English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2021 — The group, known as 27N (27th November) because of the date they held a protest in front of the Ministry of Culture, has released a manifesto this Monday in which they express their idea of Cuba the country, and summarize the four fundamental demands through which to achieve it. … Continue reading “Cuba: 27N Makes Public Four Demands to Build the Country it Dreams of”
Domesticated reformers and Taliban clash as regime collapses 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 5 August 2025 — The recent interview with singer and composer Israel Rojas on the program La Sobremesa, on La Joven Cuba (LJC), has sparked intense controversy on both sides of the Cuban political spectrum. For some, it was an attempt to … Continue reading “Israel Rojas, ‘La Joven Cuba’ and the Art of Surviving the Collapse”
The defense will submit its briefs for the conclusion of the summary on July 11. 14ymedio, Miami, June 24, 2025 — Cuban scientist Oscar Casanella, a member of the San Isidro Movement (MSI), had his political asylum hearing in Miami on Tuesday, three years after arriving as an exile in the United States. After the … Continue reading “The Miami Political Asylum Hearing for Cuban Oscar Casanella Continues Without a Verdict”
The Con Filo presenter’s visit to Spanish cities has sparked criticism, ridicule, and a necessary consensus among Cuban exiles. 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 10 May 2025 — Since Gabriela Fernández Álvarez—a propagandist for the Cuban regime—began her tour of 12 Spanish cities, her rejection by her exiled compatriots has been clear. But the mediocrity … Continue reading “When Propaganda Collides With Freedom”
Interrogations, threats, arbitrary arrests, internet shutdowns and police repression were the price they paid for their criticism. EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 April 2025 — Carolina, Yanelys, Luz, Anamelys, and Katia are just five names on the list of Cuban women forced into exile in recent years for their dissent, from mere criticism to political … Continue reading “Forced Into Exile, Luz, Carolina, Yanelys, Anamelys and Katia Reinvent Themselves Outside of Cuba”
Ferrer’s words make a lot of sense: the opposition needs more than ever to unite, to strengthen itself, to make itself heard. 14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 4 February 2025 — In recent days, the statements made by José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, have caused a great stir. José … Continue reading “Dialogue and Dictatorships: Cuba and the United States”
Miguel Coyula and Lynn Cruz talk about their ‘Chronicles of the Absurd’, a film that won awards abroad and was censored in Cuba 14ymedio, Jorge Fernandez Era, Havana, 28 December 2024 — In a film scene marked by censorship, it has become common for filmmakers to turn to alternative venues to exhibit their films. I … Continue reading ““The Only Way to Function is to be Outside the Institutions””
In December 2014, Raúl Castro and Obama surprised everyone with the news that relations between both countries would begin to normalize. 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, May 24, 2024 — The last decade in Cuba is, perhaps, the one that has seen the most changes in half a century. However, we have the feeling that … Continue reading “Cuba: Change So That Everything Remains the Same”
In the last ten years, the will for change has reached the majority of the Island’s citizens. 14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 23 May 2024 — If I were to describe in words what has happened in Cuba in the last ten years, I would say: a desire for change. An awakening to the reality in … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Lost Its Monopoly on Information With the Arrival of ’14ymedio’”
The complex thing here is that it is not about forgetting a person, but about removing an entire country from your bones, from your liver 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 11 May 2024 — Those who have had a toxic relationship desire with all their soul to be able to say: it’s over, a clean … Continue reading “How To Forget Cuba in Three Tries”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 April 2024 — The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) moved the pieces on its board again on Monday, when it dismissed, just two days after the dismissal of Susely Morfa in Matanzas, its first secretary in Mantua, Pinar del Río. Liusmara Rodríguez Soriano “was released from her responsibility,” said the official press, … Continue reading “A Senior Official of the PCC in Pinar Del Rio Has Been Dismissed, Criticized for ‘Dubious Management’”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 January 2021 [Readers please note, this article is from 2021 and only recently translated] — The day of arrests and protests of artists that took place this Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Culture has not taken long to receive condemnation from several international organizations, among which stands out the Cuban Observatory … Continue reading “Cuba’s Minister of Culture’s Aggression Against Artists Sparks International Condemnation (Article from 2021)”
14ymedio, Madrid, January 9, 2024 — The deputy ministers of Culture Fernando Rojas Gutiérrez and Kenelma Carvajal Pérez were dismissed from their positions on Monday, January 8, and will be replaced by two much younger faces, those of Lizette Martínez Luzardo, 36 years old and up to now director general of Cultural Policies, and Lillitsy … Continue reading “The Cuban Government Dismisses Fernando Rojas, Despite His ‘Revolutionary Loyalty’”
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 4 October 2023 — Those of us who have been a target of the State Security often make two serious mistakes. On the one hand, we overestimate them. They are not the X-Men. They do not have all the latest technology nor are they omnipresent. Their officers come off as … Continue reading “Encounters of the Third Kind with Cuban State Security”
14ymedio, Havana. 18 March 2023 – Twenty years ago a wave of repression swept through Cuba. Whilst the world’s attention was fixed on the start of the war in Iraq, Fidel Castro condemned 75 dissidents to prison in an authoritarian offensive known as the Black Spring. Two decades later, the number of political prisoners on … Continue reading “20 Years Since the Black Spring, the Long Shadow of Repression in Cuba”
