Search results for: UMAP

‘Writers and Artists Under Communism’, a Chronicle About the Cuban Government’s Hatred of Culture

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, January 6, 2024 — “Down with the apolitical writers! Down with the supermen of literature!” “Their original sin: they are not authentically revolutionary.” “Outside the Revolution, no rights.” The law of eternal return presides over the tension between the intellectuals and communism. Guevara repeats Castro, and Castro repeats Stalin or Mao. … Continue reading “‘Writers and Artists Under Communism’, a Chronicle About the Cuban Government’s Hatred of Culture”

Cuba, So Far From God!

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 29 November 2023 — A recurring phrase in Mexico is the one attributed to former President Porfirio Díaz: “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.” Although the expression brilliantly summarizes the history of a country, the truth is that many Mexicans have seen this … Continue reading “Cuba, So Far From God!”

‘When I Left Cuba’, the Untold Story of the 4,000 Minors Who Fled to Spain

Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 21 May 2023 – On 25 April 1969, Remberto Pérez was reunited with his family in the United States after two years separation. He’d escaped from Cuba just as he’d turned fifteen – the Armed Forces were ready to call him up – and he headed for Madrid, where a Franciscan priest, … Continue reading “‘When I Left Cuba’, the Untold Story of the 4,000 Minors Who Fled to Spain”

2022, a Fertile Year Outside the Island for Books Linked to Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 1 January 2022 — The return of Detective Mario Conde, the adventures of Federico García Lorca in Havana and a fast-paced essay on the concentration camps on the Island marked the route of the Cuban book in 2022. 14ymedio proposes an account of the best titles from authors residing inside and outside the … Continue reading “2022, a Fertile Year Outside the Island for Books Linked to Cuba”

Tension in the Debate on the Book ‘Cuban Privilege’, But No Blood Was Spilled

14ymedio, Havana, 10 December, 2022 — The controversial book Cuban Privilege (Cambridge University Press, 2022) – about US immigration policies towards Cuba – by American academic Susan Eckstein, was presented this Friday at Florida International University (FIU). The event included comments from the author and journalist Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat and the moderation of Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban … Continue reading “Tension in the Debate on the Book ‘Cuban Privilege’, But No Blood Was Spilled”

Cuban Singer/Songwriter Pablo Milanes Dies at 77

14ymedio, Havana, 21 November 2022 — Cuban singer/songwriter Pablo Milanés died in Madrid on Tuesday at the age of 77. His death was confirmed by sources close to the artist. Milanés had been hospitalized for several weeks with an inflamed gallbladder and a kidney infection, which had forced him to cancel several concerts. Milanés moved … Continue reading “Cuban Singer/Songwriter Pablo Milanes Dies at 77”

Cuba: Ballot Boxes in Captivity

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 14 September 2022 — No one will be surprised if on September 25th the regime’s referendum on the Family Code is rejected. In addition to machismo, which persists in Cuban society, the growth of evangelical religions or even reasonable doubts about the implementation of certain areas of the project, the … Continue reading “Cuba: Ballot Boxes in Captivity”

Cuba’s Machiavellian Use of Migration

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 25 May 2022 — On June 22, 1990, before the United Nations, Nelson Mandela firmly demanded that the sanctions against Pretoria be maintained. The African leader wondered what mistake had been made to allow a country with apartheid to be seated after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Machiavellian Use of Migration”

21st Century Fascism and Cuba

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 12 May 2022 — I will try to avoid falling into Godwin’s law, according to which, any discussion on the internet that is prolonged leads to the possibility that someone will call someone else a fascist, or compare them to Hitler and the Nazis. However, in the Cuban context a … Continue reading “21st Century Fascism and Cuba”

‘The Body Never Forgets’, an Essay on the Concentration Camps in Cuba

EFE (via 14ymedio), Jorge I. Pérez, Miami, 5 April 2022 — The forced labor camps in which, as in the Soviet gulag, dissidents, religious, homosexuals and artists were confined in the Cuba of the 1960s, left “a lot of pain and trauma” not yet healed, affirms the Cuban historian Abel Sierra Madero, who has just … Continue reading “‘The Body Never Forgets’, an Essay on the Concentration Camps in Cuba”

Cuban Intellectual Ambrosio Fornet, Who Baptized the’Five Gray Years’, Dies

14ymedio, Havana, 5 April 2022 — The Cuban film writer and screenwriter Ambrosio Fornet Frutos died this Tuesday at the age of 90, the Casa de las Américas reported on its social networks. “His work constitutes a fundamental part of the nation’s culture, which he always defended,” the institution wrote, recalling that the intellectual was “one of its … Continue reading “Cuban Intellectual Ambrosio Fornet, Who Baptized the’Five Gray Years’, Dies”

Silvio Rodriguez Continues With His Very Personal Process of ‘Rectification of Errors’

14ymedio, Madrid, 14 February 2022 — The “Revolutionary Offensive of 1968” has done a lot of damage to the Cuban people, according to Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, who is once again critical of some aspects of Cuba’s historical and current ruling power in an interview with the Argentine news agency Télam. The troubadour affirms that the US … Continue reading “Silvio Rodriguez Continues With His Very Personal Process of ‘Rectification of Errors’”

The Honorable Allure of Censorship

“This house has to be torn down!” Drink, in ‘The night of the murderers’, by Pepe Triana 14ymedio, Madrid, Yunior García Aguilera, December 21 2021 — In 2013 I had the good fortune to meet one of the greatest Cuban playwrights of all time: José Triana. I found myself visiting London for the premiere of Feast, … Continue reading “The Honorable Allure of Censorship”

The Space and Time of Words

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 6 October 2021 — Something that I have never managed to do is pronounce two words at the same time. This “deficiency” has led me to understand how difficult it is to state two ideas simultaneously in a grammatical sentence. In this arduous struggle of half a century, I have also learned that … Continue reading “The Space and Time of Words”

Marrero, Fidel Castro and Nazareno: The Return of Moringa

14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, August 14, 2021 — More than a hundred references to “Fidel” swamp the official communist press on a day like today, his birthday. This blog will not be offering any remembrances or testimonials to the work of this communist dictator but, among the jumble of information we have found, one article … Continue reading “Marrero, Fidel Castro and Nazareno: The Return of Moringa”