English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
By: Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez I often remember the lyrics of that song by Carlos Varela, hummed by many of my generation: “I had no Santa Claus, nor Christmas tree. . .” And I remember it not only as the popular song from that time in my life, but as the social reality that surrounded my … Continue reading “Christmas Yesterday and Today / Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez #Cuba”
By: Yoaxis Marcheco Suárez I don’t know what is happening with some people and institutions in the world, I think that they suffer from some sort of lethargy that doesn’t allow them to perceive Cuban reality, or they are simply content with what the antidemocratic government of the country informs and draws for them. The … Continue reading “Liberties in Cuba? / Yoaxis Marcheco Suárez”
Note: This post is from March 2012, in advance of the Pope’s visit to Cuba The topic most discussed these days with regard to the Cuban reality is the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI. The official press has made clear its predictions, of course favorable to the regime, and the head of the Roman … Continue reading “My Opinion / Yoaxis Marcheco Suárez”
Amnesty International adds four imprisoned Cubans to its list of prisoners of conscience 14ymedio/EFE, Madrid, 23 October 2024 — Miguel Díaz Bauzá, imprisoned since October 1994, when he landed in Cuba with seven other men to fight Castroism with weapons, will spend eight more years in prison, according to what his family told several independent … Continue reading “With More Than 30 Years in Prison, Miguel Díaz Bauzá Is the Longest-Serving Political Prisoner in Cuba”
Castroite totalitarianism accumulates an unparalleled level of evil regarding imprisonment in our hemisphere. 14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 27 October 2024 — I regret to be forced to write again about the immortal Cuban political prisoners, the best and most glorious proof – after the firing squad, the dead in combat and the missing – that … Continue reading “Miguel Díaz Bauzá Has Served 10,957 Days in Prison in Cuba”
Angel Santiesteban, Border Patrol Prison Unit, Havana. February, 2015 — I do not have access to the news online nor the articles by specialists and political scientists in the daily papers with respect to the recent dialogues between President Obama and the president of Cuba. And, as the days pass and we are ever farther … Continue reading “Only One Question / Angel Santiesteban”
HAVANA, Cuba , August, www.cubanet.org.- Undocumented and with the stigma of “terrorist,” Jesús Rojas Pineda barely survives in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas; after having been released on October 19, 2012, from Kilo 9 Prison. Last August 7, Rojas Pineda turned 70. His cause is the same one that Armando Sosa Fortuny was tried for: The 15 … Continue reading “Jesus Rojas Pineda: 18 Years as Political Prisoner / Lilianne Ruiz”
Havana, Cuba, August 2013, www.cubanet.org- Armando Sosa Fortuny has turned 71 in the prison known as Kilo 9, in Camaguey province. In the photo, which was secretly taken by a member of the Committee for the Liberation of Political Prisoners (CPLPP) who visited him this past January, you can see that he looks like someone’s … Continue reading “The Forgotten Prisoner / Lilianne Ruiz”
Tomorrow, May 1, the United Nations Human Rights Council will meet in Geneva, where Cuba will present a report with notes on its prison policy. “Dressing up” for the occasion, for the first time in nine years the Castro regime opened its jails to the national and international press accredited in Cuba. It is public … Continue reading “The United Nations Human Rights Council and its Great Challenge With Cuba / Angel Santiesteban”
Nine long months have passed since the Cuban Parliament approved this regulation, still unpublished 14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 30 April 2025 — Stuck in limbo: this is how Dayuri, 47, feels. She arrived in Miami from Havana at the end of 2023 after crossing the U.S. southern border. In December, the two-year period expires, … Continue reading “The Delay in the Migration Law Keeps Thousands of Cubans in Limbo”
The Peruvian writer contributed like few others to the universal expansion of Latin America. 14ymedio, Federico Hernández Aguilar, San Salvador, 20 April 2025 — With Mario Vargas Llosa’s passing (1936-2025) the last great exponent of the so-called Latin American boom died, an extraordinary creative and editorial phenomenon that, strictly speaking, should be called the boom … Continue reading “Mario Vargas Llosa, an Essential and Vital Writer”
In the municipality of Diez de Octubre, the infection has especially affected children. 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 23 March 2025 — A “huge” package of cookies and a bottle of carbonated soda – in addition to a lot of insistence – was what it took for Luis to get the hepatitis A reagents he … Continue reading “Silence of Cuban Authorities in the Face of the Spread of Hepatitis A in Havana”
A woman and a 15-year-old girl were taken to the hospital known as La Benéfica, neighbors told ’14ymedio’. 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 16 March 2025 — At least two people were injured Saturday night when an apartment building collapsed, at number 552 on Diez de Octubre Avenue, near the corner of Santa Irene Street, … Continue reading “Two Injured in Building Collapse on Diez De Octubre Avenue in Havana”
A coffee grower from Sancti Spíritus lost everything by selling the beans on his own, without going through the State agency Acopio 14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 20 March 2025 — The story of Isidro, a guajiro — as he will be known to protect his identity—is spreading in Sancti Spíritus, after authorities confiscated 465 … Continue reading “‘In Cuba, if the Police Catch You With a Backpack of Coffee, Even a Small One, They’ll Take It Away From You’”
“The only thing that works is the engine” and he had to invest “almost $5,000” to get it in acceptable condition 14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 16 March 2025 — Cuban Olympic boxing champion Erislandy Álvarez criticized the distribution of damaged vehicles that the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) made a few days … Continue reading “The Car the Cuban Government Gave Him Is “Crap,” Says Olympic Boxing Champion Erislandy Álvarez”
