English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
[Translator’s note: A longer version of this article, which appeared on Cubanet, was subsequently posted on Miriam’s own blog and is translated here.] The surprising disclosure in the official media of something that has quietly taken place in the past (ethanol poisoning), could be due to several interrelated factors: suitability to meet the Government’s angle … Continue reading “Alcoholism, Corruption and other Demons / Miriam Celaya”
HAVANA, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org -The suicide of Haydee Santamaria Cuadrado continues to be a problem for Fidel Castro. The tragic event, which happened July 26, 1980, doesn’t appear in the 2007 chronology edited by the government. The official media almost never reviews the tragic incident. The so-called “Heroine of Moncada” not only choose this very … Continue reading “The Suicide of Haydee Santamaria / Tania Diaz Castro”
HAVANA, Cuba, August www.cubanet.org. A good part of the staff in the network of Havana pharmacies, in collusion with doctors in medical offices, clinics and hospitals, sell the medications from these establishments at a premium price, as if they were private businesses. The lines in doctors’ offices, hospitals or hospital outpatient services, coupled with the … Continue reading “Black Market is Profitable for Doctors / Julio Cesar Alvarez”
I scan the shelves, dusting off my memory for books over these last decades, in search of the titles that I must keep, at all costs, from the fire of oblivion. It’s not an easy task. Every author, every text chosen… is an act of betrayal toward the rest. Making a list of the essential … Continue reading “Choosing a Book, or the Reader’s Betrayal / Yoani Sanchez”
On Saturday July 20, as I was getting ready to go out with my niece, among the TV news items I heard was a piece about a town that was going to celebrate the provincial commemoration of — at this point I assumed it would be Children’s Day, which was to take place on the following … Continue reading “We Are Still Olive Green* / Yusimi Rodriguez Lopez”
Dimas is second from right. Interview with Dimas Castellanos Marti, historian and journalist. From Havana, Felix Sautie Mederos Por Esto! asks: “Unravel the causes of the crisis our society finds itself in (…) The concept of race as a group of hereditary characteristics seems to lack foundation, as a social construction it has a damaging … Continue reading “Interview with Dimas Castellanos”
It took five minutes of broadcast television for his brief resurrection to send a shudder to Havana. In January 2007, the first broadcast of Impronta (Imprint), a space that sought to the highlight relevant names of Cuban culture, generated amazement and protests. Those who saw this very short program couldn’t get over their shock or … Continue reading “Luis Pavon Tamayo: Symphony in Grey Minor / Norge Espinosa”
I was born in the bosom of power, a world of abundant lies. I was reared and educated among the corrupt who, even as they pretended to be simple guardians of virtue, in certain private circles often forgot to guard their terrible secrets and told horrific stories with tremendous ease. This is how I heard … Continue reading “Blood for Export /Juan Juan Almeida”
Photo: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Owing to the lack of statistics and figures, independent Cuban reporters have to reinvent certain rules when providing information. We don’t have access to government press conferences and no minister gives interviews or comments. Nor can we rival the foreign agencies accredited in Havana. Not having technology, 24-hour internet access, … Continue reading “CUBA Journalism in the street / Ivan Garcia”
She gets up and has a little coffee. The concrete of the counter is still fresh. Magaly, her two sons and her husband live in a house under construction. They’ve spent seven years like this. Little by little raising the walls and installing some pipes. Every day that goes by they get closer to the … Continue reading “Stone Dust / Yoani Sanchez”
They undoubtedly ordered the official press panegyrics in honor of the Youth Labor Army (EJT) for its forty years of existence. Between the two national newspapers they share the responsibility and take turns with articles such as, “At the end of the line,” “EJT: an undefeated army,” “Force for youth training,” and “Immersed in the … Continue reading “My Youth Labor Army (EJT) / Mario Lleonart”
This week I will dedicate my post to what is called the Youth Labor Army (EJT), on the 40th anniversary of its creation, which is Saturday, August 3, and nineteen years since my release from its “ranks,” which occurred on July 28. This so-called Army, created in 1973, it’s said, from a merger of the … Continue reading “The 40th Anniversay of the Youth Labor Army (EJT) / Mario Lleonart”
CHAPTER 1. To enter the Metropolitan Museum in New York and be disappointed before the ruins and statues. Rags, stones that were columns, oxidized jewelry, masks of invaluable value. To spit in a corner, in the corner most accessible to the security cameras. To be filmed. To be seen, detectable. What more can a newcomer … Continue reading “1. THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL I HAD TO WRITE / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
This past March 23, the prize-winning essayist, critic and literary investigator Roberto Zurbano, who up until this moment functioned as the director of the Editorial Fund of Casa de las Americas, was dismissed from the position. This measure was taken a few days after the US newspaper “The New York Times,” published an article under the … Continue reading “On Racism There is Still Much to Discuss / Dimas Castellanos”
HAVANA, Cuba, August 1, 2013, www.cubanet.org.- The members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) bluntly expressed their concern “with the persistence of violence against women, including domestic violence in Cuba,” says a report published last July 25 on its official web page. They said that the phenomenon remains underreported, “due … Continue reading “UN Experts Concerned About the Situation of Violence Against Women on the Island / Yaremis Flores”
