English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
By now we’re used to the newspaper Granma, which excessively highlights one piece of news and omits another. Of course, it’s the official organ of the government and the Communist Party, which owns it and therefore decides what is reported and how. However, it’s difficult to accept the fact that the media is used to … Continue reading “The Official Press, a Sedative for Change / Laritza Diversent”
As societies are complex systems of interrelated elements, when they face structural crises with harm to all their components, it’s impossible to remedy them with changes limited to one aspect of the system, as is the case with the economy; in its place there needs to be comprehensive approach. Among the elements whose influence is … Continue reading “Politics, The State, The Market and Civil Society / Dimas Castellanos”
We’re used to the daily paper, Granma, emphasizing some news and omitting other. After all, it’s the official organ of the Communist Party. The party owns it and, therefore, decides what and how it reports. It’s difficult, however, to accept that the media is used to propagate a culture of fear and repression. Looking for … Continue reading “Just imagine Amaury Pérez Saying “I have an antenna” on Cuban Television / Laritza Diversent”
Cuban civil society is looking forward to what will happen in July when the network structure of the island is connected to to the fiber optic cable that came in early February to Cuba from Venezuela. The event, which will multiply by 3,000 the speed of data transmission, also helped the government admit its fear … Continue reading “The Internet is a Question Mark in Cuba / Laritza Diversent”
The predictions for the development of internet in Cuba added to the darkness, after the coming of the fiber optic cable to Cuba collided with the political interests of the Communist government which, in the last decade, developed a legal and technological infrastructure, to control the flow of information to and from the island, via … Continue reading “The Uncertain Future of the Internet / Laritza Diversent”
The official communication media enjoy press freedom to defend the system, to violate the rights of citizens, and to defame, because its owner — the Socialist State — offers them total impunity. Laritza Diversent In the period from February 26th to April 4th of this year, Cuban TV premiered 5 chapters of the “accusation series … Continue reading “Cuban Press Defames; the Government Assures Impunity / Laritza Diversent”
Between the 1st and 8th of April we Cubans marked the 8th anniversary of the “Black Spring”, this time with much more emphasis because the Cuban government seeks a justification for a new wave of sentences. The alarm went off with the 5 chapters of the documentary series “The Reasons of Cuba”, which was transmitted … Continue reading “Old Tricks and Strategies / Laritza Diversent”
Yordanka uses the internet to look for friends and to find ways of escaping the island. However, she believes the arrival of the fiberoptic cable will not improve her possibility of freely accessing the web. Laritza Diversent “I don’t think that the cable connection will improve internet access for Cubans, and I also don’t believe … Continue reading “Cuba: Selective and Controlled Internet Access / Laritza Diversent”
Jesus still believes that he should not have to pay off a debt for enjoying foreign television. The restless Jesus Martinez approaches and asks them if they can help him. He was staring all over the place with his thick glasses while he whispered something about his grandmother being at the verge of a depression … Continue reading “Watching Foreign TV: A Decade of Debt / Laritza Diversent”
It’s not the first time an article by Fernando Ravsberg, Cuban correspondent for the honorable BBC, left me feeling frustrated, bittersweet, as a result of, in my judgment, certain skin deep and inconsistent analyses established by him. But it is the first time I’ve decided to comment in writing. Now, after reading his last blog … Continue reading “Letters (Unencripted) From Cuba / Ernesto Morales Licea”
As my regular readers know, as a rule I don’t participate directly in the comments; my poor access to the Internet doesn’t allow me that interactivity. I prefer to return to the debates posted, after carefully reading every comment off-line, using the method of public rejoinder if it seems to be necessary to clarify certain … Continue reading “Counterresponse to the Comments / Miriam Celaya”
The trial of Alan Gross, the US subcontractor arrested in Cuba, concluded with its verdict this past March 4th. In determining his sentence, does the Cuban court base it on justice and reason, or on political differences which define the relationship between Cuba and the United States? Which arguments does the Cuban justice system use … Continue reading “Another Victim of the Dispute / Laritza Diversent”
The personal freedoms of members of the alternative blogosphere are at risk after the official media publicly accused them of being mercenaries. On March 22nd, the Granma newspaper (official paper of the Communist Party) published an article titled “Cyberwar: Mercenaries on the Internet”. A day prior to this publication, the televised documentary series “Cuba’s Reasons” … Continue reading “Cuba: Alternative Bloggers in Danger / Laritza Diversent”
Migdalia Estévez and her husband, Ramon Suarez, were waiting for “Cuba’s Reasons,” the TV series aired on Mondays on the island. They understood what subversion is, the media war, and the imperialist maneuvers. But they still don’t understand the government’s bitter struggle against cable TV or satellite dishes. “The Cuban television programming is boring, at … Continue reading “Looking for the Antenna / Laritza Diversent”
A ghost runs around Cuba: the Internet ghost. A month after the arrival of fiber optics from Venezuela to create a much faster information and telecommunications highway — some media outlets are predicting speeds three thousand percent faster — the government seems to be looking for excuses to justify why, once again, it will continue … Continue reading “Death Penalty for Internet in Cuba? / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
