English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ivan Garcia, 11 April 2017 — Right now the most closely guarded secret in Cuba is the protocols for succession of the nation’s president, army general Raul Castro, after his retirement in February 2018. I will tell you what is rumored among some officials close to the tight-lipped team of advisers and influential relatives in the … Continue reading “Is Raul Castro in Hibernation Mode? / Iván García”
Juan Juan Almeida, 22 March 2017 — On March 17 of this year, a group of NGO (non-governmental organization) representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean celebrated in Havana Cuba’s political agenda in support of people with disabilities of every kind. The next day, for the twentieth time, Cuban institutions honored the legacy of Terry Fox … Continue reading “Task for Alejandro Castro: Protecting Cuba’s Disabled / Juan Juan Almeida”
Cubanet, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Havana, 14 February 2017 – The story I want to relate has two parts, one is true and the other is fiction. The real one is an event I was involved in at the Carlos III market while in line to buy yogurt, one of the products in shortest supply in … Continue reading “The Two Marielas / Cubanet, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello”
Juan Juan Almeida, 16 December 2016 — Twenty-seven years after Cause Number 1, the judicial proceedings that resulted in the deaths by firing squad and arrests of several high officials of the Cuban army and secret services, Ileana de la Guardia–daughter of the then-colonel of State Security of the Havana regime–believes that the decision to execute … Continue reading “Ileana de la Guardia: "Castro Executed My Father Because of Rivalry" / Juan Juan Almeida”
14ymedio, Nestor Diaz De Villegas, Los Angeles, 27 March 2016 — Crouched down in the last row of a sweet potato farm deep in the Cuban countryside, a student of first year of high school listened to the Dóbliu (WQAM, 560 AM). It was the end of 1973 and the foreign radio station was broadcasting the … Continue reading “Fidel Castro, Rock Star / 14ymedio, Nestor Diaz De Villegas”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 9 February 2016 — A blog on sexual diversity, Proyecto Arcoiris (Rainbow Project), housed in the government-run blogging platform Reflections, has been censored by the regime after addressing UMAP and publishing a text attributing the responsibility for it to Raul Castro, according to the Global Voices international network of bloggers. Those responsible for … Continue reading “Castro Regime Censors Blog Calling Raul Castro Responsible For UMAP* / Diario de Cuba”
Juan Juan Almeida, 16 November 2015 — Bound by a peculiar loyalty based on the quasi-inbreeding of its members and located in a walled compound at the corner of 36th and 39th streets in Havana’s Nuevo Vedado, the Commission on Defense and National Security (not to be confused with the Council on National Defense), is … Continue reading “The Commission on Defense and National Security, an Alejandro Castro Corporation / Juan Juan Almeida”
Last Monday, in a diligent and articulate article in Martinoticias.com I wrote, and I quote: “The question is, ’Where are we going?’ The answer: this coming December 2, when the military promotions are made known, and with whether or not Colonel Alejandro Castro Espin will rise to General or not. A promotion that, on one … Continue reading “Brigadier Alejandro Castro Espin / Juan Juan Almeida”
This Saturday, Mariela Castro, daughter of the Cuban president, led, along with a group of official homosexual activists, a walk with the slogan “Socialism Yes, Homophobia No.” Indepedent activists Ignacio Estrada and his wife Wendy attended in the afternoon hours at the Cuba Pavillion in Havana. 11 May 2013
’I can’t but regret the failure of the legislative program’, with respect to the new Family Code, wrote the official blogger Francisco Rodríguez Cruz. The seventh legislature of the National Assembly of People’s Power will conclude on December 13 without the approving the draft law on homosexual unions, a defeat against Mariela Castro Espin by … Continue reading “Raul Castro Again Ignores the Issue of Gay Marriage / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada #Cuba”
The 2012 Population and Housing Census has already cataloged many, but is not ended. Like a homophobic and discriminatory action. Once again we see the bad actions of the Cuban authorities, who on this occasion forgot to erase the traces they left which today are used against them. This time we’re not talking about a … Continue reading “What Rights Are Those Mariela* Proclaims? / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
Some people in Cuba are already placing bets. Everyone knows that within five to ten years power could change hands. The unknowns are whether the successor will have the last name of Castro, and if the inefficient political and economic system will be preserved. Raúl Castro crafted a law limiting time in political office to … Continue reading “On the Day After, Who Could Replace the Castros? / Ivan Garcia”
I wonder if Cuban television will air at least a small morsel of the delicious interview Mariela Castro Espin offered to the cameras of Radio Netherlands Worldwide during her recent visit to the Red Light District in Amsterdam. The material is priceless. It’s a real gem, a supreme example of the cynicism that this lady, … Continue reading “Mariela and the Red Light District: Bad Girl’s Romance / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Cuba today is more of an island than ever before. The discourse which took place this past Sunday, 4th of April, by the Cuban general and president, Raul Castro, has slammed the door to any anticipated reforms. During the closing ceremony of the IX Union of Young Communists (UJC), Castro II, with his hoarse voice, … Continue reading “Raul Castro Closes the Wall*”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2024 — One month after being diagnosed with a five-centimeter uterine fibroid, Lizandra Góngora, a political prisoner for participating in the Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 and sentenced to 14 years, remains in Los Colonos prison, on the Island of Youth. Although neither the hospital of the special municipality nor … Continue reading “Of the 314 Women Detained in Cuba for Political Reasons Since 11 July 2021 Protests, 56 Are Still in Jail”
