Searching the Air of Cuba / Claudia Cadelo

Text: Boris González Arenas Photo: Leandro Feal See, see how from the ground rising magnificent in flight searching the air of Cuba. “One Palm” Luis R. Nogueras We don’t play with freedom. We spend our whole lives thinking about the danger of losing it, that once it is lost it is impossible to rescue it. … Continue reading “Searching the Air of Cuba / Claudia Cadelo”

Cuban Regime Calls on its Children for Shock Troops / Yoani Sánchez

On December 10, Human Rights Day, my 15-year-old son came home from school and said he had been summoned to go to park centrally located in Havana, exactly the same place where, each year, a group of dissidents and non-conformists demonstrate for improvements for Cuba’s citizens and political prisoners. The students of all the high … Continue reading “Cuban Regime Calls on its Children for Shock Troops / Yoani Sánchez”

The Novel of So Many Lives

He received me on Monday in a quiet apartment in Mantilla from where he has written almost all his work. On a polished table he put cold water and strong coffee for both of us. He lit a cigarette whose smoke, luckily, chose as its victim the bust of Cervantes resting on a nearby sideboard. … Continue reading “The Novel of So Many Lives”

Good Worms and Bad Worms

It was Fidel Castro who, in one of his his typical vitriolic outbursts, during a speech on January 2, 1961 (in what was then the Civic Plaza, today Revolution Plaza), applied the epithet “worms” to those Cubans who dared to criticize his olive green revolution or who decided to leave their homeland. That day he … Continue reading “Good Worms and Bad Worms”

The Center for a Free Cuba Denounces the Use of Emigration ‘As a Political Weapon’

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 1 April 2023 — The Center for a Free Cuba, an organization of the Cuban exile in the United States, affirmed that the round of immigration talks between Cuba and the United States “will only encourage Havana to continue weaponizing migration to increase its influence on the Administration of President Joe … Continue reading “The Center for a Free Cuba Denounces the Use of Emigration ‘As a Political Weapon’”

Alexis Diaz de Villegas, Cuban Actor and ‘Survivor’

14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2022 — About the actor Alexis Díaz de Villegas, who died in Havana at the age of 56, the writer Néstor Díaz de Villegas, his uncle, said that “Alexis had existed in the tragedy and for the tragedy.” However, many Cubans identified his elongated arms, his ironic and smiling face, and his … Continue reading “Alexis Diaz de Villegas, Cuban Actor and ‘Survivor’”

Three Coyotes Who Demanded $15,000 From Relatives of Cuban Rafters Are Arrested In Order To Free Them

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 19 September 2022 — Didier Pérez Pérez, Lester Leyniel Soca Díaz and Yoandy Alonso, arrested last Thursday, are accused of belonging to a human trafficking network that was transporting Cubans by sea to Monroe County, Florida (USA), where they were kept kidnapped in a house in Hialeah, until their relatives paid $15,000. A … Continue reading “Three Coyotes Who Demanded $15,000 From Relatives of Cuban Rafters Are Arrested In Order To Free Them”

Cuba: The Seven Lives of Revolution the Cat

14ymedio, Yunior Garcia Aguilera, Madrid, August 16, 2022 — Does the Cuban revolution still exist? For some it ended at the exact moment Fidel Castro delared it to be Marxist.  In the pages of Bohemia years earlier he had accused Fulgencio Batista of being the communists’ candidate in the 1940 election, of being photographed with … Continue reading “Cuba: The Seven Lives of Revolution the Cat”

US Will Resume the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program This Summer

14ymedio, Havana, 10 June 2022 — The United States reported that it will resume the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program (CFRP) for Cubans, and the equivalent program for Haitians (HFRP), this summer. In a statement issued this Thursday, the same day that the Washington Embassy in Havana announced the imminent expansion of procedures at that diplomatic headquarters, the Department … Continue reading “US Will Resume the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program This Summer”

Decrease of Protests in Cuba Coincides with Approval of the New Penal Code

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 2 June 2022 — Cuba registered 185 public protests in May, 108 less than in the previous month, according to the report of the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (OCC) released this Wednesday. The report ties this “decrease” with the entry into force of the Island’s new Penal Code, with its “greater … Continue reading “Decrease of Protests in Cuba Coincides with Approval of the New Penal Code”

Lopez Obrador Speaks With Biden About Immigration Before Traveling to Cuba

14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, April 29, 2022 — Reducing migration at the border was the main topic of Monday’s conversation held by U.S. President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “The tone of the call was very constructive,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. Psaki did not clarify if Biden made any concrete … Continue reading “Lopez Obrador Speaks With Biden About Immigration Before Traveling to Cuba”

Why Don’t Foreign Baseball Players Flee Their Countries and Why Didn’t Cuban Players Flee Before 1959? / Dimas Castellano

Dimas Castellano, Havana, 31 May 2021 — César Prieto, second baseman for the Cienfuegos Elefantes and member of the Cuba team at the Americas Pre-Olympic Tournament, escaped on May 26 as soon as the delegation arrived in Florida. The frequency of this occurrence, although not considered newsworthy, becomes of analysis. Why do Cuban baseball players, … Continue reading “Why Don’t Foreign Baseball Players Flee Their Countries and Why Didn’t Cuban Players Flee Before 1959? / Dimas Castellano”

The Three Options of a Cuban: Obedience, Escape or Rebellion

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, January 29th, 2022 — To say it poorly and quickly, for a Cuban who lives on the island subject to the current dictatorship, only three options remain: obedience, escape, or rebellion. Obedience Obedience can be taken on consciously, accepted for fear of the consequences of rebelling, or mimicked to create a … Continue reading “The Three Options of a Cuban: Obedience, Escape or Rebellion”

Cuba: Anatomy of Fear / Regina Coyula

For the women of today, leaders. Regina Coyula, Havana, 23 October 2020 (Originally published in El Estornudo). In 1980, I worked for G2 (yes, the G2), and I provided staff support to that gigantic “Operation Inca” launched during the events at the Peruvian Embassy. The first times I crossed the many throngs, vociferous and intimidating, … Continue reading “Cuba: Anatomy of Fear / Regina Coyula”

The New Escape Route for Cubans is Called ‘Nicaragua’

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 27 November 2021 — One of my first memories dates from 1980, when I was not yet five. In the Havana tenements where I lived the shouts of several neighbors captured my attention and I looked out into the hallway. A large group was shouting insults at a young man … Continue reading “The New Escape Route for Cubans is Called ‘Nicaragua’”