English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
To engage in the profession of journalism in Cuba, outside the control of the state, has its dangers. Not to the extreme of having a hitman show up at your door on a motorcycle and fire a full magazine at you point blank from a .45 caliber pistol, as happens in Mexico or Colombia. They also don’t … Continue reading “Being a Journalist in Cuba”
The government of the Castro brothers has staked everything on one card. That of Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, the strong man of Venezuela, a walking-talking comic strip, bursting out with some bizarre nonsense every minute. Chávez defies every canon of a balanced, sober and coherent statesman. It could be a bible passage, or he might … Continue reading “Chávez, the Substitute for the Russians?”
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 Cuban revolution is a piece of junk. It leaks. It has a sentimental value for those nostalgics on the Left, who, between their plans, watch the end days of the capitalist bourgeoisie and Yankee imperialism on TV. Sadly for the radical Left, the times have changed. The workers of the first world, the principal … Continue reading “The Revolution Is Leaking”
On February 11th, they left a comment in the blog: Sorry for the bother. I am a Spanish professor at a French school and in our classes we our studying the subject of free press in Latin America and, more specifically, in Cuba. We have studied an article about the Cuban bloggers, taken from the … Continue reading “The Students of Delphine”
It gives you an uneasy feeling. The “Veterans Home” old-men’s shelter at Agustina and San Miguel, one block from 10th of October Avenue, is a two-story building, neglected and dirty, painted a color that many years ago was sky blue. On these cold, wet, sunless mornings you can see several groups of old men, huddled together, … Continue reading “The Nursing Home on San Miguel Street”
In the poor, out-of-the-way neighborhood of La Chirusa, in the city of Santa Clara of Villa Clara Province, about 185 miles east of Havana, Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez, 48 years of age, is quite a character. When a stranger, asking for directions, asks where Guillermo Fariñas lives, all of the neighbors widen their eyes and don’t … Continue reading “Fariñas, Ready to Die, Like Zapata”
On the afternoon of February 27th, Havana looked run-down. A persistent rain engulfed the worn out streets of the Santo Suarez neighborhood with mud. The sky, with its rat-like color, added a sad touch to the city. Around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Laritza and I arrived to the house of the house of the … Continue reading “Martha Beatriz Roque Remembers Orlando”
In Cuba we live on the edge of a precipice. If you want to get by, you have to take risks. In almost every sector of Cuban life you have to resort to illegal activity to be able to survive. Market shortages in freely convertible currencies have become a frequent prospect. Furthermore, its normal to … Continue reading “On the Edge of the Precipice”
They can’t sleep easy at night. The millionaire salaries that they pay the ballplayers in the Big Leagues of the United States give the Cuban players a migraine. It’s no small wonder. Every time a newspaper from the other side of the pond falls in their hands, or they watch it through Florida TV Channels, they see the … Continue reading “Ballplayers Longing For Six Figure Salaries”
Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, 11 February 2010 — It was a sober meeting attended by several representatives from the municipal Ministry of Education. A murmur passed among the parents, seated on the same plastic chairs used by their children in the morning. The date was approaching for the announcement of who would continue their studies at … Continue reading “The Instant Creation of Emerging Teachers”
It’s like a casino. Pure gambling. Cuban government economists don’t have to envy the financial wizard George Soros. Since October 25, 2004, when Fidel Castro levied an 18 percent tax on the U.S. dollar and 8 percent on other currencies, from this source alone Cuba has banked more than 600 million dollars a year in … Continue reading “Revolutionary Tax”
Damn. What do I do now? I had planned an interview with a lady from the Marianao neighborhood who does community service with needy children. Because of reasons beyond my control I had to postpone it. It’s 8:00 in the morning of an unusual and cold month of January in 2010. I look at the … Continue reading “Independent Journalists’ Avatars”
In the city of Havana, the number of mentally ill street people in their filthy and ragged clothing increases on a daily basis. The number of beggars is also going up — you can find them in just about any doorway lying on cardboard asking for change with their lost looks. And on any corner there are street vendors selling peanuts, cheap things, loose … Continue reading “Beggars and Mentally Ill Havanans”
When winter comes, Ruben Soriano, 42, is hoping more than anything for the arrival of a cold front. He takes his straw hat off, looks up at the sky and exclaims: “It’s not going to rain again today.” That’s bad for his business. Ruben works hard on a not-very-fertile field on the outskirts of Havana, … Continue reading “Another Year Without Hope”
