Arbitrary Arrests Rose And Repression Spread To Civil Society In 2016 / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Madrid, 4 January 2016 – Last year closed with a balance of almost 1,000 more arbitrary arrests than in 2015, according to data from the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, based in Madrid, which on Wednesday issued its annual report on the situation on the island. In 2016, there was a total of 9,351 arbitrary … Continue reading “Arbitrary Arrests Rose And Repression Spread To Civil Society In 2016 / 14ymedio”

Cuban Faces of 2016: Viengsay Valdés, Dancer (b. Havana, 1976)

14ymedio, Havana, 29 December 2016 – Cuban Faces of 2016: Viengsay Valdés has been First Ballerina of the National Ballet of Cuba since 2001, after a 15 year career that began in the Alejo Carpentier Provincial Ballet School. During the Special Period, this young woman with her exotic name, which in Laotian means “victory,” graduated with … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2016: Viengsay Valdés, Dancer (b. Havana, 1976)”

Cuban Faces Of 2016: Victor Mesa, Baseball Manager (b. Villa Clara, 1960) / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 28 December 2016 – Cuban Faces of 2016: The name of Victor Mesa has filled the sports pages this year. The explosive and controversial baseball manager announced in February that he would no longer manage baseball in Cuba out of fear for his physical safety and that of his family. This statement came a few days … Continue reading “Cuban Faces Of 2016: Victor Mesa, Baseball Manager (b. Villa Clara, 1960) / 14ymedio”

Dissident Group Denounces At Least 9,940 Arbitrary Arrests In Cuba In 2016 / EFE,14ymedio

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 January 2017 — The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), a dissident group, denounced today that it had documented at least 9,940 arbitrary arrests for “political reasons” in 2016, the highest figure of the last six years. With a monthly average of 827 arrests, the opposition organization said … Continue reading “Dissident Group Denounces At Least 9,940 Arbitrary Arrests In Cuba In 2016 / EFE,14ymedio”

Cuban Faces of 2016: Joanna Columbié, Activist (b. Santiago de Cuba, 1974) / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2016 – Cuban Faces of 2016: Joanna Columbié’s baptism by fire began in September of 2015, when the dissident was detained to prevent her participation in the 2nd National Council of the political movement Somos+ (We Are More). With degrees in History and Nursing, Columbié was working at that time as an education … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2016: Joanna Columbié, Activist (b. Santiago de Cuba, 1974) / 14ymedio”

Housing Construction In Cuba Remains Very Slow / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata

14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 3 January 2017 – This week Luisa Camejo’s biggest headache  will be getting the rebar she’s lacking. For months she’s been piling up stacks of cement, bricks and other materials to build an improvised room in the Cerro district of Havana. If she’s lucky she’ll soon finish her house built with … Continue reading “Housing Construction In Cuba Remains Very Slow / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata”

Museum Dedicated To The Yacht ‘Granma’ of Fidel Castro’s Expedition Reopens / EFE, 14ymedio

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 30 December 2016 — The Granma Memorial, an open-air exhibition that shows the namesake* yacht along with other vehicles and weapons, reopened Thursday in Havana after undergoing a comprehensive restoration to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the expedition led by Fidel Castro. The site, located on the grounds of the former … Continue reading “Museum Dedicated To The Yacht ‘Granma’ of Fidel Castro’s Expedition Reopens / EFE, 14ymedio”

Sounds Of War To Drown Out The Economic Crisis In Cuba / 14ymedio, Mario Penton

14ymedio, Mario Penton, 2 January 2017 – With a military march and a “parade of the fighting people” the new year dawns in Cuba. This time there were no tanks in the Plaza of the Revolution, but thousands of Cubans were taken there from their workplaces in order to demonstrate unity with the Communist Party and … Continue reading “Sounds Of War To Drown Out The Economic Crisis In Cuba / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”

Cuba: Christmas for Rich People and for Poor People / Iván García

Ivan Garcia, 24 November 2016 — Two trucks with trailers, full of reddish-brown earth, park in a narrow street, next to the agricultural market in Mónaco, a neighbourhood thirty minutes from the centre of Havana. Four men with teeshirts and dirty overalls lug sacks of yucas and sweet potatoes, and boxes of tomatoes to a store … Continue reading “Cuba: Christmas for Rich People and for Poor People / Iván García”

Cuban Faces of 2016: Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (b. Havana, 1956) / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2016 – Faces of Cuba 2016: An economist with a degree from the University of Havana, Rodrigo Malmierca served in several diplomatic positions before being appointed Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment. This year has had a particularly intense agenda, trying to attract foreign capital to the island’s shrinking economy. … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2016: Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (b. Havana, 1956) / 14ymedio”

Inter-American Press Association Names Henry Constantin Vice President for Cuba

14ymedio, 30 December 2016 — The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has named independent journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro as regional vice president for Cuba. Director of the magazine La Hora de Cuba and a resident of the city of Camagüey, the reporter told 14ymedio that he intends to defend and spread “the reality of journalism” on the island from his … Continue reading “Inter-American Press Association Names Henry Constantin Vice President for Cuba”

Pagan, A Very Bad Man With a Cuban Ministry of the Interior ID / Luis Felipe Rojas

Luis Felipe Rojas, 20 December 2016 — Today I am going to tell you something you absolutely are not going to believe. But I don’t care, the military dictatorship violates human rights in cold blood and many don’t even want to know. Great is the fool who defends them. The brothers Geordanis and Adael Muñoz Guerrero are two … Continue reading “Pagan, A Very Bad Man With a Cuban Ministry of the Interior ID / Luis Felipe Rojas”

Police Question Publisher Of ‘Coexistence’ About Her Travel Abroad / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2016 – Karina Galvez Chiú, editor of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence) was questioned Saturday about her travels outside Cuba, during a meeting with the Department of Immigration and Nationality of Pinar del Rio. Two interior ministry officials demanded information from the economist about her participation in an internet governance forum in Guadalajara, Mexico. Galvéz … Continue reading “Police Question Publisher Of ‘Coexistence’ About Her Travel Abroad / 14ymedio”

Opposition Leader José Daniel Ferrer Released / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 22 December 2016 — José Daniel Ferrer, general coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), was arrested on Thursday around one in the afternoon when he left the organization’s headquarters in the city of Santiago de Cuba, and released about 40 minutes later, as reported in a phone call to 14ymedio from … Continue reading “Opposition Leader José Daniel Ferrer Released / 14ymedio”

The Ubiquitous Dictator / Cubanet, Miriam Leiva

Cubanet, Miriam Leiva, Havana, 6 December 2016 — Raul Castro wants Cubans to commit their support to major economic restrictions in 2017, during the complex period of the transfer of power from the so-called historic generation, through the signing of an oath to the definition of the Revolution and Socialism promulgated by the deceased leader, … Continue reading “The Ubiquitous Dictator / Cubanet, Miriam Leiva”