English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Last Friday a group of us friends met at the “Y Scares Vultures,” as Agustín calls Reinaldo Escobar and Yoani Sánchez’s house, for the penultimate round of the Endless Poetry festival. The poetry reading started this time with Luis Eligio d’Omni reading a poem of his to Celia Cruz in slam style, as attractive as … Continue reading “Interminable Poetry / Lilianne Ruiz #Cuba #FreeSantiesteban”
Two opposite dynamics have had to change their actions in order to prevail: government repression and the peaceful opposition. Everyday Cubans have taken up arms with new technologies, they have supported each other with the scarce glimmers left behind by the inefficient Constitution of the Republic, while the oppressors have had to beat them out … Continue reading “Rodiles, Targeted by the Regime / Luis Felipe Rojas”
This past Friday, September 7th, I returned to that joyful encounter among friends. I attended the presentation of the 16th edition of the Cuban Voices Magazine, dedicated this time as a tribute to Oswaldo Paya Sardinas. With a forward by Orlando Luis Pardo, the dossier is filled with signatures of essayists like Rafael Rojas, Manuel … Continue reading “Cuban Voices Magazine, The Voice / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Site manager’s note: The information about the extensive repression leading up to the Pope’s visit is coming to us through Twitter, emails, Hablalo sin miedo (Speak without fear) and other routes, other than blog posts. Raul Garcia Jr., over at Pieces of the Island, has prepared an excellent summary of the most recent reports. Keep … Continue reading “(PARTIAL SUMMARY) Wave of arrests and threats sweep across Cuba just hours before the visit of Pope Benedict. #PopeCuba”
Ladies in White and of Iron… "The Streets Belong to the Nation" The divorce between the management of information and the Cuban reality is repeatedly striking, at least in the official press, a specialist in softening the country’s situation, exalting the allies of the regime, disparaging perceived enemies internal and external, repeating the hallelujahs of … Continue reading “For breaking the silence they called her "hard line" / Miguel Iturria Savón”
This past January 11th, nearly 20 activists from the Eastern Democratic Alliance carried out a workshop about the basics of citizen journalism and what could be done with the new information technologies at their reach. I say we carried out because it wasn’t anything other than a few questions I tossed at them to get … Continue reading “Workshop on Social Networks / Luis Felipe Rojas”
That is a principle held by the activists of the internal resistance in Cuba, who have suffered all sorts of restrictions when they decide to take to the street and the police arrive at their doors and tell them, “either you stay inside or you will be imprisoned”. Yoandris Montoya Aviles, from Bayamo, told me … Continue reading “My House is Not a Prison / Luis Felipe Rojas”
What happens when the old art forms of attacking and killing become the norms of a country? What can we expect from oppressors and the oppressed if not the most acid fruit of human relations: violence? Belkis, wife of former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer, had her arm cut open after she was attacked by … Continue reading “Agenda of the Political Police, Agenda of the State / Luis Felipe Rojas”
On August 27th, Pablo Milanes will sing in Miami. According to the billboard ads, it will be a historic concert. Of course it will: for his followers as well as for the Vigilia Mambisa. Some will lose their voices for singing along to his songs; others, outside American Airlines Arena, will lose theirs screaming out … Continue reading “Pablo (not so) Loved in Miami / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Photos by: Luis Felipe Rojas On numerous occasions I have said that this is not a news blog. Here I can only hope to accumulate my travel reports, to make a map (for me) about the days lived, and on many occasions to be in places but not be visible due to my double condition … Continue reading “Meurice, the Friend / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Recently, I published a post in which Jacquelin details the physical blows she received at the hands of combined forces from the political police and the trained mobs who broke into her house to take Ariel Arzuaga, her husband, to prison and leave her full of bruises and with a fractured arm. During the time … Continue reading “Once Again, the “Brave” against Jacquelin and Ariel / Luis Felipe Rojas”
For several months now the forces of repression have suffered the daily nightmare of having to face a new phantom, the “National Civic Resistance and Civil Disobedience Front Orlando Zapata Tamayo”, an initiative born inside Cuba as a result of the need to join forces and take action on a national scale. Inspired by the … Continue reading “The Front: A New Nightmare for the General-in-Chief / Antunez”
I am sure that any Cuban would give a fortune to find out the name of the general from the Ministry of the Interior who gives orders to sign the Exit Permits, or the “White Cards,” as these documents which determine whether Cuban citizens can leave their country are popularly known. I would give more … Continue reading “Restriction of Movement / Luis Felipe Rojas”
I would have liked to have a public celebration in an internet cafe because in every respect this blog is not mine alone, but it also belongs to my readers and friends. But reality imposes itself and I know I am far from such merrymaking. The generosity of a group of people has allowed me … Continue reading “One Year for “Crossing the Barbed Wire” / Luis Felipe Rojas”
In July of this year, a humble Cuban priest received a prize of international scope which, although it never appeared in the national press, became known to us with suspicious speed. Father José Conrado Rodríguez Alegría, pastor of the church “Saint Therese of the Child Jesus,” in Santiago de Cuba, was awarded the Prize of … Continue reading “Padre Jose Conrado: The Enormous Importance of Our Not Remaining Silent / Ernesto Morales Licea”
