English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 28 February 2018 — The distance between the Havana Capitol and the Ciudad Deportiva (Sport City) remains the same and yet it seems to have changed. With the capped prices imposed by local government on the private taxi routes, this journey has become immense and difficult to complete. Where before … Continue reading “Revolutionary ‘Justice’ / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
Rebeca Monzo, 21 February 2017 — New bureaucratic regulations governing the routes of shared fixed-route taxis have led to the first tangible labor strike by drivers. Of course, strikes have gone on for many years in our country due to the poverty-level wages paid to workers in the bureaucratic and service sectors. As the old saying … Continue reading “The First Tangible Labor Strike / Rebeca Monzo”
Iván García, 15 February 2017 — Decidedly, equanimity isn’t one of Pastor’s strong points. He’s an industrial engineer transformed into a private taxi driver, and six days a week he drives a 1954 Dodge with a body from a Detroit factory, patched up a couple of times in a Havana workshop and improved with a … Continue reading “Private Taxi Drivers Feel Harassed By The Cuban Government / Iván García”
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Miami, 17 February 2017 – The ending of the United States’ Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot policy – that allowed Cubans who touched American soil to stay – crushed the hopes of many Cubans of being able to achieve the American dream, that is equality of opportunities and the freedom to allow all citizens to achieve … Continue reading “The Crisis Of The ‘Boteros’: The First Bean To Burst Into The Pot / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”
Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 12 February 2017 – “Take me, I’ll pay you double,” implores a woman to a taxi driver on the main route of Prado y Neptuno. The car is empty, but the driver does not stop to those hailing his taxi, even while showing money in their hands. Imposed fixed prices on private … Continue reading “Private Taxi Drivers Close Ranks Against Fixed Prices Charged By The State / 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 10 February 2017 — Without posters, lists of demands or protest demonstrations, Havana’s private taxi drivers are responding to the recently imposed fare caps. The authorities made a bold move, adjusting their previous fare caps – which the drivers got around by breaking their journeys into pieces and charging separately for each … Continue reading “A Day Without Private Taxis / 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2017 — Private taxi drivers in Havana woke up this Thursday with the news of the imposition of price caps on the six most important routes served by their vehicles. The government has taken the measure so as “not to allow an increase over the maximum set prices,” according to an official … Continue reading “New Price Caps For Cuba’s Private Taxi Drivers / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 9 August 2016 — Private trucks covering the stretch between Santa Clara and Sancti Spiritus remained out of service during the weekend and Monday in response to new demands from the authorities. For several days, at checkpoints along the road drivers have been asked to show an invoice for the purchase of fuel … Continue reading “Private Transport Drivers in Central Cuba Demand End to Excessive Controls / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata”
Rebeca Monzo, 4 August 2016 — Private transport has been making a comeback in our country. With an enormous stable of almendrones (old American cars), it has been steadily growing over the last thirty years due in essence to the deteriorating and ever diminishing state-run public transport system. During all these years of totalitarian dictatorship, the … Continue reading “Treating the Symptoms, Not the Cause / Rebeca Monzo”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 6 August 2016 — She split the plate into two meager rations. “Mommy, you’re not going to eat?” asked one of the daughters voraciously swallowing the mashed banana without oil, free of protein and with hardly any salt. The image of this skimpy dinner in the summer of 1993 is recalled by Maria … Continue reading “The Special Period: The Return Of The Cuban Middle Ages / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
Fernando Damaso, 19 July 2016 — The topic of discussion among Havanans today is not only the intense heat and “the evil of it,” but also the beginning of the persecution and repression against self-employed taxi drivers who have raised their prices. Given the lack of public transport, which has been going on for a … Continue reading “Repression Instead of Solutions / Fernando Dámaso”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 20 July 2106 – At the beginning of the year evil was incarnated in the intermediaries, who were blamed for the high food prices in the produce markets. At the end of 2013, the boogeymen were those who worked for themselves selling imported clothes and other merchandise. In February of this … Continue reading “Guilty! / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 June 2016 — The Directorate General of Transportation has taken a further step to freeze the fares for private transportation in Havana. Price controls take effect this coming Monday, and a phone number – 18820 – has been established for customers to denounce boteros (“boatmen” as the drivers are popularly called) who raise … Continue reading “A Phone Number for Cubans to Report Taxi Drivers Who Overcharge / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2016 — The Cuban government will apply price controls to private transport starting Monday, according to information broadcast on official television this Friday. The measure seeks to put the brakes on the rising prices of shared fixed-route taxis – the collectivos – serving various routes in Havana, due to the increase … Continue reading “Cuban Government to Set Price Controls on Private Transport on Monday / 14ymedio”
Iván García, 10 March 2016 — It does not take a Secret Service expert to determine, by the rush of the building work, the sites which Barack Obama is predicted to pass by or stop at during his two days in Havana. If Air Force One touches down at Terminal 3 of the José Martí International Airport, the presidential … Continue reading “Havana, Waiting for Obama… and The Beast / Iván García”
