English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Rebeca Monzo, 24 May 2018 — How is it possible that international organizations rank our planet Cuba near the top when it comes to public health services? There are only a very small number of hospitals that the government can point to as examples of quality health care: Camilo Cienfuegos Clinic in Vedado; Cira García … Continue reading “In the Peak of Health / Rebeca Monzo”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, San Juan y Martínez | Mayo 24, 2018 — “Everything was going well and then the rains came,” says Manuel García, summarizing the situation of Hoyo de Monterrey, in Pinar del Río, where the best tobacco in the world is grown. The intense showers of recent days in the western part of the Island in the middle … Continue reading “Heavy Rains Threaten Pinar del Rio Tobacco Crop”
Rebeca Monzo, 7 January 2018 — First of all, to be properly treated in any hospital, you have to have a friend who is a doctor or a friend who is very close to the doctor you are going to see, in addition to bringing a gift — something already established — to be able … Continue reading “Public Health in Cuba / Rebeca Monzo”
14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, Havana 20 July 2017 — One day they came carrying rolls of roof paper to waterproof the roof of this concrete block where we live with more than a hundred families. Those state employees were deaf to the warnings. “We do not need coverage here,” some neighbors told them. “No apartment leaks when … Continue reading “The Simple Story Of Roof Sealant”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 4 July 2017 — The passengers leave the plane and make their way around the buckets catching the leaks from the roof. They still have a long wait in at baggage claim and have to suffer under the air conditioning that hardly alleviates the heat. The José Martí International Airport in Havana is … Continue reading “Tourism Boom Chokes Havana’s Airport”
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, 29 March 2017 — Cuba is experiencing one of the worst droughts of the last half century and its reservoirs are at 39% capacity, a situation that affects the water supply for people, industry and agriculture. Santiago de Cuba is going through the most serious situation, according to José Antonio Hernández, director of the Department of Rational … Continue reading “Santiago de Cuba Hit Hard by Drought”
Ivan Garcia, 27 October 2016 — The state aqueduct brigade came to La Vitoria neighborhood on Friday morning and using sledgehammers destroyed the sidewalks to install water meters on every home. The October rains transformed the open ditches into quagmires. Many of the connections were gushing water. Six days later, after the complaints and phone … Continue reading “Public Services in Havana: Real Chaos / Iván García”
14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 19 September 2016 — A sign announces the sale of an apartment in Havana and stresses, in capital letters, that the “water never runs out” in the area. Not far away, another sign alerts neighbors of a multifamily building: “Starting today, the water-pump will only operate for one hour.” In the last three … Continue reading “Drought in Cuba Doesn’t Let Up / 14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez”
City of Havana – One of the New7Wonder Cities of the World. Ivan Garcia, 6 June 2016 — From Miraflores, south of Havana, Sergio comes twice a week with his wheelbarrow to the dump on Calle 100 in Marianao to pick up old junk that he later sells for a few pesos in a traveling … Continue reading “Havanans Comment on "The Wonder" of Their City / Iván García”
Rebeca Monzo, 30 May 2016 — On my planet, Cuba, dengue fever has been brought on by unsanitary conditions, which in turn were brought on by the revolution. Neglect and abandonment have caused the Aedes aegypti mosquito to proliferate from buildings abandoned due to collapse, from leaks in water mains, from uncollected piles of trash, and … Continue reading “Campaign Against the Mosquito / Rebeca Monzo”
14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 10 March 2016 – You don’t have to be a doctor or an epidemiologist to realize that mosquitoes are not defeated by occasional fumigation battles and the collection of debris and trash, much less with military interventions that both kill mosquitos and violate basic human rights “because nobody can prevent the … Continue reading “The Mosquito and the Democratization of the Cuban Political System / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”
Rebeca Monzo, 4 March 2016 — About a month ago, in order to change the direction of the Joaquin Albarran Clinical Surgical Hospital, located on 26th Avenue at Avenue of Independence (Boyeros), a Commission of the Ministry of Public Health, composed of 35 specialists in different areas of public health, undertook a thorough inspection of this … Continue reading “It is Hospital Joaquin Albarran’s Turn / Rebeca Monzo”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 22 January 2016 – There are no colors. Only gray and white, with some ocher tones provided by the dry gardens, planted for opening day. In this hostile landscape in the Havana municipality of Cotorro, 19 buildings were made up of petrocasas (“oil-houses’). A dream of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez that is … Continue reading “The ‘Oil-Houses’ Are Falling Apart / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz, Havana, 22 December 2015 — “These buildings are earthquake resistant,” says the owner of an apartment for sale in a Havana neighborhood. The potential buyer listens incredulous, looking out from the balcony at other concrete blocks in the surrounding area. What was once a working-class neighborhood, where work and political “merits” were needed to … Continue reading “Cuban Middle Class Takes Over ‘Proletarian’ Neighborhoods / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz”
Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 28 August 2015 — Undone, with the sparks of short circuits clouding his vision and the cabin smashed into smithereens, Voltus V faced the worst end against a fearsome enemy. However, at the last minute, he drew his sword and in a clean cut slew his enemy. Japanese anime, so popular … Continue reading “Cloud Seeding or the Sword of Voltus V / Yoani Sanchez”
