English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 31 July 2016 – Since the proclamation in which Fidel Castro temporarily delegated power on 31 July 2006, the former president has met with two popes, has received visits several European, Asian and Latin American leaders and has written hundreds of articles under the title “Reflections.” However, his role in the daily lives … Continue reading “Chronology: Ten Years Without Fidel Castro / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 July 2016 — In a letter published Saturday by the former president of Costa Rica and 1987 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Oscar Arias Sanchez asks his “friend” Guillermo Fariñas to “lift his hunger and thirst strike.” Arias Sanchez explains that the hunger strike will not succeed as a recourse to … Continue reading “Oscar Arias Asks Fariñas To Suspend His Hunger Strike / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 July 2016 — Guillermo Fariñas, winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2010, has declared a hunger and thirst strike and as of dawn Wednesday to demand an end to the beatings of non-violent opponents in Cuba and that a dialogue be opened with government. “It would … Continue reading “Fariñas Begins Hunger And Thirst Strike To Demand Dialogue With The Government / 14ymedio”
Iván García, 16 March 2106 — Around 12 midnight on Tuesday, 18 March 2003, I was en route to my apartment in the La Víbora neighborhood when, from the balcony, some incomprehensible signs coming from my mother set off the alarms. Those were hard years. My mother and I were contributing articles to the independent press … Continue reading “Cuba: From the Black Spring to a Rolling Stones Concert / Iván García”
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy Tuesday February 23rd, 2016 Rosa María Payá, Christian Liberation Movement of Cuba and Latin American Youth Network for Democracy Thank you for this opportunity to spread the voice of the Cuban people. Cubans have lived for nearly 60 years without the freedom to express our own voice. The Revolution of … Continue reading “Rosa Maria Paya at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 January 2016 – Released on Wednesday, after three months detention, were two members of the Cuban opposition: Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, leader of the Orlando Zapata Tamayo Front for Civic Action, and Wilberto Parada Milan, a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), according to reports to this newspaper from opposition … Continue reading “Three Members of Cuban Opposition Released After Three Months’ Detention / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Manuel Alberto Morejón, Havana, 30 December 2015 – From Havana, the supervisor of the Christian Alliance sent 14ymedio several prisoners’ testimonies collected in the Valle Grande prison, which make up a small sample of the abuse they are subjected to by the guards. On 17 November 2014, at 10:00 am, First Lieutenant Maceo, known … Continue reading “Abuse In Cuba’s Valle Grande Prison / 14ymedio, Manuel Morejon”
Iván García, Diario de las Américas, 8 December 2015 — Just past midnight, when Cuba’s military bigwigs heard the president of the Venezuelan electoral college, Tibisay Lucena, confirm the loss of Nicolas Maduro’s PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) in the December 6 parliamentary elections, alarm bells went off in the offices of Cuba’s Palace of the Revolution. … Continue reading “Electoral Defeat in Venezuela Could Accelerate Reforms in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 27 October 2015 — Every Cuban has a minister in charge of his or her affairs, but the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for everyone. This is the reason why, when someone says “The Ministry” everyone understands that they are speaking about MININT, the Ministry of the Interior, that macro entity … Continue reading “The Weighty Legacy of ‘Furry’ / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
I have discovered that the trembling of the shepherds is greater than that of the sheep. Preludes Claudia Cadelo, Havana, 25 February 2011 — There are two Cubas, one in which nothing ever happens, and another in revolt, boiling over, which never stops sending me signals of change. My life moves from one to the … Continue reading “The Trembling of the Shepherds / Claudia Cadelo (redux)”
Image Credit: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Zapata This February 23 marks five years since the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo. This humble black native of Santiago de Cuba, dissident mason and plumber, died after carrying out an 86-day hunger strike in the prison where he was being held, as an act of protest against the conditions of his imprisonment. … Continue reading “To Die of Hunger / Rosa Maria Rodriguez”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 18 March 2015 — Twelve years after the Black Spring, 14ymedio chats with some of the former political prisoners currently living on the Island. Two questions have been posed to those activists condemned in March 2003: one about their decision to stay in Cuba, and the other about how they see … Continue reading ““No matter where I live, I will keep working for the freedom of Cuba” / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2015 — During a press conference this afternoon, Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, announced that a recall referendum would be held within the organization to define her continuity at the head of this Human Rights movement. Surrounded fifty Ladies in White, Soler read a statement to several foreign correspondents … Continue reading “Berta Soler announces recall referendum on her tenure as head of the Ladies in White / 14ymedio”
My baby, my third child, this blog, is five years old and at times I ask myself this question. How long should I continue? I started writing against the grain of what a blog was, doing it like a daily without wi-fi, nor nearby cybercages, but with the recklessness with which one distributes a samizdat. … Continue reading “Five Years of “Crossing the Barbed Wire”: How Long Should I Continue? / Luis Felipe Rojas”
14ymedio, Mexico, 5 December 2014 — The meeting Roads for a Democratic Cuba, held in Mexico, closed Thursday with a joint statement signed by the attendees and focused on the consensus points necessary for beginning a democratic transition on the Island. We reproduce here the entire text of that statement: We, representatives of diverse organizations … Continue reading “Joint Statement By The Cuban Opposition Meeting in Mexico / 14ymedio”