English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Cardinal Jaime Ortega. Photo: Luis Orlando The talks between the Cuban government and the highest Catholic leadership on the Island, which started last May and led to the gradual release of all the political prisoners from the Black Spring, have not only occupied the attention of the foreign press, but have also generated a great … Continue reading “A Mediation Discussed”
The doctor Oleyvis García, 38, is convinced that God heard her repeated prayers. “Every night I prayed to the Lord, asking him to free my husband, said García, wearing faded light-blue shorts and a shirt in the colors of the Spanish football team. Oleyvis lives in a dusty half-paved village street. Her home is over … Continue reading “Every Night I Prayed to the Lord”
After 134 days without solid food, or even a sip of liquid, Guillermo Fariñas lifted a red plastic cup to his lips and drank a little water. It was 2:15 in the afternoon on Thursday July 8, and from the other side of the glass in the intensive care ward where he was being treated, … Continue reading “The First Sip of Water”
Saint Fermin, the patron saint of Pamplona, is not a saint of devotion in Cuba. But this July 7, 2010, the 52 political prisoners of the Black Spring of 2003 and their relatives will never forget him. After many days of prayers and uncertainties, today something has happened. A statement by Raul Castro himself has … Continue reading “Saint Fermin Whom the Cuban Political Prisoners Will Not Forget”
Placetas, July 5, 2010 I confess that I am one of those who feel justly scorned by the servile and complicit posture of the Spanish Foreign Minister. I commented sincerely while I was reading the official newspaper, Granma, which took up the task of misinforming us about the situation of our brother hunger striker. That … Continue reading “Another Crime Committed by the Foreign Minister”
Everyone knows that the Spanish Foreign Minister has character. No one doubts that Miguel Angel Moratinos is a diplomat of the old school. Of those who don’t try to sugar coat the pill. A guy who speaks frankly and looks you in the eye. But on the subject of Cuba he has achieved little. The … Continue reading “Moratinos Wants to Score a Political Goal”
A tragic fashion. Objectionable to many. The only option the opponents have. They believe that in this way they can force the regime. It is their war cry. But it is not a new weapon. Already in 1972 a 53-day hunger strike took the life of opponent Pedro Luis Boitel. It was before the era … Continue reading “Hunger Strikes, Weapon of Cuban Dissidents”
Ladies in White in one of their marches down Fifth Avenue. Photo: Luis Orlando I don’t want to saddle anyone with adjectives they don’t want. In general, I, for one, have always been rather hesitant to accept labels, especially when the socio-official “taxonomy” is so prodigious in itself in ambiguous definitions that it turns a … Continue reading “We, Dissidents”
An article published by the official Cuban press (Granma, Tuesday June 15, 2010, front page) reports a collateral appeal, or habeas corpus, filed on behalf of Gerardo Hernandez, one of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United after being tried on charges of espionage, as “the final legal recourse for his case,” under the judicial … Continue reading “Unjust or Legitimate?”
A door has opened. Slightly, but there are signs that something is moving. The government of the Castro brothers asked for help in a very low voice. And they decided to ask the Cuban Catholic Church. The calculated strategy has its logic. They had to look for a solution to the 21 years of lethal … Continue reading “The Transition of the Castros”
Cuba today is more of an island than ever before. The discourse which took place this past Sunday, 4th of April, by the Cuban general and president, Raul Castro, has slammed the door to any anticipated reforms. During the closing ceremony of the IX Union of Young Communists (UJC), Castro II, with his hoarse voice, … Continue reading “Raul Castro Closes the Wall*”
I present to you Canaleta. Not the famous fountain in Barcelona, where the fans gather to celebrate the victories of their soccer team. No. This is the Cuban prison, located in the province of Ciego de Avila, some 280 miles east of Havana. Inside the Cuban Canaleta, in a narrow cell, dirty and poorly ventilated, … Continue reading “Canaleta, Year Seven”
On the afternoon of February 27th, Havana looked run-down. A persistent rain engulfed the worn out streets of the Santo Suarez neighborhood with mud. The sky, with its rat-like color, added a sad touch to the city. Around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Laritza and I arrived to the house of the house of the … Continue reading “Martha Beatriz Roque Remembers Orlando”
14ymedio, Havana, July 13, 2023 — Cuban activist Anamely Ramos, now in exile in the US, reported this Wednesday on her Facebook profile that rapper Maykel Castillo Osorbo tattooed the slogan “Patria y Vida” on his forearm and that he threatened to sew up his mouth, as a gesture of protest against the mistreatment suffered in the Kilo … Continue reading “Cuban Activist Maykel Osorbo Threatens to Sew His Mouth Shut Because of Ill-Treatment in Prison”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 9 November 2022 — With the increasingly profound crisis of popular representation in the Cuban dictatorship and a government about to collapse, there will come a time when a power vacuum requires the constitution of a Civic Board composed of people who have earned the respect of the population in their … Continue reading “The First Decrees of the New Cuba”
