Though I’m several days behind, I get to access my blog to publicly thank all friends and the media who remained attentive and concerned for us during the repressive raid of the final days of 2014. My son, Victor Ariel González, freelance journalist and 14ymedio.com reporter, was arrested around noon on the 30th, as he left his building to come to our home for lunch, just when his father and I came by … Continue reading “Gratitude / Miriam Celaya”
THE COPY-PASTE OF REVOLUTIOPHRENIA Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Before Facebook, I met Eliécer Jiménez only once, in an alternative cultural debate in Camagüey, three years ago. He was somewhat shy, but resolute in his urge to be creative in cinematographic terms. No money, no contacts, no political pedigree. A dreamer in a province that looked … Continue reading “Entropy of Eliecer Jimenez at Brown University / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
CUBA IN FOCUS – New book edited by Ted A. Henken, Miriam Celaya, and Dimas Castellanos Article by Ted Henken, from his blog, El Yuma Those of you who follow me on Twitter @ElYuma will already know that just over a month ago ABC-CLIO published a new book about Cuba, called Cuba in Focus, that … Continue reading “CUBA IN FOCUS – New Book in English from “Our” Bloggers and Independent Journalists”
Ángel Santiesteban Claudia Cadelo Dimas Castellanos Ernesto Morales Licea Eugenio Leal Fernando Dámaso Guillermo “Coco” Fariñas Iván García Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez” Laritza Diversent Luis Felipe Rojas Miriam Celaya Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Regina Coyula Reinaldo Escobar Voices Behind The Bars Yamil Dominguez Yoani Sánchez
Antecedent. On December 15, 2009 the government intervened in the courtyard of the house where Karina Galvez held gatherings of the journal Coexistence and they built a wall, seizing the covered terrace, pantry and bathroom, which had been built inside the courtyard of her property. The wall remains and the case is in the Supreme … Continue reading “Sustained Harassment Incidents in Pinar del Rio, Cuba / IntraMuros”
CONVIVENCIA (COEXISTENCE) LITERARY CONTEST II – 2011 JURY RESULTS Prize in the Photography category: The jury decides, unanimously, to award the prize in the genre of Photography to the series titled: Desconocido (Unknown), by the Cuban author, Alberto Borrego Sánchez, of San Cristóbal, Artemisa province. By judicious selection of settings, use of bold and contemporary … Continue reading “Prizes in the 2nd Convivencia (Coexistence) Contest – 2011 / Intramuros”
Like two boxers who stare each other in the eye, before beginning their attack, came TwittHab, the first encounter between official and alternative ‘twitterers’. If the proposition was to fraternize and build bridges, this first exploratory round between virtual gladiators who’ve made blogs, Facebook and Twitter a tool for spreading their ideas, was below expectations. … Continue reading “Official and Alternative Twitterers Launch a Truce / Iván García”
How weak is a State that sees danger in the words of a student? And using its power forcefully attacks and dictates the immediate expulsion of Henry Constantin from the Superior Art Institute (ISA) in Havana, brutally abusing his rights and using psychological torture. In recent days, in the middle of the night, and aware … Continue reading “The State That’s Afraid of Words / Angel Santiesteban”
Sometimes I suspect that blogging in Cuba is like a scream from the depths of a cave that is lost in the void without finding any listeners. The echo comes back to me in an irascible silence, making me uncomfortable, thinking that outside the cave there are no inhabitants, we are alone. The scream simply … Continue reading “Silence is Complicity / Angel Santiesteban”
First Convivencia Literary Contest 2010 Minutes of the Jury Prize in the Essay category: Utopia, Challenges and Difficulties in Today’s Cuba. By Dimas Castellanos Marti, of Bayamo, who lives in Havana Unanimously and in one of the most difficult discussions that taken by this jury, it emerged as the decision in the prize for a … Continue reading “Minutes of the First Convivencia Contest 2010”
Cubalex, 10 November 2019 — Cuba and Venezuela were flagged up by the United Nations as the countries in the region with the worst indicators in regard to promotion and protection of freedom of speech. For years, both countries have been evidencing a crisis in freedom of speech, according to the UN special rapporteur. The … Continue reading “United Nations Acknowledges Freedom of Speech Crisis in Cuba / Cubalex”
14ymedio, Generation Y, Havana, 3 July 2017 — For decades Cubans were bombarded by official propaganda filled with materials about Fidel Castro’s supposed genius. In these vindications he was not only a father, but also a strategist, visionary, pedagogue, farmer and cattle rancher, among other lofty characteristics and pursuits. However, that prototype of patriarch, scientist … Continue reading “Fidel Castro In Humor And Oblivion”
Wendy Guerra, Havana, 9 January 2016 (from El Nuevo Herald) – It wasn’t hard to know the number of my friends who, during their childhoods, remained with their parents in special situations, parents who needed to hide who they were to survive in a country that, based on accusations, ceased to be one, but turned … Continue reading “Naming the Wounds / Wendy Guerra”