English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
HAVANA, Cuba, December 2013, www.cubanet.org.- . It’s frightening the number of housing collapses that have occurred in Havana, up to the end of November and in the first days of December. Officially, there have been 227 collapses, including 26 which were total and the rest partial. 627 individual families have been affected. They haven’t listed … Continue reading “Downpours Emphasize the Chaos / Martha Beatriz Roque”
14YMEDIO, Havana, 18 July 2013 — The Cuban economist Martha Beatriz Roque has just been named president of the Hispano-Cuban Foundation (FHC). The institution has tried to “promote the presence and relevance of the FHC in the island.” 14ymedio was able to speak with the prominent dissident to get her impressions about the new appointment … Continue reading ““I do not know if it makes much sense to try to legalize the Hispano-Cuban Foundation on the Island” / 14ymedio, Marta Beatriz Roque”
HAVANA, CUBA — This last Wednesday, I was walking quickly through Belascoain, disgusted by the odor of urine from the doorways. Every once in a while a peddler called his wares. On arriving at Zanja, crossing the street, the area was deserted. Three men in plainclothes blocked the door of building 409, where Marta Beatriz … Continue reading “Detained Half an Hour on Marta Beatriz’s Stairway / Lilianne Ruiz”
On Tuesday we learned of the beating of Marta Beatriz. They didn’t just beat her, they also dragged her up the stairs, 31 steps, beating her neck and whole body. I did not ask Marta’s age but she is an older woman, perhaps older than 60. She was the only woman in the group of … Continue reading “Marta Beatriz Roque, Injured by State Security / Lilianne Ruiz”
Mike Hammer records a video message on the streets of Havana to get people to approach him. 14ymedio, Madrid, May 2, 2025 — “Hi I’m Mike Hammer, the head of mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba.” This is how the diplomat presents himself in a short video uploaded to the Facebook page of … Continue reading “The Head of the US Embassy in Havana Challenges the Regime With an Invitation to the Cuban People”
The three political prisoners are serving sentences for participating in the 11J protests 14ymedio, Havana, 31 October 2024 — Political prisoners Sissi Abascal Zamora, Félix Navarro Rodríguez, and Sayli Navarro Álvarez (the latter two father and daughter), arrested during the Island-wide protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’) in Matanzas, have been awarded the Patmos Prize, … Continue reading “Cuban Opponents Sissi Abascal, Sayli Navarro and Félix Navarro Receive the Patmos Award”
THE HOMELAND BELONGS TO US ALL Cuban Dissidence Task Group Havana City, June 27, 1997 INTRODUCTION I – HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION II- IN THE NAME OF UNITY III- THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IV – THE PLAN FOR SOLVING THE CRISIS V – CONCLUSIONS VI – RECOMMENDATIONS Original in Spanish here Authors: Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses, Rene Gomez Manzano, Vladimiro Roca Antunez, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello Translated … Continue reading “THE HOMELAND BELONGS TO US ALL – Cuban Dissidence Task Group 1997 – Historic Document”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 September 2023. – – Dozens of residents in Carlos Rojas village, in the province of Matanzas, protested in the streets this Wednesday because of the lack of water supply. The local people demanded the restoration of the service and criticised the apathy of the officials, according to statements to 14ymedio by the … Continue reading “Cuba: Carlos Rojas Residents Protest in the Streets About Lack of Water Supply”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 17, 2023 — The letter sent on Wednesday to US President Joe Biden by three senators, calling for the end of the embargo on Cuba and more aid for the private sector of the Island, was answered the next day by the US-Cuba Commercial and Economic Council (Cubatrade), with several clarifications. … Continue reading “Three US Senators Ask Biden To End the Embargo and To Help the Cuban Private Sector”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 December 2022 — Cuban opponents Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello and Julio Ferrer Tamayo met this Friday morning with US Democratic Senator Ron Wyden visiting Havana. “The topic of the conversation was the political prisoners and their relatives,” Roque wrote through her Twitter account. Wyden, who two days before held a meeting with Cuban president … Continue reading “Two Cuban Opponents Meet in Havana with US Democratic Senator Ron Wyden”
14ymedio, Havana 31 October 2022 — Lorenzo Rosales, the Cuban protestant pastor condemned to seven years in prison after joining the 21 July 2021 anti-government protests, has been awarded the Patmos prize, which is given out annually by the Cuban Institute of the same name. The annual award, now in its ninth year, is presented … Continue reading “Patmos Prize Awarded to Protestant Pastor Lorenzo Rosales, Imprisoned for Protests of 11 July 2021”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, November 2, 2021 — The dictatorship’s most frequently recurring formula to impede or interfere with changes that do not align with their interests has been to incarcerate. They’ve raised the bar in two ways: first, by presenting as apocalyptic the results of anything they consider a “return to the past,” and … Continue reading “A Brief Chronology of Disregard and Intolerance in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 July 2021 – “The dictatorship has lost much socially and this is what is going to explode in a moment.” This is how resoundingly Martha Beatriz Roque portrayed the situation in the latest monthly report of the Cuban Center for Human Rights (CCDH), which she directs. The Cuban government has imprisoned up … Continue reading “Human Rights Organizations Report There Were More Than 700 Repressive Actions in Cuba During the month of June”
14ymedio, Havana, March 5, 2021 — More repression, more prisoners of conscience and more protests in Havana in February. That sums up the results of data collected last month by various human rights organizations such as the Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC), which counted 159 public demonstrations in that time period. Not only is the figure … Continue reading “Cuban Society Is Becoming More Critical and Diverse”