English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 29 November 2016 — The dictator Fidel Castro died last Friday at the age of 90. The extensive news coverage was to be expected. After all, he was both the object of the most romantic, idealized love and the most scathing, caustic hatred. Gone was the man who, over the last six decades, … Continue reading “Fidel Castro: The Tyrant Exits but the Damage Remains / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 30 December 2016 — The Granma Memorial, an open-air exhibition that shows the namesake* yacht along with other vehicles and weapons, reopened Thursday in Havana after undergoing a comprehensive restoration to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the expedition led by Fidel Castro. The site, located on the grounds of the former … Continue reading “Museum Dedicated To The Yacht ‘Granma’ of Fidel Castro’s Expedition Reopens / EFE, 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, 2 January 2017 – With a military march and a “parade of the fighting people” the new year dawns in Cuba. This time there were no tanks in the Plaza of the Revolution, but thousands of Cubans were taken there from their workplaces in order to demonstrate unity with the Communist Party and … Continue reading “Sounds Of War To Drown Out The Economic Crisis In Cuba / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
Rafael Leon Rodriguez, 30 December 2016 — One more year of the young third millennium is about to conclude and give way to the next, 2017, the fifty-eighth of the totalitarian and one-party regime that, under the omnipotent power of the Castros, has controlled the Cuban archipelago since the middle of the last century. This year, … Continue reading “End of Year Declaration / Rafael León Rodríguez”
Cubanet, Miriam Leiva, Havana, 6 December 2016 — Raul Castro wants Cubans to commit their support to major economic restrictions in 2017, during the complex period of the transfer of power from the so-called historic generation, through the signing of an oath to the definition of the Revolution and Socialism promulgated by the deceased leader, … Continue reading “The Ubiquitous Dictator / Cubanet, Miriam Leiva”
14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo, Quito, 14 December 2016 — I wake up and I see a report on the arrival of a group rafters on the coast of Miami. I’m surprised by the open declaration of one of them, who confesses having left Cuba in search of a better future, but says he has nothing against … Continue reading “Cuban Adjustment Act or Upheaval Act / 14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo”
Iván García, 28 November 2016 — It was half past ten at night in the privately-owned Perla Negra bar in Havana’s populous La Viñora neighborhood and thirty minutes by car from the center of the city, where the locals were drinking mojitos, caipirinhas and even stout. No one had yet learned of the death of … Continue reading “The Death of Fidel Castro: What Awaits Us Now? / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 26 November 2016 — At midnight no one was talking about the biggest news story of the year along crowded Tenth of October Avenue. A group of drunks was downing white rum from little cardboard cartons, cheap hookers were plying their trade in a tiny park in Santa Catalina, and four transvestites in … Continue reading “Fidel Castro Dies for Real / Iván García”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 14 November 2016 — A friend, a US citizen, once told me that it does not really matter who wins the US elections. “It does not depend so much on who heads the government, because the system is what really works.” I have heard that phrase from more than one person, … Continue reading “The New Man Does Not Know How To Lose / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
Cubanet, Ernesto Perez Chang, Havana, 9 November 2016 – The elections in the United States, with the victory of the Republican Donald Trump and the defeat of the Democrat Hillary Clinton, contrary to the predictions of most polls, has captured the attention of the world’s public opinion in recent hours due to the decisive nature … Continue reading “Opponents of the Cuban Regime React to the Election of Trump / Cubanet, Ernesto Perez Chang”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Mario Penton, Havana/Miami, 8 November 2016 – With the presidential election this Tuesday, not only is the fate of the United States in play. Its results will also affect the future of the island. In Miami, the South Florida city that Cuban exiles have turned into their capital since the sixties, the … Continue reading “Trump in Miami, Clinton in Havana / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar and Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 November 2016 — On Thursday morning former political prisoner Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique died in Havana at age 74 after a long battle with cancer. The funeral of the regime opponent, sentenced to 18 years in prison during the Black Spring of 2003, will take place at 7:50 pm on Friday after a wake … Continue reading “Former Cuban Political Prisoner Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique Dies / 14ymedio”
Ivan Garcia, 7 September 2016 — In the autumn of 2002 at an event in a Havana theater, the dictator Fidel Castro sent a clear message to independent journalists and regime opponents in an effort to downplay their importance. Referring to dissidents, he said, “We are not going to kill cockroaches with canon-fire.” A growing … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Brings Back the Weapon of Fear / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 23 May 2016 — It was a warm autumn night in 2015. The Mikasuki casino, in a swamp in the Everglades, thirty minutes from downtown Miami, was crammed full of anxious people, frantically pressing buttons on the slot-machine screen. The cushioned floor absorbed the footsteps of good-natured assistants who manoeuvred about like the captain of … Continue reading “The Castros Will Miss Obama / Iván García”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 20 February 2016 — Obama will go to Havana in March. The trip is part of his change of policy regarding the island. He wants, as John Paul II asked, for “Cuba to open itself to the world and the world to open itself to Cuba.” That includes, as suggested by … Continue reading “Obama and Raul Castro: Encounters and Disagreements / 14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner”
