English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
If, from the island, a person wants to read about the rusty North Korean freighter Chong Chon Gang, where the Cuban regime was caught with obsolete Russian weaponry, they must pay 4.50 CUC an hour — ten days of a worker’s wages — in one of the 118 Internet rooms opened on June 4. They … Continue reading “Cuba Maintains Silence About North Korean Ship / Ivan Garcia”
The writer Angel Santiesteban Prats and his son Eduardo Ángel some years ago. By Amir Valle The strategy of UNEAC and certain “disinformed” writers against Ángel Santiesteban One more shame falls on the Writers and Artists Union of Cuba. This time, the shame is a dirty attack, manipulative and disloyal, against Ángel Santiesteban. I read … Continue reading “A Shameful Stab in the Back for Angel Santiesteban from UNEAC / Amir Valle, Angel Santiesteban”
Literature and Justice The award-winning writer Angel Santiesteban is imprisoned unjustly for his confrontational attitude to the Castro regime. On Wednesday, February 27, at the headquarters of the Estado de Sats project there was a farewell to Angel Santiesteban Prats, the award-winning writer. The next morning, he will present himself to serve the prison sentence … Continue reading “The Santiesteban Case: A Crude Judicial Hoax / Angel Santiesteban”
The writer Angel Santiesteban-Prats is now in La Lima prison, located in Guanabacoa. He was transferred there on Saturday after spending a day in Valle Grande prison where he wrote this post, the first that we have from him in his captivity. Each and every one of the posts he writes we will publish here … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban Prats: Prison Diary 1 / Angel Santiesteban”
Five years after Cuba’s representative signed the United Nations Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the situation with regards to fundamental rights in Cuba remains precarious. The violation of fundamental rights is not only a part of the repressive apparatus of the State, but our national legislation itself … Continue reading “The United Nations Covenants, Five Years Later / For Another Cuba, Estado de SATS”
Interview with Antonio G. Rodiles, Estado de SATS Project Coordinator, by Ernesto Santana Zaldívar (from July 2012) HAVANA, Cuba, www.cubanet.org Introductory Note: On July 24, 2012, during the funeral of the opposition leader Oswaldo Payá, there were violent arrests of several activists and dissidents, among them Antonio Rodiles, who was held for 24 hours at … Continue reading “This is Already a Path of No Return / Antonio Rodiles , Estado de SATS #Cuba”
By Osvaldo Rodríguez Díaz In the month of November 2011, the concern and emotional state of the family and friends of an accused person reached an intolerable level. They were shocked at the in-your-face and disrespectful manner in which the press referred to the defendant. The following appeared in the newspaper Granma on 8 November 2011 … Continue reading “Couldn’t the Journalist Wait? #Cuba”
TO THE FOURTH PENAL CRIMINAL COURT OF THE POPULAR PROVINCIAL TRIBUNE OF HAVANA THE JUDGE STATES: That in accordance with article 278 of the LPP and deeming complete the proceedings of the EFP 3-826/11 of the Department of Penal Proceedings of the Municipality of Old Havana, following the crime of PRODUCTION, SALE, DEMAND, TRAFFIC, DISTRIBUTION … Continue reading “PROVISIONAL CONCLUSIONS IN THE TRIAL OF HECTOR RISCART / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo #Cuba”
Readers’ interview from Diaro de Cuba The attorney and independent blogger, Laritza Diversent, responds to questions by readers of Diaro de Cuba regarding emigration reform. Ricardo E. Trelles: In your professional life you have to deal with the country’s existing legal system in which laws are formulated and established in an illegitimate way, without citizen participation, … Continue reading “Laritza Diversent: The Pending Emigration Law Should Make No Distinctions Because of Citizens’ Political Views #Cuba”
My friend Calixto R. Martinez (far left in photo), a reporter for Hablemos Press, is now on the 23rd day of a hunger strike in the punishment cells of the Combinado del Este prison. Prosecutors charged him with the crime of “contempt for the figures of R. and F. Castro.” According to the Hablemos Press … Continue reading “For the Freedom of Calixto / Lilianne Ruiz #Cuba”
The whirlwind of corruption, the lack of ethics and the indiscipline have shaken the foundations of the police unit of San German, in Holguin. Another neighborhood bloodhound has been victim of its own bite, originally trained to demolish any form of human vestige. This time, the ousted person is First Lieutenant Eduardo Gomez Quinones who, … Continue reading “Violator and Ousted / Luis Felipe Rojas”
On July 9th, 2012 a summary of the process of habeas corpus was presented before the Secretary of the Provincial Court of the Government of La Habana. This summary was admitted and remitted to the Third Room of the this Court. The aforementioned Courtroom immediately communicated with the officials involved in the illegal deprivation of … Continue reading “Against Individual Rights / Cuban Law Association, Osvaldo Rodriguez Diaz”
In another of the many meetings of recent days, the XI International Criminal Sciences Meeting 2012, the General Controller of the Republic, Gladys Bejarano Portela, urged, from ethics and professionalism, the confrontation of economic crimes and illegalities. Again the obligatory topic of corruption, focuses the interest of the participants on a legal event. The fact is … Continue reading “Corruption / Rafael Leon Rodriguez”
We’re already used to perceiving the interrogation tactic of “good cop, bad cop,” so it’s only natural that those of us who are usually on the other side of the questioning think of duplicating the method. On October 4 at around 5:30 in the afternoon an impressive police operation stopped us at the entrance to … Continue reading “The Good Prisoner / Reinaldo Escobar”
We know that the trial of Angel Carromero — the Spaniard who was driving the car in when Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero were killed — will be held in Bayamo, 450 miles east of Havana. But we still don’t know when it will begin. Although Friday, August 31, was mentioned, the fact is that … Continue reading “Secrecy Shrouds Upcoming Trial in the Case of Oswaldo Paya’s Death / Yoani Sanchez”
