English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
I am Elsa Morejon Hernandez, wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet González, president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. My letter is intended to report to you and to the world the injustices that to my husband and a group of Cuban ex-prisoners called the Group of 75 are being subjected to. … Continue reading “Open Letter to Amnesty International / Elsa Morejon”
I will not waste a second in explaining the difference between “Blockade” and “Embargo”; that’s irrelevant, it’s all in the dictionary. Cubans (from here, there and the hereafter) understand that this definition does not lie in the linguistic details, it comes from the place of residence of the person referring to it and/or, of course, … Continue reading “Cuba Between Blockade and Embargo / Juan Juan Almeida”
For over a decade, the Cuban government refused to allow one of the world’s best known bloggers, Yoani Sánchez, to travel abroad. When Havana finally loosened travel restrictions for Cuban citizens, Sánchez was one of the first to take advantage of the change, embarking on an 80-day 10-nation tour. One of the countries she visited … Continue reading “Radio Netherlands: Controversial Cuban Blogger Answers Tough Questions / Yoani Sanchez”
Presided over by Cuba’s General-President, on Friday, March 15, 2013 there was an extended meeting of the Council of Ministers, which, in addition to resembling any other, at the same time typifies both the inefficiency of the entire government apparatus and the impossibility of renewing the so-called “Cuban model.” The witches’ sabbath of official mediocrity … Continue reading “Total Alienation / Miriam Celaya”
The leaders of the revolutionary government and of the Cuban state enjoy an odd isolation in which they live isolated (I believe redundancy is good) from the rest of society, thereby generating and manipulating a morbid curiosity in which many people wonder if there is any difference between an imperialist tycoon and a communist bigwig. … Continue reading “Overseas Cubans, the Most Faithful of Friends / Juan Juan Almeida”
I read in the press that the former Pedro Borrás Astorga Hospital, located between 29th and 27th Streets and F and G in the capital’s Vedado district, one of the two most important examples of Art Deco hospital architecture (the other is in the city of Chicago), will be completely demolished in the first half … Continue reading “Determined Demolition / Fernando Damaso”
The situation of Cubans under the oppression of the Castro dictatorship does nothing but get worse day by day. The complicity of the world’s governments, whatever their political orientations may be, is unexplainable and unjustifable. In Cuba, Human Rights do NOT exist, liberty and justice do not exist. The oldest dynastic dictatorship in the world … Continue reading “THs – “Twisted Humans” – The Creation of a Dictatorship to Humilate Their People / Angel Santiesteban”
By Ivette Leyva Martínez CaféFuerte.com offers for the consideration of its readers a selection of 12 events that affected Cuba and Cubans during the past year. The selection was made considering the impact of these events on the political, economic and cultural life of the country. They were organized chronologically, not according to relevance. It … Continue reading “12 Important Events for Cuba and Cubans in 2012 / Ivette Leyva Martinez”
By Veizant Boloy At the end of September, Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, received Bruno Rodriguez Parilla, Cuban Foreign Minister, at U.N. headquarters in New York, according to a report in the national press. This recalls 28 February 2008, when Felipe Perez Roque, the former foreign minister, shook hands with Ban Ki-Moon, … Continue reading “And the Ratification of the Covenants? / Veizant Boloy #Cuba”
Lic. Rodrigo Chávez Rodríguez An article appeared recently newspaper Granma the official Organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, entitled Italy eventually to eliminate forty provinces, which aroused my curiosity. Italy has developed industry, is an exporter and importer, a state with a long trading tradition, famous for the well-known Italian Mafia, and within its … Continue reading “Italy Reduces Number of Provinces While Cuba Adds Them / Rodrigo Chavez Rodriguez #Cuba”
From the posters placed around the city urging people to protect themselves from cholera through a set of preventive measures, the increase is visits to doctors and nurses asking about acute diarrheal symptoms, the prohibition of offering smoothies, natural drinks and even water, if they are not industrially canned or bottled, in coffee shops and … Continue reading “Cholera Appears / Fernando Damaso #Cuba”
In March 2007 the Attorney General of the Republic replied just once to the first of three applications by two doctors who had been unjustly disqualified. It wasn’t just a technical report issued by a non-political and autonomous body against two citizens who considered their rights had been fundamentally violated, but this retrospective response was … Continue reading “The Turn of the Outraged / Jeovany Jimenez Vega #Cuba”
It seems that the dictatorships invented it but the inverted C is the counterpart of the Copyright symbol. It was created in 1976 and published with a small software to save RAM memory in the then rudimentary computer industry. Although its origin has nothing to do with human rights, it leads me to draw a … Continue reading “All Wrongs Reserved for Human Rights / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado #Cuba”
In just thirteen minutes of history human rights activists told how they were attacked by political police officers and men in plain clothes. The reason? Castro graffiti on the streets, and posters hanging from roofs. Without meaning to justify themselves, young dissidents explain how they have been surprised that when these signs appear they are … Continue reading “Repression, Poverty and Other Cuban Truths Arrive at the DVD Market / Luis Felipe Rojas #Cuba”
I originally published the article that follows on the website Penúltimos Días last November 26th. Since there are several and conflicting opinions about the post, I will submit it to the regular readers of this blog for their consideration. I just want to make a preliminary clarification: what some may consider inadequate demands of the … Continue reading “A Comment and a Controversial Article / Miriam Celaya #Cuba”