English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
On Tuesday the 28th, at three in the afternoon, the first LGTB (Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals) Observatory Walk took place in Havana, along the middle of the central street of the Prado, starting from the corner of Neptune and continuing to the sea. The date selected recalls the massive gay pride march celebrated in … Continue reading “A Sui Generis Walk / Miriam Celaya”
Translator’s note: This post is a longer version, written for the Huffington Post, of the post that appeared in Yoani’s blog today. The Paseo del Prado displays its beautiful lion sculptures, cast from the ammunition and weapons from our war of independence. When it opened with its broad marble benches and bordering shade trees, it … Continue reading “Gay Pride Parade in Havana / Yoani Sánchez”
I have spent days waiting to see if the official press is going to publish a report, or a snippet, mentioning the fact that Miss Mariela Castro was in Santiago de Cuba as part of the Cuban campaign against homophobia. Since this is not a news blog (and knowing that even if it was I … Continue reading “Against Homophobia vs the Slogans / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Cuban television debuts at its usual time of 9:00 in the evening, on the Cubavision channel, a telenovela–soap opera–titled “Under the Same Sun,” which is already generating a buzz. Although they haven’t provided much information about it, it’s said to consist of three stories. In the first one being aired, are the taboos and intolerance … Continue reading “Telenovelas and Teleprejudices / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
Cuban television debuts at its usual time of 9:00 in the evening, on the Cubavision channel, a telenovela–soap opera–titled “Under the Same Sun,” which is already generating a buzz. Although they haven’t provided much information about it, it’s said to consist of three stories. In the first one being aired, are the taboos and intolerance … Continue reading “Telenovelas and Teleprejudices”
Is there anything really new in the terrible incident that has just cut short the life of another nonconforming Cuban? In my view, only the speed with which his death has been echoing around the world, on Mother’s Day, when the news wires and standard television programming prefer to convey messages of family harmony. Sad … Continue reading “Doomed to Solitude / Ernesto Morales Licea”
It’s the same place as a century ago. With the intense blue sea and calm of the Atlantic Ocean that surrounds it. A long strip of more than 8 kilometres of cement and concrete, with the lack of maintenance, falling apart in several sections. It’s the Malecón. Meeting point of Habaneros. Of students who skip … Continue reading “The Malecón – Gangway to the Open Air / Iván García”
The gross behavior of numerous gays provokes ill will in a sector of the Cuban populace. There isn’t a ferocious homophobia on the island, but the priority that they want to give the subject from the highest spheres of power disgusts many. In a country where two meals a day is a true luxury, and … Continue reading “The Subject of Gays Is Not A Priority On the Island / Iván García”
I still can’t believe that the Cuban delegation at the United Nations added its vote to a group of “countries that include homosexuality as a crime under the law, including the application of capital punishment for that reason, in five of them.” I didn’t invent the quoted phrase, it comes from a statement published by … Continue reading “The Market of Silence / Yoani Sánchez”
This is not the first time I felt like telling Mariela Castro* that she should have remained silent. It’s a strange reaction in me, because normally I encourage others to express whatever they want to say. With her, however, it is hard for me, and there is something called decency which — for those who, … Continue reading “The Missteps of the Princess / Claudia Cadelo”
Mariela Castro Espin, 48, Director of the National Center for Sex Education and one of the four children president Raul Castro had with the engineer Vilma Espin, is probably better known overseas than in Cuba. Her conferences and interviews usually receive good press coverage in the nations she visits. When the island launched a campaign … Continue reading “Cuba: Homophobia is Not Eliminated With Laws / Laritza Diversent”
14ymedio, Havana, February 8, 2024 — Thirteen years ago, Cuban biologist Ariel Portal, expelled from the state-owned Labiofam and a fervent defender of the healing properties of blue scorpion venom, emigrated to Ecuador and founded his own company, Lifescozul. With a private investment of three million dollars in the last seven years and a team … Continue reading “Lifescozul Says It Gets Scorpion Venom Without Help From the Cuban Government”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 7 November 2021 — I have not been able to find out, for sure, why Raúl Castro authorized the appearance of Carlos Lage asking for “deep changes.” Lage is the former Cuban vice president purged a few years ago along with former Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. I have asked … Continue reading “Cuba and the Protests of November 15”
14ymedio, Cynthia de la Cantera, Havana, June 23, 2020 — Ernesto is considered an “old dog” in his profession as a primary doctor. However, he still remembers how he and his colleagues were “tattooed with fire” after the authorities warned them during a training session about Covid-19 protocols. “Be careful about publishing a photo or information … Continue reading “The Risks and Insecurity of Being a Doctor in Cuba”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 22 April 2018 –Finally, Díaz-Canel became the president of Cuba’s State Council. In Cuba there is not a President of the Republic. Formally, Cuba has a parliamentary system. In fact, it is a one-party dictatorship, hitherto led with an iron hand by the Castros. Diaz-Canel does not have a lever … Continue reading “The Impossible Task of Miguel Díaz-Canel”
