Translating Cuba

In Cuba, as in the rest of the Americas, interest in the novels is proverbial. First simply as reading; then in listening t on the radio and late seeing on television. From these latter, the contemporary population borrowed some names to highlight certain developments. For example, private establishments that sell food are called “Paladares” (palates), a term from a Brazilian telenovela.

But it is not just ordinary citizens who have resorted to this practice. In general elections for the National Assembly, government authorities promote the candidacy for the highest single parliamentary investiture with the title novelistic “Todos Valen” (all are worthy), taken from another Brazilian soap opera.

This year, on February 4, there will be voting for the National Assembly. Candidates, 612, shall be elected under this novel-based consideration: Todos Valen. Half of them have been designated by a nomination committee that is not the least bit candid. The vast majority belong to the Cuban Communist Party or the Young Communist League. All will be parliamentarians grateful to their political benefactors. All of them should prepare to raise their arms repeatedly skyward in the most unanimous votes of the hemisphere. All will be new players in the novel of the Cuban legislature, which has repeated itself in every meeting of the parliament since its creation 36 years ago. Those who agree. Those who oppose. Those who abstain. Adopted unanimously.

Rafael Leon Rodriguez

January 8 2013

She doesn’t need castles, noble titles, estates, gigantic personal parcels nor grand properties. She is the daughter of a general, and not just any general, she is the daughter of the general-president of Cuba.

Mrs. Mariela Castro is the owner by inheritance of one of the greatest and most coveted treasures of any warlord: a country. Before 2006 she was the niece of the “historic dictator” and the daughter or the chief of the Cuban army and an outstanding female guerrilla from Santiago de Cuba. I imagine that as she was growing up she could always count on the magic hand that benefits “the anointed leaders of power” and their friends and family. She just had to desire something for her fairy godmother with the olive-green wand to come to her aid and solve her problems.

It was her uncle together with a group of guerrillas who made the revolution, who established this model that violates the rights and freedoms of Cubans, and her father is one of its stewards.

Mariela studied psychology. Possibly due to her lineage — which allows her to resolve with a telephone call material issues, of logistics, foreign travel, etc. — that made her choose to direct the National Sex Education Center. She was also selected this past December, purely by chance, to become a member of the Cuban parliament. Things of princesses, who dynastically demand the dignity of the office, some would say, more attention, authority and protocols than enjoyed so far in Cuba. She will also receive deferential treatment on each foreign trip she chooses to take after February — does anyone doubt it? — as a parliamentarian.

I would not invest my time to write about it, if it weren’t that I think that behind these “whims” is the arrogance of the heiress and machination of real power to “keep their hands in the State pie” and maintain their lifestyles through being the children of the traditional leaders. With the infanta Mariela in the national chamber of “approved” notables, they guaranteed “her election” — always unanimous, of course — to occupy the future vice-royalty of the country, which has been turned into a feudal fiefdom of one family that combines abuse of power, disrespect and contempt for the freedom of Cubans, with the “castrating” meaning of its own surname.

Rosa Maria Rodriguez Torrado

January 8 2013

By Ignacio Estrada Cepero, Independent Journalist

Havana, Cuba. Last weekend the America Theatre presented the show “Another Dawn”. The staging brought the Havana audience musical themes composed by Meme Solis one of Cuba’s most famous musicians. After his departure into exile his compositions were banned on Cuban stages, until this, the first tribute.

Meme’s musical lyrics were interpreted Saturday and Sunday, the 6th and 7th, by the voices of renowned Cuban artists such as Rosita Fornés, Omara Portuondo, Ela Calvo, Olga Navarro, Miguel Ángel Piña, Mario Aguirre, Rosa María Medel, Rosa María Arnaez, Haila, Ivette Cepeda and others.

On each occasion the America Ballet surprised with its choreography, this time by Amaury Mina and Juan Carlos Castano in which they were directed by Yamira Suarez and Gray Zayas.

The show was directed by Yanelys Tuya, scenery was by Maykel Sanchez, orchestration recorded by Osvaldo Rodriguez and Tomas Rivero, the original idea and staging was by Raul de la Rosa.

Havana showed its appreciation with its applause in packed houses, not only recognizing Meme’s work, but the value of those who, after his departure, continued performing his musical numbers in Cuba.

Meme Solís did not travel to Havana for this tribute but, surely must be feeling the fraternal warmth that greeted his music in Havana. Converting this musical set into one of the key pieces for “Another Dawn.”

January 7 2013

I was invited by my son and his wife, who live in Canada and are visiting Cuba, to TienTan, a restaurant located in Havana’s formerly populous Chinatown, now reduced to a few blocks and almost devoid of Chinese save for some descendants.

We made our way along darkened streets and broken sidewalks until we arrived at an area illuminated by paper lanterns and colored lights with restaurants on either side.

The restaurant, almost at the end of the street, is considered one of the best of its kind. It spreads out over three separate sections. The first is at street level, near singers and dancers trying to make a little money. Another is further inside, and the third, which is air-conditioned, is on the floor above.

It is a very pleasant place with first-class service and a wide selection of dishes from this Asian country, all carefully prepared and magnificently presented, which make it worth recommending. Some of the prices are high for the average Cuban, but someone with access to hard currency could afford to eat there from time to time. Foreigners, however, would consider the prices normal for this specialized type of restaurant.

After dinner we decided to take a stroll to aid digestion. We walked alongside the Capitolio, now undergoing repairs, and crossed over from Central Havana to Old Havana and to Casa Gaia, a cultural center located on Teniente Rey Street, near the old Droguería Sarrá, to hear some jazz.

The center, housed in a tastefully restored old building, mounts theatrical productions for adults and young people, art exhibitions and concerts, as well as other social and cultural events. It operates quite independently of official networks thanks to the tenacity of its director, who combines artistic talent with business acumen, and its Cuban and foreign collaborators.

Performers included the musician and composer Orlando Sánchez from Cuba jazz, accompanied by Ruy López Nussa on drums, the saxophonists of 5 Pa’ Sax and Roberto García on trumpet. Whether performing instrumental solos or accompaniments with the singer Danae Blanco, the musicians displayed a high degree of interpretive skill.

There were musical offerings for all tastes—from Brasilian, American and French to Cuban. The audience, which included both Cubans and foreigners, seemed pleased, rewarding the performers with their applause in an atmosphere of joy and happiness.

In general our daily troubles were forgotten at TienTan and Casa Gaia and,before we knew it, the time had passed in the heat of a Cuban winter’s night. One is always grateful for good times.

January 7 2013

By Ignacio Estrada Cepero, Independent Journalist

Havana, Cuba. On different occasions I, like other colleagues of the alternative press and the Cuban blogosphere, have published images that the official press, out of complicity, prefers to put to one side.

The images show the beggars in Cuba, despite the false promises made at the triumph of a badly managed revolution led by someone who today is pure history, Fidel Castro.

The Cuban nation is living in this time of increasing numbers of beggars or needy people in the streets who ask for help not only from nationals but also from foreign visitors. The social cuts and abandonment of Raul’s regime have left thousands of people without protection all over the island. This has led to an environment that brings the needy into the streets.

For the most part the population of beggars is old people of both sexes, another significant number are alcoholics and people with psychiatric or mental problems and a smaller number are children who runaway from their homes without their parents’ permission in some cases.

The situation is one of the most shameful realities that open the promised equality and well-being to criticism; what was once just words in the mouths of young people who had no other purpose than to deceive a nation, with the only aim being to enthrone themselves through the suffering of those they deceived.

Images will remain veiled as long as there is a single one of them need, I recognize that some beggars devote themselves to the collection of raw materials, others sell peanuts, or resell various articles, and I applaud you and see in you the mirror of a nation whose values are devoured by the only cause of so much poverty.

Today the blame will fall on the real culprits of each of these images. Those who intend to become “Images of the Outraged of the Revolution.”

January 7 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Ignacio Estrada Cepero, Independent Journalist

Havana, Cuba: One of the electrical appliance brands most sold on the island in the last months of 2012, were RCA Victor. Sold in “the stores that capture hard currency,” as we call the stores that accept only Cuban convertible pesos (CUCs).

The brand now on the market is one of those seized in Cuba by the nationalization process. RCA Victor is in demand because of the quality of its products, ranging from TVs, electric stoves, electric cookpots and microwaves, all of which are durable.

The Cuban family again warmly welcomes in every home products of the brands which were the standouts in the past, seeing a renewal of each of its products.

Now, we might ask ourselves how is it possible to receive in Havana a brand whose house was destroyed by those who, today, sell this brand?

January 7 2013

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE AT USA TODAY

From Tracey Eaton…

A couple of the photos from Tracey Eaton’s story:

January 7 2013

The “Another Dawn” concert held at the America Theater on January 5 and 6 as a tribute to the maestro Meme Solís, provoked in me nostalgia, shame and awe.

Nostalgia, because the program “Alone with you,” broadcast by Radio Progresso after 10:00 at night, was one of my preferred transgressions in the years of my military service, when we violated the silent hours and the prohibition against having portable radios. Gathering around the cot of the recruit Andrés Villorín, owner of the receiver, we listened to those songs that were a balm of modernity in the closed environment of Cuban music of those times.

Shame, because in that era it seemed perfectly normal to me that Meme Solís was stripped of his right to appear in public for having committed the “unspeakable fault” of having asked to leave the country. Although unfortunate, it also seemed normal and even acceptable that his songs were banned from radio programs. When almost the entire world had forgotten him I saw him in person, for the first and last time, at the Hotel Jagua in Cienfuegos, where he played the piano some nights in the cabaret. I thought then that they were being generous to give him that opportunity.

Astonishment bit me because at the concert, where almost everyone was visibly moved, the singer’s face could be seen on the screen accompanied by figures such as Maggie Carlés, Mirta Medina, Annia Linares, Xiomara Laugart, Albita Rodríguez and other glories of Cuban music who today live outside the Island. Is a cultural thaw underway to recover from the damage caused by so many years of political intolerance? Are we on the eve of producing a tribute to Celia Cruz?

The nostalgia was shared, especially by the audience members of my generation. The shame was not made manifest, because nobody there asked Meme Solís for forgiveness for the pain he was caused. The astonishment was shown in the approving applause every time one of those banned divas appeared.

I would like Meme Solís to know that we have not forgotten him and that no one now has the arrogant intention of forgiving him for having left Cuba, rather in every case the desire to ask his forgiveness for having abandoned him to his fate.

Reinaldo Escobar

7 January 2013

It looked like a small suitcase, with rounded corners and a detachable horn on the lid. That turntable was an object of worship for my father and an alternative to the boring programming on radio and TV in the eighties. The needle followed the small grooves in the vinyl and the melody filled the little room in an almost magical act. We also had a fairly small collection of albums: some bought at the store and others given by friends or relatives. We replayed the same music so much that my sister and I learned by heart certain boleros and ballads that had nothing to do with our generation. I remember, too, that we had four records we could only play at a very low volume and with the windows closed. One was a long-playing record by Julio Iglesias, another of songs interpreted by Nelson Ned, a third was the Cuban comedians Pototo y Filomeno, and the one by the quartet known as Los Memes.

Both the Spanish and Brazilian singer had been censored in the national media, it was said, for making statements critical of the Cuban government. The two native comedians, meanwhile, had gone into exile and this put them squarely on the “black list.” But what happened with those four young men who sounded divine on that other “banned record.” As those were the times of not asking too many questions, I only came to know five years later. Then I learned that José Manuel Solís (Meme) had been vetoed for the simple fact of having asked to leave Cuba in 1969. For eighteen years he waited for them to allow him to emigrate, a time when the cultural Torquemadas tried to erase his compositions from our musical history. More than forty years after that forced silence about him, a concert in tribute to him was staged at the America Theater in Havana, under the title “Another Dawn.” So Saturday and Sunday, January 5 and 6, Meme’s songs were heard once again in the country where they never should have been censored.

The show was a succession of excellent singers, from the best-known voices to others, young and promising talents. Despite the minimal — or absent — press coverage, the hall was packed both days. The most emotional moments occurred when on the main screen the faces of some of our artists in exile appeared. Maggie Carlés, Albita Rodríguez, Annia Linares, Xiomara Laugart and Mirtha Medina sparked huge ovations from the audience when they appeared for only seconds in the videos. But the brightest star of all was undoubtedly that boy from Mayajigua who had become a preeminent Cuban singer, pianist and composer. Although he did not travel to Cuba for the tribute — saying that he wouldn’t think of returning to Cuba as long as the current government remained — his presence was a constant during the almost two hours the concert lasted.

At full volume, without closing the windows, without playing the records at a whisper, without turning off the music when the neighbors knocked on the door. For the first time I heard the music of Meme Solís without hiding. The only thing missing was him singing it.

Yoani Sanchez

7 January 2013