English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
HAVANA, Cuba, Novemer 2013, www.cubanet.org — Back then there were images of abundance. Our elders say it was a gift to the senses. Memory arouses a nostalgia for a kind of lost paradise. El Mercado Único. Amelia, 80 years old. “It was quite a city, quite a city. It was cheap, cheap… All the fruits and … Continue reading “The Market Where Cubans Pray for Renewed Abundance / Lilianne Ruiz”
HAVANA, Cuba , November, www.cubanet.org – As we have said on other occasions, the daily life of the elderly in Cuba is a great challenge. Confronting every day the lack of money, scarcity of food, difficulties in receiving medical care, and bureaucratic obstacles imposed by the Government, among other problems, make the last years of … Continue reading “Retired Cubans, the Agony of Collecting a Pension / Gladys Linares”
HAVANA, Cuba, October, www.cubanet.org — The official announcement in the newspaper Granma this Tuesday, October 2, with its timeline for instituting the changes regarding currency unification, unleashed a torrent of rumors, which some say circulate faster that news from the Communist Party. But there wasn’t much to it. There was no change of any importance … Continue reading “Cuba Shaken by Rumors of Currency Unification / Orlando Freire Santana”
Danilo, an illegal hard-currency speculator, has had a busy week. “I buy dollars, euros and convertible pesos. But after the government announced it would move to a single currency, I am without funds,” he says from a centrally located Havana boulevard. Some of the CADECA currency exchanges have closed early because they did not have … Continue reading “The Long-Awaited End to Cuba’s Two-Currency System / Ivan Garcia”
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 supermarket at 26th and 41st, in Nuevo Vedado, years ago ceased to be super and even a market, becoming a deplorable place, where the few products are sold, assigned by the ration book, upon payment thereof, and they also sold some so-called “released” products — that is items no longer available through the ration … Continue reading “My Dilapidated Market / Fernando Dámaso”
The flowers of the flamboyant on Havana’s Santa Catalina Avenue already began to change color. Majestic, shedding its flowers of yellow, orange and red forming a carpet on the sidewalks. People do not stop to see the wonderful spectacle of nature. They are not into that. They walk with their heads down crates and bags … Continue reading “Havana and Its Spring With Scarcities and Rumors / Iván García”
Yesterday was payday for retired people and active workers who collect their pay by debit card. The wandering to and fro by people of various ages, in search of a Cadeca (a place where money can be exchanged), a bank that doesn’t have long queues (lines) or for an ATM that works, arouses disgust and … Continue reading “Craziness in the Neighborhood / Rebeca Monzo”
Some obviously well intentioned readers have sent me valuable suggestions regarding the events that have been occurring in the city of Santa Clara, in the Villa Clara province. These readers ask me to use images that attest to the events cited, but they overestimate this blogger’s materials and logistics. Regretfully, I inform you that if … Continue reading “Credibility: Basic Asset of the Dissident Blogger / Miriam Celaya”
A proverb says that man is the only animal that stumbles twice over the same stone. It could be added: With the exception of politicians, who never tire of it. Why bring this up? It turns out, watching the National Television News, something we rarely do, in various reports it appears that a major political … Continue reading “The Old Ties / Fernando Dámaso”
In my city violence grows like purslane, making an appearance in all municipalities. Marginalization has taken root everywhere and, with the exception of the well-protected Cubanacán elite, in other neighborhoods and areas the offenders have the run of the place, with the passivity of law enforcement, more concerned with monitoring and controlling dissent, than to … Continue reading “A Spiral of Violence / Fernando Dámaso”
MOTHERFUCKER WITH THE MONEY, PAL…! Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo I don’t believe it, I’m always a little slow on the uptake. I’ve been told by those who take trips. They say you can’t take hard currency out of Cuba. Not a single centavo. The numismatic curtain is closed. The little Cuban who from his means … Continue reading “MONEY AS A CRIME / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
A source that I’m not authorized to quote assures me that, on October 30, 2010, the privilege of the SEPSA agency will be withdrawn, by virtue of which the “blue” custodians – so nicknamed because of the color of their uniforms – have been paid a “stimulus” of 48 CUC a month (1,152 in the … Continue reading “Who Are The Debtors? / Miriam Celaya”
