English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Madrid, July 20, 2022 — A building under construction at K and 23rd streets, which promises to be the tallest in Havana, has become the target of criticism by design professionals. The latest to take aim at “Tower K,” popularly known as “Lopez-Calleja Tower,” is Edelberto Diaz Aguilera, a Panama-based Cuban architect. The project … Continue reading “Cuban Architect Criticizes ‘Pretentiously Gigantic’ Tower K Hotel”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 27 May 2022 — Coppelia, Cuba’s “Cathedral of Ice Cream” in the heart of Havana’s Vedado district, has always been characterized, more than by the quality of its product — always far from that sixties dream of Fidel Castro of producing more and better flavors than the United States- – due to … Continue reading “After Losing its Flavor, Cuba’s “Cathedral of Ice Cream” Loses its Lines”
14ymedio, Madrid, 21 April 2022 — The state production of cow’s milk has collapsed between 1989, when it exceeded 900,000 tons, and 2020, the year in which it barely reached the tiny amount of 43,500 tons, 95.27% less in the last 21 years. Faced with this, private production has made a considerable leap, growing by 105.9%. However, … Continue reading “Milk Production in Cuba Collapsed Almost 60 Percent in the Last 21 Years”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 29 March 2022 — It is half an hour before six in the morning and five people are already sitting on the stairs that give access to one of the most central notaries in Havana, a few meters from the Coppelia ice cream parlor. The massive exodus in recent months … Continue reading “There Are Not Enough Notaries to Serve the Thousands of Cubans Who Are Leaving the Country”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 January 2022 — The price of fresh cheese, or frescal, as they call it in Sancti Spíritus, has increased three or four times since November, and that of ice cream has doubled. People are very upset, according to an article in the Escambray newspaper on Tuesday, asking those responsible for the industry what has … Continue reading “Cuba’s ‘Ordering Task’ Triples the Price of Milk and Cheese in Sancti Spiritus”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 December 2021 — If there was a collective, massive and omnipresent “organization” throughout 2021 in Cuba, it is the line. It is not that it is a novelty, but neither the failed “Ordering Task”, in force since the first day of the year, nor the end of the harsh mobility restrictions due … Continue reading “Lines as an Instrument of Social Control”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 24 September 2021 — “We must take advantage of today, tomorrow is only for those who book by phone,” an enthusiastic customer said this morning outside the Coppelia ice cream parlor, in Havana, one of the state premises that opened its areas with tables available to the public this Friday, … Continue reading “With Hopes and Setbacks Food Services Reopen in Havana”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 21 September 2021 — A crowd gathered this Monday at the Infanta and Carlos III premises known as El Cuchillo at the same time that ice cream began to be unloaded from a recently parked vehicle. Dairy pleasure is increasingly scarce in Cuba and, therefore, all the passers-by who happened … Continue reading “Cuba: The Line Became a Roar When the Ice Cream Ran Out”
14ymedio, Alberto Hernández, Santiago de Cuba, 12 July 2021 — Like many other cities on the island, Santiago de Cuba shook this Sunday with a massive march. The cries of “Cuba libre,” “Patria y vida,” “Díaz-Canel singao [motherfucker]“ and “Liars” resounded, among many other slogans, through the most important streets of the city. “In my 53 years I … Continue reading ““In My 53 Years I Have Never Seen Anything Like it in Santiago, This is the Beginning of the End of the Tyranny In Cuba””
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 9 January 2021 — She turns around and leaves empty-handed. The old woman has approached the employee of a state bakery on a crowded El Cerro street to ask her, almost in a whisper, if she can sell her the bread at half price, but the clerk is inflexible. “They are watching us, … Continue reading “The Dangerous Strategy of Advance and Retreat”
Regina Coyula, 27 December 2020 — “Among lawyers you see yourself,” that curse from the movies, would be readapted for Cuba as “Among the lines you see yourself,” exact, comprehensive. I’m going through paperwork, a brutal exit after the isolation of the pandemic. But in addition to the exercise of patience, long hours of waiting are … Continue reading “Among the Lines / Regina Coyula”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 September 2020 — Three people died of covid-19 this Tuesday, according to the latest accounting announced by the authorities. This data, the worst in more than three months, raises the total death toll to 98 since the start of the health crisis in March. According to the Ministry of Public Health, the three deceased … Continue reading “With Three Deaths From Covid-19 in a Single Day, Cuba Has the Worst Data in Three Months”
14ymedio, Havana, September 1, 2020 — Tuesday morning in Havana was marked by an unusual silence in the early hours, especially in neighborhoods near main thoroughfares like Rancho Boyeros. The decrease in vehicular traffic produced a dawn without the usual din of car engines and with cleaner air due to the drop in carbon dioxide emissions … Continue reading “Still on Base in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 August 2020 — Under the sun, with her cane, Xiomara waited this Tuesday outside the Coppelia ice cream parlor in Havana to get the ten scoops of ice cream that each customer is allowed to buy, but neither her disabled person’s card nor the requests to the employee allowed her to enter … Continue reading “Pandemic in Cuba and People with Disabilities: Forgotten or Protected?”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havanan, 30 July 2020 — The group, of more or less 8 or 9 young people, was sitting this on the wall of the Havana’s Malecon Wednesday afternoon, at a quarter to six in the afternoon. With their feet dangling towards the sea, they laugh, chat, take selfies while listening to music … Continue reading “Havana’s Malecon: “If it becomes a wall, what will become of our view?””
