English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
In Cuba there are two ship sinkings that captured public opinion. One of them (1994), the ferryboat 13 de Marzo, was presented in 1996 to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (1,2,3). The other occurred years earlier (1980), known in the press as the Slaughter of Rio Canimar (4,5,6), which merits investigation by the Cuban … Continue reading “A Good Place for Killing Children and Living Peacefully / Dora Leonor Mesa”
Does the fact that Raul Castro has met and shaken hands with Obama and that both of their governments have engaged in a year and a half of secret conversations commit the general-president to the aggressive policies of the US government? The Cuban government received billions of rubles in support and arms of every kind … Continue reading “Without dialogue and reconciliation, Cuba will go from bad to worse / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”
1994 was an amazing year. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the USSR had been the trigger for the beginning in Cuba of the “Special Period in Times of Peace,” an economic crisis which lasted for 25 years. We returned to a subsistence economy. The factories shut down as they had … Continue reading “The Day the People of Havana Protested in the Streets / Ivan Garcia”
1994 was an amazing year. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the USSR had been the trigger for the beginning in Cuba of the “Special Period in Times of Peace,” an economic crisis which lasted for 25 years. We returned to a subsistence economy. The factories shut down as they had … Continue reading “The Day the People of Havana Protested in the Streets / Ivan Garcia”
Gone is the last game, the German goal, Götze’s hands raising the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Gone are the get togethers with friends, wrapped in the flag of Italy or Costa Rica, to go see the games in some public place. Some of the excitement remains, it’s true, but the roar that ran through Havana … Continue reading “Football Hangover / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
CUBA: Young Leaders Group, Center for a Free Cuba and the Cuban Democratic Directorate Call for Twenty Minutes of Silence for Twenty Years of Impunity Washington DC. July 8, 2014. Human rights and civil society organizations have called for a symbolic nonviolent protest action in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the murder of 37 … Continue reading “Tomorrow, July 10: 20 Minutes of Silence for 20 Years of Impunity”
Editor’s note: This article was originally published at time of Luis Pavón Tamayo’s reappearance on Cuba Television in 2007, and was translated to post here on the occasion of his recent death. On more than a few occasions, those who analyze Cuba and even those directly engaged in the country, compare it to a game … Continue reading “A Pawn to Distract You / Alexis Romay”
From Montenegro to Santiesteban By Roberto Jesus Quinones Haces Guantanamo, Cuba, Apri, http://www.cubanet.org — Carlos Montenegro and Angel Santiesteban are not the only Cuban writers to have suffered the misfortune of incarceration; the latter twice. At barely 19 years of age, Carlos Montenegro was condemned to 14 years and eight months in jail for … Continue reading “Quinones breaks the silence of UNEAC with respect to the case of Angel Santiesteban / Angel Santiesteban”
The motorboats that used to cross the bay from Havana to Casablanca and Regla, and vice versa, always reminded me more of streetcars than buses. Perhaps it was their yellow and white colors and the profusion of polished wood in the ceilings, benches and window frames Then there was the water, clean and transparent, in … Continue reading “A Nearby Bay / Fernando Dámaso”
Rolando is a great man, father, brother and friend. His incarceration just as he was prepared to bring people, including his family,but he was not willing to sacrifice one life when the Cuban border guard charged him with their ships. He could have run with the chance to escape and those in his boat were … Continue reading “Justice for Rolando / Yamil Dominguez”
In recent weeks, I have noticed that the theme of reconciliation and forgiveness among Cubans is surfacing in various opinion forums. Speakers from various areas as well as alternative digital media –including independent bloggers- seem to pay particular attention to the matter, which points to a general feeling that we are already projecting to conflicts … Continue reading “Pardon or Justice? / Miriam Celaya”
This has been given to me from the blog of a fellow pastor who identifies himself as Miqueas de Roca: “I do not use electrical cords for this…” This story was also told me by a good friend, who although he is not a pastor, is a sincere and faithful Christian, of one of those … Continue reading “With Regards to the New Flotilla that Came Today To Salute Us / Mario Barroso”
The neverending story brings back bad omens. An official note from the Ministry of Interior – issued through the newspaper Granma on Friday – brings up again the perpetual drama of the rafters. This time 18 people were rescued off the coast of Palmarejo in the municipality of Santa Cruz del Norte, in the western … Continue reading “Rafters: A Neverending Story? / Jeovany J. Vega”
Angered is the adjective with which hundreds and thousands of demonstrators call themselves in the Middle East, Europe and now in the United States filling the streets demanding change. It wasn’t strange that at the beginning, the media in my planet were so cautious in reporting those demonstrations. Of course it wouldn’t be a good … Continue reading “Angered, Indignation, Outrageous / Rebeca Monzo”
It was July 15 or 16, 1994 when Angela Medina, my children’s aunt, asked me to accompany her to a house in the Purisima neighborhood, Cotorro municipality, where she saw her neighbors shot with water cannons in Havana Bay by the military who shipwrecked the tugboat, 13 de Marzo, in which she had meant to … Continue reading “Sad Memory / Miguel Iturria Savon”