English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 12 May 2022 — I will try to avoid falling into Godwin’s law, according to which, any discussion on the internet that is prolonged leads to the possibility that someone will call someone else a fascist, or compare them to Hitler and the Nazis. However, in the Cuban context a … Continue reading “21st Century Fascism and Cuba”
14ymedio, Madrid, 2 May 2022 — His name is Elías Rizo León and he is 16 years old. The boy who became the symbol of the July 11 protests in Cuba by climbing with a flag onto an overturned police car on the corner of Toyo, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, has made … Continue reading “Young Man With the Cuban Flag on Top of the Police Car on July 11th (11J) Shows up in Madrid”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 27 April 2022 — When I got on Twitter in April 2018, I almost stopped using Facebook. I was fascinated by the rhythm of the platform, the synthesis, the stark debate held there by a group of young Cubans who were beginning target shooting with just 140 ammunition. Those Creole … Continue reading “Cuba and the New Tweets of the Blue Bird”
14ymedio, Alejandro Mena Ortiz, 23 April 2022 — I had never left Cuba in my life, so emigrating was the most difficult decision I have ever made. I had to painfully say goodbye to the people I love: my children, my grandmother, my mother, my father, my wife, my brothers. There is only one reason to have … Continue reading “Cuban Migration Part 1: The Volcanoes Route: I Trembled with Anguish, I Felt That I Was Leaving Everyone Behind”
14ymedio, Macarena Soto, Madrid, 16 April 2022 — Madrid has become, in recent months, a place of “refuge” for Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan dissidents who have found other opponents in the Spanish capital and another tone from which to raise their voices against the governments of their countries. Ever since Venezuelan opponents such as businessman … Continue reading “Madrid, the New Miami for the Latin American Dissidence”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 12 April 2022 — The majority demanded Pontius Pilate crucify Christ. The majority of Germans, in the times of Hitler, acclaimed the Führer. The majority of Cubans, at some point, shouted “Firing Squad” and “Get out.” This civic immaturity creates Peter Pan societies, which refuse to grow up and hold … Continue reading “Cuba: The Majority Dilemma”
Manuel Guerra, a doctor from Holguin , who left Cuba on February 19 for the United States, has requested asylum in that country together with his wife, also a doctor, Maylén Susel Álvarez. As he himself reported in statements to Martí Noticias, the couple left for Nicaragua, with stops in Panama and El Salvador, and entered the United … Continue reading “‘I Had to Choose Between Exile or Jail in Cuba,’ says Dr. Manuel Guerra Upon Arrival in the US”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 17 March 2022 — Every day it is more common to go to a doctor’s office and hear “we don’t have a doctor, you’ll have to come another day.” The exodus in the Public Health sector is increasing despite the obstacles that the Cuban Government puts up to prevent the bleeding of … Continue reading “‘I Left Cuba Because I Felt Alone in My Struggle,’ Says Dr. Manuel Guerra”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 15 March 2022 — These days, social networks in Cuba have harvested the culinary advice of Frei Betto. The Brazilian Dominican friar, liberation theologian, has recommended we eat potato skins, unaware that Solanum tuberosum does not even appear in spiritual centers. Before, the unpopular State TV program Mesa Redonda (Roundtable) had wanted to emulate Master … Continue reading “Cuba: a Neo-Taino Chiefdom”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 2 March 2022 — When NATO bombed Yugoslavia in 1999, the Cuban government’s statement condemned “the monstrous crime with all energy.” The document placed special emphasis on the elderly, pregnant women and children who lived under the terror of the bombs, listening every minute for the sound of the sirens, running … Continue reading “Putin’s Havana Does Not Believe in Tears”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 February 2022 — Cuban activist Fernando Almeyda joined this weekend the list of dissidents who are leaving the island. After requesting a humanitarian visa from Spain, which was not granted, the former Archipiélago coordinator decided to go to Serbia, a country that currently does not require a visa for Cubans, although his intention does … Continue reading “Two Jurists Harassed by State Security Leave Cuba”
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 16 February 2022 — The Cuban dictatorship laid its foundations on the charisma of Fidel Castro. Beyond what fans or detractors may argue, it is undeniable that the bearded man had qualities for oratory, knew how to channel the frustrations of an era in his favor, and was an unparalleled … Continue reading “Diaz-Canel, a Continuity without Charisma, Historical Weight, or ‘Ashe’”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, 11 February 2022 — The Spanish-Cuban activist Carolina Barrero said this Friday at a press conference held at the Ateneo de Madrid that “the [Cuban] dictatorship has never been in a moment of weakness as great as it is now.” “They know it, that’s why they look for ways to repress, … Continue reading “The Cuban Dictatorship Represses Because it is Weak, Says Activist Carolina Barrero”
14ymedio, Madrid, 4 February 2022 — On Thursday, Carolina Barrero became the latest case, to date, of an activist forced into exile. The art historian traveled on Thursday to Madrid after being informed by State Security that she had 48 hours to abandon the Island, according to her own account on Facebook. The activist was … Continue reading “Activist Carolina Barrero Left Cuba, Forced into Exile by Threats of the Regime”
14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, February 1, 2022 — Every time their country’s foreign minister holds a press conference, Cubans do not know whether to laugh or cry. We have become so accustomed to certain expressions that they seem to have been lifted from a template. If we examine, for example, statements issued by the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Language of Power, a Soviet Legacy”
