English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana 10 September 2021 — “We are waiting for the time of your retirement, what people want is a break (…) pick up and go assassin.” That is how forceful the lyrics of ‘Que se vayan ya’ [Get Out] are, the new song by Willy Chirino and the reggaeton artists Lenier Mesa, El Micha (who … Continue reading “‘Get Out!’, the New Anthem from Willy Chirino for the Freedom of Cuba”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 14 June 2021 — After eight days in solitary confinement, rapper Maykel Castillo, known as Osorbo, was able to speak this weekend with his colleague Eliexer Márquez Duany, who is called El Funky. Osorbo is imprisoned in the Cinco y Medio prison in Pinar del Río, awaiting trial for the alleged crimes of “attack,” “public disorder” … Continue reading “Maykel Castillo Was Able to Speak From Prison After Eight Days Incommunicado”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 28 May 2021 — With last Wednesday’s transfer of the communicator and activist Esteban Rodríguez to the Valle Grande penitentiary, there are now six activists jailed awaiting trial for their participation, on April 30 in Obispo Street in Havana, in an act of solidarity with the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The … Continue reading “The Six Cuban Activists Arrested on Obispo Street Have Been Transferred to Prisons”
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”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 April 2021 — Dozens of activists were repressed in a protest in the park on the corner of Obispo and Aguacate, in Old Havana. The protesters were trying to reach the home of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, only a few blocks away. The artist is on his sixth day of a … Continue reading “Dozens of Activists Demonstrate in Old Havana, Shouting “Patria y Vida” (Homeland and Life)”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2021 — Since last November 27, when some thirty artists managed to force a meeting with the Vice Minister of Culture, Fernando Rojas, after the unprecedented demonstration of some 300 people before the ministry, the question has divided activists: should the Cuban opposition recognize the Government as an interlocutor in a dialogue that guides … Continue reading “Should the Opposition Dialogue with the Cuban Government?”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 12 March 2021 — The San Isidro Movement (MSI) explained during a press conference details about the National Dialogue initiative proposed by the Patria y Vida [Homeland and Life] platform, inspired by the song by Yotuel Romero, Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Osorbo and El Funky. Iris Ruiz, Michel Matos, Amaury Pacheco and Luis … Continue reading ““The National Dialogue Will Allow Us to Move from Complaint to Strategic Action””
14ymedio, Havana, 1 March 2021 — The Cuban government’s musical response to the video clip Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life) has not been long in coming. Two weeks after the release of the song, which harshly criticizes the regime in Havana, the island’s official media have broadcast this Monday Patria o Muerte por la Vida (Homeland or Death for … Continue reading “‘An Act of Repudiation With Music’ is the Official Response to ‘Patria y Vida’”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 February 2021 — José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of Unpacu, denounced this Saturday that his house in Santiago de Cuba, headquarters of the opposition organization, continues to be besieged by State Security, which prevents the residents from circulating in the area. “The communists, the henchmen, the instruments of tyranny remain here, from … Continue reading ““They Assaulted the Block with Almost 200 Agents, Trucks and Water Trucks,” Denounces Jose Daniel Ferrer”
14ymedio, Havana, February 24, 2021 — A group of former military officers from the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Cuban Ministry of the Interior have published a manifesto in which they declare themselves to be conscientious objectors, denouncing the Cuban regime for having unleashed “a war against the people and their economic initiatives.” The document, … Continue reading “Former Cuban Officers Urges Military Not to Follow Repressive Orders against the Population”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2021 — The activist Anyell Valdés Cruz and her family were victims this Monday of an act of repudiation in which Kirenia Pomares, the mayor of Havana’s Arroyo Naranjo municipality, State Security agents and other people participated. The rally included slogans, posters and graffiti on the facade of the house to erase … Continue reading “Act of Repudiation Against a Family in Havana for Painting ‘Patria y Vida’ on the Wall of Their House”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 February 2021 — Covid-19 offers no truce — 923 cases and 5 deaths in the last report — but Cuban authorities seemed more concerned this Thursday about the surprising success of the video clip Patria y vida, which has gone viral on social networks. All the official media, starting with Granma, the daily of the Communist Party, dedicate several … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime and its Propaganda Apparatus Prefer Death to Life”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 February 2021 — The video was released on social networks on Tuesday night and just twelve hours later it already exceeded 200,000 views on YouTube. No one expected anything less: for the first time Gente de Zona, Yotuel Romero and Descemer Bueno, residents outside of Cuba, work in a collaboration with the musicians Maykel Castillo Osorbo and El … Continue reading “‘Patria y Vida’, a Soundtrack for Change in Cuba”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernández, Havana, 27 June 2018 — The markets closed ahead of time, in state offices employees managed to leave early, and Havana’s Sports City was filled for the concert of Cuba’s own Gente de Zona and Italy’s singer-songwriter Laura Pausini this Tuesday night. That was when the rains came and stole the show, a downpour like … Continue reading “Gente de Zona Requested "Applause" for Diaz-Canel at the Concert with Laura Pausini”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 December 2017 — At just 37 years of age, Haydée Milanés (b. 1980, Havana) is one of the best voices on the national scene and the singer who has received the most praise for her work in the last year. The artist has achieved success with her album Amor, in which she takes on … Continue reading “Cuban Faces 2017: Haydée Milanés, Singer”
