English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
“Year of our Lord Jesus Christ” Mr. Freddy Perez Cabrera Granma Newspaper Editor and Administrator General Suarez and Territorial Plaza of the Revolution, Havana Email: correo@granma.cip.cu Freddy: Greetings to you. Moved by the painful events which led to death of my fellow citizen, Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, during the early morning hours of Sunday May … Continue reading “Cuba Manipulates the Truth / Ricardo Medina”
For fifty years the Cuban government, scripted by Fidel Castro, has decided to convert Cubans into heroes or traitors, according to its own convenience. All those who left during the Mariel Boatlift were “scum and worms,” notwithstanding that they had committed no crimes or were doctors or engineers. When General Del Pino took a small … Continue reading “In Cuba You’re an Agent or a Criminal / Angel Santiesteban”
Tuesday 9 May, on listening to the reading, on the National Television News, of the official daily press note from Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, I remembered the old joke about Napoleon, Granma and the Battle of Waterloo: “If Napoleon had had a newspaper like Granma nobody would know, yet, … Continue reading “Granma, Napoleon and the Insurgents / Miguel Iturria Savón”
I’m afraid that General Raul Castro’s government has done it again. In the early morning of May 8th, the death of the opponent Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, 46, is the worst news that the Cuban mandarins could have received, as they focused on their timid economic reforms which are being realized at snail’s pace. There … Continue reading “Cuba: Another Orlando Zapata? / Iván García and Laritza Diversent”
Photo: Claudio Fuentes Madan How do I relate the horror? The last image I have of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia is of him at my side running around under the Santa Clara’s relentless sun. We tried to get permission from the Bishop so that Padre Dominico–who had come halfway around the world to get to … Continue reading “The Student / Claudia Cadelo”
As if the proverbial mediocrity of the usual television programming weren’t enough, in recent weeks there is a new series, incredibly badly made and edited even worse, that has been presented on the screen. “Cuba’s Reasons,” is the title of this latest garbage, which clearly intends to disinform the national population trying to create a … Continue reading “Reasons for an Injustice / Miriam Celaya”
EML: Mr. Lesnik, we’ve already talked about the Cuban opposition, where does your aversion to these political activists come from? Why can’t you, a man so markedly political, not accept the right of these people to belong to parties that oppose the only official Party? ML: It stems from, among other things, that for me … Continue reading “Among Dissidents (II. Final) / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Just four years have elapsed since the emergence of the blog Generación Y, which soon started a proliferation of the presence of independent citizens on the web, an effect that is known in the media as the blogger phenomenon, or the Cuban alternative blogosphere. Much has been said among the dissident sectors and opposition groups … Continue reading “The “Privatization” of the Right to Dissent / Miriam Celaya”
I remember that distant but unforgettable 18 March 2003. Two friends of mine went to my home after lunchtime and informed me that the home of Pedro Arguelles Moran was filled with State Security agents. I visited the residence of my friend and colleague, and I began to make some phone calls to the capital, … Continue reading “Why the Black Spring of 2003? / Pablo Pacheco”
Fidelism Cuba emerged on the international map as a tiny little island threatened and blocked by a powerful neighbor. With an excellent lecture from Sun Tzu and Machiavelli; without forgetting Gustave Le Bon, Fidel convinced the majority that he was speaking for the Fatherland, and the Fatherland was the Revolution and was Socialism. Fidel was … Continue reading “More About Egypt and Cuba. Popular Uprising: Between “Papa” and Potatoes / Regina Coyula”
It is now one year since the death in prison of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, His death from the effects of a prolonged hunger strike was widely reported by the international media. A year later the body of this young black man has provided an excuse to extend the repression to his brothers in the cause, … Continue reading “Orlando Zapata Tamayo: The Extension of His Body / Luis Felipe Rojas”
The Cuban regime “freed” two more political prisoners from the Black Spring Group: Héctor Maseda, husband of the Lady in White Laura Pollan, and Ángel Moya, husband of Berta Soler, also a Lady in White. All this has been made possible by the efforts of the Ladies in White, the sacrifice of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, … Continue reading “Hector Maseda and Angel Moya Released From Prison / Pedazos de la Isla”
So Orlando Zapata gave himself up with the only weapon he had. Guillermo Fariñas then went to the edge of the abyss, from where it is assumed there is no return, but his spiritual energy carried him and brought him back; besides, the fight is not over, that was only one chapter. Both Zapata and … Continue reading “Cuba, We Who Are About to Die Salute You / Ángel Santiesteban”
Some days ago, the newspaper Granma published on its first page of news: Google’s censorship of a Cubadebate channel of videos for “copyright infringement,” and the following note: Miami: Billboard Dedicated to the Five Dismantled. The newspaper explained in the associated article: “For 24 hours the air of tolerance and freedom of expression was breathed … Continue reading “Cynicism as an Ideology / Ángel Santiesteban”
This past Friday, January 7, 2001, I had the opportunity to enjoy together with my husband an outstanding soirée. We went to the home of the ambassador of the Queen of the Netherlands, where the official presentation of the well deserved Prince Claus award was made to Yoani Sánchez. Her participating family members and friends … Continue reading “A Decoration for Talent / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
