English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Ever since Sebastián de Ocampo circumnavigated Cuba, between 1508 and 1509, the seduction of the then blue and clear waters of Havana Bay began. He named it Puerto Carenas* because he stopped here to repair some damage to his ship and to renew his fresh water reserves. Two small rivers flow into this bay. Ocampo … Continue reading “The Dying Bay / Miriam Celaya”
The line at a home-based private “pizza parlor” — takeaway only — in Havana. Exclusive to The Huffington Post. Under the strict canons of the socialist economy — planned, centralized and subsidized — self-employment has always been seen as an undesirable species of pest that periodically needs to be abated and occasionally even exterminated. One … Continue reading “Will a Half Million Laid Off Cubans Find Work in Private Enterprise? / Yoani Sánchez”
My generation grew up listening to the litany. It wasn’t the only one. It was barely a new one. But I can attest to that: along with a motto I never understood “Pioneers for Communism, we shall be like Ché!”, my legs and my conscious grew up hearing that the country my grandparents had, without … Continue reading “20 Reasons to Doubt / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Minister of Finances and Prices In July 2009, The Minister of Finances and Prices, a member of the Council of Ministers, ordered the confiscation of property obtained by Teófilo Roberto, the father of Antonio Roberto, during the period from 1998 to 2008. The action was taken under the authority of Decree-Law 149 (“Regarding the seizure … Continue reading “Minister Places Citizen in Indefensible Position / Laritza Diversent”
The Minister of Finances and Prices, Lina Olinda Pedraza Rodriguez, ordered the execution of a process of confiscation against Teófilo Roberto López Licor, 66, based on Legal Decree 149 “on the confiscation of goods and accumulations made through improper enrichment,” known as the Law Against the Newly Rich and its regulation, Decree No. 187, both … Continue reading “The Powers of the Minister of Finances and Prices are Unconstitutional and Arbitrary / Laritza Diversent”
A new rise in prices, not announced in the media, has been taking place silently, both in products that are purchased only in CUC as well as in others, sold in Cuban pesos. “Silently” in a manner of speaking, because at times the price increases are a scandalous 20% or more over the previous value. … Continue reading “Economy Bankrupt and Prices Rising”
UNDERSTANDING THE CURTAIN AS A TRIUMPH Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Do not talk anymore of Havana. Do not talk any more of Cuba. Do not talk anymore about the Revolution. Do not talk anymore. As naive intellectuals, especially a Dictionary of grandiloquent words. Some Complete Works with patches of politically perfect paragraphs. An Encyclopedia stuffed … Continue reading “CUBAN CODA”
Photo: Dagoberto Valdes, Juan Juan Almeida, Yoani Sanchez Yoani Sanchez: 1. You are an important public figure, especially because you are the son of one of the historic icons of the Cuban Revolution, the commander Juan Almeida Bosque. How have you dealt with these circumstances? Have you taken advantage of them? Have they become a … Continue reading “Interview with Juan Juan Almeida*”
Some old strategists of the partisan information in Cuba feel nostalgia when they evoke the first thirty years of the Revolution. No one doubts that in this period a majority supported the olive-green government of Fidel Castro. Not Later. Certain things changed. The logical wear and tear of power. The proverbial economic inefficiency. The emergence of … Continue reading “The War of Insults: A Dead-End Street”
The old computer in Lucerne The idea of having a blog where I could post about life in my country and to have the power to write in the first person about the small things in this scene that surround me, that was an idea that was cooked a long time over a slow flame. … Continue reading “From Havana, Year 1”
They say it’s not important to know, but to know someone who knows. I know another variant that recommends having the telephone number of an expert on hand. This variant isn’t very appropriate here, because, despite the thousands of new mobile phone lines with new contracts recently, only one out of ten Cubans owns a … Continue reading “Transparency or nudity”