English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Cubanet, Norma Whiting, West Palm Beach, U.S., 29 April 2017 – The news, later refuted, of a supposed Cuban flag burning in recent days by Venezuelan demonstrators who oppose the government of Nicolás Maduro provoked diverse reactions on social networks and some Cuban websites. Many Cubans, mostly residing overseas, immediately expressed their indignation against Venezuelans … Continue reading “The Dangers of Hatred / Miriam Celaya”
Ivan Garcia, 11 April 2017 — Right now the most closely guarded secret in Cuba is the protocols for succession of the nation’s president, army general Raul Castro, after his retirement in February 2018. I will tell you what is rumored among some officials close to the tight-lipped team of advisers and influential relatives in the … Continue reading “Is Raul Castro in Hibernation Mode? / Iván García”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 14 April 2017 – Cuba just suspended the sending of a group of 710 health professionals who would have worked on the “More Doctors” mission in Brazil, our of fear of desertions, according to a report from the Brazilian press informed by that country’s Ministry of Health. The decision not to … Continue reading “Cuba Stops Sending Doctors To Brazil For Fear Of Defections”
Cubanet, Augusto Cesar San Martin and Rudy Cabrera, Havana, 23 January 2017 – In 2014, Cuban doctor Nelson Cabrera Quinta, his wife and two teenage children were declared illegal occupants of his home located at No. 1705 – 200th Street in the Havana neighborhood of Siboney. The house has been part of the family patrimony for … Continue reading “We are very afraid / Cubanet, Augusto Cesar San Martin and Rudy Cabrera”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 18 January 2017 — Abandoned to their fate on islands, in jungles and at borders, thousands of Cubans have not recovered from the surprise measure of Barack Obama’s administration that frustrated the trip for which they sold their few belongings in Cuba to venture to reach American soil. With a soft … Continue reading “Thousands Of Cubans Stranded Along The Continent Put Their Hope In Trump / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Miami, 12 January 2017 –The Obama administration today put an end to the “wet foot/dry foot” policy, which allowed Cubans to obtain permanent residence one year after arriving in the United States, even if they arrive illegally, as long as they manage to touch land in the country. According to an official of the … Continue reading “Obama Eliminates Wet Foot-Dry Foot Policy For Cuban Immigrants”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 16 October 2016 — Yohan Batista Martí spent nearly four months hiding to avoid persecution by the authorities of the Cuban Medical Mission in Brazil. Like him, thousands of Cuban doctors have fled to the United States before the date of their return to the island. Escaping or marrying a local resident … Continue reading “Escape Or Get Married: The Dilemma Of Cuban Doctors In Brazil / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
Dimas Castellanos, 5 October 2016 — With the landing in Santa Clara of an Airbus A-320 from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood on August 31st, Jet Blue restarted commercial flights between Cuba and the United States, which were suspended in 1962. To accompany the general travel permissions, the increase in the level of remittances, better access to communications, the … Continue reading “Two Aspects of the Reintroduction of Flights to Cuba / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Pedro Armando Junco, Camagüey, 13 September 2016 — The struggle of a small community of neighbors in Camagüey against the allocation of a plot of land at the corner of their building to an official from the Ministry of the Interior, has resulted in a small victory, as they have managed to stop the … Continue reading “Camagüey Neighbors Manage To Stop Work On An Official’s House / 14ymedio, Pedro Armando Junco”
Ivan Garcia, 30 June 2016 — “Beyoncé” — that’s what she likes to be called — prostitutes herself for less than two dollars on the outskirts of the old bus stop of Víbora, 30 minutes by car from the center of Havana. By day she’s an “emerging teacher” in a secondary school, that is one … Continue reading “Cuban Homosexuals: Excluded From The Army And Taboo In The Dissidence / Iván García”
14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, Havana, 13 June 2016 – After months of waiting and amid growing expectations, a few weeks ago the distribution of cars and computers at subsidized prices to Public Health workers began. The distribution, which for now is limited to Havana, has raised passions due to the small number of vehicles allocated … Continue reading “Distribution Of Cars And Laptops To Doctors Begins / 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada”
14ymedio, Manuel Cuesta Morua, Havana, 8 May 2016 — The only certainty in Cuba in political terms is that the government accumulates a lot of power but lacks leadership. The kind of leadership required when a country faces an economic challenge, or a cultural, sociological, information, knowledge and generational one, plus the obvious dangers of any new … Continue reading “57 Years Later: Towards a New Contract for Cuba (Pt. 2) / 14ymedio, Manuel Cuesta Morua”
In the 1960s, close to 30,000 young men were detained in forced-labor camps. The mistreatments that took place in these camps, known as Military Units to Aid Production UMAP, in the name of “social hygiene,” testify to the homophobic component of the Cuban Revolution. Abel Sierra Madero, From Letras Libras, January 2016 — Between 1965 … Continue reading “Academies To Produce Macho-Men In Cuba / Abel Sierra Madero”
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 15 January 2016 – Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was the result of a political and economic crisis of capitalism, driven by opportunists and embezzlers. His first speech about 21st Century Socialism sustained by a model of economic development beyond oil, in a participative and progressive democracy with production through self-management and … Continue reading “In Venezuela Chavismo-Fidelismo Failed, Not 21st Century Socialism / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”
14ymedio, Havana, 11 December 2015 — While security forces were deployed in the streets of Havana to prevent the celebration of Human Rights Day, Fidel Castro wrote a letter to the glory of the Venezuelan president, published today by the daily Granma. Under the anodyne title, Fidel’s Message to President Nicolas Maduro, Cuba’s former president joins “the … Continue reading “Fidel Castro Congratulates Maduro Without Referring To His Crushing Defeat / 14ymedio”