English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Primavera Digital, Eduardo Martínez Rodríguez, Havana, 31 July 2017 — In the 1960s and even the 70s, the legitimacy of the system–despite its continuous economic fiascos and failure to achieve an adequate and genuinely Cuban social system–was acceptable for the hopeful lower classes, while the middle and upper classes were fleeing to Miami. Fifty-eight years … Continue reading “How Does the Cuban Survive? / Eduardo Martínez”
Ivan Garcia, 11 July 2015 — On a leaden afternoon in 1960 that portended rain, René, 79 years old, recalls how a half-dozen militia members encased in wide uniforms and bearing Belgian weapons appeared at his uncle’s house in the peaceful neighborhood of La Víbora to certify the confiscation of his properties. “My family owned a milk … Continue reading “Cuba: Wipe the Slate Clean and Start Over, or Form a Truth Commission?”
The mechanism of annulment is cleanly bureaucratic: You can’t hire an attorney without having completed the dossier. The prosecution prepares its case in the dungeons. Lilianne Ruiz Havana, Cuba. In the doorways of Avenue Acosta, in the neighborhood of La Vibora, some faded beings sell aluminum scouring pads, Band-Aids and little boxes of matches. A … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban’s New Dossier”
THE TRANSITION THAT IS ABOUT NOT TO COME The power of Castro’s dictatorship couldn’t rely only in the annihilation of all kind of opposition, despite the fact that, since January 1959, its governability depended on fear (out of pure terror) to reduce a plural society to military obedience, ideological hatred, and apartheid, whether geographical (in … Continue reading “THE TRANSITION THAT IS ABOUT NOT TO COME / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
CUBA: Two journalists jailed, one writer sentenced to five years in prison The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International protests a renewed wave of repression and harassment against journalists and writers in Cuba, including the imprisonment of two journalists and the conviction of a writer. Independent journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias has been … Continue reading “Action of the International Pen Club for Calixto Martinez, Antonio Torres and Angel Santiesteban / Angel Santiesteban”
Four decades after taking power through revolution in 1959, the factors which made totalitarianism in Cuba possible have reached their limit. The populist measures imposed during the first years after the revolution were accompanied by the dismantling of civil society and a process of government takeover which began with foreign-owned companies and did not end … Continue reading “An Assessment of the Cuban Government’s Management Over the Last Six Years / Dimas Castellano”
By Yaremis Flores The increase in police reports and criminal trials held in the capital, were among the topics discussed a few weeks ago in a meeting among presidents of municipal courts in the former Audiencia de la Habana*, facing the Capitol. A judge who participated in the meeting and requested anonymity, said that the … Continue reading “Increase in Penal Cases Filed in Courts of the Capital / Cuban Legal Advisor, Yaremis Floris / Laritza Diversent”
By Wilfredo Vallín Almeida There is a word that when you hear it, it’s difficult not to evoke the barbarity of the Inquisition that forced a 20th century Pope to apologize to humanity for actions so inappropriate for the Church of Christ. Faced with the subject it’s common for names such as Dachau, Treblinka, Auschwitz, … Continue reading “That is the question / Cuban Law Association, Wilfredo Vallín Almeida”
In 1915, the wives of the members of the Independent Party of Color managed something the Ladies in White have been denied in the 21st century. Article originally published in Diario de Cuba. Marking the 100th anniversary of the crime committed against black Cubans in 1912, data and facts previously relegated to history have come … Continue reading “Ladies in Black, An Ignored Antecedent / Dimas Castellano”
The Spanish businessman Sebastián Martínez Ferraté, charged with corruption of minors, pimping and illegal economic activities, will be judged on Monday July 18 at the Provincial Court of Havana, whose official seat is located on Prado, Teniente and Rey. However, trials in the presence of diplomats and the media are usually held in the 10th … Continue reading “The Spaniard Sebastian Martinez will be Judged Monday in Havana / Iván García”
Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina is a lifelong Cuban activist working for democracy and human rights in our country, founder the Alternative Studies Center of Cuban Youth for Democracy. In recognizing him as a Prisoner of Conscience in 1999, Amnesty International wrote: “Political activist, Nestor Rodriquez Lobaina, was arbitrarily arrested on 11 July 1999, for exercising his … Continue reading “Another Hunger Striker Nears Death in a Cuban Prison / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Photos: Francis Sánchez My watch was still running slow, probably because I needed to change the battery, so I went looking for a watchmakers when, about to turn a corner, I noticed that I was passing in front of a sort of bunkhouse, tenement block or similar poor dwelling. I remembered that there, years ago, … Continue reading “Lead Us Not Into Temptation / Francis Sánchez”