English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Alejandro González Acosta, 1 December 2017, Mexico City — Lichi[1] told me that the last time he was in Cuba[2], he went to visit a G-2 colonel at home, the brother of a famous Cuban historian who was Lichi’s good friend in Mexico. Between drinks and confidences, Lichi asked him: “Come on, man, just between us: … Continue reading “The Euphemism that Looks After Me / Alejandro González Acosta”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 22 October 2017 – Damas Street in Old Havana awoke Friday to the terrifying image of a man hanging from a balcony. After their fright passed, the residents realized that it was an artistic installation by Amaury Pacheco in homage to the poet Juan Carlos Flores. The body that hung from … Continue reading “Dissidence Museum in Havana Pays Homage to Poet Juan Carlos Flores”
Cubanet, Tania Diaz castro, 14 February 2017 — Nelson Rodríguez Leiva, 26, was shot in La Fortaleza de la Cabaña in 1971, along with his dearest friend, Angelito de Jesús Rabí, 17. Also in the same place, but a century earlier, the poet Juan Clemente Zenea was shot. It did not help Nelson that, in … Continue reading “The Spirit Of The Executions Still Haunts La Cabaña / Cubanet, Tania Diaz Castro”
Cubanet, Roberto Jesus Quinones Haces, Guantanamo, 10 February 2017 – The Havana International Book fair and its provincial offshoots would be more important events if there were debates where all Cuban intellectuals could participate without exclusions. But they are walled prosceniums where there is only room for writers who never raise their voices against any … Continue reading “Books Banned at Cuba’s Book Fair / Cubanet, Roberto Quinones”
14ymedio, Pablo de Llano, Miami, 22 January 2017 — Minutes after the announcement of the death of Fidel Castro, last November 25, Danilo Maldonado Machado passed by his mother’s house and knocked on the window of her room. Maria Victoria Machado opened and her son asked: “Mom, are you afraid?” She, who had heard the news, told … Continue reading “The Punk Who Didn’t Cry For Fidel / 14ymedio, Pablo De LLano”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 23 November 2016 — The film Santa and Andrés will not be screened at the 38th edition of the Havana Film Festival, to be held between 8 and 18 December. Sources from the industry guild commented to 14ymedio that the exclusion of the independent film, directed by Carlos Lechuga, could be motivated by its theme, focusing … Continue reading “The Film ‘Santa and Andrés’ is Excluded From Havana Festival / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Commentary by Carmen Zampallo in the forum of the article “Martí and his Myth,” by José Gabriel Barrenechea, published at 14:30m on the 17 May 2015. Thanks, Carmen, wherever you may be! Where are you Martí? What have you become? In your name have been created tyranny, torture camps, and forced labor. Yes, Marti, we … Continue reading “Jose Marti, Tell the Tyrant… / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
Regina Anavy, Reykjavic, June 27, 2016 — Crossing paths with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo in Reykjavic, Iceland, on June 27, 2016, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with him. Iceland And Future Plans Regina Anavy: I understand you are here on a special two-year grant from ICORN [International Cities of Refuge Network]. Orlando Luis … Continue reading “A Conversation with Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo / Regina Anavy”
Luis Felipe Rojas, 9 July 2016 — José Abreu Felippe has become a goldsmith. He’s a guy who’s creating a city that will be lost, and he wants to change it into a jewel that we all will carry with us. Poesía exiliada y pateada (Alexandria Library, 2016) collects poems of seven Cuban writers who already have … Continue reading “Cuban Poets: Exile, Prison and Oblivion / Luis Felipe Rojas”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 June 2016 – The writer Angel Santiesteban was arrested on Monday afternoon shortly after he left his home. The blogger is in a cell at the police station located at the corner of Zapata and C in the Plaza municipality, according to the information from the police offered by telephone. Recently, Santiesteban received … Continue reading “Cuban Writer Angel Santiesteban Arrested / 14ymedio”
Néstor Díaz de Villegas, 17 April 2016 – Once upon a time I made the mistake of thinking that the Revolution – I’m speaking about the Cuban Revolution – was indispensable, that its advent had forever altered the course of History. Today I am reflecting on what would be its fundamental contributions, the (let’s say) … Continue reading “The Expendable Revolution / Néstor Díaz de Villegas”
14ymedio, Rosa Pascual, Madrid, 10 March 2016 — Moscow 1989. Mario, a Cuban journalist working in the press department of the secretariat of the Organization for International Economic Cooperation (OCEI) representing the island in the Soviet capital, attends, with his family, the premiere of the play The Master and Margarita, whose main female part is … Continue reading “‘Matryoshkas’ of Exile / 14ymedio, Rosa Pascual”
Wendy Guerra, Havana, 9 January 2016 (from El Nuevo Herald) – It wasn’t hard to know the number of my friends who, during their childhoods, remained with their parents in special situations, parents who needed to hide who they were to survive in a country that, based on accusations, ceased to be one, but turned … Continue reading “Naming the Wounds / Wendy Guerra”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 21 November 2015 — Another stampede of Cubans. It happens from time to time. An editorial in Costa Rica’s La Nación offers a strong description of how the government of that country reacted: “First duty, to protect the victims.” The Costa Ricans gave them transit visas and, as they are stranded at the border, quickly … Continue reading “The Sad Ballad of Cuban Emigration / 14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner”
I want to thank my friend and excellent writer, Amir Valle, for this interview for his magazine Another Monday, and for publicizing the book that has just been published and will be presented shortly in Miami. Amir Valle (AV): Machine for Erasing Humanities is, after Feeding the Dog-Fight, your second book since you went into exile. Although some think … Continue reading ““There is no homeland other than poetry” / Luis Felipe Rojas”
