English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Natalia Lopez Moya, Havana, November 13, 2021 — Old towels, ripped-up sheets and T-shirts are now being used to clean the floors of Cuban homes. In the absence of mop cloths, which have been missing from store shelves for months, families set aside articles of clothing to use at the bottom end of the … Continue reading “With Mop Cloths in Short Supply, No Cuban Towel is Safe”
14ymedio, Yamil Simón-Manso, Gaithersburg, 8 November 2021 — Some time ago a Cuban friend asked me: “And you, why do you continue to be interested in Cuban affairs?” And immediately afterwards he added: “It’s sickening, the same problem, rhetoric, frustrations, over and over again.” What to say? It is true, but I have not forgotten Cuba. Although it has … Continue reading “Who Does Your Revolution Serve ‘President’ Diaz-Canel?’”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 19 October 2021 – The curious and potential buyers arrived this week at the store that only takes payment in freely convertible currency (MLC) on Infanta Street, in Centro Habana, to see the new electric bicycle marketed by the State. Gone are the days of the hated Chinese bicycles of … Continue reading “Electric Bicycles Compete With ‘Motorinas’ On Cuban Streets”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 October 2021 — The film Corazón Azul (Blue Heart), by Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula, won the Jorgé Camera Prize at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in its 36th edition. The film depicts “an alternate reality” in which Fidel Castro uses engineering to build the New Man. The award was given for the … Continue reading “The Cuban film ‘Corazon Azul’ Receives an Award at the Guadalajara Film Festival”
14ymedio, Rosa Pascual, Madrid, September 18, 2021 — “I love the comandante as though he were my father, as though he were my brother. If he showed up here today and told me, ’Flores, I need your hand,’ I would cut off my hand and give it to him. If he told me, ’Flores, I … Continue reading “Fidel Castro’s Cooks: In Squalor or Opulence, Both Adore Him”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 25 August 2021 — In the worst days of the Special Period crisis, when I was asked during a Miami radio program if I thought that people in Cuba were going to take to the streets, I replied: “The only street where people could launch themselves would be the Malecón, trying … Continue reading “And After July 11th, What Comes Next?”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 24 August 2021 — Dawn breaks and the sound of some chickens from a nearby patio can be heard throughout the neighborhood, when midday comes we can hear the shouts of a neighbor letting us know there are bananas in the market on Tulipán Street and, in the afternoon, … Continue reading “The Sounds of the Crisis in Cuba”
14ymedio, Santiago de Cuba, August 11, 2021 — Measures adopted in Santiago de Cuba to reduce capacity in foreign currency stores have only resulted more lines and more coleros.” The provincial government ordered stores to limit the number of people allowed inside to fifty a day during the hours of 8 am to 3 pm. Shoppers … Continue reading “More than Fifteen Days Sleeping in Line to Buy a Refrigerator in Santiago de Cuba”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, August 7, 2021 — Once again the Castro regime is tripping over itself to pass a series of laws aimed at, according to the official press, “strengthening the Cuban socio-economic model.” These actions, adopted with urgency but little forethought, have received the approval of the Council of State. Government, Council … Continue reading “Responsibility for Cuba’s Economic Crisis”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aqui, Havana, August 5, 2021 — The popular program Escriba y Lea [Write and Read] familiarized viewers with one of the most delicate operations a historian can make: dating the beginning and end of an era. When the panelists had to figure out, sometimes by guessing, the historical fact or character suggested in a … Continue reading “Cuba: Before and After July 11”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, August 2, 2021 — In difficult times, anything is possible. Including privately leasing state-owned vehicles that aren’t being used [Resolución 207/2021, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic number 68]. So the Cuban communist regime, faced with the most serious economic crisis since “Special Period” times, has decided to adopt a … Continue reading “Cuba: Incorrect Resolutions. Means of Buying Time”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, July 22, 2021 – No one should be deceived. The Spanish or Italian tourist who travels to Cuba for pleasure and vacation has as much interest in the current political situation on the island as those legendary Swedes who came to Spain in the 60s in search of sun, sand, and the … Continue reading “Cuba: There is No Time Left, You Have to Act”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 20 July 2021 — The model born in Stalin’s Russia and imposed by communist parties in each country where they have succeeded, carries, by its very nature, a degenerative evil that makes it unsustainable: since there are no private owners, only administrators appointed by the state leadership, real productive stimulus does … Continue reading “What Led the Cuban Regime to the Current Explosive Crisis”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 July 2021 – “The dictatorship has lost much socially and this is what is going to explode in a moment.” This is how resoundingly Martha Beatriz Roque portrayed the situation in the latest monthly report of the Cuban Center for Human Rights (CCDH), which she directs. The Cuban government has imprisoned up … Continue reading “Human Rights Organizations Report There Were More Than 700 Repressive Actions in Cuba During the month of June”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 23 June 2021 — Residents of the “rubber company building” do not know where else to take their complaints. The two-story edifice, located in the Lotería neighborhood of Havana’s Cotorro district, has ten apartments, five on each floor. It was built in 1997 to house employees of the Conrado Piña Rubber … Continue reading “The Price of Low-Cost Housing Construction”
