English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Every year is a little more decadent than the last. Religiosity in Cuba has become a thing of barbarians, even to the point of a medieval superstition of the masses, repressive and cruel, out of pure fear of death in the midst of the apathy of a claustrophobic and inefficient country where poor animals and … Continue reading “The Last Corner / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo #Cuba”
Yesterday I went to the International Crafts Fair located in Pabexpo, an exhibition area in the northwest of the city. This is an expo/sale held every year on this date. The first thing that struck me was the number of people in a space as big as this, so many it was difficult to move … Continue reading “The Fair / Regina Coyula #Cuba”
In spite of the decay and the grime, it is still a vain city. A varied architecture, rows of archways and tall columns topped with plaster figures. Neighborhoods with their own flavor.Atarés, El Pilar, Carraguao, La Víbora, Lawton, Sevillano, Mantilla, Párraga, Buena Vista, Pogolotti, San Leopoldo, Colón, Cayo Hueso, El Vedado o Miramar. Each with … Continue reading “Havana, A Unique Metropolis / Ivan Garcia #Cuba”
As has been my custom, yesterday I went to “Last Thursday,” the space of the magazine Temas (Themes). The theme of Temas was quite attractive to me: Internet, social networks, culture. I arrive late so I missed the presentation of the invited guests, among whom I recognized Iroel Sanchez, former president of the Cuban Book … Continue reading “Silver Invitation / Regina Coyula #Cuba”
I always had the dream of getting to know that worker whose speech on receiving the Sakharov prize I heard live from Hapsburg, vibrant with excitement thanks to the magic of radio. I never thought of a future post-Castro Cuba with Payá physically absent. Much less did I imagine it on that Sunday morning of … Continue reading “Paya’s Funerals / Mario Barroso #Cuba”
Every day when they go out to report or write some story about daily reality, invisible to official media, the murky Gag Law that can land them in jail for 20 years or more floats over their heads. It’s not just the legal harassment. There is also their ration of slaps, subtle taekwondo blows in … Continue reading “Independent Journalists Live on the Razor’s Edge in Cuba / Iván García”
Room N. N for Nothing, Nobody, None. I am writing in the suburban night in the Surgical-Clinic of 26th Street, next to Sports City, the flying saucer blocked by the architecture of the hospital itself. The view, the crown of lights of the Plaza of the Revolution. From the third floor, passing in slow motion … Continue reading “CUBICLE OF DEATH / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
FUCKED FASCISM The only time I left Cuba I went to the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in November-December 2002. There Mexico gave me a disheartening lesson. In Cuba, as we all knew already, we were heading towards a police state capitalism. But in Mexico I had a surprise that my restless imagination had … Continue reading “MEXICO DF, OF FIDEL / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
It seems like a silent cry, a clandestine invitation to beer drinking amid signs of drunkenness, not of admiration. The thirsty passer-by—child or adult—cannot easily sample a soft drink or a little bottle of mineral water in Havana when he wants, since in many public businesses that sell cold drinks in convertible currency, they tend … Continue reading “Your Beer Here! / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado”
As a result of the next baseball season, the State press and fans have unleashed a debate, looking to raise the level of ball played on the island. There were more than 170 proposals to design a new competitive structure. In a meeting with the national press, the Cuban Federation let it be known how … Continue reading “Cuban Baseball: Open the Gate / Ivan Garcia”
These are the names of the activists arrested, that they have given us so far, we do not know the exact number of arrests. Holguín: Rolando López Martínez Jesús Aguilera Villaruela Antonio Caballero Pupo Luis Miguel Gómez Hernández Bernardo Torres Roldán Alberto García Silva Maidalis Guerrero Silva Yoandra Guerrero Silva Maris Rosa Rodríguez Silva Santiago … Continue reading “Cuban Government’s Repressive Wave Against UNPACU / Estado de Sats, For Another Cuba”
Rodrigo Chávez Rodríguez, Esq. For Cubans today it no longer seems strange, much less unusual. A lack of punctuality affects any number of activities, whether they be in the workplace, the classroom or at celebrations. There is always some excuse. The bus did not come; they turned off the lights when I was having visitors; the … Continue reading “Is Disorganization Institutionalized in Our Society, or Is Our Society Institutionalized Disorganization? / Cuban Law Association, Rodrigo Chavez Rodriguez”
The National General Strike is an important initiative sponsored by theOrlando Zapata TamayoNational Front for Civic Resistance and Disobedience. As its name indicates, this initiative seeks a partial paralysis of the entire national infrastructure through strong and systematic actions by the forces of internal resistance. In its first and second stages the General Strike is … Continue reading “Campaign for a National General Strike / Jorge Luis García Pérez Antunez”
The miter leans slightly with the rhythm of the ritual, leaving his back exposed to the stone face of José Martí. On the table of the Mass, the chalice rests and reflects from its golden surface a relief of Che Guevara mounted on the facade of the Ministry of the Interior. Benedict XVI officiates mass … Continue reading “The Papal Mantle and The Red Mass – Reflections on the Pope’s Visit to Cuba / Yoani Sanchez”
Site manager’s note: This letter is not from one of our regular bloggers. It is from a young Cuban who has emigrated to Bulgaria, and was written in response to a post on (the now “paused”) blog “La Joven Cuba,” detailing why young people should not emigrate from Cuba. The letter is “going viral” on … Continue reading “Letter From a Young Man Who Has Left / Ivan Lopez Monreal”
