English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Every day when they go out to report or write some story about daily reality, invisible to official media, the murky Gag Law that can land them in jail for 20 years or more floats over their heads. It’s not just the legal harassment. There is also their ration of slaps, subtle taekwondo blows in … Continue reading “Independent Journalists Live on the Razor’s Edge in Cuba / Iván García”
It is already a fact: the awaited “migration reforms”, announced by Raul Castro a month and a half ago, arrive with a lot of noise — much ado about nothing. Published “casually” five days before the elections for delegates to the Municipal Assemblies of Popular Power, the modification to Law No. 1312 “Law of Migration” … Continue reading “Upgrade of Cuban Migration Policy? / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
The case of Angel Carromero Barrios rapidly lost relevance because of the “atmospheric pressure” of the State. Like a tropical meteorological event, its great intensity dissipated in the mediating and officializing Cuban waters. Many know that in Cuba the State is the owner, the editorialist, journalist, reporter, photographer, and censor of all daily newspapers and … Continue reading “Tempering News, Absorbing Shocks / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado”
Yesterday, October 16, the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba finally published Decree/Law No. 302, which modifies the previous “Law on Immigration,” No. 1312, from September, 1976. A text of the law appeared in the same edition. As a good friend of mine would say, “More of the same with the same.” Nevertheless, the … Continue reading “New Law: Remake and Part I / Rafael Leon Rodriguez”
The miter leans slightly with the rhythm of the ritual, leaving his back exposed to the stone face of José Martí. On the table of the Mass, the chalice rests and reflects from its golden surface a relief of Che Guevara mounted on the facade of the Ministry of the Interior. Benedict XVI officiates mass … Continue reading “The Papal Mantle and The Red Mass – Reflections on the Pope’s Visit to Cuba / Yoani Sanchez”
While it is considered a construction of State Security by some extreme anti-Castro types, and a creature of the CIA by the Cuban government’s cyber-Talibans, the independent Estado de Sats project successfully works for the promotion of civil society and the transition to democracy. Presumably the reasons that motivate both diametrically opposed interpretations of the … Continue reading “The Conspiracy Exposed: Who is Behind Estado de Sats? / Estado de Sats, Alexis Jardines”
The 2011-2012 sugar harvest carries the same difficulties as those of the past two decades. Although this time enough cane has been planted to fulfill the production plan and from the start of the contest they could count on almost all of the resources planned for, the problems were repeated from previous harvests. The 2011-2012 … Continue reading “Is the Cuban Sugar Industry Facing Extinction? / Dimas Castellanos”
By Antonio G. Rodiles, Julio Alega, Manuel Cuesta, Wilfredo Vallín Introduction The centralized and planned economy is closely linked to state ownership. For a process of economic decentralization to be successful, there must be a parallel process of decentralizing property. The Cuban government has undertaken timid reforms with the objective of restarting the economy without … Continue reading “Property Liberalization and Recovery of Idle Lands and Dilapidated Properties: A Necessary Step for Initiating a Recovery Process / Estado de Sats”
With the word one can create. I’ve always liked that idea. If not now, then tomorrow. When the words have left only the ashes and letting go of them like the smoke of incense, they will change us. The ashes of Laura Pollán should have brought me her perfume. Laura means Freedom. I once read … Continue reading “Laura / Lilianne Ruíz”
Julio Cesar Rifa and Roger Pupo Fariñas are completely without legal defense and they have no way to remedy this situation. There is no lawyer to be found who wants to oppose the Captain of the Port of Havana for harm wrought against their legitimate rights On the 17th of December of last year, the … Continue reading “Rafters Defenseless Before the Whims of the Captain of the Port / Laritza Diversent”
Twin brothers, sixteen years old, Yordi Emmanuel and Yoan Damian Pardo Contrera will be tried in court, charged with “Public Disorder”. Both were arrested by police officers of the Fourth Unit of Cerro when they suppressed a “regrettable and fanatic reaction of the public”, spectators attending a baseball game between the “Industriales” and “Pinar Del … Continue reading “Don’t Defend Anyone / Laritza Diversent”
The city of Havana is falling down rapidly. It is no secret. Every day, on average, at least one building collapses. In recent collapses people have been killed or injured. The authorities, when they have no remedy, because they occur in places too visible, report that the buildings were declared uninhabitable and the occupants refused … Continue reading “Collapses a la carte / Fernando Dámaso”
On the 50th anniversary of the University Reform enacted in January 1962, the newspaper Granma published on Monday, January 9, 2012, an article entitled University and Society by Armando Hart Dávalos, in which he proposes that “after the triumph of the Revolution university reform was essential to realizing the final link between the university and … Continue reading “University Reform Without Autonomy / Dimas Castellano”
Diego, 35, already has a plump pig nearly ready to grill in his backyard in the village of El Calvario, south of Havana; an army of bottles of rum and half a box of Cristal beer. But his money didn’t stretch far enough to buy candies and grapes. “As I like, it will go well. … Continue reading “Christmases in Havana / Iván García”
The oldest of the three, Dylan McFarlane, is 18 and is the only one who didn’t fire that night. Eric Ronald Ellington, the first to be arrested and the author of the most amazing confession the police interrogators of Miami-Dade had ever heard in all their years in their posts, is 16, the same age … Continue reading “Death Penalty and Respect for Life / Ernesto Morales Licea”
