English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Manuel Alberto Morejón, Havana, 30 December 2015 – From Havana, the supervisor of the Christian Alliance sent 14ymedio several prisoners’ testimonies collected in the Valle Grande prison, which make up a small sample of the abuse they are subjected to by the guards. On 17 November 2014, at 10:00 am, First Lieutenant Maceo, known … Continue reading “Abuse In Cuba’s Valle Grande Prison / 14ymedio, Manuel Morejon”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 7 January 2015 — The graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado, known as El Sexto, remains imprisoned in Valle Grande prison after authorities rejected the habeas corpus appeal presented by the Cubalex organization, led by independent counsel Laritza Diversent. The appeal denounced the “arbitrary detention” of El Sexto which took place when he led two … Continue reading “Appeal against the arrest of graffiti artist El Sexto rejected; prisoner transferred to Valle Grande / Diario de Cuba”
Reinier Mulet Levis Havana, April 19. The regime opponents Miguel Alberto Ulloa Ginar, 23, and Reinier Mulet Levis, 26, detained since April 10 in Havana, were transferred to Valle Grande Prison. Ulloa informed his wife, Tailadis Rosales Perez, that they transferred them Wednesday morning from the National Revolutionary Police’s investigation center, on Calle Acosta and … Continue reading “Ulloa and Mulet are Transfered to Valle Grande Prison / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Valle Grande Prison Havana Feb 3, 2011 To: Silvio Benítez Márquez. President of the Liberal Party of the Cuban Republic (PLRC) Dear Silvio, today when I have completed exactly 1 year and 3 months of being unjustly imprisoned, I am writing to you in order that the world should know, whether the European Community, Alaska … Continue reading “Letter From Valle Grande Prison / Silvio Benítez Márquez”
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 2 November 2022 — The United States Border Patrol rescued two Cuban women, a mother and daughter, who were trapped in the Río Grande, in the Mexican city of Reynosa, south of Texas. According to the chief officer of the Valley sector, Gloria Chávez, the women were “abandoned” by coyotes 320 feet from … Continue reading “The Border Patrol Rescues Two Cuban Women Abandoned by Coyotes in the Rio Grande”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 October 2019 — The birthplace of renowned Cuban painter Wifredo Lam collapsed last Sunday in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, after heavy rains hit the central region of Cuba. The collapse of the home has generated many criticisms on social networks but no official statement. The property, located on Carmen Ribalta Street between Heredia … Continue reading “Birthplace of Cuban Painter Wilfredo Lam Collapses in Sagua la Grande”
By Amir Valle Part 1 The renowned Cuban writer Ángel Santiesteban Prats has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for writing against the Cuban dictatorship from his blog “The Children Nobody wanted”. The news now travels the world. As part of the strategy of overwhelming repression practiced by the Cuban political police since the arrival … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban Prats: General Chronology of an Outrage / Amir Valle”
Opposition leader Pedro Albert, released from prison after eleven days of protest, talks to ’14ymedio’ 14ymedio, Havana, 5 November 2024 — Activist Pedro Albert Sánchez was released last Thursday from prison 1580, in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, after spending eleven days on hunger strike. The dissident must appear before the Guanabacoa Prosecutor’s Office this … Continue reading “‘Hunger Strikes Were the Only Way I Could Make a Demand’”
Adrián Curuneaux Stivens has been sentenced to four years for assault and aggravated contempt in addition to a previous sentence of four years for assault and battery. 14ymedio, Havana, 9 September 2024 — Activist Adrián Curuneaux Stivens, who was arrested after attempting to visit Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in Havana’s Calixto García hospital in May … Continue reading “Activist Who Tried To Visit Alcantara in Hospital Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison”
Jorge Luis Boada Valdés, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested a 15 year sentence, must spend at least half of the sentence in prison 14ymedio, Madrid, 7 May 2024 — Jorge Luis Boada Valdés’ should have been sentenced last November for having painted “Díaz-Canel, motherfucker” on three occasions, on a wall in the Havana neighborhood … Continue reading “Nine-Years in Prison for the Cuban Who Wrote ‘Diaz-Canel Motherfucker’ on a Wall”
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 November 2023 — Before the of the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, landed in Cuba, State Security had already detained Professor Pedro Albert Sánchez and Dr. Fernándo Vázquez, both activists, who had announced their intention to meet with the Irish senior official. Ana Elvis Amaya, wife of Pedro … Continue reading “Political Police Isolate Opponents During EU Representative Eamon Gilmore’s Visit to Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 6 April 2023–Yoandi Montiel Hernández, known as El Gato de Cuba, left prison on Wednesday after obtaining a pass to visit his family last weekend. He shared the news himself immediately via a livestream. “They thought they’d extinguish someone and they did not extinguish me”, said the influencer who was sentenced to two … Continue reading “‘El Gato de Cuba’ is Freed After Two Years in Jail, ‘They Did Not Extinguish Me’”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 April 2023 — Political prisoner Yoandi Montiel Hernández, known as El Gato de Cuba, obtained a permit to visit his family a few days before completing his two-year prison sentence, accused of contempt after lobbing criticism against the regime during livestreams on social media. On Sunday, the news was confirmed by activist … Continue reading “Cuban Comedian ‘El Gato’ Receives a Pass to Visit his Family After Two Years in Prison”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 January 2023 — Yindra Elizastigui, mother of Luis Robles, “the young man with the placard”, reported on Monday that her younger son, Lester Fernández, has been detained since 19 December and is currently being held in the Valle Grande central penitentiary in Havana. Via a Facebook Live link the mother said that … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime is Cruel to the Family of Luis Robles, ‘The Young Man With the Placard’”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 20 October 2022 — This Wednesday, in the Cadeca on Belascoaín, in Central Havana, only 10 people were served. Taking into account that, according to the official provisions in force since last August 22, each individual can get a maximum of 100 dollars a day, the branch sold only 1,000 … Continue reading “More Than 4,000 People are on the Waiting List to Buy Dollars at a Currency Exchange in Havana”
