English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
“ALL THIS WILL BE YOURS!” — Picture from La Nueva Cuba on the Internet A recurring theme among the last days of 2011 and early 2012 by Cubans and foreign individuals interested in the Cuban reality has been about the outlook for the year just begun, given the chronic nature of the national economic crisis, … Continue reading “Conjectures About 2012 / Miriam Celaya”
A sentence is never free, not when you live in Cuba. Here, the plan of absolute centralization is not only limited to economic relations but also, perhaps even to a greater extent, all reading material is given a pro-government hue. Undivided power in the essential condition for this to happen. Absolutism has made sure that … Continue reading “All Roads Lead to Rome / Jeovany J. Vega”
The last time Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stepped on Cuban soil, Fidel Castro’s illness had been announced a few weeks prior, generating tons of speculation. In that September of 2006, the Iranian president was a witness to the awarding of the presidency of the Non-Aligned Nations to a head of state physically incapable of exercising it. Instead … Continue reading “Green, as I love you, free* / Yoani Sánchez”
As if by agreement, Mariela Castro flatters the Dutch system of prostitution in the Amsterdam red light district, and Aleida Guevara (both without highlighting they’d come from the most advantaged sperm of their fathers who fertilized the eggs of their mothers), counsels the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias, that he should nationalize the entire … Continue reading “A Chip Off The Old Block: Che’s Daughter / Ángel Santiesteban”
One. In the distance, a horizon of clouds promised to relieve the temperature. From my bicycle I felt the comfort ahead of time, even though my sweat was forcing me to squint to see the semi-deserted road. On my back a backpack, inside it a bouquet of flowers. The pedaling became much easier. Before arriving … Continue reading “Super Patriots / Ernesto Morales Licea”
He died as he had planned. It may have been a fit of improvisation. We will never know. But the suicide of Alfredo, better known as ‘Package’ in the La Vibora neighborhood, is still discussed among neighbors and friends of this marginal mestizo whose 40 and a few years were spent somewhere between prisons and … Continue reading “Cuban Harakiri / Iván García”
It happened one April morning in 2007, when at about 8:00 am I heard the strident platoon that patrols the surrounding streets roll up; I felt the braking and slamming doors, the dry orders, the neighbors’ alarm. In a minute I saw a swarm of police rain on the roofs of the neighborhood and watched … Continue reading “Parabolas of Discord / Jeovany J. Vega”
She said it with a tone somewhere between surprise and disappointment: “They don’t give a damn, Ernesto. How mistaken we exiles are.” And I nodded because I knew too well what she was talking about. For her, a woman from Santiago who hadn’t stepped foot on her native land since 1999, living in Miami and … Continue reading “The Winners’ Trophy / Ernesto Morales Licea”
This article was written by Luis Felipe Rojas for ‘Diario de Cuba‘. It has been re-posted on this blog: In regards to the year which has just begun, it is evident that the directions of the Cuban government are like forked transit lines. With more desires to give orders to its members than to implement … Continue reading “The Paths of the General / Luis Felipe Rojas”
With the Gala of the National Ballet of Cuba for the 80th anniversary of Alicia Alonso’s stage debut on Thursday, December 29, and the presentation of the Nutcracker on Sunday, December 1, the Gran Teatro of Havana closed its 2011 season and inaugurated its 2012 programming. The super spectacle of Thursday was the touchstone of … Continue reading “The Celebration of Alicia / Miguel Iturria Savón”
Yesterday, two pleasant women from Madrid appeared in my house. One of them follows Bad Handwriting, and the other came with her because she didn’t want to come alone. After the introductions and making arrangements with the driver of the Soviet-made Lada car that brought them, they told me they had been in Cuba since … Continue reading “Cuba and Cuba / Regina Coyula”
It is less than three weeks until the First National Conference of the Communist Party of Cuba, and it seems that almost no one cares about what will happen there. Perhaps we haven’t lost the habit of events like these coming accompanied by billboards, posters, TV spots, heroic exploits of labor dedicated to them, and … Continue reading “And If Nothing Happens? / Reinaldo Escobar”
Victoria died, out of her mind, a venerable old lady who greeted everyone from the sidewalk during her little morning strolls under custody, with her senile naiveté that left no choice but sorrow and forgiveness. Victoria, in her time, the emblematic president of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution in the only block … Continue reading “VICTORIA / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The work of the Founding Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) came to an end, in which most of the presidents, prime ministers and heads of delegations of the participating countries were in favor of the freedom, respect for the diversity, integration over the differences, peaceful resolution of problems, cooperation … Continue reading “One Community More? / Fernando Dámaso”
In Cuba, the end of 2011 and the advent of 2012 had special characteristics. In the first place, the joy and the celebrations, officially, responded to the Triumph of the Revolution and the hosting of one more anniversary of it. The reality is ignored and it is not welcomed as 2012, but as the 54th … Continue reading “What Goes and What Comes”