Search results for: luz escobar

Official Press: Triumphalism, Blacklisting and Censorship / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez

14YMEDIO, Havana, Yoani Sanchez, 22 August 2014 – The phone rings and it’s a friend who works for a government publication. She’s content because she’s published an article that attacks bureaucracy and corruption. The young woman finished college two years ago and has been working in a digital medium that deals with cultural and social … Continue reading “Official Press: Triumphalism, Blacklisting and Censorship / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”

The Political Legacy of Oswaldo Paya / 14ymedio

14YMEDIO, 22 July 2014 – On 22 July 2014, the opposition leader Oswaldo Payá and the activist Harld Cepero died. Payá led the Christian Liberation Movement and promoted the Varela Project, which managed to collect some 25,000 signatures to demand a national referendum. Freedom of expression, of association, freedom of the press and of business, … Continue reading “The Political Legacy of Oswaldo Paya / 14ymedio”

Streets Without Protests / Yoani Sanchez

Protestors in the streets of Vienna (Luz Escobar) A friend sent me photos of a demonstration in the streets of Vienna in support of the Palestinians. I also received—from all over the world—images with signs of solidarity or rejection of one or the other of the parties implicated in the conflict in Gaza. Many take … Continue reading “Streets Without Protests / Yoani Sanchez”

“Mommy, I want a new uniform” / 14ymedio

The sale of school uniforms started in Pinar del Rio this morning, a moment eagerly awaited by parents and students at different levels of education where the satisfaction of having a new outfit mixes with the frustrations of long lines and the problems with sizes. A few days ago the Ministry of Education and the … Continue reading ““Mommy, I want a new uniform” / 14ymedio”

The Dictatorship’s Annoying Writer / Lilianne Ruiz

HAVANA, Cuba.  This past February 28, Reporters without Borders issued a statement attaching the second Open Letter from Angel Santiesteban to General-President of Cuba, Raul Castro, on exactly the day that the writer finished a year in jail.  Santiesteban published the first letter, addressed to the same leader, on his blog a few days before … Continue reading “The Dictatorship’s Annoying Writer / Lilianne Ruiz”

Citizens-in-waiting / Regina Coyula

Photo: Luz Escobar My country is so devoid of citizen initiatives, citizens live convinced that the “citizen” itself is a pejorative and almost criminal term used by the police, so how can they imagine that the word is not only beautiful, but that it has erotic overtones: the citizen-sovereign is he who elects his representatives … Continue reading “Citizens-in-waiting / Regina Coyula”

“No One Treats Me Like a Prostitute” / Lilianne Ruiz

HAVANA, Cuba – Yazmín doesn’t do the street. Nor does she acknowledge exercising the oldest profession in the world. She navigates the Internet for 10 CUC an hour, in some Havana hotel with this service. She visits websites to find a partner: cibercupido.com, mejoramor.com, and,among others, the Cuban website revolico.com, in the Jobs section. The … Continue reading ““No One Treats Me Like a Prostitute” / Lilianne Ruiz”

Under the Chimney / Yoani Sanchez

The trajectory of a place is always a mystery, its possibilities a mystery. The soaring chimney of El Cocinero will soon shelter another kind of process, less industrial, but more creative. In a few days its main facility will open as a space for concerts, exhibitions, fashion shows and performances. Havana was missing its “Rote … Continue reading “Under the Chimney / Yoani Sanchez”

Animal feed, then… more feed / Yoani Sanchez

It’s five in the morning and they are beginning to pile a few pieces of port on the stand. They’ve made the long and rugged journey from a private farm to get to this market in the city. They will only have meat to sell until mid-morning, because the demand exceeds what the sellers can … Continue reading “Animal feed, then… more feed / Yoani Sanchez”

The Market Where Cubans Pray for Renewed Abundance / Lilianne Ruiz

HAVANA, Cuba, Novemer 2013, www.cubanet.org — Back then there were images of abundance. Our elders say it was a gift to the senses. Memory arouses a nostalgia for a kind of lost paradise. El Mercado Único. Amelia, 80 years old. “It was quite a city, quite a city. It was cheap, cheap… All the fruits and … Continue reading “The Market Where Cubans Pray for Renewed Abundance / Lilianne Ruiz”

Soccer and Soap Operas / Yoani Sanchez

“When the teachers aren’t listening, what do the students in your classroom talk about?” I asked my son a few months ago. He barely paused before answering. “The boys talk about football and the women about telenovelas,” he replied, sure of himself. I confess, I expected more. I had imagined slightly risqué topics like sexuality, … Continue reading “Soccer and Soap Operas / Yoani Sanchez”

A Sentimental Education / Regina Coyula

Phrases and slogans are often survival strategies, empty expressions that are repeated time and again until they form a part of the landscape.  The University is for Revolutionaries is one of these phrases that nevertheless makes sense when we can peek inside a protest rally or act of revolutionary reaffirmation such as that held last … Continue reading “A Sentimental Education / Regina Coyula”

A Small Town Shelters a Woman Who Stands up to the Cuban Regime

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 21 March 2024 — A State Security agent on a motorcycle arrived at the small town of Las Tosas, 11 kilometers from Sancti Spíritus, to ask what was happening. The reason? A simple blue house appeared full of huge white graffiti that made the text stand out even more. “Miguel Díaz-Canel, … Continue reading “A Small Town Shelters a Woman Who Stands up to the Cuban Regime”

Fabian Pena, the Cuban Artist Who Works With Flies and Cockroaches

14ymedio, Clara Riveros, Miami, 25 February 2024 —  “In Cuba we didn’t have air conditioning. Flies and cockroaches are everywhere. My grandfather had a hobby of rolling up the Granma newspaper to catch flies, we competed, I was a child, that entertained me.” The Havana artist Fabián Peña recently won a scholarship from the Cintas de Miami Foundation, an … Continue reading “Fabian Pena, the Cuban Artist Who Works With Flies and Cockroaches”

Cuba: Good Bye, Fernando

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 10 January 2024 — These days the dismissal of Fernando Rojas, the vice minister of Culture, has been in the news. There are many who have publicly celebrated the end of the career of one of the cultural commissioners who arouses the most antipathy. There have also been many, too … Continue reading “Cuba: Good Bye, Fernando”