English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 26 February 2016 – Last night in Miami Danilo Maldonado (known as ‘El Sexto’, The Sixth), was able to show off the pigs Raul and Fidel, which cost him ten months in prison in Cuba. The opening of the exhibition “Pork,” at the Market Gallery in Miami Beach this Thursday, included … Continue reading “‘El Sexto’ Exhibits the Pigs That Sent Him to Jail in Cuba / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar (Special envoy), La Cruz, Costa Rica, 29 November 2015 — About 10 miles from the border with Nicaragua is the canton of La Cruz in the province of Guanacaste, in Costa Rica. Peñas Blancas is there, the most important outpost in the north and the place where serious incidents between Cuban migrants … Continue reading “Hope And Fear At The Border / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 14 November 2015 – The United States Embassy in Cuba has denied a non-immigrant visa to the graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado, known as “El Sexto” (The Sixth), according to information on Friday from the artist himself, via his Facebook account. The graffiti artist displayed a document where the embassy said that … Continue reading “US Embassy in Havana Denies Visa to El Sexto / Diario de Cuba”
Diario de Cuba, Joan Antoni Guerrero Vall, 4 October 2015 — After being held in the country for eight months by the regime, in punishment for attempting to bring her performance Tatlin’s Whisper to the Plaza of the Revolution, Tania Bruguera refuses to give in. She recognizes that even when she was put in the … Continue reading “Tania Bruguera: “Cuba needs massive civic literacy in the streets” / Diario de Cuba”
14ymedio, 22 August 2015 – In a statement released by #YoTambienExijo (I too demand), it was reported that the artist Tania Bruguera arrived in New York this Friday, after eight months in Cuba. “I just landed at JFK (…) to be a Fellow of the Yale World Fellowship 2015,” a program of the renowned Yale … Continue reading “The Artist Tania Bruguera Arrives in New York / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 31 July 2015 – Pope Francis is coming to Cuba this September and the Cuban people will give him an affectionate welcome, as already happened with the last two visits of his predecessors. Although this time religion here is diverse, there are more than a few atheists, and Catholics and non-Catholics … Continue reading “Let The Government Of Cuba Open Itself To Its People / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”
Diario de Cuba, Angel Moya, Havana, 26 July 2015 – Some 60 activists were arrested this past Sunday in Havana following the customary Sunday march of the Ladies in White, reported government opponents on social media. The arrests took place within the context of an act of repudiation described by the opponents as “violent,” and … Continue reading “Dozens of Activists Detained in Havana Following the Ladies in White March / Diario de Cuba, Angel Moya”
14ymedio, 11 July 2015 — The Cuban government finally returned her passport to the artist Tania Bruguera, who can now travel outside the island, she reported this Saturday in a statement on her Facebook site #YoTambiénExijo. The document had been seized last December when she was arrested before staging a performance of political art in Havana. According to the … Continue reading “Tania Bruguera Now Has Her Passport / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 June 2015 — Last Friday, June 26th, a police official paid a visit to Tania Bruguera to inform her that the charges against her were being temporarily lifted. The artist refused to sign the offer, and demanded that the charges be permanently lifted, without any restrictions on her returning to her own … Continue reading “The Siege of Tania Bruguera Is Lifted / 14ymedio”
See here for background information on this series of posts. René Vázquez Díaz, Sweden, 2007 — Last year, during a period of several months, personalities committed to the politics of cultural repression during the 1970s were interviewed on various Cuban television programs. The reappearance on the small screen of odious characters who call to mind … Continue reading “Rene Vazquez Diaz: Cuban Forgettings / Intellectual Debate”
Hablemos Press, Eduardo Herrera, 4 May 2015 — In Cuba, the constant emigration of its citizens can reveal what is the standard of living on the Island. Many of those who do not know the reality of life in Cuba should consider this fact and arrive at their own conclusions. Cubans are willing to go … Continue reading “Massive emigration reveals the standard of living in Cuba / Hablemos Press, Eduardo Herrera”
Cubanet, Victor Manuel Dominguez, Havana, 29 May 2015 – “P.M.,” that short documentary made by Orlando Jimenez Leal and Saba Cabrera Infante, was the beginning of the end of freedom of expression in Cuban Culture. Conceived in the beginning as a four-minute report that would establish a parallel between the militants who installed canons on … Continue reading “14 Minutes that Shook the Revolution / Cubanet, Victor Manuel Dominguez”
See here for background information on this series of posts. Your message to Desiderio has motivated me to add some ideas to this debate, which, to my taste, has left us with an excess of words in the middle of a desert of actions. Compared with the richness of ideas and reflections that have been … Continue reading “Message From Juan Antonio García Borrero / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 May 2015 — “I wanted to experience this historical moment. It is the history of Cuba and of the world! Fidel Castro wanted to meet me and I also desired it. Regardless of what one thinks about what he has done, he belongs to History. I also wanted to meet him out … Continue reading “François Hollande expresses his admiration for Fidel Castro / 14ymedio”
Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez, Havana, 26 January 2015 – “Cubans are seeking a new conception of the press within socialism. All that can be predicted, without a doubt, is that it will be a democratic press, lively and original,” wrote Gabriel García Márquez in 1975. That Gabo — always so unreal, so optimistic when it … Continue reading “The official press: “Made to conceal, not to publicize” / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez”