English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Photo: Claudio Fuentes Madan The line for the bus at Coppelia is a special place, one of the corners so eloquent that if it disappeared one day Havana wouldn’t be the same. Yesterday at ten at night I was waiting for my P4 bus when a woman standing next to me with her daughter commented … Continue reading “Subtleties of the Jaw / Claudia Cadelo”
At age nine, a fall from a considerable height would give a resounding twist to his life. It would prevent him from ever walking again. He had to endure endless surgeries, which turned his adolescence into a cruel and painful time. Despite all this, perhaps the God whom he invokes so frequently rewarded him with … Continue reading “Practical Instructions for Creating an Enemy / Ernesto Morales Licea”
There are certain Cuban laws that, from the looks if it, have a quality as native as it is original. A peculiarity so ours, it even takes us back to the rebel periods, when it was necessary to send subversive messages in absolute confidentiality. It is all about the laws that seem to have been … Continue reading “Laws in Lemon Juice”
Exactly how do minors become affiliated with the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution? When you turn 14 years old they begin contacting you and requiring your presence at meetings of the organization and volunteer works. The parents (legal guardians) don’t have to consent or reject it. Consent is implied, there is no legal … Continue reading “Rooted Custom”
Most Cubans belong to social and mass organizations. While they don’t expressly declare their willingness to belong to them, neither do they argue against it. This fact leads to the presumption that consent in these cases is inferred or assumed. There are a number of assumptions, however, that exclude consent because of a gap between … Continue reading “Freedom to Decide? (II)”
To consent means to express, explicitly or implicitly, agreement with something. A decision that is legally binding, because one assumes rights and obligations. This way, the consent becomes a requirement of the capacity to act. The capacity to consent is subject to restrictions. Principally, when the consent is given by a non-emancipated minor, a deaf-mute … Continue reading “Freedom to Decide? (I)”
