English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 8 July 2022 — The artists and opponents Maykel Castillo Osorbo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara refused to appeal their sentences of nine and five years in prison, respectively. In addition, the latter has announced that he began a new hunger strike – the third since he was in prison – on July 4 to demand … Continue reading “Cuban Artists Otero Alcantara and ‘Osorbo’ Refuse to Appeal Their Sentence”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 July 2022 — Cuban biologist Ariel Ruiz Urquiola began, on this Wednesday, the third day of a hunger and thirst strike in front of the headquarters of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Ruiz Urquiola decided to start the protest to demand that the … Continue reading “Cuban Biologist Ruiz Urquiola is on a Hunger and Thirst Strike in Front of the UN in Geneva”
14ymedio, Havana, 9 July 2022 — A large fire in unit two of the Lidio Ramón Pérez Thermoelectric Power Plant, in Felton, in the Holguin municipality of Mayarí, occurred this Friday afternoon with no reported loss of human life. The disaster aggravates the energy crisis that the Island is going through and augers new days … Continue reading “There Will be More Blackouts in Cuba Due to the ‘Considerable Damage’ of a Fire at the Felton Plant”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 8 July 2022 — In the past, on a day like this Friday, after Havanatur announced the tourist packages for the start of the high season on the Island in October, the line in front of the Cubatur offices would have been as considerable as in previous years. It wasn’t the … Continue reading “Havanatur Sells Tourist Packages to Cubans at Impossible Prices and Without Transportation”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 July 2022 — Cuban boxer Andy Cruz, who spent several days in detention after an attempted escape from the island, requested his withdrawal from the sport. The journalist Francys Romero pointed out that the Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020 appeared last Tuesday at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum in Havana to carry out … Continue reading “After His Escape Attempt was Frustrated, the Cuban Boxer Andy Cruz Requests to Step Down”
14ymedio, Yankiel Gutierrez Faife, Camajuaní, 2 July 2022 — I live in Taguayabón, near Camajuaní, in Villa Clara province. For months I have been waiting for July to come so I can spend a few days with my mother in Havana, visit relatives and see the city. I was up by 8:30 Monday morning. Having … Continue reading “The Odyssey of Buying a Ticket to Get from One Province to Another”
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico, 5 July 2022 — José Luis has been in the city of Tapachula, Mexico, in the border state of Chiapas with Guatemala, for almost five months. On February 11, he went his appointment at the delegation of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar) to request refugee status. “They gave me an appointment … Continue reading “After Five Months in Tapachula, Mexico for a Safe-Conduct, a Cuban from Cienfuegos Despairs”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 1 July 2022 — The unexpected death of General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja has given way to a list of questions and a mountain of speculation. [See also.] Among the questions that have arisen since Friday, we should mention those that refer to his possible successor and whether whoever replaces him will … Continue reading “Lopez-Calleja, the Key Piece that Fell from the Cuban Political Board”
14ymedio, Natalia, López, Moya, Havana, 4July 2022 — The price of foreign currencies in Cuba is unstoppably taking flight again after the decline they experienced at the end of May. Among them, the euro once again outperforms the dollar by far. A euro is worth around 123 pesos in the informal market this Monday, compared to the 110 … Continue reading “The Euro Becomes the Most Sought-After Currency in Cuba and Reaches 123 Pesos”
14ymedio, Havana, 2 July 2022 — Various videos have been circulating in social media since Saturday, showing a teenager shot by the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) in the El Condado neighbourhood in Santa Clara. The young man, 17 years old, was identified by several users as Zidan Batista Álvarez. In the videos, a number of … Continue reading “Neighbours in El Condado, Santa Clara, Cuba, Accuse the Police of Killing a Young Man of 17”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 2 July 2022 — The bankruptcy of the Cuban economy and the administration of the enormous wealth of the Castro family are two factors in a first assessment of what Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja’s death means from the economic perspective, and his legacy can be evaluated in terms of these … Continue reading “The Consequences for the Cuban Economy of the Death of Lopez-Calleja”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 July 2022 — Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, executive president of the Armed Forces Business Administration Group (Gaesa), died in Havana this Friday of “cardiorespiratory arrest,” according to the official press. A former division general, born in 1960, he was considered the true “strong man” of Cuba, the power behind the throne. He was … Continue reading “Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja Dies, the Powerful Former Son-in-Law of Raul Castro”
14ymedio, Madrid, 9 June 2022 — The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, has once again, this Thursday, marked the terrain where his political ideas dwell, and it continues to seem far from Cuba. “I come from a left that is profoundly democratic, that values and respects human rights unrestrictedly, regardless of who is in power,” … Continue reading “‘Today There are Prisoners in Cuba for Thinking Differently,’ Laments Chilean President Gabriel Boric”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 June 2022 — There is now a sentence in the trial against the artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo, held on May 30 and 31 in Havana. In a statement made public this Friday by the Attorney General’s Office, the People’s Municipal Court of Central Havana reported that the sentence for Alcántara is … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ Sentenced to Five and Nine Years in Prison”
EFE (14ymedio), Havana, 17 June 2022 — The Spanish Consulate in Havana reported this Friday that as of July 1 it will begin charging its consular services in euros, only in cash and with the exact amount. The legation detailed in its Twitter account the price of services such as the preparation of passports (30 … Continue reading “Spanish Consulate in Havana Will Charge for its Services in Euros and Cash”
