English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The night of December 3 was full of light and friendship. Yoani Sanchez invited a group of friends of Ernesto Santana to her house to grab from his hands a copy of his novel The Carnival and the Dead, the most recent winner of the Premio de Novelas de Gaveta “Franz Kafka”. It’s an award … Continue reading “Life, The Dead / Luis Felipe Rojas”
It was Saturday, November 27, and we left early for Guantánamo. At 12:40 pm we were at the control point known as Río Frío, a few kilometers from the city of Guaso. When the police stopped the vehicle we were riding in, they asked me urgently for my identity card, as well as that of … Continue reading “Detainee 1262: Cell 16 / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Claudia Cadelo is still waiting for a response from the Provincial Prosecutor to her complaint about the cultural apartheid at the last Young Filmmakers Exhibition. Agent Rodney never showed his face to confirm or deny the sad events of November 2009. And plainclothes police surround the home of Luis Felipe Rojas, without any court order … Continue reading “Cultural Dysgrphia / Yoani Sánchez”
We were waiting for a ride on 23rd when Ernesto Morales’ cell phone rang. It was Yoani Sánchez, worried about him because he could have taken AeroCaribbean Flight No. 883. We were stunned for a few seconds and then Ernesto told me: “I was going to travel on that plane.” I felt helpless to express … Continue reading “Catastrophe / Claudia Cadelo”
14ymedio, Julio Llopiz-Casal, Havana, 1 November 2021 — Me, I like to run away from common places (because what I want is to be happy and to not be pedantic), an idea has come to mind. The most interesting artist of the 60s and 70s in Cuba is not Umberto Peña, it is not Servando Cabrera … Continue reading “My No to the Havana Biennial is for the Freedom of Luisma and All Cubans”
14ymedio, Havana, 7 October 2021 — A total of 17 people are being tried this week for their participation in the peaceful demonstration on July 11 in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, which lit the fuse for the rest of the protests in the country that Sunday. The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for between … Continue reading “Cuban Prosecutor’s Office Asks for Sentences of 6 to 12 Years for the San Antonio Protestors”
In addition, 62 Cubans who remain with the State will participate in the Olympics. 14ymedio, Havana, 13 July 2024 — Twenty-one Cuban athletes who have emigrated will participate – with flags from other countries or on the refugee team – in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will begin on July 26. Among the flags … Continue reading “More Than 20 Exiled Cuban Athletes Will Represent Other Countries at the Olympic Games in Paris”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 10 July 2023 — If a couple of years ago her efforts were devoted to obtaining food, transportation, or perhaps planning to emigrate, now her greatest concern is the freedom of her relatives convicted for the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). Prison has not only changed the detained on that … Continue reading “‘I Long for My Son and All the Political Prisoners To Be Free, but I Also Want Cuba To Be Free’”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 5 April 2023 — That April 19, 2018, when deputies had to “elect” the president of the Republic, there was only one name on their ballots aspiring to the position. Raúl Castro himself cleared away all doubts by declaring that his appointment was not a coincidence, that it was planned … Continue reading “Cuba’s Diaz-Canel, Five Years as Hand-Picked Dictator”
14ymedio, Madrid, 21 June 2022 — The more than 30 individuals convicted for their participation in the July 11th (11J) demonstrations on the corner of Toyo in Havana, where an overturned police patrol became a symbol of the protests that day, have had their sentences reduced by the Supreme People’s Court (TSP) of Cuba after the … Continue reading “Seven Minors Convicted for July 11th (11J) Protest in Cuba Will Not Serve Prison Sentences After a ‘Special Analysis’”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2022 — In contrast to the previous trials of July 11 protesters, in which the final sentences were lower than those sought by the prosecutors, the Diez de Octubre Tribunal in Havana, which tried 33 people on January 31, has been relentless. Thus, it has sentenced Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, 17 … Continue reading “Almost 2,000 Years of Jail Time for 128 of the July 11 (11J) Protesters in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 15 February 2022 — Cuban journalist Yailén Insúa Alarcón, 42, and her husband, Boris Luis Ramos Salgado, 48, have been sleeping on the floor of Bogotá’s El Dorado airport for ten days. “The most stressful moments are when there are flights to Cuba and we fear that they will deport us on one of … Continue reading “‘My Greatest Fear is Setting Foot in the Havana Airport’”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 January 2022 — The Municipal Court of the Isle of Youth has acquitted three July11th (11J) protesters for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested three years in prison for a crime of public disorder. They are Ramón Salazar Infante, president of the Pinero Autonomous Party (PAP), Martha de los Ángeles Pérez Acosta, head … Continue reading “The Acquittal of Three July 11th Protesters on the Isle of Youth Suggests a Shift in the Prosecutor’s Office”
14ymedio, Havana, January 21, 2022–Five political prisoners, of those detained for the popular protests on July 11th (11J), are on a hunger strike. Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, William Manuel Leyva Pupo, Yosnavy Rosell García, Cruz García Domínguez, and Chadrían Vila Sequin are refusing to ingest food, demanding their immediate release, reported Justicia 11J on Friday. … Continue reading “Five Cuban Political Prisoners from July 11th are on a Hunger Strike”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 May 2021 — Between last September and the middle of this month, the Logistics Business Group of Cuba’s Ministry of Agriculture (Gelma) has more than three million dollars in merchandise in its network of agricultural supplies and equipment stores, as announced this Tuesday by executives of the state company which also identified … Continue reading “Cuba: The High Price of Feed is Ending Family Pig Farming”
