English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Photos by Rebeca It is right and necessary to fight against urban planning and other crimes, and to try to create a bit of order in society after so many years of barbarities. It seems as if the attention is focused on citizens who built precarious garages in the common areas of multifamily buildings, closed … Continue reading “Urban Planning Crimes: Who Started Them? / Fernando Dámaso”
All societies require changes. Cuba, trapped in the past half century, requires not only changes but major changes. In the last three years the government has dictated some important steps but that importance lies not in their scope — quite limited of course — but in the government’s need to undertake transformations and to break … Continue reading “Back to Square One / Dimas Castellanos”
Serafín, 69, never had toys. For his 8th birthday the gifts from his father were a pick and hoe. He woke him at 5 AM and they went to work in a row of onions. He told him, “If you want your children and grandchildren to have toys, you will have to get it out … Continue reading “Cuban State Responsible for Scarcity of Agricultural, Meat Products / Iván García”
In theory, to live under communism should be a nice little number for Cubans. As money doesn’t exist, you don’t have to pay bills for rent, electricity, water or the phone. If we had internet connections, they would be free, too. If you’re hungry, you go to the supermarket and fill a trolley with groceries. … Continue reading “Would Communism be Good for Cubans? / Iván García”
It is a mesh bag, a reddish woven net with five mandarins inside. They’ve been carried here — from Europe — by a reader who discovered where I live thanks to the tracks left in the blog. After I brought him a glass of water, he took the citrus fruits out of his backpack — … Continue reading “The Mandarins Come by Boat / Yoani Sánchez”
1. When we speak of solving the economic problems that overwhelm us, the road ahead appears complex and intricate. It has grown too much invasive marabou weed over the years and clearing it is no easy task. The solution is not to open narrow paths that, ultimately, are difficult to navigate and close up again … Continue reading “Other Steps / Fernando Dámaso”
PROSPERITY AND KINDNESS: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN of the Enlightenment Marti Mirta Suquet HAVING studied in Cuba, in this world of relative certainties they built for us during the eighties, and having subsequently completed a course at the University of Havana, many doors opened in advance. The fame of Cuban university graduates is … Continue reading “collaborations from VOCES 1… / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
By Jesuhadín Pérez. Things are going badly for Cuba. People lose freedom while trying to get it, and starve to death when asking for justice. Those in power have no ears to listen to the solutions to people’s problems, solutions that would jeopardize historical powers. This is the contradiction between form and substance. In other … Continue reading “If We Want Everything To Stay the Same, Everything Must Change”
The leader did not say where they could get the components of his detailed list, but he did recommend that his local subordinates “demand compliance” 14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2024 — Escorted by a press team that could not be more loyal to him, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Villa Clara embarked … Continue reading “The First Secretary of the Party in Villa Clara Imparts ‘Edifying Lessons’ to the Farmers”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 28 December 2023 — Endogamy is the practice of marrying in closed groups, between individuals of common ancestry. Reproduction between parents who are closely related greatly increases the chances that the offspring will be affected by recessive traits or genetic impairments. One of the most notorious cases was King Charles … Continue reading “The Ideological Endogamy of the Cuban Regime”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 May 2023 — Cuba has managed to position itself as one of the suppliers of charcoal to Europe, which, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saw its main supplier seriously affected. The official press Granma announced with great fanfare over the weekend the first shipment from the state company Granmax to the … Continue reading “The Export of Charcoal to Europe, a Minor Joy for Cuban Foreign Trade”
14ymedio, Mercedes Garcia, Sancti Spiritus 23 February 2023 — “To say I am irritated is an understatement. I’m as hot as a bonfire,” says Luis Mario Godinez, who with his father and brothers produce charcoal from marabou weed in Cabaiguán, a town in Sancti Spiritus province. The family has been waiting for more than four … Continue reading “Cuban Export Agencies Cite ‘Lack of Hard Currency’ for Not Paying Private Fruit Farmers”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 March 2022 — Sugar production in Cuba this year seems unable to overcome the worst prospects. In Ciego de Ávila, the authorities have reported several “breaks” in two plants that limit “the parameters of efficiency and productivity.” Eduardo Larrosa Vázquez, an official of the State’s Azcuba group in that province, declared to … Continue reading “Cuban Sugar Harvest in Ciego de Avila Winding Down Because Chinese Operators Haven’t Arrived”
14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus , 23 February 2022 — A report published by 14ymedio last January has led the military authorities of Sancti Spíritus to review the working conditions of dozens of prisoners who make and carry marabou charcoal. The inmates work for the state-owned Various Production Company (Provari), which does not pay them a penny, but has … Continue reading “The Conditions of Prisoners Working in Charcoal Improve as a Result of a Report by ’14ymedio’”
14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 31 January 2022 — They stack the sacks of charcoal on top of the truck, and as the sun gets stronger, their sweat mixes with the soot on their skin. There are dozens of prisoners who work for the State-owned Various Production Company (Provari) in Sancti Spíritus and, although the … Continue reading “Without Salary and Without Protection: This is How Cuban Inmates Work in Charcoal for Export”
