English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 17 December 2014 — Today has been one of those days we imagine a thousand ways, but never as it finally happened. You prepare for a date on which you can celebrate the end, hug your friends who return home, wave a flag in the middle of the street, but D-Day … Continue reading “Has D-Day Arrived? / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
It is a paradox that on Friday, November 7, the 151st anniversary of the death of a singer of innocence and virtue, the Matanzas poet Jose Jacinto Milanes, at the People’s Court of Cardenas in the same province of Matanzas on the same day two Cuban citizens are awaiting sentencing — Rolando Cruz (age 46) … Continue reading “Cuba: Access to WiFi or When Ingenuity is Penalized / Juan Juan Almeida”
During the days in which Ángel Santiesteban-Prats’ whereabouts were unknown, and with fears absolutely based on the illegal transfers that he experienced before, we filed a complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Forced or Involuntary Disappearances, so they would put it before the Regime in Havana to clarify his whereabouts. Translation of letter from … Continue reading “Blatant Lies / Angel Santiesteban”
14ymedio, Julio Blanco C., Managua, 27 September 2014 — I follow with eagerness – almost bordering on addiction – the news out of Cuba. I suppose that my nationality has a lot to do with that because probably no one better understands the reality of the Island (apart from Cubans) than we Nicaraguans. Here we … Continue reading “Nicaragua Was Freed From a Regime Modeled On That Of the Castros / 14ymedio, Julio Blanco C.”
The mechanism of annulment is cleanly bureaucratic: You can’t hire an attorney without having completed the dossier. The prosecution prepares its case in the dungeons. Lilianne Ruiz Havana, Cuba. In the doorways of Avenue Acosta, in the neighborhood of La Vibora, some faded beings sell aluminum scouring pads, Band-Aids and little boxes of matches. A … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban’s New Dossier”
“But Cubans are tired, Cubans want changes. More than ten years ago more than 25,000 Cubans supported a legal reform project. Called the Varela Project, it called for a plebiscite to ask the people, yes or no, did they want free elections. The Cuban Constitution establishes that if more than 10,000 people support a legal … Continue reading “Letter to Pope Francis from the Christian Liberation Movement Youth”
{*Translator’s Note: Angel disappeared from prison on July 21, 2014. As of today he has not been heard from for 29 days.} Five days* have passed now since the disappearance of the writer Angel Santiesteban in Havana, barely hours after he wrote a post from Lawton prison, in which he announced to the world that … Continue reading “Amidst Rumors and Disinformation, Angel Santiesteban Continues Missing”
In the Zamora neighbourhood, next to the Carlos J. Finlay military hospital, in the Marianao Council area, in Eastern Havana, many of the neighbours don’t know anything about the background of Allan Gross, the US contractor, who is stuck there. It’s a poor district, with little houses, dusty streets and broken pavements. The midday heat … Continue reading “Alan Gross: Trapped in a Cold War Tale / Ivan Garcia”
If we paused to observe Leopoldo Lopez and Angel Santiesteban-Prats for one moment, we see two very different physical types. One is very slim, the other sturdy. One is a lawyer, the other a writer. One is Venezuelan, the other Cuban; both are the father of a girl and a boy. Both share the same … Continue reading “Leopoldo Lopez and Angel Santiesteban: Two Lives and One Destiny”
You don’t need to be an expert critic, clairvoyant sociologist or a wise politician to understand that when you grow up in a totalitarian and absolutist country like Cuba, flooded with numerous afflictions, it’s normal to feel small. Thus, because of the great restrictions on individual freedom, the meager access to modernity and a determined … Continue reading “The New Man in Cuba in Search of Anabolic Steroids / Juan Juan Almeida”
Socialism is like dancing a milonga* in the midst of a carnival parade of rumba dancers HAVANA, Cuba – Indians and Cowboys, heroes and villains, the good and the bad… these are terms often used in movies, soap operas and literature to classify polarizations of characters, placing them, by virtue of that dual machination, in … Continue reading “The Deadly Poison of Political Discourses / Miriam Celaya”
Editor’s note: As this letter is the source of much discussion and debate, we are providing an easily accessible copy (that you don’t have to download), for our readers’ convenience. May 19, 2014 Dear Mr. President, Your administration has taken several important steps to support the Cuban people by opening travel for Cuban-American families, expanding … Continue reading “Open Letter to President Obama on Cuba: Support Civil Society in Cuba”
Yoani Sánchez, Washington | May 27, 2014 The debate about relations between Cuba and the United States has heated up following the publication of a letter signed by 40 American personalities asking President Barack Obama for flexibility toward the Island. The proposal has unleashed passions and speculation, also fueled by the imminent arrival in Havana … Continue reading ““We can act creatively with respect to Cuba.” Interview with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
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”
HAVANA, Cuba — The Cuba-United States confrontation increased its pitch with the publication by the daily Granma of the article, Zunzuneo: The Noise of Subversion, commenting on a report by the AP news agency about ZunZuneo and Piramideo, two text message services (SMS) accused of having illegally complied a list of telephone numbers to which it … Continue reading “Zunzuneo: Subversion or Breaking Censorship; / Odelin Alfonso Torna / HemosOido”
