English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
“I won!” a euphoric young woman said as she left the Department of Immigration and Alienslocatedon10th of October brandishing her passport in her right hand and a clear plastic with papers in the other. She was so happy about the news that she waved her travel pass like someone who brandishes a sword. She hugged … Continue reading “No Locks on Passports / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado #Cuba”
Upon arriving in this corner of France and reuniting with my family, whom I had not seen for seven years, I had the great pleasure of receiving a visit from the son of a very dear friend, whom I had first seen when he was born. Later on, as you might imagine, the subject of … Continue reading “Cubans Throughout the World / Rebeca Monzo #Cuba”
God willing, before spring of 2013 arrives, Ernesto, thirty-five years old and the owner of a small confectionery business in the Havana neighborhood ofSanto Suárez, will probably be able to travel to Madrid. He will stroll along the Plaza de Cibeles, and buy something in an outlet store or a Chinese street market. And if … Continue reading “After Food, What Most People in Cuba Are Talking About / Ivan Garcia”
It is already a fact: the awaited “migration reforms”, announced by Raul Castro a month and a half ago, arrive with a lot of noise — much ado about nothing. Published “casually” five days before the elections for delegates to the Municipal Assemblies of Popular Power, the modification to Law No. 1312 “Law of Migration” … Continue reading “Upgrade of Cuban Migration Policy? / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
