English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
For three days, from June 21 to 23, an event organized by civil society on technology, social networking and the Internet was held in Havana. Called the CLICK Festival, this event was the realization of a long-cherished dream among citizens who, from the Island, are using social networks and the web as a path to … Continue reading “Kilobytes Win, Extremists Lose / Yoani Sánchez”
To: Office of Immigration and Alien Affairs, Ministry of the Interior Re: Reply request Miguel Iturria Savón, Cuban citizen, legal adult, married, university graduate, unemployed, permanent identity number 53092900308, residing at 222 Street, #9529, between 101 and 1st, Cruz Verde, Cotorro, Havana, Cuba,of my own volition hereby state to this office the following: That I … Continue reading “No Way Out / Miguel Iturría Savón”
When Leandro was born, back in 1930, there was no television. Of course, there was no Internet, computers or mobile phones either. The radio and the movies were no longer silent, and newspapers used to have many pages. Leandro still remembers when at age 13 in San Antonio de los Baños, he saw two planes … Continue reading “Portrait of a Revolutionary Old Man / Iván García”
April 23, 2012 Year of the Lord. From: Priest: Mario Félix Lleonart Barroso. To: Villa Clara Provincial Prosecutor’s Office and Management of the Protection of Citizen Rights of the Prosecutor General of the Republic. In so far as: Within just a few days, on May 8th, it will be one year since the controversial death … Continue reading “Letter from Priest Mario Félix Lleonart Barroso to the Villa Clara Provincial Prosecutor / Mario Félix Lleonart Barroso”
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”
With the title “The Land Belongs to Those Who Work It,” the newspaper Granma published an editorial on May 17, in commemoration of “Peasant’s Day” from which I have selected three points that invite reflection. One: The Agrarian Reform was a basic need for economic liftoff. An affirmation that I share, since the concentration of … Continue reading “Why Doesn’t the Land Belong to Those Who Work It? / Dimas Castellanos”
Deputy Minister of Education elaborates on Cuban Technical Education My only joy is my grief, my only rest is hard work. Michelangelo Buonarroti Florentine Creator Technical and Vocational Education (ETP) and the pre-university are considered by the Ministry of Education (MINED) to be different types of education and therefore are dealt with differently by the … Continue reading “In Cuba, Facing Goliath, David Looks for a Miracle / Dora Leonor Mesa”
Math does not make mistakes. Two plus two is always four. It is part of the exact sciences. The Spanish press agency EFE published a report titled “Spanish government studies possibility of slashing aid for former Cuban political prisoners”, which has been re-posted in various other news agencies around the world. However, the “sources close … Continue reading “Opening Pandora’s Box (Pt. 1) / Julio César Gálvez”
I’ve never liked goodbyes. Like just about everyone I suppose. But only because we give a normal act, part of what it is to live, an especially gloomy connotation. And good goodbyes are also a sign of good events. This blog was born on July 9 two years ago, and was born for an incontestable … Continue reading “The End / Ernesto Morales Licea”
The Economic Chamber of the Court of Havana issued a summons to the Panamanian corporation Ingelco S.A., to appear and answer the lawsuit within sixty working days from March 28, 2012. The notice, issued on March 23, 2012 by the Supreme Court and published on the 27th of that month in the Official Gazette of … Continue reading “Havana Court Summons Panamanian Firm’ Joint Venture Partner in Rio Zaza / Laritza Diversent”
By Alfredo Felipe Valdés The professional trained for at least a decade, with a high educational rigor, who once he or she graduates has a high level of knowledge, is not treated by the State with the consideration deserved from the years and personal effort it took to complete the training. This includes how other … Continue reading “Medicine in Cuba Today: A Series of Shortcuts and Scarcities / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
One of those sentenced to prison following the prostitution scandal revealed in Bayamo, Cuba, in May 2010, after the death of a 12-year-old girl, has declared a hunger strike and as of today and has gone 16 days without eating. Ramón Enrique Álvarez Sánchez owned a rental house for foreigners in Bayamo, and was arrested on … Continue reading “Man Convicted in Bayamo Child Prostitution Ring is on Hunger Strike / Ernesto Morales Licea”
It’s 10:00 am at the Plaza Hotel a few yards from Havana’s Capitol building. A smell of moisturizer wafts from the bodies of tourists rushing through their coffee so they can go out and explore the city. On one side of the lobby several people line up at the entrance to a small office where … Continue reading “The Internet for Cubans: A Permanently Impossible Dream? / Yoani Sánchez”
Although our little girls (a 2-year-old and a newborn) were healthy, my husband and I woke up at different times, he at 6:00 am and I at 9:00. Bedtime was also different. He could rest at midnight and I, after 3:00 in the morning because they had to take gas without the harsh sound of … Continue reading “1992: Cuba Had Everything / Dora Leonor Mesa”
Last May I was overwhelmed when browsing in the apartment of Yoani Sanchez I came across her book Word Press: a blog to talk to the world. Three years earlier I had noted her famous blog (Generation Y) and, stimulated by it, I opened my blog, Island Anchor, also hosted on the platform Cuban Voices. … Continue reading “Yoani Sanchez’s Technical Book / Miguel Iturria Savón”
