English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Note: The video was taken surreptitiously and thus is of poor quality. 14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2016 – Beginning at 6:00 AM on Sunday morning, Cuban State Security forces attacked nine homes of members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU); six in Santiago de Cuba, two in Palma Soriano, and one in Palmarito de … Continue reading “Harsh Police Operation Against the Patriotic Union of Cuba / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar/Mario Penton, Havana/Miami, 24 August 2016 – Five years can be a long time in Cuba, when we’re talking about an opposition organization. In the complex kaleidoscope of dissident groups and parties that make up civil society on the island, many are active for only a few months or languish amid repression and … Continue reading “UNPACU Reaches 5th Anniversary Amid Achievements And Criticisms / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Mario Penton”
Note: The video is not subtitled in English 14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana 10 August 2016 – The recent broadcast of a television program from Miami with Maria Elvira Salazar as moderator, where there was a heated debate between the well-known Cuban opposition leader, Jose Daniel Ferrer, and the also well-known Castro regime panderer, Edmundo Garcia … Continue reading “Injustices of a Debate / 14ymedio Miriam Celaya”
14ymedio, Havana, 29 June 2016 — The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) announced Tuesday its intention to withdraw from the Democratic Action Roundtable (MUAD), a political association involving at least 42 groups and social projects. A statement signed by UNPACU’s board of coordinators also explains that the organization will not continue to be involved in the … Continue reading “Patriotic Union of Cuba Withdraws From MUAD / 14ymedio, Havana”
EFE (14ymedio), Havana, 22 March 2016 — The president of the United States, Barack Obama, praised the “courage” of the dissidents and representatives of independent civil society Cuba at the beginning of the meeting held with them at the headquarters of the United States Embassy in Havana this Tuesday. In brief remarks, Obama stressed that … Continue reading “Obama Praises The Courage Of Dissidents In An Unprecedented Meeting / EFE, 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, 21 March 2016 — A group of government opponents and activists from independent Cuban civil society have scheduled a meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday morning. This newspaper has contacted three of them to ask them what they plan to say at that meeting. Jose Daniel Ferrer is one of the eleven … Continue reading “The Independent Voices Obama Will Hear From / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 October 2015 – A new round of repression against activists was experienced in Cuba this Sunday. The arrests began in the early morning hours in order to prevent dissidents from participating in the march on Fifth Avenue in Havana, which on this occasion included a tribute to the late leader of the … Continue reading “Another Sunday of Repression of Activists Throughout the Country / 14ymedio”
EFE (14ymedio), Aboard the Papal plane, 22 September 2015 — Pope Francis said Tuesday that during his stay in Cuba he had no plans to grant audiences to “anyone,” on being questioned about why he had not held a meeting with members of the Cuban dissidence. On board the papal plane the pontiff added that … Continue reading “Pope On Dissidents In Cuba: “I Did Not Give Audiences To Anyone” / EFE, 14ymedio”
Ivan Garcia, 19 September 2015 — Right at noon on Thursday, September 17, two enormous Soviet-era KP3 trucks filled with trash were rumbling along Tenth of October Avenue towards the garbage dump on 100th Street in eastern Havana, escorted by a bulldozer and a police motorcycle. Orestes, a community worker, has labored for twelve hours every … Continue reading “Will the Pope Swallow the Castros’ Bait? / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Havana, 21 July 2015 — A few weeks since the opening of 35 wireless Internet access zones throughout the country, activists announced a project to help people connect to the web. The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) circulated a text on Monday in which it explains that the organization will provide services “to anyone interested … Continue reading “Activists Will Help Users In Wifi Areas In Santiago de Cuba And Havana / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Martha Beatriz Roque, Havana, 11 July 2015 — What classifies as a political prisoner is a cause for disagreement among the Cuban opposition. There are varying opinions about who has been jailed for political reasons or not, despite the criteria established by the United Nations and other organizations that concern themselves with these matters. … Continue reading “A List of Cuban Political Prisoners / 14ymedio, Martha Beatriz Roque”
14ymedio, Santiago de Cuba, 15 March 2015 — On Sunday morning over one hundred activists, mostly belonging to the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) and Citizens for Democracy (CxD), were arrested while trying to reach the Sanctuary of Cobre. Among those arrested was Jose Daniel Ferrer, executive secretary of the UNPACU and former prisoner of the … Continue reading “More Than a Hundred Activists Arrested in Santiago de Cuba / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Havana, 25 February 2015 – The Cuban Civil Society Open Forum held its third meeting this Wednesday with 25 people attending, among them activists, opponents and members of civic groups. The first point on the agenda was the approval of a document titled “Ethical Path for Cuban Civil Society,” which lays out the basic … Continue reading “Cuban Civil Society Open Forum Holds Third Meeting / 14ymedio”
Ivan Garcia, 20 February 2015 — Fifty Cuban and foreign journalists attended the press conference that a delegation of congressional Democrats headed by Nancy Pelosi held on the afternoon of Thursday, February 19 outside the residence of Lynn Roche, the U.S. Interest Section’s public affairs officer. Nancy Pelosi, born in Maryland in 1940, traveled to Havana … Continue reading “Do Cuba and the United States Need to Rebuild Trust? / Ivan Garcia”
Iván García, 27 January 2015 — The shifting political landscape of the Middle East is probably more complicated. No doubt it is. But given the spectacular diplomatic about-face on December 17 between Cuba and the United States — two sparring nations huddled in their respective trenches since the Cold War — the White House was not expecting … Continue reading “Cuban Dissidents: Some in the Trenches, Others Applauding / Ivan Garcia”
