English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Emilo J. López, Miami, 25 February 2023 — The documentary El adiós de la esperanza [Journey to Hope], by Lieter Ledesma, a Cuban actor and presenter based in Miami, is a tribute to the more than 14,000 Cuban children who suffered the “uprooting of separation” when they were sent by their parents alone to the … Continue reading “The Grief of Cuba’s ‘Peter Pan Children’ Comes to the Miami Film Festival”
Fernando Damaso, 19 February 2019 — Lately I’ve been hearing the phrase “the horrendous Operation Peter Pan” and I ask myself: Was it really horrendous? “Operation Peter Pan” consisted of many parents sending their children to the United States through religious organizations, to avoid losing “parental authority,” which was a broadly-held concern among the members … Continue reading ““Peter Pan” in the Air / Fernando Damaso”
In a recent conversation during an evening visit to a friend of my generation (let’s call him Michael) I had a revelation that surprised me: “I’ve never been able to overcome the oppression that stirs in me on Sundays.” I inquired about the reason for the strange rejection for a holiday that’s usually shared with … Continue reading “The "Pedro Pans" Who Didn’t Emigrate / Miriam Celaya”
Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 21 May 2023 – On 25 April 1969, Remberto Pérez was reunited with his family in the United States after two years separation. He’d escaped from Cuba just as he’d turned fifteen – the Armed Forces were ready to call him up – and he headed for Madrid, where a Franciscan priest, … Continue reading “‘When I Left Cuba’, the Untold Story of the 4,000 Minors Who Fled to Spain”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 1 May 2023 – To celebrate the centenary of the Cuban author Fina García Marruz, who died in June 2022, the Spanish publishing house Huso has reprinted her book Pequeñas memorias [Little Memories], which they first published in 1955. Wife of essayist Cintio Vitier and member of Grupo Orígenes, García Marruz … Continue reading “‘Eros and Politics’, by the Irreverent Juan Abreu, Stands Out Amongst Books by Cuban Authors Published in April”
14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 17 September 2022 — El Instituto de la Memoria Histórica Cuba contra el Totalitarismo y Plantados hasta la Libertad y la Democracia en Cuba [The Cuban Institute of Historic Memory Against Totalitarianism and plantados (political prisoners) for Freedom and Democracy in Cuba] recently organized a conference on the different migratory waves driven … Continue reading “The Massive Migrations of Castroism”
Rebeca Monzo, 30 September 2018 — I was preparing for my golden years with the expectation that they would be enriching, that my social life that would be an active one. I collected books and music which I would share with friends. I certainly did not expect to face a very difficult financial situation. My expectations … Continue reading “Our Golden Years / Rebeca Monzo”
Dimas Castellanos, 30 November 2015 — The unstoppable exodus of Cubans has become a crisis once again. While thousands of our compatriots are stuck at the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the Government of Cuba chooses to ignore the main cause. In recent months, thousands of Cubans have been traveling through Central America for the … Continue reading “The Cuban Exodus: Causes and Effects / Dimas Castellanos”
14ymedio, Jorge Guillén, Candelaria, Artemisa, 15 October 2015 — In the early years of the Cuban Revolution we experienced one of the saddest chapters of our history, called “Operation Peter Pan.” Thousands of parents sent their children abroad to avoid the government taking their parental authority from them and sending their children to the Soviet … Continue reading “Reclaiming The Parental Authority They Snatched From Us / 14ymedio, Jorge Guillen”
Una Noche (One Night) is the film which best reflects why it is that young people leave Cuba. That’s how a female friend of mine, who is a lover of the seventh art, laconically replied to my question, after visiting the film exhibition in the 34th Festival of New Latin-American Cinema, which took place in … Continue reading “One Night: A Critical View of Cuban Social Reality / Dimas Castellano”
Before the year 1959, I had a great family: grandparents, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, godmothers, godfathers as well as their partners. We formed a clan, united by love and the daily routine; where our very close and beloved friends were part of it and the family ties were blurred, to the point where it … Continue reading “Family Fragmentation / Rebeca Monzo”
The Interests Section of Cuba in Washington D.C. has called the first National Meeting of Cuban Residents in the United States of America for April 28, which will involve a representation of Cubans who are “linked to their country in a respectful manner, aware of the urgency to defend its sovereignty and national identity.” This … Continue reading “Opening to the Diaspora / Dimas Castellanos”
(Published in Laborem. The Voice of the Christian Workers’ Movement / Cuba. Vol. 9, No. 36, July-September, 2010) Work and migration are closely linked. If the former radiates the riches that sustain the material and spiritual life of man, the second serves to rearrange things when work is incapable of guaranteeing the preservation and development … Continue reading “Work and Migration / Dimas Castellanos”
Oscar, 73, remembers the rainy dawn on which he left Havana on a tiny, broken-down fishing boat. Fifty long, hard years have passed. Now, seated at a bar located on the 36th floor of the Focsa, the tallest building in the capital, drinking a daiquiri and contemplating an impressive view of Havana’s harbor, he feels … Continue reading “Havana-Miami, 52 years later / Iván García”
The Florida media commented on the details of the flow of musicians and writers that travel from Havana to Miami or New York, where they perform in clubs and theaters or speak in universities and conference rooms. Among the literary figures the writer Miguel Barnet, the President of the Union of Writers and Artists of … Continue reading “Barnet and His Alter Ego / Miguel Iturria Savón”
