English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ciudadano Cero, Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 7 June 2021 [Readers, note date, this is a delayed translation] — In a memorable scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather”, the old Corleone hands over the family command to Michael, while warning him of the imminent danger of betrayal. The Don is a profound connoisseur of human nature, … Continue reading “Is a Fraudulent Change Brewing Up in Cuba? / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Yaiza Santos, Madrid, 24 December 2023 — Intending to violate the 7,500 kilometers of distance between Havana and Madrid, a message from State Security arrived last week for Amelia Calzadilla and her husband, Antonio Díaz. Both are regulated — the regime’s term of choice to mean ’forbidden to travel’ — and will not be able to return … Continue reading “The Long Arm of Cuba’s Political Police Reaches Amelia Calzadilla in Spain”
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 November 2023 — Before the of the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, landed in Cuba, State Security had already detained Professor Pedro Albert Sánchez and Dr. Fernándo Vázquez, both activists, who had announced their intention to meet with the Irish senior official. Ana Elvis Amaya, wife of Pedro … Continue reading “Political Police Isolate Opponents During EU Representative Eamon Gilmore’s Visit to Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 November 2023 — It has been more than five years since Cuba last underwent the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) carried out by the UN in Geneva, and the deterioration of the situation within that period – in which Cuba has been twice elected a member of the Human Rights Council – is … Continue reading “Cuba Receives an Avalanche of Negative Reports Before Its Human Rights Review at the UN”
14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 9 September 2023 — I feel a deep admiration for those who fight for their convictions and rights, people always willing to face real risks without fear of the consequences, which, fortunately for those of us who love freedom and the enjoyment of our citizen prerogatives, are never lacking. The most … Continue reading “Maria Corina, Alert!”
14ymedio, Frank Calzón, Miami, August 25, 2023 — The only hope is to get out. This phrase, on the lips of many of those who wait under the tropical sun for the water pipe that does not arrive, for the electricity interrupted hours ago or in line with the ration card in hand is repeated … Continue reading “To Maintain Its Control, the Regime Promotes the Departure of Cubans From the Country”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Miami, 31 July 2023 — Dr. Fernando Vázquez is not recognized in Cuba for his skill as a doctor but for his courage as an activist for the cause in support of political prisoners. In the middle of this hot summer and harassed by the political police, he opens his doors to … Continue reading “‘I Am a Peaceful Disobedient Willing to Pay the Consequences’”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 July 2023 — Reporter Francisco Herodes Díaz Echemendía, a collaborator of 14ymedio, was prohibited from entering the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba to attend the funeral mass of Pedro Claro Meurice Estiú, who was archbishop of that city. The remains of the priest, who died in 2011 in Miami, were transferred this … Continue reading “The Cuban Police Prevent ’14ymedio’ From Accessing the Burial of the Bishop Who Challenged Raul Castro”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 July 2023 – — More than 300 opponents, activists and family members have called for “freedom without banishment” for Cuban political prisoners in a letter addressed to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. With the subject “Voices for the freedom of our Cuban political prisoners” and dated July 3, 2023, the letter insists that … Continue reading “A Letter Addressed to President Diaz-Canel Demands ‘Freedom Without Banishment’ for Cuba’s Political Prisoners”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 May 20, 2023 — “I am a warrior,” the opponent Sandalio Mejías Zulueta, a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) said with difficulty, after being released on probation from prison on May 14. In a short video published by the organization, the activist almost bursts into tears relating the torture … Continue reading “The Cuban Opponent Sandalio Mejias Gets Out of Prison and Breaks Down in Tears Talking About the Mistreatment”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 28 March 2023 — The NGO Amnesty International (AI) denounced on Monday in its annual report the “hundreds of people” in prison in Cuba for “the peaceful exercise of their human rights” — including “three prisoners of conscience” — and the “repression” of “dissidence” and protests. In its document, which summarizes … Continue reading “Amnesty International Denounces the Hundreds of Prisoners in Cuba for Exercising ‘Their Human Rights’”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Merida (Mexico), 9 February 2023 — When I met Nicaraguan opposition member Félix Maradiaga I knew immediately that Daniel Ortega must hate him rabidly. The activist is the antithesis of the old caudillo: hyperactive, charismatic and an excellent communicator. This Thursday I learned that the former presidential candidate is among the 222 … Continue reading “Arrest, Condemn and Exchange, the Tactic of Authoritarianisms Against Dissidents”
14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, February 4, 2023 — It’s evident that the Castro leadership, those whom they call moncadistas [the ones who took part in the attack on the Moncada barracks, celebrated every July 26], by their stubbornness in maintaining privileges and fortunes at all costs, don’t cease to reinvent themselves by resorting to any maneuver … Continue reading “‘Bolos’ [Russians] and Yankees in Havana”
14ymedio, Madrid, 14 November 2022 — On Monday the organisations Democratic Spaces and Cuba Decide asked the Canadian government to sanction the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel and a further nine officials, as well as the bodies known as the boinas negras (black berets) — the National Special Brigade of the Ministry of the Interior; and the boinas … Continue reading “Canada is Asked to Sanction Diaz-Canel and Others for the Repression in Cuba”
14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 9 November 2022 — With the increasingly profound crisis of popular representation in the Cuban dictatorship and a government about to collapse, there will come a time when a power vacuum requires the constitution of a Civic Board composed of people who have earned the respect of the population in their … Continue reading “The First Decrees of the New Cuba”
