English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
A hustle and bustle filled the air as the ringing of the “wake up” bells resonated throughout the prison. The scene was similar to that of a rooster fight, right at the most exciting moment of the battle. For a second, I could have sworn I was in a dream and that all of these … Continue reading “First Days in Prison / Pablo Pacheco”
Remembering the happy days is not a problem; forgetting the days of captivity is nearly impossible, for the wounds deeply scarred my soul. Now that I have more time to meditate, I ask myself: how did I survive so much human misery? A misery which is not only linked to the penal population, for I … Continue reading “Scars in the Memory / Voices Behind The Bars / Pablo Pacheco”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 February 2024 — The former prisoner of the Black Spring and Cuban activist, Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, died this Saturday of a massive heart attack at the age of 57, in the city of Syracuse, in the state of New York, United States. During his exile, the independent journalist maintained an intense … Continue reading “Juan Carlos Herrera, Former Prisoner of the Black Spring, Dies in the United States”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “Citizen Demand for Another Cuba – 536 Signatures and Counting”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “For Another Cuba – Citizen Demand for Another Cuba”
In 2003, 75 Cubans were arrested in four days. Their crime? Being pro-democracy political activists, fighters for human rights, or simply journalists independent of the hegemonic line of the only Cuban political party, the Communists. Pedro Argüelles Morán was one of them. Seven years later — in the same arbitrary way as the imprisonments — … Continue reading “Journalism as a Living Faith: Telephone Interview with Pedro Argüelles Morán #liberanlosya / Claudia Cadelo”
After being released on parole and hustled off to Spain with a dozen political prisoners of conscience from the cause of the 75 of the Black Spring of 2003, along with their families, and to my right and left Oleivys and Jimmy, my wife and son, I am finally writing my first lines for the … Continue reading “The Great Dream Fulfilled”
The doctor Oleyvis García, 38, is convinced that God heard her repeated prayers. “Every night I prayed to the Lord, asking him to free my husband, said García, wearing faded light-blue shorts and a shirt in the colors of the Spanish football team. Oleyvis lives in a dusty half-paved village street. Her home is over … Continue reading “Every Night I Prayed to the Lord”
I present to you Canaleta. Not the famous fountain in Barcelona, where the fans gather to celebrate the victories of their soccer team. No. This is the Cuban prison, located in the province of Ciego de Avila, some 280 miles east of Havana. Inside the Cuban Canaleta, in a narrow cell, dirty and poorly ventilated, … Continue reading “Canaleta, Year Seven”
Cubanet, Luis Cino Álvarez, Havana, 15 May 2018 — Omara Portuondo, Ballet Nacional, Pablo Milanés, Haydée Milanés, Los Van Van, Teatro El Público, Aldo López Gavilán, Jorge Luis Pacheco, Orquesta Faílde, Teatro El Público, Orquesta del Liceo de La Habana… The top drawer talent went to Cuba, to the Kennedy Center, to the Artes de … Continue reading “Cuban Festival in Washington: One More Victory for Castroism / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez”
One cold evening with a persistent drizzle, the poet and journalist Raul Rivero in his apartment in the Havana neighborhood of La Victoria, told me that the worst thing in prison was when it came time to sleep. Every night, while sleeping in his damp prison cell in Canaleta, Ciego de Avila, he was a … Continue reading “Cuban Prisons: History Repeats Itself / Iván García”
[Note: This post is from 2009 — see note below] Around midnight I arrived at the bus terminal in Havana, a three-story building, painted blue and white. It was built in the late 40’s and inaugurated in 1951. It takes up a block, and more than 100 buses a day leave for the 14 Cuban … Continue reading “Waiting Room / Iván García”
After sorting through various possibilities, the Spanish journalist Lali Kazas and I agreed to rent a car and head to Ciego de Avila. It’s the day they’ve announced the releases and extraditions to Spain of five political prisoners of conscience, among them is Pablo Pacheco, who used to call me from the prison to talk … Continue reading “The Castros’ Chess Game”
It was pouring on the morning of February 23, 2003. The independent journalist Pablo Pacheco and I had arranged a meeting at the Central Park in Havana. Pacheco, a resident of Ciego de Avila province, nearly 500 kilometers from the capital, was passing by the city. We would talk a lot by phone about our … Continue reading “Meeting Once Again Postponed”
These have been remarkable days. From the time it was known that the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos had on his agenda the topic of releasing a significant number of political prisoners, people started to sit up and take notice. Never before has a telephone been as important for me. The uncertainty was making … Continue reading “The "Castro List"”