Search results for: FIVE GREY YEARS

Conference for Over-40s in the Casa de las Americas / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate, Isbel Diaz Torres

Yes, it would appear that the themes discussed yesterday at the Casa de las Américas [an institution in Havana to promote inter-cultural links with other countries <transl.>] were not of interest for the future of Cuban culture and thought. It seems like they were trying to mend fences (with every justification) with some of the … Continue reading “Conference for Over-40s in the Casa de las Americas / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate, Isbel Diaz Torres”

When You Are King, When You Are Executioner / Regina Coyula

(SGNEWWAVE.COM) I only knew Luis Pavón by reputation. Talking with my husband, Rafael Alcides, and with friends, he was almost never mentioned directly. We talked about “the pavonato,” that dark period that was aired for the first time in the glimpse of freedom we came to call “the little war of emails.” Alcides, for personal … Continue reading “When You Are King, When You Are Executioner / Regina Coyula”

The Embarrassment / Enrique Del Risco

Silvio Rodriguez enlightens us about the Five Grey Years and the late censor Luis Pavón: In the time when Pavon led the National Council of Culture, there was injustice with some writers and artists, because of narrow views. I believe his responsibility for that has been exaggerated. I think it is necessary to analyze what … Continue reading “The Embarrassment / Enrique Del Risco”

One Year Later / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate, Yoani Sanchez

One Year Later: Originally posted in January 2008 What pushed me to this adventure of writing a Blog was the bad taste left at the end of the controversy of the intellectuals in January 2007. On an afternoon like today, the 30th of January, we waited – a group of young people – to be … Continue reading “One Year Later / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate, Yoani Sanchez”

The Children The Revolution Didn’t Want / Ángel Santiesteban

By Víctor Manuel Domínguez HAVANA, Cuba, February, http://www.cubanet.org. History repeats itself. Another Cuban writer will be sent to prison. Angel Santiesteban, author of the blog The Children Nobody Wanted, was sentenced to five years in prison under the crime of housebreaking and injury. The Supreme Court upheld the penalty. According to what Santiesteban said to … Continue reading “The Children The Revolution Didn’t Want / Ángel Santiesteban”

The Sad Centenary of Virgilio Pinera Part III / Angel Santiesteban #Cuba

Most intellectuals and readers agree the first book that managed to provide deep insights about the writer’s life was Virgilio Piñera en persona (Virgilio Piñera in person), an excellent compilation prepared by the critic and researcher Carlos Espinosa. It started to build the pedestal to the work of theintellectual Virgilio. In these pages his family, … Continue reading “The Sad Centenary of Virgilio Pinera Part III / Angel Santiesteban #Cuba”

Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / HÉCTOR SANTIAGO

HECTOR SANTIAGO UMAP* was more terrible than what has been said, because they tried to change homosexual orientation through so-called scientific methods which, imported from the USSR, consisted of insulin injections and the application of electroshocks, interacting with images of naked men, on the one hand, and naked women on the other. So the images … Continue reading “Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / HÉCTOR SANTIAGO”

Message from Marcos García / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate

Things are heating up… really, I believe one should not stay silent under things like these. I applaud from my heart Desiderio Navarro and all of those people who write their name when they are giving their word. I didn’t live in the television era nor do I remember “El quinquenio gris” — the five … Continue reading “Message from Marcos García / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”

AWAKENING / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Speaking: Raudel Collazo, from Patriot Squadron. Sadly… the situation is a little complicated… my voice… my poetry… it is not permitted to hear it… it’s a word like censorship… STATEMENT OF COOPERATIVE PRODUCTIONS To Whom It May Concern: The reason for this letter is an event that happened on March 6, 2012, Year 53 of … Continue reading “AWAKENING / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

The Public Sphere In Cuba, Without the Public / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

[Title]Would this be the T-shirt that could resolve the problem? [T-Shirt text”] Police and National Guard: I do not support AT ALL these T-Shirts that say that THIS REVOLUTION IS SHIT, and what’s more, I think they’re horrible, OK?” ARTURO, THE BRIGHTEST STAR At the launch of the magazine Criterios number 37, on February 28 … Continue reading “The Public Sphere In Cuba, Without the Public / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Cuba Yes, Dictators No / Ernesto Morales Licea

I recently heard Carlos Alberto Montaner in a presentation on art and literature in exile which I had the good fortune to attend.  According to Montaner, one of the points on which the Cuban regime undoubtedly has been shrewd, is the negative connotation they have managed to associate with the terms “anti-Castro” in global eyes, … Continue reading “Cuba Yes, Dictators No / Ernesto Morales Licea”

The Cuban Revolution No Longer Enchants / Iván García

Left behind was the romantic stage, when a notable majority of leftist intellectuals pinned their hopes on the Revolutionary hurricane of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. A Cuba that clouded the reason of heavyweights in the world of letters such as Jean Paul Sartre, Julio Cortázar and José Saramago has lost its steam. The “snob … Continue reading “The Cuban Revolution No Longer Enchants / Iván García”

The Buried Revolution / Yoani Sánchez

On December 31, precisely at midnight, a waterfall poured from every balcony of my Yugoslav-style building. Cubans keep the tradition of throwing a bucket of water at year’s end to clean all the bad brought by previous months and to spiritually “clean” the January about to begin. This year there were infinite reasons to throw … Continue reading “The Buried Revolution / Yoani Sánchez”

Open Letter to the World (Excepting Abel Prieto, Cuban Minister of Culture) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Last week I participated in an exceptional experience. For two days I spoke on camera for the fictionalized documentary Trocadero 162, Bajos, by director Tomas Piard, about the last years of Jose Lezama Lima: his final ostracism when the doors on the island were closed to him; his resistance to the Cuban vacuum, until he … Continue reading “Open Letter to the World (Excepting Abel Prieto, Cuban Minister of Culture) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

The Period of the Silent Scandal / José Milián / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate

For Antón de Milián Many friends, and others who are not friends, have approached me, interested in my opinion about this debate on the parameters or simply, the fact that non-participation in it could be interpreted as indifference, apathy or in the worst of cases… cowardice. Those who really know me know that I do … Continue reading “The Period of the Silent Scandal / José Milián / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate”