English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 27 October 2020 — It was the serial murderer, Ernesto Guevara –“Che” to his friends, if he had them, and also to his cult followers, whom he does have — who defined the original concept of “New Man” as a kind of superhuman being, a permanent revolutionary, whose mission in life … Continue reading “The Emblem of Biran: The New Man, Castro-Style / Miriam Celaya”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 13 October 2020 — The artist and activist Tania Bruguera was the object of an “act of repudiation” this Monday in Havana, when several people surrounded, insulted and harassed her until she left the Old Havana neighborhood she was trying to access. “Bitch,” “mercenary,” “filthy” and “get out of here” were some … Continue reading “The Artist Tania Bruguera Suffers an Act of Repudiation and Insults in Havana”
Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, August 4, 2020 — The Regime designed by Fidel Castro has been based historically on informing, pitting Cubans against each other. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) were created to accomplish this mission. Denouncing deviant, non-revolutionary behavior was the slogan, so that then the authorities could take punitive … Continue reading “The Castro Regime Declares War on the ‘Coleros’”
14ymedio, Manuel Calvo, Santiago de Cuba | 30 July 2020 — In response to accusations presented on July 13 at the United Nations that the Government of Cuba violates religious freedoms, a colloquium on religious freedom was held in Santiago de Cuba on Monday, with the Council of Churches, which includes the denominations recognized by the authorities … Continue reading “In Cuba There is Religious Freedom Only for Churches Recognized by the Government”
14ymedio Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 14 April 2020 – For days, Reinaldo had been planning an excursion to the store on the corner of 26th and 51st, near our house. At the first attempt, a neighbor warned us that the line stretched for several blocks; the second time we had to stay home because the water was turned … Continue reading “Day 25 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: the Epicenter of Contagion Around the Corner”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 8 April 2020 — Glued to the screen all day, that’s how a neighbor of my building has decided to spend the quarantine. With face-to-face classes suspended, the young university student fulfills the old dream of doing nothing but watching TV series and enjoying video games. The family lets him be at ease, … Continue reading “Day 19 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: ‘Weekly Packet’, Video Games and Movies as a Refuge in Quarantine”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, February 25, 2020 — The cliché has been coined that in that process called the Cuban Revolution, the first 30 years were those of the greatest ideological intolerance. The firing squads, the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP) [agricultural forced labor camps for gays, religious and non-conformists], the obligatory atheism, the Revolutionary … Continue reading “The Ideological Weaknesses of the Cuban Communist Party”
14ymedio, Ariel Hildalgo, Miami, 6 November 2019 — On Cuban tables the plates are almost empty, at the bus stops there are swells of people on the hunt for crowded transports, many homes on the verge of collapse are overcrowded with three and even four generations, and the blackouts and so-called “energy savings” increase the exhaustion … Continue reading “Protest Time”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, August 16, 2019 — “Of cowards nothing has been written” is very unjust. In addition to inaccurate it is unjust, especially when to be brave can turn out to be excessively costly. Many times in the commentaries of various texts that are published in the independent press there appear those whom … Continue reading “Speaking of Cowards”
14ymedio, Leonardo del Valle, Holguín | 7 September 2018 — In the heart of Hoguin, Tuesday and Wednesday nights were filled with sequins before the astonished looks of the security guards at the Bariay Cultural Center. The 2018 Miss Glamour Holguin contest saw a parade and the best transvestism on the Island in the fifth edition of some awards that … Continue reading “Miss Glamour Holguin 2018 Defies Homophobia”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 August 2018 — Two weeks ago, Ileana Álvarez and her husband Francis Sánchez went into exile in Spain. Both are known for their prolific work as poets, writers and essayists. They decided to leave the country, along with their youngest son, due to the “pressures and threats” to which they were subjected by the authorities. … Continue reading “"Resisting For the Sake of Resisting Makes No Sense"”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 19 June 2018 – The only thing missing was the funeral band accompanied by some black crepe and sobbing. The closing ceremony of the XXIV Sao Paulo Forum, on Tuesday in Havana, had all the traces of a funeral. You could almost hear the shovels of earth falling on the Latin American left … Continue reading “The Funeral of the Revolutionary Left”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 11 March 2017 — An aging prostitute is like a book with tattered pages depicting the life of a nation. A survival manual to approach the vagaries of reality, to learn about its most carnal and, at times, most sordid parts. Many of the courtesans of Utopia in Cuba are already octogenarians. … Continue reading “Utopia’s Courtesans / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 2 March 2017 — Otto Rivero directed the most powerful entity in Cuba at the beginning of this century, the Battle of Ideas, but was ousted by Raúl Castro a few months after the latter assumed the presidency. Now, the former youth leader has emerged from his “pajama plan” – as such … Continue reading “Otto Rivero’s March 2nd / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2016 — The arbitrary arrests of peaceful dissidents in Cuba marked the highest figure in the last three months in October, with 620 cases, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation’s (CCDHRN) monthly report, released Wednesday. The report also cites 17 physical assaults, 39 acts of police harassment … Continue reading “Cuban Human Rights Group Denounces “Unstoppable Deterioration Of Civil And Political Rights” / 14ymedio”
