English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Rodolfo Santacruz Castillo, Camagüey, 20 February 2021 — A few days ago, I attended one of those useless union meetings that, as a dogma, we have converted into a common practice in the workplace, where supposedly we have to discuss non-conformities and talk about something as sacred and at the same time as outrageous … Continue reading “‘Cuba Compulsively Trains Mediocre Doctors’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 17 February 2021 — On Tuesday, Cuban Prisoners Defenders (CPD) denounced the situation of prisoner of conscience Armando Trujillo González, who is serving a three-year sentence in the Agüica maximum security prison in Matanzas. Trujillo, an activist of the Movimiento Independiente Opción Alternativa (Independent Movement Alternative Option), has been held incommunicado since his … Continue reading “Armando Trujillo is Being Tortured by his Jailers, States Cuban Prisoners Defenders”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2021 — The activist Anyell Valdés Cruz and her family were victims this Monday of an act of repudiation in which Kirenia Pomares, the mayor of Havana’s Arroyo Naranjo municipality, State Security agents and other people participated. The rally included slogans, posters and graffiti on the facade of the house to erase … Continue reading “Act of Repudiation Against a Family in Havana for Painting ‘Patria y Vida’ on the Wall of Their House”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 February 2021 — The video was released on social networks on Tuesday night and just twelve hours later it already exceeded 200,000 views on YouTube. No one expected anything less: for the first time Gente de Zona, Yotuel Romero and Descemer Bueno, residents outside of Cuba, work in a collaboration with the musicians Maykel Castillo Osorbo and El … Continue reading “‘Patria y Vida’, a Soundtrack for Change in Cuba”
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”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 8 February 2021 — The Hannah Arendt International Institute of Artivism (Instar), founded in Havana by the artist Tania Bruguera, has been selected to participate in the 15th edition of documenta, the prestigious contemporary art exhibition held in Kassel, Germany, currently scheduled for June 18 to September 25, 2022. On this occasion, … Continue reading “Cuban Police Pursue Tania Bruguera While Germany Invites Her to an Art Exhibition”
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, 5 February 2021 — The rebellious rapper Denis Solís, who is serving eight months in the Combinado del Este, the largest prison in Cuba, for an alleged crime of contempt, was transferred this Friday to the work camp inside the prison itself. The authorities lifted the ban on making phone calls and he … Continue reading “Denis Solis Sent to a Work Camp in the Largest Prison in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 February 2021 — The Cuban Youth Dialogue Table returned to the public scene on Monday with the launch of the #Exprésate! [Express Yourself] campaign, which promotes Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to freedom of expression and information. To do this, it released a video featuring the … Continue reading “#Exprésate! (Express yourself!): A New Campaign for Freedom in Cuba”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 January 2021 — Celia González (Havana, 1985) has arrived from Mexico to link Nicaragua and Cuba in an exhibition that reflects the political similarities of both nations. She is an artist who likes provocation, research and data who graduated from the Higher Institute of Art in 2009, but long before … Continue reading ““In Cuba, Our Parents’ Generation is Collapsing””
14ymedio, Havana | 24 January 2021 — A decade ago, alternative art in Cuba had a name, Omni Zona Franca, and its heart beat in the Alamar neighborhood in eastern Havana. David Escalona, who calls himself David D Omni, was part of that group of multifaceted artists – musicians, poets, graffiti artists and performers. After … Continue reading ““The Party Reigns in Cuba in the Style of the Medieval Church””
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, January 13, 2021 — The Gabo Foundation has gotten another scolding from the Cuban government for including three independent journalists in the list of finalists for its annual award. The relationship between the two parties has all but collapsed since the Foundation for a New Ibero-American Journalism, an organization founded by García Márquez in Cartagena, Colombia, … Continue reading “Cubadebate Criticizes Friends at the Gabo Foundation for Supporting the Independent Press”
14ymedio, Havana | 15 January 2021 – On Thursday, the artist Tania Bruguera delivered a complaint against the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) for the content of a broadcast on Wednesday, in which “they distorted, defamed and created negative states of opinion” about her. “They misrepresented my work, they misrepresented who I am, what my … Continue reading “Artist Tania Bruguera Files Defamation Complaint Against Cuban Television”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo/Elizardo Sanchez SantaCruz, 1 January 2020 — After almost forty years of organized civic struggle of the dissident movement in Cuba, the survivors of the half dozen political prisoners who began that struggle in 1983 call for a dispassionate reflection on the general situation of the country and the opportunities of the present … Continue reading “Ten Proposals for Change in Cuba”
