English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Ricardo Fernandez, Santiago de Cuba, 30 October 2017 — The evangelical pastor Alain Toledano feels that he has lived through 18 years of intense battle since he founded his own church in Santiago de Cuba, a congregation that has experienced a “rapid growth,” according to what he told 14ymedio. The high numbers attending the worship … Continue reading “Alain Toledano: “If We Stay Quiet They Crush Us””
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 22 October 2017 – Damas Street in Old Havana awoke Friday to the terrifying image of a man hanging from a balcony. After their fright passed, the residents realized that it was an artistic installation by Amaury Pacheco in homage to the poet Juan Carlos Flores. The body that hung from … Continue reading “Dissidence Museum in Havana Pays Homage to Poet Juan Carlos Flores”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 2 August 2017 — The Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU) is celebrating its six years in the midst of the complicated situation faced by the island’s opposition, assaulted by repression and limited by laws that penalize any form of organized dissidence. Under the leadership of José Daniel Ferrer, UNPACU was born in … Continue reading “Opposition Organization UNPACU Turns Six In Very Difficult Circumstances”
On NOT Waiting for the King to Die / Rosa María Payá Cuba Decides: Continuing Oswaldo Paya’s Work for a Plebiscite Oswaldo Payá Remembered On The Anniversary Of His Birth / 14ymedio Rosa María Payá: “Totalitarianism is not broken in Cuba, we can not pretend it is” / EFE (14ymedio), María Tejero Martín Je Suis … Continue reading “Cubans Want to Vote in Free and Open Elections: Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero Are Two of the Many Who Have Died For It”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 June 2017 — The latest Council of Ministers, chaired by Raul Castro, has extended the term of the country’s land leases under the usufruct system to 20 years, but the leases can be cancelled if the beneficiaries use illicit funds, according to an announcement today in the official press. The meeting analyzed … Continue reading “Cuban Government Extends Land Lease Period to 20 Years”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 26 June 2017 — Independent communicators in Cuba are victims of an escalating repression, according to a complaint filed Monday by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), based in Madrid. The alarm sounded by the organization coincides with an increase in complaints from journalists on the island as a result of … Continue reading “Persecution Grows Against Independent Journalism In Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 16 May 2017 — The digital site of the Somos+ (We Are More) Movement has now joined the list of pages censored on the servers of the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) which supply public WiFi. The leader of the organization, Eliecer Avila, links this measure to “the growing influence” of the site among … Continue reading “Cuban Government Extends Censorship To The Digital Site Somos+”
14ymedio, 30 December 2016 — The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has named independent journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro as regional vice president for Cuba. Director of the magazine La Hora de Cuba and a resident of the city of Camagüey, the reporter told 14ymedio that he intends to defend and spread “the reality of journalism” on the island from his … Continue reading “Inter-American Press Association Names Henry Constantin Vice President for Cuba”
Fernando Damaso, 25 December 2016 — Some official journalists, who seem to be following orders from on high, have taken against the self-employed and their prices, which they consider too high for the ordinary citizen. Of course no one has written a single line or even a word about the prices in the state sector, … Continue reading “If It’s About Abuses… / Fernando Dámaso”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2016 – Cuban Faces of 2016: The film Molasses (2013), director Carlos Lechuga’s debut, garnered much applause, but it was his second feature which placed him at the center of public attention. The film Santa and Andrés was excluded from the 38th edition of the Havana Film Festival, for political reasons. The film tells the story of a … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2016: Carlos Lechuga, Filmmaker (b. Havana, 1983)”
14ymedio, Havana, 14 December 2016 – Yesterday, Tuesday afternoon, Carlos Amel Oliva checked in well in advance with his ticket to take Air Europe Flight 052 that was leaving for Madrid just after 10:00 PM, intending to connect from the Spanish capital to travel on to Poland. However, the activist was not able to board … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Block Travel Of Dissident Amel Carlos Oliva / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 7 December 2016 – He has a Polish last name, a first name of Hebrew origin, and Venezuelan blood running through his veins. Jonathan Jakubowicz is as complex and versatile a filmmaker as the skein of influences that make up his family tree. Born in Caracas in 1978, the director has … Continue reading ““There Is Nothing Worse Than An Artist Who Collaborates With A Repressive Government” / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 November 2106 – Cuts in energy consumption are affecting the entire country. In schools, hospitals, industries and ministerial offices the monthly quota of kilowatts has been reduced. To accommodate the narrow plans, many of these entities must reduce electric lighting, turn off air conditioning systems and reduce working hours. Banks do not escape this situation. … Continue reading “Of Foreign Investment and Half-Closed Banks / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 15 September 2016 — At night the corner is illuminated and the new awnings surprise passersby. The Casa Potín restaurant, for decades, embodied the decline of state services, but now it is experiencing a rebirth in the hands of the cooperative. So far, as a cooperative, it has managed to increase the … Continue reading “A Restaurant Cooperative’s Uphill Battle / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata”
How much truth can a man take? Friedrich Nietzsche Somos+, Roberto Camba, 12 September 2016 — They say it began with the fight to return the young rescued rafter Elian Gonzalez from the United States to Cuba. Really it was much earlier, since the strategy never changes: silence and ignore the adversary, incessantly repeat lies until … Continue reading “Fidel Castro’s Battle of Ideas… Political Pantomime / Somos+, Roberto Camba”