English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Orlando Palma, Havana, 9 February 2014 – “The flour trail is easy to follow,” says a retired baker whose hands, for more than five years now, haven’t mixed ingredients nor added leavening to a dough. “I left it all behind, because the administrator of the bakery where I worked changed every six months and … Continue reading “Follow the Trail of Flour / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma”
The unusual story of ‘Granma’ journalist sentenced to 14 years in prison 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Santiago de Cuba, 27 January 2015 — Just outside the building, a ditch carries sewage down the street. Several children jump from side to side of the stinking canal which later runs through Micro 7, a neighborhood in the José Martí … Continue reading “The spy who never wanted to be one / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez”
So much passion and apathy for “Our Country or Death, We Shall Overcome” has ended up creating a certain inclination toward false patriotism and a funeral mentality. This was in evidence at the end of last week, when yet another widespread rumor of the ex-ruler’s death came to light. With this new passing, the tagline … Continue reading “The Most Rehearsed Funeral in Cuba / Juan Juan Almeida”
(29 July 2013) Although the Cuban government, since the beginning of the scandal of the North Korean ship carrying obsolete weapons for repair from Cuba, has been extremely careful, making no public statements, trying to lower its profile and keep it simple, which would adversely affect its relations in the region and internationally, the appearance … Continue reading “Some Questions / Fernando Damaso”
The Island’s dissidence has insisted it has record of only 39 releases 14YMEDIO, Havana, 12 January 2015 — Cuba has released the 53 prisoners that it had promised to free in talks with the US according to an announcement Monday by the US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power. According to these reports, the liberations … Continue reading “According to Washington, Cuba Has Freed the 53 Prisoners It Agreed Upon With the US / 14ymedio”
Granting Visas to those younger than 18 years old during the School Year By Lic Dora Mesa Crespo* and Lic. Odalina Guerrero Lara* (Mesa Crespo is the Coordinator of the Cuban Association for the Development of Child Education (CADCE), an NGO.) (Guerrero Lara is an attorney with the NGO Cuban Legal Association) The obligation to … Continue reading “Granting the Cuban Child the Ability to Travel / Dora Leonor Mesa”
14ymedio,ELVIRA FERNANDEZ, Ciego de Ávila, 21 November 2014 – Seven years after Raul Castro, in a speech, criticized the spread of the marabou weed, this thorny plant continues to gain prominence in our fields. On that occasion, marking the 26th of July, the General said, “Arriving here by land I was able to see if everything … Continue reading “The Nation or Marabou / 14ymedio, Elvira Fernandez”
Section 21, as this Department of State Security is known, works to track the political activities of the opposition in the Cuban archipelago. They are the omnipotent masters of the destinies of those who seek democracy and freedom. In my case, it was the official Camilo, the same one who on November 8th, 2012, after … Continue reading “The Island of the Long Shadows / Angel Santiesteban”
Castroneirics: Is there Cuban literature after the Revolution? Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo This story started long before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, on January 1st1959. In the beginning it was not the Word, but the War. And in the war Fidelity is the utmost value, its betrayal usually paid with death, whether civil or political, … Continue reading “Castroniria / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 12 November 2014 – In a meeting with the president of the Cuban Journalists Union (UPEC), the first vice president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, said journalists had a responsibility to investigate more before offering an opinion, but also praised the work undertaken in recent weeks by the national press, giving as an … Continue reading “The official press keeps the government satisfied / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”
The uproar from the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba was of considerable proportions. At a presentation of the recent Labiofam* 2014 conference, two new perfumes were introduced which, according to company officials, had been named “Ernesto” and “Hugo” in an attempted tribute to Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Hugo Chavez. At first I … Continue reading “"Better Plastered than Perfumed" Revolutionary Fragrances / Juan Juan Almeida”
The mechanism of annulment is cleanly bureaucratic: You can’t hire an attorney without having completed the dossier. The prosecution prepares its case in the dungeons. Lilianne Ruiz Havana, Cuba. In the doorways of Avenue Acosta, in the neighborhood of La Vibora, some faded beings sell aluminum scouring pads, Band-Aids and little boxes of matches. A … Continue reading “Angel Santiesteban’s New Dossier”
It was my Sunday of rest in the United States (July 20), on this voyage that I made, between July 9th and August 6th, leading a small delegation that included my wife and daughters, and four other brothers of our church in Cuba. It was my day to be seated to receive the Word. The … Continue reading “My Experience in Coral Park: The Church-Synagogue / Mario Lleonart”
When I say exile, I only think of the word life. That was what happened to me at the meeting “Fight for Liberation against Castro-communism,” which the writer Julio M. Shiling generously coordinated and which was held at the West Dade Regional Library of Coral Way, Miami, last July 10. Attending the discussion were no … Continue reading “All Exiles Are Possible / Luis Felipe Rojas”
THE TRANSITION THAT IS ABOUT NOT TO COME The power of Castro’s dictatorship couldn’t rely only in the annihilation of all kind of opposition, despite the fact that, since January 1959, its governability depended on fear (out of pure terror) to reduce a plural society to military obedience, ideological hatred, and apartheid, whether geographical (in … Continue reading “THE TRANSITION THAT IS ABOUT NOT TO COME / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
