14ymedio

Cuban Architect’s Criticism of the New Tower at 23rd and K in Havana Unleashes the Wrath of the Official Press

The new tower at K and 23 has already changed the recognizable profile of Havana, with the Hotel Nacional, Habana Libre and Focsa, all built before 1959. (14ymedio)

14medio, Havana, 8 June 2022 — Havanans have seen what will be the tallest building in Havana go up, at 23rd and K, the heart of El Vedado, in just a few months and without the usual propaganda by the Cuban authorities when it comes to an achievement.

The construction, which is called the “López-Calleja tower” on the street because it is the work of the military conglomerate Gaesa — commanded by the general of that name who is the former son-in-law of Raúl Castro — was announced with great fanfare four years ago as a future 42 floor, 505-foot-high hotel, part of the ambitious plan to offer 100,000 rooms in Cuba by the year 2030, but it was soon covered with a veil of silence.

People did not understand the unbridled development of five-star accommodation in a country where more than half of the homes are in dire need of repair.

This Monday, for the first time since 2018, when they presented a model, the official press has pronounced on the mammoth work. It has done so only to defend that “quality control is rigorous and constant” in its construction, after several experts questioned it.

The controversy began with a text by the Cuban architect residing in Berlin Rafael Muñoz, who on his blog Malanga Blue expressed himself forcefully about the tower: “I am not going to talk now about everything we know, about disrespect for urban planning laws, about the use of the wrong materials, about the contracting of foreign projects to the detriment of local professionals, about the economic nonsense that it represents, if not literally of ’birthing’, since I have seen this photo today and as an architect, I have no choice but to address the dark points of this construction.” continue reading

The specialist referred to a photograph of the building in which the mesh with which it was covered could be seen and he recommended zooming in to analyze the surface of the “recently poured” concrete: “Let’s look at that large patch on the beam in the third level. Let us then contemplate the succession of dark points that contrast on the lighter concrete on the closest wall in the photo. No, that is not a work of art but ’cockroaches’, places which, due to lack of vibration, the concrete mass did not settle and there were holes in its surface. The repair is expensive and requires special materials and resins if it is done well. The bad thing about ‘cockroaches’ is that you can only ’cover’ the holes that are visible, especially the surface. But what about the ones you can’t see? The ones left in the middle of the concrete?”

Muñoz also criticized “the edges and joints between elements,” whose color, again different, betrays “a second pouring of concrete to correct the failure of the first.” This, the architect clarified, “is not a problem in itself, if it is done well,” and he said: “I take it for granted that they have done the right thing, sealed the joint and continued to build. The specialist referred to an photograph of the building in which the mesh with which it was covered could be seen and he recommended zooming in to analyze the surface of the “recently poured” concrete.

“Let’s look at that large patch on the beam in the third level. Let us then contemplate the succession of dark points that contrast on the lighter concrete on the closest wall in the photo. No, that is not a work of art but ’cockroaches’, places which, due to lack of vibration, the concrete mass did not settle and there were holes in its surface. The repair is expensive and requires special materials and resins if it is done well. The bad thing about ‘cockroaches’ is that you can only ’cover’ the holes that are visible, especially the surface. But what about the ones you can’t see? The ones left in the middle of the concrete?” . In any case, at first glance the quality of surface finish of that blank wall is not good. Light and shadow on a vertical wall is always a sign that something didn’t go as planned.”

Lastly, the architect drew attention to the lack of “protections and signs” for the workers. “Why is a mesh only placed on the upper floors and not throughout the building as it should be and is provided for Cuban regulations?” Muñoz wondered. “Do you have to wait for someone to fall into the void to mourn the loss, blame the blockade and promise an investigation of something that is visible to the naked eye before it happens?”

The expert went further, asking: “What do you think would happen if a brick, a wheelbarrow, or a wagon accidentally or intentionally detaches and falls from the 20th floor onto 23rd Street on top of a bus? Or if soon, as a result of the rains these days, a gale forms and cement and materials begin to fly over the city?” In addition he referred to the explosion of the Saratoga Hotel, a month ago, and the accident that cost the life of a customer in 2020 at the Meliá Habana hotel, when the elevator he was in fell: “When a hotel fails, it is a consequence of the sum of many negligences, of bad work, of ignoring rules, procedures and laws.”

Muñoz also asserted that none of the materials used “are high-tech”: “All of them are within the reach of a work of this caliber in Cuba. Bear in mind that a 5-star hotel with 42 stories plus basements is being built whose value without much effort, it will exceed 55 or 60 million dollars. Ensuring that accidents do not occur does not exceed 1% of the cost of the work, but it can insure lives or damages to third parties. It is also showing respect for the life of others and the property of others. But if that were not enough, it would at least to comply with Cuban laws.”

The text, replicated by independent media, provoked a reaction from Alejandro Manuel Silva González, who in a Facebook post identified himself as “part of the team of engineers that has prepared the structure project and that for more than two years” has reviewed the project at least once a week.

“Why is a mesh only placed on the upper floors and not throughout the building as it should be and is provided for Cuban regulations?” architect Muñoz wondered. (14ymedio)

This post is the one that Granma glossed over this Tuesday in its article about the hotel it calls “K23.” The Communist Party newspaper reproduces the declarations of Silva González, who assured that “the concrete poured in the work exceeds the resistance of 50 MPa and the batches used are endorsed by national laboratories and recognized international institutions.”

The engineer said that “the difference in color between the elements is due to the application of various formulas and additives, all approved and validated” and that the safety standards established by law are followed in the work. All this, accompanied by photos, were also reproduced by the official newspaper.

Those photos, responded Rafael Muñoz in a new entry in Malanga Blue, “have only reaffirmed my opinion,” although he clarified: “Go ahead, I have opposed alarmist comments that affirm that the building will fall. It will not. I have never doubted, I have not even mentioned the specified resistance, the use of additives in the concrete, or the complexity of the work.” His analysis, he detailed, referred to “the quality of the finishes of that concrete,” and the “observance of the regulations of works in Cuba in terms of safety.”

In their Facebook, other colleagues added their point of view. For example, Ernesto Herrera Quintas, who celebrates Muñoz’s “excellent analysis” and criticizes “the counterpart published by the engineer,” which “generated more doubts because he missed many important points.”

Maurys Alfonso Risco expressed that he was concerned about “other things”: “The effectiveness of a curtain wall in a country where there is no tradition and preventive maintenance is zero. I think of the unnecessary veneer elements that surround it and I think of Amelia’s mural, right in front. In my case I have always shot from the aesthetic point of view but that doesn’t mean I ignore many technical concerns at the same time,” and he noted that he is an expert.

Muñoz himself responded to this: “Now that’s another edge, which I didn’t want to touch. There’s nowhere to take that building. Either because it’s ugly, because of the use of inappropriate materials, because of hiring foreigners instead of nationals.”

In addition to Granma, with its brief gloss on the engineer Silva González, it replied to Muñoz, this Tuesday, on the television program Con Filo, aimed at discrediting not only opponents, activists and independent journalists, but also any expert who opposes the Cuban regime. Without offering more arguments, an attempt is made to disqualify the architect as experts “in the teleworking modality.”

Regardless of any discussion, the work that at the end of 2020 was still barely a hole — one of those that abound so much in bombed cities — has already changed the recognizable profile from the Malecón, with the National Hotel, the Habana Libre and the Focsa, all built before 1959.

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Agricultural Cooperatives as an Example of the Internal Blockade

Empty pallets in the EJT market on 17 and K streets in El Vedado (Havana, Cuba). (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, June 7, 2022 — If 90% of Cuban food production originates from agricultural cooperatives, this figure must be reviewed as soon as possible. Cooperatives in the Cuban communist regime don’t fulfill their function of meeting the population’s food needs. In addition, at first glance they are very different from those that exist in other countries, such as Spain, where the cooperative movement reaches very prominent dimensions and relevance in terms of production and employment. Cuban agricultural cooperatives are unproductive and inefficient.

The authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) and the National Association of Small Farmers recognize that the model doesn’t work and that they can’t find the solutions they need in the implementation of the 17 measures approved for their strengthening and consolidation within the economic plan.

Perhaps cooperatives in Cuba don’t work because of the plan and the measures that are designed by communist bureaucrats, completely removed from reality and the needs of the cooperatives. Cuban cooperatives, led by communists and with the forced participation of private actors, have very little in common with these legal entities in other countries, where the worker takes precedence over capital, can make personal decisions and is free of interference. The origin of their failure is the economic and social model.

I insist, the supposed recognition in the National Economy Plan is useless to the agricultural cooperative sector if it then doesn’t work efficiently and can’t produce enough to feed all Cubans. If cooperatives represent 90% of food production in Cuba, and it’s not enough for everyone, something doesn’t work and has to be fixed as soon as possible. The problem of malfunctioning cooperatives can’t be fixed with either “recognitions” or with access to resources for production and investment.

According to the State newspaper Granma, the authorities have tested the implementation of solutions for the strengthening of agricultural cooperatives in 77 cooperatives (26 UBPC, 18 CPA and 33 CCS) belonging to 19 municipalities in five provinces (Holguín, Granma, Havana, Mayabeque and Artemisa). As a result, as of last April, 7,084 unresolved issues were identified in the cooperatives. These were related to questions that, from a technically productive point of view, have little or no interest.

I will quote them, as listed in Granma. Some of them are amazing. continue reading

For example, the lack of presidents and economic managers has been detected among the “pending issues,” which, according to Granma, “translates into incomplete boards of directors, poor planning, poor financial status and lack of areas of collective use.” In other words, agricultural cooperatives don’t produce due to corporate and organizational problems. Is this really credible, is it really the cause of unproductivity?

Let’s continue with the “unfinished business” relationship. Granma cites, nothing more and nothing less, than “the need to implement a communication and education system that contributes to the promotion of the values and principles of cooperativism in Cuban society, through the national, provincial and municipal media, and education centers at all levels of education.” Well, that sounds good, but can it really be accepted that this is necessary to increase production in the furrow? Do the principles and values of cooperativism serve to produce more cassava and malanga to feed people? The truth is, I don’t know.

In addition, considered essential for the authorities, is “the completion of an awareness process with presidents, boards of directors and assemblies of cooperative members; and the consultation process on competencies.” To this end, 2,200 leaders of 550 cooperatives are being investigated as a baseline. Wouldn’t it be better if, instead of so much awareness, they were left alone to produce and dedicate themselves to harvesting crops instead of so many surveys and questions?

And to close the list of “pending issues,” the authorities highlighted the importance of the “procurement process, statistical control, the creation of a contract proforma (SIPA) for the procurement process in 2023, as well as the inclusion in the new Decree-Law of the cooperative method on what is related to the election of leaders.” Bureaucracy, hierarchy, control and communist interference in the lives of these organizations that, by their nature, should be free.

The leaders didn’t mention a single word from the regime about property rights, free choice and decision-making by the cooperatives about production and pricing or, for example, how to achieve continuous supplies of products and tools that can be bought with the national money [Cuban pesos].

Nor did they mention the need to ensure the existence of a competitive and flexible distribution market, capable of meeting the needs of urban consumption, much less talk about the necessary flexibility and autonomy of current cooperatives so that they can decide on all kinds of issues, including their structure and legal future, partnership with other entities, the entry of foreign capital or the free contracting of the market.

It’s not surprising that Cuban agricultural cooperatives don’t produce food and function so badly. They’re an obvious example of the regime’s internal blockade of everything that represents independent private economic activity.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Walking Through Havana Looking Up to Avoid Building Collapses

The cracks in two of the balconies of the Reina Building seem to deepen with the passing of days and the humidity left by this week’s downpours. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 7 June 2022 — Originally called the Reina Building, because of the street on which it is located, and renamed Almacenes Ultra because of the large store that is located on its ground floor, the building that bears number 109 on centrally located Reina avenue has become a danger for residents and passers-by. If inside there is a lack of water supply and leaks in the roofs abound, outside the threat is provided by the cracked balconies that overlook one of the busiest areas of Havana.

“I didn’t even look up, but after the collapses of the last few days due to the rains, I’ve started to look and this is a danger,” detailed a woman on Monday, while waiting in line for the bus in the park El Curita, a few meters from what was once one of the most famous and visited stores in the Cuban capital. The reason for her words is the balcony that overlooks the entrance to the Almacenes Ultra, cracked after the passage of years without maintenance.

The construction, which was once the envy of all who passed in front of its art deco facade, has been mired in disaster for years. In May 2022, a fire broke out in an apartment on the third floor and affected several adjoining apartments, but that was just one more step in the descent towards the abyss of deterioration that the building has experienced for decades. The problem of the scarce and sporadic supply of water seems to be what most despairs its inhabitants on a day-to-day basis. continue reading

“People believe that if you live above a store you have everything solved, but this is a disaster,” says Humberto, a resident there until a few months ago when he decided to move with his daughter to another neighborhood further from the center. “Yes, in Reina 109 I was a few minutes from Central Park and a jump from the Malecón, but what is all that if when I got up I didn’t even have water to wash my face. Very nice on the outside but a nightmare on the inside,” he details to this newspaper.

The soot that has been falling for years on the facade gives the entire construction a musty appearance, which in some parts still retains traces of the paint that once covered its walls. The cracks in two of its balconies seem to deepen with the passing of days and the humidity left by this week’s downpours. Beneath it passes a student in her uniform on her way to a nearby school, an old woman with a bag hanging from her arm and a young man with headphones who moves his hand to the rhythm of the music he is listening to.

Everyone is oblivious to the fact that a tragedy is brewing a few meters above. The same one that some have already seen from the tail of the bus, because the angle they are at allows them to see the terrifying perspective. “This is how misfortunes happen,” says a woman. He says it a few meters from the place where the Saratoga Hotel exploded a month ago, also very close to a collapse of a house at the back of the Fin de Siglo store, which left several families homeless, and a breath away from the collapse of a balcony on San Miguel street.

A sequence of the collapses of facades and roofs has redoubled the attention of Havanans when they walk through the streets. Some choose to look up to avoid the greatest dangers, others walk in the streets avoiding sidewalks and doorways, risking their lives with the vehicles. A considerable share reduces their outings outside the home, but in their own home there can also be danger. Like in the Almacenes Ultra building.

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The Extraordinary and Efficient Machine to Manufacture Calumnies

Drawing of the cover of the book ’Mapa dibujado por un espía’ [Map drawn by a spy]. (@penguinrandomhouse)

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 5 June 2022 — The extraordinary and effective Slander Manufacturing Machine is not a single device, but a complex system for organizing informers, informants, police officers, files, compromised neighbors and improvised agents. There is an instruction manual to understand the Machine, but I could never find it in Cuba, when I needed it most: it is the Mapa dibujado por un espía [Map Drawn by a Spy], by Guillermo Cabrera Infante.

When Guillermo died, his widow searched her library for lost manuscripts. Hidden in an envelope that the Cuban had sealed and forgotten were the 314 typewritten pages of the Map. From his exile in London — the capital of another island — Cabrera Infante recounted his last trip to Havana, in 1965, and settled scores with the living and the dead.

That year — the story has been told so many times that I no longer know how to distinguish fiction from reality, document from gossip — Cabrera Infante was a cultural attaché in Belgium. There were problems at the embassy and the government sent a mediator. The first job of any mediator is to open their ears and turn the stories and “gossip” into well-written reports. A kind of security policeman called Aldama lived in the embassy, and it was he who started the extraordinary and efficient machine.

Aldama was mixed-race, rather dark, very tall, with a deep voice and tight glasses; he drove a Buick. He had belonged to the clandestine “action groups” against Batista and claimed to know Fidel Castro. He was pleased to refer — as bait to record the interlocutor’s reaction — to an episode of machine guns and thugs in which Castro had been involved. continue reading

Far away, in the gloomy and hot State Security offices, Aldama’s information was well received. Thanks to the mediator and to Aldama, the embassy was emptied of the problematic and remaining were only Cabrera Infante and “comrade” Aldama, who began to prowl like a lion of espionage.

Anyone who has read Cabrera Infante knows that there have been few Cubans so sarcastic and moody at the same time. Operating certain threads in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he managed to get rid of the surveillance of Aldama, who was removed from peaceful Brussels back to the sweat of the tropics.

Nobody like a Cuban to be alive and silly at the same time. Little did Cabrera Infante suspect that Aldama was going to drag him down with him — thanks to the slander manufacturing machine — and that the salary would come soon: his mother was about to die and he had to return to Havana.

We are talking about the years in which Castro behaved—he always did—like an agrarian and proletarian czar; in which Manuel Piñeiro, Barbarossa , trained the first State Security agents with the KGB booklet; in which Ramiro Valdés — today a sleeping mummy in an olive-green shroud — was the bloodthirsty Minister of the Interior. Camilo [Cienfuegos] dead; Guevara on a guerrilla tour of Africa; the snitching cederista [CDR member] on his “caramel point.” That was Havana populated by political zombies that Cabrera Infante found.

“I knew,” he said in an interview, “that you couldn’t write in Cuba, but I believed that you could live, vegetate, postpone death, postpone every day. Within a week of returning I knew that not only could I not write in Cuba, I couldn’t live either.

Then begins the story — which is, in effect, a kind of espionage novel in a disfigured country — of the rupture, disenchantment and finally suffocation of the person who is taken off the plane, until further notice, to live for four months in tension and surveillance.

I would have liked to read Map Drawn By a Spy in Cuba, but entering that story while wandering in a similar environment, creating the inevitable links that every reader practices, between fiction and life, between the memory of others and one’s own anguish, would have been little recommended for mental health. I can do it now — read, compare, remember — sheltered by a certain innocence and remoteness.

Everyone who leaves, who thinks of leaving, who dissents, sooner or later acquires a fellow Aldama, a shadow that cuts out the portion of life and country that he has. Until one vanishes, he becomes a non-person, a scourge, a deceased infant. Then he only remains “to flee as far as possible, as fast as he flees from the plague, from the tyrant.”

I close the Map Drawn By a Spy in Cuba, in the nice edition of Galaxia Gutenberg, and make myself a coffee. At a certain point, Cabrera Infante understood that he could no longer return to Cuba alive. All exiles confront that panic. I, who said goodbye to all things — my cat, my books, my places — know that even if I return tomorrow and the Machine no longer exists, there is an irremediable and concrete rupture: everything changes when we are not there, and there is no map that serves to recover time.

The extraordinarily efficient Machine for Making Slander continues its work, perhaps with a little more rust and missing parts, but indifferent after six decades. Cabrera Infante affirms that “when unlivable situations are experienced, there is no other way out than schizophrenia or escape.” I want to think, above pessimism and history, that studying the operation of the Machine is the most lucid way to break it.

When that day comes, we exiles can return home. Although I, who knows my people and know what leg they limp on, I don’t think I’ll come back — as Guillermo would say — on the first plane.

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The Counterrevolutionaries Are on the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba

Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), on December 16, 2021. (Revolution Studies)

14ymedio, Ariel Hidalgo, Miami, 3 June 2022 — In a previous article, I stated that a revolution is a radical transformation of the structures of a society and that, therefore, there has been no revolution in Cuba for more than 50 years. Revolution was what was carried out during the first nine years by the leadership that took power in Cuba in 1959. So, why do those who govern continue to speak in the name of something that ceased to exist so long ago?

The question only has one answer and a very simple one: to hide, behind that word, what really began to exist in Cuba: a tyranny. As the economic model that emerged is dysfunctional – the older Castro himself confessed it shortly before he died: “it doesn’t even work for Cubans” – that leader did the only thing he did for the next fifty-odd years, every time the rope tightened around the neck, there were nothing more than reforms, a word that means “to change the form,” just to achieve a respite, but leaving the essence intact. Tyranny is still tyranny, and nothing has rescued the population from all its calamities.

But now very few believe in his reforms. It is about changing “everything” so as not to have to change anything, or at most, make fearful and insufficient concessions, as if trying to save the life of someone who is dying of dehydration with doses from a dropper and not with a bottle. Also, when they see that the dying person has any signs of recovery, they remove the drip as they have done many times. In other words, the reforms generally have a short term of life, because they have already fulfilled the objective they sought (to give some hope to calm people down, accompanying that, of course, with the usual mass exodus). continue reading

What, then, are those who are called “counterrevolutionaries”? If there is no revolution, there can be no counterrevolutionaries. If opponents are called that because they want to radically change the structures of that system that has become a tyranny, then, by definition, the true revolutionaries are those opponents, whether those who govern like it or not and those who oppose it like it or not. Do those opponents want to radically change that system or not? Well, that’s called a revolution.

Enough of deception and let’s speak the Spanish language correctly. Let’s not follow the game of those who disrupt the terms as a propaganda strategy. There are no counterrevolutionaries in Cuba, and if there are, they are on the Central Committee of the Communist Party and not behind prison bars, if we bear in mind that those who seized power in Cuba betrayed the ideals of that Revolution for which so many Cubans gave their blood. Not only for refusing to reinstate the 1940 Constitution and to hold free elections, but also for not satisfying the social demands of that Constitution, such as putting an end to the large estates and distributing the land among the peasants, since they neither eliminated the large estates nor distributed the land, but they converted the latifundios into state estates by having the State absorb 70% of the arable land.

Don’t let the opponents call you “counterrevolutionaries,” a term that was accompanied by another, “worms [gusanos],” an epithet that the Nazis foisted on the Jews. That’s where they took it from. It was the brainchild of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s shadowy propaganda chief.

On second thought, what’s wrong with a worm? Isn’t it a laborious little animal the creator of fine silk? The great Chinese sage of 2,400 years ago, Lao Tzu, said that when the worm believed that everything was already lost, trapped inert in the cocoon, it was when it was closest to reaching everything, because “what he called death, the world called butterfly.” The butterfly is the symbol of transfiguration, the symbol of freedom that we Cubans should put everywhere, because it represents the destiny of the new Cuba.

So while we might just as well reject that “worm” moniker, we might as well take them at their word, but instead of seeing it for what it is today, see it for what it will become and do what worms know how to do: break out of the cocoon and take flight in a wonderful winged world of many colors.

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Perpetual Inventories, When Scarcity and Paranoia Come Together in State Enterprises

The solution to preventing theft in community canteens is to have a perpetual inventory. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana,5 June 2022 — The crisis hits all of Cuba, but the state sector suffers twice. In addition to the lack of raw material, looting by employees is added. The most recent solution to reduce these robberies has been to apply the so-called “perpetual inventory” in the community canteens in Havana, which means supplying the goods daily instead of storing them for several weeks.

In El Cubano, belonging to the Family Care System (SAF) and located on Aguiar Street, between Obispo and O’Reilly in Old Havana, “since this week the perpetual inventory has already been put into practice,” says a worker in the canteen, which is mainly attended by the elderly and people with disabilities. “Now, the products that are going to be consumed will enter the warehouse daily, not like before, when they came in for two weeks or the month,” he explains.

“This is a diabolical invention and, although we knew that the concept of perpetual inventory or perpetual warehousing, as it is also called, existed, it had never been implemented here. We have a worker who now, every afternoon, has to go by bicycle to the central warehouse of the Gastronomy Company, to inventory the merchandise that will be cooked the next day,” he explains.

“There they must give him the products for the number of people who eat in our place every day, about a hundred.” The employees of El Cubano attribute the measure to the new municipal director of the SAF, who previously worked in the Ministry of Commerce. “This is overcontrol for the super-poverty that exists,” the source says.

“This means more work and more paper; now we have to make double and triple delivery entries but they don’t give us paper. In the first column we have to put the products, another for the price, another for the quantity that came in and another for what went out. With this new mechanism there is nothing left, it remains at zero.” For three days, the dining room has only sold “rice and a small piece of chicken, in addition to pea soup.” continue reading

In Cuba there are about 76,175 people registered with the SAF who attend 445 canteens of this type on the island. Users of this service often complain about the poor quality of the food, which often lacks spices, oil or fat. The deterioration of the dishes is due, to a large extent, to the looting of products by the employees themselves.

Although the variety of ingredients has decreased significantly in recent years, SAFs maintain a basic offer that includes rice, some grains and a little animal protein that is often diluted with croquettes or tasteless hamburgers. Prices range from 1.55 pesos for a ladle of black beans to 2.15 pesos for a boiled egg or a peso for a small roll.

Although the prices seem economical compared to other gastronomic premises, the majority of SAF consumers have minimum pensions that don’t go beyond 1,500 pesos. Most of them are also elderly people who live alone and have to pay out of pocket for electricity, transportation and other expenses.

“This is a very sensitive system, because any failure directly affects people who have no other chance of putting some food in their mouths,” admits another employee of El Canciller, a SAF near the Havana neighborhood of La Timba. “People believe that we steal and that’s why the food is so bad, but here I have colleagues who even bring seasonings from their house so that lunch tastes like something to the old people.”

The employee doesn’t look favorably on the new measure of limiting the number of products they receive on a daily basis and also having to account for the use of these foods. “What it is going to bring is more bureaucracy, and we won’t be able to plan how to stretch some ingredients,” he laments.

“If this is designed for more control, we will go crazy, and the food quality will be even worse, because the day that we don’t get protein, we won’t have any for lunch, whereas now we always try to intersperse and distribute what we have in the warehouse during the week to achieve a menu as varied as possible.”

“More workers are planning to leave because it’s not worth the effort to come in, even less so because salary payments tend to be delayed in Gastronomy. The administrator has already started the paperwork to retire from the career because he says he can’t work like this,” he adds.

However, the reason for applying this method differs if staff members are asked. While in places such as El Cubano and El Canciller workers have been informed that this measure prevents the diversion of goods and maintains more effective control over resources, sources from the Ministry of Agriculture and the state company Acopio, interviewed by this newspaper, point to other reasons.

“We can’t know how much food we’re going to get to take to Gastronomy and then to the canteens in a week, much less in a month,” warns an Acopio official linked to the supply of these community premises. “We aren’t getting much merchandise, especially rice, beans and meat, so we’re going to distribute it little by little.”

Problems with fuel also aggravate the situation. “We have less than half the trucks we used to have to bring merchandise to the city, because the lack of parts and fuel are affecting us a lot. When we get a little something we have to deliver it the same day, it’s like that.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Month After the Explosion of the Saratoga Hotel, Cubans Seek Answers

View from Dragones Street where the Saratoga Hotel and the El Calvario Temple meet, headquarters of the Western Baptist Convention. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 6 June 2022 — Still surrounded by a strong police operation and with metal fences to prevent the passage of pedestrians and vehicles, the deteriorated structure of the Saratoga Hotel continues to remind everyone who approaches about the explosion of a month ago that destroyed part of the building and claimed the lives of 46 people.

The event, which shocked the entire country, continues to be involved in controversy and the results of the police investigation into the causes of the accident have not yet been made public. Since that fateful Friday, six people who suffered injuries in the incident, including a minor, continue to be hospitalized.

Due to the intense rains this weekend that left four dead and hundreds of building collapses, the access points to the building in Old Havana were cordoned off to prevent the population from approaching what remains after the explosion of one of the most emblematic hotels in Havana. the city, founded in 1933.

The Saratoga hotel is located in a 19th century building, and was categorized as five stars. At the time of the explosion, which left 99 injured, the tourist facility was closed for repairs and its reopening was scheduled for May 10. continue reading

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Some of the buildings damaged by the incident still have not received major repairs, as is the case of the residential buildings that exist in the block, and all of which were affected.

Of the building located at Prado 609, which had to be evacuated, the official press reported that they would begin the shoring process and then begin studies for a possible repair “with the aim of maintaining the same façade.”

The building on Zulueta street marked with the number 512 continues in the process of demolition, and according to local authorities this work will take about two months. “Then the Historian’s Office will work on a proposal for new housing for that space and for the corner of Monte and Zulueta,” according to the State newspaper Granma. The properties adjacent to Saratoga located Prado 617 and Zulueta 508 also received irreparable damage.

Most of the residents affected by the explosion were housed in state facilities or at the homes of family and friends.

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Cuba’s Young Communist Union ‘Liberates’ the Political Commissar who Celebrated the Dismissal of the Director of ‘Alma Mater’

Nislay Molina will go on to occupy other functions at the UJC, although they have not been specified. (Twitter)

14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2022 — Nislay Molina, the political commissar who directed the Ideological sphere of the National Committee of the Union of Young Communists, UJC, has been relieved of her duties a month after the former director of the Alma Mater magazine, Armando Franco Senén, blamed her in part for his dismissal. The journalist directly accused her of telling him: “We should have kicked you out long ago, there is nothing more to say, we are doing you the favor of liberating you. You may do as you wish, it is our decision.”

The official newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported this weekend on the “liberation” of the official, as a dismissal is called in the regime’s newspeak, and said that she will have “other assigned tasks,” without offering more details of her new functions. She will be succeeded in the position by Meyvis Estévez Echeverría, a 31-year-old Law graduate who previously headed the educational area.

In turn, this sphere will be occupied by Yaliel Cobo Calvo, previously the first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the UJC in Cienfuegos and a graduate in Social Communication. According to the note, “these movements of cadres in the National Bureau seek to strengthen the work of the organization with young people who have been linked to working life and accumulate experience in youth management.”

The truth is that Molina’s departure from office to unspecified functions sounds more like a penalty for the recent scandal. At the end of April, Armando Franco Senén was fired as head of the magazine, news that was then reduced to a few simple lines on the publication’s social networks that indicated that “by decision of the National Bureau of the Union of Young Communists, Armando Franco Senén was liberated from his duties as director.” continue reading

The controversy grew for weeks amid rumors that the situation was far from friendly, as the Editora Abril, the UJC and even the Communist Party itself defended, calling Rogelio Polanco, head of the Central Committee’s Ideological Department, to calm the storm. The cultural ruling party gave its support to Franco, who had led the magazine to tackle more diverse topics and with success, but the journalist kept silent.

After 15 days of rumors, Franco decided to tell his version in detail in a Facebook post and explained that on April 26 he was summoned to a meeting in the office of the director of Editora Abril, Asael Alonso Tirado, in which Molina was also present. Both explained to him that he had to leave due to “continuous errors in the editorial work of the magazine” and, when he tried to defend his work, the official blurted out the controversial phrase that may now have cost her her job.

The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FDHC) included the official in its list of “white collar” repressors on May 12, when Franco told the story of her dismissal.

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The Cuban Regime’s Media Publish False Data on Biological Weapons in Ukraine

The publications echo statements by the Russian Ministry of Defense according to which Ukraine develops pathogens for military use to spread through the migration of ducks and bats. (EFE/Russian Defense Ministry Press)

14ymedio, Alejandro Saavedra, Havana, 1 June 2022 — The Cuban official press has spent months supporting the Russian narrative that there are secret laboratories sponsored by the United States in Ukraine that are dedicated to the production of biological weapons, although there is no evidence in this regard.

In at least five articles published since the end of March, media such as Cubadebate, Granma and Visión Tunera affirm that there are more than 30 laboratories in Ukraine that carry out large-scale military biological activities. However, the aforementioned facilities are not secret, nor is there evidence that they carry out any military research.

The publications echo statements by the Russian Ministry of Defense according to which Ukraine develops pathogens for military use to spread through the migration of ducks and bats. Its only source is Russian military reports.

“The objective of this biological research funded by the Pentagon in Ukraine is to create a mechanism for the secret spread of deadly pathogens,” says one of the articles published by Cubadebate.

“During its special military operation in Ukraine, Russia found numbered birds produced by Ukrainian biological laboratories, financed and supervised by the United States,” Granma says, in an article entitled: Numbered birds, a weapon to kill without firing a single shot, among other biological experiments.

Various western media, such as BBC, EFE y Polifact, have already verified that Russian claims are unfounded. continue reading

First of all, the laboratories are not secret. On the contrary, it is public knowledge that Ukraine has a network of laboratories that investigate diseases dangerous to human and animal health, such as anthrax and hemorrhagic fever.

Nor is it a secret that these facilities receive financial support from the United States. On the website of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine there is a section that includes all the details of this collaboration. Some of the laboratories are also supported by the European Union and the World Health Organization.

Another relevant aspect is that Russia hasn’t presented any evidence that these laboratories are used for military research or that the facilities have the necessary capabilities for the development of weapons.

“There is no indication that Ukrainian laboratories have been involved in any infamous activity, or in any research or development that contravenes the Biological Weapons Convention,” Filippa Lentzos, a biosafety expert at King’s College London, told the BBC.

“The reality is that a true biological weapons program has additional requirements, such as the formulation of an agent that can be mass-produced and stable enough to be stored and disseminated,” the director of the Postgraduate Program in Biodefense at George Mason University, Gregory Koblentz, told Politifact.

Ukraine also submits, on a regular basis, voluntary reports on compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention, which prohibits the development, production and possession of biological weapons. Nor does the United Nations have any report from the Office for Disarmament Affairs that indicates suspicion about the research carried out in Ukrainian laboratories.

Finally, the United States Department of Defense reported on March 11 that when the Russian attacks began, the Ukraine Ministry of Health ordered the safe disposal of the pathogen samples that were stored in the laboratories, with the aim of preventing any type of accidental release generated by the attacks.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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At the Summit of the Americas, the United States Will Promote a Migration Pact Without Cuba

Migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela arrested before crossing the Rio Grande and reaching Eagle Pass. (INM)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, June 5, 2022 — While some analysts think that the absence of Venezuela, Nicaragua and, probably, Cuba have made next week’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles meaningless, others think that there will be no consequences and that it won’t overshadow the plan of the United States to promote a migration pact, as contemplated in the official agenda.

To date, the government of President Joe Biden has avoided publishing the list of guests for the event, which will take place from June 6 to 10, amid warnings from countries such as Mexico, Honduras and some territories of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which could boycott the summit due to absences.

Washington has been categorical regarding the non-participation of Venezuela and Nicaragua, and has been lukewarm about that of Cuba, despite the fact that in recent weeks it has resumed contacts with Havana on migration and has withdrawn some sanctions on Caracas to facilitate dialogue with the opposition.

Atlantic Council expert Jason Marczak, who directs the Adrienne Arsht Center in Latin America, a laboratory of ideas, told EFE that it would have been “very difficult” for the United States to invite the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega.

In his opinion, these two rulers are not interested in working together with other nations to reach an immigration agreement, since they carry out actions that destabilize the continent. continue reading

Therefore, it makes more sense to Marczak for Washington to promote a pact with the countries receiving migrants in order to coordinate their policies on this matter.

“Migrants and refugees leave Nicaragua and Venezuela, not because of Maduro’s or Ortega’s immigration policy, but because of political and legal repression and the economy,” said the analyst. Neither Maduro nor Ortega will modify the actions that cause citizens to leave their countries.

Meanwhile, in the absence of confirmation of attendance at the summit of a Cuban delegation, the US expert remarked that for some countries in the region it has been “a priority” to promote the participation of “some level of the Cuban Government.”

Given the lack of clarity on the part of Washington, the Cuban Government seems to have removed itself. The president himself, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said last week that he would “in no case” participate in the summit.

The possibility of a second-tier government delegation or a representative of Cuban civil society coming to Los Angeles has been fading as the date approaches.

The Cuban regime prevented activist Saily González from attending the IX Summit of the Americas to which she was invited as a representative of Cuban civil society. She let her know through her family that she could not pick up her visa at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, and State Security summoned her to remind her that she had an open criminal investigation against her.

The activist Aimara Peña was informed that “no one would participate” in the IX Summit of the Americas. As she denounced this Saturday on her social media, State Security “did not allow me to travel to Havana and kept me imprisoned in a dirty dungeon after threatening me.”

The final Cuban slamming of the door came with the recent celebration in Havana of a summit of leaders of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), which included Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, its main members, who could puff out their chests in the face of exclusion.

For Mexican academic María Cristina Rosas, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Biden Administration has put itself in a predicament no matter what final decision it makes.

“Biden is on bad terms with God and the devil: the Republicans and a part of the Cuban community in the United States. On the other hand, he is giving many weapons to Cuba to continue blaming him for the evils there,” she said in an interview with EFE.

In the same vein, former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray pointed out Washington’s position as a mistake. “There’s no middle ground with Cuba. (Barack) Obama realized it perfectly. (Bill) Clinton paid dearly for having tried to swim between two waters,” he argued in statements to EFE.

In his opinion, the United States is reoffending with the veto on “failed policies” and diverting attention from the important problems of the region: “That is not convenient for anyone,” he said. Rosas highlighted at this point the “power” of the Cuban-American lobby, which she considers to be the “best” among Hispanic communities in the United States when it comes to influencing the country’s foreign policy.

Alzugaray said that Cuba is being harmed by not being able to participate in the hemispheric forum, but at the same time it benefits politically from exclusion, because of the regional support it has gathered — especially from Mexico — and the demonstration of Washington’s “inefficiency.”

He also pointed out that Cuban migration to the United States — which has increased significantly in recent months — is an issue that can be discussed in a regional forum, but one that must be addressed bilaterally.

The self-exclusion that Cuba seems to have chosen was not an option for Venezuela and Nicaragua, since the White House made the resounding and irrevocable decision not to include them in the list of invited countries.

Of the three, Ortega was the one who showed the greatest disinterest in participating in the summit and downplayed the event that — he believes — “does not exalt anyone.”

“We have to make ourselves respected, we can’t be asking the Yankee, begging him to go to his summit. We are not inspired by his summit,” Ortega argued on May 18 during a government event in Managua.

However, Maduro is convinced that his voice will be heard in Los Angeles, “whatever the host says,” whom he despises, by disavowing his will and ensuring that the marginalized will also be there.

“Whatever happens in Washington, the voice of Venezuela, the voice of Cuba and the voice of Nicaragua will be heard in Los Angeles in the great protests of the people and our voices will be in that room (…) we will be there with our truth,” the president said on May 24 in Caracas.

As Benigno Alarcón, director of the Center for Political Studies of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, explained to EFE, it’s most likely that Maduro’s words hide the plan to organize protests in Los Angeles, in parallel with the summit, as both Venezuela and Nicaragua did on previous occasions.

“What they’re going to try to do is what they’ve done on other occasions, which is to fund some groups to protest at the place where the summit is held. They’ve done it other times and under other circumstances. They’ve funded groups that join a protest,” Alarcón said.

But neither the absence of these countries nor the demonstrations that can be organized around the summit will overshadow, in his opinion, the plan to promote a migration pact, as contemplated in the official agenda. On the contrary.

For Alarcón, it must be the countries that receive migrants from the three excluded nations, with the United States at the head, that must address any issue that has to do with the agreement, so it will not matter that those countries are absent.

Those who have to agree on that pact are the recipient countries, to see how many each receive and how they can help, and what capacity each country has to receive and other issues of interest in this matter,” said the Venezuelan expert.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Young Cubans Are the Ones Most Grateful for Not Having to Wear a Mandatory Mask

“Look at that, what kind of danger, what irresponsibility!” A man in his eighties yelled at a father who was walking hand in hand with his unmasked daughter. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 31 May 2022 — For the first time in 26 months, starting this Tuesday, Cubans can go out without a mask, but the reception of the elimination of its mandatory use was, at least first thing in the morning, very timid.

In the streets of Havana, it could be observed, that out of every ten people, roughly only one or two were not wearing a mask.

“I took it off because I wanted to feel what it’s like to breathe after so long with the air on my face,” said a young woman from Centro Habana, visibly happy not to be wearing one. “A curious thing is that people look at you as if they were looking for approval to take it off, and when they see you without it, then they take it off too.”

The youngest are, without a doubt, the most grateful for the end of this prohibition. There are not a few studies that have shown the ineffectiveness of masks to prevent infections in the child population and the learning difficulties that they have entailed.

Less happy were the elderly, among whom almost none were seen without a mask. “Look at that, what kind of danger, what irresponsibility!” shouted a man of about eighty years to a father who went hand in hand with his unmasked daughter.

Today, in any case, the fines for not wearing a mask are history. Previously they ranged between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos, according to the regulations in force since September 2020 (when the basic salary was still 400 pesos per month). The first weeks after the measure was implemented, the number of people sanctioned exceeded a thousand daily. continue reading

These punishments, however, once commercial flights were opened in the country, on November 15, 2021, were not applied to foreign tourists. In fact, the Police did not even call attention if they walked down the street without facemasks. In those days, it must be said, in much of the world the obligation to wear masks outside had been eliminated, after reaching large percentages of the population had been vaccinated with different antidotes, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In this sense, in Cuba, the elimination of the masks has been long in coming, despite the fact that the Government has presumed for months to have most of its population vaccinated with its own drugs, Soberana 02, Soberana Plus and Abdala, none of which, to date, have been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Health authorities insist that the use of masks is a — Cuban health authorities insist that the use of masks is a “personal decision” and recommend using one in places where many people are gathered or where it is not possible to maintain physical distance.

The comings and goings on the manufacture of national azulitas [‘little blue things’] within the Island will also be history, something that, after being announced with great fanfare in 2021, only began to materialize just last April, when the pandemic was on its way out all over the planet.

The relaxation of the measures against the covid-19 pandemic, announced this Monday by the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, are a reaction, according to the official explanation, to the decrease in the transmission of the disease in May by 81 .1% compared to the month of April.

However, the Government has called for caution. “Finally without masks, but not always or in all situations. I recommend that you see the adaptation of our protocols for this stage. An informed people is a protected people,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.

Health authorities insist that the use of masks is a “personal decision” and recommend wearing one in spaces where many people gather or if it is not possible to maintain physical distance. This is what happened this Tuesday in the markets of Havana, where, despite being outdoors, not many appeared without a mask.

Yes, its use will continue to be mandatory in medical consultations or in “areas with restricted focus controls,” according to Minister Portal Miranda. At the same time, the decision is maintained not to allow people “with respiratory symptoms” to enter workplaces and schools.

The measure will be in force depending on the behavior of the country’s epidemiological situation and its effectiveness will be evaluated “periodically,” and readjustments may even be made, the authorities warn.

This same Tuesday, the Public Health report shows only 29 positives for the coronavirus, 176 active and, again, no deaths, among the lowest statistics reported since November 2020.

In any case, the official figures have been questioned since the latest demographic data was made public this month by the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei). According to a report dated May 11, in 2021 55,206 more Cubans died on the Island than in 2020, that is, a total of 167,645 people compared to the 112,439 who did so the previous year, an increase of 49.1%.

The figure contrasts abysmally with the deaths reported by covid-19 during 2021 by Public Health, 8,177, which indicates an underreporting in the official data of the pandemic on the Island of 47,029. That is, the underestimation was 85.2% (there were 6.75 times more deaths than those officially attributed to covid). Or put another way, during the pandemic the Cuban government has declared only a seventh of those who died of coronavirus.

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Cuba’s Central Bank Denies That it is Selling US Dollars

The depreciation of the dollar is linked, according to some experts, among other issues, to the announcement made by the Cuban Minister of Economy. (14ymedio)

EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 31 May 2022 — The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) denied on Tuesday that it is selling, to individuals, U.S. dollars and freely convertible currency (MLC, the Cuban virtual currency backed by hard currencies). According to the official newspaper Granma, the monetary authority has thus responded to rumors that have arisen after an announcement by the Cuban Government that it would sell dollars to economic actors under certain conditions, a measure that has not yet been applied.

The BCC assured that this is “fake news” that is circulating “on social networks and digital media.” “Don’t be fooled, follow our official channels,” the BCC wrote on Twitter.

The newspaper criticized that “it is the second time this year that an attempt has been made to manipulate the issue.”

It argued that there are those who take advantage of the impact of inflation derived from the scarcity caused by the pandemic and the tightening of U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba.

The country temporarily suspended bank deposits of dollars in cash in June 2021 due to “obstacles” from the U.S. embargo, although banks continued to accept other cash currencies such as euros, pounds sterling, Canadian dollars and Japanese yen. continue reading

In mid-May, the Cuban government announced that it would sell MLC to some state and private economic actors, without specifying the conditions.

The Cuban Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, said that this sale would be “gradual and selective,” at a rate higher than the official rate (24 Cuban pesos, CUP) but without exceeding the informal rate (currently around 100 CUP).

For the first time since January, the dollar traded this week below 100 CUP in the informal market, a depreciation that some experts link, among other issues, to this announcement by the Cuban Government.

This exchange rate is the calculation made daily by the independent media El Toque, which weighs the figures of hundreds of ads for the sale of foreign currency on several websites in the country, and which many experts take as a reference value. For their part, the euro and the MLC maintained values of 110 and 106, respectively.

Alejandro Gil’s statements immediately aroused criticism from experts, such as the economist, Pedro Monreal, who called it “one more nail in the coffin of the ’Order’ and a possible source of illegalities.” In any case, the collapse of the MLC, since last week, seems to be a direct consequence of those statements.

Another factor that has influenced the fall in currencies is the new measures announced by the U.S. government of Joe Biden last week, on May 16, among which is the elimination of the remittances limit of $1,000 per quarter and per person.

This restriction had been in force since 2019, when it was promulgated by then-U.S. President Donald Trump along with other provisions that largely paralyzed the official business of foreign exchange, such as the prohibition of doing business in which the Cuban military was involved. This was the case of Fincimex, blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury in June 2020, which managed remittances up to that time.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Iberojet Will Launch a Direct Flight Between Madrid and Santiago de Cuba in November

The Iberojet flight from Madrid to Santiago will be direct and non-stop and will take place once a week on board an Airbus 330. (Avoris)

Europa Press/14ymedio, Madrid, 1 June 2022 — Iberojet, the Spanish airline of Ávoris Corporación Empresarial, has announced a new route beginning November 11 that will connect Madrid with Santiago de Cuba. The date coincides with the start of the high season in the Caribbean.

This flight, which will be direct and non-stop, will occur once a week on board an Airbus 330. The flights will be able to be booked as of Wednesday on the Iberojet website and on all official channels for sale to the public, and will cost from 283 euros each way.

This direct flight route to the second most important city on the island, by number of inhabitants, will be operational throughout the year.

In addition to operating this direct flight from Madrid to Santiago de Cuba, for travelers who decide to get to know the country in depth, Iberojet offers the possibility of combining the airports of Santiago de Cuba and Havana to enter and leave.

Last December, Iberojet opened its first office at the Miramar Trade Center in Havana. In addition, it has increased the number of flights planned for this summer from three weekly flights Madrid-Havana to five, plus one from Lisbon to Varadero, in high season. continue reading

The strengthening of the connectivity of Santiago de Cuba, made possible thanks to collaboration with the Cuban State, seeks to attract more travelers and promote the economic development of the destination, which hasn’t recovered from the harm it suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the fact that Cuba received 313,908 visitors between January and March, the figure is very far from the 1,470,457 tourists that the island registered in the first quarter of 2019.

Just a few days ago, the British airline Virgin Atlantic decided to postpone the return of its flights to Cuba, scheduled for November 1. Without going into detail, through a statement, it argued that the decision was due to the “complexity of the operation.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Heavy Rains Leave Around 300 Buildings Collapsed in Western Cuba

One of the collapsed buildings in Havana after the rains. (EchezabalJD)

14ymedio, Havana, 5 May 2022 — The formation of Tropical Storm Alex has already left about 300 buildings collapsed with the main impact in Havana, where 148 of these were reported as of Saturday night, according to the State newspaper Granma. At least 53 building collapses have also occurred in Pinar del Río, 32 in Mayabeque, and another 47 in Artemisa.

This has led to the evacuation of more than 8,500 people; some 7,750 were placed in the homes of relatives, and about 800 are in evacuation centers. There are also 321 affected by the interruption of electricity service in Pinar del Río and more than 450 in Havana, where there are four primary and five secondary lines that are out of service. Meanwhile, in Artemisa, there are about 116 customers without power.

On Sunday, Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil pointed out that the main damage was to housing, agriculture and electricity, with about 750 houses affected and 3,200 hectares of tobacco, sweet potato, cucumber and pumpkin crops damaged. He also said that there are 158,000 customers experiencing power outages. Minister of Energy and Mines Livan Nicolás Arronte said that about 4,487 customers in Pinar del Río and Artemisa still don’t have electricity. continue reading

The areas most affected by building collapses in Havana are in La Polar, El Fanguito and El Pentón, all very poor neighborhoods with homes made of light materials.

So far, two deaths have been reported in Havana, a 69-year-old man in Central Havana, who died as a result of a building collapse, and a 54-year-old, who drowned in Boyeros.

A third death was reported in Pinar del Río, where the lifeless body of Yosvel Cabrera Álvarez, 44 years old, who fell into a swollen creek and drowned, was found near the ESPA in the Diez de Octubre neighborhood. Since Saturday night, another person has been missing In this same neighborhood.

Heavy rains have continued to cause flooding throughout western Cuba, and weather stations reported accumulations that exceeded a foot of water.

In the early hours of the morning, authorities pointed out the formation of Tropical Storm Alex, with winds of 80 kilometers per hour and located 1,110 kilometers southwest of Bermuda. Despite the departure of the first cyclone of the hurricane season, the rains will continue to affect the island.

By Sunday, the rains are expected to be more intense in the mountainous areas and on the south coast, while in the west, it will be cloudy with some storms in the afternoon. In southeast Cuba, there will be abundant cloudiness and rain.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Biden Government Officially Revokes Restrictions on Flights to Cuba

A flight of the U.S. company American Airlines during a commercial trip to Cuba. (EFE)

14ymedio, Havana, 1 June 2022 — The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is reestablishing commercial flights to Cuba, which until now could fly only to Havana. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued the order at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

According to Reuters, Blinken said that the action was “in support of the Cuban people and in the interests of U.S. foreign policy.”

Until now, U.S. airlines could only fly to Havana, leaving Cuban Americans with few options to visit their relatives in other parts of the island.

The measure is part of a policy change towards the island announced in the middle of last month, which includes the resumption of the family reunification program and the suspension of the limit of $1,000 per quarter on remittances, thus reversing some of the toughest measures of former President Donald Trump. It is not known when these last two measures will go into effect. continue reading

The Government of Cuba described Washington’s decision as a “limited step in the right direction.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regretted in a statement, issued just over an hour after the U.S. announcement, that the Joe Biden Administration hasn’t eliminated the economic embargo, in force since 1962.

In 2019, the Trump Administration banned commercial flights from the U.S. to all cities in Cuba with the exception of Havana and, in August 2020, went further by suspending private charter flights to all airports on the island, including that of the capital.

These charter flights were used by many Cuban Americans to travel to the island from Miami.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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