English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Never before have Cuban dissidents had it so easy. Fifteen or twenty years ago publishing a political document was a sure path to jail. If you were an intellectual — I can recall professor Ricardo Boffill, the writer and poet Raul Rivero and the poet María Elena Cruz Valera — it was not enough for them just … Continue reading “Cuba: Drawing Room Dissidents / Ivan Garcia”
When, at the end of June, the North Korean General Kyok Sik Kim arrived with a delegation to Cuba it was assumed that something was brewing between the two dictatorships. What else could one deduce from the words of this general when he was in Havana: “Both parties were informed of the situation in each … Continue reading “Sugar and Missiles: From General to General / CID”
By Lilianne Ruíz HAVANA, Cuba, May, www.cubanet.org.- Rosa María Payá, daughter of the late leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, returned to Cuba after finishing a tour with the main objective of promoting an international investigation to clarify the circumstances that led to the tragedy on July 22, 2012 that killed Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero. … Continue reading “Interview with Rosa Maria Paya / Lilianne Ruiz, Rosa Maria Paya”
Published in the second edition of Cuadernos de Pensamiento Plural, April 2013. People cannot live without history. On the 160th anniversary of the birth José Martí, “the crowning figure of Cuban political thought,” his ideas, instead of being used to solve the serious social problems that afflict Cuban society, continue to be manipulated in order to validate … Continue reading “The Philosophy of Marti versus the Totalitarian Model”
HRW, Amnesty International, European Commission, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Join us saving lives and demanding justice in Cuba. We want to avoid any further loss of life in Cuba, and end an obvious and intolerable human rights violation. To: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Alexander Polack, European Commission; Amnesty … Continue reading “Petition to Save the Hunger Strikers”
Last February 6th a note was posted on the digital space Cubanet regarding a TV Martí interview with Lech Walesa, the renowned Polish trade union leader and undisputed trailblazer of the democratic transition in his country, during his recent visit to Miami. This note summarizes some thoughts Walesa put forth apropos freedom in Cuba and … Continue reading “Walesa: Counsel and Realities / Miriam Celaya”
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”
José Martí was right when he said, “Government arises out of the country. The spirit of government must be that of the country. The form of government must be in accordance with the constitution. Government is nothing more than the balance between the natural elements of the country.” 1 He later added, “”Only in those countries where the … Continue reading “Post-Revolutionary Political Parties / Rafael Leon Rodriguez”
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”
It is a secret to no one that the Cuban government has fixed its attention on the possibility of negotiations with the United States that could be advantageous to them. To divide a part of that society and its US investors who want to trade with Cuba seems to be the strategy designed to keep … Continue reading “Eagles Don’t Eat Bird Seed / Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado #Cuba”
People visiting Havana for the first time agree on the similarities of this city with Cadiz. The cultural similarities and certain visual resemblances tie the Cuban capital to its Andalusian first cousin. The presence of the sea, some of the architectural style, and the open behavior of its people, complete the embrace. But not even … Continue reading “Raul Castro Avoids the Ibero-American Summit in Cadiz / Yoani Sanchez”
My mother was just a girl of five living in a tenement in central Havana and I was barely one egg of the many dozing in her womb. Amid the daily grind and the first signs of shortages — already noticeable in Cuban society — not even my grandmother realized how close we were to … Continue reading “The October Missile Crisis 50 Years Later / Yoani Sanchez”
This Monday several Cuban dissidents started a hunger strike which has already been joined by 25 people throughout the country. At a press conference, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello explained that that the strikers are demanding the immediate release of Jorge Vázquez Chaviano, age 42. In 2011 this activist was sentenced for the supposed crime of … Continue reading “25 Cuban Dissidents on Hunger Strike / Yoani Sanchez”
The miter leans slightly with the rhythm of the ritual, leaving his back exposed to the stone face of José Martí. On the table of the Mass, the chalice rests and reflects from its golden surface a relief of Che Guevara mounted on the facade of the Ministry of the Interior. Benedict XVI officiates mass … Continue reading “The Papal Mantle and The Red Mass – Reflections on the Pope’s Visit to Cuba / Yoani Sanchez”
The scenario is different. The visitor also. When the Polish Pope, John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, visited Cuba in 1998 he found Monsignor Pedro Claro Meurice Estiu as archbishop in Santiago de Cuba, and in him, the loudest Cuban voice rose among those who had such a possibility. The Pope’s “Let Cuba open itself to … Continue reading “Another Pope, Another Cuba, Another Church / Mario Barroso”
