English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
I greatly fear the response of “never” Pablo Milanés The last time I went to a Pablo Milanés concert I couldn’t hum a single one of his songs. In the middle of the anti-imperialist bandstand* several friends and I unfurled a cloth with the name Gorki on it, to demand the release from jail — … Continue reading “I Still Don’t Know If You Will Sing / Yoani Sánchez”
There are those who believe that history is written only by those in power, by means of textbooks, testimonials, biographies, means of communication and other supports of dominance that certify the version of the victors. Cuban history of the 20th Century confirms the rule, but in conflict with the story of the main characters who … Continue reading “Improper Conduct / Miguel Iturria Savón”
“Year of our Lord Jesus Christ” Mr. Freddy Perez Cabrera Granma Newspaper Editor and Administrator General Suarez and Territorial Plaza of the Revolution, Havana Email: correo@granma.cip.cu Freddy: Greetings to you. Moved by the painful events which led to death of my fellow citizen, Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, during the early morning hours of Sunday May … Continue reading “Cuba Manipulates the Truth / Ricardo Medina”
– From Josefina de Diego – I confess that I didn’t remember the full text known as “Words to the Intellectuals,” delivered by Fidel Castro on June 30, 1961, at the National Library to a group of intellectuals. I think that, like many people, the only thing I remembered from the text was his famous … Continue reading “Thoughts on Fidel’s “Words to the Intellectuals” and other texts / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
Message from Paquito de Rivera to Marta Valdés Dear Marta (Valdés): I congratulate you on your brave insertion into the group of Cuban intellectuals against the sadly famous ex-ex-ex cultural leader Luis Pavón, who, by the way, has been for a long time a perfect non-entity (pun intended). I hope this is just an introduction … Continue reading “Message from Paquito de Rivera / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
ARENAS FRIDAY Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Twenty years. Anniversary of the adversary. Suicide in the winter. Suicide to win the marathon against the doctors and politicians (often indistinguishable) and also to kick his reading public (which did not exist then) to cuss it out twenty years later. In other words, today. Suicide when beauty does … Continue reading “ARGH$ÝOASIAjnd{QCHW%KFÉFOAWLFÚUBGWAEÑYN… / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Hi, Gustavo, I am grateful that you sent me the debate. I don’t know how to get involved in the analysis but I think that I need to. If you can, send this opinion to whoever you want. Although I have to confess that I find it difficult to express myself and to organise my … Continue reading “Messages from Belkis Vega / POLEMICA: The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
Jose Lezama Lima (1910-1976) is not gone. This is the feeling you get when you visit the museum of the master of Cuban prose in Trocadero street, in central Havana. You don’t need to be supernatural to sense the weary, asthmatic breathing of the fat Lezama while you pass through the halls of this house, … Continue reading “100 Years of the Fat One of Trocadero / Iván García”
Mariela Castro Espin, 48, Director of the National Center for Sex Education and one of the four children president Raul Castro had with the engineer Vilma Espin, is probably better known overseas than in Cuba. Her conferences and interviews usually receive good press coverage in the nations she visits. When the island launched a campaign … Continue reading “Cuba: Homophobia is Not Eliminated With Laws / Laritza Diversent”
“The Little Email War,” “Little Glasnost,” “Rebellion of the Intellectuals” or “The Created Situation,” have been some of the names used to baptize this phenomenon which I prefer to call, “words of the intellectuals” (with the “of” in bold and underlined). Evidently a hole has been opened in this Pandora’s box (which was a gift … Continue reading “The Journalist Reinaldo Escobar Enters the Debate / Polemica, The 2007 Intellectual Debate”
My name is Ramón Enrique Ferrer Yero, son of Enrique Ferrer (an electrical engineer) and Elisa Yero (a homemaker), I was born on 6 September 1941 in Cuba’s Oriente province, in my dear Palma Soriano, in a home located on Cisneros Street, number 4, top floor, between Martí and Maceo Streets. You can imagine that, … Continue reading “Enriquito, a Good Man, Much Loved, and a Dreamer / Juan Juan Almeida”
Several friends who follow the blog have asked me why I haven’t commented on Fidel’s statements about the persecution of homosexuals in an interview with the director of the Mexican daily La Jornada. My casual access to the web makes commenting on any current them delayed. But three years ago I followed with great interest … Continue reading “Yesterday’s Homophobia / Regina Coyula”
What normally happens when a common citizen is at fault for an act of social significance? He is made to pay for his mistake, and in many ways, with a wide range of penalties; depending on the magnitude of his act, it can range from a simple reproach, to deprivation of liberty. But in certain … Continue reading “The Mea Culpa of the Powerful / Ernesto Morales Licea”
If the Cuban generals had liked rock, things in Cuba might have been different. Perhaps the soldiers would not have gone out in their vulgar Russian jeeps, scissors in hand, cutting the hair of those devoted to this type of music. And they would not have had to arrest thousands of young people whose only … Continue reading “If the comandante danced to rock…”