14ymedio

‘The Idea is to Leave, Once Outside We’ll see,’ Say Cubans on Their Way to Managua

14ymedio, Mexico, 9 March 2023 — “Passengers who do not have a passport, stay seated.” That phrase, which on any other flight would sound strange, is already routine for the Aeroméxico flights between Havana and Mexico City that end in Managua. Cubans continue to use that route to get to the United States.

Between hugs and tears, Dayuris and Julio said goodbye to their families this Wednesday before heading to the migration check-in area of terminal 3 of José Martí International Airport. After passing the controls and approaching gate 13, where in a couple of hours the boarding for Aeromexico flight AM 052 would begin, the couple felt that they had completed “half the journey.”

“My sister filled out all the forms to obtain humanitarian parole in the United States, but it is delayed and we prefer to wait for the response in Mexico,” Dayuris says. “We have a cousin in Monterrey who has offered us his house, and maybe we can also regularize ourselves to work while we wait for the papers to go to Miami.”

After the entry into force last January of a new program that offers up to 30,000 monthly permits for Cuban, Nicaraguan, Haitian and Venezuelan citizens to enter the United States, the number of travelers from Cuba who take the so-called “volcano route” through Managua has decreased significantly. continue reading

However, there are still people interested in leaving the Island who take advantage of the flexibility that Daniel Ortega’s regime offers to Cubans, who don’t need a visa to visit Nicaragua. Some don’t want to continue waiting in Cuba, and others fear that something will happen to complicate their departure. The truth is that “tickets are still being sold as Havana-Mexico City-Managua,” an airline employee acknowledges to this newspaper.

Unlike a few months ago, when most of the travelers who boarded the Aeromexico flight were going to Nicaragua with a stopover in Mexico City, now Cuban migrants on the flight are intermingled with Russian, Canadian and European tourists who, after a stay on the Island, are heading north.

The difference between these passengers is that while foreign tourists disembark at Benito Juárez Airport, Cuban migrants must remain inside the plane until it takes off again, this time for Managua. They also have to hand over their passports at the time of boarding the flight, a measure that has been in force since last October 30, when Aeromexico resumed its flights to Havana.

Then, Aereomexico’s representatives reported that it was essential for travelers with a final destination in Managua to buy the round-trip ticket without connecting to other airlines, since they would be allowed to transfer to an aircraft other than their company’s at the Mexico City airport. Almost five months later, the mechanism remains intact.

Dayuris and Julio’s travel document was removed by airline employees before getting on the plane. “We are calling passengers to the final destination Mexico City for boarding. Passengers who don’t have a visa must wait to be called,” an airline employee repeated several times in the boarding hall of the Havana airport. A dozen people stayed apart until the rest of the passengers got on the plane.

“Then they took away our passports and gave us a number to recover them in Managua,” says Julio. In the Nicaraguan capital, a “guide” awaits them who will take them to a modest hotel, and the day after their arrival they have “arranged a transport” that will take them to the border with Honduras. “If everything goes well, next week we will be with our cousin in Monterrey,” he speculates. “The idea is to leave; once outside we’ll see.”

On the same flight as the couple, there was also a retired teacher with two sons in Miami who want her to “get as close as possible to the border” south of the United States; a father with his son who “in July is old enough to enter military service and must be taken out of Cuba as soon as possible,” and two sisters from Güira de Melena in Artemisa who claim to “have a contract to dance” in Ciudad Juárez until they gather the money to get to Houston, where an aunt lives.

Each one paid a figure close to $2,000 for the round trip, a return ticket that everyone hopes they won’t have to use. With a tiny package of salted peanuts, all the food distributed by the airline employees on the way between Havana and Managua, they embark on a migratory journey that provides more doubts than certainties.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Gaesa Used the ‘Small Business’ Law to End the Competition of Cuban Entrepreneurs

The controversial Fress private cafeteria, located in the state-owned Plaza de Carlos III. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 7 March 2023 — The Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (Gaesa), the all-powerful conglomerate belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, has been deliberately drowning the private sector in Cuba since 2016, and the SME law (micro, small and medium enterprises), promulgated in 2021, is only a “false opening” to attract foreign investment and facilitate a new rapprochement with the United States, a “thaw 2.0.”.

Those are the main conclusions of a report made public this Monday by the organization Cuba Siglo 21 [Cuba 21st Century], signed by the Cuban economist and consultant Emilio Morales, founder of the Havana Consulting Group, and made with the help of the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit and independent journalists of the Island.

With the title “Entrepreneurship in Cuba Suffocated by Gaesa,” the research shows how, after the economic opening began on the Island in 2011, when Fidel Castro had withdrawn from power and his brother Raúl governed, the private sector had an unprecedented boom between 2013 and 2016.

It was at that time, even in the midst of the thaw between Cuba and the United States headed by President Barack Obama, that Gaesa, then chaired by Raúl Castro’s former son-in-law, Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja — who died in Havana on July 1, 2022 — began what the Miami-based organization calls a “ruthless offensive” to “stop the largest citizen entrepreneurship movement that had occurred in recent decades.”

“The power and strength achieved by the movement of entrepreneurs, born in the heat of the reforms implemented in 2011, and the impact of the thaw were so strong, that even with the limitations allowed, in the period 2010-2016 there was a real boom in the non-state sector throughout the Island, which gave rise to a powerful middle class,” says the text. It pointed out that “the market showed the creation and consolidation of a very successful business structure made up of thousands of businesses in various modalities, most of them with their own brand.”

Thus, the report continues, Gaesa “began to resent the strong competition coming from the entrepreneurial sector,” for example in tourism. In just seven years, the lodging capacity of private individuals grew 268% compared to the “poor growth” of 3% of the state sector. “The CEO of Gaesa [López-Calleja] understood that the situation was getting out of control in an accelerated way, so this movement of citizen entrepreneurship had to be stopped categorically.” continue reading

Beginning in 2016, the document recalls, “no more licenses were issued to people for self-employment. The creation of new non-agricultural cooperatives (CNAs) was also stopped, even eliminating several of them and limiting the scope of action for those that remained.” In the following years, the regime continued to impose penalties on the private sector, decreasing the number of methods of self-employment and restricting the maximum wage, which could not exceed more than three times the minimum wage. Business licenses would be limited to a single activity per entrepreneur, and restaurant owners could operate in only one province or taxes would increase.

“Under these conditions, entrepreneurs saw the possibility of investing in their own country exhausted, so a strong movement began to export capital and go outside to look for new investment opportunities abroad,” the report details. “At the same time, the business of buying merchandise abroad to resell it in the informal market increases. This meant that the volume of dollars that left the country from the hand of the entrepreneurs was higher than the volume that the Government attracted as foreign investment.”

The devaluation of the Cuban convertible peso (CUC), which began to be quoted in the informal market at 50 pesos, caused people to prefer to buy the CUC “on the left” rather than at the exchange houses or banks, where they gave 25 pesos per CUC. This, the document asserts, “brought heavy losses for Gaesa, by exhausting the inventories of its stores faster and collecting CUCs and not dollars,” and it “meant that they ran out of liquidity to pay their debts with suppliers, many of whom would no longer sell to the Island.”

Faced with this reality, in the second half of 2019, Miguel Díaz-Canel announced two measures that, “far from achieving the effect of alleviating the country’s financial crisis, quickly led it towards an inflationary wave”: a wage increase without productive support, and price controls in both the state and private sectors. And the text continues: “This situation put the country at the gates of an inflationary powder keg.”

To combat the problem, the State did nothing but start a process of dollarization of the economy that exacerbated the problems even more. The COVID-19 pandemic, which the Cuban government is constantly using along with the US blockade to justify the crisis, only put the “headstone” on the island’s economy, in the words of the report.

Number of “new economic actors” in Cuba: SMEs [Small and Medium Enterprises], CNAs [Non-Agricultural Cooperatives] and PDLs [Projects of Local Development] approved, as of January 2023. (Cuba 21)

Why create a new category of entrepreneurs, SMEs, instead of consolidating businesses that already had a license for self-employment, “allowing them to exercise the right to register their businesses as property with legal personality, to export and import directly and even to receive investments from the United States since being genuinely private and autonomous of the State they could be exempted from the Helms Burton Act”? asks the report. “Very simple,” it answers: “With SMEs, there is no desire to strengthen the private entrepreneur but to artificially create a middle class dependent on Gaesa, whose ’owners’ are chosen from among less fortunate relatives of the oligarchs, retired repressors and members of the rapid response paramilitary brigades.” An opening, in short, more like Russia than Vietnam or even China.

This would create a kind of entrepreneurial middle class, “with the discreet capital of the oligarchy and its phantom companies,” the dossier argues, that Cuba’s own “agents of influence” in the United States would try to promote and sell to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department as “legitimate private account holders and entrepreneurs” to allow them commercial, financial and credit transactions with the United States and the European Union. In this regard, they give as an example the mysterious financial company Orbit, which is already working with Western Union on the resumption of remittances to Cuba.

The strength of the arguments in Morales’ report lies in the data. The 6,161 SMEs registered on the Island at the beginning of 2023 represent only 1% of the number of entrepreneurs in 2016.

In that year, Cuba Siglo 21 points out, there were more than 500,000 Cubans with a self-employed work license, which in total generated more than 3 billion dollars. The debacle was progressive: “The obstruction to the reforms in 2016 removed some 80,000 self-employed people from the market. Subsequently, the pandemic and the monetary Ordering Task* caused more than 139,000 entrepreneurs to hand over their licenses or close their businesses. The country has lost two-thirds of this labor force because the State, which now boasts of creating SMEs that do not represent even 1% of those businesses, has since applied deliberate policies to repress them through prosecutors and police (the most successful often ended up in jail). A considerable part has emigrated, convinced that there is no future in Cuba.”

Against the possibility of what it calls “thaw 2.0,” the report also alleges that the Obama Administration’s rapprochement with the Island only benefited the “oligarchy” of the regime when 42 billion dollars of its foreign debt was forgiven, allowing them to obtain new lines of credit, increasing the tourist flow, using resources to build hotels and acquiring military equipment for repression.

“Pretending to draw up a policy of engagement with the aim of empowering the Cuban people and trying to promote a private sector that does not exist is to reiterate the errors of the first thaw,” says Cuba Siglo 21, because “concessions were made without reclaiming those that should have materialized, first or in parallel, on the Cuban side.”

The report concludes: “If the Cuban dictatorship on the Island and the Cuban exiles in the world have proven anything, it’s that without freedom there is no progress.”

*The Ordering Task [Tarea Ordenamiento]is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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So Far in 2023, Cuba has Received 2,724 Migrants Returned from Several Countries

The crew of Cutter Paul Clark repatriated 26 Cubans to Cabañas, Cuba this Friday. (@USCGSoutheast)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 11 March 2023 — Cuba has received a total of 2,724 irregular migrants returned by several countries in the region so far this year, including a group of 26 delivered this Friday by the United States Coast Guard Service, Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior (Minint) reported.

The last migrants deported by the US authorities — 23 men and three women — bring the total to 1,944 rafters deported to the Island in some twenty U.S. Coast Guard operations that intercepted them at sea after their illegal departure from Cuba.

In recent weeks, other groups of irregular migrants were returned to Cuba by the governments of Mexico, the Bahamas and the United States (41).

The Cuban government affirms that it maintains its commitment “to regular, safe and orderly migration” and insists on “the danger and life-threatening conditions represented by illegal departures from the country by sea.”

In the case of the United States, since last October 1 — which marks the beginning of the current fiscal year — the crews of the U.S. Coast Guard have intercepted more than 5,740 Cubans, a high figure compared to previous years.

At the beginning of 2023, the Washington implemented a policy to welcome 30,000 monthly migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In parallel, the United States will immediately expel, to Mexico, undocumented migrants from those countries who try to cross the southern border to the U.S. in an irregular manner.

Mexico, for its part, agreed to admit 30,000 migrants a month who are expelled from U.S. territory.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Sancti Spiritus to Distribute Flavor-Enhanced Soy Milk Due to Cattle Shortage

Cuban milk production has fallen dramatically in the last twenty-one years and is no longer enough to satisfy demand. (Invasor)

14ymedio, Havana, March 9, 2023 — The Rio Zaza Dairy Products Company in Sancti Spiritus province has temporarily suspended deliveries of milk for medical diets, with an exception granted for children and pregnant women, due to low production resulting from an ongoing drought. Alberto Cañizares Rodriguez, director of the state-owned company, told the regional newspaper Escambray it will instead provide flavor-enhanced milk.

Cañizares Rodriguez says there is not enough milk to meet demand due to the company’s low production levels. For now, the restriction will only apply to the city of Sancti Spiritus. Consumers on special diets in the rest of the province will still receive their normal ration of milk directly from the producer.

Cañizares Rodriguez hinted at a crisis in February when he acknowledged that milk supply in the province was “intermittent” due to delays in deliveries from farmers and a shortage of ammonia, which is used in refrigeration. At the time, he signaled that the situation would worsen in the next two months due to dry weather.

This year, Cuba has been dealing with a severe drought, which has hampered agricultural production and fanned fires in forests and pasture land. On top of low production, the island has not been able to import the powdered milk it needs to ensure continuation of its feeding program. As a result, the director added, the company cannot guarantee distribution of the 4,500 liters the city of Sancti Spirtus needs.

To cover the shortfall, he said the company has begun producing flavor-enhanced soy milk, which families can get through their local Ministry of Commerce distribution stations. Some unrationed soy milk will also be available for sale, for a higher price, at government-run stores. continue reading

Neighborhood stores that sell rationed goods have already begun adopting the measure. For example, a sign in La Revoltosa indicates it will begin selling milk for children and pregnant women on Tuesday, March 7. Meanwhile, flavored milk will be distributed on the days covered by the medical diet.

People with family members who suffer from diabetes, or who are on medication to control it, have described the decision as lunacy. “My neighbor told me she wouldn’t drink the milk if it had sugar in it. I told her, ’You’d better drink it because, if you don’t, you’ll die of hunger.’ It’s that simple,” wrote Elizabeth Herrera Rodriguez in a social media post.

Due to a water shortage, the production of soy yogurt has also been interrupted. The product is intended for consumption by children ages seven to thirteen. It is also included in a Cuban family’s monthly allotment of basic foodstuffs and can be purchased at stores that offer greater availability but at higher prices. Cañizares Rodríguez acknowledged that access to water is a critical issue. Without access to liquid milk, the only things the company can produce are soy-based derivatives, which requires it to pipe water into its processing plant.

According to Escambray, Sancti Spiritus is the only province that, “through thick and thin,” has been able to maintain milk production. Meanwhile, the rest of the country has, for months, had difficulty providing enough rationed goods for distribution.

State production of cow’s milk plummeted 95.2% from 1989 to 2020 while output by private producers grew 105.9%. That is not enough, however, to compensate for the plunge in overall domestic supply. In the last twenty-one years, the country went from producing 1.12 million tons of milk a year to just 455,300, a drop of 59.3%.

In addition to the drought, the livestock sector is also being affected by the theft of cattle by gangs who have even murdered some producers.

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A Desperate Cuban Regime Hopes to Soften Up the U.S. through Vatican Mediation

Sean Patrick O’Malley and Beniamino Stella recently visited Havana to hold confidential talks with the government on the release of political prisoners. (Cubadebate)

14ymedio, Havana, 8 March 2023 — The Cubans detained after the 11 July 2021 (11J) protests are Havana’s only bargaining chip in its gambit to improve relations with Washington. Facing a severe and widespred economic crisis, the government is hoping for a diplomatic thaw that has yet to begin. Allowing the detainees to resettle in Spain, with the Vatican acting as intermediary, is the only thing that might accelerate the process.

“The problem is that Cuba is less and less willing to compromise and the international political climate is not the same as it was twenty years ago,” an annonymous source close to the negotiations told 14ymedio. He believes the regime wants to rely on the strategy it used with the seventy-five dissidents arrested in 2003 during in the so-called Black Spring. After being released several years later, most left the island under pressure.

The regime’s success depends on the process being a speedy one. However, it is dealing with two negotiators who can easily afford to wait: the Catholic church, which is intentionally forestalling any decision, and the U.S. government, which must take into account the opinions of Cuban-American voters in Florida before making any move.

“When Biden won the 2020 presidential election, members of his administration — especially the supporters of former president Barack Obama, who are very influential in the State Department — understood they could not follow same the plan for improving relations with Cuba as the last Democratic administration. Once they had successfully implemented that plan, which included remittances, contacts between businesspeople and more benefits for the island, the Cuban regime felt reinvigorated. Then came the July 11 protests.” says the source.

The demonstrations brought everything to a halt and then the Trump administration reversed course. Relations with Havana stalled as the government became increasingly repressive and hard-line with the protest marchers.

Pope Francis saw the 2014 plans to restore diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington fall apart. “Then, with the death of Cardinal Jaime Ortega,* who caught the attention of the whole world, there was no strong leadership with the capacity for dialogue within the Cuban Bishops Conference. The Pope has had to turn to Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley of Boston and Beniamino Stella to act as intermediaries. Both have recently visited Havana to hold confidential talks with the government on the release of political prisoners,” he points out.

The Cuban government wants the Vatican to give its blessing to a new raprochement with the U.S. and is counting on support from a good number of American politicians and businesspeople.

In its bid for Francis’ approval — the pope’s sympathy for the regime is no secret — Cuban officials have launched a campaign to canonize Felix Varela, a Catholic priest and one of the nation’s founding fathers. “That’s why a meeting with Stella was hastily called at the University of Havana,” claims the source. “With [President] Diaz-Canel present, it served the purpose of overshadowing the cardinal’s meeting with the Catholic cultural figures at the old San Carlos seminary.”

Stella’s diplomatic skills were on display during a press conference after his visit when he let it be known publicly that the subject of the political prisoners had been on the table. “The reason Diaz-Canel and the regime’s higher-ups were interested in Stella’s visit was clear: they wanted to politically mislead the church and, once again, the pope.”

The church’s canonization process is notoriously slow, however, and any effort to officially make Varela the first Cuban saint could take decades. The government in Havana cannot wait that long. The U.S. holds presidential elections in barely a year and a half, after which the entire international situation could change. Besides, Varela’s canonization would not be enough to earn the United States’ sympathy or speed up dialogue.

“They need a spectacular gesture, something like freeing the prisoners,” says the source. The experts agree. “The Biden White House is not paying much attention to Cuba,” says Ric Herrero, executive director of the Cuba Study Group, a Washington-based organization which supports the policy of rapprochement with the Island. “They are almost entirely consumed with the war in Ukraine and the deteriorating relations with China.”

Herrero believes Havana needs to take some concrete action that would “grab the attention of the decision-makers in the Oval Office.” Freeing the July 11 prisoners could be thing that reminds the White House of the importance of Cuban affairs, he told NBC News.

Social and political figures in both countries have increasingly relied on cultural events as a tool for improving bilateral relations. The singer Tonya Boyd-Cannon visited Havana last January and, shortly thereafter, so did filmmaker Dawn Porter, with the support of the Cuban Ministry of Culture. The well-known jazz musician Ted Nash also performed in the island’s capital thanks to the involvement of state institutions.

A unnamed spokesperson for the State Department told NBC, “Cultural programs are a longstanding, integral part of our public diplomacy activities and are designed to connect directly with the Cuban people.”

However, the “major obstacle” to normalized relations, as Benjamin Ziff, the charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Havana, points out, remains the incarceration of the almost 800 protesters arrested on the island in 2021 and 2022.

The Vatican and the US are not the only parties working towards the prisoners’ release. As happened with the dissidents in 2003, Spain has reportedly offered to take in prisoners who want to leave the country.

“Spain wants to play a role in the negotiation because there are many Spanish businesspeople with interests in Cuba. Many of them have been financially ruined trying to do business in Cuba but the ’big guys’ such Meliá and Iberostar always land on their feet. The directors of these companies have, by now, lost hope that the Cuba’s regime will collapse under a wave of foreign tourism, which its dictatorial rulers themselves promoted. Now they just want to be there, doing business, when and if the transition comes.”

But the Cuban government will not find salvation in Spain or China, much less Russia. Only the United States can provide that, claims the source. “It has to be stated publicly that the Cuban dictatorship is desperate for contact with Washington. If a presidential candidate with a harder stance on Cuba wins the 2024 election — someone like Ron DeSantis, the current governor of Florida — or if there is a demonstration of public discontent similar to July 11, everything will collapse on top of them.”

*Translator’s note: Influential archbishop of Havana until his death in 2019.

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Traffic Light Power Failure Causes Accident in Havana

Both drivers – each over sixty years old – emerged unhurt but extremely nervous. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 7 March 2023 – A traffic accident in Havana on Tuesday left two people with light injuries: the drivers of cars which collided at the intersection of Calle 17 and Avenida de los Presidentes (Calle G) on El Vedado.

During a power cut — and consequent loss of traffic light functionality — one of the drivers, travelling on Calle G in a white VW hit an orange Fiat 126 travelling towards calle 17 and ended up on its side in the middle of the road. Both drivers – each over sixty years old — emerged unhurt but extremely nervous.

As reported to this paper the driver of the orange vehicle was bleeding as he hung onto his spectacles and the other driver of the white car was limping. The former was helped by a nurse — a friend of the family. The other — from Ciego de Ávila — was just on his way back from the nearby Heart Surgery and Cardiology institute — from a meeting where they had reviewed his recent open heart surgery.

The little orange Fiat 126 which was travelling on Calle 17 and ended up on its side. (14ymedio)

Both parties had additional problems though: The Fiat driver, faces the problem of getting replacement parts for a car that was first imported to the island in times of business with Eastern European communist countries. The driver from Ciego de Ávila couldn’t even get home because of the lack of available public transport.

“It was the power-cut’s fault”, said one of the rubberneckers at the scene. “But the drivers themselves were a bit negligent — one of them for not respecting the right of way on Calle G and the other for not driving slowly enough and stopping”.

“The main cause was the power cut”, said one of the rubberneckers at the scene, “but the drivers themselves were also to blame”. (14ymedio)

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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‘The Blackouts are Taking Off Again’ Throughout Cuba

Unit 2 of the Matanzas thermoelectric plant, Antonio Guiteras, is also out of service. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 March 2023 — Heat begins to squeeze the inhabitants of the Island, and the demand for energy grows faster than the generation recovers. This Tuesday, many Cubans choked on their breakfasts when Cuban television announced power cuts of up to seven hours in some parts of the Island.

“Yesterday in Sancti Spíritus they turned off the electricity around 5 in the afternoon and turned it on around 8:30. The blackouts are taking off,” says the 14ymedio correspondent in the province, which is already enduring the first prolonged cuts.

A little later, the Unión Eléctrica (UNE) disseminated on its social networks the summary of yesterday’s activity, confirming 7 p.m. as the worst moment of the day, when there was a deficit of 541 MW. The company also published its generation forecast for today, when a deficit of 23% of electricity is expected in the evening, the time of highest consumption. The company expects an electricity generation capacity of 2,277 megawatts (MW) and a maximum demand of 2,860 MW.

In total, 237 MW of the generation produced in the thermoelectric plants are missing, since the following are out of service: unit 6 of the Máximo Gómez, in Mariel (Artemisa); unit 3 of the Ernesto Guevara, in Santa Cruz (Mayabeque); unit 2 of the Antonio Guiteras, in Matanzas; unit 5 of Diez de Octubre, in Nuevitas (Camagüey); Unit 2 of Lidio Ramón Pérez, in Felton (Holguín); and unit 5 of Antonio Maceo, called Renté, in Santiago de Cuba. continue reading

They are joined by three units under maintenance, one in Cienfuegos and two in the Renté plant, in addition to the deficiencies in the distributed generation. As for the generation, 933 MW do not work and 322 MW are under maintenance. In that context, the 20 MW provided by the Puerto Escondido unit and the 70 MW of the Renté plant, whose unit 5 enters at peak time, fall short.

Despite the lack of expectations that citizens already have in the face of the Government’s promises, some customers regret having believed the words of the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, who proposed a maintenance program aimed at repairing the thermoelectric plants that would began in January, when the climate is cooler and therefore favorable, and end in May, to tackle the warm weather when demand skyrockets.

In January, the minister announced that with this plan the power cuts weren’t going to disappear, but they would be for only one or two hours compared to 14 to 16 hours last summer, when an unprecedented crisis led to a multitude of protests in different parts of the country. However, already in February, blackout periods began to be extended to three and four hours.

“And we thought that at this point the situation was going to be resolved with scheduled maintenance,” complains a disappointed user on the UNE networks.

Between February 13 and 22, from the center to the east of Cuba, there were four large blackouts that left half the Island in the dark, fueling the fears of the population and the feeling of grievance among the inhabitants of that area, who feel discriminated against. All the Turkish floating power plants that contribute to electricity generation are located in the west.

The authorities of the sector said that one floating plant was going to be sent to Santiago de Cuba to minimize the problem, since the location of all of them in Havana — due to the greater presence of companies and concentration of population — was catastrophic for the east of the Island, but the inhabitants continue to feel affected and report that the floating plant still hasn’t arrived.

“The party started again, to suffer with the Apagón [blackout] orchestra giving their annoying concerts all over Cuba. The same never-ending story,” a client bitterly quipped, in a play on words that recalls the traditional Aragon orchestra. Another is already ahead of the fear that exists on the Island: “I’m just saying that the heat is coming and they are fucking us again with 10 or 12 hours of blackouts.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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More Than 2,600 Migrants Have Been Returned to Cuba This Year From Several Countries

The number of repatriations from the United States grows by the hundreds almost weekly. (Twitter/Chief Raul Ortiz)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 7 March 2023 — More than 2,600 Cubans who were trying to migrate have been returned to their country from different nations so far this year, the Ministry of the Interior of the Island reported on Monday after including the last 75 returned by the United States.

The United States Coast Guard delivered a group of rafters a day earlier — 54 men, 20 women and a minor, most of them residents in the provinces of Matanzas and Granma — to the Cuban authorities through the Port of Orozco.

These people, without documentation, had participated in six illegal exits from the country by sea and were then intercepted by the US Coast Guard, the note said.

It also specified that with this operation — number 25 of the US Coast Guard Service in 2022 — a total of 1,918 Cuban rafters had been returned.

One of those returned is under detention “for finding himself as an alleged source of serious criminal acts, which were investigated prior to his departure,” it added. continue reading

Last week, other groups of irregular Cuban migrants were deported by the governments of Mexico (22 people), the Bahamas (128) and the United States (41).

The Government of Cuba insists that it maintains its commitment “to regular, safe and orderly migration” and insists on “the danger and life-threatening conditions represented by illegal departures from the country by sea.”

In addition to the Bahamas, Mexico and the United States, so far this year migrants have also been deported to Cuba from the Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic.

In the case of the United States, since October 1, U.S. Coast Guard crews have intercepted more than 5,740 Cubans, a high figure compared to previous years.

At the beginning of 2023, the Government of Washington implemented a policy to welcome 30,000 monthly migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua. In parallel, it will immediately expel to Mexico migrants from those countries who try to cross its southern border in an irregular way.

Mexico, for its part, agreed to admit 30,000 migrants a month who are sent from U.S. territory.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Villa Clara Will Control the Prices of the Main Agricultural Products

The pricing of 20 agricultural products will take effect on March 11. (Provincial Government)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 March 2023 — Despite the failure of this type of measure in the past, Villa Clara will begin to control the prices of some agricultural products in the face of the “excessive and intolerable” rise of prices in the basic food basket. The resolution, issued by the Governing Council, establishes the maximum values for the wholesale and retail marketing of 20 high-demand foods, as of March 11.

Alberto López Díaz, governor of Villa Clara, announced the measure as “our own war” against high food prices and assured that the “opinions” of individual producers and other productive forms of 13 municipalities were taken into account. The price cap will be flexible and periodic, according to the production of the agricultural harvests.

In the meeting with farmers, the official lashed out at vendors, whom he accused of “indisciplines, illegalities and high prices,” while pointing out that “it is preferable to lose some product rather than allow impunity for those who abuse the humble people and demoralize society.”

The rule includes malanga, banana and tobacco, sweet potato and cassava, while in the vegetable group there are squash, cabbage, cucumber, pepper and tomato. Among the grains are rice, black and red beans, dry and tender corn. The fixed prices also include papaya, guava and pineapple. continue reading

The decree establishes that the marketing margin of the twenty foods may not exceed 40% of the value paid to the producer. It also includes a “reorganization” in the sales network in areas that are “really needed” because, the provincial government argues, right now there is disorder, and “anyone can mount” an illegal business without a license and payment to the treasury.

Authorities say that a pound of rice — a food that has been scarce in most Cuban families — is sold in the province at 135 pesos ($5.70). With the new rule, the price to the commodity stockpiles will be 70 pesos ($2.92), the price in the wholesale market will be 84 pesos ($3.50) and for the retailer (final consumer) 90 pesos ($3.75).

A pound of black beans for the retail buyer will be set at 120 pesos ($5), a pound of red beans at 130 ($5.42), dried corn at 45 ($1.88), tomatoes at 42 ($1.75) and pepper at 55 ($2.29), for example.

Food sales will only be allowed with an authorization issued by the provincial delegate of Agriculture, which in turn will have to have the endorsement of the municipal authority and be “reconciled” with the president of the productive form to which the producer belongs.

The decree also includes other market surveillance measures, such as the creation of five engagement groups with territorial authority to reduce the risk of illegal food transfer to other provinces. Their powers will not replace the municipal structures, but they will monitor compliance with what was agreed by the Government Council.

Producers who sell above the set limits will be forced to market the merchandise at the price set by the decree, and if they re-offend, the decree warns, their marketing license will be withdrawn. Similarly, the new rule orders telephones and emails to be available for complaints from citizens about irregularities.

In 2021, the Cuban government failed with a similar experience in setting the prices of agricultural products. At the beginning of that year, the maximum prices for sales in the private sector were approved, but, in August, the authorities reversed because the measures were a brake on production since the producers could not recover the money they invested.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Hildina’, the Young Woman Who Exposes Poverty in Cuba on Her YouTube Channel, is Detained for More Than 7 Hours

Hildina’s channel on YouTube has more than 103,000 subscribers. (YouTube/Capture)

14ymedio, Havana, 9 March 2023 — Cuban YouTuber Hilda Núñez Díaz, also known as Hildina, was arrested on Thursday in Santiago de Cuba by police agents. More than 30 officials blocked access to the block where the young woman lives, they burst into her house and, after conducting a search, they seized her telephone and her computer.

“Hildina is already at home, she was fined and threatened, according to them (the Cuban regime) ‘for using social networks to discredit the government,’ and they made threats of all kinds as they well know how to do,” reported her own Facebook page.

“She has no way to communicate because they kept all her devices (cell phone, laptop, etc.)” adds the publication. “She is feeling very bad psychologically after everything she was put through and being treated like a criminal. Thank you to everyone who has shared what happened with her. Do not stop doing it.”

On Thursday morning, the Facebook page of the 24-year-old Youtuber had denounced that Hildina was being “interrogated” by State Security after a “big operation.” Several weeks ago, the young woman recorded a video in which she gave an account of the threats to which she was being subjected by the regime’s political police, who had prohibited her from “recording in Havana.”

Twenty-four-year-old Núñez “is being interrogated” by State Security after a “large operation,” states the young woman’s own Facebook page. Several weeks ago, Hildina had filmed a video where she recounted the threats to which she was being subjected by the regime’s political police, which had forbid her from “filming in Havana.” continue reading

“They know absolutely everything,” she decried, alluding to the blackmailing agent, who told her they would “complicate her life” and they reminded her that she was the mother of a small boy. “Where is the freedom of speech?” she demanded. “They don’t want people to know the reality of Cuba.”

Núñez continued working on her YouTube channel despite the media campaign against her launched by the regime. A Facebook profile associated with the state, Mercenarios en la mira [Targeted Mercenaries], attempted to discredit the young woman. It accused her of “hypocrisy,” of “manipulating the reality” of Cubans and of “selling herself as a good samaritan.”

A few minutes before Hildina’s arrest was made public, the same profile published another post. They described her as, uncovered, a “terrorist,” an “imposter with proven links to those who from the U.S. fund and incite violent acts on our national territory.” In addition, they mention, her presumed links with businessman Manuel Milanés and YouTuber Ultrack.

“Behind Hildina and her ‘inoffensive’ videos is the same strategy which ’spawned’ the most rancid and violent mercenaries living in the U.S.,” spewed Mercenarios en la mira [Targeted Mercenaries].

In her last livestream, on March 5th, Hildina said she received 34,000 pesos — around $200 — from a subscriber to her channel who lives in Germany. With that money, she went to the streets to buy food and give it to several disadvantaged people in Santiago de Cuba. In the video, the young woman divulged that State Security had prevented her from filming in a market in the city and that a woman had reprimanded her, calling her an “opponent.”

The report of Núñez’s arrest resulted in a wave of indignation among users. “Her content only talks about the day-to-day for Cubans and helps a lot of needy people with basic needs,” stated Jonathan Trujillo Pérez. “This is a violation of human rights. Once again, censure and the lack of freedom of expression are on display.”

The Cuban regime has toughened repressive measures against activists and opponents who live on the Island. The pressure for them to stop publishing content that challenge the government propaganda is one of the priorities of the political police.

Duanys Moreno, the young man provided minute-by-minute reports of the explosion at the Supertanker base in Matanzas, was harassed by State Security and spent several days subjected to torture and threats. Months later, he once again filmed from exile. “The most important thing in a struggle is to preserve life,” he declared to 14ymedio, alluding to the risk YouTubers face when complaining about the crisis in Cuba and the strict surveillance to which the regime subjects them.

Ruhama Fernández, also from Santiago, exiled today in Florida, was the victim of harassment and repression by the Political Police, who did not stop pressuring her to stop doing her work on YouTube. The young woman denounced many of the ills of the city and the country, such as the chronic shortage of food and the misery in which many families survive.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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Cuba’s Official Press Blames the Major League Players for Cuba’s Defeats in the Classic

After losing to Italy, the so-called Team Asere is at the bottom of group A, with “minimal” chances of moving to the next round. (Jit)

14ymedio, Havana, 9 March 2023 — Cuba’s options within the World Classic seemed to evaporate after adding another defeat, in an extra inning, 3-6 against Italy. It was “a good game,” said Cuban manager Armando Johnson. “I thought that once we tied we could do the job, that we could win the game, but you already saw that we couldn’t.”

Journalist Francys Romero was blunt after the defeat of the Cubans when he commented that the options for Team Asere in the World Classic are “minimal” and “reduced to 20%.” He did not fail to recognize, however, that it was “a game of total vertigo with constant returns of both teams in 10 innings” in front of some 6,000 spectators at the Intercontinental Stadium, in Taichung, Taiwan, with a capacity of 20,000.

The newspaper Pelota Cubana lamented that the Cuban representative “could not defend the great mound work of Roenis Elías.” The Chicago Cubs baseball player also offered his opinion about the panorama: “This is baseball. We have to keep fighting and moving forward. We went out to win; things didn’t go the way we wanted, but here we are, ready for tomorrow.” continue reading

The official newspaper Cubadebate, in its publication this Thursday, found those responsible for this defeat. There was the possibility of “breaking the tie in the third inning, after consecutive singles by Yadir Drake and Yadil Mujica” to which the “sacrifice of Yoelkis Guibert” was added, but “the major league players Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert were incapable of scoring.”

The same media stressed that against the Italian starter Matt Harvey, “Moncada perished in a fly to third and Robert tapped a harmless grounder to David Fletcher. Meanwhile, in the fifth inning, Moncada again struck out, with Quintana on third and Guibert on first.”

Faced with the comments about the lack of productivity presented by the Cuban batting, Johnson acknowledged at a press conference that “the offensive has not been working” and that “we wanted to have some runs, but (Italy) was ahead and we couldn’t.”

As for indications of a possible rotation of Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert, the Cuban manager said it would be analyzed among the “group of coaches” in the hotel. “I think that if there has to be some movement, it will happen. We are waiting to meet and do the relevant analyses.”

Francys Romero confirmed that “a conversation between the coaches and players took place at the clubhouse in Cuba.” In that talk, the one who took the baton was the manager and former shortstop of Industriales, Germán Mesa, who recalled that they still have possibilities and will continue fighting in the tournament, taking up the phrase of Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra: “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”

The collaborator of Play-Off Magazine, Renier González Jr., lamented that although we have the best players in the world, “if we continue with these managers, we will not make much progress.” Through his Twitter account he exhibited his annoyance: “A team with a lot of potential is not being managed in the right way. Outs are given away in bunt hits. The pitching is handled badly. Players are lined up with a terrible defense.”

González Jr. stressed that “as long as we aren’t looking for trainers, coaches and people prepared in the world’s major leagues, we will continue the same way.”

Group A accomplished its second date in which the Netherlands remains undefeated (2-0,) followed by Italy (1-0), Panama (1-1), Taiwan (0-1) and Cuba (0-2).

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba: Some 200 Cold Rooms ‘Invented’ by Fidel Castro to Preserve Potatoes are Damaged

Potatoes ready to be stored in refrigerated chambers. (Granma)

14ymedio, Madrid, 8 March 2023 — Enfrigo, the state company dedicated to the conservation of cold products, has damaged 206 of its 574 refrigerated storerooms and must dedicate them to warehousing because they no longer refrigerate. The machinery, its directors told the the official Communist Party newspaper Granma this Tuesday, is obsolete and there are no longer parts on the market to repair it.

In total there are 31 refrigerators of Bulgarian origin on the island distributed throughout all the provinces with the exception of Cienfuegos, in turn made up of 368 active cold rooms: 284 are used for refrigeration and 84 for freezing.

The rest, says optimistic Adolfo Velázquez Concepción, director of the entity, “has great rental potential” to store products from private companies or cooperatives that are engaged in wholesale trade, something that is already being done in Havana, Holguín, Villa Clara and Matanzas.

The acquisition of new equipment will have to wait, due to the lack of financing, although the official said that they are negotiating with foreign firms to achieve “the necessary liquidity to support the purchase of parts that allow modernizing some components of the refrigerator machinery.” continue reading

For the past six years, Velázquez Concepción continues, the company has not been able to obtain any parts for the ammonia compressors, so the workers – who are called ’Committees of Innovators and Rationalizers’ – are forced to invent alternatives that postpone, as far as possible, the loss of more cold storage.

Other problems presented by most of the equipment are leaks, roof breaks or structural deficiencies, which lead to the development of ingenuity. According to Maivy Milanés Gómez, director of Business, Foreign Investment and Development of Refrigo, last year this ingenuity led to the adaptation of evaporators, and the recovery of the Packing Base and the water pump of the supply network, and the fabrication of rubber band couplings, among other achievements.

An Imprisoned Cuban Poet is the Image for PEN International for March 8th Women’s Day

The Cuban poet, storyteller and activist María Cristina Garrido, imprisoned in Cuba for participating in the popular protests on July 11, 2021. (Facebook)

EFE (via 14ymedio), Miami/Havana/Barcelona, 8 March 2023 — PEN International, the world association of writers, has chosen the Cuban poet, narrator and activist María Cristina Garrido, imprisoned in Cuba for participating the popular protests of 11 July 2021, as its image for the International Women’s Day.

“We need international and everyone’s support to demand freedom for the writer, sentenced to 7 years in prison,” requests PEN International in a statement released this Wednesday.

“On International Women’s Day, as we embrace the theme of equity, let us not forget the case of Cuban poet and activist Maria Cristina Garrido Rodríguez,” Zoe Rodríguez, President of the International Organization’s Women Writers Committee, said in the statement.

“Her unwavering courage in the face of unjust persecution serves as a reminder of the urgent need for equitable action in every society. Let us work towards a world where every woman is free to express herself without fear of punishment or persecution,” added Rodríguez. continue reading

“PEN International chooses figures from different parts of the world, imprisoned people, and campaigns for their freedom, which sometimes have results and other times do not,” the poet Luis de la Paz, president of the PEN Club of Cuban Writers in Exile, told EFE.

“Because it is Women’s Day, they took up the case of María Cristina Garrido to ask people to show solidarity with her, disseminate the information they have about this unjust imprisonment and write to figures of the apparatus of power in Cuba to get her released,” De la Paz commented.

“She is a very young writer (she was born in 1982), a lover of freedom like every writer, whom the Cuban government imprisoned after the protest that took place on the island in more than 48 cities. She was sentenced to seven years,” he said. the poet and also Cuban activist.

The writer María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez and her sister Angélica, who demonstrated on July 11, 2021 in San José de las Lajas (Mayabeque), were sentenced to 7 and 3 years in prison, respectively.

After her arrest, Garrido was beaten several times by the Cuban political police and subjected to forced disappearance for 18 days. Currently, she is incarcerated in the Guatao women’s prison, where “she has been subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, such as isolation and beatings, and has been denied adequate food, water and sanitary conditions, as well as visits and family calls at some times.”

Last October, during the 88th congress of the organization held in Sweden, María Cristina Garrido “was visualized” with an empty chair in her name, noted De la Paz.

For their part, independent feminist activists in Cuba reiterated this Wednesday their demands regarding gender equality. Yo Sí Te Creo [Yes I Do Believe You] in Cuba (YSTC) demanded, for example, to have access to official figures on femicides – there are no official data – and a comprehensive law against gender violence.

The platforms reiterated on social networks the need to have shelters for victims of violence, to implement comprehensive protocols to care for them, as well as “the release of women and sexual dissidents detained for political reasons.”

The independent observatory Alas Tensas, in turn, reported the day before that it has verified 134 gender murders since it began recording these events in 2019.

The joint work between this platform and others that collect data on sexist violence made it possible to verify 14 femicides in 2019, 32 the following year, 36 in 2021 and a similar number last year.

For this reason they demand “the declaration of the State of Emergency due to Gender Violence” and condemn that they have not been heard.

A group of Cuban feminists demonstrated this March 8 in front of the Cuban Consulate in Barcelona against sexist violence and to demand the release of political prisoners on the Island.

Cuban feminist organizations have scheduled “international marches” in New York, Madrid, Uruguay and Barcelona to demand their rights and give voice to what they consider to be an alarming rise in cases of gender violence in the country.

“These marches on March 8 are intended to sensitize women in the international community about the real and unknown situation of Cuban women and to achieve solidarity at all levels,” the president of the Cuban Women’s Network, Elena Larrinaga de Luis, told EFE, gathered together with a group of women in front of the Cuban consulate, located in the center of Barcelona.

Cuban women will not be able to participate in the International Women’s Day event since they have been prohibited from demonstrating to demand their legitimate rights due to the absence of political freedoms in Cuba, explained Larrinaga de Luis.

They demand more state intervention and transparency since the government does not present official figures of the victims of gender violence. “Make a complaint to the world and show solidarity with the entire Cuban people,” argued one of the protesters, Kenia Hernández Barrera.

So far in 2023, Cuba has already suffered 16 femicides, almost two cases per week, according to the independent observatories Yo si te creo Cuba (YSTC) and Alas Tensas (OAT), in addition to the “increase” in disappearances and kidnappings of women and girls in the country.

Cuban women have also marched this March 8^th (8M) due to the increase in “political persecution” in the country, with 992 political prisoners of which 136 are women, imprisoned for their ideas, according to data provided by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights.

The protesters denounce the political repression and demand immediate freedom for all those imprisoned since the protests of 11 July 2021 (11J), when Cubans came out to demand respect for human rights, better living conditions and greater freedom of expression.

Cuban feminist organizations argue that the massive protests against the government marked a before and after in the country, increasing persecution and harassment against activists, journalists and relatives of political prisoners and the prohibition of any form of public dissent.

Teresa Rodríguez, one of the protesters and the mother of three young people imprisoned for 11J, explained to EFE: “I am here in front of the consulate to demonstrate against the dictatorship and in favor of the freedom of political prisoners in Cuba.”

“The great struggle from exile is to explain what it means to take up the dictates of a single party and the danger that dissenting implies for a person, and to understand that one lives in a country where violence is perpetrated against women from the public sphere and private,” Larrinaga de Luis pointed out.

Cuba is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that has not classified gender violence as a crime, and any social demand is understood as a challenge to the State, the activist added.

“The dictatorship has not created a law, not one, that is capable of defending women, the rights of women and the rights of girls,” said Kenia Hernández.

The great struggle of Cuban feminism, in addition to eliminating institutional and gender violence, is the “real recognition of the woman as such, as a natural person and subject of law,” highlighted the president of the Cuban Women’s Network.

Cuban feminist organizations have taken to the streets this Wednesday and have gathered in different cities to fight and give a voice to all those women residing in Cuba who have not been able to exercise their right to demonstrate on March 8.

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Member of Parliament, Labeled a Repressor, Has No Opinion on a Democratic Transition in Cuba

Arelys Falcón Hernandez, rector of Medical Sciences at the University of Cienfuegos and a member of Cuba’s National Assembly.

14ymedio, Madrid, March 6, 2023 — While on a private visit to the Spanish city of Santiago de Campostela, Arelys Falcón Hernandez — the rector of Medical Sciences at the University of Cienfuegos and a member of the Cuban National Assembly — was interviewed by the newspaper Correo Gallego. Falcón responded in ways reminiscent of Fidel Castro until, near the end of the interview, she was asked a question about a possible transition to democracy on the island.

Falcón’s name was added to a “list of repressors” compiled by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba for having fired a university professor, the engineer David Martinez Espinosa, on October 19, 2021. Martinez had helped publicize a protest march that had been planned, and later repressed, for November 15 of that year. She avoided the topic, claiming that her previous responses were reflections of her personal opinion. “I am not going to make assessments as a deputy of the National Assembly because that is not the purpose of my trip,” she said.

When the interviewer asked if allowing members of the opposition to join the National Assembly was something being considered, Falcón rejected the idea, saying that the Cuban Communist Party, to which she belongs, shall decide the chamber’s composition. “In Cuba there is only one party,” she replied, “but the National Assembly… is a diverse body in which there are people with religious backgrounds, housewives who are unaffiliated… Everyone has the opportunity,” she said. continue reading

She claimed that candidates for 50% of the seats are nominated by the population at-large and by large-scale organizations, as though these groups act independently. As far as Falcón is concerned, the process is very transparent. Though Cuban electoral law does state that all citizens in “full enjoyment of their civil rights” can apply and may be approved to be candidates after a review of their qualifications and abilities, an independent candidacy has never been successful.

In April 2015, two independents — Hildebrando Chaviano and Yuniel Lopez — were vying to represent two separate Havana constituencies. Their names did appear on the ballot but their accompanying biographies, scripted by electoral commissions, described them as “counterrevolutionary elements.” Neither was elected.

Falcón did consider it appropriate to comment on other issues, one of them being a possible thaw in relations with the U.S. now that the Democrats are in the White House. She does not see any sign of a rapprochement, rather the opposite. “The Biden government has not lifted a finger to undo any of the measures adopted by the Trump administration,” she complains, adding that Cuba wants to improve relations, but without pressure or conditions. “The allegedly more open attitude of the new American government seems farcical to me,” she said.

As far as Latin America goes, Falcón stated she believes that recent elections there have produced governments in several countries that may be more inclined to look favorably on economic integration, or on creating common markets in which Cuba is a member. She would not go further, however, indicating that Cuba respects the policies of other countries and does not interfere.

Falcón also addressed Cuba’s economic situation, which has grown worse since the start of the war in Ukraine, describing the island as “a country under blockade” that is further plagued by pandemic. She described the relationship with Russia as one of friendship and says that the Cuban government is working “with great hope and great commitment to continue guaranteeing the well-being of the people.” That is why, she said, “Cuba is open to all foreign investment.” She mentioned areas such as pharmaceuticals and tourism, citing Spanish businessmen who have worked for decades on the island with beneficial results for both parties. There may be other investment opportunities, she suggested, that are not in that portfolio but which could be attractive.”

Falcón used her stay in Spain to visit and meet with friends in the healthcare education sector. When asked what main difference she found in the Spanish system, she noted that students entered medical schools the first year of their studies.

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Deprived of the Right to Take to the Streets, on March 8 Cuban Women Will Wear a Black Ribbon on Their Hands

Feminist groups have begun to wear a black ribbon tied to the wrist to symbolize their rejection of male violence. (YoSíTeCreo)

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 8 March 2023 — Gladys lives in Caibarién, a small coastal city in the center of Cuba. Two months ago, her son left with other young people on a rustic raft to try to reach the United States. She since then she has heard nothing from them. A teacher by profession and retired a decade ago, the woman spends her hours checking social networks and calling the family of the other disappeared rafters to find out if they have any news. This March 8, International Women’s Day, will be longer than usual for her: without celebrations or laughter.

“There, that’s where they killed her,” says a resident of Camalote, in the province of Camagüey, when someone inquires about 17-year-old Leidy Bacallao Santana. On February 3, the young woman sought refuge at the police station in the face of threats from her ex-boyfriend, but he chased her and ended up killing her with a machete in front of the uniformed officers. Since the beginning of the year, 16 Cuban women have died in sexist attacks in a country where official propaganda refuses to recognize the femicides that leave so many families in mourning. From the Government, the only stories narrated are those of happy woman, fulfilled and grateful for the system.

Wearing her white coat, Danurys leaves every morning for her job at a doctor’s office. She graduated just a few months ago and dreams of later doing a specialty in pediatrics. This week she has not had anything for breakfast despite the fact that the salaries in the Public Health sector are among the highest in the country. The devaluation of the Cuban peso and the rise in the price of basic products, together with the chronic shortages and the productive inefficiency of the country, mean that a piece of bread, a glass of milk or a sip of coffee have become unaffordable for the pockets of many. continue reading

The young woman from Galena does not want to pack her bags and leave, as more than 350,000 Cubans did last year, but she does not know how much longer she will be able to cope with material hardships and low salaries. She doesn’t even plan to have children in the coming years: “Giving birth here, no, that’s clear to me,” she concludes categorically.

One hundred years ago, the grandmothers of Gladys, Leidy and Danurys took to the Cuban streets demanding their right to vote, they celebrated having achieved the first Divorce Law on the Island after decades of demands, and they fought for labor inclusion and salary dignity. During the first half of the 20th century, the feminist movement on the Island achieved important reforms in the Civil Code and significant demands regarding marriage, maternity, study and work. They were not easy conquests. Many of them spent their tears and their energies at rallies, conferences and public protests, but significantly paved the way.

This year, a group of Cuban feminists decided to deliver a letter to Parliament requesting permission for a peaceful demonstration. The National Assembly did not accept the letter and some of these women were subsequently harassed and detained. The repression has forced them to launch another initiative: to wear a black ribbon on their hands during this day as a sign of mourning, against femicides and in favor of a Comprehensive Law that protects women from sexist violence. A “virtual march” is being organized on social networks to replace the physical demonstration vetoed by the ruling party. Gladys, Danurys and Leidy’s relatives will have to settle for showing their indignation on the internet. At the moment their demands are only allowed in the digital space, but one day they will recover the streets. Almost there.

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Editor’s Note: This text was originally published by Deutsche Welle ‘s Latin America page .

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