English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Abel Sierra Madero, Hypermedia Magazine, 15 May 2020 — Yuri Brokhin, a Soviet filmmaker who defected in 1972 and settled in the United States, described his experience trying to purchase a Volga automobile in the late 1960s. In all of Voroshilovgrad, Ukraine, there were only twelve of these cars available for sale to the public, … Continue reading “From the Gulag to the UMAP: Official History and the Control of Memory”
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, May 1, 2020 — The Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos [Cuban Observatory of Human Rights] (OCDH) welcomes the release of 6,579 prisoners announced by the Government this Thursday. “It’s a positive measure in the framework of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the organization, which is based in Madrid. The President of … Continue reading “The OCDH Celebrates the Release of 6,579 Prisoners in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 29 March 2020 — The phone rang early this Sunday and I came back from a dream. I was sheltering in a parallel reality and the ringer brought me back. On the other end of the line, a Cienfuegos inmate was reeling off his troubles. He has been sentenced to four … Continue reading “Day 9 of the Covid-19 Emergency in Cuba”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 17 January 2020 — In the last decade there have been several recordings of police interrogations that Cuban activists have managed to make and bring to light. In many of them, State Security officers are heard intimidating, threatening and behaving themselves like the owners and lords of the whole country, above the law, … Continue reading “The Arrogance of Cuba’s Political Police”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 November 2019 — The journalist Luz Escobar, a member of the 14ymedio team, is under house arrest for the second consecutive weekend. This Saturday, while trying to leave for a family lunch, a State Security agent stationed on the ground floor of her building warned her that he had orders not to allow her to go … Continue reading “Cuban Independent Journalist Luz Escobar Under House Arrest for the Second Consecutive Saturday”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 22 November 2019 — A decade ago, Cuban official television broadcast a series of programs to try to discredit opponents, independent journalists, activists and bloggers. In several episodes of that series private emails, telephone recordings and intelligence footage were aired that “showed” the alleged crimes committed by these citizens. Few viewers were … Continue reading “Big Brother Legalizes Electronic Surveillance Of Cubans”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 6 November 2019 — Yaima Caballero, mother of the 1-year-old baby girl who died last October after receiving a vaccine, decided to leave Cuba to Mexico after receiving threats from the State Security (political police). “They told me I could end up in jail for making unfounded allegations,” she told 14ymedio. … Continue reading “Under Threats, Parents of Baby Killed by Vaccine Leave Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 September 2019 — A week before she turned 20, actress Virgen Martinez was attacked by a man in Alameda Street in the town of Céspedes in the province of Camagüey. The events occurred near the town service store, after Martínez greeted an acquaintance who was accompanied by a man. When the actress tried to … Continue reading “A Young Actress is Beaten in the Street in Camaguey: Her Aggressor is Still Free”
14ymedio, Havana, 23 May 2019 — The Cuban-Spaniard Javier Larrondo, president of the organization Defenders of Cuban Prisoners, in partnership with Solidarity Without Borders and the Patriotic Union of Cuba, explained on Thursday at a press conference in Miami that a complaint against the Cuban government as been presented to multiple international organizations for “slavery, … Continue reading “Testimony of 110 Doctors Cuban Doctors on Foreign “Missions” Leads to Complaint Over Slavery”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 22 March 2019 — “Mamita, if something happens to me, you get me justice.” Those words, pronounced by her daughter shortly before she died, in 2015, due to complications during delivery, resonate in the head of Isabel Cristina Cabello López. Besides being a mother, she is a doctor and for her it was a … Continue reading “A Doctor Asks for Justice for the Death of her Pregnant Daughter in a Hospital in Santa Clara”
Ivan Garcia, 1 March 2019 — Within twelve months, salaries will continue to be a joke in poor taste in Cuba. The predatory inflation caused by the dual currency will be maintained. The shortage of food in state markets will increase. Public transport will get worse. The streets will need to be paved. The water leaks will continue. Thousands of multifamily buildings, … Continue reading “Almost Two and a Half Million Cubans Didn’t Vote Yes / Ivan Garcia”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, March 5, 2019 — Almost at the end of the definitive text of the new Constitution of the Republic, ratified on February 24, three temporary provisions appear imposing the terms for the enactment of the complementary laws. Although a date has not been officially mentioned for their definitive publication in the … Continue reading “Reflections on the Coming Laws”
14ymedio, Havana, 7 February 2019 — Yaimaris Vecino, wife of Eduardo Cardet, visited the national coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement and prisoner of conscience for the first time at the minimum security prison to which he was transferred last Friday by the authorities. The visit went “fairly well”, according to Vecino as she explained … Continue reading “Eduardo Cardet Receives his First Visit at the Minimum Security Facility Where He Was Transferred”
14ymedio, Havana, February 4, 2019 — The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), headquartered in Madrid, has denounced this Monday the “growing aggression of the police against activists demonstrating peacefully for the No vote on the [referendum on the] Constitution” coinciding with the presentation of the report of arbitrary detentions in January. Their count of … Continue reading “Detentions of Activists Promoting No on the Constitutional Referendum Increase”
EFE / 14ymedio, Havana, 11 January 2018 – The Government of Cuba signaled this Friday that the 55-year old driver was directly responsible for a tragic bus crash; he was accused of having lost control of the vehicle for not taking appropriate safety measures resulting in a toll of seven dead and dozens injured. “Direct … Continue reading “The Authorities Blame the Driver for the Viazul Bus Crash”
