I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began

What happened

According to The Guardian’s report, I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began, My friends and I wanted to tell the story of Cuban life, without interference. Before long, I was being isolated, monitored and interrogated A version of this essay was previously published in the Dial under the title The Sneeze . Translation by Lily Meyer One day, in the middle of 2014, my friend Carlos Manuel Álvarez asked me to join him on the newsroom’s balcony. Wind gusted in our eyes. Elbows on the railing, we stared at the sea as we talked. We were killing time because neither of us had a computer to work on. All of them were in use. At OnCuba , the magazine in Havana where we worked, only editors got their own computers. The rest of us had to share, which sometimes meant waiting an hour. Several of my university friends and I had lucked into contributing roles at OnCuba, and even though we weren’t on staff, we were always in the newsroom. It was a way to keep our group together.

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Global file for readers following international affairs, institutions, conflict, diplomacy, economics, and cross-border consequences. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The report is dated 2026-06-04T04:00:25+00:00.

What to watch

Open questions include whether primary sources issue follow-up statements, whether local or market impacts become clearer, and whether additional reporting changes the timeline or adds material context.

Source

Primary source: I launched Cuba’s first independent magazine. And that’s when my troubles began via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.