English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 3 August 2021 — Another priest is raising his voice in opposition to the repression unleashed after demonstrations on July 11. Like most of the protesters that Sunday, he is also very young. His name is Rubén Orlando Leyva Pupo, a computer scientist who was ordained a Vincentian father just last year. “Those … Continue reading “‘Communism in Cuba is Throwing Its Final Temper Tantrum’”
EFE, via 14ymedio, Miami, 3 August 2021 — U.S. Senators from both parties approved on Monday the naming of the Washington street in front of the Cuban Embassy in honor of the late Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá (1952-2012). Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio said yesterday that the change pays “a tribute to the life and … Continue reading “The New Address of the Cuban Embassy in Washington is Oswaldo Paya Way”
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 1 August 2021 — Since Friday, the line has not stopped outside the bodega (ration store) at 251st and 50th streets in Punta Brava, a Havana neighborhood of La Lisa. But unlike other times, customers only need their ration book and a bag, because the food module that is distributed is … Continue reading “‘Free Rice Will Not Silence Us,’ Say the Residents of Punta Brava, Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, August 1, 2021 — In an open letter to the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) called upon the union to prepare an action plan to promote a peaceful democratic transition in Cuba. To keep this agreement in force, it also urged … Continue reading “Calls for More European Involvement in a Transition in Cuba”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Lorena Cantó, Havana, August 2, 2021 — The Cuban writer Leonardo Padura, winner of the 2015 Princess of Asturias Prize for Literature, considers his novels “some of the most radical documents that could have been written” about a Cuba today in turmoil, whose problems “must be resolved among Cubans.” “I believe that … Continue reading “Padura: ‘Cuba’s Problems Must be Resolved Among Cubans’”
Emerging civil society has to prepare to deal with the current power or the one that replaces it, and that articulation requires moving through the channels of dialogue. Dimas Castellano, 13 July 2021 — The recent events of Sunday, July 11, confirm that the Cuban crisis is deepening, that popular discontent is growing and that … Continue reading “Cuba: In Defense of Political Dialogue / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Yaiza Santos, Madrid, July 31, 2021 — The singer, composer and music producer Pavel Urkiza was born in Kiev (Ukraine), but right away, when he was three months old, he was taken to Havana where he grew up. His parents, both engineers, were part of the first Cuban student brigade in the Soviet Union. … Continue reading “The Change in Cuba Has No Turning Back”
Dimas Castellano, el Blog de Dimas, 13 July 2021 — “It is the ultimate breakdown of the system. It had been coming for months. The curse has irreparably been broken. The Cuban people were tired of the state acting with impunity. It has been sixty-years of abuse and humiliation. This is not an economic crisis; … Continue reading “Cuban Protests: The Curse of Fear Has Been Broken, the Final Collapse of the System Has Begun / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Havana 29 July 2021 — Tons of aid that partner nations are sending to the island will be distributed to Cuban families starting Friday. The process will begin in Havana, epicenter of the July 11 protests. It will continue in other provinces with large populations and where demonstrations were significant — Matanzas, Ciego de … Continue reading “To Calm Cubans, Discontent, Distribution of International Aid Donations to Begin Tomorrow”
14ymedio, Madrid, July 29, 2021 – “One underestimates this about Covid. I walk stumbling like this, with short steps, falling on both sides.” Caridad, a resident of Centro Habana, fell ill with Covid-19 just after receiving her first dose of Abdala, the only Cuban vaccine candidate approved for emergency use by CECMED. Its developer, the Center … Continue reading “In Cuba, the Number of Those Vaccinated is More Than 50% Higher Than Those Infected, Well Above the World Average”
14ymedio, Jorge Ferrer, Ginés Górriz and others, Barcelona, 29 July 2021 — We have witnessed a popular uprising in Cuba like no other that has been known in the last 60 years. The inertia and fear generated by decades of that sinister cocktail that is made by mixing enthusiasm with repression — the exact symbolic reverse of … Continue reading “‘Call the Dictatorship by its Name’, Ask Cubans Living in Spain”
14ymedio, Jorge Tintorero, New York, July 28, 2021 – Since last July 11, the demand for free internet access for Cubans has become a trend, supported by Senators, Congressional Representatives, and a multitude of public and political figures in the United States. There has been no lack of promises, including that of President Biden, to … Continue reading “Free Internet Access for Cuba: Wishes and Realities”
14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, July 29, 2021 — The Cuban communists announced in the State newspaper Granma that they have begun the distribution of food products that have come from international donations (Russia, Mexico, etc.) into the network of state warehouses. An insistent rumor had been circulating on social media: the products will end … Continue reading “Distribution of Donations: Bread for Today, Hunger for Tomorrow”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, July 27, 2021 — On Tuesday a rare scene unfolded on the corner of San Lazaro and Soledad streets in Central Havana. The fish market on that corner, which had been poorly stocked for months, suddenly had items which generated expressions of astonishment and long lines. Customers saw lobster, ground … Continue reading “Lobster and Ground Meat to Calm Tensions in Havana”
EFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, 28 July 2021 — Cuba registered 9,323 cases of Covid-19 this Wednesday, the highest number of confirmed cases in a day since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap). The previous record was from Sunday, when 8,854 SARS-Cov-2 positives were reported in … Continue reading “Cuba Registers Highest Number of Daily Covid Cases: 9,323”
