English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 19 April 2020 – The days now are defined by lines and heat. The temperatures stop any breezes from blowing on our 14th floor, midday feels like an oven, and the fans have to work much harder than normal for April. But the lines to buy food are the worst because, … Continue reading “Days 27 to 30 of the Covid-19 Crisis in Cuba: Silencing the Critics with Fines”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, 15 April 2020 — I’ve been on WhatsApp for days with classmates from my time at the university. The pandemic has revitalized some friendships that, spread across various countries, help me to evoke school times, exchange family photos and project the future. Yesterday, another philologist — who also graduated in 2000 — asked me … Continue reading “Day 26 of the Covid-19 Crisis in Cuba: There is No Normality to Return To”
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, 11 April 2020 – Life goes on, for many of my neighbors, on the balconies, especially for the elderly who have family that guarantees their care, while avoiding their getting infected by Covid-19. They spend their hours on the terraces, from where they greet their loved ones, hang out the masks … Continue reading “Days 20 to 22 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: White Face Masks Hanging on the Balconies”
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, Havana, April 2020. Even before hot weather starts in Santiago de Cuba, official measures to counter Covid-19 haven’t discouraged residents from going outside. The need to buy food combines with a sense that risks are low, thereby worsening the situation. Many Santiago residents find it hard to comply with guidance in the local press … Continue reading “In Santiago de Cuba They Are Recommending Anamu Tablets to Fight the Pandemic”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 6 April 2020 — The shouts of a neighbor brought me out of my midmorning stupor, provoked after trying for a whole hour to call one of those customer service phones that rings and rings but nobody answers. “You have to go with your son and husband, because they are giving … Continue reading “Day 17 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: Whole Families In The Lines To Buy More Products”
Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 5 April 2020 — I’m annoyed. Anger rises in my throat. Today I have learned that the coronavirus knocked on the door of another friend, this time a Cuban poet living in Madrid. After years of experiencing repression and censorship within the Island, Spain has been for her a terrain where she no longer had … Continue reading “Day 16 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: Homeopathy Will Not Save Us, Even If Official Television Says So”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 March 2020 — These are difficult times for everyone and journalism is also being badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In Cuba, the independent media suffer the limitations on movement imposed on their reporters, the collapse of the networks and the intensification of censorship. Our collaborators cannot come to our Havana Newsroom … Continue reading “We Need Your Help to Report on the Covid-19 Crisis in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 2 April 2020 – A mask can be a protection and a shield. When part of the face is covered, it is easy to outwit the police. Something that shouldn’t normally matter, but that in Cuba can be vital. Now, when I blend into the crowd with my mask, I manage … Continue reading “Day 13 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: The Daily Fight for Food”
14ymedio, EFE, Havana, March 28, 2020 — Cuban health authorities acknowledged this Friday the first case of local infection of COVID-19, which until now had only occurred stemming from foreigners or Cuban travelers arriving with the disease on the Island, according to official reports. The Cuban Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal, reported this Friday … Continue reading “Cuba Records its First Case of Local Transmission of COVID-19”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 31 March 2020 – Two hours of lining up and it was only possible to buy two of each product. This morning we had to go out looking for some food because our reserves were depleted. We decided to go to a market on the corner of Boyeros and Camagüey that … Continue reading “Day 11 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 29 March 2020 — The phone rang early this Sunday and I came back from a dream. I was sheltering in a parallel reality and the ringer brought me back. On the other end of the line, a Cienfuegos inmate was reeling off his troubles. He has been sentenced to four … Continue reading “Day 9 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba”
14ymedio, Bertha K. Guillén, Candelaria (Artemisa), 29 March 2020 — With three cases positive for Covid-19, ten suspected cases and a total of 1,077 people under surveillance, Artemisa, an agricultural region bordering Havana, is facing the pandemic with concern. Cuban authorities have called for “responsible lines” and “social seclusion,” as part of the strategies to … Continue reading “"Nothing is Going to Happen Here," They Say in Artemisa About the Pandemic”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 27 March 2020 — Unlike other Fridays, on this one there are no calls to get together with friends, appointments ahead of the weekend or preparations to go out on Saturday and Sunday. During a quarantine every day is the same, they pass without much change and with little commotion. The challenge and … Continue reading “Day 7 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba”
