English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 28 August 2014 – “I need some dark glasses,” Veronica told me one day when I ran into her on the street. Almost seventy, the lady underwent cataract surgery some months ago and now must “take care of my eyes,” as she explained to me. She works in the sun selling … Continue reading “Jabitas (Plastic Bags) and Pensions for the Elderly”
Miguel has earned a lot of money this week. He managed to sell almost one hundred pirated copies of the Cuban movie Conduct. Although the film is showing in several of the country’s theaters, many prefer to see it at home among friends and family. The story of a boy nicknamed Chala and his teacher … Continue reading “Conduct, with the “C” of Cuba / Yoani Sanchez”
Everyone has a list of types that arouse our worst instincts. No matter if you are a longtime Democrat, ultra-liberal or convinced Marxist. No matter what you go to church on Sundays, or count to ten to calm yourself down when their names appear in the media. To love and despise is a uniquely human … Continue reading “Cuba: Trading Card Villains / Iván García”
SHE’S CALLED RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo She’s called Rigoberta Menchú. And, with her pre-Colombian bird’s voice, wreaked havoc on the recently closed Havana International Book Fair. Rigoberta Menchú wanted to enjoy the presidential suite at the Hotel Habana Libre where they housed her. Addressed not only as the Prizewinner or the Plagiarism Peace … Continue reading “MANIAS OF NOT MENTIONING MENCHÚ / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
In the late 1960s I was on the point of changing my career. Extremely excited by what I’d read in the magazine Critical Thinking, I decided to enroll in the Department of Philosophy. But it was a closed shop and I lacked the qualifications. At that time, Fernando Martínez Heredia was the director of that … Continue reading “Another Fernando? / Reinaldo Escobar”
Reina Luisa Tamayo and her daughter. Photo by: Claudio Fuentes Madan There are things I’ve thrown in the trunk of the “incomprehensible.” I would say I won, they defeated me, I couldn’t bear it, they beat me. I refuse to exhaust my brain one more instant in trying to find some logic, some, even minimal, … Continue reading “Inconceivable / Claudia Cadelo”
The gods do not descend from the ecstasy of the clouds, nor do psychopaths apologize for the consequences of their actions. Sometimes, however, they need to show signs of life, like people who, in an extreme situation, go to the notary to prove their existence in a public way. Something like this happened with Fidel Castro … Continue reading “Proof of Life”
I want to be objective. In Cuba very few services work properly. The economy is a disaster. The worst kind of bureaucracy is pervasive. A number of political freedoms are lacking. And the democratic process – which our leaders trumpet so loudly – is no more than a bad joke. The public health service is … Continue reading “Health Care in Cuba: All That Glitters is Not Gold”
Ivan Garcia, 18 December 2017 — On the night of Thursday, 14 December at night, after fifteen hours on the road under a copious downpour, from Sagua de Tánamo, in Holguín, province 530 miles northwest of Havana, in an old General Motors truck from the 1950s, Erasmus and his wife arrived in Havana ready to fulfill … Continue reading “Cuba: The Devotion to Saint Lazarus / Iván García”
June 11, 2014 (With information from El Nuevo Herald and EFE) – The number of dancers from the National Ballet of Cuba who have defected to the United States has increased to nine. Jaime Reytor joins the eight members of the company that fled last weekend in Puerto Rico and are already in Miami. The … Continue reading “A Ninth Cuban Dancer Defects to the United States / 14ymedio”