Search results for: act of repudiation

They Threaten to Prosecute Opponent Sonia Garro and Six More Women for Marching Against the Government in Havana, Cuba. / Iván García

According to opponent Sonia Garro, intelligence officers let her know that they may open a court case against her and six more women who several times organized peaceful marches of protest on the streets of Havana. Garro commented that in one of the interrogations, agents of the State Security told her that “President Raul Castro … Continue reading “They Threaten to Prosecute Opponent Sonia Garro and Six More Women for Marching Against the Government in Havana, Cuba. / Iván García”

Cuba: Inconvenient Journalism / Iván García

Although they say abroad that the government of General Raúl Castro is urgently calling for a different period – one that is critical, controversial, appealing and lively – in practice the official reporters are not rushing to drop the burden of language loaded with slogans and pieces from speeches by Fidel Castro. Journalists working in the state media … Continue reading “Cuba: Inconvenient Journalism / Iván García”

Twelve Men in Brief / Yoani Sánchez

As a child whenever I heard the name of Perico*, a town in Matanzas Province, I ended up with a pain in my stomach from laughing so hard. Until I learned that a part of my father’s family was from that area and the joke didn’t seem so funny to me any more. Last Saturday … Continue reading “Twelve Men in Brief / Yoani Sánchez”

Cubanacán and Our Lady / Miriam Celaya

During this past week, Mr. Carlos Valhuerdi, an independent journalist at the Cubanacán Press website, has been telling me about some recent developments beginning on the night of May 7th through the 8th in the city of Santa Clara, after the death of John Wilfredo Soto, resulting from a brutal beating at the hands of … Continue reading “Cubanacán and Our Lady / Miriam Celaya”

Gibara, a Piece of Light Thrown in the Sea / Luis Felipe Rojas

It was during the last days of March that I heard the unfortunate news: those of us who are cinema fans have lost the “Humberto Solas” Poor Cinema Festival. A disagreement between the convoking groups of Holguin and Havana left us helpless — those of us who would visit a film theater without prejudice and … Continue reading “Gibara, a Piece of Light Thrown in the Sea / Luis Felipe Rojas”

Yoani’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post / Yoani Sánchez

What Jimmy Carter can’t change in Cuba Thirty years after he left the White House and nine years since his only previous visit to Cuba, Jimmy Carter arrived in Havana last week, wearing the white guayabera that would serve as his uniform during a three-day visit to our island. Watching on television, I recalled how … Continue reading “Yoani’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post / Yoani Sánchez”

About Cyber-Wars and Cyber-Warriors / Miriam Celaya

Some suggest that, in Cuba, the sustained and increasing harassment of dissidents and independent civil society groups responds to a government offensive strategy designed to eliminate pockets of resistance to the dictatorship, marked at times by a preponderance of alternative civic sectors and the use of information technologies and communications. For my part, I don’t … Continue reading “About Cyber-Wars and Cyber-Warriors / Miriam Celaya”

Quota for Revolucionaries, or “If you have to do it, you have to do it.” / Miriam Celaya

If someone had told us in the distant 70’s that the day would come when attendance at a march or other event in support of the revolution would be guaranteed by assigning quotas, I’m sure we would have made a face, incredulous. However, what back then would have been unthinkable is today a palpable reality. … Continue reading “Quota for Revolucionaries, or “If you have to do it, you have to do it.” / Miriam Celaya”

Me and the Soap Opera / Claudia Cadelo

When a state decides to aim all its weapons at a citizen there is little he can do about it. Without access to the mass media, in a country with low Internet connectivity, with arbitrary laws against freedom of expression and with the impunity to defame, distort, lie and lay waste on national television to … Continue reading “Me and the Soap Opera / Claudia Cadelo”

Short Trip Down Memory Lane / Miriam Celaya

Recently, a friend and regular reader of our blog made a comment about a very controversial post in which he argued that the Mariel migration was triggered by the fact that “two Cubans launched a bus against an embassy in Havana.” In effect, that action was the public and visible event, but in any case, … Continue reading “Short Trip Down Memory Lane / Miriam Celaya”

José Martí, Los Aldeanos, and a Christmas Celebration / Claudia Cadelo

There are those who say that every effect has its cause and that there is no chaos in the universe. Each to his own philosophy. A friend — half joking, half serious — asked me is I could define the year when our reality became an absurdity. Something like the Big Bang of our island … Continue reading “José Martí, Los Aldeanos, and a Christmas Celebration / Claudia Cadelo”

Spaces Taken / Claudia Cadelo

Yesterday, while waiting outside the Supreme Court for the results of the hearing on the case of the Cuban Law Association versus the Minister of Justice, I reflected — in the original sense of the word — about my ups and downs since that distant August day when I was also waiting outside another court, … Continue reading “Spaces Taken / Claudia Cadelo”

The Great Alumbrón* / Yoani Sánchez

Pinar del Río is a city without movie theaters, an urban place where cars barely pass and at night the streets are dark and empty. However, some personal projects shine in the midst of such paralysis. One of these is Pedro Pablo Oliva’s workshop, with its room halfway between a family home and an art … Continue reading “The Great Alumbrón* / Yoani Sánchez”

Cuban Regime Calls on its Children for Shock Troops / Yoani Sánchez

On December 10, Human Rights Day, my 15-year-old son came home from school and said he had been summoned to go to park centrally located in Havana, exactly the same place where, each year, a group of dissidents and non-conformists demonstrate for improvements for Cuba’s citizens and political prisoners. The students of all the high … Continue reading “Cuban Regime Calls on its Children for Shock Troops / Yoani Sánchez”

Premeditated Revenge / Pablo Pacheco

The exile to Spain of fifty Cuban former political prisoners and their families has been a well organized maneuver, calculated and premeditated by the dictatorship in Havana. It is difficult to know when they started making plans for this operation, but I imagine it had its roots in the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata … Continue reading “Premeditated Revenge / Pablo Pacheco”