English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
“Totalitarian tyranny is not built on the virtues of totalitarians, but on the faults of democrats.” Albert Camus 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 18 January 2022 — In popular culture there is a well-known a fable, attributed to Aesop, where a scorpion, to cross the river, asks a frog to allow it to climb on its … Continue reading “The Nature of Dictatorships”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 January 2022 — The Cuban activist and businesswoman Saily González Velázquez, along with others such as Salomé García Bacallao, and family members of those detained on July 11th (11J), have started a social media campaign for the Spanish news agency, EFE, to cover the prisoners’ trials. “There is still time for … Continue reading “Family Members of Those Arrested on July 11 in Cuba Plea with EFE to Cover Their Trials”
EFE/14ymedio, Washington/Havana, 6 January 2022 — The US State Department announced on Thursday the imposition of visa restrictions on eight more Cuban officials, whose identities were not disclosed, for the arrest and prosecution of people who participated in the July 11 protests. “The State Department took measures today to impose visa restrictions on eight Cuban … Continue reading “United States Sanctions Eight More Cuban Officials for Their Role in Repression”
I saw it, I saw it coming that afternoon I saw him smile in the midst of his grief José Martí, The Political prison in Cuba 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 4 January 2021 — What was José Martí laughing at? History tends to encircle its heroes in a marble seriousness that prevents us from … Continue reading “Jose Marti’s Smile”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, December 30, 2021 — The artists charged with public disorder for protesting in front of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) on July 11 learned on Thursday that the cases against them were being dropped. In essence, they were being acquitted. The situation remains unclear, however, for playwright Yunior García Aguilera … Continue reading “Charges Dropped Against Artists Over July 11 Protests in Front of the ICRT”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2021 – The singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez recognized this year, for the first time, that Cuba “could be” a dictatorship. He did not do so on his blog, Segunda Cita – where he makes room for different but monotonous voices, all pro-government – but in a Chilean magazine, Culto, in an interview that was later reproduced by … Continue reading “Silvio Rodriguez, in Ambiguity Until the End”
We know the agent Fernando — whose real name is Carlos Leonardo Vázquez González, a doctor by profession — as a mock nemesis of Yunior García Aguilera. The Cuban regime took this doctor out of the closet at the beginning of November to discredit the playwright and the visible face of the Archipiélago, whom he … Continue reading “Agent Fernando, a Cuban Doctor at the Service of State Security”
14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2021 — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that his government has been late in defending certain social rights. Speaking this Friday, at the closing of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, for the umpteenth time,he again defended socialism as “the only way to development with … Continue reading “Cuban President Diaz-Canel Admits That His Government has ‘Lagged Behind’ in the Recognition of Some Rights”
“This house has to be torn down!” Drink, in ‘The night of the murderers’, by Pepe Triana 14ymedio, Madrid, Yunior García Aguilera, December 21 2021 — In 2013 I had the good fortune to meet one of the greatest Cuban playwrights of all time: José Triana. I found myself visiting London for the premiere of Feast, … Continue reading “The Honorable Allure of Censorship”
14ymedio, Havana, 10 December 2021 — The Cuban civic platform Archipíelago published this Friday a “declaration of permanence” signed by its coordinators as a result of the resignation in recent days of several of its members. “It’s hard to reinvent oneself every day in the middle of governmental hostility and anguish of a sick society; bring consensus … Continue reading “‘To Those Who Want to Divide Us, Let’s Not Give Them the Pleasure,’ Archipielago Coordinators Ask”
14ymedio, Havana, 6 December 2021 — The businesswoman Saily González, one of the most active coordinators of the Archipíelago group since its creation, announced this Sunday that she is leaving the Cuban opposition platform. She was joined this Monday by activist Magdiel Jorge Castro. “Today I am leaving Archipíelago, the most important undertaking to which … Continue reading “Saily González Leaves Archipielago and Calls to Accelerate the Fights for Rights in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 4 December 2021 — The lawyer Fernando Almeyda resigned this Friday as one the coordinators of the Archipiélago group. “Assuming this role implies a responsibility, which in the face of the latest events and decisions of the group I cannot assume,” he explained in a post published on his Facebook profile, in which he also … Continue reading “Cuba: Archipielago Coordinator Resigns Due to Political Disagreement”
14ymedio, Havana, December 1, 2021 — Threats from State Security and the deployment of the military throughout main streets in Cuba gripped the population with fear and thwarted the massive protests planned for November 15th (15N), but that same day, there were 79 protests in the country. These were logged by the Cuban Conflict Observatory … Continue reading “The Cuban Conflict Observatory Documented 79 protests on November 15th (15N)”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 November 2021 — After the surprise arrival in Spain of Yunior García Aguilera and his wife, Dayana Prieto, on November 17, the Archipiélago platform, which the playwright helped create, is experiencing difficult times. The harassment and repression by Cuban State Security since the call for the Civic March of 15N, (15 November) … Continue reading “Repression and Internal Disagreements Cause Resignations in the Archipielago Group”
14ymedio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami, 29 November 2021 — The Cuban regime turns everything into a ridiculous battle. It’s incapable of looking at itself in the mirror. It fears the image of octogenarians defeated by life and takes on a heroic vision of them. Right now, it has transformed the 2021 Latin Grammy awards into … Continue reading “The Battle of the Grammys and the Example of Spain”
