English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 20 November 2016 — Tiredness, in the voice of the friend who calls and asks when they are going to mute the sirens that have been going off since morning. Exhaustion, in the neighbor who couldn’t get home in time after work because traffic was diverted due to military … Continue reading “Enough With the War Games / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
14ymedio, Pedro Armando Junco, Camaguey, 6 November 2016 — I met a man who, when his wife left him, carried on endlessly about the contempt he felt for her, constantly berating her, although he couldn’t stop talking about her: she was a prostitute, a liar, a thief and all sorts of other despicable things that … Continue reading “Elections and the ‘Blockade’ / 14ymedio, Pedro Armando Junco”
Ivan Garcia, 27 October 2016 — The state aqueduct brigade came to La Vitoria neighborhood on Friday morning and using sledgehammers destroyed the sidewalks to install water meters on every home. The October rains transformed the open ditches into quagmires. Many of the connections were gushing water. Six days later, after the complaints and phone … Continue reading “Public Services in Havana: Real Chaos / Iván García”
14ymedio, Rolando Polea, Caracas, 15 September 2016 — It’s 6:00 am on June 28, I drive slowly along the Panamerican highway, my view lost before the long line of people in shelters between the fog, the drizzle and hunger. Pressing up against each other as if for warmth. Almost a mile separates the last person in … Continue reading ““Us”: The New Class / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Poleo”
14ymedio/Agencies, 10 September 2016 — Multinational financial companies took part in a luncheon Friday with Cuban officials to discuss financial transactions between the US and Cuba, reports Reuters. At the event, organized by the Chamber of Commerce in New York City, Cuban officials again noted that despite the easing of the embargo decreed by President … Continue reading “US Banks “Are Afraid” Of Doing Business With Cuba / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Pedro Armando Junco, Camagüey, 24 August 2016 – The level of enslavement of a people is determined by the sum of freedoms that are restricted. Slavery and freedom are two ends of a scale that, as one side slants downward from the weight of the load on its side, its counterpart rises. I explained this … Continue reading “An Enslaved People / 14ymedio, Pedro Armando Junco”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Vinales, 23 August 2016 – The tables are ready, the glasses shine on the tablecloths and the bar displays a wide variety of beverages. Nevertheless, the restaurant is closed. Some months ago, the ample dining room of Casa Nenita, in Viñales, was full of tourists, but the construction of a pool resulted … Continue reading “Viñales Pool Owners Rebel Against the Bureaucracy / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar (Havana), Mario Penton (Miami), 16 August 2016 — “Do you see that building? Ten years ago it was full of stinking water, rats and trash. When people passed through the doorway a balcony could fall on their head. Today it is housing, thanks to the work of Eusebio,” Mirna says excitedly. After … Continue reading “Cuban Military Takes Over Businesses of Havana Historian’s Office / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 July 2016 – Since the proclamation in which Fidel Castro temporarily delegated power on 31 July 2006, the former president has met with two popes, has received visits several European, Asian and Latin American leaders and has written hundreds of articles under the title “Reflections.” However, his role in the daily lives … Continue reading “Chronology: Ten Years Without Fidel Castro / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Jorge Guillen, Candelaria, 29 July 2016 — He still shudders when he remembers that morning, when the broken glass from the windshield exploded everywhere and he had a taste of metal in his mouth. Ulises Ramirez crashed into two cows loose on the national highway as he was returning from the airport to his native … Continue reading “Watch Out! Cattle On The Road / 14ymedio, Jorge Guillen”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 22 July 2016 — Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken off the mask and let us witness the spectacle of his contorted and autocratic face. Last week’s failed coup d’etat has allowed him to unleash political persecution in Turkey. Now he rails against his opponents, decrees a state of emergency and suspends … Continue reading “Erdogan Unmasked / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2016 — The Cuban government will apply price controls to private transport starting Monday, according to information broadcast on official television this Friday. The measure seeks to put the brakes on the rising prices of shared fixed-route taxis – the collectivos – serving various routes in Havana, due to the increase … Continue reading “Cuban Government to Set Price Controls on Private Transport on Monday / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez, Pinar del Rio — The Cuban farmer has only two problems in being productive: the invasive marabou weed and everything else. When Raul Castro promoted a plan to lease idle land to the farmers and invited them to make it productive using oxen, he overlooked the fact that these parcels, in many … Continue reading “Marabou and the Government: Making the Life of the Cuban Farmer an Ordeal / 14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 9 May 2016 – Marxist thinkers from the last century appeared to be convinced that the communist ethic could only work after the elimination of the different social classes or, and it’s the same thing, when the communist society triumphed in the economic plane. “How can stealing be ethically condemned when … Continue reading “A Laboratory Man: The Official Party ‘Cadre’ in Cuba / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, Havana, 2 May 2016 — The clock struck nine as the cruise ship Adonia entered the bay of Havana. Dozens of people enthusiastically welcomed the first pleasure boat to come to the island from Miami in the last 50 years. The government did not need to issue an official call for citizens to gather there, … Continue reading “Cubans Cheer the First Cruise Ship From Miami / 14ymedio, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada”
