English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Like every September 24, this Monday Catholics are celebrating the Day of Mercies, one of the invocations of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin of Mercies, or of Mercy, as she is also known, is the patron of the city of Barcelona and is identified with the virtues of forgiveness and benevolence. In the Yoruba pantheon … Continue reading “A Special Day for the Ladies in White / Reinaldo Escobar”
I have lost count of the times I have heard the phrase “I am not interested in politics”. Often, it is young Cubans who say it. It’s legitimate that we may not be interested in politics, especially if one has lived most of their life under a totalitarian system where even the flight of a … Continue reading “Hypocrisy, Fear…Both Things”
I stay in Cuba and do not leave because otherwise I cannot imagine having to ask for a white card or exit permit in order to permanently choose the place where I want to spend the rest of my life. I stay in Cuba because I could not bear the humiliation of having to seek … Continue reading “Why I Stay (Part 2) / Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez”
Saturday September 1st at 7:00 pm SATS Literature in Liberty: With Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Cuban New Thought contest winners (e-Maro, Frank Correa, Orlando Freire Santana, Dimas Castellanos) Ave 1ra %46 y 60 #4606. Miramar, Playa. La Habana. Saturday September 1, 12:02 PM Detained @OLPL and Silvia Corbelle for Event at Estado de Sats: … Continue reading “Literature in Liberty: With Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Cuban New Thought Contest Winners / Estado de Sats, For Another Cuba”
JOIN IN SUFFERINGS So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. (2 Timothy 1.8) Any action which I have done is a result of my faith in God. Faith was the first motivation. … Continue reading “How to Apply the Words of Paul in the Cuban Context / Mario Lleonart”
When in Cuba we say “the system” we are referring to a circumstance which, even though we recognize it as abnormal, arbitrary and unnatural — the condition of being on an Island and being subjected to a “political-ideological education” experiment, as well as the terror — can be, for many, unbearable. There are many families … Continue reading “Where the Dictatorship Nests / Lilianne Ruiz”
By Dagoberto Valdés On the afternoon of Sunday, 22 July 2012, we were surprised by unexpected and terrible news: Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, founder and leader of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), had tragically died near the city of Bayama, seeking the roots of our Cubanness to say goodbye to the land he loved so much … Continue reading “Oswaldo Pay: Example and Legacy / IntraMuros, Dagoberto Valdes”
When the funeral cortege left the chapel in Cerro with the body of the political leader Oswaldo Payá, having barely advanced a few yards, it was stopped for some twenty minutes. Something happened at the beginning of the caravan. Several people got out of the car to find out what; we feared the worse although … Continue reading “Detention of Antonio Rodiles: Guilty of the Free "Estado de Sats" / Ángel Santiesteban”
In one of those programs that State Security shows on Cuban television, I have seen one of the men I most admire for his courage in this saga for the freedom of Cuba. But State Security did not really present Antúnez, nor speak of his years as a political prisoner, of the horrors of Cuban … Continue reading “May being brave not be so costly, and being a coward not so worthwhile* / Lilianne Ruíz”
It’s still not a year since we suffered the death of Laura Pollán — in October — and in January that of Wilmar Villar, when mourning once again cloaked the feelings and spirit of the alternative civil society in Cuba. Oswaldo Payá, the most prominent of the opposition leaders inside Cuba, is physically absent from … Continue reading “Another Absence / Rosa María Rodríguez Torrado”
In less than a year the Cuban opposition has lost two of its most important leaders. On October 14 of last year life of Laura Pollán, the principal coordinator of the Ladies in White and the key figure in the release of the Black Spring prisoners, was cut short. A week ago a car crash, … Continue reading “The Death of Oswaldo Payá and the Opposition in Cuba / Yoani Sánchez”
Again, Cuba’s general-president has offered his gastronomic policy to the American president. “The table is set…” said a Raúl Castro who appeared erratic and inconsistent at the podium this 26th of July, as if a touch of rum had been added to his morning coffee. He laughed at his own bad jokes like some street … Continue reading “The Empty Table / Miriam Celaya”
by Ernesto Santana Zaldívar HAVANA, Cuba, June, www.cubanet.org – In the ’90s, the generation of the Novísimos (the Newest) brought to Cuban literature themes and narrative forms that marked a certain rupture with the previous generations. Angel Santiesteban, born in 1966, became one of the most emblematic creators of this time, not only for the … Continue reading “Now I feel more free in my conscience: Interview with the writer Ángel Santiesteban / Ángel Santiesteban”
Talitá, cum, is a phrase in Aramaic, a language spoken in Palestine in Jesus’ time, meaning “I speak to you”, and it belongs to the gospel of Mark 5, 21-43, and the church has set it has aside for us to meditate this week. This gospel tells us the story of a woman, who, for … Continue reading “CUBA, Talit’ cum – I speak to you / Ricardo Medina”
So the CLICK Festival ended well in Havana. It must seem incredible to have a technology Festival without access to the Internet. This didn’t weaken the perception of breathing fresh air in Cuba. Metamorphosing, formatting, restarting, because we are getting old and the speed at which the world moves seems inconsistent with this sluggish reality. … Continue reading “Connecting as Fast as You Can Click… / Lilianne Ruíz”
