English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
As our regular readers know, the purpose of this site is to bring voices from the island of Cuba to a broader readership. The only exceptions we make to that rule are two: First — When “Translating Cuba” bloggers who began blogging in Cuba go into exile, we continue to translate them. Second — At … Continue reading “The Voice of a Cuban no Longer in Cuba: What the Pope saw in Cuba”
In Cuba, there have been few priests who have bended their knees on the ground with the poor and persecuted, like Oscar Arnulfo Romero, the Salvadoran Archbishop assassinated in 1980. Or the Peruvian, Brazilian, Colombian and Spanish Jesuits who, in 1972, founded the Theology of Liberation. This defense of the most underprivileged and those repressed … Continue reading “Cuba, the Catholic Hierarchy and Power / Iván García”
Who could have told the patriarch Fidel Castro that in the autumn of his years he would find an ally to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act, and not among his starched-brain little spokespeople in the leftist corners of the world, but among Miami’s ranks of the ultra-right-wing itself? If he had the strength for it, … Continue reading “Brain Adjustment Act / Ernesto Morales Licea”
After touching up his work in his Italian homeland, our man in Havana landed in Miami. He was preceded by a great omen: censorship. The best antecedent to arouse interest. A filmmaker whose latest work has been rejected by each and every European festival where he tried to show it. He entered it in small … Continue reading “Another Cuba for Our Man in Havana / Ernesto Morales Licea”
In memoriam for Pedro Meurice Estiú Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago de Cuba They called Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu “the lion of the East” for his more-than-proven bravery in the face of the arbitrary and authoritarian. That January 24, 1998, in Antonia Maceo Plaza in Santiago de Cuba, his face is serious, deep in thought. Pope … Continue reading “Meurice’s Roar / Yoani Sánchez”
EML: Mr. Lesnik, we’ve already talked about the Cuban opposition, where does your aversion to these political activists come from? Why can’t you, a man so markedly political, not accept the right of these people to belong to parties that oppose the only official Party? ML: It stems from, among other things, that for me … Continue reading “Among Dissidents (II. Final) / Ernesto Morales Licea”
I heard it said to a great man during a recent television interview: Asked about Cuba’s imminent future, the priest José Conrado, visiting Miami, responded that for him good news was approaching, hopes appearing on a complex horizon. Suddenly, hearing his daring statement, I remembered something: I shared it with him 100%. I think that … Continue reading “More Than a Little Bit of Faith / Ernesto Morales Licea”
I have a friend, a native Palma Soriano, who settled in Santiago years ago. My friend is a priest. For me, it’s as if he were a master electrician as we are friends despite his priesthood and my atheism. My husband calls him “Father” and uses the formal “you” when speaking to him, but to … Continue reading “My Friend the Priest and a Philosophy of Life / Regina Coyula”
It was January of 1998. The city was getting ready for a huge occasion: the visit of the Pope. Our beloved friend Father José Conrado was a guest in our house, staying in the little room upstairs. It was during those unforgettable days when we met Marquetti. He would come each morning to collect JC … Continue reading “To Honor, Honors / Rebeca Monzo”
The evening was cool. Since the early hours we were preparing for what would happen that afternoon. We were to pick up the poet and Regina in order to go together to the Dutch ambassador’s residence, where there would be a reception to present the Prince Claus award officially to Yoani Sánchez. Upon arriving at … Continue reading “A Well-Deserved Award / Rebeca Monzo”
Photos from the Award Ceremony at the Dutch ambassador’s home for Yoani Sánchez’s Prince Claus Award. From Boring Home Utopics. Guillermo “Coco” Fariñas Yoani with her plaque. Father José Conrado
An anecdote not often shared relates that, at the end of a meeting between Fidel Castro and Cuban artists in 1969, where he pronounced his polysemic “Words to the Intellectuals,” a discordant — and unexpected — voice spoke up. It was Virgilio Piñera, perhaps the most immortal and lacerated playwright our Island has given birth … Continue reading “The Persistence of Fear / Ernesto Morales Licea”
The Island has accumulated 217 enforced disappearances since 2012 and 17 in the first eight months of 2026, surpassed only by Mexico. 14ymedio, Madrid, October 3, 2026 – Cuba has accumulated 217 requests for urgent action before the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances from 2012 through August 31, 2026. This is the fourth-highest figure … Continue reading “Cuba, the Country with the Fourth Most Requests for Urgent Action Over Enforced Disappearances Before the UN”
Detainees from the Florida boat intercepted in February reveal details of the incursion to media outlets aligned with the regime. 14ymedio, Madrid, September 23, 2026 – Seven months have passed since Border Guard troops shot several occupants of a boat from Florida in the waters off Villa Clara. The five survivors of the incident remain … Continue reading “‘We Knew People Wanted Something To Happen, Maybe a Spark’”
One of the alleged detainees in Cuba speaks from the United States to deny his involvement. 14ymedio, Havana, February 26, 2026 – Roberto Azcorra Consuegra, one of the names included by the Ministry of the Interior on the list of alleged individuals involved in the incident with a boat intercepted in waters off Villa Clara … Continue reading “The Inconsistencies in the Official Version About the Boat in Villa Clara, Cuba”