English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
On the occasion of the conference “Cuba: Changes in the Cuban process?” sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and CADAL (Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America), held last December 4th through the 6th, I was invited to participate, along with other Cubans on the island, on Panel 5, about human rights, and I sent … Continue reading “Human Rights: the Ongoing Struggle / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
On the occasion of the conference “Cuba: Changes in the Cuban process?” sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and CADAL (Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America), held last December 4th through the 6th, I was invited to participate, along with other Cubans on the island, on Panel 5, about human rights, and I sent … Continue reading “Human Rights: the Ongoing Struggle”
As an unexpected Christmas present, Doors to the Imagination: New Cuban Literature arrived in Havana last week. The volume compiles the prize winners and honorable mentions from the Voices of Change writing contest, sponsored in mid-2008 by the Independent Libraries of Cuba Project. Although the formal presentation has not yet been made,a dozen copies circulated … Continue reading “Prize Winning Doors / Miguel Iturría Savón”
In October Laura Pollan left us, in a dark hospital on a drizzly day, in a year, 2011, that had been born already battered. In the early months, the final prisoners of the Black Spring had been released and national and international headlines gave most of the credit to the Catholic Church and Spain’s Foreign … Continue reading “2011, That Year So Remote / Yoani Sánchez”
A debate encounter sponsored by the Catholic digital publication Espacio Laical took place on Saturday, October 29th, 2011. The agency EFE, the leading Spanish news agency, reported the event in a very laudable manner, as published on October 30th on the digital site Cubaencuentro. The report states that “The new role that the Catholic Church … Continue reading “Between the Gun and the Cassock / Miriam Celaya”
An article by a foreign news agency recently reported on the Internet, “Cuban Dissidents at a Crossroads”by Paul Haven and Andrea Rodríguez of the Associated Press, suffers from, at least, two of the most common and serious limitations of accredited journalism in Cuba: contempt for the nationals of this Island and an almost total disregard … Continue reading “Strange “Estrangement” of the Foreign Press in Cuba / Miriam Celaya”
So Orlando Zapata gave himself up with the only weapon he had. Guillermo Fariñas then went to the edge of the abyss, from where it is assumed there is no return, but his spiritual energy carried him and brought him back; besides, the fight is not over, that was only one chapter. Both Zapata and … Continue reading “Cuba, We Who Are About to Die Salute You / Angel Santiesteban”
“Life is worth nothing if I ignore that the assassin took a different path and is preparing another ambush.” – Pablo Milanes When I retrospectively analyze my pastoral relationship with Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, I discover that neither international forces or media campaigns were interested in him. Instead, God, who is never neutral before the … Continue reading “Divine Providence and the Assassination of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia / Ricardo Medina”
Recently a fellow Cuban living abroad and I exchanged views on the advisability of hunger strikes as a way to confront the dictatorship. The subject, of course, was motivated by the strike initiated by Jorge Luis Artiles (Bebo) last May 9, in the city of Santa Clara, and that was assumed on Friday, June 3, … Continue reading “Of Strikes and Causes: Reflections on a Conflict / Miriam Celaya”
As a child whenever I heard the name of Perico*, a town in Matanzas Province, I ended up with a pain in my stomach from laughing so hard. Until I learned that a part of my father’s family was from that area and the joke didn’t seem so funny to me any more. Last Saturday … Continue reading “Twelve Men in Brief / Yoani Sánchez”
Indubitably most of these testimonies will be about the spiritual liberation of many Cubans. I will join them, but I would like to take the opportunity of this brief space to also thank God for the physical liberation of an elevated number of prisoners that before the celebration of the last three campaigns, and mainly … Continue reading “THE TESTIMONY THAT WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED / Mario Barosso”
I saw him two times in my life. The first time was in Placetas. I can’t remember if it was at the house of Amado Moreno or that of Antunez and Iris. From there, he left to organize something about a protest we would later participate in, but I did not see him again because … Continue reading “A Few Minutes with The Student / Luis Felipe Rojas”
José Lino Asencio. Photograph courtesy of Ricardo Medina Since the death of John Wilfredo Soto this past May 8th as a result of beatings received by local police, successive acts of violence, threats and harassment of various kinds have been carried out against dissident groups and individuals in the city of Santa Clara. My friend … Continue reading “Information from Santa Clara / Miriam Celaya”
by Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez The burial of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia began on foot from the funeral home to Camacho Street where the Santa Clara cemetery is located, and there his remains were laid to rest. The sun was strong and the heat was intense but those men and women- relatives, friends, or partners in … Continue reading “I Will Go / Mario Barosso”
The crime committed against Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia has taken an even more treacherous turn as the assassin, upon trying to dust off another death, has used methods so low like releasing a testimony from his sister Rosa who has suffered from psychiatric disorders since her adolescence. She (Rosa) is a person that is greatly … Continue reading “God Despises Lies (Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia) / Mario Barosso”
