English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
To the President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, the words freedom, prosperity, love and family are plain and simple “persuasion” that, when it comes time for manipulation and pressure, have more of an effect than fear. He didn’t lie last Friday when, in feverish runaway of egotism and … Continue reading “The General Gains Time / Juan Juan Almeida”
CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org- As if it were serialized novel, the Public Prosecutions in the city of Cienfuegos just started what we could say is their third season, when on August 6 two citizens were processed and convicted in one of those covens — taking as its amphitheater the crowded Calzada de Dolores Avenue — … Continue reading “Public Trials, a Clear Message to Citizens / Alejandro Tur Valladares”
On Saturday July 20, as I was getting ready to go out with my niece, among the TV news items I heard was a piece about a town that was going to celebrate the provincial commemoration of — at this point I assumed it would be Children’s Day, which was to take place on the following … Continue reading “We Are Still Olive Green* / Yusimi Rodriguez Lopez”
Fidel Castro and Cecilia Sanchez It is said that in his childhood he liked listening to news on the radio about the Spanish Civil War alongside the family cook. At the height of WWII he sent a letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt letting him know that in an area near his house there were enormous … Continue reading “A Survivor Named Fidel Castro / Ivan Garcia”
HAVANA, Cuba, www.cubanet.org Recently Cuban “parliamentarians” discussed the issue of prostitution among young people. According to the press official, they drafted strategies to face this evil, as well as pandering, widespread today all across the Island. It is known that, since 1959, the regime openly proclaimed that women would not have to sell their bodies, … Continue reading “The "Yumas" Pay Between 80 and 120 CUC per Night / Leon Padron Azcuy”
A group of Cuban-American congressional representatives has formally requested that Washington deny a visa to Fidel Castro’s heir, Antonio Castro Soto del Valle. Rather than being concerned about the son’s entry to the United States, the island’s government seems more focused on his father’s exit from this world. Yes, the father’s farewell. The former Commander-in-Chief’s curious … Continue reading “Everything Ready for Fidel Castro’s Funeral / Juan Juan Almeida”
The then-president of the Cuban Book Institute could have been one of my witnesses in the trial that was set up against me, but our political differences and his official functions did not permit him to put himself on the side of justice; which I never understood, because on the day that I might be … Continue reading “Prison Diary XXVII: Iroel Sanchez, Militant in his Interests / Angel Santiesteban”
With the decline of sports facilities on the island, the Cuban government it taking drastic measures in order to keep sports alive, based on already failed communist ideals. A situation that corners the Castro government so that for once, it will open the doors to professionalism. Havana province has the majority of high-performance sports facilities, … Continue reading “Cuba Will See Itself Forced to Open Amateur Sports to Professionalism / Anddy Sierra Alvarez”
Like Deng Xiaoping in China, General Raul Castro is using capitalism to save Cuba’s brand of socialism. It worked in China. The party and its ideological stalwarts achieved results. Not only did the market and capital investments transform China into the second largest economy on the planet, creating spectacular economic growth, the party also performed … Continue reading “Camouflaged Capitalism / Ivan Garcia”
Some official, unofficial and foreign media outlets have been subject to a certain government manipulation, serving as an echo chamber by focusing special attention on the fight against corruption, which seems to have the become the principal challenge facing the Cuban president. It was for this reason that in 2009 he created the office of … Continue reading “Degeneracy Among Cuban Military Officers/ Juan Juan Almeida”
The last time I was in the farmers’ market, a couple of days ago,I saw various things on offer which I don’t recall seeing since I was a kid. It was in the mid-80’s that this market – at least in Artemisa, where I live – had its “golden age”. But the economic strategists disrupted … Continue reading “Waiting Patiently for What Never Comes / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
By Julio César Gálvez The battle for power in Venezuela deepens as the date fixed by the Constitution of this country for the swearing-in of the reelection Hugo Chavez takes office nears: January 10. Chavez has been in Cuba since December 11, when he underwent his fourth operation for a pelvic cancer diagnosed 18 months … Continue reading “He did it! / Julio Cesar Galvez #Cuba”
Trying to analyze the strategy of the Castro brothers is an exercise in pure abstraction. Their way of moving tokens on the political board tends to go against logic. The incarceration of 75 dissidents ordered by Fidel Castro in the spring of 2003 was a miscalculation.Foreign pressure led General Raul Castro to correct the error. … Continue reading “Cuba: The Time to Fill the Jails Came Again / Ivan Garcia #Cuba”
Sandy’s passing across the eastern provinces and the catastrophic consequences have left me with the following questions: Why must all solidarity by necessity pass through government channels? Why don’t the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) ask their members to bring support to the offices of each Zone? Why doesn’t the Federation of … Continue reading “Solidarity Bureaucratized / Reinaldo Escobar”
In Cuba there are a ton of professionals and technicians who have graduated from universities and who are not directly linked to profitable enterprises, but to political, administrative and bureaucratic tasks. In addition, due to recent drastic cuts in state employment, there are thousands of them who are not working in their professions. Since professional … Continue reading “Idle Human Capital / Fernando Damaso”
