English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Castroneirics: Is there Cuban literature after the Revolution? Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo This story started long before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, on January 1st1959. In the beginning it was not the Word, but the War. And in the war Fidelity is the utmost value, its betrayal usually paid with death, whether civil or political, … Continue reading “Castroniria / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 23 August 2014 — “Beds, furniture, mattresses, heaters”, is the soft cry from a reseller who prowls around the Carlos III Market entranceway. A few steps away, another dealer advertises his wares: “airs,’microgüeys’, washing machines, rice cookers, ‘Reina’ brand pots and pans…” The cries are not too loud, but measured, uttered in a tone just loud enough to reach the ears of the nearby walkers, or … Continue reading “A Thief Who Steals from a Thief… / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, Manuel Cuesta Morua, 14 August 2014 — Two separate reports from the American Associated Press (AP) agency, published urbi et orbi, reproduce a syndrome of certain US media in relation to Cuba, at least in the last 55 years. The syndrome began in 1958 with the New York Times journalist Herbert Matthews, and his sympathetic tale … Continue reading “The Associated Press Calls Us ‘Mercenaries’ / 14ymedio, Manuel Cuesta Morua”
Some months ago, someone who does not wish to be named because she is closely related to a high level Cuban leader, called me and told me that she had finished living her first and very unhappy American experience. Her voice sounded ragged, with the irregular breaths that usually accompany crying. Bilingual, university graduate, pretty, … Continue reading “Cuba: Genetics, Elites, and Emigrant Children / Juan Juan Almeida”
HAVANA, Cuba. – The open crisis in Venezuela confuses all of Latin America and the Caribbean. It has an important economic component. Many of the small countries of the Caribbean basin, turned client-states, foresee the loss of the cheap oil prices Venezuela has been providing. This may be a small consideration for most, except for … Continue reading “Confusion in the Americas on the Venezuelan Crisis / Manuel Cuesta Morua”
Havana, Cuba – At la Playa de El Chivo (El Chivo beach ), on the northeast coast of Havana, at the foot of the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (Three Kings Castle), people carry on fishing for sport and business, between the marine waters and sewage, without the health authorities, environmental authorities or … Continue reading “No-one Knows What Fish They are Buying / Ernesto Garcia Diaz”
In Havana in the 1950s stores, cinemas, theaters, clinics and hospitals had great open doors. (With the advent of air conditioning they were alternately opened and closed to maintain the pleasant indoor temperature.) This allowed citizens to easily come and go without unnecessary crowding and inconvenience. Back then, which according to the current official propaganda … Continue reading “Closed Doors / Fernando Damaso”
Dear Friends and Comrades: Suddenly, more than thirty years after his dismissal, Luis Pavón, ex-president of the National Council of Culture during the euphemistically called “Five Grey Years,” reappeared in the public sphere on nothing more nor less than an entire programme on National Television dedicated to “his cultural impact on Cuban culture.” So, was … Continue reading “Messages of Desiderio Navarro / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
HAVANA, Cuba, October, www.cubanet.org — Raul Castro has repeated constantly that errors are the greatest enemy of the Revolution, those that have been committed and new ones that may be committed. Nevertheless, he does not speak of the political changes necessary for correcting those errors, since the so-called reforms are not enough, particularly because of … Continue reading “No Remedies, Political Changes / Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello”
Yes, it would appear that the themes discussed yesterday at the Casa de las Américas [an institution in Havana to promote inter-cultural links with other countries <transl.>] were not of interest for the future of Cuban culture and thought. It seems like they were trying to mend fences (with every justification) with some of the … Continue reading “Conference for Over-40s in the Casa de las Americas / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate, Isbel Diaz Torres”
The dreams begin, comrades. Noises in hotel rooms. I begin to hear noises in the hotel rooms where I stay from coast to coast in the United States. In Cuba, I was never a victim of the homeland paranoia; I only had the certainty of being spied on with criminal cruelty. Millimetric, butcher. I am … Continue reading “dreaming in gUSAno* / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Photo by Rebeca The yellow ribbon tied to an oak tree, while waiting for the return of a loved one temporarily absent, is a beautiful and touching American tradition, which speaks volumes for the values of this people. Why then, has the consideration of their use in Cuba this coming September 12th, caused such an … Continue reading “Politically Correct / Fernando Damaso”
Poor little doll made of tinsel and wood, so battered across the long and narrow stretch of thousands and thousands of kilometers. Last night, I saw her in Lawton, and it was daunting. Because of her, and because of the bleak surroundings. A neighborhood polluted from the disposition of its inhabitants to the sky that … Continue reading “Who Are You, Little Virgin? / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
HAVANA, Cuba , August, www.cubanet.org – Every Cuban must have heard countless times a compilation of phrases that try to encompass all the Island’s popular wisdom: “don’t bother”, “you’re not going to solve anything”, “what the heck, you are not going to change anything”, “don’t look for trouble” , or this next one, which is … Continue reading “Shoal Philosophy / Miriam Celaya”
The writer Angel Santiesteban must turn himself in this Thursday to serve a five-year jail sentence. By Wilfredo Cancio Isla This morning, Thursday, February 28, 2013, a 46-year-old writer, considered one of the pillars of narrative of his generation, awarded the highest literary prizes of his country, will go to jail. Angel Santiesteban Prats must … Continue reading “My Imprisonment is an Embarrassment for the Cuban Intelligentsia #YoSoySantiesteban / Ángel Santiesteban”
