English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Recently, certain news from Guantanamo managed to stun me once more, because of its cruelty and because of the dark future stains which it presents for its actors. The note was signed by the Human Rights activist Yordis Garcia Fournier and it assures that more than twenty youths from that area were officially warned and … Continue reading “Counter-Development: A Disoriented Work Force / Luis Felipe Rojas”
From time to time, in the middle of conversations between Cubans, a couple of unanswered questions spring up: when did we become two countries, two citizens, two forms of enjoying ourselves, of suffering or of living, simply? There are those who say that it happened around 1989, when the utopias and the innocence vainly fell … Continue reading “Two Griefs, Two Citizens, Two Countries / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Havana, June 26, 2012 TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE POPULAR POWER OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA: The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in its article 63, states All citizens have the right to direct complaints and petitions to the authorities and to receive the attention or pertinent responses in an adequate time-frame, … Continue reading “CITIZEN PETITION / Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada”
A friend called to ask me an important question about criminality in Cuba. Is Cuba a safe country with a crime rate lower than other countries in Latin America? In my haste to answer I overlooked a point which, in my judgement, is fundamental, so I want to explore it in my blog. When I was … Continue reading “Who Are The Criminals in Cuba? / Lilianne Ruíz”
What did the triumph of the Cuban revolution accomplish? A lot: it changed what should not have been changed, destroyed all of the island’s prosperity. It focused on the benefits for the government and forgot the people; it deceived, lied and used many followers, deluded at first by promises of a false freedom and independence … Continue reading “A Paradise in Destruction / Anddy Sierra Alvarez”
On the front page of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), a review about Guantanamo on the 26th carries the suggestive title: “Revolution in the Plaza.” It reports about the work being done under pressure (as always) to ready the Mariana Grajales Plaza of the Revolution, where the national ceremony will be held this coming … Continue reading “Plastic Surgery / Fernando Dámaso”
By Wilfredo Vallín Almeida There is a word that when you hear it, it’s difficult not to evoke the barbarity of the Inquisition that forced a 20th century Pope to apologize to humanity for actions so inappropriate for the Church of Christ. Faced with the subject it’s common for names such as Dachau, Treblinka, Auschwitz, … Continue reading “That is the question / Cuban Law Association, Wilfredo Vallín Almeida”
From June 21 to 23 the CLICK Festival was celebrated in Havana, organized by the Blogger Academy, led by Yoani Sánchez, Estado de Sats, headed by Antonio Rodiles, and Spain Blog Even (EBE). The Click Festival — consisting of panels, workshops, discussions, film showings and exchanges — was an important step in the interrelationship of … Continue reading “CLICK Festival in Havana / Dimas Castellano”
By Ana Laura Bode (1969-2012) Originally published November 1987 in El Caimán Barbudo (The Bearded Caiman), Ed #240, p 7. Each time we get together to talk after class at the School of Journalism, my comrades and I, one way or another, come to the same conclusion: Cuban journalism needs a change. Change that seems … Continue reading “A Word, Please / Ana Laura Bode”
Translated by Mara from Yoani’s Twitter Thanks to Mara’s daily efforts, you can follow Yoani’s Twitter in English here. 1 July 2012
The well-known Bélico River in Santa Clara is showing, in these rainy days, the pollution in the city of Marta, causing astonishment among the people passing by and the rest of the population. Santa Clara, capital of the Villa Clara province, was founded on July 15, 1689, under the shade of a tamarind tree, by … Continue reading “Pollution in Santa Clara / Ricardo Medina”
When Leandro was born, back in 1930, there was no television. Of course, there was no Internet, computers or mobile phones either. The radio and the movies were no longer silent, and newspapers used to have many pages. Leandro still remembers when at age 13 in San Antonio de los Baños, he saw two planes … Continue reading “Portrait of a Revolutionary Old Man / Iván García”
“Today marks 21 days that I haven’t taken a drink…” said a Beny Moré song we listened to back in the 50’s. And today, if my accounting doesn’t fail me, is 21 days since our general-cum-president has made an appearance. Several foreign dignitaries have passed through Havana, the rains have converted some of the country’s … Continue reading “Presidential Absence / Reinaldo Escobar”
The Economic Chamber of the Court of Havana issued a summons to the Panamanian corporation Ingelco S.A., to appear and answer the lawsuit within sixty working days from March 28, 2012. The notice, issued on March 23, 2012 by the Supreme Court and published on the 27th of that month in the Official Gazette of … Continue reading “Havana Court Summons Panamanian Firm’ Joint Venture Partner in Rio Zaza / Laritza Diversent”
In Cuba, there have been few priests who have bended their knees on the ground with the poor and persecuted, like Oscar Arnulfo Romero, the Salvadoran Archbishop assassinated in 1980. Or the Peruvian, Brazilian, Colombian and Spanish Jesuits who, in 1972, founded the Theology of Liberation. This defense of the most underprivileged and those repressed … Continue reading “Cuba, the Catholic Hierarchy and Power / Iván García”