English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ivan Garcia, 18 December 2017 — On the night of Thursday, 14 December at night, after fifteen hours on the road under a copious downpour, from Sagua de Tánamo, in Holguín, province 530 miles northwest of Havana, in an old General Motors truck from the 1950s, Erasmus and his wife arrived in Havana ready to fulfill … Continue reading “Cuba: The Devotion to Saint Lazarus / Iván García”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 March 2017 – This Wednesday the gates have begun to close around independent journalist Sol Garcia Basulto, who has been charged with the crime of “usurpation of legal capacity.” (In other words, “practicing journalism without a license.”) The correspondent for this newspaper in Camaguey is facing a sentence of between three months and … Continue reading “Legal Process Opens Against ‘14ymedio’ Reporter in Camagüey”
Ivan Garcia, 23 January 2017 — Miami Airport is almost a city. And the American Airlines’ departures area is a labyrinth, with dozens of corridors and passages. That’s why Noahn, an American living in Michigan, arrived five hours before his flight’s scheduled departure time to Varadero. He was travelling with his wife, his eight-month-old son … Continue reading “Undercover American Tourists in Cuba / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 4 January 2017 — Like a metaphorical invisible hand, moving to place a ouija or bet on Russian roulette, David, a young writer, considers that the coming year will be unpredictable for the island. In the hope that the Ifá priests (Yoruba mystics) will spread around their Letters of the Year, the necromancers predict the future, and … Continue reading “Cuba: Skepticism Beats Hope / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 2 January 2017 — A spring rainstorm with light gusts of wind fell over metropolitan Havana on Sunday, March 20th, when at 4:30 PM Air Force One landed at the first terminal of the José Martí International Airport carrying President Barack Obama to one of the final redoubts of communism in the world. … Continue reading “Cuba 2016: The Visit of Barack Obama and Death of Fidel Castro / Iván García”
Iván García, 6 October 2016 — One week. Perhaps two. That’s the shelf-life of news in Cuba about the recovery process after a hurricane has passed through. You can read information, which has a slight smell of triumphalism, about the various teams of linesmen who re-establish communications and power. A gallery of moving photos of the disaster … Continue reading “Cuba After a Hurricane / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 5 October 2016 — Right now, it’s easier to get to Miami than to Santiago de Cuba. To visit the second largest city on the Island, there are two daily flights that are rarely on time; you have to take a train for around 20 hours, or buy a bus ticket, a whole … Continue reading “In Spite of Hurricanes, Easterners Manage to Survive / Iván García”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 July 2016 – Since the proclamation in which Fidel Castro temporarily delegated power on 31 July 2006, the former president has met with two popes, has received visits several European, Asian and Latin American leaders and has written hundreds of articles under the title “Reflections.” However, his role in the daily lives … Continue reading “Chronology: Ten Years Without Fidel Castro / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 22 March 2016 — “If it were not for the many who have died trying, it would be funny: Obama is in Cuba and we Cubans are leaving it.” In his sweaty mestizo face you can see small wrinkles, no doubt accentuated by the days spent in the journey along the dangerous route … Continue reading “Cubans in Panama Ask Obama’s Help in the Immigration Crisis / 14ymedio, Mario Penton”
14ymedio, Fernando Donate Ochoa, 22 September 2015 — On Monday, while thousands of people waited in Holguin’s Plaza Calixto Garcia for Pope Francis to celebrate Mass, hundreds of others took advantage of the opportunity to buy the delicacies that were offered around the site, a special assortment of cookies and other confections that many Holguineros … Continue reading “The Merchants In The Square / 14ymedio, Fernando Donate Ochoa”
14ymedio, Juan Carlos Cremata, Havana, 10 July 2015 — First of all, I apologize this time for speaking in the first person. I have always thought, like Garcia Marquez, that what I have tried to say is found in my work. And instead, it enriches me, much more, to hear the diverse interpretations that emerge … Continue reading “Condemn Us, It Does Not Matter: Art Will Absorb Us* / 14ymedio, Juan Carlos Cremata”
Reinaldo Escobar, 17 April 2015 — Fidel Castro made another public appearance, this time speaking by phone Randy Perdomo Garcia, president of the Federation of University Students (FEU) at the University of Havana. The meeting took place in the meeting hall of the University of Oriente in Santiago de Cuba and was witnessed by young … Continue reading “Reappearing by Phone / Reinaldo Escobar”
Announcements made by United States President Barack Obama and his administration have sparked an intense controversy about the Cuban conflict. Many opponents and civil society activists, within the island and in exile, have lamented, especially, the lack of transparency and the unilateral and unconditional nature of the new measures. It is indisputable and indispensable that … Continue reading “Forum for Rights and Freedoms / Estado de Sats (see endnote)”
Bishop Siro and Father Conrado The first time I heard Father José Conrado Rodríguez, on a visit he made to Havana, I was among those at the back of the huge crowd surrounding him, hanging on to every word he said. To be honest, I must I hung back, because I didn’t know his greatness. … Continue reading “Prison Diary LIII: The Cardinal Cuba Needs / Angel Santiesteban”
Eighty activists of the Independent and Democratic Cuba party (CID) in Palma Soriano denounce the government for its incompetence, its abuses, corruption and deceit. This government is leading the population to despair. It mistreats and exploits citizens. It harasses and punishes the opposition without reason or justification. There are political prisoners because of the fear … Continue reading “Eighty Palma Soriano CID Activists Accuse the Dictatorship / CID”
