English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 11 July 2020 — A brief note in the state-owned newspaper Granma, reports on a meeting between Cuban president Díaz-Canel and scientists and experts from prestigious Cuban institutions, held to discuss issues of food and nutritional sovereignty. The article offers an analysis of the problem that has always affected the Cuban … Continue reading “‘Scientific’ Meetings Don’t Put Food on Cuban Tables”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernández, Havana, 13 May 2020 — “Without the ration card they won’t give me the card,” Osmany laments outside a store on Calle Neptuno, in Central Havana. This 39-year-old electrician, originally from the province of Guantánamo, has no legal residence in the capital and, with the coronavirus crisis, he can no longer buy in state … Continue reading “Two Cans of Sardines in Exchange for Use of the Covid-19 Card”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 30 March 2020 — On March 23rd, in his presentation on the Roundtable broadcast on all Cuban television channels, Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, reported about new official measures that would deepen controls to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Island. Among them, it was established that … Continue reading ““We are Isolated But Not Protected”: The Truth About an Isolation Center in Cuba / Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 March 2020 — The Cuban Government has announced a series of measures through which it intends to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which already affects 40 people, with more than a thousand in quarantine in hospitals. On Tuesday more measures will be detailed, but these are the main standards contained in … Continue reading “In Cuba Lines and Travel are Regulated, Schools and Gyms are Closed, Tourists and Nationals Returning to Cuba are Quarantined”
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 13 March 2020 — A Cuban resident in Santa Clara, Villa Clara province, is the fourth confirmed case of coronavirus in Cuba. The patient’s wife, a Bolivian citizen based in Milan, traveled to the Island from the Lombardy region, in Italy, according to a statement from the Ministry of Public Health read this Thursday on … Continue reading “Fourth Confirmed Coronavirus Case in Cuba, Where Shortage of Soap is an Aggravating Factor”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 29 February 2020 — Over the weekend the inhabitants of the capital have learned about the existence of the “popular movement for a more beautiful, clean and healthy Havana.” The initiative, which goes into effect on March 1, has been presented as coming “from the community,” but it has emerged from … Continue reading “Havana Will Charge Fines of up to 3,000 Pesos for Littering in the Public Right-of-Way”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, December 5, 2019 — A group of elderly men meets in what was once a park, commenting on the news of the day as they recall a bygone era which they refer to simply as “communism.” Each of them is reconstructing a country based on his own personal recollections. The portrait … Continue reading “A Future Cuba as Imagined by the Director Eduardo del Llano”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 27 September 2019 — ‘The spinning top’ happens once a day, crammed with sick people or those who believe they are. “It is a bus that travels among polyclinics looking for feverish cases, patients with dengue symptoms, and they take them all to a hospital. It can be the Fajardo or … Continue reading “The Other Face of the ‘Energy Measures’ in Cuba”
14ymedio, Jancel Moreno, Havana, 27 August 2019 — It’s called “bonebreak fever” because it causes severe pain. This August 26th is International Day for the Fight Against Dengue. Despite the intense official campaign against this disease, secrecy and lack of transparency have weighed against the information citizens receive about the virus. The economic crisis of … Continue reading “A Day for the Fight Against Dengue Fever”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 26 July 2019 — The commemoration of the 66th anniversary of the assault on the Moncada Barracks, on July 26th, was the confirmation that Miguel Díaz-Canel is, definitely, the one chosen to remain in command of the country as a stand in for the historical generation. The president himself implied in his … Continue reading “’The 26th’ of Cuban President Diaz-Canel”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escober, Havana, 20 June 2019 — The draft Electoral Law, published in the official media on Thursday, confirms the most adverse predictions about the official rejection of any political reform. The text, which the deputies of the National Assembly of People’s Power will no doubt approve, maintains, with a new wording, the “ethical foundation” … Continue reading “Cuba’s New Electoral law Consolidates the Monopoly of the Communist Party”
Cubanet, Luis Cino Álvarez, Havana, 11 March 2019 — Oftentimes while traveling in other countries, independent journalists are challenged for, as some say, being “hyper-critical” and “lacking objectivity.” Thus, their dispatches are received with doubts and skepticism. But it turns out that the detractors of Cuban independent journalism do not harbor good intentions. Among those … Continue reading “Why Do Independent Journalists Matter? / Cubanet, Luis Cino”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 May 2019 — A few hours after the National Center for Sexual Education (Cenesex), led by National Assembly deputy Mariela Castro, denounced that the independent march called for this Saturday in the Central Park of Havana had been organized from Miami, some activists have suffered harassment of the Political Police to prevent … Continue reading “Cenesex and the Political Police Coordinate to Block the LGBTI March”
Somos+, Germán M. González, 2 May 2019 — In its broadcast on May 1, 2019, NTV reported that six million Cubans attended the parade celebrating International Workers’ Day. This is impossible given it would amount to more than fifty percent of the island’s population, or a much higher proportion if you discount the sick, disabled, … Continue reading “May 1, Exaggerations and Contradictions / Somos+, German Gonzalez”
14ymedio, Ernesto Santana, Havana, 9 April 2019 — It was expected that Donald Trump’s administration would cancel the agreement that the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) and Major League Baseball (MLB) authorities had achieved. As soon as it was signed last December, Senator Marco Rubio announced that he would act to undo it. Honestly, it didn’t … Continue reading “The Impossible Agreement”
