Let Justice Be Done / Yamil Domínguez

Written by: Wilfredo Vallín Almeida The case opened one afternoon, when two women, one, the wife and the other who turned out to be the sister, of the Cuban living in Florida detained for many months for the crime of trafficking in persons, came to see me in my house. The crime is one of … Continue reading “Let Justice Be Done / Yamil Domínguez”

To Do Nothing / Miriam Celaya

Pursuant to the uprisings that have taken place in countries of North Africa and the Persian Gulf, many views seem to converge in Cuba. The recurring question, “why don’t Cubans rebel?” leaps out in every conversation with journalists or foreign friends, while among many Cubans living outside the Island a cyber-rebellion seems to have become … Continue reading “To Do Nothing / Miriam Celaya”

A Very Brave Guy, or a Brief Sketch of a Cuban Story / Miriam Celaya

Once upon a time, there was a very brave guy. His name was Carlos Serpa, and he was so reckless that he even risked his life by infiltrating the terrible Caribbean amazons known as The Ladies in White, who had the very dangerous habit of taking long walks through Havana’s streets wielding their deadly gladioli … Continue reading “A Very Brave Guy, or a Brief Sketch of a Cuban Story / Miriam Celaya”

FAMILY PHOTO / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

EDUARDO FONTES AND ME Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Here we all are. So young, so innocent, so complicit. A picture can be worth more than a thousand Ministry of the Interior videos leaked by Cubaleaks. The nineties. The Special Period. Zero Option. Then. Death in black and white. Cadaverous laughter. Looking to the horizon beyond … Continue reading “FAMILY PHOTO / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Short Trip Down Memory Lane / Miriam Celaya

Recently, a friend and regular reader of our blog made a comment about a very controversial post in which he argued that the Mariel migration was triggered by the fact that “two Cubans launched a bus against an embassy in Havana.” In effect, that action was the public and visible event, but in any case, … Continue reading “Short Trip Down Memory Lane / Miriam Celaya”

Seeing the Past From the Viewpoint of the Present / Dimas Castellanos

“History is lived forward, but to understand it we must look back.” Kierkegaard The interaction between the lack of administrative capacity, economic inefficiency, hopelessness, widespread corruption and the massive exodus, have made the current crisis in Cuba the deepest of its history. The combination of these factors, sufficient to break any human group that aspires … Continue reading “Seeing the Past From the Viewpoint of the Present / Dimas Castellanos”

The Challenges of the New Cuban Scenario / Dimas Castellanos

Introduction The exhaustion of the “model”, united with the interaction of a mixture of internal and external factors, has formed a box which — paraphrasing Lenin — is a result that those from below don’t want and those from above can’t follow indefinitely. In that context, the death of the political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, … Continue reading “The Challenges of the New Cuban Scenario / Dimas Castellanos”

Training the Citizenry to Stop Being “The Masses” / Dimas Castellanos

Cuba is immersed in the deepest structural crisis in its history. To emerge from it will require an understanding of its causes and the political will to undertake changes, among which citizen participation in public affairs stands as an unavoidable necessity. Hoping to find new solutions in the behaviors of the past will lead nowhere. … Continue reading “Training the Citizenry to Stop Being “The Masses” / Dimas Castellanos”

Essay from Voices 1 by Dimas Castellanos / Posted in: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

The Limits of Immobility By Dimas Castellanos The multiple factors that made possible the paralysis of our history in recent decades, while interacting on a different stage, have placed the limits of immobility on the daily agenda.  The attempts to convert citizens by the masses, to ignore the vital function of rights and liberties, and to … Continue reading “Essay from Voices 1 by Dimas Castellanos / Posted in: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

We, Dissidents

Ladies in White in one of their marches down Fifth Avenue. Photo: Luis Orlando I don’t want to saddle anyone with adjectives they don’t want. In general, I, for one, have always been rather hesitant to accept labels, especially when the socio-official “taxonomy” is so prodigious in itself in ambiguous definitions that it turns a … Continue reading “We, Dissidents”

Open letter to the BBC of London / Miriam Celaya

Note to readers of this blog: The text that follows is extensive. It is a reply to statements made in recent days by the BBC’s correspondent in Havana, Mr. Fernando Ravsberg, as part of statements he made in an interview with his fellow countryman, journalist Emiliano Cotelo, during Ravsberg’s recent stay in Madrid. The complexity … Continue reading “Open letter to the BBC of London / Miriam Celaya”

Good Worms and Bad Worms

It was Fidel Castro who, in one of his his typical vitriolic outbursts, during a speech on January 2, 1961 (in what was then the Civic Plaza, today Revolution Plaza), applied the epithet “worms” to those Cubans who dared to criticize his olive green revolution or who decided to leave their homeland. That day he … Continue reading “Good Worms and Bad Worms”

Sonia Garro, or the Cruelty of a Regime

Sonia Garro at her sewing machine It all started one sunless noon, on the 24th of February, 2007. “Up here,” said Sonia, a laboratory technician, who sews on a 50-year-old machine on the porch of her home, from where she often saw accidents involving children playing without the watchful eyes of their parents. And her large … Continue reading “Sonia Garro, or the Cruelty of a Regime”