14ymedio – Translating Cuba

Given the Low Quality of Food in Cuba, the Spanish Hotel Company Meliá Will Import Its Products

The regime’s proposal to buy from farmers did not prosper due to the shortage of products

In 2017 Iberostar received a permit to create a joint import business with the Cuban Caribbean Hotel Logistics / Trip Advisor

14ymedio, Havana, July 24, 2024 — The Cuban Government’s inability to meet the demand for the most basic products also affects its trading partners. The large hotel companies installed on the Island have had to import, for years, part of the products they provide in their facilities. Since the escalation of the crisis after the pandemic, however, companies went from importing in order to “maintain luxury” to importing out of necessity.

The last to join the list was Meliá, which at the beginning of this year announced that it would create, with the permission of the State, its own import company. It was not until this Wednesday, however, that it revealed Mesol’s specific purpose: to supply its hotels with linen, sports and artistic equipment, kitchen utensils and even food, beverages and cleaning items.

The transport, distribution and storage of the products are also borne by the company, which for now has its main supplier in Spain but is looking for other suppliers in Latin America and the Caribbean, where invoices will be less expensive.

The “appropriate purchase and delivery flows,” the statement adds, will help maintain the quality of the service

The “appropriate purchase and delivery flows,” the statement adds, will help maintain the quality of the service, diminished by the lack of variety in the food, the low quality of the meals and the defective cleanliness, common complaints among those staying on the Island.

Other companies have taken similar measures. At the beginning of last year, when the Indian MGM Muthu Hotels reached 7,000 rooms on the Island, its adviser explained a plan to keep all the facilities supplied. “We are going to have two importers in Cuba to bring in products, not only beverages, but everything. It can be furniture and fittings, everything. We are already creating two companies for this,” he said in January, and in May, an importer from Portugal was already a reality.

“We have a trading company to import all kinds of supplies from Portugal. We are growing little by little, sin prisa pero sin pausa* — without haste but without pause,” he added.

In 2022, the Government granted Canadian Blue Diamond a license – accompanied by the exclusive management of 11 complexes in Cayo Largo del Sur – to bring in the necessary supplies to maintain them. Nutella, butter and ketchup, not very available in Cuba, were some of the products promised by the vice president of Sunwing Travel Group, owner of the hotel. “The right to import and to be able to control quality is a great thing,” he said.

“Importing cannot be the solution; the country must be able to provide domestic products to hotels”

That same year Granma published an article criticizing the hotels that imported much of the products they needed in their daily management, including food, when, it said, they could get them in Cuba. “Importation cannot be the solution, the country must be able to provide hotels with domestic products and thus ensure attention to the growing arrival of visitors, which favors economic chains,” it complained.

The text tried to explain the successful association between hotel companies and the producers of the locales where they are installed but forgot to point out that the contracts are always made through the Ministry of Agriculture, which lowers payments to the farmers and discourages them, at the same time that it fails to comply with its commitments and is unreliable in its business dealings with the hotels. companies.

In 2017, Iberostar received a permit to create a joint import business with the Cuban Logística Hotelera del Caribe (LHC). The Spanish chain did not clarify what it intended to import but explained that the company, located in the Special Development Zone of Mariel, would be dedicated to the wholesale trade of products for the hospitality industry and that Iberostar would not be the only beneficiary.

With tourism stalled in numbers similar to those of last year, in addition to the discredit that the Island has suffered internationally for its political and economic situation, companies like Meliá have decided to take the reins and try to improve the statistics of their hotels on their own. In 2023, Cuba was the only one of its destinations where revenues fell and hotel occupancy was lower than expected.

*Translator’s note: Sin prisa pero sin pausa — without haste but without pause — became a signature phrase of Raul Castro in reference to ‘fixing’ the problems of Cuba, after he assumed the presidency on the death of his brother, Fidel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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A Group of Cubans Protest in Miami Against a Billboard That Compares Trump to Fidel Castro

The founder of Mad Dog PAC, responsible for the campaign, believes that the American wants to be a dictator “as evil” as the Cuban leader was.

The controversial billboard has caused outrage among some Cubans living in Miami. / EFE

EFE/14ymedio, Miami, June 20, 2024 — A group of Cubans protested Wednesday on a Miami highway because of a billboard in Spanish that compares former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump to the late Fidel Castro.

“No to dictators, no to Trump,” reads the huge sign with photos of both leaders, located next to a busy highway.

Outraged, members of the group Hispanos por América (Hispanics for America) called for a protest Wednesday afternoon on the Palmetto Expressway, in south Miami, against the announcement of Mad Dog PAC, a political action committee.

Outraged, members of the group called for a protest Wednesday afternoon on the Palmetto Expressway

Protesters in Miami, home to Cuba’s largest exile community, called the announcement “a lack of respect by Democrats for the personality and dignity of our President Donald Trump.”

The ad is one of many that Mad Dog PAC has installed in several states, including others with legends in English such as ’Loser’, ’It’s a Cult’ and ’Unfit’.

“Our mission is to defeat Donald Trump by exposing the truth about him,” PAC founder Claude Taylor told local NBC.

The activist told T51 Miami that he has spent time in Cuba, Florida and even Guantanamo Bay and considers that “Fidel Castro was a horrible dictator.” However, he adds: “In the opinion of my organization, Donald Trump would be an equally horrible dictator.”

“I think it’s very fair to compare Donald Trump, who, in his wildest dreams, aspires to be a Fidel Castro. He wants to be another dictator, and as evil as Fidel Castro was,” he added.

In response to the campaign, Trump’s Hispanic communications director, Jaime Florez, said in a statement that “if there is anyone who has shown us that he has no interest in being a dictator, it is President Trump, who has already been president of the United States.”

“It’s another sign of the desperation of President Biden’s campaign and the Democratic Party, who are realizing that they have failed miserably with Hispanics,” he added.

These ads are focused on states considered undecided ahead of the November presidential election, such as Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan and there were already, since January, between 15 and 20 billboards of this type in Florida, which has, for Taylor, “special importance due to its association with Donald Trump”. The coordinator of Mad Dog PAC, who points out that his campaign is financed by ordinary people, warns that this has been the first in Spanish, but it will not be the last.

Translated by Hombre de Paz

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The Cuban Church Denounces at Least 50 Robberies in Catholic Temples Since March

Some 34 parishes and religious houses in the country have been affected by theft and vandalism

In addition to thefts, the Catholic Church reports that it is the victim of intimidation / EWTN

14ymedio, Havana, July 5, 2024 — In Cuba, at least 50 robberies have been recorded in 34 Catholic parishes and religious houses since March of last year, according to the Catholic news channel EWTN. The thieves, who often vandalize the premises, have taken all kinds of objects, from electrical equipment such as televisions, microwaves, laptops, fans and audio systems, to lamps and light bulbs with which the churches are illuminated.

The loot, according to information revealed by the Archdiocese of Havana, also includes propane tanks, refrigerators, farm animals, stoves, stoves, washing machines, bedding, tablecloths and even personal hygiene items such as soap. Religious images, Easter candles (large ceremonial candles) and donations collected during liturgical celebrations have also disappeared.

“So far we have not been notified of any results of the investigation,” the nun María Cristina Rivas explained to EWTN. This was in reference to the robbery suffered on March 1 by the congregation of the Carmelite Missionaries in Camagüey. That day there were two robberies: one in their community house and another in the parish they attend. continue reading

“They broke the window of the sacristy and entered the church through it. Once in the church, they broke the offering box that is near the image of Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. They took the money from the offerings of the aforementioned offering box (…) When we returned to our house, we found that, at that time, while we were in the parish, they also tried to enter our house and broke a fence of the house. They could not gain access because we were already arriving,” Rivas detailed.

Havana registers most of the cases reported by the Church

But it is in Havana where the vast majority of cases are registered, according to EWTN, and a single thief has robbed at least six churches of the Archdiocese so far this year. The man was caught by members of the community, on June 22, in the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Medalla Milagrosa, in the municipality of Diez de Octubre.

However, the police never came to the scene, so the parish priest had no choice but to let him go. The next day, the very same thief was caught trying to rob the church of Santa Rita de Casia, in Playa, where he again got away with it. Now, the channel explains, parishioners are left with only one option: to share a photograph of the thief in their WhatsApp groups, in order to be prepared against future robberies.

This is the message that the community of Nuestra Señora de la Medalla Milagrosa has shared in order to be alert / EWTN

Other cases have been registered in important places for the Catholic faithful in Cuba, such as the network of Loyola Centers, from which an image of Saint Lucia was stolen, as well as some electrical equipment. Robberies are also reported in the church of the Sacred Heart and San Ignacio de Loyola, in the church of Nuestra Señora de la Medalla Milagrosa de Santos Suárez or the parish of Cristo Redentor.

Many of these complaints can also be found on social networks, as is the case of a robbery suffered by the Sagrado Corazón church on Línea Street, in the capital’s Vedado neighborhood. This is where the priest Lester Rafael Zayas Díaz officiates – one of the most critical voices against the Cuban government within the Catholic Church – who wryly stated: “Once again ‘Brother Thief’ visits us, this time for the need of lamps and light bulbs. He is a thief who has keys and comes and goes as he pleases,” he denounced on Facebook on June 15.

The robberies are not only a reflection of the serious economic crisis that the island is going through and the precariousness to which it leads, but on many occasions, they go hand in hand with intimidating acts by the political police of the regime against priests who have raised their voices about the social situation.

EWTN was able to document some of the ’modus operandi’ of the robberies, which include forced entry / EWTN

This was one of the complaints contained in the 2023 report on international religious freedom prepared by the U.S. State Department – published last week – which shows in detail that all the persecution recorded on the island against religious groups, regardless of their denomination, is inescapably related to political dissidence with the regime.

Such harassment includes the use of repressive tactics against religious leaders and activists who oppose the Communist Party’s ideology through arrests, arbitrary fines, strict policing of their daily lives and, in some cases, exile. In addition to being denied licenses, religious visas or freedom of movement, they suffer physical and mental abuse.

“Every month, at least one stone, two stones, five stones are thrown against the windows of the church at a time when the perpetrators cannot be seen.” So said Kenny Fernández Delgado, pastor of the church of San Antonio de Padua, in Arroyo Naranjo, located in the Archdiocese of Havana, in an interview with the Catholic news agency.

The Cuban regime has a long history of repression of priests and members of the Catholic Church – lay or religious – which intensified after the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). After the mass arrests, and even during the demonstrations, priests such as Lester Zayas, Alberto Reyes and José Castor Devesa, who spoke in favor of the citizens or marched alongside them, have frequently been called to explain themselves to State Security, harassed or reprimanded by their superiors under pressure from the government.

Given the scarcity and economic crisis that the island is going through, after the churches are vandalized, they have no choice but to fix the damage with what they have at hand, so it is common to see zinc or acrylic sheets replacing stained glass and windows. This way at least they manage to prevent the attackers from breaking the religious images of the church with the next stone throwing, and prevent anyone from getting hurt.

Translated by Hombre de Paz

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With a Director Trained in Moscow, the Office of the Historian Has Russians in Its Blood

Perla Rosales, who replaced Eusebio Leal, is the daughter of one of Fidel Castro’s generals

Russian came to the rescue at a difficult time / Néstor Martí/Facebook Naturaleza Secreta

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, July 21, 2024 — “When the Russians called us, Eusebio Leal used to say, ’Don’t even ask for my permission. Just go ahead.’” Perla Rosales, deputy-director of Havana’s Office of the Historian, leaves little doubt about Moscow’s role in the financial survival of her organization. “We work very well with the Russians,” she says in an interview with Russia Today (RT). “We have Russians in our blood.”

During the interview, which took place in Leal’s old office, Rosales made it clear that the post will not be filled anytime soon. “People wonder when there will be a new historian. No, no, no! Eusebio is still here,” she said. All its operations are now being handled by what she describes as “a very loyal team” over which she presides.

The daughter of one of Fidel Castro’s generals and acting-director of the organization since Leal’s death in 2020, Rosales was full of praise for Moscow, whose financing was decisive in 2016 when the agency’s parent company, Habaguanex, was taken over by GAESA, a business conglomerate controlled by the Cuban armed forces. GAESA was directed by Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, former son-in-law of Raúl Castro, until his death in July 2022. continue reading

The daughter of one of Fidel Castro’s generals and acting-director of the organization since Leal’s death in 2020, Rosales was full of praise for Moscow

Rosales notes, with some satisfaction, that Habanaguanex “had a budget of 120 million dollars.” It restored and operated twenty-one hotels, which were always “at 90% occupancy.” At that time, Leal gave an interview to the Associated Press in which he alluded very discreetly to GAESA’s guardianship. Without mentioning anything about the reasons for the takeover, he said tersely, “I am handing over everything that I currently believe to be in optimal condition.”

“Leal decided that it was time for the business side to be run by a company under the auspices of a large holding company like GAESA so that he could focus his energies on the community and social welfare projects,” she said. GAESA pays the agency a portion of Habaguanex’ profits, which it reinvests in its own restoration projects.

Rosales says more than seven million “in hard currency” now goes to social welfare projects. They restore a hundred homes a year — down from 120 — with money contributed by “many partner countries.”

Russia came to the rescue at a difficult time for Leal, who was suffering from cancer. Fidel Castro, the person who had granted him — as Rosales puts it — “full authority,” had also died that same year. The project that gave the Office of the Historian new prestige was the restoration of Cuba’s National Capitol. “We have to mention that because we are a Russian channel,” said the RT interviewer.

The building was restored with help from the Kremlin in 2018. Leal claimed, according to Rosales, that only the Russians had what it took to gild the Capitol’s cupola. “The Italians submitted a bid and everyone else made us their best offer.” Then Leal made a decision: “That’s it. We’re going with the Russians. We work well together.” She says Russian specialists labored “day and night,” to finish the project, which was completed in 2019.

Gilding the Statue of the Republic, a work by the Italian sculptor Angelo Zanelli that sits in the main hall under the cupola, was not part of the plan but rather “a special request to the Russian girls.” Rosales reports Leal jokingly asking them, “Won’t you have a little gold left over?” It was left to her to work out the financial details with the Russian delegation. She claims Leal did not like the final result because he felt the gold leaf chosen by Cuban restorers was too garish.

The interviewer noted that Office of the Historian has been been “taken over by its women” and Rosales agreed

The interviewer noted that Office of the Historian has been been “taken over by its women” and Rosales agreed. “We, the team,” she clarified. She does not see herself as a replacement but as the leader of Leal’s successors, people who have worked there on different fronts. A close ally is the journalist Magda Resik, who is in charge of the communications. “Breaking down doors,” she says, is this army’s way of doing things and she believes that, even in Leal’s absence, the government respects the agency.

“Every day we ask ourselves, ’How would Eusebio do it?’” she says. To those who question whether Leal would have approved the conversion of its previous historic restorations into state-owned businesses like the one operating in Quinta de los Molinos, her answer is, “Yes, of course. We are sure that he would.” Her job, as she sees it, is to assist the government and the president. In fact, Leal’s final act, while in “unbearable pain,” was to dictate a letter to Raúl Castro.

Rosales also talked about studying architecture in the Soviet Union and her return to Cuba in the 1990s. “When I came back, I was a young woman who had just graduated,” she says. She rose rapidly through the ranks until Leal appointed her the office’s investment director following the resignation of her predecessor. With Raúl Castro’s approval and in anticipation of Leal’s death, she became deputy-director in 2013.

It is she who must now “shoulder the heavy weight.” However, Rosales’ tone when describing her “inheritance” is not one of grief. “He has not stopped working with us,” she says, pointing to Leal’s empty desk. “He is still here. We work with him here every day.”

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The Children Are Baptized and One Week Later They Leave, Complains the Catholic Church in Cuba

The anointing of the sick is the only sacrament that is increasing, another reflection of the demographic situation on the island

The priests do not offer official figures for baptized people on the Island. / Reynaldo La O /Havana Times

14ymedio, Havana, July 24, 2024 — The Catholic priest Ariel Suárez, secretary of the Cuban Episcopal Conference – and, in practice, its spokesman – said during an interview in Spain that in a parish like his, the sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity in Havana, 300 children can be baptized every month. The figure is not impossible, although optimistic, in a country weighed down by migratory stampede and low birth rate, according to the religious authorities of several Cuban dioceses interviewed by 14ymedio. In the parishes of the most important cities of Matanzas – Varadero, Cárdenas and Matanzas – they are far from that number, according to a source from their bishopric: about 15 children a month in Cárdenas and about 20 per priest, if he has to attend several parishes.

In Camajuaní, where several years ago dozens of children were baptized every Saturday, the current number is between 4 or 6 children each month. A member of the diocesan administration of Santa Clara explains to this newspaper that it is normal for families “to baptize the children and then leave the country one week later.”

In Camajuaní, where several years ago dozens of children were baptized every Saturday, the current number is between 4 or 6 children every month

Apparently, he says, they believe that the ritual provides some kind of protection or luck during the trip, or they have the superstition that it will facilitate the exit procedures. As for the data offered by Suárez, he says, “it could be real for that parish, because it is a sanctuary in the middle of Central Havana, although it seems too high.” continue reading

“In each diocese there are sacramental statistics. They are done every year. It must be borne in mind that each parish in Cuba is very different. In the city of Santa Clara, for example, the number of baptisms in a sanctuary like Buenviaje or in the cathedral is not the same as in the churches of La Pastora and Carmen,” he explains.

The decline in rituals is not only for baptisms: “There are few births, fewer baptisms, a lot of emigration, fewer confirmations – another sacrament -and there are also fewer religious marriages,” he summarizes. There is only an abundance of what is known as the “anointing of the sick” – formerly called extreme unction – because the “old people are left behind.”

In the archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba – where mountain communities abound – a source in the archdiocese tells 14ymedio that priests do not usually compile monthly statistics, only an annual figure that he did not reveal. He admitted, of course, that it tends to decrease. “People are attending Church because they are desperate,” he explains. “Many of the baptisms are just a number.”

During his interview, Suárez sounded amazed that “after so many years, of a social system that promulgated atheism with such force” and given the current circumstances, baptisms continue to be held in Cuba. “The parents of those children are young,” he added, and “they do not have a Christian foundation,” but – despite the indoctrination of the regime – they do not look at the Catholic Church with “hostility or indifference.”

The priest said he was aware of the migratory crisis, in which “Cubans of all ages leave, not only young people. Of course, the departure of young people is felt more in a nation, because they are supposed to be the ones who have projects and dreams for the future of a country and of the Church itself,” he said.

“People are attending Church because they are desperate,” he explains. “Many of the baptisms are just a number”

In addition, he made it clear that the Church in Cuba considers itself “vulnerable,” and he listed what, in his opinion, it has to lose: the “small but significant” education centers, nursing homes and care spaces for the sick, the elderly and the alcoholics.

In a context of extreme coldness in Church-State relations, Suárez has become a spokesman for an increasingly lethargic Episcopal Conference. Cuban bishops have not published a joint document that contains criticism of the Government or descriptions of the country’s situation for months. Last April, Suárez – interviewed by the American network NBC – again reminded the authorities that the Church was ready to have a conversation about the freedom of political prisoners.

In the protests of last March 17 – and in the previous ones – Suárez said that the pain “turned into a scream,” which was “listened to” and “accepted” by “all the authorities of the country.” At least everyone has agreed to consider that the cry reflected anguish, reflected despair, and that it was obviously asking for a different situation from what was being experienced,” he said, referring to the demonstrations in the city of Santiago de Cuba.

A source from the archdiocese of Havana told this newspaper that what Suárez expressed “is a subtle message” that the bishops send to the regime to say that the Church can mediate “despite the sorrows.” However, he acknowledged that “at the diocesan level, the tension with the Party’s Religious Affairs Offices is worse than ever.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Sancti Spíritus Authorities Ramp Up the Pressure To Fill the Seats for the July 26 Ceremonies

Plaza de la Revolución Mayor General Serafín Sánchez Valdivia de Sancti Spíritus, this Wednesday / Escambray

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, July 24, 2024 — “Not a hand raised,” is how the attendees at a meeting of an entity linked to the Ministry of Agriculture in the city of Sancti Spíritus reacted on Monday when its directors inquired about the willingness to participate in the official event on July 26. The justifications for evading the commitment ranged from the obligation to care for children and the elderly to anxiety over the Oropouche virus.

“We were summoned to the auditorium to organize everything this Friday,” an employee who prefers to remain anonymous tells 14ymedio. “They told us that our company had been assigned ten chairs for the event, and they read us some organizational details, such as that you have to be in the Plaza [Mayor General Serafín Sánchez Valdivia] at one in the morning, and you can’t carry anything in your hands – no bags, no backpacks or water bottles.”

After reading the requirements, the managers of the company inquired about the willingness of the workers to attend, but the first response was “silence, not a sound; people were just looking at the floor.” The Ministry worker explains that the leaders of the Communist Party and the Union then began to summon the employees one by one, but they all had a justification for not participating.

“There are people who have small children and can’t leave them alone, and I also have co-workers who care for elderly parents and, although they have family who can help, can’t come that early in the morning,” he tells this newspaper. “Others said they had just gotten over Covid or Oropouche and can’t be outside at dawn.” continue reading

“Others said they had just gotten over Covid or Oropouche and can’t be outside at dawn”

The practice of going to the celebration very early, when the sun is just coming up, is the official act of remembrance for the assault on the Moncada barracks, on 26 July 1953. This was encouraged by Raúl Castro after assuming power in August 2006, when the convalescence of his brother, Fidel Castro, was announced. The rigors of the summer heat and the advanced age of many of the officials participating in the commemoration influenced that decision.

Over the years, the time to arrive has also been advanced due to the security protocols that surround an event attended by the highest leaders of the Communist Party, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. After the massive popular protests of 11 July 2021, those controls became stricter, and the presence of metal detectors at access points has also been added.

The concept of the event has also changed significantly over time. The massive standing rallies have given way to a smaller number of seated audiences. State entities, educational centers and the military sector receive quotas to join the commemoration, with the prior commitment of each participant, and transport is included if they live far away and are on the list when they arrive.

“There will be a reserve group on the library staircase in case some of those who said they were coming don’t show up,” says a cooperative member from the Taguasco area who is among those summoned in that municipality. “There is a lot of discomfort around here, and people have not shown too much enthusiasm about signing up to go,” he admits.

“There is talk of about farm-by-farm inspections to find out what has happened with the crops.”

The annoyance of the Taguasco farmers, as in the rest of the province, comes from the behavior of the state-owned Acopio, which in recent weeks has lowered the purchase price for several agricultural products. Among the most affected are corn, pumpkin and sweet potato, whose deliveries to the State have also fallen significantly. “There is talk of farm-by-farm inspections to find out what has happened to the crops,” he says.

However, farmers are among those who will attend the commemoration, and “beginning at midnight they must meet at a certain point to get a ride.” A transport organized by the cooperative will allow them to go to Sancti Spíritus and “visit the family after it’s all over.” With the critical situation that transport is experiencing due to the lack of fuel, any ride “is welcome,” but he does not have many expectations.

The farmer doesn’t expect the speakers to say anything important about the economy. For decades, the July 26 celebration was the stage chosen by Fidel Castro to communicate the measures with the greatest impact on Cuban society, such as the dollarization of the economy in 1993. In the midst of the current crisis and the mass exodus, however, no surprises are expected next Friday in Sancti Spíritus.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Health and Education Workers Are Among the Lowest Paid in Cuba

The private sector is growing to the detriment of state-owned companies, which have ceased to be the economic engine

Education is the fourth lowest paid sector on the Island, at just 3,932 pesos per month / Invasor

14ymedio, Madrid, July 24, 2024 — Despite the obstinacy of the authorities in qualifying the socialist enterprise as the “main mover of the Cuban economy,” the data are stubborn: the only sector in which employment is growing is the private sector. In 2023, there were 13% fewer public workers than in 2020 (from 3,094,300 to 2,688,400), while in the non-state sector there were 4.4% more (from 1,549,300 to 1,618,500). In total, the workforce decreased by 7.2% in the last three years, from a total of 4,643,700 workers to 4,306,900.

The improvement is attributable to the MSMEs, since cooperatives decrease by 7.5%, and within the private businesses, self-employment also decreased, representing almost half, which is a 4% decrease compared to four years ago. The workers of these companies in 2023 numbered a little more than 548,000, which was the year they increased by 16%, three percentage points more than for 2021 and 2022.

The data, published in the employment and wages section of the 2023 Yearbook of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), make it clear that the loss of workers in the state sector is much higher than the decrease in the number of people who work in Cuba. And it is not surprising if we look at the average monthly salaries, which are dramatic. continue reading

In 2023, there were 13% fewer public workers than in 2020 (from 3,094,300 to 2,688,400)

In 2023, a Cuban worker earned an average of 4,648 pesos a month, less than what three kilos of powdered milk costs today with the capped prices, or seven kilos of chicken meat. Cuban economist Omar Everleny Pérez estimated last March that the cost of a monthly shopping basket in Cuba, with a selection of 17 basic products in moderate quantities at the prices recorded by ONEI, was around 10,000 pesos.

The situation is more serious if you take into account that the data include joint ventures, where workers earn much more than in state-owned companies. This is, in all likelihood, one of the factors that pushes wages up the most if it is distinguished by sectors. The highest is that of mines and quarries, which pay 7,717 pesos on average. Considering that many of these employees earn more through the joint venture with Canadian Sherritt, it is to be expected that others will not want to work for the State, where they would receive a miserable salary.

The second sector in the table (7,041 pesos), supply workers (water, gas and electricity) benefit – some of them – from being hired by the Cuban-Canadian Energas joint venture. As for electricity, the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) promises salaries of up to 9,000 and 12,000 pesos, confirmed by 14ymedio, during a job fair organized by the state company, desperate to hire staff to solve one of the most serious problems for the stability of the Government: the blackouts.

Next come construction employees (6,260 pesos), business and real estate services (6,102), financial negotiating (5,926), fishing (5,842) and science (5,739). We have to go through various other activities to reach the lower area of the table, which begins with health workers.

The situation is more serious if we take into account that the data include joint ventures, where workers earn much more than in state-owned companies

The most honored employment on the Island, with a recognized international prestige, pays tiny salaries, with an average of 4,222 pesos, which is incomprehensible even taking into account that the sector includes doctors, in addition to assistants and social services personnel. There are only four worst-paid activities: commerce (the leader, with 3,760 pesos per month), municipal (3,813), culture and sports (3,961) and the other jewel in the crown, education, the fourth worst-paid sector on the Island, with just 3,932 pesos, which buys little more than, for example, a single five-pound pork loin.

Also noteworthy is the fact that the staff of hotels and restaurants, in which so much money is invested, barely earn 4,564 pesos per month, although those who are in contact with foreign tourists live mostly from tips.

The demographic issue is not trivial either. By age, it is alarming to note that 50% of the total number of workers are in the 40 to 59 age group. These are 2,150,200 employees out of the 4,306,900 total, but to this are added those included in the group of ages 30 to 39, which are 23.7% (1,022,700). Meanwhile, young people (from 20 to 29) account for a small 15%, little more than those over 60 (10%). The remaining 1.3% is for the almost 40,000 young people aged 17 to 20, figures that confirm the aging of the Cuban workforce.

Consequently, public spending on pensions in 2023 amounted to 38,604,900,000 pesos, of which almost 37 billion were received for reasons of age, disability or death (95.7%), 7,000,000 for partial disability and 1,656,100,000 for maternity (4.3%).

Also noteworthy is the fact that the staff of hotels and restaurants, in which so much money is invested, barely earn 4,564 pesos a month

Despite the fall in population — last Friday the Government acknowledged a population of fewer than 10 million at the end of 2023 — the number of social security beneficiaries has increased by more than 5% compared to 2020. According to the Cuban demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos, who has carried out an independent study that lowers the Cuban population to 8.62 million people, between 2022 and 2023 alone, the Island lost 18% of its inhabitants. However, according to ONEI, there are 3% more pension beneficiaries, the umpteenth figure consistent with the migration of young people.

In addition, the workers who leave Cuba to look for decent wages must contribute to the maintenance of the 1.57 million pensioners of the Island, since the average amount of this benefit is only 2,075 pesos, barely enough for one kilo of detergent with the capped prices.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuban Writer Says He Now Has a More Poetic View of Life

“Life in Cuba is such that, if you have money, you virtually have no problems. But if you don’t have money, you’re screwed,” says the author.

Cuban author Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, interviewed in Havana / EFE

EFE (via 14ymedio), Juan Palop, Havana, July 13, 2024 — Cuban author Pedro Juan Gutiérrez explains in an interview that his anger is gone and he has entered a new, happier, more poetic stage as is evident in his new book, Mecánica Popular [Popular Mechanic]. Now 74-years-old, the author of Trilogía sucia de La Habana [Dirty Havana Trilogy] and Animal Tropical [Tropical Animal] claims he has given up cynicism, anger, alcohol and rage. He now embraces Buddhism, stoicism and — in literature — poetic language and character development.

His latest book, recently published in Spain, is a collection of seventeen short stories set in Cuba in the 1950s and 1960s. Short, seemingly superficial works with deeper meanings, snapshots whose moral message the reader must fill in. And all with a clearly autobiographical component.

Gutiérrez happened to come across some old issues of the magazine Mecánica popular [Popular Mechanic], which he says taught him how to read and draw. Finding them, he says, was like “opening a door to memory.” That discovery led to this intimate, sometimes even mysterious book, which contrasts with the crude existentialism of the work that made him famous in the 1990s.

“I now have a more poetic view of life. I am happier. I have learned how to better control my personal life

“I now have a more poetic view of life. I am happier. I have learned how to better control my personal life and that is reflected in what you write, in everything you do,” he says. He says that life is about stages and that, since turning sixty, he has adopted “a philosophy of poetry, contemplation, and meditation.” The contrast with his past — both personal and literary — is evident. “Fortunately, that phase is over,” he confesses. continue reading

“When I wrote the five books of the Central Havana series — Trilogía sucia Dirty Trilogy, El rey de La Habana [The King of Havana], Animal Tropical [Tropical Animal], El insaciable hombre araña [The Insatiable Spider-Man], and Carne de perro [Dog Meat] — I was filled with rage. I was a little aggressive and was also drinking a lot. . . Like my entire generation, I had committed myself to a political experiment that was going down, that was taking on water,” he recalls.

The 1990s were a dramatic decade in Cuba. The collapse of the Soviet bloc brought on the Special Period, which was marked by serious food shortages and prolonged blackouts from which the country has never fully recovered. That brutal time, says Gutiérrez, led him to create work that he likens to hitting the reader in the head with a machete. “This is what is happening to me and I am very disappointed, very angry and feel very deceived,” he says.

Gutiérrez believes the current situation is very different despite the fact that Cuba once again finds itself in a “totally catastrophic” situation, plagued by uncertainty and with no ready solutions. “Life in Cuba now is such that, if you have money, you have virtually no problems. But if you don’t have money, you’re screwed,” says the author.

Despite the changes, he has always opted for “poetic democracy”

Despite the changes, he has always opted for “poetic democracy,” a concept that boils down to doing whatever he wants to do without regard for established norms. He says it is how he has always lived his life: individually, with a certain sense of irresponsibility. “I believe that an artist, that a writer, should be a little irresponsible with material life, with everyday life, with daily life. Only then do you have total freedom to create as broadly as possible,” he explains.

At this point, he says he is extraordinarily grateful for the “intense” life he has had to live, though it has not always having been easy. “Life in Cuba has been a great adventure, sometimes a terrible adventure, but also a challenge. My life – I am not judging my generation nor am I speaking in general – has been one of continuous challenge. Difficult situations turn life into a constant challenge,” he says.

Regarding future projects, the writer says he does not have the energy to take on a new novel. Yes, he is working on a memoir of sorts but it is not organized chronologically. He already tried that during the pandemic and it turned out to be a “brick.” Instead, it will be series of “capsules,” which he says may prove “interesting.”

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Voting With Our Feet, Emigration as a Gesture of Rejection of the Cuban Model

By the end of the 21st century, there will be nearly half as many people in Cuba as now.

A group of Cubans on their journey to the United States / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 24 July 2024 — They could not hide it any longer. The almost empty streets on weekends, the classrooms that are running out of students and the packed airport lounges spoke for themselves. Last week the National Assembly had to recognize what we all knew: the resident population on the Island does not exceed 10 million people, a drop of 10.1% compared to the residents in 2020.

The number could be even more alarming given that many of those who have emigrated in recent months are still considered residents of the country. The age and professional training of those leaving also represents a hard blow to the Island’s aging and professionally devalued labor force. In the main sectors there is a lack of engineers, doctors, teachers and specialists, who cannot be replaced in the short or medium term.

It is ever more common to go to a hospital and find out that the surgeon has emigrated under the Humanitarian Parole Program that the United States implemented since the beginning of last year, or to learn first-hand about the number of vacant positions in the Cuban Electric Union because many of its technicians have become naturalized Spaniards through that country’s Democratic Memory Law. The same situation is repeated in universities, industries, scientific centers and hotels. continue reading

In addition to the exodus, the low birth rate has also been a factor in the population decline, marked in part by the decision of many young couples to wait to leave the island to start a family

In addition to the exodus, the low birth rate has also been a factor in the population decline, marked in part by the decision of many young couples to wait to leave the island to start a family. According to an independent study carried out by the renowned Cuban economist and demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos, made public by the EFE agency, the Cuban population is currently 8.62 million people. This number seems closer to the reality shown by homes and public spaces that are increasingly emptied of the beings that gave them life and meaning.

In the same sessions of Parliament where the demographic decline was reported, the list of disasters, failures and the negative data of the national economy was presented. For those who followed along from home the boring meetings of deputies who do not question any minister and always vote unanimously for any legislation that “comes down” from the top of power, that litany of hardships was translated into that scathing phrase: “we have to leave here and the sooner the better.”

No parliamentarian or official has managed to inspire any semblance of hope that the country will improve in the coming months or years. None of the regulations approved by the Assembly indicate that Cuba will embark on a path of economic and political openness that will help alleviate the crisis and provide its citizens with a more dignified existence. Instead, the top leaders of the Communist Party once again brandished the worn-out rhetoric of the enemy, threatened stricter use of the judicial apparatus, and attacked micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that have allowed them to be carried away by the law of supply and demand in the prices of the products they sell.

It is not surprising then that in the coming weeks and months the number of emigrants will continue to grow and numerous entrepreneurs will close their businesses

All the signals sent by Parliament were of greater control, of maintaining the socialist state enterprise as the main nucleus of the Cuban economy, and of zero ideological tolerance. It is not surprising then that in the coming weeks and months the number of emigrants will continue to grow and numerous entrepreneurs will close their businesses, pack their bags and leave, taking their talents elsewhere. They cannot convince a population to stay in a country adrift.

By the end of the 21st century, there will be only 5,577,280 Cubans living in the country, almost half as many as now, according to a UN demographic outlook report. The lack of development prospects and the political stubbornness of a few could lead us to that point.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DW and is reproduced under license from the author.
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‘In Cuba, the Only Ones Left Are Those Without Family, Without Resources and Without Possibilities’

Many elderly Cubans survive by reselling any type of product / B. Atkinson

14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 22 July 2024 — Josefa was a master cigar roller her whole life in Cienfuegos. Old and black, the Cienfueguera knows that she takes on more than she can, since her niece, her only family, emigrated two years ago. “She constantly was saying that she wanted to leave and in the end, she sold her little place and went to Nicaragua,” she says.

The niece didn’t help her very much, but she kept her company and gave her something to eat when she could. Two years ago, Josefa also had more energy to do “a little work.” Now she is dedicated to reselling what she finds in the garbage dumps or on some corner that can be of use.

Josefa can also be seen sitting in the doorways in front of the Prado. Like her, several men and women of different ages have “taken” the central area of the city, and there they ask for alms, sell what they can and even spend the night on the benches and sidewalks. Beyond the loneliness, the common trait between the old cigar roller and those who accompany her on her way is old age and hunger.

Beyond the loneliness, the common trait between the old cigar roller and those who accompany her on her way is old age and hunger

“My family lived in Santa Isabel de las Lajas. In 1958 we were very poor, but there was always a plate of food to give to someone. Now, however, I have to take what appears when it appears,” confesses the woman, who says her years in the cigar factory, the workers union and being on duty in the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) were a waste of time. “People sacrificed a lot to comply, and in the end it was useless.” continue reading

Ten million people live in Cuba, or a little less, as the authorities reported this week. The country has not completed a census for more than a decade, but the tired and old faces of the Island, who have seen the youngest run off and scatter, do not go unnoticed. There are about 10 million people left who have turned the desire to leave into one more need, among the many they experience from day to day.

Humberto’s situation is similar to that of Josefa. A few months ago, of his three grandchildren, the only one left in Cuba ended up leaving for the US under the Humanitarian Parole program. A few years earlier, his own brother left for Mexico, and now his son is preparing the paperwork for Spanish citizenship. “It’s one loss after another. And those of us who have nowhere to go, or are too old to go anywhere, are being left behind,” he acknowledges.

Humberto has thought about doing the same as his son and preparing citizenship papers with him, but one thought stops him: “What is Tony going to do with an old man in Spain or anywhere? In those countries, if you can’t work, you’re a hindrance. It’s better to wait until he does well and can invite me to visit him, if I haven’t died,” he confesses.

“In those countries, if you can’t work, you’re a hindrance. It’s better to wait until he does well and can invite me to visit him, if I haven’t died”

Tony, his son, “is a very good industrial engineer,” says the Cienfueguero. “He graduated with honors and has worked all his life in that profession, but now there is no industry and the salaries aren’t enough. His two daughters also went to Miami. What does he have left here?” he asks.

Humberto and Josefa have seen relatives, neighbors and co-workers disappear over the years. “In Cuba there has always been migration, but never as great as now,” adds Josefa, whose neighbors, a family of six, emigrated last month. “One day I didn’t see them anymore, and when I asked another neighbor she told me they had left with the parole, the six of them!” she recalls.

There are few people left on the Island and more and more homeless. “Whoever has a good profession is looking for a scholarship or a job; whoever has money buys a ticket to Nicaragua, and anyone who has a family also leaves sooner or later. Here there are only left people without family, without resources and without possibilities. And the desperation of knowing that everyone is leaving except you also worries those of us who remain,” Humberto adds. “Without children, without youth or talents, this will soon be an Island of miserable old people.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Independent Journalist Carlos Michel Morales Is Sentenced to Eight Months of House Arrest

Two hunger strikes have left the activist’s weight at 39 kilos (86 pounds), according to nearby sources

Images of Carlos Michael Morales after returning home, where he is under house arrest. / Facebook / La Tijera]

14ymedio, Madrid, 23 July 2024 — Independent journalist and political prisoner Carlos Michael Morales has been sentenced to eight months of house arrest in a trial that was finally held on Monday, July 22. The activist, who has carried out two hunger strikes in protest against his situation, has made public several images in which one can see the physical deterioration he suffered during that time. The Facebook profile La Tijera affirms that his current weight is just 39 kilos (86 pounds).

Morales spent two years and 10 months in prison for demonstrating on 11 July 2021 in the anti-government protests in Caibarién, Villa Clara. After his release, last March, he was arrested again on May 4 for an alleged crime of disobedience.

The order says that Morales was summoned on two occasions for an interview, on April 3 and 15, but attended neither of them, claiming that they had technical defects. Despite the fact that the authorities admitted rulings in that regard, Morales remained in prison. In addition, his lawyer requested a habeas corpus that was not accepted. continue reading

The order of the Prosecutor’s Office indicated that Morales was investigated for “executing counterrevolutionary actions” in general, and in particular for “making false allegations against the main leaders”

The order of the Prosecutor’s Office indicated that Morales was investigated for “executing counterrevolutionary actions” in general, and in particular for “making false complaints against the main Cuban leaders from his Facebook account.”

While waiting for the resolution of the habeas corpus, Morales began a first hunger strike that made him feel discomfort in his chest, so he asked for medical assistance that was denied. According to his relatives, the head of the unit hit him, and he had to be transferred to a hospital.

On June 19, the independent journalist began another hunger strike that he ended when he learned of the date scheduled for his trial, initially on July 19. According to Baptist pastor Mario Félix Lleonart, Morales gave the news from the prison room of the Provincial Hospital of Villa Clara.

The doctor told him at that time, according to Lleonart, that he would not authorize him to attend the trial in the state he was in, but that, due to the many “irregularities and violations” of the process, he wanted to give Morales “the opportunity to attend because he is hoping to be released.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Cuba Is Experiencing a ‘Humanitarian Crisis’ and Is Approaching ‘Implosion’ According to Demographer Albizu-Campos

The loss of almost two million inhabitants since 2022 places the Island in “refugee crisis” figures

Migrants walking on a road in Tapachula, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. / EFE

14ymedio, Juan Palop, Havana, July 22, 2024 — The prestigious Cuban economist and demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos warns in an interview with EFE that statistics about his country show it to be an “unreformable” system in the midst of a “humanitarian crisis” that is progressively approaching “implosion.” Albizu-Campos, who has just concluded a study that estimates that Cuba lost 18% of its population between 2022 and 2023, mainly due to migration, sees warning signs in many other indicators, such as the increase in child poverty, the rise in maternal mortality, the fall in life expectancy and the upturn in pregnancies among adolescents.

“There is an emergency situation that is beyond a health emergency, it is a humanitarian crisis,” says this expert, who believes that the situation “is serious and is getting closer to the point of implosion.”

“There is an emergency situation that is beyond a health emergency, it is a humanitarian crisis”

In the opinion of this expert from the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue (CCRD), the loss of almost two million inhabitants since 2022, out of a population of 10.5 million, places the Island in “refugee crisis” figures.

Last Friday, Juan Carlos Alfonso, first deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), acknowledged that between 2020 and 2023 there was a 10% drop in the number of residents on the Island and that “fewer than 10 million” people currently live here. continue reading

The pandemic, the tightening of the U.S. sanctions and failed economic and monetary policies in recent years have aggravated the structural problems of the Cuban economy, generating shortages of basics (food, medicines, fuel), daily blackouts, galloping inflation and an unprecedented migratory exodus.

“The insistence on reforming the unreformable has eroded the metabolism of the system and is taking it to a point of no return,” concludes Albizu-Campos, who believes that “the model is its own obstacle.”

This context includes a fall in life expectancy of seven years between 2011 and 2021, and the recent data published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which points out that 42% of children between 0 and 5 years old in Cuba suffer from severe or moderate food poverty, both forms of malnutrition.

He also points out that maternal mortality has rebounded to the levels of 1935-1940, that adolescent pregnancies currently account for 18% of the total – after the reduction at the beginning of the century – and that infant mortality, which fell below 4 per thousand between 2013 and 2018, now exceeds 7 per thousand.

“The insistence on reforming the irreformable has eroded the metabolism of the system and is leading it to a point of no return

Albizu-Campos emphasizes the widening of the gap in different indicators (child mortality, life expectancy, income) between whites and non-whites, especially blacks, reversing the advances of the first decades after the triumph of the Revolution.

This year Albizu-Campos published a study in graphic form with researcher Sergio Díaz-Briquets for the International University of Florida under the title Systemic Failure and Demographic Consequences: The Perfect Storm of Cuba.

The expert shows Cuba in a “polycrisis,” a cascade of crises that overlap and act in a combined way” which casts Cuba as the country that has fallen back the most in the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The Island went from 51st place in 2007 to 73rd ten years later, an abrupt fall that continued to sharpen in recent years to place it currently in 85th place on this list.

“We are still in the high (HDI) band, but we were approaching the very high band. Now the band we are approaching is the middle one,” says Albizu-Campos, who estimates that “if current conditions” are maintained, Cuba could fall into that area in “between five and ten years.”

The Island went from 51st place in 2007 to 73rd ten years later, an abrupt fall that continued to become acute in recent years

He also foresees other challenges for the coming years. On the one hand, the economic departure from the country of 1.79 million people between 2022 and 2023 had a clear socioeconomic profile: 57% women, 77% between 15 and 59 years old with a certain economic capacity. Most are in “working and reproductive age,” and that, he adds, “has an impact.”

It is predicted that it will also be combined with the retirement in the coming years of the largest generation in Cuba, which will increase the pressure on public accounts, which will have to spend more on pensions when there are already difficulties and large deficits accumulate.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The Innocence of the Cuban Deputies

They have been unanimously raising their hands to approve everything the Government proposes for almost half a century.

Deputies, during a session / National Assembly

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 23 July 2024 — I should have entitled this commentary “the lack of guilt of the deputies,” so as not to confuse the meaning of innocence with “ignorance.” The deputies of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) are ridiculed by comparing them to a choir of trained seals that only knows how to applaud in exchange for crumbs. They have earned it, for almost half a century raising their hands unanimously to approve everything that the Government presents for their consideration.

The ministers go to the forum of Parliament to present their reports and proposals, knowing that the most daring will engender a discussion about some punctuation mark or propose a synonym more in line with the hidden intentions that the shrewd deputy guesses behind the big print of the law.

The fox that has been placed in the position of guardian of the hen house is not guilty, just as the ice that has been thrown into the oven to heat a broiler is not to blame. Ice and fox are innocent; the fault lies in the selection system and, ultimately, in those who designed the system.

Don’t ever believe that the issue has already been explained too many times. continue reading

To become a deputy in Cuba, not only do you have to travel a hazardous path, but you also have to meet a long list of requirements

To become a deputy in Cuba, you not only have to travel a hazardous path, but you also have to meet a long list of requirements that have nothing to do with the personal growth that everyone proposes.

The candidacy to occupy seats in Parliament is fed by two sources: half of the 471 seats will be filled with constituency delegates; the other, with “prominent personalities from politics, culture, science, sports and society.”

The first is a screening of the more than 15,000 constituency delegates throughout the country. That is, choosing 235 out of 15,000, which gives the Candidacy Commission a negligible margin of error. In the second source the margin is even smaller, because there is no recognized figure that indicates how many people are available for the selection.

It has already been repeated many times that the so-called “diversity” of this National Assembly is reduced to the factors of age, race, occupational profiles and a few brushstrokes of religion or gender, but it is enough to verify that more than 90% of the deputies belong to the Communist Party or to the Union of Young Communists to understand that a train will enter the tunnel under Havana Bay* before a dissident can walk through the doors of Parliament.

They didn’t get to those positions by presenting a program or trying to promote a proposal. They got there through their rigorously scrutinized biography

They didn’t get to those positions by presenting a program or trying to promote a proposal. Their biographies were rigorously scrutinized and verified by the organs of State Security. The docility of those chosen ones had nothing to do with their convictions, but rather with their obedience to the leader. That is the reason why Raúl Castro’s presence is essential, because it is enough to observe how he applauds or nods to know how to vote.

If one day the General is not there, or better, if one day he doesn’t exist and the miracle of a discussion happens, let’s say between Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and President Miguel Díaz-Canel, in which both hold divergent opinions on some essential or even banal issue, it is most likely that the abstentions will abound.

Because the real miracle will happen when they can debate two sides of an issue and two tendencies can emerge that could be considered radical, moderate, conservative or novel, or anything else that can be imagined.

If there is something missing in Cuba, it is the alternative paths outside the dictates of the Communist Party. In 65 years, we have left behind, with no possible return, shortcuts and avenues through which the nation could have advanced.

Right now, faced with the terrifying idea of a future that threatens us, we see a mass of obedient deputies unanimously approving the whim of continuing on the path to the precipice. Can you blame them for their blindness and cowardice? That is why they were placed in that position, that is where their innocence lies.

*Translator’s note: There are no tracks in the tunnel.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Chinese Rice and Venezuelan Sardines Are in the ‘Gift’ Module To Be Distributed in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, on July 26

As usual on this date, the Island receives visitors who bring donations

Cubans will receive two kilograms of rice, one of sugar, one more of pasta and two cans of sardines / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, July 22, 2024 — Spaghetti, sardines, rice and sugar make up the “extra” that the residents of Sancti Spíritus will receive this week. According to the local press, a total of 190,816 food modules will be distributed with these products, a “gift” from the Ministry of Internal Trade for being the host province of the July 26 celebration. The small parcels distributed to the people consist of two kilograms of rice, one of sugar, another of pasta and two cans of sardines. All the food in the packages comes from donations made by friendly countries of the regime such as China and Venezuela, an official employee who has had access to the modules and who asks for anonymity confirmed to 14ymedio.

“The rice is of Chinese origin, very good quality; they grow a lot of it,” she explains. “The sardines, you know, are the little ones that you have to add a thousand things to in order to get rid of the strong taste,” the woman says about the fish brought from Venezuela.

The people fear that some products have expired

Even more than the squalid ration of sardines, this worker fears that the cans are expired. It wouldn’t be the first time, she says: “They don’t have an expiration date anywhere. I looked for it. Formerly, in past modules, I found it, and they were old .” continue reading

Escambray said that the arrival of a total of 48 containers is expected, and once “all the products are completed” the modules will begin to be distributed, “which will happen this week, as expected.” We are already working on assembling the modules and preparing for the distribution so that it reaches the population as quickly as possible,” the director of the Wholesale Food Company in the territory, Eliosbel Martínez Hernández, told the provincial newspaper.

Sancti Spíritus will receive up to 48 containers with food to make up the modules / Yasma Jauriga/Facebook

As usual on this date, the Island receives donations from different pro-Regime organizations around the world. An example is the ton of powdered milk collected in Bolivia for Cuban children as part of the campaign designed by the Solidarity Movement with the Island, under the slogan “your contribution counts,” as published on Saturday by the Prensa Latina agency.

Visitors also arrive and are usually taken on tours of the “sacred sites” of the Revolution

The July 26 celebration also brings visitors, who are taken on tours of the “sacred sites” of the Revolution. This year, for example, the number of Americans who visit Cuba as “friends in solidarity,” like the Venceremos Brigade, reached 103 people, according to figures from the organization itself.

They don’t come empty-handed: they carry donations of all kinds that they have collected for months, ranging from food – such as bags of beans and rice – and medicines, to school supplies like pencils and notebooks.

The Venceremos Brigade arrived in Holguín from Miami this Sunday. Most of them come from California, New York and Florida, where the brigade has more presence, especially in university environments. This year’s group is larger than in 2023, when 71 arrived, or in 2022, when 75 were reported. This type of brigade does not come only from the United States, but also from other parts of the world such as Brazil and Europe.

“They will be conducting exchanges with communities and visiting historic sites to pay tribute to Antonio Maceo and Fidel Castro. They will also be doing community work, which is what characterizes the Venceremos Brigade. Its origins were, precisely, to help the people of Cuba when they needed it most,” Leima Martínez, North American director of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP)*, told the television channel Caribe Alterno.

Following the official script, visitors attribute the Cuban population’s everyday problems – food shortages and blackouts – exclusively to the U.S. blockade**. “I disagree with the blockade and want to witness in my own way how a social system different from the American one works. I hope to meet people from this country and do hard work, to help in what is needed,” Samaiyah Patrick, a young man who makes his first trip to the Island, told the official press.

Translator’s notes:

*Both the Venceremos Brigade and ICAP are members of the National Network on Cuba, a source of agents of influence for the Regime.

**There is, in fact, no US ‘blockade’ on Cuba, but this continues to be the term the Cuban government prefers to apply to the ongoing US embargo. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the US ordered a Naval blockade (which it called a ‘quarantine’) on Cuba in 1962, between 22 October and 20 November of that year. The blockade was lifted when Russia agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from the Island. The embargo had been imposed earlier in February of the same year, and although modified from time to time, it is still in force.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Authorities Report Several Breakdowns in the Hydraulic Network, and Havana Has Been Without Water for Weeks

Havana residents have responded angrily with comments on social media and official media, as municipalities have been without water for days.

Images shared by Aguas de La Habana about the repairs to the main pipeline to supply the capital from the South Basin / Collage/Aguas de La Habana

14ymedio, Havana, July 22, 2024 — A new breakdown in Havana’s hydraulic infrastructure is making the water shortage in the capital catastrophic. As reported by Aguas de La Habana on Monday, an “electrical failure” Sunday night in the high-voltage lines that feed the South Basin supply source caused the pumping to be completely interrupted in a “sudden way,” which caused, in turn, several “battering ram blows” – a sudden increase in pressure – to the main pipe, which then collapsed “in three places.”

The authorities promise that “the brigades for repair and maintenance will work without interruption on the transmission network to repair the breakdowns in the shortest possible time at the source of supply.” However, the people of Havana have responded angrily with comments on social networks and official media, since it is not the only breakdown in the Aguas de La Habana system, and some municipalities have been without water for days.

“I would like to know if the people in Altahabana and Boyeros who receive water from Paso Seco are also affected, because we haven’t received it for five days, and on Telegram they only refer to the impacts on the South Basin,” Manuel Quesada commented on Cubadebate.

“That happened on Sunday the 21st, but I live on 10th Street between 21 and 23rd, El Vedado, and we have been affected by the water supply since last month”

Willian Hernandez Torres sounded desperate: “We need water now. That happened on Sunday the 21st, but I live on 10th Street between 21 and 23rd, El Vedado, and we have been affected by the water supply since last month. Right now I haven’t received water since Saturday, July 13, and the reserves have already run out. I won’t be able to go to work, I have to feed myself, the neighbors can’t help us because they are in the same boat, and the water trucks haven’t come here.” continue reading

There were multiple protests from El Vedado. “I have a 91-year-old woman at home, bedridden, who cannot move, with very affected skin and in dire need of hygiene,” said Alina Ruiz, who indicated her address – between 11 and 13th – and said that she has not had water service for eight days. “We have gone twice to Aguas de La Habana (at 35th and 4th) to ask for a water truck; they put us on a list, but nothing has happened. We are desperate.”

This Sunday the Tribuna de La Habana reported the rupture of “six pieces of equipment” in the South Basin, which causes “difficulties” in the service for La Rampa, the “most vulnerable of all municipalities” because of its 13 districts.

“This failure of the water pipes is typical for several reasons, the main one being the forced halt in the pumping”

According to the same comment, on Saturday the first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party, Liván Izquierdo Alonso, and the governor of Havana, Yanet Hernández Pérez, met with managers of Aguas de La Habana to “point out actions” to supply the “precious liquid” to “affected” municipalities, but they prioritized water truck service only for hospitals and polyclinics.

The affected areas, according to Tribuna, are Central Havana, Old Havana, Cerro, Diez de Octubre and Plaza de la Revolución, but also the “west system,” specifically the upper part of La Lisa, Arroyo Arenas, San Agustín and Pocito Palmar.

On Cubadebate, Zeida Peña Santiesteban wrote: “The problem of the water supply is exacerbated every day that passes, and now this has happened. Since November last year in Centro Habana, on Calle Reina between Chávez and Gervasio, in buildings 458, 460, 462, there has been no water, and no one worries about a solution, or at least that is the perception of the inhabitants.” The woman also said that she had gone to the provincial government and the Aguas de La Habana office of Parque Trillo, in vain:

“The solution cannot be to send water trucks as needed but to check and investigate if there’s a problem with some faucet handle or a valve that doesn’t work. If you have to tear up the street, do it and fix the problem. This has nothing to do with any U.S. blockade; it’s the internal blockade and the lack of management of the agencies involved.”

“The solution cannot be to send water trucks when possible but to check and investigate if the problem is some faucet handle or valve that doesn’t work”

Other commentators extended themselves in technical details, such as D’Oro: “This is a typical failure in water pipes, in this case for various reasons, and the main one is the forced stoppage of pumping due to a sudden electrical failure. It’s also a typical fault in the hydraulic pressure system designs, for those who do not know about these issues. It is worth asking: Did the protection systems for these hydraulic processes work? Do they exist? Obviously it is already known that they didn’t work; someone from Aguas de La Habana should explain about the protections for hydraulic systems in the country, because investments, repairs, replacements and other interventions in breakdowns like this cost a lot of money.”

In statements to this newspaper, a resident of La Rampa said that he has been without water service for more than two weeks. With his house for sale and waiting to receive the Humanitarian Parole that will allow him to emigrate to the United States, he says: “I had to change the text of the ad, because before it said that the house was in an area where ‘water is not lacking’ and that is now known to be a lie. No one can say that about any house in this city or in this country.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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