English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 18 February 2022 — Perhaps one of the most notable absences from the released versions of the new Family Code is what refers to the unity of its members. The right to live together, the right not to be arbitrarily separated. The State should provide its citizens with access to material resources and legal … Continue reading “Anamely Ramos and the Family Code”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2021 — A letter signed by Cuban activists, journalists, intellectuals, and artists asks the Government of the Island for information on more than 800 people who were detained, and others who remain missing, after the protests of July 11. The signatories also demand justice and transparency in the legal processes that have … Continue reading “Cuba Activists Demand ‘Justice’ for the 11 July Detainees and ‘Transparency’ in Their Criminal Proceedings”
14ymedio, Havana, December 20, 2018 — Activist Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, leader of Frente de Acción Cívica Orlando Zapata (Orlando Zapata Civic Action Front), was sentenced Tuesday to a year imprisonment for the crime of “pre-criminal dangerousness” to society, as confirmed to 14ymedio by his wife, Lázara Bárbara Sendiña. Prieto was arrested this last November … Continue reading “Activist Hugo Damian Prieto Sentenced to One Year Imprisonment for “Pre-Criminal Dangerousness””
14ymedio, Havana, 6 December 2016 — The artist Danilo Maldonado, known as ‘El Sexto’ (The Sixth), was transferred Sunday from the police station at Zapata and C in Vedado to the Bivouac Calabazar criminal prosecution center in Havana. The graffiti artist’s mother, Maria Victoria Machado, visited him on Monday morning and told 14ymedio that the prosecution could keep … Continue reading “‘El Sexto’ Moved to a Criminal Prosecution Center / 14ymedio”
Sonia Garro Alfonso, a member of the Ladies in White and the Afro-Cuban Independent Foundation, was transferred to the women’s prison in Havana and will be processed by the investigative body of State Security, according to her sister, Yamile Garro, who informed this reporter on Tuesday. Sonia, in a note, managed to send the file … Continue reading “State Security Initiates Criminal Procedures Against Sonia Garro / Laritza Diversent”
To the memory of Wilman Villar Mendoza A couple of years ago, my friend Eugenio Leal decided ask for the report of his criminal record, necessary paperwork when applying for certain jobs. With confidence, he applied for the form where it would say he had never been convicted of any crime but found, in its … Continue reading “Common Criminals / Yoani Sánchez”
In a second trial for bribery, influence peddling, and tax evasion, he received an additional sentence of 20 years in prison 14ymedio, Havana, December 8, 2025 — The People’s Supreme Court has issued a ruling against Alejandro Gil Fernández, former Minister of Economy and Planning and one of the officials most heavily promoted by official … Continue reading “Former Cuban Economy Minister Alejandro Gil Sentenced to Life in Prison for Espionage”
“We have identified 20,000 Cubans, 1,038 with names and contracts,” said Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov in an audience with U.S. congress members. The names of the 40 supposedly identified combat deaths are not provided, nor are the logistical details from the Island to the war front. 14ymedio, Madrid, 19 September 2025 — Giovani … Continue reading “Kyev Claims That Cuba Is Russia’s Second-Largest Supplier of Mercenaries, After North Korea.”
The theft of oil and liquefied gas is among the concerns of the authorities, who are unable to control it even by toughening the applicable crime. 14ymedio, Madrid, 31 July 2025 — Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero reiterated his warning in a meeting with authorities: Given the current situation in the country, fuel theft could be … Continue reading “Despite Convictions for Sabotage, Fuel Theft in Cuba Increases”
14ymedio, Madrid, 8 April 2025 — The doubts expressed last July by the feminist organization Alas Tensas have materialized. The announced “administrative, computerized, and interoperable registry” approved and announced with great fanfare by the Cuban government to monitor gender-based violence will not be made public. In a note signed by two Cuban prosecutors and published Tuesday … Continue reading “The Long-Awaited Official Record of Gender-Based Violence in Cuba Will Not Be Made Public”
The number of femicides on the Island exceeds the 47 recorded in Spain. 14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 31 December 2024 — Machista violence in Cuba claimed the lives of 54 women this year (the 14ymedio database counts 52 verified cases; the number is lower because two cases are not considered femicides). However, despite the fact that the … Continue reading “Cuba Closes 2024 With Fewer Femicides but More Children Orphaned for This Reason”
Amnesty International said that the regime uses four tactics “to suppress dissent” 14ymedio, Havana, 27 December 2024 — The organizations Prisoners Defenders (PD) and Consorcio Justicia denounced to the United Nations a “scandalous repressive escalation this quarter against peaceful demonstrators” throughout Cuba. In a report published this Friday, they point out that between October and … Continue reading “Prisoners Defenders Denounces to the UN a Wave of ‘Indiscriminate Arrests’ in Cuba”
The femicide of Vania Mojeda, age 43, is the 44th this year 14ymedio, Havana, 15 November 2024 — Vania Mojena, 43 years old and a resident of the town of Mabay, near the city of Bayamo, in Granma, was murdered last Wednesday, November 13, by her partner. The femicide, the second of November and number … Continue reading “A Mother of Three Children Is Killed With a Machete by Her Partner in Granma, Cuba”
The Government continues to apply a policy of “maximum severity” to livestock illegalities 14ymedio, Havana, 29 October 2024 — Up to August of this year, the Cuban regime tried 1,615 people for “conduct associated with the crime of illegal slaughter of beef cattle and trafficking in their meat,” the government newspaper Granma reported on Tuesday. … Continue reading “About 1,615 Cuban Ranchers Have Been Tried for Trafficking and Cattle Slaughter, Most of Them With Prison Sentences”
The report points out other mistreatment, such as being denied visits from their relatives or that some trans women must share cells with male detainees 14ymedio, Madrid, 29 October 2024 — The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) issued its observations on Cuba on Tuesday, after receiving reports from both the … Continue reading “The UN Asks the Cuban Government To Respect International Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners”