The Padilla case, or the ‘Generous’ Terror of the Cuban Revolution

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 28 September 2022 — I was finally able to see The Padilla Case, Pavel Giroud’s film that brings to light a disconcerting, devastating historical archive. The original material remained hidden in the vaults of the Castro regime for half a century, until now. And it’s urgent that we look back … Continue reading “The Padilla case, or the ‘Generous’ Terror of the Cuban Revolution”

Cuba: Are You Voting on the Family Code?

14ymedio, Havana, 22 September 2022 — The Cuban government has called on the population to vote yes in the referendum on the Family Code held this Sunday. Far from the monolithic opinion that has been imposed in the official discourse — and maybe in private — voting is like a Russian doll for those who … Continue reading “Cuba: Are You Voting on the Family Code?”

Cuba: Ballot Boxes in Captivity

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 14 September 2022 — No one will be surprised if on September 25th the regime’s referendum on the Family Code is rejected. In addition to machismo, which persists in Cuban society, the growth of evangelical religions or even reasonable doubts about the implementation of certain areas of the project, the … Continue reading “Cuba: Ballot Boxes in Captivity”

Six Cuban Opposition Organizations Unite to Refound the Republic

14ymedio, Havana, 8 September 2022 — Members of the Cuban opposition inside and outside Cuba announced their support for “D Frente,” a group of “coordination of plural Cuban civil and political actors, whose central objective is to achieve the refounding of the Republic, guided by José Martí’s idea of building a country ’with everyone and … Continue reading “Six Cuban Opposition Organizations Unite to Refound the Republic”

Cuba’s Enemy is in the Plaza of the Revolution

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 31 August 2022 — If we take into consideration that the security of any country is based on the notion of stability, peace, development, as well as in the strategies to achieve these objectives, there is no doubt that the authoritarian powers on the Island constitute the main threat to … Continue reading “Cuba’s Enemy is in the Plaza of the Revolution”

Cuban Writers in Exile Celebrate Their 25th Anniversary with PEN International

EFE (via 14ymedio), Jorge I. Pérez, Miami, 25 August 2022 — The PEN Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, a subsidiary of PEN International, celebrates its 25th anniversary this Saturday with a new book about its history and the “stigma” of being a “political organization” financed by the United States, something that according to its … Continue reading “Cuban Writers in Exile Celebrate Their 25th Anniversary with PEN International”

Cuba: The Seven Lives of Revolution the Cat

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, August 16, 2022 — Does the Cuban revolution still exist? For some it ended at the exact moment Fidel Castro delared it to be Marxist.  In the pages of Bohemia years earlier he had accused Fulgencio Batista of being the communists’ candidate in the 1940 election, of being photographed with … Continue reading “Cuba: The Seven Lives of Revolution the Cat”

The Arm Over the Shoulder, the Metastasis of Power in Cuba

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 19 July 2022 — For millions of Cubans it is clear that sovereignty does not reside in the people, but in the Communist Party. We could even say that Article 5 of the Constitution is the Platt Amendment of our times, although in this case it is not a simple … Continue reading “The Arm Over the Shoulder, the Metastasis of Power in Cuba”

Cuba, Between Sects and Heretics

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 6 July 2022 — According to the Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Legal Spanish, a sect is a religious group usually characterized by a charismatic, messianic and dogmatic leader, with a vertical and totalitarian structure, which demands absolute detachment from its members. Any Cuban who reads this definition could agree that, effectively, … Continue reading “Cuba, Between Sects and Heretics”

Cuban State Security and its Operation Babel

14medio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 8 June 2022 — The Biblical story relates that, shortly after the universal flood, humanity spoke a single language and wanted to erect a tower so high that it reached the sky. Such arrogance aroused the wrath of the God of the Old Testament, who used a sui generis strategy … Continue reading “Cuban State Security and its Operation Babel”

The Left Hand of Latin America

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, June 21, 2022 — Latin America has voted again with its left hand. Gustavo Petro’s victory in Colombia breaks a historic wall that had kept his country on the right for 200 years. Among the causes of his unprecedented triumph is the deterioration of traditional political forces, unable to reinvent … Continue reading “The Left Hand of Latin America”

Cuban Rapper Denis Solis is Living in Extreme Poverty in Serbia

The opposition rapper Denis Solís, a former prisoner of conscience recognized by the United Nations, and subsequently forced into exile, is in a situation of extreme poverty in Novi Sad, Serbia, where he has lived since he left Cuba at the end of 2021. The organization Prisoner Defenders has tweeted an alert about the situation … Continue reading “Cuban Rapper Denis Solis is Living in Extreme Poverty in Serbia”

Arrests and Threats for Cuban Activists During the Trial of Alcantara and Osorbo

14ymedio, Madrid, 30 May 2021 — On Monday, May 30th, an impenetrable operation guarded the Tribunal in Marianao in Havana, where the first day of the trial was held for Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo. Some witnesses who were able to attend the oral arguments relayed to 14ymedio that, based on the behavior of the Tribunal and … Continue reading “Arrests and Threats for Cuban Activists During the Trial of Alcantara and Osorbo”

Cuba’s Machiavellian Use of Migration

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 25 May 2022 — On June 22, 1990, before the United Nations, Nelson Mandela firmly demanded that the sanctions against Pretoria be maintained. The African leader wondered what mistake had been made to allow a country with apartheid to be seated after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Machiavellian Use of Migration”

‘That Secret Symphony’, Holguín’s Poetic Dissidence

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 21 May 2022 — Holguín exists thanks to a plague of ants and bibijaguas [leaf cutter ants]. It is the strangest and most enigmatic region of the Island. Columbus entered Cuba through it and in Nipe – the largest bay in the archipelago – the Virgin of Charity was found. In … Continue reading “‘That Secret Symphony’, Holguín’s Poetic Dissidence”