English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ivan Garcia, 3 May 2016 — One morning in 1996, the poet and journalist, Raúl Rivero, Director of the press agency Independent Cuba Press, called me at home in Víbora, to ask me to cover the trial of a dissident in a municipal court in Cerro. The reporter, Ariel de Castro Tapia, (presently living in … Continue reading “Cuban Alternative Journalism: Challenges and Commitments / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 28 May 2016 — Thirty-one years after its founding, the government annoyingly continues to jam broadcasts by Radio Marti and its television signal still cannot be picked up in Cuba. Its website is censored and this media empire was a point of contention in negotiations with the Havana government to normalize relations with … Continue reading “Radio and Television Marti: Notes from Havana / Iván García”
Iván García, 16 March 2106 — Around 12 midnight on Tuesday, 18 March 2003, I was en route to my apartment in the La Víbora neighborhood when, from the balcony, some incomprehensible signs coming from my mother set off the alarms. Those were hard years. My mother and I were contributing articles to the independent press … Continue reading “Cuba: From the Black Spring to a Rolling Stones Concert / Iván García”
Iván García, 16 November 2015 — In the depths of the peeling, unpainted building where the journalist and independent writer Víctor Manuel Domínguez lives, a lady, who is waiting for customers behind a display counter of cheap Chinese jewelry, is reading a well-used copy of a book by Corín Tellado. On a rusty, narrow vertigo-inducing … Continue reading “Eight Years of the Cuban Independent Writers Club / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 31 October 2015 — It seems much time has passed since the ’80s, when a stern official from State Security, dressed in civilian clothing, solemnly intimidated us, a group of fresh youngsters, who were studying at La Vibora’s pre-university. I was 16 years old. I don’t remember having felt more fear in my … Continue reading “Cuban Journalists are in No-Man’s Land / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 26 September 2015 — Let’s climb aboard a time machine. Into the future, of course. By now, Raul Castro has given up the throne. His son Alejandro has been tried for abuse of power, financial corruption and violations of human rights. Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas, the Cuban Martin Borman, has fled with a … Continue reading “Cuba 2019 / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 8 September 2015 — A little more than 25 years ago, a handful of human rights activists began issuing weekly reports that accused the military government of Fidel Castro of violating political, economic and free-expression liberties in Cuba. These were the hard years of the regime in Havana. The Internet was in diapers … Continue reading “The Boom of Independent Journalism in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”
Cubanet, Victor Manuel Dominguez, Havana, 29 May 2015 – “P.M.,” that short documentary made by Orlando Jimenez Leal and Saba Cabrera Infante, was the beginning of the end of freedom of expression in Cuban Culture. Conceived in the beginning as a four-minute report that would establish a parallel between the militants who installed canons on … Continue reading “14 Minutes that Shook the Revolution / Cubanet, Victor Manuel Dominguez”
Cubanet, Rafael Alcides, Havana, 13 May 2015 – Extremely worried, doctoral candidate in physics Antonio Rodiles and his wife the actress and political activist Ailer Gonzalez, in their home, related to me two events that I have prayed over, that those events that started with the blood of Moncada wouldn’t end up being a circular … Continue reading “The Harvest of the Sowing of Violence / Cubanet, Rafael Alcides”
Ivan Garcia, 8 March 2015 — When I decided to write a blog, at the end of December 2008, my pretensions were minimal. I had decided to take a break in order to dedicate my time to my daughter, Melany, who was then two years old. Although I wasn’t writing, mentally I continued to be … Continue reading “Five Years of the Blog “From Havana” / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 11 March 2015 — During the hot summer of 2013 I remember Blanca Reyes, wife of the poet and journalist Raul Rivero, writing letters to the pope in the Vatican, to the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and to Nelson Mandela in South Africa, reminding them that Fidel Castro had … Continue reading “The Ladies in White Should Change Their Political Profile / Ivan Garcia”
I thank Neo Club Editions, Armando Anel and Idabell, his wife; Barcardi House of the University of Miami and the Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, and the Alexandria Library for the opportunity to present this excellent novel by Angel Santiesteban Prats, The Summer that God Slept, winner of the Franz Kafka literary prize, Novels … Continue reading “Carolos Alberto Montaner: Someday God Will Awaken / Angel Santiesteban”
HAVANA, Cuba – The debate set off by the letter from more than 40 personalities asking for the relaxation of restrictions towards the Havana regime letter from more than 40 personalities asking for the relaxation of restrictions towards the Havana regime has been copious. Those who support, as a premise, that Cubans must regain their … Continue reading “Judge or Divide? / Antonio Rodiles”
I Raise My Glass to Freedom Day I must confess that when they seized Raul Rivero in the Black Spring, and he was part of “The Group of 75″ that was seeking political change in Cuba, at that time I had no political conscience, or maybe I did not want to have one. My thinking … Continue reading “A Light on My Path / Angel Santiesteban”
There are not always good arguments for trampling on the jurisdiction of a foreign nation. The Cold War mentality is still latent in the behavior of certain U.S. institutions. If a government believes in democracy and political freedom, it shouldn’t go around hiding its peaceful efforts to support the democrats in autocratic countries like Cuba. … Continue reading “Cuba-United States: Focusing on Transparency / Ivan Garcia”
