14ymedio

Cuba Has a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Where Goods Are Stolen From Trucks

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 15 September 2023 — The owners of the restaurant Las Delicias del Paseo, in Sancti Spíritus, were bitterly surprised last week while waiting for some sacks of wheat flour bought abroad. The product, which was going to be turned into bread and pizza, was stolen during the transfer, a practice that increasingly affects both private businesses and the State.

“We made the complaint but it’s a formality, because they are not going to return the money invested nor are we going to recover the merchandise,” an employee of the private restaurant, who prefers anonymity, tells 14ymedio. “The gap they have created for us is huge, because all that was bought in foreign currency, and we had already planned our menu based on the arrival of that flour.”

“The seal of the container seemed to be fine, but when you got closer it was clear that they had broken it and then put on tape [adhesive tape] so that it remained in a position that looked like it was intact. But as soon as you touched it, it broke, and it was obvious that it had been opened and that they had gotten into the container,” she says.

The theft of the bags of flour could make some of those menu items disappear in the coming days or force their owners to buy from another small business, an operation that means greater expenses

In the spacious living room of Las Delicias del Paseo, and in its external portal, the dishes most demanded by customers are pizzas, pastas and snacks. The theft of the sacks of wheat flour could make part of those menu items disappear in the coming days or force their owners to buy the product from another small business, an operation that means greater expenses. continue reading

A few days before the loss of the flour, the security seal of another container had also been violated in its transfer to Sancti Spíritus, and the thieves stole almost a hundred boxes of frozen chicken quarters that were destined for sale in state shops. Just a few hours later, the subtraction of dozens of sacks of rice destined for the sale of the rationed market was also detected.

The merchandise is lost somewhere in the Cuban geography between the port of Mariel, in Artemisa, and the Brazilian capital of São Paulo. “There is a Bermuda triangle where some of the loads disappear, especially when it comes to food,” the source explains. “We have asked for extreme security measures, but our claims fall on deaf ears.”

“The mechanism works like this: the authorities of the port of Mariel alert the owner of the business that he has merchandise to receive,” the employee tells this newspaper. “Then the individual hires the state company Transcontenedores to look for the merchandise and take it to where the customer says, but he must also notify Cubacontrol to supervise the operation.”

“When the cargo arrives, Cubacontrol is the one who verifies that everything has arrived intact at the destination. If they notice any violation of the security seal, they have to call the police,” he explains. “Then the investigators arrive; they take the fingerprints that have been left in the container, also those of the employees who are working on the transfer and unloading. A lot of deployment but few results, so far.”

A worker in the administrative area of Transcontenedores explains to this newspaper the chain of responsibilities in this type of transfer. “The first one who is arrested every time something like this happens is the driver, because he is the one who must watch over the merchandise.” The state worker considers this to be “unfair, because in the end they are the victims of the assaults they suffer on the roads and the tricks of the thieves.”

The first one they take prisoner every time something like this happens is the driver, because he is the one who must take care of the merchandise.

“To prevent these thefts, the drivers add their own locks to the containers, in addition to the security seals they already have,” clarifies the woman who prefers not to reveal her name. “Before, they also put on chains from one side to the other that better guaranteed the inviolability of the cargo, but the Police ordered them to be removed because they were dangerous for motorcyclists and drivers of other vehicles.”

“Drivers don’t want to travel on the roads at night, but sometimes they can’t do anything else. The roads have very dark areas and are in very bad condition, sometimes they have to slow down a lot and those times they are barely moving are taken advantage of by thieves,” she adds.

For this employee, “the danger of theft is not only on the roads, in the same place that they dispatch it to you you can’t lose sight of it because the same longshoremen can steal part of the merchandise. The departure from Havana is also a very complicated point of the journey because there are gangs that trawl the area, hunting these opportunities to steal.”

The woman adds that, “the driver can’t even stop to eat or urinate, because there are ninjas on the road. They are groups of three or four thieves, with a lot of agility and who know the terrain well. Sometimes they hide on the sides of the railroad crossings where the trucks have to stop.”

Theft practices also include the use of “motorcycles to approach from behind, get on top of the container when the driver stops for some need and even purposely punch the tires so that they have to stop,” he explains. “But the worst does not end there. When they arrive at the destination they still have to take care of even their shadow, because even those who must keep an eye on the merchandise can be the ones who steal it.”

It is quite likely that the dozens of sacks of wheat flour from Las Delicias del Paseo, which disappeared somewhere between Mariel and Sancti Spíritus, have ended up in the black market, where other private businesses buy the product to turn it into pizza and bread. The cycle of illegality does not stop.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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High-Level Meeting Between Cuba and Washington Before Cuban President’s Diaz-Canel’s Visit to New York

Carlos Fernández de Cossío reproached the US Government for continuing with a policy with which it previously “did not agree.” (EFE/Ernesto Mastrascusa)

14ymedio, Madrid, 15 September 2023 — Senior officials from Cuba and the United States held a meeting on Monday in Washington, according to a statement released this Thursday, shortly after the renewal of the US embargo was announced. The meeting was attended by the Undersecretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the State Department, Brian A. Nichols, and the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío.

The meeting discussed human rights, migration “and other issues of bilateral interest,” according to a spokesperson for the Department of State to the Nuevo Herald.

Fernández de Cossío, for his part, told Reuters that during those talks at the highest level – something unusual – some progress was made, but the differences on the major disputes between the two countries could not be reduced; i.e., the presence of Cuba on the list of states sponsoring terrorism and the embargo.

“We believe that it is unreasonable for the United States to continue to carry out a policy with which [Joe Biden] did not agree before taking office, which it knows is harming the Cuban population as a whole,” the official said.

The only agreements reached, according to Fernández de Cossío, involved minor issues. Migration and cooperation in law enforcement, health, science and technology were areas of understanding, but the regime came out unsatisfied. “We welcome them, but they are not the defining factor, the primary issue,” the official added. continue reading

Two days later, Joe Biden signed the annual extension of the embargo based on the “national interest” and relying on the Law on Trade with the Enemy, a position that the Cuban government, focused on the G-77 Summit plus China, has officially rejected with an unusual restraint. “With yesterday’s decision, Biden has followed the tradition of American presidents who, year after year, invoke an archaic 1917 law to justify abuses against the Cuban people,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on his X (Twitter) account.

However, that diplomatic tone has not been reflected in the official press, and the measure is branded as genocidal. “Joe Biden, who one day proclaimed ’to be on the side of the Cuban people’, has just once again ratified the genocide against that people. Continuator of hostility and accomplice of the crime, he stamped his signature for history,” writes Raúl Antonio Capote in Cuba’s State newspaper Granma.

The columnist adds that “the draconian act of war, designed to [make us] surrender out of hunger and plunge an entire people into misery” is “behind every missing medicine, the thermoelectric plant that stopped, the transport devoid of spare parts, [and] the social project that could not be executed.”

Meanwhile, in the United States, an official mentioned that the law includes exemptions and authorizations for exports of food, medicines and other humanitarian goods to Cuba. “President Biden remains committed to policies that boost the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people,” he told the press.

As for the other issue of interest to Havana, whether or not the designation of Cuba as a sponsor state of terrorism will be lifted, the official declared: “We have not made a determination that we can report today.”

Fernández de Cossío was in the United States this week to plan Miguel Díaz-Canel’s trip to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, which will be held on September 18 and 19, a visit that has already mobilized the Cuban opposition residing in the country.

In addition, a day after his meeting with Nichols, he gave a talk about perspectives of normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.

As reported by the Nuevo Herald, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department also confirmed that they are aware of the situation of Cubans recruited to fight with Russia in the war against Ukraine. Havana’s support for Moscow is one more friction point that adds to the list of disputes between the Island and its neighboring country.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Cuban Regime Juggles To Support Russia Without Provoking the United States and Europe

Cubans sign their contracts, which include an entire page of economic and special benefits. (RyazanGazette)

14ymedio, Madrid, 15 September 2023 — The case of the Cubans recruited to fight alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine continues to be talked about and on Thursday displayed the complicated game of juggling that Havana maintains to please Moscow without provoking the anger of the United States and, above all, of the European Union, with whom it maintains good relations.

Cuba’s ambassador to Russia, Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña, told the state agency RIA Nóvosti: “We have nothing against Cubans who just want to sign a contract and legally participate in this operation with the Russian Army. But we oppose illegality and these operations, which have nothing to do with the legal sphere.”

The diplomat explained that the detainees linked to the alleged network that was dedicated to recruiting Cubans are all citizens of the Island, “bad people who, relying on important issues like a military operation and the relations between our countries, want to earn money, put bills in their pockets and engage in illegal activities.” And he said: “Swindlers and bandits are everywhere.”

Hours later, his boss, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, amended the words of his subordinate and reaffirmed “the unequivocal and invariable position of the Government”

Hours later, his boss, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez amended the words of his subordinate and reaffirmed “the unequivocal and invariable position of the Government,” which, “according to national legislation, is contrary to the participation of Cuban citizens in any conflict, against mercenarism and against human trafficking.” continue reading

International law recognizes the difference between the mercenary, who participates in the armed conflict of a country that is not his own as part of a group of fighters or private agency in exchange for a salary, and the volunteer, who enlists in the foreign army on his own.

Cuba is obliged, as a signatory of the Hague Convention, to comply with Article 4, which requires States to “prevent the formation of mercenary groups in their territory in order to intervene in an armed conflict before which they have decided to remain neutral,” while it cannot be held responsible “when individuals cross the border of their own volition to offer their services to the belligerents.”

However, the discourse of the Cuban ambassador in Moscow about the difference between volunteers, “legal,” and mercenaries, “illegal,” doesn’t fit into the official discourse of Havana, which tries not to irritate the United States and the European Union.

These issues, which seem to be only in the legal texts, took the forefront this Thursday when the alleged capture of a Cuban by the Ukrainian Army was revealed. According to Telegram, a group of Latin Americans fighting on the Kiev side, a self-styled Bolivar Battalion, claimed that a Cuban man who, apparently, was in a Russian Army outpost, had been arrested during an operation.

If the young man is considered a volunteer and, therefore, a member of the Russian Armed Forces, the status of combatant and prisoner of war will be applicable to him, which grants a certain degree of protection that a mercenary does not enjoy, exposing the latter to serious reprisals.

Addendum to the contract of military service signed by Cuban recruits to fight with Russia.

In the midst of this situation, the Cuban influencer living in Miami, Alexander Otaola, made public in his program the alleged contracts signed by citizens of the Island to join the Armed Forces. The presenter described those who travel to Russia for combat as volunteers, although not in a legal sense, since it is the Cuban Government that attracts these individuals and organizes their participation. They, for their part, accept the proposal for the multiple benefits they receive, according to the documents exhibited.

Although Otaola reproached in particular the European leaders who don’t acknowledge the existence of those texts that are in their possession, there were no surprises in terms of content, since they are in line with what was announced by Vladimir Putin in his decree to recruit soldiers in exchange for different benefits, among which Russian citizenship stands out.

But there are other monetary specifications that include the one-time payment of 195,000 rubles for participation (about $2,000), one million (about $10,000) for serious injury and half that for a moderate one. There are also payments for family members, plane tickets at a reduced price, payment for housing, tax exemption for the purchase of a vehicle and coverage for the enrollment of children in childcare and/or school institutions, among many other advantages.

In the document there is also a questionnaire to fill out about why you have chosen to be a soldier and which contractual proposal is more attractive. The remaining pages shown by Otaola are the contract itself, establishing voluntary passage by the Army in the Tula region and the severance pay.

Otaola accused the Chancellor of the European Union, Josep Borrell, of having given Havana a wake-up call to mitigate damage after the most recent leaks and to insist on appearing harsh against mercenarism. “Borrell called his little friend from Havana and told him to say that all this was illegal and they didn’t know because they are going to force me to cut off their electricity and water,” he said ironically.

The war against Ukraine has become a problem for Cuba vis-à-vis the European Union, which unconditionally supports Kiev as part of NATO and as an independent institution through political and military cooperation. In recent months, different organizations of the Cuban opposition have relied on the pro-Russian activities of Havana to ask the EU to break its Agreement on Political Dialogue and Cooperation with Cuba. The most recent is the call of Cuba Siglo 21, which considers that the text “has not served the purpose of moving towards an open society in Cuba but rather has given billions of euros to the Cuban government to use for internal repression.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Is Among the Countries With the Most Migrants Killed in the Caribbean in 2022

The land route between Mexico and the United States, through the deserts of Sonora and Chihuahua, is considered the deadliest in the world for migrants. (OIM)

14ymedio/EFE, Geneva, 12 September 2023 — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that in 2022, along with Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Cuba was one of the countries with the highest number of deaths in the Caribbean crossing, although it did not provide the figures by country. The organization’s report described the situation as “very worrying,” with 350 deaths – 104 of which were people who tried to travel between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico – far exceeding the 245 recorded in 2021.

“These alarming figures remind us of the need for States to act,” IOM’s regional director for Central, North America and the Caribbean, Michele Klein Solomon, said in a statement. She considers it crucial to increase data collection to “ensure that routes are safe and accessible.” In years prior to 2021, the records of deaths and missing persons in the Caribbean did not exceed 170 people.

The organization also recorded a record number of deaths and disappearances of migrants throughout the American continent

In 2022, the organization also recorded a record number of deaths and disappearances of migrants throughout the American continent, with at least 1,457, almost half of them (686) on the border between the United States and Mexico. continue reading

According to the IOM, the number of victims on the continent exceeds that of 2021 by 10% (1,316), and before that year the 900 confirmed deaths and disappearances had never been exceeded. These figures are based on data from IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, which since 2014 has been constantly monitoring victims on migratory routes throughout the world.

In addition to the 686 dead or missing on the northern Mexican border, another 141 were registered last year in the Panamanian Darién Gap, which connects South America with Central America.

Since IOM began this follow-up project 10 years ago, there have been at least 4,664 deaths and disappearances on the U.S.-Mexico border, 499 on the sea route to the United States, 328 between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and 320 in the Darién Gap.

Marcelo Pisani, IOM’s regional director for South America, added, however, that the data on migrant victims on the continent are incomplete, so the real figures could be much higher.

For example, in the case of deaths and disappearances in Mexico and the United States, IOM regrets that it lacks complete data from the immigration care offices of the border state of Texas, or those of the search and rescue agency of Mexico.

Despite the lack of complete data, that border route between Mexico and the United States is consolidated as the deadliest land route

Despite the lack of complete data, that border route between Mexico and the United States is consolidated as the deadliest land route for migrants in the world.

The 686 victims on that route last year are the second worst figure in that area since IOM began compiling these statistics 10 years ago. In 2021 there were 729 dead and missing.

Almost half of the deaths on the northern Mexican border last year (307) occurred during the crossings through the dangerous deserts of Sonora and Chihuahua, IOM highlighted, indicating that this figure is even higher than that of migrants who died when crossing the Sahara in Africa (at least 212 last year).

Regarding the situation in the dangerous Darien Gap, IOM considers that the number of real victims could be significantly higher than the official figures, taking into account that in 2022, about 250,000 people arrived in Panama by that jungle route, while so far in 2023, the number has already exceeded 300,000.

Although the deadliest land route for migrants on the planet is the one that separates the United States and Mexico, the one that registers the most deaths and disappearances is maritime: the Central Mediterranean, where at least 1,417 people lost their lives in 2022, while in the western part of that sea there were 611 victims.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Four Femicides Are Confirmed in August in Cuba and Four Other Possible Cases Are Being Investigated

The victim, Yanisleidy González, with her killer, Yudier Llerena Arencibia. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 7 September 2023 — After a one-month pause in the count of femicides on the Island, the independent platform Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba (YSTC) [Yes I Do Believe You in Cuba] confirmed on Thursday four murders by sexist violence that occurred in August, for a total of 58 so far this year.

The organization said that it is investigating four other possible victims in Media Luna (Granma), Bauta (Artemisa), Guáimaro (Camagüey) and Trinidad (Sancti Spíritus). Yanisleidy González, murdered this Sunday in Jaruco, Mayabeque, is one of the women whose death was confirmed by YSTC, based on a report by El Vigía de Cuba. According to this newspaper, the 39-year-old woman was assaulted by her ex-partner, identified as Yudier Llerena Arencibia, 35, with whom the victim had a daughter. According to reports, after killing González, the man committed suicide.

The publication also explains that, allegedly, González and her killer were separated by alleged infidelities of both parties, and that it was the man’s jealousy that led him to commit the crime.

YSTC also included in its list two previous cases that had already been reported by 14ymedio. The first is that of Yoana Echenique, 28, stabbed by her partner, identified as Luis Daviel Palacio, at the beginning of August in Pinar del Río. continue reading

People close to the victim also declared that the femicide occurred in the Echenique work center, a bookstore where he worked in the cleaning area

People close to the victim also declared that the femicide occurred in the Echenique work center, a bookstore where he worked in the cleaning area, and the murder was witnessed by some of his colleagues. The aggressor was arrested at the scene.

The second case is that of Dayami Hechavarría, 39, whose body was found in Manatí, Las Tunas, several days after her disappearance. According to the testimony offered by her family to the independent newspaper ADN, the woman left her residence on August 21. A day later, her daughters received a message saying that she had gone to the beach with some friends and asked them not to worry. Hechavarría also congratulated her daughter, who was turning 15, on Facebook. However, she was not heard from again, and her phone was disconnected.

On Tuesday, August 29, after the daughters had reported her disappearance, the police captured her alleged killer In Havana, identified as Norges Rodríguez, her ex-partner. He was suspected of suffocating her and abandoning the body.

The YSTC platform did not offer any details about the murder of Osladys Nuñez Fiz, 43, from Matanzas.

Some social media profiles also reported on Thursday the murder of Yénifer Gónzález Jiménez in Trinidad, at the hands of “a man” whose relationship with the victim was not revealed. Although the information has not been confirmed by any of the platforms that investigate cases of sexist violence, YSTC is investigating a possible femicide in that same city.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Mexico Will Extend the Agreement To Receive Doctors From Cuba for One Year

A small group of Cuban health workers out of the 52 who have arrived in Guerrero, Mexico. (Facebook/Salud Guerrero)

14ymedio/EFE, Mexico, 12 September 2023 — The Government of Mexico will extend for another year the agreement with Cuba to hire specialists from the Island. The director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Zoé Robledo, insisted this Tuesday that it is to cover the staff deficit in public health.

In the same appearance, at the usual morning press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Robledo reported on the visit of Tania Margarita Cruz, deputy minister of the Ministry of Health of Cuba and Yamila de Armas Águila, president of Cuban Medical Services. She announced that the agreement signed by López Obrador on his trip to Havana in May 2022 will be extended by one year.

“We are going to continue the collaboration with the Government of Cuba, so that mission in our country will be extended for one more year, and its scope may be expanded,” said Robledo.

The Mexican government paid Cuba $9,667,115 between July 2022 and May of this year for a contingent of 718 doctors, according to a source from the Ministry of Health who asked 14ymedio for anonymity. The payment was initially established under the name of the Cuban Medical Services Marketer (CMSC), but from September it was redirected to the company Neuronic Mexicana, a subsidiary of Neuronic S.A. Cuba. continue reading

Since 2018, according to the official, Neuronic Mexicana has been a representative of the products and services of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry of the Island, under the presidency of the Cuban Tania Guerra.

Since the agreement began, on May 8, 2022, Mexico has hired 806 Cubans from 36 specialties, according to the head of the Instituto Mexicano de Segura Social (IMSS) on Monday. The health workers are distributed in Baja California (51), Campeche (51), Chiapas (2), Colima (86), Guerrero (52), Michoacán (71), Hidalgo (39), Nayarit (109), Oaxaca (68), Quintana Roo (31), Sonora (60), Tamaulipas (15), Tlaxcala (105), Veracruz (25), Yucatán (3) and Zacatecas (28).

According to the IMSS director, thanks to the support of Cuban doctors, 665,194 consultations, 42,600 ultrasounds, 38,600 dialysis sessions, 23,492 surgeries, 3,212 studies, 1,983 deliveries, 891 cesarean sections, and 592 endoscopies have been performed.

“They are really complex specialties, now present in 16 states of our country. Many hospitals had never had a specialist doctor before,” the official said.

Mexico has 2.4 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, more than the average of 2 per 1,000 inhabitants of Latin America and the Caribbean, but less than the average of 3.5 of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

The Government of Mexico has defended the hiring of Cubans by accusing Mexican doctors of not wanting to work in rural areas, while health personnel have responded that there are areas in which they cannot work due to violence.

The opposition has also argued that the agreement is a rapprochement of López Obrador with the authoritarian government of the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel. Without referring to the controversy, Robledo said that “it has been an extraordinary experience. Cuban doctors are saving the lives of Mexicans.”

Robledo did not address the withdrawal in April of this year of 18 Cuban physicians in the state of Morelos because they did not have a professional card. The specialists were in hospitals in Axochiapan, Ocuituco, Tetecala and Temixco. 14ymedio received the complaint of the leader of the union of the Ministry of Health, Gil Magadán Salazar, who reported that “one said he was an anesthesiologist, but he did not know how to insert the anaesthesia. We have a dermatologist who has not given a consultation, and the others seem to be gerontologists, areas that we do not require.”

Robledo also did not mention the privileges granted to the Cubans in some states such as Michoacán, where they are guaranteed accommodation in a double room and free food that includes “breakfast and buffet, while dinner will be à la carte,” while Mexican doctors are offered salaries below those of the Cubans.

For his part, the Mexican Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela, announced that as part of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 during the 2023-2024 winter season, the Cuban Abdala vaccine will be applied, of which they have 5,386,200 doses under protection in the warehouses of the Birmex company, and the Russian vaccine Sputnik, of which they will receive more than 4,000,000 doses.

Alcocer Varela specified that the acquisition of another 10,112,693 more doses will be necessary, but he did not specify whether they will be Abdala or Sputnik. “The critical delivery route will be for the second half of October of the doses already indicated. Cofepris, which imports the vaccines, is already authorizing them for emergency use in a population aged 5 years and older, and the transfer of the vaccine will be carried out through Birmex Laboratories,” he said.

He also reported that “there is good news” about the Mexican vaccine Patria, which may be included among the options for the winter vaccination campaign, but without giving details.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Cachita’ Goes for a Walk Through Havana Under the Watchful Eye of the Political Police

This is the second procession after the suspensions of public activities forced by the pandemic. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana | 8 September 2023 — With more needs but equal enthusiasm, Havana residents gathered this Friday at the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre Church on the corner of Manrique and Salud, in Centro Habana. Inflation and mass exodus have marked the day dedicated to Cachita*, the Patroness Saint of Cuba, in modest and heavily monitored celebrations.

“I managed to buy a small bouquet of sunflowers for 500 pesos, but I was lucky because most are between 700 and 1,500”, an elderly woman told 14ymedio. She came to Mass in the central church that every September 8 pays tribute to “the mother of all Cubans”.

From Avenida Galiano, metal fences and several police officers controlled the passage to the Havana temple where thousands of people attend every September 8 to pay tribute. This year the date has coincided with a deep economic crisis, which has cut back on the offerings left on the altar at the entrance of the church.

Outside the temple, dozens of people waited for the image of Cachitato emerge to follow it in a procession through Zanja, Galiano and Reina streets and finally back to Manrique. A route in which flower petals are thrown from the balconies and the Cuban State Security tightly controls the passage of the devotees.

“I managed to buy a small bouquet of sunflowers for 500 pesos, but I was lucky because most are between 700 and 1,500”

After half past five in the afternoon the image of the Virgin appeared through the door of the church and was received with songs, applause and raised hands holding mobile phones trying to capture the moment. A vehicle with loudspeakers was waiting for Cachita and people alternately dressed in yellow and white clothes in the crowd, symbols of the Virgin who, in African religions, is syncretized with Oshun. continue reading

“What I want is for you to bring me luck on the journey I have to undertake,” repeated a young woman to the image, one of the first devotees with a sunflower in her hand, as soon as she descended the stairs of the temple. “I already set your yellow candle for you and now I need you to accompany me on the road. Little Virgin, go with me”, she repeated.

The crowd’s passage was guarded by the evident presence of State Security agents dressed in civilian clothes. This is the second procession after the suspensions of public activities forced by the pandemic and comes at a time of great popular unrest due to inflation, lack of cash and mass departures from the Island.

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“My daughter is crossing right now through Nicaragua,” says Nieves, a 62-year-old Havana native who has been left in charge of her two granddaughters. “Our Virgin of Charity knows about that, she accompanies the rafters and everyone who leaves here, so I come to ask you to guide my daughter until she reaches her goal”.

Next to Nieves, two teenagers pointed their phones at the image of the Virgin. The Instagram and Tik Tok generation also mark a day where many had empty hands where before there were candles, bouquets of flowers or images. The crisis has turned this procession into a moment for minimalism. Some didn’t even get to the procession and were content with the photos.

At her house in Lawton, Mercedes de la Caridad preferred to wait for a couple of friends to send her the images of the procession. “With what it costs me for a round trip by car, I buy candles, candy and flowers for Cachita to put here”, she says. Next to the image of the saint, a sweet meringue, cascarilla and honey close the syncretism with which Mercedes lives her religiosity.

“The sunflowers have been very small this year”, laments a seller of flowers and other religious supplies who has a small table on Salud Street. “I buy from others and what has arrived in Havana is all like this, small and expensive. People complain, but for us the prices have risen a lot too. It is not a whim; it is what a sunflower is worth right now”.

“What I want is for you to bring me luck on the journey I have to undertake”

On the corners, agents in plainclothes stood out from the surroundings. Among the ruling party’s fears through the last two years is that the procession will become the scene of some demand for the release of political prisoners, which, since the protests of July 11, 2021, have increased to more than a thousand.

For the rest, from the beginning, the day has been influenced by complaints. The director of the Daughters of Charity in Cuba, Nadieska Almeida, published a text this Thursday on Facebook in which she summarized her wishes: “I want a free people. I want a government in dialogue. I want inclusion in this Cuba house. I want possibilities for everyone. “I want to dream again”.

“Where do we look when what surrounds us is hunger, abandonment, permanent flight from a country where it’s increasingly difficult to breathe? How can we stay here by choice? How can we find meaning in this senselessness?” questioned the religious nun, one of the most critical Catholic voices in Cuba.

Father Alberto Reyes, a priest, also described the current moment harshly, and extended his request to the Virgin to “help us get rid of so many omnipresent written, broadcast, televised… official lies, so much institutionalized falsehoods, so much sham that only serves to feed social paralysis”.

Dominican Priest Léster Rafael Zayas, for his part, asked his parishioners if Cubans had done “something wrong” to deserve that, in Cuba, “something has broken definitively.” He lamented the thousands of “fewer voices” in Cuba, after leaving on “planes that leave for Nicaragua… on a one-way trip: the backpacks of those who travel say so”. “What have we done wrong that young people do not feel proud of being Cuban?” He questioned. His response: “To silently approve with our lowered heads what is not right. What we have done wrong is to let fear overcome us, and lies take over all areas of our lives.”

Furthermore, he alluded to “young Cubans, who prefer to go to fight in Ukraine to obtain Russian nationality”. “What do we have to do with the Russians?” He added, criticizing those who let themselves be carried away by the “slogans”.

At this Friday’s mass at the Church of the Charity, Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, cardinal and current Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana, was present. With his sparse, uncharismatic style, the priest limited himself to asking for the blessing of the Virgin for everyone and starting the procession immediately after.

The rest of the way was mixed with emotion, pleas and attentive looks from the police. For those who could not be in the procession in Havana, there was the possibility of following the mass at the National Sanctuary of La Virgen de La Caridad del Cobre, in Santiago de Cuba, starting at 8:45 pm this Friday. On the same television schedule where religion was stigmatized for decades, this Friday, Cachita will be able to be seen.

*Translator’s note: Nickname often used in Cuba for “Caridad,” the word for “charity.”

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Cuban Government Taps Experts in an Effort to Halt Peso’s Downward Plunge

Monreal is proposing a two-level currency exchange market. One would involve business operations with banks and retail operations with Cadeca; another would be based on a flexible exchange rate model. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, September 12, 2023 — Faced with the peso’s seemingly unstoppable free fall, the Cuban government is mobilizing its own economists by soliciting proposals from them. One such proposal, submitted by Joel Ernesto Marill Domenech, was published this week in Cubadebate. In a series of two articles, the official from the Ministry of Economy and Planning suggests a national currency whose value would float in a way similar to the euro. Independent economist Pedro Monreal describes this proposal as “not very viable” due to the fact that the country has no foreign exchange reserves or enough domestic production to underpin such a currency.

The article in the state-run newspaper contains a slew of comments from readers who have their own proposals, many of which involve closing the country’s hard-currency retail stores. Others involve contracts with the state that would allow small and medium-sized businesses to obtain the foreign currency they need to buy imports through the state-owned currency exchange Cadeca, alleviating them of the pressure the more expensive informal currency exchange market puts on them.

Monreal was not surprised by the flood of ideas. “The challenges facing the country’s exchange rate policy are anything but simple, though some social media commenters underestimate the complexities of the process,” he says. His own game plan would first involve formalizing operations – something the government is already trying to do through a policy it is calling bancarización, which would phase out the use of cash and replace it with digital payment platforms – then stabilizing the exchange rate. continue reading

The first key point, “the most complex of all,” is that macroeconomic stability is essential and requires “a deep reduction in fiscal imbalances”

Under current conditions, he argues, a process like the one followed in the 1990s that relied on Cadeca is not useful since there are more economic actors on the scene today as well as more informal channels for sending remittances. This complicates any attempt to establish exchange rate policy. However, Marill Domenech outlines four key points to consider for achieving this goal. The first, “the most complex of all,” is that macroeconomic stability is indispensable and requires “a deep reduction in fiscal imbalances.”

Few commenters took note of proposals that called for economic adjustments that involved eliminating grants and subsidies as part of the “rationalization” of government spending. This would only be a short-term fix. Over the medium term the author proposes “more structural transformations in the size of the budget and increasing the effectiveness of public spending.” Additionally, he calls for increasing public revenue by raising taxes and tax rates as well as modernizing the National Office of Tax Administration to improve capital controls and reduce tax evasion.

He admits that fiscal adjustments and a comprehensive overhaul of tax policy are complex undertakings, especially in a socialist state that must — if it wants to continue protecting its most vulnerable citizens — “pass on its costs to those in the best position to assume them.”

The second feature, which is aimed at formalizing operations, involves regulations, guarantees, incentives and penalties that would encourage those now operating on the black market to move the legal one. “To this end, an essential incentive would be for the official market exchange rate to begin consistently reflecting objective market conditions and to modify its value according to the underlying trends therein,” he says.

The idea is create a market “that allows and encourages buyers and sellers to freely exchange their currencies on the newly formalized exchange market,” something the economist Pedro Monreal has called “whitening the informal hard currency market.” The exchange rate would “float in bands” within limits set by the Central Bank of Cuba, a model similar to that followed by the euro, which has set maximums and minimums within which the currency must trade. Regulators would intervene if the rate falls below or exceeds these limits “but the interventions of the monetary authority must be based on economic instruments and not on administrative control,” warns the author.

Monreal is proposing a two-tier exchange market. The first would involve business operations with banks and retail operations with Cadeca. The second would be based on a flexible exhange rate model

The last key component is communication and the ability to gain public trust, something very difficult to achieve in Cuba given the lack of transparency, widespread ignorance of basic economic principles and, most importantly, the decades-long experience of living with a currency that is worthless.

The proposal has not fallen on deaf ears. Monreal has taken up the gauntlet and joined the debate through his X (formerly Twitter) account. The economist, who currently lives overseas, points out that an exchange rate that floats within preset limits is needed in order to be able to devalue official rates. Also important is the ability to rely on foreign exchange reserves, an almost impossible option for a government that does not have them.

Instead, Monreal is proposing a two-tier exchange market. The first would involve business operations with banks and retail operations with Cadeca. The second would be based on a flexible exhange rate model. This would combine a fixed nominal rate that adjusts for factors such as inflation with a variable rate. He believes such a system would be more flexible, allowing for better control of any small devaluations that might occur.

Monreal does not buy into the idea that macroeconomic balance is a prerequisite since delaying action could be lethal. “The first step in the sequence should be to support the transformation of the small, private, commercial production component of the agricultural system into a more diversified private component with greater weight given to private companies in the form of capital investment,” he says.

In his opinion, the informal currency market in Cuba revolves around food consumption. “Without an increase in the national food supply, there will be no structural support for the national currency. Without that, you are basically pouring water into baskets,” he adds.

Be that as it may, the mere fact that reforms of this magnitude are being discussed on Cubadebate puts them on the table as valid concepts, which were almost banned here forty years ago. This is what those who have read the article are trying to digest. “The article is very good,” says one commenter. “In other words, it’s all been one long road towards capitalism. A fight between the state and the market. The market, 10; the state, 0. It’s a knockout.”

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Mysterious Owners of the Select Restaurant El Biky Open an Outlet in Havana Airport

A little later, some people, humble workmen, judging by their clothing, approached to read the menu at El Biky, then they left, shocked by the prices. (14ymedio)

14ymedio Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 12 September 2023 – El Biky, the luxurious restaurant-cafe-confectioners, established nine years ago in the heart of Havana, opened a new outlet on Monday at José Martí International Airport. To be specific, the establishment is just outside Terminal 3, underneath the bridge in the arrivals area, opposite the shopping mall called Boulevard.

The establishment, which has taken a few weeks to be kitted out, according to airport staff, has 13 tables, some large some small. They were still tidying up and finishing everything off at just before 11 on Tuesday.

A little later, a few people, humble workmen, judging by their dress, approached to read the menu, then they left, shocked by the prices. The cheapest dish was “home made” croquettes – chicken or fish ones, very small, at 600 pesos; the most expensive dish was a grilled beef sandwich, at 2,700 pesos. continue reading

The lack of customers contrasted with the number of employees – around a dozen – and the busy traffic of the airport

Four female employees wearing Escasa uniforms (Cuban Airports and Services Company) did sit down at one of the tables, pestered the whole time by a small dog which was then ejected ill-temperedly from the place by a man who appeared to be the owner or manager. The women had no qualms about ordering anything from the menu.

The establishment, which has the logo El Biky clearly displayed, has three areas: a grill in the centre, a bar, and a trailer, similar to a streetfood cart. There was also an allocated place for ice cream which has yet to be opened. The customers have to order at the cash till and pay straight away, and then, with the ticket they’re given, wait for their food.

There’s only one sugar dispenser, which is shared between all of the tables. Far from the glamour that one supposes that the brand has, all the plates and cups are disposable and the sauces are served from a paper mould.

The cheapest dish was “home made” croquettes – chicken or fish ones, very small, at 600 pesos; the most expensive dish was a grilled beef sandwich, at 2,700 pesos. (14ymedio)

The lack of customers contrasted with the number of employees – around a dozen – and the busy traffic of the airport, where you could see passengers arriving on the island with trolleys full up with suitcases. None of them stopped to eat.

High prices and grandiose airs are characteristics which have been attached to El Biky ever since they opened their first establishment on 412 Calle Infanta, between San Lázaro and Concordia in 2014, at the time having the denomination of “non-agricultural cooperative”. Four partners – no one knows their names – refurbished, in just a year, an old building in the capital, which spans a large part of the block in which it is situated.

In contrast to other businesses which went under as a result of Covid restrictions, El Biky never stopped even during the worst period of the pandemic, an issue that has ever since been a source of some suspicion for Havana residents. “It has a different kind of ambience, one that isn’t typical of private businesses”, one Calle Infanta resident told this paper, saying she observes its traffic and its opulence on a daily basis.

The fact that there’s never been any lack of raw materials at the establishment, that its prices have never done anything but increase, and that its owners are a mystery… it all raises some suspicions. And now that they’ve opened an outlet at the airport – another privileged location – it only multiplies these suspicions even more…

Translated by Ricardo Recluso

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A Court Ruling Alarms Hundreds of Thousands of Cuban Immigrants in an Irregular Situation in the United States

Thousands of people have left for the United States with humanitarian parole, the only way at the moment that allows them to take advantage of the Cuban Adjustment Act. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Madrid, 12 September 2023 — The U.S. Higher Board of Immigration Appeals rejected, on Monday, the possibility that migrants who entered the country with form I-220A (Order of Release on Recognizance) can resort to the Cuban Adjustment Act (LAC) to apply for residence, rather they will be required to process their political asylum in court on an ordinary basis.

The decision is in accord with the US Government, which considers that the only option to benefit from the LAC is the humanitarian parole and not the I-220A, a document that is given to those who are released by the immigration authorities who arrested them when they entered the country illegally. More than 200,000 Cubans were waiting for the decision, since they aspired to apply for residency one year and one day after their arrival, as established by the LAC.

The ruling, which is being appealed, has generated great uncertainty and pain among Cubans who hoped for this path, which is more expeditious than that of individual political asylum

This was how a judge in Miami regularized the situation of a Cuban who arrived in the country with an I-220A in 2022. However, the Department of Homeland Security appealed the decision on the grounds that this permit does not constitute humanitarian parole and the Law of Adjustment is not applicable. continue reading

The ruling, which is being appealed, has generated great uncertainty and pain among Cubans who hoped for this path, which is more expeditious than that of individual political asylum.

If the Court of Appeals of the Eleventh Circuit (Alabama, Florida and Georgia) or the Supreme Court do not overturn the decision, Cuban migrants who possess the I-220A will be forced to bring their cases in court in an ordinary way, making it more expensive and prolonging a process that, in addition, could finally end in their being rejected and deported.

Last April, a group of Cubans met in front of the Versailles restaurant in Miami to demand an end to deportations and to support regularization for those who obtained an I-220A document when entering the United States.

At the protest, shouts were heard of “No to deportation!” “Freedom for political prisoners!” and “Down with the dictatorship.”

Since the new policy of the US Government came into force in January 2023, Cubans can benefit — as Nicaraguans and Haitians can — from the humanitarian parole that has worked for Ukrainians and Venezuelans since 2022. In this way, they manage to enter legally as long as they have a sponsor to endorse their stay in the country.

At the protest, shouts were heard of “No to deportation!” “Freedom for political prisoners!” and “Down with the dictatorship”

Between January 5 and this July, more than 41,000 Cubans have benefited from this new entry model. However, applications are processed more slowly than the thousands of people who aspire to leave the Island would like, and many risk opting for the illegal route.

So far this year, the US Government has returned to Cuba 4,264 people who tried to enter the country illegally. The latest data from the Office of Customs and Border Protection indicate that in the first nine months of this fiscal year, since October 1, 2022, more than 110,000 Cubans have crossed the southern border, and almost 7,000 have been intercepted by the Coast Guard on their way to the coasts of Florida.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cubans Return to a Hellish Night of Prolonged Blackouts Throughout the Country

The UNE had predicted a deficit of almost 400 MW, but it was actually close to 1000 MW. (14ymedio/Archive)

14ymedio, Havana, 12 September 2023 — Hundreds of thousands of Cubans watched this Monday, in the middle of the darkness, the Electric Union (UNE) page on Facebook to stay informed about the prolonged blackout they endured when, suddenly, the electricity company itself shared a post and a promotional video that infuriated users. “Tonight, after the telenovela [soap opera],” wrote Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Cubavisión presents the documentary Los espías de Castro [Castro’s Spies].

“This seems like a mockery by the UNE of its consumers,” replied one of many indignant customers. “They are announcing the TV programming tonight in which, according to journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso, there were 937 MW affected at 8:30 pm in the country.” The rain of responses came shortly thereafter, in the face of the absurdity of the country’s electricity company, in the middle of one of the worst days without electricity of the year, after the departure, for the second consecutive day, of the largest thermoelectric plant in the country, the Antonio Guiteras in Matanzas.

It seems that Gerardo of the Five Spies has not yet found out that people in the East are being given a tremendous Blackout Festival

“It seems that Gerardo of the Five Spies has not yet found out that people in the East are being given a tremendous Blackout Festival,” replied another user. “He says telenovela, but a blackout is more like it. Don’t talk so much and solve more. No power from 8:59 pm. What a lack of respect!” exclaimed another one. continue reading

Users from different provinces recited the electricity deficit they endured at that time: 110 MW in Holguín, 60 MW in Santiago, 30 MW in Sancti Spíritus, 52 MW in Granma. From the east, where they are accustomed to suffering prolonged power outages unlike the brief or scarce ones in the capital, the usual reproach came. “Tell Gerardo to move out of Havana so that he and everyone can land in the disgusting country where we live. When he suffers from blackouts like ours, then we’ll see if they celebrate. CDR or no CDR,” spouted a holguinera.

But this Monday the power was also off in the capital, and from two in the morning this Tuesday there were still 107 pending complaints from Havana in the system for breakdowns that did not seem to end. “Dear customers, the area referring to Ampliación de Almendares, Playa is affected by a short in the circuit.” “The area referring to Sevillano, Santa Catalina, Juan Delgado and Santos Suárez is affected by an overload.” “The area referring to the Casino Deportivo, Cerro, is affected by a breakdown in the substation.”

The Telegram channel of the Electric Company of Havana was fuming. Users reported up to 11 hours without electricity, and the company asked for calm and patience while announcing successive work of the linemen in the different areas, but spirits were far from appeased. “You can’t sleep just with apologies,” one client replied.

“The departure of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant and problems with fuel logistics cause a generation capacity deficit in Cuba,” said journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso hours earlier. He announced that motors were being supplied to the Moa and Mariel power plants to start up during the early morning.

The deficit that the Electric Union had predicted early in the morning for Monday was 399 MW during rush hour, but reality prevailed, and the deficit was more than double, causing breakdowns in each and every one of the provinces on a night that was particularly warm. In Pinar del Río, some voices denounced up to 18 hours without electricity; in others, such as Santiago de Cuba, a readjustment in the daily cuts was announced.

The deficit that the Electric Union had predicted early in the morning for Monday was 399 MW at peak hour, but reality had prevailed, and the deficit was more than double

Among the many demands that multiplied on social networks in the early hours of the morning was one that recalled the promise of the authorities, who assured that 2023 would not resemble last year.

In May 2022, Cuba entered a spiral of daily blackouts that reached their peak in September and caused protests to germinate in dozens of cities throughout the country, the largest that had been seen since July 11, 2021. The Government promised countless dates in which the problem would be solved, but the breakdowns in the thermoelectric plants – which have lived longer than they should due to ack of maintenance – and the shortage of fuel postponed the moment.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s tour of several allied countries and energy suppliers – Algeria, Turkey, China and Russia – and the outbreak of winter achieved a truce, and the year began with the words of the new Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy (replacing the ousted Liván Arronte Cruz), promising that the planned maintenance schedule for the thermoelectric plants predicted a better year, with blackouts that would not in any case be like those of 2022. But the promises have been of little use and, although the panorama has not been as serious so far as that of the previous year, citizens fear the worst.

All eyes are on the Antonio Guiteras power plant, while the Government meets to address an energy transition to renewables that has been delayed for years and that the country’s finances can hardly afford. The patches applied to the Turkish floating power plants, which very expensive and polluting, cannot be a long-term solution, and the announcement of aid from Russia to build “new generating capacities” of electricity will take years to materialize at best.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Regime’s Propaganda Machine Entangled in Its Denials about Mercenaries

The Cuban government insists it had no involvement in efforts to recruit its citizens to fight for Russia. (Moscow Times)

14ymedio, Madrid, 11 September 2023 — “If Cuba, as a sovereign nation, had decided to allow mercenaries to be hired within its borders, it wouldn’t be anything unusual,” said an anonymous Cuban government spokesperson who goes by the name Guerrero Cubano (Cuban Warrior) on his YouTube channel. During the Sunday episode, which once again focused on the claim that Cubans are being recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, he raised the possibility that the Cuban government itself could be involved before immediately dismissing it. “We all know that Cuba does not do that,” he said, “that our island has signed on to the principal international conventions against it. But, listen, if it was done, [the government] would have had nothing to do with it.”

This official troll argued that thousands of Poles, Americans, British and Romanians had joined the ranks of the other side after after being recruited by Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022. Guerrero Cubano accused Miami-based media outlets of being morally blind for pointing out the involvement of the Cuban regime in recruitment efforts while ignoring the fact that what is in dispute is not voluntary enlistment by individuals but rather possible government participation.

Sunday’s episode, which was devoted exclusively to this subject, was a hodgepodge of different topics, diverting attention away from the central issue. For long stretches of time, the program focused on information, allegedly leaked by the Cuban side, that had been obtained after a group calling itself Cyber Resistance hacked into email accounts of the Russian Armed Forces headquarters in the city of Tula. The information, which was handed over to and disseminated by another pro-Ukrainian group, InformNapalm, contained lists and passports of Cuban mercenaries and other documents. continue reading

Guerrero Cubano interspersed information about Julian Assange, who is accused of divulging secret documents that, among other things, endangered the safety of those whose identity was revealed.

Guerrero Cubano questioned, first of all, that there was ever any attempt to pull off a scheme of this magnitude. He then goes on to warn, however, how serious crime this would be if it were true. He interspersed information about Julian Assange, who is accused of divulging secret documents that, among other things, endangered the safety of those whose identity was revealed. As he sees it, media outlets in Miami have committed a similar legal violation by revealing the personal data of Cuban citizens.

Guerrero Cubano tried to point out allegedly inconsistent reporting by independent media and the international press, in particular Miami-based America TeVe. Among them was the accusation that authorities had not stamped the exit visas on Cuban passports to obscure the trail of Cuban combatants.

He pointed out that it had already been reported back in October that officials would not be stamping these visas unless there was a private request to expedite exit procedures because the process is now computerized. He mocked what he believes is intentional ignorance on the part of journalists, adding that it is obvious that the large number of people traveling between Havana and Moscow are taking advantage of a visa exemption that allows them to “go shopping.”

The broadcast claimed that politicians, journalists and influencers — it called them “ticks” — are trying to launch a new campaign against Cuba, this time taking advantage of a conflict in whose outcome, it said, they have no interest. Among those mentioned were U.S. congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, journalist Mario J. Pentón, activist Rosa Maria Payá, and online news publications Cibercuba and 14ymedio.

The regime’s interest in disassociating itself from the recruitment of Cubans to fight for Russia is so strong — thus far it has led it to the arrests of seventeen people accused of human trafficking, or “mercenarism” as the case may be — that today the Communist Party’s official newspaper, Granma, reposted the digital version of the annual government report, released in August, on human trafficking.

Several official media outlets reported almost a month ago that six people were tried for this type of crime in 2022, five of them linked to minors. The article reappeared today with its original date. Two new paragraphs were added, however, on the “new realities” of the “current year” and mention the seriousness with which which these mercenary-related cases were handled.

But there is no shortage of statements from those who doubt the official version. “All evidence points towards a collaborative and concerted effort between the governments of Russia and Cuba to organize a recruitment network of Cuban volunteers to join Russian troops in Ukraine,” texted Miami-based Juan Antonio Blanco, head of the think tank Cuba Siglo 21 (21st Century Cuba).

This is about “creating a smoke screen” to mask “the subsequent dispatch of regular forces to Ukraine.” All “in perfect agreement with Putin”

The organization maintains that denouncing this network as illegal allows Havana “to claim that any Cuban who is identified fighting in Ukraine was previously recruited privately in the territory of Cuba or Russia, unbeknownst to the Cuban government, and that they traveled there before the network was shut down on the Island.” It added that this is about “creating a smoke screen” to mask “the subsequent dispatch of regular forces to Ukraine.” All “in perfect agreement with Putin.”

Finally, after separating the island’s support for Russia from Joe Biden’s Cuba policy, the organization asked the European Union to abandon its Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba, which it claims “has not advanced the goal of moving towards an open society but instead has delivered billions of euros to the Cuban government, which has used them for internal repression.”

It believes the accusation that Cuba is actively collaborating in the “genocidal war” against Ukraine that Russia began more than a year and a half ago is well-founded and asked that the funds earmarked for Havana be delivered instead to countries that “have had to urgently assimilate millions of displaced people and Ukrainian refugees.”

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Maria Corina, Alert!

María Corina Machado during a rally in the coastal state of La Guaira, in northern Venezuela. (@MariaCorinaYA)

14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, 9 September 2023 — I feel a deep admiration for those who fight for their convictions and rights, people always willing to face real risks without fear of the consequences, which, fortunately for those of us who love freedom and the enjoyment of our citizen prerogatives, are never lacking.

The most recent display of heroism, with a tragic result, was exemplified by the candidate for the presidency of Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio, who, in the face of the numerous threats to which he was subjected, said: “The only thing they can do is kill me, and with that we liberate an entire people.” This was an example of exceptional value, because he was aware that he was going to be killed.

The murder of Villavicencio did not intimidate other Ecuadorian candidates and freedom fighters. Nor those who, in other countries – such as María Corina Machado in Venezuela – are immersed in an electoral campaign in which the assassins are also the referees.

The fiefdoms of Castro-Chavism are oiling their weapons. In Nicaragua, the nefarious Ortega-Murillo couple has increased repression against priests and other citizens. However, the resistance is not extinguished, as demonstrated, among others, by Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lago.

In Cuba, with almost sixty-five years of resistance, there are 1,047 political prisoners according to Prisoner Defenders. Among them, José Daniel Ferrer and families such as the Navarros – father and daughter in prison – Félix and Sayli, whose mother is a Lady in White. The same happens in Bolivia, where the recycling implemented by Evo Morales and Luis Arce Catacora has raised the number of political prisoners to more than 200, including former president Jeanine Áñez. continue reading

Venezuela, one of the countries where the opposition suffers the most, is in the middle of an electoral campaign, facing all the obstacles that the autocrats of organized crime are capable of

Venezuela, one of the countries where the opposition suffers the most, is in the middle of an electoral campaign, facing all the obstacles that the autocrats of organized crime are capable of. Specifically, the almost-certain electoral fraud. There are, according to reports from the Criminal Forum of Venezuela, at least 282 political prisoners, including the former student leader and former deputy Juan Requesen, who suffers the harassment and abuses of the henchmen of the Castro-Chavista dictatorship who, evidently, share the common denominator of violating the human rights of those imprisoned.

However, opponents of dictatorships do not cease in their struggle for freedom, as evidenced by the presidential candidate María Corina Machado, who, over the years, has reliably demonstrated that she has plenty of moral integrity, talent and willingness to face the dangers that Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello or any of his henchmen put on the path of the struggle for freedom.

Her participation in the civil organization Súmate – of which she was one of the founders and executive director – demonstrated a great capacity for work and the necessary courage to insist on the defense of constitutional rights, including electoral rights, always threatened by the scam of the so-called socialism of the 21st century. In addition, she faces the constant manipulation of the National Electoral Council executed by Chávez, of which Maduro has demonstrated a supreme mastery.

It is possible that, as never before in the past – and although they have always been present – women feel the threat that the proposals of the despots of Castro-Chavism mean to the integrity of the family, dangers in the face of which they have taken transcendental steps that have led them to the leadership positions to which they are entitled.

The constant and unlimited participation of women in these libertarian movements has been on a par with that of men

The constant and unlimited participation of women in these libertarian movements has been on a par with that of men. Consequently, in the electoral processes, the one that can best serve must receive the greatest popular support, without gender having any relevance.

The engineer and former deputy Machado is the favorite candidate of the Venezuelan electorate. She has always shown a firm attitude, without capitulation to Chavismo, which has led the henchmen of the despots to beat her and threaten her numerous times.

María Corina Machado has always been a stone in the shoes of the despots of her country, just like other women in Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba who have never given up the fight. This has been done for decades by Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello and the aforementioned political prisoner Sayli Navarro, who, since childhood, when her father went to prison, has denounced Cuban totalitarianism.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Justice 11J Denounces That 17 Cubans Are Still Imprisoned for the Protests in Nuevitas a Year Ago

Images of the protests in Nuevitas in 2022, in the middle of a blackout. (Screen capture)

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 7 September 2023 — At least 17 people who participated in the protests in the town of Nuevitas, Camagüey, in August 2022 remain in prison waiting to be tried, the NGO Justicia 11J said on Thursday.

After protesting the blackouts and shortages, the prisoners have been accused of “public disorder, attacks, damage, contempt, resistance and incitement to commit crimes,” and therefore remain “in precarious condition” awaiting trial.

The organization mentioned the specific case of 21-year-old Mayelín Rodríguez, arrested for recording and disseminating images of the protest on social networks.

“In Nuevitas it was possible to observe a repressive strategy that would be applied in subsequent protests: arresting demonstrators or alleged leaders of the marches both during the events and after them, as part of operations and raids, or after they appeared in response to summonses for interrogations,” the organization said, although Cuban counterintelligence had already used similar methods with the participants in the protests of July 11, 2021. continue reading

Months after the protests, the regime was still looking for the “guilty” of the demonstrations in Nuevitas

Months after the protests, the regime was still looking for the “guilty ones” of the demonstrations in Nuevitas because, despite the fact that it “understood the inconvenience and difficulties of the people due to the frequent blackouts,” nothing “justifies” the protests.

Justice 11J added that “from the beginning of 2022 to date there have been at least 254 public protests of different types and scale.”

It indicated that it has registered “the arrest of 241 people in connection with protests, even if the victim had not participated in protest events in the public space.”

Justice 11J is a working group that records “the government’s response to public demonstrations of different types, in public space and in detention centers,” after the 11J protests.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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‘Ktivo Disidente’ Arrives in Miami and Reporter Lazaro Yuri Valle Receives a Pass To Get Out of Prison in Cuba

Cuban Activist Ktivo Disidente made his first statement at Miami International Airport. (Mario J. Penton/YouTube/Screen Capture)

14ymedio, Havana, 8 September 2023 — Cuban activist Carlos Ernesto Díaz González, known as ’Ktivo Disidente’, arrived in Miami this Friday thanks to the humanitarian parole program. The opponent was sentenced at the end of November 2022 to two years and six months in prison for the crimes of disobedience and contempt, but last June the regime granted him parole.

Ktivo Disidente was already outside Cuba before flying to South Florida, the activist Nacho Rocha told journalist Mario Pentón, who said that the opponent had left the Island for Nicaragua and then in Mexico received the travel permit to be able to enter the United States with humanitarian parole.

In a video shared by Pentón on his social networks, Ktivo Disidente made his first statement in Miami International Airport, thanking the América TeVé reporter and saying he felt “happy” to be on American soil.

After Ktivo’s release last June, no message had been received from the activist, who was held in the Ariza prison, in Cienfuegos. He requested freedom for political prisoners by climbing on the wall of a playground, on San Rafael Boulevard in Havana last year in April. continue reading

During his action, Ktivo launched a harangue in which, in addition, he claimed the right to respect the ideas of others. “There doesn’t have to be violence, there doesn’t have to be bloodshed, but they have to let us participate in the political life of the country. The ones who should not be respected are the communists,” he shouted during his protest, which lasted a few minutes until he decided to get down and the agents who looked at him from below handcuffed him and arrested him.

Previously he also had problems for demonstrating on several occasions in December 2020, asking for the release of Luis Robles, known as “the young man with the placard,” who was sentenced to four years in prison for demonstrating peacefully on the same boulevard of San Rafael.

Another activist who was also sentenced last year, this time to five years in prison for throwing leaflets “proposing elections,” independent journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, received his first pass to visit his home after more than two years in prison.

Valle Roca, who was convicted of the crimes of “enemy propaganda of a continuous nature and resistance,” told Radio Televisión Martí this Friday that he is in poor health. “I’m deaf, I have memory loss, I’m losing my sight, I’m skinny,” he said and described that in the prison where he is located, “the humidity level is very high and the heat, mosquitoes, bedbugs, mice, rats come out” through the hole in the latrine.

“I now have conditional freedom; these people [the Cuban regime] have not wanted to give me this,” he denounced.

Valle Roca, 62, is the nephew of opposition leader Vladimiro Roca, recently deceased, and the grandson of communist leader Blas Roca Calderío. In the time he has been imprisoned, the reporter has suffered the 15 types of torture described by the Madrid-based organization Prisoners Defenders (PD), which presented a document to the UN denouncing patterns of ill-treatment in Cuban prisons.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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