English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The Cuban Revolution has always raised great passions. Millions within and outside the island are split between those who applaud and offering moving excuses, or those who clench their fists and launch incendiary accusations. But without a doubt, among the picturesque barbarities that flourish under the tropical sky there is one that is particularly atrocious: … Continue reading “Chronicle of Asclepius in Cuba (Part 1) / Jeovany J. Vega”
… I should introduce to you the nation that lives here and lives in the diaspora; Cubans suffer, live and hope here and also suffer, live, and hope out there. We are a single people that, navigating the seas on logs, continues to look for unity… Mons. ++ Pedro Claro Meurice Estíu 24/1/98 (Words of welcome to … Continue reading “Rest in Peace Monsignor++Pedro Claro Meurice Estíu / Ricardo Medina”
It causes chills to know that the historic leader of the Cuban revolution did research on different crops to improve nutrition for the Cuban people. I don’t want to be a harbinger of ill omen. But reviewing Castro’s “experiments” in 52 years of olive-green government, he didn’t come up with any that were successful. Let’s review the record. Let’s … Continue reading “Fidel Castro’s Experiments / Iván García”
Various witnesses were called by the Havana Tribunal to participate in a murder trial which began this morning, December 9th, against Amado Interian, a retired police officer who is accused of shooting a black, 14-year-old teenager on July 15th of this year. The teenager’s name was Alain Izquierdo. According to Ismael Suarez Herce, a 17-year-old cousin of the victim who … Continue reading “The Havana Tribunal will judge a former military man today who shot a teenager / Laritza Diversent”
A few days ago I read in Granma, the official mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Party, an article about the end of the debate by the Parliamentary Commission, in whose mind they had analyzed among other things, the effectiveness of the economic model. What they were saying to the population was “we are … Continue reading ““That Old Newspaper Yellowed With Age“ / Yaremis Flores”
From Havana, Cuba, where he lives and is subjected to systematic police and legal abuse by the island’s military regime, because of his determination to be a free writer, especially in his blog “The Children Nobody Wanted,” Angel Santiesteban answered, bravely it must be said, the following interview questions from Armando de Armas for Marti … Continue reading “Santiesteban, Padura, Milanes and the Repression of Intellectuals in Cuba / Angel Santiesteban”
When I heard through the BBC that Amy Winehouse had been found dead in her house in London, the first person I thought about was my niece, Yania. I’ll explain. It’s because in the choir of her secondary school, in the year 2006-2007, her teacher not only selected Yania to be a soloist, but she … Continue reading “Amy Winehouse and My Niece Yania / Iván García”
It is nobody’s secret that we Cubans are comiendo el cable (“eating the cable”). This is an expression of the popular argot in Cuba used to allude to a person or group that is going through a hard time, that feels itself to be a victim of neglect and that accumulates many unresolved needs. Many … Continue reading “Antics of the New Class / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
It is nobody’s secret that we Cubans are comiendo el cable (“eating the cable”). This is an expression of the popular argot in Cuba used to allude to a person or group that is going through a hard time, that feels itself to be a victim of neglect and that accumulates many unresolved needs. Many … Continue reading “Antics of the New Class”
Next I am transcribing, textually, some of the statements from the current maximum Cuban authority of Higher Education (universities) that recently appeared in the official press: insufficient ideological-political and integral preparation of professors and students, limited commitment to studies, low academic efficiency and urgency to be pertinent to develop investigations with social and scientific impact; … Continue reading “Higher Education / Fernando Dámaso”
Taken from ElPais.com Ceausescu was in his helicopter, Saddam Hussein was hiding in a hole, Tunisia’s Ben Ali fled into exile, Qaddafi fled in a convoy and ended up hiding in a drainpipe. The autocrats escape, they leave, they don’t sacrifice themselves in the palaces from which they dictated their arbitrary laws; they do not … Continue reading “The Ends / Yoani Sánchez”
It is true that José Martí founded a political organization, the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party), Fidel Castro founded the Partido Comunista de Cuba (Cuban Communist Party), and many people in our country and the world, just like them, have maintained their membership in the different institutions that they have erected so that from … Continue reading “Refoundation and Pluralism / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
It is true that José Martí founded a political organization, the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party), Fidel Castro founded the Partido Comunista de Cuba (Cuban Communist Party), and many people in our country and the world, just like them, have maintained their membership in the different institutions that they have erected so that from … Continue reading “Refoundation and Pluralism”
This article will appear in the November print edition of Foreign Policy Magazine, and is available on their website now. At the end of his July 31, 2006, broadcast, the visibly nervous anchor on Cuban Television News announced that there would be a proclamation from Fidel Castro. This was hardly uncommon, and many Cubans no … Continue reading “Country of Old Men / Foreign Policy Magazine / Yoani Sánchez”
The eternal dilemma, to be or not to be, is the capital crossroad that became evident in the life of every Cuban since the 26th of July 1953. This date initiated the stage of struggle that placed into tension the Cuban society of that moment. The verticality that that generation imposed on the enterprise was … Continue reading “To Be Or Not To Be / Jeovany J. Vega”
