English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Havana, Cuba, August of 2013, www.cubanet.org — “As long as the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party’s Central Committee exists to monitor pastoral work, one cannot speak of religious liberty in Cuba.” So said Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart from the Baptist Church of Taguayabon to Cubanet in the province of Villa Clara. The … Continue reading “Why Does the Communist Party Control the Churches? / Lilianne Ruiz”
Dimas is second from right. Interview with Dimas Castellanos Marti, historian and journalist. From Havana, Felix Sautie Mederos Por Esto! asks: “Unravel the causes of the crisis our society finds itself in (…) The concept of race as a group of hereditary characteristics seems to lack foundation, as a social construction it has a damaging … Continue reading “Interview with Dimas Castellanos”
This past March 23, the prize-winning essayist, critic and literary investigator Roberto Zurbano, who up until this moment functioned as the director of the Editorial Fund of Casa de las Americas, was dismissed from the position. This measure was taken a few days after the US newspaper “The New York Times,” published an article under the … Continue reading “On Racism There is Still Much to Discuss / Dimas Castellanos”
I wasn’t there, but then they told me and later I read that on July 11 the Panamanian authorities stopped a North Korean freighter sailing through the Caribbean to the Panama Canal. Bear with me, but I think that with that name (Chong Chon Gang) would have stopped anyone; knowing that today the infamous and … Continue reading “Sugar with Weapons and Hidden Truths”
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 1993 Fidel Castro found himself on the ropes with the economic crisis and accepted the circulation of the dollar in Cuban territory. Until then, possessing foreign currency could cost you several years in prison. “The enemy’s money” came to stay, although years later it would be replaced by substitute called the “convertible peso” or … Continue reading “Twenty Years Later: From the Dollar to the Internet / Yoani Sanchez”
When the new law of “expansion” of INTERNET service goes into effect tomorrow, 11 million Cubans will be able to go to cybercafes and pay $4.50 USD (115 Cuban pesos) per hour to surf cyberspace. I’m sure that with the average salary of 400 Cuban pesos a month, very few will do so, which will … Continue reading “The “Cuban Model” of INTERNET / Walfredo Lopez”
After several days of staging a scene in the tropical paradise prison system for the accredited “press” and the examination of the UN Human Rights Council, where Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said he will accept the recommendations of the international body and apply them to the Castro prison system and he said he will allow … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban Harassed and Isolated in Prison 1580. Raul Castro Responsible for His Safety / Angel Santiesteban”
On the 29th of October of 1897 in the pasture of La Yaya, in Sibanicú, Camagüey, the drafting of what would become the last mambí Constitution came to an end. The resulting text represented a qualitative leap forward in Cuba’s constitutional history. This was due to the inclusion, for the first time, of a dogmatic … Continue reading “The Constitution of La Yaya and the Future Cuban Constitution / Dimas Castellanos”
Photo from http://www.elcomercio.com/ Again terrorism achieved its murderous aims when many innocents were killed at the finish line of the Marathon held in Boston, Massachusetts for more than half a century. Naturally, the bombing also erupted in the media, which sent us images of the two Chechen youths who were the authors of this act … Continue reading “Killing Without Showing Their Faces / Rosa Rodriguez”
Five years after Cuba’s representative signed the United Nations Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the situation with regards to fundamental rights in Cuba remains precarious. The violation of fundamental rights is not only a part of the repressive apparatus of the State, but our national legislation itself … Continue reading “The United Nations Covenants, Five Years Later / For Another Cuba, Estado de SATS”
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”
With another year of the period of pretend “reforms” implemented by the Government ending, free access to information remains distant and unchanged. Besides buying and selling homes and traveling abroad, internet access is one of the most anticipated changes Cubans. However, in 2012 the Ministry of Informatics and Communications (MIC) issued no legal statute to … Continue reading “Just Sitting Around Waiting for Internet Access / Yaremis Flores”
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”
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”
