English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 7 May 2020 — Just outside the Havana cafe which, until a month ago, was open on Tulipán street, a stray dog waits patiently. He doesn’t know why the place where some customers used to throw him bones is now empty and doesn’t even smell like food. In the midst of the pandemic … Continue reading “The Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba, Days 45-47: Animal Insults and Verbal Poverty”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 September 2019 — Twitter started unlocking some of the official accounts closed last Wednesday. At the moment, the profiles of Granma, Mesa Redonda, Radio Rebelde, Dominio Cuba , the journalist Leticia Martínez Hernández and the deputy and director of the National Sex Education Center, Cenesex, Mariela Castro, have recovered their activity. Among those … Continue reading “Official Twitter Accounts Return, But Not Raul Castro’s”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 September 2019 — The Union of Journalists of Cuba (Upec) called on Wednesday against “the limits to the freedom of expression of Cuban institutions and citizens.” The complaint responded to Twitter’s blocking of several official media and other institutional accounts which is limiting those who, in Upec’s opinion, and trying to “silence the … Continue reading “The Official Cuban Press Discovers “Freedom of Expression” Thanks to Twitter”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 28 June 2019 — Tonight, in the privacy of their home and surrounded by some friends, René and Richard will have a symbolic wedding ceremony. “We were waiting for the Constitution to permit gay marriage to do it, but it looks like that will happen when it snows in Cuba,” jokes … Continue reading “Gay Pride in Cuba: Without a March, Matrimony or Adoption”
Cubanet, Luis Cino Álvarez, Havana, 11 March 2019 — Oftentimes while traveling in other countries, independent journalists are challenged for, as some say, being “hyper-critical” and “lacking objectivity.” Thus, their dispatches are received with doubts and skepticism. But it turns out that the detractors of Cuban independent journalism do not harbor good intentions. Among those … Continue reading “Why Do Independent Journalists Matter? / Cubanet, Luis Cino”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 20 May 2019 — Echoes of the peaceful independent march carried out last May 11th by Cuban LGBTI activists in Havana’s Central Park and along the Paseo del Prado, continue to move social networks with mostly messages of support and solidarity towards this historically victimized community, which has been discriminated against, … Continue reading “Fuenteovejuna: Lessons of a Leaderless March”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 May 2019 — The Cuban Police are looking for the person responsible for the LGBTI march last Saturday, which has been a real headache to the authorities. If the government sponsored Cuban National Center for Sex Education (Cenesex) thought that their call for a boycott of the march would help to close … Continue reading “Cuban Police Search for Person Responsible for LGBTI March”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 13 May 2019 — Singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez endorsed, on Sunday, the criticism published by singer-songwriter Vicente Feliú about the “absurd, shameful, dangerously evocative repression” of the LGBTI demonstration held on Saturday in Havana by independent activists and without permission from the authorities. “With my eyes wide open, I subscribe to every word … Continue reading “Silvio Rodriguez Criticizes the Repression of the LGBTI March in Havana”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana | 12 May 2019 – If, on the eve of opening up internet access from mobile phones, Cuban officialdom had written a paper listing its five biggest fears about giving Cubans greater connectivity, those panic points would have been far below what has actually happened. In less than six months, we have experienced … Continue reading “Citizenship and Connectivity in Cuba, an Explosive Mixture”
Note: See links at end of post for numerous photos and videos of the day. 14ymedio, Luz Escobar and Mario J. Pentón, Havana, 11 May 2019 — State Security agents clashed with activists of the LGBTI community and sympathizers of this group who went to Havana’s Central Park on Saturday to demonstrate in favor of … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Represses the Independent LGBTI March in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana, May 7, 2019 — The National Center of Sex Education (Cenesex) announced this Monday that the conga against homophobia that is organized every year was canceled “by order“ of the Minister of Public Health. The communication of the institution, headed by deputy Mariela Castro, justifies the decision by some “determined circumstances that are … Continue reading “The Government Invokes “International Tensions” to Cancel the Annual Conga Against Homophobia”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2019 — Cuban authorities prevented Michael Petrelis, a renowned US activist for the rights of the LGBTI community (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals and intersex), from entering the island on Wednesday, 20 March, according to the digital site ADNCuba. “My visa (tourist card) was revoked and I am very sad,” Petrelis told 14ymedio through … Continue reading “Cuba Blocks a Recognized LGBTI Activist From Entering the Country”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 December 2018 — Since the content of Article 68 was revealed in the preliminary draft of the constitutional reform project, the most active groups of the LGBTI community showed their support for the definition of marriage — the union between two people without specifying gender — contained in the text. The activists saw in … Continue reading “14ymedio Faces of 2018: LGBTI Groups in Favor of Article 68 of the Constitution”
14ymedio, Havana, December 19, 2018 — Religious groups that were pleased by the announcement of the National Assembly’s announcement that Article 68, which would open the door to marriage equality, would be removed from the constitutional reform, have announced this Wednesday their intention to mobilize against the Government’s project to include, within two years, that … Continue reading “Supporters and Opponents of Gay Marriage Both See a Government Maneuver on the Constitution Referendum”
14ymedio, Justo Mora / Mario J. Pentón, Cienfuegos/Miami, 5 December 2018 — Rafael Garcia, alleged perpetrator of the double femicide that shook Cienfuegos last May, committed suicide on the eve of his trial, scheduled for Wednesday, several sources close to the family confirmed to 14ymedio. The tension was thick in the air in the morning hours in the vicinity of … Continue reading “Alleged Murderer of Two Women in Cienfuegos Commits Suicide”
