English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 28 June 2019 — Tonight, in the privacy of their home and surrounded by some friends, René and Richard will have a symbolic wedding ceremony. “We were waiting for the Constitution to permit gay marriage to do it, but it looks like that will happen when it snows in Cuba,” jokes … Continue reading “Gay Pride in Cuba: Without a March, Matrimony or Adoption”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 25 June 2019 — The public accusation made by the singer Dianelys Alfonso, known as La Diosa de Cuba (The Goddess of Cuba), against the musician José Luis Cortés El Tosco, for alleged verbal, physical and sexual abuse at the time when the young woman was a singer in his orchestra, has unleashed the … Continue reading “"It’s Incredibly Important That We All Speak Up, Even if We Are Afraid Afterwards"”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 24 June 2019 — Many Havanans had planned to get some relief from the intense heat of this first weekend of summer by buying a tasty ice cream in the renovated Coppelia ice cream parlor, whose public reopening was scheduled for Sunday after an official opening the evening before, but it never … Continue reading “Coppelia is Ready to Open, All That’s Missing is the Ice Cream”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 19 June 2019 — Few Cuban neighborhoods have changed as much over time as Tarará, east of Havana. It went from being a glamorous condominium to a children’s pioneer camp, then it became a hospital for children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident and later in a Spanish school for Chinese students. Everyone who … Continue reading “The Many Faces of Tarara”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 9 June 2019 — In a city where basic products are scarce, thinking about buying a sex toy, never mind the taboo, can be a real odyssey. In Cuba there are no stores “for adults” and XXX cinema is viewed with suspicion or persecuted by the authorities. A group of artists wanted to … Continue reading “’Consolez Vous,’ The Cuban ’Sex Shop’ That Seeks to Integrate Art and Pleasure”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, havana, 29 May 2019 — The water is not reaching Bauta, one of the municipalities of the young province of Artemisa. For about eight years, many of its more than 40,000 inhabitants have been introducing their own measures so that the locality’s water problems are less and less evident in their homes. … Continue reading “Eight Years of Rationed Water in Bauta”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 31 May 2019 — It’s been almost 15 days since Daniel Llorente, known as “the man with the flag,” arrived in Guyana pushed out by the Cuban authorities, who even took him to buy the ticket and accompanied him all the way to the stairs of the plane to make sure … Continue reading “"If You Come Back You Are Going To Regret It"”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 23 May 2019 — It had been like launching a ship into space. I had to get a new passport, arrange for a visa and take care of all the tasks to prepare my home and work for my days of absence. When it was time to leave for the airport … Continue reading “Not Allowed to Travel for Breaking Down the Wall of the Official Lie”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana | 12 May 2019 – If, on the eve of opening up internet access from mobile phones, Cuban officialdom had written a paper listing its five biggest fears about giving Cubans greater connectivity, those panic points would have been far below what has actually happened. In less than six months, we have experienced … Continue reading “Citizenship and Connectivity in Cuba, an Explosive Mixture”
Note: See links at end of post for numerous photos and videos of the day. 14ymedio, Luz Escobar and Mario J. Pentón, Havana, 11 May 2019 — State Security agents clashed with activists of the LGBTI community and sympathizers of this group who went to Havana’s Central Park on Saturday to demonstrate in favor of … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Represses the Independent LGBTI March in Havana”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 11 May 2019 — To get to the shelter you have to walk more than two kilometers under Havana’s inclement sun. No bus route takes you there. There is not a single sign indicating how to get there. The site doesn’t even have a name. Nobody would remember that old warehouse … Continue reading “This is Life for the Victims of the Tornado That Devastated Havana”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 9 May 2019 — As journalists we must follow up on the issues we publish articles about, and that effort took me, this Wednesday, to a school in the municipality of Rancho Boyeros. Dozens of people who lost their homes when a tornado destroyed several neighborhoods in Havana last January now … Continue reading “My Interrogator Didn’t Come Because He Had No Gas”
Yoani Sanchez, via Twitter, Havana, 8 May 2019 — A nice “touch” in the fright of the arrest of @Luz_Cuba (Luz Escobar): After waiting five hours at the police station for the State Security agent to arrive to interrogate her, the “seguroso” never arrived because he didn’t have gas for his motorcycle. [#The Crisis Comes … Continue reading “Repression in the Time of Shortages”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 May 2019 — Things have become complicated for the independent tour guides in Havana in recent weeks. Accustomed to operating for years without a license, they see how the authorities are now trying to curb their activities to protect the monopoly of state companies, such as Cubanacan or Havanatur. “We must avoid … Continue reading “Cuban Police Have Their Eyes on the Tourist Guides in Old Havana”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 24 April 2019 — Where once the hustle and bustle of children’s voices resounded at all hours of the day, silence now reigns. Most entertainment devices for the little ones have disappeared and those that are installed are covered with tarps or disconnected. “The park was closed because the neighbors of the … Continue reading “Residents of Boulevard D’25 Win the Battle Against Noise”
