English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ivan Garcia, 1 February 2018 — “What concerns me most right now is to finish building the room for my eldest daughter who plans to give birth to a girl at the end of February,” confesses Eduardo, the warehouse manager of a bakery west of Havana, as drives along in his uncomfortable and tiny Fiat made … Continue reading “Elections and the Future Cuban Government / Iván García”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 December 2017 — Dissident Eduardo Cardet received a visit from his wife Yaimaris Vecino on Monday, in the Holguin prison where has already served a year, after a trial that his family believes was manipulated by Cuban State Security. Cardet, a doctor by profession and national coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement … Continue reading “Eduardo Cardet, a Year in Prison for "Political Reasons"”
Our apologies for the lack of subtitles on this video. 14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 28 October 2017 – On Thursday, after four years of exile, Ofelia Acevedo, widow of Oswaldo Payá, the deceased opponent of the Cuban regime, was not allowed to enter her own country. Acevedo, an activist in her own right, had decided … Continue reading “Oswaldo Payá’s Widow: “The Cuban State did not want to tell me why I can’t enter my own country.””
14ymedio, Rosa Maria Paya, Miami, 4 September 2017 — In the early hours of September 1st they did it again. It happened just as it did 14 years ago when, in March of 2003, the Cuban regime arrested dozens of Varela Project activists and independent journalists. This time the assault lasted 10 hours. Listening to the narration … Continue reading ““To Set Men Against Men is an Appalling Task””
Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez, 15 March 2017 – At the beginning of the last decade, when Fidel Castro would call a “march of the fighting people” for any reason whatsoever and the multitudes who seemed to have arrived from Pyongyang would chant slogans and wave little paper flags, prominent for his impetuous verbiage was a … Continue reading “The Taliban Has Returned / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez”
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Miami, 23 February 2017 — The recent “diplomatic” action by the Cuban Government to try to prevent the presence of foreign personalities in a private event in Havana to receive a symbolic prize bearing the name of the late regime opponent Oswaldo Payá, denotes the weakness, fear and incapacity that characterize its … Continue reading “Weakness, Fear And Inability Erode The Cuban Government / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2017 — Just five years ago, Mexican President Felipe Calderón was greeted warmly in Havana during an official visit. However, this week the now former president was denied entry to the island to participate in the Oswaldo Payá “Freedom and Life” awards to be held this Wednesday. “I deeply regret not being able … Continue reading “Felipe Calderón: “I Ask The Cuban Government To Rectify This Absurdity” / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Miami, 25 January 2017 — The former political prisoner Arturo Perez de Alejo, who was part of the Group of 75, died Wednesday in Miami at 66, as reported by MartíNoticias . Pérez Alejo was born in Manicaragua, in the then province of Las Villas, on 23 May 1951 to a peasant family. During the nineties, … Continue reading “Former Political Prisoner Arturo Pérez De Alejo Dies / 14ymedio”
Cubanet, Miriam Leiva, Havana, 6 December 2016 — Raul Castro wants Cubans to commit their support to major economic restrictions in 2017, during the complex period of the transfer of power from the so-called historic generation, through the signing of an oath to the definition of the Revolution and Socialism promulgated by the deceased leader, … Continue reading “The Ubiquitous Dictator / Cubanet, Miriam Leiva”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, 20 October 2016 — An article I wrote was published on this site in March 2015, on the subject of the announcement in the official Cuban press that a new electoral law was to be enacted in Cuba in March 2018. The article raised more than a few stings because – among … Continue reading “Another Point For The Cuban Human Rights Agenda / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
How much truth can a man take? Friedrich Nietzsche Somos+, Roberto Camba, 12 September 2016 — They say it began with the fight to return the young rescued rafter Elian Gonzalez from the United States to Cuba. Really it was much earlier, since the strategy never changes: silence and ignore the adversary, incessantly repeat lies until … Continue reading “Fidel Castro’s Battle of Ideas… Political Pantomime / Somos+, Roberto Camba”
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, 21 March 2016 – A “historic milestone”: This is what Americans call President Obama’s visit to the Cuba of Fidel and Raul Castro. That is, the Cuba that has not had a legitimate president for 64 years. And a Cuba that is of the caste of children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren, … Continue reading “Between a Historic Milestone and the Horror of History / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 February 2016 – For several days students at the University of Havana have observed with surprise several teams of builders who are refurbishing and repairing the common areas and the most important areas on “The Hill,” the site of the University of Havana. Speculations about the Aula Magna – the Great Hall – … Continue reading “Will Obama Speak at the University of Havana? / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Regina Coyula, Havana, 10 February 2016 – The Uruguayan journalist Fernando Ravsberg has spent years living in Cuba. But after reading his article Uncle Sam’s Cuban Cousins, and pondering it, I think what happened to Ravsberg in Cuba is the same thing that happened to the “disoriented Swede in Burundi” he references in his article. One … Continue reading “A Swede in Burundi, a Uruguayan in Cuba / 14ymedio, Regina Coyula”
Diario Las Americas, Leonel Luis Leon, 5 December 2015 — Rosa María Payá, daughter of the deceased Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá – who received the Andrei Sakharov Human Rights Prize from the European Parliament and founded the Varela Project for a citizen plebiscite in Cuba – received a major recognition of her civic activism on being … Continue reading “Rosa María Paya: Totalitarianism Does Not Tolerate Participation / Leonel Luis Leon”
