English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2024 — After several days of rumors that led to fears for the life of José Daniel Ferrer, his daughter was finally able to visit him this Tuesday in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, where she confirmed that he is still alive. The situation in which he finds himself, … Continue reading “The Cuban Opposition Warns of a Risk to Ferrer’s Life, As Happened With Alexei Navalny”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 November 2023 — The political prisoner Félix Navarro was transferred this week from the Agüica prison to the Faustino Pérez hospital in Matanzas. The health of the opposition leader, coordinator of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy, had deteriorated in recent weeks, according to family reports. Navarro’s wife, Sonia Álvarez, showed … Continue reading “Cuban Political Prisoner Felix Navarro Is Transferred to a Hospital in Matanzas”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 23 February 2023 — The mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo — a Cuban prisoner of conscience who died in 2010 while on a hunger strike to demand more human conditions of imprisonment — demanded ’justice’ for her son this Thursday, 13 years after his death. “Thirteen years later, we are fighting … Continue reading “Remembering the Cuban Dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Who Died on a Hunger Strike in Prison”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 August 2022 — Commander, former political prisoner and doctor Rolando Cubela died at the age of 90 on Tuesday morning in the Miami hospital where he had been admitted for several weeks, according to family sources. A member of the Rebel Army, the guerrilla leader was part of a conspiracy to kill … Continue reading “Rolando Cubela, the Cuban Commander who Conspired to Kill Fidel Castro, Dies in Miami”
14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, 8 May 2022 — In the film Nadie Escuchaba [Nobody Heard] about the Cuban political prisoners by the great filmmaker Néstor Almendros, there is a segment of just two minutes with an old woman, which this Mother’s Day makes our hearts tremble. Clara Abraham, Boitel’s widow, recounts with infinite sadness the last days … Continue reading “Cuba: Mother’s Day and Amnesty”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 January 2022 — Yosvany Rosell García Caso, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested 30 years in the trial in Holguín for sentencing on January 14, has been on a hunger strike for ten days in protest of what he considers an unjust sentence. As confirmed to this newspaper by his wife, Mailin Sánchez, … Continue reading “Yosvany Garcia’s Health Suffers After Ten Days as a ‘Plantado’ in a Cuban Prison”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 9 January 2022 — For the crimes of public disorder, contempt, assault, and insulting national symbols, 13 protesters who participated in the peaceful protests on July 11th (11J) in the municipality of Artemisa, were sentenced on Friday; sentences ranged from 4 years of ’limited liberty’ to 12 years in prison. … Continue reading “July 11th Protesters in Artemisa, Cuba Receive Sentences of Up to 12 Years in Prison”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 December 2021 — Lady in White, Sissi Abascal, who participated in the July 11th protests in Cuba was transferred to prison on Monday, after a failed appeal of her six-year jail sentence. Annia Zamora, the activist’s mother, suffered “severe chest pain” at the Jovellanos Tribunal in Matanzas, where the sentence was ratified, … Continue reading “Cuban Sissi Abascal’s Appeal is Denied and Her Six-Year Prison Sentence is Confirmed”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 November 2021 — The Lady in White Sissi Abascal Zamora was sentenced this Thursday to six years in prison for her participation in the protests on July 11 (11J) on the island. Abascal, who is also a member of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy, was accused of the alleged crimes … Continue reading “Cuban Lady in White Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Participating in the 11J (11 July) Protests”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 7 November 2021 — I have not been able to find out, for sure, why Raúl Castro authorized the appearance of Carlos Lage asking for “deep changes.” Lage is the former Cuban vice president purged a few years ago along with former Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. I have asked … Continue reading “Cuba and the Protests of November 15”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 September 2021 — The Municipal Prosecutor’s Office of Jovellanos requested a sentence of six years of deprivation of liberty for the Lady in White Sissi Abascal Zamora after her participation in the demonstrations on July 11 (11J). According to the official document, dated September 15, which 14ymedio had access to before the opposition opened it … Continue reading “Cuban Prosecutor’s Office Asks for Six Years in Prison for Lady in White Who Participated in 11 July Protests”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 September 2021 — The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 12 years in prison for Roberto Pérez Fonseca, detained after the July 11 protests in Cuba, during which he tore up a photograph of Fidel Castro. The case will be tried in San José de las Lajas, Mayabeque, on September 28. The document of … Continue reading “Tearing Up an Image of Fidel Castro is Worth a 12 Year Prison Sentence, According to the Cuban Prosecutor’s Office”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 September 2021 — Félix Navarro, a member of the Cuban opposition, “is very thin” and weighs about 60 kilograms (132 pounds) after going on a hunger strike in jail for almost three weeks, said the Bishop of Matanzas, Monsignor Manuel Hilario de Céspedes. The Bishop visited the former prisoner of the Black … Continue reading “Felix Navarro Remains on a Hunger Strike in Prison, Bishop of Matanzas Confirms”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 September 2021 — The leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, joined the fast of other dissidents on Thursday in support of the opponents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, both former prisoners of the Black Spring of 2003, who were arrested on July 11, the day of the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Ladies in White Show Solidarity With the 11J (July 11th) Detainees”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 June 2021 — Opponents, activists and independent journalists presented, on Monday, the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, an initiative that aims to achieve three foundational aspirations: “a nation with all, an inclusive society, and a republic of rights.” Made up of more than 30 opponents, the Council is, at the same … Continue reading “Cuban Opponents Unite to Work for the Transition to Democracy”
