English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havanan, 30 July 2020 — The group, of more or less 8 or 9 young people, was sitting this on the wall of the Havana’s Malecon Wednesday afternoon, at a quarter to six in the afternoon. With their feet dangling towards the sea, they laugh, chat, take selfies while listening to music … Continue reading “Havana’s Malecon: “If it becomes a wall, what will become of our view?””
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, August 4, 2020 — The Regime designed by Fidel Castro has been based historically on informing, pitting Cubans against each other. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) were created to accomplish this mission. Denouncing deviant, non-revolutionary behavior was the slogan, so that then the authorities could take punitive … Continue reading “The Castro Regime Declares War on the ‘Coleros’”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 January 2020 — All the people waiting in a long line to buy rationed chicken in the Plaza of the Revolution district this week were wearing heavy coats, woolen hats, high socks and/or scarves. At least two elderly women were draped in blankets. Though the scene was reminiscent of the Russian steppes … Continue reading “Cuba Is Paralyzed as Temperatures Drop”
14ymedio, Havana, October 23, 2019 — 24 hours after her arrest, the activist Nancy Alfaya remains in an unknown location, as reported to 14ymedio by the independent journalist Jorge Olivera, who was with her at the time of her arrest. “We left at 12:30 from our turn on the internet at the United States embassy. … Continue reading “Detention and "Forced Disappearance" of Activist Nancy Alfaya Reported”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 September 2019 — This Monday, as Guillermo del Sol’s hunger strike reached 50 days, a group of activists, opposition figures, and independent journalists have made public a letter of support in which they intend to express their “solidarity and recognition” to the activist for his “sacrifice to eradicate one of the most lamentable … Continue reading “Several Cuban Activists Arrested During "Performance" In Solidarity With Guillermo Del Sol”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 14 June 2019 — Preparing the stage for the visit of a high official, putting the makeup on the place expecting a minister, or a quick remodel of a work before a Party leader arrives, have been common practices for decades. This week, the custom repeats itself with a visit from Miguel … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel and Ice Cream Arrive in Camaguey Together”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 April 2019 — Minutes before starting they were just a few, but more people were joining, coming by foot, by bike, and many of them with their pets. The unusual caravan brought together some 500 participants on Sunday who, in the streets of Havana, demanded an end the the violence … Continue reading ““We are the voices of those who can not speak””
14ymedio, Havana / Camagüey | 23 February 2019 — Clown performances promoting a Yes vote on the referendum, long lines to buy food and a general apathy about voting on the new constitution shape the scene on Saturday in Cuba, a few hours before the polling places open, where government officials have more at stake than a new … Continue reading “Apathy in the Streets and Unease in the Cuban Government”
14ymedio, Mario J. Pentón, Miami | 25 July 2018 – Cuba’s 1.1% economic growth the first semester of 2018, announced by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, will not reach the kitchens of the Cuban people, nor will it be felt in the already reduced purchasing power of their wallets, according to various economists consulted by 14ymedio. The island, crippled by … Continue reading “Cuban Economy’s 1.1% Growth is Not Felt on Cubans’ Dinner Tables”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 15 June 2018 — “You have to be calm until the wave passes,” says Rubén, 28, an informal vendor of vitamins and ointments from Miami. “Right now there are fewer products coming into the country and it is better not to risk it because in the airports they are more strict.” Last week the … Continue reading “"Here, The Same People Put The Squeeze on You, and Back Off"”
14ymedio, Mario J. Pentón, Miami, 6 June 2018 — The General Customs of the Republic of Cuba threatened on Wednesday to confiscate packages sent from the United States through ‘mules’ (people who travel specifically to the island to carry merchandise) who serve shipping agencies based in the U.S.. The practice of sending goods through agencies, which Havana … Continue reading “Cuban Customs Threatens to Seize Goods Brought by ‘Mules’ from the U.S.”
EFE via 14ymedio, Havana, 27 April 2018 — Cuban authorities will construct a 5-star, 42-story, 500 foot high hotel, the tallest of its type in Havana, the official media informed the island today. The 565-room facility, which will begin construction in September, will be located in the central area at 23rd and K streets, in the … Continue reading “Cuban Government to Build 42-Story Hotel, the Highest in Havana”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, 19 April 2018 — The week of “historic change in Cuba brought eggs to the Timba neighborhood, one of the poorest in the capital city. National television broadcast a movie, April Captains, based on Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, and parents rearranged their routines for school vacations. The break in elementary and secondary school classes was obvious outside … Continue reading “For Cubans, A Week Like Any Other”
Iván García, 3 May 2017 — Let’s step back in time. One morning in 1985, Yndamiro Restano Díaz, a thirty-seven-year-old journalist with Radio Rebelde, took out an old Underwood and wrote a clandestine broadsheet entitled “Nueva Cuba.” After distributing the single-page, handmade newspaper up and down the street, one copy ended up pinned to a wall … Continue reading “Independent Journalism Seeks to Revive Press Freedom / Iván García”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 9 May 2017 — As in the old joke of socialist hell the products in Cuba disappear in turn. When there are potatoes, there is no oil to fry them in, when there is spaghetti, there’s no tomato sauce, and just when they release enough flour to make a cake, there are … Continue reading “Shortages, Now it’s Ice Cream’s Turn”
