English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 22 September 2020 — Covid-19 infections continue to increase in the construction camps working in Varadero. The province of Matanzas reported seven workers who tested positive for coronavirus by September 20. Of those confirmed, five belong to the Siguapa campus in Santa Marta, one to Salvador, in Cárdenas and the seventh is a … Continue reading “Covid Cases Grow Among Hotel Construction Workers in Varadero”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 August 2017 — In a period of 48 hours the survey released by 14ymedio on Wednesday, 23 August, received 1,503 valid responses. The poll asked which official figure is most likely to be Cuba’s President of the Council of State on 24 February 2018. According to our readers, Miguel Díaz-Canel, the country’s current vice-president, led the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Next President? Díaz-Canel and Castro Espín Lead in 14ymedio’s Survey”
EFE (14ymedio), Havana, 19 April 2016 – The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Tuesday re-elected the country’s president, Raul Castro, as first secretary of the organization, a position he has occupied since 2011, when he replaced his brother Fidel Castro. The newly elected PCC Central Committee also ratified Jose Ramon Machado Ventura as deputy party secretary, … Continue reading “Raul Castro Re-Elected First Secretary Of The Communist Party Of Cuba / 14ymedio”
Angel Santiesteban talks with Amir Valle about personal experiences that marked their lives. By Ángel Santiesteban Prats, 9 July 2015 Angel Santiesteban: Amir, we are about to celebrate thirty years since the beginning of our friendship, when back in the mid-eighties, at the Alejo Carpentier Center in Havana, they held National Seminar for Young Storywriters, … Continue reading “AMIR VALLE: The Early Writer / Angel Santiesteban”
Dimas Castellano, Havana, 17 September 2015 — 120 years ago, between 13th and 18th September 1895, twenty delegates selected from the five corps that the Libertador’s Army was divided into, and formed into a Constituent Assembly, promulgated the Constitution of Jimaguayú. This Constitution, different from others in that it wasn’t structured in three parts — … Continue reading “How Does History Help Us? / Dimas Castellano”
The pernicious, failed, and pathetic ideologues of the Cuban totalitarian regime want you to believe that they should never have been on the “list of state sponsors of terrorism.” Never mind that it’s true, or that there is evidence that proves their constant support, military provisioning and training to all the guerrillas created in the … Continue reading “State Sponsors of Forgetfulness / Angel Santiesteban”
The sixth WHAT? People wondered when his graffiti started appearing around the city. And then it was more than a signature. But the irreverence is unforgiven. State Security is not about to understand this punk aesthetic, much less the art of graffiti. The forces of order are too serious. For them, Danilo Maldonado, alias “El … Continue reading “El Sexto, Artist Non Grata / Maria Matienzo Puerto, Danilo Maldonado”
“Without a strong union there will be no economy,” said Salvador Valdes Mesa, vice president of the Council of State and member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in the recently concluded plenary session of the National Union of Sugar Workers. An approach which clearly expresses the vision of unions as … Continue reading “Are There Unions in Cuba? / Dimas Castellanos”
Angel’s family wants to inform the international community where we stand as of tonight April 12, 2013. Last week, the regime tried to hide Angel in the Salvador Allende military hospital with the excuse of a dermatological treatment he is receiving, to avoid his having access to talk to the Commission of National and International … Continue reading “Report Following Visit to Angel Santiesteban-Prats in Prison (Updated)”
Angel’s family wants to inform the international community where we stand as of tonight April 12, 2013. Last week, the regime tried to hide Angel in the Salvador Allende military hospital with the excuse of a dermatological treatment he is receiving, to avoid his having access to talk to the Commission of National and International … Continue reading “Official statement on the irregular situation of Angel Santiesteban-Prats”
A February 24th with young talent, a breath of fresh air. Yesterday Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power ended its session, a session where new appointments were made: Homero Acosta as secretary of the Council of State; Gladys Bejerano as vice president of the Council; José Ramón Machado Ventura as controller general; Ramiro Valdés Menéndez; … Continue reading “Castro’s Moves: A Light, Tenuous, at the End of the Tunnel / Juan Juan Almeida”
This Sunday, September 30th, the newspaperTribuna de la Habana, the “official publication of the provincial party committee,” printed a small notice on the second page that got me thinking. I took a photo with my cell phone and, due to the poor quality of the image, have transcribed this senseless article as follows: Mass Sterilization … Continue reading “Human Cats / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado”
Interview of Salvador Bueno (fragment*) I met him in 1998. That year, on October 12, he received the “José Vasconcelos” prize in a ceremony at the National Hotel in Havana. The gold medal, conferred by the Hispanic Affirmation Front (HAF) to intellectuals of the Castillian language for lifetime achievement, had already gone to figures of … Continue reading “Salvador, a Seat Occupied in Cuban Literature / Francis Sánchez”
Photo: Luis Felipe Rojas Once more I made the journey from Havana to Santiago de Cuba in a glistening Yutong made-in-China bus, which doesn’t belong to us Cubans, but rather to those “embattled workers” of the capitalist world who come to spend the summer in Cuba. It was the Transgaviota busline, a tourist emporium that … Continue reading “Democracy and Subversion on the Bus / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Abel Prieto announces that his podcast will be “anti-fascist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, Latin Americanist, Caribbean and ‘Lezamian’.” 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 20 August 2025 — La Casa de las Américas has decided to join the podcast craze in Cuba. On its X and Facebook profiles, the institution’s president, Abel Prieto Jiménez, announced that they will … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime’s Cultural Commissars Discover the Podcast”
