Forty-three organizations ask the international…
November 14, 2021 – One day before the peaceful march called by the citizens’ initiative Archipelago in Cuba and supported by human rights organizations and activists, we denounce the wave of repression that has intensified in the country against its promoters and the citizens who identify with it. The undersigned organizations ask the international civil society to demand that the Cuban government stop the violence, respect its own constitutional order and allow the march as befits ... Read more
15 November, 2021
Independent media and organisations call…
Tuesday 13 July 2021- The undersigned organisations condemn the Cuban government’s repression of the citizen protests registered since 11 July 2021 and which continue to date. We also make an urgent call to the administration presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel, to stop all acts of violence and violations of the human rights of citizens through the use of force, police repression, and the call for confrontation between Cubans.
Cuba is going through a profound health, economic and politica ... Read more
20 July, 2021
Institutional gender-based violence in Cuba
What are the consequences of being a woman activist in Cuba today? What factors contribute to the hostility that directly or indirectly affects all Cuban women, and what specific nuances does institutional violence toward women take on? These are the questions that People in Need raises in EYE on CUBA’s latest report titled “Institutional Gender Violence in Cuba 2016-2020.”
The report analyzes the human rights violations that occurred to all peopl ... Read more
28 June, 2021
The Revolution turns its back…
.
Following the attack on the Moncada barracks in 1953, the young Fidel Castro Ruz denounced what he saw as the evils that ravaged the republic. This included, among other things, corruption, robbery, drug addiction, prostitution, and violence. He stated that a new People’s Government was the solution to the problems he listed. Castro laid the ideological groundwork that the Cuban government would follow for more than six decades. In those six decades, the conditions experienced by the Cu ... Read more
15 June, 2021
Cuban artists sound the alarm…
Cuban artists are determined to save the Guaso River in Guantanamo, the easternmost province of Cuba. The previously clean river has become polluted as people throw garbage in an area lacking public bins as well as environmental awareness. The Cuban authorities do not provide adequate waste removal infrastructure and continue neglecting pollution, environmental degradation and the related public health risks. Through powerful images, music, videos and performances, local artists sound the alarm ... Read more
2 June, 2021
The Terror of Decades of…
To me, the way to approach this issue, is to see that in Cuba subtle and underhanded repression has been the main instrument in carrying out systematic human rights violations by the Havana regime against peaceful opponents and the population
Although it is true that the first period of human rights violations in Cuba took place after the approval of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, once the dictator Fidel Castro came to power through an armed insurrection in 1959, ... Read more
22 May, 2021
Years of repression: the story…
The Cuban Reflection Movement (MCR) has been the target of a range of repressive modalities, on the part of the State security services. Since its founding in 1994, its members have been the victim of arrests, threats, defamation, surveillance, persecution, acts of repudiation, blackmail, and illegal searches among other things, even when, at the beginning, it requested, as is required, to be legally registered as an NGO, from which no reply was ever obtained.
The MCR’s general secretary, Lib ... Read more
14 May, 2021
Cuba: 60 years without freedom…
In January 1959, Fidel Castro came to power after having toppled President Fulgencio Batista through an armed insurgency and a terrorist campaign on a national level. That same year Castro declared: “Where there is crime, there is no freedom of the press, where there is crime, what happens is hidden.” He also declared, on several occasions, emphatically that he was not a communist.
On May 14, 1960 the last autonomous newspaper, Prensa Libre, was shuttered. The previous day, the journalist Luis ... Read more
3 May, 2021
Fishing, a High-Risk Activity
One of the oldest occupations and, paradoxically one still pursued today, is that of fishing. Despite Cuba being an island in the Caribbean and people having fished here for centuries, Cubans have lacked access to this type of food for decades, and only those who have a diet based on a doctor’s recommendation can count on being able to taste it, receiving a kilogram of seafood per month.
For years, Cubans have developed any number of different ways to alleviate the crisis, which with differ ... Read more
29 April, 2021
Guantanamo
History
Guantánamo is the easternmost province of Cuba, its name is of aboriginal origin, which means “Land between Rivers.” Fate would have it that this was where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492 and where the first town was founded, which was named Our Lady of the Assumption, in 1511.
On April 30, 1494, Christopher Columbus anchored his ships in Guantánamo Bay and named it Puerto Grande. In 1510, Diego Velásquez disembarked in one of its interior coves, which he named Puerto ... Read more
20 April, 2021
Defending Human Rights in Cuba,…
For more than sixty years, the totalitarian regime of the Republic of Cuba has violated the human rights of all people in one way or another. On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the efforts of the country’s activists, who have stood up for fundamental rights for more than six decades, under constant repression and persecution by security services of the State. These violations are done in a systematic way and based on the orders of the day, sometimes even endangering the physical wellbe ... Read more
15 April, 2021
Demand for an end to…
Cuba: The International Community Must Demand Accountability from the Cuban Government For Its Actions and to Immediately Stop Unlawful Short-term Arbitrary Detentions, House Arrests, Forced Exile, and Smear Campaigns against Dissenting Voices
In response to the aggressive acts committed by police officers in recent weeks against Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) activists on hunger strike; the beatings and arrests of members of the San Isidro Movement; the forced exile imposed on Cuban citizens, ... Read more
9 April, 2021
The Stations of the Cross…
In Cuba, being in tune with the truth and sincerity is one of the most dangerous paths to choose, as peaceful opponents or dissidents of the government do on a daily basis.
When a person decides to be in dissent or think differently from the ideology framed by the totalitarian system imposed on the island, they immediately become the target of the repressive machinery that exercises control over the entire society, the intelligence services known as State security (DSE) or G-2.
From that momen ... Read more
29 March, 2021
Cuban Education and the Most…
Since the start of the Revolution more than six decades ago, the education of Cuban students was practically forced to be atheistic and disconnected from any religion or religious institution. Although the Cuban educational system is free in terms of costs at all levels, the conditions under which it develops the cognitive process of students in Cuba borders on the unsound.
Ideologized education
From the political point of view, schools are an institution oriented according to convenience where ... Read more
22 March, 2021
EYE on CUBA annual report…
The year 2020 has proven to be another year full of complexities for Cuba. The COVID-19 pandemic, shortages, increased repression, and persistent sanctions marked the lives of the Cuban population throughout the year, while they simultaneously affected the decisions of the Cuban regime. Despite the arrival of the pandemic, there was no respite from arbitrary detentions, restrictions on freedom of expression and violations of various economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
Learn mor ... Read more
16 March, 2021
To Scream or To Shut…
There have already been 10 femicides in Cuba this year. Independent organizations from Cuban civil society have requested specific actions to be taken regarding this issue, among them, that a national emergency be declared due to the increase in gender violence during periods of confinement caused by COVID 19; that a law be created where gender violence is classified as a crime; and the creation of shelters to accommodate women who are victims of this situation.
The issue of gender violence ... Read more
8 March, 2021
The East Will Never Be…
In Cuba, it could be said that the people live in two countries, one in the east (Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Las Tunas, Holguín) and the other in the west (Pinar del Río, Habana, Mayabeque, Artemisa and Matanzas). Although given the subject that I am going to address, the rest of Cuba’s provinces, Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila, Santi Spíritus, Cienfuegos and Santa Clara, can also be considered as part of the west.
The eastern part of the country is the most backward in every sense of the ... Read more
28 February, 2021
The Cuban economy: between pandemic…
“In order to have some soup, imagine, malanga costs 25 pesos per pound, pork is at 60 pesos. When I finish my soup, I can’t even pay my electric bill for the month”
Since Trump became president of the United States in 2016, the delicate Cuban economy began staggering towards a collapse, as stated by a worker from the Popular Savings Bank of the city of Guantánamo, who did not want to reveal his name. “This country was already screwed up before COVID, the absence of basi ... Read more
5 February, 2021
2020 ends and we continue…
The supposed representatives of the island’s people, boast of saying that Cuba fully complies with Human Rights, when the cruel reality is different
Flicker People in Need Cuba
For more than sixty years, the Cuban government has done everything possible to hide the delicate issue of Human Rights. Cuba is the founder and signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved on December 10, 1948, and millions of Cubans in 2021 have no idea what their rights are and if they are resp ... Read more
31 January, 2021
Cuban Aviation under the New…
From the moment that the José Martí International Airport in Havana restarted services to the public on November 15th with commercial, regular and charter flights, Cuban civil aviation entered into a stage known as “The New Normal.”
Earlier on July 1st and coinciding with the opening of the tourist season, the authorization for air operations was notified about directing flights to the major hubs at Cayo Santa María, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Cruz and Cayo Largo del sur. The first of ... Read more
18 January, 2021
Introduction
We invite you to see the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDH_oaVvH0YOMB5357COWRDiTo2UuhzeV
... Read more
15 January, 2021
Strategic planning
You can see the video clicking on the image or here
To know more about this topic you check:
Pasos para redactar objetivos smart.
Ejemplos y esquemas para el análisis PESTAL (o Pastel)
Mecanismos para medir impacto social. (Además de indicadores, vienen otras posibilidades como Teoría del Cambio o el EVPA)
Guía para descargar sobre cómo escribir la misión de una iniciativa.
Guía para planeación estratégica Banco ITAU.
Para desarrollar un plan de acción.
Guía de planificación estratégica para or ... Read more
15 January, 2021
Human Resources
You can see the video clicking on the image or here
To know more about this topic you check:
Administracion recursos humanos – Chiavenato
Diagrama de Gantt
Gestion de Recursos Humanos Entidades Sin Animo de Lucro
Recursos humanos en ONG
¿How to manage HR? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-wRSIDzxWg
Claves para gestion de persoans en entidades no lucrativas
... Read more
15 January, 2021
Fundraising
You can see the video clicking on the image or here
To know more about this topic you check:
Lineamientos para la elaboración de un plan de acción de recaudación
Base de datos básica para el registro de donantes
Base de datos básica para el registro de socios
Identificación básica de necesidades
Matriz básica de oportunidades
... Read more
15 January, 2021
Security
You can see the video clicking on the image or here
To know more about this topic you check:
Manual de Proteccion para Defensores de DDHH
Guia para cooperación sensible al conflicto
Capacitación en seguridad digital holística
Psychological support: http://publicaciones.hegoa.ehu.es/uploads/pdfs/401/DEFENSORES_SIBRIAN-BERISTAINcast.pdf?1557396644
Security guide: https://modeladoriesgos.asuntosdelsur.org/
IWPR: https://cyber-women.com/es
Frontline: https://securityinabox.org/es/
Digital Security ... Read more
15 January, 2021
Marketing and public relations
You can see the video clicking on the image or here
To know more about this topic you check:
Plantilla de Actividades
Plantilla-presupuesto-marketing
Plantilla calendario redes
Razón y palabra (redes sociales en Cuba)
... Read more
15 January, 2021
COVID-19 on Cuba in 2020
Download the report here COVID-19 ON CUBA 2020 to publish
... Read more
11 January, 2021
The Pandemic, an Evil that…
Currently many families across the island, facing the pandemic under extreme conditions, live day to day with the threat that their roof can collapse at any moment
The housing situation is one of the maladies that most affects Cuban society. The government has recognized that a million homes are needed to alleviate this crisis, which has already persisted for years.
Currently many families across the island, facing the pandemic under extreme conditions, live day to day with the threat that th ... Read more
21 December, 2020
The Invisible Truths of Farmers’…
Before, if you put in the effort and sacrifice, you were able to live perfectly with what you were able to plant…, today even if you work like a slave, to make a profit from a harvest you have to be a magician
“It looks very nice and it seems easy, even though the life of a farmer is hard wherever you stand,” he said suddenly when he saw me taking a photograph of his field. “But damn … the Cuban peasants have had the worst luck.” Apparently, he saw on my fac ... Read more
12 December, 2020
Everything Is Miserable
To buy food you have to become a ninja, when they take out some chicken the queues are endless and there have been people checking for days, I don’t know how they find out
Juana María Cortina is an accountant for a subsidiary of the Cuban State Trading Company in Guantánamo, she has a 21-year-old daughter and the only salary that comes into the house is hers, which is about 390 CUP in the national currency (CUP – Cuban Pesos). “The outlook for what it takes to live in this co ... Read more
12 December, 2020
Cuban Shops: the Great Inequality…
Inequality was institutionalized in Cuban society, since not all citizens are able to access this currency to obtain basic services, most citizens are still left outside of the dollar economy
With the expansion of the novel coronavirus surging across the world, the global economy has recently experienced a general crisis, and our country was not spared from it. When this crisis reached the island in July of this year, the Cuban regime took some economic measures to minimize its effect. One of ... Read more
12 December, 2020
Figuring Out what to Eat:…
All the existing mechanisms to achieve what it means to bring something to the table is more difficult at the moment due to the scarcity of supplies and the increase in the price of basic necessities.
The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified the challenge for the vast majority of Cubans on the island: to figure out what to eat. All the existing mechanisms to achieve what it means to bring something to the table is more difficult at the moment due to the scarcity of supplies and the increase in th ... Read more
12 December, 2020
Editorial. The fight for what…
Download the bulletin Here
As in other countries, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in Cuba resulted in not only impacts on people’s health; it also exacerbated several of the already existing problems. In the case of Cuba, the health crisis added to the country’s pre-existing economic problems, while also triggering a crisis of severe shortages of food and basic necessities. This is not an unforeseen problem, between 2011 and 2016 state investment in agriculture corresponded to a fifth of w ... Read more
11 December, 2020
Event "Cuba 2020: Derechos humanos…
Sign up here and follow the event on-line
... Read more
7 December, 2020
Let's Save the Guaso River
It is no secret to anyone that the Cuban government has received millions of euros and dollars from countries and non-governmental institutions for projects aimed at preserving the environment. Where have these large sums of money gone?
For more than sixty years, the Cuban government has lied to its own people and the international community on the issue of conservation and preservation of ecosystems, the protection of nature and the environment, arguing that the island complies with all the ... Read more
2 December, 2020
Urgent Call to Preserve the…
The undersigned – international and Cuban civil society organizations, members of Cuban independent media, activists, and Cuban citizens – condemn the harassment, police violence, human rights violations, and repressive acts perpetrated by Cuban authorities against artists, journalists, and independent civil society actors in response to peaceful demonstrations against the arrest and subsequent arbitrary conviction of the musician and member of Movimiento San Isidro (MSI), Denis Sol ... Read more
26 November, 2020
Deep Concern From 85 Civil…
We are deeply concerned about the decision to grant Cuba a new opportunity to have a seat on the Human Rights Council. This not only rewards Cuba’s poor human rights record, but it also undermines the integrity of the Council to hold abusive governments accountable for their actions in the region and across the globe.
In response to Cuba’s election to a fifth term on the Human Rights Council, 85 Cuban and international human rights and freedom-of-expression organizations, in conjunction with ... Read more
13 October, 2020
Food and medicine shortage: living…
The economic situation of each Cuban (on the street) is critical, and the majority of them are affected by low salaries and unemployment. There are many people with scarce resources, experiencing critical state neglect, and with untreated ailments.
Due to COVID-19, the situation in Cuba is concerning. Although most cases are concentrated in the three westernmost provinces of the country (there are 16), the risk of the pandemic spreading throughout the island is elevated because despite restric ... Read more
8 October, 2020
Cuba. Authorities Must Cease Harassment…
In response to the uninterrupted acts of intimidation and violence committed in the last two months by Cuban authorities against members of the dissident organization Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU), its leader José Daniel Ferrer, and his family, more than 30 Cuban and international human rights organizations issued the following statement:
We call on the Cuban authorities to immediately end the unlawful police abuse, arbitrary detentions, exorbitant fines, and invasive home raids of members ... Read more
23 September, 2020
School Uniforms in Cuba
The arrival of September is overwhelming in most cases for parents and students, who now have to come up with a new strategy for their children just so they can study.
When the school year approaches, the line of parents trying to obtain the paperwork for their school uniforms is enormous. The worst-case scenario is that the students will only receive one for the entire year. It may seem like a basic thing and nothing to worry about, but in reality it is the accumulation of inconveniences that c ... Read more
3 September, 2020
The only option
I still can’t avoid the pain I feel when I see and hear these stories. These are Cuban women, human beings who opt for living and try to take the best that life offers them, or perhaps the only option.
Adelfa puts on her glasses while eyeballing me from top to bottom. I’m standing in the doorway of her house, waiting for the rain to pass, which shows no signs of wanting to stop any time soon and breaks into song about the sidewalk – come in! – she ... Read more
12 August, 2020
Women, more vulnerable in social…
Zuleidys is located in the east of Cuba and carries out independent initiatives to support and empower women in her community.
A large part of the world is facing the fatal COVID-19 pandemic, which is leaving a large number of deaths. Trying to reduce the transmission of this virus, different types of governments have adopted different measures. The Cuban government is no exception and has also taken measures, one of the main ones being social isolation. However, these measures have caused seve ... Read more
20 July, 2020
Saving lives
He is a young Cuban doctor and LGTBIQ activist from the city of Cienfuegos. In 2016, he emigrated to Spain, where he still resides in the city of Madrid. There he lives with his partner and (since recently) finally practices medicine.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought hard times for the entire world population. So it has been for the migrants living in Spain, who have had to face a new unknown challenge and readapt to the new reality, changing lifestyles, customs, and in some cases directly sta ... Read more
20 July, 2020
What do the next few…
Simonne walked around Havana to ask about the situation of several local women and of people working on tourism-related activities. She brings us their testimonies.
“The border closure and the immediate drop of tourism has been a disaster for our pockets, fortunately, I asked for the temporary
suspension of the license” – told me Odalis, who is landlady of two apartments for renting to foreign people only –. According to her, she is using the food reserve that she had for the rental and also ... Read more
17 July, 2020
Cubans, victims of coronavirus in…
Marlon Martorell and his wife Kenia traveled from Cuba to Central America looking to meet with their family in the United States. They had to flee due to the constant harassment from the State’s authorities as a consequence of their work as political opponents and human rights defenders. Currently, they are in the US-Mexico border, waiting for the situation to improve.
Being outside my country, Cuba, far from my family and friends, I am one of the coronavirus victims in Mexico. I am at the merc ... Read more
17 July, 2020
Editorial. Those inside and those…
Download the bulletin here.
The global coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by surprise and has caused uneven reactions in different countries. Some had more time to react as it arrived later to their territory, but in any case, little was known about the virus. Cuba seems to be doing relatively well in controlling the virus and the number of people infected, but not in the consequences. The absence of visitors joins an inefficient production, a precarious distribution system and a ... Read more
17 July, 2020
Cuba, the Country of Shrews
In Cuba, the crisis existed long before the start of the pandemic, as one Cuban woman related a few months ago:
What job does a Cuban need to have in order to achieve the decency of life of their dreams? Well, it doesn’t exist.
Cubans have understood for a long time that we are not a country that “can run itself,” as many say, because I would simply say that it is not really being run at all. Anywhere else in the world, people who have a job live well, or at least li ... Read more
3 July, 2020
International support for the petition…
People in Need signed a joint statement of organizations and media outlets that calls for the protection of human rights and demanding that the Cuban Government immediately ends online surveillance against people who express their opinions on social networks or other platforms and ceases the persecution of journalists and human rights activists.
The undersigned organizations and media outlets support the petition presented on June 8 in Cuba before the National Assembly, the State Council, the ... Read more
15 June, 2020
What's like where I live?
In Cuba, you can have the best of jobs, be a professional, have the highest of salaries, have no problems with alcoholism or any other vice, and still not be able to count on having your own house or reliable housing.
Perhaps, a pandemic is the situation that highlights the most the need for decent housing. In the vast majority of countries in the world, those who do not have a place to live can usually chalk it up to alcoholism, drugs, mental illness or simply those who do not have a sec ... Read more
9 June, 2020
Malena or Fernando
Fernando is a transsexual and everybody who knows him calls her Malena The bosses force her to dress like a man and they tell her that,
if she does not present herself “properly dressed”, according to her sex assigned at birth, she will not be allowed to work
Fernando studied nursing and continued his studies until he finished his university degree as an intensive care nurse. He works at the Calixto García hospital in the municipality of Plaza de La Habana. However, the situ ... Read more
20 May, 2020
The History of Fools in…
When we speak of cynicism, contempt, irony and ridicule, what comes to mind for the majority of Cubans is the already accustomed way of reacting on the part of the legion of unpopular figures in every government agency on the island. When you live in Cuba and some misfortune happens to befall you, you already know that you have to be prepared for some remarkable things to happen to you, since you do not have insurance, nobody is going to lend you money, especially since nobody has any, a ... Read more
4 April, 2020
Joint statement on Luis Manuel…
Since Decree 349/2018 was sanction by Cuban government, independent artists have taken a leading role through peaceful and courageous actions in their opposition against censorship and the demand for freedom of artistic expression.
Decree 349/2018 establishes contraventions on the provision of artistic services that are neither regulated nor recognised by Cuba’s official cultural institutions: a clear violation of the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International C ... Read more
11 March, 2020
Eye on Cuba 2019 Report
Download the annual report here: 2019 Eye on Cuba ENG
... Read more
4 March, 2020
Cuatro caminos - A Market…
You will never feel the pressure of there being too much, in a place where there is so little of everything that you don’t have much fabric to cut. Oh well, as is the custom and reality in Cuba, one has to undress one saint to dress another.
Shopping in Cuba doesn’t have to be the most stressful thing in the world – if you keep in mind what you are looking for and so long as you have a budget for it. You are only going to have a small number of options for each product. So if ... Read more
1 March, 2020
Editorial: Violence without bruises
Repression in Cuba works in a way that sometimes is not easy to understand for those who are not in direct contact with it or with the people who suffer it.
Cuba has managed to create an international image of a social country, concerned about the lives of people. It has continuously promoted its progress in public health and education, which, while undeniable, is not enough to understand the human rights situation on the island.
Part of the problem is that these social guarantees are no ... Read more
3 February, 2020
Psychological violence in Cuba: the…
Visual poem by Francis Sánchez
The government of Cuba projects to the world the image that its main raison d‘être originates from the fact that it is a victim of permanent violence at the hands of an almighty enemy, the United States. This image usually provokes sympathy on the international level and provides justifications for arbitrary acts and the lack of rights suffered by Cubans.
However, this international victimization glosses over another situation of violence that has more ... Read more
3 February, 2020
They used my son to…
I began to experience repression the day my father shouted in my face: “If necessary we will kill, but they will not triumph, we cannot allow it.” My father is a professor of Social Sciences and Master in Cultural Development, and belongs to the Communist Party of Cuba, which he follows with a blind faith. He has never used physical violence against me, but this year on March 23rd he threatened me.
In October of the same year, two State Security officers came to the school where I w ... Read more
3 February, 2020
They continue to reject our…
It all started with several people who simply stopped responding to our greetings, later on they looked at us with hatred and in silence. Others roared with laughter and said that we were crazy, that our salary was low and that we were going to have to go abroad. Then (some people) started screaming at us that we were scoundrels, bandits, mercenaries and traitors. Later they began to talk loudly claiming that we were criminals and that we were spoiling the youth.
They had videos or pictu ... Read more
3 February, 2020
They follow every step I…
The truth is that I don’t know which story from my life I should tell about psychological repression. Ever since I began taking an interest in our rights and how to assert them, they started calling me a counterrevolutionary and making life impossible for me. They start to make it like a war for you from within your own family, they use the people around you (neighbors, friends, acquaintances), which leads you to distrust everyone until you become paranoid; you can never know if the peop ... Read more
3 February, 2020
Tengo miedo: the psychological consequences…
People in Need presents its report on the psychological repression in Cuba, a compilation of personal stories from people living under an authoritarian regime and the psychological effects faced by them. The report is based on concrete cases and individual life stories, collected over two months from interviews with people based in the island and also exiled individuals.
The report is composed of an introduction, followed by the first part entitled “Cuba in context: the openness a ... Read more
3 February, 2020
Prostitution in Cuba, a legal…
Photo by Cubaraw
Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts for profit. In legal terms, the word prostitute refers only to the person who participates in an economic transaction based on sex, usually in exchange for an agreed upon amount of remuneration.
In Cuba, prostitution has always generated an internal debate that has resisted going beyond public policies. Already it has come to be believed that the government is responsible for the fact that many tourists come to Cuba seeking sex, sin ... Read more
17 January, 2020
The situation in Holguín
Photo by Cubaraw
In the Province of Holguin, there are several communities where its population has very poor means and there is no possibility of gaining access to sources of technical or financial assistance. The worst conditions are found in the north of the province, in the Alcides Pinos neighborhood, known as La Chomba, and the other in the south of the province located in the Harlem neighborhood, known as La Fornet.
All of the above has created negative effects on the population, the conse ... Read more
17 January, 2020
A true story
Photo by Cubaraw
When she asked me for a lighter without so much as an excuse me, much less wishing me a good afternoon, I looked her over trying to decipher her age, without even daring to think that this girl might be seventeen years old, if even that. I attempted to connect with her while making a smile that looked more like a grimace of pain and asking her – where do you go to school? And it was at that moment when she eventually looked at me with a firm and rebellious look in her eyes ... Read more
17 January, 2020
Editorial. Prostitution: the balance between…
Gender stereotypes play a role as ideology in affecting the behavior of both men and women. Traditionally, Latin American women are imprisoned in the stereotype of being curvy, provocative and sexual objects, rather than subjects with decision-making power and rights. The vast presence of prostitution in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has for long been interpreted as the ultimate proof of the long-existing Latin-American women stereotypes. What often remains unmentioned is that se ... Read more
17 January, 2020
Our Streets Are Not Free
LGTBIQ march in HavanaPhoto by: Ariam Norcal
To me, being able to go out to demonstrate means that all men and women who love freedom have the right to change the most unjust aspects of their society, but in Cuba we cannot occupy our streets because they have not been declared free for the sake of marching and demanding our rights.
Marches, if they have not been called for by the government, are not allowed. Nor have there been many attempts made in the past to have them because for years ... Read more
2 August, 2019
When Marching Makes You Feel…
March 8 march in Prague. Photos by: Petr Zewlak Vrabec (A2larm.cz)
On March 8, 2019, International Women’s Day, I had the opportunity to be part of a march held in the Czech Republic. It was the first time I was able to do so for a truly just cause and the experience was intense. There I could verify that each person was free to say and act as he wished, many women and men were carrying signs with slogans in support of feminist movements. Being from Cuba I did not know what it was like to ... Read more
2 August, 2019
The Peddlers of Illusions and…
One of the most important political figures of the twentieth century in Cuba is more known for uttering the phrase: “In Cuba women are in charge”, than for his achievement as the first president. However, he said this a whopping 72 years ago. And at least that’s the way it should be, since Cuban women make up half of the country’s population and they are expected to be responsible for the development of the other half.
The Cuban Revolution’s track record on behalf of women is c ... Read more
11 February, 2018
Graffiti flooding the capital
The incognito artists do not stop painting the most dissimilar sketchings on the Havana walls that are on the verge of collapse. The image seen on the corner of Subirana and Avenida Carlos III is without a doubt one of the most mysterious. Is it the way of showing the desire to escape everyday reality? Or is it criticizing the Cuban economic and political model? Who knows…
Graffiti in Havana. Photo: Mario Hechavarría Driggs
One of these graffiti drawings shows a hooded individual holding a ratio ... Read more
11 February, 2018
Remittances to Cuba: Get Ready…
“It’s really something unheard of,” complains Ernesta, resident of the Lawton neighbourhood, who has come to the Fincimex agency in Miramar to ask about her money.
Ernesta tells us that she has been to the agency several times this week, awaiting a confirmation of the arrival of money sent by her brother living in Switzerland.
Fincimex Headquarters. Photo by Yunia Figueredo
“The damned transaction still hasn’t come. I have no idea how long I’ll have to wait. He sent me the money on September 12 ... Read more
11 February, 2018
Cubans Coping with the Absurdity…
Manolo Cordoví agreed to tell us about his last experience with the money he earns as a street vendor, selling whatever there is: “I earned a couple of pesos by selling processed cheese and eggs, bringing the goods to people’s homes. Some customers pay with Cuban national pesos (CUP) while others give me convertible pesos (CUC). Sometimes they even combine both currencies to make up the total.”
“So, is everything going well?” we asked him. What other answer could have been expected than the one ... Read more
22 September, 2017
Iralis still believes in human…
She is a small, fragile woman with signs of premature aging and a palpable emotional imbalance. She arrives at my house with a bundle of leaves in her hand and a cry of pity that overflows. In her town, they told her only that I am the only one who can help her, a sort of angel who has been a lifesaver in my role as a human rights activist.
“In the Municipal Court, I have been humiliated, handcuffed, coerced, and threatened. The police intimidate me. Even my lawyer seems to have been bought out. ... Read more
1 September, 2017
One drastic cut and various…
On the 1st August 2017, the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba (Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba) published Resolution no. 22/2017 by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (the MTSS). The purpose of the new rules embodied in this resolution is to amend, to a certain extent, the inconsistencies that the authorities have identified during the implementation of their policies for the past nearly 7 years, as also observed by the Cuban society. The President of the Council of State a ... Read more
21 August, 2017
Another violation of human rights…
On July 18th, 2017, Mr. C. Énix Berrio Sardá was supposed to leave Cuba on a Copa Airlines flight bound for South America to participate in an academic workshop.
Upon arrival at Terminal 3 of the José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, Énix checked his luggage along with other citizens going to the same program. However, when he arrived at the immigration window, he was denied approval to leave the country in a clear violation of the immigration law enforced in the nation and written i ... Read more
26 July, 2017
Editorial - Art and Censorship
For a long time, the thinking has been that, in Cuba, censorship was reserved for opponents of the regime: those who wanted to put an end to the Revolution, and those who’s influence the people had to be protected against.
Although culture, especially the arts, were used as a means for propaganda, the government initially tried to be inclusive towards different schools of thought, which gave some space to intellectuals as long as they did not attack the essence of the Revolution. If they remaine ... Read more
29 June, 2017
Venezuela and the end of…
The tomb of 21st-century socialism is in Caracas. This is the end of the project (hegemonic in several Latin American countries, for a moment) that Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro conceived in the late 1900s.
Cuban propaganda. Photo: PIN
The idea that took form in the premises of the Forum of Sao Paulo, a space that the radical left created to revive the Marxist-Leninist ideology, disappeared among the ruins of the Berlin Wall. The Worker’s Party, headed by Lula da Silva, was the promoter of that i ... Read more
20 June, 2017
The Special Relationship between Batista…
A mere glimpse at the Cuban history of the 1940‘s and 1950‘s reveals that the nature of the relationship between Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro was far from normal. There’s evidence that can prove it.
The two families became acquainted when Raúl and Fidel were children. The Castro family lived in the town of Birán, not far from Banes, where the Batista family lived.
Fidel Castro and the History. Photo by Cubaraw
The Avance newspaper published a photo of a two- or three-year old Raúl Castro i ... Read more
30 April, 2017
Changes in Transport
Over the last few days, the inhabitants of Havana have seen a higher number of buses circulating through the city. This has helped to lift the mood of passengers and reduced the number of people waiting at bus stops. The situation, however, is just a consequence of recent events.
In fact, the sudden expansion of the bus fleet can be attributed to the tension after the introduction of new taxi rates for private taxis, whose impact has been immediately and deeply felt by the drivers, many of whom ... Read more
20 April, 2017
Buñuel’s Banned Film
Back in the early 1960s, Cubans were given an opportunity (perhaps by mistake) to watch the latest films directed by Luis Buñuel (1900-1983), which were shown in the cinemas of Havana. Yet, as soon as the authorities of the Castro regime realized the “evil” nature of the scenes and the dialogues, the films were banned for good.
Poster announcing Viridiana in Cuban cinemas
At the same time in Spain, Buñuel faced expulsion (a second one already) from Madrid ordered by Francisco Franco, despite bei ... Read more
13 February, 2017
How Much Does It Cost…
Interview with Malvino Maldonado Iglesias
Would you like to tell us about your experience with hospitals over the last few years?
My experience with hospitals and polyclinics is rather long and it’s been pretty rough in the last weeks. The streak of bad luck began when I fell from a scaffolding when I was painting my house the first week of this year. I fractured the tibia and fibula of the right leg. The doctors told me right away that I should get ready for a three-months immobilization and th ... Read more
13 February, 2017
New Political Stage, the Same…
Although the Cuban political stage may have partially changed after the death of Fidel Castro, the political scenario remains intact.
The opposition groups on the island, which have been struggling to restore democracy taken away from the Cuban people by the so-called “revolutionaries”, are soon going to face enormous challenges. In this article, we are bringing you opinions gathered from various leaders fighting on diverse independent fronts (politicians, trade unionists, journalists, librarian ... Read more
13 February, 2017
Successes in the Fight Against…
Williams, a warehouse keeper in a brewery, is holding his labour record in his hand. He boasts it triumphantly as it took him five agonizing months before he finally got what he wanted – five months of paying regular visits to the Human Resources department of the company, leaving empty-handed.
Paperwork in Cuban public offices. Photo by Frank Correa
“Getting the labour record was an odyssey. The reason why I decided to leave the company was that we, the warehouse keepers, were punished for robb ... Read more
11 February, 2017
Editorial: The Three Types of…
Despite the fact that journalism in Cuba has changed considerably in recent years, opening up space for the independent press and new alternative initiatives, there are still three distinct blocs. There is the state press, characterized by being more propaganda than journalism and supporting strong censorship; the independent media, which is exposed to constant smears to their reputation and repression by the government, as well as its own deficiencies in terms of quality; and the new alternativ ... Read more
22 December, 2016
The Truth and Fear on…
On Saturday, 22 October 2016, around 300 journalists, mainly Cubans, gathered in Miami to celebrate the National Day of Press Freedom in Cuba. Unfortunately, the independent press in our country does not know the date, nor the origin or even the people for whom the independent journalists work.
Jesús Díaz Martínez, Vice Dean of the National College of Cuban Journalists in Exile, said in an interview to Vicente Morín Aguado in Florida that “our organization was founded in 1962 in pursuit of ... Read more
14 December, 2016
University Of Havana Was Once…
Founded in 1728 by Dominican friars, the University of Havana was democratic for 231 years.
Photo: Cubaraw
When the university reopened on 11 May 1959, it continued to be democratic, despite the revolution that had taken place; it is something that the history still needs to explain and, quite oddly, the press has never covered the topic. It actually took the new acting authorities long months to seize control of this cultural institution. The way they seized it, though, was far from subtle.
The ... Read more
14 December, 2016
Genetically Modified Organisms flood Cuba
Tourists and investors are currently flooding Cuba. Since the new wave of trade and economic liberalization hit the island, foreign companies are keen on coming here to explore new business opportunities. What happens when the local organic farming collides with U.S. agribusinesses? Will Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) flood the island next?
Will hectares of Cuban land be opened to GMOs cultivation in the future? Photo: PIN
The Paradox of Cuban Agriculture
Cuba has been known as an oasis o ... Read more
14 December, 2016
The Place Where My Father…
Dictatorships, in particular totalitarian, are very much alike. That of Cuba is not an exception. The State is perceived as an absolute entity that covers and understands everything and makes use not only of children, but even of the dead.
There are many examples to support this and the best is perhaps the event that occurred on April 26, 1987, when the body of the deceased political leader Blas Roca (1908- 1987) was deposited, by express order of Fidel Castro, in El Cacahual, south of Havana, w ... Read more
14 December, 2016
The Crisis of State Journalism
A SYSTEM THAT IS SINKING
I n recent months, the role of the official press as a regulatory agency for the Cuban political system has been displaced by the so-called “alternative press” and its young journalists, trained at the university, who have migrated from the state media and are creating new, independent spaces outside of the state sector, such as El Estornudo (The Sneeze), Journalism from the Barrio, El Toque (The Poke) and On Cuba, where their profession is developing with (a little more ... Read more
14 December, 2016
My Respect and Support for…
Today one of the most interesting phenomena in Cuban society is the proliferation of alternative, independent media, including those that neither take orders from the government nor from the opposition. This wealth of articulated voices, which can be seen, rather than heard, especially in electronic formats, is a significant improvement of the efforts and experiments being developed in recent years, such as the use of emails to “publish” news and opinions from you to you, personal blogs, sending ... Read more
14 December, 2016
Maykel González: "There are not…
Maykel is a new kind of journalist on the Cuban scene. This is the case, because after studying in the university and developing his career initially within the state media, he has carried his critical spirit to the point of being expelled from the radio station in which he worked. He considers himself an “independent journalist”, knowing full well the problems that this can bring him in Cuba, and despite it being a term that the new alternative journalists avoid since it has a strong pejorative ... Read more
14 December, 2016
Trump and Cuba Today
Hopes that the new Republican administration might exert any major effort to overthrow the Cuban dictatorship are scarce. The only reasonable thing to expect is even more confrontational rhetoric and actions of little or no help to Cuba in promoting the pro-democratic agenda in the country. And that’s exactly what the old guard of the single-party government most benefits from.
Photo: Mario Hechevarría Driggs
There’s an implicit belief about an external enemy (the readier to fight, the better), ... Read more
8 December, 2016
The Cuba of today is…
And “Velvet Revolution” may not be coming to Cuba any time soon.
17 November reminds Czechs that freedom is worth fighting for, but what about Cuba? When is the Velvet Revolution coming to Cuba? These days, Czechs are celebrating 27 years since they overthrew communism. The velvet revolution brought democracy and freedom to this country after 41 years.
What do you think, when is the Velvet Revolution coming to Cuba? Photo: PIN
Are Cubans waiting for snow in Havana?
International media are report ... Read more
14 November, 2016
A Lack of Will
On 11 July 1997, the National Assembly of People’s Power approved the Environmental Act which stipulates the necessity of “providing for the right to a healthy environment, as the basic right of the society and its citizens, and for the right to enjoy a healthy and productive life in the harmony with nature.”
At the same time, Article 3 specifies that “it is the obligation of the State, its citizens and the society in general to protect the environment by its conservation and rational use; a con ... Read more
14 October, 2016
How is the climate change…
I am almost sixty years old and I come from a rural area in Cuba. My parents were labourers, my father’s father was a landless peasant, my mother’s parents were peasants and landowners. I remember there was an intermittent stream flowing through their land forming small pools that provided water for cattle throughout the entire year.
In the times of little rainfall, from March to May, the cattle was gathered in our farmyard so it could be provided with water extracted from a well by ... Read more
14 September, 2016
Who is going to pay…
Halfway through a Congress of the Communist Party which calls for efficiency and organization in the state matters, particularly those related to the national food supplies, nearly one hundred potato sacks had to be thrown away at the nearby farmers’ market Jaimanitas.
Foto: Aliester Prats
The head of El Porvenir, a shop that belongs to the Jesús Menéndez Cooperative of Credits and Services, expressed that “such large amounts of potatoes were lost due to the wrong distribution handle ... Read more
14 July, 2016
10 Things Cubans Cannot Do
In every single Latin American country some sort of independent civil society exists and is recognized by the state. Not so in Cuba. Photo: (cc: CubaRaw)
Many international media have been full of articles about how Cuba is changing. While this is true and there have been some changes that bring Cuba closer to its Latin American neighbors, Cubans still miss on many things that are quite normal in the rest of the region. Ten things that most Cuban’s still cannot do include:
Earn Fair Wage
The s ... Read more
14 July, 2016
Editorial - S.O.S. CUBAN WOMEN
Despite how much we hear about political and social situation in Cuba and changes which have been taking place in recent years, little or almost no attention is paid to the situation of women living in the country. Women´s rights are often overshadowed by a struggle for democracy which seems to be intended only for men. We know that Ladies in White march on the streets every Sunday in order to claim their civil rights, but why they never protest against violance and discrimination they have to f ... Read more
14 July, 2016
Granma and One-Party System
The leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba have once again declared against other political organizations that have nothing to do with Marxism-Leninism or similar doctrines. Apparently, the institutions and organizations that have been in control of the countryʼs destiny since early 1960s want to maintain unanimity in its postulates.
Photo: PIN
The main proves of the authorities’s unwillingness to give up its absolute hegemony achieved exclusively by a combination of populism, repressions and ... Read more
14 May, 2016
Dogmeat
We were travelling by a minibus that belonged to the new carrier cooperatives associated with the state. The seats were so close to one another that I could not avoid overhearing a conversation I haven’t been able to figure out till today. At one moment I even turned my head to see the person who was talking about such a horrifying topic. His words made me think about the extreme degradation some Cubans are forced to face when dealing with everyday difficulties.
I saw a very young man, 24 ... Read more
14 April, 2016
The Two Faces of Havana
The state institutions responsible for the hygiene and the beautification of the city give individualized attention to the touristic zones, such as the areas where the ruling elite lives. This is definitely a fact.
At the recent meeting of the Advice of Ministers, Raúl Castro said: “we have to develop we have the possibility to do it, in tourism, because every hotel that we finish is an open factory”. Therefore, since several years ago the Cuban government prioritizes investments in the tourism ... Read more
14 March, 2016
How to Save the Environment…
Cuban Landscape / PIN
Cuba is not only a beautiful island full of unique beauty and endemic species but also a country with multiple environmental challenges, such as omnipresent illegal dump sites, or aggressive agro-forestry and energy programs. PIN, in collaboration with Cuban ecologists, put together this Report on the Environmental Situation in Cuba which aptly analyses the current situation and suggests possible interventions. Check it out! It is worth your attention!
REPORT-Environmental- ... Read more
14 February, 2016
A New Collapse in Havana
Campanario Street, almost at its intersection with Estrella, remains obstructing vehicular traffic from a few days ago due to the accumulation of rubble product of the spontaneous collapse of a building that was over one hundred years old.
It is known that when the sun rises after downpours, the heat ends up cracking the structures and brings disaster. Firstly the sand product of the collapse that is used in a mix with cement, and certainly very popular in new constructions. Secondly, the old, ... Read more
14 February, 2016
Hopefully the wounds will heal
If we make a serious reflection about the consequences that the communist experiment has brought to Cuba, we do not find it hard to understand that the Fidel Castro’s revolution was the worst that could occur in our country. Nevertheless, there is no way to justify the coup of Fulgencio Batista in 1952 months before the constitutional elections. It was an act of political impudence: violence was used not to defend a civilian law but to seize and impose a humiliating military dictatorship motivat ... Read more
14 February, 2016
Paranoia
Argimiro Caro was an activist for democracy in Cuba till migrated to other lands in 2005. A long time ago, he swore once he was convinced that in one visit to the dentist, the doctor inserted a chip in one piece to keep him located. “You do not see a dark shadow next to the molar? Here it is to place me wherever I go and to record all I say”. I laughed at his occurrence, but he explained to me, that every time he held a group meeting, political police monitored it and they always knew where it t ... Read more
14 February, 2016
A Sad Task of an…
Major Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, vice-president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, would definitely feel more comfortable as the head of the Ministry of the Interior (founded indeed by himself at the dawn of Cuban Revolution) than with the job he has been assigned recently, at the age of 84.
Photo: Elio Delgado
Perhaps by a whim of fate or his friend Fidel Castro, Major Valdés now travels around the island from one end to the other in order to inspect and investigate various sectors ... Read more
14 February, 2016
Alternative Blog vs. State Media…
That’s how life goes. Readers and other supporters of the blog known as Cartas desde Cuba (Letters from Cuba) continue in their efforts to support Fernando Ravsberg. The Uruguayan journalist, who settled in Cuba 28 years ago, has started a public collection to finance his project that, in his own words, aims to “bring information which reflects the colours and shades of what’s happening in Cuba.”
Fernando RavsbergPhoto: Courtesy of the Author
After he was denied renewal of his permits in Februar ... Read more
11 February, 2016
Cuba 2015: One Year after…
On December 17, 2014 the presidents of Cuba and the United States announced a historical change in the relationship between the two countries. Since then some new spaces for Cuban citizens have opened up and Cuban society has been experiencing a remarkable ideological shift not seen in decades. However much less has changed in Cuba over the last year than might be apparent from sometimes overly optimistic media coverage. A significant part of the information in this report was obtained over the ... Read more
14 December, 2015
The decline of the old…
Rolando “the engineer” has spent over 20 years selling so-called used and rare books. “Every day sales are decreasing, it is getting more difficult to obtain books, people accuse us of buying low and selling high because customers are mainly tourists, but the truth is we have to take a risk at the Plaza de Armas.”
The main market covers about 100 square meters in front of the old Palace of the Captains General (today museum of the city). Dozens of booksellers with their p ... Read more
14 October, 2015
Cubans deported from the US
Reinaldo Cruz, native of Manzanillo with permanent address in the Havana neighbourhood of El Calvario, was deported to Cuba in 2011. Today, he spends all day drunk on the beach, surviving only thanks to the money people give him, occasional thefts or by narrating his misdeeds from the time he lived in Orlando.
Another deportee, Bernardo Muñoz, also unemployed, with the same tramp-like look, struggles in Jaimanita. “I used to fly like an arrow from the United States in my speedboat to pick ... Read more
14 July, 2015
The City of Palma Soriano:…
In October 1958, the city of Palma Soriano fell into the hands of the rebel troops commanded by Fidel Castro, who declared it the first capital of the Revolution on that very day. Today it is perhaps the city with most opponents against the communist regime.
We spoke with Denia Fernández Rey, representative of the opposition group Hermanas de Blanco (“White Sisters”) in the Santiago de Cuba province, who records repressive acts perpetrated against the residents of Palma Soriano. She told us abou ... Read more
11 February, 2015