English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
The government is campaigning for the ‘loss of ethical and moral values’ in society, but what about the disrespect of entering into armament arrangements with the North Korean dictatorship? The title refers to a memorable documentary that many of us Cubans everywhere must have seen, based on the testimony of those who suffered stark arbitrariness … Continue reading “Talk About “Improper Conduct”… / Miriam Celaya”
It is Sunday, July 7th, and in Centro Habana, only the Belascoaín and Zanja Bank ATM is working. The line is long and wide. The other two ATMs facing Zanja are empty of funds and the Banco Metropolitano, of course, is closed today. The line is two and three people deep, and they are chatting … Continue reading “Greased Lightning! / Miriam Celaya”
“The business is to deny visas, not grant visas” Granma newspaper, 28 June 2013 There is an old tale about a husband who comes home unexpectedly and finds his wife in bed with a pair of men’s feet sticking out from under the covers. Angered by her infidelity, he challenges: “Slut!, whose feet are those?” … Continue reading “The Feet Under the Covers / Miriam Celaya”
The writer Angel Santiesteban Prats and his son Eduardo Ángel some years ago. By Amir Valle The strategy of UNEAC and certain “disinformed” writers against Ángel Santiesteban One more shame falls on the Writers and Artists Union of Cuba. This time, the shame is a dirty attack, manipulative and disloyal, against Ángel Santiesteban. I read … Continue reading “A Shameful Stab in the Back for Angel Santiesteban from UNEAC / Amir Valle, Angel Santiesteban”
The torture of the opponent Hatuey HAVANA, Cuba, April, http://www.cubanet.org- On Monday, April 8th, Cubanet published an article by colleague Jorge Olivera Castillo (Equilibrar la Balanza), which was as surprising as it was regrettable. A fellow traveler who has proven his courage and integrity in the fight against the dictatorship and shared spaces with numerous … Continue reading “Hatuey and Guama are the Parents of the Dissidence / Miriam Celaya”
Angel and his son Eduardo Angel Santiesteban, whom they tried to pressure to implicate his father. By Amir Valle Part Two II. The Judicial Web of Outrage False Evidence On July 29, 2009, Angel Santiesteban was detained, accused of having raped his ex-wife, Kenie Rodriguez, from whom he’d been separated for 4 years and who … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban: General Chronology of an Outrage II / Amir Valle”
I’m sorry… I can’t cry victory just because (finally!) Yoani Sánchez, Eliécer Ávila, Rosa María Payá and others who, of course, will do it in the next months, now can travel without the humiliating exit permit. I read that many people are happy and sing victory and sentences abound like, “We won this battle,” and … Continue reading “Cuba Doesn’t Matter, or We Still Can’t Claim Victory… Yet / Amir Valle”
The title of this post is a phrase by Eliecer Ávila, who, while still a student at the University of Computer Sciences (UCI) in 2008, ridiculed the President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, perhaps unintentionally. On that occasion, the young man unambiguously publicly questioned the emigration policy imposed on Cubans by their government. The … Continue reading ““The Internet Has its own Soul.” Eliecer Avila in a revealing interview / Miriam Celaya”
In the people’s collection of sayings, there is a well-known refrain that goes as follows: “Justice takes its time, but it will get here”. Judging from the more than 50 years’ of dictatorship expertise of Cubans, the syntax of the phrase could be changed to come up with a result that is more representative: “Justice … Continue reading “Sayings and Truths / Miriam Celaya #Cuba”
For the first time ever since I can remember, I am seeing butcher shop employees wearing gloves and caps. The ones who don’t have gloves use plastic bags. The same is true at bakeries, where employees routinely handled bread with their bare hands, though a few minutes before they might have been smoking, scratching the … Continue reading “Scandalous Cholera / Miriam Celaya #Cuba”
In late December, the journalist Pablo Mendez asked me for an interview for the digital space Cubanet, which was posted on January 4 this year. I am taking the liberty of reproducing it in this blog for my regular readers, while I record my thanks to both the journalist and the animators of Cubanet for … Continue reading “Extensive Interview on Cuban Politics: Past, Present and Future / Miriam Celaya”
The first time I heard the phrase “we will convert the setback into victory” it was in the speech delivered by the otherwise Invincible-in-Chief after the failure of the Ten Million Ton Harvest* (1970). At that time I was 11, but I remember the the sadness of many adults–who had blindly believed in the success … Continue reading “The Looming Setback: Cuba Post Chavez / Miriam Celaya #Cuba”
Those Cubans on the other side of 50 saw those days when we were kids disappear by the will of the Castrocracy; those awaited days of Christmas, when the whole family joyfully gathered around a properly set, well-loaded table, in a celebration more traditional than religious. Believers or atheists the end-of-year holidays were a reason … Continue reading “Brief Chronicle of a Monarchy Restored / Miriam Celaya #Cuba”
I originally published the article that follows on the website Penúltimos Días last November 26th. Since there are several and conflicting opinions about the post, I will submit it to the regular readers of this blog for their consideration. I just want to make a preliminary clarification: what some may consider inadequate demands of the … Continue reading “A Comment and a Controversial Article / Miriam Celaya #Cuba”
Cuban television news just broadcast with undisguised joy the statements of the U.S. president about the failure of immigration reforms in that country. With images of Obama on the screen, although taking care, as usual, not to directly broadcast the president’s words, the Island’s media tried to discredit the “enemy” by highlighting another fiasco. It … Continue reading “If It’s Immigration and Travel Reform We’re Talking About… / Miriam Celaya”
