English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 May 2021 — While Luis Robles Elizastigui was being arrested last December 4th on San Rafael Boulevard for holding a sign that read “Freedom. No more repression. # Free-Denis [Solís]”, his brother Landy spent a working day like any other in the private workshop where he was employed. Since that … Continue reading ““I Am Not Afraid, I Will Not Stop Asking for My Brother’s Freedom””
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 May 2021 — There is a rickety and dirty wooden chair. It would only be a deteriorated object at the entrance of my building in Havana, if it weren’t for the fact that it represents power. It is a bulwark, the vantage point from which they frequently watch me to prevent … Continue reading “The Chair of the Represser”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 April 2021 — Dozens of activists were repressed in a protest in the park on the corner of Obispo and Aguacate, in Old Havana. The protesters were trying to reach the home of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, only a few blocks away. The artist is on his sixth day of a … Continue reading “Dozens of Activists Demonstrate in Old Havana, Shouting “Patria y Vida” (Homeland and Life)”
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, 23 April 2021 — This Friday independent activists, artists and journalists again suffered another day of repression by State Security. Police surveillance, bans on leaving homes, and arbitrary arrests marked the day in Havana. The reporter from the CiberCuba portal, Iliana Hernández, after spending 14 days under constant surveillance around her home in Cojímar, decided to go out … Continue reading “Activists and Reporters Denounce Police Sieges and Arbitrary Arrests”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 April 2021 — The Cuban government unleashed a repressive wave against independent activists, artists and journalists this weekend, while the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba was held at the Palace of Conventions in Havana. The artist Tania Bruguera, who had planned to give an online conference last Friday on art, activism and censorship … Continue reading “Cuba’s Political Police Lock Up Opponents in Their Homes and Cut Off Their Phones”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 21 April2021 — The artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has been besieged for more than two weeks in his home in Old Havana, headquarters of the San Isidro Movement (MSI). “I have been here for 17 days without being able to leave my house. I try to leave and the political police detain … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara Demands $500,000 from Cuban Government for Damage to His Works”
Cubalex, 13 April 2021. Summary: Coronavirus cases are continuing to increase and the government announces new coronavirus strains in the country. Repression of activists, members of the opposition and journalists continues before the Party Congress Government actions April 5th. New measures in Ciego de Avila against increasing number of coronavirus cases. These include restriction on … Continue reading “Report on Government Actions and Repression in Cuba / Cubalex”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, April 8, 2021 — “It’s to cushion the reorganization,” was the response one young businesswoman got from Banco Metropolitano after waking up on Tuesday and finding a million convertible peos, or CUCs, in her bank account. “This doesn’t make any sense to me. A lot of people are complaining about the … Continue reading “Million-Dollar Bank Deposits Amount to an Illegal Operation by the Cuban Government”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 5 April 2021 — The hero, the high priest, the Revolution, slavery… The controversial issues that Reynier Leyva Novo (Havana, 1983) addresses in his work have made him one of the most important Cuban visual artists of his generation. Novo’s work, which has been exhibited in Mexico, the United States, Italy, … Continue reading ““The Mambises had Machetes in the Fight for Freedom. We have Telephones and Paintbrushes””
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 2 April 2021 — Among old and polluting almendrones*, the new Ecotaxis that carry passengers gleam on the outer edges of the National Bus Terminal in Havana. The vehicles are part of a project, funded with international capital, that seeks to preserve the environment, although they still need fossil fuel to … Continue reading ““A Green Tour” by Ecotaxi Through Havana, Although Not So Green”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 22 March 2021 — Alicia Quevedo’s dream was to turn 18 so that she could go out with her friends at night, stay over at her boyfriend’s house and be allowed to spend a weekend at the beach. On January 11th, the expected day arrived, but two months later, she has … Continue reading “Young Cubans’ Nightmare”
14ymedio, Camila, Havana, March 14, 2021 — One afternoon I was summoned to the principal’s office. The teacher at the front of the class looked confused. I was his best pupil. I had not failed a single test. I had even been head-of-detachment the year before. In short, a puntualita, a well-behaved student. And puntualitas never … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Props Up a Building in Ruins”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 16 March 2021 — Elena Meriño’s work table has changed its geography since her children have stopped going to school. Mountains of books and notebooks and loose sheets of homework pile up alongside her work commitments. Since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Cuba a year ago, the dining room of her apartment became her … Continue reading “Cuban Mothers Complain: TV Cannot Replace the Classroom Teacher”
