English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Luz Escobar and Mario J. Penton, Havana/Miami, 26 July 2019– Cardinal Jaime Ortega (1936-2019), a key figure in the secret talks that led to the reestablishment of relations between the United States and Cuba, died at age 82 on 26 July in Havana, after a long illness, according to ecclesiastical sources. “Jaime Ortega was a … Continue reading “Jaime Ortega, Cardinal of the Thaw, Dies in Havana”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 4 April 2019 — “I’m waiting for day someone is going to offer Pablo and the other people an apology.” This phrase, from the recently deceased Sergio Vitier, is part of the documentary Pablo Milanés, which addresses, among other topics, the time in the 1960s that the singer-songwriter spent in Cuba’s … Continue reading “"They Managed to Gather All the ‘Despicables’ in a Concentration Camp"”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 1 December 2018 — A patriarchal group that has governed Cuba for 60 years is presenting a project for a revised constitution to become the law of the country. But this cosntitutional project has not been prepared by a Constituent Assembly, one composed of delegates chosen through an electoral process with all the … Continue reading “The Regenerative Power of NO!”
Fernando Damaso, 25 September 2018 — When I argue that the Cuban Communist Party lacks aby historical endorsement for calling itself the “leading force of society and of the state,” I do so based on concrete facts of its trajectory. One of them is in reference to their current acceptance of sexual diversity. Although, before 1959, the original Communist Party was never … Continue reading “A Time That Should Not Be Forgotten / Fernando Damaso”
14ymedio, Abel Sierra Madero, New York | August 28, 2018 — For the past few years the Cuban regime has been producing some sudden changes meant to guarantee the continuity of the system and to erase the past. I called this process of “gatopardism” (a political strategy of changing things so that everything remains the … Continue reading “From State Homophobia to Marriage Equality in Cuba”
Veronica Vega, Alas Tensas, 5 July 2018 — Billie Jean King is a former American tennis player. She is among the greatest in the world sports and is a recognized activist for the defense of LGBT rights in the United States. In 1973, she threatened to boycott the Tennis US Open if the women did not receive the … Continue reading “The Battle For Life / Veronica Vega”
Miriam Celaya, Cubanet, West Palm Beach, 28 June 2018 — A recent inquiry by colleagues Ana León and Augusto César San Martín about the expectations of several citizens, in the face of the constitutional reform, arouses reflection on some of the numerous gaps in the field of civic culture and rights ailing the Cuban population. … Continue reading “The “New” Cuban Constitution: Defeat or Opportunity? / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Maite Rico, Madrid, February 26, 2018 — Mario Vargas Llosa, who was born in 1936 in Areuquipa, Peru, is in full form. Combative, ebullient, brimming with laughter, the Nobel laureate travels widely and operates on a variety of intellectual fronts, crafting fiction and scrutinizing facts. In a recently published essay, “The Call of the … Continue reading “Vargas Llosa: ‘No Moderately Sane Person Would Want a System Like Cuba’s for Their Country’”
Wednesday, 10 October 2017 Ángel Santiesteban Havana, Cuba. Your Holiness: Now that your name is no longer so popular on the Island of Cuba, I have decided to write you these lines. I suspect that this decline in your prestige has to do with the scant companionship you have provided us, as well as with … Continue reading “Open Letter to Pope Francis / Ángel Santiesteban”
Primavera Digital, Eduardo Martínez Rodríguez, El Cerro, Havana, 6 November 2017 — I’ve just finished reading an eBook (which has never been published in Cuba) written by someone who was detained in Cuba’s infamous “Military Units to Aid Production” [known by their acronym in Spanish as UMAP], who endured all of the bloody sordidness of … Continue reading “Poor Memory? / Eduardo Martínez Rodríguez”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 1 September 2017 — Miami Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Giménez, whose family had to go into exile after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, never thought that his image would be linked to that of Ernesto Che Guevara, one of the “bearded ones” who established communism in his homeland. The image of Guevara welcomed … Continue reading “‘Che’ Guevara Welcomes Passengers At Miami Airport For A Few Hours”
14ymedio, Ernesto Santana, Havana, 12 August 1917 — The year 1967 was crucial and socially and culturally very spirited, as demonstrated by the Summer of Love in San Francisco, California, which marked the beginning of the hippie movement in the United States. The epicenter was the Haight Ashbury, an urban area of two square miles which attracted … Continue reading “San Francisco and Havana, Opposite Ends of the Earth”
14ymedio, Generation Y, Havana, 3 July 2017 — For decades Cubans were bombarded by official propaganda filled with materials about Fidel Castro’s supposed genius. In these vindications he was not only a father, but also a strategist, visionary, pedagogue, farmer and cattle rancher, among other lofty characteristics and pursuits. However, that prototype of patriarch, scientist … Continue reading “Fidel Castro In Humor And Oblivion”
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 29 November 2016 — The dictator Fidel Castro died last Friday at the age of 90. The extensive news coverage was to be expected. After all, he was both the object of the most romantic, idealized love and the most scathing, caustic hatred. Gone was the man who, over the last six decades, … Continue reading “Fidel Castro: The Tyrant Exits but the Damage Remains / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, 30 December 2016 — The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has named independent journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro as regional vice president for Cuba. Director of the magazine La Hora de Cuba and a resident of the city of Camagüey, the reporter told 14ymedio that he intends to defend and spread “the reality of journalism” on the island from his … Continue reading “Inter-American Press Association Names Henry Constantin Vice President for Cuba”
