English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 26 May 2020 – Yesterday I went to bed in a country with dual currency system and today I woke up to the news that we already have a trinity. Little by little, the greenbacks have been gaining space in the Cuban reality and this May 22 the Official Gazette published a resolution that extends … Continue reading “The Covid-19 Crisis in Cuba, Days 62 to 66: Monetary Trinity”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 2 April 2020 – A mask can be a protection and a shield. When part of the face is covered, it is easy to outwit the police. Something that shouldn’t normally matter, but that in Cuba can be vital. Now, when I blend into the crowd with my mask, I manage … Continue reading “Day 13 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: The Daily Fight for Food”
Iván García, Havana, December 9th, 2019 — This interview is the fruit of much bargaining. In various profiles that Journal of The Americas aims to publish on independent Cuban journalists of different generations, the name Monica Baro is underlined in red. The plan was to open the season with an interview of the brilliant young … Continue reading “Monica Baro: "You Can’t Sacrifice Yourself for a Utopia" / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 4 March 2020 — I had heard of him in the same terms that are used to describe a mythological creature. Those who listened to Mike Porcel told me about his lyrics, his mastery of the guitar and a voice that stood out among other troubadours, but my generation never heard him … Continue reading “Mike Porcel, From Censorship to Censorship”
Iván García, January 20, 2020 — Three years ago I had a smart phone for the first time. It was a gift from Celeste Matos, a journalist in Miami, with whom I worked for a time. It was robbed, and she offered me another, which was blocked because I couldn’t remember my account ID. In … Continue reading “10 Years: A Guy Named Ivan Writes from Havana”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 29 December 2019 — The Cuban independent press has experienced one of its most intense and productive years in 2019. Despite the authorities’ censorship and increased repression against journalists, private media are gaining space in a country where the Constitution gives the state a monopoly over this sector. The arrest, prosecution … Continue reading “The Private Press in Cuba Gains Spaces Despite Repression”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 24 September 2019 — Carmelo Mesa-Lago is a known but enigmatic figure. An economist cited by both Tyrians and Trojans, with a father born in Guanabacoa and a mother from Regla, for decades we have seen him explain Cuba through his data and figures. Few know his informal, almost domestic side, in which … Continue reading “The Memoir of a Great Figure of the Cuban Exile”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar and Yoani Sanchez, Havana, June 26, 2019 — At what has been called the Cathedral of Ice Cream, the faithful wait outside for hours on the day that the Coppelia ice creamery is scheduled to reopen after a weeks-long remodeling. The first day of operation is marked by scenes of people shoving … Continue reading “Multitudes and Frustrations at the New Coppelia”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, Generation Y, 11 March 2019 — Do you remember those years when national television did not broadcast the cartoons of the “capitalist” world? My generation grew up looking at Soviet, Polish, Czech and Bulgarian cartoons; some well crafted, but others crude and boring, with a clear ideological message of “collectivization,” in … Continue reading “Minnie Mouse Wins the Revolution Game”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 20 February 2019 — Coincidence or destiny, this is a defining week for Cuba and Venezuela. February 23 will be the key date for the humanitarian aid accumulated on the border with Colombia to reach Venezuelans and, a few hours later, Cubans will face, for the first time in decades, a ballot … Continue reading “And If Venezuela Succeeds?”
Fernando Damaso, 19 February 2019 — Lately I’ve been hearing the phrase “the horrendous Operation Peter Pan” and I ask myself: Was it really horrendous? “Operation Peter Pan” consisted of many parents sending their children to the United States through religious organizations, to avoid losing “parental authority,” which was a broadly-held concern among the members … Continue reading ““Peter Pan” in the Air / Fernando Damaso”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 21 January 2019 – The center of attention has shifted abruptly for the Cuban authorities. A few weeks before a complex constitutional referendum, with an economy taking on water everywhere, Havana is now embroiled in a bitter dispute with the government of Colombia. The bout between the Plaza of the Revolution … Continue reading “Cuba, a Sanctuary for Fugitives From Justice”
Yoani Sanchez, New York Times, Havana, 13 January 2019 — A young man posts images of a flood in Centro Habana on social networks. From the internet come complaints from neighbors who are clamoring for an official response and for repairs to the sewer network. Sixty years after the triumph of the Revolution, Cubans are prohibited from … Continue reading “The Revolution Does Not Want To Be Tweeted”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana | 9 January 2019 — As a gesture of profound symbolism, on January 1 the official ceremony to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution was held in the cemetery of Santa Ifigenia in Santiago de Cuba. More than the birthday of a living thing, its defenders gathered around the … Continue reading “Revolution is Disappointment”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Lima, 13 November 2018 — If it were not for the two stopovers, one in Paris and the other in London, which Miguel Díaz-Canel made during his first official foreign tour at the head of the Cuban government, the map of his trip would be reduced to a group of countries that … Continue reading “Keys To Understanding An Emergency Tour By Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel”
