English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
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”
14ymedio, Elias Amor Bravo, Economist, 22 April 2022 — There are two phenomena that have affected the life of the Communist Regime in Cuba for six decades. The two are closely related and have also been used for the Cuban government’s own benefit every time it wanted to. To interpret both processes over such a … Continue reading “Cuba: From the ‘Blockade’ to the Emigration Crisis”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2022 — The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, assured this Wednesday that in tomorrow’s meeting with senior Cuban officials, both countries will “explore” the possibility of reactivating the migratory agreements. Mayorkas said at a press conference at the end of a visit … Continue reading “US Confirms It Will Hold Migration Talks With Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 19 April 2022 — The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, which brings together several opposition organizations from inside and outside the island, expressed this Tuesday its rejection of the start of talks on the migration crisis between the United States government and the “communist tyranny.” The assembly recalled that “the Castro regime is a … Continue reading “Cuban Exile Rejects the Meeting Scheduled for Thursday Between the US and Cuba”
14ymedio, Yamil Simón-Manso, Gaithersburg (Maryland) | 13 February 2021 — Cuban artists and intellectuals recently staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Culture. The diversity of writings on the Internet referring to the same thing renders any analysis redundant, and we Cubans are up to here in redundancies. In addition, I have not visited … Continue reading “Cuba’s Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso and Me”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 January 2021 — Cuban designer and artist Rolando Pulido died this Friday in New York at the age of 58. The artist, who decorated emblematic cultural spaces and was a great promoter of the cause of democracy on the island, died in a hospital in the Bronx, in the city where he lived. … Continue reading “Cuban Artist and Designer Rolando Pulido Dies at 58”
Cubanet, Ernesto Pérez Chang, Havana, 13 August 2020 — They invented the bici-agro in Ciego de Ávila, the local press announced, and the TV National News repeated it in spite of how ridiculous the news item was. In essence, the “great invention” is nothing more than an ordinary tricycle to market food on the streets, … Continue reading “From Ubre Blanca to the “Bici-agro”, the Absurd News of the Revolution / Ernesto Perez Chang”
14ymedio Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 14 April 2020 – For days, Reinaldo had been planning an excursion to the store on the corner of 26th and 51st, near our house. At the first attempt, a neighbor warned us that the line stretched for several blocks; the second time we had to stay home because the water was turned … Continue reading “Day 25 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: the Epicenter of Contagion Around the Corner”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 7 March 2020 — Following the censorship of the documentary Sueños al Pairo (Dreams Adrift), which was removed from the programming of the Young Filmmakers Exhibition, the fact that singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez had participated in the repudiation rally that was perpetrated against his fellow troubadour Mike Porcel in the convulsive days of the Mariel … Continue reading “The Whispers That Come”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 4 March 2020 — I had heard of him in the same terms that are used to describe a mythological creature. Those who listened to Mike Porcel told me about his lyrics, his mastery of the guitar and a voice that stood out among other troubadours, but my generation never heard him … Continue reading “Mike Porcel, From Censorship to Censorship”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, August 4, 2019 — “This was one of the places where more people joined,” remembers Loipa, a resident of Malecón and Escobar in Central Havana. Twenty-five years after the Maleconazo*, the events of that day have taken the form of an urban legend that older people tell and younger ones don’t … Continue reading “‘Maleconazo’ Turns 25 Between Legend and Oblivion”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, 17 July 2019 — The pool’s water jets create a relaxed atmosphere while on the other side of the glass the city swelters under a relentless sun, rendered benign by the Manzana Kempimski’s air conditioning system. Down below, two men use a hose to fill a rooftop tank, empty after two weeks … Continue reading “The Two Faces of Paseo del Prado”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 19 July 2019 — No study on the behavior and scope of a generation can be circumscribed schematically to the data that is identified with the date of birth. Although age is one of the factors to be taken into account, it will always be possible to find, in a human … Continue reading “The Generation of the Heirs”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 1 May 2019 — The relationship between Cuba’s communist regime and the world of work has been difficult. Therefore, there is not much to celebrate this May Day, nor has there been on previous ones. This relationship has always referred to, by the Cuban government, as “adverse times, characterized by the resurgence of … Continue reading “May Day in Cuba With Little to Celebrate”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Desde Aqui, Havana, 28 February 2019 — On the same day that the constitutional referendum was held, the busiest circuit of Havana cinemas announced the film “Innocence,” by the Cuban director Alejandro Gil. In the last edition of the Havana Film Festival, it received the award given by the public. In those same movie … Continue reading “Between Innocence and Hypocrisy”
