dissident
Consensus and Dissent in the Face of Trump’s Cuba Policy
Consensus and Dissent in the Face of Trump’s Cuba Policy 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 19 June 2017 – Over the weekend the official media have repeated ad nauseam the declaration of the government in response to Donald Trump’s speech about his policy toward Cuba. The declaration’s rhetoric recalls the years before the diplomatic thaw, when […] Continue reading
Populism Cuban Style: Conquests, Threats and Leadership
Populism Cuban Style: Conquests, Threats and Leadership 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, 6 June 2017 — The leader speaks for hours on the platform, his index finger pointing to an invisible enemy. A human tide applauds when the intonation of a phrase demands it and stares enraptured at the bearded speaker. For decades these public acts were […] Continue reading
Amidst imminent Cuba policy announcement, dissidents express support for some change
Amidst imminent Cuba policy announcement, dissidents express support for some change BY NORA GÁMEZ TORRES ngameztorres@elnuevoherald.com President Donald Trump’s anticipated announcement on Cuba policy changes has unleashed an unexpected unity on the island: Cuban dissidents of various political stripes agree that the United States must make changes to apply pressure to the Raúl Castro regime. […] Continue reading
Center for a Free Cuba petitions Trump to dismantle Obama Cuba policies
Center for a Free Cuba petitions Trump to dismantle Obama Cuba policies BY MIMI WHITEFIELD mwhitefield@miamiherald.com The Center for a Free Cuba sent a letter of gratitude to President Donald Trump Wednesday for his decision to come to Miami and said it was pleased that he would soon begin the “dismantling of Barack Obama’s concessions […] Continue reading
Trump’s announcement on Cuba could clash with Central American summit
Trump’s announcement on Cuba could clash with Central American summit BY MIMI WHITEFIELD mwhitefield@miamiherald.com If President Donald Trump outlines his new Cuba policy in Miami on Friday, it could upstage a Central American conference that is bringing regional presidents and Mexican and U.S. Cabinet members to town this week. Sources have told the Miami Herald […] Continue reading
From Worse to Impossible (and We Haven’t Hit Bottom Yet)
Cuba: From Worse to Impossible (and We Haven’t Hit Bottom Yet) / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 3 June 2017 — In coming days when the administration of the unpredictable Donald Trump, following four months of review, announces its Cuba policy, it could be that Obama’s guidelines are retained save for touch-ups of a few items […] Continue reading
Trump’s new Cuba policy: What’s at stake for the island?
Trump’s new Cuba policy: What’s at stake for the island? By Will Grant Cuba correspondent, BBC News From the section Latin America & Caribbean Warmer ties with Cuba after almost 60 years of hostility was one of President Barack Obama’s main foreign policy legacies. He and Cuban leader Raul Castro agreed to normalise diplomatic relations […] Continue reading
Cubans Want More Severe Laws for Criminals
Cubans Want More Severe Laws for Criminals / Iván García Iván García, 6 May 2017 — Some people in Cuba, not just a minority, want blood. And more severe laws for criminals. While the Catholic Church and different international institutions are advocating a crusade to eliminate the death penalty on the Island, there are people […] Continue reading
The Ministry Ratifies the Expulsion of Professor Dalila Rodriguez from the University of Las Villas
The Ministry Ratifies the Expulsion of Professor Dalila Rodriguez from the University of Las Villas 14ymedio, Havana, 3 June 2017 – The Ministry of Higher Education (MES) ratified the expulsion of Professor Dalila Rodriguez from the Marta Abreu Central University of Las Villas. A letter dated May 9 and delivered this Friday to the academic, […] Continue reading
Activist Joanna Columbie Deported to Camaguey
Activist Joanna Columbie Deported to Camaguey 14ymedio, Havana, 2 June 2017 – The principal of Academy 1010 and Somos+ (We Are More) Movement activist, Joanna Columbie, was deported Friday from the Vivac detention center in Havana to Camaguey province, as reported to 14ymedio by the leader of the Somos+ organization, Eliecer Avila. “Joanna called from […] Continue reading
Autonomy of Cuban Dissidents Will Always Be Beneficial
Autonomy of Cuban Dissidents Will Always Be Beneficial / Iván García Iván García, 1 June 2017– The majority of the openly anti-Castro opponents I know do not live in lavish mansions nor do they possess items fashioned with the latest technology. Neither do they boast bank accounts in financial paradises and they do not own […] Continue reading
Martha Beatriz Roque: “The Cuban Opposition Has Not Found The Right Path”
Martha Beatriz Roque: “The Cuban Opposition Has Not Found The Right Path” 14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miamia, 25 May 2017 — On the verge of being operated on in Miami for a traumatic cataract caused by a punch from a Cuban State Security agent during one of the many acts of repudiation against her, the dissident […] Continue reading
Economic Crime, the Pitfall in the Path
Economic Crime, the Pitfall in the Path 14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 22 May 2017 — The saleswoman described her merchandise in a murmur: loggerhead turtle steaks, beef and shrimp. The man salivated, but replied that he could not buy any of those products, the most persecuted in the informal market. Every opponent knows that […] Continue reading
Can We Progress in Cuba under the Current Model?
Can We Progress in Cuba under the Current Model? May 29, 2017 HAVANA TIMES — I couldn’t help but think about the analogy of a popular Cuban saying when reflecting upon the prospects we have of our economy progressing by 2030, while reading about a case in the Juventud Rebelde newspaper last week. The article […] Continue reading
Independent Journalism Seeks to Revive Press Freedom
Independent Journalism Seeks to Revive Press Freedom / Iván García Iván García, 3 May 2017 — Let’s step back in time. One morning in 1985, Yndamiro Restano Díaz, a thirty-seven-year-old journalist with Radio Rebelde, took out an old Underwood and wrote a clandestine broadsheet entitled “Nueva Cuba.” After distributing the single-page, handmade newspaper up and […] Continue reading
Cuban activists denounce new methods of repression
Cuban activists denounce new methods of repression BY NORA GÁMEZ TORRES ngameztorres@elnuevoherald.com While the new U.S. president’s policies on Cuba remain uncertain, the government in Havana appears to be more nervous about its domestic opposition than usual, as the island heads into a complicated political transition. Authorities have expelled students from universities, arrested dissidents who […] Continue reading
It's Wearing Thin
It’s Wearing Thin
WALDO FERNÁNDEZ CUENCA | La Habana | 15 de Mayo de 2017 – 11:51 CEST.
It was one of the few functions at the University of Havana that I will
never forget. The event for “Young Communists” took place in the year
2010. It was held to assess the insistence of a Journalism student, who
wished to… Continue reading
It’s Wearing Thin
It’s Wearing Thin WALDO FERNÁNDEZ CUENCA | La Habana | 15 de Mayo de 2017 – 11:51 CEST. It was one of the few functions at the University of Havana that I will never forget. The event for “Young Communists” took place in the year 2010. It was held to assess the insistence of a […] Continue reading
Karla Pérez Arrives In Costa Rica To Continue Her Studies In Journalism
Karla Pérez Arrives In Costa Rica To Continue Her Studies In Journalism 14ymedio, Havana, 11 May 2017 — Karla Pérez González, the student expelled from the University of Las Villas for her membership in the dissident organization Somos+, arrived in San José, Costa Rica, this morning after receiving an offer to continue her studies there. […] Continue reading
The Cuban Regime is an Enemy to the Freedom of Expression
The Cuban Regime is an Enemy to theFreedom of Expression / Iván García Ivan Garcia, 10 May 2017 — When he is particularly bored, after flicking through the eight channels that there are on the island, 56 year old civil engineer Josuan watches the national news some nights with a smirk only to later write […] Continue reading
Cubadecide Activists Arrested A Few Hours Before Rosa Maria Paya Arrives On The Island
Cubadecide Activists Arrested A Few Hours Before Rosa Maria Paya Arrives On The Island 14ymedio, Havana, 8 May 2017 — Activist Rosa Maria Payá denounced Monday the arrest of three coordinators of the CubaDecide initiative in Matanzas. The opponents were arrested early in the morning as they headed to Jose Marti International Airport in Havana […] Continue reading
Dozens Of Ladies In White Arrested On The 100th Day Of TodosMarchamos
Dozens Of Ladies In White Arrested On The 100th Day Of TodosMarchamos 14ymedio, Havana, 8 May 2017 – At least 38 Ladies in White were arrested this Sunday in Havana, Matanzas, Guantanamo, Ciego de Avila and Santa Clara, during the 100th day of the #TodosMarchamos (We All March) campaign for the release of Cuba’s political […] Continue reading
Cuban man carrying U.S. flag rewrote monotonous script of Havana’s annual celebration
Cuban man carrying U.S. flag rewrote monotonous script of Havana’s annual celebration BY MARIO J. PENTÓN mpenton@elnuevoherald.com The rehearsals for Havana’s annual May Day celebration went on for weeks. The Plaza of the Revolution was to host hundreds of thousands of Cubans as they marched past top government leaders in the best Soviet tradition. But […] Continue reading
Lia Villares Finally Makes it to the United States
Lia Villares Finally Makes it to the United States Lia Villares is considered a “persecuted political” who is “under paramilitary harassment”. (Facebook) 14ymedio, Havana, 3 May 2017 – The independent activist Lia Villares finally traveled to the United States on Wednesday, as confirmed to 14ymedio by the dissident musician Gorki Aguila. On Tuesday, Villares was […] Continue reading
Cuba: When “Winning” is Losing
Cuba: When “Winning” is Losing By Fernando Ravsberg HAVANA TIMES — The violent reaction to the dissident who ran through Revolution Square carrying a US flag on May Day has been the last of a series of failed responses. The guy was beaten up and arrested in the middle of Revolution Square, during the rally […] Continue reading
Cuba’s Official Press Attempts To Discredit Protester Wrapped In American Flag
Cuba’s Official Press Attempts To Discredit Protester Wrapped In American Flag 14ymedio, Havana, 2 May 2017 – On Tuesday, the official press railed against a citizen who raised an American flag during the May Day parade, and accused him of “building a counterrevolutionary file to emigrate to the United States” (i.e. to be qualify for […] Continue reading
Cuban activists fighting racism weigh their fragile relationship with the government
Cuban activists fighting racism weigh their fragile relationship with the government BY NORA GÁMEZ TORRES ngameztorres@elnuevoherald.com Almost apologizing because he “doesn’t want to make things worse,” Afro-Cuban activist Norberto Mesa Carbonell recalled how Cuban police arrested him for trying to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last month. “I was jailed […] Continue reading
Reporters Without Borders Rates Press Freedom In Cuba Very Low
Reporters Without Borders Rates Press Freedom In Cuba Very Low 14ymedio, Havana, 27 April 2017 — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has placed Cuba in position 173 on its 2017 World Press Freedom Index published on Wednesday, two places lower than last year, and in the lowest category (shown in black), along with “the worst dictatorships […] Continue reading
How Cuban State Security Intimidates Potential Informants
How Cuban State Security Intimidates Potential Informants / Iván García Iván García,9 April 2017 — They did not put a Makarov pistol to his head or torture him with electric prods. Let’s call him Josué. (The names in his article have been changed). He is a guy who wears American-made jeans, listens to jazz by […] Continue reading
Former CIA Operative Argues Lee Harvey Oswald's Cuba Connections Went Deep
Former CIA Operative Argues Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cuba Connections Went Deep
Olivia B. Waxman
Apr 25, 2017
After Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy shortly after
noon on Nov. 22, 1963, things moved quickly. About an hour later, Oswald
fatally shot Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. Thirty minutes after
that, police found Oswald and arrested him. Two days… Continue reading
Former CIA Operative Argues Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cuba Connections Went Deep
Former CIA Operative Argues Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cuba Connections Went Deep Olivia B. Waxman Apr 25, 2017 After Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy shortly after noon on Nov. 22, 1963, things moved quickly. About an hour later, Oswald fatally shot Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. Thirty minutes after that, police found Oswald […] Continue reading
The King, The President and The Dictator
The King, The President and The Dictator
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 23 April 2017 — In the palace of the
Captains General in Havana there is a throne awaiting its king. It was
prepared when Cuba was still a Spanish colony and a monarch has never
sat in its imposing structure. The visit of Spain’s King Felipe VI visit
may… Continue reading
For Ordinary Cubans, Democracy Isn’t a Priority
For Ordinary Cubans, Democracy Isn’t a Priority / Iván García Iván García, 19 April 2017 — When evening falls, Yainier and a group of friends who live in El Canal, a neighborhood in the Cerro municipality, 20 minutes by car from the center of Havana, grab a table by the door of an old bodega, […] Continue reading
Cuba opposition candidates say targeted for reprisals
Cuba opposition candidates say targeted for reprisals AFP April 12, 2017 Havana (AFP) – Cuban dissidents planning to run in the communist country’s local elections in November have been arrested, threatened and otherwise harassed by the authorities, one of their leaders said Tuesday. At least five would-be candidates have been charged with crimes such as […] Continue reading
‘We have an advantage. We’re not scared.’ A former political prisoner to run in the ‘elections’
‘We have an advantage. We’re not scared.’ A former political prisoner to run in the ‘elections’ YUSIMÍ RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ | La Habana | 12 de Abril de 2017 – 12:10 CEST. ‘We will take the voter’s voice wherever necessary’, says José Díaz Silva. For his anti-Government activism José Díaz Silva has received four jail sentences […] Continue reading
'We have an advantage. We're not scared.' A former political prisoner to run in the 'elections'
‘We have an advantage. We’re not scared.’ A former political prisoner to
run in the ‘elections’
YUSIMÍ RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ | La Habana | 12 de Abril de 2017 – 12:10 CEST.
‘We will take the voter’s voice wherever necessary’, says José Díaz Silva.
For his anti-Government activism José Díaz Silva has received four jail
sentences totaling 16 years. He is… Continue reading
Eliécer Ávila, The 'New Man' Who Became An Opponent
Eliécer Ávila, The ‘New Man’ Who Became An Opponent
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Havana, 8 April 2017 – Walking along the
streets with Eliécer Ávila can be a complicated task. His face is well
known thanks to a viral video broadcast almost a decade ago. However,
before fame came into his life, this young man born in Las Tunas was a… Continue reading
Danilo Maldonado Machado, the dissident artist called 'El Sexto,' on art and liberty in Cuba
Danilo Maldonado Machado, the dissident artist called ‘El Sexto,’ on art
and liberty in Cuba
Carolina A. Miranda
At the tail end of 2014, Danilo Maldonado Machado, the graffiti artist
known as “El Sexto,” was detained by the authorities as he made his way
to a public park in Havana to stage a work of protest art. In his
vehicle,… Continue reading
Exercising Independent Journalism In Cuba Is A State Crime
Exercising Independent Journalism In Cuba Is A State Crime / Iván García
Iván García, 30 March 2017 — Fear has the habit of first knocking on
your door. On any night, in a work center or a house, an official of
State Security can give a citizen an official citation with an
intimidating look.
It could be your sister, a… Continue reading
Dissidence and silence
Dissidence and silence ARMANDO CHAGUACEDA | Ciudad de México | 5 de Abril de 2017 – 12:29 CEST. Status as a “dissident ” is not the product of any coherent calculation. It does not refer to a particular affiliation or a specific creed. It does not even necessarily stem from a primeval hatred of what […] Continue reading