English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Gina Montaner narrates the end of life of her father, the man who knew how to listen, the antithesis of Fidel Castro 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, 23 November 2024 — Just by reading the first pages of Wish Me a Good Journey we already know the ending: this is a book that ends with death. We enter into … Continue reading “The Last Journey of Carlos Alberto Montaner, the Most Lucid Cuban of Our Times”
14ymedio, Madrid, December 5, 2023 — A month has passed since Prime Minister Manuel Marrero visited China on a trip to Belarus and Russia, and his exclusive interview conducted by the CGTN television channel, owned by the Government of Beijing for international broadcast. The prime minister reveals some details about how he plans to attract more … Continue reading “A Cruise Ship and a Chinese Hotel in Cuba, Prime Minister Marrero Promises Beijing to Attract Tourists”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 24 September 2023 — When a group of hallucinating historians proposed to name Fidel Castro the “fifth discoverer of Cuba,” graphic humorist Alen Lauzán (Havana, 1974) sharpened his pencil. If, in his country, which he left in 2000 to go live in Chile, reality insists on being as absurd as possible, … Continue reading “‘The Cuba That Touches Me Is Free Because I See It From Humor’”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 6 August 2023 — A kind reader of the blog asks me why the Cuban economy is having so much difficulty getting ahead and improving the living conditions of the population. And my first warning is the mention of the embargo/blockade of the United States as a limiting factor to … Continue reading “The Economic Competition of the Territories, the Tip of the Dying Cuban Economy”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 21 December 2022 — When it comes to the analysis of the Cuban economy, the same conclusion can always be reached: the communist model of intervention and maximum control of the means of production has caused enormous inequalities and injustices in society. But in the absence of a Gini index … Continue reading “Economic Inequalities in Cuba are Increasing”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, 27 December 2021 — I remember the first time I read, back in 1996, the Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot by Montaner, Vargas Llosa Jr. and Plinio Apuleyo. I had no difficulty in identifying [Brazilian activist] Frei Betto as the protagonist of this work, a character who circulates throughout … Continue reading “Frei Betto and the ‘Excessive Appetite’ of Cubans”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 1 December 2021 — The police have found a homeless person huddled at the corner of Paseo Avenue and 11th Street in Havana’s Vedado. “Please give me something to buy a pizza, I’m hungry,” insists the woman, speaking to the visitors of the brand new Fidel Castro Ruz Center, living … Continue reading “An Irreverent Tour of the Temple Dedicated to the God of the Cuban Revolution”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 August 2021 — Housing construction in Cuba hasn’t had a good year either. In the first semester of 2021, just 9,323 homes have been completed, 21% of the 44,652 planned for that period, according to the Minister of Construction, René Mesa Villafaña, in an interview with the State newspaper Granma, which dedicated an article this … Continue reading “Cuban State Built Just 21% of Planned Housing Units”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 17 July 2021 Mr. President, Nobody, except psychopaths, likes to be perceived as an inducer of terror. That changed abruptly on Sunday, July 11. Esteban Ventura and Conrado Carratalá, two famous murderers in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, returned at full speed and mingled with the revolutionaries. The story … Continue reading “Open letter to Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 May 2021 — Between last September and the middle of this month, the Logistics Business Group of Cuba’s Ministry of Agriculture (Gelma) has more than three million dollars in merchandise in its network of agricultural supplies and equipment stores, as announced this Tuesday by executives of the state company which also identified … Continue reading “Cuba: The High Price of Feed is Ending Family Pig Farming”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aqui, Havana, 28 May 2020 — It was in the 1980s, durng one those trips to the provinces which I took as a journalist for the magazine Cuba International, accompanied by the Luis Manuel Fernández, better known as Pirole. In the midst of the boredom of those hotels with no diversions, … Continue reading “From ’Protoplin’ to Sugarcane Juice”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 14 August 2017 — With so much secrecy, so much myth and legend, it is not even known for sure if this August 13 was the actual date of the 91st anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth. His life was so surrounded by exaggerations and lies that even the moment he was born and … Continue reading “The Teachings of ‘Don Castro’”
Cubanet, Tania Diaz Castro, 13 March 2017 – This 13 March is the 49th anniversary of the Great Revolutionary Offensive, that economic project that emerged from the little brain of the “Enlightened Undefeated One,” to ruin the Cuban economy even further. Although each year the so-called Castro Revolution was a real disgrace for all Cubans, … Continue reading “The Day Castro Buried Capitalism / Cubanet, Tania Diaz Castro”
Antonio Castro, son of the bearded man who governed Cuba for 47 years and nephew of the president hand chosen by his brother, told U.S. channel ESPN, “I don’t think it’s a bad thing that our baseball players leave the country to go play in the best league in the world.” Tony Castro, of course, … Continue reading “Antonio Castro, or the Diplomacy of Baseball / Ivan Garcia”
Without McDonald’s, Burger King or KFC, fast food par excellence in 21st century Cuba consists of fried food and croquettes made from unknown ingredients. Throughout Havana there are thousands of street vendors specializing in rustic cooking. They sell fried food and heavy croquettes. Some like Ignacio prepare the coating for their fried items with wheat … Continue reading “Cuban Fast Food / Ivan Garcia”
