English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 8 August 2021 — The auxiliary bishop of Havana, Alfredo Petit Vergel, died this Saturday in the Cuban capital, at the age of 85, according to a note released by the San Julián De Los Güines parish. Born on July 24, 1936 in Havana, Petit studied at the College of the Brothers of the … Continue reading “Havana Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Petit Vergel, Dies at 85”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 2 April 2020 – A mask can be a protection and a shield. When part of the face is covered, it is easy to outwit the police. Something that shouldn’t normally matter, but that in Cuba can be vital. Now, when I blend into the crowd with my mask, I manage … Continue reading “Day 13 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba: The Daily Fight for Food”
14ymedio, Bertha K. Guillén, Candelaria, 18 September 2019 — Like ants gathering for the winter, a family from the El Brujo community in Pinar del Río goes out every day to tour the pastures, the trails and the banks of the roads in search of those guavas that still grow almost wild around their little … Continue reading “In El Brujo Life Revolves Around the Guava”
In just a few months the great empire had crumbled without its archenemy the United States firing a single shot. 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 7 November 2017 — It was bath time after an afternoon of pulling weeds around tiny lettuce plants. The high school dorm was a coming and going of teenagers with towels on … Continue reading “With the End of the Russian Revolution We Lost the Colorful Candies”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 4 February 2017 — Colombia’s sugar mill whistle sounded again at the end of January, like a giant awakened from a seven-year-long lethargy. The residents in the area breathed a sign of relief: the driving force behind the local economy seems to be the sugar mill, but technical and organizational problems … Continue reading “Colombia Sugar Mill, A Giant That Is Slow To Wake Up / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Ivan Garcia, 17 December 2016 — At the exit of the Bay Tunnel, the P-11 bus is packed with passengers. While the riders enjoy the view of the sea, the odor of saltpeter fills their noses. In this stretch of Havana’s geography, where Monumental Avenue runs, an eight-lane street inaugurated in 1958 by the dictator … Continue reading “What Fidel Castro Left Us (Part 1) / Iván García”
Ivan Garcia, 26 September 2015 — Let’s climb aboard a time machine. Into the future, of course. By now, Raul Castro has given up the throne. His son Alejandro has been tried for abuse of power, financial corruption and violations of human rights. Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas, the Cuban Martin Borman, has fled with a … Continue reading “Cuba 2019 / Ivan Garcia”
Photos by Rebeca Some years ago Alejo Carpentier wrote a column which he called “Havana, A City of Columns.” The proliferation of colonnades along our major streets once caught the attention of anyone who visited the city, though they seem perfectly normal to those of us living here. They protected us from the scorching sun … Continue reading “From Columns to Bars / Fernando Damaso”
One of the central figures of the Cuban opposition, who participated in the revolution before its ultimate victory but ended up being sentenced to 20 years in Castro’s prisons, was the independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who died in Madrid. He recounts his life and ideas in this interview. Born in Cienfuegos on November 29, … Continue reading ““I Always Did What My Conscience Dictated” / Dimas Castellano, Oscar Espinosa Chepe”
How do you explain to Mr. Herman Van Hooff, Director of the UN Regional Office of Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean for UNESCO, that Cuba lies in all its public statistics? Director Van Hooff declared this past Wednesday, February 5, that “Cuba holds a recognized position at the world level with high indices … Continue reading “Cuba Makes Claims to UNESCO Contrary to Common Sense / Angel Santiesteban”
Photo: professors and students of Public School #10 in the 1950s. By the end of the 1940s everyone working as a teacher in Cuba was an accredited professional in education. In the 1950s there were many illustrious professors in our country, teachers who were recognized internationally for the work they had published, which was used … Continue reading “A Review and the Reviewers / Rebeca Monzo”
On November 6, 2008, published my first digital article on the site Kaosenlared (Chaos on the Web). Three months earlier I had graduated in journalist at the University of the Oriente, did not have this blog, and was about to begin working at the radio station where I would be located during my Social Service. … Continue reading “My Article about Eliécer Avila… Three Years Later / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Image downloaded from: porunacubaendemocracia.blogspot.com She grew up in the so-called Cuban revolution. Her father was sympathetic to the regime and her mother was politically apathetic, but they both brought her up with love for the figure of the “maximum leader”, in whom is contained, by official design, the concepts of country, state and nation. Perhaps … Continue reading “An Ordinary Story / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
She grew up in the so-called Cuban revolution. Her father was sympathetic to the regime and her mother was politically apathetic, but they both brought her up with love for the figure of the “maximum leader”, in whom is contained, by official design, the concepts of country, state and nation. Perhaps because of being an … Continue reading “An Ordinary Story”
The recent case of censure against a reggaeton and all the virulent editorial campaign against it –through the official press- bring once again to the spotlight the topic of the cultural revolutionary politics and the controlling function of institutions. The absence of rights touches everyone, not just from the standpoint of artistic phenomenon (let’s generously … Continue reading “Vulgarity as a Resource (II) / Miriam Celaya”
