English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The recent editorial by the newspaper Granma clearly defines the mediocrity and poverty of thought of a system that now howls desperately at its approaching end. The text is an apology to the cynicism of the elite and those who serve it, who try to discredit and silence the independent voices that spring from Cuban … Continue reading “Granma Newspaper: The Lies And The Cynicism”
Six years. So much and so little has happened. Of the seven names mentioned in that “Proclamation of the Commander in Chief to the People of Cuba” only three remain unharmed. As if the text was not only news of Fidel Castro’s illness but also a curse that would fall on those mentioned. José Ramón … Continue reading “The Deadly Proclamation / Yoani Sánchez”
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Raúl Castro, gave a speech at the main national event for the 26th of July celebrated in Guantanamo province. They might as well have re-broadcast a tape from the ’60s or ’70s, as the official discourse has changed very little since then. With the … Continue reading “The Eloquence of Silence / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
It’s still not a year since we suffered the death of Laura Pollán — in October — and in January that of Wilmar Villar, when mourning once again cloaked the feelings and spirit of the alternative civil society in Cuba. Oswaldo Payá, the most prominent of the opposition leaders inside Cuba, is physically absent from … Continue reading “Another Absence / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
The trashed cityscape reaches all the way to the gate of the parish, in the arid Cerro neighborhood. “The Savior of the World,” says the sign, so distant from the desert outside, beyond the gates. And one thinks, sleepwalking before sunrise: how poor any form of expression is in this country. Dawn lingers on the … Continue reading “Payá, Posthumous President / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
A little tree. A car whose right side is never shown. Two witnesses with no testimony. July 28 2012
At last week’s celebration of the 26th of July something happened I didn’t quite understand. The program stated that Machado Ventura was going to speak, but then the General/President also spoke. It seems someone asked him to and people went along with it. After a speech by Machado Ventura — his oratory is unmistakeable, saying … Continue reading “Not All, General, Not All! / Haroldo Dilla Alfonso”
Again, Cuba’s general-president has offered his gastronomic policy to the American president. “The table is set…” said a Raúl Castro who appeared erratic and inconsistent at the podium this 26th of July, as if a touch of rum had been added to his morning coffee. He laughed at his own bad jokes like some street … Continue reading “The Empty Table / Miriam Celaya”
“The enemies of the Revolution, both those within and those without — under the umbrella of criticizing the supposed slowness or lack of boldness of the adopted measures — hide their true intentions of restoring the shameful regime existing in Cuba until 1959.” The above quote is one of the pearls shed by José Ramón … Continue reading “Machado Ventura and the Theory of Relativity / Reinaldo Escobar”
The death of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero, occurred according to the official version by accident while traveling in a rental car, driven by a Spanish citizen with a tourist visa, and it could take as many years as the regime endures to know the reality of what happened. According to the authorities the accident … Continue reading “Time Will Have the Last Word / Alberto Mendez Castelló”
Those who read what was published in the official press, on the recently concluded Ninth Regular Session of the Seventh Legislature of the National Assembly of People’s Power (the name gets it done), may have noticed that the most word used is “experiment“: it approved a policy to create experimental cooperatives in non-agricultural activities; it … Continue reading “Too Many Experiments — Part 1 / Fernando Dámaso”
World: Death on the island The death of Oswaldo Paya in Cuba has impacted the dissidence and sowed suspicion. This is the story and tribute from a Cuban writer and photographer from the ranks of the opposition. By Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, from Havana 26/07/2012 Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas (1952-2012) has died like they kill the … Continue reading “Payá Yes, Bishops No / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Although journalism has managed to absorb me much more than philology, for its dynamism, its direct connection to reality, and its immediacy, it involves bitter pills I would have preferred to spare myself. One of them is having to watch all the official news, to be aware of every government statement, and to listen to … Continue reading “Is the Table Set? / Yoani Sánchez”
Once again, in spite of the serious national crisis, the endemic dengue fever and a cholera epidemic afflicted by secrecy and swept under the national rug, the boring topic of general elections, convened to elect (the word applied to them) the delegates to the municipal assemblies of Popular Power in the month of October and, … Continue reading “General Elections Again? / Fernando Dámaso”
Still dazed and in shock I compose these words to Oswaldo. When I started to get the first messages about Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas’s death they were showing the film “War Horse,” and in one of the scenes a soldier leaves his foxhole to save his charger and before the imminence of his death he is … Continue reading “Oswaldo Payá: The Act of Serving / Luis Felipe Rojas”
