English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernández, Havana, 30 August 2018 — On both sides of the Central Highway and the National Highway there is no other plant that dominates the landscape as much as the invasive marabou weed (called marabú in Cuba, and also called sicklebush in English). However, this thorny bush — which has become a plague … Continue reading “Havana Marabou”
EFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2018 — Cuba has commissioned China, one of its principal economic allies, to fabricate a prototype harvester for marabou, an invasive plant also known as sicklebush which is seen as a plague on the Island’s fields, so it can be used as raw material for vegetal coal and be … Continue reading “Cuba Commissions China to Fabricate a Prototype Marabou Harvester”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, NYC, 6 April 2017 — Resistant and thorny, the invasive marabou weed has inundated Cuban fields and threatened to displace the national shield’s royal palm. The shrub has become a plague spreading across the country, covering previously arable land, and worming its way into a topic for the speeches of senior officials. But the … Continue reading “Invasive Marabou Weed Arrives at the Plaza of the Revolution”
14ymedio, Bertha Guillen and Ricardo Fernandez, Artemisa/Pinar del Rio, 9 February 2017 – When he was a boy, Jorge Luis Ledesma Herrera played around the charcoal ovens his father had built. Now, approaching 50, this Pinar del Rio man dedicates his days to a shrub that is both hated and appreciated: the invasive marabou weed, raw … Continue reading “Invasive Marabou Weed, An Enemy That Became An Ally / 14ymedio, Bertha Guillen and Ricardo Fernandez”
14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez, Pinar del Rio — The Cuban farmer has only two problems in being productive: the invasive marabou weed and everything else. When Raul Castro promoted a plan to lease idle land to the farmers and invited them to make it productive using oxen, he overlooked the fact that these parcels, in many … Continue reading “Marabou and the Government: Making the Life of the Cuban Farmer an Ordeal / 14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez”
Fernando Damaso, 5 March 2106 — Poor taste and anti-aesthetics have spread across the whole country. Havana is an excellent example of this. None of its suburbs or districts have been able to avoid it. In Nuevo Vedado, in Tulipán Street, between Marino and Estancia Streets, an African-Cuban religious-cultural centre has been put up, made out of waste … Continue reading “The Urban Marabou* / Fernando Dámaso”
14ymedio,ELVIRA FERNANDEZ, Ciego de Ávila, 21 November 2014 – Seven years after Raul Castro, in a speech, criticized the spread of the marabou weed, this thorny plant continues to gain prominence in our fields. On that occasion, marking the 26th of July, the General said, “Arriving here by land I was able to see if everything … Continue reading “The Nation or Marabou / 14ymedio, Elvira Fernandez”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 28 December 2023 — Endogamy is the practice of marrying in closed groups, between individuals of common ancestry. Reproduction between parents who are closely related greatly increases the chances that the offspring will be affected by recessive traits or genetic impairments. One of the most notorious cases was King Charles … Continue reading “The Ideological Endogamy of the Cuban Regime”
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 November 2023 — Everything seems to indicate that we will have to dust off the headlines warning of the worst sugar harvest in the history of Cuba. The official State newspaper Granma warned this Sunday that the campaign will take place in a “very tense scenario” and closes the door to optimism, regretting … Continue reading “Cuba’s Official Press Annoyed by the Forecasts of Another Disastrous Sugar Harvest”
14ymedio, Madrid, November 7, 2023 — With Prime Minister Manuel Marrero seeking support in China, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel cut the ribbon this year for the 39th edition of the Havana International Fair (Fihav) with his Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas. The change was noticeable in the suit with tie, compared … Continue reading “Leaders Only Have Eyes for Russia at the Havana International Fair”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 22 August 2023 — The Castro state press has paid unusual attention to the sugar agro-industry that is currently starting the works for the repair and preparation necessary to face the next campaign, and among which are included, the pool of equipment that will guarantee the cutting, hauling and pressing … Continue reading “Cuban Sugar: No Present and No Future”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 June 2023 — The sugar cane planting campaign in Cuba makes us fear the worst, again, for the next harvest. In Sancti Spíritus, only 30% of the harvest plan for the spring campaign – which runs from January to June – was fulfilled, said Aselio Sánchez Cadalso, director of Coordination and Supervision … Continue reading “With 30 Percent of the Expected Cane Sown, Another Disastrous Sugar Harvest Is Coming in Cuba”
Ivan García, 26 May 2023 — The National Highway running through Matanzas province divides Los Arabos municipality in two directions. On the left, a town of just over 23 thousand inhabitants, cracked streets, and wagons pulled by horses that in their tiresome trot leave their poop on the main road. On the right, a handful … Continue reading “Cooking Gas Is Also Lacking In Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 May 2023 — Cuba has managed to position itself as one of the suppliers of charcoal to Europe, which, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saw its main supplier seriously affected. The official press Granma announced with great fanfare over the weekend the first shipment from the state company Granmax to the … Continue reading “The Export of Charcoal to Europe, a Minor Joy for Cuban Foreign Trade”
14ymedio, Yankiel Gutiérrez Faife, Camajuaní, 21 February 2023 — The hands of Emilio, a 66-year-old farmer, say everything about his trade: rough, firm, and smeared with soot. For decades he has gotten up at dawn, along with his brother Daniel, and they go to work in the fields of Vueltas, a town a few kilometers from Camajuaní, in … Continue reading “With the Blackouts, Charcoal Making Starts Up Again in Cuba”
