English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Bertrand de la Grange, 1 December 2016 – In the Santa Clara mausoleum everything is genuine. Except, perhaps, Che’s bones. Thousands of people are making pilgrimages lately to this giant stone building to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Ernesto Guevara’s death. Official history says that a team of Cuban forensic scientists found his skeleton … Continue reading “Where Are Che’s Bones ? / 14ymedio, Bertrand de la Grange”
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 26 November 2016 — The official media have just announced the last and definitive death of Fidel Castro, and I think I have perceived more relief than bereavement in the mournful message. If I were a religious person, I would feel at least a tiny bit of grief, but that is … Continue reading “The Ancient Dictator Died Long Ago / 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya”
Iván García, 1 August 2016 — Whatever serious prophecy is offered, Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, has very few options. It’s an uncomfortable liability even for the followers of chavismo [the politics of Hugo Chávez, who preceded Maduro]. No one knows the interior of the Palace of Miraflores better than the Havana Regime. It’s an undisputed merit … Continue reading “Cuba and Venezuela: Stormy Weather / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 28 June 2016 — The northern end of the “Capitolio,” Cuba’s National Capitol, is already completely restored. Scaffolding has now been erected at the southern end of the colossal building Some of the beautiful gardens and wrought iron lampposts surrounding it have been rescued. The hustle and bustle of construction workers and technicians … Continue reading “The National Capitol and Future Political Reforms in Cuba / Iván García”
14ymedio, also , Caracas, 7 January 2016 — With the fallacy of development of a “mutually advantageous” cooperation that Raul Castro is still talking about, while his country comes apart at high speed, Communist Cuba got our revolutionary leaders to support the project that consists of awarding the Caribbean regime a network of subsidies of every … Continue reading “Parasitic Cuba / 14ymedio, Beatriz de Majo”
Ivan Garcia, 16 August 2015 — Twenty-three-year-old Liudmila spent the evening of August 13 dancing the guanicheo —Cuba’s latest dance craze — at a discotheque in the quiet neighborhood of Miramar in western Havana with her latest romantic conquest: a tall young man from Kansas with a wispy red beard who came to Cuba to collect information for a … Continue reading “Reporting from Havana, without Press Credentials / Ivan Garcia”
“And I read Fidel, I love to read Fidel. He likes to give me books, and sends me one whenever he can.” EFE, Havana, 27 June 2015 — Elián González, the “little Cuban rafter”, believes that if Cuba ceased to be socialist would be “a colony” and a poor country like Haiti, according to what … Continue reading “Elian Gonzalez: “If Cuba stopped being socialist it would be like Haiti” / Cubanet”
LET THE OLD DEAD GIVE WAY TO THE NEW DEAD Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo The title is, of course, a quote from the Czech, Milan Kundera, an obsolete reference for the rest of a world, which believes it is living in the post-communist era. But in Cuba, it continues to be something referring to the … Continue reading “Castrobama / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
One of the central figures of the Cuban opposition, who participated in the revolution before its ultimate victory but ended up being sentenced to 20 years in Castro’s prisons, was the independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who died in Madrid. He recounts his life and ideas in this interview. Born in Cienfuegos on November 29, … Continue reading ““I Always Did What My Conscience Dictated” / Dimas Castellano, Oscar Espinosa Chepe”
It was not only Barack Obama’s supporters in Chicago’s Democratic party circles who celebrated the close victory over his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney,with champagne. Though without as much rejoicing, the club of Communist businessmen, who together control 80% of Cuba’s feeble national economy, probably also spent midnight on November 6 calmly celebrating the Obama victory … Continue reading “Obama’s Victory Shores Up The Cuban Regime / Ivan Garcia”
Points of the declaration from Virginia. The signatories below, members of a countless number of organizations which make up the Central Opposition Coalition, an entity affiliated with the Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Front of Civic Resistance, have gathered this Wednesday, 3rd of October 2012, in the already historic and war-hardened neighborhood of Virginia, in Santa … Continue reading “A Declaration from Virginia / Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez”
Today, I do not intend to give another version of what happened, we are not accusing anyone at this time. The facts I will communicate below were read by Captain Fulgencio Medina, a criminal investigator, in a room at Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Hospital in Bayamo, the evening of Sunday 22 July. I will not … Continue reading “News Conference by Rosa María Payá Acevedo Regarding Her Father’s Death / Rosa María Payá Acevedo”
The 103rd Annual Assembly of the Baptist Association of Western Cuba, to which I belong, concluded Saturday the 24th at 6:00pm. That was why my wife Yoaxis and I found ourselves in Havana from the Monday before, the 19th of March, separated from our two girls and from the churches in which we work in the … Continue reading “OUR SHARE OF REPRESSION FOR THE VISIT OF BENEDICT XVI / Mario Barroso”
By: Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez As roof the cloudless sky and an almost scorching sun, as walls the walls the Havana Malecon, the old buildings of old Havana, the Morro and the cloudy waters of the Bahia, a landscape that although worn, still looks beautiful. All this forms the temple of the Alcance Victoria (Victory Reach) Church which, … Continue reading “Rescuing Treasures From the Darkness / Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez”
Mr. Dictator Raul Castro From Placetas, in the center of Cuba, Jorge Luis García Pérez Antúnez and his wife Yris Tamara Pérez Aguilera are writing to you, a married couple openly opposed to your tyrant and totalitarian regime. On this occasion we want to send you a responsible summons motivated by the cruel, unfair, arbitrary … Continue reading “Open Letter to The Cuban Dictator Raul Castro / Jorge Luis García Pérez Antunez”