English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, February 26, 2019 — The preliminary results from the referendum on the new Constitution confirm what was expected: that the new Constitution was going to be approved by the majority and that the process was going to make clear the increase in citizen dissent by putting a number to that group … Continue reading “2.5 Million Cuban Voters Distance Themselves From the Constitution”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 February 2019 — An unusual bus procession travels around centrally located G Street in Havana starting in the morning this Sunday. Pedestrians passing through the street, also known as Avenue of the Presidents, cannot help associating the volume of buses with the electoral process that this Sunday convenes more than 8 million Cubans … Continue reading “In Cuba, Markets Attract More People Than Polling Places Do”
Iván García, 14 January 2019 — “That cold morning of February 15, 1976,” recalls Sergio, a retired worker, “I was one of the first to vote in the referendum that was held to ratify the drafts of the Constitution and the Law of Constitutional Passage. I believed blindly in Fidel Castro and neither I nor … Continue reading “I’M VOTING NO, a Campaign Attempting to Make History in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 February 2018 — Cuban authorities refused to allow six activists to travel to Argentina to participate in a workshop on “electoral process,” according to information provided to 14ymedio this Sunday by Julio Aleaga, member of the independent platform Candidates for Change (CxC). “There were ten activists planning to travel to Argentina this weekend, … Continue reading “Six Cuban Activists Denied Right To Leave The Country For Reasons Of “National Security””
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, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 10 April 2017 — Facing the times that we live in can be an unpleasant task. And doing it without discrimination based on ideological viewpoints and with immediacy, takes visions of daring. This is the challenge that the Center for the Application of Political Marketing and Political assumes with the election of the “politician … Continue reading ““The Politician Of The Week,” A Citizens’ Initiative”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 3 April 2017 – In any part of the world, the first option a politician has to participate in power is usually through elections, but in Cuba this path seems the most Utopian. However, on the eve of the start of the electoral process that will culminate with the formation of … Continue reading “Cuban Opponents Who Bet On The Ballot Box”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 January 2017 — Faithful, hard-line and knowledgeable of the ultimate secrets of dissidents and ministers, Carlos Fernandez Gondín made his mark on the Ministry of Interior (MININT), the most feared Cuban institution. But shortly after taking over the portfolio in 2015, life played a bad trick on him and he had a stroke, … Continue reading “Time Takes Another Life In Cuban Politics / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 December 2016 — The political career of the psychologist Susely Morfa González has been meteoric. This Tuesday she was chosen to be a deputy in Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power and a member of the Council of State, barely two years after she burst on the public scene. Morfa was born in … Continue reading “The Meteoric Rise Of Susely Morfa González / 14ymedio”
Iván García, 28 November 2016 — It was half past ten at night in the privately-owned Perla Negra bar in Havana’s populous La Viñora neighborhood and thirty minutes by car from the center of the city, where the locals were drinking mojitos, caipirinhas and even stout. No one had yet learned of the death of … Continue reading “The Death of Fidel Castro: What Awaits Us Now? / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 26 November 2016 — At midnight no one was talking about the biggest news story of the year along crowded Tenth of October Avenue. A group of drunks was downing white rum from little cardboard cartons, cheap hookers were plying their trade in a tiny park in Santa Catalina, and four transvestites in … Continue reading “Fidel Castro Dies for Real / Iván García”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 August 2016 – Regime opponent Julio Aleago reported to this newspaper that the police detained several activists on Saturday morning to keep them from attending a meeting of volunteer observers associated with the Candidates for Change platform. The meeting was to be held at the home of Juan Moreno in Havana’s Vedado district, … Continue reading “Police Arrest Several Activists From Candidates For Change / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 8 April 2016 — In a country where, under the fifth article of the Constitution, the Communist Party is “the highest leading force of society and the State” members of the Central Committee of that organization should be known by all citizens and, of course, access to the highest authority should … Continue reading “One-Third of Cuba’s PCC Central Committee is Hand Picked With No Process / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
Iván García, 20 April 2015 — Hildebrando Chaviano could pass for Obama if the US president’s secret service wanted to use him as a double. At his 65 years, Chaviano shines with the ability to lead. He likes to intone with the voice of a radio announcer, and doesn’t hide his affection for politics. Like … Continue reading “Cuba: Hildebrando Chaviano Tried / Ivan Garcia”
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)”
