English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ivan Garcia, 15 August 2015 — In Luis García Berlanga’s impressive 1953 film, Welcome Mr. Marshall, the mayor, priest and townspeople of Villar del Río await the visit of George Marshall, the American secretary of state from 1947 to 1949. In the film, Marshall is believed to be carrying in his briefcase a blank check, drawn on … Continue reading “Welcome, Mr. Kerry / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Eliecer Avila, Havana, 7 August 2015 — It’s seven in the evening and at home we’re hurrying to eat early. We decided to try to the WiFi connection on the capital’s La Rampa, a stretch of arterial which extends from the Coppelia ice cream stand to the Malecon. The preparations are the same as for going … Continue reading “Let’s go to La Rampa! / 14ymedio, Eliecer Avila”
Ivan Garcia, 30 July 2015 — Browsing the internet outdoors in 90 degree heat could be classified as an extreme sport. If you stroll through downtown 23rd Street in the Havana district known as La Rampa, you will observe about a hundred adolescents and adults clustered under a covered walkway, in a stairway or on a … Continue reading “Wifi in Havana: Incompetence and Resignation / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, 19 July 2015 — This Sunday has led to the arrest of forty Ladies in White and thirty activists, at the conclusion of their usual march on 5th Avenue in the Havana neighborhood of Miramar. After Mass in the church of Santa Rita, the Ladies in White gathered together with several activists in Gandhi … Continue reading “About 70 Ladies in White and Activists Arrested Sunday / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Martha Beatriz Roque, Havana, 11 July 2015 — What classifies as a political prisoner is a cause for disagreement among the Cuban opposition. There are varying opinions about who has been jailed for political reasons or not, despite the criteria established by the United Nations and other organizations that concern themselves with these matters. … Continue reading “A List of Cuban Political Prisoners / 14ymedio, Martha Beatriz Roque”
Hablemos Press, Arian Guerra Pérez, Havana, 6 July, 2015 – Political activist Antonio G. Rodiles, director of Estado de SATS, was beaten this Sunday by Cuban State Security agents, according to activist sources. Rodiles had to have surgery at General Calixto García University Hospital in Havana because of the fracture, said Ailer María González Mena, … Continue reading “Antonio G. Rodiles of Estado de Sats Arrested and Beaten / Hablemos Press, Arian Guerra Perez”
The plight of journalist Valle Roca draws attention to the risks faced by independent reporters in Cuba and the complicity of the United States and other countries. Sampsonia Way Magazine, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, 29 June 2015 — If you are an independent reporter in Cuba—that is, if you are an illegal reporter in Cuba, since the … Continue reading “An Urgent Call for Independent Journalism in Cuba / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14ymedio, Santiago de Cuba, 24 June 2015 — Eight of the 15 Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) activists from the Altamira neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba who were arrested Monday while filming an independent video remain in jail, the leader of the organization, José Daniel Ferrer, said Wednesday/ In a telephone call with 14ymedio, Ferrer said … Continue reading “Eight UNPACU Activists Who Recorded A Video Remain Detained / 14ymedio”
Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. Photo courtesy Radio Onu Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, 23 May 2015 — The beatification of Father Arnulfo Romero is the mirror where, for El Salvador, Latin America, and the world, the pastors of God should look and reflect, in order to attend the spiritual and material needs of their flock, which simply means remaining alongside … Continue reading “The Church That Is Oblivious to Reality / Angel Santiesteban”
Juan Juan Almeida,8 June 2015 — In an admirable surge of ratification in the most pure tradition of sovereignty, out of an infinite commitment of respect for human rights and in support of the Cuban people, this past June 3, on the birthday of Raúl Castro, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the prohibition of … Continue reading “Who do you do business with in Cuba, the military or civilians? / Juan Juan Almeida”
Cubanet.org, Camilo Ernesto Olivera Peidro, 18 June 2015 – An old man is going out of his house in the little village named Henequen Viejo, near the Port of Mariel. Everyone there knows him as Alfonso. In reality, his name is Idelfonso Estevez. At first glance he seems like an old man like so many … Continue reading “Professionals of ‘Snitching’ / Cubanet, Camilo Ernesto Olivera”
Ivan Garcia, 2 June 2015 — When he is lucid, Dubiel has a photographic memory. Nearly 30 years later, he still remembers the names of remote villages in the Angolan jungle and tells anecdotes of the civil war which involved more than 300 thousand Cuban soldiers and reservists between 1975 and 1991. Dubiel came back … Continue reading “Castro’s Forgotten Ones / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 18 April, 2015 — 2015 is another Year of the Tiger. The avileño* team, headed by former receiver Roger Machado, scored twice, then in the 2012 season they won their first title in the local league to unseat Industriales in five games. Cuban baseball right now is very even. For years it was dominated by the … Continue reading “Cuban Baseball: Ciego de Avila, 2015 Champion / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Eliecer Avila, 23 April 2015 — Last night while watching the images of the homecoming of the doctors who participated in the fight against Ebola in Africa I was very excited. I believe that every man or woman in the world who decides to run these risks to save the lives of unknown human beings … Continue reading “In defense of our doctors / 14ymedio, Eliecer Avila”
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana 6 February 2015 — Discreet and elusive, donning gray habits and cross-adorned veils, they attend mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Pinar del Río. The three nuns, originally from India, belong to the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget headed by the Italian religious … Continue reading “The Bridgettines, in the Shadows of Power / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez”
