English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, September 20, 2019 — After 40 days on a hunger strike, the journalist and religious activist Guillermo del Sol was taken this Friday at midday to the Arnaldo Milián Castro hospital in Santa Clara, where he lives. Del Sol is in critical condition after 40 days without consuming food, as his son Adrián del Sol … Continue reading “Hunger Striker Guillermo del Sol Taken to Hospital”
14ymedio, Havana, 7 September 2019 — The headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu) in Santiago de Cuba was assaulted by police at dawn on Saturday, according to Martha Beatriz Ferrer, daughter of opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, who reported it on her Facebook account. “They arrested 24 people. My father was forcibly prevented from leaving … Continue reading “Police Assault National Unpacu Headquarters in Santiago de Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, August 4, 2019 — The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) has urged the new legislature of the European Union, which will come into office in the next few weeks, to present “a more demanding posture in face of the human rights violations in Cuba,” according to a statement published this week. The … Continue reading “Cuban Observatory Urges "A More Demanding Posture" From the EU Toward Havana”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, January 30, 2019 — First of all, I must confess: I don’t agree with any religion. I hardly have metaphysical doubts, which doesn’t even allow me to classify myself as an atheist. I have always believed that religions are a kind of discipline for the spirit and that mine is notoriously … Continue reading “The Obligations of the Church”
Note: See links at end of post for numerous photos and videos of the day. 14ymedio, Luz Escobar and Mario J. Pentón, Havana, 11 May 2019 — State Security agents clashed with activists of the LGBTI community and sympathizers of this group who went to Havana’s Central Park on Saturday to demonstrate in favor of … Continue reading “Cuban State Security Represses the Independent LGBTI March in Havana”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 January 2019 — After an interruption that lasted more than six hours and affected the entire country, the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (Etecsa) restored the Wi-Fi service in public areas as well as “Nauta Hogar,” the company’s home internet service. From the early hours of Monday, the Wi-Fi zones and Nauta Hogar connections … Continue reading “Wifi and Home Internet Service Restored in Cuba After Nationwide Outage”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 4 January 2019 — The old recipes from the Special Period are back in fashion. The lack of flour has led state-owned bakeries to turn to yams, private confectioners opt for recipes with yucca, and more than one family invents some substitute in order to have breakfast. The shortage of flour has … Continue reading “Substituting Yam, Yucca, and Cuban Ingenuity for Flour”
14ymedio, Madrid, 31 October 2018 — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will defend human rights in his visit to Havana, as the Moncloa Palace has expressed in its response to a letter addressed to him by the activist Iliana Hernández. The Cabinet of the Presidency did not offer more details on what specific gestures Sanchez will make … Continue reading “Moncloa Promises That Sanchez Will Defend Human Rights in Havana”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 6 June 2018 — An old truck passes through Havana’s Calzada del Cerro leaving a trail of smoke. From a balcony a neighbor films the vehicle and will upload the images to social networks. This is no longer science fiction. The Telecommunications Company of Cuba (Etecsa) has insisted in the last weeks that, before … Continue reading “"One Day We Wake Up and ’Boom’, We’re Internauts"”
14ymedio, Havana, May 24, 2018 — Cuban dissident Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez and the director of the online video program “Lente Cubano,” Iliana Hernández, filed a complaint on Wednesday with the Office of the Attorney General after several activists were barred from travelling. Hernández and Rodríguez along with Félix Navarro, a Black Spring political prisoner, compiled the … Continue reading “Two Activists File Complaint with the Attorney General over Travel Bans”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, April 21, 2018 — Government opponents and human rights activists were not pleased with Miguel Díaz-Canel’s first speech as Cuba’s new president. Iliana Hernández, director of the independent program Lente Cuban (Cuban Lens) questions whether the Cuban people will accept Díaz-Canel as leader given that he was hand-picked by his predecessor. “On … Continue reading “Opponents Believe Older Generation’s Legacy Is Incompatible with Reform”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 March 2018 — The authorities arrested the main organizer, Rafael Alba, but failed to prevent the creation of two independent unions of the self-employed on Tuesday in Havana. Idelia Salamé Ramírez, a seller in the market for self-employed at Monte and Ángeles streets in the capital, told 14ymedio that some 15 people managed to … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Fail to Prevent Creation of Two Associations of Self-Employed”
EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 8 March 2017 — The Oswaldo Payá prize was presented this Thursday, in a symbolic way, to the IDEA initiative, after Cuba refused entrance on Wednesday to the presidents of Colombia, Andres Pastrana, and of Bolivia, Jorge Quiroga, who came to receive the award in an act seen by the Government of the Island … Continue reading “Paya Prize Awarded Without Honorees, In An Event Cuban Government Calls a "Provocation"”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 February 2017 — On February 24 of next year Raul Castro must leave the presidency of Cuba if he is to fulfill the promise he has made several times. His announced departure from power is looked on with suspicion by some and seen as an inescapable fact by others, but hardly anyone argues that … Continue reading “The Countdown Begins For Raul Castro’s Departure From Power / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Pedro Acosta, Havana, 12 November 2016 — Iliana Hernandez and Yusmila Reyna circulated among sculptures and art installations at the Cuban Art Factory this week. The two women recorded some scenes for the program Lente Cubano (Cuban Lens), a program that approaches the reality of the island through culture, complaints, and the stories of success or … Continue reading “Looking at Society Through the ‘Cuban Lens’ / 14ymedio, Pedro Acosta”
