English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
1. March 12, 1965, an open letter by Ernesto Guevara to his friend Carlos Quijano is published in the Uruguayan weekly Marcha. The text, “Socialism and the New Man in Cuba,” is perhaps Guevara’s most significant theoretical writing, and at the same time an emphatic declaration of the regime’s objectives emanating from the Cuban Revolution, then … Continue reading “The Amazing Resistance of Reinaldo Arenas / Rafael Lemus”
HAVANA, Cuba – The attorney Amelia Rodríguez Cala, hired by Gorki Águila to conduct his defense — in a trial against him still unscheduled since it was postponed on 11 February — has been suddenly sanctioned to six months without the ability to practice her profession in court. For this reason, the singer of the … Continue reading “Opponents’ Attorney Can’t Practice / Lilianne Ruiz”
HAVANA, Cuba, January www.cubanet.org – The building where I live has 42 apartments and three floors. Most of the time did not see anyone in the hallways. However, on January 13, at 9 pm, for the second time since the last beating I received (November 19) a group of about 8 or 10 neighbors stood … Continue reading “I’d Rather go Back to Prison / Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello”
HAVANA, Cuba, December, www.cubanet.org-It was raining heavily in Havana. It was the first day of December and Miriam Leiva had come to Cuba carrying the ashes of her husband and the memories of their almost 40 years together. Oscar Espinosa Chepe had died after a long illness that they shared together like so many things … Continue reading ““The psychological torture was intense, permanent. They wanted to erase his mind.” / Lilianne Ruiz”
Havana, Cuba, October 2013, www.cubanet.org – Humberto Real Suarez is another of the men who disembarked on the night of 15 October 1994 on the coasts of Caibarien, along with Armado Sosa Fortuny. Today he is serving a sentence of 30 years imprisonment in “Kilo 8” maximum security prison in Camagüey. The group of seven men, … Continue reading “Humberto Real Suarez: 16 Years Old, Condemned to Death / Lilianne Ruiz”
HAVANA, Cuba, October 18, 2013, Michel Iroy Rodriguez / www.cubanet.org.- At the detention center known as “The Bivouac,” near Calabazar, on the border between the capital municipalities of Arroyo Naranjo and Boyeros, and Cattle Arroyo Naranjo, a repressive wave of arbitrary arrests launched by State Security between the 11th and 14th of this month, just … Continue reading “What Happened in “The Bivouac”? / Michel Iroy Rodriguez”
HAVANA, Cuba , September www.cubanet.org – I don’t remember the first time I heard or read his name, but it must have been in the mid-90s on Radio Marti, which at that time, despite the strong obstruction of its signal, I could still listen to. I do know that by the end of that decade … Continue reading “The Great Chronicler of the Cuban Economic Disaster / Ernesto Santana Zaldivar”
I have lost my little scissors, the ones for cutting fingernails. For a moment I thought the world had ended because here things are very well kept. A lot has to change to find good scissors, especially with the characteristics of the ones I thought I had lost. I was still talking with a friend … Continue reading “Who Keeps Ernesto Borges Prisoner? / Lilianne Ruiz”
(Exclusive, Iván García in Havana) If you want confirmation that socialism does not work, do yourself a favor and visit Alamar. This community, twenty minutes east of Havana, is an example of real urban chaos. A place without rhyme or reason, ugly, poorly constructed buildings rise four, five, even eighteen stories high along poorly paved, winding roads. … Continue reading “An Interview with Berta Soler, Leader of the Ladies in White / Ivan Garcia”
The writer Angel Santiesteban Prats and his son Eduardo Ángel some years ago. By Amir Valle The strategy of UNEAC and certain “disinformed” writers against Ángel Santiesteban One more shame falls on the Writers and Artists Union of Cuba. This time, the shame is a dirty attack, manipulative and disloyal, against Ángel Santiesteban. I read … Continue reading “A Shameful Stab in the Back for Angel Santiesteban from UNEAC / Amir Valle, Angel Santiesteban”
Regis Iglesias and Oswaldo Paya, prior to the 2003 Black Spring At 9 am I called tía Beba’s house. I was waiting to hear Efrén answer the phone as usual and update me on the early news of that March 19th day, as we did every day. The day before I had called in the … Continue reading “A Silhouette of Light in the Midst of Shadows / Regis Iglesias”
Photo: Víctor Manuel Domínguez For someone from Havana, the best thing is to walk the streets in spring. These March days, Jorge Olivera Castillo, 52, poet and journalist, is delighted by the green of the trees, the salty aroma, and the gentle sun. On any weekday morning, he traces his own journey. Aimlessly wandering through … Continue reading “Jorge Olivera: The History of the Cuban Dissidence is Long / Ivan Garcia”
Angel and his son Eduardo Angel Santiesteban, whom they tried to pressure to implicate his father. By Amir Valle Part Two II. The Judicial Web of Outrage False Evidence On July 29, 2009, Angel Santiesteban was detained, accused of having raped his ex-wife, Kenie Rodriguez, from whom he’d been separated for 4 years and who … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban: General Chronology of an Outrage II / Amir Valle”
Most intellectuals and readers agree the first book that managed to provide deep insights about the writer’s life was Virgilio Piñera en persona (Virgilio Piñera in person), an excellent compilation prepared by the critic and researcher Carlos Espinosa. It started to build the pedestal to the work of theintellectual Virgilio. In these pages his family, … Continue reading “The Sad Centenary of Virgilio Pinera Part III / Angel Santiesteban #Cuba”
Translator’s note: This blog post does NOT relate to Angel’s most recent arrest this week. It relates to a series of criminal charges the regime fabricated against him in order to be able to imprison him as a “criminal” rather than as a “political prisoner/prisoner of conscience” for his writings. After the “Cuban government” made … Continue reading “The “Prosecutor” Drops The Most Serious Charges Against Me / Angel Santiesteban”