English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, January 4, 2023 — If you came here thinking that I would be talking about Díaz-Canel or his shoes, you would be mistaken. To be president of a republic, you need to be elected, at least by a parliament. And electing someone implies being able to choose between two or … Continue reading “Putting Yourself in the President’s Shoes”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 28 December 2023 — Endogamy is the practice of marrying in closed groups, between individuals of common ancestry. Reproduction between parents who are closely related greatly increases the chances that the offspring will be affected by recessive traits or genetic impairments. One of the most notorious cases was King Charles … Continue reading “The Ideological Endogamy of the Cuban Regime”
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 21 December 2023 — The Cuban regime and its ideologues have, time and again, recycled a statement made in 1823 by John Quincy Adams. The then American Secretary of State wrote about gravity, or rather about Cuba, comparing us to a fruit. He predicted that, when the island broke away … Continue reading “Rotten Fruit”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 14 December 2023 — Two speeches, completely opposed, have marked these days of the film festival in Havana. On the one hand, we have the inaugural words of Alexis Triana, the appointed official at the head of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). On the other, those … Continue reading “Fire in the Forge”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, December 6, 2023 — When Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris, Cuba’s future was uncertain. The Americans had made it clear that they were not interested in annexation but there was no clear path to sovereignty either. The island’s fields had been torched by war, small … Continue reading “Public Indifference”
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!”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 22 November 2023 — Cuban historiography recognizes Valeriano Weyler as one of the most nefarious characters in our history. And he certainly was. His “Reconcentration” policy caused the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, especially children, women and the elderly. The “reconcentrated” were thrown together in the villages, surrounded … Continue reading “Weyler, a Hitler in Cuba?”
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 15 November 2023 — The international left sometimes seems less like an ideology and more like a dogma. Many of its organizations and activists are motivated by compacts, debts and interests, not by principles or objectives. The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, for example, are capable of embracing today’s dictators … Continue reading “Cuba Respects Neither Human Rights nor ‘Human Lefts’”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 8 November 2023 — In 1895, when almost all of the rest of Latin America had already achieved its independence, we Cubans were still a colony of Spain. All previous attempts had failed: the Big War and the Little War. And Martí’s War, as Máximo Gómez called it, began with the … Continue reading “Cuba’s ‘Peacemaker’”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 1 November 2023 — Unpopular Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has called for “global action” to stop Israel. It is clear that the conflict in the Middle East is much more complex than sensational or biased headlines may show, but Cuba is far from being a neutral country in this story. … Continue reading “Cuban Totalitarianism’s Philosophy of Disposession”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 25 October 2023 — Judging from online chats, private conversations and articles in the independent press, more and more Cubans are coming down with Martían fatigue syndrome. For more than a century, José Martí has been the Cuban figure most likely to go from flesh to marble, from light to … Continue reading “To Kill Marti?”
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 4 October 2023 — Those of us who have been a target of the State Security often make two serious mistakes. On the one hand, we overestimate them. They are not the X-Men. They do not have all the latest technology nor are they omnipresent. Their officers come off as … Continue reading “Encounters of the Third Kind with Cuban State Security”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, September 27, 2023 — By 1877, the Ten Year’s War was was at an impasse. The Spanish had not managed to defeat the Cuban guerillas and the insurgents were nowhere close to a decisive victory. The Army of Liberation was riddled with internal strife, plagued by regional divisions, defeatism and … Continue reading “Cuba: False Emissaries of Peace”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 20 September 2023 — These days the propaganda of the single party in Cuba has used to the point of exhaustion a desperate slogan: Cuba is not alone. In fact, we have seen some characters parade through Havana who never leave their caves, except to come to ours, where they … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Is Not Alone, But It Is in Very Bad Company”
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, 5 September 2023 — In the last few hours, several international media outlets have reported that Cuba has uncovered an illegal scheme to recruit Cuban citizens to fight in Ukraine. But the truth is that the regime has uncovered absolutely nothing. It has only reacted — and very late at … Continue reading “Who Would Believe a Regime of Tartuffes?”
