English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 3 November 2014 – We are consumers more than citizens. That is the conclusion to be drawn after having seen the “Con sentido” segment on the Buenos Días TV program. In the introduction they announced to us that the topic would be the rights we know, our rights they violate, knowledge of … Continue reading “Consumers rather than citizens / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, LILIANNE RUIZ, Havana, October 25, 2014 — On leaving prison, it took Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, known as Antunez, some time to digest that he could go where he wanted without being watched. They had held him captive for 17 years and 37 days of his life. Just as he learned to do in … Continue reading ““My Most Fruitful and Difficult Experience Has Been Jail” / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz, Antunez”
His Excellency, Dionisio García Ibáñez Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba and Cardinal Primate of Cuba Your Excellency: Last night I had the opportunity to meet you at a reception in your honor given by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the papal nuncio to Cuba. Today I am writing to you regarding several concerns of the Center for … Continue reading “A Letter to Cuba’s Bishops / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Investment in Cuba? What for? ASCE XXIV / 2014 Annual Conference, Miami Hilton Downtown Hotel, Florida, USA Panel 12. Concerto Ballrom B – Friday, August 1st, 2:45-4:15pm 1. In Cuba during the 1970s, historian Manuel Moreno Fraginals challenged poet Jose Lezama Lima with his trendy scientific notions about the laws of objectivity and the transition … Continue reading “Investment in Cuba? What for? / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14YMEDIO, 22 July 2014 – On 22 July 2014, the opposition leader Oswaldo Payá and the activist Harld Cepero died. Payá led the Christian Liberation Movement and promoted the Varela Project, which managed to collect some 25,000 signatures to demand a national referendum. Freedom of expression, of association, freedom of the press and of business, … Continue reading “The Political Legacy of Oswaldo Paya / 14ymedio”
Yoani Sánchez, Madrid, 9 July 2014 – Right now I am taking part, along with several Cuban activists, in a seminar on the Spanish transition being held in Madrid. Organized by the Association of Ibero-Americans for Freedom and the Spanish Transition Foundation at the Casa de America, the event includes the participation of nine activists … Continue reading “Are We In Transition? / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
Reinaldo Escobar, Pinar del Rio, 5 July 2014 The tobacco growers of San Juan y Martinez listened — between astonishment and helplessness – to the National Assembly debates. They expected that their difficulties and the problems of payment would be addressed during the discussions of some committee. They were disappointed. In the Rafael Morán, cooperative, … Continue reading “The Loneliness of the Tobacco Growers / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
One of the central figures of the Cuban opposition, who participated in the revolution before its ultimate victory but ended up being sentenced to 20 years in Castro’s prisons, was the independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who died in Madrid. He recounts his life and ideas in this interview. Born in Cienfuegos on November 29, … Continue reading ““I Always Did What My Conscience Dictated” / Dimas Castellano, Oscar Espinosa Chepe”
You don’t need to be an expert critic, clairvoyant sociologist or a wise politician to understand that when you grow up in a totalitarian and absolutist country like Cuba, flooded with numerous afflictions, it’s normal to feel small. Thus, because of the great restrictions on individual freedom, the meager access to modernity and a determined … Continue reading “The New Man in Cuba in Search of Anabolic Steroids / Juan Juan Almeida”
Angel Santiesteban’s struggle is not in vain. The more the dictatorship tried to silence him by shutting him away in its miserable concentration camps, his strengths only continued to grow, so that now he is not alone in being recognized for his excellent literary work. The dictatorship established him in world history as one of … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban Among the 100 Information Heroes of Reporters without Borders”
Silvia and State Security Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo They arrested her twice, both times violently. All for walking at my side in the streets of a Havana almost at the point of the Cadaver-in-Chief of Fidel Castro. She’s called Silvia. My Silvia. They threw her out of her first job as a dentist, in the … Continue reading “SILVIA CORBELLE BATISTA / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Although article 2.1 of the current Republic of Cuba Penal Code says, “Only acts expressly described as crimes in the law may be sanctioned…” doctrine inoculated for more than five decades managed to change in us the concept of Fatherland, Nation, State, Country and Revolution; this served as support for decreeing that whoever exercises the … Continue reading “Raul Castro’s Black Glasses / Juan Juan Almeida”
The dictator Raul Castro continues stubbornly to make the world believe that he’s bringing to Cuba an opening that in reality doesn’t exist. He continues being the same dictator as always, violating the rights of all Cubans, submitting them to misery, censoring the press, harassing, beating and imprisoning peaceful opponents. Angel Santiesteban, unjustly imprisoned, has … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban’s Work Again Recognized in France”
Angel Santiesteban Prats dedicates this article to Guillermo Vidal, to remember the tenth anniversary of his death. He wrote it from the Lawton Prison Settlement for the column “Some Write” from the digital magazine “OtroLunes” (“Another Monday”). By Angel Santiesteban Prats It’s always a pleasure to remember Guillermo Vidal. Sharing with him the adventure of … Continue reading “Guille, The Macho Guajiro / Angel Santiesteban”
The dictator Raul Castro continues stubbornly to make the world believe that he’s bringing to Cuba an opening that in reality doesn’t exist. He continues being the same dictator as always, violating the rights of all Cubans, submitting them to misery, censoring the press, harassing, beating and imprisoning peaceful opponents. Angel Santiesteban, unjustly imprisoned, has … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban’s Work Again Recognized in France”
