English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 1 October 2022 — Although the leadership of the Revolution tried to give the insurrectional triumph a certain religious and humanistic aspect, very soon the belief in another superior being became the most feared enemy of the triumphant insurrection, along with proclaimed humanism, as green as palms. Fidel Castro attacked religions … Continue reading “Hate Crimes of the Castro Regime”
14ymedio, Havana, Juan Izquierdo, 17 August 2022 — Like a young fortune teller or a sorcerer out of A Thousand and One Nights, in Omar’s memory are rites, spells, stories and words, mixed in ancient languages. Talkative, with toasted skin and wide-open eyes, he lives among books and sacred objects of the the Regla of … Continue reading “Faced with the Difficulties of Life, Santeria Spreads in Cuba”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 21 May 2022 — Pieces of the structure are falling from one of the most emblematic buildings in Central Havana, the Great National Masonic Temple of Cuba. Due to the lack of maintenance, the building shows fragments of part of the roof in its large portal that can be fatal … Continue reading “The Great Masonic Temple Building Also Falls Apart in Havana”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 10 April 2022 — Memory is made of places, paths and faces. We go through them again and again, while the rum is spent and the tobacco is burned; taking advantage of the conversation with a stranger, during dreams and obsessions. The one who remembers knows that the world — his … Continue reading “Cuba: The Old Guard”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana | 7 February 2021 — Ángel Santiesteban Prats (1966, Havana) is perhaps the living Cuban writer, residing in Cuba, who has had the most problems with the political police. He is also one of those who has garnered the most recognition for his literary work. He writes film scripts, practices journalism … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban’s Personal War”
Title on video: “The most difficult moment was when they tried to accuse me of spying…” Cubanet.org, Julio Cesar Alvarez and Augusto Cesar San Martin, 29 July 2016, Havana – Hector Maseda dreamed of designing big ships and hanging his naval engineering degree where everyone could see it, but “since they only built boats here,” … Continue reading ““I Have Not Been Able to Overcome Laura’s Death”/ Cubanet, Hector Maseda”
Ivan Garcia, 13 July 2016 — The bearded Castro — famous for his long speeches, sponsorship of guerrilla groups in Latin America and Africa, and utopian promises — retired for health reasons after forty-seven years in power. But like a disembodied ghost, he is apt to reappear at any moment in Cubans’ lives. “A few … Continue reading “Fidel Castro, All Over the Place / Iván García”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 31 October 2015 – Cuba 191, United States 2. This is called a diplomatic beating. One-hundred-ninety-one countries at the United Nations voted in favor of a resolution presented by Cuba against the commercial and financial restrictions imposed by the United States on the Castros’ government in 1961. Only two nations … Continue reading “Gulliver Against Twelve Thousand Dwarves / 14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner”
EFE, Sara Gómez Armas, Havana, 18 September 2015 — Pope Francis is the third pontiff to visits Cuba, a country where the Catholic Church has assumed an important role as mediator with Raúl Castro’s administration, but which still faces challenges as it tries gain more space and institutional recognition on the Communist island. Cuba is … Continue reading “Francis Travels to Cuba to Show Support for a Church Wanting to Broaden Its Reach / EFE-14ymedio, Sara Gomez Armas”
Disoriented in time like all ex-prisoners, Ángel Santiesteban brings with him a thousand prison demons. Interview with Ángel Santiesteban after his conditional release – Cuba 2015. Havana, Cuba, Augusto César San Martín — The writer Ángel Santiesteban Prats suffers with every word he writes. “I classify my work as social,” he declares in an interview … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban: Most of our people pretend”
A veritable media sandstorm blasted away just a few days ago in Brazil when at the IX Plenary Session between Brazil and Cuba, the Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca openly declared that any political entity without the branding initials of Cuba’s Communist Party — CCP for short — would never be … Continue reading “Rodrigo Malmierca’s Hidden Grudge / Juan Juan Almeida”
Havana, Cuba, October, www.cubanet.org — Without any doubt, the prosecutor at the oral hearing clung to the least of the supposed crimes, “Housebreaking and Injuries,” being proved by the very “witness” who lied. The farce of a trial was a settling of scores for Santiesteban because of his opposition to totalitarianism, and so he was … Continue reading ““I Am a Prisoner Because of a Tantrum by Raul Castro” / Juan Carlos Linares, Angel Santiesteban”
Our adolescence was fertilized with novels and TV series that marked our aesthetics and personalities. How many times did we read the novels, “Here the Sands are Cleaner,” “If I Die Tomorrow,” or the series “It Had to Be in Silence,” with most of us enjoying those fantasies of socialist heroes who, guided by Cuban … Continue reading “Facing State Counterintelligence Part 1 / Angel Santiesteban #Cuba”
“I’m happy, I’m doing my duty.” #OlaRepresiva #FreeRodiles Interview filmed by Claudio Fuentes Madan My name is Angel Santiesteban Prats, I’m a writer and Cuban blogger, government opponent. It was really sad what happened there, the whole world has seen the terrible video, where unfortunately we show what happens in Cuba every day. Thank God … Continue reading “Testimony of Angel Santiesteban after the events on Thursday, November 8, 2012 / Angel Santiesteban”
“The conceited villager believes the entire world is his village.” In another paragraph taken from Our America he wrote, “The presumptuous man believes that the earth was made to serve as his pedestal, because he happens to have a facile pen or colorful speech.” Writer, philosopher, poet, politician, organizer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, Freemason. … Continue reading “Dos Ríos / Rebeca Monzo”
