English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Olga Guillot has just left us. Another matchless Cuban patriot is gone without having returned to a free Cuba. In Cuba and in exile there is the same feeling, pain and nostalgia. When I received the news of her death, I remembered Celia Cruz, and like those of my generation here in Cuba, I could … Continue reading “On Olga Guillot’s Death”
Everything is there. The good and the bad. The family of Oscar Molina, age 49, learns what’s going on in the world thanks to an illegal connection to a cable antenna. On channel 3 of his outdated 21-inch Chinese TV, Molina is given a bath of capitalism. CNN says that Greece is an erupting volcano. … Continue reading “Illegally, Many Cubans are Informed”
I saw it today. It is in black and white, has little yellow spots on it, and smells like cockroach. I recovered a photo from my adolescence, frozen in time and already in Sepia color. It is a portrait of 11 young men, joyful under the effects of the poor man’s drink, alcohol mixed with … Continue reading “The Chronicles of a Deceived Generation”
Mister Editor of El Mundo America has put me in a tough spot. In a chain e-mail, he asked his colleagues throughout the continent to write about life during Holy Week in their respective countries. Fuck. If there is anything I can brag about it is of not knowing anything about Holy Week. I will explain. I come … Continue reading “I Consider Myself Agnostic”