English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
A group of Cubans in Cuba and its diaspora agreed to promote a roadmap for a constitutional consensus. Organizations and public figures from different generations, all ideologies, religious creeds and interests, we believe it’s good that, first, we agree on what kind of constitution we want that is established and take it as a reference … Continue reading “Toward a New Constitution / Rosa Maria Rodriguez”
In Havana, the good medical specialists always have at hand two kinds of treatment for their patients. “If it is a person with family abroad or of high purchasing power, I propose that he go to the international pharmacy to buy the medications in foreign currency because they are of higher quality and more effective. … Continue reading “Cuba: The Tricks of the Embargo / Ivan Garcia”
I thank Neo Club Editions, Armando Anel and Idabell, his wife; Barcardi House of the University of Miami and the Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, and the Alexandria Library for the opportunity to present this excellent novel by Angel Santiesteban Prats, The Summer that God Slept, winner of the Franz Kafka literary prize, Novels … Continue reading “Carolos Alberto Montaner: Someday God Will Awaken / Angel Santiesteban”
As with almost everyone, as a girl darkness was a problem. I loved playing hide and seek, crouching in the bushes, but when evening came, the shadows became something dangerous, boogeymen coming to take me away, and I would run to the safety of adults and the light. Another of my major fears at that … Continue reading “Brief Inventory of Personal Fears / Regina Coyula”
Six years since General-President Raúl Castro assumed power in Cuba; it could be argued that almost as many legal changes have been implemented as were introduced during the early days of the revolution and, without a doubt, a lot more than in the four decades preceding “Raulismo” Viewed in perspective, Raúl’s reforms are significant and … Continue reading “Raul’s Reforms as Strategy for Survival / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 June 2014 – In its latest report*, for the month of May, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation reported 1,120 arrests of peaceful dissidents and activists. This figure is one of the “highest in recent decades with regards to the number of arrests for political reasons,” the document reports. … Continue reading “Over One Thousand Arrests of Activists in May / 14ymedio”
Interview with Manuel Cuesta Morúa from Constitutional Consensus Options under discussion: Change the 1940 Constitution, the 1976 update or create a new constitution The Project involves most of the relevant organizations from the civic and political community, inside and outside Cuba Reinaldo Escobar, Havana | May 23, 2014 Question. What is the objective of the … Continue reading “A Preview of the Next Cuba / 14ymedio, Manuel Cuesta Morua, Reinaldo Escobar”
Una Noche (One Night) is the film which best reflects why it is that young people leave Cuba. That’s how a female friend of mine, who is a lover of the seventh art, laconically replied to my question, after visiting the film exhibition in the 34th Festival of New Latin-American Cinema, which took place in … Continue reading “One Night: A Critical View of Cuban Social Reality / Dimas Castellano”
The first time I set foot in that scary place called Villa Marista, similar to Lubyanka Prison in the now fortunately disappeared Soviet Union, it was by my own will. I accompanied Manuel Cuesta Morúa to see Investigator Yurisan Almenares, in charge of Case No. 5, 2014, against Cuesta Morúa, after he was arbitrarily arrested … Continue reading “At Repression’s Ground Zero / Lilianne Ruiz”
Photo: Rebeca The Foreign Investment Law, debated and approved by the National Assembly in extraordinary session, has some worrisome aspects, both for foreign investors as well as for Cuban citizens. It seems that Cubans living in other countries are not covered under the law since the definition of a domestic investor applies only to current … Continue reading “A Law with Dark Corners / Fernando Damaso”
The dialog between the Venezuelan opposition and Nicolas Maduro is in full swing. Its critics are many, its most visible loser: the Cuban government. For a system that for more than half a century has disqualified and reprimanded its dissidents, this discussion table must present a sad acknowledgement of its own inabilities. Last Tuesday stunned … Continue reading “The Venezuelan Dialogue, From a Cuban Point of View / Yoani Sanchez”
A group of Cubans in Cuba and its diaspora agreed to promote a road map for a constitutional consensus. Organizations and public figures from different generations, of all ideologies, religious beliefs and interests, we believe it is good that, firstly, we agree as to the type of constitution we want to establish or take as … Continue reading “Toward a New Constitution / Rafael Leon Rodriguez”
The whole neighborhood called him by the peculiar last name he’d inherited from his Basque grandfather. Vertical for ideological reasons, he always made it clear that he was “a man of the cause.” Meeting after meeting, report after report, complaint after complaint, few exceeded him in offering proofs of faith in the system. He was … Continue reading “Membership Card or Passport? / Yoani Sanchez”
In 1989, Cuba concentrated 85 per cent of its trade relations on the USSR and the rest of the socialist camp. Thus it assured the supply of components, raw materials, technology and satisfactory loans in terms of due date and interest. With the collapse of European socialism and the disintegration of the USSR, Cuba in … Continue reading “Cuba Seeks Investors with an Old Publicity Strategy / Juan Juan Almeida”
February 28, 2013, the day that the Castro brothers’ totalitarian regime jailed me, was not a day chosen randomly by the political police. That day, several events happened simultaneously, and it was significant for many reasons in my case. Firstly, that day was the birthday of my partner, and they well knew it because they … Continue reading “The Dictatorship’s Gift / Angel Santiesteban”
