that he will also stop drinking liquids. His wife, … Continue reading “The Wife of 11 July Prisoner Yosvany Rosell García Warns of His Critical Condition Due to His Hunger and Thirst Strike”
The island ranks fourth on the United Nations list of enforced disappearances and first in arbitrary detentions. 14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, November 18, 2025 — The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) considers that 49 protesters who participated in the anti-government protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’) in Cuba were detained “arbitrarily for political and … Continue reading “The UN Considers the Detention of 49 Protesters From the 11 July 2021 Protests in Cuba To Be “Arbitrary””
Díaz-Canel and all the henchmen who accompany him in government and in the inevitable repression are consumed by the fear of losing power. 14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 21 July 2025 — Castro’s totalitarian regime has once again demonstrated that the only thing left in its arsenal of lies and manipulation is the most brutal and … Continue reading “Cuba: 11 July, Four Years Later”
Upon entering the United States, Daniel Morejón García concealed the fact that he had been a member of the Cuban Communist Party and an agent of the Ministry of the Interior. 14ymedio, Madrid, 14 April 2024 — Daniel Morejón García, who appears on the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba’s (FDHC) list of repressors, is … Continue reading “Cuban Repressor Arrested in Miami for Attacking Protesters on 11 July 2021”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 April 2024 — Three words in blue ink – Patria y Vida… Homeland and Life – written on the facade of her house were enough for Sandra Hernández to understand State Security’s speedy response even in small towns like hers. After the island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 (11J), there was not … Continue reading “Two Years of Harassment and Pressure for Writing ‘Patria y Vida’ on Her House for the 11 July 2021 Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2024 — One month after being diagnosed with a five-centimeter uterine fibroid, Lizandra Góngora, a political prisoner for participating in the Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 and sentenced to 14 years, remains in Los Colonos prison, on the Island of Youth. Although neither the hospital of the special municipality nor … Continue reading “Of the 314 Women Detained in Cuba for Political Reasons Since 11 July 2021 Protests, 56 Are Still in Jail”
14ymedio, Havana, Juan Izquierdo, March 13, 2024 — With two recent heart attacks on his medical record and a sentence of 15 years in prison, political prisoner Wilfredo Castillo received a license last week to leave the Agüica prison, in Matanzas, for a year. Haggard and thin, his most recent photograph – in a hospital … Continue reading “Of Those Arrested for the 11 July 2021 Protests, 676 Cubans Remain Detained”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 25 November 2023 — The repression of dissent, the violation of political rights and the situation of prisoners sentenced for the protests of 11 July 2021 (11J) were the main complaints from Cuban civil society to the delegation of the European Union (EU) who visited the country this Thursday and Friday. … Continue reading “European Union Envoy for Human Rights Met With the Cuban Families of the Prisoners of the 11 July 2021 Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 July 2023 — On the eve of the second anniversary of the massive protests of 11 July 2021 (11J), the United States Embassy in Cuba again asked the regime in Havana to release the detainees arrested during these demonstrations. In a message sent to Martí Noticias, the diplomatic headquarters pointed out that … Continue reading “The United States Demands the ‘Immediate Release’ of the Political Prisoners of the 11 July 2021 Protests”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 25 January 2023 — A court in Havana handed down sentences which ranged from four years of “limited liberty” to 13 years in prison to 15 protesters from July 11, 2021 (11J), the largest protests in decades. According to the decision, dated January 23, which EFE accessed this Wednesday, the People’s … Continue reading “Cuba Condemns 15 Protesters of 11J (11 July 2021) to Sentences of Up To 13 Years”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 21 January 2023 — Cuba’s Minister of Justice, Óscar Silvera, met with ambassadors from the European Union (EU) to discuss the sentences of those who protested, across Cuba, in the demonstrations of 11 July 2021 (11J), according to what EFE has learned. The meeting, held this Wednesday within the framework of the … Continue reading “Cuba and EU Hold Talks on Those Condemned for 11 July 2021 Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 December 2022 — Barbara Farrat, Yudinela Castro, María Luisa Fleitas Brav , Migdalia Gutiérrez Padrón, Liset Fonseca, Marta Perdomo , Norabel Herrera, Marilin Cabrera. These are just a few names of the women who, in 2022, raised their voices again for political prisoners. In his case, his own children, detained – some still without sentence – after the demonstrations of … Continue reading “The Mothers of ’11 July’, an Iron Link for Political Prisoners in Cuba”
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 5 December 2022 — The leader of the Cuban dissident collective Damas de Blanco [Ladies in White], Berta Soler, was arrested this weekend along with the mothers of two prisoners for the massive protests of July 11, 2021 (11J), the regime opponent Ángel Moya reported on Monday. Norabel Herrera and Marilin Cabrera managed to evade the … Continue reading “Two Mothers of 11 July (11J) Prisoners Were Detained for a Few Hours Along with the Leader of the Ladies in White in Cuba”