English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The drag queens warm up Havana with the steam of their bodies. Prostitution has been their lifesaver. HAVANA, Cuba – Lolita, Alejandra, Samantha, Paloma, and África María are drag queens who stamp their feet on every Havana street corner during the night, while the city sleeps. Some with warrior faces and others as shy princesses … Continue reading “Women in Battle Dress / Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna”
HAVANA, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org –The identity of El Vedado has been in jeopardy for a long time. This neighborhood in the old Elegant Havana is no longer a museum of modern architecture. Here Cuba entered modernity, which was always an accent of its identity. It wasn’t just a neighborhood founded by families of the aristocracy, … Continue reading “El Vedado: From Modernity to Brutality / Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 June 2023 — Three Cuban dissidents were arrested this Monday after convening a press conference in which they intended to present a global strategy against political, gender, racial, institutionalized and economic violence in the country. The opponent Manuel Cuesta Morúa explained to EFE that he was temporarily arrested on his … Continue reading “Three Dissidents Who Called for a Press Conference Are Arrested in Cuba”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Los Angeles, March 10, 2023 — Several Cuban activists denounced this Thursday before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the violations of the right to movement of people on the Island, as well as the ban on the return of many citizens. The complaints of these “forced expatriations” were made on … Continue reading “Prohibitions on Free Movement Inside and Outside Cuba are Denounced to the Human Rights Commission”
Cubalex, 30 November 2022 — On 27 November 2022, municipal elections were held in Cuba, to choose constituency delegates. Cubalex monitored the human rights situation on election day, which was principally notable for violation of the right to political participation. The data gathered by our organization demonstrates that the Cuban authorities continue to employ criminal … Continue reading “Repression, Besieged Activists and Threats: These Were the Elections in Cuba / Cubalex”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 August 2022 — Since last August 4, the Cuban government opponent Félix Navarro has been isolated in the infirmary of the Agüica prison, in Matanzas, due to a new infection by covid-19. The activist Rosa María Payá denounced through Facebook that “for almost three weeks he has not been allowed to communicate with … Continue reading “Cuban Opposition Figure Felix Navarro is Isolated and has Covid in Aguica Prison in Matanzas”
14ymedio, Havana, 7 June 2021 — The young man Maig Wong Jiménez was violently detained this Saturday while eating ice cream in Havana’s El Vedado, when he was walking in front of Mariana Grajales Park, located on 23rd avenue, between C and D. Wong Jiménez, 23, was intercepted by several uniformed officers who, first, asked for … Continue reading “Young Man Violently Arrested in Havana Seeks to Denounce His Aggressors”
Artículo 19 and Cubalex — Article 19 strongly condemns the wave of arbitrary arrests that have been taking place since Thursday, November 12, against independent journalists, human rights activists and political opponents in Cuba. These events have been accompanied by interrogations, threats, seizures of work equipment, beatings, among other assaults. The aggressors have been agents … Continue reading “Organizations Speak Out Concerning the Wave of Repression in Cuba / Artículo 19 and Cubalex”
14ymedio, Havana, June 30, 2020 – Several activists have denounced detentions and threats this Tuesday after being prevented from attending the demonstration called for 11:00 in front of the Yara cinema in Havana, to request justice for the murder of Hansel Ernesto Hernández at the hands of the police this past Thursday. The zone around … Continue reading “Detentions and Threats to Prevent a Demonstration in Front of the Yara Cinema”
14ymedio, Havana, October 23, 2019 — 24 hours after her arrest, the activist Nancy Alfaya remains in an unknown location, as reported to 14ymedio by the independent journalist Jorge Olivera, who was with her at the time of her arrest. “We left at 12:30 from our turn on the internet at the United States embassy. … Continue reading “Detention and "Forced Disappearance" of Activist Nancy Alfaya Reported”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 December 2018 — December has started badly for a good part of the island’s civil society. Police operations, arbitrary arrests, a siege of activist homes and multiple threats against members of civil society have been constant in the first four days of this month that had already started with a warning. One … Continue reading “"December Is a Complicated Month and If You Go Out to Report You Will End Up In a Police Station"”
Ivan Garcia, 7 May 2018 — Fidel Castro’s revolution was always more political than economic. He was never able to produce sewing needles and disposable diapers. He had an incredible ability to multiply poverty, reduce livestock and, based on nonsense, bury the sugar industry. The sooty pots on the stove remain empty and what was left of the … Continue reading “Blacks and Mixed-Race, in Cuba’s Dissidence and Council of State / Iván García”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2018 — The Cuban government has taken another step in its policy of restricting travel, by preventing the departure of Dora Leonor Mesa from the Cuban Association for Early Childhood Education, and Marthadela Tamayo and Juan Antonio Madrazo from the Committee for Racial Integration. The three were invited, as presenters, to the Universal … Continue reading “Cuba Imposes More Travel Bans on Dissidents”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 April 2018 — The official Cuban delegation that landed this Sunday in Lima, Peru, to participate in the events parallel to the VIII Summit of the Americas, is composed of almost a hundred individuals who will carry out an intense public agenda. In contrast to this pro-government group, independent activists on the Island have been … Continue reading “Cuban Government Disembarks in Lima "With Everything"”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 February 2018 — The activists Jacqueline Madrazo Luna and Dora Leonor Mesa Crespo, members of the Citizens Committee for Racial Integration (CIR), were prevented from leaving the country at dawn on Saturday, according to information from Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, coordinator of that independent organization, speaking to 14ymedio. Madrazo Luna explained that the … Continue reading “Two Cuban Activists Prohibited from Traveling to OAS Human Rights Meeting”
