English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 25 August 2021 — In the worst days of the Special Period crisis, when I was asked during a Miami radio program if I thought that people in Cuba were going to take to the streets, I replied: “The only street where people could launch themselves would be the Malecón, trying … Continue reading “And After July 11th, What Comes Next?”
14ymedio, Havana, August 12, 2021 — Cuban activists, inside and outside the island, encouraged by the success of the July 11 demonstrations and the apparent weakness of the regime, faced with its worst crisis since 1959, have announced a national strike this August 13th. This decision does not attract unanimity within the opposition, and not just because … Continue reading “Cuban Opposition Calls for a National Strike on August 13”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2021 — On the avenue of the Malecón heavily guarded by the police and under the intense summer sun, the second official call to support the Government was held this Thursday in Havana since the protests against the Cuban regime broke out on July 11. Low attendance and health questions marked the … Continue reading “Cuba: Lots of Police, but Few Ordinary People, in the Official Caravan on the Day of the ‘Maleconazo’”
Dimas Castellano, el Blog de Dimas, 13 July 2021 — “It is the ultimate breakdown of the system. It had been coming for months. The curse has irreparably been broken. The Cuban people were tired of the state acting with impunity. It has been sixty-years of abuse and humiliation. This is not an economic crisis; … Continue reading “Cuban Protests: The Curse of Fear Has Been Broken, the Final Collapse of the System Has Begun / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 July 2021 — The playwright and actor Yunior García Aguilera said that Silvio Rodríguez promised to “advocate for the release of all the prisoners who participated in the protests.” The young artist met the official singer-songwriter this Wednesday in his recording studios – called Ojalá for its most famous song – after having urged him to … Continue reading “Silvio Rodriguez Will Ask for ‘Amnesty’ for Cubans Arrested Who ‘Were Not Violent’”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 July 2021 — Cuban filmmaker Fernando Pérez said that to overcome the crisis in Cuba that led to the July 11 protests a “new political language” needs to be built without violence and without the dark “acts of repudiation,” he stressed in an interview with AFP news agency. The multi-awarded director, winner … Continue reading “Cuba Needs a New Political Language, Says Filmmaker Fernando Perez”
14ymedio, Madrid | 14 July 2021 — Voices of international Cuban artists, critical of the repression unleashed by the regime since Sunday’s protests, are multiplying. Among them are those of figures formerly related to the regime, and those of figures who have been very prudent in expressing their political opinion are striking, for example the … Continue reading “Los Van Van, Chucho Valdés, Leo Brouwer and Other Cuban Artists Take ‘The People’s Side’”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 July 2021 — The wave of arrests in Cuba for the protests that began this Sunday continues to come to light. Several complaints from civil society collected by 14ymedio and others, which are trickling in from social networks and instant messaging applications, confirm that there are more than 5,000 people imprisoned or being … Continue reading “More than 5,000 Detained in Cuba, Including 120 Activists and Journalists”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 1 June 2021 – Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara does not plan to pause or take a rest in his art or his activism. A few hours after leaving Calixto García Hospital, where he has been for almost a month without hardly any outside communication, he told 14ymedio that he is now ready to demand … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara: ‘The Torture I Suffered Was Psychological’”
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 May 2021 — On Thursday, Cuban Prisoners Defenders (CPD) launched a manifesto in support of the artists participating in the song Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life) who have been besieged by the Cuban government in recent weeks, and called for an end to the repression. In the text, they refer mainly to the artist Luis Manuel … Continue reading “Manifesto Supports the Artists of ‘Patria y Vida’ Repressed by the Cuban Government”
PRESS RELEASE 4.21.2021 PADILLA’S SHADOW Commemorative Act in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Poet’s Confession A virtual performance that will be streamed on the internet and social media (Available now) (In Spanish with English subtitles) On April 27, 2021, a choral reading of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla’s legendary confession will be streamed … Continue reading “Padilla’s Shadow: Commemorative Act in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Poet’s Confession”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 April 2021 — The group, known as 27N (27th November) because of the date they held a protest in front of the Ministry of Culture, has released a manifesto this Monday in which they express their idea of Cuba the country, and summarize the four fundamental demands through which to achieve it. … Continue reading “Cuba: 27N Makes Public Four Demands to Build the Country it Dreams of”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2021 — The Cuban Center for Human Rights (CCDH) is forceful in its December report: the year that has just ended has been “the hardest” for the Island. The reasons, according to the organization led by Marta Beatriz Roque, are not only due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but to “the scarcity, the … Continue reading “2020 Was the Hardest Year for Cuba, Says Human Rights Group”
14ymedio, Ines Casal, Havana, December 7, 2020 — Fernando: If you find it disrespectful for me to address a letter to you in this way, I ask your pardon. And I assure you, I do it this way because I have no other way to communicate with you. Who knows if you won’t read this … Continue reading “Letter to Fernando Rojas, Cuba’s Vice-Minister of Culture”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 11 March 2020 — Seventeen years ago, while the world was focused on watching the invasion of Iraq, the Cuban regime took advantage of the distraction to strike the repressive coup that came to be called the Black Spring. This March, as the international media dedicates its headlines to the … Continue reading “Are We Facing A New Black Spring In Cuba?”
