English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
It’s very difficult to get used to living in a country which gives off the image that nothing is happening, when in reality everything points to the fact that were are walking down the eternal path to nothingness. The country falls apart and the single party rises. People die of desperation and dismay while the … Continue reading “Small, Ruinous, Immense Country / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Yesterday afternoon when I went to visit a friend I saw an enormous slogan written on a wall on 13th Street between L and K in Vedado (and with the cost and scarcity of paint!). I immediately thought: It’s true, for fifty-two years we haven’t had a truce. When we are not running after potatoes, … Continue reading “There is No Truce / Rebeca Monzo”
It’s beautiful to sit in front of the TV and contemplate the end of the Revolution. “Cuba’s Reasons,” they call it on Monday nights, this material clearly anonymous. My blog, which appeared for the first time on the small screen, is also called Monday. Post-Revolution Mondays. A slightly obsolete title. The Revolution is no longer … Continue reading “WEBDITORIAL / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The contractor Alan Gross, 61, remains in jail. Raúl Castro’s government definitively sentenced him to 15 years. The Gross case was shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. And it brought back the Cold War era. After 15 months in a cell and in legal limbo, the judge handed down the sentence. Something similar happens to other … Continue reading “Alan Gross or the Political Chess Game between Cuba and the US / Iván García”
While in Egypt hundreds of thousands of people decided the fate of their country by speaking out through strong and sustained public protests against a 30-year dictatorship, in a local Havana setting a dispute was being resolved by a diametrically opposite philosophy dictated by survival: the battle for the potato. The comments might seem like … Continue reading “Brief Account of an Undesirable Demonstration / Miriam Celaya”
Like a soap opera, the marches and riots in Tunisia and Egypt were followed in Cuba by people committed to the future of their country, like the opposition, independent journalists and bloggers. Those citizens wishing for political and economic changes saw on TV the biased opinions of local experts, and they listened on short-wave radio … Continue reading “When Will Change Reach Cuba? / Iván García”
Last night at a gathering at the home of friends, there was a lot of talking and speculating about the cries of freedom that came from the Middle East. This made all of us who were there question the different implications of why on my planet apparently nothing happened, and no one decided to take … Continue reading “Cries of Freedom / Rebeca Monzo”
Far from clearing out any doubts, the recent speech given by the President of the State Council, Raul Castro, just created more confusion and worry among the population. Cubans fear that the rationing/supply booklet will be removed. The man who is also Prime Minister says that this supplement is confused with a “social achievement that … Continue reading “Nothing About Subsidies and Freebies in the Renewed Cuban Socialism / Laritza Diversent”
Glancing at the TV I was caught by a phrase from Zenaida Romeu, director of the chamber group that bears her name. It’s Tuesday and the energy of this woman, a guest on the program With True Affection, Two… had me sitting in front of the screen while the potatoes burned on the stove. She … Continue reading “The Children / Yoani Sánchez”
In reality, I like the haunted nights, and once a year a Halloween wouldn’t be a bad thing. But… Here on my planet, the nights are no longer bewitched, in fact almost all are full of witches or witchcraft. They tell me that to celebrate Halloween in other countries, the children dress up, go out … Continue reading “Night of the Witches / Rebeca Monzo”
My friend tells me that he arrived late and tired to his house, and he leaned back on the living room sofa. Then his usual friends started arriving. He led them to the basement, where his cellar was. Three spotless rustic tables and benches were all the furniture of the room, which had a very … Continue reading “Julito’s Dream / Rebeca Monzo”
Notice of price cuts My produce stand, located at the corner of Árbol Seco and Maloja in Central Havana, had a very promising sign a few days ago. It read as follows: “Informing the population” From the production results and the availability of agricultural products, price reductions were approved on all MAE small stands in … Continue reading “Agro, Another Efficiency That Doesn’t Arrive / Miriam Celaya”
Psychologist and independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas, who was on hunger strike for four months while he demanded freedom for 26 political prisoners, is of the opinion that a step has been taken in favor of the political pulse that sustains the Cuban opposition in the face of the Castro government. But Farinas is not completely … Continue reading “Guillermo Fariñas: I believe the European Union should maintain its Common Position on Cuba / Iván García”
It is organized for the weekends in the city of Havana. It takes place in public spaces, avenues or wide plots of undeveloped land. Trucks arrive and improvise points of sales- some sell directly from their vehicles, on boxes, on the floor. The offers vary: viands (potato, sweet potato, yucca, bananas), fruits, vegetables, meat derivatives, … Continue reading “The Capital Dresses Itself for the Fair”
Nobody disputes the fact that baseball is the island’s passion. It is the only spectacle that is capable of filling entire stadiums to the point of bursting. During these days, in a Spring that caresses us already, the framboyan trees begin to release their red flowers, as if they were being guided by an invisible … Continue reading “Cuba, Passion for Some Good Football”
