English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 30 July 2023 — I met Vladimiro Roca in mid-1963. At that time I was a student-soldier at the San Julián Base located in the westernmost part of Pinar del Río. Vladimiro was a MIG pilot who filled us with admiration with his stunts in the skies of Cuba. Then he … Continue reading “The Vladimiro Roca I Knew”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 July 2023 — The Cuban opponent Vladimiro Roca Antúnez has died this Sunday afternoon in Havana at the age of 80. Doyen of dissidence on the Island, the economist and Social Democratic politician had been suffering from diabetes and Alzheimer’s for some time, according to sources close to the family. Born in … Continue reading “Vladimiro Roca, Doyen of the Cuban Opposition, Dies at 80”
Cubanet, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Havana, 16 November 2015 – Vladimiro Roca Antunez is one of “the old guard” group of dissidents who is still in Cuba. He holds a degree in International Economic Relations, and was a MIG fighter pilot in the Revolutionary Armed Forces. He served 5 years, from 1997 to 2002, in Ariza … Continue reading “Vladimiro Roca: “Many just saw me as the son of Blas Roca” / Cubanet, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 June 2025 — Cuban journalist and opponent Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca arrived this morning in Miami with his wife, Eralidis Frómeta, after being forced out by the Cuban regime, ending the three years that the reporter had been in prison. “I received with deep emotion the news of the arrival in Miami … Continue reading “Cuban Reporter Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca Arrives in Miami After a Forced Exit”
14ymedio, Madrid, 4 February 2025 — The Head of Mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer, visited Cuban opponent Martha Beatriz Roque on Monday at the Manuel Fajardo hospital in Havana, where she has been hospitalized since last Saturday. According to CubaNet, Hammer transmitted to the activist a message from Secretary of … Continue reading “The US Head of Mission in Cuba Visited the Opponent Martha Beatriz Roque in the Hospital”
The tireless opponent will turn 80 on May 16, and she has dedicated more than 35 of those years to the fight for democracy 14ymedio, Havana, December 28, 2024 — The cell phone of former political prisoner Martha Beatriz Roque doesn’t stop ringing. People call from the most remote prisons, from the most humble homes … Continue reading “Cuban Faces 2024: Martha Beatriz Roque, the Woman Most-Hated by the Cuban Regime”
Cubanet, Luis Cino, Havana, 27 March 2024 — More than a few Cubans in exile are skeptical about the scope and effectiveness of the current protests by the Cuban population. They belittle them, arguing (in agreement with the official narrative) that the demonstrations are only about food and electricity, and that to calm them down will … Continue reading “Popular Protests Have the Cuban Regime Backed Into a Corner / Cubanet”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 March 2024 — Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque, director of the Cuban Center for Human Rights (CCDH) and former prisoner of the Black Spring, has been one of the winners of the 2024 International Prize for Women of Courage, awarded by the United States Government . But she will not be able … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Prevents Martha Beatriz Roque From Receiving an Award in the United States”
THE HOMELAND BELONGS TO US ALL Cuban Dissidence Task Group Havana City, June 27, 1997 INTRODUCTION I – HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION II- IN THE NAME OF UNITY III- THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IV – THE PLAN FOR SOLVING THE CRISIS V – CONCLUSIONS VI – RECOMMENDATIONS Original in Spanish here Authors: Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses, Rene Gomez Manzano, Vladimiro Roca Antunez, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello Translated … Continue reading “THE HOMELAND BELONGS TO US ALL – Cuban Dissidence Task Group 1997 – Historic Document”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 September 2023 — Cuban activist Carlos Ernesto Díaz González, known as ’Ktivo Disidente’, arrived in Miami this Friday thanks to the humanitarian parole program. The opponent was sentenced at the end of November 2022 to two years and six months in prison for the crimes of disobedience and contempt, but last June … Continue reading “‘Ktivo Disidente’ Arrives in Miami and Reporter Lazaro Yuri Valle Receives a Pass To Get Out of Prison in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 June 2022 — The activist and reporter Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca was sentenced to five years in prison for the crimes of “ongoing enemy propaganda and resistance.” The sentence of the Provincial Court of Havana was communicated this Thursday to his wife, Eralidis Frometa, who has spread it on social networks and has … Continue reading “Five Years in Prison for a Cuban Activist for Launching Leaflets ‘Proposing Elections’”
Ivan García, Desde La Habana, May 2022 — For the act of writing this article, the regime – were they to deem it pertinent to do so – could prosecute me and slap me with up to twenty years in prison, according to the current Law 88 which was approved in February, 1999. For collecting … Continue reading “The Ordeal of Cuban Dissidents / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, November 2, 2021 — The dictatorship’s most frequently recurring formula to impede or interfere with changes that do not align with their interests has been to incarcerate. They’ve raised the bar in two ways: first, by presenting as apocalyptic the results of anything they consider a “return to the past,” and … Continue reading “A Brief Chronology of Disregard and Intolerance in Cuba”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Miami, 22 February 2018 — Can I Comment? It sounds like a rhetorical question, but when it is formulated by a lawyer with the vocation of a journalist who has experienced political prison on two occasions, the question has new connotations. The book by that title by Cuban lawyer René Gómez Manzano, was presented at … Continue reading “René Gómez Manzano, Thank You For Your Opinion”
Ivan Garcia, 8 July 2017 — Without too much caution, the CUPET tanker truck painted green and white begins to deposit fuel in the underground basement of a gas station located at the intersection of Calle San Miguel and Mayía Rodríguez, just in front of Villa Marista, headquarters of State Security, in the quiet Sevillano neighborhood, … Continue reading “If Trump Ends Our Remittances? / Iván García”