English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
By Dagoberto Valdés On the afternoon of Sunday, 22 July 2012, we were surprised by unexpected and terrible news: Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, founder and leader of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), had tragically died near the city of Bayama, seeking the roots of our Cubanness to say goodbye to the land he loved so much … Continue reading “Oswaldo Pay: Example and Legacy / IntraMuros, Dagoberto Valdes”
HECTOR SANTIAGO UMAP* was more terrible than what has been said, because they tried to change homosexual orientation through so-called scientific methods which, imported from the USSR, consisted of insulin injections and the application of electroshocks, interacting with images of naked men, on the one hand, and naked women on the other. So the images … Continue reading “Truth and Memory Weekly Bulletin on UMAP / HÉCTOR SANTIAGO”
The trashed cityscape reaches all the way to the gate of the parish, in the arid Cerro neighborhood. “The Savior of the World,” says the sign, so distant from the desert outside, beyond the gates. And one thinks, sleepwalking before sunrise: how poor any form of expression is in this country. Dawn lingers on the … Continue reading “Payá, Posthumous President / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Yesterday, around for in the afternoon, the coffin with the body of Oswaldo Payá arrived at the Chapel of the Savior of the World Parish, on Peñón street in the municipality of Cerro, after having completed the formalities of forensic medicine. The old 19th century church, recently restores, was literally packed. Some of those attending … Continue reading “Requiem for Oswaldo Payá / Rebeca Monzo”
Oswaldo Payá has died and left us, this man who with his “Varela Project” taught my generation and Cuba that freedom is possible. We were very young then and our idea was to shout liberty through literary works, which, from our naivete, we thought was the most direct path to democracy, and that this was … Continue reading “Oswaldo Payá on the Altar of the Nation / Ángel Santiesteban”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “Citizen Demand for Another Cuba – 536 Signatures and Counting”
After I read and reread the editorial in the latest edition of the journal Lay Space, the publication of the Archdiocese Lay Council of Havana, entitled: “Commitment to Truth,” it left a nasty taste in my mouth, because the editorial echoed the same accusations — against the peaceful internal Cuban opposition — as Castro’s totalitarian … Continue reading “Car and Bag / Pedro Argüelles Morán”
To: Office of Immigration and Alien Affairs, Ministry of the Interior Re: Reply request Miguel Iturria Savón, Cuban citizen, legal adult, married, university graduate, unemployed, permanent identity number 53092900308, residing at 222 Street, #9529, between 101 and 1st, Cruz Verde, Cotorro, Havana, Cuba,of my own volition hereby state to this office the following: That I … Continue reading “No Way Out / Miguel Iturría Savón”
Yesterday’s afternoon, Yusaimi spent four hours in the studio of a professional photographer.Surrounded by lamps, umbrellas, a mirror in the background, she spent all the time changing clothes and posing like an international model. She ended up exhausted. After getting home, she quickly ate a light snack and went back to pose again.This time it … Continue reading “And her 15th birthday arrived! / Iván García”
Citizen Demand for Another Cuba As Cubans, legitimate children of this land and an essential part of our nation, we feel a deep sorrow at the prolonged crisis that we are experiencing and the demonstrated inability of the current government to make fundamental changes. This obliges us, from civil society, to seek and demand our … Continue reading “For Another Cuba – Citizen Demand for Another Cuba”
From civil society, the Estado de SATS project, is an attempt to create a space for citizen participation. Its director, Antonio G. Rodiles, responds to questions from the readers of DIARIO DE CUBA. Omar Laffita: First, greetings. I have seen your programs and I want to say that the interview with El Sexto has been one … Continue reading “We are an active part of the transition, not just observers / Antonio Rodiles, Estado de SATS”
The cast bronze sculpture rests one arm on the bar. He looks ready to order another daiquiri, but in reality he’s observing, with his metal eyes, everyone who comes and goes from El Floridita. Some flash their cameras at that life-size Hemingway statue, while others see it as something from the past, from that long … Continue reading “Cuba in Sepia”
How does a cat die? Rasping, stiffly, gasping for air, looking into our eyes, incredulous at our inability to help him to live his time in this world of mortals, bewildered by our stupid betrayal of a life far more beautiful and true and good than ours. Adults die, although they have only weeks. Without … Continue reading “Meow No More / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Saturday I went shopping for Mothers’ Day gifts. The street was full of anxious people wanting to stretch the little bit of money they had in the manner of Jesus. While the expensive items stayed on the shelves, the cheap cologne, little soaps, plastic flowers, fans, and cards of congratulations soon ran low. A few … Continue reading “Havana May 12 at 2:00 p.m. / Regina Coyula”
In this year of 2012 the Colón Cemetery is celebrating 141 years of existence. An open museum that for so many years of existence has been compared with the most famous museums in the world. Its antecedent was the former Bishop of Espada Cemetery in 1806. A cemetery, which closed its doors in 1878. Seven … Continue reading “Christopher Columbus (Colón) Cemetery / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
