English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Although they say abroad that the government of General Raúl Castro is urgently calling for a different period – one that is critical, controversial, appealing and lively – in practice the official reporters are not rushing to drop the burden of language loaded with slogans and pieces from speeches by Fidel Castro. Journalists working in the state media … Continue reading “Cuba: Inconvenient Journalism / Iván García”
By: Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez I know that the truth will always prevail over a lie and that light will disperse darkness, leaving all things once dark and hidden to be discovered; thus it shall be with the events associated with the death of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, who his friends and acquaintances called “The Student”. … Continue reading “The Death of Juan Wilfredo / Mario Barosso”
I could barely sleep last night. A book left me tossing and turning, staring at the ceiling grid in my bedroom. “The Man Who Loved Dogs,” the novel by Leonardo Padura, shaken by his sincerity, by the corrosive acid he throws on the evasive Utopia they wanted to impose on us. No one can remain … Continue reading “Join, Silence, Kill / Yoani Sánchez”
The habaneros were screaming for it. After 9 months of a fierce drought, where water-laden clouds kept moving around the city, and the dams and reservoirs had gone to code red, the rain appeared. Now, when the month of May leaves us, the longed-for spring showers made themselves present. Children and teens in shorts, barefoot … Continue reading “Rain Has Arrived in Havana / Iván García”
In these April days while the communists of the government party met for four days in the Palace of Conventions, to the west of Havana, newspaper vendors had a party. Bartolo, a nearly blind old man, doubled sales of Granma that he offers every morning in the dirty doorways of the Calzada 10 de Octubre. … Continue reading “Cuban Newspaper Vendors Party / Iván García”
As if the proverbial mediocrity of the usual television programming weren’t enough, in recent weeks there is a new series, incredibly badly made and edited even worse, that has been presented on the screen. “Cuba’s Reasons,” is the title of this latest garbage, which clearly intends to disinform the national population trying to create a … Continue reading “Reasons for an Injustice / Miriam Celaya”
(… CHAPTER 8 …) Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo She meowed. On the other side of the shutters. A tame meow, muted. In an almost human language. She meowed several times, scraping the porous and thousand year-old wood from 1910. 2010 just ended and she wanted to come in. That was her preferred way of slipping … Continue reading “This Is Not the Novel of the Revolution (8) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
When the 32nd edition of the Havana International New Latin American Film Festival opened, I commented on the event’s programme and the expectations by genres, nations and other details of interest, based on the preliminary information offered by the organizers. Now that the party is over, we need to recap the Cuban film industry, whose … Continue reading “The Cuban Films at the Festival / Miguel Iturria Savón”
The cold and humid days are public enemy number one for Havana’s beggars. When the north wind comes and the sun hides, the indigent disappear as if by magic. In the Víbora section, close to the Plaza Roja (Red Plaza) — which is neither a plaza nor is painted red — a dozen beggars have … Continue reading “Fidel Castro’s Beggars / Iván García”
Punta Brava, Havana- 01/17/11 A civic event without any precedents throughout the history of the Castro reign inspired Punta Brava natives on the morning of Thursday, January 14th. To the grand surprise of the locals, a group of women took to the streets in a peaceful manner, holding up signs which demanded to the authorities, … Continue reading “Popular Street Protest in Punta Brava Due to the Absence of Water / Silvio Benítez Márquez”
Divinations Note: This work was originally written for and published in Voices magazine #5, in January, 2011. I want to start with a statement of principle absolutely rigorous and rigorously true: I respect the religious beliefs of all people anywhere in the world. The second statement I will make is as vertical and solid as … Continue reading “Of Oracles and Soothsayers: Cuba, Predictions and Realities / Miriam Celaya”
There are three, twelve-story buildings behind my house. Because they are lined up next to one another, people call the complex the Chinese Wall. Behind the buildings, there is a void full of dogs and rats, where improvised dumps frequently pile up heaps of garbage. In one of those dumps I made out three wooden … Continue reading “Wooden Suitcases / Regina Coyula”
THE LOTTERY AS A CRITERION OF TRUTH Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo The lottery numbers yesterday in Cuba: 19 fixed, 19 and 86 running. I should play more. I should put money on the lottery. My father spent his last ten years doing that. He was lucky. He played a little, but on a lot of … Continue reading “BET IN CUBA HERE… / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The news spread like wildfire in the old part of Havana. A black rapper drained his beer while he spoke rapidly into his cell phone. “Buddy, a big ship of foreigners just arrived. They speak English, they seem to be gringos. Let them know about the girls, I think it will work,” noted the pimp. … Continue reading “The English Take Havana / Iván García”
Heaven and earth came together for Danay when Lester, her ex-spouse, confessed to her with tremendous calm that he didn’t love her. He tried everything to save his 10 month-old marriage. The young lady, until yesterday a Christian, lost faith in God and in man. Today she is looking for the guilty party who left … Continue reading “Looking For the Guilty / Laritza Diversent”
