English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Just three days ago, I was at the Miami airport, I did not want to miss the arrival of Berta Soler to this city. Discrete and humble, there they were, sitting in a corner, a small group of those women who from their immensity, some time ago I named “My Brides in White”; then I … Continue reading “My Brides in White / Juan Juan Almeida”
By: Ignacio Estrada Havana, Cuba. There have not been many Cubans since the immigration reforms who have taken a plane to the democratic world, to fulfill the role of true doves or pigeons, messengers from a nation that through them sends a message to each person who is a lover of freedom. The country is … Continue reading “Ordinary Cubans for a Democratic World / Ignacio Estrada”
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Yoani Sanchez, MJ Porter in New York City. Photo from Penultimos Dias Many of my dear readers have written asking for a comment on the long tour of Yoani Sánchez through several countries, and the travel abroad of other figures of internal dissent such as Eliecer Avila, Rosa María Payá, Berta … Continue reading “To Root Out the Remnants / Miriam Celaya”
It would have pleased me greatly to be able to join my friend Guillermo Gortazar in the presentation of his book, “Cuba: Freedom Road,” which I recommend you read. Sadly, I sent my apologies to all attendees, especially to Esperanza Aguirre, Berta Soler and to Mr. Gortazar. Our interview with Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, … Continue reading “What I Wanted to Say Last Night / Rosa Maria Paya Acevedo”
In Cuba celebrating the birthday of someone as special as Laura Pollan has become a sin that the Castro brother’s regime won’t tolerate. Right now, at her home on Neptune Street in Central Havana there is a full manhunt. The women who managed to get there, some fifty, and those who for several days have … Continue reading “Today, February 13, is Laura Pollan’s 64th Birthday / Mario Lleonart”
After receiving 20 refusals for an Exit Permit over the last five years, yesterday, Sunday, the blogger Yoani Sanchez crossed the border of Jose Marti airport in Havana to fly to Brazil. A dozen countries are included in this trip to accept academic invitations and attend social networking and media events. If, as has been … Continue reading “A Very Old Trip With Enormous Wings / Reinaldo Escobar”
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”
Although the boy forgot to put a note under the bed for the Three Kings, the father wrote: I don’t want any more governments that rob children of their innocence. It’s a few minutes before 2:00 when I walk into Neptune Street, towards the home of the late Laura Pollan, made God put here in … Continue reading “The Banished Wise Men Return to Cuba / Agustin Lopez #Cuba”
The city of Miami surprised me. Many of its buses pay tribute to someone who is a symbol of defending civil rights in this country. On my daily comings and goings through its neighborhoods, I found that detail. Right behind the bus driver’s seat, there is a small plaque with the details. Miami does it, … Continue reading “The Seat of Rosa Parks / Luis Felipe Rojas #Cuba”
How You Can Help Hurricane Sandy has devastated the city of Santiago de Cuba and caused severe damage in several towns in the east of the country. The images of destruction speak for themselves, but the cameras barely manage to capture a share of the drams. The great tragedy runs on a plane difficult to … Continue reading “Cubans Need Help Recovering From Hurricane Sandy / Yoani Sanchez”
Without having been able to go and join the Ladies in White, I didn’t feel like publishing anything today. Until I found out that my experience also needed to be told: Why, if the Cuban opposition is peaceful and I haven’t seen any Ladies expressing themselves in a way not suitable for the ears of children, … Continue reading “The Tokonoma in the Wall / Lilianne Ruiz”
Of short stature, with blue eyes and a firm voice, Laura Pollán was for years one of the most visible faces in Cuba of the Ladies in White. A teacher by profession and a civic activist by choice, she participated in the creation and strengthening of the most important dissident group on the island today. This … Continue reading “First Anniversary of the Death of Laura Pollán / Yoani Sanchez”
For years Neptune Street in Central Havana, in the capital of the country, has been turned into a stage for the orchestrated Acts of Repudiation against the “Laura Pollán Toledo Ladies in White Movement.” The present month will not stray far from its dismal history, according to what its own members describe, along with some … Continue reading “September Returns: a Month of Repression Against the Ladies in White / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
This Monday several Cuban dissidents started a hunger strike which has already been joined by 25 people throughout the country. At a press conference, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello explained that that the strikers are demanding the immediate release of Jorge Vázquez Chaviano, age 42. In 2011 this activist was sentenced for the supposed crime of … Continue reading “25 Cuban Dissidents on Hunger Strike / Yoani Sanchez”
In 1915, the wives of the members of the Independent Party of Color managed something the Ladies in White have been denied in the 21st century. Article originally published in Diario de Cuba. Marking the 100th anniversary of the crime committed against black Cubans in 1912, data and facts previously relegated to history have come … Continue reading “Ladies in Black, An Ignored Antecedent / Dimas Castellano”
