English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Iván García, 11 July 2017 — After painting the facades of several buildings along 10 de Octobre street, the workers of the brigade shelter from the terrifying heat in doorways, eating lunch, having a smoke or simply chatting. These days, in Havana’s La Vibora neighborhood, in the area between Red Square and the old Bus … Continue reading “How Cubans See the Crisis in Venezuela / Iván García”
Vicente Botín, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), The Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel, 29 July 2016. Once upon a time… A female cat fell in love with a handsome young man and prayed to the goddess Aphrodite to turn her into a woman. The goddess, pitying the cat’s yearning, … Continue reading “Cuba: Tallies and Tales of the Reforms / Vicente Botín”
SOMOS+, Jose M. Presol , 3 January 2016 — Part 1 enunciated what I consider to be the four main points of the “Manifesto to the People of Cuba,” but there are many more. Let’s recall these four points and take a look at what actually happened. 1. Restoration of the 1940 constitution. Technically speaking, … Continue reading “January 1, 1959: The Beginning of a Betrayal? (Part 2) / Somos+”
1898: the United States declares war on Spain after accusing it of the sinking of the battleship “Maine” in Havana harbor. The United States wins and Spain has to give up Cuba. 1901: On June 12, the United States imposes the Platt Amendment which will be incorporated into the first Constitution of Cuba and limits the sovereignty … Continue reading “A Century Of Tumultuous Relations / 14ymedio”
One of the central figures of the Cuban opposition, who participated in the revolution before its ultimate victory but ended up being sentenced to 20 years in Castro’s prisons, was the independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who died in Madrid. He recounts his life and ideas in this interview. Born in Cienfuegos on November 29, … Continue reading ““I Always Did What My Conscience Dictated” / Dimas Castellano, Oscar Espinosa Chepe”
The Madrid publisher Anaya has just released the first book of the end of Castroism—that is, of Castroism understood as a myth perpetuated by the intellectual left. From now on, one cannot sympathize with the Castro dynasty without also becoming a criminal collaborator. The book is called Muerte bajo sospecha (Death Under Suspicion) and it … Continue reading “The First Book of the End of Castroism / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
In Cuba people seldom go to extremes. Here you will not find a Mohamed Bouazizi ready to turn himself into a human bonfire in front of the Ministry of Housing to protest excessive taxes. There are, however, a lot of Bouazizis around. Their way of rebelling is different. Cubans do not take to the streets … Continue reading “Civil Disobedience Cuban Style / Ivan Garcia”
Dear Friends and Comrades: Suddenly, more than thirty years after his dismissal, Luis Pavón, ex-president of the National Council of Culture during the euphemistically called “Five Grey Years,” reappeared in the public sphere on nothing more nor less than an entire programme on National Television dedicated to “his cultural impact on Cuban culture.” So, was … Continue reading “Messages of Desiderio Navarro / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
HAVANA, Cuba, July 2013, www.cubanet.org.- When a Cuban family is afflicted by disease there are many who depend on the favor of some neighbor with a car to take them to the hospital. Moreover, the paramedics and nurses of the Comprehensive Emergency Medical System (SIUM) depend on the “thanks” for their patients to “resolve” a chance … Continue reading “Up To 12 Hours to Attend Medical Emergencies / Lilianne Ruiz”
CUBA: Two journalists jailed, one writer sentenced to five years in prison The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International protests a renewed wave of repression and harassment against journalists and writers in Cuba, including the imprisonment of two journalists and the conviction of a writer. Independent journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias has been … Continue reading “Action of the International Pen Club for Calixto Martinez, Antonio Torres and Angel Santiesteban / Angel Santiesteban”
When the funeral cortege left the chapel in Cerro with the body of the political leader Oswaldo Payá, having barely advanced a few yards, it was stopped for some twenty minutes. Something happened at the beginning of the caravan. Several people got out of the car to find out what; we feared the worse although … Continue reading “Detention of Antonio Rodiles: Guilty of the Free "Estado de Sats" / Ángel Santiesteban”
One of those sentenced to prison following the prostitution scandal revealed in Bayamo, Cuba, in May 2010, after the death of a 12-year-old girl, has declared a hunger strike and as of today and has gone 16 days without eating. Ramón Enrique Álvarez Sánchez owned a rental house for foreigners in Bayamo, and was arrested on … Continue reading “Man Convicted in Bayamo Child Prostitution Ring is on Hunger Strike / Ernesto Morales Licea”
After half a century of diplomatic slip-ups, sophism, and trifles one reaches the point where they imagine that the Cuban government couldn’t possibly come up with yet another fallacy. But all it takes is to wake up in the morning and listen to the radio or read the newspaper, and then you will quickly see … Continue reading “A Double-Layered Denouncement / 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”
Raiza Medina claims justice for the death of her son Ángel Izquierdo Medina, a black teenager of 14, who died this last July 15, after having been shot by a retired police official. According to Ismael Suarez Herc, 17, eyewitness of the events and he victim’s cousin, who was climbing a mamoncillo tree when Amado … Continue reading “Family Members of Teenager Killed by Ex-Police Official Demand Justice / Laritza Diversent”
