English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
“It is always good to be, even in serious cases, as least hypocritical as possible.” April started off with good news for Havana’s lovers of the seventh art. I refer to the exhibit in the Charles Chaplin cinema of Martí: the Eye of the Canary, a fictionalized feature-length film, passionate and emotional, that successfully explores … Continue reading “Martí: The Eye of the Canary, a paean to dignity / Dimas Castellanos”
My mother contracted the debt in my name, and hours later made me aware of it. She said: “I promised the Virgin that you would go today to her leave taking. At seven in the evening they are taking her to another community, so do not wait too long to go.” For a deluded second … Continue reading “The Departure of the Patroness / Ernesto Morales Licea”
I don’t think capitalism is the model of a perfect life. But it is more logical and possible at this stage of human development. Communist ideologies removed at the stroke of a pen competition and discrepancies. We already know what that has meant. Material poverty, lazy people with no motivation to work. It discourages individuality. … Continue reading “The Hard Road to Democracy in Cuba / Iván García”
The audience maintains a restless silence: it’s after six in the evening, night will fall in a few minutes. They’ve been waiting since five o’clock, waiting for the meeting’s hosts with discipline. The audience is hungry, they have headaches, they have family worries they can’t get out of their minds, even though the place is … Continue reading “Operation Blogger: Algorithm for a Disaster / Ernesto Morales Licea”
I go over to a friend’s house and find her roaring with laughter over her son’s homework. She gave me a sheet of notebook paper and invited me to read it, but not before clarifying, “It’s very honest, you can see he’s only seven.” My school My whole school is nice except the bathroom, because … Continue reading “Homework”
The gods do not descend from the ecstasy of the clouds, nor do psychopaths apologize for the consequences of their actions. Sometimes, however, they need to show signs of life, like people who, in an extreme situation, go to the notary to prove their existence in a public way. Something like this happened with Fidel Castro … Continue reading “Proof of Life”
Placetas, July 19th 2010. When, in April 2007, I was released after 17 very long and difficult years of captivity, I did not know that I was to face a much more difficult battle than the one I was in before. Assimilating into civil protest would mean dealing with numerous different personalities, temperaments, points of … Continue reading “The Same People as Always and With Identical Methods”