English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Iván García, 19 April 2017 — When evening falls, Yainier and a group of friends who live in El Canal, a neighborhood in the Cerro municipality, 20 minutes by car from the center of Havana, grab a table by the door of an old bodega, and between swigs of rum and Reggaeton, they play dominoes well … Continue reading “For Ordinary Cubans, Democracy Isn’t a Priority / Iván García”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Havana/Miami, 11 January 2017 — While in the United States Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, made it clear that human rights will be an important part of Washington’s policy toward Cuba, the island’s police forces carried out repressive actions in different parts of the country. “The increase in … Continue reading “Cuba’s New Minister of the Interior Inaugurates His Tenure With a Repressive Wave Across the Country / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, 5 October 2016 — The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) reported Wednesday that, during the month of September, there were at least 570 arbitrary arrests for political reasons, more than the 517 similar arrests of the previous month. The monthly report of the independent organization, headed by activist Elizardo Sanchez, … Continue reading “Cuban Human Rights Group: 570 Arbitrary Arrests in September / 14ymedio”
The preference of trying political opponents for common crimes is not new. Thus is prevented the sullying of the regime’s image while giving cover to those who assert that in Cuba there are no political prisoners. Cubanet.org, Augusto Cesar San Martin, Havana, 10 July 2015 – The preference of trying the Cuban government’s political opponents … Continue reading “Opponents Tried for Common Crimes / Cubanet, Augusto Cesar San Martin”
Announcements made by United States President Barack Obama and his administration have sparked an intense controversy about the Cuban conflict. Many opponents and civil society activists, within the island and in exile, have lamented, especially, the lack of transparency and the unilateral and unconditional nature of the new measures. It is indisputable and indispensable that … Continue reading “Forum for Rights and Freedoms / Estado de Sats (see endnote)”
All said and done, more than half of a list of 53 political prisoners that nobody knows are already free, completely secret and that nobody we ask clarifies for us. Of the fifty who were out, I have the list of 36 prisoners who were surprised to be free again, without formal charges and under … Continue reading “The Sword of Raul Castro / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Castroneirics: Is there Cuban literature after the Revolution? Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo This story started long before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, on January 1st1959. In the beginning it was not the Word, but the War. And in the war Fidelity is the utmost value, its betrayal usually paid with death, whether civil or political, … Continue reading “Castroniria / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The Democracy Bridge Program of the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) and internal dissidents activists have organized the Second Democratic Forum on International Relations and Human Rights, which they are planning to coincide in Havana with the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The Summit … Continue reading “Activists and CADAL Prepare a Forum Parallel to the CELAC Summit in Havana”
Eighty activists of the Independent and Democratic Cuba party (CID) in Palma Soriano denounce the government for its incompetence, its abuses, corruption and deceit. This government is leading the population to despair. It mistreats and exploits citizens. It harasses and punishes the opposition without reason or justification. There are political prisoners because of the fear … Continue reading “Eighty Palma Soriano CID Activists Accuse the Dictatorship / CID”
People of Cuba, people from Camaguey, and all compatriots: We are a group of peaceful human rights activists and pro-democracy opponents who today have met in the already emblematic Saratoga neighborhood in the city of Camaguey, where after fruitful exchange and work meeting, we are launching to the world this historic declaration in which we … Continue reading “Declaration of Saratoga / Jorge Luis Garcia – Antunez”
The writer Angel Santiesteban must turn himself in this Thursday to serve a five-year jail sentence. By Wilfredo Cancio Isla This morning, Thursday, February 28, 2013, a 46-year-old writer, considered one of the pillars of narrative of his generation, awarded the highest literary prizes of his country, will go to jail. Angel Santiesteban Prats must … Continue reading “My Imprisonment is an Embarrassment for the Cuban Intelligentsia #YoSoySantiesteban / Ángel Santiesteban”
Points of the declaration from Virginia. The signatories below, members of a countless number of organizations which make up the Central Opposition Coalition, an entity affiliated with the Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Front of Civic Resistance, have gathered this Wednesday, 3rd of October 2012, in the already historic and war-hardened neighborhood of Virginia, in Santa … Continue reading “A Declaration from Virginia / Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “Citizen Demand for Another Cuba – 536 Signatures and Counting”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “For Another Cuba – Citizen Demand for Another Cuba”
Site manager’s note: The information about the extensive repression leading up to the Pope’s visit is coming to us through Twitter, emails, Hablalo sin miedo (Speak without fear) and other routes, other than blog posts. Raul Garcia Jr., over at Pieces of the Island, has prepared an excellent summary of the most recent reports. Keep … Continue reading “(PARTIAL SUMMARY) Wave of arrests and threats sweep across Cuba just hours before the visit of Pope Benedict. #PopeCuba”
