English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
I want to thank my friend and excellent writer, Amir Valle, for this interview for his magazine Another Monday, and for publicizing the book that has just been published and will be presented shortly in Miami. Amir Valle (AV): Machine for Erasing Humanities is, after Feeding the Dog-Fight, your second book since you went into exile. Although some think … Continue reading ““There is no homeland other than poetry” / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Hablemos Press, Lisbán Hernández Sánchez, Havana, 19 June 2015 — Despite a show of force, Cuban police did not arrest activists of four different opposition groups who on June 15 took part in an audiovisual workshop. For the activists, it was strange that there were no reported detentions, as has occurred on other occasions with … Continue reading “Forty-Seven Opposition Members Meet In Havana, No Arrests Reported / Hablemos Press, Lisbán Hernández Sánchez”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 7 June 2015 – Over 40 Ladies in White and some 27 activists were arrested this Sunday, the ninth of repressive operations in Havana, according to dissidents. Among those arrested were the musician Gorki Aguila, the director of Estado de Sats, Antonio Rodiles, photographer Claudio Fuentes and artist Tania Bruguera, who … Continue reading “More than 70 Ladies in White and Activists Arrested / Diario de Cuba”
Cubanet, Victor Manuel Dominguez, Havana, 29 May 2015 – “P.M.,” that short documentary made by Orlando Jimenez Leal and Saba Cabrera Infante, was the beginning of the end of freedom of expression in Cuban Culture. Conceived in the beginning as a four-minute report that would establish a parallel between the militants who installed canons on … Continue reading “14 Minutes that Shook the Revolution / Cubanet, Victor Manuel Dominguez”
The man approaches and pulls a fork from the work Delicatessen that is being exhibited on the Havana Malecon during the XII Havana Biennial. Nearby, two neighbors speculate that, at the end of the event, the sand used in Resaca (Hangover) will be given to the surrounding residents to repair their homes. To art appreciation … Continue reading “Art and Necessity / Yoani Sanchez”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 May 2105 – The Cuban artist Danilo Maldonado, known as El Sexto, could not collect the 2015 International Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissidence, in the ceremony organized by the Oslo Freedom Forum. The prize, awarded by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) of New York, was received by the activist Lia Villares, … Continue reading “‘El Sexto’ dedicates his award to his jailers to show them that he is not alone / 14ymedio”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 24 May 2015 – The musician Gorki Águila, leader of the band Porno para Ricardo, was arrested by State Security agents on Saturday night in front of the Museo de Bellas Artes in Havana. Águila went to hold up a sign on the outside wall of the museum with the word … Continue reading “Gorki Aguila Arrested in Front of the Museo de Bellas Artes in Havana / Diario de Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 May 2015 – Some twenty activists, political leaders, intellectuals and artists participated in a new meeting of Cuban Civil Society Open Forum last Friday morning. At the meeting they discussed the need to take into account in future discussions the organization of the parallel forums at the recent Summit of the Americas. The … Continue reading “Cuba Civil Society Open Forum meets for the 7th time / 14ymedio”
Danilo Maldonado (El Sexto), Valle Grande Prison, April 2015 — From the Valle Grande prison I thank you for the Vaclav Havel International Award for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation. When something like this happens, and even more so given the conditions I am in, it makes me believe that what I have … Continue reading “Thank you from Danilo Maldonado for the 2015 Vaclav Havel Award”
Justice continues to impose itself. In Cuba, behind the bars with which they have tried to imprison his body, without being able to capture his spirit and his ideas, Angel Santiesteban-Prats is today a little freer. The world, Europe in particular, is making a new gesture, showing that dignity still is not lost in the … Continue reading “Deputies of the European Union Request Freedom for Angel Santiesteban”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 April 2015 — The vice presidents of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party of the European Parliament, Fernando Maura and Pavel Telicka, have asked the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Frederica Mogherini, to intervene with the Havana Government for the release from … Continue reading “European Parliament Members call for EU mediation to release Cuban artists from prison / 14ymedio”
With the organization “Creative Time,” on Friday, April 13, there was a performance of Tania Bruguera’s “Tatlin’s Whisper #6,” in solidarity with her, Angel Santiesteban-Prats, Danilo Maldonado “El Sexto,” and all other artists in the world who face criminal charges and violence for exercising their basic human right to free expression. The solidarity event invoked … Continue reading “Important Global Event Supports Freedom for Angel Santiesteban”
The potential complications of the renewed diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo It was about time. Uber taxi drives agree. Academics agree. Minority leaders agree. American social activists agree. Radio, TV and press editors agree. Even comedians agree. It’s the only point of consensus in the polarized US politics. No need … Continue reading “Diplomacy, yes. Democracy, what for? / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 29 March 2015 – As part of the campaign to demand freedom for the artist Danilo Maldonado, known as “El Sexto,” several artistic activities took place this Saturday at la Paja Recold, the studio of the band Porno para Ricardo. On the walls of the place were works by the graffiti artist … Continue reading “An Afternoon for Danilo (El Sexto) / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Angel Santiesteban, 25 March 2015 — For the first time in the history of the violations against the Cuban dissidence by the political police of the totalitarian Regime, there are two lines of thought: one subdued and the other more severe. Those in the opposition who have publicly supported the intention of the governments of … Continue reading “Two Types of Dissidence, Two Policies / Angel Santiesteban”
