English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
PUERTO PADRE, Cuba, November, www.cubanet.org — The latest collapse in this city, that of the carpenter’s shop El Nivel, and the next that presumably will occur, that of the Plaza Hotel, make the residents of Puerto Padre ask themselves: How long will this town destroy itself without the government doing anything to stop it? Of … Continue reading “Danger, collapse! / Alberto Mendez Castello”
HAVANA, Cuba , October, www.cubanet.org – More than six years ago, President Raul Castro announced that he would guarantee a glass of fresh milk to the majority of children as a result of the plan to distribute this food through a group of bodegas (ration stores), experimentally. He said that as production increased, it would … Continue reading “The Eternal Wait for the Glass of Milk / Osmar Laffita Red”
From the same instant in which General Raul Castro was enthroned as President, he hasn’t stopped warning that “The battle against crime and corruption has no room for doubt.” On many occasions he has been seen at the podium exhorting publicly the members of his cabinet to maintain an “implacable” conduct against the mentioned scourge. … Continue reading “They Criticize Corruption and Traffic in Diamonds / Juan Juan Almeida”
Photo: Cuban doctors showing their diplomas in Havana. From Martí Noticias. By 1998 Fernando had already spent a year and a half working for free in the civil war in Angola where, to get to a clinic in an isolated hamlet, he had to be accompanied by a landmine deactivation expert. Twenty-five years later he is … Continue reading “The Business of Exporting Cuban Doctors / Ivan Garcia”
“Without a strong union there will be no economy,” said Salvador Valdes Mesa, vice president of the Council of State and member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in the recently concluded plenary session of the National Union of Sugar Workers. An approach which clearly expresses the vision of unions as … Continue reading “Are There Unions in Cuba? / Dimas Castellanos”
Last February 6th a note was posted on the digital space Cubanet regarding a TV Martí interview with Lech Walesa, the renowned Polish trade union leader and undisputed trailblazer of the democratic transition in his country, during his recent visit to Miami. This note summarizes some thoughts Walesa put forth apropos freedom in Cuba and … Continue reading “Walesa: Counsel and Realities / Miriam Celaya”
The chicken comes from Canada, the label on the salt says it comes from Chile, the “tropical marinade” is “Made in the USA” and the sugar is from Brazil. The milk has a Dutch cow on the tetra pack, the lemon juice was processed in Mexico and the hamburger meat advertises in large letters that … Continue reading “New Zealand Butter / Yoani Sanchez #Cuba”
Four decades after taking power through revolution in 1959, the factors which made totalitarianism in Cuba possible have reached their limit. The populist measures imposed during the first years after the revolution were accompanied by the dismantling of civil society and a process of government takeover which began with foreign-owned companies and did not end … Continue reading “An Assessment of the Cuban Government’s Management Over the Last Six Years / Dimas Castellano”
By Antonio Rodiles Introduction The Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party just concluded, leaving a trail of questions to be clarified. Most of the televised debates turned into semantic discussions, while a few dealt with practical mechanisms to achieve stated objectives. Listening to the speeches, which at some moments were limited exclusively to mentioning … Continue reading “Economic Transformations, Property Rights, and Cuba’s Current Constitution / Estado de Sats, Antonio Rodiles”
The Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba demonstrates that the paralysis recedes. its place is taken by a new scenario wherein the subject that leads the changes is the same as the one that has held power over half a century. The Cuban government is both past and present, thought that tries to … Continue reading “The Guidelines Project: Simple Enunciations / Dimas Castellano”
The authorities in my country are addicted to using general statistical figures to show the success of its economic, political and social model. I refer to the figures that may seem positive, as the negative ones are ignored as nonexistent. The first appear in big headlines, and all around them, is mounted a great media … Continue reading “Don’t Play With The Ticket List / Fernando Dámaso”
The speech by General Raul Castro Ruz at the regular meeting of the National Assembly was opportunistic and authoritarian. To denationalize Cuban society, as a decision of the State, does not mean much, especially when political discourse doesn’t reflect the real need for a non-state sphere, or limit the unlimited powers of the Party and … Continue reading “The General’s Speech – An Odd Catharsis / Juan Juan Almeida”
The socialist labyrinth consists of so much injustice that even the functionaries joke about being trapped in it. The beauracratic skeins of the tropical Cuban creature have been designed to hinder citizens, to make their daily lives harder, but it is not always possible to demarcate the frontier between the most common of passer-bys and … Continue reading “Who Will Kill the Commander? / Luis Felipe Rojas”
It causes chills to know that the historic leader of the Cuban revolution did research on different crops to improve nutrition for the Cuban people. I don’t want to be a harbinger of ill omen. But reviewing Castro’s “experiments” in 52 years of olive-green government, he didn’t come up with any that were successful. Let’s review the record. Let’s … Continue reading “Fidel Castro’s Experiments / Iván García”
With the evocative name of “Dagorretypes” (in a clear allusion to the former method of capturing an archetype of reality), Dagoberto Driggs Dumoi has set up an exposition in a salon of the Holguin Writers Union a few weeks ago. The display of deficiencies is based on a series of photographs imprinted in metal. They … Continue reading “The Counter-Strength of Dago / Luis Felipe Rojas”
