English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
By now we’re used to the newspaper Granma, which excessively highlights one piece of news and omits another. Of course, it’s the official organ of the government and the Communist Party, which owns it and therefore decides what is reported and how. However, it’s difficult to accept the fact that the media is used to … Continue reading “The Official Press, a Sedative for Change / Laritza Diversent”
Today, May 20, as in all countries that respect their history, we should mark the 109th anniversary of the birth of our Republic, but here, officially, that’s not the case: This date, like so many others, has been demonized and expunged from the national calendar. Like hundreds of thousands of Cubans whom we have seen … Continue reading “A Date That Should be Respected / Fernando Dámaso”
On May 5, Liu Santiesteban, from Havana but living in Spain, sent seven questions to Ivan for an interview in his blog, Todo el mundo habla (The Whole World Talks). Ivan does not like to be interviewed, he said that journalists are for interviewing, not being interviewed. But a week later, he sent back the … Continue reading ““In the environment of Yoani Sanchez, there are people who have an African hatred for me.” / Iván García”
I attempted to keep my mouth shut during the celebration of the Congress and to analyze the event with a positive mind, but I could not do it. I can’t stand it when communists talk about democracy, where a single party exists as does the unity of power. Theoretically the explanation of these principles is … Continue reading “The Trap of Socialist Democracy / Laritza Diversent”
As societies are complex systems of interrelated elements, when they face structural crises with harm to all their components, it’s impossible to remedy them with changes limited to one aspect of the system, as is the case with the economy; in its place there needs to be comprehensive approach. Among the elements whose influence is … Continue reading “Politics, The State, The Market and Civil Society / Dimas Castellanos”
We’re used to the daily paper, Granma, emphasizing some news and omitting other. After all, it’s the official organ of the Communist Party. The party owns it and, therefore, decides what and how it reports. It’s difficult, however, to accept that the media is used to propagate a culture of fear and repression. Looking for … Continue reading “Just imagine Amaury Pérez Saying “I have an antenna” on Cuban Television / Laritza Diversent”
Juan Wilfredo Soto For Mother’s Day the Cuban government gives exactly what can cause the most pain: the loss of a child. And the Great Mother, the Nation, is mourning another of its sons who, like the long-ago freedom fighters, the Mambises, decided to die rather than be abused, expelled from his own land, a … Continue reading “Juan Wilfredo Soto, in the Parque Vidal / Angel Santiesteban”
The official communication media enjoy press freedom to defend the system, to violate the rights of citizens, and to defame, because its owner — the Socialist State — offers them total impunity. Laritza Diversent In the period from February 26th to April 4th of this year, Cuban TV premiered 5 chapters of the “accusation series … Continue reading “Cuban Press Defames; the Government Assures Impunity / Laritza Diversent”
Roberto supports the legislative reforms that the government announced, but considers more important the adaptation of the Republic of Cuba Constitution, the new conditions of the development of humanity. Roberto Esquivel slowly rocks in a chair, while he reads the news in the Daily Granma, about the government’s intentions to modify legislation, after the Communist … Continue reading “Cuba Sacrifices the Future Generation / Laritza Diversent”
From their literary Mount Olympus, where they had already given the world their tremendous fiction, Borges, Monterrose, Quiroga, Bukowski, wrote Decalogues for young writers. Decalogues and, perhaps, subtle warnings. Others, not content with brevity, took it more seriously; Rainer Maria Rilke published his “Letters of a Young Poet,” and Mario Vargas Llosa, balancing genders, his … Continue reading “Decalogue for a Cuban Blogger / Ernesto Morales Licea”
As if the proverbial mediocrity of the usual television programming weren’t enough, in recent weeks there is a new series, incredibly badly made and edited even worse, that has been presented on the screen. “Cuba’s Reasons,” is the title of this latest garbage, which clearly intends to disinform the national population trying to create a … Continue reading “Reasons for an Injustice / Miriam Celaya”
In the early ’90s, the Reverend Rolf Rasmussen, minister of the Asane Church in Bergen, Norway, received an unexpected telephone call on Christmas eve. A mob of “Black Metal” music fanatics with clear satanic affiliations had set fire to his two-hundred year old church and reduced it to cinders and ashes. The fact that no … Continue reading “Terry Jones in Norway. Twenty Years Later. / Ernesto Morales Licea”
What Jimmy Carter can’t change in Cuba Thirty years after he left the White House and nine years since his only previous visit to Cuba, Jimmy Carter arrived in Havana last week, wearing the white guayabera that would serve as his uniform during a three-day visit to our island. Watching on television, I recalled how … Continue reading “Yoani’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post / Yoani Sánchez”
The first time I heard Jimmy Carter was in 2002. My memories are hazy but one moment sticks in my mind from his speech at the University of Havana’s Great Hall. It still makes me laugh to remember Hassan Perez — who at the time hadn’t yet been ousted and was still heading up the … Continue reading “My Meeting With Jimmy Carter / Claudia Cadelo”
Larisa Diversent, 30, returns to the fray. Having received her law degree four years ago, this young black lawyer always seems to have a loaded agenda. Since 2007 she has been one of the busiest and best independent journalists in Cuba. She writes for several sites about legal topics and has a blog for legal … Continue reading “Cubalex, Free Legal Advice for Cubans / Iván García”
