14ymedio

The Official Press Announces a Terrible Tobacco Harvest in Cuba

The main tobacco cultivation areas are located in Vueltabajo, in the province of Pinar del Río. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 23 March 2023 — Pinar del Río has not produced even half the tobacco that was planned. The main Cuban export will now have, without a doubt, what the official newspaper Granma describes as “the smallest [harvest] in history” in an area that produces between 60% and 70% of the national production.

While 27,675 acres were planned for planting in Vueltabajo, the total barely reached 12,730, or 46%, and there are just days left to finish this step.

As a consequence of the disaster, of the 4,556 farmers who were going to start planting only 3,456 have done so, while some 1,100 have not, and the number is not expected to increase.

Osvaldo Santana Vera, coordinator of the Tabacuba group in Vueltabajo, explained to the official newspaper Granma that the plan has been readjusted twice since the impact of Hurricane Ian last September destroyed 90% of the province’s tobacco drying sheds, more than 10,000 of the total 12,000.

“Given the impossibility of rebuilding them all again in a matter of a few months, in time to protect the leaves of the current harvest, the Tabacuba Business Group decided to prioritize the highest quality plantings to ensure export demands,” the article explains.

But even so, it has not been possible to salvage the situation, and the lack of wood has had repercussions. Of the 3,977 curing sheds that are needed, and with readjustments based on the planting, more than 1,400 still need to be built. continue reading

All this led to a reduction of the plan to 15,793 acres, but that amount was excessive, so it was reduced again to 14,275 acres, extending the plan by 50 days. The figure is still remarkably far from what is needed.

To this must be added the farmers who have refused to sow because the State still owes them money, according to 14ymedio sources in San Juan and Martínez. Tobacco producers in the province told this newspaper that there have been several meetings to try to convince the farmers to plant by stating that the payment would be made as soon as possible, but many are suspicious and have reverted to the cultivation of flowers, peanuts and fruits of shorter cycles or that need fewer resources.

Granma’s version, however, attributes the crisis of the sector to the climate and the “demolishing blow that nature dealt” to the producers, and the article ends with a call for epic resistance, although they will have to wait another year. “The men and women who produce the best tobacco in the world claim that this is just a skirmish (…) and say that another cock will crow in the next harvest.”

The passage of the hurricane and the destruction of the drying sheds meant that tons of tobacco leaves had to be sent to other provinces to try to safeguard them. About 6,000 tons were transferred to Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos, in addition to “about 11,000” that were already in the dryers and, after getting wet from the rain, had to undergo a new process or be discarded.

Just a week ago, a dryer in Jovellanos, Matanzas burned more than 11,300 bundles of freshly harvested tobacco. The firefighters were able to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading, but the loss is one more nail in the coffin of the sector.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The (Un)popular Power of Castroism

Díaz-Canel goes along under pressure, from platform to platform, taking advantage of anything, even if it’s a defeat in baseball with a score of 14 to 2. (PL)

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, 23 March 2023 — Next Sunday the Cuban regime will hold “elections” where 470 candidates for Parliament will “dispute,” nothing more and nothing less than 470 seats. When you try to explain this process to any citizen of a democratic country, their brain usually short-circuits. But that’s the scheme, as absurd and brazen as it sounds. The people choose absolutely nothing; they simply ratify a decision that has already been made previously by the single party.

To carry out this esoteric trap, they resort to the “united vote.” The Government itself will be in charge of spending millions of resources on propaganda to convince you that you should vote for everyone, as if it were a combo. If in Stalin’s USSR the ballots presented a single candidate, then in the Cuba of the Castro brothers they save paper. Just put a jumble of names on a ballot and add a circle on top of it that summarizes them all. By the way, you also save ink.

Fidel himself expressed in February 1993 that the ’united vote’ was not a technical issue, but a political issue, that it was “the strategy of patriots, of revolutionaries.” In reality, it was simply his strategy to play at voting, once every five years, without risking absolutely anything.

No candidate, obviously, can be suspected of having divergences in official thinking. All have passed through several filters to reach the final list and will continue to be watched with a magnifying glass, in case they present any ideological deviation along the way. They will be allowed to have some corrupt behaviors, of course. Cuba is a country where corruption is called “fight” and everyone knows “how bad it is.” But State Security will keep in its drawers any material that can compromise them, just in case they have to “be ruined” to make an example of them, as they did with Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque.

When I lived in Cuba, I was close to several deputies, and the truth is that the vast majority are indistinguishable. They dedicate themselves to attending endless meetings; they will unanimously approve any decision that comes from above, and they will enjoy some privileges that the position affords them. continue reading

That’s why the electoral campaigns are superfluous. There is no need to have or present any project. All you need is a poorly printed biography showing your photo, the morning assemblies at school in which you participated during your childhood and the mass organizations to which you belong. Hardly anyone will stop to read this nonsense, which is usually identical. That is also why the ballot boxes are guarded by children. After all, what could go wrong?

But Cuba is no longer the place where people used to vote like automatons, to “get it over with.” On recent occasions, the number of abstentions, canceled and blank ballots has increased dramatically. Díaz-Canel goes along under pressure, from platform to platform, taking advantage of anything, even if it’s a defeat in baseball of 14 to 2. What does it matter? He and his bosses (generals with more stars than principles) know perfectly well that this March 26 could break the mold: the rejection of a rigged, grotesque and undemocratic model.

Even seeing it from the perspective of those who sympathize with the Revolution, this management has been, by far, the worst in decades! They have not fulfilled any of the projects that were drawn up (like that plan of 1.7 homes a day); inflation rises at a quadrangular rate; hunger lurks in every corner of the country; repression is more guaranteed than the bread of the quota; the blackouts are a joke; the young people leave, and the violence expands in an alarming way.

To make matters worse, the visible figures of the system could not be more gray or unpleasant. Díaz-Canel and his “wife who works at her work” (as he himself called her) have shone in the art of cantinfleo (with the pardon of Cantinflas*). I’m not sure if they try to emulate Maduro, but their clumsiness is about to set a Guinness world record.

What should we Cubans do? Regardless of everyone’s ideology, we have to be honest with ourselves. It would be enough to look around and understand that the night cannot be eternal. This Sunday we can show them and the world that this obsolete and decadent system does not have our support. We can leave them alone in their circus, without being able to boast of a power that is completely unpopular.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Illegal Entry of Cubans to the United States Fell From 44,069 in December to 753 in February

The Border Patrol during the detention of a group of irregular migrants on the southern border of the United States (Twitter/@USBPChief)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 March 2023 — Data provided by the United States Border Patrol indicate that from October last year to March of this year, 116,878 Cubans have been arrested on the border between the United States and Mexico. However, the data for January (6,433) and February (753) indicate a drastic reduction in illegal entry since the humanitarian parole policy came into effect.

The head of the Border Patrol, Raúl Ortiz, specified that in the last five months, US officers have arrested 900,590 irregular migrants, with Cubans being the second largest group to cross the border after Mexicans (225,476).

Although US authorities have insisted that there has been a decrease in the crossing of Cubans since the Biden Administration launched the so-called humanitarian parole last January, the numbers of Island nationals who crossed illegally and surrendered to the Border Patrol are still significant, with 6,433. Forty percent of these people were expelled. continue reading

Ortiz highlighted on his social networks that this group and 753 other Cubans, who were returned to Mexico in February, lost eligibility for the CBP One program.

According to figures from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), 44,069 Cubans were handed over to the US authorities in December 2022.

During the hearing on March 15, which took place in Texas and was organized by the U.S. National Security Committee, Ortiz warned that some areas of the agency he directs “face a crisis situation” due to the “challenges” represented by the “migration flow.”

Republican Mark Green, president of the National Security Committee of the US House of Representatives, attributed part of this migration crisis to the Mexican cartels. “They are earning billions by bringing people to the United States, many of whom have to pay with forced criminal labor.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Some 50 Kenyan Doctors Live in ‘Deplorable Conditions’ in Cuba

Cuba and Kenya signed a health agreement in 2017, which will end this June if it is not renewed. (Ministry of Health)

14ymedio, Madrid, 22 March 2023 — Kenyan doctors who complete their training in Cuba “live in deplorable conditions,” according to the Union of Doctors, Pharmacists and Dentists of Kenya (KMPDU), which has placed approximately 50 residents in Cuba, who are currently studying a specialty.

The message was heard even louder in the Health Committee of the Kenyan Senate on Tuesday, where the secretary general of the organization, Davji Bhimji Atellah, said bluntly: “Kenyan doctors in Cuba are suffering.”

There were no more specific details about the complaint, whose objective is to put an end to the agreement that the governments of both countries have maintained since 2017, and according to which Cuban doctors occupy several vacant positions in hospitals in Kenya, and Kenyan medical students go to Cuba to train. The agreement expires this June, and the union demands that it not be renewed.

However, the claim is not something new. In 2019, when the situation on the Island was far from the critical state it is in now, the same union denounced the suicide of one of its students, Ali Juma Hamisi, which friends in Kenya attributed to the “terrible living conditions” that he complained about in his calls.

Among the most frequent complaints was the poor quantity and quality of the food. In addition, the money provided to cover the doctor’s expenses was slow to arrive or never did, and it turned out to be negligible compared to the cost of living in Cuba. Also, the tickets to travel home once a year were canceled. The lack of air conditioning in the heat and the uncomfortable rooms did the rest.

It can be assumed, although Atellah did not say it, that these bad conditions are the currently same, and even worse. The trade unionist explained in the House that the agreement turned out to be a “waste of human resources,” and he pointed out the case of those who have already returned.

“After the training in Cuba, they returned to Kenya and had to undergo two years of training here for the Medical Council to authorize them to practice as family doctors. The scope of the practice of family medicine in Kenya is different from the Cuban one; hence the need to train doctors, so that they acquire skills that allow them to practice,” he said. continue reading

The same applies to the reverse case. “Cuban doctors who came to Kenya also faced challenges. The expectations were different. A family doctor trained here can perform emergency obstetric and gynecological surgeries, as well as surgical emergencies. Cuban family doctors are not prepared to do surgeries because it is not part of their training,” he added.

To all this is added the language barrier, in both cases.

Atellah has asked for an audit to analyze the cost-benefit of the program, which, in his opinion, is not positive.

“Cuban doctors are in the Kenya School of Government at the expense of taxpayers instead of being in hospitals, while there are about 100 unemployed Kenyan family doctors who could be incorporated into primary care,” he said.

According to the trade unionist, the counties have also taken care of accommodation and provide them with a driver and security that local doctors do not have. In addition, he said, they receive three times the salary of Kenyans. He omitted, however, that this money is not paid individually to each worker, but to the Government of Cuba, which gives the doctors themselves a minimum percentage, as has been denounced on numerous occasions.

The health agreements between Kenya and Cuba led to the kidnappings on April 12, 2019, of the surgeon Landy Rodríguez Hernández and the specialist in general medicine Assel Herrera Correa by alleged members of the Somali jihadist group Al Shabab, while they were on their way to work in the hospital in Mandera, in the northeast of the country.

After four years, the triangulated negotiations between the governments of Cuba, Kenya and Somalia were unsuccessful in freeing the two doctors. On two occasions they were close to success, the first only a month later, when traditional leaders of the area traveled to negotiate and were offered the prisoners in exchange for a payment of 1.5 million dollars, according to the local press.

In October 2020, the release of the doctors was announced by different press agencies, which cited a senior official of the Somali intelligence services as a source. Hours later, he explained that the delivery of the two hostages had been frustrated at the last moment after a “filtration” paralyzed the “safe transfer.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Documentary ‘Dos Patrias’ About Human Rights in Cuba Is Presented in Miami

Frame provided by filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo where imprisoned activist Aymara Nieto Muñoz appears, during a scene from Dos patrias [Two Homelands]. (EFE)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami, 18 March 2023 — The documentary Dos patrias [Two Homelands], a work by Costa Rican filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo that addresses the violation of human rights in Cuba based on the testimonies of three Cuban activists, was presented on Friday, 17 March, at Florida International University (FIU), in Miami.

Hidalgo, 52, said in statements to EFE that the documentary is based on the testimonies of three Cuban activists “who have in common that they were accused of crimes they did not commit.”

The filmmaker, who knows the current situation of the Island well after studying in the 1990s at the International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, said that people who reside in countries with freedom “do not really know what it is to live in a dictatorship.”

“The three cases are emblematic, and I discovered them after an investigation,” she explained.

Sebastián Arcos, associate director of the FIU Institute of Cuban Research, told EFE that they have organized, together with the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, based in Washington, the presentation of the documentary in Miami. continue reading

The work of Hidalgo, director of the feature film Del amor y otros demonios [Love and Other Demons] (Costa Rica-Colombia, 2010), based on the novel by Gabriel García Márquez, presents the stories of three Cuban activists born on the Island who reveal their problems after confronting the Government of Havana.

The activists are Aymara Nieto Muñoz, currently imprisoned, Xiomara Cruz Miranda and Eduardo Cardet, a doctor who is a member of the Christian Liberation Movement. “This is a very topical issue,” Arcos said, after the Institute of Cuban Research joined for the human interest of the documentary, to be presented today at the FIU’s Graham Center.

Together with Cardet, the documentary collects the testimony of activist Aymara Nieto Múñoz, who in 2018 was sentenced to four years of deprivation of liberty for the crimes of “attack” and “property damage,” to which was added a new sentence of 5 years and 4 months for the charge of “public disorder” in prison.

The third person is the Lady in White Xiomara Cruz Miranda, who lives in the United States and is waiting for the approval of her permanent residence in this country.

The program coordinator for Latin America of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Johanna Villegas, said in an interview with Radio Martí, from Miami, that the documentary “is an effort to highlight the situation of prisoners deprived of political liberty in Cuba.”

Villegas said that Dos patrias is part of the organization’s initiative to reach different audiences and publicize the human rights violations that occur in Latin American countries.

The documentary was supported by Producciones La Tiorba of Costa Rica, where Hidalgo works as a director and screenwriter.

Hidalgo’s career includes the feature film Violeta al fin [Violeta at the End] (Costa Rica-Mexico, 2017), along with television series and documentaries on social, gender and sustainable development topics filmed in Costa Rica, France, Italy and Bhutan, among others.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Musicians Are Victims of Corrupt State Talent Agencies

For years Cuban artists been pushing to be able to perform without having to go through state-run booking agencies. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2023 — “Obviously, someone gave an order to go after the talent agencies,” says Ofelia, a Havana singer for whom the pandemic was a turning point in her career. It happened the moment she went onstage, she tells 14ymedio. It was the first time one of her appearances had not been arranged through a licensed talent agency or a state-run booking company, the only legal way for an artist to perform in Cuba.

Reading an article in Cubadebate, “Are Cuba’s Musical Booking Agencies Good at Representing Their Artists?” she recognized all the problems endemic to state institutions: inefficiency, corruption, breach of contract, delayed payment, bureaucracy and a host of what are, by now, common complaints.

“I think this is about giving MSMEs (small and medium-sized business) the authority to act as talent agents while, at the same time, getting state companies out of the business. There’s been talk of doing this for a long time but nothing has ever come of it,” says the soloist, who suspects that that the ongoing effects of currency unification in 2021 could be the impetus for an eventual change. “They have always relied on these agencies to manage artists but, now that the peso is worthless, maybe they’ve realized they can’t afford them. Perhaps an MSME will be more profitable and can act more like a company that represents artists should act,” she says.

Ofelia thinks this model could work well for successful groups, or for artists with a certain level or fame, who could generate high returns for the company. However, for less commercial artists such as musicians who work nights at bars and restaurants, she believes a license to perform, along with the responsibility to pay any taxes, would be enough.

Ofelia’s idea is not so far-fetched. An extensive article posted on the official digital news platform Cubadebate highlights recent messages from the Communist Party – which are clearly the reason for that article – that are critical of the current system and supportive of fundamental change. continue reading

“A thorough review of music and entertainment companies and agencies, and of their structural and operational models, is in order,” reads a quote from a report presented to the National Assembly and cited in Tuesday’s article.

It also cited remarks made by President Miguel Diaz-Canel in 2019 to the National Cuban Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC): “We hear complaints that the way so-called cultural industries operate — as it relates to artistic creation, its production, promotion and commercialization — is antiquated,” he said. “There is much dissatisfaction among artists and creators who must do absolutely everything when it comes to disseminating or promoting their work, while those who should be responsible for doing so practice a kind of parasitism through inaction. Artists have a duty to pay their taxes, but they should not have to pay companies that have had nothing to do with employment contracts, with their promotion or with their legal protection.”

There are many examples to support the president’s claim, though no indication that anything being is done to solve the problem. These examples are cited not only in the Cubadebate arcticle, whose sources remain anonymous, but are also confirmed by Ofelia.

“The system isn’t profitable. It’s not a meritocracy. It all depends on how much leverage an artist has, on bribes, on corruption from top to bottom… For example, [let’s say] they hire you for a gig and pay you X amount of pesos, but the Municipal Culture director can ask you for 4,000 of that. If they do that with me, I hate to think how much it would be for those reggaeton artists who pull in big crowds,” she says.

The article reports that the island has one municipal and fourteen provincial artist management companies, two provincial and six national music centers, and six talent agencies with 4,081 departments (669 subsidized and 3,412 unsubsidized) made up of 21,335 artists and support staff.

This mastodon — a holdover from the era of provincial music academies, which were made management companies by law in 2012 — serves no purpose and lacks everything. “When there were two currencies, you could perform either for pesos or hard currency. When they did it like that, the profits that the companies earned would, in theory, go straight to the Cuban Institute of Music, which is the ideological arm in all this. When they took that away, the companies didn’t have the hard currency to pay for things, to have a car fixed… If you needed to print an invoice, there was no paper, or there was no toner for the printer… It was impossible to work under those conditions,” recalls Ofelia.

Ofelia recalls one of Havana’s most notorious incidents, when a letter one of her colleagues wrote was published in one of the State newspapers, Juventud Rebelde [Rebel Youth]. In it, he accused his management company’s directors of spending a quarter of a million pesos for a project that had not been approved, pocketing part of money and leaving the company penniless. More commonly, it can take up to two months or more for an artist to get paid for a performance.

“Sometimes it’s because there’s no transportation. Other times it’s because there’s no employee who can go to the bank, or because there’s no money to pay them. Or they go to the bank but they can’t get anyone to print an account statement.” she explains.

The incidents reported by Cubadebate are not dissimilar. Even the winner of the controversial San Remo Music Awards contest, Aníbal Ramos, is having to sue for breach of contract after winning the contest. Though he won in the professional category, a year later he still has not yet received his prize money. “I knocked on many doors over an audition issue that took more than nine months to resolve. To join the company, it doesn’t matter what artistic or educational level you have because there is a parallel evaluation system,” says Ramos.

Also interviewed for the article was singer Ariel Diaz, one of the few to give his real name. He reports that management companies do not promote their artists’ work, handle publicity, logistics or production, or, unsurprisingly, provide legal representation. He is unaware of anyone having ever filed a lawsuit against an institution despite a long history of breaches of contract.

The catalogue of complaints outlined by state media is endless. It seems we can expect at least one more article on this subject judging from the line at the end: “To be continued.” Its publication, years after this topic was no longer even an open secret, suggests something is afoot in the world of music.

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Cuba’s ‘Most Efficient’ Sugar Mill Has Ground Only 56 Percent of the Cane Planned for the Current Harvest

The Primero de Enero [First of January] mill has experienced delays in the plan for the province of Ciego de Ávila. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 March 2022 — The preliminary results of the 2022-2023 sugar harvest continue to deepen the failure of the planned resuscitation of the sunken sugar sector, which was once the engine of growth for the Cuban economy. The latest press reports in Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas and Ciego de Ávila indicate that none of the three provinces has met the production plan.

Irayaselis Bandera, an official of the Agroindustrial Company Azucarera Dos Ríos, located in the Santiago municipality of Palma Soriano, acknowledged to the provincial newspaper Sierra Maestra that the situation is “complex,” as 10,577 tons of raw sugar have been produced, 53.7% of the 19,321 that it must achieve for this year.

Bandera explained that the production of sugar has been interrupted by a deficit of cane seed. The lack of fuel and parts for the means of transport, as well as breakdowns in the mill equipment, add to the list of problems.

Despite the meager results, Osvaldo Arias Quezada, the mill administrator, argued that “efforts are aimed at supplying enough for the basic basket” of Cuban families. The official pointed out that 500 workers “manage solutions” for breakdowns of machines, some of which have had more than half a century of operation.

The only achievement highlighted by Arias Quezada is energy self-sufficiency and its contribution to the National Energy System in two Soviet turbogenerators with an installed capacity of four megawatts (MW) each. continue reading

In the province of Las Tunas, the Majibacoa mill also got off on the wrong foot, and preliminary results indicate that it will not be able to meet the production goal. David Puig Brito, general director of the sugar company, told Periódico 26 that as of March 18, the mill had generated 13,000 tons of raw sugar, 55.9% of the 23,227 tons that must be delivered by April 19.

Puig Brito believes that if the mill has enough cane “we will fulfill the plan even before the scheduled date,” but this means that they must produce a similar amount of sugar as that generated in the last three months, since the milling work began in January.

Majibacoa along with Antonio Guiteras are the only mills of the four active in the province assigned to the milling of sugar for this cycle, while the Colombia and Amancio Rodríguez sugar mills were relegated only to obtaining cane syrup and clarified juice.

Puig Brito acknowledged that recently they had to stop the machines, for up to a week, due to a broken mat in February. Despite “the problems,” the director added, the plant is considered to be the most efficient in Cuba with an industrial yield of 12.75 metric tons of sugar per 100 tons of ground cane. “We are taking advantage of the cane like no other in the country,” he said with a triumphant tone.

But the improvement in performance is not enough to alleviate the problems of the mill, which is working with 32 of the 47 machines. It also does not have tires or batteries for vehicles, in addition to the fact that seven of the vehicles do not work due to technical problems. However, the note of the official newspaper minimizes the crisis by assuring that the mill collective “feels optimistic” and “enthusiastic” because it knows “the vital importance of producing sugar today.”

Also far from the goal of the production plan, with a compliance of 50.9%, is the Azcuba Sugar Group, in Ciego de Ávila. Eduardo Larrosa Vázquez, director of the company, acknowledged on March 17 that there are “tensions” among the workers because they have only managed to produce 28,000 tons of the 55,000 required.

“There is no room for expansion,” added Larrosa Vázquez, who said that in the next 60 days “all available resources plus incentives for workers” will be used to reach the pledged amount of sugar.

The director defended the delays at the Ciro Redondo mill, saying they are due to the breakdowns of the boilers of a bioelectric plant due to the shortages of power of the Electrical System at the beginning of February. Only this mill, he continued, has “a debt” of almost 17,000 tons for the current harvest and, to date, it has produced more than 14,000 tons.

Cuba began the 2022-2023 sugar harvest last November with the goal of producing 455,198 tons of sugar, below the 473,720 tons obtained in the previous cycle. Most of it will be used for the family basket, tourism and the production of medicines and industrial products. It is not yet known if the country will be able to respect the agreements signed with its usual international buyers.

The results of the other 23 sugar mills for this cycle have yet to be known, but Azcuba acknowledged last February that the deficit was 95,000 tons of sugar.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Reports of State Security Threats Toward Elections Observers in Cuba

Signs with information and propaganda related to the upcoming elections in Cuba. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2023 — On Monday, Zelandia de la Caridad Pérez, the national coordinator of the Cuban Commission for Electoral Defense (Cocude) denounced that several Cuban activists are being threatened with arrest by State Security if they persist in their intent to observe the electoral process on Sunday, March 26th, when the delegate candidates to the National Assembly of the People’s Power (ANPP) will be voted on and approved.

During a telephone conversation with 14ymedio, De la Caridad Pérez stated that for several days, the political police have been conducting this type of threat and also stated that “they are strongly repressing those who are campaigning for abstention, alluding to the recently approved Criminal Code.”

“A number of citizens and activists who promote and participate in a campaign for abstention are being threatened with judicial proceedings for supposed law violations,” signaled a joint statement by Cocude, Observadores de Derechos Electorales [Electoral Rights Observers], and Ciudadanos Observadores de Procesos Electorales [Citizen Observers of Electoral Processes].

Activists pointed to the electoral law which does not prohibit citizens from “demonstrating their preferences,” although it does prohibit formal election campaigns.

“The right to observe is consecrated in the current electoral law, thus, these repressive actions and operations by State Security against activists interested in exercising that right is a clear violation of the law,” insisted the activist who added, “We’ve received reports of these threats from Santiago de Cuba, Artemis and especially here in the capital.” continue reading

These threats, insists De la Caridad Pérez, are in contrast to the statements made by Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, president of the National Electoral Council, “who called for the entire population to participate in the voting this coming Sunday. We can only conclude that they do not want our reports, which are serious and well-documented, to belie their propaganda.”

“One of the things we will audit is whether, in the polls, when the process ends, they prominently post information with the results. That is one step they often violate, in the same way they also violate the deadlines for posting voter lists at each polling site,” explained Concude’s coordinator.

For their part, Electoral Rights Observers (ODE) decried on its Facebook page that during a test run on Sunday ahead of the March 26 vote, there was not “access to independent national and/or international actors” who could participate and “audit the process.”

“In fact, in all prior processes, as well as the current one, the regime’s willingness to impede any independent citizen monitoring exercise that would expose the multiple irregularities in the process is made clear,” exposed the organization.

Of the test run, ODE stated that it visited ten polling sites in Havana and Holguín and confirmed that “there is no detailed information” about how the process will be carried out, “what the evaluation criteria are” nor “how the staff who will participate in the process are selected.”

“Generally, it was another demonstration of the secrecy with which they conduct electoral processes in Cuba, as well as the lack of participation from those who should attend. Independent citizens in different locations reported there were many voting centers where they did not conduct the test, and that were not even open,” concluded ODE, but only after saying that in some centers there was strong police security, State Security agents and the presence of local authorities.

In the Parliamentary elections next Sunday more than eight million Cubans are called to the polls to vote, 1.5 million of whom are in the capital.

A total of 470 candidates are running for an equal number of seats on the Cuban unicameral legislature and voters can support them or not. Only those with more than 50% of the submitted votes may occupy their seat. There are several legal provisions to fill seats that might remain vacant.

Candidates were selected by the so-called mass organizations, associations within the orbit of Cuba’s Communist Party (PCC, the only legal party), and approved by the municipal assemblies of the People’s Power, where their militants are the majority.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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In Cuba, Food Prices Increased by 73 Percent in One Year

Among other goods, the prices of urban transportation have increased notably. (Nycecile)

14ymedio, Madrid, 20 March 2023 — In the first months of the year, the cost of living in Cuba has increased by 5% compared with December, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was only slightly better in February than in January. The second month of the year ended with an increase in CPI of 2.61% compared with 2.74% the previous month and 44.50% higher than February 2022. In addition, the estimate is double the year-to-year increase at this time last year, which was 23% compared with February 2021.

Once again, the figure is worse if we focus on the food and non-alcoholic beverage sector, which experienced a year-to-year increase of 72.62% or on restaurants and hotels, 62.51% over last year. These two areas, directly related to food, are the ones that once again drive inflation in Cuba–4.4% for the month and 9.5% since the beginning of 2023, in the case of gastronomy, 3.3% in February and 6% for the first two months of this year for food an beverages.

In more detail, this month white cheese contributed most to the price increases, with an increase of 13% followed by taro root (9%), rice (7.7%) and poultry (7.4%). The price of pork increased only slightly in this period and costs 1.6% more than last month, but its impact, along with that of rice, on inflation is greater.

With regard to gastronomy, snacks once again drive the increases, with a 5.7% increase, followed by prepared foods and breakfast (both at 5%), soft drinks (4.4%) and lastly, lunches and dinners, with a 3.3% increase. This sector is gaining importance when it comes to driving price increases and is once again, just like last month, the sector that experienced the most increases. continue reading

The sector in third place for price increases was furniture and home goods (2.3%), its impact is not as great as the transportation sector, fourth place in terms of inflation, but third for its impact on citizens day-to-day. In January, it was already 1.6% higher than in December and rose again in February to 2%.

Thr price of urban transportation in diverse vehicles is growing rapidly (7%), followed by urban taxis and rickshaws (5.2%). Long distance taxi prices increased by 3.3% and other types of transportation in this area by 1.87%. Finally, buses, the price of which continues to increase, although moderately — at less than 1%.

The report, published online on Friday by the National Information and Statistics Office (ONEI), focuses, as usual, on the goods that experienced the greatest variation in prices in February and that, along with cheese, rice and taro root are mostly foods. The price of cooking oil increased more than 10% and the price of flours, highly desirable during this time of great scarcity, increased more than 8%.

On the opposite end are price decreases, with peppers (-15.8%) and tomatoes (-13%) in the lead, and red beans (-2%) and black beans (-1.8%). Somewhere in the middle are cigarettes, which for several months has been one of the products that has contributed most to softening the calamitous price increases of the last several months.

This division, which began to register price decreases in December and January, once again declined notably with a decrease greater than 5%. So far this year, the decrease is almost -11%, moderating the year-to-year increase, which is only 12%.

With regard to the rest of the sectors, home services is the only one that experienced a price increase greater than 1%, with the following areas all less than that: education (0.9%), recreation and culture (0.6%), clothes and shoes (0.47%), health (0.3%) and communications (0.03%).

Although the official statistics help us monitor the evolution of inflationary trends, to understand the real CPI, it must be calculated taking into consideration the informal economy. American economist Steve Hanke, who does that calculation constantly, placed inflation at the beginning of March at 81%, 12 points above the prior month.

Furthermore, on March 8th Hanke published the evolution of the value of the currency, where the Cuban peso continues to be the fourth most depreciated against the dollar, at 60% and only surpassed by Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Lebanon.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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The Cuban Players Returned From Miami Without the Cup but With a Lot of Purchases

The Cuban delegation to the World Baseball Classic returns to Cuba from the Miami airport. (Collage)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 2023 — The players of Team Asere, the Cuban team that lost its pass to the final of the World Baseball Classic to the United States, returned to the Island this Monday without the event’s cup but loaded down with purchases.

Flat-screen televisions, air conditioners, car tires and many, many suitcases: this is how the representatives of the Island were captured before boarding their flight back to Havana this Monday morning.

The luggage to Cuba is very different from the few suitcases they carried when they entered the United States and arrived in Miami on March 16, as seen in the images of reports from several Florida media outlets.

According to the La Familia Cubana [The Cuban Family] page, directors of the Cuban Baseball Federation, the team’s management body and the players residing on the Island returned on the flight.

The catcher of the national team, Iván Prieto, was the only one who did not board the plane after escaping from the hotel where the group was staying, as confirmed by several sources from Miami. The native of Holguin became “the first player to leave the Cuban national team in a World Baseball Classic,” journalist Francys Romero posted on his social networks.

On the other hand, it is still not known how the 1,500,000 dollars that Cuba obtained for having reached the semifinal of the World Classic will be distributed. According to the journalist of Pelota Cubana [Cuban Baseball], Yordano Carmona, the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) “cannot collect anything from that money” and “it is in writing.”

The sanctions of the United States Treasury Department do not allow payments to institutions on the Island. Given this, the 50% that corresponds to the FCB will go to the organizers of the tournament. continue reading

The rest, 750,000 dollars, must be distributed among the 30 members of the sports delegation, that is, $25,000 for each one. For professional athletes, Carmona explained, these amounts are deposited, but those who returned to the Island do not know if they will be given the money and under what procedures.

For the second and third editions of the World Baseball Classic, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the players “are owed $2,300,000” because “the blockade prohibits transferring money to Cuba.” What was awarded to the Cuban baseball team was donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Cuban athlete Sergio Reinaldo González Bayard could not receive 28,000 dollars, which he won as a prize at the World Beach Volleyball Circuit. Other cases include referees Ricardo Borroto Iglesias and Lourdes Ester Pérez who were unable to receive 9,282 and 8,680 dollars, respectively, for their services provided at different international events.

Meanwhile, the Cuban Volleyball Federation could not access the prizes obtained by the men’s team in the Challenger tournaments held in Portugal (4th place in 2018) and Slovenia (2nd place in 2019), for a total of 7,000 dollars.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Former Cuban Collaborator of ’14ymedio’ Hector Reyes, Robbed and Murdered in Mexico

Journalist Héctor Darío Reyes collaborated with 14ymedio between 2014 and 2015. (H.R.)

14ymedio, Havana, 21 March 2023 — Cuban photojournalist Héctor Darío Reyes, who collaborated with 14ymedio at its beginning, was found dead in his home in Mexico, according to his friends on social networks. The version that circulates among his acquaintances is that he was killed by some strangers whom he had invited to his house and who stole his phone and computer. The killers are allegedly on the run.

Reyes, originally from Santa Clara, studied journalism at the Faculty of Communication of Havana and took his first steps in the official press, working at the Cuban News Agency and the Villa Clara newspaper Vanguardia.

At the end of 2014 he began a series of collaborations with 14ymedio, expressing his passion for photography with photos of the deplorable condition of the streets in Camagüey, and another series on the Island’s satellite dishes. Among his articles published by this newspaper are some that reveal the stormy life and personality of the author, who is remembered by his friends.

Reyes was a great traveler and lived almost like a nomad in many countries, passing through Spain, Russia, China, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, where he said he had arrived by swimming across a river. In 2015, Reyes left Cuba and lived in different Latin American countries, from Ecuador to the jungle of Peru and Mexico. continue reading

In an interview in 2019, he declared his love for this lifestyle. “There is still a long way to go, to photograph and write about,” he said, adding that he preferred to go on his way “without credits or a fixed salary. With my tent and my backpack in search of other frontiers, like a Cuban whose profession is to be a backpacker.”

His body was found by his partner and buried in Mexico, apparently in a mass grave.

“He was a great friend; I was talking to him two days before that tragedy happened,” wrote the Cuban poet Ibis Martín. “We had a joint project, which will come to light one day. I will do as much as I can to make it happen. He was very good as a poet, not to mention his chronicles. I just hope that those murderers are found and pay for what they have done. Wherever he is, may he rest in peace and know that I loved him, because with me he was always super kind and respectful.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Regime Tries To Ease the Sports and Political Defeat of the Cuban Team With an Act of Reparation

Photo of the live broadcast on Cuban national television of the reception of the team that participated in the World Baseball Classic. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 20, 2023 — It was with long faces and forced smiles, that the return home of the members of the Cuban baseball team that lost this Sunday in Miami to the US team by 14-2 was “celebrated.” And not only did Team Asere suffer the defeat, but its catcher, Iván Prieto, deserted, as confirmed by US sources.

According to journalist Francys Romero, Prieto is “the first player to leave the Cuban national team in a World Baseball Classic.” The reporter for Pelota Cubana, Yordano Carmona, confirmed that the athlete “escaped from the hotel.” The baseball player “was not on the team that boarded the flight” to Havana and was reported as “taken off” the National Team due to abandonment,” Carmona said.

A native of Holguín, Prieto was part of the Cuban team for the Olympic Qualifier of the Americas in May 2021 and also in the Under-23 World Cup in September-October 2021.

Meanwhile, the members of the group landed at the José Martí International Airport in Havana at 9:20 in the morning and began a tour of the capital, which ended at the Coliseum of the Ciudad Deportiva with an official act. The celebration in the streets was obviously forced by the regime. On G Street, between 25 and 23, the crowd was made up of students. “An unfortunate show,” said a neighbor from the area.

On the tour of Team Asere, most of the attendees were students who had been forced to go. (14ymedio)

Juliette Fernández, wife of independent journalist Boris González, said on her social networks that there was “a handful of people on the corner of 23 and G to receive Team Asere.” Among the attendees were “high school students… They couldn’t carry their backpacks; they had to leave them at school, to avoid desertions.” continue reading

For his part, Boris González exposed the “ridiculousness of Castroism” for mounting a “charade to receive the players. The authorities have closed schools and workplaces for people to attend, and the streets are empty. Only four spouses went to the reception for Team Asere.”

Despite an unmitigated defeat, in sporting and political terms, that brought applause from numerous exiles who took advantage of the event to protest against the regime, the ruling party didn’t skimp on compliments towards a team that against all odds managed to reach the semifinals and remain in an honorable fourth position. This is a victory after the many troubles that Cuban baseball has accumulated in the last decade. It’s now been 17 years since Cuba qualified for such a high position.

In any case, the mobilization, more than for the sport, focused on the political. That nothing unites more than a common enemy is well known by the Cuban leaders who have turned Team Asere into a long-suffering champion against the pressure of Miami’s exile.

Despite the efforts of the Cuban leaders to put a good face on the loss, the official photo of the players with the highest authorities (Díaz-Canel, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and the president of Parliament, Esteban Lazo Hernández) had an air of state funeral, which contrasted with the tweets of congratulations.

“Congratulations, admirable Team Asere. You won three times: when you formed a team, when you qualified first and when you played until the last out against a great team and against a hatred of the worst kind. You made history. Cuba is proud of you,” wrote Miguel Díaz-Canel himself shortly after the defeat.

The president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), Osvaldo Vento Montiller, pointed out that the Cuban team had already won the great battle of this event, but he also recognized the “power” of the American team. “They were able to beat us by their quality and the advantage established by the game’s historic context.”

Randy Alondo Falcón, director of Cubadebate, warmed up hours before the reception with an article entitled Odio canijo [Weak Hate], in which he describes as “unique specimens on earth” the “anti-Cuban haters” who went to the stadium this Sunday, “united in that abominable combination of antagonism and malice.”

The spokesman for the regime directly pointed to Orlando Gutiérrez, of the Cuban Resistance Assembly, as the leader the attack, although without naming him and referring to him as a “veteran organizer of the anti-Cuban street demonstrations and a friend of the terrorists in front of Versailles [a popular restaurant for Miami exiles] to take his resentment out on the Cuban team.”

In the text he also spoke of the “not just a few Cubans” who attended the game to support Cuba in the face of “the true defeated (…), those with poor souls, the champions of hatred and lies, the inquisitors and party poopers, the eternal sowers of poison. They lost what they have never really had: a people,” he said.

Independent journalist Boris González described as “ridiculous” the “charade mounted” to receive Team Asere for forcing people from schools and workplaces to attend. (14ymedio)

While the Cuban authorities turned to a message of unity that they planned to keep alive until the holding of the elections on March 26, in Miami, the opponents who jumped onto the field this Sunday with protest posters, Danilo Maldonado El Sexto, Antonio Fernandez and Carlos Manuel Álvarez, spent the night at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. All three were charged with the crime of trespass (invasion of private property).

Álvarez, who was released after the payment of bail, made it known through his social networks that he tried to “rescue the gesture of Colin Rand Kaepernick — who in protest against racism knelt during the NFL matches when listening to the US national anthem — in front of the national team bench, but I got mixed up.”

A policeman asked him why he did it and Álvarez replied: “Because I have friends who are political prisoners, and because all political prisoners are my friends, I added later, when I thought about it better. Freedom and justice for Cuba, we can’t let ourselves fall.”

#ClásicoMundialBéisbol Mientras las autoridades cubanas se vuelcan en un mensaje de unidad, en Miami los opositores que saltaron al terreno de juego para protestar, pasaron la noche en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center https://t.co/OgpwLW3g9P pic.twitter.com/GxsnxHQ2l9

— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) March 20, 2023

World Baseball Classic. While the Cuban authorities turned to a message of unity, in Miami the opponents who jumped onto the field to protest spent the night at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Mother and Her One-Year-Old Son Injured in Central Havana Building Collapse

A video posted on Facebook shows medical services and the police arriving at the scene of the accident to treat the injured as a crowd of people look on.

14ymedio, Havana, 19 March 2023 — A residential building on San Miguel Street, between Campanario and Manrique streets in Central Havana, collapsed on Saturday afternoon. Official media outlets reported that two people were injured: a mother and her nearly one-year-old son.

A video posted on Facebook shows medical services and the police arriving at the scene of the accident as a crowd of people look on.

In a short statement broadcast by state media, officials said that initially there were only two victims. However, speculation on social media suggested there was a third person, whose condition is unknown because “the entire building collapsed” on him.

Both Old Havana and Central Havana are regularly the scenes of building failures due to decades-long neglect of the areas’ many old buildings. The situation is made worse by the excessive dampness and salt residue — from proximity to the sea — found in these structures.

Frustration over the precarious state of one building’s infrastructure led a group of families living on Habana Street between Aguiar and Muralla, a block in the oldest part of the city, to move their belongings into the street in protest after the building’s roof collapsed and they spent days waiting helplessly for some solution. continue reading

Some buildings are in such bad shape, however, that they end up falling down completely. This happened in November on Refugio Street, between Prado and Morro, where it took a huge deployment of fire trucks, and even rescue dogs, to pull three people out of the rubble.

A month before, one girl was killed and three people were injured in Old Havana after a roof fell on them. The incident occurred shortly after midnight on Monday, October 17, in the dilapidated building in which they were living on Sol Street, between Egido and Villegas.

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A Beating of Home Runs and Posters for the Cuban Baseball Team in Miami

The cameras avoided focusing on part of the public behind home plate, but posters saying “Cuba Libre” and “Down with the Dictatorship” could also be read. (*14ymedio*)

14ymedio, Havana, 19 March 19, 2023 — Rain splashed down on the game between the United States and Cuba in the World Baseball Classic. The match took place this Sunday afternoon at LoanDepot Park in Miami, but for Cuban spectators the intense downpours in Havana, together with the blackouts, made it difficult to enjoy a game that ended 14-2 in favor of the United States. The most important “plays,” however, did not take place on the ground.

A “beating” of posters was seen throughout the game, and an important moment occurred when the artist Danilo Maldonado, El Sexto, threw himself onto the field to protest, with a sign that said: “Freedom for the Cuban prisoners of July 11.” Instantly, hundreds of people began to shout “Freedom” to support the artist, who was quickly taken off the field by stadium security.

Almost at the end of the game, the writer and journalist Carlos Manuel Álvarez also ran a stretch on the field raising the Cuban flag. At another moment a fan came onto the field but did not carry anything in his hands. Both were approached by security personnel and referees and escorted off the field.

#ClásicoMundialBéisbol #Actualización El artista Danilo Maldonado, 'El Sexto', se lanza al terreno a protestar con un cartel que decía: “Libertad para los presos cubanos del 11 de julio”. El marcador actual: #Cuba 2 #EEUU 13 pic.twitter.com/qBHZGyuI39

— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) March 20, 2023

The artist Danilo Maldonado, ’El Sexto’, launches himself onto the field to protest with a sign that said: “Freedom for Cuban prisoners on July 11.” The current score: #Cuba 2 #USA 13

Meanwhile, in Cuba since the day before, the sky did not portend anything good in Havana. The constant rain sunk the official plan to install giant screens in key points of the city. La Piragua* was a flooded area with kiosks closed just a few minutes before the start of the game, while some spectators took refuge in the closed room of the Yara cinema to follow the historic confrontation on its big screen. continue reading

“There were a few minutes left; friends were already gathered and we had even made an effort and bought some beer, but the power went out,” lamented Joseíto, a resident of the neighborhood of La Timba in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución who had spent “a week planning to have no interruption” this Sunday afternoon and enjoy the World Baseball Classic, but the lack of power canceled his plans.

Shortly after the start of the game, the shouts of “Patria y Vida,” “Libertad” and “Díaz-Canel singao [motherfucker]” could be heard through the transmission of the Tele Rebelde channel, and despite the fact that the camera zoomed out and avoided focusing on part of the public behind home plate, posters could also be read with the phrase “Cuba Libre.” Between pauses in the game, the regime constantly transmitted advertising about the upcoming elections.

When the United States scored 9 runs at the end of the fifth inning, influencer Alex Otaola was also seen on national television behind the home plate area carrying a sign in his hands with the phrase “The street is the way.” Shortly after, the singer Dianelys Alfonso, La Diosa [The Goddess], was in the same place with another message in her hands: “Freedom.”

Before the start of the game, about 50 people demonstrated against “the dictatorship and in favor of the people of Cuba” in the vicinity of the stadium.

The Democracy Movement, organizer of the protest, placed a series of photographs of children with their names and white crosses, and a banner that read: “Castro, do you recognize these children? You must recognize them because you murdered them,” in reference to the “March 13 tugboat massacre” as it is called.

Another banner in English, with a heading that said “dictator Castro and President Biden,” included the petitions of the Democracy Movement and other exile organizations: freedom for all political prisoners, including “children,” free elections and the end of the division of Cuban families.

If those requirements are met, “then we will play too,” the poster said, referring to the World Baseball Classic in Miami with the participation of Cuba for the first time in more than two decades.

After this semifinal between the United States and Cuba, Mexico and Japan will play on Monday to define the other team that will contest the final on Tuesday.

*Translator’s note: La Piragua is a large plaza-type open space along Havana’s Malecon overlooked by the Hotel Nacional.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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High Tension a Few Hours Before the Cuba-US Semifinal in the World Baseball Classic in Miami

Cuban baseball player Yoenis Céspedes joined Team Asere’s training this Saturday at Miami’s LoanDepot Park. (Jit)

14ymedio, Havana, 19 March 19, 2023 — Cuba’s official press doesn’t hide the tension before the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic, which will take place today in Miami when the Cuban national team faces the United States team, which beat Venezuela yesterday by 9 to 7. The day has already taken on political overtones, and Cubans from both the Island and the exile have been fully engaged to answer several questions: What should be the attitude of the exile community towards the so-called Team Asere? Is the Cuban team an example of national reconciliation? Who will win or fail today?

The Cuban government seems to have made things clear: musical themes, speeches, tweets, uniform raffles, analyses that promise the victory of the Island’s team and proclamations of several leaders are part of the team’s presentation machinery as an initiative of the regime, which needs a hit of popularity a few days before the election of deputies to Parliament.

Knowing that several exile activists have called for protests in the vicinity of the stadium, the official press has also released “messages” to counter these calls.

Both President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife, Lis Cuesta, have tweeted several times a day about the Cuban national team. The president transcribed the lyrics of the official theme of the selection, interpreted by the singer Alexander Abreu, while Cuesta motivated the criticism of users by asking that “water with eggshell powder” — ritual elements in Santería — be thrown on the field. continue reading

The project related to the regime’s Puentes de Amor [Bridges of Love] intiative, led in Florida by Carlos Lazo, declared that the game was a “historic event” and that the organization rejected “the attempts of individuals or groups to organize protests,” and “politicize or sabotage the event.” “We have already won!” Lazo said in his statement, in line with the Government’s forecasts.

Cubadebate promised a shirt and a cap from the Cuba team, in addition to a cellphone recharge of 125 pesos — in collaboration with the state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa — to whoever could answer a trivia question about Cuban baseball.

However, the readers continued to be suspicious of the announcement, by Etecsa, of a maintenance scheduled for Sunday on the telephone lines and Internet: “While these technical actions are being carried out, it may affect the operation of services, so the work will be carried out at the times with the lowest voice and data traffic.” “They’re going to take away our Internet so we don’t see what’s going to happen in the ball stadium. Miami warmed up,” a Facebook user joked.

Another controversial announcement was the placement of screens in parks, theaters and squares in different provinces, considered insufficient by readers; strong police surveillance is predicted. It is also expected that the game will not be broadcast live, but that the authorities will leave a margin of time to censor any problematic event or image.

Several fans and intellectuals recognize that in Team Asere there is a paradox that will have to be solved in Miami: Who does the team really represent?

“This is a country that doesn’t want them to take away the only thing it no longer has, but that it counts on,” Cuban translator Jorge Ferrer said on his Facebook profile. “The name of Team Asere for the hybrid team is a semantic, sociological and even poetic finding of enormous caliber.”

Writer Carlos Manuel Álvarez, for his part, pointed out that “people don’t know where to classify them right now, when a type of national series drives a major league series. It can be said that they generated an identity from the mixture, which is the only possible identity.”

Journalist Gilberto Dihigo complained that, as in all the “Byzantine fights” in which Cubans are involved, the one that takes the best advantage of the division is the Government of the Island, which washes its hands and places the responsibility of the national division in the hands of the people themselves, both inside and outside the country.

“Cuba belongs to everyone and has nothing to do with that outdated and oppressive system of opinions; therefore, the ball team does not belong to Castroism,” he said.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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