English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
“If the media stops talking, let the streets talk” In one way or another, Cuba is taking note of the street protests occurring these days in Venezuela. The most nervous are the olive-green autocrats. According to a low-level party official, since the death of Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013, the regime has had various … Continue reading “What Is Happening in Venezuela Worries Cuba / Ivan Garcia”
One way or another, the street protests taking place recently in Venezuela are being noticed in Cuba. The most nervous are the olive green autocrats. According to a low-ranking party official, since the death of Hugo Chavez, the regime has had several contingency plans in its drawer, in case the situation in Venezuela were not … Continue reading “Opposition Protests in Venezuela Worry Not A Few Ordinary Cubans / Ivan Garcia”
SANTA CLARA, Cuba – The demonstrations by students and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela are the news of the moment. Countless media worldwide are focused on the events. The web is full of videos, images, writing. We Cubans are not unexposed to this; although we only see and hear what the censored media … Continue reading “Concerned in Villa Clara About What Is Happening in Venezuela / Alex Reinaldo Perez”
Overwhelmed by the flood of information about Venezuela, we Cubans are hanging on everything that’s happening. We tune in to shortwave radio stations, try to find something moderately objective on the Internet, listen to what someone who has a relative on a “mission” there says, and try to catch on the fly some detail that … Continue reading “Caracas, Damn! / Reinaldo Escobar”
December is a month of epilogues. 2013 brought new things for Cubans. After the 14th of January, those born on the island could travel abroad without so much government oversight. Even the dissidents. Although with exceptions. Opponents, hostages of the Black Spring of 2003 who are considered by the olive green-autocracy as being on parole, … Continue reading “What do Cubans Hope For in the New Year? / Ivan Garcia”
HAVANA, Cuba , September 20, 2013 , Augusto César San Martín Albistur / www.cubanet.org.- The Preparatory Phase Record (EFP ) No. 9 of 2012 , from the investigative body of the Department of State Security (DSE), against Lady in White Sonia Garro, was delivered this afternoon to the Carlos III Law Collective, to her sister … Continue reading “Prosecution’s Case Delivered to Sonia Garro’s Sister / Augusto Cesar San Martin”
CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org- As if it were serialized novel, the Public Prosecutions in the city of Cienfuegos just started what we could say is their third season, when on August 6 two citizens were processed and convicted in one of those covens — taking as its amphitheater the crowded Calzada de Dolores Avenue — … Continue reading “Public Trials, a Clear Message to Citizens / Alejandro Tur Valladares”
They have few reasons to envy of their capitalist counterparts. The differences between them are ones of rhetoric and philosophy. The anti-capitalist islanders having studied Marxist manuals and speak on behalf of the poor. But many are living at full throttle. At the workplace they wear sweltering uniforms designed by some sadistic tailor from the … Continue reading “Olive Green High Society / Ivan Garcia”
HAVANA, Cuba, May, www.cubanet.org- I’ve heard it said that hunger can affect vision permanently. For a while, I thought that this sentence was just a popular myth based on superstition, however, it turns out to be absolutely true. Hunger and other deficiencies cause, additionally, some distortions, such as lack of perception of reality and total … Continue reading “Neither so Educated nor so Superior / Miriam Celaya”
The French General Charles de Gaulle used to say that when two people or two countries associated with each other, one always tries to have the upper hand. Cuba, which because of its geographical situation is considered the Key of America, after 54 years of the exclusive mandate of the Castro brothers still has pretensions … Continue reading “Fidel Castro, Mentor to Chavez / Ivan Garcia”
On Sunday, April 14, at 11:45 PM Havana time, the president of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, delared Nicolas Maduro, the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the winner of the presidential election. More than a few bottles of champagne and Russian vodka were uncorked by Cuban government ministers and military businessmen … Continue reading “Raul Castro Buys Time / Ivan Garcia”
The literature of Mario Vargas Llosa has prompted several key turning points in my life. The first was 17 years ago, in a summer of blackouts and economic crisis. Under the pretext of borrowing “The War of the End of the World,” I approached a journalist expelled from his profession for ideological problems, with whom … Continue reading “Mario Vargas Llosa: A Nobel Long Overdue / Yoani Sanchez”
A year after his death how does Cuban civil society view the former Czech president? Václav Havel (1936-2011) In 1977, for me, just as presented in the official propaganda, the future seemed to belong entirely to Socialism. We spoke of “discovering” our African heritage; being internationalists was to pay our debt to humanity. Deeply immersed … Continue reading “Charter 77, Havel, and a Citizen / Regina Coyula #Cuba”
My first surprise on arriving at the local bakery is to find the windows painted with congratulatory phrases for the new year of the Revolution. Revolution no longer looks like a word. It is the image of a beast with many eyes that devours the hearts of people. Last year it wasn’t like this, sometimes … Continue reading “The Common Enemy / Lilianne Ruiz #Cuba”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias announced that he will again have surgery for malignant cancerous cells found in in medical check up performed in Cuba. Cuban television interrupted regular programming on 8 December 2012 to let Cuban citizens know the current state of health of president Hugo Chavez. Chavez commented that he is having problems … Continue reading “The Cuban Government is Increasingly Concerned / Anddy Sierra Alvarez #Cuba”