English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
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)”
It was Fidel Castro who, in one of his his typical vitriolic outbursts, during a speech on January 2, 1961 (in what was then the Civic Plaza, today Revolution Plaza), applied the epithet “worms” to those Cubans who dared to criticize his olive green revolution or who decided to leave their homeland. That day he … Continue reading “Good Worms and Bad Worms”
