English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
During the month of June and the first days of of July The Cuban League Against AIDS has monitored the rise of protests in Cuban jails for inmates with HIV / AIDS. The protests show the dissatisfaction by the Cuban prison population affected by this disease. The affected prison population at the time of writing … Continue reading “Briefing Note No. 3 Cuban League against AIDS / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
In Cuba, using children for violent political acts has become repeated and dangerous — the well-known “Acts of Repudiation” — a kind of propaganda without the permission of the parents, harassing the children of people who do not sympathize with the government and other violations that appear in the Penal Code of the Republic of … Continue reading “The Sword of Damocles over the Weekly Adelante; Libel and Legal Peril / Dora Leonor Mesa”
By Ignacio Estrada Cepero People affected by HIV/AIDS have the right to the highest possible level of physical health and mental alertness among other things “the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic illnesses” and “the creation of conditions that assure medical assistance and services to all in the event of illness” In order to fulfill … Continue reading “People with HIV Have the Right to the Best Possible Physical and Mental Health / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
Mayabeque, Cuba.- My name is Denis Luis Gómez Serrano, I’m 26 years old, I’m a primary, it’s my first sanction. I would like to tell you that there are no psychotropic drugs here, and I left with permission and brought back my medication and now they want to sentence me to 8 more years of … Continue reading “Letters from the San José Prison Part 3 / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
I understand that Western countries, where the government emerges from a multi-party democracy, must have their problems. Here the scriptwriters of any news report broadcast are very pleased when they comment on (because they almost never let you hear the voices of the international reporters) the news about the protests of the Outraged, Spanish students, … Continue reading “To the Outraged / Lilianne Ruíz”
Following the publication of the post “The Broken Showcase” in this blog, in which I noted several criticisms of the Cuban health system and the loss of professional ethics by not a few doctors, a reader was kind enough to send me the letter of a doctor with the surnames Alemán Matías, which circulated on … Continue reading “Cuba Medicine and an Offended Doctor / Miriam Celaya”
Wilman Villar was a human being, Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a human being. Human beings are capable of love and hate, of fear, or of fighting, to free us or to be submissive, to have a domestic dispute, to drink or not to drink. And yet, they are also be able to perform actions that … Continue reading “Lent / Lilianne Ruíz”
It is not surprising how many people go out in mass, before any revolutionary summons. In Cuba, the State is the absolute owner of everything; hospitals, schools, radio and television stations, hotels, discotheques, restaurants. The State is the sole employer. At the address of each one of these places, there appear the photos of the … Continue reading “Very few…”
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”
Anyone who still harbors any hope about the niceties of the health system in Cuba has only to get sick and go see a doctor. It’s not hard at all, taking into consideration the number of rare diseases circulating among us these days, just within reach. And there are other illnesses, already endemic, such as … Continue reading “Broken Showcase / Miriam Celaya”
It’s daylight robbery. Every time a Cuban residing abroad decides to visit their home country, the must pay a crude ‘revolutionary tax’ to the Castro brothers government. Let’s get out the calculator. In 2012 nearly 400,000 Cuban emigrants visited the island. Before unpacking the plasma TVs, computers, video games and smartphones for their relatives, all … Continue reading “Emigration is Good Business for the Cuban Government / Iván García”
“ALL THIS WILL BE YOURS!” — Picture from La Nueva Cuba on the Internet A recurring theme among the last days of 2011 and early 2012 by Cubans and foreign individuals interested in the Cuban reality has been about the outlook for the year just begun, given the chronic nature of the national economic crisis, … Continue reading “Conjectures About 2012 / Miriam Celaya”
Today, December 3rd, we celebrate the Day of the Doctor in my world. I have a doctor friend, with twenty-five years of experience, specializing in psychiatry, with good results, according to the acknowledgement of her patients, which is what really counts, who this year will be in her house baking cakes to be able to … Continue reading “What to Celebrate? / Rebeca Monzo”
He worked for years in the Urbano Noris sugar plant. He complied with all of the daily chores required by his job. He was useful. And efficient. But today, he is another one of the many Cubans floating adrift. Humberto Hernandez Palma lives in San German and worked in the Urbano Noris central for quite … Continue reading “Adrift on Firm Land / Luis Felipe Rojas”
On the rainy afternoon of October 14 Laura Ines Pollan Toledo went to dwell in her Father’s house, without the cause of her death stated. The independent journalist Lucas Garves was visiting my house when he received a call on his cell phone. It was the former prisoner of conscience Adolfo Fernández Saínz, from Radio … Continue reading “Proud to Serve Laura Pollan After Her Death / Ricardo Medina”
