English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Spoken Word in Havana, originally uploaded by orlandoluispardolazo The Writing Workshop of the International Poetry Festival in Havana along with Roads of Words (a group dedicated to the promotion of spoken word poetry in Cuba), invite you to a conference: Spoken Word: A New Wave of Contemporary Poetry (featuring the poet and cultural promotor: Elier … Continue reading “Spoken Word in Havana / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The housing regulations, recently enacted by the government of Cuba, and which take effect on November 10, leave intact regulations that impede the full exercise of the right of ownership. As part of the implementation of the Guidelines adopted at the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in April, the State Council issued … Continue reading “Housing Regulations Maintain Restrictions for Cubans / Laritza Diversent”
Between the ugly concrete buildings and the mansions with gardens, timid spaces for entertainment are emerging. A neighborhood that for decades was condemned to nocturnal boredom, a slice of the bedroom city, now sees glowing signs and bars offering drinks springing up here and there. Comfortable cafes, bars, gyms, and hairdressers flourish with the rebirth … Continue reading “Will They Survive? / Yoani Sánchez”
Photo: Rebeca Here in my country, the movement of the outraged is front page news. In the three national official newspapers and on television photos, images and praised are repeated, to no one’s surprise, accustomed as we are to the government’s taking advantage of anyone who criticizes the empire and its lackeys. More than politics, … Continue reading “A Litte Bit Outraged / Fernando Dámaso”
From all sides voices are heard asking the government to hurry. An editorial in the Catholic publication Espacio Laical emphasizes that the transformations must be made with the greatest possible urgency, that certain adjustments shouldn’t wait and suggests that we are already coming to the end of people’s patience. In a letter signed by L.R. … Continue reading “The Temporal Dimension / Reinaldo Escobar”
I disagree with what you say, I totally disagree with it, but I would defend with my life your right to say it. Voltaire Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, 22 November 2011 — I press the headset until it almost touches my eardrums, but still the music in the collective taxi is pounding in my head. … Continue reading “El Chupi Chupi and the Dilemma of Limits / Yoani Sánchez”
Military business interests range from hard-currency stores, transportation for tourists and restaurants, to hotels in different parts of the country. So that no one can say that the bans don’t also apply in places better favored by the dominant caste, a resolution has recently been passed banning employees of some well-known companies of the Ministry … Continue reading “Technology Banned at Military Enterprises / Miriam Celaya”
After dinner they stayed at the dining room table to fill out the ballots. He nervous, she more decisive. They worked like crazy, marking them with crosses, while the kids played on the sofa. Those papers received from the Spanish Consulate in Havana smelled new, of fresh ink on a shield of columns and crowns. … Continue reading “Overseas Ballot Boxes / Yoani Sánchez”
From Havana, Cuba, where he lives and is subjected to systematic police and legal abuse by the island’s military regime, because of his determination to be a free writer, especially in his blog “The Children Nobody Wanted,” Angel Santiesteban answered, bravely it must be said, the following interview questions from Armando de Armas for Marti … Continue reading “Santiesteban, Padura, Milanes and the Repression of Intellectuals in Cuba / Angel Santiesteban”
The year’s most anticipated month is December, with its cold fronts that allow us to “bundle up” and with the films of International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema. I remember, in particular, one evening in 1992 when the glass in the doors of the Acapulco cinema shattered before the onslaught of hundreds of … Continue reading “The Dark Side of the Festival / Yoani Sánchez”
Writing on historical things, I dusted off the 19th Century in Cuba, and with it the related currents of annexation, reform, autonomy and independence. Elaborating on each of them, I came to some controversial conclusions, and going back in time, I carried them forward to our time, where some have become reality, although, in this … Continue reading “Independence: Panacea or Tragedy? / Fernando Dámaso”
A debate encounter sponsored by the Catholic digital publication Espacio Laical took place on Saturday, October 29th, 2011. The agency EFE, the leading Spanish news agency, reported the event in a very laudable manner, as published on October 30th on the digital site Cubaencuentro. The report states that “The new role that the Catholic Church … Continue reading “Between the Gun and the Cassock / Miriam Celaya”
The worst of the timid reforms of General Raul Castro is amnesia. In addition to the cynicism. All the prohibitions, whether it is sightseeing in your own country, having a cell phone, buying a car or now being able to sell, buy or exchange a home without the absurd regulations promulgated by the State, were … Continue reading “Cuba: You Can Buy A House / Iván García”
Cuba’s baseball team could not take the title in the recently ended World Cup, which took place in Panama, the honor going to the Netherlands. This is nothing new, as the same thing happened in the two previous Cups and in other events. Those times when the Cuban baseball team – always manned by professional … Continue reading “The Disappearance of a Myth / Fernando Dámaso”
In Cuba we have all very carefully followed, in one way or another, the 2011 Panamerican Games in Guadalajara, not so much for the love of sport, but because there are no other entertainment options. But it hasn’t gone unnoticed that Cuban commentators politicise them heavily, which is bordering on indecency. The government and the … Continue reading “Cuban Olympic Medalist: From Glory to Misery / Ricardo Medina”