English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 22 February 2021 — What are the signs that predict the end of an authoritarian system? What symptoms does a despotic regime show as its decline approaches? These two questions have obsessed me in recent days, in the midst of unprecedented events that have been happening on this Island for weeks. Are they … Continue reading “In Other Times…”
14ymedio, Raudel García Bringas, Washington, 21 February 2021 — “Homeland and Life” has been, by far, the most popular news in the official Cuban media in its futile desire to annihilate the performers of this great music video, the same people who have been successful representatives of national music for years. Could one think that they … Continue reading ““Homeland and Life”: The Hymn That Calls For Reason”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 February 2021 — Covid-19 offers no truce — 923 cases and 5 deaths in the last report — but Cuban authorities seemed more concerned this Thursday about the surprising success of the video clip Patria y vida, which has gone viral on social networks. All the official media, starting with Granma, the daily of the Communist Party, dedicate several … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime and its Propaganda Apparatus Prefer Death to Life”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 May 14, 2023 — The concert of the duo Buena Fe, scheduled for this Sunday in Barcelona, was canceled as confirmed on the official website of the group, which has ties to the Cuban regime. In their last presentation, on May 11 in the Galileo Galilei room in Madrid, several attacks occurred … Continue reading “Buena Fe Cancels Its Concert in Barcelona After a Protest by Cuban Activists in Madrid”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, 11 April 2023 — The writing, in capitals and painted in green on the wall at 464 Calle Belascoaín / Zaina in Central Havana, caught the eye. “I buy women in poor condition”, read the astonished passers-by. With all the security about, that wouldn’t last long, we thought, here at the … Continue reading “A New Type of Business Springs Up in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 2 February 2023 — I have seen the documentary Nicaragua, patria libre para vivir [Nicaragua, a Free Homeland to Live In], three times, and all three times it has shaken me to the core. Its director, the Andalusian poet and philologist, Daniel Rodríguez Moya, says that you can be born … Continue reading “A Free Homeland to Live In”
14ymedio, Madrid, 13 December 2022 — Cuban physician Antonio Guedes, founder of the Liberal Union, told 14ymedio on Tuesday that the controversy generated by the presentation in Miami of the book Cuban Privilege (Cambridge University Press, 2022), by the American sociologist Susan Eckstein, was a natural response of the community of Cuban residents in the … Continue reading “There is an ‘Abuse of the Adjustment Act by Those Who Return to Cuba After a Year’”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 November 2022 — On Tuesday, the US Border Patrol took into custody 150 Cuban balseros [rafters] who had managed to disembark in the United States. According to the chief officer of the Miami sector, Walter Slosar, these people are the ones who in the last two days managed to “touch land on remote … Continue reading “The US Border Patrol Takes 256 Cuban Rafters into Custody in Two Days”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 9 November 2022 — To the grave situation in the sectors of economy, food, finance, energy, politics, social justice, migration and health — all from which Cuba is suffering — we may add a new crisis that could deliver the final death blow to a fading, crumbling model. Because if … Continue reading “The Culture Crisis of the Cuban Revolution”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 September 2022 — The Cuban regime cut off access to the Internet on Thursday night after the protests continued in some parts of Havana. The demonstrations of Cerro and Arroyo Naranjo joined forces in the evening at San Francisco de Paula, in the municipality of San Miguel del Padrón. Mainly women and … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Cuts Internet Access to Prevent New Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 August 22, 2022 — The Camagüey city of Nuevitas, a protagonist on Thursday and Friday of the largest demonstrations in Cuba since July 11, 2021, wakes up on this repressed and silent Monday. Throughout the weekend, its inhabitants had their Internet access restricted, and the streets were patrolled by police, soldiers and … Continue reading “More Police and Arrests and Fewer Blackouts to Calm Things Down in Nuevitas, Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 August 2022 — Hundreds of people took to the streets early this Friday in Nuevitas, Camagüey, in a demonstration not seen in Cuba since July 11, 2021. The protest, as seen in numerous videos shared on social networks, was massive, illuminated by the flashlight of cell phones and motorcycle headlights, and accompanied … Continue reading “To the Cry of ‘The People Are Tired’ Nuevitas Registers Largest Protest in Cuba Since 11 July 2021”
14ymedio, Havana, August 17, 2022 — Cubans banged on pots and pans again on Tuesday night in protest against the long blackouts they are suffering. In San Antonio de los Baños, where the protests of July 11, 2021 began, the noise was heard in the neighborhoods of Hospital, El Palenque, La Punta and La Placita, … Continue reading “Despite Threats From Plainclothes Agents, Cubans in the Provinces Protest by Banging on Pots and Pans”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 June 2022 — Dr. Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre, who lost his job due to his stance against the Cuban government and after being systematically harassed left the island, shared part of his journey to the United States on his social networks. “A part of me died in the Darién jungle seeing lost … Continue reading “‘A Part of Me Died in the Darien Jungle’ says Dr. Figueredo on His Crossing to the United States”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — Cuba’s National Energy System remains in critical condition after protests erupted across the country in recent days, rattling the nerves of Cuban government officials. Radio and television programming was interrupted on Thursday for an address by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who emphasized that the country’s electricity generation would stabilize in … Continue reading “Electrical Capacity Will Stabilize within Months, Predicts Cuban President”
