English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Dimas Castellano, 25 May 2015 — The goal was to match the results obtained in 1912. Failure to meet this target is nothing new, nor are the reasons why. At the closing session of the XI Congress of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) on May 17, the second secretary of the Communist Party of … Continue reading “More But Still Falling Short / Dimas Castellano”
Rebeca Monzo, 27 July 2015 — One of the most annoying problems in our country, as far as services and treatment of the public is concerned, is the humiliation to which we are subjected on a daily basis. This is especially true for women. We are required to leave our handbags, with all our personal … Continue reading “The Customer as Criminal / Rebeca Monzo”
Cubanet.org, Ernesto Perez Chang, Havana, 28 July 2015 – Between the years 2004 and 2007, 65 children from the Los Sitios neighborhood in Central Havana, 7 to 10 years of age, underwent testing in order to determine their degree of lead poisoning. The research, conducted by a team of researchers from the Cuban National Institute … Continue reading “Cancer from High Levels of Metals in Reservoirs? (II) / Cubanet, Ernesto Perez Chang”
14ymedio, José Gabriel Barrenechea, Santa Clara, 17 May 2015 – From the interpretation of a significant event in the history of a nation, the interpreters’ political orientation can be very well surmised. Here we have this date, 24 February 1895 – the day on which our ancestors departed for the last time to the scrubland, … Continue reading “Marti and His Myth / 14ymedio, Jose Gabriel Barrenechea”
14ymedio, Yaiza Santos, Mexico, 22 June 2015 – The Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) in Mexico City organized from 16 to 18 June, the meeting “Poetics of the Present: Narrating Cuba 1956 to 2015,” opened by critic Christopher Domínguez Michael and closed by the journalist Homero Campa. It was a meeting between young … Continue reading ““Literature Does Not Matter. Many Other Things In Cuba Matter More” / 14ymedio, Yaiza Santos”
Iván García, 17 June 2015 — Amid spider webs and musty smells, in a corner of his garage where things that no longer work go to retire, Leonardo has stacked molds for making candies and desserts. There are also three rolling pins, an electric oven outfitted with parts lifted from a state-owned factory, two chrome sandwich … Continue reading “Cuba: Private Sector Entrepreneurs Feel Smothered by the Government / Ivan Garcia”
The Information Society (IS) is an effect of a process of convergence among technological advances, the democratization of information, and communications, which erupted in the 1980s with such force that it caused the United Nations to call a world summit on information, which took place in the Swiss city of Geneva in 2003. At this … Continue reading “Computerization The Old-Fashioned Way / Dimas Castellanos”
“We are aware the abuses caused by the Cuban Adjustment Act and are looking for a way to ensure that only those facing Government oppression benefit from it.” Carlos Curbelo, Republican Congressman from Florida VS “When things change in Cuba, then we should change the Cuban Adjustment Act (…), which certainly helps to resolve the … Continue reading “Debate: Should the Cuban Adjustment Act be Changed? / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana, 25 May 2015 – A sound that is inseparable from the streets of Habana Centro (Central Havana) is the screech of the trucks filled with water, with their metal wheels on the asphalt. This symphony of necessity has become more intense in recent months because of the frequent cuts in supply that … Continue reading “About 60,000 Havanans Receive Water via Tanker Trucks / Rosa Lopez, 14ymedio”
Ivan Garcia, 6 April 2015 — Without being an expert in economic matters or the Wall Street currency market, Erasmo likes to trust his instincts. For fourteen years he has been engaged in buying and selling dollars and euros. Also convertible pesos. In the doorway of his house, within walking distance of a state-run currency exchange … Continue reading “Cuba: Money Is Better in Dollars / Ivan Garcia”
Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez, Havana, 30 March 2015 — Despite the fact that on the three occasions I ever visited Varadero my experiences were not particularly pleasant, that beach – which today for the majority of Cubans is almost as inaccessible as Waikiki – occupies a special place in my nostalgia. The first time I … Continue reading “When I got to Varadero* / Cubanet, Luis Cino Alvarez”
Angel Santiesteban, Border Patrol Prison Unit, Havana. February, 2015 — I do not have access to the news online nor the articles by specialists and political scientists in the daily papers with respect to the recent dialogues between President Obama and the president of Cuba. And, as the days pass and we are ever farther … Continue reading “Only One Question / Angel Santiesteban”
The newspaper Granma insists that “it’s a code for the rights of women”. But in 1919, as many women proportionally graduated from the University of Havana as graduated from universities in the U.S. And with the Revolution, Cuban women are forced to raise their children under the mores of socialism, with the slogan “We will … Continue reading “Family Code: Socialism’s Straight Jacket / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”
Luis Felipe Rojas, 12 February 2015 — Just days after Ángel Santiesteban Prats sent this interview to Martí Noticias, he was transferred in an untimely manner to Villa Marista, the general barracks of Cuban State Security. However, his replies were already safeguarded, as was he. This storyteller — who won the UNEAC (Cuban Writers and Artists … Continue reading “Ángel Santiesteban: “I am a social reflection of my times” / Luis Felipe Rojas”
With the death today of the Queen of Campesina Music, Celina González, the noon news had a long and flattering account of her career. Fortunately, they skipped over the 1964-1980 hiatus when Celina disappeared from public view, briefly noting that “the duo Celina and Reutilio unfortunately disappeared,” or something like that. The truth is that Celina … Continue reading “Salve Regina / Regina Coyula”