English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
He was working for a new kind of corporation, one of those occupying a luxurious mansion in the Miramar neighborhood and importing goods from abroad. To find such a job it was enough to appeal to the influence of his father, a lieutenant colonel, the pull of the family tree. He belongs to a new … Continue reading “Green Collar Crimes / Yoani Sánchez”
Cuba’s Most Famous Dissident Blogger Writes About Life Inside the Sepia Postcard The cast bronze sculpture rests one of its arms on the rail of the bar. It seems like he’s going to ask for another daiquiri, but in reality his metal eyes are watching everyone who comes and goes from El Floridita. Some turn … Continue reading “Everyone’s Got a Havana / Yoani Sánchez”
The Cuban Film, Affinidades (Affinities), by Jorge Perogurría and Vladimir Cruz, awakened my interest, which is why I decided to to rent it for this weekend, because I still was able to remember the two of them in Fresa y Chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate). For me, I am not a critic of movies nor much … Continue reading “Affinities / Rebeca Monzo”
Last July 31st, Raul Castro completed his first five years in charge of Cuba’s destiny. Unlike Fidel, he speaks little and isn’t too inclined to self-adulation. He knows the Cuban economic model is a fiasco and bets on a miracle. The old conspirator, now president of the Republic, has drawn his master plan. It relies … Continue reading “Raul Castro: Five Years in Power / Iván García”
CINDERELLA AND THE PAINTER by YOANI SANCHEZ (TAKEN FROM VOCES 8) Cinderella, the tail of this torpid caiman, the westernmost point of a country that long ago ceased to call itself the West. That’s Pinar del Rio, a place that has remained in the memory of thousands of Havanans, where we spent our long stays … Continue reading “CINDERELLA AND THE PAINTER / Yoani Sánchez”
I was able to hear, via a radio show being transmitted from Miami, the reading of an article by a Cuban writer named Eduardo del Llano. It was a perfect sonata defending the right of Cuban workers and dissidents to strike. “Why not?”, asked del Llano. I was greatly impressed by the light and fresh … Continue reading “Dreamer and Disconnected / Luis Felipe Rojas”
The American Gary Marks’s stay in Cuba, from 1998 to 2002, and his contacts with segments of our intelligentsia anchored in everyday survival, sparked the interest of the northern professional in documenting the contrasts. How? Through a DVD documentary about the unbreakable friendship of two artists, one who went rafting to Florida during the mass … Continue reading “Dream Havana / Miguel Iturria Savón”
[I have decided to publish, before this blog is closed down, some texts that I didn’t publish at the time because it was practically impossible to do it because of obvious difficulties or because as time passed I doubted that it would be the best idea. Due to recent events, I think it is best … Continue reading “Closed by Demolition / Francis Sánchez”
When it comes time for sex, black Cuban women don’t feel discriminated against. Rather used. Roxana, 36, an architect, endures with Asian patience the sexual harassment from her white bosses, the gross come-ons, and the outright proposals to go to bed for 20 dollars. What I have to put up with is incredible. From one … Continue reading “Racism a la Cuban(a)* / Iván García”
What I always admired about the United State policies is their pragmatism. It has an unmistakable capacity to dump in the trash can the strategies that don’t work. And to overcome the errors. But regarding the Cuban embargo, the Americans show a notable stupidity. Let’s see it from its supporters’ angle. Its advocates think that if … Continue reading “Who Benefits From the Cuban Embargo? / Iván García”
Being old in Cuba is a problem. Check this, if a young family have to work miracles to bring three meals a day to the table, buy clothing for their children and try to make money from who knows where to repair their shack, you can imagine how hard can be for an elder. It … Continue reading “Cuba is Not a Country For the Elderly, Especially if They are Black / Iván García”
Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina is my friend, and because he refused to leave Cuba a few months ago he has been condemned to suffer various unsuspected dangers which constantly lurk around him. A few days ago I received this letter written by him and I wish to share it with my readers. —Rolando’s Letter— Lately, I … Continue reading “In Times of Trouble, the Opportunists Win / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Havana is a sort of forbidden city for people from deep inside Cuba. By Decree 217, effective April 22, 1997, residing in the country’s capital is a complicated pattern of bureaucratic procedures and hours of queues at central administration. You have to meet a lot of requirements to be approved to move to the city. … Continue reading “Illegal Cubans in Havana / Iván García”
by Pablo Pacheco Avila After meeting with the Amnesty International UK group in London, I went with Sue Bingham and Yaniset Zapata Grenot to Sonning Common, Reading, where both these women reside. Yaniset served as an interpreter and added the Cuban “touch” with her sense of humor. In the evening I met Graham, Sue’s husband. … Continue reading “Chronicle of my Trip to London (Pt. II) / Pablo Pacheco”
They are beginning to fade, the echoes of the insane propaganda about the challenge among the exiles who landed at the Bay of Pigs, April 17, 1961, and the policemen and militiamen who counterattacked in the name of the Revolutionary government, unaware that Castro’s interwoven dictatorship backed by the Soviet Union, whose tanks and machine … Continue reading “Forgotten Combatants / Miguel Iturria Savón”
