English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Caridad Reyes Roca traded homes with Ofelia de la Cruz de Armas in 2008. Three days later, the neighbor below complained about leaks from the bathroom. The wall and ceiling coverings were coming off. Caridad spent four years trying to undo the trade and return to her former property. “My attorney was bought off by … Continue reading “What Are the Authorities Waiting For? / Laritza Diversent #Cuba”
In late December, the journalist Pablo Mendez asked me for an interview for the digital space Cubanet, which was posted on January 4 this year. I am taking the liberty of reproducing it in this blog for my regular readers, while I record my thanks to both the journalist and the animators of Cubanet for … Continue reading “Extensive Interview on Cuban Politics: Past, Present and Future / Miriam Celaya”
By Pablo Pacheco Avila Raul inherited from his brother Fidel Castro absolute power in Cuba and with time he has managed to perfect the mass entertainment syndrome. The latest play to entertain is the new “Migratory Law.” I recognize that from outside one looks with another perspective on what happens in Cuba; we realize that … Continue reading “We Can All Travel! / Pablo Pacheco Avila #Cuba”
If you want to see first hand how the syndrome of secrecy works in Cuba, visit the office of the commissioner of baseball. Such is the lack of information, that not even the managers of the teams know for sure the day and month the new season will start. No one knows what the new … Continue reading “Cuba: Baseball and Rumors / Iván García”
Cristopher’s 4th birthday was celebrated at his nursery school, together with the celebrations of three other pre-schoolers (two girls and a boy). The custom of celebrating the birthdays of preschool and elementary school students at their day cares or schools is very popular, because the “guests” are their little friends and the teachers. The parents … Continue reading “Cristopher Starts School Next Year / Dora Leonor Mesa”
While it is considered a construction of State Security by some extreme anti-Castro types, and a creature of the CIA by the Cuban government’s cyber-Talibans, the independent Estado de Sats project successfully works for the promotion of civil society and the transition to democracy. Presumably the reasons that motivate both diametrically opposed interpretations of the … Continue reading “The Conspiracy Exposed: Who is Behind Estado de Sats? / Estado de Sats, Alexis Jardines”
Although the organizers of The Book Fair of Havana, held from February 9 to 19 in the old fortress of La Cabaña, sent the texts to the provincial bookstores where they will continue the sales and presentations, the event is now part of the past because the capital’s publishers finalized their rituals of promotion and … Continue reading “Goodbye to the 2012 Book Fair / Miguel Iturria Savón”
As an unexpected Christmas present, Doors to the Imagination: New Cuban Literature arrived in Havana last week. The volume compiles the prize winners and honorable mentions from the Voices of Change writing contest, sponsored in mid-2008 by the Independent Libraries of Cuba Project. Although the formal presentation has not yet been made,a dozen copies circulated … Continue reading “Prize Winning Doors / Miguel Iturría Savón”
Poor little doll of sticks and tinsel, as she bumps over the length and width of thousands and thousands of kilometers. Last night I saw her, in Lawton. It was overwhelming. For her and for the fading environment. A neighborhood tensed from the spirit of its citizens towards heaven which hovers up there, propped on … Continue reading “The Invisible Little Virgin / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
[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”
“Year of our Lord Jesus Christ” Mr. Freddy Perez Cabrera Granma Newspaper Editor and Administrator General Suarez and Territorial Plaza of the Revolution, Havana Email: correo@granma.cip.cu Freddy: Greetings to you. Moved by the painful events which led to death of my fellow citizen, Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, during the early morning hours of Sunday May … Continue reading “Cuba Manipulates the Truth / Ricardo Medina”
Dear Desideri, Receive once more a warm embrace from this friend “beyond the capital.” I welcome your fair challenge to the title of “GROUP” being applied to the large and diverse number of participants in the current debate, and the last paragraphs, about our “culture of spectacle” (and their “controls”), motivate me even more. But … Continue reading “Messages from José Rojas Bez / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
Note: This interview with a former prisoner of Cuba’s Black Spring of 2003, recently sent into exile in Spain, is from the blog Pedazos de la Isla, Pieces of the Island. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, better known simply as “Paneque”, is an example of the brutality practiced by the Cuban government. In his face and … Continue reading ““Though separated by distance, we are still able to struggle for the return of democracy and freedom for our country” / Jose Luis Garcia Paneque”
They are already arriving and being noticed. Afternoon comes to Santiago de las Vegas, a town south of Havana, with low houses and dusty streets. The followers of Saint Lazarus move along the road, dressed in clothes made of jute bags and dragging huge stones. A person with a bunch of leaves goes before them, … Continue reading “Promise Keepers / Iván García”
NOVEMBER ESLINDA Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo There is a month in the world when I watch a Cuba film. I watch it in a paleolithic format, on VHS, the only one that preserved the greys from the actual film, without the high contrasts of digital copies. A Cuban film from the ’70s and, as such, … Continue reading “A SOLACE OF SANDALWOOD / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”