English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 29 September 2021 — The artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has been on a hunger strike since Monday, as confirmed by the San Isidro Movement (MSI), of which he is a part, this Wednesday. “They confirm that Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has been on a hunger strike since Monday, September 27. His body … Continue reading “Cuban Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara Again Declares a Hunger Strike”
14ymedio, Havana, August 12, 2021 — Cuban activists, inside and outside the island, encouraged by the success of the July 11 demonstrations and the apparent weakness of the regime, faced with its worst crisis since 1959, have announced a national strike this August 13th. This decision does not attract unanimity within the opposition, and not just because … Continue reading “Cuban Opposition Calls for a National Strike on August 13”
14ymedio, Havana, April 29, 2021 — Workers at state-owned restaurants and bars in Old Havana, most of whom are at home due to the pandemic and the drop-off in tourism, were summoned to join surveillance and “confrontation with the counterrevolution” operations in the San Isidro neighborhood. There, at 955 Damas Street on Thursday, the artist Luis … Continue reading “State Workers Called to Participate in ‘Operation San Isidro’”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 April 2021 — After three days on a hunger and thirst strike, the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is beginning to feel the first signs of weakness in his body. The dancer Chabelly Díaz told 14ymedio that she was able to speak with him and conveyed his determination to continue with the protest. “Communication with ‘Luisma’ … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara’s Health Deteriorates, But He Remains Firm in Continuing His Hunger Strike”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 April 2021 — At the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) a collective birthday was celebrated this Sunday, planned by the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. Damas Street, in Old Havana, was filled with residents of the neighborhood with a strong police operation remaining in the afternoon. During the celebration, and from loudspeakers placed in … Continue reading “San Isidro Movement Artists Organize a ‘Patria y Vida’ Street Party”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 February 2021 — Almost four months after his incarceration, no one has been able to see Denis Solís, who is in the Combinado del Este, a maximum security prison in Havana. Laritza Diversent, from Cubalex, and Harold Miñarro, from Defend Venezuela, reported on his situation this Wednesday, at an online press conference … Continue reading “The Precautionary Measures in Support of the San Isidro Movement Are a Clear Message to the Cuban State”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2020 – The San Isidro Movement, born just two years ago, has shaken the political situation in Cuba in the last weeks of 2020 by crossing borders and putting the regime in a bind of incalculable dimensions. At the end of 2018, a group of independent artists who rejected Decree 349 … Continue reading “14ymedio’s Faces of 2020: The Independent Artists of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement”
Cuban artists in front of the Ministry of Culture demanding a meeting with the minister to protest the repression against the San Isidro Movement hunger strikers…. and… as the day wore on…
14ymedio, Havana, 26 November 2020 – The police broke into the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) in Old Havana on Thursday night and arrested the 14 activists who were inside the building, as confirmed to 14ymedio by neighbors and relatives of the detainees. Several police patrols and ambulances participated in the operation. “I passed near … Continue reading “Police Break into the Headquarters of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement and Arrest the Activists”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 26 November 2020 — The arrest of a rapper has led to a hunger strike being waged by several activists, members of a group known as the San Isidro Movement. What began as a meeting of friends showing solidarity and demanding the release of Denis Solís has led to an … Continue reading “The Singularity of San Isidro”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 November 2020 — A police cordon around the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement, in Old Havana, has blocked pedestrians since since last Monday. State Security arrests anyone who tries to reach the place, where seven activists remain confined in protest of the sentence of eight months in prison for the rebellious rapper Denis Solís. … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Continues to Harass the San Isidro Movement”
Adrián Curuneaux Stivens has been sentenced to four years for assault and aggravated contempt in addition to a previous sentence of four years for assault and battery. 14ymedio, Havana, 9 September 2024 — Activist Adrián Curuneaux Stivens, who was arrested after attempting to visit Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in Havana’s Calixto García hospital in May … Continue reading “Activist Who Tried To Visit Alcantara in Hospital Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison”
Initially, the so-called dissidents or civic activists seem to be acting alone 14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 6 July 2024 — The stages of peaceful resistance to totalitarian rule vary from country to country. However, by analyzing liberation movements we can identify common characteristics because, in every case except that of Yugoslavia, there was a centralized … Continue reading “The Four Stages of Peaceful Transition to Democracy”
The Central Committee official and former diplomat in Bogotá died in a car crash 14ymedio, July 4, 2024, Madrid — Omar Rafael García Lazo, an official of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, died this Wednesday in a car crash when he was returning to Havana from a “work mission.” The announcement … Continue reading “Omar Rafael García Lazo, Cuban Repressor and ‘Persona Non Grata’ in Colombia, Dies in Car Crash”
In the last ten years, the will for change has reached the majority of the Island’s citizens. 14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 23 May 2024 — If I were to describe in words what has happened in Cuba in the last ten years, I would say: a desire for change. An awakening to the reality in … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Lost Its Monopoly on Information With the Arrival of ’14ymedio’”
