English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 25 October 2017 – On November 25, Cienfuegos will be the first Cuban city to open a legal counseling center on gender violence. The initiative is due to the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Igneris Ramirez, one of the lawyers in charge of … Continue reading “Cienfuegos To Host Cuba’s First Legal Center On Gender Violence”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 October 2017 — A brief communiqué issued Sunday by the Dignity Movement demands for its activists “the citizen’s right to exercise freedom of movement and communication,” following several arrests during this weekend in Palmarito del Cauto, in the province of Santiago de Cuba. The activist Belkis Cantillo, leader of the Dignity Movement, … Continue reading “Dignity Movement Activists Denounce “Repression And Arbitrary Arrests””
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 26 June 2017 — Independent communicators in Cuba are victims of an escalating repression, according to a complaint filed Monday by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), based in Madrid. The alarm sounded by the organization coincides with an increase in complaints from journalists on the island as a result of … Continue reading “Persecution Grows Against Independent Journalism In Cuba”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 March 2017 – It is almost noon on Sunday and a young couple, with their two young children in their arms, stops, frustrated, in front of the closed gate of the Plaza Carlos III Shopping Center. For a moment they are confused, they consult their watches and immediately start asking … Continue reading “The Mysterious Closing of Plaza Carlos III Causes Distress”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 23 January 2017 — The leader of the Dignity Movement, Belkis Cantillo, who was arrested last Thursday was released Monday afternoon, as confirmed to 14ymedio by Moraima Diaz, an activist of the same movement. Shortly after being released, in a telephone conversation with this newspaper, Cantillo explained that she was given a warning … Continue reading “Belkis Cantillo, Leader Of The Dignity Movement Released / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
UA: 273/16 Index: AMR 25/5244/2016 Cuba Date: 29 November 2016 URGENT ACTION CUBAN GRAFFITI ARTIST ARRESTED AGAIN Cuban graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado Machado (‘El Sexto’) – named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 2015 – was re-arrested on 26 November, shortly after the announcement of Fidel Castro’s death. Cuban graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado … Continue reading “Amnesty International: Where to Write for Release of El Sexto”
Eduardo Cardet, national coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) who has been under arrest since the night of 30 November, as of Thursday has found a lawyer to represent him. His relatives have denounced in several media that no lawyer wanted to take on the activist’s defense. Although the lawyer has not had access to … Continue reading “Cuba’s Christian Liberation Movement Leader Gets a Lawyer / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana 20 October 2016 — Chinese, Italian or international food fill the menus of Cuban paladares, but lately fear has starred as the main dish on the menu of these private restaurants. The jewel in the crown of entrepreneurship on the island is experiencing moments of uncertainty after the government froze the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Private Restaurant Owners are Worried / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Periodismo de Barrio, 16 October 2016 – On 11 October 2016, six members of our Periodismo de Barrio (Neighborhood Journalism) team and two collaborators were arrested in the town of Baracoa, Guantanamo province. We were not arrested for smiling. Nor we were arrested for taking a photo in the state café at the viewpoint from El Gobernadora … Continue reading “Who Has The Right to Tell a Country’s Stories? All Its Citizens / Periodismo de Barrio”
Vicente Botín, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), The Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel, 29 July 2016. Once upon a time… A female cat fell in love with a handsome young man and prayed to the goddess Aphrodite to turn her into a woman. The goddess, pitying the cat’s yearning, … Continue reading “Cuba: Tallies and Tales of the Reforms / Vicente Botín”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 May 2016 – Cuba’s government-owned phone company, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (ETECSA), has announced that starting this Wednesday, May 18, new rules will come into effect for cellphones which will more strongly control their use. According to the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), the measures will include an automatic blocking of … Continue reading “Cuban Phone Company to Block “Blacklisted” Phones / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Arizona, 13 April 2016 — On the 8th and 9th of April, along with some fifty other speakers, I was invited to the Sedona Forum which is organized every year by the McCain Institute in cooperation with Arizona State University. So I flew from the democratic volcanoes of Iceland to fall, almost … Continue reading “Thinking About America Amid the Red Rocks of Arizona / 14ymedio, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Washington, 4 March 2018 – On hearing the serenity of her voice over the phone, few would believe that Nieves Santos Falcon is going through the worst time of her life. Her son Raibel Pacheco Santos has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cuba for the crime of terrorism, in Case … Continue reading “Nieves Santos: “The sentence was unfair and excessive” / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
Juan Juan Almeida, 11 January 2016 — Racial and gender designations were fundamental in the dynamics of international politics, basically dominated by white men; but, fortunately, and like the rough action of a Russian-made Aurika washing machine, there are cycles with an expiration date. Several penal codes in the world sanction racism, homophobia and whatever other … Continue reading “Discrimination Against the Poor, an Injustice in Present-day Cuba / Juan Juan Almeida”
Demands of the Forum for Rights and Freedoms (Road Map) Immediate release and annulment of sentences for all political prisoners (Amnesty Decree) With regards to the Constitution, laws, regulations, procedures and administrative practices: Repeal all articles that violate the United Nations International Covenants on Human Rights. Protect freedoms of expression, association, assembly, movement, conscience, religion, … Continue reading “Forum for Rights and Freedoms Road Map”
