English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 11 July 2022 — No one foresaw it, no analyst included it in their forecasts, and even the most optimistic had put aside, years ago, the possibility of a popular protest in Cuba. “People have gotten used to it,” “young people prefer to jump into the sea than to … Continue reading “Cuba: 11J (July 11th), the Day We Swallowed Our Fear”
14ymedio, Havana, 11 July 2022 — Thousands of Cubans in exile joined their compatriots on the island in the surprise and hope entailed in 11 July 2021. A year after those historic demonstrations, 14ymedio asked 15 of them – artists, writers, historians – what did 11J mean, how did they experience it from a distance, … Continue reading “11J (July 11th) Far From Cuba”
EFE (vía 14ymedio), Washington/Havana, 17 June 2022 — The United States Government announced on Thursday that it has taken measures to impose restrictions on the visas of five unidentified Cuban officials due to their links to the trials and imprisonment of demonstrators who took part in the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J) on the … Continue reading “The United States Restricts Entry to Five Cuban Officials Due to the 11J Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 May 2022 — The patience of María Luisa Fleita Bravo, mother of Rolando Vásquez Fleita, one of the detainees from the Havana neighborhood of La Güinera for the demonstrations of July 12*, was exhausted last Monday. That day, at the appeal trial for her son’s 21-year prison sentence for sedition, the desperate woman … Continue reading “Mother of July 11th Protestor in Cuba Explodes During the Appeal: ‘We’re Tired of Holding On’”
EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 25 May 2022 — A total of 519 of the 564 people who have been tried in Cuba for the anti-government demonstrations last July – 92% – have been sentenced and 40 are still awaiting their sentencing, the NGO Justicia 11J reported on Tuesday. According to a statement from the organization, only five … Continue reading “Only Five of 524 Cubans Charged for 11th July (11J) Protests Have Been Acquitted”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 16 May 2022 — On Monday, the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, accused the United States Embassy in Havana of “reviving what happened” in the anti-government protests of last July 11. During his speech at the closing of the extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), in which … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Accuses the US of Trying to ‘Rekindle’ the July 11th Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 May 2022 — Yoan de la Cruz was released this Friday after almost 10 months in prison, family sources and friends confirmed to 14ymedio. After the appeal, the young man’s sentence of 6 years in prison was changed to 5 years in prison without internment. The young man, who on July 11 made the live broadcast of … Continue reading “Yoan de la Cruz, the Young Man Who Broadcast the July 11th (11J) Protests in San Antonio de los Banos, Released From Prison”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 24 April 2022 — Everyone in La Güinera knows Dariel Cruz García as El Bolo and last July he joined a river of people who went out to protest in the streets of that Havana neighborhood. Now, his passion for soccer and for walks with his friends will have to wait because he … Continue reading “During the 11 July Protests the ‘Black Wasps’ Went Crazy Beating and Arresting Anyone in La Güinera”
14ymedio, Havana, April 12, 2022–The University Council of the Universidad de las Artes (ISA) has branded an open letter shared by a group called #FreeAbelLescay as “campaigns that intend to discredit the Revolution.” The group seeks to revoke the sentence of musician Abel González Lescay, a musical composition student at ISA who was sentenced to … Continue reading “Musician Sentenced to Six Years for July 11th (11J) Brands ISA Officials as ‘Ass Kissers’”
EFE (via 14ymedio), London, 29 March 2022 — Cuba intensified “its machinery to control freedom of expression and assembly” during 2021, a year marked by the July 11th (11J) anti-government protests, Amnesty International (AI) denounced in its annual report on human rights. The London-based organization emphasized what it called “repression” during and after the demonstrations. … Continue reading “Cuba Strengthened its ‘Machinery to Control Freedom’ After the July 11th Protests, According to Amnesty International”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 March 2022 — Five protesters from the same family have been sentenced to prison for the protests in El Caney, Santiago de Cuba, on July 11. Along with them, there are three others convicted in the same case, with sentences of between 5 and 12 years in prison. Only one is released … Continue reading “Five Members of the Same Family in Prison for July 11th Protests in Santiago de Cuba”
The long prison sentences that the Cuban courts have been imposing on the July 11th (11J) protesters in Havana are taking their toll on the courts’ public image, even there, where they preserve it. That some people from the ruling party’s orbit, among whom is troubadour of the Revolution, Silvio Rodríguez, who has publicly criticized … Continue reading “July 11th Protests ‘Risked the Nation’s Stability’, Cuban Regime Declares”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2022 — In contrast to the previous trials of July 11 protesters, in which the final sentences were lower than those sought by the prosecutors, the Diez de Octubre Tribunal in Havana, which tried 33 people on January 31, has been relentless. Thus, it has sentenced Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, 17 … Continue reading “Almost 2,000 Years of Jail Time for 128 of the July 11 (11J) Protesters in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, March 14, 2022–The Prosecutor’s Office of Bayamo, in the province of Granma, scheduled for last Friday the sentencing of the July 11th protesters processed in the last known trial. For the group of 17 people, accused of assault, resistance, public disorder, contempt and damages caused by alleged “acts of vandalism” against military personnel and … Continue reading “Prosecutors Seek Up to 16 Years in Prison for July 11th (11J) Protesters in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 11 March 2022 — Reyna Yacnara Barreto Batista will serve four years of correctional work with internment in the women’s prison of Granja 5, in Camagüey, for having taken part in the demonstrations of July 11 (11J). The 21-year-old girl entered the prison this Thursday, accompanied by her parents to the door. According … Continue reading “Four Years of Forced Labor for a Young Woman Attacked on July 11th by a Police Officer in Camaguey”
