Search results for: blackout

Concerned in Villa Clara About What Is Happening in Venezuela / Alex Reinaldo Perez

SANTA CLARA, Cuba – The demonstrations by students and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela are the news of the moment. Countless media worldwide are focused on the events. The web is full of videos, images, writing. We Cubans are not unexposed to this; although we only see and hear what the censored media … Continue reading “Concerned in Villa Clara About What Is Happening in Venezuela / Alex Reinaldo Perez”

Caracas, Damn! / Reinaldo Escobar

Overwhelmed by the flood of information about Venezuela, we Cubans are hanging on everything that’s happening. We tune in to shortwave radio stations, try to find something moderately objective on the Internet, listen to what someone who has a relative on a “mission” there says, and try to catch on the fly some detail that … Continue reading “Caracas, Damn! / Reinaldo Escobar”

What do Cubans Hope For in the New Year? / Ivan Garcia

December is a month of epilogues.  2013 brought new things for Cubans.  After the 14th of January, those born on the island could travel abroad without so much government oversight. Even the dissidents.  Although with exceptions.  Opponents, hostages of the Black Spring of 2003 who are considered by the olive green-autocracy as being on parole, … Continue reading “What do Cubans Hope For in the New Year? / Ivan Garcia”

Prison Diary LXV: Ode to Pedro Pablo Oliva / Angel Santiesteban

That the essential Cuban painter Pedro Pablo Oliva (National Plastic Arts 2006 Prize Winner) was expelled in May 2011 from the Popular Assembly of the province, Pinar del Rio, is the best thing that could have happened in his life. Since then, the admiration he has won for his work has grown infinitely. A great … Continue reading “Prison Diary LXV: Ode to Pedro Pablo Oliva / Angel Santiesteban”

“In 2020 we will have street lighting” / Gladys Linares

HAVANA, Cuba, October, www.cubanet.org — At the end of the ‘80s a neighbor whose name escapes me stuck a sign on his bike basket that said: “Friend of Perestroika.” One day I heard they had searched his house and taken him prisoner. That caused a lot of talk among the neighbors, because he was a … Continue reading ““In 2020 we will have street lighting” / Gladys Linares”

Messages of Desiderio Navarro / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate

Dear Friends and Comrades: Suddenly, more than thirty years after his dismissal, Luis Pavón, ex-president of the National Council of Culture during the euphemistically called “Five Grey Years,” reappeared in the public sphere on nothing more nor less than an entire programme on National Television dedicated to “his cultural impact on Cuban culture.” So, was … Continue reading “Messages of Desiderio Navarro / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”

Chile and Death and Cuba and Love / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Ipatria, Alamar, a Vulture, the Night, and Me 1. There are exiles who bite and others like a consuming fire We met in the Martyrs of Alamar mortuary. Her father had died that afternoon, I’d come in to drink no less than ten coffees on the cheap. I needed them to ease my anxiety, ease … Continue reading “Chile and Death and Cuba and Love / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Prosecution’s Case Delivered to Sonia Garro’s Sister / Augusto Cesar San Martin

HAVANA, Cuba , September 20, 2013 , Augusto César San Martín Albistur / www.cubanet.org.- The Preparatory Phase Record (EFP ) No. 9 of 2012 , from the investigative body of the Department of State Security (DSE), against Lady in White Sonia Garro, was delivered this afternoon to the Carlos III Law Collective, to her sister … Continue reading “Prosecution’s Case Delivered to Sonia Garro’s Sister / Augusto Cesar San Martin”

Public Trials, a Clear Message to Citizens / Alejandro Tur Valladares

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org- As if it were serialized novel, the Public Prosecutions in the city of Cienfuegos just started what we could say is their third season, when on August 6 two citizens were processed and convicted in one of those covens — taking as its amphitheater the crowded Calzada de Dolores Avenue — … Continue reading “Public Trials, a Clear Message to Citizens / Alejandro Tur Valladares”

Disconnected / Rebeca Monzo

I’ve been totally disconnected for days.  When I say this, I’m referring to the inability to receive news from abroad by shortwave, and especially the lack of Internet.  Of course, the majority of the Cuban population is in this very same situation… at least I enjoy a couple of hours online on Monday and another … Continue reading “Disconnected / Rebeca Monzo”

Olive Green High Society / Ivan Garcia

They have few reasons to envy of their capitalist counterparts. The differences between them are ones of rhetoric and philosophy. The anti-capitalist islanders having studied Marxist manuals and speak on behalf of the poor. But many are living at full throttle. At the workplace they wear sweltering uniforms designed by some sadistic tailor from the … Continue reading “Olive Green High Society / Ivan Garcia”

Neither so Educated nor so Superior / Miriam Celaya

HAVANA, Cuba, May, www.cubanet.org- I’ve heard it said that hunger can affect vision permanently. For a while, I thought that this sentence was just a popular myth based on superstition, however, it turns out to be absolutely true. Hunger and other deficiencies cause, additionally, some distortions, such as lack of perception of reality and total … Continue reading “Neither so Educated nor so Superior / Miriam Celaya”

Fidel Castro, Mentor to Chavez / Ivan Garcia

The French General Charles de Gaulle used to say that when two people or two countries associated with each other, one always tries to have the upper hand. Cuba, which because of its geographical situation is considered the Key of America, after 54 years of the exclusive mandate of the Castro brothers still has pretensions … Continue reading “Fidel Castro, Mentor to Chavez / Ivan Garcia”

Raul Castro Buys Time / Ivan Garcia

On Sunday, April 14, at 11:45 PM Havana time, the president of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, delared Nicolas Maduro, the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the winner of the presidential election. More than a few bottles of champagne and Russian vodka were uncorked by Cuban government ministers and military businessmen … Continue reading “Raul Castro Buys Time / Ivan Garcia”

Mario Vargas Llosa: A Nobel Long Overdue / Yoani Sanchez

The literature of Mario Vargas Llosa has prompted several key turning points in my life. The first was 17 years ago, in a summer of blackouts and economic crisis. Under the pretext of borrowing “The War of the End of the World,” I approached a journalist expelled from his profession for ideological problems, with whom … Continue reading “Mario Vargas Llosa: A Nobel Long Overdue / Yoani Sanchez”