English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana 6 February 2015 — Discreet and elusive, donning gray habits and cross-adorned veils, they attend mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Pinar del Río. The three nuns, originally from India, belong to the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget headed by the Italian religious … Continue reading “The Bridgettines, in the Shadows of Power / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 March 2015 — The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development awarded $21 million for the rehabilitation of water supply and sewer networks in Havana, as reported Thursday in the official media. With the signing of three agreements Wednesday, the second phase of the project gets underway; the project began in 2012 when the Fund … Continue reading “Kuwait invests $ 21 million in hydraulic networks Havana / 14ymedio”
Iván García, 26 February 2015 — José lives with his wife and five kids, crammed into a nine by twelve foot space with a wooden platform, in a shack in Santos Suárez, a slum south of Havana. The tenement is a precarious spot where the electric cables hang from the roof, water runs down the narrow … Continue reading “With Raul Castro, Are the Poor Poorer? / Ivan Garcia”
Photo: Rebeca The concern Cuban authorities show for the protection of the global environment is striking. Declarations and denunciations fill the pages and airwaves of government’s media outlets, assuring participation in any UN event dedicated to this topic. It is a shame that the same concern is not directed at solving the serious environmental problems … Continue reading “Streetlamp / Fernando Damaso”
Havana, Cuba. It happened in the Motel on 11th and 24th streets, near the iron bridge connecting Vedado and Miramar. In a room rented for two hours, the unpleasant whisper was heard: “Mami, you have a wonderful stench!” It was the 1980’s, Cuba was still receiving 5 billion in subsidy from the Soviet Union, the … Continue reading “Where to Have Sex in Havana? / Camilo Ernesto Olivera Peidro”
HAVANA, Cuba — The mega-port of Mariel and the impoverished town of Mariel are two sides of the “prosperous and sustainable socialism” — wealth and poverty — which Raul Castro promotes as a “solution” to Cuba’s problems. The Brazilian company Odebrecht S.A. and Cuba’s Almacenes Universales S.A. — a subsidiary of the GAESA business group, run by … Continue reading “The Two Mariels: Mega-Port and Ghetto / Polina Martinez Shvietsova”
Arrogance is a personality trait impossible to hide for those who suffer from it. In fact, it becomes more obvious when an arrogant individual tries to cover his proverbial petulance under a cloak of feigned humility. The worst of such a subject, however, is his histrionic ability that allows him to deceive considerable groups of … Continue reading “The Voices of Cubans? / Miriam Celaya”
HAVANA, CUBA. Each day we awaken, and the dinosaur is still here. The delegates of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) will meet with the master generals of the island-farm on the 11th, 12th and 13th of this month. In the tedious lines that the UNEAC members stand in for the Internet, … Continue reading “Artists on the General’s Farm / Camilo Ernesto Olivera”
A few weeks ago I was “driven” to Calixto García General Hospital by a doctor friend who, like the Orisha deity Elegguá, opened doors for me. The purpose of my visit was to receive medical attention. I have no complaints about the professionalism of the medical staff who, in spite of the difficulties and shortages with which … Continue reading “Blemishes in Calixto Hospital / Fernando Damaso”
He raised his hand at the meeting. The director had told them “don’t hold back,” so he took advantage of the chance to say what he’d remained silent about for months. He started with the very low wages paid to public health workers. Then he talked about the dirty bathrooms, the water shortages, that the … Continue reading “Criticism: Constructive or Complacent? / Yoani Sanchez”
Havana, Cuba – At la Playa de El Chivo (El Chivo beach ), on the northeast coast of Havana, at the foot of the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (Three Kings Castle), people carry on fishing for sport and business, between the marine waters and sewage, without the health authorities, environmental authorities or … Continue reading “No-one Knows What Fish They are Buying / Ernesto Garcia Diaz”
It was the evening of November 29, it was still raining in Havana and Rebollar Augustine, a retired 71-year-old resident of Vedado, stood crestfallen covering his face with his hands so no one would see him cry. His mattress, appliances, clothing, furniture were all wet and to worsen his mood, his neighbor below started to … Continue reading “Booby-trapped Roofs / Pablo Pascual Mendez Pina”
“Communals” is the People’s Power Company charged with garbage collection, among other tasks. Behind the “12 Floors,” as they call the building in the block formed by Tulipán, Loma, Colón and 39th streets in Nuevo Vedado, the solution to trash collection for this gigantic apartment block, as well as for the adjoining houses, has been … Continue reading “NONcommunal Solutions / Rebeca Monzo”
HAVANA, Cuba , September 18, 2013 , www.cubanet.org.- For approximately 15 days, several prisoners complained about cholera cases within the Combinado del Este prison in Havana. So far the authorities of the Ministry of Public Health have not reported anything. Pedro Pablo de Armas Carrero, an inmate who leads a movement called Inner Reality from … Continue reading “Inmate Dies in Havana Jail, Possibly From Cholera / Laritza Diversent”
Havana, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org — More than a month has passed since the words of army general Raul Castro Ruz in the first ordinary session of the eighth legislature of the National Assembly of Popular Power in the Convention Hall, July 7, 2013. If some believed that after that discourse things were going to improve, … Continue reading “More Theft and More Corruption / Gladys Linares”
