English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Dimas Castellano, 21 May 2021 — Not because it was expected does it cease to be a surprise. The collapse of sugar production in the recently concluded harvest, in addition to being the biggest disaster suffered by that industry in the history of Cuba, constitutes definitive proof of the incapacity of the totalitarian model implemented … Continue reading “The 20th of May, its Place in Cuba / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 December 2022 — Passenger transport in Cuba is in a limited situation, as revealed this Sunday in the parliamentary committee on attention to services, which took place in the presence of the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz. The plan has been fulfilled by just 59%, said Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, Minister of Transport, … Continue reading “Scarcely 59 Percent of Passenger Transport in Cuba is Operating”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 8 August 2022 — My sore throat woke me up. I went to the bathroom to gargle and looked out the window. An eerie glow was visible in the sky to the east. The fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Terminal, which started last Friday, is not something that can only be … Continue reading “A Monday of Anguish in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2022 — The Cuban population’s weariness of a summer without power grows and jumps from social networks to the streets. If Tuesday was a day of protest for the university residents of Camagüey, on Wednesday came the banging on pots through the streets of Manzanillo, in the province of Granma. The … Continue reading “In the Midst of Daily Blackouts, Cuba Organizes a Renewable Energy Fair”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 June 2022 — I have listened patiently, even with due respect, to Miguel Díaz-Canel’s presentation this Thursday, where he had the purpose of convincing the television audience – that is the Cuban people – that the problems that the country faces with electricity generation are not the fault of the … Continue reading “The Revenge of the Cuban Scum*”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2022 — After more than 10 hours without power, the residents of the central campus of the Ignacio Agramonte University, in Camagüey, exploded this Tuesday night in a protest that circulated through social networks and led to the intervention of the center’s management, even to the point of restoring the service. … Continue reading “Protest Breaks Out at the University of Camaguey After More Than 10 Hours Without Electricity”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 30 May 2022 — “Transportation is bad, but not worse than other days.” Havana residents have not been taken by surprise by the declarations of the provincial authorities acknowledging the critical situation the sector finds itself in, because they have been putting up with it daily for at least three … Continue reading “With Public Transportation Operating at 30%, Havana Residents Spend Hours at Bus Stops”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 December 2021 — Miguel Díaz-Canel’s affirmation at the opening of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Party that “this has been a year of victories,” is a reflection of the triumphalism that prevails at the highest level of power in Cuba. Strictly speaking, the only victory … Continue reading “The More Defeats, the More Triumphalism in the Cuban Leadership”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 17 April 2021 — A few hours before the start of the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), there were those who insisted that the conclave would be canceled and Raúl Castro’s departure from office postponed. The hypothesis was not entirely far-fetched but it failed to take into … Continue reading “Castro Leaves, Castroism Remains”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 9 January 2021 — She turns around and leaves empty-handed. The old woman has approached the employee of a state bakery on a crowded El Cerro street to ask her, almost in a whisper, if she can sell her the bread at half price, but the clerk is inflexible. “They are watching us, … Continue reading “The Dangerous Strategy of Advance and Retreat”
Javier Roque Martínez, Isabel M. Echemendía Pérez and 14ymedio, Havana, 24 November 2020 — In mid-March, just two days after the first case of coronavirus was detected in Cuba, state-owned Biocubafarma announced that it had the necessary products to fight the disease, some of them “already proven with high efficacy.” From then until the end … Continue reading “Cuban Science, Victim of Propaganda and Greed”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana | 2 October 2020 — Fresh off the networks, saturated today by the echoes of the unfortunate show (supposedly a debate) between United States presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and with their clothes still torn by the attacks of the always furious Trumpist pack – those worthy imitators of … Continue reading “A Debate for Democracy in Cuba: The End Does Not Justify the Means”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 14 September 2020 — It takes time and consumes energy to analyze the special tabloid Cuba and its economic and social challenge, prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, where the strategy is outlined “to boost the economy and face the global crisis caused by Covid- 19.” Reading the title is already … Continue reading “An Innocent Caricature”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, 3 August 2020 — “Speculators and product hoarders will be punished with 180 days in prison,” reads the text of legislation that could have been passed this week, were it not for its effective date of that far off 1962. Since then, and for almost six decades, resellers have been … Continue reading “Cuba’s Enemy is Not 90 Miles Offshore, But in the Lines”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 21 March 2020 — I got up before the sun came up and had a coffee on the balcony, 14 floors above the ground. The city was still silent and dark. A few hours earlier they had announced measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus on the Island, so this Saturday we … Continue reading “Day 1 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba”
