English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Anyone who has to confess some collaboration is better off doing it now, no matter how small it is, keeping it in only causes pain on both sides. 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 27 July 2024 — It is not about revenge but about sincerity. I see them leaving every day, packing their bags, … Continue reading “Where Are They? the Desperate Cry of Those Who Contributed to the Horror and Left”
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 22 July 2024 — Josefa was a master cigar roller her whole life in Cienfuegos. Old and black, the Cienfueguera knows that she takes on more than she can, since her niece, her only family, emigrated two years ago. “She constantly was saying that she wanted to leave and in … Continue reading “‘In Cuba, the Only Ones Left Are Those Without Family, Without Resources and Without Possibilities’”
The great Havana pimp was the dandy who dazzled everyone while riding his white braided-tail steed or walking his greyhounds through the streets of the capital 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 23 June 2024 — Yarini has become news again. The great Havana pimp, the most bastard of national heroes, the greatest sex symbol of … Continue reading “Attack Yarini: The Combat Order Is Given”
Aleida Guevara March believes that the solution to inflation that she attributes to the private sector is to regulate prices 14ymedio, Madrid, 13 May 2024 — Aleida Guevara, the eldest of the children of Ernesto Che Guevara and his wife Aleida March, declares war on micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in an interview with … Continue reading “‘Che’ Guevara’s Daughter Attacks Small/Private Businesses and Accuses Them of ‘Facilitating the Entry of Drugs’ Into Cuba”
The official press celebrates with “hope” the work of the project in a new report on begging 14ymedio, Havana, 26 April 2024 — In the second part of a report on beggars in Cuba, in which the authorities recognize that the State is not able to deal with the increasing number of homeless people, the … Continue reading “Quisicuaba, or the ‘Revolutionary Calling’ To Look After the Poor”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 April 2024 — Three words in blue ink – Patria y Vida… Homeland and Life – written on the facade of her house were enough for Sandra Hernández to understand State Security’s speedy response even in small towns like hers. After the island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 (11J), there was not … Continue reading “Two Years of Harassment and Pressure for Writing ‘Patria y Vida’ on Her House for the 11 July 2021 Protests”
14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguín, 25 February 2024– This Friday, Tomás, 81 years old, felt lucky. “Today they did offer a strong course, a boiled egg, and there was pea soup that I brought home. With this cold weather, the body is asking for something like that,” he lists the food he bought at the dining … Continue reading “A Single Meal a Day for the 76,175 Vulnerable Cubans Cared for by the State”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 February 2024 — If it were possible to conduct a national survey without the participants being afraid to answer truthfully and with the guarantee that the results will not be manipulated, I dare to say that when asked, “Are you satisfied with the management of those who govern?”, we would … Continue reading “Cuba: The New Minority”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana 7 February 2024 — “Easterners, gay AIDS patients, the elderly, women with their husbands, children and people who have nowhere to live,” is how Yunier, one of those evicted from Factoría 70 between Corrales and Apodaca in Old Havana, described the situation of the people who were evicted on 31 … Continue reading “‘They Threw Us Out Like Dogs’, Say the People Evicted From Factoria 70 in Havana”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 8 October 2023 — The richest areas of the planet are committed to free trade, the absence of tariffs and customs taxes. Competitiveness and tax collection are normally favored by this type of fiscal design. It so happens that in Cuba the communists go in the opposite direction, and thus, the … Continue reading “Customs is Not at the Service of the Cuban Economy. Quite the Opposite”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 September 2023 — Hundreds of thousands of Cubans watched this Monday, in the middle of the darkness, the Electric Union (UNE) page on Facebook to stay informed about the prolonged blackout they endured when, suddenly, the electricity company itself shared a post and a promotional video that infuriated users. “Tonight, after the … Continue reading “Cubans Return to a Hellish Night of Prolonged Blackouts Throughout the Country”
14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, 26 July 2023 — On this anniversary of the attack on the Moncada barracks on 26 July 1953, it is logical to assume that the official statements and the government press conform to the guidelines drawn up by the Communist Party of Cuba, the supreme institution of the nation. Foreign admirers, … Continue reading “Cuba: The 26th of July of History and Propaganda”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 22 July 2023 — A few days after standing in a very long line, I had to walk through the streets of the San Leopoldo neighborhood in Havana, avoiding the bodies of dead chicks, thrown from the balconies, with their necks outstretched and their feathers still a tender yellow color. I … Continue reading “Raising Fish at Home, the Malevolent Brainchild of a Cuban Minister to Solve the Food Shortage”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 June 2023 — The most recent report of the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) on religious freedom alleges that the Island’s religious are more vulnerable to the harassment of the regime because of their “civic position.” Sixty-eight percent of the 1,394 people surveyed by the organization said they knew of cases … Continue reading “The Regime Persecutes Religious Cubans for Their ‘Civic Position’, According to Human Rights Group / 14yMedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 June 2023 — The Facebook page “Fuerza del Pueblo,” an account linked to the Ministry of the Interior, details a police operation in the factory known as Chinchal de Tabaco, in the town of Báez, where agents seized several bags of material, molds and tools for the preparation of cigarettes. In addition, … Continue reading “Cuban Police Dismantle a Clandestine Tobacco Factory in Placetas”
