English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Raudel García Bringas, Washington, 21 February 2021 — “Homeland and Life” has been, by far, the most popular news in the official Cuban media in its futile desire to annihilate the performers of this great music video, the same people who have been successful representatives of national music for years. Could one think that they … Continue reading ““Homeland and Life”: The Hymn That Calls For Reason”
Iván García, 15 February 2021 — As he drives a ramshackle Soviet-era Moskvitch down a central avenue west of Havana, Samuel, a retired athlete, explains why doing business in Cuba is very difficult. Eleven years ago, when Raúl Castro kicked off the expansion of private work, Samuel used the money he saved plus a loan … Continue reading “For Washington, Cuba is Not a Priority / Ivan Garcia”
Vice President Marino Murillo celebrated on the Roundtable TV program on State TV that Cubans have already disposed of half of the 600 or 700 million CUC that are expected to be put out of circulation between January 1 and June 30 of this year. “We designed that the CUC was going to be alive … Continue reading “Two Ways to Get Rid of CUCs in Cuba: Line Up at the Bank or Give Tips”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 February 2021 — The Ceballos Agroindustrial Company, from Ciego de Ávila, one of the few jewels in the crown of the Cuban State, ended the first month of 2021 in the red. It was not planned: as the official newspaper Invasor notes, Vice President Marino Murillo, architect of the “Ordering Task,” had insisted that Ceballos would not be … Continue reading “Ceballos, One of the ‘Crown Jewels’ of the Cuban State, Registers Losses”
14ymedio, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Havana, 6 February 2021 — There are two major problems that have been present in the month of January: The return — with more force — of the Chinese virus; and the ’Ordering Task’*. In the case of the Chinese virus, the last day of the period ended with 906 positive samples, … Continue reading “The Cuban Dictatorship Lives in a Fictional World”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 January 2021 — “No one here to buy and sell?” asks the clerk of the notary’s office on 20 de Mayo Street, in Havana. Clients are waiting to make a will or formalize a power of attorney, but requests for procedures related to housing have disappeared from these offices since the monetary … Continue reading “Cuba’s Monetary Unification Slows the Sales of Homes”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 29 January 2021 — Ana Laura is not her name but telling her story with her real identity would lead to incalculable problems, so better to be cautious. The living room of her house is nothing more than a domestic decoration to camouflage the small dental clinic she has … Continue reading “Dentists, Lawyers, Journalists, in Cuba Everyone Wants to Work for Themselves”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 22 January 2021 — Once Joe Biden assumed the presidency of the United States for the next four years, a space opened to serenely analyze the meaning that it may have for Cuba’s relations with the world’s leading power, since, although it is difficult to recognize it, this link has a … Continue reading “Before a New Thaw, the Strategy is Already a Matter of Debate”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 January 2021 — The “Ordering Task*” has arrived in movie theaters, the latest victims of the price increases, according to data published by Cubacine. Irinka Cordoví, director of Project 23, manages the five cinemas on 23rd Street in Havana’s Vedado district, said that the ticket price to normal functions will go from … Continue reading “Price Hikes Reach Cuban Movie Theaters, Which Double Their Rates”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 January 2021 — The artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara posted a live video on his Facebook page, which has already been watched more than 17,000 times, in which he says “the dictatorship” dead and asks the authorities to accept that everything is over, avoiding prolonging the suffering of the population. “Cuba is … Continue reading “‘This Year the Dictatorship is Done,’ Says Artist Otero Alcantara”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2021 — The Cuban Center for Human Rights (CCDH) is forceful in its December report: the year that has just ended has been “the hardest” for the Island. The reasons, according to the organization led by Marta Beatriz Roque, are not only due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but to “the scarcity, the … Continue reading “2020 Was the Hardest Year for Cuba, Says Human Rights Group”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 8 January 2021 — Secondary schools in Havana will have a reduction in hours due to the rebound in COVID-9 cases throughout the country, especially in the capital. Starting next week, as detailed by some of the schools that convened a meeting for parents this Thursday, students will only have classes … Continue reading “In Havana, Face-to-Face Classes Will Be Held Only in the Afternoon in Secondary Schools”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 7 January 2021 — The official Castroist press continues its campaign of defamation, harassment and demolition of humble entrepreneurs dedicated to commerce, who only want to work and serve the people. Dislocating reality and creating a false sense towards these private sellers, labeling them a “crowd of profiteers” and accusing them of … Continue reading “Threats to Merchants in Cuba Continue: The Worst is Yet to Come”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 January 2021 – With a bag of bread now costing 35 or 40 pesos, the so-called “Ordering Task” has left many children without a snack this week. “There is no unrationed bread in any state bakery, in the private ones they offering some but not every day and also it is very … Continue reading “Cuba Closes State Stores That Sell Unrationed Bread”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 January 2020 — After hundreds of criticisms in Cuba’s streets and on social networks about the high prices in the popular Coppelia ice cream parlor, which were raised at the beginning of the year, the Government of Havana announced on Monday that the new prices would be lowered, without specifying the details … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Backtrack on Price Increases for Coppelia Ice Cream”
