English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 20 August 2021 — I have always thought it is a lie that there are apolitical Cubans. When I hear a fellow countryman say, whether on the island, or in exile, that that politics are not their thing, and that when they send money back home and guarantee food on their family’s … Continue reading “Are There Any Apolitical Cubans? / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 December 2021 — Spain sold anti-riot equipment to Cuba in the first half of 2021 for an amount of 350,000 euros, according to a recent report presented to the Spanish Congress in Madrid by the Secretary of State for Commerce. Although the authorization of the export to Havana was made before the … Continue reading “Spain Sold Cuba Anti-Riot Equipment in the First Half of 2021”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 26 December 2021 — Before the popular protests of July 11, the fish market on Calle San Lázaro in Centro Habana had had hardly any supplies for months. After the social explosion, the state trade was supplied with lobster, minced meat and snapper, but that is now a thing of the … Continue reading “In the Absence of Pork, a Ration of Mortadela with Moringa for Cubans at Christmas”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 December 2021 — Barely a week had passed since the premiere of the song Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life), in February, when these two words began to be used as a slogan by different opponents of the regime, inside and outside of Cuba. Opposed to the Castroist “homeland or death”, the images extolling the blackness of five artists, … Continue reading “‘Patria y Vida’, The Anthem for Cuban Freedom”
Luz Escobar, Havana, 18 December 2021 — At 9 p.m. on Thursday, December 16th, on the eve of Saint Lazarus Day, Miguel Alejandro Alderete Recio and his 81-year-old mother, Rosalba, were listening to a radio program, El Nocturno at their home. A roar broke the tranquility. A wall of the adjoining house, at the corner … Continue reading ““15 Years Ago, They Told Us That They Were Going to Demolish the Building That Fell This Thursday””
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, Ciudadano Cero, 31 August 2021 — Prefabricated speeches, like the one from Cristina Escobar to Mr. Handpicked [Cuban president Díaz-Canel] on August 19th — in a delayed transmission prudently edited by Cuban TV — always drip the same deceit: the minutes fly by and you only hear the nonsense surrounding the edges … Continue reading “Cristina Escobar’s Stupid Performance Before Cuban President Diaz-Canel / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 14 December 2021 — The only gleaming corner in the home of Jonathan Torres’s family, one of the young people arrested after the protests on July 11th (11J), is the corner with the crib for the baby, who is almost two months old. The clean sheets, the mosquito net, the wet … Continue reading “‘If More Mothers Unite, We Will Achieve Our Children’s Release’”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 17 December 2021 — Miguel Díaz-Canel’s affirmation at the opening of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Party that “this has been a year of victories,” is a reflection of the triumphalism that prevails at the highest level of power in Cuba. Strictly speaking, the only victory … Continue reading “The More Defeats, the More Triumphalism in the Cuban Leadership”
14ymedio, Havana, 17 December 2021 — Like every December 17, the island’s believers honored Saint Lazarus on Friday, syncretized with Babalú Ayé in Afro-Cuban religions, at the El Rincón sanctuary, in the province of Havana. Patron of the sick and the poor, his following has been increasing in recent times. This year of extreme crisis, of course, the number … Continue reading “Saint Lazarus Under Police Surveillance”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 15 December 221 — For the first time, the Cintas Foundation has recognized with its annual scholarship, endowed with $20,000, a Cuban resident on the Island, Adrián López González. Founder and leader of the Grupo Matiz de restauradores (Matiz Restoration Group0 in Matanzas, he was the recipient of the award in the architecture … Continue reading “Cubans Adrian Lopez Gonzalez, Geandy Pavon, Waldo Perez Cino and David Virelles Win the Cintas Scholarship”
EFE/14ymedio, Miami, 15 December 2021 — The Cuban journalist Carla Colomé, exiled in the United States, who works for the independent digital El Estornudo and People magazine in Spanish, is the first winner of the International Prize for Young Journalism in the Vargas Llosa-Atlas Network Chair. She received the prize for her reporting on the July 11 protests in Cuba. … Continue reading “Cuban Carla Colome Wins the Prize for Young Journalism in the Vargas Llosa-Atlas Network Chair”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Ana Mengotti, Miami, 13 December 2021– Rosa María Payá, daughter of Cuban opposition figure Oswaldo Payá, will only say “mission accomplished” when justice is done for her father’s death, but she feels content because the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is close to ruling on whether he was the victim of … Continue reading “After 9 Years, the Families of Paya and Cepera Await the IACHR’s Condemnation of Cuba”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, December 8, 2021 — On Tuesday, Cuban political prisoner Andy García Lorenzo, detained following the protests on July 11th (11J), received a visit from his lawyer at the Guamajal prison in Villa Clara, where he had been transferred last week from La Pendiente prison in that same province. The young man’s … Continue reading “Andy Garcia’s Lawyer Confirms His Transfer to Guamajal Prison in Villa Clara”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 10 December 2021 — Whatever happened to that student who vehemently justified the act of repudiation against activists in a Lawton park on 10 December 1998? For a week, that teenager and her fierce classmates were portrayed as the young face of revolutionary intransigence and even bragged about breaking a camera … Continue reading “The Cuban Calendar Has Been Filled With Days of Human Rights”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 9 December 2021 — The protests of July and the call for the Civic March on 15N (15 November) have made the Cuban regime nervous. It is enough for a group of activists to propose a demonstration for officialdom to redouble the police presence, stage a fair in the place … Continue reading “Official Fairs Return to Cuban Parks to Confront Human Rights Day”
