English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Today, New York unravelled a little before my uneasiness. My heart shrinks at the hour of twilight. The city makes itself ephemeral, Cuba emerges with the darkness. I extend my hands and breathe out loud, but still it’s as if never again I would be able to love my love. I buy cards to call … Continue reading “Majestic / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Preliminary Note to readers: For reasons way beyond my control, I did not have the chance to update the blog for many days. The Desdecuba.com page was hacked twice, and Yoani Sánchez and other friends are still trying to get it fixed. I am posting a new article, and I hope complete service will be … Continue reading “Licentiousness of the Press / Miriam Celaya”
Times are changing in Cuba. A simple comparison to five years ago will sustain this statement. One of the expressions of this change is the proposal brought forth by a heterogeneous group of citizens (I have grown fond of the term) at Laboratorio Casa Cuba* to discuss a topic of interest to all of us, … Continue reading “Everyone / Regina Coyula”
I remember one of my last telephone calls from the National Hospital for prisoners in the Cuban capital when I was about to head to Spain. I spoke on the phone with Yoani Sanchez two hours before my exile to Spain. She was at Jose Marti airport to meet me in person and say goodbye, … Continue reading “A Hug in Miami / Pablo Pacheco”
Blogging a Bridge From Havana The New York Times Havana is a city of flags, says Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, a Cuban blogger whose photographs show them dangling from telephone wires, draped over headstones and reflected in windows and puddles. The tricolor standard is everywhere. So, too, is Cuban state security. They hauled him in … Continue reading “Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo in the New York Times Lens Blog”
What makes a city is its people. The Capitol is not the most important thing in Havana, nor are the abundance of churches and alleys what is most striking of Camagüey, nor is the Moncada Barracks the greatest thing in Santiago, nor are their seawall walks the most pleasant parts of Caibarién, Cienfuegos, Gibara and … Continue reading “The Best Site in Pinar del Rio / Henry Constantin”
By Yusimi Rodriguez (Translation from Havana Times) HAVANA TIMES — For months I had wanted to interview Reinaldo Escobar – the blogger and moderator of an audiovisual panel discussion project called Razones Ciudadanas. He’s also the husband of blogger Yoani Sanchez, who is currently on an international tour. We met up at a cafe in … Continue reading “Two Part Interview of Reinaldo Escobar From Havana Times / Reinaldo Escobar”
Recently, from Washington, D.C. to New York, renowned Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez and I have shared some unforgettable days together as pro-democracy activists. After a complicated process involving application forms and NGOs, we were welcomed in Washington by U.S. Representatives, members of Congress, senators, and by various ministries of the White House and the State … Continue reading “Into the White House, Out of the U.N. / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
There are contrasts that make one think. While Eliecer Avila convokes an opposition movement “We are more,” from the island Wendy Guerra offers us this culinary chronicle about the restaurant “El cocinero” – The Cook. The story begins like this: “A few months ago Camila and Rafa, two young people, with the help of their … Continue reading “Contrasts / Ernesto Hernandez Busto”
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Yoani Sanchez, MJ Porter in New York City. Photo from Penultimos Dias Many of my dear readers have written asking for a comment on the long tour of Yoani Sánchez through several countries, and the travel abroad of other figures of internal dissent such as Eliecer Avila, Rosa María Payá, Berta … Continue reading “To Root Out the Remnants / Miriam Celaya”
International Condemnation, Ltd. by Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo / March 4, 2013 / No comments Cuban Blogger Yoani Sánchez’s world tour illuminates Castroism outside of the Island. Yoani Sánchez (center) in the Brazilian House of Representatives. To her right is Dado Galvão, director of the documentary ‘Cuba-Honduras Connection.’ Photo: José Cruz. Yoani Sánchez, an outspoken … Continue reading “OLPL in Sampsonia Way… in English / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Among the somewhat reasonable excitement over the traveling out of Cuba of some of the most glamorous of the dissidents like Yoani Sanchez, Rosa Maria Paya, and Eliecer Avila, extremely alarming things are happening. Two independent reporters arrested (they released Cedeño but Calixto Roman continues to be locked up). Angel Santiesteban gets of every morning … Continue reading “Bad — Very Bad — News / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Yoani Sanchez in Brazil…
[Note: This version was posted on Luis Felipe Roja’s blog. A longer version is available here.] By Amir Valle I’m sorry… I can’t cry victory only because (finally!) Yoani Sánchez, Eliécer Ávila, Rosa María Payá and others who, of course, will do it in the next months, now can travel without the humiliating exit permit. … Continue reading “Cuba Doesn’t Matter or We Still Can’t Claim Victory… Yet / Luis Felipe Rojas”
