English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
HAVANA, CUBA — This last Wednesday, I was walking quickly through Belascoain, disgusted by the odor of urine from the doorways. Every once in a while a peddler called his wares. On arriving at Zanja, crossing the street, the area was deserted. Three men in plainclothes blocked the door of building 409, where Marta Beatriz … Continue reading “Detained Half an Hour on Marta Beatriz’s Stairway / Lilianne Ruiz”
On Tuesday we learned of the beating of Marta Beatriz. They didn’t just beat her, they also dragged her up the stairs, 31 steps, beating her neck and whole body. I did not ask Marta’s age but she is an older woman, perhaps older than 60. She was the only woman in the group of … Continue reading “Marta Beatriz Roque, Injured by State Security / Lilianne Ruiz”
THE HOMELAND BELONGS TO US ALL Cuban Dissidence Task Group Havana City, June 27, 1997 INTRODUCTION I – HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION II- IN THE NAME OF UNITY III- THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IV – THE PLAN FOR SOLVING THE CRISIS V – CONCLUSIONS VI – RECOMMENDATIONS Original in Spanish here Authors: Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses, Rene Gomez Manzano, Vladimiro Roca Antunez, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello Translated … Continue reading “THE HOMELAND BELONGS TO US ALL – Cuban Dissidence Task Group 1997 – Historic Document”
Cubanet, Ernesto Perez Chang, Havana, 9 November 2016 – The elections in the United States, with the victory of the Republican Donald Trump and the defeat of the Democrat Hillary Clinton, contrary to the predictions of most polls, has captured the attention of the world’s public opinion in recent hours due to the decisive nature … Continue reading “Opponents of the Cuban Regime React to the Election of Trump / Cubanet, Ernesto Perez Chang”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 September 2016 — Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas, after 47 days on a hunger and thirst strike, was transferred on Monday afternoon to Arnaldo Milian Castro Provincial Hospital. The dissident was discharged hours later because doctors felt that he did not meet the “entry criteria for intensive care,” he told 14ymedio activist Jorge Luis Artiles Montiel. … Continue reading “Guillermo Fariñas Returns Home After Hospital Visit For Fainting / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 February 2016 — The Czech organization People in Need has given its Homo Homini Award for this year to the 11 former prisoners of the 2003 Black Spring who continue to live in Cuba, as confirmed to this newspaper by several of the laureates. The entity, focused on the defense of human rights, … Continue reading “People In Need Award Goes To Former Cuban Prisoners Of The Black Spring / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 15 August 2015 — Six hours after the hoisting of the Stars and Stripes at the US embassy along the Malecon, a similar ceremony occurred on 150th Street in the Cubanacan neighborhood where the official residence of Jeffrey DeLaurentis, charge d’affaires of that country, is located. All of the heads of the … Continue reading “The Other Flag / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, 12 August 2015 — The U.S. embassy in Havana will not be inviting the opposition to its official inauguration, which will take place this coming Friday, August 14th, in Havana, with the attendance of John Kerry. Nevertheless, another flag raising ceremony has been planned at the ambassador’s residence where there will be a meeting … Continue reading “US Invites Cuban Opponents To An Event At The Official Residence, But Not To The Embassy / 14ymedio”
The elderly are the big losers in the timid economic reforms of Cuba’s General-President. Thousands who once applauded Fidel Castro’s long speeches in the Plaza of the Revolution, or fought in the civil wars in Africa, today survive however they can. There they are. Selling newspapers, peanuts, or single cigarettes. Others have it worse. Senile … Continue reading “Old dissidents in Cuba: Between homelessness and forgetting / Ivan Garcia”
Havana, Cuba, February 2014 – Last week disturbing news circulated throughout the Cuban dissident community: The top permanent body of the National Organization of Collective Law Firms (ONBC) suspended Amelia Rodríguez Cala—the great defender of accused opponents of the regime—from practicing law for a period of six months. As the days passed, additional details about … Continue reading “I Defend My Lawyer / Rene Gomez Manzano”
CUBANET – The house of opposition leader Jorge Luis García (Antúnez) has just been sacked this morning after State Security foreces (political police) carried off him and his wife, Iris Tamara Perez, as well as the noted activist’s brother Loreto Garcia, and his wife as well Donaida González Paseiro. The events occurred in the morning … Continue reading “Antunez and His Wife Arrested and Disappeared”
Neighbors witnessing the arrest of a dissident in 2003 — see more detailed note below. 2003 was an incredible year. Harassment, arbitrary detentions, acts of repudiation and verbal assaults against the opposition by the government were rising. There was an escalation by the government against peaceful dissidents and independent journalists. Castro called a referendum to … Continue reading “When Fidel Castro Wanted to Break Up the Dissident Movement / Ivan Garcia”
This Monday several Cuban dissidents started a hunger strike which has already been joined by 25 people throughout the country. At a press conference, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello explained that that the strikers are demanding the immediate release of Jorge Vázquez Chaviano, age 42. In 2011 this activist was sentenced for the supposed crime of … Continue reading “25 Cuban Dissidents on Hunger Strike / Yoani Sanchez”
In tune with the new airs of delayed economic reforms that General Raul Castro aims to promote, under one of the measures made public on Monday 9th May, Cubans on the island can take holidays abroad. On the street it has been the story of the year. It displaced the Brazilian soap opera, the gossip … Continue reading “Will Cubans Be Able to Holiday Abroad? / Iván García”
Tuesday 9 May, on listening to the reading, on the National Television News, of the official daily press note from Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, I remembered the old joke about Napoleon, Granma and the Battle of Waterloo: “If Napoleon had had a newspaper like Granma nobody would know, yet, … Continue reading “Granma, Napoleon and the Insurgents / Miguel Iturria Savón”
