English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Iván García, 9 August 2016 — The sun illuminates the Plaza Vieja, and a humid heat transforms the place into an open-air sauna. When you set foot on the cobblestones, the sensation you have is one of walking on burning embers. At the entrance of the planetarium, dozens of kids accompanied by their parents get in … Continue reading “Without Eusebio Leal, Habaguanex is Controlled by the Military / Iván García”
Juan Juan Almeida, 14 June 2016 — Capitalizing on the ill health of Dr. Eusebio Leal* to further strengthen its commercial and business supremacy over every corner of the island, the state-owned tourism company Habaguanex will in one day, October 30, assume ownership of the historic heart of Old Havana. The area will be completely … Continue reading “The Military Takeover of Eusebio Leal’s Empire / Juan Juan Almeida”
Iván García, 9 November 2015 — One warm evening in September, a scrapping brigade arrived from Habaguanex* and, in a little more than two hours, dismantled the aluminum tubes and awnings of three open-air bars on the Avenida del Puerto, where Havanans and tourists drank beer or ate fried chicken among the ambling musicians and prostitutes … Continue reading “Cuba: Waiting and Hoping for the Cruise Ships / Ivan Garcia”
Ivan Garcia, 26 September 2015 — Let’s climb aboard a time machine. Into the future, of course. By now, Raul Castro has given up the throne. His son Alejandro has been tried for abuse of power, financial corruption and violations of human rights. Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas, the Cuban Martin Borman, has fled with a … Continue reading “Cuba 2019 / Ivan Garcia”
Cubanet, 19 March 2014 –A son-in-law of Cuban leader Raul Castro, in charge of the military businesses that dominate the economy on the island, has risen to general, according to a report today in the south Florida’s El Nuevo Herald. Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas, barely over 50, who for a long time has been identified … Continue reading “Raul Castro’s Son-in-Law Rises to General”
14ymedio, Madrid, 25 August 2022 — The panorama of Cuba’s national electricity system offered by the officials who appeared on State TV’s Roundtable program on Wednesday is catastrophic and, from what they said, will continue to be so for many more months. The Minister of Energy and Mines himself, Liván Arronte Cruz, declared that maintaining … Continue reading “‘There Is No Money’ to Repair Thermoelectric Plants in Cuba, But There is Money to Invest in Luxury Hotels”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, July 6, 2022 — Cuba may be the scene of many rebellions in the short-term, according to a report by the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (OCC) released on Tuesday, which points out that the 258 protests of last June exceeded by 11 those of the same period in 2021. The June … Continue reading “A Report Warns of Possible Rebellions ‘Of Magnitude’ in Cuba in the Short Term”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 April 2021 — Dozens of activists were repressed in a protest in the park on the corner of Obispo and Aguacate, in Old Havana. The protesters were trying to reach the home of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, only a few blocks away. The artist is on his sixth day of a … Continue reading “Dozens of Activists Demonstrate in Old Havana, Shouting “Patria y Vida” (Homeland and Life)”
For a long time there have been countless comments within the circle of Cuban power, where the name of the cunning and not-at-all innocent Colonel Luis Alberto Rodrigues Lopez-Calleja persists, as the “Czar of the Military Economy.” A fictional creation, a legend. So today, February 24, instead of writing about this group of brave men … Continue reading “The Powerful Ex-Son-in-Law of Raul Castro, Exiled / Juan Juan Almeida”
