Search results for: Laura Pollán

Ladies in White: Act of Repudiation and Violent Arrests After Sunday March / Katia Sonia

The “Laura Pollan” Ladies in White movement suffered another violent act of repudiation and arrests at 3rd Avenue and 26th Street in the Miramar district, at the end of their march demanding freedom, at noon on Sunday, December 11. The act was orchestrated by women undercover police officers in civilian clothes, who also summoned drunken … Continue reading “Ladies in White: Act of Repudiation and Violent Arrests After Sunday March / Katia Sonia”

Medical Policy, or Political Medicine? / Ernesto Morales Licea

A little less than a year ago I lived for two weeks thinking I had cancer in my lymph nodes. In November, 2010, a team of pathologists at the “Carlos Manuel de Cespedes” Provincial Hospital in Bayamo signed a yellowish paper, prepared on a typewriter with a number of typing errors, telling me I had … Continue reading “Medical Policy, or Political Medicine? / Ernesto Morales Licea”

The Winners’ Trophy / Ernesto Morales Licea

She said it with a tone somewhere between surprise and disappointment: “They don’t give a damn, Ernesto. How mistaken we exiles are.” And I nodded because I knew too well what she was talking about. For her, a woman from Santiago who hadn’t stepped foot on her native land since 1999, living in Miami and … Continue reading “The Winners’ Trophy / Ernesto Morales Licea”

Vaclav Havel: A Cuban Friend / Dora Leonor Mesa

Several months ago, in one of my online classes at the University of Texas El Paso, I had to choose a leader whom I greatly admired. At that time I chose Václav Havel and my selection and drew criticism from one of the students in the class for not choosing a Cuban. I was far … Continue reading “Vaclav Havel: A Cuban Friend / Dora Leonor Mesa”

2011, That Year So Remote / Yoani Sánchez

In October Laura Pollan left us, in a dark hospital on a drizzly day, in a year, 2011, that had been born already battered. In the early months, the final prisoners of the Black Spring had been released and national and international headlines gave most of the credit to the Catholic Church and Spain’s Foreign … Continue reading “2011, That Year So Remote / Yoani Sánchez”

The Invisible Little Virgin / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Poor little doll of sticks and tinsel, as she bumps over the length and width of thousands and thousands of kilometers. Last night I saw her, in Lawton. It was overwhelming. For her and for the fading environment. A neighborhood tensed from the spirit of its citizens towards heaven which hovers up there, propped on … Continue reading “The Invisible Little Virgin / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Lady in White Elizabeth Linda Kawoya Toca Summoned by State Security / Katia Sonia

Elizabeth Linda Nanyonga Kawooya Toca, a member of the Laura Pollan Ladies in White Movement, was summoned by State Security for 2:00 pm on November 4th at the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) station at Infanta and Amenidad in Cerro municipality. Elizabeth Linda, who is a Ugandan citizen, declared that a young man in plain clothes … Continue reading “Lady in White Elizabeth Linda Kawoya Toca Summoned by State Security / Katia Sonia”

A Four by Eleven / Rebeca Monzo

Some months ago, innumerable messages were arriving in my email, and I imagine in yours too, about the mystic cabala of 11-11-11. Finally the day arrived and on my planet, where extraordinary things never happen, and where material deficiencies and repression happen on a daily basis, yesterday, November 11th, in the afternoon hours, a large … Continue reading “A Four by Eleven / Rebeca Monzo”

From War Veteran to Peaceful Dissident / Luis Felipe Rojas

This interview was conducted by Luis Felipe Rojas and published on “Diario de Cuba” on October 21, 2011. Eliecer Palma Pupo (Photo: Luis Felipe Rojas) At a very young age, he left his home to combat Angolans who dissented from the regime which governed them. He returned as a hero, with three medals on his … Continue reading “From War Veteran to Peaceful Dissident / Luis Felipe Rojas”

We Don’t Believe the Television / Yoani Sánchez

I often complain about this self-sufficient little fatty in every Cuban home — the television — and its excessive influence on our lives. This week, for example, the nightly programming has been saturated with political messages that we later hear repeated in schools, workplaces, offices… in the infinite spiral of ideological propaganda. But in the … Continue reading “We Don’t Believe the Television / Yoani Sánchez”

Strange “Estrangement” of the Foreign Press in Cuba / Miriam Celaya

An article by a foreign news agency recently reported on the Internet, “Cuban Dissidents at a Crossroads”by Paul Haven and Andrea Rodríguez of the Associated Press, suffers from, at least, two of the most common and serious limitations of accredited journalism in Cuba: contempt for the nationals of this Island and an almost total disregard … Continue reading “Strange “Estrangement” of the Foreign Press in Cuba / Miriam Celaya”

Another Cuba for Our Man in Havana / Ernesto Morales Licea

After touching up his work in his Italian homeland, our man in Havana landed in Miami. He was preceded by a great omen: censorship. The best antecedent to arouse interest. A filmmaker whose latest work has been rejected by each and every European festival where he tried to show it. He entered it in small … Continue reading “Another Cuba for Our Man in Havana / Ernesto Morales Licea”

Meurice, the Friend / Luis Felipe Rojas

Photos by: Luis Felipe Rojas On numerous occasions I have said that this is not a news blog. Here I can only hope to accumulate my travel reports, to make a map (for me) about the days lived, and on many occasions to be in places but not be visible due to my double condition … Continue reading “Meurice, the Friend / Luis Felipe Rojas”

Quota for Revolucionaries, or “If you have to do it, you have to do it.” / Miriam Celaya

If someone had told us in the distant 70’s that the day would come when attendance at a march or other event in support of the revolution would be guaranteed by assigning quotas, I’m sure we would have made a face, incredulous. However, what back then would have been unthinkable is today a palpable reality. … Continue reading “Quota for Revolucionaries, or “If you have to do it, you have to do it.” / Miriam Celaya”