English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 April 2019 — Minutes before starting they were just a few, but more people were joining, coming by foot, by bike, and many of them with their pets. The unusual caravan brought together some 500 participants on Sunday who, in the streets of Havana, demanded an end the the violence … Continue reading ““We are the voices of those who can not speak””
14ymedio, Madrid, April 1, 2019 — Fourteen young people were incarcerated recently in Caimanera, Guantánamo, for trying to enter the U.S. Naval Base. A rumor had been spreading for weeks that the U.S. would take in any one who tried to leave the island by getting onto the base, and this caused a streak of detentions … Continue reading “Fourteen Cubans Detained near Caimanera to Prevent Exodus to U.S. Base”
Dimas Castellanos, 17 January 2018 — The impact of fundamental rights on the development of society is of such magnitude and significance that it becomes impossible to comprehend the advancement, stagnation or regression of a population without accounting for it. To mark the tenth anniversary of Convivencia (Coexistence), the current issue addresses a central theme … Continue reading “Cuba and Fundamental Rights / Dimas Castellano”
Iván García, 28 January 2019 – When they saw that a ramshackle GAZ 52 Soviet-era truck was parked at the entrance to the Monaco market, in the neighborhood of La Víbora, south of Havana, and began unloading boxes of eggs, a long line quickly formed. The crowd, made up of housewives, retirees, workers in the area … Continue reading “Cuba: Constitutional Referendum, Food Shortage And Social Unrest / Ivan Garcia”
EFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, February 11, 2019 — Cuba recorded a total of 580,828 self-employed workers at the end of 2018, of which 29% are young people, 34% are women, and some 10% retirees who have joined the private sector, according to statistics published this Sunday by state-controlled media on the island. The provinces of … Continue reading “The "Self-employed" Represent 13% of the Cuban Population”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, February 10, 2019 — Nayib Bukele swept to victory in the presidential election in El Salvador. Bukele is an outsider who used GANA as an electoral vehicle, a party of the right that split off from ARENA. He used it, despite the fact that its founder, ex-president Tony Saca, is … Continue reading “Bukele and How to End Poverty, Exodus, and Violence”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 January 2019 — As soon as the first rays of the sun appeared, the inhabitants of Havana began to understand the magnitude of the damage caused by a tornado that crossed several areas of the capital and so far has left three fatalities and more than 170 injured. Havana is paralyzed and … Continue reading “The Tornado Has Come and Gone but How Long Will it Take to Fix This”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 21 December 2018 — The tug-of-war between a government leadership accustomed to impose its will like an absolute monarch and the sectors of the citizenship that are beginning to energetically claim their rights through peaceful resistance as actors of an emerging civil society, has come to the fore in recent months, especially in … Continue reading “The True Path is Not to Weaken the Oppressor but to Strengthen the Oppressed”
14ymedio, Havana, December 19, 2018 — Religious groups that were pleased by the announcement of the National Assembly’s announcement that Article 68, which would open the door to marriage equality, would be removed from the constitutional reform, have announced this Wednesday their intention to mobilize against the Government’s project to include, within two years, that … Continue reading “Supporters and Opponents of Gay Marriage Both See a Government Maneuver on the Constitution Referendum”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 November 2018 — The Cuban doctors in Brazil will have customs advantages to import their belongings, according to a note from the authorities of the Ministry of Public Health, to which 14ymedio had access. The flexibilization has been accompanied by pressure on their family members to convince the doctors to return to the island. … Continue reading “Cuban Government Offers Customs Advantages to the Doctors in Brazil”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 23 November 2018 – Thursday, when the plane of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, landed in Cuba, began like any other day. National newspapers reproduced extensive tributes to the late leader Fidel Castro, at sunrise pharmacies had long lines and in agricultural markets pork meat reached 55 Cuban pesos per pound, or … Continue reading “The Thursday of Sanchez’s Arrival”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 October 2018 — The Cuban Writers and Artists Union (Uneac) is facing complaints from several of its members who have openly protested against the refusal of the organization to debate the constitutional reform project. The most recent to join controversy, and the one who has most openly explained it, is doctor of economics … Continue reading “Rebellion in Cuba’s Writers and Artists Union”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, 6 October 2018 — “We deliver products from stores to your home,” reads an advertisement for one of the most popular classified ad sites in Cuba. “No work, no walking no sweating,” the text adds in a jocular tone. In a country where access to Amazon is non-existent and most stores do … Continue reading “Private Sector Courier Beats Cuban Postal Service”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 20 September 2018 — If something stands out in the interview recently granted to the transnational Telesur by the (not elected) president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, it is the way in which the poverty of his vocabulary is revealed, the inconsistency of his arguments , the triteness of a discourse as … Continue reading “Interview With Díaz-Canel: Neither So Presidential Nor So Much “Media Appeal””
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 14 September 2018 – High school students who aspire to enter the University to train as journalists will no longer have to demonstrate the high academic achievement required in the past. As of the next academic year, 2019-2020, simply passing the entrance exams and “aptitude test” will be sufficient, according to … Continue reading “Cuban Government Demands More Fidelity and Less Ability From Journalism Students”
