Search results for: Homeland and Life

What Did I Lose? / Miguel Iturria Savon

Knowing I’ve been in Spain for one year, a friend from Valencia asks me what I lost since leaving the island. As I know she is trapped in the tapestry of her circumstances, I try to be brief. I tell her I came in search of lost time, to connect with my origins, wrapped in … Continue reading “What Did I Lose? / Miguel Iturria Savon”

Farewell to the Cienfuegan in Love / Aleaga Pesant

HAVANA, Cuba , September 2013, www.cubanet.org.- He was the most in love Cienfuegan I knew. He was called Oscar Manual Espinosa Chepe, although to most of the people who knew him he was simply “Chepe.” His Dulcinea, Miriam Leiva, was at his side over the last thirty years with a loyalty tested in the harsh … Continue reading “Farewell to the Cienfuegan in Love / Aleaga Pesant”

From State Security Agent to CID* Member / Yudel Rojas, CID

By Yudel Rojas** I was born on December 24, 1980 in Manzanillo to a family committed to the Revolution. I always dreamed of being a member of the Special Forces and one morning they offered me a chance to work for the revolution. You might ask how. A captain in counter-intelligence, a man name Jorge Vázquez, … Continue reading “From State Security Agent to CID* Member / Yudel Rojas, CID”

El Vedado: From Modernity to Brutality / Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna

HAVANA, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org –The identity of El Vedado has been in jeopardy for a long time.  This neighborhood in the old Elegant Havana is no longer a museum of modern architecture.  Here Cuba entered modernity, which was always an accent of its identity.  It wasn’t just a neighborhood founded by families of the aristocracy, … Continue reading “El Vedado: From Modernity to Brutality / Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna”

A Dirty Text on This Wall / Luis Felipe Rojas

Text and Photos: Nilo Julián González Preval [From LFR: Today begins a series of photographs and texts from the experimentalist artist, Nilo Julián González Preval. My blog, Crossing the Barbed Wire, opens its windows to the artists and writers on the island. On this occasion Nilo presents us with a text, which is nothing more than a … Continue reading “A Dirty Text on This Wall / Luis Felipe Rojas”

Choosing a Book, or the Reader’s Betrayal / Yoani Sanchez

I scan the shelves, dusting off my memory for books over these last decades, in search of the titles that I must keep, at all costs, from the fire of oblivion. It’s not an easy task. Every author, every text chosen… is an act of betrayal toward the rest. Making a list of the essential … Continue reading “Choosing a Book, or the Reader’s Betrayal / Yoani Sanchez”

Last Letter from Angel Santiesteban from Prison 1580 Shortly Before Being Transferred From the Prison to Whereabouts Unknown

I want to share a letter that my brother Angel wrote to me, just today when I don’t know where he is or how he is doing, and they have changed his prison, and right now he is still missing. I request immediate release for him, the writer Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, innocent of all charges for … Continue reading “Last Letter from Angel Santiesteban from Prison 1580 Shortly Before Being Transferred From the Prison to Whereabouts Unknown”

Message from Angel Santiesteban, sent to the event “Detained Writers/Dispatched Writers” / Angel Santiesteban

Dear writers – French and from other nations present – critics, editors, translators, readers and the public in general: I do not deny to you that after several days the news of this event slept inside the prison, mocking the constant and deep watchfulness over my person, without it being possible to calm my anxiety … Continue reading “Message from Angel Santiesteban, sent to the event “Detained Writers/Dispatched Writers” / Angel Santiesteban”

The Business of Exporting Cuban Doctors / Ivan Garcia

Photo: Cuban doctors showing their diplomas in Havana. From Martí Noticias. By 1998 Fernando had already spent a year and a half working for free in the civil war in Angola where, to get to a clinic in an isolated hamlet, he had to be accompanied by a landmine deactivation expert. Twenty-five years later he is … Continue reading “The Business of Exporting Cuban Doctors / Ivan Garcia”

The Philosophy of Marti versus the Totalitarian Model

Published in the second edition of Cuadernos de Pensamiento Plural, April 2013. People cannot live without history. On the 160th anniversary of the birth José Martí, “the crowning figure of Cuban political thought,” his ideas, instead of being used to solve the serious social problems that afflict Cuban society, continue to be manipulated in order to validate … Continue reading “The Philosophy of Marti versus the Totalitarian Model”

Military Counterintelligence Threatens Independent Journalist Again / Iván García

In recent days a very concerned neighbor approached me to warn me about an investigation by special services. “We have been watching him for some time,” the official told the neighbor. This is nothing new. According to neighborhood sources Military Counterintelligence (CIM) has been looking for three years into any bit of information that might … Continue reading “Military Counterintelligence Threatens Independent Journalist Again / Iván García”

Post-Revolutionary Political Parties / Rafael Leon Rodriguez

José Martí was right when he said, “Government arises out of the country. The spirit of government must be that of the country. The form of government must be in accordance with the constitution. Government is nothing more than the balance between the natural elements of the country.” 1 He later added, “”Only in those countries where the … Continue reading “Post-Revolutionary Political Parties / Rafael Leon Rodriguez”

Adjusting to the Needs of the People / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado

Cubans began to flee the country from the time of the triumph of the government that was established in Cuba at the beginning of 1959. Never before had such a large number of compatriots fled, leaving the equity they had built over their whole lives, along with parts of their families. Historical propaganda against communism … Continue reading “Adjusting to the Needs of the People / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”

The Everyday Marti / Julio Cesar Galvez

By Julio Cesar Galvez The figure of José Martí has been used in an unmeasured way for their search for political prominence by the Cuban regime, long before the seizure of power on January 1959. Many young people are unaware of the truth about the man who fell in Dos Rios fighting against Spanish colonialism. … Continue reading “The Everyday Marti / Julio Cesar Galvez”