English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Regina Coyula, 25 April 2016 — The political police, who consider themselves such faithful followers of Jose Marti, know that with regards to the battles of thought, they’ve lost. Thus this weekend’s operation to prevent me from participating in a meeting in Pinar del Rio was unnecessary and ridiculous. Following is a report from the … Continue reading “My Absence at the Meeting / Regina Coyula”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 26 April 2016 — After nearly 35 years as head of the Archdiocese of Havana, Jaime Ortega y Alamino, the only Cuban cardinal and a crucial figure in the thaw with the United States, has been replaced. Pope Francis decided to accept his resignation, presented since 2011, and appoint in his place Juan … Continue reading “A ‘Bishop Of The People’ For A Cuba In Transition / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Madrid, 29 March 2016 — Literature, politics and love were the three main protagonists on Monday evening for the 80th birthday of Mario Vargas Llosa. The winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature attended a dinner in his honor with politicians, journalists, presidents and activists, in a central Madrid hotel. Before 400 guests, … Continue reading “Vargas Llosa: “Cuba will become a capitalist dictatorship and then a democracy” / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
Ivan Garcia, Havana, 24 March 2016 — On any given day, getting to the residence of the press attaché for the United States public affairs office in Cuba, located at 7th Avenue and 24th Street in the Havana suburb of Miramar, never takes more than twenty minutes by taxi from the center of Havana. But Obama’s … Continue reading “Ben Rhodes: "I Am Optimistic About Obama’s Policy Towards Cuba" / Iván García”
EFE (14ymedio), Havana, 22 March 2016 – Several dissidents who met with President Barack Obama in Havana this Tuesday, assessed the meeting as “positive” and “frank,” and one of them delivered a list of 89 political prisoners recorded by the group he leads. Elizardo Sanchez, spokesman for the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National … Continue reading “Dissidents Call Meeting With Obama Positive And Give Him A List Of Political Prisoners / EFE, 14ymedio”
EFE (14ymedio), Havana, 22 March 2016 — The president of the United States, Barack Obama, praised the “courage” of the dissidents and representatives of independent civil society Cuba at the beginning of the meeting held with them at the headquarters of the United States Embassy in Havana this Tuesday. In brief remarks, Obama stressed that … Continue reading “Obama Praises The Courage Of Dissidents In An Unprecedented Meeting / EFE, 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 21 March 2016 — A group of government opponents and activists from independent Cuban civil society have scheduled a meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday morning. This newspaper has contacted three of them to ask them what they plan to say at that meeting. Jose Daniel Ferrer is one of the eleven … Continue reading “The Independent Voices Obama Will Hear From / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, Havana, 15 March 2016 — It was an open secret that the United States would approve a new package of relaxations before Barack Obama’s official visit to Cuba. However, the new measures that widen Cubans’ access to the dollar and the ability of Americans to visit the island have taken some by surprise, among them the … Continue reading “Cuba’s ‘Super Tuesday’: US Dollar ‘Freed’ and Havana Plants a Ceiba Tree / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 7 December 2015 – Satisfaction in the triumph of the opposition, words of encouragement to the great loser of the contest, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro: these, respectively, were the reactions in Cuba among democracy activists and the ruling party. While Cuban activists celebrated the absolute majority of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), Raul … Continue reading “Cuban Activists Celebrate The Victory Of The Venezuelan Opposition / 14ymedio”
They do not show me the arrest warrant. My mother begs me to go; I hug her and leave with them for the police station. Cubanet.org, Roberto Jesus Quinones Haces, Guantanamo, 8 Cuba 2015 – Five thirty-five in the morning on Monday, October 5, 2015. I get up, go to the bathroom, brush, put the … Continue reading “Chronicle of a Free Man’s Arrest / Cubanet, Roberto Jesus Quinones Haces”
Those of us who lived through the repressive crackdown that took place in Cuba in 2012 during the visit of Benedict XVI have never received a response from the Vatican, although it was informed of the facts. Jose Conrado—the priest who is a maverick within the Catholic Church in Cuba, like a modern-day Father Bartolome … Continue reading “Quo Vadis* Francis? / Mario Lleonart”
14ymedio, Pinar del Rio, 12 September 2015 – This weekend the first Encuentro de Pensamiento (Meeting of Ideas) for Cuba is being held, sponsored by the independent think tank Center for Coexistence Studies. This meeting is intended to “think about the national home that we desire, contribute to the reconstruction of the human person and … Continue reading “Cuba’s First Independent Think Tank Forms / 14ymedio”
Somos+, 18 July 2015 — Many times I heard about the existence of this “Espacio Abierto” (Open Forum) however, from the beginning I decided to enclose it in quotes; in Cuba, there is nothing so inclusive! Used to the constitutionally legal and obligatory silence, lack of spirituality and double standards, it was impossible for me … Continue reading “Open space for all Cubans / Somos+, Manuel Diaz Mons”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 15 August 2015 — Six hours after the hoisting of the Stars and Stripes at the US embassy along the Malecon, a similar ceremony occurred on 150th Street in the Cubanacan neighborhood where the official residence of Jeffrey DeLaurentis, charge d’affaires of that country, is located. All of the heads of the … Continue reading “The Other Flag / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, 12 August 2015 — The U.S. embassy in Havana will not be inviting the opposition to its official inauguration, which will take place this coming Friday, August 14th, in Havana, with the attendance of John Kerry. Nevertheless, another flag raising ceremony has been planned at the ambassador’s residence where there will be a meeting … Continue reading “US Invites Cuban Opponents To An Event At The Official Residence, But Not To The Embassy / 14ymedio”
