English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 June 2022 — I have listened patiently, even with due respect, to Miguel Díaz-Canel’s presentation this Thursday, where he had the purpose of convincing the television audience – that is the Cuban people – that the problems that the country faces with electricity generation are not the fault of the … Continue reading “The Revenge of the Cuban Scum*”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2022 — After more than 10 hours without power, the residents of the central campus of the Ignacio Agramonte University, in Camagüey, exploded this Tuesday night in a protest that circulated through social networks and led to the intervention of the center’s management, even to the point of restoring the service. … Continue reading “Protest Breaks Out at the University of Camaguey After More Than 10 Hours Without Electricity”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 1 June 2022 — If anything surprised the Cuban government during the July 11th (11J) protests, it was the large number of teenagers who took to the streets. Engaged in the surveillance of activists and independent media, or focusing their attention on workplaces and universities, it seems that State Security neglected … Continue reading “Cuban Teenagers No Longer Have Fears or Complexes”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 28 May 2022 — There is a hunger that is not satisfied with food nor diminishes even if food is obtained and is not lacking again for a long time. It is the hunger that remains in the memory and makes the stomach burn even if it is full. That chronic feeling of … Continue reading “Crisis and Autophagy in Havana, the Cycle That Does Not End”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 21 May 2022 — Holguín exists thanks to a plague of ants and bibijaguas [leaf cutter ants]. It is the strangest and most enigmatic region of the Island. Columbus entered Cuba through it and in Nipe – the largest bay in the archipelago – the Virgin of Charity was found. In … Continue reading “‘That Secret Symphony’, Holguín’s Poetic Dissidence”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 May 2022 — Summer is approaching and Cubans are losing patience with the Electric Union (UNE). After months of constant breakdowns and long blackouts, the state monopoly is unable to “cover demand” and has announced this Friday that “electricity service will continue to be affected in the coming days.” In a brief … Continue reading “The Electric Union of Cuba: ‘We Did Not Manage to Cover the Demand’”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 14 May 2022 — At the age of 16, Sissi Abascal Zamora was not, like any other teenager, walking with her friends or wearing new clothes. At that age she became part of the Ladies in White Movement and she lived between arrests and police operations. On July 11, 2021, her participation in … Continue reading “Sissi Abascal, the Young Woman Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Painting ‘Patria y Vida’ on a Sheet”
14ymedio, Madrid, 20 April 2022 — After seven months without sending diesel, the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA is preparing 190,000 barrels for Cuba, according to a company document seen by Reuters. According to this information, the Delsa ship, chartered by the state-owned Cubametales, loads 200,000 barrels of fuel oil and 190,000 of diesel to … Continue reading “Despite its Difficulties, Venezuela Diverts 190,000 Barrels of Diesel to Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 30 March 2022 – Their tongues give them away. As soon as they get off the plane they begin to blurt our phrases like “you have no idea what you have here,” “life out there is very hard,” or “with this sun, what more do you want.” While saying things like … Continue reading “The Cafe-con-Leche-Cubanologists”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 24 March 2022 — In Cuba, the telecommunications services of the state monopoly Etecsa stopped working this Thursday morning for about an hour, a problem that the company attributes to an energy failure and that increases uncertainty about the capacity of the Island’s National Electric System. “Etecsa informs that due … Continue reading “An ‘Energy Failure’ Cuts Off the Internet in Cuba for Almost an Hour”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 December 2021 — There will be changes to correct the deficiencies of the failed Tarea Ordenamiento (Ordering Task), which was planned for more than ten years and whose execution even the Cuban authorities themselves consider catastrophic. In his 2021 accountability report, presented this weekend, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero admits that “the objective of this … Continue reading “Faced With the Failure of its ‘Ordering Task’, the Cuban Government Talks About ‘Rectification’”
14ymedio, Havana, October 5, 2021 — A product as basic and elemental as salt is has become yet another of problem for the island’s authorities. Not a day has gone by when they have not been called to account, even by the official press, for the lack of some consumer product, be it tobacco, electricity, … Continue reading “In Cuba, Salt – Along with Coffee, Electricity and Face Masks – Is a Problem”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 6 October 2021 — Something that I have never managed to do is pronounce two words at the same time. This “deficiency” has led me to understand how difficult it is to state two ideas simultaneously in a grammatical sentence. In this arduous struggle of half a century, I have also learned that … Continue reading “The Space and Time of Words”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 October 2021 — Venezuela’s oil exports posted their worst level of the year in September, but the country’s shipments to Cuba reached 58,000 barrels per day (bpd), a substantial increase over the 40,000 sent in August. These deliveries occurred in a month in which the thermoelectric plants have failed on the island, … Continue reading “Despite Low Production in September, Venezuela Increased Oil Shipments to Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 2 October 2021 — “The repression and terror” instituted by the Cuban government “fail to neutralize this new generation of dissident citizens.” The Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC) reaches this conclusion in its latest report, made public this Friday, which includes 312 protests in September. Since September 2020, when 42 demonstrations took place, until the same month … Continue reading “Cuba: Report Records Five Actions Against Foreign Currency Stores and Patrols in September”
