English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 31 August 2016 — Passing through Havana to record a CD in the EGREM studios in Miramar, along with several singers, the troubadour Roland (Roly) Berrio spoke with 14ymedio about the beginnings of his career and health of Trova in Cuba. Luz Escobar. Together with other troubadours you are currently working on an album … Continue reading ““My song seeks to pick up the pieces” / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 17 September 2016 – “This was my house,” says Elena, a Cuban-American who returned to the island this week and visited the place where she spent her childhood. In Tarará she took her fist steps, but the place barely resembles the residential neighborhood of her memories. In five decades it has … Continue reading “Tarará’s Thousand And One Stories / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar/Mario Penton, Havana/Miami, 24 August 2016 – Five years can be a long time in Cuba, when we’re talking about an opposition organization. In the complex kaleidoscope of dissident groups and parties that make up civil society on the island, many are active for only a few months or languish amid repression and … Continue reading “UNPACU Reaches 5th Anniversary Amid Achievements And Criticisms / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 25 August 2016 – For decades visiting Moscow was the golden dream, but only the most trusted could enjoy a stay in the Soviet Union. From these trips to the “godmother nation” they returned with suitcases filled with products unavailable in Cuba. Today, some take the same route, but this time … Continue reading “Moscow Does Not Fit In A Suitcase / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 20 August 2016 – The 2016-2017 school year starts in just two weeks and the authorities of the Ministry of Education are calling on people to take good care of school supplies given “the economic limitations of the country.” Department head Ena Elsa Velaquez Cobiella, also acknowledged the lack of teachers … Continue reading “Preparing For The New School Year Amid Economic Constraints And Teacher Shortages/ 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar (Havana), Mario Penton (Miami), 16 August 2016 — “Do you see that building? Ten years ago it was full of stinking water, rats and trash. When people passed through the doorway a balcony could fall on their head. Today it is housing, thanks to the work of Eusebio,” Mirna says excitedly. After … Continue reading “Cuban Military Takes Over Businesses of Havana Historian’s Office / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Mario Penton”
Note: The video is a brief excerpt from the interview and is not subtitled in English. 14ymedio, Mario Penton, Luz Escobar, Miami, 22 July 2016 – His name is tattooed on the skin of a Cuban graffiti artist (Danilo Maldonado, known as El Sexto) or is suggested by the letter L, standing for Liberty, formed … Continue reading ““When we achieve justice we can build a new society” / 14ymedio, Ofelia Acevedo, Mario Penton, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana 8 July 2016 – For decades, Cuban evangelicals have lost the ability to operate their own schools, to defend their ideas on the radio, and to distribute their written publications in the newsstands throughout the country. However, new technologies have allowed them to place their new audiovisual media in the popular … Continue reading “The Christian Section of the ‘Weekly Packet’ / 14ymedio Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 29 June 2016 — A rainbow of diversity and another formed in the sky by the light and humidity at sunset were the stage for Kissed by the Diversity and Equality on the afternoon on Tuesday, Gay Pride Day, where some thirty participants in Havana marked the Stonewall Inn riots in New … Continue reading “Cuban LGBT Community Celebrates Gay Pride Day With A Kiss For Diversity / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 8 June 2016 – The residents of 418 Villegas Street, in Old Havana, were unhurt after a building collapse at nine o’clock Wednesday morning. The collapse of the roof of the house on the first floor was one of the 17 partial and total building collapses that occurred in the Cuban … Continue reading “Rain Causes 17 Building Collapses in the “Wonder City” / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 6 June 2016 — Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula participated in the New Media Film Festival of Los Angeles with the seventh chapter of his series Rafael Alcides. The short film was part of a more than two-hour interview with with the well-known poet and writer, addressing topics such as art, beauty and Cuba past … Continue reading “Rafael Alcides Close Up / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 21 May 2016 – Three years after the first meeting of the G20, a group of Cuban filmmakers who are demanding a Film Law, the group continues to wait for an institutional response that addresses their demands. This week a letter was made public reaffirming their demands for greater recognition for filmmakers and … Continue reading “Filmmakers Reaffirm Their Demands / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 16 May 2016 — A fine drizzle falls on the city and Felix, a pedicab driver for 22 years, takes advantage of the chance to take a break. Beside Havana’s Capitol building the man recalls a protest held last Monday by a group of his colleagues in the Plaza of the Revolution. They … Continue reading “Pedicabs, A Battle For The Streets / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 14 May 2016 — The line of trucks extends along the embankment that provides access to the only wholesale agricultural market in Havana. But unlike other days, the farmers who have come with their merchandise neither unload it nor sell it. The place is surrounded by police and someone is passing … Continue reading “El Trigal Wholesale Market’s Last Day / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 12 May 2016 – Havanans enjoyed a certain freshness twice this weekend. Not only did the thermometers drop a few degrees, but the emblematic Coppelia ice cream parlor, located in the heart of the capital, reopened its doors after being closed for repairs for several weeks. The work is part of … Continue reading “Coppelia Puts Makeup on the Shortages / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
