English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 1 October 2015 — The “Energy Revolution”, one of the last initiatives promoted by Fidel Castro before his public retirement, made some peculiar appliances appear in Cuban homes. Perhaps the most popular was the electric cooking pot was popularly called Queen, manufactured in China and which serves equally to make a red bean … Continue reading “A Queen Without Competition / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
Until Wednesday, April 29, when intense rains fell on Havana, Agustin — a private-sector farmer who grows chard, lettuce and peppers on a patch of parched land on the outskirts of the capital — was looking skyward to see if he could discern storm clouds on the horizon. “My yields are low because of the … Continue reading “Cuba: May Downpours Arrive Ahead of Schedule in Havana / Ivan Garcia”
Nuria retired last year and this month she traveled to Miami, where her sisters live. On returning to the Island she showed 14ymedio what she brought home in her suitcase. Let’s take a look at what she threw in her bags with brief comments from her about why she chose each product. Two bottle of … Continue reading “What Does a Cuban Bring Home in Her Suitcase? / 14ymedio”
My troubles did not end with the molars. Thinking myself clever, a month ago I bought a combined ceiling fan and light fixture at the Plaza Carlos III shopping mall. From an initial price of 120.00 CUCs, it had been reduced to 35 because it was missing its shade. I did not think twice because … Continue reading “Prosperous and Sustainable (2) / Regina Coyula”
Olga, a 62-year-old engineer, spends 11.50 CUC a month (about US $13.00) on two bags of powdered milk for herself and her family. “I don’t consider a glass or two of milk in the morning for breakfast a luxury. My 93-year-old father drinks as much as four glasses. A relative in Switzerland sends me 100 … Continue reading “Cuba: The Numbers Don’t Add Up / Ivan Garcia”
HAVANA, Cuba, January, www.cubanet.org — With the change of domestic appliances in the so-called energy revolution devised by Fidel Castro, there began for us a series of problems that each day gets worse. We were warned to exchange old Russian refrigerators and air conditioners, or American ones from the pre-“revolutionary” era, for Chinese equipment supposedly … Continue reading “Queen-Brand Pots, Chinese Refrigerators and the Little Gas Cylinder / Gladys Linares”
Photo: Truck with old refrigerators in my neighborhood. Amelia is about 50 and lives alone, her husband died in the war in Angola and since then she’s received a miserable pension through the Veteran’s Association. As she doesn’t work for the State, tough she is still of working age, several times they’ve tried to take … Continue reading “Fun (or not!) with Fridges, Part 1: Cold Water and Eternal Debt / Claudia Cadelo”
Four decades after taking power through revolution in 1959, the factors which made totalitarianism in Cuba possible have reached their limit. The populist measures imposed during the first years after the revolution were accompanied by the dismantling of civil society and a process of government takeover which began with foreign-owned companies and did not end … Continue reading “An Assessment of the Cuban Government’s Management Over the Last Six Years / Dimas Castellano”
If we compare the style of governance of the Castros during their respective terms in office from a bird’s eye view, we would make a serious mistake in believing the two autocrats are much the same. You don’t need a magnifying glass to see the differences. What are the similarities? Well, the duo have authoritarianism … Continue reading “Castro vs. Castro / Ivan Garcia”
In a country where power cuts have been an inseparable part of our lives, we should not be surprised when the lights go out. But yesterday, at 8:08 pm, something happened that raised the alarms. First we lost our television signal, during the very first minutes of the prime time news. Then, Havana blacked out … Continue reading “Apagonazo* — A Blackout in Cuba / Yoani Sanchez”
People tend to repeat actions and strategies that were successful, be it as individuals or as groups. Even governments, such as Cuba’s, sometimes show little creativity and don’t escape this facile practice of repeating and “taking hold” of well-used — and sometimes abused — tactics. Thus, through the years, we have witnessed how from campaign … Continue reading “Repeating Failure / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado”
The kitchen no longer smells of kerosene, nor are the walls black with soot, nor is alcohol needed to “warm up” the stove. The tenement no longer wakes up with the noise of the air valve stoking the fire, and the lady’s allergies are not set off by the stench of burning. The little window … Continue reading “From Kerosene to Electricity / Yoani Sanchez”
To read a translation of this post click here. When a friend leaves… says a song performed by Alberto Cortez, it gets the tears flowing in anyone. Well, that sorrow of goodbye referred to in the song occurs not only when someone very close leaves. It also hurts when we have to say goodbye to … Continue reading “Goodbye to the Blog: The Digital Controversy / Yoani Sánchez”
When a government’s finances are in the red, everything’s a big rush. So they usually rush to grab the scissors. And butcher public expenditures. Or raise taxes. Which is what the government of General Raúl Castro is doing. With the difference that the Cuban citizens have miserable salaries, and so they resort to charging fees … Continue reading “New Tariffs in the Regime’s Hunt for Hard Currency / Iván García”
It arrived in March 2006, in a few days before April launched its frenetic downpours against us. It came in a truck, immaculately new, brilliantly useful. It was our electric plant, our own generator, that would run the elevator and the hall lights when the blackouts cast their shadows over our area. We were saved. … Continue reading “The Generator, Our Generator / Yoani Sánchez”
