English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 27 April 2022 — The state press agency of Ukraine, Ukrinform, is blocked in Cuba according to the report of the Cuban political scientist, Alexei Padilla, on Facebook, and published in Diario de Cuba. The site isn’t accessible from the Island without VPN (a Virtual Private Network)*, although the Cuban Government has not made any … Continue reading “Ukraine’s State News Agency is Blocked in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2022 — In contrast to the previous trials of July 11 protesters, in which the final sentences were lower than those sought by the prosecutors, the Diez de Octubre Tribunal in Havana, which tried 33 people on January 31, has been relentless. Thus, it has sentenced Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, 17 … Continue reading “Almost 2,000 Years of Jail Time for 128 of the July 11 (11J) Protesters in Cuba”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, November 2, 2021 — The dictatorship’s most frequently recurring formula to impede or interfere with changes that do not align with their interests has been to incarcerate. They’ve raised the bar in two ways: first, by presenting as apocalyptic the results of anything they consider a “return to the past,” and … Continue reading “A Brief Chronology of Disregard and Intolerance in Cuba”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, July 7, 2021 — The sole political party that governs Cuba created a bureau on ideology to determine whether people could think or not — “don’t worry about thinking; we’ll save you the trouble” — because thinking something other that what the party had decreed could be dangerous. You had be careful … Continue reading “I Don’t Think, Therefore I Survive”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 August 2018 — During the month of July there were 229 arbitrary arrests, “for purely political reasons, of peaceful dissidents”, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) denounces in its most recent monthly report. The figure is 107 arrests more than in June. “We are going to see a rebound in these … Continue reading “Cuban Human Rights Groups Denounces More Arrests and Consolidation of the "Totalitarian Model"”
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, Havana, 31 March 2017 — A delegation from the European Union in Cuba visited the Coexistence Study Center (CEC) in the city of Pinar del Río on Thursday. The group was headed by EU political attaché in Havana, Carlos Perez Padilla, and also included representatives from the embassies of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece … Continue reading “European Diplomats Visit The Center For Coexistence Studies In Pinar Del Río”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 14 February 2017 — Hundreds of Cubans were stranded in Mexico after the Obama administration ended the wet-foot/dry-foot policy that favored Cuban’s immigration to the United States, but for the 90 who are detained at the 21st Century Migrant Station in Tapachula, and for their relatives in the United States, the … Continue reading “Extortions, Kidnappings And Limbo: Daily Life Of Cubans Stranded In Mexico / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
Iván García, 16 November 2015 — In the depths of the peeling, unpainted building where the journalist and independent writer Víctor Manuel Domínguez lives, a lady, who is waiting for customers behind a display counter of cheap Chinese jewelry, is reading a well-used copy of a book by Corín Tellado. On a rusty, narrow vertigo-inducing … Continue reading “Eight Years of the Cuban Independent Writers Club / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 31 October 2015 — It seems much time has passed since the ’80s, when a stern official from State Security, dressed in civilian clothing, solemnly intimidated us, a group of fresh youngsters, who were studying at La Vibora’s pre-university. I was 16 years old. I don’t remember having felt more fear in my … Continue reading “Cuban Journalists are in No-Man’s Land / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Yaiza Santos, Mexico, 22 June 2015 – The Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) in Mexico City organized from 16 to 18 June, the meeting “Poetics of the Present: Narrating Cuba 1956 to 2015,” opened by critic Christopher Domínguez Michael and closed by the journalist Homero Campa. It was a meeting between young … Continue reading ““Literature Does Not Matter. Many Other Things In Cuba Matter More” / 14ymedio, Yaiza Santos”
See here for background information on this series of posts. René Vázquez Díaz, Sweden, 2007 — Last year, during a period of several months, personalities committed to the politics of cultural repression during the 1970s were interviewed on various Cuban television programs. The reappearance on the small screen of odious characters who call to mind … Continue reading “Rene Vazquez Diaz: Cuban Forgettings / Intellectual Debate”
See here for background information on this series of posts. Your message to Desiderio has motivated me to add some ideas to this debate, which, to my taste, has left us with an excess of words in the middle of a desert of actions. Compared with the richness of ideas and reflections that have been … Continue reading “Message From Juan Antonio García Borrero / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
14ymedio, Victor Ariel Gonzalez, Havana, 30 March 2015 — The Surprised Pupil is a program whose first mistake is the name. With quite mediocre staging, presentation and content, really this television program has nothing surprising to see. But to hear, maybe some viewer or another was hoping that its most recent on-air output would tackle … Continue reading “The Censors Talk about Censorship / 14ymedio, Victor Ariel Gonzalez”
The writer and Nobel Prize Winner for Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, talks about Cuba in the first part of an interview with 14ymedio Yoani Sánchez, Madrid, 14 July 2014 — Mario Vargas Llosa, writer, politician, excellent analyst and even better conversationalist, received me at his home in Madrid for this interview. The minutes flew by … Continue reading ““The myth of Cuba has been cut to shreds for the most part” / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Mario Varga Llosa”
