English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Those who expected some clues about the needed economic and political reforms that the island is crying out for were left disappointed. General Raul Castro sent them a message: you will have to wait. Castro II did not even speak at a ceremony held in the province of Villa Clara, 180 miles from Havana, to … Continue reading “The Castros, Each One on His Own Side”
The announcement of the liberation of 52 political prisoners was described by some as “great news”, while others received it with caution and even suspicion. However, the legal grounds for the release, an event considered to be the most significant of its type in a long time, remained unclear. It would be incorrect to speak … Continue reading “Libertation or Exile?”
Cardinal Jaime Ortega. Photo: Luis Orlando The talks between the Cuban government and the highest Catholic leadership on the Island, which started last May and led to the gradual release of all the political prisoners from the Black Spring, have not only occupied the attention of the foreign press, but have also generated a great … Continue reading “A Mediation Discussed”
The doctor Oleyvis García, 38, is convinced that God heard her repeated prayers. “Every night I prayed to the Lord, asking him to free my husband, said García, wearing faded light-blue shorts and a shirt in the colors of the Spanish football team. Oleyvis lives in a dusty half-paved village street. Her home is over … Continue reading “Every Night I Prayed to the Lord”
Click Here for Audio of Interview with Pedro Argüelles Transcript, translated: Yoani Sánchez: What is your current situation? Where are you and what have they told you? Pedro Argüelles: I’m in the provincial prison of Canaletas in Ciego de Avila. And what I have been told is on Saturday, July 10, I went to the … Continue reading “Interview with Pedro Argüelles”
Samuel Bak- “Luna” Upon receiving the news that Cuba has been elected Vice-president of the UN’s Human Rights Council for the next period of the international organization’s sessions, all of us who defend human rights in whatever part of this planet called Earth have been left astonished, I would say. I acknowledge the governments that … Continue reading “Cuba as Vicepresident of the UN Human Rights Council”
A door has opened. Slightly, but there are signs that something is moving. The government of the Castro brothers asked for help in a very low voice. And they decided to ask the Cuban Catholic Church. The calculated strategy has its logic. They had to look for a solution to the 21 years of lethal … Continue reading “The Transition of the Castros”
To many mothers “God seems deaf” because they don’t see a way out and they become desperate 14ymedio, Havana, 16 June 2024 — Leandro Naun, a Catholic priest, ministers to a handful of rural communities in Santiago de Cuba. With the end of the month fast approaching, word is spreading that delivery of the basic … Continue reading “Leandro Naun, a Priest in the Mountains of Santiago de Cuba”
14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 14 March 2023–Universidad de la Habana, March 13, 1963. Fidel Castro leaned on the podium, at the top of the stairs facing thousands of students. Dressed in a suit, grimacing, are: President Dorticós; the adventurous geographer Antonio Núñez Jiménez; youth director José Rebellón; and the parents of Camilo Cienfuegos, who had … Continue reading “‘Cubadebate’ Exhumes Fidel Castro’s Speech That Gave Way to the UMAP Camps, and Removes it Hours Later”
14ymedio, Havana, 8 March 2023 — The Cubans detained after the 11 July 2021 (11J) protests are Havana’s only bargaining chip in its gambit to improve relations with Washington. Facing a severe and widespred economic crisis, the government is hoping for a diplomatic thaw that has yet to begin. Allowing the detainees to resettle in … Continue reading “A Desperate Cuban Regime Hopes to Soften Up the U.S. through Vatican Mediation”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 July 2022 — Pope Francis avoided referring to the protests of July 11, 2021 in Cuba this Monday, when the first anniversary of that historic day was celebrated. Journalists María Antonieta Collins, from Univisión, and Valentina Alazraki, from Televisa, specifically asked him about this in an interview. However, the pontiff did not want to … Continue reading “Pope Francis Confesses: ‘I Have a Human Relationship with Raul Castro’”
Wednesday, 10 October 2017 Ángel Santiesteban Havana, Cuba. Your Holiness: Now that your name is no longer so popular on the Island of Cuba, I have decided to write you these lines. I suspect that this decline in your prestige has to do with the scant companionship you have provided us, as well as with … Continue reading “Open Letter to Pope Francis / Ángel Santiesteban”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 17 September 2017 — In the middle of the hurricane I received a mysterious photo of Fidel Castro. At the top it said: “Fidel resurrected.” Below the portrait the mystery was clarified: “His name is Irma.” The Commander was reincarnated as a ferocious hurricane. The joke has a serious basis Juan Manuel Cao, … Continue reading “A Hurricane Called Communism”
14ymedio, Havana, 27 June 2016 — The newly appointed archbishop of Havana, Juan de la Caridad Garcia, said in an interview broadcast Monday by the Associated Press (AP) that does not want that Cuba “to have capitalism or anything in that style, but for socialism to progress” to go “forward to fair, balanced and fraternal society.” The … Continue reading “Archbishop Of Havana Wants “Socialism To Progress” / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 22 May 2016 – In a packed cathedral with screens showing the mass for those who couldn’t enter the temple, Havana’s new Archbishop, Juan de la Caridad Rodriguez, took possession of his new post this Sunday. The successor to Jaime Ortega y Alamino delivered a homily in which he acknowledged he … Continue reading “The New Archbishop Of Havana Confesses To Being “Scared” / 14ymedio, Zunilda Mata”
