English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
I’s lovely blue wrapper bodes well for what’s inside, but it’s not so, nor is it about the title of that famous song. What concerns us today is a scam, that is spreading through all the establishments in the neighborhood, and perhaps others, and comes factory sealed: Turquino Gourmet coffee, a packet of 250 grams, … Continue reading “Blue, Tinted Blue / Rebeca Monzo”
For the ‘Palestinians’, as people from Havana call those born in the eastern provinces, to live in Havana is almost a mission impossible. By Decree 217, passed in 1997, the law sanctions and fines people born outside the capital who wish to settle there without official permission. It’s like a border without a border. There … Continue reading “Palestinians in Havana / Iván García”
A disproportionate scandal has been unleashed these past few days around a vulgar Cuban video clip officially demonized and quasi-banned by the Culture Minister himself. It is the reggaeton entitled “Chupi Chupi” whose lyrics, in fact, are such a monument to audio-visual vulgarity that it could be considered record-breaking within a genre that is prominent … Continue reading “Vulgarity as a Resource (I) / Miriam Celaya”
The opening of the exhibition of graffiti artist Danilo Machado Maldonado, aka El Sexto* (The Sixth), on Saturday October 29th at five in the afternoon in the apartment of Gorki Aguila, the leader of the rock band Porno para Ricardo was an event beyond its artistic connotation, a professional act of solidarity with the creator, … Continue reading “El Sexto’s Exposition / Miguel Iturria Savón”
54…To confront racial, gender, religious belief, sexual orientation and other prejudices that can give rise to any form of discrimination or to limit the exercise of the rights of persons, among them those who occupy public office, of the masses and in defense of the Fatherland. Taken from the base document of the First Cuban … Continue reading “The Time of “The Feathers” / Reinaldo Escobar”
On September 28, 1960, while homemade bombs and firecrackers were being detonated by his political opponents, an angry Fidel Castro created the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). From the balcony of the north wing of the Presidential Palace, the guerrilla commander, recently returned from a tour of New York, argued the need … Continue reading “CDR, Castro’s Popular Weapon / Iván García”
In order to make a modest contribution to what appears to be a great confusion when translating, I gave myself the task of searching in dictionaries, to clarify for that great actor who often visits us, Danny Glover, and who is said to be such a friend of Cuba (meaning the government), the true meaning … Continue reading “Translate / Rebeca Monzo”
Today the city is painted yellow. Many women wear this color in honor of their Virgin, and carry beautiful yellow flowers in their hands, mostly sunflowers, and men and children accompany them. It is the day of La Caridad del Cobre, Cuba’s Patron Saint, the Mambisa Virgin. No one in the workplaces has to call … Continue reading “The 8th of September / Rebeca Monzo”
The Communist Party of Cuba works arduously to realize a full identity between its members and those of the government, and to guarantee that its politics are approved unanimously in the National Assembly, the body that represents and expresses the will of more than 11 million Cubans. The sixth Congress of the Communist Party of … Continue reading “Party Prepares Itself for Next Elections / Laritza Diversent”
Mr. Calvet: Welcome back to our arena. You are really proving to be an itsy-bitsy difficult reader. You’ll have to excuse me, but, with your comment to my March 21st post that you uploaded on the 23rd, you almost succeeded in confusing me. As I see it, your questions have the wrong focus from the … Continue reading “Public Message in Answer to a “Confused Reader” / Miriam Celaya”
If someone had told us in the distant 70’s that the day would come when attendance at a march or other event in support of the revolution would be guaranteed by assigning quotas, I’m sure we would have made a face, incredulous. However, what back then would have been unthinkable is today a palpable reality. … Continue reading “Quota for Revolucionaries, or “If you have to do it, you have to do it.” / Miriam Celaya”
It was shortly after I learned that candy is sweet and fire burns, when I came to realize that Cubans are allowed to join organizations created by the government but we are punished, to teach us a lesson, if we decide to create our own groups. And so, as children we were automatically enrolled in … Continue reading “Friends of Salamanders / Yoani Sánchez”
Blogging is a challenge and pleasure to me, just as much professionally as personally. It gives me the opportunity to say what I think, as well as feel, without prohibitions. The possibility to escape the control. Writing online is not easy for Cubans. A challenge. And we have to be brave to face it. Because … Continue reading “Blogging, A Necessity / Laritza Diversent”
In the latest chapter in the Orwellian saga on television, we saw a frightened young face talking about how a tourist gave him data encryption software. Much of it, most likely, can be downloaded openly and for free from hundreds of web sites and it is use by individuals and businesses all over the world … Continue reading “From Lemon Juice to Encrypted Code / Yoani Sánchez”
The overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt has encouraged the idea that a similar event could occur in Cuba. That conclusion, based on similarities, doesn’t take into account the differences between the two scenarios. The governments of both countries emerged in the 50’s of last century, formed one-party systems, nationalized economies, and lacked or limited civil … Continue reading “Cuba and Egypt, Similarities and Differences / Dimas Castellanos”