English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
There are not always good arguments for trampling on the jurisdiction of a foreign nation. The Cold War mentality is still latent in the behavior of certain U.S. institutions. If a government believes in democracy and political freedom, it shouldn’t go around hiding its peaceful efforts to support the democrats in autocratic countries like Cuba. … Continue reading “Cuba-United States: Focusing on Transparency / Ivan Garcia”
According to a spokesman for ETECSA, the only telecoms company in Cuba, they are going to start marketing internet in peoples’ homes, with ADSL included, from the first half of September. We don’t yet know what the price of the installation will be. What has come to light in a document which we have seen … Continue reading “Cuba: Internet in Your Home from September / Ivan Garcia”
HAVANA, Cuba, Dec. 6, 2013, Michel Iroy Rodríguez Ruiz / www.cubanet.org.- In recent weeks, several independent journalists and opposition have been victims of kidnappings, assaults and theft. Many blame this on State Security. On 7 November, between eight and eight-thirty in the evening, Mario José Delgado González, correspondent of the Social Agency of Independent Journalists … Continue reading “Strange Coincidence of Attacks Against Regime Opponents and Independent Journalists / Michel Iroy Rodriguez Ruiz”
If, like 22-year-old Yoan, you consider it a priority to dress in the style of a male fashion model and you spend all your spare time in the gym sculpting your body, then the bill could exceed your income. Yoan maintains a lifestyle similar to an average middle-class guy in any developed country thanks to … Continue reading “Fashion and Reality in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”
Facing the India fountain, next to Fraternity Park and close to the Capitol, in the center of Havana, is nestled the Hotel Saratoga. Its ancient facade, painted lime green, has an architecture of curved arches and tall columns. The interior is a modern frame with iron structures and plasterboard. According to the relaxed norms of … Continue reading “Cuba: Internet, in Slow Motion and Hard Currency / Ivan Garcia”
In spite of the decay and the grime, it is still a vain city. A varied architecture, rows of archways and tall columns topped with plaster figures. Neighborhoods with their own flavor.Atarés, El Pilar, Carraguao, La Víbora, Lawton, Sevillano, Mantilla, Párraga, Buena Vista, Pogolotti, San Leopoldo, Colón, Cayo Hueso, El Vedado o Miramar. Each with … Continue reading “Havana, A Unique Metropolis / Ivan Garcia #Cuba”
In the year 2000, in a long, narrow cubicle of the National Capitol, the present seat of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, an Internet service at 5 dollars per hour was authorized. At that time 5 dollars was a little more than half the minimum wage in Cuba. The service was agonizingly slow. … Continue reading “Navigating the Internet is Expensive, Slow and Risky for Cubans / Iván García”
The world is a football. With the end of the leagues on the old continent, people’s mouths are watering in Cuba. On 11 June, something great starts: the World Cup in South Africa. Already in the sports clubs, they are setting up sweepstakes. Brazil, as usual, has the advantage in the betting. Mauricio, 32, a hotel worker in … Continue reading “In Cuba, We Breathe the World Cup”
For Rolando, a 56-year-old worker, the internet is science fiction. Fernandez, who has never navigated the information highway, thinks it is pure fantasy that someone sitting in their home can read a newspaper or magazine, watch television shows or listen to the radio. Laureano, a 61-year-old retired cigar-roller, looks at me with amazement like he … Continue reading “The Two Faces of the Internet in Cuba”
