English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 13 May 2022 — Saturday’s explosion at the Saratoga hotel a week ago has taken another life according to an announcement by the Ministry of Public Health. This raises the death toll to forty-six. The victim was Jose Antonio Ferrer Acanda, a 63-year-old Havana resident, who was taken to Calixto Garcia Hospital in … Continue reading “One of the Ninety-Nine Injured in the Saratogo Hotel Explosion Has Died”
14ymedio, Havana, Juan Diego Rodríguez, 15 March 2024 — A penetrating odor of gas has been alarming the neighbors of Galiano and Zanja, in Central Havana, for more than 24 hours. Early this Friday, those who passed by couldn’t comment on anything else. The situation, the residents say, is unsustainable. In a phone call, the … Continue reading “A Strong Smell of Gas Alarms the Residents of Central Havana and the Authorities Do Not Respond”
14ymedio, Pedro Espinosa, Havana, 21 December 2023 — The belongings of old Orlando, whom everyone in Havana knows as El Barba [The Beard], can be counted on the fingers of one hand. With fingers left over. A quilt, a couple of shirts, some pants, his crutch and a small box. His 86 years are also … Continue reading “Obispo Street, the ‘Beggars’ Boulevard’ in the Cuban Capital”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 October 2023 — The directors of the Recycling Company congratulated themselves this Thursday on Cuban State TV’s Roundtable program for being one of the few “industries” in the country that has overfulfilled its plan: so far this year, the company has collected 74,000 tons of raw material and collected more than 41.6 … Continue reading “With Recycling, the Cuban State Earned 41.6 Million Dollars Exporting Garbage”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 5 April 2023 — That April 19, 2018, when deputies had to “elect” the president of the Republic, there was only one name on their ballots aspiring to the position. Raúl Castro himself cleared away all doubts by declaring that his appointment was not a coincidence, that it was planned … Continue reading “Cuba’s Diaz-Canel, Five Years as Hand-Picked Dictator”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 11 April 2023 — Few phrases are as illustrative of Cuban voluntarism as the one that calls for “turning setbacks into victory.” Fueled by the whim of Fidel Castro, the maxim has summed up, since 1970, a way of doing politics in which boasting of victory was more important … Continue reading “Cuba: Putting Makeup on the ‘Setbacks in Victory’”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, January 3, 2023 — Almost everyone has heard of the Golden Raspberry Awards, popularly known as the Razzies or the anti-Oscars, where the worst films and performances of the year are recognized. The video presented by Díaz-Canel to welcome 2023 could very well sweep those awards, if they were to … Continue reading “Cuba: A Raspberry for the Little Dictator”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 29 December 2022 — To end this year, and together with several journalist colleagues, we prepared a list of the people and projects that had set the tone in Cuba during 2022 . The list of names was also a journey through the most important moments of these twelve months and … Continue reading “Could 2023 Be a Better Year for Cuba?”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 10 December 2022 — Cuban communists are privileged. Not only because they hold all the power in the nation, but also because they do what they want, without giving explanations, and then in their congresses they erase any responsibility. This is what happened in the recent Political Bureau of the … Continue reading “Economic Reflections on the Communist Party Plenary”
14ymedio, Havana, 10 December 2022 — The leaders of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) took advantage of the closure, this Saturday, of the 5th Plenary of the Central Committee, to justify their actions, which have led the country to a generalized crisis with daily blackouts. “It was a hard and difficult year,” admitted the … Continue reading “In the Absence of Raul Castro, the PCC Plenary Avoids its Responsibility in the Cuban Disaster”
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 November 2022 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is heading to China now. It’s the last stop of a presidential tour aimed at courting some partners to whom, in return, little can be promised except influence on the American continent and agreements in countries where the Island still retains some prestige, such as … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Arrives in China to ‘Promote the Adaptation of Marxism to Our Time’”
Some with candles, with very few sunflowers, that is how the devotees entered the church of the Virgen de la Caridad de El Cobre on the corner of Manrique and Salud Streets, in Centro Habana. This Thursday, the day on which the Patron Saint of Cuba is celebrated, inflation has also been noted in the … Continue reading “The Procession for Our Lady of Charity Draws a Crowd in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana | 10 August 2022 — If there is something surprising about the majority of those who disappeared putting out the fire at the Matanzas Super Tanker Base, it is their youth. The Cuban government counts 14 – after having given the initial number of 16 – and affirms that they are firefighters, but the … Continue reading “The 14 Cubans that the Regime Sent to Die in the Matanzas Fire”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 12 August 2022 — The sky has turned blue again over Havana and in the city of Matanzas the flames at the Supertanker Base no longer rise on the horizon. However, the tragedy is still ongoing and the questions we all ask ourselves remain unanswered. Why did the lightning rod system not work? Who ordered taking inexperienced … Continue reading “The Flames Go Out in Matanzas but the Drama Continues in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 July 2022 — Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, executive president of the Armed Forces Business Administration Group (Gaesa), died in Havana this Friday of “cardiorespiratory arrest,” according to the official press. A former division general, born in 1960, he was considered the true “strong man” of Cuba, the power behind the throne. He was … Continue reading “Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja Dies, the Powerful Former Son-in-Law of Raul Castro”
