English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 21 August 2016 — A group of activists from the Anti-Totalitarian Forum (FANTU) have sent an open letter to President Barack Obama, asking him to “save the life of Guillermo Fariñas Hernández” who, as of Sunday, has been on a hunger strike for 32 days. The missive is addressed to the leader as “president … Continue reading “FANTU Activists Ask Obama to “Save the Life” of Guillermo Farinas / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, July 13, 2023 — Cuban activist Anamely Ramos, now in exile in the US, reported this Wednesday on her Facebook profile that rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo tattooed the slogan “Patria y Vida” on his forearm and that he threatened to sew up his mouth, as a gesture of protest against the mistreatment suffered in the Kilo … Continue reading “Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Threatens to Sew His Mouth Shut Because of Ill-Treatment in Prison”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, July 8, 2023 — The Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has started a hunger and thirst strike demanding his release from the Guanajay prison, where he is serving a five-year sentence, according to the activist Claudia Genlui speaking on Friday. This is the sixth strike by the leader … Continue reading “Cuban Artist and Dissident Otero Alcantara Begins a Hunger and Thirst Strike”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 12 May 2022 — Cuban opponent, Guillermo Coco Fariñas, explained on Wednesday that he has been freed after being interrogated for several hours by security forces upon his return to Havana from a trip to Europe and the U.S. The 2010 recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought stated … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Prevents Farinas from Leaving Santa Clara After His Trip to Europe and the U.S.”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 6 April 2022 — For Alexander Fábregas, 32, everything is a surprise this Wednesday. He has been on the street for a few hours since being released after serving nine months in prison for calling a protest on July 11 through social networks. From his home in Sancti Spíritus, he talks … Continue reading “Cuba: “They Have Declared Me An ‘Enemy’ But I Am Not Going to Abandon the Cause””
Europa Press (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 4 March 2022 — The prominent Cuban government opponent Guillermo Fariñas has detailed this Friday that there is not “sufficient capacity in Cuba for so many political prisoners” and has claimed that the country is experiencing a “battle situation,” something that he considers “good to know.” In a press conference … Continue reading “Government Opponent Guillermo Farinas Says Cuba is in a ‘Battle Situation’”
14ymedio, Havana, February 10, 2022–Since July 11th (11J), tranquility does not exist in the life of Luisa María Milanés Valdés. Her son, Alexander Fábregas Milanés, was arrested at his home at 7 pm that day. His crime: live streaming on social media a passionate call for the people of Sancti Spiritus to take to the … Continue reading “Alexander, ‘Self-directed* Opponent’ Convicted in a Summary Trial in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2021 — A few hours before the Civic March for Change, called for this Monday in Cuba by the Archipiélago group, State Security intensifies its siege against activists, independent journalists and ordinary citizens. Daniela Rojo, mother of two young children, moderator of the platform in networks from Guanabacoa, Havana, and who was … Continue reading “Cuban Political Police Multiply Arrests of Activists Before 15 November (15N)”
14ymedio, Havana, February 18, 2019 — “The next time they will end up in a jail cell,” the Ministry of the Interior official warned two activists who had just given a workshop on voting observation this past Saturday in Bauta (Artemisa). The electoral process does not need “independent observers because the Revolution has its own … Continue reading “Authorities Promise Jail Cells for Those Promoting a No Vote”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 December 2018 — Several opposition parties, civil society groups and human rights organizations, totaling nineteen independent Cuban organizations, describe the revised Constitution as “undemocratic” in a statement published this Saturday. The signatories add that they have united to promote a “No” vote in the constitutional referendum. “Compatriots: we ask you to vote NO in … Continue reading “Nineteen Independent Cuban Organizations Campaign for a "No" Vote on the Constitution”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 December 2018 — The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) reported that there were “at least 247 arbitrary arrests of peaceful opponents for purely political reasons” in November, according to its latest report released Monday. The independent organization suggests that the figure may be higher due to “the opacity with which … Continue reading “Arrests of Cuban Activists "Notoriously Greater" in November”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 September 2018 — The United Antitotalitarian Forum (FANTU) together with the National Front of Civic Resistance “Orlando Zapata Tamayo” (FNRC-OZT) and the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) describe the referendum on constitutional reform as a “huge electoral and media fraud” in a joint statement that the three opposition organizations have launched to … Continue reading “Three Opposition Organizations Describe the Referendum on Constitutional Reform as "Enormous Fraud"”
14ymedio Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 16 July 2018 — In his first ideological speech, President Miguel Díaz-Canel displayed with astonishing simplicity the scope of his political thought in his closing remarks at the 10th Congress of the Cuban Journalists Union (UPEC), a meeting in which professionals of the official press raised the slogan “The truth needs … Continue reading “Diaz-Canel Praises State’s Monopoly on the Press and the Truth”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 March 2018 – Cuban authorities prevented independent election observers from accessing vote counting in several polling stations in the country, according to complaints received by 14ymedio from organizations that tried to send observers to the polls. Arbitrary arrests of opponents also marked the day, in which there were dozens of detentions. The … Continue reading “Groups of Independent Observers in Cuba Denounce Repression on Election Day”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 August 2017 — Five opposition organizations have withdrawn from the coalition of more than seventy independent groups that form the Democratic Action Roundtable (MUAD), as well as the #Otro18 (another 2018) campaign, which is demanding a new electoral law in Cuba. The split has become “irreversible” according to comments from the veteran dissident … Continue reading “Five Cuban Opposition Organizations Break With MUAD and #Otro18”
