English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
PROSPERITY AND KINDNESS: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN of the Enlightenment Marti Mirta Suquet HAVING studied in Cuba, in this world of relative certainties they built for us during the eighties, and having subsequently completed a course at the University of Havana, many doors opened in advance. The fame of Cuban university graduates is … Continue reading “collaborations from VOCES 1… / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Following the release of 21 political prisoners, the Cuban government insists on reminding the dissidents and independent journalists that they will continue their repressive policies. On the morning of this past August 9th, Military Counterintelligence and State Security agents summoned independent journalist Iván García for an interview. The official summons is one of the means … Continue reading “Island Authorities Serve Notice That They Will Not Stop The Repression / Laritza Diversent”
Yes, it’s magical realism. Sometimes more evident, sometimes less. But the way one lives on this island at times verges on the incredible, and one has to remember that we live in a land of exceptions, comic or ironic, cruel or terribly sad, where everything can be believed. It so happens that a friend of … Continue reading “The Face of Magical Realism / Ernesto Morales Licea”
The famous black nectar that once categorized us as one the countries with the highest production and consumption levels has, bit by bit, been converted into other various inventions that have nothing to do with all those marvelous kinds of coffee that historically were produced here on my planet. “Untenable”, that’s how the members of … Continue reading “Coffee or Coffu?”
A Spanish friend of mine who has come twice to Cuba told me that she read the official press while in the airport, and according to that paper it makes it seem as if, despite all the problems, deficiencies, and tensions she witnessed when she met with a wide range of people, there are no … Continue reading “Governmental Glaucoma / Miguel Iturría Savón”
Photo: Pedro Arguelles Moran This past July 10 I chose not to travel to Spain because I do not wish to abandon my country — I am Cuban, and very proud of it. I was born here, as were my sisters, relatives, parents, and my paternal grandparents. My maternal grandparents were not born here, they … Continue reading “Here I Am / Voices Behind The Bars, Pedro Argüelles Morán”
Gerardo, a 52-year-old economist, does not think himself as either a bore or a zombie. However, his wife thinks he is a first-class lunatic. “He has spent his vacation months with a pair of binoculars looking out to Havana bay while taking note of all the ships that enter through this area on his notebook,” … Continue reading “Summer Vacations, Always Looking to the Sea / Iván García”
Anabel, 23, unemployed, with the roof of her house full of holes through which water pours on days of heavy rain, eats hot food once a day, and ‘the future’ is a bad word. She is short of many things. But she has a brand new phone. Cell phones are fashionable on the island. Especially … Continue reading “Cell Phones in Cuba, on the Crest of the Wave / Iván García”
Photo: Claudio Fuentes Madan There is another Cuba glued to the asphalt, anonymous, dynamic, talkative and entrepreneurial. Three hours in a botero — an informal private car for hire — on the highway from Havana to Santa Clara can transmit more information than a whole year of watching the national news on TV: prices in … Continue reading “A Day in Santa Clara / Claudia Cadelo”
God created the world in six days, on the 7th, he tweeted. Last month, Yoani Sanchez, the creator of Generation Y, invited some of her friends to contribute to the diffusion of micro-blogging through the group known as “The First Tweet-up on the Island.” In regards to such a meeting, I asked when and where. … Continue reading “Twitterers in Cuba? / Miguel Iturria Savón”
Months ago I dreamt I lost a tooth. That tiny one on the side that’s been with me for more than thirty years. An incisor that has never moved and that I should care for, knowing it can’t be replaced. If my grandmother were alive she would have interpreted these dream experiences as “an omen … Continue reading “Losing a Tooth, Winning a Number / Yoani Sánchez”
Omar, the lens for the word (Photo: Luis Felipe Rojas) When I heard of him he was already serving a 27-year sentence in the Cuban prisons. He was “the photographer of dissent” whose images spoke on behalf of that emaciated part of Cuba, which they have tried to sell us like a souvenir. From Omar … Continue reading “Omar, The Image First, The Words Later”
Amidst Cuban flags, famous boleros, and white flowers, thousands of exiles and hundreds of Latin Americans bid farewell to Olga Guillot on Monday, July 12th. On Friday Guillot checked in to the Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami, that city where she lived in and occasionally performed ever since the 60’s, although Venezuela and Mexico were … Continue reading “The Queen of Bolero/Miguel Iturria Savon”
Voces Tras Las Rejas was begun by Pablo Pacheco, one of the prisoners of conscience from the Black Spring of 2003. It is a collection of thoughts and first-hand experiences of various political prisoners that reside behind bars in Cuban jails. Getting their voices out of their cells and into this blog is made possible … Continue reading “Voices Behind The Bars”
Translating Cuba is a compilation of translations of Cuban bloggers, independent journalists and human rights activists, primarily writing from the island. The authors included here share a number of characteristics. They: Write from the island of Cuba.* Are independent, that is they are not paid by the Cuban government. Write under their own names. Their … Continue reading “About This Project”