English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, July 6, 2020 — There are serious challenges in the Cuban agricultural sector for more and better production, and Diario de Cuba has confirmed the discontent in large sectors of the campesino population over the repressive measures being applied by the Communist government. These measures go beyond the precariousness that … Continue reading “Without The Countryside There Is No Country”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 22 April 2020 — While the coronavirus rages in Latin America, another enemy – not as tiny – is also gaining ground. Authoritarianism takes advantage of the health emergency and the fear of citizens to cut freedoms, crush rights and impose tight control over daily life. In a few weeks we have … Continue reading “Masks Are Not Gags”
14ymedio, Katia Monteagudo/Mayli Estévez, México/Madrid, April 14th, 2020 — On the first day of April, the official daily of the Communist Party of Cuba, Granma, published an article entitled “The Untold Story of How an Airplane with Medical Supplies from Cuba was unable to enter Cuba”. The source of the information was the Cuban embassador … Continue reading “Lies and Half-truths about a Donation from China to Cuba to Fight Coronavirus”
14ymedio, Wilfredo Miranda Aburto, Managua, April 14, 2020 — A Venezuelan flight, Conviasa, coming from Cuba, landed last Wednesday in Managua. The aircraft brought 8,000 doses of Interferon Alpha-2B, a pharmaceutical with which the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosadio Murilla “will combat the coronavirus.” Since Covid-19 arrived in Nicaragua, the Sandinista Government has praised … Continue reading “"Cuban Interferon is a False Hope" for Coronavirus”
Iván García, 21 January 2019 — In the summer of 2008, behind a pigpen, in a miserable improvised wooden hovel in El Calvario, a town south of Havana, a 28-year-old attorney made a speech about the importance of the Cuban regime ratifying the International Treaty on Civil and Political Rights and the International Treaty on … Continue reading “Dissidents and Independent Journalists, Voice of the Cuban Public / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2018 — In January 2017, Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo delivered her credentials as permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations. From that moment on, she became the first woman from the Island to assume that responsibility before the New York-based organization. Previously, as a diplomat she had held the position of director of Multilateral Affairs … Continue reading “14ymedio Faces of 2018: Anayansi Rodriguez Camejo, Cuban Ambassador Who Led an Act of Repudiation at the UN”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2018 — The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (COCC) has issued a pastoral message on the draft Constitution in which it urges citizens to participate in the debates in a “conscious and responsible” manner, but regrets that the Constitution does not recognize the right to a “diversity of political opinion.” In … Continue reading “Cuban Bishops Ask the Government to Accept a Diversity of Opinions”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 28 September 2018 — For some unknown reason, apples have had an extraordinary role in the cultural imagination of the West. For better or for worse, this fruit has marked milestones that have transcended the passage of time and geographical borders. For example, in Greek mythology, a golden apple sowed discord … Continue reading “Apples of Discord, Corruption and Selective Punishment / Miriam Celaya”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 20 September 2018 — If something stands out in the interview recently granted to the transnational Telesur by the (not elected) president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, it is the way in which the poverty of his vocabulary is revealed, the inconsistency of his arguments , the triteness of a discourse as … Continue reading “Interview With Díaz-Canel: Neither So Presidential Nor So Much “Media Appeal””
14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, West Palm Beach, 18 July 2018 — Nothing defines the essence of Cuban official journalism better than its own discourse. This was clearly demonstrated with the standing ovation that greeted the speech of Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, at the closing ceremony of the 10th Congress of the Cuban Journalists Union (UPEC) on July 14. … Continue reading “Cuba’s Docile Press Rebels Against Free Information”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 18 June 2018 — “We used to complain because they were always coming and knocking on the door every week to fumigate and make sure you didn’t have standing water, or a vase of spiritual water or a water tank without a cover,” says Diosdado, 68, who lives in La Timba neighborhood a few … Continue reading ““We Can Hardly Sleep With the Mosquito Bombardment””
14ymedio, Maite Rico, Madrid, February 26, 2018 — Mario Vargas Llosa, who was born in 1936 in Areuquipa, Peru, is in full form. Combative, ebullient, brimming with laughter, the Nobel laureate travels widely and operates on a variety of intellectual fronts, crafting fiction and scrutinizing facts. In a recently published essay, “The Call of the … Continue reading “Vargas Llosa: ‘No Moderately Sane Person Would Want a System Like Cuba’s for Their Country’”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 25 September 2017 — When leaving the Argos Theater after the performance of Love Letters to Stalin, a good part of the audience needs to shake their heads. Like someone waking from a nightmare, there will be those who, for long minutes, fear that the monsters from the dream might appear around … Continue reading “The Intellectual and Power, More Than an Epistolary Relationship”
14ymedio, Regina Coyula, Havana, 1 August 2017 — I should be in Panama right now. But on July 31, when I showed up at the desk at José Martí International Airport, I was shown to an office where an Immigration officer informed me that I could not travel because I was “regulated.” The word has unpleasant connotations … Continue reading “The Vicissitudes Of A “Regulated” Person”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 17 July 2017 — Samuel is nine years old and has broken several of the windows in his building playing ball. His nearest neighbors see that he is very calm these days since his mother gave him a Fidget Spinner, a fad toy that some schools in the US, UK or Argentina have … Continue reading “‘Fidget Spinner’, The Toy That Has Taken The World By Storm, Arrives In Cuba”
