English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Note: A translated transcript of the video can be downloaded here. For years I’ve wanted to ask Eliécer Ávila certain questions. Since I first heard him speak and present himself in January of 2008, I was tempted to ask about what it really meant to be a member of Operation Truth, what role did a … Continue reading “Operation Truth / Yoani Sanchez”
From Estado de Sats The Cuban writer Angel Santiesteban, friend and good father, arbitrarily sentenced to 5 years in prison for a fabricated crime. WE CAN’T ALLOW IT!! Friend Angel, thank you for your companionship and your unconditional presence. Angel and his son Eduardito next to Antonio G. Rodiles in the hospital during the illness … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban, Amigo #YoTambienEscriboInclinado / Angel Santiesteban”
Although I have not written anything for quite a few days, a thousand ideas are turning over in my head that I cannot seem to organize enough to put down in black and white. As usual, events on my planet are annoying and even painful, and although far from the theatre where they are taking … Continue reading “Days of Silence / Rebeca Monzo”
The boy stands to the side of the entrance, on his left is his girlfriend who has accompanied him to say goodbye. He carries a bag over his right shoulder and looks around as if startled. On the floor a dark suitcase where he’s packed maybe a few clothes. Today I arrived at a very … Continue reading “A Stupid Answer, Heaven is not Congested / Agustin Valentin Lopez Canino”
Brick by brick Eliécer builds the pen for the pigs, washes the floor with a hose and feeds the plump sow that recently gave birth. A neighbor passes by and shouts to him, “Hey! ‘Your friend’ Alarcón is no longer in Parliament!” The words are out of sync with the situation, bringing a dose of … Continue reading “This Is Not Spoken Of / Yoani Sanchez #Cuba”
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In Santiago de Cuba it is just dawning. Today, Friday October 26, 2012, just 48 hours after the horrible devastation left behind Hurricane Sandy, I got up early to pray and write. Amid the sadness for so many families left destitute, as Eliseo Diego said of the man with the bundle … Continue reading “To My Cuban Brothers and Sisters in Exile / Padre Jose Conrado Rodriguez Alegre”
The media coverage (the nonsense of international reporters excitedly applauding on my cellphone until its batteries nearly ran out) is overwhelming: everyone is convinced that Raul’s reforms deepen and expand (metastasis of Marxist materialism?), because Cubans can finally buy and sell expensive stuff like houses and cars, and even the travel/immigration promise was kept earlier … Continue reading “Hostages of the Revolution / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The narrow streets of old Havana are a blazing market. Past two in the afternoon, the sun doesn’t let up on the sellers of cheap goods, prostitutes in their element and old musicians looking for a few convertible pesos entertaining some chubby Norwegians at lunch. It is a passageway of scoundrels and survivors. On Obispo … Continue reading “In Havana A Debate on Democracy / Ivan Garcia”
Some people in Cuba are already placing bets. Everyone knows that within five to ten years power could change hands. The unknowns are whether the successor will have the last name of Castro, and if the inefficient political and economic system will be preserved. Raúl Castro crafted a law limiting time in political office to … Continue reading “On the Day After, Who Could Replace the Castros? / Ivan Garcia”
Site manager’s note: This letter is not from one of our regular bloggers. It is from a young Cuban who has emigrated to Bulgaria, and was written in response to a post on (the now “paused”) blog “La Joven Cuba,” detailing why young people should not emigrate from Cuba. The letter is “going viral” on … Continue reading “Letter From a Young Man Who Has Left / Ivan Lopez Monreal”
I’ve been reading the whole imbroglio generated by Cuban State security agent Percy Alvarado with his article about Obama’s imperialist interference in Cuba. First he accuses everyone in sight of being pro-Yankee puppets, and later apologizes for having shoveling shit with such energy over those he wasn’t authorized to. None of which is new to … Continue reading “The Costly Frivolities of Percy Alvarado / Haroldo Dilla Alfonso”
Sprinkled with enthusiasm and soaked in technology, from early this morning, despite the inclement weather, bloggers, alternative journalists, twitterers, as well as the usual comrades from State Security who don’t come inside but who watch over us from the sidewalk in front and both corners, we arrived at the familiar site of Estado de Sats. … Continue reading “The Sweet Blue Bird of Immediacy / Rebeca Monzo”
Translator’s note: This article by Regina is from the blog of Ernesto Hernandez Busto,, Penultimos Dias. It is a response to a commentary by Ernesto, “The Gap,” which appears below in translation. The gap exists; but it also existed in the GDR the day before the wall fell, and in Romania, just as they started … Continue reading “Opening the Gap / Regina Coyula”
Right now there are two Cubas. The visible, of official gridlock, popular disenchantment, and an unknown future. And that in which what happens in the few spaces in which the regime allows bare-chested debate, and where those who think differently aren’t called “mercenaries”, nor are they accused of being agents of the United States. It … Continue reading “Carlos Saladrigas and the Two Cubas / Iván García”
To Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada. President of the National Assembly of People’s Power You recently echoed a report by the CIA – sacrilege! – to assert that Cubans perceive a per capita annual income equivalent to $ 9,900.00 USD, which would place us just behind Brazil, the world’s sixth largest economy. This joke from “the … Continue reading “Ricardo Alarcon and Creole Humor / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”