English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
After two weeks of illness, I contemplate a Cuba that seems to have plummeted even further. Two weeks of convalescence is a long time. In those days, a body can become exhausted from fighting fever and pain, a neighborhood can sink even deeper into the health crisis, and a country can plummet even further than … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: What Kind of Country Will I Find When I Walk Its Streets Again?”
A virus, an empty medicine cabinet, and the haunting image of those who grow old alone reveal the depth of Cuba’s health and demographic crisis. 14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, August 1, 2026 / Day One. I wake up with a tingling in my right shoulder. “I must have slept in the wrong position,” I tell … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: The Days of the Fever”
A tour of El Vedado reveals the decline of the commercial network that the military built to control remittances, tourism, and foreign currency stores. 14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, July 29, 2026 / There are buildings that collapse with a crash, while others crumble in silence. The former Fincimex card processing center on 23rd Street in … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: A Tour of the Ruins of the Gaesa Empire”
The Cuban crisis forces people to give up the basic habits that sustain communal life 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 22, 2026 / The street I walk down is called Hidalgo, but on one of its corners, the poorest people in my neighborhood gather, while waiting for their bread from the ration books. Some couldn’t … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: Cuba, The Country That Unlearns”
In a country where the state no longer provides electricity, water, medicine, or bread, each family tries to survive however they can. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 16, 2026 / Today I couldn’t take the trash down the stairs. It wasn’t any heavier than usual, but my body sent me a telegram, brief and forceful: … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: “Here, Surviving””
Amid banging pots and pans, plumes of smoke, and outages, the Cuban electricity crisis seems to have turned madness into a widespread state. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, July 7, 2026 / The day after a power outage, everything moves much more slowly. This Tuesday, I spent long minutes trying to flag down an electric tricycle … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: The Blackout Lunatics”
The energy crisis and inflation are transforming a food that was abundant on Cuban tables for decades into an almost exclusive item. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 4 July 2026 / “You all really slept with electricity last night,” a woman selling bags of groceries chides me outside the Tulipán market. The woman, who lives across … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: From the Mariel Boatlift’s Weaponized Eggs to the Luxury Egg”
Wi-Fi zones are disappearing, mobile coverage is failing, and customers are chasing an increasingly scarce signal. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 29, 2026/ Galiano and San Rafael Park is packed this Monday with people staring at their cell phone screens. “I got lucky,” I say with relief after passing through several Wi-Fi zones where there’s … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: Cuba Is Once Again Without Internet”
Mosquitoes continue to bite near the monument to the scientist who fought yellow fever 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 25, 2026 / Some monuments take on a different meaning over time. This Wednesday, I was walking near the Marianao Obelisk, that stone needle erected in homage to Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, and I couldn’t help … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: Under the Shadow of a Giant Syringe, Cuba Remains the Land of Waiting”
Amid blackouts, protests, and empty bus stops, Cubans are receiving the 176 economic measures announced by the government with skepticism. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 20, 2026 / She carefully climbs onto the electric tricycle, while clarifying that she has had knee surgery. At 81, she says she dedicated her entire life to training athletes … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: The Time For Reforms Has Passed”
Havana has become a hostile and unsafe city, where it is increasingly difficult to sleep and bathe due to the lack of electricity and water. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 17, 2026 / I collapse into bed, exhausted. A stroll through the Miramar neighborhood can be worse now than sprinting along the uneven sidewalks of … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: Surrounded by Garbage, Miramar Is No Longer the Glamorous Neighborhood It Once Was.”
While a tent is set up next to Revolution Square, blackouts and urban decay deepen the isolation of Cubans. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 14, 2026 / They’ve set up a circus in my neighborhood. A blue tent now stands just a few meters from the Council of State, and the tower of the Plaza … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: A Circus Facing Off Against Power, and a City Growing Increasingly Lonely”
Since last Friday we’ve only had a few hours of electricity each day, and in my mind, the days are strung together as if it were all one long, unbearable day. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 8, 2026 / Three in the morning. There’s electricity and water, so I set up the electric pressure cooker … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: Chronicle of a Monday That Feels Like Wednesday”
Packed onto an electric tricycle through the streets of Havana, the passengers reminisce about better times. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, June 5, 2026 / After waiting for ages, I manage to catch an electric tricycle on Carlos III Street. There are already five passengers, so I’m the last to get on, and my leg doesn’t … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: “We Used to Complain About the ‘CUC’, But Now We Miss It””
Leaving us out in the sun rather than allowing us into the air-conditioned room feeds the custodian’s authority and might even give him a dopamine rush. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, May 28, 2026 / After more than two decades in Stockholm, a childhood friend has recently returned to Havana. The death of her grandmother brought … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: The Roar of Despair of a Cuban Woman Returning to Her Country After Many Years”