English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 26 March 2022 — Brigadier General Rafael Moracén Limonta died this Friday in Cuba at the age of 83, according to the official press, which did not give details about the cause of his death. The soldier served as a naval and air attaché in Angola and also participated in the conflicts in … Continue reading “Cuban Brigadier General Rafael Moracen Dies at 83”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 2 March 2022 — Yudinela Castro Pérez, mother of young Rowland Jesús Castillo Castro, who faces a 12-year prison sentence for demonstrating on July 11, has been transferred to the 100 y Aldabó prison. As reported on his social networks by the activist Arián Cruz, Tata Poet, Castro “has been charged with … Continue reading “Mother of a Young Cuban Accused of Sedition Arrested on Charges of Contempt”
14ymedio, Havana, 11 February 2022 — The Prosecutor’s Office has filed an appeal against the decision of the Isla de la Juventud Municipal Court to acquit three 11J protesters and reduce the sentence of five of them from three years to a quarter. Dayanis Salazar Pérez, daughter of one of the defendants, Ramón Salazar Infante, … Continue reading “Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud Prosecutor’s Office Insists on Convicting the Acquitted Protesters”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 25 January 2022 — Despite the harassment to which they are subjected by State Security and the strong operations at the doors of the courts where the July 11 protesters are being judged, many of their relatives have made it clear that they will not stop asking for justice in loud … Continue reading “Protesters’ Trials in Cuba: ‘Black Berets, Red Berets, It’s Like They’re Going to Bring in Bin Laden’”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 25 January 2022 — When his trial was postponed in December, Cuban artist Abel González Lescay, arrested after demonstrating peacefully on July 11 in Bejucal, Mayabeque, thought he would end up being released. Paradoxically, that seemed to him “bad news,” because it could, in his opinion, “overshadow” the denunciation of the rest of … Continue reading “‘Many in Cuba Haven’t Even Heard About the Hundreds of Political Prisoners’”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 January 2022 — Yosvany Rosell García Caso, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested 30 years in the trial in Holguín for sentencing on January 14, has been on a hunger strike for ten days in protest of what he considers an unjust sentence. As confirmed to this newspaper by his wife, Mailin Sánchez, … Continue reading “Yosvany Garcia’s Health Suffers After Ten Days as a ‘Plantado’ in a Cuban Prison”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 January 2022 — On Sunday, women dressed in plainclothes at the service of State Security detained a group of Ladies in White along with the mothers of some political prisoners, among whom was Bárbara Farrat, the mother of the 17-year-old Jonathan Torres, imprisoned after the protests of the July 11 (11J). “They … Continue reading “Cuban Police Detain Several Ladies in White to Block a Protest”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 January 2022 — The family of Andy García Lorenzo, one of the prisoners for the July 11 (11J) demonstrations in Santa Clara, delivered this Wednesday a letter addressed to the governor of Villa Clara, Alberto López Díaz, to denounce the “damages” that he is causing them. the “systematic harassment” to which he … Continue reading “Cuban Family Submits a Complaint to the Governor of Villa Clara for ‘Systematic Harassment’”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 December 2021 — If there was a collective, massive and omnipresent “organization” throughout 2021 in Cuba, it is the line. It is not that it is a novelty, but neither the failed “Ordering Task”, in force since the first day of the year, nor the end of the harsh mobility restrictions due … Continue reading “Lines as an Instrument of Social Control”
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, Ciudadano Cero, 31 August 2021 — Prefabricated speeches, like the one from Cristina Escobar to Mr. Handpicked [Cuban president Díaz-Canel] on August 19th — in a delayed transmission prudently edited by Cuban TV — always drip the same deceit: the minutes fly by and you only hear the nonsense surrounding the edges … Continue reading “Cristina Escobar’s Stupid Performance Before Cuban President Diaz-Canel / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 December 2021 — Bárbara Farrat Guillén, mother of Jonathan Torres Farrat, one of the young people imprisoned by the protests on July 11 (11J) in Havana, has carried out two 24-hour fasts and confirmed to 14ymedio that she will start a hunger and thirst strike together to the father of her son in … Continue reading “Jonathan Torres’ Mother Will Start a Hunger Strike in a Church to Demand His Release”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 8 December 2021 – On Wednesday, two Cuban opponents recognized with the European Sakharov Prize for freedom of conscience, Guillermo Fariñas and Berta Soler, accused the European Union (EU) of abandonment and threatened to renounce these awards if the community bloc it does not change its policy towards Cuba. In letters sent to the EU … Continue reading “Cuban Dissidents Farinas and Soler Accuse the European Union of Abandonment”
14ymedio, José Ramón Bauzá, Brussels, 14 November 2021 — When November begins in Europe, it brings with it the first days of cold, a prelude to a winter that is already looming; but it also brings to the Old Continent the memory of a past that still chills the souls of Europeans. This week was loaded with symbolism … Continue reading “We Want for Cuba the Same as for Europe”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 7 November 2021 — It’s noon on Saturday and a group of people find themselves together in a cafe on San Francisco Street in Central Havana. Some are taking a break to eat, while they wait in line to get into Maisí, a nearby store where customers can now find consumer … Continue reading “Counter-Revolutionary Conversation While Waiting in Line in Central Havana”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 3 November 2021 — Not even two months have passed since its opening, but Havana’s La Casa de las Conservas (House of Preserves) already looks like a shadow of the establishment that opened its doors in September. Few products, windows almost empty and the discouragement of a clientele who believed that the state business was … Continue reading “The Death Throes of Havana’s Brand New ‘House of Preserves’”
