English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The saga filling space on the news–note that I do not call it “information”–this season is the discovery of the mortal nature of that other Latin American caudillo, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, as a result of what constituted a surgical conspiracy led by his decrepit mentor, Fidel Castro. The brief chapters offered by Cuban and … Continue reading “Collateral Effects / Miriam Celaya”
Dear Friends, I took the month of June off on vacation, and now I am going to add a few days until Monday the 11th. On Saturday the 7th we will have a party at home to celebrate three events: Claudia Cadelo’s birthday (with is the 8th); mine (the 10th); and the 18th anniversary of … Continue reading “End of Vacation / Reinaldo Escobar”
To return repeatedly to the past is not healthy because it presupposes nostalgia and idealizes something that like it or not, is blurred in the collective and individual memory in accordance with the passing of the years. But to forget it …. of course, is an equally bad idea. The present anguish and distress that … Continue reading “An Essential Document / Fernando Dámaso”
(Published in Laborem. The Voice of the Christian Workers’ Movement / Cuba. Vol. 9, No. 36, July-September, 2010) Work and migration are closely linked. If the former radiates the riches that sustain the material and spiritual life of man, the second serves to rearrange things when work is incapable of guaranteeing the preservation and development … Continue reading “Work and Migration / Dimas Castellanos”
The creators of Revolico define it as “a small and functional team of programmers who one day felt the urge of a more simple way, organized and efficient to advertise and review what other people were already advertising”. It was born in 2007 and nobody knows for sure who manages a web in which you … Continue reading “Revolico.com, a Cuban virtual store / Iván García”
(Published Friday May 27, 2011 on the site: http:www.vocescubanas.com) The common characteristics that identify the human race also have important differences that cannot be ignored. The social character–the most defining and essential peculiarity of man–manifests itself in the diversity of associations that he creates for collaboration, promotion and the defense of his interests; reality that … Continue reading “Cuba: the Illogic of the Single Party / Dimas Castellanos”
RIDING MISTER ROJAS, originally uploaded by Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo In art, like in politics, the speeches of epigones, now free of the original guilt of the Messiah, start attempting a liberal rereading of the revolutionary scripture and end up being pure fascism. The Cuban intellectual Fernando Rojas, beyond his high governmental charge (every now … Continue reading “RIDING MISTER ROJAS / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Like two boxers who stare each other in the eye, before beginning their attack, came TwittHab, the first encounter between official and alternative ‘twitterers’. If the proposition was to fraternize and build bridges, this first exploratory round between virtual gladiators who’ve made blogs, Facebook and Twitter a tool for spreading their ideas, was below expectations. … Continue reading “Official and Alternative Twitterers Launch a Truce / Iván García”
The times are propitious for the unveiling of the proverbial national fickleness. The blurring of the mythical figure of the supposedly invincible commander within the Cuban panorama–his disappearance from the Roundtable talk show and from the public eye in general–has unleashed a wave of criticism of the earlier period of this same process called the … Continue reading “The Age of Reptiles / Miriam Celaya”
News has several lives on this Island. First they hint at something but don’t publish it, then they announce it tersely in some national media, and later its echo repeatedly feeds popular fantasy. This has happened with the recent information about the new flexibility in buying and selling homes. For months–perhaps years–we spun the rumor … Continue reading “Sell and Leave / Yoani Sánchez”
The complaints cost me points with the commander. by Pablo Pacheco Avila It has been 92 days since my last meeting with my wife and son. I was impatiently looking forward to the officer on duty calling my name for the visit, and being able to hug my family and talk with them, even though … Continue reading “Notes from Captivity XVI / Pablo Pacheco”
I have received an unexpected gift: a ship’s log with my name on it. Marco A. Pérez López and Liu Santiesteban, administrators of Tania Quintero’s blog, opened it for me. The blog of Iván García and his friends, is in no way affecting Desde La Habana, founded 28 January 2009 and since January of 2010 … Continue reading “To Keep the Cuban Blogosphere Excited / Iván García”
On Tuesday the 28th, at three in the afternoon, the first LGTB (Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals) Observatory Walk took place in Havana, along the middle of the central street of the Prado, starting from the corner of Neptune and continuing to the sea. The date selected recalls the massive gay pride march celebrated in … Continue reading “A Sui Generis Walk / Miriam Celaya”
Hugo Chavez’s announcement that Cuban doctors had found and removed a cancerous tumor, coming after weeks of speculation about the Venezuelan president’s absence from public life, touches a particular chord for Cubans. For decades, the health of the Cuban president was information cloaked in secrecy. It was the least transparent topic in our national life, … Continue reading “Hugo Chavez’s Secret / Yoani Sánchez”
I’m so accustomed to the lack of information in our media that when I hear a story, not just of current national or international importance — as one can’t ask for so much — but of something as simple and useful as the repairs that occasion power outages, or about water shortages in certain areas … Continue reading “Gimme Light / Claudia Cadelo”