English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 14 July 2022 — The oldest man in the cells wears a clerical shirt and a bandage on his head. Four stitches have been sewn over the wound. In the midst of the tumult of 11J in Camagüey, between the sweat and the cries for freedom, a hitman unloaded a bat … Continue reading “July 11th (11J) Was a ‘Bright Day’ Three Cuban Priests Agree”
14ymedio, Havana, July 8, 2022 — As July 11 approaches, State Security deploys its tentacles to neutralize any attempt to celebrate the first anniversary of the historic protests that took place in dozens of places throughout the island. This Friday, independent reporter Luz Escobar was summoned to receive a very clear warning: On July 11, … Continue reading “Dissidents Locked Up in Their Homes and Internet Outages to Prevent the Repetition of July 11th Protests (11J) in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 June 2022 — Due to the “episode of repression” that activist Saily González Velázquez suffered last Thursday, she decided to leave Cuba and this Sunday she arrived in Miami in the United States. According to what she made known through her social networks, her decision was made “very hastily and I have told … Continue reading “Saily Gonzalez Arrives in the US in the Face of Growing Threats from the Cuban Police”
14ymedio, Havana, May 29, 2022 — Villa Clara businesswoman and activist Saily Gonzalez was informed by State Security that she would not be allowed to attend the ninth Summit of the Americas, which she was invited to attend as a representative of Cuban civil society. Word was sent through her family that the activist will … Continue reading “Cuban Regime Prevents Saily Gonzalez from Going to U.S. to Attend Summit of the Americas”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 May 2022 — The activist Daniela Rojo is with her two children in a refugee center in Frankfurt. The young woman, age 26, girl arrived in the German city on May 15, where she immediately requested political asylum, but she had not wanted to make it public until now. “Here, my children and I … Continue reading “Faced with Harassment by State Security, Cuban Activist Daniela Rojo Requests Political Asylum in Germany”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 April 2022 — “If you want Fidel to live, well let Fidel live, that is your problem. I do not want to be a communist!” The phrase was spoken very loudly early on Thursday morning on San Rafael boulevard in Havana. Some stood and watched, others filmed with their cell phones. The … Continue reading “Standing on a Wall in Central Havana, an Activist Asks for Freedom for Cubans”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 April 2022 — Cuban filmmaker Rolando Díaz has just premiered his latest film, An Elephant on a Spider’s Web, at the Seattle Film Festival in the United States, a look at old age with touches of comedy. “Living 110 years is no small joke,” the director told the Spanish newspaper 20minutos, in an … Continue reading “‘An Elephant on a Spider’s Web’, Cuban Filmmaker Rolando Diaz’s Look at Longevity”
14ymedio, Macarena Soto, Madrid, 16 April 2022 — Madrid has become, in recent months, a place of “refuge” for Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan dissidents who have found other opponents in the Spanish capital and another tone from which to raise their voices against the governments of their countries. Ever since Venezuelan opponents such as businessman … Continue reading “Madrid, the New Miami for the Latin American Dissidence”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2022 — Cuban activist Fernando Almeyda joined this weekend the list of dissidents who are leaving the island. After requesting a humanitarian visa from Spain, which was not granted, the former Archipiélago coordinator decided to go to Serbia, a country that currently does not require a visa for Cubans, although his intention does … Continue reading “Two Jurists Harassed by State Security Leave Cuba”
EUROPA PRESS (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 17 February 2022 — The playwright Yunior García, one of the most visible faces of the Cuban opposition, has finally chosen to apply for asylum in Spain given the impossibility of returning to the Island, where he would be imprisoned. “If I were to set foot in Cuba again, I … Continue reading “Yunior Garcia Requests Asylum in Spain due to the Impossibility of Returning to Cuba”
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 22 November 2021 — Yunior García Aguilera was showered with caustic criticism once his departure for Spain was confirmed. These scathing accusations find their foundation, I believe, in that mental conditioning imposed by decades of Castroism according to which any departure from the country will necessarily be potentially final. In a country … Continue reading “Yunior Garcia and Archipielago: Between Messianism and the Wall / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
EFE/14ymedio, Washington/Havana, 6 January 2022 — The US State Department announced on Thursday the imposition of visa restrictions on eight more Cuban officials, whose identities were not disclosed, for the arrest and prosecution of people who participated in the July 11 protests. “The State Department took measures today to impose visa restrictions on eight Cuban … Continue reading “United States Sanctions Eight More Cuban Officials for Their Role in Repression”
EUROPA PRESS/14ymedio, Madrid, January 4th, 2022 — On Tuesday, Cuban Prisoners Defenders denounced that in 2021 a total of 955 people have been included in their list of political prisoners, they also alerted that the figure “is only a fraction” of the total. In a report, the organization detailed that in January 2021 it was … Continue reading “Prisoners Defenders Identified 842 Political Prisoners in Cuba, ‘A Fraction of the Actual Total’”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2021 — In the second half of the year, a group turned the Cuban reality upside down, the Archipiélago platform, which was placed under the global spotlight after less than a year of its creation. The Cuban authorities had just announced with great fanfare the reopening of the country for November … Continue reading “Archipielago: Yunior Garcia, Saily Gonzalez, Daniela Rojo, David Martinez”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2021 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that his government has been late in defending certain social rights. Speaking this Friday, at the closing of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, for the umpteenth time,he again defended socialism as “the only way to development with … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Admits That His Government has ‘Lagged Behind’ in the Recognition of Some Rights”
