English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Without McDonald’s, Burger King or KFC, fast food par excellence in 21st century Cuba consists of fried food and croquettes made from unknown ingredients. Throughout Havana there are thousands of street vendors specializing in rustic cooking. They sell fried food and heavy croquettes. Some like Ignacio prepare the coating for their fried items with wheat … Continue reading “Cuban Fast Food / Ivan Garcia”
Let’s take a look at government predictions. According to state technocrats, Cuba’s GDP will grow 3.7% in 2013. Spokesmen for General Raul Castro claim that, in spite of an economic crisis affecting half the world, social services will remain at 2012 levels. The “good news” keeps on coming from the Palace of the Revolution. The … Continue reading “Cuba 2013; A Cautious Forecast / Ivan Garcia #Cuba”
I worry about this old man who, after working all his life, now sells cigarettes on the corner. Also the girl who looks in the mirror and values her body for “the sex market,” where she could meet a foreigner to get her out of here. I worry about the black man with leathery skin … Continue reading “What I Worry About / Yoani Sánchez”
“Good morning,” said the woman with the thick voice and deep tone. My sister responded in kind and the woman began offering medications for sale. The clock indicated it was seven minutes past eight in the morning. The twins had just left for school. Yesterday a neighbor commented on the shortage of books and notebooks … Continue reading “The Perverse Path of Repression / Agustin Valentin Lopez Canino”
A few days agoI was chatting with a group of friends, all of whom were concerned about the shortages in the state-run hard currency stores and the growth of thebolsa negra*—“the black bag,” also known as the “black market” or “underground market.” This exchange of opinions proved interesting. First of all, the shortage is a … Continue reading “The Bolsa Negra / Fernando Damaso”
There are lots of things that can make a person happy. A sunset. Contemplating a full moon. Chatting with friends. Reading a good book. Watching a baseball game. Enjoying a favourite meal. Playing Monopoly with the kids. Sitting on the Malecon* with a guitar, half a litre of run and breaking down the musical offerings … Continue reading “Can You Be Happy in Cuba? / Iván García”
General Raúl Castro acknowledges that beans are more important than canons. For the green khaki overlords food is a matter of national security. Since taking power on July 31, 2006, Castro II has tried to revitalize agricultural production. But, so far, nothing. The efforts of the enormous and inefficient Ministry of Agriculture have not allowed … Continue reading “Raul Castro Knows That Food is a Time Bomb / Iván García”
The pepper is of carved wood and a seasoning container on the table says “Sedano’s” in green letters. The private restaurant waits for the supplies that will arrive this Saturday in an enormous delivery transported by a “mula” — a mule. If the delivery is even a day late, many of the items offered on … Continue reading “The Self-Employed and the “Mules” / Yoani Sánchez”
To ask for money from relatives who live in the United States of America is a constant in Cuba. Whether it is done through one of most expensive international collect calls from the island, an e-mail, or through a letter describing a string of scarcities, at the end of the missive money is requested from … Continue reading “Remittances and the Silence of Their Beneficiaries on the Island / Iván García”
Dennis, 39, and his wife Elvira, 37, spent seven months trading off between sleeping on the floor and on a mat full of patches, next to the bed of their 10-year-old son, who was involved in a complex surgery at the Juan Manuel Marquez Pediatric Hospital, located in Marianao. They have relatives in Havana, but … Continue reading “The Two Faces of Medicine in Cuba / Iván García”
Rodrigo Chavez Rodriguez, Attorney Ask an ordinary citizen for their rights, it would be like asking how far Mars is from Earth, it would be impossible to get a precise answer, clear and consistent, but if you asked for a list of what is prohibited, they could spend a long time reciting a list. It … Continue reading “They say, and the lies aren’t mine / Rodrigo Chavez Rodriguez, Cuban Law Association”
If the rumor about Cuban baseball is confirmed, I think the bad news for the national sport will exceed that having played a tournament in Rotterdam to forget, or that of having been deprived, for the umpteenth time in recent years, of an international title (this time, by Taipei of China). The threatening rumor is … Continue reading “The Passion Kills Us / Ernesto Morales Licea”
It’s a war of power against power. On one side, General Raúl Castro manages military counter-intelligence, pulls the strings in the major economic sectors of the nation and has consolidated his cabinet with loyalists as bullet proof as atomic bombs. But behind the scenes, his adversaries look at him sideways. They are high-flying bureaucrats, local … Continue reading “The Real Enemies of Raul Castro’s Reforms / Iván García”
The fiery debate and emotions around the reforms of General Raul Castro were circumscribed to the air-conditioned rooms of the Palace of Conventions, where between April 16-19 the five commissions of the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party were in session. Cubans warily followed the central report and saw on the TV news the … Continue reading “Still the Same Thing / Iván García”
“I know the naysayers are coming now to pour cold water on my illusions,” a neighbor parodied in a tango tempo, on hearing a Cuban television report revealing a plan to flood with soybeans what has been taken over by marabou weed, where sugar cane was once planted in the fertile lands of Ciego de … Continue reading “The Era of Soy? / Reinaldo Escobar”