English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Somos+, Eliecer Avila, 15 July 2015 — The upcoming visit of Pope Francis sets the stage for a new opportunity for civil society and the political opposition to live up to the expectations of thousands of Cubans inside and outside the country, who have waited for a long time for a coherent and dignified performance … Continue reading “The Visit of Pope Francis Presents the Opposition with a New Test / Somos+”
Somos+, 31 July 2015 — The engineer Eliecer Avila, president of the Movement Somos+, was received in Buenos Aires by the National Deputy Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann, member of the Union PRO party and president of Parladem (Parliamentarians for Democracy). After a cordial conversation about the Cuban reality and Argentina, the deputy was interested in knowing whether the … Continue reading “Eliecer Avila is Received in Buenos Aires by National Deputy, Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann / Somos+”
Ultimatum from the political police to musician Goki Aguila, participant in the peaceful marches of the Ladies in White. Cubanet.org, Camilo Ernesto Olivera Peidro, Havana, 6 August 2015 – Tuesday, August 4, Gorki Aguila, leader of the punk band Porno for Ricardo, was visited at his home by an official from the PNR Sector (Revolutionary … Continue reading ““If You March this Sunday, You Won’t Leave the Country Again” / Cubanet, Camilo Ernesto Olivera”
EFE/14ymedio, Sara Gomez Armas, Havana, 6 August 2015 — A few days before the American flag will fly above the embassy in Havana, the city’s historian and Cuban intellectual Eusebio Leal said in an interview with EFE that Cuba had never had “an anti-United States sentiment, only an anti-imperialist sentiment.” “Cubans have always understood this subtlety. … Continue reading “Eusebio Leal: “In Cuba There Is No Anti-US Sentiment, Only Anti-Imperialist” / 14ymedio, Sara Gomez”
Ivan Garcia, 4 August 2015 — In Latin American literature, magical realism has weighty authors like Alejo Carpentier, Arturo Úslar Pietri, or the genius of Aracataca, Gabriel García Márquez, who with his fictional town of Macondo portrayed a continent of rascals, loafers, and pompous leaders. In politics, magical realism has its ultimate leader in Fidel Castro. … Continue reading “Cuba and its Magical Realism in Politics / Ivan Garcia”
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”
Ivan Garcia, 30 July 2015 — Browsing the internet outdoors in 90 degree heat could be classified as an extreme sport. If you stroll through downtown 23rd Street in the Havana district known as La Rampa, you will observe about a hundred adolescents and adults clustered under a covered walkway, in a stairway or on a … Continue reading “Wifi in Havana: Incompetence and Resignation / Ivan Garcia”
The Antecedents The Revolutionaries who took power in 1959 substituted the 1940 Constitution for the Fundamental Law of the Cuban State*, the Prime Minister assumed the powers of the Head of Government, and the Council of Ministers replaced the Congress. Measures for “the benefit of the people” were decreed that legitimized the power acquired through … Continue reading “Causes and Dangers of the Government’s Erratic Course / Dimas Castellano”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 31 July 2015 — Shy, but with a quick wit and a direct expression, the filmmaker Miguel Coyula (b. Havana 1977) opens the door the room where he works and lets 14ymedio into this creative space in a Vedado apartment. The director of Memories of Underdevelopment is craftsman of the cinema: … Continue reading ““I want more movies and fewer laws” / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 July 2015 – The meeting held Thursday in Havana by some twenty civil society organizations and the political community has been defined as a new step in a common agenda. The initiative aims to work for democracy, fundamental freedoms, and a Rule of Law in Cuba, according to the activist Manuel Cuesta … Continue reading “Cuban Dissidents Outline A Common Agenda / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 30 July 2015 — One day it’s cooking oil, another it’s floor cleaning clothes or washing detergent, but there is always a product that all of a sudden doesn’t appear on the shelves either in the ration market or in the hard currency stores, “nor even in the spiritual centers” as … Continue reading “When the Eggs Go Missing / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
Somos+, 13 July 2105 — One of the most important qualities of a politician is credibility. I am one of those who believe that credibility must be earned — and must not be lost, because sometimes it cannot be recovered. The obligatory homage to “the caste” has been the tool used to obviate the need … Continue reading “Machado’s Young People / Somos+, Javier Cabrera”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 July 2015 — Experts have just confirmed what peasants in Las Tunas Province already knew due to the declining yields of their harvests and the degradation of their land. Eighty percent of the province’s arable land has already eroded, and another 28% is facing desertification. According to reports appearing in the official … Continue reading “Eighty Percent of Las Tunas Province Is Facing Soil Erosion / 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 29 July 2015 — Twenty minutes after the start of the news, the only things they had announced were the anniversaries of historic events and obituaries. As if nothing has happened in the country now. For the evening prime time news, the world stopped fifty years ago and remains only something to remember … Continue reading “Drivel and Anniversaries: Cuban Television is a Wreck / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 22 July 2015 — The reopening of the Cuban embassy in Washington finally took place amid extravagant fanfare, and, judging by the profuse media coverage, with catchy headlines and photos on the front pages of almost all the newspapers, it seemed that there was nothing more relevant taking place in the … Continue reading “New Embassy for an Old Dictatorship / Miriam Celaya”
